Brother Gary Sunday Evening 1/26/14

Brother Gary Sunday Evening 1/26/14

Psa 46:1  To the chief Musician for the sons of Korah, A Song upon Alamoth. God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.

Psa 46:2  Therefore will not we fear, though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea;

Psa 46:3  Though the waters thereof roar and be troubled, though the mountains shake with the swelling thereof. Selah.

Psa 46:4  There is a river, the streams whereof shall make glad the city of God, the holy place of the tabernacles of the most High.

We saw in Revelation that that river is pure, clear, and in the midst is the tree of life.  God made a way in this time world that we can get to Jesus.  Follow Him all the way and He will be there.  Thank God He is on the eternal side of the river of life.

Psa 48:1  A Song and Psalm for the sons of Korah. Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised in the city of our God, in the mountain of his holiness.

Psa 48:2  Beautiful for situation, the joy of the whole earth, is mount Zion, on the sides of the north, the city of the great King.

Psa 48:3  God is known in her palaces for a refuge.

Every time we meet with God it is as if it were a palace.  I understand the thought of: it is where we would meet with God in the thought of tabernacle worship, the sacrifice of the lamb for the sin of mankind, and Jesus is that great sacrifice.  It is a wonderful place to meet with God.  As we come to the place of worship and go through that door and see the bread that is there.  It is wonderful to have the bread of life, the Word of God.

Joh 6:63  It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.

It is a real palace wherever we are whenever we are worshipping or whenever God brings a song, a conviction, a scripture, or a warning.  It is a wonderful thing to have God meet with us.

It is wonderful to have a true refuge, a true hiding place.  I enjoyed a little time with the grandchildren outside, we were playing ‘old games’: kick the can, hide and seek, treasure hunt.  It was so interesting how they would have me count, “You should count, Cade can only count to five or six.” 

In other words:  I should be it.  I should do the counting and they do the hiding.  The places they chose to hide were not true hiding spots.  I did my best to act as if I were searching.  God is a true refuge and hiding spot from the storm.

Isa 25:1  O LORD, thou art my God; I will exalt thee, I will praise thy name; for thou hast done wonderful things; thy counsels of old are faithfulness and truth.

Isa 25:4  For thou hast been a strength to the poor, a strength to the needy in his distress, a refuge from the storm, a shadow from the heat, when the blast of the terrible ones is as a storm against the wall.

There are times and they are not that rare when we really need strength.  Sometimes the strength is to carry a burden, to care for a soul, and sometimes it is literal.  The duties of life can be a challenge.

God is a strength to the poor and a strength to the needy in his distress.  There will be times when we are in distresses and will not know which way to turn.  The promise is that He will be a strength.

A refuge from the storm:  the storm comes to those that are on the rock and to those that are on the sand.  Only those that are on the rock are able to withstand the storm and there is a refuge from the storm.

He is a shadow from the heat.  He will not allow more than you can take.  He will not put more on you than you are able to bear.  You can make it through.

God has a way of removing that which needs to be removed.

Isa 28:9  Whom shall he teach knowledge? and whom shall he make to understand doctrine? them that are weaned from the milk, and drawn from the breasts.

Isa 28:10  For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little:

Isa 28:11  For with stammering lips and another tongue will he speak to this people.

Isa 28:12  To whom he said, This is the rest wherewith ye may cause the weary to rest; and this is the refreshing: yet they would not hear.

This Word of God makes a refuge for us every time.  Wherever you are tonight, God’s Word will be a refuge.  Isn’t that a wonderful thing?  It is a refuge and a rest.

Heb 4:9  There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God.

It starts with the Word of God and the first work.  It starts with the rest we receive when we confess, repent, and turn to God.  I still remember the night that I first God saved.  That was the best night’s rest that I had ever had.  God has given us rest many times. 

We thank God for the times when the burden is so heavy and the heart is broken and we bow beside the bed and cry out, “God I have to get his over on you.”  You cast your burden on the lord and know that you can leave it there.  You have faith that you can trust God.  The burden doesn’t stop there.

There were those in verse 12 that would not hear.  Every soul has the opportunity to have soul rest. 

Mat 11:28  Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

As it was in Isaiah’s day there were those that would not obey the Word of God.  Without obedience to the Word of God there was no rest.  There is a danger, when people don’t take the rest that God has: it doesn’t stop the Word of God. 

Isa 28:13  But the word of the LORD was unto them precept upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little; that they might go, and fall backward, and be broken, and snared, and taken.

Isa 28:14  Wherefore hear the word of the LORD, ye scornful men, that rule this people which is in Jerusalem.

Isa 28:15  Because ye have said, We have made a covenant with death, and with hell are we at agreement; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, it shall not come unto us: for we have made lies our refuge, and under falsehood have we hid ourselves:

This is an extremely sad condition we can have a secure hiding place with the Word of God and with Jesus, but to think that for some reason, (that reason is rebellion and self, it is wanting the world and what it has to offer.), they refuse the rest.  Church, take advantage of the rest that was purchased for you by the blood of Jesus Christ.

Those that rebel make lies their refuge and hide under falsehood.

Isa 28:16  Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD, Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner stone, a sure foundation: he that believeth shall not make haste.

Isa 28:17  Judgment also will I lay to the line, and righteousness to the plummet: and the hail shall sweep away the refuge of lies, and the waters shall overflow the hiding place.

It is possible to be resting in a refuge that is not on the Word of God and God in His goodness sends the hail, the strong Word of God, to sweep away the refuge of lies.  There is no Word of God that is not strong.  The message on salvation is a powerful message.  You can go to John 3 and preach on Nicodemus and if you can find a stronger message…, it is a strong message, “You must be born again.”

God gives a verdict.  It is His judgment.  Every one of us is so blessed.  When we are worshipping, praying, seeking God, singing, doing our work and God comes and visits us just as He did Adam and Eve.  He visited Noah, He visited Moses.  When God comes and visits us if there is anything that He wants to talk to us about, He talks though His Spirit and the Word of God. 

The Spirit always agrees with the Word of God and we know when He is talking to us.  The Word of God comes down from Heaven and He gives a verdict.  You don’t have to wonder if you have a need; God gives a verdict.  You don’t have to wonder if He has heard prayer.  You don’t have to wonder, “Should I do this or that.”  We just need to bring it to Him, be quiet, and let God talk. 

I don’t need to tell God everything, God knows, but we can bring that prayer request to God.  God knows.  He knows how to give a verdict to everyone.  You and I might think, “What so-in-so needs to hear is a message on…”  I’m not saying that they don’t, but God knows how to bring the line down on whatever they might need.

God has a marvelous way of bring a revelation of truth, “This is truth and this is error.”  I’ve seen it over and over again; that is how God works.

Judgment to the line… not only does He know how to show the need but He shows how to get the need met. 

I remember when a young man told me that he would like to come and talk to me.  I don’t know how God dealt with him to bring to his mind that maybe not everything he had heard was true.  He had a notebook with however many pages of things and started asking me questions.  He closed the notebook and said, “I think they are all lies.” 

You don’t have to defend yourself.  Know where your field of labor is and work it and God has a way of sweeping away the refuge of lies.  He has a way of revealing and opening eyes.  He is God.

Their covenant of death will be disallowed.

Isa 28:18  And your covenant with death shall be disannulled, and your agreement with hell shall not stand; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, then ye shall be trodden down by it.

Isa 28:21  For the LORD shall rise up as in mount Perazim, he shall be wroth as in the valley of Gibeon, that he may do his work, his strange work; and bring to pass his act, his strange act.

Perazim was a battle that David was in that there was no way to win but God gave the victory.  The next was a battle that was the same for Joshua.  That is how God is.

It is termed in the scripture, “His strange work.”  Never underestimate what a refuge we have in God and how God is able to work.  People will term that it is ‘strange.’

Isa 31:5  As birds flying, so will the LORD of hosts defend Jerusalem; defending also he will deliver it; and passing over he will preserve it.

Whenever we are in a situation where we need divine intervention and a refuge, we can trust God to come down as He did from on high; that can be a refuge for anyone.

Isa 28:23  Give ye ear, and hear my voice; hearken, and hear my speech.

Isa 28:24  Doth the plowman plow all day to sow? doth he open and break the clods of his ground?

Isa 28:25  When he hath made plain the face thereof, doth he not cast abroad the fitches, and scatter the cummin, and cast in the principal wheat and the appointed barley and the rie in their place?

Isa 28:26  For his God doth instruct him to discretion, and doth teach him.

God moved on Isaiah with the thought of the preparation of the soil for the sowing.  You all know that you don’t harvest potatoes like you harvest cabbage.  God knows how to harvest every precious soul He is dealing with.  That is not for you and me to decide. 

Isa 28:29  This also cometh forth from the LORD of hosts, which is wonderful in counsel, and excellent in working.

Whatever you need God knows how to sow the seed and harvest the increase.

“In His love let me hide”, was written by Lucena C. Byrum who was born in 1882 and lived in Seattle Washington.  She got saved and worked for God.  When she was 22 years old she went to West Virgenia to work in the Gospel Publishing House.  She wrote this song in 1905.  

As I found this song and then read her hymn story, I thought of God’s wonderful working.  While she was there brother Byrum’s wife died and left a baby of 5 months old and three teenagers.  We certainly would not want this to happen but can you imagine brother Gyme Kelly’s brother being left with those three teenagers. 

Not only where there three teenagers and a baby five months old, there were two others.  God had prepared this dear lady.  Brother Byrum’s wife died in September, 1907.  In October, about a year later, this precious sister married him and raised those dear children. 

God called her to be an evangelist and they traveled the USA, South America, Canada, and South and Central America.  It started with God moving on her heart.  She found a hiding place, a beautiful refuge, and penned this song:  In his love let me hide.