Thank you, Joy. It's nice to
have you here for three Wednesdays and two Sundays. Let's open tonight's service
with hymn number 13 from your hardback hymnal, number 13. And
let's all stand together. you. Praise ye the Lord, the Almighty,
the King of creation. O my soul, praise Him, for He
is thy health and salvation. All ye who hear, now to his temple
draw near. Join me in glad adoration. Praise ye the Lord, who o'er
all things so wondrously reigneth, shelters thee under his wings,
yea, so gently sustaineth. ? Hast thou not seen how thy
desires ere have been ? ? Granted in what he ordaineth ? ? Praise
ye the Lord who with marvelous wisdom hath made thee ? decked
thee with health and with loving hand guided and stayed thee. How often brief hath not he brought
thee relief, spreading his wings for to shade thee. Praise ye the Lord, O let all
that is in me adore him. All that hath life and breath
come now with praises before him. Let the amen sound from
his people again. Gladly, for I, we adore him. Please be seated. I so hope the Lord will enable
us to do just that, to praise him, worship him, the power of
his spirit. Would you turn with me in your
Bibles to Psalm 97? Psalm 97. It's good to have Roger and Bonnie
Schuff with us. They've been here on several
occasions and Roger just retired. And so hopefully we're going
to get to see more of them. Their daughter also just moved
down this way. They live in Ohio and have been
watching services for a long time. We're glad you all are
here. Psalm 97. The Lord reigneth. The Lord reigneth. Let the earth
rejoice. Let the multitude of isles be
glad thereof. Clouds and darkness surround
about him. Oh, he's past finding out, his
ways are unsearchable. Righteousness and judgment, that
word habitation is the word establishment. Righteousness and judgment are
the foundation of his throne, the establishment of his throne. A fire goeth before him and burneth
up his enemies round about. His lightnings enlightened the
world, the earth saw and trembled, the hills melted like wax at
the presence of the Lord, at the presence of the Lord of the
whole earth. The heavens declare his righteousness
and all the people see his glory. Righteousness of God, the Lord
Jesus Christ, our righteous advocate, is the glory of God. Confounded
be all they that serve graven images. Confused, they can't
understand. They boast themselves of idols.
They worship him, all ye gods. Zion heard and was glad. And the daughters of Judah rejoice
because of thy judgments, O Lord. For thou, Lord, art high above
all the earth. Thou art exalted far above all
gods. Ye that love the Lord hate evil. He preserved the souls of his
saints. He delivered them out of the hand of the wicked. Light
is sown for the righteous. That's our hope tonight, isn't
it? That the light of the gospel will shine in our hearts in the
face of the Lord Jesus Christ as he's lifted up for the righteous. That's God's promise. Light is
shown for The righteous, the unrighteous live in darkness,
covered with clouds, can't see, confounded, confused, don't understand. When Christ is preached, then
the light of the gospel reveals the truth of who God is in his
glory to God's people. Light is sown for the righteous
and gladness for the upright in heart. When the light of the
gospel shines, God's people are glad. They rejoice. Rejoice in
the Lord, ye righteous, and give thanks at the remembrance of
his holiness. The funeral Friday to remind
you is 1130. It is a Baldwin Fairchild Funeral Home. We went
down there. Monday, I guess it was, and I
looked at it. So. It's just South of Gore on
South Orange Ave. 4901 South Orange Avenue We have a lot of people there
that don't speak English, so I'll be preaching and Hugo will
be translating Phrase by phrase which is difficult so pray for
us that we'll be able to it's hard to keep I've done it before
in Mexico and it's really difficult to keep a train of thought when
you're preaching like that. So please pray for me and you
go as we prepare and deliver the gospel Friday. All right,
let's pray. Oh, our heavenly father, how
we pray that righteousness would shine forth, that you would be
pleased to send your spirit in power that you would cause us
to be drawn to Christ, that our eyes would be open, our hearts
would be warmed, that the love of God would shed abroad in our
hearts, that we would find ourselves, by the power of your grace, in
a spirit of worship. And Lord, that gladness would
fill our hearts with thanksgiving as we delight in the accomplished
work and glorious person of thy dear son. We pray for the service
on Friday and we ask Lord that you would give clarity of thought
and speech. And more importantly, we pray
that you would. That you would speak effectually. To the hearts
of your people and Lord, if there be any lost sheep there that
they would be caused to hear the truth and be drawn to Christ. That Dignus testimony would be
a testimony to your people. We ask it in Christ's name, amen. Let's stand together and sing
hymn number 23 from the Spiral Gospel Hymns hymnal, number 23. Pass me not, O gracious Father,
sinful, wretched though I be. Though you might in truth condemn
me, let your mercy fall on me. Love of God so everlasting, Blood
of Christ so rich and free, Grace of God so strong and saving,
Magnify them all in me. Pass me not, O blessed Savior. Let me hear your gracious call. I'm a guilty, helpless sinner. Savior, at your feet I fall. Love of God so everlasting, Blood
of Christ so rich and free, Grace of God so strong and saving,
Magnify them all in me. Pass me not, O mighty spirit. You can cause the dead to live. Speak the word of saving power. Give me faith and make me live. Love of God so everlasting, Blood
of Christ so rich and free, Grace of God so strong and saving,
Magnify them all in me. Pass me not a poor lost sinner. If you will, you can save me. Reach down with your hand of
mercy. Saving others, Lord, save me. Love of God so everlasting. Blood of Christ so rich and free. Grace of God so strong and saving. Magnify them all in me. Please be seated. We open your Bibles with me to
Psalm 96. Psalm 96. Moses, after experiencing firsthand
so many glorious demonstrations of God, said at Mount Sinai,
Lord, show me thy glory. Show me thy glory. We know that
the Lord put Moses in a rock and said, I'll cause my goodness
to pass before thee. The goodness of God is none other
than the Lord Jesus Christ. He is God's goodness. He asked
that rich young ruler, why callest thou me good? There's none good
but God. And if we are to see the glory
of God, it will be the same way Moses saw the glory of God. God
will cause his goodness to pass before us in the person of the
Lord Jesus Christ. Christ is the glory of God. We see God's glory in Christ. If we're not gonna know anything
about God, we're gonna know it in the Lord Jesus Christ. The
Father and the Spirit point us to Christ. to see God's glory. This Psalm is all about the glory
of God. And there's no greater thing
for us to experience and for us to know and for us to see
than God's glory. Psalm 96, sing unto the Lord
a new song, sing unto the Lord all ye earth, sing unto the Lord
and bless his name. It's not just for the purpose
of repetition that the Lord said that we're to sing unto the Lord
three times. For we know that our God, though
he be one, is in three glorious persons. The mystery of the Trinity
is beyond anything that we can comprehend. But we know it's
true because the Lord has revealed himself. in his word as Father,
Son, and Holy Spirit." John makes that clear. He said, in the heavens,
there is the Father, the Word, and the Spirit, and they testify
all of the same thing, and these three are one. How can we enter into that? Well, we can't. We can't. We
can't. any more than we can understand
how it is that God was made flesh and dwelt among us, any more
than we can understand that the Lord Jesus Christ as God bore
in his body our sins and suffered the wrath of God's justice. We
don't comprehend any of these things, but we believe them because
the scriptures clearly teach them. And, uh, we know that the
father said, behold, look, this is my beloved son in him. I'm
well pleased. Hear ye him. If you're going
to hear from God, you're going to hear from Christ. You want
to hear from Christ. And then the Lord Jesus Christ,
just before he sent it up into heaven, he said to the, he said
to his church, all authority, all power has been given unto
me. in heaven and in earth. Therefore,
you go and make disciples of all nations. And, oh, I'm with
you always, even unto the end of the earth." The Lord Jesus
Christ is the manifestation of the glory of God. The Lord Remember
when Philip, Philip asked the Lord said, show us the father
and it's suffice of us. And what Phillips say, what did
the Lord say? Oh, Philip, have I been with you so long that
you don't know if you've seen me, you've seen the eye and the
father one. And the Lord Jesus asked the Pharisees, somebody,
somebody talked to somebody this week. They denied the deity of
Christ. Jesus is not God. He's he's created
by God. Oh, he's not. No, he's not. If that was true, why did he
not correct the misunderstanding of the Pharisees when he asked
them, for which of the works that I do do you stone me? And
what did they say? For good works we stone thee
not, but because thou, being a man, make thyself out to be
God. We're stoning you for blasphemy,
and the only charge they had against him was that of blasphemy. They thought, they knew what
he was saying, and the Lord didn't try to correct him. Matter of fact, he goes on in
that same conversation with the Pharisees, and he says, the Father
is in me, and I am in the Father, and they came to take him, and
he escaped. He escaped out of their prayer.
He just walked away. They didn't know where he went.
It wasn't his hour yet, was it? But it was time. When it was
time, he let them take him. And they took him on the charge
of blasphemy. The Holy Spirit, the Lord said,
it's necessary for you that I go away, for if I go not away, the
Comforter will not come. And then he said, when the Comforter
is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the
Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he will testify
of me. So God the Father and God the
Son point sinners to Christ, the manifestation of the glory
of God. The Lord Jesus Christ is called
Emmanuel, God with us. The scripture makes it clear
that Jesus Christ is the fullness of God bodily. The Lord wouldn't have allowed
us to worship him if he wasn't God, but he calls us into worship. So now when the psalmist says,
sing unto the Lord, a new song, sing unto the Lord, sing unto
the Lord three times. He's reminded us that God is
Father, Son, and Spirit. And we worship God who is one. We sing unto the Father through
the Son. That's why when we pray to the
Father, we say, Father, we come before you in the name of thy
dear son, the Lord Jesus Christ. He's our advocate. He's our mediator. We can't come before God apart
from him, but we praise God and worship God for his electing
grace. He's the one who chose his people
in the covenant of grace. We praise and worship the Lord
Jesus Christ for his redeeming grace. He's the one who bought
us with the price of his own shed blood. We praise the Spirit
of God for his effectual calling grace, his regenerating grace,
his sanctifying grace, his keeping grace. That's the work of the
Spirit of God. God the Father, God the Son,
and God the Holy Spirit, we're singing unto God, acknowledging
the fact that our God is three persons of one essential nature,
one God. Notice that the Lord tells us in verse
one, sing unto the Lord a new song, a new song. Oh, isn't it wonderful when the
Lord makes the gospel fresh and makes it new? We come with boldness unto the holiest,
according to Hebrews chapter 10, we come with boldness unto
the holiest, the holies of holies, by the blood of Jesus, by a new
and living way, which has been consecrated for us by his blood. The gospel is always fresh. If
the Lord speaks it to our hearts, if we're just going through the
motions, You know, it may be, it may just be the same old same
old, but when the spirit of God is pleased to meet with his people
and speak truth to their hearts, they hear the same thing that
they've heard before, but they hear it in a different way. It's
fresh. It's alive. It's a new and living
way. It's not the old way of the law.
It's the, it's the new way of life in Christ. Sing unto the Lord a New Psalm. Turn with me to 1
John chapter 2. 1 John chapter 2. I pray the Lord will make Christ
fresh. That's what this word new means.
It means fresh. It means unused. And I hope that The gospel will
be fresh to us. Look at 1 John chapter 2 at verse 7. Brethren, I write no
new commandment unto you but an old commandment which you
had from the beginning. The old commandment is the word
which you have heard from the beginning. This gospel hasn't
changed. It's not a new gospel. It's the
same gospel that Adam believed, same gospel that Abel believed,
same gospel that Moses believed, same gospel that Noah believed
and Abraham and Sarah and Rachel and all the saints of God believe
the same truth. The sacrificial death of a sinless
substitute. That's the gospel that's been
from the beginning. I write to you no new commandment.
It's the same truth that always has been. And look at verse eight. Again, a new commandment I write
unto you, which thing is true in him and in you, because the
darkness is past and the true light now shineth. It's not new
in its origin, but it's always new. It's always fresh in its
application. God makes it, it's the same old,
message. Tell me the old, old story. I
love that hymn. But when the Spirit of God is
pleased to give us faith, eyes to see, and give us a need, it's
not fresh unless you have a need. God makes you to see your sin
and, oh, Lord, I need a Savior. I need a substitute. I need a
sinless, righteous advocate. Then the Lord Jesus Christ is
new. You know, even in heaven, turn
with me to Revelation. You're there in 1 John. Turn
over just a couple of pages to Revelation chapter 5. These are the saints in glory.
This is the church in heaven and listen to this. And they
sung a new song. A new song saying thou art worthy. to open the book. You remember
John saw God holding a book and it was sealed with seven seals
and no man could be found in heaven to open the book and if
the book doesn't get opened then there's no hope for salvation.
And John weeps, and what does the angel say? Oh, John, weep
not, for the lamb of the tribe, the lion of the tribe of Judah.
He's prevailed. He's prevailed with God. He's
prevailed in satisfying the demands of God's law. He's prevailed
in satisfying God's justice with his shed blood. And he's worthy
to open the book. And now the saints in glory are
singing a new song. You know what? I mentioned this
a week or two ago. You know, everything in this
world, everything, we get bored with it. That's why we have to
have vacations, we have to have change of scenery, we have to
have different food, we have different clothing, we do things
different all the time. Why? Because you just can't keep
doing the same old thing over and over and over. It loses its
appeal, doesn't it? It loses its luster. And heaven's
going to be just the opposite of that. Every moment being with
Christ is going to be new. It's going to be fresh. And they
sang a new song. And whatever, well, praise and
thanksgiving and worship is the opposite of boredom, isn't it?
And that's what we're going to have for all eternity, seeing
more and more of his glory. Worthy is the lamb. And we're
going to see more and more of his worthiness. And we get glimpses
of that now. That's what worship now is. We
get a little bit, as the Lord grows us in his grace and shines
the gospel in our hearts, we get a little bit more. And it
becomes a new song. Lord, the gospel's new. It's
fresh to me. Worthy is the Lamb who was able
to open the books. Look at the rest of this. to
open the seal thereof, he took the book. Only the Lamb of God,
only the Lord Jesus Christ, only the Son of God had the authority
to take the book out of the hand of God and break the seals and
open it up. For thou wast slain and hast
redeemed us to God from every kindred and tongue and people
and nation. For all of eternity, we're going
to be caught up with his glory, singing a new song. It's never
going to get old. You get an earworm in your brain
sometimes, song. I had all last week I had did
as well with my solo and then you guys sang it again Sunday
and I've got it again, you know, just play it over and over and over
again. And usually an earworm like that, you've got to go listen
to something else to change the tune, don't you? This song is
going to be fresh. It's going to be new. We're going
to sing it. Worthy is the Lamb. And we're never going to get
tired of singing to Him, praising Him and worshiping Him. And that's
what happens now. When we sing unto the Lord, sing
unto the Father, sing unto the Son, sing unto the Spirit, knowing
that God has manifested his glory in the Lord Jesus Christ. He's glorified in the word of
God. Turn back with me to our text, Psalm 96. Sing unto the
Lord a new song. Sing unto the Lord all the earth.
God commands all men everywhere to repent and to believe on Christ
and He holds them. They're without excuse. That's
clear in Romans chapter 1. All men are without excuse. If
they don't worship God, they don't bow before Him and praise
Him and acknowledge Him for all things, particularly for their
salvation, then they will stand without excuse before God. The whole earth is. just as we read in Revelation
chapter 5 verse 9, the whole earth is every kindred nation,
tribe, tongue, and people. We're all different. Wherever God's people come from,
they sing the same song. What is the song? What is the
new song? It's the same song that we're
going to be singing in heaven. Worthy is the Lamb. Worthy. For all praise and all
glory and all honor and all worship goes to him. The Lord Jesus Christ singing
unto the Lord, verse two, bless his name, show forth his salvation
from day to day. How do we show forth the salvation
of God? Do we tell our testimony? Well, in part, Do we use illustrations? Perhaps. But what is it that
God has promised to bless to his glory? You know what it is. It's his word. You know what? Somebody's asking me some questions
about things, about the deity of Christ and about grace and
works. And I said, well, you know, I can tell you what God's
word says and, you know, we'll just leave it at that. And, you
know, every time I would tell him something from God's word,
yeah, but yeah, but, you know, God's people just rejoice in
hearing what the Lord says, thus saith the Lord. This is, turn
with me to first Peter chapter four, first Peter chapter four. Verse 11, if any man speak, let
him speak as the oracles of God. If any man minister, let him
do it as of the ability which God giveth that God in all things
may be glorified through Jesus Christ to whom be praise and
dominion forever and ever. If we're going to speak, let's
speak the word of God. If any man minister, we minister
as God enables us to declare his word in the accomplished
work and glorious person of the Lord Jesus Christ. And that's
when God's glorified. That's when God's glorified.
To the praise of the glory of his grace, whereby we are accepted
in the beloved. The Lord Jesus Christ is the
praise of the glory of God's grace. Let us tell the world
about Christ. You know, they, you, you, people
can call your subjective testimonial experience into question, can't
they? Well, you know, maybe you were just having a, you know,
maybe you just had, you know, whatever, an emotional breakdown
or something, but we declare God's word. We just say, thus
saith the Lord. This is what God says. And that's
what God will bless. If, if my sheep will hear my
voice. They follow after me. God's people
will just believe what God says. I don't know about if I believe
your experience or your illustrations or whatever, but God says it, and that settles it. The Lord Jesus said in Hebrews
chapter five, he said, I didn't glorify myself, the Father glorified
me. No high priest in the Old Testament,
he goes to say, takes this office on himself. He's appointed to
it by God. And so it is with our high priest,
our Melchizedek, the Lord Jesus Christ took not this office on
himself. God put him there that God might
be glorified. John chapter 17, father glorify
thy son. I have glorified thee upon the
earth. The Lord Jesus Christ glorifies all the attributes
of God in his life and most clearly in his death. The attributes
of God are glorified. I have glorified thee on the
earth. That's what the Lord Jesus said
in his prayer to the Father. I have finished the work which
thou gavest me to do. The glory of God is seen in the
accomplishments of the Lord Jesus Christ, the finished work of
redemption. It is finished. Everything necessary
for us to be able to stand in the presence of a holy God was
accomplished by the Lord Jesus Christ. He's the one who glorifies
the father by his finished work. So father, I've glorified you
on the earth. I finished the work which thou gave us made
it in. The Lord Jesus Christ is the
glory of God in his life. Peter, Peter goes on to say,
we did not bring unto you cunningly devised fables. We didn't make
this up. We handled the word of God. We heard the voice of God speak
from heaven, declaring the Lord Jesus Christ as his beloved son
in whom he's well-pleased. And we have a more sure word
of testimony. in the word of God. So here's how God's glorified. Show me thy glory. How is he
going to be? He's going to be glorified through
his word, both written and living. And we don't separate the two,
do we? The written word is a revelation of the living word, the word
that became flesh, the word that dwelt among us, the one that
we beheld, the glory of God, the fullness of his grace is
the Lord Jesus Christ. So when the psalmist says, sing
unto the Lord, sing unto the Lord, sing unto the Lord three
times, a new song, show forth his glory to the nations day
by day. On the cross, all the attributes
of God are glorified. The holiness of God is glorified
most clearly. Isaiah saw the holiness of God
when he saw the Lord Jesus Christ occupying his throne, didn't
he? And he said, holy, holy, holy is the Lord God of hosts.
You know, the Lord Jesus Christ manifest more of God's glory
on Calvary's cross than he does on his throne. He's showing the
holiness. He's showing what God requires
to maintain and establish his holy nature. There's no coming
into the presence of God without the sacrifice that Christ made
on Calvary's cross. He upholds the holiness of God
by his death on Calvary's cross. The justice of God is most clearly
seen by what the Lord Jesus Christ accomplished on Calvary's cross.
How God could justify ungodly men without compromising his
justice. Oh, how God could be just and
justifier at the same time is seen in the manifestation of
God's glory on Calvary's cross. God poured out the full fury
of his wrath on Christ and said, I'm satisfied. It pleased God
to bruise him and the justice of God. We wanna see God's glory. We're gonna have to see something
of his attributes. His attributes are shown in Christ
and they come to their pinnacle at the cross. Show forth his
glory, the Lord said. God made him sin who knew no
sin that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.
That's the justice of God. That's the glory of God. We can't
comprehend that. We can understand that. How God
could take all the shame and all the guilt and all the penalty
of all the sins of all of God's people of every generation and
pile them on the Lord Jesus Christ. And then pour out the full fury
of his wrath to satisfy his justice. The justice of God, the holiness
of God is seen most clearly at the cross. The love of God is
seen most clearly at the cross. Oh, we delight. When the Lord
gives us those. Warm feelings when he draws us
into his presence and and shows us his love. But herein is the
love of God. Not that we love God, but that
he loved us and gave his son as a propitiation for our sin. Greater love hath no man than
this that he laid down his life for his friends. The love of
God. is seen most clearly at the cross. In this, John put it like this,
in this was manifested the love of God toward us because that
God sent his only begotten son into the world that we might
live through him. There's the love of God. Hereby
perceive we the love of God because he laid his life down for us. And so we ought to lay down our
lives for the brethren. He laid down his life for us. The immutability of God is seen
most clearly at the cross. If we're going to declare his
glory, we've got to make sure that people know that our God
is the same yesterday, today, and forever. He changes not.
Therefore, everything that he is in control of now was ordained
of him before time ever began. And if there was ever a time,
if there was ever a time when God would change, it would have
been when his son, sweating drops of blood, cried out to his father
and said, Father, if there be any way this cup can pass from
me, let it be. Nevertheless, not my will, but
thy will be done. You see the immutability of God,
which is essential for our salvation. The Lord said, I'm the Lord.
I change not. And that's the only reason you
sons of Jacob are not consumed. I'm immutable. And the immutability
of God is seen most clearly when he found no other way. to satisfy
his justice and demonstrate his holiness, show forth his love
and save his people other than the sacrifice of his own darling
son. The power of God is seen most
clearly at the cross. You see, this is why Paul said
we preach Christ and him crucified. Because this is the message that
God uses to speak to his people to cause them to sing from their
hearts. Sing unto the Lord a new song
to rejoice and to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. We see the power of God in creation.
We see the power of God in nature. We see the power of God in Providence,
but no place do we see the power of God more clearly than at the
cross, when the power of God was able to save sinners. Redeemed, justified, justified
before God. All the people of God justified
by the sacrifice that Christ made on Calvary's cross once
and for all. That's power. That's the power
of God. The power of God bearing the
full weight of sin and satisfying justice and quenching the fiery
wrath of God's wrath. That's the power of God. All
power is being given unto me. The grace of God. Oh, the grace
of God is seen in election. God had not graciously chosen
according to his will and purpose a particular people in a covenant
of grace, we wouldn't be saved. The grace of God is seen in regeneration. If God didn't make us willing
in the day of his power, if he didn't send his spirit to open
the eyes of our understanding, if he didn't give us a new heart,
if he didn't give us faith, we wouldn't be saved. It's unmerited
favor. It's the grace of God and regeneration. The grace of God is what keeps
us from falling. The grace of God is what presents
us faultless, but no place is the grace of God seen more clearly
than in redemption, than in redemption. God paid the highest price at the cross and we paid nothing. We paid nothing. There's no more undeserving act
of God than the act of redemption. So look, look at Psalm 96, sing
unto the Lord. We have reason to sing, don't
we? When we lift our voices, when we hymn songs and spiritual
songs and melodies in our hearts, and we express our thanksgiving
to God, we have reason to sing. Sing unto the Lord, sing unto
the Lord, sing unto the Lord, sing unto the Father, sing unto
the Son, sing unto the Holy Spirit, and know that God the Father
and God the Son are manifesting their glory, the glory of God,
in the person and accomplished work of Christ. Tell forth his
work of redemption. The world's not telling forth
the redemptive work of Christ. They're not telling the truth
about what was accomplished at Calvary's cross. This is what
the, look, look. Declare his glory among the heathen,
verse three. His wonders among all people. That's where God finds his people,
among the heathen. Every one of God's children can
say, that's where he found me. I was among the heathen. You
know, one of the reasons, one of the things you can tell about
a believer from an unbeliever is the unbeliever say, I'm not
a heathen. And the believer, I've never
been a heathen. And the believer said, that's where God found
me. I was a blasphemer. I was an injurious man. I did
it in ignorance. I didn't know God. I didn't know
what I was doing. I didn't know what I was believing.
And God brought me out of the dunghill of my idolatry. Look at the next two verses.
For the Lord is great and greatly to be praised. He is to be feared
above all gods. For all the gods of the nations
are idols. I was an idolater. I was worshiping
the God of my imagination. And the God of my imagination
was no different than Dagon of the Philistines. You remember
when the Philistines came and they took the Ark of the Covenant
and they brought it back and they put it into the Temple of
Dagon? Dagon, this is interesting, Dagon
was a fertility god of the Philistines that had the head and hands of
a man and the body of a fish. And when they brought the ark
in and put it next to the statue of Dagon, they came in the next
morning and Dagon had fallen down. So they stood him back
up, and the next morning they went in, and this time Dagon
fell across the threshold of the temple, and interestingly,
his hands and his head broke off. And there was nothing left
of Dagon than the tail of a fish. And that's exactly what the idols
of this world are. And the men of this world are
like fish. We call people that are deceived
a fish, don't we? That's what the God of Dagon
was. He wasn't able to work salvation
with his hands. He wasn't able to reveal the
glory of God with his head. Only the Ark of the Covenant
could do that. And everything about that Ark you know spoke
of Christ. From the mercy seat to what was
in the ark to the gold overlaid of the, of the wooden box. It
was all about the Lord Jesus Christ. All about him as our
prophet, our priest, and our King. For all the gods of the nations
are idols, but the Lord, the Lord, he made the heavens. Honor
and majesty are before him. Strength and beauty are in his
sanctuary. Honor goes before Christ, not
dishonor. Majesty goes before Christ, not
shame. You listen to the Jesus that
most people believe in. He's not honorable. He's not
majestic. He's a shameful, weak Dagon. He's just the tail of a fish
is all he is. But our God in his sanctuary,
strength, omnipotence, the power to save and beauty, the beauty
of righteousness and fulfillment of justice is only found in the
one to whom we sing. Worthy is the lamb, a new song,
a new song, worthy is the lamb. God make the gospel fresh to
us. Every time we hear it, every
time we think of it, we find ourselves giving unto the Lord. Oh ye kindreds of the people,
give unto the Lord glory. Glory. He gets all the glory,
doesn't he? Hey. So I was talking to recently
there. Well, you know. We gotta have
good works and works are, you know, part of it. And that's,
you know, that's God's given us his law as a, you know, as
a rule of life and. I said, oh, I asked this person,
I said, have you ever one single time in your life been able to
satisfy the demands of one of God's laws? Well, there are guidelines. That's
what she said. Now let me say, God's people
are not lawless. They're not lawless. They love
God's law. They're not spurning God's law,
but they've got the law of grace. I told her, I said, I don't have
to have a law to tell me to come home to my wife at night. I want
to be there. You don't have to put me under
the law to make me do that. You know, God's people are under
the law of love. They're under the law of the Spirit. They've
got the law of Christ. They've got the law of liberty
reigning in their hearts. They're not trying to boast in
some fake keeping of the law. They're glorying in Christ, who
is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone that believeth. Give unto the Lord glory, do
his name, bring an offering, come into his courts. What we do in faith is always
an offering to the Lord. It's always pleasing to him.
The offering, the calves of our lips, as the scripture says,
a calf is a sacrifice. The calves of our lips is singing
praise to him and giving to him glory and honor. The acknowledgement
that everything that we have belongs to him, bowing before
him in worship. That's glorifying Christ. Sing
unto the Lord. Oh, you people sing a new song. Tell the world the heathen about
Christ. God's got some lost sheep out
there. I know that for sure. I know for sure that there's
still some lost sheep out there. No question about it. When the last of God's sheep
is brought into the fold, there's no more need for this world.
No more need for it. So the fact that we're here assures
us that there are some heathens out there that belong to the
Lord. They need to hear this message that Christ is the glory of God. Amen. Tom, you come please. Number 36 joy number 36 in the
spiral handbook. OK. Evan. That's what I've got in my note,
the hymn that we use. Behold my soul, the love of God,
behold the grace most free. Before all worlds His purpose
stood, His heart was fixed on me. Elected by eternal love,
the covenant firm and sure, the triune God agreed in love, salvation
to secure. My soul was given to the Son
He promised to redeem By blood and righteousness His own He
would my soul reclaim In the due time Emmanuel came to live
and die for me. He lives today and bears my name. Christ is my surety. In love He sent His Spirit down,
Who gave me life and grace. He drew me and I followed on,
My Savior to embrace. Now I rejoice in covenant love,
amazing grace I see. I now am conquered by his love. My Savior is my King. Is that heaven? Let me see if I can get the hymn
here.