Shall I Die Like a Dog or a Man?

I'm going to preach to you a
little different message today. I'll be using for my text Psalm
49. Psalm 49. This is an interesting
psalm. And here's the title. Now, listen
to the title. Shall I Die Like a Dog or a Man? Now, you may think that's a strange
title for a message, and I suppose it is. Shall I die like a dog
or a man? But that's exactly what David
is saying in Psalm 49, 20. I want to go to the last verse
in Psalm 49 and read it. This is the last verse. Now look
at it, Psalm 49, 20. A man that is in honor and understands
not is like the beasts that perish. What's he saying? Now let me
paraphrase it. In other words, David is saying, under divine
inspiration, he's writing, God breathed, the Lord's speaking
through him. David is saying, a man or a woman who is held
in great worldly honor, great esteem, high position, riches
and wisdom in this world, and yet does not understand does
not understand the true wisdom of God, who does not understand
the honor that comes from God, who does not understand true
riches in Christ Jesus, he is no more than the dog that
dies on the highway or the beast that perishes in the field. There's
no difference. No difference. What is this understanding? Now listen to John, 1 John 5,
20. Now listen. This is so critical. John says, and we know that the
Son of God has come and given us an understanding. David said,
a man that is in great wealth and honor and does not understand
is like a beast that perishes. that does not understand. Where
do you get understanding? Well, the Son of God has come
and given us an understanding that we may know Him, that we
may know Him that is true. There's no truth in this world.
But God's true, and we're in God that is true, even in His
Son, Jesus Christ. Now, this is the true God. And
this is life. John says, this is life. When
a man has understanding, he has God. When he has God, he has
life. He that hath the Son hath life, and he that hath not the
Son of God hath not understanding, has not life. It doesn't matter
what kind of beast it is. I've just chosen the word dog.
He perishes like a beast, dog or a cat or whatever. Now, the importance of what David
is saying here cannot be exaggerated. I don't want to die like a dog.
Driving down the highway and you see the carcass of a dog
over the side of the road where some little child's lost its
pet or some farmer's lost his sheep dog or some hunter's lost
his beagle hound, but not much else thought is given to it.
The dog perishes, the dog's annihilated, the dog's gone. And he said,
a man. No matter who he is, no matter
how much honor or how much prestige he has in this world, if he doesn't
have understanding, he dies like a dog. Understanding, understanding,
understanding the redemptive purpose and glory of God. Understanding. The glory of God in Jesus Christ
is the only thing that makes a man different from the beast.
Understanding that one thing, that's what he said. You see,
a beast, a dog, lives for today. He's had no thought of tomorrow
or life after death. A dog, an animal, lives for pleasure
right now. His concern and his interest
are in himself, in the fields, in his doghouse, in keeping warm
or cool, getting something to eat, playing with other dogs. The things about him and the
world are all he's concerned about. You know anybody like
that? Well, men who live in this fashion with no concern for their
spiritual well-being, no concern for God, no interest in God and
His grace and mercy, no understanding of spiritual things, well, like
the dog. He perishes. He lives for the
world. He dies with the world. When
the world's destroyed, he's destroyed. When his interests are gone,
when he's gone, his interests are gone. You see, what David
is saying here is actually from the loftiest place, the highest
place of fellowship with God, of eternal glory and hope and
honor, From that highest place to the uttermost depths of despair
and death and corruption is only a matter of understanding. It's understanding. It's a matter
of understanding and believing the truth of God. That's the
difference. The difference in dying like a man created in the
image of God, the difference in dying like the man Christ Jesus. Because in Christ we die with
Christ. I'm crucified with Christ. Nevertheless,
I live. I'm crucified with Christ and
seated in Christ. And the difference in dying in
the glory of God and the honor of God and to hear Him say, Come ye blessed into the kingdom
prepared for you before the foundation of the world. And dying like
a dog. like a dog on the street. The difference is understanding.
You know what he said? A man that is in honor, prestige,
power, and understands not is like a dog that dies, a beast
that perishes. You see men who have no worldly
honor at all. There are a lot of people, I
have no worldly honor at all. And men who have no worldly honor
at all, who know God are higher than the angels. That's right. They're higher than the angels.
If they know God, they're sons of God. They're accepted in the
beloved. They're seated with Christ in
the heavenlies. But men who boast of great wisdom
and riches and honor on this earth, whose names are in the
paper all the time, seen on television, famous actors, actresses, yet
who do not know God. No matter how much acclaim and
prestige and power they have now, God says when they die,
they're like a beast that perishes. Let not the rich man glory in
his riches. Let not the mighty man glory
in his might. Let not the wise man glory in
his wisdom, but let him that glorieth glory in this, that
he knows me. and understands me, God said,
Jeremiah 23, 9 and 10. Write that down. He knows. He understands. And I'm saying
to you, from the loftiest place of eternal wisdom and glory is
a step. From the deepest pit of despair
and corruption is a matter of understanding. Let's read this
Psalm. Let me paraphrase it. Psalm 49.
That's what verse 20 said, and I start with verse 1. David says,
Hear me, ye people, all of you, all the inhabitants of the earth,
listen to me. Both low and high together, both
rich and poor, you listen to me, David said. My mouth's gonna
speak wisdom. The thoughts of my heart shall
be of understanding, real understanding. I'm gonna submit a parable to
you in music. I do not fear to speak the truth
in these days of evil," he said. When men of evil and iniquity
surround me, I'm not afraid to speak the truth. I'm going to
tell you the truth. Men trust in their wealth and
boast themselves of great riches, he says, but none of them can
redeem themselves. None of them can redeem their
brothers with all their riches and honor and power and glory
and their billions and millions and their so-called wisdom and
strength. They can't provide a ransom for sinners. They cannot
redeem themselves nor their brothers, for the price of redemption is
too costly. Without the shedding of blood,
there's no remission. He put away sin with the sacrifice
of himself. It costs too much to redeem a
soul. And he says, all you fellows that trust in your wealth and
boast yourself of riches, what'll it get you? You can't save your
soul. You can't raise yourself from
the grave. You can't take yourself to glory. You can't invade the
kingdom of God. It's not for sale. They may talk
of heaven, David said, but they can't buy it. For wise men die, and fools die
too. And they all, wise men and fools,
go to the grave, and they leave everything behind them to others. They think that their houses
and their names and their memories will linger. They name buildings
after themselves, and they chisel their names in granite and marble
stones, and they leave behind trust funds, names on all kind
of things, and they think their names and their houses and their
memories are going to linger, but David said it's not so. It's
not so. Even honorable men die, and fools
die, and great men die, and nothing remains. They're like beasts
that perish. They're laid in the grave like
animals, and death and worms feed upon them. and their beauty
is consumed in the grave, and that's all it amounts to. But my God shall redeem me. I have a Redeemer. He paid the
price. He's able, fully sufficient. He's able to save to the uttermost
them that come to God by Him. He's able to present us faultless,
holy, unblameable before His throne of glory. He's able to
raise our vile bodies and make them like His own. He's able
to keep that which I've committed to Him. He's able. My God will
redeem me. It's impossible with men, but
not with God. All things are possible with
God. He shall redeem my soul from the grave, for He shall
receive me to Himself. And that's when He writes, a
man that is in honor, and does not understand this, the redemptive
glory of God is like the dogs that die. Now, I have not exaggerated
this in the least. This is exactly what David is
saying. A man who does not understand
is like a beast that perishes. I say a man that does not know
God, believe God, understand the redemptive glory of God and
the true riches of God It's like a dog that dies on the highway.
I'm saying the same thing. A man who dies without an understanding
of the true wisdom and true riches and true strength and true glory
and true honor, regardless of his station in life, dies like
a dog. What is this understanding? Let's
look at it more carefully, this understanding. What is it? It's
not in me. It's not in any preacher, it's
not in any priest, it's not in any organization. It's not in
religious tradition, it's not in the form, it's not in the
law. This wisdom, this understanding is not in philosophy, it's not
in morality. The wisdom of God, now you listen
to me, the wisdom of God is in Jesus Christ. If you read Proverbs
chapter 8, Christ is called the wisdom of God. And in 1 Corinthians
1, it says, those who believe see in Christ the wisdom and
the power of God. He says, I am the way, the truth,
and the life, the truth. You shall know the truth, and
the truth shall make you free. He of God is made unto us wisdom. He has come and given us an understanding. He said, no man knows the Father
but the Son, and He to whom the Son will reveal Him." No man
has seen God in any time. The Son has manifested Him. And God said on the Mount of
Transfiguration, This is My Son. Hear Him. Hear Him. So the wisdom and understanding
of God comes through Christ. Hear Him. You want to know what
God says? Then hear His Son. Hear Christ. He is the wisdom of God. He is
the understanding. Now, I want to give you four
or five things that we learn in Christ, that we learn at this
understanding to which we come, that separates us from the beast,
that enables us. And all men are going to die.
You're going to die. I'm going to die. Death is a
certainty, just as sure as we're standing here. It's appointed
unto me and wants to die. I want to die in Christ. I want
to die in fellowship with God. I want to die with something
ahead of me, not everything behind me, with glory awaiting and a
hope of life eternal. If a man dies, shall he live
again? Well, God says he shall. But here's what I've learned
in Christ Jesus. Now listen, here's five things.
I'll give them to you briefly. Jot them down if you want to. This is understanding. First
of all, in Christ, we learn the purpose of God. The purpose of
God. There's no way of knowing the
purpose of God apart from Christ. Now listen to this scripture
in Ephesians 1. The purpose of God. What's God doing? What's
God's grand design in this whole thing? Well, it's wrapped up
in Christ. It's revealed in Christ. Now
listen, Ephesians 1-9, having made known unto us the mystery
of God's will according to his own good pleasure which he purposed
in himself, God purposed in himself, that in the dispensation of the
fullness of time he might gather together in one all things in
Christ which are in heaven and on earth even in Christ, in whom
we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according
to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel
of his own will." What's God's purpose? If I ask you, now, do
you have any understanding? Do you have any knowledge of
God? God's eternal. Well, back before the world was
made or hurled into space, and the sun, the moon, the stars
were put in their respective places before all things, before
the morning stars sang together in the eternal counsels of God."
What was God's purpose in all this? What did God propose? What did He decree? Well, here
it tells us His purpose is in Christ, that in the ages to come,
He might gather together on a new earth and in a new heaven all
things in Christ. The purpose of God is in Christ.
God's eternal purpose is to have a people from Adam's race, every
tribe, kindred, nation, tongue unto heaven, redeemed by Christ
and made like Christ. He predestinated that we should
all be conformed to the image of His Son. John 6, 37, our Lord
said, All that my Father giveth me will come to me. and him that
cometh to me I'll in no wise cast out. This is the will of
him that sent me, that of all which he hath given me I'll lose
nothing but raise it up at the last day." God's will, God's
purpose, God's grand design and redemption is all fulfilled in
Christ Jesus and related to Christ Jesus. Now that's right. I understand this. Christ said,
Other sheep I have which are not of this foal, him I must
bring, and they will hear my voice, and there will be one
foal and one shepherd. I have some understanding of
that. Do you? And I discovered it in Christ, in his gospel,
in his life and death, in his priestly prayer, in his words. I found out God's purpose is
to have a people like Christ, loved in Christ, redeemed in
Christ, crucified in Christ, risen in Christ, seated in Christ,
and someday resurrected and made like Christ. All right? Secondly,
this wisdom. Now watch it. In Christ, we have
an understanding of the purpose of God. In Christ, we have an
understanding of the power of God. The power of God. When our
Lord talked about salvation, the disciples said, well, who
can be saved? Who can be saved? Who can be lifted from the dunghill?
Who can be made like the Son of God? Who can be cleansed from
sin? Who can be perfected? Who can
ascend into the hill of the Lord? Who can stand in His holy presence?
What is man that he should be clean? He that's born of a woman,
that he should be before God without sin. And our Lord said,
well, with men it's impossible. It's impossible. But with God,
all things are possible. My friends, I'm weary of hearing
of today's impotent God. I'm weary of hearing preachers
talk about God wants to do this, and God wants to do that, and
folks just won't let Him. Is anything too hard for God?
Men keep preaching that, though. God wants to do this, and God
wants to do that. God will do. God wants to. Let me tell you something. What
God wills to do, He'll do. What Almighty God wants to do,
He'll do. I hear preachers saying, God's
trying to show you this. God doesn't try to show anybody
anything. If God sets out to show a man
something, He'll learn it. He'll learn it. The Son will
quicken whom He will. God said, have I not spoken,
shall I not do it? My counsel shall stand, none
can stay my hand, or say unto me, what doest thou? God says,
I declare the end from the beginning. They said, David, where's your
God? He said, our God's in the heavens. He hath done whatsoever
he pleased. Whatever the Lord pleased, that
did he in heaven, earth, in the seas, and all deep places. The
next time you hear a man preaching, talking about God wants to do
this and wants to do that, and he's not able, men won't let
him, turn your television off. Turn your hearing aid down. He's
not talking about the living God. The living God does what
he sets out to do. He accomplishes what He wills
to accomplish. And nothing's too hard for God.
Nothing's too hard for God. And I see that in Christ. The
Son quickeneth whom He will. Matthew, follow me. Zacchaeus,
come down. Lazarus, come forth. You ever
known Jesus Christ attempt to do anything that He didn't do? Study His life. Whatsoever the
Lord pleased, that did he, in heaven, earth, seas, and all
deep places. All right, thirdly, this is understanding. A man
who dies without understanding dies like a dog. In Christ, we
understand the providence of God. The providence of God. God's the first cause of all
things. And we know that all things work together for good
to them who love God, who are the called according to His purpose. Nothing can separate us from
the love of God which is in Christ. When God determined to bless
Abraham, He called him and blessed him. When God determined to put
Joseph on the throne in Egypt, He put him on the throne in Egypt.
He worked all providential dealings in the life of Joseph to bring
him to the throne. When God chose His disciples,
He called them. And all things in heaven and
earth, all things good and bad, all things past, present, and
future, work together for the eternal good of His people who
are called in Christ Jesus. That's true. Hannah understood
this. She said, the Lord kills and
the Lord makes alive. The Lord maketh poor, the Lord
maketh rich. The Lord lifteth up, the Lord
bringeth down. The Lord exalted the beggar from
the dunghill. It makes him sit among princes.
Job understood this. He said, the Lord gave and the
Lord taken away. Praise the Lord. Eli understood
this. Samuel said, God's going to kill
your two sons. He said, well, it's the Lord.
Let him do what he will. Paul understood this. I am what I
am by the grace of God. Do you understand? Do you understand? You can't change God by wishing.
You can't change God by your theological patterns. You can't
change God by your feelings. God is God. Let God be true. And to understand God is a knowledge
of Christ Jesus, His divine providence. In Christ, I understand the presence
of God. No man knoweth the Father but
the Son, He to whom the Son will reveal Himself. You see, He was
in the world. Who was in the world? God was
in the world. He was in the world in the person of Jesus Christ.
The Word was made flesh and dwelt among us. And the disciples said,
Show us the Father. He said, You're looking at Him.
He that has seen me has seen the Father. God came to earth. God was in Christ reconciling
the world unto Himself. And to know the presence of God
is to know Christ. And a man who does not have Christ
knows nothing of the presence of God. He that hath the Son
hath life, and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life.
He that believeth on the Son of God hath everlasting life.
He that believeth not the Son of God, the wrath of God abideth
on him. Not the presence of God, not
the love of God, not the mercy of God, the wrath of God. God's
love's in Christ, and I promise you that. And that's true. God
loves in Christ. That's understanding the presence
of God. Anything else is presumption.
It's fool's presumption, too. Because He plainly says, He that
hath the Son hath the Father, and he that hath not the Son
of God hath not the Father. My Father and I will come and
take up our abode with Him. In Christ, fifthly, we understand
the promises of God. My friends, listen to me now.
All the promises of God are in Christ Jesus. Now that's so,
2 Corinthians 1.20, for all the promises of God are in Christ. That's what it says right there.
And they're yes, and in Him, amen, to the glory of God. There's
not a promise outside of Christ for anybody. For anybody. There's a promise of forgiveness
in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of our sins. There's
a promise of justification, therefore being justified by faith, we
have peace with God through Jesus Christ. There's a promise of
eternal life, God has given us life and this life's in His Son.
There's a promise of resurrection, because I live, you live. There's
a promise of hope, Christ in you, the hope of glory. There's
a promise of peace, He made peace through the blood of His cross.
There's a promise of rest, come unto me and I'll give you rest.
There's a promise of His presence, Lo, I'm with you always. Shall
I die like a dog or a man? You want this tape? Two dollars.
Here's the address. Till next week, God bless you.

Shall I Die Like a Dog or a Man?

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Shall I Die Like a Dog or a Man?

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