I'd say while you're turning,
I've enjoyed this weekend. I've enjoyed spending time with
your pastor and his wife, and then seeing familiar faces that
we hadn't seen in a couple years. It's just truly a blessing. We're,
as I said yesterday, we're a privileged people. Marvin was trying to
remember yesterday how long this God has kept this work here.
That's been amazing. To God be all the glory. To think
in a little nowhere place like Fairmont, West Virginia, God
would have his candlestick. And the reason for that is he
has a people. He told Paul in Corinth, he said,
don't be afraid. I've got much people in this
place. And wherever his sheep are, he's going to find them.
And the only reason we're still here this morning, the only reason
he has some more sheep has to be found. And when the last sheep
is being brought in, we're going home. And like the song says,
we're glorified we did not die. In the moment, in the twinkling
of an eye, we're going to be changed. And we'll be in the
presence of the one who loved us and gave himself for us. Psalms chapter 46. God is our refuge and strength,
a very present help in trouble. And because he is a very present
help, we will not fear. though the earth be removed,
and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea. Though
the waters thereof roar and be troubled, though the mountains
shake with the swelling thereof, there is a river, the streams
whereof shall make glad the city of God, the holy place of the
tabernacles of the Most High. God is in the midst of her. She shall not be moved. Now notice the statement, God
shall help her. Isn't that right early? The heathen
raged. The kingdoms were moved. He uttered
his voice, and the earth melted. The Lord, his love host, is with
us. The God of Jacob is our refuge.
Come behold the works of the Lord, what desolations he hath
made in the earth. He maketh wars to cease into
the ends of the earth. He breaketh the bow and cutteth
the spear in thunder. He burneth the chariot in the
fire. Be still and know that I am God. I will be exalted among
the heathen. I will be exalted on the earth. The Lord of hosts is with us. The God of Jacob is our refuge. Here, the psalmist speaks of
a refuge, a very present help in time of trouble. And God helps
his people, and that right early. When I thought about help, I
just entitled the message Help. When Adam was in the garden.
God made him perfect and upright, and he was complete in and of
himself. But God said in chapter two,
verse 18, the Lord said, it is not good that man should be alone. I shall make him a help meet
for him, just for him. It's exactly what he needed.
It's a help meet. for him, Genesis 2.20, and Adam
gave names to all the cattle, all the fowls of the air, and
all the beasts of the field. But for Adam, there was not found
a helpmeet for him. But God provided him a helpmeet,
somebody that he could love, and someone to love him back.
Someone he could share things with and find help from them
and they could find help from him. But then something happened. Adam sinned. And now Adam really needs help. Really needs help. But instead of running to the
Lord for help, he tried to help himself. He's a very present
help to them that are in trouble and just imagine this, he sins,
his eyes are open and he realizes now what sin is and there's no
way to undo it but he thinks well I can help myself and I'll
make me fig leaves, aprons and this will cover up my neckiness
and this will help me out. When a man's in trouble Look
where he runs to for help when he's in trouble. Adam's in trouble.
He's in deep trouble. He's in trouble he can't get
out of. And to think he runs over here for help. His wife couldn't help him. Adam
couldn't help him. There's only one that could help
him. Where will a man run to when
he needs help? Years ago, I can't even remember
how many years ago it's been, my sister had two children and
one of her daughters lived down on the coast of North Carolina
and I hadn't seen her in several years. She got up in different
things or whatever. Me and Sandy were sitting at
the kitchen table One morning, eating breakfast, and the phone
rang, and it was Mandy. I hadn't talked to her in years. You know why she called me? She
was in trouble. She needed help. Well, what do I, what am I to
do? This is an eight-hour drive one way, and I said, Sandy, I
said, all I know to do is to go get her. Went to get her,
and she's living in a motel room with about four or five other
people, you know, just has nothing. What she had was she could have
put it in a trash bag. And she needed help. And she
wouldn't have called me unless she needed help. But she needed
help. And you know, we looked there
this weekend, you know, when men get in trouble, that's when,
then we get in trouble. We get in trouble a lot. A lot
of it's our own making. Trouble, trouble. But who are
we going to go? Who are we going to look to for help? I need help. Listen, in Isaiah 31 verse 1,
woe to them that go to Egypt for help. That's what Abraham
did. That's what Abraham did when
there was a famine. Where did he go? He needed help,
he needed something to eat, so he goes to Egypt. That's a picture
of us going to the world. Instead of finding help, he found
trouble. Woe unto him that goes down to
Egypt, and it's always going down, and instead they look on
the horses, they trust in chariots, because there are so many, and
in horsemen, because they are very strong. But listen to this,
but they look not unto the Holy One of Israel, neither did he
seek the Lord. Boy, that's a picture of us.
It said there was a famine in the land, and Abraham, Abram
went down to Egypt to sojourn there, for the famine was grievous
in the land. It's like when Walter read the
first chapter of Ruth. You know why they left Bethlehem?
There was nothing to eat in Bethlehem. You know why they went to Moab?
He was going to Moab for help. Well I think we can make a pretty
good living in Moab, you know. Things won't be so bad in Moab.
And I'm going to take my whole family with me. And he winds
up, he dies and his two sons die. But I know through all that
God brought Ruth. But they went because they thought
Moab could help them. Moab. Psalms 50 verse 15, and
call upon me in the day of trouble, and I will deliver thee, and
thou shalt be glorified. Are you in trouble? Call upon
him, look to him, bow to him. Psalms 108, 12, give us help
from trouble, for vain is the help of man. You know, I can't
help you. I can point you to Christ, but
I can't help you. No one else can help you. There's only one
that can help you, and that's Christ. Do you know that our
Lord knew something about trouble? He knew something about what
it was to have no one to help him. If you would turn to Psalms
chapter 22. This is almost like hundreds
of years before this was recorded about what our Lord would say
when He's hanging on the cross. When He's being made sin for
us, who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness
of God in Him. Why? We needed help. It says
in Psalms 22 verse 1, my God, my God, why hast thou forsaken
me? Why art thou so far? Why are
you so far from helping me? He was forsaken, so we would
not. He said, why are you so far from
helping me? And from the words of my roaring,
oh my God, I cry in the daytime, and thou hearest not. And in
the night season, and I'm not silent. But thou art holy, O
thou that inhabitest the praises of Israel. Our fathers trusted
in thee, they trusted, and thou didst deliver them. They cried
unto thee and were delivered, they trusted in thee and were
not confounded. But look what he says, he said, does our Lord
really make this statement? But I'm a worm and no man. I reproach a man and despise
the people. All they that see me laugh me
to scorn. They shoot out the lip, they
shake the head saying, he trusted in the Lord that he would deliver
him. Let him deliver him seeing he
delighted in him. but thou art he that took me
from the womb. Thou did make me hope when I was upon my mother's
breast. I was cast upon thee from the
womb. Thou art my God from my brother's belly. Notice verse
11, be not far from me for trouble is near and there is none to help. We can't even begin to imagine
what that means. Imagine. We went home yesterday
evening, you know, turned it on, we were just trying to find
something to watch. You know, it was a picture and
how they were portraying it, you know, and it was pretty graphic. You know, just what you want
to call an Easter show or whatever. But you know, we just got interested
in it. And I was just kind of interested in seeing how close
it was to scripture or whatever. But I can tell you that when
they... It was almost unbearable to even watch it. And that was
just bodily suffering. What about the soul suffering?
There's... I'm in trouble. Trouble is near. And there's none to help. None
to help. Many bulls have come past me,
strong bulls of Bashan have beset me about. They gaped upon me
with their mouths as ravening in a roaring lion. Verse 14.
I'm poured out like water. All my bones are out of joint.
My heart is like wax. It is melted in the midst. of
my bowels, my strength is dried up like a potsherd, my tongue
cleaveth to my jaws, and thou hast brought me into the dust
of death. For dogs have come past me, the assembly of the
wicked have enclosed me. They pierced my hands and my
feet, and I may tell all my bones they look and they stare at me.
They part my garments among them, casting lots, just playing poker
while he's hanging there on the cross." He said, be not far from me.
Oh Lord, oh my strength, haste thee to help me. Our Lord here being made sin, he endured all this to put away
sin. You know why? You need help. And he's the only one that can
help you. If he hadn't done this, there'd
have been no help. There'd have been no hope for
a sinner. This is what we deserved. This
is what we deserved. We are the worm, but he said,
I am a worm and no man. Do you say, did he really make
that statement? Yes, he did. I can't explain
this, how that he was made sin, not just made to look like sin,
he was made sin. Whatever sin is, he was made
sin that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. In Isaiah 63, I mean, I'm sorry,
Isaiah 63, if you wanna turn there, we'll read verses one
through five. Who is this that cometh up from
Eden with thy garments from Bosra, this that is glorious in his
apparel, traveling in the greatness of his strength? I that speak
in righteousness might he deceive. Wherefore art thou red in thy
apparel? Why is your garments red? And thy garments like them
that treads in the wine fat? I have trodden the winepress
alone. And the people, there were none
with me. For I will tread them in mine anger, and trample them
in my fury, and their blood shall be sprinkled upon my garments.
And I will stain all my raiments, for the day of vengeance is in
my heart, and the year of my redeemed is come." He said, I
looked, and there was none to help. And I wondered that there was
none to uphold. For mine own arm brought salvation
unto me, and my fury it upheld me." Now what I want you to see,
that none could help. He knows what it's like to have
help and no one to help, but on the other hand, he needed
no help. He accomplished salvation. He
said, I tread the winepress alone. There was none, listen, there
was none that could help him. The father forsook him. You know
how he did this? He purchased salvation with his
own arm. The perfect, the perfect man. The perfect man. He knows what it is to be left
alone. He knows what it is to need help and there's no eye
to pity him. Imagine, you would have thought,
you know, somebody looking at a man stripped naked, hanging
on a cross, beat to death, marred more than any man, and all, we're
just going to go, oh, we're just going to go, meh, and just, just
mock him. Where's your God at now? No pity. Nobody to feel compassionate.
Not a no tender word. Don't say, I can't, that's so
horrible to look at. Oh, no, we're just going to make
fun of him. And he endured it. When he was
reviled, he reviled not again. It says in Psalm 69 20, reproach
hath broken my heart. I am full of heaviness. I looked
for some to take pity, but there was none. And for some comforters,
and I found none. He's a human being. I know he's
God, but does anybody need help? Anybody showing any pity? Any
comfort? Any word? Any just a word of
comfort? None. None. Right when he needed help, all gone. All the disciples forsook
him and fled. Joseph Hart said, Now watch, you remember when
he was in the garden and he prayed the same prayer three times.
He prayed, he come to see the disciples, they was asleep. He
said, could you not watch with me one hour? He goes again and
prays and comes back, they're asleep again. He said, could
you not watch with me one hour? He goes and prays again the same
prayer and comes back. And he said, backward and forward
thrice he ran as if he sought some help from man. or wished
at least that they would console, t'was all they could, his tortured
soul. Whatever he sought for, there
was none. Our captain fought the field
alone. Soon as the chief to battle led,
that moment every soldier fled." I want to show you this, turn
to 2 Samuel chapter 23. What this is speaking about is
some of David's three mighty men. They were mighty men. This makes reference to one of
those men in one of the battles that they fought, and this man
is a picture of what our Lord did when he fought the battle
alone. 2 Samuel 23.9 And after him was Eliezer, the
son of Dodo, the Ahuraphat, one of the three mighty men of David.
When they defiled the Philistines, who were their enemies, that
they were gathered together to battle. But what happened, imagine
all these men are gathered together to fight the Philistines. And
here's Eliezer leading this whole army. and the men of Israel were
gone away. You imagine standing there, OK,
we're going into battle. We're going. These men are standing
behind him. And he starts in the battle,
and he looks, and every one of them turns and runs. What does
he do? What's he going to do against
this whole army? Well, he's not going to run. This is our Lord. Listen. He arose. And he smoked the flistings until
his hand was weary. And his hand clave unto the sword. You know that word clave is the
same word in the book of Genesis where Adam clave unto his wife.
The picture here is that there was so much blood on that sword,
and there was so much blood on his hand, you could not see where
the hand stopped and the sword began. His hand clave unto the
sword. He would not lay the sword down. Why? He'd come to finish the
battle by himself. His hand clave to the sword.
I'm glad he didn't lay it down. I'm glad he didn't turn and run.
and his hand clave to the sword and the Lord wrought a great
victory that day. Oh yes he did. On the cross of
Calvary that was a great victory won. Death was defeated, sin
was put away, what a victory. Who won the victory? Eliezer
did. And when the people returned
after the battle was over Oh, the battle's over now and everybody's
dead. The only one standing there, can't you imagine this? Everybody
around him's dead. He's standing there with a sword
in his hand. And here's us. Now we're going to come get this
boy. And he won the battle. They didn't help him. I can see us over behind the
bushes hiding. Do you think he'll make it? Let's just see, there's darkness
over all the earth for three hours. Then out of the darkness, he
cries, it is finished. It's done. All the enemies are defeated.
And he did it by himself. By himself. We must be brought
to the place that we see that we need help. Help. Psalms 40, verse 17, I am poor
and needy. Yet the Lord thinketh upon me.
Thou art my help and my deliverer. Make no tarrying, O my God. Psalms 41, verse 17. Next chapter,
when the poor and the needy seek water, and there is none, and
their tongue faileth for thirst, I, the Lord, will hear them.
I, the Lord God of Israel, will not forsake them. Psalms 107, verse 11, because
they rebelled against the words of God and condemned the counsel
of the Most High, He brought down their heart with labor, and they fell down. And you think about this, and
there was none to help. There's none to help. Laboring
under the heavy weight of sin, there's none to help. Then, and
that's when they'll cry, then. Then they cried unto the Lord
in their trouble. And he saved them out of their
distress. Right when you needed help. And
you realize nobody else could help. Nobody else could get rid
of that heavy burden of sin. I'll show you another example. Turn
with me to Matthew chapter 15. The Canaanite woman. The Syrophoenician
woman, this old Canaanite dog. Matthew 15, verse 22. And behold, a woman of Cain came
out of the same coast. Why did she come? She needs help.
Her daughter's sick. And she cried unto him, saying,
have mercy on me, O Lord, thou son of David. She knew he was
the Messiah. My daughter is grievously vexed
with the devil. We know what it's like to not
be able to help our children. And I can say this, you know
what brought this, you know what God used to bring this woman
to our Lord? He used her daughter. Sometimes
God will use your children to bring you to the end of your
place, where you have to seek Him for mercy. You know, he's
probably more than likely, he's not the first person that she
went to. Knowing us, she went to a lot
of other people to try to help her. This Gentile dog was not
just going to come to some Jew and just ask them for help. But he answered her not a word. How would you have taken that?
It's like he never, it's like he ignored you. And his disciples
became insolent and said send her away. Basically we don't
need to help her. Send her away. She's bothering
us. But he answered and said, I'm
not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel. I've
just come to save God's elect. Most people, when they heard
that, they'd have left. They'd have got mad and said,
I don't need his help that bad. Then, then. Now notice that. Then. When? Then. After all that
she's heard, why won't she leave? Then. Came she and worshipped
him and said, two simple words, help me. Help me. But he answered and
said, it's not meat to take the children's bread and cast it
to dogs. She said, well, that's true, Lord. Yet I'm your dog,
yet the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their master's
table. Jesus answered and said unto her, O woman, greatest of
faith, be it unto thee even as thou wilt. And her daughter was
made whole from the same hour. Let me give you another example.
Mark chapter 9. This was a man. He had a son
possessed of the devil. He brought his son to the disciples. And the disciples, you remember,
couldn't cast out the devil. Our Lord had been up on the Mount
of Transfiguration. And it says in Mark 9 20. And
they brought him, the son, unto Christ. And when he saw him,
straightway the spirit carried him and he fell on the ground
wallowing, foaming. And he asked his father, how
long is it ago since this came upon him? He said, of a child. You imagine being this man. You
imagine how this child acted. I could see him if he had a wife
sitting down with him and say, honey, I just don't know what
we're going to do. We've taken him to psychologists,
we've taken him to doctors, we've tried to put him on medication,
and nothing seems to help. Desperate. Desperate. And oftentimes, it has cast him
into the fire, tried to kill him, and into the water to destroy
him. Now I can tell you this, you
know what this world wants to do? It wants to destroy your children. It wants to turn them away from
Christ to the world and just destroy their soul. Oftentimes. And what am I to
do? Now notice this. But if thou can do anything,
have compassion on us and help us. Don't you see this? He put
the if on the wrong place. If the Lord can do something?
If he can? It ain't if, he can if he pleases
to do so. The problem was the if was on
the man. Because he said, if you can believe. It's not if I can do something,
but if you can believe. All things are possible to him
that believes. And straightway the father of
the child cried out with tears, Lord, I believe. Help thou mine
unbelief. If I can believe him and all
things are possible to him that believes, I'm so filled with
doubt and unbelief and despair. You can do whatever you want
to do, but Lord, help my unbelief. Help me to believe God and God
delivered that child and helped that man. You know, we need each other.
It says in Ezekiel 4.10, for if
they fall, the one will lift up his fellow. But woe to him
that is alone when he falls, for he hath no man to help him
up. Another example is in Luke chapter
5. I mentioned that, remember when
our Lord used the ship as a pulpit when he pushed out onto the lake
and he preached to the people on the shore? Well in Luke's
account it said after he had preached to the people, he must
have been in Peter's boat, he said, Peter let's launch out
into the deep. We're going to catch some fish.
Now, first of all, you don't fish during the day. You fish
at night. And you don't fish out into the
deep. They usually fish right along the shore with a net. Can
you see Peter goes, this guy don't know anything about fishing.
He wants to tell me to go out and to fish. And you know what
Peter said? We've worked, we've labored all
night long, and we ain't caught nothing. And I'd say they're
wore out. Can you imagine casting a net
out and pulling it back in the boat, casting it out and getting
nothing? And this is all night long. You pulled the third shift
and just wore out. And here's what Peter says, nevertheless
at thy word, I'll let down the net. And Peter lets down the net and
he's gone. We can't get them in the boat.
You know what he does? He calls to James and John and
he said, would you come over and help us? It's going to take both boats
to pull in all them fish. And it reads, and they came and
filled both the boats so that they began to sink. And Peter said, depart from me
Lord, I'm a sinful man. But they could not get those
fish in that ship by themselves. We need each other. I know there's
only so much we can do. We can't help each other spiritually.
But we can give a word of encouragement. We can consider one another to
provoke unto love and good works. That's a help. Marvin, you'll never know. Sometimes
I'd just be sitting maybe down or something, and Marvin, he
may just send me a text and just say, I was just checking to see
how you was doing. You think, well, that ain't nothing.
It was a lot. Just a little word. Let's fill the boat. We're all in this together. We're
not competing against each other. We're all in this together. I
can see Peter said, you boys are coming on over here. Why?
Is something wrong? They toiled all night just like
Peter did. How'd you catch all them fish?
The Lord gave them. The Lord gave them. Again, when you've toiled all
night and you're wore out mentally, physically, And he says, thirst
out into the deep again. He's preaching, it's like nobody
cares, nobody moves, he just let down the net. And he puts
the fish in the net. As I've already mentioned, Martha,
sometimes we become upset. when it seems like nobody's helping
us. I used it the other day where she was cumbered about many things.
And he said there in Luke 8, 10, 40, and Martha was cumbered
about much serving. And she came to him. She said,
Lord, do you not care that my sister left me to serve alone? You know what she said? Would
you tell Mary to help me? Lord, would you tell her to come
help me in the kitchen? And he says, Martha, Martha, you're
covered about many things. But she was upset that nobody
wouldn't help her. Paul, one day, these men from
over in Macedonia said, Paul, come over and help us. You know
what he did? He went over and helped them. When Paul stood before King Agrippa,
you imagine standing there before this king preaching the gospel. And what's he going to say? He
said, having therefore obtained help of God, I continue to this
day. The only reason you are here
is because you have obtained help of God. And Paul knew it. Let me give you a few more scriptures
and we'll be finished. Hebrews 4.16, let us therefore
come boldly unto the throne of grace. Why do we come? That we may obtain mercy. I ask
you this morning, do you need mercy? Go to the mercy seat. Go to the only one that can.
He delights to show mercy. He hath no pleasure in the death
of the wicked. And you find grace to help in time of need. Find grace. His grace is sufficient. Paul prayed three times that
God would remove the thorn and you know what God said? My grace
is sufficient for thee. to find grace to help in time
of need. Isaiah 41.10, fear thou not,
I am with thee. Be not dismayed, for I am thy
God. I will strengthen thee. Yea,
I will help thee. I will uphold thee with the right
hand of my righteousness. One more. How many have heard
of a place called Ebenezer? In the Old Testament, when it
was first mentioned in 1 Samuel chapter 4, you can read this
later, You remember when they were fighting the Philistines
and they were getting defeated. So and all they looked at as
the ark was some superstitious trinket. Go and get the ark and
bring us the ark and then God will help us. They go get the
ark and they shouted for the ark and the Philistines were
terrified because of this mysticism. They had heard what God did to
the Egyptians hundreds of years earlier. But you know what happened
in that battle? That ark was taken. Eli's two
sons were killed in that battle at Ebenezer. You know what happens in 1 Samuel
chapter 7 verse 12? They're going to have to fight
the Philistines on the same piece of ground. The same enemy. with the same army, but there's
going to be a different result. And God gave them the victory. You know why he said it? Because
Samuel said, you turn, you look to the Lord, get rid of your
idols. Like I said, the Ark of the Covenant had become nothing
more than just an idol. When you know what Samuel did
when they won the battle? He said I don't want to forget
this. Samuel took a stone and stood it up between Mizpah and
Shem and he called the name of it Ebenezer saying hitherto hath
the Lord helped me. I could see Samuel Maybe walking
up the street one day, and he's just a little bit down, just
a little bit discouraged. Oh, there's Ebenezer. You know,
that Lord gave us the victory that day. You know, really all
that back down through our life, you could have one continual
Ebenezer, because that's where the Lord has delivered us, and
spared us, and the Lord has helped us. If the Lord don't help us,
we're in a mess. If the Lord don't help you, you
can't hear, see, or understand anything. You can't even make
yourself needy. You can't even make yourself
want to have help. You don't even want to cry out
for help. But if he helps you, oh my goodness,
I need his help. May God enable us to look to
Christ who's a very present help in time of trouble. I'm just
telling you if one day when you get in trouble, one day you're
going to be in trouble. You may not be in trouble now, you may
not realize it, but one day there's a throne of grace where you can
obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need. Amen.