O Eternal Who Shall Dwell...?

Psalm 15. Psalm 15, if you'll turn there with me. Reading from the New King James. Psalm 15 says, Lord, who may abide in your tabernacle? Who may dwell in your holy hill? He who walks uprightly and works righteousness and speaks the truth in his heart. He who does not backbite with his tongue, nor does evil to his neighbor, nor does he take up a reproach against his friend, in whose eyes a vile person is despised, and he who honors those who fear him. He who swears to his own hurt and does not change. He who does not put out his money at usury, nor does he take the bribe against the innocent. He who does these things shall never be moved. That's the New King James. I want to look today at the New Living Translation, as I want to go into that as this is a time of examination for all of us, or it should be as we prepare. We're four weeks away from the Passover as we examine our lives, examine our rededication to God as it happens every year, or should happen. But I found this chapter, this Psalm that David put together, quite different, quite unique, as Mary helped bring this to my attention as part of her Bible study. So we started discussing, and then I, of course as I do, I pulled out the backhoe and tried to dig deep into this and try to find out just why it was written as it was.

Psalm 15, as I will get Jeff here to help me, would like you to pass out one of these to everyone who is here. This is a copy of Psalm 15. There's only five or six verses, right? How can you make a sermon out of five or six verses? Well, when David's writing's not too hard. I'm passing where Jeff is passing this out because at Psalm 15, it gives us a deeper understanding in the New Living Translation that perhaps the other translations do not give us. It hopefully will help you to use this as we will take this as the first step towards part of our examination, as we will look at this as a matter of the heart. You remember why David was probably chosen? Or why it's referred to because he was a man after God's own heart, not his mind. It's my heart. And so we need to take some of these things that David will tell us, teach us through this Psalm. We need to take this to heart. And I want to perhaps bring this in a way that you have not understood it before. As we look at this incredible Psalm that he wrote, and perhaps I left space under each of the verses there. Because in this Psalm, David actually asked two questions. He actually asked two questions and then gives us ten answers. So each of those ten I left space underneath because this will be a little interactive today. As we pull out some of those things, perhaps it's space for you to write some of the things down that might help you to examine yourself, to see where we are, to see if we will be able to, as this says what, who may worship in the sanctuary, Lord. You have to realize that the temple wasn't built yet. But God gave the temple, right? God gave the temple architecture and drawings to David, which as Scripture tells us is a replica of what's up above. But for David, it's very important that he worship and that the people that he is ruling over worships. And it says, who may enter your presence on your holy hill? Or is he just talking about physical existence? Or as the last verse there actually says, such people will stand firm forever. So he's not just talking about this time, this life on earth, which James says what? Life is as a vapor. That's how fast it goes compared to God, compared to anything. Anybody that's got a little age on them, right, Nora? Will tell us. Time goes by pretty fast. I used to think 50 was old. Now 50's young. Okay? Many of you shaking your head. You that have as much gray or want to have as much gray as I have? Yes. So who wants to be in the kingdom of God? Who wants to live forever? Who wants these things? It's interesting that David uses questions and answers. It's a teaching tool that God uses. You remember the book of Job? You might remember Job, I think in 38, 39, and 40. God says to Job, answer me!

He puts it pretty clear. Makes a strong point. It isn't like, oh, now Job, I'd like you to answer me. But he says, stand! Guard up your lines. Stand before me as a man and answer me. And he proceeds to ask over 70 questions of Job. And Job, having wisdom, kept his mouth shut.

And we know what happens in 41 and 42. It's a teaching tool. It's a wonderful teaching tool. Christ uses it quite often. You might remember some of the most amazing parts of the New Testament and the Gospels that we've been going through. One man comes to God, teacher of the Word, and says, Good teacher, what must I do to inherit the kingdom? Or even Christ, turning to his disciples that one day, and said, Who do men say that I am? And Peter being inspired, they gave various answers. Right?

But Christ did this quite often. Questions, answers, questions, answers. And so we're going to take that teaching tool of David today on just those short verses, and we're going to dig into those.

Now, if you look at that, who may worship in your sanctuary, who may enter your presence on your holy hill? You're thinking, well, is he referencing the priesthood? Because only certain priests could go in. He learned that from his predecessor Saul, not to take what's not yours. Wait a minute. Do I go and worship him? What about holy conduct? Does that play into it? What about God? Can we just enter at any time, any place, any way, any shape, any form, saying anything?

I think most of us would say, well, no, because Habakkuk actually said, but you are a purer eyes than to behold evil.

But thankfully we have repentance, and we can come and cleanse ourselves before God.

But is there more to it than that?

Let's look at this verse, because it's very interesting, because David wasn't rich. He wasn't from royalty, was he? He was chosen!

So this was kind of new to him as he sat on the throne. This wasn't something he was used to. None of us would be. There were certain things he had to learn. There were certain protocols.

He had to learn that, oh, wait a minute, you're the king. You have a position. You have a place. And that is a God-ordained place.

And that comes with responsibilities.

Sound familiar? The royal priesthood, the chosen generation?

But I dwelt on these scriptures many days. And I always like to go into David's head. I always like to go into the writer's head to see, so I can truly understand, since it is the inspired word of God.

And I thought about him.

And I also checked out some other references of his reign and his dynasty that he had at the time, and historians bring different things out.

So I would like you to picture, if you will, and we're going to use a visual today, picture what David must have thought it was like, or how important it was, to come before the presence of God. How big a deal was it? Is it for us to come before the presence of God at different times? Do we hold God up like people held their kings?

Even the President of the United States today, there are protocols. You just don't say, as I had one, I remember this guy at one of the Caribbean countries, he came into the church, he heard I was going to be there, and he came there, and he said, I'm one of the two witnesses I have a message for you to take back to Barack Obama.

Like I was just going to be able to call Mr. Obama up and say, oh, we need to talk. Most of you realize it doesn't happen that way, right?

Well, can you imagine David understanding who God was? Just how important, how big, how glorious, how omnipotent God truly is. And then finding that people perhaps did not take coming before God. Perhaps we don't either as greatly as we should.

I'd like to do that if you men will take your positions.

I, for this demonstration, will be David.

I will be David.

And at that time, it's very interesting because you just did not come to see David. You did not ask for an audience of David.

But as we will go, we will Mr. Loftus. He is, at that time, coming to see the king. And so the first thing he would do is enter. And there were layers of palace guards he would come to. And as he comes to the first guard, he will then be checked for proper attire. He will be checked to be sure, as they even do at the White House today, that you do not come just in any way before the king. You do not just come as you want to, come as you are before the king. They make sure that you have the proper attire. And someone is, or was prepared at that time to check out, to make sure that you were dressed properly from head to toe. And after that time, then you were released to the next palace guard, who at that time was checked for weapons, for poison, for anything that might bring harm or damage to the king. Thoroughly checked! Even the guard's life depended on it, because if something happened to the king and it was that second guard's fault, and he was hurt or even killed, it would mean giving up his life. So you're going to make sure he was thoroughly checked. What about us? Do we check ourselves before we come to God? Perhaps are there things internally hidden in us that we need to make sure that we shed at that time? And as he's actually checked there, you must wonder, as the first one, let him go.

Are we attired properly whenever we come before God? What does it say, I think, in Revelation 19, that the saints will be clothed with white linen, which is the what? The righteousness of the saints. How about us? Are we sure we are attired properly? Is it something? Just like, what, in Matthew 22, it actually talks about the wedding garment. And somebody shows up at the wedding and they were not properly attired. So what did they say to the guards? Grab them, bind them, kick them out. How about us? Is our minds right?

And then once the person is cleared for the second, as he is brought up to the third guard, Matthew is within close proximity to the king. What happens now? Why does he have a guard? Why is there one here? That is the king's guard. He is there to make sure that the visitor doesn't get any closer, invade my space. He is there to make sure that what? Everything he says is proper. Otherwise, what happened? You can read it in your Bible. The guard would smack him in the mouth. You don't have to do that. He hasn't said anything yet. But you don't know, he is from Vero Beach, so we better watch what he might say.

What about that? The guard actually had a sword. He would also have a staff. He would make sure whether he said something disrespectful, or he made a move. It's interesting because it actually said that the person there, the third guard, the person to see the king would never come within a 6 to 10 foot distance, even though he'd been checked, even though he had a guard. And that the only way was the king would come forward if he wanted to show respect. How about us? Do we do that?

Just think about it. It's a big deal to come before the king, isn't it? You remember the story of Esther? Right? She could have lost her life because she wanted to come before the king when he didn't call her forward. It's a big deal! Is it a big deal to us? You see the visual? You see how David would have thought, wait a minute, I have all these layers before me to protect me, to have presentation brought before me, and yet people will come and come before God and just anyway.

It had to have struck him. Thank you, gentlemen. I appreciate you doing that. Are we just okay? I'll have the guard take you out if you're not. But you see how this could have been a very motivating factor to David writing this psalm? Because he had to see what was done physically now, spiritually. He knew he wasn't even in the ballgame. No, not even in the closest realm to God. And this is what was brought before him. So how important was it that he bring to us these inspired words about who shall come in his presence, who shall dwell and say, who's going to live with God forever?

Someone that he wants to live with him forever? Not just anybody, any way, any time? How important is that? Wow! So let's go through those ten. So we wrap this up today. I'd like to go through those ten answers. Two questions, ten answers. Who may worship in your sanctuary, Lord? Who may enter your presence on your holy hill?

Those, brethren, those, who? Who? That's the big one. Who? You? Who? Who may do this? Those who lead blameless lives? Those who lead blameless lives? Do you? Didn't say perfect lives, right? Blameless lives. Synonym, blameless, innocent, exemplary, virtuous, virtuous lives. Who has to come? Well, none of us are perfect, right? Nobody's a hundred percent, right? But let me ask you a question. What percent are we? Have you ever looked at that? What percent are we? Well, I'm 79.9 percent. Isn't they good enough? Scarcely is a righteous man saved?

Powerful scripture. Those who lead blameless lives? Who? Blameless. How about scripture? Man shall not live by bread alone, but by what? Proceeds from the mouth of God. Where's the words from the mouth of God? You got them in front of you, right? That's what we read. It's the Bible. Scripture, right? So in your mind, who? Who? Is blameless in the Bible besides Christ. Any thought?

Give me a name. Give me a name as you read. Is there an example? Because none of us, we're to be, you have the mind of Christ, but we're not like that. You know, is there somebody in there that we can say, hmm, he's kind of a blameless person? Who? Job. OK. Abraham. Daniel. Why do you say Daniel? You know what's interesting about Daniel? That's who I wrote down. When I was taking this test, I wrote Daniel down. Because of all the people I studied, I can't find anything in the Word of God where Daniel did anything. Now, was he perfect?

No. But was he blameless? Wow. What about you? What percent are you? So if you want to use this paper and write this down for your own instruction, that's fine. That's why I made it so that you can examine yourself down the road. There might be other ones. But even Job is mentioned. You know, he brought him before. Hey, have you seen my servant Job? Yes. I mean, we're not... I'm not in their league. But I need to work.

Because if I have the mind of Christ, I'm getting there. So who leads blameless lives? Who? No. 2. Who? Those who do what is right, speaking the truth from sincere hearts. You speak the truth? A lot of people do. But is it from a sincere heart? Is it something that you do? It's a part of your what?

Character. It's a part because it's in here. You speak from the heart. You don't have any agenda. You're not looking to get over on someone. You're not looking to be the big person, the smartest woman in the room. Speaking the truth from a sincere heart. Wow. Who do you think? Who comes to mind in the Scriptures when you hear that? Who comes to mind? I know only one person came up in my mind, but I'd like to hear if you had. There's more than probably one answer to this question.

Moses? Yeah. Spoke the truth from a sincere heart. Most humble man that's walked on planet earth. Right? Anybody else? Caesar? Yes, of course. Yes. I'm trying to think of a human. He was human, but a little more than human. Paul? Yes. Stephen? The deacon? Max? Yes. John? And all of us would read different things. I remember what came to our mind was this young man that ran to this other young man, sitting under a tree, and he goes, We found him!

We found the prophet! We found the one that Moses was talking about, the Son of God! And the man said, and he's from Nazareth. And he said, Can anything good come out of Nazareth? Who am I speaking about? Nathaniel. Nathaniel.

Nathaniel. Because then Christ saw him. Christ knew what he said. Was it, could anything good? But he just spoke from his, you know, this is, can anything good? He obviously knew the Scriptures. And so here he spoke the truth. There was no guile, and that's what Christ said. He wanted him. He wanted him following.

He said, Here comes a man in whom there is no guile. No agenda, no trying to be anyone. I need to be more like that. Who? How about the ones we talked about? But how about us? Are we looking at that? From a sincere heart? Are we thinking about, well, what does that person want to hear? Or maybe, what should I say?

Maybe I should say this? Haven't you known people that way? I've met people before in my job that just because I'm a minister, they're trying to talk religious. And it really doesn't work because they don't know squat, but they're trying. Brethren, who? Number three, those who refuse to gossip. Who? Gossip. Anybody hear gossip before? I'll raise my hand, even the bad hand.

Okay, well, wow! We must have a totally blameless gossip because there's only five or six raise their hand. You raise two, twice as much as your sister. That was for her sister. Oh, that was. That was for her sister. I heard about that virile bitch church. Those who refuse to gossip. It's interesting. You can find this if you look it up because this actual account took place. As a teacher at Princeton University, which Princeton's an Ivy League school, very highly thought of school, a professor there wanted to study his theory on gossip, show how quickly it spreads.

So he pulled six of his students in, six of the top students, and told them, I don't need to tell you this, but you cannot tell anyone. Totally confidential, and that's why I'm choosing you to tell you this. But in a few weeks, it's got to be kept quiet. The Duke and the Duchess of Windsor will be coming here for a certain activity on the Princeton grounds. So if I need your help, I'll let you know. Within a week, over 2,000 people on campus knew. And it had picked up so much speed that even the newspapers and the police were actually calling him.

Theory of gossip isn't a theory, is it? Those who refuse to gossip, refuse to gossip. Do we have control over our tongues? And gossip isn't always what? You can look it up. It isn't necessarily slander. It's in the same house as slander, but it's not slander. It may be totally true, right? And a lot of it is. But most people don't even consider gossip as something wrong anymore, do they? They don't look at it as a sin or an issue or a problem, do they?

Do we? Last night, I had a conversation with a young man, younger than me. And he was a professional boxer. He did that for a living, a pugilist. And he was very good. He became number three in the world in his way.

Boxed ESPN on Vegas is where he trained. And I thought about him because Clark is his name, Clark Earls. Clark no longer boxes, and he's a member of the church. But he, because he trained ever since he was 12 or 13 years old and was very good, he had to be so careful in his years, wherever he went, because if he got in a conflict, got into confrontation and used those fists, they were considered lethal weapons.

And he could be charged very seriously, just like a gun. How about us? Now that you know, now that we know, now that we are responsible as no one else on this earth, do we have lethal tongues? Do we have trained tongues that we need to put a hold onto so that they are not lethal to other people? Who? Who? You? Me? Why? You want to stand firm, God forever? You want to come into His presence? David's telling you, is it you?

Hopefully you do. Who comes to mind from the Scriptures? A gossip. Peter? Anybody else? Just have Peter. Judas? Gossip? Have you thought of Absalom? Remember Absalom, the story? Son of David, who actually killed his brother and was left out, and then he brought back.

And David set him back in, but said, he can't come anywhere near. And what did Absalom do? This beautiful, good-looking guy, the Brad Pitt of his day. He went outside. He went outside the gates, where people would come, and he would sit and talk to them. And you go, oh, I understand. I'm like you now. Yes, this government isn't being ruled correctly. Yes, my father doesn't care about this. Oh, yes, I'll listen. Yes, they've got all kinds of problems inside the wall.

Where it eventually caused the people to turn against David, didn't it? And David had to flee.

Or how about Satan? Look at Satan. How in the world, without gossip, did he get a third of the angels to follow him? Tell me that. Is that one of the reasons why God hates it so long? So much, because it's been going on for so long, millions of years ago?

So Satan just pops up and he decides God throws him out because of his rebellion, and everybody just goes, oh, there goes Lucifer. Let me follow him for no reason? I don't think so.

Could gossip be the part? Who? Who? Is it important? I think so. Number four. Who refuses to do harm to the neighbors? How's your neighbors? Of course, Christ answered the question with the parable of who your neighbor was. You've got a lot of neighbors, don't you? Right? But you just think of the neighbors who live next to you. Do you get along with them? Do no harm. Wow.

They say good fences make good neighbors. If you live in a country, which means you live on a farm, you realize just how important that is. So the horses from your neighbor's property don't go into your garden and trample it all up and eat half of it in the middle of the night, which you've spent hours raising. Neighbors harm. I've met some of your neighbors. Some of you have ever gone to your homes and met them and never seems to be a good relationship.

Why is it so important to God? Who refused to do harm? Because of your gods, you represent Him, don't you? And if your neighbor cannot get along with you, then how in the world can you be an example?

Yes. Yes. It's very important to God. Who? Who does this? Most of us say, well, we'd like to get along with our neighbors, but man, I've got some neighbors that nobody can get along with them, right? Anybody? Yes. You're shaking your head. Yes. In a condo, we've got a few that I try to avoid getting on the elevator with.

When I do, I have to say, hi. So we all have it, but it's important to God because He brings it out, and David realized it, that we represent Him. We need to do that. Scripture. Somebody, give me a name of a person.

Something where they did harm to their neighbor. How about at the time, she said Jezebel, at the time of Jezebel and Ahab. Ahab was a king, and he had everything, except he didn't have the neighbor's vineyard. You remember Naboth? So he said, hey, let me buy that. I want to buy that, so I can have that because yours is a lot better than mine, and I'll give you all kinds of money. And they thought, no, that's mine, and it's been handed down in the family, and then what did Ahab do?

Yes, he started crying. He went in, and his wife goes, what's wrong with you? You're the king, you have everything. I don't have my neighbor's lot. She said, well, you quit crying, right? You remember the story? Quit crying, I'll go get it. And what'd she do? She trumped the guy up with wires, and they killed the guy, took him out and stoned him, and she got the land. Talk about harm.

Yes. Now, none of us would do that, would we? But is there something else that we might do? Not near that?

Let's move on.

Move on to who? Those who speak evil of their friends.

Ever done that? Well, yeah, but I didn't mean to. Well, he knows what he's like, she knows what she's like.

All of us have friends, and probably all of us have spoken evil of them. You know, that person just ticks me off. He says, he does that, he just, uh-uh, right? So I'm not the only one.

Just think of that. Speak evil of a friend. That's what a friend... That's the old song, that's what friends are for, right? Friends are your friends because they are there when you need them, and you're there when they need you. It's someone you can confide in. What does it say? Some friends are closer than a what? A brother, right?

Speak evil. So here, look at all these who's. There's a lot of who's that have to do with that who. They can tell you watching your tongue what comes off our lips. It's important to God. Oh, it's a small thing. It isn't there because he wants to make sure if you're going to be in his presence for eternity, you've got this stuff down. And I have to think of David and how this one must be at the forefront of his mind. And we can think about this because this is who wrote it, and this is who inspired him. But you remember the name Ahithophel? Ahithophel. Ahithophel was a wise man. He was a counselor to King David. And he had great wisdom, and David counted him as a close friend, one of his closest confidants and friends.

And he turned against David, didn't he? And he went with Absalom. How that had to have torn him when a close friend did that to him. So can you believe that Ahithophel said evil about David? I'm sure he did. And here he was tied up with Absalom at that. And some people have said, well, wait a minute. Why would Ahithophel do that after years of dedication? Well, 2 Samuel 23-24 says that Ahithophel was a father of Elium. And Elium, in another verse, was the father of Bathsheba. Some, you can look it up, and people argue about it on there, but I'm just throwing those facts out to you. Perhaps why? Friendship should be deeper than that. Let's go to number 6. Who? Those who despise flagrant sinners. Those who despise flagrant sinners. Flagrant sinners. Okay? Blatant, obvious, shameless. Would you have known people that way? I mean, they have no problem if they say it's just like, ah. We had one woman we know where we live. She would actually be in front of people and just lie in front of all of us. Lie on the phone and just make stuff up. She just didn't even know. I mean, she's so used to lying that she just didn't even think anything about it. There are other people that do flagrant things. I remember growing up, I was 19 or 20, first time moved out of the house. I was working at a job and this guy came in and he was, this came to my mind because he was a flagrant sinner. He was my same age except I remember playing sports with him and he was really good at what he did. And he was funny. He was just the funniest guy, cut up, and would say anything to anybody at any time. He embarrassed people. But it was so when you're 19 or 20, you're just so dumb. And my father said, you know, because next thing you know, I started running around with him. Well, as a matter of fact, I was in his first wedding. As you can imagine, he had many. Was in a standing up, I was an usher in his first wedding.

And my father coming to me at the time with all his wisdom said, Chuck, what are you doing running around with him? You know, he's nothing but trouble. And he was! He was always into something. Remember when McDonald's had the first big sign and it was in Murfreesboro and they had and they came out with chicken chicken nuggets.

And so he just thought it was so smart, so cute that he got one of his friends to go around and the policeman sitting over there and get his attention. And so he went up there and put, you know, because they had for sale chicken nuggets and everybody's like, oh, it's the first time you've seen chicken. So he put up chicken nuts and changed the sign.

Childish, yes. But it was a way of life for him. A flagrant sinner. And my father was right. Pretty soon we didn't get along. But it's kind of interesting that haven't, don't you remember or haven't you had known people who hang around someone that curses? You know, they just use four-letter words. Next thing, if you hang around long enough, some of those can slip into your vocabulary. Who? Flagrant centers. In the NBA today, when you play basketball, if Brandon was here, he would know. They have what they call a flagrant. Oh, there he is. There you go. I didn't see you in there. You know what a flagrant file is? What is it?

It's a flagrant. Yeah, somebody's having, somebody's going to do it in a layup, and instead of just trying to get the ball, you take the guy out. It's just flagrant. You just, you do it.

He says he wants us to refuse, who despise flagrant sinners. Why? It's for our own good, isn't it? It's for our own good. Number seven. Those who honor the faithful followers of the Lord.

He wants those who honor those people who are trying to do what's right.

What does honor mean? Show respect, have high esteem. God's way is the way. How important is that? To God, it's very important.

That we have esteem each other. Are we always going to get along in the household of God? No. We're going to have disagreements. We have to agree to disagree, but we show respect. Yeah, we may not always agree in this little point, but the big stuff? Yeah, we do.

But those who honor the faithful followers of the Lord. Number eight. Those who keep their promises even when it hurts. Even when it hurts. When does it hurt? How about time? What is a promise? A promise can be a covenant, right? A promise can be a commitment, right? A promise in God's way of thinking is a contract. Just like a covenant. If you say you're going to do something, you do it. That's what it means, right? Well, sometimes you get into things that just, it's not what you think. And you've made this agreement, right? We all have. Maybe perhaps it's somebody that you've got an older person. I've had, well, could you, would you mind taking me to just run down to the grocery store and get me this? Or run in and get this for me, or let me run in and get it? Oh yeah, well that won't take what, 20-30 minutes? And then you get there and they, oh, can you take me down to the drug store now? Next thing you know, it's like a half a day. And you're like, I never got into this. No! It went just to the store, right? Or maybe it's about money. Wait a minute, this is going to cost us well, but yeah, no, it costs a little bit more. And you promise to do this. Well, let me help you out with that. And I go, well, it's probably only going to be like 100 bucks or so. Then it turns out, oh no, it's like two or three hundred dollars. But you promised. Well, I had a great lesson. I was 13 years old, on Trimble Road in Milton, Tennessee, leading on a farm. And there was an old widow woman there, lived on the corner. Mary knows where the house is. The house is still there and nobody lives in it. Banning all those years. But I was 13-14. And I went down to visit her and she said, well, you know, this fence row, you know what a fence row is? I know some city slickers probably don't, but it's fence that runs in front of your property. It was all grown up with bushes and small trees and stuff like that. And she said, you know, that looks so bad. She said, would you like to earn some money and clear that, clean that off for me? Well, I had my chores to do, but I had, it was summertime. I had, you know, three or four hours to spare. I'm like, okay. And she goes, what are you charge? Of course, 13. I didn't know what he was. I'm like, 20 bucks, because 20 bucks is a lot of money. We're like 60 or 70 now, you know, but 20 bucks to 13-year-old kid was like, big bucks. And I'm like, well, I can use my dad's slinging blade and those hedge clippers, and I can use this. And man, I'll get in there, yeah, I'll wipe that out in about three hours, four hours. Three days later, I'm still cleaning that, still cutting that, and I'm only halfway there. And it's like hot, and there's snakes, and there's bees, and there's wasps, and there's just like this. So I go home, my dad, after the second day, and go, man, I can't do that.

He says, no, you're going to do it. You gave your word. You made a promise.

And I had to do it. It took me the entire week for $20. But I wouldn't have, but it was my dad who knew that you, when you give your word, that's what God expects. Haven't all of us had that kind of thing before, where we've done that? Will we be able to see it through? That's who God wants to spend time with. Number 9. Those who lend money without charging interest. Okay? Don't we all do that? No exploitation, no extortion. But what does it mean? Those who will lend money without any interest. That means you're not in it for what? Gain. He likes those. He wants to dwell with people who what? Here, here, give me that and pay me back when you can.

That doesn't sound so hard, does it? But for some people it is. Well, how long I got to wait on that money?

I remember going to a banker one time with one of my men there, and I really liked him and so forth, and he couldn't get a car loan for a couple thousand dollars. So I went to the banker, and I said, well, you know, could you help him out and give him this, you know, give him the money? I know he works for me. He's good for it. She was so wise, Betty Bradbury. So wise, woman. She goes, sure, Chuck, I'll do that. She said, you'll co-sign? I said, yeah, yeah, I'll co-sign for him. And she looks at me, and she goes, Chuck, if you're co-signed, just take the money out of your pocket. And you can give it to him, because that's what you're doing. If you can't take the money and give it to him, because she said, that's what you're on the hook for.

We all have things in our lives where people need help. They need something from us. God says, well, yeah, He even commands what? Israel. The Old Testament, what? You can't charge them interest. But this isn't just talking about it. This is anyone that will help out. Finally, number 10. Those who cannot be bribed to lie about the innocent. Those who cannot be bribed to lie about the innocent. How many times do you see court cases happen where somebody lied? They lied because they could get in trouble. They lied because somebody will give them business interest. They will lie just because they can come out with something. Because they can be bribed. Jeff Newell is an inspector. Okay? I'm sure. Have you been offered? Oh, yes. I'm sure. You've been offered many bribes because in the construction industry, it's like, okay, this guy's been here the second or third time. He must want money. I had inspectors who kind of wanted that. You know, well, we're going to let it go. Take care of this and open up their little briefcase and turn their heads and slide money in. That's how people do. But God says, I want to be with people who don't do that. Who don't bribe, who don't lie. Now, what's it about? Can you imagine standing there watching as Jesus Christ is brought before Pilate, as he's brought before the Sanhedrin? He's brought there and all of a sudden there are these men who stand up and lie about him, saying, He did this and He did that. Someday those same witnesses will be standing before Christ. I'd like to be there that day. I'd like to see that. Do we? Are we known for honesty? Do people know no bribe? Nothing you can do. Because we are that kind of person because that who is God wants. That's how important it is, brother. So, two questions, ten answers about the type of person that God wants to spend eternity with.

It gives us a chance to dig deep and look at ourselves and ask ourselves these ten questions during the next month as we come before Him. My mother used to have this saying when I was a child, or a young person even, especially in my teenage years, when, you know, I'm sure Brandon is not that way. But she used to say to me, I just can't stand to be around you. No. Well, see, Brandon is nothing like I was, Grace. Smart mouth, knew it all, and never shut up. And she would just say, I've got to leave. I can't stand to be around you. Well, you know what? God's kind of the same way. He wants people who He can stand to be around for eternity. And He's telling us exactly what kind of person that is. So, brethren, I hope you will take this. I hope you will take this to heart. Understand perhaps why David wrote it, how important it was to David, because there's those people that God wants to see stand firm forever, not just in this life, but in the coming kingdom of God and for eternity.