Okay, this evening now let's try to set aside vain thoughts
and maybe for a few minutes we might be able to think upon the
Lord Jesus Christ and think about Him with some glorious thoughts. I want to, don't you? I desire
to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ, the gospel of God concerning
the Lord Jesus Christ. I desire to do that, but most
of all, most of all, to worship Him, to worship Him. That's what this is all about.
This is why we meet together Every time we meet together,
we meet together for one express purpose, don't we? Worship. Worship. Oh, come. Oh, come and
let us worship. See verse 6 of Psalm 95? And
that's the title of the message. Oh, come. Come. Let us worship. Let us worship. Let us bow down. Let us submit unto Him. And let us kneel before Him in
our heart. I mean prostrate in our heart.
Let us kneel, bow, submit. before the Lord who is our maker. Now this is the reason of our
meeting this evening. And every time we gather in the
name of our Lord Jesus Christ. He said we're two or three are
gathered together in my name. He said, I'm in the midst. The
reason of our meeting together is to preach the gospel of the
Lord Jesus, to teach his word. And when that is done, I'll tell
you what happens in the heart of the believer when Christ is
exalted in the message of the gospel, and when it is taught
from the Word of God and from the inspired record and testimony
of God, when that gospel is declared, I'll tell you what it does in
the heart of the believer. Just like it did with those two
men who walked on the road to Emmaus with the Lord, And when
he departed from them, after opening the scriptures unto them,
they said, didn't our heart burn within us when he opened the
word unto us? You see, when the gospel is preached,
when Christ is exalted in the preaching of the gospel, it incites
It inflames, it inspires, and it stirs our hearts to worship
the true and living God. We come with anticipation of
worshiping our God together, and we're instructed in the scripture
to forsake not the assembly of ourselves together, as the manner
of some is, but to come together in the name of the Lord Jesus
Christ and worship the true and living God. Remember the record
in John chapter 4 where it says, the Father seeketh such to worship
him, the Father seeketh such to worship him in spirit and
in truth, in spirit and in truth. Now you may think me harsh, but
I would venture a guess, in most churches
this day being the day that it is, Mother's Day, I bet there
was a whole lot said about Mama and not a whole lot said about
any kind of truth. We didn't come here today, this
evening, to worship mother. I'm thankful the Lord has provided
mothers for children to be nurtured and instructed. And it's a high
responsibility for a mother to be a mother to a child that is
a gift of God. But my friend, I'm not harsh
in saying that we've not come here to worship mother. We've
come here to worship God. And there's a whole lot of difference.
We've come here in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ to worship
him in spirit and in truth. And where there's no gospel preached
and no gospel truth declared, now listen to me, where there's
no gospel truth declared, there's no worship. He seeketh such to
worship in spirit and what? Truth. Where the truth of the
gospel is denied, there is no spiritual worship. What's the
flip side of worship? What's the opposite of worship?
Idolatry. That's what's going on in most
religious circles And it's sad. It is a sad thing. We have made the creature the
center of worship rather than the creator. We've been sidetracked. We have been deceived. And I
say we in speaking of most what we call mainstream so-called
Christianity. having given that introduction
the importance of worship. The importance of worship, how
important is worship? Worship. Now look at verse one
and we'll study, try to study this Psalm 95 and try to learn
something about worship, true worship. Oh come, he says, oh
come let us worship. Oh come let us sing unto the
Lord. Let us make a joyful, joyful
noise, sound to the rock, the rock. the rock bed, the solid
foundation of our salvation. Oh, come let us sing. I love
to sing songs that are magnifying to the blessed Lord. Turn back
to Psalm 92. It mentions this singing unto
the Lord. Psalm 92, look at verse 1. It
is a good thing to give thanks unto the Lord and to sing praises,
to sing praises unto the name of the Most High, O Most High. He is the Most High God. Again, in Psalm 96, verse 1. Oh, singing to the Lord a new
song. Now, whenever you see that new
song, what do you immediately think of? We think of that new song that's
mentioned in Revelation 5, don't we? Worthy is the Lamb, the Lamb
that was slain. And we sing about the redeeming
blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. Again, over in Psalm 98, verse
1. Oh, singing to the Lord, a new
song. The song of redemption, to him
who loved us, washed us from our sin in his own blood, for
he had done, he had done, salvation is not D-O-N-E, or salvation
is not do, salvation is done, he had done marvelous things,
his right hand. and His holy arm have gotten
Him the victory. We are victors only in the blessed
Redeemer, the Lord Jesus Christ. Now look back to the text, Psalm
95 verse 1. Oh, come then, come, don't stay
away, come. Come and let us sing, come and
let us worship, come and make a joyful noise. Our worship should
be joyful worship. Rejoicing in the Lord always
and again, I say rejoice because he is now watch it We make we
sing and we worship and we come to the rock of our salvation
The rock this is not sand Which is sinking sand that this is
the rock bed that this is a solid rock the Lord Jesus Christ He
is the rock of our salvation Christ is the rock of our salvation. Turn back to Psalm 62. He's the
rock bed. He's the foundation. Solid foundation. The foundation that God has laid
for us in Christ Jesus. This is the only rock. You remember
Psalm 62? Turn to Psalm 62 first. He's
the only rock. You see that? Psalm 62, verse
two. He only is my rock. In my salvation,
He only. Verse 6, He only is my rock and
my salvation. He's my defense. I shall not
be moved. In God is my rock, my glory. The rock of my strength and my
refuge is in Him. Now, let's sing about that rock. Let's sing about that salvation
in Christ Jesus. Turn back one page, Psalm 61.
Psalm 61. Hear my cry, verse one, O God,
attend unto my prayer. From the end of the earth will
I cry unto thee. When my heart is overwhelmed,
lead me to the rock. This is the high rock. Lead me
to the rock, look what it says. that's higher than I. This is
the high rock that God has provided for us in Christ Jesus. The Lord Jesus Christ is the
rock of our salvation. The Lord Jesus Christ is the
glory of our salvation. Who gets all the glory? Not unto
us, O Lord, not unto us, but unto thy name. So all the honor
and the glory. God forbid we should glory save
in the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ. He's the rock of our
salvation. He's the glory of our salvation.
He is the very strength of our salvation, isn't he? He is a
shelter and refuge of our salvation. And we can certainly say this,
He is the victory of our salvation. The Apostle Paul, writing in
Romans 8, he said, nay, in all things, in all things, we are
more than conquerors through him that loved us. He always
causes us to triumph in Christ Jesus, always, always causes
us to triumph in Christ Jesus. Thanks be unto God who had given
us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Oh come, let us
worship. Let us declare unto all that
will hear about the sureness, the certainty, the eternality
of the rock of salvation. You see, salvation is of the
Lord. Salvation is not of man. Salvation's of the Lord. Of the
Lord. Now, verse two, let us come. Let us come. Now, three times
it says this here. Unless I'm overlooking something. Verse one says let us come. Verse
two says let us come. And then again, verse six, oh
come. Come, let us come. Now watch this, come before his
presence. Come before his presence with
thanksgiving. It's a good thing to give thanks
unto the Lord. Come before His presence with
thanksgiving. And come with a psalm of praise. Come before His presence. Now
this word come, I looked it up, C-O-M-E, means to come with haste. It means to come right now. It
means to come without delay. It means to flee. It means to
seek Him right now. Seek the Lord and that righteousness
that is found in Christ Jesus. Seek Him now. Now watch what
it says here. His presence. Seek His presence. What is His presence? It's His
person. It's His face. Now, I thought
of this scripture on the way down here, and I hope I've got
the right one. Let's find Isaiah 63, 9. I've
jotted this down. Isaiah 63, 9. Isaiah 63, 9. It says here, come
before His presence. Seek His presence. Seek His face.
Come with haste before His presence. Now, watch this. Isaiah 63. You need to mark this in your
Bible. Verse 9. In all their affliction,
He was afflicted, and the angel of His presence Save them. Who is the angel of God's presence?
Christ. The glory of God shines in the
face of the Lord Jesus Christ. In His love and in His pity,
He redeemed them and bared them and carried them all the days
of old. The angel of his presence. Seek
his presence. Now it'd be wise to seek salvation
where it is, wouldn't it? To seek mercy where it's found?
You wouldn't seek mercy in the law, would you? For there's no
mercy there. Cursed is everyone that continues
not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do
them. But God who is rich in mercy for his great love wherewith
he loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses and sin, seek
mercy where it's found. Mercy's found in Christ Jesus.
Seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness. Everything else be taken care
of. God'll take care of it. But seek him. Seek him first,
foremost. Oh, come. Come with haste. Come right now. Now, can you
think of some other scriptures where it talks about where the
Lord says, come, come? Now, let me remind you of a few. In John chapter 1, when the Lord
found Philip, and Philip, when he was taught
the gospel, he went out and found Nathanael, and Nathanael said,
we have found the Messiah. whom the law and the prophets
told us all about the coming of the Messiah. We found him,
it's Jesus of Nazareth. And Nathanael said, can any good
thing come out of Nazareth? Remember what Philip said? Come
and see. Come and see. Come and see. Oh, taste and see that the Lord
is gracious. How about Isaiah 55? Oh, everyone
that's thirsty, come. Come ye to the waters. Without
money, without price, that's strange economic, isn't it? Come,
come to Christ, come right now. How about Matthew 11, 28, where
the Lord said, everyone that's laboring and heavy laden, come
unto me and I'll give you rest, come. And when we think of this
coming, this is not a physical thing. It's not a physical thing. Brother Mahan used to put it
this way, come to Christ, come to Christ, don't move a muscle.
That's pretty good. You see, it's a look of faith.
Come to Christ, don't move a muscle. Looking unto Jesus, the author
and finisher of our faith. It's coming to him, it's not
down front. It's not come down front and make a decision. That's
not salvation. Salvation's not down front. Salvation's
in a person. That's why He said His presence,
let's come before His presence, before His face. Seek salvation
in Christ, the Lord Jesus Christ alone. Come to Him. Come right
now. Come and see. The Lord is gracious. And then I think of another verse
over in Hebrew chapter 4, and we quote this in all the time.
in verse 16, but preceding that verse, it talks about the great
high priest. Seeing we have a great high priest
that is ascended into the heavenlies, who was tempted and tested in
all points, like as we are yet without sin. And then he said,
come boldly under the throne of grace, that you may obtain
mercy, find grace to help in time of need. Come, come, come. And you know what? I tell you
something, if you read over there in 1st Peter chapter 2, you know
what it says? It says, to whom coming. To whom
coming. You see, saving faith is not
just I looked, but as it says in Hebrews 12 too, looking unto
the Lord Jesus Christ. And then Peter says, to whom
coming, as unto a living stone. You see, it's a continual It's
the continual attitude of the heart, the mind, and the soul
of that person who is a lover of Christ. We continually come
to Him and look to Him. To whom coming? Does that make
sense? Always in our heart, a believer's anxious to come to the Lord,
to seek mercy in His face, God's presence in Christ Jesus. Now, look at verse 3. Because, you see verse three,
Psalm 95, four. Four, and a lot of times I read
it this way, because. Because he's a rock of our salvation. Salvation's found in Christ,
God's saving presence. Come with thanksgiving because
the Lord Jehovah is a great God. He's God our Savior. A great
king. He's a great king. He's king
of kings. He is lord of lords. I go back to John chapter one
for just a minute. It's fresh on my mind because
I preached it, preached from it this morning. Nathanael, when
he came to the Lord and he makes this confession before the Lord,
thou art the son of God. Thou art the king of Israel. The Lord our God is a great God
and a great king above all. There's none above him. He's
the most high God. Now, reasons are given here in
verse 3, 4 and 5. why we should come, why we should
sing, why we should rejoice, why we should come with thanksgiving
to the rock of our salvation. For the Lord our God is great. You know, everything about him,
everything about our God, our great God and Savior, everything
about him is great, is it not? Everything about him is great.
His person is great. His person. Look at Psalm 96,
verse 4. For the Lord is great. His person
is great. Greatly to be praised. He is
to be feared above all gods. His mercy is great. Turn over here, Psalm 145. His mercy is great. Great mercy. Great mercy. Ephesians 2, I quoted
it a moment ago. Look at Psalm 145, verse eight,
I've got written down. In Ephesians chapter two, when
it describes all that we are by nature, children of wrath,
even as others, dead in sin, without God, without hope, without
Christ, but God, but God who is rich in mercy, for his great
love, wherewith he loved us. Now, Psalm 145, verse eight, The Lord is gracious. The Lord
is full of compassion. He's slow to anger and of great
mercy. His mercy is great. His mercy
is great. His mercy is great, great mercy. For His great mercy wherewith
He loved us. Turn to Psalm 103 verse 8. The
Lord is merciful, gracious, slow to anger. He's plenteous in mercy. You see that Psalm 103 verse
eight? Plenteous in mercy. How plenteous is he? Look at
verse 10. He has not dealt with us after
our sin, nor rewarded us according to our iniquity. Boy, that's
mercy. That's great mercy. For as the heaven is high above
the earth, so great is his mercy toward them that fear him. As
far as the east is from the west, so hath he removed our transgression
from us. That's great mercy. You see,
everything about the gospel is great. His person is great. His mercy is great. His love
is great. His grace is great. It says in
Acts chapter four that great grace was upon them. His grace is great, isn't it?
Sovereign grace, sovereign mercy. You can't exhaust the greatness
of his grace, the greatness of his salvation. How about his
salvation? You remember Hebrews 2? Where
it says, how shall we escape if we neglect so great salvation? See, everything about Him and
His salvation is great. Every blessing we have in the
Lord Jesus Christ, He's blessed us with all spiritual blessing
in the heavenlies in Christ Jesus, according as He has chosen us
in Him before the foundation of the world. That's great blessing,
is it not? How can we not come with Thanksgiving?
How can we not come with rejoicing in our heart? Looking for that
blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior,
Jesus Christ, Titus 2.13. I like the way Paul writes of
the blessed Redeemer. He's our great God and Savior. Verse four and five, he's our
great creator. In his hands are the deep places
of the earth. In his hand, the hand of God. I think of that scripture over
there in Daniel chapter, was it Daniel chapter 4? Where Nebuchadnezzar
was taught that lesson of who God is. Our God is in the heavens,
he's done whatsoever none can stay his hand. For saying to
him, Lord God Almighty, what doest thou? And Psalm 135, whatsoever
the Lord please, that did He in heaven, earth, sea, and all
deep places. The deep places of the earth
are in His hand. Is there any place where God
doesn't reign and rule? Where His absolute rule and reign
is not exercised? He has His dominion. What is
that Psalm 72 where it talks about His dominion? It's an everlasting
dominion. His dominion is from sea to sea.
Deep places, the high places, look what it says there in Psalm
95, four. In his hand are the deep places
of the earth. And the high places of the earth,
everything is in his hand. The sea is his. You think of
the vast oceans, the deep oceans, the vastness of it. All the creatures
in the oceans. all the vastness of the oceans. He made it. He made it. That's great. He's our great
Creator. His hands formed the dry land. Oh, come and let us worship. Our blessed God and Savior is
the Creator, the Sustainer, the Supplier, the Sovereign Lord
of all creation. All things, He created all things. It says in Colossians chapter
one, all things were made by Him and for Him, for His glory,
and by Him all things, you ever read, look at that word, by Him
all things consist. Now, the order of this universe
is exact. You ever notice that? I mean,
it's exact. Winter comes on a certain day,
and it comes on that day every year. Summer comes on a certain
day, and it comes that day every year. This whole universe has an exact
order, and it's ordered and sustained by God Almighty. The moon, the
sun, this whole solar system, the universe, God is not in the
universe. The universe is in Him. All deep places. Now, that incites
our heart to worship. Can you say, can you exalt our
God too much? Can you give Him too much praise
and honor and glory? I'd like to be guilty of doing
so, wouldn't you? That preacher just gave too much
glory to Christ in salvation. Boy, wouldn't that be a blessing?
I desire that in the preaching of the gospel to give him all
honor and glory and shut out every creature merit. May we
not wiggle one finger in the face of God and say, look what
we've done. We've done nothing. We've done nothing. God who hath
begun a good work in you. Whose work is it? God who hath
begun a good work in you. We'll finish it. We'll finish
it in the day. In the day of his coming. The
day of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now look at verse six. Oh, come.
He kind of sets the table for worship here, doesn't he? Oh,
come. Oh, come. Don't stay away now,
come. Let us worship. Let us bow down,
and let us kneel before the Lord, our Maker. Now, I've jotted down
this question, and it's a question worthy to meditate upon. What is true worship? What is true worship? Something to think about. I've
jotted down this answer, though it's Not a complete answer, but
it is some answer. What is true worship? Recognizing
by His grace. Acknowledging by His power who
God is. Almighty, holy, merciful, just. recognizing and seeing God as
He's revealed Himself in Holy Scripture, as Almighty, just,
and merciful. He's a just God and Savior. And bowing down in reverence
and submission before Him. You see, true worship—now think
about this— true worship is not born of ignorance. You see, ignorant
worship is what? True worship is not ignorant
worship. We, as Paul said, I know whom
I have believed and persuaded he's able to keep that which
I've committed unto him against that day. True worship is born
of true Knowledge of God as he's revealed in the Word of God.
Worship. Now, let me show you a few places here in the Psalms
where it mentions worship. Psalm 96, verse 9. Oh, worship the Lord in the beauty
of holiness. Worship the Lord in Christ Jesus.
That's the only way we can worship. It's the only way we can come
before God in Christ Jesus. Fear before Him all the earth.
Say among the heathen, the Lord reigneth. The world also shall
be established that it shall not be moved. He shall judge
the people righteously. Oh, worship the Lord in the beauty
of Christ. Again, in Psalm 97, look over
there. Psalm 97, verse 7. Psalm 97 says in verse 6, the
heavens declare His righteousness and all the people see His glory.
Confounded be all they that serve graven images that boast themselves
of idols. Worship Him. Worship Him, all
ye gods. Worship Him. Worship Him alone. Now look at Psalm 99. Psalm 99
verse 5, Exalt ye the Lord our God, and worship at his footstool. for he is holy. Again in Psalm 99 verse 9, exalt
the Lord our God and worship at his holy hill for the Lord
our God is holy. Worship him who is holy. You remember Philippians chapter
3 when the Apostle Paul talks about worship, about the true
being, the true Israel of God. He said, we are they who worship
God in spirit, rejoice in Christ Jesus, and we have absolutely
no confidence in the flesh. We worship Him in spirit and
in truth. Now, we have a reason given here. He's our maker. Look what it
says in verse 6. Oh, come and worship and bow
down. We ought to worship our Maker.
Our Maker. Kneel before Him. He is our Maker. Now, turn to Psalm 100. 100.
Psalm 100. Look at verse 3. Know ye that the Lord, He is
God. It is He that made us, not we
ourselves. He made us, not we ourselves.
People boast, you know, especially those people who have achieved
some kind of financial success, and they say, well, I'm a self-made
millionaire. Big deal. Are you really now? Who gave you the health and strength
and mind, huh? What would you be without God's
mercy? Know ye that the Lord he is God,
it is he that made us. I am what I am by the grace of
God. Not we ourselves, we are his
people and the sheep of his pasture now enter into his presence with
thanksgiving. You see, come and worship and
bow down. He is our creator. He is our
maker. He is our maker. Now in the original
creation, he's our maker. God said, let us make man in
our image and in our own likeness. And in the original creation,
the Lord is our maker. But how about in the new creation? Who's our maker? Did we make
ourselves? Is something we did? Oh, no.
You see, the Lord is our maker in this business of regeneration. We are his workmanship. created in Christ Jesus. We are His workmanship. If any
man be in Christ, he is a new creation, a new creature. Old things are passed away. Behold,
all things have become new. I am what I am by the grace of
God. We have been made partakers of
a divine nature. Where'd you get that divine nature?
Huh? God-given, isn't it? Blessed
is the man whom the Lord imbued with righteousness without works,
partakers of a divine nature. Now look at verse 7. I've got
to wind this up. Look at verse 7. He is our God.
He's got our Savior. I like the way it says over and
over again in Isaiah, I am God. Beside me there is no other.
I am God, the only just God and Savior. He is our God. And you know what? He's made
us His people. We are His people. We are the
people of His choice. The people of His pasture. You
see, He's the Good Shepherd. He shepherds over His sheep.
We're the sheep of His hand. The sheep of His hand. Hear His
voice, and His sheep do. Our Lord said that in John 10,
My sheep hear My voice, I know them, and they do follow, they
do follow Me. He is our God. He's God over
all, blessed forever. The Lord Jesus Christ called
his name Emmanuel. What does that mean? God with
us. God with us. Therefore, we love him. Therefore,
we desire to worship him. We are the people of his pasture. We are the people of his field.
As he belongs to us, so do we belong to him. In the Song of
Solomon, we read, my beloved is mine and I am his. We are the sheep of His hand.
I like that phrase. We are the sheep of His hand.
Who put us in His hand? God Almighty chose us in that
covenant of grace. The Lord Jesus Christ is called
the Great Shepherd of the sheep. who through the blood of the
everlasting covenant accomplished our salvation. He's called the
Good Shepherd of the sheep who laid down his life to purchase
us, to put away our sin, to bring us the just for the unjust that
he might bring us unto God. He's the Great Shepherd, he's
the Good Shepherd, and he's the Chief Shepherd. Says that in
scripture, he's the chief shepherd. Who shall come again and receive
us unto himself. And the sheep will hear his voice,
they know not the voice of a stranger. Those who say they are his people,
his sheep, and will not hear the shepherd's voice, and will
not hear the shepherd's gospel. Our Lord said, you believe me
not. because you're not my sheep. My sheep hear my voice. I know them and they do follow. They do follow me.