This church has been very well fed.
A lot of preaching on doctrine, a lot
of preaching on how to live the Christian
walk, and in fact, this book, How Will
It Be Thy Name?
represents I think twelve messages that were preached
from this pulpit.
So there's been a well-rounded ministry here
from all the pastors of this church and
the many pastors and evangelists that we trusted
to bring to you to this pulpit.
This morning, I want to preach the sinners.
I want to preach evangelistic message, and I
really believe God's aiming at a few people
that he knew would be in this service
tonight, at this morning.
I'm amazed how God arranges his services just
to get to one or two people.
Maybe you were one of those that God
got to in a church service and he
arranged this for you.
And some that are sitting here this morning
are going to feel that somebody has ratted
on you and called me and told me
about you.
That's the way the Holy Spirit works, marvelous
work of the Holy Spirit.
Let's pray.
Heavenly Father, I ask that you let me
stand before this people today in the fullness
of the blessing of the gospel of Jesus
Christ.
Lord, this is your gospel.
Lord, I'm fishing.
You said we're fishers of men, and I'm
fishing for some people that are here this
morning and others that are going to be
hearing this on video or on audio tapes.
And Lord Jesus, they're in a condition they
believe is hopeless, absolutely helpless.
They believe that they're beyond the reach of
God, that they have sinned away the day
of their grace, and they cannot be reached.
They believe that they are in an impossible
situation.
Lord, I know better than that, and you've
given me a message for them, and I
pray that those that are here that are
Christians will hear this and perhaps use this
as they testify to others, and that from
this day on they will never look upon
anybody as beyond the scope of the gospel
or the reach of Jesus Christ as Lord
and Savior.
Lord, I pray now that we'll understand that
with God nothing is impossible.
Now, Lord, anoint me.
Let a special unction come upon me.
Lord Jesus, I know you're reaching to some
people that are here this morning.
Lord, how miraculously you arrange things.
So I need your quickening.
I need your touch that I speak as
an oracle of God this morning, and not
of man.
In Jesus' name I pray.
Amen.
There's a young man who once attended this
church who's living in dread and torment.
It began the day he walked away from
God saying, I've had enough of this preaching,
enough of this strict life.
He was active in this church.
He was a very good testifier.
He testified to the grace of God and
claimed to be filled with the Holy Spirit,
and was used in street rallies and testifying
and ministering to people and counseling with people.
But he just got fed up, he said,
and he couldn't take it anymore, and he
just walked out on the Lord.
He said the preaching put too much guilt
trips on him, and he said, I'm not
ready to live this kind of strict life.
I've just about had it.
I want to enjoy it, a few parties.
I'm not going to go too far, too
deep into it, but I want a little
more fun.
I just can't live the life that you
people are preaching here at Times Square Church.
So he just left for the Lord.
Now, he was not a heathen.
He was one who was fully equipped with
the gospel truth.
He understood the things of God, eternal truths,
truths about the coming of the Lord Jesus
Christ and future events.
He knew about the Holy Ghost, and now
he's a fallen man.
He's deep in sin now.
He's drinking away an emptiness that was in
him.
He's not a believer now.
He's turned completely against the Lord.
He has different partners, as often as he
can find them, sexual partners, but it's painful
and so discouraging to him.
In fact, he goes home and cries himself
to sleep, because the last time I talked
to him, he was weeping, but he said,
I've sinned against so much light.
I've sinned away my hope, and I just
can't be reached.
And he has this terrible fear that God's
mad at him now that he's crossed the
line that he can't get back.
How many, many thousands of people who've walked
out on God, who have fallen from grace,
and they believe that they're beyond the reach
of the Holy Spirit, they're beyond the reach
of God now, because they had too much,
they knew too much, and they've sinned too
grossly before the Lord and cannot be saved
now.
He has this feeling, I'm too far gone,
I'm lost.
I received a letter from another young man
like that who'd walked out on God and
fallen.
He was so deep in sin, he was
becoming an alcoholic, and he was haunted at
night by all of the sermons he'd heard
and all the preaching he'd preached, and he
felt like Paul, having preached to others, I
myself became a castaway.
Paul said that he felt that he was
living out what Paul warned about.
And in his despair one time, he wrote,
he said, I decided to go to church
one more time.
Just one more time.
And he went to church where the pastor
happened to choose his text from Hebrews, the
sixth chapter.
I want you to turn to Hebrews, the
sixth chapter, if you will, please.
Hebrews, the sixth chapter, and in the annex
in our overflow rooms, I want you to
follow me, I want you to read this
with me, if you will, please.
The sixth chapter of Hebrews, verses four through
six.
For it is impossible for those who were
once enlightened and have tasted of the heavenly
gift and were made partakers of the Holy
Ghost, have tasted the good word of God
and the powers of the world to come,
if they shall fall away, to renew them
again to repentance, seeing they crucified to themselves
the Son of God afresh and put him
to an open shame.
It is impossible for these kind, the scripture
says, if they should fall away, to renew
them again to repentance.
And the pastor of the church that morning
preached from this text, and he made it
clear there is no possible chance if you
fit the description of this fallen man, and
he sat in that pew and he said,
that's me, I have put Christ to an
open shame, I've been enlightened, I've sinned against
light, I've tasted the heavenly gift, I've tasted
the word of God, in other words, I
have eaten the word of God as it
was preached, I was made partakers of the
Holy Ghost because I know the Holy Ghost
was in my life, it filled me, I
have tasted the good word of God, the
powers of the world to come, I've seen
into eternity, I've preached about heaven and hell,
and I've fallen away, I know that I'm
crucifying Christ daily, I'm putting him to an
open shame, and the pastor said that's it,
and he walked out and he said I
am doomed, he wrote me a letter, he
said, Pastor Dave, I am doomed, I'm damned,
there's no hope, and I live under this
constant dread and fear, I've crossed the line,
I can't get back, and there it is
in the scripture, and that's what he said,
and he walked out of that church with
no hope, there it is, he said, impossible
for a fallen creature to be renewed, impossible
for them to repent if they fit this
pattern, this description here in Hebrews 6, 4
to 6, and he said, I'm that man,
now the letter of hope that I wrote
to him is the message I'm going to
preach to you this morning, and I want
you to hear it very closely, you see,
over the past 40 years, I was the
founder of Teen Challenge, a drug program that
has over 300 centers worldwide now, and God
has blessed it, the highest curate in the
world, and over the years, thousands upon thousands
of drug addicts and alcoholics and prostitutes and
devil worshipers have come through the doors and
have been marvelously delivered, atheists, witches that were
heading covens and robbers and thieves and pushers,
those considered hopeless by society, and I've seen
them delivered, but the devil, when they fall,
goes after them, approaches them, seduces them back,
and folks, when they go down, having been
so blessed, having seen such light and enjoyed
such freedom from drugs and alcohol and so
many other bondages, and then when they go
down, when they fall away, and they're enticed
by the devil, they get this conviction, I'm
too far gone, I can't be reached, it's
impossible to reach me.
I'm thinking of a young couple, a number
of years ago that came, James and Mary
Thomas, they walk in like two dead people,
they had been on the streets, and how
they stayed together I'll never know, because she
was not only a drug addict, she was
an alcoholic, and he was hooked on heroin,
they would rob and steal, they lived on
the streets, and they walked in, they had
been a very fine and intelligent young couple,
but we had a term we used there,
when they came in, his mind was fried,
and you talk about a young man with
a fried mind, it was James Thomas, he
could hardly speak his name, he stuttered, she
was a pitiful, pitiful sight, skin and bone,
diseased, we took them in to Dean Chalmers
Center here in Brooklyn, and God did a
marvelous thing in the next month, God so
saved them, filled them with His mighty Holy
Spirit, what a miracle it was, God began
to bring health and color back to their
cheeks, and strengthened their bodies, they began to
gain weight, and God did something supernatural, especially
for James, he so healed that mind, absolutely
healed him, he would go down every weekend
to Brooklyn to an elderly Jewish man who
spoke Hebrew, and he self-taught himself with
this man, self-taught himself Hebrew, he self
-taught himself Greek, brilliant man, God restored his
mind, he was, he had, it was a
genius mind that had been warped and fried,
as we say, by sin, and God healed
her of alcoholism and drugs, and God restored
their marriage, we sent him to Bible school,
and he, in fact, his Hebrew teacher said,
I can't teach you anymore, you know more
than I do, graduated with honors, they went
to California and started a prison ministry, and
Mary and James Thomas were two of our
prize examples of the grace of God, trophies
of grace, and for a number of years,
for ten, twelve years or so, I don't
know the exact number of years, they ministered
together, she was by his side ministering, a
very strong helpmate, working with many, many prisoners,
she ministered, she counseled with women that were
in trouble, but somehow, and I don't know
the whole story, but the devil came and
discouraged her, and began to entice her back
to alcohol, to begin to drink on the
side, and James found out about it and
prayed, and he was heartbroken that his wife,
he saw her slipping away, and then one
night she didn't come home, he went out
and he found her in a bar, and
she said, James, I don't know what's happened,
I just can't break it, I'm back again,
and for the next months it was a
living hell for James, because he would go
out at night and have to pick his
wife up off the streets, prostituting, and James
so loved her, he wouldn't give up on
her, he said, I'm not going to quit
on you, I know what God did for
you, and I know what God did for
us, and I need you, but he would
call me morning, heartbroken, because his wife would
go out and when he would go to
minister, come home, she was gone, their daughter
turned to drugs, teenage daughter became a drug
addict, the awful example of mother, and one
day James called me, we were living in
Texas at the time, our headquarters, our crusade
headquarters in Texas, and James called me heartbroken,
he said, Brother Dave, I don't know what
to do, I'm about to lose my mind,
I said, I'm going to send you a
ticket, you hop a plane, he was in
California, come and spend a week with me,
and we brought him, he wept and cried,
he said, she went out and I've lost
her, I don't know where she is, she's
disappeared, he got a telephone call the third
day he was with us, she had found
out from the daughter where he was, he
had told her where he was going, and
she called our house, she said, James, I'm
in the hospital, she'd been found beaten in
the streets, after prostituting the men, beat her
up, and she was in the hospital, she
said, please come and get me, and in
his love for that woman, he said, Brother
Dave, I need to get her, so I
gave him tickets and money and brought her
to our house, and you can't believe such
a battered woman, black and blue and swollen
eyes and lips, and here she was at
our house, and after about 24 hours of
sleeping, James cleaned her up, and we began
to minister to her, but she couldn't grasp
it, she said, Pastor Dave, it's too late,
I am too far gone, I have sinned
against such light, I was a preacher, I
ministered the word of God, and God did
such miracles in my life, and look at
me now, look what I've done, you talk
about putting Jesus to an open shame, crucifying
Christ, I've crucified him, she knew this passage
of Scripture, and she believed she fit that,
she was the woman here described in Hebrews
6, 4 to 6, impossibly renewed, if they
shall fall away, because she had been enlightened,
she had tasted of the heavenly gift, and
all of this, this was her, described completely,
and the devil had convinced her she's beyond
hope, destined to be an alcoholic, destined to
die on the streets, she nearly died, and
she said that's probably, she felt that's what
she was destined for.
Now folks, I'm going to leave her story
for just a minute, and I'll come back
and tell you the rest of the story,
but I wanted to focus in on this
one phrase, impossible to be renewed, my question,
impossible to whom?
Impossible to whom?
Let me give you three impossibilities, first of
all, it's impossible for any preacher, or Christian
worker, to reach this kind of person described
in Hebrews, it's impossible.
Now Mary knew, Mary knew I loved her,
she knew I was in the Scripture, she
knew I was a praying man, she knew
that all along, she knew my wife was
a praying woman, and we were trying to
minister love to her, she trusted me, she
trusted the word I preached, she'd been in
my crusade and seen thousands saved in some
single meetings, she'd seen the work of Teen
Challenge, and the change of lives, and she
knew the gospel I preached was the true
pure word of the Lord, but nothing I
could say would reach her, nothing I said
could touch her, not one word of preaching,
not one word of loving counseling from James,
or from me or her husband, no scriptures,
no prayers, our love, our compassion, nothing could
touch that woman.
In fact, Mary's pastor and wife, they attended
a church in California, the pastor and his
wife had ministered to Mary, had warned her,
had pleaded with her, wooings, warnings, nothing worked,
nothing could reach, because you see, you can
come to a place that you get so
deep in sin, and you become so hardened
to the gospel, you get so far out
there in that pit of despair that no
preaching can reach you.
You're beyond conviction, you're beyond being moved, folks,
there's nothing more frightening to see this happening,
I've seen this over and over again, people,
no matter how I preach, I could be
under the greatest anointing, I could preach as
an oracle of God, I could have the
pathos of the cross, I could have the
cry of the very heart of Jesus for
their soul, and yet they're totally unmoved, untouched,
it's impossible for any human being to reach
this person described, and some of you that
are sitting here now, you say, that's me,
Brother Dave, I sit through sermons now, I
sit through preaching where the Holy Ghost is
manifest and it doesn't move me anymore, it
doesn't touch me.
Beyond feelings, beyond conviction, and I've heard them
admit, I feel like I'm the brink of
a black hole, and that hole is endless,
and I'm about to sink into it, and
when I know I get into that hole
and begin to fall, I'm lost, I'll never
get out.
Jeremiah 727, the prophet said, Thou shalt speak
all the words to them, but they'll not
hear you.
You shall call to them, but they'll not
answer you.
Jesus preached to the sinful multitudes of his
time, who had hardened their hearts to his
message, and he said, For this people's heart
is waxed gross or hard, their ears are
dull of hearing, they've shut their ears and
their eyes.
Oh yes, folks, I've seen many through my
preaching be saved, I've seen the worst sinners
be saved, but they were hardened by sin
and not hardened to the gospel, there's a
difference, but you see that you can become
so hardened to the gospel, you can become
so hardened because you've been so enlightened previously.
I'm telling you that it is impossible for
any preacher or any Christian worker to get
through with a message, not that the gospel's
lost its power, no, no, no, no, I'm
still seeing multitudes come to Jesus through the
preaching of this pulpit.
That's not it, the gospel's not lost its
power, but some people have put themselves beyond
the pale, they have gone to a place
that is so far in their own minds,
it's a mindset that they have established through
these suggestions from hell and from the devil
himself, I can't be reached, I've sinned too
much, it's against, it's absolutely impossible for me
to be reached and so that no preacher
can reach them, no witness can reach them,
no personal worker can reach them.
Oh, I've seen it all over the world.
Secondly, it's impossible at times for loved ones
and friends to reach them.
Nobody loved his wife more than James, I
said amazed because I was saying to myself,
if my wife ever walked out and had
been handled by men and drunken and picked
up off the street, I'd think she's diseased,
I wouldn't touch her, the Lord just have
to tell me, maybe I'd put her in
an institution or something, but I sure didn't
have that kind of grace, I knew it.
Now, I don't know, sometimes you don't get
grace until you need it, but in my
own mind I know what I'm like and
I didn't have that kind of thing.
And I know my wife, if I ever
cheated on her, she said, there's the door,
buddy, and that's it.
That's a great motivation to holiness, I'll tell
you.
I watched him wash her face and caress
her wounds and weep over her, and I
watched him take her out when she got
a little strength to walk, this was, we
lived on, our headquarters was on a ranch
in Texas, and I watched him walk up
the country roads hand in hand, but folks,
there was no amount of human love could
break through to that woman.
It was not human love.
I have seen wives whose husbands have left
them for another woman, and this man's got
children.
He's been married for 25 years or more,
picking on one particular, and this man comes
home to get his clothes, he's found another
woman and he's leaving, and he's been gone
for three months and here he comes for
his clothes, and I've seen and listened to
women who have cried and wept and said,
honey, I forgive you, come back.
I don't care what you've done, if you
just tell me what went wrong, if you'll
just help me, I want our marriage to
work, and then there are the children, and
she's already informed them, and he's informed them
he's leaving, and those children have grabbed his
legs and crawled on his lap and said,
dad, how can you do this, don't do
this to mommy, don't do it to us,
don't leave us, and those men have walked
out unmoved, absolutely unmoved, no amount of love,
no amount of human compassion, nothing could reach
them because they were already hooked, they were
already gone.
I remember a pastor friend of mine, he
was a director of one of our teen
challenge centers, fine young man, married to a
beautiful young lady, and he had a wonderful
work, he won many drug addicts, Lord, he
was one of our best soul winners on
the streets, a fine young man, and I
loved them both dearly, but he started playing
around with pornography, and he got hooked, and
he got angry at his wife because she
would not sit and watch the filth with
him, he said, I want you to be
a part of this, he said, I'm not
going to break it, I'm going to continue
it, but I want you with me, and
he was so angered, she said no, and
it was a rebuke to him, her stand
rebuked his immorality, it was a terrible rebuke
to him, but he wouldn't let go, she
called me, and I invited her, she came
to our house, and we ministered to her,
she said, I tried it for a little
while just to keep my husband, but I
got so convicted, I walked out, and I
said, no, no, I'll not touch this, I
don't want the devil, open your soul to
the devil, and if you're not careful, the
devil will possess you, folks, when you do
that, you open your soul to demon possession,
she said, Brother Dave, you ought to hear
his preaching now, it's dead, he has nothing
to say to anybody, his mind is so
warped, he came in one day and said,
I'm leaving you, she said, how can you
do that, why don't we go and see
Brother Dave, so he came, they came again
to my house, and I witnessed to him,
I prayed with him, he knew I loved
him, I was his friend, I said, look,
no matter what you've done, there's power in
this room, now I can take authority, if
you just believe with me, we'll take authority
over this, now you'll be delivered, and he
said, it's too late, words to that effect,
I am so into this, I can't, and
he knew Hebrews, he knew this, he had
this thought the devil put in his mind,
you're too far gone, you're hooked now, there's
something in your past, there's a curse, this
must have been your father, your grandfather, and
you're part of that curse, oh, I hear
that, those who go back and get hooked
on alcohol, well, my dad was an alcoholic,
my granddad was an alcoholic, I've heard him
say, my dad died on the street as
an alcoholic, they come into our centers, I
am this because I am inheriting the demonic
genes of my father and my grandfather.
Folks, yes, the devil does work down through
generations, but I'm going to tell you, greater
is the power of Jesus Christ and the
blood of Jesus, he's able to break every
curse and set everyone free, I grieved as
they left our place, he left his wife
and married a witch, married a witch, and
went into the occult, I have lost touch
with him, I don't know where he is,
but he would tell you, I am beyond
hope, I am beyond the reach of God
himself.
You see, human love and human ties and
human compassion cannot reach some, not even thirdly,
and not even the fear of death, hell,
or judgment will not touch them.
You see, Mary understood full well that the
wages of sin is death, she knew that
every evil thing she was doing now was
being recorded in the book because she once
preached that, and she knew that she'd stand
one day before the judgment seat and have
to answer for it and only add it
to her burden and her guilt, she used
to warn others to flee from the wrath
of God, but now you can preach hell,
fire and brimstone, you can warn her, you
can threaten her with the Scriptures and the
wrath of God, but it doesn't mean a
thing now.
Jesus cried to the hardened Pharisees, fear him
which is able to destroy both body and
soul in hell, and it never fazed them.
He warned to fire and brimstone of being
caught, cast into a bottomless pit, he warned
you are in danger of hell, fire, and
like water off a duck's back, it didn't
mean a thing to them.
I've told you the story from this pulpit,
a Latinist boy met me right here in
50th Street, I think it was, and he
said, could you go over with me here
to St. Clair's Hospital, it's two blocks from
here, he said, would you go over, my
brother's dying from AIDS and he's got a
few hours left, and I just saw you
in the street, would you come right now
and pray for him?
You heard me tell this story, but it
fits right here now, and I have to
tell you this.
Right now, and I went over to St.
Clair's Hospital, and he'd been given a few
hours left to live, walked in and this
teenage boy said, this is my pastor, I
go to Times Square Church and you're dying
and I ask him to come and pray
for you, you need Jesus, he'd been witnessing
to him, and the kid had one of
those TV sets that's on a pivot, and
it would pivot right over his bed, and
he was watching a shoot-em-up movie,
you know, a detective's movie, and he wouldn't
even look at me, he was so intrigued,
he's about to die, and he can't miss
the end of this program.
Now, it sounds funny, but folks, can you
imagine the blindness that Satan brings with sin?
Here's a young man who knew the way,
he knew the truth, it's not new to
him, and I said, I pushed the TV
aside, he pulled it back, and I pushed
it again, I said, look, and it got
right over the bed, put a finger on
his chest and said, you are about to
go to hell.
Within hours you're going to be in hell
unless you call on the name of the
Lord now, you're a dead man, you're dying,
you're going to be in hell and you're
going to have the devil looking at your
face, and there was a Holy Ghost power
on me and a spiritual anger against the
devil, and I said, can I pray for
you, and he says, I don't care, but
he was looking at the TV.
I prayed a simple prayer and walked away,
and I just, I went to the door
and I looked back and he pulled the
TV, sitting over there, and his brother's crying,
and I can't believe this, this man's about
to die, he knows he's dying as a
drug addict, dying of AIDS, and from a
dirty needle, and goes out into eternity watching
a movie.
You see, the death, the threat of hell
meant nothing.
I have listened to fallen Christians tell me,
for the day of hell doesn't bother me,
I'm already there.
It's hell to wake up every day with
a black cloud hanging over your head, it's
hell to be driven by a habit you
can't control, he said, it's hell to live
through the day hoping for the night, and
through the night can't wait for the morning,
he said, I'm in hell because every pleasure
I have gives me no more joy.
Sex means nothing, drugs mean nothing, parties mean
nothing, I still go and every Friday or
Saturday I get that party spirit come upon
me and I go and go home and
cry, I'm in hell!
It's hell to be shut off from God.
It's hell to know you spit in God's
face.
That's hell.
Yes, friends, it's true, it's impossible when you're
in this condition, and you've sinned against light,
and you're crucifying Christ daily and you put
Him to an open shame and you have
tasted all the good word of God, yes,
and when you fall and get further and
further away from the cross, further and further
away in the lifestyle and deeper and deeper
into sin, yes, it's impossible for any preacher
to reach you.
I know that my preaching here tonight, this
morning, is not going to reach some of
you.
And I'm moving you.
I know that, I know that when I
go out witnessing on the street and talk
to some, I know that they're looking beyond
me, they're yawning, they're nothing, I say.
I can hug them, love them, I can
give them money, that doesn't mean anything.
I'm telling you, friends, loved ones, compassion doesn't
do it, and preaching hellfire doesn't do it.
The fear of God is not upon them.
It is impossible.
But nowhere in this scripture does it say
that it's impossible for God to do it.
My Bible says, for with God, nothing shall
be impossible.
Nothing shall be impossible.
The only people who are impossible are those
who have committed the unpardonable sin.
There is a sin that will not be
forgiven.
That is the unpardonable sin, and I will
tell you, there's one way to know if
you've ever committed the unpardonable sin, one positive
proof.
If you're afraid that you've done it, you
haven't done it, because you wouldn't be thinking
about it.
You wouldn't be concerned about it.
You know, you see, those who committed the
unpardonable sins are those who purposely reached into
their heart and ripped out Christ, and said,
everything that I've ever known about Christ was
the work of the devil and not of
the Holy Ghost.
It's that one who shakes a fist at
God and says, I never want to hear
from you again.
And they attribute everything that God is doing
on the face of the earth, even in
their own lives, they attribute it to the
devil himself.
And there are those, homosexuals included, who say
Jesus was gay.
And if you see the homosexual parade here,
you'll see a hundred signs saying Jesus is
gay.
Jeremiah 30, don't turn there.
God said to Israel, now listen to this
closely, I'm going to prove my point, that
it's not impossible for God to reach this
person who thinks they're beyond hope.
He said to Israel, your bruise is incurable.
He's talking to a stiff-necked, backslidden, idolatrous
people of God.
Your bruise is incurable.
In other words, impossibly cured.
Your wound is grievous.
You have no healing medicines left.
Why do you cry because of your affliction?
Your sorrow is incurable because of the multitude
of your iniquities.
That's Jeremiah 30, 12 through 15.
You can read it when you get home.
Read the third chapter and you see God's
indictment against Israel.
He said, you have heard prophets.
You have given so much light.
The word of God has been revealed to
you.
All the promises and the covenants have been
given to you, and you've turned your back
on me.
Your awful sins have made you depressed.
Jeremiah said, you're sick, depraved, diseased, and you're
incurably wounded.
There's no medicine to heal you.
You see, there's no man can help you.
You're beyond the help of humankind.
There's no human answer to your problem.
But I want you to listen to this
now, two verses later.
Listen to what God says.
I will restore health to you.
He just said they're incurable.
He just said it's impossible.
But something happened between this and what God
is saying now.
Something happened in the heart of God.
He saw something.
I will restore health to you.
This is in verse 17.
In verse 15, it says it's incurable.
Verse 17, two verses later, I will restore
health to you.
I will heal you of all your wounds,
saith the Lord, because they called you an
outcast, saying, this is Zion whom no man
seeks after.
God saw something.
He saw fallen people, and He saw the
whole world and the devil looking at them
and saying, God's given up on them.
God has given up.
They're cast away.
They have no healing.
God has said they're incurable.
It's hopeless.
And that's what they said about Mary.
Even her friends gave up on her.
There comes a time when you sin, and
you're on drugs or alcohol, especially, or some
other habit, and your friends will give up
on you.
Even family begins to give up on you.
They can't handle it.
There were people saying, Mary, they need, James
needs to get her and put her in
an institution.
She needs to be in a mental institution.
She needs to be off the streets, and
they gave up.
And there are some of you listening to
me now, you say, that's me, Brother Dave.
My wound is incurable.
There is no hope for me.
You don't know what I've done.
You don't know how I sinned.
Folks, you could not have grieved God any
more than Israel did.
These idolatrous, he said, you're stiff-necked, idolatrous
people.
I send you prophets, and you mock them.
And yet, because people were saying God gives
up on people, God has given up on
His own children.
Zion, listen to it again.
Because they call you an outcast, and because
they say, this is Zion whom no man
seeks after.
God has abandoned you.
God has left you alone because you've sinned
too much against Him.
God said, no, no, no, I'm going to
move in right now because I'll not let
the devil accuse me of that.
I'm going to move in right now, and
I'm going to heal you, and I'm going
to cure every wound in your body.
God said, the world might give up on
you.
Your friends and family may give up on
you, but I'm not going to give up
on you.
I'm going to have mercy on you.
That's what God did for Mary.
Others had given up on her.
She was too far gone.
She said she was an outcast.
But let me tell you how Mary came
through.
It wasn't through my preaching.
I finally gave up.
I had nothing left to say.
And it wasn't any love or compassion or
anything that her husband could say.
It wasn't any fear that got through to
her.
Because finally, after a week, James told me,
he said, I don't know if she'll ever
get through.
I don't know.
I feel so helpless.
One night in the middle of the night,
and this is all God looks for, a
little cry.
Out of the depths, David said, I cried.
Out of the depths of despair, I cried,
and the Lord heard me.
And all she whispered, she couldn't even speak,
she was whispering, Lord, help.
And God heard it.
And then she voiced it, Lord, I'm so
down.
I am so low.
And tears began to flow.
And the Holy Spirit moved into that room.
And God mounted her heart.
And the power of His forgiveness came into
Mary's life.
And just flooded her soul and washed out
all the filth.
Washed out all of the hopelessness and washed
out all of the anger that was in
her.
She raised her hands and began to worship
the Lord.
James came in and they hugged.
And James knew that God had done a
work in her and sanctified her and changed
her very life.
You see, with God, nothing is impossible.
Out of the depths, I cried unto the
Lord, hear my voice.
In my distress, I cried unto the Lord
and He heard me.
Listen, that may be the only thing left.
The only way God can reach you is
that right now, not because of my preaching,
but strictly because God still loves you.
And because everybody else has given up on
you, including yourself.
God said, I'm not giving up on you,
but I've got to hear that cry.
I've got to have a cry.
That's all I'm looking for.
You don't have to give me theology, make
me no promises, nothing.
Just cry.
Cry.
Help me, God, help me.
Oh, God did a work.
What a joy to send them back to
California, back to the ministry, back to the
prison ministry.
Last year, James died.
And last month, Mary followed him.
But she went home a warrior for Jesus
Christ.
Perhaps the devil persuaded you that God has
given up on you.
David said others were speaking against him, saying
God has forsaken him.
Speaking of David, to persecute him, take him
for there's no one to deliver him.
That's what they were saying about David because
of his sin.
And then David cried out in Psalm 71,
12, the same words, Oh, God, help me.
And then he said, Lord, you showed me
great sore troubles, but you're going to bring
me back again to life.
And you shall bring me up again from
the depths of the earth.
And you'll comfort me on every side.
One warning before I close.
You see, that's good news, brother David.
Maybe there is some hope.
But if you sit here this morning thinking
to yourself, well, I'll make that cry next
week.
Maybe a month from now, I'm not quite
ready.
And I still, I'm not, I really don't
want to break this yet.
I still love my sin.
Oh, yeah, I can't sleep and I know
I'm in hell, but I'm not ready.
I'm going to tell you now, straight out,
you're not going to get another one.
Because when you come to this place here
now, and you put it off now, when
he only asks of you a cry, you
won't make that cry.
Not because God won't be merciful, not because
it's impossible to him, but it's because you
now have taken that final leap.
Because he said today is the day of
your salvation.
You will never have another moment like this.
Now, when I was preparing this and in
prayer last night and this morning, I felt
there would be one or two ministers here,
either who've been here before or are visiting.
And you have fallen.
You've left the ministry.
Or you are active in Christian work.
And that's all a memory now.
That's all gone.
And you're in sin.
I'm telling you now, God delivered you a
word.
If you'll make that cry today and step
out of your seat and come and let
us pray with you.
God will deliver you and restore you.
Everything the canker worm has eaten, he'll restore
it.
And give you a new heart and a
new beginning.
And there are others of you listening to
me now.
You're in despair.
You said, Brother Dave, I just feel like
I'm too far gone.
I feel like I've sinned so much.
I knew so much.
I was so blessed.
And now my heart is cold.
I'm drifting away from God.
And I'm beseeching in the name of the
Lord to run back to the arms of
Jesus.
Be renewed in repentance.
Stand, please.
Beloved, in the annex, if you're one of
those ministers I'm talking about, if you're in
the main floor, even while I'm talking, I'd
like you to get out of your seat.
And I'd like you to walk down here
and humble yourself before the Lord and just
make that cry.
You probably make that cry in your seat
while you're standing.
Say, Jesus, help me, or God.
There's a cry.
I want you to just get out of
your seat.
And I want you to come here right
now.
And we will be God for a miracle,
an absolute miracle in your life.
God is able to do that, to set
you abundantly free.
And in the annex, if you see anyone
walking forward, I'd like two or three Christians
to go and stand by either the man
or the woman or two or three, I
don't know who will come, and stand by
them just to encourage them and to minister
to them in prayer.
These that are coming, up in the balcony,
go to the stairs.
Don't be afraid to come here among friends.
I'm opening this all the way now to
everyone, upstairs, downstairs, near the annex.
When you go forward, I want you to
go between the screens.
Don't block the video walls.
Just go between the video walls, if you
will, please, and the overflow rooms as well.
And I want you, if you, the Holy
Ghost has dealt with you this morning.
And you're on that path.
You're going far from God.
You're drifting further and further away from Him.
I want you to come back now.
I'm going to ask the Holy Spirit to
grip your heart.
No one will beg you.
No one's threatened you.
No one's been preaching hell at you.
I do preach about hell.
Jesus preached about it more than I do.
Yes, there is a hell.
Yes, there is a wrath of God.
But today the Lord has come to you
with overwhelming love and compassion.
All you can do is cry.
Say, Brother Dave, I'm afraid of falling.
You've got the Holy Ghost to worry about
that.
You come and you trust your life to
Him.
It's the Holy Ghost that keeps you in
hell.
God bless you.
Don't be afraid to run.
That's it.
You can run here.
That's desperation.
That's saying, Lord, I want freedom.
I want deliverance.
We're going to get all over this building
as we hear this invitational number.
Get out of your seat.
Say, Brother Wilson, God's dealing with me this
morning.
Folks, don't walk out when the Holy Ghost
is dealing with you.
Let Him speak.
Please don't come, though, unless the Spirit is
drawing you.
Not just out of some emotion, but you
come because something deep in your heart is
saying, I heard this.
This went deep into my soul.
Husband and wife, if you're slipped away from
God, if you have fallen, come back to
His mercy now.
Come back to His grace.
Wherever you're at, upstairs, downstairs, and in the
annex as well.
Those in the annex, I'll tell you what.
Why don't you just turn around and go
to the lobby.
And ushers are there.
They'll show you how to get down here.
Come on down here so I can look
you in the eye and pray with you
here in the main auditorium, if you will,
please.
Those that are in the annex and in
the overflow rooms, right now, just go back
into the lobby.
And there's a door.
I'll bring you into this main auditorium and
come right here to this altar.
I'll wait for you.
We'll sing until you get here, and then
we'll minister to you.
Folks, the Holy Ghost is hanging heavy.
His Spirit is heavy over this service right
now with loving conviction and wooing of His
Spirit to everyone who has an open heart.
Even if your heart's been closed, take the
step by faith.
Thank God there were four or five responded
to the ministerial call.
We will not isolate them or point them
out.
That's between them and the Lord.
We don't want to embarrass anybody.
We're not here to do that.
We're going to put on a show.
This is life and death.
It's life and death.
I want you to bow your heads and
your hearts, and I want you to pray
this from the innermost part of your being,
from deep inside.
Pray this with me.
Dear Lord, help me.
I need a miracle.
I need a touch.
Do for me what you did for Mary.
Melt my heart and draw me back to
your arms.
Forgive me.
Cleanse me.
Give me a new heart.
Take the stone heart out of me.
Give me a heart that feels and loves.
Thank you, Jesus, that you didn't give up
on me.
You have reached to my heart, and I've
come to you and said, yes, Jesus.
Now let me pray for you, Father.
In your marvelous grace, your loving kindness, your
tender mercies, oh, Holy Ghost, reach into the
heart and pluck out everything that is evil.
Pluck out everything that has robbed us of
truth and light and hope.
Oh, the great love of God.
What marvelous love that God should come to
broken, fallen mankind and say, I love you.
I'll heal your wounds.
I'll set you free.
The devil can't have you.
What a miracle.
Lord, that miracle is happening right now to
many here.
That miracle is happening right now.
Don't be afraid to cry.
Let those tears come.
They can help wash away the fear.
Now pray this with me.
Jesus, I thank you for your love.
You do love me.
You're going to help me to make it.
I'm not going to fall.
I'm not going to die in sin.
I'm going to be with you, Jesus, in
glory because of your forgiving power.
Thank you, Jesus.
Give him thanks right now.
I thank you, Jesus.
Give him thanks.
Give him love right now.
The work that you've begun, you will finish.
That you will keep those who have come
to you.
Lord, I saw those who responded for the
call for fallen pastors.
And, Lord, I see five or six, and
I thank you.
I've seen some that came, Lord, I see
their brokenness now.
Proves that their heart is not hardened.
Now, Lord, when they walk out of here,
let them know.
Let them know that they can be absolutely
free.
They can be totally restored.
Hallelujah.
Thank you for your mercy, your love, and
your grace.
We give you thanks.
If you were in ministry of any kind,
and you're here now, and this message for
you, and you had fallen, or you drifted,
and you're coming back this morning, here's what
I'd like you to do.
I'm going to ask all of our elders
to be available, please.
Right behind stage.
And I want you to form the guard
there at the door, the entrance in the
back.
You just go around the entrance for backstage.
All those who have fallen from some kind
of ministry.
You need somebody to just agree with you
now and minister to you.
I want you to go back and just
say, I'm one of those pastors Pastor Dave's
calling for, male or female.
And if you go back there, we'll, Pastor
Neil, will you see that they're paired up
with our gentleman here?
And just right here, the curtain will be
dropped right here on stage.
You're going to be ministered to.
Now, the rest of you, listen to me.
What room is it we go to, 204?
206.
Now, listen.
We have in room 206 in the annex,
we've got some wonderful people, prayer counselors and
powerful in prayer and love.
If you would like to have someone pray
with you, if there's a great need in
your life, look at me now.
You're going through something very trying in your
life.
You need somebody to pray with you, minister
to you.
If you're out in the lobby, in the
rotunda, there are those in white jackets.
They'll give you direction right up the stairs
into the annex to room 204.
And they're waiting for you right now.
You don't join anything because we don't even
have membership here.
You don't join anything.
You don't ask for any money.
You're just going to be ministered to.
That's it.
That's why God is so blessed in this
church.
Would you turn now?
Anyone here, you want somebody to pray with
you, make your way right now because soon
the aisles are going to be all blocked
and you won't be able to get up
there.
Just turn right now.
Anyone here say, oh, brother, I need somebody
to pray with me.
I would like to have that ministry to
me.
Turn right now.
And the ministers, please, you go this way,
over here, right now.
Make your way through.
If you've been in any kind of ministry,
go this way, please.
Right over here to my left and your
right.
I see three or four going.
Just go right on over there, please, and
they'll minister to you.
And just let them go through, please.
God bless you.
What a wonderful thing to see.
What a miracle we're seeing here right now.
God is so good.
God is so loving and so kind.
Precious Jesus.
Hallelujah.
To our visitors, again, we make this offer.
Downstairs here and up in the balcony.
If you'll come down there and exit 8
and 9, upstairs into the ancillary building and
room 204 in the annex.
One of my sermon tapes and a book.
I don't know which one of my books,
but also some refreshments and some loving New
Yorkers, New England people from all over the
world.
Why don't you do it?
Both hospitality centers immediately after the service.
Would you now, please, turn around, and I
ask you not to leave the building until
you shake his hands as many as you
can.
And just a loving God bless you and
God love you.