In this sermon, the preacher begins by leading the congregation in praise and worship, emphasizing the importance of praising and magnifying the name of Jesus. He encourages the believers to thank God for what He is doing and to enter into His rest by faith. The preacher then reads from Hebrews 3:17-4:1, highlighting the consequences of unbelief and the need to fear falling short of God's promise of entering into His rest. He concludes by expressing gratitude for the growth and unity of the church and the hunger for a deeper walk with God, and prays for the Holy Spirit to continue leading and sanctifying the body of believers.

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. Believe it or not, this is an evangelistic message as well as a ministry to the body. Hebrews, the third chapter. I'd like you to begin with me at the 17th verse. Hebrews 3, beginning to read the 17th verse. Hallelujah. Are you glad to be in God's house tonight? Isn't it amazing, in spite of the fact that it's snowing in Long Island, snowing in New Jersey, and bad weather here, so many of God's people are faithful to his house tonight. That continues to amaze all of us. It shouldn't, but it does. That people come out on nights like this. All right. Hebrews 3, verse 17, beginning to read. But with whom was he grieved forty years? Was it not with them that had sinned, whose carcasses fell into wilderness? And to whom swore he that they should not enter into his rest? Remember, it's his rest, not ours, it's his rest. But to them that believed not. So we see that they could not enter in because of unbelief. All right. Chapter 4, verse 1. Let us therefore fear. Now, listen to that. Let us therefore fear, lest the promised thing left us of entering into his rest, any of you should seem to come short of it. Give me a little more monitor, please. Thank you very much. Lord Jesus, we thank you for the word that you delivered to this body this morning, calling us into a new dimension with you, a deeper walk with you. Holy Spirit, you are speaking to this entire body. We are amazed and we marvel at what you've done in just a year and a few months and bringing together a body from all over this metropolitan area and this greater New York area. Lord, people from all walks of life that are hungry and seeking you. And, Lord, we've come this far by faith. But, Lord, there's more. There's so much, much more. We've not even begun to touch it yet, Lord. We haven't even scratched the surface. But, Lord, we're seeking you. We're fasting. We're praying. We're laying a hold of you that the word would lead us, the Spirit would lead us, that the word would come forth week after week, and it would be your word. And that word, Lord, would be touched by your fire, touched by your Spirit, and that we would follow you as the children of Israel follow the cloud by day and the fire by night. Lord, you're sanctifying a body. You're breaking us away from the spirit of this world. And I pray that you touch me with coals of fire this evening. Let me be the ark of the living God. Heavenly Father, come upon me by your Holy Spirit. I yield my body and my spirit, my mind to you. Lord, we want you tonight more than we've ever wanted you. We want to give of ourselves to you. We want to give. Thank you, Lord, for what you're going to say to us in Jesus' name. Amen. Now, if you're a Bible reader, you've read this Scripture many times. Let us therefore fear, lest the promise left us of entering into his rest, and if you should seem to come short of it. And that word says fear in Greek means to be exceedingly alarmed, be awe-stricken. Are you exceedingly alarmed? Are you awe-stricken that God is saying to his church, to his body, I have promised you a special kind of rest? Be alarmed in case you miss it. Be alarmed that you see this, you read it, and you don't understand it, you don't take time to come to grips with it. God hit me. He hit me hard this week, and I said, Lord, I've read that many times, but I've not been alarmed, I've not been fearful, I've not been awe-stricken by this promise. This is one of the strongest, unclaimed promises in the book, in the word of God. Are we even thinking about it? Have you been concerned about it? Are you even looking into the subject? Here's a call of God to a people to enter into a special rest, it's totally unclaimed, and I wonder if the Church of Jesus Christ has absolutely looked at it and ignored it. God is saying, I'm offering a special rest to the children of Israel, I offered it to them, they didn't take it. Even during the times of the kings, during David's time, it was offered, and they did not enter into it. And I want you to look at chapter 4, verse 7. Verse 7, and again, He limited a certain day, saying in David. Now remember, this is David speaking today, after so long a time. In other words, all of these years, this promise of God's people entering into this special dimension has not been obtained. They've not attained to it. They have not entered into it. They've ignored it. They have not wanted it. They've not sought it. Today, after so long a time, as it is said, today if you'll hear His voice, harden not your hearts. For that should be Joshua. If Joshua had given them rest, then would he not afterward have spoken of another day. There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God. Will you look at that verse 9. There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God. The Lord is saying it's unclaimed. My church hasn't moved into it. It's still there. I've called. I've challenged. It's still there. It's remaining. And I want you to hear that. The Lord is saying for centuries, God's people have had an unbelieving spirit. They won't enter into it. And I believe we're receiving the last call. And I believe that call goes out here tonight. He's calling His church into this rest that He's offered. Be diligent therefore to enter in, lest you fail. Look at verse 11. Let us labor, in other words, desire, yearn for it. Let us desire therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief. Now, He said be alarmed about it. Be awe-stricken. Verse 6. Look at verse 6. Saying therefore it remaineth that some must enter therein. And they to whom it was first preached enter not in because of unbelief. Listen to me. Get it. God said I went to Israel. I wanted to take them into the wilderness. I took them there to bring into my own heart. I was going to bring them into a dimension. I was going to bring them into a rest. And I'll tell you what that rest is in a moment. But He said they refused it. They didn't enter in. I went to the age of the kings and the prophets. Now some of the prophets entered in. But even in the time of David it was not claimed. David entered into a measure. He could not enter into it like we do because we're going to see that he's in Christ. He said therefore it remains that somebody is going to enter in. And it says saying therefore it remaineth that some must enter in. In that word it remains in Greek is necessary as binding. In other words God said I have decreed that before this generation is over I am going to bring a people into this rest that I promised. It's absolutely assured. Now when God says that, that He's decreed it, I want to be the first one in line. I'm going to say God what is it? I want it. Do you want everything God has for you? Did you get a smattering of the Word? Are you already satisfied with what you've had? Well if you're satisfied you'll lose what you have. It'll just drain out of you. God's going to have a remnant in these troubled last days who are going to enter into a supernatural realm and into this supernatural rest. Now God's rest, what is it? Let me talk about it for just a moment. In fact, why is it so important that the Lord says be alarmed if you don't even try to enter into it? Be awe-stricken by the fact that you're not seeking it. First of all, the rest that we're talking about is not inactivity. It's not some kind of spiritual bliss. It's not a calm in a storm. A lot of people can look at a Christian saint as somebody dies in the family. They're not upset. Or they're in a crisis. They're so calm, they're so cool. And they just walk right through it. And somebody says, well there's a brother that's entered into rest. I've seen people who are just numb. And they call that rest. No, it's not numbness. It's not inactivity. It's not being able to sleep like Jesus did in the boat in the storm. In fact, it's the very opposite of inactivity. In fact, it's a war cry of the Holy Ghost. And all my life I've been searching this. I started preaching when I was a teenager. And for years I've studied and prayed, and only this week has the Holy Spirit opened it to me. And it's so gone down into the depths of my soul that I'm asking God to help me bring it out to me. You see, rest, the rest of God, can only be known by those who are willing to be warriors and engaged in this last warfare. No one else is going to enter into it. No one. It's a battlefield position. It's not a feeling. It's not an emotion. It's a position. Now let me try to explain that. Rest, as the Scripture is describing it to us here, means this. And I heard it. I said, God, tell me in simple terms. I'm so thick. And this is exactly how I argue with God. I'm so dumb. I'm so thick. I'm not a theologian. I told the Lord, I didn't waste years, but I spent so many years traveling as a evangelist, preaching evangelistic sermons, I didn't have time to get into theology. And I said, Lord, I'm so thick. Say it to me in simple terms. You know what the Holy Spirit said? David, take your seat. That's rest. Take your seat. Take your seat of authority, seated with Christ in heavenly places. Now I want you to follow me, please. Get into your assigned position. Take the seat of authority God's assigned to you, and get ready to do battle against the principalities and powers of darkness. Now let me explain it to you. All week you know that Senator Tower is in the headlines. President Bush has assigned him a seat in his cabinet, a seat of authority. He's called the Secretary of Defense. Now, when he gets there, and he takes his seat if he gets there, I doubt it could be that he's not going to get there. Because about eleven of the congressmen on that committee have said, No, this man drinks. This man's a womanizer. Can you imagine the defense of the United States in his hands? But you see, he's not in his place of rest. He's in turmoil right now. The place of rest is a place of position and authority. Now, if they approve him, and he is approved, he takes his seat not only in the cabinet of the President of the United States, but also in the generals, the war councils, the hierarchy of our government, and what gives him rest is that he is appointed and approved, and when he is seated, in other words, he's approved, he is at rest. Do you understand what I'm saying? He has finally arrived at a position of authority. He can now call on all the forces of the United States, all of its powers. He has behind him the presidency, he has behind him the congress, and he has all the power and authority of this government at his disposal. He is at rest. It's a position of authority. It's a position that you take. And he's not there yet. He's in turmoil. Many of us are not there yet. We're in turmoil. We've not entered into that rest. Now, let's go to Ephesians. Ephesians, the second chapter, left from Hebrews. Ephesians, the second chapter. Begin to read with me verse 4. Ephesians 2, verse 4. I'll wait until these quit rustling. I want God to speak this to our hearts tonight. I want Him to help us understand it. Ephesians 2, verse 4. But God, who is rich in mercy for His great love wherewith He loved us, even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ by grace you saved, and has raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. He has assigned us a place of rest, of authority. He has assigned us, in fact, we're going to see that when you're in Christ Jesus, walking in godliness and holiness before the Lord, we are approved, and we have all the authority and the power of the heavenly government behind us. Glory be to His name. Look at Ephesians 1, 3. First chapter, verse 3. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ. Hallelujah! Now listen to me. God is calling His church, He's calling Times Square Church, into a place of spiritual ascendancy over all the powers of hell and darkness, principalities and powers, so that the church of Jesus Christ does never get intimidated by the devil. You should not be intimidated by a husband who's not walking with God. You should not be intimidated by children who are not walking with God. You should be taking your seat that's been assigned to you in Christ Jesus of authority and ascendancy over the powers of hell and darkness. He's made us sit together, which means in union with Jesus Christ. It describes an inner circle, a war council, and you've been given a seat in that war council. You've been given a seat in the heavenly councils of heaven. This rest, brother, sister, is a seat. Some people get seated in Wall Street. It costs them thousands of dollars to buy a seat in Wall Street, to call the shots down there. Some get a seat in the government. Bless your heart, you and I have been given a seat in the very war councils of heaven. We're living now in what is called the day of the Lord. Now I know it's the day of darkness, but the Bible still calls it the day of the... Now when the Bible, do I hear or see it read, the day of the devil? No, it's the day of the Lord. And we're seeing come to pass right now what Jesus prophesied. He prophesied that in the last days men's hearts would fail them for fear, watching what is coming on mankind, nations in turmoil. Jesus warned there'd be wars and famines, pestilence, plagues, hardness of heart, men growing cold and hateful and violent. Brother, sister, that's all happening right before our very eyes right now. But God is saying in the midst of that today, what today? Today in the midst of violence, this day of darkness, this day when the enemy is coming down with great wrath, this day I want a people to enter in. If you will hear my voice and mix faith with it, enter in, put your full armor on, take your position of power and authority, and take your seat of rest in the might of God, and rest in His promise that He has made His church not just conquerors, but more than conquerors. I believe here in Times Square Church God has decreed He's going to have a holy people in these last days unshakable, unmovable, not intimidated by anything that comes from Satan or hell, not one moment intimidated by anything that happens in New York City, warriors who are at rest in their position of authority, a people not carried by winds and waves of doctrine. Listen, you've been in this church long enough that you should never again be tossed by any wind or wave of false doctrine. You should be so standing on a rock right now. A people not enslaved by lust. I had a brother this morning came up to me and he was so excited. He said, Oh, praise God, I got rid of that great big box you're talking about. And he said, The glory of the Lord is in my house. Then I've got others praying for their husbands and their wives, always saying, Oh, Brother Wilkinson, my husband, my wife, they're not watching the bad stuff anymore, but they're watching more football and baseball than ever before. And I'll tell you what, there'll be no Christian tots potatoes get into the rest of God. Don't even talk about entering into that rest if you're going that way. That's not rest, that's sleep. I'll tell you what, this rest God showed me is exciting. It's busy, it's full of Holy Ghost exploits. It's a people on the offensive. I'll tell you what, I said, Lord, show it to me even simpler. So let's go and see how Abraham started out toward this place of rest. Why don't you go to Genesis 11th chapter. My message is going to get simpler and simpler, I hope. Here tonight, I want you to go to 11th chapter of Genesis. Genesis 11th chapter. Do you know that God called Abraham out of Babylon to go to a place that I'm talking about tonight? The very place I'm talking about. He called Abraham out. Genesis 11th chapter, let's go to verse 31 and 32. And Terah took Abram, his son, and Lot, the son of Herod, his son's son, and Sarah, daughter-in-law, his son Abram's wife. And they went forth from them from the Ur of the Chaldees to go into the land of Canaan. And they came unto Herod and dwelt there. And the days of Terah were 205 years, and Terah died in Herod. The Bible says, now listen closely, please try to follow me. I'm asking God to make it very, very simple. In Acts, you have to turn to Acts the 7th chapter and the 2nd verse. Remember, Stephen is standing before the council. And he's given the history of God's moving on the children of Israel. He said the God of glory appeared unto our father Abraham while he was still in Mesopotamia. That's in the Ur of the Chaldees. When he was still there. Now, God came to him and said, Abraham, get up, get out. Now I tell you, that's the first thing God says to you when he moves on you. Get up and get out. Don't you, when the Holy Ghost came on you, begin to reveal Jesus to your heart and said how lazy you'd become? And God woke you up and said, get up and get out. And I'll tell you what, Isaiah the prophet equated the Chaldeans with Babylon. Now I'll read it to you. Isaiah 13, 19. Babylon, the beauty, the Chaldean excellency. So here's when God overthrew Sodom. He equated Babylon with the Chaldeans. In other words, God caught Abraham while he was still in Babylon. He was in this world system and he says, Abraham, get up, get out. I'm going to lead you to another place. Now, beloved, God's doing it all over again. He's been doing it all through history. He always calls out at people saying, you've been here long enough. Get up, get out. Where'd all the musicians go? Am I preaching that hard already? Got up, got out, yeah. What is Babylon? Babylon is anything that leads to idolatry, self-love, astrology, occult, humanism, worldliness. That's Babylon. In fact, Abraham came out of that environment. It was astrology. It was humanism. It was wickedness of all kind. And, you know, I don't find Abraham arguing with God, saying, well, God, I thank you for visiting me. There's a visitation. You've appeared to me. But since you've appeared to me, I need it here more than anyplace else. My friends are here. They're in idolatry. They need me. I've heard a lot of people say that. You know, if you ask God, let me stay here and try to work with this dead church, this Babylonian church, God would say, you can't change it. Leave my land. Get up and get out. I'm going to tell you that now. If you're sitting in a dead church where the gospel is not being preached to conviction, if you're part of the dead Babylonian system, I'm going to tell you, the Holy Ghost is going to say one word to you, and one word only, the same word, Abraham, get up and get out. And you're going to argue, oh, no, I'm going to change them. I'm going to bring life to them. No, you stay there. You're going to die just like they're dying. That death will touch you. You get up and you get out. You know that. Most of you have had to come out of something. I came out of something. I'll tell you what it is. I came out of a denomination. The charismatic awakening was God's first call to a people to get up and get out of Babylonian churches and denominations. And there's been a visitation of God. Now, three men go with Abraham. His father Terah goes with him, his brother Nahar, and nephew Lot, and their wives, about eight people. This is the first church of Jesus Christ. And they're being called out. And they're on their way now. They say goodbye. And they're on their way to Canaan. By the way, Canaan means bend the knee. It means humiliation. And if you're going to go to Canaan, you're going to go on bended knees, humiliated, and all the flesh destroyed. But you see, they started out all excited. This was going to be something. How excited they were. They're going to go to this place of humiliation. They're going to go on bend the knee and beg before God. They're going to pay the price. Except on the way, Abraham's father Terah can't handle it anymore. In fact, he has to stop. The scripture says, look at chapter 11, verse 31. To go to the land of Canaan, they came unto Haran and dwelt there. They came to Haran and dwelt there. Now listen to me, please. Listen to what Stephen said about Abraham. He came out of the land of the Chaldees, and he dwelt. It means he got sidetracked. He got stopped. He got stalled in Haran. He dwelt in Haran. And when his father died, God made him move on. When his father died, God made him move on. And God set patiently by. And you know what Haran means in Hebrew? Haran means a state of idleness. Rest such as in death. In other words, this is a false rest. They thought this was the rest of God. But it was a false rest. It means to be unoccupied. To be in want, lacking. It also means to be a part of the world. To be a part of the world. They're on the way to Canaan. They're on the way to a land. In fact, they went up not knowing where they're going. And they headed toward Canaan. And now they dwell in Haran. They're stopped right here. And I believe that's where many charismatic's have stopped. Many evangelicals have stopped. They're stuck at Haran. A place of idleness. Totally unoccupied in the things of God. Lacking in power and discernment. Terah is by now a sick, old and feeble man. And folks, you can look at some church movements to date. And they are Terah. They are sick and old and feeble. There's no spiritual life. And they're happy. They make their bed in Haran. In fact, the Lord stayed patiently by waiting for him to die. But in Abraham's heart, God would say, Move on. There's more. Move on. I'm taking you to a place. I'm taking you to a new realm. Move on. But he wouldn't move. The time came that his father died. And this time, I tell you what, This time, in this last moment, God's not going to wait until all the dead have died. God's moving on, folks. God's moving on. And he's asking us to leave all the death behind and go on with him. I'm sure he asked his brother, Nahar, to go with him. And I'm sure he said, My father's dead. Our father's dead now. But I've got this urge. I can't settle here in this place of inactivity. I can't settle here in this false rest and idleness. There's something lacking here. There's more. I've got to move on. Will you come with me? And of course, his brother, Nahar, didn't go. And you know why he didn't go? His name means snoring. That's right. His name in Hebrew means snoring, suggesting a deep sleep. A deep sleep. You know, there are some people that, I mean, they've left Babylon. They've left the world. They're on their way to somewhere. They say, I want the Lord with all my heart. And they settle down somewhere. And they fall asleep. And God moves on. And you say, come with us. And they may get bad already. They don't want to get involved in missions. They don't want to get involved in poverty. They don't want to get involved in the world, reaching lost mankind or human needs. They're so comfortable of the thousands of churches in America that are happy and satisfied and stuck in heaven and they love it. They don't like preachers to come in and plod them and say, move on, there's more. They say, you go ahead, I'm happy. All they want is a preacher to marry and bury them. Oh, how many great news of God have gotten stalled at Heaven. A revival comes and the Holy Spirit will awaken a people and they leave the old sinful compromising church or sinful ways. They set out to be a people wholly set on God and they start getting deep revelations of holiness, of the headship of Christ. And for a time it's fresh and alive and they're separated people. They're excited and they sing and they worship and it seems God's doing some great new thing. But then they settle down to a false rest. They start feeding themselves. They lose the burden for the lost. They spend all their time going deeper. All they want is deeper, deeper. They start studying Christ and they become occupied with themselves and not with human need. And so they become spiritually fat and lazy and they want to settle down. And they say, we have got it. That's it. The assemblies of God got it. They got their doctor and they settled down. The badgers got their doctor and they settled down. But God's always moving on. God's always moving on. I don't know what they do with this false rest, that inactivity. It's not rest at all. So Abraham departed as the Lord had spoken unto him and Lot went with him. Now the church is down to two men. Lot, Tarek's already dead. He's dead and gone. His brother, Mohar, he's stuck in a deep sleep. He's smelling away at Herod. And I'll tell you what, the further you go with the Lord, the more it thins out. The dropouts start dropping everywhere. I'll tell you, we've had, I don't know, our church is usually full, but we've had, I'll tell you, if we listed all the people who've been here through Saul, we'd have four or five thousand people. And I'll tell you what, they start dropping off when we get to preaching holiness and righteousness and separation and moving on with God, how they begin to drop off. But that's it. Lot's still here. Lot's still with him. Can you believe that? Lot says, I'm going on. I'm not going to be, he liked to be around Abraham because he got the overflow of the blessings. And he liked to be around remnants of holy people. But you see, Lot's name is very suggestive. I'll tell you, you get an idea where Lot's going to end up by his name. His name means a veil covering up, and it also means loot. But a veil, see there's something hidden in Lot. He likes to be around people who are moving on. He likes to be around those who've had a visitation of God. They want to be a part of something that God is doing. They feel their heart warmed and they're hungry for the Lord and they're moving on. In fact, the Bible makes it clear that Lot was a righteous man. 2 Peter 2.7 And God delivered just Lot. That's with the filthy conversation with the wicked. They called him just. In other words, he was a righteous, holy man. And he's moving on. But you see, he's moving on with something hidden in his heart. His relationship with the Lord is really not entirely open. Oh, somehow I wish we could have the Holy Ghost come down and make this so real to everyone in this place. If your relationship with the Holy Ghost isn't wide open, if you're not an open book with the Holy Ghost, you're never going to go on to His rest. Your heart has to be an open book. Nothing hidden. There can't be a veil. You can't be what Lot was, veiling, hiding something. But you see, Lot's always going to choose for the flesh. He's going to love God with all his heart, he thinks, but it's really with his lips. And he's going to end up settling down in Sodom. I want you to go to Genesis 13, verse 7. Let's follow Lot. See, he's moving on. He's heading for this rest, this place of authority. Genesis 13, verse 7. And there was strife between the herdmen of Abram's cattle and the herdmen of Lot's cattle, and the Canaanite and the Perizzite dwelt then in the land. Abram said unto Lot, Let there be no strife, I pray thee, between me and thee, and between my herdmen and thy herdmen, for we be brothered. Now listen to this verse. Is not the whole land before thee? Separate thyself, I pray thee, from me. You go one way, and let me go another. Brother, sister, I'm going to stop right there. That's what God's doing in this church. He's doing it everywhere. He's moving by His Holy Spirit. He's got an Abraham company that's going to go on with Him into our new realm. He's got an Abraham company that He's calling out. And there's going to come a time that all of those who have the spirit of the world still in their heart, all of those who lean towards Sodom, God's going to draw a line. He's going to take you up in the mountains just like Abraham took Lot. He's going to say, there's the whole land before you. Now choose. Now choose. Look it all over, because I know where I'm going. Now look at it. Is not the whole land before thee? Separate thyself, I pray thee, from me. If thou wilt take the left end, then I'll go to the right. If you depart to the right end, then I'll go to the left. And Lot lifted up his eyes and beheld all the plain of Jordan. And it was well watered everywhere before the Lord destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah. Even as the garden of the Lord, like the land of Egypt, as thou comest unto Zor. Then Lot chose him, all the plain of Jordan, and Lot journeyed east, and they separated themselves the one from the other. And Abram dwelt in the land of Canaan, and Lot dwelt in the cities of Pen, and pitched his tent toward Sodom. Oh boy. Lord God was saying, Abraham knew that there was something in him, and Abraham said, if I'm going to reach my place in God, I can't go on with this man. I can't go with this spirit. There's something in this man. There's something there not right. And he said, I want you to choose. I want you to make your choice, and then I want you to separate yourself from me. And that is what God is doing. He's making a separation. You may sit here tonight and say, I'm going on with God's people. I'm going to go on to Phoenix, but now there's going to be a line drawn, and God's not going to let you go on if you pitch your tent toward Sodom. Now you talk about a loss of discernment. He looks down from that mountain. He sees that plain, and there's Sodom and Gomorrah right in the middle of it, and that Sodom and Gomorrah is a slime pit. In fact, that slime pit is where they got stuck. I'll show it to you in just a moment. Full of slime pits. It's full of homosexual gangs. It's full of murder and violence so powerful, so overwhelming, God couldn't handle it anymore, and God came down personally to see it and view it, probably to get a man's eye view of it. And eventually they had to wipe it out, and Lot looks down there and he sees the garden of God. Well, look at it. To him it's a garden. Look at verse 10. Verse 10. Lot lifted up his eyes and beheld all the plain of Jordan, well watered, everywhere, before they understood, even as the garden of the Lord. He wants Lot going down toward Sodom. Lot, where are you going? Well, I'm going to the garden of the Lord. Bob Phillips once talked about putting God into your idols. Bringing God into your idols. You ask Him, Oh, look what the Lord's done for me. He's called me to Sodom. Isn't God wonderful? I'm going to the garden of the Lord. It wasn't a garden, it was a snake pit. We still have people in this church that have not left the world. You pitched your tent toward Sodom. And I said with love in my heart, I said with weeping, we have to stand before a holy God. We have to stand. During one of these days, some of you are going to stand there having soldiers thrown at it. Well, you may be saved, but Lot goes by fire. He was saved eventually by fire. After losing his wife, after messing up his children, after giving birth to grandsons that became idolaters, after losing all discernment to the point that he offered his two virgin daughters to a mad, raping mob. When they came to get the angels, he said, look, I've got two daughters that no man has touched. Here, take them and do what you want with them. That's how his discernment had been so lost. We're going to stand before God one day, before the throne. We have to answer whether we pampered you, whether we so loved you as individuals that we just winked at it, or whether we stood here as men of God coming from a holy place, hearing the grief of God, calling for separated people to bring you a place of authority to save your children, to save your family, and to give you grace before Holy God. And we have to stand and answer for that. And I for one, and I may speak for these other pastors, we will not, at the risk of losing you, we don't want to lose you, we love you, but at the risk of losing you, we say, if you've got Sodom in your heart, God's going to draw a line soon, and God's going to say, you must go to Sodom. You must go to Sodom. Because I'm taking a people on. You see, Abraham knew where he was going. You know where he was going? Abraham was going out of this world. He was going to become totally detached from this world. He said, as for me, I'm looking for a city whose builder and maker is God. He said, I'm looking for another country, a heavenly country. And the Bible said he had this confession that I'm a stranger and I'm a pilgrim on this earth. And here I have no continuing city. I have nothing here. There's nothing in this world. That's the only kind of people going to enter into the rest that say I'm going on. There's a place in Jesus, in His heart, that I'm going to. This world holds no attraction. If I had my way, I'd go home tonight. If I had my way, I'd be with Jesus tonight. There's nothing in this world. I let my wife and my grandchildren, my family and my children, but my heart is with Him. I have no continuing city here. And if there's something in your heart, you're attracted by the lights, you're attracted by the crowd, you're attracted by the attraction of Sodom, and you're inching on your way. God put this in my heart. Oh, I'll tell you what God's going to do in this church. He's bringing this into a realm of separation from the world so sudden with Him, so given to His heart, that you will not make it. You will not make it if your heart's still attached to this world and the things of this world. You will not make it. We won't cut you off. The Holy Ghost will say, Hey, I'm moving on. You will feel out of place. You'll feel that nobody loves you. You'll be uncomfortable here because we'll be in another realm and you'll be in this realm. And you won't understand the realm that He's bringing us into. You'll be a stranger to it because you'll be left behind. And I'll tell you what, the Scripture makes it very clear. You know what the Apostle said to Simon? He said, You have no part in this. You have no part or portion in this because your heart is not right. And this thing that God's doing for a holy people in these last days, they're going to be so devastated. You don't have any part in this because your heart's still towards Sodom. You have no part in what I'm doing. Go to Sodom. Go to your Sodom. Oh, that hit me in prayer this afternoon. So Lot settled in the cities of the valley and pitched his tent towards Sodom and they separated themselves one from another. They separated themselves. Well, let's go on. Hallelujah. You still ready for more? Some of you here tonight have come such a long way. All that God's done for you, He brought you out of Babylon. He brought you out of a life of sin. He filled your heart with His love. You left that lazy path of easy believism. Now you're a witness for Jesus. You pray. You love the Lord. You worship with excitement. You've walked hand in hand with Jesus. But there's this matter of Sodom that's in your heart. And while God's going to bring a people, a holy, separated people, into His supernatural rest, and He's going to equip them to stand in these last days, you're going to be turned over to the spirit of Sodom. And I have to say, God made it clear that some of you tonight, here tonight, are getting your last call. And I say it with love, you're getting your last call to get out. Get out of Sodom. Break that thing that's in your heart with the world. Break it and get out. Let's go on. Genesis 13, verse 18. Read it with me. Genesis 13, verse 18. Then Abraham... See, a lot goes to Sodom. Then Abraham removed his tent and came and dwelt in the plain of Mamre, which is in Hebron. That word's important. And built there an altar unto the Lord. Now look at me, please. Now, God has finally a people. Abraham goes on with the Lord, and you find him going now to Hebron. And you know what Hebron means in Hebrew? Fellowship. An association at an altar. An association. This is the church. The true church that's moving on. A true church that has a heavenly calling. A true church that has eyes only for Jesus. A true church that says, Lord, I'm going with you wherever it leads me, wherever it takes me. I'm going with you. And it's in Hebron that a fellowship arises. And God begins to bring them in to the measure of rest that was possible at that time. And listen, I want to show you something. They weren't out at Hebron in the wilderness hiding. They weren't saying, well, you see, God had already intimated He's going to destroy Sodom. And this wasn't a bunch of survivalists out there with guns and a two-year supply of food to hide now. And trying to make it through because the fire's going to fall on Sodom. Oh no, this is a worshiping body. An association of holy people. Hallelujah. And God began to bless this family of Abraham. And it's not soon you're going to find 318 warriors. 318 warriors. What were they doing at Hebron? They were in training. They were soldiers. Well, you don't believe that, do you? Alright, let me show it to you. Go to chapter 14. Genesis 14. Things are getting quiet. Am I hitting a nerve? Are you still with me? Alright. Genesis 14. It came to pass, verse 1. It came to pass in the days of Amraphel, king of Sinai, Ariad, king of Eleazar. I'm not even going to try to pronounce somebody's name. I haven't time to study them today. King of Elam, entitled king of nations that they made war with their king of Sodom and with Persia, king of Gomorrah. In other words, a confederacy declared war on Sodom and Gomorrah. This confederacy, in fact, the king of Babel, which is Sinai, came with all of his confederate princes and this great army, and they carried the inhabitants of Sodom and Gomorrah to captivity, and they took all the food, all the belongings. Word came back to Abraham that there had been a war, that Lot and his family had been captured. All the inhabitants of Sodom were gone. And the Bible makes it very clear what happens in verse 8. There went out the king of Sodom and the king of Gomorrah and the king of Adam. And look it down at verse 10. And the vale of Sodom was full of slime pits. I'll tell you what, you go to Sodom, that's where it is. It's full of slime pits. This is the end of side 1. You may now turn the tape over to side 2. Sodom and Gomorrah fled and fell there and they that remained fled to the mountain. And they took all the goods of Sodom and Gomorrah and all the victuals and went their way. And they took Lot, Abram's brother's son, who dwelt at Sodom. All is good. The story goes on. The word comes to Abraham. Now, how does Abraham go after the king of Babel, which represents the devil himself, and all of his princes, which represent all the demon powers of hell? There's a monthly army of 318. Verse 14. And when Abraham heard that his brother was taken captive, he armed his trained servants, born in his own house, 318, and pursued them from Dan. Now, there were a few other tribal separates that went with him. We find out later in the story. And the Bible says they came by night and smote them and pursued them unto Hobab, which is on the left hand of Damascus. And he brought back all the goods and also brought again his brother Lot and his goods and the women also and the people. Look this way, please. There's a picture here. Please understand it. There's a picture here of rest. These men were out in the wilderness taking a place of authority and 318 men endured with the power of God come against the whole army representing the devil and all the demon powers of hell and they prevailed and defeated them completely and brought Lot back. You'd think Lot would get the idea, wouldn't you? God wants him out of Sodom. He goes right back because Sodom is his home. But the king of Sodom says to Abraham, Abraham, you can keep all the spoils. Just give me the people. And you know what? You know what Abraham answered? Praise God. I'm going to read it to you. If I can find it. Oh, verse 23. I will not take from your thread even a shoelace. I will not take anything that is thine lest I should have made Abram rich. Abram said, I don't want anything to do with anything that touches Sodom. I want nothing to do with it. Now some of you people feel that you can dabble in it? Abraham said, No, I belong to a company that's moving on with God and we have nothing to do with it. I don't even touch a shoelace out of it. Not even a shoelace. All right, I'll tell you what. Let's wrap this up now. Give me five minutes and let me see if we can make it clear. We are seated with Christ in heavenly place. How many believe that? All right, where is he seated? He sits in heavenly place. Amazingly, David said he's seated king of a flood. He's sitting on a flood, ruling and reigning over a flood. Well, I'm going to read it to you. Powerful. The Lord sitteth upon the flood. Yea, the Lord sitteth king forever. And the Lord will give strength unto his people. The Lord will bless his people with peace. This is David speaking. He said, The Lord is sitting king of a flood. Now, if you're seated with Christ, where he is, he's sitting over a flood. Now, what is this flood? Boy, God made this so clear to me this afternoon. David said, The floods of ungodly men make me afraid. The floods have lifted up, O Lord, the floods have lifted up their voices. The Lord on high is mightier than the noise of many waters. The Bible says, Revelation 12, 15, And the serpent cast out of his mouth water as a flood after the woman, which is the church, that he might cause her to be carried away with the flood. Beloved, what do you think the devil is trying to do with this flood of pornography? This flood of filth in America? This flood, these plagues that are coming. All of the violence, the murder, the incest. The devil is trying to sweep away the church. He's trying to flood the church with greed and with pride and with arrogance and with defeatism and with intimidation. There is a flood in the land, folks. But where is the Lord sitting? King of the flood! Where are we if we are resting, if we entered into the rest? We're sitting with Him in a place of authority over the flood. We are right now riding with Jesus, King of the flood. We are resting in an appointed seat in His divine government. He sees this flood, but He is King, Lord of the flood. Brother, nothing in the world is going to sweep the church of Jesus Christ away. There is no flood that can sweep away the faith of God's people that are going on into this rest. Surely in the floods of great waters they shall not come nigh unto you. Speaking of the godly, the floods came, Jesus said, and the winds blew and could not shake that house. The floods came, could not shake it. Why? Because there were people in authority. There were people who moved into this divine rest of the Holy Ghost. And I'll tell you what, Abraham could not enter into that rest. In fact, Jesus said, Abraham saw My day and rejoiced, and he was glad to see it. But he couldn't enter in because do you know everything that Abraham was longing for? That city? That's Jesus. Do you know Jesus is the eternal city? Do you know Jesus is the country, that heavenly country Abraham was looking for? Do you know Jesus is our new Jerusalem, our heavenly Jerusalem? Do you know Jesus is Zion? And the Bible says we abide in Him. So if we've arrived at the country that Abraham only could long for, and we are there, he saw it, he rejoiced in it. Oh, he's there now. Hallelujah. But you and I, the Bible said, they that believe do enter into rest. When you enter into the heart of Jesus Christ, you enter into a seat assigned of authority over all the powers of darkness and hell, totally ascending over the world and all of its spirits. For we which have believed do enter into that rest, he said. We do enter in. Hallelujah. By faith. What keeps you out? It's your unbelief that keeps you out. He said they enter not in because of their disobedience and their unbelief. Obey God, get Sodom out of your heart, put your heart totally toward that heavenly kingdom which is Jesus, only Jesus, and by faith go in and take your seat. Go sit down in a heavenly place of authority. Hallelujah. Oh, I feel like I'm not getting through, but I don't know if I see it all, but I'm beginning to see it. Bob, you were just nibbling around the corners too this morning because there's such an ocean out there. We're just up in water to the ankles. But little by little, God's going to bring us in. Are you ready to move on with the Lord? I am. I want everything that He has. I thank God for the new theater, the Mark Callenger. I thank God for that. It was a miracle He's done. But folks, we're not looking at that. That's just a place. Well, we can move on in the Lord. God's going to save your family if you'll take your seat. God's going to make sure that you'll not ever get intimidated by the spirit of this age. I mean, you can sit down by your radio and hear every kind of news that's frightening. Tell you what, you can hear that the government collapses, the economy collapses, and you won't be moved because you're already seated in authority. You're already seated with Christ in this heavenly place, and you're not moved. We ought to be in a place that nothing moves us. Nothing in this world moves us. Glory to God. I'll tell you what, if Abraham could live in a tent, we can. If God can walk with Abraham and bring him through, He'd bring us through. Hallelujah. Stand. O Lord Jesus, we feel so inadequate sometimes to express what You're saying to our hearts. But You're beginning to knock. You're beginning to say, come children, I'm going to take you on. Oh God, we're so anxious to move on with You. Not just to deeper truths, but a revelation of Your heart for human needs, our families, the sick, those with AIDS. Lord, but there's no use going out trying to do Your work without being seated in authority, without being at rest at our appointed place. God, bring us to that now. Bring us to that, I pray. I'll turn this one off. Lord Jesus, bring us to that place of authority. We don't want power for power's sake. We want Your power, Lord, to demonstrate who You are to this world. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. To win the lost. To meet human need, O God. To be missionaries, Lord, to the dying and the sick and the afflicted. To see our homes restored and healed. God, bring a people into Your authority. Bring a people into Your grace. Lord, bring us into that rest. Let there be a people here tonight. Say, I'm going into that place. God said there's a place, I'm going in. He said, come in by faith, I'm going in. Now, here's what the Holy Spirit put my heart in prayer this afternoon. That I was to pray. We were to pray tonight for people that have been defeated. You're living in defeat. There's not victory in your life. That's exactly what the Holy Spirit told me. That we were to pray. And I was to ask those here tonight, the enemy has defeated you. You're not living in that victory. It really means you've not come into that rest yet. Because you're still being manipulated or pushed or harassed by the enemy. And God wants you to take your place of authority right now. He wants you, when you feel that tug, get out of your seat. That may be something you have. You say, David, I've got just a little bit of Sodom in me. My heart, my eye. There's just one thing yet God's dealing with me about. I want you up in the balcony. Go to the middle section and come down. And you're at the main floor. I know God put this in my heart. If you have been defeated in your life, there's been a sorrow, you're downcast. Something's happening. There's a defeat in your life. I want you to come. There may be others you hear visiting. Maybe you're others for the first time. Or even from this church. And the Lord's saying to you, come on. We're moving on. We want you to go with us. You're standing right now. Say, oh, Brother Dave, I don't want to miss out. I want to go on with God's people. I want to move on with God's people. He may want you to move out here tonight and stand here and say, Jesus, take it all. Take it all. God bless you as they sing. Up in the balcony. Go to the middle section. Come down either side. You're at the main floor. Come as the Holy Spirit calls you. My life, Lord, be glorified. My life, Lord, be glorified. Be glorified. My life, Lord, be glorified. We've never tried to build up the numbers at the altar, those who come forward. But our heart bleeds sometimes for people that we know that need to be down here and making a surrender to the Lord and moving on with God. Some of you are stuck. There's a spiritual laziness. There's a spiritual sleep. God wants to move you on. Some of you are going to have to leave something. Some of you are going to have to leave something. You're going to have to walk out on something that God never says get out unless He says come in. He takes you out to bring you in. I'm not talking about this church. I'm talking about He takes you out of one thing into His fullness, into His heart. There's more. Hallelujah. Lord, find everyone in this building tonight that needs this. Lord, by Your Spirit, You know how to do it. I don't. You know how to go out in this whole crowd tonight and bring out those who need to make a new surrender. In Jesus' name, we'll sing it one more time. This is the last invitation. This is the last invitation. Keep going on today. You that have come forward, I want you to raise your hands to Jesus right now. Just lift your hands up. Look up to Jesus now. Would you talk to Him right out of your heart sincerely? Say, Jesus, touch me right now while I stand here. I came forward, Lord, to give everything. Do it right now. Lord, I give everything to You. I give everything to You, Jesus, now. Give it to Him. While you stand here in His presence, give it to Him. Give Him your unbelief. Give Him your doubt. Give Him your fear. And give Him Sodom. Anything from Sodom, give it to Him. Just give it to Him right now. Say, Lord, I'm not going to have my tent pits towards Sodom. I want my heart for You. Now, will you pray this prayer with me from your heart? Pray it deep, right out of your heart, loud and clear. Jesus, I do want You more than the whole world. I open my heart. I call to You. Come, Jesus, satisfy my heart. Fill my longing. Break my chains. Set me free. I want to serve You with all my heart. I repent and I give it all to You. Now, if you meant that, just thank Him for hearing you. Lord, I thank You for hearing me right now. Thank You for accepting my prayer. I repent and I open my heart. Lord, I open my heart to You. Now, Jesus, look down and hear this cry. Lord Jesus, by Your Holy Spirit, make it real. Let it not be just a prayer, but get into the heart now, Jesus. Get into the heart and break the chains. How many of you that came forward? Look this way, please. How many of you came forward, are here for the first time in this church? You came forward for the first time. Raise your hand, please. You're here for the first time. Would you, on this side, would you come up those stairs, right backstage, and you over here with your hand raised, come this way, those steps. We have counselors back. We'd like to pray with you. We'd like to minister to you. Step right through the crowd. Folks, let these people through that are coming. Right backstage, folks. Right back behind the curtain. God bless you. Your first time here at this altar. God bless you, brother. May the Lord Jesus touch you. God bless you, brother. May He touch you. God bless you, son. God bless you. Right back. You need a miracle, don't you? Yes. Let them through, please. All these that are coming for the first time in this church, receive Christ. God bless you. You really need Him, don't you? Amen. Do you want Him? God's going to do something for you. God bless you, brother. God bless you. Amen. God bless you. Where are you from? Long Island. Long Island. Your first time here? God bless you. Any others, first time? Follow these that are going, please. Isn't that beautiful? See? Any others here for the first time? Back in the aisles? God, make your way right through. All right. Let me ask how many others there are that are up here tonight? Today, today, I wonder how many of God's been speaking to you that today's your day to move on. How many can raise your hand and say, God told me today I've got to move on in Him. I can't settle down. I've got to move on in Him. All right. I think we probably have enough counselors for 10, 15 more. Okay. About 10 more of you that are standing up here. If you're going through a crisis, a life and death crisis, and you need a brother or sister to stand with you, you say, I've got to share with somebody. I want you to go back right now. Either side. We have room for about 10 more in the counseling room. Our counseling room is always full. That's it. God bless you. God bless you, brother. God bless you, son. God bless you. The Lord's doing such a deep, wonderful work. Hallelujah. Sing it again. Raise your hands as we sing it. Body of Jesus, raise your hands and sing. In my life, Lord, be glorified, be glorified. In my life, Lord, be glorified. In your church, Lord, in your church, Lord, be glorified. Be glorified in your church. Lord, be glorified today. Let's praise it. Let's praise the Lord. Lift your hands and praise it. Hallelujah. We praise you, Jesus. We worship you. Hallelujah. Lord, we praise you tonight. We magnify your name. We worship you, Lord. Beloved, let's praise Him. Praise Him with all your heart tonight. Thank Him for what He's doing. Lord, bring us into that rest. Bring us into that rest. We're going to enter into that rest by faith. By faith, Lord. It's not hype. Your gospel is true. Hallelujah. This is the conclusion of the tape.