Death - Their Shepherd and Hell - Their Dwelling

David began, Hear this, all ye
people, give ear all ye inhabitants of the world, both low and high,
rich and poor together. Now how difficult it is, and
you know and I know how difficult it is to get someone's ear. Our Lord said they have ears,
but they don't hear. They have eyes, but they don't
see. It is a willful closing of the
ear and shutting of the eye against the Word of God. And again, our
Master said, He that hath ears to hear, let him hear. This is
the way David begins this psalm. Hear this. Now hear this. When I was in the Navy, when
any announcement was made over the loudspeaker on board the
ship, it was always preceded with these three words, hear
this and you better listen now hear this and this is what David
is saying here now hear this now hear this but men have closed
their ears they will not listen but this I know this I know and
if you don't hear the rest of it hear this he who will not
hear God speak in grace He who will not hear, whether
you're 15 years old or whether you're 50, if you won't hear
God speak in grace, I guarantee you, you'll be listening when
he says, depart from me, I never knew you. You'll hear that. You'll
hear that. You may not hear his inviting
voice, but you'll hear his voice when it says depart. You may
not hear his warning voice, but you'll hear his voice when the
day of warning is over. And he says, cast him into everlasting
fire, where the worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched.
So it would be well for us to, at least for 30 minutes a week,
to tune our ears to God, wouldn't it? To tune our ears to God. And David says, hear this, all
ye people, all ye people, give ear, all ye inhabitants of the
world, both low and high, rich and poor. Now, the intellectual
may adjust his message so that he speaks to the educated, and
the bulger may entertain the coarse and the foolish, and the
polished orator may speak to the rich, and the emotional raver
may speak to the poor, but the true servant of God, now listen
to me, has a message for all people. The true messenger of
God has a message for all people, all classes. And any time a man
has to adjust either his message or his manner or his methods
because of any son of Adam in his congregation, he loudly proclaims
that he didn't get that message from God, nor did he get his
call from God. That's right. This is what David
is saying, hear this, this right here. All we like sheep have
gone astray. We've turned everyone to his
own way, and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.
That's pretty universal, isn't it? We don't have a different
version of the Bible for the lawyer and one for the farmer.
Our Lord Jesus Christ didn't preach one way to the Pharisee
and another way to the publican. He preached the same message.
He didn't adjust either his mannerisms or his manners or his methods
or his message for any class. That's right. This is what David
is saying here. And the true messenger of God
will be heard by all men, the common man or the king, like
John the Baptist. All Judea went out to hear him,
even King Herod. The Pharisees were there. King
Herod was there. The soldiers were there. John
preached one message. I've heard preachers say, well,
God called me to preach to this class or that class God called
us to place to one place, sinners. Paul summed it up when he said,
this is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation. Acceptation
by all. That Jesus Christ came into the
world to save sinners. Sinners. And the man who because
of his power or prestige or position or possessions or whatever, who
cannot find his place at the feet of Christ with the harlot
or the publican or the common man, You waste your time to try
to bring him to Christ. You waste your breath. All right,
we have one message, and that's what David is saying here, to
the high and to the low, to the rich and to the poor, together!
See that word? Together! Verse 3, My mouth shall speak,
and in another translation it left off the ah, I suppose it
doesn't make a great deal of difference, but my mouth shall
speak wisdom. Now listen to this. The prophet
of God is not praising his knowledge. He says my mouth shall speak
wisdom. If it doesn't, we got no business
in opening our mouth. That's right. If we're not going
to speak God's wisdom, we certainly don't want to hear foolishness.
My mouth shall speak wisdom, but he's not praising his knowledge
or his own attainment. He is inspired and lifted beyond
himself. Any man who speaks for God is
lifted beyond himself. He's inspired beyond his wisdom
and his knowledge and his ability. It's not our word, but God's
word we preach. Paul said to Timothy, preach
the word. It's not our wisdom, but his
wisdom that we present. And he who speaks his own words
and his own wisdom has no right to demand a hearing. The psalmist says, now hear this,
all you people, low and high, rich and poor, together, my mouth
is going to speak wisdom. Not my wisdom, because I'm one
with you, but I'm going to speak God's wisdom. And he who has
not the word of wisdom from the throne has no right to demand
the hearing or to expect the hearing. I hear preachers stomping
and fuming because their people don't come to hear them. Perhaps
they don't have any reason to come to hear them. My mouth shall speak wisdom.
Now watch this. The meditation of my heart shall
be of understanding. What's he saying? He's saying
this. He says, you hear me, all of you, my mouth's going to speak
wisdom beyond my own, God's wisdom. I rise above myself. My mouth
shall speak wisdom, and the meditation of my heart shall be of understanding. That is, he's saying this, a
man cannot speak with understanding what he has never experienced
in his heart. No way. Perhaps that's why, and
I offer this suggestion, perhaps that's why when many times you
hear people speak from the Bible and you go away saying, well,
I really don't understand what he was saying. The reason you
don't is he doesn't. That's right. That's very simply
what he's saying right here. A man cannot speak with understanding,
he cannot explain what he has not experienced, he cannot put
in everyday words what he has not experienced in everyday grace
and life. That's what he said. My mouth
is going to speak wisdom. Now here's another thing he said.
My mouth is going to speak what I've experienced in my heart.
You say, well I just can't, I just can't put this into words. so that people can understand.
If we experience it, we can. That's what he's saying. I'm
going to speak wisdom. The meditation of my heart shall
be of understanding. And he's saying this, the help
of the Holy Spirit does not rule out our mental and meditative
powers, those who preach the Word. The Holy Spirit does inspire
us, but now I know what I'm saying. I feel tonight I'm speaking under
the Liberty and option of the Holy Spirit, but I know what
I'm saying And I'm wording these things in words, which my heart
understands and which my heart has experienced Trying to preach
to you what God has shown to me The Holy Spirit does not rule
out a man's mental and meditative powers We don't speak as Balaam's
ash Balaam's ash spoke words, but he didn't understand Cecil
the meaning of them God's preachers don't preach that way Now, if
you think for a moment they do, if you think that God, the man's
going to get up and God's going to give him the words to say,
you're dead wrong. God will enable him to bring
a message in words that he understands. And if he does not, first of
all, in heart meditation and experience, understand, he can't
preach it to you. It just can't be done. That's
what David's saying, my mouth shall speak, wisdom, the meditation
of my heart shall be of understanding." God first gives us, who speak
the words of wisdom, the heart to understand. Now listen to verse 4, and this
is what he says, I will incline mine ear to a parable. I will
incline my ear to a parable. In other words, he who would
have others listen to him must begin first by listening to God When we exhort others to pray,
we must pray. When we exhort others to read
God's Word, we must read God's Word. When we exhort others to
hear, we must hear. He's saying here that the psalmist
is talking, I'm going to incline my ear to a parable, to a proverb,
to this which God is speaking. The truth came to the psalmist
as a parable, and he listened to it. He listened to it until
he was able to translate it into the words of a song. Listen,
I will incline my ear to a parable and I'll open my dark saying
upon the heart. God has taught me something in
a proverb, in a parable, and I listened to it and I experienced
it. And he applied it to my own heart.
And now he says, I'm going to take this mystery I'm going to
take this proverb, I'm going to take this parable, and he
says, I'm going to play it upon my heart and sing it for you
in words you can understand. Or I'm going to preach it to you.
Turn to Numbers 12. I want you to look at this right
here, Numbers chapter 12. Preaching the gospel is not a
vocation. And we say that so often. Preaching
the gospel is a calling. It's not a profession. It is
a calling. It is a supernatural gift which
God gives to sometimes the most unorthodox vessels, the most
unexpected places, the weakest vessels. That way he gets the
glory. In Numbers 12, verse 6, and he said, If there be a prophet
among you, I, the Lord, will make myself known unto him in
a vision. I will speak unto him in a dream. That's got to come first. God's
got to speak to the prophet before the prophet can speak to the
people. My servant Moses is not so who is faithful in all mine
house. With him will I speak mouth to
mouth even unto him. Apparently, and not in dark speeches,
in the similitude of the Lord shall he behold. Wherefore then
were you not afraid to speak against
my servant Moses?" What he is saying about the Prophet here
is that he is going to understand first. He is going to realize
first. He is going to have it applied
first to his heart, and then he can present it. And that is
what he is saying here in verse 4. He's in verse 3, my mouth
shall speak wisdom, the meditation of my heart shall be of understanding,
I'll incline my ear to a parable, and I'll open my dark saying
upon the heart, I'll open it. All right, here it is now, verse
5. Wherefore should I fear in the days of evil, when the iniquity
of my heels shall compass me about? Now this is the principal
thing that we're called to hear. He says, now hear this, all you
people. All you inhabitants of the earth,
hear this. This is the wisdom that the psalmist
meditated upon. This is the parable that he would
open. This is the dark saying that he would make known. What
is it? Here's what it is. Wherefore should I fear in the
days of evil?" In other words, the believer has nothing and
no one to fear, even in the worst of times. That's what he's saying.
The believer has nothing and no one to fear in the most evil
of days. That's what he's saying. That
is the parable. That's what he's learned. That's
what he would preach. The believer has nothing to fear.
in the days of evil. Now some people, we have many
interpretations of these days of evil. Some people say that,
some writers have said, these are the evil days of affliction
and trial when some depart from the faith. But the true believer
has nothing to fear from affliction or trial. And then others say
it's days of apostasy and error when the love of many waxes cold.
The believer has nothing to fear. Others say it's the days of old
age, which brings disease and loneliness and trial. Others
say it's the days of death and judgment, which will be evil
days for many. But in Jesus Christ, we have
no cause to fear. He said, I'll never leave you,
I'll never forsake you. That is the basis of this whole
psalm right here. That is what he wishes to make
known. Hear this, the true believer has nothing to fear, no one to
fear. regardless of the days of evil.
Now then, what does he mean here, when the iniquity of my heels,
you heard Joe read it a moment ago, did it trip you a little
bit? It did me. When the iniquity
of my heels shall compass me about. Well, the best translation
that I can find, and this makes sense, I want you to listen to
it. The believer has nothing to fear in the days of evil,
whether they're days of apostasy or error or trial or affliction
or old age or death or judgment or whatever. Some translate this,
and when the iniquity of those who would supplant me, what does
the word supplant mean? It means to take away by plotting. It means to remove and replace
with something else. So when the iniquity of those
who would take away my inheritance, take away my joy, take away my
confidence, take away my assurance. When they surround me on every
side, I have nothing to fear. Now the reason I agree with this
translation is because the word heal here is the same word over
here in Genesis 25. Will you turn over there a minute,
Genesis 25. And this is really one of the first things I thought
of when I When I read this, when the iniquity of my heels shall
compass me about. Genesis 25, look at verse 24. And when her days to be delivered
were fulfilled, behold there were twins in her womb. The first
came out red all over like a hairy garment, and he called his name
Esau. And after that came his brother out, and his hand took
hold on Esau's heel. His name was called Jacob. What
does that name mean? I'll turn over to Genesis 27,
verse 36. You picture here, and also that
scripture talks about Satan bruising Christ's heel. But this one here,
that's the same word too, but when the boys were born, the
first one came from the womb and then Jacob came and he took
hold of Esau's heel. And then he said in Genesis 27
verse 36, here Esau is lamenting the loss of his birthright, the
loss of the blessing and all these things, and he said, he
is not be rightly named Jacob, that he is a supplanter, For
he hath supplanted me, he hath deceived me, he hath taken away,
he hath taken my place." Two times. He took away my birthright
and now he's taken away my blessing and he said, don't you have reserved
a blessing for me. So here the psalmist using the
same picture, using the same word, he says, you listen, the
believer has nothing to fear. The child of God, the one who
rests in Christ, has nothing to fear, no one to fear, no matter
the evil of the day. And even when the iniquity of
those who would supplant me, Satan, my own flesh, the powers
of evil, the powers of darkness, principality, just like Jacob
grabbing Esau's heel, and he did, he took his place. Esau
was the first born, but Jacob literally took his place in everything. And the psalmist says here, I
have nothing to fear, even when all of these enemies desire to
take my place, to rob me of my place, to supplant me, to take
away by plotting, to remove and replace me with something else,
I have nothing to fear, I will not fear. Now verse 6, Our foes
may be the so-called great ones of the earth. Listen to that.
They that trust in their wealth and boast themselves in the multitude
of their riches. Those are supplanters. Those
are enemies of the gospel. Their trust and foundation. What
is their trust? Not the Lord. Their trust is
their position, their wealth, their strength. And it makes
them lofty in their own esteem. And it makes them cruel toward
others. Did you ever notice how often That powerful men are cruel
men. And men of great wealth are cruel
men. And people with high position
and authority, they become cruel. They mistreat those beneath them. They trust in this wealth. They
boast themselves in the multitude of their riches. But the heir
of heaven, listen, the child of God, is not awed by wealth. He's not cowed by power. He's
not impressed with position, for when he compares his foundation
beside that man's foundation, it would be folly to envy him,
and it would be folly to fear him. That man's foundation is
his natural strength, his power, his wealth, his position, and
when we look at our foundation, our rock compared to his rock,
shifting sands what it is, There's no reason to fear him or to envy
him. Look at verse 7. For none of
them can by any means redeem his brother or himself, nor give
to God a ransom for him. With all their wealth, with all
their accumulated possessions and strength and power, they
can neither redeem themselves nor their companions. They all
stand helpless before sin, helpless before death, helpless before
judgment. Give God a ransom, what would
you give him? What should it profit a man to gain the whole
world and lose his soul? What should a man give in exchange
for his soul? What would you give God for a
ransom? They can't ransom or redeem themselves, they can't
ransom or redeem their brothers. Verse 8, listen to this, for
the redemption or the ransom is too costly. And the price
that they pay is never enough. It takes the blood of Christ
to redeem a sinner. It takes the obedience of the
Son. It takes the righteousness of God's Son. It takes the intercession
of his beloved. It takes the person of Christ
Jesus. These people, they cannot, with
all their wealth and riches and power, they cannot redeem themselves
or their brothers, they cannot give to God a ransom for themselves
or for others. Verse 9, that he should live
forever and not see corruption. Did you note while Joe was reading,
verse 8 is in parenthesis? If you lift that verse out temporarily
and read it this way, Verse 6 says, they that trust in their wealth,
material wealth, their power, their position, their strength,
boast themselves in the multitude of their riches, none of them
can by any means redeem, some translations say himself or his
brother, nor give to God a ransom for him that he should live forever
and not seek corruption. They may be able to purchase
material things and physical things, but they can't purchase
life. We're talking about the price
required by God's holy law and God's holy justice that a man
may live forever and not see corruption. There'll come a time. I read this one time. I think
it's very interesting. We can't imagine such a day,
but there'll come a time when thousand-dollar bills will be
as worthless as dirty paper blowing in the street. Have you ever
walked down the street in some cities that aren't very clean,
and dirty paper blows by you? The wind picks up dirty paper
and confetti and just blows it by. None of you think to stop
and pick it up and put it in your pocket. You wouldn't dare.
It's worthless paper. It's dirty paper. It's unwanted
paper. There'll come a time when thousand dollar bills will be
just as worthless as that dirty paper blowing in the street.
There'll come a time when gold dust, and I was listening to
the radio today and they said gold's two hundred and forty-one
dollars an ounce. There'll come a time when a truckload
of that stuff will be as worthless to you and as annoying as sand
in your shoes. There'll come a time when diamonds
will be worth no more to you than rocks or clods in your garden.
There'll come a time when the praises of men will be as holler
as two thieves praising the evil of one another. That time's coming. And that time is what we're talking
about in verse 9. They cannot redeem their brother
or give God a ransom that he should live forever and not see
this corruption. The corruption. of all that we
survey and all that we behold. God is going to make it worthless
someday. There isn't anything that we
see or behold that has any eternal value whatsoever, except one
another. And there's verse 10. For he
saith, the believer seeth that wise men die, likewise the fool
dies, and the brutish person dies. and leave their wealth
to others. All of these people, wise men,
rich men, powerful men, just like the fool, just like the
tramp, they all lie down and die and they leave their earthly
possessions to be fought over and to be divided like spoils
among greedy people. They leave their positions for
someone else to take and they leave their strength and power
for someone else to exercise. Verse 11, now watch this. But deep down in their hearts,
their inward thought is this. Now they won't say so, but deep
down in their hearts, this is what they think. The wealthy,
the influential, the powerful of this world, this is what they
think. They wouldn't say so, but he says their inward thought
is this. They don't broadcast it, but
this is what they think. Number one, they think their
houses shall continue forever. They fancy that these earthly
positions and this earthly power will somehow be carried over
into eternity. That's their inward thought.
They think as they struggle here for recognition, as they struggle
here for power, as they struggle here for leadership and renown,
somehow their inward thought is this, that it's going to carry
over into the next life. I have influence and strength
and power. I have position and wealth and
possession. All men look up to me. All men
know me. All men greet me in the street.
It's got to carry over. I'm going to be me. It's got
to carry over into the life after death. That's what the innermost
thought is, that their houses shall continue forever. Their
houses, their names, their accomplishments. Tell you the second thing they
think. He said their inward thought is this, that their dwelling
places shall carry over to all generations. They believe that
the things they build here are going to profit other generations,
going to profit their families, and then people will feel indebted
to them. They're gone, they're dead, but
the people they left behind will feel indebted to them for leaving
them in such a comfortable position. And then thirdly, They call their
lands after their own names. Men leave their names on street
sign posts. Boy, is that gratifying. They
leave their names, the next step, not only on town sign street
posts, but they name towns after men, and they name cities and
countries. And their names are engraved
on rocks, and their names are engraved on stones, and their
names are engraved on buildings in the hope that they can have
a place in memory and a place in history. If they were half as interested
that their names be written in the Lamb's Book of Life, what
a blessing it would be. The disciples came back one day
and told him, said, the devil's a subject to us, he said, Don't
rejoice that the devil's a subject unto you, rejoice that your names
are written in heaven." But, oh, he says the folks here, they
trust in their riches, they trust in their wealth, they boast themselves
of the multitude of their accomplishments, and they do this, and they strive
to leave their names recorded in history books and written
on buildings and written on rocks and stones and monuments. And
their inward thought is this, the reason that they stand and
look at it, and the reason it's so gratifying, is because deep
down in here they think that's going to have a carryover. But
he listened. But he says, nevertheless, nevertheless,
now listen to this, this is his next statement after that. Nevertheless,
man being in honor, abideth not. In other words, man's honor abideth
not. Man's honor about his life. Whether
a man dwells in a cave or in a castle, he dwells here but
one day. A man may be a hero for an hour, but that's all.
He's just a hero for an hour. A man may hold the scepter of
a nation, but when his heart stops, he'll drop it. Somebody
else will take it out. And it's over. His hour is over.
He's had his reward. He may wear the crown for a lifetime. But when his eyes close in death,
the crown falls off the skull and somebody picks it up. That's
the end. He is like the beast that
perishes. Now listen to what he's saying
here. He is like the beast that perishes. In other words, if
all a man has is his name written on a building or on a stone or
a monument, and he has enjoyed some wealth and prestige power
and influence and accomplishments in this world. And that's it.
And he is not written toward God. And his name is not written
in the Book of Life. His death is the same as a dog
that got run over by a car and mashed in the streets. That's
what he's saying here. He's just nothing in the world.
Man's honor does not abide. He's like the beast that perishes. He's like the beast that perishes.
As far as spiritual things are concerned, as far as the kingdom
of God is concerned, as far as eternal values are concerned,
as far as eternal life is concerned, as far as life after death is
concerned, he might as well have been a dog that died in the street. And if we feel any kind of horror
against that, that verse 11 is true of us. Our inner thought
is that our houses shall continue. Our houses, it's God's house
that's going to continue, not ours. That our names shall be
carried on. It's God's name. He gave them
a new name, not our name. And their inner thoughts is that
their names shall still be called after they're gone. Job said,
The place thou shalt know it no more. Man dies, and the place
thou shalt know it no more. It would be better to die as the
thief on the cross and hear the Lord Jesus say, Today shalt thou
be with me in paradise, than to die as the President of the
United States without a knowledge of Christ, because he dies like
a dog in the street. And that thief died as a child
of God and triumphantly met with our Lord in glory, coronation. That's what he's saying. Now
hear this, that's what he's saying. All right, verse 13. This, now
this their way is their folly. He's saying this. Their whole
way of life is foolish. Their whole way of life is foolish.
Their way is absolutely foolish. Their whole life is regulated
by foolish principles, by foolish objects, they build on foolish
foundations, they trust in foolish treasures, and they hope for
a foolish pot of gold at the end of a rainbow that does not
exist. Foolish. Materialism is foolishness. To
give our lives to the things of this world is foolish. And listen to the next line.
Yet their posterity, their children, the people who follow them, approve
their sayings. What is he saying there? Their
children and men after them follow their example and follow their
foolish sayings. The race of fools, Spurgeon said,
never dies out. You don't need to send missionaries
to teach a man to be a fool. He's born a fool. You don't need
to send missionaries to teach men to crawl in the dust, they
crawl in the dust by nature. Verse 13, their way is foolishness. And the strange thing is, yet
even though their way is foolishness, these men who trust in riches
and trust in materialism, trust in power and trust in position,
yet they're children and people after them Receive their example
and their sayings and he says Sheila that is write this down
the margin your Bible It's what it means you pause and consider
this You stop right there and think about that That's what
he said you pause and consider this Quickly let's look at verse
14 Like sheep they're laid in the
grave In other words, like sheep, they are appointed for the place
of the dead. Death shall be their shepherd.
Death shall feed on them, and the upright shall have dominion
over them in the morning, and their beauty shall consume in
the grave from their dwelling. Listen to that in the Amplified
Version, verse 14. These people, these foolish people,
are appointed to the place of the dead. Death shall be their
shepherd, and the upright shall have dominion over them in the
morning, and their form, and their beauty, and their power,
and their position, and their wealth, and all these things.
These things shall be consumed, for the grave shall be their
dwelling. Let me read you this from Treasure
of David, verse 14. The Lord is our shepherd, we
shall not want, but death is their shepherd. Death. The things they trust in are
death. The things they build upon are
death. The object of their life is death, because it's all confined
to this earth, and this earth shall all pass away, it shall
all die. Death is their shepherd, like
dumb sheep, they follow their shepherd without thought until
it leads them to hell, their everlasting dwelling. He said
here, and the upright shall have dominion over them in the morning.
Listen, right now, the powerful rule over the humble. But they rule for the night,
the righteous have dominion in the morning. Wickedness rules
in darkness. And when darkness shall be no
more, the rule of wickedness will be over. The power of wickedness
shall be over. Christ, he bruised our Lord's
heel, but our Lord crushed his head. And whatever glory and
honor that the ungodly shall have on this earth will be eaten
away by the worms in the grave. That's what it's saying here
in verse 14. Their beauty shall consume in the grave, That is
everything that they've trusted in and everything. Take the beauty
queen, who has no time for God or the Bible or Christ. She trusts
in her beauty. She glows in her beauty. Think
when you dig her up two years later, what she looks like. The man who It was Mr. America, and lifted the weights,
and he gloried in his strength and his muscles. He could break
chains. He could stand and no man dared
challenge him. He could defeat anyone. He was
strong and powerful. Two years after they buried him,
dig him up. A little child could take one
of the bones and break it. That's what he's saying here.
And men who have trusted in their earthly accomplishments, they've
done great things among men. Two years after they're in the
grave, it's not even remembered. But God, verse 15, will redeem
my soul from the power of the grave. Same thing is going to
be true of our bodies, but not our souls. He's going to redeem
us from the grave. He shall receive me. See, let's
pause and consider this a while. Pause and consider this. So,
verse 16, So be not thou afraid, or envious, or jealous, when
one is made rich in this world's good, when the glory of his house
is increased. For when he dies, he'll carry
nothing away. His glory is not going to descend
after him. Though while he lived he blessed
his soul, that is, while he lived he counted himself prosperous
and happy. And men praised him, other people
praised him when he did well. But he'll go to the generation
of his fathers, he'll follow all the other foolish ones before
him, and they never see the light, never. man that is in honor, held in
honor and esteem and doesn't understand spiritual truth, the
life in Christ, he's like the dog that died in the street.
That's right. That's the message for everybody.
That's what he said there. He said, hear me, all you people,
I wouldn't have, you wouldn't have to transpose that message
if the King of England walked in here tonight, would you? Wouldn't
it be the same message? Or if the Emperor of Japan walked
in, or if the old boy that's in jail for murder walked in?
It wouldn't matter, would it? God's message meets the need
of every sinner, of every sinner, both low and high and rich and
poor, together, together. The Lord's grace and mercy in
the heart makes men one. It takes away the bigotry of
color, it really does. Sometimes it takes a while, but
it takes it away. It takes away the importance
of the flesh. When men of brethren, when they're
in the family of God, when they've got the grace of God in their
hearts, actually the man who has gift, The man who's blessed
with more gifts really considers himself, like Paul, the least,
less than the least of the saints. That's his attitude. He doesn't
feel himself to be somebody. The man thinks himself to be
something when he's nothing. He's a fool. He deceives himself.
And in the kingdom of God, there are gifts and there are talents
But who maketh thee to differ? What hast thou that thou didst
not receive? So if thou didst receive it, what of thy glory
if thou didst not receive it?" And really and truly, in the
kingdom of God, the little children and the elders are equally important. The man has been saved a day
or he's been saved twenty years. I don't expect the man who's
been saved today to have grown in grace like the man who's been
saved 20 years, but the man who's been saved 20 years realizes
that his growth is by God's mercy. And he doesn't boast or gloat
in it. He feels one with this man. There's no place in the
kingdom of God for pride and arrogance and haughty spirit
or unforgiving spirit or looking down upon others or feeling others
inferior or unworthy. I believe growth is downward
instead of upward, if you know what I mean. I believe, actually,
if we're really growing in grace, it's the grace of humility, and
the grace of understanding, and the grace of patience and kindness. I'm not talking about growing
in the pride of knowledge, but in the humility of spirit. That's
real growth. And so that's what he's saying.
Hear this, don't look on those in the world who are your persecutors
and supplanters, and like Jacob grabbed you by the heel to supplant
you and take away your blessing. They're your enemies. But don't
envy them. When you see what they're building
on, there ain't no reason to envy them. That's like envying
a man with leprosy who doesn't know it. Our Father blessed the
Word, how we love the Psalms how they meet our need. We're
grateful that you have spoken to us and blessed our hearts
with this portion of thy word tonight. How thankful we are
that you raised up David and Moses and the apostles. And if you raised up men between
the apostles and us with courage, men with boldness and fearless
men to preach the word. who gave their lives to see that
we have this book. Oh Lord, give us that courage,
that dedication, that consecration to our Lord Jesus Christ, to
his kingdom. Lord, never leave us nor forsake
us. nor allow us to leave thee, nor
to grow indifferent and careless. Make the word more precious with
each passing day. Tune our hearts, O Lord, to sing
thy praise. In Christ's name we ask it. Amen.

Death - Their Shepherd and Hell - Their Dwelling

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Death - Their Shepherd and Hell - Their Dwelling

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