That I May Dwell Within | Associate Pastor Chad Erickson
by Chad Erickson
First Apostolic Church of Maryville (Maryville, TN)
Kind: sermon
Scripture: Exodus 25:8, Exodus 25:21-22, John 1:14, 1 Corinthians 3:16, Exodus 25:10, Exodus 25:18-22, 1 Chronicles 28:18, Exodus 25:8-9, 1 Corinthians 6:19, John 16:7, Acts 2:1-4, Acts 2:38, John 3:5, Romans 8:9, Romans 8:11, John 1:12-13, Acts 1:8, Acts 2:12-18, 1 Corinthians 10:1-2

Source: https://acts238.life/repository/sermons/chad-erickson--that-i-may-dwell-within
Published by Acts 2:38 Life from the sermon transcript on that page.
Free to copy and share with attribution.

------------------------------------------------------------
Open your Bibles with me to Exodus chapter 25 and and verse number 8. I'm so looking forward to bring the word of the Lord to you tonight. And before I do, I give honor to this great church. I said it, the student body. What a great student body. Parents, grandparents, do we not have the best students? church family, do we not have the best students? Ah, if you got to be at competition this week and witness not just talent, but talent with the right spirit, and that goes a long way. A right spirit goes a long way. And just thank God for our staff. Thank God for our faculty and all of our vocal coaches and uh teachers and trainers and sports coaches and everybody that just did such an amazing job this week. looking forward to celebrating them next week. Uh but just, you know, when you look back over your life and see the goodness of God, see the favor of God, that just brings joy. I don't know if it does to you. It brings joy to my life. God is so good. I'm going to preach about that and preach about what God truly means of spirit really means to the church today. Exodus 25 and 8 says, "And let them make me a sanctuary that I may dwell among them." And then verse 21, the same chapter says, "And thou shalt put the mercy seat above upon the ark, and in the ark thou shalt put the testimony that I shall give thee, and there I will meet with thee, and I will commune with thee from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubims, which are upon the ark of the testimony." And then New Testament John 1:14 and the word was made flesh and dwelt or or tabernacled among us and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the father, full of grace and truth. And then one more scripture, 1 Corinthians 3:16. I I believe I'm going to preach my whole message in my opening text today, but the Bible says, and you've heard this many time. Know ye not that you are the temple of God and that the spirit of God dwelleth in you. My title is simply this. That I may dwell within. This is God speaking. That I may dwell within. Put your Bibles on. Let's pray together. Father, we love you. Oh God, I'm so thankful for the choir and thankful for the worship team that just led us into worship. God, I feel your presence in such a beautiful way. I I just feel a a feeling, God, a spirit of peace, God. A a spirit that's in this house today, Lord God, I can't even really explain it other than I just feel so good in your Holy Ghost right now. And God, I pray that you minister, Lord, through me and to this great church, God. What an amazing church we have, God. Oh, a body of believers, God. a representation of who you are, God. It's the body of Christ. And God, won't you bless them today? Won't you, Lord, speak into every heart, God? If we have a guest in the house, let them feel your presence. Let them hear the word. Let them respond to your word. That's my prayer, Lord. More than anything else, that they'll respond to your word tonight in the altar. Ask it all in Jesus' name I pray. And the church said, "Amen." You may be seated. I always give honor to our pastor and first lady, to our pastoral team, to this great church, the ministry of this church, and to the saints of God. God's will is to dwell with his people. He wants to dwell among us, upon us, and most of all within us. For we serve a personal God, a relational God. Our God is not cold. Our God is not distant. He's not standoffish. He wants to be at the center of it all. We sing that song and I I believe it's all about keeping Jesus the center of our life. But I believe that Jesus wants to be in the center of it all. But it's a world that always tries to bury this truth. Matter of fact, in 2001, the Los Angeles Times ran an article. It said, "Doubting the story of the Exodus." Doubting the name of the story. The article was doubting the story of the Exodus. And they claimed that there's no evidence that proves that the Israelites were ever in Egypt. They say there's no records. There's no artifacts. The Los Angeles Times simply said it's just a myth. They cited that scholars find no trace of the Israelite slavery around 1400 or 1,200 BC. And they they argue even that the desert couldn't support millions of people. And to that we say amen because it wasn't the desert that supported them. They say that even in Egypt there's no record or mention of a man named Moses. However, when we study history, we learn of Ramsy's II in 1279 BC at the battle of Cadesh. We learn about his his war tent. It is described to have a courtyard, a reception room, and an inner chamber. And this Pharaoh Ramsies, he reigned during the time of the Israelites while they were captive in Egypt. He had a war tent where he was worshiped as a god in the inner chamber with Horus wings guarding him. History reveals that Ramsay's war tent was the same shape, the same size as a tabernacle of Jehovah, of Moses's tabernacle. Its courtyard, reception tent, and cubic Holy of Holies matched Moses's design. Israel's tribes, they they they camped to the north, to the south, the east, and the west of this war tent, if you will, just like Ramsay's troops camped around his tent. In a 2019 article, it's called Peret Terma, the tent of the king, notes that the Israelite slaves saw this tent, this tent of ramsies daily while in Egypt. They also saw a Naomi, which was a golden box with staves or poles topped with Ammon or Horus, which were idol gods of the Egyptians. and and they saw the the Israelites would see them carry this into war. But let me read how God gave a plan for his own golden box. And and please just just hold tight with me. For Exodus 25 and10 says, "And they shall make an art of shidum wood. Two cubits and a half shall be the breadth thereof, the length thereof. And a cubit and a half the breadth thereof, and a cubit and a half the height thereof. And then skipping down to verse 18. And they shalt make two cherubims of gold of beaten work shalt thou make them in the two ends of the mercy seat. And make one cherub on the one end, and the other cherub on the other end. Even of the mercy seat shall you make the cherubams on the two ends thereof. And the chair of them shall strain or shall stretch forth their wings on high, covering the mercy seat with their wings, and their faces shall look one to another. Toward the mercy seat shall the faces of the cherubams be. And there and thou shalt put the mercy seat above the ark. And in the ark thou shalt put the testimony I shall give thee. And there I will meet with thee, and I will commune with thee from above the mercy seat, between these two cherubams, which are upon the ark of the testimony, of all the things which I give thee in commandment unto the children of Israel. This ark was also referred to, this is interesting to me, was also referred to as a chariot. It was God's mobile chariot. 1 Chronicles 28:18 says, "And for the altar of incense," speaking of the furniture inside of this tabernacle, this war tent, refined gold by way in gold, for the pattern of the chariot of the cherubims that spread out their wings and covered the ark of the covenant of the Lord. And scholars want to try to disprove the Exodus, but this war tent and this ark are obvious evidence that cannot be denied. The Israelites were in Egypt. They were shaped by the culture, yet they were separated for God's purpose. You see, God didn't just prove himself to his people, but he gave slaves a plan for him to dwell in. All right. And let me let me clarify this because I know some of you are thinking to yourselves, "Wait a minute. So, is is God somehow copying or imitating an Egyptian piece of furniture?" And and that's not what happened. The war tent, this war ark, they're not replicas or duplicates of the Egyptians. The fact is God was trying to build faith in the people of Israel. These were slaves. These were people that for over 400 years had worked themselves to death. You've seen and I've seen pictures of of the Holocaust after World War II when when the American soldiers went in to Germany and went into these war camps and we've seen pictures and video footage of what those people looked like who had been in slavery for just a few years. But I want you to think about what generation after generation when you could say my great greatgrandfather was a slave. God had to put inside of these people something that they had seen something that they could understand. And so God allowed Moses who had had been raised in Pharaoh's courtyards, had been raised in Pharaoh's palace, he allowed Moses to understand structure. He allowed Moses when when he began to give Moses the direction and the blueprint of this tent. if you will, this war tent, if you will. They understood what that tent represented. They understood what that ark represented. They saw this ark go out into war with idols and with gods of the Egyptians. And what God was simply was trying to say was, "Listen, you're going to create for me a place for me to dwell that's going to represent power and might for the people of God. I'm not just going to leave you in a desert. I'm not just going to leave you in a wilderness with no hope and no help, but I'm going to take care of you. And I'm going to do it through might and through force. I'm going to have a chariot of gold that you're going to carry. The priests are going to carry on staves, on poles, and you're I'm going to be led into battle. I will be the first into battle. I'll be the first to cross the Jordan. I'll be the first one because I am the Lord your God and I care about you. I love you and I want to dwell with you. So, please understand, oh, understand if you will. When when when when doubters try to disprove the Exodus, there's a good reason for that. They're trying to disprove the word of God. They're they're trying to disprove the idea that we're about to go into the New Testament and we're going to familiarize ourselves with where this was something that was so important. repentance and leaving the world and leaving Egypt and walking through a dry uh and through the Red Sea on dry ground was so important and the world and the devil want to disprove it. But if you turn back with me to Exodus 25 and 8, I want to read a few things because I want us to understand this is not just a history lesson. I want us to understand how bad God truly wants and desires to live among his people. He said in verse 8, "Let them make me a sanctuary, that I may dwell among them, according to all that I show thee, and after the pattern of the tabernacle, and the pattern of all the instruments thereof, even so shall you make it." This word among in verse 8 in in the Hebrew language also means within. God said, "Make me a sanctuary that I may dwell within them." He didn't just want to be near his people. He wanted to live within them. This would eventually happen, but it would not happen in this dispensation. But for time's sake, let's move from the Old Testament where there was courtyards and where there was a holy place and a holy of holies, where they brought God in on a a golden chariot and a golden ark. But now we move into a new dispensation. A dispensation that God had looked toward where these were types and shadows of a New Testament dispensation where God would not just be among his people and not just be upon his people, but he wanted to be within his people. Somebody said, "Amen." In 1 Corinthians 6:19, one of my favorite scriptures in the New Testament says, "What know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which you have of God, and ye are not your own." You see, we are God's New Testament plan. We are the golden box where his glory desires to dwell. And the same world that denies Israel's deliverance also denies the Holy Ghost today. They say that the spirit is not for the church today. They they call speaking in other tongues a myth just like they did the Exodus. But God's plan has not changed because he still wants to dwell among us and within us. Matter of fact, in John 1:14, we move into the next dispensation where it says, "And the word was made flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld his glory." I'm talking about the same glory that they beheld in the Old Testament. They beheld when they saw that great pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night. I'm talking about when the when the smoke filled the temple, when his presence was made known, his glory was made known. This same glory that hovered above the mercy seat, uh when Jesus, when the word was made flesh, uh and dwelt among us, woo, we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the father, full of grace and truth because Jesus decided to tabernacle among us. He healed the sick. He raised the dead. He cast out demons. And he defeated sin upon the cross. He manifested himself as creator and sustainer in the Old Testament. But then he manifested himself as redeemer and savior in the New Testament. Oh yes. And all this time he dwelled among his people. But that's not where the plan ends. Because Jesus said in John 16:7, "Nevertheless, I tell you the truth, it is expedient for you that I go away. For if I go not away, the comforter will not come unto you, but if I depart, I will send him unto you." So Faroh, again, I'm just going to do quick review. The first time we're really we really see where God makes a place for himself and designs a plan to be among his people is when his people are delivered out of Egypt. Uh and when they need a pillar and a cloud that they can follow and then they need that war tent uh and they need that box that that golden box where God's spirit and presence and glory would dwell. They needed that uh they needed to see it that empowered them to understand that God was with them. Oh, but then Jesus, woo, Jesus was born in Bethlehem. God became flesh and dwelt among his creation, the creator of all glory, the creator of all things. Uh became flesh be decided to become as you and I decided to become just a baby decided to become innocent. to be. Oh, he he was helpless as an infant, but we know that was just his flesh because he was 100% God and he came to dwell among his people. And then in Acts chapter 2, when Jesus after Jesus ascended, he said, "Wait on the promise of the father, go to Jerusalem and tarry there certain days." But Acts chapter 2 and verse one, and we can quote this, but I got to preach this because now we see a God who not only was on a mercy seat and his glory was inside of a tent, not only was he embodied in Christ Jesus, the fullness of the Godhead was embodied in Christ Jesus. But now the Bible says, "And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all in one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled on the house where they were sitting. And there appeared unto them clove in tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost. This was more than just the Holy Ghost resting upon them. They were filled with the spirit of God, with the glory of God, and began to speak with other tongues as the spirit gave them utterance. The spirit of God, the Holy Ghost, the Holy Spirit filled them and dwelt within them. And that's where we get 1 Corinthians 3:16. Know ye not that you are the temple of God and that the spirit of God dwells in you. So here we go. God's plan is clear. He says, "I want to dwell within you. I want to be in your life. I want to be around you. But most of all, I want to dwell within you. I want you to be my temple. I want you to be my people. I want my spirit to live inside of you." Listen, it's not optional. It's salvation. Acts 2:38, Peter commanded. He said unto them, "Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. My God, it's a gift. It's for you. It's for your children. is for white, black, yellow, red, brown, whatever color, whatever nationality, whatever language is for all people, all generations. It was Nicodemus that came to Jesus by night, and Jesus told him in John 3:5, he said, "Verily, verily, I say unto thee, except a man be born of water and of spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God." You cannot be a part of the kingdom without the plan of salvation, water, baptism. Spirit, Holy Ghost. There's got to be a change in a regeneration. There's got to be a change in your life. You can't think you're going to live the same way and do the same things and somehow have the glory of God living inside of you. There's got to be a cleansing. There's there's got to be something that takes place in your life, a decision that we make. God can't make this for us. God doesn't God's not a pushy God. God is a gentleman. God doesn't force himself on any person. If you don't want God, don't worry about it. You're not going to receive it. But if you will be born of the water, that's baptism. Oh, Peter said water. Be baptized in the name of Jesus. Uh for the remission of sins, we got water. It's ready. We got a baptistry. It's ready. The water's warm. It's a troubled water. you might as well come on and get in. If you've never been baptized in Jesus name, you're never going to feel the feeling like having your sins washed away. Having your sins remitted as if they had never taken place. Woo. It's essential. It's not an option. It's it's salvation. Holy Ghost infilling. Woo. If you're going to be a part of the kingdom of God, if you want to be in this thing and get in this thing and grow in this thing, if you want to make it to heaven one day, the Bible says in Romans 8 oh 8 and 9, it says, "But ye are not in the flesh, but in the spirit. If so, be that the spirit of God dwell in you." Now, if any man have not the spirit of Christ, if he doesn't have the Holy Ghost, says he is none of his. And verse 11, but if the spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his spirit that dwelleth in you. You want to be immortal one day, you better have the spirit of God dwelling inside of you. Cuz if the spirit of God is not dwelling inside of you, you cannot take on immortality. Woo! Notice there's there's there's three parts of this next scripture to our salvation. John 1:12 says, "But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name, which were born not of blood, nor the will of the flesh, nor the will of man, but of God." Here we go. The three parts we must receive the Lord into our lives. That's repentance. That's saying, "Hey, I'm not going to be who I used to be. I want to be a follower of Jesus Christ." You've heard the term accepting the Lord as your personal savior. And it's not very far off. Matter of fact, that's actually in the Bible to receive him. It's all right because that simply means you're repenting of what you used to be and who you are maybe today. and you're not going to be that tomorrow. But that's sure not where it stops because then he says we must believe in such a way that it invokes the name of Jesus over our lives. That's baptism. Did you see that right there? It says we got to believe on his name which were born not of the blood nor the will of flesh nor the will of man but of God. Here it is. That's where they invokes the name of Jesus. It's baptism. And then there's power in the Holy Ghost. Uh we got to allow God to power to indwell within our bodies and empower us. Uh the only Oh my God. Uh the only way we can be saved is to be born again of the water and the spirit. Uh it's got to go from believing to repentance. It's got to go from receiving to repentant, from repentant to water baptism, the washing away of sin. uh the washing, the name that's going to be called over our life, the name of Jesus is applied to our lives. Uh and then the Bible says Peter said you shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. And that's where the power begins. Acts 1:8, but you shall receive power after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you. And then there's a little word here. It's a conjunction word. It says, "And ye shall be witnesses unto me." We We don't need to get confused here. Yes, we have power to be witnesses, but that's not what that's saying right there. It says, "You shall receive power after the Holy Ghost is come upon you." And here it is. When you receive power, you're automatically become a witness of God's power. It says, "Signs shall follow the believer. Miracles, signs, and wonders, great and mighty things will take place for the believer. I didn't say the preacher, the pastor. I didn't say the Sunday school teacher. I said the believer. Sign shall follow them that believe. That's all of us in this room. If you've been filled with the Holy Ghost, uh you've got power inside of you. And we're going to witness that power to all lands to all people to all kindreds both in Jerusalem to Judea to Samaria and to the uttermost part of the earth. The very same power that hovered above the mercy seat and led the army of God into battle. The very same power that it filled the man Christ Jesus and caused him to defeat spiritual darkness and demons is the very same power that raised him from the dead. And it's the very same power who filled 120 disciples on the day of Pentecost. Oh, and some of you, most of you know the story, but it got a little crazy on the day of Pentecost. And they, the Bible says in Acts 2:12, "And they, the crowd that was formed in Jerusalem, were all amazed and were in doubt, saying what to one to another, what meanth this?" Others making fun and mocking, said, "These men are full of new wine. These guys are drunk. Look at him." But Peter standing up with the 11, lifted up his voice, and said unto them, "Ye men of Judea, and all ye that dwell in Jerusalem, be this known unto you, and hearken to my words, for these are not drunken as ye supposed, seeing is but the third hour of the day. It's simply 9:00 in the morning." These these people aren't drunk, but this here we go. This is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel. And it shall come to pass in the last days, sayaeth God, I will pour out of my spirit upon all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy. Your young men shall see visions. Your old men shall dream dreams, and on my servants, and on my handmaiden I will pour out in those days of my spirit. And they shall prophesy. They shall testify. They shall preach. They shall share the gospel, the good news of Jesus Christ. But you look at verse 12 and 13. It says, "Some were amazed, some doubted, some mocked." And these are still the standard responses to the outpouring of the Holy Ghost. You got some people that are amazed and saying, "Woo, what meanth this?" You got other people in town saying, "What's this I hear? I hear some gibberish and you got those that are mocking, nudging the person next to him and saying, "Can you believe we're in a church that does this?" But you know what? We didn't start out with as much class as we think we have today. Because you know we we've gotten classy. We have. We've gotten classy. But this first 120 about 2,000 years ago who worshiped so intensely, Bible says they appear drunk to the onlookers. We are their descendants. You say, "What does a what does a drunk person look like?" Well, I'll be honest with you. I've not been around a lot of drunk people in my life. But there have been a few that I've seen. I remember we were on a family cruise and Disney cruise and of all things I remember looking out as they were trying to get a man who had been at Margaritavville a little too long back to the ship before the ship disembarked and they were trying they had him by both arms. He was, y'all remember this because we were laughing and maybe even mocking as we looked over and watched them get him back on the boat. But I got to believe that's what they kind of thought when they saw these 120 as they made their way out of the upper room as they as they came down into the streets of Jerusalem. And here they were all there for a feast. They were there for the feast of Pentecost. They they were there from all the lands and all the countries and coming back to Jerusalem like a pilgrimage, if you will. And well, that was a that was a God thing right there. Just brought everybody back to witness the very same thing. That's right. But they thought this is not what we expected. We We were here for festivities, but this was not the festivity we were looking for. Bunch of drunk people. All man, they can barely walk. People are trying to I can see them kind of arm in arm. Man, I don't know about y'all. Listen, I grew up at youth camps where people got drunk in the spirit. Man, we carry we carry people back to the dorms. I'm talking about we we had we had glorified stretchers. We'd have to bring people back to the dorm and they were speaking in tong, couldn't speak English, try to order a hamburger at the canteen. Let me interpret that. I think he wants a hamburger. Man, I remember kids, man, drunken this. That's what they saw. But listen, we're we're descendants of that. That's who we are in the church today. We're descendants of people. They were considered drinkers of new wine around 120. But here we go. That was 120 on the day of Pentecost. A 120 years ago, there was a gathering of approximately 60 people on a rundown in a rundown building at 312 Isuza Street located in the industrial area of Los Angeles. And this revival featured continuous day and night prayer meetings that lasted for over three years. That's a long revival. By the mid 1906, attendance swelled with anywhere from 300 to,500 people trying to fit into the space. People from diverse backgrounds came together to worship. men, women, children from all racial and economic backgrounds, including black, white, Hispanic, Asian, wealthy, poor, literate, illiterate. Individuals of all ages travel to Los Angeles driven by both skepticism, but then there's also a desire to be a part of this new movement. And I began my message by reading an article out of the Los Angeles Times. And so I felt like I might as well end with an article from the Los Angeles Times because they were wrong in both. Imagine that. But the Los Angeles Times, oh, they weren't very kind in their description of the Isuza Street Revival. But this is what they said. They said meetings are are held in in a tumbledown shack on Isuza Street. and the devotees of the weird doctrine practices. Most fanatical rights preach the wildest theories and work themselves into a state of mad excitement in their peculiar zeal. The night is made hideous in the neighborhood by the howlings of the worshippers who spend hours swaying forth and back in a nerve-wracking attitude of prayer and supplication. They claim to have the gift of tongues and be able to understand this babble. The article says there is a disgraceful intermingling of the races. They cry and make howling noises all day and into the night. They run and jump and shake all over, shout to the top of their voice, spin around in circles, fall out on the sawdust blanketed floor, jerking, kicking, and rolling all over it. Some of them pass out and do not move for hours as though they were dead. These people appear to be drunk, mentally deranged, or under a spell. They claim to be filled with the spirit. They have a oneeyed illiterate negro as their preacher who stays on his knees much of the time with his head hidden between wooden milk crates. He doesn't talk very much, but at times he can be heard shouting, "Repent." and he's supposed to be running this thing. And they repeatedly sing the same song, the comforter has come. I don't know what that does for you y'all, but we are a product of that right there. And I just believe that the subscribers to the Los Angeles Times would have never guessed that years later historians would say that the Isuza Street Revival gave birth to modern Pentecostalism. It became the most significant revival of the 20th century. I don't know if you're feeling what I'm feeling right here, but the spirit of God is still longing and still desires to be in his people. He wants us to be a temple of the Holy Ghost. Come on, somebody. Revival is still here. Oh, stand to your feet. I feel the Holy Ghost in this place. I asked God, I said today, God, what I would desire the most out of anything, I'm not looking for people to to stand, applaud, to clap. I'm not even looking for people to run the aisles or even shout me down during this message. I said, God, my only desire is there would be a response in the altar of somebody that would understand how much their God loves them and wants to live inside of them. So true. Look at this right here. 1 Corinthians 10:1. Oh, this is so powerful. Moreover, brethren, I would not that you should be ignorant. How that all our fathers were under the cloud. Here it is. and all passed through the sea. And we're all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea. You see, we are living in a cancel culture in a world that wants to cancel the fact that the people of God escaped Egypt because that represents repentance. That that represents deliverance. That represents getting out of the world we used to live in. The world would like to cancel the fact that we passed through the Red Sea because that represents I just read it. That represents baptism. Because if you're not delivered from Egypt, then there's no use in walking through a Red Sea and being baptized. The type in shadowable baptism walking through the water. The world doesn't want anything to do with that. And we just read in the Los Angeles Times as they marked this article marked the infilling of the Holy Ghost and speaking with another tongue. Oh my god. They couldn't stand the fact that there were people receiving something they had never received before. And instead of trying it for themselves, uh, they just began to mock it and downplay it and to cancel it out. But I'm here to tell you tonight, if you don't have the Holy Ghost, uh if you don't have the spirit of God living on the inside of you, I want you to know you're among friendlies tonight, you're among people who have been filled with his spirit, uh who understand the power that they have. It's a power to help us walk right and live right and make decisions that empower us uh to be effective in our community to be a witness. If you'll obey the word of God and you'll make your way to this altar in just a moment when I make this altar call, I promise there won't be anybody shaking their head at you. If you get thrown back and slain in the spirit, nobody's going to mock you. Nobody's going to look at you weird because we're descendants of this. This is who we are. Because we understand how bad our God wants to dwell inside of you. And if you're here today and maybe just maybe you're catching what I'm beginning to preach tonight, that your creator, your savior wants to dwell inside of you. Maybe maybe it's not a power and authority you're looking for. But if you can understand how much your God loves you and cares about you and wants to tabernacle himself within you. My God, just lift up your hands in the sanctuary right now. I feel the Holy Ghost right now. There's somebody in this room tonight. I feel the Holy Ghost speaking to me right here. You've been fighting. God's been speaking, but you've been fighting in a still small voice. He's been speaking to you and saying, "Come on, I want to live. I want to dwell within you. Come on. I want you to be my tabernacle. I want you to be my temple that I can live within." If you're here tonight and God's been speaking to you, I want you to know tonight is your night. I'm an opportunist and I'm giving you an opportunity to say, "God, I give you my life. God, I give you my heart. I don't want to be who I used to be. I don't want to do what I used to do. I want to be a different person. I want to be a walking, talking, living, breathing miracle that walks out of this place. Uh I walk in here a dead man, but I can walk out here regenerated in newness of life. That I may dwell within you. Come on. That's what God's saying. That I may dwell within you. Come on. He loves you so much. Is there anybody that would just come forward and just say, "God, I want you to live inside of me. God, I'm willing to do what I've got to do, and that's repent. I'm willing to say, Lord, I'm sorry for my sin. Lord, I refuse to be who I used to be. I choose to live a different lifestyle. I choose to walk a different road. I don't want to be who I used to be." Come on, church family, lift up a prayer right now. You might have the Holy Ghost, but somebody beside you may not. Somebody beside you might be hungry. Come on. We have children in this place who who have began to seek after the Holy Ghost. And they may not understand everything about the Holy Ghost. But understand this young person. He loves you. And he wants to dwell inside of you. He wants to live inside of you. He wants to make his throne. He wants to make your heart his throne room. Oh, come on. Right now, if you're an altar worker in this place, I wish you'd find somebody to pray for right here. Oh, in Jesus name. Come on. Woo. He's here. He's here. The same spirit that raised Christ from the dead wants to live inside of you. Wants to do a work through you. It's going to help you fight the same things that Jesus fought. He fought against carnality. He fought against spiritual wickedness and demons and devils. Uh he wants to help you fight against those things that are trying to overtake your mind. Things that are trying to convince you that God is not real and deliverance is not real and that the spirit of God is not real. He's here tonight and he wants to feel you. Give you understanding. Give you revelation. There's going to be revelation in this place in Jesus name. There's going to be revelation right now in Jesus name. Respond to the word. Respond. Respond. Respond. Respond. Right here. Come on. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Oh, come on. Withholding nothing. I'm withholding nothing. I give you my life, my heart. Oh, body, soul, and spirit. I give it to you, Lord. Oh yes. Jesus. Jesus. Jesus. Jesus. Jesus. And the day of Pentecostal has fully come. Come on. This is your day of Pentecost right here. This could be your day of Pentecost right here. This could be your Isuza tree experience right here. No Jesus. Jesus. Jesus. Holy Ghost revival take place right here. Withholding nothing. Noing nothing. Withholding nothing. No. No. No. No. Withholding nothing. Come on, get your hands up as high as you can. Get your hands up as high as you can. This is the universal sign to surrender to you. Come on, church family. I know this message may not have been for you, but that's okay. Oh, we got a world we got to reach. We've got a city we've got to reach. I surrender, Lord, to you, Lord. Oh. Oh, I give you all of me. I give you all of me. I give you all of me. I give you all of me. Oh, I give you all of me. I'll give you everything that I am. You all I give you all of me. Everything. Everything. Everything. Oh, come on. That's right. That's right. Come on the childrenus. Hey, be filled with the Holy Ghost. For the promise is unto you. It's under your children. It's under your children. There's no age limit. Fill us, oh God, with your spirit. Fill us with your glory. I give you all. I give you all of me. I give you all King Jesus forever. I give you all of me. I give you all of me. I give you all. Come on. The Holy Ghost is here. The Holy Ghost is moving right now. Come on. Whatever you need tonight, the Holy Ghost is moving. If you got the Holy Ghost, you've got power inside of you. Oh, that power is a power of healing. That's a power of deliverance. Come on. It's a power restoration. If you've got the power living inside of you, why don't you activate it right now? Activate that power inside of you. Oh, with holding nothing, nothing holding nothing. Oh, yeah. Jesus. Jesus. Jesus. Come on. That's right. Be filled with the Holy Ghost right now. Be filled with the Holy Ghost. Jesus. Come on. That's right. Come on. Minister to somebody beside you. Let the Lord speak through you. Let the Holy Ghost speak through you right now. Minister to somebody beside you. Come on. Speak peace in their lives. Speak hope in their lives. I give you all. Come on, believers. Come on, believers. Come on, believers. I give you all of me. I give you all. I give you all. I give you all you. I give you all. I give you all I need. King Jesus. King Jesus my forever. Forever. I give you I give you all of me. Want to give you I give you all of me. God I give you all. King Jesus my savior forever. I give you all of me. I give you all of me. I give myself away. I give myself away so you can give myself away. Give myself away. I'll give myself away so you can give myself away. Give myself away. I give myself away so you can give myself away. Give myself away. Oh my heart and soul. I give myself away so you can use my life is not my own. To you I belong. I give myself I give myself to you. My life is not my own. Life is not my own. To you. To you. I belong. For you. I give myself to you. My life is not my own. To you. I belong. I give myself. I give myself to you. Life is not my own. To you I belong. I give myself I give myself to you. I give myself away. I give myself away. Don't use myself away. I give myself away so you can use me. Give myself away. Give myself away. So you can use me. I surrender all. I surrender all. All to thee, my blessed Savior. I surrender all. I surrender all to you Jesus. I surrender all to thee my present savior. I surrender all with every hand lifted across this place. Could we just tell him that in our own words? Lord, we thank you for your word that we've heard tonight. Lord, with our hands lifted, we surrender to you, Lord, as that vessel that you want to dwell within, oh God. Lord, I thank you for your presence that we feel in this place right now. Lord, I thank you that we are a vessel, Lord, that you want to feel, Lord, that your Holy Ghost, your spirit can dwell in, oh God. Lord, we thank you for your word tonight. I want to just make a quick invitation to anybody under the sound of my voice tonight that would want to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. I know it's not common in our culture, but the scripture was read tonight and it is true. It was true then and it's true today. You must be born again of the water and of the spirit. Must be born again. And if you're here tonight, you can be baptized. We have everything you need. If you need the Holy Ghost tonight, that's a gift. And you can receive it in this place. You can receive it on your car, in the car on the way home. You can receive it tomorrow in your morning prayer time. You can receive it anytime. And any of us that have had it for some time. I hope we receive it again. Amen. I couldn't help but think tonight, my grandpa was asked the question years ago. He said, "Brother Bishop, do you think I'll make it through the gates without the Holy Ghost?" He said, 'You won't make it to the gates without the Holy Ghost, cuz that spirit is going to be what quickens this mortal body. I'm thankful to be a vessel that the Holy Ghost dwells in. Amen. I don't know about you, but I couldn't do this. There's times where I I I struggle and I got to pray. Make sure I got the Holy Ghost. But I couldn't do this thing without the Holy Ghost. Amen. I'm thankful for the Holy Ghost. Go in the name of Jesus and the power of the Holy Ghost tonight. You're dismissed. If you want to be baptized, let somebody know. We'll baptize them.