The message I'm going to preach this morning,
I'm afraid, will cause maybe just a handful
of people that hear it to never come
back to this church again.
Now, folks, that's not a laughing matter.
I mean it.
I'm not trying to be theatrical.
It's because what I preach about, I know
to be a fact that there are some
people still in this body who come to
the Times Square Church are involved in what
I'm talking about, because they have handed me
tapes and books, and I know that they're
involved in the kind of thing I want
to expose this morning under the help of
the Holy Ghost.
I want to talk to you about the
reproach of the Solemn Assembly.
Now, that's a long title, but you'll see
it very clearly.
I want you to go to Zephaniah, the
third chapter.
I'm going to give you time to find
it.
Okay?
If you get to Haggai, you've gone too
far.
When you get to Micah and Habakkuk, go
one more chapter and you are in Zephaniah.
Now, folks, this is serious business this morning.
I want you to pray that the Lord
give me the brokenness to preach it the
way he wants it preached.
Not out of arrogance, but out of brokenness
before the Lord.
There's something that's burning in my heart.
I've been asking God to let me deal
with this for a long time, and he's
released me to do so this morning.
The 18th verse, chapter 3, Zephaniah chapter 3,
verse 18.
There's an amazing prophecy by the prophet Zephaniah.
I will gather them that are sorrowful for
the solemn assembly who are of thee, to
whom the reproach of it was a burden.
I will gather them that are sorrowful for
the solemn assembly who are of thee, to
whom the reproach of it was a burden.
Heavenly Father, I know that you have burned
this into my soul, that I've got to
have a broken spirit and a contrite nature,
that this is not preached in any kind
of arrogance or self-centeredness, but Lord, that
you are trying to accomplish a purpose this
morning.
I ask you to anoint me in a
special way, let the fire of God come
forth this morning and ignite the word of
the living God, and don't let any of
us, anybody in this building, try to put
away or just to put off what is
being heard and spoken here from this pulpit
this morning.
Lord, I'm asking you to give me the
courage to speak it rightly and boldly.
And I pray, Lord, that you deal with
any of these issues that are in this
church this morning that we're dealing with, I
pray in Christ's name.
Amen.
I will gather them that are sorrowful for
the solemn assembly who are of thee, to
whom the reproach of it was a burden.
Now, this is a dual prophecy by Zephaniah.
It has to do with the children of
Israel, that's Jerusalem, and also with spiritual Zion,
which is the church of Jesus Christ on
the last day.
First of all, he was speaking to Jews
that God was going to gather together and
disperse to all the nations, but he was
only going to bring back those who had
a broken heart for the sad condition of
Israel, who carried a burden for restoration, who
blushed over the sins of God's apostate people.
And he would remember all who carried the
reproach, all the shame, all of the blasphemy,
all of the horrible things that were going
on in God's house, those who carried the
burden of it, all those who were sorrowful
and grieving in heart over the condition of
the body.
He said, I'm going to gather you.
And he made great promises to these, and
I'll show you what those are in a
moment.
But this prophecy is primarily to the church
of Jesus Christ on the last day, to
the solemn assembly.
Now, in the Old Testament, the children of
Israel were called to their festivals for seven
days, and on the eighth day was called
the solemn assembly.
That was when they met especially together, putting
everything aside and focused worship and praise to
the Heavenly Father.
The scripture says, on the eighth day you
shall have a solemn assembly.
You'll find this solemn assembly all through the
Old Testament, representing the congregation that is separated
unto God, meeting to meet the Lord.
This is the church of Jesus Christ on
the last day.
Now, according to Zephaniah, the house of God
in the last days is going to be
under reproach.
And the Hebrew word here means shame and
disgrace.
There's going to be shame and disgrace in
the house of God.
Now, we're not talking about the backslidden, liberal,
modern church.
I'm not talking about the kind of church
in San Francisco called Glide Memorial United Methodist
Church, that's recently taken the cross down because
they said Jesus isn't all of us, and
we are the cross.
It's a church that glorifies homosexuality and abortion,
and it is an absolute church, an apostate
church.
I'm not talking about churches where the minister
doesn't believe in Christ anymore, doesn't believe in
heaven, doesn't believe in hell.
I'm not talking about that apostate church, the
Metropolitan Community Church, the homosexual denomination.
I'm not talking about that church.
Folks, some of the worst blasphemy in the
world is not coming from atheists.
It's coming from the pulpits and the pens
of backslidden, ungodly preachers.
We're not talking about that kind of church.
That is not the solemn assembly.
So save your grief.
I don't shed a tear.
I have no burden for that kind of
church.
The Lord said on the Judgment Day, He's
going to deal with that church.
We can pray for them, but we're not
to spend any of our grief on that
which is not really the church.
Now, God is looking, the Scripture says, according
to Zevaniah, God is looking for a people
who will sorrow and grieve over the reproach
that is being fostered on the church of
Jesus Christ in these last days.
I'm talking about the church that was born
at Pentecost.
I'm talking about the church that was born
in the teaching of the Apostle Paul and
the Apostles.
The church born in the doctrine of the
Godhead of Jesus Christ.
That church, that born-again church, is under
attack.
That born-again church is suffering reproach.
It's been prophesied that in this day of
reproach and shame and disgrace, God is going
to raise up a holy remnant who are
going to grieve and weep over this defilement.
A people to whom the reproach of it
has become to them a burden.
I will gather them that are sorrowful for
the solemn assembly.
God said, I'm going to have a remnant
who are not just going to sit idly
by while all of these things invade the
church.
I'm going to have a people that are
not going to be satisfied to go their
merry way and just ignore what is happening.
As charlatans and money-mad prophets, false prophets
are coming into the house of God and
destroying everything in sight.
He said, no, I'm going to gather a
people who grieve over this.
I'm going to have a people who take
it as a burden.
They're not going to be complacent anymore.
If you truly love the Lord and you
love His church, you cannot look honestly at
what's happening today.
And I'm going to name these reproaches this
morning.
And if after you hear what I have
to say about this reproach, and you can
walk out of this church and you can
say, well, I just stand on Matthew 18
chapter, the gates of hell shall not prevail
against the church.
I'm not going to worry about it.
God has everything under control.
That's not enough.
God uses people.
God uses people to perform His work.
He doesn't send angels.
Angels weep over it, but God doesn't use
angels to accomplish His purposes.
He uses burden, brokenhearted, weeping men and women.
The prophet Joel cried out, Call a solemn
assembly.
Gather the elders and all the inhabitants of
the land to the house of the Lord
your God and cry unto the Lord.
Alas, for the day, for the day of
the Lord is at hand as the destruction
of the Almighty shall it come.
Joel was saying judgment is at the door.
Jesus is coming.
The day of the Lord is at hand.
Wake up, elders.
Wake up, pastors.
Wake up, shepherds.
Take a look at the church.
Get the burden.
Carry it.
But why should we take on the burden
of the reproach of the solemn assembly?
Joel said because there's a rotten seed being
planted.
A gospel is being preached that is withering
everything that's in sight.
Everything that's green and godly and pure is
being withered.
He said the seed is rotten under the
clods.
The corn is withered.
The storehouses of the right gospel is barren
and desolate.
There's a famine of hearing the pure word
of the Lord.
The cattle, in other words, the sheep, the
congregation are perplexed because there's no pasture.
The flocks are desolate and hungry.
The rivers are drying up.
A strange fire is devouring the pastures.
If you listen to Ezekiel, he's saying it's
shepherds who are trampling down the good pasture
and eating the best for themselves.
Joel 2.15. He cries, gather together the
congregation, the priests, the ministers of the Lord.
Weep in sorrow.
Get the burden.
Cry.
Pray.
O God, spare your people.
Give not your holy church to reproach.
Don't let the heathen rule over your flock.
Now what is this reproach of the solemn
assembly?
What are these shameful, disgraceful things that are
happening in the church of Jesus Christ today?
First of all, it's the rotten seed that's
being preached by covetous shepherds.
This is known as the prosperity gospel.
This is one of the greatest reproaches the
church of Jesus Christ ever perpetrated since Christ.
This perverted gospel is poisoning multitudes even in
China, Africa, and all over the world.
It's an American gospel invented and spread by
rich American evangelists and pastors.
Rich.
It alarms me that so many people can
hear the tapes and see the videos that
are coming out of these prosperity conferences and
not weep over them and not get the
burden for what is happening to the church.
This poison is spread all over the world.
Cuba is about to open and they are
itching to get in there right now with
their prosperity gospel to tell, you've been poor
enough now.
God wants all Cubans to be rich.
This past week I was given a videotape
a recent report, I think this past January
in Kenneth Copeland's meetings.
And I listened to the speakers and I
was dumbfounded.
Folks, you read the New Testament you'll find
Paul the Apostle named those who he believed
were false prophets.
He warned and he named their names and
I'm telling you now if you can listen
to what I'm about to tell you and
not be grieved then you're blind.
You're spiritually blind.
You have a hard heart.
You know what a hard heart is in
Hebrew?
A heart with a shield on it.
So that the gospel, the pure gospel cannot
penetrate it.
It's been so, the mind has been so
saturated with this unbalanced gospel that you cannot
come to many of them.
You cannot preach the truth.
You cannot show them anything else in the
scripture because they have a shield over their
hearts.
Hard hearted.
And some of you will not receive it
if you've been feeding your soul on Copeland's
tapes or Hagen's tapes.
You're not going to like what you hear.
But folks, I'm a shepherd, I've been called
by God and I made this church a
promise.
As long as we're in this, now listen,
no clapping.
Folks, please.
Please don't clap.
I made this church and this body a
promise.
As long as we're in this purpose.
If we saw wolves in sheep's clothing coming
to rob the flock, we would stand up
and cry out against it.
Now it's up to you to do something
about it.
And I say this with a broken heart.
But I sat this week and I listened
to the speakers in this conference and I
was so shocked.
I was so hurt.
Weeping, the burden of the Lord came on
me.
That's why I'm preaching this message.
Grieve over it.
Let me tell you, I quote word for
word what was said.
First of all, all the speakers could hardly
get by because people were running up stuff
in their pockets with money.
And the reason they do that is a
new doctrine has just come out that says
if you want to be blessed you have
to find the most blessed evangelist or pastor
you can find because he that has been
given much receiveth much.
He that has little even that which he
has will be taken from him.
You find the most blessed and prosperous preacher
and you give him money, you will be
blessed.
And the more blessed he is if you
give to those that are most blessed.
It's a pyramid scheme.
If these men were in the secular world
they'd be in jail.
Ponzi schemes.
Pyramid schemes.
The man at the top who appears to
be the holiest dogmas and speaks the loudest.
Hundreds of people running up until the pockets
were bulging and the sinner says is this
the free gospel?
Is this the gospel?
Dollar bills!
Listen to what was said.
The speaker got up and he said if
a poor widow on welfare hands you five
dollars you better take it.
Elijah took the widow's last meal.
You are the anointed one.
You deserve it.
You take it.
The same speaker said I live in an
8,000 square foot house.
I'm going to build a bigger one now.
One that King Solomon would be proud of.
I just paid 15,000 dollars for a
dog.
You see this gorgeous ring on my finger?
I was in Jamaica and just paid 32
,000 dollars for it.
He said I want you to know that
when the people in my town come past
my mansion and they see my Rolls Royce
standing, sitting in the driveway they know there's
a God in heaven.
Now you tell me that's the gospel.
You tell me you can't wait for that.
One of the speakers got up and he
said we made a covenant along with Brother
Copeland that for the next year, 365 days
none of us are going to suffer for
a single day.
We will not know a moment of discouragement.
We will never be sicker in need.
We're going to enjoy all the blessings.
We reject all suffering, all pain all financial
problems.
That's fine if you're on the top of
the heap.
Here's what grieves me most.
This was preached.
The Holy Spirit can't be poured out upon
you until first you're in the money flow.
Until you are prospering, the Holy Ghost cannot
do his work.
Think of it.
How does this affect you?
What does it do to your spirit when
you see poor people who are living from
paycheck to paycheck and suddenly he says run
for the money and people are running wildly
everywhere running and they say as they run
they are claiming the riches.
When I see people withering like snakes out
of their seats on the floor I see
the evangelist going up like a snake and
people falling everywhere.
Folks, what's going on?
We're folks of this solemn assembly.
The prophet called me.
He said they're greedy dogs.
Ungodly watchmen.
Folks, if you had the heart of God
and the burden of the Lord you'd be
crying out with Isaiah they are blind watchmen,
ignorant, dumb dogs, sleeping, loving to slumber.
Yay, greedy dogs which can never have enough.
I've got 8,000 square foot but I'm
going to sell it and I'm going to
make one now that King Solomon could live
in.
Never getting enough.
He said shepherds that cannot understand.
They all look to their own way.
Every one for his own gain from his
quarter.
Jeremiah spared no words.
He said my people are lost sheep.
Their shepherds have caused them to go astray.
Go to Ezekiel 34 please.
Go to Ezekiel 34.
I'm telling you, listen.
You say, Pastor, you have no right to
speak so strongly on this subject.
If you think I'm strong, you listen to
Ezekiel.
Ezekiel 34 verses 1-10
and the word of the Lord came unto
me saying, said a man prophesy against the
shepherds of Israel prophesy, say to them thus
says the Lord God to the shepherds woe
to the shepherds of Israel that do feed
themselves should not the shepherds feed the flock.
You eat the fat.
He's talking to shepherds.
You eat the fat.
You clothe you with the wool.
Now you take your, the five dollars from
the widow and you buy a $15,000
doll.
You take the paycheck from the widow and
the poor and you tell them that they
don't have enough faith.
That's why they're not prospering.
And you feed, you take the very wool
off the back of the sheep.
The disease have you not strengthened neither have
you healed that which was sick neither have
you bound up that which is broken neither
have you brought again that which was driven
away neither have you sought that which is
lost.
You're not out for souls, you're out for
money.
But with force and with cruelty have you
ruled them?
They've scattered because there's no shepherd and they
became meat to all the beasts that filled
when they were scattered.
My sheep wandered through all the mountains and
upon every high hill my flock was scattered
to the face of the earth and none
did search or seek after them.
Therefore you shepherds hear the word of the
Lord as I live says the Lord God
surely because my flock became a prey and
my flock became meat to every beast of
the field because there was no shepherd neither
did my shepherds search for my flock but
the shepherds fed themselves and fed not the
flock.
Therefore you shepherds hear the word of the
Lord thus says the Lord God behold I
am against the shepherds and I will require
my flock at their hand and cause them
to cease from feeding the flock neither shall
the shepherds feed themselves anymore for I will
deliver my flock from their mouth that they
may not be meat for them anymore.
If it takes a person to do it
and God bankrupts it all he'll do it.
I'm going to deliver my flock from the
teeth of these men.
My God help us.
Number two the misrepresentation of the blessed Holy
Ghost what a reproach this is the worst
reproach it should make us fall on our
faces the way and the manner in which
the Holy Ghost is being represented to the
whole world.
Sad to say there's so little discernment left
in the church and among so many pastors
and even church leaders they don't even know
when the Holy Ghost is being misrepresented or
blasphemed.
There are thousands of Christians that go to
church and go to crusades and healing crusades
and they see things they think of the
Holy Ghost they don't even know that they're
sitting on the ministry they're clapping and they're
praising God while a man stands up they're
blaspheming and misrepresenting the Holy Ghost and they
don't even know it.
Entire charismatic denominations including the Assemblies of God
are being torn apart literally torn apart by
pseudo revivals all kinds of things that are
happening and there's something new being introduced almost
every week and the leaders don't know whether
to embrace it or to curse it they
don't know what to do pastors write us
we get letters from hundreds and hundreds of
pastors from all over the world they say
what is right and what is wrong where
are the leaders where is somebody to tell
us folks what we're seeing today in what
is called so many revivals and things that
are happening being attributed to the Holy Ghost
cannot be found in the scripture anything that
cannot be found in this book has to
be rejected outright has to be rejected totally
rejected I
weep when I see these videos that are
sent to me from all over the country
whole groups of bodies jerking out of control
falling on the floor laughing hysterically staggering around
like drunkards writhing like snakes howling like wild
animals and we have evangelists stand and blows
on people to knock them down as if
the breath of the Holy Ghost has now
incarnated him throws his brioni jacket at people
and says that is the hand of the
Lord and now
a new gospel has just hit South America
now folks it's very rude and crude but
I have to tell you the newest thing
now because folks when you get into this
kind of thing when you get away from
the parameters of the scripture when you just
get up and say oh it's a new
thing it's a new thing God's doing a
new thing I don't understand it it's not
in the scripture but I don't want to
I don't want to stand against the Holy
Ghost folks if it's not in this book
you must stand up against it and now
the new thing is that you can't enter
the kingdom of God except if you come
as a little babe and now they're asking
and the people come with diapers under their
outer clothing so that they can deprecate and
urinate in the meetings this is the new
thing folks where does it end like Pastor
Simba I heard him preach the other day
he said is it come down to this
that one day some evangelist stands up and
says I've got a revelation from the Lord
it's time to add Mary to your worship
that's what it's going to come to the
evangelist calls himself the Holy Ghost bartender he
says belly up to the bar and take
a drink of the Holy Ghost and they
call that drinking the new wine and folks
I hear ringing in my ears the prophet
that said the day of the Lord is
at hand wickedness abounds weep between the porch
and the altar put on sackcloth fast and
mourn for the backsliding of my people Jesus
is about to come and the masses are
unreached and when I see Christians belly up
to what is called the Holy Ghost bar
staggering like drunkards Job's words come to me
loud and clear awake you drunkards and weep
all you who are drinking new wine because
the harvest of the field is perished he
said souls are dying by the thousands all
over the world people are dying what are
you laughing about folks anything that is of
the Holy Ghost has to work anywhere on
the face of the earth you've got to
be able to take it into the most
vile wicked places you've got to take it
into poverty nations you've got to take it
into the dregs of humanity and it's got
to work there it can't work just in
prosperous America it has to work everywhere on
the face of the earth I dare you
I dare these men and I said lovingly
I dare them to take this gospel I
dare them to take the laughing gospel and
go into the Balkans now and go into
those refugee camps where wives are crying because
they saw their husbands shot their daughters have
been raped their children are hungry they've lost
their homes they're homeless and go in there
and ask them to belly up to the
bar the Holy Ghost wants you to laugh
and this so called revival is coming to
Madison Square Garden this summer knowing what you
know about the scripture carrying the grief and
the burden for the solemn assembly how do
you even conceive of embracing such a doctrine
let me tell you who's laughing the world
the ungodly the heathen it's become a spectacle
in a time so close to the coming
Lord when the church of Jesus Christ ought
to be shut and lay in the secret
closet of prayer where there ought to be
weeping for the lost where there ought to
be a desire to forsake all and follow
Jesus where there should never be a mention
of the dollar bill the American God the
American idolatry we have the world looking at
this foolishness and you know what they're thinking
now that the Holy Ghost is a circus
the Holy Ghost is a ringmaster and it's
a charismatic circus I don't care what anybody
thinks anymore I don't care if people drop
off the mailing list I do care for
their soul, I care for the fact that
many are into this blindness but I have
a duty before God to stand before the
congregation who's called me to minister to you
and warn you and tell you that these
are reproaches of the solemn assembly and the
Bible said you're to be sorrowful about it
He said the elders are to be sorrowful
about it, the congregation the pastors, the ministers,
the evangelists This is the end of side
1 You may now turn the tape over
to side 2