In this sermon, the preacher emphasizes Jesus' anticipation and delight in the future. Jesus rejoices over those who forsake all others and cling only to him, seeking him daily and spending quality time with him. He shares his secrets with them and promises to bring them up and be with them. The preacher encourages the audience to study the word of God, particularly the Psalms and the epistles, and to make room for God to work miracles in their lives. The sermon concludes with a call for confession and a plea for forgiveness and spiritual awakening.

This message is one of the Times Square Church Pulpit Series. It was recorded in the sanctuary of Times Square Church in Manhattan, New York City. Other tapes are available by writing World Challenge P.O. Box 260 Lindell, Texas 75771 or calling 903-963-8626. None of these messages are copyrighted and you are welcome to make copies for free distribution to friends. My message this morning, Inhabitation of God, Inhabitation of God. Turn to Ephesians, please, the second chapter. Ephesians, the second chapter. Now, if you come to Times Square Church, you come to church with your Bible or we say you're naked. You have to have your Bible. This is a Bible preaching church. Beginning at verse 18, for through him we both have access by one spirit unto the Father. Now, therefore, ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints unto the household of God, and are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief cornerstone, in whom all the building fitly framed together groweth into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom also you are builted together for what? Inhabitation of God through the spirit. Inhabitation of God through the spirit. Keep your Bibles on your lap. We'll be going through a number of scriptures this morning. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, you put something in my heart this morning that unless you come, Holy Spirit, unless you open our hearts and our minds, we'll not be able to receive it. Lord Jesus, I pray that you give me the greatest unction you've ever put in my heart in all my preaching, because what I bring this morning, for some will be the last time that you ever speak to them in this manner. This may be the last time that you deal with this issue. My God, in Jesus' name, lay hold of those who've been walking with you for a long time, and something has happened in their lives, and Lord, it's disturbing the Holy Spirit. There's a grief of the Holy Spirit, and I pray, Lord, that you come upon me. I can't preach this without your power, your unction, and your anointing. Even now, Lord, sanctify me. Let this word come forth as you have delivered to my heart. In Jesus' name, I pray. Amen. A habitation is a dwelling place. It's where God lives. A habitation of God is where He lives. He's chosen to live in human vessels. You can search the world over. You could go to Jerusalem, the holy city. Any temple there, He does not live there. He doesn't live on the mountains. He doesn't live in darkness or light, sun, moon, stars. The Bible says He has chosen to live in the hearts of men. This is the temple of the Holy Ghost, the scripture says. Jesus said, I am in the Father. When Jesus comes and abides in us, it's the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, the fullness of the Godhead, very scripturally clear. Scripture says, if a man loved me, he will keep my words, and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him and make our abode or habitation in him. Those who are in Christ can honestly say, and they can boast it clearly from the scripture, this is where God lives. God lives right here. God abides in me. Paul the apostle makes that clear. I want you to go to the eighth chapter of Proverbs. We'll be in the eighth chapter of Proverbs quite extensively this morning. Proverbs, the eighth chapter. If you truly, now even if you're a visitor this way, if you truly love the word, will you say a big amen right now? All right. Follow me as we go into this. There's a very vital message this morning, one most important I think I've preached in a long, long time. Not because I'm preaching it, but because of the importance of what he's trying to say to us through the Holy Spirit. Now, leave it open here on your lap, because in this eighth chapter of Proverbs, there's a glorious revelation of a covenant plan between God and his own Son that was made before the foundation of the world. In this chapter, you'll see all the way down, wisdom, wisdom, wisdom. Wisdom calls. Wisdom was there before the foundation of the world. This is speaking of Jesus Christ. Let me prove that to you, that the wisdom mentioned in Proverbs, when you read of wisdom in Proverbs, you're speaking, it is referring to Jesus Christ. The scripture says, but of him are you in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom and righteousness, sanctification, redemption. Jesus Christ is the wisdom of God. He is the wisdom. So, what I read to you very clearly this morning out of this chapter is going to be referring to Jesus. The scripture says, look in the 30th verse, 8th chapter, then I was by him as one brought up with him, and I was daily his delight, rejoicing always before him. Now, that has to be speaking of Christ. That is the wisdom of God, because only his Son could he delight in. He doesn't delight in wisdom, he delights in his Son. Scripture is clear that he is the only one God delights in. He delights in us only because we're in Christ. He doesn't delight over you because of who you are. He delights of you about where you are. You're in Christ, and so he delights in you, his body. He delights in the body of Christ and in us because we are in his body. Now, Jesus was with the Father from the beginning of time, far beyond that into the eons before the world was created. God's Son was begotten. He was not just begotten here on earth, he was begotten of the Father in ages before this world was created. I want you to go to verse 22 in chapter 8, verse 22. This is speaking of Christ, Jesus himself is speaking. The Lord possessed me in the beginning of his way, before his works evolved, before the world was created, in other words, before the universes. I was set up from everlasting, from the beginning, wherever the earth was. Even before the earth was ever created, or the sun, the moon, the stars, and the universe, when there was no depth, there were no depths, I was brought forth. When there was no foundations abounding with water, before the mountains were settled, before the hills was I brought forth, while as yet there had not been made, had not made the earth, nor the fields, nor the highest part of the dust of the world, when he prepared the heavens, I was there. When he set a compass in the face of the depth, when he established the clouds above, when he strengthened the fountains of the deep, when he gave to the sea his decree. Verse 30, then I was by him as one brought up with him, and my delights were with the sons of men. Now, look at me, please. The Bible makes it very clear, he said, I delighted in him, I delighted in my father. Folks, can you imagine the delight Jesus had with his father? The father had brought forth his own son. This was before he knew anything of sadness, this is before he knew anything of rejection, this is before he knew anything of the cross, the pain, before anyone would put a crown of thorn in his head, he knew nothing of that. He took on human form, but the Bible says that he he delighted in his father, and his father was his delight. What an amazing thing, think about it for a moment. He was with the father in the great bliss and the glory of heaven, and he said, I delighted in him, and I delighted when I was with him when the universe was created, and all the galaxies were created, he said, I delighted in that, I was with him, I was brought up by him, I was raised by him. Now, there was a covenant made before the world was created, there was an agreement made between the father and the son, there was an old covenant and a new covenant, and the old covenant was to bring men to realize that they don't have the power to keep themselves from the wicked one. How many times have you tried and made promises, and you have tried to defeat the dominion of sin in your life, or a habit, or a lust, and you couldn't do it, because man in his own strength and his own power can't do it, and in the old testament or under the old covenant, that's what the law was about, to show man his weakness, to show the power of sin, and that man needed a redeemer, he needed someone else, he needed the spirit of God himself to come down and empower him. So, before the world was created, an agreement was made between God the father and his son, the father asked his son to go, should man fail, he's going to create man with a free will, but if man fails, will you go, and will you take the sins upon you, and will you redeem them from the power of hell, will you redeem them from the dominion of sin, and from the claims of satan upon them. Jesus said, I delight father to do your will, and Jesus came down to this earth, and he gave his life, and he delighted in it, but folks, before you were born, before this world was created, well, it was only a thought in God's mind, and Jesus was brought into this council of God, and the whole plan of redemption was laid out, the creation of man, the creation of the world, and you think about that, when God created the whole universe, all the galaxies that men have not even discovered, millions and billions of stars and planets, out of the whole universe, he zeroed in on one little planet, one of the small planets called earth, and he said, I'm going to abide on this planet, but I'm not going to abide on the mountains, I'm not going to abide in the seas or the clouds, I am going to create a man for fellowship, and that is where I am going to dwell, I'm going to live there. Jesus was counseled in this, and he said, father, I'll go, and he is the very essence of God, Jesus said, you've seen me, you've seen the father, so when Jesus came down, and came, paid the price of sin, and then went to the heavens and ascended, his spirit comes to abide in us, but I want you to know something, Jesus delighted in you and me before we were born, read it again, verse 30, then I was by him as one brought up with him, I was daily his delight, oh how the father delighted in him, and what a sweet fellowship he had, look at me please, this is the key to understanding where I'm going this morning, Jesus said, I delighted in my father, I had sweet fellowship, communion, constant, daily, I was with him, I was brought up by him, he was my delight, and now Jesus says in verse 31, rejoicing in the habitable part of his earth, earth hadn't even been created yet, he said, I'm rejoicing in the habitable part of the earth, the livable part, the livable place, and my delights were with the sons of men, now he's delighting in us before we are created, he sees something, he's going to lead the father, he's going to, he's not going to have that face-to-face communion, but he's delighting in another truth, another fact, I am going to have a people that I will bring in to my own heart, and I am going to have fellowship, I am going to be one with them, and I'm going to bring them up like the fathers brought me up, and he began to delight in the prospects, the prospects of sweet holy communion daily, he is the word, he speaks to us through his word, and he says, I am going to bring my word to them, I'm going to place before them my word, and I'm going to speak to them through that word, I'm going to have fellowship, I'm going to have sweet communion, I'm, this is going to be wedding every day, this is going to be my bride, hallelujah, God asked his son to mediate this new arrangement, and he said, yes father, I delight to do your will, the law, your law is within me, now, what is the cause of Christ delighting in us before we're even born, that he delights in the sons of men, I believe in the absolute foreknowledge of God, I don't believe in limited atonement, I don't believe this, that God damn some and saves others, Bible says, who shall be saved, whosoever will may come, I believe in that with all my, I believe in the foreknowledge of God, in other words, God looks down all through history, and he knows, he knew before you were born, how you would react to the gospel, the gospel is free, he doesn't make you react in a certain way, but he foreknew how you would react to the gospel, he knew how you were going to react, you remember the day you were saved, you remember the feelings you went through, do you remember the pledges you made to Jesus, how you'd forsake all others and follow him, that's what God, that's what Jesus was delighting in, because he foresaw, Jesus is in, shared this foreknowledge of his father, he knew, he knew in eternity, how you're going to react to what I'm saying today, I believe Jesus died for the sins of mankind, and that all who come to him by faith can be saved, David said, thou art he that took me out of my mother's womb, you did make me hope, when I was still upon my mother's breast, I was cast upon you Lord from the womb, thou art my God for my mother's belly, God saw you in your mother's womb, he counted every part, the scripture says, thine eyes did see my substance when it was yet unperfect, and in thy book all thy members were written, now folks, you talk to people about abortion, you better quote the scripture, God numbered every part, and folks, when they murder, they call it a fetus, but God says, no, I knew that baby's name, I knew every part of that baby, I counted every hair before it was born, every part, the substance when it was still imperfect, in my book and all the members were written, which in continuance were fashioned, in other words, as the baby was developing, when as yet there was none of them, when there wasn't even a seed, God says, I was counting every member, I knew all about it, the foreknowledge of God, and Jesus delighted in the knowledge that one day we would grow up to become his habitation, that he could come and dwell and abide in us, now let me try to explain some of the reasons for his delight in us before we were ever born, why did Jesus say that you and I were his delight, when we weren't even yet born, number one, he rejoiced over you as a bridegroom anticipates intimacy and communion with his bride, if you've just been shortly married, you were engaged, you were a spouse to Christ, the Bible said, but you were engaged, and folks, if you were really in love, you anticipated the time that you would have perfect union, that you would have time together, that the bride and the bridegroom could be one, the sweet communion, and the bridegroom rejoices over the bride, so shall thy God rejoice over thee, he said, I'm going to rejoice over you as a bridegroom anticipates the intimacy with his bride, do you understand before you were born, that he anticipated the time that you would come to him, and you would walk into the secret closet every day, the Bible said, I was daily the delight, and you would come to me every day, and you would spend time with me, because I love you, and you love me, and this is a marriage arrangement, I am married to you, Jesus came down to be married, he came down to receive a bride to himself, the Bible says, and he anticipated that you would spend time with him, and the thoughts of leaving his father, now he turns, and he delights in this anticipation of being one with you, one with his children, the Lord God in the midst of thee, or who dwells in you is mighty, he will save, he will rejoice over you with joy, he will rest in his love, he will joy over thee with singing, in Zephaniah, he anticipated when you gave your life to him, you'd put a song in his heart, you'd put a song in his heart, because he anticipated the many, many times together, if you really love your husband or your wife, if you're in love with somebody, you want to be with them, you want to spend quality time with them, and that's why he delighted before you were born, and the earth was ever created, because he anticipated all of the wonderful times of intimacy he would have with his bride, you, me, when you told him you loved him, that you would seek him with all your heart, when you took his word into your heart, you began to read it with delight, you got excited about Jesus, he anticipated a love match, he rejoiced in it, and he said, that's where I'm going to live, I'm going to live in that one who wants me more than anyone in the world, I'm going to live in that one who anticipates spending time with me, I'm going to live in that one who can't spend a day without being in my presence, who would feel lost, folks, I know husbands and wives like that, and we had that relationship in our marriage, you know, ah, separate vacations, forget it, forget it, three telephone calls a day after one day of absence, after almost 50 years of marriage, and folks, we're just human, can you imagine what the Lord anticipated when you gave your heart to him, secondly, he rejoiced in the anticipation of sharing his innermost secrets with you, you see, the greatest expression of love is sharing secrets, the Bible says that Samson, and this is a carnal illustration from a carnal man, but the Bible says that he loved a woman whose name was Delilah, and he had such a carnal desire, such a carnal love for this woman that he wouldn't keep anything at the cost of his life, he shared his one secret that would have cost him his life, and it did cost him his life, but you see, that's what love is, it's the sharing, the things that nobody else knows about, and this is, the Bible said, the secret of the Lord is with the righteous, he said he doesn't do anything until he shares his secret with those, and you see, this is the essence of love, when you truly love somebody, you hear things that nobody else hears, you know things that nobody else knows, and Jesus anticipated coming to abide in you, and be so in one with you, where you would be alone with him, and he can tell you why God sent him, he wants to tell you about God's plan for the world, about the plan of salvation, he wanted to talk to you about his covenant, he wanted to talk to you about his names, he had so much on his heart to share the innermost secrets of the Godhead, he anticipated, finally, I'm going to be a man just like that, but I'm going to need a friend, I'm going to need a bosom friend, he's not going to have a human wife, but we are going to be a spiritual wife, it's like good for a man to be alone, think about that when you forget going to prayer, and he anticipated this, I have called you friends, for all things that I've heard of my father, I make known to you, he anticipated you being a man of prayer, a woman of prayer, and that he, in quiet times, could give you the secret of his heart, he would open this word to you, you would see things that nobody else saw or heard, he would speak life to you, this was why he delighted, I'm going to have a people, I'm going to have a bosom friend in my bride, someone I can talk to, someone I can share the burden of my heart with, his secret is with the righteous, the scripture says, he anticipated a love relationship with you so intimate that you would share with him every hurt, every problem, every failure, every need, every hope or desire, you would share with him your dreams, your nightmares, everything, you would have a place to go, you would need to call somebody else, you would have to be on a telephone, you wouldn't even need counselors, you would go to him, and thirdly, he rejoiced in the anticipation of his bride delighting in his word, look at verse 34, verse 33, hear instruction and be wise and refuse it not, verse 34, blessed is the man that heareth me, watching daily at my gates, waiting at the post of my doors, now folks, that's one of the most vital scriptures in the bible, I want to open that to you with the help of the holy spirit here as we proceed, blessed is the man that heareth me, watching daily at my gates, waiting at the post of my door, you know what this, the lord is saying, here is where I abide, here is my habitation, the one who hangs on every word I speak, the one who waits, the one who waits, watching daily at my gates, for a word from god, this is the one who goes daily to the word of god, the bride says in song of solomon, oh my dove, thou art in the cliffs of the rock, in the secret place of the stairs, let me see thy countenance, let me hear thy voice, for sweet is thy voice, david was the one who watched at the gate and waited at the post of the door, I will delight, he said, I'll delight myself in your statues and your word, I will not forget thy word, he said, your testimonies are my delight and my counselors, david said, and I will delight myself in your commandments, which I have loved, he said, your law is my delight and in hebrew, it means I enjoy your word, I enjoy going to your word, I enjoy hearing, all right, listen to me, watching daily at my gates, now david himself in psalms 118 19 describes what those gates are, open to me the gates of righteousness, and this is the believer, this is the child of god who goes daily to the word of god, anxiously getting the word of the lord on how to walk in righteousness and holiness, this is the one who says, I want to walk before the lord with a pure heart, I want truth in the inner man and I can't get it from somebody else, I can't get it from books and tapes, oh god, I go to your word and I wait at your gate, at the gate of righteousness, I wait for you to open that gate to me, and folks, that's the reason we beg and plead with you, read this book daily, because this is the gate of righteousness, this is the gate, show me any man who walks in true righteousness before the lord, not according to the law, but through grace in christ, show me the one who is truly holy and righteous before god, and I'll show you somebody that's been waiting at the gates every day, and they are hearing, jesus comes out, the holy ghost comes out every day, every day, walks right out of the holy of holies, invites you in and he comes and says, come on, let me show you something new, let me show you more about holiness, righteousness, because I wait at the gate, waiting at the post of my doors, this refers to those who trembled at his word, it's taken from isaiah 6, where the seraphims are singing holy, holy, holy, and all the heavens are ringing with these praises and worship, and suddenly a mighty voice interrupts it, a powerful voice comes booming out of heaven, and this voice shook, the bible said, and the post of the doors, isaiah 6 4, and the post of the door were moved at the voice of him that cried, the house is filled with smoke, said the door post, and you see, isaiah was waiting at the door post, he was in the presence of god, isaiah here in isaiah 6 is praying, he's watching at the post, and after praising the lord and worshiping, suddenly he hears a loud voice, and it shakes, and the bible, and isaiah began to cry out, he said, woe is me, i am undone, he began to tremble at the word, oh folks, i get so many, when i get so many letters from all over the country, from our mailing his people, said our pastor doesn't take the bible anymore to the pulpit, but our pastor doesn't preach from the bible anymore, i can't imagine that, but he said, you don't don't need it, somebody told a friend of mine here recently, that was missing from the church here for a while, i don't know whether away or what, and he said, for a couple years come back, said this is the first time i've needed my bible in church, after two years, but you see, he's talking about those who tremble at the word, how do you tremble at the word, when you don't even pick up the book, you're not watching, you're not waiting at the post of the doors, scripture said, to this man will i look, to this man will i inhabit, even to him that is a poor, and of a contrite heart, and who trembles at my word, trembles at my word, folks, even this past week, i've read things in my bible study that make me tremble, makes me tremble, i tremble to the thought of standing before god one day, and having misspent any money sent to this ministry, i take that to god every day, lord, that's a holy trust, i can't spend a dollar of that money for selfish purposes, or outside of the will of god, and i tremble before god, when i read the pastors in jeremiah, who are taking the spoil of the poor, and putting in their own houses, i tremble before god, and folks, i'm not boasting on that, but i'm telling you, if you're not into this book, how do you tremble at it, how do you tremble at the word of god, all right, let's sum it up for just a moment, here's jesus rejoicing before the world was made, rejoicing and delighting over what he anticipates, he's looking into the future, to the latter days, he anticipates coming to his habitation, to be, to inhabit his redeemed, he delights in those who forsake all others, clinging only to him, they delight in spending quality time with him, they seek him daily, they unbosom their hearts to him, he shares his secrets with them, they will be with him, they will be brought up by him, they will not neglect him, but will delight in his word, they will study the word to know him, they will wait on him, they will tremble at his word, so tell me, now that you know that jesus anticipated before you were born, and you know that now, because the anointing of the holy spirit is upon me, you know he anticipated spending a lifetime with you, alone in this book, and alone in a secret closet, where you were growing into a spiritual diet, where he was raising you up, as he was raised by his father, and you sit in front of a television set for hours, you have time for shopping, you have time for gardening, you have time for everything, you have no time for god, you have no time for the bridegroom, and he anticipated this for eons, this was his delight, before the world was created, he looked forward and longed for that time with you, i'm not talking about going to church and listening to sermons, this is about people who are falling so short of what god had planned for their life, have missed it, he had it in his mind to draw you so close to himself, he had it in his mind to have such sweet fellowship with you, to open his heart, to fill you with the knowledge of himself, he had so many things he wanted to show you, he wanted you to grow up to be a mother, father in zion, he was going to show you things that you'd never seen, he wanted you to be so in love with him, that you couldn't endure a day without being shut in with him, he wanted to take away your weaknesses, your fears, your feelings of inadequacy, your rejection, he wanted to teach you how to know and hear his voice, you were to be like the bride in the song of solomon, i sat down under his shadow with great delight and his fruit was sweet to my taste, you were the one who was supposed to say let me see your countenance, let me hear your voice, now i'm going to bring a solemn warning now, that's how i prayed before i started to preach, and folks i am trembling, jesus will not abide in those who give him a cold shoulder, he will not live in you, he will not abide in a temple that ignores him, that neglects him, absolutely impossible, you say well brother dave, i've not neglected, i really love him deep in my heart, i love the lord, i love people, i work for the lord, i do good things and all of that, no no no folks, see you've already made your statement, when you don't go to your bible day after day, week after week, when you don't seek the face of god, nobody sees you through the week, except by here in prayer, you may come to all the meetings, you may come tuesday, you may come friday, you come to the meetings and that's it, that's it, but you have no personal relationship in private, you have no time for him in private, you've given him the cold shoulder, the bible says how should we escape if we neglect so great salvation, how do we escape, what's he talking about, escaping what, being turned into salt, now go to, i've proved this to you, now go please with me to ezekiel 47, now sadly many who are listening to you right now have already been given over to salt, you still love the word everybody please go to, and if someone next to you doesn't have a bible, will you show them this, would you share your bible with them, ezekiel 47, now just leave it open on your lap and look this way for just a moment, most of you are acquainted with this chapter, there's a river flowing out of the temple, just flowing right out of the temple from the throne room of god, there's a river, you know what the river does, every thousand cubits it expands, it goes deeper and wider till finally there's waters to swim in, and the bible said these waters are going down into the to the desert, into the sea, and when these, everything it touches lives, this is holy water, it's healing water, very powerful illustration god is giving us, that represents, listen to me what it represents, it represents the gospel, the preaching, the preaching of the word is now, the river is flowing right now, this is the river, the gospel of jesus christ, the pure word of god, you see it started as a little trickle, just 12 apostles preaching the gospel, and then it spread, and then you have paul the apostle, then you have all of his converts, and you see it spreading and spreading, and now it's all over the world, he has thousands upon thousands of his servants preaching the gospel in languages all over the world, there's rivers to swim in now, there's waters to swim in, now i want you to follow me closely now, verse 8, verse 8, then said he unto me, these waters issue out toward the east country and go down into the desert, the dry places, see to bring life, and go into the sea, which being brought forth into the sea, the water shall be healed, now folks this speaks, look at me now please, the dead sea in israel, the dead sea has no fish, there's nothing grows in it, and nothing grows around it, it's totally barren because it's given over to salt, salt speaks in this particular sense, even though in the new testament it speaks, it has a good connotation here in the old testament, the connotation is barrenness, fruitlessness, emptiness, dryness, loneliness, the bible says when this healing water comes and flows, it can heal that, it heals that deadness, folks when the spirit moves into a dead church, it is healed, it starts with the pastor, the holy ghost just get a hold of some dead pastors, we'd have some live churches, i'm not, thank god, majority of pastors i know are on fire for god, i'm not indicting all pastors, not at all, and everything shall live where in the river cometh, the scripture says, now follow me to verse 9, and it shall come to pass that everything that liveth, which moveth with us over the river shall come, shall live, go down with me now to verse 11, but i just read to you, wherever the river comes, there's going to be life, but the miry places thereof and the marshes thereof shall not be healed, they shall be what, given to Saul, look at me, this river has been flowing since calvary, and millions have been healed, folks out of this pulpit has flown rivers of living water, and if you've been coming to this church, you've been sitting under living waters, and that water is meant to heal you, and folks what's happened now, all over the world, all over the world, millions who'd been dead, millions who neglected prayer, neglected the study of the word, who are growing apathetic, who are growing cold toward the lord, they have heard the word, they were challenged, they got convicted, and they changed, they have been healed, and now they are seeing things they've never seen, they're getting the secrets of the lord's heart, and they are absolutely healed, many of you came to this church, or another church, and you have been healed by the word of the lord, you heard a clear word, convicted you, challenged you, got you on your knees, exposed your apathy, exposed your neglect of the word of god in prayer, and god awakened you, and you were changed, and now you pray, now you read your bible, you've been healed, now why is it, why is it that the word is healing so many, and you are isolated as a marsh, you are isolated over here, and the water runs over you, and you're turning to salt, how is it that message after message after message doesn't move you, how is it, i cried my heart out to the lord this week, it's all over the country, people running housewives with children, running, running, running, time for everything, no time, the healing waters are flowing, they go and sit under these healing waters, and they're not healed, and they're turning to salt, which means barrenness, no fruit, emptiness, no resources when you're in trouble, no place to go, but a feeling that grows, and the older you get, the worse it gets, empty, dry, no resources, no one to call on, because you've neglected him, you don't even know where to go anymore, the word is a closed book, oh god wake our hearts, you're going to end up totally barren, no fruit, no spiritual life, so empty, sad, and lonely, what a way to exist, lord said you're dying, you're spiritually dying, and god will not inhabit a salt marsh, god will not inhabit a barren marshy salt pit, he said you continue, and you'll not be healed, now here's the tragedy, before i give you the good word, here's the tragedy, in the annex upstairs, i don't care how you, what you think of my preaching, i'm on life and death mission, and i'm telling you, some of you, i'm going to walk out of this place in spite of knowing that god wanted to raise you up, and up to now you have missed it, and if you don't get it now, the holy ghost is never going to speak to you like he's speaking now, always grace and mercy is always there, he'll always talk to you, but you won't hear it, because if you don't hear it now, i'm going to give you something of grace, if you don't hear what i'm about to tell you, all your work's going to burn when you stand before christ, all your work's going to be going to stand empty, fruitless, nothing to bring to the master, and all of that anticipation he had, all the great desire toward you, you've aborted, now let me tell you, it's never too late to start over, never, now i'm going to give you a good word, god told me i could not rail against his people, god said i can't spank you, i'll give you the truth and honesty, but lord said i have mercy on those, if you will get a hold of what i'm about to tell you, god will make up to you all the years that the canker worm has eaten, he said i'll make up to you all the years, i will start today, if you hear this, i'll start today, if you will cry out to god folks, i'm going to ask you, if you've been neglecting the word, if you've not been in prayer, if you don't have intimacy with christ, i'm asking you right now to cry and scream in your heart to the holy ghost, oh holy ghost, open my eyes, holy ghost, plead with me, holy ghost, don't let me turn to salt, holy ghost, i want to bear fruit, jesus, i want to stand before you on that day, and i want to have something in my hands to present to you a fruit, that can happen, now listen very closely before i close, i have to get this to you, you see before the world was created in this covenant, provision was made for the sheep that went astray, that just just abandoned, you know what's worse than a sheep going astray, is a sheep eating green grass and staying in the pasture and getting sick, and getting skinny, and frail, and almost dead in the midst of green pasture, and that that's the danger of what's happening here, you've been in green pastures and somebody's growing frail, oh you didn't run off into sin, he didn't have to go chase you there, but you're sitting there and the lord can't do anything with you there, because you're not eating, you're eating it, you're not letting it go in, you're just vomiting it out, you're spitting it out, but he said there there is there's a new start for anyone who wants to hear it, it is never too late, never too late, because the bible said that this water, when it hits the dead sea, brings it to life, so let the word i'm about to tell you now be that living word, that comes into this salt pit and starts bringing life, a little plant here, a blade of grass here, and suddenly a little tree begins to spring up, and soon it starts turning green, and suddenly it's a garden, you can turn into a garden, i'll tell you how, awake, now the sleepest, rise from the dead, and christ shall give you light, you see god still yearns after you, god still has a plan for you, listen to me now, he has a plan for you, i don't care if you're 80 years old, god has a plan yet, i don't care if you have missed it for the last 80 years, or the last 60 years, since you were maybe in your 20s, i don't care if you have neglected whatever, you can start a new life at 80 years of age, i don't care how old you are, today can be the beginning of your life, it can be beginning of a life of prayer, a life of god showing you this word, and you can still be a spiritual giant before you die, all right, are you ready to receive it? go to jeremiah, third chapter please, here it is, please go to jeremiah, don't let everybody else go and you stay behind, that speaks of a hard heart, you know when god was giving me this message, the first three parts of the message, three quarters of the message, i was getting so upset at people who don't pray and read their bible, i was just going to get up here and just wail, and the lord said no, i still love them, these are my people, give them hope, all right, chapter three, verses 12 to 14, verse 15, go and proclaim these words toward the north and say, return thou backsliding israel, saith the lord, i will not, listen to it now, let these words sink in, i will not cause my anger to fall upon you, for i'm merciful, saith the lord, i'll not keep anger forever, only acknowledge your iniquity, acknowledge that you have neglected him, thou has transgressed against the lord thy god, you've scattered thy ways to the strangers under every green tree, that means you've been busy, time for everybody else but me, and you have not obeyed my voice, saith the lord, i called you in other words to seek me and you didn't, turn oh backsliding children, saith the lord, for i am married unto you, i will take you one at a time into a family, i will bring you to zion, zion is a place of revelation and truth and rest in the lord, god says if you acknowledge what you've done and say by faith now i return, lord do the work in me, all right one last time, you may say look at me now, you say but pastor dave it's been so long, i think god's mad at me, i have neglected him so long, i'd never pick up my bible, i never pray at home or i pray in church or i meditate occasionally but i've neglected him, go to isaiah 57 please, turn left, isaiah 57 with this i'm going to close before we read what where i'm taking you could you look this way for just a minute i could have i could have very well closed before i brought you this good word and i could have had you stand and i could have yelled a little bit and i i probably have one of the biggest altercals we'd ever had and i have people up here wailing and crying but it wouldn't have done any good you go right back to your old ways if you will not come through his mercy if you won't come through words of hope there's nothing left there's nothing left we've exhausted the mercy isaiah 57 start verse 15 for thus saith the high and lofty one that inhabited the attorney whose name is holy i dwell in the high and holy place with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit what to revive the spirit of the humble to revive the heart of the contrite ones god said i want to revive you i will restore you for i will not contend forever neither will i be always wroth or angry for the spirit should fail before me and the souls which i have made for the iniquity of his covetousness was i wroth god says for a while i was angry at you and i smote you in other words i i gave you over to your emptiness and loneliness i hid me and others you you couldn't find me you weren't close to me it was wroth and he went on forward in the way of his heart but i've seen his ways and i will heal him i will lead him now also and restore comforts unto him and to his mourners god said i'm going to restore everything the devil's destroyed i create the fruit of the lips peace peace to him that's far off and to him that is near say the lord and i will heal him i will heal him will you stand if i'm a true pastor if i'm a shepherd after god's heart then i have to preach what the holy ghost says to preach without fear of man or fear of consequences or fear that you'll leave this church we don't have a membership here if you're not held by the holy ghost sign a piece of paper doesn't hold you to anything but let me tell you what i'm feeling right now please i'm i'm sensing that many of you unless you're allowing the holy ghost right now to to go deep and dig deep and say lord this is me unless you're standing here now before his presence acknowledging yes that's me i am guilty i have neglected his word i have forgotten him days on end that's what he's jeremiah said my people have forgotten me days without number no matter what you think no matter what you say you've already made your statement because you're not here and you don't go into his closet i'm not asking you to throw out your tv i used to do that i'm not doing it anymore because they go back and buy another but i'm telling you you better start giving god some equal time you may be careful because if you spend time with him holy ghost will make you miserable when you see anything on that tube it's not like him he'll make you so miserable that's his love gift to you amen no wonder some of you're so comfortable watching filth because of the neglect i'm going to ask the holy ghost not to let you walk out of here until a commitment's made lord before this day is over i'm going to get alone with you and i'm going to rehearse this truth in my heart and i'm going to turn if you're if you're standing here and the fear of god is in you and you're trembling that's the most wonderful that's the best thing that could ever happen to you that i tremble at god's word god hit my soul god dealt with me and i receive it the bible said blessed is the man who receives reproof blessed if you receive this from the lord now he'll change your heart heavenly father i pray for this congregation i pray for everybody in this house god in the annexes in the overflow rooms and here in the auditorium in the balcony and all over this house oh holy ghost do what i can't do that's to bring the word of god home to the heart that appears like a sword two-edged sword then pour in the healing balm of gilead we pray lord you're going to change lives jesus the thing that you saw and delighted over in eternity before we were born you're going to see now what you also anticipated a people turning to you hallelujah a people lord that are beginning to say today's the first day of a new day in my life today mark it on the calendar hallelujah god give me it gave me this one word before i give an altar call here's where you start if you found it hard to read the bible and the holy ghost gave this to me before church started i'm going to give it to you you can do with what you want if you've been finding it hard i want you to get a journal or get something you can write in a tablet or a journal and i want you to start in the book of of uh psalms i want you to start with the 91st psalm and and just for the for the first week all you do is stay in psalm 91 and every day you let jesus by his spirit talk to you and teach you something and i promise you'll see things you never saw in your life and reading the bible if you pray holy ghost open this and then after the first week start in chapter one and i want you to mark it if all you read is one chapter a day this idea of just going through the book so you can say you read through the bible no you you you say i'm going to have the lord talk to me and you're going to be surprised how begins to talk to you and and and suddenly you'll be saying things to other people you'll be counseling people from something god has taught you by his word the bible says in the last days the bible said he has in the last day spoken to us through his word he speaks to you through his word then i want you to to to every day after you've read at least one chapter in the psalms go to the epistles you go to galatians ephesians philippians and colossians those four little books don't go through them fast go through one chapter and if all you read are five verses and stop it's the holy ghost say stop he'll be going to speak to you and let him talk to you where you're hearing things not from the pulpit thank god for that but you're going to hear something that when you come to church i already solved that god already spoke to my heart you can ask my wife when here this morning about 50 of the mail we get people say your message came the very time it confirmed what i had already seen and heard it was confirmation and you'll come to church getting confirmed in the word that god's dealing to you and when you pray when you pray you don't have to be there for an hour that'll come spend 15 minutes just alone shut in with him and and talk to him through the word if one if all you want to do is quote the scripture at him for a while till you get intimacy with him begin he'll teach you let it begin say lord i want that right now father let that happen now i'm going to open this altar here now for those of this that are here this morning visitors and those who attend this church and in the annex also you can go forward between the screens have somebody yes pastor neo i believe is going up there now you go forward between the screens we want to pray for you up in the balcony here in the main floor if the holy ghost smote you do you know what it means to be smitten like a sword in your gut oh god that's me if you've been drifting from the lord your heart's grown cold toward him you may be here you don't know jesus you've never given your heart to him i want you to come i want those who have who acknowledge i have totally neglected my savior or i have drifted and your heart's grown lukewarm or cold i want you to have your seat i'm going to pray for you and believe god to change your life before you walk out of this church today up in the balcony go the stairs on either side and come down any aisle move in close make room for those that are coming all over this place we're going to be good for a miracle you're going to walk out of this house changed i don't care who you are i don't care who you are spirit's been talking to come say well i'm embarrassed don't be embarrassed confess it before the lord make an open confession now boy that that'll put you right on the spot that's where god wants you right on the spot just raise your hands and just tell him you love him right now say lord i'm sorry come on folks all of us lord forgive us raise your hands lord forgive me forgive me lord jesus for not being where i should be god put it in my heart god wound me by your spirit wake in my heart lord don't let this time slip away from me let this be the time that i crossed the line let this be the time the holy ghost reminds me tonight and tomorrow and every day of the word that has been heard oh river of life bring healing to those who need to be healed now bring hope and healing lord revive those who need to be revived draw nigh to those who need an arm around them lord i know that you forgive now i come that you love me lord i need your love i need your forgiveness lord bring forgiveness now in the annex to everyone standing here lord everyone standing here in the annex god bring bring peace and joy to those who said i will go all the way lord jesus i've turned the corner and i'm coming lord jesus lord jesus let the healing waters flow over me i pray say it right now lord let the healing waters flow over my dead soul raise me up lord from my death thank you jesus thank you lord we give you praise