Even Kings Must Obey

I want to say I give honor to our pastor and first lady to our pastor brother Britt. He is not here today and he's asked me to stand behind this sacred desk and deliver the word of the Lord. Count that as a high honor and a high privilege. How many of you thankful for our pastor and first ladies and family? Let's get into our text today. I'll be reading from first Kings chapter 2 verses 1-4. Now the days of David drew nigh that he should die and charged Solomon his son, saying, I go the way of all the earth. Be thou strong, therefore, and show thyself a man. Keep the charge of the Lord thy God, to walk in his ways, to keep his statutes, and his commandments and his judgments and his testimonies, as it is written in the law of Moses, that thou mayest prosper in all that thou doest. Can I pause for just a minute? If you want to have success, the Lord gives us the instructions. And whatsoever thou turnest thyself, that the Lord may continue his word which he spake concerning me, you can be seated in the house of the Lord today. I'll be honest. I've carried this message with great prayer. Melanie can attest. There's nights that I had tears in my eyes as the burden that God placed on me for this day, I've not been easy to put down because I feel that this church and this house and these people that were experiencing the birthing pains of revival and there's a pressure because something is trying to be born in this house greater than we've ever seen or experienced because of the great foundation that has been laid. But I will tell you, there is a resistance because something is about to be delivered. The enemy is fighting families and he's fighting marriages. He's fighting our children and teenagers. He's fighting our minds and prayer lives and convictions. He's fighting anything connected to what God is preparing to do in this place. Can I tell you, I believe we're standing near the greatest demonstration of Holy Ghost authority and power to the which we have yet to see. Can I tell you prophetically, deliverance is coming to those that are bound. Can I tell you uh AS THE LORD LAID IT ON ME, PRODALS WILL COME BACK TO this house. Lives will be restored. Marriages will be fixed. Healing will happen in this place. And can I tell you emphatically, just as the Bible declares, uh people will be filled with the Holy Ghost speaking in other tongues. uh as the spirit gives thee UTTERANCE BECAUSE THAT IS HOW THE BIBLE SAYS we must be saved. But with that promise, oh there's a great promise and I can see the glory of the Lord resting in this place. Oh, there's a great promise here. But I also come to you with a great warning. Because brother Tanner, before God will entrust us with more authority than we've ever walked in, our hearts must remain submitted before our hands are empowered. Because God's not looking for a powerful church. Does that shock you? No, he's looking for a church that he can lead. He's looking for a church that he can correct. He's looking for a church that will still obey him after the crowd does come. He's looking for a church that when the miracles do start h happening and the prayers begin to get answered and the victories are starting to be won and we can't keep the water in the baptismal tank hot enough. This is not a message of condemnation today. I've not come to beat you up. I promise. I've prayed and I've cried. God, make my heart right before I preach this. But can I tell you it's a message of preservation. This is not just a message for today. It's a message for tomorrow because I believe that God loves this house enough to measure it before he entrusts it with more. And the word that's been in my spirit is the word of alignment and has stayed and has resonated in my spirit for weeks. A compass. Can I tell you? I've got a compass that Adeline got me and it stays on my desk and I it always reminds me of the direction I must go and the path that I must take because can I tell you this is really simple today. A compass does not create north, nor does it decide where north should be. It only works when it remains aligned with something that's already fixed. Because when a compass becomes inaccurate, nobody moves the location of where north is to accommodate the compass. It's the compass that must be corrected. I was reading and I was looking at it and I I I was beginning to think I was I I wonder what would happen if we were began to try to travel north and we were just one degree off just just one degree off from true north. Do you know within within one degree of being off in just one mile, you're going to be 92 feet off from your destination? 92 feet. That doesn't sound a lot, but after you've traveled a thousand miles, brother Dallas, you'll miss your destination by more than 17 miles. And what started as something small, there's just a small deviation. I I THOUGHT I WAS GOING NORTH, BUT JUST ONE DEGREE. What started OFF AS SOMETHING SMALL PUT ME NOWHERE NEAR WHERE I WAS DESTINED to be. Can I tell you today, church, and this is so plain, God is our true north. Cultures may move, but God does not. His nature and his holiness and his righteousness and his word remain fixed and they're unchangeable. Can I say this? The church does not determine the truth, but the church must align with the God who is truth. And with that burden, I want to preach to you this thought today. Even kings must obey. Even kings must obey. The word that we read in the opening our text, David is dying. The shepherd who became king is fighting his final battle. He survived a Goliath and Saul and betrayal, his own kinfolk and family problems and the consequences of his great sin. And now David is preparing to place the kingdom into Solomon's hands. And Solomon is about to inherit something though that he did not build. He'll set on a throne, another man's battle secured, and inherit peace purchased through another man's warfare. The enemies are subdued, the resources are gathered, and the plans for the temple are ready. And Solomon begins surrounded by things he did not have to bleed to obtain. Can I tell you today, we're only here in this great sanctuary because of the great drops of blood that were given for us. For the sacrifices of our elders, WHO STOOD FOR TRUTH WHEN EVERYONE CALLED THEM CRAZY. For those who STOOD ON THIS APOSTOLIC faith and doctrine of behold, oh Israel, the Lord our God is one God that you must repent and be baptized in the only saving NAME OF JESUS CHRIST FOR THE REMISSION OF SINS AND BE FILLED with the Holy Ghost. Solomon, they called your dad crazy. But we stand in the power and on the shoulders of great men and women that in an altar and in deep prayer and anguish, they carved out a path painfully for you and I to set in beautiful sanctuaries like this that they could have only have dreamed of from godly visions. So that these this househ and these doors could be open to whosoever will that would walk in this PLACE AND BREAK THOSE BACK DOORS BOUND BY THE OPPRESSION AND SIN OF THIS WORLD AND COME TO THIS ALTAR AND be delivered. Solomon, you didn't bleed to obtain this kingdom. David understands something. Solomon had not lived long enough to understand success will test Solomon in ways adversity never could. So David does not begin his final charge with military strategy diplomacy, economics or construction. He says this be strong therefore and show thyself a man. than David defines. I bet if I pass this microphone around, there's a lot of men that would probably try to tell me what the definition of strength is, what it means to be a man. But David defines it for us. Keep the charge of the Lord thy God. Son, don't lay this book down. Solomon, you can do a lot of great things. You can be a mighty man, Brother Tim. But if you ever put this book word down, if you ever put this book down, then you're going to start getting it wrong. David's telling his son, "Sength is not having enough power to do whatever you want. Strength is progress per processing power while remaining submitted to God. You can have all the power you want, but if you're not submitted to God and his word in this book, you're going to miss it. Because the greatest danger facing Solomon was not whether he could rule Israel. It was whether Solomon would still allow God to rule him. But no matter how high Solomon rose, there was always one above him sitting on a throne. Because even kings must obey. David was not inventing or coming up with some false charge out of his mind. After years of ministry and serving the Lord hundreds of years before Israel had a king, God had already established how a king must live. Deuteronomy 17 said the king was not to multiply horses or wives or silver or gold. Horses represented military confidence and royal marriages often created political alliances and silver and gold created financial security. And there's nothing wrong with those things in and of themselves. But Psalms 207 says some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we everybody say we. We will remember the name of the Lord our God. Then God requires something else of the king. Deuteronomy 17:18-20 says this, "And it shall be when he siteth upon the throne of his kingdom, then he shall write him a copy, his own personal copy of this law, in a book out of that which is before the priest, the Levites, and it shall be with him. And he shall read therein all the days of his life. Uh that he may learn to fear the Lord his God, to keep all the words of this law, and these statutes to do them. That his heart be not lifted up above his brethren, and that he turn not aside from the commandment to the right hand or to the left. God never allowed the throne to stand without this book beside him because the king had to keep the law so close and read it throughout his life so he could learn the fear of God and to remain humble and not turn to the right or the left. The word produced the fear of God. And the fear of God, everybody said the fear of God kept God's authority aligned because God never intended for wisdom to be the king's greatest safeguard. His greatest safeguard and his greatest weapon was submission because Proverbs 9:10 says the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. Solomon asked for wisdom, but wisdom would remain safe only while it was rooted in the fear of the Lord. Acts 9 and31 says the early church walked in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Ghost and multiply. It multiplied. I had something that hit me right before I came up here. The fear of God. And I made this note before I walked up here. The fear of God is what happens when we begin to truly understand who God is. His holiness begins to fill us with wonder. And his greatness humbles us. And seeing him clearly changes how we see ourselves. And I've got Bible for this. Isaiah 6 verse one. You see, King Uzziah had reigned, brother Jones, for 50 years. And all of Judah had become to become dependent on Uzziah in those 50 years. And they saw great things under his kingship. But his heart was turned in the late part of his kingship. And he was struck with leprosy. And if you know anything about leprosy, it is a disease of the nerves. And what that shows is that you've lost your connection with God. And now you can't feel the things of God any longer. That's what leprosy represents in the Bible. When I begin to read in Isaiah chapter 6, and the Lord said through Isaiah in the year that King Uzziah died, al I also saw the Lord sitting on his throne and his train filled the temple. In verse five, then said I, woe is me, for I'm unclean. What does that mean? the tribes of Israel and this kingdom, they'd gotten so dependent on their king that when he died, Isaiah was discouraged and he was upset and he was saddened. But just past that, God cracked his eyes open to what was happening in the heavenly. And that's why he did he could declare in spite of their king dying. I looked and the Lord was still on his throne and his train filled the temple. And if you understand this, his robe filled the temple. And as every victory added to his train, every victory that we had won, every victory that was fought, everything that we had attained, it was not because of Uzziah. It was because the Lord was still on the throne. And then he said, "Woe is me." When he began Brother Joe to see all the wonders of heaven and how the seraphims were marching around and magnifying and glorifying God in that place. He began to realize the closer he got to the revelation of who God was, how unclean he was. Can I tell you today church, the fear of God will not hinder revival, but the fear of God keeps revival holy. And this is where the message comes to this room. First Peter 2:9 calls us a royal priesthood. That does not make us independent kings, though some act like it. Not in this one. It means we belong to the king and represent him in this world. If we carry his authority, here's here's the catch. We've got to remain under his authority. Because even a royal priesthood must remain. Maybe this isn't what you came for today, but I promise you I struggled in prayer over this. Solomon's prayer began with the right posture, brother Jones. When God appeared to him in First Kings 3 and he said, "What shall I give thee?" Solomon did not ask for wealth or long life or the destruction of his enemies. He said, "I'm just a child. I don't even know how to go in or come out." Then he prayed, "Give therefore a servant's heart an understanding heart." You know what that means? Solomon looked at God and said, "God, give me a heart that hears you." Solomon is saying, "Give me a heart, oh God, that when I wake up in the morning, the first thing I hear is you." When I've went through the middle of the day and all of the world and all this chaos has tried to infiltrate me, God, give me a heart that stays steadied and tra stayed and focused on you that can hear your voice above all the noise. Because he realized, I cannot lead your people through my own understanding. He began humble, dependent, and listening. And God entrusted him with wisdom and influence. And when Solomon dedicated the temple, the glory of the Lord filled the house until the priest could not stand to minister there. But hear me carefully. Hear me well. Yesterday's glory will not and never will it replace today's obedience. Just because I danced yesterday does not give me the authority, nor does it give me the right to take the place of kingship of the Lord Jesus Christ in my heart. Just because I danced and spoke in tongues today does not give me the authority TO TRY TO THINK I'M SMARTER than God tomorrow. And can I just add something that just came to me? Don't think in all your wisdom that you're going to outsmart the devil cuz he's been at this tactic for a really long time. He's been working and he's been studying you and he's been trying to figure out where he can trip you up. The fact that God moved yesterday does not give us permission to disregard his word today because yesterday's visitation is not hear me. Yesterday's visitation is not a permanent endorsement of everything we do after. Sister Peyton, we can get up here and we can sing with everything within us. And God can fall and he can move and minister and his glory can fill this house and lives can be changed and I can go out and sin tomorrow. Don't think just because he anointed you yesterday that his endorsement still on you when you fall back into sin. You can feel God. Hear me. There's a difference between his presence and his glory and his favor. You can Ah, his presence. Even though I make my bed in hell, the Lord's still going to be there. His presence can be in the midst of hell. But that does not constitute his endorsement on our lives. Can I tell you, we can feel God and still need correction. We can speak in tongues and still need our thinking renewed. We can worship passionately in the sanctuary while still allowing fear and culture and worldly ideas to shape our minds throughout the week. That's why I've heard some of the greatest ministers of our movement, of our time, of our generation, I should say. Forget the movement, forget the organization. I'm talking about men that have the voice of God and the heart of God have said one of the greatest things that they do for their church every year is put them on a media fast to quiet the noise of every other voice so that we like Solomon when he first prayed give me a heart that hears you oh God because being filled with The Holy Ghost is not the same as continuing to be led by the Holy Ghost. I know people that I watched young people speak in tongues. I've watched ministers and pastors and worship leaders get up and speak in tongues. Some of my closest and dearest friends who preach the word and say with the angels in their backslide and they're so far from God and their repbate and they believe deception today they don't even believe anything. Brother Taylor, we got to remember the most important thing we can do in this house is to keep our relationship right with God and keep him first in everything we do. One of the greatest dangers facing a church that's experienced the power of the Holy Ghost is that we speak in tongues while allowing another spirit to shape how we think. The temple, Solomon, the temple and the kingdom and all the glory they belong to him. Solomon did not lose his way in one moment. Drifting rarely begins when somebody announces, "I no longer need God." Brother Gity, don't start like that. You're not just going to wake up tomorrow and say, "I just don't need him anymore." It starts quietly. A boundary gets crossed. A command is explained away. I I don't know if we need that anymore. An exception to the rule is made. Well, I don't have to. That was good for my grandparents or that was good for my elders. But you see, some things may not be exact as it was, but the spirit behind why they made the decision to make the proclamation of separation still remains the same. And something God warned against all of a sudden starts looking really reasonable. human wisdom becomes, hear me, I'm not going to lie. When God inspired me and I wrote this, I laid there and I cried for about 30 minutes. Call me weak if you want to, but God ripped me apart on this. Human wisdom will become the attorney hired by our desires to argue against the commandment of God. Because I don't dis when you start disconnecting the heart from God and you don't have that heart that listens to God anymore, then my desires begin to take over. And I'll hire the best defense attorney to defend my position and my thoughts and my preferences. God, give me a heart that still hears you. And here's the problem. Solomon knew the law, and I'm going to try to hurry today. He'd receive David's charge, and it experienced the glory. The first king begins recording everything Deuteronomy warned against. Solomon gathered horses. Did you hear what I said? Solomon gathered horses and chariots and he brought the horses out of Egypt and he accumulated extraordinary wealth. He multiplied wives and then first kings 11 and4 his wives. Oh God his wives turned away his heart after other gods and his heart was not perfect unto the Lord. The man who began with a hearing heart ended with a divided heart. He did not lose his intelligence. He lost his alignment. He still possessed great knowledge. But knowledge of the word did not protect him after he stopped submitting to the word. Because Solomon's wisdom was safe while it remained bowed to God. But it became dangerous when he began operating independently of God. James 3:17. But the wisdom that is from above first is pure than peaceable, gentle, and easy to be entreated. Wisdom from above remains willing to yield to God. And the moment our wisdom can no longer be corrected by the word, it stopped bowing. That's the warning for this church today. Please understand my heart. I'm not seeing people that are full of sin. I'm not seeing people that are full of wrong. I'm trying to give a future warning because the Lord is trying to build something miraculous here. And he's doing miraculous things. We can become skilled at having good church while becoming less skilled at hearing God. And we can carry the book while slowing with slowly withdrawing his permission to correct us. Why? Because we don't live in a church service every day. Lord, sometimes I wish we did. I wish I could scoop all this up and take it to with me with me on the off in the office every day. Lord only knows what I deal with daily. The chaos. I see death. I know the hand of destruction in the capable hands of a tyrant and a man. I've seen the evil imaginations of humanity. And Lord, it's in those moments I wish I could capture up everything that God does in this place. I've got to hurry. Sorry. The question though, since I can't live in a church service every day, is whether we know his voice when I wake up in the morning on Monday. Well, I still listen to him after I've had a bad day on Monday and on Tuesday. Do we know his voice when my marriage is under pressure and my kids are struggling? Our culture presents an idea that sounds compassionate but contradicts the word of God. Oh, that sounds compassionate. It must be okay. Like brother John said today in Sunday school, you better line it up with the word of God. The danger, hear me, the danger is not in learning. I want this to be plain. The danger is not in learning. The danger is believing we've learned enough to make submission unnecessary because we began measuring ourselves against the word. We must never reach a place where we begin measuring the word against ourselves because there's danger in that because you'll build a box that you'll say, "God, you only have place to fit here." You'll build a box real quick and you'll say, "God, you've only got room here." But prayer and holiness, the fear of God and separation from the spirits of this world are not inherited preferences. They are the evidence of a life lived under God's authority. And when every conviction becomes a debate and every boundary and inconvenience, the issue may no longer be understanding. But I'm afraid to tell you it's a problem with the authority of God in your life. Questions can lead us deeper. But questions asked until obedience disappears reveal that the heart has begun to lean AWAY FROM THE THINGS of God. Just like we can't change true north, the word does not adjust itself for us. We align ourselves with the word because even kings must obey. David was formed through dependence and although he fell grievously, he remained correctable. Solomon inherited peace, wealth, and influence. Adversity reminds us that we need God. And when the giant stands before us, here's the thing. When the giant stands before us and is bigger than us, it's easy to say the battle is the Lord's. But I wonder how many times some of us stand before the giant and say the battle is the Lord's, but when the giant slain, we pull out that sling and begin to admire the sling instead. Look at what I did. My Lord, I moved those people today. Did you hear how I sang? Oh, that he would be glorified, that he would be magnified. Because whatever God does in this house will not be a product of my talent, my methods, or my personality. The battle and victories are the Lord's and he will receive the glory. Solomon's drift did not remain in his heart. It entered his home and burdened the people and left a fractured kingdom for his son. Because what one generation tolerates, we've heard this a thousand times, the next generation will be forced to fight it. Because our homes, Brother Graham, must be guided with prayer and the word. We got to teach it. We cannot teach our children how to respond in church. Hear me, without teaching them to recognize God's voice in the world. It's easy to recognize God in this house, but what what about when they're teaching false doctrine in your high school? Cuz they've got them five days a week, eight hours a day. What are we doing to make sure they understand and can hear and heed to THE VOICE OF GOD when they're not in this house? because we cannot exercise Christ's authority safely while resisting Christ's rule over us. But can I tell you story doesn't end with Solomon. Brother T, I shared this with you a few weeks ago. It tells you how long God's been dealing with me about this. Years later, King Josiah ordered repairs to the house of God. And while they were working, Hiliath the priest, he found the book of the law. Here's what got me. It unsettled me. They still had a house. They still had priests. They still had religious activities. But the book, the word, the law had become lost in the house. It is I don't preach like this normally, so y'all bear with me. It is possible to main church activity while losing the governing authority of the word. Because when we read the book that was read to Josiah in 2 Kings 22:11, it says this. When the king had heard the words of that book of the law, he rent his clothes. Josiah did not debate the word. He didn't say, "I don't think that's relevant for my generation or my time." He humbled himself and the Lord heard him because of it. Solomon shows us what happens when wisdom stops bowing. But Josiah shows us what happens when authority begins to bow again. The book was recovered. The king humbled himself and the nation was realigned. That is restoration, church. We don't need a new truth. Uh we need renewed submission to the truth that God's already given us. Uh we need the book opened in our homes again. Uh we need it opened and believed and we need it obeyed. It must be obeyed. How do we remain aligned? Through prayer, the word holiness and our first love. Jesus said, "My house shall be called of all nations the house of prayer." You see, there's the give and take. And I'll hit this real quick. I know you know this, but prayer is us speaking to God, but it's his word that speaks back to us. Amen. It's a two-way communication. If you want the answer, it's right here. Amen. Notice his words, my house, because it belongs to him. Prayer keeps us dependent. The word keeps us directed and holiness shows that our daily lives belong to God and our first love keeps it from becoming empty of form. I was just talking to Adeline about this the other day. Where you at, Adeline? I said, "Baby," that's what I call her. I don't want to embarrass her. She's probably going to hang her head. I said, "You want to She was talking about prayer the other night. I said, "Baby, you want to know what's important? The Lord directed his disciples how to pray. He said, "The Lord is my shepherd, right?" No. I was trying to see if anybody's listening. He said, "Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done." You see, before my need, I've got to recognize who he is in his name. Before my kingdom, it's got to be his kingdom. And before my will is his will. Because if you'll put his kingdom first, he'll take care of you. Prayer does not begin by magnifying the battle. Prayer begins by restoring my vision of who the king is. My lord, I've got to hurry, y'all. Jesus warned Ephesus that church activity in the book of Revelation could continue after intimacy declined because they still had works. They endured. They defended truth. But this is what he said. Nevertheless, I have somewhat against you because thou left thy first love. The answer is not more religious activity. The answer is a tender heart that still loves God enough to obey him. I'll never forget when I first got in church. I was this chasm was far too great. The valley of separation was far too wide. And God came and he found me and he rescued me and he healed me and he restored me to right relationship. and he filled me with his precious spirit. And I'll never forget, brother Tanner, I told God at an oldfashioned altar, God, whatever you want of me, God, I'll do it. Whatever you need to take out of me, God, I'll give it because I love you above everything else. And that's what God was declaring to Ephesus. return to me how you loved me when you first found me. That's what he's saying there. You've got all the religious things in order. You look the part. You still preach the doctrine. You still act like you're holy. You're still having great services, but you don't love me like you did when you first found me. Solomon was not the final king. Jesus Christ is the king who succeeded wherever other king failed. He possessed all authority, yet he remained perfectly submitted. How long have I been going? Y'all help me out here. In the wilderness, he answered the enemy. He didn't say, "I've got an opinion." He said, "It is written." And Gethsemane prayed, "Not my will, but thy will be done." Philippians 2, he humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Because Solomon was a king whose heart turned. Jesus is the king whose heart remained perfectly aligned with the will of the father. Adam reached for a tree and self-ruule. But Jesus surrendered himself upon a tree in obedience because he purchased us with great drops of blood. We're not our own. Our lives, our families, this church, and this revival belong to him. and he alone must receive the glory. We're almost there. Isaiah 28:17 says, "This judgment also will I lay to the light and righteousness to the plummet." You see, a builder uses a plum line to reveal whether a wall is still standing straight. The wall does not tell the line where straight is. The line tells the wall. You see, here's why. The builder can see a wall that's going to buckle under the weight of the additional stories. And when this word hit me, I began to see a building and it had a great foundation and it had a firm foundation. But God said we got to make sure we stay lined up because if we don't stay lined up with the word, if we don't stay lined up with prayer and fasting and holiness and righteousness, if we don't stay on the same path that we're on, then I can begin to see a bend in the wall in the place that God is taking this church and the God in the place where God has this church, he wants to correct the bin and the wall before it buckles under the great wall and the great stress uh of the revival that comes. Uh you've got to pick up a cross and sometimes that cross is heavy. BUT GOD'S GOT TO MAKE SURE BEFORE HE HANDS you a cross to carry that you've got the strength and the endurance to carry that cross because the line will tell the wall. Because God does not move the line to accommodate the wall. God measures the wall by the line, line upon line, precept upon precept, and here little and there a little. In Isaiah, the measuring line exposed false confidence. And God's standard did not bend to accommodate what they had built. The line told the truth, but the fact that God is speaking is mercy. Because a warning gives the opportunity to humble ourselves while his voice is still calling. And I feel this warning today because I believe God is preparing Sanctuary Community Church for greater responsibility and revival like the wish we've never seen. But before he places it in our hands, he's calling our hearts to remain beneath his word. First John 2 and 24, let that therefore abide in you because the answer is not drift to a new standard. It's allowing the truth that first formed in us to continue abiding in us. Psalms 127 and1 says, "Except the Lord build the house, they labor in vain who build it." We can carry the tools, but he must remain the builder. I believe God is repairing this church, preparing this church for deliverance and greater spiritual authority. But revival is not sustained because a church learns how to move in power. Revival is sustained because a church never stops bowing before the builder. We cannot become so gifted that we stop listening, so successful that we stop depending or so powerful that we forget whose victory it is. We are a royal priesthood, but even kings must obey. If I can have the music come, let's give these folks some hope. I want to say one line again. Revival cannot be sustained because a church never stops bowing before the builder. He is the chief cornerstone. The builder and the maker is God. I believe with all of my heart I'm preaching to people who love God and love this truth. That's not even a question to me. We have a great church. And I don't know if you can tell it, but I believe our pastor has been elevated and he's preaching under greater authority and greater anointing. And that's why I feel the heed and the warning in my spirit. Let's stay with it. Let's hold on to this thing. I'm not telling you you're wrong. I'm speaking from a place of prophetic anointing today. And I don't just say that empty. I believe from a place of prophetic anointing. God is trying to keep us aligned. Because the question is not whether we carry the book. The question is whether the book still has permission to correct us. As we wind down, that's what I need you to start asking yourself. Does this book, does it still have permission to correct me? Can his p Can still speak correction into my life? Can God still challenge my thinking? Can God still touch something that we have become comfortable with? that I not getting an offense in my spirit. Can God still look at that thing that's beginning to lean out of alignment and God say, "We need to correct this and you not get a bad attitude." Because if you do, that means you need to come back and get a line back with his word. My relationship's gotten a little bit too far away from what God wants. Can he still speak today? And I still bow as they begin to play as we stand all over this place. I went too long. But can I tell you this altar today is for a church. This is for everyone that refuses to drift even one degree from true north. I wonder if this place could become an altar all over this place because I think we all could begin to put the measuring line up against our lives and say, "God, am I still a light? Are there things, reveal those things in me, oh God, that would keep me from fulfilling?" If your prayer is, Lord, measure me again. Pray that. I need every eye closed, every head bowed, praying. Keep me beneath your word. Keep my heart tend. Keep me submitted. Come on. Let that be your prayer right now. So you can the surgeons in this house. I give myself. Come on. Surrender to the voice of God. I give myself away. I give myself away. So, come on. Is that your song right now? Is that your prayer, God? I give myself away. I give myself away so you can use me. I give myself away. I give myself away so you can use myself. I want to say something and they're going to keep singing and I want us to keep praying. If you're praying, I want you to keep praying all over this house. The reason this matters is because God is calling us to greater dimensions and greater depths of revival. And can I tell you, there's people that are not here. They've never been here yet. Their deliverance is hinging on your obedience today to the word of God. So, can I tell you, there's a lost drug addict out there right now in Hartzel and all over this community, and your prayers right now are shaping their tomorrow. So I ask you, the Lord asks you, make sure you're examining your heart today and prepared because there is a great revival coming and there is a great deliverance coming to their house. But it depends on his church and his bride staying aligned with the word of God.