amen and amen praise God I was here in
the sanctuary last night took a little
bit of time to pray here and um
I told Pastor Tim whenever he’s away
because he he and Cindy come to the
sanctuary on Saturday night and they
pray over everyone in the chairs in this
Sanctuary they pray for you
that who are sitting here today that the
fullness of God would be realized in
your life that you would be strengthened
and moved and brought into what God has
for your future
and I hope you’re thankful for a senior
pastor that would spend that time
praying for you because I sure am
so I told him when you’re when you’re
away I’ll come in and I’ll take your
place and I’ll pray for the people and
what a pleasure it is to see you here
knowing that you were prayed for and
have been prayed for continuously that
God would bless you I want to ask for an
honest uh question and I’m asking for an
honest answer
with no praised hand how many would be
willing to tell me this morning and say
Pastor I I feel like I’m in a Wilderness
time in my life could you just raise
your hand wherever you are all right
hold them up high all over the place so
just so you know you’re not alone okay
would you be surprised if I told you
this morning that God Drew you there
this is something sovereign
and for those who didn’t raise your hand
and you are in a Wilderness God Drew you
there too as well
into this place
and he’s going to show you something
that I don’t think you can really find
any other place but in the place where
God has been drawing you Psalm 60 if
you’ll turn there with me Psalm 60 I’m
using the new King James Bible if you’re
wondering what translation to look up on
your on your cell phone
I want to speak to you this morning
about finding Grace
in the wilderness a Psalm of King David
the psalm of trial and difficulty he
starts out in verse one he says O Lord O
God
you’ve cast us off
you’ve broken us down
you’ve been displeased
oh restore us again
this was I don’t know the particular
time there’s of course a lot of history
behind this but King David is talking
about a time where he was feeling this
that somehow the favor of God had been
withdrawn from the nation
he knew that the people he was anointed
to govern were supposed to be a people
that were
used of God to bring glory to the name
of God in the Earth
but suddenly he felt very very distant
not just David but the nation itself had
become very distant from God
and broken down in David’s own words in
other words the the things that were
crafted and built by the hand of God
seemed to be in disarray
he sensed the displeasure of the Lord
but he also knew that when you pray God
hears God answers
that’s why he finishes verse 1 with the
words oh restore us again God bring us
back to our intended purpose on the
earth I don’t know how we drifted from
you but we did so God restore us
he said in verse 2 you’ve made the Earth
tremble
you’ve broken it heal its breaches for
it is shaking the ground underneath us
in other words is not as stable as it
used to be
we don’t feel solid we we knew our
purpose at one time but our purpose is
shaking
you’ve shown your people hard things and
you’ve made us to drink the wine of
confusion
we knew who we were we knew where we
were going David is saying we knew our
Divine Purpose
but we have strayed from it and now
we’re looking instead of blessing we’re
looking at difficulty within our borders
and there’s such confusion in our
society when everything was so clear at
one time we knew who we were we knew our
purpose we knew where we were going and
we knew we were the people of God in
that season
in verse 4 he says you’ve given a banner
to those who fear you that it may be
displayed because of the truth
that your beloved may be delivered save
with your right hand
and hear me now this Banner is a is is
almost in a type it’s a type of a flag
it’s something that you unfurl it’s a
public declaration
and David is saying God to those who
love you still to those who fear you
you’ve given us something that can be
publicly declared
and it can be displayed we don’t have to
be hidden nor does this work have to be
hidden because of the truth
Deliver us God we are your beloved save
with your right hand
and hear me
David starts out this particular Psalm
by saying God you you’ve cast us off
we’re no longer United with you and as a
result
we’re now divided even in the nation one
from another
we’ve lost the blessing and the power
that has historically accompanied this
Unity
you think of the Psalm 133 that talks
about when Brethren dwell together in
unity there’s an anointing of God that
comes with that Unity when we’re in
unity with God we will be in unity with
one another
when we become disunified with God we
automatically become disunified with one
another
when we walk together in unity
particularly with God first and foremost
there’s an anointing that sets us apart
the scripture says from other people of
this world we look around at the world
today and we see just this this this
division almost everywhere the division
is becoming violent it’s becoming vile
in its speech and it’s going to lead to
what Jesus said in Matthew chapter 24
are wars and rumors of wars as a matter
of fact he says that in the last days
ethnos or ethnic culture will rise
against ethnic culture we’re seeing that
today we’re seeing it in the Ukraine
we’re seeing it in other parts of the
world and I wish they could say it’s
going to get better but I don’t believe
it is because the scripture doesn’t bear
witness to that it’s going to get
progressively worse until the Lord
himself has to intervene to for the sake
of his own elect
there’s an anointing when we walk
together in unity you felt it this
morning
we’re in this sanctuary and last count
at least there was 104 different nations
worshiping in this one church called
Times Square Church in New York City and
because of the unity because we find
ourselves at the cross that there’s a
there’s a presence of God here you don’t
find anywhere in the world you don’t
find it on New Year’s Eve down in Times
Square you don’t find it in any theater
other than this one on Broadway you
don’t find it anywhere there is a Unity
produced by God there’s there’s an
anointing and you feel that anointing
today the presence of the Lord is here
we don’t just sing about it his presence
is here and in your heart you know it in
your heart you’re feeling something this
world doesn’t even if you’re visiting
today you feel something in your heart
that you don’t find anywhere in the
world no matter how many people give
flowers to each other or chocolates or
wash each other’s feet whatever it is
you still don’t feel that Unity apart
from God there is a blessing of life
there’s a blessing of Separation there’s
a blessing that only comes from God when
Brethren walked together in unity
the psalm goes on to say that it brings
a a watering on the earth in other words
there’s when we walk together in unity
with God it affects not just us but it
affects people all around us it can
affect talents cities societies cultures
countries and actually can even affect
the world when God’s Brethren walk
together in unity
and the Lord himself says at the end of
Psalm 133 that when we choose to walk in
unity with God and subsequently one
another there is a blessing of life that
is commanded
praise be to God life is commended I
I’ve pastored here for 26 years and I in
those 26 years I can’t tell you the
numbers of times that visitors came into
this sanctuary and began to weep even
before we begin to sing because there
was a command of life because we were
walking together and are walking
together in unity with God
and with one another but David says
we’ve we’ve lost this blessing
we’ve lost this power of unity we feel
like we’ve been cast off from God we’re
broken down oh God restore us again
a prime example of that would be America
itself we were once known as one nation
under God in 1776 John Adams Ben
Franklin and Thomas Jefferson
suggested that the theme actually the
motto of the United States should be e
pluribus unum which means out of many
one the first Great Seal of the United
States in 1776 was approved by an act of
Congress and this was declared to be the
motto of the United States of America
that no matter where we came from around
the world we it was a Melting Pot that’s
what it was called we we Blended
together into one people one value
system one go forward strategy
it was eventually replaced by an act of
Congress in 1956 when the motto in God
we trust was adopted as the official
motto of the nation not just on our
coins it was actually the in the Great
Seal of the United States
now more recently in America cultural
forces have come in and are changing
America’s motto into in God we no longer
trust and out of one
we are now many
I don’t know if you’re aware of this or
not I hope you are
that there are forces at work and I
believe it’s spiritual forces
in dark places that are at work to
divide this nation and bring it to
destruction
Matthew chapter 12 verse 25 Jesus
himself said every Kingdom divided
against himself is brought to Desolation
and every city or house divided against
itself will not stand
that is definitive that is red letter in
my Bible That’s from the mouth of Jesus
Christ the disunity that we are now
experiencing in our nation is leading to
the downfall of one of the greatest
testimonies of God’s grace next to
Israel that is that the World perhaps
has ever known
David says you made the Earth to tremble
you’ve broken it Psalm 60 verse 2 heal
its breaches for it is shaken in other
words the ground that we once stood upon
is now shaking Psalm 79 the psalmist
says in verse 1 oh God the Nations have
come into your inheritance
your Holy Temple they have defiled and
they’ve laid Jerusalem in heaps
we have become a reproach to our
neighbors a scorn in a derision
to those that are around us
God what happened to us the psalmist is
saying we were a people specifically set
apart for a Divine Purpose but suddenly
forces came into the nation
and they defiled your temple and they’ve
taken that which was governed and guided
by your hand and now we look around us
and it’s filled with ruins
and a nation that was once admired that
was once feared in this world is now
becoming a reproach and laughing stock
and a scorn and a derision as they look
and they see confusion abounding on
almost every side
does that not describe the day that we
are now living in
Psalm 74 the psalmist says beginning in
verse 4 he says your enemies Roar in the
midst of your meeting place and they set
up their banners for signs in other
words the psalmist is saying
forces of command that are destroying
our history and setting up their own
ideas of Truth as guideposts
are we not experiencing that in America
today
there are forces there are powers of
Darkness trying to destroy everything
historical in the nation and erect no
truths which are really lies as if they
are the things that have guided us and
will guide us into the future
verse 5 says they seem like men who lift
up axes among the thick trees now they
break down its carved work all at once
with x’s and hammers they’ve set fire to
your Sanctuary they’ve defiled the
dwelling place of your name to the
ground
forces are destroying the work of
previous generations
they set fire in your house they
threatened they intimidate they try to
intimidate the people of God they are
intolerant
of anything that holds to a biblical
worldview
in verse 8 gives their absolute
intentions as they said in their hearts
let us destroy them all together they’ve
burned up all the meeting places of God
in the land now here’s the bottom line
they want every influence of God in the
nation to be gone
eradicated from society no mention of
his name no morality from the scriptures
nothing of the Cornerstone upon which
this nation was founded and if you know
history that’s not even debatable
the people who came to Plymouth
Massachusetts in 1620 they started they
signed a compact that this nation was
founded on the cornerstone of bringing
honor to the name of Jesus Christ
throughout the world it was to be a
nation founded on the principles of God
that is not up for debate that is
history for anybody who cares to do any
research
verse 21 the psalmist says in Psalm 74
all do not let the oppressed return to
shamed let the poor and needy Praise
Your Name arise o God and plead your own
cause and remember how the foolish man
reproaches you daily do not forget the
voice of your enemies and the tumult of
those that rise up against you increases
continually this is what the psalmist is
saying he’s saying oh God help us
help us as you have helped those in the
past
help us Lord God Almighty don’t turn
your back on this is your people
help us Lord Jesus Christ because you
said in the word that this mountain can
still be moved and pushed into the sea
God Almighty you told us that whatever
we ask in prayer believing that we
should receive it
and in Psalm 60 again in verse 4
David said you’ve given a banner to
those who fear you that it may be
displayed because of the truth that your
beloved may be delivered save with your
right hand
and hear me
so here’s the confidence in this man’s
heart is God you’ve given us a Gathering
Spot
you’ve given us something of yourself
Lord that we don’t have to hide we can
unfurl this Banner
and this Banner can be seen that it can
bring your name again to reputation
because we stand on the ground of Truth
and we know the truth cannot be
triumphed over by any power of Darkness
so realistically what is this Banner
that we’re talking about
in Jeremiah chapter 31 in a season
of terrible difficulty for the people of
God the prophet
Jeremiah writes these words in chapter
31 verse 2 thus says the Lord
the people who survived the sword
found Greece
in the wilderness
when I went to Israel when I went to
give him rest
the Lord appeared of old to me say yes I
have loved you with an everlasting love
therefore with loving kindness I have
drawn you
where has he drawn you in his loving
kindness
Into the Wilderness
he’s drawn you and I at this season in
our juncture as a nation into a very dry
place a very unfamiliar place
a place where all the distractions are
being taken away and all the Hope in a
sense that humankind in a sense can
solve its own problem is now gone
and we find ourselves in a place where
the only thing left in our heart is that
which was in the heart of David oh God
oh God
it’s got to be you it’s got to be only
you you’ve got to come and do something
that will vindicate your own name we
have yes failed we have fallen
we let our guard down we forgot who we
were as a people we forgot why we’re
we’re established as a nation but in
your mercy you have drawn us into the
Wilderness to reason with us one more
time
and in this Wilderness you promise that
we will find Grace and so if you’re in
the wilderness this morning you need to
thank God you’re there because that is
the drawing of God that has brought you
into this place
if you’re in a place this morning where
you don’t know the way out
you don’t know the way forward you are
indeed blessed by God I’ll tell you that
straight out because now there’s only
one voice that matters now there’s only
one person to turn to it doesn’t matter
if the nation is blue or red or green or
yellow or it doesn’t matter the color of
the nation we’re not looking to man to
solve our problems anymore we have a
spiritual problem in this nation
and David Cries Out
in Psalm 60 verse 5. that your beloved
may be delivered save with your right
hand you’re right the right hand of God
is the hand of power and hear me
David cries out as a king who was a man
after the heart of God lord there is no
other way out of this dilemma
we’re broken down
we are distant from you we’ve lost our
purpose
the Earth is trembling
confusion is on every corner and in
every pair of lips you have made your
people to see hard things we’ve had to
drink this wine of confusion ourselves
but oh God in the wilderness you’ve
given us a banner that can be displayed
because of Truth
it’s not a bad thing to be in the
wilderness it’s a good thing to be in
the wilderness because God is going to
do something in this generation that
only he could do that’s why listen to me
that’s why God in the last two years has
prepared this church to go International
all around the world the lord is going
to do something here that only he can do
because we are going to call out to him
we are going to seek God save us some
trust in chariots some trust in horses
but we will remember the name of the
Lord our God
they are brought down and Fallen but we
are risen saved Lord let the king hear
us when we call we call out to you God
unashamedly unreservedly we call out to
you for our homes for our children for
our families my God for what we allowed
ourselves to become as a nation come
Lord Jesus come Lord Jesus and sweep
away the Refuge of Lies sweep away the
powers of Darkness that want to swallow
the testimony of your goodness in this
nation sweep away the confusion wants to
confuse our children at every
conceivable level
sweep away the baptism of immorality
that wants to destroy the strength of
the men of this nation
sweep it all away oh God sweep it all
away
call to me the Lord says call out to me
in the wilderness
David says Hear Me in response Jeremiah
33 3 the Lord says call to me
and I will answer you and I will show
you Great and Mighty things which you do
not know
in other words call to me and I will I
will show you things which you’re not
presently experiencing or maybe you have
forgotten
God is the one
who took 51 emaciated pilgrims in 1620.
who met in the house they’re half
starved surrounded by enemies with no
gold forward strategy but they prayed in
that house
and they said Lord you promised to bring
us to a land where we could worship you
freely and according to your word and
according to conscience
half of us have died then the rest of us
are starving and we are surrounded by
enemies but oh God you promised that if
we called out to you we would see our
prayers answered
and from 51 half dead people meeting in
a house is now called lot one Plymouth
Massachusetts a nation of over 330
million people was born
we were given abilities to do things
that only God could have given us
we became a nation that became the Envy
of the modern day world and people even
in our backslidden condition people are
still risking life and limb to come here
under the promise of a better life
the psalmist says God
give us help Psalm 60 verse 11 and 12
from trouble for the help of man is
useless
through God we will do valiantly for he
it is who will tread down our enemies
through God
through God I’m not looking the
government I’m not looking to courts I’m
not looking to personalities I’m not
looking to fancy preachers I’m looking
at God to do what only God can do in
this generation we’re now living in I’m
looking for a spiritual awakening in
America I’m looking for a moment of
conscience among the people I’m I’m
looking for a season of time
where all of a sudden
just like the prodigal son it’s like in
the snap of our fingers that we suddenly
come to ourselves and say god what have
we done as David did in this Psalm says
in a sense when you look at the psalmist
Lord what what did we do how did we lose
what we had
and you and I know from the history of
King David that God had a tender heart
towards him and would answer him when he
crawled out
and so the bottom line is
I’m unfurling my banner today
Hallelujah
no matter where I am no matter where you
are I don’t care if I’m in the backside
of the desert means nothing to me
whatsoever I’m unfurling my banner
because that is the promise you have
given a banner to those who fear you
that it may be displayed
because of the truth I’m unfurling a
banner that says in God I still Trust
Hallelujah and I still believe
that Unity is possible I still believe
the powers of Darkness can be caused to
flee
I still believe you’re the same
yesterday today and forever I still
believe that you answered prayer
I still believe that out of weakness we
will be made strong I still believe that
we can set the mouths of lions I still
believe we can stand against armies and
enemies
I still believe in the mercy of God I
still believe in the power of God I
still believe in the glory of God I
still believe in the plan of God I still
believe in God hallelujah
hallelujah hallelujah hallelujah
[Music]
Glory Glory Glory Glory To Your Name
Lord
[Applause]
Glory Glory Glory
Glory Glory
Hallelujah and though I may be in the
wilderness maybe we’re there together I
will find Grace there I will find God
there
I’m taking my flag out of its container
I’m unfurling that thing and holding it
high
Jesus Christ is King of kings and Lord
of lords
and one day every knee will bow every
tug will confess
that Jesus Christ is Lord
Hallelujah to the Lamb of God
Glory Glory Glory Glory
and David the psalmist
says many will see it
and turn back to God
it’s time for the church to rise it’s
time for you and I to unfurl our Banner
and say God I trust you
I don’t care what anybody else says I
still trust you
I don’t care what anybody else does I
believe in the power of unity
and I’m going back to what we left
behind
praise God and I’m going to believe for
a spiritual awakening in this generation
because let me tell you something folks
people are sick and tired of the sin in
this country right now they’re tired
they’re tired they’ve had enough of it
David said in Psalm 40 and I’m going to
close with this I waited patiently for
the Lord and He inclined to me and heard
My Cry
he brought me up also out of a horrible
pit out of the Mirey clay and set my
feet upon a rock and established my
steps and he put a new song in my mouth
praise to our God many will see it in
fear and trust in the Lord
praise God I’m unfurling my song I’m
taking my banner I’m taking out my song
sheet and I’m going to start singing in
the wilderness praise God I’m going to
start giving God glory
for who he is and what he does and what
he’s going to do in the future the best
days are just ahead of us glory to God
and you know it in your heart I’m not
telling you something you don’t already
know
because the holy spirit’s been speaking
it to you
you and I both know that this is a
perilous moment
in the history of this world
we don’t know how many days we have left
we don’t know if some mad man somewhere
is going to release a nuclear weapon we
just don’t know it it all probability it
will happen one day
but this one thing I do know
Jesus Christ is still on the throne
[Music]
and if I turn to him he will make me
more than I am he will give me more than
I could ever possess and he will take me
where I could never go and when I get
there he’d give me words to speak to the
people he sends me to praise be to God
many will see it
and fear
and begin to trust in God
years ago I wrote a song based on one of
David’s Psalms called I will trust in
God
and I want to give an altar call this
morning
because I want to call people who are
you’re in a Wilderness of some sort or
maybe you’re just stuck in neutral you
maybe you’re one of the persons that can
say Pastor I’m not in the wilderness but
I’m just going nowhere I feel like I’m
Treading Water I’m not I’m not gaining
I’m not losing ground but I’m not
gaining ground either in my walk with
God and that’s a Wilderness place
but today I hear this drawing of God I
hear God calling me to something deeper
than I’ve known or a place farther than
I’ve ever gone to be more than I could
ever hope to be
In My Own Strength
and I want to live the kind of life that
brings glory to God in this season of
utter confusion that we’re now living
and I want to be a person that brings I
don’t I don’t I want to get to the place
where I don’t have to say anything
people will see this song
and I was checking out at the grocery
store just a little few years back and I
wasn’t particularly good day just an
ordinary day and as I’m putting my stuff
along the the conveyor belt the the the
lady at the cash looks at me says I see
something in you what is it I’m looking
at
[Music]
isn’t that amazing
it’s called a new song
it’s called a confidence in God it’s
called no matter what’s going on around
me yes the price of groceries are going
up but that doesn’t affect me
obviously it doesn’t affect me
foreign
my confidence is not in the price
of groceries
or the price of oil
[Music]
it’s in God
and more than anything in my whole life
I want his name to be loved again and
honored
understood
revered
I will trust in God
all of my days
[Music]
though the Seas May Roar
mountains leave their place
the hearts of men may fade
tears on every face
[Music]
safely I will stand
in God’s Amazing Grace
I will trust in God
I will trust in God
Come What May in Christ I say I will
trust in God
I will trust in God
I will trust in God
Come What May in Christ I say I will
trust in God so I’m going to invite you
I’m going to sing it again but I’m going
to invite you to come to this Altar and
unfurl your banner
pull that flag that is yours and it’s
Uniquely Yours pull it out of the tube
set it in the right place and display it
and say God give me a song
God give me a countenance that speaks of
trust in you give me
give me strength that can only come from
God
no matter how confusing the day is no
matter how dark the Wilderness might be
Lord you have drawn me here
and you told me that if I call out to
you you would answer me
so this is my altar call to you today
that you come and we’ll we’ll unfurl or
banish together and we’ll pray together
and let’s believe God for the miraculous
let’s stand together and if that’s no
you can’t you can’t unfurl that Banner
until you have acknowledged Jesus Christ
as your lord and savior
and if you haven’t done that I would
encourage you to open your heart today
and just say Jesus I can’t save myself
and forgive me for thinking I ever could
you died on a cross from me you paid the
price for the wrong I have done
and it’s because of that sacrifice that
you made I can know today that I can be
forgiven
for the things that I have done what’s
the Bible called sin
I believe in my heart that you died in
my place and because of that I can know
today that I can be forgiven
of all the wrong that I have done and I
confess with my mouth that from this day
forward you are the Lord Of My Life
I won’t govern my own life by my own
thoughts anymore I’ll go into your word
and your word will begin to guide me
and you will become my God and you will
give me that that life that I heard
about today
if that’s in your heart please just pray
this prayer with me let’s all pray it
together for the sake of those who want
to pray it today and those who are
online as well who need to surrender to
Jesus Christ
Lord Jesus
thank you for loving me
thank you for dying on a cross for me
and coming to get me
in the place where I am
today
I open my heart to you
I invite you into my life
to be my God
and my savior
I confess you
as the Lord Of My Life
from this day forward
I will follow you
thank you for loving me
thank you for saving me
and now I thank you for keeping me
in Jesus name
amen and amen praise God