In this sermon, the preacher emphasizes the importance of believing in God and making the glory of the risen Christ a reality in our lives. He encourages believers to be transformed and to live in a way that causes others to desire God. The preacher also mentions the reign of Solomon, which was characterized by great peace. He shares a personal experience of being a positive influence on his coworkers through his work ethic and faith. The sermon concludes with a call for believers to live a life that glorifies God, regardless of the opposition or challenges they may face.

This recording is provided by Times Square Church in New York City. You're welcome to make additional copies for free distribution to friends. All other unauthorized duplication or electronic transmission is a violation of copyright and other applicable laws. This recording cannot be posted on any website. However, written permission to link to the Times Square Church homepage may be requested by emailing info at timessquarechurch.org. Other recordings are available by calling 1-800-488-0854 or by writing to Times Square Church Tape Ministry, 1657 Broadway, New York, New York, 10019. Psalm 67 and 1 Kings chapter 8. If you can get a marker and start at Psalm 67 and put a marker in 1 Kings chapter 8 because we'll be turning there momentarily. I want to speak to you today about when the blessing of God sends fear in the earth. Now Father, I stand before you. Lord, I have no other desire but to see your name glorified. I long to see your kingdom advance in the hearts of your people and to see knowledge and understanding becoming the strength of our times. God, I'm asking for an anointing that would allow these words that you've given me to speak on your behalf to become etched in the minds and hearts of the hearers and to see an ever-expanding understanding of who we are in Jesus Christ and what it means to be born again by the Spirit of God and what it means to live a life with the sovereign supernatural life of our Creator being lived out within us. Give us understanding of these things. Lift us out of all mediocrity in our expression of your life and bring us, O God, by your mercy, into a place where you can point from heaven and say, this is my church. This is my testimony. Lord, this is the cry of our heart. This is the desperate need of this hour. Father, help us to understand this in Jesus' name. Now, you remember last week I began to speak about the value of a righteous person. This would be an extension of that message this morning. Now, just to recap for those that weren't here last week, a righteous person is somebody who's simply living in right relationship with God. They may not be preaching to multitudes, but they have clean hands, and as much as they're able to, their hearts are in line with what God's Word says. They are open to the convicting power of the Holy Spirit, and the life of Christ is being made known in them and through them continuously. They're changing from image to image and glory to glory. They go to work every day. They may not see their life as an outstanding Christian life. And you remember the psalmist cried out and said, Oh, God, am I washing my hands for nothing? Am I cleansing my heart for no purpose? For all around me, people speak anything they want. They pursue anything they seem to want. And I seem to be afflicted from the time I get up till the time I go to bed at night. Is there no purpose to my life? And we discovered last week, yes, there is a very real and a very sovereign and a very divine purpose. Remember in the Old Testament when the Lord came down with the angels and met Abraham, he said, If I can find ten righteous people in Sodom and Gomorrah, I will not judge the city. And, folks, evil had gotten to the point where ten righteous people could not be found. And you don't know, and that was the point of the message last week, you and I don't know what it is that God is doing through us when we just simply make the choice to live for Him. You don't know what kind of evil is being restrained because the Bible speaks about a restrainer in Thessalonians that keeps back the power of darkness. And I've always believed the restrainer is the act of work of the Holy Spirit within the church of Jesus Christ. And the Scripture says that the restrainer will restrain evil, will restrain this outbreak of madness and lawlessness that will happen in the last of the last days until the restrainer be taken out of the way. Now, the removal of that restraining influence will culminate in an incredible outbreak of lawlessness such as the world has never seen. But yet, throughout history, the restraining influence of the Holy Spirit has been taken out of the way. Look back at the history of England, for example, the phenomenal revivals that country has known and the missionaries they've sent throughout the world and the realities of even much of the Scripture text that we have today came through the hand of God in surrendered vessels in that part of the world. But somewhere through just an erosion of an understanding or a love and desire for God, the restrainer was taken out of the way. The church is still there, but the restraining influence of the Holy Spirit was removed and now England is a lawless place, an incredible lawlessness is beginning to break out and desperation is even tugging at the hems of people in leadership in government today, not knowing what to do because of the lawlessness. Now, the psalmist in Psalm 67 says these words, God be merciful to us and bless us and cause His face to shine upon us that Thy way may be known upon earth and Thy saving health among all nations. Let the people praise Thee, O God, let all the people praise Thee. O let the nations be glad and sing for joy, for Thou shalt judge the people righteously and govern the nations upon earth. Let the people praise Thee, O God, let all the people praise Thee. Then shall the earth yield her increase and God, even our God, shall bless us. God shall bless us and all the ends of the earth shall fear Him. Now, the context of fear is reverential awe. They will stand back in awe when the blessing of God is truly upon His people. This is the cry of the psalmist, and this should be the cry of every professing Christian in our generation. God, bless me. Bless me in such a measure that Your life begins to be known through me, and everywhere I go, people have to stand back. And they may not like me, but they have to take issue with the fact that there is something in me that they do not find in themselves, they do not find it anywhere in the world. It cannot be found in the halls of learning. It cannot be found in the best efforts that man can put forward in their own energies. This is something that is supernatural, and they see it, and they begin to turn, and a reverential awe or fear of God begins to come into their heart. Remember that Jesus said, when the Holy Spirit comes, He will convince the world of sin and of righteousness and the coming day of judgment, because the prince of this world is already judged. Now, back in 1 Kings chapter 8. Now, first of all, I want to take a look at the life of a man who knew the glory of God. And I want to look at it as a type of the church of Jesus Christ. This man built the temple of the Lord. In this particular temple, the absolute glory of God descended. And, folks, when you receive Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, the glory of God in no less measure came into your life. When the Holy Spirit came into you, He is the third person of the triune God. He is the Spirit of Christ. He is God. He was the Spirit that is spoken about in the beginning of the text, when the Scripture says, then the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. This same Holy Spirit, actively involved in the creation of all things that we see today, came and took up residence within you. The moment you opened your heart to God, when you repented of your sin, when you acknowledged that Jesus Christ had paid the price for your sin on the cross, you opened your heart, this agent of God, known as the Holy Spirit, came within you. The third person of God now lives within you. Oh, folks, if that doesn't... Now, I'm not trying to evoke a response, but I've got to tell you, if that doesn't produce some kind of an inner shout within you, I don't think anything I ever preach will. The reality that I have now, the Holy of Holies is no longer God's presence hidden behind a veil. The Holy of Holies is now within me. I have the living Christ in me. God tells me that because He now lives within me, that I'm no longer under the dominion of my old nature. Sin no longer can rule me. The fallen nature that was mine because of the sin of Adam, no longer has the last word any longer. God now has the last word. And when I look in this book and begin to believe Him, He says, your job is to believe me. My job is to make the glory of the risen Christ a living reality within you. My job is to change you from image to image and glory to glory, so that as you walk through your neighborhood, into your living room, into your place of work, people stand back and say, I don't know what's happened to him or her, but I know whatever's happening to them, it's causing me to desire God. It's causing me to begin to look and say, I need that. Whatever it is that they've got, I need that. Now, Solomon had known a reign of great peace. In 1 Kings 4, verse 24, you don't have to turn there, but the Scripture tells us that a great, great peace was part, earmark rather, as it is of the reign of Solomon. He had peace on all sides. It says round about him. Now, as it is with those who truly follow Christ, when you follow Jesus Christ, there is an inner peace. I'm not talking about the fact that you're not going to have wars. You might have more enemies than you ever thought you had your entire life. You might be fighting on every side. Paul said, fighting is without fears within. He had come into a conflict that before Christ he knew very little about. But there is a deep and abiding inner peace that only God could put into a person's life. That you are able to stand in the storm. We sang today a song about deliverance. And I was kind of chuckling inside because for some it's going to come now, and for some that's going to be your song in heaven. Jesus showed up. And you're only going to realize it after you're dead. You're gone out of this physical body that he was here all the time. You were completely in his hand. He had a sovereign purpose for your life. And he is the deliverer. Oh, folks, you've got to let this get deep in your heart. There's a peace deep within those who truly know and follow Christ. It's a peace that comes from the understanding that God has everything under control. There's nothing happening to me that God hasn't allowed. And if he's allowed it, he has allowed it for a reason. My only cry is, Jesus, be glorified in this. Whether it's sorrow, whether it's suffering, whether it's sickness, whether it's things I don't understand. Jesus, be glorified in this. I trust God that you've allowed this to come my way for a reason. And you're going to keep me in the midst of this storm. And, God Almighty, there's going to be a peace inside of me that nothing of this world can take away from me. Proverbs 3.17 tells us that all the ways of God's wisdom and understanding are peace. If you are truly in this book and it is truly beginning to be interwoven in your inward mind and heart, there is a pathway that God leads you on, and it's called a pathway of peace. Even if it doesn't look like the best road to take, it's still the way of peace. Psalm 29.11 says, The Lord will give strength to his people, and the Lord will bless his people with peace. Psalm 37.37, David said, Mark the perfect man, or the man in whom the work of God is being perfected. That's really what it means. And behold the upright, for the end of that man is peace. David said, watch the person in whom the Spirit of God is. Watch the person where God is really doing the work. There is a peace in the midst of the storm that is the mark of the work of God within that particular life. There's a peace. Folks, in the coming days, we are not, as the church of Jesus Christ, to be found running around terrified. No matter what happens in the world or in society, we are a people of peace. We have a strength that people who are conditional as it is on their outward circumstances don't have. John 14.27, Jesus said, Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you. Not as the world gives, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, and neither let it be afraid. Jesus said, I'm giving you a peace. And you can't find it anywhere in the world. Folks, that's the first mark of the growth of grace. It's an incredible peace and I believe there's many here that can attest to this. You say, Pastor, I had a troubled mind, I had a troubled heart, I had a troubled life. I was always worried about tomorrow and the future and the past seemed to be always running to catch up with me. But I gave my life to Jesus Christ and today I come into this sanctuary and I don't have to fake it. I can raise my hands and say, God, thank you for the peace that's come into my mind and into my heart and into my life. Oh, God, thank you. Now, during this time of peace, 1 Kings 8.54 tells us that Solomon had been a man of intense devotion. And this is really what the beginning of understanding this peace that God puts in a person's heart leads us to a depth of prayer and devotion. And it was so, verse 54, 1 Kings 8, that when Solomon had made an end of praying all this prayer and supplication to the Lord, he arose from before the altar of the Lord and kneeling on his knees with his hands spread up to heaven. Now, that's been repeated, multiplied millions of times since the days of Solomon. It's been repeated at this altar perhaps thousands of times from the time that the doors of this church were opened. He stood and blessed all the congregation in Israel with a loud voice saying, Blessed be the Lord that has given rest to his people, Israel, according to all that he promised. There is not failed one word of all his good promise, which he promised by the hand of Moses, his servant. The Lord, our God, be with us. Verse 57, as he was with our fathers, let him not leave us nor forsake us, that he may incline our hearts to him, to walk in all his ways, to keep his commandments and his statutes and his judgments, which he commanded our fathers. And let these my words wherewith I have made supplication before the Lord be nigh unto the Lord, our God, day and night, that he maintain the cause of his servant and the cause of his people, Israel, at all times as the matter shall require. Now, you'll see in verse 60 the same cry coming from the heart of Solomon that was in the psalmist in Psalm 67. He says that all the people of the earth may know that the Lord is God and there is none else. God, let your blessing, let your life, let our hearts be turned to you. Lord Jesus, let the peace that passes all understanding be on us. Let the people of the world know that the Lord is God. Let them know it through us, that there's no other way, just as in the days of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. Even if we have to go into the fire, let even the rulers of this world see that in us is a Christ who can deliver, like no other theology, like no other God, false God of this world. Christ is the one who delivers. Christ is the one who keeps his people. Christ is the one who will never fail you. Christ is the one who will keep closed on your back. Christ is the one who will give you a soundness of mind. Christ is the one who will make sure you always have food to eat. Christ is the one who said he will never leave you, he will never forsake you. This is Christ. Let this peace of trusting him begin to find a lodging place within you and say, Oh God, I don't want to run around the rest of my life worried about the things that people around me are all worried about. Lord, I want something much deeper than that. I want a manifestation of your life within mine that makes all the people around me have to stand up and take notice that there is a God. And his name is Jesus Christ. I do believe him. I do trust him with all of my heart. He has not failed me. He will never forsake me. He fights against all of my enemies. I believe deeply that no weapon formed against me will ever prosper because God has spoken it. Now Solomon's sincere walk brought an era of peace and prosperity and wisdom that even left rulers speechless. In 1 Kings chapter 10 verse 4, the queen of Sheba came because of a report that she heard of this man. And she came into his court. And now you have to understand, she also had adulation, which means people telling her nice things about herself. She had wealth. She had a kingdom. She had a lineage of royalty. She had people who attended at her court, as it is. But she heard a report about this man. And the report that she heard brought her out of her land and into the place where Solomon dwelt. And folks, I'm telling you, the glory of God brings a report. You might be going through the battle of your life, but people in the lunchroom are not all speaking against you. There are people there saying, I don't know where he gets the strength. I don't know where she gets the strength. But the way she does things, the way he does things, the way he works all day. If I were in his position, I'd be cursing out everybody around me. But he's got a broom in his hands and he's whistling and happy all the time. She's diligently working. When everyone else is tearing this ungodly bosses apart, this person is speaking kindly and praying for those who are in authority over her. I'm telling you, when you are living for Christ, when you are trusting him for your strength, there is a genuine peace and this peace brings a report to people around you. Solomon is going about his daily routine and the people around him are walking in this divine order and then watch the Queen of Sheba and verse 4 of chapter 10 says, when the Queen of Sheba had seen all of Solomon's wisdom and the house that he had built and the meat of his table and the sitting of his servants and the attendance of his ministers and their apparel and the cupbearers and his assent by which he went up into the house of the Lord, there was no more spirit in her. You see, what happened is that she saw divine order. Folks, God is a God of divine order. He says through the prophet Ezekiel, when I come to you, I give you a new mind. I give you a new heart. I give you a new spirit. And the very first mark of men and women who are living in right relationship with God is a divine order. You just simply know what to do. You don't spend your day worrying about what's coming next. You just simply believe God when he says, I'm going to be a voice behind you and I'm going to be your glory in front of you. I'm going to lead you all through your day. You either believe that the steps of a righteous person are ordered by God or we don't. I believe in the morning when I get up that God has ordered my steps throughout the day, the people I'm going to encounter, the problems I'm going to face. God is already there. He's the only one who can go into the future. He's already there. He already has the solution in his hand. All I have to do is trust him and learn to hear his voice. And when she saw this divine order, she said to the king in verse six, it was a true report that I heard in my own land of the inaction of thy wisdom. Howbeit, I believe not the words until I came and my eyes have seen it. And behold, the half was not told me thy wisdom and thy prosperity exceeds the fame which I heard. And then she says in verse eight, happy are thy men and happy are these thy servants, which stand continually before thee and that hear thy wisdom. The queen of Sheba was exasperated and she said, how happy must be all the people that live in such a place and hear such things. This is really what our lives are to be in our generation. Oh, when we come home and we walk into our apartment building and the family next door is all fighting and all full of anger and tension. And you walk home and you're humming a tune as you go down the hall and the door opens. And your kids may not be exactly getting up in the morning and saying, praise God, what can I do for you today, mom or dad? But there's an order there and there's an expectancy there. There's a confidence and a peace there. And you don't know it, but your neighbor is looking at you and saying, how happy it must be to live in such a place and to hear the things that these people seem to be hearing. This woman's children aren't experiencing difficulty just like mine. They have to go through the same school system. But she seems to have such a word of confidence in her heart. She doesn't seem to be shaken by all the adversity that's around her. And I don't know what it is that she hears, but I would like to live in a place like this. And this is exactly what the queen of Sheba. She is, in a sense, she's an equal with Solomon because both are reigning at that time. It's the person who works in your office or lives in your apartment building who has an equal position as it goes as far as climbing the ladder, but looks at you and says, I don't know, there's just such a peace there. There's something so different. I remember when I first became a Christian and I was transferred into this community relations department as a police officer and I was warned going in there, you've got to be quiet, because I was a very vocal Christian. I was told, now it's time for you just to get about your work and leave the preaching to the people on television and things like that. But folks, you can't stop preaching. You don't have to open your mouth. You can preach some of your greatest sermons by not saying a word. And I remember walking into that office very much aware of the instructions that I had been given. And there were, I don't know, seven or eight men working there at that time. And I remember walking in and one by one, I just went about my day. I trusted God for the wisdom to do what is right and I worked really hard at the things I was given to do. And I thought if I'm going to be reproached, may it never be for my work ethic. I'm going to work hard. And so I would work and I'd go out and do what I had to do. And one after another, the men I worked with, and police officers are hard to reach. And I remember them coming to me and saying, I've seen something in you. Just the way you go throughout your day. Just the way you think. I don't know. And they all said the same thing. I don't know what it is that you're seeing or how you're living rather. But I don't know what it is I'm seeing. But I'd like to know what it is. And one at a time, I was able to lead, I think, every man in that office to Christ. And then they got filled with the Holy Ghost and I was really in big, big trouble. They sent a young man who was dying of diabetes in to work the telephones. And just until he was completely incapacitated, he was at the stage where his feet and hands were turning numb. And they had given him a no hope prognosis. I remember leading him to Christ. But he asked me first. And I remember leading him to Christ and God healed him. It was amazing. We never talked about healing. He was completely healed. The disease, doctors told him, you've had a miracle. This disease does not just reverse itself, but it's not only reversed itself, it's gone. And he got a complete healing and a bill of health. But I found myself in incredible trouble right after that. Peter says, Don't let him be intermixed with the fear and the failure of the world all around you. Set him apart and people will see it. You don't even have to open your mouth. They will see the difference and they will ask you for a reason for the hope that is within you. Folks, Jesus made it very clear that the godless of this world are often going to hate those who live with God's peace within them. Peter said in 1 Peter 4, 14, I never had more trouble in my life until the time I started leading people to Christ, especially in the workplace. I never had more angry people with stripes on their arms and flowers on their hats yelling and screaming at me and pointing their fingers at me. Isn't it amazing? If I was out drinking every night, if I was out running around, if I was cursing and swearing on the job, if I was running, doing all kinds of things that were going on, everybody would be happy. But all of a sudden you start living for God and terminally ill people get healed and everybody is now upset at me. Isn't it amazing? But in the midst of it all, there is a testimony for Christ that is going forward and people are turning to him. Because on you is something of God which fallen men are desperately trying to be their own gods and they can never attain it. Those who will not bend their knee to Christ, they see something of the glory of God. They're not all like the Queen of Sheba. They don't all become breathless. I remember one man became breathless. He just yelled at me so long he became breathless. But this is the testimony of the church. I don't believe that my life is exemplary. I believe that this is what every Christian should be. This should be the testimony of the church of Jesus Christ. Folks, and it's not hard. You don't have to take a course to do this. Just get up and read your Bible in the morning. Pray and say, Jesus, I want to live for you. Let my life count for you. Let your life be my life. I make a choice of exchanging this old life for the new life. I don't want anything of this old life. God, I'm trusting you to take this thing away and replace it because you told me I'd be a new creation. And that's what I want. I want to be a new creation. I want you to be seen. I want you to be heard. And folks, the more He changes you, the more you just simply cannot contain it any longer. There's an exuding, as it is of God's glory, that comes into your life. I don't know how to explain it. I can't put it into words. It's just there. You are walking with peace and confidence in your heart. I remember I was in a bad situation in my work environment. I had people threatening to do everything to me. Set me up. Get rid of me. Throw me up. Tear me down. I don't know. All types. And yet people are coming to Christ all around. But tragically, you see, what happened to Solomon is he left this single pursuit of glorifying God. And he began to seek and to find pleasure and fulfillment in the things of this life. And that's always been the pattern of the church. Born in glory. Born with the visitation of God. Born with a singleness of mind and heart and purpose. And I don't know how it happens. Maybe we just become too familiar with His presence. I don't know what happened to Solomon. Did he just get tired of the divine order? He lived a life that left rulers breathless. He knew what to do when he got up in the morning. People would come to him with impossible situations. And he had the mind of God to virtually adjudicate in these situations in a way that left people breathless. And there was nothing unrestrained to him. God said, I'm going to give you wisdom like no king before you has ever had. And folks, if you can hear it today, we have this wisdom in Christ. We have this ability to walk in divine order. We have this new mind that was only given as it is to a select few in the Old Testament, but we're not living in the Old Testament anymore. The veil has been rent and the power of God has come to young and old, women and children, rich and poor, Jew and Gentile, male and female. There's no distinction anymore. Whoever wants this glory of God can have it. All it requires is an honest walk. It requires an honest heart that says, Jesus, come intertwine your life with mine and be glorified in me. I yield my past, I yield my present, I yield my future to you. Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, just come to me and through me be known and be glorified in this generation. I don't know what happened to Solomon. I believe Solomon is one of the greatest tragedies of the Old Testament. He lived in divine order. He lived with the presence of God all around him. He was the man who built the scaffold as it is in the temple and lifted his hands and cried out, Oh God, don't let the people ever lose this fervency for you that I have seen here today. We have been a people who have experienced your glory. We've sensed your presence. We've fallen to our faces. Not one of us could stand and even open his mouth in your presence. Lord, we know it's you who is our provider and our protector, who is our defender, who has promised that you will always have a representation as it is of your life upon the throne in Israel. But he left this single pursuit. I don't know how it happens. I think he just got too familiar with the blessing. In chapter 11, verse 1 of 1 Kings, it says Solomon loved many strange women. Together with the daughter of Pharaoh, women of the Moabites and Ammonites and Edomites and Sidonians and the Hittites. Of the nations concerning which the Lord said to the children of Israel, You shall not go into them, neither shall they come in unto you, for surely they will turn away your heart after their gods. And Solomon claimed to these in love. And in verse 4, it says, It came to pass when Solomon was old that his wives turned away his heart after other gods, and his heart was not perfect with the Lord his God, as was the heart of David his father. You've got to picture this with me for a moment. Having just come back from Jerusalem, it's very, very fresh in my mind. I was at the area where Solomon's temple used to be. And hard to fathom Solomon getting up on the Sabbath morning and bringing out his chariots and all of the beautiful white Arabian horses that he had out of Egypt. The whole entourage, probably two, three, four hundred people that traveled with the king. And you can see the chariot driver just snapping the reins on these horses. And they go by the temple of the Lord and head down where he's worshiping now, at the temple of Chimash and Milcom, gods that would be gods who sacrifice their children. In the fire, there was just a horrible abomination. How could this happen? That Solomon and, of course, all the people he's leading are now bypassing the glory of God and moving into temples that are made with men's hands that have no glory in them whatsoever. And, folks, that's exactly what happens when we begin to leave the single pursuit of glorifying God. That's what's happened in our generation. And so many have left off this pursuit of glorifying God. This single pursuit, folks, is not complicated. When you get up in the morning, Jesus Christ, be glorified through my life. Whether pleasure or in pain, whatever pathway you take me on, be glorified here. God, if you have to put me in the fire that people who are in my workplace or my apartment building or my neighborhood might see that you are able to keep those who are your own, then put me in the fire. Do whatever you have to do, God. Be glorified. And Solomon left this single pursuit of glorifying God and began to find pleasure and fulfillment in the things of this life. And that's where so much of what claims to be the church of Jesus Christ is, that's where they are today. Finding fulfillment and pleasure in the things of this life. And it is turning the hearts of God's people away from truth. Now, the Lord raised three adversaries against Solomon. Now, these adversaries are mirrors. They are things that the Lord will allow to happen in your life. And these mirrors might be in you today, because everything in the Old Testament is a type. And all these things happened to them as examples for us, Paul says, upon whom the ends of the earth have come. First of all, in 1 Kings 11, 14, it says, Now, the Edomites were the descendants of Esau. Now, you know, Esau was the man who sold off his birthright for the satisfying of his flesh. And this was an adversary that was raised up against Solomon. And here's what it means to you and I. It's when inner and self-serving lusts are gaining strength in a measure that should cause us alarm. We were once satisfied to be saved. We were satisfied that the glory of God be upon us. But now an adversary has risen up, and this inner lust is beginning to lead us. This lust that says there's more than just to have a relationship with God. There's more to be found. There's more fulfillment. It's the lust to satisfy self-desire. And it's overpowering the inner desire to glorify God. It should be a warning sign that sends the child of God right to his or her knees immediately. Oh God, if ever I'm starting to be led by inner lust, God, help me. Get me out of this. It means that I've gotten my eyes are no longer fixed on your glory. Take me out of this trap, oh God, that the enemy has laid for me. In 1 Kings 11, verse 23, it says, The Lord stirred up another adversary, Razon, the son of Elidah, which fled from his lord. Now, this is a man who's running from the will of his master. First of all, he's being led by his lust. And this adversary represents an inner desire not to embrace but to flee from the will and the lordship of Christ. That's the second stage. It's when I'm being led by my own lust, I can't possibly embrace the will of God. It becomes a very fearful thing to embrace the will of God. If I feel that my destiny is to be rich and famous and influential in this country, yet the Lord is sending me to Africa, I'm going to flee from my lord. I'm going to end up going right by the temple of God and worshiping in some other place that it does not represent the spirit of God. There's no glory there. There's no glory there, folks. There's no glory. There are churches on every corner in much of this country, but I'll tell you this morning with a broken heart, in many of them, there's no glory there. There's nothing there that causes the sinner to fear God. There's nothing that provokes the people to jealousy or envy. There's no glory. The people are running, not to, but running from the will of God. If they were running to the will of God, they would be feeding the poor. They would be visiting the imprisoned. They would be doing the work of Christ. They would be instruments of healing to those that are bruised and wounded in heart. But instead, they're fleeing, and deep inner lusts are beginning to lead them. And lastly, in verse 26, a third adversary, Jeroboam, the son of Nabat, Solomon's servant, even he lifted up his hand against the king. And this, first of all, is being led by inner lust, and secondly, is running from the will of God, and thirdly, the loss of a desire to be a servant to others. If you're losing this desire to be a servant, oh, there's such foolishness today, theologies that are making us all kings. Paul the apostle said it this way, I wish to God you were reigning, then I would reign with you. Oh, folks, it's the loss of a desire to be a servant. First, in the body of Jesus Christ, and then secondary, that's the whole body of Jesus Christ. Not just the local congregation, but to be a servant to the body. Not just Times Square Church, but every Bible-believing, God-trusting church in this city and the tri-state area. It's to be a servant to the body of Jesus Christ. When we lose the desire to be a servant, we are moving away from divine order. We are moving away from the mind of Christ, who made Himself of no reputation and took on Himself the form of a servant. When we are, as congregations and Christians, seeking reputations, and losing the desire to be a servant to others, particularly in the body of Christ, we are strapping up as it is our horses and heading to another temple. The glory of God is not there. That's why I thank God with all of my heart. The Salvation Army, Methodists, Baptists, Lutherans, Presbyterians, Bible-believing Catholic ministers, they are all welcome to come and pray with us here in this church every month. Thanks be to God. He's given us a heart to serve His church. These three things are the beginnings of a house divided. It cannot stand in adversity and suffers the loss of the ability to glorify God. Ecclesiastes 4.13, Solomon now, looking back on his life in retrospect, said, Better is a poor and a wise child than an old and foolish king who will no more be admonished. Solomon was saying, I got to the place in my life where with all my wisdom and all my understanding and all the blessing, I just became an old and foolish man that God couldn't speak to anymore. He's looking back when it's all over, at the end of it. God help us. God help me. God help you that we don't get to the end of our lives and that be the testimony written over us. After all the learning, after all the revelation, after all the prayer, after all the sitting under God's Word, we just became old and foolish kings who could no longer be admonished by the Word of God. The Apostle Paul says, This will be the state of much of the professing church of Jesus Christ in the last days. Now, I'm not talking about the possessing church. There is a church who possesses Christ. But there will be multitudes who profess to know Him. But after 2,000 years of history and revelation and study and Bible tapes and all kinds of colleges, the time will come, Paul says to Timothy, they will not endure sound doctrine. The church will end up, the professing church will end up much like Solomon did. Old and wise and foolish. No longer able to be admonished. No longer can be challenged by a message like you're hearing this morning. I thank God with all my heart that the Scripture is filled with evidence that there will be a people who glorify God in the darkest of times. Oh, I pray to God that we be found among them. This is a dark, dark time, folks. It's dark. It's getting darker every day. Men's minds are becoming exceeding vile. You've got to be aware of it. Those who are working in the working world right now, you are seeing it every day. Shocking conversation. Idiotic television. People are feeding on it. And they're becoming the very thing that they're focusing on. They are becoming it. There's a lawlessness that is waiting to break out in our generation. Some tourists were attacked in a parade a few years ago here in Central Park by some men who began to rip off their clothes and do vile things to them. And 80 men came rushing, not to aid them, but to join in the attack. All walks of life. Folks, I'm telling you, there's a vileness now. And all that holds it back is the glory of God, the restraining hand of God. And you and I will simply make the choice that we're going to live a life that glorifies God, no matter what happens in this generation. No matter what people say, no matter how they threaten us or scorn us, we are going to live for Christ. Our cry is going to be, God, be glorified in me. Hallelujah. There's got to be a people in this generation who say, Lord, no matter what happens out there, no matter what people are watching, I'm not going to watch it. I'm not setting any wicked thing before my eyes. I'm setting the glorious, holy one of Israel before my eyes. I'm setting his thoughts, his book, before my eyes. And I have one cry and one cry alone. Jesus Christ, Son of the living God, be glorified in me. Isaiah said it this way. Arise, shine, for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee. That's the weight of God. That's the majesty of our Christ. It's the evidence of the fact that he is alive from the dead. Isaiah says, arise, get up. If you've not been in this place, if lusts are leading you, if you're running from the will of God, if you've lost the desire to be a servant first to the body and secondarily to the world that you're living in, arise from this place of defeat. Get up. And God says, I will shine through you one more time. The glory of the Lord will come upon you. This glory that came down in Solomon's temple, and nobody could stand against this glory. For behold, darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people. But the Lord shall arise upon thee, and his glory shall be seen upon thee. His glory. His glory. The glory of Jesus Christ shall be seen upon thee. I believe that with all my heart. I believe that the last day true bride of Jesus Christ is going to be a reflection of his glory in the darkened time until the moment she is taken out of the way. And all hell and lawlessness will break out in an unprecedented manner all over the world. But till that day, beloved, let's shine in New York City. Let's shine in New Jersey. Let's shine in Connecticut. Wherever you live. Wherever you work. Shine. Shine. Shine. With the glory of our Christ. Listen to what the psalmist says in Psalm 67. Where we began, we'll finish now. God, be merciful to us, and bless us, and cause his face to shine upon us. The psalmist is saying, God, you are merciful, and I know you will bless me, and cause your countenance to be upon me again. Remember when Moses went into the presence of the Lord with an honest, and a true, and a pure heart? God's reflection came upon him, and people were brought into a position of fearing God because of the glory of Christ that was upon him. He says that thy way may be known upon earth, and thy saving health among all nations. You see, this is what the psalmist is crying out for. Lord, you've got to come and let your face shine upon me again, so that everyone in the world might know your ways, and that your saving health may be released among the nations. Oh, let the people praise thee, oh God. Let all the people praise thee. This should be the cry of your heart as you're walking down Broadway after this service today, when you look at the multitudes headed for a Christless eternity, bound for hell, living in the darkness of their own fallen minds. Oh God, let them praise you. When you think of the disaffected youth of our city, so many being raised without fathers, and told in school there is no God. Oh God, let them praise you. Let them praise you. Let them praise you. Let their voices be lifted in glorious praise to God as you come and begin to do the miraculous within their lives. Oh, let the nations be glad and sing for joy, for thou shalt judge the people righteously and govern the nations upon earth. Let the people praise thee, oh God. Let all the people praise thee. Then shall the earth yield her increase, and God, even our own God, shall bless us. First of all, let the unregenerate praise you. But even more so, let the church praise you. Let the true bride of Christ walk through her day praising you. Let her walk into the midst of the fire praising you. Let her walk through times of testing praising you. Let her praise you with everything she's got. With all the breath you've given her, let her praise you. Then the earth will yield her increase. Then a harvest will be won to the honor and glory of God, when people see the glory of God. On a people called the church of Jesus Christ. God shall bless us, verse 7, and all the ends of the earth shall fear him. Hallelujah. God shall bless us. All the ends of the earth shall stand in awe. I want to give an altar call today for every person here. Education Annex, you can step up and stand between the screens if you will, if you feel to respond to this. But I want to give a special call for every person who has this desire to glorify God. In honesty, you can say, Pastor, really, nobody ever asks me for a reason for the hope that is in me. And that's evidence that it's not visible to people who are in darkness. Now, it's not to condemn you. It's the Lord saying, no, I'm going to change that. If you'll come to me with an honest heart, oh, yes, people will see. There'll be something different in your conversation and your eyes will reflect something that people in this world will be curious about. My wife and I were just getting groceries a couple of months ago. On a Monday morning, I had a track suit on. I hadn't shaved. My hair is a mess. And, you know, we don't always walk around in a three-piece suit looking anointed. Just very, very normal people the rest of the week. And we weren't even talking. We're just passing the groceries. I was passing the groceries from the cart. And Teresa is putting them in a bag at the other end. And the lady says, wait, wait. She said, there's just something about you. She said, I don't know what I'm seeing. I can't quite understand it. She said, it's like, this is her words, folks. I'm not tooting my own horn. But she said, it's like your royalty. And I said, well, we are. She said to me, what is it I'm seeing? And I said, you're seeing Jesus Christ. We're Christians. And Christ is with us. And he lives inside of us. And I saw a woman standing, you know, I don't know, I remember her age, maybe in her 40s or so. But she's standing there. And you could see this trembling was upon her because she was seeing people just go through their normal day with this confidence in God, in your heart. Not all in a knot because of prices and not looking for every little thing on the register that might not be wrong. But just this confidence in God just flowing through the day. And the Lord begins to convince somebody's heart of his reality. This is the Christian life. It's this confidence. It's this trust in God. No matter what you're going through, no matter what storm, the countenance of Jesus Christ begins to be seen in you. Folks, I want to give it all a call for those who are just saying, nobody's asking. And I want somebody to start asking in my life. So, God, you're going to have to guide me into this and teach me to have peace. And then also, too, for those who are going through the storm and you really need God's glory right now. You're in a work environment, a home environment that is just awful. And you're saying, I just need a sovereign infusion of God's grace. Well, everything in this Bible is yours. The Lord promises that he will give you that grace. You need the touch of God's Holy Spirit. Wherever you are, in the balcony, slip out, please, to either exit main sanctuary, just slip out of your seat. Make your way here, please. And we're going to pray together. Hallelujah. We're going to pray for that touch of God's grace to come upon you. A vessel of honor for God. A vessel of honor for God. Sanctified, holy, that I might be a vessel of honor for God. A vessel of honor for God. A vessel of honor for God. Sanctified, holy, that I might be a vessel of honor for God. Sing it again. A vessel of honor for God. A vessel of honor for God. Sanctified, holy, that I might be a vessel of honor for God. Hallelujah. One of the greatest revelations that the Apostle Paul had was that he had Christ in him. When you read Paul's writings, he became just so aware of this. I have the living Christ inside of me. The only thing that can hide him is my fear, my lack of trust, my wrong pursuits. All these things can hide him. But it is mercy. He just stays and waits for me to call out to him. The incredible mercy of God. And he says, if you will call to me, I'll be seen through you. I'll be heard through you. I'll be felt through you. Through young and old. In schools and colleges. You may have to stand in the fire, but I'll do such a work in you that people will stand in awe. Hallelujah. Pray with me, please. Lord Jesus. Thank you. For giving me your word. Thank you. For giving me a heart. To embrace truth. And giving me the desire. To want to live a holy life. A life where your peace. Has control. In my mind. And in my heart. Jesus. You said. That I am the light of the world. That a city. That is set on a hill. Cannot be hidden. Set my heart. On your purposes. On your will. And on your work. Be glorified. In my life. And through my life. Help me to understand. That all through the day. As I walk with you. You are restraining evil. Through my life. And you are bringing conviction. Of sin. Of a right way of living. And the justice of God. On all who are around me. Help me. To understand. That I am not a mediocre Christian. I am not a worthless person. I carry in this earthen body. The God who created the universe. Lord Jesus Christ. I yield my life to you. Guide me now. Into your will. Give me servant's hands. And a servant's heart. Take my troubled mind. And let the peace of Christ. Begin to rule in me. I ask you Lord Jesus. That this week. Somebody. Would see the hope. That you are planted within me. Let my life. Truly shine. For truth. In a darkened hour. God thank you. You've heard my cry. You've heard the cry of this church. You will give us this. Let the glory of the Lord. Rise upon us. Let the glory of Christ. Always be our portion. I ask it. In Jesus name. Amen. Please let me pray now for you. Father I ask. For this church. Oh God. That we never lose the passion. For truth. I ask Lord that we never. Let this curtain rise. And be heading in a direction that is contrary to your heart. Oh Jesus. I would prefer that you take my life. Than to ever dishonor your name. God almighty. Let the glory of Christ be here. Lord you've always. Been in the sanctuary. There's an abiding presence of Christ here. Even when nobody's here. There's an abiding presence. Of your Holy Spirit here. God almighty don't ever take that from us. Don't let us be foolish with your. Blessing. Help us God that we can be admonished. That our hearts can be open to truth. You can speak to us and guide us. Lord don't let us repeat the failures of the past. Help us as we come into this next. Ten year period. Help us God. I ask it with all my heart. In Jesus name. Amen. This is the conclusion of the message.