In this sermon, the speaker expresses his disillusionment with organized religion, citing examples of extravagant spending and begging for money. He then shifts his focus to the concept of the resurrection realm, emphasizing that those who enter this realm must go through refining fires. He references the book of Malachi and the story of Lazarus in the Gospel of John to support his points. The speaker also shares a personal story about his wife's struggle with alcoholism and how God showed him the importance of loving and being tender towards others.

Isn't it wonderful what the Lord did this afternoon in our presence, and so many hearts changed and lives that were helped, and we don't, we don't believe the Lord ever gets finished. He just begins His work. We won't get finished until we get there, will it? Until we get on the other side. Go to John, please. John 11. John 11. Talk to you tonight about the resurrection realm. We're going to try to move into a new realm tonight, the resurrection realm. Just open it to the 11th chapter and leave it open there on your table before you while we pray. John 11, the resurrection realm. I know so little about this, I'm almost hesitant to preach it, but I've seen it. I've had a glimpse of it. I know Brother Warnock has seen it because he's written on it. He's talked much about the resurrection realm, and some of you others that have come through great revivals, you know God has spoken this in the past, and I believe He's going to speak it again. I may see it a little different than some of those in past years saw it, but I've caught a glimpse of it, and I want you to catch a glimpse of it. I told Brother Warnock and some of my associates before preaching, I felt so inadequate tonight to post this subject, but I'm going to ask the Lord to give us an anointing, and somehow you'll see it, at least see it, get a glimpse, the Lord will take your eyes and open them and give you just a peek into this realm He's trying to move us into. You know that repentance is to lead to life, don't you? And when there's true repentance, true life comes, but that life is in a new realm, it's a resurrection realm. Heavenly Father, we thank you for the depth and anointing of the worship here tonight, and we pray now that you would speak your holy word, we acknowledge your Holy Spirit, we ask you to come in a very special way, that you would open our eyes, give us hearing ears, take the fat away from our hearts, strip us, O Lord, that we may see and hear from the Holy Spirit. Lord, without the unction, without the anointing, we are dead, we are lifeless, there's no hope. O God, come now and put fire in my lips, cleanse them and let us hear from heaven. Lord, I believe you gave me this on my knees, I believe this is something you want us to share. We've never shared this before, and help us tonight to see this realm that you're trying to move us into. You're trying to get us out of this realm of darkness into this glorious realm of resurrection. Lord, just make us hungry for it. Help us to see this new land. Don't let us be like a Moses who stands on the mount and can't move in. Lord, move us into this realm. In Jesus' name I pray, amen. John 11, go to 23 please. John 11, 23. We're going to just take a look at this. In fact, go back all the way to verse 14. Verse 14, John 11. This is speaking about the death of Lazarus. Then Jesus therefore said to them plainly, speaking to his disciples, Lazarus is dead, and I'm glad for your sakes that I was not there so that you may believe, but let us go to him. Thomas therefore, who's called Didymus, said to his fellow disciples, let us also go that we may die with him. So when Jesus came, he found that he had only been in the tomb four days. Now Bethany was near Jerusalem, about two miles off. And many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary to console them concerning their brother. Martha therefore, when she heard that Jesus was coming, went to meet him, but Mary still sat in the house. Martha therefore said to Jesus, Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. Of course, you know that's true, don't you? Jesus, if he'd been there, he would not have died in what they believed was a realm of death. Even now, I know that whenever you ask of God, God will give him. Jesus said to her, your brother shall rise again. Martha said to him, I know that he'll rise again in the resurrection on the last day. Jesus said to her, what? I am the resurrection and the life. A very familiar scripture. He who believes in me shall live even if he dies. Everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this? She said to him, yes, Lord, I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, even he who comes into the world. Of course, she didn't answer his question. And when she had said this, look what she did. What did she do? She went away and called Mary, her sister, saying secretly, the teacher is here. He's calling for you. She said, I don't see this. Maybe you do. She went away. So this she rose quickly and was coming to him. That's as far as I want to go on that. There's a, if you go a little further to verse 35, you find the shortest, they call it the shortest text, the shortest verse in the Bible, but perhaps one of the most profound and perhaps the verse that we've never understood. Jesus wept. Now, why do you think Jesus was weeping? I've heard all kinds of explanations. Certainly he's not weeping over Lazarus, his friend, because he knows shortly he's going to embrace him. You know that, don't you? He's going to embrace him. He knew that he'd come walking out of that tomb. In fact, he had said in 1111, speaking to his disciples, our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep. I'm going to wake him out of his sleep. Now, how does Jesus weep over a man who's sleeping? He's in the arms of the Father. He's just sleeping, so how would Jesus be weeping over a man sleeping in the arms of his Heavenly Father? Jesus was not weeping for the man in the tomb, because the dead man was not in the tomb. The dead man was outside the tomb. He was weeping for all the dead people who surrounded him. Lazarus is going to come walking out of that tomb. They were going to get a person. Oh, by the way, I've heard people say, oh, I wish I could be there. I would have rejoiced. No, you wouldn't do at all. You'd be running down a hill just like everybody else did. Scared to death. Just like that widow of Maine who had a son, and the casket goes by and Jesus stops and says, put the casket down, and Jesus, I don't know what he did, but he has a bunch of sunrise. And you say, if I'd been there, I would have fallen on my knees. No, you would have run over the hill when you saw a corpse getting up out of that box. Resurrection life would scare you to death. He looked on that curious crowd and he knew what was in their mind. He said, could this man have kept Lazarus from dying if he'd been here? But you see, Jesus was weeping because they didn't understand who he was. They didn't understand it at all. He was life eternal, life in fullness, life in completeness, everlasting, endless. But all they could think of was the natural life. The natural life of Lazarus. Jesus came to this earth to bring every dead body out of every tomb. He looked at the Pharisees who he saw as white as sepulchers, as graves upon which men walked. He wanted to raise them out of this spiritual death in which they existed. He was life and he knew it. He was spiritual life. He came to his own and his own received him not. He wanted to bring life to the inner man. Jesus knew that soon, in just a few moments, Lazarus would become an oddity. He would come blazing out of that tomb and for about two months, maybe only if he were living today, two weeks. That's about as long as we remember the satellite blaring up. That's as long as we remember any kind of a miracle, any kind of a tragedy nowadays. Two weeks. And Jesus knew that Lazarus would become an oddity. He'd become a kind of wonderment, a celebrity of sorts. And they'd want to touch the man. But that's all just an object of wonder and they would go back to their dead ways, not understanding that he was the life, eternal, everlasting life here today. They would go on their ways, living in a realm of bondage and death. They would be chained to their lust and their corruption, just as they were then. They would never understand him as the source of resurrection life now, here today on this earth. I don't believe Martha understood that at all. He said, I'm the resurrection and all. She has the testimony most of us have. I believe Jesus is the Son of God. I believe that He is God's Son in the flesh. He's come to this earth to save that which is lost. Now, that's a good testimony, but that's not enough. That's not enough at all. The Bible said she went away and called Mary. I doubt the disciples understood Him being the resurrection at all. All they could see was an earthly kingdom. All they wondered is who is going to be the greatest in this kingdom. Who's going to sit on the right and who's going to sit on the left when He sets up His kingdom here on this earth? All they could think about was the flesh, the natural life. They weren't even thinking in spiritual terms. The Lord had said, My kingdom is not of this earth. It's not an earthly kingdom, it's a spiritual kingdom. The life that I've come to bring is not just physical life, it's a spiritual life. They didn't understand it. In fact, I believe Paul was the first one in the Scripture to understand who Jesus really was. Not until Paul had his revelation of this great mystery. He had a revelation of this realm of the resurrection. He believed that when you're in Christ and Christ in you, you move into a new realm. Not of this world. In fact, go with me to Ephesians. Go to Ephesians, the second chapter. I want you to hear it in Paul's own language. Ephesians, the second chapter. Go to verse 4. I hope you have your Bible and I hope you love the Word and tremble at it. Ephesians 2, verse 4. I still hear the rustling of the leaves. Somebody's had a hard time finding it. I'll give you a minute. Verse 4. But God, being rich in mercy because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ by grace. You've been saved. And He raised us up with Him and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus. Now, this is what resurrection life meant to Paul. It was the Holy Spirit coming upon a believer to awaken and arouse him out of his death of sin. This was a spiritual arousement. A spiritual rising from the death of corrupt flesh and the corruption that held him down to this world. Now, Paul did speak of a day of redemption for this physical body. A day in which this mortal would put on immortality. That there would be a new body. This physical body would pass away and there would be a new, immoral body in his own image. But while he lived in this mortal body, he was already raised in his spiritual man. He was already in heavenly places with Christ Jesus. In other words, he's saying, by the Spirit of God, I'm no longer part of this world system. I'm not a part of the death that touches every area of it. I'm not a part of the sin and the corruption of this world anymore. I was once dead, I was a partaker of the lust of this world, and I was blinded by sin. But now I've been raised above it all. I don't live in that dark realm anymore at all. I've moved out of that realm of flesh. Christ Himself has become my life. He's everything to me. Everything in this world now is dung. It's nothing but rubbish. I'm passed out of it. Now the Greek word here for being made alive, it's synagrio. And that means to rouse, to awaken to a place of steadfastness. To awaken to a place of steadfastness. And this is exactly what the Holy Spirit, I believe, is doing in this gathering. He's doing it all over the world. He's doing it in China. We leave two weeks from tonight for Poland and Hungary. 30 days behind the Iron Curtain. And I expect the Holy Ghost to be preparing a people right now, and there's going to be an arousement. There's going to be the sound of a trumpet up and down through Poland. In Warsaw, in Gdańsk, in these cities that we're in. And in Budapest. We've opened a center for drug addicts and alcoholics in Budapest. And already God is moving there. What the Communists couldn't do with their millions of dollars, now they're crying for help. Because they know only God can do it. Even the Communists know that. They won't admit it if they didn't admit it while they're calling for us. But He's waking up a holy people who are going to become steadfast in a new realm. A new realm of resurrection. Now, there are doctrines abounding today in America and around the world that teach that God is raising up a super race of human beings, so full of faith, they're going to get a certain quality or quantity of faith, and they're never going to physically die again. Now, one of the men who taught that just died recently, it set that whole movement into fear and terror. They thought if anybody lived, he'd live forever. But you see, this new kingdom dominion class of people, they're not going to physically die, there's going to be a super faith race that's going to come forth and be manifested on the face of this earth, and they will not physically die. And they say the only reason we do not see that yet, it's not been manifested in power, and we have not had the quality or quantity of faith to make that happen. But God somehow is going to make that happen. Paul wanted nothing to do with that doctrine. Nothing to do with that doctrine whatsoever. I give it to you from the Scripture. For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain. To physically die is gain. But I'm hard pressed from both directions, having the desire to depart and be with Christ. And that's what this generation doesn't have. This desire to depart and be with Jesus. For that is very much better, yet to remain in the flesh is more necessary for your sake. I heard a tape of a rather well-known young Pentecostal evangelist, and he was preaching at a youth convention, and he said, when Jesus comes, he's going to have to drag me out of here. I've got too much to do for him. He'll have to drag me away. I don't want to go now. And I'm hearing that everywhere I go in the country. And I hear that on radio. I hear it everywhere I go now. I don't want Jesus to come. I want to win the world first. Well, this burden of the Lord is on every one of our hearts if we walk in holiness. But Paul said, I have a desire to depart and be with Christ. If you're in love with Jesus Christ, you want to be with the object of your love. And this flesh means nothing to you. Listen to what Paul said, more than that, I count all things to be lost in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I've suffered the loss of all things, and I count them but rubbish or dung in order that I may win Christ. He said, listen to this, therefore we do not lose heart, but though our outer man is decaying, our outer man is what? Our outer man is decaying. Paul's outer man was decaying. Paul said, I'll tell you what, if Paul said physical exercise doesn't do much profit to the body, how in the world would he preach that today when we're in such a physical craze in America? Everybody's into building up the body. Boy, Paul would thunder that today, wouldn't he? He'd look at all these jogging Christians, go ahead and jog, but he's going to tell you there's not much to it, that this thing is going to decay anyhow. This house is going to die out. You can run, you can jog, it's decaying folks! Some of us are decaying a little faster than the others. Therefore do not lose heart, but though our outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day, for momentary light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison. While we look not that the things which are seen, but the things which are not seen, for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are the eternal. I believe there is an eternal kingdom, an invisible kingdom, but it's manifested right now in a visible way through a holy body of people, of corporate people, walking in holiness and manifested in their body. There is a manifestation in this physical body, but that manifestation is holiness and righteousness before the King. There is a manifestation in this physical body, but that manifestation we'll get into a little more as we go. I don't have my eyes on an earthly kingdom. You're going to hear that because I'm telling you now this is where all of the charismatic movements are going, this is where the health and wealth and prosperity and faith gospels are going. They're going into a physical kingdom of dominion message. They're going to put the coming Lord Jesus off into some future. And my Bible said He's a wicked servant who says, My Lord delays His coming. It's a wicked servant who says, My Lord delays His coming. And we're going to put the coming Lord way out here and everybody's going to relax. Nobody's going to have to be vigilant. You know the early day disciples, they looked for Him daily. They said, even so, come quickly, Lord Jesus. There was an expectancy in this early church that we're missing that love of His appearing. He's coming for those who love His appearing. And I love His appearing. I want to win souls. I want to be a part of what He's doing these last days. But I can say with Paul, I've got a desiring part in being with my Lord. Oh, hallelujah. I'm not looking for an American imperial president who's going to bring the whole world under subjection to some kind of spiritual congress that we set up here in America. We've got this super-saint idea in America and we think the King of God's going to come to America. Boy, I'm seeing something else in the Spirit. I see a holy remnant whose hearts have been wound to Jesus Christ. They're going to go deeper and further into the heart of Christ. And He's going to become their joy. He's going to become their life. They're going to have an eternal state of mind, a New Jerusalem state of mind. They're totally free from all that's of this world. There's a heavenly-minded people arising. But how is this going to happen? How do we move into the spiritual kingdom, this realm of resurrection? Alright, first of all, those who move into this resurrection realm are going to judge sin in themselves and in the church. They're going to judge sin. Go to 1 Peter. 1 Peter. I want you to go to 1 Peter, the 4th chapter. Go to Hebrews and turn right. You'll find it. Tell me you know where Peter is here in your Bible. 1 Peter, 4th chapter, 17th verse. Very familiar Scripture. For it is time for judgment. For what? With the household of God. And if it begins with us first, what will be the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel of God? Judgment begins where? It begins in the house of God. But who is the judge? Now listen closely to this now. Jesus Christ is not judged while we are sojourning here on earth. If you'll go back to John, go back to John 12, I'll prove that to you. John, the 12th chapter. You've got to see this before we go any further in the Scripture. John, 12th chapter. And go to the 47th verse. I'm going to read verse 47 and 48. And if anyone hears my sayings and does not keep them, what's he say? I do not judge him. For I did not come to what? This is Jesus speaking. I did not come to judge the world but to save the world. He who rejects me does not receive my sayings as one who judges him. The word that I spoke is what will judge him at the last day. At the last day, the word of God will judge us. But who is the judge right now in the house of God? We have the idea that God is going to just suddenly come down and judge every one of us. No, you are the judge. I am the judge. We have been called to judge our sin. You and I are called to judge sin in the church. There is almost no holy ghost discipline in the church anymore. Almost none. And the reason there isn't, there are not enough holy men in the pulpit that have a touch of God and will do what they say. I can't do it because I'm not where I should be. And I don't want to be a phony. King James Version, 1 Corinthians. Don't turn to 1 Corinthians 11, 31, 32. I'll read you a very familiar scripture. For if we judge ourselves, we shall not be judged. If we, what? Judge ourselves, we shall not be judged. But when we are judged, we are chastened to the Lord that we may not be condemned with the world. The holy ghost is the prosecutor. Boy, I'll tell you what, he's some prosecutor too. I want to get into this with you just a little more. Now, to judge sin means to censure it and to agree with the holy ghost when he convicts you with it. It's to say, I will not permit this because the holy ghost's work when he comes to this earth is to judge the world of sin. That's the prosecutor's job. The idolatry of Christians is not worthy of the body and the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. I want you to go to 1 Corinthians. You or John, turn right. 1 Corinthians, the 11th chapter. We don't preach ourselves in these meetings. We preach Christ. We preach His Word. You can follow us. If it's not in the Word, you don't have to agree with it. It's from the Word. 1 Corinthians 11, verse 27. Therefore, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner... In what kind of manner? In an unworthy manner shall be guilty of the body and the blood of the Lord. But let a man examine himself. And so let him eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For he who eats and drinks, eats and drinks judgment to himself. If he does not judge the body rightly. If he does not judge the body. I'm a part of the corporate body. But I'm a cell in this body. I first judge my sins and I judge it in the church. I judge it in the church. We lack the jealousy of a jealous God. Do you know there's a Phineas priesthood that God has raised up? Phineas was that young man that took a sword in his hand. When a prince of Israel, named Colesby, took this Midianite woman. Prince Zimri brought this woman named Colesby into his tent. Already 23,000 Israelites had died because of sin in the camp. And seduction. And I think by this time Moses must have given up on the people. He said this is a hopeless... In fact, he had told them. He says, even when God found you, you had a rebellious heart. There's never been a time I've known your God picked you up. That you haven't been a rebellious people. And here is this prince, young prince of Israel. And he's taken this prostitute into his tent. And this young man of God, Phineas. Something comes over him. And he takes a sword in the hand and he approaches that tent. Now tell what it would be like if he were living today. We'd have 10,000 preachers saying, don't judge him. He's probably trying to win it to Judaism. Every servant stands and falls to his own mess. Don't judge. Don't judge. Don't judge. I hear that so much it's coming out of my ears. And that's a smoke screen to hide from righteous judgment. That young man didn't ask any questions. There was a jealousy in his heart. It wasn't a jealousy for God. It was the jealousy of God. And there's a difference. It's the jealousy of God. It's walking so close to God that you have his heart. You have this hatred of sin. And he goes in there and he said, in the name of Jehovah, and he spares them both. Kills them on the spot. And God told Moses, he said, you go tell him that because he was jealous of my jealousy, I've given him an everlasting covenant of peace. And I'm establishing for his household an eternal priesthood. And every man or woman of God who stands up for the jealousy of a holy God, has that priesthood of Phineas. He's judging sin first in his own life. Phineas could have never gone into that tent until he had sin out of his life. God would have never allowed that. God would have stricken him dead. He was a holy man. Don't judge. Did I read 1 Corinthians yet? 1 Corinthians 11, 27, did we read that? Alright, here we are. Go to verse 29. For he who eats and drinks judgment to himself if he does not judge the body rightly. For this reason many among you are weak and sick and have in a number sleep. But if we judged ourselves rightly we should not be judged. For when we are judged we are disciplined by the Lord in order that we may not be condemned along with the world. Look at me. We've got a sick church. We've got a weak church. With multitudes of sick and weakly Christians. Why? Because the righteous judgment of the Lord is not coming forth from the prophets. This is what brings out the sickness. This is what brings out the disease. Dealing with it with the sword of the Lord. We have sick pastors, burned out workers, a weak and poverty stricken church in many areas. Because we're drinking unworthily. You know the Scripture says we're still doing some things that we did when we were pagans. Go over to 1 Corinthians 12 chapter. See right there, 12. Look at verse 2. 1 Corinthians 12 verse 2. You know that when you were pagans you were what? You were led astray to the dumb idols. Led astray by the dumb idols. There are some people who don't act saved at all. They're still being led away by the dumb idols. They go home from a Holy Ghost meeting right to a dumb idol sitting right in the living room. Would you go to Isaiah 46? I want to show you something about that dumb idol. I'm calling your television set a dumb idol. Isaiah. Did I say Isaiah? Isaiah 46. Why am I in Ezekiel? I want to go to Isaiah. Isaiah 47. 46. Isaiah 46. Verse 7. Now I don't know who delivered your TV set. But you see they lift it upon the shoulder and carry it. They set it in its place and it stands there. It does not move from its place. Though one may cry to it, it cannot answer. It can't deliver him from his distress. If you love that thing, why don't you ask it to heal you? Why don't you ask it to anoint you? What good is it doing for you? It's a dumb, stupid idol. You say, Brother Wilkinson, are you hung up on this? You know, every time God raises a voice, somebody raises a red flag. Legalism. Legalism. They lift it on the shoulder and they carry it into the living room, into the bedroom and into the kitchen. They set it on the mantel. They set it there and place all the furniture to it. They eat in front of it. It doesn't move. Not even when the prophets cry, it doesn't move. Because they justify, that dumb idol doesn't move. You'd think it was a healing evangelist the way some people treat it. They go there for succor and strength. They get bored and idle and they sit there being ministered to by the devil. It doesn't matter to half of you here. You say, you're just going to go out and do it anyhow. It doesn't matter. I'm telling you, it's impossible to have the Holy Ghost abiding in you without having His convictions. Did you hear me? It's impossible to be filled with the Holy Ghost without having His convictions. If we refuse to judge the sin that the Spirit's convicting, we grieve Him. And then in turn, we become calloused in our hearts. And our churches today are being filled with Christians and ministers. Ministers calloused by sin! They're no longer filled with pangs of conviction. They sin without regrets. They're being excluded from the life of Christ. They pretend love for Christ, but they have this greedy lust within them. Would you go back to Ephesians 4? To the right again. Ephesians, the fourth chapter. I'm just going to keep you in the Word here. Ephesians, the fourth chapter. The hammer. Lord, keep the hammer on us. You know the Bible said the righteous love reproof? If you don't love reproof, you're not righteous then, evidently. I didn't say that, did I? I guess I did, but that's what it means. Ephesians 4.18 Being darkened in their understanding. Excluded from the life of God. Because of the ignorance that is in them. Because of the hardness of their heart. And they have become calloused. Having given themselves over to sensuality. For the practice of every kind of impurity with greediness. But you did not learn Christ in this way. He's speaking about people who've learned Christ the wrong way. You didn't learn Christ that way. They've been cut off from the life of God. Would you turn to go further right, to Hebrews. Timothy, Titus, then Hebrews. Hebrews 3. How many believe that there are hardened criminals in the church? Raise your hand. How many of you believe there are hardened criminals in the pulpit? Now that's a pretty strong statement, but I'll back it up. I'll back it up. And I'm not being facetious. Hebrews 3.12 This is serious business as far as I'm concerned. Because he's speaking to who? Take care of who? Take care, brethren, lest there should be in any of you... A what? Brethren? Take care. Lest there should be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart and falling away from the living God. It's awesome. But encourage one another day after day as long as it's still today. Lest any of you be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. For we have become partakers of Christ. But if we hold fast the beginning of our assurance firm unto the end. While it is said today, if you will hear his voice, Do not harden your heart as when they provoked me. But look at verse 12 again. Take care, brethren, lest there should be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart and falling away from the living God. How can that happen to a man and woman of God? How can that happen? That there could be hardened criminals becoming hardened in their hearts. Because the Holy Ghost has been dealing with them time and time again. And they will not judge their sin. They will not say enough and they become deceived by it. And the more they're deceived by it, then layer upon layer upon layer. And I'll tell you what I'm prophesying here now. And I've never prophesied it from a pulpit before, but I'm saying it now. And the Lord put this in my heart about three months ago. We're soon going to have ministers being exposed for having AIDS. Because of their dealings with prostitutes. Mark my words. Hear it. God will not let it be hidden. Men of hardened hearts. Who take off and disappear for a week at a time. They don't tell anybody where they're going. They go to New Orleans. They go to San Francisco. They go to Denver. They go to the mountains like Vail and Aspen. And they visit prostitutes. They go to London. They go to Africa. They go anywhere on the face of the earth. And on little trips they visit their prostitutes. Hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. There are preachers in America today. Who are living in absolute flaunted adultery and fornication. Homosexuality. Who are standing before people and preaching a gospel that sounds good. But it's a lifeless gospel. It's a realm of darkness and death. And everything that it touches produces death. I began to judge sin in my life with a vengeance when I recognized that it was the devil behind it. I saw the devil trying to destroy me, my life, my home, and his ministry. I want to tell you, sir, and listen close. That woman that's called you away from your home and your wife. This secret affair that some have and this is going out by tape. It's going to touch a lot of men who hear it. It's going to touch men that are hearing this word while I speak right now who are living in adultery. And he thinks that that little sweetheart of his is the answer to all of his problems. Because she tells him how great he is. He says, my wife doesn't understand me anymore. I heard a preacher say that. He said, I've been growing in the Lord. God's been opening my mind. I'm seeing great things. My wife is just into drapes and materialism. She doesn't understand me at all. God gave me a woman who understands me. She prays for me. I heard a man say, when we go out together, we get in the car, and the Holy Ghost comes down, we talk in tongues, we do a Bible study. I want to tell you, sir, listen closely to me now. That so-called sweet little face and that young lady that you have now, that's not a sweet face. It's a mask. The devil's behind it. Right behind you. Take the mask down, and there's Satan himself out to get your ministry, out to get your home and get your very life. You know that pornography that you watch and it seems so innocent? No, you just go behind the stage and you see the devil himself choreographing everything. And he's right there, and he's pulling the strings. The devil himself is behind it. Ma'am, lady, your sister, that man who seems to be the answer to all your problems, and you have finally found the dream of your life. He really meets a need in you. He's so patient, he's so tender, he's so kind, isn't he? See, it's a mask, and you pull it down, and you're not going to be able to judge sin until you see behind the mask. You know why I don't, when I'm in an airport or anywhere else, you know why I don't pick up a Playboy magazine? You know why I don't touch pornography? You know why I don't do these things? It goes beyond the fear of God itself. Although it does envelop the fear of God, include the fear of God. I know that that urge upon me is from the devil himself, and I know that it's Satan. And until you realize it's the devil himself trying to destroy your ministry, you'll not judge it. But when I begin to see who's behind it, I begin to see it wasn't some need in my life. I'm so glad he's kept me these years. I'm not saying there wasn't a time there was lust in my heart. Thank God for his dealing with it. But I begin to see that I had strength and I had courage when I recognized this is not just a weakness in me. This is not just a temptation I'm going through. This is the devil himself. He knows that I'm moving on in God. He knows I want everything that God has for me. He knows my hungry heart. And this is the devil trying to destroy my life and his ministry in me. If you'll rise up like that and say, devil, I'm not ignorant of your devices. I know what's behind this. This is the devil himself and all the demons of hell coming against me. And I resist you in the name of the Lord. Recognize what's behind it. Then you'll judge it. That TV set. The reason I cry out against it with everything that's in me. I know what it did to me. It's not just an innocent box. It's a messenger of Satan that profits your very spiritual life. You will not get rid of it until you recognize the devil behind it pulling the strings. You will not recognize the power of it until you realize that the homosexuals are writing it and making the plays. And they're the actors behind it. And you've got Sodom and Zion right in your front room. Until you realize the devil behind it, you'll never do anything about it. You won't act on it. You go around screaming bowers. It's got a knob. We can turn it off. I just watch religion. Not much there that I want to see anymore. Depresses me. I haven't seen it in a long, long time. Last time I saw it, all I saw were people begging for money. Building swimming pools. And choo-choo trains. And monstrous buildings. And the end of the world is coming down. The enemy is at the gate and they're building swimming pools. And resorts. And you want to watch religion. Oh, it gets a little stronger yet. Secondly, here's my second thought for you. Those who are going to come into this resurrection realm are going to come through refining fires. Oh boy, some of you there, aren't you? I see heads nodding everywhere. You've been in the fire. God chose you for the fire. That's a high calling. If you're in the fire, oh thank God, He's got something for you. Let's go to Malachi. Third chapter. Oh, God's going to do something here in just a moment. With the power of His Word. Oh, I tremble at this Word. And yet I rejoice in it. Malachi, the third chapter. You know where that's at. The last book in the Old Testament. Find Matthew and go left. Malachi 3, verse 1. Behold, I'm going to send my messenger and he will clear the way before me. And the Lord whom you seek. How quick is he going to come into his house? Suddenly he's going to come to his temple. And the messenger of the covenant in whom you delight. Behold, he is coming, says the Lord of hosts. But who can endure the day of his coming? Who can stand when he appears? How many are going to be able to sit in front of their idols when the trumpet's blowing? How many are going to be sitting there when he appears with the refiner's fire? For he is like a refiner's fire and like fuller salt. And he will sit as a smelter and purifier of silver. And he will purify the sons of Levi. That's the ministry. And refine them like gold and silver. So that they may present to the Lord offerings in righteousness. And I tell you now, I believe this prophecy is being fulfilled before our very eyes. Right now. All through the earth, in Poland, in China. All over this great earth. This prophecy is being fulfilled right now. I don't know how your fire is and what kind of fire it is. But I want to talk about what Jesus said. If you go with me to Luke now. Go to Luke the twelfth chapter. And I want to show you something profound from the lips of Jesus. And when I saw this the other day, it really blessed my heart. And I've been asking God to deal with me. And with this marvelous scripture and this talents from the lips of our... And the heart of our blessed Lord. Luke the twelfth chapter. Verse 49. Luke 12, 49. Listen to it. Jesus speaking. I have come to cast fire upon the earth. And how I wish it were already kindled. Jesus said, I wish it were all going up in smoke right now. You understand that in that chapter, Jesus had been talking about the rich trying to become richer. He was talking to people, speaking about tearing down their little barns and building bigger barns. Does that sound familiar? Even from ministries today. Bigger barns. He was speaking to those who were lazing up treasures for themselves that were not rich toward God. He was talking to a people become anxious and troubled about material things. And Jesus said, I've come to put a flame to it all. Does this mean that Jesus is saying that He's going to literally burn down the physical empires that we're building? Is He prophesying the end of all these superstructures and bankrupting of all the hoarded treasures of men? Does that mean if you've been hoarding up savings account while the poor are dying, that God's just going to try to burn it all? Is He going to cast all this down? Well, the Scripture does say that this earth is reserved for fire and one day it's all going to burn. If you don't believe that, you don't believe anything in this book. He said the very elements are going to melt with the fervent heat. Now, I've heard that spiritualized and spiritualized. No, He said there's a new heaven, new earth that's coming. This thing's going up in smoke. That the fire Jesus is speaking here right now is a fire in the hearts of His elect. He's thinking of His disciples. He's saying this to men He knew were going to face hardships. He knew the privations of the demands that were going to be made of them by walking with Him all the way. They were going to have a cross, there was going to be self-denial. He knew what was in Peter. He knew there was denial in his heart. He knew that all His disciples were going to forsake Him and flee. He knew the suffering and rejection that was coming. These people were going to be rejected and they were going to be suffering. And He was saying, oh, that the fire had already been kindled. And I believe what Jesus is saying. Oh, that all of the world had already been burned out of My disciples. All of the lusts and all the things of this world. I wish they were burned out. I wish the fire had already burned it all out. All that the consuming works had been finished. That the bonds of this world had corrupted and held them down. I wish that were all over. And this is what Malachi is saying about the refining fire. He said He's going to appear suddenly and Jesus backs that up. And He says, I've come to cast fire. He's coming to cast refining fire. You make up your mind if you're going to walk in a realm of resurrection with the Lord. This whole world has to burn. Everything you are and all you have has to go up in smoke. Your ambition has to be burned out. Your love for the world and the things of this world have to be consumed with the holy fire. Materialistic lusts and dreams have to die and burn. I speak to you dear sisters here. When you think of your house, you think of the comfort, you think of this little nest that you've set up. Are you ready? Are you willing to let it all burn? That doesn't mean I'm not prophesying that you're going to lose it all. But I'm talking about your attachment to it. I'm talking about that thing that gets a hold of you. I'm saying that I believe we're moving into a time and into a realm that the only ones who are going to make it, the only ones who are going to experience this resurrection life, the only ones who are going to move into the heavenly places with Christ Jesus in fullness, are those who allow the holy fire of Christ that He's cast down on this earth to come into their hearts and consume everything. And I feel this burning in the past year in my life. My wife and I have made some mistakes in the past. I can take you back just about three or four years ago before God really got a hold of my heart. And I cry when I think about it. I'm ashamed to talk about it. The times I went to antique places to look at antique cars and I was collecting antique furniture and spent so much time. Oh, I prayed because I figured if I gave God equal time, that's all right. Give Him equal time. I wouldn't even give Him God's temperance. I would give Him half my time. I thought if I give God half the time, the rest of the half is all right with me. The Lord says it all depends David, which kind of realm you want to move in. Do you want to move out of that realm? Do you want me to be everything in your life? I'm not saying you go out and become a bum on the street. I'm saying that everything that you possess has got to go up in smoke and up in flames before a holy God so that every attachment you have on this earth, He's got to mean more to you than your husband, your wife, your children, your family, your grandkids and everything. He's got to be not first, but everything. This idea that Jesus is first is wrong. He's not first, He's everything or He's nothing. You know, Paul said, Oh, that I may know Him the power of His resurrection, the fellowship of His suffering. Do you know where the power of the resurrection is? The power of the resurrection is in that everything else burns. There's power in that. There's power when you're released from this world, the things of this world, the ambition of this world, the lust of the flesh. When you're released from these things, you are coming into the power of a new realm. These things that hold us down, unwilling to suffer, unwilling to conform with this death. Paul looks at it all and he said, It's all dung, it's all garbage, it's all rubbish. You look about you in God's house today at the ambition and the politicking and the building of empires. You know, it's not these outward symbols and it's not just expensive buildings and these expansive dreams of men. That's not what grieves the Lord the most. It's what they represent. They represent a realm that God can't work in. It represents the men who've never been touched by the fire that He's cast on this earth. It represents a realm of flesh. And these are just outward symbols that reflect a heart that's never been touched by the holy fire. The fire of Jesus Christ as Lord. Do you know when that fire comes and when He begins to burn these things out of our hearts? It's going to cause division. The scripture says, if you look at Luke 12, 51, Do you suppose that I came to grab peace on earth? I'll tell you no, but I came rather for division. Now, I don't think a dozen Christians in America or in the world really believe that. Because we've got it all back on you. You see, he's not talking about inner peace. He's not talking about his peace of mind or peace of soul. He's talking about peace in your home and peace in the church. You get a dozen people in a back-slidden Holy Ghost Pentecostal church, get them seeking God, get them holy and purified, and meeting and starting to pray for a revival in their church, and if the pastor's back-slidden, he's going to say, you're causing division. You're causing division. Who are you? Hold no secret prayer meetings. Well, the only reason they have to hold secret prayer meetings is because they have no other place to do it as a pastor. God bless his heart, man. I'm not down on pastors. Thank God we've got some Holy Ghost pastors. And I'm not down on Assembly of God pastors, most of all because I'm an Assembly of God pastor. I'm an Assembly of God minister. At least until this thing of division comes. Isn't it something? You can go along preaching to thousands of people, the Aldersfield, and everybody accepts you, but then you start seeking God, and cleaning up your life, and start preaching holiness and repentance, and going back and preaching what they're preaching, and you're causing division. I get letters from preachers all over America saying, you're causing gloom and doom and division in the house of God, among the body of Christ. For what? For preaching holiness. Go ahead, Saint. Go ahead and get ahold of God. Go ahead and kick that idol out of your house. That thing that they brought in on their shoulder, take it out on their shoulder. Go ahead and get it out. And everybody's going to say, you're a divider. Step out of the crowd. And they'll say, you're causing division. And this is going to come to homes. You show me a husband that starts seeking the face of God with everything that's in him, pouring all his heart to God, and turning to holiness and righteousness, and if his wife doesn't go along with him, she said, honey, you're messing up our home. There's going to be a division there. The Bible said that that's exactly what's going to happen when the ax is laid to the root. There's going to be divisions in homes. There's a lot of division coming. From now on, Luke 12, 52, from now on, households will be divided. Households will be divided. That doesn't mean that you expect that... Oh, I know some people use that excuse. They want out of their marriage. Well, bless God, I'll get holy fire for a little while, and maybe I'll get some division in my home, and she'll run out. Some people think like that. You know, there's a baptism of fire coming for those who move into the resurrection realm. And the ax is already laid at the root of the trees. Every tree, therefore, that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. As for me, I baptize you with water for repentance, but he who is coming after me, this is John speaking, he's mightier than I, and I'm not fit to remove your sandals. He's going to baptize you with the Holy Spirit, and with what? You claim you got the Holy Ghost baptism. Did you get the fire with it? The fire is what burns out the materialism. The fire is what burns out the world. The fire is that which He cast down on this earth. And He said it's an unquenchable fire. It never dies. So that every time the devil tries to bring anything in, it burns! That's why you can't accept the prosperity message, because the moment it enters your heart, it burns! Because you've got the fire of Jesus in you. You're baptized with the Holy Ghost and fire! I want to tell you, if you're going to walk with Jesus and you hold Him as the head, you'll never get into deception. You let His holy fire burn out with these lusts and the desires of the flesh, and you walk righteously, you will not be deceived. You can have every deception coming down the turnpike and God will hold you steady because you're holding on to the head. Glory to Jesus. Do you have a holy fire raging in you? Oh, this past year I've had that fire burning in me. God's saying to my wife and I, cut back. Cut back. Cut back. Enough, enough, enough. And the more we cut back, the more we seem to have now than I had way back then. Spending less and enjoying it more. You heard my prophecy last night. Some said, you mean, Brother David, the next three months is going to happen? No. The first nation that goes down that defaults on its international loans, within three months of that first bankruptcy, every major ministry goes down except those who are preaching in righteousness, walking holy before God and preaching repentance. And even they are going to suffer. That means after that goes down, you've got about two weeks before Mexico goes down to get your house in order. And I sound to some people like a madman. To some people I sound like a man from another generation. And all I'm trying to do is warn and wake up the house of God. We're not ready. And he said, I'm going to throw a fire down. I'm casting a fire. And I'll tell you what, that's what's happening in this repentance gathering right now. He's putting a fire in our hearts. He said, I want to burn out everything that's of the world. I want to burn out your ambitions until there's nothing left but Jesus. I want to get your eyes, dear lady, off of every material thing that you have. You can have it, enjoy it, but get your eyes off of it. I thank God for what God's doing for my dear wife. We have somebody comes in once a week and does a little cleaning for her. It happened when she was sick and so she still comes. And every once in a while, I hope she's not here, she breaks things. Occasionally. And Gwen says, it's alright, dear, it's junk. It's junk. It's junk. I don't have anything I own that isn't junk. One second after Jesus comes, what's it worth? What do you have that's worth anything? And yet you're afraid to put it to the fire? Jesus meant it when he said, sell everything. And what he's saying, you sell everything it doesn't have to do with providing for your own household. Because if a man neglects his own house, he's worse than infidel and you have to balance that with it. Alright, now, let's go a little deeper here. Once you've judged sin and this house has been purged by a holy fire, then the Holy Ghost is going to breathe on you resurrection life. And I believe Ezekiel 37 is a prophecy from 1986 until Jesus comes. Ezekiel 37 has come to life to me. Go to Ezekiel 37. You know dry bones. We've got songs about it. Dry bones. Hear the Word of the Lord. Ezekiel 37. Who do you think this valid dry bones is? Church. 37 verse 1. Ezekiel. The hand of the Lord was upon me and He brought me out by the Spirit of the Lord and set me down in the middle. Whoa! First Assembly of God Church of Dallas. First Baptist of Dallas. No, Second Baptist of Dallas. Wherever. And I'm not being facetious. He set me down in a harlot system full of bones. And He caused me to pass among them round about and behold there were very many on the surface of the valley and lo, they were very dry. Now that sounds to me more like a church. But I want to ask, how did they die? Did you ever ask your cousin, how did these people die? Alright, go to Ezekiel 6. And if you can keep your television after this, then you don't even believe God's Word at all. They died in front of their idols. I'm going to prove it to you. I'm going to prove it to you. Right here. Ezekiel 6. You're not going to be laughing in a minute. You're going to have a red face. Just a minute. Look, Ezekiel 6 verse 1, And the word of the Lord came to me, saying, Son of man, set your face toward the mountains of Israel and prophesy against them, and say, Mountains of Israel, listen to the word of the Lord God. Thus says the Lord God to the mountains, the hills, the ravines, and valleys. Behold, I Myself am going to bring a sword on you and will destroy your hot places. So your altars will become desolate and your incense altars will be smashed. And I will make your slain fall in front of your idols. I shall also lay the dead bodies of the sons of Israel in front of their idols. Hmm? We're not laughing now, are we? Now, I know you didn't mean it that way. But I take this dead serious. Go ahead and sit in front of your idol. It's going to kill you. You're going to die. You're going to the valley of dry bones. And when you go to church, they expect the preacher to wake you up. I will lay the dead bodies of the sons of Israel in front of their idols, and I shall scatter their bones around your altars. That's how you got Ezekiel 37. You go to the valley of dry bones and you find altars and idols standing everywhere. And in front of those idols, they died. You still love the Word? Now, of course, the first thing that comes is a cry for unity, restoration. So, look at verse 7 and 8. So I prophesied as I was commanded, and as I prophesied, there was a noise. Probably some dancing, I don't know. And behold, a rattling, and the bones came together. Bone to its bone. And I looked, and behold, sinews were on them, and flesh grew, and skin covered them. But there was no breath in them. What good is unity without resurrection life? It's just noise and rattling. You can call people together, but it's just the noise and rattling until we judge sin, until there's a purging of refining fires. All you produce is a valley of unified bones. We've got a punch of unified bones. Lifeless bones making a lot of noise, a lot of rattling, but no resurrection life. Look at verse 9 and 10. Then He said to me, Prophesy to the breath, prophesy, Son of Man, and say to the breath, Thus says the Lord God, Come from the four winds of breath, and breathe on these slain, that they may come to life. So I prophesied as He commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they came to life, and stood on their feet in exceeding great army. Hallelujah. But you cannot take Ezekiel... This is not a promiscuous raising from the dead. That doesn't mean the whole church is going to be resurrected and restored. Not at all. You can't take Ezekiel 37 until you take 2 Corinthians 1.9. 2 Corinthians. Go to 2 Corinthians. You have to tie these together. One is no good without the other. 2 Corinthians. First chapter. Turn there as quickly as you can. I'm almost finished, but I want to show you something about this valid dry bones. 1 Corinthians. First chapter. 2 Corinthians 1. Verse 9. Paul speaking. Indeed, we have the sentence of death within ourselves, in order that we should not trust in ourselves, but in God who... What? God who raises the dead. Who delivered us from so great a peril of death. See, He delivered us by bringing this breath of life to us. And will deliver us. He on whom we have... What? Set our hope. He will yet deliver us. Who are these that have been raised from the dead? Who are these that have the life? Resurrection life. These who have trusted only in God and set their hope in the Lord Jesus Christ. And those who have determined they will walk a life of holiness and godliness and sincerity. Go to verse 12. For our proud confidence is this, the testimony of our conscience, that in what? Holiness and godliness and sincerity, not in fleshly wisdom, but in the grace of God, we conducted ourselves in the world and especially toward you. You can't have one without the other. There is no breath of God until there's this setting of our heart on Him. That's what Bob's been preaching. That's what Don's been preaching. That's what brother Warnick's going to be preaching. The headship of the Lord Jesus Christ. A body who are breathed upon by the Holy Ghost. Moving in resurrection life. The fire of Christ having burned down everything that ties us to the world. Setting our hearts on Him. Alright, before I close, I want you to go to Colossians and I'm going to give you the best description in all the Bible about the person who's moving and living in the resurrection realm. Colossians. The third chapter. Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, then Colossians. Colossians, the third chapter. I'm going to give you... This is the description of the child of God that's living and moving in the resurrection realm. Colossians 3, verse 1. If then you have been raised up with Christ. In other words, you were in the valley of Ezekiel's dark bones and the Spirit of the Lord came. You've been raised up with Christ. What does it say? Keep seeking the things above. Where Christ is seated on the right hand of God. Set your mind on the things above. Not on the things that are on earth. For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is our life is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory. Therefore consider the members of your earthly body as dead. Dead to immorality. Dead to impurity. Dead to passion. Dead to evil desires. And dead to greed, which amounts to idolatry. For it is in account of these things that the wrath of God will come. There's a description of a man living in the resurrection realm. His heart's not set on the things of this world. The fire of the Holy Ghost has burned it out. Look at me please. I want to read a letter. I just found this. It's been in my Bible for probably six months. This is from a, I believe it's a Pentecostal, if I'm not mistaken, a Pentecostal preacher's wife. She said, put this request in your prayer trunk. She said, I'm the wife of a man who is a minister and I've got no one to share this with. See, I'm talking about a gross sin in our marriage. Many times it's been covered over by jesting and flirting in a joking manner. I've been aware of a secret affair that my husband's engaged in. And he's not honest with me about it. There's even a case in which a woman had a child that was jokingly told me that my husband had fathered the child. The woman was his secretary. Many times they made me feel very uncomfortable with their familiarity and their conversation and their actions. I prayed that he'd be honest with me as well as with God. There was a point at which I almost literally saw Jesus get up and walk out of a prayer meeting and a Bible study when my husband was teaching. I pictured Jesus getting up and walk out. The Spirit's presence has never been real after that. I felt that unless there's an acknowledging of his sin, he'll never get cleansed and healed. The problem is that my husband is one who doesn't know how to apologize or even admit that he's done any wrong. And I feel it's become a curse on us and our family. He's the one who had such an outgoing personality to the public. Most of the congregation would be totally surprised that they knew his real character. He's one thing in the pulpit, another at home. I don't even know how he can say the name of Jesus anymore in public or to his family. If only the Holy Spirit would enable him to open up and make a confession that he could be saved from God's wrathful judgment. Please, David, you and Gwen, pray. We get hundreds like that. Hundreds. Absolutely shocking. You know, even in this meeting, I've watched young married couples that are here. And some of our other staff have noticed it. The lack of patience some of you men have for your wives. You don't have an understanding heart We've had young couples actually quarreling in the halls. Quarreling right out in public in a repentance gathering. I'm going to do something tonight that the Lord's put in my heart. Because to me this is very serious. Folks, we're not going to move into this new realm until we get honest with God, deadly honest. Until some change is made. Some of you husbands have been so busy, and God put this in my heart. You saw this afternoon how God moved on my heart to pray for the wives. Some of you have been so busy, you think that just because you work hard for God, you spend so much time, you have a right to come home and dump on your wife. Husband, wife, I don't care how low you feel, I don't care how depressed you get, you have no right to dump on your husband or wife. You've got no right to dump on them. You've got no right to take it out on them. And some of the wives that are sitting here right now, I heard the wife of a young evangelist, he had just left her, about three or four months later, she said, where's this effect? And she told a friend of ours, she said, you know, because he has a healing ministry, has discernment they call it, and he stands up and calls people out. And someone said, what's it like to be married to such a great man of God with such powerful gifts? She said, I don't know. That's not the man that comes home. I wish I knew that man. I don't know him. Some of you men, you're one thing when you're dealing with somebody that's in sin. You can love the whole world, but you can't love your own wife. You can be tender to her, you can be tender to a drug addict, an alcoholic, you can be tender to anybody that calls to you in the middle of the night, you can be tender, you'll spend hours with them, but you can't spend time giving and sharing with your wife. Same thing with wives and their husbands. God's put something in my heart. Because there's a tragic situation here right now. There's a young man here, and I haven't checked with him, Bunny Thomas, Teen Challenge director, who's just had a heartbreak. Bunny worked with me years ago in New York City. He was one of the first, saved from a life of sin, he and his wife. The last four years, he's been a Teen Challenge director. And he called me the other day, and Bunny, I want you to come up and share your heart in just a minute, because in sharing, you're going to help dozens here tonight. God really put this in my heart, Bunny. I was told you were here. And I want him to just open his heart for a few minutes. We're going to pray for him, but in his testimony, and in his heartbreak, God's going to put a holy conviction on some of you men. Because he told me that he was responsible. His wife had a nervous breakdown, and she's back on the streets. And I'm going to ask his congregation, after he's finished, to join in prayer that God will bring her back. Bunny, where are you? Come on up here a minute, Bunny. I'm sorry I didn't have time to consult with you, but to me this is life and death, and we just move as the Spirit leads us here. Man, I haven't seen you in how long, Bunny? God bless your heart. 1977. 1977. Do you mind sharing? You know, Bunny is a tremendous Bible teacher. You went to Northeast Bible School, didn't you? Aren't you the one they told to get out because you know more Greek than the teacher? He studied Greek and taught himself Greek. Weren't you on drugs? Heroin addict. God gave him a gift. He knows Greek, everything, but knowing Greek doesn't stop the heartache. Bunny, would you take just about 10 minutes? I want you to deal strictly on what happened to your dear wife. Her name is Mary. My heart goes out to you, Bunny. He's come down, he's staying with us down here in East Texas for healing. Bunny, the reason I'm having you do this, I saw husbands out in the hall. Actually, it was almost like the wife was a slave. You know what I'm talking about? Yeah, I know what you're talking about. Hold it close to your mouth. I guess to preface the remark, I'd say that I have a real deep assurance in my heart that Mary is in God's hands tonight. I was talking to my daughter for a half hour. She really encouraged me. She's 17, very sweet girl. The reason I have the assurance in my heart that my wife is in God's hands is not because I've prayed a lot for her and I'm believing for her, although I am, but Mary has prayed a lot for herself, had a tremendous prayer life and Bible-reading life and loves people and loves to help people. And I know she's in the Lord's hands by her own prayers and faith. She's kind of like Jonah now. She tells me, the Lord is out to break something in me and I don't know what it is. And I know what she's talking about. The Lord broke me a year ago, and when He broke me, even though people had told me for years what it was, when He broke me and it was what they said it was, I couldn't believe it until it happened. But Mary says, the Lord's out to break something in me. I don't know what it is. And she's kind of like Jonah. She's rather be in a fish's belly, drowning in fish vomit. She's suicidal. She's on the streets drinking herself to death. Her stomach was pumped Saturday. She's been in intensive care seven times now, almost dead. It was over a period of four years. And psychiatric wards, different hospitals. The Lord has kept her from going all the way. But Jonah would rather be drowning in fish vomit than to break and do what the Lord wanted. But her breakdown was my fault and it was because I did treat her like garbage. Seventy-five percent of our marriage, we'd go down the street holding hands, smiling, laughing. People thought we were the happiest couple in the world. When the day was over, it was time, we both loved to walk. We're from New York. We walk so fast we run people over. People laugh at us. We'd go on outings, go to Kings Island or Magic Mountain. We had plenty of fun. We'd joke. We were very compatible. But twenty-five percent of the time, when it came to just doing our daily chores, there was a power struggle. We were in a terrific power struggle. My wife would always tell me, we're having troubles because we're so different, you and I. I'm outgoing and you're an introvert. I said, Mary, you know that's not why we have troubles. We're so much alike. How could that be? She even has in her Bible that the thing I hate in others is the thing that's in myself. But she can't see that. So twenty-five percent of the time, just during the day, she'd want to do it one way, I'd want to do it the other way. And we'd lock horns. After a while, I became very bitter at her. I'm the man. You should do it my way. And I became more angry. After a while, she was getting loaded down with work and I just buried my head in a book. I was mad at her and talked very cruel to her, very rough to her. And when we'd talk it over, I'd say, you're wrong. It's not me, it's you. You always want to have your way. And she'd say, no, it's your fault. It can't be my fault. For a solid year while we were pastoring in Hebron, Kentucky, my wife has ministered with me. She's a wonderful minister. Daily, she'd either curse at me until a minister got a hold of her and she didn't curse after that. She'd curse me out, slap me in the face, punch me. She's full-blooded Irish and she's got the temper. And I'd just go, hallelujah, praise the Lord. And I thought I was really spiritual. And I couldn't see that she was angry because I was making her angry. Then she'd slap me in the face and I thought, well, my, I'm really giving good for evil. I just take the slap and stay happy. And anyway, then I finally said, okay, we're both to blame then. We both fight, so it's 50-50. You're half wrong and I'm half wrong. And I couldn't see it. People would tell me, you're the one that's wrong. How could it be me? It takes two to make an argument. But you see, the husband is the leader. If I was running McDonald's and the employees were making a mess, would it be 50-50? No, I'm the manager. It's me. I just don't know how to manage. And Mary's relapse, she's been in and out for four years, I had to call on God. And it wasn't as though I hadn't called on God. The mystery is, for years, Mary and I both had prayed earnestly for a good marriage. And when Mary relapsed on alcohol four years ago, it was such a conundrum to her. She said, James, you know how I prayed for 17 years. On our free nights, you'd see me curled up with the Bible, waiting on God for hours. How could I pray for 17 years and relapse on alcohol? And the Lord's going to have to show her that he can make the worst thing that ever happened that seems like hopeless failure to be better than if it had never happened if we repent and love him. But anyway, a year ago, after the pressure of Mary relapsing, I walked the floor as much as eight hours before God. Show me where I'm wrong. Show me where I'm wrong. I'll do anything to see my wife healed. And a year ago, he showed me, the way she is, it's not 50-50, James. You're to blame. And I said, I accept that, Lord. And then he said, just forgive her and put all the things you don't like about her, put it under the blood. And I did. And I looked at Mary. We were at a marriage seminar. She was recovered at that time. I looked at her and all of the things that irked me about her, that I was mean to her about and nasty to her about, suddenly they went into the shadows. I could barely see them. I knew they were there, but I could barely see them. And all of her good qualities came out. And I broke, and I wept, and I cried. And I said, Mary, I love you so much. You're a princess. And my heart's been tender for a year. I just, right now, as messed up as she is, I tell her, your mother's a wonderful mother. I'm proud to have her as my wife. I cherish her. And this past year, I've just told her every morning, she's done pretty good for the past six months. She's been recovered up until two weeks ago. I love you. I appreciate you. I want to make it up to you. Can you forgive me for all that I've done to you? And I know she knows she's loved now, but this time when she relapsed, I thought, this time I've got to get away for her sake as well as mine. This time, I can't pull her out of the pig pen. It's my fault she's there, but I can't pull her out. This time, she knows I love her. She knows if she comes back, you know, I'll be deliriously happy and not blame her. I blame myself. This time, she's going to have to say, I'll arise, and I'll make it, and I believe she's going to do that. But all I can tell you, I don't have any formula. I don't know. It just, the breaking has to come and take sledgehammer blows of God's love. I don't know why it didn't happen earlier. I don't know why it took 20 years to break me, but it was worth that 20 years to break, you know. And to see tonight, it's my fault, not hers. There's been a spirit of pride, too, hasn't there, in your heart. In mine? Is that what he showed you? I'm sure there's been all kinds of bad things. Yeah, but I'll tell you something. During this past four years, you've had to go out in the street and get her and pull her home, clean her up, and love her. How many of you could do that, sir? Go out and find your wife on the street and pick her up and bring her home and clean her up, and then know in your heart that you mistreated her. And this, I'll tell you how serious this is with me. I'll make a confession. Many have prayed for my wife for years. 90% of her trouble was mine. My fault. I know it. I know it was my fault. There's one thing in the pulpit, something else at home. We're going to pray for Bunny's wife, and for Bunny. She's a precious woman. You know, you can look for years and harbor something in your heart and find it'll come out. That's what's happening with Mary. That's why this thing is so important here tonight. That's why you wives need to get every bitterness out of your heart against your husband. Every husband needs to get any root of bitterness out against your wife. Until you become a tender-hearted man. Get rid of that macho, big-shot thing in you. Bless God, I'm the man of the house. You'll do what I say. Drag her around by the roots of her hair, so to speak. God's out to destroy that. That goes to the fire. That goes up in smoke. And the Lord's wanting to heal. And some of you, honestly, you're going to lose it down along the line and somewhere you're going to lose it. Just the same way. We're having, this is the thing that grieves my heart, we are having in Teen Challenge more than I've ever seen it. Brother Reynolds is here who's the direct national director of Teen Challenge. A real man of God and I'm sure it grieves his heart. I guess the last few years there's more reports of those who are falling. And you get down to it and you finally see that lack of concern, that meanness, that ugliness that's not been put to the fire. I don't want to be a man in a pulpit that's a man of God and then be a man of the flesh at home. I want to tell you something. It took me 25 years to hear something from my wife about two years ago at a conference. We got our staff together. And it's a shame that it took 25 years. But I was dealing with sin and I was speaking to our staff and Gwen got up with tears in her eyes. And it's probably the greatest thing that anybody in the world has ever said about me. And I said humbly before God the best I know how. Gwen says, you can listen to David. I know his life. You can listen to him now. That did something to me. It took 25 years before she could say that. You can listen to David now. I know his life. Can your wife say that about you? Could she get up in this meeting right now and say, you can listen to my husband. I'll trust him anywhere. He's a man of God. He's tender toward me. He's kind to me. He understands my needs. Bob, I don't know why I'm going this and going that. The Lord just seems to have turned this because I felt from the very beginning there was need for healing in this conference. Healing. And I don't know about you, but I want to move in a resurrection realm. I want to move in a realm that's free. That I can look God in the eye. I can look every man in the eye. I can look the holiest prophet on the face of the earth and look in the eye and say, you're not going to find sin there, sir. It's under the blood and I'll bleed it down. I don't ever again want to have to look a holy man in the eye and be afraid. No fear. To be able to look the whole world in the eye and say I'm free. Hallelujah. I don't know how to take this into an altar service. First of all, we're going to pray for Mary. Do you believe with me that God can, even while we're praying, she's in California, correct? In California. Salidas, is it? Salidas, California? She's not on the street tonight, surely, is she? Would you pray that God would put a wall of fire around her? Let's agree right now. Father, in Jesus' name, I pray for Mary. Holy Spirit, we agree right now. We're not going to beg. We're not going to scream. I ask you, Father, by your mercy and your love and grace, you love this woman. You love her, Lord. She's worked hard. It's not because she deserves it, but because of your love. Wherever Mary's at right now, heal her. Let your love, let her just fall on her knees and say, Jesus, I love you. Jesus, put your arms around Mary right now. Put your arms around her. Put your arms around Buddy right now, Jesus, and touch and heal him. Put your arms around him, Jesus, and heal him. Lord, it doesn't matter who's to blame now. We're looking to You for answers. We're looking to You for deliverance. Hallelujah. I wonder if there are any men here that need to stand, husbands and wives maybe, that need to walk down here and say, Brother Wilkerson, we need a healing of our relationship. I didn't plan to do that, but in fact, that just came out of me right now. I feel it's the Holy Spirit. And you said, Brother Wilkerson, would you lay hands on us and pray for healing of our relationship. I don't want you to leave this place with something not right. I don't want you to leave here carrying something. Brother, sister, come on. You may be here without your husband or without your wife,