Abide with God: Psalm 15 Sunday Service

Understanding what it means to abide with God

The importance of walking uprightly and avoiding the appearance of evil

The need to work righteousness and show love to those in need

The importance of speaking the truth in one's heart

We'll be right back. We serve. What a mighty God we serve. And he's bound for him. Heaven and earth adore him. What a mighty God we serve. Praise him. Praise him. Praise him in the morning. Praise him in the noon times. Praise him. Praise Him, praise Him when the sun goes down I just feel like something good and bad's happened I just feel like something good is on the way Yes, the Father said He opened all his head And brother, this could be that very day When young people come on themselves and they call on Jesus And they look to heaven and step through his prey. I just feel like something good about you could happen. And brother, this could be the very day. Well, what might God we serve? What might God we serve? And it's about us for him. Heaven and earth adore him. What a mighty God we serve. I say, what a mighty God we serve. What a mighty God we serve. Heaven and earth adore Him. What a mighty God we serve. Things just fell before Him. Heaven and earth adore Him. And what a mighty God we serve. I want you to grab your Bibles at this point, and I want you to follow along. Now, the interesting thing in this day and age with the way technology is, we can use a smartphone to follow along via the Bible. But however you follow along, I want you to grab your Bibles, whether they're electronic or regular Bibles, and let's look at God's Word. Psalm chapter 15, starting in verse 1. This is a Psalm of David. And he says simply this, Lord, who shall abide in your tabernacle? Who shall dwell in your holy hill? This is a very interesting thing that David is asking. He is asking God a question. Now, so many people say that, you know, well, you know, how do you approach God when it comes to talking to him? Just talk to him like we do, like we do to each other. That's how I go to God. I never go with flowery words. I mean, so many people want to go and pray to God and they want to sit there and use all the these and thous and all this type of stuff. That's not what God wants to hear. because that is not earnestness. See, God wants an earnest heart. He just wants to hear you speak. And see, when David wrote, no, he didn't use all these flowery and fancy words. He said, Lord, who shall abide in your tabernacle and who shall dwell in your holy hill? He's asking a question here. And then he gets the response. He who walks uprightly and works righteousness and speaks the truth in his heart. Note these three things. First, he who walks uprightly. We have to have a walk that is blameless. Paul himself wrote, he said, abstain from the appearance of evil. Note that Paul did not say abstain from evil. We all know we should abstain from evil. Paul said here, abstain from the appearance of evil. If it even has an air to where people could look at it and say, wow, wait a minute. Even if there's that least little just bit of something where people would sit there and say, Wow, did you see what I saw? So and so who says they go to church, I saw them there or I heard that they did. You know, that's why we need to abstain from the very appearance of evil. Note the fact, not just abstain from evil, abstain from the appearance of evil. That's walking uprightly. That's walking in such a way that we do not have any doubt, that no one has any doubt that we are God's men and women. That's what we need to do. We need to walk uprightly. What's the next thing we do? We need to work righteousness. We need to do the works of God. How do we work righteousness? How do we do holy things? Well, what are holy things? What are the holy things that Christians need to do? Well, it's pretty simple. Jesus himself said, if you have visited the prisoner, if you gave water to someone that was thirsty, you gave food to someone that was hungry, if you've given clothes to someone that didn't have any, if you've done it to the least of these, those ones that are in need, then you've done it unto me. These are the things that we need to do. When we see someone in need, we need to do our part to make sure they're taken care of. If we have the means, we need to do that for someone else. Think about it this way. I think of the Good Samaritan. The story of Good Samaritan is so so special Here is a man that is beaten up robbed and is left to die on the side of the road Christian followers, people that were religious believers, the religious leaders of the church in New Testament era, come and see this man laying on the street dying and what do they do? They don't just walk past. No, what do they do? They go clear to the other side of the street and walk down the street as to get as far away from them as they possibly can. Now this is where the problem of the church is and that's where a lot of the churches have the problem. Do we have the heart for people that are hurting? That's something that we need to think about as Christians. Do we have the heart for people that are hurting? When people are hurting, do we sit there and pray for them? Do we sit there and say, I'm here for you? Is there something you need? I'll help you if I can. And do that. Or do we sit there and like some of those religious believers and religious leaders and walk on the other side and say, you know what, it's not my job. It's not up to me. It's up to somebody else. You know, and that's the sad part. Now, look what happens here. The good Samaritan, a Samaritan who had never really known what the Bible was all about, what the Holy Scriptures were all about, or anything like that. What does he do? He comes and he sees this man laying and bleeding and dying on the side of the road. And what does he do? He gets off of his horse. He goes over and he checks on the man. He cleans him up as best he can. He picks him up. He puts him on the horse and he takes him to the nearest town. There at the nearest town, he takes and he brings him in and he tells the innkeeper of this little hotel type thing. He says, I want you to take care of this man. Here's some money. If you have used any more, give him what he needs and whatever he needs. And if you've used any more, when I come back from my business, I will pay you what you used. And we've got to understand that here at this time, the good Samaritan was not a Christian. He had never heard about the Holy Scriptures. He had never heard what love was all about. Yet he showed love and he had never heard of love. And the men that were supposed to be displaying love because they knew what love was, ignored what love was all about. Showing love to someone that needs it. See, that's the works of righteousness. That's doing the good deeds. Not that good deeds are going to get us to heaven, but that is our proof that we love God and that we love others. I love that. And then what does he say? And he that speaks the truth in his heart. Sometimes it's easy to say the right things. Know what I'm saying here. It's easy to say the right things. but sometimes the right things aren't in our heart. See, that's the point. We can all say the words, but what's in here? There used to be a statement that said, you can talk the talk, but can you walk the walk? Some of you may remember that statement, right? And that was the point. It's the same way with the Church of the Living God and for Christians. We talk a good game. Oh, we'll say all the right words. We'll say all the right words, but do we walk it? Are we living it? Is it in our hearts, or are we just saying the words? Interesting. I love this. He also goes a step further, and he asks the Lord, who's going to abide in your tabernacle, and who's going to dwell in the holy hill? Well, he says, he that backbideth not with his tongue. Wow. We're going to get down to brass tacks now, as they used to say. Backbiting, talking about something. See, the rumor mill. You ever heard that term, the rumor mill? Yeah, the rumor mill. Oh, sister so-and-so, I saw that. Did you hear about what this one did? First off, that is none of your business Okay, first off If you're just spreading rumors If you don't know beyond a shadow of a doubt If you didn't see it with your own very eyes You ought not to be spreading it And secondly, you ought not to be spreading it anyway If you saw somebody sinning or somebody doing something wrong What does the Bible say? Go to them Grab someone in the church And take them with you and let's talk about it. Pray for that person. Tell them that I saw this. Is this what I really saw? And if it is, then let's pray about it. Don't go and talk to somebody else. That doesn't help nobody. That's not what we need to do. We need as a church to come together. Help one another. Pray for one another. And don't backbite. Don't talk about the person. Help that person. That's what we need to do. bear one another's burdens and what does it say? so fulfill the law of Christ that's what we need to do he that back bites not with his tongue nor does evil to his neighbor I like that nor takes up reproach against his neighbor so often what we do is our neighbors will do something to us they'll say something against us and then what do we do? we harbor bitterness sometimes this even happens in the family more often than not it happens in the family i've said it so many times family will turn on you faster than anybody they really will family will turn on you like that and we cannot allow these things to happen we've got to look beyond that we've got to love one another we got we can just because somebody does something against you somebody does something evil against you don sit there and hate them Don say I going to get my revenge That not the way we need to be We need to look beyond the bad stuff that somebody does to us, and we need to be like Jesus. Look at what Jesus did. Jesus was not guilty of anything. Absolutely not guilty of anything. At all. but what did Jesus do when they nailed him to a cross and they hung him up on the cross and he was hanging there and they were laughing him to scorn what did he say he looked up to the heavens and he said father forgive them for they not know what they do and yet when someone does something against us what do we do I shall have my revenge you know You know what the Bible says about revenge? It says, vengeance is mine, I will repay, saith the Lord. Don't try to do God's job. Let God do his own job. Because when God does his job, it's done right. And when we try to do God's job, you know what ends up happening? We mess it all up. And that's the point. Don't try to do God's job. That's what it comes down to. I love what he says in verse 4. In whose eyes a vile person is condemned. Very, very harsh words. A vile or a wicked person will be condemned by God someday. That's why we've got to make sure we're not wicked people. See, sometimes our heart, we think we hide the wickedness from the world and even from God. And we may hide the wickedness in our heart from the world, but we cannot hide the wickedness in our heart from a holy God. He sees all. He knows all. All those sins that are inside, God knows all about it. And we are not hiding them from Him. We may be hiding them from other people. We may be hiding from our spouse, from our kids, from our moms and dads and from our loved ones, but we are not hiding them from God. I love this. But he honoreth them who fear the Lord. I love that word, fear the Lord. The Bible says the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. I love that. Now, the term fear is kind of a misnomer here because so many people think of fear, they think of someone cowering in the corner, and that's not what that means. The term fear here means a awe respect. A respect of God that just says, wow, you are so awesome. That's what that means to fear the Lord. I love that. He who swears in his own hurt and changes not. Christ swore to keep the law. He did so and suffered the crucifixion. See, sometimes we're going to go through hard things and hurtful things. sometimes we're going to people are going to hurt us and rip our hearts out with words they speak with things they do but don't let what someone says to you even if it is in the church and sometimes that will happen don't let someone in the church take your relationship from God because that's what will happen sometimes. We will be hurt by someone in the church by what someone might say and then what happens? We don't get upset with the person. We say, well, see, if that's a Christian, then, you know what, I'd rather not go to church. And see, that's the problem. Most people have their eyes on people and not on God. God wasn't the one that said something evil to you. It was a person. Don't let a person take away your relationship to God. Because that's what will happen. People will rip your relationship away from God, and then you will be left with nothing. You'll be left empty inside, and then you'll sit there years later and say, what did I do? Because that's what will happen. You cannot let words destroy you. There used to be an old statement many, many years ago that said, sticks and stones can break my bones, but names will never hurt me. That's true in a lot of ways, and it's false in a lot of ways. Because people will hurt us and deeply, deeply hurt us. But we've got to look and realize this. no matter what someone says don't let it change your love for God keep on that road keep your eyes on Jesus why? because when we keep our eyes on Jesus we're going to find ourselves in a much better place and in a much better state than if we keep our eyes on man man will fail us every single time but God never fails. I love that. Final verse says this, He that putteth not out his money to usury, nor rewardeth against the innocent, he that doeth these things shall never be moved. We're not purchased by corruptible things. We want to think we are sometimes. Money, money, money, right? It's all about money, and that's what most people feel. Money makes the world go round, right? That's what people say. Money makes the world go round. Let me tell you something. Money is the root of all evil. Is that what the Bible says? No, that's not what the Bible says. What does the Bible say The love of money is the root of all evil That what it says And so many people put all their love and all their stuff into their stuff How much money they have in the bank How much stuff they have in their house How much material possessions they have. And let me tell you something. That stuff is not going to mean a thing. Because why? Because we ain't taking nothing with us when we leave this world. Oh, we may think we are. I know people that have hoarded money to a point that they had so much money and they wouldn't even buy anything for themselves because they just kept hoarding the money away just hoarding the money away I've got to keep this for a rainy day and you know what happened? they died and left the money for someone else to fight about the love of money is the root of all evil we are not bought with material things like silver and gold we have been bought with a price what price is that? it's the precious blood of Jesus Jesus died on a cross for you and for me so that we may be redeemed so that we could have eternal life not just life here in this world, because this world is going to end someday. This world is not going to spin forever. This world is coming to an end someday. And it's what we've done in our hearts and in our abilities with our gifts God gave us that's going to make the difference. That's what's going to prove where we spend eternity. It's not going to be how much money we've got Because let me tell you something No matter how much money you've got You are not going to buy your way into heaven You can't buy your way into heaven I don't care how much property you own I don't care how much stocks you own I don't care how much is in your bank account I don't care how much land you have I don't care what you own It's not going to make a difference When the world is on fire You are going to have to get into heaven by one way, and that is by the way of Jesus' blood sacrifice. That's the only way you're going to get in. You're not going to get in any other way. It's going to be through Jesus' blood sacrifice. It's the only way we make it in. So what does it come down to? It comes down to this. Who will abide in God's tabernacle, and who will dwell in His holy hill? those that have accepted His Son's sacrifice. That's the only ones that will abide in God's holy hill. That's the only ones that will see God. It's the only ones. Are you going to be part of that number? Are you going to be one of the ones that see God? Are you going to be one of the ones that see the presence of God, that stand before Him and cast your crown at His feet and get on your knees before Him and praise His holy name for all the good things that He's done? Or, or are you going to be one that stands before God and has nothing to say but just a heavy heart and hears the words, depart from me. I never knew you. The choice is yours. Let's bow our heads today. Father God, today, I pray for those ones. Maybe there's someone today, Father God, that has heard this message and has said, you know what? There's things in my life that I'm not happy about. I don't walk the walk of righteousness. I don't talk the talk of righteousness I don't live the way the Bible says I want to do that I want to be different, I want to be changed I want to be holy, I want to be Christ-like in a world that is going so far away from Christ I want to be Christ-like Father God, I ask right now for those ones that are listening and that are saying, God help me to be more like you I ask you right now, Father to touch those lives, touch those people. Father God, give them a blessing right now. Help them, Father God, to know beyond a shadow of a doubt that you love them, that you care about them, that you're concerned about them. And Father God, as they give all over to you, I ask that you will sprinkle the blood of Jesus upon their hearts. And Father God, that they be forgiven of all the evil and all the wickedness. And Father, may they be cleansed and made whole. And Father, for those of us Christians that maybe just are missing the mark, we love you, God, but we're missing the mark. I pray right now, Father God, that you will reach down upon us and you will sprinkle us with the blood of Jesus. You will sanctify us with the blood of Jesus and we will be made pure in your holy name. And Father God, right now, I pray it right now, in Jesus' name that you will touch lives and you will help us. And Father God, may we be blessed beyond measure to know that you love us and are concerned about us. And Father, for all that you are, for all that you do, we praise you and we thank you for it's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen and amen. Thank you. you

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