A CHURCH OF INFLUENCE
Pastor Hollis Moore
Part 2- Hosting the Presence
As a church, we are after heaven on earth. We are in pursuit of seeing the kingdom of God manifested in everything we do. (Pastor Mark)
What does heaven on earth look like? Tabernacle of David.
The Tabernacle of David?
1 Chronicles 16
-33 years of day and night worship around the ark in the tabernacle.
Full time, skilled worshippers
288 singers
4,000 musicians
4,000 gatekeepers (employees…. Admin, sound tech, maintenance, security, etc.…)
1 Billion US Dollars a year = 33 Billion dollars spent into hosting the presence of God
David wanted Israel to be a nation that hosted the presence of God
Psalm 22:3 (ESV) – Yet you are holy, enthroned on the praises[a] of Israel.
Value the Presence
2 Samuel 6:3-10 (ESV) – King David’s First Attempt to carry the Ark
And they carried the ark of God on a new cart and brought it out of the house of Abinadab, which was on the hill. And Uzzah and Ahio,[a] the sons of Abinadab, were driving the new cart,4 with the ark of God,[b] and Ahio went before the ark.5 And David and all the house of Israel were celebrating before the Lord, with songs[c] and lyres and harps and tambourines and castanets and cymbals. 6 And when they came to the threshing floor of Nacon, Uzzah put out his hand to the ark of God and took hold of it, for the oxen stumbled. 7 And the anger of the Lord was kindled against Uzzah, and God struck him down there because of his error, and he died there beside the ark of God. 8 And David was angry because the Lord had broken out against Uzzah. And that place is called Perez-uzzah[d]to this day. 9 And David was afraid of the Lord that day, and he said, “How can the ark of the Lord come to me?” 10 So David was not willing to take the ark of the Lord into the city of David. But David took it aside to the house of Obed-edom the Gittite.
We can’t allow the presence of God to become common in our lives
The name Philistine means of dirt or of flesh
Only the priests were meant to carry the presence of God. We cannot move in the presence of God while using the methods of the flesh. When you mix the flesh with the spirit, the flesh will always die.
2 Samuel 6:11-15 (ESV) – King David’s Second Attempt to carry the Ark
11 And the ark of the Lordremained in the house of Obed-edom the Gittite three months, and the Lord blessed Obed-edom and all his household.12 And it was told King David, “The Lord has blessed the household of Obed-edom and all that belongs to him, because of the ark of God.” So, David went and brought up the ark of God from the house of Obed-edom to the city of David with rejoicing. 13 And when those who bore the ark of the Lord had gone six steps, he sacrificed an ox and a fattened animal. 14 And David danced before the Lord with all his might. And David was wearing a linen ephod. 15 So David and all the house of Israel brought up the ark of the Lord with shouting and with the sound of the horn.
Psalm 24 (ESV)–written while bring back the Ark
The earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof,[a]
the world and those who dwell therein,
2 for he has founded it upon the seas
and established it upon the rivers.
3 Who shall ascend the hill of the Lord?
And who shall stand in his holy place?
4 He who has clean hands and a pure heart,
who does not lift up his soul to what is false
and does not swear deceitfully.
5 He will receive blessing from the Lord
and righteousness from the God of his salvation.
6 Such is the generation of those who seek him,
who seek the face of the God of Jacob.[b] Selah
David takes off his robe – When a city had been overthrown, the conquerors would take the king of that city out the city gates and remove their robe as a sign of victory
7 Lift up your heads, O gates!
And be lifted up, O ancient doors,
that the King of glory may come in.
8 Who is this King of glory?
The Lord, strong and mighty,
the Lord, mighty in battle!
9 Lift up your heads, O gates!
And lift them up, O ancient doors,
that the King of glory may come in.
10 Who is this King of glory?
The Lord of hosts,
he is the King of glory! Selah
David was boldly proclaiming that Israel had been conquered by the King of Glory
From there, King David placed the presence of God in a tabernacle and assigned nonstop worship around the ark
Social Transformation
The 33 years that the tabernacle of David was hosting 24-hour worship (hosting the presence of God) was known as The Golden Age of Israel which was the greatest political expansion Israel had ever seen as well as the greatest geographical expansion and they enjoyed peace from war with their enemies
2 Samuel 7:1(ESV) – Now when the king lived in his house and the Lord had given him rest from all his surrounding enemies,
1 Chronicles 11:9 – David became more and more powerful because the Lord was with Him
1 Kings 4:24-25 (ESV) – For he had dominion over all the region west of the Euphrates[a] from Tiphsah to Gaza, over all the kings west of the Euphrates. And he had peace on all sides around him. 25 And Judah and Israel lived in safety, from Dan even to Beersheba, every man under his vine and under his fig tree, all the days of Solomon.
Israel saw such great influence because they hosted the presence of God.
They were seeing on earth the reality of heaven
Day and night worship isn’t the goal. The goal is cities influenced by God’s presence. God wants to use our worship to transform society
Matthew 6:9 – Lord’s Prayer
If you want what heaven has, then you have to do what heaven does.
As they hosted the presence of God day and night, they saw the establishment of God’s kingdom and the release of His kingdom throughout the land.
David’s One Thing
Why was the tabernacle built?
- Divine revelation of how God’s Kingdom operates
- It was an outward manifestation of an inward reality of David’s heart
Psalm 27:4 (ESV) David’s One Thing– (David hiding from Saul for his life in the wilderness)
One thing have I asked of the Lord,
that will I seek after:
that I may dwell in the house of the Lord
all the days of my life,
to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord
and to inquire[c] in his temple.
Before there could be a tabernacle of David in the city of David, there had to be a tabernacle of David in the heart of David
It’s the presence of God that makes us influential
*Communion- For 33 years, Jesus modeled the Tabernacle of David by showing us what life looks like to house the presence of God with our lives. It looks like healing the sick and raising the dead. It looks like changing culture and shifting paradigms. It looks like ushering in the Kingdom of God. It looks like real, heaven on earth, influence.