Just make sure you want to just grind your heel
just a little bit more in his head. I don't know
if you can hear. I can hear myself good. If nobody
else is going to hear it, I'm going to hear some
good preaching. My answers are hot today. So
they're going to work on it, and we'll get it
the best we can. I want to thank some fellows
for being here this morning on the front row,
some of our first responders. Amen. Guys, thank
you for... Taking time out to be with us today.
Thank you so much. Trust by the time you leave
here, you'll have been honored to be in the house
of the Lord. You honor us with your presence,
so thank you very much. If they have to slip
out, it's because they get in a call, and it's
nobody down in the foyer. Could be around here.
You never know. It happens, doesn't it? I guess
let's look at Isaiah one more time, 43. You do
realize it takes 21 times repeating something
for it to be ingrained and become a habit. And
I'm not going to preach this text for 21 Sundays,
I don't think. But we're going to hit it again
a little bit. Because it's where we're drawing
our emphasis for the remainder of the year. And
it's good to be reminded that God's desire is
to do new things in our life. Amen? So we'll
look at Isaiah 43, 18 and 19. Remember ye not
the former things. I think this is just as important
as looking for the new. Matter of fact, you're
not going to receive the new until you get the
past out of your mind. That's the reason he mentions
his first. Remember ye not the former things,
neither consider the things of old. Behold, I
will do a new thing. Now it shall spring forth.
Shall you not know it? I will even make a way
in the wilderness and rivers in the desert. This
morning, with the help of the Lord, we're going
to continue that. Behold a new thing. But the
thought I want to put with that this morning
is the reality of the new song. The reality of
the new song. I know sometimes in church, we
do not like new songs. We don't. You don't like
new songs. You shut down on a new song, mainly
because you don't know it. And sometimes it takes
a little bit to get to it, right, to get it in.
But I think the Lord appreciates a new song.
How do you know that, preacher? I'm going to
tell you right here in just a minute. Because
he's the one that gives the new song. Amen. He
provides for us a new song. So the reality of
the new song. Father, I love you today. Thank
you so much for your goodness and your mercy
and the abundance of your love. And Lord has
already stated what grace that you bestow upon
us. There's no limit to that grace. It's grace
to grace, grace upon grace, like waves upon the
shore. They just roll in and they roll out and
they continue to roll. There's no end. There's
no limit to your grace. So touch us today. Help
us this morning. And Father, we'll be quick to
praise you for it all as we look forward to the
reality of a new song. To you be praise forever.
In Christ's name, the church say it. Amen and
amen. You can be seated. Just a reminder, we're
talking about things and new things and that
thing that cannot, you wish not, the object that
you desire not to put a particular label on.
There are some things in life that I don't want
to label because I don't want to see it again.
I just don't want things like that just continue
to reoccur in my life. So we're talking about
these new things. And last week we talked about
some of those principles and the ideas of how
we align and know what it is that God knows for
us. If you remember the Lord Jeremiah through
his prophet said, I know the thoughts that I
have towards you saith God, right? The things
that I have concerning you, they're good things,
things of hope with an expected end to them.
So whatever may be transpiring in your life right
now, know that that's not the end of the matter.
If it's good, trouble's on its way. If it's bad,
good is going to find you. Amen? One of my favorite
phrases of Scripture is that it too shall come
to pass. Amen. That's one of my favorite phrases.
I want some things to pass on by and leave and
move on out. And when we think about the principles
of accessing the new thing, remember we talked
about prioritizing the word. The word of God
is the hope of life for my and your soul. It's
the hope of this life and life eternal in God.
Amen. Faith cometh by hearing and hearing by
the word of God. Amen. We're not going to make
it through this world. to make it through this
existence without faith in God and a way that
our faith is strengthened and built is when we
prioritize the word of God it's not what some
preacher says it's not what necessarily this
preacher says or anyone else it's what thus saith
the Lord. That's the final line, right? That's
where we stop. So we access new things by prioritizing
the Word of God. We do so by just unrestricted
obedience. If the Lord is speaking to you, I'm
telling you you've got to do everything the Lord
says the way the Lord says. Jericho's walls don't
fall unless the people keep their mouths shut
and they march every time around, right? That's
the only way. Tell them not to speak a word.
I don't want to even hear a whisper. I want them
to go around once for six days, and on the seventh
day, you take seven trips around. And when I
tell you, sound the trumpet and lift up a shout.
Do not say a word until then. If you want to
avoid the power and the promise of God, just
do exactly opposite of what he tells you to do.
But if you want to access the promise of God,
then you do exactly as he has stated, the way
he says it, and you just do that in your life.
Amen? And the power of God then becomes revealed.
Shout when he says shout, when you trumpet when
he says trumpet. Walls fall, victory comes, and
access to the new things of God enter into your
life. So obedience is a key. We move on to where
we talked about total and complete surrender.
Look, it's hands up with God. You cannot keep
maintaining control of your own life. You must
let God lead you and guide you 100%. This walk
of faith, this walk with God has nothing to do.
with your will, but it's you and I fulfilling
the will of God in and through our life. And
the only way we do that is we have to surrender
control. You cannot keep trying to lead and fight
against the will of God for your life because
all we do is end up making a bigger mess than
we already had made to start with. So it has
to come through surrender and control, forgetting
the past. We've already mentioned that. You've
got to get this out of your head. You've got
to get what's behind you, what you've done, what
you may have done, what you may have said. If
you've been to the foot of Calvary's heel, amen,
and the blood of Jesus has cleansed you, then
you've got to forgive yourself as much as God
has forgiven you. People in humanity, we have
struggled with that. We have a problem with forgiving
ourself, amen, even though we accept the grace
of God. Even though we accept Christ as Lord
and Savior, we confess our sins, we repent of
those mistakes. The one that has the most trouble
to forgive is you and I forgiving ourselves.
Why? Because condemnation from the enemy sets
in. He begins to work in him. Well, you did that.
How can you be this? And how can you say that?
When I know for a fact you did this and you did
that. Well, the key word there is did, not doing.
Hallelujah. Just tell the devil, get behind me.
This, Tim, he will flee from you because you're
no longer practicing those things that you once
did. Every one of us in this room has a shaded
past. Every one of us have things that we wish
we had not said. We had things we wish we had
not done, places we wish we had not been. There's
not a one of us who is guiltless, but we've all
come short of the glory of God, for we have all
been born into sin. But thank God I do not. practice
sin anymore. So give yourself a break. And as
God is forgiving you, forgive yourself and forget
those things which are behind and move on forward.
I didn't want to re -preach this. I'm just trying
to recover it when we move past that. We go into
positioning and repentance. Keep repentance as
a daily act of your life. A daily act. Positioning.
Therefore, come boldly into the throne of grace.
This is what the author of Hebrews said, that
you might find help in a time of need. We come
boldly to the throne of grace. Don't go to everyone
else before you turn to God. Turn to God first,
and then he'll provide others who may be able
to assist you. Repent and position yourself.
Shifting your focus. Always looking to Jesus,
the author and the finisher of your faith. Changing
your perspective. Amen. Acting through faith.
Let your faith in God show through the light.
life that you live daily. And that's how we begin
to access. And when we begin to access these
things, these new things that God has for us,
something begins to happen. Transformation begins
to happen in my and your life. When we begin
to access through the Word of God, the blessings
and the goodness of God, transformation begins
to happen. Things begin to change. And the Bible
clearly tells us one thing that happens. The
Scripture describes it as a brand -new song.
Like I said last week, when you start looking
up individual words and specific thoughts, it
pops up everywhere you are reading. And God begins
to, when you look up the word things, it's countless.
And you begin to look through Scripture how many
times God uses the word things and new things
and different things and objective things. And
it's just like, wow, Lord, you really are mindful
of what you want to do in our heart and in our
lives this upcoming new year. a new creation
in 2 Corinthians 5 and 17. So you're talking
about transformation. This is where transformation
begins. Old things pass away. Behold, all things
become what? New, why? Because we become new
creations, new creatures. In who? In Christ Jesus.
So we begin to access the blessing of God through
repentance. First of all, the new thing is your
new life. It is a brand new life. I just wonder,
is there anyone like me that has an occasional
stroll down memory lane when the Lord saved you?
The very moment when you give your heart to the
Lord and you ask him to cleanse you of your sin,
you remember that day. It was like air come into
my lungs for the very first time. first time,
when the weight and the burden of sin was off
of my chest, I could breathe brand new life,
and I began to fully understand. There is a transformation
being taken place in my life because something
new has happened. We become new creatures. You're
a new creation. Over and over and over and over.
Isaiah, we've read it for several weeks now.
Behold, he'll do new things. Luke 22 and 20,
he talks about a new covenant, a new heart that
is given. Lamentations 3 .23, we'll look at a
little later on. Behold, his mercies are new
every morning. What matter is that? We are not
consumed. We are not already consumed by the
power of God, the awesomeness of God. We've not
already been consumed. Why? Because his mercies
are new every morning, every day. You need to
thank God for that mercy. I thank him for that
mercy every day because I need new mercy every
morning when I wake up because I'm still battling
the enemy every single day. The devil who is
out to steal, to kill, and destroy everything
about me. me, but most importantly, my soul.
He's trying to destroy me, but I need new mercy
every day. Why? So I can become like the old
apostle Paul. I don't fight against a shadow.
I've got my own flesh in my scope and in the
crosshairs, and I fight against myself daily
that this new creation, this new creature makes
its way forward because it would be so easy to
fall back into the hateful, mean, ornery, what
I used to be. I'm on a thin edge sometimes anyway.
I've got to keep I've got to keep that old man
beat down. I've got to keep that old flesh put
behind me and understand that the thing that
God has given me is a new creative nature. I'm
not what I used to be, hallelujah, but I am what
he's making me to be and to become. And out of
that new creation comes a brand new song. It's
a new song. One of the greatest struggles of
sanctification is for a musician to get saved.
And then that salvific work, trying to dismiss
the old song to sing the new one. Now, I don't
know what your thought is on what you listen
to. But don't ask me what my thought is about
what you listen to because I would tell you if
it ain't of God, turn the thing off. I don't
care if it is the old soft classic rock. Well,
those are love songs, aren't they? You might
as well slow down and listen to them a little
bit. If it made my old flesh happy, this new
flesh does not need to be indulging there. But
I'll digress on that for today. I just thought
I'd lay that out there. The eyes and the ears
are the gateway to your soul. That's the access
of the enemy. That's the reason the struggle
is for me when I can't hardly play music anymore
because my fingers want to go back to what I
used to play. Somewhat, they're getting stiff
as my knuckles swell as I get older. So the temptation
isn't near as bad as it used to be. We have to
be careful on what we allow in, but more importantly,
what we allow out. There is a new song that's
been given to us. After this transformation begins
to take place in our heart and life, we begin
to be different. We sound different. We act different.
Why? Because we are different. Somebody said,
well, I've always been this way. And if you're
claiming to be a Christian, let's go and I'll
go to the altar, will you, until we can come
back up with somebody else. Because you've not
had the same encounter or the same experience
if I have. If you were the same as you was before
you went to the altar, after you got up, honey,
you didn't stay long enough. You didn't get your
heart right while you were there. You were not
totally repentant. Amen? Because when you're
totally repentant and then become dependent upon
the salvation of Jesus Christ and the cleansing
of your soul, you will be different. You won't
talk and act and do all those things that you
used to do. That is a sign, therefore, of the
transformation. And your song is different. It
becomes sweeter as the days go by. Receiving
a new song, a fresh, heartfelt response to God's
ongoing acts of salvation, mercy, and his deliverance.
that shows up in our life every single day. It
makes me want to sing of the goodness of the
Lord. It's not about whose tractor's parked in
my shed or whose boots is under her bed. It has
nothing to do with that. It has to do with the
exaltation of he who sits upon the throne of
glory, who is the redeemer of my soul and the
cleanser of my sins and the one who says, let
not your heart be troubled, but you believe in
God, believe also in me. For in my Father's house
there are... many mansions, and I'm going to
prepare a place for you that where I am, there
you may be all. That causes a new song to come
out of me. Where I used to sing like a fox on
the run. I sing, I never shall forget the day.
You ever listen to something, see, you think
bluegrass is kindly, well, that's just, that's
just bluegrass, that's innocent. Well, you better
listen. She walked through the corn leading down
there. Hair shone like gold. And our born son
took all the love that a poor boy could give
her. Left him to die like a... Is there any glory
to God in that? It's catchy. I can see the turnarounds
in my mind right now. Huh? I can hear the chord
progressions ringing in my mind. I see a fiddler
begin to saw and a banjo player beginning to
roll. And the poor old manlin guy just chopping
half a lick alone. And the guitar boy with his
tongue hanging out trying to keep everything
going. That's not the song that I sing now. I
come in the door down there this morning singing
redeemed again. That just hit me again. Hit me
again. I'm redeemed. I'm not that anymore. There's
a new song because of the salvation that is in
my life, because of the ongoing mercy that distributes
to my soul every single day, and the grace that
empowers me every time the path gets hard and
the obstacles seem large and tall, and the grace
of God enables me and empowers me. It makes me
want to sing Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound.
Amen. I once was lost, but now I'm found. Amen.
I was blind, now I see. Come on. somebody, when
we begin to have the change of the song in our
heart and life, the word of God begins to elevate
our hope and begins to elevate our faith. There's
nothing elevating about secular. There's only
elevating about glory because the anointing of
God and the presence of God displays itself where
the heart of God is lifted up and the heart of
God's people begin to exalt him. Then he begins
to be. new song. Three different places that
it's mentioned. Psalm 96, 98 and 40 and other
places but these three in particular. It's not
an old corporate tune but it's a vibrant personal
continuously updated expression unto God whose
mercies are new every morning. It's believed
that the psalmist David wrote the 96th chapter
as a praise to God after the return of the Ark
of the Covenant from the Philistines. You can
read about in 1 Samuel 5 -7. You remember the
story in 1 Samuel? Israel took the Ark out. And
it was taken captive by the Philistines in war.
Hophni and Phinehas had died. Brother Randy mentioned
it even Wednesday night. The old fat priest Eli
fell over backwards, broke his neck and died
as well. Upon hearing and receiving all of this
news of death and loss, one of Eli's daughter
-in -laws went into labor. When his baby's born,
she said, call his name Ichabod, for the glory
of God has departed. You know the story following
that. I think it's very humorous, but God is
God, isn't he? So Philistine's got this bright
idea. They're going to put the Ark of the Covenant
of God, the semblance of the presence of Jehovah,
in the temple with Dagon, their half -fish God.
So they put him over there in front of Dagon.
They come in the next morning, he's fell over
on his face. Well, who needs a God? You got to
prop up anyway, but they had one. They propped
him back up and done their little whatever to
Dagon. They come back in the next day, and he's
fell over again, but this time he's fell over,
and his little hands just broke off, and his
head broke off, laying in front of the ark of
God. And then after that, it even gets more funny.
They ain't got enough sense to realize what's
going on, and then God strikes them with M -rods
and mice. You'd call them tumors or M -roids
in the lower extremities. Them old boys in pain.
And finally, somebody has enough sense to know,
well, that is the semblance of their God, so
we might ought to get him out of here. Well,
how do we do that? So them having no better sense,
they got two young milk cows and a brand -new
cart. You got to love it. They formed five golden
images of those emeralds and five mice golden,
and they put them in a treasure box, and they
said they're going to point the arc. in this
direction. And if it goes over to his own people,
then we'll know we did the right thing. If it
goes the other way, we've got trouble. So what
do they do? They point it out, and where do those
cows go? You need to read the story. It's powerful.
They're lowing as they go. They're getting out
of Dodge, and they've got God right behind them.
And they make their way all the way. way to Abinadab's
place and it stays there for 20 years until Saul
is out of the way and then all of a sudden David
says, where is the ark of God? It's down at Abinadab's
place. Benadab's place. We've got to go get it.
So he has no better sense. It's been 20 years
and didn't know how to move it either. So he
thought if they got it out on a new cart, let's
build us a new cart. And they begin to make their
way. And they put two men on the cart. Us is
on one side, the other fellow on the other. They
hit a bump in the road. Us are thinking he's
got to stabilize God. And there's a message right
here. You don't have to stabilize God. God stabilized
himself. Hallelujah. You don't have to hold him
up. He's not a day. God, you've got to prop up.
All you've got to do is bow before him. But he
reaches out, and God got mad and struck him dead,
and they parked it right there. And that's where
it was left for 20 years. Here comes David. We've
got to get this right. He's got the priest. He
finally got the right instructions. Amen. Look,
worship was even going on before when they were
doing it the wrong way. They were dancing and
shouting and everything until the old boy got
struck dead. It was there that they stopped in
their tracks until they figured out how to do
it right. And a new song began to come in. A
new song began to arise. Sing unto the Lord a
new song, David said. Why? Because we've got
it figured out. And let's sing of his salvation,
his saving word. Amen. That's where this is.
all coming from, out of the heart of desperation
to be in the presence of God. When transformation
begins to take place, you've got to do it the
right way. You've got to walk it out the right
way. You've got to follow the instructions. And
honey, when you follow the instructions, the
deliverance of God is on your side and new things
enter your life. Psalm 98, scholars believe that
Psalm 98 was written after a crisis again in
David's life. After the rebellion and the uprising
of Absalom. That's Psalm 40. Psalm 80 is the
deliverance from Babylon. Because he talks about
the strong arm of God. The right hand of God.
The scholars believe this come in after. They're
set free from Babylon. But there's something
that you and I must always remember about the
deliverance from Babylon. They had a promised
decree going in. God had it already orchestrated,
and he already had a timeline on their behalf.
They're coming to carry you away, and you're
going to be gone for 70 years, so go ahead and
build you some houses, plant you some gardens,
and carry on. But I will come and get you and
bring you back into my city after 70 years has
been complete. What you and I have to remember
is we can't hang our harp up while we're waiting
on the fulfillment of the promise. If you remember
while they were in Babylon, they were down by
the river, and they asked them, would you not
sing of us the songs of Zion? Because they knew.
that Israel was a singing, worshiping people.
And they had a happy tune that they sung to the
glory of God. Would you not sing us one of the
songs of Zion? How can we sing the songs of Zion
when you've raised our city and we have hung
our harps in the willow bushes? I'm here to tell
somebody, go to the bush and get your harp because
your time of deliverance is already marked down.
Don't... Stop singing your songs of joy and glory.
Even though you may feel bound and in captivity,
the answer is on its way. You are approaching
your hour of deliverance. Sing him a song. So
they're out on the opposite side now of that
Babylonian devastation, and they hear the words
from the psalmist. Sing a new song. Because of
his right hand and his strong arm, he's give
us the deliverance. We back up to Psalm 40. On
the opposite side now, on the deliverance side
of the Absalom uprising. David, we need to look
at that one a little bit more. Turn over there,
would you? Psalm 40. We're going to look at that
just a minute. I'm about to wind down, believe
it or not. It's early, too. You may get out early
today. They may want y 'all back next week. Psalm
40. Look over here just a minute. We don't need
to rush past that. Look what the psalmist said.
I waited patiently. That knocked about 99 .92
% of us out. We're already out on this one. We
ain't even seen what's coming, but we're out.
I'm not a very patient individual. Psalm said,
I waited patiently for the Lord, and he inclined
unto me, and he heard my cry. He brought me up
out of the miry clay. I have a horrible pit.
He brought me up, and he set my feet upon a rock,
and I like this. He established my goings. I
see some transformation language here. David's
different than he was. The psalmist is different
than when this event occurred. He found me. I
was in a bad place in life. Have you ever been
in a bad place in life? You ever been in a horrible
pit? Better than being in a pit with a lion on
a snowy day. You have to look that one up and
read that story. By the way, God was there with
that fellow too. In a pit with a lion on a snowy
day, David was in a low place. He was in a state
and condition of depression. He was down. How
would you like your son rising up and taking
your throne and you're running for your life?
He had been running for his very life. But God's
hand was on him and not Absalom. He goes on further
in verse 2. He brought me up also out of that
horrible pit, out of the miry clay. He set my
feet upon a rock and he established my goings.
And he hath, are you hearing me? And he hath
put a new song in my mouth. Even praise unto
our God. Many shall see it and fear and shall
trust in the Lord. Your and my song is important
as a testimony to those who are watching us when
we're in the pits of life. And I'm here to tell
you there are pitfalls everywhere we turn around.
The psalmist talks about the snare of the fowler
and the noisome pestilence that is out there.
The devil is an unrelenting, non -ending, agonizing
devil. A nagging foe that's out to get us every
day. That's why God establishes waves of grace
and mercy every single day. Because he knows
who's going to be coming against you. Not mong
after your eyes awaken. And that's why he can
put a new song. And that's why he establishes
a new song in your life. Every time he delivers
you out of one of the pits. Every time he takes
you out of the mire. And he washes his off. Every
time he stands you up on solid ground. Every
time he makes a way. As Isaiah said, in the wilderness
or highways, in desert places, there's water
available. There's nourishment for you. Grace
is the nourishment for the soul of a dried out
believer. It's grace every single day. And he'll
establish a new song. It becomes a testimony.
Many shall see it. You know how nosy people are.
We're nosy. Easy for you to laugh at everybody.
You and I, we're people. So that means you're
nosy and I'm nosy. We're nosy by nature. We think
we need to know. You think you really need to
know. And here's the sad thing. A lot of folks
know more than you think they do. And when they
begin to tell you and rehearse to your ears some
of your own problems, you say, how'd you know
that? So if they know some of the pits that we're
in, and they know some of the mire that we're
trying to walk our way through, shall they not
even know more when we get out, get washed off,
get stood up? Get our feet under us, get our
bearings back in the established path because
we know that the steps of a good man are ordered
of the Lord. Amen. We may take a step off the
path and get in the mire. Take a step off the
path and trip and fall in the pit. But one thing
about it, God's not going to leave you and I
in the pit. He's going to send a word to the
pit, and you're going to take hold of the word,
and you're coming up out of the pit. And when
you get out of the pit, and he cleanses and washes
and establishes, then he's going to give you
a new song. You're going to go around singing
a song about the pit you just got out of because
God's deliverance has found you in your pit.
The reality of the new song is new every day.
It's fresh every day. And it's because of the
delivering hand of God in our life daily. That's
the reason I refute this doctrine. It's a one
and done deal. Just one time, that's all. They
don't know me. God does. He knew that I need
to be a part of a place that would tell you one's
not enough. You got to keep it done. Oh, it diminishes
not the power of his blood sacrifice, but it
sure does show the insufficiency of the flesh
in which he's applied it to. I'm telling you,
God knew when he saved me he had to put me in
line with some preachers that preached hell hot
and heaven sweet and sanctification necessary
for me to see him face to face. Here's the thing
about God, he knows every pit along the way.
Straight is the way. Narrow is the gate that
leads to life everlasting. We want to blame people,
and there are people who even blame God for the
pit, for the mire, for the mess, and he didn't
have anything to do with it. But they want to
look up to heaven and begin to curse God and
blame God. That's why I'm not that patient type
of fella. It would not be good for me to be God.
Unless I inherited his divine nature. Because
the first time one of y 'all looked up at me
like that. And want to cuss me for something
you did to your own goofy self? There'd be more
than a few epiphanies recorded. I'd show up right
in front of you. Now look here. Uh -uh. No. The
psalmist said, I waited patiently. And he inclined
his ear. And then he heard. How long was he listening
before he decided to hear? Pastor Brian and I
had this discussion the other day about listening
and hearing. You need to hear more. It's just
me and him talking. You're listening. He wants
you to hear. So incline that ear. I'm just teasing.
You had faith for that in yourself. So you stepped
in that pit. I just laid the trap. How long did
the Lord incline his ear? You have to read scripture.
Slow down and read it. And the nuances of the
words, you have to really read it. I waited patiently
on the Lord. I prayed. I cried. And he inclined
his ear. And there's punctuation there. Comma.
How much time between the comma. And he heard
my cry. Go to that next one. Pop number two up.
He brought me up. Also. See the. See the connection?
He brought me up also out of a horrible pit.
There was multiple things going on in David's
life. I know we just run through this, but you've
got to know there's some stuff going on. Also
means there was something else happening. There
was something else critical going on in the man's
life. And he also brought me up out of a horrible
pit and out of the miry clay. Is that three different
things going on, a pit and clay? Also, I don't
know what all is going on in David's life. But
there's enough for him to wait patiently. And
to wait patiently indicates something to me that
between the incline and the herd and after the
comma, something of time. What are you trying
to tell me? I'm trying to tell you, you may be
at the comma, but hold on. Hold on. Don't panic.
You're just at the comma. The good stuff comes
after the comma. After the inclination and the
hearing. He also got me out of that horrible
mess. Also, he washed this mire off of my life.
Also, he put me on a rock. Also, he established
my direction. And not only that, he gave me a
new song to sing as I go in my new direction.
And the reason he gave me all that so that everybody
who was on Absalom's side, everyone who was part
of the rebellion are going to know that God heard
me. And not only did God hear me, but look what
all he has done. And I am now the better for
it. Somebody needs to know whatever the pity
is, whatever the also is, whatever the mire is,
it's not going to make you worse. When he gets
you out, it's going to make you better. Not bitter.
It's a choice on your part. Are you going to
sing the song of the delivering hand of God?
He took me up out of the pit. He washed me off
out of the clay. He put me on a rock, and I'm
going to stay. Going through the author of the
old hymn, Rock of Ages. Cleft for me. Let me
hide myself in thee. What was going on to inspire
that? The rock of life. The reality of the new
song is we're different. We're changed. As we
wait patiently for the Lord. We could go further.
We could talk about Ephesians 4 .24, the new
man. May 2. We can talk about Hebrews 10, 20,
talk about the new and the living way. 2 Peter
3, 13, there's the new heaven and the new earth.
It would be lovely to discuss that, wouldn't
it? Revelation 21, 5 declares that all things.
There's so much new that we can discuss. Acts
17. We could talk about a new doctrine. What
new doctrine? What are you talking about, Pastor?
I'm talking about when Paul is in Athens. He's
stirred in his spirit because of the idol worship
that's going on. Some scholars believe there
is as many as 30 ,000 deities worshipped. In
Athens, Greece. The heart of Greek mythology.
Paul walking through seeing all this is very
disturbed. So he goes to the center point of
the philosophers. He goes to Mars Hill. And with
the Parthenon in the background. I've got something
to say. You'll read the scripture and they're
always there itching to hear a new thing. Well,
he's about to give them one. He said, I've noticed
in my strolls throughout the city, I saw an altar
with the inscription, the unknown God. So as
that you don't offend any deity out there that
no one knows of. Him, I declare unto you. Because
it's obvious y 'all don't know him. And he begins
to preach the Godhead. All the way through. the
resurrection. What are you saying? He preached
the gospel. Some were converted. Some were puzzled
and some denied. Sounds a lot like today, doesn't
it? A new doctrine. It was new. But he declared
them. 1 John. You don't think the Lord speaks
to me at odd times and odd places. Bill envelopes
are handy. He gave them a new commandment. One
of the songs we sang earlier today mentioned
it. Talking about the light and the darkness.
Gave them a commandment of love. Told them how
to love. And then told them what not to love.
Not to love the world. It's 1 John 2. Go read
it. And if you love the world. The Father's not
in you. It's not my words, they're His. Question.
How many have your heart set on going to heaven?
We have to stay right and we have to stay ready.
Going through this world, we get a little onus
from time to time. That's why I say daily repentance.
Daily. When the trumpet sounds, I want to be
found without spot, wrinkle, or blemish. What's
that mean? That's church talk for sin, sin, and
more sin. I want to be found ready. And the reality
of the new song is this. You cannot sing the
new song without being reminded of the deliverance.
That's why the old songs remind me of the old
life. That's not the life I live now. So I got
to sing, I never shall forget the day. Or I'm
redeemed by love divine. Or there's going to
be a meeting in the air. Or I begin to think
about the goodness of God. Sometimes I remind
myself, don't get quiet. Oh, soul, don't get
quiet on me now. There's a lion inside of you.
Lift up those hands and praise the Lord. Why?
because I remember the pit he got me out of.
I remember the mud he washed off of me. And the
solid pathway that he's put me on. So I'm reminded
of the reality of the new song. He inclined and
he heard and he also. Father, I love you today.
Sister Dolores, you come on and get ready for
this prayer cloth. Father, I love you this morning.
Thank you for your goodness and mercy. Quickly,
this morning, if you're here and you do not know
the Lord Jesus and free pardon of sin, I invite
you to come. I want to pray with you. I want
to lead you in probably the simplest, most effective
prayer you'll ever pray in your life. is the
prayer of repentance and the acceptance of Jesus
Christ. It'll have more impact on your life than
any other prayer that you'll ever pray. It has
an eternal effect. So if you don't know Christ,
if you're backslid on God, what's that mean?
If you're back in the old way, come on. Come
on. He'll wash the mire off. He'll cleanse you,
get you back right, get you started, establish
you, and you got a new song. If you're here today
sick in body, we believe in the power. of divine
healing. The Word of God says, if any sick among
you, let them call on the elders of the church,
and them anointing them with oil, and a prayer
of faith shall heal the sick. And we always leave
off the tag. The tag is, and if they've committed
any sins, it shall be forgiven unto them. We
get nervous saying that. But it's not you or
I doing the work. Anybody else need to touch
anybody this morning for anything? We're going
to pray this morning. God's good. I need something
to help me. Come down and help me pray this morning.