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Amen. So if anyone's out there thinking they're getting an early finish, don't be so sure, all right? He can do a lot with six verses, okay? And I've got a bit to talk about here in these six verses, but before I do, I want to do as I usually do and just remind you where we're at, because obviously, look, the chapter divisions came in much later and we are sort of continuing on from chapter 11 here anyhow, and what happened in chapter 11 last week is we saw a more dual prophecy of Hezekiah's reign and the branch, Jesus Christ's millennial reign to come. There was quite a bit of terminology that we see in Revelation 19, if you remember. Verse 4 said in Isaiah 11 that he shall smite the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked. Well, Revelation 19 21, you'd have to turn there, said, and the remnant was slain with the sword of him that sat upon the horse, which sword proceeded out of his mouth, and all the fowls were filled with their flesh. Verse 5 in Isaiah 11 said, and righteousness shall be the girdle of his loins, and faithfulness the girdle of his reins. And Revelation 19 11 said, and I saw heaven open and behold a white horse, and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war. So fulfilled in part by Hezekiah like we saw, but ultimately fulfilled in the Lord Jesus Christ's second coming and reign to come. Isaiah then continued to talk of the future, describing this time of peace when animals will dwell safely with each other and with people. And we saw how Isaiah 65 also mentioned this time, and it was on the back of describing the new heaven and new earth though. It then described this time with the animals, and we looked at how this might actually be fulfilled in the eternity to come with the new heaven and new earth, as opposed to the traditional view that this is in the millennial reign. We looked at how the prophecy then continued with the ensign gathering God's people from the four corners of the earth, then finish a bit more specifically with Hezekiah's reign on the back of the Assyrian invasion of Israel. It said in verse 13, the envy also of Ephraim shall depart, and the adversaries of Judah shall be cut off. Ephraim shall not envy Judah, and Judah shall not vex Ephraim, but they shall fly upon the shoulders of the Philistines toward the west. They shall spoil them of the east together, they shall lay their hand upon Edom and Moab and the children of Ammon, shall obey them, and the Lord shall utterly destroy the tongue of the Egyptians, see him with his mighty wind, shall he shake his hand over the river, and shall smite it in the seven streams, and make men go over dryshod, and there shall be a highway for the remnant of his people, which shall be left from Assyria like as it was to Israel in the day that he came up out of the land of Egypt. Then Isaiah 12 and verse 1 starts with, And in that day thou shalt say, O Lord, I will praise thee, though thou was angry with me, thine anger is turned away, and thou comfortest me. I'd like to pray and then we're going to get going with it. Father, thank you for this chapter of the Bible. It's a short chapter, Lord, but there's so much in here, so much packed into this chapter, Lord. Some great verses of the Bible in here, Lord, help me to preach them, just clearly and in a way that everyone is going to really pay attention and apply what they need to their lives from this, Lord, to dwell upon these verses and to really think about what you want them to learn from it, Lord. I pray that everyone will just have really attentive ears and I'll be full of your spirit as I preach this. In Jesus' name we pray, Amen. Okay, so he said in verse 1, And in that day thou shalt say, O Lord, I will praise thee, though thou was angry with me, thine anger is turned away, and thou comfortest me. So despite all that both of the northern and southern kingdoms have been guilty of, and remember that he'd use the northern kingdom of Israel along with Syria and particularly the nearby Ephraimites to punish Judah. If you remember, we looked at that over the last few chapters and then had afterwards used the Assyrians to punish that confederacy, that group, okay? Despite everything that had led to it, God showed mercy and even comfort to the remnant. After his chastisement, there was a highway for the remnant of his people. And we saw how the encompassing of Judah by that confederacy pictured the tribulation, if you remember, we've looked at that, you know, how that encompassing of what was ultimately, you know, Israel, sorry, Judah, which was really eventually Jerusalem being encompassed, it pictured the tribulation of God's people with the then retribution via Assyria picturing God's wrath, okay? And this is pictures of things that are still to come in the future. And for me, this remnant makes me think of those that will survive that post-tribulation wrath of God upon the whole earth. So this remnant where there's still a highway, there's still a way to basically, to be saved, basically, to still receive salvation. Turn to 1 Thessalonians 4. Now, of course, there are those believers that make it through the tribulation that will meet the Lord in the area of his second coming. Okay, so there will be the second coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. That's still an event we're looking towards, you know, there'll be a tribulation of God's people. First, this is to come in the future. I, you know, I know, you know, you hear about these preterist views and it's all being fulfilled. That to me is nonsense. Definitely, this is still to come. And of course, there was a first fulfillment, you could argue with AD 70, there's sort of a first fulfillment of a lot of this, but ultimately there's still that millennial reign to come. There's things which clearly haven't been fulfilled yet. Now, the Lord's going to come, okay, and with all believers that have already died, going to be gathered together with those that are alive at his coming. 1 Thessalonians 4.15 says this, verse 15 in 1 Thessalonians 4, For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive remain unto the coming of the Lord, shall not prevent them which are asleep, for the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trump of God, and the dead in Christ shall rise first. Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore comfort one another with these words. But what about those that are unsaved at this point, okay? Do they all get killed? Turn over to Revelation chapter 7. Revelation, last book of the Bible, chapter 7. Firstly, there has to be people to rule and reign over in that millennial reign, okay? But there seems to be still a chance of salvation, even during God's wrath, his hand is stretched out still. We've looked at that and we've kind of looked at this briefly, but I just want to go into a little bit more depth here, just for now. Revelation 7 and verse 1 says this, And after these things, now these things that he's referring to are the six seals opened in the previous chapter, culminating in the day of the Lord, that second coming of Christ. Revelation 6 12 says, And I behold, when he had opened the sixth seal, and lo, there was a great earthquake, and the sun became black as sackcloth affair, and the moon became as blood. So the sky then opens up, everyone's trying to hide from the Lord. Verse 17 of Revelation 6, For the great day of his wrath is come, and who shall be able to stand? Okay, so this is that day of the Lord, that day of Christ, him coming in the clouds, he gathers up the saints, as we're going to see. But Revelation 7 says this in verse 1, And after these things, I saw four angels standing on the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth, that the wind should not blow on the earth, nor on the sea, nor on any tree. And I saw another angel ascending from the east, having the seal of the living God, and he cried with a loud voice to the four angels, to whom it was given to hurt the earth and the sea, saying, Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads. And I heard the number of them which were sealed, and they were sealed, and 144,000 of all the tribes of the children of Israel. So who are these 144,000? Well, like I said the other week, they're the real witnesses, okay? They're real Jehovah's Witnesses, if you like, okay? They're people that have actually witnessed the true Lord, not these false, fake, cult-like Jehovah's Witnesses we see out there today, who it seems will be sent forth from heaven during God's wrath. So this isn't... So, and in case you're wondering about this, just if you ever heard this, this is what it seems the Jehovah's Witnesses believe, that they're hoping to be one of the 144,000 that make it into, like, the elite club, based on their good works. However, these are 144,000 already in heaven, and as you're going to see, there's actually some stipulations to who these people are. So what happens here is he lists the 12 tribes, which doesn't include the tribe of Dan, by the way, and then finishing with verse 8, it says, of the tribe of Zabulon was sealed 12,000, of the tribe of Joseph was sealed 12,000, of the tribe of Benjamin was sealed 12,000, okay? That's the last of the 12 tribes. After this I beheld a lower great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations and kindreds and people and tongues, stood before the throne and before the land, clothed with white robes and palms in their hands. So these are the raptured saints, those that were dead in Christ in the beginning, and those that were alive and remained is coming. And basically the day of the Lord comes at this time, it's kind of almost simultaneous, they're marking up these 144,000 already in heaven, and then at this point straight after they're being marked up, we see appear just this massive multitude, a great multitude, which no man can number, okay? And that's all those that have either died in Christ or were alive and the remainder is coming like we just saw in the book of Thessalonians. So they've now arrived in heaven, okay? But there are 144,000 already there being prepared for work, and it's after this that God's wrath is then poured out upon the earth. Now jump forward to chapter 14 to see a bit more, okay, about them. In chapter 14 we're going to see, which completely debunks of Jehovah's Witness false teaching, okay? So when we jump forward to chapter 14, I mean it just makes it even more ridiculous. Now here in Revelation 14 it's pre-rapture, and they're in heaven being prepared, okay? They're being prepared like we've just seen there, it says in verse 1, And I looked and lo, a lamb stood on the Mount Zion, and with him an hundred and forty and four thousand, having his father's name written in their forehead. So this is pre-Christ's return, so how can he, the lamb, be stood on Mount Zion? Because we're just after the mark of the beast being taken, we're pre the return of the lamb, so how's he stood on Mount Zion? Well you don't have to know that, but Hebrews 12 22 says, But ye are come unto Mount Zion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels. It's a heavenly Jerusalem. So he's standing on Mount Zion, the heavenly Jerusalem, he's in heaven, and that's why in verse 2 it says, And I heard a voice from heaven, as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of a great thunder, and I heard the voice of harpers harping with their harps, and they sung as it were a new song before the throne, and before the four beasts, and the elders, and no man can learn that song but the hundred and forty and four thousand, which were redeemed from the earth. Look at this, These are they which were not defiled with women, for they are virgins, these are they which followed the lamb whithersoever he goeth, these were redeemed from among men past tense, being the firstfruits unto God and to the lamb. So they're male virgins. Now that kind of wipes out pretty much most of the driver's witnesses, and they were redeemed some point previously. So if ever you ever deal with, and to be honest it's kind of pointless debating with Jehovah's witnesses, but maybe if you had someone who's maybe, now and again you get someone who you get them early, you get them just before they've been fully indoctrinated by the witnesses and gone into preaching a false gospel and going out, because they get them out early, the false witnesses teach a false gospel, and that's why usually they're a bit of a write-off. But if you get them early you maybe get a youngster, someone that's come out from there and is a bit confused by this stuff. I mean just this verse alone, verse 4 here just says they are virgins. Well, so how on earth the majority of the Jehovah's witnesses, male virgins by the way, so all those women walking around with their noses up in the air thinking they're so holy, while they're going around thinking they're going to somehow make one of the 144,000, well they've already lost. It's ridiculous. But anyway, and in their mouth has found no guile, for they are without fault before the throne of God. They were redeemed and were the firstfruits, so they seem to have received, at least by now, some sort of sinless body to be without fault. They don't have the sin of the flesh there. And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth and to every nation and kindred and tongue and people. Which is what the 144,000 are going to do. That's what they are. They're there to go out and preach the gospel. They're being sent back to do that from heaven, saying with a loud voice, Fear God and give glory to him for the hour of his judgment is come and worship him that made heaven and earth and the sea and the fountains and waters. That's what they're going forth to do. Tell people to fear God, to give glory to him, which you do ultimately when you put your faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. And aside from the two witnesses, which I'm not going to look at for now, okay, we'll maybe look at them in more depth another time if we have time for that in another chapter. But the point is that even in the middle of these amazing seven trumps and vials of God's wrath, so if you've read through the book of Revelation, you're aware of this, look, it hasn't come yet. God is going to punish the earth. He's going to punish the world with all this different wrath. He's going to be treading out the fierceness of the wine press of God of his wrath. He still offers a chance to those that haven't rejected him to the point of reformation. So there's still going to be a chance of those there, that those that haven't been raptured, they weren't saved at Christ's coming, but there's still the handout for those to get saved. There's still the opportunity, there's still the possibility, which is what we're seeing in Isaiah 12, which ultimately is a picture of that time to come, or of that coming of the Lord, where it says in Isaiah 12 and verse 1, And in that day thou shalt say, O Lord, I will praise thee, though thou wast angry with me, thine anger is turned away, and thou comforteth me. So imagine living through some of the wrath. Just fast forward and imagine you weren't saved. You didn't get raptured. You're living through some of the wrath of God, and then hearing the gospel and getting saved. So God's just firing down all these biblical punishments upon the earth, all sorts of stuff, and the crazy locust things, and everything else, scorpions, stings, and fire coming down from heaven, and everything else. And then one of these 144,000 witnesses preach you the gospel, or maybe the high-profile two witnesses. Maybe you hear their gospel message, and you put your faith, and you know you're saved, and you know that with all this going on, you're OK. You're going to be in heaven. I mean, that must be a pretty amazing thing, right? And that is available to so many out there who God is angry with right now as well. And there are many people, look, God's wrath is upon them. And ultimately, if you haven't put your faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, God's wrath is upon you. But he's ready to turn his anger away and to comfort you. And straight away, just with salvation on its own, knowing that you're saved, the second you put your faith in Christ, you're saved. Forever you have everlasting life. And what a comfort that is, isn't it? That should be a comfort to everyone here. Verse two says, behold, God is my salvation. I will trust and not be afraid, for the Lord Jehovah is my strength and my song. He also has become my salvation. Now Jehovah seems to mean the eternal living one, the permanent being, the I am that I am. So we don't just worship a God, we worship the only true God. We worship the only true God, and he is our salvation. He is the only way of eternal salvation. John 14, six, Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man cometh unto the Father, but by me. And as his children, he is our salvation as well, right? He protects us from trouble, yeah? He protects us from the enemy. Proverbs 18, 10 says the name of the Lord is a strong tower. The righteous runneth into it and is safe. Yeah, we're safe. You know, the name of the Lord is that strong tower. We run into it, we run into that name of the Lord and we're safe. And when God the Lord Jehovah is your salvation, if you trust him, if you trust him, you don't have to be afraid. He said here, I will trust and not be afraid. Now turn to 1 Corinthians 15, 1 Corinthians chapter 15. So if you really believe the gospel, you've really put your trust in him, why are you fearing death? Why fear death if you know that when you open up your eyes, you're going to be in heaven? Why fear it? There's nothing to fear there. He said in 1 Corinthians chapter 15, 1 Corinthians 15 and verse 55, O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? The sting of death is sin and the strength of sin is the law. Look, there's a sting of death if you die within your sins, but thanks be to God which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Not if you put your faith in Christ. We're victorious over death. We have the victory through faith in Christ. If you put your trust in the death, burn, and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ, you're saved. You have victory over death. Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord for as much as you know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord. So with our salvation secure, if you truly believe, you therefore know how easy salvation is and how easy it is to relate to someone else, don't you? Yeah, if you're saved, you know how easy salvation is. You know that all you had to do is trust the Lord Jesus Christ. You're saved, nothing can change that, it's done. So therefore, you know kind of how easy, now I'm not saying that means, right, you're suddenly a great soul winner, but you know how easy salvation is. So it shouldn't be hard to eventually relay that to someone else. We should therefore be always abounding, knowing that it's not in vain, shouldn't we? So you know that your faith is not in vain. You know you're going to heaven. You know how easy it was. How easily did you get saved? Someone preached you the gospel, you got saved. You know it's not in vain. And it's one of the reasons I'm so skeptical of those that don't go and win souls, but are instead obsessed with whether a salvation makes it to church. So look, there are many people that get saved and don't win souls. That's not what I'm talking about. But those, especially I'm thinking about like pastors of the, you know, that I've been across in the past that claim to believe the gospel, yet they're not always abandoning the work of the Lord. They're not going out and preaching the gospel that they claim to believe. They're so skeptical of any salvation, unless that person comes to church. It doesn't really add up, does it? Because if you know that your, if you know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord, if you know that you're saved, then you know that going out and getting someone else saved is not in vain, is it? Whether they come to church or not. And of course, look, we would all love to make salvation into disciples, but there are many pasts out there, and many people out there just want to discredit soul winning. It's not just pastors. We'll have people sadly that will come into church and slyly just subtly start to whisper and sow little seeds, and oh, did they really get saved? You know, did they come to church? And oh, well, where are all the salvations and everything else? It's like, well, do you believe the gospel? Because the gospel is whosoever believeth. The gospel isn't whosoever then becomes a three to five soul winner. They're great if we can get that. We want to encourage people. Please, try and encourage people to get to church, to get baptized, to start living for God. But sadly, they're few and far between. But you know what? It doesn't mean that they ain't got saved. Turn to Proverbs 30. He said, behold, God is my salvation. I will trust and not be afraid for the Lord. Jehovah is my strength and my song. He also has become my salvation. So if you're saved and you're trusting him, you don't have to be afraid of things in this life either. So is it just taking risks though? Is it just living how you want and trust that God will deliver you? Is that what it's talking about? Where it says, I will trust and not be afraid. Well, Proverbs 30 in verse five says it like this. Proverbs 30 in verse five. Every word of God is pure. He is a shield unto them that put their trust in him. So it's talking about the word of God. That the word of God is pure and then he's at shield when you put your trust in him and the context is in the word. We trust him through his word, through living by his testimonies, his statutes, his commandments. It's trusting in his ways, yeah? Psalm 18, 30, you don't have to turn there says, as for God, his way is perfect. The word of the Lord is tried. He is a buckler to all those that trust in him. So it's God, his way is perfect. The word of the Lord is tried. Then he's a buckler to all those that trust him. We do that through his word, through his ways. His word, his ways, it's perfect, tried, tested. And when you trust in him, when you trust his way of living, his way of prioritizing things in life, his moral judgments, when you do it his way, there's nothing to be afraid of. Look at Proverbs 28 and verse one, you're in Proverbs 30, go back to Proverbs 28. One, it says, the wicked flee when no man pursueth, but the righteous are bold as a lion. The wicked flee when no man pursueth, but the righteous are bold as a lion. And you see that in those, you know, you see that when people are trying to live right, trying to walk the walk, there's a boldness that the wicked don't have. Now, this isn't like Christ's righteousness it's talking about here, imputed unto us with salvation. Yeah, you need that first, okay? So it's not talking about the unsaved who seem to live a bit right. See, but after salvation, those are living right and trying to live right and trying to live for God, trying to live a righteous life, there is a boldness there, isn't there? There's a boldness that many don't have. And I'm not talking about a rudeness, I'm not talking about a fake boldness for sure, I've seen them sadly many times over the years, but I'm talking about a legitimate confidence. A confidence in what you do, a confidence in what you say, a confidence, for example, a boldness to walk in some pretty rough places armed with just your Bible. And when I say just your Bible, it's the best thing you could be armed with, right? But look, there are places that many people here have been soul winning in, whether in this nation or others, most people out there wouldn't walk in, daytime or nighttime or any time. And I'm not trying to put you off, most people wouldn't, you know? Like we've been in some pretty hairy places, right? And there's a boldness, isn't there, to just walk in somewhere like that, because you've got the word of God, because you know you're doing the right thing, you're soul winning, you're living for God, and you just walk in there. And the wicked would be fleeing out of there straight away, whereas we're marching straight in there. A boldness to approach some pretty unsavory people sometimes. These guys are telling me about some, hey, okay, there might only be kids. They're telling me about one guy they're trying to preach to with the old balaclava on the list of their lives and stuff like that. And you know, with past events, you're wondering if maybe the machete's about to come out or something, you know? And you do, but you're just like, I've got the gospel. It don't really matter what they look like, unless they're clearly a reprobate. You want to try and preach to them, don't you? And there's a boldness that goes with trying to live righteously and preach the gospel. A boldness to turn up at church when the whole street's boarded up, you know? And we had a busy church service last Wednesday night when everyone was talking about, you know, riots and everything else going on, and everyone's boarded up and caged up and everything else, and Strong Tower Baptist Church lights on, and not because we're being foolish, because we're told to go to church, we know we're doing the right thing. We know we're righteous because we're going to church. That's what God wants us to do. When you trust him, you don't have to be afraid. He said in verse two of Isaiah, in chapter 12, "'Behold, God is my salvation. "'I will trust and not be afraid. "'For the Lord Jehovah is my strength and my song. "'He also has become my salvation.' "'And when you trust him, he's your strength.' "'However strong some might think they are.'" Okay, so, however strong you might be, however much you can lift, however nicely shaped some of your bodybuilding types might feel, don't worry, I'm not going to look up at anyone here, okay? However tough some of you fight sport enthusiasts might feel, okay, again, I won't look up, okay? However empowered some of you women might feel dressing and acting like men and watching movies where they're kung fu kicking everyone around, yeah? When you trust him, you have a strength far beyond any of that, don't you? When you trust him, okay? You're kind of like that kid at school with the really tough friend or big brother, I don't know. You know, if you remember those when you're younger, you know, you get those kids who just kind of, they've got that really tough big brother and everyone just has to put up with their nonsense because they're just worried about the big brother. Or maybe it's their tough friend, they're kind of, you get like that real mouthy little kid who always had like that tough friend behind him and people just, they just got away with more, didn't they, right? Well, it's kind of like that but with our kind of protection it doesn't work if you go around acting like an idiot, okay? So it kind of goes, if you're acting right and you're living right, you can just rely on the fact that God's there for you, right? He's going to protect you. And when you trust in him in how he wants you to live, to behave, he's there to protect you. God is there to protect you, okay? But again, don't just act like an idiot and go, well, I'm saved, that's fine. No, then you're tempting the Lord, yeah? But try and live right, try and live for him and he's there to protect you. Go back to Exodus 15, where the beginning of the song of Moses is very similar to this verse and look, God's there to protect us. You know, I think often about many places, many situations, many people, look, you're out there preaching the gospel to the lost and in the devil's world without God's protection, I don't think we'd last five minutes. It's because we're doing the right thing that God is protecting us. Have you noticed how many of these false prophets, these street preaching clowns who preach repent of your sins for salvation, all that, how they don't tend to fare so well, do they? They end up getting beaten up and face planted on the floor by the police and things like that and in general, we do it, look, now and again, we're gonna get some tribulation, persecution, but God definitely protects us out there. And verse two said, behold, God is my salvation, I will trust and not be afraid for the Lord, Jehovah is my strength, my song, he also has become my salvation. In Exodus 15, we see something very similar where it says in 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 he has 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. A little bit different to the modern image of God, isn't it? Pharaoh's chariots and his host have he cast into the sea, his chosen captains also are drowned in the Red Sea, the depths have covered them, they sank into the bottom as a stone, thy right hand, O Lord, has become glorious in power, thy right hand, O Lord, had dashed in pieces the enemy. Sort of protector you want, isn't it? That sort of big brother type thing you want, right? That's the sort of person of a line to protector. God made an example over the world's superpower that day, Egypt, because that's what Egypt was and it was completely crushed by God, okay? He just made a big example of them to the world. Anyone think that he's not able to make an example of our clown enemies today? Anyone think that? Whatever clown enemy you've got, maybe it's in your personal life, in your work life, maybe it's in church life, maybe it's whoever, you know, is trying to attack us in one way or another. He can make an example of them at the right time when he wants to. He protected his people from thousands of hardened warriors. You think he's not able to protect us? Of course he is. Anyone think he can't protect us from a couple of reprobates stumbling around outside? Whether they're reprobates or not, anyone think he can't protect us from that? From the odd drunkard and it, look, God will protect you. You know, we don't have to worry, we don't have to be in fear, we don't have to be scared. Yeah, sure, we want to be wise as well, okay? It's not that we're just like, right, when's pub and club shutting time? Let's go soul winning. You know, yeah, we try and be sensible, but however, God will protect us. In Exodus 15, two, Moses said that he is my strength and my song. And in Isaiah 12, two, Isaiah said, for the Lord Jehovah is my strength and my song. So what does it mean when they say that he is my song? They're saying that he's who they will sing about because here's the thing, yeah, most people sing songs about someone. Most people sing songs and most people sing, when they sing songs, they're singing about someone, in general, the majority of songs. Who do most people sing about nowadays? Well, apparently, I don't know if anyone knows this, the most popular song of 2023 in the UK was Miley Cyrus' Flowers. Okay, a few people are looking a bit bewildered, others are looking, going, I know that song. Okay. It sounds like a lovely name, doesn't it? Maybe they're singing about lovely flowers. Okay, flowers apparently went on to accumulate 198 million combined audio and video streams in the UK in 2023. No, it's not about Top of the Pops anymore. All right, in case anyone's still living in the past. So 198 million combined audio and video streams. That sounds like a lovely topic to sing about, doesn't it? Maybe it's about God's creation of flowers, right? Let's look at some words, right? Just for a bit of fun. Okay, we were good. We were gold. Kind of dream that can't be sold. We were right till we weren't built a home and watched it burn. Mm, I didn't wanna leave you. I didn't wanna lie. Started to cry, but then remembered I. I can buy myself flowers. I think that's why it's called flowers. Write my name in the sand. Talk to myself for hours. Say things you don't understand. I could take myself dancing and I can hold my own hand. Yeah, I can love me better than you can. Can love me better. I can love me better, baby. Can love me better. I can love me better, baby. Paint my nails cherry red. Match the roses that you left. No remorse, no regret. Oh, forgive every word you said. Ooh, I didn't wanna leave you, baby. I didn't wanna fight. Started to cry, but then remembered I. I can buy myself flowers. Write my name in the sand. Talk to myself for hours. Yeah, you say things you don't understand. I can take myself dancing. Yeah, I can hold my own hand. Yeah, I can love me better than you can. Can love me better. I can love me better, baby. Can love me better. I can love me better, baby. Can love me better. Can love me better, baby. And it... And it kind of goes on like that. And I think it gets a bit more repetitive and over here a bit more, okay? So it seems that the most popular song last year in the whole of this nation was some harlot singing about how she can love herself better than the hall monger did previously, basically, okay? Which has been sung along to millions of times, no doubt by adults and children alike around the world, really, okay? I'm sure it's a popular song around the world, not just in the UK. The most popular songs out there are people singing about themselves and usually singing about some fornicating horror hall monger. That's pretty much what people sing about, isn't it? Across the board. Now, of course, there are some different topics and some things are a bit bizarre. Sometimes they sound like they're just a bit random and they're like about some drug experience or something else, but a lot of the time it's fornicating whores and fornicating hall mongers. Well, Isaiah, along with Moses, said, "'Behold, God is my salvation, "'I will trust and not be afraid. "'For the Lord Jehovah is my strength and my song. "'He also has become my salvation.'" Now, would to God that his people would say the same thing? Would stop singing about filth and start singing about him? Because there are God's people around this nation, I'm sure, that have probably been singing along to that. Sing along to some filth or whatever version it is, whores, hall mongers, about what they've been up to, what they have been about, how they can live without their latest hall monger, their latest whore, they moved on to the next one, another whore, another whore. That's what most of it's about. And these are biblical terms. If anyone's thinking this is a bit crude from behind the pulpit, that's biblical words, and that's how God describes his people, okay? Would to God that his people would stop singing along, not just with those, but with God-hating sodomites, because that's half it as well, isn't it, some of the most popular artists? I was looking at other ones in the UK, Elton John, you know, that queer George Michael and the rest of these guys, and Freddie Mercury, and how many Christians, sadly, how many believers are singing along to that rubbish instead of the law being their song? When they're with God's people, how about if only God's people, when they're with God's people, would open their mouths and sing like they do when they're singing about the whore and hall monger in the shower? Or when they're singing about the whore and hall monger when they think they're in private in their car? How about they'd open their mouths and sing like that when they're in God's house? Instead of mumbling and muttering and keeping their mouth shut and not wanting to say anything, but when it's a whore and hall monger, it's like, la-da-da, yeah, what a lovely whore, lovely whore, that's basically what they're singing. But it's like, how about you open your mouths in your God's house and sing to God like you'd sing to these people? He said in Psalm 47, six, sing praises to God, sing praises, sing praises unto our king, sing praises. That's the command, isn't it? That's the command, sing praises, yet half of God's people, if they even make it into the house of God, will sing the... Not because they don't know the hymn, not because they don't know the song, because they won't open their mouths and sing to God, but when it's some stupid little ditty, some catchy little song about whores and hall mongers, oh, they'll open their mouths, I'm sure. And it doesn't just have to be at church again. Get in the habit of listening to a singing hymn to the Lord. Yeah, get in the habit of getting that rubbish out of your life, get it out of your head and listen to hymns that are about the Lord and sing about the Lord. I mean, if there's a subject to sing about, surely it'd be the Lord, wouldn't it? Instead of whoever it is, whatever nonsense it is that people sing about. I mean, that was a pretty tame song really, wasn't it? I did check it first before I read it out from behind the pulpit here, right? Because look, there are some pretty wicked songs that I'll tell you are God's people are still singing along to, tapping along, stamping their feet to and everything else. It's like, what's wrong with you? What's wrong with you? How do you sing along to this stuff? And I get it, yeah? Sometimes, especially when you hear songs that you used to know maybe in a past life and stuff, it's easy to start getting going with it. But you know what? I do not feel guilty about that, haven't you? Wipe it out, start thinking about a hymn. That's what I do. When one of these old songs goes in my head, it's like, right, I need to start thinking about a hymn now. And start singing a hymn to myself and sing hymns at home and psalms and hymns and spiritual songs. Instead of singing along to a load of whores and whores and a load of God haters, a load of completely the opposite to how God wants us to live, to just moral reprobates, basically, just singing about absolute filth. Sing to the Lord, right? He said in verse two, Behold, God is my salvation I will trust and not be afraid, for the Lord Jehovah is my strength and my song. He also has become my salvation. Therefore, with joy shall ye draw water out of the wells of salvation, and in that day shall ye say, Praise the Lord, call upon his name, declare his doings among the people, make mention that his name is exalted. So how do you draw water out of the wells of salvation? Well, turn to John chapter four. He's referring to the living water. John chapter four, the Gospel of John in chapter four. He's referring to the living water that once you drink, you will then never thirst. That's what he's talking about. He said, Therefore, with joy shall ye draw water out of the wells of salvation. Now in John chapter four, Jesus is in Samaria. He stops at Jacob's well, it says in verse five, Then cometh thee to a city of Samaria, which is called Sychar, near to the parcel of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph. Now Jacob's well was there, Jesus therefore being wearied with his journey sat thus on the well, and it was about the sixth hour. There cometh a woman of Samaria to draw water, Jesus saith unto her, Give me to drink, for his disciples were gone away unto the city to buy meat. Then saith the woman of Samaria unto him, How is it that thou, being a Jew, askest drink of me, which am a woman of Samaria? For the Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans. Jesus answered, said unto her, If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith that he give me to drink, thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water. The woman saith unto him, Sir, Thou has nothing to draw with, and the well is deep, for whence then hast thou that living water? Art thou greater than our father Jacob, which gave us a well, and drank thereof himself, and his children, and his cattle? Jesus answered, said unto her, Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again, but whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst. But the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life. The woman saith unto him, Sir, Give me this water that I thirst not, neither come hither to draw. The water that the Lord gives us results in everlasting life and all we have to do is ask for it. All you have to do is ask for it, in faith it's yours. Verse three, back in Isaiah 12 with that in mind said, Therefore with joy shall ye draw water out of the wells of salvation. The picture is of that living water. However, to draw water out of the wells of salvation for me gives a picture of distributing that water. Said drawing water out of the wells of salvation to do it with joy. He said in verse two, Behold, God is my salvation I will trust and not be afraid for the Lord Jehovah is my strength and my song he also has become my salvation. Therefore, therefore with joy shall ye draw water out of the wells of salvation. He said it because we're trusting in the Lord, we're not afraid, he's our strength and song. Therefore with joy shall ye draw water out of the wells of salvation. And in that day shall ye say, praise the Lord, call upon his name, declare his doings among the people, make mention that his name is exalted. So he's saying that the result of trusting the Lord, making him our strength and our song, the result is soul winning. The result is distributing, the result is with joy, drawing water out of the wells of salvation. It's telling people to praise it, to call upon his name. He said, and in that day shall ye say, praise the Lord, call upon his name. Declare his doings among the people, make mention that his name is exalted. So basically to go on also and to do the same. And that's what we try and encourage people to do. We get them saved and we're trying to encourage them to go on and do the same. Don't just take the free gift and do nothing. You can, you're still going to go to heaven, but what a shame. It always bugs me sometimes when you get, and I'm not talking about those ones where you're like, you know, okay, they said they believed, you know, I'll take them at their word. But sometimes you get people where you're like, that person got saved. They seemed solid, they got it. I'm confident with this salvation. And then you start to try and encourage them to go, what about your family? What about your friends? Don't you want to learn? Don't you want to know? And then it's kind of like, you could just see them, just don't even care, really. And sadly, so many people are so self-centered, aren't they? It's like, you're saved. How about you learn how to get other people saved? To declare his doings among the people, to make mention that his name is exalted. And when you trust him, when you're not afraid, when he becomes your strength in your song, you're able to then go out and distribute. And talk about when you trust him when you're afraid. He said, when he becomes your strength in your song. For me, that indicates being filled with the Spirit. 2 Timothy 1.7, you'd have to turn and it says, for God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind. That's some strength, isn't it? Ephesians 5.19 tells us that being filled with the Spirit results in speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart of the Lord. When you're doing all of that, when you have that strength and that trust in the Lord, when you have that, when you're filled with the Spirit, when he's your song, therefore with joy shall you draw water out of the world of salvation. And in that day shall you say, praise the Lord, call upon his name, declare his doings among the people, make mention that his name is exalted. You will get the joy of getting people saved. And that is a joyous thing, isn't it? Isn't getting people saved such a joyous thing? And when you get those, when you get those legitimate, those just where you just feel like, I know this bus got saved. Look, and I'll say that just because, you know, the reality of it is when you're going out and preaching the gospel to people, there'll be those that don't. There'll be those that claim to get saved and don't. There'll be those that maybe you're like, yeah, I think so, I did the best I could. All you can do is do the best you can. You're thorough and God knows whether they've called the name of the Lord with real faith in their heart or not. But turn to Psalm 126. What I'm not talking about is forcing someone to listen. Because there are people, and you've got to make sure you don't do it. Don't force people to listen. Get the cues, get it, yeah? When someone's there and they just don't want to listen anymore and they're drifting and they're looking the other way and everything else, you've got to either change, get their attention quickly or just understand they're not, they don't want to hear it. Don't just try and bully them into a gospel presentation. Bully or coerce someone into praying when they clearly didn't believe half of what you said or didn't really want to put their faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. But when you get those solid salvation, you get that person where you're like, yeah, I know that person got saved. I feel like that person was legitimate. They wanted to put their faith in Christ. They accepted they were on their way to hell. They wanted to get saved. Isn't that a joy? That's a joy, isn't it? When you get the salvation, it's a joy. What an amazing thing. What a great thing to have the responsibility to do that God gives us the ability to do to go out and get others saved. To have the ability to get your loved ones saved. The ability to get those in your life saved, to affect those in your circle, those surrounding you. What an amazing thing to be able to do. Psalm 126 verse five says, they that sow in tears shall reap in joy. He that goeth forth and weepeth bearing precious seed shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him. So when you go and bear that precious seed of the word of God, even if you sow in tears, you shall reap in joy. So even if it's hard, even if you're in a hard time in your life, if you go out and you preach the gospel, you will reap in joy. It will come eventually. You will reap and there should be joy with that. Therefore with joy shall you draw water out of the world's salvation. But it starts with trusting the Lord, making him your strength in your song, doesn't it? That's what it starts with. You got to trust him. You got to make him your strength in your song. Therefore then when you do that with joy, shall you draw water out of the world's salvation? Because if you don't do that, if you're not trusting him, if you're not making him your strength, you're not making him your song, the soul winning is going to slip. It is. Let's be honest. I mean, I don't want to make it a carnal thing, but over time in a church, let me tell you who those who are just still soul winning, who are still soul winning week in, week out, who are still turning up to the soul winning times, the soul winning events are those that are in church, are those that are trusting in the Lord, are those that are reading their Bibles, are those that are doing those things, because the rest of it will just pull them out or weigh them down. And it comes back to trusting in the Lord, trusting in his way, his testimonies, his ways. What are his ways? Be in church. Don't forsake so many of yourselves together. There's a matter of some is. When the doors are open, you should be doing your utmost to be in church. Being in the word of God, meditating in thy word day and night is one of the ways that God wants you to live, doesn't it? Being in prayer, calling upon the name of the Lord, or throughout the day in different, you know, and praying without ceasing. Don't give up on your prayer life. And when you're doing those things, when you're living for God, when you're getting sin out of your life, when you're trying to live by how he wants you to live, the result is therefore with joy shall you draw water out of the world of salvation. And it will result in other people getting saved and there should be a joy with that. And if you're not getting a joy when you're getting people saved and you're not, then there's probably a problem there, isn't there? And, you know, there's a few things you can think about there, aren't there? But however, that's how it should be. He said in verse four, and in that day shall you say, praise the Lord, call upon his name, declare his doings among the people, make mention that his name is exalted. And that's what we tell people to do. We tell them to call upon his name, don't we? And there's another verse there which adds to that. And, you know, and I don't think I need to flog a dead horse there. I went through that clearly in our series on how to win souls. But when you get, when someone believes, when they say, yeah, I believe everything you're saying, I understand everything you're saying, they're pulling the trigger when they're putting their trust, their faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. So that's what it's about, okay? And when they do that, his name is exalted because they go on to declare, if they, sorry, go on to declare his doings among his people that's when his name is exalted. It says, sing unto the Lord, for he hath done excellent things. This is known in all the earth. So he then said again, after that, sing unto the Lord, for he's done excellent things. This is known in all the earth. And aside for being told to, I mean, there's another command, sing unto the Lord. Isn't it? Another command, sing to God. And if you're in church, obviously that counts when you're in church. Don't mouth the words, yeah? And I say that just because I don't want it, you know, look, I'm not trying to pick on anyone here, but whether it's embarrassment, whether it's all, I don't think I've got a vague voice, or maybe it's like, you know, I don't really wanna, you know, I don't want people to hear me sing or something else. I don't know what it is, but it's like, just sing to God. Yeah, just sing to God. Like the church sounds so much better when people are just singing to God and not when you've got a couple singing, a couple of mouthing, a couple of like growling and everything. Just sing to God. You know, if it's too low, go up an octave and sing loud. If it's too high, go down an octave. You know, just sing. If you can't sing them, go home and practice them and your voice will get used to singing them. Just sing to God. I mean, can you imagine if, imagine that was you. Imagine you had all your children and you, and I've said this, given this analogy before, imagine it's your birthday or something, and out comes a cake and you've got your family and they're all there and a couple of them are like, happy birthday, you know, and also happy. And then the other half are like this. You'd be like, what on earth? What's wrong with you, child? What have I done? Why don't you even want to sing to me with the rest of the family? And isn't that, what do you think God thinks when he looks down and he sees the mumblers and the murmurs and the kind of mouths, you know, singing out the side and everything? No, look, I'm not having a go at anyone who doesn't know, if you don't know the hymns, you don't know the hymns, right? Don't sing loudly if you don't know the hymns. It's going to be a disaster. You know, you've got to sing a little bit delayed if you don't know, if you ever notice that, if you're like, oh, I don't know about this one. You just pause a little bit and then try and make the same noise as everyone else. Probably add to it, just be a bit careful. You've got to be, there's a bit of skill with that, yeah? But that's what he wants, right? We're told to sing aside from the fact that he commands us to sing unto him, okay? Why though? So aside from being told to, aside from it helping to fill us with the Spirit, sing unto the Lord, for he had done excellent things. People will sing to the subject of some horror and horror-monger song, like I said earlier. They will sing happy birthday to some random stranger in a restaurant. I don't know if you've ever been in a restaurant and then suddenly the cake comes for another table, everyone starts singing happy birthday. You're like, well, I better join in. Everyone else is. You know, I don't want to be that one table that's ignored them. Yeah, they'll sing to the random stranger. How about you sing unto the Lord who came and died in your place? How about you sing unto the Lord that came and sacrificed himself, died, went to hell, did all of that for you, and it's like, well, you know, you need to sing to him. But the random happy birthday person in a restaurant, I mean, they deserve it more, don't they? I mean, what on earth, right? For he had done excellent things. The Lord who created the whole universe, the Lord who created everything, the Lord that's given you that life, the Lord that upholds your life, the Lord that's the reason that this guy doesn't spin out of control somewhere and we're all done, the Lord that is the reason that we're still here, that we're living, we're breathing, and the Lord that has created marvelous things that we can't even imagine for eternity for us. How about we sing to him, right? And this is known in all the earth. He said for he had done excellent things, this is known in all the earth. And you know what? They know, they know deep down. Your whole, you know, I had a kid earlier call you out, like he was like trying to mock and stuff while I was preaching the gospel outside his, like not far from his house and trying to mock my kids and stuff like that. And I called up to him as we went past and they said, and he said, they said, I don't believe in all that, you know, and something along them lines. I was like, oh, you don't believe in the God? No, and they were like trying to mock and everything else. So you believe that this all just created itself, do you? I think I'm God. See you later. But because they know deep down, don't they? They know, they're not fooling us. Romans 1 20 says for the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and God heads that they're without excuse. They know, deep down they know, people know there's a creator, they know even his eternal power and God head, they are without excuse. This is known in all the earth. But for us, we are saved, we know the Lord. Therefore, we should sing unto him and verse six says, cry out and shout, thou inhabitant of Zion for great is the Holy One of Israel in the midst of thee. And of course, this applies firstly to those that came to the end sign that Hezekiah, you could say erected there. He became that end signary. He kind of put up that standard to the remnant that took the highway to Jerusalem. But like we've seen, and like I've mentioned at the beginning, Isaiah is also prophesying of the second coming of Christ in the millennial reign to come. Verse six said, cry out and shout, thou inhabitant of Zion for great is the Holy One of Israel in the midst of thee. Amongst us, in the middle of us. And that will apply physically one day in the future. And isn't that going to be an amazing, isn't that worthy of a song or a thousand or a million? You know, isn't it? That we're going to eventually rule the reign with Christ for a thousand years and then just dwell with Him in the midst of us for eternity. One day in the future and until that time, let's trust Him and tell all that will listen of Him as well, right? And on that, we're going to finish in prayer. Father, thank you for your word, thank you for, you know, those great verses there in Isaiah chapter 12, Lord, ones that we can learn a lot from as well and help us to just, Lord, to trust you to make you our strength in our song, Lord, and to, you know, to then go on and get others saved, Lord, to go and, you know, reap with the joy, Lord, that we should get from getting those salvations, Lord, help us to understand that it comes really for, in the long run, for us to persevere in that life of going out and getting people saved. It comes from getting our lives right, living for you, trusting in your word, Lord, for making you our shield and buckler, Lord, and putting our, you know, our full trust in everything you tell us to do and not to do. Help us to live for you, Lord, help us to live for you this week, help us to, you know, to just clean up our lives more, to get ourselves right more, Lord, to be in your word more, help us to make the soul-winning times, the Thursday is remaining this week, to, if we get a chance in our own lives, in our personal lives, to preach the gospel to those around us, and to return on Sunday, Lord, for that day in your house with the soul winning in the middle as well, Lord, help us to just have a heart for the lost, Lord, have a heart for getting out there and getting people saved. We pray that you just help everyone get home safe and sound tonight as well, in Jesus' name, for all of this, amen.