In this sermon, the preacher highlights the increasing darkness and evil in society, with people having no shame in discussing inappropriate topics. He emphasizes the importance of living for God and being a vessel for His glory and power. The preacher refers to the story of David in 1 Chronicles 21, where God sent a plague as a consequence of David's prideful act of numbering Israel. The sermon emphasizes the power of a righteous life in restraining evil and being a testimony of God's presence.

This recording is provided by Times Square Church in New York City. You're welcome to make additional copies for free distribution to friends. All other unauthorized duplication or electronic transmission is a violation of copyright and other applicable laws. This recording cannot be posted on any website. However, written permission to link to the Times Square Church homepage may be requested by emailing info at timessquarechurch.org. Other recordings are available by calling 1-800-488-0854 or by writing to Times Square Church Tape Ministry, 1657 Broadway, New York, New York, 10019. Psalm 73, verse 13, the value of a righteous man. Now listen to what the psalmist says. Verily, I have cleansed my heart in vain, and washed my hands in innocency. For all the day long have I been plagued and chastened every morning. Now let me read these two verses to you from the New Living Translation of the Bible because it maybe says it a little more clearly. Here's what's in this man's heart. He's saying, God, was it for nothing that I kept my heart pure and kept myself from doing wrong? All I get is trouble all day long, and every morning brings me pain. Now have you ever thought like this? Have you ever wondered, God, why does it seem so hard for me when all around others seem to be so less burdened than I am? Am I too extreme? Is there something wrong with me? He says, they set their mouth against the heavens and their tongue walks through the earth. I try so hard to think and to say the right things, but they seem free to say whatever they want to say. They seem to have an unbridled tongue, both. Now, of course, you have to understand the psalmist here is talking about the people who are supposed to be the people of God. Bad enough that we live in a generation of unbridled speech, and of course they don't even try to hide it. But in measure, too, there's also those who claim to be children of God who seem to be at liberty to say anything they want about anybody they want to say it about. And yet this poor man is there and he's saying, God, have I got the short end of the stick or something in this walk with you? I'm burdened. I'm troubled. I live in pain. I try so hard to do and say the right things. Verse 12, he says, I pursue God, but they pursue riches and seem to be, at least in my eyes, better off than I am. He said, behold, these are the ungodly who prosper in the world, increase in riches. My pursuit is for the will of God. They seem to be after everything but the will of God. And looking at them, they're always talking about how blessed they are and how wonderful things are going and what an incredible pathway seems to be before them. Have I wasted my time? Why am I keeping my heart pure? Why am I burdened to walk in a way that is right? Why am I experiencing trouble when they seem to be saying that all I have to do is just confess it away and trouble is gone? Well, no matter how much I confess, trouble seems to stay. It's like Velcro. It seems to be stuck to me. And every morning I I wake up and there's pain, different types and different focuses of pain seem to have found a lodging place in my life. What's the point of living the way I feel God wants me to? Now, I've been there and I know that many here have been there. Some of you are there right now. God, what's the point? Everyone else seems to be swimming downstream and having a great old time of this, even this walk with God. And I seem to be swimming upstream. I seem to be among those that are struggling and I I don't seem to understand the reason why you've got me on this pathway. Now, the answer begins and it's only beginning in Proverbs 11, 11. It says that by the blessing of the upright, the city is exalted, but it's overthrown by the mouth of the wicked. Now, God says the upright and the word in the Hebrew means that which agrees with God. It means outstanding people who do what is right in the sight of God. Now, God says by virtue of the fact that they are even there, the city is exalted or the city is blessed by these who are upright. The New Living Testament says it this way, Proverbs 11, 11. Upright citizens bless the city and make it prosper. Upright people. Now, think for a moment. You're here today and you're saying, yeah, well, I'm trying to live for God, but I'm not much. I'm supposed to be this this this lighthouse in the darkened generation. I feel like a firefly around a campfire. I don't seem to have some light, but I don't seem to have much. I'm supposed to be having this incredible influence in my society. And yet I seem to be walking through my day and I'm so ashamed because I seem to be struggling just to survive and to do what is right. I'm always aware of the wrong in my heart. And I want to do right like the apostle Paul says. And I find this inward groan for Christ is is not only in me, but it's increasing in me. And I think for a moment of a time in history when a decree was written over the nation of Israel, where this wicked man, Haman, had succeeded in causing the king to write a law. And this law said that all of the testimony of God, per se, through his people is to be exterminated. And it was at this time that the Lord needed a voice. And he looked down and through this man, Mordecai, found a young lady who didn't really come from royal birth. She had been raised by an uncle. She found herself by divine providence in a place that God had placed her. She really didn't see herself as much. She probably knew she was just fortunate to be there, as many of you do as a Christian. I'm just fortunate to be a Christian. I don't think she had any sense. I'm sure she had no sense of a destiny of greatness in her life. She probably just overwhelmed that she was in the king's court. And yet, Mordecai spoke to her and said in Esther 4.14, And who knows whether thou art come to the kingdom for such a time as this. Now, this is the word that God speaks to you. I'm talking about the person who, like the psalmist, says, God, has it been in vain that I've been trying to live for you? And the Lord says, no, you don't see yourself as much. But you don't realize that I've reserved you for a time just like this. I've reserved you. I've kept you. I've kept you from pride and I've kept you from all of the empty religiousness that goes on around that is incapable of delivering the nation or the people. No, I've reserved you to myself. And I've reserved you in smallness, not in largeness. I've reserved you. I've kept you aware of your frailty. When everyone around is blind to the true condition of their heart, you are very well aware of the condition of your heart. That's evidence that my hand is on you. Charles Finney said it this way one time. He said the man who is far from God feels very good about himself. He's quite confident in his holiness. And it is stature with God. And he travels throughout his day being very proud of the depth of his humility. But the the true man of God is actually approaching God. And like Isaiah in Isaiah chapter six is saying, oh, God, I'm undone. I'm seeing something that nobody else around me is seeing. And Lord, if you dealt with me in the manner that I deserve, I'd be doomed. I'm finished. I'm undone. And oh, God, I see this. I've seen your holiness and I see how far I am in relation to this holiness that is yours. And it was at this very moment that God needed a voice. God needed somebody through whom his revelation of who he is and what the future held could be made known. And at that moment, an angelic being touched this man's lips and cleansed him and sent him down to be a voice, a spokesman for God. Who knows whether you are come to the kingdom for such a time as this. In Exodus chapter three, the Lord said, I've surely seen the affliction of my people, which are in Egypt, and I've heard their cry and I've come down to deliver them. And imagine he comes to this man who is a failure in his own sight. Oh, I had a kick at the can 40 years ago, but I blew it. I moved in the flesh and I didn't know how God works. And so I set out in my own strength to bring about some kind of a ministry into existence. And I failed. And now I've been living in this desert place for years. And all of a sudden, the Lord comes to him and says, no, you're not a failure. I've deposited something in you that I need to withdraw now. You are naturally humble. You naturally know you have no strength in yourself. You've been asking these deep questions that nobody else even thinks to ask. And now I'm calling you. And, you know, initially, Moses, like Esther, looks at God and he says, well, it's a great idea to go down and deliver the people. God be with the man you send. That's really what he said. It's not me. I've lost the ability to speak. I might have been a powerful speaker years ago, but I've lost the ability. I have no confidence left. I'm just aware I've been aware for 40 years of how I failed. And now you're calling me. And so it's in his weakness. It's in Moses weakness. It's in Esther's weakness that they obey God. And through both of them, great disaster was averted and freedom came for many. Now, once before, if you'll go to Ezekiel, go ahead in your Bibles to Ezekiel chapter 22, please, if you will. God was looking for a righteous man, but found none. It's hard to believe that a time can come when people just give up, when the righteous give up the pursuit of God even, and unrighteousness among God's people even begins to abound. Look at the spiritual condition that Ezekiel describes in chapter 2, beginning at verse 25. This is what's going on. Ezekiel, of course, is speaking from God's perspective on the reason why people have gone into captivity. There's a conspiracy, verse 25, chapter 22 of Ezekiel. There's a conspiracy. Did I give you the wrong chapter? Oh, chapter 22. I said 25 more than likely, I guess. Verse 25. There's a conspiracy of her prophets in the midst thereof, like a roaring lion ravening the prey. They've devoured souls. They've taken the treasure and precious things, and they've made her many widows in the midst thereof. In other words, there's a proclaiming prophetic ministry in that generation that were not bringing the people of God, but they were devouring the people of God. And they were taking away the treasure of this revealed life that God wanted to give His people, and they were taking away the strength of the men. There were widows there. Now, it doesn't mean necessarily that the men weren't there, as I read it, but their husbands were now becoming the products of these ministries that were claiming to speak for God, but had nothing of God in them, and were taking away this covering. They were taking away this treasure that God will bring through a righteous man. Her priests have violated my law. They profane my holy things. They put no difference between the holy and profane. A priesthood, for example, really doesn't care how the people are living. As long as they come into the house, as long as they're tithing, they really don't care how they're living. They demand no holiness from musicians. They demand no right living from their choirs. They just simply, as long as everything looks good on the outside, they really don't care what's going on on the inside. Neither have they shown difference between the unclean and the clean, and they've hid their eyes from my Sabbaths. In other words, there is a true rest of God, but they were not able to bring the people of God into this rest. And the Lord says, I'm profaned among them. Now, think of this. Here they are, standing in their pulpits of their time, and they're making declarations about their great visions and revelations of God. But God says, I look down, and I'm profaned among them. I feel defiled by the things that come out of their mouths, because they don't represent me. Somebody sent me a brochure in the mail recently of a conference that was happening in this country with big-name evangelists, and some were trying to move in even to this city. And in this conference, I don't know how I got this thing in the mail, but in this conference, I guess the Lord wanted me to see what's really going on out there. The sessions were about how to identify prospects. And when you've identified a prospect, how to make them a donor. And when they become a donor to your ministry, how to make them a bigger donor. And so, folks, if you are foolish enough to attend these men's meetings, that's how they see you. I want you to know this. Go there with knowledge. You're not a precious soul. You're not somebody whom they're desiring to impart the life of Christ and see you go to the mission field and give your all for the glory of God. No, you're a prospect. That's all you are, sitting there. And everything they do, they've been trained to make you a donor. They stroke your hair, tell you how wonderful you are with your left hand, while their right hand is in your purse or your pocket. And then once you're a donor, there's all kinds of techniques to make you a bigger donor. All they are is fleecers of the sheep with shears in their hands. They'll take you for everything you've got, and then they'll take some skin on top of that as well. Her princes, verse 27, in the midst thereof are like wolves, ravening to prey. This is now the leaders, many of the leaders of the people. They shed blood and destroy souls to get dishonest gain. Her prophets, now, verse 28, have daubed them with untempered mortar. They're always building this supposed kingdom, but they're building it with cement that can't hold, can't stand against the winds, and can't stand against the rains and adversities that come against everything that is built in God's name. They see emptiness or vanity, and the divine lies unto them, saying, Thus saith the Lord God, when the Lord has not spoken. No more fearful place in the world to be, folks, than under a ministry that's saying, Thus saith the Lord, and God has not spoken. Well, you say to me, how can I know? It's easy. God never speaks outside of Himself. Everything God speaks is already in this book. Open the book, open the book, open the book, and determine, discern whether or not what you're hearing is from God. Open the book and read it for yourself, rightly divided from Genesis to Revelation. You have a responsibility to get in this Bible. You have a responsibility to get in here and read this book from end to end, trusting the Holy Spirit to be your guide and to be the one who reveals the truth of God's heart. You cannot just simply sit there and take every word that comes out of everybody's mouth as if it's gospel. The people of the land now, look at verse 29. This is what happens to people who sit under this kind of ministry. The people of the land, verse 29, have used oppression. They're now all in it, in other words, for their own gain. They've lost the heart of God. They're all bypassing the man who's bleeding and dying on the Jericho road and all running to the house now with some new little scratch of Revelation, some new little song of praise, and missing the whole point of why Christ has a church on the earth. And they've exercised robbery. They've vexed the poor and needy. Yea, they've oppressed the stranger wrongfully. God says, I came down to give life to those that had no life, to give hope to those who were hopeless, to open prison doors to those that were bound, to give healing to those that were wounded in heart. But those who don't represent me will come and lead the people of God into a place where they are oppressing the stranger. They are despising the poor. They are vexing those, in other words, not bringing them into the rest of God, but they are vexing them because the poor, of course, have nothing to offer their ministries. And he says in verse 30, I sought for a man among them that should make up the hedge, that should stand in the gap before me for the land, that I should not destroy it, but I found none. Therefore have I poured out my indignation upon them. I've consumed them with the fire of my wrath. Their own way have I recompensed upon their heads, saith the Lord God. And I'm talking about the value of a righteous man this morning. God says, this was the condition of my nation, my people. And I look for a man. All I wanted was one man who would stand there and stem this tide of death. Who would stand there and say, no, this is not right. Who would stay the hand of death as it was. It was coming upon God's own heritage. When the Lord says this, He's not exaggerating. I look for a man. I look for one man somewhere. And think about it for a moment. Surely in this environment, the words of the psalmist in Psalm 73 must have been groaned a hundred times over. God, am I on the wrong track? Am I missing something? Have I cleansed my hands in vain? Have I been allowing you to wash my heart for nothing? Everyone's talking about this incredible blessing and I just experience trouble. Lord, what is it? Why? Why have you kept me this way? Now, there are many, many here today who would say, well, Pastor, this is just, it's wonderful in theory. But I am not the deliverer type. Listen, Pastor, I just fight to survive at home and be a Christian. I just fight to survive on my job. Now, you're talking about deliverance. You're talking about a season where God said, I'm just looking for a man. And if I can just find one who's not going this way, I can bring great deliverance. Well, I feel like Moses. Godspeed. I hope you find somebody. I hope in my block where I live there's somebody. I hope in my office building there's somebody. I'm just not the man. Lord, you understand. And God says, no, my brother, you are very, very, very wrong. In Genesis 18, 32. Now, listen, you don't have to turn there. The Lord told Abraham he was coming down. He appeared in the heat of the day with two angels and walked in to the tent as it is where Abraham and Sarah were dwelling. After dealing with Abraham, he headed off to destroy a very wicked city. And Abraham began to intercede with the Lord. And the Lord ended up in chapter 18, verse 32. He told Abraham, if I find ten righteous persons in this city, I will not destroy it. Tell me for five seconds there's not a value to a righteous man. Try to tell me there's no value to the fact that you are living for God. That you are walking honestly in spite of what everyone else is doing. That in the workplace there are falsifying records and you're writing down the truth. Yes, you're suffering for it. Yes, trouble is following you. Because everyone seems to be going in another direction. Even Christian people are telling you, you're just too extreme. Why don't you just relax and enjoy your life a little bit. You're fighting to survive. You want to have devotions with your family. You want to do what is right. You want to come home. You want to be an honest man or woman of God. But you wonder because the enemy comes against you. Is there any value in being righteous? But you look back in history and here's where you find the value. If there would have been ten righteous people in Sodom and Gomorrah, the history as we know it in the Bible would have been different. God says if ten righteous people were in this city, I would have spared it. I would have spared it because you see folks, if there are ten righteous, there's still a chance for the voice of God to be heard in that generation. You and I don't realize that if we make the choice to walk in right relationship with God, how much disaster with all around us might be averted. How much judgment might be stayed even for a season that others around us may still hear the voice of Almighty God. We don't know what judgments of God over the careless of this world are averted just because we choose to live for Him. Now Paul the Apostle speaking of the last days. And the last days, he says, are going to break out in an increasing and unimaginable lawlessness. Let me read to you again in 2 Thessalonians 2.7. I'm going to read it to you from the living Bible. He says, as for the work, now he's talking about the Antichrist, a world leader who's going to appear and seemingly gather the nations together in a time of incredible turmoil. He's going to make a peace treaty with Israel. Israel is going to say, finally peace and safety have come. Until three and a half years into this treaty, he's going to betray them. He's going to go into the rebuilt temple and declare himself to be God. He said, as for the work this man of rebellion and hell will do when he comes, it is already going on. But he himself will not come until the one who is holding him back steps out of the way. And this is really pivotal. There's a lot of opinion on this, but it's generally believed, and I personally believe, that the restraining of evil is found in the presence and ministry of the Holy Spirit. That's not debatable. It's the Holy Spirit who has come to this world and inhabits a people, who is the restrainer. This Holy Spirit of God, the third person of the Trinity, the Spirit of Christ, is in a righteous body of believers, who is called the true church of Jesus Christ. I believe that God's presence in my life is a restrainer of evil. I believe God's presence in your life, if you are a righteous believer, is a restrainer of evil. You don't know how much evil is being averted all around you because you are choosing to walk in right relationship with God. You see yourself as an ordinary man on the subway. You don't realize somebody comes in there with a knife and intends to do harm, but strangely feels an incredible restraint to their actions going on. You don't know whose lives are being spared because you walk home down your block and young people are standing on the corner. They don't know much about you, but there's a sense that God is walking with you. There's a sense of divine order in your life. You look at me and say, Pastor, you don't understand, I'm just a drywaller. I'm just a construction worker. I'm just a doorman in an apartment building. You don't know, you don't know, you don't know how many men are being prevented from committing unspeakable crimes against their own families, against their own wives, against the knowledge and nature of God because somebody there is reflecting the glory of God in their midst. You don't know. You don't know. A lot of ministry today tries to get you convinced that they are the anointed ones. They are the ones doing the work of God. You're just a prospect and your only purpose in the body of Christ is to come in and give donations to their ministries so they, of course, can win the world. But that's not the way it is according to the Bible. You have the Spirit of God within you. You carry God with you. You carry God into the subway. You carry God into the workplace. You carry God into your neighborhood. You carry God with you. The psalmist says, Until I went into the house of God, then I saw the reason. I saw, verse 17, that destruction is coming. I saw that I had not cleansed my heart and my hands in vain. I began to understand that I might be someone's last hope. I might be all that stands between them and eternal damnation. The only testimony of God, the only thing that restrains the evil impulse and the demonic powers that would destroy them is the presence of Christ in my life. Never underestimate the power of the restraining influence of God through a righteous life. Never underestimate it. Go with me to 1 Chronicles chapter 21, please. Back in your Bibles. 1 Chronicles 21 is a story of when David the king foolishly numbered Israel. And it was the beginning of a spiritual pride, and God had to come against it. And he sent out a plague, and 70,000 people died. There was this death, a type of a spiritual death, but animated through a physical death that was happening all throughout the country. And in this story, when we read it, we look at the main characters. If you're looking at it in your mind, quite often we see King David, obviously, who's a major player in this. We see the destroying angel. This is an angel sent by God who took out his sword, and the Lord saw the destruction and said to the destroying angel, Hold up your sword. And the scripture tells us that he was there standing in verse 16. It said, The angel of the Lord stood between the earth and the heaven, having a drawn sword in his hand, stretched out over Jerusalem. Then David and the elders of Israel, who were clothed in sackcloth, fell upon their faces. So we see David, we see the elders, we see this destroying angel with his hand raised up over Jerusalem. And so the destruction has stayed only for a moment, while everybody's waiting for the instruction of God. How do we stop this destruction? And we're living in a generation like that. When our prayer meetings are on Thursday night, God, how do we stop the destruction of a generation in our city who are being raised without God, who are being infused with violence, who are seething and boiling, and feeling robbed and betrayed. How do we stop this destruction? How do we stop this plague? How do we stop the plague of divorce in the house of God? How do we stop the plague of immorality that is finding access even into many homes of those who are once called or are called the people of God? How? There seems to be a destroying angel over all of society, over all of the world today. And tragically, even over some of what professes to be the church of Jesus Christ. And we look to David. We look to the elders. We look to the destroying angel. But there's a true hero here in this story. And this hero is found in verse 18. And it's where God commanded David to go. He said, if you want the plague to stop, this is where you have to go. And it says, then the angel of the Lord commanded Gad to say to David that David should go up and set up an altar unto the Lord in the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite. Now Ornan, it says in verse 20, turned back. He was just an ordinary man. He was on the top of Mount Moriah, where Solomon's temple was eventually built, where the Dome of the Rock actually sits today. He was a man with a threshing floor. He's an ordinary working man. He's making a living. This is where he's got his business. He's refining wheat. And the Bible says he's got four sons. And his four sons must have been young because the Scripture says when they saw this destruction, they hid themselves as Ornan was threshing wheat. So he's a family man. But in his hands, God has placed everything that was necessary to stop the judgment and stop the plague. And folks, there is great value in a righteous man. I have to believe that Ornan was a righteous man. I have to believe it because God would never direct King David into an unrighteous man living in an unrighteous place to stop a plague because of unrighteousness. It would be a house divided against itself. It would make no sense whatsoever. I can't help but wonder as I prepared this, I said, Lord, was this man like the man in Psalm 73? Was he a man who's seeing all of the destruction? The Scripture says he looked up, he saw the destruction. Was he a man who said, God, what can I do about this? How can my life make a difference? I'm just struggling to survive here. And everyone around is talking one thing, but I've struggled like every other man. I'm finding a hard time just to make it sometimes even day to day. Perhaps he was a man who had known trouble in some measure come into his life. I'm only conjecturing. I don't really know for sure. The Scripture doesn't say. But I do know that God had put into this man's hands everything that was necessary to stop the judgment. And so here's this man who's working, and he's going about his daily business. He's aware of the judgment, just like you are, just like I am. You can see this encroaching darkness. You see it in the workplace, whether you work on Wall Street, in a legal firm, in a construction area, you can see it. You hear it now. The conversation of the people is getting scarily evil now in our generation. The minds of men are becoming troublingly dark. There's no other way to describe it. People's conversation is shockingly evil. There's nothing that people in mixed company now won't talk about. It's embarrassing to even be sitting sometimes in the same restaurant close to other tables and wonder, God in heaven, have I been on another planet? How did it get so dark all of a sudden? How come people have no shame? How can they speak of these types of things and have no conscience any longer? In a moment of time, though, amazing, all of a sudden, this man Ordon sees the king coming to him. And it's a type of Christ coming to you. The king is directed by God. Go to this man. In this man are the resources that are needed to stop the plague. It's an amazing thing. The type is amazing. It's just an ordinary man in what he thinks is an ordinary place. And all of a sudden he looks and he sees the king coming towards him. And the king says to him, I need what you have to stop the plague that is spreading among the people. I need what you have. I must have stunned him for a moment. How is it possible that King David needs what I have? I mean, King David has gold in abundance. And he has silver. He has houses, lands. He's got influence, authority, power. What could he possibly need that I have? And I believe that Ordon is just overwhelmed at the graciousness of the king that he says, well, here. He says, you can have my oxen for the sacrifice. You can have my wood instruments. It's his whole living, really. It's his future. You can have it all if it helps stay the plague. And he said, I don't want anything for this. You can have it for free. And amazing. David takes these oxen and takes the. Now, David pays for it and he takes the threshing instruments. And you can see he's breaking apart this man's ability as it is to make a living. He's taking his oxen, which always symbolize the man's strength and his financial future. And he's sacrificing it. And and then David gets this revelation. In chapter 22 and verse one, he said, then David said, this is the house of the Lord God. And this is the altar of the burnt offering for Israel. In a moment, David's eyes are open and he says, this is where God dwells. And this is where the power of his atoning sacrifice is found. This is where he dwells. David saw in a moment. And it was at the place you have to understand, it's at the place of this man's threshing floor. David saw he had a panoramic view all of a sudden of Solomon's temple, of the glory coming there, of this temple eventually being destroyed, of the Herodian temple replacing it, of Jesus himself walking into this temple, of this physical temple being destroyed, but raised again in three days, of the power of God coming down and inhabiting ordinary men and women and children. People begin to realize, God, this is where you dwell. This is where the power of the atoning sacrifice on your altar is found. It's an ordinary men and women of God who make the choice to live for you. They make the choice and say, God, whatever you want of me, you can have it. Whatever you require, it's yours. You humbled yourself to even come to me, to even consider working in my life, to even consider empowering me, to even consider speaking to me. Oh God, if there's something in me you can use, you can have it all. Jesus said it's on this foundation that my church is built. And the gates of hell will not come against it and prevail against it. The foundation that you are the Christ. And Christ dwells in frail humanity like you and I. He dwells in people who make the choice to live for him. His glory and power, his restraining influence is made known through those who may not hop, skip and jump through this life. It might be a slow walk. It might be a groaning walk. You might be given to wondering, God, why does life seem to be so hard? When you get to heaven and the video section of your life is opened up and you begin to see all the destruction that was averted because you chose to live for God, even in your own house. And you see, I know there's fathers here this morning, you've lost your children. You're divorced or your children are backslidden. And Father's Day is a heavy day for you. But I don't see anything in the scriptures that say you have an influence over your children just because you're living at home. No, it's a spiritual principle. You do what is right. You live for God. And God, through you, will stay the destroyer's hand. And not only stay his hand, but command life into your family. It will be supernatural. It will be sovereign. He said, I thought I was cleansing my hands and my heart for nothing until I went into the house of God. And then I saw, God, you've set them in slippery places. The destruction is coming in a moment. For the men of this church and the women, obviously, I want you to have a view in the future that you are not just an insignificant, struggling person in this city or wherever it is that you live. The restrainer is in you. The restraining hand of God is upon you. God is doing more through your life than you will ever know. You are not insignificant. I don't know what the future holds for New York City. I really don't know. But I do know that according to scripture, if ten righteous people can be found in it, it makes a difference. Ten righteous. Or it can get down to Ezekiel's day where God says, I just looked for one. I sought for a man. I just sought for a man. And you know, folks, when he seeks for a man, it doesn't mean that God sends an angel down to every Bible college in America. No, angels quite often appear at a construction site. Some guy with a broom somewhere just loves God with all his heart. Says, let everyone else cheat, steal and lie. I'm going to be faithful. I'm going to walk with you, God. I've made mistakes in the past, but no more. I'm going to live for you. And even if I don't understand, I'm still going to live for you. All of a sudden, the king approaches you. Oh, God, you just no one else knows that you just become aware of it. All of a sudden, the broom becomes electric in your hands. Hallelujah. And you become aware that the king is approaching you. Somewhere you are becoming aware of it right now. The king has come to you. It says, I've given you something I need. I need to stop the destruction. And I need to do it in the place where you dwell. You say, God, you can have it. Whatever I have, you want my broom, you can have it. You want my future, you can have it. Lord, I've done as best I know how to live for you. The Lord says, I know. That's why I've come to you. Oh, man of great valor. Oh, Jesus. Father, you have got to help us to hear this. This is a very late time. I pray that in this church, we would find men and women of valor. Of valor. Men and women who just simply live for you. Lord, help us to hear this. In Jesus' name. I want to call to this altar today, firstly. And in the annex, you can stand shortly and step between the two screens that are before you. I want to call every man here today. It simply says, Pastor, the Holy Spirit has spoken to my heart. This is me. This is me. You have just simply preached the word that is right where I'm living. And I want to come today to this altar and give God praise. I want to come and thank God for his faithfulness to me. I want to simply say, Lord, whatever I have, where I live, you can have it. I give it to you. Stop the plague. Through me, stop the plague. I don't know how to know how this is done. But, Lord, you will do it through my life. Firstly, the men, as we stand. Then, because it's Father's Day, there's not a preference. Ladies, please don't be offended by this. It's simply because it's Father's Day. And then the women. Give about three, four minutes for the men to respond. Then the women who God has spoken to. And we're going to pray together. Lord, you have a testimony in this city. You have a testimony. Lord, there are more than ten righteous. Much more. God, you will spare the city for a season. You will spare the city. God, there will be a testimony. Even in times of calamity, Lord, you will have a testimony. There will be mercy here. Father, I thank you, God, with all my heart. I thank you, Lord, that you are speaking to the men of this church, Lord. Thank you, Jesus. God, this is a man's church, Lord. You made this a man's church. I pray in this city that times where church be known as a man's church. A church that men go to. A church where men become mighty men. A church where ordinary men find strength in an extraordinary God. I pray that it be a church that as we walk through the city, we leave this incredible savor of Jesus Christ everywhere we go. We're not part of the argument. We're not part of the confusion. There's a divine order in our minds. We do, as you enable us to walk with good conversation and honest motives. We are men who are very quick to repent when we do wrong. We can be easily convicted of the Holy Spirit, yet not condemned of the enemy. God, thank you for these men. I pray for them now. Father, as pastor of this church, Lord, I lift my hands to you and I ask you to bless the men of this church. Bless those that are visiting here from other places. God, you have opened heaven and shown us the value of a righteous man. Lord, stay the hand of evil from our homes. Stay the hand of evil in our workplace. Stay the hand of evil from our families. Stay the hand of evil, oh God, from people who know us. Stay the hand of evil, God, from moving upon and through our enemies. Oh God, be merciful to those that are unrighteous. As we walk through this world, I pray, Father, there be such a savor, such a sweetness that the King can come to us and ask for the resources he's given to us that be given to stop the plague. Father, we give you what we have today. We give you, I give you everything I've got, Lord. I give it to you, Lord, for your glory. Oh Lord, all I ask that when it's over, when my life is finished, that I've left the savor of Christ in this world. God Almighty, God Almighty, God Almighty. Oh Jesus, oh Jesus, oh Jesus. Oh God, bless the men, bless the men, Lord. You gave this word. I didn't even try to find it. You gave it to me, Lord. Oh God, and I've given it to the men of this house. And I thank you, Lord, that there are men receiving it today. Oh, there is incredible value to a righteous man. We've not cleansed our hearts for no purpose. We've not washed our hands without reason. We've not walked with sorrow and trouble for nothing, Lord. God Almighty, you're going to stay the tide of evil. You're going to stop and restrain the influence of darkness. My God, even beyond that, I ask you today to push it back. Push back the darkness in this generation. Push it back, oh God. Jesus, push it back. Your word tells us that out of seclusion one day stepped out mighty men of God with a sword of God in their hands and courage in their hearts and they began to fight giants and take ground and stand against the enemy. Oh God, oh God, oh God, oh God. Make this a mighty man. Father, we live in a generation where our youth are robbed of the truth and the knowledge of Almighty God. Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, fight through us. Fight through us, Holy Spirit. Give us the grace to stand in an unpopular time and preach and teach and publish and defend and live the gospel of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. I pray for might. I pray for the spirit of might to come upon these men. Might in our God. Hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah. Thank you, Jesus. Pray with me, men that have come and women that are here in the back of these ranks. Pray with me now. Lord Jesus Christ, thank you for the knowledge that I am not insignificant in this war against evil, in this fight against the plagues of sin that have come against our city and come against our world. Oh God, I've not cleansed my heart. I've not washed my hands in vain. I've seen today the incredible value of a righteous person. God, I pray through my life, stop the destruction of sin and darkness and pornography and divorce and immorality and evil. Stop it, Holy Spirit. Stop the destruction. Do it through my life. Make me aware of your presence and your glory. And let the savor of your glorious freedom be known through me all through my day and all through my life. Jesus, I give you whatever you need, whatever deposit you've placed in me. I bring it to you and I ask you, Lord, use it for your glory. Stop the plague of sin. I ask it, giving thanks in Jesus' mighty name. Now praise him like you've not praised him in a long time. This is the conclusion of the message.