June 5, 2016 The Ten Conditions by Conley Owens

First Please stand if you're able for the reading of God's Word My son do not lose sight of these

Keep sound wisdom and discretion and they will be life for your soul and adornment for your neck

Then you will walk on your way securely and your foot will not stumble If you lie down you will not be afraid when you lie down your sleep will be sweet Do not be afraid of sudden terror or of the ruin of the wicked when it comes

For the Lord will be your confidence and will keep your foot from being caught Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due when it is in your power to do it

Do not say to your neighbor go and come again tomorrow. I will give it when you have it with you

Do not plan evil against your neighbor who dwells in custody besides you Do not contend with a man for no reason when he is doing no harm

Do not envy a man of violence and choose none and not do not choose any of his ways

For the devious person is an abomination to the Lord, but the upright are in his confidence

The Lord's curse is on the house of the wicked, but he blesses the dwelling of the righteous Toward the scorners.

He is scornful But to the humble he gives favor the wise will inherit honor, but fools get disgrace

Now John chapter 13 what cares What do you want

Not right now Simon Peter said to him that being

Jesus, of course Lord, where are you going? Jesus answered him where I am going you cannot follow me now, but you will follow afterward

Peter said to him Lord Why can I not follow you now? I will lay down my life for you

Jesus answered will you lay down your life for me? Truly truly I say to you rooster will not crow until you have denied me three times

Let not your hearts be troubled Believe in God also in me in my father's house are many rooms if it were not

So what I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you And if I go to prepare a place for you,

I will come again and take you to myself that where I am you may be also and You know the way to where I am going

Thomas said the Lord we do not know the way we do not know where you are going.

How can we know the way? Jesus said I am the way the truth and the life No one comes to the father except through me if you had known me you would have known my father also

From now on you do know him and have seen him Do you have any father in Jesus name

It's the source of our knowledge about the saving love you have for us And we humbly confess our need for more of your word for it to have its way with us

And so we just humbly ask that you'll grant all the hearers to have a humble heart, a broken heart before your word

A willing heart to receive your word to receive correction to receive encouragement to receive whatever you in your sovereign will determine we need to have

Father without your word we will even perish and some will fall into darkness So we just humbly again ask you to grant us a humble and recipient hearts

We also ask that you'll grant connolly to speak the word clearly Father and well and that she'll pour out your holy spirit on the preaching and the hearing of your word for without these things

It's all vain. So we just ask these things in Jesus name for your glory. Amen Please turn with me to psalm 15

And while you're turning there Let me ask you have you ever heard of imposter syndrome?

It's this term that was coined in 1978 It refers to this phenomenon where people who are in a particular position feel that they're imposters

They see the people around them. They see competent people. They see competent people And they just don't feel like they meet the mark.

They don't feel like they fit in It's very common especially Here in the bay area where a lot of talented people gather to work

You can imagine how a lot of people would see that and feel like they don't meet the mark And it's not necessarily that these people don't fit in that they that they are imposters and they aren't qualified It's just that they they feel like this is the case and We usually talk about imposter syndrome in the context of the workplace

But what about imposter syndrome in the context of the church? A lot of people You know spend time around the church and they see other people living holy and sanctified lives uh, and they don't

They don't necessarily feel like they meet the mark. They don't really have it all together like those around them seem to have it

Uh, and so what what would make someone imposter? what would be the bar by which we would say this person belongs with God and with his people and Or one who does not belong with God and with his people

That's a similar issue to the one that David is working with here He is asking who can dwell with God who can dwell in his city with his people?

And he's going to ask that question and he's going to describe the man who can dwell with God and And dwell in his city and then he's going to summarize and reaffirm that this this is the one who can dwell with God And so if you have that let's read

A psalm of David O Lord, who shall sojourn in your tent? Who shall dwell on your holy hill?

He who walks blamelessly and does what is right and speaks truth in his heart Who does not slander with his tongue and does no evil to his neighbor?

Nor takes up a reproach against his friend and whose eyes a vile person is despised But who honors those who fear the

Lord who swears to his own hurt and does not change Does not put out his money at interest does not take a bribe against the innocent

He who does these things shall never be moved Amen So let's read this, uh, this first verse again

O Lord, who shall sojourn in your tent? Who shall dwell in your holy hill? The tent of which

David speaks is the tabernacle that place where God would come to dwell with man And the holy hill is

Zion, the mountain on which the tabernacle sat. This is Jerusalem This is God's holy city

And so David is asking, you know Who can sojourn here? Sojourn meaning to dwell for a short period of time

To dwell meaning to stay there for a longer period of time So you can kind of hear the poetry of what he's saying saying who could stay for a little while in your house

Who could stay even permanently in your city? And this is related to the question

I was asking before because Zion It is revealed in the New Testament that Zion is not just a physical mountain

It is representative of the salvation and the salvation community that we have in Jesus Christ.

Hebrews 12 22 says speaking to Christians But you have come to Zion and to the city of the living

God the heavenly Jerusalem and to innumerable host and to innumerable angels and festal gathering

So the idea is that if you have come to Zion, then you have come to this salvation community full of saints full of angels

And so when David asked this question We should be asking this question about whether or not we can dwell with God's people we can dwell in his city in his house

Now you might ask yourself well, why is it all that important to dwell with God? Well, I can think of two reasons to dwell with God Gives one security and it gives one meaning, you know purpose in their life

So if you think in David's context to be inside of a city is to be within the walls safe from attacks

If if you're outside the walls then you're open to attack Now a lot of people think that they've got safety through their through their job

Through you know being a part of a country that has a decent military through their health insurance But it is an uncontested fact that it is appointed for each man wants to die

And once that comes none of these things that provide security are going to be there The only way that you can still have security is to be with God to be in his city having his security

Then there's also the aspect of having meaning by dwelling with God People people derive meaning from where they dwell right they say

I live in this city, you know I'm i'm this kind of person. I you know, i'm a californian. I'm an american

Uh, I go to this school. I'm a Hokie. That was my mascot uh They they derive meaning from from where they dwell from their family their friends

They say this is what gives me meaning and purpose And and to be with God to dwell with him and with his people is to have an ultimate purpose a lasting one

One that will last even beyond the grave Now if you are of the opinion that there is no conscious existence beyond the grave

Well, then let me ask you. Why do you labor as though there is? If you work if you do the things that you do and you act the way that you do

You do it because you feel that these things you do have some meaning that will continue uh, but But whether those last 10 minutes 10 000 years at some point it will have not mattered if you have done them at all

And they will only matter if you if there is some kind of lasting persistence If you are dwelling with God dwelling with his people then

Then the fruits of your labors then your friendships and your relationships will have some kind of lasting importance and uh to think otherwise is to act

Inconsistently because there would be no purpose for you treating the things in your life as though they have meaning Now further we cannot assume that we have this question or we have the answer to this question

You know, we all we all sit here. We dwell among this fellowship. You know, it seems like well

Of course me. I I can dwell with God. I can dwell with his people because I already do Uh, that's not how this works

Uh recall that Zion in the bible is often called the city of David And who asks this question?

David does he asks. Oh lord who can dwell in the city of David? But but still, you know

He feels that he needs to ask this question if david feels that he should ask this question We should be asking this question also

And it's such an important question the difference between Being with God in his city and being outside of the city

It's like the difference between an infant being in a car on a highway an infant being outside of a car on the highway

There's a stark stark contrast in the kind of security that you have one is perfectly safe and fine the other

Uh will not last So david begins to describe To describe this man who can dwell with God he begins

He who walks blamelessly and does what is right. This is verse two And speaks truth in his heart who does not slander with his tongue and does no evil to his neighbor so This way he begins and speaks truth in his heart who does not slander with his tongue

He's talking about someone who has truth both inside and out. He speaks truth in his heart

Now we generally think of ourselves as being pretty honest at least with ourselves But this isn't necessarily saying that that you believe the things you believe that would be

Tautology that would be meaningless. This is saying someone who recognizes things as they are in reality

Think of the previous psalm the previous psalm if you just look at it It begins the fool says in his heart. There is no god.

They are corrupt. They do Abominable deeds there is none who does good The fool says in his heart.

There is no god the fool Thinks that god isn't there It's not that he's not being honest with himself.

It's that he is not recognizing things as they are And Atheism as we think of it.

It was very uncommon in david's day Uh, it was not it was not the case that david is worried about people who who think that god doesn't exist

Who think that god has no existence rather? It's people who think that god has no imminence that god is not near that god is not watching me

I will not have to give an account to him And so if you think on your own life When no one is around you do you find it easier to dwell in impure thoughts?

to engage in worldly pleasures If that's the case the reason is because when no one is around you you think that you're alone

You think that god is not near that he is not watching you And to slander david speaks of slandering to slander is to speak true.

Uh some uh falsity about someone but Uh, it it doesn't just have to be some kind of straightforward gossip this could be

Uh anything that maligns the character of another even if you uh act with favoritism

Towards some people and not others that is implicitly by your actions and by your words Saying that these people are worth this these people are worth this

That is that is slandering another And uh, you know

We have this thermostat in the back of the building and if it uh If it read the wrong temperature or it kicked on at the wrong times

We'd kick it out and we'd get a new one, right? And so this is this is what god needs in his house He needs people who tell the truth who have the truth inside and out not false thermostats david continues

Looking at the second half of verse two and speaks. Uh, sorry starting at verse three

He who does not slander with his tongue and does no evil to his neighbor nor takes up a reproach against his friend

The bible speaks often of neighbors And a neighbor is anyone who we encounter

Jesus makes that fairly clear in the new testament neighbor is anyone who's near us But there's a special reason why they're called neighbors.

They're neighbors because in dwelling next to someone There is an implicit trust

That exists there between you and the one you spend time with Or not even if you spend time with them, but even if you just live near them, there is this implicit trust

So to violate that trust is particularly heinous and that's what that's what david has in mind here and that trust can be violated in ways that You might not think if you think to the proverbs that we had read before proverbs 3 28 and 29 says

Do not say to your neighbor go and come again tomorrow. I will give it when you have it with you Do not play an evil against your neighbor who dwells trustingly beside you

So this is this is the evil that the one writing proverbs at this point has in mind He's saying that the evil that one plans against his neighbor is saying go and come again.

I'll give it to you tomorrow When you have it with you So so what does that look like in your life? Are you are you free with your possessions?

If there is some obligation or some something that needs attending to At the church, do you stretch the truth to make it sound as though it's more of a burden than it really is

That kind of thing would be saying go and come again tomorrow. We'll give it that is that is uh, You know planning evil against the neighbor and he speaks of reproach

Reproach would be any kind of uh shame And david's say this might be taking someone to court

You take someone to court you put them to shame however Any kind of shame will do Any kind of lack that a person has where they wouldn't be able to provide for themselves or for their family?

Or they're in some dire situation that you know to them would be shameful I would argue that if you leave them in that shame that is that is uh

Just as bad at not fulfilling this description. You are leave some leaving someone in their shame.

You are you are Creating reproach against them when you have it in your power to do good, you know the previous verse to the one

I quoted Proverbs 3 27 says do not withhold good from those to whom it is due when it isn't your power to give it

We read on Well before we read on there's uh

There's this game this party game that uh people sometimes play called mafia where you sit in a circle And I don't know if you've ever played it before but you sit in the circle and most of the game

You're working all as a team However, there's a couple secret designated betrayers who betray everybody else during other rounds of the game and it's pretty fun

But in real life that would not be fun at all And so if you imagine God's house with you know These people who act like friends who are secretly going around betraying that that wouldn't stand.

God will not have such things in his house We read on In whose eyes a vile person is despised.

This is verse four Sorry in whose eyes a vile person is despised but who honors those who fear the

Lord Now this is not saying that we should hate our enemies. Jesus said

You know, Jesus said you should love your enemies What despising is despising is to think of someone uh

As very little to think very little of someone And so this is not saying that we should have some kind of partiality towards people some kind of wrong partiality

This is calling for God discernment godly discernment We are supposed to think of those as honorable

As honorable and those who are vile we are to think of as they are as as lowly and so uh and so think about think about how this would play out in your life if you have if you have a celebrity in your mind or You know a hero in your field or you have a quiet aging saint in this congregation, which one are you more

More eager to think of as highly and which one are you more eager to think of as lowly? And it's not just how you think of them

It's also how you act. Galatians 6 10 says so then as we have opportunity, let us do good

To everyone and especially to those who are of the household of faith So there is a special a special honor that we are supposed to give to those who are of the household of faith

That's what David says, right? He says those who are to be honored are those who fear the lord And and those who are vile are obviously those who do not fear the lord

Those are the ones who are supposed to be thought lowly of so galatians is saying we need to also act this way to them

So if you take that situation again, I gave you with um The celebrity and the aging saint, you know, let's say each announced that they're going to come visit you at your home

Which one are you going to treat with greater honor? which one are you going to roll out the red carpet for And why you know, maybe there would be reasons why we would treat one differently than the other but What what is the root cause of those reasons?

we are to honor those who are honorable and to Treat as lowly those who are lowly

Uh, if you ever go to a house that has a spoiled dog Um, you know if an enemy gives them treats, you know, they'll cuddle up beside them, but they might bite an honored guest

You know just because they're a spoiled dog And god will not have such creatures in his home

David continues Who swears to his own hurt and does not change.

This is someone who keeps their word someone who keeps their word even when it hurts uh now

We don't make that many promises and when we do we generally tend to keep them. However, If you think about this a little further imagine, um

So it's it's not even halfway through the year right yet, right and how many of us have made a uh,

A new year's resolution and not kept it I'm getting a few nods. So i'm not the only one

I've made a new year's resolution this year. I've not kept it Uh, this is Yeah, this is this is not keeping your word, you know to your own hurt as soon as it becomes a little inconvenient

Ah, this isn't so easy David continues he who does not put out his money at interest and does not take a bribe against the innocent

So taking bribes is obviously wrong Proverbs 15 27 says that He who is greedy for unjust gain troubles his own household, but he who hates bribes will live so what is put there in parallel with Bribery with taking bribes put in parallel with that is being greedy for unjust gain

So this brings in all the standard examples of you know, cheating on your taxes stealing office supplies

But if you think beyond the monetary and the the physical You know imagine there's two lanes on the highway and you're supposed to merge into this one

And everyone's patiently waiting in their lane Do you go up way past where the signs are to merge to get into that lane?

Are you greedy for that unjust gain to get ahead of everybody else? You know this this applies in all sorts of parts of our lives

Those who are free with their possessions Those who give are free from their are free from their possessions and those who

Who bind themselves to their possessions will be bound to their possessions and God's house is the house of the free

You know, he wants free men David also spoke here of putting out one's money at interest.

You might be thinking well, that seems a lot Does that mean that you can't work at a bank? That's not that's not what it's saying and to get some context.

I'd like you to turn with me to Deuteronomy 23 And Deuteronomy 23 it gives this injunction

When you get there, please look at verse 19 Deuteronomy 23 19

You shall not charge interest on loans to your brother interest on money interest on food interest on anything that is lent for interest

You may charge a foreigner interest But you may not charge your brother interest That the

Lord your God may bless you and all that you undertake in the land that you are entering to take possession of it so This isn't a universal command against taking interest

This is saying that you may take interest against foreigners, but you may not take interest against your brothers

The idea here seems to be that taking interest has the opportunity to be abused

And therefore special protection is made against fellow israelites So if this is not just a blanket command not to take interest and that gives us reason to think

You know, are we abusing the way we use our money in the way we give our money, etc Are we being as free with our money as we ought?

David continues Well, yeah, he who does these things

Shall never be moved the one who the one who fulfills these things Will be able to dwell in God's presence

However, I think it was pretty clear as we went through that that this really doesn't describe anybody

Psalm 14 3 the previous psalm said they have all turned aside together. They have become corrupt.

There's none who does good not one And so if nobody, if nobody fulfills this description, then who can dwell with God?

Who can dwell in a city? It seems rather hopeless No one, no one matches this description

Except there's one who does Let me tell you about him Jesus said that he came to fulfill the law

He fulfills these things And before I, before I explain to you how he fulfills these things, let me show you further how this, how this relates to the law.

Let me, let me pause for a moment and give you just an understanding of some of the poetry in this psalm.

So you'll notice that in the psalms and then, you know, some of the prophets, your bibles will usually put them on different lines, have, put, you know, different sayings on different lines, have indents.

The reason is because this is poetry, and it's not absolutely certain where to put those new lines, but you can generally tell, based on the

Hebrew meter and based on the ideas being conveyed, where those new lines should go. Now, some translations combine he who walks blamelessly and does what is right, and some split those apart.

Now, most of these, almost all these descriptions are on their own line, right? Like, and speaks truth in his heart, who does not slander with his tongue, does no evil to his neighbor.

Those are all on separate lines because they're all these separate descriptions, and you would think that, you know, in English, it sounds good if they're all on their own line like that.

And that's why some translations, they have he who walks blamelessly and does what is right on two lines.

He who walks blamelessly and does what is right and does not slander, etc. Right? That sounds good in English, and that's why some of your translations will do that.

However, other translations are trying to mimic the Hebrew meter. And while he who walks blamelessly and does what is right sounds rather long to us, he who walks blamelessly is just two short words in Hebrew, and then and does what is right is another two words.

So, according to the meter in Hebrew, this actually fits very well with sitting on its own line and then matching all the other lines.

And it's not just that reason that we should put these two together. There's another reason. There's a pattern that emerges of rising and falling if these two go together.

David gives these positive descriptions of the man who can dwell with God, and then he gives some negative descriptions.

He says, he says, this is the man who does this. This is the man who doesn't do this. And if you count them with me, you'll see this rising and falling pattern.

He starts off with a couple of positive commands. He says, he who walks blamelessly and does what is right.

Let's count that as one instead of two, right? They go together as one. And speaks truth in his heart.

That's another one. And does not slander with his tongue. That's negative.

Does not. So count that as a negative. And does no evil to his neighbor. That's another negative.

Nor takes up reproach against his friend. That's another negative. So you see this, you know, two positive, three negative.

And now we're going to see the other half of this. And whose eyes a vile person is despised. That's positive.

But who honors those who fear the Lord. That's positive. Who swears to his own hurt and does not change.

That's another positive. Does not put out his money at interest. Negative. Does not take a bribe against the innocent.

That's negative. So we have two positive, three negative, three positive, two negative.

Do you see that rising and falling pattern? This is why we should consider those first two as being one description and not two descriptions.

And you may be wondering, why on earth is he talking about this? Well, let me tell you.

If you count them up, if you count them up, two, three, three, two, add that together, that's ten.

This is not arbitrary. There's a reason why there's ten. It's because the one who meets this tenfold description of God is the one who fulfills his tenfold law.

You know, why did God give the ten plagues? It was to show that this is the curse who goes on the one who does not fulfill his tenfold law.

This is a tenfold description because this is the man who fulfills the law of God. And that's why I began to speak of Jesus, the one who fulfills the law of God.

They said he came to fulfill. And so we'll walk through this again, and we'll see how it is that he fulfills it.

He who walks blamelessly and does what is right. Hebrews 1 .9, the father speaks to the son and says,

He and speaks truth in his heart and does not slander with his tongue. Jesus always spoke truth in his heart.

He never slandered with his tongue. 1 Peter 2 .22 says that he committed no sin, nor was any deceit found in his mouth.

And does no evil to his neighbor, nor takes up reproach against his friend. Not only did Jesus do no evil, he lifted people up out of their reproach.

Right? He went to the blind, the lame, the demon possessed, and lifted them up out of that shame. And then, uh, in whose eyes a vile person is despised, but who honors those who fear the

Lord. You know, who did this better than Jesus? At a time when the Pharisees were held like this, you know,

Jesus saw them for who they were. He saw that they were washed on the outside, but dirty on the inside. And when those prostitutes and tax collectors would come to him and turn to him in faith, he saw that change of heart.

He saw them for who they are. He honored them, though to everyone else they seemed lowly. Who swears to his own hurt and does not change.

Jesus, Jesus always kept his word. And the example I think of is the, the, uh, the pact he made with his father to come and save this people.

He had many opportunities to defect and to take the easy road out. I mean, if you think when

Satan was tempting Jesus, and he said, uh, you know, if you are the Son of God, do this. If you are the

Son of God, do that. If you are the Son of God, throw yourself off this great height. Why would, why would that be tempting to throw oneself off this great height?

Well, when Satan is saying, if you are the Son of God, he's not challenging. He's not challenging Jesus saying, oh, you're not really the

Son of God. That's not what I believe. I believe he is saying that if you are the Son of God, then don't, you know, as Romans 1 -4 says, declare yourself to be the

Son of God by virtue of the cross and resurrection. Declare yourself to be the Son of God quickly like this.

Much easier than going the full path. Jesus went the full path. This was at the beginning of the ministry. He went through the next three years, which were,

I'm sure quite difficult for him, and went all the way to the cross, which we know is insanely difficult.

Who does not put out his money at interest and does not take a bribe against the innocent. That's verse five.

We don't have any record of how Jesus spent his money, but we do have a lot of his teachings on money. In Luke 6, he says, and if you give to those from whom you expect to receive, what credit is that to you?

Even sinners give to sinners expecting to get back the same amount. But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return.

And your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, for he's kind to the ungrateful and the evil.

Jesus was free with his possessions, and he taught others to be as well. And Jesus is the same yesterday, and today, and forever.

And so by this, this last verse, this last statement, this summary is fulfilled.

He who does these things shall never be moved. Jesus sits right now at the right hand of the Father. He does dwell in the presence of God.

He does dwell in God's city. However, though we've shown Jesus, though we see how

Jesus can dwell with God, that doesn't, that doesn't really explain how we could dwell with God.

So what if Jesus can dwell with God? Where does that, where does that leave me? Well, let me tell you, let me tell you by asking a question.

I like to ask questions if you haven't noticed. What are the wages of sin? Most of you are probably thinking death, right?

Because that's the memory verse. The wages of sin are death. There's another way to think about this. In the context of the psalm, you might be saying, the wages of God would be to not to get to dwell with him.

That's also a good answer, but not what I'm thinking of. There's another one. It has a

Latin term, lex talianus, an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth. Psalm 716 says, speaking of the sinner, his mischief descends upon his own head, and on his own skull, his violence descends.

Okay, so there's this idea in the Old Testament that your sin comes back upon your own head.

Jesus did not just fulfill these things. He also sat on the other side of the one who does not fulfill these things, taking that violence from them onto his own head.

I would like to walk through this again and show you how he did that. He didn't just fulfill these things. He accepted the pain of those who did not fulfill these things.

It's verse 2. So, he who walks blamelessly and does what is right, and speaks truth in his heart, who does not slander with his tongue, who was slandered more than Jesus, he came eating and drinking, and therefore he was called a drunkard and a glutton, and does no evil to his neighbor, nor takes up reproach against his friend.

You know, for many days, for many months, the Pharisees were plotting on how they could capture him and set up this reproach against him.

Let's shame him before the eyes of everyone. Verse 4.

And people honor Barabbas, the one who should be despised, and they despise

Jesus, the one who should be honored, who swears to his own hurt and does not change.

Jesus had a good friend, Peter, swore he would be with him to the end. Next day, second things go, inconvenient, he's gone.

He's out of there. Who does not put out his money at interest, does not take a bribe against the innocent.

Jesus had another friend, Judas, took a bribe so that those Pharisees would know where Jesus would be when the crowd wasn't there to protect him.

And so it is by Jesus taking on the penalty for our sins, bearing what we deserve, sitting on the other side of us, that we are able to dwell with God.

Because he is able to dwell with God by fulfilling these things, and then we are able to dwell with God by him paying the penalty for us not meeting this description.

And we are, and then we become his plus one. We are accepted.

You know, he said he went, in that passage we read earlier in John, he goes to the Father to prepare a place. You know, we are accepted as his bride, as the scriptures describe.

And it's not as though we are accepted just as we are, filthy, not meeting this description.

Through the cross he also procured of his Holy Spirit so that we might begin to fulfill this description, to fulfill the law of God, and begin matching these things.

And how does that happen? Jesus said, if you love me, you will keep my commandments.

And how do we love him? The scriptures say we love him because he first loved us and died for us.

So it is by contemplating what he has done and sitting on the other side of our violence, taking that upon his own head, that we then begin to love him, and we then begin to obey him, and then we then begin to meet this description, meet these conditions that David is giving for the one who can dwell with God.

And so as you go throughout your week, you know, when you think on this psalm, and you think about how your life measures up, then think about how his life measures up, and then think about what he did so that your life might begin to look like his.

It might begin to appear like that. And uh, you know this last verse, he who does these things shall never be moved.

I think of the first psalm that says, of the one who loves the law of God, he who loves the law of God is like the tree planted by the water, shall not be moved.

If this psalm is not about us, if it's, if this is about Jesus, then he is the tree planted by the water who cannot be moved.

And if we want to not be moved, we must be the branches. We must abide in him. And so returning to our original question, you know, who is the imposter?

Who, what is that bar to decide who belongs here, who doesn't, among this fellowship, who really fits in here, will get to remain, will not be found out?

Well, if you have not Jesus Christ, you don't meet this description. You will be found out.

You may be safe here for now, but not for long. Uh, I've never tried this, but I imagine if I were to go into somebody else's house and, and pretend

I was part of their family, they would figure it out pretty quickly. You will be, you will be kicked out of this house if you have not

Jesus Christ. But if you do, if you do have Jesus Christ, then you belong by virtue of the fact that he fulfilled this for you, and he paid your way.

And you belong, and no one can tell you otherwise. Amen. Let's pray.

Dear Heavenly Father, uh, thank you for sending us your Son. Thank you for the one who can sojourn in your tent, and the one who can dwell in your holy hill.

Thank you for Jesus Christ. I pray that we would ponder these things, that we would, uh, that we would sing this psalm in our hearts, uh, loving him all the more, and being transformed, uh, by your word, and being transformed by your love.