Let's take our Bibles once again
now and turn to Psalm 98. Psalm 98. I'd like to look at the first
three verses. Psalm 98. Oh, sing unto the Lord, a new
song. For he hath done marvelous things,
his right hand and his holy arm hath gotten him the victory.
The Lord hath made known his salvation, his righteousness
hath he openly showed in the sight of the heathen. He hath
remembered his mercy and his truth toward the house of Israel
All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God. Man comes forth from the womb,
and I'm going to show you what I'm talking about when I say
this, talking about singing a song. What it is, it's the expression
of a heart. But man comes forth from his
mother's womb singing a song, or his heart expresses that he
has a presumed relationship before God. It's a defective thought. It's a tainted thought, because
man thinks that he's on a right standing before God. And man,
as being born in Adam, is lost. Man is born lost. Now this song, or the expression
of a heart of every person now, it echoes of self-righteousness. Man's just born like that. He's
born thinking that he has a right. He's arrogant, he's proud, and
he's filled with thoughts. that somehow he has the ability
to do something, to reconcile himself back to God. He sings from his carnal heart
of self-worth. Now listen, every person born
into this world is a worthless maggot. You don't have any worth. I don't have any worth, not being
born an Adam. We don't. We don't have it. Now
let me tell you where this song came from. Psalm 98, and turn
to Isaiah 14. Now we've read this before, but
let me tell you where man comes up with this thought. He either has the mind of God
or he has the mind of Satan. There's only two minds. Psalm
14, this is the psalm of a person born in Adam. Verse 13. That's what Satan said. This is what an unbeliever says.
Because the Lord told those old Pharisees, He said, you are of
your father, the devil. You are of your father, the devil.
Now, I know this. I know this is to the carnal
mind. I know this is not popular to hear. I know that. I'm telling
you, this is what God has to say. And His Word is final. This is the Word by which we're
going to be judged. Thou hast said in thine heart,
I will ascend into heaven. I will exalt my throne above
the stars of God. I will sit also upon the mount
of the congregation in the sides of the north. I will ascend above
the heights of the clouds. I will be like the Most High."
Now, let me tell you what that heart comes from. It comes from those that the
Lord, like those that the Lord was speaking to, who trusted
in themselves that they were righteous. Remember that? And
there was a Pharisee and a publican, and the Lord gave that parable. They went up to pray. He was
talking to people that thought that they were righteous in themselves. Now that is just... Someone says, well, I just feel
as though that you ought to just do what your heart thinks is
right. I told you about a friend of
mine who used to have a gas station there in a little town in Louisiana
where I graduated and had a sign. He was so proud of it. Here's
what it says. Go this Sunday to the church
of your choice. Well, what if I choose the wrong
place? We're saying, well, just do what
your heart, if it feels right. Do what you think is best. Let
me tell you what that's going to get you. Proverbs 28, 26.
Proverbs 28, 26. You know, trusting. Let me tell you something, your
heart is going to lie to you every time. Your heart is desperately
wicked. It's deceitful above all things you think. Is there
ever a chance that maybe the carnal heart might tell you the
right thing? No. No. No. How are you going to know the
truth? Well, I'll tell you in just a second. Proverbs 28, 26. Now listen to this. He that trusteth in his own heart
is a fool." Well, I just feel as though that
it's right to... Is that what God had to say?
That's all I'm going to ask you. All I'm going to ask you is,
is what you're telling me, is it consistent with these Scriptures?
because if it's not consistent with these Scriptures, let me
tell you something, you're wrong. You're wrong. If what I'm preaching
is not consistent with these Scriptures, I'm wrong and I'm
lying. The Scripture says back in Psalm
98 verse 1, O sing unto the Lord A new song. The song that I came forth from
my mother's womb singing was a song that gave me the honor,
me the glory, me the praise, I will ascend, I will go, I'll
sit, I will, I will, I will. Turn to Exodus 15. Exodus 15. Moses had led the children of
Israel out of Egypt. They'd come to the Red Sea and
they were backed up, had their backs against the wall. They
were between a rock and a hard place, really. I mean, here's
the Red Sea and here's the Egyptian army. And you know what happened? God delivered them. They walked
across the Red Sea and they got on the other side. And the Scripture
says, Exodus 15, verse 1, Then sang Moses and the children of
Israel this song unto the Lord, and spake, saying, I will sing
unto the Lord, for he hath triumphed gloriously. A horse and his rider
hath he thrown into the sea." Look at verses 11 to 13. Here's
the new song, a fresh song. This is the song of a new heart
that was never sung before conversion. Who is like unto thee, O Lord,
among the gods? Who is like unto thee, glorious
in holiness, fearful in praising, doing wonders? Thou stretchest
out Thy right hand, the earth swallowed them. Thou, in Thy
mercy, hast led forth the people which Thou hast redeemed. Thou
hast guided them in Thy strength unto the holy habitation." Now
let me tell you the difference between those two songs. One of them, that I sung when
I was first born in Adam, and everybody else does, says, I
will. I will. I will. And you know what that new song
says? Lord, you have. You have. There was nothing in
there, in that new song that Moses sang, that had any mention
of me, or my worth, or my ability, or my will. Lord, You have. Your
mercy. Your mercy. This song that we sing, this
new song, let me tell you what the song is. It's the gospel. This is the new song. This is
the new song. It's the gospel of God's grace
and it's the same song. that Moses sang in Exodus 15,
and it's the same song that will be sung when the glorified saints
are praising the Lamb. Listen to this, Revelation 5-9. Here's the new song. Thou art
worthy to take the book and open the seals thereof, for thou wast
slain and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every
kindred and tongue and people. and nation. Lord, you have. A believer loves that song. He loves the song of redemption,
of sovereign grace, every line of that new song. It sings of
the praises of God Almighty. And it's been taught them by
the Spirit of God in regenerating grace. It's the song of redemption. A believer, just the thought
of that old song that gave man praise and honor, and I will,
and I have, and I did this, I did that. I hate those lyrics. I hate them. I hate those lyrics.
This is the song. Let me show you something. Genesis
3.21. This is the song that was, look
at Genesis 3.21, the Lord sang this song to Adam and Eve. The Lord sang this song. Let
me show you what, look at the scripture and here's the song,
here's the song. Genesis 3.21, unto Adam also
and his wife did the Lord God make coats of skins and clothed
them. You know what that's talking
about. To make coats of skins, something had to die. That skin
didn't come from any other place. There was an animal there. Something
had to die. Something had to die that they
might have a covering. Here's that song that the Lord
sang. This song is a song of wonder. Majesty. Back in Psalm 98, He
says, Oh, sing unto the Lord a new song, for He hath done
marvelous things. This song speaks of accomplishment. It speaks of grace and mercy. He hath done marvelous things. Not me and we and us, but He. Before, He called us out of darkness. You know that old song that I
was talking about that we all like to sing, praise the man
and give man the glory. We talked about our will and
our choice and our work and not only did we praise ourselves,
let me tell you what else we did. We questioned God. We questioned God. Let me tell
you where that started. In the garden. The devil said to Eve, hath God
said that you'll die? And she said, that's what he
said. He said, you're not going to die. You're not going to die.
Let me tell you what the old heart, the old song says. I'm
not going to die. God's not going to deal with
me like that. God, He wouldn't do that. He wouldn't do that
to me. I can tell you that. No, I'll tell you what I think. I think that God's going to look
at all my bad points, all my good points, and if the good
points outweigh the bad points. Let me tell you something. If
there are any bad points to deal with, you're going to perish. Any man, any woman that stands
before God and they stand not absolutely holy, how holy? As holy as God. How can that
be? If I be not found in the Lord
Jesus Christ, if He has not dealt with my guilt and put away my
sin and robed me in His righteousness and I stand complete in Him,
I'm going to tell you right now, How can I know that I stand like
that? Do I believe God? Do I believe
this gospel? If you believe not this gospel,
Paul said, if we are an angel from heaven, preach any other
gospel than that which we believe, let him be accursed. I'm telling
you, is it important to believe the gospel of God's grace? Absolutely. If you believe not the gospel
of God's free and sovereign grace, if you believe not, then there's
no life there. I'm telling you, everybody's
going to be taught of God. This message right here. This
is the gospel. What do you think Paul meant
when he said, I'm not ashamed of the gospel? Gospel of Christ. It is the power of God unto salvation. This is it. Does it matter if
I believe something else? Yes, it does. Yes, it does. That
song that that believer sings, it is that song that magnifies
the marvelous things that God hath done. Let me tell you just
a few things. I began to list a few things.
I was going to list the marvelous things that the Lord had done.
And I thought, boy, my list is way too short. So I'm just going
to list a few things that came to my mind. These are marvelous
things. This is a marvelous thing. Jeremiah
31.3, listen to this. I've loved you with an everlasting
love. You say, well, I don't see where that's so marvelous
because doesn't God love everybody? Well, according to the Lord's
Word, He doesn't. According to the Lord's Word,
He does not. Romans 9.9 says this, for this is the word of
promise. At this time will I come and
Sarah shall have a son and not only this, but when Rebecca also
had conceived by one, even by her father Isaac. Now listen
to this. Now this is a marvelous thing
right here. For the children being not yet
born, and neither having done any good or evil, You think,
well now, if they've not been born, and they've not been born
yet, and they've not done any good or evil, why? Because they
hadn't been born yet. But that the purpose of God according
to election might stand. Not of works. Not of works. They
weren't even born yet. But of Him that calleth. It was
said unto her, the elder shall serve the younger. Usually it's
the younger that serves the elder, but the Lord said this is the
way it's going to be. As it is written, Jacob have I loved,
but Esau have I hated. And the Spirit of God anticipating
what the carnal mind says. They're going to say, whoa, wait
a minute, whoa, wait a minute. Now wait, that is not fair because
these kids were not even born yet. The Spirit of God had the writer
to Romans write this, what shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness
with God? God forbid! Now listen, let me
tell you something. Don't even think that you can
figure out the mind of God. But I can tell you this, this
is right and I'm wrong if I disagree with Him. Now that's just the
way it is. He saith to Moses, I'll have
mercy on whom I'll have mercy, I'll have compassion on whom
I'll have compassion. So then it is not of him that
willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy." That's a marvelous thing. That
is a marvelous thing. And it's the truth. You say, What if I don't believe
that? Are you asking me what if I don't
believe God? Is that what you're asking me?
Are you asking me whether or not I believe that what God is
saying is true? The only thing I'm going to tell
you is this. If I find it in my heart to not
believe God, Then I've got to admit here, I'm walking on some
thin ice right here, because I know this. He's the faithful
and true witness. He has done marvelous things. He entered into an everlasting
covenant with Himself. Father, Son, Spirit. Man wasn't
there. Not in eternity. Man's representative
was there. The representative of all that
the Father had given the Son was there. Man was represented
there, but man wasn't there. But God Almighty established
in that everlasting covenant of grace, I'm going to save mankind. Not all of them, but I'm going
to save some out of every nation, kindred, tribe and tongue. That's
a marvelous thing. But if the Lord had not left
us a remnant, we would have all perished. And I think of people
saying, election is not fair. We would have all perished. All
of us would have been in hell. But because of His mercy and
grace, He chose to show mercy to some. So the next thing you're
going to think, I know what you're thinking. Why didn't he choose
all of them then? Romans 9 verse 19 says, Thou
wilt say then in thine heart, why does he yet find fault? For
who hath resisted his will? Nay, but O man, who art thou
that replies against God? Let me tell you something. The
best thing in the world for a man or a woman to do when it comes
to hearing the Word of God, be quiet. Just be quiet. Let God be true. He's done some
marvelous things. He came into this world and the Spirit of God imparted holy seed into the womb
of a virgin. He was conceived of the Holy
Ghost and he was born in a marvelous way. There was no man involved. And the scripture says that he
came forth Born just like every other person is born. God-man. Listen to this, Luke 2, 51-52,
I'll tell you what it says. He increased in wisdom and stature,
or age. Before God and men, he marvelously
walked as the representative of all that He came to save,
to redeem. When Adam fell, they lost. They lost life. He died. What do they need? They need righteousness before
God. What do you mean righteousness?
Obedience. Obedience to the law. That the
law would look at one and say, no guilt. Not one infraction. They need to be justified before
God. To be holy and without blame
before Him in love, you know what they have to be? Holy and
without blame. That's what they need. How? How? They're born. Well, their
guilt, Christ bore and paid for it. But I need righteousness
as the representative. This is what He marvelously did.
He earned by his obedience righteousness that God imputes to his people,
to believers. That's a marvelous thing. And
it's not just, as Brother Scott used to say, it's not just a
pasted on righteousness. I'm going to treat you as if
you are righteous. I know you're not, but oh yes you are. Yes you are. Yes you are. There is absolute Righteousness,
it's not pretend. God doesn't play play-like. Let's
just play play-like. No, this is not play-like. When
He bore the guilt of His people, He was actually made sin. He
wasn't made to be sort of like sin. I've heard people say, well,
I know what happened. He wasn't actually made sin.
He just bore the guilt of everybody. The Scripture said, He hath made
him sin. That's a marvelous thing. He
put away their guilt and He charges them, imputes to them righteousness. And in Christ, they're holy. They're holy. That which is born of God doesn't
sin. There's a new man in the believer
that does not sin. He died. The blood of God was
shed and the man, Christ Jesus, died and was buried. Three days later, let me tell
you what else he hath done. The Scripture says he was raised
by the Father, but the Scripture says that the Lord said, I have
power to lay down my life and I have power to take it again.
That's a marvelous thing. He can raise Himself. The Scripture
declares back in Psalm 98, Oh, sing unto the Lord a new song.
He has done marvelous things. His right hand, His power, and
His holy arm, His holiness have gotten Him to victory. And all
other works are not even to be talked about. Salvation. is of the Lord. His right hand,
His holy arm has gotten Him the victory. The Lord, verse 2, has
made known His salvation. That's a marvelous thing. My
sheep hear my voice. Look at Ephesians chapter 1 and
verse 9. The Lord has made known His salvation. And this is the only way. that
it's known. Through the preaching of this
gospel, this is how it's known. Ephesians 1-9, having made known
unto us the mystery of His will according
to His good pleasure which He had purposed in Himself. Scripture doesn't say He tried
to make it known. He makes it known. They know it. It's not that he desired or wished
that they'd make, the Lord hath made known. And the Lord Jesus Christ thanked
the Father. In Matthew 11, 25, He said, I
thank Thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because Thou
hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, or those that
think themselves to be so, and hast revealed them unto babes. Father, I thank You that You
hid these things from the wise and prudent. His ways are not our ways, are
they? He made known of the blessing of salvation. The Scripture says
in Ephesians 1-4, according as He hath chosen us in Him before
the foundation of the world, here's the blessing of salvation,
that we should be holy and without blame before Him in life. What
a blessing. You know, can you think about
this? I know just enough about myself, and I see in me no good
thing. That is in my flesh. That's what
Paul said. I just don't see it. I just don't see it. I don't
pray as I wish I would. I don't talk to you like I wish
I would. I don't have the right attitude
like I wish I would. I don't see anything, to be honest
with you and me, that is praiseworthy. I just don't see it. But the
Scripture says, He hath chosen us in Him before the foundation
of the world, that we should be holy and without blame, not
before each other, but before God in love. And He made known the reason
for saving His people. Here's the reason. Ephesians
1, 5. Here's the reason. That God saved them. Now this
is a marvelous thing. Having predestinated us unto
the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to Himself, here's the
reason, according to the good pleasure of His will. Why would God show mercy to one
and leave another to Himself? Why? Because it pleased Him to
do so. Somebody said, well, I just don't
know if I can go along with it. I pray God give you heart too.
I pray God give you heart too. Thirdly, the Lord has made known
the price of our salvation. Ephesians 1.7, in whom we have
redemption, here it is, through His blood. It's not when I see
your faith. It's not when I see your faithfulness.
It's not when I see how often you come to church. It's not
how much you read Scriptures. When I see the blood, I'll pass over you. And He's
made known the means. This is what I quoted a while
ago. Romans 1, 16, 17, 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. For therein is the righteousness
of God revealed from faith to faith, as it is written, that
just shall live by faith. And not only has Jehovah made
known His salvation, the Scripture declares His righteousness hath
He openly showed in the sight of the heathen, Jews and Gentiles. Salvation is for God's people. The Lord said, I have other sheep,
they're not of this fold, they're not Jews, them I must bring. They're not going to be left
in darkness and blindness. The Lord's going to cross paths
with His people, every one of them, no matter where they are,
He's going to cross their paths. And they're going to come to
Him. All that the Father giveth me shall come to me. Him that cometh, I will in no
wise cast out." Why? I paid His debt. I paid His debt. The Father gave Him to me. I've
eternally stood for Him. I've never cast Him out. One
that comes to Christ, and in closing, here's the foundation
of God's people's hope for eternal life in Christ. Verse 3, He hath
remembered His mercy. and His truth toward the house
of Israel, a spiritual Israel. You know that. Everybody that's
a natural Jew is not a spiritual Jew. He's remembered His mercy
and truth toward the house of Israel. All the ends of the earth
have seen the salvation of our God. The Lord said, I'm going
to have mercy on whom I'm going to have mercy. And His mercy
and compassion is according to His everlasting covenant of grace. And His remembrance to show mercy
toward His people is that He sees the shed blood, as I said,
of the Lord Jesus Christ. This is the truth because it's
from the mouth of the true and faithful witness. He remembers. I was thinking
about that thief on the cross. And at the last moments of that
thief's life, he was getting ready to die. He says, Lord,
when You come into Your kingdom, would You remember me? Would
You remember me in mercy? And the Lord, whoever remembers
His mercy and His truth toward the house of Israel, looked at
that spiritual son of Abraham. You say, well, that scripture
said he was a thief. Yeah, he was a thief. Just like
me and you. He'd never done anything good.
He'd been a rebel rouser all his life. Yeah, that's right.
Just like me and you. Well, he was getting exactly what he deserved.
But for the grace of God, he would have eternally got what
he deserved. But the Lord looked. at that
son of Abraham, spiritual son of Abraham, one that he had entered
into an eternal covenant with, with the Father and the Spirit.
And there he was paying the debt of that thief right there. And
he said, verily I say unto you, today shalt thou be with me in
paradise. Oh, sing unto the Lord. A new
song. A fresh song. Fresh every day. It's a fresh song every day.
It's new every day to God's people. To sing of His mercy and sing
of His grace and sing of His praises. Lord, You're worthy,
You're worthy, You're worthy. You say, well, didn't you sing
that yesterday? I sure did. By the grace of God,
I'll sing it again tomorrow. And it'll be just as fresh and
just alive then by His grace as it is right now. Bless the
word, our hearts for Christ's sake.