Okay, we're looking at Psalm
15 this evening. Psalm 15, Psalm of David. We know all scriptures given
of God. David speaks as God gave him the words to pen. The Psalm of David. And the Psalm
begins with a big question. Really, the big question. And
it's asked of God Almighty, Lord. Lord, who shall abide? Who shall abide in your dwelling
place? And who shall dwell in thy holy
hill in God's heavenly presence? Now the title of the message
this evening is simply this, the question and then the answer. I like those questions we find
throughout the scripture. And I especially like those questions
that the Lord Jesus Christ, through the Gospels we read about, and
then He gives the answer to us. Don't have to sit and figure
or think about it. He gives us the question and
He gives us the answer. left to ourselves, surely we
wouldn't figure these things out, would we? But here's an
all-important and vital question for each of us to personally
consider, and that's what I want each of us to do this evening.
I want us to personally consider this vital question, and then
I want us also to consider the second part of this psalm gives
us the answer. The answer to the question, the
question of questions. It's the same as asked over here
in Psalm 24. Turn over there. Psalm 24 kind
of mirrors Psalm 15. Psalm 24, look at verse 3. Who
shall ascend into the heel of the Lord, or who shall stand
in God's holy presence, in that holy place? Well, the answer
is given. He that hath clean hands, he
that hath 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. So in other words, the man who
enters into God's presence and who enters into glory must be
a perfect man. It must be perfect to be accepted
of God. And I know that. I know this
much. In and of myself, I cannot produce what He demands. God
demands perfection and I can't produce it. But the answer to
the question is the glorious good news of the gospel. The
Lord Jesus Christ answered every demand of God's holy law in precept
and in penalty. Upon his obedience, upon his
righteousness, the sinner in Christ Jesus resting upon his
merit indeed has a good hope of salvation, a good hope through
grace, and grace alone. Now let's consider for a moment
the question that is posed here in verse 1. Lord, in this ask
of God Almighty, Jehovah, L-O-R-D, capital, Jehovah, Lord, who,
who shall abide in your tabernacle, God's tabernacle, or God's church? Church of the Lord Jesus Christ,
the church of the firstborn, or who shall dwell in heaven
above with God Almighty? Who shall be in that place? That's
the question. Who shall abide or sojourn, stay
for time in the Lord's tabernacle or the Lord's church here upon
the earth, the church below? Who shall be in that body of
Christ? and dwell in that tabernacle
that God has provided His church? Or who shall dwell or who shall
stand in that heavenly church above upon His holy hill in the
presence of the Holy Lord forever and be accepted in His presence?
Now, who shall? In other words, I think it's,
we can sum it up by saying this, or asking this, who then shall
be saved? or who then shall be justified?
By what means shall we be justified? By what means shall we be made
righteous in his sight? In the light of our recent study
from Psalm 14, we should be thoroughly convinced that salvation has
to be by the grace of God alone. Because as we studied in Psalm
14, it says in verse 3, they're all gone aside, they're together
become filthy, there is none that doeth good, no, not one. That includes you, that includes
me, that includes all the sons of Adam, from the first one on
down to the last one. So, in the light of Holy Scripture,
the answer to the question, who shall be justified? Or who shall
be saved? Who shall abide in God's holy
presence? It's only by the grace of God
through Christ Jesus. The Word of God consistently
answers that vital question only one way. There's just one answer.
There's just one answer to that question. And it's summed up
in one person, the Lord Jesus Christ. Our Lord said to Thomas,
when Thomas said, show us the way, how can we know the way? And he said to Thomas, I am the
way, the way, not a way, the Lord Jesus Christ is the way. Thomas, he said, I am not only
the way, I am all the truth, I am the truth. The truth will
set you free. The truth of who we are. The
truth of who God is. The truth of who the Lord Jesus
Christ is. The truth of what He did. The truth of what He
accomplished. All this truth. He is the truth
of all of salvation. And He is certainly the life. The life, salvation is in a person,
in Christ alone. And then our Lord said to Thomas
and the others, no man cometh unto the Father but by me. Now that's a clear, definite
answer, isn't it? He is the way, the truth, the
life. He said again in John chapter
10, he said, I am the door. Now we all understand what a
door is. A door is a means of entrance
into one room from another room. You all walked in here this evening.
None of you came in by the window, did you? All of you walked through
that door or that door. The Lord Jesus Christ is that
door. He said in John 10, I am the
door. By me, if any man enter in, he shall be saved. By me, by my merit, by my doing,
by my power. By my power. Now who will ascend
to glory? Who shall be saved? Not by our
works. Not by our doing, but by the
doing of another. Who shall ascend to glory? Who
will abide in God's holy presence? Who shall stand there and be
welcome? and be accepted and received, none by the deeds of
the law will ascend. By the deeds of the law shall
no flesh be justified. The law of God declares us guilty
before God. It exposes our disease, but does
not provide the remedy. None by the deeds of the law
shall ascend. If righteousness is by the law, you remember that
verse in Galatians 2, 24? If righteousness is by the law,
then Christ is dead in vain. So none by the deeds of the law
shall ascend to God's presence. None by the ceremonies of religion
will abide in His holy presence. You know, the Jews and the Pharisees,
they tried that for a while, didn't they? Didn't work too
good, did it? Our Lord said to those self-righteous
Jews, you are they which justify yourselves before men. But God
knows your problem, your heart, that which is highly esteemed.
And isn't religious ceremony among men highly esteemed? It
is. Tradition's highly esteemed.
But our Lord said, that's an abomination unto me. None can ascend that way, can
they? By the deeds of the law, by the ceremonies or tradition,
of religion, none by merit and the righteousness of the flesh,
none will stand in his presence. Now, you remember back at Psalm
5, turn over there, back to Psalm 5. Look what it says. Who's going to
stand in his holy presence? Look at verse 5, the foolish
shall not stand in thy sight God hates all workers of iniquity. You remember over here in Psalm
7? God is angry. I guarantee you, you won't hear
this verse quoted in what we call mainstream religion today. God's angry with the wicked every
day. They camp and they talk about
the love of God, the love of God, the love of God, and they
forget that God is holy. Remember the sermon Jonathan
Edwards preached years ago, sinners in the hands of an angry God. You know all through the book
of Acts and all the preaching of the apostles, you know how
many times in all the sermons that's recorded to the book of
Acts, that those apostles told sinners to whom they preached
that God loved them? Zero. Matter of fact, do a word
search on it, check me out. The word L-O-V-E is not written
one time in the book of Acts, not one. They talked about God's
holiness. They talked about the justice
of God. They talked about the righteousness
of God revealed in Christ Jesus. That's what we need to hear.
That's what we need to hear, how God saves sinners in Christ
Jesus. Now verse 2, 3, 4, and 5 gives
us the right answer, the right answer. You can't go wrong You
can't go wrong in trusting the answer because the answer comes
from God who knows all things. The Lord says this. Lord, who
shall ascend? Here's what he says. Verse 2,
he that walks uprightly, he that works righteousness, and he that
speaks truth, truth in his heart before God. Now let's consider
the Lord's answer. You know, He is the only safe
source of all information. He's the only safe, He's the
reliable source. His word can be trusted. His
Word is true. His Word is eternal. His Word
will never fail. His promises are certain and
sure. All information concerning our
salvation is certain and true. All that God says about that
salvation in Christ Jesus is certain and true. It's not what
we think about it. It's not what do others say about
the way of salvation. What does the Lord say? What
does His Word teach? His Word is the final authority. His Word is the final answer. His Word is all the answer. Everything
we need to know relative to God, Christ, sin, salvation is found
in that book you have right here in your lap. God's truth, God's
Word, God's Bible. Let's read it and study it. Let's
preach from the Word of God. Thus saith the Lord. The Lord
Jesus Christ is the only one that can fully
answer to the description that's given here. In fact, the Lord
Jesus Christ has already ascended. and is seated on the throne of
God, representing His covenant people. He is a forerunner. We just read a moment ago from
Hebrews 6. He is a forerunner who has entered
into God's presence within the veil for us. When He by Himself
purged our sin, He sat down on the right hand of God. The Lord
Jesus Christ, my friend, has entered in to glory for us as
the representative God-man mediator. Every believer in the Lord Jesus
Christ, all of God's elect, the bride, His church, they have
already entered in with Him within the veil. That's right. You say,
well, preacher, are you sure about that? Well, what does God's
Word say? Turn back to Psalm 24. You remember
our study from Ephesians chapter 2, when he talks about, but God
who is rich in mercy for his great love wherewith he loved
us, even when we were dead in sin, has quickened us together
with Christ and has raised us up together and made us to sit
together in the heavenlies, where? In Christ Jesus. Now look at
Psalm 24. Let's begin. 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. Well, who is this King of glory? Well, 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,
the one who is King of kings and Lord of lords, the King of
glory, the Lord of hosts, He is the King of glory. Who is
the King of Glory? He is the Lord of hosts. He's Lord of a people. And what's
true of Him is true of the body. Where He is, that's where the
body is, in Christ Jesus. Already seated in the heavenlies
in Christ Jesus. Now these following verses in
Psalm 15, these following verses are fit and full description
of the Lord Jesus Christ. This is a description of His
person, His work, and His salvation. Notice verse 2. We see His walk,
we see His work, we see His words. You see that in verse 2? He that
walketh uprightly. Now I want to have a good walk,
I want to be a moral man, but I'll never enter God's presence
upon my walk. Never. It says, secondly, he
that worketh righteousness. Now I want to be just as straight
as I can be, upright as I can be, and do what I can do, but
never, I'll never merit God's presence upon the work of my
righteousness, because God said it's filthy rags. And he that
speaketh the truth in his heart. Now I want to speak the truth,
don't you? I want to speak the truth. But you know what? I want
to shock you here. The only time that any of us
speak the absolute holy truth is when we read, thus saith the
Lord. Everything else is questionable. I'm talking about absolute truth,
eternal truth. You see, my friend, this is a
description of the Lord Jesus Christ, and this is the good
news of the gospel. Most people in religion today
would take this and preach salvation by what you do. And really, if
you're honest with yourself, you know where that will lead
you to? Despair. Depression. Helplessness. Because
God demands that we walk perfect before him. The righteousness
he demands is a perfect righteousness. And the truth that he demands
is perfect truth. Now who met those qualifications? None but my blessed Savior. None
but him. Paul was an upright man, the
Apostle Paul. John and Peter and all of them.
But man, read the record. Peter denied the Lord. I don't
know the man. You sure? And then he cussed
like an old drunk sailor. Yeah, I don't know him. And then
50 days later, he's preaching the glorious gospel the day of
Pentecost. His walk wasn't perfect, was
it? But did he walk in the glory? Absolutely. Upon whose merit? Not Peter's. Upon the merit of
Christ. The Lord Jesus Christ, He walked
as our representative man before God's holy law. He walked perfectly. He never had a bad thought. His motive was absolutely pure
motive. His motive was purely the glory
of God. I've never done anything totally,
completely for the glory of God. You haven't either. Let's be
honest now. He had every motive. It was a
pure motive to the glory of God. He walked perfectly before God. That's my righteousness. That's
my obedience. Isn't that good news? And then
it says, the Lord Jesus Christ, He worketh righteousness. Oh,
He worked out a perfect righteousness for us. He is called, matter
of fact, He is called the Lord, our righteousness. Turn to Psalm
71, look at this. Psalm 71. That's why we say here, you want
to mark this. Get ready to mark this scripture.
You want to mark this. You want to save this and read
it again. Psalm 71 verse 1, In thee, O Lord, do I put my trust.
Let me never be put to confusion. Now Psalm 71 verse 2, Deliver
me in thy righteousness and cause me to escape. Incline thine ear
unto me and save me. Now, if you read the rest of
Psalm 71, it mentions here in Psalm 71, it mentions that righteousness
five or six times. His righteousness. His righteousness. His righteousness. Look at verse
16. I will go in the strength of
the Lord. I will make mention of thy righteousness, even thine
only. We're going to talk about His
righteousness. And one of the apostles, Paul,
said, I count all things but loss that I might win Christ
and be found in that righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ. It
says in Isaiah 42, 21, you remember that scripture? Have you got
that one marked? Let's turn over there and read it. Isaiah 42,
you want to mark this one. We often say the Lord Jesus Christ
honored the law. Where do we get that from? Isaiah
42, look at verse 21. He is the Lord, our righteousness. Isaiah 42, 21. Isaiah 42, verse
1, tells us who this chapter is about. My elect in whom my
soul delights. That's Christ. Verse 21 says,
the Lord is well pleased for His righteousness sake. He will magnify the law and make
it honorable. He honored the law of God for
us. So he that walketh uprightly,
he did. He that worked out a perfect
righteousness for us, he did in his life. You see, he's not
working out a righteousness for himself. Well, he is righteous,
but as a God-man mediator, he's honoring the law as a man for
his covenant people. He's working out a perfect righteousness
acceptable to God by every precept of the law. He honored all 800
of those precepts perfectly. He walked uprightly. He worketh
righteousness. And then it says thirdly, he
speaks. When he speaks, he speaks truth. in his heart, from his
heart. He spoke the will of God, the
word of God. Psalm 40, turn there. Psalm 40. Look at verse 7. Then said I, lo,
I come in the volume of the book, it's written of me, verse 8,
Psalm 40, I delight to do thy will, O my God. Yea, thy law
is within my heart. I have preached righteousness
in the great congregation. He was a preacher. He spoke the
truth. in the great congregation. I
have not refrained my lips, O Lord, thou knowest. I have not hid
thy righteousness within my heart. I have declared your faithfulness,
your salvation. I have not concealed thy loving
kindness and thy truth from the great congregation." He spoke
the truth. He is the truth. It says in the Gospels, concerning
the Lord Jesus Christ. You remember the Pharisees sent
out some men to arrest him one day? And the Pharisees were kind of
surprised when those soldiers came back, or those that were
sent out from the Pharisees, those servants of the Pharisees,
I guess they were soldiers to some degree, But they came back
without the Lord Jesus Christ. They were sent to arrest him,
and they came back in there, and the Pharisee said, well,
where is he? You remember what they said?
He said, never a man spake like that man. His word was with power,
and we couldn't touch him. He speaks absolute truth. I tell you, the truth that he
speaks will set us free. Pilate said to him, what is truth?
He was looking at truth right in the face and didn't see truth. Never man spake like that man.
Oh, his words are with power. You remember from Psalm 12 verse
6, the words of the Lord are pure words as silver tried in
the furnace of earth and purified seven times. Oh, he speaks absolute
truth in his heart. Now, aren't you glad that the
Lord Jesus Christ is our substitute, that he lived for us, that he
worked out righteousness for us? Isn't it a blessed thing
to rest in him and to enter into God's presence upon his merit,
upon his righteousness? Well, say, preacher, if you preach
like that, folks will just live like they want to. Let me tell
you something, God's people do live like they want to. That's
right. And their want to is to love
the Lord Jesus Christ. I like what old brother Maurice
Montgomery used to say. I guess he still does it. But
I remember him saying this years ago. He said, love the Lord Jesus
Christ and do what you will. Love Him and do what you will. I tell you, God changes our want
to. God changes our desire. God changes our heart. Our mind,
our attitude, our thinking, our disposition. He gives us a new
nature. If any man be in Christ, he's
a new creature. Old things are passed away. Behold,
all things have become new. I'm not worried about God's people.
He'll keep them by His power. Look at verse 3. Read on. Still
again, this is describing the blessed Savior, the Lord Jesus
Christ. He speaks absolute truth. He
backbiteth not with his tongue. He came to do the will of God.
He never, you know what a little child, when a little child gets
out of sort with mama and sasses back to mama or to daddy, you
ever done that? Gosh, you didn't. We've all done
that. Come on, fess up. The Lord Jesus
Christ never talked back to His Heavenly Father, but was in absolute
submission, not my will, but Thy will be done. He backbiteth
not with his tongue. Perfect submission. Perfect submission. Who but the Lord Jesus Christ
can it be said that he does not speak back? That he does not
backbite with his tongue? Nor doeth evil to his neighbor? Nor taketh up reproach against
his neighbor? Who but the Lord Jesus Christ
is this describing? has never done evil toward one
who was his neighbor. In Nazareth where he grew up,
there in the carpenter's shop, working there among that neighborhood,
he never had an evil word toward his neighbor, nor reproached
his neighbor. Who but the Lord Jesus Christ
hath loved his neighbor, that's what the law requires, loved
his neighbor as himself. The law requires, it's written
in Leviticus 19, thou shalt love thy neighbor as yourself. That's what the law demands.
You know what? We've never done that, nor will
we ever do that. Now, I appreciate my neighbor.
I've got some good neighbors, but I've got to confess, I don't
love him as I do myself. I appreciate him, but I don't
have that capacity. It's not within me. It was within
him. He's the perfect man. What the law demands, he perfectly
performed for us. Look at verse 4. in whose eyes
the wicked vile is contemned. He's of pure eyes
and to behold evil, it says in scripture. In whose eyes a vile
person is despised. He righteously condemned the
wicked. Who but the Lord Jesus Christ
can uniformly and righteously contemn or despise the wicked
without respect to person, and do it in perfect holiness? None
but Him. Look what it says there in the
second part of verse 4. He not only despises the vile,
the wrath of God abides on those who believe not, the righteous
wrath of God, but he honoreth them that fear the Lord. He honors those who fear the
Lord. He bestows His grace abundantly
upon those who bow in reverence unto the Lord. The fear of the
Lord is the beginning of wisdom. And we love Him only because
He first loved us. He honors those who worship Him
in spirit and in truth. He seeketh such to worship Him
in spirit and in truth. Look at the last part of verse
4. Still describing the Lord Jesus Christ. He that sweareth
to his own hurt, he took an oath to his own death. He sweareth
to his own hurt, and he does not change. Now two things here.
He sweareth to his own hurt. Who but the Lord Jesus Christ
could it be said he never swerved in his eternal purpose, even
though It cost Him His life, His life blood, and a bloody
death. He took an oath to His own death. You remember in Mark 8, our Lord
said these words to His disciples as He was in Jerusalem a few
days before the crucifixion. And in the temple He began to
teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things, be rejected
of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed and
after three days, rise again. He said, I must go to Jerusalem. I must die. He sweareth to his
own hurt. How he personally suffered in
the accomplishment of our salvation as a man of sorrow. He was obedient
unto death, even the death of the cross. He swareth to his
own hurt as a surety of those covenant people. You see that?
Proverbs chapter 11, Proverbs 11 verse 15, don't turn, let
me just read it to you. He that is surety for a stranger
shall suffer for it. And he did, he did. Hebrews 7.22,
the Lord Jesus Christ is made a surety, a surety of a better
covenant. The covenant is the everlasting
covenant of grace. It's the everlasting covenant
in His blood. He's a surety. And He took an
oath to His own death. The last part of verse 4. You
see how this describes Him perfectly, doesn't it? Our Savior, God our
Savior. Of who can it be said that changes
not? You see that? He changes not. Now you know what? We all change. We all change. Every day we change.
Every day we get older. Every day we get uglier. I do.
We get wrinkled. We change every day. One day
we're happy, one day we're sad. One day we're up, one day we're
down. One day we're healthy, one day we're sick. We change
all the time. You know what? He never changes. He's the constant. He's constantly
holy. He is constantly eternal. With
Him, there's no variable in us, neither shadow of turning. He
never changes. Oh, thou who changeth not. Abide
with me, change and decay, all around I see, thou who changes
not, O Lord abide with me, he changes not. He changes not in his character,
how long has he been holy? From everlasting to everlasting
he's gone, he never changes in his character, his love has never
changed. He's loved his people with an
everlasting love. His power, has it ever changed?
Has his power ever been diminished? He never changes in his character.
His love, his mercy, his grace, it's unchanging. You see what
he's saying here? He changes not. Malachi 3 verse
6 declares, I am the Lord. I am the Lord. Remember the rest
of it? I change not. Therefore, he sons
of Jacob, You connivers, you cheaters, sinners! Because I
change not, therefore you sons of Jacob are not consumed. See,
we change all the time. He never changes. His salvation's
never changed. The first sinner he saved, Adam. I believe Adam was saved. God
killed an animal, sacrificed, blood sacrificed, and clothed
him. That's a picture of salvation in Christ. And the last man that's
ever saved redeemed exactly the same one in Christ, by His blood,
by His grace. He changes not. Hebrews 13, 8. You remember that verse? Speaking of the Lord Jesus Christ,
He's the same yesterday, today, and forever. He never changes.
Aren't you glad He never changes? This is a faithful saying, worthy
of all acceptation. He came to save sinners. He never
changes. That's good news, isn't it? Luke
verse 5. He putteth not out his money to usury, interest, nor taketh
reward against the innocent He that doeth these things shall
never be moved. Again, this is talking about
the Lord Jesus Christ. Who but the Lord Jesus Christ
could it be said that he never misused or abused poor sinners? The poor and needy. He thinketh
upon the poor and needy. But rather he gave off his riches
to secure our salvation. 2 Corinthians 8-9 declares, you
know the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich,
yet for your sakes he became poor, that you through his poverty
might be made rich. We have an eternal inheritance
in Christ Jesus. We've been made heirs of God
and joined heirs with the Lord Jesus Christ. We have an inheritance
that's incorruptible, undefiled, it fades not away. You see, he
gave everything. all the riches of his person. He laid down his life for us.
Something else it says there, nor taketh reward against the
innocent. He came not to take away from
us, except the fact he came to take away our sin, but he came
to give himself as a sacrifice for our sin. Romans 8, 32 declares,
he that spared not his own son, but delivered him up for us all,
how shall he not with him also freely give us all things in
Christ Jesus? You see, he came to heal the
brokenhearted. He came to set the captive free.
But rather, he did choose the poor and needy of this world
and made them rich in faith to be the heirs of the kingdom of
grace while sending the so-called rich
in righteousness away empty. He came to save sinners. He came
to reward his elect with all of salvation. The last part of
verse 5, and I'll quit, He that doeth these things will never
be moved. Now who doeth these things? Who
doeth these things? Christ, the Lord Jesus Christ.
Christ is the solid rock upon which we stand. He's the anchor
of our soul. You remember Isaiah 28, 16, And
behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation of stone, a tried stone, a precious
cornerstone, a sure foundation. He that believeth on him shall
never be moved. You see, you can't move the believer.
You know why? The believer's on the rock. To move the believer, you've
got to move the rock, and that rock is Christ. You see, he shall
never be moved, shall never be moved. He has merited and earned
eternal life for us by the virtue of his holiness, his purity he
gained for us an eternal paradise that can never be lost. Adam
lost that first paradise, didn't he? the eternal paradise we have
in Christ, we can never lose. He has entitled his covenant
people to enter into the joy of the Lord. He says that in
Matthew 25. Then shall the king say unto them on his right hand,
Come ye blessed of my father, inherit the kingdom prepared
for you. from the foundation of the world.
That's that covenant that David rejoiced in on his deathbed that's
ordered in all things and it's sure that it's all my hope and
all my salvation. I shall not be moved. The hymn
writer put it this way, upon a life I did not live, upon a
death I did not die. Another's life, another's death.
I rest my hope eternally upon Christ. Upon the merit of His
perfect obedience do we have an everlasting righteousness
freely given unto us. As a matter of fact, you want
to say, turn and mark this in your Bible, you want to mark
this, Psalm 57. Psalm 57, verse 2. I will cry unto God most high,
unto God that performeth All things for me. All things. All things. Upon the merit of His perfect
obedience, we have everlasting righteousness freely imputed
unto us. Upon the sacrifice of His precious
blood do we have full and complete pardon from all sin. The blood
of Jesus Christ, God's Son, cleanses us from all sin. In closing, let me read this
to you. By one man's disobedience, many were made sinners. So by
the obedience of another, shall many be made. The many shall
be made righteous. Moreover, the law entered that
the offense might abound, but where sin abounded, grace does
much more abound. That has sin, as sin hath reigned
unto death, even so might grace reign through Righteousness,
whose? Christ. Unto eternal life by
Jesus Christ our Lord.