Psalm 100:1-5
WHAT EVERYONE SHOULD BRING TO CHURCH
Intro: People bring all kinds of things to church. Some
bring snack, candy and toys (Especially loud toys!) to
entertain the kids. (A trip to the woodshed would have
a more permanent impact!) I have even seen people
read books while the sermon is being preached! Some
think this is the time and place to balance their
checkbook. Others bring their nail clippers and trim
their fingernails. (We have even found toenail clippings
on the floor!) Some things should be left at the house!
Of course, in a positive sense, many bring their Bibles,
(Hold them up!). There are some things everyone
should bring to church.
Psalm 100 is a Psalm of the future millennial
kingdom it describes what worship will be like in the day
when the Lord Jesus Christ reigns in glory and power
upon the earth. We are not in that glorious day right
now, but we are in the family of God and we are
commanded to gather ourselves together and worship
Him in His church, Heb. 10:25. With that in mind, let it
be said that this Psalm tells us exactly what everyone
ought to bring to church when they come. Let's look at
that together this morning.
I. V. 1-2 BRING THE RIGHT SPIRIT
A. V. 1 A Shouting Spirit - We are told to "Make a
joyful noise unto the LORD." Let's break this
down and see what He is commanding us to do.
1. First, there is the word "Make" - This word
means to "Make music" It is used to refer to
singing and to the Psalms.
2. Then, there is the word "Joyful". This word
means "to give a public confession of the
attributes and works of God."
3. Thirdly, there is the word "Noise". This word
means "to raise a shout." It refers to a
"ringing cry" A cry that pierces the eardrum!
(Ill. When all these things are put together, we
can see that the Psalmist is calling on the people
of the Lord to raise an anthem of praise from
their hearts to the Lord. This is a challenge to
participate in the public praise of God's Person
and works.)
(Ill. Psa. 40:1-3 tells us what the Lord did for us
when He saved us. These verses tell us that He
put "a new song in my mouth." No longer was
I singing after the world ad all it offered, now I
was singing o the Lord Who sought me and
bought me and brought me out! The right spirit
is a spirit of shouting! Remember, genuine
praise is always vocal, visible and public! He
gets no glory when we hold it in!)
B. V. 2a A Serving Spirit - The word "serve",
means "to be in bondage to". It refers to doing
whatever the master tells the slave to do. It
means "to be at his beck and call." When we
got saved, we became the Lord's property, 1
Cor. 6:20. Therefore, we are to do what He tells
us to do without question or hesitation. Some
folks don't like that already. They don't like
anyone telling them what to do. Well, if you
didn't like that, then you ain't gonna like this
either! He tells us that we are to serve Him with
"gladness". This little word means "with mirth."
This is a word that we don't use much in our
modern times, but it means "gladness or gaiety
accompanied with laughter." This verse is
telling us that we are to serve the Lord with
laughter! We are to be so filled with love for Him
that regardless of what He asks us to do, we are
tickled to death to do it! This is the attitude that
filled David's heart in Psalm 122:1! He was
filled with mirth when it was time to go to church!
(Ill. That word "gladness" is an interesting word.
It carries with the meaning of being "wide-eyed
with a big grin". It brings to mind the
unvarnished joy of a child. When something
happens that they like, it affects the whole body!
The mouth flies open, the eyes get wide, the
face lights up, the heart lifts and the soul
rejoices. Such should be the delight for us old
sinners as we come to serve the Lord our God
Who has redeemed us from death and Hell by
His precious blood!)
C. V. 2b A Singing Spirit - Here, we are told to
approach the Lord our God with "singing". This
little word refers again to "the ringing cry, the
shout of joy." Our hearts should be so filled
with the wonder of Who He is and what He has
done for us that we allow His praises to burst
forth from our inner being.
(Ill. These first two verses tell us that when God
is in your life, you will not be able to hide Him!
You will not keep Him a secret for very long! You
can't have someone the size of God in your
heart without Him getting out now and them! Ill.
Sometimes He'll run out your eyes. Sometimes,
He will show up in your raised hands.
Sometimes, He'll run up you throat and over your
vocal cords and make you shout. The fact is,
you will not be able to hide Him.)
I. Bring The Right Spirit
II. V. 3 BRING THE RIGHT SUBMISSION
A. Submit To The Person Of God - We are told to
"know" that the Lord is God. This word means
"to make a distinction" We are to know that He
and He alone is God! Ill. Friend, do you have it
nailed down this morning Who your God is? Is
you God the God of the Bible? Who is your God
this morning? You might wonder how you can
know. Well, the answer is simple: what do you
give the most of your time, attention and money
to? Whatever answers that question is your
God! Have you made the right distinction and
acknowledged God Almighty as the God of your
life?
(Ill. By the way, if you ever get it nailed down in
your soul that He is the God and that He is
superior to ever other person, thing or activity in
your life, then you will have no problem serving
Him as you should! The reason some people
have trouble tithing, getting to church, or just
plain serving God as they should is that they
have a different God than the God of the Bible.
Who is your God today?)
B. Submit To The Purpose Of God - Next, we are
reminded that we are what we are because He
has "made" us. This word simply means "to
take some material and fashion something
new out of it!" You see, God took the clay that
was us and formed a new creature out of it by
His power. Regardless of what we are this
morning, we are what we are by the power of
God, 1 Cor. 15:10. Without Him, we are a zero
with the round kicked off, John 15:5.
(Ill. We need to realize this morning that God
saved us for a purpose. He didn't just redeem
us to keep us out of Hell. He didn't redeem us
so that we could feel good from time to time. He
didn't do it so that we could look down on our
long, religious noses at our lost neighbors and
feel superior. He saved us so that we might
serve Him, Eph. 2:10; James 2:18. He has a
plan for your life. He will use you if you will serve
Him!)
C. Submit To The Promise Of God - We are "the
sheep of His pasture". This statement simply
reminds us that we belong to Him and just as a
shepherd looks after the welfare of his so, so our
Lord looks after us with infinite care. David had
this nailed down in his own life, Psa. 23. You
and I need to get it nailed down in our lives also.
(Ill. If we ever grasped the truth that "The LORD
is my Shepherd.", it would forever transform us.
We would realize that we never have to worry
about a need being met. We never have to fear
anything that arises in life. We are His promises
and His guarantee that all is in His control, Rom.
8:28; Matt. 6:25-34, Phil. 4:6-7; Heb. 13:5. If
you are saved, you belong to the Chief Shepherd
and He will take care of the needs that arise in
your life. The problem we have is that many of
us have not yet learned to trust Him as we
should! We pray about a need and then
promptly try to meet it ourselves! That is totally
impossible! You and I need to get to the place
where have knocked out all the props that
support us and totally commit ourselves to a life
of faith, trusting the Lord to take care of us and
watch over our lives. If you are His sheep, He
will take care of! If He can't, then He isn't much
of a God!)
I. Bring The Right Spirit
II. Bring The Right Submission
III. V. 4-5 BRING THE RIGHT SACRIFICE
(Ill. In the Tabernacle and Temple days, the priest
had better not enter the presence of the Lord
without the right sacrifice. To do so meant death,
Heb. 9:7. Thank God, we do not have to offer a
blood sacrifice this morning! Jesus Christ has
already taken care of that forever, Heb. 10:10-14.
Notice the emphasis on "one and once". Yet, there
is still a sacrifice that the people of God need to
bring. It isn't your money, although you should bring
your tithes and offerings! It isn't you attendance,
although you should be at church at every possible
opportunity. There is just one sacrifice the Lord
expects every saint to bring to church when they
come and it is revealed in these last 2 verses of
Psalm 100. We are told to bring the sacrifice of
"praise.")
(Ill. Notice the emphasis of verse 4. This verse tells
us that we are to "Enter into His gates with
thanksgiving and into His courts with praise: be
thankful unto Him and bless His Name." Notice
a couple of quick thoughts from this verse.
1. God's House is to be a place of praise unto
Him.
2. We are given an invitation to come into His
presence.
3. We are told to enter "into His gates". Gates
are defensive weapons and are usually
closed to all outsiders. However, through the
blood of Jesus, we are no longer the
enemies of God, Rom. 8:7; but now we are
sons, Rom. 8:16-17; 1 John 3:1-3. The
gates which were once closed to us are
opened wide and we are beckoned to enter
into the presence of God as we bring to Him
the sacrifice of praise for our salvation.
4. Next, we are invited to enter "into His courts
with praise." Note that we are not just
allowed access to the outer limits of His
sanctuary, but are invited to walk into the
throne room, where we can meet Him in all of
His glory!
5. No wonder the Psalmist challenges us to be
thankful and to bless His Name. We are
counseled to bring the right sacrifice when
we enter. We are told to bring the sacrifice of
praise!
6. Verse 5 gives us three reasons for praising
His Name.
A. Praise God For His Goodness - We are told
that the Lord is "good." This seems like a limited
description for God, but the words means "good,
pleasant, beautiful, delightful, glad, joyful,
precious, correct and righteous. It can also
mean, expensive." Everything God does is an
expression of His goodness! We can praise our
God because He is good! Regardless of what
happens in life, God is good! No matter how
things turn out, God is still good! Therefore,
praise Him for His goodness!
B. Praise God For His Grace - Next we are told
that God's "mercy is everlasting." We can
praise God because He is constantly extending
His mercy to us as we go through life. As you
know mercy is defined as "not getting what you
deserve." We live in a time when everyone
wants what's coming to them. Not me! If I got
what was coming to me, I would get Hell. If I got
what I deserved this morning, I'd experience the
undiluted wrath and fierceness of the Almighty!
Instead of that, God deals with me in mercy. He
holds back His wrath from off my life. Why?
2,000 years ago God's Son, Jesus, took my
place on an old, cruel, Roman cross. While He
was dying there, all my sins were transferred to
Him and He died in my place. As He was dying,
God looked at Jesus and saw my sins. He saw
me hanging there that day and He poured out
His wrath into the Person of His Own Darling
Son. God extinguished His wrath toward me that
day, and now, I enjoy mercy! And, His mercy will
never be exhausted, Lam. 3:22-23. We will
never use it up! He makes a fresh batch
every day! That is a good reason to praise the
Lord!
C. Praise God For His Guarantee - We are told
that God's "truth endureth to all generations."
Simply stated, while the years pile up, not a
single promise of God's Word will fail! You see,
God cannot lie, Heb. 6:18, and what He has
promised will be as good in 10,000 years as it
was the instant He promised it! When He tells
you He loves you, you can count on it. When He
tells you He'll save you if you come to Him, you
can count on it. If He tells you that He'll take
care of you, you can count on it. If He tells you
He is coming back to get you, you can count on
it. If He tells you He'll keep you saved, you can
count on it. Suffice it to say that if the Lord tells
you anything at all, you can count on it. And,
that is a good reason to praise Him this morning!
Conc: Are you bringing the right things to church? Has
the Lord spoken of areas in your life that need
attention? Maybe you are as filled with His praises as
you used to be. For some reason, just going to church
is more difficult than it used to be for you and you know
you need to deal with the before the Lord. Maybe you
have never been saved and you want to get to know
this wonderful Lord that the Bible talks about in these
verses. You come and He'll meet you right down here.
I don't know your hearts today, but I know that some of
you need to look at what you are bringing to church.
Are you bringing the right spirit, the right submission
and the right sacrifice? Let's mind the Lord. As He
calls you, you come to Him.
