In this sermon, the speaker reflects on his experience growing up during the Great Depression and the lessons he learned about relying on God during times of trouble. He references Isaiah 26:20, which speaks of God punishing the world for its iniquity and instructs His people to hide themselves until the storm of God's judgment passes. The speaker emphasizes the importance of prayer and seeking God's provision, sharing a personal story of how God miraculously provided for his secretary's mother during the depression. He concludes by urging listeners to turn to God in prayer and trust in His faithfulness during uncertain times.

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 WORLDCHALLENGE PO BOX 260 LINDALE, TEXAS 75771 or calling 903-963-8626. None of these messages are copyrighted, and you are welcome to make copies for free distribution to friends. God is good, isn't he? Most of you know that I have been preaching, and I've written a book about America's last call on the brink of a financial holocaust. And I've had so many people, even ministers, write and say, I couldn't read it in one sitting. I had to read a couple chapters, three chapters, four chapters, five, and close the book and pray because it scared me. I want you to know something. I am what is called a depression baby. Not that I was born depressed, but I was born in the middle of the depression of the 1930s. Massive unemployment, the nation was in a terrible financial crisis, and I was born in the middle of that. And as you can see, I survived. I'm here, I'm in the ministry today, and my parents had no problem having a baby in the middle of the depression because they had confidence in God. They had trust in Him. They never moved in fear. They heard these reports. Yes, they went two or three days sometimes without a good meal, but God always provided. Someone always knocked on the door. There was a bushel of apples. There was something God always provided miraculously for the whole body of Christ during that time. And He'll do the same. But I agree with the Puritan writers who said, any messenger or watchman who delivers the warnings and threats of God must also deliver his promises to keep the righteous when the storm comes. I believe that with all of my heart. So I'm now in the middle of another book on how God is going to keep His saints during the coming storm. I want to speak to you along that line this morning. Protection in the coming storm. Protection in the coming storm. Heavenly Father, I'm so glad that we're on the rock. I'm so glad that we don't have to fear as God's people anything that comes upon this earth. Lord, I pray that You lift up our spirits today. We pray that You move mightily upon us. I take Your authority over every prince of power and power of darkness. Anything, O Lord, that would try to hinder the flow of the Holy Spirit. Lord, give me freedom to preach this word as You gave it to me. Let everyone who hears it be encouraged by the living word of God that gives hope and strength in hard times. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen. Our God is a loving, tender-hearted, long-suffering, slow to anger God. And judging nations and sending storms on society is not His good work. It's a hard work. He calls it His strange work. God said, As I live, sayeth the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked should turn from their evil ways and live. So turn ye, why will you die? That's always been God's message. That's His heart. God says, I don't take any pleasure in doing this. I get no pleasure whatsoever. I'm doing this in hopes that people will turn. I've tried everything possible. I've done everything. I've sent pestilences. I've allowed all kinds of physical warnings. I have warned secularly. I've warned spiritually. I've sent prophets, and people don't want to hear. So God says, I'm going to let this storm lash the land, lash the nation, hoping against hope that the wicked will turn from their wicked ways. Turn, and His cry is, Why will you die? Why will you suffer when there is such a provision made for you that you don't have to? Now, I can't find anywhere in my Bible, I can't find a single instance of God judging a people or sending a storm upon a nation without first warning. And along with the warning, He's always made provision a place of safety for anyone who would honor His word and believe His prophets and watchmen. In fact, don't turn there now, but Exodus 9. This was when Moses stood before Pharaoh and said, God is going to judge the land. And God told Moses, in fact, Moses is a prophet. His own words said, God will raise up a prophet to you in the last days, like unto me. He acknowledged himself as a prophet. So Moses was a prophet, and he stood before Pharaoh and all of the government leaders of Egypt and all the people, the couriers, carried this warning all through the land. I don't know if it happened a week or two weeks after he announced it, but there had to be time for the whole nation to hear it. There was a warning went out that God was going to send a grievous hailstorm such as the nation had never witnessed. I will cause it to rain, God said, a very grievous hail such as has not been in all of Egypt's history. When God says the storm is going to be grievous, you can better believe it will be. He said it's going to be something that has never been experienced before. And this was a manifestation of God's grace, of mercy. He could have just said it because of the sin and idolatry and hardness of heart. But in spite of their hardness of heart and idolatry and rejection of his word, he said, I will make a provision for you. I will make it possible that you don't have to lose your cattle, you don't have to lose your servants, you don't have to lose your children, your family. They're safe. The scripture says, God said, gather your cattle, all your animals, all your servants, your children, who flee into your houses, get under a roof. In other words, take cover. And those who feared the Lord, scripture says, made his servants and his cattle to flee into the houses. And he that regarded not the word of the Lord left his servants and his cattle out in the fields. And the hell smoked all that was in the fields, both man and beast. All they had to do was honor the word of God. All they had to believe was the word of the prophets and the watchmen, that the storm was coming. Now, folks, God doesn't send prophets on wild goose chases. He doesn't send watchmen to stand on the wall and warn and then let their words fall to the ground. God said, I'm going to send a storm, and he sent a storm. He sent a raging storm. And this nation is getting the same kind of warning that Moses gave to Egypt. A grievous storm is coming, an incredible storm such as the nation has never seen. It means it's beyond the depression of 1930s. It's something that's never been seen before that changes the American lifestyle forever, that it'll never be the same again. Now, folks, these things are coming, and God doesn't give these warnings. As I told you, we're getting close to a million people on the mailing list, and I asked last month, I said, if you believe what I'm saying and God's saying something to you, would you write to me? And, folks, I'll tell you, in just one week, we got 40,000 letters in one week, two weeks ago. And my wife and I are reading these letters, and almost without fail, praying Christians from all over this country saying, Brother David, the Lord's saying the same thing to us. Get ready for a storm. Get ready. Everyone, there has not been one single word of dissent because every praying pastor, evangelist, praying people from all over the United States and from other countries are saying, in fact, they're saying we're on the web to other nations, and we're hearing the same thing, praying people and prophets and watchmen from all over the world. They're saying America's about to go into a storm, just like our country from Indonesia, Asia, Japan, Russia, and all around the world, because there's a shaking going in the world now, already underway. This nation is going to face a storm such as it's never seen. Now, I want to prove to you from the Scriptures that once again, in our time, God has made provision for your safety and mine, for your children and everything that involves your life. There is a place of safety. Now, for the mockers and the scoffers and those who do not want to heed the word of God, there's no hope. They are going to suffer. Believe me, they're going to suffer. And the Lord sent thunder and hail, and the fire ran along upon the ground, so there was fire mingled with hail, very grievous, just as God said it would be, such as there never was like in all the land of Egypt since it had become a nation. There had never been of all of the sufferings. Now, those who laughed at the prophet Moses and those who paid no heed to the warnings, those who didn't flee to their house, when they saw the first sign, they fled to their house, they gathered their cattle, even, into their houses, into barns, into shelters. They gathered them into the house. And the hail came, and the thunder and the lightning, and fire ran along the ground, consumed everything in sight, the trees and the ground and fence posts. Everything was destroyed. There was a desolation such as the nation had ever seen. But those who heard the word of the prophets and watchmen, those who heard the sound and obeyed and honored the word of God, they fled to their houses, and they were safe. While everybody around them had lost everything, they came after the storm was over, they came out, still in possession of their cattle, still in possession of their servants, still the whole family safe under that roof. I want to show you from the Scripture that God has made us the very same promises. Those who hardened their hearts were given over to what I call, what is known as a judicial blindness. It's a judgment upon those who hardened their hearts, who mocked the word of God. I told in one of the previous services of a senator, I told a friend of mine, he's a U.S. senator, and my friend who just read my book, and he told the senator about it, he said, well, I believe that. And my friend asked him, well, what about Congress right now? What about the Y2K problem? Y2K, Y stands for year 2000. The year 2000, January 1st, all mainline computers in the United States shut down. They can't compute beyond the year 1999, and when it turns to 2000, it's going to wipe out all kinds of records. They tell you don't fly because there are no government agencies, not the FAA, none that are compliant with all of their computers. Isn't it amazing a nation who boasted made its idol out of technology is going to be flattened by technology problems? Our idol is coming down, our golden idol. Maybe you haven't heard of the Y2K problem. I'm not going to get into that and scare the life out of you. They even contemplate that here at New Year's Eve, when they have their celebration, they expect 3 million people here in Times Square. Our street right outside here is going to be blocked up. There will be people here that can't even see. The whole place is going to be filled. But because the electric companies are not compliant, the grids could shut down and the whole city could go dark. I don't want to be anywhere near it. I'm going to be in my house. I'm going to tell you what kind of house it is in just a moment. But you know, Congress sits there. I'm telling you now, and I believe I have every word of the Lord to back me up. The President of the United States, all the senators, all the congressmen, all our politicians have been judicially blinded by God, except for a few believers who believe the word of God and fear the word of the Lord because this senator said to my friend, he said, they have no idea what's going on in the world. They have no sense of fear. They have no sense that anything can happen to this nation. Congress, the President and Executive Branch is not prepared for any disaster. The United States, a group of psychologists just did a national study, a psychological study revealed that majority of Americans have what they call psychological denial, that the majority of Americans are unwilling to believe that any loss or financial disaster could ever happen to this nation. The majority, they even have a term for it now, psychological denial, having to do with their wealth and with the things that are coming. Isaiah the prophet spoke of a people just like that, just before God sent judgment, a people with pride, insolence, self-confidence, a people who had no more fear of God, a people who jettisoned the belief in hell, that there was no accounting, that you don't have to stand before God. There's no judgment day, no hell, and no fear of God in the land. The people convinced themselves in Isaiah's time that they had accumulated enough money, they had enough resources, and they were smart enough, they had enough agreements and covenants with other nations to protect them, and they had hiding places, the scripture said, they had hiding places that they were going to hide when the storm came. Isaiah had a shocking message for these. He said, wherefore, hear the word of the Lord, you scornful, because you've said we have a covenant of death. In other words, we have no more fear of death, no fear of meeting God or having to give an account of our lives. And with hell, we've made an agreement. We've agreed there's no hell. When the overflowing scourge shall pass through the land, it shall not come near to us, for we have made lies our refuge, and under falsehood we have made hiding places for ourselves. It's amazing. It's just like today. Have you been listening to this conglomeration, this huge merger, $48 billion merger of AT&T and telecommunications, the largest merger in the history of the world, $48 billion to have one of the largest telecom giants in the whole world. But you know what shocked me? I couldn't believe it. The New York Times, one of the executives of this new merger said, our whole plan is that we become so big we can't fall. He said, we've reached the point we cannot fall. It's in all your papers. Look at all the bank mergers now. People are wondering why. And another bank, a huge bank here, along with Chase Manhattan, same thing, executive says, we are now too big to fail. What's the Bible say? When pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall. We're too big. That's what many people think about America. We're too rich. We're too big. Our armies are too mighty. We can't fall. I hear that everywhere I go. You hear it from politicians. You hear it. Doesn't matter whether Japan falls. Doesn't matter whether Russia falls. Let all of Asia go. We're too strong. No fear of God in the land anymore. No fear of hell. No fear of having to stand before God and answer for all the manipulation. Everywhere you go, people say, I've got mine. I've got it made. I have a nice place to hide. I've got a mountain retreat. When the cities are burning, I'm going to be living like a king somewhere in Colorado. I'll be in Montana. I'll be up in Vermont. I'll be hidden away. I've got a place. I've got a hiding place. I've got all the money in the bank I need. I'll ride out any storm. Isaiah said, and the hell shall sweep away all your refuge of lives. And the water shall flow into your hiding places. And your covenant with death shall be canceled. Your agreement with hell shall not stand up. And when the overflowing storm comes and passes through, then you shall be trodden down by it. God said there's not going to be a hiding place anywhere for the unbeliever. There'll be no hiding places for the proud and the arrogant who Mark marched. We've got a quarter million people marching today in gay pride. Up our streets in Fifth Avenue. Heading it will be two men who've adopted two babies, two children, and have been legally married in New Jersey last month. Leading the parade. We have no argument with homosexuals. We say their lifestyle is a sin. That it's a grief to God. We love the homosexuals. We preach grace to them. And we preach that they can be delivered from the sin. But when they march down the street on Fifth Avenue and say, Jesus is gay. When they have signs, Christ get out of our face. And all the angels of heaven blush. You can know the storm is at the door. The Bible states very clearly that when the storm hits, multitudes will flee to what they believe is a place of safety. They'll say, it shall not come near us. We have hid ourselves. We are invincible. Isaiah warned from the time it goes forth. That's when the storm begins. It shall take you from morning by morning. Shall it pass over you? It shall be vexation simply to understand what it means. What he's saying, it's going to be sheer terror to just understand. It's finally going to dawn on you. He's saying to all the rich who have mocked and ridiculed and to all those who have just taken and taken. Who have been absolutely full of greed. You know that I was listening to the radio yesterday and there were some experts on the radio warning America. And he said, stop this insanity. He said, you're borrowing money on your houses to play the stock market. He said, you're gambling. He said, it's insanity. They were almost screaming. I heard one expert almost scream. He said, this is stupidity. You're going to lose your home. You're going to lose it all because of your greed. And one of these days, folks, when the storm comes, he said, there's going to be such bad news. Morning, night, and noon. And finally it's going to dawn on you that it's going to be sheer terror just to realize what is happening. It's too late for you. It's going to be sheer terror. The prophet Isaiah, then in the middle of all of this, delivered a message of hope. I want you to go to Isaiah 28 and you'll see what I'm talking about. Isaiah, the 28th chapter. Amen. Are you about ready for some good news? Now, if you'll notice in verse 15, there you have what the wicked are saying. We have a covenant with death and with hell. We are in agreement. The overflowing scourge of pastorate will not come to us. And God, the prophet, the prophet is stopped by the Holy Spirit right in the middle of it and says, no, wait a minute. You're looking for a hiding place. You say you have your hiding place. You've got your money in the bank and you're all ready. But he said, I'm telling you, it's all coming down. It's a false security. Your rock is going to fail. It's going to be slithered into pieces. And the storm is going to overrule you and trod you down. But then he stops as if to say, wait a minute. I can't go another step till I tell the saints what I'm going to do for them. I'm just going to stop. The prophet is stopped by the Holy Ghost right in the middle of this message of judgment. And look at verse 16. Therefore, thus saith the Lord God, behold, this is for Zion. How many are in Zion here today? We are in the new Jerusalem. We are children of Zion. This is for you. It's for me. Therefore, thus saith the Lord God, behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation, a stone, a tried stone, a precious cornerstone, a sure foundation. He that believeth shall not make haste. And then the Hebrew says, will not ever be disturbed. If you're on the rock, you cannot be disturbed no matter what the news may be. I'll tell you, folks, I don't trust Social Security because that's not a sure foundation. They're telling us that could blow. I don't trust the IRS. That can go. I don't believe in retirement funds. Now, thank God for them. I have retirement funds, but those could fail. That's not a tried stone. I don't trust U.S. government bonds, not T-bills. That is not a precious stone. That's not a tested, tried stone. It's going to be tested, believe me. We don't even know if it's going to stand. We don't even know if our government will survive what is coming. We'd have no way of knowing because there could be, we may be so close to the coming of the Lord that this be the storm that brings such chaos to the whole world that out of that chaos comes the beast and the Antichrist and the mark of the beast. We may be right on the brink of the coming of the Lord. I believe we are. I believe Jesus is right there. Folks, as a Christian, you can't believe in technology. You can't believe in education or science or medicine or the armed forces of the United States. Apostle Paul said, our rock is Christ. Our rock is Christ. The Lord is my rock, David said, my fortress and my deliverer. David said, for in the time of trouble, he's going to hide me in his pavilion. That's his house. In the secret of his tabernacle, shall he hide me? He's going to set me upon a rock. Psalm 31, 2. God be my strong rock and a house of defense to save me in time of trouble. David here speaks about a house of defense. I told you when I started this message that God provided a defense against the storm. Flee to your house, flee to your house. David said, Psalm 31, 2, be my strong rock and my house of defense to save me. He's talking about trouble, the storm. Be a house, be a place of refuge. Flee to the house. Now, this house, where is it? It's not out there somewhere. It's not in Montana or Wyoming or Vermont. It's sure not in Texas. I'm not nothing against Texas. My offices are there. My son lives there, so I'm nothing against Texas. I'm just telling you, it's not anywhere you can run and hide to physically. You can't get there. You can't get there by train or plane or bus. You can't get there by car. You get there on your knees. You get there on your knees. Isaiah, turn back to 26. Isaiah 26. I'll tell you what, that whole chapter of 26 is about God punishing the world in time of trouble. Look at verse 20. What's the word of the Lord? Verse 20. Isaiah 26, verse 20. Come, my people, enter into thy chambers and shut the doors above thee. Hide thyself, as it were, for a little while until the indignation of the storm be overpassed. For behold, the Lord cometh out of his place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity. The earth also shall discover her blood. The Lord said, I'm going to judge for the shedding of innocent blood. The innocent blood shall no more cover her slain. Folks, the time has come that all the innocent blood that's fallen into the ground has cried out, and God has heard the cry. He's heard the cry. And now comes the judgment. He said, now, children, come on now. I told you there's a place. He says, I want you to come now and hide yourself in thy chambers. And in the Hebrews, in your inner rooms, go into your inner rooms. Now, that doesn't sound like Matthew six, six. But now, when you pray into your closet and in Greek, it's in a room, the same meaning. And when that was shut the door, pray to the father, which is in secret. My father would see it in secret. So he wore the opening. Now, this is both the New Testament and Old Testament truth. When you're in trouble, when you face hopeless situation and everything is against you, it even looks like you're staring death in the face. You enter into your inner room and you shut the door and you pray to the father in secret. This is exactly what the prophet Elijah did when he faced the dead son of a woman. He went in, therefore, and shut the door upon the boat and prayed unto the Lord. This prophet knew what you and I need to learn. That the only way to a storm, the only thing to hopeless situations and trials is to shut the door and get a hold of God. Get to know his ways, get to trust him and build up your faith in him through his word and through prayer. There is a place of safety and that is your secret closet. That is a place of prayer. I listen to my barber sitting here. My secretary been with us over 25 years. Her mother's 90, 90, 91. And my wife and I were down there a few months, not too many weeks ago. And we visited her. She's dry. She began to tell us how the Lord saw her and her husband pastoring and children, how the Lord kept them through the depression and her face. Disagreeable. She said, but it was one miracle after another. It was glorious. The fellowship, the anointing of the Holy Ghost. We were not afraid. This is the end of side one. She said, when we had a need, we just pray. And God would send people to the door with groceries. God would help my husband to find things. He said it was a miracle how God provided. But we were on our knees. We were shut in with God. Everybody prayed. God's going to keep a praying people. Watch and pray lest you enter into temptation. In other words. Be careful, folks. I have people ask me, well, if this is all going to happen, young couples say, I'm afraid to have a baby. I don't want to say what about I had somebody call me recent California, young couple, friends of ours. They said we were scared to death. We wanted to buy a house and we have the money, the down payment. And now we're scared. I said, look, get on your face. Get along with God. The same God who speaks and leads me is going to speak and lead you. You don't need to run to somebody. You run your secret closet. That's your place of safety. Go to God and pray and seek his face. So don't go by fear. Best advice. I'm not going to give any economic advice to anybody. But the best advice I can do is say this. You can be safe if you don't go in debt. Stay out of debt. Doesn't mean you work and walk in fear, but some things you think you need, you may not need. Now, when you go into the secret closet, you shut the door. Be careful how you pray. There's a kind of praying that God will accept from sinners, but he won't accept it from his children. In fact, there's a kind of praying that truly displeases the Lord. I'm reading to you from Psalms 80, verse four. How long will you be angry against the prayer of thy people? God was angry at the prayers that went up, voiced in the 80th chapter of Psalm. And if you read the chapter, you hear them talk about, Lord, you've given us tears, strife. You've uprooted us. You've broken down our hedges. I see nothing but devouring fire. I feel nothing but your rebuke. And God was displeased with the despondent people coming to him with a defeated attitude. Did you hear me? God does not want us to come into his presence sniveling. He doesn't want us to come into his presence with a defeatist attitude as beggars. In so many ways, they were saying, Lord, we're in terrible times. We're desolated. We're cast down. We've been rebuked and we do nothing but suffer. We see nothing but suffering ahead. Lord, where's your smile? We want your smile back. We've lived for years with your smile. Now we seem to see nothing but your frown. And God was, the scripture says, was angry against the prayer of the people. God really spoke this clear to me. Let me share a confession, confession time. I had been praying for probably two weeks. Going to the Lord with what I thought was humility and brokenness and tears and crying and weeping. And my prayer went something like this. In fact, I was going to him baffled and bewildered about some of the things he's doing in my life and how he was, I thought, withholding the kind of revelation that I so hungered and thirsted for. And I would pray something like this. Lord, I don't feel like I'm growing in knowledge like I ought to. My spiritual eyes seem so dim and my ears seem so dull and my heart seems so thick. And I've been listening to tapes people, young preachers have been sending to me from all over. And I was listening to a little country preacher from Alabama. I mean, pure country. And this kid preached revelation and I fell on my knees and said, God, even the country kid from Alabama is passing me up. Lord, I hear such revelation now and I've been telling you all these years. Lord, is there secret sin or something? Lord, I know nothing in my life that could hinder. Why am I not getting the revelation that I want? And I said, God, please. And I would weep and cry in his presence. And I felt I said, Lord, I feel so inadequate and spiritually ignorant and I'm so far behind in knowing your ways. And I just went on and on. And suddenly the Holy Ghost stopped me and said I was on my face in the in the room and weeping and crying. And I said, Get up there. Stand up. And I don't hear audible voice, but that's still a small voice that, you know, is God. And God clearly kind of said, David, quit whimpering in my presence. And he said, I want to show you what you're doing. I want to show you how displeasing what you're doing is to me. And Christian, I want you to hear this because I have the mind of God. And this is where many of us have failed God. Because if you're going to go to prayer in the days ahead and say, I'm going to trust you to keep me, my family. I'm going to trust you to put a roof over my head and food on my table. Then you'd better come in faith. You better come remembering all that he's done for you in the past. And here's I wrote down. I wrote down what the Lord told me. He said, David, you're praying like this brings me no pleasure. You're totally forgetting all that I've done for you in the past years. You don't realize it. But when you tell me that your eyes are dim, your eyes are your ears are dull. Your heart seems thick. You're not expressing to humility. You're discrediting all my good work of my past in you. You're saying that I ignored all your prayers, that the Holy Spirit in you stood by and never anointed the word that was in you and through you and that you heard. You're saying to me that all the words that you heard and preach went right through you without changing you by the Holy Ghost. You're saying that in the face of all of your sincere crying, all of your hungering and thirsting, all of your readiness to obey me and hear the word. You're saying, in essence, that it has left you a stunted, ignorant, blind, stupid, spiritual idiot. God said, I won't accept it. You're not honoring what I've already done in you. You're discrediting the work that I've done in you. God says, I will not have it if you don't realize what I've done in you. I have changed you from glory to glory. My word has been in your mouth. Thousands have been saved and converted, and you're discrediting it. Don't sit here sniveling anymore. He said it lovingly but firmly. He said, you come to me with thanksgiving for all I've done in your life. Some of you are hearing me now. You say, oh God, everybody's passing me by. I'm not learning. I'm ignorant. I'm inadequate. Stop it. Stop it right here now. You don't know it, but God's been changing you. You're not a drug addict anymore. You're not an alcoholic. You've been saved by the blood. You're growing in Christ. Give him praise. How must the Lord feel when we come to him begging to meet and supply all our future needs, when we don't thank him for all the storms he's brought us through and the victories we've already won? So if you're going to be kept in this coming storm, come with thanksgiving. Say, God, you've kept me all the years. If you could deliver me from my sins, you can deliver my table. Hallelujah. I tell you what, if God can pay your sin bill, he can pay your electric bill. Can I bring it closer home? Another confession. Somebody told me I shouldn't do this, but I think preachers who stand and act like they're supermen are foolish. We're all flesh and blood. Years ago, when I was in my 20s, I pastored a little town in Pennsylvania, Phillipsburg, and God began to bless the church. It's way up on the hill, just a little town, but hundreds would come in. I went on television way back when I was in my 20s, about 26 years old. I weighed 115 pounds, skin and bone, but all fire. I was on fire for God, and I went on television. Oral Roberts and I was the only other one on television way back then. I was only on one station. I'm sorry, on three stations. And in those days, I had the church all lighted, and it was a country choir, about 40 people. And do you know who the choir leader was? Me. I know almost nothing about music. Hardly anybody could sing in that choir. My wife is not an accomplished pianist, but she did her best at the piano. She'll acknowledge that. She really tried hard. And in those days, they didn't have the video. You filmed it in 16 millimeter, and then you transferred it to tape. This is out of Altoona, Pennsylvania. And so we did that for a couple years, and that church preserved a lot of those films. I didn't preserve any because I don't know why, but the church preserved it. Twenty-five years later, my wife and I went to a homecoming, and they had a surprise for us. They were going to show some of those old tapes. And they got the screen up, and my wife and I were sitting there, and they had rounded up most of the people that were still living who were in that choir. And they were all there, even though some of them had moved on. They were all there. And as soon as that came on, and I opened that. I had bad—my eyes were worse then than they are now. And I was reading my script. I started to laugh hysterically. And I was looking at the people and said, Look at those hairdos! Look at those hairdos! The choir started to sing, and I'm up there making these crazy sounds. Look. I almost fell off the chair. I said, Oh, how silly! Stupid! Then the choir started singing, and I was hysterical. And there's Gwen playing the piano. And suddenly, I was the only one laughing. My wife wasn't laughing. I said, Uh-oh. And Gwen turned to me and said, David, it's not funny. She said, You're laughing at my hairdo and at my piano playing? But I want you to know, I was blessed with that. And I have good memories of that. And you're laughing at people. And we have one of those precious memories. Those people tried. They loved God. And to them, they're being blessed. There were tears in their eyes because they were remembering the blessing of God. She said, David, you're mocking your own preaching. You're discrediting everything God did for you. You're discrediting it. And I'll tell you, I wanted to crawl out of that room. Halfway during my preaching, just after I'd stopped laughing, the film broke. Now, I think they did it purposely. But honestly, I felt the guy did it because he was so grieved that the film broke and they couldn't fix it. And I'll tell you, I didn't know what to say. But I still remember it. You see, I was discrediting. In fact, I remember now when she told me that, I remember that sermon that I was laughing at. It was about the two mites, the widow's two mites. And I remember the anointing I had. It was a powerful anointing. That message had reached thousands. Yes, I was skinny. My ears stuck out in the hairdo. But I was mocking a fresh anointing that I had years ago. And folks, I'd put down the work of God. And boy, if you don't remember anything else, this is what I'm telling you. Here's the scripture says, Just take heed to thyself and keep your soul diligent unless you forget the things which thine eyes have seen, unless they depart from your heart all the days of your life. Don't discredit what I've done. Don't forget the victories in the past. Be careful how you pray. You come to me with faith and thanksgiving. I've seen you through the past. I'm going to see you through the future. I'm going to see you no matter what happens. I tell you, folks, if the government of the United States falls, if there's martial law declared, if the cities are aflame, I tell you now that as God's children on the rock, you and I have nothing to fear but fear itself. You have nothing to fear. If you just do this, I'm going to close. Just think of where you're sitting right now. You're sitting in Times Square Church, but this church is on a planet called Earth, and this planet Earth is spinning on its axis around and round on nothing. It's in space, hanging on nothing, and that axis doesn't move. If it moved just a fraction, this whole world would be in weather chaos. It would destroy this Earth. Can you imagine? You go out on the beach where there's starry night, and you look at the Milky Way, and you look at all the stars, and remember that Jesus on the same kind of a night looked at the same Milky Way. He saw the same stars in their space. They didn't move. They're still there, moving in their orbits. God has planned it all, and a God who can keep all of the solar system in its orbit moving, who numbers every hair on our head, don't accuse Him of ever not thinking about you, no matter how bad the storm gets. Hallelujah. God is on the throne. Let's stand, please. God is on the throne. God has everything under control. Hallelujah. Cast out your fear, saints. Do you hear me? In the annex, wherever you're at, cast out that fear, because fear has torment. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, You have made provision in the coming storm to protect Your children. We run to the inner room. We run into the house, to the inner chamber, and we shut the door, and we pray to our Father. He said, Come and hide yourself on the rock until the storm passes over. Lord, this storm will pass over. It will. It will pass over. And, Lord, we don't know when You're coming, but we're not looking to escape. We're looking just to be able to stand on a rock no matter what happens. Lord, there are people saying that we're going to be raptured out of all of this, but there may be a time of suffering. We may go through some great suffering before this is all over. Lord, we're not trying to live high and then say, God, just take us out so we never have to suffer. Lord, we thank You that in our suffering You become more precious than in our good times. Hallelujah. You're going to see Your people through. Wonderful Jesus. Lord, I'm asking You to comfort the hearts of Your children. Lord, I'm asking You to give me a whole series of messages that we can bring to the nation of hope and steadfastness in the Lord in trying, shaking times. Lord, these things are right at the door, but we thank You there's someone else at the door. That's Jesus knocking saying, Just open and I'll come in. Hallelujah. You said our rock is not like their rock. Their rock is going to collapse, but our rock is not going to collapse. It's going to stand the test. A tried stone, a tested stone, a precious stone is our Jesus. Would you just raise your hands and love Him for a moment right now? Just love Him, love Him. Would you hold steady for just a moment while we sing a chorus? I'm waiting on the Lord for just a moment for a word. I have a word for you in just a moment, but let's just sing together in His presence. Upstairs here in the annex, let me talk to you for just a moment because I'm positive I have the mind of the Holy Spirit now about the invitation I'm to give to you. I'm not going to talk to you about fear because you can take that to the Lord and get along with God and deal with that. I'm talking to those that God has dealt with by His Spirit time and time again. He's dealt with you saying, The time has come for you to get serious about me. It's time to lay down everything in your life that hinders your communion with Jesus. And some of you are not in close communion with the Lord. You can't come honestly and boldly into the presence of the Lord because you're condemned by something that's laid hold of your life. I'm speaking in the Spirit now. There's some of you that need to walk down this aisle now and come here. Nobody needs to know why you come. But God's been dealing, the Holy Spirit's been dealing with you. And before you go into this judicial blindness, we could pardon your heart. I want you to get out of your seat. Those that are in the annex, just go to the exit. Go to the back, down the hall. And ushers will show you how to get into this building and come right down any aisle and come and meet me right here. You can meet me right here at the front. In the balcony, go to the stairs on either side. There are visitors here. There are others that are here that have been here before, but God's dealing with you. He's saying, Don't you dare walk out the way you came. You get some things settled with God now. You get it settled because the Holy Spirit's really dealing with you. He's been dealing with you for a while. Some of you have been running from God. Some of you just lost the anointing. You've lost something in God. Your heart's grown cold toward the Lord. You're not on fire. You sat here in the service and you felt the presence of the Lord, but now God's saying, Come on home. Come on back to your first love. So if you will just get out of your seat right now and move like these that are coming right now. Join these that are coming. No one else except those the Holy Spirit's really dealing with. Move in close, please, and make room for those that are coming. God's going to meet you. God's going to do a miracle in your life today. You can walk out of this church absolutely transformed by the grace of God. Amen. As they sing it again, come. Even back there into the rotunda, you can stop right where you're at. That's fine as long as you can hear us right now. Listen, it doesn't take our Lord long when your heart is open. How ready, how quickly he moves in because his heart is after you. What a loving God we serve and how anxious he is to bring you back into his arms. And all you have to do is open up your heart. He said, I'm knocking. If you just open, I will come in. I'll sup with you. I'll commune with you. I'll speak to you. Listen, here's the place I want you to make. I told you that there's a place of safety. That is any place that you know that's between you and God where you go and you hide yourself. It could be in your room. Folks, it can be on the subway where you just buy your head and close yourself in. That becomes that inner room anywhere. But it's a pledge that you make that place of safety. He says, flee to the house, flee to the house. The Lord says, just get along with me. Flee to me. Run to me. Get along with me. Bring every problem. Bring every fear. Bring everything to me. If you need direction, trust me that I'll give you the word. Keep waiting until the word comes. Be willing to do even that which is contrary to what you desire. Because often God will speak contrary to your own desires just because he has something better. And he knows that if he fills the desire of your heart, it'll destroy you. And you've got to trust God that he's going to do right by you. He's going to do what is right. Hallelujah. Some of you are in a storm right now. You're going through trial in your life or your home. And the Lord wants you to trust him through it right now. He says, come to me right now. Come and just trust me with this. Put it on me and not on you. Put it on me. Just roll it off on me this morning right now. I want you to pray this with me. Now, look at me, please, for just a minute. This prayer that I'm going to lead you in has no value whatsoever unless it represents what you're saying in your heart. If you can say it truthfully, then let it come out. Because the mouth, out of the innermost being, your mouth speaks, the Bible says, the innermost being. It is down deep inside. Let it come out right now. Let this be your prayer. The Bible said the eyes of the Lord on the righteous and his ears open, open to their prayer. Do you believe he's open to your prayer? Do you believe that what you pray is going to be heard directly right now? It's not going to fall to the ground. It's going to go directly to the ear of God. And God, so we know if he hears us, we have the petition that we ask of him, that God's going to answer. Pray this with me. Jesus, I come to you with all my fears and all my sins and all my failures. But I'm not going to focus anymore on my failures. I'm going to focus on what you're doing in me, how you're changing me. And I'm going to give you thanks for this service, for the word I've heard, and how it's changing me right now. And Lord, all the things you've done for me, help me now to totally get my eyes off what I am not and what you are in me right now. You're changing me, Lord, and I stop to give you thanks. I bless your name because I'm not the same. You're doing a good work in me. Cleanse me, Jesus. Sanctify me and put a confidence in me that you'll see me through. The Lord Jesus, the same yesterday, today and forever. Now raise your hands and just thank him right now, Lord. I give you thanks. I give you thanks. Let's sing this song. The Lord is my strength. This is the conclusion of the tape.