In this sermon, the speaker emphasizes the importance of knowing and desiring Jesus above all else. He discusses the upcoming difficult days that the world will face and reminds the audience that God is powerful and will protect them. The speaker also highlights the tendency for people to react differently to different situations, sometimes succumbing to negative emotions and desires. He uses the story of David and Nabal to illustrate how the Word of the Lord can intervene and prevent us from acting in ways that are not pleasing to God. The sermon emphasizes the need for purification and testing of our motives, even when faced with evil individuals.

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 WORLDCHALLENGE PO 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. My message tonight is called Evil Men in the Plan of God. Evil Men in the Plan of God. Psalm 94. Father, I thank you for the anointing of your Holy Spirit. I thank you for your strength and your power in this house tonight. And I know in my heart, Lord, that you love with an unfathomable love every person who has come into this house tonight. From every background, from every situation, every kindred, Lord, every kind of situation imaginable. Lord, you know them all. You are walking in the midst of every trial. You're walking in the midst of every difficulty with every person who's come here tonight. And you love us, you love every one of us, Lord, with an unsearchable love. And Lord, I ask tonight for an anointing of that love to literally fall like an ocean from heaven upon every heart, upon every life. Lord, that you would bathe us in that love and that you would anoint your word to release every heart, to release every life from every grip of darkness that would be against, formed against the testimony that you would want to form in the hearts and lives of your children. I thank you, Jesus, that you're my comforter, you're my guide, you're my friend, you're my strength, you're my life. You are everything that I have. I cherish you, I treasure you. I ask, Lord, tonight that I might be able to bring you out of the words of this Bible, Lord, in a way that people can lay hold of it and take it home as a treasure, O God. A treasure that they can hold close to their heart for all of eternity. We love you tonight, Jesus, in this house. We want to tell you that we love you. We thank you that you send your word to heal us and you send your word to deliver us. So I stand in the strength of the Holy Spirit tonight and I thank you, God, that your purposes will be accomplished in every life and at every heart. We give you all the praise and all the glory. Father, in Jesus' name, hallelujah. There's nothing that's any greater a need in any one of our lives. You're welcome. There's no greater need in any one of our lives in this hour that we're living in than to know Jesus, to desire him, to have his heart. I'm going to be speaking on Sunday a message called Keeping the Fire of God and there is no other way than to love him and to desire him and to do it his way. I feel that some difficult days are ahead for all of the world, not just New York City, but the entire known world. There are some difficult days ahead of us. But in the midst of those difficult days, the good news is that we have a great, big, powerful, wonderful God. And he said, I will hide you under the shadow of my wings until these calamities are over past you. Hallelujah. One of the things as a young Christian that I had a hard time to understand is how evil men can so seemingly prosper against the righteous. I remember when I was young in the Lord that it was so hard for me not to strap on my sword and, you know, there were, before I got saved, folks, I've got to be honest with you tonight, before I got saved there were some people that they would look at me the wrong way and they'd wear their teeth on their shoes. And I tell you that with a, not with a boastful heart or anything like that, that was not the right way to live. But when you get saved, it's sometimes hard to lay down those tendencies and to let God fight for you. And sometimes it's a cry that comes into the heart of even those that have walked with the Lord for quite a season. It's O God, in Psalm 94, he says, O Lord God, to whom vengeance belongeth, O Lord God, to whom vengeance belongeth, show thyself, lift up thyself, thou judge of the earth, and render a reward to the proud. That's Psalm 94. Lord, how long shall the wicked, how long shall the wicked triumph? How long shall they utter and speak hard things and all the workers of iniquity boast themselves? They break in pieces thy people, O Lord, and afflict thine heritage. They slay the widow and the stranger and murder the fatherless. Yet they say the Lord shall not see and neither shall the God of Jacob regard it. Understand, ye brutish among the people and ye fools, when will you be wise? He that planted the ear shall he not hear and he that formed the eye shall he not see? He that chastised the heathen shall he not correct? He that teaches man knowledge shall he not know? The Lord knoweth the thoughts of man that they are vanity. Blessed is the man whom thou chastenest, O Lord, and teachest him out of thy law, that thou mayest give him rest from the days of adversity until the pit be digged for the wicked. For the Lord will not cast off his people, neither will he forsake his inheritance. For judgment shall return unto righteousness and all the upright in heart shall follow it. Who will rise up for me against the evildoers? Or who will stand up for me against the workers of iniquity? Unless the Lord had been my help, my soul had almost dwelt in silence. When I set my foot slip, with thy mercy, O Lord, held me up. In the multitude of my thoughts, within me thy comforts delight my soul. Shall the throne of iniquity have fellowship with thee, which frameth mischief by law? They gather themselves together against the soul of the righteous and condemn the innocent blood. But the Lord is my defense, and my God is the rock of my refuge. He shall bring upon them their own iniquity and shall cut them off in their own wickedness. Yea, the Lord our God shall cut them off. And we hear the anguish of the psalmist in Psalm 94, verse 1. Lord, show thyself. And I believe with all my heart that that's certainly been the cry of my life at times and quite possibly the cry of some of your lives in this house tonight. It seems that there are wicked workers that have been raised up against you. Not necessarily outside of the church, sometimes even inside of the church. False apostles, deceitful workers raised up and throwing evil words and evil suggestions in your direction. And there's a cry that's in the heart Oh God, show yourself. Don't let these people prosper in what they're doing. In verse 3 he says, How long shall the wicked triumph? You see, many, many righteous people throughout history and even today find themselves oppressed by evil persons whose schemes and scorning and oppression can make even the most noble of saints see the wicked sometimes from a false perspective. As if they are in a position of triumph. And that's what the psalmist is saying. How long shall the wicked triumph? Folks, they're not triumphing. They may have won one battle but the war is not over yet. You get to the end of the book and you see that they haven't triumphed at all. In reality, they're not in a triumphant position. They are completely under the authority of and in the plan of God. It's a hard truth sometimes to hear but there are evil people who even fit into the plan of God. They're part of the plan of God. And I'm going to show you how this works. Now one of the classic examples of this is Judas. Now go to the book of John, please, chapter 6. John chapter 6. Now Judas was one of the 12 disciples that were chosen by Jesus. Judas did not just slip in to the inner circle of those that had been selected to follow Christ. He was chosen and he was chosen for a particular thing or a multitude of things probably that were in his life. In Simon Peter in verse 68 in John chapter 6, Simon Peter answered him, Lord, he said, to whom shall we go? Thou hast the words of eternal life and we believe and are sure that thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. Jesus answered them, he said, Have not I chosen you 12 and one of you is a devil? This spake he of Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon, for he it was that should betray him being one of the 12. Now go to John chapter 12. John chapter 12. Verse 6. Now this is a situation where Lazarus had been raised from the dead. They're in the home of Mary, Martha and Lazarus and Mary took a pound of ointment of spikenard very costly and anointed the feet of Jesus and wiped his feet with her hair. The scripture says, The house was filled with the odor of the ointment. And now one of the disciples, Judas Iscariot, Simon's son, which should betray him, said was not this, why was not this ointment sold for 300 pence and given to the poor? He said this. He said not because he cared for the poor, but because he was a thief and had the bag and bear what was put therein. So first of all, Jesus says, I've chosen a man and this particular man is a devil. In other words, the devil's heart is manifested in him. The devil controls him. The devil controls how he thinks and what he does. And not only that, but he was a thief and this didn't catch Jesus by surprise. Jesus knew this was a man who was a thief, but he needed him for his particular plan and purpose to be fulfilled. He didn't care about the poor. He was the treasurer, in other words, for this group. And he was dipping his hand in the bag continually and using it for his own purposes. And God the Son knew that. Now, in John chapter 13, go ahead. The disciples now are at the Last Supper and Judas is full of himself. He is a son of pride. Just like the devil was a son of pride. In John chapter 13, let's begin at verse 21. When Jesus had thus said, he was troubled in spirit and testified and said, Verily, verily, I say unto you that one of you shall betray me. Then the disciples looked one on another doubting of whom he spake. Neither was leaning on Jesus' bosom one of his disciples whom Jesus loved. Simon Peter therefore beckoned to him that he should ask who it should be of whom he spake. He then lying on Jesus' breast said unto him, Lord, who is it? Jesus answered, He it is to whom I shall give a sop when I have dipped it. When he had dipped the sop, he gave it to Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon. And after the sop, Satan entered into him. Then said Jesus unto him, That thou doest do quickly. Now, this is an incredible scenario here because the sop and dip, if you were living back in those days and you wanted to hold a banquet and you were sitting around a table and wanted to honor a particular person, you would take a piece of bread and dip it in the wine and the person you handed it to you would, in effect, be honoring that particular person. And so Jesus knew who was going to betray him. He took the bread, he dipped it in the juice which represented his blood and then he gave it to Judas, a man who was full of pride. He's sitting there at the table, the others are listening, they're trying to understand what the master plan is for the life of Christ and the mission and the purpose of Christ. But Judas is sitting there and he has it all down in his own heart. He says, I'm above the others, I have the plan. And when he was, when Jesus handed this to him, I believe that he took that as a sign that his plan was, in fact, the right one. And Satan entered into him. He was a man who was blinded by his own ambition, totally blinded. Some say he just betrayed him because he was a thief. Others say he betrayed him because he just didn't like the way the plan was unfolding. He knew that Jesus could raise the dead. He knew he could walk on water. He knew he could still the wind and the waves. He was a zealot and he wanted the kingdom of God to come quickly. He wasn't willing to wait and have it done God's way. He was a stubborn man, full of pride. And perhaps he took that as a sign that it's just you and me, you've got the plan. Yes, he was, in fact, in the plan of God, but not in the way that he thought. I've often thought, just as a police officer, a former police officer, that if Judas just betrayed Jesus for the money, usually when I've seen a man betray somebody's life just for money, they're usually so hard and so calloused, they walk away and don't care what happens to that person. If it was just for the money, it really doesn't make sense to me he would go back into the temple and cast it down and go and hang himself. If he was that depraved and that given over. Certainly that is in the realm of possibility. But I kind of feel in my heart that Judas felt, I'm going to give the kingdom of God just a little push. I know who this man is. And I'm going to force his hand. I'm going to send him into the midst of all of the religious and pharisaical system and the Roman legal system. And I know with one word he can blow them all down. And I've heard him talk about his kingdom and I'm tired of waiting for this kingdom to come. And so I'm just going to give him a little hand and maybe get a few pieces of silver for myself along the way. He was a thief. He was a man driven by ambition. He had the heart of the devil in him. But Jesus had chosen him because he was part of God's master plan. You see folks, without a Judas there wouldn't have been a Calvary. There had to be a betrayer. There had to be somebody who would go and fulfill the Old Testament scripture that says the price that I was bargained for was 30 pieces of silver. Judas was the son of perdition that was prophesied about in the Old Testament that he would be lost. He would be the one that would be used to betray the Son of God. And in reality his soul would be lost and could never be redeemed. Now, Psalm 59. If you'll turn back there please with me. Psalm 59. Psalm 59. Deliver me, the psalmist says. David says, for mine enemies, O my God, defend me from them that rise up against me. Deliver me from the workers of iniquity and save me from bloody men. Judas thought that his plan was unfolding. The Pharisees thought that their plan was unfolding. Everybody that hated Christ thought that their plan was unfolding. And yet, even though there were many evil people involved, not only Judas, the plan of God was going ahead full steam for you and for me, for our redemption. Deliver me from the workers of iniquity and save me from bloody men. For lo, they lie and wait for my soul. Verse 3. The mighty are gathered against me, not for my transgression nor for my sin, O Lord. They run and prepare themselves without my fault and wait to help me and behold. Thou therefore, O Lord, God of hosts, the God of Israel, awake to visit all the heathen. Be not merciful to any wicked transgressors, say thou. They return at evening. They make a noise like a dog and go round about the city. Behold, they belch out with their mouths. Swords are on their lips. For who, say they, doth hear? But thou, O Lord, shalt laugh at them. Thou shalt have all the heathen in derision. In other words, God has a master plan. And even though it seems that evil people are prospering for a season, God says, the word of the Lord says, God shall laugh at them. He shall have all of them in derision. Absolute confusion. Because of his strength, David says, will I wait upon thee? For God is my defense. God is my defense. Even evil men have a purpose in the plan of God. There were some who would say here tonight, now how can evil men possibly be in the plan of God for my life? How can I understand this thing? I'm going to give you three examples of how evil men can be used. I mean, obviously, if I say men, it includes women too as well. That can be used as part of the plan of God for your life. Now, go to the book of 1 Samuel, please, in the Old Testament. 1 Samuel. Do you love his word? 1 Samuel. Now, firstly, evil men are sent to purify and test the motives of the righteous. I want to say that again. You know, if you have a pen tonight, we're going to be doing a little bit of a study in a moment. It would be wise to get it. If there's anything you can write on in your Bible, any piece of paper you can get a hold of. I think this will help you because every one of us in our lives encounter people that we just know, we hope they come to God, but some of them won't come to God. And some are just given to evil. And we say, Lord, how can these people be part of your plan for my life? Now, firstly, evil men are sent to purify and test the motives of the righteous. Now, in 1 Samuel, chapter 24, just go back one chapter. Now, David has been pursued by Saul and Saul has wanted to kill David. And you know the story about how Saul went up into a cave and David and all his men were in the cave and some of the servants of David said, here's Saul. He's come into the cave. Just let's kill him. God's delivered him into our hands. Now you see in 1 Samuel, chapter 24, verse 10, David said to Saul, verse 9, says, David said to Saul, wherefore, hearst thou men's words, saying, behold, David, seeketh thy hurt. Verse 10, he says, behold, this day, thine eyes have seen how that the Lord had delivered thee today into my hand in the cave. And some bade me kill thee, but mine eyes spared thee. And I said, I will not put forth my hand against my Lord, for he is the Lord's anointed. Moreover, he says in verse 11, my father see the skirt of thy robe in my hand, for in that I cut off the skirt of thy robe and kill thee not. Know thou and see that there is neither evil nor transgression in my hand, and I have not sinned against you, yet you hunt my soul to take it. Verse 13, he says, as saith the proverb of the ancients, wickedness proceedeth from the wicked, but my hand shall not be upon thee. Now, this is very noble of David, very righteous of David. He says, in other words, he's saying, wickedness, if I were a wicked man, he was saying, in effect, then I would do a wicked thing. He said, but my hand shall not be upon thee. In other words, he's saying, I am a righteous man. I will not do this thing because I know you are the Lord's anointed. And he says in verse 15, he says, the Lord therefore be judge, and judge between me and thee, and see and plead my cause, and deliver me out of thine hand. Now that's a right attitude, it's a right heart. David says, the Lord will judge between you and me, and the Lord will plead my cause, and the Lord will deliver me out of your hand. Now, this is wonderful, and this is admirable in the heart of David. And there are many, many people who come to church and profess to love God. It's, if I were to preach a message tonight on loving God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength, and loving your neighbor as yourself, there would be many, many people respond to the altar and say, yes, I do love God, and yes, I do love my neighbor. And there are many who profess in church to love God and their fellow man. But God may allow an evil man to be placed before you to test the truth of this profession. Or as God already knows all things, to expose an area of your heart that requires a deeper working of grace. We can easily, anybody in the house of the Lord can say, I love, oh God, I love people just the way you do. You see, this is what David was saying. I will not touch the Lord's anointed. I will, wickedness proceeds from the wicked, but my hand will not be upon you. And he's making an incredible pronouncement. But in chapter 25, all of a sudden, things begin to change. Maybe David's feeling very good about himself. I could have killed him, but I didn't. You know, sometimes we can get to feeling pretty good about ourselves. When certain circumstances happen in the workplace, in our community, in our home, I could have killed him, but I didn't kill him. I could have slayed him with my tongue. I could have slandered him. I could have turned him in. I could have done this. I could have done that. But I didn't do it because I'm not wicked, because the spirit of God is within me. And we come to church feeling pretty good about ourselves. Say, Lord, I love my neighbor, oh God, just like you love my neighbor. And then all of a sudden, just one chapter over, there's this man called Nabal. This happens virtually in a breath from what happened with Saul. And David's men used to live in the wilderness and they used to guard his sheep and guard everything he had. And then David sends a group of young men over to Nabal to say, listen, we're hungry and we protected you when we were in the wilderness. Now we need some sheep and we need some food and we need some bread and things like that. And Nabal rails on the men when he comes and he says in verse 10, he says, Nabal answered David's servants and said, who is David? And who is the son of Jesse? There be many servants nowadays that break away every man from his master. Shall I then take my bread and my water and my flesh that I have killed from my shearers and give it unto men whom I know not whence they be? In other words, Nabal says, David's just a runaway slave. That's all he is. Run away from his master. Why should I help him? Now, in verse 13, and David said to his men, there's a little change in heart from just about a couple days before, gird on every man his sword. And they girded on every man his sword and David also girded on his sword. And they went up after David about 400 men and 200 men bowed by the stuff. In other words, David said, there's not going to be, by morning light, there will be one male person left in the camp of Nabal. We're going to kill the whole works of them. This man has rewarded me evil for good. Now, what a change from his attitude just a chapter before towards Saul. You see, evil men will be sent to purify and test the motives of the righteous. And whenever we set out, there are some here tonight that are, you're setting out to do something to somebody that's harmed you. You didn't intend, you wouldn't have done it a month ago and you maybe wouldn't have done it a year ago, but something happened. It just is another person, it's just another circumstance. Sometimes it hits you unaware. I mean, you can stand seemingly in the face of all obstacles and all trials and you could have somebody come against you with the power of a hurricane and you can stand and resist them with a humble spirit like David did before Saul and say, I'm not going to do this thing. I'm not going to raise my hand. But all of a sudden, somebody of insignificance and that neighbor was just an insignificant person. Somebody of insignificance comes and tells a lie about you at work or starts a rumor about you in your neighborhood. And it seems like you had all the power of heaven at your disposal to perhaps turn away from one situation, but the next one, something gets into the heart and you say, that's enough. That's absolutely enough of that. I'm going to put an end to this right now. And so David takes 400 men and there's no doubt in his mind what he's going to do. I'm going to kill him and I'm going to kill every man in his camp for what he's done to me. What a different heart from what he had had before Saul when he was in the cave. But how many know that the word of the Lord will always come and stop us from doing things that are not right in the sight of God. Very often, evil men will be sent to purify and test our motives. And in verse 23, the word of the Lord now came through Abigail, the wife of Nabal. When Abigail saw David, she hasted, in verse 23, and lighted off the ass and fell before David on her face and bowed herself to the ground and fell at his feet and said, Upon me, my Lord. Upon me, let this iniquity be. Let thine handmaid, I pray thee, speak in thine audience and hear the words of thine handmaid. Let not, my Lord, I pray thee, regard this man of Belial, even Nabal. For as his name is, so is he. Nabal is his name and folly is with him. But I, thine handmaid, saw not the young men of my Lord whom thou didst send. Now, therefore, my Lord, as the Lord liveth and as thy soul liveth, seeing the Lord as withholding thee from coming to shed blood and from avenging thyself with thine own hand, now let thine enemies be as they that seek evil to my Lord. Be as Nabal. In verse 28, she says, Listen, I pray thee, forgive the trespass of thine handmaid. For the Lord will certainly make my Lord a sure house because my Lord fights the battles of the Lord and evil has not been found in thee all thy days. Yet a man is risen to pursue thee and to seek thy soul. But the soul of my Lord shall be bound in the bundle of life with the Lord thy God. And the souls of thine enemies, them, this is God, shall he sling out as out of the middle of a sling. And it shall come to pass when the Lord shall have done to my Lord according to all the good that he has spoken concerning thee and shall have appointed thee a ruler over Israel, that this shall be no grief unto thee nor offense of heart unto my Lord, either that thou hast shed blood causeless or that my Lord has avenged himself. But when the Lord shall have dealt well with my Lord, then remember thine handmaid. In other words, she's saying, God's going to establish you. God's promises to you are sure they are true. There's only one thing that can really hurt you in all of this, is that you lose all trusting in him. And this is what the Lord was saying. The word of the Lord came to David through Abigail. And the Lord was speaking through this humble handmaiden of the Lord and he was saying to David, You have trusted me all this time and I have defended you and I have avenged you and you have seen that I can even put your enemies right in your hand. David, why would you spoil our relationship? Why would you spoil it by setting out to shed blood now? By avenging yourself? So that when I have established you as king of Israel, this thing will be a grief to your heart. It will be a continuous grief throughout your life. You will have you will always remember the time that you didn't trust in me and the time that you took things in your own hands. And folks, I want to tell you something. When we take things into our own hands, it has repercussions for years after sometimes. Better to let the Lord defend us. Better to hold our peace. Better to trust him for strength. Better to hear his word. I believe this word tonight has come and is turning some of you back from doing something that you would regret for many, many years to come. David said to Abigail, Blessed be the Lord God of Israel which sent thee this day to meet me and blessed be thy advice and blessed be thou which has kept me this day from coming to shed blood and from avenging myself with my own hand. We are not to avenge ourselves with our own hand. The book of Matthew chapter 5, Matthew chapter 5, verse 43, Jesus said, You have heard that it has been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbor and hate thine enemy. But I say unto you, Love your enemies. Bless them that curse you. Do good to them that hate you. Pray for them which despitefully use you and persecute you. That you may be the children of your Father which is in heaven. For he makes his son to rise on the evil and on the good and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. For if you love them which love you, what reward have you? Do not even the publicans or sinners, in other words, the same? And if you salute your brethren only, what do you more than others? Do not even the publicans so? Be you therefore perfect, even as your Father in heaven is perfect. Number two, evil men are sent to confirm the fact that the righteous are on the pathway of truth. Let me say that again, evil men are sent to confirm the fact that the righteous are on the pathway of truth. Look at Matthew chapter 27 with me please. Matthew 27, evil men in the plan of God. Jesus was on the pathway of truth. Judas had betrayed him. The devil thought he had him. The scribes and Pharisees thought they had triumphed over him. In verse 39, in Matthew chapter 27, it says, This is the end of salvation. Passed by the devil. Jesus was on pathway of truth. scribes and Pharisees he had over him. Passed by the devil. he had triumphed over him. which were crucified with him. Cast the same in his teeth. In other words, he cast the same insults at him. There were evil men all around him while he was on the cross at Calvary. And what they were doing is confirming that in fact he was fulfilling the will of God his father. They were confirming the fact that he was on the pathway of truth. Matthew chapter 5, if you go back there with me, Matthew chapter 5 verse 11. Jesus said, Blessed are ye when men shall revile you and persecute you and say all men are of evil against you falsely for my sake. Rejoice and be exceeding glad for great is your reward in heaven for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you. Blessed are you when men shall revile you. When people say evil things about you, if you know in your heart you love God, you know you're walking on the pathway of God, then family members or some ex-family members come and start telling you you're insane. People at work start telling you you're an idiot and you've lost your mind. People in your neighborhood start vicious evil rumors about you and even those that perhaps you trusted at one time start things about you but you know in your heart, you know in your heart that you're on the pathway of truth and they begin to revile you. Then Jesus said you are blessed when men shall revile you and when they see evil against you falsely for my sake, he says rejoice and be exceeding glad for great is your reward in heaven. These evil persons have been sent to confirm the fact that you are indeed on the pathway of truth. Don't get bitter, get blessed. You can walk out of some of these situations and say, Lord, I'm blessed, I'm blessed, I'm blessed. God, I know my heart is clean, I know my heart is pure, I know my pure, I know my heart is pure, I know my heart is pure, I know my heart is pure, I know my heart is pure, I know my pure, I know my heart is pure, I know my pure, I know my know my know my pure, I know my pure, I know my pure, I 公司 Don't be envious against the workers of iniquity in other words. Don't shout out to me and say Lord How long will the wicked triumph over me? This is God's part in verse 2 He says for they shall soon be cut down like the grass and wither as the green herb Hallelujah, God says fret not don't be envious I'm going to cut them down like the grass and they're gonna wither up and just die. They're gonna go away verse 3 our part again trust in the Lord and do good Trust in the Lord and do good now Here's God's part so shalt thou dwell in the land and verily thou shalt be fed God says I will look after you even in times of famine even in difficult times You will be fed you come into the house of God. There'll be a preacher there He'll open this book and there'll be food for you You will learn what it is to triumph over the powers of darkness trust in me and do good do good in verse 4 he says delight thyself also in the Lord delight thyself in the Lord and He shall give thee the desires of thine heart. My part is to delight myself in the Lord my part When things start going in a difficult way against me Is to go home and open this book and begin to delight myself in the ways of God Say Lord show me my heart lead me in a pathway of truth Lord, don't let me ever Stretch out my hand and begin to take vengeance in my own strength Help me to control my tongue Let the words of my mouth the meditation of my heart be acceptable in thy sight Oh Lord, my strength and my Redeemer help me to walk in a godly way I want to delight myself in you delighting ourselves in the Lord is saying Lord What would you do in a situation like this? How would you respond Lord? Give me the power of the Holy Spirit Captivate everything in my heart Lord that is unlike you that wants to respond in a manner that will bring disgrace to your name That when you finally give me the victory Lord I it will be a reproach on you that I have taken this thing into my own hand that I have done Harm to another person that perhaps may have been able to come to you through this Delighted the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart Verse 5 commit thy way unto the Lord and trust also in him in other words commit What is Proverbs chapter 3 verse 5 say trust not in yourself? Don't lean on your own understanding in all your ways acknowledge him and he will direct your paths Commit thy way unto the Lord trust also in him and he shall bring it to pass. God is faithful God is faithful I have walked almost 20 years with the Lord now and I have seen this time and time and time and time again Fulfilled I have been working on a church I remember my younger years and in came the sand ballots and the Tobias's and all the ones that want to slap and Scorn and say even if a fox runs on the wall, it's going to fall over I've heard their evil words and it's been I've had to ask God for every ounce of strength of him That's within me not to respond to them and like kind There were people that were sent into the church to get To try to sow bitterness in my spirit so that it would begin to come across in Everything that I would preach in the pulpit and thus take away from what Christ wanted to do among the people It has been a constant battle, but I want to tell you I have seen the faithfulness of God I have watched everything that he said in this psalm come to pass I've watched every enemy fall and I don't delight in it. The book of Proverbs says don't delight when your enemy falls I don't delight when my enemy falls like I grieve for them I wish that every man could come to the saving knowledge of Christ but reality says that there are some and the Word of God says there are some who just fitted to Destruction who will never come to the knowledge of God. They will never turn from their sin They're just simple evil man, and somehow they find themselves part of the plan of God Commit your way unto the Lord and trust in him and he shall bring it to pass Verse 6 as he shall bring forth thy righteousness as the light and thy judgment as the noonday Folks there might be somebody telling lies about you at work this very day But if you will commit yourself to the Lord delight yourself in him trust in him not be envious Don't fret against evil workers. He said he will bring forth your righteousness as the light and I judgment as the noonday. I Remember one time being in the workplace and I won't say what kind of a workplace it was but there was a man who absolutely hated me because I was a Christian and Because I wouldn't do some of the things that some of the other people were doing And I remember he walked into the office one day and he pointed his finger at me and he said common You're gone. You're you're gone out of here. You're finished. You're gone And I guess to make a long story short about five years later. Everybody else was gone and I was still there Hallelujah Hallelujah, God will fight for those who stand for truth There were some things that just wouldn't do because they weren't right they were wrong and I simply just wouldn't do it Because I had come to Christ and he was now the Savior of my of my soul and it says commit your way He will bring forth your righteousness as the light and I judgment as the noonday Rest in the Lord verse 7 and wait patiently for him fret not again with Thyself because of him who prospers in his way because of the man who bringeth wicked devices to pass fret not There's somebody I'm speaking directly to somebody's heart here tonight There's somebody sitting here tonight. That's the people are slandering you left and right because of your testimony for Christ But the Lord's Word it's like it's like Abigail when she stood before David She said don't do this thing Don't raise your hand in your own defense Humble yourself in the sight of God humble yourself before those that close your mouth and don't raise your hand Rest in the Lord wait patiently for him and fret not because of him who prospers in his way because of the man who brings wicked devices to pass verse 8 cease from anger and Forsake wrath fret not thyself in any wise to do evil Now don't do any kind of evil cease from anger and forsake wrath. Don't do anything that is wrong This is what God's saying verse 9. Now. This is God's part. That's our part. This is God's part now for evil Doers shall be cut off But those that wait upon the Lord they shall inherit the earth For yet a little while and the wicked shall not be Yea, thou shall diligently consider his place and it shall not be Folks I have seen this over and over and over and over and over again I have been in places where evil men have risen up against me They have opened their mouths as if as if they could say anything they want somehow They're not going to stand it under any kind of the judgment of God I have made a choice to do it God's way made a choice to go into the prayer closet made a choice to ask the Holy Spirit for strength that only God can give when you're in those situations You know, especially a situation like naval especially where what's within your power to literally wipe somebody off the face of the earth You can open your mouth and destroy them. But God says hold back. Let me do this thing Don't don't shed blood yourself. Don't defend yourself. God says I'm going to establish you I'm going to raise you up and don't let this be a blight Don't let it be something that will hinder our relationship because you have not trusted in me and you've taken this thing into your own hand Just a little while he says and you will diligently consider his place and it shall not be And over the years I've seen person after person after person rise up against the work of God and now 15 18 20 years later. I look back and I diligently consider their place and they're not there anymore I don't even know where they've gone to most are not even living for the Lord anymore They weren't living for God. Anyway in the first place the whole being in the church was just a religious pretense They were simply evil men in the plan of God and folks. I want to tell you something Don't avenge yourself vengeance is mine saith the Lord. I will repay I will repay But the meek shall inherit the earth and shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace The wicked plots against the just and gnashes upon him with his teeth The Lord shall laugh at him for the Lord sees that his day is coming The wicked have drawn out the sword They have bent their bow to cast down the poor and needy and to slay such as be of upright conversation their sword shall enter into their own heart and Their bones shall be broken These are promises of God a little that a righteous man hath is better than the riches of many wicked For the arms of the wicked shall be broken But the Lord upholdeth the righteous The Lord knoweth the days of the upright and their inheritance shall be forever They shall not be ashamed in the evil time and in the days of famine. They shall be satisfied But the wicked shall perish and the enemies of the Lord shall be as the fat of lambs. They shall consume Into smoke shall they consume away? Hallelujah Hallelujah Evil men are sent to show the righteous the power of God that's available to those who walk in the truth Father help us Help us father help us Holy Spirit Help us to have the heart of Christ Lord you had a betrayer sitting at your very table and yet you told him do what you do it do it quickly You knew that his end was coming You knew that disaster was before him You knew that he had been selected because God's purposes had to be fulfilled God help us to understand tonight That when evil men come our way sometimes you have a plan you have a purpose in it Sometimes you are working out an area of character in our lives Sometimes you are showing us or desiring to show us your power We Know one thing tonight That if we walk in truth That evil men will never triumph over us never The father I asked tonight for courage and for grace and for strength for everyone who's come into this house To be able to lay down all grievances All setting out to do evil to another person Responding in like kind speaking unkind and evil words about others That attitude of heart that says I'll get them before they get me Lord We would rather have you as our defender We would rather that your plan your purposes be worked out And if possible, we would ask that you would save these people that are being used to cause harm and good to others in our lives Lord, we're not asking for their their their demise. We're not asking for their their death or hurt Lord we asking that you would save them Lord turn them around and use their tongues for righteousness use their lives for truth When you're on the cross, they wag their heads and tongues at you Lord, and you said father forgive them They don't know what they're doing and many of those were found among those in the day of Pentecost who came to you and were Saved and gave their lives for the truth Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah Would you stand with me? Now there are people tonight That I honestly believe that this word has been sent just like Abigail was sent to David to stop you from doing something I've felt it so strongly in my heart today to stop you from doing something to stop you from speaking some things To put an end to an attitude of heart towards another person Whether that person is unsaved whether that person is a Christian or not a Christian or professing Christian is not the issue Somebody has done something They've done evil or doing evil to you and you've either taken or attempted to take matters into your own hands. I Want to give you an opportunity tonight David said Oh Blessed be the Lord and thank you God for this word that you've sent to me For you have stopped me from doing this thing and we know that God was going to raise David up and he would be a mighty Shepherd King over Israel And God sent this this word to stop him from doing something that would harm his relationship with him And I believe tonight that God has sent this word to stop some in this house from doing something that would harm your relationship He wants to raise you up. He wants to use you wants to give you your your heart Give you a righteous heart and a righteous life that will be a signpost to many to find the kingdom of God And tonight at this altar, you're going to be able to say Lord. I've released this situation into the hands of God I need grace now to forgive I need grace to pray for these people. I need grace to bless them Lord I come to this altar tonight for strength If that's you tonight Would you slip out of wherever you are and would you come to this altar and we're gonna pray together and believe God for a mighty Mighty miracle in your life tonight a mighty miracle The Lord is he loves you and he has sent a word to stop you from doing something That will be harmful to your soul If we confess our sins Bible says he's faithful and just to forgive our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness Now Jesus tells a parable Of a man that was forgiven a great great debt But then he went out and found somebody that owed him Something that was so insignificant in comparison to what he owed And he went and took that man by the throat and choked him and said pay me what you owe me You know and very often that's the attitude of many of our lives We're forgiven a great great debt and we come to the Lord and say Jesus. Thank you Lord. I could never have repaid you I cursed your name. I Bet you there's nobody this altar hasn't cursed the name of the Lord sometime before you maybe there's somebody raised in a Christian home That hasn't but very very few You I've lied about you and to you. I did things Lord that dishonored you and There was no way I could ever repay What I had done, but you forgave me the debt. I Owed you a debt that was so great That only your shed blood could ever have paid what I owed to God and you came and you forgave me And in our hearts we have to say Lord, how how could I take vengeance against somebody that does anything to me Anything that anybody owes me in comparison to what I owed you is so insignificant that I'm not justified in Not releasing them from the debt. And that's what you've come to this altar to do tonight You've in effect in releasing them from the debt you release yourself from Just a torment that the scripture says comes on those who refuse to forgive But we need God's grace. Don't we to do this? But he's willing to give us grace and I'm gonna ask you on behalf of the Lord tonight to do something Everybody here has come to this altar with a particular person in mind or persons that have hurt you and tonight you need grace But as you release them, we're gonna ask for the grace that starting tonight that you can pray for these people You can not only forgive them, but you can pray for them. And then as the opportunity arises you can bless them Do do what God would do you can bless them You know, you'll have to let the Lord speak to you about how to do that a nice card perhaps Maybe bless them by just asking their forgiveness if that's possible to do that So I've harbored things in my heart against you and I'm gonna pray for you boy If you want to bring somebody under conviction in your workplace or neighborhood You say I'm I'm gonna forgive you for what you've said and I'm God spoken to me I'm gonna pray for you every day. No, I'm gonna pray for you You talk about bringing somebody under conviction hallelujah hallelujah Pastor David preached the message one time about he said get even with your enemies by praying for them and loving them to death just love them just love them Right into the kingdom of God But we need his strength Let's pray together tonight Lord Jesus Thank you For sending your word to me Just like Abigail came to David and Stopped him from doing something wrong tonight Your word has come. I Love your word and your word is stopping me from taking some situations Into my own hands, I released this situation and I released the people involved From their debt to me. I forgive them for the wrong things that they have done and I released both them and this situation Into your hands Jesus tonight I need grace to forgive and I want to thank you for giving me grace. It has to be you and your strength in me. I Need grace to pray for my enemies. I need grace to bless them Show me some way that I can do kindness to those that have done wrong to me. I Love you Jesus and I thank you that I can come to you and find forgiveness for my sin and grace to help in my time of need I Thank you tonight Lord that you have enabled me To put the sword of my wrath Back in its sheath again. I can raise my hands up to you and Trust in you with all of my heart. I Love you, Lord. I love you. Lord. I love you Lord Now teach me tonight To love my neighbor as much as I love myself Thank you Lord, thank you for the truth of your word that has set me free Hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah Hallelujah, hallelujah Hallelujah folks There's nothing better for the soul After you get saved in forgiving those who have wronged you release them release them write it off. Let it go Release them. It's not worth harboring anything It's not worth keeping it because all it will do is bring you into bondage and give the enemy an avenue to torment you Hallelujah, this is the conclusion of the tape