In this sermon, the speaker reflects on the soldiers dividing Jesus' clothing into four parts at the foot of the cross. He emphasizes that Jesus willingly laid down his life and allowed his clothes to be taken, showing his selflessness and provision even in his crucifixion. The speaker highlights the importance of the gospel, which embodies the heart of God and reaches out to fallen humanity. He encourages believers to live for God, even if it means facing reproach from those who despise the government of God. The sermon concludes with a personal anecdote about the joy of the Lord and the speaker's commitment to living for God.

This recording is provided by Times Square Church in New York City. You're welcome to make additional copies for free distribution to friends. All other unauthorized duplication or electronic transmission is a violation of copyright and other applicable laws. This recording cannot be posted on any website. However, written permission to link to the Times Square Church homepage may be requested by emailing info at timessquarechurch.org. Other recordings are available by calling 1-800-488-0854 or by writing to Times Square Church Tape Ministry, 1657 Broadway, New York, New York, 10019. If you'll turn in your Bibles, please, to the Old Testament, Book of 2 Samuel, Chapter 6. I want to speak to you today about the glorious, uncovered King of Israel. The glorious, uncovered King of Israel. Father, thank you for the anointing of the Holy Spirit. Holy Spirit, if you don't anoint these words, then they're not meaningless, but they have no power to grip the heart and to cause faith to arise that you may transform people's lives. I pray, God, today for an anointing, a quickening anointing, firstly, on me, that I may clearly convey the truth that you've spoken in my heart. And secondly, to those that you have ordained should hear this word today. God, may it be heard deep in the inner man and may it bring about the fruit that comes through faith in the finished work of Jesus Christ. And Father, I ask this in Jesus' name. Amen. Second Samuel, Chapter 6, beginning at verse 14, the glorious, uncovered King of Israel. And David danced before the Lord with all his might. And David was girded with a linen ephod. So David and all the house of Israel brought up the ark of the Lord with shouting and the sound of the trumpet. And as the ark of the Lord came into the city of David, Michael, Saul's daughter, looked through a window and saw David leaping and dancing before the Lord. And she despised him in her heart. And they brought in the ark of the Lord and set it in his place in the midst of the tabernacle that David had pitched for it. And David offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before the Lord. And as soon as David had made an end of burnt offerings and peace offerings, he blessed the people in the name of the Lord of hosts, or the God as it is of strength. And he dealt among all the people, even among the whole multitude of Israel, as well to the women as to the men, everyone a good one cake of bread and a good piece of flesh and a flagon of wine. So the people departed, everyone to his house. Then David returned to bless his household. And Michael, the daughter of Saul, came out to meet David and said, How glorious was the King of Israel today, who uncovered himself today in the eyes of the handmaids of his servants. As one of the vain fellows shamelessly uncovers himself. And David said to Michael, It was before the Lord which chose me before thy father and before all his house to appoint me ruler over the people of the Lord, over Israel. Therefore will I play before the Lord. And I will yet be more vile than thus and will be base in mine own sight. And of the maidservants which thou hast spoken of, of them shall I be had in honor. Therefore, Michael, the daughter of Saul, had no child until the day of her death. Now, in the New Testament, Jesus Christ is referred to as the son of David. Luke chapter 1, verse 27. And when the angel appeared, tells us that Joseph, who was to be the stepfather of Jesus, was of the house of David. Now, he was of the physical, as it is lineage in that instance of David, but also the spiritual lineage of David. Luke chapter 1, verse 32, says that Gabriel speaking to Mary about Jesus said, He shall be great. He shall be called the son of the highest. And the Lord God shall give to him the throne of his father David. Now, this is very significant when we begin to progress deeper into this message. Now, in Matthew chapter 21, as Jesus riding a donkey triumphantly enters into Jerusalem, the crowd begins to cry, Hosanna to the son of David. Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. Now, the people of Israel knew that God had established David, the king of Israel, a physical king who was a foreshadowing, as it is, of another king who would come, a king whose kingdom would never end and who would reign and rule forever. The people loved King David. They remembered the history of King David. They remembered him as a man who had an incredible integrity as it is in his desire to worship God. In Psalm 22, we see David who is inspired by the Holy Spirit. And under this inspiration of the Holy Spirit, he pens the very words spoken by Jesus Christ when he was in anguish on the cross. And, of course, at the end of that psalm, he also pens the triumphant faith that was in the heart of Christ as he trusted in the faithfulness of God the Father's promises to him. David was a man who intimately, as it is, knew the Holy Spirit to the point where the Holy Spirit was able to express through him, through his songs and through his pen, the very anguish, the very thoughts that would be in the heart of a Messiah who was one day to be born, who would be God incarnate in the body of a man. And historically, as it is through the pen of David, the people of that generation could actually know, if they had the spiritual insight to see it, the thoughts that would be in the heart of the Messiah as God allowed them to flow through the pen of this servant David. He would be, in a sense, the son of David because he would have the same passion for his father that David had for God. Now, David's life, of course, was a foreshadow of the ministry of Jesus Christ. And one of the greatest accomplishments, historians say, of the reign of David was to bring the worship of God into a central place, the place where he knew by the Spirit that God desired it to be. He knew that the central place of worship in Israel was to be in a city at that time called Jerusalem, still, of course, called that today. It was the central core of a nation. David knew that God doesn't want to be worshipped just on the periphery of any place. And the same for you and I today. Christ is not to be just sort of part of our life, an add-on that we kind of paste into our busy schedule throughout the week and come to church and give him that little periphery portion of worship, as so many do who call themselves by his name. No, David knew that the worship of God was to be at the very center of the nation. It was to be in the highest plateau, as it is, of the nation. It was to be something visible, tangible, as you and I are called to worship Christ in a similar manner in our generation. David knew this. This is what this passage is about. David is bringing the ark, which is simply a representation of God, from a house where the man who had been caring for it had been deeply blessed. And he's bringing the ark into the very central core of Israel, where he knows that God longs to be. He doesn't have the full view, as you and I have today, but he knows in his heart that God doesn't want to be worshipped just in one house on the periphery. He is to be at the center of all things. And as he's bringing the ark into the very core of Israel, there's a glory and a joy that begins to hit him. And he begins to dance before God his Father, unashamedly, unreservedly. You always know a man or woman who is moving to the heart of worship, there's an unreserved joy that comes into them. You always know when a man or woman has placed Christ at the very center of their heart, their circumstances around might not be changing, but something within them is changing, because they're making an inward choice that every person has to make, who's called by the name of Christ. The choice is just simply this. I'm not content to ride just the edges of this incredible relationship that God has called me into with himself through Jesus Christ. I'm going into the very core of what this relationship is all about. And no matter what it costs me, no matter if people around me think I'm crazy, if my own family rejects me, I really don't care. I'm going into the center of the heart of where God wants me to worship. And folks, when you start moving that way, there's an inner joy that is inexplicable, apart from the fact that it's birthed in the Spirit. There's no other way to describe it. Everyone around you is all bogged down by their circumstances. They're all offended if the choir doesn't hit the right note on a particular Sunday service. But you don't really care. There's a worship in your heart that was not... You did not get it because you came into a sanctuary like this one. You brought it with you. You are walking with him. There's a deep inner worship in your heart. There's a joy in you that just wants to cry out. And David did. He knew he's walking before what he knew was the will of God. God, you want to be worshipped. You want to be worshipped in the central core of a nation that you have set apart for yourself. And when the realization of it hit him, he began unashamedly to worship God before the people. Just as Jesus Christ did the same thing. That's why, in effect, he's called, in some measure, the son of David. Because as David moved to bring the worship of God to the central core of a nation as it is, Jesus Christ moved to bring the worship of God to the central core of humanity. Right into the inward parts of you and I. So that our worship is much deeper than just a place. Jesus said to the woman of Samaria, The Father, it's no longer going to be Jerusalem or any other place. Now the time is coming. The Father has sent me because he's looking for people to worship him in spirit and in truth. In other words, God wants to come and find a lodging place at the inner core, right at the center of the heart and motives of those that are called by his name. Now, 2 Samuel 6 and verse 14 records that as the ark was moving towards Jerusalem, David danced before the Lord with all his might. And in Psalm 69 and verse 8, David pens these words. He says, I'm become a stranger to my brethren and an alien to my mother's children. Folks, I'm telling you, you'll become a stranger to those who used to be the closest to you. When you begin to worship God like this, and even your own mother's children will look at you as if you're from another planet. You'll become an alien as it is. You're from another land. As you begin to worship God, it's another realm completely. It's a supernatural realm. And in verse 9, he says, For the zeal of thine house has eaten me up. I am consumed with a desire to see God honored. I want to see God honored. I want to see God honored in me. I want to see God honored in my home. I want to see God honored in my family. I want to see God honored in children of my lineage that are not even yet born into this world. I want to see God honored in this church. I want to see God honored in every pulpit. I want to see God honoured. And David had this desire, and the zeal of it began to consume him. He was consumed with this passion to see God Almighty honoured among the people one more time. Beloved, hear me in this. This has to be the inner core desire of every Christian in our generation. We're too late for arguments. It's too late for parades. It's too late for gimmicks in the house of God. There has to be in the inner core of every Christian this burning desire that says, Jesus Christ, King of the universe, be honoured. Be honoured through me. Be honoured in my life. And if I become an alien to people around me, if I look like a stranger to those who are intertwined with the things of this world, then so be it. But, oh God, I'm going to live for you. I'm going to praise you. I'm going to love you. Remember one time years ago when my kids were really young, we were having devotions in the morning. And school started very early in those days. So we're sitting at the table about six thirty in the morning or six o'clock. And I had a devotional book that I would read to them from. And at the end of this one was about the joy of the Lord. And I remember closing the book and I said, now let's worship God. And my one of my sons looked at me and he said, Dad, you are weird. That's what he said to me. He said, it's it's six fifteen in the morning. We can hardly keep our eyes open. We have to go get ready for school. And I said, well, you think what you want about me and you sit there on your hands if you want. But I'm going to close the book and I'm going to take five minutes and I'm going to praise God. And that's exactly what I did. You know, David said there's a time when you're going to seem like an alien to people in your own house. But oh, yes, maybe only for a season. Listen to me, mothers that are here today, only for a season, only for a season. And then trouble comes to those who are not living right for God. It comes to everybody and especially to those who are not living right for God. Trouble comes. And you want to bet the very first thing they remember. As I remember my dad sitting at the table at six fifteen in the morning with his hands in the air with not just a forced song, but a genuine joy in his heart. And when trouble comes, your sons and your daughters will say, I don't it seems strange to me at the time, but all of a sudden it's become very attractive to me. All of a sudden I want to raise my hands and I want to begin to sing to God. And I want an abiding joy that can't be taken away from me because it's six fifteen in the morning. David said, the zeal of thine house has eaten me up and the reproaches of them that reproach thee are fallen on me. In other words, David is saying there are people out there who do not believe that worship should be taken to such an extreme and they will reproach me. You start living for God, you start praising God and you are going to come under the lashing tongue of a society that wants to govern itself. They do not want the government of God. They don't want anything but more than just a peripheral knowledge as it is of God going to church, stand up, sit down a few times, repeat a few prayers, go home, feel like everything is OK. But then somebody walks into the midst of them who knows how to worship God. And all of a sudden they are reproached. Isn't it strange? You can go to work. You can have been out all weekend. You can be getting drunk. You can be living in fornication. You come into the office on Monday morning and everybody seems to be OK with that. And even your family to some extent thinks that is quite normal to live that way. But go to Times Square church three times on Sunday. Sing the songs of Zion. Begin to deal honestly with people. Deal rightly in your finances. Tell the truth when even if it hurts you to say so. Become a man or woman of your word. Live for God. And then all of a sudden you walk into the office Sunday morning and everything is changed. All of a sudden the reproaches as it is of those who really do deep down despise the government of God begin to fall upon you. John chapter 2 verse 17 tells us that after Jesus cleansed the temple, you remember he walked in and there was all types of buying and selling going on in the temple. And he took a scourge and began to overthrow the tables. And I don't know exactly how that scenario happened. But I do know that nobody dared even try to stop him. And the disciples remembered that it was written the zeal of thine house has eaten me up. Jesus son of David the blind man would cry have mercy on me. Jesus son of David have mercy on me. In 2 Samuel chapter 6 verse 17 says when he brought in the ark of the Lord and put it in its rightful place in the midst of the tabernacle that David had pitched for it, that David offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before the Lord. This is one of the first things he did when in the restoration of worship to the place where God desired it to be. Hebrews chapter 9 and verse 14 tells us that Christ through the eternal spirit offered himself without spot to God. Remember David is bringing an ark into a physical place. But Christ is bringing God into the very center of his own creation. You and I the worship of God right into the heart. David offered before God Christ offered himself without spot to God. In chapter 6 and verse 18 as soon as David made an end of offering burnt offerings and peace offerings. He blessed the people in the name of the Lord of hosts. He blessed them. He made an offering and then he blessed them. Christ offered himself on the cross on Calvary 2,000 years ago. So that you and I may have the capability today of worshiping God in spirit and in truth. As David blessed the people, Jesus Christ at this moment of sacrifice also blessed the people. In Luke chapter 23 verse 24 the scripture says he said father forgive them for they know not what they do. Think of it now. Humanity is crucified. The Christ who simply came to bless them in the name of his father and now he's on a cross. And even from the cross he is blessing the people who have rejected him and despised him. Father he says forgive them. So we see forgiveness flowing from the cross. Oh thank God that he chose to bless us from the cross. Thank God that the cross is the place that you and I have to come to to find forgiveness for our sins. Thank God that on the cross there is forgiveness. Thank God that it was on the cross that God the father poured out his legitimate wrath that you and I deserve upon his own son that we through his sacrifice might be made free. And not just free but we might be also the righteousness that God is through our savior Jesus Christ. On the cross in John 19 verses 26 and 27 Jesus is concerned about families. He looks down at his mother and says woman behold your son. He looks down at John the disciple and says behold your mother. And we see this blessing coming from the cross of Christ of families being put back together. Of those that are outcasts finding shelter now in the body of Jesus Christ. Of those that have no hope and no life and no provider finding all of the provision they will ever know becoming part of a much larger family of whom God is the head. In John 19 verses 23 and 24 we see Jesus Christ even providing clothing for people at the cross. Amazing. It tells us that the soldiers took his clothing and divided it into four parts. We can assume there were four soldiers at the foot of the cross I suppose from this. But they divided his clothing into four parts. And when you understand that he willfully laid his life down. That means also that he willfully let people take his clothes. He willfully provided covering as it is for those that were crucifying him. And even this one garment that was woven without seam. And they didn't want to tear it apart because it was such a nice garment. And so the soldiers decided to have a little bit of a gambling thing for it. And they cast lots and one of the soldiers obviously won this garment. And you wonder how many today are parting his garments. I can't help but wonder as I see this how many today are meeting in his name. And claiming that they have various giftings of the Holy Ghost. Claiming that they have genuine words of knowledge. Claiming that they have the gift of prophecy. Claiming all of these ill-gotten garments of clothing. They've not legitimately gotten these things. They've never understood what the cross is all about. But they claim to have been there. And they claim now that they have all of these garments. I got this from God. I got this from the Son of God. They claim these gifts. They claim this covering. Can you imagine this one soldier leaving the cross in the days after. People coming to him and saying to him, Well, that's a nice covering. It covers you from head to toe virtually. And it's without seam. Of course, it's a type of the blood of Jesus Christ. How did you get that coat? And to have the soldier say, well, I won it in a lottery. And that's exactly how people see Christ even today. And the cross, it's coming into church. And Jesus Christ is presented not as this God who demands, as it is, to be worshipped in the very center core of his own people. But a God who's content, as it is, to just kind of live on the periphery. And passes out these lottery gifts to people who have no intention on ever really living for him. These soldiers would leave with particles of his clothing. But they would never intend on really living for him. All they would have is clothing that people could say, Well, that looks a little bit like Jesus. What are you doing wearing that thing? They're completely unaware as they're parting these garments of Christ of the passion and the sacrifice and the calling of Christ that's happening just above their heads. It's just on top of them, but yet it's eluding them. We have so many people today who are denying the cross of Jesus Christ, yet claiming to be part of his family. Not fully understanding what salvation is all about. Having come in to somehow, somewhere that claims to be his house, and having gotten these cheap garments that cost absolutely nothing. They cause no sense of identification with Christ. They bring absolutely no persecution. They're completely unaware of the calling of Jesus Christ that is theirs and was happening just above their heads. In 2 Samuel 6, 19, it says that David gave everyone, he gave all the people, a cake of bread, a good piece of flesh, and a flagon of wine. And that's exactly what Jesus Christ did. 1 Corinthians 11, 23 and 24, what did he say? He took the bread and he broke it and said, Take, eat, this is my body which is broken for you. This do in remembrance of me. Scripture says David gave the people a good piece of flesh. Well, that's exactly what God did when he sent his son to die for our sins. In Isaiah 56, chapter 50, verse 6, Jesus says, I gave my back to the smiters and my cheeks to them that plucked off the hair. I hid not my face from shame and spitting. I gave what was needed to bring about redemption to a fallen generation. I did not hide my face. I turned my back and allowed my own creation to beat my own back. Of course, this is God, through his son Jesus Christ, allowing a fallen creation to beat him into a bloody mess. And he said, I didn't hide my face. I am awestruck at the humility of God. I'm awestruck, I'm overwhelmed. The more I begin to dig into the Scriptures, and can even imagine God allowing his own creation, the infinitely higher God, the infinitely more intelligent God, the infinitely more compassionate God, the infinitely more righteous God, allowing his own fallen and darkened creation to spit in his face and rip the hair off of his beard, and that he did not turn away his face. He allows soldiers to part his garments and gamble for his clothing. I'm awestruck at the humility of God. I'm awestruck at all that he allows to go on in his name, even. And there's so little dedication comes back to him quite often, out of all that he does for so many. There's so little. People sit in his house, looking at their watches, wondering who's going to get out first to get to the feeding trough before some other church gets out. So little. So little true worship in the hearts of God's people. And David gave them all, this is a flagon of wine. Again, in 1 Corinthians 11, 25, he says, this cup is the New Testament in my blood. This do you use off as you drink it in remembrance of me. He gave his body. He gave his back. He gave his blood. There's no more that God could give to you and I to prove his love to us. And the only thing he's ever asked us in return is, would you turn from your sin and would you trust me for the power to live a new life? Would you let me come to the center core of your being? Would you open this book? Would you read my promises to you? Would you let my Holy Spirit come and begin to quicken you and enable you to be a light to those who sit in darkness in this generation? That others may know that there is a God who passionately loves them. And 2 Samuel chapter 6 and verse 19 says, all the people departed, everyone to his house. And I think of Calvary when it was all over. He said, it is finished. You see the people leaving and many are discouraged. We know this because of the men on the road to Emmaus. We're so downhearted, downcast. But then in verse 20, it says, then David returned to bless his household. Now, remember, we're speaking about Christ as the son of David. The type that David is the type of Christ. And he returned to bless his household. And folks, Christ, too, returned. And in John chapter 20, verse 22, he came to where the disciples were gathered together in a closed room because they were afraid of the people. And in that room, the very first thing he says to them is, peace, be still. He had returned to bless his house. And the scripture says he breathed on them and said to them, received ye the Holy Ghost. He came, he returned and he will return again. Acts chapter 1, verse 11. The angels in white said, why do you stand here gazing up into heaven? The Christ that you've seen leave will come back in the same manner that you're watching him go. He will come back again. Hallelujah. But I think of how sad it must have been for David to come home to a bride who once loved him, because in First Samuel 18, 28, it says clearly that Michal, the daughter of Saul, loved David. She loved him. And of course, there was a history. This was the bride that with David would have to go through some rough waters. Saul, I guess you could say, is a type of the devil came after him and he had to escape. And Michal and David spent quite a season apart from each other. I can hear David's parting words to Michal saying, just hold on. This was a couple who loved each other. I will come back for you again. You are my bride. We will be together again. No matter what you have to go through and I have to go through, God will be faithful to us. Can you picture the words as she creates a disguise as it is, pretending that he's in the house and has to lower him down so he can escape from the town, not to see him again for a significant amount of time, but having had to live based on his promises. I will come for you. I'll not fail you. I'll not forsake you. Just as Jesus Christ promises you and I, in spite of our difficulties and trials and rough water, he will come for us again. He's going to build a mansion for us. I can almost hear David telling Michal, yeah, there's rough days ahead. But God told me that I'm going to rule and reign one day. And Michal, you're going to rule and reign with me. So just hold on. Trust God. We will be together again. And we know that's exactly what happened. A long series of events happened. But one day she was brought back again to her lawful and rightful husband. And how sad it must have been for David to come back home to a bride who is now ashamed of him. And it says, I believe it's in verse 16. It says, she saw King David leaping and dancing before the Lord, and she despised him in her heart. She despised this worship of God. Who knows why it had happened? There are so many reasons why. Her life had been a hard one. And it's certainly conceivable that she was saying, well, I don't know why you're dancing so hard. It doesn't seem to have done very much for me. And David returned in verse 20 to bless his house. And Michal, the daughter of Saul, came out to meet David and said, How glorious was the king of Israel today, who uncovered himself today in the eyes of the handmaids of his servants, as one of the vain fellows shamelessly uncovers himself. How sad it must be for David to come home and find a bride as ashamed in the way that he has honored his God. And offended at how he has presented himself. She said to him, in other words, you've uncovered or you've unveiled yourself to women who serve your servants. It's amazing. There's a revelation in this, but Michal didn't see it. You've danced. And as it is, you're wearing a linen ephod. And the skirt that David was wearing most likely was flaring up in the air as it is, as he's leaping and dancing. And she says, this is such a despicable way for a king to be acting. And I am so ashamed to be associated with such a king. Incredible when you think of how many people today are ashamed of the cross of Jesus Christ. Christ is coming for a church without spot and without wrinkle. He's coming for his bride, a bride who once said, I love you, Jesus. And I believe truly meant it at an altar somewhere. But somewhere along the line, got it in her head that I'm a daughter of a king myself. And thought that I'd rather be associated with people who act in a dignified manner. I'd rather fit in with mainstream society. I really don't like this way that my husband, King David, is presenting himself. You see, Jesus Christ was stripped down to a loincloth and he was nailed to a cross. And he was exposed to public shame and ridicule. It affected that generation. He was naked, considered naked before the world. Beaten, despised, loathed, yet coming back for a church one day. Oh God, I pray with all my heart that I never be found among those who are ashamed of the cross of Jesus Christ. Ashamed. Oh, we live in a generation when they're now sanitizing the Bible and they're putting away the cross. They consider this vile. They're putting away all mention of the blood of Jesus Christ. Putting away all talk of repentance, all talk of association with anything that isn't palatable to the world. And recreating Jesus Christ in an image that would greatly have pleased, my call, the daughter of Saul. But you see, no, the vulgarity as it is, the cruelty of the cross must never be hidden from this generation. Because in this you find the passion of God for a lost and a dying world. We see the humility of God, that He would come to this world, and that He would be willing to be sacrificed for those who spit upon Him and wounded Him and cared little about Him. No, we must never be ashamed of the cross of Jesus Christ. We must never be ashamed of the truths and the realities. There are truths in the Word of God that are simply not negotiable. Christ died. Christ rose from the dead. Christ is coming again. A blood sacrifice had to be made for the sins of all humanity. Without the shedding of blood, there is no remission of sins. Christ took upon Him the shame that you and I deserve for the wrong things that we have done. Thanks be to God that we are covered. Thanks be to God we are sons and daughters of the King today. But we're only such because Jesus took upon Himself the shame that is rightfully ours for all of eternity. David says to this bride, I will be... Verse 21, David said to Michael, It was before the Lord which chose me before your father and all his house to appoint me ruler over the people of the Lord, over Israel. Therefore will I play before the Lord. And I will yet be more vile than this, and will be more base in my own sight. And of the maidservants which thou hast spoken of, of them shall I be had in honor. And therefore Michael, the daughter of Saul, had no child unto the day of her death. He says, I will be a servant who is given to the needs of the people. Michael, this is something you have no heart for. In Christ we find the servant heart of God. He Himself said, the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to be a servant. And to give His life as a ransom for many. And He says, I will be a servant. I will be given to the needs of the people. I'm not going to sit in an ivory tower somewhere and let all of humanity fend for itself. No, I'm going to put a towel. I'm going to have a bride. My bride's going to put a towel around her waist. And she's going to find the neediest of the world. She's going to wash the feet of my children that are all over the world. She's going to light a candle. She's going to sweep the house. She's going to search for the lost coin. She's going to go to the lamb who's caught in the thicket because of his own ignorance and strength. She's going to be found walking where I am. But, Michael, you and I will grow farther and farther apart as time goes on, until the day that you die childless. This was the curse of God on this attitude of heart. Any church that is ashamed of the cross of Jesus Christ, any Christian who is ashamed of how God has chosen to present himself to this generation through Christ, will die childless. You'll have people who will agree. They'll agree with your theology. They'll agree with your good time gospel. But they will not be born again into the kingdom of God. For without the shedding of blood and without repentance, there is no remission of sin. There's no forgiveness of sin. You may gather a group of people, but you will die childless. He says, yet, but I will be honored by those which you have despised. I am going to be unveiled, as it is. There's going to be a glorious unveiling to the maidservants of servants. You said, oh, what a despicable thing that you have done, David. You have unveiled yourself to the servants of your servants. Or the handmaidens, as it is, of your servants. You've unveiled yourself to the lowest of the low. And God says, yes, that's exactly what I'm going to do. I'm going to unveil myself. There's going to be a glorious revelation of who I am and what I have done and the power that's available and the glory of the living Christ and the worship that comes to the very center of the heart of all who embrace me. And this revelation is going to come to the lowest of the low, to those who are servants to the servants of God. Now, if you can hear this, it's to the mothers that are here today, who are servants to their children. You are servants to your families. You are servants to your homes. And quite often, you are servants in the house of God. And there's a crier. I said, God, is there anything for me? And the Lord says, no, not just anything. Everything is for you. Everything. There will be an unveiling to you of who I am, of what I've done, of what I do, of how I think you're going to be like David. You're not going to care. You're going to have such a revelation of Christ that you'll be found leaping and dancing in the morning, in spite of the fact that your children are struggling, in spite of the fact that some seem to be falling astray. I will unveil a confidence in your heart. You will know the things that I've done for you. And you will be able to worship me. You will hold on to me. And when everyone else around is fighting for the king's palace and offended at Jesus Christ, you will be the very hand that begins to form the next generation of Christians. He said, I'll be honored by those you have despised. Hallelujah. Every generation, it repeats itself. Revival comes. And then, God, something happens to the church of Jesus Christ. People become proud. They want to be associated with royalty. Not of the spirit, but of the world. They want to be accepted. They want their Christianity to be palatable in the workplace. And they begin to gravitate to preachers that preach this kind of a theology, not realizing that they're moving to dying childless. Think about the apostle Paul, virtually cast off by the religious of his generation. All they ever wanted to do was kill him for the good that he did. But Paul was among those in Romans 116 who said, I'm not ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ. It's the power of God unto salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and then to the Gentile. I'm not ashamed of the gospel. Folks, get it in your heart, deep in your heart. If you really want to learn how to worship God, you've got to get the shame out. It's no shame to be associated with a living Savior. It's no shame to identify with the cross on Calvary. It's shameful to be drunken on Friday night. It's shameful to cheat on your income tax. It's shameful to be living in adultery. It's shameful to have a mouth that's filled with cursing and deceit and fraud. It's not shameful to have the praises of God in the center of your heart and the truth of God on your lips. Paul said in Galatians 6.14, I glory in the cross of Jesus Christ through which I'm crucified to the world and the world is crucified to me. I glory in the cross and I'm not ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ. And lastly, in 2 Corinthians 12.15, Paul says, I will gladly be spent and I will gladly spend and be spent for you. And you see, these are the people that have this revelation. They're not ashamed of the gospel, the glory in the cross of Christ, and are willing to spend and be spent for others. The gospel that they gravitate to is not to make themselves more wealthy or famous or powerful or to have a bigger slice of the socioeconomic pie. But the gospel they come to is a gospel that has an embodiment of the very heart of God at the center of it, reaching out through them to fallen humanity all around them, spending and being spent, giving and getting to give more, so that Christ above all things might be honored and glorified, so that Jesus Christ may move into the center of the hearts of all humanity that he has created in his own image, so that men, women and children in this world that we live in might be as many as possible one to the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. Hallelujah. If you are moving there, there's a glory in your heart. There's a joy in you that has got nothing to do with this world. There's a worship that springs forth from your heart like a fountain of living water, because God himself bears witness to those who are walking in the Spirit. Look at the legacy of the life of Paul. Look at the spiritual children he birthed into God's kingdom. In Galatians 4.19 he writes, My little children, of whom I travail and birth again until Christ be formed in you. Paul said, I travailed, and because I had the travail of God within me, you were born into the kingdom of God. He saw the Galatian church being led in a path that was not good, and Paul said, no, I'm travailing again. You are my children, and I'm not giving up on you. I'm not letting the devil get advantage over you. I am going to be there for you. I'm going to spend for you. I'm going to be spent for you. I'm going to travail for you until I see Christ formed in you. You see, you have a work like Paul, and the greatest empowerment of God comes to the servant of his servants. And that's a truth that nobody will ever be able to come against. The greatest empowerment of God, the greatest revelation, doesn't come to those who lust for power, doesn't come to those who love ivory towers, doesn't come to those who just live their Christianity looking for an easy way out of life. The greatest empowerment comes to the servants, or the handmaids, as Michael said, of the servants of God. The servants of the servants. Do you know that, ladies that are here today, that mothers, you are raising the future servants of God in your own house. You will be long gone, perhaps, and your sons and daughters, whether or not they even live under your roof, you still have an influence over their lives. And they will be the servants of God. And they will have an incredible revelation, but the greatest revelation of all will be given to you, because you are the servant to God's future servants. The greatest position you can ever find in the kingdom of God is the position of a servant. I have given you an example, Jesus said to his disciples. He washed their feet and he said, you'll be happy if you do these things. If you learn what it is to serve, you will be happy. You'll be indwelt, actually, is what it means, and fully satisfied by God. The greatest revelation. I've lately been seeing these things in a deeper way, and I've been praying, God, help me to be a servant to your servants. Help me to find a low place, and then after finding it, to find a lower place. Because here is where the revelation is. The revelation comes to the servants of God's servants. Folks, if you've not heard a thing that I've spoken this morning, hear this one. This is where the true revelation of God is found. Now, there are some here who need strength for the work that God's given you. The work to serve. And it's not an easy work. Everybody would like to reign, and that's coming one day. You will reign. But till that day you serve. And I serve. That's where unity comes in the body. That's where we learn to prefer one another, prefer another before ourselves. And there's some others here today you need to be confirmed in your work. You've been a servant, and the enemies come against this in your heart and try to convince you that this is somehow ineffective or worthless. But yet, strangely, you seem to have this revelation in your devotions that nobody around you has. You see this book beginning to open up to you. While others are offended at the cross, you're not offended at all. You say, don't they realize this is the power of God to salvation? Do they not see the humility of God in this? Do they not see the grace of God? Do they not see the passion of God? Pouring out his wrath on his own son that we might be free? Do they not understand these things? How come I'm turning on the television or going to Christian meetings, and they seem to be so devoid of the simplest understanding of what the gospel is all about? Why the blindness? And, folks, this is the irony, I guess if I can call it, of the secret of God. There's an Old Testament scripture that calls God's work a strange act. It's secret because the things of God are hidden from the wise and prudent in their own sight. And those who try to figure it all out and create some kind of a palatable Christ for the masses, and those who are just in their own sight are nothing. And all of a sudden they open their Bible, they begin to read it, and the scripture just starts coming alive. And they begin to have things to share with their children. Faith comes into their heart. They can go in the prayer closet, and they can travail. How many preachers have stood in this pulpit over the years, if you've heard them, that you know have been prayed into the kingdom of God through their mother? Pastor Ben Crandall, who speaks here, is one of them, who was off living the life of drunkenness, and his mother went to her face for three days, began to intercede, and he was on his way home from a bar, half drunk, got to a corner under a lamppost and fell on his knees and cried out to God, God forgive me, God save me, God cleanse me, God change me. And the Lord has used him all over the world since that moment of his conversion. His mother tapped into something of God that so few religious ever find, because she was a servant, if you know the story, to the servants of God. And there's just simply others here today who you need to get back to work. I speak specifically to mothers today, but to others as well, that you've given up heart. You've given up heart even for your own children. You've looked at the circumstance and not the Savior. You've forgotten what God is able to do for your children. You need to get back to work again. You need to get back to work. You need to get that towel back on. I'm speaking figuratively now, please understand me. You need to start washing feet again. You need to start serving. Don't give up because you're in the greatest position of influence in the kingdom of God. It's not the $5,000 suited silver-tooth preacher that's going to win your son or daughter to Christ. It's you in the house, opening your Bible, and God will put a weight in your words. You just say, I'll be praying for you when they go out Friday night. That's all you have to say, I'll be praying for you. And it haunts them, it haunts them all night. It haunts them where they go. Sticks on the back of their jacket like Velcro. And they can't shake it, I'll be praying for you. And they can't reach it, they can't get it off. It's right in that spot that you can't reach with your hands. I'll be praying for you. And they sit in a bar somewhere, they go to a club they shouldn't be in, and they're sitting there thinking, I'll be praying for you, I'll be praying for you, I'll be praying for you. A spiritual influence and authority that is given to those who serve the servants of God. If the Lord is speaking to your heart, you need strength for this work. You need to be just confirmed in the work, or you need to get back to work again. I want to open this altar to you. In the annex, you can rise momentarily and stand between the screens. And I just want to pray for you today. Just pray the blessing of God into your life. If we'd stand together, if you'd make your way here, and then we're going to dedicate some babies this morning before we leave this service. Mothers especially, please, you need to get back to work. You need strength. Men too as well. Come. We're going to pray together. I want to introduce you. Well, we have only two babies today. Hi. Hi there. Hi sweetie. Praise God. Are you comfortable coming here with me? Can you walk over? Not yet, eh? Do you want to stay with your mommy? Not quite sure. Okay, well. This baby I hold in my hands is a miracle. This is Sarah. Her name means princess. Sarah Sage Williams. Donovan and Sondra Williams, who work here at Times Square Church, were told by medical people after many years of trying that they were incapable of ever having a child. But one day, a word of knowledge came to them from the Lord that they were going to be given a child. She would be a girl. Her name would be Sarah. And so here she is. She's a miracle baby. You see, it's by the word of the Lord that life comes. And those that are at this altar today, you have the same word of the Lord given to you. God has brought a word to you today. You're going to bear life too as well. Your children are not going to be failures. And your past failures are not going to be the epitaph when it's all done for you. It's not going to be what's written over your life. No, no. No, no. As servants to the servants of God, God is going to write something phenomenal through your life, in the lives and hearts of others that he has given you influence over. Mothers, this is going to be our little secret today, but you are the most powerful influence that Jesus Christ has in his entire church body. It's you. It's not the Sunday school. Thank God for that. It's not the preachers. Thank God for them. But it's the mothers. It's the servants to the servants. God is going to open his word to you. And through you, he's going to bring life. Hallelujah. Life, you have quite a future ahead of you. You're a miracle baby. Medical people said you couldn't be, but here you are. Oh, you've come back. Well, hi there. Can I hold your hand now? That's such a nice girl. All right. Father, we thank you for these children. God, I pray today for all the mothers and fathers and aunts and uncles in the body of Christ. I pray, Father, that you give us the courage to realize that as we serve, just simply serve, you give us a revelation that will bring life into the hearts of our sons and daughters. I pray as David did, that as we see your life coming by faith into our children, that we can leap and dance before you and give you glory because we know this is the very center of your heart is to dwell in the midst of your people. God, thank you. I pray now for these children. I pray, Father, you build a hedge of fire round about them. Satan, we resist you in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. We stand against you. You cannot touch. You cannot harm. You cannot take away what God has given to us. We make a declaration to you like Moses did to Pharaoh. We're all going to heaven. Every last one of us are going. Nobody's left behind. Father, we thank you for this. God Almighty, we give you praise and glory. Thank you, Jesus. I pray for the mothers at this altar today and the fathers. Oh, God, I pray for great strength to be given them. Oh, God, and an awareness, an awareness, Lord, that you have a wonderful plan for every life. Father, we thank you for this with all of our hearts in Jesus' mighty name. Amen and amen. God bless you. This is the conclusion of the message.