As I've told you before, psalm,
the word psalm means praise. Songs of praises unto God. And this psalm that we read a
moment ago, 115, was sung during the observance
of the Passover. And of course, they recalled
Israel's deliverance, their deliverance from Egypt. And that's recounted
briefly in the previous psalm. Psalm 114 and that's why we included
it in the reading. There it speaks of that time
when God by His might brought the children of Israel out of
Egypt. Turn if you will for just a moment
back to Exodus where the record of that deliverance is recorded.
We have just here in Exodus chapter 14 the summary of what took place. and then the song as their response
to what God had done for them. Here in Exodus chapter 14, after
the Lord brought them through the Red Sea, and after they're
on the other side, all safe and sound, not one of them's lost,
not one of those that the Lord had previously redeemed, that
lamb whose blood was applied to the houses that the Israelites
were in, not one of those that were in those houses where the
blood was applied, not one of them perished. Every one of them
passed through. What a blessed picture of the
redemption of Christ. And after that took place, we
read in verse 29 here in Exodus 14, But the children of Israel,
unlike Pharaoh and his captains and his mighty army who were
dead, unlike them, but because God made a difference, but the
children of Israel walked upon dry land in the midst of the
sea. And the waters were a wall under them on their right hand
and on their left. Thus, I like that word, don't
you? It's not a word we much use in
our day, thus, but that just sort of sums everything up. It's
telling us this is how it was. It was this way. This is what
took place. Thus, the Lord saved Israel that
day. He did it all by himself. He
didn't require any assistance from them. The Lord saved Israel
that day out of the hand of the Egyptians. And Israel saw the
Egyptians dead upon the seashore. And Israel saw that great work,
that great work. And salvation, which this pictured,
which this is a type of, is an even greater work. And Israel
saw that great work which the Lord did upon the Egyptians.
And the people feared the Lord. They worshipped. They stood in
holy wonder of Him. My soul, as the song afterwards
that they sung, glorified Him and they said, Who is a God like
unto our God? Israel saw that great work which
the Lord did upon the Egyptians and the people feared the Lord
and they believed the Lord and His servant Moses. And then follows in chapter 15
the first recorded song in God's Word. There's not another before
this. There may have been songs, I'm
sure, but there's none on record. This is the first on record,
in God's Word, a song sung to God for His mercy and grace. And this song is not about man's
will. It's not about man's will, it's
about God's will. It's not about man's work, but
it's about God's work. You see, salvation is of the
Lord. Now we say that and we hear it
all around us, but salvation in its entirety is of the Lord. What part does man do? He does
nothing at all. He does nothing at all. Just
as the children of Israel here did nothing at all. Look, if
you will, at verse 11 here in their song of praise to God in
Exodus chapter 15. Who was likened to thee, O Lord,
among the gods? You've done something nobody
else could do. Who is like unto thee? Glorious
in holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders. Salvation is a
wonder work of God Almighty. And then notice what they sing
again in verse 13, what they say in this song to their God.
Thou and thy mercy has led forth the people which thou hast redeemed. You didn't redeem one people,
and then lead forth another. And you certainly didn't let
the people that you redeemed perish. No, you led forth the
people which you have redeemed. Thou has guided them in thy strength
unto thy holy habitation. God did it all. Thou led. Thou redeemed. Thou guided. Is it any wonder
that Psalm 115, after recounting this miracle of God's mercy and
grace, is it any wonder that it begins as it does, with these
words, not unto us, not unto us, but unto thy name give glory
for thy mercy and for thy truth's sake. Turn if you will to Revelation
chapter 7, and we'll come back to Exodus, or I'm sorry, Psalm
115 in just a moment. what takes place here that we
read of in Revelation to what we just read in Exodus chapter
14. And are not the words of our
text appropriate here as well? Here in Revelation chapter 7,
John is introduced to a vision of the redeemed. Of the redeemed. And where are they? Where are
the redeemed? Where are all those for whom
Jesus Christ shed his blood? Where should all those for whom
Jesus Christ was made sin be? Where will they be? They'll all
be led forth as they sang in that song. Everybody he redeemed,
he'll bring forth. He will guide them all the way,
my Savior leads me, unto his holy habitation. In verse 9 here
in Revelation, After this, chapter 7, after this I beheld and lo
a great multitude which no man could number. Of all nations
and kindreds and people in tongues stood before the throne and before
the Lamb clothed with white robes and palms in their hands. and cried with a loud voice,
saying, Salvation to our God. Salvation to our God. They sang
what God did. Not what they did, but what God
did. Salvation to our God which setteth
upon the throne. He's always on the throne. And
unto the Lamb. And then in verse 13, we read
this. And one of the elders answered,
saying unto me, What are these which are arrayed in white robes,
and whence came they? And John answers and said, Sir,
thou knowest, thou knowest. And he said to me, these are
they which came out of great tribulation and have washed their
robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Therefore,
thus, that's the reason They are before the throne of God
and serve him night and day or day and night in his temple.
And he that sitteth on the throne shall dwell among them. Are not the words of our text,
Psalm 115 verse 1, not appropriate here as well? Not unto us. This is what the redeemed sing
in glory. Not us, Lord, but to you be glory
and praise, dominion and power forever and ever. In chapter
5 of Revelation, we read this in verse 9, and they sung a new
song saying, thou art worthy, thou art worthy. Not man, not
man's work, not man's will, not man's worth, but God's work. God's will. The blood of Jesus
Christ. That's the theme of glory. That's
the theme of the song of the redeemed. They say thou art worthy
to take the book and to open the seals thereof for thou was
slain. Thou was slain. No wonder they
say thou art worthy. It's for good reason that they
sing this song. Who else but him is worthy? For
he was slain with this sure and certain outcome. There's no question
about this. Thou was slain and hast redeemed
us. You redeemed us back to God. We look out on creation. And
looking on creation we know If God's given us faith, every child
of God knows it's not the result of a big bang. It's the result
of a big God. Creation is evidence of the Creator,
the Lord God. When I consider, the psalmist
said, thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, The moon and the
stars which thou hast ordained." God did it. In the beginning,
there wasn't a big bang. In the beginning, God. No one else. Therefore, concerning
creation, we say, not unto us, O Lord, not unto us, but unto
thy name give all the glory. Looking at providence, God's
governing of his creation. God working all things together
for the good of his people. We look at that and it's not
the result of fate or chance but God working. Thou has created
all things and for thy pleasure they were and are created. Therefore
again we sing not unto us, O Lord, not unto us. And then we come
to this third thing. Looking at the salvation of a
sinner. Our religious folk today will
go along with the first. Creation? Not unto us, O Lord. Providence? Not unto us, O Lord. Oh, but salvation? Now we're
getting down to where the rubber meets the road, Lester. And this
is where people take issue. They can't sing the song of an
entire praise unto God. Looking at the salvation of the
sinner, Paul asked this question. Who maketh thee to differ from
another? Child of God, who made the difference
in you and anyone else? What do you have that you did
not receive? Now, if you received it, if you
received it as a gift from God's grace, if God did for you something
that he didn't have to do, wow, wait a minute, did I say that
right? Did I stumble? Did I get tongue-tied there?
You mean God didn't have to do it? That's exactly right. That's
exactly right. Now, most people today think
they've been taught, and it's in them by nature anyway, but
that God is obligated to save every sinner. Oh, not so. Not
so. God's not obligated to save anybody. And if He does, it'll be a matter
of His pure, sovereign grace. He'll have mercy. And this is
what he himself said, Moses, I'll have mercy on whom I will
have mercy. Moses, it's my mercy and I'll
bestow it on whom I will. Know this, concerning the salvation
of any sinner, our Lord said in answer to the question, Who
can be saved? Who can be saved? You remember
that. That's when the rich young ruler came to the Lord, sought
the Lord, came to him and bowed down before him and said, good
master, oh my, how impressive it looks. But then the Lord sends
him away. He bowed physically, but he wasn't
willing to bow in his heart. And the Lord sent him away sorrowful.
The disciples said, who can be saved? If that young man there
can't be saved, who then can be saved? Do you remember what
the Lord said? Now religion says it's easy. It's easy as ABC. It's easy as making a decision.
It's easy as walking it out or raising a hand or saying the
sinner's prayer. It's just easy. Jesus Christ
said, the only savior, the only mediator between God and man,
he didn't say that, did he? In answer to the question, who
can be saved? He said, with man it's impossible. It's impossible. It's not up
to man. It's up to God. It's not up to
you. It's up to God Almighty. The
Lord Jesus Christ said, Father, you've given me power over all
flesh that I should give eternal life to who? To as many as thou
has given me. It's up to him. Therefore, Paul
concludes, it's not of him that willeth. Oh my! Now we're touching
the golden calf, aren't we? It's not of him that willeth.
Salvation is not up to man's will, it's up to God's will.
But of God that showeth mercy. Therefore, that being the case,
we sing as we did concerning creation. concerning providence
and especially salvation. Not unto us, O Lord, not unto
us, but unto thy name give glory for thy mercy and for thy truth's
sake. That is indeed a different tune,
is it not, than what's being sung in most religious circles. I don't mean about the wino or
the harlot. I mean in most religious circles. I mean in most churches. They
cannot sing that. My father used to tell me when
I would kick against doing something he told me to do, I don't want
to. He'd look at me and say, well
son, I'll tell you what, I'll bet I can change your tune. I'll bet I can change your tune.
And man, he was good at it. Salvation is of the Lord. All of it. And I'm thankful. If God Almighty, if God is pleased
to do it, I don't know that he will or not for you, but if God
Almighty is pleased to do it, if he is pleased to strip you,
if he's ever pleased to give you a glimpse as to who you are,
If he's able to bring you down and show you your helplessness,
your depravity, your deadness before him, and give you some
idea of who he is, if he's ever to make you learn that you're
the sinner, you'll be glad to hear that salvation's all of
the Lord. You'll find out it's not easy.
It's not simple. It's not as simple as A, B, C.
Oh, no, Lord, if you will, you can make me clean. Otherwise,
I'm going to perish. That's exactly right. Salvation
is of the Lord. And nothing can produce this
heartfelt attitude. Any singer, any sinner, excuse
me, that sings from his heart, that truly means from his heart,
not unto us, O Lord, not unto us, Nothing can produce that
but the experience of God's mercy and grace. Religion says, to
us? To us. Let's share the glory. We did our part and God did his. We gave Jesus a chance. Hogwash. Hogwash. Give Jesus a chance? Oh no. Oh no. Religion makes
too much of man. Just way too much of man. Do
they not? and far too little of God. And
the result is we've got multitudes, I mean multitudes, of professing
Christians that will not bow to the Word of God. Professing
believers, and you know what we do with them, what's been
done with them? We've given them this title,
carnal Christians. That's that strange creature,
that strange creature that the Word of God knows nothing about.
The Word of God says if any man's in Christ, he's a new creation.
It knows nothing about anyone who supposedly has accepted Jesus
as their Savior, but's never bowed to him as Lord. The Bible
knows nothing about such a creature as that. That's the product of
man-made religion. That's what easy believism has
produced. And the result is, there'll be
among that many that our Lord will say to in that day, depart
from me, I never knew you. The context of this very psalm
shows that, does it not? Look again at what it says here
in Psalm 115 verse 4. Their idols are silver and gold,
The work of men's hands. Now I doubt if anybody here has
an idol at home that they made out of their own hand, but they
made one out of their depraved imagination. Another God, another
Jesus. Just as bad, just as deadly. Look again at verse 8. They that
make them are like unto them. They that make them are like
them. They're no more than themselves,
and they can do no more than themselves. They cannot save
useless idols. Oh, this expression in verse
1 is contrary to man's nature, but not to the new nature. No,
David's prayer is for God to do as he did before. Verse 2,
this is David's prayer. Wherefore should the heathen
say, where is now their God? And David is saying, Lord, vindicate
your great name. Do again what you did in the
past. Answer them by revealing yourself.
Do it for your own glory. That God would do so today. First
you have the question in verse 2. Where is now their God? Tell me where your God is. Tell
me where your God is and I'll tell you who your God is. Is
your God trying or doing? Is he Lord over all or just some? Does he have his way or not? Does he save sinners or does
he simply offer to save sinners? Does your God come to the tomb
of Lazarus and say, Lazarus, if you'll take the first step,
I'll do something for you. Does your God say, I've done
all I can and now it's up to you? If He is, He's an idol. He's not the God of the Bible.
No. Our God and Savior, He doesn't
offer to save. He does not offer to save. And
He doesn't offer Himself as a Savior. He's the Lord God Almighty and
He demands that every sinner bow to Him. Bow to Him or go
to hell, that's exactly right. You'll bow to Christ or perish. Oh no, He doesn't come to the
tomb of Lazarus and say, Lazarus, if you'll take the first step.
No, He says, Lazarus, and with that word, of that one who spake
like never a man spoke, with that word who is the expression
of the mighty God himself. Lazarus come forth, Lazarus lives,
and thank God the Lord Jesus Christ still has the grace that
reaches deeper than the stain has gone. I probably have told
you this story before, but years ago in a village there was a
man who was a woodworker, very good, would make things out of
wood. he was dying and the local priest
came to his village, came to his cottage and went into him
as this man laid up on the bed and in a moment he's going to
breathe his last and go out and stand before God Almighty and
this priest holds up a wooden crucifix and says behold your
God and the poor man looked at it and said by God I made that,
I made that. So sad, so sad. And I declare there are many
today trusting another Jesus. One that they made. One who is
not the mighty God, the everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace.
Let me ask you this in short. Is your God sovereign? Is He
sovereign? Is he the sovereign ruler over
all? Is he that God that has his way
in the whirlwind and the clouds are but the dust of his feet?
Is that your God? Is your God sovereign? No buts,
no ifs, no reservations. Is your God absolutely God over
all? If not, he's not God. He's not God. But look here in
verse 3. Here's David's answer. You ask
me where my God is, David said, I'll tell you where he is. But our God, unlike yours, our
God is in the heavens. Our God is in the heavens. He's
high and lifted up. He's exalted above all. He's ruling over all. Our God, as David said in Psalm
29, our God setteth upon the flood. Our God setteth king forever. Look, if you will, in Psalm 135.
Here's a description of our God. Psalm 135, verse 5. For I know that the
Lord is great, and that our Lord is above all gods. Everything
and everyone is beneath Him. Whatsoever the Lord pleased,
that's what He tried to do. Whatever He pleased, that's what
He wanted to do. No, no, that's not how it reads,
does it? Whatever the Lord pleased, that did He. Well, if He's God,
I expect that's what He'll do. That did He in heaven and in
earth, in the seas, and all deep places. Turn, if you will, to
Acts chapter 1. Acts chapter 1. You know this
passage well. Our Lord, the great shepherd
of his sheep for the last time, leads his disciples out to Mount
Olivet. He tells them to wait for the
promise of the Holy Spirit and then go and preach the gospel
to every creature. And here in chapter 1 of Acts,
verse 9 we read, and when he had spoken these things while
they beheld, he was taken up. And a cloud received him out
of their sight, and while they looked steadfastly toward heaven,
as he went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel,
which also said, You men of Galilee, why do you stand gazing up into
heaven? This same Jesus, this same Jesus
that was taken up, This same Jesus that's given a name above
every name. This same Jesus that's exalted
to God's right hand. This same Jesus, not that imposter. Not that imposter that can't
have his way. Not that so-called savior that's
trying to save everyone, but just can't seem to get the job
done. No, no, no, no. That's not him. The same Jesus
you see taken up in glory and power and majesty and might,
that's the same one that's coming back. Is that the one you're
looking for? He was taken up How far up was
he taken? Well, I'll tell you how far up
he was taken. Paul tells us in Ephesians 1, he is so far up. so high, so exalted that everything
and everybody is under his feet. Every power, every principality,
every being, every angel, every human, every man, and every devil
is under the feet of the Son of God. That's how high God has
exalted him and given him that name above all other. And God
Almighty has declared, my son, you sit right here until I make
your enemies your footstool. They're going to bow before you.
Every one of them will bow before you and confess that you're the
Son of God to the glory of God the Father. Our God is in the
heavens, David says. Is it any wonder that we read
that being so? But our God is in the heavens.
This must follow. He hath done whatsoever he hath
pleased. Why wouldn't he? Why wouldn't
he? Who will prevent God from doing
whatever he's pleased to do? God Almighty never tries. Do you know that? He never tries. He never attempts. He does. He fulfills all of his decrees. He accomplishes all of his purposes. What he promised, he's able to
perform. He's never failed. God's never
disappointed. He's never frustrated. He's not
waiting for you to do something for him. Our God is in the heavens,
as David says here, where he stretches forth his scepter and
rules with boundless power and absolute ease of his sovereign
dominion. If not, he's not God. Turn, if you will, to Isaiah
chapter 40. Let's look at a few passages
here in Isaiah. where he speaks of the absolute
sovereignty of his God. Isaiah 40 verse 25. Isaiah 40 and 25. God speaking
and he says, to whom then would you liken me? Earth shall be
my equal, saith the Holy One. Lift up your eyes on high and
behold who hath created these things. that bringeth them out,
their host by number. He calleth them by names, all
by names, by the greatness of his might, for that he is strong
in power, not one faileth. Why sayest thou, O Jacob, and
speakest, O Israel, my way is hid from the Lord, and my judgment
is passed over from my God? Hast thou not known? Hast thou
not heard? that the everlasting God, the
Lord, the creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither
is weary, there is no searching of his understanding. Turn over
to chapter 43, chapter 43 of Isaiah. Verse 10, Isaiah 43 and
10. You're my witnesses, saith the
Lord, and my servant whom I have chosen. that ye may know and
believe me, and understand that I am he. Before me there is no
God formed, neither shall there be after me. I, even I, am the
Lord, and beside me there is no Savior. I have declared and
have saved, and I have showed. When there was no strange God
among you, therefore ye are my witnesses, saith the Lord, that
I am God. Yea, before the day was, I am
he, and there is none that can deliver out of my hand. I will
work, and who shall let it? I will work, and who shall prevent
it? Turn, if you will, to one more
place, Isaiah chapter 46. Isaiah chapter 46, verse 9. Remember the former
things of old. For I am God, and there is none
else. I am God and there is none like
me, declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times
the things that are not yet done, saying my counsel shall stand
and I will do, I will do all my pleasure. All my pleasure. Thank God for such a savior as
that. Turn back if you will to Revelation.
We were there a moment ago. But look in Revelation chapter
11. The same glorious theme concerning God's mercy and grace and goodness
and might. Revelation chapter 7 verse 15. Or chapter 11. Did I say 7? I
meant to say chapter 11 verse 15. And the seven angels sounded
and there was a great great voices in heaven saying the kingdoms
of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord. and of
his Christ, and he shall reign forever and ever. And the four
and twenty elders which sat before God on their seats fell upon
their faces and worshipped God, saying, We give thee thanks,
O Lord God Almighty, which art and was and art to come, because
thou hast taken to thee great power and has reigned. Chapter 12 here in Revelation,
verse 7, And there was war in heaven, Satan. Michael and his
angels fought against the dragon and the dragon fought and his
angels. And what happened? You know,
most people today think that the devil is a rival to God. I've had people tell me that
the devil and God are in a battle right now and the outcome is
not certain. That's what's happening in the
world. No, no, no. He's God's devil. He's not equal
to God. Look what it says here. The dragon,
the devil, fought in his angels and prevailed not. Prevailed
not, neither was their place found any more. And in His temple,
that is God's temple, everyone speaks of His glory saying, not
unto us, O Lord, not unto us, but in Thy name give glory, for
Thy mercy and for Thy truth's sake. And now let's Consider
some practical benefits of this blessed truth. The sovereignty
of God, God being God, is not something with no practical benefit
for believers. It's the sweetest pillow they
can lay their head upon. As my pastor, our friend, Brother
Don says, Brother Fortner, let's put some shoe leather use to
this blessed truth. Let me illustrate it this way.
One time there was a little girl on board a passenger ship. And
her father was the captain of this ship. And one night there
was a great storm at sea. And people were going, the workers
were going on the ship to each cabin, knocking on the door,
telling them to get up, put on your life jacket, we may have
to abandon ship. They opened the door where the
little girl was sleeping, and she woke up, and they told her,
we may have to abandon ship. There's a bad storm here. We
might have to get in lifeboats. And the little girl said, is
my father still on board? Is father still on board? And
they said, yeah, he's still on board. She laid back down to
go to sleep. Child of God. Our father's still
on board. He's always on board. When the
storms of life are raging, he's still on board. The old hymn
expresses it that way, does it not? When the storms of life
are raging, stand by me. When this world is tossing me
like a ship upon the sea, O thou who rulest wind and water, stand
by me. And that's exactly what he promises
that he will do. When thou passest through the
waters, I will be with you. And through the rivers they shall
not overflow you. When you walk through the fire,
you won't be burned, neither shall the flame kindle upon you,
for I am the Lord thy God, the Holy One of Israel, thy Savior. Another verse of the Old Hymn
says, when I'm growing old and feeble, stand by me. When I'm
nearing chilly Jordan, and my life becomes a burden, O thou
lily of the valley, stand by me. and he promises that he will. His glory, his honor is at stake. Now you think about that. If
Jesus Christ should ever lose one of those sheep that the Father
entrusted into his hands, to whom would it be the greater
loss? Me or him? He would lose his
honor. He said, no man can pluck my
sheep out of my hand. I give them eternal life, and
they shall never perish, neither shall anyone pluck them out of
my hand. And if Satan should pluck one,
just one out of his hand, it would prove that he's a failure.
Oh, that will never, never happen. When I'm growing old and feeble,
stand by me. And our God says, hearken unto
me, O house of Jacob. and all the remnant of the house
of Israel, which are born by me from the belly, which are
carried from the womb. And even to your old age, when
you're growing old in people, I'll stand by you. Even to your
old age I am He. I'm God and I change not. And
even into your hoar hairs will I carry you. I have made and
I will bear even I will carry and will deliver you all the
way all the way you remember when our Lord in Luke 14 15 I'm
sorry spoke the parable of the shepherd and the sheep If you
lose one sheep, you go out. You leave the 99 and go out and
search until you find that one sheep. And when you find it,
you put it upon your shoulders and you bring it home. You bring
it all the way home. And so he shall. God will complete
what he started. He's trustworthy. Abraham, is
he trustworthy? Is he trustworthy? Abraham said,
oh, I had my arm drawn back. I was ready at the command of
God to slay my son. Oh, Abraham, what happened? God
provided a ram. Oh, you know that Isaac had no
problem with substitution. God will provide. David, is he
trustworthy? David said, well, let me tell
you. After all he did for me, I sinned
against him. David is his mercy, the mercy
that endures forever. And David said, even though I
was the man that sinned against my God, he said, blessed is the
man to whom the Lord will not impute sin, will not charge with
iniquity. Blessed is the man. We look out
on the world and we see the rich and the famous, the so-called
celebrities. They come and they go, don't
they? And we say, oh man, they're blessed. Oh no, they're not.
No, they're not. Just like we read in this Psalm,
the man that's blessed is that man who has the Lord as his God. Blessed is the man to whom the
Lord will not charge sin. Blessed is the man whose sins
are forgiven. That's the blessed man whose
God is the Lord. Because he that hath begun a
good work in you will perform it until the day of the Lord
Jesus Christ for thy mercy's sake. Indeed, is not God's mercy
a marvel? Is it not? Look, he bestows it
upon those who are the least likely, who seem to us to be
the most undeserving. In my mind's eye, I see a young
man we read of in Acts 7. Stephen is being stoned to death.
His head is being crushed by stones thrown by religious people. And there's a young man standing
there rooting them on, saying, yeah, he's got it coming. Throw
another. And he's guarding the cloaks
of those who are doing the murdering. And afterwards, we see that same
young man making havoc of the church, Saul of Tarsus. Then we see him again in the
next chapter of Acts, in chapter 9. He goes to the high priest
and he wants authority to go to Damascus to bring back those
that are believers, that they might stand trial, that he might
give his voice against them and say, yes, they deserve to be
put to death. What if I would tell you, in
either of those pictures or all of those combined of Saul of
Tarsus, what if I told you he's a chosen vessel for God's mercy? Wouldn't you think that's something?
That's exactly what God said. Ananias, he's a chosen vessel
of mine. God saved him and many, many
years later, years removed from the Damascus road, that same
man sits in a dungeon in a prison in Rome and writes to his beloved
Timothy and says, Timothy, I'm ready to be offered and my departure
is at hand. I'll soon be gone." But he said,
Timothy, isn't this still a marvel? That I was a blasphemer, injurious,
but I obtained mercy. After all those years, Paul hasn't
got over it. God Almighty had mercy on me. Does God have power to save? Does he delight to show mercy?
You're looking at evidence of it. He saved me. And oh, may
God give me grace to sing from my heart, sincerely, not unto
me, not unto Larry Criss, not unto me or my work or my will
or my worth, but unto thy name give glory, for thy mercy and
thy truth's sake. There's one of the songs on the
CD that I have by David Coleman. He says, I'm so glad that God
saves old sinners. If I could sing like you, Bobby,
I'd take a stab at it right now. But I won't put you through that.
I'll just read a verse of it. It says, I'm so glad God saves
old sinners. I'm surprised and amazed how
he sets them free. Oh, but the biggest surprise
of God saving old sinners is that he would save an old sinner
like me. God, don't allow me. to get over the
wonder of that. When time shall be no more, when
Christ comes to take His bride to be with Him forever, and all
will be made to bow before Him and confess that Jesus Christ
is Lord, they will all know that our God is in the heavens, and
He hath done whatsoever He hath pleased. And we'll sing, not
unto us, O Lord, not unto us, but unto Thy name give glory,
for Thy mercy and for Thy truth's sake. And a voice came out of
the throne, saying, praise our God, O ye his servants, and ye
that fear him, both small and great. And I heard, as it were,
the voice of a great multitude, and as the voice of many waters,
and as the voice of mighty thundering, saying, hallelujah, for the Lord
God omnipotent reigneth. Thank God that he does. Amen.