This message is one of the Times Square
Church Pulpit Series.
It was recorded in the sanctuary of Times
Square Church in Manhattan, New York City.
Other tapes are available by writing World Challenge,
PO Box 260, Lindell, TX 75771 or calling
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I want to talk to you this morning
about the making of a worshiper.
Are you a worshiper?
Well, we'll see.
We'll test it by the word of the
Lord.
Welcome to our visitors, all of you.
May you have sensed the presence of the
Lord here today.
Exodus 14, starting in verse 8, And
the Lord hardened the heart of Pharaoh, king
of Egypt, and he pursued after the children
of Israel.
And the children of Israel went out with
a high hand.
The Egyptians pursued after them, all the horses
and chariots of Pharaoh and his horsemen and
his army, overtook them in camping by the
sea, behind Hebroth, before Beelzebub.
And when Pharaoh drew nigh, the children of
Israel lifted up their eyes, and, behold, the
Egyptians marched after them, and they were sore
afraid.
And the children of Israel cried out to
the Lord.
They said unto Moses, Because there were no
graves in Egypt, hast thou taken us away
to die in the wilderness?
Wherefore hast thou dealt thus with us to
carry us forth out of Egypt?
Is this not the word that we would
tell you in Egypt, saying, Let us alone,
that we may serve the Egyptians?
Been better for us to serve the Egyptians
than that we should die in this wilderness?
Moses said unto the people, Fear you not,
stand still, see the salvation of the Lord,
which he shall show you today.
For the Egyptians whom you have seen today,
you shall see them again no more.
The Lord shall fight for you, and you
shall hold your peace.
If you will skip down to verse 19.
And the angel of God went before the
camp of Israel, removed and went before, behind
them, and the pillar of the cloud went
from before their face and stood behind them.
And it came between the camp of the
Egyptians and the camp of Israel.
And it was a cloud of darkness to
them, but it gave light by night to
these, the Israelites, so that the one came
not near the other all the night.
And Moses stretched out his hand over the
sea, and the Lord caused the sea to
go back by a strong east wind all
that night and made the sea dry land
and the waters were divided.
And the children of Israel went into the
midst of the sea upon dry ground, and
the waters were a wall unto them of
their right and on the left.
Heavenly Father, I ask you for an anointing,
a special anointing for this hour, for this
day.
Lord, you put this message on my heart.
I'd prepared another, but yesterday you changed it.
You changed it because you knew someone would
be here that needed this.
You planted each of us in the seat
in which we're sitting.
Lord, you brought us here, whether we were
here as a part of this church or
whether we're here for the first time.
Lord, you're going to speak.
You're going to speak your heart and your
mind.
Spirit of living God, come upon me.
Let me bring this forth as you planted
it in my heart.
Lord, we glorify you.
This is not about men.
This is about you, Jesus.
We glorify you.
All honor, all glory focused on you, Lord.
Thank you for what you're doing in Times
Square Church.
Thank you for what you're doing in this
city.
We give you honor and glory.
Now speak to us clearly.
In Christ's name I pray.
Amen.
Now you might ask, what in the world
does Exodus 14 have to do with the
making of a worshiper?
In fact, I'll tell you everything to do
with it.
In the passage we've just read, you find
God's people coming into an incredible dark storm.
A whole night of panic and despair.
A dark night.
Worshippers are not made in revival meetings.
Worshippers are not made in good times.
Worshippers are not made when the devil's fleeing
from you.
Worshippers are not made when you're in victory
or in good health.
Worshippers are made in dark, stormy nights.
That's the essence of what I want to
share with you from my heart today.
And how we respond in that dark, stormy
night.
How we respond to the Lord has everything
to do whether or not we have the
status or the calling or we have come
into what God would call a true worshipper.
It has to do everything with it.
In Hebrews 11, chapter 1, verse 21, it
says, Now
here's an old man.
He has been through one storm after another.
He has seen everything in his family.
He has gone through pain and sorrow and
agony in his flesh and in his family
with his children.
And now he's in his last days.
The Bible says one of his last acts
was to anoint the two sons of Joseph.
And he worshipped leaning on his cane, on
his staff.
He's not raising his hands.
There's not a sound.
There's not a voice that he's worshipping.
He's worshipping because he's looking back over the
faithfulness of God.
You see, he is steadfast now.
He has proven to himself.
He's proven beyond any shakable...
he cannot be shaken.
There's no doubt.
God has always been faithful until my last
breath.
He will be faithful to me.
God is faithful.
That is a worshipper.
That is a worshipper who has come to
the conclusion, no matter what I go through,
no matter what storms, God has proven himself
faithful.
That is the true worshipper.
He worshipped leaning on his staff.
As he leaned there, he was going over
in his mind one victory after another, one
test after another.
And God brought me out of this one.
He brought me out of that one.
All these years, God has brought me up.
Times I thought I would collapse.
Times I thought it was all over.
God brought me through.
Folks, I'm 72.
I'm leaning on my staff now.
I'm living by faith.
But I can tell you, the greatest hours
of worship are not when I'm in the
church with you or anybody else raising my
hands.
It's not when I'm shouting with the choir.
It's when I'm walking the street and I
can just stop and say, God, you were
there with me through all those operations with
Gwen.
You were there with me through all the
lives of the enemy.
You were there by my casket with Tiffany.
And you brought us all through.
And you're going to bring us through to
the end.
And you have been so good.
And you'll not do anything that would hurt
me or any of my family or the
church of Jesus Christ, leaning on that staff,
saying, God, you are faithful.
God is faithful.
You see, I want to talk to those
who are going through a dark night.
You may not be going through a dark
night, but folks, all it takes is a
telephone call.
All it takes is just feeling a lump.
All it takes is just one moment of
time.
Now, I'm not trying to scare you, but
you know that's life.
That's reality.
Some of you know what I'm going through,
what I'm talking about right now.
But you see, I want to talk to
you about God's interest is not just in
delivering you from a problem or a crisis,
but in the process to make you a
true worshiper.
That you would come out of that trial.
You would come out of that dark night
as a true worshiper.
You see, God set up this whole episode
that we just read about.
The Lord told Moses, turn and encamp between
Migdal and the sea, and he shall encamp
by the sea.
It was God who put them there in
an impossible situation.
There's the sea and the mountains behind them,
and there's no other place to go.
Now, they set up their tents.
I don't know how long they'd been there,
but they had encamped.
They're in their tents and they are rejoicing
because, you see, they have tasted freedom for
the first time.
They'd been in bondage for over 400 years,
and now they're free and they're tasting that
freedom.
They're not under the iron furnaces anymore.
They are free from the bondage.
They're a type of the Christian who's been
set free from the bondage and the habituation
to sin, and all the excitement.
And they have nothing but hope in their
hearts, because they're now laying hold of promises
that Moses has given to them from the
hand of God.
And they've been told there's a whole new
day ahead of you.
There's going to be a promised land waiting
for you, and they're all excited about it.
What a wonderful time it is when you've
been saved and you're rejoicing and you're going
on and the sun is shining, and you're
living on the promises of God.
It's just a wonderful thing.
And maybe some of you were there right
now.
That's wonderful.
The sun is shining for you.
The sun was shining that day, and they
were anticipating, they were saying at this time,
somehow God will make a way.
I don't know why we're here, but we're
going to trust God.
And then suddenly, there's bad news.
Someone up in the mountain, a lookout starts
screaming, Egyptians are coming.
You see, the Bible says God put it
in the heart of Pharaoh, hardened his heart
that he would pursue after them.
Don't think for a minute when you get
right with God, you lay your sins down
and you're under the blood of the cross.
Don't think for one minute the devil's going
to say, God bless you, goodbye.
You can be sure that he's got the
hard heart and he's going to pursue after
you.
He's going to come after you.
And suddenly, the camp is in panic.
Leaders and others are rushing up to the
top of the mountain and they see the
clouds of dust and they hear the rumbling
of those chariots, 900 chariots and men on
horseback and followed by an infantry and an
army and all that entails.
And suddenly, there's panic, that sudden moment of
bad news, that report.
The doctor says, please see me in the
office.
Your lump looks suspicious.
And then you hear those words, cancer.
You see, I happen to know a few
ladies in this church now that just got
that news recently.
It's that sudden report that comes.
Now, you see, God loved these people.
In fact, he called them his inheritance.
Now, of all the peoples of the face
of the earth, all of his interest are
on these people.
He said, this is my heritage.
This is my inheritance.
Out of all the nations and all the
people, this was God's eternal purpose in these
people.
And if he was ever going to have
worshippers that had to come out of this
chosen people, the worshippers would not come from
the Philistines, from the Canaanites, or from those
in the far islands of the sea.
He had to get his worshippers out of
this group.
Now, God is in control of the whole
scene, this whole episode, because God has a
divine purpose.
Nothing happens to the life of a believer
by accident, never.
No problem, no crisis comes to you on
happenstance, never.
And at the point of their greatest peace,
at the point of their greatest hour enjoying
freedom, and laying hold of the promises of
God, the devil comes seeking to devour them.
Because Pharaoh and his army represents the devil
and his principalities and powers of darkness.
And the scripture says, the Egyptians pursued them,
all the horses and chariots of Pharaoh, and
horsemen in his army, and overtook them in
camping by the sea.
And Israel lifted up their eyes, and behold,
the Egyptians marched after them, and they were
sore afraid.
Bad news, terrifying news, sudden news.
We had it here in New York City
at 9-11, within one hour, the most
incredible disaster that ever struck the face of
the earth, one of the most incredible disasters.
In just a few moments, and within an
hour, those towers fell.
Notice the scripture says, they lifted up their
eyes, and behold, the Egyptians.
You see, they were not looking now at
the Lord, they were looking at the crisis.
They lifted up their eyes, and there are
the Egyptians, and fear grips their hearts.
I'll tell you folks, when you get your
eyes off Jesus, when you get your eyes
off the Word of God, you're going to
get your eyes on your problem, and it's
going to overwhelm you, and you're going to
say, it's hopeless, this is impossible, I can't
handle it.
Of course you can't handle it.
Nobody can, without the help of the power
of God.
You see, it's still daylight, for they would
not have been able to see far into
the distances the Egyptian army approaches.
They see this sudden disaster coming at them,
and the children of Israel cried out unto
the Lord.
Now, this was not a cry of faith,
it was not a prayer of faith, it
was a cry of, oh God, why?
God, why didn't you let us die in
the wilderness?
It was better, and this is what happens
when many come upon a sudden disaster in
their family.
Like the telephone calls that so many on
a mailing list tell us they received.
You know, there's been an accident, your two
children were in the back seat, and they're
dead.
And the panic, and why, God, do you
allow these things to happen?
Why would you allow, because you see, I
was living on your promises, and I have
given up sin, and I'm not living in
sin, and I love you, and I've been
praising you, I've been living right before you,
God, there's no reason for this.
And they lift up their eyes, and behold,
the Egyptians racing toward them.
And can you imagine what's going on in
the tents?
After all these years have bonded, after all
the pain we've been through, why would God
allow us to face more pain?
When does this end?
There's nothing but pain.
Does it pay to serve God?
Why were we back there?
At least we had something to eat, at
least we had the variety.
We had onions we could put in our
soup.
We had leeks, we had lettuce, we had
tomatoes, we had all of these things, we
had fruit.
Now, here we are in danger.
God sent his people a simple three-point
message, and he said, fear not, stand still,
and see the salvation of the Lord.
Well, now, that's fine.
Hey, somebody comes to you, and you're in
the worst time in the panic of your
life.
Just be still.
God's with you.
Everything's going to be under control.
Oh, yes, that's the word of God.
But you see, we can't lay hold of
that.
Not at this time.
There's more that God has to accomplish in
our lives, places he wants to take us.
The Lord shall fight for you.
You shall hold your peace.
In other words, be quiet.
Now, listen to me, please.
I don't know who is going to face
what, and God is not trying to put
any fear on this congregation or any who
hear this tape.
But I know God changed this message.
And all day yesterday, I just poured this
into my heart.
It's not what I planned to speak, because
I really believe there are some who hear
me now, they're going through their dark night,
just as these Egyptians did.
In the Bible, Paul the Apostle said, these
things are written for our sake, for our
learning, upon whom the ends of the world
have come.
These things are not just stories told in
the Bible.
This is God speaking truth to help us
through our storms.
And some of you are facing a storm
of your life, or you will be facing
a storm.
It'll come sometime.
And it's not just one storm, folks.
God allows these storms, but he has a
divine purpose in it.
God's one goal is that he would have
worshippers.
Not just fellowship, but true worship.
Where will he get them?
Where will he find them?
It's night now, and darkness has come down
over the camp.
The beginning of a dark, stormy night.
And in that moment, that cloud that led
them through the wilderness, the cloud by day
and the pillar fire by night, that cloud
moved right over the heads.
Now, folks, you've got to keep this in
mind.
They saw this.
That cloud just moved and stood between the
Egyptians and the Israelites.
And it became darkness, blackness to the Egyptians.
And on this side, it became light.
They had light all that night that was
available to them.
It's a marvelous thing that God was doing
here.
And it was a cloud of darkness to
the Egyptians, the Bible said.
But it gave light to Israel so that
the one came not near to the other
all night.
My Bible says the angel of the Lord
encamps around about them that fear him and
delivers them.
The angel of the Lord, an angel of
the Lord was sent.
And that angel stood between the devil and
God's people, between Pharaoh and Israel.
There was a fighting, mighty warrior angel.
He gave light to those so that they
came not near all the night long.
And if you read further, you'll find that
the Lord placed an angel between these two
parties.
See, if you're a blood bought and you're
under the blood of Jesus Christ, and you're
walking in faith now, if you do what
God says, don't fear, stand still and see
the salvation of the Lord.
Because you see, no matter what happened that
night, the angel was on guard.
No matter what happened, God had made a
promise.
God had told them they are coming through
this.
And Moses understood it.
Caleb, I'm sure, understood it.
And Joshua understood it.
There were people who proved God's point.
You see, Pharaoh and his army are in
total darkness.
They can't move.
They can't attack.
They still have a voice.
They can penetrate that darkness with lies and
accusations.
And it started when that darkness came and
the enemy was stopped.
I'm sure they didn't see the angel, but
he was there.
They could not make a move.
Now, why didn't God do for the Israelites
what he did for Elijah and Elisha when
they came up to the Jordan?
Why didn't God just allow him to take
his mantle, strike it, and suddenly the sea
opens and they go?
God did that in the history of Israel
to come.
Why couldn't he just take his rod like
he did and strike the rock?
Why couldn't he just strike the water, the
Red Sea, and it parked?
Why a storm all night, an east wind?
Now, folks, in the original Hebrew, it says
a violent exhaling, a violent wind.
Now, God exhaled is what it means.
In the middle of the night, all night
long, a huge windstorm.
Now, folks, I don't mind lightning.
The more thunder, the more I like it.
I'll stand out.
I want the house to shake because I
love to see the majesty of God.
Lightning, I stand at the window and tell
my wife, isn't that beautiful?
Bonnie's hiding in the closet.
I'm saying, isn't this wonderful?
But don't give me a windstorm.
I lived in California when those Santa Ana
winds came 70 miles an hour and the
roof was shaking and everything.
That was worse to me than the earthquake
that we went through in California.
I didn't want the wind.
The wind shook those tents all night long.
Why didn't God?
Why does God allow us to go so
long?
And why such threatening, horrifying moments of darkness?
Now, folks, you see, the problem is there's
voices that are coming and they can hear
it through the piercing wind.
And those captains, those principalities and powers on
the other side of the wall of darkness,
they're screaming, wait till morning.
You're dead.
You, your family, your children, it's all over.
You're going down.
We're coming after you.
Have you ever heard those voices from the
other side of the dark wall?
Oh, come on.
An amen.
You have all heard that voice.
We've all, if you love Jesus, you've heard
that voice.
I'm coming after you're dead.
I'm going to bring you down.
You're going to die.
You see, they could speak these threatening words
to the children of Israel.
Those voices came all night long.
The tents are shaking.
Folks, I know what it is to hear
that voice in Budapest, Hungary, the last conference
just a week ago.
Probably one of the most trying times of
my ministry.
Please pardon the personal illustration, but I don't
know how else to describe what I'm trying
to get through to you as a divine
truth.
And in the weariness on a Friday night,
I just finished the message and gave the
invitation.
And while people were standing there, suddenly my
heart was palpitating.
And sweats and everything.
And in my mind, I remember my doctor
telling me to watch out for some of
these signs.
And I had them all.
So I had to call Jerry up to
take over the service.
And I had to leave.
And I just missed myself going down off
the stage.
And as clear as any voice I've heard,
you're dead tonight.
Your heart will stop beating before the day
is over.
Say goodbye.
Your ministry is finished.
You've done a good job.
Now it's all over.
I just went and sat in the back
room and didn't give it much thought.
Went back to the hotel.
But that lie said tonight your heart will
stop beating.
You see, it was a voice from the
dark side of the cloud.
It was the enemy.
It's the enemy trying to defeat God's divine
purposes.
You know, I went home, went to bed.
And in the middle of the night, I
couldn't sleep.
And I got up and I heard those
dark voices again.
And you see, the reason those voices were
coming, because we had just seen hundreds and
hundreds of pastors repenting.
All these countries of darkness.
Honestly, the whole country of Belarus was reached.
I mean, they came from every denomination.
Even Catholic charismatics from all denominations.
And God was weeping.
They were hugging one another.
One Presbyterian bishop hugging a Pentecostal bishop saying,
we've got to stop this foolishness.
And all the miracles that we'd seen in
the middle of the night.
Can't sleep.
But here comes that voice.
I'm bringing you down.
I've got Jimmy Swaggart.
And he started naming all the evangelists that
I knew that had fallen.
Every one of them.
He said, you are going down.
I'm going to get you and I'm bringing
you down.
You are going to fall.
You're not going to do any more of
this.
I'm going to see to it that you
are finished.
And that thing went on for hours.
And I got up and I started walking
around the room.
And I said, God, what is this all
about?
Just tell me what's happening.
And the Lord said very clearly, David, you're
under attack.
You're under attack.
And I hadn't even read this yet because
I just got this yesterday.
And the Lord said, I have placed between
you and the devil a warring angel.
And you are under attack, but you're in
no danger.
Folks, get that now.
You're under attack, but in no danger.
Are you hearing it in the spirit?
The Lord said, you have angered the powers
of darkness because of the anointing.
Just be still now.
Don't be afraid and just lay down now.
Because I have placed a warring angel between
you and the devil.
He can scream all he wants.
Don't pay attention to the voice.
He can scream all he wants, but he
can't touch you.
He can't touch you.
Folks, I know what those voices are like.
I knew what it was like this past
week.
Please pardon another personal illustration.
And I don't want Gwen to get embarrassed.
She knows I never embarrass her publicly.
But many of you know what she's been
through.
When we go to a doctor and we
show her her history that long, 25 some
operations, four or five for cancer.
They look at that.
They don't even want to touch her.
I mean, they don't want to.
They're scared.
They back off.
She's been having a problem with bladder infection.
She only has one kidney.
And we went to the doctor this week.
And she's sitting on the doctor's bench.
And I'm sitting beside her.
And he comes in.
He looks at her record.
And he said, you know, I don't know
how to approach this.
He said, I really need to send you
to a specialist.
In other words, well, he was the specialist.
And Gwen is, I know what she's thinking
if there's no hope here.
Then he says that word, I don't want
to damage your remaining kidney.
And I saw her tear up.
And I knew what the devil was saying
to her.
You're going to die.
Your kidney is going to get infected from
your bladder.
And you're going to die from this.
I'm going to tell you something, Gwen.
Lord showed me that he's put a warring
angel between you and those lives.
And my prayer for you, dear, is that
you can live a long, blessed life.
But I guarantee you, you're not going to
die from your kidney.
I can promise you that.
Because God is not in the business of
making the devil's lies come to pass.
What lies has the devil been telling you?
Well, another one.
Where do I start?
Folks, we're safe.
No matter what we go through.
God has a plan.
Why is God allowing this to these people?
The tents are shaking.
The wind is blowing.
And if they'd only come outside their tents
instead of sitting in there saying, oh, God,
why, why?
And not another time.
And all of these things that they're saying
inside the tent, if they just get outside,
come out of that place of murmuring and
complaining, come out of that place of fear,
because the lights are on outside.
If they just come outside the tent and
look down at the sea, the wind is
starting to open up a path.
A mighty walls are rising.
Those winds, they're going to start shouting, praising
God for the wind.
They won't be afraid of it anymore.
You've got to stay in the word.
That's the light.
You've got to come out of the place
of just sitting in your room and wondering
and questioning and say, God, I'm going to
get into your word.
The light will show you what's happening.
And you'll see that the very thing that
scares you is God making a way.
God is making a way.
He's going to bring you out.
Pastor called me this past week.
And he said, well, Dave, you know, I'm
under a lot of stress lately.
He said this past week, in the middle
of the night, I got a pain in
my chest that so shook me, it put
me right up out of the bed.
I had to sit up.
It just shook my body and then down
my arm.
And I said, oh boy, heart attack.
And he said, I got up and all
night, voice came, you're dying.
It's all over.
He said, I couldn't wait till the next
day to get to the doctor.
And he said, I'll tell you what happened,
Pastor.
You pulled a muscle.
You see the lies of the enemy, the
lying to scare you, to frighten you.
Moses stretched out his hand over the sea.
The Lord caused the sea to go back
by a strong east wind all that night.
Now, get those words all that night.
Now, folks, we're not talking about just a
12 hour period or 15 hour.
We're talking about a storm.
We're talking about storms that can last for
weeks or months.
I don't know how long your storm has
lasted or how long you may face a
coming storm.
But you can be sure God has a
divine purpose.
God does not allow anything in the lives
of his children without something in mind for
his honor, glory and for our benefit.
And so they wake up the next day
and are commanded to walk through on dry
ground.
Walk through.
You say that doesn't take any faith.
My goodness, where was their faith the night
before?
Folks, I'll tell you what, you get out
in the middle of the sea and you
start looking up at those rivers, those waters
piled.
I don't know how many hundreds of feet
high.
It's like standing by the Niagara Falls.
And there's that wall of fire.
Can you imagine the pressure behind those walls?
Can you imagine them thinking, what if they
give up?
I mean, what if they leak?
Just one leak.
Boom, it's all over.
Lord, are these walls going to hold?
Lord, you've answered my prayer.
You brought me this far, but oh, God,
all these things still ahead of me.
The wall, is it going to hold?
And folks, I'm telling you, I suggest to
you that this moment in the middle of
the sea on dry ground, when they've already
seen the blessing, when they've already seen promises
fulfilled.
And right in front of them is the
safety of the other side.
Right in the middle of those walls, that's
when God tests them.
That's the greatest test of all.
Will you become a worshiper?
Will you look up at those walls and
say, oh God, I wasted fear in Egypt.
I wasted fear that you would destroy me
that night when the first born were all
killed among the Egyptians.
I feared you all night long when the
Egyptians came.
I've wasted my fear.
But I've seen your hand, oh God.
And I know that you brought me this
far.
You're going to take me through.
And it has to come to the point
where this man or this woman in the
Red Sea, this child of God says, Lord,
I know you're faithful.
You would not purposely allow those walls to
collapse on me.
But I'm going to tell you, Lord, you've
already proven yourself faithful.
See, he knew what they faced in the
wilderness.
He knew that they're going to face the
fear of death and deprivation.
They were going to be deprived of things.
They were going to be suffering ahead of
them on their journey.
Then he said, I've got to have a
people who believe that I will do them
only good.
I have to believe for a people that
will not be afraid to die.
Folks, all our life we live under the
fear of death.
Not the apostle Paul.
He said, live or die, I'm the Lord's.
He said, I'd rather go to be with
him.
Abraham, the father of these people said, I'm
looking for a city whose builder and maker
is God.
And if these people in the middle of
their trial and the fears and anxieties and
uncertainties would quit looking at the wall, quit
fearing the caving in of another crisis.
And so, God, I know you're able.
But if not, no matter what happens to
these walls around me, if I see a
collapse of something in my life or my
family, I know one thing is going to
sweep me right into the presence of God.
It's going to sweep me right into the
presence of God.
I saw that at the bedside, a little
Tiffany, 12 year old granddaughter.
I saw the beauty of Jesus.
And I saw a little girl who says,
Grandpa, I want to go home because I've
seen the face of Jesus.
And he told me personally that I'm going
to.
He wants me with the flowers and the
animals.
And I want to be there.
I don't want to be here anymore.
And her heart was already there.
There was no fear because she'd lost the
fear of death and deprivation.
And folks, the days that are ahead, God
must have a people that are at rest,
that have entered the rest of God.
Live or die, I am the Lord.
If you lose your fear of death, the
devil cannot touch you anymore.
He cannot hurt you anymore.
A dead man doesn't fear anything.
You say that's not a picture of faith.
You should be able to say, oh, God
did keep those walls.
God will never drop something on you purposely
to damage or hurt you.
Never.
But you see, God wants people to come
out on the other side as worshipers.
Now, these people did not become worshipers.
Not at all.
Oh, they became shouters.
They became dancers.
Oh, they made a noise.
They praised God.
They extolled their heavenly father for his majesty.
Mariam got her tambourine and all the ladies
got their tambourines.
And they were dancing and having a great
time.
God is so good.
But three days later, they're at Mara murmuring
and complaining, where is the water?
Why has God brought us out here to
kill us?
They were not worshipers.
They didn't learn their lesson in the hard
time.
They didn't learn the lesson in the storm.
My lesson came, folks,
you can go to some church and everybody
tell you everything always is going to be
roses and peaches and cream.
No, they're going to be dark storms.
That's why this is recorded.
And my darkest storm came that time when
our third cancer in the family, after Gwen
and then Debbie and then finally Bonnie.
And standing outside the hospital room with cobalt
machine being taken in, should be there three
days, beaten with cobalt.
Nobody's allowed in the room except doctors, the
lead suit.
And Gwen's out pounding the wall saying, God,
I gave cancer to my daughters and now
this.
And the doctors say 30% chance of
survival.
And I get in a car and you've
heard the story.
Drive out in the country, way out in
front of you, I scream at God.
What's happening?
God, I don't understand this at all.
And you come to that dark night and
the wind is blowing and the enemy is
throwing accusations, all lies.
But that moment when the Holy Spirit came
and God spoke to my heart.
Bonnie's got two fathers, you and me.
Which one loves her the most?
Which one would care for her and do
what is right?
You, Lord.
Which one will not hurt her and do
only what's right?
Who knows the future?
I said, you do, Lord.
And he said, you lay everything in my
hand now.
Folks, that's the day I became a worshiper.
I came out of that experience, not a
word, not a sound, but I entered the
rest.
I entered the rest of God saying, God,
you're faithful.
Now Gwen's alive, Debbie's alive, Bonnie's alive.
But no, just let me hear, hear me
out.
There's something happened that day out along that
country road.
Something powerful happened in me.
I learned that God is faithful.
And I said, God, if you take Bonnie,
you have a reason that I don't know.
There's something down the road.
So I give her into your hands.
I gave everything, all I am and all
I have into the hands of the Lord.
Now see, when the lies of the devil
come, I know that there's an angel that,
a warring angel that he puts between me
and Satan and he can't hurt.
And folks, when I had to stand in
front of Tiffany's casket, there was a peace
in my heart.
Oh, I cried.
I cried the other night, woke up missing,
there's a better cry.
But, you know, there's something in my heart
says, God, you know, and I rest in
that.
You see, I'm not worshiping God just when
my hands are up.
I'm not worshiping God when the tambourines are
blasting.
That's possible.
But I'm worshiping God when I can look
at anything that comes into my life and
say, God, you're faithful.
The world sees it.
God sees it.
And the devil sees it.
That I am not going to be shaken
in my faith because God, my God is
faithful.
Will you stand?
Hallelujah.
There's a song, God is so good.
God is so good.
Do you know that?
How many believe God is good?
Before we close the service, I'm going to
give an invitation to those in the annex,
the overflow rooms and also here in the
main auditorium.
For some of you, that dark storm is
the enemy bringing back upon you a sin,
a besetting sin that you thought was all
finished.
And you have fallen back into something that
you're so ashamed of.
And you're in a storm.
You're in a battle and the devil's lying
to you, telling you that you're filthy.
You're never going to make it.
That you're going to die and go to
hell because you're not like anybody.
You're not like Christians around you.
You are going to fail and you're going
to fall.
Those are lies.
If your heart's toward the Lord, those are
lies.
If you're trusting Jesus, you still love him
with all your heart, you come to him
and he will give you that peace, give
you that rest that you have lost.
Others of you here this morning, you're just
plain discouraged.
You're down.
You say, Brother Wilkinson, I don't know what's
happened.
I don't know why this has come upon
me, but I can't shake it.
I can't come out of this terrible thing
that's gripped me, this sense of total uselessness
and discouragement and despair.
I'm going to open this altar for those
who I've been identifying in one way or
another.
If you're here and you need prayer, you're
going through a terrible storm.
If you're here for the first time and
you don't know Jesus, and anyone that's here
that you don't know the Lord, you're not
able to call him because you haven't yet
yielded your heart to him, why don't you
step out of your seat and come and
follow these that are coming right now and
just say, Jesus, here I am.
I surrender.
I'm going through a dark night.
I'm in my storm.
Jesus, provide a way.
Jesus, come now by your Holy Spirit and
change my life.
All right.
It has to be.
It has to come to this.
Oh, I hear sometimes that the economy may
collapse.
I hear this and that, and I fear
sometimes something terrible, tragic happened to my family.
Folks, those fears have to be taken to
the cross.
They have to be taken to Jesus and
say, no, Lord, live or die, you're going
to see me through.
You will never forsake me.
God, you're faithful.
You've been faithful in good times.
You'll be faithful in hard times.
Nothing, nothing that touches us can bring us
to destruction because you know what God told
me when I went through my battle recently
was, David, there's no wrath on you.
There's no wrath.
That's a good word to hear.
I'm not mad at you.
There's no wrath on you.
God's not mad at you.
He just wants to deliver you from all
your fear and all your bondage.
Please know that God knows our hearts.
He knows exactly what we're going through.
You know, first thing when you open your
heart to him and believe that he speaks
to you, you know what he's going to
say to you?
I know your heart.
And if he sees just the hunger, if
he sees repentance, godly sorrow, that's how quickly
he moves, how quickly.
Will you, will you believe in his forgiving
power and the power of the Holy Spirit?
And also, now we don't worship angels, but
these Bibles said that there are ministers of
the Lord sent to minister to those who
belong to him.
And he sends them to minister to you
hope.
And you see that you're not alone.
Yes, the Holy Spirit abides, but out there
in the world, out there beyond you, not
in this vessel, that outside of you, God
has placed a warring angel.
I'll tell you what, one angel killed 185
,000 medians in one night, one angel.
Can you imagine?
I heard somebody say, my angel is over
800 feet tall.
Man, I don't need an 800 foot angel.
I'll take anything he gives me.
I'm not looking for an 800 foot one.
I'm just looking at the faithfulness of God's
promise.
God's promise that he's going to protect and
keep you.
Hallelujah.
Father, I ask you now to put in
our hearts a rest.
You said there remains a rest to the
children of God.
Now, Lord, the children of Moses, the children
of Israel did not enter that rest.
They did not become worshipers.
But Lord, we can become worshipers here in
total silence, in absolute silence when we settled
in our hearts.
God is here.
God loves me.
Jesus can forgive me and will forgive me
if I confess.
And I serve a mighty God who will
not allow anything in my life that would
hurt me.
God will allow nothing in my life to
just bring me down.
And he'll not allow the enemy to destroy
me.
God, I believe that with all my heart.
I believe that everything that happens in our
lives has a divine purpose.
I believe that, Lord, you are working something
in our hearts.
And if we'll just yield to you and
just ask you for strength, you'll give the
strength.
You give the strength.
But, Lord, give us faith.
Let us see into the darkness.
Let us see the light that pierces the
darkness.
And let us say thank you, Lord, for
your faithfulness.
Before we do anything, I want everybody to
come forward.
Just lift up your hands.
And I'll tell you what you're going through.
You know God's been faithful to you up
to this point.
We just say, Lord, thank you for your
faithfulness to me, Lord.
Thank you for your faithfulness.
God, I thank you that you've not failed
me.
You've not let me down.
You're with me.
Tell God, I know you're with me.
God, I know you're with me.
You have not forsaken me.
Now cleanse me, Jesus.
Sanctify me.
Give me a pure heart.
But let me enter into that rest now
that I will not fear.
I will fear no evil.
I will fear no evil for thy rod
and thy staff.
They will comfort me.
Glory to Jesus.
Glory be to him.
Now let me pray for you.
Father, in the name of Jesus Christ, our
blessed Savior, Lord, I pray that you remove
from our hearts all of those fears and
anxieties.
Oh God, and close our ears to those
lies of the enemy.
Lord, they come to bombard us.
But Lord Jesus, help us to see and
hear your word.
Help us to trust in your faithfulness.
If all we know, if all we understand
that God is good to his children and
God is faithful to his children, that's all
we need to know to enter that rest.
Oh God, God, you've said, I will fight
for you.
I will fight for you.
This battle is not yours.
It's mine.
I will fight for you.
I'm on your side.
I'm not your enemy.
I'm your friend.
I'm your beloved.
Oh God, let us see that and stand
up against the lies of the devil.
And Lord, for those who have fallen into
a sin, Lord, don't let them be brought
down by lies that God is forsaken or
that there's some kind of a sin satiated
person who can't ever come to a place
of victory.
God, that's a lie.
There's victory and there's peace and there's rest.
We get up again, Lord, and we come
to the blood.
We come to the cleansing.
And Lord, we know then that there's freedom.
And there's no wrath upon us.
We glorify your name now in Jesus name.
Give him thanks right now.
Thank you, Jesus.
This is the conclusion of the message.