In this sermon, the preacher addresses the issue of backsliding and encourages the audience to examine their reasons for coming to church. He emphasizes the importance of personal connection with God and the dissatisfaction that can arise from relying on worldly things. The preacher reminds the audience of God's love and forgiveness, highlighting the image of God as a loving coach rather than a harsh judge. He concludes by urging the audience to prioritize their relationship with God and not neglect Him in their daily lives.

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, PO 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. Now, first prosperity message. I want my person now. I want my person now. Hallelujah. Glory to God. I'll tell you what. I've been going after it all week. I'm going after it tonight. And we're going to preach that tonight, but before we're done, we start coveting after this portion that I'm talking about tonight. Glory to God. I'm going to outdo all prosperity preachers you've ever heard. I'm going after something bigger than they've ever even imagined. Hallelujah. I've seen the light. I'll tell you what. You know, it's just going to be like the devil, but somebody just heard that part rock out, and just heard, they want to start to preach prosperity. Well, send them to Tobin. Lord, this is serious business. We're not joking. Very, very serious tonight. And we thank you for your presence, and we thank you for your glory. We hear the smell of such a powerful road. We hear gentle light to meet us and touch our hearts. We anticipate Tuesday and Friday. Lord, it's exciting to go to church. It's exciting to be in your presence. Brothers and sisters, we've given it all to you. Hallelujah. Now, Lord, you've laid a portion out before us. You've given us a vision of something that is likely ours tonight, and we're going to lay it before this congregation and ask this congregation to claim their rights in the Lord. Lord, we're going after something tonight. We're going after something mighty. Oh, God, I pray for an answer. I pray, Lord, that the authority that belongs to Jesus, not to man, but to Jesus Christ, come now. Your authority, Jesus, over every unseen power, every prince of power and power of darkness, break everything that would hinder the Word from finding its mark. Go, Holy Ghost, now, and make the Word alive. Make it real. Lord, touch me. Let fire burn in me. God, fire from heaven. Fire from heaven, I pray in Jesus' name. Amen. What about your letter of scriptures? Just keep your Bible handy where you can get at it. Know you have your Bible. We'll be getting to a lot of scriptures during the course of the message, so just follow me, please. Now, I decided, as I told you, that I'm tired of being poor. Now I want all that's coming to me. I've been reading the Old Testament, and I'm sick and tired of reading and hearing the Bible of men that claim their portion. They don't have their portion. They've got a double portion. They've got a double portion. Now, a portion means a measured amount. It means an allotment. The share, really, the share that belongs to me, the part that's legally mine, and in American slang, it's my piece of the pie. And that's what I'm doing after tonight. Now, there's some great and precious promises of God's Word that have opened my eyes to the truth that the Lord wants his children to rise up out of their poverty and despair and claim their portion in this life. Not when they get to heaven, but here on this earth. Not just any day, but here now. God has actually agreed with this church that it doesn't move in and take its rightful portion. God is disturbed about it. He says to me, I want my portion now. I'm going to claim my rights tonight. In fact, I tell you what, I apologize to this church if I have not been, as one pastor, convoking you to go after your portion. I apologize. Now, the truth of getting your portion has its roots in the Old Testament, and this policy of dividing the spoil was originated by God himself. God said, I'll divide the spoils among you. In Numbers 31, there's a picture of Israel defeating the Middle Knights, and they're taking a great spoil, and the victorious army comes back to Israel, and they've got almost a half million cattle, and they're loaded with all kinds of cattle, oxen, sheep, donkeys, all kinds of beasts and great wealth. And look what the Bible says. The Lord spoke to Moses. Moses saw the spoil coming toward him. And the Lord spoke. The Lord spoke unto Moses, saying, Divide the prey unto two parts, between them that took the rear upon them, that went out to the battle, and between all the congregation. And of the children of Israel, half to those who went out, half to those who stayed behind, and take one portion of fifty of the people, the cattle, the donkeys, the flocks, and give them to the Levites, which keep charging the tabernacle of the Lord. And half, which was the portion, of that which went, those that went out to war, remember, three hundred and thirty-seven thousand five hundred sheep, forty-six thousand cattle, thirty-thousand five hundred donkeys. Now, those were automobiles. Can you imagine? Three hundred and thirty-seven five hundred Mercedes, thirty-six thousand BMWs, thirty-thousand five hundred Fords. Now, they divided equally, and one out of fifty belonged to the priests, to the Levites. They got their share. Now, the point I'm trying to make is that God spoke this measly process into being. He spoke it. He said there's to be a divided dispel. Everybody in Israel is to share in the spells. All that you get there, not in person. In fact, when the peace offering was offered to the Lord on the altar, the right shoulder and the right breast was the portion that belonged to Aaron and not to his sons. That was the primordial, by the way. It went to the priests, and there were a lot of preachers saying, I want my primordial. I want it now. Also, the firstborn of every family was given a double portion of the father's inheritance. In fact, I'm going to show you. Let's go to Israel. All right. Let's go to Israel. I'm going to show you something about this giving your portion now. Israel 61. Israel 61. It's so quiet. Why haven't we started? Israel 61. Stick with me. Some of you know what's coming. Israel 61, verse 6. Beginning to read. That ye shall be named the priests of the Lord. Men shall call you the ministers of our God. Ye shall eat the riches of Gentiles, and in their graves shall ye burst yourselves. For your sin ye shall have double, and for confusion they shall rejoice in their person. They shall rejoice in their person, and therefore in their land they shall possess the double. Everlasting joy shall be upon them. I declare to you right now, I'm a priest under the Lord, aren't you? The Lord said you're not only going to get a person, you're going to rejoice in your person. That person belongs to you. Now, before anybody gets up and goes out and calls God to a psychiatric ward and says the pastor is blowing a fuse. And some of you, you've been coming to this church since the last of your life. Let me tell you something about this portion. I'm going to give you a good hint. Get on in 32 Mark 4 and grab it. For the Lord's person is his people. Jacob is the lot of his inheritance. If you obey my voice indeed and keep my covenant, you shall be a special treasure unto me above all people, and you shall be unto me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. Alright? The Lord's person is a holy, sanctified people, which is his treasure. Now, what is this portion that belongs to me, belongs to you? And the Lord says, go after it. Come and go after it. It's yours not when you die, only it's yours here and now, while you're in this country, in this church, right here and now. Go after it. Get your piece of this great option. What is it? David answers it, and that is the answer. And what he pinpoints it in one sentence. You want to know what the portion is? I am going to lead you to it. The Lord is the portion of my inheritance and of my cup. So it is all. In the original Hebrew, it says the Lord is my satisfying portion. It means I need nothing else but him. David goes on to say, the lots and the portions are falling upon me in sweet possessions, where a beautiful inheritance is falling upon me. He said my portion is the Lord. David's portion is the Lord himself. It is the life of God. It is the face of God. It is absolute enjoyment. And Bob preached about it this morning, confirming everything I'm preaching tonight. I'm confirming that he preached. I don't know what God's going to preach. He'll probably confirm it again. Listen to this. Virgin of Jerusalem, Psalm 1611. Thou wilt show me the pathway of life, the satisfaction of delights, which is thy face, in terms of the fullness of thy presence, and eternity of enjoyment at thy right hand. David in Psalm 118, 57. Thou alone are my portion, O Lord. Psalm 142, 5. Thou art my refuge and my portion in the land of the living. The prophet Jeremiah cried out. It is the Lord's mercies that will not consume because his compassions fail not. They are new every morning. Great is thy faithfulness. Now listen to this man. The Lord is my portion, saith my sir. Therefore will I help you in him. Jeremiah had nothing else in life but God as his portion. He had nothing else that he wanted. David had nothing else that he wanted. Moses had nothing else that he wanted. The Lord himself is my rock. The Lord himself is my shore in this life. The Lord himself is my oxen. The Lord himself is my all in all. He is the same in this church. The man is not first, he is everything. Now let me back up where I started. Yes, I want my personnel. I want Jesus. I want my love of him. I want my full revelation of him. I want to see Jesus unveiled. David said there is nothing more in heaven or earth. David ruled a strong earthly kingdom. He was respected by nations and men. The whole known world at this time. He was the father and husband of a dynasty. He was a powerful warrior, strong and fearless. David looked over everything he possessed. He looked over his beautiful family. He looked over all his future which was unlimited. And David cried out, Whom have I in heaven but thee? And there is none upon earth that I desire beside thee. My flesh and my heart fails me. But God is the strength of my heart. And he is my portion forever. He is my portion forever. He coveted that portion. He prayed three times a day. Every waking hour David's mind came back to him. This person that was once his man. Now that is eleven full days now. And there is two weeks in this person. This guy has been calling me. The Holy Spirit has been burning something in me. He has been causing my heart to cry out all day long. Every waking hour, Jesus I want you. Jesus you are my portion. I don't even know what, I do know what comes from, what came from my mouth. But the Holy Spirit burnt the cry Jesus. And all day in my prayer closet, in preparing the message. Jesus I want to earn you. Jesus you are my person in this life. But then I began to say, What does that mean God? The Holy Spirit is saying that, but what does it mean, Jesus is my portion? Because those are just words. We have a lot of people say, He is Lord. Jesus is everything to me. Now that is not going to stand up before the devil, if it is just words. The devil is too smart, he is too devious. He will not let you get by, with just a testimony, without something behind it. And the Holy Spirit began to open my eyes, and I began to pray, God what is it, in this matter of making Jesus my portion? If you are my person, show me, open my eyes to what it is. And the Holy Spirit began to open my eyes, to what was going to lead me. Because you see, if Christ is my portion, that means that I am being brought back, into the very presence of God. If He is my portion, there is a process of being brought in, to the very actual presence of the Lord. And you have to go back, to realize that the devil, has done everything he can, to drive God's people, away from the presence of the Lord. He succeeded without an ease. He left me to drive them out of God's presence, and to do anything in praise of Him. You see, in His presence, this is what you said is famous in joy. David said, just bring me His face, to look on His face, is the first satisfaction of my life. But you see, sin turned man into strangers. Sin turned us into foreigners to God. The Bible said we were separated, we were cut off from the covenants. We were cut off from all comfort. We were cut off from peace. We were cut off from everything that is holy, and pure, and righteous. And the body of Jesus Christ, right now, is under the worst satanic attack, in all the world's history. And the reason for it is this, the devil has tried everything, to get the body of Jesus, away from the presence of the Lord. Away from communion. Away from the intimacy, that we heard about this morning. So that he could isolate you, get you, get you what is not at you. Get you focused on your sin. Get you focused on your weakness. And let you stand before the enemy, with nothing to battle with. To make you weak, and tremble before Him. Now, it's not enough in these days, to simply confess, Jesus is my only Lord, He's my Lord, I want Him as my person. It's going to take more than that. You're going to have to do just as Jesus did. You're going to have to be able to stand up, and have a foundation you say it is with. You're going to have to know, what it means to have Jesus Christ as your person. You're going to have to know what it means that, you can't just say anymore, Jesus is Lord. What do you mean by that? The devil's going to ask you that. What do you mean by that? If you don't know how to answer the devil, Jesus knew how to answer the devil. Now I'm going to give you some ammunition, to use tonight against the devil. And he comes to you and says, well, you don't even know what it means that, Jesus is your Lord. We're so flippant in the church today, Jesus is Lord, Jesus is Lord. But ask the people I live in, in absolute sin, and correctly say, Jesus is Lord. And the devil's laughing at them. Now we've got a right, to approach God now. I tell you what it means when I say, Jesus is my portion. That I now have a right to approach God, I have a right, to commune with Him, and to be in His presence, because the Father Himself, God the Father, provided a sacrifice. I'm going to mean three words, I'm going to use three words, the Holy Spirit gave me. Sacrifice, or access, acceptance, access, and feeding. And I'm going to show you, these are the weapons, that you're going to use, in these last days, against the devil, and he tries to disturb you. God is looking for a solid church, people are not shaken, by the way that we're talking. Saints of God, we can stand up against, every impulse of hell. I don't care if every demon, is vented out of the guts of hell, that we would have a church, that can stand and say, it is written. Thank you. You're not living on emotion, you're not living on a sight, you're living on the word of God. We're living with the passage, that I spoke of this morning, the scripture says, we were without Christ, being aliens, we were strangers, from the covenants of promise, we had no hope, we were without God, in this world, Ephesians 2.12. But now, in Christ Jesus, you who weren't sent for us, for all, you've been brought now, by the blood of Jesus. You've been brought now, by the blood of Jesus. Alright, your person, my person is, the sacrifice of Jesus, the shedding of his blood, cut away all our sins. Now, listen, this is something, you've got to have, deeply embedded in your mind, it can't just be a loose philosophy, a loose theology, you've got to tie it down. Now, I want you to understand, as simple as I know how, don't turn up to Hebrews 9.26, but now, thence in the end of the world, you have appeared, Jesus has appeared, to put away sin, by the sacrifice of himself. This is the only safe ground, to stand on, when the devil comes to accuse you, that you're not going to make it, that you have too many problems, that you are just going to fail, before Jesus comes, you're not going to make it. You're not good enough, you're not worthy enough, you're not doing enough, and that will every lie out of the pit of hell. And the devil is going to come to you and say, look, for hundreds of years, you talk about the blood, he said for hundreds of years, where the lambs have been slain, for hundreds of years, there was a river of blood, that was flowing from these altars, and they did not avail, the blood of bears and goats, did not take away any sin, the blood did not avail, and the blood will not avail now, not any of that blood. The devil is going to come and say, the blood does not work, it never did work. All right, the least that you've got to do, is stand up against the devil and say, you've got, okay, okay, I don't want to go around talking to the devil, I'm talking about, you have in this in your heart, and the devil knows you know it, you can speak it in faith, you can say, yes, it's true, the blood of bears and goats, it's not been possible for the blood of bears and goats, to take away sin, it's true, in burnt altars and sacrifices of sin, God had no pleasure, it's true, these same sacrifices could not take away sins, you find that in the Hebrew, the 10th chapter, read the whole chapter, read the whole, but, for a higher meaning now, this is where it is written, no, the blood of bears and goats, the devil couldn't do it, but this man, this man Jesus, after he'd offered one sacrifice for sins, forever, sat down at the right hand of God, said by one offering, he's perfected forever, them that are sanctified, through the blood of Jesus, we've been restored, we've been received back to the Father, not by any good works of our own righteousness, not by quitting our sins, not by resisting temptations, not by abstaining from evil, these things are done by Christians, they call them the commissions, it is done because of their love for the Father, it's done because of the righteousness of God, that those things in themselves do not say, that won't stand up against the devil, you can tell the devil how good you are, you can tell the devil how you're fighting temptation, you can tell the devil you haven't sinned in a whole month, and he'll laugh at you, the only weapon you have against Satan, is that this one man, not the blood of bears and goats, that this man Jesus, died for my sins, he paid the price, one arm made white in God's eyes, by one sacrifice, one arm, they didn't send Jesus to God, because they deserved it, in fact when they sent him, they rejected him, it wasn't because somebody was going to cry, oh we need a sacrifice, no, the sacrifice was not worth it, it was his grace, pure grace, he sent his son to a world where they rejected him, it was not our goodness, it was not anything that we desired, but God so missed the communion, he so desired to be with the people, he so desired to be reconciled, he let the walls down, so he himself took on the form of man, he came and was born in a manger, God himself is in Christ as a sacrifice for sin, it's though God said I can't wait anymore, and God left heaven and came after us, let me read it to you, all things, all God, was originated by God, speaking of reconciliation and redemption, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, to this purpose, God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, not reckoning their trespasses and sins unto them, this is my person, this is what I'm going after, this is what I want in life, and this is what I covet righteously before the Lord, Jesus by his sacrifices removed all my sins, now when Satan says you'll never be clean enough, you'll never be worthy, you'll never be able to please God, I can say yes, that's true, if I lived to be a thousand years old and made all the promises, and I abstained from everything, if I didn't believe in the sacrifice, if I didn't believe in the power of the blood, I could not be saved, it's true that I don't trust myself, but I believe in the blood, I believe in the blood, I believe in the victory, Jesus said that victory is mine, and that victory, that grace gives me power over sin, now this is my person also, he's not only forgiving sins, he's forgiving all my past sins, I want to talk about your past sins for just a moment, because your person is Jesus, your person in him, is to have a peace about all your past sins, I don't care I'm black, I don't care I'm ugly, I don't care what you've done, and I don't care if you're dead until you die, listen to it, being justified freely by his grace, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God has set forth to be a propitiation, in other words a mercy seat, he's made a mercy seat in the Son, through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness, for the remission of sins that are in the past, for remission of all your sins that have passed, through the forbearance of the mercy of God, you see we lack faith in the blood, the devil comes and accuses us, if you remember what you did, and had power over you, you're going to go back and do it again, we allow the devil to come and lie to us, to make us think God is angry, we picture the walk with Jesus, as though it's some incredible difficult hard race, and the Lord is standing there as your coach, and he's got a whip in his hand, and he says, come on you're better, come on, a little more strength, a little more discipline, and we almost picture him with a belt, trying to beat us, to finish the race, and no, no, he said, he so desired to be reconciled, he landed us back in his arms, he landed us back in communion, he landed that intimacy so much, he took the initiative, he laid out after us, and he found us, he's out with a turtle, and he made a move, and the bible says, in our last condition, he saw us wandering in our blood and our filth, and he picked us up, and made a barge, left the side of us, the other thing he said, we've got two people, we have two enemies going on, we have the devil chasing you, and we have God going after you, who's going to win this race, if you've got God pursuing you, and the devil's pursuing you, if you have faith in his saving, healing power, if you believe in the power of his blood, if you're willing to forsake your sins, and walk in his righteousness, and your heart is reaching out and saying, Jesus you're my person, if you know he's coming out after you, what chance does the devil have then? Our person in this world, is for victory, absolute forgiveness, if that can be obtained only through faith in his blood, you've got to say this to yourself, God wants me, God's after me, because he wants me near him, he wants to get to me soon, I want to tell you something, and this should be the day, like a bomb, I will blow, listen, I am right now, by faith, as much accepted by the father as Jesus is, you know that we're not accepted by any good thing in us, we're accepted by what Jesus did, we're accepted by his righteousness, the father only sees one person, one man, he sees the church, Jesus is the head, we are his body, it's one person, one man, it's a manhood that he sees, and it is what the head accomplished, it's what Jesus did at the cross, that made the door open, and made us acceptable before God, listen, you will never, never be able to be accepted in the sight of God, through anything you can do in the flesh, never, you cannot in the flesh, please God, if that's your way to eternal salvation, I am right now, by faith, as much accepted by the father as Jesus is, you have made us accepted in the beloved, in whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace, now that word acceptable, not only implies, but it means, by his own divine influence, and by his own drawing, I get to thinking, now why is it that there is so much, and God asks us the question this morning, and I can say more, he said, do you feel a drawing like you've never felt before, do you feel your heart going out to the light, maybe you've never felt it before, and I said, now where did that come from, and do you know it's not because you're a better Christian, than somebody who's not feeling the drawing, it's not because you're something special, it's the grace of God, the Holy Ghost puts that there, the word Jesus, listen to me now, he made us acceptable, Jesus made us acceptable before the father, through his sacrifice, and when the devil comes with lies about your past sins, say, the blood, sacrifice, has wiped out all my sins, they're under the blood of Jesus Christ, devil I'll never be good enough, so don't even try to look at any goodness of mine, I lay hold of his righteousness by faith, I lay hold of him, we are accepted in the beloved, and I said, oh Lord, where is this cry, where is this blood coming from, then I realized it's the Lord himself, who puts that cry in our hearts, not because he's wanting us to draw near to him, he said, you draw near to me, and I'll draw nigh to you, here's the secret, if you begin to find yourself crying out, oh Jesus, I want you to be my everything, then you will stumble, it's been the Lord all the time doing it, he's drawing us, and putting a desire for him in our hearts, that's coming from the Holy Spirit, because he's going out for a people, drawing in a holy remnant, and secondly, not only is our personal acceptance with God, through Jesus, but it's access to the Father, it's access, for through him, through Jesus, we have access by one spirit, unto the Father, Ephesians 2.18, Ephesians 3.12, in whom we have boldness and access, with confidence by the faith of him, now that word access means, to lead, unto, to conduct, near, to approach, it means admission, free admission, but more than that, think of it, God not only went out to us, God not only wanted us back, in reconciliation to himself, when he gave his only son, he says, I want you to gather up a people, and bring them to me, I want a remnant, I want to love a people, so just like I love you, I want to embrace a body, and you're going to be the first fruits, and you're going to be the powder man, and the new creation, and so, he not only opened the door, which was his flesh, when his flesh was slain, it was the door that was opened, through his own flesh, the Bible says, through his own body, he opened the door, and he said, the door is open, but it's one thing to have access, and it's another thing, or rather to be accepted, it's another thing to have access, listen to me, we've got a lot of people, able to say, don't grab the doors up, I can come anytime I please, but they don't take advantage of that access, they don't go in, I want you to follow these, the message of the new testament, is come, come, not just come out of sin, come out of your prison, come out of drugs, come out of alcohol, come out of promiscuous sex, it's not a matter of just coming out, it's a matter of going in, into his presence, into his throne room, access to lead in, and that's what he did, not only did he open up the door, he sent the holy spirit to escort us, into his presence, we have been escorted into his presence, I feel that escort every waking hour now, I feel the holy spirit drawing and pulling, saying come on David, come on, that doesn't come from any good thing in us, it comes from the grace of God, the Lord is before the people, and every one of these people, every one of the person in these last days, you feel that drawing, that pulling out of the flesh, out of sin, out of filth, into his presence, hallelujah, let us therefore come boldly under the flame of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace in the time of need, the way is not only cleared, there's not only an escort, but the Lord is desiring and waiting for our approach, I want to say something, I've seen abomination in the church, terrible abomination, I think this is worse than anything you see outside on these streets, people come to New York and they say, boy what filth and horror you have out there, I think in the eyes of Jesus, there's a great abomination that's right inside the doors of the church, it has to do with the people who say Lord, Lord, it has to do with the people who testify, Jesus is my Lord, he's my person, but how can Jesus be your person, if you not respond to the Holy Spirit and go into his presence, how can he be your Lord, when even the devil can see that you don't pray, you have no time for his word, and all you're doing is saying he's my Lord, you may come to church, you may have a devotional time, you may occasionally read this book, you may open it once in a while, but the devil knows that you have no growing desire, there's not this daily reaching out and a growing consuming desire to have Jesus as alone as your person, to have this growing, constantly growing in you, he can see you parked in front of your television set for hours, he sees that you can come and say amen to the priest, and he knows that, the devil has eyes, he doesn't have to be able to read your mind, he doesn't have to be privy to your secret closet, he can see by the way you behave, he can see by the way you chase after materialism, but your testimony doesn't stand up, he can tell by the way, he can tell when you get confused and when you're in a bind and when you run to him and you just pick up the phone, and you try to get somebody else to give you words, you're not running to the secret closet, and I'll tell you, you can put your phone down 100% of the time, you can put it down, if you were running to the secret closet and you were talking to the man in communion, you can put that telephone down, how can we say that he is our person, when we neglect him days on end, you know, I think the greatest grief of my heart as a pastor, is to know so many sweet good people, sweet, loving, kind, generous people, who never, never, there is not a sermon I could preach, not a sermon any pastor could preach, that could provoke them to become students and get into this and seek after Jesus and hunger and thirst for him and his book, there is not a sermon, there is not a sermon left in my repertoire, there is nothing I can say or do, there is nothing that could provoke people other than to have the emotion of the meeting, to get them on their face and to have a time where they are sitting with God in the secret closet of prayer and developing a life of prayer with the Lord, they are just sweet, loving people, who the only time they are with the Lord is when the body moves like this, what an abomination, what a heartache to the heart of Jesus, that so many are caught up in this conspiracy of interruptions, I call it, because when you set your heart to seek God, forget to go do everything you can to interrupt you, interrupt you, make you run, run, run, and busy, busy, busy, and Jesus is not that person, until I don't care if it's that person in the United States, I don't care if it's the king or queen of England, I don't care who it is on the telephone or whoever is after you, until you shut it down and say, no, he's not that person, I go off in the heart of Jesus, it doesn't mean you neglect your job, no, you diligently love the job, you diligently, you work every way to monitor, heart is moving, can't you see, loving, can't, loving, reaching, growing, learning, we have so many loving, sweet, kind Christians here, boring, boring, because they're not seeking God, they've got to have a counselor all the time, they've got to be talking to somebody all the time, there's nothing wrong if, if, if, if, if all of a sudden, any counselor gives wisdom, we're not putting that there, that we're saying that most of the, most of the problems can be solved if we had Jesus as our total person, where we took every heartbreak, everything everybody said, everything we didn't understand, and lay it out before the Lord and say, Lord, you handle it, Lord, you say something about it, Lord, you take it. Hallelujah. I love you folks. It's too amazing for my puny mind to grasp it, but here's something so true, not only is he opened the gate, not only is he, has called open for me, not only has he sent his Holy Spirit to escort me in, but all over the world today, this escalate from China, Russia, behind that curtain, all over the United States, God has called a lot of people, hallelujah, who he yearns after, and said, not only am I going to yearn after them, but I'm going to put it in their heart to yearn after me. I don't know about you, but I want that more than I want anything in this world, anything in the face of the earth, I want the Holy Spirit to come down and put in me a hundred tests for his righteousness and for his presence. Lord, the devil will stand right there as he accuses you, he'll try to persuade you that you'll never be good enough to enter his presence, but you've got to say again, it's written, having therefore, brethren, that Lord Mr. Aaron entered the holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way, which he has prepared for us, through the bed, that's to say, his own flesh, let us join there with a true heart and full assurance of faith, having our hearts spunken from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. Hallelujah. I'm not going to preach long today, but finally I want to add, you see, we've got this acceptance before the Lord, we have access. The Bible says, finally, that we're seated in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. What does that have to do with you doing my portion? The scripture says, when he had himself purged our sins, he sat down on the right hand of the majesty on high. This man, Jesus, after he'd offered one sacrifice to sin forever, sat down at the right hand of God. Do you know where Jesus is? He's seated at the right hand of God. He sat down. Then what does the scripture add? He has raised us up together and he's made us to sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. Not only did Jesus sit down, but there's a process in which I sit down in Christ in a heavenly place. Now, we quote these scriptures very easily and we skip over them without understanding the significance of them. Now, please. He sacrificed to open up the door to bring us back to reconciliation. You can tell the devil you've got a sacrifice. You can tell the devil the door's been opened. God opened it. You give an offering. God opens the door. You didn't push your way through the door. God pushed his way through to you. Now, you had to respond, of course. And I'll tell you what. He went after you, just like he goes after the lost sheep. He leaves the 99 and goes out. He goes out. But I want you to listen. Please. Then have the late accession set down at the right hand of the magistrate. And it's written by faith that we are there to hear it. Now, there are many things written. I'm not going to preach more than 10 more minutes. But it's been written. Many, many things written about what it meant for Christ to sit down. It meant that he took his authority, that he took his kingship, that he was man in a man. The British administration is now seated in government. It means it's in a running position. Now, all of these things are lovely. All of these things may be true. But to me, I'm not of the Holy Spirit. I say, make it down simple. I'm too thick. I don't understand all of that. I don't understand all about authority. It's wonderful to talk about authority, the kingship of Jesus. We've got the whole church. We're not talking about authority. We're talking about power. And majesty. And God has all of that. There are some great and mighty things. But you see, more than anything else, in a sense, he was seated. He sat down at the right hand of the Father. It meant he was back home with his Father. He'd been separated from his Father. He took on the role of a servant and came back. But all, if you know the New Testament, I just started looking at it this week, the papal said, the Lord Jesus, reaching out all the time to his Father, the whole time he was here. His whole cry was, O Father, that they may be one, even as you and I are one, even as we are one. But with that community, with that oneness, with that union, with that intimacy with the Father. This is the thing. You see, he was never a transgressor. I don't think that was the great turn as much as the... Not in that actual oneness, that nearness. He had taken on the form of man. He's now in the flesh. And you hear him cry. You hear him moaning at his Father in his last prayer. He said, O my Father, glorify me with your own self, with the glory which I had with you before the world was created. His Father, glorify me with you, with your presence. Now that's what it is. It's you. And then as soon as he's seated, he's gone. He never has to leave again. He sat down forever, it says. He never has to leave God. He never has to leave this tower again. This is the end of side one. You may now turn the tape over to side two. He said, My Father loves me. John 16 says, I know him. He sent me. And then he said, I go to my Father. I go to my Father. I came forth from my Father. I leave the world now, and I go to my Father. John 16, 28. I'm not alone. My Father is with me. I ascend unto my Father, your Father, my God, and your God. Oh, it's much more than just the power of God. It's more than the authority that was entrusted to him at that moment. It's more than his kinship. It's Jesus who says, that they may behold thy glory, which thou hast given to me, for thou lovest me before the creation of the world. Listen to it. Get this good. Jesus identifies the glory that he has as the love of his Father for him. Listen to it again. That they may behold thy glory, which thou hast given me, for or because thou hast loved me before the creation of the world. And then the Lord looks at his children, and he says, Oh, that you may come into that love, that you may have that intimacy, that we may be one, you with me, and I with the Father. We all are one. What it is to be seated with Christ in the heavenly place, it's to have a heart, it's to have this gross invitation to come to the throne of God. We have an idea that we enter and leave. Enter and leave. We come to church, and we enter. We go to MIT, and we enter, and we go home and leave. No. We are seated with him in a heavenly place. We don't go in and out of his presence. Jesus doesn't go back and forth to glory. He is seated in a heavenly place. We don't have to leave the Father anymore. I don't have to leave him anymore either. He brought me back to the Father. I've been reconciled to my Father. I have a right in his presence. I go to his throne, and I stay there. I abide in his presence. I can live there. That's what it means to be seated in heavenly places. Never having to be outside again. Never have to be cut off from his covenants. You know, we do not preach eternal security in this church. We preach the responsibilities of the covenant walk. But I will tell you something. Listen to me very clearly now. There is always a responsibility, and that responsibility is to go out to meet him. The God-given covenant. Go out. Go out. You're here. Not only is there an invitation to come outside, it's to go out. Go out. You go out from the filthy world. You go out from your habits. You go out from what you say. You go out because the Spirit is calling you. And the reconciling spirit of the Holy Ghost is seeking you out. But there has to be a going out to him. Every time you come to God's house, you're going out toward him. Every time you search the Scriptures you're going out to him. Every time you sit in the prayer closet, you're going out to him. But you see, we're not going to close with this. If Jesus is my person, if he's my life, I'm not going to be satisfied with devotions. I'm not going to be satisfied with being able to say, I'll pray an hour a day. I'm not going to be satisfied with saying, I've read five chapters today or ten chapters. I'm not going to be satisfied with any kind of a formula. I'm not going to be satisfied with saying, I spend a little time every day with Jesus. The only one thing that's going to satisfy my heart if he's my person is that even though I'm in this world, I'm not a part of it. Even though I'm in this world, every waking hour I reach him out to him. My heart is not in this world. It's in a heavenly place. It's in Christ Jesus. I master gravitate right to where I belong, to the throne of Jesus. Hallelujah. You will always be hungry and thirsty and yearning for him. You'll run to him in every situation. You'll trust him with every pain and every hurt in your heart. And the only one thing you save for me to live is Christ. We preach a lot about holiness in this church. We preach a lot about walking in righteousness. But I'm coming to the place that God did it, that God just like took a hammer this morning and confirmed it in my heart. If you and I want to know how to walk in holiness, if you and I want to know in this last day how to stand in everything that's shaking out around us, it's been set in with him. It's knowing him. It's been intimate with the heavenly Father, been intimate with Jesus. And I tell you what, he settles every nerve. He brings peace to everything you can know. And he, I tell you what, if there's something wrong, there won't be a minute in his presence you'll know it. You don't have to go digging around and go to some garbage pit, there he goes, has it right there. It's right in front of your eyes, you'll know it. And not only will you know it, you'll say, Lord, I'm not going to let this go. That might hinder my presence. That might hinder me from being in that presence. I want that to go. Not because the preachers say it's right. I want it to go because it's blocking your face. Hallelujah. I tell you folks, we don't know how to pastor this church. I can tell you. Just like I said, we weep and cry. We don't know how to pastor. Not anybody knows how to pastor today. The problems are too big, it's beyond anybody. There's so many that the whole society is spilling out of control. I thank God that this is a, we're not talking about a lot of troubles in the church. We're a family. And whatever problems, they're just family problems. And the Lord, we just go to him and say, Lord, this is above us. Lord, we're going to, what the disciples did, they said, we're going to spend our time in the word. And then I faced before the Lord, and I sat in with him. And I tell you what, on Wednesdays when the pastors meet, they have been sat in with God. And it's a matter of saying, what did the Lord say to you? And there's always a fresh word that comes out of that intimacy with him. Hallelujah. We don't know how to pastor. But we do know how to pray. We do know how to reach out and hunger and thirst that woman. And if that hunger and that thirsting, God's going to take everything under control. Hallelujah. Does your heart reach out to him tonight? Will you stand with me please? Hallelujah. Let me ask you a question. Be honest about it. Please don't raise your hand unless you can honestly say, in the past few weeks especially, it's something that's growing in you. You're finding more and more of a dissatisfaction in everything that's natural around you. Physically. Not just family, but, you know, I'm not talking about tired of your job, but there's just a sense. There's no reality out here. There's nothing to all of this. It's all passing away. It's all deserving. It's all been a burden with everything. And you have something just lifting you saying, look up. There's a drive in your heart just pulling you, saying, come on. Come on. Brother, sister, it's the Holy Spirit calling you. How many of you honestly feel the Holy Spirit calling you to a closer walk with Jesus? And you're saying, Jesus, I want you now more than I've ever wanted you in my life. You can honestly say, raise your hand right now. Raise it high. Lord, I want you more than anything else. If you mean that, the devil's going to do anything to try to sidetrack you, get you interrupted and busy. But when you're around, you'll be running, running, running and just giving God spare time. No, God wants quality time now. I'm going to close this note, but I used to minister with Katharine Kuhlman for five years. I preached every month at her gathering in Youngstown in Pittsburgh. She's a dear friend of my wife and I. And I asked her one time, I said, Katharine, what's the secret of this flow of the Lord's grace in your life? I said, do you have two hours a day you pray? I said, I heard once of a preacher who prayed eight hours a day. And he didn't have the grace I see in you. It should have taken a while. And she said, David, give me that. I said, yes. I don't know if she thought it was a dumb question or not. She said, you never stop talking to him. See, I talk to him all day long. She said, we have access all day long. She said, I talk to him every night. You can do that because everybody's talking to somebody out there. They're talking to God and I can't even talk to Jesus. You know there's nothing standing between you and full access to the Father right now? Lord, you're open. You're open right now. Glory to Jesus. Why don't you take advantage of that access and say, Lord, I'm coming in. I'm going out of myself. You heard it this morning. Hear it again tonight. Intimacy. Now I'll tell you what. That's what produces the holiness. The intimacy. You're not going to be here. You will not have one second's word. The Holy Spirit will remind you even if your thought life. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Lord, be our person tonight. Be our everything, Jesus. So we can stand before the answer of the devil and say, It is written, I trust the blood of the Lamb of God. Hallelujah. You're not going to let us walk in combination of guilt. You're going to bring your glory to our hearts, Lord Jesus. You're going to bring your glory to our hearts. Hallelujah. If you don't have that joy, you don't have that peace. In fact, the enemy's been trying to disturb your spirit. The enemy's been trying to turn your life over and disturb and destroy. And you're here tonight and you feel convicted of the Holy Spirit. And that's left in the balcony in here in the rain field. Just get out of your seat and come down here and let me pray for you. You don't pray so you won't beg. It has to be the work of the Holy Spirit. You sense that, you say, Oh, boy, but David, I want that, but I don't think I have that. And others, have you been running from the Lord? You've been running from his presence. And he's putting finger on sin. And I tell you what, you've got sin in your life that you were not confessing for sake. If you're not confessing for sake of sin, you can talk about the blood all you want. You can claim the blood, the blood, the blood. The blood doesn't come except by faith you come and lay down your sin and say, Jesus, take it. I trust in your forgiveness and your power, the victory over my sin. Up in there. Doctor, hit the main thing. You feel the joy of the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit saying, Today, I'm going to turn your life around. I'm going to create in you a hunger and thirst after righteousness. I'm going to make you yearn after me. If you want that, get out of your seat. You're cold? Are you cold? In your love for Jesus? Come and join me for this family here. Come and turn your life to me. Oh Lord, I feel this burning. Send your rest in love with me. Oh Lord, I feel this burning. Send your rest in love with me. Up in the balcony. You can go down the stairs. Come down either side, any side. Come down any aisle and join us here. You that are up here right now, just look up to the Lord and raise your hands. Just raise both hands to the Lord. Look up and talk to him right now. Just tell him why you came up here. Tell him why. Lord, here's why I'm up here. Just tell him what's in your heart right now. Jesus, I need you. Lord, I'm here because I want to have victory in my life. Jesus, I want you to be my portion. I want you to be everything in my life. I want to lay my life down to you tonight with everything that I have, all that I am. I want to lay it to you. Keep your hands raised to the Lord. Just talk to him. Lord, look at these that are standing before you right now. See the hunger. You put the hunger in them, Lord. You put the thirst in them. Create a hunger and a thirst for righteousness in all of these who stand here right now. Create a hunger and a thirst for righteousness. Hallelujah. While your hands are raised, will you pray this out of your heart right now? Please don't pray it unless you mean it from your heart. The words themselves are not your salvation. It's the faith behind them. Will you give them your confidence? Will you give them your faith now as you pray with me? Jesus, I want you to be all in all to me. I want to forsake this world and all of its enticements, and I want to be 100% for you. Forgive me and draw me. Your blood can cleanse me and make me whole. I trust in the blood of Jesus. Forgiveness of all my sins, all my past sins, under the blood of Jesus. Now give me power, Jesus, to walk with you in your holiness. Now I'm going to pray for you. Jesus, you heard the cry of the heart. You said, by the abundance of your heart, the mouth speaks. Now will you come, Holy Spirit, and will you seal these hearts? Seal them right now. Holy Ghost, we can't change people's lives, but you can do it right now. You know who's standing here. You know why they're standing here. Lord, we can counsel with them, we can minister to them, but after all, it's your work, Holy Ghost. Oh, Holy Spirit, I'm asking you. I plead with you, Holy Spirit, right now. Saints, will you ask the Holy Spirit tonight to settle this right now. Holy Spirit, come. And touch every life that's up here right now. Touch every heart. Put your seal on them. Lord, seal them with your Holy Ghost. Seal them with the Holy Spirit. Keep them from the wicked one. Keep them from the wicked one, O God. Break the power of unbred sin. Break the power of it in the name of Jesus. I believe you. I trust you. Put this way, please. You can put your hands down. How many of you that came forward tonight? The first time you've come up here to the front. It's your first time. Raise your hand, please. Your first time to come up here? Your first time? First time? Why did you come up? Well, I was a Christian for two and a half years, and I'm back studying. You've been back studying? You're coming back to it? Where did you come? I came up for a visit to my family. Okay. Who else is here for the first time? Why did you come? Because I'm coming to meet you tonight in New York. Okay. Listen, he knows why you're here. He knows exactly why you're here. I'd like every one of you to have your hand raised since you came the first time. We'd like to talk to you one-on-one. If you don't join me for your assignment, we'd like to share with you and pray with you. Would you come right this way, behind, down into the prayer room, so we can mostly all have your hand up. Nikki, you're right through here, please. And go right this way into the prayer room. This is the conclusion of the tape.