In this sermon, the speaker expresses deep remorse and repentance for living a sinful lifestyle. They acknowledge the holiness and consuming fire of God, and the need to genuinely seek forgiveness and not play games with sin. The speaker emphasizes the importance of living a life that brings honor to God and breaking free from the chains of darkness. They draw inspiration from the story of Abraham and Isaac, highlighting the obedience and faithfulness of Abraham and the blessings that came as a result. The sermon concludes with a reminder of the promise of God's presence and the title of the message, "Forever Dwelling in the Presence of God."

This message is one of the Times Square Church Pulpit series. It was recorded in the sanctuary of Times Square Church in Manhattan, New York City. Other tapes are available by writing WORLDCHALLENGE PO BOX 260 LINDALE, TEXAS 75771 or calling 903-963-8626. None of these messages are copyrighted, and you are welcome to make copies for free distribution to friends. And if you're newer to the Lord, you may want to keep a marker in the index. So we'll be turning to a lot of Scripture this morning and so that you'll be able to get there very quickly. Psalm 23. Title of my message this morning is Forever Dwelling in the Presence of God. Forever dwelling in the presence of God. Hallelujah. Father, I thank you for the presence and power of your Holy Spirit. Thank you for the incredible depth of your love for each and every one of us. Thank you that you are drawing us, that you are speaking to us. Lord, that you are giving us an absolute revelation of your heart. I ask this morning that you would quicken me by the power of the Holy Spirit. For I have nothing and I am nothing, apart from who you are within me and how you choose to reveal your word through me. I ask that you would flow Holy Spirit through this vessel, that you would make Jesus Christ to be lifted up, to be seen, to be exalted, to be desired, to be apprehended, Lord, by all who have come into this house today. God, speak to every heart, speak to every life. Lord, show us the things that you want us to understand this day. Make it real to every mind, make it real to every heart. Father, I thank you for your presence. I thank you for your power. I thank you for your grace and your glory. Be magnified. I would ask today there be joy, tears of joy. Lord, there be tears of laughter. God, there would be an incredible understanding of your heart for your people. And Father, we thank you for this in Jesus' name. Amen and amen. Psalm 23, the precious Psalm of David. The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures. He leadeth me beside the still waters. He restoreth my soul. He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his namesake. Yet though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil. For thou art with me, thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me. Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies. Thou knowest my head with oil, my cup runneth over. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life. And I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. We see in Scripture that no doubt that David throughout his life was given absolute and great revelations of God through the Holy Ghost. I think a classic example of that is Psalm 22. We see God speaking through David many, many years before the event even happened. The very words of Jesus Christ on the cross on Calvary, when at the very moment of his preceding his death, he cried out, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? And if you continue on through Psalm 22, we'll see that there's an incredible revelation of not only the suffering and the trial of Christ on Calvary, but also the victory that he won for you and I. All given to David by revelation of the Holy Ghost. And brethren, this revelation comes to men and women who have a heart for God, who have an intimacy with God, who want to draw close to Him, and He means more to them than anything in this entire world means. David was a king, and even though he was a king, yet there was an understanding in his heart that without God he had absolutely nothing. The armies of the world, the armies that he possessed, the power, the wealth, all of the glory of the kingdom of Israel that God had in effect given into His hand of leadership, were not satisfactory for him, because he knew that without God he had absolutely nothing. No matter what God ever does in your life or in my life, I pray with an honest heart before you today that that would never change in your life nor in my life. That no matter what happens, that we realize that the goodness that we have in our lives, the things that are beginning to manifest in us and through us, are not of ourselves, they are of Him. And folks, I'm prepared to lose anything in this world but not my love for Jesus Christ, not the yearning for Him, not the heart. I cherish that. And David, because of that type of a heart, had these incredible revelations of Christ in effect given to him and through him. We go through the Psalms that David wrote, and if we were to take the time, I guess in the next while, we would see a continuous pattern of revelation of the workings and the ways of God. But I believe that perhaps one of the greatest revelations ever given to David was that of a place that God desired to be built. A place where he might dwell forever among his people. It was by the Holy Spirit that God gave to David the pattern of the temple, and David in effect passed this pattern on to his son Solomon, who after the reign of David built the temple. In 1 Chronicles chapter 28, verses 11 and 12, the Scripture says, Then David gave to Solomon his son the pattern of the porch, and of the houses thereof, and of the treasuries thereof, of the upper chambers thereof, the inner parlors thereof, and the place of the mercy seat. And the pattern of all that he had by the Spirit. God had given to David a revelation of what was required that his people might approach him, and ultimately fulfill the greatest desire of both he and those who seek him in truth. There is a desire in my heart this morning, and there's a desire in the heart of God. And that desire is just simply that he might dwell in our midst, and we might dwell in his presence in fully restored fellowship, and in sweet and intimate communion. This is the desire of my heart, and I hope it's the desire of yours, because certainly this day it is the desire of God's heart. And he gave a physical type of a spiritual pattern that he was about to set up called his church. The church of Jesus Christ. The whole reason for that type and pattern of the temple was that God wanted to show us what was required that we might draw into him, and actually possess his heart, know his heart. Have his very life blood flowing in us and through us. And by virtue of that relationship truly become his representatives here on this earth. Walking with him. In effect as David says in Psalm 23, dwelling in the house of the presence of God forever. Walking in his presence. Not a stranger to him. Walking so close to him on this side of eternity that when we step over that line into eternity, that it's just, there's no change. We just simply keep on walking. He knows us, we know him. He can look at us and say, Welcome friend. Welcome cherished one. Come and enter into the joy of the Lord. Now this temple that God gave by revelation to David was a foreshadowing of the type of the Christian life. That is the life of the Christian who's actively and honestly seeking God. Really if you're not actively and honestly seeking God this whole message doesn't really apply to you. It'll be interesting theory perhaps or something that you can add to learning but it really won't apply to your life. There has to be an active and honest seeking of God. Folks if that's not there then let's get right back to basics and begin to start where we should start. Active and honest seeking is not just learning. It's not just coming into the house of God. It's not just hearing some new servant every week and accumulating a storehouse of information and knowledge about God. That's not what it's about. It's actively seeking Him. It's wanting to know Him. It's wanting to be so close with Him and intimate with Him that the two are no longer two but they become one. That His thoughts become our thoughts. His ways our ways. That He can speak to us. That the two of us can walk together because we be bound together in the Spirit and we are agreed together. Paul says in 1 Corinthians 3 in verse 16 he says Know ye not that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? Now firstly we must ask ourselves the question Who does the Spirit of God abide with? Who does the Holy Spirit come into? Who does He reveal the fullness of Christ to? Firstly in order to answer this we need to go back and we need to see the location where Solomon's temple was built. The Bible tells us that Solomon's temple or the temple that God gave to David by revelation was built on a mountain or a small it's not actually a mountain it's more of a small hill and it's called Moriah. In 2 Chronicles chapter 3 verse 1 the scripture says Then Solomon began to build the house of the Lord at Jerusalem in Mount Moriah where the Lord appeared unto David his father in the place that David had prepared in the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite. Now go back in your Bibles to 1 Chronicles chapter 21 if you will. 1 Chronicles you don't have to go back very far from Psalms 1 Chronicles chapter 21 Moriah really is only mentioned twice prior to 2 Chronicles 31 the second time that Moriah is mentioned is a time when David his heart was lifted up God was giving him many victories and instead of focusing solely on the victories that God was giving him his heart was lifted up in pride and he called Joab in and some others and said I want you to go out and number the armies of Israel Joab said don't do this thing because God makes the armies of Israel many many more than they are Joab knew what was happening he said if you do this you're going to be looking it's the precursor to saying we have accomplished what we have done in our own strength and in our own power and Joab in his heart of hearts I believe knew this is going to bring the wrath of God upon the nation of Israel why will you do this thing and yet David's heart was lifted up and Satan had in effect provoked him to tempt God and so he numbered Israel and the numbers came back and immediately after he had done this his heart was smitten within him and in 1st Chronicles chapter 21 verse 8 David said to the Lord I have sinned greatly because I have done this thing now I beseech thee do away the iniquity of thy servant for I have done very foolishly and so we had a prophet come to David and he was given a choice of three judgments and he said let me fall into the hands of the Lord not into the hands of man because it's true about the mercy of God and a destroying angel was sent by God and many many people I believe 70,000 people fell and were destroyed at that time because of the sin of David and the angel came into Jerusalem and as he came into Jerusalem he drew out his sword and he was about to strike over Jerusalem and the death and the carnage were going to continue and be repeated and there was a man who had a threshing floor on top of this mountain called Moriah and his name was Ornan the Bible says he was a Jebusite Ornan saw the destroying angel come he was there threshing wheat and he had his two young sons with him this was his income it was his living it was the place of his sustenance David lifted up his eyes and he was given a command the angel of the Lord commanded Gad the prophet to say to David that he should go up and set up an altar to the Lord in the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite in other words God said go up to that mountain and make a sacrifice he said to David humble yourself Ornan first of all Moriah was a place of repentance David came to that place he came with a repentive heart he knew he had sinned against God and in effect God is saying this is the beginning of the building of my house when people are able to acknowledge that in their pride they have set themselves against me they have defied my counsel they have begun to arrogantly turn away from me and to live under the presupposition that they can accomplish things and in effect get through life in their own strength and in their own power and God says no you'll never get there it's not by your might nor by power it's by my spirit saith the Lord and David realized this and comes to this mountain called Moriah with a repentive heart and brothers and sisters this is the beginning of the building of the house of God if you've never repented of your sin you really in essence there's no going any farther it's got to begin there and David came to Ornan and he said to Ornan in verse 22 he said grant me the place of this threshing floor that I might build an altar therein unto the Lord and give it to me in other words for the full price that the plague may be stayed from the people and Ornan said to David take it to thee and let my lord the king do that which is good in his eyes Lord I give thee the oxen also for burnt offerings and the threshing instruments for wood and the wheat for the meat offering I give it all so it's a hill when we hear about it in the Old Testament first of all it's a place where there's repentance and secondly it's a place of personal sacrifice Ornan this man saw the destruction and he said you can have it all you can have my living in effect you can have my oxen you can have my threshing instruments and use them for wood to burn the oxen in spite of the fact that he was there and that was his income and his sons were with him he saw the need and he said I give it all I give everything but David said to Ornan no he said but I will buy it for the full price I will not take that which is thine or yours for the Lord nor offer burnt offerings without cost in other words David is saying I will not give to the Lord that which costs me nothing this is not only a place of repentance but it's a place of complete surrender and it's a place where there's an offering given to God but not an offering that costs somebody else something I think of the volumes of people throughout history that have gone down to the docks even in New York and pressed five dollars into the hand of a missionary and said we're in this together but the reality is are we really in it together if they are the ones who are going to the foreign field and we are easing our conscience by putting five dollars in their hand and saying we're with you in this thing no David says no this on this mountain this mountain called Moriah I will not offer anything to God that costs me nothing personally I'll not write on the coattails of somebody else's zeal for God I'll not write on the coattails of the sacrifices somebody else has paid and simply by association say I am here and I'm committed no I won't do this thing if I'm going to give to God if I'm going to sacrifice to God if I'm coming here with a repentant heart I'm going to give him something that costs me personally I'm not going to take somebody else's sacrifice and offer it up to God this is not acceptable it's not pleasing to God and so David pays him a full price for the threshing floor and then offers up a sacrifice for the things that he had done against the Lord and the destroying angel now stays his hand and puts the sword back in the sheath then the beginning of an incredible revelation comes to David now he saw something in the spiritual realm and in effect put a physical application to this in chapter 22 after all of these things have transpired on this mountain called Moriah David said in verse 1 this is the house of the Lord God and this is the altar of the burnt offering of Israel see the Holy Spirit now is speaking to him again his life is back in order and the Holy Spirit is in effect saying to David this is the place where God desires to dwell this is the type of people that God wants to come among this is the heart that he's looking for in those that we will call his own and those who legitimately can say the Lord God is my God and David commanded to gather together the strangers that were in the land of Israel and he set masons to hew rock stones to build the house of God hallelujah and later on he began to gather stones to build this house because David said this is where God wants to dwell it's in this place of repentance it's in this place of personal sacrifice it's in this place of seeing the need and saying God use my life to do something about it and he began to gather stones to build a house in that place in 1st Kings chapter 5 verse 17 Solomon after he is given the commission by his father and continues to build what David had begun the scripture says Solomon and the king commanded and they brought great stones costly stones and huge stones to lay the foundation of the house the biggest stones are at the bottom the most costly are at the bottom and Paul says in Ephesians chapter 2 verses 19 to 22 he says now therefore you are no more strangers and foreigners but fellow citizens with the saints and of the household of God and you are built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets Jesus Christ himself being the chief cornerstone in whom all the building fitly framed together grows into a holy temple in the Lord in whom you also are built together for a habitation of God through the spirit we are as the church of Jesus Christ built upon that same foundation that was laid on this mountain called Moriah you look at the life of Christ his life was a life of sacrifice he left the throne of glory he came down to this earth was made in the likeness of man he saw the need and gave everything he had right down to the very last drop of water and blood that was in his body he took our bruising upon himself he suffered the wrath of a holy God who came upon him and suffered the separation that we should have deserved for all of eternity because he saw the need the apostles and prophets they saw this very revelation was given to their hearts and like David they came to that mountain called Calvary they understood the sacrifice that was required to be built upon Christ and they gave their lives for the cause of Christ they were poured out just like the apostle Paul was poured out and Christ was poured out and brethren we are built upon that foundation the apostle Paul says let's take heed let's be careful how we build on that foundation let's be careful that we don't change try to change the pattern of the house to suit our own personal conveniences let's be careful that we understand what kind of a foundation needs to be on the house that we say we are part of that is the house of God this is a house of sacrifice this is a house of repentance this is a house where the purposes and plans of God are honored first and foremost in our lives above all that we even think or desire to do it's a place where we put our will second and we see the needs of God and the needs of those around us and we begin to flow in that very stream of divine life that God has provided for us through Jesus Christ we find Mariah also mentioned in Genesis chapter 22 if you'll turn there with me Genesis chapter 22 you know the story where God gave a promise to Abraham he said Abraham I'm going to bless you I'm going to increase you I'm going to prosper you and through you the nations of the world are going to be blessed what an incredible what an incredible promise to Abraham bringing this man out into the heavens and saying count the stars if you can count them and this is as numerous as your descendants are going to be and after a season of testing and trial God gave Abraham a son called Isaac and then in Genesis chapter 22 the scripture says it came to pass after these things that God did tempt Abraham now that word tempt would be better translated test because we know God does not tempt man and he said to Abraham and he said behold here I am he said now take thy son thine only son Isaac whom thou lovest get thee into the land of Mariah and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of Abraham was an old man and there was no hope in his heart of ever having received the promise apart from God that all of a sudden Isaac is born and Isaac is not just the fulfillment of every personal desire in the life of Abraham but Isaac is Abraham's future Isaac is the only tangible evidence of the promise that God has given to him and some writers feel that Abraham was in danger of shifting his focus from the promises of God to that tangible thing that he had in his hands which was his son Isaac and God in effect was saying Abraham I will not share the glory with anyone the things that are about to happen in your life and through your life are going to happen solely by the working of my Holy Spirit upon you in you and through you and through your descendants Abraham I don't want you shifting because Abraham had already shown the tendency to shift to plans and doing things in his own strength and so God tested Abraham to see if he was still first in his heart he said now take this son of yours that you have so desired for so long that you so treasure that you so love Abraham that is the very essence of your future you see without Isaac Abraham wouldn't even have a name his name would be cut off he was his only son and God says now you take this son and take him to that mountain called Moriah and he says I want you to offer him up as a sacrifice unto me in other words God was saying to Abraham I want you Abraham to give me your future I want you to completely put your trust in me once again even without Isaac God was saying to Abraham I will fulfill every word that I have said to you I want to be first in your life and first in your heart and so we know the battle that must have raged within Abraham as he walked up that mountain of Moriah and laid his son out on the altar of sacrifice but God was only testing his heart he didn't take his son Isaac it was through Isaac that the lineage of Israel came and subsequently the Messiah Jesus Christ who has touched the entire world who has filled us today and we are here as the fulfillment of every promise that God ever gave to Abraham Lamb of God and the Lord said in verse chapter 22 verse 16 He said By myself have I sworn saith the Lord for because thou hast done this thing and has not withheld thy son thine only son that in blessing I will bless thee and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven and as the sand which is upon the seashore and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed because thou hast obeyed my voice this is the second thing you remember the first was repentance on Moriah a place of personal sacrifice but it was more than this Moriah was a mountain that represented those who would place their entire future in the hands of God God I give you my future I surrender my plans I surrender even the tangible things that are laid before me things that I could begin to focus on and give attention to and somehow work with to see the promises that you have given to me fulfilled but no Abraham says no no I'm going to trust you with all of my heart scripture says Abraham believed that God could even raise Isaac from the dead to fulfill his plans to him and his promises to him and that's what Moriah represents laying down our ambitions laying down self laying down self will laying down our careers laying down everything that we have planned and laid out for ourselves even if we can convince ourselves that these things are somehow good for us and can further the kingdom of God it's coming into his presence and saying Lord I lay it all down I lay everything down I lay my career down I lay my future down I lay my family down before you I lay it all down and Lord God I'm going to now take up every promise that you've ever made to me and I'm not going to live by what I see and I'm not going to live by my own schemes and plans but I'm going to live from this day by every promise that you have ever made to my heart it's a choice that we make brothers and sisters it's an absolute choice and so now Solomon builds the temple of God at this place called Moriah a temple which I truly believe is a type of the life of the honest God seeking Christian David said in Psalm 23 verse 3 he restoreth my soul he knew the very motive the very heart of God everything that God does is to restore it's to bring back it's to make whole it's to draw us back to himself again if you and I could be for a moment transported back in time in history to the temple now complete and Solomon has finished this temple and let's say we are pilgrims and we are walking up and our hearts desire is to draw close to God as we begin to approach the temple that Solomon had completed the very first thing that we would be confronted with is a huge flaming altar an altar where people came and brought a sacrifice for their sins goats and calves and bulls were brought there and there was deep repentance hopefully at that altar now we know that over time the repentance was replaced by buying and selling it was replaced by the desire for personal gain but at the time that the temple was built it was its original intention was that we would first when coming into the presence of God be confronted with our sin see the absolute horror of it see that there needed to be a shedding of blood so that we could even think of coming into the presence of God the people would have stood there and they would have watched the lamb have its throat slit and would have watched it bleed to death right before them they would have watched it dissected and torn apart wounded and bruised because of their sin it is a place of repentance this is the doorway to beginning to find the heart of God so many never get beyond this altar they come to this altar they see the horror of sin they offer up the sacrifice but they are still drawn to their sin they never get beyond it I see in my mind's eye myriads of people in Israel over time coming to this altar and a virtual river of blood running all over the place and people bringing calves and goats and sheep and bulls and blood being strewn and the smell of burning flesh continuously before the people but somehow they lost sight of the horror of sin they lost sight of the understanding that sin is an affront to a holy God that if we're going to come into the presence of God sin must first be dealt with in all of its forms there are many who never get beyond the altar I see in my mind's eye people coming to that altar but they are still drawn to their sin they hate the consequences that come upon them because of it they come with grief but it's not a holy grief it's not a godly grief they're grieved because they've lost their children because they've not lived right before God they're grieved because they're hooked on some substance that runs through their vein making them think and do things that are unlike God they're grieved because their reputation is ruined they're grieved because they're in debt and can't get out of debt they're grieved for a numerous assortment of things but they're not grieved because they have affronted a holy God they have failed to see the horror of their sin and somehow they're approaching unto God even though it might have a religious attrapping attachment about it is an affront to God because the heart is not right they have a sorrow but it's only a worldly sorrow and Paul the apostle said this kind of a sorrow just works death in other words it makes debtor and debtor and debtor every time that person comes to that altar it produces a greater measure of death in their life because they've never seen the consequences of sin they've never understood that they're offending a holy God godly sorrow Paul says in 2nd Corinthians chapter 7 verse 10 and 11 godly sorrow works repentance to salvation not to be repented of but the sorrow of the world works death now Paul goes on in verse 11 to describe a true godly sorrow he says for behold this self-same thing that you sorrowed after a godly sort he says what carefulness it wrought in you what clearing of yourselves what indignation what fear what vehement desire yea what zeal yea what revenge and Paul is really in effect outlying the true heart condition of those who come to this altar of repentance and really do desire to turn from their sin they really have seen that this sin has grieved the heart of a holy God there's a carefulness Paul says that it produces in you oh God I don't want to do this anymore I don't want to leave this altar and go back to my sin there's a clearing of yourselves Lord I accept today the forgiveness that you give me by the shed blood of my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ I understand today the horror of my sin that you had to send your son in the likeness of human flesh to suffer such a an incredible torture and punishment that I deserve for the things that I've done oh God I thank you Lord for clearing me of this sin I thank you for forgiving me this is the end of side one you may now turn the tape over to side two the indignation is God how could how could I how could I live like this how could I let these things happen in my life oh Lord God how could I ever think of coming and even attempting to approach you with any kind of a willful embracing of this type of lifestyle left in me running through my veins and my life and my mind oh God he says what fear oh Lord you're a holy God you're a consuming fire I dare not play games with you I dare not toy with this thing I dare not think that I can somehow play with sin and come to your house once a week and just run to the altar and say oh thank God I'm forgiven I dare not play this game with you Lord I dare not play because you're a consuming fire and if my sorrow is not genuine then it's just going to make me deader and deader and deader to my sin it's going to dull my conscience and eventually I'll sit in the house of God and I won't even see it as wrong anymore what vehement desire Paul says in other words what a desire to live a righteous life God I purpose in my heart you see this is what has to happen for God's dwelling his presence to come into the life of a believer we purpose in our heart what vehement desire Paul says I purpose in my heart to live for you I purpose in my heart to love you I purpose in my heart to seek you and to live a life that brings honor to you Paul says what zeal hallelujah getting up not in our own strength but now in the strength of God not in our own cleansing but the cleansing that has been imparted to us through the shed blood of Jesus Christ not our righteousness but his what zeal and what revenge hallelujah hallelujah through the power of almighty God a true man or woman of God leaving the altar of God says I shall now bring into captivity what had one time captivated my life I'm going to be a chain breaker I'm going to go back to my family and bring life and bring liberty and the chains of hell and darkness are going to be broken I'm not letting the devil rule over my life anymore nor over my home nor over my family nor in my community the destroying angel will put his sword back into his sheath because I have purpose to give my life for the purposes of God I purpose in my heart to live for him and now we move on we move beyond the altar and as you move towards the very center of where God dwells we come to numerous basins that are set about outside the temple and around basically representing ceremonial cleansing of water for those who are set aside to minister to God in whatever capacity they are David said in psalm 23 verse 2 he leadeth me beside the still waters from that altar he leads us now to the waters those cleansing waters those purifying waters Paul says in Ephesians 5 25 and 26 husbands love your wives even as Christ also loved the church and gave himself for it that he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word those who are moving towards intimacy with God develop a deep deep deep love for the word of God the psalmist says in psalm 119 verse 97 oh how I love thy law it is my meditation all the day I love your word oh God oh folks move beyond just the altar move beyond the altar there are perhaps there are many that even in this church come to this altar and you are genuinely now sorry for your sin and you do see it as an affront to a holy God you do understand the horror of it and why God had to send his son but you've got to move beyond this we've got to move into that place where we begin to love this book and our our quality time with God is not just a cursory reading of the word of God before we run off to work in the morning for 5-10 minutes reading a few verses randomly not even knowing where we're reading somehow thinking that this is a devotion to God folks it isn't a devotion to God there's a love for the word that comes into the hearts of those who are moving into the very center of God you see I'm speaking today to honest God seeking Christians we must move on if we're able if we desire to possess the heart of God we move beyond the labor beyond the cleansing I see there are many many groups of Christians that really do come to an understanding of repentance and then they gather around the labors and they stay there for the rest of their life we have conferences now where it's just always learning learning always some new thing and they will come out and say what a wonderful cleansing we had today what a marvelous word what an incredible revelation of God there was a group that met in another country not too long ago no speakers no itinerary they came from all over the place and they just gathered for some new revelation of the heart of God now I'm not mocking that but we've got to move beyond that we can't stay at the labor because God wants us to go beyond that there's a temple that's been built there's a place where he dwells and he wants us to go in there and to find him and ever increasing revelation we can't just be a people always learning in effect and not coming to the full intimate knowledge of what he wants to reveal in us and through us we've got to move beyond the labor in Solomon's temple we would move beyond if we were there together beyond the washing which represented the cleansing of the washing of the word up the stairs and into what's called the portico or that's the outward porch of the actual temple itself and there are two pillars that the Lord gave to David by the spirit to establish and you had to pass by these pillars to get into the temple to get into the very heart of where God dwelt the name of one pillar was Jachin and the other was Boaz he actually gave them names the pillar that was called Jachin the word Jachin really means something along the lines of this he shall establish that's what it means he shall establish and we pass by these pillars and the word establish means to settle or fix firmly to make stable or permanent and we pass by that pillar and in effect what God is saying I am going to settle you I'm going to establish you I'm going to make you stable and grant to you a sense of permanence in me and in who I am now in Genesis chapter 17 just turn back from where you were Genesis chapter 17 God gave Abraham an incredible promise in verse 17 it's that he was going to have a son now he's passed his prime and Sarah is barren she's passed child bearing age in verse 17 it says that Abraham fell upon his face and laughed and said in his heart shall a child be born unto him that is a hundred years old shall Sarah that is ninety years old bear and Abraham said unto God oh that Ishmael might live before thee and God said Sarah thy wife shall bear thee a son indeed thou shall call his name Isaac and I will establish my covenant with him for an everlasting covenant and with his seed after him God saying in effect Abraham I am making you a promise Abraham and I will establish I will establish you I will establish your son I'm making a promise and the things that I have promised to you Abraham in spite of your weakness in spite of your age and in spite of the deadness of Sarah's womb I am going to do in you what I said I'm going to do hallelujah hallelujah now go ahead to Deuteronomy please go ahead a few books in the Bible Deuteronomy chapter twenty-eight I want to show you just for a moment God's desire for you and for me he spoke it through Moses to the children of Israel Deuteronomy chapter twenty-eight beginning at verse seven the Lord shall cause thine enemies that rise up against thee to be smitten before thy face they shall come out against thee one way and flee before thee seven ways the Lord shall command the blessing upon thee and thy storehouses and in all that thou settest thy hand unto and he shall bless thee in the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee the Lord shall what establish thee a holy people unto himself as he has sworn unto thee and if thou shall keep the commandments of the Lord thy God and walk in his ways God says I will establish you now the book of Hebrews I'll just read it to you for times sake chapter six verses twelve to fifteen the writer of Hebrews exhorts us not to be slothful but followers of them who through faith and patience inherited the promises now this is an exhortation for you and I for when God made promise to Abraham because he could swear by no greater he swore by himself saying surely blessing I will bless thee and multiplying I will multiply thee and so after he had patiently endured he obtained the promise the second pillar was called Boaz and in effect the name Boaz means in it in it is strength Paul says in second Corinthians chapter twelve and verse nine he said unto me my grace is sufficient for thee for my strength is made perfect in weakness Hebrews eleven eleven speaking about Sarah says through faith also Sarah herself received strength to conceive seed and was delivered of a child when she was past age because she judged him faithful who had promised David said yet though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death I will fear no evil for thou art with me and in effect walking beyond those pillars and into the very presence of God the beginning of what God wants to reveal is a shadow of death it's dying to all of our own abilities to accomplish the things that God says we're going to do it's coming into his presence having seen his requirements having understood what he wants to do but we walk in an absolute total weakness saying Lord there's nothing within me that can accomplish this there's nothing within me that can make it happen even my best efforts are going to fall short of what you want for my life you're drawing me to yourself and yet I feel so absolutely inadequate I don't know how to do the things I desire but I don't know how to do it I'm coming into your presence and weakness I'm coming in with in effect a death sentence upon myself and God says that's exactly the way I want it to be because I have promised you I will establish you if you will come in if you will come in in faith I will establish you I will do the things in your life that I said I'm going to do you come in in your weakness for my power is made perfect in your weakness hallelujah hallelujah come in in faith and you will receive strength you see this is the time that the Christian passes by that time of trusting in self passes by just learning about God and now having learned about Him now having read His promises passes through these pillars into the outer court if I can call it such of the temple coming to a place which contains an altar of incense and this altar of incense to me represents a brand new type of prayer it's not a prayer that's dependent on personal ability it's not a prayer where we hang our head in remorse over past failures or present weaknesses in our lives it is a prayer that is absolute and genuine worship it is prayer that comes from a heart that has believed the promises of God it is prayer that comes from an honest heart it is prayer that gives thanks and praises Him for the answer before it is even seen Hebrews 11 1 says now faith is the substance of things hoped for the evidence of things not seen it is the child of God that goes beyond his feelings beyond his emotions beyond his past failures beyond his sins beyond all of these things sees the commands of God and comes into God's house and begins to worship Him not for who He is but for who God is and what He has done hallelujah this is the life that will move forward in God this is the Christian that will find the heart of God who looks away from self and all of the struggles and trials of self and makes no promises to God and says God I've come in in my weakness I've come in too old to even bear seed I've come in oh God trembling I've come in failure but Lord You have made exceeding and great promises to me by Your hand upon my life I shall stand hallelujah by every promise You've ever made to me I'm going to stand Your covenant with me will be established in You I shall find strength hallelujah to the Lamb of God hallelujah it's the prayer that says Lord I've repented of my sin I love the washing of Your word You promise to establish settle and give me strength I believe that the things not possible to man are possible with God I trust that all things that You have allowed into my life have been allowed there for a purpose this is a sacrifice of praise this is a different dimension of seeking God it's coming into His house and you might have had a terrible week and it seems like all hell is coming against your life but You choose to come into the house of God lift up your hands and say I believe that all things work together I believe Lord that You have allowed this into my life for a purpose for I have given You my life and Jesus You said I'm sealed in the Father's hand and no one can take me out of that hand You have allowed it into my life it's beginning to worship Him in all situations and under all circumstances it's that prayer of a child of God that cries out Abba Father Abba Father I now am beginning to understand Your heart I'm now beginning to understand Your plans for me and I entrust my future into Your hands I give You all that I am I give You all that I have as little as it is I give it to You Lord and I trust it by Your strength You will multiply it and use it for Your glory and for Your honor David says he prepares a table for me in the presence of my enemies he anoints my head with oil and my cup runs over hallelujah the most glorious the most God anointed Christian you'll ever find is someone who is absolutely abandoned to God has no confidence in themselves whatsoever but their trust and confidence has been shifted and placed in Him and they're beginning to know the depth of His heart hallelujah He longs for that type of worship He longs for that type of prayer and that type of praise the response of God to those who move beyond the pillars of promise and into the realm of believing worship and prayer there's only one place left to go the scripture calls it the holy of holies it was the place where God dwelt in the Shekinah glory there was a veil that separated that place from every man except the high priest only one allowed once a year to go in with blood that was shed for his sins and the sins of the people and God would beat him there in there was the ark of the tabernacle or the ark of the testimony and above that ark was the mercy seat and cherubim that stretched their wings from one side to the other and God Shekinah glory would appear over the mercy seat one man once a year could go in there but Jesus Christ came and shed his blood once for all who would come to him and today that veil is ramped from top to bottom and parted by the very hand of God and you and I can come in there invited by God to know his heart every moment of every hour of every day of every week of every month of every year for the rest of our lives there's no hindrance and there's not even a line up we don't even have to wait no matter where we are we can bow our hearts and heads and just draw right in now right into the very Shekinah glory of God we beheld his glory John says as of the only begotten of the Father full of grace and truth the glory of God was manifested in the face of Jesus Christ we have an invitation those who begin to worship him who are offering their lives to God who have repented of their sin the invitation is to simply come closer let me now reveal my heart to you we go through the veil we come up to the mercy seat and oft times we don't know what to expect I talk to Christians who say if I get close to God will he condemn me will he point out all my sins I'm so weak I fail him so often will I if I draw into him some people say I'm actually afraid to draw into him if I draw into him what's going to happen will he just see what I'm really really like and cast me out of his presence he invites us to come we go to that place that is really a representative of his glory of his heart where he dwells and when we come into that place we are overwhelmed with a sense of the indescribable love of God for us he draws us in now hear me do you want to know what he says I love you I have loved you with an everlasting love I have engraved you on the palms of my hands I have never forgotten about you I've never cast you away I've never pushed you out of my presence but I couldn't reveal this to you until you saw the depth of your sin until you were willing to give your life for my purposes until you were willing to come and approach me by faith I couldn't reveal it for if I revealed it to you you would use it as a license to sin against me it would only result in your damnation if I revealed to your heart the depth of my love before you saw your need for me hallelujah it's at this point that a joy indescribable begins to overwhelm the hungry soul hallelujah that's all he says it's as if we stand before God and we say that's it I love you I love you we see the holiness of God like Isaiah he saw the majesty of God he saw his incredible holiness he knew that he was so infinitely distant from God that it was only mercy that would ever bridge the gap he saw it and then God says I love you I love you and all of a sudden it's an overwhelming thing all this time and all the trouble and all the trial that we seem to have gone through because he just wanted to tell us that one thing that's the way it was right from the beginning and God says in effect that's the message I've wanted to tell to all of mankind I loved Adam I came down every day in the garden what do you think I told Adam when I came down I love you Adam what do you think I said to Eve when I came down I love you Adam happened to that garden what do you think happened to my heart when they sinned against me and were made infinitely distant from me my heart was broken and the scripture says God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son it's because he loves us and that's the greatest treasure that we could have that revelation and folks when you have that revelation it gives you the courage to get up and go on it gives you the courage to say Lord Jesus I love you with all my heart I love you with all my soul my mind and my strength consume me with your power consume me with your love consume me with your will for my life God come and touch my life take my life this is what happened to Isaiah he saw it and he said send me send me and it's all that could come out of his mouth but he said consume me I've seen you my eyes have beheld you now oh God I want you with all my heart the heart of the believer is now knit with the heart of his savior he no longer desires any part of the flesh to reign in him oh Lord God don't let anything don't let anything rob me of this revelation of you don't let anything take your strength out of my life don't let anything come to keep me apart from you my beloved savior hallelujah John says in 1 John 4 16 God is love and he who dwells in love dwells in God and God in him he asks how can I stay in this place of oneness and heart and mind with you and the Lord responds and says let the love that I have for you now be formed in you and flow through you to others that I love also walk with me follow me I have made a way for you take that path choose the path that I have laid out for your feet let me flow through you I so love the world that if you will let that love be formed in your heart then the two of us will walk together and we will be agreed everywhere you go you will be a vessel bearing me you will be a vessel of honor for me touching the lives of multitudes all around you Song of Solomon chapter 7 verse 10 and 11 he says I am my beloved and his desire is towards me hear the cry of God now he says come my beloved let us go forth into the field let us lodge in the villages Jesus said in Mark chapter 16 verse 15 go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature go into all the world when we leave the doors of this sanctuary today brethren we are going into all the world all the world in New York has come right to our virtual doorstep I don't think there's a country on the earth where you'll not find a representative or two from that country here right in New York City God has brought the whole world right to one place go into the world he says and bear the love that I have for you and for other men bear it remember the lawyer came tempting Jesus and said what's the greatest commandment he says thou shalt love the Lord thy God he knew he knew where he was trying to draw his people Israel to and he knows today where he's trying to draw you and me to thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart and all thy soul and all thy mind and all thy strength and the second is like unto it he says you will love your neighbor as yourself in this hang all the law and all of the prophets surely goodness and mercy David said shall follow me all the days of my life and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever David made a choice and he knew that he was going to dwell in God's house forever hallelujah and through that revelation of the spirit God began to show him what this house was all about where it was built what were the characteristics of his dwelling place and David was able to accumulate to build that house and pass it on to Solomon when Solomon finished that construction the glory of God came into that house God's desire for you and I is that his glory be revealed in us I'll leave you just with a thought when you go to a restaurant sometimes and you see a couple sitting together especially a young couple and they are in love nobody has to tell you they are there is a glory there is a glory you see it the tenderness of that relationship the way they speak to each other the way they interact you can see it and this is God's desire for you and for me that we draw so close to Christ that the glory of our confidence in him our trust in him our dedication to him the consuming love that we have in our hearts for him be revealed through us that others may know him and see him there is a song that we sing take me past the outer courts through the gates of praise past the brazen altar Lord I want to see your face take me past all these other things and the priests who sing their praise I hunger and thirst for your righteousness but it's only found one place take me in to the holy of holies if that's the cry of your heart today you might be at that altar of repentance and today the Holy Spirit has spoken to you and saying you've got to stop just repenting for the same sin and start seeing what an affront that sin is to God and let me form in you the Lord says that zeal to turn away from it and strength that it won't have dominion over you there are others that you sat in the church and you are washed and washed and washed but it's time to move beyond it's time to move into that realm of faith say Lord I want this word not just to be revealed to me but in me and I want to believe it with all my heart I want to pass those pillars and come into that court where I can worship you in spite of my circumstance and declare you to be faithful and there are others here today that maybe you're willing to say Lord I want to go to that holy place where you are formed in me in such intimacy that all you have to do is speak and I move you speak, I speak you move, I move Lord I want your will and desire for my life above all else would you stand please if God's spoken to your heart today I'd like to invite you to come up in the balcony the Lord is drawing a people here at Times Square Church to himself you may not even understand it all today but God says just in effect come to me come to me I'll reveal myself to you in strength I'll reveal myself to you in power have an honest heart and seek me I'll show you the pathway to dwelling forever in the house of God hallelujah hallelujah, hallelujah hallelujah Christ Jesus pray with me please Christ Jesus be formed in me draw me to you I long for you help me to understand the horribleness of sin help me to understand that you have triumphed over sin I need not be captivated anymore give to me the desire to walk a life that is pleasing to you help me to love your word to desire times of intimacy with you where you can speak to me and I can speak to you give me faith to believe you for every circumstance in my life and every promise that you have made to me draw me to the very center of your heart that I may dwell in your house in your presence forever I love you Jesus I love you with all my heart thank you for loving me thank you for caring for me and speaking to me I want to walk where you walk and do what you call me to do and be the person you call me to be not in my strength but in your strength I love you Jesus Hallelujah