Keeping_Charge_of_My_Sanctuary_Preach_08_13_05_Dave_Sliker.doc

Forerunner Christian Fellowship – David Sliker             

Keeping Charge of My Sanctuary – Ezekiel 44:15              Page 12

“Keeping Charge of His Sanctuary” – Invitation to Zeal for His House

“But the priests, the Levites, the sons of Zadok, who kept charge of My sanctuary when the children of Israel went astray from Me, they shall come near to Me; and they shall stand before Me…” Ezekiel 44:15

I.                   three critical end of the age mandates:

A.                 The mandate from heaven to build “24/7 prayer in the spirit of the Tabernacle of David” – prophetic singers:

“Sing to the Lord a new song, and His praise to the ends of the earth…let them give glory to the Lord, and declare His praise to the coastlands.  The Lord shall go forth like a mighty man of war.  He shall cry out, yes, shout aloud; He shall prevail against His enemies.” (Is. 42:10-13)

"And they sang a new song, saying: "You are worthy to take the scroll, and to open its seals; for You were slain, and have redeemed us to God by Your blood out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation," (Revelation 5:9)

“And I heard the sound of harpists playing their harps.  They sang as it were a new song before the throne….” (Rev. 14:2-3)

"They sing the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying: "Great and marvelous are Your works (judgments or activity of Your leadership), lord God Almighty! Just and true are Your ways, O King of the saints…For all nations shall come and worship before You, for Your judgments have been manifested." (Revelation 15:3-4)

1. 1. 1. The prophetic song is one of God’s most powerful weapons He utilizes to release His power on the earth, particularly in the end of the age.  The power is not found in the song itself, but these songs are a powerful means of knitting us with the heart of God and then facilitating  a dynamic unity in the hearts of believers. 
      2. The key feature of the new song at the end of the age to understand is that believers are standing in unity with the heart of God, singing in agreement about Him as a judge preparing to loose judgments.  This is profound – the end-time church is led by prophetic singers (in concert with the Holy Spirit) to sing about the coming judgments of the Lord in full agreement with His methodology and leadership.  “We agree with who you are, O Judge of the earth!”
      3. Anointed prophetic singers trained in sensitivity to the Holy Spirit and skilled in engaging a body of believers with boldness is a critical to usher in a new level of union with the heart of God and the people of God, which is directly related to a release of new levels of power to usher in the Great Harvest of souls at the end of the age.

B.                 The mandate to call forth and provide a context for Annas – prophetic intercessors:

“Now when He had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each having a harp, and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints.” (Rev. 5:8)

When He (Jesus) opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar (golden altar of incense) the souls of those who had been slain for the word of God...10 And they (End-Time martyrs) cried with a loud voice, saying, "How long, O Lord, holy and true, until You judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?" 11 Then a white robe was given to each of them; and it was said to them that they should rest a little while longer, until both the number of their fellow servants and their brethren, who would be killed as they were, was completed. (Rev. 6:9-11)

“Then another angel, having a golden censer, came and stood at the altar.  He was given much incense, that he should offer it with the prayers of all the saints upon the golden altar which was before the throne.” (Rev. 8:3)

1. 1. 1. The Book of Revelation gives us a stunning picture of the dynamic relationship between the intercession of the end-time church and the release of the judgments of God.  There is a clear picture throughout the book of agreement in heaven and on earth as the purified, mature Bride interacts with the heavenly realm and a God stirred in His zeal to judge wickedness and reveal His delight in righteousness.  Daniel gives us another picture of an intercessor who has an incredible impact in the heavens and on the earth as empires shift overnight in response to His prayer.
      2. The interplay of the prophetic church participating in the government of God and His judgments through intercession in the ultimate concert of prayer is vital for us to understand if we want to grasp the critical role of the Bride on the earth at the end of the age.  The heavens shift and angels move in response to an anointed Bride united with the heart of Jesus partnering with Him to release judgment through prayer. “We agree with what You want to do, O judge of the earth!”
      3. Anointed Annas empowered to move into their place in the government of God now and throughout eternity is vital in the early stages of a growing, maturing prayer movement that will establish the identity of the church as the House of Prayer for all nations (Is. 56:7; Mt. 21:13); it will be a central reality in the age to come as the primary governing strategy of Jesus as He interacts with both heavenly and earthly realms simultaneously.

C.                 The mandate to cultivate and nurture end-time prophetic messengers:

“Surely the Lord God does nothing, unless He reveals His secret to His servants the prophets.” (Amos 3:7)

“And those of the people who understand shall instruct many….” (Dan. 11:33)

“The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.  But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night…Therefore, since all these things will be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, 12 looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God…?” (2 Pet. 3:9-12)

1. 1. 1. There is a great eschatological storm coming, which Jesus emphatically states will be the most extreme time in history (Mt. 24:21), which if it was not cut short would see no flesh surviving (v.22).  During this Great Tribulation and the final years of this age the church will experience a great “falling away” from the faith (2 Thess. 2:3) in which many will be greatly offended (Mt. 24:10) with a God they do not know, understand, or agree with.  The great question of the hour regarding the “great and very terrible Day of the Lord” is “who can endure it?” (Joel 2:11)
      2. The Lord is fiercely committed to preparing His Bride for the hour that is coming to the earth.  According to Peter, He is not willing at all that any should perish (fall away into apostasy and angry rejection of His leadership) – His ultimate desire is that all (the end-time church, particularly the half-hearted and lukewarm) should come to repentance (the full “turning” of Joel 2:12 into agreement and delight in His ways while rejecting the Spirit of the Age).
      3. One of His primary vehicles to prepare His Bride for the darkest hours of history is the prophetic messenger.  The proclamation ministries in the years to come are vital to move the body of Christ into her full identity before God as equally yoked.  The various expressions include the initial invitation into the knowledge of God to experience His affections and emotions (evangelists) to the unfolding of the Word that imparts deeper truths and understanding of His heart (teachers), or the proclamation of His desires and intentions to provoke and stir hunger (prophets / preachers) and the guiding and nurturing of the Bride into purity and obedience, keeping her on course (pastors).  “We proclaim who you are and what You want to do, O judge of the earth!”
      4. The prophetic church will move in the highest degree of authority and unity at the end of the age while functioning as a witness to the nations, delivering the gospel of the kingdom with great signs and wonders in the heavens and on the earth (particularly through the seal and trumpet judgments).  These proclamations will serve to warn the nations of the reality of coming wrath and provide context for what is happening and why, revealing God’s mercy and desire for repentance in the midst of these great judgments.  This witness to the nations through the gospel of the kingdom (proclaiming the reality of the coming King who will rule the earth with true justice) is just as vital today as it will be in hour to come.  God is working faithfully through the unfolding of these end-time events to both see a Bride prepared and unshakable as well as the nations won over to His leadership through revival.

II.                God’s fierce zeal for integrity and authenticity in the message

“For this reason we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God…”(Col. 1:9-10)

“I thank my God always concerning you for the grace of God which was given to you by Christ Jesus, that you were enriched in everything by Him in all utterance and all knowledge, even as the testimony of Christ was confirmed in you, so that you come short in no gift, eagerly waiting for the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ, who will also confirm you to the end, that you may be blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.” (1 Cor. 1:4-8)

“Now therefore,’ says the Lord, ‘turn to me with all your heart’…who knows if He will turn and relent, and leave a blessing behind Him...?” (Joel 2:12-14)

A.                 Our role in this massive end-time drama is to faithfully equip and nurture these three groups in the context of a 24/7 prayer furnace for the hour in which He will use them to greatly influence and prepare the sphere of hearts He sends to this house.  We do not care about the size of our sphere of influence, only that we would be faithful to our little part in what He is orchestrating globally.  We take seriously whatever our assignment is as part of the whole team of the Body of Christ, being careful not to overemphasize or exaggerate that role.

B.                 According to our prophetic history, His plan for this house is to give us a spirit of prayer (“the spirit of grace and supplication” Zech. 12:10) as well as a simultaneous impartation of authority for signs and wonders – “no disease known to man will stand before these people”.  He will give us this according to His promise to the degree we are willing to turn to Him – “to a people without mixture He will give the Spirit without measure”. 

1. 1. 1. The manifestations of revival power are not the fullness of what we are contending for in prayer – they are not an end unto themselves that are for the blessing of our ministry or methodology.  They will undoubtedly happen in many places across the earth and are the strategic means of God to get the attention of the nations so that they can hear the message of His heart regarding the coming of His chosen Anointed, His Son and the urgent need to develop a root system of intimacy with Him (Ps. 2:10-12) before His judgments come and sweep many away. 

C.                 The commitment of the Lord to the message that produces trembling hearts before Him is comprehensive – He has zeal for His messengers to embody the very message they preach to the nations.  The message of the end of the age is about more than carefully crafted words with a little bit of authority – it is about messengers who take the content seriously and respond accordingly with a lifestyle that is inseparably linked to the integrity of the message. 

D.                 It is absolutely vital for the three groups that the Lord is cultivating in this house to lay hold of a lifestyle that reflects the message.  When the ones who God is stirring in the days to come are drawn here by revival signs and wonders, what will they see?  What will they hear?  What will they take with them when they go? 

1. 1. 1. Our integrity and authenticity as a people in lifestyle are vital in seeing those who are sent here leave with more than sermon notes and a neat experience in God.  We, as a people, must endeavor to walk worthy of the calling that He commissioned us with, working to be fully pleasing to Him – increasing in the knowledge of His will (Col. 1:9).
      2. The message of the prophetic messengers is about more than what people hear, but what they see – and what they will in turn do in lifestyle as a response to the message and messenger.  God desires to use both the end of the age prophetic messenger and the prophetic message to cause trembling in hearts and provoke a generation unto wholeheartedness.
      3. The level to which the message is lived out by the messenger is the level to which it will be taken seriously by the hearer.  A messenger fully committed to the message will provoke and challenge even those steadfast in hard-heartedness; when adding the anointing unto trembling and the grace of God impacting the heart of the hearer, as well as signs and wonders that authenticate the message to the hearer you have an intense combination of a fully “unified front” in the spirit assaulting darkness and callousness in man.

E.                  We do not want to reproduce mediocrity, nor do we want to give courage to inauthentic Christianity marked by prayerlessness and busy activity that produces little fruit.  God is continually calling IHOP to “do IHOP” because He longs for an active partnership with human beings in full agreement with His methodology to bring about change and transformation.  It is not enough to have a reputation as a people of prayer with little authenticity, integrity, or follow-through on the values we hold as crucial in the hour we now live. 

1. 1. 1. The dividing line is this: for those that are not IHOP-KC to not feel pressured by this, but to be free in heart to “not be IHOP” and pursue their individual mandate before the Lord.  Those who are called to “be IHOP” to truly do what they have committed before the Lord to do. This is only in regards to those who are a part of the staff of IHOP-KC Missions Base as an intercessory missionary, NOT those who are a part of our broader spiritual family. The prayer room and the ministries that have been birthed out of it are for any to freely enjoy – we are glad for any to come and be refreshed in the atmosphere of night and day prayer.
      2. As a spiritual family we are called along with the Body of Christ to the universal standard of “let your yes be your yes” (Mt. 5:37) if we participate in ministry on the base or make any kind of commitment to one another.  As a staff, we are called to go beyond the fundamental command and give ourselves radically to keep the charge of the sanctuary.

III.             The mandate to the body of christ: let your yes be your yes (mt. 5:37)

“Again you have heard that it was said to those of old, 'You shall not swear falsely, but shall perform your oaths to the Lord.' 34 "But I say to you, do not swear at all: neither by heaven, for it is God's throne; 35 nor by the earth, for it is His footstool; nor by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. 36 Nor shall you swear by your head, because you cannot make one hair white or black. 37 But let your 'Yes' be 'Yes,' and your 'No,' 'No.' For whatever is more than these is from the evil one.”

(Mt. 5:33-37)

"Woe to you, blind guides, who say, 'Whoever swears by the temple, it is nothing; but whoever swears by the gold of the temple, he is obliged to perform it.’ Fools and blind! For which is greater, the gold or the temple that sanctifies the gold? And, 'Whoever swears by the altar, it is nothing; but whoever swears by the gift that is on it, he is obliged to perform it.’ Fools and blind! For which is greater, the gift or the altar that sanctifies the gift? Therefore he who swears by the altar, swears by it and by all things on it. He who swears by the temple, swears by it and by Him who dwells in it. And he who swears by heaven, swears by the throne of God and by Him who sits on it. Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you pay tithe of mint...