Steve read the scriptures. He
says, you know, God wrote the law on our hearts. There's several laws that God
wrote on our heart. And they're every one scriptural.
Got a whole list of them in the back of my Bible. Just give you a few of them.
You know, when the Lord said, you know, this is the new covenant
that I will make with them, their laws I will write within their
heart. Well, there's the law of righteousness.
God played up laws the same thing as a principle. He taught us
the law of righteousness and we don't have one. And he's the
only one that's got one. The law of sin. The new man owns
the sins of the old man. The law of faith. The principle
of faith. And then there's the law of love,
the law of the Lord Jesus Christ. There's the law of liberty. Stand
fast in the liberty wherewith Christ has made you free. And
then there's the law of Christ himself, which is the law of
love, liberty, and grace. Just thought I'd throw them out
there. One of these days I may preach
on that. But I carry that around with me all the time. Never know
when you're going to have to stand up and say something. I
used to carry around with me, I'll tell you, two messages I
used to carry around with me. One of them was about Mephibosheth.
Carried it everywhere I went. Because if a person couldn't
preach on Mephibosheth, he just well quit. And the other one was, do you
affect your call? Affect your call. John chapter 11. All right, let's
go here in chapter 14. Let me read a few verses here,
and we're gonna talk about in a second and deal with this thing
called the new song. And I looked, and lo, a lamb
stood on the mount, Zion, and with him a hundred forty and
four thousand having his father's name written in their foreheads.
And I heard a voice from heaven as the voice of many waters,
and as the voice of a great thunder. And I heard the voice of harpers
harping with their harps. And they sung as it were a new
song before the throne, and before the four beasts and the elders.
And no man could learn that song, but the 144,000 which were redeemed
from the earth. These are they which were not
defiled with women, for they are virgins. These are they which
follow the Lamb, whithersoever he goeth. These were redeemed
from among men, being the firstfruits unto God and to the Lamb. And
in their mouth was found no guile, for they are without fault before
the throne of God. I wanna talk about that new song
and the people who can sing it, the people who can sing it. Now
there's three paragraphs here in chapter 14, and all three
of them start with a look, a look. The first one there in verse
one is, I looked, and I saw a lamb. In verse six, it says, and I
saw another angel. So he saw, he's looking, seeing
things. And then the third paragraph,
which starts in verse 14, he said, I looked, and behold, a
white cloud. And they all start with each
one of them with the beginning of I saw or I looked. Now we're
leaving the earth here. Remember, we just were surrounded
by two beasts and the dragon. The last two chapters have been
about the dragon trying to destroy the Lord Jesus Christ and he
couldn't destroy him so he started on his church. The false prophet. The one that had ten heads had
blasphemy be written on his name. These were servants of Satan. And we had great enemies. And over in Revelation 7 it says,
who are these? Who are these that stand in here
before the throne? Who are these that stand in here,
this multitude that no man can number? He said, these are they
that come out of great tribulation. and have washed their robes white
in the blood of the Lamb. So now we left the earth in chapter
7, we go through the Christ coming, our persecution, and we go with
the Lord Jesus Christ calling us home in the Last Judgment.
And I tell you what, we're leaving the earth here. We're leaving,
we're gone from here. We're leaving the place of time
and sense and entering into the realms of glory. One place that
tells us where time shall be no more. And here it describes
as those who didn't receive the mark of the beast. Do you remember
those who received the mark of the beast? Well, these people
here didn't receive the mark of the beast. In fact, they were already sealed,
as well it says there in the last part of verse one, having
his father's name written in their foreheads. And over in
Revelation 7 in verse four, look at this. And here we see the same 144,
and if you remember, this 144 represents the whole church,
represents everybody. You know, there was 12 patriarchs, and then there's 12 apostles.
Old Testament's represented here, the New Testament's represented
by these 144,000. But look what it says here in verse four. And I heard the number of them
which were sealed, and they were sealed, and 144,000 of all the
tribes of the children of Israel. And so we were, almost all these
people were sealed, this 144,000. All of them sealed. And we didn't take the mark of
the beast, which is 666. The day man was made, the day
man was created, and the day God made him, he didn't last,
Mr. Pink said he probably didn't
last 24 hours, maybe 48 at the most, before he fell and was
cast out of the garden. Our first author fell, and everyone
since him has failed. And that's what 666, failure
upon failure upon failure. The only person that's ever been
on this earth The only man that's ever been on this earth. I'm
talking about a man. And that was the Lord Jesus Christ.
He's the only successful, powerful, perfect man that was ever on
this earth. And he never failed at anything
he did. Perfect in everything he did.
And I'll tell you what, he took all, I said it this morning,
he took, he was our surety. And I tell you, surety stands
good for someone who's incompetent, inable, no ability, and somebody
has to take care of him. Well, I, Lord Jesus Christ, I
tell you, I'm incompetent. I don't have no abilities. And
somebody has to take care of me. And the Lord Jesus does all
three of those things. Huh? Just put a big ol' F on
me, failure. But when you put Christ up there,
it takes away with all that. And I'm certainly thankful for
it. Now I'll tell you what, they don't stand in themselves, they
stand in the Lord Jesus Christ. And here we see the church triumphant
in glory. Look at the blessedness of the
redeemed there in verse one. And I looked, and Lord Lamb stood
on the Mount Zion. stood on Mount Zion. We've read
about Mount Zion time and time and time again in the Old Testament. In fact, it's in the New Testament.
Look over at Hebrews chapter 12 with me. Hebrews chapter 12. You are talking about Mount Zion,
a lamb stood on Mount Zion. And look what he says here in
verse 22. This is the Zion that cannot
be moved. stands on this mountain, this
Mount Zion. Look what he said there in verse
Hebrews 12, 22. But you are come unto Mount Zion,
and unto the city of the living God, and to the heavenly Jerusalem,
and to an innumerable company of angels, and not only angels,
but to this, to the general assembly and church of the firstborn.
that are written in heaven. So there we are. And I'll tell you another thing,
he said over in, excuse me, Psalm 125, he said, this is the Mount
Zion that cannot, cannot be removed. And we sang that Psalm, maybe
Kim will sing it later. Zion's hill, there waits for
me, a rest. In fact, it's called heaven.
Mount Zion's called heaven. We've come unto Mount Zion, the
heavenly Jerusalem. And that's what he's talking
about here. All this general assembly, this great host of
people gathered with the Lord Jesus Christ. And he said he
saw that lamb and he stood on the Mount Zion. And with him
144,000. This is heaven. And down in verse two he said,
I heard a voice. Where'd he come from? He'd come
from heaven. He saw the Lord in Mount Zion, standing on Mount
Zion. He's heard a voice from heaven.
And he saw with him, with him, with that Lamb. When it talks
about that Lamb, Nehushadra says, with him. They stand with him. That's the only standing we can
have is the standing that we have with him. We don't never
stand in ourselves. And they stand with Him, 144,000.
And I tell you, having the name and the names of His Father written
in their forehead. You know, our Lord Jesus Christ,
He told His disciples, He said, I gotta go away. He just told
them that Judas was gonna betray Him. They're all gonna forsake
Him and leave Him. He has to go up and suffer and
die at Jerusalem. And they were very troubled in
heart. They were very troubled, very bothered. And our Lord says,
let not your heart be troubled. You believe in God, believe also
in me. He said, in my Father's house
are many mansions. If it were not so, I'd have told
you. And he said, but I'm going away, and I'm going to go prepare
a place for you. And when I come again, you know
what he said? I'm going to take you, to be
where I am. And that's what's happened right
here. He's took us to be where he is. We're with him right here. In chapter seven, they were on
the earth until they were called. And then there, there was a multitude
that no man could number. There they sung their song, salvation
below with under the God of our God. And here they're enjoying
the glories and blessedness of glory. And this is after the
final judgment, of course. The dragon, remember him, he
did his dead level best to make them unfaithful to the Lord Jesus
Christ. He doesn't want us to be faithful
to Christ. He don't want us to be faithful to his church. He
don't want us to be faithful to his word. He don't want us
to be faithful to one another. He don't want that. And I'll
tell you, I think that one of the most blessed things that'll
ever be said about a man when he leaves this world is that
he was faithful. Faithful. Faithful to Christ. Faithful to the gospel. Faithful
to the word. Faithful to his church. Faithful
to the church that God put him in. Faithful. Whenever a step
he took was a faithful step, he believed God. And I'll tell
you, I think that'd be the most bliss thing that you could say.
But he wanted us to be unfaithful. Oh, hell, he wanted us to be
unfaithful. And he don't care who you're unfaithful to, as
long as you're unfaithful to Christ. He wants men to be unfaithful
to the Lord Jesus Christ. And he used those two beasts.
Remember them? And yet, Not one single soul
is missing. He didn't get one of them. Not
one of them that washed their robes white in the blood of the
Lamb. He never got one to be unfaithful to the Lord Jesus. And now he hears a sound coming
out of heaven. He said there in verse two, and
I heard a voice from heaven, oh my. And this is a song, and
that verse three said it's sung as it were a new song. They're
singing this 144,000 are singing a new song. And you know what
it sounded like? He said, the voice of many waters,
and the voice of a great thunder, and the voice of Harper's harpy. Now when he talks about Harper's,
he's talking about those people got those great big things, you
know, and they pull on those strings. Those things are so
beautiful. People know how to play them.
I love to hear them play. I've been places where they played
them. Oh, the people that can do it, they sound so beautiful,
so beautiful. But here they're singing this
song, and you know what it sounds like? If any of y'all ever been
to Niagara Falls, Man, I'm telling you, you can't hear your mind
think when you're listening to that water coming over there.
It comes rushing over there, millions of gallons. And you
get down there and all you can hear is that roaring water, roar,
roar, roar, roar. He said, that's what it sounds
like. Many waters was coming down. Then he said, there's a
thunder, great thunder, and all of us know what it is to hear
thunder, and it beats so close sometimes that it shakes your
house. And then he says, the voice of
harpers harping. Now how can these, all these
things come together? When you got people harping,
and the harpers and they're playing their harps, that's sweet and
tender. But how can you reconcile all
these voices? all these things. Well, God is
telling us here that this song has such power, such glory, such
authority, and such beautifulness about it, and such preciousness
about it, that we cannot begin to describe it. And that's what
he's talking about. And this new song sounded like
this thunder, constant, majestic, the water roaring, And then those
harpers, harpers sang it. Lovely, sweet, and tender. And
it'll be a new song. You know why it'll be a new song?
Because it comes from a brand new experience that we never
had before. We've never had an experience
like this before. So when we get there, we can't
help but sing. And oh, listen, God, I tell Shirley
this all the time, I say, boy, listen to them birds singing.
Oh, listen to the birds. God gives them every song they
sing. I listened to a mockingbird one
time. I listened, we got one that was up there the other day
singing, and I was counting the song, I was counting the different
birds that he imitated that he could mock. And I counted 13
different birds that he could imitate. And God gave him every
single note to do that. So if God gives the birds their
song and their notes, imagine how even those of us that can't
cartoon in a bucket will be able to cartoon there. We'll know
every note and sing every note perfectly. Ain't that right? I'll even be able to sing there.
Oh my. This new song, the people that
sang this song, it says there in verse three that they were
redeemed from the earth. They were redeemed people. They
were bought people, purchased people. And it's a new song. Because it's a new experience
to us. It comes from brand new hearts that we never had before.
It comes from new bodies we never had before, new tongues we never
had before, new mind we never had before. And all that says
there, and they sang, as it were, a new song before the throne.
And the four beasts and the elders, and no man could learn that song
but the 144,000. This is the only people can sing
it, those that were redeemed from the earth. And I tell you,
they sang this song, and look where it's at. Look where they
sang this song. Before the throne. Before the throne. We get scared to death to get
up and read the scriptures and sing here. Imagine, when we get
there, we won't be afraid. We won't be afraid. You know
why we won't be afraid? Because we won't have no sin.
We won't have no flesh. contend with. And they sang before
the throne, where God and the Lamb are seated. Before the cherubim,
before the elders, before the church, for the whole church
in glory, singing. And this song, this song, this
new song is experienced, having been purchased out of the earth.
You know that's why it's called the song of the redeemed. Only
redeemed people can sing this song. Only redeemed people can
sing certain songs. We sung Amazing Grace till one
day we found out how amazing grace really was. And then it
took on a whole new meaning. We sung Jesus paid it all until
we found out he really did pay it all. We sang there is a fountain
filled with blood until we was wept in that blood. Now that
song has some power to us. Oh, all these things have power
to us. Now before, they were just songs
that had good melodies to them. Now they have force, they have
power, they have reality to us. Oh my. And I tell you what, these
people were purchased by the precious blood of the Lamb of
the Lord Jesus Christ. No man, listen to this, no man
could learn this song. No, no, nobody, you can't learn
this song. I'm gonna teach you a song. No,
no, you're not gonna teach nobody this one. He said, there ain't
nobody can learn this song. Just that people that's redeemed.
They can't learn this song. It's like that fella that come
into the marriage supper. You know, and they had to have
everybody had on a wedding garment. You've been to weddings where
everybody's supposed to dress alike, you know, and they wear.
nice suits and everything, everybody dressed alike, and everybody
dressed up nice, you know, and they all have a wedding, and
everybody's dressed alike, and they have all these, and he said,
there's a wedding, and everybody had on a wedding garment. And
here comes in a fella in here in this wedding, he said, what
in the world are you doing in here? Well, I come to the wedding,
you ain't got no, listen, he ain't got a wedding garment on,
get him out of here. You know why? Because he's not
invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb. He can't sing this
song and you can't teach him this song. You can't teach the
world this song. You can't teach the church this
song. Only God can teach this song. And only the redeemed can
sing this song. Those that's been washed in the
blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. We can sing that song. Look what
Moses said. Look over in Exodus 15. I just
thought of this. Let's go over to Exodus 15. Look
over here. When Moses came through the Red
Sea and they'd been delivered, come through the Red Sea, look
what it says here. They're talking about singing. Oh my. Chapter 15, Then sang Moses and
the children of Israel this song unto the Lord, and spake, I will
sing unto the Lord. for he hath triumphed gloriously. Verse two, the Lord is my strength
and my song. He has become my salvation, he
is my God. He is my God. He hath now prepared
him a tabitation, my Father's God, and I will exalt him. Now
I tell you what, that's a song, they sung a song. You know why
they sung a song like that? because they had just come through
a great, great trial. And they had a new song to sing.
God has put a song in our heart, even praise unto God. No man
could learn this song, only those that's been redeemed from the
earth, bought by the Lord Jesus Christ. Now look in verse four.
These are they which are not defiled with women, for they
are virgins. These are they which follow the
Lamb with us wherever he goeth. These were redeemed from among
men, being the firstfruits unto God and to the Lamb. These people are virgins. That
is, they're not defiled. And what he means by that is,
is that they did not become unfaithful to the Lord Jesus Christ. And
look what it says, they follow the Lamb. They follow the Lamb. They want, wherever that lamb
is, that's where they wanna be. Wherever that lamb's spoken of,
that's where they wanna be. Wherever that lamb's preached,
that's where they wanna be. That's why John said, behold
the Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world. And
I tell you what, everybody that's ever saw that lamb, they follow
him. Our Lord Jesus Christ said, follow
me. And when he says, follow me,
we get up and follow him. Where he leads me, I will follow. I'll follow. And that's what
he's talking about. And he leads us a lot of different
places in this world, but we follow him wherever he goes.
If he takes us in deep waters, we follow him. If he takes us
in the fire, we follow him. If he takes us through a great
trial, we follow him. If he puts us in a furnace of
affliction, we follow him. Wherever he takes us, we go follow
him. Ain't we? And that's what they
do. They follow the lamb wherever he goes. And I wanna show you
something. In 1 Corinthians, 2 Corinthians
chapter 11. Let me show you something. 2 Corinthians 11. You know how many times in the
scriptures it talks about us being unblameable, unreprovable? without spot, without blemish
before Him. So that's what he's talking about.
He's talking about our relationship with Christ. And look what he
said here now in verse 2, 2 Corinthians 11, 2. For I'm jealous over you
with godly jealousy, for I have espoused you to one husband,
that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ. That's what
he said. Who's he talking to? He's talking
to people. The redeemed. But this is what
he is afraid of. He's afraid of this. And this
is why Satan never got us. But I fear less by any means
as the serpent begot thee through his subtlety. So your minds should
be corrupted from the simplicity. That word simplicity means singularity,
that is Christ. Christ is singular. And oh, listen,
I'm jealous over you. I don't want nobody to take you
away. I don't want nothing to draw
your way. Christ is, his message is singular. Everything about
him is singular. And I tell you, it tells us,
you know, that we're members of his body and he bought us
with a price. And it tells us that we were
unblameable, unreprovable, without blemish, faultless before the
Lord Jesus Christ. Now that's what he's talking
about right here. And then he says, these were redeemed from
among men, away from men. You know how many men are on
this earth and have been on this earth? God only knows how many
billions have been on this earth. I read one time, and I couldn't
go through it, but say you take two people, they have two children,
the two children go up and they have two children, and inside
of 60 years, you know how many people you'll have from those
two people? It just goes four, by four, by four, by four, by
four, by four, by four, by four. Next thing you know, you've got
thousands. And that's what he said. So how
many billions have been on this earth? And out of all those billions,
God said, I want that none of them. I want that none. See all
those folks among those people there? He said, I want him, I
want her. They're mine, this is mine, that was mine, that's
gonna be mine. before the world ever began for
he put the first man on the earth. He said, I've got a number already
picked out. I've got a number and I've got
it wrote down. And it's such a great number. Such a huge number. Such an astronomical
number. that nobody can number it. It's impossible for the brain
to get it. That's what he's talking about.
They were redeemed from among men. And then it talks about
here, it said, being the firstfruits, being the firstfruits unto God
and the Lamb. And the firstfruits, you know,
They were for the firstfruits, you find this out, and over in
James 1.18 it says this, that by his own will begat he us with
the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his
creatures. Now the firstfruits are those
they were given to God, they were given to the Lamb. And the
world aren't in these. No, the world is just ripening
for judgment. ripening for a harvest. Our Lord
Jesus Christ said, lift up your eyes. Says the harvest is ready. He said, let's, he said, there's
tares growing among this wheat. He said, let them alone. He said,
ah, they may come and harvest them. He said, I'll separate
them. And oh my, he said, the fields
are ripe, ready to harvest. And I tell you, it's ready to
harvest. The world's ready to be harvested. And let me show
you what I'm talking about. Look right down here in chapter,
in verse 14 of chapters 14. Look here what I'm talking about.
Talking about the Lord Jesus Christ coming to gather the harvest
in. And I looked and behold a white
cloud, and upon the cloud one set like the Son of Man, having
on his head a golden crown, and in his hand a sharp sickle. And another angel came out of
the temple, crying with a loud voice to him that sat on the
cloud, Thrust in thy sickle and reap, for the time is come for
thee to reap. The harvest of the earth is ripe. And he that sat on the cloud
thrusted his sickle on the earth, and the earth was reaped, is
reaped. Oh my, he said, oh, they're coming
to great weeping, great separation. And then, oh, listen, look at
another one. And the rest of them, this here
is where he gathers his wheat. He said, gather the wheat into
the barn, gather the wheat into the garment, and cast down tares
and bind them. And then he said in verse 17,
and another angel came out of the temple, which is in heaven,
having also a sharp sickle. And then another angel came out
from the altar, which had power over fire, and cried with a loud
cry to him that had the sharp sickle, thrust in by sickle and
gather in the clusters of the vine of the earth, for her grapes
are fully ripe. And the angel thrust in his sickle
in the earth and gathered the vine of the earth, and listen
to this now, and cast it into the great rind press of the wrath
of God, And the winepress was trodden without the city, and
blood came out. Oh, listen, there's the harvest,
where Christ harvests his people. And then there's the, where they
gather the wicked. And he puts them in the winepress
of God's wrath. A great difference between people.
And I want you to see this about the first fruits. Look over with
me in Numbers chapter 18. Numbers chapter 18. Show you
about the firstfruits. You know, we're the firstfruits.
Chapter 18 and verse 12. So here's our Lord Jesus. You
know, it talks about, you know, bringing the firstfruits. When
you have your firstfruits, the first thing I want you to do
is that I want you to bring them to me. Bring them to me. And
he said in verse 12, all the best of the oil, all the best
of the wine, and of the wheat, the firstfruits of them which
shall they offer unto the Lord, them that I have given thee.
And he said, all the firstfruits, and we're the firstfruits. When
God ripens, when he brings us, he said, you're all my firstfruits.
You're the best. You're the best. That's what
he said. And what makes us the best? He
does. by calling us that. And all the
redeemed are the firstfruits. Now back over here in verse 3,
4, and 5, look with me now. All the redeemed are these firstfruits. That 144,000 are all the redeemed
are not firstfruits versus other believers. These are separate
from other believers. No, no. They're not a select
group in heaven. They're not a group of super
saints, but it's all the redeemed. You know, there's people who
believe that only 144,000 is going to heaven because they
see 144,000. And then there's another people who believe that they're the
144,000. And they only get to go to the
marriage supper of the lamb, and the rest of us are just friends,
and we have to sit around on the outside and wait till they
get through eating and we meet. And a lot of them are Calvinists.
A lot of them are Calvinists that believe that. But oh my,
there's not, did you know there's not these first fruits and then
over here's these other believers. These are not the first fruit,
and over here are these super saints. You know, the 144,000
super saints, and the rest of us just happen to be hanging
around. That's not the way he's talking here. He's talking about
all of God's elect. He just uses this number, this
number. And all believers are sealed
with the name of God and the Lamb. And then look what it says
about them right here, in verse five. And in their mouth was
found no guile, And listen to this now, for they
are without fault. Where it counts, before the throne
of God. That's where it really counts,
ain't it? And it says, in their mouth was no guile. What does
that mean? That means they've not accepted Satan's lie. No,
no. They don't talk grace and works
at the same time. They don't talk about God's sovereign
will and man's free will, and they have to figure out how to
make them work together. They don't talk like that. They
talk grace. They talk Christ. They talk blood. They talk righteousness. They
talk satisfaction. They talk justification. They
talk forgiveness. They talk all that. They add
nothing to the Lord Jesus Christ and take nothing away from the
work of the Lord Jesus Christ. There's no guile in their mouth.
Brad read it tonight back there. We are not those which handle
the word of God deceitfully. That's what he's saying here. We're not trying to deceive it.
We don't want to be deceived ourselves. When I look in God's
word, I don't want to be deceived. And I know me, listen, I've said
this time and again, I know me. I know the depths of my sinfulness
and my inability. And I have to ask God to keep
me, keep me, keep me, keep me, keep me safe, keep me daily. And if I was deceived, then I'll
turn around and deceive you. But it went on to say this, that they which know not the
gospel, the gospels hid from them, which do not know Christ,
the gospels hid from them. Satan has blinded the minds of
them that believe not the gospel. And I tell you what, people's
minds can be blinded, but I don't want to have, and that's what
he said, no God in their mouth. You know, every believer, or
when he says something, you ought to be able to, is that one time
as you say, you can take that to the bank. When a person tells
you something, you ought to be able to believe every word that
comes out of their mouth. They ain't gonna lie to you.
They're not gonna cheat you. They ain't gonna say something
to your face and say something else about you behind your back.
They don't do things like that. They don't do things like that.
They ain't got no guile in their mouth. I believe I can show you that.
Look over here. I want you to look at Jude. and
then I'm gonna quit. Look over here in Jude for me,
the last verse of Jude. Oh my, no guile, no fault. He
said, there is no guile and there without fault where it counts
before the throne of God. Look what he said here in verse
24. now unto him that is able to
keep you from falling, bless his holy name, and to present
you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy. That's why we're singing that
song up there. He said we're without fault. And I'm gonna
give you one more and I'm done. Colossians, look in Colossians
chapter two, excuse me, chapter one, and I'll be done. Colossians
chapter 1 and look in verse 20. We're in Christ without spot,
without blemish. But look what it said here in
verse 20. First Colossians 1.20. And having made peace through
the blood of his cross, By him to reconcile, bring together
all things unto himself. By him, I say, whether things
in earth or things in heaven. And you, us, that were sometime
alienated in enemies, in our minds by wicked works, yet now
hath he reconciled. Now listen, this is what I will
say. In the body of his flesh, through death, to present you
holy, unblameable, and unreprovable. where it counts in His sight.
And He says, they have no guile, and they're without fault before
Him, before the throne.