In this sermon, the preacher emphasizes that God's true people should not fear sudden destruction or the desolation of the wicked. He urges listeners to see these judgments as signposts indicating the imminent return of Jesus Christ. The preacher references Proverbs 3:25-26, which encourages believers to trust in the Lord and not be afraid. He warns that many churches today focus solely on seeking happiness and blessings, without preparing for the coming judgments. The sermon concludes with a vivid description of a catastrophic event in San Francisco, highlighting the power of God to bring calamity upon cities.

This message is one of the Times Square Porpet series. It was recorded in the sanctuary of Times Square Church in Manhattan, New York City. Other tapes are available by writing to World Challenge P.O. Box 260, Lindale, TX 75771 or calling 214-963-8626. None of these messages are copyrighted, and you are welcome to make copies for free distribution to your friends. The other way you can listen to me tonight and hear this message is that you're willing to put aside your future, your ambitions, your career, your marriage, your home, your family, everything else, and put Jesus so totally first, that you're so long for him, that nothing else matters. Now if you're tied down to your future, your career, and everything else that matters more than him, this message will make you awful uneasy. In fact, you know, we're not free tonight for the first time in a number of weeks, and a Sunday night, and I remember we scared some people away. I sat here tonight contemplating the message and asking the Lord why he put this in my heart, because in the two years or more that this church has been started, I've never struggled more than I have this week, and I didn't hear anything from heaven all week until Friday, and it was the Lord preparing my heart to prophesy again. And the Lord made it clear to me sitting here tonight that I was one of his watchmen, and if there's a burden watchmen have to carry, it's a burden. And it's not a pleasant burden, but it's a burden that says it really doesn't matter what people think, it really doesn't matter, because a watchman has to stand before the throne and answer to the Lord being faithful what he hears. And I've heard from the Lord on this, and I have to obey him. You see, there are prophecies that are given by people who say, I had a vision, I had a dream, here's what I heard, and it's not backed up by the word of God, and I've never felt obligated to take that as really from the Lord, unless it was backed by scripture. And what I'm going to give you tonight is not something I just heard, I didn't hear a voice, I didn't hear any kind of direction like that. I went to the word of God, and the word opened, and I heard it from the word on biblical principles. And this is based on Bible principles tonight, the sudden destruction of America. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, I gladly open my heart to you tonight to be an eloquent, to speak on your behalf. Lord, I ask you to self-define me whole, self-define me from the top of my head to the soles of my feet. And Lord Jesus, I thank you for a battle here in New York City, right in Times Square. We're not afraid to hear the truth. We will not shudder. We will not be afraid when the word of the Lord comes forth. Even though it may devastate our spirit sometimes, and sometimes it just absolutely overwhelms us because we don't like to know or hear what is coming. But oh Jesus, thread on this strength in us. Thread on, Lord, we're saying we do not belong to this world anyhow. We're looking for a city whose builder and maker is God. Lord Jesus, we're racing toward destruction in America. We're racing toward the final round-up of all things. And so many are asleep, so many are asleep and unwilling to hear. But oh God, give this church hearing ears tonight. Oh God, I bind in Jesus' name every hindering force. From the very beginning tonight, the devil tried to destroy what was coming. Tried to manifest himself and you overruled it, Father. Now let there be a manifestation of your answer and your anointing. Lord, you must back up the world. You must come now, Lord, with that touch that produces life through your word. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen. The judgments of God always strike suddenly. And they come upon a nation or people in just seconds or hours. Sometimes the Bible says in a day. But it's always the devastation coming suddenly. This happens in Revelation 17 and 18th chapter, referring to babbling. For in one hour, so great riches will come to nothing. Babbling. That city of merchants. In one hour, all your riches will melt. In one hour, your wealth will be gone. And the Lord in this great passage is giving us a very clear insight to what's going to happen in America in one hour. In one single hour, the riches of the United States can be wiped out. October the 18th, two years ago. The American wealth diminished in one hour. In fact, it was less than three hours total. I was there, watched it happen, right in Wall Street, right in the Stock Exchange. And in that one day, America lost one trillion dollars' worth of paper wealth. One trillion dollars of our American wealth went down the drain in just a short time. God has warned us that when they shall say peace and safety, then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as to fall upon a woman with child when they shall not escape. How suddenly the judgments of the Lord have been falling in recent days. And I have a right to call them the judgments of God, because the Scripture says, in fact I'm quoting from Amos, the third chapter and the sixth verse. So if Trump would be born in this city, and the people not be afraid, so there'd be calamity in this city, and the Lord has not done it. So there'd be a calamity in any city, and the Lord is not behind it. The Lord has caused it. You read it. In Amos, the third chapter, sixth verse. This is what happened a few months ago, weeks ago, as the whole country turned on their television, turned on their TV sets to watch the World Series game. Everybody sitting there with their peanut butter sandwiches and their chips and their beer. And the whole nation, nobody thinking of judgment, nobody thinking of calamity. This was a ball game. Millions of people glued to their television set, and within 15 seconds it went black. Within 15 seconds, the city of San Francisco was shaking in its foundations. Thousands of people in that park, unable to run, stood in absolute fear and terror as God shook the city. Those that were approaching the bridge, just waiting, not even thinking, perhaps tuned on the radio to a World Series ball game. And suddenly, the top falls and crushes them to death in a moment's time. In just moments, the bridges begin to collapse. And Amos said, so there'd be calamity in any city, and the Lord has not done it. This past week, the scientists have been warning that California is going to be hit with a bigger earthquake, that the plates are moving the opposite direction than they thought they were, and they're moving two inches a year now. And the pressure's building up for a gigantic earthquake, and they say that that earthquake could hit Southern California or the West Coast. They say anywhere to 50,000 or 100,000 people can be killed in a moment of time, and in less than 30 seconds, God can set the whole city. And sudden destruction. It's said there'd be destruction and calamity, and the Lord has not done it. In the daily news, through New York City, there was a headline, World Turns Upside Down. I have a copy of it. World Turns Upside Down. And that's quoted right out of Isaiah 24. The world turneth the earth upside down. Right out of Isaiah 24-1. We have preachers who don't believe this book about the coming judgment, but God is causing the Jews to cry out. He's causing the reporters to cry out. He's causing the secular, those who don't even know God, are crying out. Quoting the very scripture. The world has turned upside down. And the story, of course, referred to the Iron Curtain falling. World leaders can't believe the suddenness of the changes in Russia, and the satellite countries. President Bush said, it's almost unbelievable. His very words. In one day, the East German Communist government collapses, and they all resign, because thousands are on the streets, marching for democracy. Whoever thought we would live to see the day? And within one hour of the next day, the whole telebuoy is gone. And then the next day, within one hour, an announcement is made that they're going to open the Iron Curtain. They're going to open the doors. World dozers are there within the hour, knocking eight doors at eight checkpoints. Within an hour. The world, Chancellor Kohl had to fly home, and when he visited Poland, he went home, he said, events are moving so fast, he couldn't keep up with them. Can't keep up with them. Poland kicked out the Communists, and voted in a democratic government. In one hour, Hungary sent their troops out, and in less than a day, they rolled up their barbed wire, and all the fences are down. In one hour. Suddenly, we're in another world. Suddenly, we're in a different ballgame in the whole economic and political world. Russia suddenly overnight become a nation in turmoil. Who could have believed there would be strikes in Russia? Who could believe that some of those states are asking to secede out of the Union of USSR? Who could have believed that the leader of Russia would go to East Germany and say, You tear down the Iron Curtain! Next is Yugoslavia, Austria, Romania. I believe China is soon going to become the most wide-open nation on Earth. We're going to have almost every airline flying, literally hundreds of thousands of Americans and Koreans and others. China is going to open wide open, because Isaiah says they will come from Sinai, which is a prophecy that they're bringing, getting from China. It's going to happen overnight. Now, beloved, this has all been prophesied in Habakkuk, for falling down in the walls and the mountains and the curtains. Why don't you go to Habakkuk, the third chapter. Habakkuk, the third chapter, please. I'm going to show you what's happening prophetically now. The prophets, if you go to Naaman, Naaman, turn right. If you're Zephaniah, turn left. It's right in between. Habakkuk, chapter 7, or chapter 2. Habakkuk, chapter 2, verse 7. Suddenly there's going to be an uprising. We're seeing that right now. There's a sudden uprising. They always attack these Jews, but that sudden uprising. Now, why don't you go to the third chapter. Beginning with verse 3. God came from Timan, and the Holy One from Mt. Paran. His glory covered the heavens, and the earth was full of His praise, and His brightness was as the light. He had horns coming out of His hand, and there was the hiding of His power. Before Him went the pestilence, and burning coals went before His feet. Now, I want you to not miss that, please. When the Lord appears in a nation, when He appears on the earth to judge, before Him will go the pestilence. Burning coals go forth at His feet. This is why we're having the plagues. That's why we have pestilence. Because the Lord has set His feet to judge the earth. He set His feet to judge America. Verse 6. He stood and measured the earth. He beheld and drove asunder the nations, and the everlasting mountains were scattered. Perpetual hills did bow. His ways were everlasting. What is the verse? I saw the tents of Cushan in affliction, and the curtains of the land of Midian did tremble. Then once the curtains came down, the iron curtain, the bamboo curtain, all the mountains that blocked out the moving of the Holy Spirit, the prophet says, I see all the mountains deserted. I see everything bowing before the majesty of God. I see it all bowing. But, assistant, God is opening the doors to every country. Soon there'll not be a nation on earth that is closed to the gospel, not one. He said the gospel shall be preached in the whole world, and then shall the end come. He's going to do a quick walk in righteousness. He's going to raise them up from the asteroid and the stones. He'll make the stones cry out, but He's going to have indignity evangelists. He's going to open up every tent and every door, knock down every mountain, everything that bowed before Him, and that God tidings in the gospel will come into the four corners of the earth, and Jesus will come. The curtains did tremble. Let me tell you what I believe God's doing to Russia, and what He's doing to the communist bloc countries. He is pouring out a judgment of mercy. I don't know if you ever thought about it before, but mercy can be judgment. What could be more judgment to a communist mind than freedom? What could be more judgment than land ownership, private enterprise? What could be more hateful to the communist mind that's steeped in Marxism? What could be more than open borders? What could be more judgment? It's mercy to the people and to the masses, but to the communist, godless, atheistic mind, that mercy is turning into judgment. We've got four political systems now standing by not knowing what to do. Russian leaders don't know what to do. The slog-bar is running out of control. And now they see, you hear words like democracy, you hear all these hated words that communism hates, and this mercy of God is becoming judgment. It's the almighty judgment of God. Did you see the picture in the paper? Russian soldiers who've been guarding that gate in Berlin. They were guarding that gate for years. And now the gates are open. And those soldiers are standing there, smiling at the people. And the people are offering their hand to shake hands with soldiers. These soldiers won't shake hands. They're smiling at them. Why? Because to them it's judgment. It's mercy to the people going through, but it's judgment on these who want this thing to last. They're under judgment. The mercy of God has become judgment. But let me show you something. While God seems to be softening the heart of communism, and that's exactly, in fact, the hardliners in Russia are blaming Gorbachev and some of his cohorts of getting soft. Those are the very words. Communism has grown soft. In other words, tender-hearted as compared to what it had, or what it was. But while Russia appears to be getting a little softer, America's heart is getting harder. This is the judgment on America. The hardening of America can be seen on every side now. America is hardening its heart in favor of abortion. While I stand here right now, preaching over 300,000 and marching in Washington, D.C., right now while I stand here preaching, they're marching, screaming for abortion rights. They're screaming for bloodthirstiness. Do you think God is winking at that? Do you? And what is happening? The tide seems to be going toward pro-life. And now the tide is turning. President of the United States is wavering. He sees the political winds blowing, and now he's going this way. He's moved away from this thing. Congress is moving away from it. In these past elections that have just happened last Tuesday, almost every abortionist got in office. Now they tell us 55 to 60 percent of the American people believe in abortion on demand. And that is going up. It's skyrocketing. There's something happening in America. It's hard. It's getting hard. You ask almost any one of these women, 300,000, you can run into Austin. Why are you so hard on this? Why are you so inflamed? Why are you cursing? Why are you spending so much time and money? What is eating at you? Why are you so hard on this issue? Why is it eating and possessing you like that? They won't even explain it to you because it's supernatural. It's right out of the pits of hell. It's a curse from almighty God. It's the hardening of the heart of America. It's a sudden madness that's come upon us. You listen to the talks. I got a call last night from somebody. It's in Washington. In fact, Brother Simmons, a friend of mine, is with two others right now outside the Supreme Court, tramping there for a whole week. Tramping there with signs begging them to reconsider. And all it is is a witness. He said, well, here's a witness, a silent witness. He said, well, you ought to see the literature they're passing out now. It's saying, don't be ladylike anymore. Let's get radical. Let's drive these people off the streets. And there was a radicalism that has never been there before. There was a total madness. America's going hard about AIDS and homosexuality. We had a congressman by the name of Frank. And a bad homosexual. And he hired a male prostitute and put him on the government payroll and took him into his apartment. And that young male prostitute ran a male prostitution ring right out of that congressman's apartment. And now you know what's happening? The Boston Globe is standing up for Mr. Frank, calling him a marvelous congressman, statesman. And now he's got five other senators and congressmen standing up saying he should not be dismissed. Let's get behind him. A prostitution ring and a man on the government payroll. And there's a hardness now setting in. In Congress. I doubt they'll get him out. We have gone so far, it doesn't matter anymore. The same thing with AIDS. I have a doctor friend and he tells me that he has to report anybody that comes in with chlamydia or reports anybody that has a venereal disease, it has to be reported. AIDS, they don't have to report it. The only national disease that is protected by law. AIDS is affecting millions of people. But there's a hardness that is set in. And we are by law protecting a plague of death. Believe me folks, what is happening to the American heart? How have we gotten so far that we can stand by and see millions of people? What's it going to take? A half of Congress to die with AIDS before the American people wake up? Does it have to start the White House? A group of teenagers were being interviewed in the streets of San Francisco. They had just come in from the Midwest. And a minister was interviewing, talking to them and said, Don't you know that 50% of all the homosexuals in San Francisco that have come in the past two years have AIDS? And that if you stay here more than two years, 100% have AIDS, that have been there more than two years. And if you're here more than two years, you would positively have AIDS. Because every homosexual in San Francisco, they say, that's been here more than two years, has a virus. And you're going to get it. And what the answer to these four or five teenagers gave? Well, we're going to die someday and our heart might as well be with AIDS. What kind of hardness is that? Where is that hardness coming from? No other nation on earth has been reproved and warned more than America. This country's had an army of watchmen crying out against its sins. The Bible said, He that bing often reproved, and hardens his neck, shall suddenly be destroyed, and that without any remedy. God is warning hard-hearted America. Therefore shall your calamity come suddenly. Suddenly you shall be broken without remedy. Proverbs 6.15 Moses laid down a divine principle of judgment. He said, God is slow to anger. God is merciful in all suffering. But there comes a time when God rises up, almost as if He says, there are mounds of Satan's offense, and He rises up to judge. And He says, when man and nations become hard and stiff-necked and turn to idolatry, He arises to shoot arrows of calamity one after another. For they will turn away. They will serve other gods. So will the anger of the Lord be kindled against you, and you will be destroyed suddenly. Deuteronomy 7.4 And brothers and sisters from cover to cover in this book, you get out your stars and coins, and you look up the word suddenly. You look up the word quickly. You look up these words, and you'll find, from cover to cover, God warns of sudden judgment on nations and people that send away the day of grace. For man also knoweth not his time, as the fishes that are taken in an evil net, as birds that are caught in a snare. So are the sons of men snared in an evil time, when it falls suddenly upon them. Why don't you go to Isaiah the 47th chapter. And I'm going to take you through a number of scriptures. Please follow me. Isaiah, 47th chapter. Isaiah 47. You start reading with verse 7. Beloved, if Isaiah were living today, if Isaiah the prophet stood at Townsville Church tonight, this would be his message. This is exactly what he would preach. This would be his text. 7th verse, 47th chapter, beginning to read verse 7. And thou saidest, I shall be a lady forever. You know the Statue of Liberty is called the Lady. I shall be a lady forever, so that thou didst not lay these things to thy heart, neither didst remember the latter end of it. Therefore now hear this, thou that art given to pleasures, that dwelleth carelessly, that says in thy heart, I am, and none else beside me. I shall not sit as a widow, neither shall I mourn the loss of children. For these two things shall come to thee in a moment, in one day, the loss of children and widowhood. They shall come upon thee in their perfection for the multitude of your sorceries, and for the great abundance of thy enchantments. For thou hast trusted in thy wickedness, thou hast said, none seeth me. Thy wisdom and thy knowledge is perverted thee. Thou hast said in thy heart, I am, and none else beside me. Therefore shall evil come upon thee. Thou shalt not know from whence it roseth, and mischief shall fall upon you. Thou shalt not be able to put it off. And desolation shall come upon thee suddenly, which thou shalt not know. Do you know where it comes from? You wake up one day, and there it is. You wake up one day, and your life is changed forever. You don't know where it's coming from. And this is God's warning, which thou shalt not know. Desolation, destruction from which thou shalt not know. You are not prepared. I want you to listen to heart cry of Jeremiah. Go right to Jeremiah, the fourth chapter. And listen to the heart cry of these prophets. Folks, do you understand that if these men were living today, they would be preaching just like I'm preaching right now? They wouldn't be trying to tickle your ears. They wouldn't be trying to make you love them. They know they're going to stand like I do before a holy God, and have to answer. And I feel fire burning in my soul. I hear a trumpet blowing. I see God crying out to His people, Prepare! Get ready! Some of you are thinking right now, some of the things you're going to have to let go. You don't want to lose that. You're clear of your future, everything. Let it go! That doesn't mean you walk away from it. But don't hold it tightly! Jeremiah, the fourth chapter, verse 19, beginning to read. Oh, listen to this heart cry. My bowels, my bowels, I'm pained at my very heart. My heart making a noise in me. I cannot hold my peace because I have heard in my soul the sound of the trumpet, the alarm of war. Destruction upon destruction is cried for the whole land is spurred. In the original, that's drained. Suddenly, are my tents spurred and my curtains in a moment. How long shall I see the standard and hear the sound of the trumpet? For my people is foolish. They've not known me. They are sordid children. They have not understanding. They are wise to do evil, but to do good, they have no knowledge. I want you to turn to Jeremiah 51. Jeremiah 51, please. This prophet is crying out. He's seeing what is coming in the word of destruction for Israel. It's the same heart cry any prophet or watchman has today for America. Jeremiah 51, verse 6 beginning to read. Flee out of the midst of Babylon and deliver every man his soul. Be not cut off in her iniquity, for this is the time of the Lord's vengeance. He will render unto her a recompense. Babylon has been a golden cup in the Lord's hand that made all the earth drunken. The nations have drunken of a wine, therefore the nations are mad. Babylon is suddenly fallen and destroyed. Hie for her, or lament. Take bond for her pain, if so be she may be healed. We would have led Babylon, but she had not healed. Forsake her, let us go every one to his own country, for her judgment reacheth unto heaven and is lifted up even unto the skies. I want you to follow me, please. There are some very significant things happening here in the way of judgment, and we dare not miss what God is saying. I want to mention a few things that we've got to understand and learn out of the calamities that are happening. We've had storms, we've had droughts, we have states of economic depression right now, we have these things beginning to happen with AIDS and crack. I could go on and on. Earthquakes, I could go on and on. But I want you to listen closely. Here's what I want. I want the Holy Spirit to make real to your heart and mind. First of all, judgment on the nation is a sign to God's people that redemption is at the door. Redemption is at the door. So God's not just trying to judge the wicked. He's making a statement to His church. He's making a statement to His bride. Oh, I want you to hear this. If you don't hear anything else in my message, hear this, please. God's true people are not to fear any kind of sudden destruction. We are to see it, all these judgments, as signposts saying, get ready. His coming is at the door. I read to you from Proverbs 3, 25 and 26. Just listen. Do not afraid of sudden fear, neither of the desolation of the wicked when it comes, for the Lord shall be your confidence and He shall keep your foot from being taken. This is the end of side one. You may now turn the tape over to side two. Confidence. Moses, when he appeared to the Israelites when they were in bondage, tried to make them understand that there would come plagues, that God was going to judge the nation in which they were living. He said, there's going to be awesome judgments falling and don't you be afraid of them. But I want you to know it's God delivering you through judgment. Now, God has never delivered His people except through judgment. He delivers through judgment the children of Israel. However, the Hebrew children, they were delivered through judgment and went into the furnace. Daniel went into the lion's den. God delivers through judgment that, as Bob said, He takes the heat out of the fire. We have moved into that realm of judgment. Now, listen closely. Exodus 6.6 Just listen to it. Wherefore say unto the children of Israel, I am the Lord and I will bring you out from the burdens of the Egyptians and I will rid you out of their bondage. Listen now. I will redeem you with a stretched out arm and I will redeem you with great judgment. I will redeem you with great judgment. Exodus 7.4 I will bring forth my armies. I will bring forth my people, the children of Israel, out of the land of Egypt by great judgments. But do you know the people of Israel didn't hear it. They didn't understand. They didn't hear a word Moses said. It was supposed to be like this. The first judgment to fail upon the nation. They were to say, that's God. That's God saying, get packed. Get ready. This is redemption. The second one that came, it's getting closer. It's another statement by God. And by the tenth plague, they were supposed to have their bags packed, everything ready to march. But do you know what the Bible says? It's very shameful. But they hearkened not unto Moses for anguish of spirit and because of the cruel bondage those judgments began to hit. And you know what the Israelites were thinking? Bad luck. Egypt's going through a terrible spell of bad luck. They didn't see God. They didn't see God in the judgments at all. That's what Moses had cried. He begged the children of Israel. I plead with you, the judgments are coming and when they come, look up. And that's exactly what Jesus is trying to tell us. When you see these things begin to happen, look up and rejoice because redemption's all at hand. When these calamities begin to strike, they were supposed to see God in it. But you know what they did? They said, well, we've been in Egypt for 400 years. Nothing's ever changed. The wicked just keep on prospering. God lets them get away with it. They beat us. They mock us. This wicked nation just keeps moving on. And they're proud Americans. There's no sign of judgment. And you know that's what the Bible says. They'll say, where is the sign of this coming? Everything continues as it was from the foundation of the world. And we have Christians even like that. They see these judgments falling on the land. You see all of these things. You ever stop to say, Lord, I hear you. I hear you. I know what you're saying. Judgment is near. Yes, but I'm getting ready, Lord. This is a sign that your coming draws near. You and I are not to fear that. We're to rejoice at it. Not because people are dying. Not because people are suffering. And not just because God is avenging wickedness. But because he's preparing a bride to take them to his side. Hallelujah. Luke 21, 25, 28. You can read it when you go home. We're to rejoice when you see these things come to pass. What's happening to the heart of America? Who's hardening America's heart? Who's hardening America's heart? It's not the devil. It's God. It's judgment. I want you to listen very closely. The Bible says, God hardened Pharaoh's heart. You'll find that four or five times in Exodus. God hardened his heart. God hardened his heart. But you know, first of all, you'll read, and Pharaoh hardened his heart. See, Pharaoh set himself to be an enemy to God's people. He set his heart against God. And all that God did was hasten the hardening. All God did is move him along in the path he'd already chosen. And what is happening in America? They're crying for a person, and God is saying, that's your set mind, that's your mindset. God's just setting it in concrete. They have, in other words, they have molded the idol, and God just puts it in concrete. There's a hardness happening, and the Bible makes it clear, that God is behind it. Therefore, hath he mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will, he hardens. Romans 9.18 The hardening of a nation always precedes sudden destruction. Do you know what the Bible says about the children of Israel? I want to give you a principle. Listen closely. Joshua made war a long time with all those kings. He's talking about the Philistine kings. He's talking about all the kings that came against Israel. No miracle. This incredible thing happened. Not one nation other than the Hibbites, not one nation, even though they feared Israel, even though they knew God was with them, even though they saw nations collapse in front of them, not one nation other than the Hibbites, who fooled them into a covenant contract, not one of them made peace, because God hardened their hearts in order that they may be destroyed. I'll read it to you. Not a single enemy city made peace with Israel, except the Hibbites, for it was of the Lord to harden their hearts, that they should come against Israel in battle, that he might destroy them utterly, that they might have no favor, that he might destroy them as the Lord commanded Moses. Now, we don't like to hear that kind of talk. We don't like to picture our God that's hardening a people. There's no other way to interpret it. They set themselves in their sins. They turned down the prophets. They mocked those who came to them. They litigated. They set their hearts like a rock, like a fruit. And God said, aren't you set your heart? I'll finish the work of hardening, and that hardening is that the destruction that comes. There will be no favor. God says, I'll search out the city. He'll go into the basements. He'll go into the attics. He'll search the city with candles, just as the enemy armies did when they came into Jerusalem. The princes hid themselves in culverts. They hid themselves in pipes. They hid themselves in caves. And Josephus says those armies went into the cellars and into the basements. They went into every hiding place and dragged them out. And God says, when I send my judgment, I'll drag every one of them out, for they have mocked my name. There's blood on their hands. When they thought it was fine to have killed 25 million babies, now we want to be able to even pick the color of their hair and the color of their eyes and their IQ. What about the earthquakes? The devastated economy in some of the states. Two hundred billion dollars needed to bail out the bankrupt SNLs. Hurricanes, drought, drug problems, crack. Now Hawaiian ice. Worst than crack. Why now? Why all at once? What's happening? Well, it's judgment day. It's judgment day. But you know, for God's people, it's a day of deliverance. Listen to me now. God is going to destroy America with another flood. You say, well now I know you're crazy. There's a rainbow up there, a covenant of God that says you'll never let water cover the earth again. Well, the flood that I'm speaking about is not water. It's money. There's a flood of... Listen, God is going to drown America. We're going to be destroyed by the very greed that has gone rampant in this nation. I'm going to read it to you. The Holy Spirit gave this to me. But they that would be rich fall into temptation and despair, into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition. Drown men. You see what the Holy Ghost is saying? I'm going to drown you in your death. I'm going to drown you. You have greedy hearts. You reach out. You've made Japan the richest nation in the world because of your greed and materialism. You've made Germany rich and prosperous. Now you're making Canada and England prosperous. And you are going down and down. You are drowning in debt. You're drowning in your greed. For the love of money is the root of all evil. Brother, sister, I am convinced that the destruction that's coming to America is going to be focused on our greed and on our money system. America has gone as its belly. We are modern Babylon, rich and high and mighty. The Bible said the merchants of earth have waxed rich to the abundance of their delicacies. And then God comes and he warns, I'm going to repay you double. You who have lived so prosperously, deliciously. Therefore your plagues will come upon you in one day. Death, mourning, destruction. And the merchants of the earth shall weep and mourn over her. For no man buyeth their merchandise anymore. I've got a message for Japan. A message for Germany. I've got a message for Sony, Mitsubishi, Toyota. Rita, Toshiba, Subaru, Honda, Mercedes, Porsche, Audi, Jaguar, Volkswagen. And no man buyeth their merchandise anymore. That's why they're going to be weeping and mourning. America's going into a total depression. Beyond anything this nation has ever known. And no man buyeth their goods and the merchants of the whole world weep. No man buyeth their merchandise anymore. You know there's something I couldn't understand about America until this afternoon when the Holy Spirit spoke to my heart. I couldn't understand why is the business community in America acting so nonchalant. Why isn't our government alarmed? Why isn't there panic? Because if they said it was going to be 100 billion dollars to bail out the S&Ls, now it's going to be 300 billion dollars. And they're not even including that in the budget. And now, not only are the S&Ls going bankrupt, but out of 12,500 banks, already 1,300 of them are on the brink of bankruptcy. Just the regular banks, not the S&Ls. They don't even know they said it could be 500 billion dollars needed then. And it gets so astronomical, the mind is boggled. And I have a recurring vision that I've seen over and over again, and I saw it again today. I see the President of the United States in the Oval Office, and he's looking out into space. He's stunned. And the cabinet members are all around him in silence. And there's total silence in the room. There's been an absolute economic collapse. And he turns pale, and he turns to his cabinet members, and he said, What happened? What can we do? And there's not a sound made until one voice is heard. Mr. President has hit the fan. There's nothing can be done. And they sit there stunned. The leaders of our nation, stunned. All leaders elect are stunned at what's happening. They're stunned at what's happening in Russia. They don't know what to do. There's total confusion. I couldn't understand. Why isn't somebody crying out? Why isn't there panic in the land? Why aren't there men who know better standing up? Now, Phoenix Royton, who helped save New York in 1973 and 1974, is screaming out. He's been in the papers screaming, What's going to happen to New York is going to be worse than anything ever happened in history. There have been other secular prophets stand up trying to warn. But I said, Oh, God, why? What's happened? Why aren't people concerned? Why is this documentary just going on, whipping, lashing back and forth? Why is everybody so nonchalant? Like, we've always made it. We're going to keep on making it. Then the scripture came to me. Don't tell you it's FNI 116-17. A day of the trumpet, a time of alarm, against defense cities and against her high towers. I will bring distress upon men. And they shall walk like blind men because they've sinned against the Lord. You know what's happened? God's not only hardened America, he's made it blind. We are totally blind. The country is blind. Our financial leaders are blind. I had lunch last week with some men from Wall Street. They were putting together a half a billion dollar deal at that very time. They don't know what's doing. Men don't know what's happening. They're asking me, What's God saying? They're saying, What is God saying? What's going to happen to Japan? Well, I don't know everything that the scripture says. But I do know that God has blinded our eyes, closed our ears, and made our heart fat. Why? Oh brother, sister, there's going to be a hardness like we have never seen before. You know what's going to happen to silver and gold? I'm going to talk to all you people holding silver and gold. You go to one of these conferences and somebody says, Buy silver, buy gold. And dummy you, you do it. I'm saying it kindly. That's dumbness. You don't know your scripture. Let me read it to you. They shall cast their silver into the streets, and their gold shall be removed. Their silver and their gold shall not be able to deliver in the day of wrath of the Lord. It is the stumbling block of their iniquity. The gold and the silver is the stumbling block. Why are you hoarding it? It's going to be worthless. Silver is going to be cast from the streets. The gold is not going to save people. You know what? I tell you, if people get hungry, you can have a million dollars worth of gold and you'll trade it for one cow. All right. Now, just hold still for just a moment. You know I never have delivered a prophetic word from this pulpit without giving you the hope. The hope. Bless your heart, there's a hope. I couldn't preach these kind of messages if I didn't have hope. I would have died a heart attack because of some things I've seen. What about the church, the overcomers? When these awful judgments begin to fall and the economy is shattered, are we going to suffer along with the wicked? All right, hold on to your seats for just a moment. I want you to go to Isaiah 24. Isaiah 24. Now, to answer you directly, yes, we're going to suffer because it's going to rain on the just and on the unjust. Anybody tells you that you're going to be hidden in some little cave? Anybody tells you you're not going to suffer is not seeking the face of God in light of the scripture. That's what they did in China. Missionaries told those Chinese when the communists were coming in, Oh, God's going to, Jesus is going to come and rapture you. You're not going to suffer. And they went into terrible suffering and millions of them turned away from Christianity because they didn't have prophetic voices warning them there's suffering coming. It's not going to happen here. Isaiah 24, verse 1. Behold, the Lord maketh the earth empty and maketh it waste and turneth it upside down, and scattereth abroad the inhabitants thereof. And it shall be as with the people, so with the priest, as with the servant, so with his master, as with the maid, so with the mistress, as with the buyer, so with the seller, as with the lender, so with the borrower, as with the taker of usury, so with the giver of usury to him. The land shall be utterly emptied and utterly spared for the Lord has spoken this word. You see that everybody is included. Buyer, seller, maid, priest, servant, master, mistress, all included. All right, now listen to me very closely. The Bible says the land shall be utterly empty, utterly spared. That means utterly drained. Do you know that the Bible speaks of a people in the New Testament church who took joyfully the spoiling of their goods? They took joyfully the spoiling. That means that their goods were taken from them. And if you know history, their homes were taken from them. They had to go out homeless. But I want to tell you something. Listen closely. Paul suffered the loss of all things. He called it done, that he may win Christ. Christ was more to him than a house. He was more to him than clothes. Do you know that God has promised to supply our basic needs? My God shall supply all your needs. Now, you won't be eating filet mignon. You won't be eating fancy foods. But He said, My God shall supply all your needs. The Father knows what things you have need of. Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness. And all these things shall be added unto you. He's talking about our needs. Do you know that the Lord has a pretty good record of taking care of people who have no money? The prophets, in fact, spoke of a day of no money. Ye shall be redeemed without money. Isaiah 52, 3. Isaiah 55, 1. Everyone that thirsteth, come ye to the waters. And he that hath no money, come ye and buy and eat. God's going to provide for us without money. Now, you feel lost when you don't have a dollar in your pocket. But we've got millions of people on the face of the earth that love God and have not had dollar bills in their pocket. And God is feeding them. God is taking care of their needs. Millions right now. The Lord called His disciples and sent them out two by two. And He called the twelve to Himself and began to send them forth. And He commanded them that they should take nothing for their journey, save a staff only. No wallet, no bread, no money in their purse. And God took care of them. God took good care of them. He fed them. He clothed them. He gave them a place to sleep. He served the same Lord. I don't know how He's going to do it. We can't conceive how God's going to do it without money. You want a real good one? Go to Psalm 34. You can throw this at the devil any time of the day. You can stand on it and put it in God's bank. Psalm 34. Psalm 34. Glory be to God. So before we read this, could you look this way? I'm going to close in just a moment. The few times I've been called on the Lord to preach a prophetic message in this pulpit, I've walked off the stage with such a heavy heart. And I've questioned God, Lord, was I too hard or anything like that? Why the heaviness? I don't want to leave that way today. I want to convey to you the seriousness of what God is saying tonight. That we're to seek Him out. We're not to be attached to worldly things. We're to hold them lightly. We're to look up above and yearn for the day of His coming. We're to work while it's still day. We're to do everything within our power that He leads us to do. That doesn't mean we're trying to escape the obligations and the privileges of evangelism. But the Lord is calling a people to have a new Jerusalem state of mind. Their mind is not on the things of this world. They are not looking to the future. They're looking to Christ. They're looking to Him. And that's what this message is about. To prepare us. To prepare our hearts to seek Him with everything that's in us. But please, let the comfort now of the Holy Spirit come to your heart through the power of His Word now as we read. Let's read down the first ten verses. Follow me please. I'm reading from King James. I will bless the Lord at all times, even in depression. I'll do it when I don't have a dollar in my pocket. His praise shall continually be in my mouth. Brother and sister, we're going to be cast completely on God. We're going to be driven to the Savior. We're going to have every prop knocked out from under us. And we're going to be driven to Christ. To provide everything for us. Verse two. My soul shall make her boast in the Lord. The humble shall hear the other and be glad. O magnify the Lord with me and let us exalt His name together. I sought the Lord and He heard me and delivered me from all my fears. They looked unto Him and were enlightened. And their faces were not ashamed. This poor man cried. This poor man with no money. This poor man cried and the Lord heard him and saved him out of all his troubles. Now here's what God's going to do. The angel of the Lord's going to come and camp around about them that fear Him. And He's going to deliver us. O taste and see that the Lord is good. Blessed is the man that trusts within Him. O fear the Lord, ye His saints. For there's no want to them that fear Him. All the young lions do lack and suffer hunger. But they that seek the Lord shall not want any good thing. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Thank you, Jesus. Thank you, Jesus. They that seek the Lord shall not want any good thing. And that good thing is what you need to survive. He's going to take care of His children. He's going to watch over them. He said, I'm going to make you the apple of my eye. And when the judgments fall on the land, brother, sister, when the judgments fall on America, they're going to intensify now. The next thing on God's calendar is the economy. No question about it. We're racing toward it right now. I said a few weeks ago that the night of the earthquake, that our lifestyles were going to be changed. From that time on, you don't see it. And I said it would be a year before. Some of you may recognize it, but it's coming. But brother, sister, I stand before you tonight. I stand here now fearless, joyful, with no fear whatsoever in my heart, because I know the God who sent His servants out without a penny in their pocket, with nothing but a staff and faith in God. They survived. They stirred the world. They won the world to Jesus Christ. Hallelujah. And God's going to keep the doors of this church open. He's going to put a wreath over your head. He's going to put food in your mouth. He's going to send angels to walk with your children. The angels of the Lord will camp around about us. Brother, sister, inside I am so burning. I say with germ on my bowels, twist and turn. If we only knew what was coming. This has not been preached in our pulpits today. Tonight in churches all over America, people just wanting to get happy. Just wanting to be blessed. What are they going to do when it happens over there? What are they going to do? You've been warned. You know. You know to start looking up and say, God's talking. You're going to look up and say, we're getting ready. And that's going to take the fear out of your heart. You say, I don't belong to this world anyhow. I'm looking for a city that's built to make us God. That's why I said, Lord, what's the purpose in preaching warnings like this? Why should I get up and preach like this? Very simply, same reason Moses got up. He said, I'm going to deliver you through judgments. I'm telling you about the judgments that are coming so that you can know in your heart as you see them. The earthquake was God speaking. The hurricane is God speaking. The economy is God speaking. All of these things God is saying to His church. Beloved, it's all over. Prepare your hearts. Bob, you know it. Don knows it. I know it. Everyone on this pulpit knows it. Up here. This church couldn't have happened even five years ago. What God's doing here in Broadway could have never happened. God's saying something. I don't know where you came from. We look out over this audience and say, Lord, where did all these people come from? Where did the choir come from? Where did the musicians come from? How did you do this? The Lord said, I'm getting a bride. I'm preparing a people. I'm going to warn them. They're not going to be cut out of work. God says, I do nothing. So I warn myself as the prophet. Now, we've been warned. And what do we do? We turn our hearts to the Lord with joy and say, Jesus, don't let me get attached to anything in this earth. Don't let me get attached. Lord, I want to stay loose and free. Hallelujah. Cut all the chains that bind me. Hallelujah. Oh, we ought to be a happy, free people in the Lord. With all that's touching the world, cut free. Hallelujah. I love my wife, but I'm not going to be married to her in heaven. I'm going to be married to Jesus. I love my son Greg here. But we're going to have new bodies in heaven, and we're going to be in the image of Jesus. We're not going to just be father and son. We're going to be children of the Master. And, brother, sister, all of these ties are going to be broken. You say, I can't imagine not being there with my husband, my wife, my children. Lord, you're going to have something so far beyond that you can't imagine it. I'm about to dance. Hallelujah. Lord, I'm proud. Let's stand in praise Him. Let's just stand in praise Him. Hallelujah. This is the conclusion of the tape.