In this sermonette, the preacher discusses the importance of being knowledgeable about the word of God. He emphasizes that many people lack biblical literacy and therefore struggle to measure and test things according to the scriptures. The preacher quotes Isaiah 30:12 to highlight the consequences of despising the word of God and trusting in oppression and perverseness. He also briefly mentions the Y2K issue and encourages people not to be afraid, reminding them that those who neglect the word of God are susceptible to strong delusion.

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, Lindell, 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. I think before I preach, talk to you about Y2K. Now, you know that we have been, for a number of months, warning from this pulpit that there should be preparation. We had suggested it'd be nice if you can put away food and water for 30 days or 60 days. Many of you can't do that in a very small apartment, especially if you're in a one room efficiency apartment like many are. You have maybe a little space under the bed, but you can't find space. Let me tell you, this is not a prophecy or anything. Let me tell you what I feel, and I've talked this over with some people that are well known all over the country. If I mentioned the names, you would know them in business and in religious realm. The way I feel, and others have been praying, feel that it may not happen July 1st. There may not be major breakdowns. I don't think the lights are going to go off in Times Square here. There'll be two and a half to three million people, they claim. By the way, folks from Times Square, don't come near Times Square. The reason we don't have services New Year's Eve is because you can't even get near the church in the first place. We have to bar it up because it gets wild now, break windows. Last year at that time, someone broke in and couldn't get out and busted windows, and we're going to have to lock up the place. It's getting to be a drunken spree, and you know what's going to happen this year in a drunken orgy. We prefer you not be anywhere near Times Square. I believe in Russia, the United States government has already put out the word that Americans, even embassy people, can come home before January 1st, and they recommend nobody go near Russia for the whole month of January. If there's nothing to worry about, why would they be suggesting that? Britain has already declared a bank holiday for December 31st, I think January 3rd or 4th. There could be a rush on the banks, but we've been recommending what I recommend, and I feel an obligation as a pastor of this church to lovingly warn you that you should have at least a week, two-week supply of food and especially water. If there's going to be a breakdown, it'd be with the water. It'll come back online, of course, but I believe it's going to be a cumulative thing. It may be April or May before the cumulative effect hits this country, but when Japan isn't even 30% compliant, when Russia hasn't even begun, other nations of the world and a trillion dollars a day in transit through computers, and there are going to be mix-ups. I don't know if you heard about it or not, but one of the states already, their computers they had tested said it was compliant, and people have been getting. It went back to 1900, and people, instead of getting a title for their car, got a title for horse and buggy. Did you read it? They were compliant, they said. It could get very scary by March or April and into May, the cumulative effect, and I think what may happen is that the first week or two, it seems to be because probably the United States is about 90-95% compliant, but that 5% could be disastrous, and nobody knows. I don't think the things in your home are going to break down. Elevators they can fix quite quickly, so don't worry about getting stuck in your apartment elevator for too long. I got stuck for 45 minutes, so I spent time praying, got on my knees, and the people come to the monitor and say, look at the guy up there, and I got down and said, you're the first person who didn't complain. I said, well, I had 45 minutes with the Lord, but I'll tell you what, folks, you and I are not to be afraid. We are not to fear anything, because we have an almighty God, but there will be a run on ATMs, and I know some of you can't, but if you can put a few hundred dollars away, whatever you can, put it there in case those, because here in New York, people live day by day. People don't store food, and as you know, there's only a three-day supply of food in the city. You know what happens when a storm is about to come, and within an hour, they clear out their and if people don't get their SSI checks or their welfare checks, the city will be in turmoil, but folks, I'll tell you what, the food that you store, you can always, if you, see, after five or six months, the storm passes, you can use it or give it to the poor, so you lose nothing, all right? I just felt I had to say that to you before I proceed with the word. My message this morning, governed by the word of God, governed by the word of God. Go to Isaiah, the ninth chapter, please. Isaiah, the ninth chapter. Nobody comes to Times Square Church without their Bible. Nobody. If they do, they're noticed. It's not long until they do, so look around. You've seen nobody with a Bible. They're visitors. Again, to you visitors, welcome. God bless you. We trust that when you leave here, you'll know you've been in his presence. The ninth chapter of Isaiah, governed by the word of God, starting ninth chapter, verse six and verse seven. For unto us a child is born, and unto us a son is given, and the governance shall be upon his shoulder. His name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace, there shall be no end upon the throne of David, upon his kingdom to order it and to establish it with judgment, with justice from henceforth and forever. The zeal of the Lord's host, the Lord of hosts, will perform it. The Lord sent a word unto Jacob and has lighted upon Israel. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we heard what Pastor Carter said previously in this very service, that in these days we need to be anchored in the word of God. We need to be clinging to the word and know the word of God, because it's going to be the only rudder. It's going to be the only compass in the days ahead. Lord, I pray that you bring forth out of my lips and out of my heart what you've implanted. Spirit of the Lord, I got this from you. You put this in my heart, and I ask you, Lord, to bring it forth with your unction, with your anointing. Lord Jesus, let us hear what you have to say. Not what I have to have to say, but what the Spirit has to say. He that hath ears to hear, let him hear what the Spirit has to say. In Jesus' name, amen. Isaiah here said a child is coming. He's going to have a kingdom, and he's going to have a people he's going to rule over, and the government of those people be upon his shoulders. Not the shoulders of the people, but on his shoulders. He's going to have a people submitted to his supreme authority. Prophet Isaiah, he said he's going to be a supreme authority, and every one of his people are going to come under that authority. This wonderful prince of peace, this almighty counselor, he's going to counsel and be the peace to those who come under his authority, and those alone. Let's just speak of Christ, our Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns today. This is what the prophet was referring. That's who the prophet's referring to. And we live now in a time when that kingdom has come. That kingdom is here in my heart and in your heart. The Bible says of the increase of his government and peace, there shall be no end. That means from now until Jesus comes, he is still going to be ruling and reigning. He's still king of kings and lord of lords over the whole, over all nations, and over every one of those in his own kingdom. Now, what does it mean to be governed? According to the dictionary, to be governed means to be guided, to be directed, and to be controlled in actions and behavior. In other words, if you're being governed, that means that you are being directed, you are being led, and you are under the control and authority in your behavior and all of your actions. And I'm wondering how many of you can say that and know it honestly this morning that you are being governed by this word. This word controls your actions and your behavior. Everything you say, everything you do is submitted to this word, because Jesus is this word. He was the word, became flesh. This is his scepter. This is where he rules through his revealed written word. He even now rules the nations of the world, the scripture says. He ruleth by his power forever. His eyes behold the nations, let not the rebellious exalt themselves. The Lord hath prepared his throne in the heavens and his kingdom rules over all. The United States of America is not governed by the Republicans or the Democrats. It is not governed by Wall Street, any other business entity, no other power, heaven or earth, rules and reigns over this nation and every other nation. He is still king of kings. He is still lord of lords. The devil is not in control. God is in control. He said, let not the rebellious rejoice. I get amused when I hear politicians here in the United States talk about how we took down the Iron Curtain and how we have become we've made ourselves the mightiest nation on earth and how we have done this and how we have done that. And the Lord must have a sense of humor. He'd have to have a sense of humor, not to blow it all away. They say we have done it, but the nations of the world, the kings, the dictators, and all the presidents are according to scripture, but a speck of dust in the eyes of God. He shall judge among the nations, the scripture says. Behold, the nations are as a drop of a bucket, and they're counted as the small dust of the balance. Behold, he taketh up the aisles as a very little thing. All nations before him are as nothing, and they are counted to him less than nothing in vanity. It's amazing what the Lord is saying here. He's drawing a picture. He has scales, and God puts himself on the scale on one side, and he takes all the nations of earth from the very beginning of time and puts them on the scale opposite him. The scale drops, and here is this speck of dust. All the nations of the world, he said, are nothing but a little pile of dust. In comparison, he puts himself on the scale, on the balance. He said, if you want to measure my power and the power of all the nations of the world, think of all of our atomic armaments, hydrogen bombs, and all of our armies and navies and everything, and God says there's nothing but a speck of dust. All of your leaders, all of your dictators, everything on the face of the earth, nothing but a little pile of dust. I am still king of kings and Lord of lords. The Lord hath made bare his holy arm in the eyes of all the nations, and all the ends of the world shall see the salvation of God. In communist China right now, they're jailing tens of thousands in a cult called Falun Gong. Falun Gong is a cult that is operated right out of New York City here, a Chinaman who communicates by way of computer and the internet with his followers in China. They meditate, they're passive, they raise their hands in exercises, and consequently, many thousands of Christians are being jailed at the same time, in five to eight years, according to the Times, to the front page of the New York Times. And I was just reading it last night before retiring, and I can't prove this, but I think I received this from the Lord, the reason many of these Christians are being jailed at the same time, they are being tied into the Falun Gong cult, because Christians raise their hands, and they meditate, and they're also passive, and so they've been tied into the Falun Gong and being imprisoned. But it is tearing China apart right now, and thousands of Christian leaders now are in prison. But I've got news for Chinese leaders. They may not hear me, but God hears it. God knows it. He said, if they're just mere dust, he's going to blow down. If the Iron Curtain was just dust, and God blew it away, I can guarantee he's going to blow away the bamboo curtain. He's going to blow it away, and all those jails, he's going to blow them open. And all those Chinese leaders that are trying to say, we are going to stamp out everything that has anything to do against communism, God is going to blow on those leaders, and it won't be long until they're all gone. Suddenly, they get cancer. Suddenly, they get some kind of disease, and they're gone, and they go to dust. They just go to dust. Folks, don't fret about China. Pray about China, but believe God. God is still in control of all the nations of this world. Hallelujah. Please don't think for one minute that the homosexuals are going to take over this nation, as militant as they may become. Don't think that the devil and all the hordes of hell that have been released are suddenly going to take over this nation. Now, Pastor Carter saw just a little bit of what happened down in Greenwich Village last night, primarily a homosexual parade, and it is a vision of hell. It's indescribable, this Halloween parade of nudity and with signs, Jesus is gay, and all of this mockery of everything that is righteous and holy. And sometimes we get depressed because of the immorality and the moral landslide in America and the blatant homosexuality, in-your-face kind of immorality, and we get depressed. It almost seems like sometimes they're gaining power and authority. Forget about it. The Bible says, The Lord hath broken the staff of the wicked and the scepter of all the rulers. How art thou fallen from heaven, Lucifer? How art you cut down to the ground, which did weaken the nations? Thou shalt be brought down to hell. They that see thee shall say, Is this the man that made the earth to tremble, that did shake kingdoms? The devil is going to be changed, and God's going to throw him into hell and seal hell for eternity. He is not in control. He is allowed to move and operate only by permission of the Heavenly Father. And when God is finished with him, he's going to lock him up and throw the key away. Satan may have his day. He may be able to threaten kingdoms and cause them to tremble. He may shake nations according to what we've just read, but the Bible said his day is coming, and he has his day now, the day of darkness. But that is going to change in God's moment of time. The prayer of Hezekiah puts it well, O Lord of hosts, God of Israel, thou art the God, even thou alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth. You are the one who made heaven and earth. Do you remember when Satan tempted Christ? He took him to a high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms, the world, and the glory of them. And he said, If you bow down to me, I give you all of this. Well, I've been thinking about first place. This had to be some kind of apparition the devil tried to place, because there's no way from one mountain you can see all the kingdoms of the world. You couldn't even see the kingdom at the bottom and see any of his glory. If you were talking in the physical realm, it had to be some kind of apparition that he tried to plant before the eyes of our Savior. But you see, Jesus was there when God already declared that all the nations of the world and all this glory are nothing but dust, nothing but dust. The devil does not have control of all of the kingdoms of this world. He rules in only one area, one realm. God himself is ruler of heaven and earth, the Bible said. All things are in his control and in his hands. This was a fantasy. It was a lie. It's not his to give. But Satan tried to present to him a pile of dust and say, If you fall down, and the Lord Jesus was God in flesh. He knew this. He was the one who said it. All the kings of the world are nothing but a drop in a bucket. It's just dust that I blow away. Hallelujah. The Bible said we're to fear no evil. Now, in no other kingdom does God rule more supremely than in his own kingdom, the kingdom of God. Jesus said, Behold, the kingdom of God is within you. Luke 1721. And in this kingdom, he rules supreme. Now we know he's he's he's ruler of all the heavens and the earth. But this heart of mine, this heart of yours is a believer. That is where he must rule absolutely supreme. It's where he must be our counselor. It is said of the increase of his government, there shall be no end. Now, primarily, that speaks of his literal rule and reign over all the powers of of hell and darkness and all the kingdoms of the world. Now, there will always be increase of his government, but more significantly, it speaks about his kingdom in our hearts. And I'm asking you, has there been an increase of his government in your life week after week, month after month? Can you honestly say that this he governs by his word? He governs by his revealed word. He is not here on earth. He's seated at the right hand of the father. He's now ruling and reigning. The Bible said he rules the nations with a rod of iron. Even today, nothing happens in this world without his permission, without his control. He's the one who moves the hearts of men. Of the increase of his government, there shall be no end. And I got to thinking about that. I said, Lord, that is what I want to deal with in my own life. That's what I want to see at Times Square Church. This is what I'd like to see in the body of Christ that day by day, week after week, and month after month, you and I are becoming more and more under the government of the Lord Jesus Christ, governed by every word in this book that we bring our life into compliance. You talked about being compliant. Why 2k compliant year 2000? Yes. Under the book, the living word of God. For the increase of his government, there shall be no end. I pray, Lord, that that be so in my life. Now let me talk to you again about how he governs his kingdom. He now governs his kingdom by his scriptures, by his revealed word. God, this scripture said, spoke to our fathers through the prophets in the Old Testament. He spoke through prophets. The Bible says, but now he speaks to us by his son, Jesus Christ. And Jesus said the reason he sent the Holy Ghost is that the Holy Spirit would bring to our remembrance every word that he spoke. He speaks. He rules in our lives in this his kingdom through his revealed word and no other way. Who being the brightness of his father's glory and express image of his person, he upholds. This is Christ upholds all things by the word of his power. He doesn't rule through manifestations. He doesn't rule through the words of men. He does rule when that word of God is brought to you through the foolishness of preaching under anointed men and women of God. For the word of God is living, powerful and sharper than any two edged sword piercing, even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit of joints and marrows and as a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. Now, I'm going to take you just for a few scriptures through the 119th Psalm, the longest Psalm in the book of Psalms. No, I'm not going to read all 176 verses, but I want to read to you. I want you to hear the heart of a man who is governed by the word of God. His life is governed. The reason David's life, especially toward in the beginning of London, David had his problems, but his life quickly, even though there were times of confusion, because he was governed by the word of God, always divine order came back quickly because he was under the reign under the supreme authority of God's word. David said, Thy word have I hid in my heart that I might not sin against thee. Thy word is a lamp to my feet, a light to my path. I esteem thy words concerning all things to be right. Order my steps, Lord, in thy word. I will always rejoice in thy word. This is coming from the heart of a man who's made a decision. I will not move. I will not make any decision. I will not go contrary to anything that is revealed in his word to me. Now, folks, I want you to know, I believe this with all my heart, just like most of you do, that America and the nation's world are racing toward hell, such flood of immorality. And I believe America is going down so fast because it has rejected his word. It has outlawed his word. His word has been pushed out of our schools. His word has become an object of mockery and derision. When I was called for jury duty last year, they take you into a room, twelve at a time, and they question you, and they're going to pick the jury. And I was flabbergasted and grieved when an attorney stood up and threw questions at the twelve of us. And first thing he said, he said, when you see somebody come and swear on the Bible, does that mean they're obligated to tell the truth? He said, no, doesn't mean anything. Doesn't mean anything. And it doesn't mean anything anymore. They swear to tell the truth, so help me God, they put their hands on this Bible, and it's just an exercise that means nothing to them. There's no respect, there's no honor in this nation. A Bronx school teacher, a Pentecostal woman, lost her job, was fired as a teacher because she displayed a Bible on her desk. He wasn't even reading it, displayed the Bible on her desk. She was fired. Now, she could have put a Playboy magazine there. No one said anything. She could have put the Koran there. She could have put a book on the occult and the witchcraft, and nobody would have lifted a voice. But because there's such a despising of God's word in this nation today, she was fired. Alabama, a Christian judge hung a plaque on the wall with the Ten Commandments, and it's been in a jury fight. It's against the law to display the Ten Commandments or anything else from the word of God on any wall in any government property. Evicted from our schools, pushed out of government, this word is despised and rejected by the political social systems of the United States. Absolutely despised. In 1986, the federal government gave legal recognition to witchcraft as a religion called Wicca. Wicca means neo-pagan, new paganism. New paganism is now recognized as a legitimate religion, and it's amazing that I can go to Russia and carry my Bible anywhere, and I could go into their Supreme Court with my Bible, and most people would say, you have one for me. And here in the United States, this book is despised and rejected and mocked. Now, you may not agree if you're here. You may not be a Christian, for example. You may not agree with many of us who preach and teach that God's going to judge this nation for its bloodshed, its 25 million babies that have created an ocean of blood, and the Bible very clearly says that God will judge bloodshed. He's going to send awesome judgment on bloodshed. You may not believe God's going to judge this nation for its immorality and for its mockery of church and religion, but I'll tell you one thing. The Bible makes it very, very clear that when a nation rejects his word, judgment is right at the door. I want you to go to Isaiah 30, and I'll prove it to you. Isaiah, the 30th chapter, please. The 30th chapter of Isaiah. I'm going to read from verses 9 through 14. This is absolute truth that God is going to judge in the United States of America very quickly and very soon, and it's going to be awesome. Verse 9, this is a rebellious people, lying children, children that will not, this is Isaiah 30, verse 9, children that will not hear, what's it say? Children will not hear the law of the Lord, which say to the seers that the prophets see not, and to the prophets prophesy not unto us right things, speak unto us smooth things, prophesy deceits. Get out of the way, turn aside out of the path, cause the Holy One of Israel to cease and be worse. We don't want anything to do with this. We want to hear nice smooth word. It's going to upset us. Folks, there are churches like that all over the country. I got a, I got a, in a letter, an ad, somebody sent me from a California newspaper, an ad for a church, and the ad says, this ain't your mama's church, 45 minutes limit to all meetings, come casual, football updates. Our goal is to make you happy. A 15 minute sermonette on human goodness. How biblical and scriptural literate will those people be? How are they going to measure anything and test anything by the word when they don't know the word. Verse 12, wherefore, thus saith the Holy One of Israel, because ye despise this word and trust in oppression and perverseness and stay there upon or trust in it. Therefore, this iniquity shall be to you as a breach, ready to fall the swelling out of a high wall. Could that be Wall Street? Who's breaking, cometh suddenly at an instant, and he shall break it as the breaking of the potter's vessel that is broken in pieces. He shall not spare so that there shall not be found in the bursting of it, assured to take fire from the hearth or to take water with all out of the pittance. I'm going to so smash it, there won't even be a little piece that you can pick up or drink a little piece, a little bit of water from it or pick up anything, even from a shred. For thus saith the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel, in returning rest, so ye be saved in a quietness. Confidence shall be your strength and easy, but he would not. You see, he said, you reject my word and you have crossed the line of judgment. That is when the mercy of God says enough. Beloved, there's not anybody in this church, I don't care whether you're a believer or not, there's no one in this church who can honestly tell me that this country, this nation, has not despised this book. They have despised, they have, it has been outlawed, and I wonder how soon it will be before the president no longer puts his hand on this Bible and the courts remove it out of that. It's an amazing thing, you can't have it in school and they still have it in the courtroom. Amazing. Folks, I don't care if the stock market goes to 5,000, I mean 50,000. I don't care if they say that this economic boom will never end. I know what the Bible said and I just read it to you. The Lord said you despise this book and there'll come a day when suddenly I'm going to smash you into shreds. We don't like to hear that kind of preaching, but that's the word. I'm not called here to preach smooth things to you, neither is Pastor Carter. He's past and we're here to tell you exactly what God says in his word. Isaiah said, all flesh is grass and all the goodliness of it is the flower of the field. The grass withers, the flower fades because the Lord blows on it and surely the people is grass, but the word of God shall stand forever. He said everything else is grass, it's all going to burn, it's all going to fade. This is the only thing that's going to last. Hallelujah. But folks, let me tell you, there's something far worse than a nation despising the word and that's a Christian or a child of God who lightly esteems it or ignores it. Did you hear me? Far worse than a nation despising the word as a believer or Christian, one who calls himself a Christian, who lightly esteems or ignores God's word and does not come under his government. That in the eyes of God is far worse and we see a horrible spectacle happening in America and around the world today as multitudes of Christians are Christians who don't read the Bible, they never crack the book, they don't read this book at all and these are Christians who sit in church and bored to death when there's a good message on sound doctrine. They're bored to death, they think it's a dead meeting because doctrine is being preached and they say, we don't want anything to do with doctrine. Well, that means you don't want any rudder on your ship, means you don't want a foundation under your house and your building on the sand. As long as we're in this pulpit, you will get sound doctrine. It's the only thing going to keep you in the windy turbulent times that are ahead of us. But we see a spectacle now, Christians running all over the world who won't read their Bible, who are bored with sound doctrine, trying to get a word from some celebrated prophet. Oh, you got to go and say, here brother so and so, he's such a great man of God and he told me things about my past nobody could know. He told me about my future, charismatic fortune killers, clairvoyance, under a spirit of divination. I'm going to give a sound or as loud as warning as I can from this pulpit this morning and this tape goes all over the world this morning after today and I want to know their multitudes of Christians that are falling under grave deception, horrible deception. They're deceived by the flattering words of false prophets are speaking out of their own hearts and minds and many through a spirit of divination. I believe there is a word of knowledge, but that word of knowledge will always take you to this book. It will always. It is the knowledge of the ways of God. It's the knowledge of the book. It's the knowledge of scripture. Now, here's the formula for deception and listen closely, please. You that come to Times Square Church, there should never, ever be a time that you get in a bus or train or any other kind of conveyance and you go off to some prophet, you go off to some meeting where you hear word from the Lord. If you're not willing to submit yourself to this book and take time and read it and study it, if you're not willing to sit in Times Square Church and come and bring your life and your body, all of your actions, all of your behavior and conform it to this book, you are going to be a candidate for deception. And I'm going to give it to you straight because I love you. There should not be one of you ever. This proves to me that you are not grounded. It means that you have not brought yourself under the government of this book. You would not be looking elsewhere because you would find an answer to everything you need from this book. You don't need to have a prophet or a prophetess lay hands on you. Somebody you don't know they could be an adulterer. They can be a fornicator. They can be a homosexual and they're going to lay hands on you and prophesy over you. And yes, they will tell you things that you don't know because it's a spirit of divination to deceive you. And here's the formula. This Christian harbors a secret sin, a habit, a lust that you won't deal with. You come under the loving word of the Lord. You've come under covenant preaching where the Lord says, if you come to me and ask the Holy Spirit, if you just take your sin, I will give you my fear. I'll give you all power and authority of your sin. But you want to coddle it. You want to play with it. You hide it in the bosom of your heart. You won't give up that that sin. And you've got some dreams that you've not brought under subjection, some fancy dream that you're going to be somebody great or do something great rather than to be faithful in God's house and pick up a broom if necessary. And so you're going to run off and you're going to hear a word. And that word false prophets always flatter. They always tell you 400 of them stood before Ahab. Ahab was going to his death. He was going to die in battle. And they say, God is with you. I give you a word from heaven. The spirit of the living God had told me you're going to come back victorious. The man went to his death. So this man who won't deal with his sin goes to some celebrated word speaker. And this word speaker prophesies about his past so can validate that he's a man of God, Pope, and that he's going to hear about his future. And he's told some wonderful, great thing about what he is or what he's going to do. And he goes home thrilled, telling everybody, I have heard from God. He doesn't go tested by the word of God because he's not being in the book. And he really doesn't care for the scriptures. He says he does, but he's not willing to bring his life under subjection to it. So this man is now under delusion. He believes a lot to be the truth. And this is going to lead him. He's totally deceived. And what he has been told will never happen. Got a letter this week from a man. He said, if I hear another prophet or anybody come up to me and say, I have a word for you, I'm going to vomit. He said, in the first place, I've got a hundred other words before him that have not come to pass that have to come to pass before I believe another. He said, brother David's getting ridiculous. It's getting out of hand. And you know what blows me away? To bump into some of our people here on the streets and not just tell me they've come back from so-and-so's crusader meeting and they've got a word from the Lord. You know what it tells me? You've been sitting here for months or years. And what we've been saying is going in one ear and out the other. And you've not been willing to submit. And nine times out of 10, there's something you're holding on to and won't let go. And you want somebody to tell you what agrees with what your mind has already attached itself to. And they're always going to agree. It always has to do with agreement with pride, covetousness, or sin. Listen to the word of the Lord. Thus saith the Lord God, every man that sets up an idol in his heart and puts the stumbling block of his nickety before his face. You know what they're saying? There's a stumbling block. There's a besetting sin. There's a habit. There's a lesson. He won't let go of it. And God has shown it to him. The word has shown it. It's right there in front of his eyes. No, it's not hidden. It's right in front of his eyes. And God's been saying, deal with it, deal with it, deal with it. I'll give you power if you just deal with it. And he comes to the prophet. I, the Lord, will answer him that cometh according to his idols, because they are estranged from me because of their idolatry. God said, if you come to a prophet, you come to somebody that is known to give words, and you come to them with sin in your heart, and you're not yielded, you're not under the government of the scripture. The Lord makes it very, very clear. I will speak to you as an idolater. In other words, he says, I'm going to take the voice of that person you go to, and I'm going to speak to your idolatry. I'm going to speak to you as one, as an idolater. And this is what the Bible said. It's amazing. I, the Lord, will answer you by myself. And if the prophet is deceived when he has spoken this thing, I, the Lord, have deceived that prophet, and the punishment of the prophet shall be even as the punishment of him that seeketh after him. Now, get that in your spirit. Most dangerous thing you can do is stand before a man or woman you don't know their lives. Do you know anything about that person you're going after? Do you know anything? In first Kings, the 22nd chapter, King Ahab asked the prophets for word. Listen to what the scripture says. A spirit stood before the Lord and said, I'll deceive Ahab. I will be a lying spirit in the mouth of all of his prophets. Behold, the Lord hath put a lying spirit in the mouth of all thy prophets, Jeremiah said. A lying spirit in the mouth of all the prophets. Can I go a little further? In 2 Thessalonians, don't turn there, Paul warns that in the last days God shall send strong delusion. God shall send them strong, not the devil, God shall send them strong delusion that they should believe a lie. What lie? He's talking about receiving the antichrist and recognizing the antichrist. A minister that I really respect, a man of God, a man of prayer, said to me recently, he said, Pastor David, he said, you know what I believe? I believe that there's such delusion in the charismatic movement, such foolishness, such craziness. People are being deceived by the left and by the right that the antichrist first admires. Those who receive him first are going to be deluded Christians. He said that may be the force that brings him to power. Deluded Christians who believe a lie. The lie we're speaking here is the antichrist lie, that the antichrist is the deliverer. Why? Why are they, why is God sending strong delusion? Because they received not the love of the truth. They received not the love of the truth. They didn't come under the government of the Word of God. I can take a hundred Christians in a room and play a video that sent to me, like one I received last week, the most bizarre manifestations I have ever seen. Bizarre. In fact, boarding on immoral, stupid, crazy, inane. And I can put a hundred Christians in a room and I can tell you within 10 minutes who those are that are under the government of the scripture, and those who have ignored and neglected this book. Because those Christians who are grounded and governed by the Word of God will start weeping. They'll shake their heads, oh my God, and they'll start walking in the room, I can't handle this. And they'll be, wonderful spirit of God, isn't that wonderful? It's happened to pastors all over the country, stuff that makes godly people weep. And they look at that saying, that's amazing, I'd like to see, oh if I could just get in on a meeting like that. You don't know your Bible. You don't know the book. You're not under the government of the scriptures. God help us. We've got a charismatic circus going on, and we've got Christians without discernment being deluded by the thousands. Tell you what it's driven me to. It's driven me to this book. It's driven me to get on my face before God every day and say, oh Lord, I'm going to bring my life into total conformity by the power of the Holy Ghost. This is going to rule and govern my life. It's not in the book. I reject it outright. I reject it. It's not in the book. Folks, something else I've decided. I will never again in my lifetime counsel anybody. I haven't been, but I'll never again. I will never counsel any married couple, not counsel anybody, until I can call them into my office and set them down and open my Bible in front of them saying, now before we speak a word, before we say anything, especially married couples that are on the brink of divorce. And they are, they've just about had it. The marriage has just about ended, but they tell me we don't want our marriage to end. And I bring them into my office and I say this, I lay it there and say, look, do you believe this is the final authority? Will you bring your thoughts, no matter what they are under conformity, will you change your mind according to what I read to you today in this room? Will you accept this as the truth? And not none of your feelings, nothing you've been told, nothing else stand in the way of you submitting to it. And if they can't honestly say, yes, I submit folks, I've had the joy of seeing married couples who whose marriage looked hopeless. And I've made this statement and I would, I would see the husband or the wife. Absolutely pastor. I will, I want my life. I believe the word. I'll submit to the scripture. And I know when that submission comes, when I'm reading peanut dinner towards your mate and that man or that woman's thinking of the bitterness they had lately. And I'll tell you, suddenly I see a tear in the eye and I read on. And as I keep reading scripture and that word, they hold up and be able to convict them. I've seen the handkerchiefs come out in my office. I've gone to the table there. I've got a big box of Kleenexes and I've seen, I've seen a whole box go. And just a few moments, the tears began to flow. And once at all, God, they begin to see. And I know the moment that there's a brokenness, there's a trembling at the word of God, that there's a healing taking place that that marriage is going to be saved. Sometimes I can see a husband breaker and, and, and put the wife will sit there or vice versa. You, the eyebrows go up and you can see him stubbornly digging in. And I know there'll be no hope because I'm not willing to submit to be governed by this book. To this man will I look even to him that is part of a contrite spirit who trembles at my word. And that word trembled means to shake and quake in Hebrew, to shake and quake at his word. Hear the word of the Lord, all ye that tremble at his word, and he shall appear to your joy. Hear and tremble. And God said, I'm going to bring joy into your life. Hallelujah. Once you go one last place with this, I close James, the first chapter, please. First chapter of James. If you get it, as soon as you get it, will you stand with me, please follow me? I'm reading from King James. Start verse 21. Wherefore, lay apart all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness, receive with meekness the engrafted word, which is able to save your souls. But be ye doers of the word and not hearers, only deceiving your own selves. He said, if you're not going to bring yourself under government, you open yourself to deception. Be ye doers of the word, not hearers, only deceiving your own selves. For if any man being here of the word and not a doer, he's like unto a man beholding his natural face in the glass, for he beholdeth himself and goeth his way the straight way, forget of what manner of man he was, but who so looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the word, what's it say? This man shall be blessed in his deed. Everything that he touches, God will bless, because he's a doer and not just a hearer of the word of God. Heavenly Father, I couldn't be a true shepherd if I didn't grieve over the sheep of this fold. We're still not submitted to the word to be governed by it. Lord, I pray that as we read this book now, as we read your scripture, help us, Lord, to dig in as never before. Lord, forgive those who have not been reading their Bibles diligently. Forgive those who are not studying this book. Lord, this is the only foundation, this is the only rudder for the ship of state, it's the only rudder for individual lives. God, this is the foundation, this is building on the rock. Everything else is building on the sand. Oh, God, for all any who are hearing me now who may be caught in a web of deception, they've been given a word by somebody and they've just been living, they stake their very lives on that word. They didn't stake their life on what the book says, they stake their life on what some man, a prophet or prophetess has said to them. God, you do have your genuine prophets. You do speak to your word. You speak to people. And Lord, I believe in your voice. We can't trust the sweetest frame, we can't trust our own voices, those inner voices, they have to be tested by this word. Oh, God, bring us under total authority, all of our behavior and all of our actions, everything we say and do under the authority of God's word we pray. Hallelujah. I'm going to ask musicians to come. Something the Holy Spirit is stirring in me, but I need us to sing one verse while I hear completely what he's saying. Just be still for a few moments, just sing this with us for a moment. I know now what he was trying to say to my heart, because some of you hearing the message may have a fear in your heart. Well, brother Dave, I don't want to be deceived. Could I be deceived? Folks, when you have this hunger and thirst for his word, you stay on your face before him and seek him with all of your heart. The scripture says the Lord then shall preserve thee from all evil. He shall preserve thy soul. The Lord shall preserve thy going out by coming in from this time forth and even forever. You don't have to ever worry about deception. You will not be deceived by prayerfully seeking the word of God, feasting in this coming to the house of God with an open heart and say, Lord, if I hear a message today dealing with my sin, I want to come and lay it down and I want to trust the Holy Spirit to clean my life up. God's looking for sanctified bride, a pure and holy bride. But I assure you, God is giving you talking about. This is where the word of knowledge comes. This is the true word of God. If God's going to speak anything to you through a man's voice, it'll be through his word and hear it again. The Lord shall preserve thee from all evil, all evil, shall preserve thy soul. The Lord shall preserve thy going out by coming in from this time forth, even forevermore, as long as you live until Jesus comes or till you die. God, I'm going to keep you. I'm going to preserve you from the wicked one. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Now I'm going to give an invitation upstairs, downstairs and in the annex. Those in the annex, if you feel moved on by the Holy Spirit, as I give an invitation, I want you to just step forward, not blocking the screen, but the size of the screen, if you will. We have a pastor there. We'll take you into a room. I'll minister to you first, and then others will come to minister to you in room 206, I believe it is. But here in the main floor, I'm going to open these altars now. We do in every service. There's hardly ever been a service in this church without people being saved and getting right with God. I'm going to ask you right now, if the Spirit of God is speaking to you, that's all I'm going to say. I don't have any other invitations other than the Spirit of God speaking to you through my message today. You say, Brother Wilson, something was said in this service this morning is meant for me. I receive it. It could be. It could be having to do with the neglect of the word of God. I don't know whatever it is that God speaks into your heart. Now, if you're not if you're not saved, this is the time to come. But I'm not going to give any other than this invitation. I open it here. I'm here to pray with you. I'm here to take authority with you of all the powers of darkness that are pressing in on your life. Up in the balcony, go the stairs on either side and here in the main floor, just come down any aisle and in the annex, just step forward, if you will, please. And I'm going to pray. I believe God right now. I believe God now that your life be touched and changed before you walk out of this church. Don't walk out here today without being changed. This is a wonderful time. The Holy Ghost is here. He wants to make. We don't just try to look for numbers. We're not trying to build up the numbers, but we do want to minister to you and believe the Lord for total deliverance in your life. Come as the spirit draws you upon the Lord in distress. The Lord answered me and set me in a large place. The Lord is on my side. I will not fear what command do unto me. It's better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in man. Better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in princes. Trusting in the Lord means trusting in this book. Hallelujah. Oh, folks, he said to them that love is where fall in love with his word. Fall in love. Get it. There's some prominent place in your house to say, oh, God, convict me and help me and remind me to go to the word of the Lord. You say, well, I pray every day. That's not enough. This is what gives you the faith to pray. Faith comes by hearing and hearing by this word right here. Will you pray? I'm going to pray right now. I'm going to pray for you first, and then I'm going to ask you to pray with me. Now, Heavenly Father, I bring all of these that have come to you and to bring this whole audience to you. Jesus, we come to submit ourselves to your word to be governed by you. Lord, the governments of this world are crumbling. The governments of this world are turning against you. The governments of this world have despised your word, but we come to honor your word here this morning. We honor your folks. Just lift your hands and I want to say it. Lord, we honor your word. We honor your word. Put a love in my heart for your word, Jesus. Forgive me for neglecting your word, Lord Jesus. Establish me in your word, O God. Establish me in the word. Establish me in the scriptures, O God, that I will not be tossed by every wind and wave of doctrine, that I'll never be under deception. I'll never be deluded. I will never turn to the Antichrist because I will be so grounded in the word of God. I will recognize all that is evil. Glory be to God. Now, Lord, we take your authority over all principality and power of darkness. Every evil thing that comes against the children of God, against their minds, against their homes, against their hearts. Lord, you said you'll be a wall of fire around about us and the glory therein. You said, I will keep you. I will hold you in the palm of my hand. Lord, we take that authority now for everyone in this house, especially these that have come forward. This is the conclusion of the message.