In this sermon, the preacher emphasizes the need for a genuine seeking of God and a return to the true Christianity of the Bible. He highlights how the church has often turned inward and lost sight of its purpose to be a blessing in the world. The preacher encourages believers to walk with God and be channels of His goodness and kindness to others. He concludes by urging listeners to press through and seek a deep relationship with God, embracing the promises and calling He has for their lives.

I want to speak to you this morning, a message entitled, When Jacob Sees His Children. When Jacob Sees His Children, Acts Chapter 24, please. If you'll go there with me in the New Testament. We're going to begin there. And from there we'll go to Isaiah, and then onward from there. Father, I thank you, God, with all my heart, for the anointing of the Holy Spirit. You're the only one, Holy Spirit, who can animate and make this word come alive. I'm asking you today to take the words that you've placed in my heart and expand them a thousand ways. Speak to every need, speak to every person who's gathered here. Lord, you know what the struggles are, you know what the needs are. I can only speak one thing, but God, you can speak a thousand things at the same time. I'm asking you, Lord, to take and multiply this, as you did the loaves and fishes and feed thousands today. God, give me the ability to speak this clearly. I thank you for it with all my heart. Above everything, let your name, Jesus Christ, Son of God, be glorified. And I thank you for this in your precious name. Amen. Acts Chapter 24, and we're going to begin at verse 24, when Jacob sees his children. And after certain days, when Felix came with his wife, Drusilla, which was a Jewess, he sent for Paul and heard him concerning the faith in Christ. And as he reasoned, that's Paul, of righteousness and temperance and judgment to come, Felix trembled and answered, Go thy way for this season. When I have a convenient season, I will call for thee. He hoped also that money should have been given him of Paul, that he might loose him. Wherefore, he sent for him the offener and communed with him. But after two years, Portius Festus came into Felix's room, and Felix, willing to show the Jews a pleasure, left Paul bound. Now, historians tell us that Felix was a former slave who was freed by Claudius Caesar for an unknown reason. Nobody really understands why, but he was a slave. He was freed by Caesar, and he was appointed to be the governor of Judea. Now, history records that during his governorship, he indulged in all kinds of cruelty and lust. And he considered himself as a man having a license to commit any crime because of the position and authority that he felt that he held. Now, you've got to understand, this is kind of a ruler. In a sense, calls Paul, and it's just, I think, part of the journey of a lot of these men is that they were just bored. This was something new, something to occupy their time. And he calls in this man that he feels that he has bound, and he has completely under his control. And as Paul begins to speak to him, now Paul the apostle is standing before this governor, and he's speaking about righteousness, about the only way to write relationship with God. Now, you and I know that Paul is speaking about Jesus Christ. He's speaking about God having become a man, going to a cross, paying the price for sin. And the only way to return to God, the only way to have an eternity with God is to give oneself in entirety and to believe in the heart that Jesus Christ is the one who died for our sins. Paul reasoned with him about temperance, that means the ability to control one's passions. He would have talked to him about the indwelling power of the Holy Spirit, how that when faith has brought a person to salvation through belief in the fact that Jesus died for them, the Holy Spirit will come and take up residence, which is God in the third person. And that person becomes a new person. There are new abilities given. The old power of the sin nature is broken. And all things, as the scripture said, have become new. And Paul would have reasoned with him about these things. And then he talked to him about judgment to come. And I know exactly what Paul was doing. Paul's standing there and saying, listen, there is a way to righteousness, there is a way out of living a life. Now, Paul is speaking to a man who's committing atrocities, who's given to lust, who's abusing his power and authority. And Paul says, now, for those who resist and refuse this salvation, for those who will not allow the Holy Spirit to bring their physical body as it is under the governorship of God, there's a judgment coming. And Paul would have spoken very clearly about that judgment because he himself elsewhere in the scripture says, knowing the terror of the Lord, we persuade men. Paul had seen that vision of God on this road to Damascus. And he knew that all men one day, and women, would have to stand in that presence of God. And he knew that nothing but mercy could cause a man or woman to stand there and to ever be able to have an encounter that is anything more than momentary with this living God. Now, Felix trembled, it says. In the original text, it says, the word tremble means to come to oneself, to have recovered one's senses or understanding. In other words, Felix understood it. As Paul spoke, now, you have to understand that Paul is conceivably the most brilliant theologian alive on the face of the earth at this moment in history. Paul has a revelation of Christ, second to none. Paul, perhaps, is standing before Felix saying, oh, that you could see him, as Paul wrote to the Ephesian church, if you could understand where he's seated, much higher than you are, if you could understand the depth of his redemption, if you could know the glory of what he wants to do in the life that is surrendered to him, if you could see it. And Paul is standing there, seemingly a captive, but incredibly free. And Felix looked at this and his heart trembled. There's an inner trembling in him because he knows this is right, this is true. Now, if you carry on further in the text, the scripture says that he began to send for him often and commune with him. Now, picture yourself a worker in that particular building or court, and you see Paul one more time being drawn in to Festus' chamber. And you'd say, well, how hungry. What a day this is. Look how hungry this man is for God. I mean, he's calling in this man of God. They are communing with one another on a frequent basis. And the casual observer would say, well, how much spiritual hunger is involved in this? It doesn't mean a person is spiritually hungry because they go to church all the time, folks. It doesn't mean that a person is spiritually hungry because they attend conventions, and even do it in the name of God. It doesn't mean that they're really spiritually hungry. And this text proves that. In verse 26, he said, in the latter part of the verse, it says, he sent for him the oftener and communed with him. But verse 26 tells us why. It says, he hoped that money should have been given him of Paul, that he might loose him. And so in his heart, he's invading these incredible truths that Paul must have been laying out clearly before him. And he's hoping somehow that this whole quest would lead him to money. Tell me that that's not the church age we're living in today. Try to tell me that the masses attending conferences and crusades and conventions all over this country for the last 20 years, tell me that's not been at the heart of much of the seeking, apparently, of God. It's not just money, it's that I might be advantaged. That somehow this relationship with God might increase me in my journey or my perception of myself, that I might have personal gain out of this. And there are multitudes today, folks, that their whole purpose of seeking God has been about themselves. It's not about the purposes of God. Now Felix wants nothing to do with Paul. Paul standing before him, who truly is the representative of God, he wants nothing to do with this, but he somehow has the distorted thinking, even though he's the governor, that if I talk enough with this man, somehow I'm going to be enriched by it, personally. There are people who go to church just to study, not to ever submit to Christ, not to ever be involved in the work of God, not to ever have a clear vision that results in a transformed life, but just to have an increase of knowledge, that they might somehow stand and be articulate and charming in a religious environment, but having no desire to ever live for God, write books about Him, even speak about Him, but really don't ever want to live for Him. But it says now, after two years, Portia's Festus came into Felix's room, and Felix, willing to show the Jews a pleasure, left Paul bound. And so the end of this particular passage of Scripture is that eventually Felix was replaced. Someone else came to sit in the very place where once the true blessing of God could have been his. God forbid that in this house, two years from today, two months from today, two weeks from today, that you should be replaced. That somebody else comes and takes your seat, your spot. This place of seeking that was given to you, a place where God stood before you through His Word, gave you clear revelation of who He is, but somehow, in heart, you made the wrong choice, you pursued the wrong goal, you held to a wrong value system, and subsequently are replaced. And it says he left Paul bound. And I think it's interesting because this book, we call this a binding. And those who will not seek honestly the truth in this book, you will leave this book bound, you'll sit it on a shelf somewhere, you'll close its pages because it will be utterly locked to you. Or if you do open it, it will be just to the places that talk about money. And only talk about money in the manner that you want it to talk about money. Not how it really talks about money, or personal gain or advantage. The prophet Isaiah speaks of a time in Isaiah chapter 29, if you'll go there please with me in your Bibles. He speaks of a time of deep and unconquerable calamity. He speaks of a time of deep spiritual change that was about to break out in his generation, a time that many would be left out of. And folks, we would be well advised to take heed to these words from the prophet Isaiah. Now, the whole system of religion had turned to corruption. It had become political. It was a seeking, but it was just a casual seeking that was done by rote. People were being led now by the ideas of men. The honest seeking of God is gone. The people are captivated by enemies on every side, but are not even aware that they are captivated. They've lost the history of what it is that they're supposed to be as the people of God. According to the word of God to Abraham and to all of his descendants, and ultimately through the church of Jesus Christ, we ought to be a blessing in the world. We're not to live in the world to just be blessed. We're to be a blessing in the world. We're to be a channel through which the goodness and kindness of God flows to fallen humanity all around us. This channel of God's blessing, but it turned. And folks, time and time again throughout history, the church has turned inward. The people of God have turned inward. And they've lost the focus of what it means to be the body of Christ in the world. And we see this in the Old Testament example that Isaiah writes about in chapter 29. In verses 1 to 4, the Lord says, I'm going to surround this corrupt religious system and bring it down. I'm going to bring it down to the place where those who profess it have nothing left to say. I'm going to bring it down, God says. I have to bring it down. He says, woe to Ariel, the city of David, where David dwelt. Verse 1, add year to year and let them kill sacrifices. Yet I will distress Ariel, that means Jerusalem. And there should be heaviness and sorrow and it should be unto me as Ariel. And I will camp against thee round about and lay siege against thee with a mount. And I will raise forts against thee. And thou shall be brought down and shall speak out of the ground. And thy speech shall be low out of the dust. And thy voice shall be as one that has a familiar spirit out of the ground. And thy speech shall whisper out of the dust. He said, I'm going to come against this whole corrupt religious system. And I'm going to bring it down until it comes to the point where it has nothing left to say. There's nothing left to say. Folks, I feel in my heart we are in a similar time. The Lord has to get His church out of captivity. He has to get the people. There are some honest people, some true people of God have been waylaid into practices that are not prescribed in the Scripture. They're like Felix, they're standing before truth. But there's a wrong focus in the heart. And the Lord says, no, I'm going to have to take this away. I'm going to take away everything that is stopping you from knowing Me in the measure that I have determined to know you. The relationship was to be something, but you've made it into something else. He said, you've come to an altar and you are sacrificing as you see sacrifice. But it's fallen so far short of what a relationship with God was supposed to be. And He says, I'm going to have to bring it all down. I'm going to have to destroy it all. And it's going to come into the place where there's nothing more to say. All of the boasters, all of those operating in the flesh, all of those with all their theories that have evolved from the minds of men will have nothing left to say. There'll be no answer in the flesh. In other words, the flesh will have no answer. The flesh will just be whispers and little peeps out of the earth. There'll be nothing because it is a theology that comes from the earth and when the earth fails it, when its whole focus dies, when something comes to take its place, it will have absolutely nothing to say to this generation. He said, at that time I'm going to overthrow everything that had you in its grasp and I'll bring you back to myself again. Isaiah 29.5, He said, It shall be even as when a hungry man dreams and behold he eats, but he wakes and his soul is empty. Or as when a thirsty man dreams and behold he drinks, but he wakes and he's faint and his soul has appetite. So shall the multitude of the nations be that fight against Mount Zion. He said, listen, I'm doing something. I'm going to overthrow your enemies. The Lord says, I know what fights against you. And they've surrounded you and they feel like they're going to be satisfied upon you. They feel like they're going to devour you up. They feel like they're going to satisfy their thirst upon you. But God says, I'm going to come against them suddenly. And they're going to be as someone who is having a dream. He said, your enemies are dreaming that they can conquer you. My enemies are dreaming that they can conquer my church. Because the gates of hell can never prevail against the church of Jesus Christ. He said, but I'm coming against it. And I'm going to overthrow it. And they're not going to be able to satisfy their appetite upon that which is my true bride in the earth. Praise be to God. He says, many like Felix will not be able to embrace what is happening right before their eyes. Because their hearts are far from God. And they're following their own desire. They'll not see it in other words. They'll not see God in this time. Folks, I tell you, God is at work. And what looks like a disaster in the natural is going to be a wonderment in the spiritual. God says, I'm going to cut off on the left and on the right. I'm going to cut off before and behind all of your enemies. That are trying to lure you into a place of false pursuit of God. I'm going to cut off every voice. I'm going to cut off every theory. I'm going to cut it off till there's nothing left to speak. And it's my hand. It's not circumstance against you. It's my hand, says the Lord. It's me who's come to retrieve my bride. I've come to get my church. The Lord says in one of the Psalms, he said, The Lord awoken as a man out of wine. And he said he fell on his enemies with such a fury that they didn't have time to even turn around. The Lord says, I've come for my church. I've come to get those that are mine. I've come to vanquish every enemy of righteousness. I've come to be a clear voice. A clear trumpet call in a very uncertain and dark time. Isaiah 29, verse 9. Stay yourselves in wonder. Now he's talking to, I'll call it the Felix ministry. Or the Felix church. Stay yourselves in wonder. Cry out and cry. You're drunken but not with wine. They stagger but not with strong drink. For the Lord has poured out upon you the spirit of deep sleep and has closed your eyes. Your prophets and your rulers, the seers, he has covered. And the vision of all has become unto you as the words of a book that is sealed. Which men deliver to one that is learned, saying, Read this, I pray thee. And he says, I cannot, for it is sealed. And the book is delivered to him that is not learned, saying, Read this, I pray thee. And he says, I am not learned. Wherefore the Lord said, Forasmuch as this people draw near to me with their mouth and with their lips to honor me, but have removed their heart far from me, and their fear toward me is taught by the precept of men. The Lord says, I'm going to shut all of it down. I'm going to close the book to this camp. And people are going to be running and saying, Tell us what is happening. What does the future hold? Where is God in this? And all of those who have been of the Felix ministry with all of their degrees are going to say, I don't know. I don't know the book is closed. I remember when the towers came down. How few voices, how few voices of all of the positive, wonderful ideologies of the Christian life could have an answer. They didn't know what was going on. They didn't understand that it was God saying, This is what I'm about to do. I'm about to go and bring down the pride of those who say they know me. I'm going to bring it all down. And I'm going to go after my people. And he said, These people draw near to me with their mouth and their lips to honor me, but they've removed their heart far from me. And their fear towards me is taught by the ideas of men, the precepts of men. They're led by the flesh. They're led by thoughts out of men's hearts. Isaiah goes on to say from verses 14 to 19. In a very little while, what is truly desirable and of value will appear before you. The Lord says, My hand is in this. You're going to see something. Those who have an honest heart. Too bad Felix couldn't see what stood before him. Too bad he couldn't see the value of eternal life in God through Jesus Christ. Too bad he couldn't understand where real power is. He couldn't see it because his whole focus was on personal advantage and gain. Therefore, he says in verse 14, And their works are in the dark. And they say, Who sees us and who knows us? Surely, your turning of things upside down shall be esteemed as the potter's clay. For shall the works say of him that made it, He made me not. Or shall the thing frame say of him that framed it, He has no understanding. Is it not yet a very little while? And Lebanon shall be turned into a fruitful field. And the fruitful field shall be esteemed as a forest. And in that day shall the deaf hear the words of the book. The eyes of the blind shall see out of obscurity and out of darkness. The meek also shall increase their joy in the Lord. And the poor among men shall rejoice in the Holy One of Israel. In a very little while, he says, In a very little while, what is truly desirable and of value is going to appear before you. In a very little while, the Lord says, I'm going to open your eyes. And you're going to see where life really is. You thought it was in career. You thought it was in advantage. You thought it was in embracing and adopting the value system of a perishing world and a fallen society. But he said, No, I'm going to take it all away and then I'm going to open your eyes. And you're going to have a vision of where life really is. And in that day, he said, No, Isaiah is speaking about the coming of Christ prophetically here. But Christ comes to his people time and again. Throughout history, he will open the eyes of his people again. And I do believe in the last days there will be one great, glorious, incredible vision of who Jesus Christ is. You have to have felt that this morning in the worship. God was speaking to us this morning all through the worship in this church. The very things I was about to preach, we were singing about. And that's not intentional on our part. That's something the Holy Spirit orchestrates. He says, In that day, the deaf shall hear the words of the book. God says, I'm going to open your ears and open your hearts. And you're going to hear where the strength of Christ really is. What the purpose of God really is. Where joy is found in the Christian life. Where security really lies. How it is that I can pull you out of the mirey clay and set your feet upon a rock. How I can give you a song in the midst of the storm like Paul had on the deck of a perishing ship. How I can stand with you as I've stood with the saints of old throughout all generations. And you can become like those that are written in the hall of faith in Hebrews, in the book of Hebrews. You will become like this. I will bring you out. Your ears will be opened. Your hearts will be opened. And the reason it will happen is because you will see where true value is. It's not in the things of this world. It's in living a life that is given to the purposes of God through Jesus Christ. That's where the value of life is. It's in embracing the way of God. It's in doing as Jesus said, taking up daily the will of God as it's called across in the New Testament for my life. And walking in the will of God. And going into these places. And doing what God calls me to do. Doing it in the sovereign strength of God. Trusting Him for supernatural abilities that only He can give. As I stand in the midst of the storm. As I stand in a failing and fallen generation. Declaring to who all can hear there is a way out. There is a place of life. There is something that is everlasting. We've lost sight of it. But God in His mercy has brought it back into focus again. And folks, He brings the truth of who He is back into focus through His church. He does it through His people. Through you and through me. That's how this generation is going to know who Jesus Christ is. When they see Him in us. They see Him in the surrendered people. To His word and to His ways. In a very little while you're going to see this. The eyes of the blind shall see out of obscurity and out of darkness. The meek also shall increase their joy in the Lord. And the poor among men shall rejoice in the Holy One of Israel. Praise be to God. Folks, I see a turning to God. Yes, in calamity. Yes, in a storm. Yes, when everything else, every other voice has been brought for a season into the dust. I see a turning to God. I see glory and joy in the house of God. I see young and old, rich and poor. I see every honest heart. Every honest seeking pair of eyes. I see dancing in the house of God. I see clapping. I see compassion. I see joy. I see hope. I see a future. I see eternity in the house of God. I see Jesus. I see God coming into His temple. I see the glory of the Lord visiting a people again. I see you and I with the value system of heaven exploding within our hearts. Exploding within our minds. Because folks, it's always been about the salvation of men, women and children who were lost when Adam sinned in the garden of Eden. And God came down as a man. Died on a cross to get them back to Himself again for all of eternity. I see a people whose eyes are opened. Praise be to God. And begin to understand I have a mansion in glory being prepared for me right now. I am an eternal creation in God. Though for a season, as Peter says, I must suffer. Though for a season heartache and hardship may come my way. There is a greater weight of glory coming. There is something everlasting. There is something eternal. This life is only a vapor. Only a puff of smoke. It's only here for a short season. Just a little while. Just a little while. We've got to walk through this. Though I have to walk through the fire. Though I have to walk through the flood. Though I have to walk through difficult, dark and hard days. I'm not walking through alone. I'm not hiding in a bomb shelter with a can of beans, folks. I'm walking where the people are. You and I are going to see them come to Christ. We're going to see multitudes, multitudes, multitudes, multitudes, multitudes come to the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. Praise God. Verse 20 says, For the terrible one is brought to nothing, and the scorner is consumed. And all that watch for iniquity are cut off, that make a man an offender for a word. The Lord says, I'm cutting off all that swear falsely. And they lay a snare for him that reproves in the gate. That means all that pervert justice. And turn aside the just for a thing of not. That's exactly what Felix did to Paul. He had the truth before him. But he turned aside the truth and left the truth bound for something that wasn't going to last. And folks, God says, I'm going to deal with this. I'm going to bring it all to nothing. Therefore, thus saith the Lord who redeemed Abraham. And concerning the house of Jacob. Jacob, now this is about the promise. The promise is that through Abraham and through his seed, that all of the world was going to be blessed. He says, concerning the house of Jacob, Jacob shall not now be ashamed, and neither shall his face now watch pale. In other words, the Lord says, I will, my church is not going out with a whimper out of this world. No, sir, we're not going out with a whimper. Jacob is not going to be ashamed. The testimony of God is not going to be triumphed over. I believe the greatest hour of the church is just upon us now. Praise God. He says, but when he sees his children, when Jacob sees his children, the work of my hands, in the midst of him, they shall sanctify my name, and sanctify the Holy One of Jacob, and shall fear the God of Israel. They also that are in spirit shall come to understanding, and they that murmured shall learn doctrine. And here's what I feel the Lord speaking. When Jacob sees his children, when this system that has evolved, that was supposed to be a blessing to the people of the earth, but has backslidden, when it sees in its midst, when all of this religious system sees the children of God, those truly gripped by God, those walking with God, those with God's value system, those empowered by the Spirit of God, those possessing the heart of God, walking with the joy of the Lord, with the strength in their step, with vision in their eye, with an ear that can hear what heaven is speaking, walking in the supernatural, never triumphed over. Like Paul said, we're cast down, but not forsaken. We're pressed down, but never overcome. And when people look and see this, when they see the true church arising in this generation, he said, then they that err than spirits have come to understanding, and they that murmured shall learn doctrine. I believe that many, many who have embraced meaningless religious practice will turn back to the Lord in this generation. Many who are just sitting in churches, dead, empty, dry, listening to empty promises, wrong pursuits of the heart, when they see the church, when they see a God-gripped people, just as on the day of Pentecost, folks, religion bent its knee on the day of Pentecost, when a God-gripped people of fishermen, and the poor, and the oppressed, and those who had been blind, and those who had been lame, those who had been lepers, stepped out of that upper room, God-gripped. Speaking of the marvelous works of God, religion bent its knee. And religion will forever bend its knee when there's a God-gripped people in the midst of the earth. Praise God! Praise God! Praise God! I believe in my heart, we're going to live to see a generation that in the midst of hardship will see churches come alive that have long ago seemingly died. But I'm reminded constantly that dry wood burns the best. People are finally sin-sick and fed up, and they've finally given up on everything that has left them dry, all the endless miles, all the empty promises, all of the foolish, stupid prophesying in this generation. They're finally sick of it all, and saying, God, come to me, open my eyes, open my ears, I want the Christ of the Bible, I want the Christianity of the Bible. Go back one book, and we're going to close with the Song of Solomon, and we're going to go back to worship again. Song of Solomon, chapter 5, just go back one book from Isaiah, and it shows us a picture of how this is going to happen. Chapter 5, verse 2. This last-day church will have such a vision of Christ that many who are once mired in religion will want to follow her. I sleep... This is the bride now speaking. I sleep, but my heart wakes. It's the voice of my beloved that knocks, saying, open to me, my sister, my love, my dove, my undefiled. For my head is filled with dew, and my locks with the drops of the night. I've put off my coat, how shall I put it on? I've washed my feet, how shall I defile them? In other words, the bridegroom is saying to the bride, I've already finished the work, I can't come back and do it again. You have to come to me now. You've got to get up, and you've got to come to me. My beloved put his hand by the hole of the door, and my bowels were moved for him. I rose up to open to my beloved, and my hands dropped with myrrh, and my fingers with sweet-smelling myrrh upon the handles of the lock. Now, myrrh was both a burial spice, and it was an ingredient in the holy anointing oil in the Old Testament. It talks about the death, and the burial, and the resurrection of Jesus Christ, the anointing and power that's available to those who respond to Him when He comes and knocks on the door of their heart. I opened to my beloved, and my beloved had withdrawn himself and was gone. My soul failed when He spoke. I sought Him, but I could not find Him. I called, but He gave me no answer. The watchmen that went about the city found me. They smote me. They wounded me. The keepers of the walls took away my veil from me. This is the bride trying to get through, and she said, I have a sense that I'm deeply desired of God, that He wants me to walk with Him, but there's a religious system that you've got to get through to get there. That system that says, No, you're not ready yet. No, He doesn't want you yet. No, you're not desired by Him. And the keepers of the walls took off this bride's veil, her covering as it is, the sense of loveliness. They took it off of her. And she said, I charge you, O daughters of Jerusalem, if you find my beloved, did you tell him I'm sick of love? Now they ask her. These are the watchmen. What is your beloved more than another beloved? In other words, what is your God more than any other God? O thou fairest among women, what is your beloved more than any other beloved that you do so charge us? In other words, what have you seen that we haven't seen? We have a perspective of God, but yours seems to be different. What have you seen that we haven't seen? And this was like Paul standing before Felix. Can you hear him? O Felix, that you could see him, that you could see who he is, that you could understand the majesty of his power, that you could see his glory, that you could understand, Felix, what he has for you. Yet you choose oppression, you choose lust, you choose money, you choose the abuse of a power and authority, and you choose all of this over what God is offering you for eternity. She begins to say, My beloved is white and ruddy, the chiefest among ten thousand. His head is the most fine gold, his locks are bushy, as black as a raven. His eyes are as the eyes of doves by the rivers of water washed with milk and fitly set. His cheeks are as the bed of spices, sweet flowers. His lips are like lilies dropping sweet-smelling myrrh. His hands are as gold rings set with beryl. His belly is bright ivory overlaid with sapphires. His legs are as pillars of marble. Now every one of these has significance. For example, the Old Testament temple had two pillars in the entranceway to the door. One was, they were called beauty and balance. It meant beauty and strength. She's describing Christ here, folks. And it says, His legs are as pillars of marble set upon sockets of fine gold. His countenance is Lebanon, excellent as the cedars. His mouth is most lovely. Ye, he's altogether lovely. This is my beloved. This is my friend, O daughters of Jerusalem. This is who he is. This is a bride whose eyes are open. This is a bride who's moved beyond the religion of the day. Moved into something holy. Moved into something divine. Moved into something given of God. Moved into an understanding that I don't care. I don't care what people say in this generation. I'm pressing through until I find Him. I'm pressing through until I have come into relationship with what I've seen in this book. Until the promises He's made are all mine. I'm pressing through until I've become everything. Until I'm walking with Him. Until I'm doing the very thing He has called me to do. Where is your beloved gone? O thou fairest among women, where is your beloved turned aside that we may seek Him with thee? And here it is in verse 6. These are the watchmen still saying, Where did He go? We want Him too. We'll seek Him with you. If you have such a vision of Him, our religion has not given us this vision. But if you have this vision, count us in. We're going with you. Folks, that's where we're going in this generation. My beloved has gone down into His garden, into the beds of spices to feed in the garden and to gather lilies. My beloved is at work in the earth. My beloved lost what was very dear to Him in the Garden of Eden. And He has come down to gather now. He's come down to gather what is dear to His heart. What He died for 2,000 years ago. He's come down to gather. That's where my beloved is. He's down in the garden. He's gathering lilies. He's gathering these souls that are going to adorn Heaven for all of eternity. Praise God. Verse 10 of chapter 7. I'm my beloved's and His desire is towards me. Come, my beloved. Let us go forth into the field. Let us lodge in the villages. Let us get up early to the vineyards. Let us see if the vine flourishes, whether the tender grapes appear and the pomegranates bud forth. And there I will give you, my loves. That means my strength. He says, come now. Come, let us go into the field. Let's go into the field, folks. There's an invitation now. You will never have this vision if you sit in Felix's seat. If you're hearing truth and the whole thing in your heart is how can truth better my life. You're gonna be locked out and eventually somebody's gonna take your place. And there's a whole church age now that's being locked out. And there's an invitation always open to come into the work of God but many will choose not to. And another generation will take their place. Another bride, another people. He says, come, let us go into the field. Let us lodge in the villages. Let's get up early to the vineyards. Let's see if the vine is flourishing. Whether the tender grapes, new life, new fruit, new souls, whether they appear. And there I'll give you my love, he says. There you will know who I am. There your eyes will be opened. There, praise God. There I'll give it to you. God is love, the scripture says. And there you will know the fullness of my strength. You will see who I am. He says, the mandrakes give a smell and that our gates are all manner of pleasant fruits, new and old, which I've laid up for thee, oh, my beloved. Oh, the strength. Oh, the treasure. Oh, the power. Oh, the life. Oh, everything that I've laid up for you, oh, my beloved. I'm not suggesting to you that you leave your job and head to the mission field. What I'm suggesting is that your whole focus for coming to God becomes the souls of men and women and children. You walk through this life. Yes, you have to work. That's Paul made tense. Even while God gave him the revelation. He was a realist. He had to work to earn a living. We understand that. But his whole focus was you and me. And that is the focus of any man or woman or church or age that will ever know Jesus Christ, ever see him. You can't see him until you and I are willing to walk with him, until we are willing to enter into his work. He said, if you'll head out into the field. Now, the field is right out this door. The field is your office. The field is your neighborhood. It's your apartment block. That's the field. If you'll head out into the field and you and I will walk together. And he says, there I'll give you my strength. There, the words of knowledge will start to come. There, compassion will come into your heart that you know you don't have. There, you'll begin to hear a voice that says, go this way, don't go there. Speak now, hold your peace. He said, we'll be walking together and you'll get home at night. And when the day is all over every day, you'll say, oh God, that people could see you the way I do. That they could understand the sovereign power that you're willing to give to those who are doing your work. If they could be brought into this trust that was so evident in the apostle Paul's life that even when he's sent to jail in the last of his days, and I know there'd be many of that time saying, what a waste of a life. What a waste of knowledge. What a waste of the brilliance. But Paul had this understanding in his heart. Oh no, oh no. All things work together for good. Oh no, I've not been triumphed over. I don't see it with my eyes, but I see Him with my eyes. And so Paul began to write about what he saw. And because he wrote it, we have it today in the text of scripture in the New Testament. Oh, that you could see Him. When Jacob, when this old religious system sees its children alive in God, many, not all, but many will follow. And many new will be brought into the kingdom of God. It's the only way through, folks. It's the only way through the coming days. You have to be walking with God. You have to be free from sin. You have to have an honest heart. You have to enter the work of God. And it's not just a way to survive, it's a way to get through with joy. And if you don't survive, you'll be in heaven. So it's win-win. Either way. The Bible says that the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the earth to show Himself strong on the behalf of those whose heart is perfect towards Him. Today, the eyes of God are on you. Through Paul, the eyes of God were on Felix. But he just wouldn't lay down his perverted view of God. If you would lay it down, and whatever it means that you have to cast aside, you know and God knows. And if you will just get up and begin to walk with God, by the mouths of the righteous, the Bible does say the city will be blessed. Who knows how many days God may give us, because there are righteous people walking in New York City, so that we may do His work in seeing the lost come to Him. Because that is the work of God. It's not about saving the castles around us. It's about people. Praise God. Praise God. We're going to worship for a little while. If the Holy Spirit is speaking to you, if you can hear His voice, you do want to walk with God. I'm going to open this altar. In the Education Annex, you could step between the screens. It's simply a move forward. That's what the altar call is really about. It's not mystical in itself. It's just a physical moving forward. I heard, I agree with this. If God's eyes are on me, if God is speaking to me, then God forbid that I should have an alternate value system that will leave me ultimately replaced in a short season by somebody else who's hungry for truth. God forbid this should be. I'm going with Him. Wouldn't it be awesome if Felix would have had the courage to get out of his seat and join Paul? He could have had eternal life. Could have made a great difference perhaps in his generation. But I fear that most likely he went back to Rome and just became as demented and debauched as the leadership of that system became. Father, I thank you, God, for this day. Thank you, Lord, for the simplicity of your word. Thank you, Lord, that you are speaking to us about the future, about what is coming, about how to get through. Lord, you're talking to us about glorious things that you want to do in your church. Help me to be one of those that responds in heart fully. God Almighty, help your people. I ask this in Jesus' name. As we all stand, if the Holy Spirit's drawing you to respond to what you heard, just make your way to this altar. We'll pray momentarily. Just come and worship here together. In the balcony, you can go to either exit, make your way down. Sanctuary, just slip out. We'll worship God together. Thank you, Lord. He holds my hand He sees each tear that falls And gives me when I call He calls me His own Believe me No matter He knows my name He knows my every love He sees each tear that falls And gives me when I call He sees each tear that falls And gives me when I call He sees each tear that falls He sees each tear that falls And gives me when I call And gives me when I call Here I am At your feet Covered by your grace so free Here I am Here I am We are not sinful men How great is the Lord He is mine Since you laid down your life The greatest sacrifice Destiny Destiny The grace that's found me just as I am Descended by the light in your hand Here I am Here I am And so that I can forgive Here I am How great is the Lord He is mine Since you laid down your life The greatest sacrifice Destiny The grace that's found me just as I am Descended by the light in your hand Here I am Here I am How great is the Lord How great is the Lord Oh, Majesty Majesty Your grace has found me Your grace has found me just as I am If they had Empty-handed but alive in your hand Thank you, Jesus Thank you, Lord Thank you Fill me, Lord, and change me Anoint and consecrate me As I come into your presence Here am I Fill me, Lord, and change me Anoint and consecrate me As I come into your presence Here am I Fill me, Lord Fill me, Lord, and change me Anoint and consecrate me As I come into your presence Standing in your presence Holding out Here am I Fill me, Lord, and change me Anoint and consecrate me As I come into your presence Here am I Fill me, Lord, and change me Anoint and consecrate me As I come into your presence Here am I Fill me, Lord, and change me Anoint and consecrate me Fill me, Lord, and change me Anoint and consecrate me As I come into your presence Here am I Fill me, Lord, and change me Anoint and consecrate me As I come into your presence Here am I Have your way, Jesus Have your way Abide in our hands, oh Jesus Abide in our hearts, oh Jesus Draw us close to you Close to you, Jesus Close to you Wanna be close to you, Jesus It's my desire Is my desire It's my desire Just to be close Just to be close to you Wanna be close Just to be close to you Wanna be close Just to be close to you It's my desire Wanna be close Just to be close to you Just to be close to you, Jesus Just to be close to you Is my desire It's my desire Praise God To those who are at this altar And have responded in heart throughout the sanctuary Don't let any voice Take away your covering Don't let any voice come to you And say that God doesn't desire you That song we're singing Is really the Lord singing to you Just to be close to you is my desire It's He singing that today To you If you'll just open your heart And just let Him come And then He invites you Let's go into the villages Let's go and do my work in the earth And there you will know strength I want to remind you that in scripture The mightiest men of God didn't come out of colleges They came out of caves You can say that's me Praise God Lord, thank you For how you have met with us And you're meeting with us in an unusual way Every time we gather now Thank you for what you're doing, Lord Help us to just respond to your love Lord, this is something you're doing, Lord You're drawing us to you I pray, God, that all of us Have a vision of Christ That we can all hear That we can all walk with you, Lord Give us a testimony of you, Lord In this generation, God And let it be not just words But let it be alive in us, Lord That testimony God, we thank you I pray one more time, Father That you send the Holy Spirit For Jesus' name's sake, Lord Send the Holy Spirit to your church again, O God Your bride throughout the world We need a fresh baptism of the Holy Spirit Lord, they prayed in Acts 5, I believe Lord, the threatenings were on all sides And it says in your word That the place where they were gathered was shaken And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost And they spoke God's word with boldness Lord, we find ourselves in a situation like this Everything, it seems, is against righteousness But, God, as long as you are with us Nobody can prevail against us, Lord We ask you to come, Lord In measure, in great measure And fill us as your people Lord, we're open to what you want to do We're open to how you want to do it, Lord All I ask is that you come, Lord Come, Holy Spirit Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord God, thank you Now, bless the people in this sanctuary today Bless our coming in, bless our going out Bless our homes, bless our children Let the peace of God reign in our hearts Let our words be words of comfort and stability In these uncertain times Let our confidence be in God Father, I thank you, Lord Give us words of compassion to those who have strayed Help us to be kind to those who misrepresent you Lord, in everything, Lord Let us be the extended hand of God in the earth Father, we thank you, Lord One day soon, the trumpet is going to sound And we're going to be gathered together with those in heaven And so shall we ever be with the Lord Until that day, God, keep our feet active and alive in your work And Father, we thank you for this with all our hearts In Jesus' name, amen and amen It's wonderful to be saved, isn't it? It's wonderful to be saved It's wonderful to know God Wonderful to walk with God Wonderful to have hope for tomorrow Praise God Bless the Lord