A Final Warning to the Indulgent Church by Carter Conlon

I'd like you to turn to the book of first chronicles chapter 11 please in the Old Testament and also if you could in your index find Daniel and Amos and just put a marker or something there for that for times sake so that you have those books of the Bible the one of the things that we promised you as a church congregation as pastors and we hold that that promises that we will not hold back from you the full counsel of the Word of God you can become imbalanced if if the gospel has only preached from one slant or the other we we have a mandate of God to step into this pulpit obedient to the Holy Spirit bringing the word that God says he wants spoken for that morning as best as we believe he has spoken to us whether it seems in season or out of season remember Paul the Apostle told Timothy be prepared to preach in season and out of season sometimes and out of season message is one that you'd rather not hear at the time that it's preached but it can have a great effect in your heart I'm standing this morning in a prophetic context this is a very difficult word for me to preach but I want to encourage those who've come this morning if you have an honest heart and if you'll hold with this message there's great encouragement for the honest Christian in this word when we get to the end I think to be a shout of glory in your heart we can't avoid the hard places nor can we avoid the hard truths if you and I want to be followers of Jesus Christ I come to you this morning as a pastor who just simply wants to see you grow in grace I want us to make it through to the other side we need to have strength to get through the days that face us and it's only the truth that will set you free only the truth folks think of our precious brothers and sisters in Haiti that I saw on CNN this week we're in the streets worshiping God those people were sitting under truth everything is gone but their hands are still in the air I saw I saw one man with the Bible singing and glorifying God just putting his hand on his Bible just giving God glory folks that that kind of worship is is those people are sitting somewhere where the gospel has been preached the real gospel because everything else is gone but God is still very much alive in their hearts and and I do thank God for that testimony with all of my heart and I hope at some point in the future we can be an encouragement to them as they have been to us my message title this morning is called a final warning to the indulgences church a final warning to the indulgences search 1st chronicles chapter 11 let's pray first please father I just thank you Lord for the anointing of the Holy Spirit Lord I don't have the strength to preach this I couldn't do this if you didn't empower me there's really nothing in me that would want to do it but I stand here Lord in obedience to what you've placed on my heart and what I truly believe is your word for this day I stand only as an Oracle of God I'm asking Lord that I may have an anointing to speak it with your heart with the intonation of my voice let them be a reflection of what's truly in your heart how you Jesus would say it yourself if you were standing in this pulpit help me to get out of the way Oh God give us the grace to hear this help us Lord help others we'll hear it on the internet and by tape in the future help your church in this generation I ask it in Jesus name Amen 1st chronicles chapter 11 a final warning to the indulgences church beginning at verse 15 now three of the thirty captains went down to the rock of David into the cave of a dilemma now remember that's where David is being pursued by Saul at this particular juncture and the host of the Philistines encamped in the valley of rafaam and David was then in the hold and the Philistines garrison was then at Bethlehem and David longed and said oh that one would give me drink of the water of the well of Bethlehem that is at the gate and the three break through the host of the Philistines and drew water out of the well at Bethlehem that was by the gate and took it and brought it to David but David would not drink of it but poured it out unto the Lord and said my god forbidded me that I should do this thing shall I drink the blood of these men that have put their lives in jeopardy for with the jeopardy of their lives they brought it therefore he would not drink it these things did these three mightiest now you see David in this cave and a cry and verse 17 comes from his heart just a longing and he says oh that one would give me drink of the water of the well of Bethlehem that is at the gate now it speaks to me of the cry that's found in every human heart it was the cry once in your heart and it was the cry in mind I remember the day that I cried out I said oh that I might be restored to God that I might find the strength and fulfillment that only he could give and David had to know there because he was in the lineage of Christ David continuously spoke prophetically of course you know that from Psalms such as Psalm 22 avidly vividly describing the cross of Christ it's victory and the subsequently the testimony of Christ in his church but David knew that that would satisfies the deepest longings of the heart comes from Bethlehem he knew that's where the water had to be found now there was water everywhere you could find water in Wells and there were probably those around him who had bolsters of water that was somewhat fresh but David knew in his heart there's something about the water of Bethlehem that water that God gives in Bethlehem of course through the birth of his son Jesus Christ now hearing this cry in his heart mighty men of God who became mighty under his leadership they rose up and they fought against overwhelming opposition to bring to him what his heart longed for and folks I'm thankful I'm thankful for apostles who went to the end for you and for me I'm thankful for Paul who didn't quit when times got tough I'm thankful that Paul went all the way to prison and with all nothing left but a parchment and a pen in his hand and God in his heart and in the strength of that relationship with God for your soul and for mine pen words that have given us life it was Paul that wrote the words of God before us who can be against us those few words were the words that set me free from Hell and the power of Hell that had dominated my life for many many years oh I thank God for men and women throughout the course of history that have paid an incredible price to bring to you and to me the gospel that we have today history is filled with the blood of the martyrs those that defied existing Authority and took a pen in their hand and translated the scriptures from languages that the people couldn't understand and many paid for it with their own blood a great price and history is replete with all of those that paid this ultimate sacrifice that you and I today can have life that we can sing this song this morning soon as I get home and thank God for those who paid can you imagine if the early church had caved in under the pressure you imagine if anyone everyone had just gone home with their with their morsel of God as they had discovered and just took it and used it for themselves you imagine if the early church had not press through and even under persecution in the book of Acts when they were scattered men like Philip went into Samaria and began to preach they never where they went they just kept testifying and preaching about the name of the Lord Jesus Christ can you imagine Peter and John having been brought before the council they had seceded to their threatenings and stop speaking the name of Jesus if the satan had through all of his ploys succeeded in causing those who carried the gospel to her they brought the gospel to us as it is from bethlehem to you and i today I am deeply indebted with all of my heart and for the rest of my life suddenly David finds in his hands that which he has longed for the water of Bethlehem and I believe at this point David had to make a decision that's common to all people who are handed the salvation and the strength of God in Jesus Christ you are here today and I am here and we were handed this salvation this cup of water as it is the water always speaks of the Word of God the cleansing of God's Word was put into your hands and put into my hands and it was put into our hands when people who fought for it folks it didn't come easy there's been a great price for 2000 years paid by very many and it's being paid in countries today throughout the world people are still paying that price passengers still put in jails some losing their families I spoke at a pastors conference in a country that I can't name for for the safety sake of the church but most of the pastor's in that conference had been in jail many of them had been tortured some had lost their families I've never heard sweeter worship in all of my life I was greatly humbled to be there it was perplexing to my mind even at one point as to why God would even send me there to speak I should have been sitting at their feet and listening to them there was a man who was a concert violinist in that particular country who has been taken from his career his family had been taken away he'd been falsely accused and put in jail for the gospel of Jesus Christ they had recently let him out of jail warning him not to preach anymore he had come to that conference with the determination in his heart to go back and continue to preach the gospel no matter what the personal cost would be to him he was a violinist and he got up and now he had he had been in an Islam follower of Islam but converted to Christ and he got up with his vile and saying one of the sweetest songs I've ever heard in my life I don't know if I've ever heard a sweeter worship song he lifted up his violin and the tears came down his face and he began to play that violin and it was such a sweet savour unto God I didn't understand the language he was seeking in another another dialect but it was so sweet here's a man who's made the conscious choice to go back into suffering for the sake of those countrymen and people in his own nation who had not yet heard the gospel of Jesus Christ I guess the question arises is what do you and I do with the truths that are handed to us and and what we do with this cup of salvation that is given to us will determine what kind of people we will be in the earth and it will also determine what kind of an effect we'll have for the kingdom of God and the redemptive purposes of Christ in the earth now throughout history all throughout scriptural history Old Testament New Testament there are examples in history I'll try to go through them quickly but there are examples now I'm just going to skim the surface of them of people who have been given great opportunity and great truth but they were self-indulgent in other words they took this that was handed to them and saw it only as something for their own benefit or for their own glory they didn't want the higher purpose of God they didn't want to go where this cup leads many think for a moment of cane I mean he's the first son of Adam and Eve here's a man who has an opportunity to get back to God he's given he's given access to worship there there are many ways his life could have been other than what the testimony is in the Old Testament but his worship was rejected because he had a thought in his heart in Genesis 49 he said am I my brother's keeper am i that was the thought God knew that was in his heart and that's why when his sacrifice was brought to the Lord it was rejected because he had nothing in his heart for his brother if folks there are all types of people who come to the Lord and bring a sacrifice as they see it of praise to God but I dare say that they end up being of no effect in the earth it Cain ended up being of no effect he ended up a vagabond wandering through this world and never fully finding satisfaction and the very core of it is that he had no heart for his brother he had no heart for others around it in that case of course he had one brother he had no heart for him think for a moment of esau in the Devere direct lineage of the promise of God through Abraham a man who is a cop as it is is put into his hand Esau you're the firstborn you have a chance to be this lineage through whom the people of the world are going to be blessed but he saw was a man whose heart was gravitated to the things of this life didn't much care about this blessing that God promised as long as his belly was full as long as his own needs were satisfied as he saw it and in Genesis 33 9 when Jacob comes out of the wilderness after a long journey and after face-to-face encounter with Almighty God Jacob comes out a changed man he's given a new nature he's called a prince with God and having power with God and power with men his name has changed from Jacob to Israel he's walking before the people he's tender he's compassionate he has an honest walk with God he has a heart for the weakest people that are in this entourage that's coming out of this wilderness place with him and he has a promise in his heart of living a life that would bring glory to God and he meets Esau who should have been the inheritor of the promise and Esau says to him keep your gifts he said I have enough you see Esau found what he wanted in this world that's all he was ever looking for that's all he ever wanted it started with a bullets do to fill his belly and after that he had an entourage to meet Jacob of 400 men and I want you to see the contrast Jacob has the heart of God and he's walking slowly he's walking with a limp he has suffered in a sense in his body already for the call of God that is on his life and folks there is suffering there are hard times if you are not going to go the the full distance with God it can be hard and don't let anybody tell you differently it can be hard you and I can be led in some difficult places all of us will be led into areas where our flesh doesn't want to go and can't go but Jacob comes out of that place with a new nature Esau has four hundred men and I can see him galloping off into the wilderness completely satisfied which with that which is gathered to himself from the world I have enough he doesn't have the life of God he doesn't have the promise of God but he's not even smart enough to see what he's forfeited for a few measly things of this world that no man can take with him he's forfeited the life of God the Lydians of Christ is forfeited folks the power of God is not there the blessing is not there just a mad gallop ER with all of his entourage scooping and gathering more and more and more as if the guy who gets to the end with the most toys wins I think of a rejected worship in Amos chapter 6 if you have a marker in Amos please you can go there very quickly Amos chapter 6 scripture shows us in the Old Testament that there's a a worship that God rejects Amos 6 for they lie upon beds of ivory and stretched themselves upon their couches and eat the Lambs out of the flock and the calves out of the midst of the stall this is a nice tall worship for lack of a better way of saying it people who come to Christ as it is or come to a knowledge of God now this is in the Old Testament but it's not producing anything of God in the heart they're seeking out comfortable places they stretch out on their couches they take the best of everything for themselves the Lambs out of the flock the calves out of the stall they chant to the sound of the vile and invent to themselves instruments and music like David they think there were being like David they sing the songs of David they imitate David they come to the house of the Lord they'll sing songs they drink wine and bowls they anoint themselves with the chief wine myths but they are not grieved for the affliction of Joseph they have brothers throughout the world that are in captivity that are headed to an eternity in hell and there's no grief in the heart it's it's a type of self-indulgent worship and verse 7 says therefore now they shall go captive with the first that go captive and the banquet of them that stretched themselves shall be removed the Lord says this kind of worship I've slated for captivity and removal Paul talks to Timothy in the New Testament about rejected theology there's a theology very much alive in Paul's time and very much alive in our time and the Lord says I've rejected it 1st Timothy 6 5 he said perverse disputing zuv men of corrupt minds and destitute of the truth supposing that gain is godliness from such withdraw thyself in other word call st. Timothy there are people who teach and preach the godliness is a means to get financial gain and the amount of material things that a man has is an evidence of how godly he is Paul says to Timothy this these are men who are destitute of the truth and their minds are corrupt withdraw yourself from them withdraw yourself Timothy don't walk because it's a rejected theology I'm not suggesting that all of God's people should be poor there's no glory to God in that but I am suggesting that you and I must keep a right perspective of what the material things that God has put in our hands are for and lastly in Revelation chapter 3 the Lord speaks to a church called Laodiceans to an entire form of religion that's satisfied with this world's goods it's blinded to the heart and purposes of God's church in the earth and unaware that perhaps for them the final warning had come it's amazing now Christ is walking among the candlesticks the testimony of his churches and says to this last Church in Revelation you say I'm rich and I'm increased with Goods and have need of nothing he tries lovingly because he says who those that I those that I love he said I will I will rebuke and I will chase and I will correct you because I love you he said you don't realize that you are completely outside of where the life and the power of God really is you're blinded to the purpose as it is of the Church of Jesus Christ in the earth he said I'm standing at the door and I'm knocking and if you'll open the door to be I'll come into you and I'll sit down ass up with you in other words I'll open the word to you I'll give you vision I'll anoint your eyes with eyesalve that you may see folks what is important to God in the earth having seen the disaster in Haiti this week tell me what is important to God is that the buildings we build is it the fanciness of our songs ultimately when you look at the images and the you see the human suffering if you have anything of the heart of Christ you know immediately what is important to the heart of God it's the souls of men women and children it's the honor of God in the earth it's the compassion of Christ that's caused him to stop and hear the cry of the blind man it's that what's enabled him to reach out and touch a leper in spite of the fact that the whole crowd wouldn't have understood it it's what allowed him to sit at the table of a spiritual man of some physical Authority in Israel and let up woman who had an ill reputation to come in and sit and touch his feet and cleanse them with her tears and wiped them with her hair it's this touchable 'no some god this this compassion of god for all of humanity if I don't have the compassion of God in my heart for fallen humanity I've got to go back and start over again folks something's wrong something is missing I've gone on the wrong path I've read the wrong portions I've not seen the whole picture I'm in the church and singing the songs and I'm I'm doing religious things but if I have no heart for other people then then I don't believe my love for God is valid I don't believe it's real jesus said you love the Lord your God with all your heart soul mind and strength the most important commandment and the second is just like it that you love your neighbor as yourself on these to hang all along all the profits go to Daniel chapter 5 please with me if you will now Daniel chapter 5 is a story of a king his name was Belshazzar verses 2223 Daniel chapter 5 now now Daniel is standing before Belshazzar Belshazzar's commanded a feast and he's brought out all the cups and all the vessels that were taken when Babylon overthrew Jerusalem they took all the vessels out of the temple and all these things were separated they were holy they were set apart for a divine purpose in the earth Belshazzar took these things and brought them to a banqueting table of his friends his concubines his associates his admirers his servants and he passed out these vessels and they began to drink from them and they began to party from them now Daniel is standing before him because suddenly on the near the candlestick it says in daniel i believe it's chapter 5 verse 5 a hand appeared near the candlestick remember the candlestick is the testimony folks it represents that in Scripture and wrote something on the wall that Belshazzar didn't understand that it caused a tremendous terror to come into his heart and none of his astrologers none of his soothsayers his magicians could answer this these words they were a mystery but he knew that there was a man in the kingdom who could dissolve doubts who stood for truth who appeared to be a captive but yet was free who appeared to be in a lesser status than many but nevertheless knew God and Belshazzar knew this now Daniel is standing before Belshazzar Belshazzar's about to get his final warning folks I believe in my heart there's a final warning coming to the church the indulgent Church in the Western world in particular this very well might be or part of it it's a final warning folks there is a time there is a cut-off time there's a time when God speaks I don't know who can hear I know in this day nobody could hear any more and Daniel stands before Belshazzar and I talked about his predecessor Nebuchadnezzar who was a kid he's one of the previous kings of Babylon who became very proud and even though God had been telling him through the Prophet that he is the one who sets up kings and takes them down and even even he was warned he said turn away from your sins and become charitable to the poor unless these things don't come upon you he was warned of what his pride was going to bring him into but nevertheless he couldn't humble himself and subsequently lost his mind it ended up like a madman out in the field for season then God gave him back his thinking again and finally he understood that it's it's the hand of God that has sets up all kingdoms everything exists by his hand and Nebuchadnezzar knew this and made some proclamations concerning it verse 20 now is about Nebuchadnezzar now Daniel is standing before Belshazzar on this whole feast he said but when his heart was lifted up verse 20 of Daniel 5 and his mind hardened and pride he was deposed from his kingly throne and they took his glory from him and he was driven from the sons of men that his heart was made like the beasts and his dwelling was with the wild asses they fed him with grass like oxen and his body was wet with the dew of heaven till he knew that the Most High God ruled in the kingdom of men and that he appointed over at whomsoever he will and thou his son all Belshazzar has not humble thine heart though thou knewest all this this was it Belshazzar had the history folks now I've just gone through a litany of a few things in the Old and New Testament that God speaks now we have the history we know how God sees the taking into our hands of the things of his kingdom he said but you've lifted up yourself against the Lord of heaven verse 23 and they brought the vessels of his house before thee and thou and thy Lords in the and they concubines have drunk wine in them you've praised the gods of silver gold brass iron wood and stone wood see not nor hear nor know and the God in whose hand I breath is and whose are all thy ways thou hast not glorified Belshazzar knew the history he knew the cup in his hand and those of his acquaintances were given for a divine purpose and they were made for a divine purpose in spite of this he felt there would be no consequences in unrighteous ly taking to his lips that which was holy and set apart to bring true glory to God he felt it would be no consequence see that's the ultimate dilemma of the human heart that I can take the name of Jesus into my lips and it can be an unrighteous taking of that name and somehow field there will be no consequence to this in the same hour came forth fingers of a man's hand and wrote over against the candlestick there's a time when a sentence is written against those are holding their hands that which has been given to be a testimony of God in the earth remember in the book of Revelation in the writing in Revelation chapter 3 came from the one who walks among the candlesticks and he had penned words to each of the churches that you and I would be well advised to take heed of today now Belshazzar was a strange type of a man he was a man who recognized the truth he was a man who acknowledged Daniel is speaking for God just like some of us here today you might be here today and you know that the words you're hearing from this pulpit are true you find no fault with these words you know that I'm speaking to you with a tender heart the compassion of God is what is motivating me I'm not speaking to you for evil but for good you are fully aware that this is the Word of God there's no doubt in your heart Daniel not Daniel rather but Belshazzar even decorates the man of God on the night of his own death commands his nobles and go and give him a fancy robe and put chains around his neck now Daniel has just told him it's all over your kingdom is finished God has numbered its days it's been found wanting in the balance and he's finished it it's going to be taken away and given to another now daniel has just stood and given the strong prophetic word to this king who's got these vessels of God in his hands and he's drinking from them now perhaps he felt Belshazzar felt that somehow recognizing and honoring truth was sufficient without embracing and walking in it and that's the dilemma that we face in our generation so many people come to the house of the Lord and have an impression that if I decorate the truth let's say how do i decorate it while I come to church and I lift my hands I sing the songs I say praise God bless you brother it's great to see you and I decorate the truth I decorate it with my presence i decorate it with my praise i decorate it with my accolades i decorated by just my just coming and being part of the whole assembly but you see buses are could decorate it but he couldn't embrace it he could recognize it but he wouldn't walk in it I've heard a lot of testimonies here recently of especially Sunday night if people have attended this church and been here for a long time before they finally make the decision to break from their sin but up to that point what have you been doing Belshazzar decorated the truth but could not embrace it and that very night that he's decorating the truth the the end came from for him in a moment of time it was all over folks think about think about the people in Haiti now in one minute I don't care what county theology they were sitting under but in one minute whatever it was it was all over in one minute you either had God or you didn't have God you either knew him or you didn't you had embraced truth or you were walking in a lie that was which is divine with become evident and what would carry it would sustain it would bring you through the difficult days or you would be panic-stricken stealing and in terror like the rest of the crowd that are without God now go back to the original scripture where we started remember David longed for this drink of water that came from the well of Bethlehem in verse 17 of the first chronicles 11 he said oh that one would give me drink of the water of the well of Bethlehem that is at the gate and there break through the host of the Philistines that drew water of the well of Bethlehem that was by the gate and took it and brought it to David but David would not drink if it but poured it out unto the Lord and said my god forbid at me that I should do this thing shall I drink of the blood of these men that have put their lives in jeopardy for with the jeopardy of their lives they brought it therefore he would not drink it now this is what made David a man after God's heart this is what made David great this is what made David in spite of his failures his flaws the things that he had to go through like normal men do he finished his course is a great king of Israel this is what made David the man that we sing about talk about emulate want to be like the greatest king perhaps in the Old Testament of all the Kings ever did grace that part of the planet his King David and I believe here's the measure I believe he had a choice to make they're very similar to one that you and I have to make when the truth of God is put into our hands he had the water of Bethlehem put into his hands and he looked at it and he said these words god forbid that I should indulge the longings of my own flesh with that which others have jeopardized their lives for god forbid that after 2,000 years that people will have paid in blood for a truth that's come into my hands and I shall take it and drink it and adjust it just for my own good just for myself he said the strength that I've just been handed I will pour it out as an offering for the glory of God that his name and purposes in the earth might be known through my life I will pour it out just like Hannah did God you give me a on a child I'll give him back to you for the glory of God all through history his common filled the weak and he's come and filled the nothing's and nobody's at this world but my heart is in line with David's this morning god forbid that I should drink of this incredible water and somehow that should be placed in my hands and I said just use it for my own glory for my own comfort that I should be found I'd rather die folks and be found on a couch of ivory even in my old age I want to finish this course like brother Dave and brother Crandall and brother Khan denon and Jack West and every other gray-haired preacher you've ever seen in this pulpit I want to finish this course still fighting the battle not for myself but for others not for my own glory but to satisfy the heart of God he came into this world went to a cross and died that all men and all women and all children and young people may have an opportunity to touch that cup find their salvation freely given through Christ who was born in Bethlehem and by the glory and grace of God have the capability to pass that on to the next person and not let the cup stop in my hands not become an indulgent man an adult in person that just uses everything of God for himself David arose from that place in power and men who were in that cave with him came out in power and nothing of Hell could stop them no wall could stop them from getting into Jerusalem no Philistine garrison was strong enough to stop the onslaught of these men who had formerly been discontented distressed and in despair but they had come under the leadership of a man who was not willing to imbibe as it is embrace this cup of salvation just for himself but realized it was for all men it was for a purpose higher than himself David was the king through whom the Ark of God was brought again back into Jerusalem David is the one who danced and ashamedly behind that Ark David was the one who said oh God the purpose of my life on the earth is at your heart be satisfied you will be recognized your we'll be done your glory be known among men that is the purpose of my life and that's the purpose of the Church of Jesus Christ hallelujah to the lamb of God David was given supernatural strength I'm just going to read this to you because he rose out of that place I think folks it was a significant moment it seems like just a passage in Scripture but I believe it was a determining moment in this man's life now there were several of them of course but this is one of the major ones what he did with that cup would determine what kind of a man he became and what you and I do with the cup of salvation and the truth of God and the empowerment of the Holy Spirit will determine what we become the earth and whether or not Christ is glorified to us listen to what David said in Psalm 18 with the merciful you will show yourself merciful and with an upright man you'll show yourself right with the pure you'll show yourself pure and with the crooked you'll show yourself crooked that means it forward for you will save the afflicted people and bring down high looks for thou will light my candle the Lord my God will enlighten my darkness David is saying these words there will be no hand of judgment written over my candle but my candle will burn brighter as the day's grow darker and in the darkest tonight and no matter what I have to walk through that candle of God within my life will burn brighter the giftings will become stronger than power will be greater the compassion will be deeper the knowledge will be more profound the ability to stand will be greater God will enlighten my candle hallelujah and God will enlighten my darkness now listen to what he says about the Lord for by thee I've run through a troop and by my god I've leaped over a wall as for God his way is perfect the word of the Lord has tried he's a buckler to all those he's an under girder in other words to those who trust in him for his God save the Lord and who is a rock save our God it is God that Gertz me with strength and makes my way perfect he makes my feet like Hinds feet and sets me upon my high places he gives me the power to climb what would destroy ordinary men folks I saw that on the news if for lack of any other place I saw people given by God the power decline when everything else is failing and falling and going into chaos and even the news had to report it he teaches my hands to war so that the ball of steel is broken by my Narns in other words no matter how powerful the army the the weapons of the enemy are with my bare hands trust in God he gives me the power to overcome those also giving me the shield of thy salvation and thy right hand has holding me up and thy gentleness has made me great think about Jacob coming out of that dealing with God with a gentle heart for all people Daoist enlarged my steps under me that my feet did not slip I have pursued my enemies and overtaken them and neither did I turn again until they were consumed David said God you gave me the power to finish this fight right to the end to see everything you promised to be accomplished you gave me the power and David was our ultimate Christ type in the Old Testament and now you and I are given the cup the cup of Bethlehem that was placed in David's hands remember he said I will not I will not drink this and use it for myself to satisfy the lusts of my own flesh or the longings of my flesh I will not drink it from the hands of others who shed blood to get it to me and he poured it out as an offering unto God I think that moment defined some of the mighty men in that cave I think men understood at that moment where the strength the real strength of God comes from I think they were quickened to fight a fight that can't be fought in the natural but only in the spirit when people see your life poured out for god and how did they see it you say they see it in your compassion and mine for other people that's how they see it it's not that you're standing on a street corner prophesying passing out tracts or any of these other things as wonderful as they may be it's when they see you and I reaching out in the tenderness of God to fall in humanity with a supply that can only come from God with the power to stand where normal men fail it's at that point that the might of God becomes evident to everybody around us I feel in my heart that God is giving the final warning to an indulgent Church in America this is the final cry we're in the last season now and just like in Haiti in one minute everything can change folks everything can change those who have the strength of Christ will stand and those who don't won't I implore you with everything in my heart pour out that cup ask God to give you the power to care just to care just start there God sometimes it just takes the admission I don't care the Lord he already knows you're not you're not surprising God it's an admission that there's a need I don't care God you've got to put it in me I come to church just for myself and I've shunned the thought of being given for other people but being poured out that others may find life in Christ I've shunned the thought and others you've sat here and you're very much like Belshazzar you're taking the name of Jesus in your lips you're living with people you're having sexual intercourse outside of marriage you're doing drugs you're drinking you're going to clubs on Saturday night and coming here to praise on Sunday morning and somehow you're deceived into thinking the decorating the truth is sufficient it's not Belshazzar died that night he died that very night I preached a message here one Sunday night along these lines that you never know if you have another tomorrow and after the service I went to a restaurant just around the corner and a man that I don't know if he came from this church or not but he just was coming around the corner and he died right in front of the window of the restaurant I was sitting in just died right on the spot a man only in his 40s massive heart attack hit the sidewalk he was three feet from me outside the window dead and I wondered in my heart was he sitting under my preaching tonight did he hear the word did he take it seriously did this man realize that this may have been he may have been given a mercy call in the last hour of his life Belshazzar was but he couldn't hear it folks it if ever there was a time to get right with God it's now you mustn't delay this another day very hard to get right with God in a panic situation you must get right with God now if you're living in sin ask God for the strength to turn from it and He will give you the strength if you if you want what you hear in this message today if you want your life to be poured out for other people he'll help you with that he'll guide you he'll lead you he's not demand any more of you than you're able to give and everything that you have to give he'll give it to you first you put the desires in your heart then give you the ability to perform it that's what the scripture says he will do that for you this is a defining moment for many I tried to be as tender as I know how I asked God to animate my heart but this is a serious time beloved please get right with God please walk with God you have everything to gain and I think whatsoever to lose how father I thank you Lord for your word today I thank you God everything in my heart I know that you never send your word out without it coming back and bearing fruit I'm asking now Lord for people who are living in a compromised lifestyle to have the courage to turn from their sin and get right with You Lord and to trust you for the power to turn away from sin am asking father in Christ's name that God Almighty that you make this a church body through whom your name could be glorified in the earth and that multiple thousands and thousands and thousands and thousands of people throughout the world can find a tender hand and the compassion of a Savior through your people in this church in New York City take away from us God any taking of the cup to satisfy our own desires help us to understand the great calling you give to us through Christ bless us today O God with the grace to get up and move forward and embrace the truth could you imagine this morning if Belshazzar had had the courage to just get up and embrace Daniel and humble himself before God it is possible it's always possible that God could have turned the tide at that very moment but instead of getting up he just decorated the truth in other words yep that's right but didn't embrace it and this morning I want to give an altar call in the sanctuary and the annex for people are saying I'm not just going to decorate the truth I'm not just going to I'm not just going to agree with it but I'm going to embrace it and that coming forward this morning means that in your heart I'm going to embrace the truth of God and wherever that leads me that's where I'm going to go if that's in your heart this morning as we stand in the Annex you could stand between the screens the main sanctuary you could slip out the balcony neither exit and main st. you just come down let's meet together at this altar and let's believe God we're going to worship for 15 minutes or so let's believe God for the miraculous to begin to take place in our hearts let's stand together please if you will Lord as you were given as you were poured out as you held nothing back for my soul of God from my soul would you help me Lord would you help us as a people not to hold back from others Oh God would you help us to be that vessel that channel that search Lord that you left in the earth that others may know that others may know that others may know the love and the forgiveness and strength of God hallelujah Lamb of God hallelujah hallelujah hallelujah all lift your hands are just praising for a moment just give him thanks for his presence [Music] send us God into this massive needy humanity all around us Lord and help us to be given for others and we thank you for it in Jesus name

Channel: SermonIndex.net

Views: 12,650

Rating: 4.892683 out of 5

Keywords: Revival, Character Of God, Free Sermons, Video Sermons, Jesus Christ, What Is The Gospel, SermonIndex, What Is The Truth, Carter Conlon

Id: EozyUPMClq8

Length: 47min 39sec (2859 seconds)

Published: Wed Dec 16 2015