Enter Into His Rest — David Wilkerson

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 P .O. 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.

The Promise of Entering God's Rest

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 seventeenth verse, Hebrews 3, beginning to read the seventeenth 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. 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.

Chapter 4, verse 1,. Let us therefore fear, now listen to that, let us therefore fear lest the promise being 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 began 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, when it 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. That hit me. It 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 most, the strongest, unclaimed promise 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. 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, 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 want 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.

Rest as Spiritual Warfare

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.

All right, 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. You know, a lot of people can look at a Christian saint, at somebody that's, you know, 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. Because he's, 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 I, 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, and 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 wasted, 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 you're not going to get there.

Because about 11 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. And 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 of 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. And what's going 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 till the leaves quit rustling. Oh, 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, has quickened us together with Christ, by grace He has 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 and 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 are living now in what is called the day of the Lord. Now, I know it's a 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 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 of 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 Lord lives in my house. Then I've got others playing 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.

Abraham's Call to Leave Babylon

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. I want you to go to Genesis 11th chapter. I'm going to... 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 Haran, 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 Haran and dwelt there.

And the days of Terah were 205 years and Terah died in Haran. The Bible says... Now listen closely. Please try to follow me. I'm asking God to make it very, very simple. In Acts... You'll have to turn to Acts 7th chapter and the second 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 show you 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 did 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'm needed 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, Peter asked God, 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. Don't 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 a 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 as 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 want to tell you what it is. I came out of a denomination. The charismatic awakening was God's first call to 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 they're wise. 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 and 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, 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 sat 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're headed toward Canaan.

And now they dwell in Haran. They're stopped right here. And I believe that's where many Charismatics 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 tastely 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'll tell you what, this time, in this last moment, God's not going to wait until all the dead sons die.

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, I mean, they've left Babylon. They've left the world. They're on their way to somewhere. They say, I want to live 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, poker. They don't want to get involved in the world, reaching lost mankind or human need.

They're so comfortable. There are thousands of churches in America that are happy and satisfied and stuck in Heren and they love it. They don't like preachers 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. Boy, how many great news of God have gotten stalled at Heren. A revival comes and the Holy Spirit will awaken the people and they leave the old sinful compromising church or sinful ways.

They set out to be a people holy set on God. And they start getting deep revelations of holiness, of the headship of Christ. And for a time it's flesh 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 Baptist got their doctor and they settled down. But God's always moving on. God's always moving on. And what do 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, Tara's already dead. He's dead and gone. His brother, Nehor, he's stuck in a deep sleep.

He's snoring 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 been here this all day, 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 remnant 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, 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. In 2 Peter 2 .7, if God delivered just Lot, that's what 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.

Lot's Choice of Sodom and the Cost of Compromise

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 Pharisee dwelt then in the land. And 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, 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 wherever. 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 when 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. And 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 Ping, and pitched his tent toward Sodom.

Oh boy. You know what 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. In fact, 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 fullness. But know there's going to be a line drawn. And God's not going to let you go on if you've pitched 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.

You watch 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, where are you going?

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. There are 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 there. And one of these days, some of you are going to stand there having sold your soul at it.

Well, you may be saved like Locke is 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, 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. 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 weeped 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 a 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.