Dwelling with Him Forever

Introduction

The twenty-third psalm is a psalm that we all go to when our hearts are hurting. And, I want you to go to that psalm with me tonight. Most of you know it by heart, but I’m going to share it with you again. And then, I want to talk about one verse—the last verse in that psalm.

David, that sweet singer of Israel, said, “The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want”—now, he doesn’t say, “The Lord is a shepherd,” or even “a good shepherd.” He is both of those, but he says, “The Lord is my shepherd,” and it’s that personal pronoun that makes the difference. You cannot say, “I shall not want” until you can say it and mean it: “The Lord is my shepherd.” The rest of the psalm is a list of the things we will not want for if and when we say, “The Lord is my shepherd.” Say it and mean it: “I am His and He is mine forever and forever”—“He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters. He”—the Lord—“restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me”—notice he’s been talking about Him, and now he’s talking to Him in the valley—“thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me. Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over”—and then, here’s the verse that I want us to dwell on tonight—“Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and”—in addition—“I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever.” (Psalms 23:1–6)

Now, I want to talk to you tonight on this subject: “The Best is Yet to Be”—“The Best is Yet to Be.” Learn this principle: Satan always gives the best first, the worst last. Jesus always saves the best for the last. Have you ever noticed that? For example, in Proverbs chapter 20 and verse 17, the Bible says, “[The] bread of deceit is sweet … but [afterward a man’s] mouth shall be filled with gravel.” (Proverbs 20:17) Sweet at first—a mouthful of dirt at the end. That’s the way Satan does.

The whole advertising principle is built upon that. Have you ever seen that old Milwaukee ad with those guys in the bass boat? They just caught a big bass, and now they’re sitting around the campfire. And, one of them holds up part of a six-pack of embalming fluid, and he says, “Boy, it just doesn’t get any better than this.” And, he’s right—it doesn’t get any better. It goes downhill from there. I mean, it gets worse. They don’t show the drunk in the gutter. They don’t show the broken homes. They don’t show the ruined lives. They don’t show the bloody carnage on the highway. Satan always paints a pretty picture. “[The] bread of deceit”—that’s what that is. That’s the bread of deceit—“is sweet.” (Proverbs 20:17)

But, Satan has no happy old people. He’s got a lot of happy young people. I used to say, “You can’t have any fun in sin.” I stopped saying that ’cause it’s a lie. A lot of young people are having a rip-roaring time. They are having fun. And, the Bible speaks of “the pleasures of sin,” (Hebrews 11:25) so why shouldn’t I be honest and speak of the pleasures of sin? Sometimes we mistakenly, trying to reach young people, say, “You can’t have any fun doing that. There’s more fun serving God than there is serving the devil.” And, they look at some of us who don’t look like we’re having much fun, and they’re having a blast; and they just don’t believe us. And, we shouldn’t say that there’s no pleasure in sin when the Bible says there’s pleasure in sin. (Hebrews 11:25) But, the Bible says that “the pleasures of sin [are] for a season.” (Hebrews 11:25) And, mark it down: while the devil has a lot of fun-loving young people who are kicking up their heels, he doesn’t have any happy old people.

You see, when a person gets older, the pleasures of the flesh become erstwhile, and they may cling to a few, like overeating or a few things like that, you know. Maybe he’s an old duffer who plays golf. But, by and large, what most old people are looking forward to is rheumatism, and headaches, and pain, and arthritis, and doctor bills, and weakening strength, and sloughing shoulders, and dimming eyesight, and winding on down to the grave. I mean, we say, “Hey …” One by one their friends begin to die, and they say, “You know, that’s coming for me after a while.” And, if they don’t know the Lord, they get cynical, they get bitter, because what you are now is what you will be in intensification later on. It all settles in the bottom of the cup. And, I tell you, there’s nothing meaner than a mean old person. I mean, don’t get romanticized ideas about old people—that they’re all sweet. Some of them are mean as a snake. I mean, … that bitterness that settles in the bottom of the cup. But, I’m going to tell you something else: the sugar also settles in the bottom of the cup. The sweetest, most wonderful and most beautiful people are older people who walk with the Lord. There is a beauty and a radiance about people who … as you see their lives culminate, because with Jesus it gets better and better and better. With Satan it does not get better and better.

When I was a boy, I heard them singing a song. The title of that song was “Every Day with Jesus is Sweeter Than the Day Before.” And, I was a youngster, but I was a philosopher. And, I said to myself, “That is not true. There’s a limit to everything.” So, if you’ve lived with Jesus for a while, it may get sweeter and sweeter and sweeter ’til it reaches the saturation point. Then it can’t get any sweeter. And, I just thought, “Nothing gets better all the time. Everything has a limit,” ’til I got saved and I found out that song is true—that song is true. Jesus is sweeter to me today than He was yesterday. I really believe that. And, every day with Jesus is sweeter than the day before.

There is more—so much more—than that first sweet day;

More, so much more with each passing day.

And, the life I now live—Christ is living in me

In each word, in each deed, in each day.

—Bob Oldenburg

Now, when I say that it gets better, it doesn’t mean that it is not good now. That’s what the psalmist is saying. I want you to listen to what he says: he’s saying, “Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life.” (Psalms 23:6) Now, that’s good—that’s good. But then, notice the plus on the end: “Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and”—in addition to this—“I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever.” (Psalms 23:6) I’ve often said I’d be a Christian if there were no heaven just to know Jesus Christ, if all I had in this life was goodness and mercy—goodness for my needs and mercy for my faults. Isn’t that we need—goodness for our needs and mercy for our faults? Those follow us all the days of our life. But, it is all of this and heaven, too.

Now, but notice what it says: “Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me”—what?—“all the days of my life.” (Psalms 23:6) You know what the psalmist had enough sense to know? That his life was made of days, that his life was not made of infinity—not on this green planet. There’s the days of my life. That’s the reason the psalmist said in Psalms 90 and verse 12: “[Lord,] teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom.” (Psalms 90:12) It’s the days of our life. We do not live here forever. And, when we do, we know the Lord. We can say, “Goodness and mercy [will] follow me.” (Psalms 23:6) But, when we die, we can say with the Apostle Paul, “For to me to live is Christ, and to die is”—what?—“gain” (Philippians 1:21)—not loss. We talk about the loss of life. It is not the loss of life when a person dies—not if they know the Lord. It is gain.

Now, there are three things I want you to learn about this gain, this life, this house of the Lord, this best which is yet to be, where my daddy is right now tonight. And, things that I’m telling you I’m just telling me—I just want to reinforce tonight. And, you just give me an opportunity to talk to me a little bit tonight, and you can just eavesdrop if you want. But, there are three things that the psalmist said in this verse.

C. H. Spurgeon used to call "goodness and mercy" God’s footmen. In his day, when a wealthy man traveled, two footmen took their place behind him on his coach. Their task was to smooth the way for him. Where he went, they went, always there. When his coach stopped they jumped down to open the door for him. They would hurry into the inn to make sure his room was ready and his supper served. God’s two footmen are goodness and mercy and they follow us just like those footmen to smooth our journey home. Then we have a glimpse of the King’s home: "And I shall dwell in the house of the Lord for ever." There it is!—a happy eternity!

“Goodness”

1. This can be defined in many ways

A. It is seen in His provision – protection – in His restoration in bringing us back

Psalm 31:19 KJV 1900

Oh how great is thy goodness, which thou hast laid up for them that fear thee; Which thou hast wrought for them that trust in thee Before the sons of men!

1). Those who follow Him – His sheep – they will experience His goodness in their life

2). And Not only will they see it but others too – Why?

a). God wants to use your life to display how good He is

b). That’s what He wanted to do with Israel So bless them that others would see how good it is be governed by Him

B. This is not speaking primarily of materialistic things – possessions – bank accounts

1). This goodness is more about those things that really matter – that give richness to life

a). His Joy, His peace, His presence – walking with His touch upon your life

b). Resting in His provision – I will always have what I need!

Psalm 37:23–25 KJV 1900

The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord: And he delighteth in his way. Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down: For the Lord upholdeth him with his hand. I have been young, and now am old; Yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, Nor his seed begging bread.

2). Others see His goodness in your life – see how good it is to walk with Him

Question: Did you know that God wants to use your life as a billboard – to advertise His greatness

What this passage is all about:

Philippians 2:14–16 KJV 1900

Do all things without murmurings and disputings: That ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world; Holding forth the word of life; that I may rejoice in the day of Christ, that I have not run in vain, neither laboured in vain.

A. A life of complaining is a lousy advertisement for God Shows you don’t trust God – you don’t think He really is in control of all things

1). It testifies that you don’t believe God is being good to you – that you can’t trust Him

Thought: We can be like the Children of Israel in the wilderness

A. They complained constantly to Moses about their circumstances – God got mad

“They are not complaining about you Moses they are murmuring against me”

1). Why? He’s sovereign – He had arranged those circumstances

2). Why? For their good – It was all out of love

B. But to listen to them – you’d never get that impression God was good

“Did He bring us out here just so we would die! How we long for those old ways of Egypt!”

C. But when we live a life of thanksgiving – because we trust God does know what He’s doing

1). We shine in the midst of the darkness of a murmuring society

2). Then when we hold out the Word of life they will listen

a). They see what God has done in our life – it validates our words

1 Peter 2:12 KJV 1900

Having your conversation honest among the Gentiles: that, whereas they speak against you as evildoers, they may by your good works, which they shall behold, glorify God in the day of visitation.

Question: What kind of billboard am I?

God’s Goodness Seen in His Presence

1. Where do I get that from? Remember Moses in Ex. 33

A. Moses had seen so much of God’s glory – 10 plagues in Egypt. Red Sea. Manna.

1). Ex. 33 – God has threatened not to go with the people of Israel after sin of Golden calf Moses says “If you don’t go with us. I don’t want to move from this place”

Exodus 33:17 KJV 1900

And the Lord said unto Moses, I will do this thing also that thou hast spoken: for thou hast found grace in my sight, and I know thee by name.

I love this:

Exodus 33:18 KJV 1900

And he said, I beseech thee, shew me thy glory.

a). He’d seen so much of God’s glory – known His presence

Now says - Show me more! What I’ve experienced just makes me hungry for more of you

2). Now listen to the Lord’s answer

Exodus 33:19 KJV 1900

And he said, I will make all my goodness pass before thee, and I will proclaim the name of the Lord before thee; and will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will shew mercy on whom I will shew mercy.

a). I will show you my glorious presence by making all my goodness pass before you I will open your eyes to who I am – my majesty! My beauty I’m going to thrill you with me!

Thought: Doesn’t your heart just cry out – “Yes Lord” – that’s what I want

A. I need your touch upon my life – I don’t just want to be religious – I want to really experience you

B. I think this is one of the things that concerns me about much of the church today

1). The church is addicted to entertainment – whipping people up emotionally

a). But so many times there is so little God in it

b). Just a shallow adrenaline rush that is already dissipating by the time you reach your car

C. We need more than that! More than an emotional rush – especially now – days of great deception

1). We need a grand vision of God – we need to be thrilled by Him We need truth about God that brings stability into a world that is rocking and reeling

a). Into a church that is rocking and reeling because the Bible is no longer the authority

D. I think this is one of the reasons so many kids fall away when they go to college

1). They were going to a church they were excited about and loved – that’s great

a). They had their friends – they loved the music – like a weekly rock concert

2). But they never really fell in love with Jesus – never got excited about Him

a). When you hear them talk – it’s all about how much they love the church or the pastor

1a). But they never speak of how much they love Jesus! That’s a problem

b). So when they get away from that church they have nothing to hold them

Point:The greatest good that God can do is what He did with Moses – Show us Him!

A. So that we get excited about who He is!

1). An excitement that goes with us into our day – into all of our circumstances

B. The church that is excited about Him will have something valuable to offer Something to give to people that will sustain them through the difficulties of life

1). Why I always pray for this church – reduce us down to you Jesus

a). Give us a vision of you! That is what we need today!

b). Have your goodness pass before us

C. Make us people like Moses who said “I want to see more of you”

People like David in Ps 41 “Like a deer pants after streams of water so my heart pants after you”

1). Show us your glory more and more until we are awestruck by you!

Until you blaze so brightly – so gloriously here that we lose our appetite for the world

a). So that when the world looks in they don’t see mere religion

They see your glory blazing forth

Question: Does the Lord want to do this? Want to manifest Himself to us? Thrill us with Him

A. Of course! He’s designed the whole universe to proclaim His glory

Psalm 19:1 KJV 1900

The heavens declare the glory of God; And the firmament sheweth his handywork.

1). He wants to show Himself to us

Question: Then why don’t I experience this? Why don’t I ever sense the touch of God

A. There are conditions

1). These blessings are for sheep who follow their shepherd Remember first study – those who can say the LORD is my Shepherd

2). Jesus in John’s Gospel define who His sheep are – who those under His care look like

1). This is in a sense what He said to Moses

Exodus 33:17–19 KJV 1900

And the Lord said unto Moses, I will do this thing also that thou hast spoken: for thou hast found grace in my sight, and I know thee by name. And he said, I beseech thee, shew me thy glory. And he said, I will make all my goodness pass before thee, and I will proclaim the name of the Lord before thee; and will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will shew mercy on whom I will shew mercy.

a). Moses because you live for me I will show you who I am. I will thrill you with me.

1a). The disobedient don’t enjoy this blessing do they?

Sin always breaks fellowship with God

b). This blessing is only for those who follow

2). I can’t think of a greater motivation for obeying than this – I will see my God!

a). He will come to me and show Himself to me – that is the promise!

b). That is my greatest desire – but it will take obedience to get there!

c). I like what one Pastor said

“Obedience gets you under the spout where the glory comes out”

1a). Disobedience turns the flow off

THE MERCY OF GOD

Psalm 23:6 KJV 1900

Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: And I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.

1. Mercy is not getting what you deserve

A. Grace is getting what you don’t deserve. Mercy not getting what you do

2. How necessary this is when we think about blessing in our life

A. If I got what I deserved I’d get nothing but wrath – that’s all I deserve

B. I get (Now listen. Here comes the Gospel) I get what Jesus deserves

1). Jesus went to the cross and was shown no mercy – so I could be shown mercy

2). Now God looks at me through the performance of Christ = His righteousness

C. He got what I deserved at the cross – my sins poured out on Him = Wrath

I get what He deserves in my life – the blessings, acceptance His obedience earned

Point:Every day my life experiences His mercy – I don’t deserve goodness but I get it

A. I don’t deserve being able to call Him Father but I do

B. I don’t deserve to be able to look past the grave into a certain future – knowing I’ll be with Him

1). But the grave no longer holds a threat to me – why?

a). His mercy in not giving me what I deserve = hell

b). His goodness in dying for me so I could be with Him in heaven instead

I. The Certainty of the Best That Is Yet to Be

And, first of all, as we think about the best that is yet to be, I want you to think of the certainty of it. Notice what he says. He says, “Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life”—and the surely is still applying—“and I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever.” (Psalms 23:6) And, what he’s saying is, folks, that’s sure—that is certain. You don’t have to—you don’t have to—guess about that.

“Well,” you say, “That was David. He was an Old Testament prophet. Do we have anything better than that?” Well, let’s try Jesus. Jesus said the same thing in John 14, verses 1–3, where He says, “Let not your heart be troubled: [you] believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many mansions”—it’s the house of the Lord that David was talking about—“In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you”—Jesus Christ, who was truth incarnate, would never have left the hope of heaven beating in the human breast had it been mere sentimentality or mere delusion. He said—“If it were not so, I would have told you. I go [and] prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.” (John 14:1–3) A place—where? There. Heaven is not a state of mind. Heaven is a place. Heaven is not a condition. Heaven is a place.

Jesus said, “I go to prepare a place for you.” (John 14:2) Now, you say, “But, I think it’s a spiritual place.” Jesus is there in a resurrected body. Enoch is there in a body. He walked with God, and God took him. Elijah went to heaven in a body, in a whirlwind, in a chariot of fire. Heaven is a real place. I believe in a solid heaven. The Bible says Abraham dwelt in cities and tents, but “he looked for a city [that had] foundations, whose builder and maker is God.” (Hebrews 11:10) You say, “Well, that’s too physical for me.” What do you have against something physical? God made this universe. Do you think He—do you think He—did something wrong when He made it? Was God sinning when He made it? No, God made this universe, and God stepped back and God said, “It is good.” (Genesis 1:31)

Now, you can go to heaven—however, a real place in a spiritual form. “God is a Spirit,” (John 4:24) and He’s here—real—tonight in this place. And, you can go to heaven in a spirit form.Listen to this scripture—2 Corinthians chapter 5, verses 5 through 8: “[Wherefore] we are always confident, knowing that, [while] we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord: (For we walk by faith, [and] not by sight:)”—nobody here has seen Jesus by sight, yet we walk by faith. But now, listen—“We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord.” (2 Corinthians 5:6–8)

I remember reading down Acts chapter 7 about Stephen, who was stoned—that first Christian martyr. And, Stephen said, “Behold, I see [heaven opening]”—he saw heaven open—“and the Son of man standing on the right hand of God.” (Acts 7:56) His body was going down into the earth, but his spirit was going up to meet the Lord in heaven. Many of saints have had a vision of heaven before they went. The former pastor of this church—one of them—Dr. R. G. Lee, had a wonderful vision of heaven before he went there. And, this is a place. It … “Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the LORD.” (Psalms 23:6) Jesus said, “In my Father’s house are many mansions.” (John 14:2)

“Well, what is heaven like?” I don’t know. You don’t know. None of us know. “It doth not yet appear,” (1 John 3:2) the Bible says clearly. We have some ideas; we have some illustrations. But, it is the presence of all that is good; it is the absence of all that is evil. It is all that the loving heart of God, the omnipotent hand of God, and the omniscient mind of God can conceive. Put that together, and that is heaven. It’s … Heaven is the place created for those for whom Jesus … those that Jesus loved enough to die for them. Now, that’s the certainty of it.

II. The Company of the Best That Is Yet to Be

Now, here’s something else I want you to think about: not only the certainty of it, but I want you to think of the company of it. “I will dwell in the house of the LORD.” (Psalms 23:6) That is, God has a big house—many mansions. (John 14:2) And, in the Bible, when the Bible would speak of the house, it doesn’t mean the building alone; it means the people. The Bible speaks of the house, or “the household of faith.” (Galatians 6:10) Think of those who are going to be there in heaven.

You know, when you get older, the more of your friends step over on the other side, after a while, you get more over there than you’ve got over here. And, you just … you’re looking forward to heaven. And, there’s going to be a wonderful company in heaven. Don’t get the idea that we won’t know each other in heaven. Folks, we don’t know each other here. In heaven, we will know one another. We will know as we are known. We do not lose our identity in heaven. When Moses and Elijah came from heaven to appear with the Lord Jesus on the Mount of Transfiguration, Moses was Moses and Elijah was Elijah just like Jesus was Jesus. We don’t lose our identity.

And, the Bible teaches that up in heaven there’s just a shining cloud of witnesses, and all of the redeemed of all of the centuries are there; but they’re all singing the same song, praising the same Savior. And, very frankly, if it weren’t for work to do down here, I wouldn’t mind cutting out and going right now. I mean that with all my heart. I have no fear of death—absolutely none. And, I don’t look forward to dying. I have no fear of death. I mean, you know … But, you got to go through something to get to something. Everybody wants to go to heaven; nobody wants to die. But, I have no fear of death—none—because Jesus has taken the sting out of death, the pain out of parting, the gloom out of the grave. He’s given a hope that is steadfast and sure. And, think of the company that we’ll have. Moses will be there. David, who wrote this psalm, will be there. I’ll ask David to sing and play it for me and play it on a harp. And, John will be there. I’ll say, “John, would you finally explain the book of Revelation to me?” How will it be to have a Bible conference with Paul teaching the book of Romans? How would you like that? Simon Peter will be there, and he’ll tell us what it was like to walk on the water. And, our saints, our brothers, our sisters, our fathers, our mothers are going to be there. The Bible says that we’re to comfort one another with these thoughts. (1 Thessalonians 4:18)

III. The Constancy of the Best That Is Yet to Be

And, last thing I want to say, and I’m … Don’t want to go too long tonight. But, there is the certainty of it: “Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me.” (Psalms 23:6) There’s the company of it: “I will dwell in the house of the LORD.” (Psalms 23:6) And folks, there’s the constancy of it: “I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever”—“for ever” (Psalms 23:6)

You know, David was a shepherd and a nomad, and sheep were constantly moving. And, he thought of himself as a sheep, but he’s thinking, “One of these days, I’m going to settle down.” Hebrews 11, verse 8—listen to it: “By faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed; and he went out, not knowing whither he went. By faith he sojourned in the land of promise, as in a strange country, dwelling in tabernacles with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise: For he looked for a city which [had] foundations, whose builder and maker is God.” (Hebrews 11:8–10) No more moving, no more surprises—we’re going to heaven to live there forever.

Conclusion

Question: Are you going to heaven?

Now, I want to ask you a question: If playing shuffleboard tonight, or going home tonight, or whatever tonight you drop dead, do you know that you know—can you say it and mean it—“Surely goodness and mercy [have followed] me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever”? (Psalms 23:6)

Father, I pray that you would just seal the message to my heart and our hearts. And now, while heads are bowed and eyes are closed, if you’re not certain that you’re saved, would you—would you tonight, right now; let’s just get it settled—would you just forget what people think and quit making excuses, and would you just right now pray a prayer like this: “Lord, I’m the one who needs you tonight. I need that assurance. I need salvation. I want to be saved, O Lord Jesus. I trust you tonight, right now, like a little child, once and for all, now and forever, I trust you, Jesus. And, because I trust you, I’ll not be ashamed of you. Because I trust you, I will make it public. I will give you the glory. I will acknowledge you as my Lord and Savior”?