1 00:00:00,800 --> 00:00:04,440 That was good singing. And of course, the Bible teaches 2 00:00:04,440 --> 00:00:08,039 that the Lord inhabits the praise of His people. 3 00:00:09,680 --> 00:00:12,200 Speaking of the Bible, we're going to turn now for a 4 00:00:12,200 --> 00:00:22,800 scripture reading and we're reading Psalm 149, Psalm 149. 5 00:00:22,800 --> 00:00:27,400 There's 150 Psalms in the Book of Psalms. 6 00:00:28,360 --> 00:00:30,680 The book of Psalms wasn't written by Psalm. 7 00:00:31,160 --> 00:00:34,800 It was written mostly by King David. 8 00:00:37,120 --> 00:00:39,480 King David was the sweet singer of Israel. 9 00:00:41,160 --> 00:00:55,120 So returning to Psalm 149, someone asked me as I left 10 00:00:55,120 --> 00:01:00,440 Portadown Conference yesterday what I was preaching on and I 11 00:01:00,440 --> 00:01:02,640 told them I'll tell you in a few hours. 12 00:01:03,360 --> 00:01:06,960 I had two thoughts in my head and the one had to do with 13 00:01:06,960 --> 00:01:11,480 singing and the other had to do with being a soldier. 14 00:01:12,560 --> 00:01:17,960 Psalm 149 says, First one, praise ye the Lord. 15 00:01:19,440 --> 00:01:24,320 Sing on to the Lord a new song, and his praise in the 16 00:01:24,320 --> 00:01:29,160 congregation of Saints. Let Israel rejoice in him that 17 00:01:29,160 --> 00:01:32,480 made him. Let the children of Zion be 18 00:01:32,480 --> 00:01:36,560 joyful in their king. Let them praise his name in the 19 00:01:36,560 --> 00:01:39,520 dance. Let them sing praises unto him 20 00:01:39,520 --> 00:01:43,280 with the timbreland harp, for the Lord taketh pleasure in his 21 00:01:43,280 --> 00:01:45,520 people. He will beautify the meat with 22 00:01:45,520 --> 00:01:48,680 salvation. Let the Saints be joyful and 23 00:01:48,680 --> 00:01:51,280 glory. Let them sing aloud upon their 24 00:01:51,280 --> 00:01:54,800 beds. Let the high praises of God be 25 00:01:54,800 --> 00:01:58,440 in their mouth, and a two edged sword in their hand. 26 00:01:58,920 --> 00:02:02,720 To execute vengeance upon the heathen, and punishments upon 27 00:02:02,720 --> 00:02:06,400 the people, to bind their kings with chains, and their nobles 28 00:02:06,400 --> 00:02:11,000 with fetters of iron, To execute upon them the judgement written. 29 00:02:11,520 --> 00:02:17,600 This honour have all his sins praise ye the Lord. 30 00:02:17,680 --> 00:02:20,400 Amen of the Lord, and stamp with his own approval and blessing 31 00:02:20,600 --> 00:02:23,960 this reading of his own precious and infallible word. 32 00:02:24,120 --> 00:02:31,400 Amen. My text this morning is found in 33 00:02:31,400 --> 00:02:38,080 Psalm 149, the verses 5 and 6. And it says this, Let the Saints 34 00:02:38,080 --> 00:02:44,120 be joyful in glory, let them sing aloud upon their beds, let 35 00:02:44,120 --> 00:02:50,160 the high praises of God be in their mouth, and A2 edged sword 36 00:02:50,440 --> 00:02:53,960 in their hand. Now have entitled this message 37 00:02:53,960 --> 00:03:00,920 simply this, the blessings and battles of the singing soldiers, 38 00:03:01,280 --> 00:03:04,920 the blessings and battles of the singing soldiers. 39 00:03:04,920 --> 00:03:11,360 Now Psalm 149 is one of five Hallelujah psalms at the end of 40 00:03:11,360 --> 00:03:13,560 the Psalter. And if you look at the first 41 00:03:13,560 --> 00:03:19,040 verse of Psalm 149, praise ye the Lord, and then we'll come to 42 00:03:19,040 --> 00:03:23,720 the last verse, the last words, praise ye the Lord. 43 00:03:24,000 --> 00:03:27,160 And if you were to look at the last verse and the first verse 44 00:03:27,320 --> 00:03:33,960 of Psalm 1464740849 50, you will see that they all begin and end 45 00:03:33,960 --> 00:03:38,160 in the same way. And in our authorised versions, 46 00:03:38,320 --> 00:03:42,240 you've got the words praise ye the Lord. 47 00:03:42,480 --> 00:03:45,720 And in the Hebrew the word is Hallelujah. 48 00:03:46,080 --> 00:03:50,000 It's not unique, does not make stand out. 49 00:03:50,600 --> 00:03:53,480 Psalm 149 is a song of celebration. 50 00:03:54,120 --> 00:03:57,560 It's a rallying call urging God's people, regardless of 51 00:03:57,560 --> 00:04:01,320 their circumstances and their situations, to praise the Lord. 52 00:04:01,880 --> 00:04:05,720 You see, the Lord is a friend to all who know and love him, but 53 00:04:05,720 --> 00:04:10,080 the Lord is also a fool to all who reject him and refuse to 54 00:04:10,080 --> 00:04:12,840 surrender to Him. Remember the children of Israel 55 00:04:12,840 --> 00:04:15,720 at the Red Sea. The Angel of the Lord came 56 00:04:15,720 --> 00:04:18,920 between the children of Israel and the armies of Pharaoh that 57 00:04:18,920 --> 00:04:22,040 were pursuing them. Exodus 14, verse 20. 58 00:04:22,240 --> 00:04:26,560 To the army of Pharaoh, the Lord's presence was a cloud of 59 00:04:26,560 --> 00:04:30,840 darkness. To the children of Israel, it 60 00:04:30,840 --> 00:04:34,520 was a crowd of light. And you see, this was a line 61 00:04:34,800 --> 00:04:39,640 between them, not just of demarcation, but a line of 62 00:04:39,640 --> 00:04:42,920 distinction. You see, the Bible tells us this 63 00:04:43,400 --> 00:04:47,560 in first Peter 3 and 12, for the eyes of the Lord are over the 64 00:04:47,560 --> 00:04:49,760 righteous. These ears are open under their 65 00:04:49,760 --> 00:04:53,760 prayers, but the face of the Lord is against them that do 66 00:04:54,000 --> 00:04:56,560 evil. That's a tremendous verse. 67 00:04:57,000 --> 00:05:02,920 You see in Psalm 149, the Lord has been set forth as a joyous 68 00:05:02,920 --> 00:05:06,800 light to his people. You'll read that there in Psalm 69 00:05:06,800 --> 00:05:11,480 149, verses 1:00 to 5:00. And then the Lord has also been 70 00:05:11,480 --> 00:05:18,240 set forth as the judging Lord to his foes, because the Lord is 71 00:05:18,240 --> 00:05:21,120 also a holy terror to all his enemies. 72 00:05:21,120 --> 00:05:23,320 You're probably familiar with the name Charles Haddon 73 00:05:23,320 --> 00:05:26,800 Spurgeon, the greatest Baptist preacher that ever lived in the 74 00:05:26,800 --> 00:05:30,480 18th century. He's got 66 volumes of sermons. 75 00:05:30,480 --> 00:05:32,600 I have them in the Porta cabin there. 76 00:05:32,800 --> 00:05:37,120 He also wrote many other books, Book of my Preachers. 77 00:05:37,360 --> 00:05:41,320 He wrote a magazine, published it, and it was called The Sword 78 00:05:41,320 --> 00:05:44,600 and the Trial, and I even have a few copies of that as well, but 79 00:05:44,600 --> 00:05:49,440 it could easily have been called The Sword and the Song. 80 00:05:51,480 --> 00:05:54,160 The psalmist here is full of Prius. 81 00:05:54,680 --> 00:05:58,200 Why? He knows that the people of God 82 00:05:58,200 --> 00:06:05,200 are called upon to fight in the battles of the Lord, and as they 83 00:06:05,280 --> 00:06:09,240 fight in the battles of the Lord, they're to do so in the 84 00:06:09,240 --> 00:06:14,120 joyous power of God. This was something that the late 85 00:06:14,120 --> 00:06:18,520 Doctor Martyn Lloyd Jones believed in preached on, 86 00:06:18,760 --> 00:06:22,240 especially in the latter part of his ministry. 87 00:06:22,840 --> 00:06:25,840 God's people are full of grace and full of glory. 88 00:06:25,960 --> 00:06:29,160 They're full of the joy of the Lord as well as a sense of 89 00:06:29,160 --> 00:06:30,720 judgement. You see, God's people are not 90 00:06:30,720 --> 00:06:33,680 meant to be miserable. God's people are not meant to be 91 00:06:33,680 --> 00:06:36,960 mournful. God's people are not meant to be 92 00:06:36,960 --> 00:06:41,960 more food, full of negativity and criticism all the time. 93 00:06:42,200 --> 00:06:46,200 No, we're to be merry. We're we're to be full of joy. 94 00:06:47,400 --> 00:06:52,240 We are to rejoice in the Lord even as we stand for truth and 95 00:06:52,240 --> 00:06:54,880 righteousness. Look at our text. 96 00:06:55,680 --> 00:06:59,320 Let the Saints be joyful in glory, let them sing aloud upon 97 00:06:59,320 --> 00:07:01,320 their beds. Let the high praises of God be 98 00:07:01,320 --> 00:07:04,560 in their mouth and A2 edged sword in their hand. 99 00:07:04,560 --> 00:07:08,200 Now think of the blessings and battles of the singing soldiers. 100 00:07:08,360 --> 00:07:11,760 Three things. One, the enjoyment of the 101 00:07:11,760 --> 00:07:16,960 singing soldiers in verse 5 we've got Let the Saints be 102 00:07:16,960 --> 00:07:22,840 joyful in glory, let them sing aloud upon their beds. 103 00:07:23,320 --> 00:07:29,800 You see God's people live to enjoy His grace. 104 00:07:30,560 --> 00:07:33,720 He He says, let the Saints be joyful in glory. 105 00:07:33,720 --> 00:07:36,200 Why? Because these Saints have been 106 00:07:36,200 --> 00:07:40,600 already been exhorted. Sing unto the Lord a new song 107 00:07:40,920 --> 00:07:44,680 and His praise in the congregation of Saints. 108 00:07:46,440 --> 00:07:49,640 The new song is the song of the soul set free. 109 00:07:50,400 --> 00:07:53,400 Do you know that there's 9 references in the Bible to the 110 00:07:53,400 --> 00:07:58,720 word new song? Psalm 33 verse 3, Psalm 40 verse 111 00:07:58,720 --> 00:08:04,440 3, Psalm 96 verse one, Psalm 98 verse one, Psalm 144 verse 9, 112 00:08:04,680 --> 00:08:10,360 Psalm 149 verse one, Isaiah 4210, Revelation 5 and 9, and 113 00:08:10,360 --> 00:08:14,400 Revelation 14 and three. That makes 9 in total and Psalm 114 00:08:14,400 --> 00:08:21,080 149 verse one is the 6th reference and six is the number 115 00:08:21,080 --> 00:08:24,200 of man. And you've got to think about a 116 00:08:24,200 --> 00:08:28,120 new man in Christ. And out of all the people in the 117 00:08:28,120 --> 00:08:33,480 world, the man that's in Christ, the man that has come as a 118 00:08:33,480 --> 00:08:37,559 Sinner to be saved by the Lord Jesus, has the greatest reason 119 00:08:37,559 --> 00:08:41,280 to be joyful. The Bible says therefore, if any 120 00:08:41,280 --> 00:08:43,720 man be in Christ, he's a new creature. 121 00:08:44,080 --> 00:08:46,880 All things have passed away and all things have become new and 122 00:08:46,880 --> 00:08:50,840 all things are of God. We have been rebuilt, we have 123 00:08:50,840 --> 00:08:57,360 been renewed, we are being remade in righteousness and 124 00:08:57,360 --> 00:09:01,160 holiness and knowledge of God. We are new creatures. 125 00:09:01,720 --> 00:09:04,360 Let me illustrate. There was a man years ago by the 126 00:09:04,360 --> 00:09:07,560 name of Billy Bray. He was a Cornish miner and he 127 00:09:07,560 --> 00:09:11,400 was known as the Hallelujah man. Whenever Billy Bray walked along 128 00:09:11,400 --> 00:09:15,280 the road and he put out his right leg, he shouted 129 00:09:15,960 --> 00:09:18,880 Hallelujah. When he put forth his left leg 130 00:09:18,880 --> 00:09:24,080 and took another step, he shouted, Amen, praise the Lord. 131 00:09:24,320 --> 00:09:26,800 They they told him one day in church, Billy, if you don't shut 132 00:09:26,800 --> 00:09:28,640 up, we're going to put you in the barrel outside. 133 00:09:28,640 --> 00:09:31,960 And he says, well, if you put me in the barrel, I'll shout out 134 00:09:31,960 --> 00:09:35,320 Hallelujah and praise the Lord through the bunghole. 135 00:09:35,600 --> 00:09:38,400 Now why was Billy Bray like that? 136 00:09:38,680 --> 00:09:43,560 Because Billy Bray was full of the joy of the Lord, that he had 137 00:09:43,560 --> 00:09:47,040 come to personal faith in Christ, that he had tasted the 138 00:09:47,040 --> 00:09:51,880 grace of God, and he took seriously this command to be 139 00:09:51,880 --> 00:09:56,680 joyful and offer praise to the Lord when it says, praise ye the 140 00:09:56,680 --> 00:09:59,840 Lord, when it says, sing unto the Lord. 141 00:09:59,840 --> 00:10:03,320 A new song has praises in the congregation of Saints when it 142 00:10:03,320 --> 00:10:06,000 says, Let the Saints be joyful in glory. 143 00:10:06,200 --> 00:10:11,200 You see, all of these are in the sense of being commands. 144 00:10:11,840 --> 00:10:15,200 We're commanded to offer praise in the assembly of God's people, 145 00:10:15,360 --> 00:10:18,320 in the congregation of Saints. That's why we sing praises when 146 00:10:18,320 --> 00:10:20,480 we come together. It's not just a full time. 147 00:10:21,040 --> 00:10:24,720 We're commanded to do this and we love to be here. 148 00:10:25,240 --> 00:10:28,600 And isn't it wonderful to be able to sing God's praise in 149 00:10:28,600 --> 00:10:32,800 God's house and sing these old hymns, the hymns of redemption, 150 00:10:32,960 --> 00:10:37,200 the the hymns of Greece and the hymns of glory, Hymns that are 151 00:10:37,200 --> 00:10:40,440 full of Christ, his person, His work, his blood atonement. 152 00:10:40,800 --> 00:10:44,920 Whenever the church gathers together, we are commanded to be 153 00:10:44,920 --> 00:10:49,440 joyful as we offer praise unto the Lord. 154 00:10:49,480 --> 00:10:51,960 Why? Because we're recipients of 155 00:10:51,960 --> 00:10:54,440 God's grace. What is grace? 156 00:10:54,440 --> 00:10:57,040 Not just Christ's riches at God's expense. 157 00:10:57,880 --> 00:11:01,560 It's more than that. The grace of God is undeserved, 158 00:11:01,560 --> 00:11:05,120 unmerited favour to criminals and to lawbreakers. 159 00:11:05,280 --> 00:11:08,160 The grace of God is free. It's undeserved. 160 00:11:08,480 --> 00:11:10,760 It's it's unmerited without price. 161 00:11:12,080 --> 00:11:14,720 That's why Paul says in Ephesians 28 and 9, Four, by 162 00:11:14,720 --> 00:11:19,600 grace are you saved through faith, and that not of 163 00:11:19,600 --> 00:11:23,160 yourselves. It's the gift of God, not of 164 00:11:23,160 --> 00:11:27,360 works that any man should boast. You see, we often think of joy. 165 00:11:28,480 --> 00:11:33,800 We often think of joyfulness only when you feel like it. 166 00:11:35,040 --> 00:11:39,600 See, we think, well, joy. Well, that's a feeling of 167 00:11:39,600 --> 00:11:42,760 something in US. When something good happens, 168 00:11:42,880 --> 00:11:45,960 you'll get good grades. In my exams, I want to smile and 169 00:11:45,960 --> 00:11:49,880 and be joyful. Or I learn that my team has won 170 00:11:49,880 --> 00:11:54,160 in their football game. Or I'm joyful when I'm on the 171 00:11:54,160 --> 00:11:57,160 holidays and I'm relaxing. But it but it's much more than 172 00:11:57,160 --> 00:11:59,520 that. You see, it's, it's not being 173 00:11:59,520 --> 00:12:01,960 joyful because something good has happened. 174 00:12:02,040 --> 00:12:06,360 It's not being joyful because there's an earthful event has 175 00:12:06,360 --> 00:12:10,160 taken place, because that event peels into insignificance. 176 00:12:10,360 --> 00:12:13,640 It's being joyful because of who God is. 177 00:12:14,240 --> 00:12:18,320 And you have that realisation and it's been joyful because 178 00:12:18,320 --> 00:12:24,880 what what God has done and it's been joyful because God is. 179 00:12:25,120 --> 00:12:29,120 I had a nice wee message from a man in England and I thank the 180 00:12:29,120 --> 00:12:32,000 man that he's listening online for the little message. 181 00:12:32,000 --> 00:12:36,800 God bless you, Trevor. And it was about God is this 182 00:12:36,800 --> 00:12:38,920 morning. It just tied into the message 183 00:12:39,120 --> 00:12:41,640 because I was thinking of that as I came up the road from Porta 184 00:12:41,640 --> 00:12:45,400 down last night. God is our maker and creator. 185 00:12:46,080 --> 00:12:51,120 God is our sustainer provider. God is our ruler and our king. 186 00:12:51,480 --> 00:12:56,040 God is our Redeemer. God is our judge and advocate. 187 00:12:57,000 --> 00:12:58,960 Can I ask the question this morning? 188 00:13:00,120 --> 00:13:03,280 Does your praise of God flow from joy? 189 00:13:04,920 --> 00:13:08,160 Does your praise of God give you joy? 190 00:13:08,240 --> 00:13:11,320 The joy of the Lord is our strength. 191 00:13:11,560 --> 00:13:15,480 Strength to carry on despite the difficulty, despite the 192 00:13:15,480 --> 00:13:18,600 darkness, despite your situation. 193 00:13:19,800 --> 00:13:22,640 See, we should really be all asking ourselves this question. 194 00:13:22,920 --> 00:13:28,000 Am I really praising the Lord? Praising the Lord in all that we 195 00:13:28,000 --> 00:13:31,720 are, in all that we say, in all that we do? 196 00:13:32,840 --> 00:13:38,040 Are you really giving the whole of your heart to God's praise, 197 00:13:38,040 --> 00:13:40,920 to glorify Him? Let me put it simply. 198 00:13:41,480 --> 00:13:44,320 Do you rejoice in Him? Do you light in Him? 199 00:13:44,840 --> 00:13:49,600 Do you open your mouth to sing the high praise of God with a a 200 00:13:49,600 --> 00:13:54,240 loud expression of joy, whether in the congregation of Saints, 201 00:13:54,400 --> 00:13:57,840 as he mentions that in verse one, or upon the bed? 202 00:13:58,080 --> 00:14:01,200 Let them sing aloud upon their beds. 203 00:14:01,360 --> 00:14:04,880 Let the high praises of God be in their mouth, that that means 204 00:14:05,040 --> 00:14:08,680 in their throats. See, let's remember we are his. 205 00:14:10,600 --> 00:14:13,840 If you've come as a Sinner to the foot of the cross and 206 00:14:13,840 --> 00:14:18,040 receive Christ as Lord and Saviour, you're His. 207 00:14:18,040 --> 00:14:23,200 This morning. We belong to Him, we believe on 208 00:14:23,200 --> 00:14:27,120 Him, we are blessed by Him. We are honoured to be able to 209 00:14:27,120 --> 00:14:30,960 come and worship Him, who He is and what He's like and what He's 210 00:14:30,960 --> 00:14:32,640 done. Oh, there's times, yes, we don't 211 00:14:32,640 --> 00:14:36,160 feel like it. Times we don't feel close to Him 212 00:14:36,160 --> 00:14:39,400 as we ought. Times we're not really inclined 213 00:14:39,400 --> 00:14:45,720 to open our mouths and offer praise, but we need to, even 214 00:14:45,720 --> 00:14:50,720 though when we don't feel like it, because we enjoy his grace 215 00:14:50,920 --> 00:14:53,280 and salvation. Our sins are gone, they're under 216 00:14:53,280 --> 00:14:54,680 the blood. We have a full and free and 217 00:14:54,680 --> 00:14:57,040 forever pardon. We've been brought from darkness 218 00:14:57,040 --> 00:14:59,960 in the light. We've been legally justified in 219 00:14:59,960 --> 00:15:03,280 Christ. We have been adopted into God's 220 00:15:03,280 --> 00:15:08,760 family, the the Lord. He is our God, He is our 221 00:15:08,760 --> 00:15:12,640 Heavenly Father, Jesus Christ as our Lord and Saviour. 222 00:15:12,760 --> 00:15:17,960 We're indwelt by the Spirit of God and I want to tell you 223 00:15:17,960 --> 00:15:22,400 that's a Trinitarian blessing and and we can praise him as he 224 00:15:22,400 --> 00:15:26,240 says here in verse four. He says verse three, let them 225 00:15:26,240 --> 00:15:29,600 praise his name and the dance. Let them sing praises unto him 226 00:15:29,600 --> 00:15:32,760 with the timberland harp. I want to tell you that that's 227 00:15:32,760 --> 00:15:35,520 nothing to do with a sinful sensual dance. 228 00:15:35,720 --> 00:15:39,480 It's not like the dancing of the daughter of Herodius, the king 229 00:15:39,840 --> 00:15:44,240 in front of Herod. It's nothing about being a 230 00:15:44,240 --> 00:15:47,520 seductive pole dancer. David, we read dance before the 231 00:15:47,520 --> 00:15:49,880 Lord. See, in ancient times, God's 232 00:15:49,880 --> 00:15:58,800 people use their their body as well as their mouths to praise 233 00:15:58,800 --> 00:16:01,880 the Lord, as they praise the Lord with their heart, soul, 234 00:16:01,880 --> 00:16:05,160 mind and strength. They use percussion instruments 235 00:16:05,320 --> 00:16:08,240 like the temple. They use string instruments like 236 00:16:08,240 --> 00:16:12,560 the harp. She's not wonderful to learn 237 00:16:12,560 --> 00:16:14,680 here as we read in this beautiful Psalm. 238 00:16:15,240 --> 00:16:17,600 For the Lord taketh pleasure in his people. 239 00:16:17,840 --> 00:16:21,120 He will beautify the meek with salvation. 240 00:16:21,400 --> 00:16:24,360 And whether you're in the House of God or at home alone, even in 241 00:16:24,360 --> 00:16:30,360 your bed when you're at quiet rest and when there's a restful 242 00:16:30,360 --> 00:16:34,720 spirit, we can still sing praises unto our God. 243 00:16:34,720 --> 00:16:41,080 Not only do we enjoy His grace, but we extend his glory. 244 00:16:41,080 --> 00:16:45,320 It says in our text, let the Saints be joyful in glory. 245 00:16:45,640 --> 00:16:50,480 What's man's chief end is to glorify God and enjoy Him 246 00:16:50,480 --> 00:16:53,120 forever. Remember what we read over there 247 00:16:53,120 --> 00:16:57,680 in Corinthians and 1st Corinthians and chapter 10 and 248 00:16:57,680 --> 00:17:07,200 in the verse 31 it says, whether therefore you eat or drink or 249 00:17:07,200 --> 00:17:11,839 whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. 250 00:17:14,000 --> 00:17:21,079 See, one of the ways to praise Him is to be excited about Him. 251 00:17:22,000 --> 00:17:25,640 The word joyful literally means jumping for joy with something 252 00:17:25,640 --> 00:17:28,960 tremendous and something wonderful and something good has 253 00:17:28,960 --> 00:17:31,640 happened. The the praise here is about 254 00:17:31,800 --> 00:17:36,080 boasting and and bragging in the Lord, praising Him continually 255 00:17:36,080 --> 00:17:38,560 and fervently and liberally and dearly. 256 00:17:39,040 --> 00:17:41,960 The word sing here has to do with one who's travelling on a 257 00:17:41,960 --> 00:17:44,680 journey. So wherever he or she goes, 258 00:17:44,840 --> 00:17:47,760 they're singing to the Lord. They're making melody in their 259 00:17:47,760 --> 00:17:49,960 heart. They're making much of Him that 260 00:17:49,960 --> 00:17:51,960 they're taking up with His glory. 261 00:17:52,240 --> 00:17:54,920 The word praise here has to do with shining. 262 00:17:55,800 --> 00:18:00,360 Think of someone with a clean heart mentions made here of the 263 00:18:00,360 --> 00:18:02,360 word sins. You've got to think of holy ones 264 00:18:02,360 --> 00:18:06,120 that are saved and separated and being sanctified unto the Lord 265 00:18:06,480 --> 00:18:11,480 speaks of a clean heart and and a clean conscience. 266 00:18:12,480 --> 00:18:16,400 No one like cleansed from all sacred and presumptuous sin. 267 00:18:16,760 --> 00:18:20,200 Why do we exist to enjoy his grace? 268 00:18:21,320 --> 00:18:26,240 We exist to extol his glory. We exist to extol his greatness. 269 00:18:26,440 --> 00:18:29,480 The Bible says great as the Lord and greatly to be praised. 270 00:18:30,080 --> 00:18:33,800 Psalm 148 or Psalm 48 verse one, See, the Lord has saved me. 271 00:18:34,320 --> 00:18:36,040 You take that into your mind this morning. 272 00:18:36,800 --> 00:18:38,480 You've been changed and transformed. 273 00:18:38,480 --> 00:18:39,920 You're no longer what you once were. 274 00:18:40,000 --> 00:18:44,160 You're a new creature in Christ, and the Lord is sanctifying you 275 00:18:44,160 --> 00:18:48,440 wholly and setting you apart, and the Lord is changing and 276 00:18:48,440 --> 00:18:51,720 transforming your life by the power of the Word and the power 277 00:18:51,720 --> 00:18:55,160 of the Spirit. And the Lord is using you, and 278 00:18:55,160 --> 00:18:56,880 therefore you can rejoice in Him. 279 00:18:57,200 --> 00:19:00,040 You can be joyful in Him who is King. 280 00:19:00,120 --> 00:19:02,760 You can be taken up with Him. Fill your heart and mind with 281 00:19:02,760 --> 00:19:04,800 who He is and what He's done and what He's like. 282 00:19:05,120 --> 00:19:07,840 Isn't it wonderful this morning that we can worship God? 283 00:19:08,160 --> 00:19:11,040 Isn't it wonderful this morning that we can walk by faith with 284 00:19:11,040 --> 00:19:12,760 Him? Isn't it wonderful that we can 285 00:19:12,760 --> 00:19:15,880 witness for Him and open our mouth to speak of His glory? 286 00:19:16,160 --> 00:19:18,440 Notice the bodily parts here in our text. 287 00:19:18,600 --> 00:19:20,200 It speaks of a mouth. Verse 6. 288 00:19:20,200 --> 00:19:24,160 It speaks of a hand. See, what's in the mouth must be 289 00:19:24,160 --> 00:19:28,640 right before what's in the hand can be effective. 290 00:19:31,560 --> 00:19:35,200 We exist. Here's the enjoyment of the 291 00:19:35,200 --> 00:19:38,760 singing soldiers. They enjoy God's grace. 292 00:19:41,880 --> 00:19:47,880 They're wrapped up in His glory. They live to extol greatest the 293 00:19:47,880 --> 00:19:50,720 Lord. Think secondly with me this 294 00:19:50,720 --> 00:19:55,080 morning of the engagement of the singing soldiers. 295 00:19:55,920 --> 00:19:59,120 Look at the words in our text. Let the high praises of God be 296 00:19:59,120 --> 00:20:04,200 in their mouth and A2 edged sword in their hand. 297 00:20:05,440 --> 00:20:08,160 Now as you think of the engagement of singing soldiers, 298 00:20:08,160 --> 00:20:13,640 think with me of the core of the conflict. 299 00:20:16,480 --> 00:20:19,240 I want you to think of the battles and the struggles and 300 00:20:19,240 --> 00:20:21,640 the conflicts that the church faces. 301 00:20:22,360 --> 00:20:25,200 We face a battle with sin and Satan. 302 00:20:25,960 --> 00:20:29,280 We're in a spiritual war with the world that seeks to squeeze 303 00:20:29,280 --> 00:20:33,040 us into its mould with this anti God and anti Christian agenda. 304 00:20:34,040 --> 00:20:37,640 It were in a battle with inward remaining sin and corruption. 305 00:20:39,000 --> 00:20:42,360 And because of that battle and struggle and conflict, God's 306 00:20:42,360 --> 00:20:47,480 people are not often joyful. They can be joyless. 307 00:20:48,120 --> 00:20:51,720 They can become depressed and discouraged and dispirited. 308 00:20:51,920 --> 00:20:55,320 And that's where many are AT at this minute and time in the 21st 309 00:20:55,320 --> 00:20:58,480 century. And I want you to think this 310 00:20:58,480 --> 00:21:03,120 morning of this connection. Being a singer and being a 311 00:21:03,120 --> 00:21:07,000 soldier, let the high praises of God be in their mouth. 312 00:21:07,000 --> 00:21:10,600 Not just praises, but the high praises of God. 313 00:21:11,120 --> 00:21:15,520 The word God here means L, the God of strength, the Almighty 314 00:21:15,920 --> 00:21:18,560 and A2 edged sword in their hand. 315 00:21:19,880 --> 00:21:22,000 I was thinking of soldiers going to war. 316 00:21:23,040 --> 00:21:26,760 And then I came across these little books, British patriotic 317 00:21:26,760 --> 00:21:31,680 songs, English patriotic songs, and I was just reminded, of 318 00:21:31,680 --> 00:21:36,880 course, of the song that English soldiers sang during the Civil 319 00:21:36,880 --> 00:21:39,000 War. You know all about the English 320 00:21:39,000 --> 00:21:45,160 Civil War, 1642 to 1651. It was a fight between the king 321 00:21:45,800 --> 00:21:49,200 and Parliament. The king was King Charles the 322 00:21:49,200 --> 00:21:52,160 First. The King's supporters were 323 00:21:52,160 --> 00:21:57,080 called Cavaliers. The supporters of the Parliament 324 00:21:57,960 --> 00:22:01,560 were called Roundheads, and they were led by a man called Oliver 325 00:22:01,560 --> 00:22:04,480 Cromwell, known as the Lord Protector. 326 00:22:05,000 --> 00:22:07,800 Well, I'm not going to preach on the English Civil War. 327 00:22:07,800 --> 00:22:10,360 OK, not going to give you a history lesson, but just to 328 00:22:10,360 --> 00:22:14,840 remind you of this, that when the Roundheads, led by Cromwell, 329 00:22:15,040 --> 00:22:20,400 set off the battle, they sang patriotic songs, but they didn't 330 00:22:20,400 --> 00:22:26,240 sing any modern songs. They sung the Psalms and some of 331 00:22:26,240 --> 00:22:31,760 the psalms that they sung were the Hallelujah Psalms and Psalm 332 00:22:31,760 --> 00:22:36,480 149 was one of them. Let the high praise of God be in 333 00:22:36,480 --> 00:22:40,840 her mouth and A2 edged sword in their hand. 334 00:22:42,080 --> 00:22:44,920 You see, the songs lifted the spirit. 335 00:22:46,520 --> 00:22:51,720 The songs reminded them of God, the living and the true God with 336 00:22:51,720 --> 00:22:56,480 whom they have to do. The songs reminded them of life 337 00:22:56,480 --> 00:23:00,000 and death. It reminded them of mortality. 338 00:23:00,240 --> 00:23:06,200 It reminded them of eternity. They were known as Christ's 339 00:23:06,960 --> 00:23:13,200 singing soldiers, the Roundheads in the Civil War, Christ singing 340 00:23:13,200 --> 00:23:14,960 soldiers. And it was that thought when I 341 00:23:14,960 --> 00:23:19,040 come up the road on the motorway yesterday that came into my mind 342 00:23:19,240 --> 00:23:22,200 as I was thinking about attacks for today. 343 00:23:23,360 --> 00:23:30,240 You see, we ought to have joy, the joy of the Lord, in the 344 00:23:30,240 --> 00:23:33,840 midst of the battle. In the midst of the battle. 345 00:23:33,840 --> 00:23:37,800 We're to enjoy Christ because of God's grace, because of God's 346 00:23:37,800 --> 00:23:40,360 glory, because of God's greatness. 347 00:23:43,720 --> 00:23:48,040 As Ready pointed out, the Hebrew word is L here. 348 00:23:48,680 --> 00:23:51,400 Let the high praises of God be in their mouth. 349 00:23:51,400 --> 00:23:54,480 One who's strong and mighty to deliver, One who is the 350 00:23:54,560 --> 00:23:58,200 Almighty. Now let me be careful because I 351 00:23:58,200 --> 00:24:00,680 want to make this clear. Now listen to me very carefully. 352 00:24:01,960 --> 00:24:04,160 I'm not talking about a literal war here. 353 00:24:05,480 --> 00:24:09,400 I'm not talking about a physical warfare like the English Civil 354 00:24:09,400 --> 00:24:11,640 War. See this was OK for ancient 355 00:24:11,640 --> 00:24:13,520 Israel. Ancient Israel where a 356 00:24:13,520 --> 00:24:15,720 theocracy, they were ruled by God. 357 00:24:16,640 --> 00:24:19,640 We are not. Ulster doesn't have the title 358 00:24:19,640 --> 00:24:22,840 deeds like Israel has to its land. 359 00:24:23,040 --> 00:24:26,520 We are a parliamentary democracy with a constitutional monarchy. 360 00:24:26,800 --> 00:24:29,200 And that constitutional monarchy, of course, come out of 361 00:24:29,200 --> 00:24:33,360 the Glorious Revolution of 1688 in the Willehide settlement of 362 00:24:33,360 --> 00:24:36,320 1689. And I say that for this reason, 363 00:24:36,320 --> 00:24:40,160 some have used these words literally to take up arms to 364 00:24:40,160 --> 00:24:42,200 justify an armed struggle for God. 365 00:24:42,200 --> 00:24:43,840 Let's go out and fight with swords. 366 00:24:43,840 --> 00:24:45,240 Let's go out and fight with guns. 367 00:24:45,360 --> 00:24:47,040 Let's go out and fight with clubs. 368 00:24:47,640 --> 00:24:53,080 I'll give you 1 illustration. Germany, Protestant Reformation. 369 00:24:53,480 --> 00:24:58,200 Thomas Munster and the peasants revolt in Germany in the 16th 370 00:24:58,200 --> 00:25:01,040 century. It did a lot of harm to the 371 00:25:01,040 --> 00:25:05,880 cause of the Reformation. Thomas Munster took these words, 372 00:25:05,880 --> 00:25:08,280 these verses, in a literal sense. 373 00:25:08,520 --> 00:25:10,960 He seen himself as the sword of Gideon. 374 00:25:13,680 --> 00:25:16,640 He went out to war. There was the extreme Anabaptist 375 00:25:16,640 --> 00:25:19,080 as well. And of course in our day there 376 00:25:19,080 --> 00:25:21,600 might be some who profess the name of Christ. 377 00:25:22,680 --> 00:25:26,120 Think we've got to as well go out and lift up A2 edged sword 378 00:25:26,120 --> 00:25:31,640 to kill other people, die or convert. 379 00:25:32,280 --> 00:25:36,280 Well, that's not the way of the Christian Church, that's not New 380 00:25:36,280 --> 00:25:41,040 Testament Christianity. The two edged sword here can be 381 00:25:41,040 --> 00:25:44,080 of course a picture of the Word of God. 382 00:25:45,720 --> 00:25:51,920 In Ephesians chapter 6 and verse 17 we read this and take in the 383 00:25:51,920 --> 00:25:54,880 helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is 384 00:25:54,880 --> 00:25:58,040 the Word of God over there in Hebrews. 385 00:25:58,040 --> 00:26:01,200 In Hebrews chapter 4 verse 12, it said, For the word of God is 386 00:26:01,200 --> 00:26:06,160 quick and powerful and sharper than any 2 edged sword, piercing 387 00:26:06,160 --> 00:26:09,280 even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit and of the 388 00:26:09,280 --> 00:26:11,440 joints and marrow. And as a discerner of the 389 00:26:11,440 --> 00:26:13,560 thoughts and intents of the heart. 390 00:26:13,680 --> 00:26:17,720 Let me tell you a little story of the man standing going off 391 00:26:18,760 --> 00:26:22,640 from London to Tel Aviv. He's going to the land of Israel 392 00:26:22,640 --> 00:26:26,080 on his holidays with a party and he's from Northern Ireland here. 393 00:26:26,280 --> 00:26:30,040 And he's asked by an IDF member, have you got any weapons with 394 00:26:30,120 --> 00:26:32,960 you? They meant a sword or a gun or a 395 00:26:32,960 --> 00:26:37,960 club or a knife. And he said, I've just got my 396 00:26:38,000 --> 00:26:42,000 old trusted sword. They kept them for four hours. 397 00:26:42,400 --> 00:26:44,240 They knew exactly what he was talking about. 398 00:26:44,240 --> 00:26:46,680 It was the Word of God, but because He mentioned the word 399 00:26:46,680 --> 00:26:53,400 sword, they took it literally. The sword of the Spirit is the 400 00:26:53,400 --> 00:26:56,920 word of God. And remember in John's Gospel, 401 00:26:57,160 --> 00:27:01,720 the Lord Jesus said in John chapter 18 and in the verse 36, 402 00:27:01,720 --> 00:27:03,560 my Kingdom was not of this world. 403 00:27:03,680 --> 00:27:06,200 If my Kingdom were of this world, then would My servants 404 00:27:06,200 --> 00:27:08,960 fight that I should not be delivered to the Jews? 405 00:27:08,960 --> 00:27:12,240 But now is my Kingdom not from fence? 406 00:27:14,200 --> 00:27:17,040 You see, the Church of Christ is not to take up weapons. 407 00:27:18,040 --> 00:27:21,200 It's not to go out into the community and enforce the law. 408 00:27:21,600 --> 00:27:24,320 It's not to punish the evildoer. That's the job of the 409 00:27:24,320 --> 00:27:26,720 government. Romans 13 verse one. 410 00:27:26,920 --> 00:27:31,680 See, we're not a theocracy. It's right and honourable for 411 00:27:31,960 --> 00:27:39,280 human governments to enforce law breaking and law making in our 412 00:27:39,440 --> 00:27:42,240 community. The Bible teaches in Corinthians 413 00:27:42,240 --> 00:27:45,480 the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty through 414 00:27:45,480 --> 00:27:47,640 God to the pulling down of strongholds. 415 00:27:47,640 --> 00:27:50,840 So I want you to think of the core of the conflict. 416 00:27:50,840 --> 00:27:54,240 It's a spiritual conflict. Keep that in mind. 417 00:27:54,960 --> 00:27:57,240 I want you to think of the cause of the conflict. 418 00:27:57,560 --> 00:28:01,920 You see, when it mentions here the two edged sword, it reminds 419 00:28:01,920 --> 00:28:05,920 me of course that the causes for gospel truth and and gospel 420 00:28:05,920 --> 00:28:08,320 light. Folks, we are in a spiritual 421 00:28:08,320 --> 00:28:10,960 war. Remember Ephesians 6 and 12 422 00:28:10,960 --> 00:28:13,440 where we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against 423 00:28:13,440 --> 00:28:15,800 principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the 424 00:28:15,800 --> 00:28:18,720 darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high 425 00:28:18,720 --> 00:28:21,080 places. We're in a battle against sin, 426 00:28:21,080 --> 00:28:25,160 Satan and the world, a battle for light, a battle for truth. 427 00:28:25,600 --> 00:28:29,120 See, in the modern world, the gospel has looked upon us 428 00:28:29,120 --> 00:28:32,200 something that's stupid. It's a worthless thing. 429 00:28:33,600 --> 00:28:38,040 It's being good news, especially if you listen to the modern 430 00:28:38,200 --> 00:28:41,680 media. To the unbeliever, the gospel 431 00:28:41,680 --> 00:28:46,800 means nothing good news. They don't see any value in it. 432 00:28:47,720 --> 00:28:50,400 But the devil's purpose is to keep them dead in sin. 433 00:28:50,520 --> 00:28:53,440 The devil's purpose is to keep them blind in the darkness. 434 00:28:53,560 --> 00:28:56,400 The devil's purpose is to keep them diseased. 435 00:28:57,200 --> 00:28:59,960 And and that's a big thing that we face at the moment. 436 00:29:00,360 --> 00:29:03,720 The church faces danger from without, it also faces danger 437 00:29:03,840 --> 00:29:06,080 from within. Remember hope we read in the 438 00:29:06,080 --> 00:29:09,480 book of Jude over there in Jude 3 and 4. 439 00:29:09,480 --> 00:29:11,680 Beloved, when I give all diligence to write unto you of 440 00:29:11,680 --> 00:29:14,320 the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you 441 00:29:14,320 --> 00:29:16,000 and exhort you. You should earn us to contend 442 00:29:16,000 --> 00:29:18,640 for the faith which was once delivered unto the Saints. 443 00:29:18,840 --> 00:29:21,360 For there are certain men crept and unawares who were before of 444 00:29:21,360 --> 00:29:24,680 old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men 445 00:29:25,600 --> 00:29:29,480 turning the grace of our God into luxuriousness and denying 446 00:29:29,480 --> 00:29:35,560 the only Lord God and our Lord Jesus Christ. 447 00:29:37,480 --> 00:29:40,760 You see in Jude's day there was men crept into the church 448 00:29:40,760 --> 00:29:42,280 unawares. They had a plan, they had a 449 00:29:42,280 --> 00:29:44,840 purpose. Change the church, change it's 450 00:29:44,840 --> 00:29:50,520 worship, change it's witness, change it's stand for the 451 00:29:50,520 --> 00:29:54,720 scriptures, Change it's walk from being God centred to being 452 00:29:54,720 --> 00:29:59,280 a man centred from, from a God pleasing way to a man pleasing 453 00:29:59,320 --> 00:30:01,360 me. And of course that has happened 454 00:30:01,360 --> 00:30:05,280 over time, in the 18th and the 19th century it has happened and 455 00:30:05,280 --> 00:30:09,920 the churches have fallen prey to these ungodly men and, and, and, 456 00:30:10,040 --> 00:30:14,240 and, and, and they have changed the style of the old hymns and 457 00:30:14,240 --> 00:30:16,440 the modern ones. They, they have brought in a 458 00:30:16,440 --> 00:30:23,280 more modern message. They brought in modern versions 459 00:30:23,280 --> 00:30:28,560 of the Bible and of course we have to ask with Jeremiah, stand 460 00:30:28,560 --> 00:30:31,760 ye in the ways and see and ask for the old pass, wherein is the 461 00:30:31,760 --> 00:30:34,760 good way, and walk therein and you shall find rest for their 462 00:30:34,760 --> 00:30:39,360 souls. But they said we will not walk 463 00:30:39,560 --> 00:30:42,280 therein. What do we face today? 464 00:30:42,280 --> 00:30:46,440 Let me say it very quickly. As we finish, we face militant 465 00:30:46,440 --> 00:30:50,960 resurgence of Roman Catholicism. It was Archbishop Usher that 466 00:30:50,960 --> 00:30:55,760 said when the Church of Rome is in a minority, she's a lamb, 467 00:30:56,280 --> 00:30:59,560 which is in equality. She's a fox, which is in the 468 00:30:59,560 --> 00:31:03,000 majority, she's a lion. Do you know that Pope Leo the 469 00:31:03,000 --> 00:31:05,120 14th And I haven't preached. I haven't said anything about 470 00:31:05,120 --> 00:31:09,200 Pope Leo in the past, neither the death of Pope Francis or the 471 00:31:10,600 --> 00:31:13,400 election of Pope Leo. Haven't mentioned it 472 00:31:13,400 --> 00:31:16,120 deliberately, but this is what he said recently. 473 00:31:16,760 --> 00:31:22,200 We want unity. He also said this, the Church of 474 00:31:22,200 --> 00:31:31,920 Rome presides in charity, never questioning of capturing others 475 00:31:33,360 --> 00:31:38,920 either by force or by religious propaganda or by means of power. 476 00:31:39,760 --> 00:31:44,400 When I read that and that's come officially, I, I thought, well, 477 00:31:44,400 --> 00:31:48,360 that's a lie that can't be true. Let's nail the lie. 478 00:31:48,600 --> 00:31:53,920 Look at the history, the Inquisition, the Spanish Armada, 479 00:31:54,600 --> 00:31:59,800 or we could go on the wars that the Church of Rome was behind. 480 00:32:00,440 --> 00:32:03,640 We also face a battle with militant atheism and 481 00:32:03,640 --> 00:32:05,880 secularisation. We want to dismantle our 482 00:32:05,880 --> 00:32:09,000 Christian culture. We face another enemy of 483 00:32:09,080 --> 00:32:12,200 progressive liberalism out to destroy the family unit. 484 00:32:12,360 --> 00:32:15,840 You think of the explosion of the sodomite parades in our 485 00:32:15,840 --> 00:32:20,120 street and how sinful and vulgar and obscene the whole thing is. 486 00:32:21,000 --> 00:32:24,480 Add into that the programme of education for the children, 487 00:32:24,760 --> 00:32:28,680 teaching boys and girls that abortion is OK, contrary to the 488 00:32:28,680 --> 00:32:31,320 command thou shall not kill. Teaching them about 489 00:32:31,320 --> 00:32:34,600 relationships that have to do with different genders. 490 00:32:34,600 --> 00:32:37,200 I mean, there's only two genders, male and female. 491 00:32:37,360 --> 00:32:42,040 Teaching them about LGBTQ plus. Then we face, of course, the 492 00:32:42,040 --> 00:32:46,600 spirit of socialism. See, there's many evils around. 493 00:32:47,200 --> 00:32:51,840 The forces of hell, the forces of darkness are all arrayed 494 00:32:51,840 --> 00:32:53,920 against the Christian Church. We get through into the mix, 495 00:32:54,040 --> 00:32:58,000 false religion and false cults. Islam is on the March. 496 00:32:58,720 --> 00:33:00,520 All religions do not lead to God. 497 00:33:01,000 --> 00:33:02,840 All religions are not the way to heaven. 498 00:33:03,480 --> 00:33:06,840 There's a battle on and we are set for the defence of the 499 00:33:06,840 --> 00:33:10,840 gospel and the core of that battle. 500 00:33:11,120 --> 00:33:14,920 It's a spiritual battle. And remember what Paul's advice 501 00:33:14,920 --> 00:33:21,640 was to Timothy in First Timothy and in chapter 6 and in the 502 00:33:21,640 --> 00:33:26,280 verse 12, he says this fight, the good fight of faith. 503 00:33:26,280 --> 00:33:30,000 They hold an eternal life whereunto thou art also called 504 00:33:30,200 --> 00:33:33,680 and has professed a good profession before many 505 00:33:34,080 --> 00:33:38,040 witnesses. We're not just sons in a family. 506 00:33:38,920 --> 00:33:41,600 We're not just Saints in a field to labour and work. 507 00:33:42,480 --> 00:33:46,720 We are soldiers in a fight. And the core of that conflict is 508 00:33:46,720 --> 00:33:51,720 spiritual and the causes were in a battle to the death against 509 00:33:51,760 --> 00:33:55,240 enemies in the force of darkness in an unseen world. 510 00:33:56,200 --> 00:33:59,680 Very quickly our time has gone. Think of the captain of the 511 00:33:59,680 --> 00:34:01,560 conflict. Who's the captain? 512 00:34:01,640 --> 00:34:04,840 You you see these soldiers that went to fight in David's day, 513 00:34:05,040 --> 00:34:06,720 They had a captain. David LED them. 514 00:34:07,320 --> 00:34:10,960 And the captain of our salvation is the Lord Jesus Christ. 515 00:34:11,320 --> 00:34:13,920 I was encouraged yesterday when I was thinking about King 516 00:34:13,920 --> 00:34:18,760 William on the 19th of June 1690 when he came to Belfast, that 517 00:34:18,760 --> 00:34:22,280 there religious service there in Saint George's Church. 518 00:34:22,920 --> 00:34:26,960 The minister preached when thou passes through the waters I will 519 00:34:26,960 --> 00:34:28,719 be with thee. Did he know he was going to 520 00:34:28,719 --> 00:34:30,400 cross the point? I don't believe he did. 521 00:34:30,520 --> 00:34:32,920 I believe that was a prophetic experience. 522 00:34:33,199 --> 00:34:36,960 He was saying to William, the Lord, we'll be with you and, 523 00:34:37,000 --> 00:34:40,320 and, and the Lord is with us as the captain of the Lord's host, 524 00:34:40,440 --> 00:34:43,280 as he was with Joshua. You see, he had plans for the 525 00:34:43,280 --> 00:34:44,760 battle. He is with us. 526 00:34:44,840 --> 00:34:47,639 He, he will give us the victory. He'll be there to support and 527 00:34:47,639 --> 00:34:50,480 help us in all that we face because the fight is his. 528 00:34:50,600 --> 00:34:54,440 His presence, his protection, his provision, his power, his 529 00:34:54,440 --> 00:34:57,480 promises, his purpose will all be realised because he's the 530 00:34:57,480 --> 00:34:59,880 captain of our salvation. Do you know him? 531 00:34:59,880 --> 00:35:02,120 Do you love him? Are you walking with him? 532 00:35:02,440 --> 00:35:05,200 Are you in fellowship with Him? We can think about the 533 00:35:05,200 --> 00:35:08,960 conclusion of the conflict, the outcome of the battle. 534 00:35:08,960 --> 00:35:11,760 Of course, any battle could never be predicted. 535 00:35:13,120 --> 00:35:15,960 The outcome of war is never guaranteed. 536 00:35:16,960 --> 00:35:22,520 But this spiritual warfare, this fight that we're in is 537 00:35:22,520 --> 00:35:26,040 guaranteed because we're already on the victory side. 538 00:35:26,480 --> 00:35:30,240 Jesus said I'll build my church, and the gates of hell shall not 539 00:35:30,240 --> 00:35:33,200 prevail against it. The church has Christ's help, 540 00:35:33,840 --> 00:35:37,960 the church's Christ's power, and therefore we're fighting not for 541 00:35:37,960 --> 00:35:42,200 victory, but in victory, in victory, in the Lord's name. 542 00:35:42,840 --> 00:35:46,800 We could think about the coronation of the conflict, the 543 00:35:46,800 --> 00:35:54,240 two edged sword, fighting against the enemy, defeating the 544 00:35:54,240 --> 00:35:57,360 enemy, and is connected with praise. 545 00:35:57,440 --> 00:36:00,800 Remember in the days of Jehoshaphat, Joshaphat, when he 546 00:36:00,800 --> 00:36:04,680 led the armies out, they sang praise unto the Lord. 547 00:36:04,680 --> 00:36:08,360 First of all, before they ever lifted the sword, Second 548 00:36:08,720 --> 00:36:12,720 Chronicles chapter 20, verses 21 and 22, they began to sing, 549 00:36:12,920 --> 00:36:15,680 began to praise the Lord, and you see, they discovered there's 550 00:36:15,680 --> 00:36:18,680 power in praise. Whenever Paul was at gaol at 551 00:36:18,680 --> 00:36:22,720 midnight, he sang praises unto God and prayer was offered and 552 00:36:22,720 --> 00:36:25,560 the prisoners heard them. There was power in that praise. 553 00:36:25,640 --> 00:36:28,920 There was power in the prayer singing in the jailhouse. 554 00:36:29,440 --> 00:36:33,960 See, that's the coronation. One final thing. 555 00:36:34,680 --> 00:36:37,480 Think about the engagement of the singing soldiers. 556 00:36:38,600 --> 00:36:45,040 What did they do? They sang high praises unto God 557 00:36:46,480 --> 00:36:48,360 before they ever engaged the enemy. 558 00:36:49,240 --> 00:36:52,200 That is critical. God's people sung. 559 00:36:52,400 --> 00:36:54,720 Why did they sing? Because God's people believed in 560 00:36:54,720 --> 00:36:57,360 God, God's people had faith in him. 561 00:36:57,680 --> 00:37:00,800 God's people were rejoicing in him and looking for his 562 00:37:00,800 --> 00:37:04,920 blessing, Samuel Rutherford was heard to say when he was in 563 00:37:04,920 --> 00:37:07,360 prison. I don't know which member of the 564 00:37:07,360 --> 00:37:12,640 Trinity I love the most. I love them all and I need them 565 00:37:12,640 --> 00:37:15,000 all. I need the Father's love. 566 00:37:16,320 --> 00:37:20,280 I need the Son's atoning sacrifice and they need the 567 00:37:20,280 --> 00:37:23,600 power of the regenerating and indwelling spirit. 568 00:37:24,400 --> 00:37:26,680 Here's the engagement of these soldiers. 569 00:37:27,440 --> 00:37:30,920 They discovered as they laboured, there was power and 570 00:37:30,920 --> 00:37:33,480 praise. And that's critical that you 571 00:37:33,520 --> 00:37:39,040 understand that because as they engaged, they praised the Lord. 572 00:37:39,200 --> 00:37:41,080 As they praised the Lord, they engaged. 573 00:37:41,080 --> 00:37:44,760 And I say to you, as we finish, you think of your sins that you 574 00:37:44,760 --> 00:37:48,960 struggle with, sins that you worry about, kill the sins that 575 00:37:48,960 --> 00:37:54,240 you worry about, deal with the lusts that hunt you, silence 576 00:37:54,240 --> 00:37:57,000 every worry and fear. How can you do that? 577 00:37:57,920 --> 00:38:02,400 Through singing the high praises of the Lord and then using the 578 00:38:02,400 --> 00:38:08,960 sword of the Spirit, the word of God, depending on that to gain 579 00:38:08,960 --> 00:38:11,920 the power and to gain the victory. 580 00:38:12,000 --> 00:38:16,600 That's the engagement that we should be engaged in at this 581 00:38:16,760 --> 00:38:18,920 particular time. So if you're here today and 582 00:38:18,920 --> 00:38:21,480 you're full of worry and fear about something, maybe you're 583 00:38:21,480 --> 00:38:25,000 fearful about tomorrow, fearful about the future, fearful of 584 00:38:25,000 --> 00:38:27,840 anything, then let's bring that worry and lay at the Lord's 585 00:38:27,840 --> 00:38:29,800 feet. Let's slay it with the power of 586 00:38:29,800 --> 00:38:33,920 this word of God and sing praises unto God that our God is 587 00:38:33,920 --> 00:38:37,320 true and faithful, and our God will answer prayer. 588 00:38:37,320 --> 00:38:39,520 There's power and praise. There's power and prayer. 589 00:38:39,880 --> 00:38:43,400 There's power in the promises of our God. 590 00:38:43,720 --> 00:38:46,680 The Lord bless you today. Thank you for coming and I pray 591 00:38:46,680 --> 00:38:50,280 that these few stumbling words that the Lord gave me yesterday 592 00:38:50,280 --> 00:38:52,880 evening will be a blessing to your heart.