to the word of God psalm number 24 thank you Holy Spirit psalm 24 verse number one your Bible should read "The earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof the world and they that dwell therein he has founded it upon the seas and established it upon the floods who shall ascend into the heel of the Lord who shall stand in his holy place he that hath clean hands and a pure heart who has not lifted up his soul under vanity nor sworn deceitfully he shall receive the blessing from the Lord and righteousness from the God of his salvation this is the generation of them that seek him that seek your face oh Jacob sila lift up your head oh ye gates and be ye lift up ye everlasting doors and the King of glory shall come in who is this King of glory the Lord God strong and mighty the Lord God mighty in battle lift up your head oh ye gates even lift them up ye everlasting doors and the King of glory shall come in who is this king of glor the Lord of hosts he is the king of glory see I want to tag this text the king of glory you may be seated in the Lord's church if you and I lived in an actual kingdom type of government our total welfare would be the responsibility of the king in a kingdom the king is responsible for the welfare of the citizens of his kingdom and how the king takes care of his citizens is a mark of honor and power relative to the king so goes the king so goes the kingdom so goes the king so goes the citizens of the kingdom and what we find here is this psalm written to highlight and to give homage to the king of glory you and I need to be clear on who this king of glory is and why he is the king of glory this psalm was written by David church and David establishes this psalm based on a critical theology listen at what he says he says "The earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof the world and they that dwell therein." It would appear church that this statement is common knowledge but because David wrote this statement in a Jewish hymn book it is actually a critical and even somewhat controversial statement the reason being is because the Jews historically believed that they alone were God's people and that the Holy Land alone is God's select location of his of his presence david makes a statement here that is in contradiction and in contention with their understanding he says "The Lord is the God of they that dwell therein not just the Jews the Jews aren't the only ones that inhabit the earth." He says that God is the God of they that dwell therein not just the Jews so this is critical church because he is saying that God is the God of all humanity regardless of race color creed gender culture government social economic status power uh regardless of all of it God is actually the God of all people he's the God over every nation now that's critical because that says that God y'all is the God of all people despite humanity's ignorance indifference and irreverence to him god is the God of people who don't even honor him as God whether they recognize it or not he's still God and he's still their God even when they don't recognize it again it is the equivalent of saying that just because it's cloudy outside doesn't mean that the sun is not shining the sun always shines even on the stormiest day do I got any help in here he says that God is the possessor the provider and the preserver of people and the world that we all live in for one simple reason he created it y'all see that in verse two uh the earth is the Lord's the world and they that dwell therein for this reason he founded it upon the seas and established it upon the floods let me let me take my time here and help you understand this church uh he is the possessor and provider and preserver of the world and all of us that dwell therein simply because he created us but David pushes the envelope even further in verse two to say that the creator was creative in his creativity because he founded the world out of the seas and established it upon the floods he is literally alluding to day three of the creation process in Genesis 1:es 9-13 where the Bible says God caused the water to separate to draw together so that there would be dry land well church catch this church this is not a far-fetched idea it's actually pretty powerful because even science backs up this passage can I tell you what science teaches us and you didn't go to science class cuz you was busy uh let me tell you what science teaches us science science teaches us church that earth is the third closest planet to the sun some 93 million miles away if if Earth was one mile closer to the sun our whole atmosphere would change one mile we're currently 93 million miles away from the sun earth orbits in this zone called the habitable zone it is the zone by which uh a star is surrounding by the planet that allows for liquid surface water to be on the planet and this planet is an oceanic planet with water covering 70% of the planet it is that way church because none of us would exist if there was no water watch what the writer says he has founded it upon the floods y'all can't read y'all can't read he has established it upon the seas and founded it upon the floods this is a passage that does not have science to conflict it science actually confirms it this is powerful church because what we understand is if God founded the place on seas and on the floods he intended for life to be here and he intended for us to have a proper environment of our lives so when it says he is the title holder and the creator of the earth now we are going into some critical thought because that statement carries some connotations with it number one it carries a racial connotation to tell Jews in a Jewish hymn book that God isn't just the God of y'all but he's the God of all of us works against their Jewish prejudice and their Jewish exclusivity that's good news y'all because that means that God made everybody and he made even those of of us who we don't care for there is nobody that God did not make now once he made them they made some bad choices there is nobody God did not so this carries a racial tone but it also carries a spiritual tone listen what he says he says "The earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof the world and they that dwell therein." Well here's the problem with that the problem with that church is that we have people in the earth who don't worship God and at the time of this text David had to contribute his theology to the conflict of the people having to respond to other nations who were polytheistic the antithesis of the whole entire Old Testament is polytheism that is the belief that there are many gods that are overseeing and conducting different facets of life and nature we come with Christianity that is monotheistic that says that we don't believe in many gods we believe in one God who did it all and the reason why we believe in the one God who did it all is because his attributes don't need nobody else to get anything done let me see if I can help you come to seminary really quick god church is omnipresent that means he's everywhere at the same time so he doesn't need anybody to be somewhere where he is not god is omnipotent that means he has all power so he doesn't need anybody to do something he can or cannot god is omnisient means he knows everything so he needs nobody to inform him teach him or give him some information he doesn't already know god is eternal that means nobody precedes him or proceeds him he was is and will always be god is immutable that means he does not change he does not diminish he does not get exhausted he does not get tired and he doesn't get old god is perfect that means nobody needs to come and fix up some stuff he messed up nobody needs to correct his stuff nobody needs to change his stuff god is holy that means nobody compares to him and thus if he's omnipotent omnipresent if he's got all power if he's immutable then for for him to create all of this is an expression of all of his attributes you missed all that ladies and gentlemen here's the good news god didn't make you and call somebody else to supervise [Music] you god made you and still look out for you god is everywhere at the same time and when you thought he was gone he was always there and so for him to assign anybody else to take care of you is to have somebody who is less sufficient and less efficient to take care of you i don't need to carry a God i need a God to carry me i don't need to make a God i need God to make sure I'm taken care of so church it's it's not just a racial issue it's a spiritual statement that that all of your other gods first of all I can't conform to that cuz my memory is not that good i can't remember all those other names but it's more efficient that whatever problem I got I just call one name do I have any help in here i don't have to try to remember a God for this and a God for that and a God for this let me just get one God who can handle it all if I'm praying over my food I call one God if I'm sick in the hospital I call one God if I'm mourning I call one God if I need some money I call one God if I need to get saved I call one God it's a spiritual issue and it's a racial issue but it's also a cosmological issue it's a cosmological issue uh cosmology says simply that everything that was made had to be made by something that stood outside of it and uh when we look at the universe the universe ladies and gentlemen is clear and indicative of intelligent design and intelligent design includes specificity order and function meaning that whatever God made is specific it has a order to it and it works can't get no help here uh when you look at the universe it's so orderly something intelligent had to put it together well I can't get no help here it didn't just fall into place off of a Big Bang theory it didn't just fall into place off of your other gods something intelligent had to put order and specificity and function into the universe that's why he founded it upon the floods because what I need to do in order is to make sure your environment is right before I put you in it you missed all of it i didn't make you on day one i made you on day six cuz if id have made you on day one you wouldn't had no place to live so what I did is I hooked up the atmosphere i hooked up the sky i hooked up the ground i hooked up the herbs i hooked up the grass i hooked up the animals i hooked up the sun and then I put you in it [Applause] tap somebody and say "We got to live in order." Why are you trying to get married and you ain't even got a [Applause] house or better yet why are you buying a car and ain't buying a house why are you pulling a Mercedes up to a apartment why you got on name brand everything and ain't got insurance touch somebody and tell we need some order around here you look rich and broke all at the same time cuz your life is out of order when your life is in order you do what's orderly first i serve a God of order anybody in here serve a God of order tap somebody tell them "Get your life in order." Get your life in [Applause] order walking around here with your name ran on in credit can't even pay for it [Applause] trying to impress somebody that ain't complimented you yet tap somebody and say "Get your life in order." Get your life in order [Applause] what David wants to establish here is that God is the unmatched creator he is unmatched unrivaled he cannot be compared to and now because he's so holy and so great here comes the second question y'all ready here come the second question here's the second question i'm going to try to do my best to teach this cuz cuz preach might sneak up on you it has a tendency to do that uh y'all got a Bible he says he's the unmatched creator and here's the critical question who shall ascend into the heel of the Lord or who can stand in his holy place watch watch this Harold the the second question raised by the psalmist is on the heels of establishing the holiness and the exclusivity of God that he is high and holy that he is lofty and lifted that he is great he's grand he's grandiose he's glorious and because he is the unmatched creator who can go chill with him you missed all of it listen what he said he says "Since he's so high and glorious who can ascend into the heel of God?" The first question presupposes that getting into God's presence is an upward activity lord have mercy that whenever we worship y'all we worship up whenever we pray we're looking up whenever we give unto God we give up every experience with God is an upward activity but here's the critical question he is high and holy and you cannot withstand the altitude of the almighty so let me ask you this uh who is going to stand in his holy place if they were to get in his presence can can I can I paraphrase that for you here's what he's saying because God is God who is worthy to keep God company [Applause] which one of us Lord have mercy which one of us in here can go in God's presence and keep God company cuz here's the problem his holiness is allergic to our sinfulness holiness and sinfulness cannot coexist in the same place who's worthy to keep God company the answer comes in verse four he said those that have clean hands a pure heart and a soul that's not arrogant now here's the question here's the question y'all why are these conditions necessary to qualify one to keep company with God all right let me ask it to you this way what man or woman in here wants to be touched by somebody with dirty hands oh let me ask you this way who wants to receive food from a waiter that's got dirty hands let me ask you this way what parent in here wants to be touched by your child that's got dirty hands the first thing you going to do is snatch them away and take them to the bathroom so they can wash their hands okay this side over here is acting real funny towards me who in here wants to have a handshake with a dirty hand who in here wants to lay down to dirty hands who in here wants to walk hand in hand with a dirty hand can I ask you why you don't permit or have a tolerance for dirty hands because dirty hands are the symbol of a lack of fellowship whenever you got dirty hands it's inappropriate and in and not suitable for fellowship so dirty hands demand separation [Applause] don't touch me till you clean your hands up don't come near me till you clean your hand y'all acting funny i don't care i We can't have fellowship until you clean your hands and if it works that way in the natural that's how it works with God god says "I want to have fellowship with you but you need to clean your hands." Hopson it gets worse it gets worse here's the problem here's the bigger problem if I clean my hands they never really stop being dirty cuz the dirt that gets them dirty is the same dirt that they made out of and it's hard to get dirt to stop being dirty don't nobody want to talk to me over this side hey look this way look this way it's hard to get dirt to stop being dirty let me try it one more time for these people over it's hard to get dirt to stop being dirty how do you get dirty hands to stop being dirty here's how you get dirty hands to stop being dirty first of all you can't count on dirty hands to get themselves clean the only thing that's appropriate to clean dirty hands is God look at the next verse god is the one who issues blessing and righteousness on dirty hands and issues blessings and righteousness to make a pure heart and issues blessings and righteousness to cure the arrogance of the soul god issues imparts and imputes righteousness on dirty hands all right that doesn't mean anything to you unless you was Chinese i don't know if there's anybody in here of Chinese origin if you are good evening to you hello to you this thing came home to me Lenine because in the Chinese language they have a symbol for the word righteousness it is the word yang wo yang wo first symbol is y a n g and the Chinese character for yang is transliterated a sheep wo is spelled wo it is transliterated in its Chinese character I or me so when they write the word righteousness in the Chinese symbol they put the yang over the woe which means they put the sheep on top of me still sweat and the only reason why I'm righteous is cuz I got a sheep on top of me lord have mercy today that's the only reason why you righteous is because you got a sheep on top of you and the sheep on top of you is shedding his blood to wash away all your sins and make you acceptable in his sight i thought I had some yang saints in here today that are thank God that the only reason why I am where I am is cuz I got a sheep on top of me he was wounded for my transgressions bruised for my iniquities and the chastisement of my peace is upon him and by his stripes we are healed the blood of the sheep is on top of you to wash your sins away and to make you acceptable in his sight you dirty and only God can clean you up that's enough to shout about right there he says once these realize they got a sheep on top of them the next verse says they seek him that word there in this Hebrew literally means they worship him that's why we came in here today to worship God and to present our bodies as a living sacrifice holy and acceptable under God which is his reason which is our reasonable service you and I are always to worship God cuz he's put a sheep on top of us to clean us up and to make us acceptable in his sight cila it is a meta it is a musical term that means take a break pause consider what was said and get ready for what's about to be said okay y'all ready he says "You shall receive the blessing of the Lord and righteousness from the God of our salvation this is the generation of them that worship him the people of Jacob the God of Jacob rest take a break cuz we're getting ready to shift to the next part of the song you all already know that the book of Psalms is the himyno book of the old Jewish church so what we're actually reading are lyrics of a hymn and cila is put there as a musical term to shift to the next section of the hymn verses 7-10 is a repeat lift up your head oh ye gates be ye lifted up ye everlasting doors and the king of glory shall come in who is this king of glory the Lord God strong and mighty lift up your head oh ye gates and be ye lift up ye everlasting doors and the king of glory shall come in who is this king of glory lord God stronger and mighty lift up your head oh ye gates and be ye lift up ye everlasting doors and the King of glory shall come in who is this king of glory uh the Lord God strong and mighty uh this is a part of the song y'all that's called the refrain the refrain y'all is that that section of the song that is a repeated musical phrase that number one extends the song and allows room for either vocal or musical improvisation so when we sang Gyra they got to you are enough we just repeated it you missed all that that was at the refrain of the song that means every time you get to the refrain of the song the more you think about it something ought to rise up in your spirit that God is is gyro the one that is enough it is the phrase that was repeated but it allows for musical improvisation if the singer wanted to venture off the repeat is still going if the musicians wanted to do something sweet the repeat is still going here in Psalm 24 we're at the refrain here is the refrain lift up your heads oh ye gates and be ye lift up ye everlasting doors and the king of glory shall come in i want to suggest church that it is repeated twice for not just musical reasons but for esquetological reasons you want to know what it is church here it is church it is the picture y'all of gates and doors into a holy place particularly heaven because the text says that the doors are everlasting i'm about to run in here it is the picture y'all of the king going into heaven and the everlasting doors of heaven are opening to let the king come in well ladies and gentlemen it happened twice which is why it is repeated twice can I tell you the first time it happened the first time it happened is when Jesus borrowed the wound of Mary stayed here for 33 years went to Calvar's heel and died rose from the dead 3 days and in Acts chapter 1 he went back up into heaven but can I tell you the second time it's going to happen oh the trumpet shall sound and the dead in Christ shall be raised up and he's coming back again to get us and to take us back to heaven that's the second time he's going into the kingdom which means you ought to lift up your head cuz the next time he come he ain't going by himself lord have mercy tell somebody I'm going with him you going with him all of God's children are going with him [Applause] the next time he go you going i can't get no help i said the next time he go you going that's why you ought to lift up your heads and be excited and I like this y'all they said "Who is he?" I'm about to run here reigns they said "Who is he?" And the answer was not in his name it's in his record [Music] y'all got a Bible get your Bible y'all ready here is his record they said "Who is it he's the king of glory and uh he got several titles to him uh number one uh he is strong and mighty number two he's mighty in battle number three he's the Lord of hosts y'all ready uh one says uh the the the first words there is uh he he's uh he's strong and mighty uh strong suggests he's powerful mighty suggests he's a proven warrior the next one says he's mighty in battle it means he's good at fighting but that last one says he's the Lord of hosts uh uh Duncan that one doesn't mean he's the fighter it means he's the leader of the army okay y'all missed it one says he's a one-man army the other one says he's a proven warrior the other one says he's a fighter and the other one says he's the leader of the army can I tell you who he is if you don't know his name check his record he's the one that always wins [Applause] okay in eternity past uh Lucifer and his insurrectionist I mean his angels uh wanted to rise up against God god kicked him out that means he won genesis chapter 7 he wanted to destroy the world and he did with the flood that means he won genesis chapter 8 and 9 he wanted to restart the world with Noah and his family and he did that means he won genesis chapter 32 he was a nighttime wrestler he wrestled against Jacob all night and he won exodus chapter 15 he closed up the Red Sea and drowned Pharaoh's army and Moses sang a song and said "He is the triumphant glorious one and the horse and the rider have drowned in the Red Sea." Y'all know what that means he won joshua chapter 6 he took down the walls of Jericho he won joshua chapter 8 he took up Ai he won joshua chapter 10 he was able to defeat the people by suspending time and giving them the Amorites cuz he won 2 Samuel 5:23 he defeated the Philistines cuz he won matthew chapter 4 he had to stand against Satan against the temptation but he won isn't anybody in here grateful that one Friday on Calvar's Hill you and I was on our way to hell but he won and when it's all said and done when we get to glory they going to have a senses they thought they could count it and it was 120,000 no it was a number that John saw that no man could number who are they these are they that have had their robes washed in the blood of the lamb cuz he was Now tell me [Music] who can stand be for us when we call on that great name Jesus [Applause] [Music] we got the victory so I repeat lift up your head oh ye gates and be ye lifted up ye everlasting doors and the king of glory that's what happened years ago when Jesus walked triumphantly when he walked when he rode in triumphantly into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday y'all missed all that they had palms in their hands to lay them in the road cuz a king was coming this is the king of the Jews this is the king of our salvation and ladies and gentlemen he's still our king ride on King Jesus no man can hinder you ride on King Jesus [Applause] everyone standing [Music] yes sir [Music] he can't be defeated cuz he always [Applause] wins all God does is win all he does is win hallelujah that's why glory comes with him cuz all he does is is win the doctor said one thing and God stepped in and said something else cuz all God does is win thank you God