to our service this evening by
singing hymn number 149, the tune is Hilmartin, number 713. There is a friend who sticketh
fast and keeps his love from first to last, and Jesus is his
name. An earthly brother drops his
hold. It's sometimes hot and sometimes
cold, but Jesus is the same. He loves his people, great and
small, and grasping hard embraces all, nor wither soul will part.
No tribulations which they feel, no foes on earth or fiends of
hell, shall tear them from his heart. Hymn number 149, June
Hill, Martin, number 713. ? The bread you've given us ? ?
Every bit of promise to hold ? ? I give you this today ? Heav'nly Father, God is love,
in some times old, and in some times more, but Jesus lives the
same. ? Till earth's hips become great
and strong ? ? And God's kingdom come in praises long ? ? The
weary soul will find ? ? Nature did shape him ? ? Like
a toy ? ? Falling to the ground ? ? Until it was his time ? And in earth that will hold Christ,
will remain a faithful forager. The rotten ground of turpentine
grows, And man is changed, he changes not, His power, the light
it shows. ? O strange inspiration ? ? O vacant
promise divine ? ? Eternally to die ? ? God's dictator ? ? The blissful and conditioned
to be a man ? ? To be a son of God ? O'er the land of the free and
the home of the brave? He taught through life and passed
through death, and Christ did in death's foreign ground His
Spirit and the Peace. ? Earth should know her Lord ?
? Flesh born, flesh born with one accord ? ? And alleluia sing
? The door and I, when open, can
best define it. How to have faith, O Lord, can
we? May the Lord help us now in reading
from his holy word in the second book of Chronicles, a part of
chapter 20. The second book of Chronicles,
chapter 20. it came to pass after this also
that the children of Moab and the children of Ammon and with
them other beside the Ammonites came against Jehoshaphat to battle. Then there came some that told
Jehoshaphat saying there cometh a great multitude against thee
from beyond the sea on this side Syria and behold they be in Hazaz
on Tamar which is in Gedi. And Jehoshaphat feared and set
himself to seek the Lord and proclaimed a fast throughout
all Judah. And Judah gathered themselves
together to ask help of the Lord. Even out of all the cities of
Judah they came to seek the Lord. And Jehoshaphat stood in the
congregation of Judah and Jerusalem in the house of the Lord before
the new court and said, O Lord God of our fathers, art not thou
God in heaven? And rulest not thou over all
the kingdoms of the heathen? And in thine hand is there not
power and might, so that none is able to withstand thee? Art not thou our God, who didst
drive out the inhabitants of this land before thy people Israel,
and gavest it to the seed of Abraham thy friend for ever? And they dwelt therein, and have
built thee a sanctuary therein for thy name. saying, if when
evil cometh upon us as the sword, judgment, or pestilence, or famine,
we stand before this house and in thy presence, for thy name
is in this house. and cry unto thee in our affliction
then thou wilt hear and help. And now behold the children of
Ammon and Moab and Mount Seir whom thou wouldest not let Israel
invade when they came out of the land of Egypt but they turned
from them, and destroyed them not. Behold, I say, how they
reward us, to come to cast us out of thy possession, which
thou hast given us to inherit. O our God, wilt thou not judge
them, For we have no might against this great company that cometh
against us, neither know we what to do, but our eyes are upon
thee. And all Judah stood before the
Lord, with their little ones, their wives and their children. Then upon Jehaziel, the son of
Zechariah, the son of Benaiah, the son of Jael, the son of Mattaniah,
a Levite of the sons of Asaph, came the Spirit of the Lord. in the midst of the congregation. And he said, Hearken ye, O Judah,
and ye inhabitants of Jerusalem, and thou King Jehoshaphat. Thus saith the Lord unto you,
Be not afraid, nor dismay, by reason of this great multitude,
for the battle is not yours, but God's. Tomorrow go ye down
against them. Behold, they come up by the cliff
of Ziz, and ye shall find them at the end of the brook, before
the wilderness of Jeruel. ye shall not need to fight in
this battle. Set yourselves, stand ye still,
and see the salvation of the Lord with you. O Judah and Jerusalem,
fear not, nor be dismayed. Tomorrow go out against them,
for the Lord will be with you.' And Jehoshaphat bowed his head with
his face to the ground. And all Judah and the inhabitants
of Jerusalem fell before the Lord, worshipping the Lord. And the Levites of the children
of the Kohathites and of the children of the Kohites stood
up to praise the Lord God of Israel with a loud voice on high. And they rose early in the morning
and went forth into the wilderness of Tekoa And as they went forth,
Jehoshaphat stood and said, Hear me, O Judah, and ye inhabitants
of Jerusalem. Believe in the Lord your God,
so shall ye be established. Believe his prophets, so shall
ye prosper. And when he had consulted with
the people, he appointed singers unto the Lord, and that should
praise the beauty of holiness. As they went out before the army,
and to say, Praise the Lord, for his mercy endureth forever, And when they began to sing and
to praise, the Lord set ambushments against the children of Ammon,
Moab, and Mount Seir, which were come against Judah, and they
were smitten. For the children of Ammon and
Moab stood up against the inhabitants of Mount Seir, utterly to slay
and destroy them. And when they had made an end
of the inhabitants of Seir, every one helped to destroy another. And when Judah came toward the
Watchtower in the wilderness, they looked unto the multitude,
and behold, they were dead bodies fallen to the earth and none
escaped. And when Jehoshaphat and his
people came to take away the spoil of them, they found among
them in abundance both riches with the dead bodies and precious
jewels which they stripped off for themselves more than they
could carry away. And they were three days in gathering
of the spoil. It was so much. And on the fourth day they assembled
themselves in the valley of Baraka, for there they blessed the Lord. Therefore the name of the same
place was called the Valley of Barakah unto this day. Then they returned every man
of Judah and Jerusalem and Jehoshaphat in the forefront of them to go
again to Jerusalem with joy, for the Lord had made them to
rejoice over their enemies. And they came to Jerusalem with
sorteries and harps and trumpets unto the house of the Lord. And the fear of God was on all
the kingdoms of those countries when they had heard that the
Lord fought against the enemies of Israel. So the realm of Jehoshaphat
was quiet for his God gave him rest round about and Jehoshaphat
reigned over Judah He was thirty and five years old when he began
to reign, and he reigned twenty and five years in Jerusalem. And his mother's name was Azubah,
the daughter of Shilhai. And he walked in the way of Asa
his father, and departed not from it, doing that which was
right. in the sight of the Lord. Howbeit,
the high places were not taken away, for as yet the people had
not prepared their hearts unto the God of their fathers. Now the rest of the Acts of Jehoshaphat,
first and last, behold, they are written in the book of Jehu,
the son of Hanani, who is mentioned in the book of the kings of Israel. We'll leave the reading there. May the Lord bless to us his
holy word. May he, in mercy, help and teach
us to pray. O Thou most gracious, ever-merciful,
long-suffering Lord God. Gracious God, have mercy upon
us as Thou in Thy sovereignty has brought us once more into
this house of God. The dear friends here as they
are accustomed on the week evening and this poor sinner, as their
dear pastor, thy servant, is laid aside. O Lord, may it please
thee to order all things according to the counsel of thine own holy
unerring will, and O that we might be enabled to fall into
thy kind and gracious hands, and that thou, Lord, wilt be
pleased to draw near and to go with us, for it is toward evening
and the day is far spent. O Lord, thou knowest all our
weakness and our folly at times, and as we come again through
thy goodness and mercy, we have to acknowledge that we are not
worthy of the least of all the mercies and we humbly trust of
all the truth that thou hast made known unto us and oh lord
what a privilege it is to be gathered in thy house with those
who fear thee and to seek at thy bidding to worship thee. O Lord, may indeed we be helped
to ponder, and may it be, Lord, a gracious stirring up of our
hearts in that question that was put in thy word. For who
maketh thee to differ? and what hast thou that thou
hast not received. O Lord, we are indeed no better
than those who do not come, and thou, Lord, even in this dost
know if there are any at this time who could be here, but who
are not. But Lord, Thou knowest there
are those connected with some of us, Lord, and we walked to
thy house when we were young with them. But now, Lord, as
far as we know, they have still no desire, having left thy courts
many years ago, and no desire even now to return. O Lord, but
through Thy sovereignty we are enabled to continue. And Lord,
we do have that solemn witness that we are no better than they.
But Lord, surely then we have a debt which we owe to Thee,
that Thou hast not dealt with us after our sins, Neither hast
thou rewarded us according to our iniquities. And we are found,
Lord, once more. O Lord, thou knowest if indeed
we can say with a poet, I love the house, O God, wherein thine
honour dwells, the joy of thine abode, all earthly joy excels. Oh, then we pray that we may
be enabled to worship thee aright in spirit and in truth, and that
it may please thee, O Lord, to bless thy word, to bless souls,
and to get unto thyself honour and glory. O Lord, then here
we desire to bow at thy feet, But we do especially commend
unto thee, thy dear servant, their pastor. O Lord, thou knowest
his heart, as he is prevented from coming to the place which
thou hast appointed for him. Lord, comfort him even this evening. We do pray thee. And may it please
thee to give healing mercy that he might be restored and strengthened
and enabled to return into thy courts, Lord, in thy time, or
as soon as it may please thee. And that, Lord, thou wilt so
sanctify these things to pastor and to people, and the Lord may
please thee yet to bless his labors here in the midst of the
flock. O Lord, do grant yet those further
signs following we beseech thee, and that there may be those souls
added unto the church, that there may be those gathered in and
planted in the mountain of thine inheritance. Lord then remember
him and remember the dear friends and the deacons as they have
that in major responsibility additionally
in the absence of the pastor. Help them Lord, strengthen them,
encourage them. We do thank thee Lord that thou
hast raised up one from his affliction, Lord, thy sovereignty is a great
deep. We do thank thee, Lord, that
the means thus far granted has been a benefit. We pray that
he may be further strengthened and that in this, that he with
his dear one may find that thou hast a blessing perhaps Lord
that has granted something already but Lord how we pray for these
things to be truly sanctified and Lord as we are all hastening
on we know not what a day or an hour may bring forth and Lord
these various dispensations are indeed Lord a reminder to us
all that we might truly humble ourselves under thy mighty hand. Lord then remember each here
with those responsibilities before thee and we pray that thou wilt
bless the hymns and Lord that there may be that flowing together
from time to time. So, Lord, bless the dear friends
here. Thou knowest where there are
those in afflictions. Lord, we do pray that Thou wouldst
grant Thy healing the touch if it could please Thee. But, O
Lord, may these things be a means of grace. O gracious God, Lord, as we have
read in thy word, as thy servant, the king of whom we have read,
came, Lord, and amongst those things that were mentioned was
their affliction. And Lord, thou knowest those
who may be here this evening who feel to be, to have with
them, or maybe within them, maybe about them, their affliction. Oh Lord, we do pray that thou
would appear. Lord thou knowest that there
are those who may have those things before them. We think
of one expecting to have an operation in the very near future. We pray Lord for her, and pray
thee, Lord, that thou wouldst go before and grant thy peace,
Lord Jesus, and may these things be under thy divine control,
and that there may be that benefit in due time. Lord, then, look
upon all whom we would and should pray for, And we would not, Lord,
forget the younger friends, Lord, how our hearts do ache for them
in this solemn day in which their lot and ours is cast. O Lord,
we do beseech Thee that Thou wilt preserve the dear children
and the young people day by day from both those Those obvious
dangers, O Lord, also preserve them from the unseen. O Lord,
and preserve them from the subtlety. Lord of the devil, Lord, He is
ever the same, the truly subtle foe. O Lord, we do pray Thou
to impart Thy tender fear deep in the hearts of our dear young
friends, and we each need that gracious gift, that tender fear
of the Lord may be an unctuous light to all that's right, O
Lord, and a bar to all that's wrong. O gracious God, if not
deceived, Lord, thou knowest those who do have cause to give
thanks to thee, for thy preserving mercy in years past. Lord, when thou indeed didst
put thy restraining hand, thy preventing hand upon us, and
preserved us, Lord, from bringing reproach upon thy name and cause,
that, O Lord, we are continually made aware again of the power
and the subtlety of the adversary. And also, Lord, we mourn over
the deceitfulness of our own hearts. But, O Lord, we need
Thee then to come and to take us in Thy hands and to lead us
in the right way and oh lord then remember each those with
many cares and responsibilities in the midst of life lord do
help them help us each to cast all our care upon thee oh lord
how we need the grace so to do let it preserve us lord preserve
each if it could please thee Lord, because we come so easily
into the same place as dear Martha, we are careful and troubled about
many things. Lord, forgive. Lord, do grant
to us that portion that thou wilt grant unto us the one thing
needful. Lord, then thou knowest how it
is with each as they have made their way to thy house this evening,
and those who may be listening. Lord, might it be a renewing,
Lord, that thou shalt grant with the psalmist one thing have I
desired of the Lord, and that will I seek after, that I may,
O Lord, that we may come into thy house, inquire, in thy temple,
behold the beauty of the Lord. O come even this evening, Lord,
and help a poor sinner to venture with thy word. Lord, hear the
cries that may have gone up unto thee, Lord, of those present. O Lord, can it please thee to
send down those answers of peace? O Lord, then do help. in thy mercy, and bless thy word. So hear us, have mercy upon our
guilty, guilty land and nation. How to pray, Lord, we scarcely
know. Lord, what can we say? We deserve
thy judgments, which we believe are upon us. And yet, Lord, hear
the cries of thy remnant, if it could please thee, and hear
Lord, those cries that thou wilt yet in deserved wrath remember
mercy. Come then, O Lord, O do grant
wisdom to those in the government that overrule their various decisions
and schemes, bring those evil counsellors to nothing. That may there be, Lord, those
whom thou shalt raise up those whom thou may and help us to
believe thou hast raised up. We may not know where they are
and who they are, but Lord, do use them and bless them for standing
for those things that are in accordance with thy word and
thy purposes of grace. Forgive now where I come short,
O gracious Lord, Do thou make up in giving, who come and pardon
all our sins, and come and bless us, we do ask, for Jesus' sake. Amen. Continue our service by
singing hymn number 526. Thrice happy are the men who
know the joyful sound. They glory in the Lamb their
hopes upon him found. They see how justice, truth and
grace agree and shine in Jesus' face. A joyful sound indeed to
sinners in distress. who have no works to plead but
what are vile and base, who feel their hearts a dreadful den of
every murderous hateful sin. Hymn number 526 June Haslingdon,
544 ? Christ the King of the heav'nly
host ? ? The Lord God of hosts above ? ? In glory evermore ?
? Evermore ? Him come, is the angel, is truth and grace. The brave and shining Jesus. The Lord was found in thee, ? This is the big distress ? ?
You were the one to bring ? ? The Lord of life and death ? ? You
gave the world ? ? And rebuke them ? ? For every
good that they do not see ? ? God's love should hear and know
? ? Shall be true forevermore ? ? And we shall always find the
riches of His love ? ? God save the Queen ? ? Have hope to bring ? ? Heav'nly
favorings ? ? All to see ? Give honor to their names. ? And winter quite as old ? ? And
all things their respective ? ? Reverberations found ? So they have love, and joy can
reach, And children's songs are made to reach. in much need of the help of God
by and through the Holy Spirit. I venture this evening to direct
your thoughts and attention to the word you will find in the
second book of Chronicles, chapter 20. And I read the first clause
in verse 16 and verse 17. Verse 16, the first clause. Tomorrow go ye down against them. Verse 17. Ye shall not need to
fight in this battle. Set yourselves, stand ye still,
and see the salvation of the Lord with you. O Judah and Jerusalem,
fear not, nor be dismayed. Tomorrow go out against them,
for the Lord will be with you. Tomorrow go ye down against them,
ye shall not need to fight in this battle. Set yourselves,
stand ye still, and see the salvation of the Lord with you, O Judah
and Jerusalem. Fear not, nor be dismayed. Tomorrow go out against them,
for the Lord will be with you. There is really, as the Lord
has brought the I trust by the spirit upon my heart. It is very
much bound up really, dear friends, with that most ordinary of words,
tomorrow. Tomorrow. With man, there is ever, ever
uncertainty regarding tomorrow. If we're left to ourselves, we
may think and act as though there is certainty that there will
be certain things that will occur, that we will do, and whatever. But how solemnly some have had
to prove that tomorrow has brought something different to what we
had anticipated. And of course there is that in
a very solemn way that as far as this time state is concerned
we do not know in the absolute sense of it regarding the our
life here, we do not know for certain if there will be a tomorrow. But dear friends, with God, there
is no uncertainty. And this is what has struck me
really, in one aspect of the word here, and this account,
and it is a well-known account, is it not? How many have found
help as the Lord has spoken through his word in this chapter from
one or other of some of these verses. But dear friends, tomorrow, yes, here there is a clear example
that there was with God a very real certainty. He knew, he knew exactly what
he would do. But to the children of Judah,
especially when they gathered before the Lord and we read of
Jehoshaphat's petition. Friends surely with them at that
moment there was the greatest trial of uncertainty and with
the King perhaps it was indeed one of the greatest times of
testing for him that he had come to. All the distress, all the
apparent danger that was about to overtake them. This mighty army that had come
against them. Oh dear friends but I did feel
how the king recited the prayer of Solomon in his petition and
if when evil cometh upon us as the sword, judgment or pestilence
or famine we stand before this house and in thy presence And
then he acknowledges, for thy name is in this house. Friends, oh what a good part
of his petition is here. It's a little like Jacob pleading
at Penuel regarding the remembrance of God's former goodness to him
at Bethel. And thou saidst, I will surely
do thee good. And here really a Jehoshaphat
pleads what Solomon on that auspicious occasion when the glory of the
Lord filled the house, the prayer that was then offered up. But
what I wanted to come to in this verse that I've begun to read
to you for thy name is in this house and cry unto thee in our
affliction. Dear friends, oh, does this find,
I know not, the Lord knows what he will be pleased to bless,
but oh, the Lord knows what our afflictions are. And this is
gathered up. and cry unto thee in our affliction
then thou wilt hear and help. Friend, here is a prayer of faith
and especially to remind the Lord of those who pleaded likewise
and how the Lord has bidden us pray. But yes, the Lord heard the cries
of Jehoshaphat. And then as we, I'm sure, know
these words, O our God, wilt thou not judge them? For we have
no might against this great company that cometh against us, neither
know we what to do. but our eyes are upon thee. O friends, how the Lord was pleased
to answer these cries! And is he not the same God? O
friends, we have, I believe, to mourn that our faith is so
much poorer than the faith of those who have gone before. I felt to read this morning at
Bethesda a part of that 11th chapter in the epistle to the
Hebrews. And all that the Lord helped
those of old to accomplish by faith. Our dear friends and we
have remembrances I believe of those whom we have known in the
more immediate past and those things that the Lord helped them
to overcome, to endure, and to suffer by faith. And yet how
one has to acknowledge that and yet to be in company with
David. Some of these things, dear friends,
are surely so encouraging in a way because here is David in
the psalm 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 i am a worm
and no man. Now friends that is where the
Lord brings us sometimes and how tempted we are and the adversary
in league with our unbelieving heart says well the Lord will
never appear for you. How can you expect the Lord to
appear for you with all that you have been and your sins Oh
friends and yet there are these various
accounts that are left on record because dear friends even here
Jehoshaphat went back to the former wondrous works of the
Lord as he referred to the bringing out of the children of Israel
from Egypt and a little of the path that they walked after they
had been brought out. And he asked that question, behold
I say how they reward us to cast us out of thy possession which
thou hast given us to inherit. Now friends he's not complaining
of what God has done. But dear friends, here is, as
it were, a reasoning, not in a earthly way, but as
it were, setting before the Lord, how it was, and now how it is. And as it were, things do not
add up. and how often that is so in life's
pathway. Friends, where can we take these
things when we feel that behaviors do not add up? But there is then
only one, only one place we can take these things. Oh, our God. Oh, our God. What a mercy if
we can say, oh, our God. Will thou not judge them? But
friends, then the acknowledgement of helplessness. For we have
no might. Oh friends, what a confession.
For we have no might. And I feel, well it is really
in the verse, no wisdom either. For we have no might against
this great company. that cometh against us, neither
know we what to do. But, O friends, I have to tremble
here to you. I have to tremble, but he could
say our eyes are upon thee. But, O friends, what a consideration
Oh friends, this is where we should be looking. And doesn't
the apostle come in in the epistle to the Hebrews that I've already
referred to in the beginning of chapter 12. After that catalog
of all who had gone before by faith and then he comes as it
were to the present. Wherefore, seeing we also And
friends, do we not, and must we not confess it even today?
Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about by so great a
cloud of witnesses. I looked, for instance, in the
vestry just now. I happened to catch my eye the
photograph of the former pastor here, the late Mr. Jabez Field,
just as one example. wherefore seeing we also are
compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses. Now friends
how we need this grace let us lay aside every weight and the
sin which doth so easily beset us and let us run with patience
the race that is set before us looking unto Jesus, the author
and finisher of our faith. Oh, how we need the grace and
the help, so to do. But now I do, I hope the Lord
will help me a little further. As I've said, tomorrow. With God, he knew, but as they
had come, with Jehoshaphat before the Lord. There was no prospect for them.
This company was so great. And dear friends, yet how the
Lord was pleased to answer the petitions of living faith. And
upon Jehoshaphat came the spirit of the Lord. And God gave him
a word from himself to speak. And, oh dear friends, what wondrous
words of encouragement were given to them. Tomorrow go ye down
against them. And behold, they come up by the
cliff of Ziz, and ye shall find them at the end of the brook
before the wilderness of Jeruel. But ye shall not need to fight. Ye shall not need to fight in
this battle. Friends, some of us, do we not
have to confess the dangers that come before us, the trials, the
difficulties, the temptations, the impossibilities left to ourselves. We try and start to gather up
and creature strength and creature wisdom, as though we are going
to try and withstand ourselves. But oh friends, the Lord will
not have man to glory in anything. And how he so works, have you
found it to be so? Many have found it to be so,
he weakened my strength in the way. And in many other instances,
we are brought down. The Lord knows how to bring us
down. And so that we do come just where these people were,
we have no might. Neither know we what to do. But
oh friends, ye shall not need to fight. This is the answer
from God, their God. Or is he our God? Is he my God? Ye shall not need to fight in
this battle. Set yourselves, stand ye still,
and see the salvation of the Lord with you. I feel this is
so beautifully worded. Twice we have it in this verse,
with you, with you. It might have read here for you,
It says, see the salvation of the Lord with you. And dear friends, you see the
Lord, he helps his people, he is with them. And it's not that
they sit back entirely and fold their arms, no. But they must
still go out They must still go forth, they must still seek
to go on, even in the face of impossibility. But it says tomorrow, tomorrow. And there is a contrast. I felt here compared with the wonderful
deliverance that the Lord wrought, to the children of Israel at
the Red Sea, not to bring anything, as it were, a controversy, but
how sovereignly the Lord works. But when the Lord spoke through
Moses, he said to Moses, if my eyes might light upon it,
that he said, fear ye not, stand still and see the salvation of
the Lord, which he will show to you today. Today. And friends, the Lord did that
very day. But with the children of Judah
and Jerusalem with Jehoshaphat. It was, ye shall not need to
fight in this battle. Set yourselves, stand ye still,
and see the salvation of the Lord with you, O Judah and Jerusalem. Fear not, nor be dismayed tomorrow. Tomorrow, go ye out. Go out against
them, for the Lord will be with you. Well, friends, it seems
like this. There was one more night. There
was one more night. Now, whatever the purpose the
Lord has, the final outcome, the outcome of the Lord's promise,
the Lord's mighty hand, the Lord's salvation, the truth that there was no need
for the children of Judah to fight any more than there was
any need for the children of Israel to fight the Egyptians
at the Red Sea. Both deliverances were entirely
of God, completely, and His great salvation was manifested in a
most remarkable way. about, dear friends, the sovereignty
of God. More and more, I am come, as
I hope it is the Lord's teaching, more and more, the sovereignty
of God is such a great deep. And dear friends, really, it's
gathered up in that beautiful word in the psalm, My times are
in thy hand. My times are in thy hand. And
so friends, hey, we need that grace. And here with these dear
people, as it were, they had this one more night, and we read,
didn't we, and they rose early in the morning. They rose early
in the morning. But friends, the Lord kept that
as it were expectation alive and the certainty of it was strengthened
when Jehoshaphat under his God and their God encouraged them
and exhorted them. Hear me, he said. He stood, addressed
them as they had risen early that morning tomorrow. Here it was the next day obviously. and that is exactly what the
Lord meant and what was understood. I do not know what tomorrow will
be in the Lord's purposes in your things and mine but friends
be sure if he is in them and has brought us into these places
he has said I will never leave thee nor forsake thee. Oh how we are tempted But dear
friends, yes, how the Lord then strengthened their king, and
he was enabled to say, hear me, O Judah, and ye inhabitants of
Jerusalem, believe in the Lord your God. So shall ye be established,
believe his prophets, so shall ye prosper. Oh, friends, so the
lord his word is faithful it will stand have he not said and
shall he not do it tomorrow but this also came to my thoughts
as well in the word that the lord gave through jahaziel we
have These things, this word that I hope the Lord has commanded
me to bring before you, tomorrow go ye down against them and tomorrow
go out against them. It's twice, isn't it? Twice,
friends. Oh, and it does bring me, made
me feel and think of those words in Psalm 62. God hath spoken
once, twice have I heard this, that power, that power belongeth
unto God. Now friends, however impossible
your it may be, the multitude that has come out against you
may be, may be a multitude within, and neither know we what to do.
Oh, yet the power belongeth unto God. Tomorrow, go ye down, get
ye down, go ye down against them. And then again tomorrow, go out
against them. For the Lord will be with you.
Yes. Oh, then dear friends, how the
Lord so graciously answered those cries and what an example this
is that prayer precedes praise. The Lord so worked in Jehoshaphat's
heart he must gather the people together and they all stood before
the Lord and prayer was put up. The Lord answered in that very
clear way. I know that sometimes, and perhaps
often with us, we do not receive such a clear and powerful answer
so immediately. But dear friends, the Lord encourages
us at all times to pray, Pour out your hearts before him, ye
people. Pour out your hearts before him. And how he was pleased to send
those words of encouragement and indeed words of what the
Lord would indeed do. Yes. Oh friends, oh how the Lord
Sovereignly, even in this, conveys what he will do. And sometimes
he keeps it, as it were, hidden. But, what does he say here? He did not say how he was going
to deliver them. He did not go into the details,
but he gave them this, fear not, nor be dismayed. Tomorrow go
out against them, For the Lord will be with you. Friends, isn't
that all we need? Isn't that all that we need?
For the Lord will be with you. Isn't that the greatest encouragement
and help that any poor sinner could ever have? It's Emmanuel,
God with us. For the Lord will be with you. I am with thee. Israel passing
through the fire. Fear thou not, for I am with
thee. There are those many different
promises and it's so easy for me, I get some of them mixed
up. But really this is what I wanted
to say. When thou passest through the
waters, I will be with thee. And through the rivers, They
shall not overflow thee when thou walkest through the fire. Thou shalt not be burned, neither
shall the flame kindle upon thee, for I am the Lord thy God, the
Holy One of Israel, thy Saviour. The tomorrow go out against them,
for the Lord will be with you. Well friends, I have trembled
tomorrow, but it seems to so stand out. There are many expectations,
even naturally speaking at this time, with a good number around
the world because of what today, tomorrow is on the calendar. I leave that, but there are no
doubt, there are many in anticipation of one kind or another, the 14th
of February. But my dear friends, what is
our expectation for tomorrow? What is your expectation? And
what is mine tomorrow? Oh, if we have this granted,
fear not, nor be dismayed, Tomorrow, go out against them, for the
Lord will be with you. Oh friends, that's the greatest
blessing that a poor sinner can know, for the Lord will be with
you. And friends, when this may be
a consideration too, the consideration of that tomorrow
which faces every one of us, And that is coming to our end. As some of you know, when I was
asked to come here on a Laws Day afternoon a few weeks ago,
I started off my journey. And because of a road closure
on the way I usually would have come, I had to go a different
way. which led me down into the Rother
Valley below Burwash Common and as I came down the hill and turned
a corner there was the whole valley. In front of me a sheet
of water. I went a few further yards down
the road and there was the water and I could see it moving across
the road. How deep I did not know but I
knew it was foolishness. to attempt to drive into it with
no further road in sight. Oh, friends, that was a river
in flood. Oh, but dear friends, yes, there
will be that day tomorrow, or however many days of the calendar
time it may be, but there's a tomorrow, isn't there? For each of us. And how will they do? in the
swelling of Jordan. Oh, friends, but this same God,
yes, He has promised that He will be with His people through
death itself. And more than that, we have that
beautiful expression of what Jesus Christ has done for His
people. He has tasted death. for every
one of his dear people. Tasted death for every man. Fear
not, nor be dismayed. Tomorrow, go out against them,
for the Lord will be with you. The Lord will be with you. The
Lord himself be with you all. Oh, that hymn that we have sometimes
sung Oh, what a verse, a prayer it is. The last verse of 631. The Lord be with you to the end
and land you safe above. A long eternity to spend in singing. God is love. Tomorrow. Friends, what a prospect the
Lord's people for tomorrow, that final tomorrow
as it were. One more night, the night of
this time state. However many more days, months
or years it may be, it will be, the Lord has made it clear in
his word, there will be many days of darkness. But dear friends,
if you and I have a God to go to, Can we not cry like the dear
one did in the song of Solomon? Oh, friends, this is a good prayer. Has it been yours? Oh, I hope
it has been mine. I remember hearing one of the
Lord's servants preach from it a good many years ago. Until
the daybreak, until the daybreak, and the shadows flee away, turn
my beloved and be thou like a roe or a young heart upon the mountains
of Bethlehem. Tomorrow go out against them,
for the Lord will be with you. Well, a few broken thoughts,
but may the Lord bless his word for his name's sake. Amen. Firm as the earth thy gospel
stands, My Lord, my hope, my trust, If I am found in Jesus' hands, My
soul can ne'er be lost. Nor death nor hell shall e'er
remove his favourites from his breast,
in the dear bosom of his love they must forever rest. I wasn't sure I owned my own
trust. If I have found it, is it that ? My children, help me, Lord ?
? It's on the victim nature's trail
? ? Buried in selfish fear ? O let it send me Fatherland, this country
proud and free. ? For him no man shall ever be
poor ? ? Which taketh from his breast ? ? In the dear bosom
of his mouth ? O Lord, in thy mercy do pardon
and forgive anything that thy pure and holy eyes have seen
amiss. Lord, do comfort trembling hearts. Lord, grant us, Lord, that grain
of faith to believe in the Lord. Humbly may we be able to say,
Our God. Do take each now to their homes
in peace and in safety, and may the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ
and the love of God and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you
all. Amen.