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The Devil's Twins - Fret and Fear
David Wilkerson

David Wilkerson (1931 - 2011). American Pentecostal pastor, evangelist, and author born in Hammond, Indiana. Raised in a family of preachers, he was baptized with the Holy Spirit at eight and began preaching at 14. Ordained in 1952 after studying at Central Bible College, he pastored small churches in Pennsylvania. In 1958, moved by a Life Magazine article about New York gang violence, he started a street ministry, founding Teen Challenge to help addicts and troubled youth. His book "The Cross and the Switchblade," co-authored in 1962, became a bestseller, chronicling his work with gang members like Nicky Cruz. In 1987, he founded Times Square Church in New York City, serving a diverse congregation until his death. Wilkerson wrote over 30 books, including "The Vision," and was known for bold prophecies and a focus on holiness. Married to Gwen since 1953, they had four children. He died in a car accident in Texas. His ministry emphasized compassion for the lost and reliance on God. Wilkerson’s work transformed countless lives globally. His legacy endures through Teen Challenge and Times Square Church.
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Sermon Summary
In this sermon, the speaker expresses his frustration and anger towards a wicked and vile man. He talks about reaching a breaking point and wanting to take action against this person. He mentions a story from the Bible where David planned to kill every man, woman, and child in a city out of anger and revenge. The speaker also discusses a news article about a group of young men who randomly assaulted and terrorized people in Central Park. Despite the anger and frustration, the speaker emphasizes the importance of not forgetting the souls of those who commit evil acts and encourages prayer for their hearts to be changed.
Sermon Transcription
This message is one of the Times Square Pulpit 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, Texas 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. Threat and Fear, The Devil's Twins. Bob mentioned tonight the young lady that was attacked. It's in New York Times. It said, the youths who raped and savagely beat a young investment banker as she was jogging in Central Park Wednesday night were part of a loosely organized gang of 32 schoolboys who randomly, without a motive, assaulted and terrorized at least 8 other people for two hours in Central Park. Shortly after 8.30 p.m. until sometime after 10, these young men, mostly 14, 15 years old, who soon broke up into smaller groups, attacking people, knocking one man to the ground. They set upon a 52-year-old jogger. They punched him. They tried to assault another male jogger. They tried to upset and knock out the windows of a cab. One man, 30 years old, outran them. They pelted rocks at couples riding in ten bicycles who fled. They attacked two other joggers. One man in his 40 was struck with a metal pipe and seriously injured. The police say they believe the same metal pipe wrapped with tape was later used to assault the investment banker. Seven youths have been formally charged with rape of this woman who is in a coma in the hospital at this present time. Bob mentioned a new term that they said they were involved in. They called it wilding, just going wild. It's a gutter term, a ghetto term, going wild. 32 to 40 teenagers terrorizing the park. Well, that's not new, but you pick up the papers every day and it makes your blood boil. Today's paper, this is Santa Rosa, California, a crowd shouted, kill him, kill him, as Raymond, 28 years old, who admitted to killing his wife and two of his daughters and four other people. They were taking him into the court and the crowd was screaming, kill him. And he had no regrets whatsoever for the April 14 killings. And what he did, of course, he killed his wife and then he killed his two daughters, his mother-in-law, his sister-in-law, his two daughters, his sister-in-law, 8 and 12, were also raped and sodomized by this man. He goes to prison, has no regrets whatsoever, none. Young housewife in Columbus, two weeks ago, 78th Street, not too far from where Gwen and I live, she went to the deli to buy a few groceries. A car pulled up to the curb and just called at her, didn't even know her name. Shotgun blast, hit her in the head, killed her instantly. The husband is in shock, I believe he's since moved out of the city. A senseless murder, no motive, they can't even find the killers. And it makes your blood boil. It makes you angry. It makes you scared. In the Bronx, South Bronx, they found a woman in her 30s, decapitated. She had no head. They found in a garbage pail, yesterday, a young boy, in fact, the last two or three weeks, they've been finding them in plastic bags all over the city, decapitated bodies, chopped to pieces. Last week in Mexico, at the border, officials dug up the mutilated bodies of at least 13 victims who had been sacrificed to the devil by drug lords who were trying to appease the devil to get security against bullets and to protect their lifestyle. And now they believe that there may be as many as 30 bodies. And it was led by a young woman who in the daytime was a cheerleader and an honor student in the school and seducing young college students across the border and then at night, knifing and cutting them, making sacrifices to the devil. And it makes your blood boil. Last week, a mayor of a small town in New Jersey, because the town is bankrupt, had to lay off some 30 police officers and some 20 firemen, and they took their guns and surrounded his house and kept him hostage in his own home, holding their guns. He was scared to death. He himself had a revolver. He was going to defend his life. They thought they were going to shoot him. They terrorized the town, upsetting cars, police officers. What happens if that spreads and there's mass unemployment? If they're doing it now, what happens when there's mass unemployment? What's going to happen in New York then? Last week, 300,000 pro-choice abortionists paraded brazenly through the capital, the nation's capital. They were shaking their fists. They were demanding the right for mothers to kill and murder their babies. That was as if hell just emitted everything in its bowels and spit out on the streets of Washington, D.C., a demonic spirit of hatred toward anyone who was against abortion. In fact, they were taken to the streets with such arrogance, it was absolutely incredible, and, you know, a decent mind, I'm not saying that there are not decent people in it, but I'm saying those who can't stand the fact that this is murder, who believe it to be murder, can't believe that in this nation, a God-fearing nation, that this is happening, because it seems like it's spun out of control. You feel helpless. And you hear these shrill demands, you see and hear them gnashing their teeth, you see the hate, the venom, and the arrogance, and it gets to you. Now, you tell me it hasn't gotten to you. You tell me that you can just sit there. You know, when I came in this morning, and they told us that one of our officers was shot in the stomach. A man almost ran him over, and he stopped and said, Man, you almost killed me. And the man got mad, reached into the glove compartment, pulls out a pistol and shot him in the stomach. And I turned to Larry, our head officer, and I said, What is this nation coming to? What's happening? We've been warning from this pulpit for months, that America is even now under God's awesome judgments. You don't have to wait for divine judgment. Brother, it's here. We are under the judgment of God. And it's going to accelerate. The scripture says, The serpent cast out of his mouth waters a flood after the woman, that he might cause her to be carried away with the flood. The woman is the church of Jesus Christ, trying to sweep away the body of Christ with fear. Now, we've got multitudes of Pollyanna Christians in America, that are living in some kind of a dream bubble. I think some of them must live on Mars. I don't know where they live. They say America is getting better and better. America is going to get richer. America is going to get more powerful, and going to evangelize the world. God needs America. God's not going to judge America. Preachers are preaching that all over America. I want to know what papers they're reading. I want to know what kind of news programs they're listening to. I don't understand where they're living. Don't understand it at all. One preacher, I got a letter this past week, from some people that went to a, name it, claim it, frame it church. And I'm not trying to be facetious. That was their term. And they said, Mr. Wilkinson, your article had just come out. The beggars are assigned. Warning about the judgment. The beggars are assigned that judgment is here. I wasn't putting beggars down. Not at all. We're to love and help them, and do everything we can within our power. I was showing prophetically what that meant. There was a sign to it. And a pastor got so angry, he held the letter up before his congregation, and his neck was, they said that the veins in his neck was sticking out. He was so red. And he was so full of venom and hate. And he hated, he wanted to say, this is trash. But just like the Lord twisted Balaam's prophecies, he kept saying, this is, this is truth. And he said, this is, this is the truth. He had, he couldn't get it out. He finally slammed it down. Five families left the church. And they had, they wrote to us and told us about it. Five families left the church. But I wonder where these people are. You see these things, and you, listen. It's almost mind-boggling to read a daily newspaper here in New York City, or for that matter, anywhere in the United States. It's not just New York. No, it's all over the country. All over the United States. Now, listen, folks. We are not to gloss over these terrible judgments on the land. We're not, we're not to say it isn't happening. What Sister Diana brought before us tonight about this sex education in the schools. We can't gloss over that. It's here, it's your children, it's your family, it's your, it's your very life. And you can't gloss over it. There has to be concern. And we, we ask you to be concerned. We ask you to take the action that she took in saying, No, you're not going to give that to my child. I'll give her the scriptural teaching. But you see, my message tonight is about something else. Another reaction that God warns us against. First, we're warned against glossing over, ignoring it like so many are. They're trying to sweep it under the carpets, as if you don't talk about it, it'll go away. It's not going to go away, folks. I said it's not going to go away. The Bible said evil men are going to wax worse and worse. And you get hot under the collar, you get bothered, you get, you get inflamed in your spirit, yes. But there's a warning in the scripture. And all week, God's been putting this warning in my heart because I've been one of those who prophesied and preached about, for years now, and I've written books about it. The coming judgments on America. I've been like a watchman warning, one of His many watchmen warning this nation about the way the ruin is setting in. Talking about all the troubles that are coming upon this land, the economic collapse, all of these things I've talked about. But God has really dealt with my heart about something, and I want to share it with you tonight. You see, God warns us against a fretting spirit. When you see these things coming on the earth, He said, you are not to fret. Now, this word fret in Hebrew is very descriptive. I want to show you what it means. First of all, let me show you the verse. Chapter 37 of Psalms, Psalm 37, verse 1. Fret not thyself because of evildoers, neither be thou envious against the workers of iniquity. Fret not yourself because of evildoers. Now, look at me, please. I've just listed, I've just gone over a list of some of these evil wicked things that are happening in the land. Alarming, yes. But now I come to you with this scripture. Fret not thyself because of evildoers, neither be thou envious against the workers of iniquity. Now, this word fret means in Hebrew to glow with anger, to be inflamed with passion, to be indignant. And really, in the vernacular, it means to get hot under the collar, or to let your blood boil. And you know what the Lord is saying? I want you to hear it in the spirit that the Lord is giving it to me. Yes, there is a concern. You can't sit back. There's a time that God will give you very clear, detailed actions, steps to take. But He said, there is a reaction that can destroy you. There's a reaction that can rob you of the joy of the Lord. There's a reaction that can make you no better than those who are in the world. There's a spirit in the world, and when you get indignant and hot and fret about it, you become just like them, and you lose the grace by which you could win them to Christ. And oh, there's a warning here tonight, and I need it probably as much as any preacher in America. Cease from anger. Verse 8, look at verse 8, 37, 8. Cease from anger. Forsake wrath. Fret not thyself in any wise to do evil. Don't get so inflamed. Don't get so hot under the collar that you do something un-Christlike. Don't take matters in your own hands, in other words. Cease from anger. Forsake wrath. In other words, don't get so steamed, so hot, so indignant at the apparent success of the wicked that you become just like them in your anger. Look at verse 7. Fret not thyself because of him who prospereth in his way, because of the man who bringeth wicked devices to pass. Look at me, please. We feel so helpless sometimes. It looks like the wicked powers are prospering. We have been praying for a year against the abortion clinic on 68th and Broadway. And sometimes I clench my fist at that place and say, Oh God, how long will that go on? And there's something rises up in me that should not be. There's an indignation, there's a fire burns in me. Boy, when you hear all of these things that are beginning to happen, it looks like they're mocking. And there's something that says, well look, we're God's people. We shouldn't be pushed around. We've got to take control. Now folks, there is a time when the spirit of the living God will come upon his people, and he'll say that's enough. But there's also a spirit of the world that we dare not partake in. See, we want action. We want to see something happen. David took upon himself a spirit of fretting, and I'll tell you what, it almost led him to murder. He almost did the most foolish thing in his life. Now, if you want to see it, and I think you should turn there, please, to 1 Samuel. I'm going to show you a man who, through a spirit of fretting, almost destroyed his kingdom. God had anointed him and called him. 1 Samuel, the 25th chapter. I know there's not much light in this theater. We are trying to take care of that very shortly. But I hope there's enough light there that you can follow. 1 Samuel, the 25th chapter. Now, I want you to mark that and go home tonight and study that, please. Will you study 1 Samuel, the 25th chapter. Now, while you have it up on your lap, would you turn this way, please? And I'll tell you where to go, but let me give you the background of this story, please. There's a powerful lesson here about how to react to wickedness. How to react to wickedness. Oh, I'll tell you what. I don't think I've prayed about anything more in my whole lifetime. When we came back to New York City, we began to see the AIDS problem, the incest, the drugs, the crack. There's a murder now every five hours in New York City. Every five hours. I heard a man say, the time is coming. This was a secularist. He said, the time is coming. New Yorkers are going to have to lock themselves in their apartments. He said, not even going to be safe to walk anywhere, even to the corner grocer. And there's a fear there. And I've prayed about this, and the pastors have prayed about this. We've been seeking the Lord. How to react? How do we react? There are many right now who are reacting to abortion. They're laying their bodies on the line. They're being thrown in jail. And now it's beginning to turn violent. They've been broken arms and broken legs. There's a spirit of violence even in some of those. In fact, there were two young Christian boys who went in and started to burn down in the abortion clinic. Because you see, if you're going to go, if you're going to react in the flesh, it's going to end in violence somewhere. Because our weapons are not carnal to the pulling down of strongholds. The scripture says. And I want you to listen closely. Because I believe I have the mind of God, at least for this ministry. I'm not against those who are taking a stand. But I have seen and I've watched some of the reaction. I've seen the clenched fist. I saw Christians gritting their teeth and toe to toe, eye to eye, reacting just like those pro-choice people. Reacting in the same spirit. There was such an anger. There was such a fretting spirit. And now there are lawsuits pouring in from everywhere. And local governments are saying, look, it's costing us thousands of dollars now for our extra police protection. And taking people to jail and so forth. What is the reaction? What should our reaction to wickedness be? All right. Follow very closely if you will. Here is David now. He's got 600 men and he's running from Saul. Saul is trying to kill him. He's got 600 men and he's hiding in the wilderness of Paran. And in the wilderness of Paran, there's a very wealthy man by the name of Nabal. And Nabal has 3,000 sheep. He's got 1,000 goats. And David's men are hiding on the mountainsides overlooking this great wilderness of Paran. And for months, they won't allow anybody to touch those sheep. Well, they're there anyhow. And they acted as bodyguards. Not once did David's men, though they were hungry, not once did they steal one sheep, kill one goat. Now, Nabal's name in Hebrew. I want you to listen very closely. His name means wicked, vile, foolish, disgraceful, despicable, stupid, corrupt. Nabal represents every evil force that we face today. It's a spirit. It's the Antichrist spirit Bob talked about this morning. And Nabal has a shearing time. It's harvest time. He's shearing his sheep. And Oriental custom was that in harvest time, you opened up the treasury, you opened up the storehouse. It was a time of feasting. It was a time of giving. David's men were hungry. They were tired. They were weary. And so, Nabal has a great party. He's killing the fatted calf. He's got a great harvest. And wine is flowing. David sends ten of his soldiers to Nabal. And he says, we're hungry. We have been for months watching the sheep. Not once have we taken one. Now we're hungry. It's harvest time. The sheep have been sheared. Would you spare something for my people? Nabal says, who is David? He's just another one of those runaway servants that are always run away from their masters. Get out! And the Bible says they railed on them. They mocked them. Who is David? He's an upstart. And you know that's what the world is doing right now? I had a man tell me. I told him we're praying about the abortion clinic. He said, you people don't have any power. You don't have any. You can't do anything through prayer. And the world taunts us. And they say, who are these people? Who is David? And they came back and told David and said he didn't give us anything. In fact, he railed on us and said, who's David? And I'll tell you, David got angry. David said, who is David? I'll show him who David is. I'll show him who David is. And if you look at verse 13. Look at verse 13. And David said unto his men, gird ye on every man his sword. And they girded on every man his sword and David also girded on his sword. And they went up after David about 400 men and 200 of both by the stuff. He's got his whole army. He said, that's it. You know what David's saying? I've had enough. That's it. I'm God's man. I am not going to allow this to happen. This man is wicked. He's vile. That's it. Have you ever come to a place you've had enough? He said, that's enough. I'm the servant of the most high God. Bless God. I'll show him where the power is. Get your sword. Get your sword. You talk about a demonstration. We're going to show. I'll show you a demonstration. 400 men with swords. And then we're going to kill everybody in Abel's house. Every man who stood against the wall. David's going to kill every man, every woman, every child. Going to wipe them off. The map. Oh, I've felt like that sometimes. I want to go in that 68th street, clean it, and burn it down. If I wasn't full of the Holy Ghost, I'd have burned it down long ago. Except we'd have burned our offices with it, probably. 400 hungry men who have been taunted, who have been mocked, who feel powerless. They're out in the wilderness. Nothing's happening. They want to see something happen. They want to see the strongholds pulled down. Thank God for Abigail. Abigail is Nabal's wife. You know what her name means? The source of joy. David's about to lose his source of joy. And a lot of people have lost their source of joy. I've seen people so mixed up in causes, they've lost the joy of the Lord. They become hostile and mean. I don't even like to be around some of their souls. They're so caught up in their calls, they forgot Jesus. I'm not putting that down. I'll tell you what, if God calls us, we'll do anything God tells us to do that's within the bounds of His Word. And I'll tell you something else. These who are marching and laying their bodies down, this church has given thousands of dollars to support them. We're not raiding against them at all. I want to show you a deeper principle. Show you a better way, according to the Scripture. Now, Abigail bakes 200 loaves of bread. She kills five sheep, and she roasts the sheep. I don't know how she cooked five sheep, but she loaded them on donkeys. And she loaded baskets of grain, figs and raisins. And she starts out, and Abel doesn't know it. Boy, when he did find out, he had a heart attack. He had a stroke when he found out that his wife humbled herself in front of David. And David's marching, and you can just see David going. He said, I'm fighting God's battles. I'm God's warrior. Who is David? Who's David? I'm the giant killer. That's who I am. I ripped a bear with my bare hands. I killed a lion with my bare hands. I'm a man of God. Here comes Abigail. And Abigail means source of joy. I'll tell you what, we need the message of Abigail today more than we've ever needed. You know what her message was? She catches David in this, he's fretting. I mean, he's hot under the collar. He is so inflamed with passion. He is hungry. He said, here we are. God has anointed me king. We're headed for the throne. And this man is standing in our way. I'm not going to stand by and let my army starve. Not by this wicked, drunken bum. And that's what he was. And here stands Abigail. She lights off her donkey and she falls in front of, on her knees and says, in essence, don't take matters in your own hands. Don't avenge yourself. Look at verse 26. Verse 26. Verse 24, she fell at his feet and said, Let this iniquity be and let thine handmaid, I pray thee, speak in thy audience and hear the words of thine handmaid. Let not, my Lord, I pray thee, regard this man of Belial, even Nabal, for his name is, so is he. Nabal is his name. That means wickedness is in him. But I am thy handmaid Saul, not the young man that my Lord sent. Now therefore, my Lord, as the Lord liveth and as thy soul liveth, seeing the Lord hath withholden thee from coming to shed blood and from avenging yourself with your own hand, now let thine enemies and they that seek evil to my Lord be as Nabal. In other words, they're wicked, but don't do it. Don't take matters in your own hand. Now look at verse 28. Verse 28. I pray thee, forgive the trespass of thy handmaid, for the Lord will certainly make my Lord a sure house, because my Lord fights the battles of the Lord. Now look at me, please. She outlines two battles, two battles that David's fighting. She said, David, you are a warrior. You've been fighting God's battles, but there's a way to do it. The battle you're about to undertake is not God's, it's yours. You're about to avenge yourself. You're hot. You've got a passion that's not of God. She's saying, back off and take a look at it. You're about to do something to grieve God. Yet a man is risen to pursue thee, to seek thy soul, but the soul of my Lord shall be bound in the bundle of life with the Lord thy God, and the souls of the enemies. Them shall he sling out as out of the middle of a sling. You know what she said? David, you let God handle this. God's going to take your enemy and sling him like a stone in a slingshot and sling him away. David didn't know it, but Nabal was ten days away from the judgment of Almighty God. Ten days later, he'd be stricken dead. He's on his way to kill a dead man. And that's exactly what I'm trying to say. We've got people trying to kill a dead issue. And I want to tell you something. Listen to me. The reason we have so many people hot under the collar is because they don't believe that God is fighting the battle against wickedness today. They're taking the battle on themselves. They're not trusting the Lord in this. I want to take you deeper into it. The souls of thy enemies shall be slung out as out of the middle of a sling. My Lord is about to avenge himself. Verse 31. That this shall be no grief unto you, nor offensive heart to my Lord, either that thou should shed blood causeless, or that my Lord hath avenged himself. But when the Lord shall have dealt well with my Lord, then remember thine handmaid. Now listen, please. In a spirit of fretting, David temporarily lost sight of who's in control. He forgot that this was the Lord's battle. He had on him the same fighting spirit that Saul had. Now get this, remember. Saul's out to kill him, and he's out to kill Nabal. The very same spirit. I come to you tonight in the spirit of Abigail to say, Don't let hostility creep into your heart so much so that you don't see the souls. You should hate the sin, but not lose sight of the soul that's been under the bondage and the blindness of the devil. Listen, it's possible to get so involved in the Jewish issue, so involved in how the Jew is being offended, that you can hate the Arab. You can be so concerned for four million Jews, you can wipe off a hundred million Arabs. Are you hearing me? God loves the Arab just as much as the Jew, because you see, there is no wall now. There's no Jew, there's no Gentile. All the walls are down. He loves, he's no respecter of persons, the Bible says. God's put a heart in this church for Israel. We're going to fast and we're going to pray, but we're going to fast and pray as much for Arab nations as we will for Israel. Do you know, I've seen in the anti-abortion ministries. I've heard people, I've heard tapes, they scream, those murderers. They are murderers and you can hear the anger and the hostility. And they forget that Manasseh in the Bible, the scripture says, filled Jerusalem with blood. He filled the nations with blood from one end to the other. The Bible said no man sinned in the sight of God more than Manasseh. But God was concerned about that man and in his old age he repented and God forgave him. We can get so full of hostility. We don't go home and pray for those involved. We have a fretting spirit upon us. When I first, some of you saw the cross on switchblade Friday night. When I first came to New York City and I walked the streets. In fact, I used to get around on a little Vespa motor scooter. I went everywhere in a motor scooter. In those days nobody would steal your scooter. I wouldn't even drive a bicycle in those areas now. But I went up and down the street. But you know what shocked me when I first came to New York City? There were 300 gangs at that time listed by the youth department. Sometimes a thousand kids in a single gang. Gangs everywhere. 28 kids had been murdered in gang fights in 1958. And there was such an anger. The newspapers were full of murder and killings and gang fights. I remember going to a church in Brooklyn where the people, all the cars, they had locked the hubcaps in the trunks. And nobody had car radios because they were, in those days they would rip the aerials. They had zip guns and they'd use aerials, car aerials for weapons. Zip guns were homemade, little homemade guns. And I remember the people, I stood in the pulpits trying to get people to love gangs. And I'll tell you, I met a hostility that just overwhelmed me. And the people didn't want them at the altar, they wanted them in jail. And here I come, I didn't know anybody, I'm fresh from a little town in Pennsylvania. And I'd been walking the streets and I was talking to these kids and some of them were homeless. Some of them were so full of hate and yet I felt an emptiness, I saw a hunger. And I said, we should be praying, we should have a love in our heart. Yes, many of them have killed. I went out to try to meet seven boys who were indicted for the murder of Michael Farmer. And there was a despair in these kids, a terrible, incredible despair. And I'm saying, Jesus loves gangs, Jesus loves drug addicts. And these people, I'll tell you, it's pretty hard to love them when they're mugging you. It's pretty hard to love them when you pick up the paper and you read so much hell. And yet we dare not fret. We dare not get so inflamed and so hot under the collar, we forget the living souls. Am I making sense to anybody? You say, well, brother, how do I rise? How do we rise up against the workers' iniquity? Didn't Jesus take a whip and drive the money changers out? How do we stand in the gap? Aren't we to bring down strongholds? Yes, we do just what you heard here. I wanted that here tonight. I wanted you to hear the accent of a mother who said, I'll not stand by. But I'm saying to Diana and I'm saying to you and to me and to all of us, still you go home even though you're hot, even though you're upset, and you get down and pray, oh God, melt that man's heart, because if God can get him, he not only saves your child, he saves all the other children. We need to pray, oh God, send conviction. God, listen, we can't pray just judgment. We've got to pray down, while the day of grace is still here, pray down the mercy and grace of Almighty God. And the greatest thing God's going to call on us to do is to love our enemies and pray for those who despitefully use us. That's going to take all the mercy and grace of a living God. You say, have you learned that yet? No, I haven't. I'm sure trying. I'm hoping to get under conviction tonight. I'm preaching myself under conviction. You say, Brother Dave, how do we stand in the gap? By intercessory prayer of faith. Our weapons are not carnal in the pulling down. If you pray, God tells you to do something, you do it. You obey God, because if you don't obey Him, He'll not tell you the next step. You go one step at a time, you do what He tells you to do. But I want you to listen. My Bible says, look at verse 2, chapter 37. Are you back in Psalms? Psalms 37. Psalm 37, verse 2. Verse 2. For they who, the wicked, the spirit of Nabal, they shall be cut down like the grass and wither as the green herb. Trust in the Lord and do good, so shall thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed. All right, listen closely, please. The Lord has promised to cut down the wicked. He said, in the midst of their prosperity, just when you think they're being prosperous, they're having their own way. God said, I'm going to come down. I'll tell you what, He's got a big sickle in His hand, and just about the time they're boasting, just about the time they think they're in control, God said, I'm going to come and cut them down like mown grass. I'm going to cause them to wither like the shrub. Oh, I tell you what, this is God's battle. I'll tell you what, you've got to believe that God has everything under control. And if you don't believe that, there's no hope. God has everything under control. We go to the secret closet and we get the burden of the Lord. We weep over His, what makes Him weep. We cry over what makes Him cry. We feel His burden. But then we say, oh Lord, I believe what You say in the Word. The wicked are going to be cut down like the grass. They're going to wither like the green herb. They're going to wither and they're going to dry. Verse 9, 37, 9, for evildoers shall be cut off. 37, 10, for yet a little while, and the wicked shall not be. Yea, you will diligently consider their place, and it shall not be. No, you're going to look for them and they're going to be gone. God said, I'm going to cut them down. Look at verse 13, the Lord shall laugh at him, for he seeth that his day is coming. Mark it down, saints. Their day is coming. God says, I've marked the day of judgment. God knows the exact day and hour when He's going to shut down that clinic on 68th and Broadway. He's got it on His calendar and He's going to do it in His power. And we're going to keep praying, we're going to keep fasting and believe God to happen. Because God, we have a promise in our heart, God says, I will cut them down. The Lord shall laugh at him, for he seeth his day is coming. Look at verse 20, the wicked shall perish, and the enemies of the Lord shall be as the fat of lambs. They shall consume, into smoke shall they consume away. Look at me, please. How many of you remember Nikita Khrushchev? Boy, some of you young people don't even remember him. You know who he was? He was the Russian dictator. He came here to the United States and he took off his shoe and the United Nations started banging like this. He said, we're going to bury you. I remember that. It's as stupid now as it was at the United Nations. You know, that man caused the world to tremble? Where is he? He's gone up in smoke. The Lord cut him down. Stalin, Stalin murdered millions, terrorized the world. Where is Stalin, Joseph Stalin? He's dead. Some of you don't even know who he is. I've got an old Bible that I've got marked because years ago, there was a man who was a union leader, Jimmy Hoffa, Teamsters union leader, and he terrorized the United States for three months. I mean, the whole Congress was terrorized. The Kennedys were terrorized at this man because he held the whole nation hostage. And there was a nationwide strike, remember, on all the highways and all the trucks, everything. The Teamsters tied up the whole United States. And I remember praying one day, I said, oh God, when will you deal with this? This man is running away with it. And right at this scripture, I have it marked. The wicked shall perish from the enemies of the Lord, so be it. The fat of lambs they shall consume into smoke, so they consume away. Jimmy Hoffa went to a restaurant. Somebody met him and took him away. He's never been heard of since. Now, don't laugh, please. It's a tragedy. The scuttlebutt is that they took him to one of these junkyards and pressed him in where they press cars, pressed his body in. Jimmy Hoffa is gone. Napoleon Bonaparte, the dictator, is gone. Nikita Khrushchev is gone. Hitler is gone. Mussolini is gone. Mayo is gone. Hirohito. All of them. Where are these men that terrorized the world? God, cut them down. They were consumed in smoke. Do you hear what the Spirit is saying tonight? Fret not. Fret not. Fret not. Cease from anger. Forsake your hot wrath. You care my burden, but don't care it with wrath. Trust in the Lord and delight yourself also in the Lord. He'll give you the desire of your heart. Your desire and my desire is to see the wicked brought down. First of all, that God would save them. And if they harden their heart, then to cut them down. But in the meantime, to trust the Lord. We've got a God who has everything under control. Now let's talk about the other twin. Fear. And I've got to admit to you that God really, boy, he's hit me with this one. Sadly, God's people are among the biggest worriers in the world. They sing and shout and go home and worry all night. We suck more Alka-Seltzer than anybody else in the world, I think. I'm not trying to be facetious, but I'm going to tell you something, folks. I'm afraid we've lost our confidence in Almighty God. We get so afraid. The Lord's given me a prophetic eye. I'm not a prophet, but I do have a prophetic eye. And I've seen things that are so frightening that I don't even tell my wife. I try to tell my daughters and my children a vision I'd seen of something that's coming. And I had to stop because I could see how sick my daughter was getting. I haven't talked to anybody since. I've seen these things coming in dreams and visions and from the Word of God. And when I see these things, questions race through my mind. But, Lord, what are we going to do? What if the economy collapses? What if people in our church are thrown out of work already? There's a murder every five hours. The streets are not safe. And what about all the armies of the homeless already in good times? Lord, what about my children and my grandchildren? What about, what are we going to do, Lord, when this thing gets so bad? And it, you can't tell me you don't think about those things. You can't tell me you don't think about your job, your future, your children, your grandchildren. I don't care who you are. Those concerns come racing in. And there's a tendency to allow the spirit of fear to grip your heart. David said, he looked at his condition. He said, there's fear on all sides. David himself said, there's fear on every side. And you know what's happening? Multitudes now are running to the hills. You know what the big thing now in some charismatic circles is? In fact, someone handed me a brochure advertising what we had. In fact, they were asking us to tell the people in New York how to get ready for the coming calamities. And you know what they suggest? You've got to go out somewhere in Colorado, Montana, and get five acres. Get a milk cow. Get some gold coins. Get a gun, lots of ammunition. And an oil stove. And they give you a whole list. In fact, there's a list about that big of all the things. And a year's supply of dried food. And I've had friends do just that. I'm thinking of a couple of friends now that four years ago went up into the hills. And because they said, it's all coming apart. The schools are all humanistic now. It's just incredible. There's anarchy coming. There's not going to be any money left, so they put everything into gold. Gold was selling at $600 an ounce at the time. They bought it at $600 an ounce. In fact, it went up to $700, remember? And they went out, and they got their five acres, and they dug a well, and they got their milk cow, and they got their one or two year supply of food. The cow got Bang's disease and had to go. They raised a garden, and their home-grown tomatoes cost $5 a piece. That's the truth. They'd go down to the market and get it for one-tenth the price. The gold dropped to $300. The food got stale. They got bored, and they came back, and the lesson was learned that there's only one hiding place, and that's Jesus Christ the Lord. You know what the Lord told me this past week? You see, I'm the kind that wants to have a backup system for everything, in case something happens. Are you that way? How many of you have a backup system you're looking for? You're always trying to have something? A little nest egg? No? But I always wanted to have something to fall back on. The Lord rebuked me. Now, I'm not against planning. I'm not against saving. But you see, if there's a mindset of fear, you're going to lose the joy of the Lord. You'll not be delighting yourself in the Lord, and the Lord, the devil will have defeated you to accomplish this purpose, and having you live the rest of your life in an accumulating spirit of fear. And he said, I have not given you the spirit of fear, but of love and power and a sound mind. And I want to tell you now, I come against, in the name of Jesus, fear. In my life, in your life, we're going to face the future without fear. Look at verse 5. Psalm 37, verse 5. And here's where the Lord soundly rebuked me. I've been spanked all week. Commit thy way unto the Lord. You know what that word commit is in Hebrew? Roll it off on Jehovah. Roll it all off on the Lord. Have you done that yet? Look at me. Don't lie to me. No fibs. Have you been rolling it all off on the Lord? Are you looking in the future and there's something scaring you real bad? Are you thinking about the future? What am I going to do? What am I going to do? My job, my home, my apartment, and on and on and on. You say, well, it's only natural to worry. My Bible says commit your way unto the Lord. Trust also in Him. He shall bring it to pass. I'm going to take you through some scriptures. God, the first thing God said to Abraham. First thing God, Bob preaches on the covenant. You know the first thing God said to Abraham when he appeared to him? Abraham, fear not. I'm your shield. I'm your protector. From now on, Abraham, you cast all your care on me. Abraham, don't be afraid. God appeared to Isaac, his son, and the first thing he said to him? Isaac, don't be afraid. I'm the Lord your God. I'm the God of your father Abraham. Hallelujah. God appeared to his people Israel. Listen to what he said. Let not your hearts faint. Fear not. Do not tremble. Neither be terrified. For the Lord your God is he that goeth with you to fight for you against all your enemies to save you. Before he died, Moses said to Joshua, the Lord will go before you. The Lord's going to fight for you. He will not fail you, neither forsake you. Fear not. Be not dismayed. Tell you what I want you to do. I'm going to give you two more passages, and then I'm going to close. I want you to go to Psalms 27. Psalms 27. Go left. Twenty-seven. Twenty-seven. That is left, Don. Twenty-seven. Two. Seven. Come on. I'll read it, but you follow me. First five verses. The Lord is my light, my salvation. Whom shall I fear? The Lord is the strength of my life. Of whom shall I be afraid? When the wicked, even my enemies and my foes, came upon me to eat up my flesh, they stumbled and they fell. Though a host should encamp against me, drug pushers and all of these wicked people. Though a host should be encamped against me, my heart shall not fear. Though war should rise against me, in this will I be confident. One thing have I desired of the Lord, that will I seek after. That I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life. To behold the beauty of the Lord and to inquire in his temple. For in the time of trouble, he will what? He shall hide me in his pavilion. In the secret of his tabernacle shall he hide me. He shall set me up upon a rock. Hallelujah. Saints, God's going to keep you. He's got a hiding place in the palm of his hand. No demon, no devil, nobody can pluck you out of his hand. Go to Psalm 46. Go right. Oh, I love this precious word. Hallelujah. Tell you what I'm going to do. I'm going to read all 11 verses, the whole chapter. Now, I expect to hear some shouting before I'm finished reading this chapter. Are you scared? Has the devil tried to put that devilish twin on you? Threaten fear? All right. If this chapter doesn't send him running. I want God to evict fear out of your heart with this chapter right now. I could stand here and yell and scream and everything else. But here's the word of God. Verse 1. God is our refuge and strength. A very present help in trouble. Therefore, will not we fear? Though the earth be removed. And though the mountains be carried to the midst of the sea. In other words, everything can shake and fall down and said, that's not going to hurt us. Though the waters thereof roar and be troubled. Though the mountains shake with the swelling thereof. There's a river, the streams whereof shall make glad the city of God. The holy place of the tabernacle of the Most High. God is in the midst of her. She shall not be moved. God shall help her. Isn't that right, Early? The heathen raged. The kingdoms were moved. He uttered his voice and the earth melted. Think of that. All he has to do is speak the word and the whole earth melts. Do you think a God that can melt the earth at the sound of his voice has the power to keep you and me? The Lord of hosts is with us. The God of Jacob is our refuge. Come behold the works of the Lord. What desolations he has made in the earth. He makes wars to cease upon the end of the earth. He breaks the bow, cuts the spear in sundry, burns the chariot in the fire. Be still and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the heathen. I'll be exalted in the earth. The Lord of hosts is with us. The God of Jacob is our refuge. Stand, please. I have to tell you tonight, God's made it clear to me that I had to trust him. That I'm not to look in the future and fret or worry or have fear. But to live one day at a time, delighting myself in the Lord, walking in his footsteps, praying for his burden, obeying his every command, but without fear and without fretting. Is that your desire tonight? Second thing God's laid in my heart is to bind to a power and demonstration of the Holy Spirit tonight, the spirit of faith. To bind the fear. Some of you that are here tonight, balcony, here, you've been bound by fear. There's been a terrible fear that's settled in. It's just settled in there. You don't want it. You'd like to have it out. And I know God can set you free tonight. Would you bow your head for just a moment? I feel the Holy Spirit saying something. Father, tonight we stand in your holy presence. And Lord, some people that say they love you have been afraid. There's been terrible fear that's overtaking them. Lord, they're afraid of their children. For their children, they're afraid for their livelihood. They're afraid. There's just fear. Lord Jesus, we want you to manifest your presence tonight so that we learn to trust you. Lord, forgive me for my unbelief. Forgive me for my fears. Forgive me, Lord, as pastor. As a pastor of this church, forgive my fear of the future. Lord, I turn the future of this church over to you. This is your church. It's not ours. It's yours. Lord, you'll keep these doors open. Lord, I pray for the sheep of this flock. You'll take care of every one of them, Lord, like a gentle master. You're going to put your loving arms around them and say, Just lean on me. You're in my hand. I'll not fail you. I'll not neglect you. I'll not forsake you. I'm your refuge. I'm your hiding place. I'm not going to let you down. I'll not let you go hungry. I'll not let anybody take your life. I'll protect you. I'll send the angel of the Lord to camp around about you. Well, I feel it so strong. There's some of you here tonight that you've got a fear that's settled so deep. I want you to get out of your seat and come here. Let's pray about it. Let's ask God to drive it far, far from up in the balcony. Just go down any exit. Come down any of the aisles. Come and stand here right now. Some of you say, Brother Dave, I've got fear in my heart. I want God to set me free tonight. I don't want this fear anymore. I've been bound by spirit from the enemy. And it's just causing all kinds of trouble in my heart. My heart's troubled. Come on. The Lord's going to deliver. The Lord's going to set free. I want you to come by faith, though, please. Please come by faith. Please come by faith. He shall arise in the time of trouble. He shall arise. The Lord shall arise. Raise your hands and sing it. Raise your hands and sing it. He shall arise. He shall arise. The Lord is coming. The Lord is coming. Wait upon the Lord. Wait upon the Lord. And be of good courage. Be of good courage. Oh, wait upon the Lord. And be of good courage. Be of good courage. You better wait upon the Lord. Be of good courage. And be of good courage. He will set me free. He will set me free. Let me hug your heart. Let me hug your heart. Come on. The Lord is coming. Oh, my God. The Lord is coming. He shall arise. He shall arise. We don't have to be afraid. We don't fear, Lord. We don't fear. No fear, Lord, to those who walk with you. No fear, Lord, to those who walk with you, Lord. No fear. No fear, Lord, for those who trust in you. We will trust in you, Lord, and not be afraid. We will trust in the Lord and not be afraid. We will trust in the Lord. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. You that are standing up here, I want you to raise both hands. Just lift your hands to the Lord and say it with me right now. Oh, Jesus, take away my fear and all my fretting. I rest in the Lord, and I give you my confidence. Now, keep your hands raised. We're going to bind this in the name of the Lord. Father, we come against every spirit of fear and bondage. Oh, God, every apprehension, and we drive it out in the name of the Lord, Jesus, that your children will rest in you and delight themselves in the Lord and trust in Almighty God in his faithfulness. Lord, you're faithful, God. We lay everything down at your feet in confidence. We bind every spirit of fear, casting it out in the name of the Lord, Jesus. Hallelujah. Thank you. Will you thank him right now, Lord? I just thank you. I thank you, Lord, for removing fear and bondage from my heart, setting me free, delivering me, Lord, delivering me, Lord. Hallelujah. Praise your holy name. This is the conclusion of the tape.
The Devil's Twins - Fret and Fear
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David Wilkerson (1931 - 2011). American Pentecostal pastor, evangelist, and author born in Hammond, Indiana. Raised in a family of preachers, he was baptized with the Holy Spirit at eight and began preaching at 14. Ordained in 1952 after studying at Central Bible College, he pastored small churches in Pennsylvania. In 1958, moved by a Life Magazine article about New York gang violence, he started a street ministry, founding Teen Challenge to help addicts and troubled youth. His book "The Cross and the Switchblade," co-authored in 1962, became a bestseller, chronicling his work with gang members like Nicky Cruz. In 1987, he founded Times Square Church in New York City, serving a diverse congregation until his death. Wilkerson wrote over 30 books, including "The Vision," and was known for bold prophecies and a focus on holiness. Married to Gwen since 1953, they had four children. He died in a car accident in Texas. His ministry emphasized compassion for the lost and reliance on God. Wilkerson’s work transformed countless lives globally. His legacy endures through Teen Challenge and Times Square Church.