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I want to speak to you this morning
on a crisis of faith.
We're facing in the Church of Jesus Christ
a crisis of faith.
We'll share this with you from 1 Peter,
if you want to turn to 1 Peter,
the first chapter, verses 5 through 7, "...who
are kept by the power of God through
faith unto salvation, ready to be revealed in
the last time.
Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a
season, if need be, ye are in heaviness
through manifold temptations, that the trial of your
faith, being much more precious than of gold
that perisheth, though it be tried with fire,
may be found unto praise and honor and
glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ."
Heavenly Father, we honor Your Word in this
church.
We just long and yearn for the Word
that comes from Your heart.
And Lord, we thank You this morning that
we anticipate Your voice.
We anticipate You speaking through human flesh.
Lord, we pray that there be a sanctifying,
not only in prior studies of this Word,
but sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit in
process now of preaching.
God, come upon me and let me speak
Your mind, not my own heart.
Give me grace.
Give me Your spiritual authority that comes only
from Your Word anointed by Your Spirit.
Lord, speak to everyone in this house, especially
those who are going through the trial of
their life.
Those, O Lord, who are being tested, those
who are going through it this morning, sitting
here, maybe clapping their hands and being a
part of what God is doing here in
marvelous worship, but still carrying such a burden.
And there's such a horrible sense that there's
danger ahead for them in their life.
And maybe a frightening of the enemy trying
to come upon them.
Lord, break that this morning, we pray in
Jesus' name.
Amen.
I'm saying again, the church is in a
crisis of faith.
Men of God are being tested as never
before, and many are falling away.
Jesus was not just making small talk when
He said, when the Son of Man comes,
will He find faith on the earth?
In light of what He said, He's anticipating
a trial of faith.
He's anticipating that many will lose their faith.
In fact, He says, will I find any
faith left on the earth when I return?
He anticipated what we're seeing happen in the
church of Jesus Christ today.
Paul in 1 Timothy 4.1 said, Now
the Spirit speaks expressly that in the latter
days some shall depart from the faith, giving
heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of devils.
Paul warned Timothy to hold fast to faith,
because he was alarmed at what he called
so many putting away faith and ending up
in shipwreck.
He said they're putting aside, they're casting aside
their faith, and tragically they're ending in shipwreck.
He saw that happening in his time, and
looking in the future, he warned us to
this very day.
Paul warned the Christians that this is even
after the upper room and the carrying of
the widows, and he said many of these
widows are casting away their first faith.
And he said already they've turned aside to
Satan.
Here is the church ministering to these widows,
and they're turning away, casting away, right in
the midst of this Holy Ghost outpouring, and
God doing such a great work, they have
their test of faith and they fail, and
they're casting away their faith.
And he said how quickly when you do
that you turn to the works of Satan.
Peter warned that a crisis of faith would
come upon the church in the last days,
and he said we are protected by the
power of God through faith, for salvation to
be revealed in the last times.
He said there's going to be a great
faith being revealed to the body of Christ,
having to do with their salvation, having to
do with this walk.
He said in the last days there's going
to be a great revelation, and I'm saying
to you that great revelations are going to
come through incredible tests of faith in crises
that we are brought to, brought to the
brink of crises, to bring out of us
this faith that is more precious than gold,
that in the last days when all things
are spinning out of control, God has a
witness that he's in control, and his testimonies
through people have been tried and tested beyond
measure.
Now, he said you've been distressed by various
trials, 1 Peter 1.6. You are being
tested as by fire, now for a season
if need be.
If need be.
Now, God knows when he allows a crisis
to come into heart and the purpose of
it all.
He said if need be for a season.
God brings you into a place of great
trial, troubles on every side.
If need be for a season.
And God always has a divine purpose.
God gets no pleasure out of this other
than to see what it brings forth of
his godly nature and this faith that's more
precious than gold in his sight in the
last days.
If need be.
Many great men and women in these scriptures
came to a crisis of faith and they
endured.
They came through with confidence and trust.
In those dangerous, critical, unbelievable times, they were
brought to the brink of disaster.
And they held on and they trusted God.
And you find their testimony in Abraham and
Noah.
You see it in Joseph and Jacob and
Enoch all through the Bible.
Every one of these men came to the
brink.
Every one of these men were tested.
Every one of these came to a crisis
of faith and they endured.
And they have been our testimony down the
centuries.
But you find many others in the scripture
who failed the test.
I'm going to talk to you about three
of these men.
I'm going to talk about Saul, Samson, and
Solomon.
All men called and anointed of God who
failed the test, the crisis of faith.
And I want to show you that God
himself brought them to the crisis.
God himself waiting to produce, wanting to see
produced in every one of these men something
that he could use as an example to
their generation.
And enduring, he was ready to make enduring
testimonies of these men, but they failed.
When men of God lose their faith, you'll
find as I go through this that they
end in ruin and shame.
Now, Paul said that the Old Testament is
an example meant for our learning.
In other words, if you want to learn
my ways, you get it from the Old
Testament.
I've been accused for preaching too much in
the Old Testament.
I get letters from our mailing list saying,
are you just an Old Testament preacher?
Well, if you've been here, you know better
than that.
My grandfather taught me that Christian character comes
from the Old Testament.
And you learn the lessons of character, and
you learn these, and then it's brought to
life by the Holy Spirit in the New
Testament.
Those examples are lived out in the new,
giving us hope.
I'm going to show you these three men
that were brought into crisis and why and
how they failed as a warning to us.
We'll speak first of all of Saul, king
of Israel, who failed in his crisis of
faith.
Here's a chosen man.
He's anointed by God's Spirit.
He's given a new heart, the Scripture says.
The spear of the Lord was upon him.
And the Bible even said this man prophesied.
Truly a call of God in this man's
life.
Truly a man who starts right from the
very beginning.
A man who understood the Word of God.
There was no confusion about the Word of
God being revealed to this man.
The Scripture says Samuel communed with Saul.
And he's saying, stand still a while that
I may show you the Word of the
Lord.
He's clearly shown the Word of the Lord.
It was on that housetop that he was
told, every time there's warfare in Israel, you
go to Gilgal and you wait seven days.
Wherever I'm at, the furthest point would be
seven days.
I'll never be more than seven days away.
But you don't go to war.
And these were instructions, the Word of God
giving clarity to this man.
You don't go to war until I come
and we will build an altar and we
will sacrifice and we will worship the Lord
before we go to battle.
No matter what the battle is, how many
or how few, that is where you assemble
your troops.
And word will be brought to me.
And this was clear, the Word of the
Lord was brought to him.
God then turned him into another man and
the Spirit of the Lord came upon him.
You see, God never calls a person to
His work or ministry in the church of
any, any ministry of the church whatsoever.
He never calls you without equipping you.
This man was called and he was equipped
by the Holy Spirit.
And the Spirit of God came upon him.
And this is his first year and his
first victory over the Ammonites.
The Spirit of God came on him and
Israel slew them until there were no two
men left together.
A total, complete victory.
And this man is on the right track.
This man has the blessing and favor of
God.
And God fully intended to give him an
everlasting kingdom.
In fact, what Samuel told him later, he
said, you have nullified, when he said, you've
nullified God's plan for an everlasting kingdom for
you and your family and your seed.
And two years into his reign, the Scripture
said, the Philistines gathered themselves together to fight
with Israel.
A great army came up.
Now, he had been given God's Word.
He calls the troops and they're gathered in
Gilgal.
And in this time, his troops are deserting
on all sides.
Some are hiding in caves and in pits.
They are leaving in droves and there's only
a handful left and they were trembling.
And some of them were leaving and deserting
to other countries for a safe haven.
And he looks at this deteriorating scene.
And every hour, it becomes more dangerous, more
and more leaving.
And this man is saying to himself, God
surely doesn't expect me to stand here and
just wait.
This is out of control.
There's no hope.
And he waits halfway through the seventh day,
probably till twilight.
He doesn't see him anywhere.
He doesn't see Samuel.
He does not appear.
And this is the seventh day.
And he turns to his servants and he
said, Bring me a heifer, bring me a
calf.
And he turns to Abiah and he says
to the priest then beside him, Offer it
now.
We're going to offer it.
This is too dangerous.
And I see them slay the lamb and
I see them lay it on the wood.
And I see the man with the torch
ready.
And in historical perspective now, from where I
stand, I want to scream, Saul, don't do
it.
Hold on.
This is a test.
No matter how dangerous it is, no matter
what it looks like, Samuel is probably right
over the hill.
I've said over and over, the hardest part
of faith is the last half hour.
Just before the victory, most people give up.
And I want to scream at him, don't
do it.
You've waited this time.
Wait a few more hours.
He won't wait.
Saul refuses to wait.
They ignite the fire.
The lamb is sacrificed.
And no longer does he ignite that fire.
The sacrifice is burning.
And over the hill comes Samuel.
And Samuel says, What have you done?
And implied in that is, don't you know
the danger of what you have done?
Don't you understand that God has no patience
for unbelief?
You understand that this is foolishness.
You have acted foolishly.
You've nullified God's plan for the rest of
your life.
He said, That's the Old Testament God.
We'll show it to you further than that.
New Testament as well.
God has no patience, no pity when he
has made divine promises so clear.
And he says, I will never delay.
I will always be on time.
Not your time, but on my time.
And I will not fail you.
We have a Bible full of those promises.
This man was given the word of God.
Samuel said, I will be there.
We will sacrifice.
There was no sign.
When he did it, Samuel said, You've acted
foolishly.
You've nullified the plan of God for your
life.
Now, folks, we're talking about trusting God in
real danger.
Not just perceived danger, but in real danger.
Folks, this was dangerous.
The enemy was coming.
They're mounting their attack.
They're ready to move.
You say, Well, I can't believe that God,
almighty God, would allow things in my life
to deteriorate so much that I come to
a point of danger.
That I come to a point where I
lose all hope.
It's the only thing that could happen, that
could rescue, would be an absolute supernatural miracle.
As if God wasn't a supernatural miracle worker.
But you see, that's exactly what Jesus did.
When he is told by a messenger from
Mary and Martha that Lazarus is sick, near
death.
And he sends back a message.
And he says, This is not unto death.
And the Bible said, When he heard he
was sick, he abode two days still at
the same place where he was.
He's five miles away.
He hears that his friend Lazarus is dying.
So tell him, This is not unto death,
but this is going to end in glory
to God.
Out of this crisis is going to come
a miracle.
Out of this is going to come glory
to the Father.
And Jesus stands still.
Jesus allows the situation to worsen.
In fact, he allows the situation to go
beyond the point of danger to hopelessness.
To death.
Because he's looking, hopefully, at his friends.
Those who know his heart.
Those who have fellowshiped and communed with him
and know his word.
They know that he's resurrection and life.
That they would be able to say, No
matter what happens, God will get glory.
God will rescue me.
God, out of this hopelessness, God has a
plan.
I don't understand it to me.
It's hopeless to me.
There's death all around to me.
I just have to resign right now.
God, it's all in your hands.
I tell you, my brother, sister, your crisis
is not hopeless.
God is not going to be late.
It may worsen.
It may get so bad that you will
be convinced that it's all over.
And you will say, Lord, if you'd only
been here.
If you'd only been on time.
See, his friends failed the test.
If you had only been here.
And here he stands.
The resurrection and the life.
No matter what you're going through, I'm telling
you, there he stands.
Side by side with you saying, In the
time of the trouble, I am near.
I am near you.
I am very present to help in the
time of trouble.
Very present.
He says, I'm at your right hand.
I have all the power, the glory that
is needed to answer every problem with him.
Nothing is impossible.
Saul fails this test because he will not
trust God in his crisis.
He degenerates into greater darkness, greater unbelief, and
finally ends up consulting with a witch and
dies in unbelief.
What a life.
What a horrible thing that happens to Christians
who jettison their faith, who lose their faith
and say, God failed me.
They lose somebody in the family.
Death strikes.
I have a letter from a dear pastor
friend of mine in Europe.
His wife, a few weeks ago, was killed
in a car crash.
Two children survived.
He was not driving.
His wife was driving.
He was not in the car.
And it's been three weeks now.
He's a great man of God, a bishop.
And he said, David, I thank you for
your letter of comfort.
But he said, I just can't be consoled.
And I pulled out a bunch of scriptures
and I'm emailing it to him because the
word is the only strength and the hope.
But you see, God has not abandoned that
man.
He feels abandoned.
He feels guilt.
He feels so many things.
You know, he's a patient God.
He'll let you wade through all of that.
But there comes a place that you have
to come out.
You have to come out and say, my
God is faithful.
I will trust him no matter what.
If you have to look death in the
eye, God will get glory.
God has a reason beyond anything that he
has.
He doesn't even need to explain it to
us.
No, it's beyond.
I stood in front of Tiffy's casket.
And there was a crisis of faith.
I either stand there and say, oh, God,
you would never do this without a plan.
Oh, no, no, no, no.
You would not do this.
You don't purposely hurt your children.
You don't abandon.
There's something that I don't know.
But one thing I do know, that you're
faithful.
And to see and feel the strength of
the Holy Spirit.
And, folks, I want you to know our
family passed that test.
This man failed the test.
Let's talk about Samson.
Here's a man, the Bible said, moved upon
by the Holy Spirit.
The Spirit of the Lord came mightily upon
him.
He's a Nazirite.
He's taken the Nazirite vow.
He's separated unto the Lord.
He's called to be the deliverer of Israel.
He's one of the judges called to be
a deliverer.
And, once again, this man starts out right.
In fact, he's listed in Hebrews 11.32
as one of those who, through faith, stopped
the mouth of lions, turned to flight armies.
Now, this suggests to me that the Spirit
of the Lord came on him mightily as
a result of his faith.
He said through faith he did these things.
Through faith, the Spirit of God came upon
him.
It was not just his strength, the Bible
said, when the lion came against him.
There was nothing in his hand, proving that
the old covenant gives nothing in your hand
in the flesh.
But he came out with nothing in his
hand.
And the Spirit of the Lord came mightily
upon him.
And I know it's because faith arose in
this man's heart that God is with me.
And he rips the lion apart.
And the devil is that roaring lion and
the Holy Ghost comes upon us.
By faith, the Scripture said, through faith and
the work of the Holy Spirit, we have
victory over sin.
Through the Spirit, the deeds of the flesh
are overcome.
Through the power of the Holy Spirit, through
faith.
And he judged Israel 20 years.
For 20 years.
He's moving and ministering in the power of
the Holy Spirit.
For 20 years, he has a series of
small victories.
You don't find any major victory.
You don't find him defeating the Philistines.
All through his ministry, all through his judgeship,
he is very limited in his success.
And after 20 years, the Scripture says, I
want you to listen very, very closely, please.
He judged Israel for 20 years.
Then, after that, that means after the 20
years of ministry, then went Samson to Gaza
and saw their harlot and went into her.
Four verses later, 16.4, we read, And
it came to pass afterward that he loved
a woman in Sorok whose name was Delilah,
another prostitute.
Now, why would a man of God so
anointed under Nazarite vow, so touched with Holy
Spirit coming mightily upon him, how does he
come to this place where he now consorts
with prostitutes?
How is it that this man, who had
been called and anointed of God after 20
years of service, is now giving himself to
raging lust?
How is it you find him running down
to the Philistines, into their slums, into their
dark alleys where only prostitutes could possibly hang
out?
What's wrong with this man?
I suggest to you he lost his crisis
of faith.
He failed in his crisis of faith.
Think about Samson for the past 20 years.
Think of a man who's looking back and
saying, I have not fulfilled my purpose.
I was called to deliver Israel, and I
don't see victory.
I don't see God really doing that much
with me.
Oh, you find him, yes, he slays a
lion.
You find him putting fields on fire.
You find him killing 1,000 men.
That was his biggest victory, 1,000 men.
But in that 20 years, you hear very
little of victory, very little of going against
the enemy.
And Samson looking back, and he's thinking of
Jephthah, one of the former judges, and the
Bible says the whole army stood with him
to go against the enemy.
He had a whole army of men standing
with him.
And he thinks if Abner, the judge just
before him, who had 40 sons and 30
nephews, all who rode fine horses and colts,
he had his own army.
He had those who stood with him.
Samuel looks at his life and he said,
nobody stands with me.
In fact, 3,000 of his own friends,
Judaists, come to him with the rock and
bind him with cords and turn him over
to the Philistines.
This man is lonely.
This man says, I'm not appreciated.
God calls me, I stand and give my
life for these people.
Nobody stands with me.
Folks, I see that as the cause of
so much discouragement with preachers, where I'm going,
you find it.
Bettina, who goes ahead and sits at the
meetings, brings back reports saying that there's such
weariness, and pastors are saying, I am not
appreciated.
I have so few people to help me,
and there's nobody to stand with me because
their chances are small.
And at this point, and I have heard
pastors by the hundreds, I see them and
I hear, I don't listen to hundreds of
testimonies, but I get them here and there
out of the hundreds, and I hear this
cry that must have been in Samson's heart.
God, I don't see fruit.
I see others being used.
When I look back through history and those
who preceded me, but here I am at
this stage of life, and I've had 20
years of ministry.
I've had 20 years of working for you
in your house, and I don't see fruits.
I don't see being appreciated by the people.
And by standing with me, and I'm lonely.
I wanted a wife, and that fell through.
He said, I don't see it in this
crisis of faith.
He said, I don't need to take this
anymore.
I don't need to live like this.
I've battled so hard for the Lord, and
there's somebody sitting here now thinking about the
struggle you're in, and you're saying, I don't
need this.
And you see, Samson just gives up.
Samson quits on God.
You never find from that time on, from
the trip down to Gaza, you never find
a word of ministry.
You will find some showmanship.
You will find him tearing the bars off
a gate and taking a mountain 10 miles
away, which had no spiritual meaning whatsoever, and
it doesn't say anymore if the Spirit of
the Lord came upon him.
Because you see, now he's walking in the
flesh.
And there are some of you here right
now saying, I don't have to take what
I'm taking.
And why should I live so astringent life?
Why should I live in prayer and seeking
God when I don't see anything happening?
I don't have to live so straight-laced.
I don't have to be going to church
and reading my Bible.
I don't have to do all this stuff
anymore.
I need to relax.
I need some fun in my life.
Oh, this is Samson on his way down
to Zurich to a deceived Philistine prostitute, full
of deception, the devil incarnate in her.
And I say, Samson, you're the picture.
And I say it lovingly, you're the picture
of what happens when Christians become discouraged and
have some root of bitterness in their heart
toward God.
Why did you allow all this to happen?
Where are the signs of the anointing?
Where are the signs of victory?
Why is the enemy still prevailing in my
life?
You talk about a time of testing.
That is the time of testing, especially when
you have a habit or besetting sin that
lingers year after year.
And here's 20 years of an undefeated enemy.
That's the time when the enemy comes and
says, quit.
That's the time to take your hurts to
the Lord.
Run in quickly to the secret closet and
fall on your face before the Lord and
say, oh God, help my unbelief.
God, don't let me spit out into that
dark place.
Don't let me go out now angry at
you.
Stay before the Lord until He comforts your
heart.
The Lord understands your pain.
If you bring that pain to Him.
Samson did not bring his pain to the
Lord.
He did not reach out and cry out
to God in his hour of need.
He reached out to prostitutes.
Am I speaking to someone here in that
kind of crisis?
Oh, think of the ruin and the shame
of this man.
He stands after they capture him, take out
his eyes.
That represents the loss of all discernment.
He wants one last victory.
He's asked to be put between two columns.
And his hair has grown again and the
strength of the Lord is coming upon him.
The physical strength.
And he said, oh God, give me one
last victory.
He didn't say for your glory.
He said that I may avenge myself on
my enemies.
A heart full of revenge and anger and
bitterness.
That's the life of the unbeliever.
That's the life of those who won't hold
steady.
Say, oh God, live or die, I'm going
to trust you through my struggle.
I'm going to trust you to give me
victory in my life.
And I'm going to believe in the power
of the Holy Ghost to do what He's
promised to do.
I'm referring to Solomon.
He lost his faith.
He was a man who had it all.
A godly heritage, a personal encounter with God.
Gift of wisdom beyond all men on the
face of the earth.
A clear supernatural calling.
An understanding of nature, an understanding of God's
heart.
God loved him and he loved God.
The Bible said he made great works.
He built great houses.
He built the grandest edifice, the greatest church
of his day.
He was known and admired around the earth.
Success.
Everything he put his hands to was successful.
The Queen of Sheba, remember, comes to him
and is breathless at his devotion to the
house of God.
And the happiness of all the people around
him because it seemed like heaven on earth
to her.
Everything seemed like paradise.
What a wonderful man of God.
Known and respected people coming from the outermost
parts of the earth to see and hear
his wisdom and his house.
And all the happy people around him.
Here's a man who builds the biggest church
building in the world.
The biggest budget.
The biggest bank account.
The biggest congregation.
The biggest choir and orchestra.
The greatest songs ever penned on earth.
And he ends up saying, it's all vanity.
It is futile.
All my works and all I've done have
no meaning.
A man is no better than a beast.
He dies like a dog dies.
And he goes to the earth just like
an animal goes.
He's no better than a beast.
Then I looked on all the works that
my hand had done and all the labor
that I had labored to do.
And behold, all was vanity and vexation of
the spirit.
And there was no profit under the sun.
This has all been in vain.
Now, folks, if there is a Bible scholar
here, I want you to know I understand
the argument that is made by modern scholars
that Solomon is not the author of Ecclesiastes.
In fact, they say a rich man, modern
scholars, that a rich man penned these words
and borrowed Solomon's name to validate his message.
In fact, other so-called experts say there
were two writers.
One took the negative side and one took
the positive side.
Well, folks, I'm just going to take what
the Scripture says.
It says the preacher, son of David, king
in Jerusalem.
That's Solomon.
No clapping, please.
But there is a debate about that.
But, folks, whoever wrote this, and I believe
it was Solomon, talked about the vanity of
life.
Absolute vanity after having all the wisdom and
all the knowledge and coming to this point
of despair.
Scripture says he loved the Lord and walked
in His statues.
You see, this man had cast out the
Abiathar ministry that was unfaithful and evil.
He brings in the Zadok holy priesthood to
the house of God.
And he loved the Lord and walked in
His statues.
And he prays humbly, I'm but a child.
And he builds the house of the Lord
and he calls it a house of prayer
and repentance and forgiveness.
So what happened?
Folks, there's no question this man had a
crisis of faith.
It came to pass when Solomon was old,
his wives turned away his heart after other
gods.
And his heart was not perfect with the
Lord his God.
Solomon did evil in the sight of God
and went not fully after the Lord.
And the Lord was angry with Solomon because
his heart was turned away from the Lord.
Now let me show you his crisis of
faith.
In 11 chapter verse 2, You shall not
marry strange, meaning heathen, wives, for surely they
will turn your heart after their gods.
Now folks, this is a direct command given
to him.
Directly.
I don't know if it came through the
prophet Nathan.
I don't know if Zadok brought it to
him.
I don't know if it came to him
in a dream.
But the word of God came to him
clearly and said, You shall not, Solomon, you
shall not marry strange wives.
They'll turn your heart away from me after
their gods.
Solomon turns around.
That is his crisis because this man had
a lust problem.
But more than that, his crisis is, do
I obey God's word?
Do I have the fear of God in
my heart?
You see, faith is not just focused on
the great miracles that God can do, how
He supplies need.
What a wonderful...
I've heard people say, He's a great man
of faith because he has believed God for
such great things.
Well, no one is a man or woman
of faith that they don't also believe that
God keeps His word and He judges sin.
He judges iniquity.
He judges disobedience.
That is the other side of faith.
I have to believe His word, not just
that which blesses me, but I have to
understand His warnings and take it to heart.
My faith says, yes, I believe that if
I willfully sin against God and if I
don't go to the Holy Spirit and seek
deliverance, I'm going to pay the consequences for
my sin.
There are consequences to disobedience.
We're talking about a crisis of faith.
And this man is faced now with the
word of God, thou shalt not.
Don't marry these women.
And this came after he had already brought
the daughter of Pharaoh.
That in itself should have been a warning
and God spoke clearly to this man, don't
do it, that's it.
And suddenly we find Solomon married 700 heathen
wives and had a harem of an additional
300 concubines, which means legitimized harlots.
How many times did the Holy Spirit come
to Solomon and said, I have warned you,
it's enough.
Break away.
How many times has the Holy Spirit warned
you, warned me?
Because a loving Savior, so patient, so full
of kindness and longsuffering, says, you know that
I have warned you.
You know that this is contrary to my
word.
Stop it.
You've been given all the promises of power
and enabling that you need.
Now stop.
God commanded him, listen to this.
Here's the reason I know that this was
his crisis of faith, because the Scripture in
verse 10, God had commanded him concerning this
thing, but he kept not that which the
Lord commanded.
The writer pinpoints it.
This thing, this giving oneself over to sensuality,
giving yourself over to lust, giving yourself over
to this.
Because you see, he didn't believe there were
any consequences.
He was going to be able to do
this and get by with it and continue
giving out his words of wisdom and continue
he had all the gold and silver he
needed.
He's not dependent on God.
Why does he have to trust God?
He's got everything a man could want.
It's a dangerous place to be in, a
place where you have no more needs.
I want God to keep me in need
so that I can say every hour, Lord,
I'm driven to you by my need.
I'm driven to you by the forces that
come against me.
These things should drive us to our knees
and seek the face of God.
And out of that comes our trust and
confidence in him that he will be the
victor.
Wherefore, the Lord said unto Solomon, Forasmuch as
you did this, you have not kept my
covenant, my word, I will surely rend the
kingdom from you and give it to your
servant.
You see, this man didn't practice what he
preached.
This is what he said at the dedication
of the temple.
When a man shall know the plague of
his own heart and spread his hands toward
this house, hear from heaven and forgive, for
you alone know the hearts of all men.
Now this is his message.
This is what he's preaching to his people.
He said, when the Spirit of God shows
you the plague of your heart, run to
the house of God.
Run to him who can forgive you and
cleanse you.
Run to him because God knows what's in
your heart.
You see, when a man loses his faith,
he loses his discernment and he loses the
fear of God.
And folks, all over the world that's what's
happening now.
This is why so many Christians, I told
you this and I'll say it in closing,
all over the world I see pastors and
Christians in congregations everywhere saying it's never been
like this before.
Folks, we have never lived in a time
like this before where everything seems to be
spinning out of control.
The news is so frightening, so horrifying, that
I don't like to listen to it anymore.
What a shame that they're showing in schools
now the Al-Qaeda cutting off the head
of a Jew.
Things like this that we could not comprehend.
If we had said 20 years ago these
things would happen, nobody would have believed us.
And the trials and tests of God's people.
But you see, God's looking for something.
And this last day when all hell breaks
loose, he's got to have men and women
of God of faith, tested, tried faith that
will hold on, that will be a testimony.
Because there are going to be young people
saying, what do we do, where do we
go?
And they're going to go to those who've
been through it, and those who have that
steady, quiet faith.
I've been through the wars.
I've been tested, and I've been tried, and
I've proven God faithful.
I've proven that I can run to Him
and find consolation.
I know the voice of the Lord.
I know Him.
God has to have that.
And that's why you're being tested.
That's why you're going through what you're going
through.
And you're going to have to make a
conscious decision.
You're going to need His grace.
You have His love, and you have the
promise of His grace.
But now by faith, lay hold of it.
By faith saying, God, you will not let
me go.
Because you have everything under control.
Hallelujah.
Stand with me, please.
Lord, I'm not going to preach my sermon
again.
I just want You to speak.
If I preached Your Word, and Holy Spirit,
You were upon me, then You promised to
convict and convince and heal.
And I ask You, Lord, to touch the
lives of all who have heard this Word.
In the annex, the overflow, and here in
the main auditorium, we pray now, Holy Spirit,
that You finish the work that You have
started.
Complete it now.
Now, Lord, only You can reach the heart.
Only You know the heart.
I can't do it.
Lord, I know that there are people hearing
me now that are really at this critical
point that we're talking about.
This crisis.
I don't know what the crisis is.
But there are so many crises here.
And Lord, it's not just some simple little
thing.
It's a very deep, deep thing.
My God, bring faith.
Let faith arise.
Hallelujah.
God, You will not fail Your people.
You will not fail a single child of
Yours who will simply trust.
God, hold me.
God, keep me.
I will believe You.
I will trust You no matter what comes.
Thank You, Jesus.
If you're going through a deep crisis this
morning, I know the Lord put this in
my heart.
You say, Brother, my faith is wavering.
You haven't lost your faith.
You don't want to lose your faith, but
you're wavering.
And yet the Scripture says even of that,
he that wavers, let him not think he'll
receive anything from the Lord.
He said if you waver, I can't work.
You tie my hands.
If you are in that crisis, I want
you to come and stand here.
We'll pray for you.
And let's believe the Lord now that there
will be fresh faith, fresh faith from the
Holy Spirit.
God bring you through.
And the balcony, go to the stairs on
the other side.
And in the annex, you can go to
the lobby.
And the ushers will show you how to
get into this building, come down this aisle,
these aisles, and come and meet me here.
We'll wait for you.
But move as quickly as you can.
If you want prayer, you say, Pastor Dave,
this message was for me.
And if you're not saved, if you don't
know Jesus, if you're backslidden, why don't you
come with these?
No one knows why you're coming.
You come, that's between you and the Lord.
Your life can be changed today.
You can be set free.
Some of you are backslidden.
You've turned your back on what you know
to be right.
And the Holy Spirit's here to say today,
I want you to get things right with
the Lord.
Get right with God today.
Get back to your first love and the
first call of God on your heart.
Come as they sing.
I need Thee every hour, oh, gracious
Lord.
No tender voice like Thine can desupport.
I need Thee, oh, I need Thee.
Every hour I need Thee.
Oh, bless me now, my Savior.
I come to Thee.
I need Thee every hour.
Stay not nearby.
Temptations lose their power when Thou art nigh.
I need Thee, oh, I need Thee.
Every hour I need Thee.
Oh, bless me now, my Savior.
I come to Thee.
You can still come while I'm talking.
Let's sing it one more time.
I need Thee, oh, I need Thee.
Every hour I need Thee.
Oh, bless me now, my Savior.
I come to Thee.
The New Testament, Paul speaking.
Here's the crisis of faith for Paul.
Troubled on every side, perplexed, cast down.
And this is what he said.
Troubled on every side, yet not distressed.
Perplexed, but not in despair.
Cast down, but not destroyed.
Cast not away, therefore, your confidence, for it
has great recompense of reward.
Don't cast away your confidence in your hard
time.
You that are here now, will you look
up to the Lord with me while I
pray for you?
Why don't you just look up?
Not that he's in the ceiling.
But, you know, just away from yourself and
others and just shut yourself in with the
Lord now.
Father, I pray for these that have come
forward.
We would be overwhelmed if their eyes were
projectors and they could project on the screen
the crisis they're going through.
Oh, how it would break our hearts and
how overwhelming it would be to our senses.
But, oh God, you're a mighty God and
nothing is too hard for you.
You see and you know and you understand.
But, oh Lord, you will not stand for
unbelief.
No matter what the crisis.
Lord Jesus, you wept at Lazarus' grave.
Not over Lazarus, but you wept at that
unbelief of your best friends.
You wept because you said those who should
have known better have not trusted me.
They failed.
Oh God, let us not fail in our
trial now.
For everyone that's come forward and all those
within the sound of my voice.
Come Holy Spirit, rise up with faith.
Oh, let faith arise.
Forgive our unbelief, Lord Jesus.
Let us understand.
Let us understand that it's not going to
destroy us.
Cast down, but not destroyed.
Trouble on every side, but not distressed.
Because God is on the throne.
God is on the scene.
Christ is with us, our living Savior.
Now pray this prayer with me, please.
Lord Jesus, you're King of the flood.
You allow nothing in my life to destroy
me.
Not my salvation and not my faith.
Oh God, touch me.
Renew my faith.
Renew my confidence in you.
And I say now, with the power of
the Holy Spirit, I trust God.
I will trust God in my crisis, in
my temptation and trial.
Raise your hands in love on Jesus right
now.
Just say, I love you, Jesus.
I worship you.
Give me faith.
Give me confidence.
Lord, let me know and understand that this
is what you desire from me.
More than anything else.
More than a sacrifice of praise.
Is this offering of faith and confidence in
the Lord.
Never leave you, never forsake you.
I'll go with you to the very end.
Glory be to Jesus.
Glory be to God.
God make Times Square Church a believing, trusting
church.
So the people that come in here are
not seeing a cast down people.
Or dragging into this church.
Burdened down as if there were no God.
Oh Lord, we have been given so much
truth.
We have been prompted over and over again
to trust you.
Lord, evidently, there's going to be a great
test coming to this nation again.
God in Times Square Church.
In this house, among the ministers, and all
the workers, the choir, the orchestra, everyone.
Lord, that calls this church home.
May this be a lamp stand church to
the city, to the nation, and to the
world.
That people can call here from anywhere in
the world and find hope.
Encouragement when everyone else is discouraged.
Let there be encouragement in this house.
Let the glory of Jesus and his faithfulness
shine forth.
Oh God, strip us of our unbelief.
Pluck it out of our hearts.
That we can say truly, God is good.
God is faithful.
Lord, you can take us right to the
gates of death.
But all more than that, you can take
us right through those gates into your holy
presence.
And we will not be afraid.
We will not be those who through their
whole life had the fear of dying, the
fear of death.
Take even the fear of death away from
us, oh God.
So that we can rest in you.
So that we can show the world, not
just in our talk, but in the way
we live, in our manner, in our countenance.
That we are faith people.
We are believing, trusting people.
In Jesus' name.
Amen.
This is the conclusion of the message.