The Earth Is the Lord's and the Fullness Thereof

Summary of sermon by Erlo Stegen, 20 Jul 2014

Ps 24:1-6

1 A Psalm of David. The earth is Jehovah's, and the fulness thereof; The world, and they that dwell therein.

2 For he hath founded it upon the seas, And established it upon the floods.

3 Who shall ascend into the hill of Jehovah? And who shall stand in his holy place?

4 He that hath clean hands, and a pure heart; Who hath not lifted up his soul unto falsehood, And hath not sworn deceitfully.

5 He shall receive a blessing from Jehovah, And righteousness from the God of his salvation.

6 This is the generation of them that seek after him, That seek thy face, even Jacob. [[Selah

May the whole world understand this, that the earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof. Woe to us if we go around in this world without the blessing of the Lord.

The question is asked, "who will ascend the hill of the Lord and stand in His Holy place?"

The answer is then given in verse four, "He that hath clean hands, and a pure heart; Who hath not lifted up his soul unto falsehood, And hath not sworn deceitfully 5 He shall receive a blessing from Jehovah, And righteousness from the God of his salvation".

In 1Timothy 3:1-10 we read of the qualifications necessary for an overseer and deacon in the church, that they are to be above reproach. It is also written that men must lift up holy hands without anger (1Tim 2:8). Husbands must also live in wisdom with their wives (1Pet 3:7).

We should examine ourselves whether we live according to this standard, that we don't have anger in our lives.

In the Hebrides revival young men came together to pray for God to work. But for three months God did not work. Then a young man stood up and said, "men we can pray as long as we want but unless we're in line with God's word as found in Ps 24 God will not work".

We read in Matthew that that which comes out of a person is what defiles him, for out of the heart proceeds all evil things, 'blasphemy, pride, murder etc.' (Matthew 15:19).

Are your hands clean? Have you stolen from someone else?

There's a new drug, krokodil, that causes the body to rot while you're alive, it's like hell starting on earth already.

We must part from sin, even if we're tempted by satan. God's judgment comes upon those that rebel. God shows us that the whole world belongs to Him.

One finds children that are cheeky to their parents. Satan has taken hold of them while they are small.

The word of God says, keep the promises you've made (Deut 23:21-22).

Mandla Nkosi was a young man that told Rev Stegen that he would one day preach the Gospel together with him, once he had finished school. But his dad was a hard man that didn't want anything to do with the Gospel. He would beat his wife mercilessly. When Mandla had finished school, his dad wouldn't let him preach the Gospel but took him to Durban to work and earn money. Soon Mandla got involved with a gang and they went around robbing people. Once they used Mandla's knife and stabbed and robbed people, of whom two died. The gang was caught and sentenced to death by hanging. They were taken to jail in Pretoria. Mandla asked for Rev Stegen, and Rev Waldemar Engelbrecht went to visit him in prison. He repented thoroughly, so that even some of the others repented too. He also wrote a heart-rending letter to Rev Stegen, which included Deut 23:21-22, "When thou shalt vow a vow unto Jehovah thy God, thou shalt not be slack to pay it: for Jehovah thy God will surely require it of thee; and it would be sin in thee. 22 But if thou shalt forbear to vow, it shall be no sin in thee." He also asked that Rev Stegen would tell his story wherever he preached as a warning to others not make a promise to God and break it afterwards.

Have you made a promise to God that you haven't kept?

As you are seated here, can you ascend the hill of the Lord? Woe to you if you want to ascend the hill of the Lord, but your hands are not clean, your heart is not pure or you swear deceitfully.

May there not be one who despises the Word of the Lord.

Have your lips been speaking evil things or your heart thinking evil thoughts? Get right with God, otherwise your end will be terrible.

May it not be that one day Mandla Nkosi would testify against you because his life warned you but you still did not keep your promise.