In this sermon, the speaker addresses the issue of false laughing revivals and the need for genuine spiritual hunger. He emphasizes the importance of following Bible principles and not being swayed by false teachings. The speaker highlights the story of Aaron and the golden calf as an example of the dangers of idolatry and the need for true repentance. He also emphasizes the power of the law of God in convicting people of their sins and leading them to genuine worship and repentance.

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, PO Box 260, Lindale, Texas 75771 or calling 903-963-8626. None of these messages are copyrighted and you are welcome to make copies for free distribution to friends. A time to weep and a time to laugh. Now, I want to, for the sake of the tape, this message is being taped and for the sake of the tape that goes out, I want to date this for a specific reason. This is February what? February 9th, 1997. And probably three years from now, five at the most, most people who listen to it will be wondering what I'm talking about. Because it will be a dead issue. But it's not a dead issue right now and we're going to talk about the reality of a true laugh and revival and a false revival, so-called laugh and revival. We'll talk about what is true and what is false. It's very, very important because we are being deluged from all of the United States. As you know, I have over 800 people amending this and we get deluged with calls, telephone calls and letters and appeals wanting to know where we stand on this issue and we're going to cover it tonight. I want to do it graciously and with mercy and never with the thought of touching any individual. We're talking about Bible principles and we're going to base this on Ecclesiastes, don't turn to Ecclesiastes 3, verses 1 and 4, a time to weep and a time to laugh. The Bible says there's a time to weep and there's a time to laugh. Heavenly Father, I don't know why at this particular time you put this message on my heart and why I should deliver it at this time, but Lord, I obey you. That's my call, I have to do nothing more than that. Lord, I pray that you sanctify me wholly now so that the words go forth from a broken heart. Lord, we're not on a soapbox tonight, we're not trying to establish our own thoughts. We know, Lord, that your heart is saddened by what you see happening in the church of Jesus Christ today. There's a sadness in the heart of God because there are so many, Lord, that don't understand what's happening. So many going off in different directions, but Lord, there is a clear word, hallelujah. We thank you for the clear word of God. Sanctify our ears to hear it now and let me preach as the oracle of God and not of man. In Jesus' name I pray, amen. A time to weep and a time to laugh. I believe there are two things that sadden the heart of God. It saddens the heart of God, first of all, when people are laughing when they ought to be crying and when they are crying when they ought to be laughing. And we'll get to that in this message. But what I see happening in the charismatic circles today throughout the United States and around the world, when I see it and consider all the ramifications, I feel the sadness of the heart of God. I literally feel his sadness every time I pray, every time I seek his face. And I don't believe I'm the only minister of the gospel that shares that sadness. There are great multitudes of believers now that are laughing in church. The name for it is the laughing revival. Christians are flocking to meetings to experience what they call a baptism of joy. In many of the meetings, the preaching is literally drowned out by the hilarious laughter and sometimes cackling and barnyard noises such as chickens and cows and lions and so forth. And I've heard tapes, I've seen tapes, I've not been to any of these meetings, but apparently this is sweeping through Canada, United States, and now some parts of other countries around the world. Now, a few years ago, this laughing revival broke out. I don't know whether it was in Canada, I don't know whether it was in Florida, I don't know where it broke out. Christians flock from all over the world to these meetings to experience this outbreak of hysterical laughing. And many people, hurting people, claim they were released from pent-up emotions and they claim that they got back the joy that they had lost. Now, I'm going to start right here by telling you that I believe that there is a true laughing revival. There is a true laughing revival, and I'll show it to you in the Scriptures. But I'm going to tell you straight out now what I believe with all my heart, that the present day laughing revival in the United States is not God-sent. It's not God-ordained, and I think it brings great sadness to the heart of God. Terrible sadness to the heart of God. I don't believe that God has his hand on it. Now, I've got to say this before I go any further. I know for a fact that there are many sincere people that have gone to these so-called laughing revivals and have been truly touched by the hand of God. They've come back changed, and I'll tell you why. Because they had clean hands and a pure heart, and they went with an open heart. They were going there to meet Jesus, and I know, I've talked to some of them, and I know that there are many, and even hundreds and hundreds, who can listen to this tape now and say, well, Pastor David, I went to one of those meetings and I was touched. But you see, when you have a repentant heart, clean hands, and a pure heart, the automatic outbreak is joy. You're going to have the joy of the Lord. You can go to any meeting, and you're going to get the joy of the Lord. That is the byproduct of true repentance. And when people go innocently to a meeting, and they're not looking for a show, they're not looking for anything but Jesus, and they can see God blessing somebody, they rejoice in the blessing of God. Some of them are new Christians, some are naive, some have not had training, and so they just love Jesus, and they are blessed, and I thank God for that. They said to Paul that they were preaching Christ with contention, and Paul said, nevertheless, Christ is being preached, and I glory in that. Now, when I was a boy, I attended Pentecostal camp meetings. My dad was a preacher, my granddad was a preacher, and we had outpourings of the Holy Spirit the likes of which I have not seen in my lifetime. In those early Pentecostal days, in those camp meetings, there were no cabins, there were just tents, and people lived in tents, and they had just this great big old wooden tabernacle, it was just a roof, actually, with sides that would open, and those camp meetings would last two or three weeks. And I loved to go to those camp meetings, because the evangelists, almost every evangelist in those days preached on the coming of the Lord, and they really preached the law of God as a mirror to show people their sins. They would stand in the pulpit, and they would preach against sin. And there would be such conviction. They preached against sin and the coming of the Lord. You got a message on the coming of the Lord every night, no matter where the evangelist started. He ended up preaching on the coming of the Lord. And all through my boyhood, I thought Jesus was coming any night. I lived with that expectancy. But I know what it's like to be in all-night prayer meetings where people are so convicted of their sins, they would fall in the stall in the sawdust, and they would weep and they would cry over their sins. Sometimes half the night long, sometimes four and five o'clock in the morning, the prayer room was still filled with people repenting of their sins. And then suddenly there would be a laughter breakout. And others that broke through in repentance and humility before the Lord, there would be a holy laughter. And suddenly the whole camp, it would take over. There was laughter because it followed a time of weeping, a time of repentance, and holy, genuine laughter. I know what it is in those camp meeting days when I repented, and when I opened my heart to God, humbled myself before the Lord. There was nobody laying hands on anybody. The preaching of the Word and convicted of sin. And holy laughter. I've laughed for three and four hours at a time. Just stricken by the Spirit of the living God and laughed and laughed in the presence of God because my sins were lifted. Because Jesus had come by the Holy Ghost and assured me of my salvation. And the joy broke out. The joy of the Lord. Because the Bible said weeping endures for the night, but joy comes in the morning. They wept through the night and in the morning they had holy laughter all through the camp. We watched my dad and mom and deacons from my dad's church, they literally had to pick people up and carry them into the car because they were laughing. And everybody that picked them up would laugh as they go, but they were all repenting at the same time. They were repenting and weeping and laughing. And just the joy of the Lord had become their strength. But Jesus makes it very clear that all worship of hypocrites is absolutely worthless and that he does not accept it under any conditions. He said to the scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites, well did Isaiah prophesy of you saying, this people draw nigh unto me with their mouth and they honor me with their lips, but their heart is far from me, but in vain do they worship me. Now I'm telling you straight off there is a kind of worship that is absolutely in vain, that God does not recognize it, it saddens his heart, grieves him and even angers him. And eventually he will send prophets with a sword in hand to deal with it. Now these hypocrites according to Jesus had hearts that were full of evil thoughts, murder, that's hatred according to Jesus, if you hate your brother you're a murderer, adulteries, fornications, thefts, in other words robbing God of tithes and offers for example, false witness, these are deacons, elders and people in the congregation that stand up against holy men and gossip. And blasphemies, all kinds of blasphemies, and these men that were coming, these scribes and Pharisees all had the religious words, they were saying the right words, they worshiped God, but the Bible says they were defiled, they were unclean, they had unclean hands and impure hearts. Their hearts were full of adultery, full of fornication and full of all kinds of blasphemies. Now I ask you this question, what must it do to the heart of God to look down on this earth, on this globe where Christians are meeting, Christians who are laden down with iniquities, Christians still clutching their secret sins, these are people, in many churches you find the same thing, you're going to find husbands and wives sitting in the house just this tonight who are planning to divorce their mates, you're going to find those fornicators who just come last night from the bed of fornication having illegitimate sex, you're going to have those that have just come from a pornography theater or they have been at home and they have been feeding their minds on these videos that you can rent and they have been feeding their minds and they've been telling each other well, we're married, it's okay for us as husband and wife to indulge in this so their minds are replaying all these pornographic scenes. And you have others that have been robbing God of tithes and offerings and you have in their congregation people who have not made things right with God, they have not allowed the Holy Ghost to convict them of their sins and you have a preacher in the pulpit saying, come and drink your joy! Laying hands on those who need not a hand lead on them to get a drink of joy but they need the sword of the Lord, of God and the conviction of the Holy Ghost against sin. I would never dare, I dare not lay my hand suddenly on any man and say, drink in joy, get your blessing, come out and laugh! You can't laugh away the conviction of your conscience. God helped the pastor, God helped the evangelist who lays his hands on those living in sin, laying hands on wife and husband cheaters. Christians ought to be exposed by the convicting word and told, repent! And yet they are told to come and fall on their face and laugh and have a great time. You cannot laugh away your sins! Now let me show you in the scripture what I'm talking about. I want you to go to Exodus 32 please. I want to show you the first laughing revival. Exodus 32. Beloved, I'm going to give you the word of God. I am not on a soapbox. I'm not mad at anybody but the devil. But I'm sick and tired of foolishness in the charismatic churches. Exodus 32. Beloved, if you come to Times Square Church, we want you to be rooted and grounded in the word of God. Exodus 32. Let's start, let's read the first few verses here. And when the people saw that Moses delayed to come down from the mountain, out of the mountain, the people gathered themselves together unto Aaron and said unto him, Up, make us gods, which shall go before us. For as for this Moses, the man that brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we want not what has become of him. We don't know what happened to this man. Now here's a time, look at me please, saints. Here's a time when there should have been weeping. There should have been repentance, brokenness, humility. But instead a time of joy and giddiness and laughter broke out among God's people. Now at this particular time, God has a man shut in with himself on Mount Sinai, Moses. Now, Joshua is somewhere in the lower area of that mount, is a servant to Moses. He too is waiting on the Lord. I want to tell you something, in every time of apostasy in the church, in any time that something strange or unholy breaks out, anything of the flesh that breaks out, I want you to know that God is never caught by surprise. God always has some holy men on the mountain getting direction, getting the word of the Lord that's going to smash these idols. And when idolatry breaks out in the church, you can be sure God has his men shut in getting ready. And today God has his men shut in. God has his Joshua's and his Moses who are shut in with God getting the divine order. And he's on the mountain now getting the divine order. God is preparing for Israel all this time and it's only a four to six week period. And God is designing a glorious form of beautiful worship for the children of Israel. It's going to be the beauty of holiness. God is saying, I have a divine order. I cannot accept your worship. I can't accept your praise. I can't accept anything unless it's according to my mind and there's going to be a divine order to it. He said, we're going to start with a matter of sin. We're going to make provision for sin. There's going to be a burnt offering. It's going to point to a lamb for a final generation. It's going to point to the Lamb of God, to the Messiah who will come. There's going to be a holy anointing oil that's going to be respected. I'm going to give laws. I'm going to give commandments. That will cause you to be able to live on this earth in an order that the whole world will notice that you are different. I'm going to give you laws that will keep you from diseases. And I'm going to give you priests that have turbans on their heads that say holiness unto the Lord. And I'm going to sanctify. There's going to be clean, holy ministry in the pulpit. Nothing that's unclean can come into my presence. It will be a clean thing. A holy clean. According to divine order. I can't touch it. I won't look at it. Starts with provision for sin. Divine order. And Moses is hearing all this and he's getting ready. He's got the plans for this beautiful divine order of worship. That God can come down and fill the tabernacle with His own presence and His own glory. The Israelites themselves had heard the voice of God. Moses had told them, God has come down to prove you, to test you. That His fear may be before your faces that you sin not. He said before you do anything about worship. Before I allow you into my courts. I am going to show you my fear. That the fear of the Lord be in you. That you sin not. Folks, the first time I heard in the charismatic movement this phrase, we are king's kids and he's my daddy. Something just didn't sit right with me. It didn't sit right with me because there was something unmajestic about it. Yes, he's my father. But he's king of kings and he's lord of lords. But what we have done, we have made him one like ourselves. We have made him not God the Father, Holy, Righteous. Who has implanted His fear in our hearts so we do not sin against Him. But we've made him daddy-o. Sweet, gentle daddy-o. We have not had sweet communion with Him. We have had a kind of familiarity that is human and sensuous. It's not divine. It's not majestic. It has nothing to do with the fear of God. He said God has come down to prove you, test you, that His fear may be before your faces that you sin not. And I can prove to you that is in the New Covenant as well. It's not just Sinai. God was saying there will be nothing come near me. There will be nothing come near my holy things that is unclean. You cannot have anything unclean touch any of my holy things. It will be holy worship. Moses had been with God no more than four to six weeks now. And in that short time, God's people led by Satan into one of the greatest delusions ever perpetrated on God's people up to that time. Evidently, a large delegation rose up and approached High Priest Aaron and demanded that he make them gods to lead them into the promised land. For this Moses, we don't know what's happened to him. Let's go back to Exodus 32. Let's start again in verse 1, go down through verse 4. And when the people saw that Moses delayed to come down out of the mount, the people gathered themselves together unto Aaron and said unto him, Make us gods which will go before us. For as for this Moses, the man that brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we want not what has become of him. And Aaron said unto them, Break off the golden earrings which are in the ears of your wives, of your sons, of your daughters, and bring them to me. And all the people break off their golden earrings which were in their ears and brought them unto Aaron. And he received them at their hand and fashioned it with a graving tool after he had made it a molten calf. And they said, These be thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt. Oh my, I read this in utter, utter disbelief. I read this episode and I cannot believe what I'm reading. How can an anointed minister of God, who had just previously been to the mount, seen God face to face talk to him, had heard the commandments, had been shown his future, that he was going to have all of his nakedness covered, that he would be anointed with the holy oil that he would wear on his head in holiness unto God? He had just been told, You shall have no other gods before me. You shall not grave an image. He had just received it. I find this utterly incapable of understanding. I can't understand. He had just heard from God, Thou shalt have no other gods before me. Thou shalt not make thee a graven image. Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them. For I, the Lord thy God, am a jealous God. Now, when they came to him with this request, to make them a God, why didn't he fall on his face? Why didn't he stand up and cry, Mercy God! Why didn't he thunder out? Thou shalt have no other gods. You heard it. You heard his voice from the mount. You heard his very voice. You heard his trumpet. You saw the lightning. You saw the thunder. He said he's put his fear in our hearts and we sin not against him. He said, No graven image. When I get to heaven, I've got a lot of questions that have bothered me about this, and I want to ask Moses and Aaron. I want to know why Aaron, who is not a craftsman, took a carving tool and carves this mounted image when he's got, standing beside him, Bezalel, who the Bible said is full of the Holy Spirit and a craftsman in gold and silver. A tremendous craftsman. And I want to know why this man, who's never picked up a crafting tool at all, was it because Bezalel, a man the Bible says is full of the Holy Spirit, said, This is wrong. I won't touch it. I want to know where Caleb was. I want to know where Miriam was. I want to know where her was, who held up the hands of Moses later. Where were they? Where were the voices of the old timers, who'd seen all the miracles? Where were the voices when they saw this ugly rebellion breaking out? When they saw this idolatry beginning to just grab the hearts of the people. Where were the voices? And when I asked the Holy Ghost that, He said, Well, David, look at your time. Where are the voices? Where are the voices now that that idolatry is back again? Where are the voices? You asked me, David, where the voice of her Aaron, of her is? And what about Caleb? And what about Bezalel, who is full of the Spirit of God? Where were their voices? Well, David, where has your voice been? And that's why I'm preaching this tonight. That's one of the reasons. Where were the Lutherans? Where were the Pentecostals in Germany when Hitler took power, and they knew that six million Jews were being killed? Where were they? Only a few stood. But I can assure you one thing. You can be sure. God has His voices. God has His men. And God moves in His time. And He's about to do just that. You see, compromise on that wilderness floor is a result of a compromise in the pulpit. We would not have any of the foolishness that's in the charismatic movement or evangelical circles today if we didn't have ambitious men in the pulpit. This man, Aaron, is an ambitious man. He's now in charge. Moses is out of the... And we know he's ambitious because not too much later we find him rising up against Moses. And he said, God doesn't talk to you, only He talks to me also. And Miriam rose up with him, and Miriam was stricken with leprosy. And it's only a miracle Aaron didn't die. We know he was an ambitious man. This ambitious man, he's now in control. He's the center of attraction. He's been in the shadow of Moses. And now he's center stage. This man is weak. This man is not shunted with God. He has no prayer life. This man is a crowd pleaser. And you're going to find that in all of these false revivals. You're going to find somebody that was in the shadows. You're going to find somebody that was unknown and suddenly he has this thing and suddenly he's cast into the spotlight. And he's not a man of prayer, he's usually on the golf course. He's not a man shunted with God, he doesn't hear the bind of God, he doesn't know his theology. And he's got this thing going because he's giving people what they clamor for. Because we're in a generation now that's tired of spiritual warfare just like Israel was. They were tired of the strictness of this holiness preacher Moses. He'd raise them up on holiness. And they were sick and tired of that. They wanted a little bit of fun and it is too strict under Moses. We have people now even acknowledge I don't think I can handle the strictness of this spiritual warfare anymore. I don't think God's that strict, one man said. And as one evangelist said, walking with Jesus is like a jet air, like taking a jet ride. Grab your coke, sit back in your seat and enjoy the flight. Huh. That's the errand ministry. If we didn't have errands, we wouldn't have golden calves. These are men, oh God help us, and America's full of them. Just when you think God is taking the life out of one, here comes a dozen more right behind them. This is the end of side one. You may now turn the tape over to side two. It's running all over the nations today that are now in the spotlight and deep in their heart, air and nose. I want to tell you something. Look at these people dancing around that golden calf. They're naked now and they're dancing. Don't you try to tell me they're looking at that golden calf. They're looking at those naked bodies because they're full of lust. There's not one person with half a brain who's going to believe, truly believe in his mind that his earrings have suddenly turned into deity. They gather a bunch of earrings, throw them in the fire when he calls his little God and you're going to tell me anybody in their right mind is going to say, that guy, that thing answers prayer? We're going to be led into promised land with this thing? We got to push around? Who can't walk? But you see, that's what a golden calf is. That's what idolatry is, folks. It's somebody wanting to get away from the restrictions of holiness, the restrictions of holy living and holy preaching and they want to get down and dirty. And so they have to have a religious front. They want a religion that's going to excuse it. They want that easy walk. They want a God that has no eyes and no ears. No God, this golden calf's got no eyes to see them. They weren't looking at that golden calf. They were out here rising up to play. And I'm going to tell you something Aaron knows in his heart. The wickedness of this thing. And as sure as I know that there are preachers that stand in front of great crowds and turn them on and play to the crowd and manipulate those crowds just like Aaron's doing, absolutely manipulate them and there's still a little something inside the Holy Ghost's voice that says this is sin, this is idolatry, you're doing this in flesh. There is a voice there that cries and the only way to cover it up is to cover it with proper theological phraseology. And so Aaron looks at this and I'm sure there's something of his conscience striking him and he says tomorrow we're going to have a feast unto the Lord. In the Hebrew word there is Jehovah. You see now he's sounding alright, he's covering up his sin with theological terms that sound good. And this is what happens in all of these false revivals. They will concoct and they will invent a beautiful theological scheme to explain it all. And if you don't have discernment, and if you're not walking truly in the Holy Spirit, it will sound good and the theology sounds so correct that it will deceive you. This is a feast unto Jehovah, he says. Now folks, follow me, please. This is so very, very important. The word feast and this is amazing. Amazing. The word that Aaron uses, the Hebrew word here, feast, is a Giddy festival. A Giddy festival. Which in its root word means to celebrate dance and reel to and fro. Giddy. The word Gid itself and the root word for Giddy is from a heathen god and this heathen god is a call to induced frivolity. A call to induced frivolity. You work it in the flesh. It's induced by flesh. And what he is calling a people, a sinful, ungodly, stiff-necked people, he is calling them now to a Giddy festival that means laughter. Dancing, induced frivolity, cheer and laughter. First laughing revival in the Bible. This puts the fear of God so deep in my soul. I had a young evangelist who is well known in one of the evangelical circles. Well known. Sat in a restaurant with me face to face and said, Brother Dave, I know how to turn them on. I know how to turn them off. I know every trick in the trade. And I'm listening to this young man who preaches to thousands. He knows how to turn the tears on. He knows what moves people in the flesh. He says, I go to church, I know what the pastor wants. He wants his church full and I know how to bring him back. He knows how to pack the seats. In fact, he as well has said, if you'll have me for a meeting, I'll pack your church like it's never been packed. I don't even try to answer men like that. Because there's nothing you can say. In fact, I get so shocked in hearing these things, I just back off. I just back off. I've got nothing in common with this man. So I can't talk about it. But folks, that's happening all over the country now. We've got Aaron standing in the pulpit turning people on and off. Manipulating people. Making merchandise of them. And it becomes a show. A feast to Jehovah? No. This is a giddy celebration. A dancing. A call to frivolity. You talk about excitement that people could hardly sleep that night. They could wait for the next day. Boy, you know, people get excited when there's something new. People get excited when there's something sensational. This is a sensational thing and they can't wait till the morning and they line up quick in the morning. There they are, the scripture says. They rose up early in the morning and offered burnt offerings. They brought peace offerings. You see, there has to be a form of godliness to it. They go through the ritual. The offerings, the peace offerings, the praise. They're saying this is to Jehovah. And the people sat down then to eat and to drink and rose up to play. That calf is nothing more than an excuse to indulge their lust. It's nothing but a front, a facade to explain away what has taken their hearts. And I'll tell you, there are golden calves today. It can be a church, it can be a religion, it can be... I'll tell you, you go to any homosexual church, the Metapolitan Community Churches in the United States, you go to any one of them, you're going to hear some of the best theology you've ever heard. You're going to hear everything. They're going to talk about Jesus so sweetly. They're going to talk about repentance. They'll talk about the baptism of the Holy Ghost. They'll talk about tongues. They'll talk about it all. And it'll sound right because they cover the whole thing. But the whole thing is about the big party that night. I was in a Metapolitan Community Church in Los Angeles or San Francisco a number of years ago. And my wife and I sat there and we listened to this perfect theology. The phraseology, a feast of Jehovah. And then at the end, one of the workers got up and said, now this is the schedule for the week. And every night of the week, there was a dance and drinking, a cruise and drinking. They all said, bring your own beer, bring your own alcohol, and bring your own sweetheart. The whole thing was a cover up for one big party. But the theology sounded right. The theology here sounds right. And this is what fools so many Christians. God was not laughing on the mountain. He said, Moses, you get down and you get down now. The people you brought out of Israel have corrupted themselves. Corrupted themselves. And when Moses came down off that mountain, and he sees thousands of naked Israelites dancing around a golden calf, he drew a line immediately. It didn't take him long to make his decision where he stood. He drew a line immediately and he said, all those with giddy frivolity, you go that way. All of you who grieve over this sin, step over on my side. And the Levite stood with him and he said, now get your sword and you go out into that party and you take everyone, I don't care if it's your brother, your sister, your mother, your father, everyone dancing before that idol, slay them. Three thousand die. The party ended. And folks, that's exactly what the Holy Ghost is doing. He's going to do it now. He lets it go so long, but then God speaks from the mountain. He'll speak to the men that are shot in with God and says, now go down, take the sword of the Lord now and deal with it. And folks, you can see now all of the United States and around Canada, you see people have been slain by this. You see the disaster that it's brought to the leaders in Canada of this movement. Left their wives. They're living together in an apartment. They're drinking, they're smoking, running around with women. You see dysfunctional families everywhere you go across the United States now. Because they've come under a wild delusion. Because they laughed when they should have wept. There was no preaching of repentance. Many of these men that are now backslidden had lust in their heart. And they were looking for a shortcut. They were looking for some reason to get the spotlight. And oh, you see God moving now. Friends, these movements last five, maybe six years and they're gone. But be sure there'll be something else coming up in its place. That's why you need to be in the Word. You need to be on your knees. You need to be able to stay before God and say, Lord, show me the nicket of God. Keep me repentant and broken. A broken-hearted, repentant Christian is never led into delusion. It's impossible. Because some Aaron came along and told them they should be laughing when they should have been crying. Some Aaron came along and told them it was all right to play when they should have prayed. Some Aaron came along and said time to dance and be giddy when they should have been on their face, seeking God for direction and repentance. But you see, there's another side of this coin now. There's also the danger of weeping when we ought to be laughing. Now I want you to go to what I call the true laugh and revival. And this is found in Nehemiah, the eighth chapter. Nehemiah, the eighth chapter. Some of you know where we're going now, don't you? This is wonderful. Hallelujah. This laugh and revival is what I want to see in Times Square Church. And I want to see God do it all over the world. Hallelujah. The true laugh and revival. Folks, there is a true laugh and revival. Let's start reading chapter 8, Nehemiah 8, the first three verses, please. This is Nehemiah, the eighth chapter, verses 1 to 3. And all the people gathered themselves together as one man into the street that was before the water gate. And they spake unto Ezra the scribe to bring the book of the law of Moses, which the Lord had commanded to Israel. And Ezra the priest brought the law before the congregation, both the men and women, and all that could hear with understanding upon the first day of the seventh month. And he read therein before the street that was before the water gate from the morning until midday, before the men and the women and those that could understand. And the ears of all the people were attentive unto the book of the law. All were attended. Listen to what the people said. Bring us the book of the law. No, show us what God is asking of us. What's God saying? We want to hear what God is saying. They're not looking for excitement. They're not looking to be refreshed. They're not looking for joy at this time. They're looking for one thing. What's the law of God say? What does God expect of us? From morning to midnight, the Bible said their ears were attentive to the book of the law. Folks, this was the true preaching of the word of God. You see, the law was meant to convict us of our sin and drive us to the cross. The preaching of the law has one purpose. The law can't save you. The law is brought to our attention as a mirror where we see our sins. And we see how hopeless we are, how helpless we are, that we can't do anything in our strength. And we are driven to the cross. We're driven to grace. But how can a man confess his sin when he doesn't even acknowledge he has sin? Because he hasn't looked in the mirror. The law was preached from morning to night. The law of God. And people became convicted. They began to weep. Verse 6. And Ezra blessed the Lord, the great God. And all the people answered, Amen, Amen. It means yes, yes. With lifting up their hands. And they bowed their heads. And worshipped the Lord with their faces to the ground. Brother, sister. This was not some mass meeting being videotaped for television. This was not some evangelist. Laying hands on people, knocking them out. This was not some evangelist saying, come down and get your drink. This was not somebody with his foot on somebody's belly, pumping himself, get happy, laugh. This is a congregation sitting under, all day preaching. All day long. The law of God. The law of God came. And they began to see their sins and whether they had failed God. They began to weep. They began to raise their hands and said, yes Lord, that's me. Yes, yes. I have sinned against you, oh God, that's me. And they fell on their faces. They got zapped. Oh yeah, people laid everywhere. Nobody laid hands on them. They were under conviction of the Holy Ghost. They were slain with conviction. And the people wept. When they heard the words of the law. The people wept. Have you ever wept? When you have heard the preaching of the word of God. When God's Holy Ghost dug deep into your heart and exposed sin. Have you ever wept over it? Have you ever said, yes Lord, that's me. Yes God, I hear it, I see it. Has it ever put you on your face? I know what it is in my secret closet and that's why I stand and preach like this. I know what it's like to be in my secret closet and have God and the Holy Ghost come. I've been reading His word and God says, David, that's you. Chapter 5, verse 6, that's you. And I say, yes. And I throw myself before Him and I weep and I cry before God. Until that conviction's done its work. And I dare not see somebody at this altar that God's dealing with and I feel sorry. And I go up and say, everything's okay, don't cry anymore. I'm not going to stop the Holy Ghost until He's done working. And the danger of this revival is that even if somebody goes in that's convicted of their sins. They've been to some church where they've heard a message. And they come and that conviction is there. And somebody comes offering them this pill of laughter. Come on up here, let me lay hands on you and get your blessing. They've robbed them of the conviction. They've stolen away that work of the Holy Ghost from their hearts. I will never God help me offer comfort to people until the work of the Holy Ghost is done. We abort the work of the Holy Ghost. Forgive me for getting excited but I tell you. When I see this congregation. These people weeping when they heard the words of the law. So they read the book of the law of God distinctly. And they gave the meaning and caused them to understand the meaning. There's never been a true laughing revival. There's never been a true revival without the preaching of godliness. There's never been a true revival that hasn't come or been birthed out of convicting preaching. Never. Every true revival in the history of this world. Has come as a result of the preaching against sin. Where people were convicted of their sins and got happy and free because the chains were gone. Folks when your sins are gone. You'll get happy. And now you see a whole nation on their face. Brought to their knees. Not by the hand of some man but by the hand of the living word of God. You see a people now humbled and broken before the Lord. And weeping. And suddenly the Lord appears to the prophet. And he says now. You've got to stop the weeping. It's time to laugh. Oh hallelujah. Verse 9. Let's go to verse 8. So they read in the book the law of God distinctly. And gave the sense. And caused them to understand the reading. That's preaching. And Nehemiah which is the Tirshithah. And Israel the priest, the scribe, the Levites that taught the people. Said unto all the people. This day is holy unto the Lord your God. Mourn not. Nor weep. For all the people wept. When they heard the words of the law. Then he said unto them. Go your way. Eat the fat and drink the sweet. And send portions to them. For whom nothing is prepared. For this day is holy unto the Lord our God. Neither be you sorry. For the joy of the Lord is your strength. So the Levites stilled all the people saying. Hold your peace. This day is holy. Neither be you grieved or depressed. And all the people went their way to eat and to drink. And to send portions. And to make great mirth. And in the Hebrew it's great laughter. They made great laughter. Because they had understood the words that were declared unto them. Why were they laughing? They understood the word of the Lord. Hallelujah. They understood that they were convicted. They understood that they were forgiven. They understood that the holiness of God had moved in now to the camp. They knew now that their hearts were set on obedience. Then the pastor came to the pulpit. And he said now folks. It's time to laugh. Time to rejoice. The Bible said there was great mirth in Judah. There was great laughter in Judah. I can tell when I walk into a church. If the people are walking in righteousness. Because the music, the joy is genuine. It's not worked up. Nobody is producing it. It's a genuine joy. You can't mimic it. You can't force it. It is something that just pours out of a heart that has no burdens. A heart that can look a prophet in the eye. Hallelujah. Anyone who can say, oh God. Thank you. For putting me under preachers. Who preached. Right at my sin. Thank you for preaching that convicted me. Oh it made me mad but it saved me. You say brother, wouldn't it be exciting here though. Can't we have at least one or two meetings like they have on these mass healing televisions. The whole stage with bodies laying everywhere. I mean people just falling out on the power. Either blow on them or put a hand on them. Do something. They fall down. No, no, no. I'll tell you what I want to see. I want to see halfway through the preaching. Brother Carter is up here. I'm up here. Whoever is up here under the anointing of God. And the word of God is getting through so powerful. We have people fall on their knees. Yes Lord that's me. And being smitten by conviction of the Holy Ghost. I've been smitten twice on this pulpit that way. Once right over here. And once over here on my face by the word of God. We can't make that happen but nothing would please me better. To see God come. I'll tell you where that will happen. That's going to happen in congregations where we go sometimes. They've not heard the preaching. And all of a sudden the conviction is going to strike. Hallelujah. You know something? You can go to a false laughing revival and find honest hearts. And if the people who call you. Like if they called Brother Carter, myself to one of these meetings. And they let us alone. Didn't get up and stop us. There'd be no laughter. I assure you. If I preach what I'm preaching tonight. You would see hundreds flock to their faces. Fall on their knees. Because the spirit of Aaron has been pushed away. The golden calf has been crushed. Because you see people are hungry. People are looking for reality. But they have been running to an Aaron. Will you stand? This is the conclusion of the tape.