In this sermon, the preacher discusses the theme of sudden destruction as mentioned in various biblical passages. He emphasizes that all the prophets spoke about this impending destruction, describing it as a shaking of the earth and a calamity that would come suddenly and without remedy. The preacher focuses on Jeremiah 4, where the prophet condemns the deep-seated hypocrisy and lack of true repentance among the people. The preacher passionately urges the congregation to wake up and heed God's message, warning that the time for playing and ignoring the truth is over.

This message is one of the Times Square pulpit series. It was recorded in the sanctuary of Times Square Church in Manhattan, New York City. Other tapes are available by writing to World Challenge P.O. Box 260, Lindale, Texas 75771 or calling 214-963-8626. None of these messages are copyrighted, and you are welcome to make copies for free distribution to your friends. Hear what the prophets say tonight. It's not speculation. God make that real to us. It's not speculation of men. Holy men of God were moved upon by the Holy Ghost, and they spake the heart of God. Lord, anoint me. I need you. I can't preach this kind of message, oh God, unless you lift me up above myself. Unless you come with power and anointing from the Holy Ghost. Lord, I can't even speak another word unless you give me that word of anointing now, I pray. Not in loudness, not in the manner of my speaking, but in the power of your revealed word. In Jesus' name, amen. Jeremiah's nuclear nightmare. Now, if you'll study all the prophets, you'll be absolutely convinced that a nuclear war is going to come on the earth. Nuclear war is described to the letter by all the prophets. Now, a modern description of a nuclear war is utter destruction by fire, or a meltdown of all the elements. And then, of course, also the nuclear winter means a dark time of devastation after the happening. I want you to hear tonight what the prophets have said will be coming on the earth. Listen to it. There's no speculation to what I say. I'm not speaking from my own heart at all. I'm going to give you the prophets. Nahum. Now, you won't go with me into the scripture until I get to Isaiah in just a few moments. But listen to what Nahum said. The mountains... And, brother, sister, see if they're not describing nuclear destruction. The mountains quake at him and the hills melt and the earth is burned at his presence. Yea, the world and all that dwell therein. His fury is poured out like fire and the rocks are thrown down by him. He will make an utter end. Affliction shall arise... Affliction shall not arise up the second time. It means there'll be such devastation there'll not be a second time. There'll never be another chance. Total, utter end of all things. And, by the way, that's Nahum 1, 5 to 9. Zephaniah 1, verse 2 and 3. Don't turn, just listen. Zephaniah, the prophet, speaking for God. I will utterly consume all things from off the land, saith the Lord. I will consume both man and beast. I will consume the birds of the heaven and the fishes of the sea. I will cut off man from the land. Zechariah gives a very vivid picture of what happens during a nuclear blast. What could be clearer than this? This happened exactly this way in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. According to our great hydrogen bombs, now this was a very small bomb. And this shall be the plague wherewith the Lord shall smite all the people that have fought against Jerusalem. Their flesh shall consume away as they stand upon their feet. Their eyes shall consume away in their holes. And their tongues shall consume away in their mouth. That's Zechariah 14, 12. Probably one of the clearest pictures is in Isaiah 24. I want you to go with me, please. As you notice, I have two Bibles here. I've got the New American and the King James. And it's brought out very vividly in both. Isaiah, the 24th chapter. Isaiah gives a powerful, powerful description of a hydrogen holocaust, nuclear destruction. And you won't find many Bible commentators disagreeing with what I'm telling you right now. Isaiah never lived to see this happen. It's never happened to this day. But we're facing it in the future. Isaiah 24. I'm going to read beginning verse 1 through 6. Behold the Lord maketh the earth empty, and maketh it waste, and turneth it upside down, and scattereth abroad the inhabitants thereof. That shall be as with the people, so with the priest, as with the servant, so with the master, as with the maid, so with her mistress, as with the buyer, so with the seller. In other words, it's going to include everybody. As the lender and the borrower, as the taker of usury, so with the giver of usury to him. The land shall be utterly emptied, utterly spoiled, for the Lord has spoken this word. The earth mourneth and fadeth away. The world languisheth and fadeth away. The haughty people of the earth do languish. The earth also is defiled under the inhabitants thereof. You talk about pollution, it's described clearly. Because they've transgressed the laws, changed the ordinances, broken the everlasting covenant. Therefore hath the curse devoured the earth, and they that dwell therein are desolate. Therefore the inhabitants of the earth are burned, and few men are left. Go to verse 10, please. The city of confusion is broken down, every house is shut up, that no man may come in. There's a crying for wine. I want you to skip down to verse 19. The earth is utterly broken down. The earth is clean dissolved. The earth is moved exceedingly. The earth shall reel to and fro like a drunkard, and shall be removed like a cottage, and the transgression thereof shall be heavy upon it, and it shall fall and not rise again. It shall come to pass in that day that the Lord shall punish the host of the high ones that are on high, and the kings of the earth upon the earth. They shall be gathered together as prisoners are gathered in the pit, and shall be shut up in the prison, and after many days they shall be visited. Then the moon shall be confounded, the sun ashamed, when the Lord of hosts shall reign in Mount Zion, and Jerusalem before his ancients gloriously. There you have, beloved, one of the most vivid pictures in the Bible of a nuclear holocaust. Now, stay with me right in Isaiah 24, because I want to show you what the prophet said is going to happen just prior to the nuclear holocaust that he's just described to us. There's a very clear picture, and we see the unfolding of it right now, here in New York City. I'm going to go over, let's start here in verse 6, and I want to go on down probably through verse 13, and these are the conditions that are going to exist just prior to this great shaking and meltdown. The prophet Isaiah is probably the one prophet in the Bible that speaks more to our generation, I believe, than any other prophet. Jesus quoted him often, and the disciples quoted him. He was probably the most oft-quoted in the New Testament. And this book really touches my heart. I love Isaiah. I just, I'm absorbed in it all the time. But let me show you the conditions, what happens prior to the nuclear destruction. First of all, verse 6 says there's a curse going to come upon the land. God's going to fulfill the curse, that curse from Deuteronomy, the curse God, God's nature does not change what God said in the Old Testament. He will fulfill. If we sin, we're going to pay the consequences. There's going to be an indignation of God's fiery wrath begin to burn against America especially. In verse 7, the new wine mourneth. In other words, there's going to be great depression and sadness fall upon the people. There'll be a state of gloom and doom hanging that cannot be shaken off. The new wine mourneth. Even those who drink are drinking now not for joy. They're drinking to drown the gloom. New York City now is a city of people thinking nothing but gloom and doom, except in the house of God. There is a blanket of this very thing being fulfilled right before our eyes. Verse 8, the mirth will cease. In other words, the parties. I want to read that again, verse 8. In the New American Standard, it says, The gaiety of tambourines ceases. The noise of revelers stops. The gaiety of the harp ceases. And what's happening? There's going to be such a breakdown. There's going to be such turmoil that the parties will end. Believe me, all of these nightclubs are going to shut down. No one's going to feel like partying anymore. The party spirit is over. It's almost over now. It's just the last part of it. And this is the prophecy. It's not my prophecy. It's the prophecy of Isaiah. He said the parties, the gaiety, will cease. The noise of the revelers, it's going to stop. The gaiety of the harp ceases. All of the bands are going to stop playing. Why? Because of the fear of watching these things unfolding so fast. The buildup of events that are out of control. People just sitting by mayors that just met this week here in New York. Said, there's never been a time like this. And they said, we are all lost. We are all bankrupt unless Washington helps us. And Washington said, there's no more help. The mayors have given up. Verse 9. No more wine with a song. In other words, the singing will stop. That's verse 9. They do not drink wine with song. Oh, they'll still be drinking strong drink, but it'll be bitter to them. And it's only to drown out their sorrows. It's not to sing, not to dance. There's going to be that mood. This is the prophet speaking. Verse 10. The cities are going to break down. The city of chaos is broken down. Every house is shut up so that none may enter. Beloved, he's describing total anarchy. The breakdown of the city, the national, the federal government. There's a breakdown here where people are locked in their houses, afraid to go out. There's a total breakdown. There's no rule, there's no order. The police can't handle anything anymore. Folks, we're at that point now where the police can't handle it. And people are locked in their houses. Look at verse 10. Every house is shut up. Every house is shut up so that none may enter. Nobody is visiting anymore. They're shut up in this house of fear. And if you go on to verse 11, they're crying for wine in the streets. The alcoholics. Do you understand the thousands and thousands of alcoholics and drug addicts when even the transportation system breaks down and they can't get their wine. There's no money. Nobody has any money to give them. They can't even get their quarters and their nickels. And they're crying for wine and alcohol on the streets. There's a cry, give us our wine, give us our alcohol, give us our drugs. And there's none left. The Bible says the gates will be smitten. That means law, order will be smitten. That's in verse 12. In verse 13, I read from King James, verse 13. When thus it shall be. When thus it shall be. Now the new American standard did not have a correct translation of that. For thus it will be in the midst of the earth among the people. It's this. For when it comes to this point. When your society is at this point. Now we're not, we're a long way from this yet. But we're headed in this direction. But he said when this happens to your society. Then comes this great nuclear shaking. And that's very, very clear. Nothing could be clearer in the scripture. When these things happen. When your society has reached this point. Where people, there's a total breakdown. That's when Russia will move in. And the bombs will come over the North Pole. There's no question in my mind. I'll say it and we'll move on from that point. Because I want to get to the prophecy of Jeremiah. I want you to go to Jeremiah 4. Oh, by the way, don't leave Isaiah 24. Stay there a minute. There's something real good here. There's something real good. I was going to save it to last. But if I don't give you some good now. You won't follow me the rest of the way. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. I want you to look at verse 14. In the midst of all of this chaos. In the midst of all of this breakdown. What are God's people doing? 14th verse. They raise their voices, they shout for joy. They cry out from the West concerning the majesty of the Lord. Let me get back to King James. I was reading the other one there. Wherefore, they shall lift up their voice. They shall sing for the majesty of the Lord. They shall cry aloud from the sea. Wherefore, glorify ye the Lord in the fires. That's the original Hebrew. Glorify the Lord in the fires. Not just in the East, but in the fires. Beloved, when these fires begin to burn. When all of this tragedy is on all sides. There will be a holy remnant. That are shouting the praises of God. Because they know the coming of the Lord is right at the door. Hallelujah. I want to tell you something folks. You need not be afraid. Because when these things begin to happen. There is going to come a supernatural spirit upon all of the remnant that walk with God. You and I will be fearless. We'll be ready to be martyrs. You'll be ready to lay your life down. And I'll tell you why. Because there's not much else to live for around here. God's going to wean all of us. He's going to wean us from our houses. Our lands. Our bank accounts. Everything we have. He's going to wean us and we'll be ready to go. God's just going to keep chopping away until there's little holding us down. Hallelujah. You're going to be surprised how much joy you have. You're going to have enough to eat. Now we may have to double up. I mean this. Have you ever thought. Are you ready to bring somebody into your place? Another Christian family. Are you ready to bring. There are over 100,000 living double right now who don't know Jesus. I believe. God's dealing with me about that. I believe the time is coming. My wife and I have agreed. If it's two or three families. We'll do it if they sleep on the floor. There will be a place to sleep. There will be food. But there will be joy unspeakable full of glory. How do I know that? You just read it. Read it again. When thus it shall be. When all of these things are happening. In the midst of the land among the people. There shall be as a shaking as an olive tree. And as the gleaning grapes when the vintage is done. That's the shaking of everything that can be shaken. Then shall they lift up their voice. They shall sing for the majesty of the Lord. They shall cry aloud. Wherefore glorify ye the Lord in the fires. Hallelujah. Even the name of the Lord of Israel in the isles of the sea. Hallelujah. Glory to God. Now go to Jeremiah 4. Now you're ready for Jeremiah's nightmare. And I know it's a nightmare because it almost gave him a heart attack. Jeremiah 4. Beloved, before I get into Jeremiah 4. Do you know all the prophets. All of them talked about a sudden destruction. Let me just read a few. The earth is utterly broken down. The earth is clean dissolved. The earth is going to reel to and fro like a drunkard. The foundation of the earth will shake. There will be a sudden shaking. Listen to Proverbs. His calamity shall come suddenly. Suddenly shall be broken down without remedy. He that is off the reproved heart and of his neck shall suddenly be destroyed without remedy. Isaiah 29 says, 29, 5 and 6. Thou shall be visited of the Lord of hosts with thunder and with earthquake and a great noise. And with the storm of a tempest and a devouring fire. It shall come in an instant suddenly. It shall come in an instant suddenly. That's Isaiah 29, 5 and 6. Instant, sudden destruction. Now, Jeremiah. I was reading through this. And I was really stirred by this vision. Now, that's not a scriptural term. Nightmare. But when you see what the Holy Spirit has laid on my heart. You'll see what I mean. Let me find Jeremiah 4. Alright. I want you to... All the prophets that I've read to you have warned. But no prophet described it with such healing and such depth as Jeremiah. I want you to go to verse 23. 4, 23. Now, I don't know if he's in a trance. One time Jeremiah, when he had a vision, he said he was on his face. He's often in the wilderness. But I don't know of any time the Spirit of God comes on a man that he has not changed. When the Spirit of God comes on you, you're changed. You're not the same. Something happens. And something happened to this man. I'm going to show you a split screen, so to speak. Two pictures Jeremiah is seeing in this nightmare. Verse 23, beginning to read. I beheld, and, lo, there was no man. And all the birds of the heavens were fled. I beheld, and, lo, the fruitful place was a wilderness. And all the cities thereof were broken down at the presence of the Lord and by His fierce anger. For thus hath the Lord said, The whole land shall be desolate. Yet will I not make a full end. In other words, he's talking about those Christians, the remnant, who survive and are taken to be with the Lord. Listen, look this way, please, if you will. He's having this picture, and there's a split screen, so to speak. In one eye he's seeing one thing, and the thing that he's seeing with this eye is incredible. He's seeing a reversal of the Genesis process. Remember, God, out of chaos, created cosmos. And he's seeing a reversal of that process. He's seeing God take cosmos and allow it, or take it back to chaos. He can't believe it. In fact, everything he's talking about is a reversal of the Genesis process of creation. And one moment he's looking at this scene, and there are gardens, and there are cities, and people rustling and hustling about. It's a busy scene. But now, all of a sudden, he's flabbergasted because in a moment it's gone. There are no more birds. He can't find a bird singing anywhere. The cities are melted, they're gone. There's not a city, there's not a man anywhere. His eye focuses as if it's scanning the whole earth. He can't find anybody. Everything is gone. It's a total disaster. Everything's a wilderness. The flowers are gone. The gardens are gone. The houses are gone. Well, that's what he's saying. I beheld the earth. It was without form and void. And the heaven. Now, didn't you remember that in the book of Genesis? It was without form and void. It has gone back to that void that means absolute emptiness, absolute destruction. It's empty. It's void. And he's seeing this coming picture. It's incredible. The earth, as far as he can see, is a barren desolation. Where the cities were, there's nothing but a wilderness. But you see, that's not happened yet. That prophecy or that picture of Jeremiah and Isaiah and all these prophets, it's never happened. So it's still in the future. Jeremiah is shocked by the suddenness of it all. Destitution upon destruction or destruction upon destruction is determined. For the whole land is spoiled and all my curtains in a moment. Verse 20. In a moment, suddenly, all the curtains fell. All the walls fell. Everything. And he's shocked by the suddenness of it all. And this sudden destruction was going to be preceded by the sounding of a prophetic trumpet, long and loud. And he said there would be watchmen on the mountaintops waving a flag. The enemy approaches. The enemy approaches. In fact, Jeremiah, if you look at verse 21, How long shall I see the standard and hear the sound of the trumpet? He said, before this happens and while it's happening, while the breakdown is happening, an unceasing trumpet, loud, clear, prophetic voices. Watchmen whipping their flags in the wind. Wake up! The enemy is at the gate. And he's seeing this. He sees the destruction coming. He sees what's going to happen before it. And then with his other eye, he sees something worse than the Holocaust. He sees something worse. And so much so, if you read verse 19, he cries, My bowels, my bowels, I am pained at my very heart. What he's describing is an attack. The walls of my heart are bursting. My heart melteth. My heart maketh a noise in me. I can't hold my peace. Because thou hast heard on my soul the sound of the trumpet, the alarm of war. But, beloved, what is breaking his heart is not just that the earth is destroyed, that it's returned to its formless void. No, there's something in the church. There's something among God's people that's breaking his heart. And he said, I can't stand it. This is his nightmare. It's not the nuclear Holocaust that's breaking his heart, because he knew and prophesied that the wicked would be destroyed suddenly. He knew that. He preached it for years. Jeremiah's overwhelmed, and his heart's palpitating, and his soul is in excruciating pain, because it's the eve of destruction, and God's people are blind. Verse 20. Destruction upon destruction is cried. For the whole land is spoiled. Suddenly are my tents spoiled, my curtains in a moment. Verse 22. For my people is foolish. They've not known me. They're sardish, means stupid children. They've no understanding. They're wise to do evil, but to do good, they have no knowledge. See, with this other eye, this split screen, he can hardly believe what he's seeing. He said, I don't understand this, God. The trumpet is blowing. Every praying man on the earth is crying out. Every watchman is waving his flag. Every godly man is speaking the word. The enemy is closing in, and time is growing short. The enemy is approaching. But God's people are acting like fools, playing, sporting, feasting, pampering their flesh, lazy, unconcerned. They do not know me, saith the Lord. That means they've not even learned the lessons of history. They've forgotten my nature. They've forgotten the flood. They've forgotten Sodom and Gomorrah. They've forgotten when a nation and a people sin against me and the cup of iniquity is full, I move instantly to do something about it. And as a pastor, I know why Jeremiah is so incredulous. These weren't heathen who were acting the fool. These weren't heathen going their own selfish way, unheeding the call of God. No, these were special people. These were the people who had just come through 40 years of Josiah's revival, 40 years of sitting under the greatest holiness preacher of the Old Testament, a man who wiped out homosexuality from the land, a man who knocked down every idol, a man who called a nation back to God for 40 years. If they were in this church tonight, they would not look like heathen. They would not talk like heathen. They would look like good, solid, pious Christians. They would tell you, if you think you heard strong preaching, you should have heard our Josiah. These were the children and grandchildren of that generation. Then he says, I don't understand it. And I don't understand it. I don't understand standing before a congregation. I don't think you understand the terror that's in my soul and the trembling, because I see what Jeremiah saw. I see what Isaiah saw. I see it on the brink. And I stand here, and I cry, and I weep, and out of my innermost gut, my bowels, I say, wake up. Why are you playing? Why don't you hear what God is saying? It's all over. The party's over. And then I watch people drift away. Meet them on the street. Don't even come anymore, because they want to turn it off. I've heard enough. Go ahead and turn it off. You can't even, I'll tell you what, you can't even turn off what the mayor's doing. You can't turn off what's happening at Wall Street. How are you going to turn off the prophets? They were living, they weren't living in open idolatry. They'd learned to deal with all the idolatry. I mean, they had this in the wolf of their nature, because they'd had it. They were raised like this. No idolatry. They got rid of all their idols. Externally, they appeared wholly obedient, God-fearing. They weren't obstinate or deceitful. They were caring people. They were full of kind words about the shepherds. But there was a hypocrisy. Jesus hated hypocrisy. You study the words of Jesus, and he thundered against hypocrisy. He could stand the publican. He could stand the harlot in their sin, because he knew he could reach an honest place in their heart. But he could not stand hypocrisy, the double standards. He couldn't handle that. He thundered against it. He said, there's a deep-seated hypocrisy. They are wise to do evil, instead of immediate obedience to the word of God. They superficially agreed to it. They said, yes, it's true. Then they go their own way, and like Saul, they do their own thing, and can give you a million reasons and excuses why they did it. This is the end of side one. You may now turn the tape over to side two. To do good, they do not know how. Jeremiah reasoned, how often must they hear the sound of the trumpet, O God? What do we have to do to get their attention, Father? And I looked at this, and this is God saying, in spite of their sitting under great repentance, it never touched their heart. They never truly repented. They still had this thing in their heart. They listened, they sat, they loved the preaching, but it never got a hold of them. And there was a hypocrisy in their heart. They were very wise on how to justify what they did. They could give you the justifications of the reasons. I heard a preacher justifying taking his sweetheart to a motel, simply because his wife was ungodly. He could sit down and give you Scripture and reason it out. To do good, they do not know how. And I said, God, is that possible? That people can sit under a ministry of the Word of God, they can be obedient to a point, they can have a sweetness about them, a sharing, a caring, and even a giving, and not know how to do what is right? Yes, because there's a thing called judicial blindness. It's a judgment. It's a judgment upon those who hear the Word, they're stirred, they're moved, but they never let it get a hold of their heart. That conviction is a 24-hour conviction. It's dissipated as soon as they get up the next day. It's gone. And there's a judicial blindness. It's a judgment. And Isaiah was commissioned by God to go out and pronounce this judicial blindness upon the children of Israel who heard and heard and rejected. He said, go out and harden their hearts, blind their eyes, deafen their ears, lest they hear and be saved. Why? Because God said that they have put themselves beyond the reach of My Word because it goes in one ear and out the other. They're not listening anymore. A judicial judgment of blindness. Now they don't know how to do what is right. Peter verifies in the New Testament Jeremiah's nuclear vision. I want you to go to 2 Peter. 2 Peter, the third chapter. I told you I would give you Scripture. I would give you the Word of the Lord and not my speculations. If you find Hebrews, new converts, just keep going right. Next is Peter. Peter 1 and Peter 2, 2 Peter. Third chapter. Third chapter, verse 10. Now, tell me this is not a nuclear holocaust. Verse 10. But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up, seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved. What mannered persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness, looking for and hastening unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat. Nevertheless, we, according to His promise, look for new heavens and a new earth wherein dwelleth righteousness. Hallelujah. Now, folks, look this way, please. He said, look, seeing that you are living under this cloud, seeing that you in this last generation, you are living in a time, you're hanging under this great hour of sudden destruction. He said, ought you not to be living righteously? Ought you not to be the people of all generations giving all to Him? What mannered people ought you to be in all holy conversation and holy living? Now, let me tell you what I believe it's going to take in these last days to see us through. Because I believe, now listen, I'm going to make a statement. I fought all week long about this, and I thought, Lord, I can't say it. God said you must. I told my wife what I was going to say, and she didn't question me. She just folded her hands like, well, I think I got the message. You better have God's mind on that. I have God's mind on it. Many of you that sit here tonight who believe you're right with God, you're going to hell. You're not going to be saved. You're not saved, in spite of your profession. Because something has not yet happened. God has never been allowed yet to lay hold on you. I don't believe a man is saved, or a woman is saved, simply because they say, Lord, Lord. Many are going to be standing before Him that day and say, we cast out devils, we healed the sick, we did these mighty miracles, and the Lord said, I didn't even know you. I never even knew you. There are people who think they can just drift through life. They neglect the Word of God. Never pray, except maybe when they come to church. They do their own thing. They forget and neglect God days on end. They live carelessly, except we're in the inner house of God among some of the Christian friends. And they believe, well, I said a little prayer. I said, I believe in Jesus. I confess my sins. Well, if that is from the heart, and if that has taken hold of you, if it has gone down to the changing of your heart, and gotten down to the very thing Bob spoke about this morning, until it takes you into the interest of God, and takes you away from your own interest, many are not going to be saved. I believe that's why the Lord warned. He said, many, many, many, many, He said, will come. He warned us, as I'm warning you now. We've got to get serious about our walk with God. Let me tell you what I believe it's going to take. You have got to obey God's stirrings in your soul. Now, I'll tell you what I believe is happening. And it's happened to me in all my years. I've never been stirred like I'm being stirred in the past few months. God stirred me to come here to New York, and stirred Bob and Don. And I know these pastors too feel the same stirring. But God's stirring His remnant. If you've been feeling, sensing a stirring, and David had that stirring, he said, Oh Lord, why is my heart disquieted within me? What are you trying to say? Why is my heart, what is this thing? There's a deep calling to deep, there's a restlessness, there's something there. And I walked up and down my apartment, even though the wee hours of the morning. And I said, God, what are you saying? And I feel the stirring. And I know God's trying to say something. And God is saying, David, there's more to it than you're seeing. There's more to it now that the last hour has come. I've got to have all, all of you, everything you have, your time. You can't waste your hours now. You can't waste anything. You can't do what you used to do. This is not a legalistic burden. In fact, when you come in to what God is saying, when He's stirring your heart, I don't know what He'll say to you. But He's saying, David, you've not yet seen the burden of my heart. Until recently you haven't really seen the poor. You haven't seen the naked and the blind and the halt. You've not felt what I feel. You've not known my heart. But I want you to know it before I come. I want you to have a time when you share the glory and the joy of obedience. I'm talking about God-possession. Possessed by God. Totally possessed by Jesus. Where everything else in the world begins to fall away without a struggle. See, too many have allowed the devil to come in and take away the Word. You hear it, you're convicted. You're stirred. You're moved. But rather than allowing it to set you like concrete, Jesus set His face like the flint. Like granite. Unmovable. Until you allow the conviction of the Word of God to so sink in, and you make a commitment at that point. Unmovable. Unshakable. And that's why God says, David, I'm going to keep your heart stirred until I've brought you to that place. And I'll speak to you, but you've got to respond. You've got to hear me. You've got to give me quality time. Don't be so busy. Give me quiet, quality time. Let the whole world be shut out. Take that hour. Take that two hours. Get along with me. I'll speak to you. I'll set your heart like a flint. Finally, and I'm going to close in just a minute. I believe it's going to take this if we're going to make it in these last days. You've got to guard your soul and body against entanglement with the world or entanglement with your old ways, the way you once were. No man that warreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life that it may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier. Now, God didn't call you to be a tourist. Now, I'm telling you, that's the person, that's the so-called Christian that's not going to be saved. The tourist. He's just recreating himself a way to heaven, he thinks, or she thinks. He said, I've called you to be a soldier. A holy anger came up in me Friday night in a prayer meeting. An incredible holy anger. Satan tried to sit on the meeting. He tried, I believe with everything in me, the devil is trying to stop the flow of praises from this church. I believe these praises have so touched heaven and it's so shaken hell that the devil tries everything. He brings weariness. He'll lie to you saying you're no good. He'll sit there and make you tired and sick and weary. He'll tell you lies. He'll tell you that God has lied to you or given you a voice that was mistaken. He'll tell you anything. He'll try to rob you. He'll tell you your children are going to hell. He'll tell you you're lost. There's no hope. And the lies will come. He's trying to destroy. And the Bible said we're in a war. We're in a spiritual war. He said you put on the whole armor. And Paul said we fight. Not against flesh and blood. And if all he said is we fight, that's good enough for me. I'm in a war. We're going to fight. We are going to have to stand up and fight. There can be no passivity. And God's been speaking to me about my passivity. Just being passive. We dare not be passive in this last hour. But stand up. He said let us lay hold fast. He said our weapons are not carnal. But mighty through God. To the pulling down of strongholds. That means a stronghold on you. A passion. A lust. A habit. Does it have a strong grip? A stronghold on you? You've got the weapon. Get a hold of God. Stop your passivity. And begin to fight the devil and say I will not give in to this. Beloved, I stand 100% with Pastor Bob this morning. And what we're saying is not in any moment, not in the least, disagreeing. I agree that we've had people trying to fight the devil with unsecured hearts. With black hearts. That have not been sanctified. But when the heart's been sanctified and you're walking in holy covenant with God. You dare not be passive and let the devil walk over you or your family. You stand and you resist the devil. The Bible says that he may flee from you. Now, you've got to guard yourself against entanglement. The root word there means get a fixed position. And I'm going to close in just a moment. The entangled Christian does not have a fixed position. His position is flexible. Always flexible. He'd bend any way. He is not deeply committed. My Bible said let us hold fast or in a fixed position the profession of our faith without wavering. He that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed. Let not that man think he shall receive anything from the Lord. I'm asking you tonight to face this last hour with a fixed position. Will you say, Pastor, I hear what the Holy Spirit is saying. I hear it. I hear people say to me, Brother Dave, I sit under that pastoral strong preaching of righteousness and holiness. But sometimes I feel I can't make it. I can't quit my cigarettes. I can't quit my drinking. I can't quit my drugs. I've got a habit I just can't leave down. You know why? You've never yet come to that fixed position. You've never yet set your heart. You've not let God get a hold of you. I'm not trying to make you doubt your salvation. I'm asking you to stir yourself up according to the Apostle. Stir up your heart within you. He said examine yourself to see if you be in the faith. But God warned me that many that I love may not be saved. This broke my heart. But I thank God for His word and His warnings because He's faithful. He's loving. Why else would God speak like this to our hearts? First of all, He said, I'll not let you get caught unawares. He said, I'll reveal to my servants the prophets. Folks, I've never believed I'm a prophet, but I believe tonight I was in the role of a prophet. The office of a prophet. Speaking prophetically to you and to me. I've placed myself at the judgment seat with every face that I know. Some of you I don't know very well, but I've placed myself at the judgment seat. And I've looked you in the eye, so to speak. And just before your judgments are opened, the books are opened, my heart just pounded, oh God, was I faithful? Did I provoke to righteousness? Did I preach the truth? I want to be able to stand there with my hands clean. My heart's broken for some of you. Because you just go week after week, month after month, carrying your lust with you. Carrying your weakness with you. Saying, I can't fight it. I'll never make it. You stand up against that devil in Jesus' name tonight. You lay hold of that mighty weapon of God, faith and prayer, repentance. And you believe God with all your heart tonight that you can be free. God's freed a multitude in this house tonight. God wants you free. God wants you free. Whatever it is that's been standing between you and God. And I'm asking you tonight, don't, if you've ever shaken off conviction tonight, don't shake off this conviction. I'm going to ask you to make a commitment to God right now while you're even seated, before you even stand. To make a commitment to God. Lord Jesus, touch my heart and draw me to you. And let me go all the way. Let me pay the price to follow you, Jesus. And that's my stubborn will. That's everything in my heart that's unlike you. And Jesus, I want you, once and for all, to get hold of me. Take hold of me. Folks, look at me for just a minute. I know why God's stirring me now. He's saying, David, I'm not going to let you off this time. I'm going to get a hold of you if you'll let me. Like I've never held you before. I'm going to take hold of you. Your heart. Your life. Your finances. My finances were not in His control because I was saying, God, everything I have is yours, and I wasn't giving it to Him. He's got it now. He's got it now. There were two other areas in my life I thought I'd given and I hadn't. God said, I want it all. And He's got it now. He may show me something else tomorrow. I don't know. But I'm ready to say, God, this time, I want all of you. I want to be in that place Brother Bob was talking about because He wants to take us into the Holy of Holies and reveal Himself. Hallelujah. Reveal His glory to us. I don't preach like this because I hate anybody or mean. I love you. But true love is truth. True love is truth. Hallelujah. I want you to stand quietly before the Lord in His presence. Now, Jesus, I don't know what's going on in the hearts of those who heard me tonight. I don't know what's happening up in the balcony with people who are being spoken to by the Holy Ghost. And all these that stand before me in the lower auditorium. Lord, all the hundreds of people here in front of me, Jesus, I don't know what you're saying. Holy Spirit, I know you're talking. I know you're saying at least this. Now, seeing that all these things are going to be dissolved, now will you give me all? Now will you rise up in faith? Now will you come to a fixed position? Oh, Jesus, root this church. Ground it. Oh, holy God. Holy God. Righteous God. Holy Savior. Soon we're going to stand before your holiness. Soon we answer. God. Oh, God, convict of foolishness and stupidity and self-centeredness and materialism and the hoarding and the hiding and the foolishness. Lord, soon it's all over. We're so close. Lord, and it's going to be so easy for some to backslide. Many are going to backslide just at that moment. Oh, God, don't let it happen here. Don't let it happen to our beloved ones in this house tonight. Oh, Jesus, help me. Lord, I've tried. I've honestly tried. God, what's it going to take? God, what's it going to take? I feel what Jeremiah said, my bowels, my heart pounds. God, we've been so deceived and so blinded by the world. We don't even know, God, where we are sometimes. Break it. Oh, God. There has to come a breaking that will not be repented of. There has to be repentance that's not repented of. Oh, God. I feel so helpless. I don't know how to move people anymore, Lord. I don't know how to break your conviction, oh, God. But I have a fear for some in this place. They're going to be lost. They're flirting, oh, God, with disaster. They're heading the wrong way. And they're blind, oh, God. Open our eyes. I want us all to raise our hands and repent. Would you raise your hands and repent with me? Lord, we repent. God, we have to have repentance that's genuine, a repentance that goes to the soul. A repentance, oh, God, that prides down to the depths of our being. Lord, we want you. Forgive us. Lord, bring true repentance to our hearts. Godly repentance that will not be repented of. Bring a fixed position to our hearts tonight. God, change us for eternity. Change us for eternity, oh, God. Oh, God, change us for eternity. Let's repent, folks. Let's repent. I repent, Lord. Oh, we repent. We humble ourselves. We cry out to you, Lord. We repent. We repent. True repentance before you, God. Holy Spirit, come down upon this church. Holy Spirit, descend upon this church. Descend upon us. Fall upon us, Holy Spirit. Convict of sin and of judgment and of righteousness. Convict us, oh, God. Holy Ghost, fall on this church. Fall on this church with conviction. Now, there are a number down here tonight. If you feel you need to step out of your seat and come down here and cry out to God, lay something down, do it. Just get out of your seat, the balcony in here, the main floor, and come. And just, if you want to kneel or stand, whatever you want to do, but don't let this moment slip by without going deep in your heart. Oh, God, let it go deep. Don't let us off. Don't let us slip by. Some of you are not right with God. Some of you need to get right with God. Some of you need to lay down that besetting sin. Some of you need to cry out, oh, God, I hear you. Turn me around. Lord Jesus, speak it to our hearts right now. Speak it to our hearts. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Glory be to you. You that are down here right now, you that are at the front, right now, just raise your hands to God right now and say, Jesus, here I am. Cleanse me. Sanctify me. Take away this habit. Take away this sin. Lord, I don't want it anymore. I want to be free. Raise your hands and cry out to God. Lord, here it is. Take it. Lord, I believe you have the power. You are the victory. Jesus, get a hold of me. Get a hold of my heart. Lay hold of me tonight. God, get a hold of hearts tonight. Dig down. Get a hold of every heart. Christian, let's pray that God will do that right now. God, get a hold of every heart in this place. Get a hold of everyone here. Lord, do it. Jesus, break through and bring power. God, break through every heart. Jesus, break every chain. Hallelujah. Blessed be the name of the Lord. Blessed be the name of the Lord. Hallelujah. Glory to God. We're redeemed by the blood. Redeemed. Redeemed. Set free. God, set free. Break the chains that bind. Hallelujah. Bring a freedom and rejoicing because the sin is broken. The sin is broken. Hallelujah. Glory to God. Glory to Jesus. Glory to God. I'd like to have all you at the altar stand, please. Everybody that came forward, stand with me, please. Will you stand? Will you just raise your hands to the Lord? The Bible said, I will man everywhere. Lift holy hand. Lift your hand right now. Pray with me right now. Jesus, I know you hear me. And I know you'll love me. And you called me here. You convicted me. I obey your call. I hear you speaking. I confess my sins. I lay it down. I refuse to give in to the devil. By faith, I am going to be free. Take me, Jesus. And fill me with the Holy Ghost. Now, I want you to thank God for doing that right now. Lord, thank you, Jesus, for your faithful. God, you are a faithful God. You are faithful. Hallelujah. Glory be to God. Glory be to God. Blessed be the name of the Lord. Glory to God. Hallelujah. We exalt you. I'll tell you what I feel God's put in my heart. I'd like everybody in the building to stand with us, if you will, now. And I want to tell you, Satan, here's where we fight. Here's where we are soldiers. We resist, in Jesus' name, any attempt by the enemy to stop the fountain of praise that God wants to open. He's going to open tonight a fountain of praise. And do you know you can praise after there's true repentance and God's laid hold of you? That is the time to praise, and that puts every demonic power to chase. Believe me, when it's a godly praise, when it's a shout of victory from repentance, there's glory in the house. And I want you to stay with us tonight. We're going to praise God, truly praise God. We have a right to praise Him. And, beloved, if you'll join us, if you'll just join in and really praise Him with everything that's in you. Lift your voice and your heart and praise God. He will give you an assurance like you haven't had in a long time. He'll assure you, I love you. I believe many of you that would not have been saved otherwise have been saved tonight. Truly saved by the blood of Christ. Hallelujah. The conclusion of the tape.