In this sermon, the preacher addresses the issue of putting off seeking deliverance from sin and turning back to God. He calls on those who have been injured or run away from God to come forward and acknowledge their need for deliverance. The preacher emphasizes that God is with His people and will save them, even in overwhelming situations. He encourages the congregation to have confidence in God's control over every aspect of their lives and to find joy in their relationship with Him. The sermon concludes with an invitation to request a copy of the message and contact information for further communication.

The Preaching of the Word Heavenly Father, we're not trying to be facetious or funny when we talk about hatching snake eggs. Lord, we're talking about something very, very serious tonight. It has everything to do with walking with God. We thank you for those that you brought to the service tonight. And we pray, Lord, that you would take control. Take control of our minds, take control of the ministry tonight. Thank you for your presence already. Now come Holy Spirit, anoint us and give us unction from on high. Lord, let us not forget the Word. Deal with us in love, deal with us in your mercy. But oh Lord, help us to show the seriousness of what happens in our minds. Not just our bodies, but our minds. We're talking about the mind tonight. And the thoughts that we entertain. Oh Holy Spirit, give me a special unction from heaven. Let me speak with clearness, let me speak with authority. That there be no demon or devil in heaven. No lying spirit that can hinder the audience from hearing. Not one person to be hindered in hearing the Word. In Jesus' name I pray, amen. Turn to Isaiah, the 58th chapter please. I hope you have your Bibles with you. Please bring your Bible every time you come to Times Square Church. Every time you come, bring your Bible. Now the nursery is out in the... If you go to the lobby, our ushers will tell you where the nursery is. And for the children, over here to the right behind stage, there's someone to show you where to go. Hatching snake eggs. Just leave your Bible open to the 58th chapter of Isaiah. We're going to deal with about three chapters from the prophet Isaiah. If you have it open, then turn and look this way if you will. Let me lay the foundation for you. Now you may think when you heard my title tonight that it was a joke. But it's not a joke. Hatching snake eggs. In fact, this is a biblical term and I'm going to show you. It has everything to do with walking in holiness before God. Now Isaiah the prophet discovered the secret cause of the spiritual breakdown of God's people. In fact, if you look at verse 1 of chapter 58. Look at chapter 58, it says, Now I want you to know that God called Isaiah the prophet to send a piercing word of rebuke to a people who were seeking God. Look at verse 2. Now think about that for just a minute. Here were people, give me your good eye and your good ear. Here are people according to the word of God that set their heart on the Lord. They were anxious to get to church. They were anxious to get to the house of God. The Bible said they sought Him daily. That's more than some of us in this audience are doing right now. They sought the Lord daily. They said they delighted in hearing the word. In fact, the scripture says that they came before Ezekiel the prophet and said, We will come to hear the word of God. He said, but they sit before the prophet. And he sang like a sweet, just a sweet song. And they heard the word but didn't do it. They loved to hear it but didn't act on it. And here are people. God sends Isaiah the prophet to this people. Who are seeking God daily. Who delight to know His word. It's all there in the second verse. It did righteousness. And forsook not the ordinance of their God. They ask of me the way of justice. They take delight in approaching to God. And yet look at verse 1. God is saying, cry out against them. Spare not. Lift up your voice like a trumpet. And show these people their transgression. The house of Jacob their sins. The very same people. Now why? This doesn't sound right. That God would send a prophet. To a people who outwardly appeared to be hungry for God. Hungry for the word of the Lord. It just doesn't sound right. The Bible said, your sins have hid His face from you. Look at chapter 59. Verse 2. But your iniquities have separated between you and your God. And your sins have hid His face from you. That He will not hear. Look at me now. What is the sin? Why is Isaiah having to pierce like a trumpet. And blow this trumpet. Now that wasn't a literal trumpet. That was a piercing voice. You think that the pastors of this church preach a message that strong or hard? He said, spare not. Pierce it. Let it be loud. Let it be clear. Show my people their transgression. Show my people their sins. Well, what kind of sin do you show a people. Who are seeking Him. At least outwardly appear to be wanting the Lord with all their heart. The sin is hatching snake eggs. I'm going to show it to you. Chapter 59. Verse 5. Get right to it. They hatch. I'm reading in the King James. And in the New American Standard it says, they hatch Adder's eggs. But in King James, they hatch cockatrice's eggs. Now whether it's cockatrice's or Adder's, those are snakes. They hatch snake eggs. And they weave the spider's web. He that eateth their eggs dieth. And that which is crushed breaketh out into a viper. Alright. Here's the point. The mind is the womb of the heart. Get this now. You won't understand what the Holy Spirit's laid on my heart tonight. Unless you understand this. And this message that God's been working on me for the last two weeks has really been moving on me and changing my life. Really digging down and I want it to change your life tonight. The mind is the womb of the heart. Of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. And you see, there's a seed or a sperm that's placed there. And these are lying spirits that come and put evil thoughts into the mind. And if those evil thoughts are not dealt with while they're just a seed. If they're not chomped out. If they're not cast out. They conceive, the Bible says. When lust conceives, it brings forth sin. And sin when it's finished is death. And that's why the Bible says we're to cast out those wicked thoughts the moment they're planted as a seed. Because the seed will grow if you flirt with it. If you allow it in your mind, it grows into an egg. And inside that egg, the Bible said, is a serpent. And if you allow that egg to hatch. It begins to move as a nest through your mind and spreads poison and finally destroys you. These people who were seeking God evidently were coming to God outwardly. Covering the altar with their tears. But their minds were far off. Their minds were playing games. Their minds were on evil thoughts. Now, the Bible makes it very clear that the one who sows these tears or these weed thoughts is the devil himself. The Bible says the enemy sows the tears. The enemy sows these seeds in the mind. This has to be very, very clear to us tonight. God looks at what's going on inside the mind. You see, you can come to a meeting like this and say, Isn't it glorious? People singing and shouting and praising the Lord. But God is looking at the thought life. He's looking at what you're thinking. Not just the clapping of your hands. Not just your coming to church tonight. For as a man thinketh in his heart, so is he, the Bible says. God's not interested in just lip service. And that's what these people in Isaiah the 58th chapter are doing. They're giving him lip service. Their hearts are not really there because in their hearts they're hatching these snake eggs, the scripture says. They are fasting. They are praying. But they're not being heard. Read the next verse. Chapter 58, verse 3. Wherefore have we fasted, say they? And thou seest not. Wherefore have we afflicted our soul? And thou takest no knowledge. Behold in the day of your fast ye find pleasure in exact all your labors. Now, here's the point. Understand it please. They came to the place and they said, Look, we've been seeking God daily. We've been coming in to hear his word. We have not turned. In other words, they weren't flaunting some kind of outward sin. They were not living in outward sin. They were not in drugs. They were not in alcohol. They were not committing adultery, except in their minds. But there was a spirit of a wild imagination in this place. Their prayers were not being heard. In spite of their fasting, they said it's not working. Why are we going through all this when it doesn't work? I want you to know, friends, that there is absolutely nothing harmless or innocent about evil thoughts. There's nothing harmless or innocent about it. If they are not cast down, immediately destroyed, they're going to poison your soul. I want you to go back to Isaiah 55. Isaiah 55. We're going to stay mostly in Isaiah. But I want you to hear the word of the Lord. Isaiah 55, beginning verse 5. You fellows from Teen Challenge, I hope you have your Bibles. Follow me closely. Because we're going to talk about the mind habit. You know all about that. Isaiah 55, 5. Behold, thou shalt call a nation that thou knowest not. And nations that thou knowest shall run to thee. Because of the Lord thy God, the Holy One of Israel, for he hath glorified thee. Verse 6. Seek ye the Lord while he may be found. Call ye upon him while he is near. Let the wicked forsake his way. And the unrighteous man his thoughts. Let the unrighteous man forsake his thoughts. And let him return unto the Lord. And he will have mercy upon him. And to our God for he will abundantly pardon. For my thoughts are not your thoughts. Neither are my ways your ways. Sayeth the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways. And my thoughts higher than your thoughts. Look at verse 7 again. Let the wicked forsake his way. And let the unrighteous man his thoughts. And let him return unto the Lord. And he will have mercy upon him. And to our God for he will abundantly pardon. Alright, here's another verse I want you to get. And I want you to listen to it very close. I'm reading. You don't have to turn there. But it's 2 Corinthians 10.5. And it goes glove in glove, hand in glove with this verse that I've just read to you. Casting down imaginations. And every proud thing or thought that exalted itself against the knowledge of God. And bringing into captivity. Every thought to the obedience of Jesus Christ. Now that's 2 Corinthians 10.5 and I want to read it again. Casting down imaginations. And as soon as the devil puts that evil thought in your mind. You're to cast it down immediately. The Bible said Jesus came. And his heel was to be placed on the head of the serpent and cross it. And the moment that thought is introduced into your mind. You're to cross it with the heel of Jesus Christ. And believe that it can be cast down and destroyed while it's only a seed. Before it conceives. Casting down imaginations. And every proud thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God. And bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of the Lord Jesus Christ. In fact, that is in the context of tearing down strongholds. The very verse before that says bringing down strongholds. And what Paul is trying to say. That if you let that thought linger. If you flirt with it. If you play with it. You give it just 30 seconds without dealing with it in the Holy Ghost. And it's going to take root in your mind. And it's going to become a stronghold. And we talk about strongholds being pornography. We talk about it being abortion and all these things. Paul's speaking about your thought life. These thoughts becoming strongholds. Because in that context is where he is saying. Casting down all imagination. Bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of the Lord Jesus Christ. Because he said you are allowing them to become a stronghold inside your mind. These evil thoughts are like strongholds. Now I want to deal with three kinds of thoughts tonight that are satanic nest eggs. These are snake eggs. And I want you to just hear me out. I see it in my heart sometimes in the past. Thank God he has dealt with it and is dealing with it. But I want to talk about three kinds of snake eggs that are being hatched. And spreading poison in the lives of Christians and destroying Christian lives. First of all, there are injurious thoughts. In fact, injurious thoughts are probably the most dangerous of all. This is somebody that said something about you. Somebody spoke a word that injured you, hurt you and wounded you. And some of you are sitting here tonight. When I was preparing this message, the Holy Spirit was so strong on me. Saying, you are speaking to those who are going to be seated right in front of you, David. There are those who have been injured sometime in your past. Someone has said something tragic or terrible about you. That has hurt you. You have said at one time, I can't overlook it, I can't forgive it. I know of mothers who haven't talked to their daughters in 25 years. Because the daughter said something hurting or injurious to her mother. I've known mothers who won't speak to their children. I know fathers and sons that are separated. I know friends that were friends and locked in for years. Suddenly, something was said or they heard something that was said. They were injured in their spirit. They played with those thoughts. They went to bed with those thoughts. They played them and replayed them. You know, I get a lot of critical mail. You know, when you write to a few hundred thousand people, you're going to get some critical mail. I got a lot of critical mail when I started prophesying. You know, when I was just preaching about drugs and salvation, nobody ever criticized me. But when I started telling people about their sins, I got a lot of criticism. Called gloom and doom preacher and everything else. I was accused, I get all kinds of letters from people who don't sign their names. Recently, I got one accusing me of having the spirit of Jim Jones. And my wife picks those letters up and you can just see it rising up in my wife. Because, you know, this is her husband. And she says, I know, David, how could anybody be like that? They don't know you. Of course they don't know me. Or they wouldn't say what they say. Now, if there's something that I need to hear, I need to listen to it and sit down and take note of it. But she'll say, who could have written such a note and not put their name on it? Let's see, the zip code, maybe we can figure it out. We just sent out a Christmas calendar recently. And we put a picture on it. And we sent it to hundreds of thousands of people around the United States, around the world. We got a letter this past week and it hurt me. Because it was from a man who described himself as a holiness preacher. And he says, take me off your mailing list. I don't know what it was. He said, you look like two typical Pentecostal preachers. And I don't know whether it was my wife's scarf that bothered him or she had too much color. Or maybe we're smiling too much. I don't know. But he said, I hated the picture. Take me off. He thought it was worldly. I thought it was sweet. Gwen's never looked sweeter in all her life. She looked lovely. And that burned me up inside. You know what I said to my wife? Holiness preacher. I'll bet he's got lust in his mind. But you see, I was hatching a snake egg. I was hatching a snake egg. You know what God's told me to do with every critical letter? Read it. If there's something the Holy Ghost is saying, accept it. And then throw it in the basket and don't even give it ten seconds of your time. Get it out. I have a file now. It's called file 13. It's my wastebasket. You got any letters of criticism, I'll tell you right where it's from, brother or sister. Right there. Unless there's something I need to hear. Please sign your name. He said, if you crust the egg, Isaiah 59 5, if you crust the egg, a serpent breaketh out. You know what God says? If you've been injured, oh there's some of us that are so easily injured. It's called thin skin. Isn't it? And we come to God's house and we are robbed of the presence of God. We are robbed of the anointing because we are playing and replaying something someone has done. You see, maybe your wife divorced you, your husband divorced you, and you sit in God's house and you play and replay what was said about you and done to you. And you replay these and you have a hard time getting it out. And I'm telling you, if you play it and replay it and don't cast that down and get it out, you're hatching a snake egg that will poison you, rob you of the presence of the Holy Ghost. It has to be taken out. And some of us get so easily injured, we boil inside, we fret and we brood, we stay up at night and we replay every word. And that's a very, very dangerous place to be in. Very dangerous. I tell you what, I'm going to read to you Psalms, and if you want to follow me, you can. I'm going to Psalms 35.11. I'm going to Psalms 35.11. Anybody want to follow me? It might be good for you to see it in black and white. Psalms 35, verse 11. This is a prophetic word speaking about Jesus, speaking about Christ. And I want you to know that the Lord doesn't want us to take revenge. He said, all vengeance is His, He said. I'll repay. You and I don't repay. Before I read this scripture, could you look this way a minute? I had a boy, a young man, a preacher call me a few years ago. This is, I think, three, four years ago. And his church accused him of stealing $8,000 from the treasury. Now, the boy was just not a good manager, and he mismanaged the money. And he used to be on my staff. And we respected the young man. And he wrote to me, and he said, Brother David, I don't know what to do. I've got this church, I've got three deacons that are ready to take me to court. And they're out to get me. I've offered to pay the money back. And he said, they're calling me names, they're spreading it all over town. And it horrified me because I know that you can't touch God's anointed and survive. You can't do it. There's no way. Friends, if you're in a church where the pastor is not what you think he should be, don't touch him. Leave him alone. Pray for him and leave him in God's hands. Don't touch him. It's dangerous. Very, very dangerous. And I wrote a letter to that board, those three men. And I offered that our minister would pay the $8,000. I said, we'll pay the money. And they said no. And they took him to court. And I was so horrified because I've seen so many people die over this. I sent a letter. I got the names and address of those three men. This was two years ago. And I said, please, I'm going to tell you in love, your life is in danger. Don't touch him. I don't care if he stole the money. Forgive him. God will deal with it. I've offered to pay the money, but don't touch him. Let God deal with him. If he shouldn't, let God deal with him. And if you don't, and I said it lovely, you're dead. I said, you're dead. Listen, friends, this is documented. Within six months, one of them died with a heart attack suddenly. A year later, another died with a disease they couldn't even diagnose. The third man is running around that city now with long hair, divorced his wife. He's a drug pusher wearing an earring in his ear. And I told that boy, he was so angry, so hurt. He said, David, they've robbed me of my living. I said, if you'll stay sweet, if you'll just get this out of your mind. Don't deal with it. Don't sleep on it. Just leave it alone. The day will come that you'll weep over these people. And that day has come. That man, that young man just weeps now. God's put pity in his heart. And he survived. And God's bring him through because he killed the serpent. He killed. Crushed the egg. Crushed it. Got it out of his system. If you've been divorced, your husband has wronged you. Talk about you. Messing up your life. Don't deal with it. Don't fight back. Don't seek revenge. Get it out of your mind. And the day will come you'll sit and see the awesome judgment of a holy God. You'll see God deal with it. Don't you touch it. Leave it alone. I don't care who's hurt you. I don't care who's touched you. I don't care who said anything about you. Leave it alone. Go on. Rejoice. Pray for them. Leave it in God's hands. And one day you'll see the wills of God's divine justice. Oh, yes, you will. And then you'll weep. Trying to help a preacher's wife right now. Husband putting her down. Lying about her everywhere he goes. Trying to get everybody on his side. I'll tell you what. If you're a husband and you've got a woman on the side and you want a divorce, it's not easy. It's not hard to build a case. You can build it with your children. You can build it with your friends until finally that woman you're living with, you can make her out to be a witch. And your friends will believe you. But the day will come you have to answer for it. And just hold that young lady. Just be patient. The day's going to come you're going to woof over your preacher husband. You'll woof over him. Just leave him alone. Get those thoughts out of your mind. Don't let it get to you. Those are snake eggs. Don't hatch them. Psalm. We're finally there. Psalm 35. Verse 11. False witnesses did rise up. They laid to my charge things that I knew not. They rewarded me evil for good to the spoiling of my soul. But as for me, when they were sick my clothing was sackcloth. I humbled my soul with fasting and my prayer returned into my own bosom. I behaved myself as though he'd been my friend or brother. I bowed down heavily as one that mourneth for his mother. But in my adversity they rejoiced and gathered themselves together. Yea, the abjects gathered themselves together against me and I knew it not. They did tear me. They did tear me and they ceased not. With hypocritical mockers and feasts they gnashed upon me with their teeth. Turn to chapter 41. Just over a couple pages. Psalm 41. Look at verse 5. Verse 41. Verse 5. My enemies speak evil of me. When shall he die and his name perish? And if he come to see me, he speaketh vanity. His heart gathereth iniquity to itself. When he goeth abroad, he telleth it. All that hate me whisper together against me. Against me do they devise my hurt. Look at verse 9. Yea, my own familiar friend in whom I trusted, which did eat of my bread, hath lifted up his heel against me. Now here's where God made it clear I had to speak a word. And it's a prophetic word and listen to it. As sure as I stand here in the name of the Lord Jesus, there are some of you here now who are carrying something because a friend, some friend of yours, close to you, who sat at your table, wounded you, hurt you, deeply, hurt you, crushed your spirit. And I'm telling you now, hear the word of the Lord. There can be no freedom, there can be no victory. You cannot grow in the Lord, you cannot maintain His presence until you kill that hate. Don't hatch it anymore. Get it out. Get it out. It will destroy you. It will eat you up. I could give an honor call right now and there would be 50 people standing on their feet. I'm going to give an honor call later. But in the name of the Lord, deal with this now. And let the word of God come home to your heart. You can't go on with these thoughts raging in your mind. God would have you be delivered of it. Jesus said, I was the song of the drunkards on the street. Drunkards sang about Him, mocked Him, His crucifixion. The song of drunkards. Let them talk. Let them rave. But don't let it destroy your spirit and your soul. There are multiplied thousands of Christians that are leaving the churches today because bitterness is eating them up. Somebody said something that hurt them. The Bible said the wicked speak lies and their poison is like the poison of a snake. The wicked speak lies and their poison is like snakes. Lies, innuendos. The Bible says, to me belongeth vengeance I will repay. I had a minister come to my office in Texas a few years ago. He so shocked me. He said, Bo Wilkson, I have to tell you. He passed at a large church. I hardly knew him. I had talked to him 20 years before. And on the telephone. I don't even remember it. I thought the telephone conversation was... He asked for some advice and I gave him some advice. He said, you hurt me 20 years ago. And I've been carrying this grudge against you for 20 years. I didn't know he was writing a book. And this was to be the last chapter evidently, I don't know. But he couldn't finish writing that book on grudges until he came to me. And for 20 years, I wept for him when I heard it. I said, brother, for 20 years you've carried this burden? What's it done to your ministry? What's it done to your home life? What did I say? What did I do? And it's shocking to me to hear from people who come to me 10, 15 years later and said, David, you said something or you did something and you hurt me. You wounded me and I've been hurt all these years. I got a letter last week from somebody that I was supposed to hurt 15 years ago. And I can't even remember it. I don't even know what it's all about. And I feel sorry for that person. That person is carrying this terrible burden, this grudge, eating their soul. And everything I say, they can't accept any prophetic word. They can't accept anything that God gives to me because for all these years they've had that grudge blocking the word. I've had them here at this church come up and hug me and confess. I've had musicians say, Brother Dave, I've been so mad at you for your stand on rock and roll, Christian rock and roll. Recently God showed me, they said that it's wrong to weigh my attitude towards you. And I've not been listening to any prophecy you have. I've not been listening to any preaching because I was mad at you for what you said about rock and roll. It can kill you, absolutely destroy you, these hurtful thoughts. Second, I want to talk about fear-mongering thoughts. Thoughts that produce fear. Now, many of you right now that are hearing me are hatching a nest egg of these serpents. Crippling fear. The Bible said, fear hath torment. These fearful thoughts. Now, there are so many kinds of fears, I'm not even going to stand here and try to name them tonight. But all thoughts of fear can be fatal. Every thought of fear can be fatal if it's not dealt with through the Holy Ghost. All fearful thoughts can be fatal to your spiritual life if they're not dealt with immediately. The seed of fear has in it probably the most poisonous of all vipers. This is the most dangerous of all. I had a friend in Texas who was what you call a perfectionist. He grew up, his father was a captain in the army, and his father demanded perfection. And he grew up thinking he could never please his father. And then he could not please his wife. When he was on his job he couldn't please his boss, he thought. And he was excellent, in fact he was a scientist, one of the best in Texas. A brilliant man. And so many times I talked to that brother because he was going lower and lower into depression. The depression would get him because everything anybody said he took it wrong. An absolute perfectionist. And finally, if you're one of those perfectionists, this fear of not pleasing people gets a hold of you. You can never please people, you're always trying to please somebody. Hmm? I hit a nerve, didn't I? Always, there's always somebody to please. And finally, you turn that on God, like he did. He couldn't please God. God was never pleased. Everything he did, he'd read his Bible for hours and hours, and every time he'd hear a message on holiness, he'd be so convicted of it, and think he could never please God. And I remember, he said, David, I feel like taking my life. If something happens, I'm going to take my life. And I knew he meant it. And, oh, we prayed. We had so many counseled with him. There was nothing we could touch. And that man, an absolute perfectionist. Everything, anybody would say about him, if he thought they looked at him sideways, he was a failure. He thought he was a failure. Went to Houston, Texas to visit his mother. Told his wife goodbye. Got all his insurance papers, unbeknownst to her, got all his insurance papers in place. And he had a closet there that covered suicide. Took a shotgun to his stomach and killed himself. And it really bothered me. And I've watched that spirit of perfection. That thing that's inside, this terrible, terrible driving fear. And some of you here tonight are dealing with that very kind of fear. There are wives here tonight, hounded with the fear of losing your marriage. Losing your husband. I have heard that in the last two weeks three times from those in this body. This terrible fear. I'm afraid. I see all my friends getting divorced. Everywhere you turn, one of your friends, those you never thought could possibly be divorced. Then they call you on the phone saying, guess what? Frank and I are getting a divorce. And it blows you away. And then the dear wife says, are we next? And that fear, that hounding fear, and then the giving in and trying to appease, trying to please, over please. Trying to give in. Losing your very personality, trying to make things work. Then the parents who live with fear of losing their children to drugs. You send them to school today. Folks, I've raised four children and now we've got five grandsons and I'm working on them. And I share that fear that many of you parents have, especially if they go to a public school. And you see all the drugs, you hear of all the alcoholism. You hear of kids coming home at 13 years of age who are atheists. And you know our schools are full of humanism. And you say, oh dear Lord, are they going to come home one day cold and hard and turn against me? It's happened to 13, 14 year old kids that come home suddenly and they act like atheists. Giving up on God because it's so penetrated in their minds. Their thought life is so polluted by what they get in school. And there's so many parents living with this fear. There are those who fear their jobs, losing their jobs. We heard from a number this morning, two I think in particular. I think it was Shearson Lehman who laid off a number from stock market. I see some heads being nodded right now. You lost your job over the stock market thing. And you could sense some fear in people. What am I going to do? And we fear the economy. The stock market went down 140 points Friday. And now everybody's saying is it going to be another meltdown? I picked up the paper yesterday and one of the economists said we almost had another meltdown yesterday. We were that close to a meltdown. They don't even know what's going to happen tomorrow when the stock market opens. And we listen to all of this concern about the future. And fears begin to move in, entertained in the mind. What are we going to do? You know, I have to stop here and say something about this kind of fear. Do you mind? So what if there is a depression? Do you understand that there's been a number of depressions in the United States? There have been five major depressions. And God brought our parents and grandparents through every one of them. Not one of them starved. Not one of them starved. David said, I'm an old, gray-haired man and I've yet to see God's people beg for bread. We serve a mighty God. Who's a loving Father. And I'm going to tell you right now, you should not entertain a single thought whether or not the whole thing comes down. If it does, He goes with us. And I'll tell you something else, if it all comes down, God's going to bring us all together. And God's going to just let the Christians have one of the greatest family affairs you ever saw in your lifetime. There'll be love like you never saw it in your lifetime. There'll be a spirit of love. Hallelujah. Fear of illness. You know, we have elderly people in this church who are afraid, you know, they don't have family. And you hear them talk and it kind of gets to you. I never thought about that when I was 30. When I'm 55 now, it sounds a little clearer to me. You know, the matter of being sick and having nobody to take care of you. Oh, I hear that kind of fear. I could go on and on. There's the fear of major illness. Every time you get a lump, it's cancer. Huh? You know what the devil puts in the first thought? Cancer. Every one of you boys that have been on drugs and stuck a needle, even 8 and 10 years in the past, every time you get a flu now, AIDS. First thing the devil says in your mind, AIDS. It's all over the city. The fear, the thought comes immediately. Right to the mind. Look, of all the college students that have come up here to the front the other night, especially the prayer meeting, so concerned about the future. So concerned, can I find my place? Is my life going to mean anything? I'm getting older and others seem to be finding their place and I don't seem to have my place yet. It's just not coming out. I'm getting older. When am I going to fit to that place where I feel fulfilled and I feel like my life has not been wasted? Well, let me tell you right here and now. You can forget all the formulas on how to win over fear. The Bible doesn't have a four step formula on how to overcome fear. But the Bible does have a very clear word on how to deal with it. There's no question about it. You are in a spiritual warfare in this matter of fear-mongering thoughts. This is not a kid's game, by the way, and you'd better realize it now. You talk about spiritual warfare. I don't want you to turn it, but I want you to listen to what it says in Deuteronomy 20, verse 8. Just listen. What man is there? You see, God sees fear thoughts so contagious, so dangerous, He has to isolate it. When it's on somebody, it's so poisonous, it infects others. What man is there that's fearful and faint-hearted, let him go and return to his house, lest his brethren's heart faint as well as his heart. Now, God said that right after He told them they're going out to battle against the enemy. And He says, the enemy is going to be stronger than you've ever seen. In fact, let me read it to you. You are now about to approach your enemy this day to battle against your enemies. Let not your heart faint, and fear not, and do not tremble, neither be terrified. For the Lord your God is He that's going with you to fight for you against your enemy and to save you. Do you understand what God's saying? He said, I'm your God. I have all power and authority, and I can save you. And you're going to come against enemies that are going to overwhelm you. There are going to be things that you don't understand. You're going to look at those iron chairs and say, how can we do it? We don't have any weapons. You're going to look at the thing and say, our future is dead. That's what He said. You will approach the enemy to battle. Don't let your hearts faint. Don't be afraid. There will be horses and chariots and a people more powerful than thou. Be not afraid of them. For the Lord thy God is with you to save you. Alright, come on now. What you see ahead of you is just like these chariots. It's too big for you. It's overwhelming. There's no way out, humanly speaking. It looks hopeless. And God says, if your heart's going to faint, if you're going to be fearful, go home and deal with it. But if you're going to battle, in the name of the Lord, there's only one thing you're going to stand on. You're going to stand on your trust in my word that I have power and authority and you'll trust me and that's it. You're going to believe what I told you. That even though your enemy looks more powerful, even though it looks overwhelming and the odds are all against you, I am God and I am with you. Now folks, that's all you need to deal with your fear. That's the way you trap it and kill it. You say, I serve a God who has all power and all authority and God's with me. God's with me. Now if you're repentant and walking in holiness, God is with you. So if God be for us, who could be against us? Let the economy collapse. Let the future look dark. Let everybody pass me by. Let it all go because God is with me. I am in his hands. No man can pluck me out of it. Glory to God. You getting a little bit of faith out of this? Go back to Psalms 27 for just a minute. Psalms... go back to Psalms. Go to chapter 27. I want to warm your hearts here with another word. Psalms 27. Glory to God. This makes me want to shout. Psalms 27. All you faint hearted fearful people with these snake eggs hatching in your head. Read it with me. I'll read it and you just listen. Psalms 27, first five verses. The Lord is my light and my salvation. Whom shall I fear? The Lord is the strength of my life. Of whom shall I be afraid? When the wicked, even my enemies and my foes, come upon me to eat up my flesh. And they will stumble and fail. Though a host should be encamped against me. My heart shall not fear. The war shall rise against me. In this will I be confident. One thing of my desire to the Lord. That will I seek after. That I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life. To behold the beauty of the Lord and to inquire in his temple. For in the time of trouble he shall hide me in his pavilion. In the secret of his tabernacle shall he hide me. And he shall set me upon a rock. Glory. Hallelujah. He's got a hiding place for every one of us here tonight. Against AIDS. Against the plague. He said no plague shall come near your dwelling. And if we walk in his righteousness with clean hands and pure heart. He is going to honor his promises to us. He said I've got a secret place for you. Lose your job, I've got a secret place for you. The enemy come against you like a roaring lion. I've got a secret place for you. I'm going to hide you from the strife of tongues. I'm going to hide you. Glory to God. I'll just give the devil black eye. You know that those fearful thoughts. Really are dangerous because you're accusing God of neglect. You're saying God doesn't care about me. God's forgotten all about me. It's dangerous. Now, I can't close without dealing with the thoughts of lust. Now you'd have thought I would have started with that. No, because I'm saying that as dangerous as this is. The others are equally as dangerous. But this here now is where many of us have to stop and listen very closely now. Because every sensual fornicating action. Everything that our hands and our body does in the way of fornication or sensuality. Always begins with a thought. Now every drug addict that's been on drugs or alcohol knows what I'm talking about when I say a mind habit. Where you've been delivered from it physically. Physically you don't need it. You can kick a cold turkey. You can kick almost any habit cold turkey. You can kick it and you can be delivered from the physical bondage. But there's a mental bondage. The end of side one. Turn the tape over to side two to continue. Another friend in Texas. He also was on my staff. He started on marijuana when he was seven years old in his father's garage. Seven years old and for 25 years regularly he smoked marijuana. He got saved. And the fellow's a wonderful guy. He's a loving person. And I really loved the man in his spirit. He was a gracious person. Kind. A good father. A good husband. But he kept going back. He'd get saved. Fall. Saved. Sin, repent. Sin, repent. You know that old game. Up and down. Sin, repent. Sin, confess. And he kept going back and back. And I'd keep taking him back. One day we sent him to help support him to a program out in Illinois or Indiana. And he came back and we thought this time he's got the victory. And boy he testified. Tears rolled down his cheek after all those years. But you know he was physically free. But that snake egg was still being hatched in his mind. And you know what it was? Somewhere along the line he was convinced. And somebody had told him this. Who was one of these jailhouse doctors. Like jailhouse lawyers. A jailhouse doctor had told him it's good for his asthma. And he'd get these breathing attacks. And this thought would come. It's a medical thing. It's a medical thing. You need it for your body to perform. So you can breathe. And that thought kept moving and moving. And one day he's out. And I'll tell you what. That thing got a hold of him. And it just overwhelmed him. And he ran to the nearest contact and started back. This time he started both of his sons. He got them on drugs. He's left his wife since. The man is lost. He's gone. You can't even talk to him now. Bob and I dealt with him in the office one time. And prophesied and told him that his body would be turned over. There's structure in the flesh. That his soul would be saved. And nothing could touch him anymore. And he repented over and over again. But you see, this thing was still in the mind. And why is it that so many who were delivered then go back to their old habits? Why isn't this grip of sin broken? Finally, once and for all. It's because that evil thought is planted by a lying spirit. And it's not immediately cast down. And if you give it even, like I said, 40 seconds, it's going to take root and become a stronghold. And this is why God literally screams at us in the scripture. Cast out that wicked thought. Cast down that wicked imagination. The moment it comes in, deal with it. Call on the name of the Lord and say, Oh God. And by the way, you have to look at this by saying, Look at this thought that's just been planted in my mind to go back. That's not just an old desire rekindled. That's just not my flesh talking. That's not innocent. That's the devil himself speaking to me. That's the seed of Satan himself. That's hell. And that's going to kill me. That's going to destroy me. If I continue in this thought path one more moment, and you fall on your face, you get a Holy God. And say, Oh God, you promised to deliver me. Satan, you're a liar. I'll not accept it. This is from the devil. This is from the pits of hell. And deal with it for what it is. Deadly, deadly poison. You've got to acknowledge right now that it's a lying spirit. That if you continue in it, it's going to kill you. It's going to destroy you. It'll take your family. It'll take your life. It'll take everything you have. No wonder the Bible says, Resist the devil and he'll flee from you. You resist him at the very first thought that he throws at your mind. Now, I've got to move on very quickly here because I want to show you the consequences of what happens to a person who will not cast down that wicked thought the moment it comes in. There are four things that happen and you can see it. And it's happened to some of you sitting here right now. Please note the terrible consequences of not dealing with this matter of killing these evil thoughts. Alright. First of all, the Bible says, It turns to Isaiah 59. Isaiah 59. Now, I want to show it to you. First thing that happens, your feet are going to run to your evil deed. Your feet are going to start running. You won't crawl there. You'll run. You won't crawl back to your pusher. You'll run back. Isaiah 59, verse 7. Their feet, what's it say? Run to evil. And they make haste to shed innocent blood. Their thoughts are thoughts of iniquity, wasting and destruction are in their paths. Do you know he's talking about the people of God who backslidden? Those who've gone back to their old sins? Now, listen closely, please. These were people who were once free, but they turned back to their wickedness because they did not deal with it. Do you know... Look this way for just a minute. I was... Gwen's had five operations for cancer. And during one of these times when she was being diagnosed, we were at the cancer hospital down in Houston. And what a horrible sights I saw. I saw a woman being wheeled in. She had throat cancer. And they had taken out most of her throat. And there was a hole right here where she would breathe. And she contacted cancer again. It had metastasized and she was back for another operation. They were wheeling her in. And she was begging... The men in the white coats that were pushing... She was begging for a cigarette. And the doctor... We had found out that she got it from smoking. She had both lung cancer and throat cancer. And this hole... I couldn't believe it. That woman... One of the doctors nodded his head. And one of the attendants pulled out a pack of cigarettes and gave it to her. And she had to suck it through the hole. And she's sucking in the cigarette breath on the way to the operating room. Why? The feet run swiftly to their evil. Preacher's wife in Detroit. Husband's heartbroken. Two little children cry as mother runs off with a wicked man in the church. Just runs off. Her feet swift to evil. And those two crying children can't stop mama. Nothing. She was supposed to have loved them. Father heartbroken. Husband heartbroken. Why? Because that egg had been hatched. She'd been playing with that thought. And that lust had been there for so long. And she'd toyed with it and flirted with it. And now the snake is hatched. And now she's a driven woman. And she's running to her evil. And I tell you what. If you don't kill those thoughts, the day will come... Nobody can stop you. Have you ever been around a Christian that used to be so gentle and kind? Somebody you knew. And you meet them a year or two later and you can't understand why they're so hot and so cold. They don't even talk about Jesus. You go home and say, I can't believe what's happened to them. I can't believe how they've changed. What is it? Their feet running toward their evil now. That's the first consequence when you won't kill it. There'll be a driving spirit come. Satan's got that snake hatched. And that snake spirit, that venom will drive you. Run! You'll run to the nearest bushel. You'll run to your contact. You've played with it. You toyed with it. And finally you're out of control. And the Bible says, next, very clearly here, in this same verse, their thoughts are thoughts of iniquity, wasting and destruction are in their paths. I mean, nothing can stop them. They're just going to waste themselves from this time on. Secondly, the Bible says, there's a loss of peace. Look at verse 8. The way of peace. They know not. There's no judgment in their goings. And they have made their crooked paths. Whosoever goeth therein shall not know peace. Listen. Everyone who goes with them, the Bible said, is going to lose their peace too. If you've got a husband or wife that's bent on compromise, don't run with them because you're going to lose your peace too. I had a woman tell me, in a city in Canada, that her husband, a backslidden man who used to be a good Christian, now he's bar hopping, and she says, he said, if I don't go bar hopping with him, he's going to leave me. I said, let him go. Let him go. Don't you go with him because you'll lose your peace, and you'll be destroyed by his violence. And this is what happens. Not only does this person lose their peace, but everything they touch becomes turmoil. Everything they touch goes topsy-turvy, on the job. Everything goes wrong. They lose their peace. Some of you know what I'm talking about. The most mixed up people in the world are those who once knew God, and let these thoughts run wild. They've lost their peace completely. And those who run with them lose their peace also, the Scripture says. Whoso goeth with them shall not know peace. And thirdly, look at verse 9 and 10. They become blind and full of horrible darkness. You see chapter 59, look at verse 9. Therefore is judgment far from us, neither does justice overtake us. We wait for light, but behold obscurity for brightness, but we walk in darkness. We grope for the wall like the blind, and we grope as if we had no eyes. We stumble at noonday as in the night. We're in desolate places as dead men. We're in desolate places like dead men. I had a healing evangelist, former healing evangelist. Most of you wouldn't know him. He was from the west coast. Twenty years ago he was very popular. He came to my office one day. He sat there, and I tried to talk to that pastor, to that man. I couldn't even... It's like knocking... Have you ever knocked... No, you didn't do that, but have you ever looked at somebody and said, is there anyone there? Is there anybody there? You can't touch anything. He's gone. You can't even talk about God. And I finally said, Sir, why are you here? He said, I don't know. He was gone. In one of our repentance conferences, an evangelist attended. If I named him, you would know him. Years ago he was very famous on radio and television. He'd been accused of homosexuality, lost his ministry. God bless you. When you shake hands, it's like a dead fish. You look at the man, you can't even see anything in the eyes. It's gone. The peace is gone. There's nothing but darkness. You can't tap anything. It's all gone. What's happened? What's happened? The snake has hatched. The egg has hatched. The poison has spread all through the system. And finally, they develop a Jekyll and Hyde personality. Very changeable. Look at verse 11 now. And with this I'm going to close. We roar all like bears, and we mourn like sore doves. We look for judgment. There is none for salvation, but it's far from us. Okay, now look at me. This bear and dove syndrome. Did you ever live with somebody that's a bear one minute, ready to eat you up and chew your head off? I mean, they could kill you. I mean, there's a fit of temper that you can't understand, and you say, Are you a Christian? And the Bible says, they roar like a bear, and then they turn around, and the next minute, they mourn like a dove, and they say, I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry. Why is it? Why did this woman, who lived with the man here in New York, who beat up his child, killed the child, and beat up the woman. Did you see her picture in the paper? She was so beaten up, she's in the hospital now. They're having to work on her. Why do women stay with husbands that beat them up? Because those men, at times, are the most gentle, kind men on the face of the earth. They roar like bears, and then they mourn like doves. And God will not have it. God will not have those wild mood swings. Because the Spirit of Christ is gentle, and kind, and long-suffering. And if you're sitting here right now, and you've got that bear and dove thing in you, the Spirit of God has to kill a snake in you. Why are all the wives saying amen? Am I telling you the truth? Do you know people like that? Why? This is serious business. Why? Because of what's happened here, in the mind. They thought they could come to church and put on a front. I'll tell you what, I can't close on the bears. I'm going to give you an ironclad promise that absolutely assures you that no evil thought need be conceived in your mind. An absolute ironclad promise. Do you want it? Thou will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee, because he trusts in thee. Ironclad. He will keep his mind, he will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is what? Stayed on him. Hallelujah. Keep your mind on Jesus. Every time those thoughts come, think of Jesus. What's your things of pure, honest, good report? Think on these things. So I'm not put up with it. I've had enough of it. I'm not going to be like that folks. I've preached prophecy. I've preached, yes, I've preached a lot of judgment. But I'm still one of the happiest men in America. I've got the joy of the Lord in my heart. I've got the joy of the Lord in my heart. You should have seen me in my son's place today. Laughing. Laughing until I could hardly hold myself. The joy of the Lord in my heart. Hallelujah. Because those who really walk with God have that joy. Why? Because there's a confidence in God. God has everything under control. Say it. God has everything under control. Once again, God has everything under control. You believe that or don't you? Hallelujah. God has everything under control. He's got your job under control. He's got your family under control. He's got everything under control. Hallelujah. Therefore, gird up the loins of your mind. Be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Hallelujah. Oh, wait a minute. Wait a minute. Psalms 121. It's five verses. Let's read it in closing. Take it home with you, and I want you to go home shouting with it. And every time these evil thoughts come, get 121. This is called the Keeper Psalm. This is the Keeper Psalm. You want the Keeper Psalm? Hey, fellas, get it. Mark it in your Bible. And every time the devil comes and says, you're going to go back on drugs, you get out Psalm 121, and you just blow it at him. I mean, you just blow the trumpet at him right now. Psalms 121. Do you have it? I will lift up my eyes under the hills from whence cometh my help. My help cometh from the Lord which made heaven and earth. He will not suffer thy foot to be moved. He that keepeth thee will not slumber. Behold, he that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep. The Lord is thy Keeper. The Lord is thy shade upon thy right hand. The sun shall not smite thee by day nor the moon by night. The Lord shall preserve thee from all evil. He shall preserve thy soul. The Lord shall preserve thy going out and thy coming in from this day forward and forevermore. Hallelujah. Glory to God. Hallelujah. Are you ready to deal with those thoughts? Are you ready to kill those snake eggs tonight and tramp on them and say, in Jesus' name, I've had enough. I've had enough. First of all, oh, I tell you, look here, up in the balcony here, the cry of my heart tonight is that God would come with a cleansing stream through our minds. Cleanse our thoughts. Cleanse our minds. Is there a grudge? Has there been a seed planted in your mind? A bitterness? Or fear? Rebellion? Death? Or lust? I don't want you to come. I'm not interested in just filling up this front. I don't want you to come unless you say, Brother Wilkerson, I had to hear this message tonight. I had to hear it. God gave you this message for me, Brother Wilkerson. He gave it to you for me. And God's dealt with me tonight. And I need to be set free. I'm not going to walk out of this church tonight to where I came in. Because you know if you go on, it'll poison you. Up in the balcony, you come down the exits, right down these aisles, and here on the main floor, you can get right up out of your seat and come and stand here. And by getting out of your seat and coming down here, that says, God, I've had enough. I'm going to deal with this now. I want to lay it down. I don't want to carry this thought another moment. Now, don't lie to the Holy Ghost and don't say it's somebody else. Don't put it off. Have you had that perfectionist spirit? Have you had one of these things I'm talking about? Injured? Wounded? I want you to get up right now and come and stand here and say, I need to be delivered. I need to be delivered. Up in the balcony, just go to the exits and down the stairs. Get in close. If you're backslidden, if you've been running from God, you come. Come with ease. If you're backslidden, you've turned your back on the Lord, you've grown cold toward the Lord, get out of your seat. Move in real close here, please. Move in real close. Form three or four lines behind. That's it. Just three or four lines. Get in close here. It's going to be a good night tonight. God's going to set a lot of people free. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. God's going to set a lot of people free tonight. Do you believe that, brother? Amen. Hallelujah. This is a night for you. Praise the Lord. How many of you up here, how many believe this is your night? This is your night to be free. Hallelujah. God's going to set us free. This is the end of this message. For a copy of this message, write to World Challenge, PO Box 260, Lindale, Texas, 75771, or call, here's your code, 214-963-8626. Thank you.