In this sermon, Pastor David Wilkerson addresses the cry of Sodom and Gomorrah and its relevance in today's society. He emphasizes the need for believers to have a deep understanding of God's word and to be open to the leading of the Holy Spirit. Pastor Wilkerson challenges the notion of selective evangelism and urges Christians to reach out to all people, including those who may be considered outcasts or sinners. He highlights the urgency of the times and encourages believers to seek God's guidance and empowerment through prayer and fasting.

This message is one of the Times Square Church Pulpit Series. It was recorded in the sanctuary of Times Square Church in Manhattan, New York City. Other tapes are available by writing World Challenge PO Box 260 Lindell, Texas 75771 or calling 903-963-8626. You are welcome to make additional cassettes of this message for free distribution to friends. However, for all other forms of reproduction or electronic transmission, existing copyright laws apply. A word from the Lord this morning. I want to speak to you about the cry of Sodom and Gomorrah. Now, Lord, I know I've heard from you. I know, Lord, you're speaking in these times. Things are happening so fast. We can't even keep up with it. It's beyond us. But, oh, God, you're not surprised by it at all. You have foreseen it all. And you have everything under control. And, Lord, I pray this morning that you speak to us. Expand our hearts, our vision. Lord, expand our vision, our compassion. Lord, you've got to do something for me this year in expanding my vision. And for this church, Lord, we may think we have a vision that we're so far beneath what God has planned. We have not yet conceived what he wants us to enter into. We cannot conceive of the greatness of our God. And we pray, Lord, that you reveal some of that to us today, we pray in Jesus' name. Amen. Will you go to Genesis, the 18th chapter, please. Genesis, the 18th chapter. Beginning to read at verse 17. Genesis 18, 17, 21. We have youth that are in the auditorium don't realize that if you're visiting, we have other auditoriums. We have them in the annexes and overflow rooms and even standing. And we welcome all in all of the rooms wherever you're hearing. God bless you. Start and read verse 17. The Lord said, shall I hide from Abraham that thing which I do, seeing that Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him, for I know him. He will command his children and his household after him, and they shall keep the way of the Lord to do justice and judgment, that the Lord may bring upon Abraham that which he has spoken. And the Lord said, because the cry of Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and because their sin is very grievous, I will go down now and see whether they have done altogether according to the cry of it which has come unto me. If not, I will know. Would you leave your Bible open? Genesis 18, 19th chapter. Just leave it open on your lap if you will. Now, in this text I've just read to you, the Lord comes to Mamre and appears to Abraham. He's sitting at the door of his tent. And Jehovah, Elohim, appears with two angels in the form of men. And they're on a deadly mission. A total destruction, annihilation of five cities. Sodom and Gomorrah, the Bible says, also Adma, Zeboam, and Zoar. These were five cities, Sodom and Gomorrah being the largest, Zoar being the smallest. And the Lord says, their iniquity is grievous. Their sins are wicked, they've come up before my face. And He said, I've come now to destroy. The cry of Sodom and Gomorrah is great, their sin is ever, they're very grievous. Now, I personally hear three cries coming out of Sodom, and I want to discuss those three cries with you this morning. The first cry that I hear coming out of Sodom and Gomorrah is the cry for vengeance. The cry of their sins that have reached into heaven, the ones that God called very grievous. The Bible makes it very clear that there was violence, there was homosexuality. Of course, that is accompanied with lesbianism. There was lawlessness, and lawlessness always leads to violence. And the city had become so corrupt and so vile, the Lord says, I will not endure it anymore. And God decides to rain judgment on Sodom and Gomorrah. It came at the point when the homosexuals became lawless and forced their agenda on society. When they were in the closet, as they call it, He withheld judgment. But when they came forth lawlessly and began to take the law in their own hand, God said, that's enough. That's the point at which God moves with divine judgment. And folks, we are at that point now, the point of lawlessness creating violence. And we have reached that point in the United States. They forced their sin on society. Now, how excruciatingly loud is the sound, the cry of the sins of the United States, and not just the United States, but the whole world. It's not just the United States about to legalize marriages between gays and lesbians. A judge in Brazil this past week flaunted the whole constitution of Brazil, and they're marrying them now in Brazil. Canada is already doing it. They are far beyond us in sodomy, and they're outsodoming Sodom. We have done that. Fifty years ago, we outsodomed Sodom in the United States. And it's not just that. Think of what's happening now in France. They have declared their nation a secular nation, not a religious nation. They've outlawed even the Muslims from wearing their head covers, the Jews from their head covers, no religious symbols, no crosses anywhere in the nation. They have declared we are not a nation having anything to do with God, anything to do with religion. We are a secular nation. Germany has outlawed Christmas. Absolutely impossible legally now to celebrate Christmas or any symbol of Christmas whatsoever. It's not a national holiday anymore in Germany. It's not just the United States. It's the whole world. The cry that must lift to God's ears at this particular time, how much will God endure? When will God rise up and honor His name? How long does God allow the boasting, the mocking of His name, the flaunting of apostasy, the mockery of God's name? How long? When does God move? At what point? And I'm sure that's the question that's asked by many of those who love Jesus. And you know the heart of God and you feel His hatred for sin. You see, we as Christians have to have this in our mind that we can hate the sin, but we have to love the sinner. And we have to be able to distinguish between the two. But you see, there's something happening now in our hearts. There's a cry to God. When? How long do you endure this? How long will you be impatient with this society? And the way the world is spinning now where the very guts of hell are being exhumed upon the earth. Where demonic powers are absolutely in control in many areas of our society. And we say, Lord, how long? And like David, the psalmist asked God, why do you hide yourself in times of trouble? When the wicked are boasting, they bless what God abhors. They're proud. They say we will never be in adversity. They say in their hearts they will never be moved. Their mouths are full of cursing, deceit and fraud. They say in their hearts God is forgotten. He hides His face. He sees us not. God will not judge us. You'll find that all in Psalm 10 when you want to read it at your leisure. God said, though, to David, I did see it. He said, I have seen every form of mischief. I know every sin that's being committed on the face of the earth. And the day is coming when I will judge it. In my time, in my way, he said, I will stretch forth my hand and I'll judge it. I say, yes, judgment is at the door. There's no question about that. But you see, there's another cry I hear coming from regarding Sodom and Gomorrah. And that's the cry of Abraham. After Jehovah and the two angels explained to Abraham their plans, destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah and all five cities, they head out towards Sodom. And as Jehovah was going around the mountain to the other side, because you could go to the mountain on this side in the plains of Mamre, you could go up to the mountain, you could see the valley of Sodom and Gomorrah. And as he was going there, Abraham detains the Lord, stood before him. You can read it all in this chapter, chapters 18 and 19. And Abraham drew near to him and stood before him, the Scripture says. He detained Jehovah. The two angels went on. The Lord would later appear, but he stands before God, the Bible says, and he drew near. And he did something in the way of intercession that I know nothing about. He did something so incredible that when I explain this to you, you better take a long breath and a deep swallow because it's going to hurt. He did something that I can't even conceive. I've never done it in my life. I've interceded and I have prayed for missionaries, I've prayed for family, I've prayed for every conceivable thing, but I've never once prayed the kind of prayer that Abraham prayed. I've never cried this kind of cry. He began to intercede for Sodom and Gomorrah. Not for a lot in his family, but for the entire population of sadomasochists and rapists and alcoholics and drug addicts and mostly the homosexual society. And before you say you're getting old and gray and losing your brain, Pastor, I'm giving you Bible. I'm giving you something that has shaken me to the core of my soul. After being a soul winner with drug addicts and alcoholics for years, it still burns in my soul what I see and hear from the Holy Ghost. This man, Abraham, knew something of the heart of God. He was a friend of God. And Jesus himself said, Abraham has seen my day and was glad and rejoiced over it. He had a vision of the mercy of God that was coming through a Messiah. He knew all about the mercy of God. Then he stands before God, and you know this story, and he said, God, Elohim, if you find just 50 righteous, will you spare the city? Not my nephew, not, but the city, will you spare it? And he said, yes, I'll spare it. If I can find 50 righteous in that city. And he said, Master, please, or Father, please, what if it's five less than that? The Lord said, yes. And he said, forgive me, I don't want to impinge on your mercy, but please, and I'm paraphrasing, what if there's only 40? Will you spare the city? Will you spare Sodom? And the Lord said, yes. He said one more request. What if there's only 30? Yes. Lord, I'm coming to you one last time. What if there's only 10 righteous that you can find in Sodom and Gomorrah? Will you spare the city? And God said, yes, I'll spare the city. Now, folks, when you look at that barefaced, the human mind thinks, well, this makes Abraham appear more merciful than God. God wants to destroy. Abraham wants to save. That's not it at all. When you understand the premise upon which he was making his request, it's amazing. And it's shocking to the Christian mind because we've been so set on, oh, yes, we fast and we pray. We seek God. We want to win souls lost. Where do you draw the line? Do we want the neat people? Do we want the nice people? Do we want the family people? Do we want just our sons and our daughters? What happens when you pick up the newspaper and you see 3,000 homosexuals lined up to get married in San Francisco illegally, kissing and hugging in public? What goes on in the spirit? What goes on in your heart when you hear activist judges flaunting the Constitution and throwing it in your Christian face? And he's saying, God, and he knows this city. He has an army of 318 men. He could go at any time and deliver him out of that city. He could have asked for one day. Give me one day. I'm taking my army in there, and I'm going to deliver my nephew and his family. He knew all about the sins of that city. I'm sure he sent messengers in there to bring him out and warn him, and they brought back these stories to Abraham that were shocking and beyond belief. Abraham's a smart man. He's a God-ordained man. He's a brilliant man. He's mighty in God and the Spirit, and he walks and moves in the Spirit. The Spirit of God was on him. He knew about it. And he was not trying to ask time so that they can involve more in their sins and bring young people coming up and involve them in homosexuality. That's not why he's asking time. That's not why he's asking to spare them. You see, there's a heaviness to sin. And what he's saying, God, I know what I see in the future. I know there's a Messiah coming, and I know there'll be a time when men will be reconciled, and I know this is your hard work. I know you get no pleasure out of the death of the wicked. I know, God, what your heart is all about. And I'm not railing against them. I'm not going to let my spirit get angry. Lord, break my heart. I know your heart is broken, and you're doing this because... And I want to tell you something. At this moment, I believe something is happening in the heart of God. Finally, one man I found standing in a gap, and every prophet in the Bible knew that part of God, knew that way of God, because the Scripture is very clear on that. I sought for a man. God was saying to Ezekiel, I sought for a man among them that should make up their heads and stand in the gap before me for the land, that I should not destroy it, but I found none. You know what God is saying? If I could have found a man who would stand in the gap and plead for mercy, until the heaviness of sin had accomplished its work, because sin is heavy. That's why so many homosexuals are alcoholics, and why they drink themselves to sleep. It's the heaviness of their sin. That's why in Hollywood, they go from one mate to another, marriage after marriage after marriage, and they look fine in public, and they can go down the red carpet and get their prizes, but they go to sleep with drugs. The Lord said, therefore, I poured out my indignation upon them, I consumed them with the fire of my wrath. Their own way have I recompensed on their heads, saith the Lord. I found no intercessors. You know, the reason this is so convicting to me, I've been what they call a holiness preacher all my life. But you know, when I see people running for office that I know that are so liberal, and I know that they're going to appoint activist judges, wicked, vile men, something in my heart rises up. And when I see homosexuals, so militant, flaunting the law, and the hatred toward God and Christianity, I want to do as the disciples. They went to Jesus and said, Lord, they're casting out your name. They won't receive you. So we call fire out of heaven and destroy them. You see, I want to call fire down out of heaven sometimes and say, God, get that judge. Lord, kill him. I don't say it that way, but that's what I'm feeling. And so are you. And if we're not careful, we wind up bitter, mean-spirited Christians who have no Christlikeness to us whatsoever. And we'd look at this kind of sin. You see, Abraham is pleading for a people. Oh, God, give him time. Send prophets. Send somebody to stand with Lot. Awaken Lot. He's not witness to anybody. He's not a witness. His soul is vexed. I believe he must have been drinking because when he goes to the mountain, his two daughters get him drunk. He could have never been seduced to alcoholism or to drunkenness unless he had been drinking in Sodom. And he said, I know this doesn't give you pleasure, but, oh, God, you're so mighty. You're so great. Somehow you can make a way. Somehow your mercy can be extended. Now, this church has been fasting and praying. And there are other churches in the nation that have been fasting and praying. And around the world, there are a lot of people fasting and praying. God's doing a wonderful thing on the face of the earth right now. But I'm going to ask you, where do we draw the line? Jesus saves alcoholics, drug addicts. How about militant ungodly judges? What about murderers and rapists and homosexuals? Now, I could put heterosexuals in that. I'm not trying to just put down homosexuals. Where are you going to draw the line? Who are we praying for? I don't remember for years praying for any homosexual because I was bothered by the fact that I hadn't seen many conversions. And then I would read the Scripture about being turned over to uncleanness, reprobate mind. You search that out. And when it says reprobate in Greek, when you read the true meaning of it, it means further out. It's further out. In other words, beyond any sin that has been conceived. It's the furthest out sin in so many words. And turned over to uncleanness, but it doesn't say it's turned over to Satan. No, the Bible does say that Paul turned some over to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, but that their soul may be saved. There was still an act of mercy. It was an act of mercy. I know that Jesus called the Pharisees vipers, but then he went to the edge of the city and wept over them and gave his life for them. But you see, where do we draw the line? I asked a minister friend recently, when's the last time you ever prayed for the homosexual community? And this minister friend of mine said, I don't remember, it's been a long time, but here was the question the minister gave to me. If I knew it was truly scriptural to pray for them, I would. If I knew I was on good scriptural grounds to intercede for them, I would do that. Now folks, what really began to move my soul was a homosexual I've met here in Times Square Church for years in the lifestyle of homosexuality. And what a testimony he has. What a man of God he's become. And when my wife and I took him out to eat one day, he said, Pastor Dave, how are you going to limit God? You're going to limit God? I'm a testimony, look at me. And I'm testifying to many homosexuals who are so sick of their sin and so hungry and want to be changed. We've got to have people praying and interceding and fasting and believing God. We can't limit God. If we were limiting God, I would have been in hell. And we cannot limit God. If you're going to pray and fast for souls, you can't have parameters. Jesus says to the uttermost. You're sitting here today, I don't care what you've done. I don't care how deep in sin it is. Jesus receives sinners. I want to prove to you from the scripture that it's absolutely scriptural important that we pray for the worst of sinners that you can conceive of in this country. Now, I've determined I don't listen to radio. I don't have TV, but I don't listen to radio to any of these talking heads, they call them. I'm saying it respectfully. It's all I know. They're on for three or four hours. And you sit and listen to that and they will stir your soul and you'll get angry. Anti-Semitism or anti-Arab, you'll become a political basket case. Shut it off. Don't let anything in this world stir you. I don't care what any homosexual says. I don't care how they flaunt it or anything else. We're not to get angry and just rail at the sin. Now, it's getting rather quiet. Let me prove to you. Go to 1 Corinthians 6 chapter. Now, I want you to know that I despise homosexuality. And I believe God's going to judge it severely. But until he does, we'd better take heed to his word. 1 Corinthians 6, starting verse 9. 1 Corinthians 6, verse 9. Know you not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived, neither fornicators, nor adulterers, nor effeminate. That means homosexual, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind. These are homosexuals and lesbians. Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners shall inherit the kingdom of God. Verse 11. And such were some of you. You are what? Washed, but you are sanctified, but you are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of God. Some of you were gay. Boy, what a play on words. I've never met one of them that was happy. I'm saying it. I mean in the deepest. There's an outward happiness. Folks, I'm not trying to be funny or facetious. Hear me, please. What a play on words. How ironic calling it gay. We're not mocking gays. We're not mocking homosexuals. We're calling for removing all the boundaries of intercession. 1 Timothy. Did you get that? And such were some of you. But you're washed and sanctified and justified in the name of Jesus and by the Spirit of God. Oh, hallelujah. 1 Timothy. First chapter. Verses 15 and 16, please. This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation. That Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners of whom I am what? Chief. I'm the worst sinner God ever had to endure. Howbeit for this cause I obtain mercy that in me first Jesus Christ may show forth all long suffering for a pattern to them which should hereafter believe on him to life everlasting. He said, take a look at me. I was the worst. I murdered people. When they were called before the high priesthood, I voted for their destruction, for their death. Signing their death warrant. He said, I was a hater of Christ. He was a Christ hater. And he said, I'm a pattern. I'm a pattern of long suffering so that you can know, you can understand, if you can save the chiefest, you can pray for any other, they'll be less sinful than I was. You say, but pastor, these are wicked, lewd people and they're enemies of the cross. What's the Bible say? And you that were, I'm reading from Colossians 121. And you that were at one time alienated and enemies in your mind by your wicked works, now has he reconciled. You say they are enemies to the cross. They are enemies to the cross. But so were you. So was I. We were all enemies to the cross of Jesus Christ. When we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his own son. Jesus said, love your enemies. Bless them that curse you. Do good to them that hate you. Pray for them which despitefully use you. Folks, I'm being despitefully used by the courts. I'm despitefully used when my Christianity is thrown in my face. That's despitefully using me. The Bible says, and they persecute you that you may be the children of your father. For he maketh the sun to rise on the evil and on the good. And he sends rain on the just and on the unjust. Bless them. Pray for them, the Bible says. Jesus said, pray for them. Now, I just want to show you how serious this is, the greatness of God. And the Lord reminded me of some of the worst, two of the worst cases in American history of how God reaches those that seem impossible. A number of years ago, there was a name, this Charlie Manson maker, anybody remember the name Charlie Manson? He had what was called the family. And they practiced what is called helter-skelter, which means murder sprees. And his chief leader in this, they mostly were women, but Tex Watson, a Texas boy, handsome young man, he was the killer. And I was reading this past week the history again of Charlie Manson and the family in California. They terrorized California for months. This is the group that went helter-skelter into the home of Sharon Tate, the young actress who murdered her in cold blood. And on another occasion went in and I think there were five people murdered. And I read his story. And Tex was the one who pulled the trigger. He was the one that had the knife stabbing 50 or 60 at times. And then he turned them over and stabbed them again. And he said, I was under the power, a demonic power. I was led by the devil. And I remember the headlines at that time. And I remember they were at the courtroom. And I remember the pictures of them coming into the courtroom. And I said, oh God, they showed no mercy. Show no mercy to them. Give them life or put them in an electric chair. And folks, they deserve that. But you know, ten years later, I'm ministering in a jail in California. And there's a young man who comes walking in with his Bible and smiles from ear to ear. And he's the chaplain's assistant. And the pastor who was accompanying me said, you know who that is? That's Tex Watson. He's been marvelously saved. He's one of the most powerful testimonies here. And every 25 years, they automatically have to come up for hearing, for parole. And he says, I don't want to be paroled. He doesn't want out of prison because he has his own website. And I was ministering to people by mail all over the world. Jesus went to one of the worst sinners. But you know why? Because there were some prisoners, some inmates that were in that same prison when Tex Watson came in and they began to fast and pray for him. That not only would he be saved, but he'd become another Saul turned to Paul, the apostle. They had laid hold of God. And God answered that prayer because they didn't back away from him. They didn't say, oh, yeah, God saves up to this point, but not when you've murdered all these people and stabbed them, been so demon-possessed. Charlie Manson claimed to be the devil himself. And he's still in jail. And if you see his picture on a website, it's most incredibly, he still looks like the devil. His eyes glaring hate. See, Jesus saves to the uttermost. He saves sodomites. There's another case. Son of Sam. New Yorkers know how he terrorized this city, murdered six women. And you know this story. But here's a letter, a copy of a letter he sent to the chief of police here on April 17, 1977. He said, I'm an outsider. I'm on a different wavelength than everybody. I'm programmed to kill. You've got to stop me. Attention all, please shoot me when you see me. Shoot to kill me. I'm a monster. I'm Beelzebub. I don't want to kill anymore. But the voice I hear, and he goes on to tell how through the night he heard a barking of dogs and lamenting and cries. It said, go kill. He was reading a satanic Bible. And he said, I was totally satanically possessed. And he goes into prison. He had ten years in isolation. And after they released him from isolation, his name was Berkowitz. And he goes out on a cold winter night walking in the yard, feeling he was no longer on drugs and he was in his right mind. But you see, there was a prisoner in his jail who began to pray for him, plead that God would save him. And he saw that boy, Berkowitz, walking in the yard. And he goes out and walks beside him. And he put his arm on his shoulder and said, I'm here to tell you, Jesus loves you and wants to forgive you and change your life. And he gave him a pocket testament. He began to read it. And he says in his story that God melted this hard, stony heart, melted me. He just came up for parole recently. And he writes a letter to Governor Pataki. And this is a copy of the letter. He said, I'm disappointed there's even going to be a parole hearing. I know the sentencing laws require a hearing every June. I mean, held in June. But I have no interest in parole. I've done nothing whatsoever to try to get parole. Frankly, give you no good reason why I should ever be considered for parole. The loss of six lives. He said, I have God's help now. Long ago I came to terms with my situation. And I've accepted my punishment. But my faith has helped me to put the past behind. And he goes on and gives a testimony to Governor Pataki. Folks, he died and go to hell. But somebody had a cry out of that Sodom. God save him. No limits. I'm not going to carry this any further than that because I want to get to the last cry. The third cry out of Sodom that I hear is the cry of Lot, Abraham's nephew. You see, the angel comes in and has to literally drag him. Take him by the hand and his family and pull them out of Sodom. Certainly, Lot knew instinctively that this was the Lord himself because the Lord was now in the picture. And they knew because he calls him Lord. And they said, escape. Run to the hills. Get out of here. It's going to burn. And Lot says, oh, no, no, no, not so. Not so, Lord. If I go to the mountain, I'll be killed. He's talking about, I don't know, a wild beast or what. He's about to be in a city that burns and he's worrying about something on a mountain. He said, send me to Zoar. That's just a little town. There's just a little bit of homosexuality there. There's just a little bit. It doesn't compare to this. Send me there and I'll be safe. I'll save myself. It's the very words that he said. My soul. My soul will be safe. And he represents those Christians, those believers, this selfish, self-centeredness. No concern about the rest of society. No concern about those who are about to go into hell by the thousands. Get me out of here, Lord. Just keep me clean and wrapped for me. Get me out of here. My only obligation is to stay pure. I'm in a wicked society. I don't care what they do. They deserve hell. Let them go to hell. But get me out. And we've got thousands and thousands of Christians worldwide. Now, I believe in a second, sudden coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. With everything in me, I've preached it all my life. But, folks, that's all some Christians want. They have no concern. You can burn against sin. You can burn against the sinner and cry, Lord, all I have to do, I'll go to church. I'll go to Times Square Church. I'll get fed. I'll grow fat in Jesus. And then, no suffering, no tribulation, nothing. I'm going on the rapture. Oh, no, Lord. No suffering. And I know I'm addicted to television. I want to stay in Zoar. So, on that day of the Lord, that trumpet sounds. We're going to have a sleepy church. Oh, there'll be a holy remnant. But, folks, my job as a pastor and all these pastors, never once has God called a true pastor just to hold a people together just to make it through. You can have your little groups waiting, just waiting for the coming Lord. I look every day for His coming. He said, occupy until I come. Occupy until I come. Expand your borders and believe God for the impossible. Believe God that men dressed as women, cross-dressers can come in here and get saved. Come to this altar and get saved. And not be rebuked and be loved. Not for their sin, but in spite of their sin. And pray the worst sinners. You hear about somebody that's in jail, prisoners, some notorious. Begin to pray for them. Begin to seek God. Send somebody, Lord, in prison. There are a lot of Christian believers in prison. God, send somebody to them. And if you start praying for the most wicked sinners, you will not have that spirit of wrath rising up in you. You can't be a man of prayer and pray for people and then have wrath against them. God, help us. God has called me to go from this church to be a representative. This next year, I think it's this next year, or the first of the following year, we're going to New Zealand, Christ Church. It's the furthest point on the earth from Jerusalem. Jesus said, go to the uttermost parts of the earth. I am believing God for the worst of sinners. I am not going to limit God anywhere at any time. And I'm going to start fasting and praying for those sinners. I'm going to fast and pray for America, for this land of ours. And folks, one day when I leave this place, I'm leaving with an army behind me of drug addicts and alcoholics and prostitutes and homosexuals and lesbians. A whole army. And they're going to come marching into glory saying, Jesus receives sinners. Amen. Hallelujah. I'm closing now. When I first came to this city, New York, it was taken as a matter of fact. It was taken as a matter of a social reality that no drug addict could be transformed. Once an addict, they said, always an addict. Once an alcoholic, always an alcoholic. Once a drug addict, always a drug addict. Boy, did God prove them wrong. Thousands and thousands all over the world. One of the major drug lords in Columbia. One of the most vicious drug lords in Columbia has been saved and now preaching the gospel. What about Nikki Cruz? What about all of these sinners that had somebody not been praying? And folks, I want to tell you, like Sonny Argonzoni, who was a drug addict walking this city, and now he's bishop of some 50, 60 drug addict churches all over the world. But you see, he had a praying mother. It was prayer. And folks, if we're going to fast and we're going to pray, we have no limits. No parameters. And God start laying some vicious sinners on your heart. Will you stand? What about some of the relatives you think are hopeless? What about some of your children you think are too far gone? God give you faith. God put some fight in you. Hallelujah. Now I'm going to give an invitation. And it's a limited invitation. A church this size, there's no way you get to know everybody. But in the annex, in the overflow rooms, and here in the main auditorium, balcony and elsewhere, you came here to this church either by invitation or you heard about it, but somehow you were brought into this house. You may not know it, but that's the work of the Holy Spirit. Not because we think this church is so great. It is great in Christ, but not in any human terms. But you're here now. You've heard the word of the Lord. There are some of you that may be measuring yourself and saying, well, I'm certainly not a Charlie Manson. I'm not a Berkowitz. I'm not one of those kind you described, Pastor. But God doesn't measure sin like that. Sin is sin. In fact, he said if you have just the evil thought, it's the same as the deed. Some of us need a mind cleansing. You've been watching stuff and feeding your mind and your soul on filth out of hell. God said if you keep going that way, it's going to destroy you. But I love you. And there are people praying for you in this church. Praying that the Lord change your life this morning. If you're in the annex or any of those rooms, you go to the lobby upstairs, right in that floor, second floor. You go there and the ushers will show you how to get into this auditorium. If you feel the tug and the pull, it's when the Holy Spirit, there is a pull. There is a conviction. The Lord is saying, I see your sin and I'm merciful. That's what you've heard. His mercy for you. If you're homosexual, you can come. If you're lesbian, you can come. There's deliverance for you. You can be set free. Please don't come unless you're tired of your sin. Otherwise, it won't work. I don't care what kind of sin you're involved in. I don't care if it's mental. Because every drug addict I've worked with all my life will tell you, my habit's not in my skin. It's in my mind. The habit is in the mind. You may have the enemy. You may have something that's out of hell trying to destroy your mind. I want you to get out of your seat. If you're in the balcony, come down the stairs on either side. If you're in the auditorium, you come up here. There'll be people coming from all over the place. But you come only when you say, I understand that, Pastor David. I know God's speaking through you to me now. And I want to give my life completely. I want my mind cleansed. I want a new heart and a new mind. I want to walk out of this building different than I came in. I don't want to go out with the baggies that I brought in here mentally. I want to lay it down at the feet of Jesus. And I promise you, God, by His Holy Spirit, will transform you. But you have to make the move. That's it. Follow these that are coming. And in the annex, go to the hall. In any of those rooms, go to the hall right now. Step out. And they'll show you how to get down. I'll meet you here, and we'll pray for you here in just a few moments. Lord, look this way for just a moment. We'll prolong it. But the moment you are ready to open your heart, Jesus said, I stand at the doorknock, and if you just open, I'll come in. And you can trust God to do just that. He will come in. And I'm going to pray for you, but you have to. I can't. Let me put it this way. I can't jump into your mind and jump into your heart and do your praying for you. Or your confessing for you. That's something that has to come out of your heart and your own lips and your own words. I want you to just take a minute right now and talk to Jesus. I want you to tell Jesus that you're sorry for your sins. And I just want you to say, Lord, forgive me. Lord, I give you my heart. I give you my sins. In your own words, just say, I'm here, Lord, to be in business with you. I'm here to surrender my heart to you. He said, if you confess your sins with your mouth and believe in your heart, you shall be saved. Confess it to him. Lord, you know what I'm doing. You know what I've done, and I want to be free. Something like that. Just tell him. You don't have to fancy words. Just simple words from your heart. Lord, I'm here because I have a need. I'm here because I want to be changed. I'm here, Lord Jesus, because I heard your word this morning. I'm here, Lord, because my mind has been tormented by the enemy, by the powers of hell. And I want to be set free. All right, now I'm going to have you pray a general prayer with me. Would you just pray this out of your heart right now, from the depths of your heart? You see, if you mean what I say, they won't be my words. They'll be yours. I'm just like a pattern word, and you take that and make it yours now. Pray this prayer with me. Lord Jesus, heal my mind. Break the power that's trying to control me. Now, Holy Spirit, destroy my sin life. Kill everything in my life that grieves you. Give me a new heart and a new mind. I believe that. I believe it's possible, and I pray it in faith. Jesus, I believe your word, and I trust your promises. Now, send the Holy Ghost and power into my heart and into my mind. Jesus, control my life now. Now, just thank him in your own words. Just thank him in your own words, if you will, please. This is the conclusion of the message.