And the fullness thereof, the
world, and David's well therein. For he hath founded it upon the
seas, and established it upon the floods. Who ascends into
the hill of the Lord, but he shall stand in his holy place.
He that hath clean hands, and a pure heart, who hath not lifted
up his soul into 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 Jacob, say, Lord. 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. Selah. Now, two words come into
my mind when I think of these last four verses of this psalm,
and they are mystery and majesty. You know, the Lord has woven
our lives like a tapestry. And none of those events
which occur in our life can be taken out of it without something
being missing from that tapestry. All of these things go together.
And, you know, it's like a thread. Sometimes you might have a thread.
I had one the other day in a shirt, and it was just a little thread.
And it was hanging out there, and I said, well, you know that
thread's hanging out there, I'll get rid of that thread. And I
snatched that thread while it came out about that far, and
I said, uh-oh. And of course what it did was
it just caused the bottom part of my shirt cuff to come loose. And it seemed like a minor thing
at the time, but it wasn't. But our lives are like that.
Every part of those things that the Lord has put into our lives
has a bearing on. at the time that these things
occur in our lives they might not mean a whole lot to us at
that particular moment but they might, they might be very important
but then later on we get to thinking about all the different things
about that and it's amazing and you know the Lord uses all sorts
of stuff in our lives to affect us I think of Balaam and of course
you know he was a false prophet He was against the people of
God. He made a show of being subservient to God, but he really
hated God's people and he hated God, and he told, ultimately,
the people of God to go astray. from the Lord through his skullduggery
and mindset. Having said that, keep in mind
that all of those things were in the work of God to bring these
to pass. But there came a time when Balaam
was spoken to by and asked by the donkey that he was using
to carry him where he was going. And that's one of the most humorous
instances, in my estimation, found in the scripture, is that
particular one. And the funniest part of all
of it, to me, is not so much that the ass spoke to Balaam,
but that Balaam spoke back to the ass. I mean, just to say,
well, this is a everyday occurrence here. He said, never mind, I'll
talk to him, you know. But I'm sure that never happened
but one time in Balaam's life. I don't think that he normally
had conversations with his donkey like Mr. Head or something, you
know. I don't think it was like that. It just sat one time. And in some ways so very insignificant
to the whole scope of Balaam's life, but nonetheless, that had
to have some bearing on Balaam. And it did, as we see. And I
was thinking of the first time I ever heard this verse read,
the first time it ever registered in my mind, And it was in Vacation
Bible School, right over there. And I remember this was like,
they had like a theme or something of the thing and every day they
would read this passage of Scripture. Now, I didn't know anything about
it and didn't care anything about it at the time, to tell you the
truth. But I remember hearing that and it was just, it struck
me with such mystery that it didn't last long as far as me
wanting to find out the mystery of it, but it just sounded so
mysterious to me. And it still does every time
that I read it. And, you know, I'd like to say,
well, you know, I heard that and, buddy, it's just like bells
went off and the lights flashed and my whole life was changed
right then. No, it didn't have any effect
on me at all, but I remember except that the Lord planted
that in my mind. Isn't it amazing how the Lord
plants things in your mind and they don't sprout right then.
I remember reading somewhere that they had found, and this
might not even be true, but I read it and it was totally true, that
they found some seeds in the pyramids that had been in there
for like 600 years in those dry conditions and that they took
these seeds and they put water to them and some of them sprouted.
Now that may be true and it may not be true. Things like that
did happen. But the truth of the matter is
that the Lord does plant seeds in our lives that don't bear
fruit immediately. But they do bear fruit in the
time it seems good to. And, you know, it's not the one
that does the planting that is to have the glory. as Paul said.
It says one plants another water, but he said God is the one that
gives increase. And so the Lord directs these
things for that reason. But I brought that up just because
this passage of Scripture is to me one of the most majestic and
glorious passages that we find in the Bible. And every time
I read it, I'm struck with the same wonder. And this is not a, it's not really,
I mean there's so much here and I don't even claim to even be
able to give an exposition of this scripture except to express
the wonder of it. The mystery of it and the majesty
of it. Lift up your heads, O ye gates. Now, what is he speaking about? Well, he just got through saying
here concerning the ownership of the earth and who it is of
all of those who dwell upon the earth that can enter in to the
presence of God. He said, who shall ascend unto
the hill of the Lord? Who's going to be able to go
into the presence of God? Or who shall stand in His holy
place? Who can do that? Of all the men
in the earth, who can do that? Can you do that, Ed? Can you
do that, Curtis? I know I can't do that. Who can
do it? Well, he answers his own question.
He that hath clean hands, and a pure heart, who hath not lifted
up his soul unto vanity, nor sworn it deceitfully." Now have
you ever met anybody that that description would fit? Huh? I'm talking about in the flesh,
personally met somebody that you'd say, yep, there he is,
that man's going into the presence of God now. Because this is a
rhetorical question and in essence this question cannot be answered
except according to one man. There's only one man that this
can apply to. This is not about who has cleaner
hands. He didn't say he that has cleaner
hands and a purer heart than his neighbor. Did he? He said he didn't have clean
hands. Now, you know, I used to, my
mother, she loved for my ears to be clean. Now, I always thought
I got them pretty clean, you know, if you just run a little
water over them, they had to be clean, but invariably, They
were never clean enough for her. And I always thought as a kid
that my ears would never make it through childhood. Because
I can still remember and feel her finger rubbing on my ear
to get the dirt off my ear. Because she meant for me to have
clean ears. Not by my standard, but according
to her. And I don't know if they ever
got that clean, because it seemed like I remember a couple of times
she gave me a death sack of those. But anyway, clean is clean. And when the Lord says something
has to be clean, He means it has to be clean. He doesn't mean
it needs to be almost clean, partially clean, but clean. What enters into his presence
must have clean hands and a pure heart. I've researched 99 and
44 ones are 100% pure. I don't know what it's pure of,
but it's pure anyway, so they tell us. But it's still not pure,
is it? Even they couldn't say it was
absolutely pure. Because it's like 56 hundredths
of a percent being pure. So it wasn't pure. It was closed. But not quite. He that hath clean
hands and a pure heart, who hath not lifted up his soul unto vanity,
nor sworn deceitfully, neither was guile found in his mouth.
Never had a minute's moment of guile. I won't even comment on, you
know, what is in the mouth of politicians. I mean, you know,
it's, just like you said, you know,
I couldn't help but think of much of the things and I wouldn't
in any way want to compare what you know, is going on with the
false accusations and what was given to Christ and the false
witnesses and all that. I wouldn't want to make that
comparison. But you can see the working in the minds of men.
When men get it in their mind that somebody's guilty, the facts
don't matter. They're going to make the man
guilty. Is that not true? That's the way it is. That is
how they did with the Lord Jesus. They had already decided before
they ever had the trial, the trial was just to make them feel
good that they had done something. But they already had made their
minds up. They were going to get Him. I
was reading through the book of John, I think it was about
four or five different times, it says they tried to get Him. They set out to get him. And
I don't know, I'd like to see a video of what actually happened
in those cases because he was standing right there with them
every time they said they determined to get him. But they didn't get
him. But yet he was right there. I
don't know if he just disappeared or they just froze. I don't know
what happened. You know, it's an amazing thing.
But they weren't able to get him because it wasn't the time
for them to get him. But they were determined to destroy
him. What for? Because he was a threat
to their power. He was a threat to their power.
Because they wanted to manifest their righteousness before men. And they knew that he was more
righteous than they. And they could not stand it.
So they had to get rid of him. Because, see, they believed in
comparative righteousness. They didn't believe in absolute
righteousness. But he that hath clean hands, who hath not lifted
up his soul unto vanity, nor sworn deceitfully, He, this one
of whom this speaks, he shall receive the blessing from the
Lord and the righteousness from the God of his salvation. This man. It can't be speaking
of but one man. It's speaking of Jesus Christ. This is the generation of them
that seek him, that seek thy face. This is the generation. That is, He is the generation
from God. He's that one who came out from
the Father. He's that one who's begotten
of the Father. The only begotten Son of God.
And He has a people which belong to Him. They're His seed. They're
His generation. They belong to Him. And they're
hidden in Him. And no man can pluck them out
of His hand. They belong to Him. This is the
generation. He is the one who is the head
of that generation. And so it says here, who shall
ascend into the hill of the Lord? Now, get this picture. The question
is asked, who shall ascend into the hill of the Lord? It's the
same question that was asked in John's vision. And he said,
oh, who is worthy to open the book? This cry went up across
heaven. Who can open this book? This
book is a sealed book. Who can open it up? And there was one. There was
one. The Lion of the tribe of Judah.
He had prevailed to open the book and to loose the seals there. Only one man. This man. And so, the words come out, Lift up your
heads, O ye gates. He will lift them up, ye everlasting
doors. Because, you see, the search is going out. Who can
ascend to the hill of the Lord? And here He comes, riding on
a coat. Riding on the fold of an ass.
Here He comes. in humility, not in the pomp
and circumstance of a king, but yet clothed in greater majesty
than any king ever was. For here He comes, the Chosen
of God, that One who hath clean hands and a pure heart. And the
cry goes up, Lift up your hands, 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 God Almighty, the Lord
mighty at battle. He is the King of glory. Yes,
He is the one, dear brethren, who was entered in once into
the holy place. It's that same one of whom the
prophet said, Who is this that cometh from Edom with thy garments
from Bosphorus? It's Him that hath clean hands
and a pure heart. It is he who has tread the winepress
of God's wrath alone. It is he who has destroyed the
enemies of the people of God, and made himself drunk, the Scripture
says, with their blood. Well, where are our accusers? Remember when the Lord said to
the woman taken in adultery, guilty
as she could be, expecting any moment for the stones to fall
upon her head, knowing that she was worthy of destruction. And
the Lord said, Where are your accusers? Who had accused him? She said, No man. And he said,
Neither do I condemn thee. The Lord said, No more. Oh, lift
up your heads, O ye gates, for the One who has taken away the
accusations of the people of God, the One who has silenced
the accuser of the brethren, the One who has triumphed over
all of the enemies of God's people, He is coming in. Lift up your heads, O ye gates,
and even be ye lifted up, ye everlasting doors, and who the
King of glory shall come in. Who is this King of Glory? Oh, what a wonderstunt! You know when David, you remember
David's attempts to bring the Ark of the Covenant back into
the tabernacle. And you remember his first real faith
attempt. But he decided, you know, we
need to have it. This thing needs to be done right.
I'm going to get somebody to build an ox cart that's never
had anything hooked up to it. It's brand new. I'm going to
get two of my finest young men to drive this thing. And we're
going to bring this thing down to Jerusalem with pomp and circumstance. But it was not to be, was it?
Because the ark shifted a little on the ox cart. And Uzzah reached
out his hand to steady it, and the Lord smote him dead. And
David was angry that day with the Lord. Well, Lord, here we are, trying
to serve you, we've done all these things, we've made all
these sacrifices, we did all this wondrous stuff, and here
you go and throw a monkey wrench in the whole thing. The thing
didn't turn out like we planned. But the Lord humbled David, and
David broke the ark of the covenant ultimately. into Jerusalem in
the manner in which the Lord had told him to do it. The Levites
carried that ark. And they sacrificed oxen and
things unto his name. And he brought it there. But
you see, while there was some glory surrounding that, It was
kind of a limited sort of glory. It was a glory that was limited
to David's glory. Because David was not the one
whom the Lord said, you shall build my house. The Lord said,
David, you can't build my house. Now was David not a great man
among men? Was he not in many ways pure
of heart? And the Scripture says that he
was a man after God's own heart. He was a wicked man. But comparatively
speaking, in the overall course of his life, he was a good man.
But yet the Lord said, David, you can't do it. Because he said,
I'm going to raise up a son in the house of David. And the kingdom
that he is going to preside over is a kingdom that shall never
end. Your son, David. And David's son came along. So
did the flesh. Solomon. And the Lord said, Solomon
is going to build the temple. But you know, it was still just
an earthly temple, was it not? The Scripture says there was
not the sound of a hammer heard in the building of it. It was
a glorious thing. It was a wondrous thing. But
it was still just the work of men as they built this great
edifice unto God. And it was blessed. But in order
to demonstrate the difference between the kingdom of David
and the kingdom of his son, When Solomon came to dedicate this
temple to the Lord, Solomon didn't have any fire in his hand. Because when he stood there before
the altar of God, God sent fire down from heaven. The scripture
says it consumed the altar. Offered the altar. I imagine
Solomon stood there pretty wide-eyed and he didn't, I'm sure he wasn't
expecting that, was he? I mean, they didn't have this
worked out ahead of time. When Elijah stood on Mount Carmel,
And he challenged the prophets of Baal. I mean, he knew the
Lord was going to do something, but he didn't know what the Lord
was going to do. He didn't know to what extent
the Lord was going to do this. I mean, he'd have been happy
with just a lightning bolt, would he not? He said to the Lord that God
did answer by fire, let him be the God. I mean, he didn't know
what the Lord was going to do. He didn't know if the Lord was
going to do anything. But you see, the Lord answered
by fire. He brought down the fire of glory upon that offering,
and it consumed not just the offering, but it consumed the
altar. And not only the altar, but it consumed the water that
was in the ditch around the altar where they had poured the water
on the thing to make it that much harder to burn. But that was nothing compared to what happened in
the temple. after building this thing according
to the specifications of God and standing there before that
altar and the Lord calls the fire to come down and just consume
the offering off of that altar. You see, all of these things
were done in tithes, in full shepherds. These were not real
things. But you see, what I'm talking about was not a dress
rehearsal. This was not a type of a foreshadow. What the psalmist
is speaking about here is not that which could be seen by men,
but it's that which is inapproachable and unimaginable by men. This
is the answer to the mystery, the scripture says, which was
hidden from the foundation of the world, but is now revealed
in the present time. That this One who is the King,
this One who is that Son of David who would rule forever, He is
the One of whom this psalm speaks about here. And the mystery has
been answered, dear brethren. You know, there's a lot of people
that are still looking at the book. Back here they'll get over
to Revelation and they'll find out this mystery, and they'll
go back to Daniel and they'll find that mystery, and they'll
look at all the mysteries. And they'll say, by the way,
we've figured it out now. We've got, I think it's going to be
next year in October. And you know, y'all get ready
because here it's coming. And they don't know nothing.
They're ignorant. Because dear brethren, all of the mysteries
of God have been revealed in Jesus Christ. Every one of them,
from top to bottom, He has shown men who He is and what He would
do. And the psalmist says, Here,
lift up your hands on your gates. Come, open up the gates of heaven,
for the One who is the King is coming in, the Lord God Almighty,
the One who is mighty in battle. He is the King of glory. The
Lord Jesus Christ, when He... I'm just reading here over in
the book of John. And I mean, over and over again.
See, the Pharisees, they heard Him say... He told them on more
than one occasion that I'm He. They just didn't want to hear
it. They wanted to find out some
way. They kept hearing Him say it. He said, I'm He. He said, the reason you don't
believe me is because you're not my sheep. He said, my sheep here, my boys,
I know them and they follow me. See, the only people who are
wondering if Christ is this One is those who are either not His
sheep Or those whose eyes He has not yet opened among His
sheep. Because in such times as He sees
fit to open their eyes, they will say, He is. You see, that thief that was
on the cross, he lived his whole life. without any care or whatever
that Christ was the king of his kingdom. That thought probably
never crossed his mind. When he was robbing and stealing
and murdering and doing whatever all he was guilty of, that thought
never even entered his mind. But when it pleased God, in such an hour as you think
not, the Lord came. And he's looking on Christ. He said, lift up your hands. Oh,
you kings. And be ye lifted up, ye everlasting
doors, and the kingdom of glory shall come in. And he said, O
Lord, when thou comest into thy kingdom. He didn't say, Lord,
if you are really a king. And if you do come into the kingdom.
He said, Lord, I believe that Thou art the King in Thy kingdom. And when Thou comest in, remember
me. And the Lord said, I will remember
you. This very day, you shall be with
me in every life. Oh, lift up your heads on your
gates, even lifting them up to the everlasting dawn. everlasting
doors. Now, you know doors are open
and closed, do they not? Christ is the doorkeeper. He
said, I am the door of the sheep. By me, if any man enter in, he
shall go in and out and find pasture. All that ever came before me,
he said, they were thieves and robbers. But he said, I'm the
door of the sheep. He's the shepherd, the door of
the sheep. And the scripture says here,
Oh, lift them up, ye everlasting doors. The King of glory shall
come in. You see, he comes into the doors
of the kingdom because he is the door of the kingdom. And
no man cometh to the Father but by Him. Oh, what glorious thing! The
mystery revealed in Christ. The majesty revealed in the same
One. That which was kept hidden has
now been set forth. There's nothing left for men
to know. See, we don't have any mysterious
word we're yet going to tell people or have a week of, you
know, prophetic utterances where we can cause people to be amazed
at how smart we are and what we know. But then, Heaven, we're
just sent forth with one message that Christ is the King of His
Kingdom and He has satisfied every claim that was ever against
the people of God. He's the Redeemer, the Savior
of sinners. And as such, each of God's people,
by the grace of God, say, O Lord, enter into thy kingdom. What
a glorious one we have as a Savior, who is this King of glory, the
Lord of hosts. He's the King of glory, the Lord
of hosts. The Lord of hosts. Not some one
who's in a lesser station. The Lord of hosts. The King of
kings. The Creator. The One who made
all things. The One who said, Let there be
light, and there was light. He's that One. Lift up your heads. What a glorious thing. The mystery
and the majesty, all found in Jesus Christ. May the Lord help
us.