May God Send You Help From His Sanctuary and Strength From Zion, by Pastor Samuel Obafaiye
Help can be defined as “to give or provide what is necessary to accomplish a task or satisfy a need. To contribute means towards; to render assistance to; to cooperate effectively with; to aid or assist; to save or rescue; etc.
Strength can be defined as the quality or state of being strong; bodily or muscular power; moral power; mental power; firmness, or courage, etc.
All humans at one time in their lifetime or throughout their lifetime will require help or strength of some sort. As a matter of fact, no one can boast that on their own they’ve got all the help and strength they need in life.
Samson was the only one that came close to someone who would not need the help and strength from anybody. The only thing he had to do is to shake himself. Yet at least twice in his lifetime, he still realised that he could not help himself (thirst and period of death).
Ironically, those who do claim that they don’t need the help of anybody, are usually those who require help the most.
This could be out of ignorance, pride or due to repeated setbacks, so they don’t want to bother anyone.
For example, the Shunemite woman was ignorant of the extent of the anointing on Elisha and possibly had suffered discouragement about her repeated failures to have a child, that she had resulted to the erroneous belief that such help can never happen.
When Elisha was asking what help does she require. She said nothing. Thank God that Gehazi noticed that none of the people in their house was her child.
God used Elisha to send her help from heaven and strength from Zion. She had a child according the what Elisha said.
The help must have come from God’s sanctuary for her to tell Elisha not to deceive to her.
– There is someone listening to me, because of repeated failures, you are accepting something negative as your fate. What you need is help from heaven and strength from Zion. May God make these available to you in Jesus name.
Some people even think they are free agent on earth, answerable to no one and needing no one’s help, not even God. Such people need tremendous help. May none of us find ourselves in that category in Jesus name.
Job said in
Job 14:1
Man that is born of a woman is of few days, and full of trouble.
If that is true, which I believe so, then we all need help and strength so that our days will not be fewer and that our trouble will light and not full.
Psalm 20:2 is a prayer of David to receive help from God’s sanctuary and strength from Zion. The question is “Can God dispatch help from His sanctuary and strength from Zion?” The answer is Yes.
David actually received such help and strength.
After Saul misbehaved. God found a replacement in the house of Jesse and asked Samuel to go there and anoint one of Jesse’s sons as the next king of Israel. Jesse paraded his first 7 sons and did not present God’s candidate before Samuel.
God had to make His help from heaven speak for David, he would been forgotten. God must have whispered to Samuel that something is wrong and none of the 7 were chosen. It was at that point that the name David came up. He was then anointed as the king before his elder brothers.
– Your head shall not reject your glory.
God will ensure that your blessings does not elude you.
It was the strength from Zion that eventually made David to ascend the throne of Israel afterwards. After Goliath had terrorised the Israelites for 40 days and no one could confront him. David arrived at the war front and declared he would he would fight Goliath.
Where could that strength, power and courage comes from, except Zion.
Goliath was armed with spear, sword, knives and huge physical strength. David was only a lad and had just a catapult and five stones with him.
The Strength of Zion gave him victory.
– That same strength will work for you in Jesus name.
Jesus Christ is God the Son, but when He came as the Son of Man, He needed help. Help from His Earthly parents to be kept secure; help from the disciples to fulfil His destiny. Everyone He called followed Him, except the son of perdition. It must have been the help from God’s sanctuary that made this possible.
John 17:12
While I was with them in the world, I kept them in thy name:those that thou gavest me I have kept, and none of them is lost, but the son of perdition; that the scripture might be fulfilled.
If you are in doubt, go to city centre and tell people follow me and I will make you fishers of men and see what will happen.
Jesus was able to carry out His assignment successfully because God sent Him strength from Zion. It was after Jesus fasting and prayers for 40 days that He was endured with power from above.
Luke 4:14
And Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit into Galilee:and there went out a fame of him through all the region round about.
As Jesus was rounding up His ministry. He needed strength to go through. He asked his friends to encourage Him, but they failed. God had to empower Him from Zion.
Luke 22:42-43
Saying, Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me:nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done. And there appeared an angel unto him from heaven, strengthening him.
– May be you are at the beginning of your assignment, may God grant you the strength to start. May be you are at the tail end of a task, may God grant you renewed strength.
– There is someone listening to me, you are saying ” If I knew, I wouldn’t have began”, what you need to say is. “Father, send help to me”.
Christianity was not easy during the early church. It was called The New Way. It was very hard for the then Jews to accept. The Old Way was easy four them to follow, all Israelites saw when Moses went up Mount Sinai to receive the 10 Commandment from God. They knew that God did communicate with Moses.
But how could a boy born to Joseph and Mary in a manger from Bethlehem claimed He is the Son of God? How can God have a son anyway? The Jews could not get their heads around these? Even though Jesus did such miracles they had not seen before, their conclusion was that He must be highly placed in the devil’s kingdom! So they tried everything possible to crush the new movement.
The Romans could not understand it too. Though they did not want to get involved in Jewish religious practises, yet they were concerned that the new movement could become a political force to demand their independence, so in a way they wanted to end Christianity too and preserve Judaism.
King Herod’s plan was to be eliminating the key figures of the church one by one, James was the first target. He was the head of the church council in Jerusalem and also a relation of Jesus.
So that in Acts 12:1-11, Herod had James beheaded and when he saw that nothing happened, he took Peter his assistant and the most vocal of the apostles to kill him too.
It was few more hours before the assassination of Peter, it was clear that he needed great help. The other disciples were afraid for his life, they could not demonstrate against the authority, they could not hire a lawyer to challenge the king’s action, the only thing they could do was to pray. Guess what? It worked.
God sent help to Peter from His own sanctuary. He also sent strength to him from Zion. An angel came down from heaven to deliver him. He thought he was in a dream, he was on the main road before he realised help had come from God.
– Someone listening to me, your situation requires an angel from the sanctuary of God to touch you to obtain your deliverance. May God send that help to you today in Jesus name.
In 1996, my father became sick that he could not go out. It was said that he had hernia, so our neighbours who were close to him advised that he removed it surgically, though they said it might be challenging for someone who is past 70 years. My Dad at the time was over 80 years and had been a believer and preacher of Divine healing only for more than 40 years. So he resulted to either God would healed him or he would go home. Guess what? God sent help to him from His sanctuary. He also received strength from Zion.
Two men dressed in white came into his room while he was sleeping, they came to his side, he felt a needle sensation at the affected area and by the time he woke up, the hernia was gone! He received strength afterwards and carried on with his work in the church another 2 more years.
– May God send you help from His sanctuary.
– There is someone listening to me, you are very close to something bad that has been planned for you. God will send you help to avert it.
The day is approaching fast. But I decree that it shall not happen.
(This is how you will know – Someone will try to find out regarding you in a funny way, what they have done never worked).
Throughout the ministry of Apostle Paul, it was the help from God’s sanctuary and strength from Zion that sustained him. In Acts 14, Paul and Barnabas was about to be stoned at Icomium, so they went to preach at Lystra.
They healed a man that was cripple from birth at Lystra and there was an uproar in the city so that they thought the gods gave visited them in flesh. The whole city was about to be won for Christ when the Jews from Iconium and Antioch traced them down and instigated the multitude against them, they stoned Paul and dragged him out of the city and left him for the vultures to devour. But when the disciples stood around him, the bible said he got up!
Stoning in Israel is not a child’s play. It is rocks. It’s a capital punishment.
How could he have got up after such an ordeal? It was the help from heaven and strength from Zion. That was how Stephen was killed, but Paul assignment was not over yet.
The following day he travelled!
From Lystra to Derbe. 60 miles!
The question I asked myself is why did the converts not prevent the stoning? The answer I got is because they were overpowered by the mob.
The evidence of the good thing Paul did was glaring, the people were still brainwashed to stone Paul.
If the people could not help him, the disciples could not, and it was Jews like them that came to incite the multitude. Then help can only come from God.
– It is possible that the good thing you have done is been rewarded with evil.
It is possible that those who are supposed to help you have been incapacitated in a way.
It is possible that those you never expected to oppose are those that gave birth to your problem.
Know what? Help is coming your way from God’s sanctuary.
David knew this when he said in
Psalms 27:10
When my father and my mother forsake me, then the Lord will take me up.
God did that for him. Daddy deliberately forgot him. Mummy did not put in a word for him.
Your parents may have told you they have tried their best and there is nothing they can do now. May be you are even like me, when there is no mother nor father that could attempt to try to help anymore. God asked me to tell you “I will send help to you from my sanctuary”.
-There is someone listening to me, occasionally it seems you are losing your breath. What you need is the strength from God. God is breathing in you afresh now.
Breath of God from the four corners of the earth come into you now.
Jesus felt like that in the Garden of Gethsemane. His heart was sorrowful to the point of death. The good part of the story is that help and strength came from Zion.
Your help shall come as well.
Prayers
Father, send help to me from your presence.
Father, strengthen me by your Spirit.
The sermon, May God Send You Help From His Sanctuary and Strength From Zion, by Pastor Samuel Obafaiye was delivered on September 4, 2016