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So, Yeah. Now, it's good to see you this
morning. I'm glad that you've all made it. Some are still on
the way. And isn't Lurgan looking lovely?
I don't mean that in a joking way. I think they've done a great
job of the town. I'm almost tempted to move to
Lurgan. With the emphasis on the word
almost. Certainly in Moira, we don't
have the streets that you have. But we're looking for the streets
that are paved with gold. But it is looking lovely. I'm
sorry for the inconvenience this morning, and obviously some are
still on their way, trying to get down in. And we're going
to start anyhow with 281 in our Praise Him hymn book. O Lord
my God, when I in awesome wonder consider all the works thy hand
hath made, I see the stars, I hear the mighty thunder, thy power
throughout the universe displayed. 281, and let's hear you as we
really praise the Lord. I see the stars, I hear the lightning
thunder. Then sings my soul, my Saviour
God, to Thee, How great Thou art! How great Thou art! Then sings my soul, my Saviour God,
to Thee, How great Thou art! When through the woods and forest
glades I've wandered, and near the herds, sweet, sweetly in the green, And hear the moon, and feel the
gentle breeze That shakes my soul, my Savior loves me. I'll break the wall. I'll break
the wall. Then sings my soul my Savior God to Thee. I'll break the wall. I'll break the wall. And when I came, and all His
Son was bearing, sent Him to die, I searched and made many.
♪ Out of the cross my burden gladly
bearing ♪ ♪ He will die to take away my sin ♪ ♪ He'll sink my
soul, my Savior, unto Thee ♪ ♪ I'll break the wall A break of heart. A break of
heart. When life shall come, this struggle hath been bestrung,
and take me home, what joy shall fill my heart. My God, how great Thou art! Then
sings my soul, my Savior God to Thee, How great Thou art! A great love. is the Lord and one who is greatly
to be praised. We welcome you warmly this morning.
It's good to see Hard and Jennifer with us from Innisfil, and also
our brother David Patterson. It's good to see David with us
this morning, and we welcome you if you're visiting with us
here in Lurgan, and we pray and trust that the Lord will bless
you as you have come to worship in this place this day. We welcome
those who are joining with us by way of sermon audio. We trust
that God will bless you no matter what part of the world you're
watching us from this morning. And then do remember the service
tonight, preceded by prayer at 620. If you can join with us
in the place of prayer, we would be delighted to see you. And
That's at 627 o'clock, our evening service, a guest service. Stephen
Armstrong, one of our own members, will be singing. And Zoe Carrick
will be here to give a word of testimony. And I'll be here to
bring the closing message. If you've got out of the habit
on coming on Sunday night, we trust that you'll get into the
habit again of joining with us on the Lord's Day evening. And
maybe you could invite someone along with you tonight. Zoe has
come through a tough time and she'll be here to speak about
God's saving grace and God's sustaining grace and that's tonight
at seven o'clock. Try and come and not only come
yourself but try and encourage others unto the sound of the
gospel. And then on Wednesday evening,
there's an Office Spurs meeting, and notice the change of time.
That will be at 7.15 sharp. On Wednesday evening, there's
an Office Spurs meeting at 7.15 sharp. Thursday at 8 o'clock,
our midweek service. The service is next Sunday in
the will of the Lord at 11 and 7. Mr. Derek Maxwell, the head
of the Slavic Gospel Association, will be here to minister the
word in the morning and preach the gospel in the evening. Our Bible class resumes on Tuesday,
the 1st of October. Do please keep that in mind.
There are plenty of these little cards, bookmarkers really, that
we got this year, and they're for you. And if you can use them
among your Christian friends, we trust that you will. And that's
on Tuesday, the 1st of October. Do remember me in prayer. I do
a mission in Mockerfelt from Sunday the 22nd to Sunday the
29th of September, both Sundays inclusive and a week of gospel
mission. And I would value your prayers
at that particular mission. I'll not see you for a week or
two because I'll be on holiday. And if there's any need or any
people that need visiting, there are five elders. They're all
very capable. And if you want anyone who's
in need or in hospital, then do please contact them. And I'll
see you all, God willing, on Tuesday, the 1st of October.
Now, we're going to quieten our hearts before the Lord in prayer.
And then after we pray, Andrew McNabb is going to come. Andrew's
going to come. and speak to the boys and girls. Let's quieten
our hearts as Stephen and Malcolm lead us. Eternal God, our loving Father,
we bow at thy feet today, and we thank you for the access that
we have into thy presence this morning through the name of the
Lord Jesus. We thank you that when we breathe
that name and prayer, we have immediate access into the holy
presence of God. And our Father, we come this
morning through a veil that has been rent in twain. And we come,
our God, on the basis of the sacrifice of Calvary. We realize,
oh God, that we have nothing to commend ourselves to thee
with. but we thank you that we come
in the merits of another, namely our God and Savior Jesus Christ. We thank thee, our Father, that
we're resting for time and eternity on that finished work, on that
atoning sacrifice, and on that precious blood. And our God,
we come this morning to worship thee, We would seek, O God, to
give to Thee the praise and the worship and the adoration and
the thanksgiving of our hearts. Lord, Thou art worthy this morning
to receive glory and honor and power, for Thou hast created
all things, and for Thy pleasure they are and were created. Lord,
we fall before Thee this morning and we say with the hymn writer,
How great Thou art! We thank you that the Lord is
great and one who is greatly to be praised in the city of
our God and in the mountain of His holiness. And our Father,
we recognize Thy holiness as we fall at Thy feet this morning. We realize who is like unto Thee,
O Lord, glorious in holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders. Thou art God, and beside Thee
there is none else. Lord, we come this day to give
to thee the praise of these redeemed hearts of ours. Father, we pray
today that as we offer our worship in the name of the Lord Jesus,
that it might be acceptable in thy sight, O God, our strength
and our redeemer. Father, we pray this day that
as we draw nigh to God, we ask that God himself would draw nigh
to us And our Father, we pray this morning that we might from
these redeemed hearts of ours give to Thee the praise and the
honor and the glory that Thou alone deservest. We commend our
service to Thee. We pray for a sense of Thy presence
to permeate this building this morning as we give Thee thanks
in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. Thank you, Andrew. The boys and girls want to come
up to the front. Maybe if you want to sit about here, because
I'm going to show you some things on the screen as well. I have
some things in my hand. You might want to come around
here because you're going to have to look up there as well.
Well, has everybody had a nice summer? Good. Well, a couple
of weeks ago, I had the opportunity. Oh, here's some more. I had the
opportunity with CEF to go to a lovely country in Europe called
Switzerland. And we did lots of things there,
but one of the things that I used to do in the afternoon when I
had some free time, I used to go for a walk. And I want to
show you a photograph of when I went for a big walk, about
20 minutes away from where we were staying, this was the view
that you were able to see. So you went up to the top of
a big mountain, and you're able to look out over miles and miles
and miles and miles of Switzerland. And if I was able to show you
the rest of it the whole way around, you could look the whole way
around, you could see loads and loads. And if you actually look really
far in the distance, I'm told you're able to see part of the
Alps, but I wasn't convinced. But if you look maybe on a clear
day, you're able to see it. And you can see lots of cities
and towns. And over here, there was actually
a big nuclear power station. And you could see some trains,
and you could see motorways. And you could see lots and lots
of places. And as I stood there, I thought,
That's absolutely amazing. Look how much of the world I
can see from that mountain. Look how much of Switzerland
I'm able to see, probably hundreds and hundreds of miles. And then
I came home, and I went back to the place that I was staying,
and I love to look at maps. And I took my phone out, and
I looked at a map of Switzerland, and as I made Switzerland smaller
and smaller and smaller, And as I zoomed it right out, until
I was looking at the whole world nearly, I realised that when
I was standing on top of that mountain, I wasn't really seeing
very much of the world at all, sure I wasn't. It looked like
I was seeing lots of it. It looked absolutely massive.
It's hard to see it from a photograph. It looked absolutely massive
from where I was. But I realized that I was only
seeing a tiny, tiny bit of what God had created. And it really
showed me that our world really is absolutely massive. But we
can only see one part of it at a time. Maybe you climb up a
mountain, maybe you go to the seaside and there's some mountains
near our seaside and you climb up and you think you can see
lots of the world. But in actual fact, you're only seeing a bit.
And that made me think this week. It made me think of a verse that's
in the Bible in Proverbs 15. And it says this, The Bible tells
us that even though we can only see a little bit of the world
at any one time, we can only see inside this room right now.
God can see absolutely everywhere. Isn't that absolutely amazing?
What are some of the things that God can see? And remember, because
God can see everything, it also means that he was there when
everything was made. Things that he made, maybe things
that people have made. Who uses a telephone? God was
there when the telephone was created. Imagine that, he saw
the first phone call ever being made. Who uses electricity? God
was there when somebody discovered electricity. He knew about it
long before we did, but he was there. He saw it all. What are
some of the things the Bible tells us God sees? Well, the
Bible tells us God sees all the little birds. He sees when they
fly about. He sees when they're hungry.
He sees when they die. God sees every single bird. What else? cattle the bible says
that god owns the cattle on a thousand hills i know there's some farmers
here and they maybe know all the cows in their herd but you
know what the bible tells us that god is so powerful he knows
every single guy and every single herd in the whole wide world
imagine that The Bible tells us something else. Now this one
is really amazing. Who's ever been to the beach?
Now this is a very big beach called the desert. You've probably
maybe not sunbathed in one of these. But there's lots and lots
of sand in the desert. The Bible tells us, do you know
the little tiny dots that sand's made up of? God knows how many
those are in the whole world. He knows how many little grains
of sand there are in the entire world. That's how powerful he
is. The eyes of the Lord are in every place. But it says,
beholding the evil and the good. You see, this brings me to this
picture. God sees what it is. There are people, God sees you
and God sees me. You see, God sees everything
that you do. Even the things that people can't
see, he can see into your mind. He can see all the wrong thoughts
that go on in there. He can see when you think, oh,
I really don't like that person. I really hate that person over
there. The Bible says that's wrong. The Bible says that God
sees absolutely everything. everything that is wrong. The
Bible calls that sin. The Bible calls when we disobey
God, sin. And God sees it all. But that's
why he sent the Lord Jesus to die on a cross. Do you see that
picture? That's the cross. The Bible says that God sent
the Lord Jesus to die on a cross to take the punishment for your
sin and for mine. And if you will only turn to
the Lord Jesus, you'll ask him to be your savior and trust in
him. The Bible says that he will come into your life, he'll take
your sin away, and he'll forgive you. It doesn't mean that you'll
never do anything wrong again. We all do things wrong. But you'll
not want to do things that are wrong. And the Bible tells us
that your sin has been forgiven. That's how wonderful God's plan
was to save us. So remember, the next time you're
up a high mountain, maybe it'll be even higher than the one that
I was up. Maybe if you're up a high mountain, you'll remember
that even though you can only see a bit, God sees absolutely
everything. And he sees absolutely everything
that you do. And he sees that you need to trust him as your
savior. Thank you for listening. You
can all go back to your seats now. And as all the boys and girls
are going back to their seats, I've been given just a minute to talk to
you about this. Now, if you didn't get one of
these on the way in, don't worry about it. All of the young people
hopefully got one of these on the way in. Now, if the road
works in one thing or another, it's possible that you were missed
out. If you didn't get one, please come and see me, or I think Colin
has a pile of them. at the end and you can get one.
All this does, it reminds you about youth, which is starting
back on the 13th of September. There's three things in this
little pack. You've got a program, which tells you everything that's
on. You've got a weekend form, which I would really encourage
you to go on. And if you're under 18, there's also another form
that you need to fill in. Who's youth for? Well, this year
we've broadened it slightly because we appreciate that the age group
of the young people has probably got a little older. So if you're
between the age of 11 and 29, now that might sound like quite
a large gap, but I will explain it, you are very welcome to come
along on a Friday night. So how does that work with such
a big age gap? Well, as you can see, we have something called
digging deeper, which is for those that are 16 and over. And
that's a Bible study, that'll take place at the same time as
the main youth Bible study, only it'll be upstairs in the Russell
Hall. So we'll all meet together at 8.15 for praise and worship
together, and then we'll divide into two groups. The older group's
gonna be called Digging Deeper, and it's for those that are serious
about getting a little deeper into God's word. It'll be a bit
more in depth, perhaps, than what's for the younger ones between
11 and 16. I would really encourage you,
if you're a young person, to come along. I know there's quite
a few people here, maybe young people who are new to the church,
maybe only been here for a year or two, or less. This is a really
good way to get involved in the life of the church. Young people
are the future of the church, and we want to be built up, we
want to be encouraged, we want to be taught together. So if
you want to get involved with youth, I would really encourage
you to come along on a Friday night at 8.15, starts on the
13th, and come along to our weekend. If you want any more information,
please come and see me at the end. I go to youth. I'll be able
to tell you what it's about and hopefully convince you that we're
all nice and friendly. If you need one of these or you need
a lift or anything, any more information, please don't hesitate
to come and speak to us or speak to Colin and his team of youth
leaders. Thank you. Let's turn to 269 in our praise
hymn book. And during this hymn, the boys
and girls and the babies will leave us for the creche. Now
in a song of grateful praise to thee, O Lord, my voice I'll
raise. With all thy saints I'll join
to tell my Jesus has done all things well. 269. My Jesus has done all things
well. Our Sovereign, wonderful and free, has denied us with sinful greed.
Has made ways open, doors open. My Jesus has done all things well. This note shall swell. This note
shall swell. This note shall swell. And above
the rest, this note shall swell. I, Jesus, have the longing to
tell. This bitter my soul has no name. ♪ And mercy swift to all praises
fill ♪ ♪ Thy Jesus has done all things well ♪ ♪ And above the rest His love shall swell ♪ ♪ His love
shall swell, His love shall swell ♪ ♪ And above the rest His love shall swell ♪ ♪ Jesus has done all things well. ♪ ♪ And when to that wide world
I rise, ♪ ♪ And join the angels of the skies, ♪ ♪ Above the rest
this song shall swell. ♪ And above the rest this note
shall swear, this note shall swear, this note shall swear. And above the rest this note shall swear,
my Jesus has gone on his way. And above the rest this note shall swear, this note shall swear. Well, hasn't he done all things
well? Hasn't he done all things well? That's what the scripture
says. He hath done all things well. Let's bow together in prayer.
Father, we want to thank you afresh. this morning for the
Lord Jesus. And when we consider, Lord, who
Thou art, and Thou didst send Thy Son, Thine only Son, Thine
only begotten Son, to die on a Roman gibbet for us. And our
Father, when we try and comprehend that Christ lives in us by His
Spirit, O God, we bow before Thee. Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. And oh God, we would seek just
to worship thee today and to bless thy name. And Father, we
pray that as we come to the word this morning, that you would
minister to our hearts. Oh God, give us instruction,
give us challenge, give us comfort, give us whatever our need is. that we might hear God's voice
for Christ's sake. Amen. Exodus chapter 15 is where
you'll find our reading this morning. We'll be making our
way through the life of Moses, the servant of the Lord, and
we have come to our 11th study. And I want to talk to you this
morning about songs of praise. Exodus chapter 15, reading at
verse one. Then sang Moses and the children
of Israel this song unto the Lord, and spake, saying, I will
sing unto the Lord, for he hath triumphed gloriously. The horse
and his rider hath he thrown into the sea. The Lord is my
strength and song, and is become my salvation. He is my God, and
I will prepare him in habitation. my father's God, and I will exalt
him. The Lord is a man of war, the
Lord is his name. Pharaoh's chariots and his hosteth
he cast into the sea. His chosen captains also are
drowned in the Red Sea. The depths have covered them,
they sank onto the bottom as a stone. Thy right hand, O Lord,
has become glorious in power. Thy right hand, O Lord, hath
dashed in pieces the enemy. And in the greatness of thine
excellency, thou hast overthrown them that rose up against thee.
Thou sendest forth thy wrath, which consumeth them as stubble. With the blast of thine ostrils,
the waters were gathered together. The flood stood upright as an
heap, and the depths were congealed in the heart of the sea. The
enemy said, I will pursue, I will overtake, I will divide the spoil,
my lust shall be satisfied upon them. I will draw my sword, my
hand shall destroy them. Thou didst blow with thy wind,
the sea covered them, they sank as lead in the mighty water.
Who was like unto thee, O Lord, among the gods? Who was like
thee, glorious in holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders? Verse 17, they've turned from
celebrating what God has done, and now they're anticipating
what God will do. Thou shalt bring them in, plant
them in the mountain of thine inheritance, In the place, O
Lord, which thou hast made for thee to dwell in, in the sanctuary,
O Lord, which thy hands have established, the Lord shall reign forever
and ever. Let's keep our Bibles open there
at Exodus chapter 15. 1792, a group of settlers moved to
Africa. There were more than a thousand
of them. and they were all of African descent. Some had worked
as slaves on American plantation groves. Others had served in
the British Army and then they'd moved north to Canada. And together
they planned to resettle in what is now known as Sierra Leone
on a land purchased as a province of freedom. And the settlers,
more than a thousand of them, well, they were all professing
Christians. And when they reached a shore,
they sang a hymn by William Hammond. The song was entitled, Awake
and Sing the Song. One of the verses goes like this,
Awake and sing the song of Moses and the Lamb. Wake every heart
and every tongue to praise the Savior's name. Sing on your heavenly
way ye ransomed sinners. Sing, sing on rejoicing every
day in Christ the eternal King. It was a very appropriate song
to sing. The settlers had been released
from captivity, they had crossed the sea, their Red Sea, and now
they were entering their promised land. And so they sang about
Moses, who had brought Israel out of Egypt. Their song also
consisted of singing praise to Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God,
who set them free to enable them to serve God in a new land. The Lord had done great things
for these pilgrims, and it called forth from their hearts a song
of praise. You see, my dear friends, whenever
God does something great for us, He deserves to be praised. And often that praise comes in
the form of a song. I mean, did you know this morning
that the Christian faith is a singing faith? In fact, from the beginning
of the Bible to the end of the Bible, you will find songs of
praise to God for who He is. and for what he has done. And
here's the first song of Scripture, and it's been called the song
of redemption, for it proceeded from hearts that had been redeemed
by precious blood. The book of Psalms is actually
a collection of songs written by David and others. And the
Psalms, as you know, became the Jewish hymn book for their worship
services. And throughout the Old Testament,
we find various people praising the Lord for His redemption and
deliverance. The New Testament contains a
number of hymns of adoration. We think of the Song of Mary.
We think of the praise of Zacharias. We think of the exaltation of
the angels at the birth of Jesus Christ. And of course, in addition
to all of that, we find references containing, indicating the importance
of praise in the life of the early church. The pattern of
praise has continued throughout church history. Many of the reformers
in the Protestant Reformation realized the vast potential of
Christian music in worship And in the proclamation of the gospel,
you remember that one of the great reforms of Martin Luther,
a reform that so often we forget about, one of the great reforms
of Martin Luther was the restoration of congregational singing. And
Christians are still singing today. A mighty fortress is our
God. And many other hymns that were
written by the great reformer. in addition to the revival that
began in England by John and Charles Wesley. They were not
only known, you see, for their preaching, but they're probably
best known for their marvelous hymns and gospel songs. The effectiveness
of the evangelistic preaching of D.L. Moody was due in part
to the powerful singing of Ira Sankey. The Christian faith is
a singing faith. And when we come to Exodus chapter
15, we have the first recorded song of Scripture. Here's Israel,
and they're standing on the banks of the Red Sea, and they're singing
songs of praise to the Lord. Incidentally, did you hear about
the woman in the choir who was a waterproof soprano? Nothing
could drown out her voice. You see, everyone doesn't have
a singing voice, but if we're God's redeemed people, if we're
God's regenerated people, if we're God's released people,
then we'll want to sing. All of us haven't got a song
in our voice, like some who are gifted here this morning, but
all of us should have a song in our hearts. Now I want to
talk to you about songs of praise this morning. Notice first of
all what I'm calling the period of this song. It's brought before
us in the opening word in the chapter. You see how the chapter
begins? Then sang Moses and the children
of Israel this song. Then sang Moses and the children
of Israel this song. The period of the song. The Scripture
says it's a good thing to give thanks unto the Lord. It is good
to sing praises unto God. It is present in praises comely. But you see, before we can praise
God, we must know God. Salvation must be accomplished
and accepted before a burst of praise can ever come from a sinner's
lips. I want you to see here the moment
specified. The moment specified. Look at
verse 1 again. Then. Then. And of course the
word then marks the connection between chapter 14 and chapter
15. It marks the connection between
salvation and song. Then the children of Israel sang
this song unto the Lord." You say, what does the then refer
to? Well, of course, it refers to the deliverance of Israel
through the Red Sea. You see, that's what put the
song in their heart. As soon as they were saved, they
burst into song. Now, what a contrast all of this
was to what happened before. You see, there was no singing
in the house of bondage. There was no singing in the land
of Egypt. When you look at the opening chapters of the book
of Exodus, all that you hear is the lash of the oppressor.
All that you hear about is the cry of the bondman. All that
you hear about is the groan of the prisoner. But you will hear
no singing. in the grip of a cruel tyrant. They had neither the desire nor
the ability to sing. But now listen, then sang Moses
and the children of Israel. When? Yesterday, they were a
multitude of undisciplined slaves. Today, they're gloriously free. They have been sheltered by the
blood of the Lamb and the hand of the Lord, and they're now
standing on the sunny banks of the Red Sea. They're standing
on resurrection ground with the smile of heaven upon them, and
they pour forth their hearts in joyful praise. My friends,
the redemption began in Egypt with a sigh of despair, but now
it's concluding with a song of deliverance. And you say, what
has produced this song? Two things, the blood of the
Lamb and the hand of the Lord. If you look at the two features
The two things that are emphasized in the Exodus from Egypt, they
are these, the blood of the Lamb, but don't forget the power of
the Lord. Here's a song of the saved. Membership
in this choir is not obtained by superior vocal capacity. It's obtained by a right spiritual
condition before God. And how is that spiritual condition
reached? Well, look at the last verse
in chapter 14. Notice the order here. And Israel saw that great
work which the Lord did upon the Egyptians. Verse 31, chapter
15. And the people feared the Lord and believed. Do you see
where praise comes in? They saw. You see, it's after
salvation and not before it. They saw. And then they believed,
and then they sighed. The prodigal first received the
father's kiss of love, and then they began to be married. Philip
went down to Samaria and preached Christ to the people, and souls
were saved, and demons were exorcised, and there was great joy in that
city. The Ethiopian unit traveling
down the Giza road, and you remember the spirit of God said to Philip,
go near and join thyself to this chariot, and he preached unto
him Jesus, and he was saved, and then he was baptized, and
he went on his way rejoicing. My friends, the story is ever
the same, and the order in every case. Salvation comes first,
and then the song. I wonder this morning, can you
take up the language of this song? I wonder, can you say,
He is my God, He's become my salvation? Can you say, well,
David the Lord is my rock and my fortress, my deliverer, my
God, my strength, and Him will I trust? Notice the moment specified. And then look at verse one again.
Notice the multitude identified. I mean, look at the prophet.
Then sang Moses. And though it is not specifically
stated here that Moses is the author of this song, nobody doubts
that he wrote it. I mean, Stephen tells us, well,
he wrote the Pentateuch. Well, Stephen tells us that he
was mighty in word. And that not only meant that
he was mighty in word and speech, but rather that he was mighty
in word and pen. Moses wrote with tremendous brilliance. You say, Preacher, where's his
name in this song of redemption? It doesn't appear. You know, my dear friends, it
doesn't appear on that for a good reason. You see, Moses has learned
now. Remember the years that he has
spent in the desert. Moses has learned that man is
but an instrument in the hand of God. Man is but only a tool,
just a mere tool. that can only perform the work
of God with the power of God, and he's now got a proper perspective
of himself in relation to God. He sees himself as small, and
God is big. He sees himself as humble, and
God is exalted. I wonder, is it true this morning
that you're still too strong for God to use, too big for God
to use, you're too big for your boots? Wonder are you too proud for
God to use? Look at the prophet. And then
look at the people, verse 1 of chapter 15. Then sang Moses and
the children of Israel this song unto the Lord. You see, some
scholars feel that this song was sung like this. Someone shouted,
I will sing unto the Lord, for he hath triumphed gloriously.
Another one rang out, the Lord is my strength and my song. He's
become my salvation. Still another group rang out,
he is my God and I will prepare him and habitation my Father's
God, and I will exalt Him." What do you call that kind of singing?
Who's the experts? Or one's piffing, huh? That's
the word I'm looking for. There's the expert. It's antiphonal
singing. One is saying this about God,
and the other one is singing that about God, and the other
one is singing this about God, and whatever, the whole nation
is joining in, and they are two to three million people. Can
you imagine what a choir this was? The biggest choir that I
ever heard was 1,000 people in the city of Jacksonville, in
the city of Florida. And boy, I thought I was in heaven
that night. But can you think of two to three
million people and they're singing praise to God? And just in case
you women feel out, the context makes it clear that A big part
of this praise came from the women. Can you imagine? Can you
picture what it would be like? Two or three million people singing
praise to the Lord. The point is that this song of
redemption is for all of God's people. It wasn't enough for
Moses to sing it. It wasn't enough for the men
to sing it. My, the women had the same salvation. They were
trusting the same Lamb of God. And my dear friends, is the whole
church not called to offer the same kind of praise to the Lord? By faith, we have stood at the
cross. And we have watched the Savior.
We have stood at the cross with the women. And we have watched
the Savior of the world, the Son of God, the substitute of
sinners, die for us by faith. We have peeped over the shoulders
of the apostles. And we have looked into an empty
tomb. And we have discovered that Jesus Christ is risen. And
my friends, this morning, Christ has redeemed us. We have been
brought out by the blood of the Lamb and the hand of the Lord. And now every believer is called
to take up the song of redemption. That's the period of this song.
Look at Exodus 15 again. There's something else. I want
you to see not only the period of this song, but the person
of this song. I mean, look at verse 1 again.
Then sang Moses and the children of Israel this song unto the
Lord. You say, what did they sing about? What was the theme of their song?
The Lord. You see, they not only sang unto
the Lord, but they sang about the Lord. The word Lord occurs
no less than 12 times within 18 verses. The pronouns he and
him and thy and thou and thee are found at 33 times. My friends,
it's all about Jehovah. The greatness of his person,
the glory of his power, it was he that had triumphed gloriously. and the horse and the rider had
been cast into the sea. It was His right hand that had
dashed in pieces the enemy. It was because the Lord blew
with the wind that they sank as lead in the mighty waters.
It was the greatness of His excellency that had overthrown those who
had rose up against Him. Is that not true praise? Listen
to me this morning. True praise is preoccupation
with God. The late Senator Robert Kennedy
from America visited Brazil on one occasion, and in the course
of his trip he was taken into the interior of the country to
see some tribal situations. He was introduced by interpretation
to an Indian living in the heart of the, I suppose, Amazon forest. An Indian who had recently heard
the gospel and had been saved by the grace of God. And so he
started to speak to the Indian through an interpreter. And he
said to the Indian, he said to his interpreter, he said, asked
him, what does he enjoy doing most? Asked him what he enjoys
doing most. The Indian's reply came as a
surprise to the great senator, being occupied with God. and
convinced that the Indian had made a mistake and the answer
should have been shooting or fishing or hunting. He asked
his interpreter, he said, asked him again, he's made a mistake. The answer came the same. Being
occupied with God, this seemingly insignificant Indian had now
discovered that his chief end was to glorify God. and to enjoy
Him forever. And you say to me this morning,
well, Dennis, what was this song all about? Being occupied with
God. Now listen to me, especially
those of you who sin, and those of us who enjoy singing. Listen,
there's not a word here about self. It's doings, it's feelings,
it's sayings. There's not one syllable about
what they had done. They sang about the Lord. Is that not amazing? Is that
not challenging? So many modern hymns today are
full of sentimentality and emotion instead of divine adoration. They recount our experiences
instead of His mercies. They tell more of human attainments
rather than of Christ's atonements. And how different was this song?
It was all about Him. I will exalt Him sums it all
up. Do you know something? Hymns ought
to be spiritual in their content. Songs that express how we feel. or that dwell on the benefits
we have derived from being saved should never displace the great
hymns of faith and of doctrine and of spiritual theology. You see, so many Christians today
get their theology from songs rather than from Scripture. You
know that? I mean, they never read the Word,
or else we wouldn't hear the trash that they're singing. They
get their theology from songs instead of from Scripture. And
so much Christian music conveys bad theology. And many Christian
songs are not based on Scripture at all. And instead of setting
forth biblical truth, they're deceiving people with their false
gospel. Listen to me when I say this.
A singer has no more right to sing a lie than a preacher has
to preach a lie. Do you get that? For no matter
how beautiful a song may be, and no matter how wonderfully
emotional it may make us feel, if it has no biblical content,
my dear friends, it ought not to be part of our worship service. Now quickly, have a look at this
song. It's composed of two parts. 1. Israel celebrate what God
had done. Israel celebrate what God had
done. There's a retrospective aspect
to this song. What God had done. Look at verse
13. It sums it up. Thou in thy mercy hast led forth
the people which thou hast redeemed. Thou hast guided them in thy
strength into thy holy habitation. They have seen the salvation
of the Lord. They have been liberated. from
the power of Pharaoh. They have been separated from
Pharaoh's kingdom by the might of Jehovah, and now redeemed
by the Lord. With the rich spoils of victory
at their feet, they pour forth their praise in this magnificent
song." An old English preacher said, A grateful mind is a great
mind. A grateful mind is a great mind. light of what God has done
for us as we look back this morning, we mark by thanksgiving. Martin
Rancourt, who lived in the late 1500s and 1600s, was a Lutheran
pastor in the village of Ellenberg, Saxony. He grew up as the son
of a poor coppersmith, and he fell cold to the ministry. And
after his theological training, he began his ministry just as
the Thirty-Year War was raging through the country of Germany.
And floods, what happened was this. Floods of refugees were
flooding into the walled city of Ellenbergen. it was the most
desperate of times and the Swedish army had encompassed the walls
of the city and inside the walls were where this pastor was, where
Martin was, there was nothing but plague and sickness and famine
and death and 800 homes were destroyed and the people began
dying in increasing numbers and there was a tremendous strain
on the pastors who extended and expended all their strength and
just ministering to the sick and ministering to the dying
and burying the dead and preaching the gospel. And one after another
all of the pastors in the city died until Martin was the only
one left. Sometimes on one given day he
would conduct as many as 50 funerals. It was Martin Reinhardt who left
the safety of the city to negotiate with the Swedes who demanded
a high ransom. He did it with such courage and
with such faith and with such fortitude that there was soon
a cessation of hostilities and the period of suffering ended.
Reinhardt realized that there was no deliverance without thanksgiving. sat down and wrote a hymn that
we often sing in this fellowship. It's been sung around the world
ever since. Think of the circumstances of
it now. Now thank we all our God with hearts and hands and
voices, who wondrous things hath done, in whom his world rejoices,
who from our mother's arms hath blessed us on our way with countless
gifts of love, and still is ours today. My friends, this morning,
as we look backward, are we truly thankful for all that God has
done for us, or are we like the lepers? Nine who refuse to give
thanks Only one who returned, and the Savior said, where are
the other nine? Wonder, has the Lord to say that
of you? Where are you when it comes to thanksgiving? Where
are you when it comes to thanksgiving at the table? They celebrate what God had done. There was a retrospective aspect
to this song. But something else. They anticipate
what God will do. There was a prospective aspect
to this song. Look, if you will, at verse 17.
Quickly. Thou shalt bring them in, and
plant them in the mountain of thine inheritance, in the place,
O Lord, which thou hast made for thee to dwell in, in the
sanctuary, O Lord, which thy hands have established. They
look backward, but now they're looking forward. The first speaks
of grace, the second speaks of glory. They praise God for the
past, stood on the further side of the Red Sea, beneath a cloudless
heaven, and rejoiced in anticipation of the glorious future that lay
ahead of them. The spiritual counterpart of
all of this is found in Romans 5. You remember Paul says, therefore,
being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our
Lord Jesus Christ, by whom also we have access by faith into
this grace wherein we stand and rejoice and hope of the glory
of God. Peace or pardon for the past
and grace for the present and glory for the future. Put it another way. My friends,
we have grace to begin with, grace to continue with, and glory
to end with. For surely the Lord will bring
us in. Those whom He has led forth,
those whom He has brought out of bondage, He will infallibly
lead in. Those whom He justifies, He glorifies. Now listen, what a song this
is. what God has done, what God will do. And this song is theocentric. It is thoroughly God-centered. And Moses gives all the glory
to God. Not one word about his role in
Israel's salvation. It was all about the Lord. They
could sing, to God be the glory. Great things he hath done. Now
my time is almost gone, but look again at chapter 15. Look at
the period of this song. And then notice the person of
this song. And then finally notice the purpose
of this song. I mean, you say to me this morning,
well that's all right, that happened so many years ago. What practical
use have we from this song? Well let me just say three things
in close very quickly. These songs of praise should
stir us to adoration. They should stir us to adoration.
C. H. Spurgeon said, May God the
Holy Ghost, who delivered this prayer to Moses, now write it
afresh upon his people's hearts. Breathe on us, Holy Spirit, that
we may be filled with the praises of Jehovah. I wonder, do we know anything
about this kind of worship? You see, the English word worship
comes from the word worthship. It simply means to ascribe to
someone worth and value and status. To worship God is to come into
His presence and willingly acknowledge His worth, His status, His greatness,
His glory, His grace. To worship God is to be overwhelmed
by a consciousness of who God is. I mean, do you see it in
verse 11? Who is like unto thee, O Lord,
among the gods? Who is like thee, glorious in
holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders? Wonder when you come to worship,
you're overwhelmed by a consciousness of who God is. My friends, do we not need a
new sense of worship in our assembly? Do we not need a new sense of
worship where, listen to me, conversation is replaced by contemplation? Do we not need a new sense of
worship where familiarity is replaced by reverence? Do we
not need a new sense of worship where an awareness of each other
is replaced by an awesome awareness of God. This song should stir
us to adoration, something else. Very quickly, this song should
stir us to appreciation, an appreciation of who God is. If I were to come
and sit by your side this morning and ask you, what's your concept
of God? I wonder how you would respond.
I mean, do you look upon God as some weak, feeble, defeated
deity who's the object of worship in so many churches? Or do you
look upon God the way the children of Israel looked upon Him? Here's
a song that magnifies the Lord. Here's a song that exalts the
attributes of God. It's a song that magnifies the
power of God. Look at verse 6. Thy right hand,
O Lord, is become glorious in power. The right hand of God
is representative of His omnipotence, glorious in power. If you look
in verse 4, it's casting power. If you look in verse 5, it's
covering power. If you look in verse 6, it's
conquering power. If you look in verse 7, it's
consuming power. Maybe you're here this morning
discouraged. There's a problem in your home, in your mind, in
your heart, in your family. You need to be reminded of His
power. That's what they're doing. They're lifting high the name
of Jehovah, and it's all about the power of God. But then again,
my dear friends, it's all about the preeminence of God. Look
at verse 11. The song asks the question, who
is like unto thee, O Lord, among the gods? You remember when we
looked at the plagues that came upon Egypt? It was just a dismantling
of the gods of Egypt. That's what God was doing. You
remember old Pharaoh said, Moses walked in and said, the Lord
demands that you should let my people go. And Pharaoh said,
well, who's the Lord? God put down his calling card
and with 10 plagues, he revealed himself, who he was. And now
in verse number 15, they're saying, who is like unto thee, O Lord,
among the gods? Why, God had just destroyed the
Egyptians in the Red Sea. Why, verse 4, that the Egyptians
may know that I am the Lord. Before Jehovah's awful throne,
ye nations bow with sacred joy. Know that the Lord is God alone. He can create and He destroy. They're exalting God, the power
of God, the preeminence of God. Look at verse 11 again, the purity
of God, glorious in holiness. These words reveal that of all
of the attributes of God, this is his great attribute. "'It
is the glory,' said Stephen Charnock, "'of every perfection in the
Godhead.' Thomas Watson said, "'Holiness is the most sparkling
jewel of his crown.'" Do you think, dear friends, if
we grasp something of the awesome holiness of God, we would be
a wee bit more preparing for worship come Sunday morning. That the chat and the familiarity
would be silenced as we contemplate coming into the presence of God. Oh, this song should stir us.
It should stir us to adoration. It should stir us to appreciation. And then it should stir us to
anticipation. For our future this morning,
the eternity of every believer is an eternity in which we're
going to sing unto the Lord and in which we will sing about the
Lord. Do you know what we're going to sing about in glory?
It's going to go something like this, worthy is the Lamb that
was slain and has redeemed us to God by thy blood. Do you know
what we're going to sing? It's going to go something like
this, hallelujah, which is the Greek form of the Hebrew word
hallelujah, which means praise the Lord. Hallelujah, for the
Lord God omnipotent reigns. I mean, did you see how the song
of praise ends? Look at verse 18 and we're finished.
Look at how it ends. The Lord shall reign forever
and ever. Could anything be more majestic
than that? God is supreme. He's the Lord
God omnipotent. The psalmist wrote, the Lord
reigneth, let the earth rejoice. Let the multitude of Isles be
glad. Is it not encouraging to know
that in a world that has gone mad, God is still on the throne? Is it not instructive to know
that in a society that despises God and the things of God, God
is still running the show. Is it not reassuring to know
that in the midst of all the crumbling kingdoms of this world,
His kingdom shall stand? For He must reign, says Paul.
He must reign. One day, after the rapture of the church
and after the tribulation period, his feet will stand on the Mount
of Olives, and Jesus shall reign where'er the sun doth his successive
journeys run. His kingdom will stretch from
shore to shore till moon shall wax and weighing no more. I read about an old Christian
who went to hear Handel's Messiah. It was being set forth in the
Royal Albert Hall in London, and as they sang the Hallelujah
Chorus, And as they sang out that refrain, and he shall reign
forever and ever, all the tears began to roll down his cheeks.
And those who were around him began to see this, and they were
concerned about him. And they said, are you all right? He said to them in his broken
voice, he said, that's my savior they're singing about. That's
my Savior they're singing about. Do you realize this morning when
you sing this song of praise, when you read these songs of
praise, that's your Savior and God they're singing about? For the Lord shall reign forever
and ever. Can I just ask this morning, is he reigning in your life? Oh, that with yonder sacred throng
we at his feet may fall, join in the everlasting song and crown him. Let's pray. Father, we just want to thank
you this morning for the meditation of your Word. We thank you for
the great God that thou art. We thank you for the great Savior
that we have and the person of Christ. Lord, we pray that as
we continue to worship Thee, especially around this table,
that we may seek to exalt Him who loved us and gave Himself
for us. I ask it for Christ's sake. Amen. I want to turn to our hymn books
this morning to 150. You'll know it well. We've been
thinking about the Lord reigning. And him that sung to the Londonderry
air, I cannot tell why he whom angels worship. Number 15, and
if you're not staying for the table, we'd ask you to leave
quietly on the second verse. I and shepherds, we should seek
the wondrous, To bring him life, they know not the way. But this I know, that he was born of Mary, When heaven's nature calls his
soul before, and that he may ♪ And silently he suffered ♪ ♪
But with his peace ♪ ♪ He praised his grace of King ♪ ♪ God of his joy ♪ ♪ Upon the cross was borne him ♪ ♪ And
by the pain ♪ ♪ To three and thirty years ♪ On this I know it feels so wrong. Our people claim the nations.
Our people claim His earthly heritage. Our satisfied, their needs and aspirations. of sin and of day. But this I
know, the flesh shall see his glory, and he shall reign, the harvest be our sown. And
some that day his son shall O'er all the land shall worship
when at His feet in every storm is sleep. Oh, what fun it is to ride in
a one-horse open sleigh.
Songs Of Praise
Series Moses - The Servant of God
| Sermon ID | 82513628280 |
| Duration | 1:14:33 |
| Date | |
| Category | Sunday - AM |
| Bible Text | Exodus 15 |
| Language | English |
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