Good to have you folks with us.
Good to see you today. You ever wake up with a song
in your heart? I mean, I got right out of bed this morning,
and woo! I'm singing a hymn to the Lord. I don't know. I don't
even know what I was thinking about when I finally woke up.
But I looked up, and it was still dark outside because it's like
4.30, I guess, in the morning. But I know it's time to get up. I got up, and I'm singing in
my heart. You're going to need a hymn book today, along with
your Bible. Let me get where I want to be.
OK. Now I've got to figure out how
I'm going to do this with two books. OK. Singing with grace.
Singing with grace. Waking up this morning, singing
with grace. Let me read this hymn to you. You can read along with me if
you want. It's on page 48. In fact, let's do that. Read
along with me. We're not going to sing this.
We're not going to play music to it. We're just going to read
the words. On page 488 of our hymn book, the title of the song
is, He Keeps Me Singing. That's who put that melody in
my heart this morning. And that's how this song starts
out. On 488, listen to the words we read here in the first stanza. There within my heart, there's
within my heart a melody, a new song, a song that I didn't used
to sing. Jesus whispers sweet and low. Fear not, he says, I am with
thee. Peace be still in all of life's
ebb and flow. Does that not fit the world around
us today, the ebb and flow of the world? We were talking earlier
about presidents and governors and stuff. I know, Lord, forgive
us. Shouldn't be doing that. But we did. And the troubles
that we face in this world, in this country, folks, it's all
of God. He's not the author of it, but
by removing his restraining hand, the people of this country will
go through whatever it is God has purposed for us to go through. We worship a God who deserves
to be called God. Not some flimsy little half being
who's out there and done some things and waiting for us to
do something else, but God who rules everything. And it does
not tire me to tell you and to say to the world, our God is
sovereign over all things. Those men who got in airplanes
and flew them into the buildings over there in New York, God purposed
that. And it was purposed for the good
of His people. That's what it says in Romans
8. in all of life's ebb and flow,
as we read there. Then verse 2, we read this, all
my life was wrecked by sin and strife. Can you relate to that? I can. I see what it was like
before the Lord called me out of darkness. I remember the way
I walked. Do you? Mike Lovelace loves to
tell people how the Lord converted him from the way he walked. Worshipping
God, he thought, by doing certain things on Saturday, abstaining
from things. I love the way he tells these
things. It's Friday night. Boom. There's the clock. What a burden. Finally, it's
over Saturday evening. Ha, great. I can go back to being
in my life again. You ask him, and he'll tell you. It's a good
story. It's a good conversion. We remember,
don't we? We remember. Our life was wrecked
by sin and strife. Discord filled my heart with
pain. Jesus swept across the broken
streams, stirred the slumbering chords again. Verse 3, feasting
on the riches of His grace. Isn't that what we do? Isn't
that what this is all about? coming together and hearing about
the grace of our Savior towards us. We know we deserve His wrath. We know that we earn His wrath
by the way we walk. But we also know this, the hope
of glory, Jesus Christ. For He took all of our wrath
upon Himself. And He took it to the tree and
was hung on the cross, cursed as everyone that hangs on the
cross on a tree. He took our curse upon Himself. feasting on the riches of his
grace, resting neath his sheltering wing, always looking on his smiling
face. That is why I shout and sing."
Well, John, how can you be so happy? How can you get up singing
a tune in the morning with all the stuff that's going on in
the world? My Lord rules it all. He says, to my troubling heart,
which I brought this out in Bible study. You remember the disciples? They were on the ship. They went
out into the sea, and the Lord Jesus was down in the bottom
of the ship sleeping. And the sea picks up and starts
storming all around. That's the world around us, folks.
That's not only the world outside of us, it's the sin that's within
us. God has put that sin away. And
He says to you and I, peace, be still. And when the Lord speaks to your
heart, it happens. It truly happens. John, I just don't feel any peace
in my heart. You're not looking into God's Word enough. You're
not hearing the Lord enough. Oh, he's looking on his smiling
face. That is why I shout and sing. Verse 4, though sometimes
he leads through waters deep. What? What? Everything's not
roses? Sometimes there's problems in
the life of a Christian? Oh, yes. Oh, yes. If you get a chance to go to
Sermon Audio and listen to last week's Bible study on the word, no, this week was unto us, us-word,
us-word, titled us-word. Folks, there is troubles, there
are more troubles in the life of a Christian than there ever
was before. Because not only do we see the troubles in the
world around us, a Christian sees the troubles of sin within.
And we don't like it. You've heard me say this before.
Our Savior, sweet and sour. It's sour that our Lord has to
take our sin upon himself, but how sweet it is that we no longer
have it. Though sometimes he leads through
waters deep, trials fall across the way. Though sometimes the
path seems rough and steep, see His footprints all the way."
You know, our Lord walked through everything you and I walk through.
He sorrowed in everything that you and I might sorrow through, including sin. He never sinned. Our Lord was perfect in every
way. There was never any sin in Him until He took it. until
He took our sin as His own, and cried out to His Father, My God,
My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me? He cried out to the One of
whom He is, One with, and said, My God, why hast Thou forsaken
Me? Verse 5, soon he's coming back
to welcome me far beyond the starry sky. I shall wing my flight
to worlds unknown. I shall reign with him on high. I may have already asked you
this, but if I didn't, turn over to Colossians chapter 3, please. This morning, I know there was
rain in the air. Interesting, though, how the
birds didn't stop. In fact, it almost seemed that
they sang more. You think the birds singing is
a thankfulness to their creator? Maybe. Maybe. That's just an
opinion. I wouldn't stand on that. But
it sure seemed like the birds were just singing out, praise,
thank you, Lord, for the water. We need the water badly, don't
we? Oh. The songbirds were in the air
today. A little rain brings out the joy in God's creation. And
psalms and hymns are in my heart also this day, as I shared with
you a moment waking up singing a hymn. I got a call yesterday. Some of you may recall this name. And I hope it blesses you as
much as it did me. I got a call from a young lady.
She said, is this Rescue Baptist Church? I said, yes, ma'am, it
is. And she goes, well, I was looking. I'm not sure if I've
got the right church or not. I was looking for Pastor Harmon. And I'm like, oh, well, he's
retired now. He's no longer here. Him and
his wife moved to Kentucky. Oh, good. They're OK there. I'm
like, yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, they're good. She goes,
my name is Robin. You might remember my mother,
Annie. Just remembering her brings back
a joy in my heart that I almost break down in tears thinking
about her. She goes, my mother is Annie. She goes, I've been troubled,
and I need to talk to somebody. I need to talk to Pastor Gene,
but he's not here. Can you help me? And I said,
I'll try. She goes, I've been troubled. Ever since mom died, I feel like
something's been calling out to me like something's wrong. She goes, is it possible that
a soul could be trapped in a body? I didn't do that. But I just,
oh, my dear, dear young lady, your mom knows the Lord. Now, I don't know what goes on
with the cursed when they die. I don't know. But I do know this. I know that
God's children, when they are absent from the flesh, are in
the presence of the Lord. That's scriptural. That's what
I told her. I said, the thief on the cross,
when he died that day, the Lord said to him before he died, today
you will be with me in paradise. Not somewhere down the road,
not waiting in the body somewhere. And I know in my heart the best
a man can know that Annie Robinson and her husband Robbie know the
Lord. She just broke down in tears
and started crying. I shared with her, I said, I
know your mom. I knew her well enough to give her an oxygen
machine when she needed oxygen the most. Insurance was fighting
her and wouldn't get her it for her, so Kathy and I loaned her
one. Oh, I remember that, she said. I remember that well. That was you? I said, well, that's
not the point. The point is I know your mom. And then I told her
this. I said, the one thing that stands
out most of what your mom did before she
passed away was she stood in this pulpit and sang a song. She sang a song, and I didn't
hesitate to express this. I said, now you know as well
as anybody that your mom at one time could just sing like a bird,
just as beautiful as could be. But as she got older, the voice
doesn't hang on like it used to. And she lost her ear for
hearing her voice, and she couldn't sing in tune at all. So badly
so that somebody who didn't know the Lord, maybe didn't know who
it was she was singing about, might have said, I can't hear
that. Plug your ears or something. But there was not a dry eye in
this house. Every person in here was in tears
because Annie was singing about her Lord. That's what this message
today is all about, singing with grace. Her voice cracked. She couldn't hold a note, but
she sung with grace, the grace of our Savior. Turn over to 337. Let's read
that song she sang. I told you, hang on to your song
books today, because we're going to be reading a lot of Songs that give praise and glory
to our Lord. I've got to take this off. I'm sorry. It's hot in here. Annie got up here. And you remember
how frail she was, those of you who were here. And she sang this
song. She sang, pass me not, oh gentle Savior. Yes. Hear, hear my humble cry. While on others thou art calling,
do not pass me by. Is that in your heart? Do you
have that same calling in your heart, Lord? I know I don't deserve
it. Lord, I know I've earned your
wrath. But while you're calling on others,
don't pass me by, please, Lord. Call on me, too. Let me, at a throne of mercy,
find a sweet relief. Kneeling there in deep contrition,
help my unbelief. She was almost in tears singing
these words, knowing that this was coming from her heart. Now,
you folks who knew Annie, you'd be sitting there thinking, no
way could she have been thinking of herself that way. Every one
of God's children think this way of ourselves. This is the
only people on this world where everybody is chief, chief of
sinners. Even Paul declares himself, O
wretched man that I am. Verse 3, trusting only in thy
mercy, in thy merit, would I seek thy face, heal my wounded, broken
spirit, save me by thy grace. Thou, the spring of all my comfort,
more than life to me, whom have I on earth beside Thee, whom
in heaven but Thee? Savior, Savior, hear my humble
cry, while on others Thou art calling, do not pass me by."
When the Word of Christ dwells in a soul, We sing out with joy,
unspeakable and full of His glory. The words of a song matter. I
was listening to a song yesterday posted on Facebook to a group
of men in some cathedral somewhere, and they all had wonderful voices. And when they sang together,
have you ever heard Lee and I sing together? Well, when you put
his voice with mine, mine's not so bad. And it sounds pretty
good. Well, that was the way these
four men were. They all sounded really good together. And they
were singing. And everybody was around, sitting in the pews around
them, singing hallelujah to the good music. But during that song, I didn't
hear once of the Lord and Savior Christ Jesus and what he did,
other than place me where no man stands alone. It was all about where these
men were. Wasn't anything to do to glorify our Lord. You know,
there's a lot of people who call in the name of Jesus, but they
don't know the true and living God, Jesus Christ. Everything should glorify Him. Lord, help me to sing that song. The song of this humble heart
standing before God, crying out, Lord, don't pass me by. Don't
leave me like others. May this blood of your Son be
for me too. Nothing, not even a whisper of
the Lord's name. The voices in the instruments
were beautiful, yes, but the words were empty. Are you with
me in Colossians chapter 3? Look with me if you would, beginning
at verse 1. If ye then be risen with Christ,
seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right
hand of God. Children of God don't have any
problem with that, do we? Oh, this one does. Not a problem with the words,
but a problem in doing it. Seeking the things above, which
where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Set your affection,
verse 2, on the things above, not on the things of the earth.
For we are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God. When Christ who is our life shall
appear, then shall ye also appear with Him in glory. Oh, what a
hope we have! Verse 5, we read this then, mortify
therefore your members, which are upon the earth, fornication,
uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil, concupiscence, and covetousness,
which is idolatry. For which things sake the wrath
of God cometh on the children of disobedience, in which ye
also walked some time when ye lived in them. But now, Now ye
are also put off all these, anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy,
communication out of your mouth. Lie not one to another, seeing
that ye have put off the old man with his deeds, and have
put on the new man, which is the renewed in knowledge after
the image of him that created him. Where there is neither Greek
nor Jew, circumcision or uncircumcision, barbarians, Athenian, bond nor
free, but Christ is all in all. Put on, therefore, as His elect
of God, holy and beloved bowels of mercy, kindness, humbleness,
of mind, meekness, long-suffering, forbearing one another and forgiving
one another, if any man have a quarrel against any, even as
Christ forgave you, also do ye. And above all these things, after
listing all those things which every one of us have walked in
at one time or another, Above all these things put on charity, love, which is the bond of perfectness. And let the peace of God rule
in your hearts, to which also ye are called in one body, and
be ye thankful. Let the word of Christ This is
our point right here. Let the Word of Christ dwell
in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one
another in what? In songs, hymns, and spiritual
songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. Singing with Grace in Your Hearts.
That's my title for today, Singing with Grace. Look at your hymn books once
again. I want to show you an example of that, Singing with
Grace in Your Hearts. Look over to page 295 of your
hymn books. 295. We come to church on Sundays. Bible studies on Friday night. That was yesterday. Today's a
new day. Lord, I need revived again. It says there right below the title
of revive us again on page 295, Psalms 856. Wilt thou not revive
us again that thy people may rejoice in thee? Will not Thou
revive us again, O Lord? Let's look at the words, at the
song, Revive Us Again. What does it do? We praise Thee,
O God, for the Son of Thy love, for Jesus who died and is now
gone above. There's the gospel right there.
We praise You, God the Father, for choosing us in Your Son before
the world ever was. We praise Thee, O God, for the
Son that You sent, as we looked at in our Bible study this morning,
unto us. Unto us a child is born. We praise Thee, O God, for Jesus,
Your Son, who died in our stead. Oh, what a Savior! Jesus is mine! Oh! We praise Thee, O God. for your Son who has died in
our stead and has now gone above." Verse 2, we praise thee, O God,
for thy Spirit of light. We know that there was nothing
in us searching after the Lord. The Lord's Word says, there are
none that seeketh after me. And I believe all of God's Word.
I don't want to just believe 316 like a lot of people do.
I want to believe all of God's Word. You may not understand
it, but I believe it. who has shown us our Savior and
scattered our night. He turned the light on. All of
a sudden we see where we were once blind by the darkness that
filled our hearts. We now have the light of Christ
dwelling, dwelling in the heart that He gave us. Verse 3, all glory and praise
to the Lamb that was slain, who has borne all our sins and cleansed
every stain. Does it get any better? Can it
get any better to a sinner? All my sins, all the stains of
John Reeves were laid on my Savior. And His perfect righteousness
was given to me. Given to you. given to everyone
whose name is written in the Lamb's Book of Life. Verse 4, Revive us again, fill
each heart with thy love, may each soul be rekindled with fire
from above. Listen to the words of Judges,
chapter 5, verse 3. Hear ye, O kings, give ear, O
ye princes. I, even I, will sing unto the
Lord. I will sing praises to the Lord
God of Israel. In 2 Samuel 22, verses 47 through
51, we read these words. The Lord liveth, and blessed
be my rock, and exalted be the God of the rock of my salvation. It is God that avenges me, and
that bringeth down the people under me, and that bringeth me
forth from my enemies. Thou also hast lifted me up on
high above them that rose up against me. Thou hast delivered
me from the violent man. Therefore I will give thanks
unto the Lord, O Lord among the heathen, and I will sing praises
unto thy name. He is the tower of salvation,
for He is King, and showeth mercy to His anointed unto David and
to the seed evermore." Look at another one in the hymn book,
if you would. Turn over to page 404, talking about this rock,
this one of sure foundation. Turn over to 405 and read the
words with me here. Verse 1, my faith has found a
resting place, not in device or creed. This is talking about
our flesh. There's nothing in our flesh,
nothing in our mind that we can devise up, no creeds that we
can come up with that we're going to place a resting place in. My faith has found a resting
place not in device or creed. I have no confidence in my flesh.
I trust the ever living one, it says. His wounds for me shall
plead. By His stripes we are healed.
Verse 2, enough for me that Jesus saves. This ends my fear and
doubt. A sinful soul, I come to Him.
He'll never cast me out. Isn't that what he says? All
that the Father giveth me shall come to me, and those who come
to me I shall not in no wise cast out. Isn't that what he
says? That gives us hope for our children too that haven't
come to the Lord. My son just got to Kentucky this morning.
I'm so thankful the Lord blessed him and a safe trip out there.
He's going to turn around and come back next week, get another
vehicle, and go back out again. He's moved to Kentucky now. But
how thankful I am that there's still a day, there's still today,
that my Lord could call my son or my daughter out of that darkness
that they walked in. A sinful soul, I come to Him.
If the Lord saved me, He can save anybody. He'll never cast me out. Verse
3, my heart is leaning on the Word. This is where the power
of God comes to us through His Word. The written Word of God. Salvation by my Savior's name. Salvation through His blood. Verse 4, my great physician heals
the sick, the lost he came to save, for me his precious blood
he shed, for me his life he gave. And then it goes on into the
course, it says, I need no other argument. I need no other plea. It is enough that Jesus died
and that He died for me. Is it enough for you? I've heard people leave this
church with this on their breath. It's just not enough here at
Rescue. I need something more. I need
more than just hearing about my Savior every week. I need
something to do. Is it enough that Jesus died
and that He died for you? This is our hope. This is our
trust. This solid rock that the song
points us to is our safety net. Look at another one, if you would. You know what, I jumped ahead
of myself and I read the wrong one. That's alright though, let's
read the other one. 404, the solid rock. Let's read
that one. My hope is built on nothing less
than Jesus' blood and righteousness. I dare not trust the sweetest
frame, but wholly lean on Jesus' name. When darkness veils His
lovely face, I rest on His unchanging grace. In every high and stormy
gale, my anchor holds within the veil. His oath, His covenant,
His blood support me in the whelming flood. When all around my soul
gives way, He then is all my hope and stay." Folks, when you
get to the point where you look at yourself and you say, I can't
do this, when God has brought us to the
point of saying in our hearts, I can't, is when we look to Him, the strongest. Lord, I need You now. I need
Thee every hour I need Thee. On Christ the solid rock I stand,
all other ground is sinking sand. When He shall come with trumpet
sound, O may I then in Him be found, dressed in His righteousness
alone, faultless to stand before the throne. I told you songs
are in my heart today, didn't I? Oh, music. Did you know a study was done
on elevator music? Some smarty pants guy in college
somewhere said, let's take a study and see how music affects people. Come to find out, they were right.
It affects people. I remember a story in an article
I was reading one time about Old Yeller. You know, that was
the big thing about Old Yeller when it came out. Everybody,
even the big guy, came out, you know, big dad, strong dad, came
out of the theater crying, Old Yeller's dead. OK, me too. Me too. Do you know they took the music
out of the movie? It just showed Ole Elder being shot, and nobody
cried over it. They took a bunch of the other people, and they
showed them having to shoot the dog, and they took the music
out of it. The words were still there, but the music was out. Think
about that now. Horror flicks. What kind of music
do you hear while watching a horror movie? Some kill them and mangle
them movie. Yeah. Music has an effect, doesn't
it? Folks, this is why the words
to the music are so important. I love our sister Judy and the
way she plays. God has blessed her with the
piano playing. I mean, we continue to use her
music to this day. If the Lord brought along a piano
player right now, they'd have to be really, really good before
I'd switch. Well, maybe I might mix it up
a little bit. But the whole thing is. God has blessed her with
the sound of music. But words mean everything. You can get a bunch of men who
can sing really good in a big old cathedral, and they can sing
a beautiful song. But if it doesn't have the Lord
Jesus in it, it means nothing, doesn't it? Words are important. Sound can
create and can enhance emotional feelings, which make us wishy-washy. But words are clear. Words mean
something. And when it comes to the Lord
of all glory, we do not argue. There is no argument. He is the
supreme ruler of all it is, and we cannot help but sing out that
He is Lord of all. Look over at page 359 of your
hymn book. 359. We won't be much longer. This is our song to the world
around us. I know a man who was on a roof
once, hammer and nails. I wasn't there, but I heard this
story from my pastor. And he said that man was on the
roof, and nobody else was up there with him. And he kept singing
to the Lord. Lord, thank you that I didn't smash my thumb.
He was singing. He was singing from his heart. Lord, thank you, I didn't smash
my thumb. I caught myself the other day.
Have you ever caught yourself doing this? Driving down the
road, red light, another red light. Thank you, Lord. Another
red light. Something's up ahead of me. That's
singing, Who is Lord of all? All my tomorrows. Verse 1 of
page 359 in your handbooks. All my tomorrows. All my past. Jesus is Lord of all. That's our song. That's what
we sing. Who rules over the rulers of
this world? Jesus Christ. I've quit my struggles. Well,
I haven't quite quit my struggles, have I? Contentment at last. Well, I'm more content than I
used to be. Jesus is Lord of all. All my
conflicts, all my thoughts, Jesus is Lord of all. His love wins
the battles I could not have fought. Jesus is Lord of all. All my longings, all my dreams,
Jesus is Lord of all. All my failures, His power redeems. Oh, isn't that good words? Is
that not good words to a sinner? All my failures, His power redeems. Jesus is Lord of all, King of
kings, Lord of lords. Jesus is Lord of all, all my
possessions and all my life. Jesus is Lord of all. In 1 Corinthians, I'm sorry, 1 Chronicles 16 and
9, We read these words. Sing unto
Him. Sing psalms unto Him. Talk ye
with all His wondrous works. Sing songs. Do you know how many
times the Bible talks about singing? 108 times according to that e-sword
thing I have. 108 times it talks about singing. 56 of those times is in the Psalms. The word Psalms means hymns. If you go about reading the hymns
of David and the others who wrote in the Psalms, and you read that
as a song, oh, the difference it makes in how you read it.
Because what it's doing is it's calling out. See, that's what
we do here. You may think that all we do
is come in and sing a hymn to get our hearts set in the right
spot, but folks, we're singing unto our Lord. We're singing
praises unto Him. Look over with me at Romans chapter
15 for just a moment. Romans chapter 15. I want to begin in verse 4 of
Romans 15. For whatsoever things were written
aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience
and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope. Now the God
of patience and consolation grant you to be like-minded one toward
another according to Christ Jesus. that ye may with one mind and
one mouth glorify God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Wherefore, receive ye one another, as Christ also received us, to
the glory of God. Now I say that Jesus Christ was
a minister of circumcision of the truth of God to confirm the
promises made unto the fathers, and that the Gentiles might glorify
God for his mercy as it is written, for this cause I will confess
to thee among the Gentiles and sing unto thy name. And again
he saith, Rejoice! Rejoice, ye Gentiles, with his
people. And again, praise the Lord, all
you Gentiles, and loud him, all you people. And again, Isaiah
said that there shall be a root of Jesse, and he that shall rise
to reign over the Gentiles in him shall the Gentiles trust. Now the God of hope fill you
with joy and peace in believing that ye may abound in hope through
the power of the Holy Spirit, of the Holy Ghost. Look with me one more, not one more, there's a couple
more actually. Look with me over at page 521. 521 of your hymn
book. The song of a sinner. In 1 Peter chapter 1 verses 18
and 19, we read these words, ye were redeemed with the precious
blood of Christ as of a lamb. Look at verse 1 of 521, redeemed. Redeemed how I love to proclaim
it. Redeemed by what I've done? No, that's not what we're seeing,
is it? We sing the redemption of Jesus
Christ, redeemed by the blood of the Lamb. Redeemed through
His infinite mercy, His child, and forever I am. Verse 2, redeemed
and so happy in Jesus, no language my rapture can tell. I know that
the light of His presence with me does continually dwell. I
think of my blessed Redeemer. I think of Him all the day long.
I sing, for I cannot be silent. His love is the theme of my song. I know I shall see in his beauty
the king in whose law I delight, who lovingly guardeth my footsteps
and giveth me songs in the night. Do those songs ever get old to
you? I think not. This is why I praise
him. I praise him for the grace that
he gave us in becoming a man, You know, the Lord didn't have
to do that. He's the creator of everything. Yet in His wisdom,
He saw fit to create man and allow us to do what we have
done so that He might show His mercy and His grace to a people. I praise my Lord for His grace
in becoming a man, going to the cross, and shedding His blood
for me. His grace that was shed in my heart. You, stand with
me if you would, please.