In this sermon, the preacher emphasizes the troubled state of the world and the need for repentance. He refers to Daniel's prayer as an example of turning to God and seeking forgiveness for our sins. The preacher acknowledges that this message may seem condemning, but he assures the listeners that there is hope and encouragement at the end. He urges the audience to have the moral courage of Daniel and to recognize their own part in the spiritual decline of society.

Stretch out your hands to the will of God. It's the title of my message this morning, John chapter 12. And then if you can find the book of Daniel, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Lamentations, Ezekiel, Daniel, in the Old Testament, chapter 9, and put a marker there that'll save us a little bit of time. Stretch out your hands to the will of God. Father, I thank you, Lord God, with all my heart. I thank you for truth, Lord. Lord, if it wasn't for truth, this would be such a perplexing time. It would be so hard to see into the future. There'd be so little hope for so many. But your truth sets us free. And so, God, I'm asking you for an anointing today to be able to speak this word you've given to me. And I'm asking for an anointing to be able to hear it, to embrace it, God. This is not an hour to be entertained. This is an hour for truth. Oh, Jesus, Son of God, overpower my frailty. Lord, let your mind become mine. Enable me, Lord. Enable me, Holy Spirit, to speak this. Enable us to hear it. I ask it in Jesus' mighty name. Amen. Stretch out your hands to the will of God. John chapter 12, beginning at verse 23. And Jesus answered them, saying, The hour has come that the Son of Man should be glorified. Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone. But if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit. He that loveth his life shall lose it, and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal. If any man serve me, let him follow me. And where I am, there shall also my servant be. If any man serve me, him will my father honor. Now is my soul troubled, and what shall I say? Father, save me from this hour. But for this cause came I unto this hour. Father, glorify thy name. Then there came a voice from heaven, saying, I have both glorified it and will glorify it again. Now, throughout history, this careless handling of the testimony of God's presence and purpose in the world has led to the loss of true spiritual life and power. I want you to think for a moment. These are a people in this passage of Scripture that have the living testimony of God in the form of a man, Jesus Christ, the Son of God, walking, speaking, touching, available. There's a surplus of truth that's probably deeper than any generation. Obviously, they had the Son of God with them. Any questions they might have had could have been answered. Any powerlessness could have been changed. And yet, in spite of the fact that they had this incredible resource of the life of God available to them, they carelessly handled him, pushed him aside, called for him when it was a convenient time, ultimately began to despise him, pushed him out of the synagogue, tried in one case to throw him off the edge of a hill, and then subsequently manhandled him, abused him, and crucified him. And folks, I wish I could say that humanity changes over time, but that wouldn't be a true statement. Sin is part and inherent part of the human race. And the tragedy is from time to time, generation to generation, season to season, we will find ourselves dealing once and again with the Son of God, just in the same manner as he was dealt with in the past. And then we cry out. There's probably a voice that's crying out in the hearts of many in our generation. Let me just read it to you from the psalmist in Psalm 74. I call this the pitiful cry of spiritual bankruptcy. Thine enemies roar in the midst of thy congregations. They set up their unsigns or their banners for signs, that's Psalm 74 verse 4. A man was famous according as he had lifted up axes upon the thick trees, but now they break down the carved work thereof at once with axes and hammers. They've cast fire into your sanctuary. They defiled by casting down the place of your name to the ground. They said in their hearts, let us destroy them together. They've burned up all the synagogues of God in the land. We see not our signs. There's no more any prophet. Neither is there any among us that knows how long. The psalmist is crying out, oh God, there's such a silence in your house. The place of your dwelling has been cast to the ground. People have come in claiming that they have a fire, but it's a wrong, it's a false fire. How long is this going to go on? How long shall the adversary reproach? Shall the enemy blaspheme thy name forever? Why withdrawst thou thy hand, even thy right hand? Pluck it out of thy bosom. And so it is today, myself included, it's easy for us to say, look what they have done. I can look at the nation today. Oh, folks, we're reaping an incredible judgment for our careless handling of the things of God. Truth has abounded. Church is almost on every corner in some parts of the Western world today. Yet we have negated truth. We've twisted truth. We've refashioned truth to suit our own lifestyles. We've pushed now in this society Christ Jesus out of our whole school system and wonder why we have a generation of young people rising up with an anger that perhaps is unprecedented since the formation of this nation. Look what they have done. We say, look what they have done. It's so easy to point to they, isn't it? They started in the garden of Eden. Adam, what have you done? Well, she made me do it. Point Steve, what have you done? Well, the serpent made me do it. Everybody has somebody else to blame for the situation that we find ourselves in, in this hour. The deeper truth of the statement lies in the fact that they could have not come in the first place. Had we not opened the gates to them, that is the reality of it folks. They could not have come. Do you remember Jesus said about his church, the gates of hell shall not prevail against the church of Jesus Christ. They could not have come. Think of Daniel for a moment in Daniel five. He's, he's standing before the then ruler of the empire that had captivated the people of God. And the writing of a hand has come upon the wall saying your, your kingdom has been weighed in the balances. It has been found wanting your days are numbered. It's over. It's going to be given to another. The place that you once had and occupied is about to be occupied by somebody else. And he says, and you, his son, in other words, Belshazzar had a predecessor who was dealt with by God. We have the, he had the history. He knew how God deals with arrogancy and pride against truth. And Daniel stood before Belshazzar and he said, you Belshazzar, you, you knew how God deals and how God has dealt in the past, but you did not humble your heart though. You knew all of this, but you've lifted yourself up against the Lord of heaven. And they brought the vessels of his house before you and thou and thy Lords and thy wives and thy concubines have drunk wine in them. You praise the gods of silver, gold, brass, iron, wood, and stone, which do not see nor hear, nor do they know anything. And the God in whose hand is your breath and in whose are all your ways. You have not glorified. Oh, Belshazzar, you tried to tell me that much of the gospel on the airwaves in this country does not fit this description. You've taken the holy things of God. You've partied with them. You put them to your lips. You made a mockery of the things of God, of the holiness of God. You created a circus in the house of God. And you ultimately turned to silver and gold and the works of men's hands and human ambition and self-effort. And you began to worship these things. And the very God who gives you life and strength and who could establish your ways and give you power to be what he's called you to be in the earth. Daniel says, you've not glorified. Oh God, give us men of this caliber again in our generation, who not fear any face of any man, but would be willing to stand and speak the truth of God as it's revealed to their hearts. Now you and I can rightfully point to the neglect of others and tell them why the protection of God has departed from them. But I want you to go for a moment with me to Daniel chapter nine. And we need to ask ourselves a question today. Do we have the moral courage of Daniel? I really want you to listen to this message today. Do we have the moral courage of Daniel to see our own part in what has become the spiritual landslide of our times? Do you have the courage? People listening on television in the future, this message will be played across Europe. Do you have the courage? People in America listening today, do you have the courage? Do we have the courage? It takes moral courage to stop pointing the finger and say, Lord, if you're not being glorified in this generation, surely I have a part in that. And it's not enough just to point the finger at others. I've got to do what Daniel did. I've got to go into the prayer closet and include myself. If Christ is not being glorified, then I've got to allow the Holy Spirit to look in my life and see in what measure he's not being glorified through me. Where have I failed at the grace of God? Where have I refused to go that God has been trying to lead me? What have I neglected to do? Now, I'm not suggesting we come under condemnation. This has nothing to do with condemnation. God is not pointing the finger of judgment at those who truly belong to Christ and have a heart for God. It's not about that. It's about, Lord Jesus, how can I glorify your name in this generation? And if your name is not being glorified, this is not about heaven. This is not about any of these things. This is about here and now. God, how can my life bring glory to you? What would you have me to do? That cry that's been in every Christian, every church age that's ever been used to any degree to glorify God in the earth. I've had that experience like the Apostle Paul, where your heart, you fall prostrate as it is before God and say, what would you have me to do? Not what here, Lord, is what I want to do for you, but God, what would you have me to do? What is it that you want to do through my life? I was born for a purpose. You were born for a divine purpose. Everybody in this room, you were born for a purpose that only God knows and only God can really reveal it to your heart. What would you, Lord, have me to do? Daniel chapter nine, beginning at verse eight, he said, Lord. Now, listen, Daniel began to understand that the captivity, as it was known then, was coming to an end. There was about to be a release, a deliverance, a rebuilding. Something was going to come back that had been lost. And as he began to understand it in the word of God, he went into the prayer closet and he began to pray. And part of that prayer was confession. And he says in verse eight, Oh Lord, to us belongs confusion of face to our kings, to our princes, to our fathers, because we've sinned against you. No excuses. Lord, it wouldn't be like this. Had we not dealt, had we not dealt casually with your presence, it would not be like this. Our nation would not be in the mess it's in today. The violence in our borders, young people rising up, wanting to go in and massacre in their own schools that they've even in middle schools. Now we, we, we raised them to believe there is no God. And then we, we slap our foreheads in wonderment when they become evil. It belongs to us, Daniel said, confusion of face, our kings, our princes, our fathers, our leaders, because we've sinned against you to the Lord. Our God belong mercies and forgiveness. Though we have rebelled against him, neither have we obeyed the voice of the Lord, our God to walk in his laws, which he set before us by the servants, the prophets. Yea, all Israel have transgressed by law, even by departing that they might not obey thy voice. Therefore, the curse is poured upon us and the oath that is written in the law of Moses, the servant of God, because we've sinned against him. What foolishness to think that we in any generation could sin against God and not reap a judgment. And he has confirmed his words, which he spoke against us and against our judges that judged us by bringing us upon us a great evil for under the whole heaven has not been done, has as have been done upon Jerusalem. As it is written in the law of Moses, all this evil is come upon us. Yet made we not our prayer unto the Lord, our God, that we might turn from our iniquities and understand thy truth. And that's as simple as it gets, folks. How many times does God have to speak to this nation before his house will go to prayer? And I'm not talking the kind of prayer that says, Lord, preserve our good life. Keep us, keep our gold intact. Let our silver be untouched. Let our wood and stone and the work of our hands stand. No, that's not the kind of prayer that God is looking for. He said, all this evil came upon us, yet we refuse to pray, to go to God, to turn from our sins and understand truth, to turn from, from everything in us that is not bringing the name of Christ to glory. Now, before you think that this is a message of condemnation, before you get to the point this morning of saying, well, I've had enough of this. I'm out of here. I'd like you to sit through this and hear it because there's a great hope and a great encouragement at the end of this word. Verse 14 says, therefore has the Lord watched upon the evil and brought it upon us. For the Lord, our God is righteous in all his works, which he does for we obeyed not his voice. And now, oh Lord, our God, thou has brought thy people forth out of the land of Egypt with a mighty hand and has gotten thee renowned as at this day we have sinned and done wickedly. Oh Lord, according to all thy righteousness, I beseech thee, let thine anger and thy fury be turned away from thy city, Jerusalem, thy holy mountain, because of our sins and for the iniquities of our fathers, Jerusalem and thy people are become a reproach to all that are about us. We're living at a time, folks, when much of the Christian testimony is a laughing stock because of what we've allowed to be preached in our airwaves. The whole of the country looks at the church as if we're a non-player in end time events. We have nothing to say, nothing of any value. Now, therefore, oh Lord God, hear the prayer of thy servant and his supplications and cause thy face to shine upon thy sanctuary that is desolate for the Lord's sake. If you're an honest Christian this morning, that's got to be your cry. My God, my God, hear my prayer and look again upon me. Let your countenance come upon me. Let your mind become my mind. Let your heart become my heart. Fill the empty places in me, oh God, where I've looked for satisfaction in things that don't satisfy. I've sought out directions that you've not prescribed for my life and because of it, I'm empty and I don't have the testimony I believe that you would have established through me. Oh God, oh God, has to be the cry, look upon me and let your countenance come to me, oh God, and change me. Oh God, he says in verse 18, incline your ear and hear, open your eyes, behold our desolations and the city which is called by thy name. For we do not present our supplications before thee for our righteousness, but for thy great mercy. And that's where the hope is. We don't come to God because we've done it right. We don't bring to him anything of ourselves. We say, Lord, I'm not coming to you because I've done anything or even a few things right. I'm coming to you because you are a God of mercy. The song that was sung in the temple when your glory came in the day of Solomon is God is good and his mercy endures forever. I believe in your mercy, God, and I'm asking you to come and touch my life again. Daniel says, oh Lord, verse 19, hear, oh Lord, forgive, oh Lord, hearken and do, defer not for thine own sake. Oh my God, for thy city and for the people that are called by thy name. Daniel is crying out like every true man and woman of God ever has throughout history. Not for our sakes, oh God, but for your great name's sake, glorify your name. Not for me, Lord, but for you. Folks, that's the key. That's the key of many people never get out of struggling all their life because it's not really in the heart of many people to glorify God. The key to getting out of struggle in many cases is, Lord, glorify your name in me. I want your name to be glorified. Is that the cry of your heart this morning? Is it in you to want to glorify God, to want to live a life when you get to the end of this journey and put up your feet, you can say, I have run the race. I have walked the course that God prescribed for my feet. I have been a testimony of Christ to the best of the ability that God gave me, to the best of the mind that he planted in me. I know I have walked through this world as a saver of Jesus Christ. I've lived every day wanting him to be glorified, never satisfied with yesterday's victory because tomorrow's battles are going to be even greater. I need a greater touch of God. I need more of the Holy Spirit. I need more understanding of the word of God. Not for my sake, Lord, but for your holy name's sake, glorify your name. That's got to be the cry, folks. It's not going to be a program. It's not going to be a religious argument. It's not going to be radio shows. It's not going to be talk shows. It's not going to be any of those things. It's going to be a people in this hour that go into the prayer closet and say, God almighty, touch my life again and glorify your name. Do something in me that is supernatural, that is profound, that causes people to have to stand up and agree that Jesus Christ is alive and he is the son of God. Daniel says, while I was speaking, verse 20 says, and while I was speaking and praying and confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel and presenting my supplication before the Lord, my God, for the holy mountain of my God, yea, while I was speaking in prayer, even the man Gabriel, whom I'd seen in the vision at the beginning, being caused to fly swiftly, touched me about the time of the evening oblation, the evening sacrifice. And he informed me and talked with me and said, oh Daniel, I've now come forth to give thee skill and understanding. At the beginning of thy supplications, the commandment came forth, and I have come to show you, for you are greatly beloved. Therefore, understand the matter and consider the vision. Remember, Jesus said, Father, glorify your name. And he said, I have glorified it and I will glorify it again. The name of God can never be pushed out of this earth, can never be taken away, no matter how rebellious people get. The name of Jesus Christ will always be lifted up and glorified. One day soon, every knee will bow, every tongue will confess that Jesus is Lord to the glory of God the Father. Every knee, every tongue, every agnostic, every atheist, every scorner of the things of God, every evil person, every knee will bow and every tongue will confess. Daniel was crying out to God. And the moment Daniel began to cry, the commandment came. The moment you cry, the commandment comes. God gives the commandment, just like he did for Isaiah when Isaiah said, whoa, it's me, I'm undone. I'm a man of unclean lips and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips. The moment Isaiah knew that he was part of the problem, God commanded. And an angelic being touched his lips with a call from the altar and understanding was given to him. The moment you and I cry, the moment our hearts are sincere, the moment we're taking away that finger of blame from others, the moment we're saying, God, if all I can do is glorify your name, that will be sufficient for my life. The moment that cry comes into your heart, the message comes. The word opens. It's no longer a confusing book. You're not, no longer bounced around from country to country and show to show, trying to figure out who God is. The word comes. You open the scriptures, the word comes. Your mind is renewed. Your heart comes alive in the things of God. He said, I've come forth to give you skill and understanding, power and ability to live for God and to make a difference in your generation. He said, you're greatly beloved. Now, from this point onward, the word of God comes to Daniel and Daniel shows, God shows Daniel that what he has commanded to rebuild something. It doesn't matter if the armies of the world are against it. God says, if I've commanded it to be built, it will be built. If I've commanded a testimony in your life, no matter what has come against you, no matter who said, you can't God says, I say you can. He says, the wall will be built again of Jerusalem, even in troublous times, even when it seems impossible, even when it seems that everything is against it. Even when in the natural men look at it and say, it can't be done. God says, I'm going to do it. The very first thing that happens when you begin to truly seek God is it begins to give you a vision of what your life is going to be. If you and I have the courage to stretch forth our hands to the will of God and say, Lord, not what I think, but what you think, not what I want, but what you want, not where I want to go, but where you're leading me. Not what I think, God, my life is supposed to be, but what you have declared that it will be. Lord, I stretch my hands out to you, God, and I ask you, Lord, guide me, lead me, Lord, let my life count for you. Then he gives him a vision of the Messiah coming and he begins to understand that it's really all about the plan of God's redemption in the earth. That's the whole story. Everything that has happened, everything that will happen is all about the saving of the lost. It's all about the redeeming of that which God lost through sin in the garden of Eden. It's about men and women that God passionately loves with all of his heart so much that he was willing to come to the earth and die on a cross that you and I might be brought back to him again. I love the way it says it in the King James, in Daniel chapter nine, verse 26, it says, after three score and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself. Most other translations take the words, but not for himself. And they say essentially seeming to have accomplished nothing. He will come to the earth and he will be cut off seeming to have accomplished nothing. But I love the King James translation better because we understand the heart of God in this. He will die. In other words, he will come to the earth. He will walk among men. He will walk into this temple that's about to be rebuilt and he will die, but not for himself. He will die for you. He will die for me. It won't be about himself. It will be about you and it will be about me. Then there will be a season of grace called the age of the church, which we are in and rapidly coming to a close in our time. A season where whosoever will might be saved. If you can hear him, my friend, you best not harden your heart today. You best not wait till next week because you might not have a next week. I'm telling you now, we don't know. We're all on borrowed time now. There will be a season of incredible grace throughout all of the earth and then it will close as it is and mankind will be given to an incredible delusion. A man of peace will arise in the earth. He will look as if he's a lamb, but he's not. He has the seed of Satan in him. He will make a covenant with Israel, a seven year covenant, but halfway through that covenant, he will violate it and he will attempt to destroy the nation of Israel. The unrepentant will soon be judged. There's a great judgment coming on the whole world and it's coming suddenly. Isaiah the prophet said, fearfulness surprises the hypocrites. They weren't ready for it. They weren't expecting it. Jesus himself said there'd be so many just buying, selling, marrying, giving in marriage. Not that any of these things are wrong, but they're not going to realize the hour that's come upon this world. Calamities will begin to rise. Earthquakes in various places. Disasters that we cannot control. Pestilences, famines, the upheaval of governments will start to happen on an unprecedented scale throughout the world. There'll be a hue and cry because of the calamity in the hearts of the people for a world leader and a world government and a world religion. It's already beginning folks. It's already here. My lifetime, we'll see it. Your lifetime, you'll see it. And it all culminates in a judgment. It's all against Christ. It's all a result of this casual dealing of the things of God. Peter had a revelation in Matthew 16. Jesus said, who do people say that I am? And Peter pipes up and says, you're the Christ. You're the son of the living God. And Jesus said to him, you are blessed, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but my father, who's in heaven, I'm going to give to you the keys of the kingdom. Whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven. Whatever you loose this is the key to all the power of life in Christ is supposed to be. Now, Peter had the revelation. It had to be given to him of God. Like you and I, we have this Bible. And if somebody were to say, well, who is Jesus? We can open it and say, well, he's the Christ. He's the son of the living God. And we can believe it too. He believed it with all his heart. But the power of that was not realized until much later in his life when he stretched forth his hands to the will of God. You remember on the shore after they went fishing and he's still not walking in that power. And Jesus said to him, when you were younger, you were a young man, a self-made man. As it is, you walked where you wanted to go. You put on what you wanted to do. You did what you felt your day should contain. But as you're getting older, you're going to stretch forth your hands and another is going to lead you where you can't go in your own strength. And where most of us, if we're honest, don't want to go. But Peter realized that power eventually in his life when he stretched his hands out to the will of God. And I want to suggest to you that one of the reasons why in the last days, people are always learning, Paul says, but never coming to the knowledge of the truth, because all they are doing is learning about God, but never willing to stretch their hands out to the will of God. Never coming to the point of saying, Lord, Jesus Christ be glorified in me. Wherever you call me to go, whatever you call me to do, what you want me to be. First of all, by walking out of where I shouldn't be. And secondly, by walking into where I should be. John chapter 12, again, he said, the hour has come that the son of man should be glorified. Now I want to speak from these scriptures in the context of where we live today. I know this is written about 2000 years ago, but the word of God is alive. It does have an application. The hour has come. Do you, do you feel what I feel? Am I the only one? Do you, do you feel in your heart that the hour has come that the son of man should be glorified? The hour has come. It's not coming. It's come. We don't have a million tomorrows to get this right. Folks. The hour has come that Christ is to be glorified in your home, your apartment, your block, your job, your city, your state, your country. The hour has come not coming. It's come. Where Christ is to be glorified. Verily I say unto you, except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abides alone. But if it die, it brings forth much fruit. You remember Jesus gave us the parable of the sower and the seed. And he talked about types of ground that it just simply, the seed can't do its work of death. And because it can't do its work of death, it can't do its work of life. And God sends the seed of his life into us. But so many love the praise of men more than the praise of God. So many are given to the cares and concerns of this world and this life. And there's, they're not willing to let the work of his death work in us and bring the power of his life to us. We've got to realize that as much as Jesus said, I didn't come to do my own will, but the will of the one who sent me, you and I are called to walk in that same path. Unless it falls into the ground and dies. And that's been the cry of my heart. I've meditated on this for days. Oh Jesus, let the seed of your life. Let it work its death in me that I would die to what I think my life should be, where I think my life should go and how I think my life should finish. Let that seed work its death because only then can the work its life in me. Only then can I claim to be dead with Christ and lay legitimate claim to be alive with him by the power of the Holy spirit. He that loves his life will lose it. If we try to hold on to our own agendas and our own vision and our own comforts, if that's all your Christian life is about, you will lose it. I just think of all the poor people that are sitting in places that teach and preach that the gospel is about learning to love your life in this world. Christ himself said, they're going to lose everything they've had. If any man serves me, let him follow me that where I am, there will also my servant be. And if any man serves me, him will my father honor. You see, he's on his way to Calvary here. He's talking about being given for other people. He's talking about being laid down, suffering that the sufferings of others may come to an end. It's all about being given because his father has sent him to redeem a fallen humanity. Verse 27, he says, now, now is my soul troubled. You know, if you're watching the news, you're troubled lately. There's not much doubt about that. You should be. And what shall I say? Remember, we talked about Daniel's prayer. What shall I say? What shall come out of my mouth? Father saved me from this hour. What shall I say? What will my focus be now? As calamities and troubles increase, as, as the financial markets of the world most likely will sink in greater and greater measure as the days advance. As governments go into deeper perplexity, as division upon division begins to plague society after society, ethnic culture, Jesus said will rise against ethnic cultures in the last day. What shall I say? Father, forgive me. What will be my cry when I come into the prayer meeting, when I come to the house of God, what will be the reason why I even come to hear the gospel of Jesus Christ saved me from this hour. Remember the disciples in the boat going across in the storm? What was their prayer? Save us. Don't you care? We're perishing yet. The gospel tells us that there are all kinds of other little boats trying to make the same journey to the other side, but they were the only ones who had God with them. What shall I say? Save me from this hour. But for this cause, I came to this hour. You see, that's the cry of the church. That's the cry of my heart right now. God, I was born for this hour. You were born for this time. You were selected as it is of God to live now, to live in this hour, to live in this season, to live in this time of unprecedented calamity in the world. You were chosen for this time. So what is our cry going to be? Deliver me? Is that what we're going to pray day after day, meeting after meeting, service after service? Every time we open the Bible, are we going to be looking for some personal comfort, saving of ourselves as it is? No. He said, for this cause, I came to this hour. In verse 28, he says, Father, glorify your name. And then there came a voice from heaven saying, I have both glorified it. I have in the past and I will do it again. That is how God works. I have glorified my name and I will glorify it again. I have raised up the apostle Paul from being a murderer and a persecutor of the church to being the mightiest apostle that ever lived. I have touched insignificant men and women throughout time in history. I've taken those that are not of noble birth. They're not wealthy. They don't have political influence. They're not eloquent like Moses. I've taken them and I've done the miraculous through them. And I brought glory to my name. I have glorified my name and I will glorify it again. Hallelujah. I did raise my son from the dead after three days. And I did promise to raise everyone who was in him from the power of sin and from the power of death. I did promise to give newness of life. I did promise that those who turn to Christ in truth will become new creations on the earth. I did promise that I will glorify my name. I have done it and I will do it again. Praise be to God. As Christ rose from the dead, you will rise also out of the power of death. You will be given the strength to ride above the storm. You'll be given a song and joy that cannot be taken away by any of the storms or season or distresses or bad news of this world. There'll be something put within you that brings glory to God. If the cry is in your heart, Father, glorify thy name. Hallelujah. It's time to stretch forth our hands to the will of God. Oh, beloved. It starts by getting out of where you shouldn't be. Now, you're not going to walk into where you should be until you get out of where you shouldn't be. That's where it all begins. It's that stretching forth of the hands. Will it be easy walking with God? No. Will it be worth it? Forever. It will be forever worth it. What will I take to heaven with me? My family, a lot of other people who need to know God. What would be the source of my joy every time a sinner comes to Christ, every time I see somebody confess, return to God? For the joy set before him, he endured the cross. Oh, Father, Father, Father, Father, glorify your name. Almighty God, Almighty God, Almighty God. Lord, there's a work that only you can do in this and every other church in the world in this hour. There's no one else can do this. No more seminars, no more strategies, no more schemes. We've gone so far beyond all of this powerlessness. Oh, God, I cry out to you, Lord, with everything that I know and all that I have, God, that you would glorify your own name, your own name, that it would be the name of Jesus that's lifted up and glorified in the earth. Oh, God, would you do that in this church, Lord? Would you do it, Lord, for those who attend this church, for those who want to be part of the body of Christ in this local community, for other churches in the city? God, I'm lifting up my heart to you today, Lord. We ask you for the Baptist and Methodist churches, God, the Presbyterian churches, for Brooklyn Tabernacle, God, for Redeemer Presbyterian, for the Salvation Army, God. We ask, Lord, would you glorify your name again? Oh, God Almighty, God Almighty, would you pour out your spirit, God, in great, great measure, Lord, upon your house in New York City? We appeal, Lord, God, to your mercy, Lord. God, there's no works of righteousness. None of us have done it right, oh, God. If your name's not glorified in the city, we've all had a part in this, Lord. I'm asking you, Father, we're asking you as a congregation, would you come? Oh, God, would you rebuild your house again, Lord? Would you rebuild the testimony of your name? Would you cause prayer meetings to come alive with the power of God? Would you guide us into that which is eternal, Lord? Would you do what only you can do? Let it begin, God, in my heart today, Father. Lord, we thank you, God. We praise you. We give you glory for this in Jesus' mighty name. Hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah. Thank you, Lord. I lift my hands. I think the song goes, I lift my hands. In the annex in the main sanctuary today, if the Holy Spirit, oh, folks, I don't even know what to do other than say, if you want to walk with God, if you want your life to count, if you need the power to get out of something so you can even begin to entertain walking in the will of God, I'm going to ask you as we stand in a moment to make your way to this altar and we're just simply going to pray and believe God's mercy to come and touch us, give us grace and strength to be the people that he's called us to be, especially in this hour. If you knew, if you knew conclusively that New York City had a month left, if you knew it, if you knew it, what kind of a life should you be living and should I be living? What would our focus be? If you knew the city was going to be in incredible turmoil and everything that, that has existed in the city is going to change. If you knew that people are not going to be able to get to work, it's going to be difficult for churches to get together. If you knew that food is not going to be able to cross the bridge, if you knew it, I'm not saying it's happening. If you knew it, what kind of a life should you be living? And folks, you see, that's the kind of life we should always be living. Even if the city was going to go on in some form of blessing for a hundred years, we should still be living that kind of a life and in that kind of a moment. That's called stretching forth your hands to the will of God. Lord, come make my life what you've destined it to be. Now he'll receive you and he will glorify his name through you. If you have a sincere heart, he will glorify his name. Let's stand together, please. If the Holy Spirit is drawing you to what you've heard today, make your way, please, to this altar and we're going to pray together. Thank you, Jesus. Thank you, Lord. The angel said to Daniel, from the moment you began to seek me, the word of the Lord was dispatched to you to give you skill and understanding. That means renewed ability to do what you cannot do in your own strength and to give you an understanding of the times, scriptures, who is Christ, who are you in Christ, who are we in Christ, what is it that God is asking us to be in the earth. Oh, bless God. Lift your hands to the Lord, if you will. Father, I just thank you so much, God. Lord, as a people, we choose, Lord, to ask you today to glorify your name in the earth through us, Lord. Wherever we live, wherever you send us, where we work, in our families and among our friends, Lord, order our conversation right. Strengthen us where we're weak. Give us the power, Lord, to walk away from what offends your life in us. Give us the grace to embrace your will as the highest calling that our lives could ever pursue on this earth. Help us to let go of things that don't matter and to lay hold of what really is true and eternal. Would you give to us, God, a love for the lost, a love for people who don't know you, Lord. Would you give us an understanding of the depth of your love and give us the skill to be able to reach them, oh God. Oh Lord, help us, God, and empower us that our lives may bring honor to your name. And we ask this and believe it, God, as you have glorified your name before and you will glorify your name again. Do it in me, oh God. Do it through me, Lord. Let that be your cry. Do it through me, God almighty. Glorify your name. Hallelujah. Thank you, Lord. Thank you, God. Thank you, Lord, in Jesus' mighty name. Hallelujah.