In this sermon, the preacher reflects on a message called "Extravagant Love" and shares that the Lord spoke to him, leading him to preach on a similar topic. The sermon focuses on the parable of the ten virgins in Matthew 25. The preacher highlights the importance of being prepared and having enough oil in our lamps of testimony. He emphasizes the need to not live too close to the edge and to be vigilant, as we do not know the day or hour of Christ's return.

This message is one of the Times Square Pulpit series. It was recorded in the sanctuary of Times Square Church in Manhattan, New York City. Other tapes are available by writing to World Challenge P.O. Box 260, Lindale, Texas 75771 or calling 214-963-8626. None of these messages are copyrighted and you are welcome to make copies for free distribution to your friends. 25th chapter of Matthew. Actually, the Lord spoke to me during Don's message Tuesday night and I heard the Lord say to me, Don preached a message Tuesday night called Extravagant Love and I heard the Lord say to me right then that what I want you to preach the following Sunday will follow on the heels of that message. Now, it's not the same but it's similar and I didn't know where the Lord wanted me to start but as I said there, Don, I was listening to you, I promise, but I know you've done this too now. But not only was I listening and the message ministering to me but the Lord kept bringing me back to the parable of the virgins and the bridegroom. I had no idea what he was saying to me but finally I broke through and I know now what God wants to say. The title of the message is Living Too Close to the Edge. Living Too Close to the Edge. Now, I have no intent at all to focus on every aspect of this parable but upon just a few points of it that we may have even overlooked. Let's start reading it in Matthew 25 verse 1. Then the kingdom of heaven will be comparable to ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom and five of them were foolish and five were prudent or wise for when the foolish took their lamps they took no oil with them but the prudent took oil in flasks along with their lamps. Now, while the bridegroom was delaying they all got drowsy and began to sleep but at midnight there was a shout behold the bridegroom come out to meet him. Then all those virgins arose and trimmed their lamps and the foolish said to the prudent give us some of your oil for our lamps are going out but the prudent answered saying no there will not be enough for us and you too go instead to the dealers and buy some for yourselves and while they were going away to make the purchase the bridegroom came and those who were ready went in with him to the wedding feast and the door was shut and later the other virgins also came saying lord lord open up for us but he answered and said truly i say to you i do not know you and of course verse 13 be on the alert then for you do not know the day nor the hour now my message is not on the coming of christ nor the marriage supper but just some aspects of this particular passage one thing the parable does tell us though this parable is about lamps of testimony that are found to be going out at a critical time now i i have heard people say well you know the five that were foolish were were saved and and uh they all got in i don't know how to get that from that passage everything was okay but i look at this passage of scripture and i see something about them they were all virgins and they all have oil every one of them they have oil and the oil of course is symbolical of the holy spirit it's a type of the holy spirit nor do i believe that this parable is about five virgins with a dead faith because not only did they have oil have oil they also had a zeal to meet the lord read verse one again with me then the kingdom of heaven will be comparable to ten virgins who took their lamps ten of them they all took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom not just five all ten of them went out to meet the bridegroom and that bridegroom of course is jesus now i do not believe at all that these are hollow empty vessels as i said before they have oil and we need to take note of that they also have faith they have faith because it says that they knocked on the door and expected to get in verse 11 they knocked on the door and said lord lord open up for us now the door was shut yet they came to the door which i don't believe they ever would have done without the hope of getting in so they have faith they have a hope and they have a confidence that they're going to be admitted when they knocked on that door they had a confidence that they were going to be admitted to the marriage chamber they went out in the first place to meet jesus i also see something else significant they they asked the lord to open the door their hope is in the lord only their hope's not in someone else to open the door for them they know who has to open the door and they ask him specifically they hope in christ for it they they don't ask anyone else but the lord himself lord open the door yet christ shuts them out why what did they do what was it that caused the door to be shut well i believe it's just this they were living too close to the edge you see they thought to themselves well my lamp's burning look at it it's burning bright it's clear and and they they said it'll last it will be sufficient i've got what i need they they burned that oil right up to the edge they burned it right up to the end uh i think this is the critical point of the parable to be honest with you they their hearts their hearts are turned to god folks we have to we have to see that this is a people whose hearts are turned to god they are actually awaiting this heavenly treasure they're they're expecting the joyful marriage ceremony to be a part of that they've gone out to meet the king of feast the bridegroom and the scripture says that at the time that their lamps are burning now we know that those lamps are a type of something god's we don't carry actual lamps around as christians but we have a flame inside the heart and so he's saying to us that they burn with the flame of a spiritual life they have spiritual life that's what's burning with them it doesn't differentiate between the flame the the flame in in the lamps of those five that get in and those five that are excluded there's no differentiation at all to the quality of the life or the type of life it's just not there i believe they're illuminated that flame is illuminated and kindled by the by god and that's the significance their lamps are now burning right now they're burning they have oil they're secure and as i said before the problem is this not that they don't have oil not that they don't have spiritual life but that they burn their supply of oil right up to the edge they're living too close to the edge now you say what in the world does that have to do with us in our our lives well it says in verse 7 they trim their lamps now one of the purposes of trimming the lamps was to keep the supply of oil flowing you know if if you didn't trim the lamps then what would happen is that the wick would get uh cluttered and and it would get to the point where it'd be burned there'd be nothing there to bring the supply of oil up to the flame and and i see a problem sometimes with some christians they they've been blessed by god they've been moved on by the holy spirit and they have a flame oh you can't deny it there's a spiritual life there there's a flame that's there and yet they expect the flame that's presently there to last to be all they need to continue without any exercise of trimming and they're not prepared they're not understanding that they're going to need more oil now i'm not talking about a salvation of works i'm not talking about half but you know the holy spirit if you're if you were saved last year he ought to be flowing more through you now than he was last year if you're walking with god isn't that right so if you're if you're resting on the flow of the oil that you had last year my friends you're in you're in danger you're living too close to the edge because there has to be an ever-growing love to christ that's what brings the flow an ever-growing love to the lord or if you're static or if you're if you're just spinning your wheels or you're running around uh circles and your life is not growing deeper and deeper and deeper in a love relationship with the lord that extravagant love like don was talking about oh there's not something that wants to cause you to pour that out and you're living off of yesterday's oil there's a problem there's a real danger and that is are you going to have enough oil see when the when the wicks are not trimmed the oil is burned away by the flame there's there's there's nothing to sustain it now i want you to turn with me to exodus chapter 25 exodus chapter 25 the 25th chapter of exodus now here we have the description of the holy place the tabernacle in the wilderness and we have described not lamps but lamp stands and this same principle of oil and supply and trimming is is here it applies exodus chapter 25 25th chapter of exodus verse 31 verse 31 exodus 25 then you shall make a lamp stand of pure gold the lamp stand and its base and its shaft are to be made of hammered work its cups its bulbs and its flowers shall be of one piece with it now that's a lamp stand of pure gold and of course the lamp stand was in the tabernacle it was uh it was what lit the holy place now look what's included also in in uh verse 38 and it snuffers and their trays shall be of pure gold it shall be made from a talent of pure gold with all these utensils now the snuffers actually are scissors clippers and they were used for clipping the wick so to speak if we had a lamp it would be it would be it was it was used to keeping the supply of oil flowing through these lampstands now the children of israel more specifically the priesthood had a responsibility in regards to these lamps in the holy place they were to dress the lamps so to speak and here's what i mean by that first of all they had to furnish the oil now don't don't get in mind that we have to furnish the holy spirit that's not what i'm talking about but it is a type here picture of a people giving place to the spirit of god by furnishing the oil they were giving place it's a type of a people giving place to the holy spirit to the spirit of god now how do i do that well it's a type of a people that are walking in self-judgment first of all they're ordering their lives after the pattern of jesus they have no other pattern uh they're making whenever necessary spiritual adjustments to the flesh to in the mind on a daily basis to conform to the will of god that's what it means making place for the holy spirit when you begin to do that you're making place for the holy spirit to begin to work now the second thing that they did was they used these snuffers or these scissors or clippers uh that were made from a pure uh talent of gold and what they did is they would remove um all of the whatever of the wick or anything of the lamp stand that needed to be removed they would remove everything so there could be a flow fresh flow of oil and of course the picture here of these snuffers or scissors or clippers is a picture of it speaks of the careful removal in our lives of everything that would dim the light anything that would dim the light the careful removal of that now god has made us a marvelous promise he will keep the flow going if we'll make sure there's nothing to clog the pipes god will keep the flow of the holy spirit going through us if god's allowed to flow through the holy spirit's allowed to flow the way he wants to flow he'll see to it there's plenty of oil flowing but you know uh we we have a responsibility and that responsibility is to make sure nothing's stopping the flow we need some trimmers we need some clippers from time to time in order to keep everything flowing right now i want you seeing that type i want you to turn with me now to second corinthians chapter six i'm laying a groundwork for something second corinthians chapter six i just want you to see these types in the word so that they'll make sense to you as we as we understand what we're meaning by living too close to the edge now this lamp stand in the temple uh they they couldn't uh they dare not by god's command they dare not let that light go out in the temple in the holy place god told them you are to exercise daily bringing in the fresh supply of oil and you're to exercise daily the trimming of the wicks you're to use these snuffers and remove everything that would dim the light take it out on a daily basis now you know they they weren't allowed to say well maybe it'll last for three days let's try it they wouldn't even tamper with it they wouldn't have begun to tamper with it why because they knew that light goes out so does the presence of god leave god had commanded and he ordered it and so they protected it they were in there they knew that was part of the commandment that they were given and you know i i tell you there's so many drains on your life and my life and so something's constantly constantly pulling at you to try to get you just to live off of well you know i had such a high time sunday i can live off of that till thursday i i can i can live you know well i missed a few days with the lord i can live off of that though god's with me i know we need i believe we need a holy sense that god has given us a promise if we'll keep that flame alive he'll keep it burning and not live too close to the edge not try to press it out there too close to the edge are you following what i'm saying now here's here's the picture second corinthians chapter six verse one and working together with him we also urge you not to receive the grace of god in vain now i i don't know how you can get across or get away from that that people can actually receive the grace of god in vain in other words having received the grace of god it that something happened produced nothing now what would cause that for he says at the acceptable time i listened to you and on the day of salvation i helped you behold now is the acceptable time behold now is the day of salvation now he's talking to people who've received grace he's not just talking to people here who need to get saved he's talking to all of us and he says now's the day you know you don't i helped you in the day of salvation and he said down's the day this day this grace that you perceive is to have a continual flow from me from my throne that's why it's called a throne of grace into your life today not trying to live off a three days grace or four days grace but a continual flow of grace now he goes on and he says verse three and this is where the trimming of the wicks comes in giving no cause for offense in anything in order that the ministry be not discredited but in everything commending ourselves as servants of god in much endurance in afflictions in hardships in distresses in beatings imprisonments in tumults and labors in sleeplessness in hunger in purity and knowledge and patience and kindness in the holy spirit in genuine love in the word of truth in the power of god by the weapons of righteousness for the right hand and the left by glory and dishonor by evil report and good report regarded as deceivers and yet true as unknown yet well known as dying yet behold we live as punished yet not put to death he goes on as sorrowful yet always rejoicing as poor yet making many rich as having nothing yet possessing all things what a list i tell you you can sum it up verses four to eleven or ten this way you're going to have difficulty in the christian life you're going to have you're going to have some things that battle against you you know in the middle of this see well near the end actually he he has this word verse six in purity and knowledge and patience and kindness in the holy spirit in genuine love now the king james says love unfeigned in other words that this oil the holy spirit is to produce an unfeigned love a genuine love the word means not hypocritical but it means something else the root of the word means not passive not passive you know i i believe a lot of marriages fail for this reason because somehow when they were joined together in that wedding ceremony they thought that the love that they had for each other right then was burning with such a flame such fire that it was just going to keep on burning didn't have to be tended to it it could actually grow passive and carry them right on through to the end but they live too close to the edge and there came a point when that love began to grow cold they didn't refurbish it they didn't keep it alive they didn't work at it a lot of marital problems exist for that very reason i'll tell you something i love my wife i love her very much and i love the lord but there is no way that my wife and i are going to have a marriage that's burning with the flame of love simply because we live under the same roof together it's just not going to happen now there's no way there is no way no matter how much i love her and how much i have loved her if i allow my love to stay passive and expect it to carry me right on up to the end listen there's no way we're going to have the kind of marriage god wants us to have there has to be a keeping alive of that flame i have a responsibility in it and so does she and for any marriage that battling something you need to check you know we have all these problems that come up in marriage and we wonder well what are we supposed to do how do we keep this thing going i mean what what what are the problems it may be that one of you or both of you've fallen down on your part of keeping the flame alive you have to work at it now god supplies for the christian when you begin to work at it god supplies the energy and the strength and begins to lay down the framework on which that love operates but you can't just expect it to continue i see a danger here with many christians they love the lord they really do they make great sacrifices they've been through some of this list here that we taught they've been through hardships afflictions distresses labors sleeplessness they've had evil reports about them and they've been called deceivers say i see christians have experienced a lot of hardship and stood fast because they love the lord but somehow they're expecting what they have to carry them to the end and my concern is that they live too close too close to the end they don't they don't allow this flame to keep burning on the inside they expect what they have to carry them and i'll explain that more as we go along this love can't be passive toward the lord you and i cannot have a passive it has to be it has to be burning i mean it has to be on fire now i'm not talking about feelings i'm not talking about feelings i i i know that my feelings my feelings can be up one day and down the next day but the word of god tells me i don't have to be controlled by my feelings the love to christ comes deeper than what i feel or sometimes i wake up and i just have such a feeling of just absolute love for the lord and and there are other times that i wake up in the mornings and i don't feel like i don't love him but i don't feel anything you know what i'm talking about but my love is not gauged by the temperature of my feelings it's gauged but gauged by the flame measured by the flame that's in the heart because that love doesn't have to be passive you see when when i find something begin to affect the feelings of my love i don't get concerned about it but i know i know i can't be passive toward the lord i can't be i can't get up tomorrow and be passive in my expression of my love toward the lord any more than i can toward my wife because something will happen to the flame something something it has to be a trimming that takes place god knows that and so god does certain things to keep us from living close to the edge because i tell you we all kind of have a tendency to do that we all we all kind of like to have a deposit of emotion or a deposit or measure of god's spirit that just kind of carry us on out so we can kind of do our thing and and run on that for a while how many of you know what i'm talking about well there's a third of you that are guilty but i believe i'm speaking to more than a third you tell me you don't have you don't have to fight to keep the flame alive yeah i know i'm not talking about have to work it up to be in love with jesus i'm not saying that i'm i'm saying there's constant i'll show you in a moment they're constant adversaries seeking to divide my love to christ i i find it every day every day and if i if i'm passive if i'm passive that day i lose a little bit of the flame now since god knows that there's certain things about his character that he does for example probably everyone here has had a time when you prayed you had a something you were praying about and almost before you could utter what you needed god was answering the prayer oh god's swift in answering prayer he's also very very slow he can be very very slow to respond it seems like he's slower when it's more critical and he is faster when it doesn't seem to be so crucial and i used to wonder god why why are you doing that what is it you see it's a pattern i can tell not just with me but with all of us why why does he do that see because there's something about us we would live right up to the edge we take as much as we could run on and be passive about the rest you understand what i'm talking about we there's something we we'll push it right whatever emotion we have whatever input we have we'll push it right to the edge you say well what are you talking about pastor bob well if we've got a real crisis in front of us a lot of times we'll really seek god in prayer with an intensity but if it's not such a crisis we just figure we've got enough to run on we'll push it right to the edge see god sometimes looks as if he's so slow he either procrastinates on purpose or he forgot but god used those very things to change the lives of countless people mentioned in this book like moses oh how moses must have thought god how slow you are but god knew there was something in moses that would live whatever he got from god he'd carry that and take it right up to the edge until it was exhausted and then get more there was something about joseph oh how slow joseph thought god was at times in fact i believe joseph probably thought god was too late he was in prison and he thought god had forgotten him but god hadn't forgotten he wasn't slow at all see sometimes god will move in our lives in a way that appears to be moving so slow but it's to provoke us to the point where we need him and we'll seek after him to where we won't live right on the edge we'll live with a fullness we'll carry an extra supply of oil whatever we but we'll feel a need to be filled with him every day are you following me well there's another thing god does it trims the wicks god have you noticed this absolutely refuses to explain why he does certain things i mean he absolutely refuses to give an explanation that job said it right when he said he gives no account of his ways now why does he do that why does god allow certain things to happen certain things to come and absolutely refuse to give you and i a reason for it well for one thing he's not accountable to us but there's something deeper than that god will do whatever he's got to do to shut you and i up to a life of faith he will shut us up to a life of faith absolutely shut us up to a life of faith you know we were talking to the pastors we we have people that come here all the time trying to live a life of faith we have people that now we we have some people that are that really have god has sent them here they've moved they've moved from where they were they've moved here but we're talking with the pastors that are in for ordination and those that have been ordained uh saturday yesterday and brother day was talking about uh how we sometimes have people that have come in they'll come from canada they come from overseas they'll come from other parts united states and they'll they'll come they say god sent me here and i'm living a life of faith and what are you going to do with me now that's not a life of faith so you know some people feel like well i'm i'm gonna i'm gonna live by faith i know a man in ministry one time who who uh who who went to he was working under a particular ministry and he got in the hold of what he thought was a faith message and somewhere he got this idea that he couldn't have a salary because he had a salary he wasn't living by faith so he decided he wouldn't have a salary and uh the man who was in charge of the ministry came and he asked me as a friend and he said you know what should i do about this i don't believe at all what he's saying but i don't want to crush him and and i said well let him live a life of faith just take your salary and set it aside and hold it and let him live a life of faith well it wasn't two months and that man came back and he said i don't understand it god told me to live a life of faith but i did i got rid of my salary and he said we're starving we're literally starving we don't have anything and and so then this this man said well he said god's got something for you and he handed him a check for all of his two months of salary that he didn't draw and and the man just was broken and he said well where have i missed god listen you and i don't have to force ourselves into a life of faith god will shut you up to a life of faith why because he doesn't want you living to the edge he doesn't want you taking the blessings he's given you the life he's given you the love he's given you the excitement he's given you and the joy he's given you and running on just that and living right up to the edge until that's gone and and then trying to get more god will shut us up to a life of faith i'll tell you another thing he'll do that'll trim your wick he'll present a puzzle picture of himself you know what i'm talking puzzle picture you know every once in a while my we'll go to these a restaurant or something and they have a little menu for children and they have this picture there and uh you got to find certain things in it or my my daughter or son will have a coloring book or something you and you you know it's got pictures hidden like a face hidden or is it those things get me every time i don't know what it is there must be a kid in me or something but i as soon as i see one i've got to start finding it you know can you find the seven hidden things here and i'll be looking you know and i'll find three or four of them and i'll be looking for the other one in my daughter's right there daddy god will do it you know he'll he'll present a puzzle picture of himself he will reveal himself yet hide himself why to keep you and i from living on the edge so that we have a constant need to keep the oil replenished and he'll show you just enough of a glimpse of himself to entice you to seek for more of him to go after more of him it's a puzzle picture i tell you another thing i found about god it trims my wick a lot you know what i'm talking it gets out everything that's going to dim the light i have found that god oftentimes refuses to speak until i'm through talking i tell you that really trims my wick because i like to talk i want to talk i you know i want to i want god to dialogue with me you know but usually i'm wanting him to follow my line of conversation or to tell him why i think certain things ought to work a certain way i've got some great ideas for the lord he hadn't bought any of them god has spoken to me most clearly most clearly when he's had to take me right up to the place where i had to stop talking and finally admit god i haven't the slightest idea what's going on would you say something to me i've said all i know to say see you know god will give you a word or give you something i've seen people they get a word from god and they run out and they'll you know what'll happen they'll run on it right up to the edge until finally that word wears out and then they'll try to find another word that's not the way god wants us to live so he'll let you run up to the edge until you have no more fire or flame left to burn because he's trying to prevent us becoming like these virgins they thought they had enough another thing that god does often with me and i know he does with many of you and it trims the wick keeps you from living on the edge god gives you a vision a clear vision puts something in the heart and then delays the performance of it and holds it back why would he do something like that why because if we are allowed just to run on that vision alone we'll run it right up to the edge and let that vision and we'll become passive in our love for him something we really want something he wants to do in us and he puts it in the heart it might be a ministry it might be something else whatever it could be but he'll give a vision of something and then he'll delay the performance of it he'll hold it back it's almost as if it's never going to come to pass why because he wants you to seek him and to draw out of you something that says i'll not let my love be passive but lord i've got to have you and you'll go after him more what that's right that's right he he you know god he is so he is so precious he'll draw it out of us you know he'll pull it out he will literally he loves us so much he won't he does not want we every one of us live with the very real possibility of being right there where those virgins are every one of us we live right there that's those ten virgins all had oil they had light god will do everything he can so that we won't lay down and expect whatever we have to carry us right to the end whatever he has to do that's why he does these things to us that's why he shuts us up to a life of faith that's why he gives a vision and then withholds it that's why he draws this love out of you why he pulls it out of you so it won't be passive because i don't care what you and i have oh listen whatever you have is not going to carry you for another year i don't care how spiritual you are i don't care where you it's not going to carry you for another year you are going to have to have a constant flow of replenishing this supply of oil am i making sense to you and god will do whatever he has to do to draw it out of you you know i tell you there are a lot of christians like this let me show you some 2nd samuel 18 2nd samuel 18 you've heard the phrase all dressed up and no place to go but a lot of christians like that they have a zeal they have a zeal to run but they have no life testimony when they get there did you hear me they have a zeal to run but no life testimony when you get there god doesn't just want runners he wants runners with a message and the message is not some bible scripture it's a life that says god i know you're real i know your word's true because it's been performed in my life now look what happens here's ahima's verse 2nd samuel 18 verse 19 then ahima's the son of zadok said please let me run and bring the king news that the lord has freed him from the hand of his enemies but joab said to him you're not the man to carry the news this day but you should carry the news another day you see he's he's getting a delay he doesn't like it he he he wants it i won't carry the message and and and but but uh but joab says to him your time will come there'll be a time when you can carry the message but you're not ready to carry the message yet today's not the day and here he is however you should carry no news today because the king's son is dead then joam said to the cushite go as he turns to another man says now go tell the king what you've seen so the cushite bowed to joab and ran now ahima's the son of zadok said once more to joab whatever happens please let me also run after the cushite and joab said why would you run my son since you will have no reward for going you know what he says doesn't matter whatever happens i will run i want to run are you seeing the picture so he said to him run boy i can see god in that i can see god in that you say oh lord is saying i want to slow you down i'm going to cut you back a little bit i'm going to trim the wick i've given you the vision but i won't pull back but god i'm ready to go now lord i'm ready to run now well no another day i'm not ready to fulfill that in you yet i i'm not i'm not ready to let you go there yet i'm not ready to loose you yet but i'm ready to run then run take off oh and we take off thinking we have the lord's blessing you know what happens here's what takes place now david was sitting between two gates and the watchman went up to the roof of the gate by the wall and raised his eyes and looked and behold a man running by himself and the watchman called and told the king and the king said if he's by himself there's good news in his mouth and he came near and near then the watchman saw another man running and the watchman called the gatekeeper and said behold another man's running by himself the king said this one also is bringing good news see what takes place now actually what happened was verse 27 i think and the watchman said i think the running of the first one is like the running of ahiyamaz the son of zadok and the king said this is a good man and comes with good news then ahiyamaz called and said to the king all is well and he prostrated himself before the king with his faith to the ground he said blessed is the lord your god who's delivered up the men who lifted their hands against my lord the king now you know what happened this guy was so eager to run he not only ran he passed the kushite up and he got there first the problem was the kushite had a message ahiyamaz had no message he ran fast he's on the right road he's going to the right place but he has no message see you and i can be on the right road we can be full of zeal we can be hungry for god we can be running on a direct course but god may slow us down and say don't run yet because we don't have a message and so what he'll do is he'll take you through some difficulties some hardships some trials some disappointments he'll even let you wait and sit for a while he'll do whatever's necessary because he wants to build in you a life message so when you get to where you're going you have something to say you have a testimony here's ahiyamaz and he he says it's all well it's all good he's talking he doesn't even know what he's talking about he doesn't even know why he's there and and then verse 29 the king said is it well with the young man absalom i can see ahiyamaz sitting scratching his head then joab sent the king's servant your servant said i saw a great tumult but i didn't know what it was he didn't have well i don't know david i i saw a fight in a battle i but i don't know and you know what david says stand over here stand over here and then he receives the kushite with the message oh my friends so often god has to say not because he wants to but so much he says run if you're not going to listen to me if you're so determined to live off the zeal you've got and run it right up to the edge then run ahead how hard we run and we run and we run we finally get there and we've got nothing to say we've got no life testimony the zeal has now burned out that's where burnout comes from the zeal is now burned out and now he has to say now step aside am i making any sense to you turn with me to another example of a man living too close to the age turn me to acts acts chapter 20 acts chapter 20 this man was living this young man's living too close to the edge acts chapter 20 his name is euticus you know what the name euticus means i was shocked when i found this out i looked it up it means well off he's well off you know there are a lot of christians that think they're well off but they're sitting too close to the edge they think they have enough they they're not pressed into seeking with greater zeal they've gotten a little bit of truth they've gotten a little bit of hunger they've got a little bit of fire and a little bit of zeal and they're allowed to do a few good works and they think they're well off well they are for that day but that won't carry you to the edge it won't carry you to the end this is the end of side one you may now turn the tape over to side two after 20 acts chapter 20 paul's on his way to jerusalem actually it's his final journey before he is martyred in rome he stops off at troas and he goes to an upper room and they're on the third floor of an upper room and he's preaching i mentioned to david i was going to use this yesterday he he reminded me of something that i'd never thought of before some people say this this eutechus you know the whole problem we're going to read about was because paul's preaching too long and uh i've always liked this passage of scripture because people always talk about how long i preach but david said something i'd never thought about before but it was it just really quickened to me you know paul's own testimony that when he preached he preached in the power of the holy spirit are you hearing me it's hard to preach too long if you're preaching in the power of the holy spirit but he was preaching in the power and anointing of the holy spirit that's what he had now in verse 6 acts chapter 20 verse 6 and we when he sailed we sailed from philippi after the days of unleavened bread and came to them at troas within five days and there we stayed seven days and on the first day of the week when we were gathered together to break bread paul began talking to them intending to depart the next day and he prolonged his message until midnight boy that's quite a message and there were many lamps in the upper room where they were gathered together and a certain young man named eutechus sitting on the windowsill guess where he is he's too close to the edge that's right he's too close to the edge you got to remember the windowsill the windows didn't have glass like we have they're just usually there's some doors that open with latticework and they were almost always open because of the heat so he's sitting on this open windowsill sinking into a deep sleep and as paul kept on talking he was overcome by sleep and fell down from the third floor and was picked up dead now i'm telling you he was sitting too close to the edge and that's a dangerous place to be especially if you're on the third floor now this story has some things in it that really really got me first of all eutechus name is well off he thought he was well off i wonder how many people sitting spiritually speaking right on that windowsill they're listening to the word and they think they're well off they've got enough but there's not the seeking fire burning on the inside you know i've seen people seek like i've never seen them seek before in this church at the same time i've seen some people seek no more than they were seeking before and it concerns me because i know that when god starts to turn up the flame if you're running on the same oil that you were running on six months ago my friends you're sitting too close to the edge if you're watching everybody else seek god fervently and yet you are still where you have been my friends you're too close to the windowsill you're sitting in a dangerous dangerous place and you may have a name eutechus feeling you're well off i know the lord my lamp's burning i've got oil when when paul i don't know what happened here paul's preaching i can imagine i can see him preaching and suddenly there's a scream first there's a crash a thud and then there's a scream probably some lady sitting beside him screaming and then somebody out of the crowd said eutechus fell out the window now part of the story here too is how god wants to resurrect those that's sitting too close to the edge because there's a resurrection in this and i tell you what he didn't do i this hit me it really hit me when i read it verse 10 but paul went down and fell upon him and embraced him now you know i don't know why it just hit me but he paul went down he went down and and that that suddenly i started thinking of the lord having come down from heaven scripture like john 638 for i've come down from heaven not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me and like james 117 every good thing bestowed and every perfect gift is come is from above coming down from the father of lights with whom there is no variation and no shifting shadow oh i like that verse you know it costs a lot to have your wick trimmed to have the lantern it costs something to have the lamp trimmed how many of you know that it's not i tell you it's not it's not pleasant sometimes to have god withhold stand back to not speak it's not pleasant to have god say just run then run only to have to stand us aside it's not those things are not but if god has to do it to trim the wick to keep the fire burning he'll do it paul went down and i thought of something else the lord has come down to us i'm so glad the lord sent jesus as a man i can identify i can see i can see what he went through rather than just like other religions having to worship something up there somewhere or something in the atmosphere we have we have something we can we have someone a person we worship and we look to but paul is a type here of the way god ministers now let me tell you something else he didn't do and some of you need to hear what i'm saying because some of you get not only do you run ahead with not a lot to say but when you do say it it's not very kind and there are a lot of people that are running with the zeal and somebody falls or somebody doesn't live up to what they think they don't come down to meet them they jump on them from the third floor they land on them they said oh he fell huh let's get him and they just jump right on him and land on him if there was any life in him you'll crush it right then and there are people who seem bent on correcting everybody else who falls but that's not god's way what the lord did through paul he went down and he embraced him he went down to where he was first of all and then he fell on him which means he gave of himself and he embraced him and you know the word embrace there is a strong strong word it it literally means when it says he embraced him it said it means uh to press into the bosom to press that means to take him in to press into the book aren't you glad that when a person has lived too close to the edge and you tried to run and all of a sudden you're exhausted on what you thought you could live on and you really need the lord i know i'm speaking to a lot of people here you you've known the lord but you're going through something right now to where all of a sudden you're seeking after god but you're going through something right now you feel you feel like you don't have enough to carry you you you know i feel that there's some people here with god moving as mightily as he's moving this church wondering well i want to get in on it but you know i was more excited i was more excited two months ago six months you can look to a time in your life where you had god's zeal flowing through you were so hungry for god but you ran and ran and ran and now you feel like you just stepped aside because you don't have the same walk with god you once had now be honest that's why god had me preach this message he loves you you've been sitting too close to the edge and you don't have the same fire and intensity of love that you once had and you know it god's got a resurrection for you oh he spoke to this man and paul it says he fell down upon him he embraced him and it says do not be trouble for his life is in him see if you'll just open up to the lord now say lord i'm gonna let you trim the wick whatever you have to do i'm not gonna run ahead of you now god i'm gonna i'm gonna serve you but i'm not gonna let my love be passive towards you not on feelings but on commitment i'm gonna commit to you lord like i've not committed before you know what god will do he'll come down to where you are he'll fall on you by the power of the holy spirit he'll embrace you and press you into his bosom into his heart and he'll put life back into you that's the message now i'm gonna close just very soon but one thing i want to add these virgins you say well what what kind of life you know listen there's one thing i'm convinced we don't know enough about that god wants to give us i talked about him shutting things up i talked about him closing things up those virgins came to the bridegroom they knocked the door was shut but you know the bible says something else about doors you know what it says for example to the church at philadelphia the lord said behold i have put before you an open door which no man can shut because you have a little power have kept my word and have not denied my name god wants to set before every one of us an open door he has an open door you say but i don't know if i have enough power you just have a little bit all the power you need is to drag yourself up to say lord i've fallen fall on me embrace me press me into your bosom but you make a commitment lord i'm going to keep your word and i'm not going to deny your name and i'm not going to allow my love to become passive i'm going to seek like i've never sought before i'm going to press into you too lord i'm going to embrace that bosom as you pull me listen god will literally pick you up from wherever you are and press you into his bosom but you've got to then take the arms and press yourself deeper you've got to embrace him when christ meets you where you are you have to embrace him now what will god do well he won't be like the five virgins you know there are five virgins who had the door shut but we forget sometimes there are five virgins who walk right through the door they had an open door they're in there with christ now i know that that parable speaks of the marriage supper of the lamb i know it speaks of this bridegroom it speaks of his second coming i believe but i want you to think that god right now says i have an open door for you now i'll open a door what kind of door do you need open for example second corinthians 2 12 says a door was open for me in the lord now some of you need a door open in the lord you need a door open to allow you to have more fellowship with the lord you need a door open to allow you to love him more fully to see more clearly some of you have a door you need it open right now you need to have it open but you've been living too close to the edge you've been running off of a genuine experience but you're burned out you're at the end where you can't seem to go any further and you've been sitting too close to the edge on that life that he gave you before and god's saying now you've fallen you don't have any strength to get up the life's not in you like it used to be but i'm going to come down to where you are i'm going to fall on you in the power of the holy spirit i'm going to embrace you and if you embrace me i'm going to open a door in the lord i'm going to open a door for you to suck with me i'm going to open a door for you to fellowship with me like you've never known before not only that acts 14 27 says a door he opened a door of faith oh i felt this so strongly as i was praying some of you your faith is at a low ebb it's at a low place now he opened a door of faith for the gentiles he'll open a door faith for you listen god will open a door of faith where your faith can be pulled up again your faith can be strong again some of you have a you had a faith at one time and i know that's what i'm speaking to at one time you could say lord i had such a strong faith i believe i was so easy to believe you i was able to trust you for so many things but lord something's happened something's happened god says you live too close to the edge you tried to run off of that oil that you had and you didn't keep the love it got passive you didn't keep the flame alive you didn't allow me to trim the wick but now i'm trimming the wick and you may have fallen from that place but i can resurrect you i'll fall on you again and i will draw you to my bosom embrace me embrace me and then some of you even some of the ministers that are here this weekend some of you that are regular members of this church colossians 4 3 says there was a door for the word that we might speak forth the mysteries of christ i'll tell you some of you you're preaching may have become a little dry you're saying all the right words all the right words saying all the right things some of you witnessing with all the right words some of you that are preachers preaching with all the right words but you know you know the words are there the desire is there but you don't have the fire you once had you you can't speak what you can speak forth things about the lord but you don't speak forth the mysteries now god says i have a i want to open for you i want to open a door for the message i want to put a new fire in you i want to resurrect it i want to quicken it i'm making sense to you are you hearing what i'm saying now one thing i'm going to close with this first corinthians well i'm not going to close with this scripture but i'm going to close with this thought i'm going to bring to you first corinthians 16 9 says for a wide door for effective service has been open to me and there are many adversaries do you know there are plenty of adversaries to dull your love to the lord i'll tell you i don't believe we're going to experience here what god really is wanting to do with us until we actually come to the place where we understand that whatever god does with us whatever he does however much fire falls however much new life is infused into us it's not going to be enough for tomorrow that we can't be passive in our love to the lord there has to be a flame burning to seek him and desire him and want him more than we've ever wanted him before if not you're living too close to the edge now what does god do with the flame and this is what i want to i'm just going to read to you you know i don't even want you to turn i just want you to listen to me you know that lampstand that's to be burning the church is the lampstand but the church is not a building it's you it's me isn't it the church is is people and that lampstand then represents the church the people there's something that they put on the lampstand it was an ornamental work let me just read to you says three cups shall be shaped like almond blossoms in the one branch a bulb and a cut flower three cups shaped like almond blossoms in the other branch a bulb and a flower so for six branches going out from the lampstand and in the lampstand four cups shaped like almond blossoms and its bulbs and its flowers you know this lampstand had branches to it and every one of the branches was decorated ornately with almond cups and blossoms flowers now the scripture says that after he told him to make the whole thing that way he says and see to it that you make them after the pattern for them which was shown to you on the mountain now what i'm saying to you is that when god included almond blossoms on that lampstand he didn't do it because he thought it would look pretty and he didn't do it it didn't happen because some craftsman got in there and said you know these branches are kind of plain we ought to put some almond blossoms on it no god in his own testimony says everything about that lampstand is according to a pattern that i gave moses on the mountain it's there for purpose what am i getting at you know what an open door means you know what god wants to restore when he opens the door when he lets your light shine when you so allow him to trim the wick god wants to establish a people that know what the authority of his presence brings and that's what these almond blossoms represent authority god will give you an authority if you let him trim the wick if you keep the fire burning if you keep the flame alive if you're not passive in your love if you don't take an experience in god and run it to the edge but if daily you'll seek after him with a need for the oil to flow and and and the uh the wicks trimmed if you do that on a daily basis god says i'll give you an authority as a christian oh i tell you we need an authority in this city you you need an authority to get to church in this city we talk about the salvation of loved ones we think god's going to do that but i tell you first he has to give us an authority to pray like we've never prayed before he will give you an authority what does the album blossoms mean let me read this to you do you remember when aaron's when moses's authority was being challenged and he took all the leaders and he said i want you to take your staff and i want you to throw it to the ground and aaron took his staff and threw it to the ground and the scripture says now it came about on the next day that moses went into the ten of testimony and behold the rod of aaron for the house of levi had sprouted and put forth buds and produced blossoms and it bore ripe almonds i'll tell you that light is not just to shine god wants a people that will shine a light with authority they'll pray with an authority they'll seek god with an authority they'll cut through the barriers of the enemy with an authority they'll have a faith that's able to stand in the midst of whatever comes with an authority not shaken but with an authority and here's what god will do he may delay some things he may be silent with you for a while he may let you run ahead and then have to step you aside but if you let him resurrect you with a fervent glow and power of love that's new and fresh in you and stays fresh not passing here's what god will do here's what the almond branches represent jeremiah 1 11 to 12 just listen and i'm just asked jeremiah what do you see and jeremiah says and i said i see a rod of an almond tree and jehovah said unto me thou hast seen well for i am watchful over my word to perform it the word almond in hebrew is the same word for watchful and god says if you will let me trim the lamps if you'll keep the fire of flame burning daily and not try to live off an experience not try to live off of what you have now but seek me diligently let me rekindle what's died in you let me resurrect it let me embrace you and pull you to my bosom let me do that with you god says then as you read the word as you stand on the word you'll stand with an authority and i god will watch over it to perform it in your life i'll watch over it and perform it for what you pray for i'll watch over and perform it for what you have faith for i'll watch over and perform it for what you need when you grab and you reach for the word god says i'll perform it i want you to stand with me stand with me lord i know specifically you've spoken to my heart this week that there are those here that have been struggling yes you've been moving mightily lord we thank you for that but god there are those that are here that can actually say right now the flame has been brighter in days past and lord you're wanting to change all of that and resurrect it because lord they're sitting too close to the edge something something has caused the flame to die it's not because of an experience but the flame at one time was burning brighter and hotter than it is right now lord you spoke that to me specifically now lord i ask you to draw those that you want to resurrect lord bring them to a new place of life where there's more fire burning than ever before god and then i ask you to place within them an authority some of them are praying and they feel they have no authority there's no life in it but they're praying lord meet them right where they are fall on them by the power of the holy spirit embrace them to your bosom and as they embrace you almighty god lord resurrect them put new life in them lord in jesus name and give them an authority to pray lord there are some here that are praying for the loved ones and it's a hopeful wish but it's not an authority it's not a flame burning on the inside lord we need that flame we need it lord god we need it as a church we need it as individuals we need it for our families lord we need it for the things that we're facing but god there have been times when the flame's been stronger in some and i'm asking you to change all of that this morning in jesus name in jesus name you come now in the balcony and on the main floor if the lord's spoken to you if he's speaking to your heart right now he wants to change it i have his promise and you have his word of promise he's going to change it he's going to change it but you come in the balcony on the main floor right now right now in the choir if the lord's speaking to you whatever i don't care i don't care who you are or what you are or what your position is if god is speaking this to you you need to be here at this altar god's going to do something he's going to give an authority and he's going to resurrect the flame you come as we sing rise i is let's go let's sing this a little bit more is to the just i i just i want you to ask the lord what door you need to open right so and i'm not not just to see but how many of you can say before the lord i i need a new door of faith opened i i need a god you need to open a door of faith in me my you know there's not a one of us that couldn't use more faith i know that that's not what i'm talking about some some of you have you have it's something's happened to your face something's whittled away at it you you had a faith you had a faith i i know as well as i'm standing here brother dave said something it might have been dawn but it's dawn or david one in one of the it wasn't in a message it was just in while they were up here something about intercessors it might even have been on a friday night i don't remember but something about intercessors that some of you had been intercessors in the past god had used you mightily and something had happened the faith has gone for it pastors those of you here this weekend some of you at one time were able to stand and really intercede for and something's whittled away at that you've been sitting too close to the edge you you've been living too long on an experience not knowing not intending to do that but too long on energy that had been put there before and the flow is not like it should be i i'm asking the lord and i and i felt him safe for me to pray this morning he is we need intercessors in this church all we need intercessors that that are not just praying but stand with an authority and some of you were intercessors and you ran ahead of god and you got out there and he actually had to say to you but you didn't have a life testimony you didn't have a life message you knew what to pray and you know how to pray but now he said you have to step aside for a while but now it's time for him to use you that's why he's speaking to your heart he wants to quicken that intercession again with a new faith some some of you just need faith just for battling what you're battling some of you need a new door open just to love the lord and you're praying and you're seeking you know what god's doing god right now this morning i felt it so strong some of you seeing god move on other people and seeing an excitement prayer and some of you sitting back saying well i'm going through the motions but somehow i don't have the fire and god is saying i don't want you i don't want anything to draw you away or pull you away i want to resurrect the fire i want to put it within you will you believe him for it would you believe him now you know he wants to do it because this whole bible is full of a testimony if he wants to put that fire in you you cannot not believe it and you have to reach out by faith right now and believe him god's going to open a door with some of you it's a door it's a door to an answer to prayer with some of you it's a door of faith with some of you it's a door of ministry a door of service but you trust him for it right now something it's just a door of a deeper fellowship with him but he's going to do it right now he's going to quicken and i'll tell you something listen he's not going to take you back to where you once were he's going to take you beyond where you've ever been he's not going to take you back to an old experience he's going to take you back to something living and fresh but you have to make a commitment right now god i've been living too close to the edge i've been living on too much of the oil of the past i need a fresh oil on me right now would you commit that to the lord you just admit it to him commit it to him and he'll come down he'll fall down he'll fall down embrace you and say now there's life let's pray this i want you just to ask god for it would you don't wait for me to pray just ask him right now say lord i need new life if you don't know anything else to say just say lord i need new life that's me god i've been described here i've got to have new life lord give it to me speak it out loud don't don't be afraid of shouting in your neighbor's ear it's not for the exercise but it's to call on god it's calling if you really want something you'll be crying out you say eutychus has fallen out the window i'm not as well off as i thought lord i need you i need a fresh experience of your life lord bring it in the name of jesus lord bring the holy spirit fall on us lord your word speaks about fall on us lord fall on us in the power of your might and lord embrace us right now i'm asking you to open a door open a door of faith where it's needed a door of service a door of new life lord a door of new fellowship a door of new authority but lord we're calling upon you we need your authority in this place we need your authority in this city we need your authority in our lives oh god we can't do it without you lord we're calling upon you now we have nothing to offer you but trust and faith and we've given it to you now lord we confess we've lived too close to the edge and we need new life in jesus name bring it now hallelujah glory to god hallelujah thank you lord lord change i'm asking you to change everyone up here lord change us in this church lord bring new fresh oil bring new fresh oil lord in jesus name hallelujah hallelujah no more burnout lord lord bring new life praise god praise the lord glory to your name holy spirit just fall on us hallelujah now embrace the lord that's your job embrace the lord say how do i do that just love him just thank him praise him and love him that's how you embrace him just give him thanks right now hallelujah lord we embrace you we embrace your promises your presence and your power glory to god hallelujah praise be unto your name thank you lord thank you lord thank you lord i'm i'm going to ask i'm going to ask those those that not not necessarily here for the first time but if you're if you're at this altar and and it is and it is your first time you're at this altar and you know you have a need to press through not not everyone that's here for the first time but you know you have a need to press through you know you have a need for someone to pray with you and it's your first time at the altar would you go to the exit sign over there would you would you go there we have we have some people that are going to pray with you and you just make your way through the crowd press your way through you're here for the first time and you need someone to press and pray with you and if you've had any doubts about your salvation if you if you don't know if things haven't worked please go back there so they can pray with you and seek the lord with you but you you have a need right now that's not not quite touched not quite met and you you need the lord to touch you or you need to find out what he's been saying to you this morning you need to say i feel that there's some here that you're feeling god i know you've been saying something but i know exactly what you're saying would you go back there right now anyone else anyone in the aisles just start making your way through anyone else that needs to go uh anyone else anyone else praise god well we're going to rejoice now we're going that's we're going to embrace the lord are you are you ready to do that will you do that with faith we're going to embrace the lord we're going to embrace him through our worship and our praise you can go back to your seats now and let's do it go back there with a heart to say lord i'm thanking you now for what you're doing i'm going to embrace you as i worship you and i praise you this is the conclusion of the tape