We share our mutual woes, don't
we? Our mutual burdens bear. We all
have a burden. I hope we do. I hope we have
a burden for the Word, a burden for souls of those we love. And so we pray to our God. We meet to pray. We meet to gather
together to call on Him collectively. Ask Him to save us, help us,
save us and our children. Now, Psalm 20, as all the songs, this
is a song and a prayer. Both are vital. Singing, praying
are vital. integral part of worship. Both
are vital. Vital, you nurses know what it
means, pertain to life, necessary to life. Singing, prayer. Prayer is the life's breath of
a believer. A song and a prayer is what this
is. Both are vital, both are helpful. Singing lifts our spirits. I often tell you, God commands
us, tells us to sing. Sing unto the Lord. And it helps,
doesn't it? I've told you that if you feel
down and whatever, sinful or mourning or singing, it lifts
your spirits. Lift your spirits unto God. Praying
lifts your heart to God. He's our help. He's our help. Look at this. Let's read the
first two verses. Lord, hear thee in the day of
trouble. Name of the God of Jacob defend
thee. Send thee help from the sanctuary. Strengthen thee out
of his eye. Lord, help thee from the sanctuary.
This little place is a sanctuary. It really is. Other tabernacles,
amiable tabernacles. I love preaching on the church.
Next to preaching on our Lord, I love preaching concerning God's
church. The church, our blessed Redeemer,
saved with His own precious blood. He loved the church. He bought
her and sought her and bought her. He loves her and He lives
for her. He died for her. The church is
one with Him. It's His body. You really can't
mention Christ without mentioning His church. That's why He came.
For His church. And I'm not going to say this
too many times, but this building is not the church. This is wood,
hay, and stubble. One of these days, there's not
going to be one stone left standing on another. But you are living
stones. You understand? That's what the
Scripture says. You're His temple. The Lord has given us a literal
place, a little sanctuary called God's house, though if we're
not here, He's not either. You understand? When we're not
in this building, God's not here. If the gospel ever gets preached
here, write Ichabod over the door. The glory hath departed. God's not here. If this ever
ceases to be a house of prayer, it's not God's house. So, it's
the last time I'm going to say that, I think, that this building
is not the church. You don't go to church. You go
to meet with the church. You are the church. But this
little place is a sanctuary, isn't it, where God's people
meet. A place in Deuteronomy 12 all the way through chapter
17 or 18, it's 16 or 17 times he says there's a place that
God has chosen to put His name there. And he's talking about
the tabernacle, he's talking about the temple of old, which
was literally a place that he ordained a building that God
had them build where the Ark was and where the people worshipped
God. That's where they all gathered
around. Their dwellings in the wilderness were literally surrounding
that tabernacle. They all lived around a church
house. That's real handy, isn't it? Nobody was ever late to a
service. But that's real handy, isn't
it? The worship of God is our life.
And the place God has chosen, it says there in Deuteronomy,
several times, 16 or 17 times. There's a place God has chosen,
put his name there. You don't go to the church of
your choice. You want to go to the church
of God's choice. The place that God has chosen,
full of chosen people. The place that He's chosen, and
I'm quoting it, to put His name there. He said you go there,
He said you bring your children, and you go there and you worship
the Lord. He says that 16 or 17 times. That's a command. It's not just
a command, it's life, words of life. He said if it's too far
for you, Sell out and move there. Honestly, you've looked at it
with me. I devoted a whole message to that one. A place where God has put His
name there. His name is His Word. He's magnified His Word above
all His name. His name is His Gospel. A city of refuge. Six cities of refuge. Remember
the first one was in Galilee? We just looked at that. Where
Christ is. The church is not our refuge.
But that's where Christ is. That's where we'll find Him who
is our refuge. We read that Psalm 87. I didn't
read all of it. It says, you're going to say
that this man was born there and that man was born there.
Zion, city of God. That's the place that this man
was born. That's the place that that man was born. This is where
I was born. How about you? Huh? I was born. in the church, where the gospel
is, where Christ is, under the gospel. Now, this is not Roman
Catholic doctrine. The church is not our Savior,
Christ is. But that's where He is. That's
where He'll be found. It's a city of refuge because
that's where Christ is, our refuge. A sinner's refuge. That's where
He is found. That's where He's heard. A hospital
for the sinful. It's not a country club. This
is a hospital, though. for the sinful. This is a sheep
fold for sheep. Sheep have to have. It's the
nature of the creature to be in a congregation. They're gregarious. That means they have to congregate.
Sheep can't abide alone. Goats can't. But sheep have to
be together. They do. Because that's where the shepherd...
Where's the shepherd? Where will you find a shepherd?
Where the sheep are. Where's the bridegroom? That's where the bride is. If you come over to my house
looking for me, you know who you'll find there? My bride. You go looking for Christ, you
know who you'll find? His bride. You go to where the bride is,
you know what you'll find? The bridegroom. That's a fact. It's a fact. This is an oasis
in the desert. Isn't it? That's Psalm 63. You read that one Wednesday night.
It says, My soul thirsteth for thee, my flesh longeth for thee
in a dry and a thirsty land where no water is. I want to see your
power and your glory where I've seen it in a sanctuary. This
is like an oasis in the wilderness, isn't it? In a dry and thirsty
land. This is a heavenly place. Ephesians
2 said, He's made us to sit together in a heavenly place. This is
a foretaste of glory divine. We're doing right here what they're
doing in glory. In mystic sweet communion, that
song says, with those whose rest is won. A heavenly place, isn't it? It's
the closest place you'll ever be to heaven. It's where God's
people meet and come and sit together. It's called the King's
Palace Church House. It's called the King's Palace.
Psalm 44. Where you sit among princes.
He raised you. Where did He have to find you?
Down here. Because you sit among princes. This is a table He's prepared
for us in the wilderness in the midst of our enemy. In the presence
of our enemy. A table. Salvation's walls around
it. Cloudy. fiery pillar around each
habitation hovering. Don't you love that? This little
place. I've often said, brethren, these
fellows came two hours from Bethel. Well, you came to Bethel. You
come from Bethel, you come to Bethel, George. Every house,
every church is the house of God. That's what Bethel meant.
You've come to a good place. Every church. There's little
tabernacles. Psalm 84, amiable, lovely places,
loveliest places on earth where God is, where God's people are.
Down there at Spring Lake and Pikeville and on and on it goes,
Kingsport and here. Oh, a heavenly place. Table,
an amiable tabernacle, a nest where you may raise your young. So he says here in verse 1, the
Lord hear thee in the day of trouble. The Lord hear thee in
the day of trouble. What day is that? Every day. Every day. Man that is born of
woman is a few days and full of trouble every day. Got his
own trouble then. Our Lord said, don't worry about
tomorrow. It's sufficient for that day's evil. You're going
to have trouble. A few days and full of trouble.
Jeremiah 30, verse 7 says, it's the day, oh, he said, alas, it's
the day of Jacob's trouble. But he's going to be saved out
of it. Jeremiah 30. Read the rest of Jeremiah 30. John Chapman preached that right
here, didn't he? I remember that message. That's
where you're going to hear this. It's where you're going to get
help. You wouldn't have heard this tonight The Lord hear thee in the day
of trouble. The name of the God of Jacob
defend thee. The name of the God of Jacob
defend thee. This is the place where His name
is, where His name is exalted, where His name is feared, honored,
revered. declared in no uncertain terms,
our God is God. He didn't make Him God. He didn't
let Him be God. He is God. Our God let us know
He's God. That's the only reason we do
know He's God. He's revealed Himself. He said, I'm your God.
One day in salvation, a new birth, He said, I'm the Lord. I'm your
God and you're mine now. He didn't ask you anything. He told you. He didn't know Him. Until he revealed himself to
you. The name of the God of Jacob. Oh, happy is he that hath the
God of Jacob for his help. Who is the God of Jacob? He's
a covenant God. Jacob have I loved. Esau have
I hated. Not fair. That's right. He shouldn't
have loved Jacob. Should have hated both of them,
but God. For His great love wherewith
He loved some, yea, many, whom He willed. Sovereign love. Hail, sovereign love that first
began the scheme to rescue fallen man. Hail, matchless, free, eternal
grace that gave my soul a hiding place. Sovereign love. I will love them freely, he said.
Jacob have I loved. And whoever God loves, they are
loved forever. And whoever God loves, He saved. Don't you love sovereign love?
Jacob have I loved. Happy is he that the God of Jacob. Who is Jacob? Well, he's a surplanter. That's what his name means. His
brother said, he's named well. That's what he is. He's all about
him. He's all about himself. He came
out of the womb saying, not him, me. No, not him first, me first. That's what the supplanter meant.
And isn't that you? Wasn't that you? Isn't that all
of us by nature? Lovers of self. And that fits
this last day more than anything else. 2 Timothy 3, the first
thing. Lovers of self. Everybody's out
for themselves. Well, God's going to bring self
down. And that's what He does when He saves you. He makes you
realize that you are nothing and nobody. You're a worthless
sinner. You're not worthy to be saved.
And you begin to loathe yourself and hate yourself and deny yourself
and abase yourself and not want anybody to... Job was the finest man on earth,
and he said, I am vile. He said, I hate myself. The God of Jacob. Jacob is His
name, but God said, I love Him. And I've made a covenant concerning
Him. I have a purpose to save Him.
I'm going to save Him. I'm going to do everything for
Him. I'm going to keep Him. I'm going to provide for Him.
I'm going to keep Him all the days of His life. I'm going to
save him by my power. Happy is he. And you know the
story of Jacob. There's more about Jacob in Genesis
than any other person. So, happy is he that hath the
covenant. The God of Jacob is a covenant
God who does not change. That whatever he purposed, he
does not change. His will, his purpose, his covenant,
his love, it doesn't change. He said, I am the Lord, I change
not, therefore. Can you quote the rest of it?
You sons of Jacob are not consumed. Oh, the name of the God of Jacob. Defend that. Defend that. Jacob wasn't worth defending.
He swindled his brother. He schemed around his brother-in-law,
his father. Didn't he? But God loved him. Chose him.
Changed him when he wrestled with him. The name of the God
of Jacob. Unchanging Lord. Lord of Lords. Lord of Lords. Oh my, listen
to this. Isaiah 43. I didn't mean to dwell
here, but aren't you glad I did? Isaiah 43, this is marvelous. But now thus saith the Lord that
created thee, O Jacob. He's talking about every child
of God. He that formed thee. You didn't get born again. He gave birth to you. He gave
life to you. O Israel, fear not. I have redeemed
thee. I have called thee by thy name. Thou art mine. 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 Savior. I gave Egypt for you, Ethiopia
and Cebu for you. You are precious in my sight.
I am not going to let anything happen to you hereby. Your Maker is your husband. Your
Maker is your Father. Your Maker is your Lord and your
Redeemer. Oh, the name of the Lord God of Jacob defend thee. And I'll tell you what, the Lord shall defend those who
fear Him. The Lord will defend those who
worship Him in spirit and truth. The Lord will defend those who
defend His name and His truth and His honor. He will defend
them. And He has. All right. The name of the God
of Jacob defend thee, and send thee help from the sanctuary. The Lord send thee help from
the sanctuary. I need help. I wrote a text,
all of you, announcing what the title was going to be, and this
is for those who need help. Do you need help? How often? Every day we have a song we sing,
every day and every hour. Oh, how I need help. You need
help. Our children need help. They
might not know it, but they do. I hope they will. And the Lord
send them help out of where they're going to get it, in the sanctuary. Vain is a helping man. Don't
go to Egypt, Isaiah 30 and 31. Don't go to Egypt. Vain is a
helping Pharaoh in Egypt. They can't help you. I lift up
mine eyes unto the hill, David said, from whence cometh my help.
The hills? A hill called Mount Sinai. A hill called Golgotha. From
whence cometh my help. My help cometh from the Lord.
Well, where is the Lord? He's in His garden. I was going
to read that to you from Song of Solomon. She's looking for
her beloved. She can't find him. She said,
where is he? They said, he's feeding among
the lilies. That's where you'll find him all the time. He's down
in his garden. And that's what he said, I'm
coming to my garden, my love, my spouse. Come, drink my wine.
That's where I'm at. That's where you'll find me.
That's where you'll get help. I need help. I need it bad. When you're born, when you're
a little child, When you're a little child, you need help. You can't
survive a day. Your mama's got to feed you.
Your daddy's got to provide for you. You've got to be clothed.
You've got to be protected. You've got to be defended. You've
got to be led. You've got to be carried, don't you, all your
days when you're a little child. And then you reach the magical
age of 13, where you don't need anybody's help anymore about
anything. You remember that? Thirteen. You've got the world by the tail
on a downhill pull, don't you? Boy, you need help then more
than ever. And so you're going out, you know, you're 17, 18,
you go out there in the world. Now I'm on my own. I ought to
do this by myself. Not knowing. It's the Lord's grace, you know,
the goodness, the tender mercies of the Lord over all His works.
And God's the Savior of all mankind. Everybody's living because God
holds their breath, their life in His hands. They're not dead
because He didn't take their life. Every moment of every day,
they're living, not because of their diet or because of seatbelts. Because of God. And then when
He says, that's it. And oftentimes, he'll leave somebody
alone. Leave him alone. But if he completely takes his
hand off you, you're a goner. You're a goner. You need help.
We need help. Where is it found? In the Lord. Where is he found? In a sanctuary. Are you glad thus far that you're
here tonight? The sanctuary, the name means
it. It means a consecrated place,
and that's the word holy. Brethren, I could spit on this
floor if I wanted to, but I hold too much respect for this place.
But it's just a place. You understand? There's nothing
holy about it. There's no holy things. There's
no holy land. It's dirt. Israel's dirt is just
like Franklin County. Dirt. There's no holy place,
there's no holy water, there's no holy nothing. Meaning it's
sinless or something special. But consecrated, dedicated place
for one thing. The church house is dedicated,
consecrated to be used for one thing. What's that? Worship. One thing. I made a mockery of it. Most
people in the world think the church is just a place where
you go have fun and be entertained. It's a house of worship. A house
of prayer where God's people gather. Sanctuary, that's what
it means. A consecrated place. The word
means asylum. It means asylum. And you're thinking
of one thing and it means that too. But asylum is an old word
we don't use much. But asylum means a private place,
like a chapel for prayer and worship. The dictionary defines
it, and you'll like it. The dictionary defines it two
or three ways. An asylum is an institution for the maintenance
and care of the mentally ill. Well, that's a good definition.
That's us. This world makes me mentally
ill. If you don't know the Lord, you're
a lunatic. You know that? Lunatic. When
the moon comes out, you howl at the moon. That's what people
are doing. That's what I did until I went into the sanctuary.
Isn't that right? Puts you in your right mind.
Like that man in the Gadarene tombs cutting himself. He was a Pentecostal holiness
fellow. Cutting himself and thrashing and banging and jumping up and
shouting and all that. He had another spirit, not the
Holy Spirit. When Jesus Christ tamed him,
brought him to his right mind, the mind of Christ, where did
you find him? What was he doing? It says he
was sitting, listening to Christ. seated and clothed in his right
mind with his mouth shut, listening to the gospel of the Lord Jesus
Christ. And you're a lunatic and people
are lunatic that don't know God, don't know Christ, and don't
worship Him. And you go out there and you
stay there very long, and we do, don't we? And it drives you
crazy. So we come into this asylum. That's a good name for it. Institution for the care of orphans. David said, My father and mother
forsake me, the Lord take me in. Can a woman forsake her second
child? Yes, they do it all the time. The Lord said, I won't
forsake you. It means it's an institution
for the care of those who have special needs and special assistance.
Oh, I need help. Lord, send thee help from the
sanctuary. It means it's an inviolable refuse. That is, it can't be violated.
Impregnable. It can't be. Nobody can get in. Nobody can get to you. You're hedged about. Amen. That's right, John. I was going to go to 1 Samuel
22, the cave of Adullam. If anybody's never heard that
message before, just say you want to hear it and I'll preach
it next Wednesday. I was going to go there and I
thought maybe somebody hadn't heard it. I don't want to give
it away yet. But I'll just go ahead. There was a cave. That's the cleft of the rock.
It's a picture of Christ. It's also a picture of the church.
where David was. It says David's house and all
his brethren, his father's house came to where he was. Those in
debt, those in distress, those in discontent, he became a captain
over them. You want to hear that next one?
This little place is like the cave of Adam. Where our Lord,
the Son of David is. Those in debt, those in distress,
those discontented. Sanctuary. The first use of the
word sanctuary is in Exodus 15. Go over there with me. Exodus
15. Exodus 15. This is the first
time, and it's wise to look up first usages of words in Scripture. And generally you'll find them
in Genesis. It's the first book. But the word sanctuary is used
in chapter 15 of Exodus. Look at verse 17. Verse 17, Thou shalt bring them
in. This is the song, by the way, it's the song of Moses.
They're singing it right now. Right now, as I speak. Song of
Moses. Thou shalt bring them in. Who's
that? God's people. And plant them in the mountain
of thine inheritance, in the place, O Lord, which thou hast
made for thee to dwell in, in the sanctuary of the Lord. Go
plant them there. Oh, Psalm 92. Who read that last
Wednesday? Was that you, John? Read that
last Wednesday? Psalm 92. Those implanted in
the house of the Lord shall flourish in the courts of our God. Look
at verse 17 there, Exodus 15. Those that dwell in the sanctuary
of the Lord, which thy hands have established, the Lord shall
reign forever and ever. Where? In Zion. Chapter 25, go over there, Exodus
25, this is the next time the sanctuary is spoken of. And this
is the orders the Lord gave for the building of it. Okay? Exodus 25, the Lord gave orders
for the people, you have it? The Lord spoke to Moses saying,
speak to the children of Israel, verse 2, that they bring me an
offering, and they brought various things, you know, linen and blue
and purple and oil and spices for anointing oil and sweets
and stones and for the breastplate and all that. The people brought
all that. And look at verse 8. Let them make me a sanctuary.
You have it? 25a. Let them make me a sanctuary
that I may dwell among them. The people were to bring these
things and contribute to the building of this building. God
said, I'm going to dwell there. with you. And isn't that exactly
what happens at the church? Where do they get these things?
They're going through the wilderness. They didn't work any jobs. They
didn't take anything with them. They just grabbed their unleavened
bread and their board and took off. The Egyptians said, here,
take this. They got favor in the sight of
the Egyptians from the Lord. And the Egyptians gave them gold
and silver and precious stones and linen and all that. Why?
Why did the Egyptians, why did the Lord have the Egyptians give
them all these jewels and all this money and all this stuff?
Why? For God's house. Are you with me? And that's why
you have a job. You know that? That's why you
have money. Not spend on yourself. For the
Kingdom of God. Oh, a place, a sanctuary. Listen
to these. I'll just turn for you. I've
got several places. Oh, man, not enough time. But listen to them. I read to
you from Psalm 63. Oh, I long to see you as I've
seen you in the sanctuary. Listen to Psalm 26. David said,
I love your house, the habitation of thy house, the place where
your honor dwells. He said, I'm not going to sit
in a congregation of evildoers. I'm not going to sit with them.
He said, my foot stands in an even place in the congregations
when I bless the Lord. Listen to Psalm 27. Do you like
Psalm 27? Oh, my. One thing have I desired
of the Lord, that will I seek unto you. That I may dwell in
the house of the Lord all the days of my life. What are you
going to do in the house of the Lord, David? Behold the beauty
of the Lord. inquire in his temple. Listen
to Psalm 73. David was envious at the people
around him. They weren't in trouble like
God's people were. They were all rich and increased with good
and had need of nothing. And he said, God's people, a
cup of trouble is just wrung out on them. And he said, and
I was so envious, it just gave me pain to think about it, till
I went into the sanctuary. I went in the sanctuary to a
man named Nathan preaching the gospel. And I understood. I understood their end. That all that's going to end. But not for me. Not for me. Because I'm ever with the Lord,
he said. Whom have I in heaven but thee? That's Psalm 73, 25.
There's none on earth I desire besides Thee. And he said, Thy
lovingkindness is better than thine. Listen to Psalm 76. Listen to this. God's known in
Judah. His name is great in Israel.
In Salem is His tabernacle. That's His dwelling place in
Zion. Salem. City of peace. Listen to Psalm 77. Listen to
this. You'll love this. It says, Thy
way, O God, is in the sanctuary. Where did you first hear the
way? What is the way, by the way? What is the way? Christ is the way. What is truth? Christ is truth. What is life? Christ is life. Where did you
hear that? From a preacher. How shall they hear without a
preacher? Where was the preacher? In the sanctuary. That's what
this place is for. That's what you can expect to
find here. That's who? Help from the sanctuary. Oh,
we need help every day, every hour. So we go to our Lord in
prayer. Every day, we can't meet together
every day. Private prayer. Private family
worship. You and your wife or whoever
get together in your own home. But we need help every day, every
hour. So we call on the Lord. Psalm
46. He's a very present help in day of trouble, isn't it?
And we call upon Him. And we need it every day. But tell me if this is not so. Is it not so that you never get
so much help from God's Word and so much help as you do when
you're in here with God's people? Isn't that so? You know, I told you Monday morning,
I just couldn't write fast enough the notes. I wasn't really sitting
on my seat six inches off of it. But it's still not like being
here with you right now. Nothing's good alone. Food's
better when you're with other people. You ever out in the car
and you see a beautiful sunset or alone or whatever, and say,
look at that. It's better when you're with
somebody. Two are better than one. Two or three. What about
53, 63? What about a number nobody can
number? Won't that be something? It's never so much help from
the Lord as when you gather with the saints in His house to hear
Him. He's promised to be there. How often have you read His Word
and got nothing? How often have you prayed and felt like your
prayer didn't get past the ceiling? If God blesses a man to read
and study or a man to stand up and preach, and He generally
does, doesn't He? Doesn't He generally bless a man to stand
up on behalf of the church and pray? And doesn't He bless your
heart? God's given us men with a gift of prayer. Doesn't it
bless your heart? That's what He's ordained. That's where He's
now ordained help. That's where you're going to
find help. Somebody call another Lord for you. I need help. I need help. Our help comes from the Lord.
Where's the Lord? He's in His sanctuary. He's with
His people. That's where you'll find Him.
Alright, I'm going to give you three stories and then I'm going
to quit. A few stories. The Lord helped His people. Go
to Exodus 3 with me. Exodus 3. The Lord helped His
people every single time they gathered together to seek Him,
to call on Him. He helped them. He was there.
Helped them in a big way. And that way, the way that God
helped them every time, John, Jr., the way that God helped
him every single time was a man standing up with God's Word telling
them about their Lord and their Savior. That's their help. Exodus 3, the Lord said in verse
7, I have surely seen the affliction of my people, which are in Egypt.
I have heard their cry by reason of their testimony. I know their
sorrows, and don't you love them? I am come down. Christ came down
to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians. To bring them
up out of that land into a good land flowing with milk and honey. Where is the first time you heard
that? A preacher preached it to you. I did. First time I ever
heard that, a man preached that and I thought I was just going
to lose it. So the Lord told Moses, you go
tell my people, I am coming down. He said, who shall I say has
sent me? Verse 14, God said to Moses, I am that I am. You tell
them I am that I am. Where did you first hear that?
You were in false religion. You heard God wants to be God.
You let Him. He can't be God unless you let
Him. You heard a false God, didn't you, sister? Where did you first
hear about that? I am. I am what? Your God. That's the God of the Bible.
He said in verse 16, Go gather the elders of Israel. Go gather
and tell them the Lord God of your fathers, the God of Abraham,
Isaac, and Jacob appeared unto me. I have surely visited you.
And here's what you tell them. Tell them I am. Look at chapter
4. So they did. Verse 29. Chapter
4 verse 29. Moses and Aaron went and gathered
together all the elders of the children of Israel. And Aaron
spake. Preached. all the words which
the Lord had spoken unto Moses, and did the signs in the sight
of the people. And the people believed when they heard the
word. The Lord had visited the children
of Israel. They looked upon their affliction, and they bowed their
heads. They gathered together. The Lord
sent a preacher. Oh, man. He sent him help. They're still in the slime pits.
But the promise was, precious promises, to escape. You're coming
out. I'm bringing you out. Who said
so? The I Am. Look at 2 Chronicles 20. Oh boy. It just gets better. 2 Chronicles 20. And tell me,
when's the first time you heard this? 2 Chronicles 20, all Israel
was surrounded, Judah was surrounded by the enemy. 2 Chronicles 20,
Moab and Ammonites that came against Jehoshaphat, the leader,
the king of Israel. They were gathered all around
them. So, Jehoshaphat and all the people, it says down in verse
5, Jehoshaphat stood in the congregation of Judah. You see that? The congregation. In the house of the Lord. Are
you with me? What if somebody hadn't been
there? They're not going to hear this. They're not going to be
saved. and said, O Lord God of our fathers,
start praying. Art not thou God in heaven, verse
6. Don't you rule over everything.
Art not thou, verse 7, our God. Down in verse 20, O our God,
wilt thou not judge them? We have no might against this
great company that comes against us. We don't know what to do.
Our eyes are upon thee. Isn't that what we do when we
come here? Isn't it? Every time, don't we come here
together, Lord? 1 Kings 8 is the dedication of
the temple and the prayer of Solomon. Before that, Solomon
said, Lord, You've got to give me wisdom. He said, I don't know
how to come out or go in. I can't lead these people. And
then he went to 1 Kings 8 when they started building the temple,
and he said, Lord, will You dwell in a house that's made with hand?
Can God dwell in a building made with hand? No, Heavens can't
contain Him. And for you to come and be with
us. Did He? When it was done, did
He? Cloud-covered thing. Shekinah
glory came in. But 2 Chronicles 20, so they
said, Lord, we don't know what to do. Our eyes are upon You.
And verse 13, I love this. I love, love, love it. All Judah.
All Judah stood before the Lord. Where? In the house of the Lord.
with their little ones, their wives and their children. If you know the Lord, if you
have a burden for your wives and your children, you bring
them to the house of the Lord, okay? And we're going to call
on the Lord. Is He going to answer us? How did He answer them? How did
He help them? How did God send help in the
house of God and the sanctuary that day? He sent a man named
Jehaziel. Tommy, it's the only message
he ever preached. And you'll never hear from him again. Best
message in all the Bible. Look at it. 15, hearken, O Judah,
ye inhabitants of Jerusalem, thou King Jehoshaphat. Thus saith
the Lord unto you, be not afraid nor dismayed by reason of this
great multitude. The battle is not yours, but
it's God's. Verse 17, you don't need to fight
in this battle. Set yourself, stand still and
see the salvation of the Lord. Where did he get that message?
Moses. Hear not, nor be dismayed. Tomorrow
go out against them. The Lord will be with you." And
Jehoshaphat bowed his head, and all Judah and the inhabitants
of Jerusalem fell before the Lord, worshiping the Lord. And
Jehoshaphat said, let's start singing. Didn't he? Call the
singers. The battle hadn't been fought
yet. He said, it's over. Before it's even fought, start
singing. Like Joshua said, It's all over with the shouting. Blow
the trumpet. And it says, when they began,
verse 22, to sing and to praise the Lord. Would you be singing
and praising the Lord at home? You should be, would you? Tonight? That's what we're doing here. It says, the Lord sent ambushes
and ambushments. The children of Ammon, all their
enemies were smitten. When do you ever feel like your
sins are gone? You're pardoned. You're cleansed. Your past is wiped out. I need
help with the world. Walking in it by faith. Where
are you going to get that help? God's Word. I need help with
sin. My past won't leave me alone.
I can't get rid of my past. It's ever before me. When do
you ever feel like your past is gone, it's blotted out, there's
no record of your sin? Then when you hear the Gospel. I need help with temptations.
It seems like I'm just hedged about when I'm with God's people.
These things don't bother me so much. Isn't it so? It's no magical place. I said
I wasn't going to say that again. I said, this is no magical place. But this is where God has promised
to meet. Why wouldn't you be there? They
that observe lying vanities forsake their own help. John 2. And what's
lying vanities? Everything. Satan, the God of
this world. Go here. Go here. You need to
do this. One thing is needed. What you need is help. This world is going to get hold
of you and bring you down and your children. Yes, it will. You know it so, don't you? You
need help. Where is it going to find it?
Where are you going to find it? From the Lord. Where has the Lord found
it? In His sanctuary with His people. I'm not trying to get people
to come to church. I'm trying to get them to come where there's
help. Crying to the Lord for us and our children. Our lost
spouses. There's only one hope for your
lost spouse. What's that? The Gospel! We need
these doors to stay open, don't we? We need this Gospel to still
ring out from here. We've got some lost loved ones. The Lord send thee help. Strengthen you out of Zion. That's
where He is. He loves this place. Wherever
God's people are, He loves. That's where He dwells. I promised you two or three in
the New Testament, and I'll just tell you about it. Over in Acts
chapter 4, Peter was put in prison for preaching the gospel. And
they thought he was going to be killed. The angel of the Lord, remember?
The angel of the Lord came and sprung him out of jail and brought
him to where the church was meeting. Where were the people? They were
meeting together. What were they doing? Praying.
For who? Peter. Somebody said, answer the door.
Somebody's knocking. And she went there. Who is it? Says,
Peter. She said, no, it can't be. She went back. It says it's
Peter. Well, open the door. And he came
in. And that's when they all got
together. And they started quoting Psalm 2. The kingdom's rage and
heathen rage. against the Lord and against
His anointed. And he that sits in the heavens laughs. He said,
My King, on the holy hill of where? Zion, city of God. The Lord is going to send you
help. And you're going to find it in the sanctuary where there's
a preacher preaching the gospel. And you need to come here and
bring your children and bring everybody you have a burden for.
And don't leave the house. Don't let your children leave
out from under the gospel. Don't let them do it. There's
no hope. The only hope is under the gospel. It's presumption
otherwise. Right? That's what God tells
you. The Lord's going to send you
help. It's going to be where He is, where His people are,
where His gospel is preached. It's not everywhere. It's not
everywhere. Place where He's chosen to put
His name there. He says, you go there and you worship Me there. Okay, let's stand.