If you'll turn with me now to
Psalm 100. Psalm 100. Brother Don reminded us toward
the end of the conference that what we had experienced in the
meetings each time we gathered there and met What we had experienced in the
meetings is what the Scriptures teach us to be true worshipers. True worshipers. I turn my TV
on from time to time and turn over and watch the churches,
different ones, in what they call worship. Crowds are doing this. Or some of them works. And they
call that worship. That's not worship. That's not
worship. At each one of these meetings
we sang hymns of praise and thanksgiving to God. We sang not something
different than what we preach. We sang not something different
than what we believe. We sang things in harmony with
what we believe. We sang things that are in harmony
with our hope, in harmony with our hearts. Otherwise, you can't
sing from the heart, can you? You have to identify with what
you sing in order to worship God. So we sang hymns of praise
and thanksgiving to God, and at each meeting we had a public
reading of the Scriptures. We opened the book and we read
the Scriptures. It said in a certain place that
our Lord took the scrolls, it was delivered unto Him, and His
habit, as His habit was, He opened and read the Scriptures. He read
the Scriptures. And then at each meeting, we
had a certain man who, with forethought, led the congregation in prayer. An elder of the people of this
church or that one, whichever it was, told ahead of time, and
with some forethought, he led the congregation in prayer. And
then during the course of these meetings, a public offering was
taken. He didn't take up an offering
every night of the meeting, but over the course of the meetings,
an offering was taken. And then at each meeting, the
preaching of the gospel was preeminent. That's what occupied most of
the time. The preaching of the gospel.
And it was heard. And it was listened to in godly
reverence. And it was rejoiced in by all
those who believed. That's worship. That's what it
is to worship God. The Apostle Paul told the Philippians
that one of the marks of true spiritual circumcision was that
they worshipped God in the Spirit. What he's talking about there
is not what men call worshipping in the Spirit when they're jumping
up and down all these things that they do.
But to worship God in spirit is to worship Him in spiritual
understanding of what's being sang and what's being preached.
That's how you worship God. You can only worship God from
your hearts. From your hearts. If your heart's
not right with God, it don't matter what your mouth says.
If your heart's not in it, With the heart man believeth unto
righteousness." It doesn't matter what his mouth says, it's what
his heart does. And these true worshippers, they
worship God in spirit and in truth, he said. True worshippers
worship God in spirit and in truth. That is, they hear the
truth, they understand the truth, and they find hope and rejoice
in the truth. And that's what Psalm 100, is
all about. It's a psalm of worship and praise. And he tells us in verse 1, he
said, Make a joyful noise unto the Lord all ye lands. Nothing more marks the heart
of a true worshiper than joy. Wasn't it a joy to be in Daniel?
Huh? I'm telling you, it was a joy.
I paced the floor in between time. I'm back at the motel,
and I'd sit down and try to study, and all I could think about was
that meeting coming up. I wanted more. I wanted more. And the messages were just wonderful. We didn't have a bad message
in the bunch. Every service was just right
on the button. And we were filled with joy and
anticipation for the next meeting. I don't think anything more marks
the heart of a true worshipper than joy. Joy. God found him lost and ruined. You ever think about that? Remember,
he said, that pit from which you was dug. You ever think about
that? God found you when you was lost and ruined. He found
you cashed out into the field like that little baby. Unwanted. uncared for, unwashed, no provisions
made, just cast out in a field. God found you in your wickedness
and sin. God found you as you was, altogether
an unclean thing, dressed only in the filthy, filthy rags of
your self-righteousness. God found you dead in trespasses
and sins. And God called you then with
a holy calling, not according to your works, you didn't have
any. Not according to your righteousness, you didn't have any. Not according
to your goodness or your decisions, you didn't have any. You were
cast out. You were dead. But He called
you with a holy calling, not according to your works, but
according to His own purpose and grace. That's what it says
in 2 Timothy 1.9 if you want to look it up. It was according to His own purpose
and grace which was given to you in Christ Jesus before the
world began. That's why He called you. He called you because you were
one of the called according to His purpose. Isn't that what
it says in Romans 8, 28? All things work together for
good to them who love God, to them who are the called according
to His purpose. And I tell you, when He called
you, you rejoiced, didn't you? That's where the joy comes from.
He made provision for you. He loved you. He called you.
He cleansed you. He justified you. I tell you,
no man has more joy than a man who knows what God has done for
him. He has joy within. Joy. You don't have to shame that
man into worship. He wants to worship. He has every
reason to worship. You don't have to reward him
to get him to come to church. Henry told about churches that
he was in at one time and some of the things, they were grooming
him to be another Billy Graham. And he came up through there
and they taught him all those tricks and things on how to get
people. You know they used to hide, they'd take a little scotch
tape or two-sided tape and they'd take a five dollar bill and stick
it up on the bench and they'd tell you there's a five dollar
bill in here tonight. Whoever sits there, they're gonna
get that five. To get folks to come. To get folks to come. We used to have things in that
Nazarene church I went to years ago. the preacher and if you
went over a certain amount of people to come in or he that
invited the most people to come in, whatever it was, they come
up and cut the preacher's tie off. Huh? You get folks to come. You don't
have to reward this man to come. He wants to come. He wants to
be there. He wants to praise God. It is
not a job for him. He does not have to be pumped
up every time he comes because he deflates sometimes during
the week. He does not deflate. He is inflated. He is inflated with the love
of God and the grace of God and he wants to be there. He wants
to be there. He looks forward to it. He maybe
cannot carry a tune in a bucket, but he is going to come and make
a joyful noise unto the Lord. And then look at this. He said,
serve the Lord with gladness. Come before His presence with
singing. David, looking back over all
the blessings of God in his life and the high privilege of being
among God's elect, he said this in the psalm. He said, a day
in thy courts is better than a thousand. You've been all over the place
this year. You've been out there in St. Louis, down in Texas. You've been all over the place
this year. How many of them days would you trade for one day?
Huh? How many days would you trade?
A day in his courts. One day in his courts. Oh, you
cherish it in your heart like you would a thousand of the rest
of them. Oh, David said, I'd rather be
a doorkeeper in the house of the Lord than to live out all
my days in the tents of the wicked. And David said this. He said,
I was glad. I was glad when they come and
told me, let's go up to the house of the Lord. He said, I was glad. Somebody said, well, it's easy
for you to say. You're a preacher. Would to God I could have lived
every day of my life seeing myself serving the Lord. In my marriage, as the priest
over my house, in spiritual education of my children, at the workplace,
in my business dealings, and in my community. We're stewards. If you're here this morning and
you're a believer, you're a steward of the grace of God. That's what
He tells us in the Scripture. We're stewards. What's the one
thing that God requires from a steward? Faithfulness. Faithfulness. Live out your days. You're a
steward, John, of the grace of God. Be a husband. Be a gracious husband. Be a gracious
father. Be a gracious worker. Be a gracious
in your community. Be a husband as unto the Lord.
Be a father to your children as unto the Lord. And be a servant
at the workplace as unto the Lord. And serve Him with gladness. And then come before His presence
with singing. Let your heart be known in your
songs. Salvation is a heart work. Oh,
teach me to sing from my heart that experience of grace that's
in me. I'll tell you this, if you can't
sing a hymn from your heart, you'd be better off not singing
at all. Just shut up and sit there. Don't even sing it. If
you can't sing from your heart, if you can't identify with what
you're singing, if this is not your heart's cry to God, then
just don't sing at all. Don't sing it off. Now look here in verses 3 through
5, the Lord gives five reasons to serve Him with gladness. Five
reasons to come into His presence in song, singing His praise,
and rejoicing in our hearts. He gives us five reasons. Here's
the first one. He said to know that the Lord
He is God. What in the world does that mean? A little over 2,000 years ago,
in a manger of a stable, Mary, the wife of Joseph, gave birth
to a little baby boy, and they called his name Jesus. He was not the seed of Joseph,
but rather he was the seed of the Holy Spirit of God. And Joseph's
fiancée, she was pregnant, and they weren't married yet. And
that troubled him. And he didn't know what to do.
He loved this woman. And so he thought on these things.
And I'm sure he was given advice by others that maybe the best
thing to do, you love this woman, and so you just put her away
private. And he thought on these things, and he was troubled in
his heart. But an angel of the Lord was dispatched, and he spoke
to Joseph in a dream, and he said, Fear not to take unto thee
Mary thy wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the
Holy Ghost. Matthew 1.21, And she shall bring
forth a son, and thou shalt call his name Jesus, Joshua. For He shall save His people
from their sins. And then again, he quotes this
from Isaiah chapter 7. His name shall be called Immanuel,
which interpreted is God with us. That's what David's talking
about. When he said the Lord, He is
God. That's why his heart leaped with
joy. Well, you say, that's an amazing
fact. That's a wondrous miracle. But what's it got to do with
glad hearts and thankful servants? Well, brethren, to be saved,
a man's character must be brought into harmony with the perfect
character of God. Let me give you some examples. We say, because of some outward
evidence, he's a good man. How many times do you say that?
You're talking about somebody you know, talking about somebody
that died in the community, or talking about somebody that was
recognized over there. Well, he's a good man. He's a good man. That rich young
ruler came to Christ. And he'd heard of his reputation. Christ went about doing good.
He went about healing the sick and feeding the hungry and all
those things. He relieved the sufferings of men around him,
and he was a good man. He was a good man. In the eyes
of men, in his outward conduct, he was a good man. And this rich
young ruler came to him and he said, good master, and the Lord
just stopped him right there, dead in his tracks. And he said,
why callest thou me good? There's none good but God. Now if you're going to talk about
good in the eyes of men, then say it that way. Don't just say
good and walk away. Just say, you know, in the eyes
of men, he was a good man. As men go, he was a good man
among men. But if you're talking about goodness,
we're talking about good as God. Because there's none good but
God. None good. Holiness. Hannah prayed in 1 Samuel chapter
2. saying she rejoiced in the salvation
of the Lord. And her very next words, listen
to this, they are non-holy as the Lord. You ever heard folks talk about
that person, how holy they were? They are non-holy but the Lord. They are non-holy but Him. Holy
in reverence to His name. And it's the same with all of
God's attributes. All of God's attributes. God's
attributes are called by all the Gospel writers His perfections. Whenever you're reading in an
old book, an old commentator or whatever, you're reading in
there and they start talking about the perfections of God,
that's what they're talking about, His attributes. He's perfect. He's perfect love, perfect justice,
perfect mercy, perfect grace. These are His perfections. And
to save a fallen son or daughter of Adam, they must have a goodness
and righteousness and holiness equal with God. That's why the Scriptures tell
us, after He tells us, that there's no difference between the Jew
and the Greek. They're all under sin. That's
what He said in Romans chapter 3. They're all under sin. Yeah,
but what's that mean? That means they're non-righteous.
That means they're non-good. That means there's none that
understandeth. That means there's none that seeketh after God.
And he goes all the way through all of those things, takes away
all men's excuses, leaves them guilty before God. And then he
tells us on down there in verse 23 that all have sinned. Now
listen, and come short of the glory of God. They've all sinned
and come short of the glorious attributes of God. Hold up. But now, he said, thank God,
the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being
witnessed by the law and the prophets, even the righteousness
of God, which is by the faithfulness of Jesus Christ unto all and
upon all them that believe. By the person and work of Jesus
Christ, we're made one with Him and therefore accepted in the
beloved. Listen to the Scriptures, Colossians
chapter 2 verse 9. For in Him, talking about Christ,
dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead, fullness of justice,
fullness of righteousness, fullness of holiness, and ye are complete
in Him. In Him. I serve the Lord with
gladness and rejoice to sing His praise because He truly is
God our Savior. In Him, He brings me to God and
makes me accepted to God. He makes me as good as God in
Him. He said, in that day I present
you before the glory of my Father, thoughtless before the presence
of His glory. Think about that. Botless. Botless. And then secondly, and
I'll try to be a little bit more brief, where His people and the
sheep of His pasture. See it there in verse 3, Psalm
100? God has a people. God has a people. Well, what's
that mean? It means that not all are doomed.
That's what that means. What if God didn't have a people?
What if God judged man in the garden? Then there's no hope
for anybody. Because He tells us, by one man
sin entered into the world, in Romans chapter 5. Isn't that
what it says? By one man sin entered into the
world, and death by sin, and so death passed upon all men.
What's the evidence? They've all sinned. There's no
hope there. No hope there. No hope in man? What if God didn't choose a people?
What if God didn't have a people? What if God didn't make provision
for a people? Then all are doomed. All are
doomed. I tell you, when He said He has
a people, what that means is not all will be left to themselves. Some men are. You read about
them over in Romans chapter 1. Turned them over to themselves. Turned them over. Do unnatural
acts with one another. Turned them over to themselves.
Gave them up to themselves. Gave them over to a reprobate
mind. The fact that God has a people
tells me this. Not all will be undisturbed on
their road to hell. Some men are. Some men live a
life undisturbed. Undisturbed. Go right into hell. Right into hell. David said there
are no bans in their death. He looked at them and actually
got angry. They prospered in the world,
got their way in the world, had beautiful wife, fine children,
good education, lived in a fine house, but died and went to hell. I don't know if God has ever
opened your eyes to see the power of sin, but sin reigns under
death. Man's nature dictates in an unchallenged
rule everything he does. Everything he does. Sin always
wins the day. Think about it. It always wins
the day. Sometimes it deceives you and
thinks you won the day. Sin always, it always gets its
way. And it's utter foolishness to
talk about a self-eradication of sin. It can't be done, I'm
telling you. Paul said, when I would do good,
evil was present. And the good that I would, I
do not. I don't do it. And the evil that I wouldn't
do, that's exactly what I do. So now, what you going to say?
What you going to say to that? Oh, wretched man that I am. Do you know that? Is that a fact in your heart
or just something you think about in your head? Oh, wretched man
that I am. I don't have any good thoughts. And if I do, God gave them to
me. They're gifts of His grace. What have you gotten that you
haven't received? You received it. And if you received it, why
do you glory in it like you didn't? God gave it to you. Sin is an active principle. It's
a nature. It's an attitude of the heart.
And God's law is spiritual, Paul said. It requires perfection,
not just the best you can do. And we, Paul said, are carnal
and sold unto sin. And he says this too in Romans
chapter 7. If you read through that chapter,
he said, And we know that in this flesh dwelleth no good thing. I wonder if we really do know
that. No good thing. An election of God is out of
a condemned race who are already judged and guilty and awaiting
punishment. That man who sees this, who understands
this, who understands that God chose a people out of a condemned
race. He chose sinners. and provided
for the sinner a salvation. People who know that rejoice
in election. Yes, they do. He sings it in
praise to his God and with thanksgiving in his heart. Talking about the
sovereign grace of God in election, Paul quotes Isaiah and he said,
except the Lord of Sabaoth had left us a seed, we'd been like
Sodom. Been just like Sodom. and just
like Gomorrah, destroyed forever by the wrath of God. We sang
that song a while ago. Elect from every nation. Isn't
that what that song says in the second verse that we sang? The
church is one foundation. Elect from every nation, yet
one over all the earth. We sing that song, we're going
to sing that as a Or we sang that as our opening hymn today,
You chosen seed of Israel's race, You ransom from the fall. Can
you sing that from the heart? We serve Him gladly and we rejoice
in His presence because the Lord, He is God. And because we are
His people, the sheep of His pasture. All those Pharisees,
they murmured at Him and just irritated at him. And finally
they just came to him and they said, if thou be the cross, tell
us plainly. He said, I told you. I told you. But you believe not. How come? Because you're not of my sheep.
My sheep hear my voice. My sheep hear my voice. And they
follow me. And I give unto them eternal
life. And no man is going to pluck them out of my hand. We are His people. The sheep
of His pasture. And then thirdly, David tells
us in verse 4 that we have free access into His gates and into
His courts. What joy and praise and thanksgiving
fills my heart. when I remember standing on the
outside looking in. Oh, I went down where the elect
of God were gathered, went inside with a convicted
heart, and I felt like a beggar standing outside a festival looking
in. Everybody in that place was rejoicing. and singing in tears of joy and
praising God while I stood on the outside looking in. Have you ever been
there? On the outside, looking in. Everybody in there had a place.
They were supposed to be there. This was their communion. This
was their celebration. They all rejoiced while this
old beggar had to stand the fire off. Oh, I tell you, the prodigal, down in the hog
pen, he was on the outside looking in. What? Huh? Oh, he began to remember and
picture in his mind, even the servants, even the servants in
my father's house, even the servants treated better than I am. Oh, my soul. Oh, how I wanted what they had,
feasting on the bread of heaven, drinking from the good wine, But outside it was cold. And I never felt so all alone. I'd try to pray, try to read,
try to believe. And it was just like a wall,
an impassable wall. And then one day in the sweet
experience of grace, God revealed Christ in my heart. And like the prodigal, He put
the ring on my finger. He didn't go home and get a ring,
did He? He wasn't expecting a ring. He was just hoping to get a bunk
in the bunkhouse. God put the ring on his finger.
The sun's ring, the air's ring. The seal of the master's house. Put it on his finger. And he put the royal robe on
him. And he called for a celebration.
His son had spent his last night on the outside looking in. He liked my fiddle shed. crippled by the fall. That old
son of Saul and David took his men and he was destroying all
the sons of Saul. All those who would challenge
the throne of God. All but Mephibosheth. All but
Mephibosheth. Because he had made a covenant
before God concerning old Mephibosheth. Made a covenant with Jonathan,
didn't he? to spare, to spare him. And he had old Mephibosheth
fetched into his presence. And Mephibosheth thought, well,
this is it. This is the last of my days.
And David brought him in and made a place for him at the table
and gave him a bed in the king's house. You know anything about
what I'm talking about? Oh, I can enter now into His gates
with thanksgiving, and into His courts with praise. And then
watch this, here's the fourth thing. I can bless His name because
He's good. He's good. It was His goodness that led
us to repentance, wasn't it? Isn't that what Scripture said?
The goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance. All our dealings as His elect
have been dealings of grace. Grace before grace. You remember
that lesson back in John chapter 1? Grace before grace. Just one example after the other
of the goodness of God. It was His goodness that caused
His mercy, David said, to follow me all the days of my life. And David said, I'd paint it
unless I'd believe to see the goodness of the Lord in the land
of the living. And in that golden chain of assurance
over there in Romans chapter 8, he begins this way by telling
us, and we know, we do, all believers know this, that all things work
together for good. How come? Because God is good
to them that love God, to them who are the called. according
to His purpose. And then fifthly, He tells us
that we can come into His presence and serve Him with gladness and
sing His praise because His mercy is everlasting. What if it wasn't? What if it wasn't? You know there's
folks who claim to be believers who act that way. They just needed
to step in. They just needed to turn in the
right direction. That's all they needed. That is the way believers talk.
What if His mercy wasn't? What of our souls then? How long
would you last? How far could you go if God withdrew
His mercy? But I tell you, it is. His mercy
does endure. Praise God, it's everlasting.
His mercy endures forever. It endures. Now listen to me,
our unbelief. Yes, it does. It endures our half-hearted attempts
to worship. It endures our coldness and indifference. It endures our unfaithfulness.
It endures our enemies' accusations. And when everything else is gone,
His mercy endures forever. Think about that. Huh? Don't that do something to your
heart, make you want to worship God? That's what David... David
just sat back and thought about the experience of grace in his
heart. And he said, this is what worship's
all about. And he sang about it. It moved
him to songs. Listen to this, unto him who's
able to keep us from falling and to present us faultless before
the presence of his glory with exceeding joy. To the only wise
God our Savior, be glory and majesty and dominion and power
both now and forever. And then last of all, he tells
us this. He gives this as his last greeting.
He said, because his truth endureth to all generations. Now, why
should it fill my heart with gladness and joy and praise?
I know that that's a true statement. And I know it's an amazing statement.
I know that. Most people read that and consent
with that. But why should this bring me
into the house of God with gladness and joy and cause me to sing
praise unto his name? Turn with me to Acts chapter
2. I'll tell you why. Because I've got unsaved children.
That's why. I've got unsaved grandchildren.
They don't know the Lord. They don't know anything about
Him. And if the Lord tarries, I might even have some great-grandchildren. I want you to see something here.
This chapter here is about the Pentecost. This is about the
pouring out of the Holy Spirit into this world and upon the
church. And the promise of God with the
giving of the Holy Ghost is that His truth. What's he talking
about? He's talking about Christ. Christ
said, I am the way, the truth, and the life. When he's talking
about his truth, preserving his truth, he's talking about Christ. He's talking about the truth
concerning Christ, the message of this book. And didn't he call
his spirit the spirit of truth? When the spirit of truth has
come, he'll guide you into all truth. And are not his preachers
sent to preach the truth? Peter stood up on this day of
Pentecost and he preached to the same mob that crucified the
Son of God. And the Holy Ghost pricked their
hearts and they cried, what are we going to do? Acts 2.38. Peter said unto them,
repent. That's what you can do. Repent. And be baptized every one of
you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins. And
you shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost." Now, what in
the world is he talking about there? The gift of the Holy Ghost.
Well, in John 16, verse 13, it says, "...have be it when He,
the Spirit of truth, is come. He will guide you into all truth,
for He won't speak of Himself, but whatsoever He shall hear,
that shall He speak. He will glorify Me, Christ said,
for He shall receive of Mine and show it unto you." It's the
revelation of Christ in you. That's what he's talking about.
Acts 2.39, for the promise, the promise of this, the promise
of this revelation of Christ at the declaration of the gospel,
the very evidence of the Spirit of God in your heart, for the
promise is unto you, now listen, and to your children. My children are lost. This is my only hope right here. A promise is unto you and to
your children and to all that are borrowed. even as many as
the Lord our God shall call." Huh? I'm not Pentecostal, but that
makes me want to shout. Huh? Don't that make your heart
praise God? Praise God. All the religion
and all the Antichrist and all... Paul said, if our gospel be hid,
it's hid to the lost in whom the God of this world has blinded
the minds of them that believe not, lest the light of the glorious
gospel of Christ should shine unto them. They've been swept
away in darkness by multitudes, multitudes this very day, being
lied to and deceived and swept away into darkness. Oh, you say the gospel will be
gone pretty soon. Not according to the promise
of God, it won't. Not according to God's promise.
But the promise is to your children, and to your children's children,
and to as many as the Lord your God shall call. Peter said, the
Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some men count
slackness. But He is longsuffering to us
for it. Not willing that any should perish,
but that all should come unto repentance. Every last one of
his elect. He'll not burn this world up.
The elements will not dissolve until the last of God's elect
be called into the fold. Oh, may God be pleased to quicken
these dead hearts and teach us something about worship. Our Father, we thank You for
this blessed opportunity to come into this place and worship our
God, and to worship You with some understanding, to worship You with some revelation
into Your character and Your holiness and Your purpose and
Your counsels. Oh, help us. Help us to see these
things. and to preach them. And then
as we contemplate coming into this place, teach us how to prepare
ourselves in the Word of God and through prayer to come here
and worship our God. We ask it for Christ's sake.
Amen.