As we begin our conference, I want us to give careful consideration to why we are concerned about this subject. Our confession states in chapter 14, verse one, which some of you may be very familiar with, others, not so much. And if you want to, you can look in our hymnal at the back of the hymnal. We have our confession as it's referred to this week. You'll have that as a ready resource. But that first paragraph in chapter one reads this way, the grace of faith. Whereby the elect are enabled to believe to the saving of their souls is the work of the spirit of Christ in their hearts and is ordinarily wrought by the ministry of the word. By which also, by the administration of baptism in the Lord's Supper, prayer and other means appointed to God, faith is increased and strengthened. What we are considering, then, is of paramount importance. How saving and sanctifying faith come about and grow in maturity and in strength. Why is this? of paramount importance. Is it not because we are dealing with the issue of the true worship of the Triune God? Our Savior taught us that true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth, for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. In John 4.25, and while all men owe God worship, Our confession states in chapter 22 and in paragraph three. That worship may be accepted, it is to be made in the name of the son, by the help of the spirit, according to his will, with understanding, reverence, humility, fervency, faith. Love and perseverance. And so we see in this combination of issues that are brought to bear on worship, faith is one of them and is of great importance. It is only true disciples of Jesus Christ who have been sought by the Father to be worshipers in spirit and truth who may, by faith, worship him rightly. And so this issue of faith is very important to us. And worship is then important to us. This is our paramount concern in treating the means of grace in some detail. So with this in mind, I'd like you to turn to Psalm 111. We call this our devotional Psalm time. I thought much about this as I was working Towards the conference and this psalm, I think, is one of the most appropriate we could consider as we begin our conference. This psalm is a psalm for corporate worship. It directs and encourages the very thing that we are most concerned about in this conference. This lesson is not an exposition, but really it's an extended application to pastors from this text. God's preachers have the most wonderful task given to them. And so we have this laid out before us here in Psalm 111. Let's ask the Lord's blessing as we look at this psalm together, let's pray. Our Father in Heaven, we desire to, as the psalmist instructs here, with a whole heart, praise You and bless You. To come in the assembly of the upright in the congregation on the Lord's Day, week in and week out, to worship You, to bless You, to speak of the praises that are due to Your name because of the work You have accomplished through Your Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. You have shown mercy to us and kindness. The things of which we have just sung in this hymn. It is our greatest of privileges to come before You when we gather together as your people to worship your holy name. But we do recognize that we need aid in this and we need the aid of the preaching of your word, the word of your son. For men who are ordained to this task. We make it one of our regular requests ever give us the preaching of the word of your son. That we might be directed and led by that word to worship you as you should be worshiped. Help us today as we consider this song. To be further instructed in this great work we are at, the great privilege we have. to be encouraged and strengthened in this work. I pray, Father, that all that is done this week, these next few days, for those who are here in attendance, that this will be of great strength and encouragement to them. We pray this in Christ's name, Amen. If you would follow along as I read this psalm out loud. Praise the Lord. I will praise the Lord with my whole heart. In the assembly of the upright, and in the congregation. The works of the Lord are great, studied by all who have pleasure in them. His work is honorable and glorious, and His righteousness endures forever. He has made His wonderful works to be remembered. The Lord is gracious and full of compassion. He has given food to those who fear Him. He will ever be mindful of His covenant. He has declared to his people the power of his works in giving them the heritage of the nations. The works of his hands are verity and justice. All his precepts are sure. They stand fast forever and ever and are done in truth and uprightness. He has sent redemption to his people. He has commanded his covenant forever. Holy. And awesome is His name. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. A good understanding have all those who do His commandments. His praise endures forever." So as we look here at this psalm, Psalm 111, I just want to bring out five things to pastors out of this psalm. First of all, His preachers use the means of grace in the primary place given for the worship of the triune God in the assembly of the upright. That is the congregation of his people. As we read here in verse one, he calls for praise of the Lord God. I will praise the Lord with my whole heart in the assembly of the upright in the congregation. The psalmist is a preacher here. who proclaimed the worthiness of the triune God. God will always have such preachers for himself who proclaim his praises and proclaim his name. Notice that his preachers must themselves be converts, disciples, worshipers. He starts out with, I will praise the Lord with my whole heart. He's engaged in this work. He's engaged. in the worship in the congregation, in the assembly of God's people. His preachers worship in the midst of his people, in this assembly of the upright and in the congregation. This was not then, nor is it to be so now, a casual gathering for mutual human benefit, but specifically a gathering of the triune Lord's people for the purpose of worshiping him under his authority as his word is proclaimed. We attempt in our own worship here to make sure that everything, every element about the public worship, the gathering of God's people together before him on the Lord's Day, that everything preaches his word. and preaches his name and his grace and the gospel of the Lord Jesus. And so we see at the starting of this psalm, we are called by the psalmist as a preacher to come and join with him in this worship of God. His preachers use the means of grace in the primary place given for the worship of the triune God. in the assembly of the upright and the congregation of His people. But secondly, His preachers are occupied with the revelation of God's being and covenant. They're occupied with the revelation of God's being and covenant. We read in verse 2, the works of the Lord are great. At the end of verse 4, The Lord is gracious and full of compassion. We're directed to think about what he has accomplished and who he is in the preacher, by the preacher and in the preaching of the word. His preachers direct the attention of his people to these very things, to their God and to what he's accomplished. And really, then for us who are in the new covenant age, the message of the gospel, and all that is involved in the triune God working, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. And while those who first sang this psalm would have thought of the miracles wrought in Moses and Joshua's and Judges' and the prophets' days, we are to think of the miracles wrought by Christ in His finished work of redemption. His are truly great works. We are amazed by the works that we read about and we have studied and preached on from the Old Testament. But when we get to Christ, we are speaking of the greatest of works. Those old works pointed to the new works, the psalmist here called the congregation to do obviously to do what obviously he had done, have pleasure in them. How did that come about? It's because we read here studied by all who have pleasure in them. Why was this the case? How did this pleasure come about? Well, we see something of that which he has studied in verse three. His work is honorable and glorious and his righteousness endures forever. He has made his wonderful work To be remembered, we have these wonderful concepts, these these huge adjectives of honorable and glorious and wonderful. So that God's works are set before us is that which is the greatest, that which the the human creature, as we are brought in submission by the work of the spirit, we long to know who our God is and what he has done. And surely these are the only types of words, honorable and glorious righteousness that is effective and endures forever. Wonderful works that are worthy of remembrance in creation and the flood and the exodus and all the miraculous differences, deliverances we read about in the Old Testament. These are studied. And pleasure is brought to God's people in their study. Why is there that pleasure? Because of the greatness of these things. And also what we read here in the end of verse 4, the Lord, there's His being. He has brought His works, the emphasis there, and then His being Himself, His character. He is gracious. We who are preachers love the fact that we have a message to preach of the grace of God and compassion. He's full of compassion and he's given food to those who fear him. He will ever be mindful of his covenant. Our confidence in the works that we see these glorious and honorable works are rooted in the character and being of our God as he has revealed himself in his work He is the provider. He is the sustainer. All of this work resting on and demonstrating that he is the covenant maker. And he condescends to enter into covenant with men whom he has chosen in many ways, if I think in an exposition of this psalm that that sentence right there, he will ever be mindful of his covenant is central to everything that's going on. about him and his work in this psalm. And so I just draw your attention to that briefly. What we who preach must see in this new covenant age is that the worship of old Israel. Is a foreshadowing for us and is fulfilled in the new Israel. Instead of ignoring this psalm, we may better than they sing it to God's praises. And that's why I wanted us to sing that hymn that we chose to sing at the beginning. That's that was a paraphrase of Psalm 111. You may have noticed wonderful hymn to direct us and help us and encourage us in worship according to his covenant, which we are under in the new covenant. We worship the Lord God in the congregation of his people, teaching them as pastors, the greater works of the father through his son, Jesus, in the power of the spirit. We have a wonderful task before us. God has given us more honorable and glorious are Christ's incarnation and Christ's substitutionary redemption and free grace and justifying grace and adoption. Truly, we know of and proclaim that his righteousness endures forever. What a pleasure it is that we have. What a wonder it is that we get to preach these things to God's people week in and week out. And we use. His word, we are functioning in the means of grace, we are functioning and working and laboring at our task that God will be worshiped. In truth and in spirit by his people. And so, first of all, I talk about this. His preachers use the means of grace in the primary place given for the worship of the triune God. That is in the assembly of the upright and the congregation of his people. Secondly, I just note that his preachers are then occupied with the revelation of God's being and covenant. And then thirdly, his preachers are limited to the preaching of God's revelation to his people. We pick it up here in verse six. He declared he has declared to his people the power of his works and that we have decided his declaration. There's a revelation of God so that we might rightly interpret and understand all his works, whether they be of. general revelation or more specific in his special revelation, he has declared to his people the power of his works and giving them the heritage of the nations. The works of his hands are verity and justice. All his precepts are sure. They stand fast forever and ever and are done in truth And in uprightness, I am given to when someone comes to me after a sermon sometimes and makes some comment about the message. I've sometimes said this only partly humorously. I have no original material. I come preaching the revelation that God has given to us. And I, as a pastor and a preacher of this word, limit myself. The congregation doesn't need to hear our ideas, our opinions or our observations. It's not those things that glorify him, that point to him and edify and strengthen his people, it is his spirit empowering his revelation to his people as it is preached. And that is what is essential to the true worship of the triune God. We must hold ourselves to this. It is his spirit empowered revelation that declares his redemptive work and its power. He is declared, verse six says, to his people, the power of his works. And so we point to what he's accomplished and we point to him and we limit ourselves to these things that God has given us. So he will be worshiped, and as we think about the means of grace this week, we're thinking of that which God has given to us. that He might be worshipped by His people. And we limit ourselves to the preaching of God's revealed Word in that work. And we are thankful to do so. We are overjoyed to do so. We find the nourishment of our own souls as we do so. As I pray for one of our other pastors as he comes to preach, I don't only pray that God will grant the Spirit in his work Certainly helping that man in his labors of study and his labors of preparation, helping him as he preaches. I'm praying as he preaches that the people will be helped by the spirit and their understanding will be strengthened and granted. And there'll be worshipers as the word is preached. And I'm praying that he will hear the preached word as well. He needs that preached word. So as you come before God's people week in and week out, you ought to have that perspective about yourself, pastors. I am standing before God's people. I am proclaiming the word of Christ, but I must submit to that word proclaimed just as I expect God's people to submit to it. It puts the pastor, I think, in one of the most unique circumstances or situations that any human being finds themselves in, in this regard. Is this limiting ourselves to the preaching of God's revelation when we proclaim it to God's people? That is one of the issues here. It is his spirit empowered revelation of his work that gives us verity and justice, he says here. Right thinking about what is true doctrinally, right thinking about what is true in ethics, right thinking And as we look at the world in which we live and come to conclusions about how we deal with this world, it is his revelation empowered by the spirit that is sure. I have no confidence. About my word in that regard. I can walk before God's people, I can stand before God's people and I can proclaim this word and know that I am proclaiming a word that is sure and it will stand fast forever and ever. I direct him away from me to him. Away from the things of this world to him. To his church, to his kingdom and what he is accomplishing, it's been a delight the last this summer to preach through the Lord's Prayer, the model prayer. And to pray, hallowed be your name and see that that is the most important thing going on on this earth. And to pray, your kingdom come. And think about God's kingdom power as the Spirit proclaims and empowers the preaching of the Word of Christ in His assembly. And then out from that and in the power of that, other assemblies are planted and the kingdom of God has come and we're praying for that. We have this assurance that this Word proclaims gives us Christ and gives us his work, as he says here in truth and right uprightness. Where we have much to be encouraged about as we proclaim this word, and so we have here as his preachers, the. Use of the means of grace in the primary place given for the worship of the triune God in the assembly of the upright. We as his preachers are occupied with the revelation of God's being, his work and his covenant, and his preachers then are limited to the preaching of God's revelation to his people. And then fourthly, his preachers declare to the congregation God's covenant of grace. I probably said much about this already as I've gone, but we declare to the congregation God's covenant of grace. Read verse 9. He has sent redemption to his people. He has commanded his covenant forever. Holy and awesome is his name. And I encourage you men, make sure you understand where we're at in the economy of God and what we call the new covenant and understand and labor to understand how that relates to what has been revealed before. We've got a book room this week and you can go back there and you can buy some books on Baptist covenant theology. It'll be helpful to you. And I just encourage you. You want to proclaim to the congregation God's covenant of grace because it'll make them worshipers. It'll provoke them to worship. It'll nourish their souls. We have a great word to proclaim because we have a great triune God to proclaim. Who is a God who is has commanded his covenant forever, as we read there in. Verse five, he will be he will ever be mindful of his covenant. He is our God. Preachers declare him and his covenantal work of saving sinners. I never tire as a pastor, even when I'm preaching myself, of proclaiming the grace of God to sinful human beings, because I'm a sinful human being. I am a vessel of earth. I have feet of clay. I need the reassurance constantly. Whosoever will call upon the name of the Lord will be saved. They'll not be disappointed. They'll not be put to shame. I need to hear that proclaimed. And so God's people do. And so His preachers follow His Son, our Lord and King, in proclaiming His holy and sovereign and loving character as a God who comes and brings sinners into covenant with Himself, based not on their works, but based on the works of Jesus Christ, finished, that He has received and accepted fully. What a privilege it is ours to proclaim to the congregation, God's covenant of grace. And then lastly, his preachers labor and goal is that God's people are made wise, obedient and worshipful by the proclamation of his character and his work. Notice how we come here to this last verse, the fear of the Lord. It almost for a second feels out of place. But really, this is the goal, isn't it? When we when we think of gathering together to worship God and the proclamation, not of the words of men, but of the words of Christ, and we're praying to that and we're singing to that and we're we're reading the scripture that all that we're doing, we want the word of Christ proclaimed. This is our goal. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. A good understanding have all those who do his commandments. His praise endures forever in God's people have gathered together to worship him. God's people are nourished and fed. They're rebuked. They're led in confession. They're assured of pardon. They're instructed in the ways of morality and truth according to the Scriptures in the context of the gospel work of Christ. And they go forth. From the gathering of the saints to live in this world with wisdom, with understanding, living by his commandments, and they become a worshiping people. And that's what we want. That's what we want to accomplish. The means of grace. That's what we're thinking about. The means of grace. Hopefully you will learn more about them and their proper place and their proper use this week. I've heard much of this material we're going to cover this week, and that is one of the reasons I was so moved to make sure we had this material in our conference. And so I hope you'll pray for the men that will be preaching. Brother Jason Montgomery will preach. Brother Steve Garrick will preach to men that are nearby to us in churches that are close by. And then our dear brother Jim Renahan will preach, who's come from Fargo, North Carolina. I mean, excuse me, North Dakota. I don't know why I keep doing that. But Hales from California and Brother Rich Barcellos from California. Pray for these men, will you? Hold them up before God, because we need the messages they're going to bring to us. And as you think about the means of grace and as you're learning about the means of grace, keep this in mind in heart that the Father, Son and Holy Spirit gave us these means of grace so that we may proclaim Him and the work of Jesus, the work that Jesus has done and is doing to the strengthening of His people and to the worship of His name. Our purpose in proclaiming the triune God and His redemptive work is that we, with His people, by faith, praise Adore, love, and worship Him in spirit and in truth. May God grant this to us. May God be kind to us and gracious to us so that we go from this week, these few days, excuse me, with a better understanding of what God has given to us in the work that He has called us to do. Let's pray. Our Father in heaven, we are so very thankful for the privilege we have to set some time aside. To as pastors and those who have gathered with pastors, family members, fellow church members. To hear. About this work that you are doing in this world. And the means that you've given to your churches that this work might be accomplished. I pray for these men who will be preaching, who will be teaching us. Give them the filling of your Spirit in all power and strength and wisdom as they teach us. I pray you would give those who are still traveling, give them safety. Gather those together here at this conference whom you would have to be here to be instructed in these things. And I pray that the ministries of these men will be helped greatly. And I pray from this conference, I ask you, Father. Your kingdom come. That your name might be hallowed in your churches, that from this conference. From those who have been here and heard the instruction here, their churches will be helped and strengthened and built up in the faith. And Father, we pray that from the churches who cling to the Word of God, who hold to our confession, sound and true doctrine. From these churches will spring more churches. To the glory of your name, more worshiping congregations. For you are worthy of the praise that will come from them, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. We ask these things in Christ's name, Amen.