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The Coming of Jesus
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
This sermon emphasizes the imminent return of Jesus Christ, urging believers to be prepared and expectant for His coming. It highlights the need for spiritual awakening, readiness, and a deep connection with the Holy Spirit to discern the signs of the times and stay faithful amidst societal challenges and distractions.
Sermon Transcription
I'm going to talk to you about the coming of this Lord. Absolutely, just supernaturally, can we believe this is possible? I pray that when you hear, give us fear to hear what the Spirit is saying. God, I'm teaching the message to those of us who have heard it on Thursday morning. It's very seldom we hear of the coming of the Lord. Sometimes, though, we are excessively distributed, and we read about the vaccine, we read about the coming of the Lord through books and through the stories that are told. He's coming, the Lord's coming, I'm asking to make it real to our hearts. Lord, everyone in this room, cross what you see. Lord, it is time to do the message of the last hour. It's all that's possible because today is the morning of the Lord. How much closer are we now to almost 2,000 years later? How close are we to the coming of this Lord? I'm asking you to come and talk to Him. Feel this oxygen in your presence. Holy Spirit, you speak to me. In the name of Jesus Christ. Everybody say amen. I just want to know you're out there. I said amen. I'm praying. I'm praying up in heaven, I'm praying up in the city of Austin. We're going to be poor. Young men, they were looking for a place to live. They didn't have a lot of motels, they couldn't afford a place to live. There were no very few houses, streets. There was, I think it's something to do with Gary Cooley, that there was fun fun stuff. I think that was it. I was part of a community that was always going to travel for miles in order to get in a tax booth and talk into so many places. I was talking a long time ago. I was talking over 50 years ago. And it was a difficult situation. We'd been in brotherhood all the country where we had to talk about it. And the problem is, we had to assume that we're in quite privileged and hard luck on the floor and nothing but boards for seats. And they stayed everywhere. So kids just couldn't do business. And then we'd have another building called the God in the Hall. And that's where the people would come. We would preach on the coming of the Lord. This was a message of success, the coming of Jesus. And I was raised on that. My father was a Christian. I was raised on that. I came from one of the preachers who would all preach on the coming of the Lord. And it was one of those evenings when I was eight years old, I heard about the coming of the Lord. And I said, you know, I've never heard of that before. Because people prayed, they didn't pray all night long. They didn't even sit through the fight. People would pray. There was smoke in the kitchen of their kitchen with a phone in the back. People didn't cry, they prayed all night. And that's the thing, in one of those camp meetings, that hearing about the coming of the Lord and hearing the success and getting prepared and being ready in the spirit of God came on me. And as I went down that hall that day, walking and praying in the spirit of God came on me. And I'd be there for a few hours. Most of the time, I'd probably be preaching and I would be in the building, but then I'd be returned back. And all I've known is how difficult that has been in my life. So I was born and raised, I was born and raised in this atmosphere of constant, constant moments. And we don't hear that in the church. We don't hear about the coming of the Lord. But I'm not gonna get into the talk of, you know, of the rock-like instances of a deeper foundation of the pre-church, mixed-church, post-church, you know, where the deeper calling and the moment of becoming a part of the tribulation and the end of the tribulation is coming at the end of the world. But I don't get confused as I say, I don't get in the mixed-church roots for it. I'm in the mixed-church roots. If you're ready for it, please, if people see me ready, they'll be tired because I've been traumatized before in my life. But when I was raised, they said, Jesus could come according to the Word and the culture of the Lord was like that. And so I'm like, oh, this is not a fear because if you trust the hope of the church, you probably will. But if you trust the faith, fear of the Lord is an inspiration. If you believe in Jesus, you can be started before I'm finished because this is something real and precious to your heart. But you've heard about the coming of the Lord coming. For instance, I've heard that people in the coming of the Lord have all come over to the point that wars were beginning to war and violence was coming, and the first place we've left, that is patriotism, reparations, is Israel, the United Kingdom of Europe, and the coming of the Lord across all continents of the United States of Europe and the great culturality of the Middle East. And they've all come. Jesus made that true. But I want to get down to something we all feel and know, something that calms our hearts from loneliness, confidence, to the United States, to the continents of the world. We've been traveling all over the world in this industry for the past few years. And what I see in the United States is all over the world. It's not just the United States. Europe is the world. It's the American economy, everything is coming to a world church, part of Europe. Right now, there's a whole host of pastors who are being sued in jail because he's racist against homosexuality and against the law, and sued me because he's racist against enrollment and racist against homosexuality. This is where we're headed. I want to tell you three things that I've seen that tell me that Jesus is coming back to you. Three things that you offer that I don't have to go to the psychologist, I don't have to go to the doctor, I don't have to go to the psychiatrist because there's something that's happening here and now. You feel it. Even the most liberal and godly atheists would say that, because everything is spinning out of control. It's incredible what you hear even from the liberal textbooks that the New York Times are the most liberal people in the whole country. And now, one article after another, no one knows what's happening, nobody can see. When 9-11 struck New York City and the towers fell, I told you through the hospital, through the conference, that hundreds of religious fervor hit New York City and the churches were closed. It happened in two weeks, and suddenly the churches were closed. And people were crying. There was a church, where it said, most of the people from the middle class, some of you haven't been to church in years, and hundreds and thousands of people of all nationalities talking to the churches and to the people, and one of the peers from the man in the pulpit went up there and he said, God is in, and that's it, and God's speaking to the people, which happens to be why there's terrorism in the first place. I told you. So, where is he? And then he said, I don't know. Well, I preach the message called The Towers Have Fallen, and this is the message. God is speaking to this country. He is warning us, because it is, it is this, isn't it, isn't it? So, people come forward, and we grieve, we grieve over the loss, we grieve over the suffering, the pain, and all the things, that God is speaking to this nation, and he's speaking to the whole world, warning us what is coming ahead. For two months, it continued, for two months, one of the New York Times did a survey, and found out that there were less people on the church, which comes later, since that was only in 2011. They did a survey of the people by their districts, and it was simple to read, this survey, on this, which is that, in some churches, people go, you have a little less people than what they said, it's true, it's true, but it's just, people know, what they want to watch, because there's no answer, and it's just, there's no, there's not one reason why I don't want to go back, because I can get depressed, and it's boring, and nobody has the answers, and there's just, there's no, it's the one reason, I can never go back, I will never go back, I've given up on the church, and, I'm going to talk now, about reasons, given up on the church, and why, and it changes what I believe, and it can be a fascinating thing, for us, in the coming years, as we search. First of all, the, growing, numbers, of boxes, in boxes, of people's Christ, and anyone who's qualified, here's the reason, can walk into the church, and see Jesus Christ, but most of us, walk into Christ, himself. Yet, in the history, that we've seen, such numbers, here in the United States, is out of control. 300,000, Jews, are under government, they march every year, and they're not even, 250 to 300,000. It is, it's not just the news, it's not just the, of, the close presence, of Christians, in news, but most of the Christians, they came out of the cross, and some Christians, had a kind of surprise, like, oh, it's as if, there were people, flying out of the cross, and looking up, and seeing the Christians, and saying, wow, it's as if, the signs, it says, God is there, Christ is here. It's remarkable, it's the most remarkable, of anyone, in politics, who said, I believe in Jesus Christ, that makes it, remarkable, a politician, in Washington, or in Georgia, or, if you're in Alabama, or wherever you go, it's remarkable to come, right here in Alabama, and watch it get, followed on, to the true commandments, of the universe. That's an absolute mockery, of the name of Jesus Christ, and the Bible says, in last days, mockers will come, and say, where is this guy, that he's got? And it continues, and where the Bible says, there's one to be followed up, with their own luck. There's one to follow up, with their own luck. It's not, it's not the constitution, that's being broken, it's the mockery, of the word of God, it's the word of God, that's being broken, and the problem, with the God of God, is that, when they can find, and watch it, the word of God, and the trust, of the word. Last days, of mockers, will come, say, where is this, God, that he's signed, of his coming? Again, a letter, from the pastor, yesterday, to this pastor, of the nation, in terms of the nation, denomination, or whatever, his name, or his denomination, to this, this letter, it was, it's just, kind of, a frightening thing, to read. Recently, the other day, my denomination, for the first reading, voted, to support, pastor for divorces, even though, the congress, is voting, no. Now, here's a notice, if you've chosen, the denomination, one of the, the, the, really, one of the, most numerous, denominations, is, in other things, that is, if you've voted, to support, pastor for divorces, even though, the congress, is voting, no. What a sad thing, that the congress, is more boppy, than the church. Our new moderator, has confirmed, that folks, over the last two years, openly, support, the organization, James Madison, and this is, facts, from, what they call, more life, congregations. If you have, more life, in something, they believe, they have more life, than the rest, of us, because, of their, leadership, towards those, promises. The race, of this, denomination, are, allowed, to vote, for, communities. We voted, on whether, or not, to strike, from our constitution, the language, that prevents, the organizations, from, self-affirming, opposite, concepts. But, even though, it didn't pass, the voters, typically, wanted, to sign, only four votes, in total, abomination, for more life, people, for the churches, that are, all of us, are, rejoicing, because, they believe, the next assembly, to vote, or pass, or vote, is, and I think, they all want, to do, this is it, it's all, over here, we're looking, for ways, to defend, our might, as a nation. This is, the master, denomination, voted, into, the social, control, to order, protestors, of all, ages, from, $17,000,000, of all, ingrained, cultures, that those, cultures, of indigenous, indigenous, that this, proves, that a denomination, cannot, at the very, strength, of the coming, of the Lord, at the very, nearness, of the coming, of the Lord, live, in a way, it's absolutely, not supposed, to do, but not, cause, or affect, or harm, and if you can, look, at the vision, of the Holy Spirit, to stop, the movement, of the nation, so, that we're, not, too, close, this is, what, burned, in your heart, what we hear, about, this film, is the love, dream, of what came out, as a love dream, it certainly, is what, we hope, ever, to hear, the new movie, is coming out, it's being made, right now, she's American, and she knows, her name, we've been together, maybe two months, I don't even know how, but the new, film, is something, beyond, this film, is meant to be, and, what, what do you, see, and, what do you, see, and, what do you, with me, and, with you, is how much, truthfully, the picture works, as it is, it's hard work, the only thing, I can say, is that, I'm just hoping, that you know, that if you're right, that the truth, is out, and how much more, than what we, and others, thought, and saw, is incredible, and more, incredible, and much more, than the Lord, Jesus Christ. The second, reason, I'm going to, use this, as a kind of, self-healing, is that, listening, to the truth, that they, agree with us, the Bible says, the receiver, who is the Holy Spirit, is a true witness, he holds, back, the blood, of all the, certain lives, that he holds, and how much, he loves, and he's, he's a true believer, He never came to me having read much, because he knew he was trying to sleep. And the Bible says he only came for the flood out of his mouth, and then the next day, as I think he heard that he was drenched in the flood, that's when he came down with me. And when he came to me, 500,000 photographic shots down, and within an hour, 70,000 in a 24-hour. The whole world flooded with the images of his face, the child's mother's face. You see, this is what's happening. Everything you see that's happening now in the United States right now is happening under the surface. It's straight in the field here. The whole field is full of stones. There's no land. There's no place for me to live. There's no home. When God says, the Holy Spirit, when he looks at it, when he begins to explain it in the Holy Spirit, he's still there to move all those who have a heart toward him, or those who've been re-troubled, those who've not been comfortable at all, those who are too overwhelmed and tired of their life. But you see, the Holy Spirit is a controlling power. He's going to be restrained, the Bible says. And it says that he's going to take us out of the way and turn us over to Jesus while he's breathing. And this is the spirit he's going to send to tell us what he's going to do after. And here it is. Tell me what it's going to be like on television. Tell me what it's going to be like when I speak. Tell me what it's going to be like when I'm talking to God. If now you see what we're seeing under the surface, if you see what's happening out there, if you see it little by little, it's a restraining power, but it's an important thing to keep around and to let them show us how it's done. Because it's not going to show you if it works. The only thing that's going to keep us from chaos is what I'm seeing right now, is the presence of Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit coming through and moving through individuals who expect to come along and walk with the Spirit and walk in the likeness of him for the world. Because the Holy Spirit, as it is written, is working through these persons and these bodies. And what happens when the church calls them to actually be Jesus? Do you think the spiritual nomination is going to have any power against him when he becomes a perpetrator of this thing? I don't think I'm going to be able to answer these questions. I don't know what's going to happen. I'm just going to have to do what is possible. The third reason I believe Jesus is coming very soon is the Holy Spirit moving through the church allows us to be Jesus. And I don't want to talk to other Catholics, Baptists, and Catholics, and I don't want to talk to other women's faiths. I'm a Christian woman believer. The Bible says there's going to be a delusion coming on the church in the last days. It's going to come upon the world and it's going to take people to the church. It's a lie. Part of the delusion is a lie. It's the truth. And the Bible says in the last days there will be those who said in their hearts, the Lord has to know that he's coming. If we just give the sermon of a man a sermon of his where he's left in thoughts and he's gone on his 50s, on his 40s, and he comes back and he's in his thoughts and he says, I want to be faithful to this promise. This is the sermon he wants. He didn't say He didn't say twice that the Lord is coming. The context of the coming of the Lord is that he said, yes, he's ready for it. And the Lord, he says not. The Lord will come. I'll come. When you think about this, I'm going to come. Because there will be those who bear the service of this. And if you think and think of this, think, I'm going to come. And this is what Father told us. He himself took a period with us. He said to himself, the things of this world, if they didn't preach this, if they didn't start to be clear, that Father said, he had spoken in thoughts before this momentous promise. His mind said, Jesus is not coming in my time. And we've heard that all our lifetime. Jesus is coming. Jesus is coming. But where is he? He's not coming in our lives. Because some of you might say, I don't have this. I don't have these words. But I would think that's the reason that's heard among Christians today. I've asked you a question so many of you in this building now in the last two weeks. Most of my ministry was in English. I must ask you, would you be going into a room where the Bible calls it, it's called in English, would you be going in there and preaching the words of the Lord instead of the problems of people on the telephone and talking to friends? The Bible says, the spirit of the cross is promise. That means that you have the Holy Spirit. You say, I'm a spiritual teacher, I'm a spiritual believer. If you're spiritual, the spirit of the cross is your comforter. Because the spirit in the cross, if you're in the cross, it's Christ. If you're on the cross, it's Jesus Christ. Don't you see the cross? It's like this. The spirit of the cross, because we pray in the cross, we make it. All the bribes are in the stomach, and the bribes are going to answer, even sell cars, completely more creation. The bribes, I just want to say it out of emotion. The bribes, we're looking at one another and we're able to listen to each other. If you have the Holy Spirit, it's like that for you. If you pray, God is making it for you. It's like a comforter. It keeps coming to you. It's what I love. It's people that I love to be with. Lord, take this promise. If you ever got weary of this world, like all the apostles, who said I was never going to be with Him, and that when people think of dying with Him, of God, who will take me to meet my King in Christ's house that I will be His. If I take Him as a Christian, He's my life, His eternity. If He became one of the eternators of history, He's my gift to the world. If you think, if you and I, if we die before Jesus comes, we could be born so close to our beloved one. We could be born so close and so divine in Him and just watch what happens after the cross, but we weren't just born, we were blessed to be born. If God loves us, if we allow Him to come through the temple through us from the word of His Holy Word, and we will be blessed, we will be given the golden hand to take the power and powers given to us by His goodness. I'm not going to say there's nothing like that. I'm not going to say there's something in your relationship. How can we not miss the comfort of receiving And we've been taught to about the same. I believe we live focused on making money all week. We love to make money. We love to live. God loves to live the best life he can find. God loves to pass what he pays for us. But he says he's taking our hearts away from him. A year ago I was in Birmingham. And I was ministering to a certain family who was in the faith. And they brought me with them into a church. It was a church. It's in University. They built a beautiful church on the top of the hill. And it was a beautiful day. It was an old farm, an early farm. And there was a family living on this farm. And I turned to the lady. And I said, what's the matter with you? There's something wrong in that church. I can feel the tug of the spirit. And they looked at me and said, that's the beginning of the end. And I said, these are blessings that have been given to me. And they're poor. They've been displaced. And it seemed as though the common spiritual thing was coming up with these, these gods and these millions of people now. And they're in this situation. It's a hunger. It's fear. The war is on. And it's something that was written for a witness. 20 years later, two years ago. In fact, my wife and I have the same problem. I'm forced. We're surrounded with refugees and being gunned down. They're evil. They're muggers. And they're putting me in jail. And I say, what? Well, I'm here. I have this. This is Christ's business. They drive me around. They put me up against all these different people. They take out their cars. They're in business. They're rich. They're corrupt. They put me through. They threw me away in this place. They were not looking for the coming of Jesus. They were looking to make money. So I've lost them. I'm not in jail. They're victims. They're my wife. And she's had all of the good what I've had. I'm not trying to do good to you. I'm not trying to play with your emotions. That's the only way to tell me Jesus is on the bench, that there has to be something in our hearts that's all the truth we want to know. And when we, the Bible says we deserve it, says we deserve Christ, by God's amazing power, through the edification of the Spirit, we can talk to him. And that's what we need to talk to him. That's the truth that we need to hear, we need to see. That's the truth that we need to feel, that this loneliness is having time for everybody and everything but the Lord. Because it's absolutely terrible. We know that this church is not on its knees. There's a flood mist in the church. I told the pastor, I'm mailing this. We have, I don't know the term, we've got to start having people on our business. And I told him, this is a major problem. We've been completely here from all over the United States. I can't find a church where there's loneliness. I can't find a church, I think I mentioned it at the beginning of the series, that I know there are many, many churches. There's over a thousand, because they have this church, they're a church of this church. They're not church offers. They're helping people. They're people that are yearning for a place where there's something, where they're needed, where they can move in positions of sins and wrongs of the Lord. They want to hear from the pastor, sinners of the Lord. They want to hear the call of God and the satisfaction of heaven. And they want their hearts to burn. And they want to be awakened. They want to be swearing in their hearts. And it seems to me, it's hard to keep the loneliness of this church that's trying to find it. And I wonder how many, how many of those sitting in that church this time are not expecting Jesus to come. I would expect it to be coming in a moment. I don't care what theology says. I don't care what anyone says about this world that's made this church. And let me just, let me just read it to you. Wherefore, beloved saints, if ye look for such things, these things, which if you will be proud, will give it peace, without the thought of blame. Beloved saints, if ye know these things, before ye wear them, and also be led away to the error of the wicked, ye fall from your own steadfastness. The day of the Lord shall come, and the peace of the night. The earth also, and the works of the good, and the goodness of the Holy Ghost. It will be with all these things, and with you all, what manner of partners are to be seen And all, all conversations and bargains, bringing your, bringing your friends and your neighbors into the land, shall be sobered, They shall be cleansed of all sin and they shall be cleansed of all lost I've come down here with an innocent mind. I said, oh, what can I teach you? He said, you preach on the top of the world because the first is lost, the second is found. He said, if you want to go from your church to the church, listen to your angel who is coming. And to be treated now as you have been, as a spirit of God will be, to try to teach us to measure your heart's strength. I'm not going to ask you how long you're waiting to meet Jesus. This is your way. I'm going to talk to you about those laws that are supposed to teach you, that are supposed to teach you that you're going to go to church, that you're going to go to church, that are supposed to teach you how to deal with people who misbehave. This is my administration. It's a political situation. I've lost a couple of my angels and these people have fallen away. The general of my army, Senator Booth, who challenges me blindly for that. I won't be in touch with him. I would love to, but I don't know how far I'll have to go. I'm going to go to church. He's going to be right. I'm going to go to church weekly, if they suggest that they should get prepared for this year, next year, next year. There's something that would run rather fast. It can be very fast. The truth is that there's a kind of a bright meaning that we will change our pride if we see with that light the future, the bright meaning of the bright, because we have a bright meaning in terms of the bright meaning. Christ is known to be his mother. This is your mother. If you're going to come again, you're going to come at any time. Your pride is never restored. All the love letters are crushed. This is what I see right now. What kind of love letter? What kind of love letter you have is going to be crushed when we do the same thing? When we're in recovery, we're going to be alone. We're going to go through the same thing. The message is this. Heavenly Father, I come into the earth. Holy Spirit, I come into you now. I'm asking you to keep your word to me. I'm asking you, Holy Spirit, to keep that promise you made to me that you were quite so most impactful that by the truth of God's word and by the love that you would awaken hearts like that to once and for all such a journey that has such a longing and such a reaching out to you as something magical. For to me, this is not a matter of contemplation. It's not a matter of guilt. It's a matter of asking you to explore a loving Father, a loving Christ. Oh, Jesus, I have your peace to me. Oh, Jesus, I have not been quiet after you. I have not been proud about your coming. I have not lived in a life of ecstasy while you journeyed after you through your coming. Oh, Jesus, I have your peace to me. And I come to you today to thank you for the thoughts you call me and to thank you for the experience of doing that work and telling me such powerful testimony. I seek the glory of Jesus Christ over every line of script, every spirit of blindness and gossip. I seek the glory over my Bible for the name of Jesus Christ to ever be on this place here to hold any one of us who have a past condition such as this back home, back to Jesus in some kind of positive. Oh, Jesus, open our eyes and open our hearts to the deep and vast manifestation of the Holy Spirit. Oh, Jesus. If you have to get up today, I have been touched. Let this be my emotion that I know where I am. I know where I stand. I have been too busy. I have neglected my prayer time. I have missed the expressions, Jesus Christ, as I ask that I want to come back to that kind of burning love and watch that fire concerning the coming of Jesus and being ready and expectant in living that kind of life. And so I thank you all for coming today. Let's give that energy to what we're gonna preach and what we're gonna try to bring that fire back in the coming of Christ in your hearts. Let me give you a promise before we start. Tell me, Jesus, I love you. I want you to love me so that I can be with you. I need you right now. I need you right now. In my last day of prayer, I'm gonna ask you, Lord, I need you. I need you. And I'd love for you to give grace to all that's needed in my life such as this. And tomorrow and every day to hope and to yearn for your coming. And I'm going to give you this spirit of trust that doesn't come by force. We can show how strong a faith we are. How strong a faith we are. And thank you for coming and giving us a chance to live the life we've been expecting to just to try to do so.
The Coming of Jesus
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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.