Who Can Dwell With God?

I want to begin with a very basic gospel question.

Really, two questions.

One question with two parts, whatever.

Here's what it is.

What is sin's principal problem and salvation's principal purpose?

And I just want you to think on it for just a moment.

What is sin's principal problem?

What is salvation's principal purpose?

Of course, that is according to the scriptures.

Now, we may be prepared to offer many answers to these questions,

but I want you to notice what I'm asking.

I'm not asking about all of sin's consequences.

I'm not asking for a list of all the various things that sin does

and that results from our sin and from Adam's sin.

I'm not asking about all of salvation's benefits,

all of the blessings that come from knowing Christ

and being redeemed by Christ.

That's not the question.

The question is, what is the principal issue of sin?

What is the principal aim of salvation?

What's it really all about when you get to the very heart of it?

Now, let's think of it in relation to the very first sin.

If you can bring your mind back to creation and fall

as recorded in Genesis 1 through 3.

The principal issue of Adam's fall

was not his expulsion from Eden,

and it was not his expiration of life or his death.

It was his exclusion from God's presence,

his exclusion from a peaceful, intimate relationship with the creator.

And once we understand that,

that is the presentation of the scripture.

That's not my opinion of what it says.

That's actually the presentation of how the scriptures

describe this for us and explain it to us.

And once we have that understanding,

then we can move on to the second part of the question,

which is about the principal benefit

of salvation and redemption and restoration.

So let's think of it this way.

If Adam's most significant consequence

was his expulsion from the Garden of Eden,

what would then be the chief aim of his salvation?

It would be a return to the Garden.

If the principal issue was that he could no longer be in Eden,

then the principal aim of restoration

would be to bring him back to Eden.

Okay?

Let's change the question.

If the principal issue,

the supreme consequence of Adam and Eve's sin,

was death,

what then would be the chief aim of their salvation?

It would be life, right?

Eternal life.

If the principal issue of Adam's sin

was conflict with others,

what then would be the goal of his salvation?

It would be a peaceful marriage.

It would be lasting friendship.

It would be enduring partnership.

Now, don't misunderstand what I'm saying.

Remember, I'm not asking about all the consequences of sin.

All of those things are real consequences of sin.

Neither am I asking about all of the benefits of salvation.

All of those things are actually benefits of salvation

according to the Scriptures.

They're benefits that we should rejoice in,

but they aren't the principal purpose of salvation.

Since the principal problem of Adam's sin

was his separation from God,

the principal aim of his salvation

is reconciliation with God.

Okay?

You follow?

Now, I think the vast majority of people,

even many professing Christians,

do not understand this.

In our sinful condition,

we focus on every consequence of sin

except the principal one.

We spend our lives trying to achieve

the pleasures of Eden.

We think of what would life be

if we weren't in a fallen world?

And we live our lives trying to restore

that fallenness in some way,

or at least the experience of it.

We want the pleasure,

as much of it as we can possibly get.

Or we spend our lives chasing more life,

trying to extend life in some way.

But we desire all of those things

apart from the presence of God, typically.

It's an earthly mindset.

It's a carnal perspective, unfortunately,

that has influenced the church

and its presentations of the gospel message.

So some professing Christians,

they speak as if the goal of salvation

is heaven

and the pleasures that are contained therein.

To think of heaven primarily as a place of worship

seems to them a disappointment.

We can go to passages like Revelation 4.

We see the great throne room of God

where all of God's people are gathered around

with all of His creatures

and all of His angels,

and they cast their crowns at His feet.

They cry out to Him,

holy, holy, holy.

And we think, wow, that's amazing.

I hope there's more.

Why do we do this?

Why does thoughts of heaven

as primarily a place of worship

seem a disappointment?

Because our thoughts of salvation

are fixated on escaping difficulty

and experiencing pleasurable ease instead.

Little consideration seems to be given

to enjoying God

who actually is the one

who makes heaven desirable.

And we seem to miss that.

And my concern

is that many people

would be perfectly content with a heaven

where God is not actually present.

If everything that we know

from the scriptures

about the nature of heaven,

if we were to go to Revelation in particular

and we were to grasp

the fullness of John's vision,

if we were able to see

what John saw,

the streets of gold,

the gates of pearl,

the walls of jasper,

the sea like crystal,

all of the things

that we long for,

all of the things

that will be blessing

in eternity,

if we could see all of it

and if we could have all of it

without God,

would we be content with that?

And I think the answer

for many people

is

yeah,

that's actually what we're after.

We're after the pleasure.

We're after the ease.

We're after the escape

from difficulty.

And if God chooses

not to be there,

that's fine

as long as he provides

the ease.

You see the problem.

Of course,

this also affects

our presentations

of the gospel.

We present

a truncated

form of the good news

that has as its climax

escape from torment

and entrance

into paradise.

God's role

in those presentations

is essentially

to act

as a means

to a more

fantastic end,

which is

personal pleasure.

We present the gospel

to people that,

hey,

there's no hope here.

Things will be much better

in heaven

and God's made a way.

So if you really just want

things to be better,

God will make a way

for you

and you can enjoy

better things.

Friends,

that's not the gospel.

You can lead somebody

in a wonderful prayer

about Jesus,

but if their hope

is simply

pleasure

that may or may not

be a part of heaven

and in their mind

is nothing

with consideration

to the glory of God

and the reconciliation

with God

and the enjoyment of God,

you have not presented

the gospel

and they are not Christians.

Christ's sacrifice

on the cross

is emphasized

as a means

to a better life

and a future

rather than God's plan

for restoring fellowship

to his creatures.

This kind of gospel message,

it would be like

going to your wife

and saying,

you know,

the chief aim

of our marriage

is sexual fulfillment.

You're great,

I'm glad you're around,

but what I really love

is the pleasure

that I get from you.

And we would say

that's a pretty terrible

view of marriage,

isn't it?

Our wives would not

be very pleased with us

if that were our view

of marriage

and yet it's basically

the perspective

that many people

bring to the gospel.

I'm glad God's there.

I'm happy

that Jesus

was willing

to do so much

in order to secure

my pleasure,

but the thing

that I really want,

I just want heaven,

I want ease,

I want the pleasure.

Again,

don't misunderstand me.

I'm not saying

that those things

aren't realities

or that we shouldn't

crave those things.

They are blessings

from God.

He gives them to us

as a description

in His Word

in order that He might

give us a foretaste

of what eternity

will be for those

who are in Him,

but it's not

the principal aim.

And what many

have failed to realize

is that heaven and hell

are secondary consequences

of one standing

with God.

He is the goal

of salvation,

not the means

to something else.

And to rightly speak,

of the realities

of heaven and hell,

we must put them

in their proper place.

Salvation is not primarily

about entering heaven.

It is about being reconciled

in a peaceful,

intimate relationship

with the Creator

in whom

is the greatest

possible experience

of pleasure

and love

and joy

if we are to believe

that what the Bible

says is true.

And of course,

I do believe it.

And the story

of the Bible,

it's all about

God's pursuit

of this peace

with His creatures.

And the ministry

of the gospel

is one of

reconciling sinners

to God

through the perfect work

of Jesus Christ.

Paul says this

plainly for us.

2 Corinthians chapter 5.

2 Corinthians 5 · chapter mention

All this is from God.

Speaking of salvation.

Who through Christ

reconciled us

to Himself.

And then He gave us,

that is the apostles

and beyond that,

everyday Christians.

He gave to us

the ministry

of reconciliation.

And what does He mean?

Well, He tells us

that is,

in Christ,

God was reconciling

the world

to Himself.

Not counting

their trespasses

against them

and entrusting

to us,

believers,

this message

of reconciliation.

Therefore,

Paul turns

to his audience

and he says,

we are ambassadors

for Christ.

We're proclaimers

of good news.

Therefore,

God is making

His appeal

to you

through us.

And what's the appeal?

He tells us

in the very next statement.

We implore you,

for Christ's sake,

be reconciled

to God.

Can I tell you

what my purpose is

right now,

in this moment,

is to be an ambassador

for Christ,

to proclaim

the good news,

God making

His appeal

to you

through me.

And therefore,

my appeal,

I implore you,

be reconciled

to God.

Be reconciled

to God.

You say,

well,

why does this

have to do

with Psalm 15?

I'm saying all

of this

because it would

be quite easy

for us to make

Psalm 15

about how a person

can get to heaven.

In fact,

early in the week

in my study,

I was tempted

to actually make

that the title

of the sermon,

How to Get to Heaven.

And it was through

the conviction

of that

that I realized,

no,

that's actually

the problem

many times

is all

we're really

concerned about

is heaven,

but that's not

what David's

concerned about here.

Heaven's a wonderful

implication of this text,

don't get me wrong,

but it's not

what David had in mind

when he was writing

this psalm.

The point

of Psalm 15

is to paint

a portrait

of the one

who can dwell

with God,

the one

who has

this peaceful,

intimate

fellowship

with the creator.

The character sketch,

it includes a question,

it includes the answer,

and then it includes

a blessing,

and we're going to work

through all three

of those things,

but as we work

through these sections,

you're going to

quickly pick up

on a serious problem

in black for us.

So at the end,

after we have worked

through the psalm,

we will look

to Jesus

as the fulfillment

of the psalm

and the agent

of our reconciliation

to God.

Okay?

First, let's see

the question.

Look again at verse 1.

Here's what David asked.

O Lord,

who shall sojourn

in your tent?

Who shall dwell

on your holy hill?

The question David

presents here,

it's all about

who can dwell

in the presence

of the Lord.

In David's context,

a tent was a place

where someone lived.

It was their abode,

their place of dwelling.

The tent of God,

however,

in the Old Testament

has special meaning.

It speaks of

a particular place.

It speaks of,

the tabernacle

in David's time

where the presence

of God

was manifested

among his chosen people.

And this is

an important connection

in the scriptures.

God has always desired

to dwell with mankind

and for that relationship

to be peaceful

and intimate

as we've said

a number of times already.

That was the reality

of Adam and Eve's existence

before they fell.

There seemed no surprise

to them

that God was willing

after their sin

to come in the cool

of the day

to walk with them

in the garden.

And we don't know

if that was a daily event

or if it was

multiple times a day.

We don't know

the nature of it.

We just know

it was no surprise

to them so much

so that they hid themselves

knowing that God

was coming.

There was fellowship,

intimacy,

relationship

between God

and his creatures.

God desired that.

He received glory

and pleasure

through that.

Of course,

that was until

their fall.

And the Bible's

overarching message

is about God's plan

to restore that.

And we see it

progressively unfolding.

We see these

snapshots of it.

First we see

the tabernacle.

God uses Moses,

the people of Israel

in the wilderness

to build it.

What was that all about?

It was about

God's presence

being manifested

among his people.

Then it was

the temple.

We read

in 1 Chronicles 16

to open the service.

What was that

psalm?

What was that

a prayer for?

Was that the dedication

of the temple,

Solomon's temple?

What was happening

in that moment?

The presence of God

filled the temple.

It was a manifestation

of God's presence

among his people.

And then we see it next

in the incarnation.

John tells us

that God

tabernacled

with us.

He tempted

with us

to use

David's language.

How?

In the incarnation

of Jesus Christ.

And then Jesus

ascended back to heaven

and then

what happened?

God the Father

and God the Son

send the Holy Spirit

eternally proceeding

from the Father

and the Son.

And what does he do?

He dwells

within

each believer.

And what happens

in the end?

Jesus returns.

Why?

So that he might

take us

to be with him

and to dwell

with him.

This is the Bible.

This is the

big picture

of the Bible.

This is what's happening.

That's what David

is referring to here.

Who can be

in your presence

in this way God?

Who can dwell

in your tent?

Who can actually

come into the tabernacle?

If he had

the universal

tabernacle in mind

of all of God's creation.

Who can be

in your presence God?

That's the question

he's asking.

The emphasis here

is not on a place.

It's on the presence

of God itself.

But then he uses

another statement.

He speaks of

God's holy hill.

That's the second

question isn't it?

Who shall dwell

on your holy hill?

Well we've seen

this term before.

In Psalm 2

in verse 6

Zion is the

holy hill

from which

God rules over

all of his creation.

Issuing his

judgment against

the wicked.

Blessing all

who trust

in his appointed

king.

And again

the emphasis

is on access

to God's presence

to his safety

to sweet

fellowship with him.

David understood

that the deepest

longings

of the human

heart

love

safety

joy

all of these

things can only

be satisfied

in God

which is a statement

he'll make explicitly

in the very next

Psalm.

Psalm 16

in verse 11

you make known

to me the path

of life he says

in your presence

there is fullness

of joy

David says.

At your right

hand

there are

pleasures

forevermore

eternal pleasures

beyond our

imagination

all of it

in connection

with God's

presence.

These opening

questions

they reflect

the deepest

longing of

David's heart

and the hearts

of all who

will seek God

to dwell in

his presence

where there is

eternal security

and blessing

that's

that's his

desire here

but David's

also fully

aware

that sinners

cannot dwell

with God.

We've seen him

talk about this

already.

Psalm 5

Psalms 5:4

verse 4

you are not

a God

who delights

in wickedness

evil

those who

commit it

may not

dwell with you.

So who then

can gain access

to God's presence

and dwell

in his safety

and love?

Well that's

what the

psalm

seeks to

answer

which brings

us to

the answer.

We've seen

the question

now let's

see the

answer.

And what

follows in

these verses

verses 2

through 5

it's a

character sketch.

It's a

portrait of

the person

who has

access to

God

who enjoys

perfect

fellowship

with the

creator.

And here's

how I'd

like to

break it

up.

I want

to break

it up

by every

two

lines

that we've

talked

before about

chiasms

a literary

structure

that is

common

in the

psalms.

There's

no chiasm

here.

What we

have here

is parallelism.

You don't

have to

know that

word.

You know

it from

your poetry

classes in

high school.

It's a

rhythm.

It's a

prose

and to

poetry.

Right?

And as

we work

through this

every two

lines you

find a

parallelism.

But here's

the point.

No matter

how you

break this

apart,

as many

or as few

characteristics

as maybe

you decide

to do,

the primary

point here

that I want

you to

see is

that moral

perfection

is what

qualifies a

person for

God's

presence.

Moral

perfection.

Okay?

Let's work

through it.

Look first

at verse

two.

Who can

do this?

He who

walks

blamelessly

and does

what is

right.

He who

walks

blamelessly

and does

what is

right.

This first

set of

characteristics,

it's a

summary

heading for

everything

else that

follows.

When the

scriptures,

as you

probably are

aware,

when they

speak of

walking,

it's a

reference to

a person's

way of

life.

David

asserts

here that

one who

can dwell

in peace

with God

must have

a totally

blameless

way of

life.

That is,

his inner

integrity

always reveals

itself in

outward

righteousness.

He's without

blame in

both his

inner spirit

and his

outward

actions.

Always

doing

what's

right.

Now,

you may

look at

that

and say,

you know,

I've got

a piece

of that

together.

I pretty

much always

do what's

right on

the outside,

but you

know your

heart.

You know

it's not

true on

the inside.

That's not

the case

for this

man.

What's

the next

one?

Again,

verse

two.

He speaks

truth in

his heart

who does

not slander

with his

tongue.

You feel

the rhythm

of that,

right?

And speaks

the truth

in his

heart,

does not

slander

with his

tongue.

Again,

the pair

begins with

the inner

person,

ends with

outward

behavior that

reflects the

nature of

his heart.

We know

this is how

life works.

Out of the

abundance of

the heart,

the mouth

speaks,

Jesus says.

The Proverbs

tell us that

you ought not

follow your

heart because

it will end

in destruction.

It's deceitfully

wicked.

Who can

know it?

We're

told.

Well,

this person,

his outward

behavior is

always a

reflection of

his heart

and it's

always good.

In his

heart,

this individual

is completely

trustworthy,

reliable,

a lover of

truth.

He's the

opposite of

the foolish

one who

Solomon said

gives an

answer before

he hears.

truth.

It's

Proverbs

18,

13.

Instead,

he loves

truth.

He seeks

the truth.

He always

acts according

to what is

true.

Says Spurgeon,

such will not

lie even in

the closet of

their hearts

for God is

there to

listen.

They scorn

double meanings,

evasions,

equivocations,

white lies,

flatteries,

and deceptions.

And the

truthful nature

of this

person's heart

means that

he's never

guilty of

slander.

That's the

second part

of the

parallels,

isn't it?

It calls out

slander.

But what is

slander?

It is to

deceptively

damage another

person's

reputation by

misrepresenting

them to

someone else.

We learn to

do this from

our youngest

age.

When we

very quickly

run to our

parents to

tell on our

brother or

our sister,

misrepresenting

an entire

situation in

hopes that

we will be

seen as a

victim and

they will be

seen as an

abuser.

And a wise

parent, as they

inquire into

the actual

event, find that

perhaps it's

actually quite

the opposite.

He doesn't

go about

looking for

ways that he

might accuse

someone.

He doesn't

spin a story

to exalt

himself by

tearing someone

else down.

Next,

verse 3,

he does

no evil

to his

neighbor,

nor takes

up a

reproach

against

his

friend.

Does no

evil to

his

neighbor,

takes up

no reproach

against

his

friend.

Now,

this pair

of traits,

it focuses

on how

one treats

the other

people in

his life,

whether they

are just

merely

acquaintances

or friends

to whom

some level

of loyalty

is expected.

To perform

evil would

be anything

that falls

short of

Jesus'

command,

to love

your

neighbor

as

yourself.

It's

Matthew

22,

37-40.

When

someone

asked

Jesus

to

then

define

who

is

my

neighbor

then,

that's

when he

told the

parable

of the

good

Samaritan.

And what

was the

meaning

there?

That our

neighbor,

to whom

we should

extend

loving

compassion,

is those

who would

even

otherwise be

considered

an enemy.

That's the

man of

Psalm 15.

Christopher

Ash said

that reproach

here is a

strong word

in the text.

It means a

personal attack,

a cutting

criticism,

something that

destroys a

person's good

name, which

the Bible says

is of great

value.

To take up a

reproach goes

further than

simply uttering

criticism.

It carries

the sense

of latching

on to

something you've

heard from

others,

giving currency

to it,

and then

passing it

on to

other people.

We call it

gossip usually.

In the

context of

this verse,

in Psalm 15,

this kind of

action, it

isn't taken

against just

anyone.

It's taken

against someone

who is known

to be a

friend and a

companion.

David says,

one who can

come into

God's presence

and enjoy

fellowship with

the Lord is

blameless regarding

these things,

not guilty of

it.

Verse 4,

in whose eyes

a vile person

is despised,

but who honors

those who fear

the Lord.

Meditate on

that.

In whose eyes

a vile person

is despised,

but who honors

those who fear

the Lord.

Who does a

person tend

to esteem

and honor?

And what kind

of person

does he tend

to despise

and disapprove

of?

If you'll allow

me a moment

to meddle.

There is a

cancerous

trend

among

evangelicals,

and we're

being called

out on it

by the world.

they see

the inconsistency

here.

Christians

actively

esteeming

a vile

political

figure,

musician,

athlete,

so on.

And at the

same time

aggressively

condemning

the faithful

pastor down

the street

with whom

they have

only secondary

disagreements.

Jesus tells

us that

the world

will know

that we

are his

out of our

love for

one another.

Of course,

there's command

there for

loving everyone.

The emphasis

and the impact

of the statement

is for those

who are in

the faith.

And yet,

many times in

our lives,

it is those

who are in

the faith

whom we are

most hateful

towards.

those who

are characterized

by the

vileness

of the

world

and its

philosophies

and its

systems

who we

tend to

defend

and give

approval.

But to

walk in

the footsteps

of the

blessed

man of

Psalm 1

means that

one will

not esteem

the counsel

of the

wicked

or the

way of

sinners

or the

seat of

scoffers.

The portrait

of Psalm 15

is one who

has never

found guilty

of doing

what Paul

condemns in

Romans 1

which is

when he

says in

verse 32

though they

know God's

righteous decree

that those

who practice

such things

deserve to

die,

they not

only do

them,

they give

approval to

those who

practice

them.

Finding

some kind

of justification

for it,

esteeming

what's vile,

condemning

those who

actually fear

the Lord,

imperfectly

maybe.

But fear

the Lord.

Again,

Christopher

Ash says

the one

here described

thinks little

of a vile

person because

he knows

that such

a one

is abhorred

by God.

That is in

the sense

of judgment.

This will

not stop

him loving

him,

showing

kindness

and compassion

to him,

but it

will prevent

him looking

up to the

vile person

as an

example to

be emulated.

On the

contrary,

he honors

those who

fear the

Lord,

no matter

how unimpressive

they may

be in the

eyes of

the world.

Again,

verse 4,

who swears

to his

own hurt

and does

not change.

Simply,

if he's

made a

promise and

later discovers

that the

promise is

not working

to his

advantage,

he perseveres

in the

promise

anyways.

He doesn't

go back

on his

word even

when it is

to his

harm.

Harper

and I had

a discussion

about Psalm

15 this

week.

I often

practice on

my family

before I

preach.

We were

sitting at

the table

and I

said,

Harper,

have you

ever made

a promise

and you

went back

on it

because you

realized that

that promise

hurt you

instead of

helped you?

I've done

that before.

Ashlyn and

I had a

similar

conversation

in Belk

yesterday.

Ashlyn,

have you

ever led

somebody

along,

made them

think one

thing,

and then

when you

realized that

it wasn't

the best

thing,

you kind

of pulled

back and

it was

damaging to

them?

She said,

yeah.

You know

what,

Ashlyn,

I've done

it.

I've done

it.

Done it

many times.

The one

who can

come into

God's

presence

has never

done that.

His

yea is

always

yea,

his nay

is always

nay,

according

to Jesus.

Verse

five,

who does

not put

out his

money at

interest,

does not

take a

bribe

against the

innocent.

God

is

central

focus

here

is

it's

a

trait

of

greed

and

covetousness,

taking

advantage of

others'

personal gain

without any

regard for

their well-being.

the Bible

routinely

condemns

using

financial

power

to

manipulate

and

abuse

others,

especially

the poor.

It

doesn't

condemn

interest

entirely.

We need

not get

the wrong

picture

here.

There

are

times

where

the

Bible

actually

recommends

for good

stewardship

that you

would have

good

business

practices,

but it

does

condemn

this

fiscal

manipulation

that

takes

advantage

of other

people's

misfortune

and

vulnerability.

We're all

prone to

doing this.

It's in

our nature.

The one

who can

dwell with

God is

blameless

in his

dealings

with

people.

He

doesn't

manipulate

or abuse

others

for his

own

advantage.

So we

have the

question.

The question

is,

Lord,

who can

enjoy

access

to your

presence?

Who

can have

the

safety

of

dwelling

on your

holy

hill?

Who

can

enjoy

you,

have the

blessings

that come

from knowing

you,

being

with

you?

And the

answer is

this

sketch.

And then it

finishes with

a blessing,

an amazing

blessing.

Actually,

look again

at verse

five.

He who

does

these

things

shall

never

be

moved.

That's

amazing.

It's a

wonderful

promise,

actually,

isn't it?

Whoever

meets the

conditions

of this

portrait

will not

only be

welcomed

into

God's

presence,

but will

be eternally

secured

in God's

presence.

wonderful.

To be

moved is

to have

stability

taken from

your life

so that

all the

promises

of the

text

are stripped

away from

you.

And

essentially

what David

is saying

is if

you meet

the conditions

of the

portrait

and if

God brings

you to

his holy

hill and

you dwell

with him,

he will

not remove

that blessing

from you.

You will

not be

moved,

he says.

Wonderful.

That

absolute

eternal

assurance

is precisely

what God

offers here.

At least

for all

who qualify

according to

the description

that David

gives.

Which

brings us

to the

final

application

of the

text.

Psalm 15,

it really

is an

incredible

song of

worship.

it presents

the very

real possibility

of enjoying

God in

the safety

of his

presence.

It echoes

God's promise

that all

who find

refuge in

him will

never be

moved from

it.

Not only

can this

be a

reality for

us,

according to

the psalm,

it's an

eternal

reality,

not a

temporary

one.

This is

a glorious

psalm.

But surely

you see

the tension

here.

surely

you feel

the tension

of the

text.

Though

it contains

these

unbelievable

promises,

the

qualifications

for dwelling

on God's

holy hill

are impossible

for us

to meet.

So we

need to

conclude

with four

critical

questions.

Question

one,

who of

us has

met these

conditions?

Who of

us has

met the

conditions?

clearly

none of

us

have.

Not

one.

Even

the best

of us

has not

met

this

portrait.

We may

have the

outline of

the portrait,

but it's

marred.

It's

destroyed by

our fallen

nature,

our

sinfulness.

Who of

us has

lived

blamelessly,

always doing

what's

right?

Who of

us

love

us?

Always

is

committed

to

truth.

Always

loves

others

as we