My message this morning, protecting your home from
satanic invasion.
Protecting your home from satanic invasion.
Would you go to 1 Peter, please, the
third chapter.
1 Peter, the third chapter.
I don't know if you want to acknowledge
or not, but the devil is out to
destroy your home.
Now, if you're single here, and I mention
married couples, and I mention family and home,
remember that even if you're single, you have
a home.
Your apartment is your home, wherever you're at,
that's your home.
And he would like to destroy yours as
well.
You know that.
Alright, 1 Peter, the third chapter, beginning to
read verse 10 through 13, please.
For he that will love life and see
good days, let him refrain his tongue from
evil, and his lips, they speak no guile.
Let him eschew evil and do good, let
him seek peace and ensue it.
For the eyes of the Lord are open
over the righteous, and his ears are opened
unto their prayers.
But the face of the Lord is against
them that do evil.
And who is he that will harm you
if you be followers of that which is
good?
Let's pray.
Holy Spirit, I remind you that you put
this in my heart.
You burden my heart with this, because we
see something happening in the church of Jesus
Christ.
We see something that alarms us and frightens
us.
Lord, that so many thousands of Christian homes,
pastors' homes, ministers' homes are being broken.
Absolutely devastated.
Children that are going astray, mocking their parents,
turning to drugs and alcohol.
My God, I know that on this Easter
Sunday you have laid this on my heart.
And I pray that you anoint me, let
the Spirit of the living God fall upon
me.
Let these words be like fiery arrows from
the throne of God, Lord, that will pierce
us and convict us and awaken us, and
then pour in the oil of gladness when
we seek to obey you.
Lord, let no one turn a deaf ear
to the word of the living God today.
Lord, we want to stand before your throne.
We're not afraid of reproof.
We're not afraid of the word of God.
The word of God is life.
It will set us free.
Touch me now, in Jesus' name, amen.
The home of a former elder of this
church was invaded by Satan and his home
destroyed.
He was a good teacher.
Many of you remember his strong messages against
sin.
His wife, a beautiful wife.
They had lovely children.
They have lovely children.
I didn't know that the years she was
here in this church that their small covered
a disillusionment and fear and anxiety.
I remember her telling me one day she
was in a van outside and driving in
a place full of children because her husband
has a heart for people and would take
in homeless people into the home.
I remember them having up to 12, 15
people at a time in their home.
And she said, my role, Pastor Dave, is
to stand faithful by my husband.
I thought that's a very sweet thing, not
knowing that underneath it all there was a
fire brewing.
No man preached harder against sin than he
did.
But Satan invaded that home.
God was moving among those children.
There was there was happy laughter in that
home for a season.
I remember the two young men, especially how
God seemed to be moving in such a
wonderful way in that home.
But now the children are all scattered because
they're separated, probably headed for divorce.
The children are grieving and that elder is
living in sin and the wife has had
a nervous breakdown.
Now, how did Satan plunder that home?
How did the walls come down?
How did Satan get access to those children?
What happened?
Where was the protection?
Why was there no spiritual authority to cast
the devil out of that home at the
first sign of invasion?
I'm thinking of another case that I'm counseling
this past week, in fact, with a missionary
couple, 18 years married and 15 years in
the mission field, living in suitcases and going
to third world countries and giving their life,
homeschooling a little child.
The wife has lived as a faithful wife,
a preacher.
They both have ministered in this church.
She's contacted over the years, malaria, typhoid fever
and deadly bacterias.
She's come home at times half dead from
the mission field.
The little child is one of the sweetest,
quiet little children you'd ever meet.
We finance them.
We help them build orphanage, a beautiful couple,
seemingly dedicated and sacrificial, giving their life to
the mission field.
Sacrificing everything incredibly sacrificial.
But now they're separated.
Just this past month, they came to see
me recently.
He looked like the world had come to
an end.
He said, I can't believe this is happening
to me.
And I can't believe my wife has become
so discouraged.
She's drinking.
And I can't believe my little daughter is
in trauma because she's caught in the middle
of this.
My ministry overseas is in turmoil.
My family's in turmoil.
The enemy has invaded my home.
And I sit there and watch and I
listen, my heart breaking because I thought that
was one of the loveliest couples I could
conceive.
Folks, I had asked both of these families
just five years before, could you have ever
believed if a prophet came to you prophesied
this would happen?
Could you ever believe this has happened to
you and your family?
And in both cases, we would have laughed
at it.
We would have said impossible that this could
ever happen to our family.
The devil could come in and devastate and
separate us and just take control of our
family and our children.
They say it was impossible.
You know, Jesus said to Peter, Peter, Satan
desires to have you.
And I'm here to tell you, Dad, Mother,
Satan is out to get your family, to
destroy your marriage.
There is a demonic invasion out of hell
beyond anything any generation up to this time
has ever seen.
Take heed when you think you stand, lest
you fall.
To hear these couples say this could have
never happened to us.
It happened to others.
We counseled others and say we would say,
thank God for what we have.
There are many Christian homes, of course, that
are devil proof.
And I thank God for these devil proof
homes, because there's a praying dad, there's a
praying mother and the children, the house is
in divine order.
The home is in divine order because they
are on their on their knees.
The devil has thrown everything out of hell,
every weapon of hell at that family.
That's a family is an arc of safety.
God, the devil can't touch that family.
The devil can't touch those children.
Doesn't mean they're immune to temptation.
Doesn't mean they're immune to problems and sickness
and disease.
Not at all.
But there's something about that family.
The walls are up around that family.
There are only two kinds of families, unwalled
and walled.
And in these families, the children are safe.
The husband gives honor to his wife.
Dad knows the secret of the blessing and
favor and how it's obtained and protection for
the household because he walks in the fear
of God and he sanctifies himself that his
family may be sanctified.
Believe me, there are reasons why there are
godly homes and wicked homes being invaded by
the enemy.
There are cause factors.
There are reasons, there are causes for it.
First of all, let me consider why do
good homes go bad?
Why are some homes without walls, totally unprotected,
broken down?
Why are so many Christian homes being devoured
by the devil himself?
Don't turn, but in Psalms, the 80th chapter,
there's a very vivid picture of a satanic
invasion of God's vineyard, a vineyard that he
had planted.
The psalmist said it was brought out of
Egypt.
That's the household of God.
That's the family of God taken out of
Egypt and planted in good soil.
And it took deep roots, the scripture said.
That's a type of a Christian family taken
out of sin and planted in Christ and
taking deep roots.
And for a season, it's bringing forth fruit.
It's a blessed family.
The marriage is good.
And this is the arc of safety.
Everything seems to be fine.
There's a wall around it.
But for some reason, God himself breaks down
that wall.
I'm reading Psalm 80, verse 12.
Why hath thou broken down the hedge or
the wall so that they which pass by
do plucker?
And the picture is that this vineyard that
was protected by a wall, God tore down
that wall, the wall and the hedge is
gone.
And now every demon pile around comes and
plucks.
The word pluck there means to pull and
seduce.
And, folks, when the wall comes down around
your house, the pluckers come.
That could be demonic music.
This can be pornography.
This can be the control of the crowds
around them, ungodly friends coming and pulling and
tugging at your children.
The tuggers, the pullers come and tug and
pull at the wife, tug and pull at
the husband.
Some past temptation that comes back upon the
man and there's something happening in this home.
The enemy is coming in.
The walls are down.
Now the pluckers are moving in and everywhere
you turn, there's a tug, there's a pull
toward the world and ungodly things.
Why hath thou broken down the hedge so
that all they that pass by do plucker?
The boar out of the woods now wasted.
The boar is a wild pig.
A wild pig is running loose.
A wild beast of the field is now
devouring everything in sight, according to verse 13.
That's the devil himself.
That's a satanic invasion and running loose through
the home, causing havoc and destruction.
And now dad and mom are arguing and
the children are in trauma.
I have been in homes where there's such
turmoil and where husbands and wives are fighting
so much.
Little children go and grab their parents legs
and try to pull them apart and scream.
The boar of the woods now wasted.
This is a picture of a Christian home
that's now burned with fire, feeding on tears,
a strife unto the neighbors.
Enemies are laughing at them.
Prayers are hindered.
God has turned away his face.
And why is the wall down?
Why is this happening in this family that
once prayed?
This family, what has happened?
This whole episode in the 80th chapter is
referring to something that happened in 2 Kings
15, 27 through 28.
And what it is, Israel did that which
is evil in the eyes of the Lord.
Sin had crept in.
There was sin in the camp.
There was something filthy going on because God
said he wanted to come and remove the
filth from Israel.
A Christian home is the Lord's vineyard.
In fact, it's called his pleasant plant.
You see, the church is made up of
many of these little vineyards.
And in Isaiah chapter 5, God has given
us a powerful warning about the awful consequences
of leaven of sin that creeps into a
home.
I want you to go to Isaiah fourth
chapter with me, please.
But look at me for just a moment.
You have got to hear me.
I'm speaking your word from the throne of
God.
I'm telling you now in this day and
age when we have such filth on television
and Internet and such pornography and such sin
creeping into our homes.
When 90% of the content of the
Internet is now pornography.
What we've got, I think they call it.
I don't have Internet in my home.
I don't have a computer and I'm not
putting anybody down.
But I'm telling you now what I heard
in the papers.
Yahoo is now this is supposed to be
one of the more legitimate websites now pushing
pornography.
Folks, you've got to hear what this spirit
is saying.
Isaiah.
The fourth chapter.
I hope you have your Bibles and ready
to follow me.
The fourth chapter of Isaiah.
Verses four through six.
When the Lord shall have washed away the
filth of the daughter of Zion and shall
have purged the blood of Jerusalem from the
midst thereof by the spirit of judgment and
the spirit of burning.
The Lord shall create upon every dwelling place
of Mount Zion upon assemblies of cloud and
smoke by day and shining the fire by
night or upon all the glory shall be
a defense.
That's as far as I want to read.
The scripture says in chapter five.
Look at chapter five, if you will, please
turn over to chapter five.
Verse five.
And now go to I will tell you
what I will do to my vineyard.
I'll take away the heads thereof.
It shall be eaten up and break down
the wall thereof.
It should be trodden down and I will
lay it waste.
It should not be pruned or digged.
If there should come up briars and thorns,
I shall also command the clouds that they
rain no rain upon it for the vineyard
of the Lord of the for the vineyard
of the Lord of host is the house
of Israel.
The men of Judah's pleasant plant.
They look for judgment, but he but behold,
oppression for righteousness.
But he but behold, a cry.
Do you understand that God is tearing down
this wall, this whole.
And when you when you look back, it's
because the Bible said they did that which
was evil before the face of God.
There was evil in the home.
There was somebody in this house bringing forth.
The scripture said wild grapes versus two and
four.
Those are poisoned grapes.
Now, see, this is the house of Israel.
This is the type of your home and
mine.
And the Lord said, I came looking for
good fruit.
I came looking for good fruit, but I
discovered poison fruit in that home.
I discovered something poisonous that was poisoning the
whole household while grapes and in Isaiah three,
five.
The result of it was that the child
shall behave himself proudly against the agent.
That when this poison is in the home,
the children rise up in rebellion.
They rise up against their father and mother,
grandfather, grandparents.
They rise up.
There's rebellion because there's poison.
There is sin in the household.
A hidden wickedness and down comes a protective
wall.
And as a result, chaos and disorder takes
over.
Roll onto the wicked.
Isaiah three, 11.
It shall be ill with him and that
were ill sorrow, sadness, trouble for the reward
of his hands shall be given to him.
He's saying when there's sin in dad's life,
when there's sin in mother's life.
And he's talking about those who are leaders
in the home.
He directs it completely to leaders of the
home.
That's dad, that's mother, even grandma and grandpa.
These are pastor dads, deacon dads, layman dads
and mothers, wives.
You see, God took down the wall because
he had dealt with this sin.
He had dealt with this iniquity that was
in the home.
He said prophets.
He sent loving messages time after time after
time.
He warned.
He did it in love.
He did it in compassion.
He said conviction.
He said by the Holy Spirit.
In fact, God says, what more could I
have done for my vineyard that I've not
already done?
He said there's nothing else in my arsenal
of weapons or love.
I have done everything that God, who is
infinite and all powerful.
I've done everything to break this man of
his sin, this woman for a compromise.
Because they're sending their kids to hell and
they're bringing chaos on their family.
Folks, don't blame television.
Don't blame the school.
It's dad, it's mother, it's the home.
So God says, I'll tear down the wall.
I'll remove the hedge.
Sin in the life of a dad or
mother turns them into cowards, weaklings, wimps against
the devil.
The wicked flee when no man pursues.
But the righteous are as bold as a
lion.
You show me dads and mothers that are
praying and seeking God and walking in the
righteousness of Jesus Christ.
And I'll show your parents, the rebel don't
stand up to any demon and devil out
of hell.
They're bold as a lion.
They don't fear the devil.
They don't fear losing their families.
Everything I've been talking about in 1 Kings,
the 20th chapter.
Turn to 1 Kings, the 20th chapter.
I'm going to read verses 1 through 4.
And I'll show you very vividly what I'm
talking about.
It's very clearly illustrated in this passage.
1 Kings, the 20th chapter.
First four verses.
And Ben-Hadad, the king of Syria.
Now, Ben-Hadad is a type of Satan
himself.
Gathered all his hosts together.
And there were 30 and two kings with
him and horses and chariots.
Now, that's a prince of powers and powers
of darkness aligned with the devil.
They went up and besieged Samaria.
Samaria at the time, that was Israel, God's
people.
And warred against it.
And he sent messengers to Ahab, king of
Israel, and to the city.
And said unto him, Thus saith Ben-Hadad,
Thy silver and thy gold is mine.
Thy wives also thy children.
Even the goodness, they're mine.
And the king of Israel answered and said,
My lord, O king, according to thy saying,
I am thine and all I have.
The devil comes and says, Look, I want
your wife.
And I'm going to take your kids.
And I'm going to take your livelihood.
I'm going to take everything you have, it's
mine.
Ben-Ahab was a man, the scripture said,
who did evil in the eyes of the
Lord.
And that phrase pops up time and time
again, wherever there's disintegration and chaos.
He did that which is evil in the
sight of the Lord.
There was something filthy, there was sin.
And this wicked man is a coward.
He has no resources, no spiritual authority.
And here comes the devil and his principalities
and powers and gives him the summons.
He says, I'm going to take your wife.
I'm going to take your children.
I'm going to take everything you have and
leave you penniless.
And Ahab said, everything I have is yours.
It's all yours.
Folks, the devil stands outside the door of
your house.
And that's the summons he's given every Christian
home.
He'll come at you and say, I want
your marriage.
I'm going to destroy your marriage.
I want your children.
And I want everything you have.
I'm going to destroy you because he's a
destroyer.
The Bible said he's a liar and he
will come at you and say, I want
everything that you have.
And Ahab, the son of Omri, did evil
in the sight of the Lord.
The king of Israel said, my Lord, O
king, according to thy saying, I am thine
and all that I have.
And he goes to his princes.
Ahab goes to his counselors.
And he says, this man, speaking Ben, hey
dad, send unto me for my wives and
for my children, for my silver and gold.
And I denied him not.
Do you have the power, dad, mother, to
deny the devil, your wife, your kids, your
livelihood, and everything you stood for all your
years, everything you are?
You can sell it out to the devil
if you just hang on to your sin.
You can just sell it all to the
devil.
You have no power.
You have no spiritual authority.
You have nothing.
The devil can come into your home and
rape it and take everything you have.
Because you have no spiritual authority because of
a sin that has not been forsaken because
he did that which is evil in the
eyes of the Lord.
If God hadn't sent a prophet to intervene,
the devil would have come right.
Ben, hey, dad, would have come right into
Ahab's house and laughed and mocked.
They would have come in and he said,
I'm going to take everything that is good
to you.
Everything it pleases you, I'm going to take.
I'm going to send my messengers.
I'm going to send my servants into your
house.
I will take everything I like and everything
you like.
I'm going to rob you blind.
And if God didn't get angry at that
statement, if God hadn't sent a prophet, that
man would have stood there and watched as
they came in and his children are taken
off weeping, his wives and his concubines dragged
off weeping, knowing that they're going to a
king's tent and given to those soldiers to
be raped.
You see, this man, Ahab, God gives him
another chance.
The prophet says, I'm going to deal with
Ben, hey, dad, because he's speaking against me,
not just you.
There was a victory given, but then at
the end, he takes Ben, hey, dad, up
into his chariot and his chariot calls him
his brother.
Because, you see, he has an infinity with
the world.
He has this hankering after the things of
the world.
He brings him up into his chariot and
makes a covenant with him.
And another prophet comes to him and said,
in essence, the reason that your family has
come to this point, he said, and because
of what you've done, it's going to destroy
you.
And you're going to lose everything.
After all, you're going to lose it all
because you've lightly esteemed the word of God.
And you hate the prophetic word.
Now, I want to tell you something, folks.
There are pastors like this.
There are ministers who hate what they call
the doomsday message.
They don't want to hear anything negative.
Folks, all you hear in most churches now
is the love of God.
I preach the love of God.
We preach it here.
We preach the grace of God.
We preach powerfully on the grace of God
and the love of God.
He is a loving God.
But he said not only is he a
loving God, he's a severe God, knowing the
loving kindness and the severity of God.
And many are not hearing of the severity
of God.
And they're losing their homes that are getting
divorced because there's not a voice to put
them under conviction.
There are times when in my early ministry,
there was compromise creeping into my life, and
I would to God there had been somebody
standing in a pulpit with conviction, had been
alone with God and pointed a finger at
me and say, you're the man.
And I could have fallen on my knees
and repented and avoided so much hardship in
my life.
Go to 1 Peter, again, the third chapter.
If you've been there before, we'll go right
back to it.
Now, maybe some of you don't like this
kind of preaching.
And you may be sorry you came here
this morning.
But I'm telling you something.
You just may get your family saved from
hell before this day is over.
1 Peter, third chapter, verses 10 again.
He that would have, he that will love
life, and look at this, and see good
days, and see good days.
Folks, I want to talk to you now
about why some Christian homes continue safe and
protected.
I've told you about why the walls go
down and why some good homes go bad.
It's because of sin.
It's that simple.
There's sin in the camp.
Now, let me show you how a family
stays safe and protected.
And it's right here, verse 10.
He that will love life and see good
days, let him refrain, stop his tongue from
evil, from gossip, and his lips, they speak
no guile.
He's not a gossiper.
This man is speaking truth and righteousness.
And I'll tell you what, you only get
that when you're shut in with God.
Let him eschew, let him run from evil
and do good, let him seek peace.
You see, this man's a praying man in
this family.
The eyes of the Lord are over the
righteous, ears are open to their prayer, but
the face of the Lord is against them
that do evil.
The face of the Lord is against them
that do evil.
Again, the face of the Lord is against
them that do evil.
But if you do that which is right,
read it, who is he that can harm
you?
Who's the devil?
Well, the principles and powers can harm your
home if you do that which is right
before God.
They shall see good days if you be
followers of that which is good.
Now, you see, Moses was the father of
the house of Israel.
He delivered his household from the power and
control of deeming powers because Pharaoh, again, is
a type of sin.
The captivity in Egypt represents the devil's attempt
to enslave the families of God.
But you see, when Moses came on the
scene, Israel's house was in chaos.
There was no divine order.
Children had forsaken the faith of their fathers.
There was rebellion, idolatry, and lust on every
side.
Fathers were no longer seeking Jehovah God.
The fathers and the mothers had given up
hope.
There was nothing but gloom and despair.
Their households were households of sorrow and fear
and despair.
And sin had brought them so low.
But what does it take to get a
low family that's in chaos out of divine
order?
How do you get that family back in
divine order under the blessing of God?
Because you see, there may be somebody sitting
here right now and say, Pastor David, I
love the Lord, but my house is not
in order.
You may be sitting here saying, my husband
is not saved or my wife is not
saved.
You may be sitting here this morning saying,
my children are not in divine order.
I can see what's happening to my children.
I see the world tugging and pulling at
them.
You honestly sit here listening to this morning
and say, I am not in control and
I don't have the authority.
My children don't listen to me.
The young rise up against the ancient.
I'll tell you, 50 years old now, they
think you're ancient, your kids.
How do you get that house back in
divine order?
This is what Moses faced.
His household was absolutely out of order.
His household full of idolatry and sin and
corruption that the devil had brought in.
He'd invaded the house of God, destroyed everything
in sight.
In fact, the prophet said, one of the
prophets said, he took an ax and he
chopped everything that was holy and righteous, chopped
it down.
Let me tell you what it takes.
It takes a heartbroken, weeping, interceding father to
plead with God for every member of his
family.
Now, I'm going to get deadly honest with
you on this now.
When I go overseas, pastors everywhere ask me
to bring forth messages.
I'm going in June, the Lord willing, into
Helsinki and to St. Petersburg, Russia, and to
Moscow for ministers conferences and crusades for three
weeks.
And in St. Petersburg, they give me a
list of what they want me to preach.
And everywhere I go now, they're saying, please
bring a message on how to keep ministerial
marriages together, because there's disintegration with so many
pastors' families now, and how to keep the
children and how to deal with family issues.
And you know, I struggled with that.
That's what I need.
I need a message on, you know, all
the steps and the principles.
But I'm going to tell you something.
When the devil has your kids by the
nap of the neck, and when the devil's
tampering with your marriage, and all hell's broken
loose, you don't need six steps.
You don't need a sermon on how to.
You need a down-on-your-face encounter
with God.
You need to get desperate before God.
You don't need to sit and try to
have some pastor give you a sermon that'll
give you the steps.
Not at all.
The bookstores are full of how to have
a happy marriage and how to keep your
kids in control.
And most of it doesn't work and written
by singles.
Please go to Exodus 32.
Now, all you single people, the time is
coming.
God is your faithful.
He'll bring a maid into your life.
But see, even if that doesn't happen, the
devil's still out to come into your home
and destroy you.
So these things are not just for married
couples that I speak of.
Now, in Exodus 32, starting in verse 30,
you see, they had erected a molten calf,
and folks said Satan had moved right into
the camp, and he's possessor of that golden
calf, and really, they're worshipping the devil.
They're worshipping Satan.
And here in verse 30, it came to
pass in the morrow, verse 30, that Moses
said unto the people, You've sinned a great
sin.
Now I will go unto the Lord peradventure.
I shall make an atonement for your sin.
And Moses returned unto the Lord and said,
All this people have sinned a great sin,
and it made them gods of gold.
And yet now, if thou wilt forgive their
sin, and if not, block me, I pray
thee, out of thy book which thou hast
written, block me out.
Look at me, please.
Here's a father of Israel.
These are his spiritual children.
It's a type of you, dad, mother.
If you have an unsaved son or daughter,
when is the last time you got so
desperate before God?
None of your children are going to go
to hell unless God intervenes.
When is the last time you got so
desperate before God that you got on your
face and you prayed, Oh God, my family
is sinned.
My family's in disarray.
And if you're going to block them out
of your book, then block me out if
they can't be saved.
Can you imagine this holy, meek man saying,
God, I can't go to heaven without them.
If they're going to be damned, I am
so sick in my soul, and I'm so
desperate before you, kill me, damn me.
But don't damn my kids.
And you say your kids are unsaved and
you're sitting there in front of a TV
set laughing.
You say you want your family saved.
You think you're loved.
You think by just taking them to their
dances or taking them to their classes and
that you're good to them, you're kind, you're
going to keep them.
No, you're not.
The devil is going to get him before
it's all over.
Because they have no weapons.
They have no praying dad.
They have no praying mother.
They have no, they have no spiritual resources.
There are no match for the devil in
this day and age and the temptations that
are coming.
I've seen so many black slidden dads and
mothers losing the touch of God, losing the
fire of God.
And I weep over them because there's no
desperation and for some reason they have hardened
their hearts before God.
Oh, what a, what a horror.
What a tragedy that there's not this burden
that the Lord, because you see him every
day, you know, they go their way and
you don't think of eternal things.
But one of these days, folks, it's all
going to end.
One of these days, the trumpet of God
is going to sound.
We're all going to stand before God, including
your children.
And you're going to stand there by your
children.
Chapter 33 verses 7 to 10.
What's it take?
What's it going to take to get your
family, right?
And Moses took the tabernacle and pitched it
without the camp, far off from the camp
and called it the tabernacle of the congregation.
And it came to pass that everyone which
sought the Lord went out of the tabernacle
congregation, which was without the camp.
It came to pass when Moses went out
under the tabernacle that all the people rose
up and stood every man in his tent
and looked after Moses until he was gone
into the tabernacle.
And it came to pass as Moses entered
into the tabernacle, the cloudy pillars descended and
stood at the door and the Lord talked
with Moses.
And all the people saw the cloudy pillar
at the tabernacle and all the people rose
up and worshipped every man in his tent.
These people that were bound by the devil
are now worshipping every man in his tent.
Why are the children worshipping now?
Why?
Because they see their spiritual father going out.
He said, it can't be business as usual
now.
We're not going through the temple rituals anymore.
And he takes the tent and tabernacle as
far as he can out by himself.
And every day he goes and he prays.
They hear him out in the distance, crying
out to God on their behalf.
And the scripture said, when they heard him
pray, they prayed, they worshipped.
Because dad was worshipping, father was worshipping.
Dad, when's the last time your kids have
heard you on your face in a secret
closet, seeking the face of God?
When's the last time they've heard that fire
coming out of a secret closet of prayer?
When have they seen you with your Bible
rather than in front of your TV set?
Folks, I was raised with a praying dad
and a praying mother.
My mother prayed up in my room on
the third floor in the attic.
And with the window open, because she knew
I was downstairs, I was out in the
yard praying.
She named my name.
I could hear it.
My dad, I could hear him groaning in
the secret closet of prayer, groaning and praying
for hours, saying, keep your hand on my
boys.
God, you know what David's going to do.
You keep him.
You anoint him.
Call him to preach.
Use him mightily.
My dad, I could hear his words.
I still hear my dad groan before God
for the family.
And my kids have heard their praying dad.
My kids know so much so that when
we were on vacation recently, and I hadn't
for it was toward evening.
I hadn't prayed yet.
My little granddaughter calls up and my niece
said, granddaddy, it's time to go pray.
She knew.
I've got to move quickly now.
Moses fasted and he prayed.
I tell you, if I had an unsaved
child, I would be on my face fasting
and praying before God.
You see, something incredible happens to a man
or woman that's in constant community with the
Lord.
God speaks to them face to face, the
scripture says, and it produces a confidence and
a faith.
It makes you sensitive to the voice of
God.
And it more than anything, it takes it
makes you absolutely fearless against the devil, absolutely
fearless about Satan and anything he can do.
Now, remember, eight plagues come to Israel or
to Egypt.
Pharaoh calls for Moses and Moses and Aaron
were brought again unto Pharaoh.
And he said unto them, go serve the
Lord your God.
But who are those that are going with
you?
And Moses said, because Moses had been praying,
Moses said, we will go with our young,
with our old, with our sons, with our
daughters, our flocks and our herds.
Everything goes devil.
I'm taking back everything you stole from us.
My babies, my grandma, my grandpa, I'm taking
everything.
The devil in Pharaoh replied, no, no, no.
Only the men go.
The children are mine.
All your fathers, you go on, seek the
Lord.
But your children remain my slaves.
Exodus 10, 11.
So God says, just wait.
And the ninth plague of darkness, it could
be felt.
And again, Moses is called.
And he says, Pharaoh says, all right, you
men go and take your wives.
And I will let you take your children.
But let me have your flocks and their
herds.
Moses said, no devil.
Listen to his words.
Not one hoof remains, not one hoof.
You can't even have a leg of one
of my lambs.
You see, when you're on your knees and
you're walking with God, you're dealing with the
sin of your life through the power of
the Holy Ghost and getting dominion through his
power.
You don't have to compromise with the devil.
You don't make deals with the devil.
You go and you reclaim all from the
devil, your children, your wife, your home, everything.
Pharaoh says, no, nothing goes.
And he said, get out of here.
You're a dead man.
He gets out.
And God says, no, you're not the dead
man.
He's the dead man.
Because what I'm going to do next.
And what did he do next?
A lamb was slain.
You talk about protection of a home.
And here it is where it all climaxes.
The spiritual father says, now we're going to
get really secure.
We're no demon, no devil, no man, nothing
can hurt you.
You're going to be eternally secure here.
Take the lamb and sprinkle the blood on
the doorpost.
Hallelujah.
Folks, that was the father's job.
That was the father's job.
He slew the lamb, took the blood, put
it in a basin, took some hyssop, sprayed
it across the top of the sides, the
post of the door.
And when death and hell came moving through,
that house was safe.
Everybody in the house, the dogs were safe,
the cats were safe.
Everybody was safe.
All the animals.
Not a cow died, not a lamb died.
Nothing that had died.
If there was a fly in the house,
it didn't die.
Oh, folks, we are secured by the blood,
by the blood of the lamb.
The devil can't cross the blood.
Let me close with an illustration, please.
A true story.
In fact, I talked to this woman yesterday.
Pastor's wife.
She's married to a pastor.
Her father and mother were in the ministry
for 50 years.
This man, near 70 years of age, her
father.
Pastored a number of Pentecostal churches.
In fact, her father, when I was a
younger preacher, he was in somewhere in the
west.
I won't name the state, but he was
the state youth evangelist.
He preached a hard message against sin.
Very hard message against sin.
He's always preaching a hard message against sin.
There was no grace.
The last two years of his life, he
changed.
An evil presence came into the home.
And his appearance became so evil.
His daughter said, Pastor David, I couldn't look
into his eyes.
There was something so wrong.
The whole family knew it.
Mom knew it.
We didn't know what was wrong.
He stood up in the church and he
said, in fact, he was passing at this
time.
He just rambled.
He had no life.
There's nothing but death in him.
She said, we didn't know until it was
too late that our preacher dad was living
a double life all those years.
We didn't know why we had to move
every two years until later to find out.
It's because.
He was a pedophile.
A molester of children.
It all came to a head.
She said, I didn't know till after the
tragedy that he had molested my brother when
he was a child.
He became homosexual.
And she said, we found out.
He was picking up a three year old
grandson and fondling him.
His own grandson.
So the daughter was berserk.
She said, I can't let this go.
She confronted her father.
She said, something's wrong, dad.
There's sin in your life and it's been
there for years and you never dealt with
it.
Now it's controlled you.
Now, I know why we've moved all these
years every two years, because you were running
away from exposure.
He got so angry, went into a rage.
That night at four o'clock in the
morning, he got a shotgun, went into his
wife's bedroom at four in the morning and
shot her dead.
Went out in the yard, put the gun
to his head and killed himself.
They laid in blood for hours while the
police came and investigated.
The son had a nervous breakdown.
The daughter blamed herself for confronting her father.
And now he's killed both mom and himself.
An absolute chaos, absolute ruin in that family.
Everything was invaded by the devil out of
hell.
When Gwen showed me the letter, I got,
I was so moved.
I called her up and I said, this
must have been such a trauma.
Now, this happened five years ago.
You see, that's the one side, how good
families can go bad.
He dealt with his evil inside the Lord,
before the Lord.
There was a filthy sin was never dealt
with.
And it brought chaos, death, destruction.
But she said, I want to tell you
something, Pastor Dave.
I made up my mind.
In fact, you know, her husband is a
preacher.
The week before this happened, preached in dad's
church and said, God's going to expose sinners.
He pointed a finger right at him a
week, just a week before and said, if
this man has sin in his life, God's
going to judge him.
A week later, he's dead.
She said, here's the other side that I'm
trying to tell you.
Here's how the minority comes.
She knew there was an opportunity.
She knew that if she didn't forgive this
man, if she and her husband didn't deal
with sin, if she and her husband weren't
fasting and praying, that that curse would move
on.
Because you see, his father had molested him.
The grandfather had molested her preacher dad.
And it's moving right down to the family.
And she said, I'm not going to have
that.
And they began to seek God.
And I want to tell you, God began
to move and put that house in order.
She and her husband are on fire for
the Lord.
Her homosexual brother got right with God.
He's married and has two children, going to
church and her own family is being blessed
with God.
She said, I have forgiven.
It still hurts, but I have forgiven.
And she said, I'm not going that way.
The devil's not going to have my family.
He took my dad's family.
Then he's not going to have my family.
They're not going to have my children or
my family.
And God is blessing.
And she said, brother, we fast every week.
We pray and seek the face of God.
And we trust him now.
And we've turned everything to him.
And now her house beautifully coming in divine
order.
Folks, there it is.
That's what I've been trying to tell you.
Gwen and I were out in the country
yesterday, sitting in two chairs under the sunlight
and absolutely overwhelmed beyond words of the blessing
of God between us, all our children serving
the Lord, their husbands and wives, all of
our grandchildren.
Blessed beyond measure.
And I know in my heart there were
times in crisis way back.
If I hadn't been desperate before God, if
I hadn't laid a besetting sin or two
before the Lord and have him dealt with
it, I know what would have happened.
Today, I'd be pumping gas in a gas
station.
I'm not saying that's a demeaning job, but
it's not the ministry.
My children would all be divorced.
There'd be nothing but hell.
And I tremble over that.
You can make the mistake.
It hangs on you getting serious with God
about those hidden things that are in the
life so that there's no part dark.
And it has this decisions made.
I'm going to seek God.
I'm going to have a time every day
that I get alone with God.
I have a time every day.
You say, I have a job I have
to go to.
I don't have the time.
Oh, yes, you do.
You just don't take the time.
You have the time.
It's important that you take the time and
every day.
Don't miss a day till you are praying
for your children.
If you can't go to some room, pray
while you're you're you're driving.
Pray wherever you're at.
Just pray.
Stop.
Just stop and say, Father, in Jesus name,
keep my children from the wicked one.
Keep my family from the wicked one.
And pray and believe God.
See what happens.
Stand, please.
I usually don't preach this long, but I
had to take time to get this off
my heart.
Oh, God.
Precious Jesus.
Oh, Lord, I'm fighting for families.
Lord, you put this in my heart.
You're such a merciful God.
Lord, if our house was on fire and
there were people inside and I'm standing on
the curb, I would have to scream, fire,
get out.
And Lord, I've been screaming today.
But I know that scream, that cry has
come from your heart.
It's come from your heart.
Oh, God, I'm asking you to heal homes
this morning.
I'm asking by your Holy Ghost conviction, Lord,
because of your great love.
I want you to heal homes and hearts.
I want you to heal marriages between husbands
and wives.
I want you, Lord, to tear down those
hindering walls and put up.
You said, I'll be a wall around your
family.
I'll be a fire, a wall of fire
around about you and the glory therein.
Lord, build the walls and tear down the
false walls, we pray.
In Jesus name.
Now, I'm going to open the altars here
and in the annex and open up the
altar for those who heard a word from
the Lord and say, Pastor Dave, Holy Ghost
has spoken to my heart.
God's dealing with me.
I don't know what that's about.
Now, if you're backslidden, if there's sin, if
your home needs a miracle, there has to
be something happening in your home.
Let's get out of your seat.
Now, some of you are backslidden.
Listen to me, please.
Upstairs, downstairs and wherever I'm on screen.
Some of you are backslidden.
You don't have the walk with God you
did and you're slowly drifting away from the
Lord.
I'm telling you, this is the day.
This is the day.
Not only God to deal with you, but
he'll work in your family.
There'll be a change that has to happen
in you.
There'll be some husband and wives need to
come, or husbands alone, or wives, whatever it
may take.
Get right with God.
Those who don't know Jesus, come with these
that are coming.
Wherever you're at, upstairs, the balcony, go to
the stairs now.
I'll tell you what, in the annex, just
go between the screens and just move forward.
You may be facing the wall, but I
want to be praying for you in just
a moment.
I want to pray for a miracle in
your life.
Wherever you're at, obey the Lord.
Make room.
Please move in as close as you can.
Make room for those that are coming.
We're going to pray for families.
We're going to pray for the backslidden, those
who've been drifting from the Lord, those who
don't know Jesus.
I speak to the whole congregation in the
annexes, the overflows, and here in the main
auditorium.
Please, listen to me.
When a preacher preaches like this this morning,
as what you've heard, and the Holy Ghost
convicts you, you feel the pangs of conviction.
The worst thing you can do is just
slough it off.
The worst thing you can do is just
push it aside.
No, let it change you.
Let it come into your heart and say,
I am guilty.
I've not been seeking God for my family
as I should.
Let it get ahold of you.
Let it convict you.
Let that conviction do its sweet work in
your heart.
Let it do it, and see what God
will do for you.
I know many of you are taking it,
receiving it to your heart.
And you that came forward in the annex,
those who have stepped forward between the screens,
and perhaps you can't see my face, but
you hear my words now.
And I want you to listen close because
I believe the Holy Spirit, in His great
love, wants to minister to you right now.
He wants to assure you that He's more
willing to give to you than you are
to receive from Him, to give you a
safe house, to give you a miracle in
your home, but first of all, to bring
you to a place of peace and rest
in Him.
First of all, to deal with anything in
your heart that's unlike Him.
It's just a matter of being honest with
Him.
Lord, I'm not going to hide anything from
you, but I've got to seek you.
Listen to me, please.
If you have a sin that's laid hold
of you and you can't seem to get
victory, you have got to go to God
regularly, every day, in faith, and claim His
Word and ask Him for supernatural help.
If you, through the power of the Holy
Ghost, the Bible said if you forsake sin
through the power of the Holy Ghost, you
shall live.
If you mortify or kill the deeds of
your flesh through the power of the Holy
Spirit, but when you go to prayer, you
say, this is beyond me, it's too much
for me, but I'm coming to you.
As long as you keep coming, as long
as you hate your sin, God's going to
bring you victory.
The victory is going to come.
The flesh may still battle against the Spirit.
There'll always be that flesh rise up, but
the Holy Spirit will come and overpower that
flesh.
The Holy Spirit will come and give you
power and subdue that flesh so you don't
have to live in condemnation and fear.
And you can say, Jesus, I love you.
Folks, He'll hear your cry.
Even if you're living in sin right now,
if your heart's ready, He'll hear your cry.
He'll forgive you, He'll cleanse you, and He'll
also answer your prayer.
They just start moving in your family.
Some of you have a wife that needs
to be saved.
Some of you have a husband that needs
to be saved.
Some of you have children that need to
be saved.
Most of us here need a work done
in our own hearts, don't we?
Will you pray this prayer with me right
now?
Right from the bottom of your heart.
In the annex, will you pray this too?
Just close yourself in with Jesus right now
and pray this.
Lord Jesus, I want to be honest with
you.
I come humbly to your throne and I
admit that I've sinned.
I acknowledge that I've sinned.
Lord, I need a miracle.
Lord, I need deliverance.
I need the power of sin broken in
my life.
And I can't do it myself.
But I trust your word.
You've made me a promise that you would
put your spirit in my heart and the
fear of God in my heart.
And you would cause me to come near
you.
And you would cause me to do what
is right.
Through the spirit of God taking control of
my life.
Come to the blood.
Sprinkle your blood on my heart.
Transgressions.
I believe your word.
I receive forgiveness.
I receive power from on high.
Now, Lord, work a miracle.
Now, let me pray for you.
Father, in Jesus' name, I know you heard
the heart cry of everyone who prayed.
Now, Lord Jesus, we know that when you
begin a good work, you will complete it.
You will not go halfway with us.
You'll take us all the way.
Lord, create a hunger and a thirst to
seek you.
Lord, we've been coming week after week saying,
it's time to seek the Lord.
It's time to put away the things of
this world.
It's time, Lord, to turn off the TV
and go pray.
It's time to get into the word of
God and build up our hearts in faith.
It's time.
Lord, time is slipping away.
And Lord, many of our families are being
invaded by hell.
Oh, God, put up a wall around the
families and around the homes of those who
are trusting you for deliverance today.
We believe you for it.
We trust you.
Lord, there are many who didn't step forward,
but you're dealing in their hearts about the
need to get closer to you, Lord, and
to examine themselves to see if they've drifted
just a bit.
If they're just drifting away and getting lazy
about your things.
God, forgive.
Lord, that's dangerous.
That's a terrible thing to happen to a
believer.
Lord, bring us back to your first love.
Bring us back to our first love for
you in Jesus' name, I pray.
I want you to just raise your hands
and thank Jesus for answering prayer right now,
Lord.
I thank you.
I give you praise.
I give you thanks, Lord, for your mercy
and goodness.
Hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah.
Beloved, my closing words to you, what you
heard this morning is really mercy preaching.
It's God having mercy on us.
And I'll tell you what, if you obey
God and you see God doing something in
your family, one day, you'll hug me all
through eternity.
I mean, you'll find me.
You'll have to go through the crowd.
You'll find me.
And we're going to know each other in
heaven.
And we're going to talk about services like
this.
And then you'll say, meet my son.
Here's my daughter.
Here's my husband.
Now, you won't be married then because there's
no marriage.
But you're still going to know each other.
And you're going to rejoice.
There are going to be relationships that are
so beyond anything we know.
And we're just going to lift our hands
and run to Jesus and thank him and
bless him.
While some people walk out and say, that
was gloom and doom, you're going to say,
well, it got my family to heaven.
Hallelujah.
Amen.
Three o'clock and six o'clock.
Now, may I remind all of our visitors,
immediately after we dismiss over here, exit eight
and nine, go through those doors in the
ancillary building and in the other, in the
annex room 204, please, a free preaching tape
or free book, free desserts and a free
conversation with a lot of godly people.
Look, you can't, you're not allowed to leave
this church yet until you say can to
at least 10 people.
Count them.
God bless you.
Give grace and love to somebody.
Spread the love of Jesus at least 10
people.
God bless you.