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There are dear, dear friends of ours, Jim

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and Carol Pastor in Brooklyn at the Brooklyn

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Tabernacle.

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How many years have you been there?

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21 years.

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So much integrity within the city.

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We were there for a celebration that they

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had at Radio City Music Hall, three nights,

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and they filled the place, they do, with

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their choir and their ministry.

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The city loves these people because of the

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wonderful work they're doing.

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You know about mission work.

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These people are doing it.

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They love the Lord with all their hearts.

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Plus, Jim is a big basketball fan, so

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he can't be all bad.

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For a dear old guy coming from Indiana,

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we have a good time discussing basketball.

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Jim, you're with friends.

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We love you.

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Thank you.

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It's a real joy to be here at

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the praise gathering, and I want to talk

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for a few moments about something so vital,

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and yet it's so simple.

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It's so familiar to us that that's the

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danger.

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I want our session this morning to be

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something that'll make a difference in our lives,

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rather than just some kind of talk with

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more information about God.

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I pray that by his grace we can

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have fresh communion with God.

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To approach that subject, I want to give

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you one of the most strange and stunning

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pictures of Jesus found anywhere in the Bible.

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Of all the portraits you've ever seen painted,

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there is no portrait found in the Bible

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stranger.

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We see Christ on the cross.

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We know Christ as the good shepherd.

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We know Christ walking on the water.

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We see Christ sitting at the well with

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the woman in Samaria.

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But in your wildest dreams, can you ever

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picture this?

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Have you ever wondered why God would put

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this in the Bible, not just once, but

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twice?

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And so they came to Jerusalem, and Jesus

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went into the temple and began to drive

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out those who bought and sold in the

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temple.

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And he overturned the tables of the money

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changers and the seats of those who sold

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doves, and he would not allow anyone to

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carry wares through the temple.

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And then he taught them, saying, Is it

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not written, My house shall be called a

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house of prayer for all nations?

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But you have made it a den of

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thieves.

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And the scribes and the chief priests heard

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it and sought how they might destroy him,

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for they feared him, because all the people

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were astonished at his teaching.

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And when evening had come, he went out

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of the city.

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Now the Bible has many pictures of Jesus

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Christ, and to me none is stranger.

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The Lamb of God, the one who came

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to take away the sins of the world,

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the gentle, loving Jesus who, as the good

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shepherd, puts the Lamb on his shoulders and

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brings it home.

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And yet in this portion of Scripture, we

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see Jesus physically emoting in a way that

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is really hard for us to picture.

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That he would actually take tables and overturn

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them and throw money on the ground.

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That he somehow, all by himself, with no

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armed helpers—the disciples were passive in this—that he

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would stop people from carrying their merchandise, and

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just by a word of authority said, Get

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out of here with that!

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You can't bring that through the court.

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That he would go to the people who

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sold the oxen and the sheep and the

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doves for the poor people and he would

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say, Out!

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Get your business out of here!

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I mean, it's an amazing picture of Jesus

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Christ.

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The loving Jesus that we know, you know,

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we think that for him, anybody to be

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that irate and physical must mean they're not

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in the Spirit.

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But this is Jesus Christ.

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And what's strange about this is this is

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not the first time this has happened.

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I read from Mark, and the Bible tells

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us, in John the second chapter, that in

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Jesus' first visit to the temple after he

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began his public ministry when he was about

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30 years old, he did the same exact

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thing.

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In fact, the Bible tells us there that

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he made, are you ready, a whip out

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of cord.

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And use a cord, these cords and this

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whip, to actually physically thrash them out of

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the temple.

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Now, it's three or two years later from

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there, and now he's getting ready to face

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Calvary, and he comes back to the temple

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and he cleanses it again.

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Why would God put something so stunning in

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the Bible that he would go into the

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holy temple of God and get so physical

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and so irate and say, You've made it

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a house of merchandise!

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You've made it a den of thieves!

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Get out of here!

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Is it not written, My Father's house shall

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be called the house of prayer?

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Now, what's odd about all of this is

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that the people who were in there belonged

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there.

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The people who were selling the animals had

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to be near the temple precincts because there

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was no way to offer the sacrifices prescribed

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in Leviticus and the books of Moses unless

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somebody could have those animals available for you.

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You couldn't be carting these animals from your

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home or all through the streets of Jerusalem,

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so those people belonged there.

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But they had put a gouging uplift on

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the price.

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They were making money hand over fist, taking

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advantage of the fact that they were the

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ones who could assist, and they were hyping

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the prices up so that people were getting

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taken advantage of.

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And the money changers, you know, you had

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to pay the temple tax if you were

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a good Jew, and you couldn't use Greek

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or Roman money.

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You had to actually use the special coins

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that were minted in Jerusalem itself.

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So those money changers were there to take

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your money from wherever you came from, Macedonia

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or whatever, and you changed your money so

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that you could make the proper donation.

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But they were, once again, packing on big

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-time profits.

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And the people carrying stuff through the temple,

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actually the writers at that time tell us

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that instead of going around the temple, they

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said, let's take a shortcut.

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And they went through the court of the

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Gentiles, right through the temple, carting their stuff,

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making the house of God a shortcut to

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big-time money.

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And Jesus, with his whip made of cord,

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and Jesus somehow physically with just his presence

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and his authority, just thrashes them out of

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there and kicks them all out.

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Before I get to my main point, it

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does remind us that all of us who

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are involved in singing in choirs and preaching

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the gospel and pastoring churches and gospel singing,

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whatever the style is, and you who are

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Sunday school teachers, because I know there's a

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lot of influence in this room right now.

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You're going to go back.

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A lot of you are leaders in the

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place where you came from.

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Boy, does that challenge us to remember that

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it's not just not if you're doing God's

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work, it's how you do God's work.

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For the Bible tells us that one day

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Jim Simbla is going to stand at the

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judgment seat of Christ, and God's going to

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ask me why I pastored the Brooklyn Tabernacle,

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and with what spirit.

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You see, these people were in the temple,

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but they didn't have the spirit of the

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temple.

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They were supposed to be there to assist

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people to worship and to come into God's

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presence, and they were there, but they were

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out of sync with the whole purpose that

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God had for the place called the house

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of the Lord.

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I mean, they were doing it.

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They were doing the job, but they were

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making big-time money, and they were greedy,

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and they had brought a secular spirit into

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a sacred place.

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They were businessmen.

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They were crass businessmen coming into something that

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God said, my house shall be called a

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house of prayer.

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You made it a den of thieves.

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You're getting over on the people out with

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you.

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Awesome thought, and in a day when gospel

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music and gospel preaching and gospel work can

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become so mechanical or oriented toward me, myself,

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and I, it reminds all of us today

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here at the praise gathering that as we

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go back to our separate duties, that we

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have to do God's work with God's spirit.

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We have to do God's work and approach

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it with God's heart, because one day, it

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doesn't matter if your friends approve of you.

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It doesn't matter how many albums you sell

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or how popular Jim Simbla is or if

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he writes a book.

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One day the Bible says, I'm going to

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stand in front of the one whose eyes

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are like fire, and I can't get over

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on him.

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All of you that sing in that choir,

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it's not just if you're on your note,

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it's why you're on your note.

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It's the spirit that you do in it.

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Am I doing it for the glory of

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God?

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Do I really care about those people in

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New York City?

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I mean, am I preaching just to put

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on a show and get through another service,

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or does my heart really radiate with God's

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love, and am I saying the things that

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he wants me to say with the spirit

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he wants me to say?

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Why are you teaching that Christian ed class,

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that Sunday school class?

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Why are you singing in that choir?

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Why do you serve?

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The Bible says that when Jesus went into

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the temple, he reminded them, this is not

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your house.

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This is my father's house, and my father's

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house has to be run my father's way,

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and when you touch something sacred in a

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secular way, I'm going to kick you all

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out of here.

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And even though he's not walking through churches

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today and kicking people out, there is going

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to come that day when Paul says we'll

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all stand at the judgment seat of Christ,

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and we're going to have to give a

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review to the Lord, and we will be

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reviewed on why we did what we did

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and how we did it.

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But that's not my main point this morning,

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but that's a well-taken point for all

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of us.

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Not only on the craft business side of

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money, because it's so easy to make gospel

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work, just another way to make a living.

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That's what these people were doing.

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They weren't interested in people getting in contact

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with God.

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They were making a living out of it.

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But as we do God's work, we must

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not rob the glory that is only due

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to him.

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Whenever we do and whatever we say, the

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Lord wants to remind us through this that

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all the glory and all the honor must

275
00:10:56,040 --> 00:10:57,120
go to Jesus Christ.

276
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But the thing that really provoked Jesus into

277
00:11:02,820 --> 00:11:06,040
this angry tirade was this.

278
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He said, you men don't even understand about

279
00:11:11,000 --> 00:11:11,920
my Father's house.

280
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You've revised, you've given your opinion about the

281
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temple, but the temple doesn't belong to you.

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My Father's house shall be called a house

283
00:11:25,840 --> 00:11:27,860
of prayer, and you've made it a den

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00:11:27,860 --> 00:11:28,420
of thieves.

285
00:11:30,380 --> 00:11:33,140
This is the first principle of religion, so

286
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listen closely.

287
00:11:34,660 --> 00:11:38,960
Jesus said, my house, my Father's house, shall

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be called a house of prayer.

289
00:11:40,740 --> 00:11:43,460
The atmosphere of my Father's house is supposed

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to be prayer.

291
00:11:46,960 --> 00:11:49,820
The atmosphere around the things of my Father

292
00:11:49,820 --> 00:11:52,660
must be that aroma of people opening their

293
00:11:52,660 --> 00:11:54,820
heart and coming to my Father in worship

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and in petition and supplication.

295
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And instead of keeping that atmosphere and aiming

296
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at that atmosphere and understanding my Father's purpose,

297
00:12:04,140 --> 00:12:05,400
you've made it a place just to make

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a buck.

299
00:12:07,200 --> 00:12:08,560
So out with you.

300
00:12:10,220 --> 00:12:12,260
My house shall be called a house of

301
00:12:12,260 --> 00:12:12,440
prayer.

302
00:12:12,880 --> 00:12:15,880
The thing that's supposed to distinguish Christian churches

303
00:12:15,880 --> 00:12:19,620
and Christian people and Christian gatherings is the

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00:12:19,620 --> 00:12:24,610
aroma and the atmosphere of prayer.

305
00:12:26,680 --> 00:12:28,620
You might say, well, Pastor Semble or Brother

306
00:12:28,620 --> 00:12:31,540
Jim, that's not our style.

307
00:12:31,620 --> 00:12:32,800
We come from a different tradition.

308
00:12:32,960 --> 00:12:34,500
It doesn't matter what your tradition is or

309
00:12:34,500 --> 00:12:35,580
what my tradition is.

310
00:12:36,220 --> 00:12:37,660
It's his Father's house.

311
00:12:39,760 --> 00:12:42,220
And his Father says, in my house, it

312
00:12:42,220 --> 00:12:45,100
shall be a house of prayer and supplication.

313
00:12:46,480 --> 00:12:49,480
Now we know that that temple is unlike

314
00:12:49,480 --> 00:12:50,160
any church.

315
00:12:50,280 --> 00:12:52,460
The Brooklyn Tabernacle, the building that I pastor

316
00:12:52,460 --> 00:12:54,040
in, is not a sacred building.

317
00:12:54,160 --> 00:12:56,240
Your church building is not a sacred building.

318
00:12:56,420 --> 00:12:58,360
There are no sacred buildings like the temple.

319
00:12:58,500 --> 00:12:59,040
We know that.

320
00:13:00,020 --> 00:13:02,820
That temple that sat there in Jerusalem, which

321
00:13:02,820 --> 00:13:04,740
now the Mosque of Omar sits on that

322
00:13:04,740 --> 00:13:07,580
land, was the only place that God said

323
00:13:07,580 --> 00:13:09,760
the brazen altar could be put and the

324
00:13:09,760 --> 00:13:11,540
animal sacrifices could be given.

325
00:13:11,760 --> 00:13:14,560
It was the only geographical spot in the

326
00:13:14,560 --> 00:13:16,920
world where the holy place and the holy

327
00:13:16,920 --> 00:13:17,720
of holies could be.

328
00:13:17,940 --> 00:13:19,540
So what I'm not trying to say today

329
00:13:19,540 --> 00:13:22,800
is that in our churches there's some counterpart

330
00:13:22,800 --> 00:13:23,520
to the temple.

331
00:13:23,660 --> 00:13:24,120
We know that.

332
00:13:24,200 --> 00:13:26,140
In fact, the Bible says we're the temple.

333
00:13:28,300 --> 00:13:29,640
But what I want to say to you

334
00:13:29,640 --> 00:13:32,840
is that God's work from the very beginning

335
00:13:32,840 --> 00:13:35,100
is not like you and I often imagine

336
00:13:35,100 --> 00:13:35,460
it.

337
00:13:36,840 --> 00:13:41,500
God's work, God's house, the Christian religion is

338
00:13:41,500 --> 00:13:45,200
always supposed to have the aroma of prayer.

339
00:13:46,500 --> 00:13:49,180
Preaching, yes, but not my house shall be

340
00:13:49,180 --> 00:13:50,140
called the house of preaching.

341
00:13:50,640 --> 00:13:52,780
Music, yes, but my house shall not be

342
00:13:52,780 --> 00:13:53,620
called the house of music.

343
00:13:53,960 --> 00:13:55,860
My house shall be called the house of

344
00:13:55,860 --> 00:13:56,140
prayer.

345
00:13:57,220 --> 00:13:58,820
There were choirs, but it was called the

346
00:13:58,820 --> 00:13:59,460
house of prayer.

347
00:14:00,020 --> 00:14:01,740
There was the reading of the word, but

348
00:14:01,740 --> 00:14:03,500
my house shall be called a house of

349
00:14:03,500 --> 00:14:03,720
prayer.

350
00:14:03,980 --> 00:14:06,200
So the Bible tells us that when Jesus

351
00:14:06,200 --> 00:14:08,880
Christ died and resurrected and went back to

352
00:14:08,880 --> 00:14:11,260
heaven and he began his church, which the

353
00:14:11,260 --> 00:14:13,420
gates of hell shall not prevail against, he

354
00:14:13,420 --> 00:14:17,100
kept the same line running through the formation

355
00:14:17,100 --> 00:14:19,960
of the church, which was in his father's

356
00:14:19,960 --> 00:14:20,160
house.

357
00:14:21,100 --> 00:14:23,220
Have you ever noticed that the Christian church

358
00:14:23,220 --> 00:14:25,520
was not born while someone was preaching, but

359
00:14:25,520 --> 00:14:26,580
while people were praying?

360
00:14:27,940 --> 00:14:29,600
Have you ever noticed that in the second

361
00:14:29,600 --> 00:14:31,280
chapter of the book of Acts, when the

362
00:14:31,280 --> 00:14:33,680
church was born, they were doing nothing but

363
00:14:33,680 --> 00:14:35,460
just waiting on God and praying.

364
00:14:36,360 --> 00:14:37,800
And they were just sitting there and as

365
00:14:37,800 --> 00:14:40,460
they were praying and worshiping and waiting and

366
00:14:40,460 --> 00:14:43,220
having heart communion with God and God shaping

367
00:14:43,220 --> 00:14:45,420
them and cleaning them out and building faith

368
00:14:45,420 --> 00:14:48,140
into them and doing those heart operations that

369
00:14:48,140 --> 00:14:50,160
only the Holy Spirit could do, the church

370
00:14:50,160 --> 00:14:51,740
was poured out.

371
00:14:53,000 --> 00:14:55,300
My house shall be called the house of

372
00:14:55,300 --> 00:14:55,520
prayer.

373
00:14:57,000 --> 00:14:59,500
In the fourth chapter, Peter and John are

374
00:14:59,500 --> 00:15:02,140
arrested and they're slapped around and threatened.

375
00:15:02,280 --> 00:15:03,880
Don't you preach anymore in that name.

376
00:15:04,080 --> 00:15:04,840
And what do they do?

377
00:15:04,980 --> 00:15:06,160
They don't go and protest.

378
00:15:06,420 --> 00:15:07,620
They don't go to the Supreme Court.

379
00:15:07,820 --> 00:15:09,680
They don't try to get some political leverage.

380
00:15:09,880 --> 00:15:11,180
They go back to a prayer meeting.

381
00:15:12,420 --> 00:15:14,980
They go back and say, behold the threat.

382
00:15:15,080 --> 00:15:16,840
Oh God, look how they're threatening us.

383
00:15:17,020 --> 00:15:19,080
But oh God, we lift our voices together

384
00:15:19,080 --> 00:15:19,480
to you.

385
00:15:19,740 --> 00:15:21,640
Oh God, behold their threats and give your

386
00:15:21,640 --> 00:15:24,200
servants boldness that we might preach the name

387
00:15:24,200 --> 00:15:25,980
of Jesus in the name of Jesus.

388
00:15:26,380 --> 00:15:28,040
And the place where they prayed again was

389
00:15:28,040 --> 00:15:29,800
shaken and they were all filled with the

390
00:15:29,800 --> 00:15:31,740
Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God

391
00:15:31,740 --> 00:15:32,460
with boldness.

392
00:15:33,520 --> 00:15:36,020
My house shall be called the house of

393
00:15:36,020 --> 00:15:36,180
prayer.

394
00:15:36,880 --> 00:15:38,020
They had this instinct.

395
00:15:38,160 --> 00:15:39,360
When in trouble, pray.

396
00:15:40,320 --> 00:15:42,340
When intimidated, pray.

397
00:15:42,940 --> 00:15:44,700
When challenged, pray.

398
00:15:44,920 --> 00:15:46,760
When persecuted, pray.

399
00:15:46,960 --> 00:15:48,580
When you're in trouble, pray.

400
00:15:50,420 --> 00:15:53,460
In fact, this thing called prayer, whatever it

401
00:15:53,460 --> 00:15:56,380
is, is so unique.

402
00:15:57,100 --> 00:15:58,520
It's not like what we're used to.

403
00:15:58,620 --> 00:16:00,000
You know, we talk about pray, we say

404
00:16:00,000 --> 00:16:00,420
prayers.

405
00:16:00,540 --> 00:16:01,560
Most of them, a lot of them are

406
00:16:01,560 --> 00:16:02,280
mental prayers.

407
00:16:03,060 --> 00:16:06,020
This thing called praying is so deep that

408
00:16:06,020 --> 00:16:08,920
when the apostle Paul got converted and he

409
00:16:08,920 --> 00:16:12,660
was first Saul of Tarsus, this violent persecutor

410
00:16:12,660 --> 00:16:16,420
of the church, Jesus went to Ananias and

411
00:16:16,420 --> 00:16:19,840
the Lord appeared to Ananias in Damascus and

412
00:16:19,840 --> 00:16:22,260
said, go to this man, this Jew, this

413
00:16:22,260 --> 00:16:26,240
church persecutor named Saul of Tarsus and pray

414
00:16:26,240 --> 00:16:26,580
for him.

415
00:16:26,840 --> 00:16:30,520
And Ananias said, you know, I know about

416
00:16:30,520 --> 00:16:31,040
this man.

417
00:16:31,300 --> 00:16:33,820
This man is trouble with a capital T.

418
00:16:34,180 --> 00:16:36,540
And Jesus said, as if this was proof

419
00:16:36,540 --> 00:16:38,540
that everything had changed.

420
00:16:38,840 --> 00:16:42,540
No, Ananias, you can go, for behold, he

421
00:16:42,540 --> 00:16:42,920
prayed.

422
00:16:45,700 --> 00:16:46,280
He prayed.

423
00:16:47,100 --> 00:16:49,140
You can go now because he's in that

424
00:16:49,140 --> 00:16:52,160
room blind somewhere waiting for you because he

425
00:16:52,160 --> 00:16:54,560
actually, for the first time in his religious

426
00:16:54,560 --> 00:16:56,720
life, is offering a true prayer.

427
00:16:57,140 --> 00:16:59,240
And because he's praying, you can go and

428
00:16:59,240 --> 00:16:59,840
not be afraid.

429
00:17:00,020 --> 00:17:01,680
It was as if that was the sign

430
00:17:01,680 --> 00:17:04,300
whether somebody was the real deal with God.

431
00:17:04,700 --> 00:17:05,720
Behold, he prayed.

432
00:17:07,200 --> 00:17:09,160
And that same apostle Paul, when he writes

433
00:17:09,160 --> 00:17:11,260
to Timothy and he wants to encourage him

434
00:17:11,260 --> 00:17:13,260
how to do God's work, he says this.

435
00:17:13,440 --> 00:17:16,440
First of all, then I want supplications.

436
00:17:17,099 --> 00:17:20,579
First of all, in your church, Timothy, first

437
00:17:20,579 --> 00:17:24,660
of all, before anything else, supplications and prayers

438
00:17:24,660 --> 00:17:28,800
and intercessions and thanksgiving to be made for

439
00:17:28,800 --> 00:17:29,200
all men.

440
00:17:29,320 --> 00:17:31,200
That's first of all, it doesn't matter what

441
00:17:31,200 --> 00:17:34,120
your tradition is or what American Christianity says.

442
00:17:34,420 --> 00:17:36,480
The word of God says, first of all,

443
00:17:36,520 --> 00:17:39,080
then I want supplications because we got to

444
00:17:39,080 --> 00:17:39,780
remember Timothy.

445
00:17:39,940 --> 00:17:42,580
My house shall be called house of prayer.

446
00:17:45,440 --> 00:17:47,420
Later on in the same chapter, he says,

447
00:17:47,660 --> 00:17:48,840
and then I remember Timothy.

448
00:17:49,000 --> 00:17:51,660
I want men everywhere to lift up holy

449
00:17:51,660 --> 00:17:53,180
hands without wrath or doubting.

450
00:17:53,520 --> 00:17:54,400
And I want them to pray.

451
00:17:55,080 --> 00:17:57,200
That's the sign of a Christian church.

452
00:17:58,920 --> 00:18:03,140
Paul says, men praying with holy hands without

453
00:18:03,140 --> 00:18:03,920
wrath or doubt.

454
00:18:05,100 --> 00:18:08,080
In fact, the book of Revelation says that

455
00:18:08,080 --> 00:18:09,980
when the four and twenty four, the four

456
00:18:09,980 --> 00:18:11,800
and twenty elders fall at the feet of

457
00:18:11,800 --> 00:18:14,760
Jesus, they have these golden bowls and you

458
00:18:14,760 --> 00:18:15,500
know what's in the bowl?

459
00:18:16,700 --> 00:18:20,680
This incense that is so fragrant to Christ.

460
00:18:21,460 --> 00:18:23,140
It's the prayers of the saints.

461
00:18:24,960 --> 00:18:26,960
I mean, what must prayer be to God

462
00:18:26,960 --> 00:18:28,940
that he keeps it in bowls in heaven?

463
00:18:30,820 --> 00:18:32,620
Just when you just imagine when you and

464
00:18:32,620 --> 00:18:35,380
I kneel or stand or pray seated and

465
00:18:35,380 --> 00:18:37,260
we really open our heart to God, somehow

466
00:18:37,260 --> 00:18:38,380
those things are kept.

467
00:18:39,460 --> 00:18:41,020
They're so precious to God.

468
00:18:41,680 --> 00:18:44,720
My house shall be called a house of

469
00:18:44,720 --> 00:18:44,880
prayer.

470
00:18:44,940 --> 00:18:46,640
And we have in the day that we

471
00:18:46,640 --> 00:18:49,200
live in a lot of revisionism going on,

472
00:18:49,480 --> 00:18:51,800
but it's not coming from Washington.

473
00:18:52,020 --> 00:18:52,980
It's coming from the church.

474
00:18:54,520 --> 00:18:56,780
We're revising what a church is today.

475
00:18:57,520 --> 00:19:00,560
The Bible says, and they continue the early

476
00:19:00,560 --> 00:19:00,920
church.

477
00:19:01,000 --> 00:19:04,140
They continued steadfastly in the apostles doctrine and

478
00:19:04,140 --> 00:19:06,060
in fellowship and then the breaking of bread

479
00:19:06,060 --> 00:19:06,700
and in prayer.

480
00:19:07,120 --> 00:19:09,140
Now we've revised that and said, if you

481
00:19:09,140 --> 00:19:11,280
can get people for one hour on Sunday

482
00:19:11,280 --> 00:19:12,940
morning in a building, that's the church.

483
00:19:13,000 --> 00:19:13,920
That's not the church.

484
00:19:16,600 --> 00:19:18,560
We can use every device we want to

485
00:19:18,560 --> 00:19:20,180
get people for one hour and keep it

486
00:19:20,180 --> 00:19:22,220
early and keep it moving and keep it

487
00:19:22,220 --> 00:19:24,100
going because people have important things to do

488
00:19:24,100 --> 00:19:24,500
that day.

489
00:19:24,720 --> 00:19:26,540
That's not the story of the Christian church.

490
00:19:26,720 --> 00:19:28,120
That might be the story of my church

491
00:19:28,120 --> 00:19:29,700
or your church, but that's not the church

492
00:19:29,700 --> 00:19:30,400
Jesus built.

493
00:19:31,840 --> 00:19:33,780
And the history of revivals down through the

494
00:19:33,780 --> 00:19:36,080
ages have told us that whenever things have

495
00:19:36,080 --> 00:19:39,900
grown crass and commercial and secular and hard

496
00:19:39,900 --> 00:19:42,020
and worldly, God sends a revival.

497
00:19:42,160 --> 00:19:44,000
And what's always the sign of the revival?

498
00:19:44,000 --> 00:19:46,340
Behold, they pray.

499
00:19:47,640 --> 00:19:49,320
The church begins to pray.

500
00:19:50,180 --> 00:19:52,740
Moody goes somewhere in England and they begin

501
00:19:52,740 --> 00:19:53,180
to pray.

502
00:19:53,720 --> 00:19:55,840
Finney goes to upstate New York and they

503
00:19:55,840 --> 00:19:56,560
begin to pray.

504
00:19:56,960 --> 00:19:59,460
The great awakening happens in America and they

505
00:19:59,460 --> 00:20:00,040
begin to pray.

506
00:20:00,140 --> 00:20:01,160
Who was the fancy preacher?

507
00:20:01,340 --> 00:20:01,600
Nobody.

508
00:20:01,880 --> 00:20:02,240
They pray.

509
00:20:03,300 --> 00:20:04,500
Where was the great music?

510
00:20:04,620 --> 00:20:06,360
Oh, they made great psalms, but that wasn't

511
00:20:06,360 --> 00:20:07,500
the great thing about it.

512
00:20:07,600 --> 00:20:08,520
It was they pray.

513
00:20:09,060 --> 00:20:10,220
Prayer preceded it.

514
00:20:10,380 --> 00:20:11,580
Prayer kept it going.

515
00:20:11,860 --> 00:20:14,000
And the minute prayer ended, the spirit of

516
00:20:14,000 --> 00:20:16,120
God lifted and we got back into one

517
00:20:16,120 --> 00:20:17,980
of those tougher times for the church of

518
00:20:17,980 --> 00:20:18,640
Jesus Christ.

519
00:20:19,560 --> 00:20:21,600
You folks, young people who are going to

520
00:20:21,600 --> 00:20:23,140
these schools, let me tell you, as someone

521
00:20:23,140 --> 00:20:25,640
who went to college as a basketball player

522
00:20:25,640 --> 00:20:27,600
on a full scholarship and traveled around the

523
00:20:27,600 --> 00:20:30,840
country playing basketball, never had the privilege of

524
00:20:30,840 --> 00:20:33,020
going to a school like you folks are

525
00:20:33,020 --> 00:20:33,500
going to.

526
00:20:34,260 --> 00:20:36,700
The greatest thing anybody can learn in this

527
00:20:36,700 --> 00:20:38,860
building is how to pray.

528
00:20:40,400 --> 00:20:42,420
How to call on God so that God

529
00:20:42,420 --> 00:20:44,100
intervenes in the situation.

530
00:20:45,360 --> 00:20:48,680
They continued steadfastly in the apostle's doctrine, fellowship,

531
00:20:49,000 --> 00:20:50,900
breaking of bread, and in prayers.

532
00:20:51,100 --> 00:20:51,940
And that's the church.

533
00:20:52,220 --> 00:20:53,960
And I talked to well-known ministers.

534
00:20:55,820 --> 00:20:56,740
I talked to men.

535
00:20:56,820 --> 00:20:58,240
If I mentioned their names, a lot of

536
00:20:58,240 --> 00:20:59,380
you would know a lot of their names.

537
00:20:59,480 --> 00:21:01,360
And they tell me privately off the record,

538
00:21:01,640 --> 00:21:03,700
hey, listen, I know I'm dazzling them with

539
00:21:03,700 --> 00:21:05,920
my books and my sermons, but brother Jim,

540
00:21:06,140 --> 00:21:08,800
something's wrong because except for Sunday morning one

541
00:21:08,800 --> 00:21:11,000
hour, I can't get a soul into the

542
00:21:11,000 --> 00:21:11,300
church.

543
00:21:11,500 --> 00:21:13,380
If I called a prayer meeting, not one

544
00:21:13,380 --> 00:21:15,020
-tenth of the congregation would come.

545
00:21:15,940 --> 00:21:18,560
They'll pay $20 for a concert, but Jesus

546
00:21:18,560 --> 00:21:19,180
can't draw.

547
00:21:21,440 --> 00:21:23,060
They'll pay all kinds of money to hear

548
00:21:23,060 --> 00:21:24,760
somebody do something, and that's wonderful.

549
00:21:25,000 --> 00:21:25,720
I'm all for that.

550
00:21:25,860 --> 00:21:28,640
But doesn't it awaken us that if the

551
00:21:28,640 --> 00:21:31,460
prayer meeting was called, that nobody would come

552
00:21:31,460 --> 00:21:33,360
when God said, my house shall be called

553
00:21:33,360 --> 00:21:34,820
a house of prayer.

554
00:21:37,580 --> 00:21:41,140
My house shall be called a house of

555
00:21:41,140 --> 00:21:41,380
prayer.

556
00:21:43,100 --> 00:21:45,240
And you represent all kinds of cities, and

557
00:21:45,240 --> 00:21:46,560
just ask yourself that question.

558
00:21:46,660 --> 00:21:49,300
The city you live in, what church do

559
00:21:49,300 --> 00:21:51,460
you know takes a night, a prominent night,

560
00:21:51,520 --> 00:21:53,660
with all the leadership there and says, if

561
00:21:53,660 --> 00:21:55,480
prayer is so great, and his house shall

562
00:21:55,480 --> 00:21:56,920
be called a house of prayer, and we

563
00:21:56,920 --> 00:21:59,480
have all these promises, S, you shall receive.

564
00:21:59,640 --> 00:22:00,920
C, you shall find.

565
00:22:01,100 --> 00:22:02,500
Not, it shall be open.

566
00:22:02,600 --> 00:22:05,100
And all of those promises, call unto me

567
00:22:05,100 --> 00:22:05,900
and I will answer you.

568
00:22:06,020 --> 00:22:07,820
You would think the Christian church would say,

569
00:22:08,040 --> 00:22:08,680
time out.

570
00:22:09,800 --> 00:22:11,840
We're going to pray because God said when

571
00:22:11,840 --> 00:22:12,980
we pray, he'll intervene.

572
00:22:15,550 --> 00:22:17,130
The truth of the matter is in the

573
00:22:17,130 --> 00:22:18,950
city I live in, New York, and same

574
00:22:18,950 --> 00:22:21,250
as for Chicago and Philly and all of

575
00:22:21,250 --> 00:22:22,830
that, who are we kidding?

576
00:22:22,950 --> 00:22:24,870
More people are turning to crack than to

577
00:22:24,870 --> 00:22:25,190
crack.

578
00:22:26,510 --> 00:22:28,690
There are more people trying crack than are

579
00:22:28,690 --> 00:22:29,750
getting baptized in water.

580
00:22:29,890 --> 00:22:30,990
That's the real deal.

581
00:22:35,280 --> 00:22:37,040
And preaching is not going to do it

582
00:22:37,040 --> 00:22:38,440
alone, and teaching is not going to do

583
00:22:38,440 --> 00:22:38,780
it alone.

584
00:22:39,020 --> 00:22:40,640
My house shall be called a house of

585
00:22:40,640 --> 00:22:40,840
prayer.

586
00:22:41,040 --> 00:22:43,560
That's what brings God's power and grace into

587
00:22:43,560 --> 00:22:44,260
a situation.

588
00:22:46,640 --> 00:22:48,580
The proof of that is in the last

589
00:22:48,580 --> 00:22:50,580
40 years, there's been more books written about

590
00:22:50,580 --> 00:22:52,840
marriages than in all the preceding 2,000

591
00:22:52,840 --> 00:22:54,020
years of church history.

592
00:22:54,460 --> 00:22:55,960
More books in the last 40 years on

593
00:22:55,960 --> 00:22:58,820
marriages go to any pastor in America and

594
00:22:58,820 --> 00:23:00,900
ask him if there aren't more problems per

595
00:23:00,900 --> 00:23:03,340
hundred marriages today than at any time, and

596
00:23:03,340 --> 00:23:04,200
we have the most books.

597
00:23:04,320 --> 00:23:05,780
We got all the how-tos, but what

598
00:23:05,780 --> 00:23:07,520
we're missing is the grace of God.

599
00:23:08,960 --> 00:23:10,460
My house shall be called a house of

600
00:23:10,460 --> 00:23:10,740
prayer.

601
00:23:11,620 --> 00:23:14,100
A couple that prays together stays together.

602
00:23:14,780 --> 00:23:17,120
A church that prays together stays together.

603
00:23:17,360 --> 00:23:19,480
There'll be difficult moments, I'm not being simplistic,

604
00:23:20,140 --> 00:23:21,300
but God's word is true.

605
00:23:21,440 --> 00:23:23,280
Call upon me and I will answer you.

606
00:23:23,400 --> 00:23:25,160
I'll show you things you can't even imagine.

607
00:23:25,400 --> 00:23:26,500
Just give me a chance.

608
00:23:30,160 --> 00:23:33,020
There's more books on child rearing, quality time

609
00:23:33,020 --> 00:23:34,480
with your children, ad nauseam.

610
00:23:35,240 --> 00:23:36,360
Talk to any pastor.

611
00:23:36,480 --> 00:23:38,580
There's more problem with children, young people in

612
00:23:38,580 --> 00:23:40,940
the church, per hundred young people, than at

613
00:23:40,940 --> 00:23:41,860
any time previous.

614
00:23:42,880 --> 00:23:45,500
Not because we're lacking knowledge, it's not because

615
00:23:45,500 --> 00:23:47,300
we're lacking how-to, and all of that

616
00:23:47,300 --> 00:23:49,720
has its place, but brother, sister, when the

617
00:23:49,720 --> 00:23:51,600
rubber meets the road, we need the power

618
00:23:51,600 --> 00:23:52,040
of God.

619
00:23:52,440 --> 00:23:53,780
We need the grace of God.

620
00:23:54,580 --> 00:23:56,980
And listen to the promise as I come

621
00:23:56,980 --> 00:23:57,560
to a close.

622
00:23:59,660 --> 00:24:02,060
Therefore, let us come boldly to the throne

623
00:24:02,060 --> 00:24:06,000
of grace, so that we might receive grace

624
00:24:06,000 --> 00:24:08,220
and mercy to help us in our time

625
00:24:08,220 --> 00:24:08,660
of need.

626
00:24:09,980 --> 00:24:11,880
It doesn't say, therefore, let us come to

627
00:24:11,880 --> 00:24:12,420
the sermon.

628
00:24:12,720 --> 00:24:14,940
We in America have made the sermon the

629
00:24:14,940 --> 00:24:15,460
centerpiece.

630
00:24:15,740 --> 00:24:17,680
God never intended the sermon to be the

631
00:24:17,680 --> 00:24:18,280
centerpiece.

632
00:24:19,220 --> 00:24:21,180
The preacher, if he does his job, is

633
00:24:21,180 --> 00:24:22,760
supposed to get people to come to the

634
00:24:22,760 --> 00:24:23,500
throne of grace.

635
00:24:23,780 --> 00:24:23,960
Why?

636
00:24:24,160 --> 00:24:26,080
Because it's at the throne of grace that

637
00:24:26,080 --> 00:24:27,600
God gives grace and mercy.

638
00:24:28,860 --> 00:24:31,080
If a singer, a gospel singer, really does

639
00:24:31,080 --> 00:24:32,980
his job, and every gospel singer listening to

640
00:24:32,980 --> 00:24:34,520
me, you're going to answer up one day,

641
00:24:34,600 --> 00:24:36,200
because God's going to say to you, did

642
00:24:36,200 --> 00:24:38,100
you bring people to where the action was

643
00:24:38,100 --> 00:24:38,980
at the throne of grace?

644
00:24:40,080 --> 00:24:42,000
If you just entertained them, if you just

645
00:24:42,000 --> 00:24:43,700
tickled them and gave them a little warm

646
00:24:43,700 --> 00:24:46,280
fuzzy moment, woe unto you, because at the

647
00:24:46,280 --> 00:24:47,820
throne of grace, I could have changed their

648
00:24:47,820 --> 00:24:48,320
life.

649
00:24:51,170 --> 00:24:52,770
Pastor Cimbala, did you bring the people and

650
00:24:52,770 --> 00:24:54,390
dazzle them with your footwork and try to

651
00:24:54,390 --> 00:24:56,530
be clever, or did you make Jesus wonderful,

652
00:24:57,390 --> 00:24:58,930
so that they could come to the throne

653
00:24:58,930 --> 00:24:59,350
of grace?

654
00:24:59,730 --> 00:25:01,750
Therefore, let us come boldly to the throne

655
00:25:01,750 --> 00:25:02,170
of grace.

656
00:25:02,370 --> 00:25:04,390
That's why Jesus ascended to the right hand

657
00:25:04,390 --> 00:25:06,010
of the Father, so that he could make

658
00:25:06,010 --> 00:25:08,170
a way, so that me with my problems

659
00:25:08,170 --> 00:25:11,150
could go and receive grace and mercy to

660
00:25:11,150 --> 00:25:13,410
help me coming apart here.

661
00:25:18,720 --> 00:25:19,860
It's an awesome thing.

662
00:25:21,520 --> 00:25:25,520
Just an awesome thought, that we've created a

663
00:25:25,520 --> 00:25:28,740
religion kind of of our own, and sometimes

664
00:25:28,740 --> 00:25:30,100
his house shall be called the house of

665
00:25:30,100 --> 00:25:30,300
prayer.

666
00:25:30,480 --> 00:25:31,800
In a lot of churches and a lot

667
00:25:31,800 --> 00:25:34,100
of services, you have everything but prayer.

668
00:25:35,980 --> 00:25:41,660
You have talks, readings, talent, choir, and my

669
00:25:41,660 --> 00:25:42,600
wife conducts a choir.

670
00:25:42,700 --> 00:25:44,220
I'm all for those things, but you get

671
00:25:44,220 --> 00:25:45,100
what I'm driving at?

672
00:25:45,240 --> 00:25:47,260
If it doesn't end up with somebody touching

673
00:25:47,260 --> 00:25:49,200
God and praying, who are we kidding?

674
00:25:50,600 --> 00:25:51,720
We need the Lord.

675
00:25:55,300 --> 00:25:58,400
For someone who's so ill-prepared as myself

676
00:25:58,400 --> 00:26:04,580
for the ministry, seems to me that God

677
00:26:04,580 --> 00:26:07,700
has chosen, among other things, to make my

678
00:26:07,700 --> 00:26:10,340
wife and I example of those foolish things

679
00:26:10,340 --> 00:26:12,360
that confound the wise.

680
00:26:12,520 --> 00:26:20,860
My wife writes music and directs the Brooklyn

681
00:26:20,860 --> 00:26:25,820
Tabernacle Choir, and she neither reads nor writes

682
00:26:25,820 --> 00:26:26,280
music.

683
00:26:26,840 --> 00:26:27,780
She's never been trained.

684
00:26:27,900 --> 00:26:28,240
She does.

685
00:26:28,380 --> 00:26:29,420
She doesn't know what she's doing.

686
00:26:29,520 --> 00:26:30,100
She just does.

687
00:26:35,980 --> 00:26:37,940
I've never been to a seminary or a

688
00:26:37,940 --> 00:26:40,220
Bible school, and I ended up with 15

689
00:26:40,220 --> 00:26:42,380
or 18, 20 people in New York City

690
00:26:42,380 --> 00:26:44,680
on a street that was so depressing.

691
00:26:45,120 --> 00:26:46,820
Our church was so depressing, I didn't want

692
00:26:46,820 --> 00:26:47,980
to go, and I was in charge.

693
00:26:56,370 --> 00:27:00,910
Drugs everywhere, inner city, totally different culture than

694
00:27:00,910 --> 00:27:02,270
especially my wife grew up in.

695
00:27:02,350 --> 00:27:05,890
I, as a ballplayer, had been around, and

696
00:27:08,040 --> 00:27:09,740
then I realized, what am I going to

697
00:27:09,740 --> 00:27:09,900
do?

698
00:27:09,960 --> 00:27:11,140
Am I going to live in this Christian

699
00:27:11,140 --> 00:27:13,640
fantasy about what God once did and then

700
00:27:13,640 --> 00:27:15,180
what God's going to do one day, but

701
00:27:15,180 --> 00:27:16,540
then your life goes by and you never

702
00:27:16,540 --> 00:27:17,540
see God do anything?

703
00:27:19,340 --> 00:27:20,580
And you can let your life pass by

704
00:27:20,580 --> 00:27:21,540
with that kind of talk.

705
00:27:25,170 --> 00:27:28,290
Remember, the worst epitaph on anybody's tombstone will

706
00:27:28,290 --> 00:27:32,010
be this, you have not because you ask

707
00:27:32,010 --> 00:27:32,190
not.

708
00:27:33,470 --> 00:27:36,470
Someone says, well, Brother Jim, now you understand,

709
00:27:36,710 --> 00:27:38,510
Jim, that you don't get everything you ask

710
00:27:38,510 --> 00:27:38,650
for.

711
00:27:38,710 --> 00:27:39,930
It has to be according to God's will.

712
00:27:40,070 --> 00:27:41,910
I understand all of that, but we can't

713
00:27:41,910 --> 00:27:44,410
use little theological dodges to get away from

714
00:27:44,410 --> 00:27:46,230
the fact that a lot of people don't

715
00:27:46,230 --> 00:27:48,350
have things that God wants you to have

716
00:27:48,350 --> 00:27:49,230
right now today.

717
00:27:49,450 --> 00:27:50,990
He wants you to have it right now

718
00:27:50,990 --> 00:27:53,410
today, but over my life or possibly yours,

719
00:27:53,670 --> 00:27:56,630
he writes, you have not because you ask

720
00:27:56,630 --> 00:27:56,850
not.

721
00:27:57,410 --> 00:27:59,010
I want to do it for you, but

722
00:27:59,010 --> 00:28:02,970
God has chosen prayer to be the one

723
00:28:02,970 --> 00:28:03,810
conductor.

724
00:28:03,970 --> 00:28:07,410
Listen, the one conductor, the one channel for

725
00:28:07,410 --> 00:28:10,550
all of God's blessings, the channel is prayer.

726
00:28:11,110 --> 00:28:13,090
In other words, God has this table set

727
00:28:13,090 --> 00:28:15,450
for us and he sees Jay and Amy

728
00:28:15,450 --> 00:28:17,170
and he knows exactly what they need to

729
00:28:17,170 --> 00:28:18,970
raise that child and he has the table

730
00:28:18,970 --> 00:28:21,550
spread with every kind of wisdom and grace

731
00:28:21,550 --> 00:28:23,790
and strength that they could possibly need, but

732
00:28:23,790 --> 00:28:25,330
he says, the only way you can get

733
00:28:25,330 --> 00:28:26,750
it is to pull up to the table

734
00:28:26,750 --> 00:28:28,630
and taste and see that the Lord is

735
00:28:28,630 --> 00:28:30,410
good and pulling up to the table is

736
00:28:30,410 --> 00:28:31,270
called prayer.

737
00:28:32,510 --> 00:28:34,210
In other words, God doesn't tell us, pray

738
00:28:34,210 --> 00:28:36,310
because I want my people to pray.

739
00:28:36,430 --> 00:28:38,670
He says, pray because I have all kinds

740
00:28:38,670 --> 00:28:40,610
of things for you and when you ask,

741
00:28:40,790 --> 00:28:41,630
you shall receive.

742
00:28:43,110 --> 00:28:44,870
In other words, it's not legalism.

743
00:28:45,050 --> 00:28:47,070
It's not get in there and start praying.

744
00:28:47,250 --> 00:28:48,490
It's I need me.

745
00:28:49,290 --> 00:28:52,450
Oh, I need every hour.

746
00:28:52,690 --> 00:28:53,390
I need me.

747
00:28:53,790 --> 00:28:55,350
God, you see what I'm facing.

748
00:28:55,550 --> 00:28:56,270
Help me, Lord.

749
00:28:57,850 --> 00:29:01,090
And as we pray, he's faithful to his

750
00:29:01,090 --> 00:29:01,930
word and supplies.

751
00:29:03,170 --> 00:29:04,650
Well, my wife and I began to learn

752
00:29:04,650 --> 00:29:06,630
a little bit about this conductor and this

753
00:29:06,630 --> 00:29:10,390
channel called prayer and we began to see

754
00:29:10,390 --> 00:29:11,670
people's lives get changed.

755
00:29:12,030 --> 00:29:14,310
And, you know, I began to preach and

756
00:29:14,310 --> 00:29:17,430
not being trained and studying on my own

757
00:29:17,430 --> 00:29:19,390
and building a library, which has grown quite

758
00:29:19,390 --> 00:29:21,590
large and trying to stay a student.

759
00:29:21,710 --> 00:29:23,450
But at the very beginning, it was rough.

760
00:29:24,950 --> 00:29:26,490
Sermons I preach at the beginning.

761
00:29:26,850 --> 00:29:28,530
It's tough when you fall asleep doing your

762
00:29:28,530 --> 00:29:34,180
own sermon, not just the people falling asleep.

763
00:29:35,020 --> 00:29:36,140
It's when you doze off.

764
00:29:39,790 --> 00:29:42,970
But, you know, I found this, that God,

765
00:29:44,050 --> 00:29:46,010
when you become a Christian and because of

766
00:29:46,010 --> 00:29:47,910
what I just said, how he blesses people

767
00:29:47,910 --> 00:29:50,190
through prayer, he's going to make you a

768
00:29:50,190 --> 00:29:50,850
woman of prayer.

769
00:29:51,270 --> 00:29:53,210
He's going to make you, sir, a man

770
00:29:53,210 --> 00:29:54,950
of prayer and you try to run, he'll

771
00:29:54,950 --> 00:29:57,130
chase you, but he will make us people

772
00:29:57,130 --> 00:29:57,530
of prayer.

773
00:29:58,590 --> 00:30:00,470
He knows how to order our lives and

774
00:30:00,470 --> 00:30:02,710
to get our attention and say, do you

775
00:30:02,710 --> 00:30:03,970
realize how much you need me now?

776
00:30:04,630 --> 00:30:06,090
Oh, no, Lord, I can handle this on

777
00:30:06,090 --> 00:30:06,370
my own.

778
00:30:06,430 --> 00:30:07,390
And God says, all right, fine.

779
00:30:07,930 --> 00:30:10,110
When you hit the stone wall the 32nd

780
00:30:10,110 --> 00:30:13,010
time, remember that you need me.

781
00:30:14,970 --> 00:30:16,770
But notice he's not making me a man

782
00:30:16,770 --> 00:30:18,150
of prayer so he can say, see, I

783
00:30:18,150 --> 00:30:18,830
got him praying.

784
00:30:18,970 --> 00:30:22,910
It's a father saying, I have all of

785
00:30:22,910 --> 00:30:25,970
this that you live with such scarcity.

786
00:30:26,850 --> 00:30:29,850
Please come unto me, all you that labor.

787
00:30:31,330 --> 00:30:33,170
Pray, talk, spend time.

788
00:30:33,330 --> 00:30:34,390
What are you so rushed for?

789
00:30:34,530 --> 00:30:35,650
You're running for what?

790
00:30:36,410 --> 00:30:37,310
Working with what?

791
00:30:37,390 --> 00:30:39,350
There's nothing in gym symbol to work with

792
00:30:39,350 --> 00:30:39,450
you.

793
00:30:39,530 --> 00:30:41,290
Everything that you need, I have.

794
00:30:41,430 --> 00:30:42,370
So when are we going to talk?

795
00:30:42,470 --> 00:30:43,990
I began to learn and we began to

796
00:30:43,990 --> 00:30:46,030
stress our Tuesday night prayer meeting as the

797
00:30:46,030 --> 00:30:47,130
Brahma of our church.

798
00:30:47,510 --> 00:30:49,750
And this past Tuesday night, between 12 and

799
00:30:49,750 --> 00:30:52,330
1500 people gathered like every Tuesday night.

800
00:30:52,530 --> 00:30:54,470
And since of course, those days we've had

801
00:30:54,470 --> 00:30:57,150
like 14 other churches begin all stressing that

802
00:30:57,150 --> 00:30:59,250
prayer meeting night, because we found if you

803
00:30:59,250 --> 00:31:01,030
can beat the devil on the prayer meeting

804
00:31:01,030 --> 00:31:03,090
night, you'll beat them on every other level.

805
00:31:10,370 --> 00:31:11,690
And that's the way it is that our

806
00:31:11,690 --> 00:31:13,610
personal lives, if you can beat the enemy

807
00:31:13,610 --> 00:31:15,110
in prayer, you can beat them on every

808
00:31:15,110 --> 00:31:15,390
level.

809
00:31:15,490 --> 00:31:16,370
You will read the word.

810
00:31:16,690 --> 00:31:18,170
There's grace flowing through your life.

811
00:31:18,210 --> 00:31:19,730
You have an appetite for the things of

812
00:31:19,730 --> 00:31:20,010
God.

813
00:31:21,690 --> 00:31:23,390
So from me standing in front of two

814
00:31:23,390 --> 00:31:24,970
people on a Tuesday night, I used to

815
00:31:24,970 --> 00:31:26,750
do that first offering I took on a

816
00:31:26,750 --> 00:31:28,810
Sunday was $85 tithes and offerings.

817
00:31:28,990 --> 00:31:30,570
And I had a daughter named Chrissy.

818
00:31:31,170 --> 00:31:32,250
It was about a year old.

819
00:31:33,450 --> 00:31:34,710
My wife took a second job.

820
00:31:34,770 --> 00:31:38,330
I took a second job, but the people

821
00:31:38,330 --> 00:31:39,390
began to pray.

822
00:31:42,610 --> 00:31:44,190
But in closing, let me just tell you

823
00:31:44,190 --> 00:31:46,610
the last, some of the last lessons I've

824
00:31:46,610 --> 00:31:48,590
learned about this wonderful truth, because I'm not

825
00:31:48,590 --> 00:31:50,310
trying to preach down to anyone.

826
00:31:50,430 --> 00:31:53,030
I'm preaching to myself as I was talking

827
00:31:53,030 --> 00:31:55,170
to you about eight or nine years ago.

828
00:31:56,170 --> 00:32:00,350
My daughter who is here today, she got

829
00:32:00,350 --> 00:32:01,150
away from us.

830
00:32:02,330 --> 00:32:05,350
She got away from not only us, she

831
00:32:05,350 --> 00:32:06,250
got away from God.

832
00:32:06,850 --> 00:32:08,330
She got away from our house.

833
00:32:09,590 --> 00:32:11,230
And my wife and I went through a

834
00:32:11,230 --> 00:32:13,250
two and a half year long nightmare that

835
00:32:13,250 --> 00:32:15,090
I don't want to go into, but I

836
00:32:15,090 --> 00:32:18,170
promised God as I was getting at the

837
00:32:18,170 --> 00:32:19,890
end of it, that it, as he brought

838
00:32:19,890 --> 00:32:21,430
me through it, that wherever I got a

839
00:32:21,430 --> 00:32:23,190
chance, I promised God, no matter how hard

840
00:32:23,190 --> 00:32:24,910
it would be as he's my witness today,

841
00:32:25,150 --> 00:32:26,610
no matter how hard it would be, I

842
00:32:26,610 --> 00:32:28,290
would tell people what God does in the

843
00:32:28,290 --> 00:32:28,970
answer to prayer.

844
00:32:32,340 --> 00:32:33,780
You know what the feeling is not to

845
00:32:33,780 --> 00:32:35,480
know where your daughter is she grew up

846
00:32:35,480 --> 00:32:36,360
as a model child.

847
00:32:36,500 --> 00:32:37,420
I have two other children.

848
00:32:38,160 --> 00:32:39,880
Chrissy's now 25.

849
00:32:40,200 --> 00:32:41,560
I have a daughter, 21 and a boy,

850
00:32:41,620 --> 00:32:41,920
18.

851
00:32:42,060 --> 00:32:44,060
But at that time, Chrissy was about 17,

852
00:32:44,160 --> 00:32:44,440
18.

853
00:32:44,700 --> 00:32:46,920
And it was, I'm talking nightmare.

854
00:32:48,300 --> 00:32:50,600
I'm talking about getting in my car and

855
00:32:50,600 --> 00:32:52,480
leaving my house to go to the church

856
00:32:52,480 --> 00:32:55,740
in the inner city where, where I'm going

857
00:32:55,740 --> 00:32:58,540
to face, you know, 10 new people who

858
00:32:58,540 --> 00:33:01,840
visit who are HIV positive and a battered

859
00:33:01,840 --> 00:33:04,520
woman and no neat family units and everything

860
00:33:04,520 --> 00:33:05,760
discombobulated.

861
00:33:06,140 --> 00:33:07,380
And I don't want to be the focus.

862
00:33:07,580 --> 00:33:09,160
I'm supposed to be there, Carol and I

863
00:33:09,160 --> 00:33:11,680
to minister to them, but I'm crying from

864
00:33:11,680 --> 00:33:13,660
the minute I leave my door to the

865
00:33:13,660 --> 00:33:16,120
church and saying, God, my heart is broken.

866
00:33:16,260 --> 00:33:17,240
My nerves are shot.

867
00:33:17,520 --> 00:33:20,860
I've screamed, begged, pleaded, try to use money,

868
00:33:21,280 --> 00:33:24,340
reasoned, cried, and she's getting worse.

869
00:33:24,400 --> 00:33:25,260
She's not getting better.

870
00:33:26,700 --> 00:33:28,080
And how am I going to minister?

871
00:33:28,200 --> 00:33:30,440
And we're starting other churches and renting Radio

872
00:33:30,440 --> 00:33:33,480
City musical and starting new churches in the

873
00:33:33,480 --> 00:33:35,840
city and, and going to South America and

874
00:33:35,840 --> 00:33:37,800
Carol's writing songs and making albums.

875
00:33:37,940 --> 00:33:39,660
But nobody knows, a very few people know

876
00:33:39,660 --> 00:33:41,780
that we're, we're hanging by a thread, my

877
00:33:41,780 --> 00:33:42,960
friend, by a thread.

878
00:33:44,180 --> 00:33:46,200
And all the times I drove and cried

879
00:33:46,200 --> 00:33:48,060
out to God coming in and saying, God,

880
00:33:48,180 --> 00:33:50,380
please just get me through these three meetings.

881
00:33:50,460 --> 00:33:52,500
We have 11, 3.30 and 7.30

882
00:33:52,500 --> 00:33:54,860
services, each about two hours long or more.

883
00:33:55,020 --> 00:33:57,220
And I'm just saying, God, please just get

884
00:33:57,220 --> 00:33:58,300
me through another Sunday.

885
00:33:58,740 --> 00:33:59,900
And God would just lift me.

886
00:33:59,960 --> 00:34:01,520
And I would have the grace to get

887
00:34:01,520 --> 00:34:04,000
through and minister to people, even though inside

888
00:34:04,000 --> 00:34:06,820
I was so, so just shaking.

889
00:34:09,659 --> 00:34:11,620
And I learned that when you pray God,

890
00:34:12,100 --> 00:34:16,040
I learned that when you have no logical

891
00:34:16,040 --> 00:34:18,420
way to stand God, somehow, when you pray,

892
00:34:18,560 --> 00:34:20,320
it gives you fresh feet and a fresh

893
00:34:20,320 --> 00:34:20,800
foundation.

894
00:34:22,460 --> 00:34:24,320
We have a prayer band in our church.

895
00:34:24,440 --> 00:34:27,280
It's more important ministry than the 240 voice

896
00:34:27,280 --> 00:34:28,540
Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir.

897
00:34:28,980 --> 00:34:31,120
There's a prayer band that not only prays

898
00:34:31,120 --> 00:34:33,239
through each service, about 20 of them pray

899
00:34:33,239 --> 00:34:35,199
through each service on Sunday while I'm preaching

900
00:34:35,199 --> 00:34:36,760
and ministering there in a room locked away

901
00:34:36,760 --> 00:34:37,120
praying.

902
00:34:37,460 --> 00:34:39,380
But now they pray for certain several years

903
00:34:39,380 --> 00:34:41,199
now from two in the afternoon till six

904
00:34:41,199 --> 00:34:41,719
in the morning.

905
00:34:42,179 --> 00:34:44,639
There's in the church, there's people praying every

906
00:34:44,639 --> 00:34:46,120
seven days a week, two in the afternoon

907
00:34:46,120 --> 00:34:47,500
till six in the morning.

908
00:34:48,080 --> 00:34:49,500
Then if you have some need, you can

909
00:34:49,500 --> 00:34:50,540
just mail it to our church.

910
00:34:50,639 --> 00:34:51,739
Someone will pray for it three in the

911
00:34:51,739 --> 00:34:51,960
morning.

912
00:34:53,300 --> 00:34:55,179
It's an amazing thing how God honors that.

913
00:34:55,820 --> 00:34:57,100
Well, they began to pray for me.

914
00:34:57,280 --> 00:34:59,360
And as God is my witness, I would

915
00:34:59,360 --> 00:35:02,380
sense myself at night sometimes or shaving in

916
00:35:02,380 --> 00:35:02,740
the morning.

917
00:35:02,940 --> 00:35:05,380
I would feel God's grace just come underneath

918
00:35:05,380 --> 00:35:08,160
me and, and, and begin to steady me

919
00:35:08,160 --> 00:35:09,100
and hold my emotions.

920
00:35:09,320 --> 00:35:11,080
And I hadn't even been thinking about God.

921
00:35:11,120 --> 00:35:12,940
And I would say, Lord, what is this?

922
00:35:13,000 --> 00:35:14,660
That's just come into my life.

923
00:35:15,140 --> 00:35:16,320
Somebody's praying for you.

924
00:35:18,040 --> 00:35:18,840
Somebody's praying.

925
00:35:21,220 --> 00:35:22,700
People would be praying for me.

926
00:35:22,760 --> 00:35:23,580
God bless them.

927
00:35:27,630 --> 00:35:29,190
Then my wife got ill.

928
00:35:30,750 --> 00:35:33,470
Had to have a hysterectomy and the hormonal

929
00:35:33,470 --> 00:35:35,050
imbalance that she ended up with.

930
00:35:35,490 --> 00:35:36,930
My daughter's out of the house.

931
00:35:37,050 --> 00:35:38,690
The other two children, I'm doing the best

932
00:35:38,690 --> 00:35:39,090
I can.

933
00:35:39,150 --> 00:35:40,550
And now my wife is not talking just

934
00:35:40,550 --> 00:35:42,470
about leaving New York, which she wanted to,

935
00:35:42,810 --> 00:35:45,450
because the enemy had told her, fine, start

936
00:35:45,450 --> 00:35:47,870
your churches and influence people for Christ.

937
00:35:48,030 --> 00:35:49,530
But I'm going to have all your children.

938
00:35:49,630 --> 00:35:51,110
I've got one and I'm coming for the

939
00:35:51,110 --> 00:35:51,590
other two.

940
00:35:52,850 --> 00:35:54,690
And my wife believed it and told me,

941
00:35:54,830 --> 00:35:56,470
you can leave with me or you can

942
00:35:56,470 --> 00:35:57,590
stay, but I'm leaving.

943
00:36:00,560 --> 00:36:03,180
Because he already has Chrissy and I'm not

944
00:36:03,180 --> 00:36:05,340
losing my other two kids enough with this.

945
00:36:05,400 --> 00:36:06,360
We can't do this.

946
00:36:07,180 --> 00:36:09,380
The atmosphere in the city, New York is

947
00:36:09,380 --> 00:36:10,620
a miserable place to be.

948
00:36:11,260 --> 00:36:12,560
I'm not there because I like it.

949
00:36:12,600 --> 00:36:14,300
I'm there because God put me there.

950
00:36:18,040 --> 00:36:20,820
And then after the operation, she's talking about,

951
00:36:20,820 --> 00:36:22,900
she doesn't feel any reason to live any

952
00:36:22,900 --> 00:36:23,220
longer.

953
00:36:25,060 --> 00:36:26,640
And I mean, what do you do?

954
00:36:26,720 --> 00:36:28,060
Your wife is flipping out.

955
00:36:29,460 --> 00:36:31,700
Your daughter's, you're preaching, you're doing all of

956
00:36:31,700 --> 00:36:32,200
these things.

957
00:36:32,320 --> 00:36:34,920
I'm just telling you, oh, how wonderful it

958
00:36:34,920 --> 00:36:36,180
is to know that at the throne of

959
00:36:36,180 --> 00:36:38,300
grace, no matter what's happening, God can lift

960
00:36:38,300 --> 00:36:39,060
you and hold you.

961
00:36:39,600 --> 00:36:40,780
What a wonderful God.

962
00:36:45,790 --> 00:36:49,310
One November, after about two years had passed,

963
00:36:50,130 --> 00:36:51,110
Chrissy was awake.

964
00:36:51,570 --> 00:36:53,850
God and I got totally alone in Florida

965
00:36:53,850 --> 00:36:57,410
and God spoke to me and said, I

966
00:36:57,410 --> 00:36:59,890
know you've been praying, but Chrissy, the impressions

967
00:36:59,890 --> 00:37:01,310
I got were basically this, I don't want

968
00:37:01,310 --> 00:37:02,730
to sound mystical or sensational.

969
00:37:02,930 --> 00:37:04,050
I'm just going to tell you from my

970
00:37:04,050 --> 00:37:04,350
heart.

971
00:37:07,050 --> 00:37:09,450
No more talking to Chrissy and no more

972
00:37:09,450 --> 00:37:11,490
talking to anyone else and no more money

973
00:37:11,490 --> 00:37:14,090
and no more screaming and no more crying.

974
00:37:14,290 --> 00:37:14,730
Drop it.

975
00:37:14,910 --> 00:37:17,390
Just tell me, let's make a covenant.

976
00:37:17,590 --> 00:37:19,430
You just tell me and I'll take care

977
00:37:19,430 --> 00:37:19,790
of it.

978
00:37:24,140 --> 00:37:26,100
And I told my wife, I'm not going

979
00:37:26,100 --> 00:37:27,840
to see my daughter until she's right.

980
00:37:30,040 --> 00:37:31,360
And that's my first child.

981
00:37:34,260 --> 00:37:35,740
My wife kept in touch with her.

982
00:37:35,860 --> 00:37:36,580
Months went by.

983
00:37:36,760 --> 00:37:38,220
Christmas, sad Christmas.

984
00:37:39,440 --> 00:37:41,120
Who wants presents when your daughter's away?

985
00:37:43,720 --> 00:37:45,820
On a February night in the prayer meeting,

986
00:37:45,900 --> 00:37:47,260
my house shall be called the house of

987
00:37:47,260 --> 00:37:47,500
prayer.

988
00:37:47,600 --> 00:37:50,240
We were all praying and calling on God

989
00:37:50,240 --> 00:37:51,300
and waiting on God.

990
00:37:51,440 --> 00:37:53,640
You know, nobody in charge, no choir, no

991
00:37:53,640 --> 00:37:53,980
speaker.

992
00:37:54,120 --> 00:37:54,720
Who needs it?

993
00:37:54,800 --> 00:37:55,340
You have Jesus.

994
00:37:57,080 --> 00:37:58,540
It's amazing how wonderful he is.

995
00:38:01,980 --> 00:38:03,560
And someone sent a note up to me,

996
00:38:03,600 --> 00:38:06,220
a woman, a young lady who here's sensitive

997
00:38:06,220 --> 00:38:06,820
to the Lord.

998
00:38:07,040 --> 00:38:08,320
And she sent a note up through an

999
00:38:08,320 --> 00:38:08,580
usher.

1000
00:38:08,660 --> 00:38:11,060
And the note said, I feel deeply impressed

1001
00:38:11,060 --> 00:38:12,760
that we should stop the prayer meeting and

1002
00:38:12,760 --> 00:38:13,640
pray for your daughter.

1003
00:38:14,680 --> 00:38:15,800
I looked at the note.

1004
00:38:15,900 --> 00:38:17,100
People were praying all around me.

1005
00:38:17,140 --> 00:38:18,240
I looked at the note and said, God,

1006
00:38:18,340 --> 00:38:19,080
is this really you?

1007
00:38:19,160 --> 00:38:20,140
I don't want to be the center of

1008
00:38:20,140 --> 00:38:20,580
attraction.

1009
00:38:20,900 --> 00:38:22,480
People have their own needs, but I felt

1010
00:38:22,480 --> 00:38:22,880
impressed.

1011
00:38:22,980 --> 00:38:23,320
It was.

1012
00:38:23,820 --> 00:38:25,340
I stopped the prayer meeting after a little

1013
00:38:25,340 --> 00:38:27,900
while and everybody gathered together in that room,

1014
00:38:27,960 --> 00:38:30,740
in that church and held hands over a

1015
00:38:30,740 --> 00:38:32,520
thousand people, probably that night.

1016
00:38:32,820 --> 00:38:35,080
And I call one of my associate pastors

1017
00:38:35,080 --> 00:38:36,840
in the front and he began to pray.

1018
00:38:36,900 --> 00:38:38,360
And all I can tell you, and I

1019
00:38:38,360 --> 00:38:40,020
don't know what your theology is and it

1020
00:38:40,020 --> 00:38:40,620
really doesn't matter.

1021
00:38:40,680 --> 00:38:41,860
I'm just going to tell you what happened.

1022
00:38:42,100 --> 00:38:43,780
You know where Paul said that Paul said,

1023
00:38:43,860 --> 00:38:45,600
I travail like a mother giving birth to

1024
00:38:45,600 --> 00:38:46,760
Christ be formed on you.

1025
00:38:47,060 --> 00:38:49,080
Well, I told the people, my daughter thinks

1026
00:38:49,080 --> 00:38:50,720
up is down and down is up.

1027
00:38:50,780 --> 00:38:52,540
And she thinks light is dark and dark

1028
00:38:52,540 --> 00:38:53,000
is light.

1029
00:38:53,320 --> 00:38:56,200
And unless God visits her and intervenes, my

1030
00:38:56,200 --> 00:38:57,420
daughter is out there.

1031
00:38:57,900 --> 00:38:59,800
And, and, and I'm going to, someone wants

1032
00:38:59,800 --> 00:39:01,740
me to stop the meeting so you could

1033
00:39:01,740 --> 00:39:02,040
pray.

1034
00:39:02,160 --> 00:39:03,340
My associates is going to come.

1035
00:39:03,420 --> 00:39:04,040
He's going to pray.

1036
00:39:04,140 --> 00:39:06,260
And suddenly it turned into a labor room.

1037
00:39:07,560 --> 00:39:09,120
You ever hear women when they're giving labor,

1038
00:39:09,540 --> 00:39:13,200
having labor, it's not pleasant, but it has

1039
00:39:13,200 --> 00:39:14,120
some great results.

1040
00:39:17,060 --> 00:39:18,540
And they began to pray.

1041
00:39:18,880 --> 00:39:20,000
I was overwhelmed by it.

1042
00:39:20,060 --> 00:39:21,540
I was, as God is my witness, I

1043
00:39:21,540 --> 00:39:22,520
was overwhelmed by it.

1044
00:39:22,580 --> 00:39:24,000
I mean, they began to pray as if

1045
00:39:24,000 --> 00:39:25,620
they went to the throne of grace, like,

1046
00:39:25,860 --> 00:39:28,500
and now Satan, you will give up that

1047
00:39:28,500 --> 00:39:29,040
girl.

1048
00:39:35,410 --> 00:39:37,590
If you would just come, let's sing, pass

1049
00:39:37,590 --> 00:39:38,670
me not O gentle Savior.

1050
00:39:39,750 --> 00:39:41,790
And they prayed.

1051
00:39:41,870 --> 00:39:42,430
I came home.

1052
00:39:42,470 --> 00:39:43,830
My wife wasn't there that night and over

1053
00:39:43,830 --> 00:39:45,350
a cup of coffee at night, I told

1054
00:39:45,350 --> 00:39:46,230
her Carol, it's over.

1055
00:39:47,150 --> 00:39:48,130
She said, what's over.

1056
00:39:49,250 --> 00:39:50,470
I said, it's over.

1057
00:39:51,510 --> 00:39:53,430
If there's a God in heaven, what I

1058
00:39:53,430 --> 00:39:55,950
just experienced tonight, it is over the neat

1059
00:39:55,950 --> 00:39:56,210
toe.

1060
00:39:56,490 --> 00:39:56,790
It's old.

1061
00:40:00,810 --> 00:40:02,750
Just about a day later, I was shaving

1062
00:40:02,750 --> 00:40:05,330
and my wife burst into the bathroom and

1063
00:40:05,330 --> 00:40:06,150
said, Chrissy's here.

1064
00:40:06,990 --> 00:40:08,990
I said, Chrissy, I hadn't seen her in

1065
00:40:08,990 --> 00:40:09,530
four months.

1066
00:40:11,910 --> 00:40:13,390
And you better go down.

1067
00:40:14,810 --> 00:40:16,810
I went down the steps and in the

1068
00:40:16,810 --> 00:40:18,610
wiping off the shave cream.

1069
00:40:18,910 --> 00:40:20,490
And in the, in on the kitchen floor

1070
00:40:20,490 --> 00:40:21,770
was my daughter on her knee.

1071
00:40:23,330 --> 00:40:24,830
And I, when I walked in the kitchen,

1072
00:40:24,930 --> 00:40:26,290
she grabbed at my pants leg.

1073
00:40:27,010 --> 00:40:28,050
She pulled it.

1074
00:40:28,830 --> 00:40:29,770
She was weeping.

1075
00:40:29,870 --> 00:40:34,790
And she said, daddy, I've sinned against God.

1076
00:40:34,790 --> 00:40:36,130
I've sinned against myself.

1077
00:40:36,130 --> 00:40:37,930
I've sinned against you and mommy.

1078
00:40:40,210 --> 00:40:43,370
Daddy, forgive me for being rebellious, et cetera.

1079
00:40:44,270 --> 00:40:47,670
Daddy, daddy, it's different.

1080
00:40:47,870 --> 00:40:49,670
But daddy, who was praying for me?

1081
00:40:50,690 --> 00:40:52,590
Who was praying Tuesday night for me?

1082
00:40:53,810 --> 00:40:54,410
Why Chrissy?

1083
00:40:54,570 --> 00:40:54,930
What happened?

1084
00:40:55,010 --> 00:40:55,730
And she drew up to me.

1085
00:40:55,810 --> 00:40:56,850
She said in the middle of the night,

1086
00:40:56,930 --> 00:40:59,770
God woke me up and he showed me

1087
00:40:59,770 --> 00:41:02,390
that I was heading toward a chasm and

1088
00:41:02,390 --> 00:41:03,770
it had no, it had no body.

1089
00:41:05,330 --> 00:41:07,390
But daddy, even as he showed me that

1090
00:41:07,390 --> 00:41:09,170
and showed me how off I was, he

1091
00:41:09,170 --> 00:41:10,830
put his arms around me and he showed

1092
00:41:10,830 --> 00:41:12,190
me that he loved me and he had

1093
00:41:12,190 --> 00:41:13,190
a plan for my life.

1094
00:41:13,270 --> 00:41:15,870
And daddy, I made it right with God.

1095
00:41:15,930 --> 00:41:17,270
And I could tell by her face, she

1096
00:41:17,270 --> 00:41:18,910
was my daughter again, the one I had

1097
00:41:18,910 --> 00:41:19,250
raised.

1098
00:41:22,360 --> 00:41:23,820
Very soon God opened the door.

1099
00:41:24,020 --> 00:41:25,760
And for the next four years, she directed

1100
00:41:25,760 --> 00:41:27,840
the music program at a Bible school.

1101
00:41:29,160 --> 00:41:31,020
She married a man of God.

1102
00:41:31,100 --> 00:41:32,660
They're both in the ministry today.

1103
00:41:35,120 --> 00:41:39,000
And God reminded me once again, my house

1104
00:41:39,000 --> 00:41:40,720
shall be called the house of prayer, because

1105
00:41:40,720 --> 00:41:42,720
when you call, I will answer.

1106
00:41:44,740 --> 00:41:46,620
And the hard cases that some of you

1107
00:41:46,620 --> 00:41:48,000
are facing, I want to tell you now,

1108
00:41:48,160 --> 00:41:49,700
it won't come from another seminar.

1109
00:41:50,120 --> 00:41:51,180
Seminars have their limit.

1110
00:41:51,340 --> 00:41:52,660
All they can do is be an arrow

1111
00:41:52,660 --> 00:41:54,140
that gets you to the throne of grace.

1112
00:41:55,160 --> 00:41:56,680
But when you get there, watch out.

1113
00:41:58,380 --> 00:42:01,320
Because God can do exceedingly beyond what we

1114
00:42:01,320 --> 00:42:01,860
ask or think.

1115
00:42:01,960 --> 00:42:02,780
I'm not being emotional.

1116
00:42:02,900 --> 00:42:03,860
I'm not being simplistic.

1117
00:42:05,040 --> 00:42:07,220
But we have too many technicians now invading

1118
00:42:07,220 --> 00:42:09,920
the church that are into methodology.

1119
00:42:10,200 --> 00:42:11,760
The answer is not in methodology.

1120
00:42:12,120 --> 00:42:14,240
The answer is in the power of the

1121
00:42:14,240 --> 00:42:14,880
Holy Spirit.

1122
00:42:15,560 --> 00:42:17,760
The answer is in the grace of God.

1123
00:42:25,270 --> 00:42:27,390
Could you just close your eyes right now?

1124
00:42:28,550 --> 00:42:32,710
They've given me permission, and I thank Bill

1125
00:42:32,710 --> 00:42:34,710
and Gloria for this, and Randy and the

1126
00:42:34,710 --> 00:42:36,270
folks who work here.

1127
00:43:28,030 --> 00:43:38,030
In my love for Christ, for

1128
00:43:38,030 --> 00:43:51,570
Christ Will

1129
00:43:51,570 --> 00:43:59,080
every eye close?

1130
00:44:02,480 --> 00:44:05,720
I wonder, before we sing that song again,

1131
00:44:06,460 --> 00:44:08,460
and the lights are dimmed because the last

1132
00:44:08,460 --> 00:44:10,220
thing we need is any kind of spectacle

1133
00:44:10,220 --> 00:44:12,600
or any sense of embarrassment for anyone.

1134
00:44:14,620 --> 00:44:17,180
I have a feeling that there's more than

1135
00:44:17,180 --> 00:44:21,200
one mom or dad that could all two

1136
00:44:21,200 --> 00:44:28,840
empathize with what Carol and I went through.

1137
00:44:32,140 --> 00:44:33,540
And you have a son or a daughter

1138
00:44:33,540 --> 00:44:34,300
who's out there.

1139
00:44:34,400 --> 00:44:36,000
Even some of them are in church, but

1140
00:44:36,000 --> 00:44:37,140
you know they're out there.

1141
00:44:38,480 --> 00:44:41,160
When you consecrated and dedicated them to God,

1142
00:44:41,300 --> 00:44:42,980
this is not the end result that you

1143
00:44:42,980 --> 00:44:44,440
knew God had in mind.

1144
00:44:46,840 --> 00:44:49,220
They're maybe totally away from God and your

1145
00:44:49,220 --> 00:44:51,540
house even, or maybe you could just sense

1146
00:44:51,540 --> 00:44:53,220
there's like a hardness, a crust.

1147
00:44:53,420 --> 00:44:55,780
They're just going through the motions and the

1148
00:44:55,780 --> 00:44:57,480
tenderness that you know they're going to need

1149
00:44:57,480 --> 00:44:57,960
in life.

1150
00:44:59,200 --> 00:45:00,720
Tenderness to God is not there.

1151
00:45:02,480 --> 00:45:05,660
Instead of worrying or just praying, crying about

1152
00:45:05,660 --> 00:45:08,720
it, I'm going to ask as we sing

1153
00:45:08,720 --> 00:45:11,140
that song again for every mom and dad

1154
00:45:11,140 --> 00:45:13,700
or every grandma or granddad who has a

1155
00:45:13,700 --> 00:45:16,540
grandchild that it's a burden to you.

1156
00:45:17,240 --> 00:45:20,720
You love them, and they've been reasoned with.

1157
00:45:20,860 --> 00:45:21,680
They've been talked to.

1158
00:45:21,760 --> 00:45:22,760
They know the Word of God.

1159
00:45:22,840 --> 00:45:24,000
Now it's up to God.

1160
00:45:24,420 --> 00:45:26,040
It's up to God, the Holy Spirit to

1161
00:45:26,040 --> 00:45:26,360
get them.

1162
00:45:27,540 --> 00:45:28,440
We're not God.

1163
00:45:28,560 --> 00:45:29,860
We can just bring it to God.

1164
00:45:30,560 --> 00:45:32,440
Or maybe you're a husband or a wife

1165
00:45:32,440 --> 00:45:34,960
and your spouse is not with you today

1166
00:45:34,960 --> 00:45:37,300
and is not with the Lord serving the

1167
00:45:37,300 --> 00:45:39,200
Lord, and yet you got married in Christ.

1168
00:45:40,980 --> 00:45:42,580
And now there's trouble in the house.

1169
00:45:42,740 --> 00:45:44,440
Listen, those are the real battles of life.

1170
00:45:44,560 --> 00:45:46,440
This stuff in Haiti and this stuff in

1171
00:45:46,440 --> 00:45:48,880
the Persian Gulf, that's child's play compared to

1172
00:45:48,880 --> 00:45:49,540
the real battle.

1173
00:45:53,870 --> 00:45:55,710
I'm going to ask every mom or dad,

1174
00:45:55,850 --> 00:45:58,410
grandparent, or husband or wife who identifies with

1175
00:45:58,410 --> 00:46:01,370
anything I've just said, would you stand right

1176
00:46:01,370 --> 00:46:04,910
now wherever you are and by standing you're

1177
00:46:04,910 --> 00:46:08,330
saying I'm bringing that situation to the throne

1178
00:46:08,330 --> 00:46:08,850
of grace.

1179
00:46:09,650 --> 00:46:10,770
I'm not embarrassed.

1180
00:46:10,890 --> 00:46:11,390
Just stand.

1181
00:46:11,470 --> 00:46:11,810
That's it.

1182
00:46:11,870 --> 00:46:12,510
Don't be ashamed.

1183
00:46:55,440 --> 00:47:29,930
Oh This

1184
00:47:34,120 --> 00:47:36,620
morning we sent your presence here.

1185
00:47:37,720 --> 00:47:39,800
I've done my best to honor your Word,

1186
00:47:40,020 --> 00:47:40,180
God.

1187
00:47:41,540 --> 00:47:43,460
We're not the ones who invented prayer.

1188
00:47:43,620 --> 00:47:45,440
You're the one who calls us to your

1189
00:47:45,440 --> 00:47:47,000
side, to the throne of grace.

1190
00:47:48,720 --> 00:47:51,220
And Lord, for these moms and dads who

1191
00:47:51,220 --> 00:47:53,260
are weeping some of them over that son

1192
00:47:53,260 --> 00:47:55,180
or that daughter, we understand, God.

1193
00:47:56,960 --> 00:47:59,220
For those grandparents who are concerned about a

1194
00:47:59,220 --> 00:48:02,180
grandchild or that marriage that's falling apart, God,

1195
00:48:02,280 --> 00:48:03,320
we need your grace.

1196
00:48:04,440 --> 00:48:06,200
We need your mercy, oh Lord.

1197
00:48:07,080 --> 00:48:08,680
We need the Holy Spirit to come.

1198
00:48:08,760 --> 00:48:11,120
And even as you've changed my daughter and

1199
00:48:11,120 --> 00:48:13,200
countless other people who have been prayed for

1200
00:48:13,200 --> 00:48:16,520
over the decades and centuries as Christians have

1201
00:48:16,520 --> 00:48:18,220
called upon you, God, we ask you to

1202
00:48:18,220 --> 00:48:19,420
do it again, oh Lord.

1203
00:48:20,380 --> 00:48:21,920
We're coming to the throne of grace.

1204
00:48:22,020 --> 00:48:23,540
We don't have the strength to do it.

1205
00:48:23,680 --> 00:48:24,800
Our money won't do it.

1206
00:48:24,860 --> 00:48:26,460
We're not smart enough to do it.

1207
00:48:26,600 --> 00:48:27,760
We can't finesse it.

1208
00:48:28,000 --> 00:48:30,880
We need an outright invasion of the Holy

1209
00:48:30,880 --> 00:48:32,600
Spirit into that person's life.

1210
00:48:33,020 --> 00:48:34,260
Wake them up in the middle of the

1211
00:48:34,260 --> 00:48:34,920
night, oh Lord.

1212
00:48:35,800 --> 00:48:37,600
While they're driving in a car, let them

1213
00:48:37,600 --> 00:48:39,020
feel the glory of the Lord.

1214
00:48:39,540 --> 00:48:41,660
While they're taking a shower, remind them of

1215
00:48:41,660 --> 00:48:43,260
verses that were taught to them when they

1216
00:48:43,260 --> 00:48:43,780
were children.

1217
00:48:45,020 --> 00:48:46,520
But God, we're not going to hand them

1218
00:48:46,520 --> 00:48:47,300
over to the enemy.

1219
00:48:47,420 --> 00:48:49,260
We're going to fight the good fight of

1220
00:48:49,260 --> 00:48:49,440
faith.

1221
00:48:50,240 --> 00:48:51,640
We're going to pray and we're going to

1222
00:48:51,640 --> 00:48:52,160
keep praying.

1223
00:48:52,240 --> 00:48:53,940
And after we pray, we're going to pray

1224
00:48:53,940 --> 00:48:54,300
again.

1225
00:48:54,300 --> 00:48:56,300
We won't let you go, Lord, unless you

1226
00:48:56,300 --> 00:49:00,100
bless us, unless you touch these situations by

1227
00:49:00,100 --> 00:49:00,680
your grace.

1228
00:49:02,540 --> 00:49:04,240
Lord, I pray that there'll be a new

1229
00:49:04,240 --> 00:49:06,420
aroma and fragrance of prayer in all of

1230
00:49:06,420 --> 00:49:08,180
our lives as we go back to our

1231
00:49:08,180 --> 00:49:09,360
central home.

1232
00:49:10,380 --> 00:49:12,660
Oh God, let prayer meetings begin in churches.

1233
00:49:13,640 --> 00:49:16,060
Let prayer meetings begin in family altars and

1234
00:49:16,060 --> 00:49:16,360
homes.

1235
00:49:17,420 --> 00:49:20,040
Let people see, God, all of us afresh

1236
00:49:20,040 --> 00:49:22,080
that when we call upon you, you're faithful

1237
00:49:22,080 --> 00:49:23,440
to answer.

1238
00:49:24,660 --> 00:49:27,220
Stop us from being so rushed and so

1239
00:49:27,220 --> 00:49:29,500
busy and we're learning and never coming really

1240
00:49:29,500 --> 00:49:30,920
to the knowledge of the truth.

1241
00:49:31,980 --> 00:49:34,020
Work on our hearts and not just our

1242
00:49:34,020 --> 00:49:34,820
heads, oh God.

1243
00:49:35,720 --> 00:49:38,220
Make us men and women who live at

1244
00:49:38,220 --> 00:49:41,500
the throne of grace, tasting and seeing how

1245
00:49:41,500 --> 00:49:42,340
good you are.

1246
00:49:45,840 --> 00:49:48,800
While every eye is still closed, I just

1247
00:49:48,800 --> 00:49:50,220
want to sing it one more time.

1248
00:49:50,980 --> 00:49:53,140
And if someone is standing next to you

1249
00:49:53,140 --> 00:49:55,200
or near you, just look up briefly.

1250
00:49:55,760 --> 00:49:57,680
Put your hand right now on their arm

1251
00:49:57,680 --> 00:49:59,340
or their shoulder.

1252
00:49:59,480 --> 00:50:00,500
They need your encouragement.

1253
00:50:00,780 --> 00:50:02,260
We all understand what they're feeling.

1254
00:50:02,360 --> 00:50:03,320
Would you sing it with me?

1255
00:51:01,500 --> 00:51:27,500
Oh let's

1256
00:51:27,500 --> 00:51:29,100
put our hands together.