Okay brethren, please take your Bibles and turn to Psalm 15.
We'll be going chapter by chapter through the book of Psalms.
And this is the last Psalm that we're going to be looking at for now.
And then we're going to get into a new book of the Bible next week.
But Psalm 15 for now please.
Psalm 15.
And look at verse number 1.
Psalm 15 verse 1.
The Bible reads,
Lord, who shall I abide in thy tabernacle?
Who shall dwell in thy holy hill?
So it starts by saying, Lord, who shall abide?
That's the title for the sermon this afternoon.
Who shall abide?
And you know, this Psalm is about taking practical steps
in order for us to be abiding with God.
You know, how we can maintain a close fellowship with God.
You know, and so this is such an important Psalm.
It just gives us some very practical steps
in order to have a good close fellowship with God.
Please keep your finger there and go to John chapter 15.
We want to learn about abiding in God.
That's such an important task in order for us to do.
If we're commanded to abide in God,
then it's also true that we can also not abide in God.
Okay, we can actually distance ourselves away from God.
Please go to John chapter 15 verse 4.
John 15 verse 4.
And there's a really great lesson here from Jesus Christ
that teaches about the importance of abiding in Christ
and the advantages that we have if we abide in Him.
John chapter 15 verse 4.
Jesus says, Abide in me and I in you,
as the branch cannot bear fruit of itself except it abide in the vine,
no more can ye accept ye abide in me.
So you can't go to a tree, break off a branch
and think it's going to be fruitful or it's going to grow.
No, it's got to be attached to the trunk.
It's got to be attached to the tree in order for it to have life and be fruitful.
And so as a Christian, we need to be attached to Christ.
We need to be attached to God in order for us to be fruitful.
We cannot be fruitful if we are not abiding in Christ.
Now before I keep reading, this has nothing to do with salvation.
Don't forget, once you're saved, your sins are forgiven,
it's all been paid for, there's eternal security,
but then how we walk in our Christian life
can depend on whether you are abiding in Christ
or whether you distance yourself from Christ.
And Christ is telling us, no, abide in me, stay in close fellowship
so you can be fruitful in your saved Christian life.
Look at verse number 5.
So the first point that we see here,
the first thing that we will be able to achieve if we abide in Christ
is that we would be able to bring forth much fruit.
What does that mean?
We have different opinions as what does it mean to bring forth much fruit?
But brethren, what is the fruit of a believer?
What is the fruit of a Christian?
A lot of people think it's the fruits of the Spirit.
And look, that's great, we should have the fruits of the Spirit in our lives,
but it's not the fruit of the believer, it's the fruit of the Spirit.
You see, as we walk in the Spirit, we walk in the new man,
the Holy Spirit will develop this fruit in our lives.
That's not the fruit of the Christian, that's the fruit of the Spirit.
What is the fruit of the Christian?
What is the fruit of the righteous?
We read about that in Proverbs 11 verse 30.
It says the fruit of the righteous is a tree of life
and he that win of souls is wise.
See, there's wisdom. The wise man will win souls.
That is the fruit of the righteous.
But if you've gone and you've been able to show somebody the Gospel,
they've understood it, they've believed, they've called upon Christ to save them,
then you've been wise, then you've been fruitful.
Our Christian life ought to be one where we're seeking to give the Gospel
and see people get saved coming to Christ.
That's what it means to be fruitful.
And if you don't abide in Christ, you're not going to have success in winning souls.
And if you have had success in winning souls, you know why you've done that?
Because you abode in Christ.
You are abiding in Christ.
You wouldn't have been able to do it without Jesus Christ.
Look at verse number six.
If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch and is withered
and men gather them and cast them into the fire and they are burned.
Wow, so if the branch is not fruitful,
just like if you had a tree and he wasn't bringing forth fruit,
you tried your best to make it fruitful and it just doesn't do it,
hey, you'll take that plant, you'll take that tree,
you'll burn it up and you'll put a new tree in its place, wouldn't you?
And so some people think this has to do with salvation
because obviously someone that is lost will burn in the fires of hell
and the lake of fire to come.
But this is not about that.
Obviously you cannot lose your salvation.
What is this speaking about?
It's using the metaphor, obviously, of a branch being cast into fire.
If you can keep your finger there and go to 1 Corinthians 9,
go to 1 Corinthians 9,
because this is talking about casting away the branches or the believers
that are not bringing forth fruits.
So 1 Corinthians 9, let me show you how this language is used in the Bible
of a castaway, 1 Corinthians 9, verse 27,
this is now Paul, the Apostle Paul, speaking about himself.
It says here,
You see, Paul was concerned he did not want to be a castaway.
He did not want to be this branch that is unfruitful
that would be then taken, cast away and burnt.
You see, a believer can become a castaway.
If you are not fruitful, you do nothing for God,
you are worthless in his kingdom,
you know you're selfish and live for yourself,
you don't live for the things of God,
you don't care about winning souls,
well don't be surprised when God takes you and casts you away,
when God takes you and you're being ineffective in the kingdom of God.
You need to abide in Christ.
And brethren, if you're doing nothing for God,
if you're not serving in the local body,
you're not being fruitful, you're not winning souls,
you may very well be, you may very well be right now a castaway,
cast into the fire, but we don't want to be that way,
we want to be a branch that abides in Christ.
So you see, this is not about somebody losing their salvation,
this is about a believer losing their effectiveness for Jesus Christ,
not being able to be fruitful for him.
Look back to John 15,
John 15, you say well you shouldn't go to 1 Corinthians,
you know it should stay within the context,
and let's stay within the context there in John 15,
let's go back a little bit, let's look at verse number 3,
John 15 verse 3, before he speaks about the castaway here,
in verse number 3 he says,
Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you.
You see Jesus is speaking to his disciples which are clean,
they're forgiven of their sins,
they've been washed in the blood of God, of Christ,
they've been made clean, these are saved people,
and so this message about abiding in Christ is not about salvation,
it's not to the unsaved man, it is to the one that is clean.
If you are a child of God, if you've been saved,
you've placed your faith on Christ, you are clean.
And so this is a message for you, abide in Christ.
If you don't abide in Christ, you will lose your effectiveness,
your fruitfulness that you could have had if you had remained in Christ.
Look at verse number 7, verse number 7,
Jesus says,
Wow, look at the advantage of abiding in Christ,
he will answer your prayers.
You see the closer you are to Christ,
the closer you're walking with God,
your will will be closer to the will of God.
You know, just as Christ was able to say,
not my will be done, but thy will be done,
we will get to that point as we mature,
abide in Christ, grow closer to the Lord,
where our will will become more like the will of God.
And when your will is the will of God,
you're going to be able to go to him in prayer,
and ask him for things God will hear,
and God will answer your prayer.
You see, abiding in Christ is not just the advantage of winning souls,
being fruitful for God,
but also the other advantage is that we'll have our prayers answered.
God will answer those prayers.
What amazing privileges we can have,
should we just abide in Christ,
should we just remain faithful, serving him.
Look at verse number 8.
Wow.
You know, if you get people saved,
it says here that the Father is glorified.
You can bring glory to the Father.
I mean, it's amazing to think the God of the universe,
the Holy of Holies,
can receive additional glory from us, the fallen creatures,
just by being fruitful,
just by doing the work that God has left us to do.
He is glorified in that.
Verse number 9.
So we see that.
How can we abide?
We keep his commandments.
Very clear.
When we abide in Christ,
we keep the commandments that he's given us to do.
Is salvation by keeping the commandments?
No.
Salvation is faith on Christ,
finished work of Calvary,
and his resurrection.
But abiding in Christ,
our walk with the Lord,
is about keeping his commandments.
It says here,
Verse number 11.
Okay, what's the third advantage to abiding in Christ?
Is that we would not just have joy,
but that we would have the fullness of joy,
that your joy might be full.
Boy, you know,
people in this world are looking for joy,
looking for happiness in so many places,
you know, maybe the ungodly world,
even Christians sometimes in alcohol,
in drugs, you know,
in entertainment of this world,
you know, in the movie theaters.
You know, they're trying to find satisfaction
and joy in so many carnal worldly things.
But you can have the fullness of joy,
not just joy,
but it's overflowing in joy
if you just remain in Christ.
You just abide in Christ.
You keep his commandments.
There is great joy in just being close to God.
So what are, again,
from the passage that we saw here in John chapter 15,
what are the three advantages of abiding in Christ?
What do we get out of it?
Number one, we're going to be fruitful,
win souls.
Number two, we're going to have answered prayers.
And number three, your joy will be full.
Okay?
Back to Psalm 15 for me.
Psalm 15.
Look at verse number two.
Psalm 15.
So now we know,
hey, this is something we want.
You know, we should be people
that abide in God
and in his tabernacle
and dwell in his holy hill,
as it said there in verse number one.
Verse number two.
He that walketh uprightly
and worketh righteousness
and speaketh the truth in his heart.
So this is what we need to do
in order to abide in Christ,
to abide in God,
to abide with him.
Okay?
The first thing that was mentioned
in verse number two
is he that walketh uprightly.
He that walketh uprightly.
Please turn to,
keep your finger there in Acts 15
and go to Acts 14.
Go to Acts chapter 14.
Walking uprightly.
You know, this is,
you know, when I think about
the concept of walking uprightly,
sometimes I think about,
you know, our children.
You know, my wife and I
are constantly saying to our children,
hey, sit up straight.
You know, don't slouch.
You know, have good posture.
Okay?
Walk uprightly, as it were.
You know?
And the reason we do this
is because number one,
if you're slouching,
you know, it doesn't look good.
You know?
But there are health issues about that.
You can have poor digestion
or back pain.
You know?
You can cause some major damages
in your spine
if you're slouching,
you know, if you're crouched
and you're not upright,
if you don't have good posture.
And so, of course,
this is spiritually speaking, right?
But the same idea
that if we're not walking uprightly,
it can have damaging effects
on our lives.
And please go to Acts 14,
as I said, verse number 8.
Acts 14 and verse 8.
Look at this.
And there sat a certain man in Lystra
impotent in his feet,
being a cripple from his mother's womb,
who never had walked.
So this is a man
who can't walk uprightly.
This is a man who's crippled, right?
And since the time of his birth,
he's not been able to walk.
Verse number 9.
The same heard Paul speak,
who steadfastly beholding him
and perceiving that he had faith
to be healed,
said with a loud voice,
stand upright on thy feet.
And he leaped and walked.
So we have a story here
of the cripple
who is unable to walk uprightly,
physically speaking, right?
But then Paul comes.
He sees a faith in this man.
He wants to walk uprightly.
The power of God heals him
and he's able to leap, you know,
leap in joy
because he's able to walk uprightly, okay?
So what is walking uprightly?
This is a benefit
that we get for ourselves.
You know, this is walking
in righteousness.
This is doing, you know,
living our lives in light
of what we see in Scripture, okay?
And the benefit is for the cripple.
If you're not walking uprightly,
spiritually speaking,
you will like that cripple, okay?
But you want to be able to stand up.
You want to be able to walk, right?
And in Psalm 84, verse 11,
it says,
For the Lord God is a sun and shield.
The Lord will give grace and glory.
No good thing will he withhold
from them that walk uprightly.
No good thing will he withhold
from them that walk uprightly.
Boy, if we just live
and walk uprightly,
the Bible says here,
the promise is that God will withhold
no good thing.
He's going to make sure
that you receive everything good
that you can receive out of his hand.
All you need to do, brethren,
is stop being a cripple,
get up and walk,
leap up and walk uprightly.
You know, what amazing promises.
Proverbs chapter 2, verse 7,
He layeth up sound wisdom
for the righteous.
He is a buckler to them
that walk uprightly.
He's a buckler.
Buckler is a type of shield.
God's going to protect us.
He's going to shield us
from harm, from evil,
if we walk uprightly.
We should desire to walk uprightly.
We're going to receive
the goodness of God
if we do that,
and He will protect us
from evil.
So walking uprightly
is about getting the sin
out of your life, right?
Walking righteously,
it is primarily
about personal sanctification.
We're all sinners, you know,
and when you got saved,
you probably didn't even know
half the sins that you commit.
And so, you know,
in the process of time,
you know, as we learn the Bible,
as we grow in Christ,
we will start to be able
to overcome, identify those sins.
God will be able to give us
His power and help us through,
cleansing ourselves, you know,
sanctifying our lives
from these sins.
This would be walking uprightly.
Just like the cripple
who could now walk,
the benefit of the miracle
is primarily toward the person
that walks uprightly.
But, you know,
after the cripple could walk,
it's not just walking uprightly.
Now he can work, right?
Now he can be a blessing
to other people.
And so the next thing
that was mentioned there
in Psalm 15 verse 2
is the one that
worketh righteousness.
You see, when you get saved,
yes, let's begin
by walking uprightly.
Great, let's get in the sin
in our lives,
living for God.
But the next thing
we ought to do
is work righteousness.
Worketh righteousness.
Of course, salvation
has nothing to do with works.
The Bible says
in Ephesians 2 eight,
For by grace
that ye save through faith,
and that not of yourselves
it is the gift of God,
not of works,
lest any man should boast.
So we understand
that salvation is not of works,
simply your faith
on the finished work
of Jesus Christ,
in who he is
and what is done for us.
But then in verse number 10,
once you are saved,
it says this,
For we are his workmanship
created in Christ Jesus
unto good works,
which God hath before ordained,
that we should walk in them.
So now that you're saved,
it is God's desire
that you would work righteousness,
that you would do
not just the benefit for yourself,
but that you would be a blessing
to other people,
that you would be a workman
in the house of God,
that you would serve the Lord God
and serve your brethren.
And so this is about
being a blessing to others,
you know,
praying for one another,
you know,
encouraging one another,
you know,
everything that we can do
to edify our brethren
that would be working righteously.
So if our brother has needs,
physical, spiritual needs
and you're able to
fulfil those needs,
that's you working righteousness,
that's you being a blessing
to others,
you've been blessed,
you're walking uprightly,
your benefits for you,
great,
now you can work righteousness,
do the works
that God has asked you to do.
What was the next thing
that was mentioned there
in Psalm 15 verse 2?
It said,
And speaketh the truth
in his heart,
and speaketh the truth
in his heart.
So this is about
abiding in Christ.
If we're not doing this, brethren,
we're not abiding in Christ.
If we're not walking uprightly,
if we're not working righteously,
and if we're not speaking the truth,
we're not abiding in Christ.
This is practical things
that we can do
to abide in Christ.
Let's not forget
the main point
that we have today,
but speaking the truth.
All right?
So we just thought about,
you know,
being right on the inside,
this is more about
being right on the outside,
you know,
what is coming,
sorry, sorry,
we spoke about
what is right on the outside,
this is more about the inside,
you know,
making sure that we're right
on the inside,
because what you speak about
is a reflection of
what is in your heart.
In Matthew chapter 12 verse 34,
it says,
O generation of vipers,
how can ye be in evil
speak good things?
For out of the abundance
of the heart,
the mouth speaketh.
A good man
out of the good treasure
of the heart
bringeth forth good things,
and an evil man
out of the evil treasure
bringeth forth evil things.
And so if we're going to abide
in Christ,
we need to speak in truth,
that means your heart
has to be true.
You have to be focused
on the things of God,
you know,
and what you speak about
is an indication
of what you spend time on.
You know,
if you desire to speak about,
I don't know,
the latest Hollywood movies,
you know,
you're focused on the things
of this world,
then we know what you're
thinking about,
we know what you spend time on.
If you're someone that's
speaking about the Bible,
you're someone who,
you know,
praises God,
we know what you're
thinking about,
we know what's happening
on the inside,
because you can't help
but speak the things
that your heart rests upon.
Okay,
if you can go to Ephesians,
chapter 4,
go to Ephesians,
chapter 4,
this is about speaking the truth.
We need to be people
that are honest,
that say true things.
We need to put away
the lion,
and we've all lied,
we're all liars.
You know,
we often say this
when we knock on the door,
you know,
have you ever told a lie?
And it's like,
yeah, well how many?
Hundreds,
thousands of lies,
we've all done that.
We need to change that
about ourselves.
Ephesians,
chapter 4,
verse 25,
it reads,
We're for putting away lying.
Speak every man truth
with his neighbour,
for we are members
one of another.
This is speaking
in the context of the church.
We are members
one of another.
We should not lie
to our brothers and sisters
in the Lord.
We should not lie
to people in our church.
We're members
of that one body.
Go to the next chapter for me,
Ephesians 5,
verse 29,
let's understand this.
Ephesians 5,
29,
it says,
For no man ever
yet hateth his own flesh,
but nourisheth
and cherishetheth it,
even as the Lord the Church.
You see,
we are not to hate
the flesh,
the body of Christ.
Look at verse number 30,
For we are members
of his body,
of his flesh,
and of his bones.
The church
is the body of Christ.
If we're lying to one another,
Brethren,
you're lying
to the body of Christ.
You're lying
to Jesus Christ.
You know,
lying is such a wicked sin,
and we all do it.
We've all done it.
This is something
that we're commanded
to put away.
Wherefore,
put in a way lying,
it's said in Ephesians 4,
25,
we need to speak the truth.
There should be no reason
to lie, okay?
Speak the truth,
you know?
And again,
you've got to work on your heart.
What are you spending
your time on?
You know,
the reason you may lie
is because you know
the things that are
in your heart are wicked.
You know the things
that you spend time
meditating on
are worthless things
that have nothing to do
with the kingdom of God,
and so that's why
you lie,
because you've got that,
and you're trying
to hide the fact
that you are wicked,
and listen,
we all have wickedness in us.
We all have the flesh,
the sinful nature,
the old man,
and so we need
to put that line away
and speak the truth
of God's word.
Back to Psalm 15, please.
Psalm 15 and verse number 3.
Psalm 15 verse 3.
We saw what we need to do,
walk uprightly,
work righteousness,
speak truth,
but now we learn about
the things we need
to stop doing, okay?
So here in verse number 3,
again, this is someone
that is abiding in Christ.
Hear that backbiteth
not with his tongue,
nor doeth evil to his neighbour,
nor taketh up a reproach
against his neighbour.
Let's talk about that.
Hear that backbiteeth not, okay?
So in order for us
to abide in Christ,
we have to not backbite,
okay, not backbite.
What does it mean
to backbite?
It means to speak
behind someone's back.
You know, I come up to you
at church, brother,
you know, I'm like,
hey, brother, good to see you.
Man, you know, love seeing you,
love talking to you,
I hope you're doing well, right?
And then I go to another brother
in Christ in church.
Oh, man.
I can't believe
he's still living like that.
Can you believe what he said
the other day?
You know, and you speak
against that brother.
Your all smiles in his face,
but then he's behind his back.
You're backstabbing him.
You're backed by him.
Hey, if you're of that persuasion,
you are not abiding in Christ.
Okay, you are not abiding
in Christ.
Now, please go,
keep your finger there again
in Psalms 15,
but go to 1 Timothy 5.
1 Timothy 5.
Because I do realise
that this is one of the
challenging things in life,
even I sometimes struggle
with this,
is many times you have to
explain, speak the truth,
and when you do,
it may put somebody
in a bad light,
even though that's
not your intention.
You know, your intention
is to answer for the decision
you may have made in life,
but by answering that,
by being honest,
it may cause somebody
to look bad.
And so sometimes
when that happens,
you know, you may be accused,
especially by that person,
of backbiting them, okay?
And here's the thing,
we need to understand
the difference between
you know, your intentions
being of good,
you know, to give an answer,
versus your intention
to backbite somebody.
And sometimes these things
can be a little bit
hard to understand.
So I want to give you
some clarity of thought here
in 1 Timothy 5, verse 13.
Backbiting, okay?
So look at verse number 13.
Speaking about women here,
women who are not busy,
it says,
and with all they learn
to be idle,
wandering from house
to house,
and not only idle,
but toddlers also
and busybodies
speak in things
which they ought not.
So you have,
there are some women,
okay,
this is in the context
of church,
that will go
from house to house.
They'll visit this sister,
they'll visit that sister,
they'll go here,
they'll go there.
Now, is there anything wrong
with visiting
your brothers and sisters?
Of course,
there's nothing wrong
with that in of itself.
But notice why
they go and visit.
They don't go there.
But notice why
they go and visit.
Okay, what's the purpose?
It says that they are
toddlers and busybodies.
That's why they go
from house to house.
They go to gossip,
they go to backbite,
they go to be a busybody.
That means they're
interested in affairs,
they have nothing
to do with them, okay?
They're interested
to talk about things
and other believers,
you know, parenting,
children, whatever,
the pastor,
backbiting people,
it's got nothing to do
with that person,
because then it says there
at the end of it,
speaking things
which they ought not.
It's got nothing
to do with them, okay?
There's a difference
between a backbiter
and you just explaining
to somebody your decisions,
why you're doing something.
Sometimes you have
to make decisions
in light of someone's
bad mistakes,
decisions they've made,
and sometimes that
just comes out,
but that's not backbiting.
Backbiting is intentionally
going to people
when it's got nothing
to do with you
and just trying to turn
their opinion
of that person against them,
okay,
just for your own satisfaction.
That's a backbiter.
That is someone
that does not abide in Christ,
okay,
so I'll never do that.
I think we've all done it,
okay?
We've all been backbiters
to some extent.
We need to stop doing that.
Notice here, though,
this is something quite often
that ladies will do.
This is one of those things,
you know, men and women,
we have different strengths
and we have different weaknesses,
there are things
that men struggle with
that women don't struggle
with as much,
and there are some things
that women struggle with,
and this has been
in Tatlers and Busybody,
that men don't necessarily
struggle so much, okay,
but we're all able
to commit these sins,
okay,
just, you know,
some are weaker than others
in this area,
and so we are asked
to not be Tatlers.
Don't intentionally go
to cause somebody
to think negatively about them.
It said there,
things which they ought not,
okay?
Listen,
let me give you
an example of this.
Let me give you an example.
Let's say I,
you know,
brother and sister so-and-so,
the way they raise their kids,
I don't like it,
you know, let's say I just,
I think they're bad parents,
I think they're letting
their kids get away with too much,
the kids don't respect them,
and so I'll go,
you know,
I don't like brother so-and-so,
so I'll go to brother
and sister so-and-so over here
and say,
man, can you believe
how they're raising their kids?
That's bad parenting.
They're going to have
rebellious children
when they grow up.
What does that have to do with me?
You know,
that has,
God has put mum and dad there
to raise those children,
did they not?
And listen,
if mum and dad do a bad job,
they're going to suffer
the consequences,
okay?
And they're answerable to God.
They're not answerable to you.
You don't go to somebody else
and tell them
about how bad
so-and-so's children are
over there.
It's got nothing to do with you.
Those are things
that you ought not to do.
That you ought not talk about,
okay?
But let's think about it
in a different scenario.
Let's say,
I really don't like
the way brother
and sister raise their kids.
In fact,
their kids are out of control
and they're having
a negative impact on me
bringing up my children.
My children,
you know,
when they're hanging around
those kids,
they're influenced in a bad way.
They come home,
you know,
speaking,
you know,
maybe saying cuss words
or something
and I don't like that,
right?
Okay,
I might make a decision
to not allow my children
to hang around
those children much,
okay?
I don't want them
to be influenced
all that much.
And someone might
say to me,
oh,
you know,
I notice that your kids
don't really play
with the kids over there.
Why is that?
Well,
at that point,
you know,
if I'm going to give
an answer,
a reason for that,
I would say,
look,
you know,
brother and sister so-and-so,
their children
have had a bit
of trouble with their children.
You know,
I don't like that rubbing
off onto my kids right now
so I've asked my children
not to be heavily involved
with that family,
okay?
Now,
I'm not going out of my way
to go and backbite
against another brother.
All I'm doing is
answering the question
that has come my way
and I'm simply stating
why I've made the decision
that I've made.
There are ways
you can just talk
about things
without completely
trashing other people,
backbiting completely
other people.
Listen,
there are a lot of Christians
in my life,
you know,
that I've come across,
I don't like the decisions
they make.
You know,
in fact,
I might be even against
many times the decisions
they make in life,
but I realize it's their life.
I realize it's their family.
It's their children.
They're going to have to do
and deal with the consequences
as they come,
but I hope they do well.
I hope they learn
from the mistakes.
I hope they don't have
to suffer a lot.
I hope they learn the Bible
and make the necessary changes
they need to make
to be better.
You know,
I can think about
many things
that people have done,
okay,
just because I express,
you know,
I don't like that,
but want the best for them,
just because I,
that doesn't mean
you're backbiting,
and that's where
people get offended.
How dare you say that?
Look,
we're just deciding,
we're just stating
the decisions
that are being made,
okay,
and, you know,
it's not my fault
that the reason
I have to make those decisions
is because of a bad consequence
or bad decisions
someone else has made,
but, you know,
it's not about
backbiting that person.
You know,
you've got to understand
the difference between you
going around
when it's got nothing to do with you,
no effect on you whatsoever,
but you're going around
just to trash other people
versus you sometimes
having to give
a little bit of information
so people understand
where you're coming from
in relation to a bad decision
or mistakes
people have made in the past.
We need to be able
to separate those things,
and I think 1 Timothy 5 verse 13
does a really great job
in explaining
what it means
to be backbiting,
what it means to be a tattler
going around purposely
trashing other people
for no reason.
It's got no effect on you whatsoever.
It's none of your business.
That would be a backbiter,
and that is someone
who cannot abide in Christ.
Now back in Psalm 15, please,
Psalm 15 verse number 3,
we're still on here,
that backbiter,
if not his tongue,
then it says here,
nor doeth evil
to his neighbour,
nor doeth evil
to his neighbour.
Doing evil is to harm, okay?
So again, backbiting
is surely one way
to harm somebody's reputation.
But I'm going to read to you
from 1 Peter 3 verse 10,
which says,
For he that will love life
and see good days,
let him refrain his tongue
from evil,
and his lips
that they speak no guile.
Let him eschew evil
and do good.
Let him seek peace
and ensue it.
You see, instead of wanting people
for evil to come upon people,
instead of wanting harm
upon that person,
you ought to be seeking peace.
Ensue peace.
That means pursue.
It's like ensue means pursue.
You know, you need to chase after peace.
Verse number 12,
For the eyes of the Lord
are over the righteous,
and his ears are open
unto their prayers,
but the face of the Lord
is against them that do evil.
If you're seeking to do evil
to somebody else,
the Bible says the face of the Lord
is against you.
Against them that do evil.
Even as a Christian,
you're going about doing evil things,
God's face will be against you.
God will judge you, you know,
for the wickedness
that you're doing.
No, we need to seek peace.
We need to seek the best
for other people
that are around us.
Let's not pursue evil.
Let's not do evil.
Let's seek after peace.
Back in Psalm 15,
let's keep going.
Verse number three,
the rest of it says,
Nor taketh up a reproach
against his neighbour.
So instead of you being somebody
causing harm to somebody else,
this is someone that receives
that rebuke, okay?
So this is like,
if someone, you know,
you have a gossiper
who's doing wickedly,
but this might be you
listening to the gossiper.
You know, looking forward
to hearing what they have to say.
You know, looking for the drama.
This is somebody that is
taking up a reproach
against his neighbour, okay?
So please go with me
to Proverbs chapter 18.
Proverbs chapter 18.
You see, when somebody gossips,
that's wicked, that's wrong,
but if you're listening to gossip,
you're doing wickedly as well, okay?
Say, well, you know,
it wasn't me.
I wasn't gossiping yet,
but did you give them
the occasion to gossip?
Did you lend them an ear
to hear that gossip?
You're doing evil.
You're participating
in that gossip.
They wouldn't be able to gossip
if you didn't lend them
your ear to hear those things.
And listen, you know,
gossip harms the person
that is being gossiped about,
but it also harms
the listener of the gossip.
Proverbs chapter 18.
Look at Proverbs 18, verse 8.
Proverbs 18 and verse 8.
It says,
the words of a tail-bearer
are as wounds,
and they go down
into the innermost parts
of the belly.
Notice, the words
of a tail-bearer.
If you're listening
to the words, the gossiper,
the tail-bearer,
it'll go down into you
like wounds
into the innermost parts
of the belly.
It'll wound you.
It'll cause you damage, okay?
And the reason for this
is when someone's telling you
negative things
about somebody else,
it's gonna have an effect
in your outlook,
in your relationship
with that person, okay?
And you're gonna think
differently about that person.
You know, you may have
really liked that person.
You may have thought
really well,
thought of them highly.
If you didn't hear the gossip,
you'd still think
of them highly.
You hear the gossip
all of a sudden,
you go,
well, that's a wicked man,
and you have a different view
completely to that person.
It's actually called
damage in yourself.
You know, have you ever,
like, you know,
let's say church, you know,
we use that example, I guess,
but this doesn't have to be
just church.
It can be anywhere else
in your workplace,
just in your family life
where somebody treats you well,
you know?
You need to be
hidden off,
developing a friendship,
having a good relationship
with somebody.
You know, next day,
just, you know,
it seems like in a moment,
all of a sudden that person
just ignores you.
That person just,
you walk past,
they turn their heads.
They don't wanna look at you.
They don't wanna talk to you.
And you're like,
what in the world?
I thought we were,
like, getting along.
I thought we were
great friends.
Why doesn't this person
even wanna greet me?
Why does this person
turn their face against me?
I'll tell you why.
Wounds in their belly.
They don't wanna talk
to you.
They don't wanna talk
about you.
And it's affected
the way they look at you.
Okay?
We've all been
victims of gossip.
I'm sure we've
even all gossiped.
Okay?
I'm sure we've all been
that person that's
listened to gossip.
Hey, listen,
this is a wound.
This is damaging
to everybody involved.
You know,
let's not be the person
that goes around
trying to cause damage,
you know,
destroying somebody's reputation.
It destroys your reputation
by being the gossiper.
Proverbs 17 verse number four.
Proverbs 17 verse four.
It says,
a wicked doer giveth heed
to false lips.
If you listen, heed,
listen to false lips,
it says you're a wicked doer.
That's what the Bible
thinks about you.
That's what God
thinks about you.
If you're listening to gossip,
you're a wicked doer
in the eyes of God.
And it says,
and a liar giveth ear
to a naughty tongue.
So you're giving
tongue,
the Bible says,
you're a liar.
Okay,
you are the wicked.
You are the person
that God will turn
his face against.
And if he does that,
you won't be able
to abide in Christ.
You see,
it's not just doing
what's right.
It's stopping to do
the things that are wrong,
the things that harm
your brothers and sisters
in the Lord.
You know,
being a reckless person,
destroying the reputation
of people,
this will cause you
to not abide in Christ.
Back to Psalm 15,
verse number four.
Okay,
so we've seen
what we should do
in verse two,
what we shouldn't do
in verse number three,
but now how we should think.
What we should think.
The kinds of friends
that we should surround
ourselves with
is covered here
in verse number four.
It says,
in whose eyes,
so this is about your eyes.
If you want to be someone
that abides in Christ,
this is how
your outlook should be.
In whose eyes
a vile person is condemned,
contempt.
But he honoureth them
that fear the Lord,
he that sweareth
to his own hurt
and changeth not.
So it's not just your behaviour,
but how you view
other people that matters.
And so the first thing here
is that your eyes
should be in contempt
of that vile person.
Okay,
that means you should
be disgusted by sin.
If you come across
a wicked person,
you know,
you shouldn't just
accept that,
and go,
well, that's just fine,
you know,
and this is about
the friends you have.
What kind of friends
do you have?
You know,
if you're someone that says,
well, I just seem
to get along better
with the ungodly,
unsaved world,
you know,
than my fellow Christian man.
Well,
there's a problem with that,
okay,
because you've got
the wrong mindset.
Hey,
they might be easier
to get along with
because they're probably
closer to you
in your wicked behaviour,
in your sins.
Maybe you're more comfortable
to be around
because it makes you feel
more holy, perhaps,
and maybe next to a Christian
who's striving to live godly,
trying to be like the Lord,
maybe that's making you
feel bad about yourself,
okay?
We need to have
the right perspective on this.
You know,
we shouldn't surround ourselves
with friends of the world.
We shouldn't surround ourselves
with the wicked.
It's going to have
an effect on you.
Your outlook is important here,
you know,
and when we think about,
I guess,
one of the most vital sins today
that's been accepted
not just by the world
but even by Christians
and by churches
is homosexuality.
You know,
it's a vile sin.
It's a wicked,
disgusting sin,
an unnatural sin.
And how many churches are like,
well, he's just another sinner.
Hey, it's vile,
it's wicked.
God destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah
for that sin.
He rained fire and brimstone
from heaven
to destroy that wicked sin.
And then we have pastors
in churches,
oh, yeah,
we let them in church.
Just let them in
and serve in the local church,
in the local body.
Hey,
you've got the wrong mindset.
You have the wrong view.
You know,
who should we elevate?
Let's keep going.
It's said there
in verse number four,
but he honoreth them.
This is who you should honor.
But he honoreth them
that fear the Lord.
Okay?
So when it comes to a Christian,
yeah, we're not perfect.
Yeah, we're all striving.
We're all struggling.
We're trying to live more godly.
We want to learn the Bible.
You know,
we're trying to serve the Lord.
And, again,
we have weaknesses,
but if someone's fearing the Lord,
someone's fearing God,
that's the person we ought to honor.
He can be someone
that's just saved today,
brand new salvation,
wants to get into the Bible
and wants to fear God
and learn from God,
but he's got the long hair.
He's got the tattoos.
He doesn't, you know,
he's got bad language about him.
But if he fears God,
he's the one that I'm going to honor.
I'm not going to honor
the clean, shaven,
well-dressed man
if he's full of wickedness and sin.
I want to honor the one
that fears God,
the one that's striving
to live godly.
It says here,
he that swearth to his own hurt
and changeth not.
Who are the people
that we ought to honor?
The people that swear
to their own hurt.
Now, what this is saying is,
this is a man or woman
of their word.
You know,
you know,
they speak and they will do
what they said they're going to do,
even if it's going to hurt them.
You know,
and a good example of this
might be,
you know,
there's a lot of businesses now
that are really struggling
because of the coronavirus
and losing business
and maybe they've quoted somebody,
you know,
I'll do this work
for this amount.
But now,
you know,
that's not going to make ends meet.
But because you've made
that agreement,
because you've committed
to that amount,
you know,
and they might even lose money
from doing that work.
Okay,
now because of the changes
in the economy,
well,
they'll still honor
what they said,
even to their own hurt.
That's somebody that fears God.
That's somebody that abides in Christ.
And listen brethren,
there are many times
that you're just going to have to do
what you've said you're going to do,
even if it hurts you.
Even if it doesn't benefit you,
but it benefits someone else
and you put your word to it,
that's the person
that should be honored.
Look,
it says here,
and changeth not.
He that sweaveth to his own hurt
and changeth not.
He doesn't change his mind.
He said what he's going to do
and he accomplishes
what he's going to do.
You know,
sometimes I have people say to me,
you know,
I'll be at church,
then they're not at church.
You know,
that's someone that I don't honor.
You know,
they don't deserve to be honored
because they're not a person
of their word.
You know,
you want to be honored,
you need to be someone
of your word,
even if it is to your hurt.
Look at verse number five now.
It says here,
again,
abiding in Christ,
abiding in this tabernacle.
This is what we're striving to do.
Verse number five,
He that putteth not out his money
to usury,
not taketh reward against the innocent,
he that doeth these things
shall never be moved.
He that doeth these things
shall never be moved.
So what are the things,
what are the final things
that we have here in this chapter?
Verse number five,
he that putteth not out his money
to usury.
Listen,
if you lend money,
don't look to be taking advantage
of that person.
If you lend a hundred dollars,
you know,
to your brother or sister,
you know,
do it for their benefit.
Don't do it for your benefit.
You know how our banks think,
oh, this person needs a loan?
All right,
we'll give them a loan,
we'll take advantage of them.
Instead of them just paying back the loan,
they're going to have to pay the loan plus more.
They're going to pay the interest.
They're going to pay the usury.
The banks don't care about the loan being paid back.
They care about how much they can take advantage
of the person seeking the loan.
You don't be that way, Brevin.
You know,
just let them pay back the hundred dollars.
Don't ask for more.
It's for them.
You'll lend them money
because they're in need.
Okay?
But you might say,
well, I can't lend them money,
so I'm going to charge them interest
because this is an expense for me.
Well then,
if you can't lend it,
without usury,
don't lend it.
If you can't lend it,
don't do it.
You know,
whenever you're going to lend money
or something of value,
have the mindset
that this may never be paid back.
And if you're not willing
to lose it,
don't lend it.
Okay?
But when you do lend,
you lend for that person's benefit.
So you don't charge them usury.
You don't charge them interest.
Okay?
Now listen,
if you lend them money
and they come and they pay back
that hundred dollars
and they say,
you know what,
thank you so much for being a blessing.
Here's an extra twenty dollars,
you know,
for being a blessing to me.
Well, receive the blessing.
You didn't charge them usury.
They're just seeking to be
a blessing in return.
That would not be usury.
Okay?
And then it says,
nor takeeth reward against the innocent.
Nor takeeth reward against,
and this is like false accusations.
This is somebody that's innocent
and you falsely accuse that person
for reward,
for your own reward.
Okay?
And this might,
you know,
happen,
let's say in a workplace
where you're seeking a promotion.
Maybe you might be going for a job
and you know somebody else is.
Okay?
And you think that,
you know,
if I tear down this person's reputation,
if I share all the bad things
that I know about this person to others,
you know,
if I make false accusations against the innocent,
then I'll be rewarded from that.
I'll be the one
to be able to get that position
ahead of that person
because I've made them look bad.
That's a horrible way to live.
That's a horrible attitude.
Listen, if you need promotion,
you need the pay rise,
you work hard.
Alright?
You show yourself valuable
and you don't tear somebody else down.
You know,
if you tear down the innocent,
you're seeking to take reward for yourself.
That would be somebody
that cannot abide in Christ.
What else?
It says,
He that doeth these things
shall never be moved.
Boy, if we can just abide in the Lord,
abide in His presence,
have a close fellowship,
the Bible says that we will not be moved.
We will never be moved.
And if I can just end
on 1 Corinthians 15 verse 58.
1 Corinthians 15 verse 58.
It reads,
Therefore my beloved brethren,
be ye steadfast,
unmovable,
always abounding in the work of the Lord,
for as much as ye know
that your labor
is not in vain in the Lord.
Brethren,
we need to seek to be people
that are steadfast,
unmovable,
abounding,
doing lots of work for the Lord,
being fruitful unto Him,
being that branch that's attached
to the vine,
abounding,
attached to the vine,
abiding in Christ.
And so brethren,
the purpose of Psalm 15
is pointing to the fact
that we must abide in the Lord
and the practical steps
that we need to take
in order to do that.
I hope this has been a benefit.
God bless.