In this sermon, the preacher emphasizes the importance of seeking God and His will in our lives. He uses the example of the Hebrew boys who had a song of praise even in the midst of difficulty. The preacher encourages the listeners to determine in their hearts to learn who God is and to walk with Christ wholeheartedly. He warns against being consumed by worldly pursuits and self-seeking, urging the listeners to instead show love and compassion to the needy and support the widow. The sermon also highlights the consequences of turning away from God, including a famine of hearing the words of the Lord. The preacher calls for a revival in society and for people to be able to hear and respond to God's message.

I'm going to be speaking the sixth message in a series called the Corinthian problem. The title this morning is the Tabernacle of David. I know that many have come here this morning and you're saying, you know, it's so heavy out there, times are so difficult, please just speak something to lighten my heart. Well, it may not seem like that at the beginning, but if you hold with it, the Lord's given me a message that's going to bring you through to something of freedom that can only be found if you and I will embrace the truth. You shall know the truth, Jesus said, and the truth will set you free. It's not good feeling that sets the church of Jesus Christ free, it's the truth. Truth digs, truth challenges, truth goes underneath foundations that are not built in Christ, tears them down, but then truth builds, and truth gives an anointing, truth brings strength. You shall know the truth, the truth shall set you free. First Corinthians chapter 10, please, if you go there, and then find the book of Amos, please, also in the Old Testament. Ezekiel, Daniel, Hosea, Joel, and Amos. Old Testament, and put a marker there. I'm going to speak on the Tabernacle of David. Father, God Almighty, if ever there was a time and a season to hear from you, it's now. Lord, I yield my body and mind and everything that I have as an instrument in your hand. I ask you, God, to speak to your church. Speak to your beloved bride that you have gathered here in this house today, and those that will be listening on the internet and by tape in the future. God, speak something deep, Lord. We're not looking for just a light. We're not looking for something just casual that will get us through the day. We need truth that will get us through to the end. Help us to understand, Lord, that you only send your work to heal, not to destroy. I thank you for this with all my heart. Thank you for the weightiness of the Holy Spirit in this sanctuary this morning. There's an evidence that you're doing something profound and powerful in our midst. We give you all of the glory for this. We thank you in Jesus' mighty name. 1 Corinthians chapter 10, beginning at verse 1, the tabernacle of David. Moreover, brethren, I would not that you should be ignorant, how that all our fathers were under the cloud and all passed through the sea, and were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea, and did all eat the same spiritual meat, and they all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank of that spiritual rock that followed them, and that rock was Christ. But with many of them God was not well pleased, for they were overthrown in the wilderness. Now these things were our examples to the intent, we should not lust after evil things as they also lusted. Neither be ye idolaters as were some of them, as it is written, the people sat down to eat and drink and rose up to play. Neither let us commit fornication as some of them committed and fell in one day three and twenty thousand. Neither let us tempt Christ as some of them also tempted and were destroyed of serpents. Neither murmur ye as some of them also murmured and were destroyed of the destroyer. Now all these things happened to them for examples, and they are written for our admonition, that means our instruction, upon whom the ends of the world are come. Now what the Lord is saying, there's a pattern of what happened to certain types of behavior in the Old Testament as people just chose to embrace. They had a clear revelation of God, they had the scripture indicates that Christ followed them, they were able to drink of that life that Paul said was Christ. They tempted in verse nine Christ, and because of these things there was a great and encroaching judgment and weakness that came into their lives. All these things happen for examples to us, and they're written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come. Verse 12, wherefore let him that thinks he stands take heed, lest he fall. There is no temptation taking you, but such as is common to men. But God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted, above that you are able. But will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that you may able to bear it. Wherefore my dearly beloved flee from idolatry. I speak as to wise men, judge ye what I say. Now Paul is saying to the Corinthian church, we've been speaking about the Corinthians. Now remember the issue with Corinth was that there was a value system in the society around them. It was an affluent society. There was a saying in that generation to live like a Corinthian, meant to live in sensuality and in material affluence. There was a temple in the middle of Corinth, and even though there was only 2,000 free men in that society at that time, there were 200,000 free men rather, and there were 500,000 slaves. There were 1,000 prostitutes in that temple. And so the religion in a sense was fornication. It was an incredibly wicked society. And in that society, the Apostle Paul preached and founded a church. The problem that he faced in Corinth, the foundational problem that seemed to be the root of most everything else, is that this society settled on just being, this church rather, settled on just being a little bit different than the society around it. They tolerated things in their midst. Paul said that you shouldn't tolerate it. They opened the doors to people who exalted themselves and took from them and began to spiritually really abuse them for no other way to explain it actually. They began to smite the simplicity of Christ in them. They began to take from them. They were exalting themselves. And there was a selfishness in these that were causing them to push the poor to the sides as it is of the temple as they gathered together around what they thought to be the Lord's Supper. And Paul had a broken heart for this church. It's a type in a sense, folks of the society we're living in today, it's a type of some of what has happened to the testimony of Christ in our generation. And Paul speaking now to this church as a spiritual father, he tells them in verse 13, your spiritual condition is not such that you cannot escape it. Christ triumphed over all the carnality within you, that which has brought others in the past to spiritual defeat. But God says in Christ, he will be faithful to keep you from it. This is what Paul is saying in verse 13. He speaks about all these things that happened to the children of Israel throughout certain points in their history. And then he says, listen, you will be tempted to do these things. This is an inherent flaw in all of fallen humanity. And you will be drawn. There will be people who plead with you to go in this direction. There will be voices that will be raised. There will be things in your own heart that want to lure you away from the simplicity of living for God in Christ. And Paul says, but you cannot be overcome if it's in your heart to walk in truth. Christ triumphed over all of these things. You have a power, a resident power within you, and God will be faithful to keep you. He will not allow you to be tempted or tested above that you can bear. Now, folks, you can stand on that. You can build your life on that one verse of scripture. God in Christ will not allow you to be tested beyond what you can bear. No matter what you're going through this morning, no matter what difficulty you might be facing, the devil will come and say, well, try this or complain against these people or do this or reach out and grab this. He will come to you with a theology out of hell itself to try to get you away from the simplicity that's in Christ. But Paul says, in reality, if you will turn to him, he will not allow you to be tested above that you can bear, but will make a way for you to escape it. Praise be to God. Then in verse 14, he says, wherefore, wherefore, in other words, bringing a concluded thought in measure to verse 13, he says, my dearly beloved, flee from idolatry. And the definition of idolatry, as I see it in this verse is everything that has its roots in setting your own judgment and thoughts above that which God has already clearly spoken. Flee from making yourself God. Flee from exalting your knowledge above the knowledge of God. Flee from trying to reason everything, creating another Christ that makes an easier way for you. Flee from all of this idolatry and trust God to bring you through. Folks, we're going to need to have this trust to get through these coming days and the days that we're living in. I know there's some of you this morning that are saying, no, don't even talk to me about the coming days. The days that have already come are not for me. I need the strength of God. Well, if you'll hold through with this, you're going to find the strength of God. There's going to be deliverance this morning. There's going to be victory. People are going to walk out of imprisonments of the enemy and into the life of Christ. Paul says in second Timothy chapter three, verses one and two in the last days, perilous time shall come. He begins the description of these perilous days with the following words, men shall be lovers of their own selves. Now, folks, if you study chapter three, you're going to find out that everything that Paul discusses, they're going to be covetous. They're going to be boastful. They're going to be proud. They're going to be disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, incapable of retaining truth. You just go through the whole list. They're going to have a form of godliness, but their lives are going to deny the power of God. They're going to resist the simplicity of God as Janice and Jambres in the book of Exodus, which these two spiritists, as it is, who had gotten access to Pharaoh's throne of power, as they withstood the simplicity of God's plan in Moses, these men will withstand. They simply was given to the will of God as foolish as the plan may have seemed. He embraced this plan. He had a stick in his hand and a one line sermon, and that's what God sent him with. And he was so weak that he needed his brother to help him deliver this one line message. And yet he went in and he trusted that God was through his life going to bring this incredible victory. A selfless man. It's always been a selfless man, a selfless woman, a selfless people who are given to the work of God that doesn't make sense to the natural mind. It's always been this type of a person that God has used to bring about the supernatural and to bring about miraculous deliverance. Paul says in the last days, men will resist this selflessness. They will believe as Janice and Jambres did that the way to change is access to power, halls of political authority and such like. They will believe that there's another way other than this selflessness that is only found in Christ and in his true body of believers. If you study first Timothy or second Timothy chapter three, you'll see that every ungodly practice that Paul lists that will be part of the last days are built on the foundation of the fact that men will be lovers of their own selves, lovers of their own selves. There will be a self focus in the last days. It will creep into the church. It will permeate society. It will all be about me. Everything I do will be about me. Everything I believe will be about me. Every place I put my hand will be about me. Every direction my feet find will be about me and that will be in the church. It will actually permeate much of the church in the last days, a foundation of men being lovers of their own selves. Now go to the old testament please to the book of Amos and we'll begin around chapter eight in Amos and we're going to look at it in a historical context because this is where Paul is speaking about in Corinthians that these things that happened were examples to us. They're a type, they're a shadow of what where we have come to as the body of Christ in our generation. Now Amos shows us the spiritual condition under which the people and the nation had fallen just prior to the judgment of God which was coming to their borders. Matter of fact they were only about I think what Amos wrote about 30 years away from an incredibly horrific judgment and God raised up an ordinary man, a shepherd and brought him in to warn the people but as is mostly the case there quite often when society has degenerated to the point and especially those who claim to believe in God where Amos found himself prophesying there's not that many that are willing to hear anymore. God help us in our generation, God help America, God help Canada, God help us to be able to hear where we're at and where we need to go. Oh folks there's going to be people terrified in the streets one day just as when the towers were hit here in New York City everything that was of God could stand and everything that was not of God was terrified and confused. Chapter eight verses two beginning verse two and he said Amos what seest thou and he said I see a basket of summer fruit and then he said Lord and then said the Lord to me the end has come upon my people of Israel I will not pass by them again anymore the Lord said I've tried I've sent voices I've warned but there is a point folks there's a point where people won't hear anymore there's a point tragically we don't expect the nation to hear we don't expect the ungodly to listen it's the church that God speaks to it's his body and there's a time there's a season throughout history if you're a student of church history you'll know this that the people won't hear anymore they've settled in they've found a form of worship that they find very satisfying and very pleasing and they will not be moved even if God if Christ himself stood and preached they won't be moved from their position and God came to Amos and he said and why would they listen to him he's just an ordinary man he's got no pedigree he's got no huge degrees behind his name he's got no big litany of success he's just an ordinary shepherd that comes in and begins to speak to the people and they're so highly offended that this man as always would come in and begin to challenge this spiritual bankruptcy all through history folks this has been the pattern God help us God help you and me that we can hear if he's speaking and he said I'll not pass by them again anymore that that to me is the most fearful statement that's the most tragic place that a person who claims to know God could ever find themselves in when God says I'm not coming to you anymore I'm not speaking to you anymore you've hardened your heart to the point you don't want to hear I'm not speaking to you I'll give you what you want to hear that came to a point in another old testament book he says when the people come to inquire of me and they have set up idols in their heart the Lord himself says I'll answer them according to the multitude of their idols I'll let them I'll release them as it is I'll just I'll just let them go to what they want and what's in their hearts and verse three he says the songs of the temple shall be howlings of that day says the Lord God there will be many dead bodies in every place and they'll cast them forth with silence the Lord says there's going to be a stunned silence come to the people all these voices that weren't speaking from God won't know what to say the songs of what should have been or at least were purported to be praise are going to be gone folks only that which cannot be shaken is going to remain yes Isaiah said there will be a song in the fire thanks thank God for that but that song doesn't just come when the fire starts folks that song is born before the fire the Hebrew boys had that song before they were thrust into this time of difficulty you have to get the song now you don't get it in that day you get it now you determine in your heart that no matter what happens I'm going to learn who God is I'm going to walk with Christ I'm going to praise him with all my heart I'm not going to hold back I'm not going to close my heart to him I'm not going to settle in at some halfway place to salvation I'm going to find him and I'm going to find his will for my life in my generation he says hear this oh ye that swallow up the needy in verse 4 even to make the poor of the land to fail and here's what they say saying when will the new moon be gone that we may sell corn and the sabbath that we may set forth wheat making the ephah small and the shekel great and falsifying the balances by deceit folks they were anxious to leave the presence of the Lord I can see this to continue in commerce they're in the church on Sunday but they're they're watching their watches hoping soon it's going to be over so I can get back to making money I can get back to what really really is gripping my heart what really my life is all about I want to get back there and begin to do these things getting gain it says by any means including that which is against the law of the nation of the law of God going out and having justified this self-seeking having justified living a life that is all for myself no matter how I have to do it verse 6 says that we may buy the poor for silver and the needy for a pair of shoes and you sell the refuse of the wheat now here's the indictment of God against this people he says you're using every man for personal advantage you're losing the heart of God for the poor and the disadvantaged as a matter of fact in chapter 2 and verse 7 he says you trample on the heads of the poor in your quest to get things of the dust he calls them things that have been created out of dust in order to get them you're the Lord is looking down and he says I see I see people who are called by my name literally stepping on the heads of the poor on their journey to get things that are made out of dust they don't last then he goes on in chapter 6 and verse 3 he says you put far away the evil day and cause the seed of violence to come near in other words this is a spiritual climate that puts the righteous judgment of God far away I remember just before the towers were hit there's a certain man that I believe I know is a false prophet I don't believe he is I know he is there's a step beyond belief a false prophet came to New York City and was this man was having and perhaps still has some influence in what purports to be the body of Christ walking down Broadway this is around August of 2001 God is not going to judge New York City there would be no judgment come here this city is God loves this city this city is not in for any hard times I remember seeing the the uh the cameo of it and I was wondering as I saw it I wonder if the towers were in the distance of this false prophet one of the greatest difficulties that the church will ever face is the rise of false prophets right before the judgment of God comes right before difficult times will be these rise of voices that say nothing but good times are ahead of us Peter says in 2nd Peter chapter 3 verses 3 and 4 in the last days there will be scoffers they're walking after their own lusts and they will say where's the promise of his coming now these scoffers folks are not outside of the church they're in the church because outside of the church nobody really cares about Christ's coming no these are inside the church these are scoffers they walk up to their own lust and they say look at don't listen to all the gloom and doom preachers that are out there today there's not as a matter of fact there's not very many that are talking about judgment but don't listen to them numerous good days are ahead where is this promise of his coming since the fathers fell asleep all things continue just as they have been all throughout time so now just go out buy sell and get gain live like in the days of Noah as if Christ is not coming but yet folks the scripture says suddenly suddenly he comes suddenly the whole world is thrown into a tailspin suddenly Isaiah said suddenly in one hour all everything around begins to change and difficulty comes where is the promise of his coming they say Amos chapter 6 again verses 4 and 5 they lie upon beds of ivory and stretch themselves upon their couches eating the lambs out of the flock and the calves out of the midst of the stall the chant to the sound of the vial and invent to themselves instruments of music like David in other words they focus on personal ease and the incomplete worship that accompanies it take notice here that it says they have to invent to themselves worship they can't they have to invent a type of worship that doesn't confront their spiritual bankruptcy and folks we've seen some of that in our generation i find some songs that are sung in certain places so incredibly annoying they don't even make sense you can't even sing them they don't even have a tune they're like an invention from somewhere and you stand there i remember being in one church the only one singing was the worship leader nobody else could sing the songs didn't even make any spiritual sense doctrinal sense and musical sense but they're an invention of hearts that don't really want to go with god they don't really want what living a selfless christ-centered life is all about and so they invent this worship verse 6 says they drink wine and bowls and anoint themselves with the chief ointments but they're not grieved for the affliction of joseph they're preoccupied with personal joy and anointing we live in a generation where people want to experience the supernatural without entering into its purpose that's where we're living now they people are running all over the country they're running all over the world now looking for the supernatural wanting to experience the supernatural they they would rather lay on the floor and clock like a chicken than go to africa and feed children who are starving to death they don't want the purposes of god they want to experience the anointing they want to experience the supernatural they want to lie on the couch and sing beautiful songs about how much they love god but do not want to enter into the work of god they're not grieved amos said for the afflictions of joseph they're not grieved for the brother who sold off into slavery and who's suffering unjustly there's they put this out of their conscience and subsequently their whole sense of worship is a fraud verse 7 says now they're going to go captive with the first that go captive and the banquet of them that stretch themselves shall be removed in other words they were completely unaware of their true spiritual position the lord says now when judgment comes these are going first i'm going to remove them i've got to take them out of my house because they are an abomination to truth amos chapter 7 verses 12 and 13 and amaziah said to amos oh thou seer go flee thee away into the land of judah and eat bread there and prophesy there but prophesy not again anymore at bethel for it is the king's chapel and it is the king's court you see this is what happens now there's amos is speaking for god he's trying to warn the people but now there are voices raised against him and they say now don't prophesy here at bethel this is where we worship this is where truth is we've got the history we've walked this thing longer than you have we're on a spiritual journey to be blessed remember at bethel is where jacob put his head on a pillow and where jacob was on this journey for the blessing of god and he had a dream and he saw angels ascending and descending on the ladders that extended all the way to heaven and these people now are saying no we're on this journey we're on this journey to be blessed and amos we don't want you interrupting this we are following the history of as we see it but history should have taught them that an inwardly corrupt man can't find the blessing of god in his own reasoning they don't follow this through to the logical conclusion jacob was seeking the blessing but at that particular point at bethel the blessing had not yet fully come on him because he was inwardly corrupt and god had to deal with this corruption he needed a new nature remember jacob he would he would trample anybody to get the blessing he would lie to his own father he would deceive his own brother he would do whatever he had to this is what we're talking about today to get this blessing but when he finally met face to face with god and wrestled with god god took away this natural strength that was in him he put a limp upon him and jacob became a new man not a swindler any longer but a prince with god and a man who had influence over man praise be to god praise be to god praise be to god i see jacob now coming out of the wilderness he's no longer strutting along in self-assuredness he's got a limp he's no longer driving over the top of other people to get what he wants he tells esau's brother he says you go ahead he said i'll join you in due time i'm not going to travel any faster than the young ones that are with us can travel i'm not going to overdrive them because they won't have the strength to make the journey what a difference this man now has truly found the blessing of god he has a new nature praise be to god he cares about the people not about himself that's what i'm speaking about this morning he cares you're not blessed until you care about people don't tell me you're blessed until you have a heart for the poor you have a heart for the widow you have a heart for the downtrodden don't tell me you're blessed you might have money but you're not blessed don't tell me you're blessed until you have this heart this heart that says i'm not going to live i'm not going to undertake the rest of this journey for myself but i'm going to live it for others i'm going to be a strength to the weak i'm going to be a support to the widow i'm going to go to those that have nobody that cares about them and i'm going to show them in the power of god that is within me i'm going to live and my life is going to be a demonstration of the fact that there is a god who's alive from the dead who loves them passionately and died for them praise be to god praise be to god praise be to god this is the blessing of the lord this is the blessing of the lord hallelujah hallelujah hallelujah in chapter 8 and verse 10 he says i'll turn your feasts into mourning and your songs into lamentation i'll bring up sackcloth upon all loins and baldness on every head and i'll make it as the morning of an only son and the end thereof is a bitter day behold the days come said the lord god that i'll send a famine in the land not a famine of bread nor a thirst for water but of hearing the words of the lord they'll wander from sea to sea and from north even to the east they shall run to and fro and seek the word of the lord and shall not find it in that day shall the fair virgins and the young men fate for thirst that swear by the sin of samaria and say thy god odin lives and the men of beersheba lives even they shall fall and never rise up again and folks he just says i'm going to take this song away there's going to be a famine for hearing the true words of god because they've chosen to worship at a place that falls short of the true they've set up altars that are short of where i've called the people to worship where i've called you as a body the lord says to serve me these altars have fallen short of this place therefore why do you think people for 15 to 20 years now i've been running around the world looking for the word of god and not able to find it because they've set up altars if they had found him if they did know him they wouldn't be flying all over the world looking for him he says the young the fair virgins and the young men shall faint for thirst in other words there there's going to be a loss of the next generation but folks i'm not willing to stand by and i know neither are many of you and watch this next generation just slide into hell without god there's no not going to be a loss of the next generation praise be to god there's going to be people who do stand up and do live for the real christ and do preach the real gospel and there's an evidence in their lives that what they're preaching is not just theology it's become a practical experience amos 9 verse 11 follow with me please as best as you can he says in that day will i raise up the tabernacle of david that is fallen and close up the breaches thereof and i'll raise up his runes and i will build it as in the days of old now there are many interpretations of this some commentators talk about jew and gentile will worship as it was meant to be together and no doubt there's great truth in that and that will and is happening in generation but also in the context of what we're speaking about this morning here's the way i see this the tabernacle of david god says i'm going to raise it up again this is my hope if i didn't have this vision it would be easy to lose heart in this generation it'd be easy to quit preaching and just go home live out the rest of our days just holding the fort as it is until well actually it wouldn't be easy my wife says i would absolutely die i'd wither up and die in that kind of a place she says you could never do that there's too much passion in my heart that god has planted there for his people and for his truth i'll raise up the tabernacle of david that has fallen and i see it as seeking god in the manner that is written in his word think about david 2nd samuel chapter 6 verse 17 says they brought in the ark of the lord and set it in its place in the midst of the tabernacle that david had pitch for it i see david worshiping god i hear a worship that is pure it is clean i feel the joy of the lord my call which is the daughter actually of the fallen kingdom of saul in her heart despises that she sees that she hates this purity of worship she could endure i think almost anything until there is finally a people and a man who are truly worshiping god in spirit and in truth david had tried this once before but you remember along the procession god had killed a man called usa and david was grieved with it and he said why i was trying to bring this this ark of god's presence into the center of jerusalem and lord you killed the parade as it is why did you do it and the lord spoke to him later on in first chronicles 15 13 and he said god made a breach upon us because we sought him not after the due order in other words there was a way that we were to do this that was clearly written in the word but we chose to operate outside of the word of god we we felt we had a revelation perhaps or we had some extra biblical knowledge that would add to the parade as it is the lord put out his hand and stopped the whole thing says no this is not spirit and truth this is not coming into the center of jerusalem you will never know the fullness of the joy of the lord until you do it the way i have called you to worship me praise be to god remember jesus said the father seeks people to worship him in spirit and in truth you cannot have one without the other folks and many people have tried to have the spirit without the truth with extra biblical revelation and the hodgepodge of false prophets that purports itself to be revelation from god but it isn't in the bible it's not part of god's word well folks when david the tabernacle of david is when we read this book we believe it we see the claims of christ we don't shy away from it we see again what we're to be is the followers of jesus christ we don't try to change it we don't try to alter it we don't try to make it palatable because really to follow christ means that we're entering into a life of selflessness we're entering into a life of being given for the needs of others we're not going to church to pursue something for ourselves we're seeking first the kingdom of god and his righteousness and the lord says no you go that way and i'll add everything to you that you need you begin to move to the needs around you and as you do i'll open your prison doors and i'll put clothes in your back i'll put food in your belly i'll look after these things i'll give you a roof over your head but you move this way you go this way you move where i clearly have told you in the word of god that you're to move you come outside of yourself come outside of this love of self that so permeates the society all around us don't use god for yourself let let christ yes come and save you but beyond that salvation begin to move into the work of god and then you'll find everything you need will come your children need a touch from heaven i'll touch them god says covenant involves not only you but your family oh hallelujah to the lamb of god praise be to god praise be to god god says i'll raise again this tabernacle of david that's fallen down this tabernacle of david in first chronicles 21 is a place where david came to because of his own foolishness because of counting his numbers as it is a plague broke out among the people and finally after many many had died there was an angel standing over jerusalem with a sword drawn and an ordinary man with a couple of kids who's threshing you know in a place of wheat looked up and saw this angel and saw the need and then he looked down and saw the king coming towards him what a picture of christ coming to his church again coming to the ordinary man praise god and david comes to him humbly and says i need what you have but i'll pay a price for it i won't take it for free from you i'll pay the full price thanks be to god god comes to his church in this hour says i need what you have and i paid the full price for it i paid with my blood that i might dwell within you that i might have you as a physical body on this side of eternity that i might walk through you that i might flow through you speak through you and touch through your lives or and looked up and saw this judgment hanging over the city looked down and saw the king coming in humility towards him and he looked he said you can have everything i have i give it to you i don't ask you for a thing it's all yours i see the need and it's all yours praise be to god and david was given a revelation immediately as soon as this man gave everything in chapter 22 and verse 1 of first chronicles david said this is the house of the lord god this is the altar of the burnt offering for israel david finally his eyes are open he said this is what it's all about this is where god dwells god dwells with ordinary men like this man hornet and his family ordinary people who see the depth of the need and they give the little that they have that the need might be met this is where god dwells this is the tabernacle of david this is the house of god ordinary people like you and me praise be to god who don't we don't have an army we don't we don't have military skill we we don't have the means to stop what we see to be this all encroaching judgment in our society today and we don't see ourselves the way god sees us though lord says no you have exactly what i need just just give me the little you have and watch what i'm going to be able to do with it praise be to god david and the people entered into this willingness themselves to give of themselves first chronicles 29 verses 17 and 18 david said as for me in the uprightness of my heart i have willingly offered all these things now this is david preparing to build a temple a play a dwelling place for god i've i've willingly offered all these things and now i have seen with joy your people which are present here to offer willingly unto you david put a call out to the people and said no this is where god dwells god dwells where there's a people who are willing to give to his work not necessarily expecting anything in return but his presence is sufficient for them and david said i've willingly given and i see now your people here with me that are also willingly giving for the purpose for a higher purpose because david knew it was at this place that judgment was averted it was at this place that death was turned to life and darkness was made light again and he says these words oh lord god of abraham isaac and all israel our fathers keep this forever in the imagination of the thoughts of the heart of the people and prepare their heart unto thee david said oh god i see something i see this is where you dwell i see this is where your power is i see this is how the plague of judgment is stopped please god david says keep this in the imagination of the hearts of the people forever not just in israel but forever he saw into the future he saw perhaps in the spirit into our day god keep this in the hearts of the people we're living at a time when people are using christ for their own gain this is not where the power of god is this will never stop this encroaching darkness that seems to be all over our society today folks if you don't believe it's getting dark come down to manhattan at 11 o'clock on a friday night just walk a few blocks and see what's happening now see the darkness that is coming see the justice of god being held off just momentarily now all of this foreshadowed jesus christ who's speaking about his own life in john 10 18 said no man takes it from me but i lay it down of myself i lay it down nobody takes my life it's a free choice that i'm making to lay it down for the betterment of others paul to the corinthian church in first corinthians chapter 11 he speaks in type of this giving of ourselves for others he says go to first corinthians 11 i'm going to close there the scripture we're very very familiar with and i've spoken on several times in this church but here's what paul says in verse 23 for i've received of the lord that which also i delivered to you that the lord jesus the same night in which he was betrayed took bread when he'd given thanks he break it and said take eat this is my body which is broken for you this do in remembrance of me after the same manner also he took the cup when he had stopped saying this cup is the new testament in my blood this do you as often as you drink it in remembrance of me for as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup you to show the lord's death till he comes you show this giving heart of god as you come not in selfishness but in selflessness you show the reason that god became a man you show the truth of the fact that god became a man and died on the cross for all of humanity you show it in a sense as much as you are willing to be partakers of it you see paul is speaking to the church in corinth they're shoving the poor to the sides of the temple they're meeting around what makes them comfortable and paul said this is not the christ this is not the christ that i received the christ that i received and preached to you he said gave of himself and said this is my body which is broken for you and allowed his own blood to be poured out to the last drop of blood and water for you and he says as much as you are partakers of this as much as this is the reason why you even come to christ and say i am in fellowship with him you show the reason you show this heart of god to this generation until he comes praise be to god prophet amos let me just finish it for you says it this way they may possess the remnant of edom and of all the heathen which are called by my name saith the lord that doest this when i raise up again the tabernacle of david he said selfishness will be overcome edom is esau is a man who sold his birthright for a bowl of soup literally this self-seeking will be overcome remember that paul said there's no temptation taking you but such as is common to man but god is faithful he'll not allow you to be tempted or tested beyond you can bear but will make a way that you can escape it he says the days come saith the lord and i want to conclude with this thought that the plowman shall overtake the reaper and the treader of grapes him that soweth seed and the mountain shall drop sweet wine and the hills shall melt the day shall come says the lord that there will be a people a selfless people and they will be able to lead others into the abundance of the life of god praise be to god i do see a day coming folks when the person persons are discipling new converts can't keep up with the people who are preaching or vice versa there's going to be so many there'll always be a there'll almost be a like pastor can you just hold back and can you just teach on something else for a little while we can't handle the volumes of people coming praise be to god there'll be an overtaking when god says when i have a people who understand this tabernacle of david when i have a people who understand what it means to be in christ and to have christ in them when once again i have the people that possess my heart and are able to take that heart to fall in humanity there will be an influx a harvest an abundance it can only come through selflessness there is no other way you see why the devil fights so hard to produce a selfish church because there's no power in it there never will be he knows that it's the theology of eden he says this will satisfy your flesh this is pleasing to your eyes and it will make you very very smart but it takes your way you see the abundance is people that's the abundance it's souls coming into the kingdom of god that's what divides those who are christ from those who aren't it's a god-breathed burden for other people simple acts of mercy speak so much louder than anything we can preach praise be to god i know there are people here this morning who are facing incredible temptations trials but the lord says to you today if you'll just get up and move to my work i'll open your prison doors i'll heal your bruised heart i'll give you spiritual sight i'll release you from your captivity if you will just get up and move to my work move to what i do rebuild this tabernacle of david in your heart and in your life which is christ it's the life of christ praise be to god praise be to god praise be to god would you stand please in the annex and here in the main sanctuary the holy spirit is speaking to you you say pastor i'm i'm just moving to this life that god's calling me to and as you do you're going to find the strength to get through your trial you're going to find a way through the difficult days that you're finding yourself in right now if you'll just make the decision seems rather odd to move towards one thing to receive another but that's the way the kingdom of god works move towards plan of god through your life move towards other people some people would say this morning hey i i came here to find an answer to my problem well you did find an answer it's just a matter of whether or not you're open to hear it move towards move towards the will of god for your life if you're willing to do that you're going to see these other things just start falling away they will just start falling away all of these bondages and afflictions and trials all of these things if you just simply move towards christ and allowing him to have his way through your life you'll find these things begin to fall away praise god we're going to worship for a little while as we do you may make your way down if you want to and join these that have come seems almost odd today to come to church and not hear a message about ourselves but a message that's focused on others if if we only hear this as a message then we will we will just put it in our catalog of tapes and go back to it once in a while but it's not a message it's something god's speaking to us this time this house this generation we've got to hear this beloved i would we there's been a tendency in modern day preaching that success is measured by how we fill the altars i thank god there's always been an open altar in this house and many have come to christ here and i thank god for that but i would rather have just a dozen one of them big of joseph another in esther one of moses in our generation than to have 500 and people who could just walk out the door unchanged unchallenged unmoved to to finally make that last step and say lord my whole life is yours you do with me what you will you take me where you want me to go you make me what you want me to be that is where the power of god is found bless god bless god father thank you lord for this altar today thank you lord that there are davids here there are esthers here there are mighty men and women of god lord and they're not mighty to look at because your word says clearly you told the corinthian church look consider your calling not many mighty not many noble not many wise not many after the flesh lord but god's called the foolish and those things that are nothing to bring to nothing things that are that no flesh can glory in his presence i thank you that there are mighty there are gideons here at this altar today mighty men and women of god who will go forward if they do not draw back and lord you will be brought to great glory through their lives thank you for it god thank you jesus for giving us a depth in this house not to only approach you for our own need but also that you flow through us to the needs of others this is the final work of your holy spirit in us i thank you for it lord thank you god you promise that as we move in this you'll meet our needs you'll meet our needs lord you'll bring our families together you'll fight for our children god you'll put a roof over us you'll give us food lord we will not not need these things lord you said if we will move to your kingdom if we will move to what's your work on the earth lord you will provide you'll open prison doors i believe it even this morning as we pray prison doors are opening and i proclaim liberty to the captives today i proclaim freedom in the name of jesus christ to those who are bound by a fear of the future a fear of tomorrow a fear of failure all types of fear i stand against this and i proclaim it to have no effect and no force in your life anymore father i thank you lord i pray god for those who are addicted to pornography i pray this morning for a release of the mind a cleansing of the mind oh god i thank you for this lord i pray god for those who are in ungodly practices for the strength and the power to turn from these things and to be honest men and women in the marketplace and to do justly i pray for those who are writing receipts under the table or doing things that are wrong and they know they're wrong i thank you god you're going to give every man woman at this altar and in this house the power to live righteously in this world that we be a saver of christ not a saver of satan but a saver of christ in this world as we walk through the corridors and marketplaces i pray for those who are just embarking on this journey of life i ask god that they have the wisdom to make the right decision and to give their entire future and all that they are into your hand to be used for your good oh god i pray for this church i pray that out of this church that men and women called of you will go everywhere into all markets oh god all places all countries and they will bring this life of christ with them they will stand in the power of god they will not have theories and formulas lord they will have the living christ within them and a heart of compassion for all men i pray god for a liberality that you could from our lives begin to be generous through us that we might begin to know the generosity of heaven the true generosity of god in jesus christ father deliver this church from being selfish deliver us god from the spirit of this city let not the lust for fame and money and the things in this city and influence and power let it not be found or named among the people of god let there not be murmuring and complaining in this house god almighty let us not be divided by race lord we see this in our uh in our country now even through these elections lord we see this division lord let there be no division here let there be a unity a love for one another that's only found in christ make this house a testimony to this city and to the world of jesus christ being alive from the dead very real very alive in the body of believers known as his church in the world father we thank you god we praise you for this we give you all the glory in jesus name let's thank him we've got to praise him bless god