This message is one of the Times Square
Church Pulpit series.
It was recorded in the sanctuary of Times
Square Church in Manhattan, New York City.
Other tapes are available by writing World Challenge,
P.O. Box 260, Lindale, Texas, 75771, or
calling 903-963-8626.
None of these messages are copyrighted, and you
are welcome to make copies for free distribution
to friends.
Stand still and see the salvation of the
Lord.
Stand still, see the salvation of the Lord.
Heavenly Father, we thank you for the anointing
tonight, the power of the Holy Ghost.
Lord, we're unworthy.
We are so unworthy of your blessings.
But Lord, we thank you for them.
Now sanctify me, purge me, let me stand
here with clean hands and pure heart by
the blood of Jesus and deliver the word
of the Lord.
Let it come clear, let it be understood,
let it have power and unction to our
ears to hear, and may we practice what
we hear tonight, in Jesus' name, amen.
Stand still and see the salvation of the
Lord.
What would you think are the two most
common words that Christians use when they're in
a panic or in a crisis?
Do something.
Do something, Lord.
It's absolutely against human nature to stand still
and do nothing when there's a crisis and
there's trouble and difficulty on all hands.
And probably the most difficult thing for even
Christians is to stand still and wait for
God to act.
To stand still to see the salvation of
the Lord.
Even the most devoted of Christians panic when
God doesn't move according to their time schedule.
We're always giving God dates.
We're always giving Him a time limit.
Lord, if you don't do it by now
or by tomorrow or by next week, it's
too late.
God is never too late, and He's going
to do it not on your schedule, not
on mine, He's going to do it on
His own schedule.
But God is always and has always been
searching the earth for those who will trust
Him in their crisis, in every trial, and
especially when it seems hopeless.
And He will lead us, listen closely, He
will lead us into situations that are alarming,
that are critical, that seem hopeless, to test
us.
The devil has nothing to do with it
at all.
It's God leading into the crisis.
The Bible states very clearly, the steps of
a good man are ordered by the Lord.
And that, in Hebrew, is prearranged, step by
step, fixed, ordained by God.
I'm going to tell you something.
I believe that every step that I take
is prearranged by my Father.
Every step that I take is ordered by
the Lord.
Now, if I believe that, if I'm in
a crisis, if I'm in a very, very
difficult situation, He's led me there.
Because He doesn't stop for a moment.
He says, well, you're about to go into
a trial.
I direct you up to this point.
You're on your own now.
He directs me into it, through it, and
out of it.
The steps of a good man, and we
are good only by the blood of Jesus,
anyhow.
There's no goodness in us.
A good man made righteous through the blood
of Jesus Christ is her steps ordered by
the Lord.
God's Word is filled with examples of this.
And by the way, it's hard to accept.
Think about it for a minute.
It's very, very hard to accept this concept
that the most difficult, critical times in your
life have been prearranged by the Lord.
That there are His doing, and folks, when
you begin to see that and accept it
and understand it, then you're halfway through your
problem.
And we're going to hopefully get into this
so that it'll help you.
The Lord will lead us into these situations
because He's saying, well, you finally, I'm going
to let you go into one of the
most hopeless situations you've ever been in.
Are you going to be one of those
I've been searching for that will not panic,
will not accuse me of abandoning you, will
not accuse me of ignoring you, will not
accuse me of hurting you, and you will
stand before all men and believe me and
trust me.
He will allow these things to happen to
produce that kind of faith for the one
that He's searching for to be an example
and testimony in this faithless, ungodly age.
And God's Word's filled with tremendous, alarming crises
after crises that God prearranged.
You see it in the Scripture, especially at
the Red Sea.
This is completely arranged by God.
Pharaoh had nothing to do with it.
The devil had nothing to do with it.
In fact, the Lord says, you go and
camp, He's directing Moses, you go and camp
between Migdor and the sea before Piahiroth.
And He says, you camp there.
Now, He put them in a situation between
two mountain passes and a sea and a
wilderness behind them.
And then He arranges for Pharaoh's army to
come, pressing in on the only way of
escape.
God corners His people.
He led them into this situation.
Now, folks, I want you to think about
it.
God could have prearranged at any moment to
knock off those chariot wheels.
Now, He waited until they got into the
sea in dry land before He knocked off
the wheels.
He could have done that way out in
the wilderness and stranded that army and starved
them to death.
That cloud that went behind the camp to
protect them when they were going through the
sea, the Lord could have moved that cloud
when the army came out, when Pharaoh and
his army came out of Egypt.
He could have done that right outside the
Egyptian camp, and He could have let them
run in confusion for days in that cloud.
God could have done it, but God says,
no, there's a crisis.
Two things I want to accomplish here.
The first thing is, He doesn't want Israel,
He doesn't want the children of Israel to
be looking back over their shoulder all through
the wilderness, thinking that somehow they're going to
build rafts or boats and get across, and
they're going to get them.
God says, I'm going to annihilate them, I'm
going to stew them across the shoreline, and
you're going to see every one of your
enemies dead, so that you'll know that I
have the power, and all of Egypt and
the whole world will know, and the devil
will know who's boss.
And then He says, I'm going to put
you in this situation to test you.
You say, well, how do you know that
this was a prearranged test?
Because God said so.
God said so very clearly in His Word.
Thou shalt remember all the way the Lord
thy God led thee, to humble thee, to
test thee, to know what was in your
heart.
All the way the Lord has led you,
not the devil.
All the way the Lord has led you,
and He's talking about this very episode of
being led into the Red Sea.
The Scripture further says that He might prove
thee to do thee good at the latter
end.
God says, I'm after something in you.
I'm trying to bring you into a situation
where you can practice faith.
I'm putting you in a situation that only
faith can bring you out.
Only faith, only absolute trust in Me will
ever get you out.
He humbled thee.
He allowed thee to hunger.
In other words, God says, I gave you
hard places.
I gave you hungering places, thirsting places.
I gave you places that were alarming, terrorizing
situations to test you to see if you
had a trusting heart or not.
Now, this situation gets so alarming.
Now, these mountains on each side are bare
mountains.
There are no caves and no trees.
There's no place to hide.
They could have run off over those hills,
but the Egyptian army would find them on
the hills.
They would chase them everywhere because they were
exposed.
And what are you going to do when
you run to the hills?
You've got no water.
You have no food.
You would starve to death.
There's the sea in front of them.
They can't go into the sea.
And here's the army behind them.
Absolutely impossible situation.
And the scripture says, And Israel lifted up
their eyes, and behold, the Egyptians marched after
them.
And they were sore afraid, and they cried
unto the Lord.
Now, place yourself in their shoes.
You have your children around you.
You've got your grandma, your grandpa, and some
relatives and friends around you.
And here you are, and you hear the
rattling of the chariot wheels.
You hear the sabers being sharpened, and you
hear the growl of these soldiers bent on
killing.
They're bloodthirsty.
Now, God moved on Pharaoh to come.
God moved on the captives of those armies
to go after blood.
This was all the work of God's Spirit
bringing them into this scene, all prearranged by
God.
The scripture said they were sore afraid.
So would you have been.
I would have been afraid.
You see, God's not afraid of that flush
of human fear that comes when you're suddenly
in a crisis.
God's patient with that.
That's not what He's talking about.
In fact, He would have endured a prayer
that went something like this.
Oh God, look at this situation.
Look at my children.
I'm afraid, Lord.
I know that they're bloodthirsty.
There seems to be no way out.
But Lord, You delivered us out of Egypt.
You delivered us from the death angel.
All those plagues on Egypt, You didn't touch
us.
If they would have just looked back, and
if they would have just settled their spirit
and said, Oh God, it looks hopeless, and
I'm afraid.
God would have endured that.
God would have blessed.
He would have accepted that.
Because they said, even though we're afraid, Lord,
we commit our lives into Your hand.
Lord, we know that You have the power,
so we commit ourselves to You.
God will endure that kind of fear.
That flush of fear that is of human
nature itself when you're in a crisis.
God knows.
God knew that this was going to be
a frightening experience.
God's not a hard taskmaster.
He knew they were going to be scared
to death.
And He was not trying to scare His
people.
He's trying to put them in a situation
where they will prove to the whole world
that God has a people that really trust
in His power.
Trust in His might.
Trust in Him alone to deliver.
And listen to their cry.
This is not the cry of faith.
Where there are no graves in Egypt, they're
crying out to God.
The Bible says they were so afraid they
cried out to the Lord.
Here's what they cried.
They weren't crying in faith.
They said, where there are no graves in
Egypt, this is tongue in cheek.
This is almost blasphemous.
Were there no graves, God, in Egypt that
You brought us out into this wilderness to
die?
Better to serve the Egyptians than to die
in this wilderness.
Many of you sitting here tonight have been
led by God into a very difficult situation.
Maybe the most difficult in the history of
your walk with God.
You sit in this church tonight saying, Lord,
I'm in a situation that humanly is impossible.
I'm in the crisis of my life.
Folks, there's probably hundreds here in this service
tonight.
You can't tell what's going on in the
person next to you.
You don't know the battle.
I'll tell you what.
If everybody in this church were able to
project on the screen we had here, through
your eyeballs, those were projectors.
You could project what you're going through.
I think within an hour we'd all be
on our faces weeping.
If we understood the burdens and the crises
and the battles and the hardships that many
of you are facing right now.
But if you really believe that your steps
are ordered by the Lord, then you've got
to accept the fact that He has a
purpose in this.
He's testing you.
He's going to try you to see what's
in your heart.
There's no question about it in my mind.
So what do you do when you're brought
into a critical place?
What do you do when it appears hopeless?
There's no visible escape.
When you overcome with fear and you have
the feeling that everything's coming down, everything's coming
down, you don't know where to turn.
There's really nobody you can talk to because
nobody really understands the depths, and you can't
explain it anyhow.
And there's no one there to get you
out of your trouble.
No human being.
And Moses said unto the people, Fear not.
Here's how they got out of their crisis.
Here's God's answer to that question I've just
given you.
And Moses said unto the people, Fear not,
stand still, and see the salvation of the
Lord.
The Lord shall fight for you.
You shall hold your peace.
Fear not, stand still, see the salvation of
the Lord.
Now, He's saying to them.
He's saying to me.
He's saying to you.
He's saying to all of us.
The first matter to deal with is your
fear.
That's the first thing you have to deal
with before you get victory and deliverance.
They were given a promise.
In fact, when God said don't fear, He
immediately gives them a promise that should chase
away that fear.
He says, God's going to save you.
He's going to fight for you.
So still your heart with this promise.
In other words, let this word.
God says, I'm going to deliver you.
I'm going to save you.
Let that be your strength.
Let that truth, my promise, drive out that
fear.
Fear absolutely destroys, annihilates faith.
Not only is fear a torment, it's destructive
of every semblance of faith in your soul.
God has commanded us to take His word.
He's commanded us to take the everlasting covenant
promises and deal with our fears.
To deal with our fears.
Folks, there's some of you have carried this
burden, this bondage of fear for so long.
And you sit here tonight, and I promise
you God wants to deliver you in this
service.
He doesn't want you to walk out the
way you came in tonight.
Hallelujah.
You can never go on to hear God's
clear voice of direction off from the scripture
or anything else until first you allow the
Holy Ghost to deal with your fear.
Let me apply the new covenant to what
I'm trying to say to you tonight.
Let's talk about bondage to sin.
If you sit here tonight and you have
a besetting sin, you have a life controlling
habit.
You may have walked in here tonight unsaved
or backslidden.
You've run from the Lord.
Or you may be one who served the
Lord for a time.
And here you are.
The Pharaoh in your life is not the
Pharaoh of this story.
The Pharaoh in your life is the devil
himself.
And the army or the hordes of demonic
spirits and lying spirits that come against you,
saying that you're going down, you're not going
to make it, you're going to be destroyed.
You can hear the rattling of the chains
of the devil trying to come and put
the chains back on your arm.
Back on your hands and destroy you.
How are you going to get out?
And folks, when you see how helpless Israel
is, look at them, absolutely helpless.
You begin to see the condition of our
flesh.
How absolutely helpless we are to fight the
battle.
You are no match for the devil in
your life.
You're no match for the temptations that come
to you.
You're no match for the problem that you're
in.
You're no match for it.
You can't figure it out.
You can't think your way out of it.
And there's no human being that's going to
deliver you.
And folks, when you want to try to
understand the helplessness of the flesh, how unable
we are to any of our power or
the flesh, look at the children of Israel.
They are absolutely helpless.
And folks, when we get into a battle
with the flesh, when the enemy comes in
like a flood, the first reaction of the
flesh is to do something.
Make a promise.
Go hide.
And so we sin, confess, sin, confess.
We run to counselors.
We run to friends.
We weep.
We cry.
We pray.
We scream.
We do everything but trust.
We do everything but stand still to see
the salvation of the Lord.
We don't do it.
Now, folks, can you imagine how many of
the Israelites would have lasted if they said,
well, wait a minute.
I'm not going to go through this.
I'm going to go back to my taskmasters.
And they walk through the cloud and they
surrender.
And they've got a white flag and they
say, I surrender.
I'm coming back.
Do you know how many of them would
have lasted?
They would have been killed on the spot
because the enemy is bloodthirsty.
Now, the enemy is out to destroy.
The devil is a killer.
He's a murderer.
He's a destroyer.
You don't ever go back and have your
life spared.
You can't go back to your old life.
You fellows who were on drugs and alcohol,
the girls here from Sarah House, there's no
way of going back.
Not one of them would have been spared.
They could have deserted the Lord's people.
They could have gone back and said, I'm
going back and get spared.
Some of you think, well, I'm going to
go back and I'll get spared all this
problem, all this spiritual warfare.
All I had to do when I was
in sin, get enough money for a fix.
All I had to do was have enough
money for a drink.
I had it easy.
Now I've got to battle the devil in
all the hordes of hell.
I'm going back.
No, you're not.
You go back and you're dead.
You are dead.
There is no going back.
In the Old Testament, in so many ways,
so many examples, the Lord is showing us
how weak we are, how helpless we are.
That's the old man.
He's helpless.
He can't fight.
The new man is simply the man who's
totally, completely living a committed, submitted life in
the hands of God.
He's trusting everything into the hands of the
Lord.
He knows he's helpless.
He knows there's no way out humanly.
Anything that he can do in his own
strength and his own power.
I believe God, by his Spirit, saves and
delivers his people, and he eventually brings very
clear direction.
He said eventually you're going to hear a
word behind you saying this is the way
walking in it, and most of the time
it's going to come from the Scripture itself.
There's a dear saint of God, she was
going through a great trial, and she said,
Lord, you've got to speak to me.
She's waiting for an invoice, and all she
got was read.
And she opens her Bible and says, fear
not, I'm with you.
I'll never leave you, never forsake you.
That's all she needed.
It was the word of the Lord.
And eventually the Lord will give you a
passage, he'll give you a Scripture, and it
will be the key to your deliverance.
But before you ever hear the Spirit's voice
of direction, there's something God expects of us,
something he requires of us.
And it's this matter I'm talking about, this
matter of standing still and waiting on the
Lord to act.
Now, this is not a suggestion, this is
a commandment.
He's not suggesting you be still in your
crisis.
He's commanding you to be still.
None of his commandments are suggestions.
God commanded the people to stand still on
many occasions, all through the Scripture.
In Joshua 3.8, this is another crossing.
We've got to Jordan now.
God commanded, when you are come to the
brink of the water of Jordan, you shall
stand still in the Jordan.
And as soon as the souls of the
priests shall rest in the water of Jordan,
the water shall be cut off and stand
in a heap.
Now, get that.
He said, you go into the water and
you stand and rest.
Rest.
And you know what that word means?
Stop all your activity.
Cease from your striving is what it means
in Hebrew.
You go into the water and you cease
from all your efforts, all your striving.
You put your feet in the water.
And folks, they put their feet in the
water and I'm sure quite a while nothing
happened.
And little by little, the ripples began to
ripple away and the wind began to blow.
And little by little it happened.
But the Lord said, you just stand there.
Don't try to figure out God's doing it.
I told you, just go into the water,
stand and rest.
Be still.
Do you see the priests down in there?
They're not moving.
And God is working.
How many people are running around sweating?
Can you imagine all of them saying, hey,
I don't know if this is going to
work.
And they get a bucket brigade.
And they're pushing the water and pushing.
We got Christians that are sweating to death,
trying to work their way out of their
problems and they can't do it.
It's like emptying the ocean with a tin
cup.
He said, go to the water, go into
the water, plant your feet and rest.
Hallelujah.
He said, I'll part the waters.
It was the step, going into the water
didn't do it.
It was God answering their faith.
They did what God told them and they
rested.
Hallelujah.
There's a story of Samuel after he anoints
Saul as king.
The city that he anointed him was on
a hill.
And they're coming down the hillside to the
gate.
And Saul's about to go back to his
father, Kish.
And just before he leaves, Samuel makes a
very amazing statement.
He turns to Saul.
Suddenly he says, stand still a moment.
This is the first time in 920.
He says, stand still a moment that I
may show you the word of God.
Stand still that I may show you.
Do you want to hear the word of
God?
Do you want to hear directions?
Do you want to hear from this word?
He said, stand still.
And in this also, the Hebrew word here
is stop your striving.
And he's saying, Saul, I anointed you.
And already your mind is going, how am
I going to do this?
What's God going to do?
When, where, how?
And he's got a million questions.
And Samuel must have seen it in the
Holy Ghost.
Saul, stop your striving.
I'm going to give you the word.
And when you and I stop our everlasting
striving to please God in our own power
and abilities, then we're going to hear from
God.
In the 20th chapter of 2 Chronicles, remember
King Jehoshaphat and Judah are being invaded by
a coalition of armies, a huge army.
In fact, the Scripture says a multitude from
beyond the sea.
And the word comes that this huge foreign
coalition of armies are coming toward Jerusalem and
Judah.
And the Bible says, Jehoshaphat feared and set
himself to seek the Lord, and he proclaimed
a fast.
They began to pray, and here's the prayer.
In thy hand is there not power, O
God, and might, so that none is able
to withstand you?
For we have no might against this great
company, neither know we what to do, but
our eyes are fixed on you.
Lord, we're afraid.
May I tell you again, there's nothing evil
about being afraid.
You're in a situation, you're afraid.
God understands that.
He knew when he brought to the situation
he was going to be frightful.
And he's long-suffering, he's kind, and he
endures that.
But now you and I have got to
pray the same prayer that King Jehoshaphat said.
Lord, we're afraid.
The enemy is coming in like a flood.
We don't know what to do.
We don't know how to go out.
We don't know how to come in.
But you have all the power we need.
You have all the might.
So we're going to do nothing but pray
and fix our eyes on you.
And you remember the story.
They went out to fight this great army.
And God, in the middle of the night,
discombobulated that whole army to be in a
fight with one another.
When they got there, the dead soldiers were
all over the field.
And all they did was take their rags
and pick up all the spoil and go
back, marching in a great procession of victory.
And they hadn't even lifted up a sword.
Then came the Spirit of the Lord in
the midst of the congregation.
And this is the commandment from the Holy
Spirit.
Be not afraid of this army.
Don't be troubled.
For the battle's not yours, but it's God's.
You shall not need to fight in this
battle.
Set yourselves, stand still, and see the salvation
of the Lord.
Don't be afraid.
You know what he's saying?
Set yourself.
Take a position of faith is what he's
saying.
Take your position of faith.
Set yourself in faith.
Be convinced that the battle's the Lord's.
Any devil that comes against you, any demon
that comes against you is coming against the
Jesus in you.
It's his battle.
It's not yours.
It's not mine.
Set yourself.
Stand still.
Take your position.
You can say, Lord, I don't know what
to do.
Oh, folks, I say that every day.
Every day I get up.
Lord, I don't know what to do today.
We got a building sitting over here, and
we don't have what they call egresses to
get up.
They're trying to limit us to 500 people
a floor, and we need 1,000 people.
And I get up.
We don't know what to do.
We have no idea what we're going to
do.
But God, I know God has the power,
and I know God didn't give us those
floors over there and let the devil lock
us up.
So we're just going to trust God.
We're going to stand still.
And I want to tell you something.
We're going to have all the egress and
ingress, any egress we want.
How many believe that?
I believe that with all my heart.
We're going to stand still and see the
salvation of the Lord.
The battle's not ours.
It's his.
David, in Psalm 4610, he said, Be still
and know that I am God.
And in the original Hebrew, it says, Cease
and forsake all your striving and acknowledge that
I am God.
This is the end of side one.
You may now turn the tape over to
side two.
And preachers scream, God helps those who help
themselves.
Doesn't the Bible say God helps those who
help themselves?
No, it does not.
That is not in the Bible.
I've heard preachers scream, God helps those who
help themselves.
And I say, where'd you get that?
Life Magazine.
Reader's Digest.
You didn't get it from the book.
Nowhere to be found.
God helps those who can't help themselves.
Hmm.
You say, well, brother, didn't Israel have to
take the sword at times and fight hand
-to-hand combat on one condition?
Yes, on one condition.
Only after they were sudden with God, stood
still, and got detailed direction.
I dare you to show me any place
in the Scripture.
Like Joshua.
He goes up before the battle.
They're going to do hand-to-hand combat.
But he goes first, and he waits on
the Lord.
He's still until the captain of the Lord
appears and gives him detailed direction.
You'll find it all through the Scripture.
Do you see the picture?
Amen.
Now, let me tell you what I believe
is required in this matter of standing still
before the Lord.
Now, this is not passivity, and it's not
resting on fate.
It's not trusting fate.
Fate says, well, whatever will be, will be.
No, because faith changes everything.
This is an active faith that rests on
God's promises.
It's a ceasing from all questioning, all doubts,
and all useless striving.
Now, let me tell you, I've got to
get personal on this.
I don't always like to do this, but
sometimes the only way to illustrate a point.
One of the areas of striving in my
life, and it's been that ever since I've
been in the ministry, is how to know
the voice of God.
And I think that's the struggle of many,
many Christians today.
How do I know it's God?
When I hear an inner voice, how do
I determine whether it's God?
Now, folks, I have heard from God.
I know.
I'm here in New York City because I
heard from God.
We started Teen Challenge more than 35 years
ago, led by God to come into this
city from a country town.
And I know what it's like to walk
in the Spirit, to hear a clear word
from the Lord.
Do you see what we do?
We're in a crisis.
We're in a situation.
There's a critical need, and we go to
God in prayer, and we try to build
up our faith.
And I don't know about you, but I
usually, before I go to the Lord, and
I ask Him to speak to my heart
and give me a word, give me direction,
I quote all these scriptures.
My sheep know my voice.
They hear when I call.
I said, Lord, that's what you said.
My sheep hear my voice.
They hear when you call.
And I quote this.
You should hear a word behind you saying,
this is the way.
Walk in it.
Lord, I'm holding you to your word.
The word is nigh thee, even in thy
mouth.
If any man hear my voice, he will
cause his glorious voice to be heard.
And I'll quote every scripture I can remember.
And I say, Lord, it's written that you
speak to your people.
Now, I want you to speak to me.
And then a still small voice will come.
And suddenly, you get a great sense of
peace and calm.
This is God speaking.
And that still small voice is comforting.
And you go out of the prayer chamber
feeling so good.
I heard from God.
But all too often, it doesn't happen.
It doesn't come to pass.
And that which you thought was so clear.
Now, I'm going to get very, very deep
into your spirit on this now.
And I want you to hear me, please.
Do I believe God speaks to people?
Yes.
But when Jesus says, my sheep know my
voice, they hear when I call.
Remember what the scripture says.
He's spoken to us in these last days
by his son.
By his son.
Now, the Bible said his son is the
word, was with God, was with God.
His son speaks to us from the scripture.
Now, let me tell you something.
And here's what you and I have to
deal with.
I'm going to be as honest as I
know I've ever been in my life with
any congregation.
Because this is vital.
I am sick and tired of hearing so
many silly, nonsensical, foolish things God's supposed to
be saying to Christians.
You know, I went to prayer.
God told me.
God told me that it's all right that
I leave my husband because I have a
ministry.
I've got two kids, but God told me
to leave him for 15 years.
I've heard this.
Some woman said, God told me to do
it.
And you couldn't convince her.
I heard his voice.
I have heard more stupidity and foolishness attributed
to the voice of God.
And if you're going to be honest with
me, just about everybody in this building has
walked with God.
You thought you heard something.
It didn't happen.
You were convinced it was God's voice.
Come on now.
Don't, don't, don't give me that.
Don't, don't say, I'm too old.
I've been around too long.
And then comes a cloud.
But Lord, I wanted to do your will.
Lord, I did everything I know to do.
I quoted scripture.
I held you to your word.
I'm ready to do your will.
Lord, there's nothing, there's no flaunted sin in
my life.
I'm under the blood.
Lord, I heard that clear.
How am I ever going to trust the
voice again?
We forget what Paul said.
There are many voices in the world, none
without significance.
We forget that there's a voice of the
flesh.
There's a voice of will.
There's a voice of ambition.
There are thousands of voices that scream for
attention in our spirit and our mind.
Many, many, many.
And oh, you will be tested.
But I'm going to tell you something.
Why should God trust you with an inner
voice when he can't trust you with his
written voice?
Come on now.
When you won't even go in here, when
you are in a crisis and you're in
trouble, you're saying, God, you've got to speak
to me.
God says, I spoke to you.
My voice is loud and clear.
It's been there for the ages.
Why would God give you an inner voice
and talk to you in that quiet, still
voice?
This is the still, small voice.
Right here.
Here.
Everything you need.
The scripture says, everything you need for godliness
and righteousness, every promise you need for life,
for supply, for every protection, everything you need
is here in his revealed word.
He has spoken loud and clear.
He screams at us.
And so, we have people, I have had
people from this church backstage weeping.
In fact, in the last two or three
weeks, a number have been back there and
they say, Brother Dave, I prayed about something
and God told me to do this and
I did it and it didn't work.
It failed.
Just the opposite happened and I was so
sure that I heard his voice.
And now, there's fear.
They blame themselves.
Well, maybe there's something wrong with me.
I don't know how to interpret scripture right.
I don't know how to hear his voice
anymore.
And they're in turmoil all the time.
They're not walking in peace and rest in
the Holy Spirit.
I know some very godly ministers and friends
of mine that I know hear from God
because they've spoken into my life in a
way that I know only God could have
spoken it.
And I know they hear from God.
And most of those that I'm referring to
will tell you, I heard from God, Brother
Wilkinson, here's a word that God gave me
and I know that they heard clearly from
the Lord.
But sadly, those very same people that are
devoted, some of the holiest people I know
on the face of this earth that are
within my circle of friends and yet some
of them are convinced that everything they hear
is God.
You see, you and I are not little
gods.
You and I make mistakes.
You and I are not infallible.
I won't tell any godly person in this
house, I don't care how close you are
or how much you pray, you don't always
hear it.
Your flesh still gets in the way.
Your flesh still has a voice.
Ambition is still there.
There are things that creep in that pretend
to be the Holy Ghost.
Folks, I have made some major mistakes.
I have misread.
You say, Brother Wilkinson, that's terrible, the pastor
get up and confess that he doesn't hear
all the time.
I don't.
You tell me you do, you come back
three months and I'll show you where you're
wrong.
Because you will have heard some things and
it didn't happen and you just kind of
ignore it and look over it.
But God doesn't overlook it.
Let me tell you how God brought me
through because this was one of the greatest
trials of my life.
My son, one of my sons just went
through it.
He heard something so clear and it didn't
happen.
The enemy tried to just wipe him out.
The others of you, if you don't understand
this, if you don't get a hold of
this tonight, the devil will wipe you out.
He'll make you think that you don't even
know the Lord, that God will never speak
to you.
Let me tell you why this message was
so important to me.
Stand still and see the salvation of the
Lord.
Because that striving, ceasing, means ceasing even from
your questioning.
No more why, how, when.
You come to His covenant where He has
made promises.
When God makes a covenant, it's no longer
grace.
Grace is when He makes a promise, but
when He covenants and His promise becomes a
covenant when He swears, it's legal.
And we have a right to stand legally
before His promises.
Every one of these promises, He can't back
away from them, or He wouldn't be God.
And He seals them with an oath.
He said, these are promises that I cannot
go back on or I could not be
God.
And you look at these promises and say,
Lord, I'm going to stand on that.
No reply necessary.
You say, well, what about communion with the
Lord?
Oh, my communion is right here in the
book.
My communion is worship.
My communion is praise.
My communion is trust.
That is true intimacy with the Lord.
Because you can talk about intimacy, but if
you're not trusting Him, you've got to come
to a place where you say, Lord, if
I never hear an inner voice again, you
gave me everything I need.
You love me.
I love you.
I worship.
I praise you.
I'm going to rest in you.
I'm going to rest on your covenant promises.
No reply needed.
No reply necessary.
Lord, you never say one more word to
me.
You know what it means to stand still?
Quit trying to figure out whether you heard
the right voice or not.
Quit trying to measure it.
Quit trying to discern it.
I don't discern anymore.
As far as what I, there are so
many voices.
Before I got to preach, I heard some
evil voices coming at me.
Literally.
Some evil voices coming at me.
The devil trying to inject evil thoughts into
my mind to try to block the anointing
and the blessing of the Holy Ghost in
my preaching tonight.
Say, whoa, what a pastor we have here.
My goodness.
Until you're satisfied with this word.
Until you understand that this is Jesus speaking
to us in these last days.
Until you heard it today, you heard it
twice.
You're going to hear it and hear it
and hear it until it becomes a part
of your life.
God is saying, here, you get into this.
I will speak to you.
The Holy Ghost will come upon these words
and he will anoint what he has written.
When he said the Holy Ghost will remind
you of every word that I spoke, Jesus
says you go here.
Go into these red letter words.
Those are every word that Jesus spoke when
he was on there.
And the Bible says the Holy Ghost will
bring it.
He will interpret it to you.
He will speak to you through his word.
Do you want to hear him?
Get into your secret closet.
Get along with God.
Get the word out.
Say, oh Lord, speak to me.
And he will tell you how to get
out.
He will tell you what to do with
your problems.
He will tell you he was speaking.
That still small voice behind you is right
here.
Glory to God.
In 2 Samuel, I'm going to close shortly.
2 Samuel 3, 23, 5.
David, he's a dying man.
He said, although my house be not so
with God.
You know, the Lord had said, I'm going
to build you a sure house.
And I'm going to bless you.
And all the world, the whole earth is
going to be blessed through your seed, speaking
of Christ.
But now, David's a dying man.
And he hasn't seen what God said to
him come to pass yet.
He looks around.
He says, well, my house is not yet.
He said, although my house be not so
with God.
What he's saying, I've not yet seen all
the words of the Lord to me come
to pass.
My house is still not what it ought
to be.
Three of my sons are dead.
I've been given a promise that my house
will not fall.
He was going to make me a sure
house with firm foundations.
I've not seen it yet.
But nevertheless, he has made with me an
everlasting covenant, ordered in all things insure.
And you know, right now, there's no prophet
speaking into David.
Nathan's not there.
There are no dreams.
There are no visions.
There are no voices.
And he's now facing eternity.
He's not listening.
He's not looking for a voice.
He's not looking for a prophet.
He's not looking for somebody to interpret anything
to him.
He says, God gave me a covenant.
God made me a promise.
And I go into eternity standing on that
promise.
I stand on that word.
I don't see everything yet.
But God gave me his word.
For this is all my salvation, and this
is all my desire.
He's saying, I can face death telling you
that's all I need.
I don't need the prophet right now.
There's a time and place for that.
But he says, now I have his eternal
promise locked in my heart.
Hallelujah.
When you've got a promise made real to
you by the Holy Ghost, nobody can move
you.
You'll stand tight.
You'll set yourself.
Would you go to Habakkuk, please?
Third chapter.
Chapter 3.
Will you stand?
Folks, you may fail in trying to figure
things out.
You may fail in discerning voices.
You may fail in many areas.
But one thing is always secure.
God said, I'm going to be your strength.
You trust me, and I'll get you out.
I want everybody that's got King James, read
with me verses 17 through 19.
Habakkuk chapter 3.
If you have King James, read aloud with
me, please.
Although the fig tree shall not blossom, neither
shall fruit be in the vines, the labor
of the olive shall fail, the field shall
yield no meat, the flock shall be cut
off from the fold, there shall be no
herd in the stalls, yet I will rejoice
in the Lord, I will joy in the
God of my salvation.
The Lord God is my strength.
He will make my feet like hinds feet,
and He will make me to walk with
my high places to the chief singer in
my strength instruments.
God will make me to walk in the
right path.
Hallelujah.
Because I trust Him, He's going to make
it right.
Glory be to God.
That's His word.
That's His promise.
Are you ready to stand still, and stop
your striving now, and see the salvation of
the Lord?
Your part and my part is to go
to Him and just wait on the Lord.
Oh, He will speak.
Yes, He will.
He speaks through His word to your heart.
And then when you need it, at the
right time, when you're fully trusting Him, He
will make His voice to be heard, one
way or another.
He'll send somebody to you, He'll speak to
you in that still small voice of His
own.
He will speak to you.
You will get the word, and it'll be
right.
Hallelujah.
There'll be no questioning about it, and it
will come to pass.
Hallelujah.
Do I believe God speaks?
Yes, I do, with all my heart.
One more time before I close, and I
hope you remember as long as you live.
Why should God trust you with an inner
voice if He can't trust you with His
revealed voice?
Keep that in mind.
You go to this, learn to eat it,
learn to absorb it.
Then you can go to Him and say,
Now, Lord, confirm it in here.
Hallelujah.
That's when it comes.
Heavenly Father, I thank you tonight for your
simple word.
And I pray you bless us as we
come to your throne now.
I want us to sing one chorus while
I wait on you, whether you've heard or
not.
Just trust Him.
He's going to bring it all out.
He's going to make it all right in
His time and His way.
That's all you need.
You don't need anything else right now.
You don't need anything else.
You just need to say, Lord, I'm not
going to try to figure it out.
I'm not going to try to question.
No more what-ifs.
What if he does it?
What if she does it?
What if they?
What if we?
What if they?
What if, what if, what if, what if,
what if?
Oh, God, help us to get rid of
all our what-ifs.
And simply trust in His power and His
might.
He's not going to fail you.
You just read it.
If everything around you, if the economy fails,
your friends fail, you, everybody fails you, God
says, I'm still going to be your strength.
I'm still going to cause you to walk
in the right way.
I've made a covenant with you.
Folks, the covenant of peace that God has
given us, this new covenant, has brought such
a peace to my soul.
Hallelujah.
To increase our faith, to boost our faith.
God is saying, I've made you a covenant
and promise now to keep you, to write
my laws in your heart, to forgive you,
to be a God to you and you
be a son or daughter to me.
I have covenanted that so that I can't
go back on it or I would not
be God.
Hallelujah.
It's that sure.
It's that steadfast.
That's why David said, he's made me a
covenant, steadfast and sure.
Steadfast, everlasting.
God can't break His word.
He promised to keep you from falling.
He's promised to take the heart of stone
out of you and give you a heart
of flesh.
It means a heart that feels, that reaches
out, a repentant heart.
And all you have to do is reach
out and let Him increase your faith right
now.
He gives you the word, take it, believe
it and go with it in Jesus' name.
Hallelujah.
Now Father, do a work in our hearts.
Lord, I pray against unbelief and fear in
this congregation tonight.
All the fear and unbelief that has bound
so many people.
Let there be freedom tonight in Jesus' name.
Sing.
And confusion has come into your spiritual walk.
You're really confused and fear has come.
I don't know where it came from.
We don't have to worry about that.
But you would like to come in to
a rest in the Lord.
You want to come in to, you want
to step across the line and say, Lord,
I want to commit my life to a
walk of faith and trust in you now.
I want you to get out of your
seat and come and let me pray with
you.
And we're going to believe the Lord tonight
to remove the fear and the bondage and
to bring you into a rest so that
you quit your striving, quit your struggling.
You don't have to make God a bunch
of promises anymore.
You don't have to try to figure out
what voice that you heard.
You don't try to figure out voices anymore.
Just say, Lord, I'm going to just trust
you.
One way or another, you're going to, even
if I fall, you're going to pick me
up, you said.
Even if I fall, you'll pick me up.
Hallelujah.
You'll pick me up again.
Glory be to Jesus.
Up in the balcony, you can go to
the stairs on either side and come down
any aisle.
Let's sing it again.
Now, if you're not right with the Lord,
if you're backslidden, you're not saved, walk down
the aisle with these and make it right.
Some of you have left your first love
for Jesus.
Your heart's cold.
Come down with these and get your heart
warmed and restored in Jesus' name.
Those that have come forward tonight, look at
me please.
Would you take a sabbatical or a rest
from striving to hear voices and say, God,
I want to hear the voice of the
Lord and you become a student of this
book and don't depend on inner voices.
Oh, there'll be a witness of the Holy
Spirit but that He witnesses to the Word
that He inspired.
He witnesses to the Word.
It's the Word in you to which He
witnesses, the work of Christ in you that
He witnesses to.
And all of you that are up here
and anyone in the congregation that you've been
just saying, saying, I can't trust voices anymore.
Well, one thing you can trust is this
voice.
If you're confused, when you lay down all
that confusion, don't try to question whether or
not it was God or flesh or the
devil speaking to you.
Forget that.
And say, all I know is God is
faithful.
God is faithful.
He's going to get me to where He
wants me to be.
He's going to see me through.
Hallelujah.
Glory to God.
That way you're not being tossed and turned.
The devil would like to just keep twisting
and turning you, trying to inject various thoughts
or even if God speaks, you try to
come and expand it or twist it and
turn it.
And so you come to the rock.
You come and get on the rock.
It can't be shaken.
Hallelujah.
Now I'm going to come in faith and
pray against that spirit of fear and confusion
and ask God to bring you to a
simple childlike faith.
Jesus, You're faithful.
Your Word is faithful.
You're going to see me through.
You're going to pray that with me in
just a moment.
First, let me come against your fears.
And I want you to leave God with
me.
Just lift up your hands.
Just lift up your hands and I want
to pray.
Father, in Jesus' name, I speak the Word
of God against the fear and the confusion
and the doubt in so many hearts tonight.
In Jesus' name, Lord, You take authority over
them.
Bind them.
Cast it out in Jesus' name.
Right now, I want you to pray this
with me right now.
Jesus, take away my fear.
Remove my confusion by the power of Your
Spirit.
Help me, Lord Jesus, to have a love
for Your Word, to take it into my
heart as the voice of God speaking to
me in these last days.
I will rest in this voice.
I will rest in Your Word.
I will need nothing else but Your Word
and Your presence in my life, the work
of the Holy Ghost in my heart.
Forgive me, Lord.
Cleanse me.
Sanctify me.
Fill me with Your Holy Ghost.
Lead me and guide me and teach me
through the Word.
Your Word, O Lord, is the lamp to
my feet.
Hallelujah.