Yeah. The collections taken here today,
friends, are for the support of the Christian Institute. Let
us commence our services today by singing together Hymn number
1151. The tune is Salzburg, 861. Great Sovereign Lord, what human
eye Amidst thy works conrodes and not thy liberal hand is spy,
nor trace thy bounteous love. Hymn 1151. It's often, Lord,
what you and I Amidst thy watchful care, And
of thy liberal hand, O drapes thy valent yet spun,
Each star that builds her heavenly frame, O'er earth each burdened clod
In language loud to men proclaim The great purple mountain strong. The lessons each revolving year
Repeat in various ways Which Thy provisions, Lord, have given,
The poor shall shout Thy praise. Her fruitful fields and pastures
till, Of man and beast I care, The thriving palm thy braces
fill, Thy breath perfumes the air, But now what human eye can trace,
O human heart, conceive the greater of thy grace, in off'ring souls
receive. of everlasting has not sped,
its path is beyond its sound. And in Him endless life prepared,
For sorrows by sin undone. From the holy word of God, we'll
read together the second book of the Chronicles, chapter 20. The second book of the Chronicles,
chapter 20. It came to pass after this also
that the children of Moab and the children of Ammon and with
them other besides 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
Hazazon 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 dwell 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 wouldst 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 Benaniah, the son of Jeiel, the son of
Mataniah, a Levite, of the sons of Asaph, came the Spirit of
the Lord in the midst of the congregation. And he said, Hearken
ye, all Judah, and ye inhabitants of Jerusalem, and thou King Jehoshaphat. Thus saith the Lord unto you,
be not afraid nor dismayed 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 Korohites 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 the 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, everyone 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 ground 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
Baraka 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
psalteries 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 Azuba,
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. Albeit the high places were not
taken away, for as yet the people are 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.
And after this did Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, join himself with Ahaziah, king of Israel, who
did very wickedly. And he joined himself with him
to make ships to go to Tarshish. And they made the ships in Ezion-Geba. Then Eliezer, the son of Dodavah
of Marishah, prophesied against Jehoshaphat, saying, because
thou hast joined thyself with Ahaziah, the Lord hath broken
thy works. And the ships were broken that
they were not able to go to Tarshish. May God bless to us that reading
from his holy word and may he teach us how to pray. most merciful and gracious and
almighty Lord God in heaven. We gather this afternoon for
thanksgiving. We gather to worship thee and
to praise thee for all thy many mercies to us. We do pray that
thou would help us in our worship here this day. May it be truly
said, unto him shall the gathering of the people be. May it be truly
felt in our worship today. May there be that uniting of
our hearts together in that desire to truly praise and to thank
thee for all thy many mercies. that we gather to thank thee
for thy faithfulness, for thy loving kindnesses and tender
mercies toward us. We gather to thank thee for the
harvest and the gathering in of it. And we do praise thee
and thank thee for these things. Lord, thou knowest the need of
every living thing, and we do pray that thou would continue
thy mercies and thy favours toward us in our nation. Lord, we can see, Lord, in this
dry weather, both the ease of which the harvest has been gathered
in, but Lord, there are those that are struggling with the
lack of rain, and the dryness of the time that we are passing
through. And we will look to thee and
pray that thou would open the windows of heaven and to shower
down rain upon the earth, Lord, that there may be that continual
provision for the living things of this nation. Lord, we do praise
thee and thank thee for thy mercy, and pray that thou would look
upon us in this regard with compassion. Lord, we do deserve thy judgments,
and Lord, this feels to be a judgment upon us, and we do pray that
thou would grant an eye to see thy hand upon our nation and
grant an ear to hear thy voice and a heart made soft, Lord,
that many may be brought to true confession and to pray unto thee. Lord, we then meet with thanksgiving,
but we meet, Lord, in confession. Lord, we pray that thou would
help us to see something of ourselves. Lord, it is in this, that opening
of our eye and that revealing to us each personally what we
are, what we have done, and how we are by nature, and our place
before thee, Lord, and may it please thee to show us something
of thyself, to humble us in the dust, and Lord, we pray that
thou pour out upon us that spirit of true confession, of our sin,
for we have sinned and we have come short of the glory of God. Though we have seen and enjoyed
the many blessings that thou art pleased to give, yet Lord,
how often we have taken them for granted. How often, Lord,
they've been let to lie forgotten unthankfulness. and without praises
die. And for this we would truly be
sorry and ask that thou would forgive us our neglect in these
things. And Lord, we have had a harvest
gathered in and we thank thee for these things. Lord, we pray
that thou would continue to supply the need that there is in this
land. Lord, we pray that there may
be seed time and harvest. Lord, there is that promise given
to Noah and to every descendant, Lord, those that follow on from
the days of Noah, that there will be those things while the
earth remaineth. that, Lord, we are not promised
a bountiful harvest. And we pray, Lord, that thou
be pleased to grant that bountiful harvest in the coming year. And so we come before thee, and
we praise thee for what thou hast done, and ask that thou
still be gracious to us, and that thou go on to be gracious
further still and that Lord we pray that thou be with us each
in the unknown way. May this afternoon and this evening
be a time for us to look back to reflect upon all the way the
Lord our God has led us. May we Lord have brought back
to our remembrance the many helps, the many blessings, the many
comforts that we have had. And may, Lord, we have that true
gratitude in our hearts in the light of our sinfulness and the
wickedness of our hearts that these mercies have come from
thee. Oh, may we truly praise thee
and thank thee for all thy goodness and thy mercy to us, thy long-suffering
and thy patience and thy forbearance. Lord, we pray that thou help
us. May there be a spirit of godliness
poured out upon us each. Help us, Lord, keep us with a
tender conscience. May the fear of the Lord be poured
out upon us and upon our nation. May, Lord, we be brought to truly
live our lives in that right way. Lord, do help us in this,
we pray. And teach us those things that
would otherwise escape us. Reveal, Lord, thyself to us in
the preaching and reading of thy word. Lord, those many instructions
there are in thy word. Lord, apply them to us by thy
divine power. Make thy word a living word to
us. May it be as the seed which is
planted and brings forth fruit. May it be the same regarding
thy word. May it enter in. May it find
an abiding place. May it bring forth fruit to thy
honour and thy glory. Help us then. May we be fruitful. O Lord, may it bless the church
and congregation here, that there may be a living church of God
here to the end of time. Lord, thou hast been their help. Leave them not, neither forsake
them, O God of their salvation. We do thank thee for their pastor
and for the help thou hast given him. We pray that thou continue
thy favour toward him. Lord, may his seed basket be
filled week by week. May his hand be strengthened
for the sowing. And as he goes forth weeping,
bearing precious seed, may he doubtless come again rejoicing,
bringing his sheaves with him. May the same blessings be to
each of thy servants. And we pray for those in the
local area Lord we pray for our dear friend turned in here this
afternoon be with him may the same blessings attend his labours
in thy name and build up we humbly pray thy one church in the day
we are living in oh we pray that we may be brought to see a day
of prosperity in the church of God here below. May there be many additions. May there be much success from
the preaching of the gospel of Jesus Christ. May the Holy Spirit
be poured out upon us. The taking of the things of Jesus
and revealing them to men, women, boys, and girls. And may, Lord,
there be are gathering in, into the places of worship, that,
Lord, are gathering into thy kingdom. May there be faith poured
out, mixed with the hearing, and may we each hear to the profit
of our souls. Leave us not to just the outward
form, Lord, may the blessing of the Lord dwell richly in us. Oh, we do pray then, dear Lord
Jesus, that thou would be pleased to presence thyself here this
day. And may we lose sight of each
other, and may we see No man save Jesus only as we seek to
raise our voices in thanksgiving unto our God. We do above all thank the Father,
Son and Holy Spirit for the wonders of redeeming love and blood for
the glorious plan of salvation, for the matchless condescension
of our Lord Jesus Christ in coming to this sinful world to suffer,
to bleed and to die for his poor unworthy people. We pray that even this day there
might be Lord, that sense upon us each, given to us each, that
we are numbered among them. Lord, leave none of us out. Lord,
do not pass any of us by. We plead that thou would save
us each for that everlasting salvation. So Lord, do remember
us each. Remember this cause of truth. Lord, do bless them, and help
them be with the deacons, with the church thou hast planted
here. Lord, you gather in from the
congregation into the church, and Lord, may there be thy blessing
known and felt here week by week. Lord, we ask that thou would
continue then what thou hast begun. and may thy work continue
here to the end of time. And so we praise thee, we thank
thee, and we ask thee still for more. Lord, we look to the unknown
way, those things that lie before us, and we know not what a day
nor an hour may bring forth. But we look unto thee, we look
in hope, in expectation, as we plead that Thou wilt guide us
in the unknown way. We are exhorted by the psalmist
to commit our way unto the Lord, to trust also in Him, and He
shall bring it to pass. Oh, then help us, Lord, in this
we pray, to commit all into Thy gracious Encouraged by what thou
hast done, I look to the future and pray that thou would supply
every need. May the word of the Apostle be
fulfilled for us each personally, but my God shall supply all your
need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus. We thank thee then and praise
thee for enabling us to gather here today, for sparing us, for
maintaining us, and bringing us to this point in time. And
now we pray that thou, Lord, open thy gracious hands and pour
out a blessing upon us that there may not be room in our hearts
to receive May we leave thy house at the end of this day with our
hearts overflowing with the love of Christ. We ask these things,
the pardon of every sin. We ask Lord Jesus in thy name. Amen. Let us now sing together hymn
number 166. The tune is St. Polycarp, 405.
Sorry friends, the tune is St. Sepulchre, 406. Here at thy cross, my dying God,
I lay my soul beneath thy love, beneath the droppings of thy
blood, Jesus, nor shall it e'er remove. Hymn 166. In earth Thy cross, my dying
Lord, I lay my soul beneath Thy love. With the robes of thy blood,
No trust nor shall it ever burn. Not all the tyrants think the
same, With rage and lightning in their eyes. The hells shall guide my heart
away, ? Should panic or its legions rise ? ? Should mercy fail to drive the angels
away ? With blessed sentiments that
shall die, Grace of God, that I must depend, If I must perish,
then to die. Mercy, my Lord, and calm my fear,
And my God save Thee, be Thine aid. Thy vengeance will for sure prevail,
God's faithful pair my soul invade. Yes, I'm secure beneath thy blood,
And all thy foes shall lose their way. Hosanna to my dying God, and
my best honest in His name. will you turn with me to the
chapter we read, the second book of the Chronicles, chapter 20. And with the Lord's help this
afternoon, I'll speak to you from verse 26. The second book of the Chronicles,
chapter 20, verse 26. 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 Baraka unto
this day. The second book of the Chronicles,
chapter 20, verse 26, and on the fourth day they assembled themselves in
the Valley of Baraka, that is the Valley of Blessing. For there
they blessed the Lord, therefore the name of the same place was
called the Valley of Baraka unto this day. What a wonderful day this fourth
day must have been. And what a wonderful place this Valley
of Baraka must have been as it resounded with the sound of the
praises of these children of Judah as they worshipped God
for all that he had done for all his faithfulness, for all
his many mercies. This is surely contrasted against
the beginning of the chapter when we think of the fear. We were told of, in verse three,
Jehoshaphat feared and set himself to seek the Lord, but he feared
as he heard of these armies that were coming against them. And
they were outnumbered, they felt their weakness. Jehoshaphat's
heart is filled with fear and trepidation. But here the place
which should have been the valley of death, the valley of destruction
is the valley of blessing. What a thanksgiving and what
a day of rejoicing this fourth day. May the Lord help us just for
a few moments before we We come to the Valley of Baraka as we
consider a few things that proceeded. Jehoshaphat feared. These things
had come upon them. We read it came to pass. It came to pass after this also. And these things in our lives
and the lives of these Old Testament characters,
they come to pass. And many things come to pass. And things are coming to pass
in your life and mine. And I wonder if you know something
of what Jehoshaphat and these men of Judah felt. And I wonder
if you and I have proved the same things that Jehoshaphat
and the men of Judah proved. We're told there came some that
told Jehoshaphat. They brought him news, and it
wasn't good news. And it filled his heart with
fear. And what did he do? He set himself
to seek the Lord. He set himself to seek the Lord. Dear friends, if you don't remember
anything else, may the Lord apply this to your heart and mine with
his divine power. He set himself to seek the Lord. call upon me in the day of trouble
I will deliver thee and thou shalt glorify me he sought the
Lord in the time of trouble in the time of difficulty he sought
the Lord what an unspeakable mercy that we have these reminders
in God's Word that poor unworthy sinners can seek the Lord in
a day of trouble. That there is a loving welcome
at the throne of grace for poor, trembling, needy sinners. You know dear friends, Jehoshaphat
wasn't as favoured as we are. He didn't know the name of Jesus
Christ, the Son of God. Oh, how much more? How much more
in a gospel day? We have an Old Testament text
this afternoon. Well, may we look at it in a
New Testament gospel sense. Dear friends, if Jehoshaphat,
in the Old Testament way, was brought to seek the Lord in his
day of trouble. Oh, may you and I be sweetly
encouraged as we look back to the coming of the Lord Jesus.
And may you and I be sweetly encouraged in our days of difficulty
and distress in knowing something of the person and work of Jesus
Christ. He sought the Lord. The psalmist said this poor man
cried and the Lord heard him and delivered him. This is a
source of encouragement for us. The Jehoshaphat feared and set
himself to seek the Lord he proclaimed a fast and he stood and he prayed
unto the Lord they gathered to ask help of the Lord and they
came to seek the Lord and they gathered for prayer and Jehoshaphat
he pours out this prayer and what a prayer And what a blessing this prayer
has been, hasn't it, to the poor, tempted people of God over the
many years. He gently and sweetly reminds
the Lord of his promises, you know, and who he is, and what
a source of instruction that is for us. May we be blessed with this same
blessing in our prayers as we come before Almighty God, to
plead the promises, to plead, to remind the Lord, to supplicate
Him with who He is, what He has promised, what He has said He
will do, to plead the promises. Dear friends, may you and I be
often found reading, reading His Word. This is where the promises
of God are laid out for us, aren't they? This is God's Word. God has given His divine Word. May we be frequent in our reading
of it. and may we seek the Lord will
impress upon our hearts the promises that it contains and give us
that grace and that help to plead those promises at the throne
of grace oh what a blessing it is to come with a thou hast said
thou hast said oh in our times of distress and trouble to remind
the Lord and so remind ourselves, thou hast said, I will never
leave thee, nor forsake thee. Well, he comes towards the close
of the prayer. And he says, Lord, I say how
they have rewarded us. Look upon us in our in our condition
and how we are treated and how these things are against us. Oh our God, verse 12, wilt thou
not judge them? Wilt thou not judge them? For
we have no might against this great company that cometh against
us. As a confession of weakness,
a confession of an inability. We're insufficient. We're unable. We are unable. You and I, we are unable, aren't
we? How many have come in with this
verse 12 of this chapter? And how many this afternoon can
thank the Lord for this verse 12? of the second book of Chronicles
20. We have no might against this
great company that cometh against us. Neither know we what to do. A confession of a lack of wisdom. We don't know what to do. We
have no strength and we do not know what to do. and maybe it's
in a thing of providence and you don't know you have no strength
and you don't know what to do you don't know how to deal with
the matter you don't know which option to take you don't know
what turn to make this is the secret but our eyes
are upon thee. We don't know what to do. And
how often it is, isn't it? We lack wisdom. We know what
maybe happened yesterday, but we don't know always the reason
why. We maybe know something of what's taking place now, but
again, we don't know why always. but we certainly don't know what
the future holds but if you have this gift the knowledge of who
holds the future oh then there is a foundation there is a foundation
isn't there a foundation for our prayer a foundation for our
hope. But our eyes are upon Thee, the
Almighty One, the One that sits upon the circle of the earth,
the One who holds all things in His gracious hand, the Creator
of all things, the King of kings and Lord of lords, the one who knows all that has
happened and all that will happen, the reasons for it, who's working
out his purposes, who is unchangeable and almighty and all-powerful. Our eyes are upon thee. And then Oh, the gracious answer
comes. And God is pleased to send to
Jehoshaphat and the men of Judah his prophet, his servant, Jehuziel. And he comes with a word from
the Lord. And he brings them these good
tidings. Yes, go out, but it's Be not
afraid nor dismayed by reason of this great multitude, for
the battle is not yours, but God's." Oh, what a wonderful
thing. Can you imagine hearing this?
When you feel surrounded and you're overwhelmed with fear,
the battle is not yours, but God's. Be not afraid nor dismayed,
though you're outnumbered, though you might feel outmaneuvered,
though you feel insufficient, though you feel unable, the battle
is not yours, but God's. And they're told to go out. You
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, Be not dismayed, nor be dismayed, to-morrow
go out against them, for the Lord will be with you. The Lord with you. The Lord with you. Oh, what more
could they want? The Lord is with us. The God
of Jacob is our refuge. Selah. And so they went. And they went in faith. And they went with a measure
of assurance. They went rejoicing. They went and they began to sing
and to praise. And as they began to sing and
to praise, the Lord unfolded his his divine hand and his purposes
unfolded and the overthrow of their enemies was accomplished
and they didn't need to fight and when they came there they
found dead bodies and they began to spoil the dead bodies and
they found Abundance of riches and precious jewels. And there were three days in
the spoil there was so much. And then the fourth day they
assembled themselves in the Valley of Baraka. They named it the
Valley of Blessing. Oh, the Lord had favoured them.
had blessed them. His purposes will ripen fast,
unfolding every hour. The bud may have a bitter taste,
but sweet will be the flower. Who could have conceived and
thought, when the news came that this great host was coming against
them for war, and to destroy them, that there would be this
great blessing in it, that they wouldn't even need to fight,
that the Lord would so richly bless them and so richly supply
them, that they would be three days in the spoiling, such was
the goodness of the Lord. Oh, there truly is, isn't there,
that fulfilling of the word we have in Ephesians. This is chapter 3, verse 20 and
21. Now unto him that is able to
do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think according
to the power that worketh in us. Unto him be glory in the
church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen. Now unto him. Now unto him be glory. May our thanksgiving be unto
him. May there be a sense of thanksgiving
and praise for this testimony of the Lord's mighty dealings
for Jehoshaphat and the men of Judah. Friends, this is not really the
sense that this word came in my thoughts concerning the Thanksgiving
service this afternoon. Earlier this week it seemed really
laid upon me, not in Providence, because really this is the providential
dealings of Almighty God. There's a trial and a deliverance. God is a God of providence and
what a mercy and what a favor and blessing it is that he is
a God of providence and a thanksgiving service we thank the Lord surely
for his hand of providence in supplying our temporal needs
and providence and answers to prayer in providence are the
Lord's gracious hand in our temporal needs, the things that are taking
place day by day which are in this temporary world which is
temporary and it is a great blessing that God in all his mercy and
favour is pleased to even take care of the details of our providential
lives but earlier this week it seemed
really laid on me in a way of grace this fourth day this fourth
day they assembled themselves in the valley of Baraka there
they blessed the Lord therefore the name of the same place was
called the Valley of Baraka until this day. Maybe you have your
Valley of Baraka spots and places in your lives where you have
sought the Lord in a time of need and in that hour of need
the Lord has met with you and delivered you and he's turned
what seemed to be against you for you And he's turned what
seemed to be a curse to a blessing. And oh, may you be enabled to
truly thank him. May he bring those things to
your remembrance this afternoon. What about grace? Because, dear
friends, the Lord in his providential dealings There are times when
he will bring things into our path to show us, to correct us,
to chasten us. There are times when he'll bring
things into our path and we'll ask for deliverance and he won't
give it. He won't give it. Joshua, they went to fight Ai
and they were defeated because of Akan. You know there are those things
in providence which the Lord has purposes of teaching and
leading and instructing his poor unworthy people. What about those things of grace? These things as they concern
us spiritually. The times when the Lord is pleased
to bring troubles of soul, for we now have no might against
this great company that cometh against us. I wonder if there's
a few of you here this afternoon and you know something of this. Yes, maybe in providence, but
more so in grace. You've known something of that
conviction of your sin. The Lord has been pleased to
reveal something of your sinnership to you. Eternity has been brought
before you. Maybe you've looked on the death
of a loved one. Maybe it's in the open grave.
And there's been something that's pricked you in your conscience.
The Lord's been pleased to stir up your heart. There was previously
a carelessness and an indifference regarding the things of grace.
Maybe like me, the Lord began with you in more of a providential
way, and you knew something of a God of providence, but you
didn't know the God of all grace, the God of all comfort. Oh, you
needed him. You needed him for your daily
life, but you didn't know how much you needed him because of
your sin. and the day of your death. There's a relying on him and
a depending on him for temporal things. But is there a knowledge
of a need, the need of our souls? I suppose because of our bodily
needs, We see the frailty of our lives and we have those bodily
urges to require food and we see something of our needs bodily,
but what about the needs of our souls? We have no might against this
great company. begins to show you something
of yourself, your sin, the multitude of them. Not just that, but the
exceeding sinfulness of the sin, because it was such a delight,
you took pleasure in it, you loved it, it was everything to
you, it meant everything to you. The pleasures of sin, The wickedness
and corruption of our hearts is that we by nature delight
in sin. So we're full of sin but we don't
see it as an issue and a problem. Till the Lord is pleased to shine
a light into the heart. The light of his word. Some measuring
of ourselves against the standard of God's word. revealing of something of God and God's Word, God's holy law,
our standing before him, our part in these sins, our taking
part in them, our active willingness to participate in it and our depravity through our
fall in Adam, with no might. We try and, under some sense of sin, stop,
which is right and proper to do. But then you have to prove, like
the hymn writer, the more I strove against its power, the power
The more I strove against its power, I sinned and stumbled
but the more. There's no might against this
great army. They're like a baying mob around
you. They want you to join and participate
with them. The world, we're in a world of
sin. It's like the army around Jehoshaphat. You may feel the pressures to
conform, to join their ranks, to cast your lot in, but you
don't feel to be part of them. But you don't feel to be part
of the elect of God, the saved people of God. And so you're
somewhere in the middle. you feel to be in your experience with no power against this great
company a willing participator who now no longer wants to keep
their company but how to separate and how to resist and how to
strive and fight against sinful inclinations of your heart we have no power we have no might
against this great company that cometh against us neither know
we what to do helpless helpless sinner in this no man's land can't settle
back in the world your conscience, it's been pricked,
you can't settle back, but you can't find peace. But surely
the Lord's people have peace, but you have no peace. Neither know we what to do. Oh may the Lord, may the Lord
turn for one and another The curse that's hanging over them. The curse which sin brings. The soul that sinneth against
God must die. Nothing that defiles can enter
into the holy place heaven. Neither know we what to do. Oh
what can be done? Where is the hope? Where is the
prospect? You're in like the valley of
the shadow of death. No valley of blessing for you.
It's a valley of gloom. A valley of misery. A valley which the sides are
rising up. No way out. You can't go back. How can you go forward? Satan's
raging, and your heart is weak, and you're full of fear, and
there's much trepidation. Oh, may you lift your eyes above
those valley sides. I will lift up mine eyes unto
the hills. For whence cometh my help? Where? Where will it come from? Who
can help such a far-off, helpless sinner? My help cometh from the
Lord. That's the answer, isn't it?
For whence cometh my help? The sign of help coming for the
psalmist will be on the hills. That's where you'll see it. The
Lord's appearing. His hand of deliverance. The
army that he doesn't know yet that's on the way, it will appear
on those hills. And then he'll know. Then he'll
know the Lord has arisen. Arisen and bestirred himself
for his help. I will lift up mine eyes unto
the hills, and I'll keep looking, I'll keep looking up there, and
I'll watch his hand, and I'll wait for his appearing. And whence
cometh my help? Who can help me? My help cometh
from the Lord, which made heaven and earth. We but our eyes are upon thee. On the person of his son Jesus
Christ, on the saviour of sinners, the saviour of the lost, the
saviour of the helpless, those that cannot help themselves,
those that are empty, broken-hearted and are feeling far off Our eyes are upon thee. Oh, that the Lord would reveal
himself in the valley of the shadow of death and turn that
valley of death into a valley of blessing. He'll come right
down into the dark place at the bottom of that valley where you
are. and that he'll lift up the base
of that valley and he'll drop down the mountains and make them
flow down at his presence and make it all a plane and shine
with the light of the gospel of Jesus Christ into your poor,
longing, fearful, needy heart. He shall not need to fight this
battle. King Jesus. He is risen, risen from the dead. He's led captivity captive. He is ascended, risen and now
ascended into heaven itself. You shall not need to fight in
this battle. Set yourselves, prepare yourselves
in readiness to receive the blessing, though it's the poor and the
broken and the contrite heart that he will not despise. Stand ye still and see the salvation
of the Lord with you. O Judah and Jerusalem, fear not,
nor be dismayed, that go out against it, for the Lord will
be with you. I am with you. Oh, this God of all comfort,
God of all grace, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, who took
all his people's sins upon himself, willingly receiving them from
his Father, as he received that gift of his people, with that
great commission to make them right, make them ready, to prepare
them and to fit them for heaven. He took all their sins upon himself. He bare them all away. And he
did what they could not do for themselves. and He saved them
with that everlasting salvation. Oh then, that place, there they
bless the Lord. Oh, there's no greater blessing
is there unto the Lord. Thanksgiving for the mercies
of the forgiveness of sin, for the putting away of sin, A thanksgiving for the peace
made between God and sinners. Poor unworthy people now made
holy and unblameable and unapprovable in the sight of God. That which
was far off through sin made nigh by the blood of Christ. Oh the cross of Jesus Christ,
the precious shedding of that precious blood, washing away
the sin of the Church of God. Oh, these things, surely, as
that river is opened. Oh, and that bubbling up of the
love of God in the heart of a sinner. And that, oh, turning that dry,
barren wilderness and making it a fruitful field, turning
it, the valley of death and destruction, into the valley of blessing.
And they on the fourth day, you think of that day of the resurrection,
the third day he rose again, and the fourth day they went
on, and there was that going on the preaching of the glorious
gospel of Jesus Christ and the proclaiming of the blessing of
the Lord which maketh rich. On the fourth day they assembled
themselves. Well, may we assemble ourselves
together today for thanksgiving, for providence, and much more
for grace. 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 Baraka unto this day. May God add his blessing. Amen. Let us now sing together, hymn
number 410, that the tune is Walton 430. O for a heart prepared to sing,
to God my Saviour and my King, while with his saints I join
to tell, my Jesus has done all things well. Hymn 410. Therefore I ought to glad to
sing to God my Saviour and my King. How sweet this thanks I
join to tell my Jesus has done all things well. Our world His glorious power
confess, His wisdom all His works express, But who is love? What love can tell? By Jesus' wisdom all things well. ? In wonder, told and free ? ?
This born is mine ? ? This giv'n to me ? ? Hea'v'n, hea'v'n ? Come, my friend, from hell, my
Jesus, and all things well. And since I saw that man cares
not What man sees, he made me prove Mercies, which all my praises
sell, my Jesus, that on all things well, Where my Saviour and my God Has
o'er me laid His gentle rod finder in all that is. Behold my Jesus past, and all
things well. Sometimes this place, to fade
this place, to make me brave, obtain my pride. Yet have I failed on this, To
fail my Jesus has the Lord. Sometimes he learns to hide my
face. To hear his arms shall lose my
breath. Yet then my family's foes shall
tell My Jesus, the Master of things well Amen to that. I bow my eyes, and join the answered
in the skies. Among the rest, this note shall
fail, by Jesus' word. And now may the grace of our
Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God the Father, and the fellowship
and the communion of the Holy Spirit, rest and abide with us
each, now and for evermore. Amen. Tea will be served shortly.