Brother Gary Sunday Evening 9/1/13

Brother Gary Sunday Evening 9/1/13

Zep 3:16  In that day it shall be said to Jerusalem, Fear thou not: and to Zion, Let not thine hands be slack.

We thank God that we have come to Mt Zion, the heavenly Jerusalem.  There is always a great danger of us becoming slothful, indifferent, affected by the spirit of the age, a lukewarm spirit.  We live in a day of apostasy, a day of falling away and losing the way.

Zep 3:17  The LORD thy God in the midst of thee is mighty; he will save, he will rejoice over thee with joy; he will rest in his love, he will joy over thee with singing.

The Lord thy God in the midst of thee is mighty.  We are happy that God is still God.  There have been a lot of things that have happened around the church since Jesus said that He would establish it.  It is wonderful that God has left His Word.  We can always rely on the Word of God and what it says.

Men have come and gone.  Great men have lived and died.  Missionary works have been established and homes for the aged, homes for the children, revivals and God moving in a mighty way. 

The Lord in the midst of thee is mighty.  God is mighty.

He will save.  God saves us from all sin.  He saves us from trouble and has a way of keeping us out of trouble.  

It is wonderful that God and the Son and the Holy Spirit will rejoice over His people.  We don’t serve a God that is a tyrant.  It says of Jesus Christ that He would be a governor.  It means a governor with a heart of a shepherd. 

It is a wonderful thing that Jesus, the very image of the Father, has a heart that isn’t out to damn anyone, or always be down on everyone, “You did pretty good, but you could have done better. 

God always rejoices in His people and takes great joy in His people.

He will rejoice over thee with singing.  God’s people have always been a singing people.  God put a song in their heart.

Zep 3:18  I will gather them that are sorrowful for the solemn assembly, who are of thee, to whom the reproach of it was a burden.

It is very real to me tonight that God has a solemn assembly.  Many don’t like to come to the Church of God because they feel conviction.  We don’t give a self help message that helps people feel good about the way that they are living.

He is a God of solemnities.  He is a God of very solemn things. 

Isa 33:13  Hear, ye that are far off, what I have done; and, ye that are near, acknowledge my might.

Isa 33:14  The sinners in Zion are afraid; fearfulness hath surprised the hypocrites. Who among us shall dwell with the devouring fire? who among us shall dwell with everlasting burnings?

Isa 33:15  He that walketh righteously, and speaketh uprightly; he that despiseth the gain of oppressions, that shaketh his hands from holding of bribes, that stoppeth his ears from hearing of blood, and shutteth his eyes from seeing evil;

Isa 33:16  He shall dwell on high: his place of defence shall be the munitions of rocks: bread shall be given him; his waters shall be sure.

It is a wonderful thing when a sinner feels conviction and recognizes that they are lost, undone and without God.

Sometimes you may feel, “Why did the pastor preach so hard the first service?”  It is never the thought of this pastor to nail anyone.  God has ordained that Zion be the assembly of our solemnities. 

None of us are the exception we would all wander off into the pleasures of the world, into the deception of the world: it is alright to mix with anything.  Zion always brings us back to recognizing truth.

Whenever there is a hypocrite in the audience it is God that locates them and surprises them.  “Fearfulness has surprised the hypocrites.”  When someone is in rebellion to God and to truth, it will not be like you thought it would be, but they will find themselves surprised.  It is God’s work.

Who will dwell with everlasting burning?

We know that the word of God is like a fire.  “Let the Fire Fall on Me.”  There is a marvelous account behind this beautiful song. 

When you walk righteously and speak uprightly:  May God help us to keep our tongue.  God can tame the tongue; He can give us a new tongue.

Despises the gain of oppressions:  There have always been individuals that want to oppress someone else; they want the balance in their own hands.  They want to tell you, “In order to be saved you must obey the rules of some man.  You must go to this certain place on earth and do this certain thing in this certain place.” 

I am so glad that when I was lost and without God it was Jesus that came to me.  I don’t know this certain man, I may never know him, but it was Jesus that came to me.

Stay free and let everyone be free.  Don’t try to put anyone in bondage. 

They shake their hand from holding of bribes:  Thank God there is nothing in us that wants to buy or to be sold.  God wants us to treat those in this congregation that are wealthy exactly the same as the one that is rushing from paycheck to paycheck.

Isa 33:17  Thine eyes shall see the king in his beauty: they shall behold the land that is very far off.

Isa 33:18  Thine heart shall meditate terror. Where is the scribe? where is the receiver? where is he that counted the towers?

Isa 33:19  Thou shalt not see a fierce people, a people of a deeper speech than thou canst perceive; of a stammering tongue, that thou canst not understand.

Isa 33:20  Look upon Zion, the city of our solemnities: thine eyes shall see Jerusalem a quiet habitation, a tabernacle that shall not be taken down; not one of the stakes thereof shall ever be removed, neither shall any of the cords thereof be broken.

Look upon Zion the city of our solemnities.  We need to come into a very solemn assembly and meet with God and His people.  That doesn’t mean that there will not be times of rejoicing.

Thy eyes shall see Jerusalem a quiet habitation God’s church will never be destroyed, the truths that hold it in place will stay the same forever.

Isa 33:21  But there the glorious LORD will be unto us a place of broad rivers and streams; wherein shall go no galley with oars, neither shall gallant ship pass thereby.

Isa 33:22  For the LORD is our judge, the LORD is our lawgiver, the LORD is our king; he will save us.

It is wonderful the way that God has for His water, His Word, to flow.  I am amazed day after day as I take this Word of God and find a beautiful place to travel spiritually.

You are not going to row your own boat spiritually.  It is not a big show or a big preacher.  God always meets with the humble.

There is a solemn assembly and the Holy Spirit meets with souls in a solemn assembly. 

Heb 6:1  Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection; not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith toward God,

It is vital that souls go onto perfection.  We are thrilled that those souls that recently got saved, but it is vital that they go onto perfection and full growth. 

Every one of us that is here, it is vital that as Paul said, “one thing I do I forget those things that are behind and I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.”

Our attitude must be, “God I want to go on to full growth.”

Rom 12:1  I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.

Rom 12:2  And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.

The solemn assembly causes us to come into a place where we see the balance in God’s hands and see the word of God saying, “The design of God is that you be a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God which is your reasonable service.”

The world is unreasonable.  One thing I know about people is the more that you do the more that they want you to do.  One thing I know about God is that He is very just.  He never asks of us more than what is reasonable. 

You might think tonight, “I have been convicted of this certain area of my life; I am giving too much time to it.” 

It isn’t unreasonable to want a clean vehicle.  But God doesn’t want us to get mixed up in our priorities to neglect what God wants us to do for whatever we enjoy in life.

Because we are human it is possible for us to get unbalanced.  That is the reason why there is a solemn assembly.  God the father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit deals with us on whatever we need to be dealt with.

Heb 12:1  Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, 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,

Heb 12:2  Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.

These children are in a weighty time in life.  We must lay all of these weights aside and say, “My first priority is serving God.”  If we allow the weights to guide and direct us, not only will they be moving us but soon they will be chasing and hounding us.  We will feel that we are on an escalator and someone is turning the dial so that it goes faster and faster and faster.

Zep 3:19  Behold, at that time I will undo all that afflict thee: and I will save her that halteth, and gather her that was driven out; and I will get them praise and fame in every land where they have been put to shame.

1Co 15:58  Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.

The solemn assembly brings us to the place where though we have all these plans we are steadfast and unmovable.  It puts a real balance in our lives.

1Pe 5:10  But the God of all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered a while, make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you.

Sometimes we wonder, “How come I am going through this?”  God says that He is a God of all grace and promises that after you have suffered a while He will make you perfect.

He does this not because He is mean but because He loves you and wants you to climb a little higher spiritually. 

I will perfect and establish you and settle you:  Not only will he establish us but He will settle us.  There is a danger in every age group of halting.  First we need to know what God expects.  He expects us to be established and settled and strengthened.

When we are going through something it is not the design of God to destroy us but to supply everything and in that supplying to strengthen us.

Joh 16:7  Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you.

Joh 16:8  And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment:

The Holy Spirit convicts the world of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment.

It is a wonderful thing to have the Spirit of God come to us in a solemn assembly.  In every one of our lives there must be time of a solemn assembly not only in the assembly but also in our private lives.  In that solemn time God speaks to us.

Zep 3:19  Behold, at that time I will undo all that afflict thee: and I will save her that halteth, and gather her that was driven out; and I will get them praise and fame in every land where they have been put to shame.

It is a wonderful thing to be free tonight.  I think of that dear young man that to whatever degree is being troubled by spirits.  We realize that when people that don’t know the true God and pray to their god their spirits will come and trouble you. 

If you have family in Babylon, their prayers may affect you.  Those that try to leave Babylon I know from experience that Babylon will pray and those spirits may even cause the one that is leaving to become depressed and think to take their own life.

When I think of the spirits that the children and young people are exposed to…, I must remember that we serve a God that will keep them and keep them free if they will stay in the solemn assembly.

Save her that halteth:  The thought of ‘halteth’ is the thought of becoming unsettled.  Every one of us has individuals, things in life, circumstances in life, hopes that fall through, plans that are abated.  We could all become unsettled, shaken and discouraged by what happens.  God wants us to get some things settled.  Be ye therefore steadfast unmovable always abounding in the work of God.

If God allows me to live another year, my life will be as your life, there will be very unsettling occasions that happen.  Before they happen we need to have it settled, “I am going to be steadfast, I am going to be unmovable and always abounding in the work of the Lord.

For as much as we know that our labor is not in vain in the Lord.

Eph 4:14  That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive;

Paul wrote this because he had experienced it and others were experiencing it.  “Be no more children tossed to and fro.”  These precious children will have meltdowns once in a while.  In first grade I had a lot of meltdowns.  Mrs. Lacey would have to mother me.  I was a child.  By the time I got to the eighth grade I wasn’t having any meltdowns.  I had learned a few things and hardened up a little bit.

The same thing spiritually:  When people get saved they may have some meltdowns.  After a while they say, “I have to get this thing settled.  God doesn’t want you to be moved by any of the things of the cares of the world.  God wants us to be settled.

Carried about by every wind of doctrine:  truth has never changed.  I’m not going to preach on the changes that have happened in the apostate churches.  Truth has never changed. 

There will be individuals that are better preachers and more gifted than I am but if they are not standing on the sea of glass mingled with fire, and instead bring in some strange doctrine, it doesn’t matter how eloquent they are, the million dollar ring on their finger has no bearing.

The slight of men: There will be some that are desired to make converts of individuals and they will flatter.  We have all seen people flattering people.  There is a vast difference between a compliment, thankful appreciation, and flattery.

Don’t allow the slight of men to cause you to halt in your serving God.  Know where you came from and where you’ve been and where you are headed.

Cunning craftiness has no place with the gospel.  We are not looking to take advantage of anyone.  There are people that think because of who they are they have an advantage.  If you think this then it will affect you spiritually.

Act 20:24  But none of these things move me, neither count I my life dear unto myself, so that I might finish my course with joy, and the ministry, which I have received of the Lord Jesus, to testify the gospel of the grace of God.

Paul’s future was uncertain as he said this.  It was uncomfortable for him.  “None of these things move me.” 

Don’t halt.  Have it settled, “I am going to go on serving God.  I have this job to do for God.  I got saved, I’ve gotten baptized and measured to the word of God, and am not thinking of going off on any tangent as far as the lust of the flesh or the eyes and the pride of life.”

Gather her that was driven out and get her praise and fame in every land where they have been put to shame:  There have been many people that unfortunately but true have been driven away from God.  Mean people have driven them away from God.  Mean people abuse people sometimes all in the name of God and a servant of God.  God has promised to give them a way of restoring.

Heb 6:4  For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost,

Heb 6:5  And have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come,

Heb 6:6  If they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame.

William J Henry wrote, “Let the Fire Fall on Me.”  This man knew the way and he lost it.  He left truth.  The story ends good.  Thank God for every good ending testimony.  He left God and truth and got caught in heresy and went way off. 

This speaks strong to me.  It doesn’t matter how long we have been around God or how much we’ve preached or how much God has used us in the past.  The enemy is working to get us into a position where we will halt.  It is the thought of a bird that hops here then there, changes here and then somewhere else.

This dear man began playing with doctrines and ideas.  They may not have been his own.  There are people that will unload ideas on you.  You can twist the scripture from being that which will build and edify and instead lead astray.  This man left God and truth and went out and wandered for however long.  God’s people tried to show him the error of his ways.

What is so wonderful is that God spoke to him and showed him the error of his ways.  There would not be one here that would not know someone that knew God, walked with Him and was used of God.  They may have been mightily used of God and something got to them and they halted.

Karen and I could tell our own personal experience where we found ourselves in a position where a man wanted to put us in a position and wanted to destroy us and destroy the people I pastored.  I got all kinds of phone calls and letters on ‘what kind of a division maker’ I was.

I knew that if I left God and what He wanted me to do then it would have placed me on a downward spiral.  When you halt you never know where you will end up.

God in His mercy helped this brother Henry and his wife to come to their senses that they had left God and His truth.

Psa 51:17  The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.

People that have halted:  There are a lot of people that have halted.  This building would be full tonight in our region but people halted.  There was something that they didn’t want to measure to.  There was something that would satisfy their flesh. 

There is a way back.  This is the way:  The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit.  A broken and a contrite heart O God thou wilt not despise.

As I looked at the song, “Let the Fire Fall on Me.” 

Lord I would be wholly thine,
I would o thy will divine,
From the world and sin and self I would be free.

Brother Henry came to a place where he wanted God more than anything else in the world. 

The devil would like to make us believe that, “This is the most important, this is the most important, this is the most important thing in the world.”  All the time they are spiraling down. 

Thank God we don’t have to halt.