In this sermon, the preacher emphasizes the need for a response to God's call to get out of despair and captivity. He uses the example of Israel being captivated by their unbelief and hardness of heart. God comes to Israel and tells them to wake up, put on strength, and shake off the dust. The preacher shares a personal story of being called to work with gangs and drug addicts in New York and how he used a trumpet to gather a crowd and deliver God's message. The sermon concludes with the message that God wants to redeem us without any cost and calls us to get up and get out of the pit of despair.

Welcome to Times Square Church, if you're here for the first time. God bless you, and may the Lord touch you. If you've not already been touched, that the Word will do its work. I asked Gwen to pray for anointing with me. She said, David, the Word is anointed. It's the Word that is anointed. It's time to get right with God. That's my message. Obviously, it's not for Christians and believers walking in covenant relationship with Christ. But my calling this morning is a watchman. And I'm telling you now, what I believe the Holy Spirit is saying, it's time to get right with God. Holy Spirit, only you can fill this house with your presence and make Christ real. Only you can speak to the depths of the soul. I don't know who this is for, but Lord, I'm going to speak to those who know their sinners, to those who are backslidden, to those, O Lord, who have been growing cold and indifferent to the call of God and the things of Christ. O God, come and speak. You've spoken this into my heart, and I've received it. And now, Lord, will you speak gently and firmly to every heart, and he that hath ears to hear, let him hear what the Spirit has to say. Paul the Apostle in 2 Corinthians said, behold, now is the accepted time. Behold, now is the day of salvation. He said, this is a day of mercy. This is a day of grace. This is the time for you to get right with God and deal with this mercy. Paul said, don't receive the mercy in vain. Don't turn away. Don't turn away from the gentle call of Jesus to come back to his arms. Now, this is a message of grace, but it's also a warning. Receive it as a warning. Now, today is the day of salvation. Jesus warned that in the last days, many are going to grow cold. The scripture says, because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall grow cold. And he said, this is going to happen in a time he called the beginning of sorrows. And folks, we're living in what Jesus said. I believe this in my heart, we're living in the beginning of sorrows. We're living in a time of unprecedented dented greed, rampant iniquity, sexual perversions beyond description. And Jesus said, in those times, in the beginning of sorrows, many hearts are going to grow cold. And he said, they're going to turn away. This is not the day. If you've chosen this day, if you were still walking with a cold heart, you've chosen the wrong time. This is not the time according to scripture to reject the loving call of Christ. I hear people say, I can get right with God anytime I choose. I'll know the time. I'm not ready yet. And I'll know the time. I have some things I want to accomplish in my life. And I have friends and I want to enjoy myself. And when I'm ready, I'll come to God. Now there's some problems with that. And there are issues that you've got to understand because coldness leads to hardness. That's what the scripture says. He said, there will come a great falling away. And those who receive not the truth are going to fall under what the scripture calls the deceivableness of sin. It's so deceptive. It can harden a cold heart. And the scripture says, take those who receive not the love of the truth will fall into the deceivableness of sin. Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God, exhort one another daily. And I'm exhorting you now. I'm doing exactly what the scripture says. Well, it is called today, lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin and Hebrews three, wherefore, as the Holy ghost is saying today, if you will hear his voice, do not harden your heart. And he said, that's what Israel did. And that is what many have done all these times. And the Lord says in the last day, he said, the door is still open. Don't you harden your heart. Israel hardened their heart. Bible says in a day of provocation, in a time when they believe that God no longer answered their prayers in a time of deep affliction, in a time of trouble, Bible says they hardened their heart because they couldn't see any evidence of God answering their prayer. I meet people like that. I meet people who've hard, their hearts who once knew Christ and walk with him closely. But now you see, they prayed about something, affliction, somebody was dying of cancer, whatever it may be. And that person died. And this person said, I prayed and I did everything. And I claimed to scripture and I just can't handle it. And they appeased with God. Israel got pee, got angry at God because it wasn't happening with it. And they're not, they were never satisfied in the murmuring and complaining and they hardened their hearts. I know people that have hardened their hearts because they won't give up friends. I know many young people, some of them close to me who, who, who say, look, uh, I just don't feel this is my time. You know, I can say don't today, but I talked to young people, some of them who have turned their back on the things of God and they won't listen to me. I know scripture and they seem to beyond hearing of the grace and the mercy of God today. If you will hear his voice, harden not your heart. Last night I was asking the Holy spirit, tell me what hardness is. What is this that people can spin off into hardness? It's not that God has changed. It's not that God has withdrawn his mercy. That won't happen. That, that invitation is always there. The covenant is always there and the invitation is always there and it's always tender. It's always loving. It's always kind, but you can be sitting here now and I don't care how much love I, that comes from my heart. I don't care what kind of appeal I make. I don't care what kind of pleading the spirit makes through me. If you have a hard heart, you said I'm going to work. You're not going to listen. You're not going to hear and hear. Here's what I scribbled down and I believe the Holy spirit led me to this hardness, a heart that is beyond the influence of the greatest of the gracious pleading of Christ. They placed themselves beyond the pleadings of the Holy spirit to self imposed exclusion with no intention of ever obeying the call of the gospel. No intention ever, no matter what preachers preach, no matter how the Lord himself could come down in the flesh. The Bible said in the many would not believe a refusal to accept the mercy of Christ. A person who keeps putting distance between himself and God is self imposed and the hardness or how I tremble. I've met pastors in my worldwide travels and preaching ministers conference. Once on fire for God, look me in the face and shake hands and says no. And they've turned away hardened themselves. Coldness leads to hardness. Now is the time to get right with God because this generation is lost. Secondly, has lost the fear of God. There's no fear of God left in the land. This is what the Bible says. The fear of the Lord, a fear of the Lord and depart from evil. The fear of the Lord is to hate evil by mercy and truth. Iniquity is purged. And by the fear of the Lord, men depart from their evil, from the fear of the Lord. Years ago, I was invited to speak at a gathering at Yale university. And I was informed before the meeting that a group of demonstrators had come in with signs. They had read something I preached from Romans about homosexuality, I suppose. They said they're going to demonstrate it at a certain time. And I said, Lord, what do I preach? The Lord said, preach your message on hell. Hell, what's it like and who's going there? I preached it all over the country. And friends, I wasn't halfway through when a holy hush, when a presence of the Holy Ghost came, I'll never forget it. There was a well-known writer who was writing there to write a report of the meeting. And he said, my pen sounded loud. There was no demonstration. The fear of God came on that house, came on their campus. At least those were gathered. I was stunned. I saw the power of the Holy Spirit dealing. No sign was lifted. I went to the lobby later and I asked one or two of those who had signs. I didn't even read what was on the sign. They were turned opposite and they couldn't explain to me. I said, what happened? They couldn't explain it. It was the fear of God, the fear of God. Call it what you want, reverential awe, call it what you want. But there's such a thing as remember that God is not mocked. There's such a thing as looking at the majesty and holiness of God. You see, we have come from that to this. This past week, I come out of the apartment and there and the bus on the side, there's no God, have fun. London, all over the buses, there is no God, let's party. We've come from that, from that fear of God. And you see, if you have no fear of God, you have to invent a gospel of convenience. And this is what's happened in America and around the world. You see, man can't get away from that nagging sense. And that's the Holy Spirit who says there's death and then there's judgment. There's a day of standing before God to give an account. And the Bible makes it very, very clear. There's a heaven and there's a hell. And there's a day we're going to have to give an account. And there is a hell. And Jesus said there's a hell of fire and weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth, a darkness that can be felt. And there is a hell. But you see, man has to invent a gospel where there's no God. And that's where we are in the United States and around the world right now. No hell, no heaven. This is it. So just live it up and have your time, have your fun. You see, this is the danger when we reject the call of the Holy Spirit. And what about Jesus? You see, the devil knew that he couldn't take that out of his gospel because everybody at least said he's a good man, he was a teacher, he's a prophet. And so he brings in a Jesus that is tolerant. That's the key word right now, tolerance. Tolerant toward same-sex marriage, tolerant toward everything. There's no such thing as sin. There's no such thing as a sinner. There's no such thing as judgment. And so they buy into that. Young people are buying into that. Many Christian young people are saying we need to be more tolerant. And so they too believe that same-sex marriage is okay with me. You know, they can do what they can try as they will. But now the Spirit speak in the latter times, some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of devils, speaking lies and hypocrisy, having their conscience seared with a hard iron. Now see, what I'm preaching to you now is mercy. It's if I was thinking last night, the Bible said there's a narrow road that leads to eternal life, and there's a wide road leading to destruction. And you see them coming the road and they're heading pale mouth or over the hill. And there's a glow on the other side of the hill. And you know, I stand there, any man of God who's standing there and saying, turn back, go back, go back. Friends, I say that's mercy. That is mercy. What I'm giving to you now is the mercy of God, who so loved you that he put you in a seat in this church this day and said, today, now is the time to make it right. Third, it's time to get right with God because Jesus is coming very soon. He's at the door. No one knows the time or the hour, but Jesus told it's going to happen. What's going to happen prior to his coming. He gives very clear evidence. Jesus said, there'll be wars. There will come false Christ, but don't be terrified because the end is not yet. Then nations shall rise against nation kingdom against kingdom. Great earthquakes shall be in direst places and famines and pestilences and fearful sites and great signs in the heaven. And then he said, don't, don't be concerned about the wars and earthquakes. He said, but then shall they see the Son of man come in a cloud with power and great glory. But one, what does he mean by what then listen to what he said when men's hearts fail them for fear and for looking upon those things that are coming on the earth. It's one of the sure signs when everywhere there was fear and men's hearts are failing them. Just watching those things that are coming on the earth. We don't hear much about the coming of Christ in modern Christianity. We don't hear it anymore. I grew up where every Sunday in church, this was preached. I grew up believing Jesus could come at any moment. We don't hear that much. When I first came to New York, that's what I preached on the streets. Jesus is coming. Get ready. I preached that all my life. And many say he's not coming now. And they put it off because such as a dominion theory gospel that we have to first conquer sin and bring in the kingdom of Christ and renew the earth. But the scripture says, beware of those who say in their heart, my Lord delays his coming. Scripture said, we are all going to be changed in a moment in the twinkling of an eye at the last trumpet for the trumpets will sound the dead shall be raised incorruptible and we shall all be changed. Therefore, beloved brethren, be you steadfast, be unmovable, and always abounding in the work of the Lord should know you don't stop working. You don't stop praying. You don't stop doing anything. You keep moving on. But with this always in mind, looking to and hasting toward the coming of Christ. And I find that to be a great motivation to keep my heart broken and humble before Christ. Blessed are those servants who are on alert when he comes. Blessed are those servants whom the Lord will find watching when he comes. And if he comes in the second watch, be ready for the son of man is coming in an hour when you don't think, when you don't expect him. I've been reading and praying over Isaiah 52 for a number of weeks. When God spoke to Israel, they were in captivity. This was their third captivity. And he comes to these people because Israel is now laying in the dust, captivated by their unbelief, captivated by their hardness of heart. And God comes to Israel, laying in the dust, laying in the dirt. And God comes with the word. And I'm reading to you from Isaiah 52 verses one through three. And God said, wake up, put on your strength, put on a beautiful garment and shake yourself from the dust. Get up. Oh, Jerusalem, loose yourself from the bands on your neck. Oh, you captive. For thus says the Lord, you have sold yourself for nothing, but I'm going to redeem you without money. I'm going to redeem you without money. Now, this is the message. And here's the hope. God says, you've been captivated long enough. Now you get up, get out from the dirt, get out from that pit of despair. You see, there comes a call and there is a response. There has to be a response. He says, get up. And he said, you'll find it if you take, make the move, the chains will fall off. He said, you're selling yourself for nothing. He said, the devil don't own you. The devil didn't die for you. You don't belong to the devil. I paid a price for you. This is what he's saying to the Messianic age, to the Messianic age, because he was speaking to the, to the Messianic age, our age, because he speaks of a man whose vision was marred in that same chapter. And he speaks of this man coming to deliver people from their chains. And they fall off because they believe in this man who was marred, his vision marred beyond recognition. And that's our Christ. 50 years ago, here in New York, I came from a little country town. If you read my book on the cross, this is the account. And the Lord called me from a little country town to work with gangs and drug addicts here in New York. And the Lord told me one day to go down to Fort Greene projects in Brooklyn. I had a trumpet player with me, a kid. I said, get up on the chair. I got a chair from the high school, and this was the high school courtyard. And I said, Jimmy, get up and just blow the trumpet. He had a trumpet. And that little crowd gathered, children, young people, and some guys in red jackets, mamas. Mao Mao gang was one of the most notorious gangs in New York at the time. I think there were over 200 gangs at that time in 1958. And after I preached and always preached, the coming of the Lord, and I'm sure I did then, I walked over to those boys in those jackets. And one of them was Nicky Cruz, the president and the vice president and his lieutenants or whoever they were. I reached out a hand and he said, go to hell and slap me. I said, Nicky, Jesus loves you. See, that's the first call of the gospel. Jesus loves you. That's it. I said, Jesus loves you. He couldn't get away from that. He walked away. But when he went to his little room, it hounded him. Jesus loves you. Jesus loves you. A month or so later, the Lord led me to have a meeting for gangs. It was in the St. Nicholas Arena, which is gone now, up on, I think it was Broadway in the 50s, 60s. And the mamas came. And other, I don't know how many gangs were there. But I preached the love of Christ. Nicky had never shed a tear. He'd never known love. You know Nicky's story. But you see, I was preaching and that same spirit of a Holy Ghost came down over that place. And those who'd been laughing and joking took their hats off and heads went down. I said, now you know Jesus loves you. And I pointed in the direction of Nicky and his gang. I said, but now the time has come. You make a move. You see, the first call is love. Oh yes, Jesus loves you. There's grace, abundant grace, abundant mercy. There comes a time God in his mercy says, get up out of the dirt. Make a move. Make a move. And that's what my message is all about. Because the Holy Ghost that met me 50 years ago, who came down in Yale University campus in that room, is the same spirit that has come here, that's here now. Been here, but now coming in a special way of invitation. I'm pleading with you. I haven't harangued. I have not pushed. I speak as an oracle of God. I've humbled myself before the Lord and said, God, I came here 50 years ago to win souls. And God promised me that many would be awakened as he comes now. And I'm going to close in just a moment, but I want to remind you of Hosea, 11th chapter, 7th verse. My people were bent on backsliding from me. But then all of a sudden you read this, how can I give you up? How can I give you up, O Ephraim, which is Israel? He said, I know you. I know you're bent on backsliding. I know that there are times you have fallen. And you see, if your heart is hard and you're willing to admit, yes, I'm growing cold, I'm drifting away, and I don't want to fall into hardness. And I don't want to abuse the grace of God. But God comes and as he's coming now, and I'm going to close. He comes and he's whispering it through me to you in your ear. I can't give up on you. Please hear what the Spirit is saying in the 11th, 14th chapter, first verse, verse four. I will heal your backsliding. I will love you freely for my anger has been turned away from you. See, God's not angry at you. He's not mad at you. He's pleading with you, saying, now, come, my arms are open. I give you this, the words of Jesus, Matthew 11, 28 to 30. I'm asking the Holy Spirit to come right now and speak directly into your heart the words of Jesus. And this is when I said, it's time to make the move. It's time to come humbly to God and say, Jesus, I hear you. And here's the call. Jesus said, come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, I'll give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn of me, for I am meek and I'm lowly in heart, and you shall find rest for your souls. Take on my yoke. It's easy. My burden is light. And you'll find it's not difficult when you come to him and say, Lord, come, I repent. I give you my heart. I give you my sins. Make me new. Lord, I'm troubled. Yes, I've been down. I've been in despair. I have not known peace. But Jesus says, all I'm asking you now is come. Come. I'll give you rest. You've been laboring. You're heavy hearted. You're down. That's what this message is about. Lord, you so love us. Even when we hurt you. Even when we backslide. And Lord, you're so merciful. You show us those places that we could go. You show us the extremes of what can happen. And you say, pull back, draw back now. Don't harden your heart. Holy Spirit, the work is yours now. I've done everything you've called me to do. Now in the annex, in the overflow rooms, in the balcony, here in the main floor, breathe the Holy Spirit. Save the lost. Save those who admit I'm a sinner. Those who admit I've been growing cold. I've been drifting. I've been putting distance between me and the Lord. Lord, bring them back to your love. Lord, you still love them, but open their eyes and understanding. Will you stand, please? What you are experiencing now is the presence of the Holy Spirit. In a wooing, in a pleading, I'm going to make a bold invitation. If the Spirit has been speaking to your heart, say, Pastor David, this message is one that I receive. This was for me. If one person comes here, if one person who is willing to acknowledge a sinner in need of the grace of God, if one comes, I rejoice over one lost sheep that Jesus brought back. But I believe there are many. In the balcony, you can go to the stairs to the side. I'm going to make a bold invitation. You say, Brother Dave, you don't have to say anything. Nobody's going to talk to you, but you want to humble yourself and just walk down. Jesus says, come. Now you can do that in your seat. But he said, an open confession. He said, confess me before men. I'll confess you before the Father in heaven. Now, I'm not going to belabor this. I'm not going to make a long appeal. I'm just going to ask for a song. And if you feel this wooing and this pleading, get right out of your seat. In the annex, I know it'd be a long walk, but if you just turn and go into the lobby, those there in the jackets, they will show you how to get down here. You can walk right down here. You can just stand in the front here. I'm going to pray for you. I'm going to believe that the Holy Spirit is going to change your life. You can still come while I'm talking. Look this way, if you will, those that came forward. This was a bold step for many of you. It's a confession, and yet it's a cry. And that's all the Lord has asked for is a cry. You come humbly to him, and you've humbled yourself before the Lord in just the act of stepping out of a crowd. This is an act of humility before the throne of Christ, before people. Now that can't save you alone, because he said, confess your sins and believe, and come to me now and believe that the same Spirit that urged you and wooed you to get up and walk down here and come here. Even if you've done this before, even if you're coming here with a heart that has been drifting, the same Spirit will hear your cry and answer your prayer. Would you pray this with me? You don't have to close your eyes, but that's fine. But just pray this from your heart. Lord Jesus, I heard your call, and I'm coming to you, because I've had a heavy heart. I've had heavy burden, and I want to get up, and I want to come to you, and I want to be changed. Forgive me, Lord, of my unbelief and my hardness of heart, and heal me, change me. I believe the Word of God, that God said, believe, confess, and thou shalt be saved. Let me pray for you. Lord Jesus, we know it's more than just a prayer, but you read the thoughts of man, and you read our hearts, and you know what went through their minds as they walked down here, some for the first time. Let them know, Lord, let them know that this has truly been heard. The cry has been heard, and Lord, the life, the life of Christ begins to flow from this moment on through the cleansing and the healing of the blood of the cross. Now, Lord Jesus, change lives. Let this not just be something that is that is taken away by the enemy. We speak against the power of hell, and the devil himself, and all the principalities and powers of darkness. You cannot rob this seed. You cannot take this seed. Lord, let it fall upon good ground. Let it fall on good ground, and let this be the day they can look back and say, that's the day when God spoke to my heart, get right, get serious, and I am serious with you, O Lord. O God, we speak against the powers of hell, not to rob, but to make this life-changing in Christ's name, I pray. Now, for every believer, everyone that is sat here, and the longer I preach, the more you should have been rejoicing that you are under the blood of Christ, and you are secure in him. Raise your hands and just give him thanks. Thank you for the blood. Thank you for the covenant. Thank you for the grace of God that's kept us. He's kept you, friend. He has kept you all these years. Give him thanks.