In this sermon, the preacher discusses the four benefits that come to those who truly repent. He emphasizes the importance of acknowledging sin, confessing it, making restitution, and experiencing the miraculous work of God. The preacher uses the example of Daniel to illustrate how repentance opens the ears, eyes, and understanding to receive divine revelation. He also highlights the direct line of communication with God that is established when one repents and makes things right. The sermon concludes with a call to be totally repentant and open before God, allowing His wonderful favors and benefits to pour into one's life.

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, Post Office Box 260, Lindale, Texas, 75771, or by calling 903-963-8626. None of these messages are copyrighted, and you are welcome to make copies for free distribution to friends. Lord, we come against every principality and power of darkness. We bind every power of hell and darkness and the principalities and powers that would come to rob us of truth. Lord, we thank you for what we've heard today, and we ask now to cap it tonight. Lord, change us through the Word. I want to be changed by what I preach, and I want everybody here to be changed by what they hear. In Jesus' name, amen. Amen. The marvelous benefits of repentance. Now, in my message tonight, I want to accomplish two things. I want to talk to you about what is required in repentance, and then I want to talk to you about the marvelous benefits when you do repent. Folks, the longer I walk with Jesus, the more I'm convinced that repentance is not just for sinners. It's for saints. It's for God's people, and it's a way of life. It's not one act. It's something that you do over and over. You die daily. You repent daily. I believe that with all my heart. Now, I hope to prove to you tonight that a Christian who maintains a repentant attitude brings on their life the favor and blessing of God. Incredible blessings of God. It just opens something that nothing else in your life could open. No other thing you could do could open up this blessing as this life of repentance. A repentant heart is one that's soft. It's easily pliable. A repentant heart is one that loves reproof and acts on reproof, and this tenderness, this something. He talked this morning about being moldable, how the repentant heart is easily molded by the Holy Spirit, and we want to deal with that somewhat tonight. Now, before I show you the marvelous benefits of repentance, let me show you what I believe is absolutely necessary for you and I to obtain a repentant heart. Now, I know most of you listening to me tonight would say, Brother Dave, that's what I want. I want a repentant heart. I don't want a hard heart. I want a soft, malleable heart. I want something from the Lord in the way of brokenness and contriteness. And let me tell you what I believe is absolutely foundational, and if you don't have this, there's no way you'll ever obtain or have a repentant heart. The number one characteristic of a repentant heart is a readiness to acknowledge guilt, a readiness to accept blame for every bit of wrongdoing in your life, to accept guilt, to accept wrongdoing and say, I am the one I have sinned. If there is no admitting to sin, there can be no godly sorrow and no repentance, because godly sorrow works or leads to repentance not to be repented of. If you're not going to acknowledge you're wrong, you don't need repentance. You have removed yourself from any possibility of being repentant or having a repentant heart, because you see yourself as having done no wrong in the sight of God. Pilate, remember, is about to turn Jesus over to the murderous priest and elders, and he looks at the rat that's about to break out, and his heart smites him, and so he calls for a basin of water, and he dips his hand in the water, and he absolves himself before the crowd. My hands are clean. Listen to what it says. When Pilate saw that he could prevail nothing, but rather that a riot was being made, he took water and washed his hands before the multitude, and he said, I am innocent of the blood of this just person. See to it. See to it. In other words, I want you people to understand, Pilate said, that I washed my hands of this. I am not guilty. I have nothing to do with this man. My hands are clean. Now, of course, his hands were not clean. He was about to betray the very son of the living God, but he said, I want you from now on, when you think of this man and his death, I have nothing to do with it. I am clean. I have nothing to do. I washed my hands. If you had sent a prophet to that man, Pilate, the next day and said, repent or perish, he would have looked hurt and astounded. What do you mean repent? I have done nothing wrong. I washed my hands of it. I am clean, absolutely clean. See to it. Now, this kind of thinking removes you and it removes me from any possibility of walking in repentance. John said, if a man say, or if we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar and the word is not in us. Now, folks, let me tell you what I have seen in my lifetime. My father is a preacher. My grandfather is a preacher. I was born and raised in Pentecost. I have seen more church splits and troubles, probably, than any preacher my age, because I have traveled a lot. I have seen case and I think of at least two churches in particular, one in Texas and one in Pennsylvania, and they split right down the middle. Pastor got tired of all the foolishness and the pastor quits. And so one group goes over here a mile away and starts another church. And these two factions, these two groups make themselves enemies to one another. And it's amazing thing when you listen to them. It's absolutely incredible because nobody's to blame. This group over here says, well, we are right. And this group over here moves over and says, no, we are right. This group is saying they are enemy. This group, they are our enemy. And amazing thing, they're all in Proverbs. They're all in Psalms and they're all reading the same scripture and all taking comfort out of it. And then they're saying, well, you just wait. When God starts judging, they start dropping dead left and right. Then they'll know I'm right. And then so somebody over here dies and they say, well, you see, we're right. But then somebody over here dies. And so it goes on for years. I have been in cities where these two churches. Now, God never does bless any of them because they're all under the wrath of God because they are all full of gossip. They're full of everything else, but nobody's to blame. And they go for years. Their families are in trouble. They go there, everything and they're split because nobody is saying, I'm the one who needs prayer. I'm the one who needs to be dealt with. Everybody's washing their hands in the basin. Nobody wants to admit they're wrong. The truth is they were all wrong in these cases. Now, the prophet Malachi was absolutely shocked and grieved. I want you to go to, uh, no, I'll tell you, you don't have to go to Malachi. I'll take you. I'm going to take a lot of scriptures, but we won't go to Malachi. But let me talk to you about the shock and the grief of this prophet Malachi. He's grieved by the absolute spiritual blindness of God's people of his time. He was sent by God to reprove them. He had this strong message of Lord. And when he came forth, in fact, there are at least four occasions in Malachi where the prophet comes forth before God's people. And he said, look, you have sinned and they are absolutely in mock innocence. What are you talking about? Couldn't be. He cried out. You people have profaned the holiness of the Lord. You know how to weep and cover the altar with your tears. You still sacrifice. You go through all the religious activities, but God is rejecting it all because you have sinned. And the answer was, but why, what are you talking about? What have we done wrong? They had been divorcing their wives and marrying heathen wives. All they had to do was spit in their wife's face and divorce her. And they were divorcing their wives left and right, going to the altar, covering it with tears, going through all the religious activities. And yet their hearts were full of sin. They had rebelled against God. And the prophet comes to them with a clear message and they know in their heart they're wrong. And they said, but why, what have we done? We've done nothing wrong. The prophet comes to them again the second time and they look, they, they, uh, he said, you have wearied the Lord with your words. You're saying things that have absolutely shocked and wearied the Lord and in shock and mock innocence. They said, but how, what have we done? Impossible. And again, the prophet comes to them and they said, well, I don't know what you're talking about. I am, you're innocent. And here the prophet says, you say everyone that doeth evil is great in the sight of the Lord. And he delighteth in them. Or where is the God of judgment? In other words, these people had been encouraging the evil people in the congregation that had been encouraged them in their talk, encouraged them in their walk when there was sin in their life. And they were saying, judgment is not going to come upon you. There's no judgment for you. And they were putting people at ease. They were taking away the very thread of God's wrath and judgment that had came through all the prophets. And they were trying to blunt the message of the prophets. And they were saying, well, what have we done? What have we done? They were calling the wicked righteous, evil, good, and good evil. And they knew it, but they were so blinded. They're absolutely blinded and they're striking their shoulders and what have I done? What have we done? He comes back to them again the third time. And the prophet says, you have robbed God. And they said, how? What are you talking about robbing God? He said, in your tithes and offerings. He said, you just bring the garbage to the Lord. You bring the lame and the blind and the whole, but you don't give the tithe and offerings that belong to God. You are robbing God. And they're going around saying, what are you talking about? Finally, this prophet gives up because they do not hear the word finally settles down in the last chapter of Malachi to a holy remnant that are hearing the word of God. Just a small remnant that were moved by the spirit of God and God dealt with them and they received the reproof and God moved upon them mightily and gave them great blessing. How different David's attitude was. David, he continually searched his heart and he was, he was so quick to say, it's me, Lord, standing in need of prayer. Psalm 32, 15. I acknowledge my sin under the, my iniquity have I not hidden. I said, I will confess my transgressions under the Lord and thou forgave us the iniquity of my sin. Psalm 51, three, for I acknowledge my transgression and my sin is ever before me against the only have I sinned and done this evil in thy sight. That's a repentant heart. A repentant heart's not trying to make things right with the person they've wronged as much as they're making things right with God. When you get things right with God, you will get right with your brother or your sister. It's God that's been sinned again. It's not man, it's God. And see, when people come, you say, I apologize. An apology is what you give to man. Repentance is what you give to God. David said, I acknowledge my sin is ever before me. I don't try to justify it. I don't try to, to, to get away from it. I admit it quickly. I've sinned. It's me. David believed in heart searchings to dig out the sin. He said, search me, oh God. Know my heart. Try me, know my thoughts and see if there be any wicked way in me and lead me to life everlasting. He went to the lamp. He went to the light. He went to the Holy Ghost, opened up his eyes and said, God, turn the light on. Holy Ghost come and search every corner of my life. If I've said anything, done anything, if I've sinned against you and I don't even know about it, reveal it to me. That's a repentant heart. God opened me up to the Holy Ghost. Hallelujah. I keep wanting to be a nice, quiet preacher and I get louder and louder. Jeremiah 17.10, I, the Lord, search the heart. I test the emotions even to repay every man according to his ways and according to the fruit of his doings. Isaiah said, for our transgressions are multiplied before thee and our sins testify against us, for our transgressions are with us and as for our iniquities, we know about them. As for our iniquities, we know what they are, the prophet says. We know when we sin. We know when we say the wrong thing. We know when we gossip. We know when we slander or talk about or hear. We know. God knows and we know it. As for our iniquities, we know them. What were these known transgressions according to Isaiah 59.13? Lying against the Lord, departing from the Lord, speaking oppression and speaking rebellion, conceiving and uttering from the heart words of falsehood, uttering from the heart. I want to stop right here and talk to you about uttering falsehood from the heart, because there are people who believe they can utter almost anything as long as they're sincere. Well, it may not be what others think, but I believe it's true, so I have a right to say it, because I believe it to be true, even though they don't know anything about it. It must be true, so I believe it, because I don't mean any harm by it. You know, there are people who can shoot an arrow and almost kill you and put a knife in your back, and I didn't mean it, because out of the heart, you know, just I feel it. It's my heart, my heart. They utter out of the heart, out of what is supposed to be sincerity, out of a sincere heart. They offer this and the Bible says they are uttering from the heart words of falsehood. It's truth, but it's truth that's fallen to the ground and trampled on in the mud. It's truth that's fallen. He said, well, I thought you were going to... this is a healing message, is it? Yes. 1 Samuel 2, 3. Talk no more, so exceedingly proud. Let not arrogance come out of your mouth, for the Lord is a God of knowledge, and by him all actions are weighed. Folks, listen to me. Here's what keeps my mouth shut. See, I'm not interested in just making it through until the judgment day. I'm not interested in just trying to make it through and pleasing man and having man's applause. I'm trying to make it through the judgment seat. I want to make it through the judgment. I want to wake up every day and go to bed at night knowing that I'm going to stand one day before the judgment seat of Jesus Christ, and he's going to look his burning eyes into my soul. Folks, that's what I'm counting on. That's what I'm working on in my heart, not just to please the congregation. I've got to please Jesus, and I've got to stand before the judgment seat and give an account of every word that I've spoken. That's scary, folks. Hallelujah. You still with me? Now, those whom God uses are very sensitive to their sins. Hear it? I'll say it again. Those whom God really uses, men and women of God who really use and who are pillars in the church are those who are very sensitive when they sin. They don't cover it. They're very sensitive, and they grieve not only over their own sin, but they grieve over the sin in the body. They grieve over the sin in the church. Ezra was a godly man, and I want you to go to Ezra, because I want to show you some things in Ezra. Go to Ezra, if you will, please. If you get to Nehemiah, turn left. You've gone too far. And if you're in 2 Chronicles, go right. It's right between 2 Chronicles and Nehemiah. And I want you to go to the 10th chapter. And as soon as you get it, look back up this way, if you will, please. Ezra, the 10th chapter. Folks, listen to me, please. Ezra is a godly man, and you know that he loved the law of God. He was a scribe. This man was a prayer warrior. This man was a righteous man. He walked circumspectly before God, and you would say there's no way that this man would need repentance himself. Godly man. He looks at the compromise among God's people, and there's filthiness in the camp, there's idolatry, there's uncleanness, there are mixed marriages, and it breaks his heart. It's not his own sin, but he comes to Jerusalem, and he sees how they've broken the laws of God, and there's filthiness and degradation all around. And he doesn't walk around saying, I'm clean. He doesn't walk around saying, well, I know my heart. I've done nothing wrong. And I mean, everybody may be backsliding around me, but not me. I am going on with God. He didn't say that. I want you to look at the first verse, chapter 10. Now, when Ezra had prayed, and when he had confessed, confessed what? This man's a righteous man, but he's repenting. When he had confessed, weeping and casting himself down before the house of God, there assembled unto him out of Israel a very great congregation of men and women and children, for the people wept very sore. I want you to look now at verse 6. Then Ezra rose from before the house of God and went into the chamber of Johanan. And when he came thither, he did eat no bread nor drink water, for he mourned because of the transgression of them that had been carried away. In verse 1, chapter 10, he's confessing. He is confessing not only his weakness, he's confessing the sins of the whole body. He said, oh God, we have sinned. I don't ever like to hear a preacher stand up and say, you people, you people. I don't like to hear that. I like to hear preachers say, we, we. God help me, that's the way I want to preach, we. And identify with the sins that are in the house or in the camp of God. And that's exactly what we see this man doing. Go back to chapter 9. Begin with verse 3. And when I heard this thing, in verse 2, they'd taken daughters from themselves and sons, and the holy seed had been mingled, and they had trespassed grievances against the Lord. And when I heard this thing, I rent my garment and my mantle, and I plucked off the hair of my head and my beard. Boy, that sounds very hurtful. He plucked off his hair and his beard, and he said, confounded or astounded, then were assembled unto me everyone that trembled at the words of the God of Israel, because of the transgression of those that had been carried away. And I sat astonished until the evening sacrifice. And at the evening sacrifice, I rose up from my heaviness, having rent my garment and my mantle, I fell upon my knees and spread out my hands unto the Lord my God, and said, oh my God, I'm ashamed and blushed to lift up my face to Thee, my God, for my, for our iniquities. See, here's a godly man, and he's saying, Lord, we have sinned, and for our iniquities, our iniquities are increased over our head, and our trespass has grown up into the heavens. Look at me. That's repentance. We have sinned. We have fallen short of the glory of God. Folks, when you quit pointing your finger at somebody else, and you can look inside, and you really repent before the Lord, then when you see sin around you, you don't point your finger. Now, pastors have to correct. There is a place for correction and reproof. And God says that very clearly. They that sin rebuke before all that others may fear. There's a place for godly rebuke. But friends, in the sheepfold, among the sheep, listen to me closely. When you see a brother or sister caught in sin, the Bible said when one member of the body hurts, we all hurt. We all hurt. And it should be that you would grieve over it, and go to that person if you could, and try to heal and restore. But here's this prophet of God, who had divorced his wife. He was not living in idolatry. This man was broken before God, because sin had broken out in the house of God. This man is mourning. He's weeping. He's feeling the compassion of it, feeling the hurt of it. Folks, do you take it that serious? Do you take it that serious? I talked to the youth choir here before the service this afternoon, and I heard one young lady talk about how she said, I'm so grieved over my own sin that I have no time for anybody else. Or not time, but I'm not concerned about the sins of others right now, as I am about my own sin. And that's good. That's where we begin. That's where repentance starts. I want you to go to Daniel. You see it more clearly. And here's how in Daniel we're going to find the benefits, the glorious benefits of repentance. We'll get into that in just a moment. I want you to go to Daniel, the ninth chapter. How many know that Daniel was the righteous man who prayed, and prayed, and prayed? This man was willing to give his life. This man was so righteous that the lions wouldn't eat him. But Daniel's heart was so sensitive to sin that grieved God, he identified with the horrible sins of Israel. And every once you hear Daniel pray, God, they've sinned! Your people have sinned! Now let's know what you're going to hear. Ninth chapter, beginning in verse 3. And I set my face unto the Lord God to seek by prayer and supplication with fasting and sackcloth and ashes. And I prayed unto the Lord my God and made my confession. Whose confession? My confession. Folks, I have a feeling if I had been there, and I knelt by Daniel, and I leaned over and I said, I hear you confess your sin. What'd you do? He wouldn't talk about adultery. He wouldn't talk about idolatry. He wouldn't talk about these things. But this man is so sensitive. He's so open that even the sins around him, he takes it. He takes it in his own heart. He said, these are my people. This is my body. I'm guilty, just as guilty. And he's confessing. Look at it again. Verse 4. And I prayed unto the Lord my God and made my confession and said, O Lord, the great and dreadful God, keeping the covenant mercy to them that love him, to them that keep his covenant. Who has sinned? Who sinned? We have sinned and have committed iniquity and have done wickedly and have rebelled, even by departing from the precepts and from the judgment. Neither have we hearkened unto thy servants, the prophets, which spoke in thy name to our kings, our princes, and our fathers, and to all the people of the land. Verse 8. O Lord, to us belongeth confusion of face. He's saying this confusion. He said, we're all under this. Every one of us is being affected. O Lord, to us belongs confusion of face, to our kings, our princes, our fathers, because we have sinned against thee. To the Lord, our God, belong mercies and forgiveness, though we've bailed against him. Neither have we obeyed the voice of the Lord our God to walk in his laws, which he set before us by his servants, the prophets. Do you see it, folks? I said, do you see it? Verse 9-20. Look at verse 20. And whilst I was speaking and praying and confessing, who sinned? And the sin of my people, Israel, and presenting my supplication before the Lord my God for the holy mountain of my God. There's the key. He goes to God. He said, O God, deal with me while you're dealing with the people. God, if there's any iniquity in my heart, bring it out, show it to me. Confessing my sins, our sins, our transgressions, because we obeyed not. Folks, look at me, please. The Lord really brought this home to me last few weeks. A few weeks ago, word had come to me of a very slanderous thing had been said about me, terrible, just cut my heart. I cried for a week. It was awful. And about a week or so later, I was sitting with a Christian friend of mine, a brother, and I was telling him, I said, and I named the person, I said, I have been slandered, absolutely slandered, and it's a life in the pit of hell, and it hurts, it cuts to the gut, and I named everything that individual had said about me. And I went home, and the Spirit of God came on me. I mean, literally came upon me and said, David, what's the difference? Because what you did, and what that person did to you, you slandered. You're talking to someone about how you were slandered, and talking about it, you slandered that individual. And boy, I replayed it in my mind, and I said, that's right, because I've told that other person that this person is a slanderer, and everything that was said to me in private, I repeated it, and I planted in that person that same thing. I got a call in my office, I think it was Thursday, from a pastor in the Midwest, and he said, I know you know Evangelist so-and-so, and this Evangelist is also a friend of mine, just had this Evangelist in my church, and I have to tell you, Brother Dave, I'm concerned, and I'm calling you to enlist you in prayer. He said, this Evangelist has lost the anointing, totally lost the anointing. Losing weight, lost 10-15 pounds. He said, and I think I know why this Evangelist has lost this weight, because there's a lady in our town, a couple in our town, and I think she's a witch, and I think this Evangelist is under a spell of this witch, a Jezebel spirit, a witch spirit. And it had already been planted in my mind, and the Spirit of God came on me while I was on the phone with that pastor, and suddenly I realized, I am listening to outright slander. I am listening to gossip. I have no right to know, and I stopped the man right there. I said, I'm sorry, Brother, stop it. Don't say another word. I don't know, because if I were to probably talk to that Evangelist, that Evangelist would say, well, I know these people, and these people, she is not a witch, she's a godly person, and that's something that's been slandered, and said, and folks, I'm going to tell you, that was planted in my spirit, and though I stopped the man, I went home, and it was played and replayed in my heart. That evil thing was planted in my spirit. This is the end of side one. You may now turn the tape over to side two. Fighting against it in the name of the Lord. Been praying for that Evangelist, but an evil seed had been planted in my heart, so that when I picture that Evangelist, all I see is a witch whispering in the ear. Now folks, let me tell you something, the danger, the absolute danger of being a person who plants that kind of stuff, because I know the hurt I feel right now of having that evil thing planted in my spirit, and I hate it, and I'm asking God to get it out, and the way it comes out is to pray for that Evangelist, just to pray, and to love. But God's really been dealing with my heart, saying, oh God, if I'm going to preach against slander. Now folks, I don't know, it's an incredible thing. Denny Deron comes here, and he preaches against gossip. Brother Zulu's, brother Zulu's, the men from Zululand come and preach against gossip and slander. Folks, evidently, before you can have revival, you have to get rid of all the slander and the gossip. Do you have something of poison in your system? It's got to come out, folks. God has to pluck it by the Holy Spirit, and the way you do it, you pray for the one that has been slandered, till you pray for that individual, till you're so full of love for them, that that will wash all of that garbage out. Hallelujah. He's been teaching me. So I have repented before the Lord, and God's been showing me how careful we have to be. Well, I'll tell you, anymore, every telephone call, I've got my guard up. I mean, I've got it up everywhere. I had a man come to me the other night after service. He heard Brother Carter's message on Tuesday night. He's been very sensitive to the Holy Spirit, and he told me he'd come to this church from another church. And while he was in this church, he bad-mouthed his old church here in this congregation. I don't know who, but he said he bad-mouthed it. And God convicted him, and he confessed and repented, because he'd been living in misery, he said. You can't live in anything but misery if you're a gossiper. If you bad-mouth, you're going to live in misery, because you're a part of the congregation of the dead, the Bible says. Spiritual dead. And he got it out, and the Lord was healing him. But he just had received a call from a brother, who was from that church, and still, though he's going to church, is still bad-mouthing the church. And he said, I know if he comes to my house for supper, he's going to talk, and I don't want to hear it. I said, you know what to do. You call the man and say, I'm sorry, you don't come to my house again until you're over this. I don't ever again want to hear any bad-mouthing about that church. I don't go there, but that's not my business anymore. I'm going to leave it alone. Folks, if you came here from another church, God help you if you bad-mouth that church. That's just as bad if you bad-mouth the pastors here. In this church, where you attend right now, God won't allow it against anybody. He won't allow me to do it. He won't allow you to do it. He doesn't allow any of us to do it. I'm not going until you smile at me, so I'm sure you're not mad at me. Let's get to the good part. If you acknowledge your sin, you become sensitive, so God, examine me. And you make your wrongs right. You make restitution. It's not enough to go to somebody and say, well now, if I've hurt you, if I've hurt you, I don't ever want anybody to come to me and say, if I hurt you, Brother Dave. Why would they come even think about it, unless there was something there? Spill it out. Tell me exactly what you did, what you said, when you said it, and do you said it, and make it right, and make restitution. I've been doing that left and right. I've been making telephone calls all over the United States. My I'm going to give you four wonderful benefits that are given in favor that are given to those who truly repent. Folks, you acknowledge your sin, you confess it, you make restitution, and God suddenly begins to do the miraculous. How many want to know what these four things are? Only a of you? I said, how many want to know what these four benefits are? These are all of the favor of Almighty God, and folks, these things that happened to Daniel as a result of his confession, and his heartfelt repentance, God did something for Daniel, and he said, these things are examples given to us upon whom the ends of the world have come. Everything that happened to Daniel is an example of how God will work with us if we repent. Do you understand that? All right, let's go to Daniel, the 10th chapter, and I want to show you the first benefit you get when you truly acknowledge your sin, and repent, and make things right. Number one benefit, a clear and new vision of Jesus, a new and clear vision of Jesus Christ. Look at verse 5, then I, this is after repentance, then I lifted up my eyes and looked, and behold, a certain man clothed in linen, whose loins were girded with the gold of Euphrates. His body, oh, who do you think this is? It's Jesus. His body also is like the burl, and his face is the appearance of lightning, and his eyes as lamps of fire, and his arms and his feet like in color to polish brass, and the voice of his words like the voice of a multitude. And I, Daniel, alone saw the vision, for the men that were with me saw not the vision, but a great quaking fell upon them, so that they fled to hide themselves. Therefore, I was left alone. Now look at me, please. What a wonderful picture, what a wonderful benefit the Holy Ghost opens to you and me when we have confessed our sins, made restitution. This is what happens, a clear and clouded vision of Jesus Christ in all of his glory. He's standing there, and while every, now Daniel, you know that Daniel walked with good men. Now I'm not saying these, this, this is not Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, but there were other good men that Daniel, would not walk with any unrighteous person, I'm sure. But you see, Daniel had that special repentant heart. I don't know if these that walked with him had that kind of repentance or not, but we know what Daniel's heart was like. And knowing his heart, Daniel alone gets the vision, Daniel alone. All those around him saw nothing of the vision. There's Jesus standing right before them. They don't see anything. Daniel's eyes are open, and they're right in front of him. He's not praying for that vision. All he's doing is repenting. He's obeying the Lord. He's walking in righteousness, and he has totally repented. He's mourning for sin, and Jesus takes it upon himself to come to him with a revelation. And it's a wonderful revelation. He sees him all his glory. He's not seeing just his face. He sees his eyes. He sees his feet. He sees the whole picture. But those around him see nothing. In fact, they are quaking. They are shaking in their boots, and they run and hide. Now folks, that's the number one glorious benefit of walking in repentance, that you see such a clear vision of Jesus. You see him in his holiness, in his righteousness, and there's such a purity that comes out of that vision. And you never again, because you've repented, you don't have to run and hide anywhere. You don't run and hide from a prophet, no matter how straight he preaches. You don't have to hide because there's nothing hidden in your life. You're an open book. There's no dark place. You can stand before the flaming eyes of Jesus Christ and receive the revelation of his holiness, his righteousness, and his beauty, and where everybody else is running and hiding because of sin, you stand before him and get to vision. Hallelujah. Oh folks, what's happening down at our Bible school in Pennsylvania, down there, those young people, those young men, and we're hearing some of them preach from this pulpit, they've only been saved a few years, but oh, what's happening, they've become so repentant before the Lord, dealing with the sins in their life, digging out, allowing the Holy Ghost to dig out all the garbage and all the filth, sanctifying them. And with that comes an intimacy and a vision of Jesus Christ and all his glory, and they're standing strong because the righteous are as bold as a lion. And I heard the voice of his words. You hear his voice, you get direction. Hallelujah. No way he's going to stand before you deaf and dumb. No way. You're going to hear his voice, and you're going to turn around, look for all your friends, all those around you, and they're not there because they don't see what you see, they don't hear what you hear. Glory to God. Some of you sitting here now getting such a fresh vision of Jesus, you have repented, you have allowed the Holy Ghost to dig deep into your heart, you're seeing Jesus like you never saw him before in your life. He's not just a historical figure right now, he's your very life. You get up in the morning, say, Jesus, you're my life. You're everything. You're not just a part of me, you're my whole life. That comes, discernment, his voice. Hallelujah. Second benefit, the removal of all fear. Total removal of all fear. Verse 10, and I behold, and behold a hand touched me, which set me upon my knees and upon the palms of my hands. And he said unto me, O Daniel, a man greatly beloved, understand the words that I speak unto thee, and stand upright, for now I am, for unto thee I am now sent. And when he had spoken these words unto me, I stood trembling. Now folks, you show me a Christian who acknowledges their sin. No, show me a Christian that doesn't acknowledge their sin. Show me somebody that says, I've done nothing wrong, my hands are clean. Show me somebody like that, and I'll show you somebody that has a false piety. I'll show you somebody that has a facade in front of them, and they'll go about smiling, and acting so righteous, and so holy, everything's fine. I sleep good at night, everything's fine. The Bible said they'll have peace, though they walk in the iniquity of their own hearts. They say, I have peace. But it's a facade, because the Bible makes it very, very clear that if a man hides his sin, first of all, he doesn't prosper. If he hides his sin, the Spirit of the Lord is lifted from him. And the Bible said there's nothing but tossing of the waves. There's nothing but restlessness. And people can tell you, oh, I sleep like a baby, because everything is all right. But if they're covering sin, if they're covering rebellion, whatever it may be, if there's a hidden sin, if there's something in the life that's not brought out, believe me, folks, that is just a cover, that's a facade. But you show me, you show me a brother, sister in Christ that is totally sensitive to sin, opening up their heart and truly repenting before God, and I will show you somebody that has been, that God comes into the heart and literally takes His mighty hand and plucks out the roots of fear, so that there's no more fear. God's not given us the spirit of fear, but love and power and a sound mind. Hallelujah. Instead of fear is favor. Oh Daniel, oh Daniel, a man greatly beloved, stand upright. Folks, I can make you a promise, and listen good, I can make you a promise on the authority of God's Word on what I'm reading here from the book of Daniel, because these are pattern descriptions. This is a pattern. If you let God search your heart, you ask the Holy Spirit to reveal anything that you've said, thought, or done that are disgrievous to Him, think of anyone you've ever slandered or gossiped about or heard of it, and you admit how foolish you've been, and you get on the telephone, and you repent and you make it right, and you acknowledge your sin and say, God I've sinned against you, and you get everything right. I'm going to tell you, the Scripture that I read to you now is going to be yours. You shall understand what shall befall the people in the latter days. You shall understand. You will be given an understanding. You won't fear the future. You won't fear anything else, because God will give you the wisdom and the knowledge and the prophetic ear and voice. You will see and hear and know things about your future. Do you understand that God talks that way to a lot of people? They know what's coming in their life, they know what's coming, the future in the land and the economy, because they are repentant, and God opens the ears, He opens the eyes and the understanding. Folks, every time I've walked in that kind of repentance, I've heard and seen things I've never seen or heard before, and that's the benefit He wants to give you. You get everything right, and there's nothing standing between you. Your telephone line to heaven is direct line. I mean, you get right through. Hallelujah. Number three, you get a new pair of lips. Chapter 10, verse 16, And behold, one like the similitude of the sons of men touched my lips. Who do you think that is? That's Jesus. Then I opened my mouth and spake and said unto him that stood before me, O my Lord, by the vision of my sorrows, by the vision my sorrows are turned upon me, and I have retained no strength. For how can the servant of this my Lord talk with this my Lord? For as for me, straightway there remain no strength in me, neither is there breath left in me. Then there came again and touched me one like the appearance of a man, and he strengthened me. Now look at verse 16 again. One like the similitude of the sons of men touched my lips. He touched my lips. Then it says, Then I opened up my mouth, and then I spake, and now he's speaking as unto the Lord. Do you remember this crisis that Isaiah the prophet had? He stood before the holiness of Jesus, and he said, Woe is me, I'm a man of unclean lips. And folks, if you just read the four chapters, four or five chapters before that, he's prophesying such powerful prophecies. Here's the prophet prophesying, and he now he's standing before the Lord. He said, I'm a man of unclean lips. And in this crisis, God takes coals of fire from the altar of God, puts the tongs right on his lips, and burns out the dross, burns out the self, burns out everything unlike God, and he's given a new pair of lips. Daniel, same thing, new lips. He came and touched me. Folks, that's what God does to every person who repents. He comes, he still comes, literally, I believe he literally comes with a live coal from the fire on the altar of God, and he takes his tongs, and the angel of the Lord comes and presses your lips, and those lips will never be the same again. You will speak as unto the Lord. You will never again, ever want to speak anything that is not like Jesus. The words that flow out will be pure words. Folks, if we had a full church, if everybody in Times Square Church had a pair of new lips, seared by the Holy Ghost, and we spoke only righteousness, we could win this city for God. Hallelujah. Finally, here's a good part, too. You get peace, and you get strength. Verse 19, and said, O man, greatly beloved, fear not, peace be unto thee, be strong, yea, be strong. And when he had spoken unto me, I was strengthened, and said, let my Lord speak, for thou hast strengthened me. Now, look this way before I close. Daniel's a worn-out man, spiritual warfare, and cast him down on his face. He's got no strength left. He's totally at the end of himself. Have you ever come to that place where you didn't want to get out of bed, and you're dragged through the day, and you don't understand? You are just spiritually, mentally, and every other way, weary and tired. This man has been mourning for sin. This man's been praying. He's been fasting. He's been weeping, and the spiritual warfare has worn him out. He's in a frazzle. And here comes the Lord to this repentant heart. He says, O greatly beloved, fear not, peace be yours. I'm going to give you peace. Folks, people who walk in repentance have peace. There's peace all around them. I mean, there can be trouble. They can be weak. They can be frail, but there's peace in the heart. And not only that, he comes and touches you, and he gives you his own strength. Jesus came to Daniel. He said, O Daniel, I love you. I'm going to give you my peace. Now, stand up and be strong. And suddenly, life flows through this man. Strength flows through him. Where did he get his strength? Not from vitamins. Not from good food. Not from all that good food he ate. No, no, no, no. Daniel got it from a touch of the Master's hand. Hallelujah. Folks, I'm standing here as a living testimony of that benefit right now. Of all the things he's allowed me to go through, and in my weakest moment, I know what it is to have Jesus stand right before me and say, David, I love you. Be at peace. And I just kneel in front of him, raise my hands, and life and strength begins to flow. And you know what he does? Sends me right back into the battle. That's what he'll do. Sends you right back into the battle. I said, oh Lord. He said, no, my strength is sufficient. How many need a touch? Will you stand? Folks, why wouldn't anybody repent of all these blessings that come, all the favor of God? Up in the balcony, here in the main floor, how many of you know what it's like to have Jesus whisper in your heart, you're beloved, and your name is named. Your name is named, and he says, I love you, you're beloved. Come on, raise your hand. Oh, hallelujah. Hallelujah. That's what he wants for us, to be totally repentant, totally open, sensitive to sin, hiding nothing before his eyes. Jesus, these wonderful favors of God, these wonderful benefits, these marvelous benefits begin to pour into our life, and all we have to do is to repent and make restitution. And then all heaven, all heaven begins to move. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. This is the conclusion of the tape.