In this sermon, the preacher emphasizes the power and grace of God in transforming lives. He speaks about the future kingdom where there will be no more sorrow, tears, or sighing. The preacher also addresses the experience of facing sudden violence and betrayal, even from those who claim to know Christ. He highlights the importance of living a righteous life and trusting in God's judgment. The sermon concludes with the assurance that God will ultimately swallow up death and bring victory, despite its presence in various aspects of life.

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, Lindell, 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. The Holy Spirit has called me this morning to come with an encouraging message for those that are experiencing rejection. And you're experiencing rejection because of Jesus Christ. I believe that God is going to give you a perspective on this and, of course, that will comfort you and then, of course, those who are not experiencing rejection for Jesus Christ, two possibilities. There's no evidence of Christ in you. And the second possibility that it is coming your way very, very shortly. Hallelujah. Mark chapter 14 in the New Testament, if you'll go there, my message is called Covering the Face of Jesus. Covering the Face of Jesus. Hallelujah. I bring my glasses with me every time I preach now because I'm never sure whether I'm going to need them or not. This seems to be a good sight day. Hallelujah. I turned 50 last week and you have good days and bad days. Hallelujah. Covering the Face of Jesus. Father, I stand before you and I thank you, God, for your anointing. I thank you, Lord, that you remind me of my frailty, that I would never become conscious or trusting in my own strength. I thank you, Lord, that I can cast myself on you and you are a God who never fails your children. I thank you for the quickening power of the Holy Spirit to give me thoughts that I don't have and strength that I don't possess. God, I'm asking for grace to disappear that you may appear. Jesus, that you come and speak. You speak, Lord, to the people today. I surrender, I yield. This is a vessel that you can flow through me and give great grace to the hearers. God, we ask that your kingdom advance, your people be comforted. We thank you for this day in Jesus' name. Remember, our service is now at 3 o'clock and 6 o'clock and we always say that if this is your home church, that you should make an effort to attend at least two services a week. There are five services here at Times Square Church and one prayer night on Thursday night. Of course, this coming week, we're going to be praying and fasting beginning tonight at midnight right through to the end of our prayer time, service time on Wednesday night. So we'd encourage you to join with us at this time to pray. I'm going to pray for different countries throughout the world. We have to pray for the Jamaica Crusade coming up in October. Very, very shortly, that will be upon us. And we are believing God for wonderful things. We will pray for your situations as well, too, and for this city. And we know that the hand of God moves through prayer. Appreciate you being here with us again, covering the face of Jesus. Mark 14, verse 60. And the high priest stood up in the midst and asked Jesus, saying, answerest thou nothing? What is it which these witnesses these witness against thee? But he held his peace and answered nothing. Again, the high priest asked him and said unto him, art thou the Christ, the son of the blessed or that means the blessed one, the son of God? And Jesus said, I am. And you shall see the son of man sitting on the right hand of power coming in the clouds of heaven. Then the high priest rent his clothes and said, what need we any further witnesses? You have heard the blasphemy. What thinking? And they all condemned him to be guilty of death. And some began to spit on him and to cover his face and to buffet him and to say to him, prophesy. And the servants did strike him with the palms of their hands. Jesus has been betrayed. He is now brought before Caiaphas. He's standing before his accusers. The religious accusers is really not Rome that crucified Christ. It was religion that crucified him. And as he stood before the religious, the witnesses were making accusations against him. But the Bible says clearly that they couldn't agree one with another. Their witnesses, their testimonies conflicted each other. The high priest stood up and he said, what do you say for yourself? You hear all of the things that they're witnessing against you. But Jesus held his peace, the Bible says, and didn't answer. Then he asked him this incredible question. He said, are you the Christ? Are you tell us plainly once and for all, are you the son of God, the one you claim yourself to be? And Jesus answers and says to him, I am. You shall see the son of man sitting on the right hand of power and coming in the clouds of heaven. In other words, Christ was saying to his accusers, you will see me in full authority. You will see me with the authority of God, my father upon me. You will see me undefeated. You will soon see me returning an absolute victory from heaven. Now, Christ was speaking many, many years into the future. But we have to understand that God does not dwell in time like we do. Yesterday is but a moment to him. And he said, I'm going to be coming back. Are you going to see me? Yes, you see me standing before you and you appear to have authority over me, but you don't have any authority over the son of God. He said, you couldn't you couldn't crucify me unless it was unless the power was given to you to do so from above. He said, you will see me coming back in full authority. I'll be sitting as it is on the right hand of all power and all authority. You will see this, even though I appear to be powerless today, as they would have envisioned him to be powerless. He said, no, that's that's not what history is going to record. Yes, this is a small moment of apparent victory. But what seemed to be victory for a sinful man became an ultimate victory for God. And you'll see me coming again in the clouds of heaven. Now, this is not only the testimony of Jesus Christ, it's the testimony of everyone here today who places their trust in him. In spite of your circumstances, you might be in a very difficult work environment. You might be in our home from hell. You might be going through difficulty with friends and associates and people all around you and the circumstances constantly, seemingly to threaten to overwhelm you. But you have a testimony and I have a testimony. We gained this testimony when Christ won the victory on the cross of Calvary that we are now seated in him in heavenly places. Yes, temporarily we are here on this side of eternity. But one day soon, the whole world is going to see the church of Jesus Christ in her glory. The whole world is going to have to bend its knee and confess with its tongue that Jesus Christ is Lord as Christ comes back triumphant with all of his saints. Hallelujah. He comes again. Folks, when he comes again, we're going to come back with him. What an incredible thing when you begin to see it. Jude said in the book of Jude, he said, Enoch, the seventh from Adam prophesied of these, he said, Behold, the Lord comes with ten thousands of his saints to execute judgment upon all and to convince all that are ungodly among them of their ungodly deeds, which they have ungodly committed and all their hard speeches, which ungodly sinners have spoken against him. Jude saw it or not Jude, rather, but Enoch saw it and Jude wrote it down. And he said, I see a day coming when Christ returns. This is before Christ is even born. He's only the seventh from Adam. And already the Holy Spirit is speaking about the victory of Christ, which is ours and ours, you and I in victory with him. Look at Revelation chapter 19, please leave a marker in Mark 14. Revelation chapter 19, verse 11, John saw this. He said, I saw heaven opened and behold, a white horse and he that sat upon him was called faithful and true and in righteousness. He does judge and make war. His eyes were as a flame of fire and on his head were many crowns. And he had a name written that no man knew, but he himself. And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood and his name is called the word of God. And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean. And out of his mouth goes a sharp sword that with it he should smite the nations and he shall rule them with a rod of iron. And he treads the wine press of the fierceness and wrath of almighty God. And he has on his vesture and on his thigh, a name written King of Kings and Lord of Lords. Hallelujah. Looking through time, the Holy Spirit gave John this incredible vision and he saw this soon coming day when the choice before those before him would make would place them either with him in victory or against him to suffer forever the fierceness and wrath of almighty God. Oh, folks, I hope you have made the right choice today. I hope you have turned to Christ. If you have trusted him as your savior, you are already living on the victory side. Oh, it's so hard to believe, isn't it? We're so prone to look at our circumstances and somehow think that those circumstances have a greater authority than the word of God, a greater authority than the promises of God. They're more powerful than our position in Jesus Christ, no matter what you and I have to go through. Paul, the apostle, suffered greatly, but he was able to write the words. We are more than conquerors through him that loved us. He said, I'm persuaded neither death nor life, their angels, nor powers, nor principalities, any other thing shall be able to triumph over us. Paul says, I'm loved of God. We are cherished of God. We're secure in God. He knew that he said, oh, beloved, that your eyes could be open and you could see the exceeding greatness of his power to us, words who love him. And you can see him sitting high on the throne, lifted up above all power and dominion soon to return the conquering king who will rule not only this world, but the universe for all of time. And we will rule and reign with him. Amazing. Coming back from heaven on a horse. I can't even fathom that. It's an amazing thing. Do you believe that today? Do you believe that this when you're standing before your accusers in the workplace, in the home, those that hate Christ in you? Are you cowering before their accusatory words or do you see yourself in Christ? Do you look at them with pity? I'm sure that Christ is looking on these these poor souls, Caiaphas and all of his crowd, looking on them with pity, knowing the end. He had said to them earlier, how shall you escape the damnation of hell? How will you get away? What kind of a righteousness will you have that will allow you into the kingdom of God? Beloved sinners are not to be hated. They're to be pitied. Those that most vehemently oppose the grace of Jesus Christ, what a tragedy one day when they see the church returning in triumphant power and they themselves are cast out of the kingdom of God for all of eternity. In Mark chapter 14, we see the sad response of fallen man when Jesus said, I am the Christ, I am the son of God, and you will see me at the right hand of power. You will see me coming again in the clouds of heaven. And the high priest, the Bible tells us in Mark 14 and 63, rent his clothes. He stood up and did a great big religious display of what's supposed to be the anguish of the heart of God. He took his own clothing and tore it in two, as it is, the clothing that were symbols of his righteousness. And this act is supposed to symbolize the indignation of God. His whole sense of worth was affronted by the one who was speaking before him. You see, beloved men get upset when confronted by the grace of God, when they are in the presence of God, their whole covering is challenged when truth and mercy stand before them. And that's exactly what's standing before him. The truth of God and the mercy of God were right before the very throne of the high priest that year. And here he is supposedly representing God, but he has covered himself in another righteousness. And the very essence of that other righteousness would produce a violence towards God. Every person in New York City who has a sense of God that is apart from truth will hate the testimony of Christ in you. They will cast you out as evil. They will slander your name in the workplace. Folks, you have to face the fact that this is going to happen to you if it's not happening already. They will not speak well of you. You will come up for promotion. You'll be the most qualified in your position, but they will pass you over and promote somebody else because of Christ in you. No other reason. It's Christ. And Jesus himself said you should be happy if you're reproached for the name of Christ, because that means that the glory of God rests on you. Their whole covering is challenged. I remember when I was a young Christian and first came to the Lord, I felt that people are going to be so excited. I finally found the truth. Thank God I don't have to walk around from bar to bar every weekend looking for some kind of relief. Don't have to run to all of the foolishness that the world offers to try to find some kind of rest for my soul. I finally found God. I know this is the truth. I felt people should be excited to hear this and only find out they're not very excited. I suffered a lot of anger and a lot of anguish, even from so-called Christians. Amazing who had settled in some way along the way and said, this is as far as I'm going in God. And they're very threatened by anybody who's going farther in God, anybody who's got a heart to say, God, I want everything you've got for me. And they're very, very threatened by that. Psalm 109, 29 tells us that they're clothed with confusion. Mark 14, 54, 59 says neither did their witnesses agree together. Another righteousness produces confusion. The touch of God brings a clearness of thinking. Did you notice that those that came to Christ, remember the things you used to say, especially the conversations when I was in university, we used to have conversations about the meaning of life. I can, I'd like to hear those again. They're so utterly ridiculous. Converse used to listen to music. I remember there was a singer called Cat Stevens that wrote most of his stuff in an insane asylum. And we used to sit there listening to this. Like it was so profound. You remember that past meal, don't you? You thought it was, you thought it was really profound too. Oh, that was just so profound that the fellow was unbalanced mentally when he was writing this stuff. And we're in university singing it and just thinking, this is just great. This is real revelation about life. Not two witnesses agree together. When, when the righteousness we possess is not Christ, there's nothing but confusion. There's inferences about God. You even see that now in the so-called church of Jesus Christ. All this doctrinal confusion is the result of men who do not possess the righteousness of Christ, standing and speaking about him to the people. They don't have truth and they are not walking in the grace of God. And because of it, no two witnesses agree. There's, there's confusion, even in the church of Jesus Christ. But when you turn to God with all your heart, when you say, Jesus, come and be the Lord of my life, come Oh God, and be the one who owns my future, my past, and is able to direct my steps. You'll find the confusion beginning to dissipate. You know who Christ is. You know who you are in Christ. You begin to understand your authority, your position in Jesus Christ. You see your life from heaven backwards, not from the earth to heaven. You see it from the completion of Christ to back where we are today. Everything falls into the right perspective. And there's an understanding comes into the heart that all things, all things, all things work together for good to those who love God and are the called according to his purpose. All things, all things, even when we are misunderstood, even when we bear reproach, even when we have to go home to an accusing husband or wife, all things work together for good to those who love God and are called according to his purpose. Psalm 140, verse nine says the mischief of their own mischief, rather of their own lips, covers them. You see the people in the workplace, especially the religious, how their tongues are always getting them into trouble and they're always walking around trying to cover themselves up. They say something and it has the wrong flavor. And so they'll come back and say, well, that's not really what I meant. The problem is that they're not speakers of truth. Truth is not in them. And so they're constantly walking in the snares of their own lips. Psalm 73, verse six is pride, compasses them about like a chain. The pride of their heart of those who will not bend their knee to God is like a strong chain round about them and violence covers them as a garment, violence, violence, this violent smiting of the righteous, this violent lashing out of the tongue. It's the result of a proud heart that is not yielded to God. There's this this sudden violence. Have you ever been in a situation like that where a person you thought even was a friend, then all of a sudden this sudden violence, this sudden smiting, you're walking with God, you're loving God with all your heart. That's all you want to do is serve him and be his servant. And all of a sudden, this this sudden violence, this sudden smiting comes to wound you, even from those who professed one time to know Christ. Jesus said there's nothing covered that shall not be revealed and nothing hidden that shall not be made known. Now, here we see the classic text of evil behind hiding behind false righteousness. Here's the here's the high priest hiding behind an evil righteousness, rending his garments, this big display of the indignation of God. And in fact, he is ironically fulfilling the scriptures because every rotten thing in his heart one day is going to be exposed. You imagine the day when Caiaphas, Jesus, one time stood before Caiaphas. But very soon, Caiaphas is standing before Jesus. The whole thing is going to be turned. And he said, you will see me. You will see me. You I am the Christ. And you will see me at the right hand of all authority and all power. Caiaphas will see Christ again. Caiaphas will stand there. There isn't Christ at the right hand of the father in all authority and all power. And you will see me coming back to the earth with the saints that have trusted me, those that have been redeemed by the shed blood on Calvary, covered in the righteousness of almighty God. You will see them come back to rule and reign for all of eternity. You will see it, Caiaphas. Every false thing is going to be exposed. Everything that is hidden under a veil of religion is going to be made known. That's why it's so important to walk in truth, beloved, walk in truth. Without it, no one will see the Lord. And then Caiaphas says to the people, what in verse 64, he says, what, what do you rent his clothes and said, what do you think? And they all condemned him to be guilty of death. They all condemned him, the whole crew. And the Bible tells us that they, they began to spit on him and to cover his face and to buffet him, which means that to hit him with a closed fist. And they said to him, prophesy. And the servants did strike him. Even the, even the lowest of the low, all of a sudden got very brave and started to strike him with the palms of their hands. Prophesy now, Christ. They said, tell us what the future holds. Prophesy to us. Here we are. The religious as it is felt for that moment, they're in complete control. We master the situation. You stand there seemingly powerless. You talk to us about great power and protection a coming day, but we hold the keys. We, in our religion have the upper hand and they began to smite him. They began to slap him and they began to say, prophesy. Tell us now what the future holds, Jesus. Tell us now about your authority and about your power. They'd slap his face or they'd punch him in the chest and say, tell us now about your power. Tell us now about the throne. Tell us now about the coming days of victory. We look at you. We see a weak, pitiful specimen of a man who has no power and no authority. You live under the illusion. Now, this is from their own hearts. In effect, telling him you live under the illusion that you're the son of God, but we hold the authority. We hold all the power. You see, that's the devil would always want God's people to believe that. And the religiously deluded always believe that somehow they have the upper hand over the children of God. But beloved, a day is coming. A day is coming. Yes, they're to be very pitied in their condition. And we are to trust God for the power to remove the veil, the false covering that is over them. But a day is coming, beloved, a day of incredible victory that is so far beyond. We get a glimpse of it when we sing that song, when we all get to heaven, we just get a glimpse of it. There's a little spark in our spirit of something that is coming. I think when we get before the throne of God and you think the singing here at Times Square Church is anything. Wait till we get before the throne of God. It is going to be beyond anything that you and I can imagine. There'll be people who have to go through difficult times and you're going to be shouting. It was worth it all. It was worth it all. Every word God promised to me was true. Everything he said, every whisper he gave me in the prayer closet was sufficient strength for me to get me through what I had to go through. It was worth it all. All of the difficulty of the trial and the misunderstanding, it was worth it. Now I have live and now I see Christ. Now I know I'm seated with him at the right hand of the father's throne. Now I know I'm coming back to rule and reign with him for all of eternity. I saw darkly on the earth, but now I see him and I know him even as I am known. I understand now the mysteries of the kingdom of God. The interesting thing, though, that I find in this passage of scripture is that the Bible says they began to spit on him first in verse 65 and then they covered his face. Now, the covering in the Greek text means a total covering. It can be a blindfold, but it can also be something that completely covers his face. And I find it interesting that to mock him fully, they first had to cover his face before they could slap him, before they could punch him, before they could mock him with their words, they had to cover his face. And you wonder why? Second Corinthians 4, 6, I think tells us, Paul says, Paul tells us that the glory of God was in the face of Jesus Christ, the glory of God. John says in John 1, 14, we beheld his glory. The glory is of the only begotten of the father, full of grace and truth. John says we beheld his glory. We saw in him and upon him the countenance of God the father. He was the only begotten. He bore the likeness of God. We saw in his face, grace and truth. And I believe that before they could mock him, they had to cover his face. They could not. No one can lightly mock God while looking into his face, while looking into the eyes of someone who is committed to them to go to the cross, committed to die for their sin, committed to yield up even his power for that moment that he could have exercised over all his accusers in that room. Don't think for five seconds that Christ couldn't have just spoken a word and killed them all. Hard to look into a face like that, hard to look into the face of a committed God who's willing to suffer and be humiliated and die for his own creation. Hard to look into that face and mock him. If the life of Christ is in you, you will suffer rejection from those who are hiding from him. Jesus said in Luke 6, 22, they will hate you. They will separate you from their company. They will reproach you and cut off your name as evil or cast out your name as evil. This is what will happen if the countenance of Christ is on you. It's all because the spirit of glory and of God rests on you, as Peter says in first Peter four, 14. They will hate you. They will separate you. They will reproach you and cast out your name as evil. There were some people here today who thought they had problems until they came to Christ. You walk into the same office you used to work in, where you back bit with everybody and lied, gambled and did everything else that goes on and cast everybody down. Now you're walking with God. You're walking in and you have a burden in your heart for truth. You have a burden in your heart for these people. They look on your face and they can't deal with it because there's the glory of God is on you. I want you to know women that have to go home and you have a husband that just seems to get more evil with his speaking all the time. The glory of God is resting on you. You are suffering reproach for the cause of Christ. Beloved, it is it is part of the package is part of the cup that we have to drink as the church of Jesus Christ. Those that hate God, those that hate the truth and the mercy, the genuine covering that Christ offers to this generation are going to despise you. They're going to do everything that Jesus said. He said that you are not better than your Lord. And if they called the master of the house, Beelzebub, how much more will they call they of his household? They'll hate you. They'll separate you. They will reproach you and cast out your name is evil. You'll be gossiped about in your workplace. You'll be slandered in your apartment building. You'll be hated even of some of your own family. Christ himself said there's a day coming when your enemies will be of your own household. All you have in your heart is to love them. All you have in your heart is to see them come to the knowledge of God. But they will try to cover your face because Christ's glory is on you. They will turn away from you, walk in, and they will physically turn away from you because the glory of Christ is on you. The grace of Christ, the truth of Christ, the compassion of Christ affects your countenance. It touches you. When Moses spent time in the presence of God, he came down from the mountain. The glory of Christ was on him and convinced people of their sin just by looking at him. They were convicted, so afraid of their condition that they asked Moses to put a veil on his face and not speak to them. The grace and truth are on you. You know you're seated at the right hand of authority and will soon return in victory. I was shocked at the vehemence and the violence that came towards me as a young Christian. I was shocked at that superiors that threatened me because of Christ in my life, because I was honest, because I was praying, because I was working as hard as I knew how, because I was doing everything right. As much as God had revealed to me, I was doing it. I was praying for their souls. And all of a sudden, this indignation rose up, this incredible evil speaking, this putting away. How did a boss come into the office one day and just looked at me, pointed right at me, says, you are out of here. I'm just sitting there. He says, you're out of here. You see, because I wasn't part of everything that was going on, I was working, living for God. You're out of here. Well, five years later, they were out of there. I was still there. I look at first Peter two. Will you please with me? First Peter, chapter two, Jesus gives us the response. To rejection and humiliation, which many of us have to suffer today. First Peter, chapter two, verse twenty one. Peter says, for even here unto where you called. Because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example that you should follow in his steps. Who did no sin and neither was guile found in his mouth, who when he was reviled, he reviled not again. When he suffered, he threatened not, but he committed himself to him that judges righteously. He committed himself. He committed his life into the hands of his father. It was enough that his father had given him promises, the circumstances didn't have to change. Beloved, this is the path that God calls us on. We cry and cry and cry and cry sometimes in our prayer closet to get out of our circumstances. Even Jesus in Gethsemane, he said, Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me. But there is a higher calling than just to get out of our circumstance. There's a higher calling that to get into a new work environment where everybody loves you because you belong to Christ. There's a higher calling. He committed himself to a mountain called Calvary. He committed himself to the will of his father and left us a pattern that we should. He didn't speak. He didn't revile. He didn't say anything but the truth. But he committed himself to God and would be to God in the church of Jesus Christ. We could find the people who would do that today. God, I commit myself to you. If you have put me here in this place, there is a reason you have put me here to be a testimony of the keeping power of God. You have put me here to destroy the covering of false righteousness that the devil has placed on these people. You have planted me here to prove to them that nothing that you planted within me can be shaken. Everything around can be shaken. But your kingdom in me cannot be shaken. You have put me in this home. You have put me in this neighborhood. You have put me in this office to prove to all around that I am seated with Christ in heavenly places. I am living on the victory side, nor flood, nor fire, nor anything that comes my way, nor lashing tongue, nor people who put me out of their acquaintance can stop the kingdom of God that has been established in my life. I sit with Christ on heavenly places and I'm returning with Christ and I will rule with Christ one day, for all of eternity, forever and ever. Jesus said, If any man will be my disciple, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. You know, we get visions of people that make a wooden cross and stick a wheel on the bottom and walk across the country. That's wonderful if you feel inclined to do that. But that's not what the scripture is about. He says daily. How do you take up your cross daily? Whatever circumstance you're in, you say, God, thank you that I'm here. I commit myself to you. You have made promises to me and you are not a man who can lie. You are faithful. You're going to keep me through the fire. You're going to keep me in this flood. There's a special place in heaven for many who have to endure things that I may never have to endure. I know in this church there are women who go home and your husbands hate Christ. They hate Christ. They hate everything about Christ. They hate everything about the church. But you still are standing by the grace of God. God says, I want you to commit yourself to me. Say nothing. When you're reviled, don't answer, but commit yourself to him who judges righteously. Hallelujah. There's a reason for this now. I'm going to explain to you now as best as I can the reason he committed himself to a mountain, to the hill, a place where he was going to be crucified for those who covered his face. Those that mocked his word, those that accused his position that he was telling them about being an illusory thing, having no reality to it. Even the servants in the lowest of the low began to mock him. But Isaiah chapter 25 tells us that he went to a mountain. And in this mountain, God had determined to do something incredibly special. Which he did on Calvary and is doing again and will do one day when he comes back to rule the world for all of eternity. Isaiah 25, seven says he will destroy in this mountain the face of the covering cast over all the people, the veil that is spread over the nations. Now stop there. In other words, this love will expose or destroy the powerlessness of this false covering. He will conquer its power to destroy for all who look to him for grace and truth. If you will commit yourself to God, God says I will through you destroy the covering. I will destroy the face of the covering that's cast over the people in your office, cast over your family, cast over those that are standing against the grace and truth that operates in your life. If you'll commit yourself to me, I will give you such incredible grace. God said I will give you a supernatural grace that will destroy the covering, this covering that man has tried to place upon himself since the days of Adam and Eve sin in the Garden of Eden. Man has lived to place upon himself a false covering and to slap the face of almighty God and to cover his face, to put away his glory, to put away his righteous requirement and to create their own covering. But the Lord says, if you will commit yourself to him who judges righteously in this mountain, if you will take up your cross daily and begin to walk with God, God said I will give you such supernatural strength that the grace that I place on your life will destroy this false covering that man and the devil has put on the whole world. It will destroy it. It will expose it to be bankrupt. Yes, you will have to endure anger. Remember, there were many, many saints of God who had to endure the wrath of an angry Paul before the covering that was over him was destroyed by the grace of God. Paul said himself, I was responsible for hauling away men and women into prison. I was responsible for consenting unto their death. I was responsible for compelling even some of them to blaspheme the name of God. Paul said, I did these things, but there was a covering on these people that Paul was could never find in himself or any of his own righteousness and finally hit an encounter, a face to face encounter with almighty God. But only he had that encounter with many of God's people. I can only begin to suppose the troubling that must have been in his spirit as he began to haul away these people, invent his anger and wrath upon them only to see them continue to multiply, to see an incredible grace. And then, of course, one day Paul himself was a partaker of that grace. He began to endure the very things that he inflicted upon the church of Jesus Christ before his conversion. And he and Silas ended up in a prison. He was scorned. He was stoned, shipwrecked, hated, even despised by false brethren. But Paul was able to sing praises to God. He was able to glorify God in the worst of circumstances. And as he began to glorify God, the false covering began to be removed. The false veil began to be destroyed. The Bible says the prison foundations began to be shaken. Every door began to open because there's a man who can praise God in the midst of the most horrible adversity. His only crime is putting away his face down in a lower prison and his only crime is living for God. His only crime is living for Christ. Amazing. We're living in a society now that is becoming so anti-God that it may even become a crime just to live for Christ someday. So wanting to put away the face of God, get his face out of our schools, get his face out of our courts, get his face out of our churches. This is an unpopular day to live for Jesus Christ. But I tell you, God says, if you will trust yourself to me, I'll put a glory on you. I'll put a glory on you. I'll put a glory on you that shakes the foundation of hell. Walk into your house and there is that that person who's been formulating arguments against the promises God has given to you. But you walk in with such an assurance, not an argument, just an assurance, a calm and a quiet assurance that God is with you. The Lord says there'll be all types of things going on. I will convince and convict and destroy the veil of the covering if you will set your face to the mountain as Christ did. Commit yourself to him who judges righteously. And in verse eight, he says he will swallow up death and victory and the Lord God will wipe away tears from all all faces and the rebuke of his people shall he take away from off all the earth. For the Lord has spoken. He will swallow up death in victory. This is going to be the testimony of many of you. Death operates in your home. Death operates in your family. Death operates in your workplace. Death operates in your neighborhood. In some cases, it operates all around you. But the testimony of Christ will become yours. By the grace and power of God, death is swallowed up in victory. You see your brothers and sisters and cousins and people of your family begin to turn to God, your sons and daughters, even if they're way off in jail somewhere, they begin to turn to God because they become aware that their own covering is insufficient. There's a grace. There's a touch of God on you that can't come from anywhere else but the hand of God. And then he says now he's speaking about a future kingdom, but it also has an application to us today. And he says the Lord God will wipe away all tears from off all faces and the rebuke of his people shall he take away from off all the earth. For the Lord has spoken. Incredible. There's a day coming when there's going to be no more sorrow, no more tears, no more sighing. Today we have it by faith. We have it. It is ours. It is our position. A day is coming when it will be in its entirety a reality. Caiaphas thought he could put away the face of Christ. The religious crowd thought they could put his face away and not have to deal with it. We can cover him. Then we can slap him. As long as we can't see his face, we can do whatever we want. But he was so wrong. He said, Caiaphas, I'm going to be sitting in power soon and I'm coming back. I wonder what Caiaphas thought on the day of Pentecost. When 120 people now are standing in the face of Christ is on. The same crowd that is saying crucify him, Caiaphas turned to the whole crowd and said, what do you think about him? And they said he's worthy of death. They said he's guilty. Put him away. And they condemned him. But now, just a few days later, 120 people have the same face, the same countenances on. They're standing out in the open. They're praising God, talking about the wonderful works of God that he's doing in them. The word says they were speaking of the megaliths, the wonderful works, the things that they anticipated that God was doing in them. And they were making a public declaration. The same crowd that said, take him away and crucify him. All of a sudden, the veil begins to be destroyed, just like the scripture says it will be. The false covering begins to melt away and they look on these faces and they're seeing in them the same face they tried to cover, the same face they tried to put away from them has come back now in power and in great glory. The Bible says over 3000 people were smitten in their heart and they said, what men and brethren, what must we do to be saved? What must we do? We we thought we could put this man's face away. But his face has reappeared 120 times over. We see the same face. Then we tried to cover the same one. He said he was coming back. He's back. We see him. He's back. He's he's multiplied. He's in a church now. He's in a people that are going to go to all the ends of the world. He's now in a body. His face can't be hidden anymore. All the devil can do now is lie and try to cause people to believe that the glory of God is not on them. But his face is on his church. His glory, his glory is in his house, on his people. Hallelujah. His glory is on you. Yes, I know we struggle. We go through trials. We go through difficulties. One day I was riding in a police car years ago and it was a rainy, horrible day. I didn't feel Christian. I wasn't thinking like a Christian. I was sitting there in one of the worst moods I'd been in a long time. And I didn't want to talk to anybody. And my partner said to me, this is a God thing. What is it all about? I didn't even want to talk. And as few words as I could, I talked about just in a few words, I talked about Calvary, the mountain, Jesus dying. And he looked at me, said, I want that. I want that. He said, I've seen something in you. I remember walking in the office one day, they transferred a young man up there who was dying of diabetes. And he was sitting at the desk and all I was, all I would, I hadn't said anything because I had been so threatened about sharing Christ. I decided for a little while just to lay low. And I remember just working at my desk and he looks at me and he says, I see something on you, in you. What is it that I'm looking at? He gave his life to Christ and beloved God healed him. God healed him, just set him free. I was, I was warned never to speak publicly about Jesus Christ. I went to a meeting, it was about locks and security. I was in a neighborhood meeting and I was talking about how to lock your doors and put bars in your windows and crime statistics. This lady raises her hand in the room. She said, officer, you are talking about crime statistics and you're talking about how to lock doors and put bars on windows. But everything about you is saying something else. She said, what is it that I'm seeing? I said to her, I'm a Christian. I've given my life to Jesus Christ. He's my Lord and Savior. I'm not afraid of. All I had on my door was just a cat stick. It was a stick on the latch to keep the cat from opening the back door and getting in the house. And I said, I'm not allowed to speak about this. But if you want me to, if it's the request of this whole group, I will. The whole room, the whole room said, yes, yes, yes. Tell us, tell us, tell us. We want to know. We want to know. So the locks went away. I spent the rest of the evening sharing my entire testimony in Jesus Christ and inviting people to receive him as Lord and Savior. Turn with me to one last scripture and I'm going to give an altar call. Luke chapter six. I'd like the orchestra and the choir to get ready. I want to show you how the Lord is going to comfort you. Obviously, the truth will set you free. You're suffering. There's a good reason for it. Christ is on you. Now, if you're suffering because you're foolish, that's different. But if you're suffering because Christ is on you, that's an amazing thing. We ought not to be hanging our heads around, walking around, coming home at the end of the day, saying, oh, woe is me. I'm being snickered about because I'm a Christian. Jesus said it this way. Luke 6.22. He said, blessed are you. Blessed when men shall hate you. And when they shall separate you from their company. You're blessed. And shall reproach you. You're blessed. And cast out your name as evil. Slander you, in other words. Means you're blessed. For the son of man's sake, if they're doing it because my countenance is on you, you're blessed. Verse 23 says, here's what you're to do. Rejoice in that day and leap for joy. Do you see that? So when you come home, don't hang your head. Take a chair out from under the table and jump over it a few times. For real. Take out a chair, jump over it, jump back, jump over it, jump back and say, I was slandered today for Christ's sake in the office. I was passed over for a promotion because Christ, because I'm a Christian. He said, if that is your portion, leap for joy. Because your reward is great in heaven. For in the like manner did their fathers unto the prophets. You are experiencing the same treatment as righteous men and women for thousands of years have before you. Jesus said, if this happens because of the testimony I place in you, leap for joy and rejoice. Isn't that an amazing thing? Leap for joy. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Father, thank you. Thank you, Lord, that sometimes with the simplest word you can destroy the powers of darkness, destroy the veil that the devil wants to cast over the church. The unrighteous want to place on top of the righteous. Lord, there's no false covering on us. We can rejoice because you are seen in us. God, thank you for that. Thank you for that. Lord. Oh, Lord, I pray today, God, that this word would have comforted those that are experiencing rejection, given new hope and strength to stand in the midst of adversity and to trust you, to trust you as Christ did. Father, I thank you for it. In Jesus name, I want to give an altar call for for those that are experiencing rejection and need comfort. You just need God to comfort you. Would you just let's all stand together in the annex. You could step up between the screens in the main sanctuary. Would you just slip out wherever you are? Just make your way down here. You're experiencing difficulty in the workplace, your home, your neighborhood, and you need the comfort of God. You're backslidden. You want to come home to God. Slip out of wherever you are. If you need to be saved, if you need Christ as your Lord and Savior, if you're one of those that have resisted God and you have made light of God's people, it's time now to step out wherever you are and come. Let Christ comfort you. Let him comfort you today. Hallelujah. I'm believing God that there's going to be an infusion of God's comfort at this altar because the Holy Spirit gave me this to speak to you. There will be an infusion of God's comfort. Come and just touch everyone here. It says, Lord, I am really going through it in my home, my workplace, my family, my marriage, whatever it is. God, I need the touch of your hand. The Lord says, I'll come and I will make my promises so real to you. Would you just slip out wherever you are? Every backslider, everyone who doesn't know God, you can come to him today. His arms are wide open to you. Wide open. He'll receive you, he'll cleanse you, he'll forgive you of all your sin. Thank God for it. Thank God today. The Bible says clearly that it's not going to get better for you. If I were to bring you here and give you a false hope, it would be wrong. The scripture says clearly that there's going to be an incredible rejection of those that are Christ's in the last hours of time. And I do believe we're living in the last hours of time. The incredible rejection. And many of you are experiencing it now. But only the Holy Spirit now can give you the joy. No, we don't walk around laughing and rejoicing because we're in the office. People would think we've lost our minds. What the Bible is speaking about is that deep inward peace that says, God, for their sakes, for their sakes, hold me up. For their sakes, keep me, for their sakes, guide me, for their sakes. Oh, God, I'm willing to go to this mountain for their sakes. Forgive them. They don't know what they do. They don't see that they're on sand, that they're heading for an eternity without God. God, for their sakes, hold me up. And the Lord says, I will hold you up by giving you a deep abiding joy. I'll give you a deep sense of my carrying and sustaining power. I will put a supernatural grace on you and carry you in the midst of all opposition. I remember one time I called into an office of a superior when I was in the police force, and he was enraged at me. And he was literally frothing at the mouth. He was so angry. And after he had torn a strip up one side and down the other, telling me my career is over and finished and everything else. And then he said, what do you have to say for yourself? I looked at him, I said, you need God. And then he said to me, and he was doing everything in his power to get me to respond in like spirit. And I said, you have no control over your own spirit. And I said, the Bible says that a man without control over his spirit is like a city that's broken down and without walls. Then he just opened his heart. And he began to tell me about his life and the despair and the drinking and everything else that was going on in his life and ended up going to church. So a Bible-believing born-again church. I thank God for that with all my heart. For their sakes, O God, destroy the veil, destroy the covering. Hold me up, O God, hold me up. Remember that Christ said, the Bible says that Christ did not revile when reviled, did not answer back in similar fashion, but committed himself to God. For the sake of you and me, thank God he did. Thank God he did. If you are separated from company, if you are reproached, your name is cast out as evil. Jesus said, rejoice in that day and leap for joy. You may want to do that when you get home. You may want to do it now, I don't know. Leap for joy because your reward is great in heaven. The glory of God rests on you. I'm just going to pray for you today. Father, you sent me to comfort. Lord, I lift up. I lift up those that need comfort today. God, you comfort by your word. You comfort by comforting us in our time of need that we too may comfort others. I thank you, God, that you have always held me up. You've held up Pastor Neil, Pastor Patrick, Pastor David in times of adversity. You've held us up. You've given us a testimony of your grace. And by your grace, you'll continue to do that. I'm asking, God, you do it for all that have responded in heart and the education annex. And here in this sanctuary, Lord, that truly, truly, that you could give an anointing of joy, Holy Spirit, an anointing of incredible joy that will break the despondency. I'm asking today for all who have come to this altar who are despairing because of the treatment they've received, that the truth of God would turn it all around. They now begin to see everything from heaven's perspective. I make a declaration to those that have come to this altar. Listen to listen now. You are seated in Christ. You are now at the right hand of God. When he sat down, you sat down with him. He is the head. You're the body. You are living in absolute victory. Nobody has any mastery over you. Nobody has any power over you. No tongue that rises against you in judgment can ever hurt you. You have the authority to condemn it, condemn its influence, condemn its power in the name of Jesus Christ. You are the head, as the Scripture says, and not the tail. You're not going to be defeated. You're going to prosper in Christ's name. You're going to stand victorious at the last day with him. You're going to come through the fire. You're going to come through the flood. It will not burn you. The waters will not overwhelm you. God Almighty walks with you. His grace and glory will be seen upon you. And even the hearts of kings will be turned. God, I thank you for what you're going to do through these people that have come. These that are suffering rebuke and reproach. Lord, you're going to use them to destroy the veil. You're going to take away the veil from many. God, you're going to lift off that dark covering the devil has put on so many people, that wrong convincing that they are right when they're wrong in the sight of God. You're going to do it because you have a committed people that are going to trust you. Father, I thank you for this from the depths of my heart today. I thank you, God, for just a supernatural touch of joy, a supernatural understanding that they are well received and deserve to rejoice in the presence of their God. Your glory is on them. They are your church. Your face is seen on them, O God. Jesus, thank you for that. God, we thank you. We praise you today. Now, I ask you for supernatural grace. Supernatural grace for women who have to go home to a very abusive situation. Supernatural grace for those who are being slandered in the workplace. Supernatural grace for those who have been cast away from their families. Supernatural grace, O God. For David said, When my father and mother forsake me, the Lord will take me up. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Now, before we go, I want to sing a song. Shouts of joy and victory abound in the tents of the righteous of the Lord. Shouts of joy. And those that have come to this altar, I want you just to begin to experience that joy. They abound. They abound. Say, God, pray with me. Jesus, thank you that I have been counted worthy to suffer reproach for your name's sake. You tell me that this is evidence that your glory rests on me. O God, thank you that all of the lies can have no effect on me because your promises to me are yea and amen. I trust you, Lord. I commit myself to you. God, use my life. Destroy the veil, the dark covering that rests on my accusers. Set them free. Let the glory of God and the joy of Christ be all over me. I thank you for it today. In Jesus' mighty name. Hallelujah.