In this sermon, the speaker emphasizes the importance of having an unbroken faith in every promise that God has made. He encourages listeners to look to Jesus as their example, who despised the shame and lies of the darkness. The speaker reminds believers that they have an enemy who is constantly trying to destroy them, but they should recognize where these attacks come from and put them away. The sermon also references the book of Revelation, where John sees a vision of a great red dragon and the demonic powers realizing that their plans have been thwarted by Jesus' resurrection.

This message is one of the Times Square Church Pulpit series. It was recorded in the sanctuary of Times Square Church in Manhattan, New York City. Other tapes are available by writing World Challenge, P.O. Box 260, Lindell, Texas 75771, or calling 903-963-8626. You are welcome to make additional cassettes of this message for free distribution to friends. However, for all other forms of reproduction or electronic transmission, existing copyright laws apply. I'm a little limited in strength today, so I don't know how long I'm going to speak for, but I do have something that God's been stirring in my heart for several days. So if you would pray with me. Father, I thank you, God. Lord, you said that in weakness your strength is made perfect. I believe that with all my heart. I believe that you sit at the right hand of all authority and all power. I believe that in you I rule and reign. I thank you, God, today that there's no power of hell that can stand against what you are destined to do in this house. I thank you, Lord, that you're going to move sovereignly and powerfully, and the kingdom of darkness will suffer great violence. I ask, O God, for every demonic power that's at work in this house to be demolished, the lies of the enemy to be exposed. I ask, O God, that you move so powerfully that there be a shout of freedom come into the hearts of many that will never leave their lives. It will be forever until you come and take them home and then and beyond. And, Lord, I thank you for it in Jesus' mighty name. Amen. Judges chapter 16, right after the book of Joshua is Judges. It's time to call off the party. It's time to call off the party. Judges chapter 16, beginning at verse 23. Then the lords of the Philistines gathered them together for to offer a great sacrifice unto Dagon, their God, and to rejoice. For they said, Our God has delivered Samson, our enemy, into our hand. And when the people saw him, they praised their God. For they said, Our God has delivered into our hands our enemy and the destroyer of our country, which slew many of us. Now, folks, you have to understand something. The day you came to Christ, you entered into... We had battles before we came to Christ, but the day you came to Christ, you entered into a battle, a much more powerful battle than perhaps many things that you'd ever known before you came to him. And some may not realize it today, but as you are continuing to live for Christ and you are testifying for him, there are many powers of darkness, many principalities of evil being destroyed before you that you can't even see. Just as you share a word of encouragement and hope with someone who's suffering or struggling in sin, or every time you lead a sinner to Christ, that dominion of Satan is being broken. And many, many plans, battle plans that have been formed against all of humanity begin to be scattered to the wind, literally. And this is what was happening with this man called Samson. God had touched his life, and through his life thousands were being slain. And now they've gathered to rejoice over him. In verse 25, it says, It came to pass, when their hearts were married, that they said, Call for Samson, that he may make us sport. And they called for Samson out of the prison house, and he made them sport, and they set him between the pillars. And Samson said unto the lad that held him by the hand, Suffer me, that I might feel the pillars whereupon the house standeth, that I might lean upon them. Now the house was full of men and women, and all the lords of the Philistines were there. And there were upon the roof about three thousand men and women that beheld while Samson made sport. And Samson called unto the Lord and said, O Lord God, remember me, I pray thee, and strengthen me, I pray thee only this once, O God, that I may be at once avenged to the Philistines from my two eyes. And Samson took hold of the two metal pillars upon which the house stood, and upon which it was borne up, of the one with his right hand and the other with his left. And Samson said, Let me die with the Philistines. And he bowed himself with all his might, and the house fell upon the lords and upon all the people that were therein. So the dead which he slew at his death were more than they which he slew in his life. It's time to call off the party. David, the psalmist, Psalm 35, says it this way. Now, David was always aware that powerful enemies surrounded him and were forever waiting to rejoice over his fall. And David said it this way in Psalm 35, verse 16, he said, With hypocritical mockers and feasts they gnashed upon me with their teeth. Verse 19, he says, Let not them that are my enemies wrongfully rejoice over me. Verse 21, he says, Yea, they opened their mouth wide against me and said, Aha, aha, our eye has seen it. In other words, David is saying, I am aware that all around me are powers and principalities of darkness that are waiting for me to fall. They're waiting for the testimony of Christ to be proven of none effect. And they gather round me, David says, and they say with their mouths, Aha, our eyes have seen it. We are watching him now, a man that was touched by God, but now he's fleeing from his enemies. Now he's hiding in a cave. Now all hell seems to be around him. In verse 25, David says, Let them not say in their hearts, Ah, so we would have it. Let them not say, We have swallowed him up. And folks, I want to tell you something. Every person who knows the anointing of the Spirit of God enters a warfare. And it's a warfare that is so far beyond anything of our own understanding, our comprehension. It is a warfare designed to take the very testimony of Christ out of your heart and out of your life. Paul said in Ephesians chapter 6 and verse 12, We wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. In other words, we wrestle against a spiritual entourage that is forever waiting to devour that which is closest to the heart of God. John, the beloved apostle, saw it when he wrote in the book of Revelation chapter 12 and verse 3. He said, There appeared another wonder in heaven. And behold, a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns and seven crowned upon his heads, and his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven and had cast them to the earth. Now, he's seeing in a vision as it is what transpired in heaven when Satan drew a third of the angels with him and caused a rebellion against God because in his heart he was lifted up and he wanted to be as God. Bottom line, he wanted to rule himself and he wanted to rule God's creation. He wanted to be as powerful and ultimately more powerful than God himself. And John said, The dragon stood before the woman which was ready to be delivered, for to devour her child as soon as it was born. Now, the devil knew that God had spoken a word. That word was spoken to him right in Genesis when he caused humankind to sin. God said, I'll put enmity between thee and the woman and between thy seed and her seed, and it shall bruise thy head and thou shalt bruise his heel. The devil knew that God had spoken a word and the word of God is powerful, quicker, sharper than any two-edged sword. We see in Matthew chapter 2, Herod the king moving to slay all the young children in Bethlehem. But you see, Herod is unaware that he's being animated by an evil that's much greater than himself. John saw it. It's not Herod trying to devour these little children, these little babies, trying to kill the Messiah. It's the devil himself. He's after that seed of God. He's after the very life of God. He always has been. For that's what he has to overcome in order to reign. If he can't overcome the life of Christ, there's absolutely no way he can reign and he knows it. And Herod moves unaware, as most people who are without God are unaware, that they are being animated by an evil much greater than their own mind and their own heart. Thinking perhaps that he's forming this thought in his own heart and unaware that the devil himself is behind it, trying to swallow the very life of Christ. You see, Satan knew that from Israel, and Israel is a nation and a people of God's promise, from that nation was going to come a Messiah. Those who would be born of his seed, that means born of his life, would rule and put in subjection the same powers of darkness forever. Now, beloved, that is our inheritance. Our inheritance is not to be the tail, but it's to be the head. Our inheritance is not to be dominated by darkness, but to stand with Christ at the right hand of all authority and power and to rule and to cast down every argument that is contrary to the truth of what God has already done for humanity through Jesus Christ. Now, Satan knew from the time God had spoken to him in Eden that the only hope of reigning was to go after Christ's life. He had to go after the life of Christ. Now, Jesus himself in Mark chapter 12 identified this battle. He said in verse 7, But those husbandmen said among themselves, This is the heir. Come and let us kill him, and the inheritance shall be ours. You see, he's talking about not just the Pharisees, not just the Sadducees and the religious that were going to send him to a cross, but he's speaking right to the powers that animate them because they're not under the influence of God, therefore they're under the influence of the devil himself, open to his suggestion. And the enemy saw, they said, this is the heir. Here is the one who is destined by God the Father to inherit all things. Here is the giver of life. Here is the one who has the right to rule and to reign. And he has been given of his father an inheritance, so therefore we must kill him. And in killing him, the inheritance will become ours. Now, we ask ourselves, what is the inheritance? Is it just the things of this world? Is it New York City and all that it involves, and all the great cities and kingdoms of all time? I'm sure that's part of it, but it's much, much more than that. Now, here's what I believe the inheritance is. In John 17, when Jesus was praying, he said these words in verse 9 and 10. He said, I pray for them. I pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast given me, for they are thine, and all mine are thine, and thine are mine, and I am glorified in them. And this is the inheritance. The inheritance is you and it's me. Jesus was given an inheritance. He was given that which is closest to the very heart of God the Father. He was given the souls and the lives of all those who would trust in him for their salvation. With the day you and I trusted in Christ, we became his inheritance. He inherited, yes, the power of glory. He inherited everything that God promised, all of these things. But ultimately, that inheritance flows right down to you and I, because you and I are precious in the sight of God. God formulated a plan in his heart from before the foundation of the very universe itself to come as a man and to redeem those that he would create, who would be the dearest and closest to his heart. Beloved, it's a tragedy, but many people will never understand how greatly loved you are of God until we stand one day before his throne. Some have the privilege of beginning to unlock that mystery here on this side of eternity, to understand that God so loved you that he became a man. And even if it was only you, if you were the only one in all of the generations since Calvary who would have yielded and given your life to Christ, he still would have come and he still would have died. You are the inheritance of God. You are precious to God. You have to know that. Deeply precious. The writer of Hebrews tells us in chapter 12, verse 2, that we are to look to Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. We are to look to him. Every contrary argument to truth was thrown at him. He was tormented to the maximum degree that Satan is allowed to test and torment a man he was tested. He was brought into the wilderness. He was offered brides to bow down and to yield from doing the will of God the Father. He was tested to an incredible degree as he was on that cross, and yet he did not lose his confidence in the word that God had spoken into his heart. And it was because of that confidence he was able to die and to promise life for all of those who would trust in him. The scripture tells us that he despised the shame. Now, I used to believe the shame, and I've heard it preached, was a loincloth that basically represented nakedness in his generation, that he was raised up on the cross in a loincloth and as such exposed as naked for his generation. And that was the shame of the cross. Now, there's a measure of truth in that, but it's so far from what really what the author of this particular scripture is speaking about. The shame was not a loincloth. It was so far beyond that. The shame, beloved, was the taunting ridicule of the devil. This ridicule was designed to have him believe that his confidence in God the Father's promises was worthless. There was a shame that the dragon himself tried to spew on Christ to get him to believe that circumstance, which was the cross, had triumphed over the promises of God his Father. In Matthew chapter 27, we see a crowd of people that are completely animated by the devil. Matthew 27, verse 39, the scripture says, And they that passed by reviled him, wagging their heads, and saying, Thou that destroyest the temple and buildest it in three days, save thyself, if thou be the Son of God, come down from the cross. In other words, the devil was throwing right into the face of Christ through a crowd that is animated by the power of darkness. Where are your boasts now of supernatural power? You've made a great boast of what God is able to accomplish through your life. And now here you are, helpless, hopeless. Tell us now where your boasts are of supernatural power. Give us some display of this thing that you've been speaking about. And if it's true, come down from your place of suffering. If it's true, show us truly that you are the Son of God. In verse 42, again they continue to mock him. You have to understand, these are powers of darkness that are mocking the Son of God. Saying he saved others, and himself he cannot save. And you know, there's an inference in this. And the inference is destined not only to touch Christ, but also touch the crowd that are gathered around the cross that are still hoping. And the inference is just simply this. If you cannot help yourself, then your promises to others are worthless also. If you can't save yourself, then you can't save anybody else. If it doesn't work for you, then it doesn't work for anybody that you preach to. And that's the inference. Going right after the heart as it is, of his confidence in the promises that God the Father had made to his heart. And then finally, the devil saves his best for the last. In verse 43, he says he trusted in God. Let him deliver him now, if he will have him. For he said, I am the Son of God. If he will have him. That's the inference. And there's a whole bunch of words. And there's couched in these words right in the middle. A thought. And it's the same temptation that the devil brings against those who are Christ's. Those who want to live for God, who want to serve God. The thought is that God has found some fault in you and rejected you. There's something in you that you don't see, but God sees it. And because of it, because he has seen this thing in you, he's going to reject you. He says he trusted in God. Let him deliver him. If he will have him. And we see the devil tormenting Christ. Right to the very moment of his last breath, he's tormenting him. But the author of Hebrews says he despised the shame. In other words, he counted it worthless. He counted it as nothing. These are just empty words of a defeated fault. Because God had given him a promise. And the scripture says for the joy that was set before him, he endured the cross and despised the shame. The joy was not that he would be seated at the right hand of power. The joy is that you and I would be seated there with him one day. The joy is that his life would come down and be manifested in and through our lives. Carrying us, sustaining us by the same promises through which he had been carried of his father. He would come and empower us. And he would give us, by these promises and empowerment of the Holy Spirit, he would give us the same power to triumph over the devil that he had known. We would enter into the victory. We'd become the spoil as it is of the war. The inheritance of the victor. We would be given crowns. And the Bible says we are going to rule and reign with Christ for all of eternity. We would be able to stand. The Bible says against all the wiles of the devil. We would walk through fire and through flood. And even though we'd go through hard times and trials, the fire would not burn us and the flood would not drown us. Paul the apostle went through hard times in his life. But he had a prayer in his heart. And that prayer was just simply this. Having done all, at the end I will still stand. Having been under the barrage of everything the devil could possibly throw at me. Paul says, by God's grace and by God's power, when it's finished on the last day, I'm not ever going to cower before my enemies. I'm going to stand in the grace and the power of God. Because Christ has triumphed over the powers of the enemy. Christ has given great promises. And by these promises, daily, I've become a partaker of the divine life and nature of God. And that life and nature of God is the first fruit of the promise of God. That having trusted in Christ, I have a sure future and I have a guaranteed eternity. I'm no longer under the dominion of sin or the powers of darkness. Now, Satan has to bow under my feet. Because Christ is in my heart and in my life. Luke 23, 46 says that finally, the last words of Jesus, in spite of all the taunting, He said, Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit. In other words, you've made promises to me. And circumstance makes it look like those promises. Circumstance would try to dictate that those promises are not going to come to pass. And I'm about to breathe my last. But you have promised that I would be raised. You promised that I would sit and have an inheritance with me through all of eternity. Into thy hands I commend my spirit. And, folks, that is the absolute key. An unbroken faith in every promise that God the Father had ever made him. And Hebrews writer says we're to look to him. He despised the shame. He despised the lies of the darkness. All the powers of evil and all the suggestions would try to come against your life to destroy you. The Bible says look to Jesus and follow in his footsteps and despise the lie. Put it away. Recognize where it comes from. Recognize you have an enemy that has committed himself to devouring the very life of God that you. I often wonder, was it party time in hell? The moment that Jesus breathed his last and gave up the ghost as the scripture says, was there a party? And if there was, I know exactly what the theme was. The theme was simply this, because Christ had said it earlier. The inheritance is ours. We have defeated the word of God. Humanity is in our grasp forever. And Satan, if he was leading this party, would be saying all of humanity that will ever be born. That which is closest to the heart of God. I now have the right to rule and reign. The inheritance is now mine. Often wondered if the devil planned to build a party palace on Calvary. Day one, celebration in hell perhaps. I'm only speculating because the scripture doesn't say. Day two, you can see all of the bragging and boasting. We took him. He was unable to come down from the cross. Day three, suddenly, hell stands still. Did a henshling demon come running into the very throne, supposed throne room of Satan? He himself has said, call off the party. Something seems to be wrong. Things have not gone as planned. Jesus is gone. He has risen from the dead. I can imagine the very terror, the shudder of terror that must have gone through hell and the powers of darkness. The understanding that God by his power had raised a dead man. Even though hell had thrown everything that hell has against him. God had raised him because his confidence in the word of God had never been eroded. It had never been taken away. And I can see the demonic powers gathering around saying, what do we do now? The son of God has risen from the dead. Which means that everything that has been spoken about us is going to happen. We're going to be trodden underfoot. We're going to be dominated. What do we do now? And I feel the only plan that darkness had left is just simply this. We must go after the inheritance now. We must try to shame their trust in God and devour the seed of the child. We must attempt to devour the very life of Christ in them. Now, beloved, sanction is a type of so many who for whatever reason have allowed the enemy to build a house of mockery over their heads. There's so many Christians today that are living in a place where the enemy is laughing at you and mocking you. And as it is throwing a party over your life. You came to Christ and there were promises given you. And you held to these promises. And then for a season it looked as if the promises God gave you were not going to come to pass. But beloved, listen to this. The Lord is not in a rush. And his ways are not our ways. And his thoughts are not our thoughts. And neither are his plans our plans. He does things quite often in ways that we don't understand. And thank God that he does. That's what makes him God. That's what makes you and I dependent upon him. But in those times of trial and testing, the enemy will come and try to build a house of mockery right on the top of your head. Try to influence and infiltrate your thoughts. And somehow get you to feel that God has rejected his plan in your life because of some mysterious iniquity in you. Or perhaps it's because of something you do struggle with. There's so many different things that children of God have to face even after we come to the knowledge of Jesus Christ. And the enemy comes and tries to tell you, well, it hasn't worked for you. What right, then, do you have to think that it works for anybody else? And tries to take the very testimony of Christ out of your mouth. Content, perhaps, to lose you for all of eternity. But attempting to destroy the life of Christ in you. To swallow the man-child as it is. To take away that testimony, that confidence in God's faithfulness and his power. Because that is the very life of what we preach. Paul, the apostle, said, your faith is not to rest in the arguments of man, but it's to rest in the power of God. It's the faithfulness of God. The reality that everything that God has spoken to you, he will do. The things he said he will perform, he will perform. The victory he said he would give, he is going to give. He is not a man, he cannot lie, the scripture says. And finally, Samson said to the lad that held him by the hand, he said, Suffer me that I may feel the pillars whereupon this house stands, that I may lean upon them. Now, folks, Samson is saying, show me upon what this house stands. Now, here are all these Philistines, which is a type of the demonic powers. And they built a house over his head. They're all up above him looking over the balcony. And they're rejoicing, and they're laughing, and they're mocking. Because this man that God called and anointed is in a circumstance that appears to have rendered him powerless. And, beloved, that's where many, many people live. But finally, Samson, something gets into his heart. And I'm praying to God that it will get into some hearts that are hearing my voice today. And he says to the young man that he's not, I don't believe doing this of his own accord. He's being moved upon by the Holy Ghost now. And he says to the young lad, show me what this house stands on. And you need to have that cry in your heart. To say, Holy Spirit, show me what this house of mockery is standing on. That's over my life. That is trying to convince me that the power of God is of no avail for me. That somehow circumstances are going to swallow me and overwhelm me. Beloved, it stands, the house stands at mockery because so few are willing to call out and believe for the power of God. To enable them to overcome their situation. And finally, Samson calls out. And he says, Lord God, remember me, I pray thee. And strengthen me. Only this once. And that, to me, I feel is a tragedy. You see, Samson was living in a day of miracles. He was living at a time when God so empowered him, he could take a donkey's jawbone. And with that, he could slay a thousand men. And then God, out of that same jawbone, would give him water to drink. It was a time of absolute miracles. I think of Israel when the Scripture says, they limited the Holy One of Israel. And because they limited Him, they ended up living in the wilderness all of their days. And there's so many people, tragically, that even profess the name of Christ and they live in the wilderness with a mockinghouse of laughter over them. Almost all of their Christian life. Who knows what God would have done? Had Samson asked Him for more than he did. If I would have been Samson, in my heart, I feel, if I would have felt moved upon by the Spirit of God, I would have asked Him, and perhaps God would have given Him back His eyes. I believe in my heart. Now, it's only a personal belief. It's not registered anywhere in the Scripture. But I believe in my heart that God could have given him His eyes back. Could have restored his ministry. But He didn't ask for it. He was moved upon and He said, just once. All I ask for is just an anointing one time. And I ask you to bring this house down and kill me. And kill those that are mocking me. But folks, I want to tell you something. That is not what the New Testament Christian is to ask for. Jesus said, I came that those that are blind might receive their sight. Now, He's not talking about a physical blindness only. It's a spiritual blindness. I came that those that don't know who they are in me might have their eyes opened to see where they sit and stand because of my light that's going to be in them and upon them. I pray that their eyes might be opened to the understanding that every promise of God is yea and amen to those who believe. God cannot fail you. He will never fail you. He never fails those that call out upon His name. He may allow you to go through a season of trial. There may be circumstances come against your life that threaten to overwhelm you. But they will not overwhelm you because the power of God is within you. The light of Christ is in you. The Bible says the same spirit that raised Christ from the dead will also quicken your mortal body. Will give you life. Folks, Paul says that we are to know that the power that we possess comes of God and not of ourselves. I wish Samson had asked for more than he asked for. I wish that he had asked God to give him back his life and give him back his ministry. And so many people are content with just the victory of the day and they don't ask for the life. They ask for victory from a circumstance or a particular situation. They may find themselves in. Or for a time when the enemy seems to have free hand to torment them. But I believe that God says, No, I want my people to ask for more than that. I want you to ask for life. Absolute divine life to flow through you. Life that tears down dominions and powers and principalities of darkness. Life that has the faith to speak a word and see darkened hearts brought to light, sickened minds made straight, wounded bodies made whole, people captivated by sin released into the power and victory of God. Folks, do we dare ask for more than just momentary victory? Is it only about getting free from one circumstance or situation that we might face? And that's where so many people live. But God says, I want you to live beyond that. I want you to look far into the future. As long as you live and breathe, God says, I'm going to sustain you. I'm going to keep you. I'm going to give you a testimony that can't be triumphed over. You're going to have to go through hell, some of you, so that you will have the authority in your words to say, God has been faithful to me and God will be faithful to you. Jesus showed us the way. Everything that could be heaped on humanity was heaped on Him. And I'm not talking now by the hand of God. I'm talking now about the powers of darkness. It was all put against Him. And He was tested and tempted. The Scripture says, in every way, just like we are, yet without sin. I pray that you and I would ask for more than Samson did. Hallelujah. Psalm 18. I'm going to conclude with that. Listen to what David said, the psalmist, in verse 3. I will call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised, and so shall I be saved from mine enemies. The sorrows of death compassed me, and the floods of ungodly men made me afraid. The sorrows of hell compassed me about, and the snares of death prevented me. In my distress, I called upon the Lord and cried unto my God. And He heard my voice out of His temple, and my cry came before Him, even into His ears. Verse 36. David says, Thou hast enlarged my steps under me, that my feet did not slip. I have pursued mine enemies and overtaken them, and neither did I turn again until they were consumed. I have wounded them, that they are not able to rise, and they have fallen under my feet. You see, beloved, that is the inheritance of every child of God. For Thou hast girded me with strength unto the battle. Thou hast subdued unto me those that rose up against me. Thou hast also given me the next of mine enemies, that I might destroy them that hate me. They cried, but there was none to save them, even to the Lord, but He answered them not. And then that I beat them small as the dust before the wind, I did cast them out as dirt in the streets. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Now, folks, I believe today it's time for many in this house to call off the party. There are people here today, the devil is rejoicing because he reigns in you. The devil is rejoicing because you are without Christ in entirety. You don't know Him as Lord and Savior. You are animated by darkness. You have no power. You have no authority to turn from the sin that's in your life because sin has dominion over you. The devil has built a house over you. And I want you to have this picture of Samson with three thousand, the enemies of God, all animated by the powers of darkness, peering over and mocking him and laughing at him. And that's exactly what the devil does to those who are without Christ. Animates you, causes you to do what you don't want to do, causes you to live in a way that you know is bringing you to destruction and rejoices over you the whole time, rejoices in your fall. Only a fool would ever want to serve such a master. Only a fool would ever want to live in sin's grip when he now has the knowledge that God loved him so much that he became a man and died on a cross to give him victory over sin and to give him power over all of his enemies. You'll have to be an absolute fool to continue to live in sin when that knowledge has come into your heart. And I make no apology for that statement. I'm better to say it now and have you offended and turned to Christ than one day to have you stand before the throne of God to then realize what a fool that you've been. Especially having been in a church and having heard of the love of God, the power of God and the victory of God through Christ. And because of reputation, because of pride, because of some other foolish things in your heart, you've put it away and you've chosen to allow this house of mockery to be built over the top of your head, not even aware of the peril that you're in. Not just for time, but the Bible says for all of eternity. For eternity, I want you to consider them, those that are without Christ. I believe that darkness is a place of absolute mockery. Every devil of hell will laugh in your face for all of eternity. If hell has a tape recorder, then the devil will replay my words into your ears that you sat here in Times Square Church and you heard this day and you defied in your heart. You had an opportunity for eternal life. You had a chance for heaven and turned it down. I want you to picture turning that down and one day standing with a thousand, ten thousand mocking spirits laughing at you, replaying the words. Because the Bible says in hell the worm never dies. The conscience never goes away. It is the absolute opposite of heaven where there's no more sorrow, no more sighing, no more suffering. But in hell, it's ever increased sorrow and ever increased sigh, especially those who had an opportunity to know God and turned it down and chose instead to live blind and powerless between the pillars of an ungodly house built only for the purpose of mocking you for time and eternity. And I make no apology to tell you today that if you are without Christ, that is your destiny. That is where you're going. There is no priest, there are no prayers that can be prayed after you die that will ever get you out of hell. When you die, the book is closed. If you have rejected Christ, you've rejected life, both life on this side of eternity and life in eternity. You've rejected the right to be the inheritance of Jesus Christ, to rule and reign with him over the powers of hell forever. You've rejected life, absolute life, and the promise of God's blessing and presence as long as you live. There are others here today that circumstance is hard. There are taunting voices that are trying to shame your faith in Christ, trying to tell you it doesn't work for you, it's not working. Then where is your authority to tell others that Christ will sustain them? Folks, I want to tell you something. I do thank God for every trial in my life. I thank God for every hard place. I thank God for the impossible places. I thank God for times when it looks like there is no tomorrow. I thank God for everything that before my natural eye looks impossible. You want to know why? Because God is going to bring me through. God is going to bring me through. When I've run out of strings to pull, and I've run out of levers to press, and buttons to press, and I've run out of ways to manipulate and try to procure what I think should be the inheritance of my home and family and my own life and ministry and everything else. When I've run out of everything, there are some days when you feel perhaps that you have no more than an ounce of God in your life. You say, well, if the Holy Spirit is in me, He's no bigger than my little toe. If it were possible for God to divide Himself, I want you to know that one ounce of God has more power than all the nuclear weaponry this world possesses today. Samson cried out and said, God, show me. Show me upon what this house stands. The house of mockery stands only because of unbelief. You take away unbelief and the devil crumbles. His kingdom crumbles. His mocking voices crumble. His sneering laughter crumbles. All of his weaponry that he forms against your life crumbles if you take away unbelief. And I see Samson putting his hands on those pillars of mockery, the pillars of that house of hell itself, and saying, God, strengthen me. And folks, if you will pray that simple prayer, you see, it's the delight of God to be honored in your life. Jesus said, my glory will be manifested in them. My life will be seen in them. It's not about us. It's not about anything we have. It's not about our strengths or abilities. If we think it is, God will take it all away and prove us wrong until we finally see that we are weak and blind without Him. No, it's not about us. It's about Him. It's about His triumph on Calvary. It's about the Holy Spirit. It's about the promises that God has spoken into every one of our lives. It's about a God who promises He will not fail us. He will carry us and sustain us until the day He takes us home and then beyond. In the midst of your trial, if you will just call out and say, Jesus, be glorified in this situation. Be glorified by giving me strength to walk when I can't walk anymore. By giving me strength to hope when hope is gone out of my heart. By giving me strength to see when nothing of my natural sight looks like there's any victory or hope ahead of me. God, give me strength that can only come from the Holy Ghost. There's no other source of life and strength. Be seen in me and be glorified in me. And when you raise your hands to God and put them on those pillars of unbelief, God says, I will move them and I'll bring down the whole house of hell that has tried to wreck itself over your life. I'll bring it all down. The whole thing. The enemy wants to try to tell me that I'm not going to physically make it. But I'm telling you this day and I make no vain boast in my God. I'm going to stand in Nigeria and I'm going to see hundreds of thousands of people come to Christ. Hallelujah. Oh, God. I'm going to sing a song for you. As I sing it, if the Holy Ghost has spoken to your heart and you would like to see the house of laughter demolished over your life, join with me at this altar and we're going to pray together and believe God for a marvelous victory. How many would say with me, Pastor Carter, I am a sinner and I live without Christ. I've never trusted him to be my Lord and Savior and I'm deserving of hell because of it. But I've heard the gospel today and I don't want to spend my eternity in hell and I don't want to live the rest of my life underneath a house of mockery of the enemy. I want to live for Christ. I want to be free from my sin and I want the power of God in my life. I understand today that Jesus purchased me as an inheritance and he's promised to give me eternal life and he's promised to give me a full and abundant life here also on this side of eternity. And today, this day in January 2002 in New York City, I want heaven to record that I gave my life to Jesus Christ to be my Lord and Savior. If that's you, please raise your hand right now. Balcony, go ahead, nice and high, made sanctuary at the altar. Education annexed without shame. Say, Lord Jesus, you died for me. You despise the shame. Oh God, I'm going to live for you. Now let's pray together, everyone in this house. Lord Jesus, I am a sinner. I thank you, Lord, that you died for my sin. You paid the price for all the wrong things that I have done. And this day I open my heart. I confess my sin and I ask you to come into my life to be my Lord and my Savior. You died for me to justify me before God. And you were raised from the dead as living proof that those who trust in you will have a new and an eternal life. I trust today and I believe that you are forgiving my sin this very moment and giving me the Holy Spirit to give me the power to live a new life for now and for eternity. I believe that from this moment forward, because of the promises of God in Jesus Christ, I am saved. I am saved. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Now Father, I ask you in Christ's name to strengthen my brothers and sisters at this altar. God, especially those that are going through the trial of their life, when there doesn't seem to be any strength left or any hope. And God, I'm thanking you now that as we ask you for strength, that you are a God who cannot fail your people. You will never fail those that call out to you. You'll give strength and hope and life. You'll open doorways that no man can close. You'll give power that the enemy cannot resist. Father, I thank you for it from the very depths of my heart. God, you are infusing strength this very moment to those that are asking for it. God, we ask you for the spiritual eyes now to see the pillars of this house of mockery come crashing down, to see the powers of darkness and disarray full of fear and sent into chaos. Mighty God, thank you for what you're doing this very moment. Father, thank you, Jesus, that you are breaking these powers that want to torment the minds of your people, of God's people. Thank you for faith arising in our hearts. Father, into your hands we commend our spirit. We give ourselves into your hands. Lord, you cannot fail us. You will never fail us. The same spirit that raised Christ from the dead is now upon us. God, you will lift us. You will carry us. You will save our children, O God. Lord, you will bring us home. You will take us through battles. You will take us through the shame and mockery and trials that come to everyone who is on the side of eternity. God, having done all like the Apostle Paul, we will stand in the end and we will give glory to your name. We will honor your name. We will praise your name. Father, we thank you for this. We praise you for it in Jesus' mighty name. Bless the name of Jesus. Bless his holy name. Hallelujah. This is the conclusion of the message.