Psalm 24

Speak from Psalm 24. Will you
take your Bibles and turn with me to the book of Psalm number
24. It's just 10 verses and I'm going
to read all 10 verses. And this is what, this is a Psalm
of David. And this Psalm, very clear, David
the king of Israel, David the man after God's own heart. And
David in this Psalm clearly declares the true God. Oh, what a picture
he paints of the true and living God. And then he pictures us,
the true people of God, where they came from, who brought them,
how they were brought. And then thirdly, he shows us
the true Redeemer, he shows us the Lord Jesus Christ in a magnificent
way, in his full glory. Let's look at it, Psalm 24, will
you follow in your Bibles? The earth is the Lord's, and
the fullness thereof. the world, and they that dwell
therein. For he hath founded it upon the
seas, and established it upon the floods. Who shall ascend
into the hill of the Lord? Or who shall stand in his holy
place? He that hath clean hands, and
a pure who hath never lifted up his soul unto vanity, nor
sworn deceitful. Now he, he shall receive the
blessing from the Lord, and righteousness from the God of his salvation.
This is the generation, and this is the story of them that seek
the Lord, that seek thy face, O God of Jacob. 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. Now in verse
1 and 2, we see the true God. Here's the true God. In verse
3, 4, 5, and 6, we see the true Israel. In verse 7, 8, 9, and
10, the true Redeemer. All right, let's begin with verse
1. You follow along as I read and
comment. Verse 1 says, the earth is the Lord's. Now men live on
the earth, but the earth is the Lord's. Men live on the earth
and they divide it into countries, and they have their kings and
their presidents, they have their monarchs and their parliaments,
they have their congresses and their senates, and they call
the land their land. They have a flag, they say this
is our land, this is our homeland. And men divide the earth into
states and territories, and they elect governors, and they elect
leaders, And they fight over the boundaries. And then men
divide the earth into farms and ranches and lots and estates
and they issue title deeds. People have a folded up blue
deed, you know, there in the cupboard somewhere, there in
the desk. And they say, this is my land,
this land belonged to my father and now this land belongs to
me and it will belong to my son. Well, I've got news for you.
David said the earth is the Lord's. It does not belong to us at all. It belongs to the Lord. In Job
41.11, Almighty God said, Whatsoever is under the whole heaven is
mine. Now, you and I are but tenants.
We live on these farms and on these ranches and on these lots
and in these homes. We're but tenants and we're subject
to eviction at any moment. Did you know that? The great
owner of all things sits in the heavens, and he laughs at the
tidal deeds of the worms and the dust. The earth is the Lord's. It's the Lord's in its entirety.
It's the Lord's in its wealth. It's the Lord's in its life.
It's the Lord's in its past, in its present, and in its future.
The earth is the Lord's. All right, look at the next line.
The earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof. What does that
mean? Well, it means this. The earth
is the Lord's and the fullness thereof. God made the earth full. And he made it fit for life before
he ever put a man on this earth. It was full and fit for life.
He had all the air he needed to breathe, all the food he needed
to eat, all the water he needed to drink, everything he needed
for survival, for any amount of people on the earth, God equipped
it, God filled it, God completed it, and then he put man on it.
And the earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof. You see, the sea and the rivers
and the lakes are full of water. Despite all the water that's
used and all the water that rises, to the sun and into the clouds,
the sea, the lakes and the rivers are still full, and they've been
full for thousands of years. And the waters are full of fish,
despite all the people that feed upon them. Think how many fish
are caught every day, how many fish are eaten every hour, all
over the world, yet the sea stays full of fish. The air is full
of oxygen, notwithstanding all the lungs that breathe it, all
the animals and people that breathe the air is still full. After
all these thousands of years, it's still full. And the soil
is full, though billions of plants and billions of trees and flowers
and vegetables are growing, Think how many blades of grass, and
how many trees, and flowers, and weeds, and vegetables, draw
their nourishment from the soil, from the earth, and all the thousands
of years that's still full. It's still full, and the earth
is full of minerals, though millions take from it all the time. The
earth is the Lord's, and the fullness, he keeps it full. He filled it, and he keeps it
full. And no matter how long it'll last, it won't depend on
you. We're parasites. We live off
of it. God keeps it full. It's his and
the fullness of. Colossians 1.16 says, For by
him were all things created in heaven and earth, under the earth.
All things were created by him and for him, and by him all things
are held together. All things are held together.
All right, thirdly, the earth is the Lord's, and the fullness
thereof, the world and they that dwell therein. This is the true
God. I'm saying this, every creature,
every person, all that dwell on this earth belong to the Lord,
belong to the Lord Jesus Christ. That's right. See, in John 1,
Where it says, in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was
with God, and the Word was God, and all things were made by him.
Without him was not anything made that was made. That's Christ.
In Colossians 1, verse 16 through 18, where it says, for by him
were all things created which are in heaven and earth, dominions
and principalities and powers, all things were made for him,
by him. By him all things are held together, and he's the head
of the church, the head of the body, he's the Lord Jesus Christ. That's who I'm talking about.
These things are his, they're his by creation. He made them. And they're not only his by creation,
but they're his by decree. When he prayed in the Garden
of Gethsemane, he said, Father, thou hast given me authority
over all flesh. When he sent his disciples out
to preach, he said, all authority is given to me in heaven and
earth. So these things are his by decree, by creation, by decree,
and then thirdly, they're his by purchase. He died that he
might be Lord, both of the dead and the living. And they're his
by administration. It says, unto us a child is born,
unto us a son is given, and the what? And the government. shall
be on his shoulders. The rule of all the universe
shall be on his shoulders, and his name shall be called Wonderful
Counselor of the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince
of Peace. It's his not only by creation and by decree and by
purchase, but all things are his, all things are his by administration. He controls it, he runs it, and
all people are his. They're either his sons or his
servants, but they're his. They're either his sheep or his
goats, but they're his. They're either his vessels of
mercy or his vessels of wrath, but they're his. This is the
true God. You see, I'm not preaching an
impotent God. I'm not preaching the powerless
God that created everything and ran away. I'm not preaching a
God that depends on the creature. He said, if I was hungry, I wouldn't
ask you. I'm preaching to God to whom all things belong. The
earth is the Lord's. And the fullness thereof, the
world, and all they that dwell therein. For, look at the next
line, he founded it upon the seas. Here's the chief reason
why the earth is the Lord's. He founded it. He created it. It was God who said, let there
be life. It was God who said let the dry land appear. It was
God who said let us make man in our own image. He founded
it. He created it. He purposed it. He planned it. He hurled it into
space. He separated the water from the
land. He founded it upon the seas, the waters beneath and
the waters above. One day he covered it with water.
Can I not do with my own what I will? But he said I won't do
that again. The next time I'll destroy it by fire." You see,
he founded it upon the seas. That's an unstable foundation. Yep, he's going to destroy it
too. And then John on the Isle of Patmos in the book of Revelations,
the Revelations said, in that day, the new creation, no more
sea. No more sea. That new heaven
and new earth is on the rock. Christ Jesus. Can you enter into
the glory and majesty of the true God? Can you? I wish we
could find out who God is so we could worship him. So it would
not be true of us, what Paul said of the pagans, no fear of
God before their eyes. So that we might be wise men,
the beginning of wisdom is the fear of the Lord. So that we
might be saved men, salvation, eternal life is to know God.
Can you enter into the glory and majesty of the living God?
He said in Psalm 50 verse 10, every beast of the forest is
mine. The cattle upon a thousand hills are mine. I know all the
birds of the mountains. I count, I call the stars by
name. The wild beast of the field are
mine. If I were hungry, I would not tell you. For the world is
mine and the fullness thereof. This is the true God, the sovereign,
almighty God of heaven and earth. The earth is the Lord's, and
the fullness thereof, the world, and all they that dwell therein,
for he founded it upon the sea. Now here's the true Israel, the
people of God. The question is posed, well,
who shall ascend into the hill of the Lord? What are we talking
about the hill? We're not talking about These
little 5,000, 4,000, 3,000 foot mountains around here, we're
talking about the hill of the Lord. We're talking about the
high heaven. Paul said, I went to the third
heaven. There's the heaven above this
earth, and then there's the heaven above that, and then there's
the throne of God. And that's what he's talking
about here. Who's going to ascend into the heavens? The throne
of God, the throne of his glory. the throne of his majesty. Who's
going to ascend into the hill of the Lord? Who are the Lord's
people? Who shall stand in his holy,
holy, awesomely holy place? The question is not just who's
going to mount up there and ascend up there to that awesome light,
glory, and majesty, but who's going to abide there? Who's going
to stand there? Who's going to dwell there? Who's
going to dwell there? Well, the answer is fourfold.
Look at the next verse. Who's going to ascend into the
hill of the Lord? Who's going to abide in his presence, dwell
in his presence, stand in that holy place? He that hath clean hands, pure,
perfectly holy hands, never sinned, never transgressed God's law
in any way, thought, word, or deed. He that hath a pure heart,
who has never had a thought contrary to perfect holiness, or contrary
to the will of God, he shall stand in his presence who has
never lifted up his soul to vanity, that is, he has perfect love
for God and God's will and God's way, and has never thought contrary. His soul's never been in covetousness,
pride, or lust in any way lifted up to anything except God. Who
shall stand in his presence? He who hath never sworn deceitfully. In other words, perfect truth.
There it is. There's the true Israel of God.
There's the true people of God. That's who's going to inhabit
heaven. That's who's going to stand Who's going to ascend into
the hill of the Lord and stand in his holy place? God says that,
that's his law, that's his requirements. But you say, preacher, that doesn't
fit any human being on this earth. Fits one. Fits one. Fits one. The Lord Jesus Christ. Who shall ascend into heaven
but he who came down from heaven? the Lord Jesus Christ, but he
not only ascended into heaven, he sat down on the right hand
of God. You see that? I told you if you
ever take a look at God, then you'll see yourself. If you take
a look at his holiness, his majesty, his glory and greatness, Then
you come to this conclusion, who shall ascend into the hill
of the Lord, who shall stand in his holy place, who shall
abide in his awesome presence? He that hath clean hands, he
that hath a pure heart, he that hath never lifted his soul to
vanity nor sworn deceitfully, and there's only one, and he
shall receive the blessings from the Lord And blessed is the man
whom thou choosest and causest to approach unto thee. That man
is truly blessed. He shall receive the blessings
of the Lord. Blessed is that man to whom God will not charge
sin. And that's Christ. But that's not only Christ. Now
listen to me. But that's the blessing and righteousness
of all who are in Christ. Because Jesus Christ is a righteous
representative. He is a representative of his
people. You see, this man, Jesus Christ, this man who came to
the earth, this God-man, he's not a private person. He's a
federal head. He's a representative. You see,
in Adam, all die. In Christ, we're made alive.
In Adam, by the sin of Adam, we were made sinners. By the
righteousness of Christ, we're made righteous and holy. Adam
was a representative person. In Adam's loins was a whole human
race. God never made but one man as
Adam. One man. Everybody else came from Adam.
We're the seed of Adam. And the first man is of the earth,
earthy, and the second man is the Lord from heaven. And that's
the new people. That's the new race. That's the
mediatorial kingdom. Jesus Christ came into this world
as the second Adam, the Lord from heaven. And there's a people
in his loins, there's a people given to him, there's a people
whom he represents by his obedience, and by his righteousness, and
by his love, and by his grace. You see, Jesus Christ, the man,
was perfectly righteous before God. He had clean hands, in him
was no sin. He had a pure heart. Even the
Father said, I'm well pleased. He never lifted up his soul to
vanity. He said, thy will be done. And
he is the truth. Jesus Christ answered to the
full character laid down by God for those who would ascend into
the hill of the Lord and those who would dwell in his holy presence. He laid down the... Jesus Christ
fulfilled everything God laid down. Everything. You see, I told our congregation,
the throne of God is threefold. There's the throne of His glory,
and I know nothing of that. I don't know much about that.
There's the throne of His justice, and I don't want any dealings
with His justice. But there's a throne of His grace in Christ.
Christ our Savior, Christ our Mediator, Christ our Representative. Christ our intercessor, Christ
enthroned. I want something to do with that.
I want to be represented by him. And that question is posed. Who
shall ascend unto the hill of the Lord? Who's going to stand
in his holy place? He that's in Christ. For Christ is that
man who has clean hands, a pure heart, whose soul is holy, whose
word is true. Now, notice the last. It describes
him here. The true redeemer. And the Lord
says in 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. Now what gates do you suppose David is thinking about here? The gates of that city. The gates
of the new heaven, the new Jerusalem. The doors into the very presence
of God. Those doors and those gates have
been bowed down and closed. to all who would enter in. No
one has ever entered in. Lucifer tried. He said, I'll
be like God. I'll exalt my throne above the
stars of God. I'll go through the gate. I'll
go through the door. But the door never opened for
him. Christ said, I saw him fall from heaven like lightning. Adam
said, I'll be like God. But the door, instead he was
cast out of the garden. And God put a, God put a gate
and wouldn't even let him back in the Garden of Eden. The builders
of the Tower of Babel, they said, we'll build a, we'll build a
tower up there, we'll enter in. The gates didn't open for them.
Cain said, I'll do it by works of the flesh. The Pharisee says,
we'll walk in the gates of glory in our robes of religion. But
our Lord said, depart from me, I never knew you. And those doors,
those everlasting doors, those gates, have remained shut. They've
remained shut because nobody's approached those doors or gates
with clean hands and a pure heart and a holy soul and a word of
truth. But wait, doors. Lift up your
heads, O ye gates, and be ye lifted up, ye everlasting doors.
Here comes one He'll enter in, he's the king of glory, and the
voice comes back and says, who is this king of glory? Who would enter the doors and
the gates of God and the hill of the Lord and stand in his
place. Well I'll tell you who he is.
He's the Lord strong and mighty. He's able. He's able. He's able to do all that he promised. He's able to save to the uttermost
them that come to God by him. He's able to keep us from falling.
He's able to raise our vile bodies. And he's able to make us like
his God. He's able. He's the Lord strong
and mighty. Who is this King of Glory? He's
the Lord strong in battle. The seed of woman who bruised
the serpent's head. He said, Satan came to me and
found nothing in me. He came to you and to me and
he found plenty, didn't he? The accuser of the brethren.
He can find plenty right now, too. But he came to Christ and
found nothing. He found clean hands and a pure
heart and a holy soul and a word of truth. He's the Lord, strong
in battle. And he conquered. And on that
cross of Calvary, he said, it's finished. It's finished. Who
is this King of glory? He's the Lord, now listen, he's
the Lord of hosts. What does that mean? He's not
coming alone. Christ is not coming alone. Our
Lord Jesus Christ ascended back where he was before. He came
down to this earth. to perform a task and to do a
work and fulfill a mission. And he said, it's finished. And
then the voice cried, lift up ye heads, O ye gates, and be
ye lifted up, ye sleepy doors, with bowed heads, almost rusty
from having never been opened to any creature. Now open up,
and open wide, because the King of glory, the Lord strong in
battle, the Lord mighty in deed, the Lord of hosts is coming in,
and he's not coming alone. alone, he's bringing with him
a number which no man can number. They're in him, they're with
him, they're hopping. And they're coming in, too. Because
he said, I go to prepare a place for you, and if I go to prepare
a place for you, I'm coming back to receive you unto myself, that
where I am, there you may be also. The King of glory Lift
up ye heads, O ye gates, and be ye lift up ye everlasting
doors. The King of Globes is coming
in, the Lord of hosts, with a number as the stars of the sky and the
sands of the seashore, a number which no man can number, he's
entering in. Do you see that? Oh, to learn
these things, oh, to be taught these things, who is the Lord
God? Who is the Lord God? May he be
pleased to reveal himself to us in his majesty, in his glory,
and in his holiness, and in his grace. Who are the people of
God? They're the people in Christ,
represented by Christ, all that God requires fulfilled in Christ.
And who are those who will be received in his presence? Those
who go into glory in him and with him.

Psalm 24

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Psalm 24

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