In this sermon, the preacher addresses the issue of profanity and the use of God's name in vain in everyday conversations. He emphasizes that these words are pervasive in society and can make one feel dirty and uncomfortable. The preacher also highlights the importance of staying true to one's beliefs and being different, even if it means facing persecution. He further explains that material possessions, partying, and worldly pleasures cannot fill the emptiness in one's heart, and that true happiness and fulfillment can only be found in a relationship with Jesus Christ. The sermon is based on a letter from Jesus to seven different classes of people, including backsliders, and emphasizes the need for repentance and returning to one's first love for God.

The message tonight that the Lord has put in my heart, someone's knocking at your door. I see people looking like, your heart's door. I said that because people were looking at the door over here. Someone's knocking at your door. Christian, will you pray? I've seen some people walk in right off the streets here tonight. You folks that have walked in here tonight, maybe haven't been in church, some of you, we had about five or six who've been sleeping down at the Port Authority bus station over here. I want you to know you're welcome here. And I want you to know, already because of the faithful work of some of you, we're taking one boy into teen challenge now. We're trying to make provisions for others. And God has done a work, there's been a lot of seed sowing. And I'm going to preach a message you'll understand. You'll not be able to leave here tonight saying, that was too deep for me, I didn't understand it. But first I want everybody, maybe some of you have never been in a meeting like this. You saw people raise their hands. You saw clocking and you felt a little strange. You're going to feel even more strange because the Holy Spirit, when he comes with the word, it's like a hammer and you feel a knife inside. He's trying to fill that emptiness, but that's the conviction of the Holy Spirit. And you'll feel it, you'll know it tonight because the Holy Spirit's here. We've got a lot of praying people who love and care about you. And then at the end I'm going to give an invitation, give you a chance to open your heart, and we'll take you to another room where we'll minister to you again, and you can give your life to Christ. Now you may sit there and say, David, preach what you want, I don't need it. Well, you'd be surprised how you'll change your mind when the Holy Spirit speaks to your heart. Everything's a bad place. Heavenly Father, I pray for the Holy Spirit to come down tonight in your precious loving way, that you would show people they need Holy Spirit. I need you tonight more than I've ever needed you in all my lifetime. This is the first evangelistic message, Lord, strictly for the lost and sinners that we've preached here, that I've preached in this place. It is the beginning, Lord, of many messages that will come forth right here from where I stand. Many, many souls will be saved. Many tears will be shed. Many lives will be changed in this house. Lord, thank you for having planted Times Square Church. Thank you already for those who've been saved from their sins. Now, Lord, send the Holy Spirit in a mighty way. Break through all the barriers. Break through everything in Jesus' name. Amen. If you have the Bible, you can turn to Revelation, the first chapter, and just leave the book of Revelation open in your lap. Some of you walked in here, you didn't bring a Bible. In fact, you didn't even anticipate being in a church tonight. But here you are. So I'll make it simple. You don't even have to have your Bible because I'll put it for you, and I'll make it very easy. Now, in the book of Revelation, and listen closely, in the book of Revelation, God's writing a letter. He's writing a letter to anyone who's ever been in any church in their lifetime. If you've ever been in a church in your lifetime, this letter is for you. Now, if you don't want God, if you hate Him, if you turn your back on God and say, I'm here just out of curiosity, I don't want God. Anything you say, the letter is not for you. It has nothing to say to you. But if you're sitting here tonight, even though you're cold and hard and you don't even understand, God has written a letter, and He gave it to Jesus, and it's such an important letter that Jesus dictated it to a prophet named John. And John was on an island. He was there because he had been prophesying the gospel of Jesus and the leadership, the hierarchy of the church threw him under the side and locked him up, and Jesus appears to him. And when Jesus appeared to John, the letter was so important to anyone who's ever been to a church. In fact, the letter is written to the churches. That's exactly what it's written. What I'll show you, write it in a book. Jesus appears to John, and He says, I'm going to show you something. I'm going to give you a letter from the heart of God, and I want you to write it down and send it to all the churches. And it's to the Times, it's to you, and it's to me. And Jesus appears, and John used to lay his head on his bosom, but now he doesn't recognize Jesus because Jesus is coming now in His holiness. And he's standing in front of John, and John doesn't even recognize him. The Bible says that he had a robe on, and he had a burden belt, or a girdle, a burden belt around him. That's his holiness. And the Bible said his hair was white, like wool, and his eyes were flames of fire, just like lightning shooting. He could see right through you. And the eyes of Jesus are here tonight too, and He just appears as He goes right through you. When Jesus comes to a meeting, like He's been here tonight and is here now when I'm preaching, it looks like, and it sounds like when the preacher is preaching, He's looking right through you. He sees everything that's inside of you, and sometimes it's like, who told Him about me? Who told Him how I'm living? That Jesus with His flaming eyes, and John saw it. And the Bible says John felt like a dead man at His feet. And John said, I fainted, I couldn't handle it. It was awesome. And the voice came and said, stand up, don't be afraid. Don't be afraid. And He said, I have the keys of life and death. Everything I write to you, everything I say to you, write it down and send it to the churches. And when He said, I have the keys of life and death, He said, this message is a life and death message. Now, the very fact that it's life and death, and I'm giving you this unto the Holy Spirit, what I'm giving to you is just as much life and death as the message when it was first given. It's a life and death message. In fact, your life may depend on how you respond to what God said in this letter. Now, this letter that was given by Jesus to John on this island includes seven messages. It's one letter with seven messages to seven classes of people. And if you believe in the truth of God's Word, then you're going to understand something about yourself tonight. In fact, I want to show you these seven different classes of people that Jesus is talking to. And it's all here. You don't have to turn to it. You Christians are familiar with it. First of all, there's a class called Backsliders. Have you ever heard of Backsliders? That's someone who once used to love the Lord, and now their heart has grown cold, and the Bible says they've left their first love. We've been preaching on these streets in the summertime, and we've met so many people that come up to us, and they say, I used to go to church. I used to love the Lord. Some of them were preachers. And now something's happened to them. The city got to them. Problems got to them. And now they're not walking with Jesus. The Bible says they left their first love. And so, Jesus wrote this letter from the heart of God, and all through the letter, the whole message is repent or else. Repent or else. And then it tells you what that or else is. And I'm going to tell you what that is tonight, because I'm giving you just what Jesus said. Now, it's not that I'm a great preacher. It's just that I believe God wants to make it so simple that if you were a child, you can't stand on the judgment day before Jesus and say, I went to church, but I didn't understand the preachers. They preached a message I didn't understand. You won't be able to say that after tonight. You see, some of you heard Jimmy Swaggart on television, or you've heard Billy Graham, and you've heard the truth, and maybe there was a time that you even went to church, you were involved, you loved Jesus, you loved the word of God, and you're sitting here tonight and your heart is cold. It's called backsliding. And the Holy Spirit in this letter says repent, or else I will remove even the remaining love. I'll take away what you already have. That little bit you have left, repent or you will completely grow cold and hard toward me. And that's the first message in this letter. Then there's another group of people here. In fact, those are called the Ephesian class of people. He names them after churches in Asia. There's another group called the poor, suffering believers. And this is a group they call the Smyrna class. And these are people who have been tested and tried, and they're working among blasphemers. They live and walk among blasphemers. Now, I know in this city, some of you work among those kind of people. You go to a job and you almost hate going to work because everybody around you is cursing. Everybody around you has an evil mouth. They talk evil. And I see that everywhere I go. I've heard so many Christians here in New York City. It's not just New York, but it's everywhere else. How do you live clean in the midst of all this? But Jesus has written a word of encouragement to all of these people, and He says don't be afraid in the midst of all this blasphemy. When everybody around you has gone crazy, everybody around you is blaspheming in the name of the Lord. Has there ever been a time you've heard so much cursing? I have never in my lifetime heard so many four-letter words. These sexual four-letter words. Have you ever heard a time in taxi camps, on subways, everywhere you go, that's all you hear? You hear it from businessmen. Some people can't even put four words together without using these. And it's almost like you feel dirty going to work, or just going in a cab going anywhere. And anymore I'm saying, hey, that's my Jesus you're talking about when they take God's name in vain. But you see, the Lord's concerned about people who have to work in that way. He wrote a letter to this class of people. He said don't be afraid. Stay true. Be different. Even if they throw you in jail for what you believe, be faithful to death. Until you die, don't quit. Stay true and I'll be with you. That's part of this letter. And I'm going through these pretty quickly because I want to get to the last class because that's where most sinners are tonight. There's another group called the compromisers, and he called that the programist class of people. These are those who use the name of Jesus and they don't deny the faith the Bible says, but there's mixed with them. And you see this in the church today. Somebody preaches bringing a mixture of the church, entertainment. I don't want to go to church where there's entertainment. Now, we heard some lively music, but they were not entertainers here tonight. These are young men and women who seek the face of God and there was uncertain anointing of the Holy Spirit. I don't want to go to church where there's rock and roll. I don't want to be a part of this mixture that's coming into the church. The prophet said you bring strangers into my house. And I don't want anything to do with that kind of mixture. I don't want anything to do. And he said repent or else I will come quickly and I'll fight against you with the sword of my mouth. And you know, I've taken a stand against the so-called Christian rock and roll that's creeping into the church. And really, if you're here tonight and you go to discos and you go to rock and roll, if you're a sinner, tell me the truth. Do you want to hear that same kind of music in church? Or do you want to come to church and hear music that touches your heart and moves you toward Jesus? Makes you want to see God. And I'll tell you, most Christians, our sinners know the difference. They come in and say, hey, I've got that in the world. Why would I come into church and get a cheap copy of it? And God says, I'll tell you what I'm going to do. I'm going to raise up a message against that kind of thing. And I'm going to prosecute and harass that kind of thing. That mixture. And I know Jimmy Swagger takes a stand. I mean, he thunders against all that kind of strangeness bringing into the church. I'd do the same thing. I don't think I'd do as good a job as Jimmy Swagger does. But once I get started, I get it said. And I feel like I'm about to say it again. But you know, I took a stand recently against some of that stuff. And I didn't name the man, but I named his soul. And so I knew who he was. And so he's going around the country saying, why are these prophets of God, why are these preachers persecuting us? And everywhere I go now, these rock and rollers are saying, why are you prosecuting us? And the prosperity preachers, why are you prosecuting us? Well, the Bible says, that's exactly what God says to the compromisers. Return or else I'll come quick and I'll fight against you with the sword in my mouth. I'll fight you. And God's going to fight it. I'm not in a fighting spirit. I'm not mad at people. I'm mad at the devil. I'm mad at the blindness that people and preachers can allow it. You hear somebody say, dear Lord, where's the discernment? Where's the discernment? And God is raising up more and more preachers with a holy backbone to stand up against this kind of thing, the compromisers, the pergamos kind of people. And that's what God's doing now. He's raising up a strong, strong message with men of God who don't compromise, who are not afraid. And God says, don't you be afraid or I'll confront you before their faces. Hallelujah. And I thank God for that kind of backbone. And I hope God's put that backbone in you. Hallelujah. Then there's another class called the proud ones, and that's the Thyatira class of people. And here's the kind of people, they're kind, they'll do anything, they're full of goodwill, they're full of charity. And I meet a lot of people like this. They say, hey look, I'm as good as any Christian. And really, you see them, they smile, they're very kind. I know so many people like this class here, they're called the Thyatira class. That was a church in Asia. And they will give anything they have to help you. I mean, they'll reach in their pocket, they'll go out of their way, but there's a kind of a pride in them. The Bible says they're very proud. In fact, it's called a Jezebel spirit. They have a Jezebel spirit. And Jezebel was that proud, arrogant woman who appeared to be one thing in public, but she was a seducer in private. And you can be sitting here tonight and say, I really don't believe I need any more than I have because I'm good. I'm really good. And you are! People like to be around you. You're not like those around you. You're not like the drug pushers. You're not like the alcoholics. You're a good person. And you know that because you look at them and you see and you say, Hey, I'm glad I'm not like that. But you see, the Bible would classify you as a Pharisee because the Pharisee said the same thing. He looked at himself and the Pharisees were good. They went about doing good and they kept the law and they'd go to church and they would get up and say, I thank God that I'm not like all of these dirty, filthy sinners around. And a lot of churches are full of these kinds. But then there was a man called a publican, the tax collector. He went to church and he wouldn't even hold up his head. He said, I'm just a dirty, filthy sinner. And the Bible said he'd smite his breast. And he said, I'm not worthy. And that's the one that God looked to. God overlooks all these proud and He goes to the one. If you're here tonight, you've got that kind of pride in you. God can't break that until you humble yourself before Him. And that's the Thyrotoric. And God says, I give you space to repent. I'm going to give you time. I'll give you some time to repent. He said, you have not known the depths of Satan. You've not gone down to the gutter. You're a good man. You're a good woman. You've not gone down. But God says, you've got to be broken just like the potter that breaks the clay to make it over into a vessel. You've got to be broken. And God's going to do that tonight for some of you. He's going to break your spirit because there's been pride there. Then there's a fifth class of people, and He called them the Sardis class of people. And those are the ones who are just about to give up. They've tried so hard, but the enemies come in. You have a name that you live, but you're really dead. You have a name that you live, but you're really dead. So He said, strengthen what remains, what's ready to die. And He says, hold on, repent. And there are some of you, look at me now, everyone in the building. There are some of you here tonight, you have fought so hard, and the enemies come in to throw everything against you, trying to destroy you. And this letter is for you. He says, strengthen what is left. Strengthen it. Move on, don't be afraid. And then, of course, the sixth class of people, that's the Philadelphia class of people. These are the ones that stayed holy, stayed pure, while everyone around them was backsliding. People were turning to sin and iniquity. You've kept My word, God said. You've not denied My name. So I'll keep you in the time of temptation. Listen, Christian, that's why I think it's so important that sinners be able to look at Christians and see an example, because they're encouraged that if God can keep you, He can keep me. He said, I'm going to keep you because you kept My word when everybody else was failing. I've just given you six classes of people to which this letter was written. Now, I want to get to the heart of my message now. And I want to zero in on the class of people that are going to be living in the last days. We are living in the last days. And the last day class of people, the Lord Jesus called Laodiceans. And this strictly means the last day people. The last day people are those that are here in this building tonight. You know we're all last day people. Something's about to happen in this world. The Lord said He's going to shake everything that can be shaken. You know the news right now says that everything is okay, that there's the least unemployment in all of history, in American history. The stock market is booming. But you know, all the things that God is going to do is going to come out of the Middle East. And that war will soon break out and it will flash out. The Bible says there's going to come a time that men are going to be so shaken by what they see happen to this earth, their hearts are going to fail them for fear of watching those things that are coming upon the earth. You know, you wake up one day, like we did the other day, we've got friends here from California, and you hear of an earthquake. And then today they had another five point earthquake. You wake up one day, and the news is there. You don't expect it. And He said, at the time you least expect it, then it's... This is what I see. Now, if you're here tonight, you say, Brother David, I'm not a Christian. I don't claim to be a Christian. But I'm telling you right now, God has told us all about you in the Word. He's exposed it. And I want it to you and see if you'll be honest enough to accept God's diagnosis of where you are. And as I speak now, it'll be... I'm not a psychiatrist. I'm not a psychologist. But you're going to see like a mirror. You're going to look at yourself, and you're going to hear something from God's Word now. Alright. Who are these Laodiceans? Who are these people that are going to appear... A whole class of people that are going to suddenly appear on the last day. And God describes in this letter... In fact, He warns us what they're going to be like. Let's find out if you're a Laodicean class. If you belong to this class of people. There are some Christians that are in this class also. First of all, the Bible says in this letter, it's in the first, second, and third chapter, mostly the second, third chapter of Revelation. You don't need to turn there, but I'll be quoting these Scriptures for you. First of all, they are afraid, the Scripture says, to get too religious, yet they don't want to be all bad. The Bible says they're neither hot, they're not completely cold, but they're what? They are lukewarm. They don't want to be too religious. They don't want to be too bad. They want to be somewhere in the middle. And they look at Christians and they'll say, it's okay for you. I see that everywhere it goes. It's okay for you to be a fanatic. It's alright for you to talk about Jesus. You're different. I can tell there's something about you that's just a little different. You smile when others don't. You're kind when others are not. And I see something different about you. I feel something different about you. And that's alright for you, but it's not for me. I don't need it because I'm really not bad. And it's probably true, you're probably a notch higher than those around you. There's no question about that. But God says, all your good works are filthy rags in my sight. You can be the best person on the face of the earth and die and go to hell. You can die and go to hell because you've never really heard the voice of Jesus speak to your heart. You've never received His Word. The Bible says that, you must understand, I believe this, that a junkie, a junkie out in the street stands a better chance of entering the kingdom of God than somebody who wants to be right down the middle. Not too religious, not too sinful. To be able to go home and say, I'm not a junkie, I don't push drugs, I'm not an alcoholic. But I don't want to be over-religious. I don't want to be orbital. I don't want to have to be reading the Bible all the time. I don't want to have to be praying. I just want to be myself. I don't want to hurt anybody. But let me tell you what God sees. He sees your heart. He looks at your heart and no matter how good you may be, let me examine your heart now. Here's what the Bible says. Know what I say. The Bible says your heart is wicked if God is not in all your thoughts. Your heart is a wicked heart. The wicked, through the pride of his appearance, will not seek after God. God is not in all of his thoughts. That's Psalms 10-4. You see, this person worries what people say. They keep up their appearance for appearance sake. The wicked, through the pride of his appearance, he won't give up his macho appearance. He won't give up his cool. He doesn't want to be numbered among the fanatics. He sees people coming into Times Square, or rather, Times Square Church, they see them coming in and say, good for you, but that's not for me. And you know what's in his thoughts? Sex, girls, money, sports, almost anything, but no God. And you know, the Bible says a man's heart is wicked if they go all day long in their waking hours and they never give a thought to God. I ask you, when you get up in the morning, what thought? Talking to the sinners. I'm talking to those who are not walking with Jesus. What do you think about? What about breakfast time and the rest of the day? What about lunch time and what about the rest of the day? You've got those 15, 16 hours that you're awake. Forget when you're sleeping. When you're awake, do you ever think of God? You say, well, I'm a good man. I don't need to be religious. I'm a good woman. But the Bible says your heart is wicked. Your heart is wicked if God is not in your thoughts. And the Bible says God is not in their thoughts all the day long. They spend a whole day. They go day after day, week after week, and God's not in their thoughts. And some of you here tonight, and you've been forced to have God in your thoughts because you're in the presence of God. And you must face God now. And maybe for the first time in weeks or months, God is face to face with you. And you can't think about your girlfriend, your boyfriend, or money, or sex, or anything else, or sports. You can't think about the Giants. You can't think about the Mets. You've got to think about God because He's facing you right now. The Bible says you have a wicked heart if you're not thinking about God. And one thing that most Christians do is that in every waking moment God's in his thoughts. You say, is that possible? Yes, every time. Sure, I think of other things, but as soon as I get away from it, automatically, like a magnet, I'm pulled right back to my Heavenly Father. I think about Him all the day long. I wake up with Him on my mind. You say, that's crazy? No, you may not understand that, but that's what gives you strength. That's what gives you power because He's always there on your mind. Hallelujah. The Bible says your heart is evil. You've got a wicked heart if you in private mock the righteous people. If you mock them. The Bible says, listen, the wicked privately shoot at the upright at heart. They shoot at them in their mind. They shoot these thoughts. And they're real nice to their face and say, hey, grace. Some even say, God bless you. But in their minds, they're shooting these thoughts. All Christians are hypocrites. I don't know a good one. I don't know anybody that is really honest. All television evangelists are crooks. Every preacher is after money. Inside he's laughing, he's poking fun. And the Bible said, that's the worst kind of evil heart. The worst kind of evil heart privately in your imagination. You are mocking, ridiculing Christians. And by the way, these young men that are here, they used to be, you know, used to call people holy rollers, didn't you? Used to make fun of them. Crazy Christians. Then you became one of them. That's the story. Everyone that's serving Jesus now has gone through that. The Bible says, you've got a wicked heart if you don't have the fear of God in it. Your heart's wicked. Listen, the wicked flatters himself in his own eyes. There's no fear of God before his eyes. There's no fear of God in his heart. They don't have faith. Listen, you know, God brought this Scripture to me the first time. You write it down. It's Deuteronomy 29, 19. Write it down. But look this way, please. The Bible warns that you can have peace in your heart. I used to think that if you had sin in your heart, if you had a wicked heart, and I used to go around witnessing to people, come to Jesus, He'll give you peace. Well, He does. But so does the devil. Just Deuteronomy 29. Peace. Though I walk in the stubbornness of my own heart, I will have peace. And you can be sitting here right now and say, David, I've got peace. I've got peace in my heart. I'm not afraid of God. I'm not afraid of going to hell. I'm not afraid of anything. And the Bible said that's what a wicked man says to his heart. He flatters himself that he's alright. He flatters himself. I'm going to make it. You know what he does? He just puts God out of mind. Doesn't even think about God. And the Bible says they walk around and say, I have peace. Though I walk in the stubbornness of my own heart. And I tell you right now, it's really not a peace, it's a stupor. It's just a blind stupor. It's like a drunk. When someone's drunk and he doesn't feel anything. I don't understand. I don't understand at all people who don't have the fear of God in their heart. I don't understand walking the streets and seeing people dying in sin and then they hear about the power of God that changed their life and they don't want to accept it. I don't understand that kind of blindness. I've never had that kind of blindness. I don't understand it. But it's a terrible kind of blindness and God wants to take that away from you tonight. And then the Bible says you've got a wicked heart if you look at Christians just to find sin in them to excuse your own sin. You look at Christians just to find fault in them so you can justify what you're doing. The Bible said the wicked watches the righteous and seeks to slay him. In other words, seeks to get an excuse for the way he lives. Listen, if you want an excuse to not serve Jesus, you can look at me real close. If you look long enough, you're going to find something that will give you a perfect alibi not to serve Jesus. And you can look to every Christian in this building tonight and you can find an excuse. Now, I try to live as modestly as I know how. I don't own the place I live. I rent an apartment and it's a nice apartment. But you see, my heart is not after that. If I know my heart, I don't want the riches of this world. But you can look at me, you can look at anyone and say, hey, look, they're all hypocrites and you keep looking and you keep looking and you're going to find something. And that's the devil to try to keep you from Jesus. Well, if you want an excuse, you look at PTL. Because if it's in your heart and that's what the Bible said, you've got a wicked heart. If you're just looking at Christians to find hypocrites, you'll find them all over the country. But I'll tell you what, for every hypocrite, I'll show you two that are still on fire for God and love Jesus and living true. You're just looking through the wrong eyes. You've got the wrong attitude. The tendency is to say, see, they're no better than I am. Why do I need Jesus? Why do I need that? They're not living any different life. No, that's true. There are a lot of hypocrites. It's true that you can look at a lot of Christians and you don't see Jesus in His power and fullness. But that is not an excuse. Now, see, God says you've got a wicked heart if these things are in your heart, if these things are there at work. Now, secondly, and listen closely now, this Laodicean kind of person that's living in the last days is so consumed with making it, so consumed with money, life to him is just getting ahead. It's just getting ahead. It's a money madness. The Bible says very clearly, here it is, He says, I am rich, I'm increased with goods, and I'm in need of nothing. And the original Greek in that, it means expectations. I expect to be rich. I expect to be increased with goods. And what they're saying is, I really don't need God. I don't need anything but more money. If you give me more money, if you give me a better job, if you let me make it, every need in my life will be met. Now, that's the philosophy that's sweeping New York City and the country today. Give me enough money and all my problems are solved. They say in their hearts, I'm going to be increased, I'm going to be rich, and I won't need anything else. And that's what it's saying here in this letter. God's saying that. Jesus wrote that down. He said to John, you tell these people in the last days, you tell them there's going to be a class of people just like that. Now, you tell me if there isn't a class of people like that today. Everywhere I go, it's an effort. I want to make it. Just let me make it and everything will be alright. And there's a money madness. And I'll tell you what, right now by the power of the Holy Ghost, I'm putting my finger on it because this letter from God is very clear. There's a generation that thinks to themselves that money is the answer to everything. We were in Poland for Crusades and that same thing was in Poland. We heard from thousands and thousands of Polish young people that came forward and many of them said, we've lived in poverty for so long. There's drunkenness in Poland. I love the Polish people. I love Poland. We hope to go back in a year or two for Crusades again. We had over 11,000 receive Christ, came up weeping and praying, seeking God. Many, many of them young people. You know, they were looking to America. They were looking for this flow of dollars. There was a kind of a saying going around. In fact, a comedian on radio and television said, the way to solve our problems, let's declare war on the United States and surrender the next day, let them send their dollars and take care of us. Declare war on America, surrender, you know, then we can get the lend-lease and the aid that comes. And how shocked I was, even among some ministers, to believe that the American dollars would solve everything. God's letter warns here, if you get hung up on making it, that's going to blind you to the reality. You're going to be spiritually poor. And God says in this letter, the most wretched people, He said you're not going to know that you're wretched, that you're miserable, that you're poor, that you're blind, you're looking for the wrong reality, you're looking for the wrong thing to make you happy. And I want you to know there's some things that money cannot buy. I was talking to someone not too long ago and in fact it was last summer, it was quite a while ago, last summer. And she lived up in Harlem and God bless her heart, she lived in one of the poorest areas. And she had a little light bulb that hung down in her crib to keep the rats away at night. And holes everywhere and roaches. You know if you've lived in New York here very long, so many, many apartments like that all over. This city, many, many poor suffering people. And she heard me speak along these lines and in essence it was this, hey, you give me all of that, I'll show you how to be happy. Give me a chance. I believe that every person has a right to a living wage. And my Bible says that God's going to judge those bosses, these money mad bosses that keep people from making a living wage. God's going to deal with them and you can be sure if you're sitting here tonight and you're working for somebody that's cheated you, they're going to stand before my holy God and they're going to answer one day and their day is coming. The Bible makes that clear. And every wage earner has a right to a living wage. And in these major cities, and folks, I tell you honestly, I'm for you making as much as it's possible for you to make. Absolutely make. God bless you and prosper you in every way. I wish that for you. But those that have been there, those who thought it could buy happiness, those who thought they could make it, it would change everything. It only compounded their misery. It only compounded their wretchedness. And then it blinded their eyes so they couldn't see. And then you go on a buying spree trying to buy happiness. And of all the things money can't buy, it can't buy happiness. The Bible says that it leads to a horrible situation and here it is. Now listen closely to me. The person who has their eye on the material, forgetting spiritual things, they forget their soul and they're only interested in their body. And I see it in this city, there's a greed, there's a money madness. And really, it's not just that. I think there's some people here tonight that live in New York. And your rent's going up. And the food costs are going up. And everything around them, there's pressure. And I'm just beginning to see that and beginning to feel it. Believe it or not, if you know me or anything about it, everyone of our group here, including myself, we also live from paycheck to paycheck. We can show you the books. We live from paycheck to paycheck like everybody else. But you see, there are people now, I'm not talking about that. I'm not talking about that burden that you have to make a living. And that need for more money. And I pray that God bless you and prosper you that you may be able to meet every need. God wants to meet your need. But I'm not talking about that. I'm talking about a spirit of greed and covetousness. And when you set your mind, according to what the scripture says here, you set your mind on making it, you set your mind on the money, and you try to put it all together for the future. And you forget God. The Bible says it's going to bring you to a critical place. And here's what it is. I'll read it to you. The wicked will bless the covetous whom the Lord hates. You'll start blessing the covetous man. You will look at a person who steals and you'll say, Hey, get it while you can. You will look at the Wall Street manipulators and say, Wow, they're smart. Get it while you can. You'll wind up looking at people getting rich, gamblers, everything else, and you'll say, So what? Everybody's out to make a buck. You'll be so perverted. You'll be so blind that every time you hear the man leaving $10,000 in a taxi and he doesn't find it, no one has enough honesty to return it, you'll say, Hey, wasn't that a lucky guy? Good for him. Wish it were me. You'll start blessing the covetous. You'll start blessing the gambler. You'll start blessing the man who cheats and takes shortcuts and gets rich. That's the whole American system now. The big heroes in America now are the cheaters and the gamblers who take shortcuts. We've lost our honesty, we've lost our righteousness, and now we bless the covetous, just like the Bible says. Am I telling you the truth? We're Christians like that. Get it while you can. You know what? I saw in Dallas, Texas, I used to live in Dallas before I moved here, and I saw on a Rolls Royce this model. You ever see those bumper stickers? Bumper sticker. And it says, He who dies with the most expensive toys wins. He who dies with the most expensive toys wins. And that's the American mindset right now. That's not the Christian mindset. That's the law-abiding mindset. That's the mindset of those who are going into the doctrines of prosperity. The Bible is against that kind of thing. I'm not saying that all those who preach it are going out after covetousness, but the whole thing is there. It's mine. It's my right. I'm going after it. I'm going to get it while I can. The Laodicean person is always trying to buy that happiness. I'll tell you what. Money can't buy happiness, and I'll tell you something else it can't buy. It can't buy anything to fill that emptiness that's in you. After you've been out to the party, and after you've spent Friday and Saturday night out with your friends, and you come home, you turn on the television, you sit, and you say, is this all there is to it? There's got to be more to life than this. Every person in this building that's not walking with Christ, I don't care what you tell me on the outside, on the inside, you know what it is to have a knot right down here. You know what it is to wake up and say, what's the use of getting up? It's just going to be another day. What's the use? Is this all there is to it? You get up and you're in a rut. You're in a terrible rut. And I'll tell you, all the money in the world making it is not going to fill that empty spot that's inside your heart. Nothing that you do, you'll try everything. You'll go on buying sprees. You think that... I know many people think, if I could just get this. I had an acquaintance who saved for 10 years. He wanted to get a red Cadillac Coupe de Ville. He saved and saved. He did everything he could. He got cash together. This was a few years ago and it cost about $12,000, $15,000. He goes into the Cadillac agency and he lays down $12,000 cash, red convertible, white top, white leather. He gets in that Cadillac and he's waited all these years to get this Cadillac. He thought that's the one thing that's going to make him happy. And he drives out and he goes down the block and he said, I waited for it. It's a good feeling to hit me. And he said, it didn't hit me. I felt sick. I drove another block next top light and I said, well maybe it'll hit me again another mile and it goes down about another mile and it stops. He said, there's a sickness in me. He said, I thought I'd be happy. He drove another mile and he kicked the tires. And he told me, he said, this should've made me happy. It's what I thought would make me happy. And he said, it's a pile of junk. Now I know some of you say, give me that Cadillac and I'll show you how to be happy. You get that big TV set, that big stereo going to make you happy? No. Or you might enjoy it for a while but that's not going to be the thing that makes you happy. You got friends, you say, well my happiness is in my friends. Yeah, as long as you've got a buck in your pocket. As long as you've got some booze in your bar, as long as you've got some drugs, as long as you've got something, you've got friends. But that product will run away. The Bible said, when he spent all his money, all his friends left him. Now, Christian friends don't do that. They stick with you. They don't want your money. They want your friendship. They want your love. They want to give love. But often, you say, don't knock my friends. I tell you what, where are they when you need them? When you're sick? Where are they when you've got that emptiness? When you can't sleep at night? They have their own problems. And by the way, what is all that going to do for you on the judgment day? When you stand before the judge? You stand before Jesus. Everything you've accumulated, everything you have, how much time is that going to buy you? When you stand before Jesus, the judge. The Bible says it's appointed on the man once to die, and after that, he stands before the judge. The judgment day. Now, suppose you make it big, really big, you've got no more worries. But suddenly, you wake up one day, you reach under your arm and it's a little lump. I'm thinking of a friend of mine. He was a publisher. And he was so wrapped up. He was a young man and he was doing his best and well-paid and really looking forward to little children. They wanted to publish one of my books. I still remember, he came into my motel room and he had just taken a shower. A young man. He says, I found a lump. He said, my father died with a cancer like this. In three months he was dead. And you get to thinking, all of this pushing and all of this struggling. And then suddenly you get up and there's a lump and it's all over. You know, the struggling to make it all over the city is going on right now. And then, somebody, the dear brother, gets up one morning and he's coughing. And he feels weak. And he looks in the mirror and he sees his face sunken a bit and he's losing weight. And he knows, he can feel something changing in his body. And his friend says, you ought to go to see a doctor. And he knows before he walks in that he's got a death sentence hanging on him. And the doctor gets back the report. AIDS. AIDS. When a man hears that AIDS, then what, what do you do then? Where do you go? You're still going to keep trying to make it? You still believe that money is the answer? No, because you're going to stand before God now. You know what I'd like to do? I would like, if I could, to, if we were able to go beyond the grave, or to be able to talk to Howard Hughes, one of the wealthiest men in the world. This man spent his lifetime accumulating all his wealthy goods, putting one great institution together, one conglomerate together after another. But something happens to that man, his friends start leaving him left and right. I don't know if you could only talk to Howard Hughes today. A man who dies without a friend. A man who dies, his cheeks sunken. A man living every moment of his life, scared to die. Ask Howard Hughes, that diseased, paranoid man who dies, weighing about 85 pounds, and only two people at his funeral. And you watch people fighting over his money now, if Howard Hughes were able to see it, and he saw how they're trying to tear about everything he spent a lifetime to build up. Everything falling apart. That great airplane, wooden airplane, is just decaying to pieces. Every part of his empire falling apart. You tell me if it pays. You can go to the Waldorf Restoria Hotel right now, and you go down 17 floors underground. That door opens and you wind around step after step. It's 17 floors down under the Waldorf Restoria here in New York. You know what you'll find? You'll find old private railroad cars. Very plush railroad cars that the Astors and the Rockefellers used to use. And all the rich people from New York City and Washington D.C. Franklin Delano Roosevelt had one of them. And they would bring the railroad car right into the basement of the Waldorf Restoria, and there was a elevator, and they'd go up to his suite. And if you were able to hear the voices talking from those boxcars, those old abandoned, dusting, rusty private cars that cost millions of dollars, you could hear them speak of the parties, the wine that sold for thousands of dollars a bottle, and the violinists that were strolling through the private parties, the chefs that were brought from France, the imported foods, the caviar, all of the parties, the private meeting with kings and princes down there. If those old cars could talk, what a story they would tell of a time of glitter, a time of riches, a time of parties, a time of money, wine, flying! They didn't even get an account of it! Fours! Diamonds! Where are they? Where are all those people? I'm going to stand before a judgment. I'm going to go down there. It's all rusting away. I'm trying to get permission to go down and see them sometime. I just want to go down there and see. And I know you can almost sense the death all around. Oh, God, it's dead! It's over! Yet we have people saying, I want to be rich and increased with goods. That's going to solve my problem. Go up here to the Dakota, up on West Side, and look at the entrance there where John Lennon came out one day. A young man takes a pistol and shoots him. If you could talk to him now. Hey, Joe, what was it like to be one of the most popular men in the history of the world? What was it like to have made it so big? What was it like to stand one day on British television and say, our popularity will last forever. We're going to outlast Christ. We're going to outlive Jesus. And all those millions of dollars, and all of those homes you own around the world, and all the private airplanes, and the meeting of kings and princes, and all the wealth, and all the fame and riches? John, what's it like now to be remembered with a strawberry patch in Central Park? And I'm not putting it down. I'm just saying, if these men could speak. They're dead and gone. They have to stand before a holy God. They have to stand before Jesus Christ. What about... Liberace spends a lifetime collecting all these cars, travels the world, spends so much time, all these antique pianos. What would Liberace say if he saw it now, and they're selling these things off so cheap? Would Liberace give everything he owned, if he'd had a chance before he died, to be given just five more years without age? Just five years? Maybe even one year? Would he have given everything he had, even for another month to live, without age, with health? Would he have given everything he had for health? I believe he would. And so you say, I want to make it. You see, in the midst of all of this, Jesus right here says, I stand at the door and I knock. Right while you're trying to make it, while all these things are going on in your heart, suddenly a message comes. Someone invites you to church tonight. You sit in the presence of Jesus. I'm not going to preach long, I'm not preaching down at you. But here you are tonight, listening to me speak. And the Bible says, Behold, I stand at the door and I knock. This is Jesus speaking. And if you hear my voice and you open the door, I'll come in to you right now. You know, that's what Jesus did to Saul of Tarsus. He came to him one day and he knocked. It was lightning that he knocked. I mean, he hit this man and knocked him down. Right off his horse. And the first thing he asked when he heard the knock, Who's there? That's what the Bible says. Who art thou, Lord? Let me tell you something. Jesus is knocking at the door of your heart tonight. And the least thing you can do is say, Is this really you, Jesus? Is that you knocking on my door? Is what I feel tonight, Is this reality? Is this something I've been looking for all my life? This knocking I'm talking about is a pull, It's a tug at your heart. It's something that says, Maybe it's right. Maybe it's true. Maybe Jesus is the one that I'm looking for. Maybe this is what it's all about. And you feel that tug and pull of your heart right now. The least you can do is not ignore him. The least you can do is say, Jesus, is this you knocking at my door? Do you really want to change me? Do you want to give me a new mind and a new heart? I want to tell you something. It's quiet here tonight. And it sounds dead, but it's not. This place is alive with the conviction of the Holy Spirit. And God's going to do something miraculous for some people here tonight. I'm looking up in the balcony. I feel drawn over to this area, Especially these two areas over here. Because I feel up there and some other places here. That you came in tonight. You didn't know what to expect. But you came in here. And Jesus spoke to your heart and he's knocking right now. Saying, I want to come into your heart. And I want to change you. I want to give you reality. And I want to break the power of sin in your life. And I'll give you my true peace. I'll make you a new man. I'll make you a new woman. I want every head bowed in this place right now. Everyone bow your heads. Christians, will you pray with me right now. That the Holy Spirit will speak to hearts. Heavenly Father, There are people that came tonight. Here to Town Hall. That didn't know what to expect. But Holy Spirit, you spoke to them right now. You said tonight, I'm knocking. It's me. I've knocked before and you've turned me away. But I'm knocking tonight. And I'm saying, don't turn me away. Open the door. And I'll come in. I'll come in. And I'll sit down with you. And I'll share my heart with you. I'll turn your life around. I'll satisfy that hunger in your heart. I'll fill that empty place in you. I'll be everything to you. I'll be what you need. It's not money you need. That's not what you need. You don't need to make it. You need me, Jesus says. You need me. I'm the answer. Now, I'd like to pray for you. And wherever you're at in this building. I want you to be honest. Because while I'm talking, That little pool you fill with your heart. That's Jesus saying, Tonight, don't turn me away. I need you. I want you. If you want a miracle in your life, And say, David, And by the way, I believe there's some people here tonight That used to know Christ. You've turned your back. You've gone so far away from God. And the Lord brought you here tonight. God brought you here tonight. He brought you here to change you. To bring you back to His love. If you're here tonight, You say, David, I've never really opened my heart to Jesus Christ. But I want to open my heart. I want you to... Jesus said... You know what Jesus said? If you're ashamed to confess me before men, I'll be ashamed of you before my Father And all the angels of heaven. But if you confess me before men, I'll confess you before my Father And all the angels of heaven. Right now. Being honest. Without being afraid. Without being embarrassed. Because God's here by His Spirit. Say, David, please pray for me. I hear Jesus knocking at my door. And I want to open up. And I want to do it tonight. I want you to stand. Your feet. I just want you to stand up. And don't be ashamed. Don't be afraid of Jesus. Don't be ashamed to say, Down here on the main floor. That's it. And up on the balcony. You just stand up and say, David, pray for me. I need a miracle in my life. That's it. Just keep standing. Wherever you're at.