Perpetual Praise
Pastor David T. Elms Preached on 1/19/2025
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42:51
Summary
Pastor David T. Elms explores the 'Tabernacle of David' as a model for modern worship, emphasizing that in an age of technological displacement, perpetual praise remains the soul's essential refuge and true north.
Key points
- •Technological displacement through AI and robotics will challenge human self-worth and purpose in the coming years, requiring a spiritual response.
- •The 'Tabernacle of David' represents a shift from ritualistic animal sacrifice and ornate buildings to a constant offering of praise and music.
- •Prophetic worship is not just singing but is a spiritual 'cross-check' that aligns the heart with God's truth during chaotic times.
- •The church must become a refuge of authentic human connection and personal 'soul-singing' that artificial intelligence can never replicate or replace.
- •Perpetual praise serves as a spiritual rebellion against the artificial, keeping the soul anchored in the manifest presence of God.
Scripture
Worship
Prophecy God's Presence
Future
Technology
Life application
Commit to a specific time this week to engage in uninterrupted worship, focusing entirely on God's attributes rather than your needs, to anchor your soul against the distractions of a changing world.
Reflection questions
- In what ways are you tempted to find your self-worth in your work or technological tools rather than your identity in Christ?
- Why do you think God chose to 'rebuild the Tabernacle of David' (focused on praise) rather than the more ornate Temple of Solomon in the last days?
- How does viewing your personal worship as 'prophecy' change the way you approach singing or playing music to the Lord?
- What are the 'urban glares' or distractions in your life that make it difficult to see the 'True North' of God's Word?
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Full transcript
0:00you know what I'm saying. And that will be that last week of the year.
0:00But today I want to preach to you about perpetual praise. I asked my girls
0:06when they were both little on the way home, I appreciated the critique of my
0:11kids. And I asked them on the way home, does daddy preach too long? And
0:17it's a dangerous question to ask your kids. And especially my two girls, because they
0:23will let daddy know. It's never been for a lack of communication skills. Scarlett
0:29could communicate and say a whole lot of nothing when she was a little girl.
0:34And there was no greater joy of mine than to sit there and let her
0:40explain some detail to me because she would take anything that came into view. And,
0:46you know, the cloud was there and the blue jay said something. And then there
0:51was a yellow ribbon. And then it found a spoon. And the spoon talked and
0:57saw a piece of carpet. And whatever came into her purview, it was game to
1:03be part of her commentary. And she would just brush that hair back and roll
1:08those eyes while she was just exhorting her daddy. And it was so much fun.
1:14But now winter can do that. I love my girls. Don't pick
1:20on them. I'm after you if you do. But I asked them
1:26if daddy preached too long. They said, oh, long, but not too
1:32long. I said, well, should I preach shorter? Do you think I
1:38should preach shorter? And I wrote this down. This is what their
1:43conclusion was. They said, no, dad, we just go to sleep. So
1:49just from my daughters to you, When it gets a little long,
1:55just go ahead and put your head back. I'll know I'm doing good when
2:01you're sleeping because people don't find restfulness when the preacher's not doing very good.
2:07There's a few things that we need to deal with in this hour. And
2:13that is somewhat discombobulating to us or confusing or maybe even chaotic in this
2:19hour that we're living in. And that is, it seems as
2:25if the moral compass is somewhat losing its north star. It's
2:31wobbling and it's shaking. So the questions that are arising in
2:37this hour is with supposed arising of all the things that
2:42we've invented. Is there a need for a compass when there
2:48is no true north? When everybody gets determined where north is.
2:55You know, this side of the church has their north. And there's a few over
2:59here that's got a different north than the people in here. And so everybody thinks
3:04that they've got their own interpretation. And, you know, I'm not saying that the preacher
3:09ought to always be the determining factor for true north, because even though I've given
3:14my life, and when I say true north, I'm talking about truth, okay? I'm talking
3:19about something that you can count on in the storms. Something that when you're lost,
3:25you can at least pull it out of your pocket and say, I'm going to
3:31walk this way. It doesn't matter if there's a roadblock, a storm, a valley, or
3:37a mountain. This is my direction. And so because there's been a lot of people
3:43who have determined that true north has been adjusted according to your life story and
3:49your culture and how you were brought up. Then the question is, is
3:55do we really need a compass? Is there a need for stars when
4:00we are flooded with urban glare and all the stories and static of
4:06governments and institutions are all around telling us what we ought to think?
4:12Is there really a need for stars when the night lights are plenteous
4:17all around us? Back in the old Bible, the Lord likened the
4:23preacher to a watchman. Watchman, what of the night? And the watchman of
4:29old stood as a sentinel, climbed to the highest places that he could
4:35get, and his eyes were ever vigilant against encroaching darkness. They were assigned,
4:41these watchmen, to tell of surprise and subterfuge. They were to report surprise.
4:47on the sneak that was trying to bring in some kind of
4:53storm. And when the night would possibly conceal an enemy's march or
4:58an invader's spear, the watchman was called and commissioned to speak and
5:04say who goes there. Watch out for this. Pay attention to that.
5:10and to discern the difference between friend and foe between peace
5:16and peril they were guardians of the thin line between being
5:21a sovereign person and being a slave and without that watchman
5:27a kingdom could fall into slumber only to awake in chains
5:33And even though that was yesterday's story, the modern day is
5:39not much different than that. The marvels of science have given
5:44us vast arrays of technological sentinels, not men, but machines, sophisticated
5:50scanning systems that peer into the dark with electronic eyes, which
5:56are unblinking and constant. Radar, LIDAR, infrared, infrared, infrared, infrared
6:02that's it thank you infrared and artificial intelligence all have
6:07been designed to stand as guardians to protect to warn
6:13to preserve and preserve the peace uh prevented preventing surprise
6:19to come our way. But on October 7th in Israel, these supposed
6:25sophisticated warning systems failed that nation and the state of the art
6:31scanning systems that were perched on the fences of that country, which
6:36were heralded as impregnable and they failed in their sacred duty.
6:42Cunning of the enemy took advantage of the complacency of
6:48this nation that thought the newest of technological inventions will
6:54certainly protect us. Oh, the systems still were on and
7:00the cameras still collected data. but the interpretations of
7:06the interplay of evil was disregarded. And what was an
7:11abnormal approach in a common attack The tactics were unexpected
7:17and a different form of coordination was employed. And these sophisticated systems
7:23were not adequately configured to counter this moment. There was a redundancy
7:29that was missing in comparing the data. There wasn't this process of
7:35saying, I'm going to do a check and then a recheck and
7:41another check. And this Israel had neglected what I'm calling the cross
7:47check. They had neglected the cross checks. And while that is a true
7:53statement, it is also a symbolic statement. Because the church of the living
7:59God can get so comfortable in our presentation, our praise, and our processes
8:05that we forget that the important way to make it is you need
8:11a cross check pretty regularly. You need to get up underneath the shadow
8:16of Calvary's hill and listen to the sounding of men as they shout crucify
8:22him. crucify the king of the Jews and put him out of us. We don't
8:28like his ways. We don't like his expectations. We don't like his mannerisms. We don't
8:33like the way he's taking our comfortable religion and reforming it to where it's not
8:38a box we can check, but it's a relationship that we've got to have. We
8:44don't appreciate that. Give us the fill out form and let us fill in the
8:48blanks to our religion experience and then call us saved instead of always walking up
8:53and saying, am I really being real with God? Am I am I talking to
8:58him like I should? Am I worshiping him like I should? Am I going about
9:03this process of loving him like I should? And so I come today as a
9:09watchman and the earth is going through a change which is challenging our very notion
9:14of purpose and place. And even though many of us are somewhat frustrated by hearing
9:20about it because it doesn't seem like it's come as it will come. I want
9:26to tell you, ladies and gentlemen, I am called to be a watchman on the
9:32wall in this place. And from the factory to the boardrooms, a change is coming
9:37which will displace millions of people in this America. We will fight displacement and loss
9:43of what we have done for years in the next three years. There will be
9:48such a shock to our systems. And I'm not a prophet of doom. You know
9:54that. But it's not ever going to be stopped. It's the unstoppable advance of what
9:59we call artificial intelligence. It's a change that people get tired of those two words.
10:04They don't want to hear about it, but I'm here to tell you, I know
10:10at least enough to tell you, we are going to be messed up in the
10:15next three to five years in ways we cannot even imagine. And when it breaks
10:20out, it's not going back. We're going to encounter humanoid robots that are going to
10:25blow your mind. And people like the Luddites are going to be angry at them,
10:30suspicious of them, and try to stop them. But it's going to be as the
10:34Industrial Revolution was unstoppable. Men would go in and turn over the factories and break
10:39up the machines and say, we will stop it and keep life as we know
10:44it. But this will not be stopped. It's unstoppable. So what does the watchman on
10:50the wall who's tiptoeing into the dark have to tell you? I will tell
10:56you I don't have all the answers. I don't know what will occur when
11:01we are displaced by machines and by all of these processes. I believe there
11:07will be an outbreak of fresh jobs we're not knowledgeable of. I believe that men
11:13with humanity will always have processes. I believe there will still be a place to
11:18work at Starbucks. The only person there might be the person at the window. They
11:24may only hire people to interact with people so that there is that personal touch.
11:29But there is going to be a change in the next three to five years
11:34that's going to blow our mind and mark my words mark this tape it's happening
11:40and it's unstoppable and drivers will be displaced and people who work will be displaced
11:45and jobs will be called out and we'll all try to say what's going on
11:50and and when humanity's creativity and decision making and empathy is mimicked
11:56by machines, we're gonna try to have to figure out what is
12:02our place in this world. But a world devoid of conscience with just cold lost
12:08logic and programmed morality will never take the place of humanity's place in this world.
12:13You will always be valuable. You will always be needed. You may not know what
12:19tomorrow is going to look like. Our children, I don't want to put dread on
12:24you. I want to get you up on your tiptoes and say tomorrow is going
12:29to be filled with the glory of the Lord. The latter day is going to
12:35be greater than the former days. There's going to be an awesome expression of might
12:41and strength of the goodness of God that men have never seen. But it will
12:47not look like it looks right now. And our answer for this is in the
12:52word. I don't know how it will unpack, but I will stress and strain over
12:58this precious book. Because this book has already anticipated things we haven't even thought
13:04of. And when you want to know how to handle tomorrow's chaos, look in today's
13:10order. Because this word has the wisdom of the eternities packed into it. And
13:16it has a place in this world for man with a soul. A robot will
13:21never have a soul. That will never have a soul. AI will never have a
13:26soul. Men will pay thousands of dollars to sit and watch two men play chess.
13:31But nobody will clock in to watch two computers play chess. And even though the
13:37computers can play chess a lot better than the men, I've come to proclaim to
13:42you, we still will need each other. We're going to need each other more than
13:48we've ever needed each other before. More than ever before. And so the
13:53answer I'm proposing that is just an overarching response to this potential chaos
13:59that I've presented is the Bible said in our text that the Lord
14:05said in the last days, I'm going to rebuild the tabernacle of days.
14:10When you pull that up in other editions, tabernacle is too big of
14:16a word. For what David had even though it's been put in that form.
14:22It's really the tent of David it is that the Prophet said quoting James was
14:27the one preaching in our text and he said a righteous remnant would seek the
14:33Lord those Who were called by the name of the Lord when you look through
14:39the Old Testament all the different a tabernacles or meeting places of God. That was
14:45the first thing he had Moses construct when he came out of the wilderness. I
14:50mean, out of the through the Red Sea was you get me a tabernacle and
14:55those that are wise and wise hearted and of a willing spirit, they will give
15:00and you'll build me a house. And what an amazing construction it is. I could
15:05take ten weeks and teach on God's building of his tabernacle. But But ultimately we
15:10call it the tabernacle of Moses. But scripturally it is often referred to as the
15:16tabernacle of the congregation. In other words, it was never about one man in God's
15:22house. It was always about the people. Of God. It was the tabernacle of
15:28congregation. Theologians have tagged it the tabernacle of Moses. And occasionally in the scripture it's
15:34referred to as the tabernacle of Moses. But just as often you Bible readers know
15:39it. It says the tabernacle of the meeting place. Or the tabernacle of congregation.
15:45congregation it was the place where God said you can now have access to me
15:51what was in the garden was torn by sin but I'm gonna build a Shekinah
15:56place for my presence to dwell and I'm gonna give you a protocol whereby you
16:02can know that I'll meet you there and they put it together this dwelling place
16:08of God along came the tabernacle of David which was put together it was a
16:13tenth more or less it was just with one ingredient from the tabernacle in it
16:19David wanted the Ark of the Covenant and so as king he went down and
16:25got the Ark of the Covenant and brought it up to Jerusalem and I won't
16:30take the time to tell you that story study it out but he got that
16:36Ark of Ark of the Covenant to Jerusalem and he set it up as
16:42a tent. That's all it was. But in this tent it was different.
16:47After that Solomon took the grandeur of his daddy's proceedings and preparations and
16:53built Solomon's temple. Then there was the influx of Babylonian power and they
16:59were exiled out of that land. Solomon's temple was devastated. And so Zerubbabel
17:05with the the power of Nehemiah and Ezra constructed another tabernacle, a temple
17:11for the Lord, the temple of Zerubbabel after the Babylonian exile. And
17:16then after that, the final place of this official status driven house
17:22where God would meet mankind was known as Herod's temple. And And Herod
17:27took it and expanded the temple of Zerubbabel many fold to make it one
17:33of the most extravagant places in the whole world. In fact, in that modern
17:39ancient period, not modern ancient, that ancient period, there was no flat place in
17:45all the world as large as the place round about. the temple of
17:50Herod. And of course, structure. It was where God would meet them. What
17:56was significant about this tabernacle of David that God said, I'm going to
18:02rebuild it. He could have said, I'm going to reestablish Moses. Or I could have
18:08said, I'm going to reestablish Zerubbabel. I appreciate what Ezra and Nehemiah. I'm going to
18:14establish Solomon. We all would want to see that. It took the breath of the
18:19queen of Sheba away from her. But God didn't respond by saying, I'm going to
18:25reestablish. What is remarkable about David's tent? that the Lord said in that last day,
18:30here's what I'm going to restore so that a remnant, a righteous remnant would
18:36always have a place to be. What is it in God's God's all knowing that
18:42he tiptoed into our world of artificial intelligence and he said men won't be needing
18:48buildings and walls and courtyards of extravagance they're going to need something better than that
18:54and I'm not going to take them back to Solomon's temple or Herod's temple or
19:00Zerubbabel's temple or even Moses' tabernacle I'm going to do something that is surprising I'm
19:06going to take David's tent and I'm going to rebuild it. What was significant about
19:11that? It wasn't the walls. It wasn't the halls. It wasn't the courtyards. The only
19:17thing that was significant about David's tent is that it was the center of a
19:23new form of worship that focused on praise and music rather than animal sacrifices. It
19:29was not intended to replace the tabernacle of Moses, which even when David's tent was
19:35having worship sung in it. Moses' tabernacle was still operational in Gibeon.
19:40In fact, when Solomon was about to introduce this brand new temple,
19:46he went down to Gibeon and the Bible said there at the
19:52brazen altar in Gibeon, he sacrificed a thousand burnt offerings in 2
19:58Chronicles 1. So they're still sacrificing in Gibeon, but David, while he's left
20:04the brazen labor and the brazen altar and the table of showbread and the altar
20:09of incense and the golden candlesticks, he's left all that there. He got that Ark
20:14of the Covenant and walked it up to Jerusalem, put it in a simple tent.
20:19But what he didn't put around it, what he put around it wasn't simple. It
20:24wasn't gold. It wasn't grand purples and scarlets and the
20:29tapestry of a hanging cloth of veil. No. What he
20:35covered around that, he went and handpicked three special gifted
20:40men of prophecy and wisdom. who were very talented in singing and
20:46in playing and he assigned to them 288 singers and musicians so that
20:52there would be 12 every hour that would walk around that part of
20:58the covenant and it wouldn't be covered with walls of gold and tapestries
21:04of a braided veil no what it would be covered is the
21:09song of forgiven people. The song of people with aches and pains and hurts.
21:15But the Bible wouldn't call it a song, nor would He call it a
21:21worship. The Bible said it was prophecy. In other words, they would play and
21:26God called it prophecy. They would sing and God called it prophecy. And when
21:32He saw that, He said in the last days, Seeing ahead of what you and
21:37I thought the end would look like. When men may not even have to work.
21:41When men may not even work and find their self-worth in their job. Things that
21:47are coming in closer than you think it is. God already had an answer. Finding
21:52purpose. And he said, I'll tell you what will hold them in that last day.
21:57You put praise and worship in humanity. And you let my house be a house
22:02of song and singing and worship. And I won't call it singing and worship but
22:08it'll be prophecy that I'm gonna reestablish at the last days and there in
22:14this time James quit prophet Amos in Acts 15 and said that in the
22:20last days a righteous remnant will come and rebuild the tabernacle of David
22:26and they'll gather around my presence and they'll sing and they'll dance and they'll
22:32play and I'll call it prophecy and I don't need gold. I don't need
22:38halls and walls. I don't need buildings. buildings towering high but if I
22:43can get my people which are called by my name which
22:49will come and bring their broken song and their broken march
22:55and their hurting hearts and if they'll offer up a song
23:01of praise I'll call it prophecy. Seems crazy that there would
23:06be a place to praise in that hour that did not
23:12involve an altar. Did David think That there could be a different
23:18kind of sacrifice in an hour where there was no slain lamb. It was
23:24because David through prophetic eyes looked down the long lineage of his children and
23:30saw Saw a lamb that would take away the sins of the world and there
23:35would be no need for a sacrifice There would only be a need for people
23:40who love the lamb People who couldn't get enough of being in the presence of
23:46the lamb and when they brought their presence to the lamb They had a whistle
23:52that could not be stopped. Yeah whistle listen brother Marty I don't don't mean to
23:57call you out, but you might be one of the most gifted whistlers in
24:03in this church brother Marty when I went to work
24:09with him years ago he couldn't stop himself hardly he'd
24:14start whistling and it just whipped out now we haven't
24:20been able to get him to sing a solo yet
24:25brother Marty have you got a solo on your heart
24:31you don't have that Italian baritone come on machismo marisimo
24:37come on I don't even know what I just said
24:42mancini but it doesn't matter the sound, the matter
24:48is, is it a joyful noise? And so with that,
24:54I'm inviting my wife to come forward and to share
25:00her vision with what we're going to do from January
25:06the 31st through February the 1st. We're going to be,
25:11we have a 24-hour worship chain. You've heard of 24-hour
25:17prayer chain. We have a 24-hour worship chain here at
25:23the church. starting at 6 p.m. on January 31st and ending
25:29at 6 p.m. on February 1st. Did I get that right? Okay,
25:35sorry. My mind's a little... And pastor's been preaching on it. This
25:41is our moment to come into this house. It's going to be
25:47done here at the church. And as we sing and as we
25:52worship the Lord, we are prophesying. And, you know... I think
25:58about the mighty sound that's in heaven right now. And now my father-in-law's voice
26:04has joined it. Boy, he can blow that trombone up there, I tell you.
26:10I bet that's one of the first things he grabbed when he got there.
26:16But it's a loud sound. Do you think heaven is quiet? Do you think
26:22there's just people up there sitting on clouds playing harps? Like the little movie,
26:28"All Dogs Go to Heaven." No, it's a loud, beautiful sound. And
26:33the scripture talks about the four creatures that are around the
26:39throne room day and night, night and day, in Revelation and
26:45also in Isaiah. And the only thing they do non-stop is
26:51worship. And they say, "Holy, holy, holy, holy, holy." You think
26:57they're saying anything greater or better? No, that's just all they
27:03need to say. And they don't do so out of obligation.
27:09They do so from a place of revelation. When you've been presented with the most
27:15beautiful sight of God's attributes and who he is and you get just the tiny
27:20glimpse of who he is in light of who you are, the only response is
27:26worship. You cannot command somebody to worship. It has to be something that starts from
27:31the inside. I can command somebody to get in a posture of worship, but I
27:37don't know what their heart is saying. But when you get into His
27:43presence, His manifest presence, now I know the omnipresence of God is everywhere and you
27:48can be unaware of His omnipresence, but you cannot be unaware of His manifest presence.
27:54That's the only way that you are able to see Him is when you realize
28:01I think he's here. Something's shifted in this atmosphere. So our opportunity to come for
28:07the 24-hour of worship, I've got a few time slots open. I'm working on that.
28:12But I've called on several people and different ones, and it's going to be their
28:18offering of worship. And we are going to start at 6 o'clock. I don't have
28:23that slot filled just yet. I'm waiting on the Lord to tell me what to
28:29do. But 7 o'clock and 8 o'clock, we're going to just have a free-for-all with
28:34those who can from the praise team and the band to be here, and we're
28:39just going to flow. And after that, it's going to be individuals taking up throughout
28:44the night. I do have 3 o'clock open because Pastor took it. It looks like
28:48he might not be able to do it, be there for it. He's going to
28:53take a slot later on Saturday during the day. I do have 3 o'clock open.
29:00I do have three o'clock open. So we invite you all to participate. And by
29:06that, I don't mean come and listen. You don't even have to come up here
29:11to the church. There may be moments where some individuals are taking certain time slots
29:17hoping that nobody shows up because they want to have their own offering of worship
29:23between them and the Lord. Yeah, all of our singers will be having a part
29:29somehow. So... We just want it to be a sweet offering to the Lord. And
29:35I tell you what, I want revelation to happen with me. I want to catch
29:40another glimpse of my beloved. I want to see him in all his glory. Lord,
29:46can I just see you? I want to see you because it changes you. When
29:51you get a glimpse of the Lord, it changes you. You're never the same. I
29:57don't want to be the same. I want Him to work on me, but I
30:01want to see the beauty of His glory. That's one of my favorite scriptures. I
30:05quote it often in Psalm 27:4, "This one thing I do, and that will I
30:10seek, that I may dwell in the presence of the Lord all the days of
30:14my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord and to meditate in His temple
30:18or inquire in His temple." We're going to do that for the 24 hours. We
30:22will have a sign-up sheet so everybody will know when they come in um i
30:28will give instructions to those who are going to be participating and i'm going to
30:34set up a couple worship stations so you can have some promptings and um
30:39If you have signed up for any of the Bible reading during
30:45those hours, we're going to have that being done in the lobby.
30:51So anytime you come in, you'll be hit with the word of
30:56God. You come in here and be hit with the worship of
31:02his people. So participate with us and pray for all of us
31:08who are endeavoring to fulfill this 24-hour shift. God bless you. So
31:13I want to make sure that that you know, obviously, 24
31:19is a lot less than the people here. So my wife has
31:24chosen some people, but we do have some open slots for somebody
31:30that might surprise us that has a song or a desire to
31:35worship for one entire hour. Mine, I've already told you what I'm
31:41doing. I've got all kinds of special people to play for me.
31:47because I went to YouTube and I downloaded these tracks of superstars playing songs
31:53that I like. And so we will let them play behind me while I
31:58sing. And it's not for me to be putting on a show. In fact,
32:04that was the thing that my wife was accentuating, is that we're not doing
32:10this for a performance. This is a presentation. If nobody comes, this is
32:15not saying, oh, let's come all sit in the church and watch them do
32:21this for us. No, it's not about anybody sitting here. The individual is only
32:27to the Lord. So if you happen to come, you need to act like
32:33you're not in the room. No interaction with them. No talking to them. You
32:39let them only talk to God because this is only worship unto the Lord.
32:45And if you do have, maybe there's an amazing harmonica player in here that we
32:50don't know about. But it's not just singing. It's also an instrument. If you play
32:55an instrument and it's something that could be a part of this, please let my
33:00wife know. We know that all the musicians that we know about are not on
33:05this platform. Some of y'all are hidden in the house. But unto the Lord, let
33:10this happen. I'm going to close, but I'm telling you in the last days, when
33:16people are trying to find their self-worth because of all the technological changes that
33:22have occurred, I am convinced that the place of God's church is going to
33:28become the destination for people who are finding themselves and they're going to come
33:33and commune with people. Because you don't, listen, a robot won't commune with you.
33:39It talks to you. I know some people sit around and talk to Siri.
33:45I know, and Siri's terrible. She doesn't even know how to talk very good. These
33:51new AIs are brilliant in their conversation. In fact, I was talking to my son
33:57the other day, and he said, Dad, I had an entire debate with Chet GPT
34:03about how to work out and get my body right. And Scarlett said, oh, that's
34:09nothing. I had a oneness trinity debate with Chet GPT yesterday. And to
34:14see how it could end out. And she said that lasted over
34:20an hour, I think. Just going back and forth with Chet TPT
34:26about a debate over the oneness of God. What is this? It's
34:32tomorrow. It's really today. And as a people, this church has got
34:38to understand. We're going to make it through by worship. Worship is
34:44going to become our refuge. It will be our personal rebellion
34:50against all that is artificial. I appreciate what all the artificial can
34:56bring. I've never been a Luddite that denied science, advancement, and technology.
35:02But I will never let something that has no soul take the
35:08place of those that have souls. We all are going to have
35:13happen to us. What happened to my daddy yesterday? And there is no
35:19machine that has resolved the death quandary. There is no rocket in space or trip
35:25to Mars that's going to resolve the fact that all have sinned and fallen short
35:31of the glory of God and all will die and go to the judgment and
35:37all will not be finished on the day you die. Everybody's going somewhere. You
35:43have a soul and the moment you lived was born. It was the
35:49moment that you became a living soul and God breathed into you the
35:55breath of life and the church is going to bridge the chasm between
36:01flesh and spirit and flesh interacts with life. artificial intelligence and flesh interacts
36:06with science but flesh does not respond to the song of
36:12the soul love cannot be configured into some code of computer
36:18writing no rhyme and rhythm can be matched by artificial intelligence
36:23but what will bind us is not computer code but the song
36:29of the soul it will bridge all the differences all the computers
36:35can calculate and simulate but they cannot res uh replace the soul
36:41that needs to fly that soul that needs redemption the soul sir
36:47sir stirring heart tugging worship that comes out when you get in
36:52the presence of men Mankind, humankind, womankind will always
36:58want people. Ordinary people. People that have size
37:04and song. God is not in trouble with
37:09whatever's coming. I know I've set some teeth
37:14on edge with my continual talk about this
37:20artificial intelligence stuff. But I'm not trying to
37:25impress you with science. I'm trying to prepare
37:31you for what our kids are going to
37:36deal with. And I refuse to look at my grandkids with dread and say,
37:42oh, what's this world going to be? No, I'll tell you what it's going to
37:47be. It's going to be run by God. God is not in trouble. As long
37:52as God wants there to be a church on the earth, there's going to be
37:57a church on the earth. And when he decides it's over, he's going to say,
38:02come up hither. And everybody that's ever been buried in his name and called by
38:08his name, by his name the righteous remnant that residue of men that are going
38:13to seek righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Ghost those people are going
38:19to be gathered around the throne and on that day I want to say hello
38:25to my daddy and goodbye world goodbye it'll never be the same again no more
38:31I said never be the same again no more Shall we
38:37stand all across this building? I'm not what I could have been. I'm
38:42not what I used to be. But I'm also not right now what
38:48I'm about to be. Because I'm about to be closer. I'm about to
38:54be nearer. I'm about to be more in love with Jesus than I've
38:59ever been before. By day, we walk this way. Ah, I love him.
39:05Don't you love him? I love him. I love him.
39:11A little boy once said, he misquoted Psalm 23. He
39:16said, the Lord is my shepherd and that's all I
39:22want. If you haven't received the Holy Ghost with the
39:28evidence of speaking with other tongues, everybody that's a part
39:33of this church feels that press in them. It doesn't
39:39go away once you get it. You're still pressed to get into
39:45his presence and have that supernatural encounter where you speak a language that men did
39:50not give you and computers did not concoct for you. It's a holy utterance that
39:55the Bible said would come out of you like a spring of living water out
40:00of your innermost being. would come rivers of living water what is that real water
40:05no he said this spake he of the spirit which was not yet given you
40:10say but there were a lot of people in the Old Testament the Bible said
40:15they had the spirit yeah they had the spirit but it wasn't the Holy Spirit
40:20of visitation that was to live in you it was a Holy Spirit of visitation
40:25that would visit you but Depart and when you get the Holy Ghost now no
40:30longer is it a visitation like it did those in the Bible day now it
40:35lives in you to where the New Testament says Christ in you the hope All
40:41of the angels stand on their tiptoes. One Christ in you. All of the cherubim
40:46look down at you and say, Christ is about to go in them. Not just
40:51around them. Not just over, under, and on the left, on the right. In front
40:56and in back. No, in them. The Holy Ghost. How do you get it? You
41:02get it because you forget about yourself. You concentrate on His presence. You get in
41:07the Spirit. You say, give me computer code and I'll figure it out. I can't.
41:11You got to go to the world for that. No, it's spiritual transaction You've got
41:16to get in there and close your eyes and every distraction that's around you that
41:21would keep you from praying That would keep you from worshiping that would distract you
41:26from thinking about a hope that's beyond this world You got to press it out
41:31and you got to say Lord come in come in I want to be yours
41:36everything I've got everything I have and Everything I'm not, I'm yours, Lord. Try me
41:42now. Look inside me. Let me stand in your presence. And as you
41:47begin to praise him, you'll feel a spirit come upon you. Tears might
41:53flow or a smile might creep up. Something... It's gonna happen to you. It
41:59could be chill bumps. It could be a trembling hand But something's gonna happen to
42:04you that it's not the same for anybody except one regard The Bible said and
42:10when they received the Holy Ghost they began to speak in other tongues as the
42:16Spirit gave the utterance it's for me it's for you it's for your children and
42:21and their children too. It's something that nothing else can do. It's with that
42:27I'm opening the altar for a season of worship today. Why don't you come
42:33and worship Him a little while? And why don't you get in His presence
42:39and let Him love you a little while? O barren, thou that didst not
42:45bear, sing, O broken, sing, filled person, sing, you have a lamb. The mercies
42:50are due. That's it. Make room. Make room. Come