23-0611a Transcript

Preacher: Mike Mathis

(2:25) It is indeed a pleasure to once again be able to stand before you. (2:36) For our visitors in April, I had surgery to remove a cancerous mass. (2:54) And I have been recuperating from that.

(3:01) And as I went through the month of May, recuperating from that surgery, (3:13) but toward the end of May, I was getting myself back in. (3:23) I do feel good as far as the doctor is concerned. (3:33) The mass itself was cancerous, but he got it all.

(3:39) And he had to take the kidney, the right kidney with it also. (3:46) So, it is indeed good to be before you again, and that I may speak. (4:03) Some time ago, I was thinking of, I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God (4:17) than to dwell in the tents of wickedness in Psalm 84, of which I am going to cover tonight.

(4:31) But before we get deep into the study of doorkeeper, (4:37) as I said, I’m going to look at Psalm 84. (4:43) This psalm and the two psalms that were read by John and Roger (4:55) are psalms that were of the sons of Cork. (5:07) And in the scriptures, there are several chorus, (5:21) but the particular chorus that we’re going to be concerned with (5:29) is one that led a rebellion against the authority of Moses.

(5:38) But in Exodus 6, we find the genealogy of the sons of Nebo. (5:53) And they give the genealogy. (5:59) And one of the sons is Kohab.

(6:06) And he, from Kohab, we have Amran, Ishar, Hebron, and Uzzul. (6:18) And we drop down to verse 21 of Exodus 6. (6:26) The sons of Ishar were Korah, Nephi, and Zechariah. (6:35) Now, we go to number 16, and number 16 will relate that (6:46) Korah, with a band of his companions, led a rebellion against Moses.

(7:01) But now, notice that one of the sons of Ishar was Korah. (7:09) In the first verse of number 16, it says, (7:15) Now Korah, the son of Ishar, the son of Kohab, the son of Levi, (7:23) with Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab and An, the son of Phileh, (7:32) sons of Reuben, took men, and these men arose against Korah. (7:42) As a result of their rebellion, the earth opened up.

(7:50) And took these rebellious men and swallowed them. (7:58) And so they were punished. (8:06) They purged, Korah and his cohorts purged when the earth opened and swallowed them.

(8:15) And in numbers 26 and verse 11, it tells that the earth opened its mouth (8:32) and swallowed them up together with Korah. (8:37) When that company died, when the fire devoured 250 men, (8:45) and they became his son. (8:47) Verse 11 says, (8:49) Nevertheless, the children of Korah did not die.

(8:57) So they did not participate in his rebellion. (9:05) Perhaps they were young. (9:10) But nevertheless, they did not participate in the rebellion.

(9:18) The children of Korah prospered. (9:22) From these came, that is, the descendants. (9:29) The descendants became musicians and doorkeepers.

(9:36) Now, as I said, before we really get to look into the doorkeepers, (9:46) the title of my lesson is Doorkeepers Slash Gatekeepers. (9:55) Later I’m going to reveal what it is about that. (10:04) But before we do that, I just want to look at Psalm 84.

(10:16) Beginning with the first verse of Psalm 84, (10:23) then let us take a look at this psalm. (10:27) Starts out saying, (10:30) How lovely is your tabernacle. (10:33) The psalm starts out, (10:39) How lovely is your tabernacle.

(10:44) My soul longs for the courts of God. (10:53) How does our soul long? (10:56) Does it long for God? (11:01) Does it appreciate what God does for us? (11:09) He says that, (11:14) My soul longs even thanks for the courts of the Lord. (11:21) My heart and my flesh cry out for the living God.

(11:29) I did not take a notation of it, (11:34) but I was looking in another translation. (11:39) And instead of saying cry out, (11:44) it says, (11:46) For my heart and my flesh sing out for the living God. (11:55) And we can then ask the question, (12:02) Do we long for God? (12:06) Now, the tabernacle and later the temple (12:11) is where God presented himself, (12:19) especially in the most holy place in the tabernacle or the temple, (12:30) where the mercy seat was.

(12:34) And when the high priest went into the most holy place (12:40) with the blood from the sacrifice, (12:46) then God said that he would meet them there at the mercy seat. (12:56) And there is where God would meet them. (13:03) But now the Sons of Coral did not belong to the high priest, (13:14) the order of the high priest.

(13:15) They were Levites. (13:18) They had a special duty to perform. (13:24) But as I said, (13:26) that they became musicians or doorkeepers.

(13:33) And they would be out in the court, (13:40) not inside the temple. (13:46) They would be out in the court. (13:53) And so he says, (13:59) How lovely is your tabernacle, O Lord, of hosts! (14:03) My soul longs, yes, even faints for the courts of the Lord.

(14:09) My heart and my flesh cry out for the living God. (14:16) Now, as Scott was pointing out earlier, (14:25) he was pointing out that our bodies are the temple. (14:29) But also, in 1 Corinthians 3.6, (14:36) we’re going to read 3.16 and 3.17. (14:51) Now what Paul was talking about was (14:55) how one labored and such.

(15:03) But then in verse 16 he says, (15:07) Do you not know that you are the temple of God (15:12) and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? (15:17) If anyone defiles the temple of God, (15:21) God will destroy him. (15:24) For the temple of God is holy, (15:28) which temple you are. (15:31) And so the church is the temple.

(15:36) And the church is the spiritual house of God. (15:42) But we want right now to know that the church is the temple. (15:49) And then 2 Corinthians 6.16. (16:05) No, I’m in Rome.

(16:14) Okay, verse 16. (16:17) And what agreement has the temple of God without it? (16:23) For you are the temple of the living God. (16:28) As God has said, (16:30) I will dwell in them and walk among them.

(16:35) I will be their God and they shall be my people. (16:42) That is enough for us to be thankful (16:48) and to think about, (16:52) doesn’t that make us long for God? (16:58) Because God is there in his temple, (17:03) which is the church. (17:08) But let’s continue with verse 3. (17:12) Even the sparrow has found a home (17:16) and the swallow a nest for herself, (17:21) where she may lay her young.

(17:24) Even your altars, O Lord of hosts, (17:28) my King and my God. (17:34) So he knows that the birds find a home. (17:44) They’ll make a nest.

(17:46) They will make a nest wherever they can. (17:55) And it seems like here that perhaps (17:59) they’re taking note that those birds (18:02) are even making nests on the altars (18:06) that are out in the court. (18:10) But these birds, (18:14) God has taken care of them.

(18:20) Jesus points out in the Sermon on the Mount (18:24) in Matthew 6.26 (18:29) that the Father feeds the birds. (18:34) And he’s telling these people (18:38) not to be so concerned about (18:41) what they are going to eat (18:46) because God knows that they need food to eat. (18:53) He says in verse 26 of Matthew 6, (18:59) Look at the birds of the air, (19:02) for they neither sow nor reap (19:04) nor gather in the barns.

(19:08) Yet your Heavenly Father feeds them. (19:14) Are you not of more value than they? (19:18) So if God takes care of the birds of the air, (19:26) he also takes care of the animals, (19:30) the beasts of the field. (19:33) But he takes care of these for, you know, (19:36) they can’t do any farming and sowing seed (19:42) and gathering the product that is gotten from these.

(19:52) The birds, they do not gather them, (19:58) but God takes care of them. (20:01) Then in verse 4 he says, (20:04) Blessed are those who dwell in your house. (20:09) They will be praising you.

(20:15) Again, they have the physical tabernacle (20:23) or the physical temple as being the house of God. (20:32) But according to 1 Timothy 3, verse 15, (20:44) the house of the living God is the church. (20:49) As he tells Timothy in that verse, (20:56) he tells Timothy that he ought to register (21:02) and inform him on how he ought to conduct himself.

(21:10) But he said, But if I am delayed, (21:13) I write so that you may know (21:15) how you ought to conduct yourself (21:18) in the house of God, (21:21) which is the church of the living God, (21:24) the pillar and ground of the truth. (21:28) So the church, then the temple, (21:34) is also the house of God. (21:38) Just as the temple was the house of God (21:43) in Old Testament times, (21:46) now the church is the house of God.

(21:54) And he says, They will still be praising you. (22:03) That is God. (22:04) Be praising God.

(22:07) Now in Acts 2, 46 and 47, (22:14) we’ve got where on that day the church began (22:22) and also Peter preaching the first gospel sermon (22:32) in the Christian dispensation. (22:36) And we learn that there are people that are being added. (22:45) But we find that in verse 46, (22:50) So continuing daily with one accord in the temple (22:54) and breaking bread from house to house, (22:57) they ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart, (23:03) praising God and having favor with all the people.

(23:11) These people were praising God. (23:14) Now watch this. (23:16) And the Lord added to the church daily (23:20) those who were being saved.

(23:26) We can be still praising God for his goodness. (23:34) If he will take care of the birds, (23:38) he certainly will take care of me and you. (23:42) He cares for us.

(23:46) And he is willing to do good for us. (23:53) But he also made a provision for our spiritual needs (24:00) and he brought us salvation through Jesus Christ. (24:06) He saves us when we are obedient to him.

(24:10) And therefore we can praise him for his goodness (24:16) and for salvation of our souls from sin. (24:22) And Psalm 84 in verse 5 says, (24:29) Blessed is the man whose strength is in you, (24:33) that is God, (24:36) whose heart is set on pilgrimage. (24:44) Now this was kind of throwing me for a little bit, (24:49) but as I was thinking about this, (24:53) first of all, our strength comes from God.

(24:59) And the one whose strength is in him, (25:06) he can go through this life. (25:09) You know, we speak of this life that we’re living, (25:17) that it will soon be over. (25:21) That this earth is not our home.

(25:26) But we’re going through this earth (25:30) and we go through a lot of things. (25:34) We go through hardships and good things. (25:39) But there’s one thing that is, (25:41) is that God gives us strength (25:44) to go through the bad things that we go through.

(25:51) And he says in verse 7, (25:55) They go from strength to strength. (26:00) That is, God gives us our strength. (26:08) And you know, it’s a shame that some people (26:12) just do not look to God sometimes (26:15) when they are in strife.

(26:19) But instead they turn their back on him. (26:22) They deny his existence. (26:25) You know, if God is, (26:29) then why am I going through what I’m going through? (26:35) But he gives us strength to go through this (26:38) if we are trusting in him.

(26:42) And eventually we will appear before God. (26:48) Each one appears before God in time. (26:54) Yes, that’s what it is.

(26:55) He said, well, one day though, (26:59) we are going to meet our God (27:05) in the judgment (27:06) and receive the reward of the things (27:12) that we have done in our bodies, (27:15) whether these things are good or bad. (27:22) But there’s something here that, (27:26) in verse 8, he says, (27:31) O Lord God of hosts, hear my prayer. (27:35) Give ear, O God of Jacob.

(27:39) O God, behold our shield (27:42) and look upon the face of your anointing. (27:48) Now he is, in this, (27:52) giving a prayer to God. (27:56) According to James 5.16, (28:01) the effectual first prayer of a righteous man (28:05) availeth much.

(28:07) God will hear someone that is righteous (28:10) and praise for the guidance of those that are righteous. (28:19) And then in Psalm 84.10-12, (28:28) For a day in your courts is better than a thousand. (28:35) I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God (28:41) than dwell in the tents of wickedness.

(28:46) For the Lord God is his Son and shield. (28:51) The Lord will give grace and glory. (28:56) No good thing will he withhold (28:59) from those who walk uprightly.

(29:04) O Lord of hosts, (29:07) blessed is the man who trusts in you. (29:14) And again, the question is, (29:18) are you longing for God? (29:21) Does God look at us and see us (29:26) ever searching for him and for his help? (29:34) If we’re burdened with a load, (29:42) let us come to Jesus. (29:45) He says that he will give us rest.

(29:52) If we put his yoke upon us, (29:57) that means that we’ll be carrying a load (30:02) but Jesus is going to be helping us carry that load (30:07) side to side with us. (30:11) And you too may see the loveliness of God’s tabernacle. (30:20) So if you have any need, (30:24) if you want to put Christ on in baptism, (30:28) or if you want to make something known (30:34) that is pressing you, (30:38) if you need to come back to being unfaithful, (30:43) whatever need you have, (30:46) why not now? (30:47) Why not take the opportunity that we have now (30:50) to come and to see how lovely God’s tabernacle is? (30:59) Why not come while we stand and sing?