In this sermon, the speaker addresses the common question of why God allows sudden disasters and tragedies to happen. He uses the example of the Israelites in the Bible who were freed from bondage but faced new challenges in the wilderness. The speaker emphasizes that even though they had experienced freedom and were rejoicing, they quickly began to complain and doubt God when faced with difficulties. The sermon highlights the importance of learning from hard times and storms, and reminds listeners that life will not always be easy, but God is still present and faithful.

This message is one of the Times Square Church Pulpit Series. It was recorded in the sanctuary of Times Square Church in Manhattan, New York City. Other tapes are available by writing World Challenge, PO Box 260, Lindell, TX 75771 or calling 903-963-8626. You are welcome to make additional cassettes of this message for free distribution to friends. However, for all other forms of reproduction or electronic transmission, existing copyright laws apply. I want to talk to you this morning about the making of a worshiper. Are you a worshiper? Well, we'll see. We'll test it by the word of the Lord. Welcome to our visitors, all of you. May you have sensed the presence of the Lord here today. Exodus 14, starting in verse 8, And the Lord hardened the heart of Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and he pursued after the children of Israel. And the children of Israel went out with a high hand. The Egyptians pursued after them, all the horses and chariots of Pharaoh and his horsemen and his army, overtook them in camping by the sea, behind Hebroth, before Beelzebub. And when Pharaoh drew nigh, the children of Israel lifted up their eyes, and, behold, the Egyptians marched after them, and they were sore afraid. And the children of Israel cried out to the Lord. They said unto Moses, Because there were no graves in Egypt, hast thou taken us away to die in the wilderness? Wherefore hast thou dealt thus with us to carry us forth out of Egypt? Is this not the word that we would tell you in Egypt, saying, Let us alone, that we may serve the Egyptians? Been better for us to serve the Egyptians than that we should die in this wilderness? Moses said unto the people, Fear you not, stand still, see the salvation of the Lord, which he shall show you today. For the Egyptians whom you have seen today, you shall see them again no more. The Lord shall fight for you, and you shall hold your peace. If you will skip down to verse 19. And the angel of God went before the camp of Israel, removed and went before, behind them, and the pillar of the cloud went from before their face and stood behind them. And it came between the camp of the Egyptians and the camp of Israel. And it was a cloud of darkness to them, but it gave light by night to these, the Israelites, so that the one came not near the other all the night. And Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and the Lord caused the sea to go back by a strong east wind all that night and made the sea dry land and the waters were divided. And the children of Israel went into the midst of the sea upon dry ground, and the waters were a wall unto them of their right and on the left. Heavenly Father, I ask you for an anointing, a special anointing for this hour, for this day. Lord, you put this message on my heart. I'd prepared another, but yesterday you changed it. You changed it because you knew someone would be here that needed this. You planted each of us in the seat in which we're sitting. Lord, you brought us here, whether we were here as a part of this church or whether we're here for the first time. Lord, you're going to speak. You're going to speak your heart and your mind. Spirit of living God, come upon me. Let me bring this forth as you planted it in my heart. Lord, we glorify you. This is not about men. This is about you, Jesus. We glorify you. All honor, all glory focused on you, Lord. Thank you for what you're doing in Times Square Church. Thank you for what you're doing in this city. We give you honor and glory. Now speak to us clearly. In Christ's name I pray. Amen. Now you might ask, what in the world does Exodus 14 have to do with the making of a worshiper? In fact, I'll tell you everything to do with it. In the passage we've just read, you find God's people coming into an incredible dark storm. A whole night of panic and despair. A dark night. Worshippers are not made in revival meetings. Worshippers are not made in good times. Worshippers are not made when the devil's fleeing from you. Worshippers are not made when you're in victory or in good health. Worshippers are made in dark, stormy nights. That's the essence of what I want to share with you from my heart today. And how we respond in that dark, stormy night. How we respond to the Lord has everything to do whether or not we have the status or the calling or we have come into what God would call a true worshipper. It has to do everything with it. In Hebrews 11, chapter 1, verse 21, it says, Now here's an old man. He has been through one storm after another. He has seen everything in his family. He has gone through pain and sorrow and agony in his flesh and in his family with his children. And now he's in his last days. The Bible says one of his last acts was to anoint the two sons of Joseph. And he worshipped leaning on his cane, on his staff. He's not raising his hands. There's not a sound. There's not a voice that he's worshipping. He's worshipping because he's looking back over the faithfulness of God. You see, he is steadfast now. He has proven to himself. He's proven beyond any shakable... he cannot be shaken. There's no doubt. God has always been faithful until my last breath. He will be faithful to me. God is faithful. That is a worshipper. That is a worshipper who has come to the conclusion, no matter what I go through, no matter what storms, God has proven himself faithful. That is the true worshipper. He worshipped leaning on his staff. As he leaned there, he was going over in his mind one victory after another, one test after another. And God brought me out of this one. He brought me out of that one. All these years, God has brought me up. Times I thought I would collapse. Times I thought it was all over. God brought me through. God brought me through. Folks, I'm 72. I'm leaning on my staff now. I'm living by faith. But I can tell you, the greatest hours of worship are not when I'm in the church with you or anybody else raising my hands. It's not when I'm shouting with the choir. It's when I'm walking the street and I can just stop and say, God, you were there with me through all those operations with Gwen. You were there with me through all the lives of the enemy. You were there by my casket with Tiffany. And you brought us all through. And you're going to bring us through to the end. And you have been so good. And you'll not do anything that would hurt me or any of my family or the church of Jesus Christ, leaning on that staff, saying, God, you are faithful. God is faithful. You see, I want to talk to those who are going through a dark night. You may not be going through a dark night, but folks, all it takes is a telephone call. All it takes is just feeling a lump. All it takes is just one moment of time. Now, I'm not trying to scare you, but you know that's life. That's reality. Some of you know what I'm going through, what I'm talking about right now. But you see, I want to talk to you about God's interest is not just in delivering you from a problem or a crisis, but in the process to make you a true worshiper. That you would come out of that trial. You would come out of that dark night as a true worshiper. You see, God set up this whole episode that we just read about. The Lord told Moses, turn and encamp between Migdal and the sea, and he shall encamp by the sea. It was God who put them there in an impossible situation. There's the sea and the mountains behind them, and there's no other place to go. Now, they set up their tents. I don't know how long they'd been there, but they had encamped. They're in their tents and they are rejoicing because, you see, they have tasted freedom for the first time. They'd been in bondage for over 400 years, and now they're free and they're tasting that freedom. They're not under the iron furnaces anymore. They are free from the bondage. They're a type of the Christian who's been set free from the bondage and the habituation to sin, and all the excitement. And they have nothing but hope in their hearts, because they're now laying hold of promises that Moses has given to them from the hand of God. And they've been told there's a whole new day ahead of you. There's going to be a promised land waiting for you, and they're all excited about it. What a wonderful time it is when you've been saved and you're rejoicing and you're going on and the sun is shining, and you're living on the promises of God. It's just a wonderful thing. And maybe some of you were there right now. That's wonderful. The sun is shining for you. The sun was shining that day, and they were anticipating, they were saying at this time, somehow God will make a way. I don't know why we're here, but we're going to trust God. And then suddenly, there's bad news. Someone up in the mountain, a lookout starts screaming, Egyptians are coming. You see, the Bible says God put it in the heart of Pharaoh, hardened his heart that he would pursue after them. Don't think for a minute when you get right with God, you lay your sins down and you're under the blood of the cross. Don't think for one minute the devil's going to say, God bless you, goodbye. You can be sure that he's got the hard heart and he's going to pursue after you. He's going to come after you. And suddenly, the camp is in panic. Leaders and others are rushing up to the top of the mountain and they see the clouds of dust and they hear the rumbling of those chariots, 900 chariots and men on horseback and followed by an infantry and an army and all that entails. And suddenly, there's panic, that sudden moment of bad news, that report. The doctor says, please see me in the office. Your lump looks suspicious. And then you hear those words, cancer. You see, I happen to know a few ladies in this church now that just got that news recently. It's that sudden report that comes. Now, you see, God loved these people. In fact, he called them his inheritance. Now, of all the peoples of the face of the earth, all of his interest are on these people. He said, this is my heritage. This is my inheritance. Out of all the nations and all the people, this was God's eternal purpose in these people. And if he was ever going to have worshippers that had to come out of this chosen people, the worshippers would not come from the Philistines, from the Canaanites, or from those in the far islands of the sea. He had to get his worshippers out of this group. Now, God is in control of the whole scene, this whole episode, because God has a divine purpose. Nothing happens to the life of a believer by accident, never. No problem, no crisis comes to you on happenstance, never. And at the point of their greatest peace, at the point of their greatest hour enjoying freedom, and laying hold of the promises of God, the devil comes seeking to devour them. Because Pharaoh and his army represents the devil and his principalities and powers of darkness. And the scripture says, the Egyptians pursued them, all the horses and chariots of Pharaoh, and horsemen in his army, and overtook them in camping by the sea. And Israel lifted up their eyes, and behold, the Egyptians marched after them, and they were sore afraid. Bad news, terrifying news, sudden news. We had it here in New York City at 9-11, within one hour, the most incredible disaster that ever struck the face of the earth, one of the most incredible disasters. In just a few moments, and within an hour, those towers fell. Notice the scripture says, they lifted up their eyes, and behold, the Egyptians. You see, they were not looking now at the Lord, they were looking at the crisis. They lifted up their eyes, and there are the Egyptians, and fear grips their hearts. I'll tell you folks, when you get your eyes off Jesus, when you get your eyes off the Word of God, you're going to get your eyes on your problem, and it's going to overwhelm you, and you're going to say, it's hopeless, this is impossible, I can't handle it. Of course you can't handle it. Nobody can, without the help of the power of God. You see, it's still daylight, for they would not have been able to see far into the distances the Egyptian army approaches. They see this sudden disaster coming at them, and the children of Israel cried out unto the Lord. Now, this was not a cry of faith, it was not a prayer of faith, it was a cry of, oh God, why? God, why didn't you let us die in the wilderness? It was better, and this is what happens when many come upon a sudden disaster in their family. Like the telephone calls that so many on a mailing list tell us they received. You know, there's been an accident, your two children were in the back seat, and they're dead. And the panic, and why, God, do you allow these things to happen? Why would you allow, because you see, I was living on your promises, and I have given up sin, and I'm not living in sin, and I love you, and I've been praising you, I've been living right before you, God, there's no reason for this. And they lift up their eyes, and behold, the Egyptians racing toward them. And can you imagine what's going on in the tents? After all these years have bonded, after all the pain we've been through, why would God allow us to face more pain? When does this end? There's nothing but pain. Does it pay to serve God? Why were we back there? At least we had something to eat, at least we had the variety. We had onions we could put in our soup. We had leeks, we had lettuce, we had tomatoes, we had all of these things, we had fruit. Now, here we are in danger. God sent his people a simple three-point message, and he said, fear not, stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord. Well, now, that's fine. Hey, somebody comes to you, and you're in the worst time in the panic of your life. Just be still. God's with you. Everything's going to be under control. Oh, yes, that's the word of God. But you see, we can't lay hold of that. Not at this time. There's more that God has to accomplish in our lives, places he wants to take us. The Lord shall fight for you. You shall hold your peace. In other words, be quiet. Now, listen to me, please. I don't know who is going to face what, and God is not trying to put any fear on this congregation or any who hear this tape. But I know God changed this message. And all day yesterday, I just poured this into my heart. It's not what I planned to speak, because I really believe there are some who hear me now, they're going through their dark night, just as these Egyptians did. In the Bible, Paul the Apostle said, these things are written for our sake, for our learning, upon whom the ends of the world have come. These things are not just stories told in the Bible. This is God speaking truth to help us through our storms. And some of you are facing a storm of your life, or you will be facing a storm. It'll come sometime. And it's not just one storm, folks. God allows these storms, but he has a divine purpose in it. God's one goal is that he would have worshippers. Not just fellowship, but true worship. Where will he get them? Where will he find them? It's night now, and darkness has come down over the camp. The beginning of a dark, stormy night. And in that moment, that cloud that led them through the wilderness, the cloud by day and the pillar fire by night, that cloud moved right over the heads. Now, folks, you've got to keep this in mind. They saw this. That cloud just moved and stood between the Egyptians and the Israelites. And it became darkness, blackness to the Egyptians. And on this side, it became light. They had light all that night that was available to them. It's a marvelous thing that God was doing here. And it was a cloud of darkness to the Egyptians, the Bible said. But it gave light to Israel so that the one came not near to the other all night. My Bible says the angel of the Lord encamps around about them that fear him and delivers them. The angel of the Lord, an angel of the Lord was sent. And that angel stood between the devil and God's people, between Pharaoh and Israel. There was a fighting, mighty warrior angel. He gave light to those so that they came not near all the night long. And if you read further, you'll find that the Lord placed an angel between these two parties. See, if you're a blood bought and you're under the blood of Jesus Christ, and you're walking in faith now, if you do what God says, don't fear, stand still and see the salvation of the Lord. Because you see, no matter what happened that night, the angel was on guard. No matter what happened, God had made a promise. God had told them they are coming through this. And Moses understood it. Caleb, I'm sure, understood it. And Joshua understood it. There were people who proved God's point. You see, Pharaoh and his army are in total darkness. They can't move. They can't attack. They still have a voice. They can penetrate that darkness with lies and accusations. And it started when that darkness came and the enemy was stopped. I'm sure they didn't see the angel, but he was there. They could not make a move. Now, why didn't God do for the Israelites what he did for Elijah and Elisha when they came up to the Jordan? Why didn't God just allow him to take his mantle, strike it, and suddenly the sea opens and they go? God did that in the history of Israel to come. Why couldn't he just take his rod like he did and strike the rock? Why couldn't he just strike the water, the Red Sea, and it parked? Why a storm all night, an east wind? Now, folks, in the original Hebrew, it says a violent exhaling, a violent wind. Now, God exhaled is what it means. In the middle of the night, all night long, a huge windstorm. Now, folks, I don't mind lightning. The more thunder, the more I like it. I'll stand out. I want the house to shake because I love to see the majesty of God. Lightning, I stand at the window and tell my wife, isn't that beautiful? Bonnie's hiding in the closet. I'm saying, isn't this wonderful? But don't give me a windstorm. I lived in California when those Santa Ana winds came 70 miles an hour and the roof was shaking and everything. That was worse to me than the earthquake that we went through in California. I didn't want the wind. The wind shook those tents all night long. Why didn't God? Why does God allow us to go so long? And why such threatening, horrifying moments of darkness? Now, folks, you see, the problem is there's voices that are coming and they can hear it through the piercing wind. And those captains, those principalities and powers on the other side of the wall of darkness, they're screaming, wait till morning. You're dead. You, your family, your children, it's all over. You're going down. We're coming after you. Have you ever heard those voices from the other side of the dark wall? Oh, come on. An amen. You have all heard that voice. We've all, if you love Jesus, you've heard that voice. I'm coming after you're dead. I'm going to bring you down. You're going to die. You see, they could speak these threatening words to the children of Israel. Those voices came all night long. The tents are shaking. Folks, I know what it is to hear that voice in Budapest, Hungary, the last conference just a week ago. Probably one of the most trying times of my ministry. Please pardon the personal illustration, but I don't know how else to describe what I'm trying to get through to you as a divine truth. And in the weariness on a Friday night, I just finished the message and gave the invitation. And while people were standing there, suddenly my heart was palpitating. And sweats and everything. And in my mind, I remember my doctor telling me to watch out for some of these signs. And I had them all. So I had to call Jerry up to take over the service. And I had to leave. And I just missed myself going down off the stage. And as clear as any voice I've heard, you're dead tonight. Your heart will stop beating before the day is over. Say goodbye. Your ministry is finished. You've done a good job. Now it's all over. I just went and sat in the back room and didn't give it much thought. Went back to the hotel. But that lie said tonight your heart will stop beating. You see, it was a voice from the dark side of the cloud. It was the enemy. It's the enemy trying to defeat God's divine purposes. You know, I went home, went to bed. And in the middle of the night, I couldn't sleep. And I got up and I heard those dark voices again. And you see, the reason those voices were coming, because we had just seen hundreds and hundreds of pastors repenting. All these countries of darkness. Honestly, the whole country of Belarus was reached. I mean, they came from every denomination. Even Catholic charismatics from all denominations. And God was weeping. They were hugging one another. One Presbyterian bishop hugging a Pentecostal bishop saying, we've got to stop this foolishness. And all the miracles that we'd seen in the middle of the night. Can't sleep. But here comes that voice. I'm bringing you down. I've got Jimmy Swaggart. And he started naming all the evangelists that I knew that had fallen. Every one of them. He said, you are going down. I'm going to get you and I'm bringing you down. You are going to fall. You're not going to do any more of this. I'm going to see to it that you are finished. And that thing went on for hours. And I got up and I started walking around the room. And I said, God, what is this all about? Just tell me what's happening. And the Lord said very clearly, David, you're under attack. You're under attack. And I hadn't even read this yet because I just got this yesterday. And the Lord said, I have placed between you and the devil a warring angel. And you are under attack, but you're in no danger. Folks, get that now. You're under attack, but in no danger. Are you hearing it in the spirit? The Lord said, you have angered the powers of darkness because of the anointing. Just be still now. Don't be afraid and just lay down now. Because I have placed a warring angel between you and the devil. He can scream all he wants. Don't pay attention to the voice. He can scream all he wants, but he can't touch you. He can't touch you. Folks, I know what those voices are like. I knew what it was like this past week. Please pardon another personal illustration. And I don't want Gwen to get embarrassed. She knows I never embarrass her publicly. But many of you know what she's been through. When we go to a doctor and we show her her history that long, 25 some operations, four or five for cancer. They look at that. They don't even want to touch her. I mean, they don't want to. They're scared. They back off. She's been having a problem with bladder infection. She only has one kidney. And we went to the doctor this week. And she's sitting on the doctor's bench. And I'm sitting beside her. And he comes in. He looks at her record. And he said, you know, I don't know how to approach this. He said, I really need to send you to a specialist. In other words, well, he was the specialist. And Gwen is, I know what she's thinking if there's no hope here. Then he says that word, I don't want to damage your remaining kidney. And I saw her tear up. And I knew what the devil was saying to her. You're going to die. Your kidney is going to get infected from your bladder. And you're going to die from this. I'm going to tell you something, Gwen. Lord showed me that he's put a warring angel between you and those lives. And my prayer for you, dear, is that you can live a long, blessed life. But I guarantee you, you're not going to die from your kidney. I can promise you that. Because God is not in the business of making the devil's lies come to pass. What lies has the devil been telling you? Well, another one. Where do I start? Folks, we're safe. No matter what we go through. God has a plan. Why is God allowing this to these people? The tents are shaking. The wind is blowing. And if they'd only come outside their tents instead of sitting in there saying, oh, God, why, why? And not another time. And all of these things that they're saying inside the tent, if they just get outside, come out of that place of murmuring and complaining, come out of that place of fear, because the lights are on outside. If they just come outside the tent and look down at the sea, the wind is starting to open up a path. A mighty walls are rising. Those winds, they're going to start shouting, praising God for the wind. They won't be afraid of it anymore. You've got to stay in the word. That's the light. You've got to come out of the place of just sitting in your room and wondering and questioning and say, God, I'm going to get into your word. The light will show you what's happening. And you'll see that the very thing that scares you is God making a way. God is making a way. He's going to bring you out. Pastor called me this past week. And he said, well, Dave, you know, I'm under a lot of stress lately. He said this past week, in the middle of the night, I got a pain in my chest that so shook me, it put me right up out of the bed. I had to sit up. It just shook my body and then down my arm. And I said, oh boy, heart attack. And he said, I got up and all night, voice came, you're dying. It's all over. He said, I couldn't wait till the next day to get to the doctor. And he said, I'll tell you what happened, Pastor. You pulled a muscle. You see the lies of the enemy, the lying to scare you, to frighten you. Moses stretched out his hand over the sea. The Lord caused the sea to go back by a strong east wind all that night. Now, get those words all that night. Now, folks, we're not talking about just a 12 hour period or 15 hour. We're talking about a storm. We're talking about storms that can last for weeks or months. I don't know how long your storm has lasted or how long you may face a coming storm. But you can be sure God has a divine purpose. God does not allow anything in the lives of his children without something in mind for his honor, glory and for our benefit. And so they wake up the next day and are commanded to walk through on dry ground. Walk through. You say that doesn't take any faith. My goodness, where was their faith the night before? Folks, I'll tell you what, you get out in the middle of the sea and you start looking up at those rivers, those waters piled. I don't know how many hundreds of feet high. It's like standing by the Niagara Falls. And there's that wall of fire. Can you imagine the pressure behind those walls? Can you imagine them thinking, what if they give up? I mean, what if they leak? Just one leak. Boom, it's all over. Lord, are these walls going to hold? Lord, you've answered my prayer. You brought me this far, but oh, God, all these things still ahead of me. The wall, is it going to hold? And folks, I'm telling you, I suggest to you that this moment in the middle of the sea on dry ground, when they've already seen the blessing, when they've already seen promises fulfilled. And right in front of them is the safety of the other side. Right in the middle of those walls, that's when God tests them. That's the greatest test of all. Will you become a worshiper? Will you look up at those walls and say, oh God, I wasted fear in Egypt. I wasted fear that you would destroy me that night when the first born were all killed among the Egyptians. I feared you all night long when the Egyptians came. I've wasted my fear. But I've seen your hand, oh God. And I know that you brought me this far. You're going to take me through. And it has to come to the point where this man or this woman in the Red Sea, this child of God says, Lord, I know you're faithful. You would not purposely allow those walls to collapse on me. But I'm going to tell you, Lord, you've already proven yourself faithful. See, he knew what they faced in the wilderness. He knew that they're going to face the fear of death and deprivation. They were going to be deprived of things. They were going to be suffering ahead of them on their journey. Then he said, I've got to have a people who believe that I will do them only good. I have to believe for a people that will not be afraid to die. Folks, all our life we live under the fear of death. Not the apostle Paul. He said, live or die, I'm the Lord's. He said, I'd rather go to be with him. Abraham, the father of these people said, I'm looking for a city whose builder and maker is God. And if these people in the middle of their trial and the fears and anxieties and uncertainties would quit looking at the wall, quit fearing the caving in of another crisis. And so, God, I know you're able. But if not, no matter what happens to these walls around me, if I see a collapse of something in my life or my family, I know one thing is going to sweep me right into the presence of God. It's going to sweep me right into the presence of God. I saw that at the bedside, a little Tiffany, 12 year old granddaughter. I saw the beauty of Jesus. And I saw a little girl who says, Grandpa, I want to go home because I've seen the face of Jesus. And he told me personally that I'm going to. He wants me with the flowers and the animals. And I want to be there. I don't want to be here anymore. And her heart was already there. There was no fear because she'd lost the fear of death and deprivation. And folks, the days that are ahead, God must have a people that are at rest, that have entered the rest of God. Live or die, I am the Lord. If you lose your fear of death, the devil cannot touch you anymore. He cannot hurt you anymore. A dead man doesn't fear anything. You say that's not a picture of faith. You should be able to say, oh, God did keep those walls. God will never drop something on you purposely to damage or hurt you. Never. But you see, God wants people to come out on the other side as worshipers. Now, these people did not become worshipers. Not at all. Oh, they became shouters. They became dancers. Oh, they made a noise. They praised God. They extolled their heavenly father for his majesty. Mariam got her tambourine and all the ladies got their tambourines. And they were dancing and having a great time. God is so good. But three days later, they're at Mara murmuring and complaining, where is the water? Why has God brought us out here to kill us? They were not worshipers. They didn't learn their lesson in the hard time. They didn't learn the lesson in the storm. My lesson came, folks, you can go to some church and everybody tell you everything always is going to be roses and peaches and cream. No, they're going to be dark storms. That's why this is recorded. And my darkest storm came that time when our third cancer in the family, after Gwen and then Debbie and then finally Bonnie. And standing outside the hospital room with cobalt machine being taken in, should be there three days, beaten with cobalt. Nobody's allowed in the room except doctors, the lead suit. And Gwen's out pounding the wall saying, God, I gave cancer to my daughters and now this. And the doctors say 30% chance of survival. And I get in a car and you've heard the story. Drive out in the country, way out in front of you, I scream at God. What's happening? God, I don't understand this at all. And you come to that dark night and the wind is blowing and the enemy is throwing accusations, all lies. But that moment when the Holy Spirit came and God spoke to my heart. Bonnie's got two fathers, you and me. Which one loves her the most? Which one would care for her and do what is right? You, Lord. Which one will not hurt her and do only what's right? Who knows the future? I said, you do, Lord. And he said, you lay everything in my hand now. Folks, that's the day I became a worshiper. I came out of that experience, not a word, not a sound, but I entered the rest. I entered the rest of God saying, God, you're faithful. Now Gwen's alive, Debbie's alive, Bonnie's alive. But no, just let me hear, hear me out. There's something happened that day out along that country road. Something powerful happened in me. I learned that God is faithful. And I said, God, if you take Bonnie, you have a reason that I don't know. There's something down the road. So I give her into your hands. I gave everything, all I am and all I have into the hands of the Lord. Now see, when the lies of the devil come, I know that there's an angel that, a warring angel that he puts between me and Satan and he can't hurt. And folks, when I had to stand in front of Tiffany's casket, there was a peace in my heart. Oh, I cried. I cried the other night, woke up missing, there's a better cry. But, you know, there's something in my heart says, God, you know, and I rest in that. You see, I'm not worshiping God just when my hands are up. I'm not worshiping God when the tambourines are blasting. That's possible. But I'm worshiping God when I can look at anything that comes into my life and say, God, you're faithful. The world sees it. God sees it. And the devil sees it. That I am not going to be shaken in my faith because God, my God is faithful. Will you stand? Hallelujah. There's a song, God is so good. God is so good. Do you know that? How many believe God is good? Before we close the service, I'm going to give an invitation to those in the annex, the overflow rooms and also here in the main auditorium. For some of you, that dark storm is the enemy bringing back upon you a sin, a besetting sin that you thought was all finished. And you have fallen back into something that you're so ashamed of. And you're in a storm. You're in a battle and the devil's lying to you, telling you that you're filthy. You're never going to make it. That you're going to die and go to hell because you're not like anybody. You're not like Christians around you. You are going to fail and you're going to fall. Those are lies. If your heart's toward the Lord, those are lies. If you're trusting Jesus, you still love him with all your heart, you come to him and he will give you that peace, give you that rest that you have lost. Others of you here this morning, you're just plain discouraged. You're down. You say, Brother Wilkinson, I don't know what's happened. I don't know why this has come upon me, but I can't shake it. I can't come out of this terrible thing that's gripped me, this sense of total uselessness and discouragement and despair. I'm going to open this altar for those who I've been identifying in one way or another. If you're here and you need prayer, you're going through a terrible storm. If you're here for the first time and you don't know Jesus, and anyone that's here that you don't know the Lord, you're not able to call him because you haven't yet yielded your heart to him, why don't you step out of your seat and come and follow these that are coming right now and just say, Jesus, here I am. I surrender. I'm going through a dark night. I'm in my storm. Jesus, provide a way. Jesus, come now by your Holy Spirit and change my life. All right. It has to be. It has to come to this. Oh, I hear sometimes that the economy may collapse. I hear this and that, and I fear sometimes something terrible, tragic happened to my family. Folks, those fears have to be taken to the cross. They have to be taken to Jesus and say, no, Lord, live or die, you're going to see me through. You will never forsake me. God, you're faithful. You've been faithful in good times. You'll be faithful in hard times. Nothing, nothing that touches us can bring us to destruction because you know what God told me when I went through my battle recently was, David, there's no wrath on you. There's no wrath. That's a good word to hear. I'm not mad at you. There's no wrath on you. God's not mad at you. He just wants to deliver you from all your fear and all your bondage. Please know that God knows our hearts. He knows exactly what we're going through. You know, first thing when you open your heart to him and believe that he speaks to you, you know what he's going to say to you? I know your heart. I know your heart. And if he sees just the hunger, if he sees repentance, godly sorrow, that's how quickly he moves, how quickly. Will you, will you believe in his forgiving power and the power of the Holy Spirit? And also, now we don't worship angels, but these Bibles said that there are ministers of the Lord sent to minister to those who belong to him. And he sends them to minister to you hope. And you see that you're not alone. Yes, the Holy Spirit abides, but out there in the world, out there beyond you, not in this vessel, that outside of you, God has placed a warring angel. I'll tell you what, one angel killed 185,000 medians in one night, one angel. Can you imagine? I heard somebody say, my angel is over 800 feet tall. Man, I don't need an 800 foot angel. I'll take anything he gives me. I'm not looking for an 800 foot one. I'm just looking at the faithfulness of God's promise. God's promise that he's going to protect and keep you. Hallelujah. Father, I ask you now to put in our hearts a rest. You said there remains a rest to the children of God. Now, Lord, the children of Moses, the children of Israel did not enter that rest. They did not become worshipers. But Lord, we can become worshipers here in total silence, in absolute silence when we settled in our hearts. God is here. God loves me. Jesus can forgive me and will forgive me if I confess. And I serve a mighty God who will not allow anything in my life that would hurt me. God will allow nothing in my life to just bring me down. And he'll not allow the enemy to destroy me. God, I believe that with all my heart. I believe that everything that happens in our lives has a divine purpose. I believe that, Lord, you are working something in our hearts. And if we'll just yield to you and just ask you for strength, you'll give the strength. You give the strength. But, Lord, give us faith. Let us see into the darkness. Let us see the light that pierces the darkness. And let us say thank you, Lord, for your faithfulness. Before we do anything, I want everybody to come forward. Just lift up your hands. And I'll tell you what you're going through. You know God's been faithful to you up to this point. We just say, Lord, thank you for your faithfulness to me, Lord. Thank you for your faithfulness. God, I thank you that you've not failed me. You've not let me down. You're with me. Tell God, I know you're with me. God, I know you're with me. You have not forsaken me. Now cleanse me, Jesus. Sanctify me. Give me a pure heart. But let me enter into that rest now that I will not fear. I will fear no evil. I will fear no evil for thy rod and thy staff. They will comfort me. Glory to Jesus. Glory be to him. Now let me pray for you. Father, in the name of Jesus Christ, our blessed Savior, Lord, I pray that you remove from our hearts all of those fears and anxieties. Oh God, and close our ears to those lies of the enemy. Lord, they come to bombard us. But Lord Jesus, help us to see and hear your word. Help us to trust in your faithfulness. If all we know, if all we understand that God is good to his children and God is faithful to his children, that's all we need to know to enter that rest. Oh God, God, you've said, I will fight for you. I will fight for you. This battle is not yours. It's mine. I will fight for you. I'm on your side. I'm not your enemy. I'm your friend. I'm your beloved. Oh God, let us see that and stand up against the lies of the devil. And Lord, for those who have fallen into a sin, Lord, don't let them be brought down by lies that God is forsaken or that there's some kind of a sin satiated person who can't ever come to a place of victory. God, that's a lie. There's victory and there's peace and there's rest. We get up again, Lord, and we come to the blood. We come to the cleansing. And Lord, we know then that there's freedom. And there's no wrath upon us. We glorify your name now in Jesus name. Give him thanks right now. Thank you, Jesus. Thank you, Jesus. This is the conclusion of the message.