Let's begin our service opening
our Bibles to John chapter 13. John chapter 13. Now, before the feast of the
Passover, when Jesus knew that his hour was come, that he should
depart out of this world unto the Father, having loved his
own, which were in the world, He loved them to the end. And
supper being ended, the devil, having now put into the heart
of Judas Iscariot, Simon's son, to betray him, Jesus, knowing
that the father had given all things into his hands and that
he was come from God and went to God. He rises from supper
and laid aside his garments and took a towel and girded himself.
After that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash the
disciples feet and to wipe them with the towel wherewith he was
girded. Then cometh he to Simon Peter, and Peter saith unto him,
Lord, dost thou wash my feet? Jesus answered and said unto
him, What I do, thou knowest not now, but thou shalt know
hereafter. Peter saith unto him, Thou shalt
never wash my feet. Jesus answered him, If I wash
thee not, thou hast no part with me. Simon Peter saith unto him,
Lord, not my feet only, but also my hands and my head. Jesus saith
to him, he that is washed needeth not save to wash his feet, but
is clean every whit, and ye are clean, but not all. For he knew
who should betray him, therefore said he, ye are not all clean.
So after he had washed their feet, and had taken his garments,
and was set down again, he said unto them, know ye what I have
done to you? Ye call me master and lord, and
ye say well, for so I am. If I then, Your Lord and Master
have washed your feet. He also ought to wash one another's
feet. And you know that doesn't mean
literally washing one another's feet. It means to be of service,
perform the lowest task, the task of the lowest servant for
one another. Verse 15, for I have given you
an example that you should do as I have done to you. Verily,
verily, I say unto you, the servant is not greater than his Lord,
neither he that is sent greater than he that sent him. If you
know these things, happy are ye if you do them. We'll end
our reading there. All people that on earth do dwell,
sing to the Lord with cheerful voice. Him serve with fear, His
praise foretell. Come ye before Him and rejoice. Know that the Lord is God indeed,
Without our aid He did us make. We are His folk, He doth us feed,
And for His sheep He doth us take. O enter then His gates
with praise, Approach with joy His courts unto, Praise, laud,
and bless His name always, For it is seemly so to do. For why the Lord our God is good,
His mercy is forever sure, His truth at all times firmly stood,
And shall from age to age Let's turn over one page. Page 11. Page 11. I haven't sung this
song in a while, but it's got good words. And all of them,
thy mercies, O my God, my rising soul, When all thy mercies, O my God,
my rising souls surface, transported with that you I'm lost, in wonder,
love, and praise. Unnumbered comforts to my soul,
thy tender care bestowed. Before my infant heart conceived,
from whom those comforts flowed. When, worn with sickness, oft
hast thou With health renewed my face, And when, in sins and
sorrows bowed, Revived my soul with grace, To every period of
my life My goodness I'll pursue And after death in distant worlds
The glorious theme renewed Let's look in our Bibles now
at Psalm 100. The first hymn we sung was taken from this psalm. This will serve as our text this
evening. Psalm 100. Make a joyful noise unto the
Lord, all ye lambs. Serve the Lord with gladness.
Come before His presence with 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. Let's bow together in prayer. Our God, we bow before you this
evening, seeking a blessing from the storehouses of your mercy
and grace that you have reserved for your people. Father, we've
gathered here together out of the world, dry and dead in a
barren place. We've gathered together weary,
hungry, thirsty. Father, we beg of thee that you
would give us a refreshing for the green pastures of your word.
We've just read from your word that we're your people, the sheep
of your pasture. Father, we beg of thee that you
would lead us beside the still waters and give us a refreshing
drink of Christ, the water of life. We beg that you'd lead
us into the green pastures, enable us to feed on Christ, the green
pastures of your word, and feed us with Christ, the bread of
life. Revive and refresh our souls as we leave here this evening
to go back home. Let us return home after having
heard your word, rejoicing in Christ our Savior. Father, we
thank you for this The place you've given us, we thank you
for this time that you've preserved for us to meet together. Father,
I pray that you'd bless it. Bless this congregation with
your mercy, your grace, and your leadership. Father, don't let
us just go through the motions of religion. But by your grace,
make us true followers of Christ the King, Christ our Shepherd,
Christ our Savior. Make us true followers of Christ. Give us a heart that hungers
and thirsts after Him, that seeks after Him. Give us the faith
and the grace and the strength to follow Him. Father, we pray
for those of our number who are in times of great difficulty,
heartache and sorrow. Father, we pray that You'd be
with them. We pray that You would see fit to deliver them from
this trial that you brought, that you'd teach us what you'd
have us to learn and that you would provide a way out. We pray
for your hand of healing and mercy and comfort. And above
all, Father, we pray that you'd not take your presence from us,
but give us the fulfillment of your promise that you'd not leave
nor forsake your people. Father, all these things we ask
and we give thanks. In that name which is above every
name, in the name of Christ our Savior, amen. Sing these choruses with me,
if you would, I'd appreciate it. This one I know, don't I? The second one also. Sometimes
I pull out these choruses to emphasize the words more. I was glad when they said unto
me Let us go into the house of the
Lord. I was glad when they said unto
me, Let us go into the house of the Lord. Sing it again. I was glad when they said unto
me, Let us go into the house of the Lord. I was glad when they said unto
me, Let us go into the house of the Lord. They have come into his house,
and gathered in his name. to worship Him. We have come into His house,
gathered in His name to worship Him. We have come into His house,
gathered in His name, to worship Christ the Lord. Worship Him, Christ our Lord. He is all my righteousness, I
stand complete in Him and worship Him. He is all my righteousness,
I stand complete in Him and worship Him. righteousness, I stand complete
in Him and worship Christ the Lord. Worship Him, Christ our Lord. So forget about yourself, Concentrate
on Him and worship Him So forget about yourself Concentrate on
Him and worship Him. So forget about yourself. Concentrate on Him and worship
Christ the Lord. Worship Him, Christ our Lord. So let's lift up holy faith,
and magnify His name, and worship Him. So let's lift up holy faith,
Magnify His name and worship Him. So let's lift up holy faith,
Magnify His name and worship Christ the Lord. All right, let's turn in our
Bibles again to Psalm 100. titled the message this evening,
Serving the Lord. Verse 2, begin, serve the Lord.
I know every believer has a desire to serve the Lord, but we often
wonder, well, how can I do that? How can I serve the Lord? I want
to give you four key words that are found in our text this evening
about serving the Lord. Then I want to give you the motivation
that a believer has to serve the Lord. Number one, serve the
Lord with a joyful noise. Verse one says, make a joyful
noise unto the Lord all ye lands. This joyful noise is not necessarily
a physical noise or physical outburst. It certainly is not
a noise that makes a show of the flesh and draws attention
to us. It's a joyful noise from the
heart and it is to speak what is on our heart. The word means
to shout so loud that you split ears. Shout loud enough, people
are going to hear what you're saying. It means to sound the
alarm, to sound a shout of triumph. And I want to give you a few
reasons God's people have to make a joyful noise. I looked
up this phrase, this word, joyful noise, found several reasons
for God's people to make a joyful noise. And the first one is this,
make a joyful noise in worship. This same word, make a joyful
noise, is used in describing how they would blow the trumpet
to call Israel together, either to worship or to go to war. A sound to call to worship or
a sound of alarm. The way they would blow that
trumpet is described by this very word, make a joyful noise.
Look back a page at Psalm 95. Verse 6, make a joyful noise
in worship. Verse 6 says, O come, let us
worship and bow down. Let us kneel before the Lord,
our maker. Serve the Lord in worship. Serve the Lord in coming together
with God's people and encouraging others to worship the Lord with
us. You know, it is very important for us to worship the Lord together. You know, we can invite people
to come Come to the service with us. But you know also, your mere
presence here, week after week after week, encourages your brethren
to worship. Your example of faithfulness
encourages others to gather together and worship. It's just a fact
of the matter. Worship is better when the whole
family is gathered together in one place. So make a joyful noise
in worship. That's serving the Lord. Number
two, make a joyful noise because the foundation of faith has been
laid. And once you look at Ezra chapter
three, Ezra is right after second Chronicles and right before the
book of Nehemiah, Ezra. Make a joyful noise because the
foundation of faith has been laid. Ezra chapter three, verse 10. And when the builders laid the
foundation of the temple of the Lord, they set priests in their
apparel with trumpets and the Levites, the sons of Asaph, with
cymbals to praise the Lord after the ordinance of David, king
of Israel. And they sang together by course and praising and giving
thanks unto the Lord because he is good. For his mercy endureth
ever, forever toward Israel. And all the people shouted with
a great shout when they praised the Lord because the foundation
of the house of the Lord was laid. Now this is when the temple
was being rebuilt. The foundation of the temple
was laid and the people shouted with a great shout. That word
shout is the same word translated a joyful noise in our text. They
made a joyful noise because the foundation of faith, the foundation
of the building had been laid. And of course, you know, that
building's a picture of Christ. So it's a picture of the foundation
of faith had been laid. All right, now look at 1 Corinthians
chapter 3. Now I know right here, right
now, we're not building a physical building, are we? But we are
building a spiritual house. We're building something. We're
building a spiritual house. 1 Corinthians 3, verse 9. We are laborers together with
God. Ye are God's husbandry. Ye are God's building. According
to the grace of God which is given unto me, as a wise master
builder, I have laid the foundation. And another buildeth thereon,
but let every man take heed how he buildeth thereupon. For other
foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus
Christ. Our foundation, the foundation
of everything we believe, is the Lord Jesus Christ. He's the
foundation of everything we believe. He is why we believe what we
believe. Well, if we're going to make
a joyful noise, then let's be sure to sound a clear note and
preach Christ and Christ only and Christ and Christ only every
time the Lord gives us an opportunity. And I know most of you are thinking,
well, I don't preach. Well, then support the preaching
of Christ. Pray. for that preaching. How
I beg your prayers for me as I prepare, me as I preach, and
these other men as they prepare to preach, and our teachers.
Pray for that preaching and be here to support it when that
gospel is preached because it is the foundation of all of our
salvation. Nothing we can hear is more important
than this preaching of Christ. It is the foundation of all of
our salvation. And God's people happen to care
about others. Well, this is the only foundation
of the salvation of others too. It's mighty important, isn't
it? This is the way we serve the
Lord. You know, the writer to the Hebrews
said that the foundation is repentance from dead works and faith toward
God. Repentance and faith always go
together. The foundation of salvation is turning from our works of
the law that the writer calls them dead works because they're
works that can only deserve death from God. and it is turning to
faith, to trust Christ our Savior, then let us shout that message
as clearly and as plainly as possible, because it is the only
way anyone will be saved. Now look in Ephesians chapter
2. I would encourage us to be very
serious about this matter. of sounding this note, making
a joyful noise because the foundation has been laid. Because God's
not going to save us and he's not going to save anyone else. Without this building upon the
Lord Jesus Christ, without this foundation of Christ the Savior,
Ephesians 2 verse 19. Now, therefore. You're no more
strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints
and of the household of God. and are built upon the foundation
of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the
chief cornerstone, in whom all the building fitly framed together
groweth and into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom ye also
are built together for an habitation of God through the Spirit." Now
make a joyful noise about Christ, our foundation. We ought never
cease to be utterly amazed that God Almighty would put sinners
like us and build us upon Christ. We ought never cease to be amazed
about that. And it ought to always be easy
for us to make a joyful noise about Christ, our foundation.
Earl, the building ain't falling down. It was built on Christ. Now he holds everything up. All
right, next, look in Zechariah chapter nine. It's the next to
the last book in the Old Testament, Zechariah. Chapter 9. I was preparing my notes in some
of these Old Testament books you don't turn to very often,
reminded me of what one of Tara Kendall's students told her in
Bible school this year. She said, you know, if you memorize
your books of the Bible, sword drills are so much easier. But
I'll try to help you on some of these. Next to the last book
in the Old Testament, Zechariah chapter 9. Here's the third thing. Make a joyful noise when you
see Christ the King coming. Verse 9, Zechariah 9. Rejoice
greatly, O daughter of Zion. Shout, O daughter of Jerusalem.
Behold, thy King cometh unto thee. He is just, having salvation,
lowly and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt, the foal of
an ass. Now this word shout, O daughter
of Jerusalem, is the same word translated make a joyful noise
in our text. This verse is a prophecy of how
the Lord Jesus would come into Jerusalem to be crucified. You
think those scribes that hand wrote these scriptures and the
Pharisees that made such a such a business of studying these
scriptures, you think one of these Old Testament scriptures
would have come into their head to say, wait a minute, I've heard
this before. I've seen this before. This is
a prophecy of how the Savior would come into Jerusalem to
be crucified. That's why He's coming. And we're
told when He appears, oh, you shout. When He appears, He's
coming to save you. You shout. And here's the message
we shout. Salvation is in the Lord Jesus
Christ. It's all in Him. Now you think
what a mystery this prophecy is. The Lord Jesus Christ is
King. He is He's king of kings. He's
king over all kings. He's lord over all lords. He has all authority. He is the
sovereign. The Lord Jesus, this one, riding
on this colt, is king. Because He's God. This is God. This man is God. He's God, but
He's bone of our bone, flesh of our flesh, come to be the
representative of His people. Jesus Christ, He's the Son of
God. He's the Son of Man. He's the
King of Kings. He's Lord of Lords. God wrote
a whole book about His Son. I mean, He's somebody, don't
you reckon? He's a humble man. He's so humble, not only is He
riding upon a lowly ass. He's not riding in a king's chair.
He's coming on this ass. He's coming to town. bringing
salvation to his people. By humbling himself, by humbling
himself to be made flesh, to be one with them so he can be
their substitute, he's humbling himself to be made sin for his
people. He's humbling himself to be made
to sin offering for his people. The only offering that will appease
God's anger. Life itself. Life Himself is
going to humble Himself to die, all so He can bring salvation
to His people. Oh, here comes your King. Here
comes your King. Now, He's your King. He's your
King. He rules over you and He's your King. But this King is coming
to bring salvation to His people. Them are shouting words, aren't
they? Them are shouting words. Right now, that brings me to
the fourth thing. Look at Zephaniah chapter 3. Backwards, two books
to Zephaniah. If you come to Habakkuk, you've
gone too far. Zephaniah chapter 3. Here's the fourth thing. Make
a joyful noise because the Lord has taken away your sin. Zephaniah
3 verse 14. Sing, O daughter of Zion. Shout,
O Israel. Be glad and rejoice with all
the heart, O daughter of Jerusalem. Why? The Lord hath taken away
thy judgments. He hath cast out thine enemy,
the King of Israel. Even the Lord is in the midst
of thee. Thou shalt not see evil anymore. Shout, O Israel." That
word, shout, is the same word translated, make a joyful noise,
back in our text. And this is the message we're
to shout. The Lord Jesus Christ has come. The King, he's come.
And he has taken away all judgment away from his people. And he
did it by taking all their sin away from him. He took away all
reason for them to be condemned. And he took away the sin of his
people. He put it away by his sacrifice so completely. God
says you shall not see evil anymore. All taken away. Now shout and
rejoice with all your heart. What a glorious gospel. The salvation
of sinners. And God's given us this gospel
to shout. to preach, make a joyful noise. Well. What if nobody's listening? What if you preach and you preach
and you preach and you preach? And you see no results, you don't
see a change, you don't see. What do you do then? Let me tell
you, just keep shouting. Just keep making a joyful noise,
because the way we serve the Lord is to make a joyful noise. We don't serve the Lord by producing
results now. That's up to the master. How
do we serve the Lord? Faithfully. Just keep doing what
He's put our hand to do today. Just keep shouting. Just keep
preaching this gospel. Just keep worshiping Him. That's
how we serve the Lord. All right, number two, back in
our text. Verse two, serve the Lord with
gladness. Verse two, Psalm 100 says, serve
the Lord with gladness. Come before His presence with
singing. Now this applies to all God's
people. All of God's people are His servants. I hate it when
people make it sound like that preachers are God's servants
and I don't know what everybody else is. No, all of God's people
are his servants. Well, what is the job? What is
the life of a servant? It's real simple. The life of
a servant is simple. There's no complications. Do
what the master tells you to do. I mean, it's real simple. And the Lord, our master, has
given us plenty to do in his service. Verse is what we just
looked at. The Lord's given us the gospel
to preach. This word serve is sometimes
translated to till the ground and to dress it. This word serve
is describing the work of a farmer out in his field. Well, there
are a lot of servants working on our master's great farm. One
servant, he goes and he sows. He sows seed for the master.
tells him to sow it. Another servant, he goes and
waters where the master sends him to water. Another servant,
he goes and he dresses the vine where the master sends him to
dress it. And God, our master, will give the increase when and
where he sees fit. All we're supposed to do is go
where he sends us to go, do what he tells us to do. And I tell
you, it is vitally important that we work together in our
master's vineyard. The increase of his kingdom is
vital. I mean, it's vital. The increase
in God's people, the increase in sinners hearing the gospel
and believing it. It's vital. I mean, it's life
and death for people. People die and go into eternity
every hour of every day. It's vital that they hear the
gospel. It's vital that we who have heard
the gospel believe it. It's the desire of my heart to
see God give his people faith and life in Christ. But also
an increase in growth in grace and knowledge of our Savior,
an increase in love for God and love for his people is vital. That's also the desire of my
heart. I want us to grow in grace and knowledge of Christ. Well,
if that's going to happen, somebody's going to have to till the ground,
aren't they? Somebody's going to have to plant and water. Somebody's
going to have to dress that vine by preaching the gospel because
that's how God gives the increase. Secondly, the Lord has called
us to serve in public worship. Part of this word serve, The
psalmist served the Lord. Part of the meaning of that word
is to worship. Being in public worship is a
very important part of serving the Lord. We ought to be here,
he says, come before his presence with singing. We ought to be
here to sing God's praises with his people. He's worthy, don't
you reckon, for us to sing praises to him? We ought to be here to
hear what the master has to say. mighty good way to know how to
serve is to be here to hear what the Master has got to say to
us here as instructions. We ought to serve the Lord. I
encourage all of you, serve the Lord by using the talents that
God's given you. Just whatever it is that God's
given you the ability to do, do it to serve the Lord. It's the way you serve the Lord.
You know, most of us just come here on Sundays and Wednesdays
and you don't really pay much attention to it. I guess you
pay attention to the outside of the building. If the grass
and weeds were that tall and the building was falling apart,
but you've not one time ever come here and it's been like
that outside. Somebody's doing that. Somebody's taking care
of this place. Somebody's taking care of cleaning
it. Stuff starts to fall down, somebody fixes it. Lights go
out, somebody's fixing it. I don't have the talent to get
up there Change that bulb up there, you know. I think we would,
all of us shudder to see how men climbed up there and changed
that. I don't have that ability. Somebody does. If you've got
that talent, do it. I'll tell you another way. It's
another thing. I reckon I could do it to keep
people alive during the time of the service, but I don't know
that this is necessarily in my wheelhouse, but it is in somebody's
keeping a nursery. Try seeing what happened. We've
got a bunch of babies out here we're trying to worship. It's
an important part of service. Serve the Lord with whatever
abilities that God's given you. And thirdly, look at Mark chapter
10. The Lord has called us to serve. He's called his people
to serve by serving the needs of others. We read to open the
service where the Lord washed the disciples feet, where he
took the job of the lowest servant, even though he's Lord and master.
He took the job of the lowest servant and washed his disciples'
feet, teaching us not to wash one another's feet, but to take
the job of the lowest servant. Do whatever is necessary to help
your brethren. He tells us the same thing here
in Mark chapter 10, verse 42. This is when James and John,
the sons of Zebedee, they wanted the Lord. Let us, one of us sit
on your left hand, one of us sit on your right hand in your
kingdom. In shock of shocks, the other disciples were upset
about this. Verse 42, But Jesus called them
to him, and saith unto them, Ye know that they which are accounted
to rule over the Gentiles exercise lordship over them, and their
great ones, they exercise authority upon them. That's how you know
who's the great one out there in the world. They exercise lordship,
authority over people. But verse 43, But so shall that
not be among you, but whosoever will be great among you." Do
you want to be great in God's church? "...shall be your minister."
That word minister means the one that's a waiter, waiting
on tables. "...and whosoever of you will
be the chiefest..." Oh, you want to be the chief? "...shall be
the servant of all. For even the Son of Man came
not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his
life a ransom for many." Now, if you want to serve the Lord,
you follow the Lord's example. by serving others, by giving
of yourself to serve others, to help others. And you know,
serving others, sometimes it can be big things, but you know,
sometimes it can be very small things. We serve others by what
we say to people. It is amazing how far a kind
word will go to somebody when they're just in the vice. It's amazing. What a kind word
will do for their heart. Check on one another through
the week. Check on one another, especially
our older members. Our older members have stood
for the gospel a long, long time. Those of us who are younger have
benefited from it, haven't we? We've benefited from it. Well
now, let's help them however we can. That's serving one another
by helping one another. Serve one another by what you
do for them. Don't wait on somebody to ask you. Do what needs to
be done. Be active in serving God's people. The Apostle Paul said in Romans
12 verse 1, I beseech you therefore brethren by the mercies of God. See, it always comes back to
God's mercy. It always comes back to what
He's done for us. I beseech you by the mercies of God. This is
your motivation. That you present your bodies.
a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable
service. It is just reasonable. It's reasonable
that we serve one another by helping one another, doing what
needs to be done. It's just reasonable, isn't it? And serving our Lord
by serving his people is not a burden. The psalmist says,
serve the Lord with gladness. The word has to do with being
at a wedding feast. Serve the Lord like you're at
a wedding feast. Folks are happy at a wedding
reception, aren't they? They're happy. Serve the Lord
like you're at a wedding feast. The Lord does not accept service
because we're doing it because I have to. The Lord's not going
to accept that. You wives wouldn't accept that
service from your husband, would you? Okay. That ain't gonna fly. It must be willing service. The
Lord loves a cheerful giver, doesn't he? Well, the same thing
applies to all of our service. Whatever it is that we're giving,
the Lord loves a cheerful giver. Serve him with joyfulness, gladness,
cheerfully. All right, thirdly, serve the
Lord in knowledge. Back in our text, Psalm 100,
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. Now this word know means to recognize
and to declare. Now true worship is intelligent. It's intelligent. Now when I
say that, I don't mean, I don't want to give off the impression
that we know everything because far from it. But by God's grace,
we know some things don't we? By God's grace, we know whom
we have believed. I know that. And we're persuaded. I know this. He is able to do
what He wants. I know that. I am persuaded. I know that Christ is all I need. I'm persuaded of that. Look at
John chapter 4. I'll show you another woman who
was persuaded of this. Here's some things she knew.
She didn't always know them, but she learned them. We can
be taught and learn too. John chapter 4. We'll pick up in verse 19 in
the middle of the Lord's discussion here with this woman at the well,
Samaritan woman. In verse 19, she says unto him,
Sir, I perceive that thou art a prophet. Our fathers worshiped
in this mountain and you say in Jerusalem is the place where
men ought to worship. Jesus saith unto her woman, believe
me, The hour cometh when ye shall neither in this mountain nor
yet at Jerusalem worship the Father. You worship, you go through
the motions of religion, you know not what. We know what we
worship, for salvation is of the Jews. But the hour cometh
and now is when the true worshipers shall worship the Father in spirit
and in truth. For the Father seeketh such to
worship Him. God is spirit. And they that
worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth. The woman
saith unto Him, well, this is what she's basically saying,
I don't know nothing. But I do know this, that the Messiah is
coming, which is called Christ. And when He's come, He'll tell
us all things. He'll straighten all this out
when He comes. He'll tell us these things. Oh, what a moment
in history. Jesus saith unto her, I that
speak unto thee, Here I am. Oh my goodness. You worship, you know not what. This woman learned something.
She learned who He is. She learned who the Savior is
and she went and told what she knew. Look at verse 28. The woman
then left her water pot and went her way into the city and said
to the men, come, see a man which told me all things that ever
I did. It's not this. Christ. This is the Christ. She knew something, didn't she?
Her worship is now intelligent because she knows who Christ
is. She heard who he is and she told people she could tell people
who this is the Christ. So worship is intelligent. Service of God is intelligent.
And like I said, we don't know everything far from it. But there
are some things in this verse that I know. I know. First, I know this. I know God
is God. I know that. The psalmist says
it. Know ye that the Lord, He is
God. I know that God is God. And by that, I mean this. He
rules over all. Over the big events and over
the insignificant events that are so minor we don't even notice
them. God rules over them. That happened because He ordained
for them to happen exactly the way that they've happened. God
does not rule as an idol who only can do what we say we'll
let him do. God rules as God, doing as he
pleases, when he pleases, with whom he pleases, because of who
he is, because he's God. The Lord God omnipotent reigneth. There's something I know God
must do. He must reign. He's a king. I know that. God
is God. Second, I know this from this
verse. I know something about God's character. God is holy. He's sovereign. He's merciful.
He's gracious. And he's just. Because God is
the Lord. He's the Lord. Know ye that the
Lord, that word is Jehovah. Know that Jehovah, God my Savior,
is God. Our Savior is God. God is a just God. and a Savior. I know that because His name
is Jehovah. Thirdly, I know this from this
verse. God chose a people to save, and He has saved those
people. It says here, we are His people. We'll come
back to He has made us. We are His people. Well, how
do we get to be His people? He chose us. He chose a people,
and they belong to God. They belong to Him, and He gave
those people to His Son. That's the sheep. The psalmist
says we're the sheep of His pasture. He can't be talking about anything
here other than divine election. Who are the sheep? Our Lord said,
the sheep are all those that the Father gave Him. And the
Savior said, the Father gave those sheep to Me, and I came
to save them. I've come to get them. And that's
exactly what he did. Christ died to save those people
from their sin. And those sheep, they're saved. They're being saved. And they
will be all brought to the Father. Then let's live our life following,
depending on him. We belong to him. We're his people. He's our shepherd. We're the
sheep of his pasture. I thought about this this afternoon.
Here is a mighty good reason to follow the Lord and serve
the Lord. We're the sheep of his pasture. We're not the sheep
of his slaughterhouse. We're the sheep of his pasture.
Where he watches over the sheep, where he feeds them, where he
takes care of them, where they're never out of his eye, where no
harm can come to him. I know the Lord. I want to serve Him, don't you?
If I know Him, I want to serve Him. Fourthly, I know this from
this verse. I know that God gives His people
life. He made us and not we ourselves. Now look at Acts chapter 17.
This is true physically. God made us. He's the only one
who can give us physical life. Acts chapter 17, verse 22. Then Paul stood in the midst
of Mars Hill and said, You men of Athens, I perceive that in
all things you're too superstitious, you're too religious. You're
just going through this. This is religion without knowledge. It's superstitious. For I passed
by and beheld your devotions, and I found an altar with this
inscription to the unknown God, whom therefore you ignorantly
worship. Him declare I unto you. God that made the world and all
things therein. Seeing that he's Lord of heaven
and earth, dwells not in temples made with hands, neither is worshiped
with men's hands, as though he needed anything. Seeing he giveth
to all life and breath and all things, and is made of one blood,
all nations of men, for to dwell in the face of the earth. And
hath determined the times before appointed and the bounds of their
habitation. He gave them life, he decides how long they live.
That they should seek the Lord. If happily they may feel after
him and find him, Though he be not very far from every one of
us, for in him we live and move and have our being. As certain
also of your own poets have said, for we are also his offspring. Now that's true of our physical
life. God made us. He made us. He gave us life.
He sustains our lives. Then it's just our reasonable
service to present those bodies, those living bodies, which God's
given us to be used in his service. He's given us physical life.
And this is true spiritually. God's the only one who can give
spiritual life. God gives spiritual life and
he sustains that life through the preaching of Christ, through
the preaching of his word. He made us in the new birth.
Now he did that, right? Everybody can be in agreement.
We had nothing to do with that. He did that. He made us. He gave us life. Then let's live
as his children. Let's live for his family. not
for our selfish interest and serve him. The Lord made us as
he sees fit. Could be he'd make us a vessel
of mercy. That's what I want to be, don't
you? I want to be a vessel of mercy. God made you a vessel
of mercy. Then let's seek and pray that the Lord might use
us in his service for the good of his people. All right, here's
the fourth thing. Serve the Lord by entering into
his gates. Verse four, Psalm 100. Enter
into his gates with thanksgiving and into his courts with praise.
Be thankful unto him and bless his name. Now this word enter,
it means come and abide. And the gates actually means
doors. Speaking of the Lord Jesus Christ,
the door. So this is what the psalmist
is saying. Come to Christ and abide. Come to him and stay right
there. Don't ever graduate an inch from
Christ. Don't ever graduate just a centimeter
from depending completely on Him. Don't graduate to look a
hair's breadth away from Christ. Keep looking to Christ and Christ
only. This word enter is often translated
brought throughout scripture. Well, you know why we enter?
You know why we enter in His gates? Because the Spirit brought
us to Christ. He drew us. That's the only reason
we've come to Christ, isn't it? Well, then enter with thanksgiving.
The believer's life should be a life of thanksgiving. It really should. I know how
we get things go against us. And I know I'm the most guilty
one in this room. I know. Our lives, the believer's
life should be a life of thanksgiving. We ought to begin and end every
day, and throughout our day, be thankful. Be thankful. And
being thankful is more than saying thank you. Now, we ought to be
thankful. Our prayers ought to include
thanksgiving. But being thankful is living being thankful. It's
being conscious. Everything I have, God gave me.
I'm thankful for it. I didn't earn none of this. I
didn't get any of this for myself. God gave it to me. And that attitude
of heart will show itself in kindness and generosity to others. That's living, being thankful,
being thoughtful about the needs of others. The Lord has brought
us to Christ. He's enabled us to enter His
gates. Then let's live in praise. Let's
live in praise of the name of the Savior who loved us and washed
us from our sins in His own blood. Let's live praising the name
of the Savior who has made us righteous and accepted in Him.
Just live to serve Him. Alright, can you give me a reason
why I should want to serve the Lord? Why should I want to just
give my whole self over to serve the Lord like that? I can tell
you. It's His mercy is everlasting.
Verse 5, For the Lord is good, His mercy is everlasting, and
His truth endureth to all generations. One writer I read said that this
verse sums up the whole character of God. The Lord is good. Isn't He good? He is good to
His people. He's gracious. He's kind. He's loving to His people. God's
good. He's never done anything evil to anybody. He's good. If that doesn't motivate you
to want to serve the Lord, nothing else will. It'll motivate God's
people, I can tell you that. And the Lord is mercy. merciful. His mercy endureth forever. His mercy doesn't have a beginning
and it doesn't have an ending. It endureth forever. God's mercy
can never end because that mercy has been bought with the precious
blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. See, God isn't merciful by ignoring
the sins of his people. God's merciful by paying for
the sin of his people, by punishing that sin in the person of Christ,
our substitute. God can be merciful to you because
he made his son an offering for sin. Now, if that doesn't motivate
you to serve the Lord with gladness, nothing will. That touches the
heart of God's people. What makes him want to serve
him? In God's mercy and truth, endureth to all generations. Salvation in Christ never will
change. Salvation by God's grace will
never change. Then you can trust the Lord who
never changes. Come serve, serve him gladly,
serving willingly because his mercy is everlasting. We'll hope
that the Lord will bless that too. Let's bow together. Our Father, how we thank you
for the Precious promises of Your Word, the glorious revelations
of our Lord Jesus Christ in Your Word. He's our Lord, our Master,
our King, who humbled Himself to save His people from their
sins. Father, how we thank You. How our hearts abound with thanksgiving. Human lips cannot express the
thanksgiving and praise that's in our heart for Christ our Savior.
Father, how we thank you. And it is our earnest prayer
that you would enable us to serve you, to serve you well, to serve
you cheerfully, willingly, to serve you with knowledge. Father,
use us in your service. Make us vessels of mercy and
grace that are used in the great house, the great kingdom of your
dear son. It's in his precious name we
pray and give thanks.