Enter His Gates With Thanksgiving

Psalm 100...

I was at JD’s brother’s funeral yesterday......25 years old.......Anyway, the service started with these ladies singing “How Great Thou Art”........What a way to start off that service!

How Great is our God!!! You can think a lot of things during that most difficult time, but the greatest thought, the greatest belief is how Great is our God! Why do we believe this???

The speaker right after that was Eric’s uncle, a preacher. Eric had stayed with them in Louisiana for a time, his uncle later revealed that Eric had asked his uncle to baptize him. I remember when the family went to Louisiana for that baptism.

I had already had my heart to speak on these verses today, but I just got overwhelmed when those ladies sung that powerful song.........Nothing else can shatter the tragedy of losing one so young than the greatness of God......the Grace of God.......For that and that alone He is worthy of every praise and thanks!

Paul said in Romans 1:16 “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.”

The Gospel of Jesus Christ is overwhelming in it’s power, restoring the souls to eternal life, making us sons and daughters of God! Truly, overwhelming!

As we come together today and again this afternoon, this is our reason! I love hanging out with you all, but the greater part of our relationship is God the Father, God the Son, & God the Holy Spirit!

Let’s read our text.....Psalm 100:1-5.....

Verse 1......Psalm 98:4 “Make a joyful noise unto the Lord, all the earth: Make a loud noise, and rejoice, and sing praise.”

Isaiah 24:14–15 “They shall lift up their voice, they shall sing For the majesty of the Lord, they shall cry aloud from the sea. Wherefore glorify ye the Lord in the fires, Even the name of the Lord God of Israel in the isles of the sea.”

Spurgeon said this of verse 1.......In every land Jehovah's goodness is seen, therefore in every land should be be praised. Nearer will the world be in its proper condition till with one unanimous shout it adores the only God. O ye nations, how long will ye blindly reject him?

Paul and Silas in chains/stocks began to sing unto the Lord praises! Acts 16:25–26 “And at midnight Paul and Silas prayed, and sang praises unto God: and the prisoners heard them. And suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken: and immediately all the doors were opened, and every one’s bands were loosed.”

The praise come before the miracle!

Job praised the Lord in the midst of tragedy....Job 1:20–21 “Then Job arose, and rent his mantle, and shaved his head, and fell down upon the ground, and worshipped, And said, Naked came I out of my mother’s womb, And naked shall I return thither: The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away; Blessed be the name of the Lord.”

Verse 2.....He is our Lord, and therefore he is to be served; he is our gracious Lord, and therefore to be served with joy

Psalm 63:3–5 “Because thy lovingkindness is better than life, My lips shall praise thee. Thus will I bless thee while I live: I will lift up my hands in thy name. My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness; And my mouth shall praise thee with joyful lips:”

I believe that sums it up nicely!

Because......Motivation to do.....

Action........Praise with our lips.....joyful lips

Satisfied......gladness, joyful, content!

Verse 3.....Our worship must be intelligent! Paul often said “I would not have you ignorant”

Jesus said in His prayer John 17:3 “And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.”

We are His.....He created us, we have no power of creation nor do we have power to redeem ourselves!

He has made us and He has restored us to His Pasture through His Son Jesus Christ!

1 Corinthians 6:19–20 “What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.”

Do you not know that you are Bought with a price?!!!!

Verse 4........CHS...... “In all our public service the rendering of thanks must abound; it is like the incense of the temple, which filled the whole house with smoke. Atoning sacrifices are ended, but those of gratitude will never be out of date.”

Hebrews 13:15 “By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name.”

Colossians 3:16–17 “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him.”

Be thankful and Bless His Name...... “He blessed you, bless him in return; bless his name, his character, his person. Whatever he does, be sure that you bless him for it; bless him when he takes away as well as when he gives; bless him as long as you live, under all circumstances; bless him in all his attributes, from whatever point of view you consider him.”

We are His temple......we must remain in thanksgiving/praise.....What has God through Christ done for you?

Verse 5.........This Psalm of thanksgiving and praise ends with the motivation for the thanks and praise!

NASB reads this way........ “For the LORD is good; His lovingkindness is everlasting And His faithfulness to all generations”

When Moses asked to see God’s glory, this is what God said to Moses as He passed by......Exodus 34:6–7 “And the Lord passed by before him, and proclaimed, The Lord, The Lord God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth, Keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty; visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and upon the children’s children, unto the third and to the fourth generation.”

The reality of this has been shown through the Person and Work of Jesus Christ!

Romans 5:8 “But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” ....Demonstrated......

1 John 4:10 “Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.”

Ephesians 2:4–5 “But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)”

God’s goodness is seen through the longstanding relationship that God has with the people. The characteristics of God’s “steadfast love” and “faithfulness” appear frequently in tandem in the Psalms to describe God’s enduring commitment to God’s people (36:5; 40:10; 88:11; 89:1-2, 24, 33, 49; 92:2; 98:3). What makes God good is that God has been reliable for a long time. Thus we can continue to rely on God into the future.

Titus 1:2 “In hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began;”

Hebrews 6:18 “That by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us:”

Romans 4:21 “And being fully persuaded that, what he had promised, he was able also to perform.”

Psalm 89:1 “I will sing of the mercies of the Lord for ever: With my mouth will I make known thy faithfulness to all generations.”

How many right here right now, can exclaim praises and thanksgiving to the Lord, how many knows the goodness and faithfulness of the Lord! It is revealed in Jesus Christ! To know that, to believe that is the power of God and fulness of joy....John 15:5–6 “I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing........ John 15:10–11 “If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father’s commandments, and abide in his love. These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full.”