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My message, when God sets his heart on
you, when God sets his heart on you,
I'm going to quote just one verse, you
don't need to turn there, but from Job
7, 17.
What is man, Job said, that you should
magnify him and that you should set your
heart upon him and that thou shouldest visit
him every morning and try him every moment.
You see, when God sets his heart on
you, then he tries us every moment.
When God sets his heart upon you, Lord,
we love you today more than we've ever
loved you.
We thank you for the victory of the
cross and we thank you for the love
that you've shown us.
We thank you what you've done in this
city, Lord, right in the midst of Times
Square, right in the middle of all the
shows and the middle of all of the
activity of this city and the people coming
here from all over the world, you have
raised up a testimony, you've raised up something
of your heart.
Lord, it's not just been warning, it's been
the expression of the love of your heart
for lost man.
And we pray, Lord, you speak to our
hearts.
We not forget that kind of love this
morning.
In Christ's name I pray, amen.
In Hebrews 12, 1, the Bible tells us
there's a cloud of witnesses encircling this globe.
Then the question is, what are they witnessing
about and who are they witnessing to?
They are witnessing to us by their testimony,
what they said during their life and what
they're saying to us now while they're glorified
with Christ in paradise.
Three things I believe they would witness to
us and to this generation in particular.
First of all, that God still has his
heart set on saving this world.
He still loves mankind.
I see no record in the scripture of
God forsaking the place.
That God is still working and moving by
his spirit, pouring out his spirit upon all
flesh.
That is the first witness.
The second witness, that God's heart is still
set on his church.
Problems, apostasies and all, God's heart is still
set on his church.
Thirdly, the witness of the cloud of witnesses
would be that God has set his heart
on every child of his, every single member
of the body of Jesus Christ.
God has set his heart upon them.
Let's talk about the witnesses to this present
world.
We live in a society that has out
sinned Sodom.
In fact, when you go to the prophets,
they say that you have sinned worse than
Sodom.
And we see that out sinning of Sodom
now.
And we know that God judged the world
for less sin than we see in our
generation today.
And the question is, why does God allow
such infamy, such terror?
Why does God allow the defamation of his
name?
This is the hardest thing for Christians to
accept, how the name of Christ is being
mocked and ridiculed, especially here in the United
States and Europe.
Not so much in South America and Africa,
where the Holy Spirit is moving in such
a marvelous way, but here in these gospel
-hardened nations.
We stand back as Christians and say, Lord,
how is it that we've not been judged
till this time?
Even secularists are asking that question.
How is it that we have been given
such prosperity?
We're living in a time of great prosperity
right now.
The stock market is at an all-time
high and there's great prosperity in this land.
And we say, God, not wanting judgment, not
hoping for judgment, but standing back and say,
how far do we go in perversity?
How far do we go into the depths
of sin and how far will this moral
landslide go and continue?
And the question comes, Lord, why have you
allowed this to go on for so long?
But you see, my heart and the heart
of many Christians, we bleed so much over
the name of Christ.
We bleed so much that our Savior is
being mocked and ridiculed.
We stand back and we watch the Ten
Commandments being ripped right out of our society.
We see what's happening to our schools.
We see the murder and the raping and
the marriage between same-sex marriage and all
of these things.
And we say, oh, God, how long do
you allow this?
You judged all past societies long before this
point that we have reached now.
Paul the Apostle would be one of those
witnesses.
I think of that cloud of witness and
I ask, I wonder in my heart, Paul,
what would you say to us if you
stood in this purpose?
And I think Paul would say, I cursed
Christ.
I was a terrorist.
I did it in ignorance, but God was
patient with me and he is patient with
your generation because there are many just like
me who mocked Christ, who cursed his name,
who did everything to put out the name
and memory of him in my generation.
And God had mercy upon me.
Jesus delayed his coming.
He said he could come at any time.
He delayed his coming.
I was included.
And he is saying there are many more
apostles just like me.
There are many terrorists just like me that
have been trained from childhood.
When you think of the Islamic nations and
you think of all of those in Iran,
especially in Iraq and in Palestine who have
been trained since little children, before they could
even speak, trained to be terrorists.
That's all they've known.
They have never been exposed.
They've never come under the light of the
gospel.
And Paul saying, I can understand why God
has delayed his coming.
Christ has delayed his coming.
I can understand that because there are still
more like me.
He is patient with mankind.
He is patient with this world, not willing
that any should perish.
Now, I'm giving you a very, very simple
message.
But just to remind us of God's great
love for this world.
He has not changed in his attitude and
hope for this world.
Peter is in that cloud, and he understands
why God is patient.
He said, I too cursed him.
I swore I never knew him.
And God is withholding his coming, the coming
of Jesus Christ in his patience, because there
are many more just like him.
He said, when you look around you in
your generation, you see those that mock Christ.
You see those, the disciples could rise up
in that cloud of witnesses and say, in
our time, they outlawed the preaching of Christ.
They called us before their council.
And they said, we demand that you do
not even speak in his name again.
They would say we were cast in prison
for preaching the name of Christ.
And he said, you have mercies we only
dreamed of.
And he said, you, I think the pastor
would say to me if I had a
one-on-one conversation with Peter or with
Paul, they would say, David, you worry too
much.
You're too over-concerned and you fret about
what you see around you.
As in Europe now, the European Council of
Nations is on the verge of a law
making it absolutely unlawful anywhere in the European
Union to preach about homosexuality.
And it can be a fine and jail.
One Pentecostal pastor was jailed in Sweden.
They had to change the law to get
him out.
But it's speeding toward that.
And they would say, you see how the
name of Christ is being defamed?
You hear all of this, but that's not
new.
We were not allowed to preach in the
name of Jesus Christ.
We went to jail.
We were beaten for it.
So we understand.
They would say, we understand why Christ has
not yet come, because there are many more
just like us.
We were favored, but God is no, there's
no favoritism with God.
And more and more, God would say to
the church of Jesus Christ, don't look at
these conditions.
You can consider the signs.
You can talk about them.
You can preach about the signs of the
times and about the judgment to come.
I've preached many messages on divine judgment, and
hopefully I've preached them with some mercy and
grace.
But you see, we can't be focused on
these things.
We can't be focused on judgment.
Is this all there is to God's patience,
that he's giving the world, the sinners, more
time to sin, become more gross so that
he can avenge himself more ably against the
wicked?
Does he allow them to just, so to
speak, pile up their sins and go deeper
and deeper into poverty?
Because that's what's happening, going deeper and deeper
into immorality and gross iniquities.
Is that all that God is waiting for,
for a more horrific judgment upon sinners?
There can be no such thing.
We cannot think such thoughts as ambassadors of
Jesus Christ.
That is not what God is waiting for.
He's not waiting so that there can be
greater judgment upon those who sin more willfully
and immorally.
No, you see, he said he is waiting
patiently, not willing that any man should die
in his sin.
He is a patient God.
There's nothing to do.
Yes, the Bible said fires are reserved for
the day of judgment.
Oh, there's a raging fire, folks, and judgment
will come in his time.
But he said they're reserved.
In other words, the scripture said they're being
held back.
And we as Christians must ask God and
pray for the same kind of patience and
love that our Heavenly Father is showing right
now.
Otherwise, we would be history right now.
You and I wouldn't be sitting here.
I think in that cloud, I know I
see the faces.
This past week, I've been remembering the faces
of all of those drug addicts and alcoholics
that came through Brooklyn Center right here in
New York.
I think of Marion Frank Thomas.
They came to us.
He she was alcoholic and he was a
drug addict, wasted skin and bones, a brilliant
mind that had been devastated by drugs who
could hardly put a sentence together.
Look like us like a living death and
to see Jesus Christ transform their lives and
renew their minds.
And to see Brother Thomas so open up
to the gospel and see the power of
the gospel and the patience of Christ for
two who had just absolutely destroyed the life
that God had given to them.
And to see and watch that dear man
begin to open up and blossom until finally
self-taught himself Hebrew.
Sent to Bible school in college and his
wife graduated and went to Los Angeles and
started one of the great prison ministries.
Now, Frank and his wife died young.
Because the body devastated by cocaine and alcohol.
But they went out shouting the praises of
God.
And they're in that group saying Jesus still
saves.
There are still drug addicts.
There are alcoholics.
There are prostitutes that steal.
The Lord sees something in his heart is
set on them and he'll not let go
until he accomplishes his work.
Folks, a week before they came into the
center, they're just one of thousands.
They had not one thought of God.
They came in so that they could get
out of the cold.
They came in just so that they could
kind of kick their habit a little bit,
maybe go back to it.
But when they came exposed to the moving
of the Holy Spirit, exposed to a pure
gospel, the Lord changed them.
And there are many now that may not
listen to you.
There are many now that don't have an
open heart to the gospel.
But once they get in the atmosphere, once
the Holy Ghost begins to move on their
heart, things change.
And the Holy Ghost is just beginning.
He said he's going to pour out his
Spirit upon all flesh.
And I find no record in the Scripture
where he has stopped.
None whatsoever.
His Spirit is still falling in New York
City.
He's falling here all over this city.
He's moving on hearts that we know nothing
about.
They could be listening to the radio, to
Times Square Church.
They could be given a track.
Somehow God knows how to do it.
But he has not given up on this
sinful world.
Yes, the world is abusing his patience.
But we can't be impatient.
And we can't be just looking for judgment.
We're looking for redemption.
Hallelujah.
But the heavens and the earth which are
now are kept in store reserved until the
day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men.
Yes, that is the truth.
But the Lord is not slack concerning his
promises.
Some men count slackness.
But as long suffering to us, we're not
willing that any should perish.
But all men come to repentance.
And so what do we say about it?
Jesus said, I must work the works of
him that sent me while it is day,
because the night cometh when no man can
work.
Now he says it's daytime.
It's still daytime, folks.
We talk about midnight.
Yes, but it's still daylight.
According to the Scripture, he said the fields
are still white unto harvest.
So, folks, let this not be a church
that is just waiting to be preserved, to
watch God judge this earth, or just waiting
to be taken away.
We all want to see Jesus.
Nobody wants to see him more than I
do.
We want to see Jesus.
But I've asked the Lord to give me
my right mind and let me speak the
name of Jesus to my last breath, to
my last breath that I could be able
to glorify his name and preach his gospel.
I'm 75 years old, and now we have
80 invitations around the world.
Now, I'm going to come and help occasionally.
Pastor Craig, I want to be here a
month at a time and help you gentlemen
preach a little bit.
I'm 75, and I'm just getting a Holy
Ghost itch like I've never had.
You 30-, 40-, 50-year-old saints.
I'm going around saying, I'll make it through
the day.
Keep up with me.
Forgive me, Lord.
And secondly, God loves his church, blemishes and
all.
In spite of apostasies and backslidings, he still
loves his church.
The church is not sitting around being preserved.
No, we're still in the day of reaching
lost souls.
The Scripture is clear.
Now, from the very beginning of the church,
there have been apostasies and false teachers in
the first churches.
The early church is founded by the apostle,
the apostles, especially Paul himself.
The Scripture said they had the full counsel
of God preached and taught to them.
The Scripture says nothing profitable to growth and
steadfastness was withheld, according to the apostle Paul.
They were given truth, not only in word,
but in demonstration of power and anointing of
the Holy Ghost.
The early church founded on truth and power
and authority in the word of God.
The church in Corinth was planted by Paul.
It was watered by Apollos.
They were given truth.
And the Scripture says they were fully instructed.
But within six years before the first epistle
that Paul wrote, they had already there had
already been a subtle bewitching attack in the
church in Corinth.
They denied the rest of some in the
church and teachers rose up denying the resurrection
of the dead.
And when they did that, Paul told them,
you are denying the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
First Corinthians 15, 12, 18.
Now, if Christ be preached that he rose
from the dead, how does some among us
say there's no resurrection of the dead?
If there's no resurrection of the dead, then
Christ is not risen.
And if Christ is not risen, then our
preaching is in vain and your faith is
in vain.
We have found false witnesses of God because
we have testified of God that he raised
up Christ, whom if he's not raised up,
if so be that the dead do not
raise.
If the dead rise not, then is not
Christ raised.
And if Christ is not raised, your faith
is in vain.
You are still in your sins.
Then they also which are fallen asleep in
Christ are perished.
You see, that was the first church.
This is the beginning.
And apostasy set in, false doctrines set in
immediately.
The Galatian church also planted by Paul.
In fact, they were so desirous of the
gospel and so loved their pastor, they said
they were willing to pluck out their eyes.
They said, when you came, it was like
an angel sent from God.
You were like an angel.
And suddenly and shockingly, they fail from the
truth of justification by faith and not by
works.
Paul said, oh, foolish Galatians, who has bewitched
you that you would not obey the truth
before whose eyes Jesus Christ has been clearly
set forth, crucified among you?
Sudden apostasy.
Paul was shocked.
He said, what has happened?
This is the first church.
This is the early church.
This is before.
We're not talking about centuries now.
We're talking about at the very beginning, up
to the outpouring of the Holy Spirit.
Now, just just a few years.
And now these apostasy, these falling away from
the truth.
And he said, who bewitched you?
What happened?
You were fully instructed.
You heard of heaven.
You heard of hell.
You heard of justification by faith, the sanctification
of the Holy Spirit who mortifies your sins.
You have been trained by men of God.
You've had men that stood before you weeping.
How is it that you could be bewitched?
What happened to you?
And folks, Paul, the apostle, said, even before
I die, while I'm still here, they're going
to rise up among you.
And already some of you are bewitched.
He said, you were embracing false teachers and
now you've developed itching ears.
Folks, I cannot understand that it has happened
in this church.
And I say it lovingly because I've met
some from this church that have been here
for years.
Some that were here when I first started
preaching in New York and meet me on
the street, across the street.
They say, have you heard Brother so and
so on television?
I said, no, I haven't.
And I know the man.
I know he's the one that said Jesus
can't come until you have your new car
and your new house.
He's the one that said the Bible.
And in fact, he said this last week.
The Bible is nothing more than a door
to riches.
And she said, have you heard him?
Now, folks, I've heard him teach.
I have a tape of teaching.
Ninety, ninety five percent is some of the
best teaching I've ever heard.
Amazing.
I'm sitting there saying this man can preach.
He is a teacher.
And then suddenly that five percent of poison,
that bewitching.
And suddenly this man is saying things that
are so unscriptural, so against the very image
of Jesus Christ, saying that Jesus had to
be rich to support twelve apostles and he
had to have an accountant.
His name was Judas.
I'm saying I'm thinking we've got people that
slip away.
Did somebody give you a tape?
Did you turn on television out of curiosity?
And I say this with tears and brokenness.
I say this with the pastor's heart.
There are some of you here now.
And I, I, I, I stop and say,
oh, my God.
Oh, Jesus.
Some of those dear people have heard they've
heard men stand weeping, preaching a gospel from
broken hearts.
Fully instructed.
Fully taught in the ways of almighty God,
not to beat down people.
No one has ever begged you for money
in this house.
We have glorified the name of Jesus.
The Holy Spirit has been exalted in his
time, in his place, in this house.
And you've sat under the glory of God.
You've seen heaven.
You felt hell.
And yet.
God, help us.
Choir.
People.
Watch out.
You can be bewitched just like you can
take two or three Oxycontin pills and be
hooked for life.
You can take one snort of cocaine and
be hooked for life.
And how is it that people can discount
years of teaching?
How is it that God's people who sat
on the gospel of Paul, the apostle, and
yet can turn away.
There's somebody who tickled their ears.
And tell them they can be prosperous.
And discount the poor and needy of the
whole world.
My Bible said my Christ had no place
to lay his head.
And I speak from the spirit of the
living God and from the throne of heaven.
If this were the last message ever preached
in this pulpit, I'm telling you, hear me.
Where is your discernment?
Why don't you recall what you heard?
And why don't you say, Holy Spirit, if
this is not the gospel, if this is
not truly what the word of God is,
then open up my heart.
Not to this.
Open up my heart to what I've heard
and what I know to be the truth.
And get your Bible out and get on
your knees.
If you hear one thing that is not
right, get quickly to the throne of grace.
Get quickly to your knees and say, Holy
Spirit, open up my eyes.
My heart
is burdened.
Because this past two weeks I've just been
feeling this.
I can't understand why millions.
I don't understand how to make a church
with 10,000 people down south.
That a man can stand before his congregation
saying, if you come and join this church,
I guarantee you'll be rich.
And I don't understand how he can stand
in the pulpit and he can say, don't
tell me Jesus didn't have a house.
Whoever heard of a carpenter didn't build his
own house?
And people clapping.
And many of those people didn't want to
hear a reproving message.
They didn't want to hear anything that upset
their world.
They wanted a smooth gospel.
Oh, God, keep this church.
God, keep us.
Turn that stuff off.
Keep your heart and your ears open.
I'm going to get some more, but I
want to move on here.
God's heart is set on every single child.
You know, God is hard set on this.
You know, in spite of all all the
apostasy, in spite of all the false doctrines,
I said it's been here from the very
beginning.
But in all these hundreds and hundreds of
years, the Lord has continued to do his
work.
People are still getting saved and filled with
the Holy Spirit.
They've stopped nothing.
Folks, we can talk about apostasy.
We can we can warn the church.
But in the final end, God still has
everything under control.
And these apostasy are not going to kill
or destroy or ruin the church of Jesus
Christ.
Those apostate churches, the Lord said, I don't
even know you.
That's not God's great concern.
God's great concern is the body of Christ.
Those who are truly invisibly the invisible church
of Christ that exists all over the world.
I had this past week we got a
word from an Arab pastor.
He said, if you could only know what
God is doing in those nations and the
thousands of Christians in Iran.
He said, even in Saudi Arabia, where you
could get your head lopped off.
He said, there's still a church thriving in
Saudi Arabia, all over the world.
Folks, you can believe it in India and
China.
God will not allow the cross of Jesus
Christ to be in vain.
Never.
It's going to be a glorified church without
spot or without wrinkle.
What would the cloud of witnesses have to
say to you and I as individuals?
I'm thinking of Cornelius in that cloud and
his whole household.
And I think what the message would be,
he says, when you truly believe in Christ's
forgiveness, when you truly accept and believe in
the remission of sins through repentance and faith,
the Holy Ghost comes and honors it at
all times.
Cornelius would say, Peter came to my household
and he began to talk about Jesus.
He talked about the resurrected Jesus.
He talked about 500 witnesses.
He talked about the empty tomb.
He said, then he began to talk about
remission of sins.
Let me read it to you.
He has shown openly to the people over
500 witnesses.
And when he told us all the prophets
foretold and witnessed of him that through his
name, whosoever believes in him shall receive remission
of sin.
Then the Holy Ghost fell.
And here's what I hear from the witnesses,
especially would be from the house of Cornelius.
If once you truly walk in the victory
of the cross, you see, God's plan for
us is not to walk in guilt and
condemnation.
There are some of you listen to me
now have really never enjoyed Jesus.
You walk with Christ has been such a
burden to you.
You can always feel that God is mad
at you.
You always feel that you've done something wrong
and that God somehow was withholding his blessing.
And you don't know that sweet communion that
enjoying Jesus.
I wake up every morning, Lord, and say,
Lord, I want to enjoy you more today
than I did yesterday.
I want to enjoy.
I'm not going to spend the rest of
my years laboring under guilt and condemnation when
I've been to the blood.
And I believe the covering of the blood.
I believe the power of the blood.
The Holy Ghost witnesses to that and the
Holy Ghost will come down on you.
He'll come down on your whole family.
And I believe when true remission of sin
is preached in the victory of the cross
and it's done through preaching of repentance and
faith and preaching the covenant of Christ.
I believe the Holy Ghost always witnesses to
it.
And that's the witness of the cloud of
witnesses.
Cornelius could say Jesus.
Came to our house, but more the Holy
Spirit fell when we believed that we were
truly remitted from our sins, we were truly,
truly forgiven.
Did you confess your sins?
Do you have a complete confidence now that
you're forgiven?
Or are you sitting here this morning saying,
well, you don't know what I did, Pastor
Dave.
You don't know what I'm hiding.
You don't know what I went what I'm
going through.
You don't know my my struggle.
If you knew I've had pastors tell me
that I preach it, he said, but I
really don't walk in the victory of it.
Because if you only knew my past, if
you only knew.
They don't walk in the victory of that.
I think Peter would say, wait a minute,
I denied him.
I sinned against light, more light than any
of you could know.
And yet God had his heart set on
me.
He saw something in me of hunger.
He saw something he could use.
And while I was out on the hillside
weeping and wondering if I could ever again
look in his face.
He forgave me and he cleansed me and
he has used me.
And that would be the witness.
Forget the past.
The Lord says, if you will come right
now and fully, fully believe.
I heard an elderly man recently.
He just died, I think, a year ago.
He was in his 80s.
And he said the devil walked into my
shadow, dark shadow, walked into my room and
began to accuse me.
He said, I've been serving God for years
and years and accused me.
Maybe you are not forgiven.
He said, and I just began to sing
in the face of the devil.
I began to sing about the victory of
the cross.
And he said that shadow fled out of
the room.
Folks, sing and shout about the victory of
the cross of Jesus Christ to your heart.
Looking unto Jesus, the author and the finisher
of our faith, keep looking up and preaching
the cross.
David would have said, rest in the Lord's
mercy.
He would say, remember what I did.
I committed adultery.
I killed a man.
Did you?
Have you committed murder?
I doubt anybody with this out of my
voice has committed murder.
David said, I was a murderer.
I was an adult.
I committed adultery and I repented.
And he didn't take his Holy Spirit from
me.
He gave me a new heart.
He gave me a new mind.
Think of that right now.
Whoever it may be sitting here saying you
can't enter into the joy.
The Lord wants you to walk in gladness
of heart.
According to the song, David said, I learned
that to walk in the gladness of heart.
Hallelujah.
And finally, Peter would rather Paul, the apostle
would would say, do not fear your afflictions.
Don't fear them.
Let no man be moved or shaken by
these afflictions.
For, you know, we are appointed there to.
He said, don't let this move you.
And folks, before I close, let me tell
you what Paul, the apostle, proved.
And I've proven it in my own life.
And I ask God to let let this
be a truth that goes deeper into my
heart.
Paul is always called.
Christ appears to me.
His first thing he's told is what he's
going to suffer for Christ.
And when God sets his heart on you,
you're going to go through affliction.
There's no question.
You go from Genesis to Revelation and you
will find that every time God set his
heart on a man or a woman, suffering
and affliction followed.
Jesus was afflicted from the moment he he
began to to minister in the kingdom of
Christ, the kingdom of the father.
He was afflicted to the very day he
died.
There was not a day that he was
not afflicted.
And one of the surest proofs that God
has set his heart on you.
Are the afflictions that come your way.
And the longer the affliction, the heart of
affliction, the more God has set his own
heart to show you his love and care,
that you become one of those of that
cloud of witnesses, a living human cloud of
witnesses here to the grace, the love and
care of God.
I've seen that in my heart.
And when I close, you've been praying for
my son, Greg, and I thank you.
He reached a crisis a few weeks ago
and ended up in a hospital.
But in that hospital, the Holy Ghost came
to him, the Holy Spirit.
He was he was in a wonderful environment.
And he saw in the hospital, he saw
a young 19 year old girl.
I guess she's 19.
And she was what they call a cutter.
Young ladies that cut themselves.
She had been molested, I think, and said
had marks all over her arm.
And she said she wanted to cut herself
again.
And Greg said, here, cut me.
He was told later by advisors, you can't
do that.
That won't work.
But he was so touched.
He went out in the middle area in
the hospital outside.
And it was raining and he knelt.
I mean, he sat there weeping over that
girl.
And suddenly he just fell in a mud
pile and mud and began to break and
weep and cry.
And the Lord spoke to his heart.
And see, he'd been two years in terror,
two years of pain and suffering.
And I couldn't reach him.
We just turned him over to the Lord.
A lot of prayer went up.
In that puddle, he began to just weep
and break before the Lord.
And it's when the Lord came to him
and showed him, you have to be broken.
Your faith will come out of this brokenness.
And you see yourself for what you are.
I want you to know that he's doing
so well.
The Lord is bringing healing and doing a
good work in his heart.
Hallelujah.
Will you trust in his forgiveness now?
Three things I believe in with this, my
last statement.
Three things I believe God wants when he
sets his heart, he wants you to know.
He wants you to come into that rest
where you fully trust his forgiveness and you
run immediately to him.
If the apostles were told that 499 times
is not enough to forgive, it is unlimited
forgiveness if there's genuine repentance.
And even then you have to pray for
the faith that God gives you to come
to that place.
He wants you to come to a place
of absolute rest in him so that you
begin to enjoy your fellowship with Christ.
That you can talk to him as man
to man or man to woman.
That you can talk to him all through
the day.
You have those wonderful quiet times.
You have your closets.
You have your places.
But you're meeting him.
But you are enjoying your walk.
And he wants you also to remember that
your afflictions are signs of his love and
his care.
It's not the devil attacking you.
Now, he does attack in the mind and
he does afflict.
But anything that comes over has to be
allowed by the Heavenly Father.
And it always has an eternal purpose.
And that purpose is a demonstration of his
love.
Do I hear a witness?
Will you stand?
When I was praying about the service and
the conclusion, we call it an altar experience.
If you're here, this is what I feel
the Holy Spirit spoke to my heart.
If you're here this morning and you're struggling.
You're really struggling with a restless spirit.
And there's this stirring in you.
I don't know what that restless spirit can
be about.
But you're disturbed in your spirit.
You may love Christ.
You may know him.
But there's something going on in your life
that's troubling you.
That's all I get.
There's a restlessness.
There's something churning inside of you.
And you need a hug from Jesus.
You need repentance, perhaps.
You need just a step of faith.
Now, folks, if you've been coming, if you're
part of this church, you've been coming here
quite frequently to the altar, I want you
to wait, please, until first these I'm talking
to.
Maybe you're visiting.
Maybe this is your first time here.
Or maybe you do come to this church.
But you came this morning with a very
restless spirit.
You came with a heaviness upon you.
I want you to step out of your
seat and stand here in the balcony.
Go to the stairs on either side, the
stairs.
And you can come down and stand here.
If you don't really know Christ or if
you have ‑‑ there's a term called backsliding,
meaning turning away from what you once believed
and knew, or that you've just grown cold
or lukewarm toward Christ.
I invite you to step out of your
seat.
If you feel the tug, if you feel
the pull of the Holy Spirit, that's the
Holy Spirit saying this is your day.
Folks, you have not been forced into that.
The love of Christ has been manifested in
the word today, and he wants to manifest
his love to you.
And he wants you to leave this house
with peace of mind, genuine peace of Christ
through the power of his spirit.
We sing that again.
God is so good.
We wait as you come in the balcony.
And I believe we would have time for
those in the annex.
If you want to come down, ushers in
the lobby there will show you how, because
we're limiting those that are coming to the
altar right now.
We have time for you to step out
and come and meet us here.
It will take you a few moments, but
we'll wait for you.
How many of you feel?
When Jesus comes and you open your heart,
you can sense.
That's a better word.
How many of you sense the love of
Christ for you right now?
Raise your hand, please.
You came for sensing the love of Christ
for you.
That's a work of the Holy Spirit.
He wants to bring you into that peace
that passes all understanding.
Probably the majority of you have prayed the
prayer of a sinner.
You've said, Lord, forgive me.
I confess my sins.
If you haven't done that, you can do
that now.
You can just breathe that in prayer, because
God who reads our thoughts, knows our thoughts,
can read your prayer.
Just breathe it out right now, Lord Jesus.
Forgive me and cleanse me.
And if you have fallen into a sin
or you've been overtaken suddenly by a sin
that's overwhelmed you, you didn't expect it, it
came and you fell, bring it to the
cross.
Bring it to Jesus right now.
And ask him right now, Lord, forgive me.
Just say it right out, Lord, forgive me.
I repent of that.
And now will you trust him?
Will you trust him for forgiveness?
Will you believe?
Nothing pleases God more than that.
Now look this way.
One of my children, I have four children,
ten grandchildren.
One of my children and two of my
grandchildren came to the house the other day.
And they walked in.
And there was such a joy.
They embraced me.
And Holy Spirit spoke to my heart.
David, what do you think your Father feels,
your Heavenly Father feels when you're sad and
you won't accept, they wouldn't accept your love
and your care?
Because you see, if one of my children
hurt, I bleed inside.
I do everything immediately.
I feel it.
I pray about it.
If I were God, I would make everything
right.
How much more does the Lord want to
fix everything in our hearts?
He wants to fix what is wrong.
And if we simply accept him, maybe you
don't know a father like that.
But I know my father's heart.
I know my heart for my children and
my grandchildren.
And they know it.
And it blesses me when they're happy around
me.
It blesses me.
I hurt when they hurt in front of
me.
I know they hurt.
That's okay.
But I want to know that when they
know that Father's there and things are going
to work out right because he has everything
under control, then I want them to say,
thank you, Dad.
Thank you, Father.
And be at peace.
Lord, do that in this house.
Bring your marvelous peace.
We pray this out loud, all of you
that came forward.
Lord Jesus, you promised me peace.
And I repent of my sins.
And I turn to you, Jesus, to the
forgiveness and the mercy you promised in your
word.
I receive that.
I receive forgiveness.
I believe I'm forgiven.
Now, Lord, put peace in my heart.
Take away this troubled spirit.
Bring peace right now.
Now, Father, I've heard that prayer.
You heard it.
And I pray that peace that passes all
understanding would sweep all through this house and
in the annex and that we would glorify
God for the peace that Christ is.
He is our peace.
Just give him praise and thanks for his
mercy.
This is the conclusion of the message.