["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["The Last Post"] He thou exalted, forever and ever, God of eternity, the Ancient of Kings, wondrous in wisdom, majestic in glory, perfect in holiness, Be Thou exalted, my seraphs and angels, be Thou exalted with our men with song. Saints in their adducts of rapture adore Thee, Thy be the glory forever, Amen. He doth raise up the dead, ♪ By seraphs and angels be thou exalted ♪ ♪ With harp and with song ♪ ♪ Saints in their anthems of rapture adore thee ♪ ♪ Thine be the glory forevermore ♪ Yeah, praise God. That's why we're here, isn't it? To worship and exalt God. Let's set this. Now, I want you to turn your Bibles to 2 Chronicles chapter 7. And we'll dismiss the little ones from the last 2 Chronicles chapter 7. All right, do you remember going to visit somebody and your mom or dad saying something like this? Be careful as we go to this house. This is not your house, right? This is not where you live. This is not where you take off your shoes, take off your socks, and run and jump all over the furniture. This is somebody's house. It might be granny's house. It might be auntie's house. But it's not your house. And let's treat it nicely because of whose house up many times. We just traveled the states for several months and you go into different houses and my kids will attest to the fact that that is something that would come out of my memory. When Katie and I were first married, we had a farmhouse and we had a knock on the door and the door, as they opened, this young family was there with little kids and it turns out it was a missionary family. And they said, this was the first house that we ever lived in. We'd like to come in and see it. And we said, well, that's fine. Come on in. And interestingly, this is an aside, but the lady that owned that property, she was in a care home. But I think she had been a missionary to Africa. And back then, God had called our family into missions. And I wonder if this lady prayed that God would use this house for missionaries somehow, because that certainly This is not your house, okay? They're jumping on our sofa and carrying on and running around and whatnot. It was okay because it was a $10 sofa. We were poor back then. There was nothing of value anywhere in the house. But you know, again, it's an okay thing to say, you know, this isn't your house. Treat this as a special place. And tonight as we come to 2 Chronicles chapter 7, a most special house that is being dedicated. And so it says in 2 Chronicles chapter 7, now when Solomon had made an end of praying, the fire came down from heaven and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices and the glory of the Lord filled that house and the priest could not enter into that house of the Lord because the glory of the Lord had filled the Lord's house. This is the temple. This is after King David. It's his son, King Solomon. He's the one that has the opportunity to build the first temple for God. It's the first mortar and stone building that is going to be used in the worship of God. It was a very, very special place. Tonight, we gather together in what we would call, I think rightly, the church I think it's okay to call this the house of God. Now, this is a public place. It's a place that's used for many other events and things, but we are the called out assembly, the church, the ecclesia. When we gather together and meet, whatever that building is, it is a special place because it's a place where we meet together with God. Matthew 18, verse 20 says, where two or three are gathered together in my need, there in us, That can be anywhere, but where two or three believers get together in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, Jesus himself promises that he will be present with them in that place. Since God is meeting here with us tonight, as he met with his people in the Old Testament at the house of God, and I think it's okay for us tonight to say, you know what, this is a special place. This, we can rightly say, is the house of God. Jesus said about the Old Testament house of God, the temple, verse 17 says that he taught saying to them is it not written my house shall be called the house of prayer, that it was to be a place characterized by prayer. In fact, as you look at this dedication of Solomon of the temple, what you find Solomon doing in dedicating it is that he gets on his knees in front of the congregation, stretches his hands up to heaven, and he begins to cry out in prayer to God, so he is praying. As he's praying, the main theme of that which he's praying about is prayer. And so the Bible says, if you look back in 2 Chronicles 6, He says, have respect therefore to the prayer of thy servant and to his supplication, O Lord my God, to hearken unto the cry and the prayer which thy servant prayeth before thee. Verse 21, hearken therefore unto the supplications of thy servant, of thy people Israel, which they shall make toward this place. And this is repeated as he prays, he repeats this three more times, hear thou from heaven, and ask thou curious, forgive, or act upon that which God would hear. And so he ends in verse 40 by saying, now my God, let I beseech thee, thine eyes be opened, and let thy ears be a tent unto the prayer that is made in this place. And so it was to be a place of prayer, this place as a church house ought to be a place of prayer. And I want us to consider tonight this being a special place that it's not an ordinary house, but it's a house of God. How should we pray? What should we desire to see God do in this special place, the house of God? Let's pray and ask God's blessing as we come to His word. Father, we are thankful tonight for the privilege of coming into the house of God. Father, it is a place where we, in the New Testament time period, worship God and draw nigh to God corporately. Father, because of that, it's a special place because you meet with us here in this place. And so, Father, speak to our hearts tonight as we look at this Old Testament temple, the house of God, and see what took place there. God, give us grace to say, you know what, by the grace of God, that's what we desire of our church. Father, I pray, give us ears to hear tonight. Wherever we are in our Christian life or experience, Father, whether new to the truths of the Bible or having been in church for many, many years, God, give us all ears to hear, no matter our age, Father, whether somebody's a child or an older person, Lord, God, give grace to take in the truth of the Word of God. Father, I can't speak without your name in it. Father, I pray tonight that you help me preach biblically, help me preach practically, Father, help me to preach lovingly, and Father, by the grace of God, help me to preach powerfully, authoritatively the truth of the word of God. And Father, we thank you for your help now as we come to this passage of scripture. It's in Christ that you pray. All right, so it's not an ordinary place. It is a special place. We gather together to worship God. We rightly call it the house of God. What should be the desire that we have for God within this place? Well, first of all, we ought to desire that it be a place filled with God's presence. We ought to desire that this place be a place where it's obvious that God is there. 2 Chronicles 6.41, Solomon said this to God, he said, now therefore arise, O Lord God, into thy resting place. Thou, in the ark of thy strength, let thy priest, O Lord God, be clothed with salvation. Let thy saints rejoice in goodness, O Lord God. Turn not away the face of thine anointed. Remember the mercies of David, thy servant. And so Solomon is inviting God and saying, God, come into this place, take up residence. This is the house of God, so come, and dwell in this place. You know, praise God, God will come in power. God is going to manifest himself in this story, in that place. It's going to be obvious that God is there. It's going to be as obvious that he is in that temple as it was that he was in the tabernacle. Remember that tent in the wilderness? That place that they had, that was their journey tent of worship, that place that was sanctified and set apart unto God. Exodus 33 verse seven speaks about the glory of God in that place. It says that Moses took the tabernacle and he pitched it without the camp, far off from the camp, and he called it the tabernacle of the congregation. It came to pass that everyone who sought the Lord went out unto the tabernacle of the congregation, which was without the camp. And it came to pass when Moses went out unto the tabernacle that all the people rose up and stood every man at his tent door and looked after Moses until he was gone into the tabernacle. And it came to pass as Moses entered into the tabernacle, the cloudy pillar descended, that pillar that guided them with the pillar of fire. The pillar of cloud was during the daytime. That cloudy pillar descended and stood at the door of the tabernacle. The Lord talked with Moses, and all the people saw the cloudy pillar stand at the tabernacle door, and all the people rose up and worshiped every man in his tent door. And the Lord spake unto Moses, and he turned again into the camp. Moses went out into the camp, but his servant Joshua, the son of Nun, a young man, departed not out of the tabernacle. So Moses is walking up to the tabernacle, the glory of God seen visibly, the presence of God descends in a cloud upon that tent. He speaks with God face to face. Joshua stays there when Moses leaves. Why? Because there was such a sweet sense of the presence of God, Joshua, as a young man, didn't want to leave the place of the presence of God. Back in 2005, I've shared this story before, being at a prayer meeting at a large church. There was probably 600 people that were gathered there for special meetings. And as an old preacher that was infirm, He sat down when he was preaching, Charlie Kitchell. As he got done preaching, it was a convicting message. He had just challenged us with, hey, what are you doing for God? Are you living for God? In some very specific ways. But it was very convicting. As he got to the end of his service, they had an invitation time. And it seemed like over half the congregation went forward. I mean, there were people in the aisle back to where I was, and I was sitting about halfway back on the aisle. in the center of the church. And as the people prayed, they're dealing with their heart before God, they said this, they said, you know what, it's an afternoon session, it was the first afternoon session. The second afternoon session was a prayer session. And they said this, rather than break, let's just go straight into that prayer time. And it was somewhat of a spontaneous prayer time that lasted for three hours. And it wasn't boring. And it was an amazing prayer time. There were times where it was just one person praying at a time, but different people praying. Then everybody would sing at the same time. Somebody would start a song, everyone would pick it up, everybody would sing. It was beautiful. And it lasted for three hours. It was obvious that God was there. There was a manifest sense of the presence of God. It was very clear that God was there. And there was something in our hearts that said, I don't believe this. about our church. God, make this a place where the presence of God is felt. Whether somebody knows God or not, that they would recognize that there is something that is distinctly different about that place that's a place that has the presence of God there. The presence of God was there at the house of God. Secondly, we ought to pray, God, help it to be a place manifesting God's glory. How good to be a place where God you're present, but also that your glory is manifest. It says in verse one, now when Solomon had made an end of praying, the fire came down from heaven and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices. And the glory of the Lord filled the house and the priests that God was there, but as God came, it was obvious that the glory of God was there. There was something that was radiant about that place that made people recognize the glory of God had descended. So what did they see? Well, they saw with their eyes fire come from heaven and consume the sacrifice. As the fire came from heaven and consumed the sacrifice, it demonstrated the powerful wrath of God against man's sin. I mean, that sacrifice was put there in the place of that individual as it were, and specifically in the place of the person of Christ who would come, who is the ultimate sacrifice on the cross of Calvary. And so that represented a sacrifice to God for sin, with the consuming of the sacrifice, it shows the wrath of God against man's sin. As we look ahead to a place that the Bible speaks about, a literal place, that's a lake of fire that's eternal, we can understand tonight that there is incredible wrath against man's sin. As we look at Calvary and what Jesus Christ did on the cross, what you see displayed on Calvary is the wrath of God against man's sin. But as it consumed the sacrifice, you know, it also showed that God accepted that sacrifice. It showed that the fire of God could have fallen, it could have destroyed those people, but rather than falling and destroying those people, it consumed the sacrifice, showing that God had accepted them. And then they saw, as well, the brightness of the glory of God filling the house of God. The brightness of the glory of God filling the house of God, and it just showed that God was pleased to reside in that place, that He had taken up His dwelling place. You know, in this age, am I looking for fire from heaven? As I speak tonight about the glory of God being seen, are we looking for fire from heaven? No, why? Because the fire of God already fell at Calvary. And again, that story, you can look in the word of God, it's found in Mark chapter 15, the story of Calvary, what Jesus Christ did as he died there for us. It says, when the sixth hour was come, there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour. And at the ninth hour, Jesus cried with a loud voice saying, Eloi, Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani, which is being interpreted, my God. My God, why hast thou forsaken me? And some of them that stood by when they heard it said, Behold, he calleth Elias. And one ran and filled a sponge full of vinegar and put it on a reed and gave him to drink, saying, Let alone let us see whether Elias will come to take him down. And Jesus cried with a loud voice, and gave up the ghost, and the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom. And when the centurion which stood over against him saw that he so cried out and gave up the ghost, he said, truly this man was the son of God. As he looked at the cross and he saw what Jesus Christ suffered, he saw the fire of God fall. He saw the wrath of God against man's sin. And he acknowledged that Jesus Christ was an acceptable sacrifice to God. Against our sin and that's God accepting the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ. But what about the glory? Where does the glory come from in the New Testament? Well God manifest his glory now in Every person that accepts Jesus Christ as their Savior The Bible says in Ephesians 1 12 that we should be to the praise of his glory God saved me for my sin. God saved me so that I can manifest his glory, so that people could look at my life and see that God has done something in my life, something real, something eternal, something life-changing. It's like the deacon preacher, Stephen, at the martyrdom that he went through as he preached that message on Jewish history and how God had worked with Israel. The Jews hated him and despised him. The Bible says they took him out and they went to Estonia. And as they looked on his face, they saw his face and it was radiant. They said it was like the face of an angel. What did they see? They saw the word God. You know, we have to pray, God give us people that will get saved, that will see a change, that men will see a change in their life that they will see. People that obey the Lord in believers' baptism and take that public testimony for God, that they've accepted Jesus Christ as their Savior so that God's glory can be seen. We ought to pray that for the church house. God, make this a place where we can see your glory, a place of your presence, and then a place stirred up by God, a place stirred up by God. It says in verse three, and when all the children of Israel saw how the fire came down and the glory of the Lord upon the house, they bowed themselves with their faces to the ground upon the pavement, and they worshiped and praised the Lord, saying, for he is good, for his mercy endureth forever. As this takes place, imagine being there, fire is falling, the Shekinah glory of God is seen, there's a spontaneous reaction that takes place in the hearts and minds of those people, they fall on their face, they begin to praise God and to glorify God for His goodness. Now if you saw the reaction without seeing what took place, you might think, these people are touched, all right? Something is wrong, there is, I mean what is they've been stirred up by God. Back in the day when men could go to football games, you remember that? Back in pre-COVID, all right? There were people that would get stirred up. Nobody goes to a football match and sits there, you know, and just kind of Very dull, unexcited, right? No, I mean, you don't do that. You're excited, or you're thrilled, or you're disappointed. But you're involved, you're engaged, and you're stirred up by it. You're passionate about it because of what you see taking place. In fact, if you watch it from your house, it's the same way. Nobody is sitting watching a football match and unstirred up. There's something that is excited about them because they see what is taking place. You know, praise God, there have been times in the past where it wasn't dull to go to the house of God, it wasn't boring to sit in church, because God was there, the glory of God was being seen, and there was something in the heart of men that was stirred up for God. In Kilsa, Scotland, just north of Glasgow, James Robey was preaching. or was participating in meetings that were taking place there, and a revival was taking place. There was a spiritual awakening that was taking place. And he said this, because some people look at it, they're critical, and say, what's going on here? There's people that are all emotional, getting excited, and having these fits, and there's unusual things that are taking place. This is what he said. I seriously beg of any who are prejudiced against this dispensation, this time period of God's extraordinary grace, and look upon it as a delusion, that they will show themselves so charitable as to direct me and other ministers what we shall answer distressed persons of all ages who come to us crying bitterly that they are undone because of unbelief and other sins, saying, what shall we do to be saved? And as a young girl about 12 who had been in distress for some time called upon me in the house where I was and asked me with great sedateness, what shall I do to get Christ? Shall we tell them that they are not Christless and are not unconverted when we evidently see many of them to be such? Shall we tell them that their fears of the wrath of God are all but delusion, that it's not such a dreadful thing that they need to be much afraid of it? Shall we tell persons lamenting their cursing Sabbath-breaking and other immoralities? That it's the devil that now makes them see these evils to be offensive to God and destructive to their souls? Shall we tell them who under great uneasiness and fire of us what they shall do to gain an interest and faith in Jesus Christ that Satan is deluding them when they have or show any concern this way? In fine shall we pray and recommend it to them to pray to God to deliver them from such delusions? the word sighing and groaning prisoners at this rate and yet such treatment is a natural consequence of reckoning this the work of the devil and a delusion. And so what was taking place? There's a spiritual awakening and it's so unusual what's taking place that people looked at it, people being stirred up and said that has to be of the devil. Isn't that sad? We ought to pray God, God make it present to be seen, so that something takes place in the life of God's people that they get stirred up about God, so that there is an excitement about getting right with God. And I don't mean excitement as in joy. It might be an excitement as in sorrow, looking at our life, saying, you know what? Holy God is here. I am not holy. God changed my life with the blood of Christ, because that's what I need. It could be that. But we ought to be praying that way, saying, hey, by God. But then another prayer as well, God, make it a place for God's service. Make it a place for God's service. It's that, God, you've been so good to us, what can we give back to God? And so serving Substance is tangible, right? You can touch it, you can feel it. I used to, before we got engaged, I used to tell my wife that I loved her, and we got to that point in our relationship, I'd say, I love you, but when we got engaged, I showed it. I put a ring on her finger. It was tangible, something that would demonstrate to her that I loved her. You know, in our text, Solomon didn't just express his adoration for God verbally. He expressed it physically and really, as a king, he offered to God a kingly sacrifice. It says in verse four, then the king and all the people offered sacrifices before the Lord. And King Solomon offered a sacrifice of 20 and 2,000 oxen and 120,000 sheep. So the king and all the people dedicated to the house of God. This was an incredible sacrifice consumed in the feast that was taking place afterwards, but incredible sacrifice that was being offered to God because God was worthy. You know where they're standing? This was interesting to me as I studied this and I read the Bible about this. They're standing on what used to be the threshing floor of Aaron. That's where the temple was built. I didn't realize that until I was reading this. And on that very place, God's wrath had come against Israel. The death angel was killing Jews because Satan had stirred up King David to number the people, remember? And King David came to that place and he's gonna worship God because God stopped killing the people. And Aaron at the threshing floor, And David said, no, I'm not gonna offer to God that which costs me nothing. King David greatly gave to that temple, right? I mean, he gave incredibly. He stored up, he prepared, he offered that to God. His son Solomon got to build it, but they built it by the generosity of God's people. Again, as we look at the house of God, we say, God, by your grace, help this to be a place that is serving you with substance. love for God and the things that we give to God. And then service by office, it says in verse six, and the priests waited on their offices. There were responsibilities and things that would take place in a church, we don't have a priest, praise God, we've got a great high priest, Jesus Christ, we go directly to God the Father through Jesus Christ. We have two offices, pastor and deacon. in this place and then serving with instruments. It says the Levites also with instruments of music of the Lord, which David the king had made to praise the Lord because his mercy endured forever. When David praised by their ministry, the priest sounded trumpets before them and all Israel stood. There is, I would love to go back and to have been there. There was incredible music that was taking place. And I don't understand churches that today practice this idea that there's not to be instruments or things that are in the house of God. In the Old Testament, it was the way that God had men worshiping him. The Bible says in Psalm 68, verse 25, the singers went before, the players on instruments followed after. Among them were the damsels playing with timbrels. shall be there, all my springs are in thee. You know, it's a precious thing tonight that we've been able to worship God in music. As a congregation, we've got piano playing, we've got people singing, Brother Tommy playing his guitar and singing, us using other instruments and singing, and guess what? It's biblical. It's part of this house of God, and what we desire of this place is that we serve God in music. And so, we gotta pray, God, help this to be a place a place stirred up by God, a place dedicated to God's service, and then a place consecrated for God's worship. It ought to be a place that is not a normal place. It ought to be a special place, a place that is set aside in a religious sense as a sanctuary, a place for worshiping God. It says in our text, Moreover, Solomon hallowed the middle of the court. That was before the house of war. For there he offered burnt offerings and the fat of the peace offerings because the brazen altar which Solomon had made was not able to receive the burnt offerings and the meat offerings and the fat. And you can imagine why. I mean, incredible numbers of sacrifices that they're bringing. So Solomon looks at it and says, we gotta make this place bigger where we do this. And so let's come out here. a sanctified place for worshiping God. You know, my cousin got married, I think this past year, past couple of years. When she got married, they actually had a reception in the gymnasium. And I saw a picture of it, and it didn't look like the gymnasium. I mean, it looked totally different. I don't know that I would have recognized where it was that the picture was taken because of the incredible decorations that were there. Of course, as the people came in, they're dressed nice. There's an atmosphere that's more respectful than what would normally take place. Normally, in the gymnasium, you have people cheering and you've got basketballs being shot and people in casual clothes, but the whole atmosphere was changed as it was sanctified for use for that wedding, right? As we come again, to worshiping God, this place is not a theater. It's not a concert hall. It's not a gymnasium. It's not a secular place. It's a place that, as we come in, we ought to think about our spirit, our attitude, our dress, our appropriateness to enter into that sanctified place. Because it ought to be a place that is consecrated. to worship Him without. And if it's not, we'd have to ask, is God really gonna meet with us? If it's not a place that's different, if it's not a place that is hallowed, if it's not a place that we come in understanding the need to be sanctified and have this a consecrated place, will God really meet with us? And so it ought to be a place that is consecrated. for God, a place of God's presence, manifesting God's glory, stirred up by God, dedicated to God's service, and then a place congregated in God's name. It says in verse eight, also at that time Solomon kept the feast Israel with a very great congregation from the entering in of Hamath unto the river of Egypt and in the eighth day they made a solemn assembly for they kept the dedication of the altar seven days and the feast seven days." Imagine me saying tonight, Church, we're gonna have a service that lasts a fortnight, all right? Just hang on, here we go. A two-week synod. I mean, that's what's taking place. They are congregated, they are there. There's a huge crowd, the Bible says, that is assembled, all Israel with them, a very great congregation. And there's a revival that's taking place, and they're there. They met with God, saw his glory, because they were present in the house of God. You know, John Wesley, back in the 1800s, the founder, one of the founders of Methodism, okay, and it was evangelical gospel preaching. But John Wesley traveled, he traveled to Scotland, but more so in England and in Ireland, and in these places, they would meet at five in the morning, and there would be thousands, because they were interested in congregating to worship God. You know, as you think about that tonight, if it wasn't for the congregation, what would have taken place? I mean, we're reading an incredible story about a spiritual awakening in the Old Testament, a revivalism of God's presence, God's glory, and all that being seen, but if it wasn't congregated, what would have happened? And tonight, as we think about that as a church, I'm worried that we see a spiritual awakening, but it takes congregating, doesn't it? It takes people saying, this is a place where we get together to seek God, and you know what? For our church, I don't want anybody to miss the blessing when the blessing comes. When the fire of God falls, and the glory of God is seen, and the hearts of God's people are stirred up, it would be in the best interest of everybody in our assembly if they were there. And so we ought to think that way as we think about this place. It's a place where we congregate to worship God. And then lastly tonight, it ought to be a place of God's refreshment. A place of God's refreshment. It says in verse 10, and on the three and 20th day of the seventh month, He sent the people away into their tents, glad and merry and hard for the goodness that the Lord had shown unto David and to Solomon and to Israel's people. Then Solomon finished the house of the Lord and the king's house, and all that came into Solomon's heart to make in the house of the Lord, and in his own house he prosperously effected. And as the people went away from that, they're talking it, I mean, Mom, did you see the fire of God fall? Did you see the glory of God? Wasn't that great to be with God's people, to worship God? Isn't this exciting? God is blessing, everything is prosperously affected. Nobody walked away and thought, look, what a waste of a fortnight. I'm so disappointed. go to that. Nobody did that. You know, I've been around long enough in Christian circles to understand that there's a lot of times people don't feel like going to church, or they don't feel like going to Christian camp, or they don't feel like going to evangelistic meetings, but you hear over and over again, I'm so glad that I went. You could have a young person, I was a counselor at camp and That kid could get there hating it. My parents maybe come, you know, I want to go home. And at the end of the week, you can't get them to leave because they've fallen in love with what they're getting at camp and the Word of God and the friendships and the relationships. It's been great to be in the house of God. Our desire for this place is that by God's grace to be a place where people come to go. I'm so glad I live there tonight. I'm so glad I went there, whatever. I'm so glad I joined in that. Why? Because I benefit from that. I'm excited about that. I got something good from that. Why? Because this place ought to be a place of spiritual refreshment. And so this is not an ordinary place. This is the house of God. This is God's house. So as we pray about that, we ought to pray and say, God, make it a place filled with your presence. God, as we leave, my prayers fast would be, God, help us to leave saying, you know what, God met with us tonight. God was present, God was speaking to my heart. He was talking to my heart about his truth. We gotta pray, God, make it a place that manifests God's glory. That people can look at it and say, hey, God's glory is being seen there. They might disagree with it, they might be against it, but they can look at it and say, hey, but God is doing something there. And as that takes place, God is there, the Spirit of God is glorifying God in our ministry, it ought to stir us up. We ought to pray that God make a place where our hearts are stirred, and a place dedicated to God's service, that we come with offerings for God, that we come to offer praise unto God, a place consecrated. for God's worship, that it's a holy place, that we don't come just as we are, but that we say, God, I wanna deal with my sin, I wanna get right with God, I wanna be right, so that this is a holy place, and that a place congregated in God's name, that we're faithful to attend, and by God's grace, a place where we can say, as it's said in the Bible, it's good to be in the house of the Lord. It's been good, it's a wonderful thing, a blessing. to go to the house of God and to go away refreshed. May that be the place that we have here. Let's pray. Father, I pray that the Spirit of God would speak to our hearts tonight. Father, it might be that somebody here tonight, whatever age, child to adult, they don't know Jesus Christ as their personal Savior. Father, what would be great tonight is that with the presence of God here, the Spirit of God speaking to their heart, that they'd understand their sin is punishable by hell. for that Jesus, you took the fire of God, the wrath of God on Calvary, and that that sacrifice was accepted, and that you offer a gift, a gift that can be received by faith of eternal life, salvation. Father, we pray that tonight would be the night of their salvation. Father, that would bring great glory to you. That would allow your glory to be seen. Father, all those aspects of the house of God, we desire that for our church. Father, that be a refreshing place, that be a place of consecration, that be a place of real worship, substance, Lord, that we give financially to God, that we give our praise to God in song, with instruments, that we serve God in positions that God can give us within the local church. Father, that you be present, that your glory be seen. Father, these are things that we desire. Would you do this good work in our church? It's in Christ