Brother Gary Sunday Morning 10/14/12
Psa 24:1 A Psalm of David. The earth is the LORD'S, and the fulness thereof; the
world, and they that dwell therein.
David wrote this Psalm prior to the arc coming back to
Jerusalem. This Psalm is a psalm of
praise. This harvest season is a time
for us to be thankful especially in the spiritual realm.
It is important that we realize who owns the earth. The fullness of the earth is all the things
that are natural resources on the earth.
The trees take Carbon dioxide in and give oxygen out. They are important for heat, paper, buildings,
and for the oxygen they produce. The
trees are Gods, the rivers, all of the oxen… every living thing belongs to
God. We are not our own. This puts a whole different light on things.
One of the greatest dangers to mankind is when they think
that they own themselves and can do whatever they want.
All the treasures above ground are His. It is the same with the treasures under the
ground. They all belong to God. The world and the earth… when you study what these two mean then you
see why there is a separation. The world
covers mankind and then where ever the mankind dwells.
In an audience this size there are loved ones that are far
away from us at this time. Some are in
dangerous places others in places that are well protected. Yet the very place that they are belongs to
God. It could be enemy territory to us,
or dangerous territory to us, but the individuals that are there belong to God
and the very ground belongs to God.
God created the earth, founded it upon the seas, and
established it on the floods. How many
times a year ought we to read Genesis chapter one? It is a vital chapter to our faith. It teaches us a lot of things in the first few
words: In the beginning God. This world
had a beginning and it had a beginning because of God.
The very word ‘God’ here means a being that is three
part. Jesus has always been. It is the same with the Holy Spirit. Jesus did come after man messed up the world
but He was here before too. The Holy
Spirit did come after Jesus ascended to the father but He was there at the
beginning too.
Was God there all by Himself when He said, “Let there be
light?” or when He said, “Let us create
man in our own image?” No, Jesus and the
Holy Spirit were there too. Waters
covered everything and then God said, “Let the waters be gathered together and
the dry land appear.”
Psa 24:2 For he hath founded it upon the seas, and
established it upon the floods.
Psa 24:3 Who shall ascend into the hill of the LORD?
or who shall stand in his holy place?
Who can approach God?
Who can appear before God? What
man, what woman, what child can appear before God? The answer:
Psa 24:4 He that hath clean hands, and a pure heart;
who hath not lifted up his soul unto vanity, nor sworn deceitfully.
When you hear the requirements man would say, “No one can
appear before God for all have sinned.”
You and I know when we first realized that we were in trouble with
God. Most of us remember when we
realized that we openly did that which we knew was wrong, we felt bad about
doing that and felt convicted for doing that.
I knew that I was in trouble with God and I knew that I was in trouble
with my mom and dad too.
My mom’s standard was that there was never desert until
after dinner. You can know the rest of
the story, my hand was in the cookie jar and my mom had eyes in the back of her
head and I had sugar around my mouth.
He that has clean hands, a pure heart, who hasn’t lifted his
soul up to vanity... The word ‘vanity’
is used by David and by his son Solomon.
If you put things in the wrong place then it is all vanity. If you choose to worship God only and worship
nothing that is in this world, then many things are enjoyable.
We don’t want to worship hunting, our savings, automobiles,
or anything else. If you begin to
worship anything, then you cannot ascend to God nor stand in His holy place.
Swear deceitfully...
What you say is true, make sure it is true and what you promise,
keep.
We’ve all been guilty of sin. All have sinned and come short of the glory
of God. This is how I was and how
everyone was. We came into this world
and in the process of time we did what was wrong. You cannot help but sin unless you give your
life to God and have Him as more important than anything else in your life.
God so loved the world.
The reason that you can have clean hands, pure mind, and make and keep
promises is because God loved the world so much. If He didn’t then you would live the life
that was in the Old Testament where you would be continually bringing a blood
offering for sin. God loved you and me
enough that He sent His only begotten son that whosoever believed on Him should
have everlasting life.
Brother Herb has lived to be 97. He was an expert at many things and enjoyed
many things in this world, but there is a better world over there. Over there, there will not be trees to saw
down or wood to burn or ashes to be carried out. This is the reason that God sent His only
begotten son.
We need to live so that we can say, “I’ve had a good
life.” We will have troubles; if we
didn’t then we couldn’t use the word, “overcome” or “triumph.” Paul went through some scary things; He was
shipwrecked on an island where there were strangers and snakes coming out of
the fire.
God loved this world enough that He sent Jesus that you and
I could have forgiveness of sin.
Jesus saw people sitting in darkness and said,
“Repent.” We were all in darkness
blinded by sin. When light sprung up, Jesus
said, “Repent.”
Repent means to confess to God your sin. It doesn’t mean to confess your sin to
man. When it comes to confessing of your
sin, I cannot and no other man can forgive you of your sin. Only God can forgive you of your sin.
Through repentance and trusting God, this is the way that we
can have clean hands and a pure heart.
This is the way that we can quit worshipping those things that will
leave us disappointed.
We have different age groups here. We have those that are working and are
looking forward to retirement. We have
those that have retired and are looking back and saying “it wasn’t all that bad
back there.”
If we confess our sins… The easiest thing in the world is to
get saved; the challenge is to stay saved.
This is the reason that we have scriptures: “work out salvation with
fear and trembling”, and “The Kingdom of Heaven suffers violence and the
violent take it by force.”
The temple worship symbolizes the salvation that we have
today. There was the brazen altar where
the blood was shed for sin and as they went into the temple then there was the
laver to wash at. We are washed by the
washing water of the Word of God.
God speaks to our heart from His heart. If He shows you that there is something that
you need to be washed of then there is the laver. You go to the Word of God and say, “I want to
be washed of that.”
You may be resistant to the voice of your wife or those
around you. When God begins speaking to
your heart, “You need to watch the way you say…
You need to watch your manners.” Then
there is a standard set that we must follow.
We men must be gentlemen and know how to treat ladies
right. A lady needs to be treated like a
lady with respect and honor.
There is a place to wash.
We must have a pure heart. We
cannot have a pure heart on our own; we must let God help us.
Blessed are the pure in heart.
Psa 24:5 He shall receive the blessing from the LORD,
and righteousness from the God of his salvation.
God has a way of blessing His people. Sometimes you go through very difficult
places in your life. God’s blessings
will come; He has never failed and never will fail. God knows How to bless His people and God
will bless His people.
Psa 24:6 This is
the generation of them that seek him, that seek thy face, O Jacob. Selah.
Since the beginning of time, time has been spotted with
individuals that have known God and served Him.
We have the opportunity today to seek and know God.
Psa 24:7 Lift up your heads, O ye gates; and be ye
lift up, ye everlasting doors; and the King of glory shall come in.
Psa 24:8 Who is
this King of glory? The LORD strong and mighty, the LORD mighty in battle.
The true God has power; He shows his strength in
battle. If you have challenges in your
life, this scripture is for you. God
wants you to position yourself so that the eternal God will fight your battles
for you. God knows how to help you to be
an overcomer and to be an overcomer in the right way.
Psa 24:9 Lift up your heads, O ye gates; even lift them up, ye everlasting doors; and the King of
glory shall come in.
Psa 24:10 Who is this King of glory? The LORD of hosts,
he is the King of glory. Selah.
In the days of this text there were gates coming into the
city. As you came into the city, there
was a plan to open the gates, after you got into the city there were various
doors into the houses. There is a true
application of this for our spiritual lives this morning. Everyone in this audience has someplace to
live. Some of you have a yard.
Brother Bill is not content to just drive off of the Highway
easement and then say, “I’m home.” He
proceeds on up the lane and is not content to stop half way there. He thinks of the nice meal that his wife Teri
has probably prepared and thinks, “I think I want to go into the house.” In order for him to get into the house, he
must go through a door.
This month every one of us here has known the protection of
God. At home, at work, everyplace that
we go there are dangers that God protects us from. God has been good to us. He has protected us and helped us. You that have children, God has been good to
you. We are so blessed.
David wasn’t happy just to have God come back and be in the
outer court. If God is out there
somewhere in your life. If you are not
saved, you need to be thankful to God because He has really shown you lots of
mercy. You need to get saved; I tell you
because I love you.
Don’t keep God out there in the distance. David said, “I want the arc here, but there
is a door that it must come through.”
I believe that there is a King of kings that stands and
knocks at the heart’s door. He knocks
and then He knocks again. He knocks at
the sinner’s heart and He knocks at the hearts of those that are saved. We say, “God I want you to come into my heart
in the fullness of God. I don’t want you
to just touch me so that I know that I am saved, I want to know you in the
fullness.”
When a mother gives birth and raises a child, she knows
those children. This is the way that we
want to know God.
This generation that seeks God says, “God I’m opening the
door of my life and of my heart to you.
I want you to come into my heart.”
When you confess and repent of your sin, Jesus Christ comes into your
heart.
In your heart there are also many other doors. There is the door of the past. We may not want any to know the door of our
past. When you come to Jesus Christ as
you are, you tell him, “I really need a savior; you know the door of my past
that I try to keep closed because it is torment to my mind.”
When you open the door to Him, then He forgives it all. You still have a past but when God comes He
says, “I’ve forgotten because I’ve forgiven.”
The door of the present:
Every one of you has something that you are planning. Cole approached me and he was already making
plans for after church. It is not wrong,
it is right to have some plans. It is
wonderful to say, “God I want to open the door of my present to you. This is where I am today; I want you to know
my plans, but God, I know that you also have plans for me.”
You and I have plans and I’m not being critical of you but
there is someone that has really good plans for you. Open all the doors. There is no secret from God.
The door of the future:
There would be some here that are dreading the future. You must have a future to be alive. If you are looking at the future all by
yourself then it may look pretty grim. Take
the door of your future and say, “I’m opening this up to God, as long as you
are here I know that you have something for me to do.”
“God hasn’t given us the spirit of fear but of power, of
love, and of a sound mind.
The power is that God the Son, God the Father, and the Holy
Spirit be there with us. The love of
God, the love of friends, and the love of family only exist if we have God
dwelling with us.
We need God to help us in our mind. There is a door to the mind. There are a lot of hounds, the hounds of sin,
the hounds of the past, and the hounds of worry will plague our mind. God can come to the door of your mind and if
you will open it up and say, “God I want you to put your thoughts into my
mind.” God has wonderful things to put
in your mind.
Jesus said, “I stand at the door and knock. It is good that we were able to get inside of
the doors of this building today. God
was good and met with us. We thank God
for it. It is not enough to have God
here; we must have Him come through the door of our heart.
Say, “God I want you to open up every door.” Don’t keep Jesus out in the yard, open the
door and let Him come in.
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