Alright, so we're up to our final Psalm, Psalm 24, and then from next week we'll be going
to 2 Peter.
We come into 2 Peter, the three chapters there, and that should bring me toward the end of
my service here full time with you guys.
But if you look at Psalm 24 and verse number 1, I couldn't help but just start with that
first phrase there.
It's a great title for the sermon.
It starts off by saying, the earth is the Lord's, okay?
So this is a great reminder, that's a title for the sermon this afternoon, the earth is
the Lord's.
And I think this is just a great reminder, especially in this day and age, this pandemic,
the concerns, you know, the government, I guess, overbearing themselves, you know, putting
these restrictions that might not be necessarily right or, you know, there are lots of fears,
lots of concerns, and you know, there are a lot of people, just yesterday in Australia,
different cities, we had a lot of people marching the streets and saying this is wrong, you
know, you know, protesting the restrictions, processing what's going on in Victoria, all
these things.
But as God's people, as Christians, we have the Bible, which is so great, which reminds
us that the earth is the Lord's, look at verse number 1, it says, and the fullness thereof.
It's not just that this world belongs to Him, it's not just this planet, it says the world
and they that dwell in them, therein, so there's a few things here that we're reminded of that
belongs to God.
Yes, this world, yes, this creation, but the fullness thereof, everything that is in this
world, all the resources, you know, all the wealth of this world, all of it belongs to
the Lord, this world, and then it says, and they that dwell therein, everybody belongs
to God.
Now, not everybody are children of God, we know that to become a child of God, we must
be born again into His family, but the Lord God owns everything, and that should really
give us a lot of comfort, a lot of peace in this day and age, you know, within these
concerns that people have, and, you know, people say, well, you know, the governments
are taking away our rights, and we need to protest, we need to stand up for our rights.
You know what?
Everything belongs to God, everything belongs to God, you know, even the government belongs
to God, all the authorities, you know, belong to God, please keep your finger there and
go to Colossians chapter 1, go to Colossians chapter 1.
And I just love the reminder that God owns all things, and that truly should give us
great peace, you know, as His children, as we've been reminded this morning, how the
Heavenly Father loves His children, you know what, no matter how wicked this world gets,
just remind yourself that the Lord loves you, and is seeking to guide you no matter how
bad the environment gets around us.
But Colossians chapter 1 verse 12, Colossians chapter 1 verse 12, let's remind ourselves
of this great truth.
It says here, giving thanks unto the Father, which have made us meet to be partakers of
the inheritance of the saints in light, who have delivered us from the power of darkness
and have translated us into the kingdom of His dear Son.
Wow, you know what, we're not part of some earthly kingdom, we're part of the kingdom
of His dear Son, He's translated, when you got saved, He brought you from the kingdom
of this wickedness, this dark kingdom, the kingdom of this world, He's brought you into
the kingdom of God, you are kings and priests in the holy nation of God, verse number 14,
in whom we have redemption through His blood, even the forgiveness of sins, who is the image
of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature, now notice verse number 16, for
by Him were all things created that are in heaven and that are in the earth, visible
and invisible, look at this, whether they be thrones or dominions or principalities
or powers, then it says this, all things were created by Him and for Him and He is before
all things and by Him all things consist.
What an amazing truth, you know, Jesus Christ has the authority over all things, all things
in heaven, all things in earth, whether visible or invisible, and we know that we're fighting
a spiritual war against the forces of wickedness, which we cannot see with our natural eyes,
those things that are invisible, you know what, even Jesus has ultimate power and authority
over all these things, the government's becoming wicked, the antichrist is on the scene, you
know, the tribulation is, you know, a few months away, whatever it is that people talk
about, whatever it is, I'm not saying that's the case, I'm just saying whatever people
are concerned and worried about, don't worry about it, Jesus is in charge, He's in control
of all things, all things were created for Jesus and Jesus is my saviour, His Father
is my Father, He's in charge, He's in control of it all, brethren, God's not out of, He
hasn't lost control of this world, I know we look at this world, we say this world is
out of control and it is, say this world is wicked, yes it is, this world is sinful, yes
it is, but God knows, He's in control, He knows what's going on and He's watching after
you, He's looking out for you, okay, listen, we don't need to march the streets, we don't
need to protest for our rights, we are children of God, we've been translated into His kingdom,
we have all, we have everything that God wants to offer us, okay, He wants us to live in
faith, He wants us to keep our minds on all eternity, you know, this is something that's
always reminded to us throughout the entire Bible, we see there in Psalms that God owns
all things, the whole earth is His, we see here in Colossians that He has authority over
all things, we're even reminded in the book of Revelation chapter 4 verse 10, it says
the four and twenty elders fall down before Him that sat on the throne and worship Him
that live forever and ever and cast their crowns before the throne, saying, what do
they say, they say this, thou art worthy O Lord to receive glory and honour and power,
and then it says this, for thou has created all things and for thy pleasure they are and
were created, we're reminded from the very beginning, we know God created all things,
Genesis 1 and 1, in the beginning God created the heaven and the earth, and we're reminded
throughout the entire Bible, hey believers, hey children of God, remember God owns all
things, He has all power, He has all authority, Pastor Kevin are you concerned about this
world, are you concerned about the governments, not really, no, because my heavenly Father
knows it all, He's in charge, it's all under His authority, okay, and God's going to judge
them at the right time, God's going to look after us, God's going to look out for us,
He's going to provide all our needs, it doesn't matter how wicked this world gets, it just
means we have to shine brighter as the light in this world that Jesus Christ has left us,
the responsibilities that He's left us to do, can you please go to Psalm 50, go to Psalm
50, Psalm 50 verse 10, Psalm 50 verse 10, just another reminder here, it says in Psalm
50, 10, for every beast of the forest is mine, and the cattle upon a thousand hills, hey
every animal belongs to God, every cattle on every hill, on a thousand hills, it all
belongs to God, okay, it all belongs to Him ultimately, it's all the Lord's, look at verse
number 11, I know all the fowls of the mountains, and the wild beasts of the field are mine,
all the birds, all the beasts, all the animals belongs to God, and I love what it says in
verse number 12, very poetic here, this is God speaking of course, it says if I were
hungry, now obviously God is not limited like us, okay, He's not going to be hungry,
but it says if I were hungry, alright, if I had needs, if I needed to be satisfied,
if I needed something, He says I would not tell thee, for the world is mine, and the
fullness thereof, God says look if I needed anything, if I was hungry, I wouldn't even
tell you, I'd just take it, because it's all mine, it's not like God has to ask permission,
it's not like you might own a piece of land for example, I don't know, you don't really
own a piece of land, the government owns your land, right, God doesn't have to ask permission
from the Australian government to take His land, it's all His, all the animals, anything
on that land, anything on this earth belongs to God, He doesn't have to tell any of us,
He just takes it because it's His, okay, and I love that about God, that He is in charge,
He's in command, right, nobody can say no to God, if you were hungry, He would take
care of that, now please go to Job chapter 1, you're not far from Job, please go to Job,
it's important for us to turn to Job chapter 1 verse 20, you might say, Pastor Kevin, are
you against people protesting, I'm not, you know, it's within people's rights to make
known their concerns, their issues, but brethren, as I've been preaching throughout the last
few months, right, this is not the world I'm living for, this is not, in fact, the worst
this world gets, the greater the opportunities for us to preach the gospel, honestly, the
worse this world gets, the more fear, the more concerns about the future, people start
asking about God, Australians will start having a fear of God, it only works in our favour,
you know, because God will be able to use us in a great and powerful way, it's almost
better, things just get worse, okay, because if Australians just continue down this world,
you know, this prosperity, and the comforts of Australia, the more we have in this nation,
the more people say, well I don't need God, I'm a self-made man, well why do I need God,
I'm living fine, right now Australia's a beautiful country, but we really need things
to get bad for people to start having a fear of God, and turning back to God, looking to
Him for a comfort, that's where we step in, that's where we can show people the gospel,
show them salvation in Jesus Christ, so I'm not concerned about things getting worse,
I just think, that's better for us, better for our gospel message, right, we'll be able
to see more people saved than we've seen before, but look at Job chapter 1 verse 20, and I
think it's important for us as believers, Job who of course was upright and perfect,
perfect and upright, right, for his generation, look how he responds, remember Job loses everything,
he loses all his possessions, he was a rich man, he had a great family, he loses his children
as well, right, and this is how he speaks in Job 1 20, and Job arose and rent his mantle,
and shaved his head, and fell down upon the ground and worshipped, listen, when you lose
it all, when you lose everything you have brethren, can you be like Job and just worship
God?
Look at verse 21, and he said, naked came I out of my mother's womb, and naked shall
I return the other, the Lord gave, hey, we love it when the Lord gives, the Lord gave,
hey man, we have our God given rights in this country, I love it when God gave, amen, alright,
and the Lord have taken away, hey if we lose our rights, the Lord's taken it away, that's
what it says, right, the Lord takes it away, and then it says there, sorry I've lost
my spot, blessed be the name of the Lord, right, the Lord gave, and the Lord have taken
away, blessed be the name of the Lord, and in all this Job sinned not, nor charged God
foolishly, so he says look, yeah, I have all my rights, I have all my possessions, I have
all my riches, I'm going to bless God, you know what, if God takes it all away, yes he
has ultimate authority in this world, if I lose it all, and he did lose it all, he says
I'm still going to bless God, I'm still going to worship God, hey that's the attitude we
have in this world, this is how we ought to be as Christians, not whining and complaining
and living for this world, and living for temporal things that really don't matter
for all eternity, you can march down the street, hey you might win back one of your rights,
but listen that means nothing for eternity, honestly it means nothing for eternity, what
we do brethren, what we are living for, the kingdom of God, for his gospel message, to
live righteously, to live a life that is pleasing to God, to give him praise, to give him thanks,
for everything he's given, yes, but also everything he's taken away, we ought to give thanks to
God, and so listen, if the Lord takes things away, if we lose more and more of our rights,
if the government takes more and more of my money, I'm just going to say blessed be the
name of the Lord, God it's all yours anyway, if it all disappears, it disappears Lord,
you must have a reason for this, you must have a reason, you must have a purpose for this,
please go to the next chapter, Job chapter 2, and it's not Job, it's not just one passage that says
this, Ecclesiastes chapter 5 verse 15, I'll just read it to you, says, as he came forth of his
mother's womb, naked, shall he return to go as he came, and shall take nothing of his labor which
he may carry away in his hand. Reverend, we come in with nothing, we're going to leave with nothing,
okay, you're not going to take any of your earthly possessions, you're not going to take your
Australian Constitution, you're not going to take the laws of this land with you to heaven,
it's all empty, it's all gone, right, it's there for a reason, yeah, to live our lives on this
earth, but it doesn't matter, if we lose it all, we lose it all, and we are going to lose it all,
when we pass away, but you're in Job chapter 2 verse 9, Job chapter 2 verse 9, and I feel for
Job's wife, I know Job's wife cops it pretty hard when it comes to preaching, I get it, but I can
understand a mother losing all her children, I can understand her not being happy about it,
I can understand her getting angry about it, right, so I don't really like to attack Job's
wife here, and even though she's wrong, verse number 9, it says, then said his wife unto him,
dost thou still retain thine integrity, curse God and die, it's pretty wicked to curse God,
right, and how does he respond, and he said unto her, thou speakest as one of the foolish women's
speaketh, what, shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil, in all this
did Job not sin with his lips, listen, God can give, God can take, okay, but not only can he
take that which is good, he might allow you to have some evil in your life, okay, are you going
to retain your integrity, when God gives you evil in your life, allows you to go through evil, to be
harmed, you know, and Job's attitude is look, God can give us good, he can allow us to go through
evil, he can give us evil as well, okay, and if we lose all our rights, if we lose, I don't know,
whatever it is, brethren, I don't know what's going to happen in this world, I don't know,
I don't think things are going to get back to normal, I'm not sure, I'm not sure, maybe I'm
wrong, I don't think things will go back to the pre-COVID world, I think we're going to get used
to this new normal, because that's what they're all pushing these days, right, I'm not saying it's
okay, I'm not saying that I'm fine with it, I'm not saying that, okay, but even if I'm not fine
with it, even if it causes evil in our lives, listen, we just have to maintain our integrity,
and just bless God, just worship God, and function in the new society that we live in, okay, and why,
because the earth is the Lord's, God's in charge of it all, he owns it all, okay, and he knows that
we're going to have to maybe adjust a little bit how we do things in the new normal, okay,
I'm not promoting the new normal, I hate it, okay, I wish things would go back before all of this
stuff, okay, please go back to Psalm 24 verse number 2, Psalm 24 verse number 2, why is the earth
the Lord's, well verse number 2 explains, for he have founded it upon the seas, and established
it upon the floods, so of course God's the creator, that's why he owns it all, because he created it,
right, God created all these things, if you can keep your finger there, go to Genesis for me,
go to Genesis, I think it's quite interesting this verse, I want to skip over it, because it
says he have founded it upon the seas, the earth, okay, and established it upon the floods, now
let's just quickly remind ourselves what creation was like in Genesis chapter 1 verse 1, okay,
Genesis 1 1, let's just think about what does this mean, so the earth is founded upon the seas,
Genesis 1 1 says, in the beginning God created the heaven and the earth, and the earth was without
form and void and darkness was upon the face of the deep, now notice the next part, it says,
and the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters, and so on day 1 when God created the
heaven and the earth, the earth was covered by water, okay, and so then he needs to create the
dry land, right, so when we get that idea that the earth is the Lord's, and earth of course is not
just the planet, but also the dry ground, the Bible quite often refers to earth like that,
so what we understand here, if you drop down to verse number 9, we see how God established it
upon the seas in a sense, Genesis 1 9, it says, and God said, let the waters under the heaven be
gathered together unto one place, and let the dry land appear, and it was so, okay, and God called
the dry land earth, and the gathering together of the waters called he seas, and God saw that it
was good, alright, so that's how we understand then, verse number 2, it says, he had found it
upon the seas, the earth, is because it was all sea, it was all water, and then God allowed the
water to be pushed aside, you know, to be made into seas and oceans, and the dry land to appear,
okay, and so we have our continents, and we have, you know, the dry land that we live on, and so
yes, in a sense, in that sense, yes, the earth was founded upon the seas, because it was the
seas first, before the earth appeared, but it also says in verse number 2, and established it
upon the floods, so it's not just, and I find this quite interesting, it's not just that the waters
will push aside for dry land to appear, but also the dry land, the earth, is also founded upon the
floods, so what this is saying is, basically, that there is water under the crust of the earth,
there is water under this earth, and you know, that might sound unusual, and I just wanted to
quickly look this up, this isn't some secret, you know, thing, this isn't some weird, you know,
science, this is actually a well-established science, and actually before I read it to you,
I'll just read to you Psalm 136 verse 6, it says, to him that stretched out the earth above the
waters, for his mercy endure forever, that's Psalm 136 verse 6, I'll just read it again, to him that
stretched out the earth above the waters, so it's saying look, above, under the dry ground, there's
water, God is saying, right, and this doesn't take long, you just Google, just Google water under the
crust, water under the earth, just Google that, there are so many articles about this, this is a
well-known science, and the one that came up first, I'll just read it to you, it's from the new
science, it's from newscientists.com, this article is written on the 12th of June 2014, and it says
this, it says that a reservoir of water three times, look at this, three times the volume of all
the oceans has been discovered deep beneath the Earth's surface, the finding could help explain
where Earth's seas came from, I don't think so, but anyway, you know, so obviously these articles go
into evolution and the Big Bang and all that stuff, okay, but this is something that has become
widespread information, there is water under the crust, you know, three times the amount of the
oceans, think about how much water there is in the oceans, right, there's three times as much water
under the crust of the earth, it also says, another part of the article, it says the water is hidden
inside a blue rock called ringwoodites that lies 700 kilometres underground in the mantle, the layer
of hot rock between Earth's surface and its core, and so when we read this in the Bible, you know,
since I guess before we had this scientific understanding, we might just read over this or
might say well this is just poetic language in some sense, no actually there is water under the
crust, God did establish, you know, the earth above the waters, you know, so it's, you know,
it's just amazing that science just comes to the realisation of what the Bible already tells us,
you know, we have, we're ahead of the scientists, if we just believe what the Word of God says,
go back to Psalm 24, I thought that was interesting, Psalm 24 verse 3 and then it says
this, who shall ascend into the hill of God or who shall stand in his holy place, so what is the hill
of the Lord here, who shall ascend into the hill of the Lord, please go to Psalm 48, Psalm 48 verse
1, Psalm 48 verse 1, the hill of the Lord, it's not, it's actually mentioned quite a lot, not just
a hill but the mountain of the Lord, Psalm 48 verse 1 says, great is the Lord and greatly to
be praised in the city of our God, in the mountain of his holiness, beautiful for situation, the joy
of the Holof is Mount Zion, on the sides of the north, the city of the great King, amen, so what
we see here, this hill of the Lord, this mountain of the Lord, where it has the holiness of God,
it is Mount Zion, Mount Zion, you say what is Mount Zion, well first of all it says there in
Psalm 48 verse 1, it is a city, it is the city of our God, right, it is the mountain of his holiness,
it is a place of his presence and of course if you just read, you know casually read for the
Old Testament, you know you come to no other realization that Mount Zion is basically Jerusalem,
Jerusalem, the city of Jerusalem is Mount Zion in a physical sense, okay but let's keep,
go back to Psalm 20, yeah 24 verse number 3, let's read it a little bit more, verse number 4,
because it's asking the question who can ascend to this hill, now obviously going to Jerusalem
is not a big deal, you know you can catch a flight to Jerusalem and go to Mount Zion, okay,
this is sounding like something very specific, something very unique, something very special,
you know who can come to this hill of the Lord, so is it just Jerusalem, well it's not because
look at verse number 4, who is it that can stand in his holy place, verse number 4, he that hath
clean hands and a pure heart, he who have not lifted up his soul unto vanity nor sworn deceitfully,
now brethren can you say about yourself that you have clean hands, you've never done anything wrong,
you've never committed any sins, can you say that you have a pure heart, you know that you've never
had a wicked thought in your heart at all, can you say you've never lifted up your soul unto vanity,
you've never been lifted up with pride and thought highly of yourself above your station,
you know is that you, well obviously all of us are sinners, all of us are sinners and all of us
even, no matter how wicked of a sinner you are, in fact there are many wicked sinners in Jerusalem
right now, okay, I mean the most wicked, one of the most wicked religions in this world is Judaism,
denying Jesus Christ as the Son of God, there is plenty of wickedness right now in that city,
okay, so is this about then, yes, yes it is, you know about Jerusalem in a sense, of course,
you know in Old Testament times when the people of God were there, you know and the temple of God
was situated there, they would bring the sacrifices, yeah it was meant to be a holy place,
it was meant to be a special place, it was a place where they would go to the Lord and ask for
forgiveness for the sins, yes, but you know what, it's just a type, it's just a picture of the true
Mount Zion, so let's have a look at that, go to your Bibles to Hebrews chapter 12, let's have a
look at the true Mount Zion, let's have a look at the true Jerusalem, okay, in Hebrews chapter 12
verse 22 and remember, only if you've got clean hands, only if you've got a pure heart, you know
only if your soul has not been lifted up into vanity, only if you've not sworn deceitfully,
can you enter this Mount Zion and you've already failed, so how do we go there, well it's common
sense, common knowledge in this church anyway, you must be saved, right, have your sins forgiven,
be washed in the blood of the Lamb, okay and then it's our righteous, not our righteousness,
but the righteousness of Christ that allows us to enter into that place of wholeness, right,
then we can have the pure hands, then we can have the clean heart, etc to enter this Mount Zion,
Hebrews chapter 12 verse 22, Hebrews chapter 12 verse 22 says, but ye are come unto Mount Zion,
what Mount Zion, is this Jerusalem, well it is, because look, and unto the city of the, we saw
there was a city, unto the city of the living God, but then it says this, the heavenly Jerusalem,
and to an innumerable company of angels, so listen, yes, you know, the city today in Jerusalem,
it has no significance today, I do believe Christ is coming back, I do believe he's going to rule
and reign from Jerusalem, okay, but like many things in the Old Testament, it's just a type,
it's meant to help us understand a greater spiritual or heavenly truth, there is a Mount
Zion, there is a heavenly Jerusalem, it's in heaven, it's in the presence of God, and listen,
no wicked sinner can enter heaven unless they've been saved, unless they've been cleansed from
their sins through Jesus Christ, let's have a look at this city, verse number 23, it says to
the General Assembly and Church of the Firstborn, you say I want to be in that church, you will be,
don't worry, when we get to heaven, the Church of the congregation, we're all going to be together,
which are written in heaven, and to God the judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made
perfect, and to Jesus the mediator of the New Covenant, to the blood of sprinkling, that speak
of better things than that of Abel, so how do we enter into this Mount Zion, how can we have access,
who can answer this brethren, as the question gets asked there, who shall ascend into the
heel of the law, the question gets asked in the Psalm, well those that have had the blood
of sprinkling of Jesus Christ, those that have entered into the New Covenant, right,
we have access because we have the clean and pure heart, because Jesus has paid for our sins,
amen, thank Jesus that we can enjoy this Mount Zion, that we can enjoy this heavenly Jerusalem,
brethren, you know, I would be interested in going to Israel one day, I'll just be honest with you,
I'd be interested to look at the sites, to look at the locations, I think it'll help me better grasp
the geography of the land as I read through the Bible, but if I never do that, I want to make
sure just I don't miss the heavenly Jerusalem, right, I don't want to miss the true Mount Zion,
the one that really matters for all eternity, and so listen, brethren, we may never walk the
Holy Land, okay, but there is a greater Holy Land that we must all participate in, you know,
salvation through Jesus Christ, this heavenly Jerusalem, and there is a church in heaven,
the Church of the Firstborn, okay, now we don't believe in the universal church doctrine here,
but one day there will be, you know, a singular church in heaven, all the believers making up
this Church of the Firstborn, remember you have to be born again, okay, the firstborn,
of course Jesus Christ being the first begotten from the dead, back to Psalm 24 verse 5, Psalm 24
verse 5, it says he shall receive the blessing from the Lord, now I don't want you to miss this,
and it ties into everything that we just covered, the fact that we must enter in with the clean
hands and the pure heart, etc, it says he shall receive the blessing from the Lord,
and righteousness from the God of his salvation, so important for you to understand this brethren,
we are not saved by our own righteousness, our own righteousness does not prove salvation,
a lot of people can do good things, you know what, there might even be, I'm not saying this is good,
I'm just saying there might be unsaved people that behave better than some people in this church,
it could be, okay, but your own righteousness does not get you saved, it doesn't hit the mark
brethren, it doesn't come close, so what is it, we receive the blessing from the Lord, look at this,
and righteousness from who? From God, all right, righteousness from the God of his salvation,
listen the way we enter that Mount Zion, the way we go to heaven is through the righteousness of
God, through the righteousness of his son, okay, you know there's this whole, well you must,
this is how you know the false preachers, the false gospel, that they'll say well salvation is
by believing in Jesus, but you've got to have the works, you've got to have the righteousness,
you've got to start, because if you don't, you're not saved, listen salvation is through Jesus Christ,
it's his righteousness, 100% the righteousness of Christ, it's not 90% the righteousness of Christ,
and 10% of mine, it's not, it's not like I have to try 10%, but Jesus will cover the other 90% for
me, it's not like that, it's either Jesus 100% or you try 100% on your own, and you've already
failed, so you might as well not try on your own, you know, salvation is without works, without the
deeds of the law, without the works of the law, not by our own righteousness, please turn to
Romans chapter 9, Romans chapter 9, the righteousness from the God of his salvation,
what a blessing, that's the greatest blessing of all brethren, wow, that I can have the
righteousness of Jesus in my life, even though I know I'm not perfect, even though I know I still
make mistakes, Romans chapter 9 verse 30, Romans chapter 9 verse 30 says, what shall we say then,
that the Gentiles, now remember the Gentiles for the Jews were the unclean people, right,
that the Gentiles which followed not after righteousness, listen, they've not followed
after righteousness, the Gentiles, meaning they're not doing righteous things, they're
wicked people, they're committing sin, is what it's saying there, right, they're not following
off the righteousness, have attained to righteousness, what, so they're not trying to
live righteously, but they've still attained righteousness, yeah they have, how, even the
righteousness which is of faith, how do I get right with God, even though I'm a sinner, how do
I get right with God, faith on Jesus Christ, that's how you have the righteousness of Christ,
it's imputed righteousness, it's not our own righteousness that gets us saved,
you know, I don't look at some in this church and say wow, that's a great guy, what a great person,
I know he's saved because he's such a great guy, I don't think like that at all, I think hey,
if you have a testimony of your faith on Jesus Christ, then I know you have the imputed righteousness
of Christ, then I know you're saved, you say but what if you catch him drinking alcohol after
church, well you know what, well that's one of the sins you got to kick someone out of church for,
right, being a drunken, but here's the thing, he's still saved if his faith is on Jesus,
and hopefully he repents from that, hopefully he turns from that, okay, but whether he does or not
does not change his direction, he's still saved, it's the righteousness of Christ that saves him,
right, just like it said here, that the gentiles which followed not after righteousness, just like
the drunkard drinking the alcohol afterwards, right, he's not following after righteousness,
but he attains the righteousness through faith, okay, the faith, look at verse number 31,
but Israel which followed after the law of righteousness, now this is Israel, this is
Old Testament Israel, they're trying to follow the laws of God, they're trying to follow the
commandments, right, the law of righteousness, this is this, have not obtained, have not attained
to the law of righteousness, what, yeah, salvation is not by keeping God's laws,
no matter how much you try, the Jews tried a lot, okay, they did not attain righteousness through
the law, right, verse number 32, wherefore, why, right, wherefore, because they sought it not by
faith, but as it were by the works of the law, for they stumbled at the stumbling stone, as it is
written, behold I lay in Zion, remember the Mount Zion, Zion a stumbling block and rock of offense,
and whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed, how is it then that we attain the
righteousness brethren through the laws, through the law of God, through his commandments, no,
okay, that's not how, that's not what we should be placing our faith on,
the works that we do in his law, no, it is simply by believing, what did it say there,
sorry, verse number, and whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed, believing your faith,
your faith on Jesus, okay, how did the Old Testament saints get saved, by believing on
Jesus, by believing on Christ, by believing on the sacrifice of God, yes they had to obey the laws,
yes they had to obey the commandments, because God will either bless them or curse them on the
land, whether they did or not, and brethren, yes, we ought to obey the commandments of God,
Jesus said if you love me, keep my commandments, okay, and listen, I would never come behind this
pulpit and say we don't have to keep the commandments, but to be saved, yeah, it's not
the commandments that save you brethren, it's your faith on Christ, and now that you are saved,
you know we need to rehash that over and over again every Sunday, do we, now that we are saved,
we say well now we want to live after the righteousness, but it's righteousness through
Christ, okay, and listen, when you still fail, you know, you can go to Christ and ask for forgiveness,
and thank God that we're not going to be judged for heaven based on how well we're living after
we got saved, that we should live well, I'm going to try to focus a lot of my sermons on living
well, that's what we preach on all the time, right, I can't preach about salvation every week,
we preach on living Christ-like, being godly, but whether you do or not is not the basis of
your salvation, okay, your basis of salvation is your faith on Christ, go to Romans chapter 3,
Romans chapter 3 verse 20, Romans chapter 3 verse 20,
it says, therefore by the deeds of the law shall no flesh be justified in his sight,
for by the law is the knowledge of sin, so does the law serve a purpose? Absolutely,
it teaches us that we're sinners, the law is the schoolmaster to bring us to Christ,
and say wow God, these are your laws, these are your commandments,
thou shall not bear false witness, oh man I did that, what do I do now, I failed,
that's what it's meant to do, right, I failed, I've got to try harder, I've got to try to get
saved, try harder, keeping his commandments, no, okay, that's not what it says, it says
we'll not be justified in his sight, verse number 21, but now the righteousness of God,
okay, the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law
and the prophets, look even the Old Testament prophets knew, it's the righteousness of God
that saves us, okay, verse number 22, even the righteousness of God which is by, again, by faith
of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe, for there is no difference,
and he goes, you know, I've seen the knowledge between the Jew and the Greek, the Gentile and
the Israelites, okay, so we need the righteousness of God to be saved, we need the righteousness of
Jesus, we need his imputed righteousness in our lives, how do we get it, by following the
commandments? No, we get it by our faith upon him, without the deeds of the law, without the
works of the law, and once you are saved, praise God, you know that your salvation is based purely
on Christ, now that you are saved, well now I better try to live for God, now I better try to
follow his commandments so I can please him, so he can bless me, so he can reward me, right,
that should be our desire, but I despise it when people mix this up, it's such a mess,
it's such a corruption of God's gospel, okay, back to Psalm 24 verse 6, Psalm 24 verse 6,
it says, this is the generation, these are the people that go into Mount Zion on the saved,
this is the generation of them that seek him, that seek thy face, oh Jacob, salaam, okay,
so seeking the face, seeking the face of God is basically seeking favor with God, that's kind of
the idea, right, seeking favor, I want God to show his favor, his mercy, his love toward me,
of course, again, only available through Christ, but there is this idea here that we need to seek
him, right, seek God, and Hebrews chapter 11 verse 6 says, but without faith, it is impossible
to please him, for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of
them that diligently seek him, okay, a rewarder of them that diligently seek him, now yes, I guess
we can take this verse and apply it to salvation, we can, okay, but salvation is not a reward,
okay, it says here, he's a rewarder of them that diligently seek him,
salvation is not a reward, salvation is a gift, gifts are free, okay, what are rewards,
you've put an effort, you've tried hard, you get a reward, right, my kids play soccer,
if they're the star player of the match, they'll get a McDonald's voucher, that's their reward
for playing well, okay, that's the effort, that's the work of man, you get the reward,
but salvation is not a reward, salvation is a free gift, and gifts are free, requires no works,
no strings attached, it is free, okay, so when we are saved brethren, and we see here that we
please God with faith, then we ought to be people that diligently seek him, we ought to diligently
seek favour with God, you know, be in fellowship with God, have a good healthy relationship with
the father, right, that's important, and again, you know, this idea of fellowship or relationship,
you go knock on someone's door, you know, what do you think someone has to do in order to go
to heaven, have a relationship with God, nope, okay, that's not how you get saved, going to
heaven knowing that you're saved is not having a, what does that mean, when someone says that to me,
you got to have a relationship, I say, well, can it be a bad relationship, I mean, can it be,
doesn't matter how bad or good that relationship is, like, you know, what is the basis of that
relationship, now, in a sense, it's true, because relationship talks about relations,
and so in order to be saved, yeah, you have to be related to God, you become a child of God
through faith on Christ, so yeah, if that's what they're referring to, I understand, but they're
usually not referring to that, they're usually referring to, you know, living godly, you know,
and going to church and all that, you know, that's how you get saved, no, that's not true,
that's not right, you know, but yes, when you are saved, we should diligently seek him, right,
we should desire to have favour with God, to be in his presence, to spend time with him, this is why
you're in church this morning, or this afternoon, right, because you want to learn more about God,
you want to know more about his word, you want to be able to fellowship with him, sing him praises,
give thanks to God, this is all important, you know, in our seeking after him,
but he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him, so the more we seek God, the greater
the reward, what a blessing, to know that, hey, as we seek God, as we try to live lives that
please him, you know, God's going to reward you for that, it's not a waste of time, it's not empty,
he's going to, you know, see you through, he's going to make sure you get what's coming to you,
when it comes to a great reward from God, and you know, that reward can appear on this earth,
that reward could be the treasures that are laid up in heaven, let's go to Psalm 24 verse 7 now,
Psalm 24 verse 7, don't forget these Psalms are songs and poetic language, right,
so, you know, don't get too confused with the language, it says here,
lift up your heads, oh ye gates, okay, now, obviously, talking about Jerusalem, Mount Zion,
talking about the gates of Jerusalem here, right, and so it's speaking about the gates here,
right, lift up, it's speaking to the gates, poetically, right, lift up your heads, oh ye
gates, and be ye lift up, ye everlasting doors, so it's basically saying, look, open up your gates,
open that up, why? It says here, and the king of glory shall come in, okay, so the language is
basically to, obviously, yes, the nation of Israel and Jerusalem at that point in time, he says,
look, let God in, open up your gates, okay, open it up so God can be in there, and brethren,
that's what we need to do, we have to be open with God, we have to allow him to enter into our lives,
you know, have fellowship with God, you know, spend time in prayer, spend time in church,
spend time in Bible reading, spend time in fellowship with God, now lift up your spiritual
gates, as it were, and let God in, you know, fellowship with God, we don't want God to be like
Revelation, you know, the church in Laodicea, where he's knocking, you know, let me in, let me in,
right, people aren't fellowshiping with God, we ought to lift up those gates, but again, you know,
yes, this applies to earthly Jerusalem in a sense, but notice, it's pointing to heavenly Jerusalem,
because it says, in verse number seven, lift up your heads or your gates, and be ye lift up ye
everlasting doors, okay, will this earthly Jerusalem always exist? No, in fact, the gates,
the walls have been taken down, I mean, they've been, a lot of them have been demolished and
things like that, right, it's about everlasting gates, so obviously, this is speaking about
heavenly Jerusalem, something that is everlasting, something that is heavenly, what this is pointing
us to, is the fact that when we're there, we are going to be with the King of glory, you know,
the King of glory will be there, will be in the presence of God, when we are in heaven, can you
please keep your finger then, go to Revelation 21, Revelation 21, notice it says there, and the
King of glory shall come in, the King of glory, Revelation 21 verse 21, Revelation 21, 21,
Revelation 21, 21, speaking of the gates of this heavenly Jerusalem, it says, and the 12 gates
were 12 pearls, every several gate was of one pearl, and the street of that city, of the city
was pure gold, as it were transparent glass, and I saw no temple therein, for the Lord God Almighty
and the Lamb are the temple of it, and the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon,
to shine in it, for the glory of God, remember some talk about the King of glory, well he says
the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof, now some people have the idea
well maybe that means there is no sun, there is no moon, it's possible, I'm not saying I know what it
is, okay, it's not saying necessarily that there is none of that, it's just that there's no need
for it, okay, because the brightness, the light of God's glory, of his presence outshines the sun,
okay, it will always be lit up in heaven, okay, the fact that God will be in this city, in this
heavenly Jerusalem, and so when the psalm speaks of being lifted up, you know, the everlasting
doors, yeah because there is an everlasting, there are everlasting gates, you know, the 12 gates with
the 12 pearls, you know, all this stuff that we read about in the book of Revelation, and so you
can see how this psalm is pointing to the new heavens and the new earth, okay, and the fact that
yeah we're going to be with God, we're going to be able to glorify God for all eternity, go back
to psalm 24 verse number 8, psalm 28, sorry, psalm 24 verse 8, and the question gets asked who is
this King of glory, that's obvious for us, right, who is the King of glory,
and this is where, you know, I think it's so important, who is the King of glory, who is this
God, I mean we want to know God a little bit more, right, you go to your average church, and God is
love, and he is love, yeah, God is merciful, and he is merciful, amen, God is long suffering, and he
is long suffering, you know, there's a lot of great positive attributes to God that we love and adore,
okay, but the psalmist wants us to know the real God of the Bible, okay, he doesn't focus on how
God is just, this peaceful God, you know, who is, let's answer the question, who is this King of
glory, the Lord strong and mighty, the Lord mighty in battle, that's the God, that's our God, a God
mighty in battle, you say no, no, he just wants peace and love all across the world, no, he's
ready for war, he's ready to take down his enemies as well, okay, this is the Lord, this is the King
of glory, man, these are the churches that do not preach the fact that God also destroys, that he
also casts the unsaved into hellfire for all eternity, and you know how God is an angry God,
he's angry at the wicked every day, the Bible tells us, this is the true God of the Bible,
but he's also merciful, he's also loving, otherwise we'd be destroyed already, okay,
thank God for the God of the Bible, please, if you guys were in Revelation, I'll get you to turn back
to Revelation chapter 20 and I'll just read some other passages to you, the Lord is mighty in
battle, what does that mean, that means he's fought battles before and he's been mighty,
he's been successful, he's won battles in the past, he's defeated enemies, you know, he's
destroyed the wicked, he's the Lord mighty in battle, you know, in Exodus 15 verse 3 it says,
and notice this, it says this, the Lord is a man of war, the Lord is his name,
Pharaoh's chariots and his hosts have been cast into the sea, his chosen captains also are drowned
in the Red Sea, you know, God defeated the Egyptian army, right, I mean in an amazing way,
right, you know, just them drowning in the sea, he destroyed them, the Bible tells us he's a man
of war, you don't want to go up against God, you're gonna lose, I want to be in God's side,
fight from victory, Jesus Christ has already won, you know, the victory that we can have is already
just in Christ, praise God, I want to be on the winning side,
oh man, could you imagine facing a man of war who's won many battles in the past, you know,
from the very beginning we see in Exodus, God has won in war, I'll just read another passage to you,
Isaiah 42 verse 13, Isaiah 42 verse 13 says, the Lord shall go forth as a mighty man,
a mighty man is another, a man of war, right, a man who has great victories,
he shall stir up jealousy like a man of war, he shall cry, yea, roar, he shall prevail against his
enemies, wow, that's Isaiah 42 verse 13, how many churches speak about this God, this man of war,
he roars, he cries out when he defeats his enemies, wow, you know, and then in Revelation
chapter 20, so the reason I wanted to look at Revelation chapter 20 is because we were looking
at Revelation 21 where it speaks of, you know, the new Jerusalem, right, and how that's Mount Zion
and that's the gates and we have God's glory there, but you know what, leading into that new
heaven and the new earth, God has another great battle, so let's have a look at it very quickly,
Revelation chapter 20 verse 7 because before God creates the new heavens and the new earth,
Jesus Christ will be ruling and reigning for a thousand years and in Revelation chapter 20 verse
7 it says, and when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison and shall
go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog, to
gather them together to battle the number of whom is as the sand of the sea, can you, I cannot
understand this for the life of me brethren, but Jesus Christ, it's going to be wonderful as he
rules and reigns on this earth for a thousand years, but you know, toward the end, just like
man has always shown himself to be corrupt, to be sinful, to not love the Lord, somehow there's going
to be people that turn against Jesus Christ, okay, Satan will be loosed, he'll be able to gather this
army, they think, they think they're going to be able to take down Jesus, a man of war, take him
down, all right, I mean look, the number of whom is as the sand of the sea, that's going to be a
huge army, huge army at the end of a thousand years, right, coming against Jesus, but my
favourite thing is how Jesus wins it and how much time God gives it, it's not much of a battle,
you know, it's not much of a battle, okay, look at verse number nine,
and they went up on the breath of the earth and come past the camp of the saints about,
so that includes us, and the beloved city, and fire came down from God out of heaven
and devoured them, that's it, done, it just didn't take too long to defeat his enemies,
verse number 10, and the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone,
where the beast and the false prophet are, okay, they're still there, after a thousand years,
they're still being tormented, look at this, and shall be tormented day and night, forever and
ever, listen, the lake of fire is a place that if you've been cast in there before the thousand
years, you're still there for a thousand years, it continues, and not only just that, beyond that,
tormented day and night, that's bad, but then forever and ever,
man, I don't want to go to war against God, turn against him, what's not going to happen to the
believers, we saw here that they encamp against the saints, okay, so obviously, it's not the
saints, it's not believers that are going to war against God, okay, they're the ones being attacked
and Jesus comes, he delivers them, fire comes from heaven, they get devoured and cast into that lake
of fire and brimstone, back to Psalm 24, and of course, that's the final battle,
new heavens and new earth, then we can be in Mount Zion, you know, in the church of the firstborn,
with God for all eternity, Psalm 24, and you know what, verse number 9 and 10 is just a repeat of
what we just read, so just read it quickly, it says, lift up your heads, O ye gates, even lift
them up, ye everlasting doors, and the king of glory shall come in, who is the king of glory?
The Lord of hosts, he is the king of glory, Selah, okay, the Lord of hosts, he is the king of glory,
and how did it say there in verse number 8, it said the Lord's strong and mighty, the Lord mighty
in battle, and so I love it when the Psalms repeat themselves, whenever the Bible repeats itself,
just pay attention, it means God really wants you to focus in on that, okay, again, who is the Lord,
we want, God wants us to know him, right, it's not just the love and the mercy and the long suffering,
actually our God is a God of great wrath, of great judgment, you know, he hates sin,
he gives us so much time to turn to Jesus, he gives us time to go to our community to preach
the gospel, so they don't get wiped out by the man of war, okay, it's better to join his army
than fight against him, and so we just see that repetition there, just to remind us of the great
God that we worship, and it will be for all eternity, the everlasting doors in the new
Jerusalem. Let's pray.