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 WORLDCHALLENGE PO
BOX 260 LINDALE, TEXAS 75771 or calling 903
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None of these messages are copyrighted, and you
are welcome to make copies for free distribution
to friends.
And if you're newer to the Lord, you
may want to keep a marker in the
index.
So we'll be turning to a lot of
Scripture this morning and so that you'll be
able to get there very quickly.
Psalm 23.
Title of my message this morning is Forever
Dwelling in the Presence of God.
Forever dwelling in the presence of God.
Hallelujah.
Father, I thank you for the presence and
power of your Holy Spirit.
Thank you for the incredible depth of your
love for each and every one of us.
Thank you that you are drawing us, that
you are speaking to us.
Lord, that you are giving us an absolute
revelation of your heart.
I ask this morning that you would quicken
me by the power of the Holy Spirit.
For I have nothing and I am nothing,
apart from who you are within me and
how you choose to reveal your word through
me.
I ask that you would flow Holy Spirit
through this vessel, that you would make Jesus
Christ to be lifted up, to be seen,
to be exalted, to be desired, to be
apprehended, Lord, by all who have come into
this house today.
God, speak to every heart, speak to every
life.
Lord, show us the things that you want
us to understand this day.
Make it real to every mind, make it
real to every heart.
Father, I thank you for your presence.
I thank you for your power.
I thank you for your grace and your
glory.
Be magnified.
I would ask today there be joy, tears
of joy.
Lord, there be tears of laughter.
God, there would be an incredible understanding of
your heart for your people.
And Father, we thank you for this in
Jesus' name.
Amen and amen.
Psalm 23, the precious Psalm of David.
The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not
want.
He maketh me to lie down in green
pastures.
He leadeth me beside the still waters.
He restoreth my soul.
He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness
for his namesake.
Yet though I walk through the valley of
the shadow of death, I will fear no
evil.
For thou art with me, thy rod and
thy staff, they comfort me.
Thou preparest a table before me in the
presence of mine enemies.
Thou knowest my head with oil, my cup
runneth over.
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all
the days of my life.
And I will dwell in the house of
the Lord forever.
We see in Scripture that no doubt that
David throughout his life was given absolute and
great revelations of God through the Holy Ghost.
I think a classic example of that is
Psalm 22.
We see God speaking through David many, many
years before the event even happened.
The very words of Jesus Christ on the
cross on Calvary, when at the very moment
of his preceding his death, he cried out,
My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken
me?
And if you continue on through Psalm 22,
we'll see that there's an incredible revelation of
not only the suffering and the trial of
Christ on Calvary, but also the victory that
he won for you and I.
All given to David by revelation of the
Holy Ghost.
And brethren, this revelation comes to men and
women who have a heart for God, who
have an intimacy with God, who want to
draw close to Him, and He means more
to them than anything in this entire world
means.
David was a king, and even though he
was a king, yet there was an understanding
in his heart that without God he had
absolutely nothing.
The armies of the world, the armies that
he possessed, the power, the wealth, all of
the glory of the kingdom of Israel that
God had in effect given into His hand
of leadership, were not satisfactory for him, because
he knew that without God he had absolutely
nothing.
No matter what God ever does in your
life or in my life, I pray with
an honest heart before you today that that
would never change in your life nor in
my life.
That no matter what happens, that we realize
that the goodness that we have in our
lives, the things that are beginning to manifest
in us and through us, are not of
ourselves, they are of Him.
And folks, I'm prepared to lose anything in
this world but not my love for Jesus
Christ, not the yearning for Him, not the
heart.
I cherish that.
And David, because of that type of a
heart, had these incredible revelations of Christ in
effect given to him and through him.
We go through the Psalms that David wrote,
and if we were to take the time,
I guess in the next while, we would
see a continuous pattern of revelation of the
workings and the ways of God.
But I believe that perhaps one of the
greatest revelations ever given to David was that
of a place that God desired to be
built.
A place where he might dwell forever among
his people.
It was by the Holy Spirit that God
gave to David the pattern of the temple,
and David in effect passed this pattern on
to his son Solomon, who after the reign
of David built the temple.
In 1 Chronicles chapter 28, verses 11 and
12, the Scripture says, Then David gave to
Solomon his son the pattern of the porch,
and of the houses thereof, and of the
treasuries thereof, of the upper chambers thereof, the
inner parlors thereof, and the place of the
mercy seat.
And the pattern of all that he had
by the Spirit.
God had given to David a revelation of
what was required that his people might approach
him, and ultimately fulfill the greatest desire of
both he and those who seek him in
truth.
There is a desire in my heart this
morning, and there's a desire in the heart
of God.
And that desire is just simply that he
might dwell in our midst, and we might
dwell in his presence in fully restored fellowship,
and in sweet and intimate communion.
This is the desire of my heart, and
I hope it's the desire of yours, because
certainly this day it is the desire of
God's heart.
And he gave a physical type of a
spiritual pattern that he was about to set
up called his church.
The church of Jesus Christ.
The whole reason for that type and pattern
of the temple was that God wanted to
show us what was required that we might
draw into him, and actually possess his heart,
know his heart.
Have his very life blood flowing in us
and through us.
And by virtue of that relationship truly become
his representatives here on this earth.
Walking with him.
In effect as David says in Psalm 23,
dwelling in the house of the presence of
God forever.
Walking in his presence.
Not a stranger to him.
Walking so close to him on this side
of eternity that when we step over that
line into eternity, that it's just, there's no
change.
We just simply keep on walking.
He knows us, we know him.
He can look at us and say, Welcome
friend.
Welcome cherished one.
Come and enter into the joy of the
Lord.
Now this temple that God gave by revelation
to David was a foreshadowing of the type
of the Christian life.
That is the life of the Christian who's
actively and honestly seeking God.
Really if you're not actively and honestly seeking
God this whole message doesn't really apply to
you.
It'll be interesting theory perhaps or something that
you can add to learning but it really
won't apply to your life.
There has to be an active and honest
seeking of God.
Folks if that's not there then let's get
right back to basics and begin to start
where we should start.
Active and honest seeking is not just learning.
It's not just coming into the house of
God.
It's not just hearing some new servant every
week and accumulating a storehouse of information and
knowledge about God.
That's not what it's about.
It's actively seeking Him.
It's wanting to know Him.
It's wanting to be so close with Him
and intimate with Him that the two are
no longer two but they become one.
That His thoughts become our thoughts.
His ways our ways.
That He can speak to us.
That the two of us can walk together
because we be bound together in the Spirit
and we are agreed together.
Paul says in 1 Corinthians 3 in verse
16 he says Know ye not that you
are the temple of God and that the
Spirit of God dwelleth in you?
Now firstly we must ask ourselves the question
Who does the Spirit of God abide with?
Who does the Holy Spirit come into?
Who does He reveal the fullness of Christ
to?
Firstly in order to answer this we need
to go back and we need to see
the location where Solomon's temple was built.
The Bible tells us that Solomon's temple or
the temple that God gave to David by
revelation was built on a mountain or a
small it's not actually a mountain it's more
of a small hill and it's called Moriah.
In 2 Chronicles chapter 3 verse 1 the
scripture says Then Solomon began to build the
house of the Lord at Jerusalem in Mount
Moriah where the Lord appeared unto David his
father in the place that David had prepared
in the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite.
Now go back in your Bibles to 1
Chronicles chapter 21 if you will.
1 Chronicles you don't have to go back
very far from Psalms 1 Chronicles chapter 21
Moriah really is only mentioned twice prior to
2 Chronicles 31 the second time that Moriah
is mentioned is a time when David his
heart was lifted up God was giving him
many victories and instead of focusing solely on
the victories that God was giving him his
heart was lifted up in pride and he
called Joab in and some others and said
I want you to go out and number
the armies of Israel Joab said don't do
this thing because God makes the armies of
Israel many many more than they are Joab
knew what was happening he said if you
do this you're going to be looking it's
the precursor to saying we have accomplished what
we have done in our own strength and
in our own power and Joab in his
heart of hearts I believe knew this is
going to bring the wrath of God upon
the nation of Israel why will you do
this thing and yet David's heart was lifted
up and Satan had in effect provoked him
to tempt God and so he numbered Israel
and the numbers came back and immediately after
he had done this his heart was smitten
within him and in 1st Chronicles chapter 21
verse 8 David said to the Lord I
have sinned greatly because I have done this
thing now I beseech thee do away the
iniquity of thy servant for I have done
very foolishly and so we had a prophet
come to David and he was given a
choice of three judgments and he said let
me fall into the hands of the Lord
not into the hands of man because it's
true about the mercy of God and a
destroying angel was sent by God and many
many people I believe 70,000 people fell
and were destroyed at that time because of
the sin of David and the angel came
into Jerusalem and as he came into Jerusalem
he drew out his sword and he was
about to strike over Jerusalem and the death
and the carnage were going to continue and
be repeated and there was a man who
had a threshing floor on top of this
mountain called Moriah and his name was Ornan
the Bible says he was a Jebusite Ornan
saw the destroying angel come he was there
threshing wheat and he had his two young
sons with him this was his income it
was his living it was the place of
his sustenance David lifted up his eyes and
he was given a command the angel of
the Lord commanded Gad the prophet to say
to David that he should go up and
set up an altar to the Lord in
the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite in
other words God said go up to that
mountain and make a sacrifice he said to
David humble yourself Ornan first of all Moriah
was a place of repentance David came to
that place he came with a repentive heart
he knew he had sinned against God and
in effect God is saying this is the
beginning of the building of my house when
people are able to acknowledge that in their
pride they have set themselves against me they
have defied my counsel they have begun to
arrogantly turn away from me and to live
under the presupposition that they can accomplish things
and in effect get through life in their
own strength and in their own power and
God says no you'll never get there it's
not by your might nor by power it's
by my spirit saith the Lord and David
realized this and comes to this mountain called
Moriah with a repentive heart and brothers and
sisters this is the beginning of the building
of the house of God if you've never
repented of your sin you really in essence
there's no going any farther it's got to
begin there and David came to Ornan and
he said to Ornan in verse 22 he
said grant me the place of this threshing
floor that I might build an altar therein
unto the Lord and give it to me
in other words for the full price that
the plague may be stayed from the people
and Ornan said to David take it to
thee and let my lord the king do
that which is good in his eyes Lord
I give thee the oxen also for burnt
offerings and the threshing instruments for wood and
the wheat for the meat offering I give
it all so it's a hill when we
hear about it in the Old Testament first
of all it's a place where there's repentance
and secondly it's a place of personal sacrifice
Ornan this man saw the destruction and he
said you can have it all you can
have my living in effect you can have
my oxen you can have my threshing instruments
and use them for wood to burn the
oxen in spite of the fact that he
was there and that was his income and
his sons were with him he saw the
need and he said I give it all
I give everything but David said to Ornan
no he said but I will buy it
for the full price I will not take
that which is thine or yours for the
Lord nor offer burnt offerings without cost in
other words David is saying I will not
give to the Lord that which costs me
nothing this is not only a place of
repentance but it's a place of complete surrender
and it's a place where there's an offering
given to God but not an offering that
costs somebody else something I think of the
volumes of people throughout history that have gone
down to the docks even in New York
and pressed five dollars into the hand of
a missionary and said we're in this together
but the reality is are we really in
it together if they are the ones who
are going to the foreign field and we
are easing our conscience by putting five dollars
in their hand and saying we're with you
in this thing no David says no this
on this mountain this mountain called Moriah I
will not offer anything to God that costs
me nothing personally I'll not write on the
coattails of somebody else's zeal for God I'll
not write on the coattails of the sacrifices
somebody else has paid and simply by association
say I am here and I'm committed no
I won't do this thing if I'm going
to give to God if I'm going to
sacrifice to God if I'm coming here with
a repentant heart I'm going to give him
something that costs me personally I'm not going
to take somebody else's sacrifice and offer it
up to God this is not acceptable it's
not pleasing to God and so David pays
him a full price for the threshing floor
and then offers up a sacrifice for the
things that he had done against the Lord
and the destroying angel now stays his hand
and puts the sword back in the sheath
then the beginning of an incredible revelation comes
to David now he saw something in the
spiritual realm and in effect put a physical
application to this in chapter 22 after all
of these things have transpired on this mountain
called Moriah David said in verse 1 this
is the house of the Lord God and
this is the altar of the burnt offering
of Israel see the Holy Spirit now is
speaking to him again his life is back
in order and the Holy Spirit is in
effect saying to David this is the place
where God desires to dwell this is the
type of people that God wants to come
among this is the heart that he's looking
for in those that we will call his
own and those who legitimately can say the
Lord God is my God and David commanded
to gather together the strangers that were in
the land of Israel and he set masons
to hew rock stones to build the house
of God hallelujah and later on he began
to gather stones to build this house because
David said this is where God wants to
dwell it's in this place of repentance it's
in this place of personal sacrifice it's in
this place of seeing the need and saying
God use my life to do something about
it and he began to gather stones to
build a house in that place in 1st
Kings chapter 5 verse 17 Solomon after he
is given the commission by his father and
continues to build what David had begun the
scripture says Solomon and the king commanded and
they brought great stones costly stones and huge
stones to lay the foundation of the house
the biggest stones are at the bottom the
most costly are at the bottom and Paul
says in Ephesians chapter 2 verses 19 to
22 he says now therefore you are no
more strangers and foreigners but fellow citizens with
the saints and of the household of God
and you are built on the foundation of
the apostles and prophets Jesus Christ himself being
the chief cornerstone in whom all the building
fitly framed together grows into a holy temple
in the Lord in whom you also are
built together for a habitation of God through
the spirit we are as the church of
Jesus Christ built upon that same foundation that
was laid on this mountain called Moriah you
look at the life of Christ his life
was a life of sacrifice he left the
throne of glory he came down to this
earth was made in the likeness of man
he saw the need and gave everything he
had right down to the very last drop
of water and blood that was in his
body he took our bruising upon himself he
suffered the wrath of a holy God who
came upon him and suffered the separation that
we should have deserved for all of eternity
because he saw the need the apostles and
prophets they saw this very revelation was given
to their hearts and like David they came
to that mountain called Calvary they understood the
sacrifice that was required to be built upon
Christ and they gave their lives for the
cause of Christ they were poured out just
like the apostle Paul was poured out and
Christ was poured out and brethren we are
built upon that foundation the apostle Paul says
let's take heed let's be careful how we
build on that foundation let's be careful that
we don't change try to change the pattern
of the house to suit our own personal
conveniences let's be careful that we understand what
kind of a foundation needs to be on
the house that we say we are part
of that is the house of God this
is a house of sacrifice this is a
house of repentance this is a house where
the purposes and plans of God are honored
first and foremost in our lives above all
that we even think or desire to do
it's a place where we put our will
second and we see the needs of God
and the needs of those around us and
we begin to flow in that very stream
of divine life that God has provided for
us through Jesus Christ we find Mariah also
mentioned in Genesis chapter 22 if you'll turn
there with me Genesis chapter 22 you know
the story where God gave a promise to
Abraham he said Abraham I'm going to bless
you I'm going to increase you I'm going
to prosper you and through you the nations
of the world are going to be blessed
what an incredible what an incredible promise to
Abraham bringing this man out into the heavens
and saying count the stars if you can
count them and this is as numerous as
your descendants are going to be and after
a season of testing and trial God gave
Abraham a son called Isaac and then in
Genesis chapter 22 the scripture says it came
to pass after these things that God did
tempt Abraham now that word tempt would be
better translated test because we know God does
not tempt man and he said to Abraham
and he said behold here I am he
said now take thy son thine only son
Isaac whom thou lovest get thee into the
land of Mariah and offer him there for
a burnt offering upon one of the mountains
which I will tell thee of Abraham was
an old man and there was no hope
in his heart of ever having received the
promise apart from God that all of a
sudden Isaac is born and Isaac is not
just the fulfillment of every personal desire in
the life of Abraham but Isaac is Abraham's
future Isaac is the only tangible evidence of
the promise that God has given to him
and some writers feel that Abraham was in
danger of shifting his focus from the promises
of God to that tangible thing that he
had in his hands which was his son
Isaac and God in effect was saying Abraham
I will not share the glory with anyone
the things that are about to happen in
your life and through your life are going
to happen solely by the working of my
Holy Spirit upon you in you and through
you and through your descendants Abraham I don't
want you shifting because Abraham had already shown
the tendency to shift to plans and doing
things in his own strength and so God
tested Abraham to see if he was still
first in his heart he said now take
this son of yours that you have so
desired for so long that you so treasure
that you so love Abraham that is the
very essence of your future you see without
Isaac Abraham wouldn't even have a name his
name would be cut off he was his
only son and God says now you take
this son and take him to that mountain
called Moriah and he says I want you
to offer him up as a sacrifice unto
me in other words God was saying to
Abraham I want you Abraham to give me
your future I want you to completely put
your trust in me once again even without
Isaac God was saying to Abraham I will
fulfill every word that I have said to
you I want to be first in your
life and first in your heart and so
we know the battle that must have raged
within Abraham as he walked up that mountain
of Moriah and laid his son out on
the altar of sacrifice but God was only
testing his heart he didn't take his son
Isaac it was through Isaac that the lineage
of Israel came and subsequently the Messiah Jesus
Christ who has touched the entire world who
has filled us today and we are here
as the fulfillment of every promise that God
ever gave to Abraham Lamb of God and
the Lord said in verse chapter 22 verse
16 He said By myself have I sworn
saith the Lord for because thou hast done
this thing and has not withheld thy son
thine only son that in blessing I will
bless thee and in multiplying I will multiply
thy seed as the stars of the heaven
and as the sand which is upon the
seashore and thy seed shall possess the gate
of his enemies and in thy seed shall
all the nations of the earth be blessed
because thou hast obeyed my voice this is
the second thing you remember the first was
repentance on Moriah a place of personal sacrifice
but it was more than this Moriah was
a mountain that represented those who would place
their entire future in the hands of God
God I give you my future I surrender
my plans I surrender even the tangible things
that are laid before me things that I
could begin to focus on and give attention
to and somehow work with to see the
promises that you have given to me fulfilled
but no Abraham says no no I'm going
to trust you with all of my heart
scripture says Abraham believed that God could even
raise Isaac from the dead to fulfill his
plans to him and his promises to him
and that's what Moriah represents laying down our
ambitions laying down self laying down self will
laying down our careers laying down everything that
we have planned and laid out for ourselves
even if we can convince ourselves that these
things are somehow good for us and can
further the kingdom of God it's coming into
his presence and saying Lord I lay it
all down I lay everything down I lay
my career down I lay my future down
I lay my family down before you I
lay it all down and Lord God I'm
going to now take up every promise that
you've ever made to me and I'm not
going to live by what I see and
I'm not going to live by my own
schemes and plans but I'm going to live
from this day by every promise that you
have ever made to my heart it's a
choice that we make brothers and sisters it's
an absolute choice and so now Solomon builds
the temple of God at this place called
Moriah a temple which I truly believe is
a type of the life of the honest
God seeking Christian David said in Psalm 23
verse 3 he restoreth my soul he knew
the very motive the very heart of God
everything that God does is to restore it's
to bring back it's to make whole it's
to draw us back to himself again if
you and I could be for a moment
transported back in time in history to the
temple now complete and Solomon has finished this
temple and let's say we are pilgrims and
we are walking up and our hearts desire
is to draw close to God as we
begin to approach the temple that Solomon had
completed the very first thing that we would
be confronted with is a huge flaming altar
an altar where people came and brought a
sacrifice for their sins goats and calves and
bulls were brought there and there was deep
repentance hopefully at that altar now we know
that over time the repentance was replaced by
buying and selling it was replaced by the
desire for personal gain but at the time
that the temple was built it was its
original intention was that we would first when
coming into the presence of God be confronted
with our sin see the absolute horror of
it see that there needed to be a
shedding of blood so that we could even
think of coming into the presence of God
the people would have stood there and they
would have watched the lamb have its throat
slit and would have watched it bleed to
death right before them they would have watched
it dissected and torn apart wounded and bruised
because of their sin it is a place
of repentance this is the doorway to beginning
to find the heart of God so many
never get beyond this altar they come to
this altar they see the horror of sin
they offer up the sacrifice but they are
still drawn to their sin they never get
beyond it I see in my mind's eye
myriads of people in Israel over time coming
to this altar and a virtual river of
blood running all over the place and people
bringing calves and goats and sheep and bulls
and blood being strewn and the smell of
burning flesh continuously before the people but somehow
they lost sight of the horror of sin
they lost sight of the understanding that sin
is an affront to a holy God that
if we're going to come into the presence
of God sin must first be dealt with
in all of its forms there are many
who never get beyond the altar I see
in my mind's eye people coming to that
altar but they are still drawn to their
sin they hate the consequences that come upon
them because of it they come with grief
but it's not a holy grief it's not
a godly grief they're grieved because they've lost
their children because they've not lived right before
God they're grieved because they're hooked on some
substance that runs through their vein making them
think and do things that are unlike God
they're grieved because their reputation is ruined they're
grieved because they're in debt and can't get
out of debt they're grieved for a numerous
assortment of things but they're not grieved because
they have affronted a holy God they have
failed to see the horror of their sin
and somehow they're approaching unto God even though
it might have a religious attrapping attachment about
it is an affront to God because the
heart is not right they have a sorrow
but it's only a worldly sorrow and Paul
the apostle said this kind of a sorrow
just works death in other words it makes
debtor and debtor and debtor every time that
person comes to that altar it produces a
greater measure of death in their life because
they've never seen the consequences of sin they've
never understood that they're offending a holy God
godly sorrow Paul says in 2nd Corinthians chapter
7 verse 10 and 11 godly sorrow works
repentance to salvation not to be repented of
but the sorrow of the world works death
now Paul goes on in verse 11 to
describe a true godly sorrow he says for
behold this self-same thing that you sorrowed
after a godly sort he says what carefulness
it wrought in you what clearing of yourselves
what indignation what fear what vehement desire yea
what zeal yea what revenge and Paul is
really in effect outlying the true heart condition
of those who come to this altar of
repentance and really do desire to turn from
their sin they really have seen that this
sin has grieved the heart of a holy
God there's a carefulness Paul says that it
produces in you oh God I don't want
to do this anymore I don't want to
leave this altar and go back to my
sin there's a clearing of yourselves Lord I
accept today the forgiveness that you give me
by the shed blood of my Lord and
Savior Jesus Christ I understand today the horror
of my sin that you had to send
your son in the likeness of human flesh
to suffer such a an incredible torture and
punishment that I deserve for the things that
I've done oh God I thank you Lord
for clearing me of this sin I thank
you for forgiving me this is the end
of side one you may now turn the
tape over to side two the indignation
is God how could how could I how
could I live like this how could I
let these things happen in my life oh
Lord God how could I ever think of
coming and even attempting to approach you with
any kind of a willful embracing of this
type of lifestyle left in me running through
my veins and my life and my mind
oh God he says what fear oh Lord
you're a holy God you're a consuming fire
I dare not play games with you I
dare not toy with this thing I dare
not think that I can somehow play with
sin and come to your house once a
week and just run to the altar and
say oh thank God I'm forgiven I dare
not play this game with you Lord I
dare not play because you're a consuming fire
and if my sorrow is not genuine then
it's just going to make me deader and
deader and deader to my sin it's going
to dull my conscience and eventually I'll sit
in the house of God and I won't
even see it as wrong anymore what vehement
desire Paul says in other words what a
desire to live a righteous life God I
purpose in my heart you see this is
what has to happen for God's dwelling his
presence to come into the life of a
believer we purpose in our heart what vehement
desire Paul says I purpose in my heart
to live for you I purpose in my
heart to love you I purpose in my
heart to seek you and to live a
life that brings honor to you Paul says
what zeal hallelujah getting up not in our
own strength but now in the strength of
God not in our own cleansing but the
cleansing that has been imparted to us through
the shed blood of Jesus Christ not our
righteousness but his what zeal and what revenge
hallelujah hallelujah through the power of almighty God
a true man or woman of God leaving
the altar of God says I shall now
bring into captivity what had one time captivated
my life I'm going to be a chain
breaker I'm going to go back to my
family and bring life and bring liberty and
the chains of hell and darkness are going
to be broken I'm not letting the devil
rule over my life anymore nor over my
home nor over my family nor in my
community the destroying angel will put his sword
back into his sheath because I have purpose
to give my life for the purposes of
God I purpose in my heart to live
for him and now we move on we
move beyond the altar and as you move
towards the very center of where God dwells
we come to numerous basins that are set
about outside the temple and around basically representing
ceremonial cleansing of water for those who are
set aside to minister to God in whatever
capacity they are David said in psalm 23
verse 2 he leadeth me beside the still
waters from that altar he leads us now
to the waters those cleansing waters those purifying
waters Paul says in Ephesians 5 25 and
26 husbands love your wives even as Christ
also loved the church and gave himself for
it that he might sanctify and cleanse it
with the washing of water by the word
those who are moving towards intimacy with God
develop a deep deep deep love for the
word of God the psalmist says in psalm
119 verse 97 oh how I love thy
law it is my meditation all the day
I love your word oh God oh folks
move beyond just the altar move beyond the
altar there are perhaps there are many that
even in this church come to this altar
and you are genuinely now sorry for your
sin and you do see it as an
affront to a holy God you do understand
the horror of it and why God had
to send his son but you've got to
move beyond this we've got to move into
that place where we begin to love this
book and our our quality time with God
is not just a cursory reading of the
word of God before we run off to
work in the morning for 5-10 minutes
reading a few verses randomly not even knowing
where we're reading somehow thinking that this is
a devotion to God folks it isn't a
devotion to God there's a love for the
word that comes into the hearts of those
who are moving into the very center of
God you see I'm speaking today to honest
God seeking Christians we must move on if
we're able if we desire to possess the
heart of God we move beyond the labor
beyond the cleansing I see there are many
many groups of Christians that really do come
to an understanding of repentance and then they
gather around the labors and they stay there
for the rest of their life we have
conferences now where it's just always learning learning
always some new thing and they will come
out and say what a wonderful cleansing we
had today what a marvelous word what an
incredible revelation of God there was a group
that met in another country not too long
ago no speakers no itinerary they came from
all over the place and they just gathered
for some new revelation of the heart of
God now I'm not mocking that but we've
got to move beyond that we can't stay
at the labor because God wants us to
go beyond that there's a temple that's been
built there's a place where he dwells and
he wants us to go in there and
to find him and ever increasing revelation we
can't just be a people always learning in
effect and not coming to the full intimate
knowledge of what he wants to reveal in
us and through us we've got to move
beyond the labor in Solomon's temple we would
move beyond if we were there together beyond
the washing which represented the cleansing of the
washing of the word up the stairs and
into what's called the portico or that's the
outward porch of the actual temple itself and
there are two pillars that the Lord gave
to David by the spirit to establish and
you had to pass by these pillars to
get into the temple to get into the
very heart of where God dwelt the name
of one pillar was Jachin and the other
was Boaz he actually gave them names the
pillar that was called Jachin the word Jachin
really means something along the lines of this
he shall establish that's what it means he
shall establish and we pass by these pillars
and the word establish means to settle or
fix firmly to make stable or permanent and
we pass by that pillar and in effect
what God is saying I am going to
settle you I'm going to establish you I'm
going to make you stable and grant to
you a sense of permanence in me and
in who I am now in Genesis chapter
17 just turn back from where you were
Genesis chapter 17 God gave Abraham an incredible
promise in verse 17 it's that he was
going to have a son now he's passed
his prime and Sarah is barren she's passed
child bearing age in verse 17 it says
that Abraham fell upon his face and laughed
and said in his heart shall a child
be born unto him that is a hundred
years old shall Sarah that is ninety years
old bear and Abraham said unto God oh
that Ishmael might live before thee and God
said Sarah thy wife shall bear thee a
son indeed thou shall call his name Isaac
and I will establish my covenant with him
for an everlasting covenant and with his seed
after him God saying in effect Abraham I
am making you a promise Abraham and I
will establish I will establish you I will
establish your son I'm making a promise and
the things that I have promised to you
Abraham in spite of your weakness in spite
of your age and in spite of the
deadness of Sarah's womb I am going to
do in you what I said I'm going
to do hallelujah hallelujah now go ahead to
Deuteronomy please go ahead a few books in
the Bible Deuteronomy chapter twenty-eight I want
to show you just for a moment God's
desire for you and for me he spoke
it through Moses to the children of Israel
Deuteronomy chapter twenty-eight beginning at verse seven
the Lord shall cause thine enemies that rise
up against thee to be smitten before thy
face they shall come out against thee one
way and flee before thee seven ways the
Lord shall command the blessing upon thee and
thy storehouses and in all that thou settest
thy hand unto and he shall bless thee
in the land which the Lord thy God
giveth thee the Lord shall what establish thee
a holy people unto himself as he has
sworn unto thee and if thou shall keep
the commandments of the Lord thy God and
walk in his ways God says I will
establish you now the book of Hebrews I'll
just read it to you for times sake
chapter six verses twelve to fifteen the writer
of Hebrews exhorts us not to be slothful
but followers of them who through faith and
patience inherited the promises now this is an
exhortation for you and I for when God
made promise to Abraham because he could swear
by no greater he swore by himself saying
surely blessing I will bless thee and multiplying
I will multiply thee and so after he
had patiently endured he obtained the promise the
second pillar was called Boaz and in effect
the name Boaz means in it in it
is strength Paul says in second Corinthians chapter
twelve and verse nine he said unto me
my grace is sufficient for thee for my
strength is made perfect in weakness Hebrews eleven
eleven speaking about Sarah says through faith also
Sarah herself received strength to conceive seed and
was delivered of a child when she was
past age because she judged him faithful who
had promised David said yet though I walk
through the valley of the shadow of death
I will fear no evil for thou art
with me and in effect walking beyond those
pillars and into the very presence of God
the beginning of what God wants to reveal
is a shadow of death it's dying to
all of our own abilities to accomplish the
things that God says we're going to do
it's coming into his presence having seen his
requirements having understood what he wants to do
but we walk in an absolute total weakness
saying Lord there's nothing within me that can
accomplish this there's nothing within me that can
make it happen even my best efforts are
going to fall short of what you want
for my life you're drawing me to yourself
and yet I feel so absolutely inadequate I
don't know how to do the things I
desire but I don't know how to do
it I'm coming into your presence and weakness
I'm coming in with in effect a death
sentence upon myself and God says that's exactly
the way I want it to be because
I have promised you I will establish you
if you will come in if you will
come in in faith I will establish you
I will do the things in your life
that I said I'm going to do you
come in in your weakness for my power
is made perfect in your weakness hallelujah hallelujah
come in in faith and you will receive
strength you see this is the time that
the Christian passes by that time of trusting
in self passes by just learning about God
and now having learned about Him now having
read His promises passes through these pillars into
the outer court if I can call it
such of the temple coming to a place
which contains an altar of incense and this
altar of incense to me represents a brand
new type of prayer it's not a prayer
that's dependent on personal ability it's not a
prayer where we hang our head in remorse
over past failures or present weaknesses in our
lives it is a prayer that is absolute
and genuine worship it is prayer that comes
from a heart that has believed the promises
of God it is prayer that comes from
an honest heart it is prayer that gives
thanks and praises Him for the answer before
it is even seen Hebrews 11 1 says
now faith is the substance of things hoped
for the evidence of things not seen it
is the child of God that goes beyond
his feelings beyond his emotions beyond his past
failures beyond his sins beyond all of these
things sees the commands of God and comes
into God's house and begins to worship Him
not for who He is but for who
God is and what He has done hallelujah
this is the life that will move forward
in God this is the Christian that will
find the heart of God who looks away
from self and all of the struggles and
trials of self and makes no promises to
God and says God I've come in in
my weakness I've come in too old to
even bear seed I've come in oh God
trembling I've come in failure but Lord You
have made exceeding and great promises to me
by Your hand upon my life I shall
stand hallelujah by every promise You've ever made
to me I'm going to stand Your covenant
with me will be established in You I
shall find strength hallelujah to the Lamb of
God hallelujah it's the prayer that says Lord
I've repented of my sin I love the
washing of Your word You promise to establish
settle and give me strength I believe that
the things not possible to man are possible
with God I trust that all things that
You have allowed into my life have been
allowed there for a purpose this is a
sacrifice of praise this is a different dimension
of seeking God it's coming into His house
and you might have had a terrible week
and it seems like all hell is coming
against your life but You choose to come
into the house of God lift up your
hands and say I believe that all things
work together I believe Lord that You have
allowed this into my life for a purpose
for I have given You my life and
Jesus You said I'm sealed in the Father's
hand and no one can take me out
of that hand You have allowed it into
my life it's beginning to worship Him in
all situations and under all circumstances it's that
prayer of a child of God that cries
out Abba Father Abba Father I now am
beginning to understand Your heart I'm now beginning
to understand Your plans for me and I
entrust my future into Your hands I give
You all that I am I give You
all that I have as little as it
is I give it to You Lord and
I trust it by Your strength You will
multiply it and use it for Your glory
and for Your honor David says he prepares
a table for me in the presence of
my enemies he anoints my head with oil
and my cup runs over hallelujah the most
glorious the most God anointed Christian you'll ever
find is someone who is absolutely abandoned to
God has no confidence in themselves whatsoever but
their trust and confidence has been shifted and
placed in Him and they're beginning to know
the depth of His heart hallelujah He longs
for that type of worship He longs for
that type of prayer and that type of
praise the response of God to those who
move beyond the pillars of promise and into
the realm of believing worship and prayer there's
only one place left to go the scripture
calls it the holy of holies it was
the place where God dwelt in the Shekinah
glory there was a veil that separated that
place from every man except the high priest
only one allowed once a year to go
in with blood that was shed for his
sins and the sins of the people and
God would beat him there in there was
the ark of the tabernacle or the ark
of the testimony and above that ark was
the mercy seat and cherubim that stretched their
wings from one side to the other and
God Shekinah glory would appear over the mercy
seat one man once a year could go
in there but Jesus Christ came and shed
his blood once for all who would come
to him and today that veil is ramped
from top to bottom and parted by the
very hand of God and you and I
can come in there invited by God to
know his heart every moment of every hour
of every day of every week of every
month of every year for the rest of
our lives there's no hindrance and there's not
even a line up we don't even have
to wait no matter where we are we
can bow our hearts and heads and just
draw right in now right into the very
Shekinah glory of God we beheld his glory
John says as of the only begotten of
the Father full of grace and truth the
glory of God was manifested in the face
of Jesus Christ we have an invitation those
who begin to worship him who are offering
their lives to God who have repented of
their sin the invitation is to simply come
closer let me now reveal my heart to
you we go through the veil we come
up to the mercy seat and oft times
we don't know what to expect I talk
to Christians who say if I get close
to God will he condemn me will he
point out all my sins I'm so weak
I fail him so often will I if
I draw into him some people say I'm
actually afraid to draw into him if I
draw into him what's going to happen will
he just see what I'm really really like
and cast me out of his presence he
invites us to come we go to that
place that is really a representative of his
glory of his heart where he dwells and
when we come into that place we are
overwhelmed with a sense of the indescribable love
of God for us he draws us in
now hear me do you want to know
what he says I love you I have
loved you with an everlasting love I have
engraved you on the palms of my hands
I have never forgotten about you I've never
cast you away I've never pushed you out
of my presence but I couldn't reveal this
to you until you saw the depth of
your sin until you were willing to give
your life for my purposes until you were
willing to come and approach me by faith
I couldn't reveal it for if I revealed
it to you you would use it as
a license to sin against me it would
only result in your damnation if I revealed
to your heart the depth of my love
before you saw your need for me hallelujah
it's at this point that a joy indescribable
begins to overwhelm the hungry soul hallelujah that's
all he says it's as if we stand
before God and we say that's it I
love you I love you we see the
holiness of God like Isaiah he saw the
majesty of God he saw his incredible holiness
he knew that he was so infinitely distant
from God that it was only mercy that
would ever bridge the gap he saw it
and then God says I love you I
love you and all of a sudden it's
an overwhelming thing all this time and all
the trouble and all the trial that we
seem to have gone through because he just
wanted to tell us that one thing that's
the way it was right from the beginning
and God says in effect that's the message
I've wanted to tell to all of mankind
I loved Adam I came down every day
in the garden what do you think I
told Adam when I came down I love
you Adam what do you think I said
to Eve when I came down I love
you Adam happened to that garden what do
you think happened to my heart when they
sinned against me and were made infinitely distant
from me my heart was broken and the
scripture says God so loved the world that
he gave his only begotten son it's because
he loves us and that's the greatest treasure
that we could have that revelation and folks
when you have that revelation it gives you
the courage to get up and go on
it gives you the courage to say Lord
Jesus I love you with all my heart
I love you with all my soul my
mind and my strength consume me with your
power consume me with your love consume me
with your will for my life God come
and touch my life take my life this
is what happened to Isaiah he saw it
and he said send me send me and
it's all that could come out of his
mouth but he said consume me I've seen
you my eyes have beheld you now oh
God I want you with all my heart
the heart of the believer is now knit
with the heart of his savior he no
longer desires any part of the flesh to
reign in him oh Lord God don't let
anything don't let anything rob me of this
revelation of you don't let anything take your
strength out of my life don't let anything
come to keep me apart from you my
beloved savior hallelujah John says in 1 John
4 16 God is love and he who
dwells in love dwells in God and God
in him he asks how can I stay
in this place of oneness and heart and
mind with you and the Lord responds and
says let the love that I have for
you now be formed in you and flow
through you to others that I love also
walk with me follow me I have made
a way for you take that path choose
the path that I have laid out for
your feet let me flow through you I
so love the world that if you will
let that love be formed in your heart
then the two of us will walk together
and we will be agreed everywhere you go
you will be a vessel bearing me you
will be a vessel of honor for me
touching the lives of multitudes all around you
Song of Solomon chapter 7 verse 10 and
11 he says I am my beloved and
his desire is towards me hear the cry
of God now he says come my beloved
let us go forth into the field let
us lodge in the villages Jesus said in
Mark chapter 16 verse 15 go into all
the world and preach the gospel to every
creature go into all the world when we
leave the doors of this sanctuary today brethren
we are going into all the world all
the world in New York has come right
to our virtual doorstep I don't think there's
a country on the earth where you'll not
find a representative or two from that country
here right in New York City God has
brought the whole world right to one place
go into the world he says and bear
the love that I have for you and
for other men bear it remember the lawyer
came tempting Jesus and said what's the greatest
commandment he says thou shalt love the Lord
thy God he knew he knew where he
was trying to draw his people Israel to
and he knows today where he's trying to
draw you and me to thou shalt love
the Lord thy God with all thy heart
and all thy soul and all thy mind
and all thy strength and the second is
like unto it he says you will love
your neighbor as yourself in this hang all
the law and all of the prophets surely
goodness and mercy David said shall follow me
all the days of my life and I
will dwell in the house of the Lord
forever David made a choice and he knew
that he was going to dwell in God's
house forever hallelujah and through that revelation of
the spirit God began to show him what
this house was all about where it was
built what were the characteristics of his dwelling
place and David was able to accumulate to
build that house and pass it on to
Solomon when Solomon finished that construction the glory
of God came into that house God's desire
for you and I is that his glory
be revealed in us I'll leave you just
with a thought when you go to a
restaurant sometimes and you see a couple sitting
together especially a young couple and they are
in love nobody has to tell you they
are there is a glory there is a
glory you see it the tenderness of that
relationship the way they speak to each other
the way they interact you can see it
and this is God's desire for you and
for me that we draw so close to
Christ that the glory of our confidence in
him our trust in him our dedication to
him the consuming love that we have in
our hearts for him be revealed through us
that others may know him and see him
there is a song that we sing take
me past the outer courts through the gates
of praise past the brazen altar Lord I
want to see your face take me past
all these other things and the priests who
sing their praise I hunger and thirst for
your righteousness but it's only found one place
take me in to the holy of holies
if that's the cry of your heart today
you might be at that altar of repentance
and today the Holy Spirit has spoken to
you and saying you've got to stop just
repenting for the same sin and start seeing
what an affront that sin is to God
and let me form in you the Lord
says that zeal to turn away from it
and strength that it won't have dominion over
you there are others that you sat in
the church and you are washed and washed
and washed but it's time to move beyond
it's time to move into that realm of
faith say Lord I want this word not
just to be revealed to me but in
me and I want to believe it with
all my heart I want to pass those
pillars and come into that court where I
can worship you in spite of my circumstance
and declare you to be faithful and there
are others here today that maybe you're willing
to say Lord I want to go to
that holy place where you are formed in
me in such intimacy that all you have
to do is speak and I move you
speak, I speak you move, I move Lord
I want your will and desire for my
life above all else would you stand please
if God's spoken to your heart today I'd
like to invite you to come up in
the balcony the Lord is drawing a people
here at Times Square Church to himself you
may not even understand it all today but
God says just in effect come to me
come to me I'll reveal myself to you
in strength I'll reveal myself to you in
power have an honest heart and seek me
I'll show you the pathway to dwelling forever
in the house of God hallelujah hallelujah, hallelujah
hallelujah Christ Jesus pray with me please Christ
Jesus be formed in me draw me to
you I long for you help me to
understand the horribleness of sin help me to
understand that you have triumphed over sin I
need not be captivated anymore give to me
the desire to walk a life that is
pleasing to you help me to love your
word to desire times of intimacy with you
where you can speak to me and I
can speak to you give me faith to
believe you for every circumstance in my life
and every promise that you have made to
me draw me to the very center of
your heart that I may dwell in your
house in your presence forever I love you
Jesus I love you with all my heart
thank you for loving me thank you for
caring for me and speaking to me I
want to walk where you walk and do
what you call me to do and be
the person you call me to be not
in my strength but in your strength I
love you Jesus Hallelujah