Where are my intercessors at tonight? Alright.

In First Kings chapter six, beginning with verse eleven, it says,

11. And the word of the LORD came to Solomon, saying,

12. Concerning this house which thou art in building, if thou wilt walk in my statutes, and execute my judgments, and keep all my commandments to walk in them; then will I perform my word with thee, which I spake unto David thy father:

13. And I will dwell among the children of Israel, and will not forsake my people Israel.

14. So Solomon built the house, and finished it.

15. And he built the walls of the house within with boards of cedar, both the floor of the house, and the walls of the ceiling: and he covered them on the inside with wood, and covered the floor of the house with planks of fir.

16. And he built twenty cubits on the sides of the house, both the floor and the walls with boards of cedar: he even built them for it within, even for the oracle, even for the most holy place.

Let us pray.

Most holy and gracious heavenly Father, we thank You, Lord for Your Word. For Your Word is quick and powerful, sharper than any two-edged sword, Father. You said, "Heaven and earth shall pass away, but My Word shall stand forever."

And Father, as we hear Your Word, let it take root it us. And let it grow, God. Father, let it make changes where there needs to be changes. Let it break up the fallow ground, dear Father.

Hide Your son behind the cross, that Your people would see You and not me. And Father, as I decrease, I ask that You would increase. Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in thy sight, oh Lord, my strength, and my Redeemer.

Now Satan, you are bound. And I forbid you to operate. You are not welcome here in this place, among the saints of God. In Jesus' holy and blessed name. Amen.

You may be seated.

Ever since the children of Israel were free from slavery in Egypt, and God had revealed to them the blueprint of the tabernacle in the wilderness, Israel had dreamed of a permanent (glory to God) temple in the promised land. Canaan land was (glory to God) to be their home for all time. And the temple was to be the place where the Presence of God would live in their midst.

But in the days of King Solomon, God allowed that temple to be built in Jerusalem. In this holy place (glory to God) the Ark of the Covenant would be put in it's place within the Holy of Holies. And upon this Ark would be the Mercy Seat, overshadowed by the cherubim's wings.

Between their wings, resting upon the Mercy Seat, the Power, the Presence, and the Glory of the Almighty God was ever-present, shining in the wonderful light of His mercy. Glory to God.

This is how the temple was to be. But (glory to God) He told us to be the temple. And He wants the Glory of God to shine on the inside of us for always. Glory to God.

They were looking to build that temple in the promised land. God's promise to Solomon of His continued Presence in the midst of Israel, it was what? Conditional, upon Israel doing all that God had intended (glory to God) and called them to do. They were to live holy (glory to God) and righteous. And most of all, they were to be obedient to God.

If we want the Spirit of God to continue to dwell in this temple, we have got to be holy, righteous, and obedient to an Almighty God.

Paul said in First Corinthians chapter three, verse sixteen through verse seventeen, he said,

16. Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?

17. If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are.

We have been called to be the temple of God. Never mind these four walls. God is speaking to us. Never mind this ceiling and this floor. God is speaking to this crowd, and the sole of our feet, and everything that's in between. He's called us to be that temple.

But His Presence in the temple was conditional. Can you imagine that, God being a conditional God about certain things? Yes, God is conditional about certain things. He won't dwell in an unclean place. He won't dwell in an unclean vessel. I don't care what nobody says.

God is light. And in Him is no darkness. The Bible says that we must walk in the light, for He is the Light.

Which temple He said we are. Thus we see that in the time since the death of Jesus upon the cross, God has chosen not to dwell in the building in Jerusalem, but now lives in the hearts of all of those that call Jesus Christ to be their Lord and their Savior.

Holiness, righteousness, and obedience. These are the three conditions of God dwelling in His temple. I want you to get that inside of you. Holiness, righteousness, and pure obedience. Those were the requirements back then. And those are the requirements now.

Do you care whether or not the Spirit of God dwell in you? I do. For it's in Him I live and move and have my very being. I can do nothing without Him. I would be nothing without Him. I don't know about your life before you came to Christ. But mine wasn't a bed of roses. But once I met Jesus... Oh, you don't hear me tonight.

The temple where He dwelled had to meet His specifications. Do you hear what I'm saying tonight? I can't keep this temple any kind of way. Do you hear what I'm saying?

These four walls, the only blessing thing about it is that we can all get together in these four walls. But without Jesus and the Spirit of God, all of this don't mean nothing.

The same requirements for the temple back then is the same requirement for the temple right now.

When Solomon began his rule as king of Israel, he began with the right attitude. And he was blessed by God because his attitude was, "Lord, I need wisdom that I may be go in and out of this great people that are Yours."

And so he asked with the right attitude for the right thing. And everything else came along with it. He was God's chosen. He was the son of David who would rule over God's people after David, and build the temple that David thought that he was going to build.

David designed it, planned it, and purposed to do it. But because of what was in David's life... Oh, you don't hear me tonight.

You plan on doing a work for God, and God has told you you're going to do a work for you. But if you don't have the right thing in your life, then all of your plans and all of my plans and everything that I intend to build is going to come to naught.

Because of David's sin. Yeah, he felt guilty. We feel guilty, don't we? Yeah, he felt remorse. We feel remorse. Yes, he was a man after God's own heart. But there were serious consequences for his sin.

You think that... And a lot of times we think that just because we repent of our sins, there'll be no repercussions. I came to let you know. Oh, I feel Jesus up in here tonight. There will be serious repercussions for what I intend to do, whether it be (glory to God) right or whether it be wrong. I'll either be blessed, or I'll be cursed. But I will reap something.

Even though David will be in heaven, and his throne endures forever, because of Jesus Christ, our Lord, and even though David knew the Scripture, he had to suffer the consequences of his sin. After David committed adultery with Bathsheba, his dream was dissolved.

He said in the Ten Commandments, He said, "You won't have your neighbor's wife." But yeah, we have Jesus. Confess my sins. He's faithful and just to forgive me. Yes, but sweetheart, baby, honey, there are repercussions.

You remember God's great prophet, Moses? He was to be the deliverer of Israel. But he wasn't allowed in Canaan land because of his disobedience.

You've been called to a great task that you know is bigger than you. But because I can't control my flesh, I'll never see the end of that promise. Somebody else will get it, but I won't get it. He'll pass that anointing to my sons and my daughters.

Saints of God, we are that temple.

I was driving in the car the other day. And I began to talk to the Lord. And I said, "Lord..." (Tongues.) "If it wasn't for Your Word, if it wasn't for Your Spirit, if it wasn't for who You are, I know I wouldn't be here right now."

Paul said don't no good think dwell in this flesh. You may pretend like you don't never have no problem, but I beg to differ. You may pretend like you (glory to God) all of that all the time, but I beg to differ.

We need the Word. We need the Spirit of God, because He's a keeper. If you want to be kept, He'll keep you. Oh, I feel Jesus tonight. (Please turn these cell phones off.)

He will keep you if you want to be kept. This is His temple. And He decides what He wants to do with His temple. Paul has also said that we are not our own, that we have been bought with a price.

Can you imagine standing or sitting here in this flesh, and I'm not even my own? But I don't know about you. But I'm glad I'm not my own. Because if I was my own, I would destroy my own. That's why I can lean on Him. That's why I can depend on Him. That's why He's Jehovah Jireh to me. That's why He's El Shaddai to me.

Consequences for defiling the temple. Even King Solomon eventually wound up in ruin, and lost his kingdom because of sin. And each one of us will have to pay for our sins, for the things that we do wrong, even though we repent.

Sometimes the effects of sin are irreversible. The Bible says after sin is finished it brings forth death. Listen. I've got to keep this temple. And it starts right here with my imagination. It starts right here with my mind. The battleground starts right here. If I can get a hold of this thing right here, if I can keep the Word in this thing right here... Oh. Oh, glory to God.

Solomon began that reign in a powerful way. But somehow along the way, his love for God (listen) began to slip.

As I stand here today and I speak these words to God's people, some of our love for Him is not the way it used to be. We're burnt out on Jesus if the truth be told. Tell the truth, preacher. We're burned out.

Somewhere along the line His love slipped. His relationship to God began to suffer. And once all of that happened, God's blessings began to leave. He had forgotten the real source of his victory.

Trusting in his wisdom alone without a relationship to the One that gives the wisdom is foolishness. Trusting in great wealth is foolishness. Money is wonderful. It's a wonderful service, isn't it? But it can be a hard taskmaster, can't it? Do you hear what I'm saying?

He had it all. And we've been asking God to give us it all. Watch what you're asking for. Let Him give it to you when He wants to give it to you. Let it come to you. All He said was, "Seek ye first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, and then all these things will be added." It's going to come. Just keep seeking the Kingdom of God and His righteousness.

Stop trying to make it happen. Do you hear what I'm saying? Stop trying to make yourself rich. Stop trying to make yourself anointed. Let God do it.

This is the temple. Solomon found out what happens when you build the temple of your heart upon the sands of rebellion and sin. If I'm building this temple upon the sands of rebellion and sin, destruction is on the way.

Listen. Don't take this temple lightly. Don't take living in sin lightly. When I come down to this altar, it should only be every now and then. Do you hear what I'm saying? Do you hear me? I shouldn't have to come down to the altar every day, for the same thing every day.

He said He will deliver me. Let God be true. Let every man be a liar. He said He would deliver me. And I'm standing on that.

He lost his kingdom. And after all of that, that wasn't the big deal. Maybe even his soul. Because the Bible says that he was even an old man, still with a lot of women. Do you hear what I'm saying? The Bible said his heart had departed from the Lord.

Let us follow only in the footsteps of Jesus. Don't let us follow in Solomon's footsteps. Let us build our temple upon the Rock of Jesus Christ.

And every time I'm tempted, let something rise up in me. And I ain't talking about my flesh. I'm talking about the Word of God.

He gave this word tonight for His people. Because sometimes we lose the revelation that we are not our own. Sometimes we lose the revelation that this ain't the church. We're the church. Can I say it like that?

He's called us the church. Who are you? I'm the church. My body is the temple of the Holy Ghost. He dwells in me. And greater is He that's in me than he that is in the world. I've been given the mind of Christ, so that I can know what's in the mind of the Spirit.

I'd rather know more about God's business than your business. I don't want to be wrapped up in gossip. I want to hear what the angels are saying. Do you hear what I'm saying tonight? I want to hear what the Father's saying to the Son, and what the Son's saying to the Holy Ghost. That's what I want to know.

You're the temple. You're that tabernacle. Do you believe that? Do you believe that He's dwelling in you? That's why the Bible says we have an unction from the Holy One. That unction's inside of you.

So the next time the devil tries to tempt you, remember what James said about it. James said that we're only tempted and enticed when we're drawn away after our own lusts, something that's pleasing to the eye, something that feels good to the flesh. Yours may be different from mine, but it's still the flesh.

Get this flesh under. Get this flesh under. Get this flesh under. Get this flesh under. Whatever it is, get the flesh under. Get it under. If it's a problem with your thoughts, get that flesh under. With your eyes, get that flesh under. With your tongue, get that flesh under. Whatever it is, make it subject to the Word. And you will live in victory.

Come on, give God a handclap of praise.