In this sermon, the speaker addresses the lack of passion and vision among the people. He highlights how everyone is focused on their own interests and there is a loss of concern for the honor of God and the well-being of others. The speaker uses the story of David and Goliath to emphasize the importance of having a single focus on God's glory and being willing to fight for the freedom of others. He encourages the audience to have a strong faith in the Lord and to set their minds on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem, symbolizing a commitment to God's purposes.

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 PO Box 260 Lindale, Texas 75771 or calling 903-963-8626. You are welcome to make additional cassettes of this message for free distribution to friends. However, for all other forms of reproduction or electronic transmission, existing copyright laws apply. Today, I'm going to be speaking a message that the Holy Spirit has very deeply stamped on my heart. It's something He's working out in me, and it always makes it easier, sometimes harder actually, to preach something that the Holy Spirit is working into your own life. But I'm telling you that I'm understanding the importance of what I'm about to speak, because I believe that if you're a genuine Christian, you have a desire to go to a place that God desires that you should live in and to become everything that Christ wants you to be. But in order to get there, there's a place that you're going to have to go through. I never fully understood it before the way I do now from having researched the scriptures and letting God speak to my own heart, but I'm starting to see something. And I don't believe that any church can long stay in, well, I'll use the term loosely, but revival means where the life of Christ is being manifested in such a way that it is changing both church and community. And I don't believe that any church can long sustain a revival without going to this place that I'm about to speak about. As a matter of fact, I'm sure of it. The revival would be short-lived and the church would again decline into self-seeking without this kind of a heart. Now, Jesus said to the church of Revelation, seven churches, whoever has ears to hear, and the inference is if you can hear, you will overcome. You will see your need, call out to me for the power and I will give it to you and you will overcome. If ever we needed hearing ears, I believe it's today. And I'm not saying that just for effect because I'm about to speak a message, but this is something that's very deeply been moving in my heart. And I believe that throughout history we've seen many churches go into decline who have known an incredible presence of God, but they've lost his presence for this specific reason. I'm going to talk about walking through the valley of weeping. Now, it's not what it sounds like, so you're going to have to stay with me very closely, but walking through the valley of weeping, let's pray together. Now, Lord Jesus, I stand today dependent on you and I thank you for the anointing of the Holy Spirit. Lord, this message has to be animated by you and I'm asking you to animate me. I'm asking you, God, to give me your mind, your heart, your emotions, everything that's of you that it would flow through me that I'm not getting in the way and hinder this word. God, I thank you for what you're going to accomplish today. I thank you, Lord, that your will will be done and your kingdom will come in a very powerful way in this church and very many of our lives. Lord, give us ears to hear today. Give me an anointing to be able to speak it. I stand totally wholly dependent on you, Holy Spirit, and I thank you that you have never failed me and you will never fail me as long as I live because these are your people. God, you will always be faithful to them. You will feed them. They've come for your word and you will give them your word. I thank you for impressing my heart and pressing on my heart this word this week. Give me great grace today and I thank you for it in Jesus' mighty name. Numbers, please, in the Old Testament. I believe that's the fourth book in the in the Old Testament, the book of Numbers, chapter 32, walking through the valley of weeping. Numbers, chapter 32. And I'll be reading from verses 20 to 23. And Moses said unto them, If you will do this thing, if you will go armed before the Lord to war. That's Numbers 32, beginning at verse 20. Verse 21. And we'll go all of you armed over Jordan before the Lord until he has driven out his enemies from before him and the land be subdued before the Lord. Then afterwards you shall return and be guiltless, guiltless rather before the Lord and before Israel and this land shall be your possession before the Lord. But if you will not do so, behold, you have sinned against the Lord and be sure your sin will find you out. Be sure. Now, you're going to be surprised, I think, as we begin to discuss this. This this scripture is thrown out a lot about people who are living in hidden sin, obviously. And you've heard it preached on more than likely. And, you know, the scripture quite often referring in context as it's spoken to people who are living in willful disobedience to God and the warning of the scripture, being sure that your sin will find you out. And that's true. But we're going to look shortly into the context of this particular warning in the scripture and find out that it has a little bit of a different meaning to it. Now, John 15. I just want to read it to you. Jesus said these words. This is my commandment that you love one another as I have loved you. And greater love has no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. And you are my friends if you do whatsoever I command you. Henceforth or from this time forward, I call you not servants for the servant knoweth not what his Lord does. But I have called you friends for all things that I've heard of my father. I have made known to you. Now, these things, he says in verse 17, I command you that you love one another. Now, Jesus is saying in effect to his church, his disciples, I'm giving my life as a sacrifice for your need. And if you are mine, I command you to love one another in the same way. This is a command if you belong to me. He said before you were servants, but now I call you friends because now you're beginning to understand something. I didn't come to live my own life here for my own enjoyment and purposes. I came because the father sent me. The father sent me because you have a need. I'm paraphrasing in a sense as if Christ were speaking to his own disciples. And I'm about to go to Calvary and lay my life down as a sacrifice. I'm going to give myself for you. I'm going to yield my body as a living sacrifice. I'm going to endure ridicule and mocking and even suffer the wrath of a mighty and a holy God. And I'm going to do it because you have a need. And if you are mine, I command you to love one another in the same way that I love you. Now, that's a very high command. It's an incredible command. It really implies that there is no place for selflessness in the body of Jesus Christ, that when we come to him, not only do we become citizens of another kingdom, but we have another value system. The whole value system of this world is me, myself and mine. I live for myself. I do what I have to do to better myself. I work towards my own objectives and my own improvement. But Christ said, no, it's not going to be this way among those. As a matter of fact, it's going to be so pronounced that the world will know that you are my disciples. There'll be another spirit upon you. They'll see a love upon you that is not found anywhere in the world. They'll see a yielding and a giving one for another. You can't find it anywhere but in the body of Jesus Christ. And there will be such a care and compassion one for another. There will be a people who so have found my heart in this issue that there will be a standing back of the entire selfish world system. And they will know that you're my disciples because they will know simply because they haven't got that degree of compassion. And it cannot be found. It cannot even be manufactured apart from the spirit of God. You cannot get it but from God. Now, Moses in Numbers 32 considered what was happening in the hearts of some of the people, a serious issue. There were three tribes. Well, actually, there were two tribes, the tribe of Gad and Reuben and the half tribe of Manasseh. This is a second generation. Now, the first generation who came out of Egypt have died in the wilderness because of unbelief. The second generation have now come again to the shores of Jordan. And God has come around and affected them. And they now have the opportunity their fathers didn't have to go in. Well, their fathers didn't take, not rather have. They didn't take the opportunity. They're now called to go in and to conquer the promised land. And but there were these two tribes and the half tribe of Manasseh who looked around and said, well, we like it where we are. We understand the call of God is to go on the other side of Jordan and to conquer the land and and to possess places that are now possessed by the enemies, as it is of God. But we like it where we are and we see fertile fields and grass and such like. Now, if I had time to go into history, that was a very poor decision on their part because they were actually the first conquered in the subsequent years to come and battled and struggled these particular tribes for many, many years after. It was a very, very poor decision to ever stop short of what God has for your life. And there are people in the church who are like that say, well, I've come far enough. I like it here. My job's going good. My family seems to be in order. I like the church I'm attending. It's far enough for me. Let others press in. Let others go on to this place of a promise that God has for them. But I'm going to stay right here. And I'm very, very happy to stay here. And yes, they were still part of the inheritance of God. The tribes, they were still part of God's people, but they fell short of what God had for them. But Moses came and he said in verse six, numbers 32, verse six. And Moses said to the children of Gad and the children of Reuben, and we will include the half tribe of Manasseh, he said, shall your brethren go to war and you sit here and wherefore discouraging the heart of the children of Israel from going over into the land which the Lord has given them. Thus did your fathers, when I sent them from Kadesh Barnea to save the land. So you see, Moses said your indifference to the struggle that your brothers are about to face is going to have great consequences, both for them and for you. Moses says, don't you remember the history that when there were people going over the Jordan 40 years ago and some spies came back and because of their unwillingness to go and to fight the battle, they discouraged the hearts of the people and they ended up cast out and all dying in the wilderness. And Moses said, this is a serious issue because you are following in their footsteps. Verse nine, he says, for they went up into the Valley of Eshgal and saw the land and discouraged the heart of the children of Israel that they should not go into the land which the Lord had given them. And the Lord's anger was kindled at the same time. And he swear saying, surely none of the men that came up out of Egypt from 20 years old and upward shall see the land, which I swear to Abraham and to Isaac and to Jacob, because they have not wholly followed me and save Caleb, the son of Jephunneh, the Kenazite and Joshua, the son of Nun, for they have wholly followed the Lord. And the Lord's anger was kindled against Israel and he made them wander in the wilderness for 40 years until all the generation that had done evil in the sight of the Lord was consumed. And then Moses says, now behold, you are risen up in your father's stead, an increase of sinful men to argument, or that means to add to yet the fierce anger of the Lord towards Israel. For if you turn away from after him, he will yet again leave them in the wilderness and you shall destroy all these people. Now, the context means that your lack of concern will cause them to be discouraged and their discouragement will end up in them being destroyed, just as your forefathers will. And Moses said, this is a serious issue. Yes, you can you can be happy where you are, but it does not exempt you from the battle ahead. It does not exempt you from the struggles that your brother and I are going to face. You must not sit back and begin to build and relax and become indifferent to the battles that are going to be going on all around you. And the people said, no, we will we will do this thing. We will go over. This is right. We will fight. And Moses said, all right, if you do, he said, you will have what you desire. But if you don't be sure your sin will find you out. Be sure there will be something that will come upon you, something that will happen to you. And it will be a natural consequence of the indifference to the struggling and the plight of those that are going in to possess the land that God has given to them. Now, put a marker there, please, and go to First Corinthians in the New Testament, First Corinthians chapter 11. Be sure, he said, your sin will find you out. Now, I want to show you this in a New Testament context. The very same situation was happening in the Corinthian church. Now, Paul, the apostle, wrote to this church and he admonished this church to have a change of heart. He said, you are getting together and there are people among you who have a lack or are going through difficult times. And those that are secure, those that have provision are gathering together and fellowshipping together, and they're leaving those with need on the outside of their fellowship. In verse 22, he says, for have you not houses to eat and drink in or do despise the church of God and shame them that have not? And what shall I say to you? Shall I praise you in this? He said, I praise you not. Paul said, this is not right. Here are brethren in your midst who are struggling. Now, whether it's struggling to obtain food in this particular case or just even to enter fellowship, maybe they're struggling with loneliness or discouragement in the New Testament context. Of course, the provision or the land of promise is that we are completely fulfilled in Jesus Christ and everything that he is and all that he has promised to make us into. But there are some in the fellowship who have not yet entered into that. They're sitting on the sidelines and they're wanting. And Paul says, here's this. The same spirit that's in the world is now creeping into the Corinthian church and people are gathering around economic status. Perhaps they're gathering around culture, whatever the situation is. They're looking for people who are of the same heart that they are and they're gathering around having wonderful fellowship and leaving those that are struggling on the outside. Now, this is not much different from what we see happening in Numbers chapter 32. People are saying, look, we're going to settle on this side of the river. We understand that our brethren are battling, but we have our own concerns and we're going to sit here and we're just going to build our houses and we're going to build our sheepfolds and let them go over. Now, I'm sure initially that's what was in their heart. We don't want to go over and fight. And Moses says, no, you can't do this. You can't do this. It's wrong. And Paul says to the Corinthian church, this is not right. And he goes on and he says, now I received something from the Lord. This is Christ. He said the night he was betrayed and he goes on to say he he took before the people and said, take it. This is my body, which is broken for you. And he said also he took the cup of the New Testament in his blood, the cup of wine. And he said this is off as you drink it in remembrance of me. And Paul, what he's doing in Corinthians is contrasting the selfishness that was creeping into the Corinthian church with the selflessness of Christ. He said, I received this about Christ. Christ gave his body. Christ gave his blood. Christ gave himself his was his life was a death as it is. He was always moving into the giving of himself. And this is the this is the church. This is the head of the church. And Paul says we are his body. And he said, as long as you often as you eat this bread, verse twenty six and drink this cup, you to show the Lord's death till he comes. In other words, as long as this same heart is in you for your brethren, you are a visible demonstration of the giving of Christ for fallen humanity until he comes. You're a demonstration of Christ. It's not just about coming to a table and eating some bread and drinking some juice. That's not what it's about. Paul says, no, if you as long as you your heart is this way in the church, he's not this is not about communion. This particular chapter of Scripture, it's about a contrast of an attitude of heart that was getting into many of God's people and the heart of Christ. And Paul says, is as as long as you are have a heart to be yielded for your brethren, to be yielded for your brothers and sisters in Christ. He said, you are showing this this demonstration, as it is, of this incredible love that cannot be found anywhere. But in God, you are showing it to the world until he comes. You're showing his death. You are you are a visible demonstration to the world of the fact that there is a God. He has died for our sins. He does give of himself for his people because his people are a living demonstration of his heart. And then he goes on, he says, for whosoever shall eat this bread and drink this cup of the Lord unworthily will be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord, Paul says, whoever comes into the fellowship and continues in a pattern or a life of selfishness, not even caring about what's going on in people's lives around them, they will be guilty in a sense of taking his name in vain. In other words, saying I'm Christ, but but the whole heart and demonstration isn't Christ. It's an empty profession of Jesus Christ. And Paul then goes on, says, let a man examine himself and so let him eat of that bread and drink of that cup for he that eats and drinks unworthily, eats and drinks damnation to himself, not discerning the Lord. In other words, not understanding what it means to be part of the Lord's church, not understanding. This is a high calling. This is an incredible calling to go so far beyond the former passions, the former value systems that we had before we came to Christ. It is an incredible calling into the life of Christ. And Paul says for this cause, many are weak and sickly among you and many sleep. Remember, Moses said, be sure your sin will find you out. Well, here's how it finds you out. He said for this cause, many are weak. And if I don't have time to go into all the words, but in the original Greek, it means weak in regard to spiritual things, a dull dullness of mind. In other words, for this cause, many of you are not growing in grace, very weak in your mind of the understanding of the things of God, because there's no there's no compassion for the struggling among us. Can you imagine? How can we say we are Christ's and be selfish? I mean, it just doesn't go. It is so foolish to even think. How can we say we are Christ and be completely focused on ourselves and our objectives and ideals and all these other wonderful words that even have sometimes spiritual connotations put to them? But how can we say we are genuinely Christ's? And Paul says for this reason, many are dull or weak concerning spiritual things or sickly. And the Greek definition says it means morally weak, morally weak. No, no control over one's own passions. Be sure, he said, your sin will find you out. So I wonder sometimes when we're counseling people who are having struggles with moral issues, if we're really dealing with what the root is, we're talking about, OK, stay away from here and don't go there and don't do this. Could it possibly be that the root is selfishness? Could it possibly be that it's not really a moral issue? Morality becomes the outward fruit. But could it be possible the root is a selfishness, a lack of consideration for the church of Jesus Christ, for the struggling and suffering all around us in the body? I'm not even talking outside the church now. A selfishness, a coming into the house of God, all about me, all about myself, all about mine. What can I get out of this today? Totally blind to all of the needs, spiritually dull and then morally struggling. And I can't help but wonder with all the counseling that we do, if selfishness or self-centeredness quite often is not the root of much of the moral weakness that we find rampant in the church of Jesus Christ today. And then he says in many of many sleep and the Greek word means spiritually dead or put to sleep. So he said because of this, Paul says, many are weak with regard to spiritual things. They're struggling morally and they're spiritually dead or they've been put to sleep. You see, that's why I said a church that has an indifference to the needs of people around it within its own body cannot long sustain a revival. It will die because really Christ is the spirit of truth. He is the truth. And without truth, there is really no presence of God. And it's a tragic thing to ever go into a church. And I have been there that has once known the spirit of God and has lost it. And I can tell you definitively in places where I have been that I can say more often than not, it is this selfish spirit that has gotten into a church that has killed the killed the presence of God. Christ says, I cannot stay here. I cannot bear witness to this because it's not me. And remember, Moses said, be sure your sin will will find you out. Paul, in effect, is saying to the Corinthians, your sin is already finding you out. This is why Corinthian church. These are these things are beginning to manifest in your midst. People are dying spiritually and becoming morally weak, etc. It's finding you out. You know, I think of when Christ said, I command you to love one another. I command you as I have loved you. I command you to love one another. In other words, is non-optional. If you are part of my church, this has to be. You cannot be part of my church and have this area an exclusion from your life. Remember, Jesus spoke to the Pharisees and said, I commanded you to look after your father and mother, but you changed it all around. And you said, well, whatever profit they get from my life, it's it's now just a gift. And he says, now, by your tradition, you've made the commandments of God of no effect. Incredible. Now we can take a command and substitute it for just momentary bursts of goodness to pacify our conscience where we come in and perhaps see somebody in the need and say a little prayer. And that meets the need for the next six months in our life. Oh, folks, it isn't that way. The command means this is to be a part of your being. This is to be a part of who you are. Your your mind is to be open that I may speak to you, that I may call upon you for something, that I may put a word in season into your into your heart and into your mouth for a struggling brother or sister, that you may go into the prayer closet and begin to intercede for somebody that you see the devil overpowering around you, that you begin to realize and I begin to realize that that we are we're not just simply individuals, but we are part of a body now. We're part of a body. The eye can't say to the ear, I don't need you or the hand to the foot. I have no need of you anymore. No, we are part of a body. And Paul and Christ is saying we must understand this and take seriously the command as it is to love one another as he loves us. Now go ahead to the book of Ephesians, please. Ephesians chapter six. In Ephesians chapter six, at the end of the chapter, it's a very powerful chapter on putting on the whole armor of God, beginning in verse 10. Paul says, finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of his might. And this is, in effect, the desire of every Christian. You want to be strong, don't you? I do in the Lord. I want to put on the power of his might. Now we know the power of his might is nothing physical. The only might that the Christian have has rather is from the power of the Holy Spirit. It's Christ. Paul says elsewhere, put on Christ. It's Christ in me. It's Christ on me. It's Christ formed in me. Who is my life? Paul said it clearly in the book of Acts. We live, we move, we have our being in him. It's Christ who is my strength. It's Christ who gives me a new mind. It's Christ who is my righteousness. It's Christ who is the truth in my inward parts. It's Christ who changes me and brings me from strength to strength. It's Christ. And Paul say, put on this this armor, put on all of this might of the Lord. Then he goes on, of course, and he says, you're not wrestling against flesh and blood, but against powers and principalities. Then he says, take the whole armor of God in verse 13, that you might be able to stand. Then he goes on to describing that armor truth about your loins, the breastplate of righteousness. In other words, knowing that I am covered by the blood of Jesus Christ, your feet as clothed as it is with the preparation of the gospel of peace, the shield of faith and take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the spirit, which is the word of God. So we even have seminars on this stuff now where people get up in the morning and put on all this imaginary armor now. But, folks, there has to be a purpose for it. It's not just to live for ourselves, to go look like a soldier heading off down to Wall Street or wherever it is you work on Monday morning. Oh, yeah. Fighting this imagined mystical devil all the way. Well, as nice as that is, that's not what it's all about, folks. A soldier is to go into war. It's not just a defensive. These weapons are not all defensive weapons. A soldier is to go into war. And then you find the fulfillment of this armor in verse 18, praying always with all prayer and supplication in the spirit and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints. You see, when I'm watching, praying and standing in the gap, I can be sure that the life of Christ is in me. This is the evidence. You see, because the human nature can only be turned fully from its inherited selfishness by the power of Christ. That's the only way. I know that Christ is on me when I can say I care about you. That's how I know. I know when I'm watching and if I see the devil attacking you, then I go and first of all, I can speak into your life and say and encourage you. I can take you by the hand and I can pray with you and I can go into my prayer closet and I know the power of God is on me because I'm being moved away from self-centeredness now and I'm being moved into the life of Christ. That's the evidence. Supplication means praying for specific benefits. When I'm praying for you, when I'm aware of your need and I don't just write it off because I'm dwelling on the other side of Jordan and I've got my own flocks and barns and everything to look after and say, well, you know, God's speed. Good luck in the battle. No, no, it's not that way at all. It's it's it's being aware of what's going on around me. It's being aware of what's transpiring in your life and praying that God bless you, praying that God strengthen you, praying that God enlighten your mind, praying that God come and vanquish the enemy that wants to wreck your marriage and wreck your home and take your children, praying against the unbelief that the devil so deeply wants to sow into your heart because of your situation, praying God, God, give that person courage, give that man courage, give that woman courage, cause them to stand, infuse them with your life. We understand that as we pray as a church, that God infuses Pastor David's conferences with life. The life of the Holy Ghost is there. Barriers break. People are encouraged and strengthened. But beloved, it's not just all about conferences. We are called to pray one for another. If I am in Christ, I'm to watch for you and you're to watch for me. And we're to pray one for another. We're to be aware of what's going on around us in the church. As I have loved you, I command you to love one another. Remember, Jesus said to Peter, Peter, Satan wants to sift you as wheat. He wants to destroy you, in other words. But I have prayed for you that your faith doesn't fail. And when you're converted, strengthen the brethren. This is the evidence. This is the evidence that the power of God is on my life. The rest can be just all selfish, selfishness masqueraded as this wonderful religion. But the evidence is that I have compassion and care and I'm watching for you and you are watching for me in the church body of Jesus Christ. John was, Jesus was speaking in John chapter 13. And he said to his disciples, he said, I, I'm giving you a new commandment. He said, as I have loved you now, I want you to love one another. Let me just read this to you. John 13, 34, he said, a new commandment I give to you that you love one another as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this shall all men know that you are my disciples, if you have loved one to another. And Peter then says to the Lord, where are you going? And Jesus said, where I'm going, you can't come now, but you will follow me after. In other words, I'm going to the cross, Peter, and I'm going to give my life for you and you can't come there yet because you're still a natural man. You're still governed by. You remember at the end of the book of John, he tells him up to this point in your life, you've gone where you wanted to go. You've done what you wanted to do. But now as you're growing old, you're going to stretch forth your hands and someone else is going to lead you now. There's going to be a change of ownership and authority in your life and a change of power. And of course, that word that was given to Peter did was fulfilled in his life. And Peter said, why can't I follow you now? He said, I'll lay my life down for your sake. And Jesus turns to him and says, oh, oh, will you really? Will you really lay your life down for me? He says, no, you won't. Before the morning comes, you will deny three times that you even know me. You see, Peter, you don't have any power without my life in yours. You have to have my life in you. And the evidence of my life in you is that then you will have the power to lay your life down. You can't follow me now, but you will follow me not too far down the road. You will follow me. And of course, if you know the history of Peter's life, you know, he did follow Christ. He did lay his life down for Christ and for his brethren. A wonderful, wonderful man of God was was was was taken and by the power of God made into another man and became the fulfillment of the commandment that you love one another as I have loved you. Numbers, again, 32, Moses. Remember, the warning was your sin will find you out. And then one of the things, the only thing really in Numbers 32 that the scripture speaks of, Moses said, if they will not pass over with you armed, they will not they will have possessions among you in the land of Canaan. In other words, if they will not go with you, then they will not be given what they desire. They desire this. They desire the specific place to live. And God says, if they won't go, I'll take it away from them. And, you know, beloved, when we settle in and become selfish, we desire peace. And all of a sudden it's taken away. We desire courage and our courage leaves us. We desire spiritual eyes and direction and we can't find it. I see much of the church in the last 15 years running all over the country looking for God. You wonder sometimes, is it possible that there's such an embedded selfishness? I'm only throwing this out as a conjecture, but is it possible there's such an embedded selfishness among so many of God's people that it has taken away their eyesight and the discernment? What is it that causes such a spiritual blindness to come upon so many of God's people? What we desire will be taken away. I'm thinking about, as I was preparing this message, I was thinking about the army of Israel under the leadership of Saul when they faced the Philistines in the valley and Goliath came down and began to shout incredible threats against the people of God and the armies of God. And Goliath came and said, now give me somebody to fight. And if I overpower him, you will be our slaves. In other words, you'll be our slaves forever. You will serve us. You will be our slaves. And so here's a voice here. Here are giants coming against the people of God. Now, Goliath is a spirit. There's a spirit animating him. It's the devil himself, I believe with all my heart. And he's animating this and said, if you can't put up somebody that can match me, then I'm going to come and swallow the whole nation and enslave every one of you. And here are the soldiers of Israel. And they are standing on the hillside, as it is the top of the ridge. They have all this fine armor, polished armor, no doubt. They practice. They have swords. They've got these breastplates, the physical types. They've got helmets on their head. I mean, they are prepared, seemingly, for the battle. But they have lost the sense of divine purpose. Here they are, supposedly the defenders of the people of God. But they've lost the sense of purpose. And I feel in my spirit that when we become indifferent one to another, this is one of the first things that begins to go. The sense of divine purpose, the sense of who we are and why we are here and what we're supposed to be doing. And the whole spiritual pursuit then starts to turn inward. It's about how I can better myself, how I can be a better man, how I can enhance my ministry or whatever it is that I'm doing. It's just how I can better myself. You remember when the scripture says, when all the men of Israel, when they saw Goliath, they fled from him and they were sore afraid. And here now, into this midst of this loss of purpose, comes a young boy named David. And he says, is there not a cause? Here's a young man with divine purpose. He has been worshipping God. He wants the heart of God. And he says, now, here here is a voice and an army threatening to captivate my brothers. His brothers were in the army, threatening to captivate my family because his father had sent him to see how the battle was going. And he says, listen, here's a voice threatening to take us all captive. And is there not a cause? You see, there's something that gets into the spirit of a man who has a concern about those around him. He's not willing to let the devil come and swallow people's lives. He's not willing to let the devil swallow his brother or sister. He's not willing to let his family be consumed and enslaved by the power of sin. Something gets into his gut and he stands up and says, is there not a cause? But you have to have a singleness of the eye, a single focus for the glory of God. They suffered a loss of passion for the honor of God or for the family of God. They said, what will be done for the man that can overpower this this giant? And all that was in there, listen to the pitiful testimony. He'll be given riches. The king's daughter and his father's house will be made free in Israel. Riches, women and a free house. That was it. It was really the end product of every man living for himself. What will be given? The whole concept of fighting for the honor of God is gone. Everyone's looking out for themselves now. The whole concept of of going into this battle so that there might be again a rejoicing among the people that might be set free from the power of evil that's all around them is all gone. A loss of passion for the honor of God. But listen to David. David goes down into the valley to face this giant. And he says it this way. He said, this day will the Lord deliver thee into my hand and I will smite thee. I will take thy head from thee. In other words, David said, you think you can take my family captive? You think you can take my brothers captive? You think you can defeat the army of God? He said, you've got high thoughts. But this day, I'm going to take your head from you. This day, you're going to be cast down. This day, something is going to sink so deep into your forehead. I'm going to cast down these imaginations. I'm not fighting against a physical giant. I'm fighting against the spirit that animates you. That tries to tell you that you can swallow the heritage of God. I've come to fight for those who cannot fight for themselves. There's a time in a season, my beloved brothers and sisters, when there are some among us who just get so down they can't fight anymore. So down or perhaps captivated by ideologies or theologies that are not life-giving in Christ. And there's a time when the Holy Spirit calls for you and I to rise up and fight for those who don't have a voice to fight anymore. And David says, I'm going to smite you. I'm going to take your head from you. I'm going to give your carcasses to the host of the Philistines and the fowls of the air and to the wild beasts of the earth that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel. Now, verse 47 is very key. I'll just read it to you. He says, and all this assembly shall know that the Lord saves not with the sword and spear for the battle is the Lord's and he will give you into our hands. Now, it's interesting. He didn't say into my hands. He will give you into our hands. He had a passion for the family of God. He had a passion for the people of God. He had a passion for the honor of God. And David knew that God is honored when his people become strong and do exploits. Oh, yes, Goliath. And there may be some people hanging out on a hill full of armor that's not of no profit to them anymore. But I'm coming down to face you. And this day, I tell you, in the name of almighty God, that he's going to give you and all of these armies into our hands. Hallelujah. That's the prayer of a man or woman of God who has their eyes open. It's not, oh, God, just vanquish this enemy over so-and-so's life. But, oh, God, raise him up. Raise him up to fight. Raise him up. Give him courage. Give him spiritual sight again. Cause him to get back into the battle. Cause him, oh, God, to take up the sword and run down into the valley and begin to fight. Cause him, oh, God. Raise him up. Raise her up, oh, God. Give strength and endurance to your people one more time. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. The soldiers were suffering from a decreasing strength, a decreasing power because of his lack of compassion, the lack of vision, the lack of spiritual sight. Proverbs 24, 10 says, If you faint in the day of adversity, your strength is small. If you faint in the time of difficulty. But Psalm 84, and I want to read it to you from the New Living Testament. Now, listen to it carefully. He says, Happy, verses 5 to 7. Happy are those who are strong in the Lord, who set their minds on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem. Happy are those. Now, the context, the inference is who set their minds to go to where God is. We know scripturally, Jerusalem is the center of where Christ will rule and reign. Happy are those who are strong and set their minds. I'm going where Christ is. I'm going there. Beloved, I tell you, when you make that declaration to God, you're going to find some things in your heart start to get challenged, things you didn't even know were there. You thought you were OK. But we are, in a sense, because our sin is covered. We are considered righteous. But in our hearts, we're moving to somewhere in Christ. And Christ says, I've got to come now and I've got to take some things. Those that set their minds to go where Christ is. Verse 6 says, When they walk through the valley of weeping, it will become a place of refreshing springs where pools of blessing collect after the rains. They will continue to grow stronger and each of them will appear before God in Jerusalem. In other words, blessed are those who set their minds on going to this place where Christ is. But to get there, you have to walk through the valley of weeping. There's no other way there. And the valley of weeping doesn't mean that I've got to walk this long faced walk and weep and mourn and repent of as wonderful as some of that may be. That's not what it's about. It's not my weeping. It's talking about your weeping. If I want to get to where Christ is, it's not my valley of weeping. It's your valley of weeping I have to walk through. I can't get to where he is without walking through your valley. This is so important that we understand this. This is the pivotal point of everything the Holy Spirit has given me to speak on today. If I say today in this house, I want to be like Christ. I want the power of Christ. I want the mind of Christ. I want the purpose of Christ for my life. I'm setting my face to going to where Christ is. I'm setting my face to having Christ formed in me. Then the Holy Spirit says, if you want to be like Christ, you have to be able to walk through willing to walk through the valley of others weeping. Remember that Peter went out after denying Christ and wept bitterly. But Christ came to him. Christ walked through his valley. Christ restored him. Christ strengthened him. Christ commissioned him. He was willing to walk through the valley of other people's failures in the valley of other people's struggles and other people's warfare. There's no other way to get to where Christ is. There's no other way to become his church. There's no other way that I could ever become the man of God that I desire in my heart to be without walking through your valley of weeping with you. There's no other way. The rest of it will be just all empty, powerless religion. I've got to have a willingness to go where you are. A willingness. He said when they walk through the valley of weeping, it will become a place of refreshing springs where pools of blessing collect after the rain. Those who want to go where Christ is will walk through the valley of others weeping. And as they walk through, they will take this weeping place and begin to be the life of Christ to those that are struggling and begin to fight for those who have no voice to fight for themselves and begin to infuse life and infuse hope and just take a hand and just encourage somebody along the way. And as they walk through that valley of weeping, they're leaving behind them a pool of living water, a pool of God's blessing that was once just a place of weeping. There is no other way to the heart of God. There's no other way. Try as you may. You will not find it. There is no other way. You and I have to be willing to walk through one another struggles. We have to be willing to say, God, take me beyond. Take me beyond. Oh, God, take me beyond the narrowness of my own life, the narrowness of my own thinking. We're all like that. We're all like it. We're all concerned when we're too hot. We're too cold. We're too hungry. We've eaten too much. It's all about ourselves. In order to be like Christ, it's got to go beyond that. And it can only go beyond that by the power of God. The Holy Spirit will come. We have the desire. And Peter had the desire. He said, I will lay my life down. And Christ said, no, you can't come yet, but you will soon. And our part is the desire. God's part is the power. That's how the relationship works. We can't do it. I can't muster up a concern for you. You know, you get places like that where you hear a message like this and we go on this momentary concern binge for people all around us. But it doesn't last because it's not in our character. Only the Holy Spirit can put it in our character. We form the desire and say, God, take me out of my narrow little box. Take me out of my narrow little world that's all about myself and bring me to a place where I can I can I can fight, oh, God, for those that are going through difficult times where I can reach out. I've become spiritually sensitive to somebody might walk up to me with a happy face and a handshake on Sunday morning. But I can be a type of person that you can speak to and say, there's things are not all right here. There's a valley of weeping and begin to speak into that or begin to pray. Always uplifting, always encouraging, walking through the valley of weeping. And Christ says, if if you do this, you will continue to grow stronger and you will appear with me or before me in Jerusalem. You will come to where I am. Hallelujah. I thank God for this. I hope with all my heart that I have conveyed this the way the Holy Spirit is speaking it to me. There's got to be a care that's so far beyond us. It's so far beyond what I can be or what I can do. We all have momentary times of and some are are given to natural compassion. But there is a supernatural compassion so far beyond that that Jesus said the whole world will know that you're my disciples. It's supernatural. It's not natural. The realm of the natural has been moved away and the nature of Christ has been given. I wrote a prayer last night. I just want to read it to you. And this is the prayer for myself. I wrote, oh, Jesus, deliver me from selfishness, from that selfish indifference, which always wants to focus on me, myself and mine. Cause me to care. Lead me into somebody else's valley of weeping and pour out your life to them through me. Let it begin here among God's people. Holy Spirit, teach me to lay my life down. Give to me my desire. Teach me because I don't know how, but God, you will do it for me. Today in this sanctuary and the education annex that we have somewhere, I guess, between twenty five hundred and three thousand people. I would venture a guess that at least five hundred people in the sanctuary today are going through a valley of weeping. That's only a guess on my part. But by the law of averages, the society we're living in today, I'm in a valley of despair. You've come in, sang the songs, jumped in the air, but it's a desperation bid because the devil is so on you. There's such a despair. I know there are people here today that are contemplating suicide. I know it. The Holy Spirit speaking it to me. You come into the house of God. You say, God Almighty, you've got to speak to me. You've got to do something for me. Because I'm going to end it if it doesn't happen. There are others that your family, you're so discouraged because of I know even in our choir, we have mothers that have sons in prison, husbands in jail, so discouraged that there's never going to be victory in the home. So down and you come looking in the house of God for the answer. And would be to God you could find it today through what he's spoken in my heart from this pulpit. But the even deeper sense is that you could find it just dropping by the church on Wednesday or meeting me on the street. Or when we come into the house of God, that it wouldn't have you wouldn't have to wait till the curtain rises. There could be somebody so spiritually sensitive next to you doesn't have to know the situation, but can take your hand. So I want to pray for you and begin to speak and infuse life right into you. I was going through a very, very terrible struggle one time, very terrible here in New York. I saw a woman run over by a transport truck outside of Howard Johnson's, couldn't do anything to avert it. And by the time I got out in the street, she was dead. And the holy not the Holy Spirit, the enemy came and said, this is going to happen to one of your children if you keep. You know, folks, I know that's a lie, but it got into my spirit. I can't offer you a reason why I just got into my spirit and began to trouble my mind continuously. I had had a word like that spoken to me before coming to New York. And so it just began to compound one lie on top of another. And it began to bother me. And I remember I went to a service at Mount Zion School of Ministry midweek, and it got to the point where it was just eating my mind. You see, that's Goliath. That's Goliath roaring as Goliath saying, this is what's going to happen. This is where you're going to go. And I'm supposed to be the guy with all the answers, but I'm sitting there and I'm really struggling. I'm due to get up and speak in the service. Sister Catherine said, we've got to stop the service right now. The Holy Spirit told me that we need to pray for Pastor Carter. She called one of the students. She said, I want you to come out. She said, I was gifted with a mind and a heart to understand the voice of God. She said, lay your hands on him right now and whatever the Holy Spirit tells you to say, say it. And so he put his hands on. He's a kid. He puts his hands on me and says, this thing that the devil has spoken about your life and your home is not going to have the first words out of his mouth. The devil is alive. And then the whole school began to do warfare. The students stood up and began to just go right to the throne of God. And I felt this incredible release of this burden that had been dripping my mind for a long time because it was spoken into my life before I came here. And it was always in the background. There's like a worm that has never died. But that day it was broken once and forever and for all. Thanks be to God by a sensitive people, but by young people whose focus is not about themselves. They come to yield themselves to the purposes of God. And because of it, they have an open heaven and can do warfare. If a stranger were sitting in that place, he'd have to say, surely there's something here that the world doesn't have. I've never seen anything like this. Here's a man set free from an entanglement in his mind that the enemy has planted there. And with no outward expression, everything looks fine. There's hand clapping and singing going on. And all of a sudden everything stops because there's a discerning people there who care. The love has gone beyond themselves to the needs that are around them. And that's the cry of my heart for Times Square Church, that by God's grace, that we can become a compassionate body, a compassionate people, that we don't get into the habit of seeking for ourselves because there is a price to pay for that. And I want you to count the cost of not heeding what the Holy Spirit is saying today, a spiritual dullness, moral struggling and a sleepiness and a spiritual death because we have failed to understand what it means to become part of the body of Jesus Christ. This day, I'd like to give two altar calls. Now, please hear me carefully on this. First, it's for those that are in the valley of weeping. We're going to pray for you today. We're going to pray for you. And I'm going to ask all of us to stand and everyone who's in a valley of weeping right now, you're in the worst time of your life or one of them is certainly comparable with the worst. You're tormented in your mind. The enemy is trying to overpower you. I want you to come to this altar. Let's all stand and we're going to pray for you. The rest of the church, we're going to pray for you. Let's do this up in the balcony. You can go to either exit. Make your way down. Come to the altar, please. Those that are in the valley of weeping. And then we're going to pray for a second thing. So please, please hold with us. Make your way down. Now, I want you to see this. Everyone is here. I want you to see people who are really struggling today. It's not just a casual altar call. There's a lot of tears here already. People are really fighting against the devil. Some have given up, are looking for help in the house of God. And many of these folks attend this church regularly. Praise God. Just come, just keep coming. And I say it very lovingly today, but they shouldn't have to wait for a service to get free. There should be a sensitivity in us, all of us. Now, this is not. Please don't take that and get condemned with it, because that's not what it's about. It's to have that that pride. It says, God, please help me in this area. Help me to be sensitive to these folks that are really struggling here. And they're in the body. They're all around us. They've been worshipping today. They've been clapping their hands. But I know there's people here. How many here at this all? This is going to take a lot of courage today. But I want to know who it is that's been contemplating suicide. I want to pray for you. All right. Who else? Who else here? You've been contemplating suicide. Yes, you. OK, we're going to pray for you. Who else here? It's going to take courage because you're going to get set free today from this thing. You felt there's no reason to live. Hallelujah. This gentleman here, would somebody lay their hands at me? Yeah, please pray for him right now. We're going to pray. Father, we just we just break this spirit of suicide. We stand against it as a church. Devil, we rebuke you. We rebuke your thoughts and your lies. These are wonderful people of God. They're cleansed by the blood. They're the righteousness of Jesus Christ. They're loved by almighty God. There's a plan and a purpose for their lives. And I'm asking you today. I'm asking you. We're asking you as a church that you give them the power to stand up and fight. Give them the power, O God, to not power and bow down to the lies of the devil any longer. We break this curse of lies. We break this thought of hell. We break it in Christ's name. God, give them a vibrancy, a vibrant testimony. Cause them to stand up. Cause them, O God. Cause them to have life. Father, I thank you for it from the depths of my heart. I thank you for breaking this today. O God, breaking the spirit. And father, I give you. We give you the praise and the glory. We give you the praise and the glory for setting them free. My God, thank you. Thank you, Jesus. Thank you. Thank you, God. Now we're going to pray for those that are at this altar. Beloved, the whole church now. Education annex for those that have moved forward between the screens. Let's lift our voices up now for those that are at the altar among us. Father, God in heaven. Lord, firstly, forgive us. God, forgive us for our lack of compassion. God, we don't want to be a body that is indifferent. Lord, we want to know your mind. We want to walk in the power of the Holy Ghost. And father, I ask you now today that you bless these that have come to this altar. Bless them, O God. You said, Lord, those that have set their hearts on Christ will pass through this valley of weeping and leave behind a pool of blessing. God, I ask you to bless them. I don't know how else to do it. Holy Spirit, bless them. Bless them. Lift them out of all heaviness. Lord God, you said the anointing of the Holy Ghost would open prison doors and set captives free. You said the anointing would heal those that have been wounded and bruised in their heart. You said, O God, that people would be released from all kinds of mental torment and all the power of the devil. Lord, we tread upon now the power of evil. We tread upon all discouragement and all the lies of the devil. My God, we ask you to give these precious brothers and sisters the power to rise up. To rise up in the power of Christ and to take authority over the powers of the devil. To take authority over the lies of the enemy. Take authority over the despair. My God, thank you. My God, thank you for what you're doing. Thank you for the victory. Thank you for the release. Thank you, God. Thank you, Jesus, for what you're doing. Thank you, Lord. Hallelujah. Thank you, God. Thank you for setting them free. Thank you for freedom. Thank you for freedom. Freedom, freedom, freedom, freedom. Freedom from the power of hell. Freedom from the devil. Freedom. In Jesus' name, I speak freedom. Freedom. You don't have to bow down anymore. You can stand up. You can fight against the devil yourself. Stand up in the power of God. Stand up and take authority in Jesus' name. Thank you, Jesus. Thank you, Lord. Mighty God. Mighty God. Now listen, you will not be defeated. Say it with me. I will not be defeated. You will not be defeated. God is with you. The Holy Spirit is upon you. God's promises belong to you. Hallelujah. You will not be defeated. Not be defeated. You will not be defeated. The devil tries to tell you that you're going to go down in this struggle that you're not going to get through. There's no hope. There's no light at the end of the tunnel. Well, I tell you, he's a liar. He is a liar. He's going to sustain you. The end result of the devil is the lake of fire for all of eternity. You are going to the throne of God. You are going to the throne of God. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. You're going there. You're going there. We're going to meet again if we don't see each other on this side of eternity. We're going to meet at the throne and we're going to rejoice for all of eternity. We're going to rejoice. Your weeping may endure for a night, but joy is coming in the morning. Joy is coming. Joy that's unspeakable and full of glory is coming. Thank you, Jesus, for the rest of us. Lord Jesus, help me to be sensitive and to understand what it means to be part of the body of Jesus Christ. You commanded me to love all these brethren as you have loved me. Oh, Holy Spirit, I call you now to make this a reality. In my life, take me beyond myself and into the life of Christ. I yield my life for this. And God, I thank you. And I believe that from this day forward, I will be a different person because of the life of Jesus within me. Mighty God, I thank you in Jesus' mighty name. Amen. Amen. This is the conclusion of the message.