Go with me if you would back
to Psalm 100. I left our conference with a
thankful heart. That's how I left our conference.
A thankful heart and an encouraged heart. It was so wonderful seeing
our brethren. I enjoyed that, I can't tell
you how much I enjoyed seeing all of our brethren together
again. It had been a long time since
I had been with that many brethren. We fellowshiped around the word,
we fellowshiped around the preaching of the gospel, and I was just
thankful for it, very thankful. And because I had that mindset,
when I got to my study Monday to start looking for tonight's
message, I on purpose turned to Psalm 100. This hardly never
happens. Normally I will go somewhere
to start reading and start looking and you'll go somewhere else.
But I went to Psalm 100 because I had this This happiness in my heart, this
is what I was feeling in my heart. And I thought, let me start with
Psalm 100. And it says, make a joyful noise unto the Lord
all ye lands. Serve the Lord with gladness. Come before his presence with
singing. Joyful, gladness, singing. Know ye that the Lord, he is
God. It is he that hath made us and
not we ourselves. We are his people and the sheep
of his pasture. Enter into his gates with thanksgiving
and into his courts with praise. Be thankful unto him and bless
his name for the Lord is good. His mercy is everlasting. And
his truth endureth to all generations. Happy, happy, joyful, thankful. That's a good psalm to be in
if you feel that way. If you're ever feeling that way
and you want to read a psalm, go right there. But while I was looking at this
psalm, I believe the Lord zeroed me in on verse three. And I read
something that brought great comfort to me and truly made
me happy. If in the mindset of all of this
happiness and thankfulness and joy, and I believe that you're
about to enter in to what I'm gonna say. If in the midst of all of this
happiness and all of this thankfulness and all of this joy, If you still
find yourself in a place where you need some comfort and you
need some help for anything that may be going
on in life, you know, I feel like a conference. Don't get
me wrong. It's a lot of work. It is a lot of work. But I personally
feel like a conference is a break from the reality of life for
a minute. You know, you work, work, work,
work, work, and then Friday night gets here, and brethren start
coming in, and you're just so happy to see everybody, and you're
just hugging people, and just everything is just wonderful.
It's a break from the reality of life for just a minute. You
know, we did it Friday, let's come back tomorrow morning and
do it again. We're gonna come back and do
it again. You just get this break, all
right? But if, when the conference is over, and I've titled this
message, When the Conference is Over, and we can use our conference,
but it doesn't matter what it is, it has you just up. Sometimes
you're just up, you're just high on life, everything's great,
and then all of a sudden, it's over. If, when the conference is over,
Reality sets back in, and you find yourself in a place where
you need some comfort. You know what I'm talking about.
You just sky high, and then all of a sudden, I need some comfort. And I need some help, and I need
some encouragement. If you find yourself in that
place, I believe the Lord has provided some of that for us
right here in this verse. If the Lord will let us enter
into this, we'll make a joyful noise to Him. If you need any
help from the Lord for any reason, then look at this right here.
Psalm 100 verse 3, it says, know ye that the Lord, He is
God. Know ye. Know ye. I want to know this and I want
you to know this. I want us to know this. Ask the
Lord to reveal this to us and teach this to us. Know ye. Know ye. As though that's saying
see law. Just pause right there for a
minute. Ponder this. Let this settle in. Be convinced
of this. Be convinced of this. I'm talking
to myself because I am, but I'm not. I believe, Lord help my
unbelief. Be assured of this. Know the
certainty of this. Others may not know this, but
know ye. You know this, may God truly
teach all of us this. Verse three says, know ye that
the Lord, he is God. Hold your place and turn over
to Psalm 46. Psalm 46, verse 10. It says, be still and know that
I am God. I will be exalted among the heathen. I will be exalted in the earth. The Lord of hosts is with us.
The God of Jacob is our refuge. Know that. Know that. Be still and know that. Can we enter into that, really?
Can we be still and enter into that? Whatever is troubling us,
and some of you may not be troubled, some of you may be. But if we're not troubled, we're
about to be. That's just the way it is. We
either were troubled, are troubled, or we're about to be troubled.
And whatever is troubling us, whatever's making us anxious,
whatever's making us worried, this is what he says, be still
and know that I am God. And back in our text in Psalm
100, David said in verse three, know ye that the Lord, he is
God. The Lord said, I am, David said,
he is. And we say that too, don't we?
He is, he is. We say that, may we believe it,
may we trust it. Verse three says, know ye That
the Lord, He is God. Who is God? He is God. A person is God. A person is
God. A person. One of these days, we're gonna
enter into this person, really. One of these days, we're gonna
see this person. A person is God. A person. Who is this person? This person is a man. He is God. Come see a man. Behold the man. The Lord is a man. Jesus Christ
is His name. In the beginning was the Word,
the Word was with God, the Word was God, and the Word was made
flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory. Without controversy, great is
the mystery of godliness. God was man-infested in the flesh. Now unto the King eternal, immortal,
invisible, the only wise God, be honor and glory forever and
ever. Amen. The King, the King, the
only wise God, the King. I've told you before about that
false preacher who I heard pray and, uh, oh man. But he closed his prayer to God.
He was praying to God and he closed his prayer by saying,
whoever he or she may be. Well, we know who God is by his
grace. We know who God is. God is a
person and his name is Jesus Christ. Verse three says, know ye that
the Lord, he is God. God, the sovereign God. Is anything troubling you? Really? Really? You don't have to say
it out loud. You don't have to raise your hand. But is anything
troubling you? Is anything worrying you? For
your comfort? For your help? For my help? Let's know that the Lord He is
God. He is God. The Sovereign God. The All-Controlling God. The Almighty God. Is anything
too hard for the Lord? Anything. He is the All-Knowing
God. He already knows. Is anything
troubling you? He already knows. He already knows. He's the God
who only does right. Know this. Rest in it. I'm worried about this. I'm just
worried about this. Well, he is God, the sovereign
God, the all-knowing God who only does right. Rest in it. Know this, rest in it. Romans
8, 28 is just as true today as it was the day that the Spirit
of God inspired Paul to write it. We know, know this, and we
know that all things work together for good. To them that love God, I mean God, God Almighty, to
them who are the called according to his purpose. It is all on
purpose. There has never been anything
that has happened that is not on purpose. I texted, I told
you I texted Brother Greg yesterday. I wanted to encourage him, tell
him we're praying for you and the brethren and his response
to me was an encouragement to me. He was the one who responded,
God is sovereign in these things. Our God is the ruler of these
things. It's all on purpose. It's all
on purpose. This is all on purpose. Everything
that happens is on purpose. Everything that happens. Know that. I'm talking to myself. Know that. Rest in it. Just rest
in it. Verse three says, know ye that
the Lord, he is God, It is he that hath made us. He made us. He made us. Of his own will begat
he us. That's what James 1.18 says.
Of his own will begat he us. With the word of truth that we
should be a kind of first fruits of his creatures. He made us
of his own will. Therefore, we bow to his will.
We bow to his will. He made us. He made us. We bow to his will. Whatever
providence he brings our way, whatever providence he brings
our way, sovereignly, all knowingly, rightfully, purposefully, wisely, we bow to it. He made us. It's not unto us. It's unto Him. It's not our will, it's His be
done. We are not our own, we're bought
with a price. He made us and He bought us. Like that story of that little
boy in Mexico who lost his kite. I love that story. He lost his
kite and the store owner found it and put it on his shelf for
sale. And if the little boy was going to get the kite back, he
had to buy it for two pesos. So we did. And as he was walking
out, he was hugging that kite saying, you're mine. You're twice
mine. I made you and I bought you. That's good news. We're not our
own. Verse three says, know ye that
the Lord, he is God. It is he that hath made us and
not we ourselves. We are not our own. We didn't
create ourselves. We didn't get ourselves to the
place where we are today. We did not create ourselves. And we did not get us to the
place where we are today. You know, you attain some things
and you start out in life trying to get stuff. And then you finally
get some stuff and you end your life trying to not lose all your
stuff. We didn't get us where we are
today. We're not the ones who will keep us where we are today.
We can't protect ourselves. We can't protect the place that
we're in. We're completely at His mercy. we're completely at his mercy.
Turn with me over to Matthew chapter six. Matthew chapter six verse 27
it says, Which of you, by taking thought,
can add one cubit unto his stature? And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field,
how they grow. They toil not, neither do they
spin. And yet I say unto you, that
even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.
Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which today
is, and tomorrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more
clothe you? Oh, ye of little faith. Therefore,
take no thought, saying, what shall we eat, or what shall we
drink, or wherewithal shall we be clothed? That's us worrying. That's us being anxious and being
troubled. What are we gonna eat? What are
we gonna drink? What are we gonna be clothed
with? Verse 32 says, after all these things to the Gentiles
seek. Your heavenly father knows that you have need of all these
things. But seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness
and all these things shall be added unto you. Take therefore
no thought for the morrow. I'm worried about tomorrow. Usually
we are worried about tomorrow. Take no thought for tomorrow,
for the moral shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient
unto the day is the evil thereof. What that saying is, our Lord
is in control and we're not. He's in control of all things
and we're not. We can't do anything about anything. It's not in our hands to do anything
about anything. But for our comfort, let's know
this. We don't need to do anything about anything. We don't even
need to worry about anything. We can take no thought over it. Wouldn't you love to do that?
Wouldn't you love to have the faith that just took no thought
over it? It's the Lord. It's according
to His will. It's according to His sovereign
purpose. Take no thought over it. We can
take no thought over the things that concern us. No thought. Here's the reason
why. Here's the reason why we can and we should and we can
take comfort in doing so. It's because we have a Heavenly
Father who we belong to. You parents don't have the ability
to do what you hope to do for your children, but if you did,
you could tell them, don't worry about it. You're gonna be provided
for. You're gonna be safe. You leave
it up to me. Well, we have a heavenly father
who can do everything about it. We belong to him, and he knows. He knows us. He knows what things
we have need of. For our comfort, we need to know
this. That means we need to believe
this truly. He knows everything we have need
of. He has promised to supply it
to us, everything we have need of. All we need to do is look to
Him. Seek Him, seek His righteousness first, everything will be taken
care of. Go with me back to Psalm 100. Verse 3 says, know ye that the
Lord, He is God. It is He that hath made us and
not we ourselves. We are His people. That's good news. If we need
some comfort, then listen to this right here. We are His people. We are His people, chosen in
Christ, delivered by Christ, called to Christ. We are His
people. We're His people, covered under
His blood, clothed in His righteousness, protected in His arm. We are
His people. We're His people. Verse three
says, we are his people and the sheep of his pasture. He said,
I lay down my life for the sheep. He said, my sheep hear my voice.
They know me. I give them eternal life. They'll never perish. Troubles
will only be for a little while. They'll only be for a little
while. Sorrow will only endure for the night. Our, our time
on this earth. Joy is coming in the morning.
This place right here is not our continuing city. This earth,
this world, we're headed to green pastures of his rest. It is right
around the corner. Know that. You get to that place
where you say with David, I think I'm about to faint. I don't think
I can make it. Know that. Green pastures of
his rests are right around the corner. Just be still and know
that. Let's all be still. Be still
my soul and know that. If God will cause us to truly
know. that everything that he has ordered
for us, everything concerning us in this life, all of it is
right, all of it is settled, and all of it is perfect, if
he will cause us to know that. Everything concerning us is right,
settled, and perfect. All of it works together for
good to them that love God, to them who are the called according
to his purpose. If we can truly know that, then we will. And this is so. If we can truly
know that, then we will make a joyful noise unto the Lord. No matter how difficult a trial
may be, no matter how sorrowful something may be, we will make
a joyful noise unto the Lord, as verse one says. If we can
know these things concerning our God, then we will serve the
Lord with gladness, as verse two says. We will. No matter
what our providence is, we'll be glad in it. No matter what
our providence is, we'll be glad in it. If we truly know this
about our God, we'll be glad in it. And we will come before
his presence with singing, as verse two says, no matter what
it is. We will come in here together before His presence with singing. We will, as verse 4 says, enter
into His gates with thanksgiving. We'll give thanks if the Lord will cause us to
know this about Him. We will enter into His gates
with thanksgiving and we will enter into His courts with praise. We will praise Him. for everything
he's done. We will cry, and we'll mean it,
the judge of the earth has done right, in all things he's done
right. And we will, as verse four says, be thankful unto him
and bless his name. No matter what the providence
is, that means no matter what he sends our way. When we say
no matter what the providence is, that means no matter what
he sends our way. We'll thank him for it. We'll
bless his name for it. And it's because we will know,
we will know this. Verse five says, the Lord is
good. We'll know that. Everything he does concerning
us is good. Everything he does concerning
us is good. Everything he does concerning
his people is good. Somebody says, why? Would something
happen this way? Why would things go, you know,
the way that they would go? If I'm sick, why would he not
heal me or why? It's because that way, the way
of my thinking was not perfect. It was not the best way. It was
not the good way. He only does what is good concerning
his people. Verse five says, the Lord is
good. and His mercy is everlasting. His mercy is everlasting. You
want something to be joyful over and be thankful for and praise
His name and bless His name for? It's in the fact that His mercy
is everlasting, brand new every morning. You ever wake up in
the morning Begging God for mercy one more time. Could you please
cover my sin in your mercy? One more time, even though you
covered it on the cross, you covered it eternally and it's
finished. In my heart and in my mind, I'm still sinning against
you and I need mercy. It's brand new every morning.
He has infinitely more mercy for us than we have sinned against
him. We'll say that one more time.
He has infinitely more mercy for us than we have sinned against
Him. The Lord is good, His mercy is
everlasting, and His truth endureth to all generations. His truth
will endure to all generations. Us, our children, our children's
children, He said, know this. Know this for comfort, for help,
for encouragement. Know this. Let's all know this.
May the Lord teach us this right here. Verse three. Know ye that
the Lord, he is God. It is he that hath made us and
not we ourselves. We are his people and the sheep
of his pasture. Thank God. May that pick us back
up every time we find ourselves in a place when the conference
is over. Every time, and that's a daily
experience, every day the conference is over. Every time, may the
Lord pick us back up through knowing that he's our God, the sovereign
God. We're his people and the sheep of his pasture. He's good
to us, he loves us. we can make a joyful noise to
him. I pray the Lord might create a conference in our hearts through
his word and his spirit. Every time we need him by his
word and his spirit, Lord, create that joy in us. Let's all stand
together. Turn with me to 355.