In this sermon, the preacher begins by encouraging the congregation to seek strength and guidance from God in their spiritual battles. He acknowledges that despite hearing numerous sermons, it can be challenging to apply the teachings to one's own life. The preacher reflects on his own experience as a pastor for 50 years and admits that he sometimes forgets the lessons he has preached. He emphasizes the importance of having a hunger for God and a desire to know Him, regardless of one's current spiritual state. The sermon concludes with the preacher reminding the audience that as believers, they are targets of Satan's envy and should seek God's protection and guidance.

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, NY 10019. I want to speak to you this morning on the subject, A Target of Satan's Envy. A Target of Satan's Envy. Now, I want you to know if you're a believer and you're seeking God, you're that target. I want you to go with me to 2 Corinthians, 12th chapter. Begin and read at verse 2. 12th chapter of 2 Corinthians. This is about Paul the Apostle. Paul is saying, I knew a man in Christ about 14 years ago. Whether I was in the body, I can't tell, or whether out of the body, I can't tell. God knows. Such a one caught up in the third heaven. And I know such a man, whether in the body or out of the body, I can't tell. God knows. How that he was caught up into paradise and heard unspeakable words, which not fawful for a man to utter. Such a man, one I will glory, yet not of myself. I will not glory, but in my affirmities. For though I would desire to glory, I would not be a fool. For I will say the truth, but now I forbear. Lest any man should think of me above that which he seems me to be, that he heareth of me. Lest I should be exalted. Now here's my text. Lest I should be exalted above measure to the abundance of the revelations. There was given to me a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to buffet me. Lest I should be exalted above measure. And for this thing I besought the Lord thrice, that it might depart from me. The Lord said, my grace is sufficient for thee. My strength is made perfect in your weakness. So gladly I will rather glory my affirmities of the power of Christ may rest upon me. Heavenly Father, we thank you for your presence here this morning. And we call upon your blessed Holy Spirit to come and manifest the word. Let the word come forth with the anointing. Holy Spirit, we need you. This is a congregation that loves your word. We revel in your word. We desire your word. I'm asking you to quicken my mind and quicken the mind of all the listeners. Lord Jesus, if we can understand something about the workings and devices of Satan, so we will not be caught unaware. Lord Jesus, teach us this morning from your word. Let us understand clearly the mind of the Lord. Thank you for your anointing. Thank you for ears to hear what the Holy Spirit says to us. In Christ's name, amen. I've got a word for those that are going through difficult times, mentally, spiritually, physically, and maybe all three at one time. Now, we are living in very stressful times. And we are living in times when conditions are put upon us that overwhelm us. And we can't understand. Now, I thank God for all of you this morning in the Annex and here in the Mayan Auditorium and those in the choir that you are not going through any problem right now. You are free. I mean, you're just enjoying sunshine. And there are seasons like that. They're very rare, but there are seasons like that. And I congratulate you, and I thank you, and I request your prayers for my time of trial. But you see, if you're going to seek God with all your heart, if you set your mind to follow Him with no reservation, you've truly set your mind to follow the Lord and obey His word, you have a hunger and thirst after Him, you're going to immediately and continuously be a target of the envy of the devil himself. You will become the enemy or rather the envy of Satan. Many books have been written about why Christians suffer, especially the godly Christians. Everybody knows how they live. Everybody knows that there's something about them. They've been seeking God, and yet it's difficult to understand. Many books. My library is filled with books and bookstores on trying to explain the suffering of the godly. I've not been able to get much help from any of them. Because you see, we can read them all. We can hear tapes. We get message after message. But when it comes to bring it down to our own level, to our problem, we find it difficult to apply these truths to our own heart. And we go through things that even though we've been taught and we heard so many sermons, yet something just is not applicable to our situation at certain times. It does not seem to affect us. Now, folks, I've been preaching for 50 years. I look at the subjects I've preached on over all these 50 years, and many of them I still have. They're notes, and they're stacked in cases or booklets. And I say, Lord, there are times that I'm in a problem, and I don't remember half of that. I don't remember a third of it. I have to draw from your present word. You have to say something to me present right now, something for me, not from a book, not from the Puritans, not from some other teacher. You have to give it to me because I've been walking with you, Holy Spirit. You abide in me. Surely you can talk to me. And that's what some of you need this morning. You need a word from God for your own heart and not from some of your tapes. God, thank God for the tapes. But see, there are people that endure mental anguish. I think the attack on the Christian mind, the godly mind, is probably the most difficult suffering possible to humankind. You can ask any drug addict what his habit is, and he'll tell you it's a mind habit. And when it comes to Christ, the big battle is in the mind. The enemy injects into the mind thoughts that are right out of hell. And some of you are here now, and you're battling thoughts. You're battling things that you know didn't come from you. They're not a part of your new nature. You don't even know where they come from. Sometimes they're evil thoughts, thoughts of depression, thoughts of not being worthy of ministry, not being worthy of fellowship. And these thoughts come bombarding right out of hell. And many of you are facing that today. But see, when you cross the line of lukewarmness and say, I am going to follow the Lord with all my heart and soul, I don't want to be lukewarm, I don't want to be cold. There was a survey just finished recently by Barnum, I believe it was Barnum, and it showed that about 70-80% of those who call themselves born again do not consider walking with God or holiness the most important thing in their life. Now folks, that's a tragedy. But when you, do you understand in light of that lukewarmness and in the light of people, Christians, born again Christians, putting lifestyle ahead of their walk with Christ, many said, we don't even know what the word holiness means anymore. Most young people didn't know what the word meant. Can you understand why the devil is so stirred by that minority who set themselves apart, began to pray and say, God, I want to be a seeker, I want to be an intercessor, I want to hear your voice, I want to be intimate with you, and I want to give myself more and more to you. I see the world is going, I see the wickedness, I see the times, and I don't want to go that way. And some of you here are fasting and praying like you've never fasted and prayed before. And I believe you're walking closer to the Lord than you've ever walked before. But if that be the case, I'm telling you that you have stirred the very bowels of hell itself, and Satan will come against you with everything within his arsenal of weaponry. He will come against your mind. He will flood into your heart as you have never experienced before. Paul received this revelation that I just went over with you here in 2 Corinthians. He's in the third heaven. And this man is a praying man. Here's a man who fasts and prays. Here's a man who was the devil's prize. What a prize this man was when he was taking Christians out of various cities and towns and taking them to Jerusalem and trying them and throwing them in jail and persecuting and tormenting believers. Here was a man who really sought God, trained in the word of the Lord. Here was a man who was very zealous, an honest man doing the devil's work. And the devil was there. No question he was there that day when he fell off his horse. And Jesus Christ revealed himself in a blinding light. And can you imagine how hell was shaken when these words were uttered by this servant of Satan? Lord, what would you have me to do? And I can conceive in my mind a conference in hell with all the principalities and powers of darkness and say, something has to be done immediately. He's on his knees now in the city. He's fasting and praying for three days. And he's getting a revelation of Christ like few men have ever had. And Satan determines, we have got to send a messenger. And I know that someone was chosen out of hell who was to stay with, who Saul would become the apostle Paul, and he was sent on an assignment. You go after him. Now, the Lord would never unleash, would never send a messenger of hell, a messenger of Satan on his own servant. But like Job, sometimes he lets down the wall. There's a reason. And he let down the wall. And he allowed Satan to send a messenger who was assigned lifetime the ball. Lifetime to buffet him physically, spiritually, mentally. This was physical pain. They claim there are ten different reasons theologians give for the disease of Paul or the buffeting of Paul from eye problems and all of that. I can't conceive it was just like that because Satan could come at one time and do it and pass on. I believe this is a daily bombardment of his mind, reminding him every day. This surely had to be a part of it. Reminding him of every Christian, bringing to his face every past torture, every past thing he did against the name of Jesus Christ. Just like he does with you, he does with me. Tries to bring thoughts about past failures, past things that are in your life. And the devil would like you to think they're not under the blood of Jesus Christ. He will bring thoughts into your mind and try to tell you you're as evil as the thoughts he's planting in your mind to rob you of your faith. This messenger of Satan, you see, Satan's eye was blinded with envy because, see, Paul is getting everything he lost. Satan could not conceive of a man of lesser being. You see, we're made a little lower than the angels. He could not conceive a lower being, lower than the angelic person that he was going into the paradise that he lost. And, folks, that's exactly what happens. Exactly why he comes after you. Because you're coming into the paradise of a clear conscience. You're coming into a paradise of peace and fellowship and intimacy with Christ. And that's the thing that makes the devil envious. That's something he lost. And he finds rest, finds a measure of rest, or at least he finds something that gives him pleasure in robbing you of your rest because he lost his. He will come at you because he is envious of your fellowship with the Father for which he was cast out of heaven. And you have got to realize that. Think back with your walk with the Lord. Do you remember a time when you said, I really want God more than I've ever wanted the Lord? And you set your heart like the Old Testament men said, and they set their heart, they set their heart, they set their heart. And I don't believe God can really do what he wants to do to us until we set our hearts. That's our part. We can set our heart to seek God. There is a discipline involved. If you're waiting for the Holy Ghost to come one day and say, hey, I want you to seek God, it's not going to work that way. It's going to come because you stir your heart. You stir your heart and you go after it. You know, we say we can't do that in this Christian covenant walk when I can look at sports figures and I see them fix their mind and go eight hours a day practicing and giving their bodies and everything, giving it to them without any divine help. Surely we can go seeking God. But do you remember a time in your walk? Was it lately or was it a year ago or when was it? When something came to you and you said, Lord, I want to hunger after you, I want to thirst after you as I've never done before. Oh, God, draw me near. And you begin to pray and you begin to fast at least a few meals and you were growing. I want you to know it was that time that hell took notice of you. That something was about to shake his kingdom because nothing shakes the kingdom of darkness more than a praying man or woman. Intercessors cause the devil to tremble, absolutely tremble. Hell is shaken, literally shaken by the small army. He doesn't fear. The devil will say to all the masses that are under his control, Hey, look, they're in our army. Don't spend time. Go after this remnant. Go after so-and-so. Here's a sister that's an intercessor. Here's a brother that set his heart to seek God. And this is going to damage our kingdom because they're going to pray others into the kingdom. They're going to see miracles. They're going to see what happened in their life and their prayers are going to be answered and we will never get them. So I'm going after them. You go after this principality, this power. Go. There are assignments. It's quite a compliment to have the devil assign an angel to hamper you. It's not a flattery, but in a way it's really something to be recognized by hell. And some of you don't realize that what you're going through is that very recognition and the devil is angry, the devil is fearful because of suppressing greatness of my revelation for this reason only, to keep me from exalting myself. There was given to me a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to buffet me. You say, well, Brother Dave, there was a time I really set my heart to seek God and I'm lukewarm right now. I'm really not steadfast in my faith. God's not looking for people that are emotional yo-yos, up and down, hot and cold. I'm not talking about that, getting emotionally stirred and going back to old ways. No, I'm talking about an inner knowledge that you know that right now you are in a place of coldness or dryness, call it what you will. But you see, that doesn't make a difference because the devil knows that there are still sparks underneath it all. He knows there's something in you because there was a time you set your heart. And because you set your heart, the devil knows that at any time those embers can flash into flame again. And there are many of you here right now think that you're downcast because you say, I'm really not on fire. I don't have, I don't know what you're looking for emotionally. Maybe you can't raise your hands like you once did. Maybe you can't shout like you once shouted. Maybe you can't shed tears like you once shed tears. And you can't work up the tears. But folks, sometimes, and I believe this with all my heart, God is closer to you when you think he's the furthest away. Did you hear what I said? He's closer to you than when you think he's furthest away. Paul the Apostle in so many words said that. But you see, if you're sitting here now and you say, I remember all of that and I'm not where I should, but folks, you say, well, I'm still suffering. I'm really not one of those intercessors. He says, I'm not a seeker after God. Oh, yeah, but you've got a flame. And the devil, he's afraid of even a spark of God in you. We have a maid service at our house, comes in once every two weeks, clean the house and so forth. Her name is Lucy. She and her sister are legal here in the United States. Sweet, sweet, two Catholic girls. And this past week, Lucy came to our house weeping. And she said, I can't sleep and I don't know what to do. She said, one of my people that I clean for has accused me. I went in the other day and I went in and she met me and accused me of stealing her jewelry and called the police. She said, Pastor, you know, I don't steal anything. She is one of the most honest. We've had jewelry laying around. Wife's had jewelry. She's never touched anything. And she said, I don't understand. She may call all my people and cancel everything. And Gwen was hugging her while she wept. I said, hey, Lucy, I know you go to Catholic church, but I know there are wonderful seekers of God in the church. But I said, you know that you felt Jesus in this house. And I asked her, I said, have you been calling on Jesus? Have you been praying more? She said, yeah. I said, that's why you've been reproached. You became a target of the devil because he saw a hungry. She's so hungry. She's like a little bird. Every little act of kindness, he drinks it in. She sees Jesus every time Gwen hugs her and kisses her. And she brings her new baby into her house. And Gwen loves on her. And I pick it up and do what I can. But that's when what I'm preaching to you became clearer in my mind. You sit here in this service this afternoon, and there's something of a hunger in you. You may not even call yourself a believer right now. Maybe you walked in here. You're from another town. You may be from the city. And you see there's not much of religion in me. There's not much of God in me. But is there a cry in you? Is there something that says, Jesus, I would like to know you. Jesus, there's something more to life than I have found. And there's a hunger. There's something. Boy, watch out. Don't be afraid. Because greater he in you than he that's in the world. You don't have to be afraid. But you can be sure that God wants to lead you further so that you'll have the protection at the time when the enemy comes to attack you from all sides. Well, let's go on. According to Scripture, we're not to be ignorant concerning the wiles and devices of Satan. I've heard some people say, don't talk about the devil. You're just giving him glory. Well, that's not what the Bible says. Listen to what the Scripture says. Satan himself will transform himself into an angel of light. Even his ministers also shall be transformed as the ministers of righteousness. And Paul said we are not to be ignorant of his devisals lest he should get an advantage of us. Lest he should catch us unawares. You've got to understand why this is probably. I would put this is the number one reason why godly people are under attack. You have become a target of the envy. The absolute envy is Satan. Satan uses godly or ungodly messengers. Sometimes he uses people. Have you ever had anybody say something to you that, you know, came right out of the lips of the devil? Oh, come on. Somebody heard it this morning. You knew it wasn't that person. You knew the devil was speaking right through. How many times have you been reproached? How many times have people said things that cut you to the soul? Where did it come from? It's a messenger. Satan. They're not necessarily demon possessed, but there's something that the devil could touch of envy. Because you see, if you walk righteous before the Lord, you're going to be the victim of the enemy of all of those around you. And the most ungodly of your people around you are going to envy you the most. Because what you have is a rebuke to their lifestyle. Even though you don't say a word, you're not preaching, you're not casting scripture verses around, but they see your walk. They look at you in your eyes and they see something different. Well, just as sure as those people around you can see it. You'd be sure the devil knows it. The devil knows it. David tells us of a time that his soul was cast down. He was cast down and he couldn't understand it. And then he gives us the reason finding. And then he says, why, God, have you forgotten me? Why do I go mourning and grieving in my soul each day? You see, he was not cold. He was not lukewarm. In fact, he was praying and he was seeking God. He's going through a hard time. He's hiding in a cave. He's running over the hills. Saul was chasing him. His own son is against him. His friends have left him. He's been anointed and he's got unfulfilled expectations in his life. And he's saying it's cast me down. But he gives the reason because he said they continually say to me, where is your God? Where is your God? And the devil was not saying, where is God? But David, where is your God? Where's thy God? And that's the very thing that cast David down, because they continually say to me, where is your God? David, you're running around. You don't even have a home. You've got a devil chasing you. A demon possessed man is chasing you. And where's your God? You are suffering. You're in pain. People have turned against you. You say you're anointed. And you have to have your soldiers begging for meat and bread. You've got financial problems. You've got spiritual problems. You've got all kinds of problems. David, where's your God? And that's the voice of the enemy that will come from outside. And it'll come from the thoughts that he plants in your mind. Why, God, after you promised me that you'd never let me bear more than I'm able to, but would with a temptation make a way of escape? Where is that way of escape? Why, Lord, do you allow me to come to a breaking point? Why, Lord, does one problem solve and then a dozen more come behind it? Why this constant harassment? Why do I have to lay in bed at night under this financial burden trying to put two and two together and trying to figure out how I can stretch things and worrying about children? I'll tell you what. If you have children, you have problems. If you have grandchildren, you have more problems. Now, I love all my children. I love all my grandchildren. I love them all. I love my wife. Folks, there's struggle that comes. And if you don't have it, maybe you should have it. Could be your walk needs tested. I have never learned anything of value outside of suffering. I'm 75 now, and if God has taught me anything, it is all come through suffering. And not just the suffering, but to see God in it. To see God deliver from it and see God's grace and see the mercy of God that comes to those who will trust him. And all folks, when you pray and begin to fast, and out of that prayer and fasting and study, the word faith builds up. And you begin to say, I'm going to trust God no matter what. No matter what. I may not see any evidence of God working in me. I may not have that right now, but I'm going to trust God. And I'll tell you, the devil takes notice of that and all hell takes notice of that. David called on the Lord. Bible said, and Saul envied David from that day on. And Saul was afraid of David. You see, Saul is demon possessed now. We're talking about the envy of Satan. What was he envying? He was envying that walk with God. That obedience to God. That hunger and that thirst. Like a man panting after the brooks like a deer. It was not David's fighting ability. It was not David's personal demeanor. There was something of a relationship with the Father. There was something of God in him. And the Bible says Saul looked at him and envied him. And tried to kill him. He persecuted and chased him. Do you get the picture, folks? Do you get what the Holy Spirit is trying to say to us? Why was David suffering? Why was he being chased? Because of this walk with God. And Saul saw and knew the Lord was with David. And he feared him even more. And became David's enemy continually. Beloved, these battles don't stop until Jesus comes. Or until they put you in the ground. They don't stop. I know we'd all like a vacation. I don't mean Miami. I don't mean Italy. I mean just a break. I would like, Lord, just one month. Give me 30 days. No burdens. No trials. No money problems. No boyfriend problems. No marriage problems. No problems. Give me 30 days! At the end of 30 days, you'd want a year. And you'd be so dead and dry, you wouldn't know where to go. You see, the devil's plan is to neutralize your fight. Your spiritual fight. He wants to take a fight out of you. He wants to put thoughts in your mind that you're too tired now. That you're not up to it. And more than that, he'll glorify his power in your eyes. He'll try to magnify. He'll make himself and the powers of hell look too big and too great for you to do anything about. And thoughts will come, just take it easy. You don't have to be intense. You don't have to fight anymore. Oh, my friends, the call of this message today is God is looking for people. God's people will stand up. Get your focus off your affliction. Get your focus off your sin. Did you hear what I said? Get your affliction off your besetting sin. And go back to the covenant and say, Jesus, you have all power, you have all authority. And I'm not going to go down listening to the devil. I'm going to fight the good fight of faith. I'm going to believe God's Word and everything it says. I'm going to trust God. If you say that now, not just some emotional thing, but something in you. Say, yes, I may not be where I am. And I'm going through a trial. But I'm not going to focus on it. You can so focus on your pain. You can so focus on a trial or tribulation that it becomes comfortable. You may not believe that, but psychologists will tell you that. I read it sometime somewhere. That there are some people that would not give it up because they have nothing else to talk or complain about. Don't focus on your sin. And take it to the covenant and to the blood of Jesus Christ. He said he's willing and ready to forgive. Oh, you say, well, I've crossed the line. I've crossed the line. No. You come to the blood and the sacrifice. Before I close, I want to drive this home now. Abraham. God made covenant with Abraham. Fifteenth chapter of Genesis. He told Abraham, you take a she-heifer, you take a she-goat, cut them in two. And a turtle dove and a pigeon. Lay them on the ground. Put a little path between them. Put them head to head. He laid them there. They were bleeding. They were dying. And the Lord was about to make a covenant. And the terrible darkness that you could feel came upon Abraham. And the Bible says, and the fowls came on the carcasses. Those are vultures. Now, folks, here's a man. And the devil knows what God told Abraham. He overheard it all. I'm going to make you a mighty nation. I'm going to bless you and your seed forever. And I'm going to give you the land of Canaan, every place you set your foot. Well, that's the devil's territory. These are his idolaters. This is something. This is his foundation. This is his foothold on earth. And God is saying, your seed is going to come and take it all. You're going to take it all from the devil. You're going to take it all. And, folks, God makes you a promise. You enter into covenant with him and he speaks good things to you. He speaks his word. He said, I'm going to keep you from falling, present you faultless before the throne of his presence. God has made great and precious promises whereby we're made partakers of the divine nature. And suddenly, hell is in panic again. And I know, I know what came out of hell. And you know it. Satan instructed his principalities and powers. If he had, you see, he possessed a serpent once. You possess, you take over the physical activities of vultures. And he sent vultures to consume the sacrifice. You know what those vultures are? Those are the very thoughts of hell. They come when you are set to enter into covenant with Christ. And, God, you begin to make that sacrifice. You begin to deal with the flesh. And there's a bloody death of the flesh. And when Satan sees this, and he knows that you're about to enter into a full revelation, a fuller revelation of Jesus. And from this day on, there's going to be an open heaven. And he knows that his kingdom is being challenged. And it takes one praying, believing Christian to shake the powers of the foundation of hell. Just one. Can you imagine what a body does? A group. And right now, many of you have vultures coming at you. Insecurity. That's what the Lord spoke to my heart. So many have a sense of insecurity about yourself, about feelings of worthlessness. If I was really worth something, I wouldn't be living where I live and how I live. And I wouldn't be so poor. I wouldn't be so troubled. And these vultures come at you to destroy the sacrifice. But the Bible says, Abraham chased them away. And I want you to know that you don't have to be afraid of the devil. These thoughts, I'll tell you how I deal with them. A preacher who will tell you that he doesn't get thoughts that are sent out of hell is not telling you the truth. I walk with God. I know my life. And I know God knows my life. But after all these years, 50 years of preaching, and I'm going to close. I have known some of the godliest men on earth. I have known prophets that are truly prophets. I have known saintly men who are just a joy to sit beside and listen. And I just wonder sometimes why they'd even take time with me. And I hear the same thing. The other day, it didn't hit me until I was 60, 65. Another says, maybe in my 50s, never in pornography, never into anything evil. And then suddenly the enemy comes with thoughts that I don't even understand. And then those in 75 and 80 fighting thoughts about the very existence of God after a lifetime. And how they've had to just recognize and stand still. And the Holy Spirit says, one man said, I had to just stand still. And the Lord kept saying, these are not your thoughts. Don't be afraid. Don't be afraid. Just get a hold of them now and take captive to the obedience of Jesus Christ. Just hold on. You're not going to sink. You're under attack because you have shaken hell. And the devil wants you just to stagger in your faith. Now, the Bible says Abraham believed. Abraham believed. And right after it says that, the vultures come. You see, my Bible says the devil's afraid of me. He's afraid of you. He said, resist them and he'll flee from you. He will flee from you. You don't have to fear the vultures. You can chase them by saying, in the name of Jesus Christ, be gone. My mind is sanctified. My mind is the mind of Jesus Christ. These are coming. These are vultures. Get away. In the name of Jesus Christ, chase those vultures. Chase those thoughts of unworthiness, insecurity. Chase them out. Even now. You don't have to leave this building carrying those, letting those vultures chew away at the sacrifice. No. This sacrifice is going to be accepted by God. God is in control. Will you stand, please? Listen to me. If I'm a true pastor, and so be it with everyone in line with us here. If we'd be true pastors, there's only one thing that we desire more than anything else. And that is that the word change you. And me, as I preach it, to change you. And it's not a sermon that you just hear and then you go away and you forget it. If you don't remember anything else right now, get this. You have nothing to fear. You don't have to believe the lies of the devil. And you should take great peace and comfort in knowing that the majority of your suffering, the greatest source of your suffering and your pain is because you set your heart to seek God. So just hold steady and believe. Keep praying. Keep fasting. Stay in the word of God. The enemy cannot hurt you. I'll tell you something. This thrills me. The devil trembles. That's what the Bible says. The devil trembles. And this church has made the devil just tremble and all the imps of hell. We are not afraid. We don't rail against the devil, but we do not fear. You resist him now. Lord, we resist the devil and all the principalities and powers of hell by faith in the finished word of Christ. Devil be gone. You are bound by the word. We don't have to bound you because you've been bound by the word of God. You have to obey the word. You have to obey the word of the living God. Hallelujah. Lord, bring joy. Bring victory to the saints of God in this house. In the annex, bring victory because we are more than conquerors in Jesus Christ our Lord. More than conquerors. I'll give him a shout. We are more than conquerors in Jesus' name. More than conquerors. That song, He's Alive, we sang it before part of the service. Can we get that right, if you will? If you are under an extreme attack this morning, this is something we get every month. We get thousands of letters because we have a very large mailing list all over the world. And I can't begin to describe to you the pain, the suffering, anxiety. Just overwhelming. Little children are dying in car crashes and cancers and kids that are on meth, crystal meth. Drug addicted sons and daughters. Marriage problems. Pastors' homes are being split. And sometimes I just put my head down. I wonder. But we should not be perplexed. There has to be a time and a place where we say, oh God, this is something you have allowed in my life. He didn't put it on you, He allowed it. God is not the source of your attack. Once you realize that, even though God allows it, sometimes He put down the walls. But some of you now here that really love God are going through what I would call a total crisis experience. The only thing I can do is join you in prayer. That you will believe with me for a miracle. And I believe next Sunday morning I'm going to be preaching binding God to His own word. Binding God. And we can bind God to His promises. And He's promised to deliver you, lift you up above your problems. They still may be there. But by faith to lift you up that you can stand and you can be a testimony in the midst of all of it. But if you need that help, you can come down here and we will pray with you. We're not trying to just build a lot of people down here. Upstairs and about come that way. In the annex we may have time for, we may have room for those that want to come. Please don't come unless you're in a crisis. But you need prayer in that crisis. If you don't know Jesus, if you're backslidden, you can come with these. Nobody needs to know. You make things right with God today only because the Holy Spirit's here. And you'll be drawn by the Holy Spirit. And you recognize the presence of Christ. Follow these that are coming and we're going to have a prayer meeting. We're going to believe Jesus that there be a renewal of your confidence and faith in God. And take the fear, take the fear out of your heart, please. Move in close as they're coming. Just two things I want to tell you before we pray. You've heard it said, we're talking about these thoughts, these vultures that come to your mind. You've heard it said, you can't stop the birds from flying over your head. But you don't need to let them make a nest in your hair. No. You see, when the enemy wanted to take away the weapons, that's how they weakened Israel. They took their weapons. They took all their weapons. And that's what the devil wants to do. He wants to take away your prayer time. He wants to distract you every time you pray. He wants to take your weapon of fasting. He wants you to say that you can't do it. He'll do everything to try to hinder it. He'll tempt you with food on that fast day. I'm telling you how important it is to fast. Because there are certain demonic things that won't happen until prayer and fasting has taken place. Now, I make it a practice to fast one day a week. That means 52 times a year. Some of you fast more. But it's so important. That's a weapon. Prayer and fasting and believing. Just trusting God. Saying, I'm just going to hold on. God, no more questions. No more whys. I know the enemy has a part of this. But this is because God so loves me. God has been this target. But I want you to get a hold of your weapons. I ask the whole church to get a hold of your weapons. Take them in hand. Put on. What is it? Put on the breastplate. Put on the helmet. Put it on. Well, when? As soon as he said it. Put on. Get into this word. Every day. Feast on. We say that over and over again. But these are the weapons against the enemy. Lord, renew our love for your word. Lord Jesus, help us to see that. Lord, let us. God, we can't work up a fight against the enemy. We can't just work it up. But, oh Lord, we can ask for it. We can pray for it. And we can believe for it. That God, by his spirit, will embolden us against the enemy. And take the fear out of our hearts. And we speak against the fear that's in the heart of many that are standing here in this service this morning. He said, I've not given you the spirit of fear, but love and power and a sound mind. God, we're not ignorant anymore of the devices of Satan. We're not ignorant. So when we see these things coming, we know why. And we can stand up and say, Lord, I'm going to stand and I'm going to fight by faith. My fight is my faith. And I'm going to fight the battle, the good fight of faith. Hallelujah. Would you raise your hands to God right now. And say, Lord Jesus. I'm going to fight. But I need your strength. I need your spirit. Put a love for the word in my heart. And take the fear out of my heart. Of all the works of the devil. I am overcome. I'm an overcomer. By faith. In the name of Jesus, my Lord. Now give him thanks. Give him thanks. This is the conclusion of the message.