A Window Open Toward Jerusalem

This message is one of the Times Square Pulpit series. It was recorded in the sanctuary of Times Square Church in Manhattan, New York City. Other tapes are available by writing to World Challenge PO Box 260, Lindale, TX 75771 or calling 214-963-8626.

None of these messages are copyrighted and you are welcome to make copies for free distribution to your friends. We sometimes forget that he was a president and as I was reading the word this week the Lord ministered to me and I in turn want to minister to you just a simple message tonight from Daniel the 6th chapter. I want to talk to you about an open window toward Jerusalem.

An open window toward Jerusalem and we'll see it here in the 6th chapter of the book of Daniel. I'm reading from the King James. It says, it pleased Darius to set over the kingdom 120 princes which should be over the whole kingdom.

Could we have the monitors down just very slightly, thank you. And over these three presidents of whom Daniel was first that the princes might give account unto them and the king should have no damage. Then said Daniel, then this Daniel was preferred above the presidents and princes because an excellent spirit was in him and the king thought to him, thought to set him over the whole realm.

Then the presidents and the princes sought to find occasion against Daniel concerning the kingdom that they could find none occasion nor fault for as much as he was faithful neither was there any error or fault found in him. Then said these men, we shall not find any occasion against Daniel except we find it against him concerning the law of God. Then these presidents and princes assembled together to the king and said unto him, King Darius live forever.

All the presidents of the kingdom, the governors and the princes and the counselors and the captains have consulted together to establish a royal statute and to make a firm decree that whosoever shall ask a petition of any man, any God or man for 30 days, save of thee O king, he shall be cast into the den of lions. Now O king establish the decree and sign the writing that it be not changed according to the law of the Medes and the Persians which altered not. Wherefore King Darius signed the writing and the decree.

Now when Daniel knew that the writing was signed, when he knew the writing was signed, the law had been passed, he went into his house, he shut his doors and his windows being opened in his chamber toward Jerusalem, he kneeled upon his knees three times a day and prayed and gave thanks before his God as he did aforetime. Then these men assembled and found Daniel praying and making supplication before his God and they went into action. An open window toward Jerusalem.

The book of Daniel is most noted for its prophecies regarding the end of the age. But actually the book of Daniel is in two parts from about chapter 7 through the remaining part of the book deals with the prophecies that came through Daniel but the beginning of the book deals with the man Daniel and his three companions. Now he was not a preacher, he was not an evangelist, and he was not really a prophet in the strictest sense of the word.

He did not for example say thus saith the Lord, he did not prophesy as it was not a prophet in the same vein as was Jeremiah or Isaiah, although he did speak prophetically. But he was a president, he worked in government, he was a lay person, he was a believer working in a secular world. And he is a type of how a Christian ought to live in a Babylonian system.

A little historical background is important to understand the remarkable testimony that Daniel and his three companions or his three friends demonstrated. At the beginning of Israel's 70 year captivity, Daniel and three of his friends were chosen to work in the government. They were taken as it were to the Washington D.C. of the Babylonian Empire and they were put in very important government positions.

Now Daniel might have been chosen because it was believed by the empire, by the Babylonians that he descended from royalty and so they thought it would be good politics to maintain good ties to their captor's royal family. It was also a political decision to bring into government educated foreigners rather than men of their own country, lessening therefore the chance that their own men, their own countrymen would gain too much power and lead a possible political or military overthrow of the government. And there are some presidents that do that today.

They won't trust their own countrymen, they bring them from another country. But whatever reasons Nebuchadnezzar had for having Daniel work in his administration and government, God of course is the one who sets people in whatever place that he wants. Proverbs 16, 9 and 10 says, The mind of man plans his way, but the Lord directs his steps.

A divine decision is in the lips of a king. Or Proverbs 21 and 1 says, The king's heart is in the hand of the Lord. He directs it like a water course wherever he pleases.

And how true this was in Daniel's case. Now what should not be lost sight of at the outset in this regarding Daniel and the fact that he was put in this important government position in wicked Babylon is that God can use a man or a woman, or in Daniel's case he was only a teenager when it began, God can use such a man or woman or youth in a secular job, in a humanistic, secular, Babylonian environment. You know, I see a very dangerous escapism mentality that is creeping into the church today.

Partly it's because of this great flood that David spoke about that's coming against the church and coming against the people of God. But I see an escapism mentality creeping into the church. It's reflected in some of the letters that we get.

So many people want to quit their jobs and they want to go to quote-unquote work for the Lord, but sometimes hidden between the lines is an attitude of wanting to run away from the world or to get away from the pressures of society and the worldly environment on one's job. And most of those writing are looking as much to escape the world as they are wanting to work for the Lord. But I think the problem is even deeper, because there is a false notion in our minds, in the minds of many, that in their job they are only serving mammon and not God.

And they feel that there is no dignity to secular employment and that only true fulfillment comes only if you would go into full-time service for the Lord. I know a man who has labored for many years under guilt for not having gone into the ministry. And the reason for his guilt is because he felt that he could just serve the Lord, he could just please the Lord, he could just win people to the Lord so much easier if he was in the ministry.

And because he had a job working with his hands, he thought that he was a second-class Christian. And he had been taught that only the things of eternity last. And he was told, for example, that missionaries have the highest calling.

I thought that when I was a kid. I did my best when I went to Bible school to get a call overseas. Because I thought that was the pinnacle of success, to be a missionary.

And I had to settle for just being a pastor or something else. But here this brother who didn't feel even called to the ministry. And the result was that it was a belief that God disapproved of his life and his work.

And so he labored under great guilt. But you see men such as Daniel and Joseph and even Amos and Gideon and Apostle Paul the tentmaker give importance and dignity to ordinary everyday working jobs. Jesus worked 18 years in a carpenter shop.

Ephesians 4.28 says, He who has been stealing must steal no more, but must work, doing something useful with his hands that he may have something to share with those in need. Also Ephesians 4.1 it says, Work, walk worthy of this vocation wherewith you are called. In other words when God saved you and you're in a vocation unless it directly is contrary to the will of God.

Paul is saying if you've been saved then walk worthy of the Lord in the vocation in which he saved you. Daniel's proof that it's possible to be used of God anywhere even in high places. And the story of Daniel is fascinating because it reveals, listen to me, it reveals the possibilities of godliness.

Of a man living in godliness in the midst of circumstances of ungodliness. Daniel and his friends were loyal to God even in the land of their captors. And right in the middle of all the enticements of the Babylonian empire in which they had ready access to all of its allurements.

And yet God kept Daniel in the midst of that. Now there is no denying that it is not easy to be an overcomer in a work environment where the language is filthy, the talk is dirty and corrupt. And the work ethic is to get away with as much as possible as you can and get as many benefits as you can at the same time.

A Christian told me one time on his job, they said to me, slow down, slow down, you're making us look bad. I read a report this week, just this week about a certain third world country where the average worker who puts in 8 hours a day actually only works 27 minutes. Works 27 minutes out of an 8 hour day.

And I want to tell you something, America is not far behind. And I think one of the judgments upon America today is that we have lost our work ethic. And as Christians, my friend, God expects us to please him, honor him and to be a witness for him, even working on our job.

Now I'm not getting a lot of amens, but it's the truth nevertheless. When we were in Poland, they told us in Poland, they said we have a thing here in Poland where the government pretends they pay us and we pretend that we work. I read something this week, somebody said people were once so primitive that they did not know how to get money except by working for it.

But you that work in a Babylonian environment need to be encouraged and warned. You see, in such an atmosphere, it's easy to cave in and accommodate yourself to the behavior of the non-Christians surrounding you. And the temptation is to keep up with the Joneses or to act like the regular Joe on the job.

And that's a sure evidence of the fall of the human race. And we need very definite courage to resist and to be godly in the midst of ungodliness and to take a definite positive stand against unrighteousness that surrounds you, even on your job. Now how was it that a young teenager, Daniel, was able to rise to the top of the corporate or government ladder and be successful as a believer in a secular environment? The secret of his power and his position was found as we read in the 10th verse in David's chamber.

David had a place where he went and he shut himself in. And there he had an open window. And I want to talk to you tonight about that open window.

An open window towards Jerusalem. And because of that open window, and what Daniel did at that window three times a day, he had a strength to face the pressures outside that secret closet and those chambers. And when persecution came, as it inevitably will as a result of your moral conviction, he was able to face that as well.

And even including a night in the lion's den, hallelujah. But while he was in that chamber, with that window open to Jerusalem, the angel went and fed those lions angel food, and by the time he got there they were so stuffed that they couldn't do a thing. But that happened because of that open window to Jerusalem.

Now I want you to see what Daniel did when the witness of his faith and his firm stand for righteousness got him into hot water. You see, Daniel's convictions made other people jealous and angry. He refused to play by any other rules but the rule of God.

You see, under the reign of Darius, who had succeeded Nebuchadnezzar, Daniel was made one of three presidents and was made the first president. There were 120 princes that ran the local government and they were under Daniel. Verse 3, I read it again, Then Daniel was preferred above the presidents and princes because an excellent spirit was in him, and the king sought to set him over the whole realm of his kingdom.

You see, as evil as Nebuchadnezzar was, he could recognize an excellent spirit, and it was rewarded in his secular position. And Darius who came followed him, I'm sure he had no allegiance to the past administration, but somehow the reputation of Daniel was spread among the high ranks of government. And because of that it came to his attention and he said, I want that kind of a man running my business, running my government.

Proverbs 22, 29 says, Do you see a man skilled in his work? He will stand before kings, he will stand before obscure men. There's a verse in the Bible that says, A man's gift will make way for itself. That's not only talking about a ministry gift, that's talking about the gifts and callings of God, that's also talking about the character and the gift of Jesus Christ in our life.

We've talked about the rewards of righteousness that we reap in the church, we talk about the rewards that we're going to reap in the world to come, but let's not forget that there are rewards in this life to those that have an excellent spirit. Daniel's spirit was not, not only got him to the top, but it inevitably got him into trouble with his fellow workers. It says, Then the other presidents and princes sought to find occasion against Daniel concerning the kingdom and his work, but they could find none occasion or none fault for as much as he was faithful, neither was there any error or fault found in him.

Wow, what a testimony. What a testimony. I haven't attained it yet, but I want to tell you, if there's anything that I would like to have said about me, is that there is a man who has an excellent, has a right spirit.

But you see, the world hates an excellent spirit. They hate it. And people that you live with or work with, who find none occasion or none fault, are convicted by your behavior.

I told you about the man one time, I don't know why he did this, but it reminded me of a good Christian on a secular job. A man in Detroit, Michigan, who worked on the assembly line, was tired of being called a grease monkey. And so he went to work wearing a white tuxedo.

And they told the story about him, they showed him working on the car, and here he was, he was all clean, and he said, look, I'm no grease monkey. And it reminds me of a Christian, when you let your light shine, when you have an excellent spirit, it's as if you show up on the job with a white tuxedo, and everybody says, who do you think you are? But that's the way it ought to be. If you don't cheat, if you don't cut corners, if you act like everybody else on the job, then you set a standard, or you set a plumb line of righteousness that they might have to live up to, and they're not going to like it.

And you see, the world hates to try to act righteous and be moral when they don't have the Spirit of Christ that produces right living. So they will constantly try to bring you down to their level. And you know how many times you've probably carried guilt away from your job when you have come down to their level and say, oh no, they did it again, they got to me.

But when you let the Spirit of Christ shine through you, yes, you will, you will have what Daniel had. Daniel did not get in trouble because he failed God, but because he pleased God in a secular society. In order to bring Daniel down, they passed a law, no praying to any god for 30 days.

The jealous enemies of Daniel knew that they could not get him to break any of the laws of man. So they decided to really test his faith and try to get him to compromise in his devotion to the Lord. And here's what happened.

It says, all the presidents of the kingdom, the governors, the princes, and the counselors, and the captains consulted together. In other words, they called a secret meeting without telling Daniel. And they got together and said, fellas, we have got to do something.

And they established a decree that whosoever shall ask a petition of any god for 30 days, because they knew, everybody knew about the window. Everybody knew that there was Daniel praying at the window. And so they purposely set all this up.

You see, it must have been that as long as a moral man like Daniel was in charge, those scoundrels couldn't cheat. They couldn't slack off on the job. They couldn't put their fingers in the till.

And so they held a secret cabinet meeting to get rid of Daniel. Boy, this city could sure use some Daniels down at city hall. And so they all got together and came to the king.

And so it says, and Darius signed the writing and the decree. As all, you know, when the president's there, and they're all in Washington, D.C., when the president's there, and he's signing something into law, and he takes a pen and writes a little bit, and so forth. And so here's all these governors.

They all got a little bit of the pen, you know. He signed little by little with different pens. And they all got the pen, and they're all delighted and said, Ah, we've got Daniel now.

We've got Daniel now. We've got his number. But you see, Daniel didn't run.

And he didn't panic. And he didn't say, God, where are you? He didn't try to escape the pressure of the persecution. What did he do? Now, when Daniel knew, and here's the key.

When Daniel knew that the writing was signed, he went to the open windows. He did nothing different when the decree was signed than what he had always done. He didn't do anything different when things didn't go his way than when things were going his way.

You see, Daniel got where he was because he had a practice. He had a habit to go to his house and kneel before an open window facing Jerusalem to show that his help came from Mount Zion and from the Lord. Daniel prayed because he trusted in the Lord.

That's why he got where he was. And he believed that God, who got him his job, could enable him to keep his job, or if not, God had something better for him. Daniel had an excellent spirit before the law against prayer was passed, and he had an excellent spirit after the law was passed.

You see, it's easy to have an excellent spirit when nothing is testing your spirit. But what happens when there are troubles and persecution and false accusation and hatred and so forth that rises up against you? Daniel did, it says, look at verse 10, the very last word in it, last three words. He said, he did as he did aforetime.

Oh, I like that. He did what he always did. Now, I said that to say this to you, all of us tonight need an open window towards Jerusalem in times of blessing, in times of trouble.

Do you go, do you go to that open window towards Jerusalem as Daniel did? The secret to Daniel being an overcomer in a secular society in Babylon. Oh, how many times we've talked about America being Babylon, and this is the capital of Babylon. And people have asked me a number of times, out of town, as minister friends and said, what are you trying to do in New York? What's your goal? Our goal is that in the middle of Babylon, God will give us Daniels and give us the spirit of Daniel and give us people who will take their stand and say, I will not be moved.

Hallelujah. Who will have that place at the open window maintained towards Jerusalem. You see, Daniel's residence was in Babylon.

Ah, but his heart was in Jerusalem. His heart was focused and fixed towards Jerusalem. The city that represented the place where God dwelt.

And Daniel had an eye and a heart to God as his God and as a covenant keeping God. And in spite, even before this decree happened, in spite of all of his government position and pressures and job related responsibilities, Daniel made time to go to his secret place of prayer. The open window towards Jerusalem, which by the way, was probably 500 miles.

Jerusalem was 500 miles away or more. But you see, that open window was a sign that Daniel looked to the Lord for his strength. And he knelt and prayed because Daniel knew that he could see farther on his knees than he could on his tiptoes.

Perhaps Psalms 84 describes Daniel's feelings. Don't turn there, but it said, How lovely are thy dwelling places, O Lord of hosts! My soul longed and even yearned for the courts of the Lord. My heart and my flesh sing for joy to the living God.

You see, the open window towards Jerusalem is a testimony of an open heart towards the living God. And although Daniel could not be in the temple or at the altar in Jerusalem, he made one wherever he was. And it was Daniel's prayer life, a consistent, persistent, daily, habitual prayer life that enabled him to rise to such power and success in a secular world and among those whom we would call today secular humanists.

And Daniel and his three friends, unlike other Jewish exiles during the Babylonian captivity, he did not cave in. You know, when the Jews were taken into captivity, they were known by their captors to be people who sang joyous songs. They were known worldwide in the known world at that time.

All the heathen nations knew that these Jews knew how to sing and praise their God and dance and play instruments. And so when they came into Babylon, their captors would taunt them and say, Sing us a song. Sing us one of your songs.

But they flatly refused. They responded, How can we sing the Lord's song in a strange land? They flatly refused to sing or to worship. And they settled down, and according to Psalms 137, it says, There they sat down and wept when they remembered Zion.

Upon the willows in the midst of it they hung their harps. And they refused to pray and maintain their relationship to Jehovah God. In other words, the majority of the exiles did not maintain an open window towards Jerusalem.

And as a result, they assimilated into the culture. Instead of being overcomers, they became the overcamers. And they did not do, according to Romans 12, 21, It says, Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good.

And their harps collected dust and rusted as they hung on the willow tree. And their windows towards Jerusalem closed, and their knees were unbended in prayer. And as a result, when permission was given for them to go back to Jerusalem, They didn't want to go back because their hearts was in Babylon, not in Jerusalem.

Ah, but Daniel was an exception. Daniel was a teenager when he was first taken into captivity. And here in chapter 6 and verse 10, When it says that Daniel heard the decree that anybody who worshipped his God would be put into the lion's den, He went into his room and prayed towards Jerusalem.

He was no longer a teenager. He was about 80 years old at that time. And here is a man who, from a teenager on through his latter years, Continues to have an excellence.

And when it says he did as he did a four time, It means he was probably doing it for 60 some years. Hallelujah. That's a testimony.

And oh, I see Daniel going into that room, shutting his door. He shuts his door to that decree. And I see him going before that, not as a ritual, But as a heartfelt thing he goes.

And I can hear Daniel's prayers reverberating, echoing down through the ages. And perhaps they went something like this, If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget her cunning or skill. If I do not remember thee, He may have also prayed David's prayer.

And by the way, when Daniel went to that window, It was not a place that he was looking to, it was a person that he was looking to. That place represented the person of the living God. He may have also prayed David's prayer.

In Psalms 51 5, As for me, I will call upon God, And the Lord shall save me, Evening and morning and at noon, I will pray and cry aloud, And he shall hear my voice, He hath delivered my soul. Hallelujah. I love it the way David and others pray their prayers in the past tense.

I mean, before the deliverance comes, He prays in the past tense. As if it already happened, And I believe Daniel prayed in the past tense, Even though it hadn't happened in the spirit, He believed it was going to happen. Hallelujah.

Now let me ask you tonight, Do you have an open window toward Jerusalem? An open window to Jerusalem is both a place of prayer, But it's also an attitude of prayer. They were singing it tonight, Oh God give me a heart that praises you. It's having an open heart for God that refuses to be closed, Even when like Daniel, The papers have been signed to silence you.

There is a brother who sits, Whether he's here tonight or not, I don't know. I don't believe he would mind me sharing this. But there is a brother that sits here in our church, At one time he sat side by side with his wife, But something happened to her on her job, And she caved in evidently to some pressures on the job, And her heart was drawn away from the Lord, And she backslid, And one day she informed him that she was leaving him, And he came to me when that first happened, And we talked to him several times, And we prayed together, And eventually she served the papers on him, She served divorce papers on him, And he has them, or they've been signed, I think they've already been signed, But praise God he has done what Daniel did, Even though the writing has been signed, His window towards Jerusalem is still open, He refuses to let the breakup of his marriage close his heart towards the Lord, And some of you tonight are in a similar situation, The papers have been signed, They may be divorce papers, It may be your wife, it may be your husband, It may be your mother or your father have signed divorce papers, Maybe you have some other documentation here tonight regarding some medical problem, Maybe the doctor has signed the papers and said that you have cancer, Or you've got the documentation tonight that you have AIDS, Then may the Holy Spirit inspire you through Daniel tonight and do what Daniel did, Now when Daniel heard that the writing was signed, He didn't pout, He didn't have a pity party, He didn't protest, He went to his place, He went to his house, And his windows being open, He didn't have to open them, They were already open as a sign that here was a man who was in an attitude of prayer towards the Lord, His windows being open in his chamber towards Jerusalem, He kneeled upon his knees three times a day and prayed and gave thanks, Gave thanks, Gave thanks while they were preparing the lions, He gave thanks, And tonight I fear, I fear that some of you have closed the window to God, The papers have been signed, Something has happened, It's been documented, Or you've gotten some kind of evidence, But you have closed your window to God, a sign that your heart is closed and cold, And cut off from seeking the Lord, Oh but I want to tell you tonight what a wonderful thing to have an open window, No matter where you are, At home, Or on a job where you're being persecuted, To open the window of your heart towards the Lord, And know that He will hear my cry and my voice, In the evening, Or in the morning, Or at noon, Which means the busiest time of the day, In the midst of hectic, busy activity, Thank God that you can cry aloud, Hallelujah, unto the Lord, You know when Jesus swept away the temple at Jerusalem, He made the whole earth a temple for true worshipers, It's not merely in the church where we can pray, Or at our own private Bethel, It's not merely at appointed times, But thank God wherever we are, With our eyes unclosed, Or even we can't utter the words, But any time of the day you can go to that window, And open your heart towards Jerusalem, And say, Oh God, I put my trust in you, You may be feeling, feel like you're in a lion's den, Maybe some of you live in a lion's den, You may work in a lion's den, Your boss may think you're a vicious lion that needs to be tamed, Your boss may be a lion tamer, I don't know, But listen to what the psalmist said, You would think it was Daniel quoting this, He said, My soul is among lions, And I lie even among them that are set on fire, Even the sons of men, Whose teeth are spears and arrows, And their tongue a sharp sword, Do you ever come from work with teeth marks in your body? God bless you, Brother met me last Tuesday night, I don't think he minds me sharing with him, He had just come from work, And he had spears, I had to pull the spears out of his back, He knows what I'm talking about, If that describes your situation, Here's what you do, You open your window to Jerusalem, And do what the psalmist did among lions, Or in the fire, Or when the spears and arrows go whizzing by, He said, I will cry unto God most high, Unto God that performeth all things, He shall send to heaven, And save me from the reproach of him that swallowed me up, Be thou exalted, O God, above the heavens, Let thy glory be above all the earth, They have prepared a net for my steps, My soul is bowed down, And they have digged a pit for me, Into the very midst thereof, They are fallen themselves, And that's exactly what happened to Daniel, You know what happens, I told you the angel fed them with angel food, And just about the time that angel food wore off, Was about the time the king threw them into the same lion's den, And that's just the time they got hungry, And the very pit that was prepared for Daniel, They were swallowed up in it as well, That's what the Bible says, He said, they have digged a pit for me, Into the midst thereof, They are fallen themselves, And then it says, See look, Think about that, Think about that, And rejoice, hallelujah, How's your window tonight? Where's your window tonight, Is it open or is it closed? Because you see there, What happens is that the devil has, There's enough adverse winds to come in our lives, To blow the window shut, And you gotta keep it open, You know this past week, Because of a cold, physical, Tiredness in my body, And a few other spiritual battles, I was feeling down, Normally I'm a person, On an emotional scale of one to ten, I pretty much try to live, Between four and six, I'm kind of a middle of the road person, Emotionally speaking, And if you're a person who lives, Between seven and ten, And one to three, Then I pray for you, But this week, If you had seen me at certain times, And said brother Dunn how are you, I would have said well I'm four, Going on three, And there are other times, My wife can tell you, There have been other times when, If you came by and said how are you, I'd just go like this, And wave bye, I don't want to talk to anybody, Then about that time, I discovered Daniel, And I just started, Just reading a simple story, And out of it the Lord spoke to me, And said don't close your window, Don't close your window, And I said oh God yes, Yes I'm going to go to that window, Hallelujah, I'm going to praise the Lord, I'm going to thank you Lord, And I've been going to that window, All week long, Hallelujah, I came to church, I woke up Sunday morning, And my wife was singing, Something about, What do you sing, Walking on the Kings Highway, And I began to get blessed, I came to church, And God's message, Bless me some more, And Sunday night, You know, I'm normally a four to six, But when I'm in the house of the Lord, I get to between seven, Eight, nine, Sometimes move up even to ten, But Monday got back out, I was right back, I was starting to head right back down again, But I went to the window, You know the importance, And I'm going to close with this, I don't know, I've got to watch, Just like Bob Phillips, Who goes faster than I ever believed it, To go, You know the importance, And I'm going to close with this, You know the importance, Of maintaining an open window, Is that your open window, Is answered, With an open window, An open window, Is answered, By an open window, Daniel's open window, Was answered, By an open window, Listen to this wonderful promise, Malachi 310, It says, Bring ye all the tithes, Don't turn there, Bring ye all the tithes, Into the storehouse, That there may be meat in my house, And prove me now herewith, Saith the Lord of hosts, If I will not open you, The windows of heaven, And pour out a blessing, That there shall not be room enough, To receive it, Now, Listen to me, It's true, That Malachi is talking about tithing, But he's also talking about the man who robs God, We not only rob God, In not paying of our tithe, But we rob him in other ways, We rob him of time, We rob him of our devotion, We rob him of our prayer life, We rob him of time spent, At that open window towards Jerusalem, And Malachi said that God's people were under a curse, Because they broke covenant, And they kept back from God what was due him, And many people are robbing God, By being absent from that open window, I'm talking about a place and a time, Where you ought to be seeking his face, Instead of wasting time in other earthly pursuits, I'm talking about going to that open window, Whenever something has happened, And you've got bad news, Or the decree has been signed, And you don't go and trust God to bring you through, You rob God of the opportunity, For him to prove himself to you in the midst of your troubles, Songs of Solomon says, My beloved is like a row or a young heart, Behold he standeth behind our wall, He looketh forth at the window, Showing himself through the lattice, And oh how I see Daniel at the window, And I see the Lord looking in the window, Rejoicing, rejoicing, As he sees Daniel on his knees, And oh how the Lord looks for us at the window, He looks, he longs, he waits, he anticipates, And he wonders why we're not at the window, When we ought to be at it, And when we're absent from it at our appointed time, When we ought to be supping with him, And he wants to look through the lattice, And he wants us to have fellowship with him, But oh the beauty of that communion, Is not only that we enter into communion with him at the open window, But as a result of it, An open window is answered with an open window, Deep calleth unto deep, An open window is answered by an open heaven, Prove me now, he says, Herewith saith the Lord of hosts, And see if I will not open a window to heaven to you, hallelujah, You'll not be able to contain, That's why we must go to the open window, Some of you need to get it through your heads and your hearts, You haven't got it through yet, That God will begin to do for you, If you'll quit robbing him, And give him an opportunity, Let me give you one scripture in closing, It's 2nd Kings, turn with me, 2nd Kings chapter 7, 2nd Kings chapter 7, Remember during Elijah's ministry, Israel was under attack and seized by a foreign enemy, A foreign nation, the city was locked up, The markets were shut down, The farmers who grew the crops, Who grew the corn that brought the fruit, Or vegetables or whatever it was into the city, The marketplace could not get in, The city was shut up because it was under siege, It got so bad that people were starving, A mother boiled her son for food, And Elijah prophesied that God was going to intervene by the next day, And this is what he said, And he said it to one of the king's assistants, One of the king's aides, And he said tomorrow about this time, They'll be exchanging in the marketplace, They'll be selling, And you'll see bushels of food there tomorrow about this time, And the aide said, Do you mean to tell me, Do you mean to tell me God's going to open, What you're saying Elijah, Is that it's like God's going to open some window in heaven, And all of a sudden, This famine is going to be over, It's like opening a window in heaven, Is that what you're saying Elijah, He said that's exactly what I'm saying, That's exactly what I'm saying, He said I don't believe it, I don't believe it, And Elijah said to him, You're going to see it, But you're not going to participate in it, Because your heart is closed, And that's exactly what happened, Turn to 2nd Kings chapter 7, Verses 18 through 20, It says, And it came to pass, 2nd Kings chapter 7, Verse 18, And it came to pass, As the man of God had spoken to the king, Saying, Two measures of barley for a shekel, And a measure of fine flour for a shekel, Shall be tomorrow about this time, In the gate of Samaria, And the Lord answered the man of God, And said, Now behold, If the Lord should make windows in heaven, What heaven might this thing be? And when he said, Behold, Thou shalt see it with thine eyes, But shalt not eat thereof, And so it fell out unto him, For the people trod upon him in the gate, And he died, In other words, It came to pass exactly, Exactly as was prophesied, And the gates were opened, And the people rushed to the market, And this poor fellow who didn't believe, He got trampled over, And I say to you tonight, What a shame it would be, What a shame that it could happen to you, That happened to this fellow, Because he shut the window of his heart off, From the supernatural, And from what God was doing, And while everybody else was rushing to the altar, While everybody else was rushing to receive the blessing of the Lord, He was trampled down, He was trampled to death, And that's what happens to people who close themselves off from God, While others are running to collect the blessing of the Lord, You're going to be dying and trampled over, My goodness, I'd hate to be trampled over, While everybody else is rushing to the altar, To get the blessing of the Lord, Or rushing to Times Square Church, And you're dying inside, Because your heart is closed, You see, an open window to God, An open window to Jerusalem, Is answered by an open window, The windows of heaven are open, The blessings are falling tonight, I've joy, joy, joy in my heart, Since Jesus made everything right, I gave him my old tattered garment, He gave me a robe of pure white, And I'm feasting tonight on the manna, What's the rest of it? You see, I'm saying it because I can't sing it, But I can quote it anyhow, The windows of heaven, hallelujah, Heaven's window is open, If your heart will be open, Towards Jerusalem, and towards the living God, And if you're allowing anything to close it tonight, Then get to this altar and say, Oh God, I open my heart to you, I open my heart to you, I want to be there, When the blessings are falling, hallelujah, Let's stand together, Thank you, Jesus.

In the morn, I will trust, In the morn, till I die,