in the damsel that was possessed
of a demon. We saw an illustration of how
God frees a sinner one way, and that's through the declaration
of the name of Christ Jesus. And we're going to see that again
when we get to the Philippian jailer. But in between those two wonderful
passages of Scripture is another wonderful passage of Scripture
here. And in this we see the motive and the method of the
flesh. Mine and yours. And we get a
glimpse of what grace does in the heart. I titled this message
A song of the flesh and of the Spirit. A song of the flesh and
of the Spirit. Let's begin here in Acts 16 verse
19. And when her masters saw that
the hope of their gains was gone. Now last time we saw that that
the sinners who walk after the flesh operate from the same principle,
the same selfish motive, selfish gain. When her master saw that
the hope of their gains was gone, that's when they had a problem.
That's when they took offense. this portion and it says, "...they
caught Paul and Silas, and drew them into the marketplace unto
the rulers, and brought them to the magistrates, saying, These
men, being Jews, do exceedingly trouble our city, and teach customs
which are not lawful for us to receive, neither to observe,
because we are Romans." Well first, the method of all sinful
flesh is to rejoice in the power and strength of the flesh. They caught Paul and Silas. It's a fleshly thrill. It's natural to our sinful flesh
to think that we have caught somebody. in something. The flesh just likes that. When
you feel like you've caught somebody, the flesh delights in that. And
they drew them. Now, it wasn't that Paul and
Silas were fighting against them. They would have gone with these
fellows just like our Lord Jesus Christ was as a lamb led to the
slaughter. They weren't rejecting these
men. But these men delighted to drag them. To just drag them. That's the flesh delights to
catch another. The flesh delights to snatch
another one off his feet. And that's what they did here.
But the Lord's church is not ruled in the power and restraint
of the flesh. but by the power of the Spirit,
the power of our King who is seated at God's right hand. You
remember when they were building the temple after Solomon's temple
was destroyed, and they're building the second temple on Haggai's
day, and they're working on that temple, and the people saw, the
elders there saw the foundation of that temple, and they despised
it because it was nothing in comparison to Solomon's temple.
And the Lord said this through Zechariah, Then he answered and
spake unto me, saying, This is the word of the Lord unto Zerubbabel,
saying, Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith
the Lord of hosts. Who art thou, O great mountain?
Before Zerubbabel thou shalt become a plain and he shall bring
forth the headstone thereof with shoutings crying grace, grace
unto it. Our Lord Jesus Christ, our Zerubbabel,
our governor, our high priest through his power and his spirit
He's laid the foundation, and He'll build every living stone
upon that foundation, and He'll bring the headstone thereof,
and from beginning to end, shouting, Grace, Grace, unto it. Not by power and strength of
the flesh. Well, here's the second thing. The flesh lusts to be
seen of men. It says here that they caught
Paul and Silas, and they drugged them into the marketplace. into
the courts, into the public eye. And they did this for two reasons.
They did it for the two reasons that our flesh delights to be
seen. One, to persuade the public that
Paul and Silas were guilty. That's one of the reasons. And
the second reason was to make themselves appear righteous before
the public. That was the second reason. You
know, anytime you and I take a delight in making our name
broadcast to a world of ungodly sinners, these two reasons are
always at the door. It's because When I say finding
to show that Paul and Silas were guilty, it was a double-sided
coin. They were trying to do that and
exalt themselves in the process. And that's really all that the
praise of men is about, is about exalting ourselves over men. That's it. And the flesh loves
it. The flesh delights in it. Well, here's the third thing.
The flesh hates the gospel of Christ and always seeks to find
refuge in the law. Always. Look here now. This was their accusation and
this is what they were truly troubled with. They said they teach customs.
That is, Paul and Silas taught the doctrine of Christ. That's
what they were teaching was the doctrine of Christ. And it says,
which are not lawful for us to receive, neither to observe,
being Romans. What they teach goes against
our law. What they're teaching is not
lawful for us because we're Romans, we're not Jews. And yet by going
to the law to justify themselves, which is what they did, the rulers
and the magistrates represent the law. That's who they're going
to. And it's a revengeful, spiteful, their gains were gone because
of what the declaration of Christ's name had accomplished through
this damsel, their gains were gone. And that offended them.
And so they come pretending that they're really religious. But
what they truly were troubled with is the fact that the gospel,
the doctrine that Christ taught, that Paul taught, took their
gains away from them. And that offended them. That's
why all men hate the doctrine of Christ. It takes their strength
and power and their gains. It takes it away from them. And
so they came and they said, these men are teaching things that
aren't lawful for us to receive. They're not lawful for us to
observe. We're Romans. The Romans were polytheistic.
In Rome, you could worship any god. But you couldn't come claiming
the God. And that's not just a Roman problem. That's the problem today in our
nation. And it's not just an American
problem. That's the religion of man. Any God is fine, but
not the true and living God. Don't shut men up to one God. Then you're going to have a problem. Now, it's not lawful for us to
go that route. We're a people who are broad-minded. We're a people who accept all
sorts of religions. Not really, because we'll accept
all of them, but the true and living God. We'll accept all
of them, but the true and living God. Well, did you know that
the Jews used this same method to reject the gospel of Christ? And they used the law of Moses
to do it. You remember when... Let me show you this before we
get to that. You remember when Paul, in Romans
chapter 2, when he said, whoever... Let's look at it. Romans chapter
2. I don't want to misquote it. But when he says here, He says, Therefore thou art inexcusable,
O man, whosoever thou art that judgest. For wherein thou judgest
another, thou condemnest thyself. For thou that judgest doest the
same things. Now, he's not talking about What
the Pharisees were doing, brethren, were they were actually teaching
men, when he says down in this chapter, that you that teach
a man not to steal, do you steal? It wasn't just that they were
teaching a man not to steal and then they were going out and
robbing people. But they were actually robbing God of His glory
by using the law to try to constrain men with things like stealing. And they were actually bringing
them before the law and condemning them for stealing. And what Paul
is saying here is, in the heart, you're a thief, and you're an
adulterer, and you're a robber. Any man that uses the law this
way, he condemns his own self by what he's doing because everyone's
guilty and all have come short of the glory of God. Now, and
he later says, and the Gentiles do the same thing even though
they don't have the law of Moses. They do the same thing. It wasn't
just a Jewish problem. It wasn't just a Gentile problem.
It's a problem with all mankind. And he said whether they have
the law of Moses or not, they're a law unto themselves because
they have the law of right and wrong written on their heart
and they use the law among their Gentile heathen nations just
like you're using the law of Moses. They use it to condemn
men. They use it to excuse other men. And both are an unlawful use
of the law. Because the law was given for
one purpose and one purpose only. The law was given to show us
and declare to us that we are guilty in ourselves before God
to shut our mouths and to show us our need of a Savior. And
I mean all the law was given for that reason. The Ten Commandments
was given for that reason. The ceremonial law was given
for that reason. It shows us we need a lamb. It
shows us we can't come any other way but in the blood. Why? Because
we're guilty. Because we're sinners. And any
other use of God's law than that is unlawful. It's unlawful. I got some things I want to say,
but let's just move on here. Let me show you this now. Back
in Acts 6, verse 14. Now, maybe before you turn there,
read this again. Read what they said. Acts 16. Verse 20, they said, These men,
being Jews, do exceedingly trouble our city, and teach customs which
are not lawful for us to receive, neither to observe, being Romans.
Now turn to Acts 6, verse 14. Listen to what the Jews said,
who had the law of Moses. Listen to what they said about
Stephen. Acts 6, verse 14. For we have
heard him say, that this, verse 13, they set up false witnesses
which said, this man ceaseth not to speak blasphemous words
against this holy place and the law. For we have heard him say
that this Jesus of Nazareth shall destroy this place and shall
change the customs which Moses delivered us. They're saying,
therefore, it's not lawful for us to receive this man because
they teach customs that are unlawful for us, that Stephen does. Look over at Acts 18.13. In Acts
18.13, The Jews made insurrection with
one accord against Paul and brought him to the judgment seat. And
here was their charge. This fellow persuadeth men to
worship God contrary to the law. That was their charge against
him. Now, go with me to John chapter 8. John chapter 8. Look at verse 12, John chapter
8 verse 12. Then spake Jesus again unto them,
saying, I am the light of the world. He that followeth me shall
not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life. That's
the custom that Paul came preaching. That's the doctrine Paul came
preaching that these men said is unlawful for us to receive.
That's the doctrine Stephen came preaching. And this is what Christ
taught himself. Now look, the Pharisees therefore
said unto him, Thou bearest record of thyself, thy record is not
true. Where'd they get that? They're
saying, you're teaching doctrine that's not lawful for us to receive,
we being Jews and being under the law of Moses, because the
law of Moses says this, that thou bearest record of thyself,
thy record's not true. Now, listen to what the Lord
says, Though I bear record of myself,
my record is true. For I know whence I came and
whither I go. But ye cannot tell whence I come
and whither I go. Ye judge, you esteem after the
flesh. I judge no man," and really what
he's saying is, I judge no man after the flesh, but according
to spiritual reality, according to that which is real, which
is spiritual. And he says, And yet if I judge,
if I esteem him, my estimate is true, for I am not alone,
but I and the Father that sent me. Now, next he shows them how
their unlawful use of the law merely serves to condemn them. Watch. Verse 17. It is also written
in your law. This is where they were going
to. This is the very law they went to when they said, You bear
record of yourself. This is the law they went to,
to condemn him. And he turns around and says,
Your law? And he says, Your law to condemn
them. Your law says that the testimony
of two men is true. I am one that bear witness of
myself, and the Father that sent me beareth witness of me. And
next, they proved that they had absolutely no spiritual understanding
of what he's talking about. None whatsoever. And he says,
then said they unto him, where is your father? If that's the
case then, we don't see your father standing here with you.
Where is he? Jesus answered, you neither know
me nor my father. If you had known me, you should
have known my father also. You see, The law, Paul told Timothy,
the law was not made for a righteous man. Now, let's just take this
right here where we're at with the Pharisees standing here before
Christ Jesus the Lord. He's righteous, isn't he? Was
the law made for him? Was the law made to put a yoke
on him? He's righteous. Do you see the
folly of them coming to Him and using the law of Moses to try
to say to Him, it's not lawful for us to follow You? Or to accuse
Him of being unlawful because He said, I'm the light of the
world? And they said, you bear witness of yourself. Your witness
is not true. Where's your other witnesses? Do you see how foolish
that is because of the one they spoke to? He's the righteous
man. It's the same foolishness for
me or you to take somebody who trusts Christ and has faith in
Christ Jesus that's been made the righteousness of God in him
and use the law of Moses to esteem them as unlawful and condemn
them, to condemn them just as they were attempting to condemn
him. It's just as foolish. The law was not made for a righteous
man. Whenever a sinner is exiled, the right word, when you've committed
a law in one country and you go over to another country and
you seek exile so that the country where you've committed the crime,
they can do anything to you. The law in that country can't
touch you when you're in that other country. It's like the
city of refuge that the Lord set forth. When you're in that
city of refuge, the law can't touch you. But you know what
else? That law, the penalty of that
law has nothing to say to them when they're in that other country.
But you know what else about that law has nothing to say to
them when they're in that other country? The precept of it. The precept of it. They're under
no obligation to observe the precept of that other country.
None whatsoever. What I'm saying is that when
Christ has set a person free, They're no longer under the precept
or the penalty of the law as far as obligation goes. Now,
they've been set free to serve God freely, without constraint,
without restraint, and they're governed not by that precept,
but by Christ himself in the heart, which comes in love and
does something that no law ever did. The law never made a man
obedient. The law never made a man walk
honorably before God. The law never did that. You know
what does do that? A broken and a contrite spirit.
And you know where that comes from? It comes from the Holy
Spirit, from Christ, into that heart that He's made new, and
therein is how a sinner is made willing. That's how a sinner
is made to obey. Just as much as those Gentiles
outside of Israel were not under the Law of Moses during that
time, they weren't under it. So now, the believer is not under
it either. We've gone back now to the garden
when it was nobody but Adam and God. But even better, we can't
fall in Christ, but now we have communion with our God as Adam
did. And we follow Him and walk after
Him and walk after newness of spirit, not the oldness of the
latter. But here's the question. Look
at Matthew 7 with me. Matthew 7. These men thought
in the flesh. This is our natural tendency,
brethren, is we think that we're justifying ourselves when we
take somebody before the law. But now look at Matthew 7. Verse
1. Judge not that ye be not judged. For with what judgment ye judge? you shall be judged. And with
what measure ye meet, it shall be measured to you again." Let
me ask you a question. Do you want to be judged by the
law of Moses? Or do you want to be judged in
the righteousness of Christ? Well then, with what judgment
ye judge, you shall be judged. Read on. Why beholdest thou the
mote that is in thy brother's eye, but considerest not the
beam that is in thine own eye? Or how wilt thou say to thy brother,
Let me pull out the mote out of thine eye, and behold, a beam
is in thine own eye? Thou hypocrite, first cast out
the beam out of thine own eye, then shalt thou see clearly to
cast out the mote out of thy brother's eye. When we see a
brother in a fault, the first thing that we have to do, and
I tell you this, I know this about myself. I know this about
myself. The first thing that happens
every time that I see one of you do or say something that's
contrary to the grace of God, the first thing, the first impulse
in me is to Fly headlong to the law of moses the first thing
the first thing that I have to do before I sit down to prepare
a message Is I have to sit down and pray the lord to show me
christ show me the his grace show me what he does to the spirit
because otherwise otherwise I will pull out that that old law and
that old spirit and that and I will wilt and and do battle
with that old law I've got to get that beam out first and foremost.
That's got to go before I can instruct in any way in what this
gospel is teaching us. But when you see clearly, faith
is that vision. Faith is the substance of things
that we can't see with the natural eye. And faith sees clearly. And you know what faith sees
clearly? Faith sees clearly that my sin is gone. And faith sees
clearly that my brethren's sin is gone. Faith sees clearly that
because of the blood of Christ, we've been washed. And our sins,
He says, your sin and iniquity, I'll remember no more. I will
not remember it anymore. So when faith sees that there
is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus
who walk not after the flesh but after the Spirit. And faith
sees that in my flesh, still dwells nothing good. In my flesh
dwells nothing good. And when I behold sin in you
or behold error in you, you know what I'm beholding? I'm beholding
the fruit of the flesh. That's all I'm beholding. And
so before I can say anything to you, I've got to make sure
I see clearly that you're purged, that you're redeemed, that you're
bought with a price. And if God Almighty says, I'll
remember their sins no more, if He says, who shall lay anything
to the charge of God's elect, it's God that justified them,
it's Christ that died for them, and yea rather it's risen again,
who's seated at God's right hand, who's ever living to make intercession
for them. How on earth, how on earth then
am I going to go to the law and condemn you and judge you in
a harsh legal spirit of conviction against you? I can't do that.
Not unless that's how I want to be judged. And I don't want
to be judged in that. So then how am I going to deal
with you? I'm going to come in a spirit of gentleness. I'm going
to come in a spirit of meekness. I'm going to come with my heart
broken and contrite as much as if it was my own. flesh doing
it, knowing that it is my own flesh, that there's nothing good
in my flesh. But it's totally different. It's
totally different. And that's why that James said,
he shall have judgment without mercy that has shown no mercy
and mercy rejoices against judgment. But let me let me say this, that
you see, though, how that when they were offended, when these
men were offended, when the hope of their gains was gone, I would
almost venture to say without any shadow of a doubt that any
wealthy person, believer, true believer, any wealthy believer
that's ever been brought into this before the councils and
the governments and places and harshly used and brought before
the law, dragged before the law, it's because at some point That
preacher or that, those brothers, somebody felt like the hope of
their gang was gone. And the only thing a man knows
what to do when he feels like the hope of his gang is gone
is to drag you straight to the law like they did Paul and Silas.
It's not out of a spirit of love, it's from a spirit of vengeance
and wrath is what it's from. But they did this expecting that
in this thing they were actually justifying themselves and condemning
Paul and Silas. But just the opposite happened.
Paul and Silas weren't troubling the city. These men were troubling
the city. Paul and Silas weren't teaching
doctrines unlawful for them. Those men were. They were teaching.
They had that damsel going out, soothsaying, pointing men to
the flesh. They were the ones that were
guilty. And then look, here's the fourth thing. The flesh luffs
after that, which is no mercy and no justice at all. The multitude
and the magistrates exhibit this. Look here in verse 22, Acts 16,
22. And the multitude rose up together
against them, and the magistrates rent off their clothes and commanded
to beat them. And when they had laid many stripes
upon them, they cast them into prison, charging the jailer to
keep them safely, who, having received such a charge, thrust
them into the inner prison and made their feet fast in the stocks.
In other words, this was a kangaroo court is what this was. They
didn't give Paul and Silas a hearing. Where do you hear anything about
Paul and Silas being given the opportunity to speak for themselves?
They heard these men's accusations, and they saw the crowd get stirred
up by it, and these ones who were supposed to be zealous for
the law poured out unrighteous judgment on Paul and Silas. That's
exactly what happened. And that's what happens any time
we begin to sing this song of the flesh. That's what happens,
always. Now, the Lord said in Revelation
18, 6, Reward her even as she rewarded you. Double unto her,
double according to her works, in the cup which she hath filled
full to her double. Now let me show you sixthly.
The song produced by the Spirit of grace is a song of rejoicing
in spirit and in Christ alone. Look at verse 25. Nothing has
been said that Paul and Silas said anything during this whole
thing. Not a word. Nothing. They didn't defend themselves. They didn't rise up and stiffen
up their necks and try to do anything whatsoever. Nothing.
And the first time we hear them speak, Verse 25, and at midnight,
Paul and Silas prayed and sang praises unto God, and the prisoners
heard them. Be looking at Psalm 51 with me. I made the comment a few weeks
ago that when the Scriptures speak
of singing aloud, The translation, singing aloud, doesn't quite
convey the true meaning, because the true meaning is an involuntary
overflowing. Loudness is relative. I made that point to you last
time. What I consider loud, somebody else, it's not loud. What I consider
joyful, somebody else might not consider joyful. We got this
many people in here and we got this many different tastes. in
what they consider a joyful noise, right? You know, Brother Jaime,
I know, loves classical music. I like to hear Southern old soul,
Aretha Franklin and Otis Redding and people like that. But I think
it's a joyful noise. He thinks that's a joyful noise.
So if it's of us that determines what's a joyful noise, it's just
the same as if it was left to us to determine what righteousness
is. We can't do it. Now let me show you something
here. In Psalm 51, and I want you to see this with me. I think
this will make you rejoice. As he was praying here, or writing
this, David said, verse 12, Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation. and uphold me with thy free spirit."
That's what the Lord did to Paul and Silas. When they were being
beaten and they had stripes being laid upon them and their backs
cracked open with that rod, there wasn't a lot of joy in that.
But when they're in that prison, the Lord restored the joy of
His salvation to them. and upheld them with His free
Spirit. And He says, Then will I teach
transgressors Thy ways, and sinners shall be converted unto Thee.
Deliver me from blood guiltiness, O God, Thou God of my salvation. Now listen to this. This is the most passive way
you could say this. Do this for me, and my tongue
shall sing aloud of Thy righteousness. As if it's not His tongue. He
don't say, I'll sing aloud, my tongue will. Now look, O Lord,
open thou my lips, and my mouth shall show forth thy praises. You see what he's saying here?
He's saying, if you do these things, you're putting a song
on my tongue. You're opening my lips and bringing
forth a song out of me. This is what that translation,
sing aloud, It is that bringing forth of a song that the Lord
has put into the heart and has brought out of the heart. It
really doesn't have much to do with volume. It really doesn't. It has to do with God putting
it on our tongue and putting it in our hearts and putting
it on our lips because of what He's done for us in Christ Jesus
the Lord. Look now, compare that, what
I'm saying there, with Romans chapter 5. Look over at Romans
chapter 5 and listen to what Paul said in verse 3. He gave the glorious things we
rejoice in in Christ, that we've been justified by faith without
works. We have peace with God through
our Lord Jesus Christ. We've got access by Him into
this grace wherein we stand, into the throne of grace. And
we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. And he says, and
not only so, but we glory in tribulations also. knowing that
tribulation worketh patience, and patience experience, and
experience hope, and hope maketh not a shame." Why do we glory
in tribulation? How is it that we could glory
in tribulation? Look, because the love of God
is shed abroad. It overflows in our hearts by
the Holy Ghost which is given unto us. Now back here in our
text, we've got two men who have been charged falsely. They've
been publicly humiliated. They've been stripped naked publicly
before an angry mob. They're lying in a dark, damp
dungeon. Their backs are oozing the thick
clots of blood from being beaten with this rod. Their feet are
fastened so that their legs are held in a tormenting position
in a rack. And yet they pray and sing praises
unto God? Because as that love of God is
shed abroad in Paul's heart, Paul could sit there in that
condition And he could think, it wasn't very long ago that
I was the one that was catching the Lord's saints and dragging
them before me and making false accusations against them. And
I was the one who was stripping their clothes off. And I was
the one who was consenting unto their death. But the love of
God that came into his heart as he laid there in the position
that he had put so many in himself. The love of God that should have
brought in his heart said that through the blood of Christ,
his sin was washed away. And that he was brought to the
feet of the very Christ that he raged against. and brought there right beside
the very saints that He killed. And not God and not those saints
looked upon Him as ever having done anything but absolute holy
righteousness. That will put a song in your
heart. That will make you overflow with a song. That'll make you
want to sing no matter what the outward circumstance is. I can't
imagine that Paul and Silas sounded all that beautiful singing and
praying unto God as they lay there. I can't imagine that if
you and I could have heard it, we would have said, well, that's
pretty. That sure is pretty. If we had
just heard audibly with this ear what they sang and how they
sang. But it's not the volume of our
song. It's not the ability of us to carry a tune. Whether we
can or whether we can't or whether we sing like the most melodious
songbird that God has planted on your windowsill in the morning.
That's not what makes it joyful. That's not what makes it beautiful.
I don't have the ability to make a joyful noise. I really don't.
I don't have the ability to make you make a joyful noise by adding
one musician or a thousand musicians. And if I ever enter into the
thought that I can make a joyful noise or I can make you a joyful
noise, make a joyful noise, that is the chaotic distortion of
thinking that I can sanctify myself by my own ability, that
I can make myself righteous according to my works before the law, that
I can come to God myself and present myself to God and He'll
receive me because of what I've done. It's the same heavy metal
acid rock distortion as that. But the noise is joyful when
our hands and our feet and our bodies lie bound in the depravity
of this flesh and yet our hearts are made to rise up with uninhibited
freedom to praise the God of all grace because His grace,
His grace, the blood of Christ, the power of the Holy Spirit
has made it a joyful noise. Paul's not bound. His captors
are bound. Paul's not in prison, his captors
are in prison. Paul's not held captive, his
captives are held captive. Because Christ Jesus the Lord
has led captivity captive. He's taken away the captivity
for his people. There's where in our noise is
joyful. There's where in our song is
the song of the Spirit is totally foreign, totally opposite to
the song of the flesh. Totally contrary to it. That's
why Paul said, giving thanks always for all things unto God
and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Even right
here. Giving thanks unto God always
in all things. He giveth songs in the night.
That's what our Lord does. He giveth songs in the night.
When that dying sister that we love is lying on her bed moments
away from her last breath in this life, and we hear something, and you and I get quiet. Listen. She's trying to speak the last
word she'll ever speak in this place. Listen. we draw near and
you can't because of this old shipwreck flesh you can't hear
anything but just a maybe a note maybe maybe just two maybe just
a word of amazing grace or only a sinner saved by grace It's
loud, and it's more joyful than all the orchestras throughout
all the ages of time put together. You know why? Because it's the
noise that the Spirit of God's grace creates in spite of this
sinful, wretched, hell-deserving flesh that holds us captive. That's what makes it joyful.
That's what makes it loud. That's what makes it come up
to God, and He's delighted with it. That's why we just read in
Hebrews, by Him, therefore, let us offer the sacrifice of praise
unto God. That is the fruit of our lips
giving thanks unto His name. Oh, this flesh rejoices in the
power and restraint of the flesh. It lusts to be seen of men. And
the flesh lusts to, it hates Christ and wants to accuse men
before the law. The flesh lusts after that which
is truly no mercy and no judgment. And that's the song of the flesh. But grace brings forth thanksgiving
and joyful praise unto our God, no matter the outward circumstances. No matter. We were singing that
song. I picked the songs out tonight
on purpose. I wanted you to read to these
songs. But I read through the lyrics
of these songs. But as we were singing, oh for
a thousand tongues. Listen to this. Hear him ye deaf. His praise ye dumb. Your loosened tongues employ. Ye blind, behold your Savior
gone. And leap, ye lame for joy. Those are things that according
to the natural eye are impossibilities, or the natural ear are impossibilities. And yet, Grace says, that's the
spiritual reality of it. That's the spiritual reality.
The lame are leaping, the blind are singing, the deaf are singing
aloud joyful noises. That's the spiritual reality.
Why? It's in the heart. It's in the heart. It don't matter
if you can carry a tune in a bucket. But I'll tell you what, if you
know this, if you know this, it'll make you want to lift up
your voice loud. It'll make you say, you know
what? I don't care if you think I sound like a dying calf in
a hailstorm. I'm going to sing as loud as
I can sing, because I'm singing praises unto Him. That's right. Now, if you'll come and sing
that song for us, Eric, that I picked out there. And I picked it out for the last
stanza in that song, for the last few words in that song.
Let's sing it together.