In this sermon, the preacher emphasizes the importance of standing still and trusting in the salvation of the Lord, even in the midst of difficult circumstances. He encourages the audience to have faith and believe that God has a purpose in their trials and will test them to see what is in their hearts. The preacher also highlights the power of God's promises and the need to cease questioning and striving, instead relying on the covenant promises of God. He urges the listeners to hold God to His word and trust in His guidance and direction.

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, P.O. 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. Stand still and see the salvation of the Lord. Stand still, see the salvation of the Lord. Heavenly Father, we thank you for the anointing tonight, the power of the Holy Ghost. Lord, we're unworthy. We are so unworthy of your blessings. But Lord, we thank you for them. Now sanctify me, purge me, let me stand here with clean hands and pure heart by the blood of Jesus and deliver the word of the Lord. Let it come clear, let it be understood, let it have power and unction to our ears to hear, and may we practice what we hear tonight, in Jesus' name, amen. Stand still and see the salvation of the Lord. What would you think are the two most common words that Christians use when they're in a panic or in a crisis? Do something. Do something, Lord. It's absolutely against human nature to stand still and do nothing when there's a crisis and there's trouble and difficulty on all hands. And probably the most difficult thing for even Christians is to stand still and wait for God to act. To stand still to see the salvation of the Lord. Even the most devoted of Christians panic when God doesn't move according to their time schedule. We're always giving God dates. We're always giving Him a time limit. Lord, if you don't do it by now or by tomorrow or by next week, it's too late. God is never too late, and He's going to do it not on your schedule, not on mine, He's going to do it on His own schedule. But God is always and has always been searching the earth for those who will trust Him in their crisis, in every trial, and especially when it seems hopeless. And He will lead us, listen closely, He will lead us into situations that are alarming, that are critical, that seem hopeless, to test us. The devil has nothing to do with it at all. It's God leading into the crisis. The Bible states very clearly, the steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord. And that, in Hebrew, is prearranged, step by step, fixed, ordained by God. I'm going to tell you something. I believe that every step that I take is prearranged by my Father. Every step that I take is ordered by the Lord. Now, if I believe that, if I'm in a crisis, if I'm in a very, very difficult situation, He's led me there. Because He doesn't stop for a moment. He says, well, you're about to go into a trial. I direct you up to this point. You're on your own now. He directs me into it, through it, and out of it. The steps of a good man, and we are good only by the blood of Jesus, anyhow. There's no goodness in us. A good man made righteous through the blood of Jesus Christ is her steps ordered by the Lord. God's Word is filled with examples of this. And by the way, it's hard to accept. Think about it for a minute. It's very, very hard to accept this concept that the most difficult, critical times in your life have been prearranged by the Lord. That there are His doing, and folks, when you begin to see that and accept it and understand it, then you're halfway through your problem. And we're going to hopefully get into this so that it'll help you. The Lord will lead us into these situations because He's saying, well, you finally, I'm going to let you go into one of the most hopeless situations you've ever been in. Are you going to be one of those I've been searching for that will not panic, will not accuse me of abandoning you, will not accuse me of ignoring you, will not accuse me of hurting you, and you will stand before all men and believe me and trust me. He will allow these things to happen to produce that kind of faith for the one that He's searching for to be an example and testimony in this faithless, ungodly age. And God's Word's filled with tremendous, alarming crises after crises that God prearranged. You see it in the Scripture, especially at the Red Sea. This is completely arranged by God. Pharaoh had nothing to do with it. The devil had nothing to do with it. In fact, the Lord says, you go and camp, He's directing Moses, you go and camp between Migdor and the sea before Piahiroth. And He says, you camp there. Now, He put them in a situation between two mountain passes and a sea and a wilderness behind them. And then He arranges for Pharaoh's army to come, pressing in on the only way of escape. God corners His people. He led them into this situation. Now, folks, I want you to think about it. God could have prearranged at any moment to knock off those chariot wheels. Now, He waited until they got into the sea in dry land before He knocked off the wheels. He could have done that way out in the wilderness and stranded that army and starved them to death. That cloud that went behind the camp to protect them when they were going through the sea, the Lord could have moved that cloud when the army came out, when Pharaoh and his army came out of Egypt. He could have done that right outside the Egyptian camp, and He could have let them run in confusion for days in that cloud. God could have done it, but God says, no, there's a crisis. Two things I want to accomplish here. The first thing is, He doesn't want Israel, He doesn't want the children of Israel to be looking back over their shoulder all through the wilderness, thinking that somehow they're going to build rafts or boats and get across, and they're going to get them. God says, I'm going to annihilate them, I'm going to stew them across the shoreline, and you're going to see every one of your enemies dead, so that you'll know that I have the power, and all of Egypt and the whole world will know, and the devil will know who's boss. And then He says, I'm going to put you in this situation to test you. You say, well, how do you know that this was a prearranged test? Because God said so. God said so very clearly in His Word. Thou shalt remember all the way the Lord thy God led thee, to humble thee, to test thee, to know what was in your heart. All the way the Lord has led you, not the devil. All the way the Lord has led you, and He's talking about this very episode of being led into the Red Sea. The Scripture further says that He might prove thee to do thee good at the latter end. God says, I'm after something in you. I'm trying to bring you into a situation where you can practice faith. I'm putting you in a situation that only faith can bring you out. Only faith, only absolute trust in Me will ever get you out. He humbled thee. He allowed thee to hunger. In other words, God says, I gave you hard places. I gave you hungering places, thirsting places. I gave you places that were alarming, terrorizing situations to test you to see if you had a trusting heart or not. Now, this situation gets so alarming. Now, these mountains on each side are bare mountains. There are no caves and no trees. There's no place to hide. They could have run off over those hills, but the Egyptian army would find them on the hills. They would chase them everywhere because they were exposed. And what are you going to do when you run to the hills? You've got no water. You have no food. You would starve to death. There's the sea in front of them. They can't go into the sea. And here's the army behind them. Absolutely impossible situation. And the scripture says, And Israel lifted up their eyes, and behold, the Egyptians marched after them. And they were sore afraid, and they cried unto the Lord. Now, place yourself in their shoes. You have your children around you. You've got your grandma, your grandpa, and some relatives and friends around you. And here you are, and you hear the rattling of the chariot wheels. You hear the sabers being sharpened, and you hear the growl of these soldiers bent on killing. They're bloodthirsty. Now, God moved on Pharaoh to come. God moved on the captives of those armies to go after blood. This was all the work of God's Spirit bringing them into this scene, all prearranged by God. The scripture said they were sore afraid. So would you have been. I would have been afraid. You see, God's not afraid of that flush of human fear that comes when you're suddenly in a crisis. God's patient with that. That's not what He's talking about. In fact, He would have endured a prayer that went something like this. Oh God, look at this situation. Look at my children. I'm afraid, Lord. I know that they're bloodthirsty. There seems to be no way out. But Lord, You delivered us out of Egypt. You delivered us from the death angel. All those plagues on Egypt, You didn't touch us. If they would have just looked back, and if they would have just settled their spirit and said, Oh God, it looks hopeless, and I'm afraid. God would have endured that. God would have blessed. He would have accepted that. Because they said, even though we're afraid, Lord, we commit our lives into Your hand. Lord, we know that You have the power, so we commit ourselves to You. God will endure that kind of fear. That flush of fear that is of human nature itself when you're in a crisis. God knows. God knew that this was going to be a frightening experience. God's not a hard taskmaster. He knew they were going to be scared to death. And He was not trying to scare His people. He's trying to put them in a situation where they will prove to the whole world that God has a people that really trust in His power. Trust in His might. Trust in Him alone to deliver. And listen to their cry. This is not the cry of faith. Where there are no graves in Egypt, they're crying out to God. The Bible says they were so afraid they cried out to the Lord. Here's what they cried. They weren't crying in faith. They said, where there are no graves in Egypt, this is tongue in cheek. This is almost blasphemous. Were there no graves, God, in Egypt that You brought us out into this wilderness to die? Better to serve the Egyptians than to die in this wilderness. Many of you sitting here tonight have been led by God into a very difficult situation. Maybe the most difficult in the history of your walk with God. You sit in this church tonight saying, Lord, I'm in a situation that humanly is impossible. I'm in the crisis of my life. Folks, there's probably hundreds here in this service tonight. You can't tell what's going on in the person next to you. You don't know the battle. I'll tell you what. If everybody in this church were able to project on the screen we had here, through your eyeballs, those were projectors. You could project what you're going through. I think within an hour we'd all be on our faces weeping. If we understood the burdens and the crises and the battles and the hardships that many of you are facing right now. But if you really believe that your steps are ordered by the Lord, then you've got to accept the fact that He has a purpose in this. He's testing you. He's going to try you to see what's in your heart. There's no question about it in my mind. So what do you do when you're brought into a critical place? What do you do when it appears hopeless? There's no visible escape. When you overcome with fear and you have the feeling that everything's coming down, everything's coming down, you don't know where to turn. There's really nobody you can talk to because nobody really understands the depths, and you can't explain it anyhow. And there's no one there to get you out of your trouble. No human being. And Moses said unto the people, Fear not. Here's how they got out of their crisis. Here's God's answer to that question I've just given you. And Moses said unto the people, Fear not, stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord. The Lord shall fight for you. You shall hold your peace. Fear not, stand still, see the salvation of the Lord. Now, He's saying to them. He's saying to me. He's saying to you. He's saying to all of us. The first matter to deal with is your fear. That's the first thing you have to deal with before you get victory and deliverance. They were given a promise. In fact, when God said don't fear, He immediately gives them a promise that should chase away that fear. He says, God's going to save you. He's going to fight for you. So still your heart with this promise. In other words, let this word. God says, I'm going to deliver you. I'm going to save you. Let that be your strength. Let that truth, my promise, drive out that fear. Fear absolutely destroys, annihilates faith. Not only is fear a torment, it's destructive of every semblance of faith in your soul. God has commanded us to take His word. He's commanded us to take the everlasting covenant promises and deal with our fears. To deal with our fears. Folks, there's some of you have carried this burden, this bondage of fear for so long. And you sit here tonight, and I promise you God wants to deliver you in this service. He doesn't want you to walk out the way you came in tonight. Hallelujah. You can never go on to hear God's clear voice of direction off from the scripture or anything else until first you allow the Holy Ghost to deal with your fear. Let me apply the new covenant to what I'm trying to say to you tonight. Let's talk about bondage to sin. If you sit here tonight and you have a besetting sin, you have a life controlling habit. You may have walked in here tonight unsaved or backslidden. You've run from the Lord. Or you may be one who served the Lord for a time. And here you are. The Pharaoh in your life is not the Pharaoh of this story. The Pharaoh in your life is the devil himself. And the army or the hordes of demonic spirits and lying spirits that come against you, saying that you're going down, you're not going to make it, you're going to be destroyed. You can hear the rattling of the chains of the devil trying to come and put the chains back on your arm. Back on your hands and destroy you. How are you going to get out? And folks, when you see how helpless Israel is, look at them, absolutely helpless. You begin to see the condition of our flesh. How absolutely helpless we are to fight the battle. You are no match for the devil in your life. You're no match for the temptations that come to you. You're no match for the problem that you're in. You're no match for it. You can't figure it out. You can't think your way out of it. And there's no human being that's going to deliver you. And folks, when you want to try to understand the helplessness of the flesh, how unable we are to any of our power or the flesh, look at the children of Israel. They are absolutely helpless. And folks, when we get into a battle with the flesh, when the enemy comes in like a flood, the first reaction of the flesh is to do something. Make a promise. Go hide. And so we sin, confess, sin, confess. We run to counselors. We run to friends. We weep. We cry. We pray. We scream. We do everything but trust. We do everything but stand still to see the salvation of the Lord. We don't do it. Now, folks, can you imagine how many of the Israelites would have lasted if they said, well, wait a minute. I'm not going to go through this. I'm going to go back to my taskmasters. And they walk through the cloud and they surrender. And they've got a white flag and they say, I surrender. I'm coming back. Do you know how many of them would have lasted? They would have been killed on the spot because the enemy is bloodthirsty. Now, the enemy is out to destroy. The devil is a killer. He's a murderer. He's a destroyer. You don't ever go back and have your life spared. You can't go back to your old life. You fellows who were on drugs and alcohol, the girls here from Sarah House, there's no way of going back. Not one of them would have been spared. They could have deserted the Lord's people. They could have gone back and said, I'm going back and get spared. Some of you think, well, I'm going to go back and I'll get spared all this problem, all this spiritual warfare. All I had to do when I was in sin, get enough money for a fix. All I had to do was have enough money for a drink. I had it easy. Now I've got to battle the devil in all the hordes of hell. I'm going back. No, you're not. You go back and you're dead. You are dead. There is no going back. In the Old Testament, in so many ways, so many examples, the Lord is showing us how weak we are, how helpless we are. That's the old man. That's the old man. He's helpless. He can't fight. The new man is simply the man who's totally, completely living a committed, submitted life in the hands of God. He's trusting everything into the hands of the Lord. He knows he's helpless. He knows there's no way out humanly. Anything that he can do in his own strength and his own power. I believe God, by his Spirit, saves and delivers his people, and he eventually brings very clear direction. He said eventually you're going to hear a word behind you saying this is the way walking in it, and most of the time it's going to come from the Scripture itself. There's a dear saint of God, she was going through a great trial, and she said, Lord, you've got to speak to me. She's waiting for an invoice, and all she got was read. And she opens her Bible and says, fear not, I'm with you. I'll never leave you, never forsake you. That's all she needed. It was the word of the Lord. And eventually the Lord will give you a passage, he'll give you a Scripture, and it will be the key to your deliverance. But before you ever hear the Spirit's voice of direction, there's something God expects of us, something he requires of us. And it's this matter I'm talking about, this matter of standing still and waiting on the Lord to act. Now, this is not a suggestion, this is a commandment. He's not suggesting you be still in your crisis. He's commanding you to be still. None of his commandments are suggestions. God commanded the people to stand still on many occasions, all through the Scripture. In Joshua 3.8, this is another crossing. We've got to Jordan now. God commanded, when you are come to the brink of the water of Jordan, you shall stand still in the Jordan. And as soon as the souls of the priests shall rest in the water of Jordan, the water shall be cut off and stand in a heap. Now, get that. He said, you go into the water and you stand and rest. Rest. And you know what that word means? Stop all your activity. Cease from your striving is what it means in Hebrew. You go into the water and you cease from all your efforts, all your striving. You put your feet in the water. And folks, they put their feet in the water and I'm sure quite a while nothing happened. And little by little, the ripples began to ripple away and the wind began to blow. And little by little it happened. But the Lord said, you just stand there. Don't try to figure out God's doing it. I told you, just go into the water, stand and rest. Be still. Do you see the priests down in there? They're not moving. And God is working. How many people are running around sweating? Can you imagine all of them saying, hey, I don't know if this is going to work. And they get a bucket brigade. And they're pushing the water and pushing. We got Christians that are sweating to death, trying to work their way out of their problems and they can't do it. It's like emptying the ocean with a tin cup. He said, go to the water, go into the water, plant your feet and rest. Hallelujah. He said, I'll part the waters. It was the step, going into the water didn't do it. It was God answering their faith. They did what God told them and they rested. Hallelujah. There's a story of Samuel after he anoints Saul as king. The city that he anointed him was on a hill. And they're coming down the hillside to the gate. And Saul's about to go back to his father, Kish. And just before he leaves, Samuel makes a very amazing statement. He turns to Saul. Suddenly he says, stand still a moment. This is the first time in 920. He says, stand still a moment that I may show you the word of God. Stand still that I may show you. Do you want to hear the word of God? Do you want to hear directions? Do you want to hear from this word? He said, stand still. And in this also, the Hebrew word here is stop your striving. And he's saying, Saul, I anointed you. And already your mind is going, how am I going to do this? What's God going to do? When, where, how? And he's got a million questions. And Samuel must have seen it in the Holy Ghost. Saul, stop your striving. I'm going to give you the word. And when you and I stop our everlasting striving to please God in our own power and abilities, then we're going to hear from God. In the 20th chapter of 2 Chronicles, remember King Jehoshaphat and Judah are being invaded by a coalition of armies, a huge army. In fact, the Scripture says a multitude from beyond the sea. And the word comes that this huge foreign coalition of armies are coming toward Jerusalem and Judah. And the Bible says, Jehoshaphat feared and set himself to seek the Lord, and he proclaimed a fast. They began to pray, and here's the prayer. In thy hand is there not power, O God, and might, so that none is able to withstand you? For we have no might against this great company, neither know we what to do, but our eyes are fixed on you. Lord, we're afraid. May I tell you again, there's nothing evil about being afraid. You're in a situation, you're afraid. God understands that. He knew when he brought to the situation he was going to be frightful. And he's long-suffering, he's kind, and he endures that. But now you and I have got to pray the same prayer that King Jehoshaphat said. Lord, we're afraid. The enemy is coming in like a flood. We don't know what to do. We don't know how to go out. We don't know how to come in. But you have all the power we need. You have all the might. So we're going to do nothing but pray and fix our eyes on you. And you remember the story. They went out to fight this great army. And God, in the middle of the night, discombobulated that whole army to be in a fight with one another. When they got there, the dead soldiers were all over the field. And all they did was take their rags and pick up all the spoil and go back, marching in a great procession of victory. And they hadn't even lifted up a sword. Then came the Spirit of the Lord in the midst of the congregation. And this is the commandment from the Holy Spirit. Be not afraid of this army. Don't be troubled. For the battle's not yours, but it's God's. You shall not need to fight in this battle. Set yourselves, stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord. Don't be afraid. You know what he's saying? Set yourself. Take a position of faith is what he's saying. Take your position of faith. Set yourself in faith. Be convinced that the battle's the Lord's. Any devil that comes against you, any demon that comes against you is coming against the Jesus in you. It's his battle. It's not yours. It's not mine. Set yourself. Stand still. Take your position. You can say, Lord, I don't know what to do. Oh, folks, I say that every day. Every day I get up. Lord, I don't know what to do today. We got a building sitting over here, and we don't have what they call egresses to get up. They're trying to limit us to 500 people a floor, and we need 1,000 people. And I get up. We don't know what to do. We have no idea what we're going to do. But God, I know God has the power, and I know God didn't give us those floors over there and let the devil lock us up. So we're just going to trust God. We're going to stand still. And I want to tell you something. We're going to have all the egress and ingress, any egress we want. How many believe that? I believe that with all my heart. We're going to stand still and see the salvation of the Lord. The battle's not ours. It's his. David, in Psalm 4610, he said, Be still and know that I am God. And in the original Hebrew, it says, Cease and forsake all your striving and acknowledge that I am God. This is the end of side one. You may now turn the tape over to side two. And preachers scream, God helps those who help themselves. Doesn't the Bible say God helps those who help themselves? No, it does not. That is not in the Bible. I've heard preachers scream, God helps those who help themselves. And I say, where'd you get that? Life Magazine. Reader's Digest. You didn't get it from the book. Nowhere to be found. God helps those who can't help themselves. Hmm. You say, well, brother, didn't Israel have to take the sword at times and fight hand-to-hand combat on one condition? Yes, on one condition. Only after they were sudden with God, stood still, and got detailed direction. I dare you to show me any place in the Scripture. Like Joshua. He goes up before the battle. They're going to do hand-to-hand combat. But he goes first, and he waits on the Lord. He's still until the captain of the Lord appears and gives him detailed direction. You'll find it all through the Scripture. Do you see the picture? Amen. Now, let me tell you what I believe is required in this matter of standing still before the Lord. Now, this is not passivity, and it's not resting on fate. It's not trusting fate. Fate says, well, whatever will be, will be. No, because faith changes everything. This is an active faith that rests on God's promises. It's a ceasing from all questioning, all doubts, and all useless striving. Now, let me tell you, I've got to get personal on this. I don't always like to do this, but sometimes the only way to illustrate a point. One of the areas of striving in my life, and it's been that ever since I've been in the ministry, is how to know the voice of God. And I think that's the struggle of many, many Christians today. How do I know it's God? When I hear an inner voice, how do I determine whether it's God? Now, folks, I have heard from God. I know. I'm here in New York City because I heard from God. We started Teen Challenge more than 35 years ago, led by God to come into this city from a country town. And I know what it's like to walk in the Spirit, to hear a clear word from the Lord. Do you see what we do? We're in a crisis. We're in a situation. There's a critical need, and we go to God in prayer, and we try to build up our faith. And I don't know about you, but I usually, before I go to the Lord, and I ask Him to speak to my heart and give me a word, give me direction, I quote all these scriptures. My sheep know my voice. They hear when I call. I said, Lord, that's what you said. My sheep hear my voice. They hear when you call. And I quote this. You should hear a word behind you saying, this is the way. Walk in it. Lord, I'm holding you to your word. The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth. If any man hear my voice, he will cause his glorious voice to be heard. And I'll quote every scripture I can remember. And I say, Lord, it's written that you speak to your people. Now, I want you to speak to me. And then a still small voice will come. And suddenly, you get a great sense of peace and calm. This is God speaking. And that still small voice is comforting. And you go out of the prayer chamber feeling so good. I heard from God. But all too often, it doesn't happen. It doesn't come to pass. And that which you thought was so clear. Now, I'm going to get very, very deep into your spirit on this now. And I want you to hear me, please. Do I believe God speaks to people? Yes. But when Jesus says, my sheep know my voice, they hear when I call. Remember what the scripture says. He's spoken to us in these last days by his son. By his son. Now, the Bible said his son is the word, was with God, was with God. His son speaks to us from the scripture. Now, let me tell you something. And here's what you and I have to deal with. I'm going to be as honest as I know I've ever been in my life with any congregation. Because this is vital. I am sick and tired of hearing so many silly, nonsensical, foolish things God's supposed to be saying to Christians. You know, I went to prayer. God told me. God told me that it's all right that I leave my husband because I have a ministry. I've got two kids, but God told me to leave him for 15 years. I've heard this. Some woman said, God told me to do it. And you couldn't convince her. I heard his voice. I have heard more stupidity and foolishness attributed to the voice of God. And if you're going to be honest with me, just about everybody in this building has walked with God. You thought you heard something. It didn't happen. You were convinced it was God's voice. Come on now. Don't, don't, don't give me that. Don't, don't say, I'm too old. I've been around too long. And then comes a cloud. But Lord, I wanted to do your will. Lord, I did everything I know to do. I quoted scripture. I held you to your word. I'm ready to do your will. Lord, there's nothing, there's no flaunted sin in my life. I'm under the blood. Lord, I heard that clear. How am I ever going to trust the voice again? We forget what Paul said. There are many voices in the world, none without significance. We forget that there's a voice of the flesh. There's a voice of will. There's a voice of ambition. There are thousands of voices that scream for attention in our spirit and our mind. Many, many, many. And oh, you will be tested. But I'm going to tell you something. Why should God trust you with an inner voice when he can't trust you with his written voice? Come on now. When you won't even go in here, when you are in a crisis and you're in trouble, you're saying, God, you've got to speak to me. God says, I spoke to you. My voice is loud and clear. It's been there for the ages. Why would God give you an inner voice and talk to you in that quiet, still voice? This is the still, small voice. Right here. Here. Everything you need. The scripture says, everything you need for godliness and righteousness, every promise you need for life, for supply, for every protection, everything you need is here in his revealed word. He has spoken loud and clear. He screams at us. And so, we have people, I have had people from this church backstage weeping. In fact, in the last two or three weeks, a number have been back there and they say, Brother Dave, I prayed about something and God told me to do this and I did it and it didn't work. It failed. Just the opposite happened and I was so sure that I heard his voice. And now, there's fear. They blame themselves. Well, maybe there's something wrong with me. I don't know how to interpret scripture right. I don't know how to hear his voice anymore. And they're in turmoil all the time. They're not walking in peace and rest in the Holy Spirit. I know some very godly ministers and friends of mine that I know hear from God because they've spoken into my life in a way that I know only God could have spoken it. And I know they hear from God. And most of those that I'm referring to will tell you, I heard from God, Brother Wilkinson, here's a word that God gave me and I know that they heard clearly from the Lord. But sadly, those very same people that are devoted, some of the holiest people I know on the face of this earth that are within my circle of friends and yet some of them are convinced that everything they hear is God. You see, you and I are not little gods. You and I make mistakes. You and I are not infallible. I won't tell any godly person in this house, I don't care how close you are or how much you pray, you don't always hear it. Your flesh still gets in the way. Your flesh still has a voice. Ambition is still there. There are things that creep in that pretend to be the Holy Ghost. Folks, I have made some major mistakes. I have misread. You say, Brother Wilkinson, that's terrible, the pastor get up and confess that he doesn't hear all the time. I don't. You tell me you do, you come back three months and I'll show you where you're wrong. Because you will have heard some things and it didn't happen and you just kind of ignore it and look over it. But God doesn't overlook it. Let me tell you how God brought me through because this was one of the greatest trials of my life. My son, one of my sons just went through it. He heard something so clear and it didn't happen. The enemy tried to just wipe him out. The others of you, if you don't understand this, if you don't get a hold of this tonight, the devil will wipe you out. He'll make you think that you don't even know the Lord, that God will never speak to you. Let me tell you why this message was so important to me. Stand still and see the salvation of the Lord. Because that striving, ceasing, means ceasing even from your questioning. No more why, how, when. You come to His covenant where He has made promises. When God makes a covenant, it's no longer grace. Grace is when He makes a promise, but when He covenants and His promise becomes a covenant when He swears, it's legal. And we have a right to stand legally before His promises. Every one of these promises, He can't back away from them, or He wouldn't be God. And He seals them with an oath. He said, these are promises that I cannot go back on or I could not be God. And you look at these promises and say, Lord, I'm going to stand on that. No reply necessary. No reply necessary. You say, well, what about communion with the Lord? Oh, my communion is right here in the book. My communion is worship. My communion is praise. My communion is trust. That is true intimacy with the Lord. Because you can talk about intimacy, but if you're not trusting Him, you've got to come to a place where you say, Lord, if I never hear an inner voice again, you gave me everything I need. You love me. I love you. I worship. I praise you. I'm going to rest in you. I'm going to rest on your covenant promises. No reply needed. No reply necessary. Lord, you never say one more word to me. You know what it means to stand still? Quit trying to figure out whether you heard the right voice or not. Quit trying to measure it. Quit trying to discern it. I don't discern anymore. As far as what I, there are so many voices. Before I got to preach, I heard some evil voices coming at me. Literally. Some evil voices coming at me. The devil trying to inject evil thoughts into my mind to try to block the anointing and the blessing of the Holy Ghost in my preaching tonight. Say, whoa, what a pastor we have here. My goodness. Until you're satisfied with this word. Until you understand that this is Jesus speaking to us in these last days. Until you heard it today, you heard it twice. You're going to hear it and hear it and hear it until it becomes a part of your life. God is saying, here, you get into this. I will speak to you. The Holy Ghost will come upon these words and he will anoint what he has written. When he said the Holy Ghost will remind you of every word that I spoke, Jesus says you go here. Go into these red letter words. Those are every word that Jesus spoke when he was on there. And the Bible says the Holy Ghost will bring it. He will interpret it to you. He will speak to you through his word. Do you want to hear him? Get into your secret closet. Get along with God. Get the word out. Say, oh Lord, speak to me. And he will tell you how to get out. He will tell you what to do with your problems. He will tell you he was speaking. That still small voice behind you is right here. Glory to God. In 2 Samuel, I'm going to close shortly. 2 Samuel 3, 23, 5. David, he's a dying man. He said, although my house be not so with God. You know, the Lord had said, I'm going to build you a sure house. And I'm going to bless you. And all the world, the whole earth is going to be blessed through your seed, speaking of Christ. But now, David's a dying man. And he hasn't seen what God said to him come to pass yet. He looks around. He says, well, my house is not yet. He said, although my house be not so with God. What he's saying, I've not yet seen all the words of the Lord to me come to pass. My house is still not what it ought to be. Three of my sons are dead. I've been given a promise that my house will not fall. He was going to make me a sure house with firm foundations. I've not seen it yet. But nevertheless, he has made with me an everlasting covenant, ordered in all things insure. And you know, right now, there's no prophet speaking into David. Nathan's not there. There are no dreams. There are no visions. There are no voices. And he's now facing eternity. He's not listening. He's not looking for a voice. He's not looking for a prophet. He's not looking for somebody to interpret anything to him. He says, God gave me a covenant. God made me a promise. And I go into eternity standing on that promise. I stand on that word. I don't see everything yet. But God gave me his word. For this is all my salvation, and this is all my desire. He's saying, I can face death telling you that's all I need. I don't need the prophet right now. There's a time and place for that. But he says, now I have his eternal promise locked in my heart. Hallelujah. When you've got a promise made real to you by the Holy Ghost, nobody can move you. You'll stand tight. You'll set yourself. Would you go to Habakkuk, please? Third chapter. Chapter 3. Will you stand? Folks, you may fail in trying to figure things out. You may fail in discerning voices. You may fail in many areas. But one thing is always secure. God said, I'm going to be your strength. You trust me, and I'll get you out. I want everybody that's got King James, read with me verses 17 through 19. Habakkuk chapter 3. If you have King James, read aloud with me, please. Although the fig tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vines, the labor of the olive shall fail, the field shall yield no meat, the flock shall be cut off from the fold, there shall be no herd in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation. The Lord God is my strength. He will make my feet like hinds feet, and He will make me to walk with my high places to the chief singer in my strength instruments. God will make me to walk in the right path. Hallelujah. Because I trust Him, He's going to make it right. Glory be to God. That's His word. That's His promise. Are you ready to stand still, and stop your striving now, and see the salvation of the Lord? Your part and my part is to go to Him and just wait on the Lord. Oh, He will speak. Yes, He will. He speaks through His word to your heart. And then when you need it, at the right time, when you're fully trusting Him, He will make His voice to be heard, one way or another. He'll send somebody to you, He'll speak to you in that still small voice of His own. He will speak to you. You will get the word, and it'll be right. Hallelujah. There'll be no questioning about it, and it will come to pass. Hallelujah. Do I believe God speaks? Yes, I do, with all my heart. One more time before I close, and I hope you remember as long as you live. Why should God trust you with an inner voice if He can't trust you with His revealed voice? Keep that in mind. You go to this, learn to eat it, learn to absorb it. Then you can go to Him and say, Now, Lord, confirm it in here. Hallelujah. That's when it comes. Heavenly Father, I thank you tonight for your simple word. And I pray you bless us as we come to your throne now. I want us to sing one chorus while I wait on you, whether you've heard or not. Just trust Him. He's going to bring it all out. He's going to make it all right in His time and His way. That's all you need. You don't need anything else right now. You don't need anything else. You just need to say, Lord, I'm not going to try to figure it out. I'm not going to try to question. No more what-ifs. What if he does it? What if she does it? What if they? What if we? What if they? What if, what if, what if, what if, what if? Oh, God, help us to get rid of all our what-ifs. And simply trust in His power and His might. He's not going to fail you. You just read it. If everything around you, if the economy fails, your friends fail, you, everybody fails you, God says, I'm still going to be your strength. I'm still going to cause you to walk in the right way. I've made a covenant with you. Folks, the covenant of peace that God has given us, this new covenant, has brought such a peace to my soul. Hallelujah. To increase our faith, to boost our faith. God is saying, I've made you a covenant and promise now to keep you, to write my laws in your heart, to forgive you, to be a God to you and you be a son or daughter to me. I have covenanted that so that I can't go back on it or I would not be God. Hallelujah. It's that sure. It's that steadfast. That's why David said, he's made me a covenant, steadfast and sure. Steadfast, everlasting. God can't break His word. He promised to keep you from falling. He's promised to take the heart of stone out of you and give you a heart of flesh. It means a heart that feels, that reaches out, a repentant heart. And all you have to do is reach out and let Him increase your faith right now. He gives you the word, take it, believe it and go with it in Jesus' name. Hallelujah. Now Father, do a work in our hearts. Lord, I pray against unbelief and fear in this congregation tonight. All the fear and unbelief that has bound so many people. Let there be freedom tonight in Jesus' name. Sing. And confusion has come into your spiritual walk. You're really confused and fear has come. I don't know where it came from. We don't have to worry about that. But you would like to come in to a rest in the Lord. You want to come in to, you want to step across the line and say, Lord, I want to commit my life to a walk of faith and trust in you now. I want you to get out of your seat and come and let me pray with you. And we're going to believe the Lord tonight to remove the fear and the bondage and to bring you into a rest so that you quit your striving, quit your struggling. You don't have to make God a bunch of promises anymore. You don't have to try to figure out what voice that you heard. You don't try to figure out voices anymore. Just say, Lord, I'm going to just trust you. One way or another, you're going to, even if I fall, you're going to pick me up, you said. Even if I fall, you'll pick me up. Hallelujah. You'll pick me up again. Glory be to Jesus. Up in the balcony, you can go to the stairs on either side and come down any aisle. Let's sing it again. Now, if you're not right with the Lord, if you're backslidden, you're not saved, walk down the aisle with these and make it right. Some of you have left your first love for Jesus. Your heart's cold. Come down with these and get your heart warmed and restored in Jesus' name. Those that have come forward tonight, look at me please. Would you take a sabbatical or a rest from striving to hear voices and say, God, I want to hear the voice of the Lord and you become a student of this book and don't depend on inner voices. Oh, there'll be a witness of the Holy Spirit but that He witnesses to the Word that He inspired. He witnesses to the Word. It's the Word in you to which He witnesses, the work of Christ in you that He witnesses to. And all of you that are up here and anyone in the congregation that you've been just saying, saying, I can't trust voices anymore. Well, one thing you can trust is this voice. If you're confused, when you lay down all that confusion, don't try to question whether or not it was God or flesh or the devil speaking to you. Forget that. And say, all I know is God is faithful. God is faithful. He's going to get me to where He wants me to be. He's going to see me through. Hallelujah. Glory to God. That way you're not being tossed and turned. The devil would like to just keep twisting and turning you, trying to inject various thoughts or even if God speaks, you try to come and expand it or twist it and turn it. And so you come to the rock. You come and get on the rock. It can't be shaken. Hallelujah. Now I'm going to come in faith and pray against that spirit of fear and confusion and ask God to bring you to a simple childlike faith. Jesus, You're faithful. Your Word is faithful. You're going to see me through. You're going to pray that with me in just a moment. First, let me come against your fears. And I want you to leave God with me. Just lift up your hands. Just lift up your hands and I want to pray. Father, in Jesus' name, I speak the Word of God against the fear and the confusion and the doubt in so many hearts tonight. In Jesus' name, Lord, You take authority over them. Bind them. Cast it out in Jesus' name. Right now, I want you to pray this with me right now. Jesus, take away my fear. Remove my confusion by the power of Your Spirit. Help me, Lord Jesus, to have a love for Your Word, to take it into my heart as the voice of God speaking to me in these last days. I will rest in this voice. I will rest in Your Word. I will need nothing else but Your Word and Your presence in my life, the work of the Holy Ghost in my heart. Forgive me, Lord. Cleanse me. Sanctify me. Fill me with Your Holy Ghost. Lead me and guide me and teach me through the Word. Your Word, O Lord, is the lamp to my feet. Hallelujah.