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My message, to whom shall I give warning?
To whom shall I give warning?
The sixth chapter, begin your reading at verse
10.
To whom shall I speak and give warning,
that they may hear?
Behold, their ear is uncircumcised, and they cannot
hearken.
Behold, the word of the Lord is unto
them a reproach, they have no delight in
it.
Verse 12.
Their houses shall be turned to others, and
their fields and wives together.
For I will stretch out my hand upon
the inhabitants of the land, saith the Lord.
For from the least of them, even to
the greatest of them, everyone is given to
covetousness.
And from the prophet, even the priest, everyone
dealeth falsely.
They have healed also the hurt of the
daughter of my people slightly, saying, Peace, peace,
when there is no peace.
Friends, I have to preach what the Holy
Spirit gives me.
It's the only thing I've ever known all
my life.
And, well, I'm not going to say anymore.
I'm just going to do what he says.
And never, always keep in mind that one
verse I've told you about, never to condemn
the righteous and never to give peace to
the wicked.
Never encourage the wicked as far as their
wickedness and never, ever grieve the righteous.
And you pray that God will help us
to know the difference.
Lord, we heard Nikki say that we're living
in incredible times.
And we believe that.
And your great concern is what's happening in
your church.
Because what happens in the church affects the
whole world.
And I pray, Holy Spirit, you make me
an oracle of God, not of the flesh,
but of the spirit.
Lord, we don't try to be prophetic.
We don't try to search for things that
would shake people, Lord.
It's just something that comes through prayer.
And suddenly you say, This is what I
want you to preach.
And, Lord, if I don't preach what you
tell me, then I have to stand before
you in the secret closet and I have
to answer to that great challenge.
If you see the sword coming, if you
see the times coming and you do not
warn, then the blood is upon your own
hands.
There will be no blood on my hands,
Lord, because I will hear and obey.
And we pray you give us ears to
hear what the Spirit is saying this morning.
In Christ's name, Amen.
Now, please don't get shaken up in the
first half of my message, because you'll be
shouting by the time I'm done.
You see in the sixth chapter here of
Jeremiah, God shows him that Israel is about
to be visited with a great destruction from
the hand of the Lord.
In Jerusalem and Judea, there had been a
backslidden condition.
The society had pushed God completely out, out
of Jerusalem, out of the government, out of
every aspect of life.
They had brought in false religions, just as
we see in our country today, putting away
God out of our schools, erasing the commandments
that are embedded and granted in our federal
courts, trying now to get In God We
Trust off our coins, trying to take out
of the Pledge of Allegiance a nation under
God.
And we see this push, the same thing
that happened in Israel and Judea.
And the prophet Jeremiah hears a sound from
God.
He said, there's coming now some swift destruction.
God said, I've seen it, it's enough, and
I'm going to deal with it.
Jeremiah is told to warn.
He said, I want you to warn.
Something's about to happen.
There's a tremendous, horrible abomination in my church.
And God says, I see it.
I have not overlooked it.
And I've been patient, but I'm going to
deal with it now.
And the prophet Jeremiah says, but Lord, to
whom shall I speak warning?
Who's going to receive?
Who's going to hear?
And he goes on, he said, they've closed
their ears and they refuse to listen.
Behold, the word of the Lord has become
a reproach to them.
They have no delight in it anymore.
He said, who do I go to?
He said, the wicked mock me.
They say that I'm just preaching a word
that is entertaining.
And he said, those that call themselves by
your name are saying, we don't want to
hear that anymore.
Preach smooth things to us.
Tickle our ears.
Don't give us any more of that doomsday
preaching.
We don't want to hear it anymore.
And I tell you, that's exactly where millions
in the church of Jesus Christ are right
now.
They do not want to hear it.
There are some of you, and I say
it lovingly sitting here now, you say, I
really don't want to hear another of David
Wilkerson's doomsday messages.
I don't want to hear any more of
judgment.
These are good times.
I'm enjoying myself.
I don't want to come Sunday morning when
I've got my own problems and hear something
about what God is about to do that
would disturb my peace.
And some of you walked in here, you're
visiting, and you would have liked to have
heard, say, hey, this is an exciting church,
wonderful things are here.
Maybe I'm going to hear a message today
that sends me out shouting.
Well, if you hear it right, you will
go out shouting.
But you see, we're not here to entertain.
We're here to deliver the heart of God
and the message from the heart of Christ
himself.
And sometimes, remember what the disciples said when
Jesus preached a difficult message and everybody walked
away and said, that's a hard message, we
can't receive it.
And from that day on, many left him
because they couldn't handle what they call a
hard message.
Folks, what we call a hard message is
the greatest act of mercy God can show
His church, to care so much that He
warns us before He does anything.
Where the world is surprised, God's people should
never be surprised.
They should never be worried and surprised.
And God cried out, O congregation, listen.
Your offerings and your sacrifices and your prayers
are no longer acceptable to me because you
are rejecting my warnings.
You see, when we don't want reproof anymore,
we don't want to hear what God says
about what is coming to our times and
our generation, then all of our offerings are
unacceptable to Him.
He said, you accept a good word, you
accept a blessing, you want all the grace
and mercy, but you don't know and will
not receive the reproof.
And He said, when that happens to you,
your offerings are not acceptable unto me.
Praise all you want, shout all you want.
But when I send a watchman, or if
I send a prophet, and I've never claimed
to be a prophet, not once in my
life, but one of many, many watchmen, and
He said, because you will not hear it
and listen and it offends you, He said,
all your other offerings are totally unacceptable to
me now.
And what was this abominable sin that God
said, I've got to judge quickly now and
swiftly?
He said, from the least of them, and
He's speaking of His church, from the least
of them even to the greatest of them,
everyone is given to covetousness.
From the prophet even to the priest, they're
dealing falsely.
They're dealing falsely with a false gospel who
is lulling the people to sleep.
Judgment is at the door, and these men
are standing in the pulpits and wherever people
are gathered now and saying, peace, peace, all
is well, good times are ahead, and they're
given to covetousness, the Bible says.
They were given over to it.
They were possessed by covetousness.
Now, covetousness is a passion to acquire, to
accumulate, to get more.
Today we would call it materialism.
And Webster defines materialism this way.
It's a doctrine that teaches ultimate happiness and
well-being can be achieved through worldly possessions
and wealth.
In other words, the answer to all your
problems is more money.
The answer to all your problems, if you
had enough money, if you lived in a
better house, if you drove a better car,
you would be happier.
And the key to happiness, and this is
nothing but pure, unadulterated humanism.
Humanism says that the only way to be
happy is to have those things that make
you happy, material things, possessions, pleasure.
This humanistic doctrine has crept into the Church
of Jesus Christ and it's sweeping like wildfire,
not only in the United States, but every
country we go to now.
We find American evangelists and teachers and writers
with their books and their TV cameras are
going into these nations and saying, if you
really know your Bible, if you really want
the blessing, you have got to improve your
self-image.
You've got to dream bigger dreams than you've
ever dreamt.
I was in Dallas this past week, Monday,
Tuesday, Wednesday, and coming home from the airport,
I had a few hours and I noticed
a book there by one of these candy
cotton preachers.
It's what it is, it's candy cotton and
it's sugar.
The whole world is crying, give me more
sugar, give me more sweetness.
And I'm reading this and I said, I
don't understand this.
He said, dream bigger dreams, that's your problem.
You're not dreaming big enough.
The house you're in, if you just go
look at that and dream and keep it
in your mind, this self-image.
I'm thinking of a widow in this church,
a single woman.
Her last dream for the last three years,
she wrote me a note, her little tiny
apartment has had a leak there and the
plasterboard has been down and it has been
leaking and it's moldy.
And her dream for the past three years
is that somebody would come because the owner
wouldn't do anything in the building.
If she could just get that leak passed
and have it just, where there's no more
water running around on her apartment, on her
floor and on her furniture.
That was her dream.
And I think of all of these dreams
of the orphans.
Everywhere we travel, they're dreaming what?
The biggest dream of an orphanage in Romania,
they came backstage after my meeting and there's
about 25 orphans and they're singing a song
they've learned in English.
And they're Romanian and they went to the
trouble.
And the lady that's been there for years,
I said, how can I bless them?
She said, brother Dave, the biggest dream they've
had would be to go to McDonald's and
get a milkshake.
And I hear this gospel, dreaming big dreams,
bank accounts, an educated pastor in a poor
country who's talking to me, he said, brother
David, let me tell you what I see
in the church.
I see philosophy taking over Europe, the doctrine
of philosophy.
In the United States, I see materialism possessing
the body of Christ.
And here in this poor emergent nation, we're
just trying to struggle to stay alive.
Philosophy, humanism, materialism, and most of the world
trying to live out another day.
Is this the gospel of Jesus Christ in
a day and age when people are fretting
and fearing of those things that are coming
upon the earth?
And we come along with our smile.
We come along with our humanistic, lustful, covetous
message.
God wants you to be rich.
Is this the gospel of the lowly Nazarene
who had no place to lay his head?
Is this the gospel of a lowly Nazarene
who said, lay down your life, sell what
you have and what you don't need and
give to the poor?
Folks, the reason those who are in this
kind of covetous gospel that has been originating
in America and now spread like cancer all
over the world, is because everything in the
gospel lasses against it.
Everything Jesus taught, and the reason they don't
want to hear it, because it is against
everything that is being preached from many of
our pulpits today.
I was taking on a tour through Dallas
this past week, and there must be 5
,000 churches.
It's the most church-ized, biggest church city,
I think, in the world.
And I stop, and there's a freeway, and
there's a crossroads there.
And he says, Brother Dave, look to the
right.
And I look to the right, there's a
great big Baptist church.
And over on this side, another huge Baptist
church.
And over on the third corner, a huge
Baptist church.
And there was another church on the other
corner, and that was an independent church.
And I go over here, and there's an
Assembly of God church.
Here, two blocks down, there's another Assembly of
God church.
And everybody's looking for 30, 40 acres to
build a big plant.
And I thank God for the fact that
in Dallas, Texas, there are many Baptist Pentecostal
evangelical preachers preaching a powerful message.
And some of them are large churches.
But I have a friend that collects the
advertising of these huge megachurches, and those that
are preaching mostly prosperity and health and wealth.
And it's the most competitive world that you
can imagine.
And what they're really saying, switch to our
church.
Dallas is full of church switchers.
Switching from one church, because this church offers
more.
Come to our church, because we have a
better program.
And very few of these churches know anything
about missions.
One of the most popular churches in America
does not have a missions program, but we're
working on it.
Taking in millions of dollars, no burden for
the orphan, for the widow, and for the
lost and the hurting around the world.
God said to Jeremiah, Is this house, which
is called by my name, become a den
of robbers in your eyes?
He said, I'm not blind to it.
Those are the very words the Lord said.
Is this a den of robbers now, that
every man is out for himself?
Every man is wanting to better himself?
Jeremiah was alarmed, because he had been preaching
a positive message.
Jeremiah was not a doomsday preacher.
He was preaching a positive message up to
this time.
He was saying, oh turn, backsliding Israel, for
I'm married to you.
I'll give you pastors according to my own
heart, which shall feed you with knowledge and
understanding, and you will not walk after the
imagination of your own heart.
He said, if you will just turn to
me with all of your heart, if you
will hear the reproof of the prophets and
the watchmen, if you will hear the heart
of God, I'll give you pastors that will
lead you in righteousness.
I'll send you pastors who will take you
away from the spirit of the age.
You won't be living on the imagination of
other men.
You will have a fresh word from God.
I'll give you pastors after my own heart.
But the Bible says that they said, we
don't want those pastors.
We want to hear smooth things.
Those are the very words used in the
prophet.
They tell us, preach to us smooth things.
We don't want to hear judgment anymore.
But there appeared in Jeremiah's time prophets and
pastors and shepherds that were not sent by
God.
God had promised the people, repent of your
covetousness, heed my warnings, and I'll give you
pastors after my heart will lead you into
the paths of peace and righteousness.
But the Bible says that instead the prophet
and the priest all have been given over
to greed.
I picked up, I don't know whether it
was Fortune magazine, it was a business magazine,
and on the front page in huge letters,
greed is good.
Greed is good.
And what the story really was saying, if
you don't have a measure of greed, you
can't compete anymore because everybody's trying to make
a killing.
So go for the greed.
God help us when that creeps into the
house of God, as it has.
Jeremiah warned, they have lied about the Lord.
In other words, these priests and prophets who
were given over to covetousness, they have lied
about the Lord and said it is not
Him.
Evil shall not come upon us, neither shall
we see the sword or the famine.
And what they're saying, this doomsday talk about
judgment, that's not God.
That's not Him.
That's not God speaking.
I'm speaking the word of God.
I'm telling you all is well.
There's no end to this prosperity.
There's no end to these good times.
And God said they've lied.
They're telling you lies.
They shall become like wind because the word
is not in them.
That's 513 of Jeremiah.
Jeremiah had the word of God and all
of the sweet-talking preachers putting the people
to sleep.
And Jeremiah, listen to his very words.
He said, I am weary from holding it
in.
I've got to pour out my soul.
Enough of these evil tidings they were saying,
but in spite of it, Jeremiah says, I
don't care what they think anymore.
I don't care what they call me.
I can't hold it in because I see
what's coming.
And though I'm not a prophet, I feel
what Jeremiah felt.
I see something coming.
And I've been preaching it for a number
of years.
But I see something coming to this nation
and to this world.
And I've made up my mind I don't
care because I have been around preachers recently,
standing and sitting around a table with my
heart burning, and I listen.
And when they say, Pastor Dave, what do
you think is coming?
And when I start, suddenly the conversation has
changed.
Suddenly, I'm cut off.
And I sat not too long ago around
a circle, and I said, I'm going to
shut my mouth because there's not a person
in this room who wants to hear what
I'm saying.
But you see, there comes a time when
you can't hold it in.
There comes a time when you say, God
speaks, and here's the prophecy.
Well, God, who am I going to talk
to?
And I said, Jeremiah goes out in the
streets to the children.
In the very next verse, and he goes,
he says, I'm going to the grandmas, I'm
going to the grandpas, I'm going to go
wherever anybody wants to hear, and I'm just
going to preach and let it fall where
it may.
And I'm at that point, I really don't
care anymore.
I don't care what people think.
There's something happening.
The whole world knows it.
God is about to judge the greed and
the covetousness.
You see, this judgment is not going to
come to those believers' houses that have the
blood on the lintel of the door.
This is not for you, dear saint.
It's not judgment about you.
This is about the covetous Christian.
This is about the one given to greed.
And here's what the judgment is going to
be.
It's been the same every time God has
judged Israel.
And every time in history, when He tries
to awaken, He did it in the depression
of the 1930s in this United States and
around the world.
The whole world suffered the judgment that God
told Jeremiah was coming, and I'll read it
to you.
He said, Here it is.
Your house, Jeremiah 6, 12.
Your house shall be turned unto others with
their fields and wives together.
For I will stretch out my hand upon
the inhabitants of the land, saith the Lord.
You see, he's talking to a people who
had been adding house to house and joining
field to field until there was no more
room so that they could live separate from
others.
In other words, they were speculating.
You see this happening now in the United
States.
Every true economist that has a soul is
warning against it.
People are mortgaging their houses to speculate and
buy other houses.
Because, let me tell you what it's all
about.
Let me tell you what all of this
greed and this covetousness is all about.
Let me tell you why it's creeping into
the church.
Because there's a sense, you ask anybody on
your job, you ask almost anybody, What do
you think is going to happen?
They say, well, there's terrorism coming.
Or things are not going to be like
they once were.
And now there's an underlying fear that I've
got to get ready.
I've got to have something to see me
through the storm.
I've got to have a certain amount of
money in the bank.
I've got to sell some houses and make
a bundle quick because something's coming.
And folks, it's fear.
It's an underlying spirit of fear.
And that fear is driving into insanity.
It's being called insanity by Greenspan, who determines
much of what is going to happen to
our economy.
He said, it's insanity.
People are buying houses with no money done,
even though they have a house.
And they were comfortable there and they could
have made it.
They could have stayed out of debt.
And now they have debt that they will
never pay because they've got two houses, three
houses.
And the Bible said they had house to
house and land to land so that they
could be separated.
Now that's security.
I want a place of security.
Everybody on the face of the earth is
looking for a place to hide, a place
for security.
Because they're afraid.
And when you don't have God, that's how
you act.
I'm not against investing.
Some of the most righteous people I know
are wealthy people.
And God has led them investment after investment.
That's their business.
They know what they're doing and they have
the funds to do it.
And most of those that I know do
it for one purpose.
They have enough of their own money and
they're trying to make money just to help
the kingdom of God.
And much of what we do to World
Challenge and even this church comes from many
of those people.
Some of them are sitting in this congregation
now.
I'm not putting that down.
That's scriptural.
But I'm talking about those who are trying
in the flesh.
They're not trusting God with their future.
I have to do something about it.
And that's the heart of covetousness.
The heart of covetousness.
I won't be happy.
I can't make it unless I have so
much money in the bank.
I'm not going to be able to make
it unless I have these things ahead of
me.
Making these great provisions for my flesh.
Jeremiah saw a real estate crash coming.
His heart was broken.
Even though he's being mocked.
Jeremiah is scathing in his rebuke of those
pastors and shepherds and evangelists who heal the
hurt of God's people slightly.
You see everybody's hurting.
But the Bible said these prophets and these
priests, in other words, these shepherds.
There's a certain amount of healing.
And I'll read some of the books and
there's an amount of healing there.
It's soothing.
There's a bit of healing.
But he said, God says they're not getting
down to the disease.
They're not getting to the root of the
problem.
They're just putting a piece of tape over
cancer.
He said there's slight healing.
And God said, I despise that.
There's no total healing because the issue's always
been sin.
The book I'm telling you about now is
one of the most popular in the country.
They're not aware about sin.
How do you deal with a disease until
you get to the root?
And the disease has always been sin.
And the only way to true healing is
through repentance and taking up your cross and
following Jesus Christ.
Forsake the world, the Bible says.
He said, separate yourself from the world.
Oh, folks, we don't hear that preaching anymore.
Separation from the world.
We look at the same movies, go to
the same places, the same houses of entertainment,
listen to their jokes, tell the jokes.
We live like the world and tell there's
no power over the world because we're just
like the world.
Jeremiah's scathing against them because they're healing the
hurt of my people, slightly whitewashing their sins,
saying, peace, peace, and all is well.
You deserve happiness.
Dream bigger dreams.
Covetousness goes beyond coveting material things.
It includes lusting after proselytes.
Jesus said these kind of people, they'll go
the whole world, all over the world, all
land and sea.
They'll scour everywhere for one convert.
Because, see, if this is the kind of
attitude that comes in the church, then the
people are just the pawns.
They're just the pawns to build a man's
reputation.
They're just pawns.
They're just being used.
Therefore, they shall fall at the time when
I visit them.
They're going to be cast down, saith the
Lord.
Folks, we're facing a housing disaster.
This great bubble, real estate bubble, that is
really worse than the one in Japan.
And I stood in this pulpit when Japan
was boasting of their real estate prices, and
they were saying that their royal palace was
worth more money than all the real estate
in California.
And, folks, I stood in this pulpit and
warned about that real estate bust.
And, folks, we are facing a real estate
bust like America's ever known, beyond anything America's
ever known.
And that's the very thing Jeremiah is saying.
He said, this is what he says, Behold,
many houses shall be desolate, even great and
fine ones without occupants.
Great houses, fine houses, speculators are going to
lose everything.
Now, folks, don't get nervous because I've got
something for God's people here in just a
moment.
Take a deep breath.
But you see, when this happens, these churches
that have been saying all is well, and
they're not getting the people prepared to get
their hearts fixed on Christ, when that happens,
they're going to flee.
They're going to run from these houses.
They're going to absolutely run.
And God told Jeremiah, tell them it's all
coming down.
Tell them they're going to fall.
The priest and the prophet, along with the
people, are going to fall.
Now, let's go from the warning of Jeremiah
to the warning of Jesus.
The twelfth chapter of John.
If you want to just flip to John.
Some of you are sitting here saying, I
can't handle this.
Well, could you handle it if Jesus tells
it to you?
Luke, I'm sorry, Luke to the twelfth chapter.
Did I say Luke?
Luke to the twelfth chapter.
Forgive me.
Now, let me tell you this setting.
Folks, I didn't start until ten after, so
I've only been a half hour.
Give me ten more minutes.
In the twelfth chapter, Jesus is preaching to
one of the biggest multitudes ever had.
In fact, the Bible said so many, they
were trampling on one another.
And Jesus gives one of the most fiery,
incisive, convicting sermon or messages He's ever given
in His ministry.
If you read the first twelve verses, He's
talking about hypocrisy.
He's exposing hidden secret sin.
He said everything is going to be exposed
that's hidden.
He talks about trusting God in everything.
He said every hair is numbered on your
head.
He said don't fear.
God takes care of sparrows.
He takes care of the grass when He
takes care of you.
He talks about the danger of denying Him
before men.
And most of all, He talks about committing
the unpardonable sin and about coming persecution.
And the Bible says in verse one, and
His words were directed to His disciples first
of all.
Now, not His twelve, but the masses who
called themselves the disciples of Christ, followers of
Christ.
And Jesus is preaching this message.
Think of it.
This powerful message from the heart of God.
And a man stands up and interrupts Him
in verse thirteen.
And one of the company said unto him,
Master, speak to my brother that he divide
the inheritance with me.
Now, get the picture.
Here's a multitude just wanting to hear the
truth and they're falling over one another.
This man, it had to be hours that
Jesus had spoken.
And there's a man not hearing a word.
He doesn't hear a word.
He's being told about the unpardonable sin.
He's talking about persecution.
He hears all of this incredible all put
into a few hours.
And as soon as Jesus takes a breath,
He jumps up.
Jesus, would you talk to my brother about
my inheritance?
Jesus looks and says, man, who made me
a lawyer?
Who made me a divider of goods?
The spiritual indignation in Christ.
What kind of a God do you think
I am that I would use my power,
my might and my glory to make you
better off?
Why couldn't you hear my word?
Folks, that is why preaching like I'm preaching
now will not be accepted.
Whether it's me, whether it's somebody else standing
up and preaching like I'm preaching this morning
in the kind of churches of covetousness.
I could stand up and talk about the
coming of Jesus.
I could warn and preach and there would
be multitudes sit there and they can't hear
it.
Because when you're given to covetousness, it shuts
out everything else in the gospel.
You can't hear it.
Folks, I'm not mad at anybody but the
devil.
And this doctrine of covetousness that says you
can only be happy when you have things.
Master, speak to my brother that he divide
the inheritance with me.
And then Jesus turns to the crowd, probably
holy righteousness.
Listen, he says to the crowd, take heed,
beware of covetousness.
For man's life consists not in the abundance
of the things which he possesses.
That's not the source of happiness.
That's not where it is.
It's not in this covetousness.
It's not what this man is talking about.
This man's thinking to himself, well, I deserve
better.
I've been cheated.
I want my share.
That's what you hear in the world today
and even in many circles of the church.
I want my share.
I want my dream.
Jesus said, you've closed your ears and your
eyes so that you can no longer hear
or see.
Now, folks, before I close, I'm going to
tell you there are two kinds of covetousness.
There's a covetousness of the world and there's
a covetousness that is found mostly in the
house of God.
And it's among true believers as a form
of covetousness.
And I want to talk about it before
I close.
You see, when Jesus warns his people to
beware of covetousness, he means something entirely different
than that of the world.
You see, Jesus is not against blessing his
people.
No.
Remember what Jesus said?
All these things the nations seek after.
He was talking about clothing and shelter and
food and water.
He said, these are the things that the
world.
These are the things he's talking about, the
things he's naming, these things.
Folks, that includes your house.
That includes your transportation, your food, your job.
And then Jesus goes right on.
He said, your father knows you have need
of these things.
God knows you have a need for shelter.
You need a house.
You need an apartment.
You need transportation.
You need clothes on your back.
And he said, I want to give you
sufficiency.
And you know, God is not against blessing,
because when Israel came into the promised land,
they inherited goodly house, as the Bible said,
and vineyards they didn't plant.
And God was pleased and God was thrilled
that his people were enjoying his blessings.
And he promised blessings beyond their comprehension.
If they would just stay in repentance and
faith and consider the poor among their midst.
God promised them incredible blessings.
You find it all through his word.
But you see, covetousness for the believer is
to hear Jesus personally promise you through his
word that he will provide for you no
matter what happens, no matter what the condition
in the world, no matter if the economy
collapses.
God has given a whole catalog of promises.
I will keep you.
I will supply your need.
And the covetousness Jesus is warning his church
is about.
The scripture says, seek not what you shall
eat or what you shall drink and be
not of doubtful mind.
This is the covetousness of the church of
Jesus Christ, to sit on promises that are
so incredible.
An Old Testament, a New Testament filled with
thousands and thousands of promises, evidences, examples of
God keeping people in hard times.
And God says, be not of doubtful mind,
because that's covetousness and you're going to go
and try to do what the world does
and get yourself a backup system.
Folks, I'm going to tell you, if the
world is a stage and we've been on
that stage, this is the last act.
Because you see, God said in the last
days, from the apostles on, he's going to
make a spectacle out of his people.
And what is coming is not a test
of faith.
I preached this, I think, last week.
Not every trial is a test of faith.
Out of this church and many churches just
like this around the world, many, many Christians,
hundreds, thousands, I believe even millions, have gone
through the fires and they've been tested.
And the world, when that sees the shaking
and men losing their houses and their money
again, and people walking streets worried and fretting
on stage, right on stage before the whole
world will be a people who've been tested,
they're going to go through hard times, yes.
But they're going to stand up because they
know they have another house.
Now my house in New Jersey, I have
to take care of that thing.
I have seen some cracks in the foundation.
You have to put a new roof.
Thank God for the house, but, oh, what
a headache.
What about your car?
Why do you trade every two, three years
and most many every year?
Because the thing's starting to break down.
But you see, I can stand before the
whole world, and this is not just pie
in the sky someday.
This has to be a reality in us,
and this is the only way we can
last.
Say, oh, yes, I may have to downsize.
I may be going through hard times, but
I've got a mansion in paradise.
I serve a God who took three million
Jews through a wilderness where there wasn't a
single 7-Eleven.
A God who's taken me through trial after
trial, and I'm on stage right now to
tell the whole world He's going to see
me through.
If all you hear me say is this,
be not of doubtful mind, you've heard the
Word.
And that's the antidote against covetousness.
I don't have to be my own Savior.
The God I've been preaching and telling the
world that He is so mighty and so
loving that He's a loving Father has told
me, when you get to thinking about the
future, just take a look at the little
lilies of the field.
They don't labor.
They don't have a backup plan.
God says, I've given them beauty, and I've
taken care of them.
He said, if you're a doubtful mind, go
pick a lily.
Let's stand.
Oh, my brother, what if I lose my
house?
What if I lose my job?
All of these questions that we have, oh,
God says, I see, I know.
He's made you a promise.
You will eat.
You will have clothing on your back.
I've told you of this pulpit.
I don't care how much you would dream
about filet mignon, He didn't promise you that.
For 40 years, He gave the same menu,
but that man had every vitamin, every mineral
that the human body needs so that they
could fight their battles and they could survive.
And God will take care of you in
His way what He thinks is right.
Oh, glory to God.
Lord, help us.
I know what's coming is not a test
of faith for your family, for your beloved
ones.
It's a time to become a spectacle to
the world.
That means a vision, something to behold of
a people who put into practice everything they've
preached.
And they're steady.
I will believe and I will trust God.
Hallelujah.
Would you, folks, has God taken care of
you so far?
Would you raise your hands and just thank
Him in the annex.
Raise your hands and thank Him.
Lord, you've been good to me.
You've kept me.
Here I stand as a testimony.
I've been through the waters.
I've been through the flood.
I've been through the fire.
But I'm still here.
I'm still here.
Hallelujah.
Let me tell you what I want to
do in the close of this service.
I'm going to give an invitation only.
I don't care if it's five, ten people
to come.
This church is not interested in just packing
the altars and having people lined up all
the way to the back.
I'm asking for those that are sitting here
in this church and in the annex and
the overflow rooms, balcony, wherever you're hearing me.
And to me, this is life and death.
And you walked in here this morning and
something has gotten a hold of your heart.
That fire, that zeal and that love that
you once had.
Now, if you didn't have that at all
and you don't know Christ, you're the first
I want to see.
Boldly step out of your seat and come
here and say, today I come to give
my life completely to Christ.
But I'm talking to those right now.
You have lost something of the touch of
God.
And when that happens, that's when the world
starts enticing and pulling on your heart.
And that's when you get in real deep
trouble.
And God wants to deliver you.
He wants to bring you back to that
fire that you had.
Or if you didn't have, you need, you
need that fire, you need that touch of
God.
Up in the balcony, go to the stairs
on either side and come here in the
manor.
And in the annex, the overflow room, go
to the lobby.
And the ushers will show you how to
get into the door to come down and
come right down to the main building where
I'm standing.
And stand in front of me here.
And we're going to believe God right now
that there will be a fire ignited in
your soul before you walk out of here.
And things are going to change in your
life and in your home.
There should be married couples that come down
and say, honey, let's get things straight.
Let's get back to reality.
Let's quit playing this foolish game.
God is speaking clearly.
You hear that.
You obey it.
Come move in closely.
Make room for those that are coming.
God bless.
I want to read a scripture.
Seek first the kingdom of God and all
these things shall be added unto you.
Fear not, little flock, for it's your pleasure,
your father's good pleasure to give you the
kingdom.
What is the kingdom?
Joy, peace and rest in the Holy Ghost.
He said, I want to give you joy,
peace and rest in the Holy Ghost.
So there's no more striving, no more trying
to keep up with somebody, but saying, Lord
Jesus, I want my happiness in you.
Just knowing you, just spending time with you
and just resting in your love and in
your promises to me.
Now, I want you to pray this prayer.
I see a number of you.
Don't be afraid to cry.
Don't be afraid.
I wasn't.
That's what Jesus said.
He loves to see that broken spirit and
contrite heart.
Look this way for just a moment.
There's no question that some of you are
going through a real difficult time and you're
really hurting.
By the way, this woman, and she's probably
here this morning, this dear sister who had
the leaking roof in her house.
Some men of our church went and fixed
it.
And she's praising the Lord and God answered
her prayer.
The only issue now is you're going to
take God at his word.
Are you going to believe his promises?
Are you going to follow your feelings?
Your feelings are always going to fail you.
They're always going to lie to you.
They're going to cheat you.
They're going to mess up your thinking.
So there's only one place to go.
And that's to say, here's what God said.
I rest on that.
No matter what happens, I rest on his
promises.
Pray this with me.
Lord Jesus.
You've never failed me.
Never once have you let me down.
And I thank you.
Forgive my unbelief.
Remove my fears.
Give me faith.
True faith in your promises.
Cleanse me, Jesus.
Of all sin.
Of everything that would grieve the Holy Spirit.
Now, Lord Jesus.
I accept your forgiveness.
And I accept your love.
Thank you for loving me.
I put my life and my future into
your hands.
Because I know you love me.
You will never fail me.
Would you lift your hands and just thank
him for that right now?
Just raise your hands and thank him.
Jesus never, never fails.
Oh, it doesn't take God long.
It doesn't take the Holy Spirit long when
your heart's open.
Just so you're open to the Lord.
May I ask you to do this when
you go home in all the next two
weeks, please.
Would you just go through the Psalms again?
Just go through the Psalms.
Read at least five chapters every day.
And also read the Gospel of John again.
It's important to stay in there until you
really grasp the loving Father and the fact
that Jesus is praying for you every day.
Get into the book of John and read
a couple chapters every day until you read
it.
And then read it again.
Just keep reading it as far as you
can, as often as you can.
Thank you, Father, for your presence in this
service this morning.
Thank you for speaking to our hearts.
To whom shall I warn?
Lord, we found that people today.
The people of God.
The people who love your word.
And you've unburdened your heart, Lord.
And I've unburdened mine.
So we rest now, letting you take the
consequences and the blessings in Jesus' name.
This is the conclusion of the message.