I'd like to look at the first
verse. Psalm 122, verse 1. The Spirit of God moved upon
David to pen these words, I was glad when they said unto me,
let us go into the house of the Lord. You know, that's such a
familiar passage of scripture, isn't it? It's one that we've
heard, quote, but when we consider the majesty of those words to
be able to, from the heart, to express that we rejoice That's
what it means, I was glad, I rejoice when they said unto me. It's a miracle of God's grace
that anybody would want to say that. You know how impossible it is
to from the heart, to say I was glad, I rejoice. When they said
to me, let's go worship God. Let's go where the Lord's honored. A man stands up, he prepares, he's got a set of
notes. He goes over them and over them,
writes them, rewrites them. But unless the Lord blesses it,
there's nothing there. Brother Henry said just words,
unless the Lord blesses it. I just wanted to, for a few minutes,
I want to just look at three reasons. Why? For me, for me. And I'm glad, I'm glad when they
said, let's go to the house of the Lord. Number one, because when we come together
like this, brethren, this is the first thing I know, first
thing I think about, the Lord's here. The Lord's here. This is where the Lord has been
pleased to miraculously, marvelously meet with his people in a special
way. Now this passage of scripture,
I'll just read this to you, Matthew 18, 20. The Lord said, for where
two or three are gathered together, that they have been gathered,
They've been brought, is what he's saying. Where two or three
are gathered together in my name, to have regard to
my name, to my character, to who I am, where two or three
are gathered together, there am I in the midst of them. Now, I looked it up to make sure
that I knew exactly what those words meant, and it means where
there am I, that is singular person. There am I, singular
person. Another definition is I exist. Emphatic, that's what it means. There am I. Now here we are,
now we're here. I know Bob Morrell. I know that's
Bob Morrell. And I know he's here. I can see,
emphatic, he exists, singular. And it means the Lord in his
fullness is here. But I know this, that where two
or three are gathered in other places. There he is in his fullness. Now, by faith, we believe that. We know it. We know it's absolutely
the truth. There is the Lord. I know we're
proclaiming his word. I know he's seated at the right
hand of the majesty on high. But where two or three are gathered
together in my name, I singularly, I exist, I am there in the midst
of them. That truth right there is the
absolute declaration of the blessing of public worship. The importance
of being able to meet together This is the truth of him being
here. We read these words, Genesis
1, 1. In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. Two
or three are gathered together in my name. God is in the midst of them. There's
a blessing, a blessing, a promise that the Lord has given to be
in the presence of his people. when they have been gathered
by Him to come and worship and declare and hear Him proclaim
the truth of His being and to have it rehearsed over, over,
over again. Tell me one more time about Almighty
God, who is the electing God. Tell me how the Lord was pleased
before the foundation of the world to choose a people in Christ. Tell me one more time how when
the Lord went to Calvary, tell me one more time. I've heard
it, I know I've heard it. But in his name, gathered together
in his name, in his character, tell me one more time how he
laid down his life for the sheep. Tell me one more time how He's
borne all of my guilt, past, right now while I'm standing
here, and what I will commit. Tell me how He's paid the debt
of that. Tell me one more time how the Spirit of God was pleased
when it pleased Him to cross my path and send a friend to
tell me the truth. about who God is and how the
Lord blessed it. Tell me one more time how the
Spirit of God seals me, keeps me, teaches me, guides me. Tell me one more time how salvation
is all of grace. Salvation is of the Lord. Don't
tell me anything about man or exalting man, just tell me concerning
him. I'm glad, I was glad when they
said, let's go to the house of the Lord. He's there. The Lord is there. And I'm so thankful. I'm thankful that I could be
here this morning. Had it not been here, I might've
missed something. I want you to turn with me to
John 20. John chapter 20. John chapter 20. And I said,
I'm glad when they said to me, let's go to the house of the
Lord. I may have missed something. May have missed a blessing. John
chapter 20. beginning in verse 19, then the
same day at evening, being the first day of the week. And here
it was, it was the Lord's day, it was a Sunday. When the doors
were shut where the disciples were assembled for fear of the
Jews, came Jesus and stood in the midst of them and said unto
them, peace be unto you. And when he had so said, he showed
unto them his hands, his side, Then were the disciples glad
when they saw the Lord. Then said Jesus to them again,
peace be unto you as my father has sent me, even so send I you. And when he had said this, he
breathed on her and saith unto them, receive ye the Holy Ghost. Whosoever sins you remit, they
are remitted unto them. And whosoever sins you retain,
they're retained. But Thomas, one of the 12 called
Didymus, was not with him when Jesus came. And the other disciples
therefore said unto him, we've seen the Lord. But he said unto
them, except I see in his hands the print of the nails and put
my finger in the print of the nails and thrust my hand into
his side, I will not believe. Then after eight days again,
and I looked this up to see, the Jews always considered the
day started that day on the Lord's day and the following Sunday,
the following Lord's day is what it was meant here. And after
eight days again, his disciples were within and Thomas was with
them. Then came Jesus, the doors being
shut, stood in the midst and said, peace be unto you. Then
saith he to Thomas, reach hither thy finger and hold my hands,
behold my hands and reach hither thy hand and thrust it into my
side. Be not faithless, but believing. That, when he said, be not faithless,
that wasn't a suggestion. That was a command. Don't be
without faith. Thomas answered and said unto
him, my Lord and my God, Jesus saith unto him, Thomas, because
thou hast seen me, thou hast believed, blessed are they that
have not seen and yet believe. You know, I've never seen the
Lord with my corporal eyes. I've never seen him. Nobody here
has. But I can tell you this by faith.
I believe it, he's here, he's here. I'm glad, I was glad when
they said to me, let's go to the house of the Lord. Wow, the
Lord's there. Turn to Hebrews chapter 10, verse
24, Hebrews 10. Hebrews chapter 10, verse 24 and 25. And let us consider one another
to provoke unto love and to good works, not forsaking the assembling
of ourselves together as the manner of some is, but exhorting
one another and so much the more as you see the day approaching. I know this, there may be times
that We may question something that we're doing. We wonder if
the Lord's in it. Well, I can tell you this. I
know the Lord's here. I know he's in this. The Lord
has appointed it. The Lord is glorified in it,
the assembling of ourselves together, and the Lord approves of it.
I'm glad. I'm glad when he said to me.
And secondly, I'm glad because I know the Lord's people are
here. I know that almighty God has
been pleased to bring his people. They've been gathered. The Lord
has put us together. Here's the evidence of the grace
of God. The Lord said, John 6, 37, All that the Father giveth me
shall come to me. And God's people do come. They
come in heart. They come to him. They continually
come to him. There's not a time in which God's
people are not coming. All that the Father giveth me
shall come to me and him that cometh and cometh and cometh. Cometh, I was thinking just a
moment ago. I was listening to Chris and Vicki sing that song.
And I was just thinking to myself, how wonderful to be able to hear
the praises of our Lord being sung. And then that thought crossed
my mind. I'm getting ready to stand up
to preach. I think to myself, of all the
years that the Lord has allowed me the privilege to be able to
stand in a pulpit and to truly try to preach the gospel. All these years, you've never
come, if the Lord called you to preach, you've never come
to a point of where you're not coming to Him anymore, are you,
Chris? You're coming right now. Lord, help me. I'm getting ready
to stand up before God's people. and to proclaim the truth of
the glory of God in the face of the Lord Jesus Christ. And
that's a place, this pulpit right here, without Him is a lonely
place to be. I'm glad when they say it. Don't you love to be with God's
people? That's what I want to do. I want to be where they are. I want to be with the Lord's
people. The scripture sets forth that
Barnabas had gone to a place called Antioch. And it says,
who, when he came and had seen the grace of God, he was glad. He was glad. You behold the grace of God when
you see the miracle of God's grace to call his people out
and keep them. And they're maintained and they're
kept. They went out from us because they were not of us. Had they
been of us, sure, they would have remained. But you see the
grace of God and you're thankful that you're allowed of the Lord
to be able to be with the family of God. You look out at God's
people and you see people that the Lord has everlastingly loved.
You see the people of God that Christ laid down His life for,
that the Spirit of God crossed paths with and kept them. And
you think, I want to be with his family. How thankful I am. The assembling
of ourselves together. Turn over to Luke 4. Luke 4. Luke chapter 4. Verse 16 is what I'm looking
for. And he came to Nazareth where
he had been brought up. And here's the part I want to
write. And as his custom was, he went
into the synagogue on the Sabbath day and stood up to read, as
his custom was. This is the heart, this is the
custom of God's people. I wanna be where the Lord blesses,
where the Lord meets. I was glad when they said to
me, when they said, turn over to Acts, Acts chapter two, Acts
chapter two. Acts chapter two, on the day
of Pentecost, where the Lord was pleased to bless the Word
and Spirit of God fell. And these disciples were standing
up preaching in languages that they'd never learned before,
preaching the gospel. And they were talking about Those
from Mesopotamia and Parthians and all that, they said, we hear
the marvelous works of God. And this was the effect. Acts
chapter 2, verse 41. 47, and then they that gladly
received his word were baptized, and the same day there were added
unto them about 3,000 souls, and they continued steadfastly
in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, and breaking of bread
and prayers and fear came upon every soul, and many wonders
and signs were done by the apostles. And all that believed were together
and had all things common. They sold their possessions,
their goods, part of them to all men, every man had need.
And they continuing daily with one accord in the temple, breaking
bread from house to house, did eat their meat with gladness,
singleness of heart, praising God and having favor with all
the people. And the Lord added to the church
daily, such as should be saved. I was glad when they said to
me, Let us, let us go into the house of the Lord. Let's go.
I'm glad because the Lord's here. I'm glad because God's people
are here. But lastly, I'm glad because
I want to be here. Because God Almighty would give
me a heart to be there. David said in Psalm 84.10, for
a day in thy courts is better than a thousand. That is without
being there. One day is better than a thousand
days of not being in that place, in that court. I'd rather be
a doorkeeper in the house of God than to dwell in the tents
of wickedness. I'm glad. You know, there's a
lot of possessions to be had in this world, a lot of positions
in this world to be filled, earthly honor, that this world considers
to be great, be advantageous, but to be where the Lord is honored. to be where the Lord is praised,
to meet with God's people, to hear his word. I get old. I'm getting old. I'm realizing more and more.
I've always said this. I know we're going to die, but
you know, you get older, you start realizing it. And I think Where would I want
to be? Where would I want to be? In that time of my departure,
I want to be where the Lord's honored. I'm glad, I'm glad to
be with you. I'm glad to be where the Lord
has been exalted, where his people meet with him. Psalm 65, four,
blessed is the man that thou choosest and causeth to approach
unto thee, that he may dwell in thy courts, we shall be satisfied
with the goodness of thy house, even of thy holy temple. I was glad when they said to
me, let's go to the house of the Lord. If we never have another
day on this earth, we've had right now. What a blessed time,
blessed privilege. Thank you.