WORSHIP THE LORD

“Make a joyful shout to the LORD, all you lands! Serve the LORD with gladness; come before His presence with singing” … “Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, and into His courts with praise.”
—Psalm 100

A mark of a true believer is a delight in the worship of God. How you respond to worship on the Lord’s Day reveals what is going on in your soul. If you would rather be some other place when the church gathers for public worship then you reveal, at worst, an unbelieving heart, or at best, a heart of a spiritual infant. Every Sunday morning, we ought to sing these words: “Make a joyful noise unto the LORD, all ye lands. Serve the LORD with gladness: come before his presence with singing.” We ought to delight to “Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name.”

By God’s sanctifying grace, believers are those being conformed into the image of Jesus Christ. Was Jesus ever burdened by worship? Was He ever burdened to hear the Word of God? No, not ever! Therefore, as believers, we ought to delight in the worship of God by hearing His Word on the Lord’s Day. Parents, you must teach this principle to your children. They must learn what a great joy and wonderful blessing it is to gather with a congregation that faithfully stands on the truth of God’s Word. If you parents don’t rejoice to worship God, neither will your children! You must teach your children to cultivate a spirit of worship for the true and living God out of a thankful heart. You must teach them about our guilt and condemnation because of the rebellion of our heart towards God, and then point them to the grace, mercy, and forgiveness of God in Jesus Christ.

We live in sad times. Today there is such a famine for the preaching of God’s Word and a famine for the hearing of God’s Word. Too many “preachers” don’t preach the Word of God and too many church members don’t desire to hear God’s Word preached. The duty of a follower of Christ is to obey Christ’s Word. Jesus said in John 10:27, “My sheep hear my voice, and they follow Me.” And the sheep hear Christ’s voice on Sunday morning when the preacher faithfully proclaims God’s Word. Therefore, every believer has a responsibility to be in a place of worship on Sunday morning where the Word of God is faithfully preached and taught in order that they might bow their necks in faithful obedience to the God of the Word who has saved their soul by the person and work of Jesus Christ. As believers, we must be seen “entering into His gates with thanksgiving” and we must be heard entering “into his courts with praise.”

Tuesday Encouragement: June 18, 2024
In Christ,
Pastor S. Henry