In this sermon, the preacher warns the congregation about the rise of false teachers who will try to lead people astray. He emphasizes the importance of staying vigilant and remembering the warnings given by God. The preacher then goes on to explain that God is not concerned with physical buildings or rituals, but rather with the condition of people's hearts. He uses scripture from 1 Peter and Isaiah to support his points and highlight the need for genuine repentance and reverence for God's word.

Verses 1 and 2, Psalms 48. Great is the Lord, you know this, and greatly to be praised in the city of our God in the mountain of his holiness. Beautiful for situation, the joy of the whole earth is Mount Zion on the sides of the north, the city of the great King. Now, look this way if you will. We just sang that song tonight. We sing it almost every service around the country. People sing about Zion, they talk about it, but very few know what it is. And I'm asking you, as a lover of Jesus Christ, do you really know what Zion means? When you read it all through the Bible, do you understand what Zion means? Do you understand the promises of Zion? That's what I hope God will begin to open to us in tonight and maybe next Sunday night also. Zion always has and always will be not a piece of real estate in Israel. Listen to me. Zion has never been that little place called Jerusalem where you can fly to now on Pan Am or Israel Airlines. Zion always has and always will be a holy people. That's what Zion means in the Bible. Simeon, you don't have to turn there, but I'm reading Acts 15 chapter 14 to 16 verses. Listen. Simeon hath declared how God at the first did visit the Gentiles to take out of them a people for his own name and to disagree the words of the prophets. As it is written, after this I will return and I will build again the tabernacle of David which has fallen down and I will build again the ruins thereof and I will set it up. Now all the prophets, every one of them agree. I just read it to you. Simeon said it. All the prophets agreed that there was coming the building of a temple. A new temple would be built. Now I'm going to show you that these dear friends who are waiting for something to be built in Jerusalem are waiting for the wrong thing because the temple is already under construction. It's always been and always will be a holy people. Even the temple that was built by Solomon was soon abandoned by God. It was Ichabod. The glory of the Lord departed from it and it became nothing but a heap of ruins. And all the prophets said a tabernacle would be built. A house would be raised on the ruins of the old Zion, that physical Zion, David's Zion of Jerusalem. Out of that crumbling ruin God would build a house. Jesus would come and he would be the builder. It would be his house. He would be the foundation stone. But Christ is a son over his own house whose house are we if we hold fast the confidence of rejoicing in the hope firm unto the end. Now in this new spiritual Zion there are absolutely no distinctions whatsoever. There is no putting on of Jewishness, no putting on of Gentileness, no distinction between male or female. In this new temple, in this new city of God coming down out of heaven, this holy Zion are absolutely no distinctions. For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek. There is neither bond nor free. There is neither male nor female. For you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you be Christ, then are you Abraham's seed and heirs according to the promise. Now something is happening today that bothers me. It makes me weep. I see people putting on Jewishness. Meeting in their little Jewish conclaves and singing little Jewish songs and isolating themselves from the Gentile believers. And Paul would have nothing to do with it. Christ would have nothing to do with it. Anymore than the blacks over here. Now I know there are cultural problems sometimes. But I don't think any Christian, male, female, Jew or Gentile have a right to put on Jewishness, femaleness, macho-ness. No, in Christ we are all made one, the scripture says. There is only one house. He said don't put on your Jewishness. And I see this as a danger to the church. And we have a lot of Gentiles now trying to be physical Jews. No, there is only one, listen to it now, for if you are Christ, if you be Christ, then are you whose seed? You're Abraham's seed and heirs according to the promise. There's only one heir, one seed, and that's in Christ. Now the prophets all spoke of the days in which we live. The Bible said the prophets had the Spirit of Christ on them. And they prophesied about a Zion, not fully understanding everything about it. They spoke of walls, for example. They spoke of gates, not knowing that there were walls of salvation. Not knowing, Zechariah didn't know, I will be a wall of fire around about you and the glory therein. He's talking about the Holy Spirit. Now they understood it in part. They didn't understand it in fullness. They talked about the highways, not knowing it was a highway of holiness. They talked about the towers, which mean the watchmen of God. These were symbolic. They didn't understand the fullness of it. Now, I want you to turn, in fact, to 1 Peter. Turn to 1 Peter. You've got to see it to believe it. I want you to see it right in the Word of God. Now folks, I'm going to take you through a lot of Scripture. If you don't love the Word of God, I'm going to lose you quickly. If you love the Word of God, let me hear the rustling of the leaves. 1 Peter, the first chapter. 1 Peter 1. I want to begin with verse 10. 1 Peter. If you go to James, you're just about there. One more to the right. Alright, 1 Peter, the first chapter. Beginning to read the 10th verse. "...of which salvation the prophets have inquired and searched diligently." Oh, how the prophets were looking into this matter called Zion. This matter of, this thing that God was going to do, that He was going to gather together. "...who prophesied of the grace that should come unto you, searching what or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify, when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow. "...unto whom it was revealed that not unto themselves, but unto us..." Unto who? "...unto us they did minister these things." They knew the Spirit of Christ was on them. They knew they were preaching to a generation way down the line. They could see in history. They knew that there was something in them that said, listen, this message is in part going to be fulfilled, but its spiritual power is often the distance to a generation that shall yet be born. Look at verse 12. "...unto whom it was revealed that not unto themselves, but unto us they did minister the things which are now reported unto you by them that have preached the gospel unto you, with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven, which things the angel desired to look into." Do you understand? If you look this way, I want you to hear it real good. God's interest right now is not in a rebuilt temple in modern day Jerusalem. Now, they may build it, but I'm going to tell you, it will be no more sanctified or holy than this building in which we're in right now. It will not be sanctified, it will not be holy. I've heard people say there are going to be new sacrifices. They're going to get the animal sacrifices again, and through the animal sacrifices, God will somehow bring them back to the cross. Now, let me tell you the Word. Don't listen to what man says. Go to the Word. Isaiah 66. Isaiah 66. I'm telling you now that the temple of God, the tabernacle of God, is already under construction. It's the tabernacle of God. That's the body of Jesus Christ that He's building. Neither Jew, neither Gentile, but in Christ. In Christ. I want to read you something. If this doesn't put it to rest, you don't believe the Word. Now, see, there may be a rebuilding of the temple or the tabernacle of the temple in Jerusalem, but all through this, the prophets were speaking of a spiritual house. In Christ, the head of this house. This is the body of Christ. Now, look at this. I want you to... chapter 66 of Isaiah. I'm going to read, start the first verse. I want you to see it. Thus saith the Lord, the heaven is my throne and the earth is my footstool. Where is the house you're going to build me? Where is the place of my rest? For all those things hath my hand made, and all those things have been, saith the Lord. But to this man will I look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and tremble at my word. You see that God's looking for hearts. He's not looking for real estate. He's not looking for bricks and mortar. He's looking for hearts. We are the living stones by which He builds His house. Alright, let's go on. Verse 3. He that killeth an ox is as if he slew a man. He that sacrificeth a lamb is as if he cut off a dog's neck. He that offereth an oblation is as if he offered swine's blood. He that burneth incense is as if he blessed an idol. Yea, they have chosen their own ways, and their soul delighteth in their abominations. I will also choose their delusions and bring their fears upon them. Because when I called, none did answer. When I spake, they did not hear. But they did evil before my eyes, and chose that which I delighted not. Now, look this way, if you will, my beloved friends. He said, I've been calling a generation, and calling a generation. There is no special arrangement now that there's going to be another temple other than that which He's already built. In the process of building. There'll be no other sacrifice than Christ. There's no other Lamb, but the Lamb of God. No other Lamb. Now, I believe it's a trick of Satan to get the church focused on something physical to get our eyes off of the spiritual. To get our eyes off of, to be waiting for something out here to happen. When it's happening right now, you can be so busy looking down the road that you miss what's happening. And you could miss it completely because you have your eye on the natural instead of the spiritual. There's a house, there's a temple being built. Foundation's already been laid. The gates are in place. The faith of the apostles. It's already in place. And He's building on it. God never again, God will never again have another sacrifice. He said since Christ the Lamb has been sacrificed, you offer another sacrifice. It's like you're cutting off the neck of a dog. The blood you offer me now is swine's blood. It's the blood of a pig. Hear me. And hear it good, there's no other blood. There's no other sacrifice. Never will be. It's ended. Hallelujah. Glory be to God. Now, we live in a day that's called the set time to favor Zion. I want you to turn to Psalms 102. We're in a very prophetic time right now. If you were in Isaiah, go left to 102. 102. Do you love the Word of God? I'm going to give you a Bible tonight. I'm not going to give you my theories. I'm not going to get it out of a book. I'm giving you the Word of God. Psalms 102, verses 16 through 18. Let's begin to read. When the Lord shall build up Zion, He shall appear in His glory. He will regard the prayer of the destitute and not despise their prayer. This shall be written for the generation to come. When? The generation to come and the people which shall be created shall praise the Lord. They shall praise the Lord. Look at verse 13. Thou shalt arise and have mercy upon Zion for the time to favor her. Yea, the set time is what? God looked down through history. He looked down toward the end of time. You know that He started building that tabernacle, that last temple, when Christ died on the cross when He came. That living foundation stone. And He said we are His house being built together to the glory and honor and praise of the Lord. He's putting this house. But now we come to that set time when He favors Zion. We're coming to the capstone of Zion when He's going to finish off His temple. It's a wonderful thing to be in that last day when it looked like it was going to ruin. And God says the ruin is over. The decay will stop. And I will finish my house. The set time has come. He's going to arise suddenly and appear in Zion the scripture says. Now from the very beginning, Zion, remember there was a Jerusalem, there was a Zion of the flesh. There was a Zion of Israel. This was Israel of the flesh. Not of the spirit, but of the flesh. But Zion from the very beginning has always broken God's heart. Because of spiritual idolatry and spiritual adultery. And this will be my message next week, Lord willing, the last recall when God recalls His bride. Who said, I had to turn away from you because you were so polluted. You were laying in the dust. I had to hide myself from you. And the last day I'm going to have mercy on you. I'm going to recall you. He's going to recall His bride. Hallelujah. He's going to have mercy on His bride, He said. Even though she's in pollution. He said, I'm going to raise her up in holiness. He's going to have a people rise up out of the dust. Recalling them. But you see, in fact, I want to show you what happens. In all this prosperity preaching in America, there's been a purpose to it. There's a reason for it. Pathetically, it has to happen before true Zion is favored. It's all a part of, God didn't plan it, but that's a signpost when we see these fat Christians getting fat and lazy and talking about self and success. That's the time God's going to favor Zion and bring forth the true church. I want to show it to you. Nehemiah. Nehemiah. Left again. Nehemiah is right between Ezra. Job, just go left a little bit more. I'm saying that for our young men over here. They're from Teen Challenge, so they can understand. I'm not being facetious. Nehemiah, 9th chapter. 9th chapter of Nehemiah. I want to show you how Zion is treated. God has broken his heart. Nehemiah, the 9th chapter. Verse 21. Beginning to read, verse 21. Do you have Nehemiah? Do you still know the word? For forty years didst thou sustain them in the wilderness, so that they lacked nothing, their clothes waxed not old, and their feet swelled not. Moreover, thou gavest them kingdoms and nations, and you did divide them into corners, so they possessed the land of Zion. Let's go down to verse 23. Their children also mauled, and plaste thou as the stars of heaven, and you brought them into the land, concerning which thou promised to their fathers, that they should go in and possess it. So the children went in, and they possessed the land. And thou subduest before them the inhabitants of the land, and Canaanites, and gavest them into their hands, with their kings and their people the land, that they might do with them as they would. They took strong cities of fat land, they possessed houses full of goods, and wells that were digged, and vineyards, and olive yards, and fruit trees in abundance. So they did eat, and were filled, and became what? Fat, and delighted themselves in thy great goodness. Nevertheless, they were disobedient, and rebelled against thee. You see, they were prospered, they were blessed. But when people get fat on prosperity and blessing, this is inevitable. It's happened all through history. Zion has always broken the heart of God when they've been fat, and prosperous, and blessed. They've always backslidden. Nevertheless, they were disobedient. Verse 26, And rebelled against thee, and cast thy law behind their backs, and they slew thy prophets, which testified against them, to turn them to thee. And they wrought great provocations. Therefore thou deliverest them into the hand of the enemies, who vexed them. And in the time of their trouble, when they cried unto thee, thou heardest them from heaven. And according to thy manifold mercies, thou gavest them saviors, who saved them out of the hand of the enemies. But after they had rest, they did evil again before thee. Therefore leftest thou them in the hand of their enemies, so that they had the dominion over them. Yet when they returned and cried unto thee, thou heardest them from heaven. And many times thou didst deliver them, according to thy mercies. You testified against them, thou mightest bring them again to thy law. Yet they dealt proudly, they hearkened not to your commandments, but sinned against your judgments. Which of a man do we so live in them? Look at verse 30. Yet many years didst thou forbear them, and testified against them by the spirit of the prophets. By the spirit of the prophets. Look at me now please. God sent prophet after prophet. And these prophets stood and said, Look, you've never been blessed like you've been blessed. You've never been as fat and prosperous as you are. And yet in your prosperity you've turned your back on the Lord. And I want you to know, I'm going to say it, and I'm going to say it as kindly as I know how. You're going to hear before I close a prophecy from Daniel. And you're going to hear from Jeremiah. You're going to hear from the prophet Isaiah. And it will not in any way sound like what you've been hearing from many pulpits today. And if what you hear from this pulpit tonight, if it does not break your heart, if you've been sitting and listening to a message about prosperity and success, if this message doesn't touch you, that message has already blinded your eyes. I'm going to show you what the prophets saw. I'm going to show you the hearts of the prophets. And it's anything but prosperity. It's anything but success. It was a grieving for sin. It was a groaning. It was a loathing of themselves. They all said, I've sinned, and I'm among the people that have sinned. And they wept and they fasted and they prayed. And they humbled themselves before a holy God. Anything but prosperity. God sent fiery prophets to shake them up, and they killed the prophets. They mocked them. And I want to tell you tonight, it's only the mercy of God that America hasn't already been consumed by fire. It's the mercy of God that many of our churches haven't been shut. It's the mercy of God that many preachers and of our pulpit haven't been absolutely knocked down like ananas in the fire and dropped dead in the pulpit. And I mean that. It's absolute mercy of God. Because they mocked the prophets that God has raised up. I don't boast to be a prophet. I'm one of His many thousands of watchmen. But I've listened to the mockery. I've listened to them stand in the pulpit and call holiness preachers kooks and crazy and make fun of people walking in holiness. It's the mercy of God. He hasn't shut it all down already. They preach nothing of the justice of God. They preach only the goodness of God. They mock at prophets. Paul, with tears, warned the church for three years about savage wolves that would enter into God's house and show no mercy, tearing the flock apart. He said, I know this, that after my departing there shall come grievous wolves entering in among you, not sparing the flock. Also, of your own selves, right out of your own people, from your own denominations, of your own selves shall men arise speaking perverse things to draw away disciples after themselves. You can tell when a man is not walking in the Spirit he talks about himself. He talks about self, self, self, self. I don't know how you can sit in a church where everything is self. How? If you know God, if you walk in the Holy Ghost, how do you sit in a church where self is exalted? Unless you're walking in the flesh yourself. And of their own selves their men will arise speaking perverse things to draw away disciples after themselves. Therefore watch and remember by the space of three years I ceased not to warn every one of you night and day with tears. Three years he knew he had left. God had told him when he was going to die. He said, for three years I've been telling you, I've been warning you with tears. There are going to be men rise up. Preachers in the pulpit are going to be like wolves. They're going to take everything you have. I don't understand. You know, I've got a precious black organist. I've got a precious black brother over here who plays trombone. I've got a black brother here. Many of you are black here. Spanish. I don't care whether it's black. I don't care if it's white. One of the heartbreaks of New York City is to go up into Harlem. I've gone up there and I see men that are in the pulpit that ought to be out somewhere selling drugs. They'll be selling drugs. They're not men of God. They're wolves in suits, clothing. They're fleecing the flock. They pull up in their Rolls Royce and say, give me your bucks. Give me your dollars. Why does he go out and sell drugs? Go have more mercy on a drug addict. On the street corner on 42nd Street than he will up in Harlem. Spanish Harlem. Black Harlem. Whether it's black or white. They're preachers who are fleecing the flock. Oh what a day that's going to be on the Judgment Day. What a day that's going to be. Isaiah prophesied there are going to come a people in the last days who are going to swear by the name of God but they're not going to be walking in holiness. I want to show it to you. Isaiah 48. Now I'm going to get... Now we're really getting down to some very prophetic, profound word from the Holy Ghost. Look at Isaiah 48. This is the prophet speaking of the last days. Start with me. Verse 1. Isaiah 48. Hear ye this. Verse 1. Hear ye this, O house Jacob, which are called by the name of Israel and are come forth out of the waters of Judah, which swear by the name of the Lord and make mention of the God of Israel, but not in truth nor in righteousness. For they call themselves of the holy city. What is that holy city? Zion. They say we're among the holy people. And they stay themselves or trust themselves unto the God of Israel. The Lord of hosts is His name. Look at verse 4. Yet because I knew that thou art obstinate and thy neck is an iron sinew and thy brow is brass. Now look this way, beloved. Why is God going to have to raise up Zion in this last day? Why is God going to raise up the holy people? Why must there come forth such a strong word of holiness and righteousness? It's because so many people are swearing falsely by His name. Because so many people are living a double life with mixture. They claim to trust God. They claim to trust Him for miracles, for protection, for guidance. They can shout, He is Lord, He is Lord. But they don't do it in truth. Look at verse 8. Yea, thou heardest not. Yea, thou knewest not. From that time thine ear was not opened. For I knew that thou wouldest deal very treacherously and was called a transgressor from the womb. Oh, that's the way it is right now in what is called spiritual Zion or what we have known to be Zion. Not the true Zion, but the church, the harlot system. There is a lot of singing. There is a lot of shouting at times. There's a lot of saying Lord, Lord by stubborn Christians who hold on to their iniquities. They've never had a deep heart cleansing. Yet they call themselves by the holy city. They say we're Zion. They sing about Zion. They clap their hands. They can talk in tongues. Now this is a very serious matter in the eyes of God, in the eyes of a holy God. This matter is swearing by the name of God yet holding on to some secret abomination. I'm going to read you Zephaniah. Don't turn there, but listen to Zephaniah the prophet. He said, I will stretch out my hand unto Judah and upon all the inhabitants of Jerusalem and I will cut off the remnant of Baal from this place and the name of Sheremems from the priest and them that worship the host of heaven from the housetops and them, listen, them that worship and that swear by the Lord and yet swear by Malcolm and them that are turned back from the Lord and those that have not sought the Lord nor inquired of Him. Now listen, if Elijah the prophet were living today and he looked at the church like I have to look at it like you have to look at it if we look at the church as servants of a holy God if Elijah stood where I stood tonight and he looked out over what we call the church he would be shocked at all the thousands and thousands of Christians who are hiding behind praise and worship. Hiding! Hiding their sins, hiding their iniquities. Believing that if they just go to church and sing and shout and worship and praise everything's okay. Yet hold on to their idols. I know what would happen if Elijah stood in the pulpit he would cry out, Why do you hold between two opinions? If the Lord be God, then follow Him. And if Baal be God, then follow Him. If you want to rock and roll, if you want to roll, go! Go, go! If you want God, follow Him! You know how the majority of Christians today that are living in a double mixed life you know how they'd answer Elijah just like Israel answered him? Not a word! Not a word! He might as well have been preached in Chinese! He was thundering against their sins! He was saying we have a holy God! He said you try to serve God in the world and the mixture will not work! And God is going to send judgment on this! And he said, make a choice! And they stood there blinking their eyes! Just as it is with a whole generation of Christian young people Brother Swaggart is making a stand against what they call Christian rock. There's no such thing in my book but, you know, they call it Christian rock. And I'll tell you what, the real rock and rollers out there they make fun of it at the poor imitation in the church! They make fun of it! The stupidity of it! They said, you want that? Then you just go put the word Jesus to it so you can hold on to it! I was standing out on a television station years ago and the first 30 calls were I was in Los Angeles and the first 30 calls were from Hollywood people saying Amen! They weren't even saved! They said preach it! They said there's no difference between them except they claim to be better and use the name of Jesus! They're living like we live! They're doing what we do! Singing what we sing! And they just add the name Jesus to it! I want to tell you something. Here's what bothers me. Jimmy Swaggart takes a stand. I take a stand. There are other ministers taking a stand. And I see young people go to meetings and raise their hands and talk so lovingly, sweetly about the Lord being Lord, King of Kings, Lord of Lords. They're so sweet. They'll come to me and say, Brother Wilkinson, I get your newsletters. I love the Word. God's dealing with me. I've had them come up and hug me and say, I believe you're a prophet. Until I got to talking about their idol. And I never saw people turn against me so fast. All of a sudden, I'm no good. And all of a sudden, I'm an old fogey. And I see a viciousness. I see something rise up. I said, what do I do? What do I do? What do I say? What happened to the prophet? I thought you believed what I was preaching. And now I touch your idol. What kind of a hold does this have on you? Why can't you? Why are you holding me between two opinions? Oh, y'all didn't see the vicious letters I get. Oh, you would think I was a Nazi. Am I right? This is the end of side one. Turn the tape over to side two to continue this message. From Assembly of God preachers too. Youth pastors. Born and raised in this junk. And we're losing a whole generation of kids because of it. We're losing a whole generation of kids that don't know what it's like to have their hearts settled before a holy God. And hear that still small voice. Because they've been thundered at from the voices of hell. And all you dear dads and moms have been amening me. It's your time. I've got something for you. And I'm not being smart. This is life and death with me. I don't understand it. You know as well as I do. As I stand before you now. That that television thing that you have in your house. That box. Is an absolute eye of Satan. You know that it's become polluted. It's satanic. And you'll throw in a little bit of Jimmy Swagger to justify keeping it. They answered him not a word. You know what they did? Just like people who hear me thunder against this. And it does me no good when people come and say well I heard you and I'm going to go get rid of my TV set. Listen. Even the most ungodly sinner out there knows what's happening to television now. Everybody knows it. It's coming apart. It's the most filthy thing on the face of the earth. It's abominable before the sight of a holy God. And yet we have people that could come like you did tonight. Raise your hands and praise the Lord. And say he's Lord I'm marching to Zion. And go home and lay. Lay. With your idol. And commit adultery. And without blinking an eye. And just the turn of a knob. Go to sleep. Go to sleep. And answer not a word. Not even blinking an eye. And God's been saying to me if we knew how late it was. If we knew how close we are to the coming of the Lord. You wouldn't even need a preacher to thunder at you. You'd have such discernment. There'd be something in you crying out to God. I'll set no evil thing before my eyes. Why did everything get quiet all of a sudden? I mean everything. Yet they call themselves by the holy city. You know God. I used to call it mixture. That's not strong enough for the Bible. The Bible calls it harlotry. Joshua explains what a perfect heart is and what a harlot heart is. The perfect heart's not one that's arrived. We're not talking when brother Phyllis and Don preach and when I preach about holiness. We're not talking about men and women who suddenly arrived. Not a holier than thou attitude. Not at all. But let me show you something. You don't have to turn there. But Joshua. I'm going to read to you from Joshua 23, 6 and 8. But ye therefore be very courageous to keep and do all that is written in the book of the law of Moses. That you turn not aside therefrom either to the right hand or to the left. That you come not among these nations. These that remain among you neither make mention of the name of their gods nor swear by them. In other words, don't touch anything that's of this world. Don't have anything to do with it. Don't bow yourself before them. But cleave unto the Lord your God as you've done unto this day. Listen. The perfect heart is not the sinless heart. It's not the one that's got all the temptations solved. The perfect heart is the one that cleaves to the Lord. That clings and holds on. That says, Oh God, I want to be an open book. I want you to open everything in my life. That's the perfect heart. Not turning to the right nor turning to the left. The harlot heart wants God and it wants the world at the same time. The Bible says, Isaiah 44, says, Thou an obstinate, thy neck is an iron sinew, thy brow is brass. And what God's saying, you become brazen in your attitude. Brazen! And oh, that's the attitude among many Christians today. There's a brassiness, there's a brazenness about it. Not only sinning, not only compromising, but brassiness about it. A brazen brow, he said, you have developed. Now, I'm going to get to the good part. Good Isaiah 52. Isaiah 52. Hallelujah. Now, we're going to get into the prophecy. Hallelujah. Have I lost you yet? Alright, Isaiah 52, 1 and 3. God's calling Zion to awaken, to shake off the chains and to get up out of the dirt. Hallelujah. You want to see it? There it is. Look at Isaiah 52, verse 1. Awake, awake, put on thy strength. Oh, Zion, put on thy beautiful garments, O Jerusalem, the holy city. For henceforth there shall no more come into thee the uncircumcised, the unclean. Shake thyself from the dust. Arise and sit down, O Jerusalem. Loose thyself from the bands of thy neck, O captive daughter of Zion. For thus saith the Lord, you have sold yourself for naught, and ye shall be redeemed without money. Glory be to God. Awake, the scripture says. Now, look this way. There is a rising in the land, and not only in the United States, I see it in Poland. Reports from China. We support a missionary in China. We're helping to build a Bible school in China right now. And there are not just thousands of Christians in China. There are hundreds and hundreds of thousands of overcoming Christians in China. You can read the prophecy of Isaiah. It says they're going to come from east to west. They're going to come from Sinai, which is China. They're going to come from Sinai. And the Bible prophesies there will be a great gathering, a great harvest out of China. And I believe that's happening right now. But there is a cry from God's heart that goes out to His people. Oh, Zion. Oh, holy people. Put on your beautiful garments. No more of the unclean thing. No more of the adultery. Shake yourself. Wake up. Get up out of the filth. Tear off the chains of slavery. Look down at verse 11 and 52. Depart, depart ye. Go ye out from thence. Touch no unclean thing. Go ye out from the midst of her. Be ye clean that bear the vessels of the Lord. Now, God has... I want you to go to Isaiah 62 and see the promise fulfilled. Isaiah 62. The heart of my message. Isaiah 62. In fact, the entire 12 verses of this chapter is one of the greatest prophecies in the Bible concerning what God's about to do in His church. I want you to mark Isaiah 62 as one of the most important chapters in your whole Bible from this time on. It's one of the most important. Reading from verse 1. Here comes the prophecy of the liberation of Zion. Verse 1. For Zion's sake... God is speaking now. For Zion's sake will I not hold my peace. And for Jerusalem's sake I will not rest until the righteousness thereof go forth as brightness and the salvation thereof as a lamp that burneth. Oh, hallelujah. For Zion's sake I will not hold my peace. Now look at me, beloved. Hear the prophecy now. Oh, Holy Spirit, help us to see it now. Get your spiritual ears in tune now. Ask God by His Spirit to open your spiritual eyes and give you a hearing and understanding heart now. God is saying, I have a top priority in the last days and you can be sure of it. And that's what He means when He says, I will not give rest. You can be sure of one thing God says before it's all brought down, before it's all tied up, before the end comes. For Zion's sake I'm not going to hold my peace. I am not going to rest. And when God says He's not going to rest until He does, you can be sure He's going to do it. I am not going to give rest until I raise up a holy people in the last day, a holy Zion. I'm going to awaken a church. I'm going to bring forth a people. And look what it says. They should go forth as brightness and the salvation thereof as a lamp that burneth. And in the Hebrew it says as a blazing scorching torch. Do you remember when Samson took 300 foxes and he tied torches between their tails and they ran all through the fields of the Philistines and burned everything in sight that the heathen had planted? Well God has raised up holy prophets that are tying the torches to the foxes' tails that are moving through the church and burning out everything in sight. He said I'm going to send a blazing torch. There's coming forth and it's now in the church. You've never heard it like you've heard it now. You're going to hear more and more of it. God's raising up men all over the United States and around the world preaching a strong, powerful, burning, torching message. God's going to torch everything that's unlike Jesus. He's going to do it through the Word. To the living, powerful, word of repentance and holiness. Why is God bringing forth such a strong word in these last days? He said it's not my word like a fire. For the Lord God is a consuming fire, even a jealous God. And it says in Isaiah 31.9, whose fire is in Zion and his furnace is in Jerusalem. Even Malachi said he's going to turn up the fire. He said it's going to be like an oven that's going to burn twice hot. And oh, God's right now turning up the heat. I can feel him doing it right now while I preach. Every time I preach and I get to thinking I'm getting too strong, the Lord says no, it's not strong enough. I'm going to turn up the heat because I have a people that are hungry and those hungry people are going to hear the Word and I'm going to burn out everything in their life that's unlike me. And I'm going to raise up a church that's holy and pure and sanctified. He's going to burn out the chaff, the uncompromised, everything that's compromised by a sovereign act of his will. The Bible says even the world is going to see the difference. Look at verse 2. And the nations shall see. That nations means the peoples. And the people shall see thy righteousness. Thou shalt be called by a new name, which the mouth of the Lord shall name. Folks, you can forget the reproach of PTL now. Forget it. You can forget the reproach of all the media who's been making fun and mocking the church of Jesus Christ, saying that all preachers are money men. You can forget that reproach. Forget it. Because God's doing a new thing. He said, I'm going to bring up a new people with a new name. I'm going to name them by a new name. I'm going to have a holy people that have nothing to do with all this trash and garbage. A new name people. And you want to know their name? Look at verse 12. It's right there in black and white. And they shall call them, what? The holy people, the redeemed of the Lord. And they shall be called sought out. A city not forsaken. I was, it happens every night. Every night in my apartment, I'm on the 22nd floor. The same prophecy comes back to me. It came back to me this afternoon and last night. The same prophecy time and time again. I hear it from God as clear as I've ever heard. God says, David, I'm going to walk up and down these streets with a lantern. And I'm going to find every hungry heart, every repentant heart. And I'm going to burn out sin. And I'm going to go up and down the land, in and out of every nation. As the Holy Spirit goes out with a lantern, He's going to find every hungry heart. I'm going to search them, seek them out. And they will not be called forsaken people anymore. I will call them a sought out people. One of the reasons some of you are here tonight, God sought you out. He searched and He had His lantern out. And He found you in some little dark dungeon of famine. And God says, come on with me. And He put the fire, He put the torch to sin. And your heart began to hunger and thirst after God. You said, I've had enough of this. I want Jesus now. I want to walk in holiness. I want to walk in purity. I'm sick of it. He said, don't call them by a new name. The holy people are redeemed to the Lord. They shall be called sought out. A city not forsaken. Some people tell me, oh Brother Wilkins, I felt so all alone. I felt so all alone. People make fun of me for the testimony. And preachers have mocked me. Others have mocked me. And I felt so abandoned and so alone. He said, a city not forsaken. Hallelujah. A new name. Look at verse 3. Thou shall also be a crown of glory in the hand of the Lord. And a royal diadem in the hand of thy God. God's going to have a people He can hold in His hand like a crown, like a diadem. And look at it and see the brilliance of Christ. And be pleased. He says, I've got a holy people in my hand. Doing the will of the Heavenly Father. And they'll be a blessing. Hallelujah. He said, I'm going to become master and husband. Look at verse 4. Thou shall be no more termed forsaken. Neither shall thy land anymore be termed desolate. But thou shall be called Hepzibah. Meaning, my delight is in her. And thy land will be called Beulah. Means, I'm her owner, I'm her husband. For the Lord delighteth in thee and thy land shall be married. Hallelujah. God's going to take all these castaways. And all these people who feel forsaken. Because they've been seeking the Lord. He's going to put them all together. He said, I'm married to you. I'm married to you. You're not forsaken. I've got a people like you all over the world. I've got people like you in China. I've got people like you in Africa. And don't think you're all alone. That's what the prophet said. And that's where he made a mistake. Lord, I'm the only one left. And he said, no. I've got 7,000 and I don't need a bail. We're not alone, folks. Thou shall not be termed forsaken. Or desolate. You'll be called Hepzibah. My delight is in her. Oh, the joy. The joy to wake up in the morning. And to hear him say, you delight me. You know, you and I delight ourselves in the Lord. But do you know what it's like to have him delight in you? To look at you and say, Oh, man, a woman after my heart. May not be perfect, but oh, he keeps coming. She keeps coming. Coming to the light. Hungry and thirsting. Not afraid of Godly reproof. Coming to the fire. Letting the torch burn it all out. Hallelujah. Verse 5. As the bridegroom rejoiceth over the bride, so shall thy God rejoice over thee. Look at me, folks. I believe that this church is going to be one of those in New York City. This church right in Times Square where God and all the hosts of heaven can look down. And God can say just as he did to the devil. Look down there. You see my servant Job? There's a righteous man. And God's going to look down at Times Square. And it won't be very far off before a year is over. You're going to see this place jammed to capacity. Not because we want bodies, but because God's going to put together a holy body. And God's going to look down there and say, there's a royal diadem. There's a jewel. There's where my delight is. Hallelujah. And that'll be said of every church where God is glorified in holiness and righteousness. Hallelujah. Now, I've got to move on because I want to give two short prophecies here before I close. I want you to go to Jeremiah 29. Jeremiah 29. Hallelujah. Do you love him tonight? I feel his anointing. He's here. Jeremiah 29. Just leave Jeremiah 29 open on your lap before I give you this prophecy. Open it. Just leave it on your lap and look this way if you will. Do you know, even though God says the set time has come to favor Zion, even though He said, I'm going to raise up this holy people, you don't just sit back and take it by faith. There's some things that God expects of His people. You just don't sing and shout. More than that, much more. Jeremiah 29, 10-14. Look at verse 10 first. Jeremiah 29, verse 10. For thus saith the Lord, that after 70 years be accomplished at Babylon, I will visit you. Now, do you see the set time? They're going into captivity. He says, in 70 years I'm going to visit you. Look at that. I will visit you and perform my good word towards you in causing you to return to this place. For I know the thoughts that I think towards you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you an expected end. That means hope in your last days. Then shall you call upon Me, and ye shall go and pray unto Me, and I will hearken unto you, and ye shall seek Me, and you'll find Me. When? When you search for Me with all your heart, and I will be found of you, saith the Lord, and I will turn away your captivity, and I will gather you from all the nations and all the places where I have driven you, saith the Lord, and I will bring you again into this place whence I caused you to be carried away captive. Alright, now, I want you to go to Daniel and see this being fulfilled. The end of the set time. Turn right a little further to Daniel. And you'll find Daniel right after Ezekiel. And I want you to go to Daniel, the ninth chapter. Oh, here's something very beautiful. Daniel was reading Jeremiah one day. And he started praying. He said, hey, that 70 years is up. It's here. That set time. That Jeremiah prophesied. It's here. Look at it. Look at verse 2. Daniel 9.2 In the first year of his reign, I, Daniel, understood by books the number of the years whereof the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah the prophet that he would accomplish 70 years in the desolation of Jerusalem. Alright, look at me, folks. Here's the scene before I close here tonight. He looked at this prophecy. And he began to see all the signs and everything else. It's been 70 years. The set time has come. Just like I believe God has said, I'm going to bless up. I'm going to raise up now in these last days, out of the ruins, I'm going to raise up the holy people. The set time to favor Zion has come. What does Daniel do? Does he just say, well, God said it, I believe it, that settles it. Did Daniel say, let's just take it by faith and let's just rejoice and get happy? Nothing can change it. No, he knew that the hour had come. Look at verse 3. And what? I set my face unto the Lord God to seek by prayer and supplication with fasting and sackcloth and ashes. And I prayed unto the Lord my God and I made my confession. I said, O Lord, the great and dreadful God, keeping the covenant and mercy to them that love Him and to them that keep His commandments. We have sinned and have committed iniquity and have done wickedly. We've rebelled even by departing from Thy precepts and from Thy judgments. Neither have we hearkened unto Thy servants the prophets which spake in Thy name to our kings, our princes, and our fathers and all the people of the land. Look this way now, if you will, please. What did Daniel do when he saw the time? He knew prophetically that God was doing something supernatural. Oh, the whole thing was going to change. Friends, we're on the verge of that change. You remember me standing here on a Sunday night a few weeks ago saying, if you want to see history made, go down to Wall Street. We were down on Wall Street that day. I was in the Stock Exchange and I saw history being made. I saw the changes. This nation, the world will never be the same. Never be the same. There's an acceleration of judgments beginning. Isn't it a shame that almost everything the president tries now goes wrong? One Supreme Court nomination after another. I see Persian Gulf trouble coming. It's going to be momentous. There are changes going to happen so fast that we can't keep up with it. There's not a single economist that knows what's happening. Not in Germany, Japan, the United States. There's nothing, Daniel says here, there's nothing but cute confusion before our faces. Nothing but confusion. Because we've sinned against our God. We've sinned. And there's confusion in this land. But in this time of confusion, that's the very time God says, I'm going to raise up a holy people. I'm going to raise up a Zion. There are two streams flowing right now. This one stream toward judgment. This other stream going the other way toward the bridegroom. Hallelujah. Going toward the precious Lord. And when Daniel knew, he fasted, he prayed, he put on sackcloth and ashes. That means he humbled himself. That doesn't sound like prosperity preaching to me. Doesn't sound like it at all. I see a man on his face before God. He said, Oh God, you said in 70 years you would stop this thing. In 70 years it would be over. Oh God, I see it. I see it coming. And now I fall on my face. I've sinned, oh God. Everything you've done to us, we've deserved. You're righteous, God. Everything you've done, you've done it in justice. Now Lord, I repent. My hands are unclean, but cleanse me. He fell on his face crying out to God. That's what we've got to do now. That's what the church of Jesus Christ must do. That's what preachers must do. Preachers must put away their golf clubs. Preachers must now put away all their hobbies. Get down on their face before a holy God. Weep and stand in the pulpit with a broken heart. And say, the set time to bless Zion has come. A holy people will rise, and I want to be a part of it. Oh, is it going to come like a torch from this pulpit? God's going to set Brother Phillips to one fire. He's going to stand more than ever before. He's going to stand here, and you're going to see a finger of God. You're not going to see Brother Phillips, you're going to see a finger of God. You're going to see Don come to this pulpit like a blazing fire. And he's going to put his finger on things that you thought somebody told all about you. And the Holy Ghost is going to put his finger on it. Now if you're afraid of that, you won't be back. And I'm not trying to get, I'm just not saying, I'm trying to get you to come to this church. The only people who come to this church are those who have been drawn by the Holy Spirit. But I know, as sure as I stand here prophetically, that we are on the brink of judgment, but also of the final capstone of Zion. When he puts on the capstones. And we are the capstone generation. We're the last. It's exciting to be living today, isn't it? With all these things, when men's hearts are failing them from fear coming upon the earth. What's Zion doing? Rejoicing when they see all these things happening. Rejoice and be happy. Not be afraid. Now I'll tell you what, the righteous are as bold as a lion. The righteous don't run. They don't say there's a lion outside. No, no, they're chasing the lion. They're chasing the lion. They're not afraid anymore. There's no fear in Zion. Because they've cleansed their hands and purified their hearts before the Lord. Hallelujah. Is your heart burning you tonight? Doesn't your heart burn? Isn't there something crying, Oh Jesus, if I've never walked in holiness before, I want to now. And Lord Jesus, if I've ever sought your face, I want to seek it now. Bow your heads. Oh God, raise up holy Zion. Help us to know tonight where we stand with you, Lord. Let us know the sin of our heart. Let us not hide anything from you. Bring us out of the closet. Bring us out of hiding tonight. Expose us, Lord, by your love. You're a holy God. You're a God of justice as well as mercy. Lord Jesus, there are some people that have come tonight just because someone told them about what was happening here. Some have come out of curiosity. Some of the people said, There are no priests like that in my church. Lord, we're not putting their church down. We're not putting anybody down. This is life and death. It's too late to play games. It's too late. Lord, your coming is at the door. You're looking for a people that will step out of their idolatry, smash their idols and say, I'll seek the Lord with all my heart. Lord, you're going to do it again tonight. You're going to transform lives by your power and by your Spirit. Hallelujah. This is the end of this tape. For a copy of this tape or any other tape by David Wilkerson, write to World Challenge, PO Box 260, Lindale, Texas, 75771, or call Area Code 214-963-8626. Thank you.