Looking at Psalms, Psalm 15, I believe that as we look at
this psalm, it says the psalm of David. And if we miss who
this is talking about, I believe we are going to miss the whole
message of the psalm. It says, Who shall abide in thy
tabernacle? Who shall dwell in thy holy hill? 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 contemned, 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." Now, if someone came to you and said, alright,
here is the standard that God has set forth. And you read that and you knew
that that was the standard whereby you would be able to ascend into
the hill of the Lord who would abide in His tabernacle. Who
do you know? Or do you know anything about
yourself that others don't that would give you the ability to
enter into the presence of the Lord. I mean, could this possibly be
speaking about any but one? Who shall ascend into the hill
of the Lord? Of course, we say this is like
a broken record, but the Lord is not interested in partial
obedience. And this is a thing that is hard
for men to grasp. Because a lot of times when men
read this, they think that this is like a comparative thing. Well, you know, you've got to
do these things better than those guys do. And if you'll do it
better than them, then you'll enter into the Lord. But that's
not what it says, is it? It says this is the standard.
This is what it takes. Who shall dwell in thy holy hill? He that walketh uprightly and
worketh righteousness, and speaketh the truth in his heart." Now,
can you take any comfort in that you have performed that? I mean,
do you know anybody that has performed it other than the Lord
Jesus Christ? So it can't be speaking about
anybody but Him because He is the One, He is the Standard.
He is that One that walketh uprightly and worketh righteousness and
speaketh the truth in His heart. Now it is a true thing that the
work of the Lord in His children, while it does not bring forth
perfection in this world because of the flesh which battles against
us night and day, it is true that the Lord does work in His
people a desire to see these things formed in them. Now they
don't see them formed in them. But they do have a desire after
it. The man that doesn't have a desire to be like Christ is
not a follower of Christ. I mean, it's as simple as that.
You know, they were called Christians first at Antioch. What does the term Christian
mean? It means a follower of Christ. And so you cannot be
a follower of Christ and not desire to walk in the way that
Christ walked. It's impossible. I mean, if you
despise the way Christ walked and you say that's not the proper
way, then you're not a follower of
Christ, whatever you may be. So it is that the Lord alone
is that One who has met the perfect standard that the Lord requires
for someone to enter into His presence to dwell in His tabernacle. He works righteousness. He walketh
uprightly and speaketh the truth with His heart. Now how did He
speak the truth with His heart? Because He is the truth. He said
that, did He not? He said, I am the way, the truth,
and the light. Now you know the most truthful
things that we ever say is mixed in a measure with error, is it
not? I mean we can say something that
is just absolutely true and yet because of what we are by nature,
there is a measure in which it is not perfectly true. Only the
Lord Jesus Christ can speak the truth in righteousness as it
is the truth. Because it is just like if you
have a well of pure water and you put a drop of sewage in it,
that well can no longer be said to be pure regardless of how
much water may be in it. It doesn't make a difference.
It's still not 100% pure, is it? But the Lord Jesus Christ,
He is 100% pure. He has no fault in Him. And He is the truth, and He speaks
with the truth in His heart. But again, Those who are the
followers of Christ desire to walk in His truth, do they not? I mean, when we read the law
as you set it forth before us, Brother Al, I mean, we don't
look at that and say, man, we don't want anything to do with
this, do we? Do we? I mean, can we? I mean, if we
are the followers of Christ, do we not look at that and say,
that is the standard by which we ought to live? That is, oh
Lord, cause me to be somebody that does not steal, that does
not go contrary to Thy Word. I mean, it is the desire that
is raw in the people of God. Who shall dwell in Thy holy hill?
He that walketh uprightly, and worketh righteousness, and speaketh
the truth in his heart. We desire truth in the inward
parts, not simply on the out. Now, a lot of people, they get
all concerned about truth in the outward parts. And they want
to get every T crossed and every I dotted in the truth, and they
are ready to slay everybody that does not cross the T and dot
the I just like they do. And they have that truth in that
letter in the outward form. Now that letter of truth in the
outward form is a good thing. And we are not content to not
walk in that letter of truth in the outward form, but if that's
all we have, we don't have anything, do we? Not really. Because if
all that a man desires to do is just to argue about points
of doctrine, then without the application of those doctrines
to his heart... I mean, what good is it if we
know all of the Scriptures right backwards and forwards, but it's
not applied to our heart in perfection? Now there was a young man that
came to the Lord and he said, Lord, what good thing
can I do to inherit eternal life? The Lord said, well, the law
was right before you. He said, keep the commandments.
He said, well, I already did that. I mean, I've already done
that. And the Lord said, well, if you'd
be perfect then, go and sell all that you have and give it
to the poor. And then come and follow Me.
Now, does the Lord tell everybody
to go and sell all that they have? We don't see it in the
Scripture. But yet, you see, perfection
demands that. And the one who was perfect,
what did he do? He sold all that he had. And he gave it to the
poor. He found a pearl of great price. And he gave himself for it. And
he held nothing back. He found a treasure in a field.
And he loved it. And he said, it's mine. And he
cast his skirts over it. And the time of love was then.
Yes, the Lord Jesus Christ, He was perfect. And when He looked
at that young ruler with eyes of love, He said, well, here
is perfection. He said, if you want to be perfect, if you want
to enter into the courts of heaven, then be as I am. Now that is
an impossibility, and it would be a sad day. If we had to be
like the Lord Jesus Christ in every aspect in order that we
might enter into His presence, because we wouldn't be able to
do it. I mean, if we could forget our past, if you could forget
everything about your past from this day forward, but from this
day forward it was up to you to keep yourself in that place
of perfection, You'd be done in the next little bit. I mean,
I don't know how long. It wouldn't take long. You'd
be done. So you can't do it. You can't
live up to that standard. But you see, the Lord is not
demanding us to live up to that standard, but He is showing us
through what Jesus Christ did that He has met the standard. in our behalf. And so when we
preach the gospel, we're not preaching to men, telling them
what they must do in order to be perfect before God, but we
are telling them what Christ has provided for those who could
not bring that themselves. And of course, you know, the
enemies of the message of grace will always say, well, you're
just telling people then that they can just do whatever they
want to. Well, I can tell you this, if
the Spirit of God works in a man both willing to do of his good
pleasure, that man will always be sinning more than he wants
to. Isn't that the truth? I mean,
do you want to be going contrary to the way of God more than you
already do? I mean, do you pray, Lord, help
me to be a more sinful man? Is that the way the Spirit of
God works in a man? No, of course not. I mean, when
the Spirit of God works in a man, He calls him to desire to be
like Christ. He wants to be like Christ. He
can't help it. Now, does he measure up? Does
he ever look at himself in the mirror and say, well, I finally
got there? No, he looks at himself and says,
Lord, I'm farther away today than I was yesterday. Because
you're showing me more of what I am by nature. He was that one that backed by
the knot with his tongue. I was thinking there as you were
speaking about stealing. How do we steal from people? Of course, it's not always about
money and monetary things, is it? We steal people's reputation. say things about them, even if
it's true. You know, all the time some people
take greater delight in this than others, but all of us from
time to time, especially if it's somebody we don't particularly
like, we like to hear a little something about, oh, well, did
you hear about this? Oh, no. Well, tell me. What was
it? And we entertain those thoughts,
and what do we do? We tear them down in our own
mind, and we tear them down in the minds of others as we speak
evil things against them. Now, they might be true that
way. So what? If our intent in telling
somebody is not for the benefit of the other person, How can that be helpful? And
so we do indeed. Backbiting with the tongue is
a stealing of a person's reputation. It's a killing of the person
in essence. It's the same motivation. He
that backbited not with his tongue, nor doeth evil to his neighbor.
Love thy neighbor as thyself. There's only one man that ever
lived on the face of the earth that loved his neighbor as himself. And we know who that was. And
while we tell one another that we are to love one another, and
we are to love our neighbor as ourselves, if we are taught by
the Spirit of God, we know that we fail miserably in that effort
because it is in our mind and heart to love ourselves supremely. The Lord Jesus Christ said, except
a man deny himself. He cannot be my disciple. Oh, strong words. Nor doeth evil to his neighbor,
nor taketh up a reproach against his neighbor. He doesn't entertain
any sort of ill thing. When someone is speaking ill
of somebody else, not just ought we to ignore it, we ought to
speak against it. Say, look, I don't want to hear
it. I don't want to hear it. You know, I've got enough wickedness
in my own mind and heart. I don't need to find out about
theirs. He has no reproach against his
neighbor. He loves his neighbor as himself, in whose eyes a vile
person is contemned, but he honors them that fear the Lord. Now,
a vile person Of course, we are all vile in one way of putting that. Of course,
what the Scripture is speaking about here is that those who
are vile are those who set themselves against the way of God. They
are not those that go out here necessarily and commit wicked
acts. though that is in a measure setting
themselves against God, but what a vile person is like the Pharisees. And the Lord did condemn the
Pharisees, did He not? Over and over again He said,
You are of your father the devil. Why did He say that? Because
they were vile, because they spoke ill of the way of God. And just as we ought not to entertain
notions when people speak ill of other people, Far less should
we stand idly by when they speak ill of our Savior, in whose eyes a vile person is
condemned. The Lord Jesus Christ, He didn't
stand idly by, did He, when the Pharisees sought to corrupt the
Word of God, but He spoke to them and He condemned them in
that fashion. But he honored them that feared
the Lord. Now, humility is the first indicator that a man fears God. Now, it's not always an indicator
that a man fears God. But it is an indicator that a
man fears God, a man who is prideful in his demeanor and his way is
not exhibiting that he fears the Lord, is he? Because if a
man fears the Lord, he knows what he is by nature. And he
knows that he is not worthy of the least of the Lord's mercies.
But he honors them that fear the Lord. I love the people of
God who fear the Lord. Now, I don't always know who
they are. But when I find somebody that fears God, it's a sweet
thing to be in the presence of people that fear God. I'm not
talking about religious. I'm talking about truly fear
God. They know themselves to be sinners. They know themselves
to be unworthy of God's mercies. It's a blessing to be in the
presence of someone like that. And the Lord Jesus Christ, He
honored those that feared the Lord. He was with them. A bruised reed will it not break?
Smoking flags will it not quench? And dear brethren, we need to
be mindful as we walk in this world that we are not quenchers
of the smoking flags, breakers of the bruised reed. I mean,
there are people who are seeking out, crying out for truth that
don't even know it sometimes and they're here and there, they
may not say things just like you do. But we need to be mindful that
the Lord may give us grace to be mindful of those who fear
Him. He that sweareth to his own hurt
and changeth not. In other words, he swears to
his own hurt. In other words, he is determined
to do something that is right even if it is to his own detriment. And the Lord Jesus Christ loved
not his life even unto death. He swears to his own hurt. He
says, I will pay the price for their sin. I will do that. And he changed not. He didn't
change his mind at the last minute like I've heard some so-called
preachers try to indicate that maybe he was waffling a little
bit when he said, Lord, you know, if you can take this thing from
me, I don't know if I can go through with this or not. No,
he didn't waffle. It wasn't a lack of will. But he demonstrated the weakness
of flesh of natural flesh, weighed down with the sin of His people,
but He never altered, He never changed in His will to do that
which He came to do. It was according to His purpose
to do it. And He changed not. Oh, to have a heart that is fit
with our eyes on the pies. The Lord said that the man that
is plowing and he looks back, he is not worthy to enter into
the Kingdom of Heaven. Now, dear brethren, we look side
to side and back and forwards and all the time. We may be daydreaming
while we are plowing, but the Lord Jesus Christ never lost
sight of the prize which He desired to gain. He came into the world,
and according to the angel that she told, or he or whoever the
angel was, told Joseph, said, Thou shalt call his name Jesus,
for he shall save his people from their sins. He plowed a
straight line from one end to the other. He never lost sight
of that which he was set out to do. Oh, that the Lord might
give us such a mind and heart. It says, He that putteth not
out his money to usury, nor taketh reward against the innocent,
he that doeth these things shall never be moved. Now I've heard
men speak on this as though taking interest on money was an evil
thing. That's not what it's saying at
all. Because the Lord used the example that you brought there
just a moment ago about the servant. Who didn't put His money
out to the usurers? So there is a lawful and a right
and a good way that money can be lent with interest. That's what usury is. It's gaining
interest on money. But the Lord also told the nation
of Israel in Exodus 30, I think somewhere, He said that you must
not use usury to the poor. In other words, don't take advantage
of people. When you've got somebody over
a barrel, don't take advantage of them. If they need something,
give it to them. That's basically what he said,
which is what the Lord Jesus Christ did. He didn't charge
what He did. How often have we known or seen
instances when people, and maybe even ourselves, I'm not excusing
anything, but I'm saying how often have we observed it that
somebody tries to make out like, well, we're going to help the
poor. And they go out and they might help the poor, some, but
that's not their real purpose in it. You know, all these guys,
I mean, I'm sure you all read about it, old clown from out
there in Louisiana who's begging for people to give him $54 million
to buy a jet. Now he says that he's doing that
to help folks, is he not? Well, that's a strange way to
do it, you know. Yes, that's what I'm saying. I mean,
these guys, they have no shame and people are so stupid. I'll
say it again, people are so stupid that they would give a clown
like that money. And he's claiming that he's doing
all these things to help other people. No, he's helping himself. And how often are the schemes
that men come up with to help people? You can turn the TV on,
especially late at night. And they've got these programs
on there where they're showing these little orphans and stuff.
And I'm sure that they are helping some of these orphans. But when
you dig and you find out about what they're really doing, they've
got this board of directors and the guy who's running the thing
and all this, and they're all making big salaries off of this.
Now, they might be doing some good. I'm not saying they're
not, but, dear brethren, they ought to say it, what they're
doing. It's like in these gum machines.
They've got these little signs on these gum machines. giving
money to help the blind or whatever it is. They might be giving ten
cents out of every hundred dollars to help the blind. They probably
do send them a little check. But brethren, they are not putting
that gum in there to help the poor. They are putting the gum
in there to help themselves. He that putteth not out his money
to usury. He is not taking advantage of
the poor. He's not making out like He's
doing something that He's not, nor take His reward against the
innocent. He that doeth these things shall
never be moved. The Lord Jesus Christ is not
moved from that which He undertook to do because He never did these
things. He never took a reward against
the innocent. He never did that which would
in any wise harm anybody. You see, nothing that the Lord
ever did when He came into the world made man worse off than
he was before we came. May the same be said for us. You know, when our life is done, what memory is had of us may
be that we came and we lived in this world in order that we
might magnify the name of Christ, and that we might help others
in the midst of it, and not just that we helped ourselves and
went through life taking advantage of whoever we could. He that doeth these things shall
never be moved. May the Lord give us a mind and
heart to be not moved from the things of God. And that's easy
to say, but then when we're faced with the day-to-day application
of these things, sometimes that's not so easy, is it? May the Lord
give us grace to do so, because if He does, we will, and if He
doesn't, we won't. Because we're bent away from
these things, but thanks be unto God. that our standing with the
Lord is not dependent on what we do, but it's dependent on
what Christ did. And that's our hope. If that
be not true, dear brethren, then we are of all men most memorable.
We don't have anything to stand on. We're in a mess because if
this psalm is true and that's not true, if this psalm is true
and it's not true that Christ did everything for us, we're
in a mess because we won't ever come into the presence of the
Lord.