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As I was coming down the elevator tonight
with Gwen, and she said, she hadn't been
here this morning, and she said, what are
you preaching, David?
I said, I'm preaching the cross.
And she looked and said, I don't even
remember you preaching on the cross before, have
you?
And I said, I can't remember.
Oh, I've prayed about it, talked about it,
but I've not preached about it.
I mean, really, zero in on the cross.
Many times the cross has come into my
message, but I'm praying tonight the Lord speak
very clearly to us.
All right, 1 Thessalonians 1 chapter, verse 5.
1 Thessalonians.
For our gospel came not unto you in
word only, but also in power, in the
Holy Ghost, and in what?
Much assurance.
In the King James, I don't know what
it says in the other, but much assurance
as ye know what manner of men we
were among you for your sake.
The cross is the key to assurance.
Much assurance.
Our gospel came not unto you in word
only, but also in power, the Holy Ghost,
and much assurance.
Heavenly Father, I so desperately need you tonight
to come and fill me with the Holy
Ghost mightily to proclaim the cross of Jesus
Christ.
The preaching of the cross is foolishness to
men, but it's the righteousness and the holiness
of God to us.
Lord, I pray you open the cross to
us tonight in a very new and loving
way.
Hallelujah.
Thank you for what you're doing in this
church.
Thank you for the power that came down
this morning, the glory of the Lord in
this house.
And Lord, that presence is lingering again tonight.
The Holy Spirit speak to everyone in this
building.
I must have freedom.
Set me free, Lord, from any bondage and
give me the liberty, the power, the Holy
Ghost, and much assurance in Jesus name.
Amen.
Now, Paul said these three things accompanied his
gospel, and he not only preached the gospel
with much assurance, convinced of the power of
the cross, but he said this is what
it should produce in you.
And my prayer tonight is that the message,
though the cross, preaching of the cross is
so deep, I don't think anybody could touch
the fullness of it, and I know so
little about it.
All I can do tonight is share with
you the little light that I've seen on
the cross.
And this should produce much assurance in your
heart.
The Lord dealt with us this morning about
assurance, telling us in so many words that
we're many people in this church who are
not really, truly assured before the Lord that
there's turmoil or doubt or anxiety in your
heart.
Isaiah said, the work of righteousness shall be
peace.
Now, I'm asking you, do you have peace
in your heart?
The work of righteousness is peace, and the
effect of righteousness is quietness and assurance forever.
Not just in church, but on the job,
everywhere, there's an assurance.
Praise God.
Now, if you're walking as you ought to
before the Lord, you're going to have a
quiet peace about you.
People who are truly walking in righteousness are
not in a hurry.
There's not a hurriedness about them.
There's a quiet peace in their heart, and
they do not live in constant turmoil.
Though they will be attacked or harassed at
times with turmoil, they do not live in
constant turmoil with their hearts twisting and turning
and anxiety just churning and churning inside at
all times.
I'm asking you, as you sit here tonight,
do you have a deep, settled peace in
your heart?
Is that quiet assurance of your salvation holding
you steady right now?
Do you have that settled spirit, and there
is no turmoil in your heart?
Now, there may be some questions about the
future, but you know that God is going
to take care of the future, so you
settle down and rest in His promises.
Now, multitudes of Christians do not walk in
assurance, and especially in charismatic circles.
They don't have that settled peace inside, and
they're always living in turmoil.
They're a mass of twisting, twirling, churning spirit
that's upset at almost every time.
They wake up upset.
They wake up in turmoil.
They live in turmoil.
They go to bed at night trying to
count sheep by the thousands.
They get to 10,000, and they're still
in turmoil.
They can't lay down in peace and sleep
as God has promised His children.
Their doubt, fear, questions pour out of their
minds all day and all night long.
In fact, many Christians, as far as I'm
concerned, fit the description of the children of
Israel who were under a curse.
You don't have to turn there, but in
Deuteronomy 28, here's the description of the children
of Israel under the curse.
The Scripture says, they hearkened not to the
voice of the Lord.
They kept not His commandments.
They served not the Lord God with joyfulness
or with gladness of heart for all the
abundance of the things God has done for
them.
And therefore, the Bible says that they come
under the spell of almost every enemy.
They came under the spell of satanic harassment.
They lack in all things, the Scripture says.
There's a yoke of iron upon their neck.
They're plagued by diseases.
I would tell you what, I believe worry
causes more heart attacks than all the eggs
and cholesterol in China.
China, America.
I don't know if they even eat eggs
in China.
But my point is that I'm convinced that
worry causes more disease than anything else.
That turmoil inside, I know it causes heart
attacks.
The Scripture says, thou shalt find no ease.
These people who are not trusting in God.
These people who are not obeying the commandments
of the Lord.
Who are not resting in His faithfulness.
The Scripture said, they shall find no ease.
Neither shall the sole of their feet find
any rest.
But the Lord shall give them a trembling
heart.
Their eyes will fail.
And they will have sorrow of mind.
Their mind will be sorrowful.
And thy life shall hang in doubt before
thee.
Thou shalt fear night and day.
Thou shalt have no assurance of your life.
You shall have no assurance of your life
at any time.
Now that is where many Christians are.
And folks, I was praying all week long.
And I said, God, why do I have
these two streams flowing in me?
This great urgency to go to the pulpit
Sunday night.
And strike against the turmoil that I know
you're telling me is in the hearts of
many that will be there.
And I tell you now, in the balcony,
in here, wherever you are.
God spoke clearly to my heart that there
will be many of you sitting here.
You're in turmoil.
I don't know what's caused it.
It may be problems you look at in
the future.
It may be family problems.
It may be career problems.
But there's a turmoil.
There's a restlessness.
There's a churning.
And I said, God, on this side you're
telling me to deal with this churning, troubled
mind.
And then you tell me to preach the
cross.
And the Lord said, you don't understand.
They go together.
It's all one message.
Because there is no secret to peace outside
of the cross of Jesus.
And the victory that has been won at
the cross.
You don't need a book on seven steps
to get your heart at peace.
You don't need 21 ways to find how
to overcome loneliness and emptiness.
That's all garbage.
It's just lining somebody's pockets.
Doesn't do a bit of good.
I tried.
It doesn't work.
None of it works.
The only thing that works is a vision
of the victory Jesus accomplished on the cross.
That doesn't come from a book.
We hope that some little thing will be
opened in your mind and your heart tonight
that you begin to see it.
I can only begin to paint a picture
for you and pray that you go and
ask God to reveal it in its fullness.
But a troubled heart and a trembling spirit.
A mind plagued by fear.
These are all signs of one living outside
of obedience before the Lord.
In Hebrews, we're told that if you're an
enlightened Christian walking in the light as Jesus
in the light, you will have a full
assurance of hope unto the end.
A full assurance of hope.
Also, the Bible says, Let us draw near
with a true heart in full assurance of
faith.
Let us hold fast the profession of our
faith without wavering for he is faithful that
promised.
He's faithful that promised.
Now, according to what I've just read there,
peace and full assurance is lost for a
reason.
If you don't have that peace, if you
don't have that assurance, I'll tell you where
you lost it and why you don't have
it.
Here it is.
A falling away from confidence in the faithfulness
of God.
You have fallen away from your confidence and
when you have fallen away from that confidence,
immediately turmoil moves in and fills that vacuum.
Now, you remember God making an oath to
Abraham?
He said, I'm going to be your shield.
I'm going to bless you.
I'm going to multiply you.
And the scripture says God counted his faith
as righteousness to him.
And Abraham believed God.
And he did not stagger at the promises
of God.
He believed in the faithfulness of God.
He was looking for a city whose builder
and maker was God.
And we are Abraham's children.
And God has made an oath to us
that he will be faithful.
And that's what the cross is.
It was the fulfillment of an oath of
almighty God.
It was the final act of faithfulness of
almighty God to send his own lamb.
He's the lamb of God.
He's not the lamb of man.
He's the lamb of God.
He's the Father's own dear son.
I want to read this for you.
The scripture says, Be not slothful.
But followers of them who through faith and
patience inherited the promises.
That's speaking of Abraham.
We sing of the cross.
I'm going to talk about how we get
this assurance.
We talk about the cross.
We sing about it.
And often, or occasionally, we hear preaching about
it.
But few of us have understood the great
victory that Jesus won there.
And it's inadequate.
As I feel to approach this subject, I
want to share just three or four little
insights that the Lord's been dealing with me
about.
Hallelujah.
I'll tell you what.
I'm so thrilled speaking about the cross of
Jesus.
My heart, I just, I'm overflowing all the
way to church.
And I said, Lord, thank you for entrusting
me.
Even with this little bit of light that
I have on the cross.
I've preached everything in the world, but oh,
thank God.
And here's what I see.
First of all, the cross is more than
pardon.
It's ransom.
Many, many Christians want nothing more than forgiveness.
They want nothing more than pardon.
And that's wonderful, glorious as it is to
be pardoned, to be forgiven, to be out
from under the judgment against sin.
It's wonderful to be able to stand up
and say, I've been forgiven.
I'm pardoned of all my sins.
But the scripture says, no, you're not.
You are not your own for you are
bought with a price.
Therefore, glorify God in your body and in
your spirit, which are God's.
Take heed, therefore, unto yourselves and to all
the flock, the scripture says, of which the
Holy Ghost has made you overseer to feed
the church of God, which he hath purchased
with his own blood.
He purchased it.
Now, we talk about a ransom.
Now, Jesus did not pay the ransom to
the devil.
He paid ransom to God.
God was the one who was sinned against.
We didn't sin against the devil.
We sinned against God.
The devil has nothing to do with this.
But you see, why a ransom?
Why couldn't God just overpower and by force,
without the cross, bring man to himself and
reconcile himself?
First of all, without the shedding of blood,
there's no remission of sins.
I've heard people say, well, only all Jesus
had to do is share one drop of
his blood would have saved the whole world.
No, that's not true.
He could have pricked his finger.
Bible said we're redeemed by the death.
The death of Jesus Christ, there had to
be the death of a perfect sacrifice.
And that was Jesus Christ, the Lamb of
God, who purchased us.
He did not only pardon you, he purchased
you.
Now, if you read the paper yesterday, there
was a picture of six men in London
who marched out of prison.
They'd been there for 16 years.
They were members of the IRA, the Irish
Republican Army.
And years ago, 16 years ago, they were
indicted for some bloody, terrible bombings.
16 years they've been in prison.
They were pardoned on Friday.
And you see, six men.
In fact, the headline said six defiant defenders
walked free yesterday after 16 years in prison.
They were jubilant at being pardoned, but angry.
Well, I suppose you would be, too, after
16 years in jail.
But you see, they were pardoned, but not
changed.
They went right back to the Irish Army.
They were pardoned.
They were free.
You see, Jesus didn't set us free as
many can see.
They said, I got saved.
That's eternally it.
I'm free.
They come out of prison.
Thank God I'm free.
I've been released.
But Jesus said, wait a minute.
I bought you with my own blood.
You're not your own anymore.
You're mine.
I didn't just pardon you.
I bought you.
You were a slave, and I paid the
price.
You're mine.
The church, which he hath purchased with his
own blood, the Son of Man gave himself
a ransom for all.
Listen, the cross for so many people means
only forgiveness, shelter from the wrath of God.
You see, the Passover was first celebrated in
Egypt.
Remember that night?
They would apply the blood to the doorpost.
The death angel was going to pass that
night, and the blood on the doorpost protected
them.
The angel saw the blood, the death angel,
and passed right over them.
Egypt was paying the penalty of sin.
Wages of sin is death.
Death was passing through Egypt, and this was
a sign of judgment against sin, God's judgment
against sin.
And the type is that when the blood
is applied, you're protected from the wrath of
God against sin.
You are covered by the blood, and they
were literally covered with the blood.
And that was for a purpose, though.
They were not covered with the blood to
stay in Egypt.
They were not covered with the blood just
to be protected for that night.
The Scripture says, being made free from sin,
you became servants of righteousness.
You were set free to become His servant
of righteousness, to give Him your life from
that day on.
We have Christians who want nothing more from
the cross than to say, I am secure.
I thank God for security.
But I tell you what, I believe in
eternal pardon.
I believe in eternal purchase.
We are eternally purchased by Jesus Christ.
Pardon to become a living sacrifice unto Him.
Now, the Scripture says that they were to
partake of the Passover standing.
They had to have their shoes on.
They had to have their staff in their
hand and eat it in haste.
Eat it in haste.
Because God says, I'm pardoning you for a
purpose.
I'm looking for a people whom I can
inhabit.
I'm looking for habitation.
I want to live and dwell among you,
and I'm not going to live and dwell
among you here in Egypt.
This is prison.
This is the devil's territory.
I've got a place I'm going to take
you, and I'm going to be, I'm going
to come down and inhabit you.
I want a people to myself.
And that's what the cross is all about.
The pardon for sin, yes.
Forgiveness, yes, but for an eternal purpose of
God.
And that's to prepare this body as a
habitation of His holiness and His righteousness.
Hallelujah.
And secondly, at the cross, Jesus crushed Satan's
heel, head.
He crushed his head.
Now remember in the Garden of Eden, God
said to the serpent, I will put enmity
between thee and the woman, and between thy
seed and her seed.
It shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt
bruise his heel.
That's speaking of Jesus Christ, who is the
seed of Abraham.
He is the seed, Jesus.
There's one seed, the Bible said, that's Jesus.
And yes, Satan bruised his heel.
Now, he couldn't touch his head.
Now, he's the head of this body, only
his heel.
Yes, he could cause evil men to crucify
him.
That's when Satan bruised his heel.
But this is the great victory of the
cross, that Jesus truly stripped the devil of
all his power and authority and claim on
God's people.
And folks, this is something I pray God
make real to us tonight.
Christ is that seed.
He is the one who came to crush
the head of Satan.
Now, listen to this.
I'm going to make a statement, and listen
to it.
This is where these two messages dovetail.
Peace is knowing the power of the devil
is broken.
I'm going to say it again.
Peace is understanding and knowing that the power
of the devil has been forever broken.
Again.
Say it with me.
Peace is knowing that the devil has been
defeated.
That's where peace comes from.
Now, I want you to get this picture.
Israel is at the Egyptian side of the
Red Sea.
They're blood covered.
You know they're blood covered, don't you?
How many believe they're forgiven and covered by
the blood?
They'd already applied it to the doorpost.
And they were on their way.
But there was no peace.
There was nothing but turmoil.
They'd been a three-day journey.
Nobody slept, I'm sure, because they kept hearing
Pharaoh's footprints all through the night.
They imagined, when will he strike?
Where will he strike?
Now, Pharaoh's a type of the devil.
And here they are, blood covered, but in
turmoil.
And they approached the Red Sea.
And they can't go any further.
And folks, you talk about turmoil.
These people said to Moses, why did you
bring us out here to kill us?
Why did you let us die in Egypt?
And here they are, blood covered people.
Under the blood, as we sing and say.
But no peace.
No peace whatsoever.
Why?
Because there was Pharaoh still on their trail.
His army was coming.
There was the power of darkness.
The ruler of an evil empire was still
there harassing their minds.
And they began to think of this evil
despot who would give them no straw to
make bricks.
This Saddam Hussein of their day.
And how do you rest?
How do you have any peace when you
have a strong enemy that can strike at
any moment?
Not a lot of people...
It's amazing that Christians give the devil more
power than God's ever allowed him since the
cross.
God made him a usurper.
We make him a prince.
And he's not a prince.
He's a prince of darkness, but he's not
a prince in having any power against the
true child of God.
And I want to prove that to you
from the scripture here tonight.
Suddenly the Spirit of the Lord begins to
move on the waters as they take a
step of faith.
The waters part and the children of Israel
go over onto the other side.
Hallelujah.
Oh, what a picture of the victory of
the cross.
What a picture of the victory of the
cross.
They go on the other side.
Here comes Pharaoh's army pressing down on them.
And move.
They had just gotten to the other side.
And the waters stayed open for a period
and allowed the Egyptian army.
Pharaoh and his whole army got right into
the middle of the Red Sea.
And suddenly it all began to cave in.
Everything began to cave in.
The waters began to cave in.
I want you to look at the children
of Israel on the other side, on the
banks, looking at this scene.
A people who had no rest.
A people who had no peace of mind.
And look what's happening.
And the Egyptians pursued.
I'll tell you what.
Go to Exodus 14.
I want to show you the cross.
I will show you the victory of the
cross in this chapter.
And in chapter 14 and 15 of Exodus
of the glorious victory, Jesus won on the
cross.
Exodus 14.
Why don't you begin with verse 21 with
me.
And I'm going to read 10 verses.
Beloved, will you ask the Lord to show
you the cross tonight in this.
The victory that Jesus won over the devil.
All right, verse 21.
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
on the right hand and on the left.
And the Egyptians pursued.
Now that's the devil and his demonic powers
and his army.
And they went in after them to the
midst of the sea.
Even all Pharaoh's horses, his chariots, his horsemen.
And it came to pass that in the
morning watch the Lord looked under the host
of the Egyptians through the pillar of fire
and the cloud.
And he troubled the host of the Egyptians.
And he took off their chariot wheels.
And they draved them heavily.
So that the Egyptians said, let us flee
from the face of Israel.
For the Lord fighted for them against the
Egyptians.
And the Lord said unto Moses, stretch out
thine hand over the sea.
And the waters may come again upon the
Egyptians, their chariots and upon their horsemen.
Moses stretched forth his hand over the sea.
The sea returned to its strength when the
morning appeared.
And the Egyptians fled against it.
And the Lord overthrew the Egyptians in the
midst of the sea.
And the waters returned and covered the chariots.
And the horsemen and all the host of
Pharaoh that came into the sea after them.
There remained not so much as one of
them left.
But the children of Israel walked upon dry
land in the midst of the sea.
And the waters were worn to them on
either side.
Thus the Lord saved Israel that day out
of the hand of the Egyptians.
And Israel, look at it now, Israel saw
the Egyptians dead upon the seashore.
And Israel saw the great work which the
Lord did upon the Egyptians.
And the people feared the Lord and believed
the Lord and his servant Moses.
Now get the picture.
Look this way, please.
They're standing watching this.
And the Bible says they got on the
other side.
And when they saw what happened, a song
broke out.
A great song broke out.
And the song was this.
The horse and his rider hath he thrown
into the sea.
They sank, verse 10, they sank like lead
in the mighty waters.
These people, what are they seeing?
They're seeing in type the victory of the
cross of Jesus Christ.
That's the type, the anti-type is ours.
That is Jesus Christ who went down into
the very depths and won a victory for
us.
And destroyed the power of the enemy.
You know what they were singing?
Pharaoh's dead.
His armies are gone.
They slept that night.
Why did they sleep?
Their enemy is gone.
The power against them has been defeated.
Do you know our allied armies went against
Saddam Hussein?
And they literally destroyed his army.
Now God didn't destroy the devil.
He stripped him of his power.
There's still a devil.
He didn't destroy him.
He destroyed his power.
He destroyed his influence and power and effectiveness
against those who are translated out of his
kingdom into the kingdom of light.
Saddam Hussein has been stripped.
He's still there.
He still rules an evil empire.
What is left of it?
It's in turmoil.
It's full of death and murder and destruction.
But he's still there.
He rules a people who are under him.
He does not rule Kuwait.
Kuwait has been set free.
In fact, yesterday Saddam asked permission from Schwarzkopf
if he could fly some of his airplanes.
He had to get permission from Schwarzkopf.
Can you imagine the general saying, well, I
don't know.
And here's Saddam who scared the whole world.
He said, may I please fly my airplanes?
Is that power?
No, that is not power.
He's been permitted to exist.
Now, really, they probably should have gone in
and taken care of him.
I don't know.
That's beside the point.
All I know is that Jesus Christ on
the cross put his heel on the serpent's
head.
And he literally stripped him of his kingdom
and of his power.
Stripped him of the power against the kingdom
of righteousness.
Stripped him totally of his authority.
And this is what I hear in the
scripture.
This is the cross.
Having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a
show of them openly.
And he triumphed over them in it.
This is the cross.
An absolute victory over the powers of hell.
And through death, not just his blood, but
through death, he might destroy him that had
the power of death.
That is the devil.
And deliver them who through fear of death
were all their lifetime subject to bondage.
Now shall the prince of this world be
cast out.
Colossians 1.12 Who hath delivered us from
the power of darkness and translated us into
the kingdom of his dear son.
Psalm 98.1 Sing unto the Lord a
new song, for he hath done marvelous things.
His right hand and his holy arm hath
gotten him the victory.
Since the cross.
Now what was the focus on the other
side?
What was the focus on the other side
of the Red Sea?
What was the focus?
Pharaoh and his army.
Fear, turmoil.
What was the focus?
The enemy was the focus.
What should be the focus on this side?
When Jesus went to the cross.
What is to be our focus?
Folks, for the last five, almost ten years,
the church seems to be focused on the
power of the devil.
I mean, Christians everywhere are afraid of the
devil.
Afraid of evil powers.
We've got people in this church scared to
death of witches in this city.
Of those that are into witchcraft or the
occult.
They almost tremble.
Why would you tremble?
When by faith you should see that he
sank like lead in the mighty waters.
The gospel we preach according to the scripture.
Pulls down strongholds.
It overpowers.
Listen, the gospel has gone into China.
And overpowered communism.
It is circling the globe right now.
The devil thought he had victory.
And even in these last days, nothing.
No atheist.
Nothing communist.
Not new age.
Not humanism.
Nothing can stop the glorious gospel of Christ
from being victorious.
The gates of hell will not prevail.
I've got to quit yelling.
A man came in my office the other
day.
A Jewish man.
And someone had given him one of my
tapes.
And he was playing.
He said, Mr. Wilkinson, somebody came into my
office and said, who's that screaming?
He kind of said, you scream.
And I said, yeah, I scream.
This is the end of side one.
You may now turn the tape over to
side two.
About what I'm talking about.
Thy right hand, O Lord, hath become glorious
in power.
Thy right hand, O Lord, hath dashed in
pieces the enemy.
Did you hear that?
Thy right hand, O Lord, hath dashed in
pieces the enemy.
For this purpose was the Son of God
manifested that he might destroy the works of
the devil.
I believe that.
That he might destroy the works of the
devil.
Now there's coming a time he's going to
bind him hand and foot and cast him
into a lake of fire and imprison him
for eternity.
But he still needs him as his executioner.
His only power is that which is permitted
to be an executioner of his own kind.
Jesus came as man.
He went to the cross to destroy our
enemy.
And we're to serve him without fear.
We're to serve him without fear all the
days of our life.
If you don't believe that, you can go
later, Luke 1, 68 to 75, and you'll
hear it.
That we may serve without fear him all
the days of our life.
We're not to serve in fear.
We're to have absolute, total, blessed assurance that
Jesus has overcome all the powers of hell.
Glory be to God.
Another insight I want you to see tonight.
The cross is our release from an eternal
hell.
It's our release from eternal hell.
Christ, by his own blood, obtained eternal redemption
for us.
He obtained it.
Now, folks, I cringe every time I hear
this damnable teaching in the land today that
Jesus did not atone for sin on the
cross through his suffering and shed blood and
death.
That he had to go into hell and
submit himself to the devil and had to
be rescued out of hell.
My brother, sister, that's damnable doctrine.
Jesus Christ went into the grave a warrior.
My Bible says God received him up again,
putting an end to the agony of death
since it was impossible for him to be
held in its power.
It was impossible for him to be held
by the devil.
It was impossible for him to yield to
the power of the enemy.
He had conquered him.
He went to hell to wrestle the keys
of life and death and hell out of
his hands.
He didn't go as a pauper.
He didn't go in weakness.
He went in the strength of the Holy
Ghost.
Do you know that when Jesus was in
Gethsemane, he wept bitterly.
He faced a cup.
He said, Father, I would that you let
this cup pass from me.
And I once thought that that cup was
the cup of sin, the sins of the
whole world facing him.
That's part of it.
Or could it be personal pain?
That may be part of it.
But, folks, I see more than that.
And when I saw it again this afternoon,
it just crushed, it broke my heart.
Jesus said himself, speaking of himself, except a
corn of wheat fall on the ground and
die, it abideth alone.
But if it die, it bringeth forth much
fruit.
And here's what I believe Jesus...
Here's the agony, I think, of the garden
of Gethsemane as he faced the cross.
He had a choice.
He didn't have to die.
He had a choice.
He said, if I abide alone...
What he's saying, if I don't die, I
can go back to glory, but I'll be
alone.
I'll be alone.
There will not...
He looked at his disciples.
These.
You see, Adam's sin passed on all.
Up to this time, he said, I've kept
them, Lord, through your word.
But you see, there had to be a
price paid.
He had to ransom his own disciples.
And he got to thinking.
I'm sure he heard, the Scripture says, he
heard the groaning, the sighing of the prisoners.
Do you know that you and I were
damned to hell?
You and I had the curse upon us
of the law.
Do you know that we deserve death, but
not just death, but hell?
Do you know that in hell, the Bible
said hell enlarged its borders?
And you know why?
Because the devil believed that he had all
mankind in his power.
And I believe he had a cell with
your name on it and my name on
it.
All my children, my grandchildren, there was a
name, David Wilkerson.
And he had the keys of death and
of hell.
And he had in his mind the very
day he'd come and claim my soul.
And I believe Jesus looked down the corridors
of history.
He saw his disciples.
He saw the martyrs.
He saw David Wilkerson.
He saw you.
He saw me.
He said, I'll abide alone or I bring
them in with me.
Without this cross, without my death, I abide
alone.
You and I were going straight to hell.
If he hadn't gone to the cross, you
and I tonight would be facing no hope.
We'd be looking at the very gates of
hell.
We would be looking at its flames.
No hope, no Redeemer, no mercy, no grace.
I got to thinking of that today.
Of all my children that I love and
all my grandchildren.
And I got to thinking of the joy
of redemption that's in my heart.
The joy of being saved.
Walking through a cursed, wicked world with peace
and joy.
And I said, oh Jesus, if you hadn't
gone to the cross, I've got nothing to
look forward to but hell.
I've got to look at all my children
that are going to burn for eternity in
hell.
Every one of us.
Every one in this court.
Every one of us in this pulpit.
Every one in this house.
We were damned.
The curse of Adam was put upon all
of us.
But the last Adam, Jesus.
He went into hell.
And he grabbed those keys of life and
death.
And when John saw him on the Isle
of Patmos, he said, fear not.
I was dead but I'm alive.
And I have the keys of hell and
death in my hands.
I see Jesus walking through hell with those
keys.
He saw my name on one of those
cells.
And he began to tear down all the
cells.
He said he came to set the prisoners
free.
Leave captivity captive.
I see Jesus going into hell and tearing
down every prison.
Knocking down all the walls.
The Bible said we have been translated out
of the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom
of his dear Son.
And I believe my Jesus left a calling
card.
It said David Wilkerson translated number 10 Praise
Avenue.
Hallelujah.
I've been translated.
Hallelujah.
I'm alive forevermore.
Behold I have the keys of hell and
of death.
He's got the keys of hell in his
hands, not the devil.
Even Jesus which delivered us from the wrath
to come.
Hallelujah.
Oh, I cut to thinking today.
Jesus, I've been trying to understand your cross.
You know what?
It's so hard.
David, you were going to hell.
He knew it way back then.
You know we were in his heart even
then.
Do you know he saw you?
He saw me.
He's God.
Do you know that was the blood of
God on the cross?
That was the blood of God.
The blood of Almighty God.
Jesus said, you've seen me, you've seen the
Father.
I'm not going to preach much longer, but
you've got to stop right now and understand.
The scripture says very clear.
He regards the prayer of the destitute.
And he heard the groaning of the prisoners.
And he loosened those appointed to death.
Jesus said, from Isaiah it said, He has
sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to
proclaim liberty to the captives, and to open
all the prison doors to them that are
bound.
Hallelujah.
Thank God for the cross.
Thank God Jesus said, not my will, Father,
but thine be done.
And on that third day when he came
out of that grave, he took me with
him.
He took you with him.
We all came out of that grave.
We've all been resurrected.
We all have eternal life in Jesus Christ
our Lord.
Will you stand, please?
Will you stand?
We're redeemed, Jesus.
We're redeemed by your blood.
The blood of the Lamb of God.
Redeemed, redeemed.
Hallelujah, hallelujah.
We were reconciled to God by the death
of his Son.
By the death of his Son.
Hallelujah.
Would you just right now say, thank you
for dying for me, Jesus.
Thank you for setting me free from the
prison of the devil.
Satan had me bound, but Jesus set me
free.
Satan had me bound, but Jesus set me
free.
Hallelujah.
Free from drugs.
Free from alcohol.
Free from lust.
Free from sin.
Hallelujah, hallelujah.
You've set us free, Lord Jesus.
Free, free, free, free.
Now, I'm going to ask you.
The scripture said he hears the sighing of
the prisoner.
And some of you up in the balcony
and right here in the main floor, you're
still in prison.
You don't know.
You've not enjoyed the freedom the Lord's provided
for you.
You see, it's not yours until by faith
you take it.
By faith you come and say, Jesus, I
give my all to you.
Some of you walked away from the Lord.
Some of you are backslidden.
You're going cold.
You're indifferent toward the Lord.
He brought you here tonight to show you
his great mercy.
Wouldn't it be foolish for somebody that's in
hell to have Jesus knock on his cell
and wake him up and say, look, I'm
going to open these doors.
Will you come with me?
Wouldn't it be foolish for that person to
stay in hell?
And that's what I don't understand.
Jesus here tonight saying, come on, I'm going
to open the doors.
I'm going to break the chains that bind
you.
Come on with me.
I want you to have freedom.
I want you to rejoice in me.
I'm going to give you a new heart
and a new life.
How foolish.
How foolish not to accept that offer.
And that's how foolish sin is.
That's how stupid it is to follow the
devil.
Nothing but damnation and hell.
If you're not free, if you're in prison,
you're bound.
I want you to get out of your
seat, up in the balcony, go to either
exit on either side and come down these
aisles.
Come down the stairs and right down the
aisle and meet me here.
And here in the main auditorium also.
Holy Spirit, I want you to speak.
You can come right while I'm praying.
Get right out of your seat.
Say, Brother Dave, I want that freedom.
I know Jesus died to set me free.
I don't want to go through this bondage
anymore.
I want to be free.
I want to give everything to Him tonight.
Wherever you're at, all over this building, many
of you who've grown a little cold and
slipped away from His love, come back to
His heart right now.
Up there, you may turn to somebody that
you brought and say, I'll go with you.
I'll go with you tonight.
You can come with them.
Say, hey, let's go.
I'll walk down that aisle with you.
Jesus wants to settle it with you.
He wants to absolutely break the power of
sin over your life.
Does sin have you in its grip?
Let Jesus break that chain.
Tonight, follow these that are coming.
Up in the balcony, now feel the tug
of the Holy Spirit.
Wherever you're at, all over this building.
Lord, I pray you send conviction.
Holy Spirit, settle over this house with great
conviction.
Call, call those who need you tonight.
Those who need to be awakened.
Those who need to be shaken and stirred.
Right now, come now as we sing.
Up in the balcony here in the main
floor.
Get right out of your seat.
Come and we're going to pray for a
miracle in your heart tonight.
Lord's going to do a great thing in
your life.
Don't hold back.
Let God have His way.
Oh, Jesus.
Lord, You are the mother dear.
Oh, how sweet You are.
Oh, great You are.
Oh, Lord, we are.
To lay down our lives in love and
worship You.
Hallelujah.
O Jesus, won't you walk
among us here, O Lord, and free us,
O free us, O free
us?
To lay down our lives in love and
worship you, O Jesus, O
Jesus, won't you walk among us
here, O Lord, and free us, O free
us, O free us?
To lay down our lives in love and
worship you, O Jesus, O Jesus, won't you
walk among us here, O Lord, and free
us?
You can still come while I'm talking.
Now you that came forward, look this way
please right now.
The Lord's put one word in my heart,
freedom.
Freedom.
That you today, right now tonight, can walk
away from this place free.
Absolutely free from the hold of the devil.
You can have peace, you can end your
turmoil tonight, if you'll simply trust what he
said right now.
That Jesus overpowered the enemy and crushed his
head and he cannot hold you.
If you know the devil can't hold you,
why even let him pretend that he holds
you?
He can't hold you.
You are free by faith in Jesus.
Raise your hands a little.
Just lift up your hands right now and
pray this with me right now.
Jesus, you came to set me free.
You broke the power of the devil.
I don't have to break it.
You did it.
You set me free and by faith I'm
repenting and I'm giving you my sins.
Give me power to be free.
I will not be held by the power
of Satan because it's not a true power.
It's a lie.
The devil's a liar and I don't have
to believe his accusations.
By faith I'm forgiven, I'm free and I'm
saved.
Now just thank him.
Lord, I thank you Lord for that freedom.
Thank you Lord for that freedom.
Jesus, I believe you.
There's victory.
Absolute victory in the cross of Jesus.
Hallelujah.
How many of you came forward for the
first time in this church?
You've never been up here before.
Raise your hand please.
Your first time to come up here to
the front.
Raise your hand please.
Yes, over here.
Here.
Alright, here's what I'd like you to do.
Will you go right through this exit into
the prayer room so we can pray with
you.
You don't sign anything, you don't join anything.
We'd like to minister to you.
Go right, make your way right through the
crowd.
All of you who had your hand raised,
go right this way if you will please.
We need our counselors please in the prayer
room.
That's it, follow these.
God's going to complete the good work that
he's begun in your heart.
He that's begun a work in your heart
shall finish it, he said.
Complete it to the day of the Lord.
Praise God.
Some of these young people, I know God's
going to just absolutely open up their hearts
in a wonderful new way.
Praise you Jesus.
Lord, I pray for all these going into
the prayer room that you will open up
their hearts in a precious, wonderful way and
complete the work of conviction and healing.
Will you pray with me that folks?
Lord, I pray that there'll be a total
healing of hearts and hurts.
Jesus, a total deliverance from the power of
the enemy.
Glory to God.
Every habit broken.
There'll be victory in Jesus.
Beloved, we're going to sing, I'm so glad
Jesus set me free.
But before we do, before we do, will
you stop and think for just a minute.
Why you and I should be absolutely beside
ourselves with joy.
We ought to be shouting with joy.
We were damned, we were hopelessly lost.
And it's so wonderful.
Do you know the world outside doesn't have
this?
They don't have this hope.
They don't have this peace, this joy.
But you and I have the knowledge that,
witness of the Holy Spirit, that we are
redeemed.
That the power of hell has been broken.
We have a right to clap our hands
and sing and shout and praise the Lord.
I'm so glad Jesus set me free.
I want you to sing that like you
never sang it in your life.
And I want you to picture yourself walking
right out of the clutches of the devil.
Translated, plucked right out of hell, planted in
the kingdom of his dear son, Jesus.
Hallelujah.
I'm so glad Satan had me bound, but
Jesus set me free by his cross.
Hallelujah.
You can return to your seats.
Return to your seats if you will, please.
I'm so glad Jesus set me free.
Oh, I'm so glad Jesus set me free.
Singing glory, hallelujah, Jesus set me free.
Oh, I'm so glad Jesus set me free.
I'm so glad Jesus set me free.
Singing glory, hallelujah, Jesus set me free.
Satan had me bound, but Jesus set me
free.
Oh, Satan had me bound, but Jesus set
me free.
Satan had me bound, but Jesus set me
free.
Singing glory, hallelujah, Jesus set me free.
Oh, Satan had me bound, but Jesus set
me free.
Satan had me bound, but Jesus set me
free.
Satan had me bound, but Jesus set me
free.
Singing glory, hallelujah, Jesus set me free.
Oh, I'm so glad Jesus set me free.
I'm so glad Jesus set me free.
Singing glory, hallelujah, Jesus set me free.
Oh, I'm so glad Jesus set me free.
I'm so glad Jesus set me free.
Singing glory, hallelujah, Jesus set me free.
This is the conclusion of the tape.