If you're looking in Psalm 95,
we did indeed sing those verses of this psalm a moment ago. Come
let us worship and bow down, let us kneel before the Lord
our God, our maker. For he is our God and we are
the people of his pasture and the sheep of his hand. And how
did it come to be such? Looking in Psalm 95, it says,
O come, let us sing unto the Lord. Let us make a joyful noise
to the rock of our salvation. Let us come before His presence
with thanksgiving and make a joyful noise unto Him with psalms. For
the Lord is a great God and a great King above all gods. In His hand are the deep places
of the earth. and the strength of the hills
is His also. The sea is His, and He made it,
and His hands formed the dry land. O come, let us worship
and bow down. Let us kneel before the Lord,
our Maker. For He is our God, and we are
the people of His pasture and the sheep of His hand. Today,
if you will hear his voice, harden not your heart as in the provocation,
and as in the day of temptation in the wilderness, when your
fathers tempted me, proved me, and saw my work. Forty years
long was I grieved with this generation and said it is a people
that do err in their heart and they have not known my ways unto
whom I swear in my wrath that they should not enter into my
rest. Now there are many people that
think in their mind that they have the right and the ability
to worship the Lord. Just as those men that Brother Al was speaking about
earlier, with Dathan and Nabarim and Korah, who were the ringleaders
of a group of men at 250, that's mentioned, at least. And
these were great men. They were princes, the scripture
says. They weren't just, you know, the average. Lucky there
was the senators and representatives. I mean, they were the big dogs,
okay? And they decided, as men will,
that they had a way that was fine for them to come up with
a way to worship God. And that it wasn't good enough
what the Lord had set forth. And in this I see the way of
man as far as his worship of free will. Now there's very few
things that will get somebody's dander up. quicker, especially
when you're talking about worshiping God and coming into His presence,
than when you start to tell men that they don't have free will.
That it's not up to them to come unto the Lord. They can't just
decide one day that they're gonna follow the Lord. Now most people
think that you can. In fact, I would venture to say
that the vast majority of churches today will tell men, anytime
you get ready, God's sitting waiting like a puppy dog wagging
his tail, hoping you'll come. And that's just how they picture
him. But that's not the picture. And
just like the Lord showed Korah, Dathan, Abiram, and 250 men,
along with their families, a lot of them, that men don't have
a free will to worship God as they see fit. He dwells in the
light, the scripture says, to which no man can approach. You can't do it. There's none
that seeketh after God. No, not one. Now that, people
don't believe that. Oh, well, I can seek God anytime
I get ready. Well, I talked to him this morning.
Well, remember that the Pharisee, he prayed, did he not, in the
temple? Right along with the publicans.
The scripture says that he prayed, but the scripture says he prayed
thus with himself. And so it is, a free will religion,
while it might sound good, and it might fit in to what men like,
it is what it is, and it is a praying with oneself. The Lord said,
you have not chosen me, but I, have chosen you. And it is upon
that basis that we are brought in this psalm which does exalt
the Lord Jesus Christ to sing unto the Lord, let us make a
joyful noise to the rock of our salvation. Now the picture that
a lot of people have of salvation is like God did some things for
men and he's offering it. He did the best He could. He
did all He could do. And now, they tell us, it's all
up to you. The rest is up to you. Well,
now, dear brother, you are in bad shape, if that be the case.
If the Lord has left you to gain salvation by your ability and
your will and your faith, then you will surely perish. Every man left to himself will
die, will be destroyed. It's only by the grace and mercy
of Almighty God that any man is ever moved in his mind and
heart to seek the way of God. not according to the will of
man, nor of the will of the flesh, but of God. And so, that's why we come to
sing. I mean, I'm telling you that
a God who is not able and who is not ready according to His
own devices, to redeem his people is not a God worthy of worship. I mean, that's the God of man's
imagination. One that just goes around and
does part of the stuff, you know. He's just trying. He's like Zeus
or Mars or some of those other Greek gods of Greek mythology. And that's basically the view
that people have of God. by nature. I mean, now, a lot
of people believe that there's one God, but they still think
He's sort of like Zeus. I mean, He can only do so much.
I mean, He can't really do anything if you don't let Him. Well, what
kind of a God is that? I mean, a God that has to wait
for you to let Him do something ain't much of a God. But that's
the way men entertain the notion of God. Why? Because as the scripture
says, the fool has said in his heart, there is no God. There is no God. Not that they
don't necessarily believe there's some sort of a heavenly creature
somewhere, a long beard, sitting in a rocking chair, looking out
over things and wondering how it's going to turn out. No, our
God's in the heavens. He hath done whatsoever He hath
pleased. And therefore we come and say,
let us sing unto the Lord. I mean, we're talking about the
true and living God who by grace and mercy has allowed us to come
into His presence in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ and
bring praises unto Him. Let us make a joyful noise to
the rock of our salvation. He's that one that's immovable.
And were it not so, what kind of salvation would it be? He
is that one who cannot be moved. He's that one who is the foundation
upon which all of those whose houses shall stand are built. Let us come before His presence
with thanksgiving and make a joyful noise unto Him with psalms."
Thanksgiving and praise. That's the occupation of God's
people. What is it that we have that
we have not received? And if we've received it, why
are we not thankful? You know, I guess one of the
greatest heartaches of the true children of God is that they
are not thankful. I mean, we see ourselves. Now,
there's a lot of people that say, oh, I'm thankful. Well,
and we can say from time to time we're thankful. I mean, we do
express thanks to the Lord, but I mean, when a man looks at his
own heart and he gets to thinking, well, I am thankful, then he's
in error. Because we're an unthankful people,
really. I mean, we're thanking God when
everything's going good, aren't we? I mean, when everything's
going great, everybody's thanking God. I mean, it's great. But
you see, thankfulness to God doesn't have anything whatsoever
to do with how things are. It has to do with who He is.
And knowing that His will and His way is a good way, even if
it's not our way. And, you know, a lot of people's
all up in arms about this election thing, and I said I wasn't even
going to say nothing about that, but it is on my mind from their
standpoint. Now God raises up kings and puts
down princes. I mean, they're like a drop in
the bucket to him. It doesn't make any difference.
And it's not gonna make any difference who is the president of the United
States as far as the kingdom of God is concerned. It doesn't
make any difference. You got all these people running
around, oh, we're gonna be turned over to the devil and all that.
Well, listen, the United States of America has long ago despised
the way of God. I'm surprised that the Lord hadn't
destroyed us completely up to this point. I mean, you know,
it's this business that people get to thinking, oh, you know,
we got this man here in the White House and God's gonna bless us
and all that, because he's against abortion and he's this and he's
that. Well, all those things may be
good things. I'm not saying they're not. But dear brethren, the blessing
of God is dispensed according to a sovereign pleasure and not
according to who men vote into the White House. Because He's
the one that moved people to vote. And He's the one, you know,
of course, the election is not actually official. I mean, I
don't know where it became such a big deal that all these news... organizations as the ones that
determine who the president is. Well, you know, they're still
counting votes. Now, I don't look good for the one I voted
for, for sure. You know, that does not look
good. But listen, the Lord will put there who he is pleased to
put there. And when he's finished with him,
he'll take him out, however he sees fit. And we do rejoice with
thanksgiving. that He has blessed us as He
has. and that whatever happens in the future, we desire, hopefully. Now I'm not saying that we will
be thankful, but I'm saying we should be thankful and we hope
to be thankful for all things that the Lord is pleased to bring
our way. Let us come to his presence with
thanksgiving. Not let's look and see if we
need to be thankful, but let's come there with thanksgiving
and make a joyful noise unto him. with Psalms, with singing. Lord blessed His people with
singing. He's given it to us. It lifts
the spirits and livens the heart. And it has a purpose. God gave
a whole book, the largest book in the Bible, is the Psalms. And we are to come into His presence
with singing. with psalms, hymns, and joyful
noise. For the Lord is a great God and
a great King above all gods. That's where, you see, there's
a lot of gods. A lot of people think there's
only one God, but there is actually a bunch of gods. Now there's
only one true and living God. But you see, men have many gods. The Scripture says Satan is the
God of this world. He's the prince of the power
there. And men have come up with many gods, not the least of which
which they think is a great God, the one that is the God of their
free will, the one that waits on them. and hopes they'll do
something. But you see, that's not the truth
of the living God. But you see, the one that we
have called on to worship, he is the great king above all gods. End of story. There's no rivals
there. Jesus Christ is indeed that one
whose name is above every name. In his hand, or the deep places
of the earth, the strength of the hills as is also. Now we
read in the book of the Revelation that there was a book sealed
on the front and the back side. And the cry went up, who's worthy
to open the book? But there was one who's worthy
to open the book and to loose the seals thereof. The great
mystery that was hid from the foundation of the world is loosed
in Jesus Christ. And now we see Him as that One
who is the Savior of sinners. That He is that One who has come
to fulfill the purpose of God in bringing redemption unto men
in the earth. Why did the Lord create the world?
In order that He might magnify the glory of His grace in the
redemption of His people. That He loved, the Scripture
says, before He ever made the world. What a glorious thing. Now again, men don't like that.
They don't want to worship a God like that. I've had men tell
me, I wouldn't worship a God like that. Well, no, you wouldn't.
Neither would I, except for the grace of God who shows us that
He is the true and living God. And whatever he says is right.
Whatever he does is good. It's worthy of all praise. In his hand are the deep places
of the earth and the strength of the hills, the low places
and the high places. The sea is his. He made it and
his hands formed the dry land. I don't know what else there
is. I mean, it just says he's the maker of all things. He is
that one. Oh, come, let us worship and
bow down. Let us kneel before the Lord.
Our Maker. Now if He made us, it is He who
has made us and not we ourselves. And if He made us, then can He
not do with us as He sees fit? I mean, hath not the potter power
over the clay to make one vessel unto honor and another unto dishonor
as it pleased with him? What can a man say about that?
I mean, even if I don't like it, what can I say about it?
I mean, if I hate that doctrine with all my heart, what can I
say about it? What can I do about it? It's
still true. It's still true because He is
that God who is our Maker. Let us kneel before Him. Oh, that we might bow down and
worship at his footstool for he is our God and we are the
people of his pasture and the sheep of his hand. Now, how did
we get to be the sheep? You know, have you ever seen,
of course, we don't have much, there's not many sheep around
here, but cows and hogs, that's more, you know, what we identify
with, but Have you ever known of a cow or a herd of cows that
come up to a farmer's house and say, we want to be your cows? Or a flock of sheep come up and
say, let us in. No. How did the sheep get to be the
sheep? of a shepherd because he purchases
them. They belong to him. The Lord
said, my sheep, my sheep, not the sheep. He said, my sheep. See, there's a lot of sheep in
the world, a lot of cows, a lot of hogs, but the Lord said, my
sheep, those that belong to me. The ones that I bought with my
own blood, my sheep, hear my voice. I know them. And they know me. They follow
me. They hear my voice. They know it. And another shepherd
they will not follow. For he is our God. How did he
get to be our God? How did he get to be our shepherd?
because He loved us. We love Him. He is our Shepherd. I'm glad He's my Shepherd. I
won't fall down and give Him thanks for being my Shepherd.
The Lord is my Shepherd. I shall not want. But how did
He get to be my Shepherd? Because He chose me. Oh, what
a glorious thing. that he said he would be the
shepherd of his sheep. Now what if he said, I'm not
going to have any sheep? What can anybody have done about
that? Nothing in the world. Not a thing in the world. But
what a glorious thing. He said, my sheep, hear my voice. He is our God and we are the
people of his pasture. Have you ever known of a sheep
or a cow or whatever? that went out and sowed a field
in oats? Planted some grass out there? You ever seen that? No? How did the sheep, what did the
sheep eat? They eat what the shepherd gives
them. Where do they eat? They eat in
his pasture. He planted it. He waters it. He causes it to grow. What do
they have to do with it? Not a thing in the world. He
is indeed, dear brethren, our shepherd and the sheep of his
hand. See, he holds us in the palm
of his hand. You know, have you ever held
a little bird or something in your hand or some little insect
or whatever? You know, you think about a roach
crawling across the floor, and what's your first instinct? You
want to go over there and stomp him, you know? Now, I want to tell you this.
You've got less right to stomp that roach than the Lord has
to crush you and destroy you and obliterate you. I mean, that
roach is of more worth to the creation insofar as the ecosystem
and whatnot, because actually roaches perform a good service,
whether you like to think of it in that way or not, but they
actually, the Lord put them here for some other reason than for
you just to bash it. But what good have you, what
have you ever contributed? to the Lord. I mean, how have
you enhanced the glory of God? You haven't. But by His grace,
He has been pleased to hold you in His hand and not to just crush
you like that, which He could, but to hold you in His hand and
put you to His bosom because it pleased Him. because he loves
his people with an everlasting love. And not one of them shall
ever perish because they belong to him. What a glorious God we
serve. Amen. People of his pasture,
the sheep of his hand, today, if you will hear his voice, harden
not your heart. Now what did he say about his
sheep? Are the people of God in danger
of hardening their heart and turning away from the Lord? Now
we know that within us it is that we are by nature the children
of wrath even as others. We'd turn away from Him in a
moment. But why don't we? Because He holds His sheep in
His hands. You see, he that hath begun a good work in you will
perform it until the time of the end. particular thought and doctrine
and says, well, good. I can just go out here and just
do whatever I want and there's no way. See, I grew up with a
doctrine being ringing in my ears, once saved, always saved. And the idea was that if you,
according to your free will, joined up with the church or
got saved or you let the Lord save you, then you could never
again be lost, and you could just go and do anything you wanted
to. Well, that was a pretty good deal. I always thought it was
a pretty good deal. You know, and to the carnal man,
it is a good deal, except there's no truth in it. Because when
the Lord is pleased to awaken a man to see himself as a sinner,
and to bring him unto himself, then he changes his mind and
heart. and he causes him to see himself
for what he is, a sinner, unworthy of the least of the Lord's mercies,
and to cause him to desire the things of God. Now the Lord gives
to every man a measure of faith, and I'm not saying that everybody
whom the Lord is pleased to deliver automatically becomes the Apostle
Paul. Everybody's not called to be
the Apostle Paul. I don't know of but one man that
ever was. And when the Lord got through
with him, He took him on to be with Himself. The Lord told you, if you're
one of His sheep, to be one of His sheep. And you'll be one
of His sheep. And He'll draw you unto Himself. But He'll teach you what you
are by nature. And you will harden your heart,
except the mercy of God sustain you. And I believe that he will
sustain his people and not one of his children will harden his
heart against him as the children of Israel did in the provocation
because he keeps them. The Lord used them to show us
what we are by nature. Every time you read about the
rebellion of Korah, then you can see yourself. Don't
be sitting back there reading about old Cora and say, man,
that's sorry, son of a gun. No, the Lord put Cora in there
so you'd know how you are. See, he put those 250 men that
joined up with him to see how you are, to know what you are
by nature. And so the exhortation to God's
people is listen to the Lord. And guess what? By the grace
of God we do hear His voice. Now do we listen to Him and do
we do everything like we should do? No. But what does that cause
us? It causes us heartache. We can't
be satisfied. See, you can't just run down
the road contrary to the way of the Lord and be happy in it
and be satisfied with it. Because the Lord works in you
both the will and the do of His good pleasure. And He constrains
you by His love. And He shows you. His mercy and
kindness for surely your fathers tempted me and proved me and
so my word. 40 years long was I grieved with
that generation. The Lord showed that it's not
by the power of the flesh that men can enter into the promised
land. He swore by his wrath that they
would not enter it. Now why did he do that? to show
men that it ain't possible. The Lord said, I mean, He told
them to do some stuff, but they didn't do it, did they? No, the
law's good, the scripture says, if a man keep it. See, all these
people running around with the Ten Commandments pasted up in
their yards and whatnot, that's a good thing. I'm not against
the Ten Commandments, but dear brethren, when you paste the
Ten Commandments up there with the thought that you're going
to keep them, you're mistaken. What that shows you is what a
sinner you are. And for that reason, I don't
think it's a bad thing to have the Ten Commandments up there.
I'm not going to paste them up in my yard, but if you want to,
go ahead. Just don't start thinking, yeah,
I'm doing pretty good. A lot of people, when they look
at it, they go down the list and they say, well, I did that
and I did that, but I didn't do that one. No, dear brethren,
if you've broken the law in one point, you've broken it in all.
And that's why we come here this morning. To remember the Lord's
death till he comes again. Because he has paid the price
for the sins of his people. And he has satisfied the debt.
He didn't do part way. He didn't go half way. He went
all the way. And He's removed our sins as
far as east is from the west, and He remembers them no more. And He would have us to remember
them no more, because He would have us to remember His death.
Because in the remembrance of His death, we recognize that.
The Lord shows us what He did in our behalf.