1 00:00:05,600 --> 00:00:09,320 OK, that be your prayer tonight. It feels good to be in the House 2 00:00:09,320 --> 00:00:12,280 of the Lord tonight. Amen. 3 00:00:13,240 --> 00:00:29,920 So, so good, Bishop. I feel what you're feeling and I 4 00:00:29,920 --> 00:00:34,680 can't explain it. All I know is that we need to 5 00:00:34,680 --> 00:00:47,550 tap in tonight. Sometimes. 6 00:00:47,550 --> 00:00:49,870 I don't know what, I don't know if you feel what we feel up 7 00:00:49,870 --> 00:00:53,590 here. But I I do believe that his arm 8 00:00:53,590 --> 00:00:58,910 is not short and that he is not confined. 9 00:01:08,600 --> 00:01:37,720 When I tell you I cannot describe to 10 00:01:37,720 --> 00:01:43,080 you how uncertain I feel, that is an understatement. 11 00:01:44,600 --> 00:01:47,880 But I'm telling you right now, I feel in the Holy Ghost right now 12 00:01:50,160 --> 00:01:57,640 that if we can entertain and welcome him, it's going to be 13 00:01:57,640 --> 00:02:00,400 all right tonight. It's going to be all right 14 00:02:00,400 --> 00:02:16,320 tonight. Paramacio, do we all lift our 15 00:02:16,320 --> 00:02:21,000 hands right now? Oh, Lord, you're welcome here. 16 00:02:21,800 --> 00:02:28,480 I give of myself. Shakaya, have your way in this 17 00:02:28,480 --> 00:02:34,800 place tonight. Oh, we could push through, and I 18 00:02:34,800 --> 00:02:38,360 don't know what we're up against right now, but I am claiming 19 00:02:38,600 --> 00:02:41,680 victory in the power of our words tonight. 20 00:02:44,640 --> 00:03:02,000 Touch your people tonight. 21 00:03:03,720 --> 00:03:11,800 Touch the weary, touch the sick. Hey, it's Jesus. 22 00:03:20,200 --> 00:03:27,360 Ho high. Surrender all to you. 23 00:03:30,720 --> 00:03:44,760 Everything I give to you, Withholding nothing, withholding 24 00:03:44,760 --> 00:03:49,880 nothing. Oh, withholding nothing, 25 00:03:52,040 --> 00:04:02,680 withholding nothing. I surrender all oh to you, 26 00:04:04,840 --> 00:04:18,360 everything I give to you or withholding nothing, withholding 27 00:04:19,040 --> 00:04:27,720 nothing, withholding, nothing, withholding, nothing. 28 00:04:29,840 --> 00:04:37,040 I give you all of me. I give you all of me. 29 00:04:38,440 --> 00:04:43,880 I give you all of me. Withholding. 30 00:04:44,120 --> 00:04:48,960 Nothing Withholding. Nothing. 31 00:04:51,720 --> 00:04:56,200 Hold on my shield, on my side. Oh, that would be our prayer 32 00:04:56,200 --> 00:04:59,960 tonight. Behold, the Lord is good. 33 00:05:00,920 --> 00:05:04,480 Please continue to entertain his presence tonight. 34 00:05:05,640 --> 00:05:15,280 If you will turn the second Samuel 7 verse one, Jesus, Jesus 35 00:05:17,120 --> 00:05:24,400 have your way, Lord. Second Samuel 7 verse one says, 36 00:05:24,400 --> 00:05:28,800 And it came to pass, when the king sat in his home, Speaking 37 00:05:28,800 --> 00:05:33,640 of David, and the Lord had given him rest round about from all 38 00:05:33,640 --> 00:05:39,800 his enemies, that the king said unto Nathan the prophet, See now 39 00:05:39,800 --> 00:05:46,840 I dwell in a House of cedar, but the ark of God dwelleth within 40 00:05:46,840 --> 00:05:50,920 curtains. And Nathan said to the king, Go, 41 00:05:50,920 --> 00:05:56,160 do all that is not in thine heart, for the Lord is with 42 00:05:56,160 --> 00:05:59,000 thee. And it came to pass that night 43 00:05:59,000 --> 00:06:02,640 that the word of the Lord came unto Nathan, saying, Go and tell 44 00:06:02,640 --> 00:06:07,080 my servant David, Thus saith the Lord, Shalt thou build me an 45 00:06:07,160 --> 00:06:12,080 house for me to dwell in. Whereas I have not dwelt in any 46 00:06:12,080 --> 00:06:15,640 house since the time that I brought up the children of 47 00:06:15,640 --> 00:06:23,000 Israel out of Egypt, even until this day, but have walked in a 48 00:06:23,000 --> 00:06:31,600 tent and in a Tabernacle. Tonight I have a task of 49 00:06:31,600 --> 00:06:37,120 bringing to you simply titled, Leaving God in a Tent. 50 00:06:38,600 --> 00:06:44,600 Leaving God in a tent. I ask that you would help me 51 00:06:44,600 --> 00:06:47,200 pray one more time for the Word tonight. 52 00:06:47,800 --> 00:06:50,360 Lord, I ask you just to move in this place. 53 00:06:50,840 --> 00:06:55,320 Lord, you are already here. Lord, we are here to entertain 54 00:06:55,320 --> 00:06:56,960 you and entertain your word, Lord. 55 00:06:56,960 --> 00:07:00,920 Let this Lord word come forth, not from my own Lord doing, but 56 00:07:00,920 --> 00:07:04,840 for your will, Your purpose. God, touch your people tonight. 57 00:07:05,120 --> 00:07:08,160 Prepare hearts and minds, Lord for Your word. 58 00:07:08,440 --> 00:07:10,920 Lord, it would not return void, but it would be something that 59 00:07:10,920 --> 00:07:15,840 we take with us and we would not fail to thank you and praise you 60 00:07:15,840 --> 00:07:19,040 for it. Oh God, have your way in this 61 00:07:19,040 --> 00:07:21,960 service tonight. Lord, touch your servant. 62 00:07:21,960 --> 00:07:26,480 Lord, I ask you just to move in this place in Jesus mighty name 63 00:07:26,480 --> 00:07:29,400 that we pray and everyone said Amen. 64 00:07:30,320 --> 00:07:33,400 Amen. You may be seated tonight 65 00:07:35,000 --> 00:07:43,840 leaving God in a tent. Back when Moses climbed Mount 66 00:07:43,840 --> 00:07:50,320 Sinai, God gave him directions for a place, a place for his 67 00:07:50,320 --> 00:07:55,600 Spirit to be. Now we know that God is not 68 00:07:55,600 --> 00:07:58,520 confined to one place. This was about communion. 69 00:07:58,520 --> 00:08:01,800 This was about relationship with God. 70 00:08:02,280 --> 00:08:06,840 A place where people could come and the priests could give of 71 00:08:06,840 --> 00:08:11,360 sacrifice and praise. It wasn't a palace. 72 00:08:11,880 --> 00:08:16,520 It wasn't a stone temple, it was a tent. 73 00:08:18,200 --> 00:08:24,040 Exodus 25 and verse 8 states, even says, let them make me a 74 00:08:24,040 --> 00:08:27,000 sanctuary, that I may dwell among them. 75 00:08:27,520 --> 00:08:30,600 According to all that I show the after the pattern of the 76 00:08:30,600 --> 00:08:34,200 Tabernacle and the pattern of all the instruments thereof, 77 00:08:34,200 --> 00:08:40,840 Even so shall ye make it? The tent made sense in that 78 00:08:40,840 --> 00:08:46,240 season that Israel was in, Israel was traveling, Israel was 79 00:08:46,240 --> 00:08:50,400 moving, they were wandering, even learning to follow the 80 00:08:50,400 --> 00:08:54,040 voice of God. A permanent structure would be 81 00:08:54,040 --> 00:08:57,800 impossible if every single time they had to move, they had to 82 00:08:57,800 --> 00:09:01,200 rebuild another permanent structure. 83 00:09:02,200 --> 00:09:07,080 It didn't make sense. They were not settled, and so 84 00:09:07,080 --> 00:09:11,680 God chose to make His presence mobile with the children of 85 00:09:11,680 --> 00:09:14,440 Israel. He met them where they were. 86 00:09:14,440 --> 00:09:19,720 He chose a tent because that was going to help His people in this 87 00:09:19,720 --> 00:09:25,120 time and season. In Numbers 9 and verse 21 it 88 00:09:25,120 --> 00:09:27,360 says. And so it was when the cloud 89 00:09:27,360 --> 00:09:32,120 abode from even unto the morning, and that cloud was 90 00:09:32,120 --> 00:09:35,800 taken up in the morning. And then they journeyed, whether 91 00:09:35,800 --> 00:09:39,480 it was by day or by night the cloud was taken up. 92 00:09:39,680 --> 00:09:43,320 They journeyed, or whether it were two days, or a month, or a 93 00:09:43,320 --> 00:09:47,560 year, that the cloud tarried upon the Tabernacle, remaining 94 00:09:47,560 --> 00:09:50,080 thereon. The children of Israel abode in 95 00:09:50,080 --> 00:09:54,560 their tents and journeyed not, but when it was taken up, they 96 00:09:54,560 --> 00:09:57,400 journeyed. At the commandment of the Lord 97 00:09:57,400 --> 00:10:01,520 they rested in the tents, and at the commandment of the Lord they 98 00:10:01,800 --> 00:10:05,040 journeyed. They kept the charge of the Lord 99 00:10:05,080 --> 00:10:09,720 at the commandment of the Lord by the hand of Moses. 100 00:10:10,640 --> 00:10:16,120 They are going in a pillar of fire by night and a cloud by 101 00:10:16,120 --> 00:10:18,840 day. They are only journeying when it 102 00:10:18,840 --> 00:10:22,760 moves. When the presence departs from 103 00:10:22,840 --> 00:10:27,440 the Tabernacle, they know they have to pack up and go. 104 00:10:27,720 --> 00:10:32,200 And that Tabernacle was a mobile Tabernacle. 105 00:10:32,200 --> 00:10:36,000 It was in a tent. Everything that was there could 106 00:10:36,000 --> 00:10:41,800 be moved, packed up, put on, put on camels and mules and gone on. 107 00:10:42,000 --> 00:10:46,760 And people we have, we have a opportunity there of mobile 108 00:10:46,920 --> 00:10:49,920 Tabernacle. It was necessary for the time 109 00:10:49,920 --> 00:10:53,840 that Israel was living in, and it was important that they had 110 00:10:53,840 --> 00:10:57,680 that opportunity and God met them where they were. 111 00:10:58,000 --> 00:11:01,840 Deuteronomy 1 and 31 even says And in the wilderness where thou 112 00:11:01,840 --> 00:11:06,760 hast seen, how that the Lord thy God bear thee, as a man doth 113 00:11:06,800 --> 00:11:12,400 bear his Son in all the way that we went, until ye came unto this 114 00:11:12,400 --> 00:11:16,040 place. Yet in this thing he did not 115 00:11:16,040 --> 00:11:21,240 believe the Lord your God, who went in the way before you and 116 00:11:21,240 --> 00:11:25,320 searched you out a place to pitch your tents in the fire by 117 00:11:25,320 --> 00:11:30,320 night, and to show you by what way you should go in the cloud 118 00:11:30,320 --> 00:11:34,480 by day. This tent was God's compassion 119 00:11:34,720 --> 00:11:38,600 towards Israel. It was His patience even towards 120 00:11:38,680 --> 00:11:41,360 Israel when this first took place. 121 00:11:41,360 --> 00:11:46,880 You have to remember that this, it was Israel very shortly after 122 00:11:47,080 --> 00:11:51,120 the Exodus moment. And so this was not supposed to 123 00:11:51,120 --> 00:11:53,320 be something that was going to go on. 124 00:11:53,480 --> 00:11:57,760 He rested when they rested, he journeyed when they journeyed 125 00:11:57,760 --> 00:12:01,400 and whenever he went and they got tired, he settled. 126 00:12:01,720 --> 00:12:04,680 That was their meeting place. He was meeting them in their 127 00:12:04,760 --> 00:12:07,760 instability and they're in maturity. 128 00:12:08,920 --> 00:12:12,720 Deuteronomy 1 and 31. It's said that he even carried 129 00:12:12,720 --> 00:12:15,920 them like a father carries a child. 130 00:12:16,680 --> 00:12:21,600 It was a way to bridge the gap during this time of transition 131 00:12:22,000 --> 00:12:26,080 that would eventually last longer than intended. 132 00:12:27,080 --> 00:12:30,080 And if we're honest, that's a picture for us that we have to 133 00:12:30,080 --> 00:12:33,000 look through. All of us go through seasons 134 00:12:33,000 --> 00:12:37,360 where we don't have structure yet or we have lost our 135 00:12:37,360 --> 00:12:39,960 structure. Seasons where we're figuring it 136 00:12:39,960 --> 00:12:44,600 out, where our faith is inconsistence, our habits are 137 00:12:44,600 --> 00:12:49,520 shaky at best, and our obedience is struggling to find footing. 138 00:12:49,880 --> 00:12:54,840 And God still meets us in that place, and he comes to us in our 139 00:12:54,840 --> 00:13:00,800 tent seasons. You see, the tent was never a 140 00:13:00,800 --> 00:13:04,800 problem. The tent was never a problem 141 00:13:04,800 --> 00:13:10,400 that needed fixed, but it wasn't supposed to last forever in the 142 00:13:10,400 --> 00:13:12,560 wilderness. It was necessary. 143 00:13:12,560 --> 00:13:16,720 But after that, the story begins to shift. 144 00:13:17,600 --> 00:13:21,280 After Israel crossed the Jordan, after they conquered the 145 00:13:21,280 --> 00:13:25,960 promised land of Canaan, and the tribe settled into their 146 00:13:25,960 --> 00:13:29,520 territories, the tent still remained. 147 00:13:31,040 --> 00:13:35,080 Joshua 18 And one even says, And the whole congregation of the 148 00:13:35,080 --> 00:13:38,120 children of Israel assembled together at Shiloh and set up 149 00:13:38,120 --> 00:13:40,480 the Tabernacle of the congregation there. 150 00:13:40,720 --> 00:13:43,000 And the land was subdued before them. 151 00:13:43,680 --> 00:13:46,640 They are settling into their promised land. 152 00:13:46,640 --> 00:13:50,520 They have won the victory. They are settling in here at 153 00:13:50,520 --> 00:13:55,000 Shiloh and they are putting the Tabernacle, the tent they have 154 00:13:55,000 --> 00:13:58,920 been used to this whole time for many a many years and they are 155 00:13:58,920 --> 00:14:03,680 putting it here at Shiloh. Israel was planting, they were 156 00:14:03,680 --> 00:14:06,840 raising families, they were establishing their new found 157 00:14:06,840 --> 00:14:10,720 land of promise. All the while God was still in 158 00:14:10,720 --> 00:14:16,000 the same tent that He was when they were wandering in the same 159 00:14:16,000 --> 00:14:19,120 tent when they were in the wilderness, when when God 160 00:14:19,120 --> 00:14:22,680 decided to have mercy and meet them where they were at and 161 00:14:22,680 --> 00:14:27,720 continue in that mercy, He still was in a tent. 162 00:14:28,520 --> 00:14:32,760 The place that He was in was still temporary to them even 163 00:14:32,760 --> 00:14:36,560 when they were getting getting permanent structures for 164 00:14:36,560 --> 00:14:39,360 themselves. That was it was as if you have 165 00:14:39,360 --> 00:14:43,160 houses all surrounding the Tabernacle and the Tabernacle is 166 00:14:43,160 --> 00:14:48,920 still there in curtains. No one, no one questioned it. 167 00:14:49,280 --> 00:14:52,440 No, we don't have a bunch of accounts before, before we get 168 00:14:52,440 --> 00:14:55,000 to David where people are thinking and pausing and 169 00:14:55,000 --> 00:14:58,320 thinking about it. They they got used to a God who 170 00:14:58,320 --> 00:15:01,160 met them in the wilderness, and that's the God they wanted to 171 00:15:01,160 --> 00:15:04,360 keep. They never considered, though, 172 00:15:04,360 --> 00:15:07,640 that he might deserve something better. 173 00:15:08,600 --> 00:15:12,000 The place he still put, they put him in still folds up. 174 00:15:13,240 --> 00:15:15,000 It was still convenient for them. 175 00:15:15,880 --> 00:15:19,920 If they decided that they were going to be like Aaron in the 176 00:15:19,920 --> 00:15:23,560 Israelites when Moses was on Mount Sinai, they could pack it 177 00:15:23,560 --> 00:15:26,800 up, store it away. We get ourselves our a new God 178 00:15:27,280 --> 00:15:31,080 because it was convenient. They could pack it away whenever 179 00:15:31,080 --> 00:15:34,200 they'd like. If they decided that they're not 180 00:15:34,200 --> 00:15:39,480 going to be Christians today, they're going to pack it away 181 00:15:40,160 --> 00:15:45,240 because it's convenient to them. That's what routine does to you. 182 00:15:46,080 --> 00:15:50,680 It takes you're comfortable and makes it you being comfortable 183 00:15:50,680 --> 00:15:54,880 with imbalance. It lets you treat holy things as 184 00:15:54,920 --> 00:15:58,160 familiar. It lets you settle for what God 185 00:15:58,160 --> 00:16:04,080 once tolerated because He loved you instead of what He deserves 186 00:16:04,080 --> 00:16:10,000 now because you have grown. We start in our walk with God 187 00:16:10,000 --> 00:16:11,560 and this is what happens sometimes. 188 00:16:11,560 --> 00:16:13,640 Maybe we even start in our walk with God. 189 00:16:13,640 --> 00:16:16,760 Maybe we haven't even been in this thing for a long time and 190 00:16:16,760 --> 00:16:20,360 He meets us in our mess. He meets us where we are. 191 00:16:20,360 --> 00:16:23,800 We start to get used to the routine of it all and we settle 192 00:16:23,920 --> 00:16:28,040 and we plan and we continue our life and that we have to still. 193 00:16:28,200 --> 00:16:32,080 And we still have God in a tent even after all the growth. 194 00:16:33,560 --> 00:16:36,840 I've told many of people before, I've told people, students in 195 00:16:36,840 --> 00:16:41,000 particular, that the you have to realize that regular life 196 00:16:41,000 --> 00:16:45,240 happens after the salvation plan of Acts 238. 197 00:16:46,400 --> 00:16:49,760 When you go to conferences and you go and you, you have an 198 00:16:50,000 --> 00:16:53,040 experience. And I am not demeaning that 199 00:16:53,040 --> 00:16:54,480 experience. You go and you have an 200 00:16:54,480 --> 00:16:56,080 experience. You come back. 201 00:16:57,520 --> 00:17:00,920 Life continues. I am sorry. 202 00:17:00,920 --> 00:17:03,560 I want every day to be like church camp. 203 00:17:03,560 --> 00:17:06,040 I want every day to be like conference. 204 00:17:06,280 --> 00:17:10,760 But I'm sorry to tell you that is not real life. 205 00:17:11,800 --> 00:17:15,359 And we go to conferences and we set up our tent because we've 206 00:17:15,359 --> 00:17:20,560 had it stuck behind the curtains and stuck everywhere else other 207 00:17:20,560 --> 00:17:25,079 than in front of our lives. And then when we come back home, 208 00:17:25,079 --> 00:17:26,720 it's time to pack everything away. 209 00:17:26,720 --> 00:17:31,400 It's almost as if we pack the Tabernacle with our clothing 210 00:17:31,400 --> 00:17:37,200 that we pack for the event. We keep him in something that we 211 00:17:37,200 --> 00:17:41,800 can fold up when life gets busy, and then we pull it out when we 212 00:17:41,800 --> 00:17:45,840 feel spiritual. We pack the tin away when 213 00:17:45,840 --> 00:17:49,880 conviction gets uncomfortable and and God sometimes even 214 00:17:49,880 --> 00:17:53,760 delivers us from our wilderness, but we're never going to deliver 215 00:17:53,760 --> 00:17:57,640 him from his tent. And once you get used to the 216 00:17:57,640 --> 00:18:01,720 tent, you're going to stop noticing how out of place it is. 217 00:18:02,920 --> 00:18:05,480 I told Trevor this in particular. 218 00:18:05,480 --> 00:18:10,320 I wanted it to look out of place because if you look at that, 219 00:18:10,320 --> 00:18:15,920 that is not common unless you're thinking of maybe a homeless 220 00:18:15,920 --> 00:18:19,640 area, which normally they would probably get the cops called on 221 00:18:19,640 --> 00:18:23,440 them if they're just in a regional area with people and 222 00:18:23,440 --> 00:18:25,960 housing. But it looks out of place 223 00:18:25,960 --> 00:18:29,040 because that's exactly what it is. 224 00:18:29,960 --> 00:18:34,280 That's exactly what was happening for hundreds of years 225 00:18:36,000 --> 00:18:42,480 when when David is sitting there, he has he has been given 226 00:18:42,480 --> 00:18:46,840 rest from all of his enemies. And that was a lot. 227 00:18:47,720 --> 00:18:51,480 The amount of years that David spent running, that David spent 228 00:18:51,480 --> 00:18:56,720 fighting, David spent making up for his own mistakes, all of the 229 00:18:56,720 --> 00:18:58,320 different issues that David faced. 230 00:18:58,320 --> 00:19:01,880 And he is sitting here at the beginning of this chapter and 231 00:19:01,880 --> 00:19:05,480 this says the Lord has given him rest from his enemies. 232 00:19:06,400 --> 00:19:09,200 I don't know about you, but when I'm restful, I'm not thinking 233 00:19:09,360 --> 00:19:12,120 about how someone else deserves something else. 234 00:19:12,600 --> 00:19:16,200 Normally I think that's normally all of us when we're resting, 235 00:19:16,200 --> 00:19:18,920 we're thinking about numero Uno, right? 236 00:19:19,240 --> 00:19:22,680 Number one, we're not thinking about, oh, you know, so and so 237 00:19:22,680 --> 00:19:25,120 doesn't have ex wives or so and so doesn't. 238 00:19:25,400 --> 00:19:29,720 He is the first time in years he is not running and he isn't 239 00:19:29,720 --> 00:19:32,000 fighting. He is sitting in this stability, 240 00:19:32,800 --> 00:19:37,400 and sometimes stability will reveal things to us that 241 00:19:37,400 --> 00:19:39,800 struggle keeps us too distracted to see. 242 00:19:40,320 --> 00:19:44,400 And David is sitting in this house, in his house, and he's 243 00:19:44,400 --> 00:19:48,200 thinking, wait a minute, there is something wrong about this 244 00:19:48,200 --> 00:19:53,200 that I I haven't noticed yet. I'm living in a House of cedar, 245 00:19:53,840 --> 00:19:58,520 and here the presence of God is living in curtains. 246 00:19:59,400 --> 00:20:04,120 David is marveling at where God has brought him, but then he 247 00:20:04,120 --> 00:20:08,600 can't stay in that moment for long because then he realizes 248 00:20:08,880 --> 00:20:13,880 there is something wrong here. Anybody else had gotten used to 249 00:20:13,880 --> 00:20:18,200 it for generations and they walk past the tent without thinking 250 00:20:18,200 --> 00:20:19,880 twice. This is what's normal. 251 00:20:20,000 --> 00:20:23,080 This is, this is our tent. This is the Tabernacle. 252 00:20:23,360 --> 00:20:26,880 And they walk past it and become tradition, if you will. 253 00:20:26,880 --> 00:20:29,880 Almost. It was normal and familiar. 254 00:20:30,120 --> 00:20:34,720 And my question for you tonight is, would you even notice if God 255 00:20:34,720 --> 00:20:37,160 didn't have permanent residence in your life? 256 00:20:39,200 --> 00:20:44,000 Have you noticed if God doesn't have permanent residence in your 257 00:20:44,000 --> 00:20:48,920 life? David, even in Psalm 132 and 258 00:20:48,920 --> 00:20:52,760 three says, surely I will not come into the Tabernacle of my 259 00:20:52,760 --> 00:20:57,760 house nor go up into my bed. I will not give sleep to my eyes 260 00:20:57,760 --> 00:21:03,360 or slumber to mine eyelids until I find out a place for the Lord 261 00:21:03,640 --> 00:21:07,320 and habitation for the mighty God of Jacob. 262 00:21:07,560 --> 00:21:11,360 Everyone else had gotten used to it, but David was not everyone 263 00:21:11,360 --> 00:21:13,120 else. He saw the imbalance. 264 00:21:13,280 --> 00:21:16,800 He felt the disrespect that had been hidden. 265 00:21:16,920 --> 00:21:19,600 Everyone else didn't want to talk about, or they had gotten 266 00:21:19,600 --> 00:21:23,360 too used to and comfortable. And David gathers materials. 267 00:21:23,480 --> 00:21:27,200 He's drawing plans. He said I will not slumber until 268 00:21:27,200 --> 00:21:32,880 this is made right. He spent years preparing for a 269 00:21:32,880 --> 00:21:38,240 house that he even would never enter because God deserved it. 270 00:21:40,320 --> 00:21:43,760 Can we say truly that we are going to do things, we are going 271 00:21:43,760 --> 00:21:48,280 to lose sleep even because God deserves it. 272 00:21:48,800 --> 00:21:51,720 He deserves our everything. He deserves our effort. 273 00:21:51,720 --> 00:21:54,600 He get. We give of ourselves unto him 274 00:21:54,960 --> 00:21:57,320 do. Can we truly say that we are 275 00:21:57,320 --> 00:22:01,840 going to sacrifice because God deserves it when we sometimes 276 00:22:01,840 --> 00:22:06,120 can't even sacrifice extracurricular things and miss 277 00:22:06,120 --> 00:22:10,800 church? We sacrifice everything for the 278 00:22:10,840 --> 00:22:16,720 outside because it's easy. We gotten comfortable. 279 00:22:16,920 --> 00:22:19,640 God's in a tent. I'll get him out whenever I come 280 00:22:19,640 --> 00:22:25,800 back to church. First Chronicles 22 and 5 281 00:22:25,800 --> 00:22:29,600 continues the story and says, And David said, Solomon, my son 282 00:22:29,600 --> 00:22:33,480 is young and tender, and the house that is to be builded for 283 00:22:33,480 --> 00:22:38,240 the Lord must be exceedingly exceeding magnifical of fame and 284 00:22:38,240 --> 00:22:41,960 of glory throughout all countries, and I will therefore 285 00:22:41,960 --> 00:22:45,840 now make preparation for it. So David prepared abundantly 286 00:22:46,040 --> 00:22:50,520 before his death. You know, we think, you know, 287 00:22:50,520 --> 00:22:53,520 maybe David, you know, you're, you're getting older, you know, 288 00:22:53,520 --> 00:22:57,480 you're close to retirement age. Just chill out, take a little 289 00:22:57,480 --> 00:22:59,880 sabbatical, relax. You've had a, you've had a 290 00:23:00,200 --> 00:23:04,200 productive life, a busy life. But he said, no, this, this 291 00:23:04,200 --> 00:23:07,720 cannot be undone. This is not something that we 292 00:23:07,720 --> 00:23:13,720 can allow to happen. This is a dishonor to God and so 293 00:23:13,720 --> 00:23:18,200 he says I don't care about getting my moment in the sun and 294 00:23:18,200 --> 00:23:21,800 and retiring so to speak and just being the king at the at 295 00:23:21,800 --> 00:23:24,760 the end of my days. That is just going to chill out 296 00:23:24,760 --> 00:23:28,120 and and have people bring me grapes and and fan me with 297 00:23:28,120 --> 00:23:31,360 leaves. I am going to work because it is 298 00:23:31,360 --> 00:23:35,720 what God deserves. And all that tireless 299 00:23:35,720 --> 00:23:40,520 preparation that David did LED up to his son Solomon building 300 00:23:40,560 --> 00:23:43,400 the house. And the ark of God was finally 301 00:23:43,400 --> 00:23:46,520 going to be brought to a place of permanence. 302 00:23:48,040 --> 00:23:50,720 God met their people in the wilderness, and now they were 303 00:23:50,720 --> 00:23:54,360 finally going to honor Him in the promise. 304 00:23:55,560 --> 00:24:02,320 First kings six and one it says, and it came to pass in the 480th 305 00:24:02,400 --> 00:24:09,720 year, someone say 480 years after the children of Israel 306 00:24:09,720 --> 00:24:11,400 were come out of the land of Egypt. 307 00:24:12,560 --> 00:24:16,440 The 4th, the 4th year of Solomon's reign over Israel in 308 00:24:16,440 --> 00:24:20,920 the month of Ziff, which is the second month that began to build 309 00:24:20,920 --> 00:24:25,520 the House of the Lord. We're talking about 480 years 310 00:24:25,520 --> 00:24:30,680 since they left Egypt. 480 years and God's presence had never 311 00:24:30,680 --> 00:24:35,760 once lived in anything more permanent than a tent, almost 312 00:24:36,120 --> 00:24:38,800 almost half, half of a millennia. 313 00:24:40,080 --> 00:24:43,480 And we are talking about the fact that that God had still 314 00:24:43,480 --> 00:24:48,160 lived in a tent. And, and when you think of that 315 00:24:48,160 --> 00:24:50,160 and you think about the fact that they wandered in the 316 00:24:50,160 --> 00:24:54,320 wilderness for 40 years and, and you start to do the math, you 317 00:24:54,320 --> 00:24:58,600 can think really quickly that they stayed in the promised land 318 00:24:58,600 --> 00:25:03,800 or around that area in their promise for many years before 319 00:25:03,800 --> 00:25:06,920 they even got to this point, centuries before they got to 320 00:25:06,920 --> 00:25:09,800 this point. And this was not just any house 321 00:25:09,800 --> 00:25:14,480 that they were finally doing. It was the House of God. 322 00:25:15,600 --> 00:25:18,920 Everything was intentional. It was deliberate and it had a 323 00:25:19,000 --> 00:25:24,680 purpose, and nothing was rushed, nothing was cheap and nothing 324 00:25:24,680 --> 00:25:28,280 was casual about it. And when the last piece is 325 00:25:28,280 --> 00:25:32,000 placed, and the ark is carried into the most holy place, 326 00:25:32,000 --> 00:25:36,560 Solomon praise, and when he prays, we get to Second 327 00:25:36,560 --> 00:25:40,520 Chronicles 7 and verse one. It says, Now when Solomon had 328 00:25:40,520 --> 00:25:45,600 made an end of praying, the fire came down from heaven and 329 00:25:45,600 --> 00:25:49,760 consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices, and the glory of 330 00:25:49,760 --> 00:25:55,760 the Lord filled the house, and the priests could not enter into 331 00:25:55,760 --> 00:25:59,600 the House of the Lord, because the glory of the Lord had filled 332 00:25:59,880 --> 00:26:03,640 the Lord's house. And when all of the children of 333 00:26:03,640 --> 00:26:07,440 Israel saw the fire come down and the glory of the Lord upon 334 00:26:07,440 --> 00:26:11,560 the house, they bowed themselves and their faces to the ground 335 00:26:11,560 --> 00:26:15,760 upon the pavement, and they worshipped and they praised the 336 00:26:15,760 --> 00:26:20,960 Lord, saying, For He is good, for his mercy endureth forever. 337 00:26:21,200 --> 00:26:25,440 The glory of the God fills the house. 338 00:26:26,960 --> 00:26:33,480 It presided in the temple, but it fills the house so heavily 339 00:26:33,480 --> 00:26:36,000 that the priest could not even stand. 340 00:26:36,160 --> 00:26:37,960 They could not stand the minister. 341 00:26:38,080 --> 00:26:40,160 They could not stand to enter in. 342 00:26:40,360 --> 00:26:42,840 You see, God's glory visited the tent. 343 00:26:43,080 --> 00:26:47,280 That's just temporary. But his glory will dwell in the 344 00:26:47,280 --> 00:26:49,920 house. It will stay in the house. 345 00:26:49,920 --> 00:26:54,200 The temple that Solomon built wasn't just the final temple. 346 00:26:54,480 --> 00:26:58,200 Through the death and the burial and the resurrection of Jesus 347 00:26:58,200 --> 00:27:02,720 Christ and the tearing of the veil in the temple, we now have 348 00:27:03,040 --> 00:27:08,200 an opportunity ourselves. 1st Corinthians 6 and 19 says what? 349 00:27:08,480 --> 00:27:12,600 Know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost, 350 00:27:12,720 --> 00:27:17,880 which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? 351 00:27:18,040 --> 00:27:22,280 Ladies and gentlemen, we need to stop treating our body, our 352 00:27:22,280 --> 00:27:26,920 lives as a tent for God. We need to preside Him in a 353 00:27:27,040 --> 00:27:32,080 temple, a holy temple, and that is only going to come through 354 00:27:32,080 --> 00:27:36,200 prayer and fasting and supplication, relationship with 355 00:27:36,200 --> 00:27:39,360 God. If we are to be the temple, He 356 00:27:39,360 --> 00:27:43,080 must dwell. He must not just visit. 357 00:27:47,840 --> 00:27:50,600 We are not a tent carried through the wilderness or 358 00:27:50,600 --> 00:27:54,400 presiding in Shiloh, not a structure of wood, brick and 359 00:27:54,400 --> 00:28:00,280 stone, but us. You are where God desires to 360 00:28:00,280 --> 00:28:03,880 dwell. The same God whose glory filled 361 00:28:04,080 --> 00:28:10,320 the temple desires to fill living temples if those temples 362 00:28:10,360 --> 00:28:14,920 make room. The issue is that we treat 363 00:28:14,920 --> 00:28:19,000 ourselves like a tent, and we receive the Holy Ghost and the 364 00:28:19,000 --> 00:28:21,960 literal presence of God presiding within us. 365 00:28:22,200 --> 00:28:26,160 And sometimes we pack it away in comfort. 366 00:28:27,480 --> 00:28:29,880 We'll get well. I'll get my Holy Ghost out when 367 00:28:29,880 --> 00:28:35,760 I need it. We build lives, relationships, 368 00:28:35,760 --> 00:28:42,360 dreams, routines, identities, but God's place stays temporary 369 00:28:42,360 --> 00:28:46,400 in our lives. We want Him accessible. 370 00:28:46,960 --> 00:28:50,840 We want to be able to get to Him, but we don't want Him to 371 00:28:50,840 --> 00:28:55,840 have sovereignty in our lives. Sovereignty means we have to 372 00:28:55,840 --> 00:28:59,320 give things away. We have to give up things that 373 00:28:59,640 --> 00:29:02,680 that really, when we've been doing those things, we've been 374 00:29:02,680 --> 00:29:06,760 packing the tent away. I don't want conviction to 375 00:29:06,760 --> 00:29:09,800 happen while I'm trying to do my thing. 376 00:29:12,200 --> 00:29:15,760 And so whenever we have that, we want to be him, to be 377 00:29:15,760 --> 00:29:18,400 accessible. And he is, and he's merciful, 378 00:29:18,600 --> 00:29:21,800 but we take advantage of his mercy because we just, we give 379 00:29:21,800 --> 00:29:25,000 him a tent place in our life. We don't give him a Tavern. 380 00:29:25,080 --> 00:29:27,720 We don't give him a temple place in our life. 381 00:29:27,720 --> 00:29:31,520 We carry God like Israel did in the wilderness with a tent, 382 00:29:31,760 --> 00:29:34,880 portable and storable. And we revisit that tent 383 00:29:34,880 --> 00:29:38,520 whenever crisis hits, whenever, whenever everything's going 384 00:29:38,520 --> 00:29:41,000 wrong, Guess what, God, it's tent time. 385 00:29:41,000 --> 00:29:44,280 Come back out here, you know, come, come on down. 386 00:29:44,280 --> 00:29:47,080 You've won the big prize. You get to be in my life again. 387 00:29:49,280 --> 00:29:53,080 We revisit that tent and then we'll feel, we feel spiritual. 388 00:29:53,640 --> 00:29:58,080 And then when everything becomes good and dandy again, we'll pack 389 00:29:58,080 --> 00:30:01,920 it away. We want that convenient tent 390 00:30:01,920 --> 00:30:07,320 relationship with a temple presiding God. 1st Corinthians 3 391 00:30:07,320 --> 00:30:11,760 and 16 Paul again says, Know ye not that ye are the temple of 392 00:30:11,760 --> 00:30:14,440 God, and the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? 393 00:30:14,440 --> 00:30:18,640 If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy, for 394 00:30:18,640 --> 00:30:23,040 the temple of God is holy. Which temple are ye? 395 00:30:23,040 --> 00:30:28,200 He also says in 2nd Corinthians 616 it says In what agreement 396 00:30:28,200 --> 00:30:30,560 hath the temple of God with idols? 397 00:30:30,960 --> 00:30:34,080 For ye are the temple of the living God. 398 00:30:34,360 --> 00:30:39,000 As God hath said, I will dwell in them and walk in them, and I 399 00:30:39,000 --> 00:30:42,280 will be their God, and they shall be my people. 400 00:30:42,800 --> 00:30:48,360 If we are to be the temple of God, that means dwelling, not 401 00:30:48,360 --> 00:30:52,840 visitation. How is how you are living your 402 00:30:52,840 --> 00:30:57,640 life making him welcome? Is it making a place of 403 00:30:57,640 --> 00:31:02,000 permanence or is it making a place where God, you can come 404 00:31:02,000 --> 00:31:06,840 whenever I say you can come? Not, not, don't, don't, don't. 405 00:31:07,040 --> 00:31:11,040 God's a gentleman. But you're basically just saying 406 00:31:11,120 --> 00:31:17,920 time out until I need you. I'm telling you right now, God 407 00:31:17,920 --> 00:31:19,840 doesn't take the Holy Ghost away from anyone. 408 00:31:19,840 --> 00:31:22,280 But please don't misunderstand me tonight. 409 00:31:22,280 --> 00:31:24,440 But we are living. Are we living in a way that 410 00:31:24,440 --> 00:31:28,800 makes a place for Him or do we give him that tent for our 411 00:31:28,800 --> 00:31:31,960 convenience sake? Because we don't want to let go 412 00:31:31,960 --> 00:31:36,560 of things that we've, we've had, we've, we found we don't want to 413 00:31:36,560 --> 00:31:40,320 let go of things that aren't in alignment with God's word, in 414 00:31:40,320 --> 00:31:42,520 alignment with temple principles. 415 00:31:43,160 --> 00:31:46,360 But we just, we want, we, we, we feel good. 416 00:31:47,080 --> 00:31:51,320 We feel good whenever we, we do come and we feel good whenever 417 00:31:51,320 --> 00:31:54,080 we do have those, you know, come to Jesus moments. 418 00:31:54,080 --> 00:31:58,840 And, and it may be, if we may for a little bit get get down 419 00:31:58,840 --> 00:32:02,360 and really feel convicted. And then what happens because we 420 00:32:02,360 --> 00:32:05,440 have not committed to temple relationship. 421 00:32:07,080 --> 00:32:08,600 All it was was a tent. Still. 422 00:32:12,360 --> 00:32:15,840 Are we only getting the tent out when we need Him to do something 423 00:32:15,840 --> 00:32:19,400 for us? Are we consumer Christians who 424 00:32:19,400 --> 00:32:21,720 call on God only when we need him? 425 00:32:23,000 --> 00:32:25,960 We only show up to church when we're going through a struggle? 426 00:32:27,680 --> 00:32:30,200 Or are we going to be like Dave? And are we going to realize our 427 00:32:30,200 --> 00:32:34,840 disrespect? Because if we are the temple, 428 00:32:34,840 --> 00:32:37,560 then he deserves to have a residency. 429 00:32:38,120 --> 00:32:42,600 He deserves to have a mailbox in our lives. 430 00:32:43,360 --> 00:32:50,280 Permanence, priority. Sometimes it's a priority issue 431 00:32:50,280 --> 00:32:54,240 that we can't get past. We have all these different 432 00:32:54,240 --> 00:32:58,000 things vying for our attention and they all look great and 433 00:32:58,000 --> 00:33:00,840 they're all dandy. And sometimes I'm not even 434 00:33:00,840 --> 00:33:02,960 saying, you know, the people have worked everything like 435 00:33:02,960 --> 00:33:06,480 that, but there are things that that could be sacrificed for 436 00:33:06,480 --> 00:33:11,840 priority's sake. And we do not because his his 437 00:33:11,840 --> 00:33:14,640 space in our life isn't as important as we say it. 438 00:33:14,880 --> 00:33:20,200 We can you talk is cheap. We can say all the time, but 439 00:33:20,200 --> 00:33:23,960 there is action that is behind that talk that we have to 440 00:33:23,960 --> 00:33:27,520 understand. Can you stand tonight? 441 00:33:27,520 --> 00:33:32,200 Music is going to come. Maybe tonight, maybe God is 442 00:33:32,200 --> 00:33:35,840 asking you, are you going to stop treating me like a house 443 00:33:35,880 --> 00:33:39,720 guest? Will you stop folding me away 444 00:33:39,720 --> 00:33:44,000 when you are busy? Will you stop only giving me 445 00:33:44,000 --> 00:33:46,560 residence in your life when you need something? 446 00:33:47,080 --> 00:33:53,520 Or can I actually have a place to dwell, a temple to dwell? 447 00:33:53,920 --> 00:33:57,840 If you have left God in a tent, I am urging you to prepare a 448 00:33:57,920 --> 00:34:01,880 place in your life for Him. We all go through seasons in our 449 00:34:01,880 --> 00:34:06,160 life where we have that. A a permanent place where He can 450 00:34:06,160 --> 00:34:10,239 dwell is something that you are going to find eventually is 451 00:34:10,239 --> 00:34:12,920 going to be one of the best things in your life, one of the 452 00:34:12,920 --> 00:34:14,960 best decisions you could have made. 453 00:34:15,199 --> 00:34:19,800 When you walk in the spirit and you are walking hand in hand 454 00:34:19,800 --> 00:34:23,920 with him, so to speak, and you are allowing Him to intervene in 455 00:34:23,920 --> 00:34:27,480 your life and allowing A dwelling place, you are going to 456 00:34:27,480 --> 00:34:31,199 see the difference. You're going to see and feel the 457 00:34:31,199 --> 00:34:33,400 difference. Your stress is going to be your 458 00:34:33,400 --> 00:34:34,840 stress press is going to be gone. 459 00:34:34,840 --> 00:34:38,639 You're going to be walking in peace, the peace of the Lord. 460 00:34:38,960 --> 00:34:43,040 It is important that we have a permanent place for him to 461 00:34:43,040 --> 00:34:45,440 dwell. And if we're supposed to be that 462 00:34:45,440 --> 00:34:47,760 temple of God, we have to be holy. 463 00:34:47,760 --> 00:34:51,880 Otherwise, Paul said, we defile the temple. 464 00:34:52,800 --> 00:34:56,120 These altars are open tonight. This, this is not a call the 465 00:34:56,120 --> 00:35:00,800 shame or to guilt, but it is an invitation to relationship where 466 00:35:00,800 --> 00:35:03,440 his presence isn't just squeezed in. 467 00:35:03,960 --> 00:35:06,480 It's not just leftovers in our life. 468 00:35:06,480 --> 00:35:09,960 It's not just something that we forget about and we're like, OK 469 00:35:09,960 --> 00:35:14,600 God, you can do this now, but where He is the center of it 470 00:35:14,600 --> 00:35:17,640 all. For some that may look like 471 00:35:17,640 --> 00:35:19,880 surrender. For some, that may be laying 472 00:35:19,880 --> 00:35:23,760 down a habit that has been taking up space that God has 473 00:35:23,760 --> 00:35:27,960 been meaning to be filling. Or giving up control of 474 00:35:27,960 --> 00:35:31,640 situations that we can't really control anyways. 475 00:35:32,920 --> 00:35:37,080 Letting conviction work instead of pushing Him away whenever we 476 00:35:37,080 --> 00:35:41,920 feel that tug of conviction. God, I just want to be your 477 00:35:41,920 --> 00:35:45,360 temple. I want to be your dwelling 478 00:35:45,360 --> 00:35:48,840 place, not just to visit, not just for visitation. 479 00:35:48,880 --> 00:35:54,760 I, I, I want it to be something that you dwell and you stay. 480 00:35:57,920 --> 00:36:01,280 Saints, we cannot afford to leave God in a tent. 481 00:36:03,400 --> 00:36:08,720 He has mercy on us to meet us in those seasons, but we should 482 00:36:08,720 --> 00:36:10,280 have enough honor.