This message is one of the Times Square
Church Pulpit Series.
It was recorded in the sanctuary of Times
Square Church in Manhattan, New York City.
Other tapes are available by writing World Challenge
PO Box 260 Lindell, Texas 75771 or calling
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The last year and a half I have
really battled with illness.
I was exposed to a toxic substance that
infected my lungs.
And it really was a difficult year and
a half to say the least.
Difficult to breathe, no energy, headaches all the
time.
And really, in some cases, I saw one
of the best specialists in all of the
United States.
I went to see this particular doctor that
specializes in this.
And he basically told me, he said, in
two years you'll know what level of disability
you're going to settle in at.
He didn't say you'd be healed.
He said you basically, your body will heal
itself to the point where this scarring is
in your lungs.
And you will have to learn to live
at that level of disability, whatever that is.
And so it's been a difficult year and
a half.
In that year and a half, through these
difficult times, you know, the Bible says that
all things work together for good.
And very often the outcome of whatever comes
into our lives is determined by how we
see God in the midst of our trial.
And I made a choice years ago to
see Him as faithful even when I don't
understand Him.
Because the Bible does say all things work
together for good to those who love God
and are called according to His purpose.
And I believe that.
And over the course of the last year
and a half, the Lord has given me
some nice songs.
I think they're nice anyway.
I mean, I really enjoy singing them.
They were gifts to me from the Holy
Ghost.
In some of the hardest times, in some
of the days when I'd get up and
have to put an oxygen mask on my
face before I could do my devotions.
And have to breathe into that thing for
five or ten minutes so that the headaches
would go away so that I could begin
to enjoy reading my Bible.
And it was in these times that it's
as if the pen of the Holy Ghost,
He just started speaking to my heart and
I just started writing it down.
And started writing songs like, if you've lost
your heaven song.
And when I don't understand the way that
He leads, it's then that He whispers with
heaven sweet love and tells me forever He's
there.
And all of these songs, and now about
twelve, sixteen days ago now, Pastor David had
suggested that I make a CD of these
songs.
So we began to do that.
I was in the studio and started out
the first song, which is I Love You
Jesus.
That was written quite a few years ago.
And I started singing it and I couldn't
do it.
I mean, I just simply couldn't hit the
notes anymore that I used to a few
years ago.
I was trying to tell the arrangers that,
but it just seemed nobody was listening to
me.
Got into the studio and as I suspected,
I can't hit the notes anymore in this
particular song.
So everybody kind of looked at me and
hummed and hawed and wondered, well, should we
carry on?
Should we go home?
It was a little bit embarrassing perhaps for
them not knowing really what to do.
And I said, no, I want to keep
on singing.
So we went into the studio and just
began.
So this particular song I think will always
be special to me because it's the song
I was singing when God healed me.
And folks, listen, my whole prayer life wasn't
about healing.
The whole year and a half, I may
have asked once or twice, really?
I never asked that many times to be
healed because my prayer life is not about
being healed.
It's about being used of God.
But you know what?
We have to understand something.
Sometimes as human vessels, the Bible says that
we're filled with living water.
But like sponges, we soak it all up
to ourselves.
And God in his goodness sometimes has to
come and just give that sponge a little
bit of a squeeze for the stranger that
goes by.
And some songs came out of that time
of squeezing in my life that I'm hoping
are going to be a blessing for people
for many, many years to come.
Especially the struggling saints, especially the people that
the enemy has got convinced perhaps that they're
just not going to make it.
And I'm hoping with all my heart that
these songs will be an encouragement to them.
But this one is an encouragement to me
because it was the one I was singing
when I was touched with the Holy Ghost.
And I wasn't even aware that God had
touched me until the song was over.
And the fellows that were running the technical
side of recording said, What happened to you?
What happened to your voice?
The longer you sang, the stronger you got.
The different notes you began.
I wasn't even aware of it.
Folks, that was at about, on a Friday
night, I guess probably somewhere around 8 o
'clock.
We sang until 1.30 in the morning
and really had to quit.
I was so full of the joy of
the Lord and hit some notes that I
haven't hit in years and had to stop
just because I felt I better not push
this thing over the edge.
We came back in the next day, sang
for another six or seven hours.
And then that Sunday morning, I don't know
if you remember that Sunday morning, but I
just could not but worship God and shout
and sing to the Lord.
And it's been 16 days, 16 days of
breathing without oxygen, 16 days of health.
I look back on the last year and
a half, and I have to say it's
been a good year and a half.
Because there have been things done in my
life that apart from tribulation wouldn't have happened.
There are deep workings that come into the
heart in times of trial that those who
live on the mountaintop know nothing about and
may never fully understand these things.
There's a whole lot more of us in
us than we realize.
God in His graciousness, when we call out
to Him and say, Oh, all of Jesus
and none of me, and the Holy Ghost
says, Okay, that's the way you want it.
And He just reaches down and squeezes the
clay and says, We'll just see about that.
There's a little bit more of you there
than needs to be.
God is so good.
God is so good to us.
I want to share this song with you
just because it's special to me.
God has been so good to me.
It's just simply called, In the Quiet Times.
And I think He healed me here for
a reason, because this is part of what
God's been speaking to my life.
Life gets so busy.
Ministry gets so busy.
Occupies so much of your time.
Takes you so much away from the source
of your strength.
And God in His goodness will take everything
else away that we will come back to
Him again.
And teach us one more time about what
it means to be quiet in His presence
and give that quality time to Him that
He deserves.
I've had some wonderful prayer times of late.
Just marvelous, marvelous times of prayer.
The only thing wrong with me physically is
I limp now.
Isn't that amazing?
I think Jacob had a similar problem.
For whatever reason, I have a problem with
my hip and my leg down to my
knee.
My thigh and my hip seem to be
out of joint.
I don't know.
I'm not even going to go to the
doctor.
I really don't care.
That's really up to God.
It takes a while.
But when I walk for a while, it
goes away.
But it's just a nice tender reminder that
our source of life and strength is in
Christ.
Sometimes the world seems to set me free.
And as the two men who walked on
the road to Emmaus, let God's Word burn
in our hearts tonight.
Show us and speak to us.
Turn one more page, O God, in the
knowledge of eternity.
And speak it into our hearts.
Let your kingdom come and your will be
done.
Father, I thank you for this.
I thank you that you will accomplish wonderful
things in this house tonight.
I believe it with all my heart.
In Jesus' name.
Ecclesiastes, the man who comes after the king.
Chapter 2, verse 11 and 12.
Now this is Solomon.
Writing, as they say, at the end of
his life.
Then I looked on all the works that
my hands had wrought and on the labor
that I had labored to do.
And behold, all was vanity and vexation of
spirit.
And there was no prophet under the sun.
And I turned myself to behold wisdom and
madness and folly.
For what can the man do that cometh
after the king?
Even that which has been already done.
The man who comes after the king.
Now listen.
Solomon is a man who undoubtedly and inarguably
was given by God incredible wisdom and knowledge.
God himself said in 2 Chronicles 1, verse
12.
He said to Solomon, he said, Wisdom and
knowledge is granted to thee.
And I will give thee riches and wealth
and honor such as none of the kings
have had before thee.
And neither shall there any after thee have
the like.
God said, Solomon, I'm going to give you
knowledge.
I'm going to give you wisdom.
I'm going to pour into your life.
Such incredible wealth.
Not only of the things that the earth
can supply, but heaven's wealth.
You see, beloved, we've got to understand that
the Bible is God's wealth.
It's the wealth of heaven.
This written word of God.
And just like God poured it into Solomon.
Every time we open this book.
Every time we sit in the house of
God.
And are listening to the word of God
being spoken under the anointing of the Holy
Spirit.
This is God's wealth of heaven now being
poured out.
Just as it was to Solomon.
Now God has the same wisdom.
It's not an exclusive gift anymore.
The apostle in the New Testament says if
any man lacks wisdom.
Let him ask God who doesn't withhold and
gives freely to all.
And it will be given him.
But let him ask in faith.
Nothing wavering.
Let him ask.
And God says, I will give you wisdom.
I will.
I'll not withhold it if you want it.
Solomon took this incredible knowledge.
And this knowledge should have been used to
bring both himself and those under his authority.
Into an incredible life which God offers to
those that are his.
Incredible freedom.
Magnificent borders of protection that God would provide.
And instead he undertook a lower pursuit.
And it's one that eventually led to his
own downfall.
And you have to understand that Solomon is
the one who set the stage for the
defeat of Israel.
It was because of Solomon's backsliding.
That after his reign the kingdom was divided
between the northern and the southern kingdoms.
And the stage was now set for the
Assyrian Empire to come and swallow the northern
kingdom.
And Babylon to come and as it is
swallow the southern kingdom.
The northern kingdom was essentially never heard of
again.
Assimilated.
Swallowed.
By the heathen nations all around them.
But it's Solomon's backsliding that set the stage
for this.
If there is a single figure you can
point to in scripture.
That we could say that this one man's
lower pursuit as it is.
Set the stage for the defeat of those
under his authority.
It was Solomon.
Now the Bible tells us what the cornerstone
of Solomon's failure was.
It's the life that he began to build
for himself.
And it's found in Ecclesiastes again chapter 1
and verse 13.
Now verse 12.
He said, I the preacher was king over
Israel in Jerusalem.
Not only a king as it is but
he calls himself a preacher as well.
Everyone who teaches in any capacity or extrapolates
as it is or gives further the word
of God.
Is truly a preacher.
He said, I was king over Israel in
Jerusalem and I gave my heart to seek
and to search out by wisdom.
Concerning all things that are done under heaven.
This sort travaileth God given to the sons
of man to be exercised therewith.
Now here was Solomon's mistake.
God gave him wisdom and he took that
wisdom to search out things out of his
own mouth.
He says that are under heaven.
If you look at the original Hebrew text
the word under just means beneath, below.
He said he could have used that wisdom
to search out things that would have given
life to him and to all the people
under his authority.
But instead he took the wisdom of God.
And instead of looking up he looked ahead.
He looked to the things around him to
find satisfaction, to find meaning and purpose.
He looked in the world in a sense
to find his satisfaction.
All the wisdom that God gave him never
caused him to look up.
He looked all around and he did as
it is a search under heaven.
And spent his whole life trying to find
meaning.
Using the wisdom that God had given him
for a faulty pursuit.
Listen to the miserable life.
He said I've seen all the works, verse
14, that are done, chapter 1, under the
sun.
And behold all is vanity and vexation of
spirit.
And at the end of his life he
looked back on a trail of emptiness.
If there's anything in my heart that would
cause me to fear it would be this
thing.
You see, the fear of the Lord is
the beginning of wisdom.
And I believe in my heart that the
basis of the fear of the Lord is
the understanding that God will not be mocked
and his kingdom cannot be played with.
We cannot toy with truth without suffering the
consequences of it.
It may not be immediate.
It may even look like we're having a
good life.
It may look like everything is going well
until you get to the end.
And at the end you look back and
he says, oh, it's just empty.
It was just an empty, selfish pursuit.
And in spite of all he had, in
spite of all he possessed, there was nothing
there that was lasting.
There was nothing that the people around him
could even hold to.
He had allowed the presence of God to
drain as it is through his fingers like
sand.
And he's left at the end looking back
and saying, what is life all about?
Chapter 2, he said, I said in my
heart, verse 1, he said, go to now
and I will prove thee with mirth.
Therefore, enjoy pleasure.
And behold, this also is vanity.
Now, I've read this in different translations.
And I'm going to paraphrase it as basically
as Solomon said, the first thing I did
is I just sought out enjoyment.
I used the knowledge of God.
And with the knowledge that God was giving
me, I headed out to find pleasure and
enjoyment in this world.
And this is vanity.
I didn't find it.
I searched.
And, you know, there are seasons.
And Solomon could rightly say there were seasons
where there was conceivably some joy, some fulfillment.
But nothing lasted.
That's why he says it's all vanity.
It's not lasting.
It's a faulty foundation.
It doesn't matter how high you build the
wall, it eventually falls over.
I said of laughter, it is mad.
And of mirth, what doeth it?
Verse 3, he said, I sought in my
heart to give myself unto wine, and yet
acquainting my heart with wisdom.
I find that particular statement a little bit
of, they call it an oxymoron.
Two things that shouldn't go together.
I sought to give my heart to wine,
and yet acquainting myself with wisdom.
You ever notice when somebody is half in
the bag with alcohol how wise they are
in their own sight?
All the theories they have about life and
people and politics and governments.
And the more they drink, the wiser they
get.
In their own sight, they can be babbling
on like absolute fools.
But as far as they're concerned, they're ready
to get up and give a political speech
before thousands.
Solomon says, I thought maybe I'd drink a
bit.
How many Solomons are in the church today?
That God pours out heaven.
God opens heaven.
And he talks about new life in Christ.
And he talks about destiny and purpose.
He talks about a beloved bride.
He talks about where he wants to take
us.
And there are no limitations to what God
can do.
And we have this knowledge.
He releases and reveals the covenant, his power,
his blood.
And how many are there in the church
today that take that knowledge, that wisdom of
God, and try to add a glass of
wine to it?
And still, even knowing these things, follow the
same path as a man who ends up
empty at the end of his days.
Nothing more confusing than a babbling, wine-sipping,
divided-hearted Christian.
And he said, and then I sought to
lay hold on folly until I might see
that good for the sons of man, which
they should do under the heaven all the
days of their life.
He said, now, I turned myself to wine,
yet still keeping my wisdom.
And he said, I thought I'd add to
it a little bit of stupidity, foolishness.
If it was Solomon in our day, he
said, well, I thought I'd visit a few
comedy clubs.
I thought perhaps I'd turn into some television
shows that are just idiotic buffoons from beginning
to end.
And I would watch them and laugh with
them.
And see if happiness can be found there.
You know, it's funny, there are so many
people today that live exactly like that.
Come to Times Square Church and sit here,
and you're given the wisdom of heaven.
And then go home, pull a beer out
of the fridge, and then turn on the
televisions and watch some idiotic sitcom.
Doing the very same thing that Solomon did,
with the wisdom of God.
I made me great works, I built houses,
I planted vineyards, I made gardens, verse 5,
and orchards.
I planted trees of all kinds of fruits.
I made pools of water, the water there
with the wood that brings forth trees.
I got servants and maidens, and had servants
born in my house.
I had great possessions of great and small
cattle above all that were in Jerusalem before
me.
I gathered silver, gold, peculiar treasure of kings
and of provinces.
I got men singers and women singers.
The delights of the sons of men, musical
instruments of all sorts.
And so I was great and increased more
than all they that were before me in
Jerusalem.
And also my wisdom remained with me.
In other words, the Word of God was
still in me.
I was pursuing all these things, but God's
Word was still in me.
I still had an understanding of truth.
Whatsoever my eyes desired, I kept not from
them.
I withheld not my heart from any joy.
For my heart rejoiced in all my labor,
and this was my portion of all my
labor.
Verse 11, Then I looked on the works
of my hands they had brought.
And on the labor I labored to do,
and all was vanity and vexation of spirit.
And there was no prophet under the sun.
And I turned myself to behold wisdom and
madness and folly.
For what can the man do that comes
after the king, even that which has been
already done?
Solomon just simply says this.
Tell me now, what can you do that
I haven't done?
Where can you look for happiness in this
world that I haven't looked?
What can you build that I haven't built?
What can you listen to that I haven't
listened to?
What relationships can you enter into that I
haven't had?
And he said, I've come to the end,
and it's all empty.
At the end of his life, his pursuit
left him with wrong theology and unanswered questions.
And that's exactly what wrong pursuits will do.
Nothing more dangerous than giving truth to a
man or woman with a divided heart.
Let me tell you why.
Because at the end of their life, oftentimes
the church will set them up and they
become the teachers of the next generation.
And all that's left in a man or
woman with a divided heart is wrong theology
and unanswered questions.
Ecclesiastes 1.10. Listen now to the theology
of Solomon.
He said, Is there anything whereof it may
be said, See, this is new?
It hath been already of old time, which
was before us.
Is there anything, Solomon says, that can be
said, This is new?
Yet lamentations Jeremiah the prophet writes in chapter
3.
He said, It is of the Lord's mercies
that we are not consumed, because His compassions
fail not.
Verse 23 says, They are new every morning.
Great is thy faithfulness.
Yes, we can look at the world and
say, Is there anything out there that is
new?
Is there any show that comes to Broadway
that hasn't already passed this way before?
The same idiotic things are in every show.
It doesn't matter which one we go to
watch.
It's all the same.
A hundred years from now, if the Lord
tarries, will it ever be different than it
is today?
No, it won't be.
Is there anything, he says, that can be
said, This is new?
You see, if he had been looking in
the right direction, that would not have been
his theology.
His theology would have been, If you will
look to God, there are mercies for you
every morning that are brand new.
If you look heavenward, you get out of
bed and you say, God, I can hardly
wait for the day.
I can hardly wait for what the day
is going to bring, because I may not
be aware of it, but when my eyes
opened this morning, there was a new mercy
of God upon my life.
Ecclesiastes 1.15, listen to what he says
again.
That which is crooked cannot be made straight.
And that which is wanting cannot be numbered.
Another translation says that which is missing cannot
be recovered.
That's incredible, isn't it?
To spend a life with the wisdom of
God and come to this conclusion.
The crooked can't be made straight, and that
which is missing cannot be recovered.
Obviously, he had no vision of Christ.
Listen to what Zephaniah said in chapter 3,
verse 19.
God says at that time, I will undo
all that afflict thee.
And I will save, or that means Yahshua,
or set free her that halts, or is
crooked.
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.
Solomon says, is there any possibility the crooked
be made straight?
And God says, oh yes, I can make
the crooked straight.
I can save to the uttermost those who
are curved.
Those who have been warped by sin and
what society has laid upon them.
Or whatever their situation in life might be.
But God says, I will gather you out
of, you will put your trust in me.
And I will so touch you that there
will be a fame of you in every
land.
In every place you go there will be
a fame of my presence on your life.
Again, chapter 3, verse 22.
Solomon said, wherefore I perceive that there is
nothing better than a man should rejoice in
his own works.
For that is his portion.
And who shall bring him to see what
shall be after him?
Let me read this to you from another
translation of the Bible.
I saw that there is nothing better for
people than to be happy in their work.
This is why they are here.
Now listen to this statement.
No one will bring them back from death
to enjoy life in the future.
Isn't that amazing?
A man with the wisdom of God.
Do you ever notice theologians with divided hearts
come to the same conclusions?
No one will bring them back from death
to enjoy life in the future.
You see, he had never had access to
the same God that Ezekiel had access to.
Because God spoke to Ezekiel these words.
Prophesy and say to them, thus saith the
Lord God, Behold, O my people, I will
open your graves, and I will cause you
to come up out of your graves, and
bring you into the land of Israel.
And you shall know that I am the
Lord when I have opened your graves, O
my people, and brought you up out of
your graves.
And shall put my Spirit in you, and
you shall live, and I shall place you
in your own land, and you shall know
that I, the Lord, have spoken it and
performed it, saith the Lord.
God says, yes, I'm well able.
I'm well able to take you out of
the grave in this life, even while you
still live.
And after you die, a day is coming.
And those who have walked with me, there
is a trumpet that's going to sound.
The dead in Christ are going to rise
first.
And we who are alive and remain are
going to be gathered together with them in
the clouds.
And so shall we ever be with the
Lord.
To do what?
To rule and to reign for all of
eternity.
To be brought into unspeakable joy, ever-increasing
knowledge, a place of no more sorrow.
We sing about it, no more pain, no
more torment, no more tears.
When we look back and see it wasn't
all vanity to walk with Jesus Christ.
There was an end, there was a purpose,
there was life in it.
The end of his life.
Again, Ecclesiastes chapter 2, verse 17.
Solomon said, and I guess this really sums
it up.
I hated life, because the work that is
wrought unto the Son is grievous unto me,
for all is vanity and vexation of spirit.
Verse 15 he says, as it happened to
the fool, so it happened to me.
And why then was I more wise?
Then I said in my heart, this also
is vanity.
The very same thing that happens to the
fool, Solomon said, happened to me.
It's too bad he didn't have the courage
to say he was a fool.
He still considered himself wise, even though his
life was empty.
Even though he had no heritage for his
children, and those that God had entrusted to
his care, he still considered himself a wise
man.
Because he had the knowledge of God.
But beloved, listen.
The knowledge of God, without any kind of
a personal application, is absolutely worthless to you.
Jesus said, if the light in you is
darkness, how great is that darkness.
If truth is revealed, and that truth is
not embraced, if that truth doesn't begin to
sit on the throne of the heart, then
all it does is turn as a judge,
in a sense, to you.
Where do we go once we've heard the
words of the Lord?
Truth that is not internalized will end up
crucifying the Son of God.
The Pharisees of Christ's generation, when you look
back at their history, they didn't start out
attempting to be wicked.
They wanted to be the strict keepers of
the law.
And they had the revealed written word of
that generation as much as was in their
hands.
They had it memorized, literally.
Line by line, comma by comma, dot by
dot.
And when God Almighty came, they crucified Him.
Proverbs chapter 4.
Turn there with me, please.
Proverbs chapter 4.
Listen now to the words that Solomon wrote.
I wanted to start at the end of
his life and now go back to the
beginning.
Proverbs chapter 4.
He wrote, Hear you children the instruction of
a father, and attend to no understanding.
For I give you good doctrine, forsake you
not my law.
Verse 3.
I was my father's son, tender and only
beloved in the sight of my mother.
He taught me also and said unto me,
let thine heart retain my words, and keep
my commandments, and live.
Get wisdom, get understanding, forget it not, and
neither decline from the words of my mouth.
Forsake her not, and she shall preserve thee.
Love her, and she shall keep thee.
Wisdom is the principal thing, therefore get wisdom.
And with all thy getting, get understanding.
Exalt her, and she shall promote thee.
She shall bring thee to honor, when thou
dost embrace her.
She shall give to thine head an ornament
of grace, a crown of glory shall she
deliver to thee.
Hear, O my son, and receive my sayings,
and the years of thy life shall be
many.
I have taught thee in the way of
wisdom, I have led thee in right paths.
When thou goest, thy steps shall not be
straightened, and when thou runnest, thou shall not
stumble.
Take fast hold of instruction, let her not
go, keep her, for she is thy life.
Folks, you have to understand, this is the
Holy Spirit speaking to Solomon.
And Solomon is writing the Bible, he's writing
the words we're reading today, under the inspiration
of the Holy Spirit.
The Holy Spirit's speaking to him, and he's
writing it down.
But the words that he's writing down are
not getting a foothold in his heart.
He's a man who's learned, he's divinely taught.
But as Paul said in 2 Timothy 3
.7, Ever learning, but never coming to the
knowledge of the truth.
That means a knowledge which lays claim and
exerts an influence upon the person.
Ever learning, but not opening his heart to
what he's learning.
Not understanding the fact that God doesn't speak
just to be heard.
Folks, the fear of the Lord is the
beginning of wisdom.
In this house tonight, those that have sat
and you've been part of Times Square Church,
I'll tell you something, clearly, you are either
progressing to life in Christ, or you are
regressing to a life of disaster at the
end.
You are not standing still tonight.
Based on how we hear, Jesus himself said,
Take heed how you hear, for he who
has more will be given, and he who
has not, even that which he thinks he
has, will be taken away from him.
At the end of his life, Solomon says,
he that increases knowledge increases sorrow.
That's false theology!
The increase of knowledge does not increase sorrow.
Jesus said in John 8.32, You shall
know the truth, and the truth shall set
you free.
The increase of knowledge, as God gives it
into our hearts, should bring a shout of
joy!
It should bring an abandonment.
It should bring an absolute sense of God's
glory and purpose and faithfulness.
Hallelujah!
It should put a bounce in your step,
and joy in your song, and an understanding
that God is working a purpose in our
lives, whether we understand it or not.
At the end of Ecclesiastes, there are commentators
that use Solomon's last line as an argument
that he repented and somehow went to heaven.
I don't necessarily believe it.
He writes all of these chapters in Ecclesiastes,
and at the very end, he says this
is the sum total of everything.
Fear God, and keep his commandment.
Now, folks, that was as sarcastic as you
can possibly get.
I am convinced that was written in pure
sarcasm.
At the end of his life, because he
spends no time on it.
He doesn't understand it.
If it truly was foundational in his life,
there would have been three or four more
chapters in Ecclesiastes.
No, he says, everything down here is worthless,
so you might as well live for God.
That's basically what he was saying.
How many now there are who look back
on life with sorrow, even in the church
of Jesus Christ.
After years of Bible study and church attendance,
they look back with more questions and confusion
than answers.
Like Solomon.
And here's the key.
You've got to hear me now.
I'll speak it softly.
They take the knowledge of God and try
to fit it into a lower pursuit.
They take all that God is revealing, and
instead of yielding to truth and letting truth
lead them, they attempt to lead truth into
their careers, into their objectives, their pursuits in
life.
And instead of truth forming them, they attempt
to form the truth and manipulate the truth.
But, folks, God will not be mocked.
At the end of their lives, they end
up hard, bitter, critical and joyless.
And I've seen this because I've traveled.
I've been in churches where those that have
been the longest in the Lord are like
brittle clay.
Sit there, unmoved.
They don't worship anymore.
They're not like Brother Bredesen tonight, just full
of God.
No, they're hardly moved.
As a matter of fact, they're not moved.
They're not moved by any song.
They're not moved by any testimony.
They might as well buy T-shirts.
Been there, seen that, done that.
They despise every young Christian that rises up
with any amount of life.
They're bitter and critical of every pastor that
comes in the pulpit that has any sense
of God upon him.
They didn't just get that way, folks.
It was a long journey that took them
there.
One man tried to perhaps fit God into
his business.
Another man tried to fit God into relationships.
I had a man in my office one
day who attended this church, and I pleaded
with him.
I did everything but grubbed by the jacket
and shake him.
Listen to me.
The Holy Ghost gave me a word for
him.
I said, I'm going to show you your
life.
You've got a choice to make.
This man was going to leave his wife
and little children for no reason but selfishness
in his heart.
And I said, now I'm going to show
you your life.
And I sat him down.
I said, here's your two paths before you.
I felt the Spirit of God come upon
me in that office, and I pleaded with
him.
I begged him to walk God's way, but
he made another choice.
And today, the very same thing that I
spoke to his heart is now happening in
his life.
I told him, it's going to be a
bitter end for you.
It's going to be a terrible end of
torment and regret and drunkenness.
I said, you're going to call your kids
at Christmas time like a slobbering fool on
the telephone, half drunk, asking their forgiveness.
Just like your father did to you.
Paul says, if you're risen with Christ, seek
those things which are above.
For Christ sits on the right hand of
God.
Set your affection on things above and not
on things of the earth.
For you are dead, and your life is
hid with Christ in God.
Paul says, if you belong to Christ, your
affections must turn heavenward.
There's an evidence of belonging to Christ.
I don't know how many years I have
left, but I can tell you one thing.
I want those years to count for God's
glory.
Now, don't clap.
I want them to count for God's glory.
Live or die.
I don't want to be an old man
looking back, saying it was all vanity, because
it's too late to change it then.
It was worth nothing.
The things I built, and I pursued, and
I set my heart and affections on, ruined
my life and my family.
Brought reproach to the name of Christ.
And it's all vanity and vexation of spirit.
Solomon wrote, he said himself, the fear of
the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but
fools despise wisdom and instruction.
And then he writes these incredible words in
Proverbs 1.80, he said, My son, hear
the instruction of thy father.
Now, this is the Holy Ghost speaking to
Solomon.
David the king was Solomon's father, and the
Holy Spirit is saying, My son, hear the
instruction of your father.
Now, what was God trying to get through?
Go with me to 1 Chronicles chapter 8.
28, rather.
1 Chronicles 28.
Go back in your Bible.
Hear the instruction of your father.
Now, in 1 Chronicles chapter 28, David the
king is assembling all the princes of Israel,
the tribes, the captains, the companies, everybody together.
This is now near the end of his
life and his kingship.
And he gathered together everybody, and he stood
up on his feet, and he said, Hear
my brethren and my people.
And he began to speak.
Now, Solomon is there.
You have to understand, just like you are
here tonight in Times Square Church, Solomon is
there.
And he's hearing now the Holy Ghost speaking
to his father, David.
But he can't hear it.
And David begins, he starts by addressing the
multitudes.
And then in verse 6 in 1 Chronicles
28, And he said unto me, Solomon thy
son.
Now, David is recounting what God said to
him.
He said to me, Solomon thy son.
Now, you have to understand, Solomon is there.
He shall build my house and my courts,
for I have chosen him to be my
son, and I will be his father.
Moreover, this is God saying to David, Moreover,
I will establish his kingdom forever if he
be constant to do my commandments and my
judgments as at this day.
You see, at that time, it was in
Solomon's heart to obey God.
But something turned him.
Folks, I fear success more than I've ever
feared failure.
Now, therefore, in the sight of all Israel,
the congregation of the Lord, and in the
audience of our God, keep and seek for
all the commandments of the Lord your God,
that you may possess this good land and
leave it for an inheritance to your children
after you forever.
Verse 9, he says, And thou, Solomon my
son, know thou the God of thy father.
This is David now speaking directly in the
crowd.
It's as if I had a son that
attended this church, and now I've done speaking
to the multitude, and I've singled him out
and said, Now, Solomon my son, know the
God of your father, and serve him with
a perfect heart and with a willing mind.
For the Lord searches all hearts and understanding
and all the imaginations of the thoughts.
If thou seek him, he will be found
of thee.
But if thou forsake him, he will cast
thee off forever.
Take heed now.
David says to Solomon, Listen, for the Lord
has chosen thee to build a house for
the sanctuary.
Be strong and do it.
And verse 11 now begins to tell us
something.
It says, Then David gave to Solomon his
son the pattern.
Stop right there.
David gave to Solomon his son the pattern.
You see, the Bible tells us that David
had received the pattern of what God was
building by the Holy Ghost.
And David knew that what God builds can
only come from above.
What God builds can't come from this world.
The materials don't come from this world.
The strength doesn't come from this world.
The life doesn't come from this world.
And David knew that.
And David is passing it on now to
his son.
And he gave him the pattern by the
Spirit.
This was his instruction.
It's not by might.
It's not by power.
Solomon knew well what happened when David numbered
the army and began to look away from
the Holy One of Israel, the power of
God.
He knew what happened.
He knew the judgment.
And David says, Solomon, it was given to
me by God.
Everything I have came from God.
It all came from above.
Everything I am, everything I've accomplished, the wealth
you see around you, everything that is here,
the strength, the testimony, it all came from
God.
Now Solomon built by the pattern of the
Spirit.
And now David prays near the end of
his life, the end of all the instruction.
He gives it all to Solomon.
He says, now this is how it's done.
Nothing more tragic than a generation that has
truth and chooses not to live it.
Where do you go?
And what do you say when you get
there?
You sat in the church where you have
been taught the covenant.
Heaven is open to this house.
And you have been taught truth that can
give you life.
And a heritage.
And something to pass on to your children.
And the power of God to keep your
house.
And tell me if you don't live it.
At the end of his life, David prayed.
Chapter 29, verse 10.
At the end of his message.
And he said, wherefore, listen now to David's
prayer.
Wherefore, David, bless the Lord.
Now Solomon is there.
Solomon is there.
Just like I have been here.
And I have heard truth that has changed
my life.
But it is still my choice to walk
in it.
And Solomon was there.
And Solomon saw his father.
He saw his father pray.
He saw the generation before him that had
known the power of God.
And David prayed.
And he said, wherefore, David, bless the Lord.
In verse 10, chapter 29.
Before all the congregation and David said, Blessed
be thou, Lord God of Israel, our Father,
forever and ever.
Thine, O Lord, is the greatness and the
power and the glory and the victory and
the majesty.
For all that is in heaven and in
the earth is thine.
Thine is the kingdom, O Lord.
Thou art exalted as head above all.
David is saying, O God, great almighty God,
everything that we need comes from your hand.
At your feet, at your throne is all
power and glory.
Everything man seeks, all the victory he needs,
the majesty he longs for.
Everything in heaven and earth belongs to you.
That is where it is found.
It is found in Christ.
It is not found in pursuits.
It is not found in a bottle of
wine, an idiotic television show, a Broadway production.
It is found in Jesus Christ.
Both riches, verse 12, and honor come of
thee.
Thou reignest over all.
And in thine hand is power and might.
And in thine hand it is to make
great and to give strength unto all.
All that we have, everything is found in
you, David says.
And all that we need comes from your
hand.
It is all found in you.
Solomon was there, he heard it.
Now therefore, our God, verse 13, we thank
thee and praise thy glorious name.
Verse 14, he said, but who am I?
And what is my people that we should
be able to offer so willingly after this
sword?
For all things come of thee and of
thine own have we given thee.
For we are strangers before thee and sojourners
as were all our fathers.
Our days on the earth are as a
shadow and there is none abiding.
O Lord our God, all this store that
we have prepared to build thee a house
for thy holy name cometh of thy hand
and all is thine own.
David said, we've not had the power to
achieve the things which have been done.
It has all been given to us of
God.
Everything you've seen, Solomon.
Everything you've heard, you've seen with your eyes
and you've heard with your ears.
We haven't had a plan.
It was given to us by Jehovah God
himself.
Open heaven and it was all given to
us.
I know also, my God, that thou triest
the heart and has pleasure in uprightness.
And as for me, David said, in the
uprightness of my heart, I willingly offered all
these things and now have I seen with
joy thy people which are present here to
offer willingly unto thee.
David says, I have followed you, my God,
in abandonment.
I have followed you in truth and you
have been my cheapest delight.
And I have sought to build things from
above and now I see with joy people
around me wanting to do the same.
Just like the Apostle Paul, David, could say,
O God, the cheapest delight of my heart
is Lord, after me there comes another people
who have laid hold of these same truths
and they want to build the same kind
of a kingdom.
O Lord God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel,
our fathers, keep this forever in the imagination
of the thoughts of the hearts of thy
people and prepare their heart unto thee.
And give unto Solomon, my son, a perfect
heart to keep thy commandments, thy testimonies and
thy statutes and to do all these things
and to build the palace for which I
have made provision.
And David said to the congregation, Now bless
the Lord your God.
And all the congregation blessed the Lord God
of their fathers and bowed down their heads
and worshipped the Lord and the King.
And verse 23 says, And Solomon sat on
the throne of the Lord as king instead
of David his father and prospered and all
Israel obeyed him.
Beloved, your turn comes to carry the truth
to another generation.
We stand.
Harold Bredesen has stood here tonight, 83 years
of age.
He's carried the torch of truth and God
has blessed him and kept him and provided
for him all the days of his life.
You saw Jack West up to last year
standing here, 80 years of age and God
blessed him and kept him.
What was his message?
You've got to be saved and filled with
the Holy Ghost.
That's the Christian life.
You see Pastor David stand here and you've
seen and known the faithfulness of God to
those that belong to him.
And now you see Pastor Neil, Pastor Patrick
and myself standing here.
And I'm speaking specifically now to those that
are younger in the Lord and others that
are of college age.
We will pass away one day and then
your turn comes to carry the truth to
another generation.
The choices that you and I make today
determine whether we will look back and see
Christ or confusion.
Which is it going to be?
It will never be both.
When you get back, when you get to
the end of your life, this is what
I'm more aware of now than I've ever
been aware of in my entire life.
When I get to the end, whenever that
is, when I look back I will see
Christ or confusion but not both.
Because God is not the author of confusion.
The cry of my heart is Jesus, lead
me to life.
Open my eyes and show me the joy.
The absolute unspeakable joy of life abandoned to
you and surrendered to you.
Turn my heart away from the snares of
this life.
And give me the desire to pursue that
which is eternal.
I was in my apartment the other night
crying out to God.
Oh God keep me, keep me.
If I'm blessed, I may have 20 years
left.
I've never been in good health so I
don't expect to go to 90 years of
age.
My cry is God keep me.
Let what I live and preach.
At the end of my life I want
to be able to look back and say
to my children and my grandchildren and if
God allows my great grandchildren and say follow
me.
As I follow Christ it is worth it.
It is not an empty confusing theology.
I don't want an empty confusing anything at
the end of my life.
I want to be able to look back
to my children in my house and say
come this way.
Build on the Lord Jesus Christ.
And you will never ever be disappointed all
the days of your life.
I hear the cry in the heart of
God when Israel was wandering through the wilderness.
And he said I've set before you life
and death.
Choose life.
It seems to be almost as the expression
goes a no brainer.
Choose life.
But yet so many people in the church
try to choose the middle road.
And stuff God into a selfish existence.
It doesn't work.
Joshua stood before the people and he said
choose this day.
Choose who you will serve as for me
and my house.
We will serve the Lord.
Live or die.
We will serve the Lord.
God grant you wisdom.
I haven't stood here tonight to condemn anyone.
I stood in this pulpit with the heart
of God.
And if you don't understand the love that
is behind the words that you've heard then
you've missed everything.
Tonight the Holy Spirit is pleading for some.
You're not yielded to God.
You're looking still to find fulfillment
apart from Jesus Christ.
You're looking to entertainment.
You're looking thinking if I can just build
that dream home I will be so happy.
If I can just get the next promotion.
If I can just find the right relationship.
And you are missing the whole point of
being a Christian.
Things above.
That's where life is.
And God by his grace will keep you.
Tonight's choice is simply will I be the
man who comes after the king?
Or will I be the man who comes
after the king?
Which king will I follow?
Will I follow Solomon or Christ?
Which king?
Jesus simply pursued the will of his father.
Beginning to end.
That's all he did.
He pursued his father's will.
Placed himself into his father's hands.
And our redemption was won.
Solomon brought defeat to the whole nation of
Israel.
And allowed the enemies of God to invade
the borders and steal.
Albeit only temporarily but steal the heritage of
God.
Which king?
I want to give an altar call tonight
for everyone who has the courage to say,
Pastor from this day forward by God's grace
I am putting away ungodly television, videos, magazines,
relationships in some cases, alcohol, drugs, ambitious pursuits
in the areas of employment.
God, I want life.
And I want the life that comes through
Christ.
If that's your heart tonight, would you join
me as we all stand together?
Just come.
There's only a hundred or so in the
annex.
You can make your way down here.
Please just join me at this altar.
And I'm not going to pray with you
tonight.
I'm going to ask Pastor David to pray
with you tonight.
That's why I feel the Holy Spirit would
have him come.
But I'd like you to join me at
this altar.
And say, Pastor, by God's grace I'm going
to build this life in the spirit.
By the power of the Holy Ghost.
Balcony, you can go to either exit.
Please make your way here.
Main sanctuary.
Everyone who's backslidden, get out of your seat.
Good grief.
Why do you want to play with eternity?
Why do you want to tempt the Holy
God?
If you're backslidden, if you have an ounce
of the fear of God, get out of
your seat.
And make your way to this altar.
You have just even an ounce left in
your life.
Get out of your seat and don't stiffen
your heart against God.
He holds out his hand and offers you
life.
We dare never take that lightly.
We dare never play with that.
This isn't a game.
This is reality.
This is eternity.
There is a day when the gracious hand
of God is going to be withdrawn to
this generation.
There is a day when grace is going
to be removed.
You can keep coming as the Holy Spirit
speaks to your heart.
Hallelujah.
I've only preached this message because I care.
I believe the Holy Spirit has given me
a word for you that came forward tonight.
I want you, please, not to dwell on
the issues that brought you down to the
altar.
It could be any of these things that
I've named.
I don't want you to focus on any
sin in particular or any failure in your
life concerning your walk with God or your
relationships or anything else.
I found out that when I was a
child, eight years old, the Lord told me
if I would give my life to Him,
He would deal with my sins.
He wanted more than my sins.
He wanted my life.
And if you're willing to come up here
now and say, Lord, I'm not coming up
here for just a fix on my sin.
I'm coming up now to tell you I
want to give you and surrender my whole
life to you.
And if you've come with that purpose in
mind, the Lord will honor that.
Still, that's where I'm at.
You heard Pastor Carter say, I want more
than that.
Lord Jesus, keep me.
Hold me.
I've given you my life.
Now hold it and keep it.
You give Him your life and He'll keep
it.
He will hold it.
He'll give you the desire.
What you should pray with more than anything
else, no one will put words in your
mouth tonight, but there should be something crying
out in you, Lord Jesus, I want you
to draw me closer to you.
That's what we're saying, just more of you,
Jesus.
I want you.
And when you want more of Jesus, He
gives you.
That's what He gives you.
The power of sin is more of Jesus.
You get close to Jesus and you give
Him your life.
Say, I'm not going to live for myself
anymore.
I want to live for you, Jesus.
I want you, in any way you want
to say it, say it in the simplest
form as you can, as I pray, Lord,
I came tonight to give you my life.
And if I give you my life, that
includes my sins, my doubts and my fears.
I want to give you my life and
I want to serve you with everything that's
in me from this day on.
While I pray, you pray that.
You make the real cry and prayer of
your heart and you watch and see what
happens.
You watch and see how, if you just
allow Him, He comes and He makes you
clean.
He makes you clean.
Pray it in any way you can, right
from your heart, Lord, I give you my
life.
Lord, let that be the prayer of everyone
that came forward tonight.
I give you my life.
When I give you my life, I give
you my fear.
I give you my doubts.
I give you all my failures.
I give you all my bad things that
are in my life.
I give them to you, Jesus, because I
want you.
Lord, we have to want more than forgiveness.
We have to want more than our sins
plucked out of our heart.
Lord, we have to be full of you.
Our hearts have to be full of you.
There has to be a desire in our
hearts.
And you said if we draw near to
you, you have promised you will draw nigh
to us.
Would you pray that right now, Lord?
Lord, I'm drawing near to you now, and
I believe you that you said you'd draw
near to me.
Say it right out, Lord.
You said you'd draw near to me if
I draw nigh to you, and I'm drawing
nigh to you to give you my heart.
Come now, Lord.
You said you would come.
Come on, pray.
Pray it right out, right out of your
heart.
Not just a simple prayer, not just a
one-word prayer.
Pray it.
Come on, right out of your gut.
Lord, I want you.
I want you.
Lord, I want more than just to be
forgiven tonight.
I want to be clean, but I want
you, Jesus.
I want a revelation of you.
I want to get closer to you.
I want to walk with you.
I want to have this intimacy with you,
Jesus.
I want more of you.
Could you just lift up a hand or
two?
One hand or both hands?
And pray that right now.
Lord Jesus, here I am.
I want you, Jesus.
Lord, let that be the prayer of everyone
in this house and in the annex.
Lord, we want you.
It's all about having you in our lives,
walking with you, talking with you, ministering to
you, and having you minister to us.
Bring us close to you, Jesus.
Lord, the closer we get to you, the
more distance you put between us and our
sins.
Hallelujah.
Thank you, Jesus.
Now, while your hands are up, thank Him
for loving you.
Say, I thank you for loving me, Jesus.
I thank you that you've cared for me.
Hallelujah.
Thank you, Jesus.
The greatest act of love God can give
you and me is to reprove us with
His grace, reprove us with love, so that
we can take the Word in appropriated terms.
Did you hear what the Word said tonight?
You want it all wrapped up so you
can take it home and you don't have
to remember anything else but this, maybe, of
all that you hear tonight?
Believe what you heard.
Receive it in your heart.
It's His Word.
And say, Lord, I don't want to hear
it and lose it.
If you pray that prayer, Lord, don't let
me lose what I heard tonight.
He'll not let you lose it.
He'll remind you of it.
That's what the Holy Ghost said He would
do.
That's the work of the Holy Spirit to
bring back all the words that Jesus has
delivered to you.
Lord, You delivered Your Word tonight.
We pray You'll not let us forget it,
but take it to heart and live it
out by the power of the Holy Ghost
through faith, through simple childlike faith.
Hallelujah.
This is the conclusion of the message.