In this sermon, the pastor focuses on Lamentations 4 and describes the state of society and the people of God. He emphasizes how the nation, once pure and founded on righteous principles, has become morally dark and lost its gold-like purity. The pastor highlights the decline of morality and the loss of godly standards in the nation, comparing it to the dimming of gold and the crumbling of sacred stones. He also mentions the captivity of the little ones to vices like drugs and alcohol, pointing to the judgment and grief brought upon the nation due to its transgressions. The pastor concludes by stating his belief that America is already under divine judgment.

This message is one of the Times Square pulpit series. It was recorded in the sanctuary of Times Square Church in Manhattan, New York City. Other tapes are available by writing to World Challenge, PO Box 260, Lindell, Texas 75771 or calling 214-963-8626. None of these messages are copyrighted and you are welcome to make copies for free distribution to your friends. ...commentations tonight. Saints, before we... Let me say something to you, if you will please. My monitor is down just a little bit, if you will please. If you'll just hold steady through the first three quarters of this message, there's some joy coming in the end. There's a good part. So, if you just hold steady and not get a heavy heart, the Lord's going to bring us through it. Amen. The reason I know it's heavy, it was heavy to receive it. And having received it, I want to deliver it in the love of Jesus. But I believe America's already under judgment. I'm going to say it again. America is already under divine judgment. We're going to see some very clear signs of it, evidences of it. Brother Phillips preached this morning that the land is already warring. That when he roars, he's already committed himself to judgment. I believe the Lord's committed himself. There is such a thing in the Bible called a dread release. Remember when he said there's a line that's crossed? And I think we've reached that point of a dread release. And we're going to look at some things tonight and ask God to help open our eyes. In fact, I'll tell you why these kind of messages are preached in the course of our message. Let's look at Jeremiah 8, beginning verse 5, beginning to read. Let's start at verse 4. And you shall say to them, thus says the Lord, Do men fall and not get up again? Does one turn away and not repent? Why then has this people Jerusalem turned away into continual apostasy? They hold fast to deceit, they refuse to return. I've listened and heard. See, God's speaking about a nation that's turned on him. They've spoken what is not right. No man repented of his wickedness, saying, What have I done? Everyone turned to his course, like a horse charging into the battle. Even the stork in the sky knows her season. The turtle dove and the swift and the thrush observe the time of their migration. But my people do not know the ordinance. And King James has it right, the judgments of the Lord. My people don't understand the judgments. My judgments, that's what it's saying there. Look at verse 11. And they heal the brokenness of the daughter of my people superficiously, speaking to false prophets, saying, Peace, peace, but there's no peace. Were they ashamed because of the abomination they had done? They certainly were not ashamed, and they did not know how to blush. Boy, doesn't that say something about the church today? Doesn't even know how to blush. Therefore, they shall fall among those who fall. At the time of their punishment, they shall be brought down, declares the Lord. Verse 13. And I will surely snatch them away, declares the Lord. There will be no grapes on the vine, no figs on the fig tree, and the leaves shall wither. That's a drought. And what I have given them shall pass away. This lifestyle that I gave you, he said, is going to be no more. Why are we sitting still? Assemble yourself and let us go into the fortified cities and let us perish there, because the Lord our God has doomed us and given us poisoned water to drink, for we have sinned against the Lord. Poisoned water to drink. What is this nation drinking now but poisoned water? With its drugs and its fornication and its abomination. The poisoned waters. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, I pray the anointing and blessing of the Holy Spirit upon the Word tonight. Lord, I know you gave me this, and I have to have from you, Father, a special grace tonight. Lord, sanctify my vessel, my body, my mind, that this Word go forth in the unction of the Lord. Give me a tenderness towards your people. Lord, I love this country as much as any minister in America. I thank you for this country. But Lord, we have been warned to stand now on the watchtower and proclaim the judgment is at the door, that judgment has already begun on our nation. Lord, quicken us and awaken us and let us know the signs of the time so we'll not be taken aback by what is happening. We'll not be surprised by it. Lord, we'll be prepared for it. Lord, open our ears and our hearts tonight. Sanctify us. Let the glory of the Lord be upon us in Jesus' name. Amen. I've got to start by telling you I've been getting weary sometimes of warning about the judgment on America. I've written a number of books on it, preached a number of sermons about it, messages. And I went to the Lord this week again, like I have on a number of occasions, and I've said, Lord, what's the use? So few listen anymore. Even the righteous seem to get depressed and weary of hearing of the warnings. And why warn the people when they won't listen? And even those who do believe and understand and accept the message get very tired of being reminded of it. And there's a tendency just to be quiet and say, Lord, I've said enough. Jeremiah was like that. He made up his mind one day that he was tired of the rejection and the mockery. And he said, no more will I speak of violence and spoil or war and judgment because the word of the Lord was made a reproach to me and a derision daily. He said, Lord, I go out and I warn the people about judgment and all I get for it is reproach and mockery all the day long, every day. But then Jeremiah couldn't hold it in. He said, I said I'll not speak. But his word was in my heart as a burning fire set up in my bones and I could not shut up. And I'll tell you I have a fire burning in my bones tonight and that's why I've got to preach it. You know, God said to Ezekiel, speak and tell them whether they're going to listen or not. Tell them. There comes a time when God can no longer endure the wickedness and evil of a nation and he's got to act. Jeremiah said to Israel. So the Lord was no longer able to endure it because of the evil of your deeds and because of the abominations you've committed. Thus your land has become a ruin, an object of horror and a curse. He said the Lord couldn't endure it anymore. There is an end to God's endurance. Do you believe that? It's an amazing thing. People say, oh, I've heard this message time and time again and year after year. Instead of it getting worse, we get better. We're prospering more than ever before. Where's the sign of his judgment? Jeremiah spent 23 years warning Judah and Jerusalem that destruction was coming and an enemy army was going to besiege Jerusalem. They were going to be starving. He said, you're going to be burning your babies and eating them. He warned up and down and everybody mocked. They said, we've heard that for 23 years. In fact, I want you to turn and see Jeremiah 25. You're in Jeremiah. Go right to chapter 25. I'll tell you what, anyone who's ever prophesied understands this. I'm going to start with verse 2. Jeremiah 25, verse 2. Which Jeremiah the prophet spoke to all the people of Judah and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem. He said, from the thirteenth year of Josiah, the son of Ammon, king of Judah, even to this day, these 23 years, the word of the Lord has come to me and I've spoken to you again and again, but you have not listened. And the Lord has sent to you all His servants, the prophets, again and again, but you have not listened nor inclined your ear to hear. Wouldn't you think that after 23 years the prophet said to himself, in fact, he said once, Lord, have you deceived me? He saw the prosperity. He saw everything opposite to what he was told to preach. But I want to tell you something, why don't you listen very closely. God is always determined to warn His people, so much so He sends His servants time and again and again and again. I just read it to you. Right up to the time of judgment. And He'll allow His prophets, His servants, to endure all kinds of abuse. He'll let them bear reproach, to be mocked and scoffed because of His mercy and His love for His people. There are ministries today, and I'll tell you what, Jeremiah went on preaching for 23 years and they threw him in a dungeon. And they beat him. And the religious leaders and the political leaders said not another word of judgment. They tried to shut him up. The church didn't want to hear it. The politicians didn't want to hear it. And the Bible says they put him in a pit. Do you know there are ministers, even in the charismatic movement in evangelical circles today, who hate the message of judgment? They gnash their teeth at it. They hear tapes like they were going on this message tonight, and they will listen to five minutes and put it down and slam their fists and say, I don't want to hear it. I won't allow it in my church. They hate it. They despise it. Absolutely despise it. They despise those of us who preach it. The Bible says, according to the psalmist, they say we shall never be in adversity. Psalms 110.6. God said to Jeremiah, perhaps the house of Judah. Keep speaking, He said. Keep warning. Perhaps the house of Judah will hear all the calamity which I'm planning to bring on them, in order that every man may turn from his evil way, that I will forgive their iniquity and their sin. Jeremiah 36.3. He said, maybe, perhaps, if I just keep coming to the people with prophets and servants and watchmen, perhaps somebody will hear. Perhaps there will be repentance. Now, why? Why would the Holy Spirit send a watchman to this pulpit tonight and warn of coming judgment on America? I'll give you a number of reasons. First of all, to prepare the saints to endure and overcome when the flood comes in. The flood's coming in, folks, and we've got to be prepared. Secondly, to awaken the half-hearted and those who are fiercely asleep. There's a slumber all over the house of God. What kind of thunderclap is going to take a judgment to wake it up? Thirdly, to tear down all false hopes on false security. False hopes, false security from false shepherds. You know, the children of Israel thought that God would never destroy the temple, and so they would cry, The temple! The temple! The temple! And they thought if they lived in the shadow of the temple, God would destroy the temple. The temple's in Jerusalem, so God won't destroy Jerusalem. We're safe as long as we're in the shadow of the temple. And we have charismatic people and evangelicals who believe that America is a special nation. We are something special to God. The temple! The temple! We shall never be the best. We'll never be destroyed. The temple was destroyed. Brick after brick, it was torn down to the ground. It was wiped out. The city was wiped out. And there were still prophets up to the last day saying it'll never happen. They were crying, Peace! Peace! We have people in this building tonight. You don't want to hear anything negative. You've been told by preachers you're not to do that. You think on everything that's positive. I'm going to give you more scripture than you've ever heard this preacher ever give you. I've never preached with more scripture than I'm going to give you tonight. It's in the Word of God and it can't be tonight. Now, I'd better smile. You'll think I'm mad. I'm not mad. The psalmist said, Thou hast destroyed all that go on whoring from thee. God said, I've destroyed every nation that's done a whoring after they've left me. They've done a whoring from me. They've turned to false gods. Jeremiah said, But O Lord God, Lord God, look, the prophets are telling them, we will not see the sword, nor we will not have famine, but I will give you lasting peace in this place. Now remember, the Chaldeans are already marching. They're just a few years now from having their armies around there for two years of absolute starvation. And people are buying and selling. They are prospering on all sides. And Jeremiah is saying, No, it's not what it looks like. The judgment is right at the door. And he said, O Lord God, look at the prophets. They're telling them just the opposite. We're not going to see a sword. We're going to have lasting peace in this place. Then the Lord said to me, speaking to Jeremiah, The prophets are prophesying falsehood in my name. I've not sent these prophets. I've not spoken to them. They're prophesying to you a false vision. A divination. Futility. And the deception of their own hearts. They and the people they prophesy to will be thrown out into the streets. You don't believe that's in your Bible turn to Jeremiah 14. Go back to Jeremiah 14. That's exactly what your Bible says. They're going to be the prophets, false prophets, and even those that they prophesy to are going to be thrown into the streets. Jeremiah 14, look at verse 13. Chapter 14, verse 13. O Lord God, I said the prophets... There it is, right there. You can read it when you go home market. Verse 14 and 16, all the way down. Verse 16, the people also to whom they are prophesying will be thrown out into the streets. Do you see it in verse 16? I'm reading from the New American Standard. The people also to whom they are prophesying will be thrown out into the streets. Along with those who are the prophets who are prophesying. Right now, look this way please. Let me show you what I believe God has shown me about judgment on America. This week, Tuesday night, while deep in prayer, the Holy Spirit came to me and it started ringing in my spiritual heart, in my spiritual mind over and over again. The beggars are a sign. The beggars are a sign. I want to say right now that I love the beggars that are on the street. This church has a heart of compassion. We do everything we know how to do. But I thought, I said, what I don't understand, but I thought of the 60,000 some homeless people in the streets of New York, and of the millions of homeless people now, and many, many beggars sleeping in streets in Chicago, Miami, Houston, Los Angeles, San Francisco. And now, not only the major cities, the beggars are appearing in every little town in Hamlet in America from coast to coast. It's become a ragged army. Some of it insane. Poverty stricken, drugs, alcohol, disease, despair, AIDS. And why in the past two years do we look out and suddenly there's an army. A ragged army right in front of us that you can't ignore. You pull your car up to an intersection and they swarm over the car with their dirty little rags and try to get the quarter, trying to put a dollar or two together for a vial. And if they're hungry, they won't buy the food, they'll go for the vial of crack. They block the road with their little signs begging for small change. And now many of them are becoming belligerent and menacing and violent. It's just the beginning. And thousands of them are just teenagers, they're just kids. Some of them are younger than teenagers. They're sleeping now in the abandoned cars and the trucks and the dilapidated rat infested warehouses on 10th and 11th Avenue here. They found 115 of them one night in one of those old shelters, an old warehouse where they keep the trucks. 115 of them, most of them teenagers. They sell their bodies for sex. And on 11th Avenue now between 34th and 40th Street you can get sex for 25 cents from teenagers. 25 cents for perversion. You look into their eyes and their sunken faces and you see hell. Many of them are longing for death to escape the prison of drugs. Most of them are dying with either AIDS or chlamydia, tuberculosis or pneumonia. And it's not just simply poverty that's driving them onto the streets. There's a demonic spirit behind it. Billy Boggs has made national headlines. A young lady beggar up in Upper West Side, not far from where we live. Now, the lawyers took her and the National ACLU took her under wing. She was given money. And I say this kindly, she was given money, she was given a room. She left her room and preferred to be on the streets. And you go up there now and she's on one of those subway grates where the heat comes up trying to keep warm. They said she's insane. She curses. Everybody goes by. You go up there near 90th Street and you can see her. And cursing everybody. There's a sense of insanity. And the welfare department, all the welfare agencies are dumbfounded. They can't understand. I took a bag lady once and tried to get her to the welfare to get her a room. And she said, David, leave me alone. I've had a room. I sleep on the floor there. I'm so used to being out. I don't want to. Leave me alone, please. There was a spirit I didn't understand. Now that doesn't include all of them. There are many, many that are homeless. They're worthy of our prayers and attention. And God help us for ignoring the needs in this city. Especially the political system in this city in the United States. But you see there's a spirit behind it. They're asking, now what's going on? Where did they all come from all of a sudden? Why the sudden appearance in the last two years? Now, I want to show you something. When the judgment came upon Israel, Isaiah cried out, Thy sons have fainted. They lay at the head of all the streets. And if you read head, it's the intersection of all the streets. They lie at the intersections of all your streets as a wild bull in a net. They are full of the fury of the Lord, the rebuke of thy God. You'll find that Isaiah 51-20. Don't turn there, but write it down. Now that word head also means visible. And it also means it cannot be ignored in Hebrew. And what it's saying, under judgment the first thing that happens, suddenly there's a visible thing among your youth. Your sons will faint and lie at the head of all the streets like wild bulls in a net. Full of the fury of the Lord and the rebuke of thy God. Now, get this please. This is the most prosperous hour in American history. Unemployment is the lowest it's ever been. Why in a time of prosperity do we have hundreds and hundreds of thousands coast to coast of mostly young men and women begging on the streets? Now, by the way, the scripture says, Righteousness exalted the nation, but sin is a reproach, a disgrace to any people. Now, before I speak any further about what the beggars mean as a sign, let me show you from the Word of God how anxious God is to give signs of judgment to His people before it comes. All through the Bible you see God moving in sign after sign. Now, every prophet you read here, God called upon Him to give an illustrated sermon of His judgment through His preaching. Take Isaiah for example. God sent him to warn Egypt and Ethiopia that Assyria was soon going to come in and capture them. He was to walk about for three years barefooted and he was to wear nothing. In fact, the Bible says he was naked, but that means he had his under tunic on. If they didn't have their outer clothing on, they were naked. And he was told to go barefooted through the streets for three years. And the Lord said, Even as my servant Isaiah has gone naked and barefoot for three years as a sign and warning against Egypt and Cush, which is Ethiopia. And the message was, in three years there's judgment coming. And you're going to be naked, you're going to be stripped, you're going to be barefooted. And God clearly foretold Judah also what He would do to Judah. Because of your abominations, I will do among you what I have not done and the like of which I'll never do again. That's Ezekiel 5-9. The prophet said, there's going to be something happen to Judah, to Jerusalem. This city, I'm going to do something I've never done before, I'll never do it again. And Jerusalem is going to be surrounded and besieged. And here was the message. He was preaching, one-third of you are going to die by a plague and famine. One-third of you are going to fall by the sword. The sword is going to cut you and kill you. A third of you are going to be scattered to everywhere. And they didn't listen, so God said, well maybe they're so childish, maybe they're so thick, I'll give them an illustrated sermon. And so the prophet was told, Ezekiel was told, to go into the city square and lay right in the city square, 390 days on his left side, 40 days preaching of judgment to Judah on his right side. And he was to get a clay towel and draw a picture of Jerusalem on it. And then the Lord says, then lay a siege against it, build a siege wall, raise up a ramp and pitch camps, in other words, little soldiers, place battering rams against it, all around it, and get yourself an iron plate and set it like an iron wall up between you and the city, and set your face toward it, in other words, prophesy toward it. But between you and the prophet of Jerusalem, I want this iron plate, this cooking plate, this square iron plate. And so people go by and they thought the prophet Ezekiel had lost his mind. He's not playing with toy soldiers. He's got this toy army, right in the middle of the city, and everybody's talking about it. And everybody knows he's talking about Jerusalem because it's drawn there, and he's got soldiers all around Jerusalem, he's got soldiers, and he's got battering ramps, and then, of all crazy things, he cuts his hair off. And a third of you, he divides his hair into three pieces, three piles. This pile, he strikes fire and burns it up. This pile, he takes his sword and starts chopping it. This pile, he throws it up in the air and it all blows away. He said, look, I've been telling you, a third of you, a third of you are going to die in the fire of famine, and it's going to consume you. A third of you are going to be lost by the sword. A third of you are going to be taken into captivity and scattered to the wind. And Jerusalem is going to be sieged with army. This is not a toy. This is God saying, one last time, look at it. Look at it. It's like He took them to kindergarten. God was saying, you won't listen to My prophecies, you won't listen to My warnings. Maybe some childlike illustration. Maybe these toy soldiers will put it in your mind. This iron plate is your iron heart. I can't get through to Jerusalem with My message because your heart is as hard as iron. That iron was their heart. Well, they wouldn't listen, so God said, I'll try again. And God came again on another occasion, another illustrated sermon. And almost with resignation, you hear God say, perhaps they will understand, though they are a rebellious house. Ezekiel 12.3. And so this time, God said to Ezekiel, He said, I want you to get all your belongings. I want you to put them outside your house. And at twilight tonight, I want you to load everything on your back like you're about to travel and leave Jerusalem. And I want you to go to the wall and dig a hole in it and go through the wall. So, He takes all of His belongings, everything He can carry, like He's going on a trip and He lays it in front of His house or His dwelling. And about twilight, He packs it up. I mean, He's loaded down. You see the prophet going towards the gate and people are following Him. He gets to the gate. The Bible said the wall had been dabbed with untempered mortar. He said the wind could blow it down. And so it was an easy thing to dig through a hole in that wall. And the Bible says, in the sight of the people, He went through it. And they said, He goes through it, probably lays His belongings down. And He comes back probably through the wall. And He stands there and they say, Prophet Ezekiel, what does this mean? What does it mean? And here's what He said, Ezekiel 12, 11. I'm assigned to you. As I have done, so will it be done to the house of Israel. They will go into exile, into captivity. And what He's trying to illustrate is what He had told King Zedekiah. You'll try to escape through the wall, but you're not going to make it. If you'll walk out and surrender yourself, God will be with you. If you do it God's way. Ezekiel acted out the judgment that was soon coming. So you see, God tried. Didn't He try to war? Now, Jesus said, an evil generation seeketh a sign, but no sign shall be given it but the sign of Jonah. Now, this had to do only with the scribes and the Pharisees. They wanted a sign of His divinity, of His Godhood. And God said, no, as far as My divinity is concerned, there's only going to be one sign. And that's the resurrection. Just as Jonah was three days in the belly of the whale and came out resurrected, so to speak, I'll be in the belly of the whale three days. The only sign of My divinity will be the resurrection. There's no other proof needed that I'm the Son of the living God. But that does not mean that we're not to have signs of the times. That's something different. There's only one sign of His divinity. Jesus Himself said, oh you hypocrites, you can discern the face of the sky, but cannot discern the signs of the times. Jesus also warned, and great earthquakes shall be in different places, and famines and pestilence, and fearful sights and great signs shall there be from heaven. Also, Jesus said, there shall be signs of the sun, and in the moon and stars, and upon earth distress of nations with perplexity. And in the book of Acts we read, I will show wonders, that's of judgment, in heavens above, and I'll show signs in the earth beneath. Signs in the earth beneath. Signs in New York. Signs all over the country, on every street corner, at every intersection. Alright, this growing army of beggars among us is one of the Lord's illustrated sermons, an illustrated sign, just as with Ezekiel and Jeremiah and Isaiah. I want to tell you something, the government could lock up every single beggar in America today, and within two weeks there would be another army that would be younger, because now we have the baby beggars coming, we have the kiddie army coming on drugs, on crack. A little six-year-old boy here in New York City, taken into custody with 412 vials of crack in a paper bag in his desk. The baby beggars by the thousands. Because no one in America is calculating the widespread danger of crack. They've underestimated. President Bush doesn't even know what he's talking about. He's never touched it, he's never seen it. Wait till it sweeps through Congress, it's already there. Airplane pilots. Train engineers. Crack. Corporate heads, right now walking the streets here, within three months, I know one man who lost, as a CEO, he lost his business, a multi-million dollar business. He sat in this church for five weeks in a row, he's been in my office three times. He went out, lost everything. Crack. Three years ago, there were no arrests for crack in New York. This year, 20,000 already, 20,000 have been in prison for crack. 20,000. In this war, the devil hadn't had to use bullets, tanks, guns, planes, bombs. Just millions of tiny little vials full of little white rocks. Now let me show you what happens when a nation refuses to discern the signs of the time. I want you to go to Lamentations. Jeremiah, go right, for all you new converts. And for a lot of older converts. Will you just leave it, open the first chapter. Let me set something for you here. Listen closely, please. The book of Lamentations is written by Jeremiah. Now, this is the heart cry of Jeremiah. This is the weeping of Jeremiah. The groaning spirit of Jeremiah. Because, you see, judgment has already happened. They are boarding their babies now. They're eating them. Of a few spans long, which means nine, ten inch babies. In other words, they were talking about infants being eaten. They were eating out of garbage pails, sleeping on piles of rags. And the judgment is already coming. It's already there in Jerusalem. Just as the prophets had warned, the dreadful misery was recorded in Lamentations. Alright, Jeremiah, he sees the famine. People have nothing to eat. They're even eating their little children. There's crime everywhere. Poverty everywhere. All the things that he said have happened. And he's not going around saying, I told you so. No, this man's weeping. God warns anybody who prophesies not to rejoice in hard times. Not to rejoice when the judgment has come. And there are some people who seem to almost rejoice in bad news. I don't do that. I grieve over it, and the church should grieve over it. We don't want to see these things come. We would pray, God, spare it. God, remove your hand. And that's what Jeremiah, he's praying for mercy now. He's crying out, oh God, stay your hand. Why don't you go to Lamentations 2.17? You see, even though he cries for mercy, Jeremiah still has to tell the truth to the people. Look at verse 2.17. The Lord has done what He purposed. He's accomplished His word which He commanded from days of old. He has thrown down without sparing. He's caused the enemy to rejoice over you. He's exalted the might of your adversaries. Alright, listen. Look this way if you will. Jeremiah said God has done what He said He would do of old. What is he talking about? He's saying, remember the prophecy of Moses? He said He's done what He said He would do of old. Listen, you don't have to be a mystic. You don't have to be a seer or a prophet to know what God's going to do to America. It's already recorded. It's in the 28th chapter of Deuteronomy. The curse that comes and how the curse comes. And that's what Jeremiah is saying. If you would have only listened. If you wouldn't have listened to me, you could have listened to Moses. You would have known what was happening. God's done exactly what He said He would do when the nation reaches this point. The curse has come. He's done what He said He would do of old. Look at Grammatations 1. Oh, by the way, do you know what that was? I'll read it to you. From Deuteronomy 28, 43, and 44. Don't turn, but just listen. The stranger that is within you shall get up above thee very high, and thou shalt come down very low. He shall be the head, and thou shalt be the tail. In other words, He goes on to say, you will be a borrower, and your enemy will lend to you. We used to be the number one lending nation. We're the number one borrowing nation now. Go out here one block. Go here to 42nd Street and Times Square, and look up at all the signs, and you'll see what the Bible says very vividly. There is the illustrated sermon for you, please. Look at the signs high and lifted up. Japanese, German, Sony, Panasonic. The only thing you'll see, there's Pops and Coca-Cola from the United States, and it's way down low. Every sign high and lifted up, just as He said here. Go look at it. The illustration. The signs of judgment and miracle everywhere. Now, look at Lamentations 1.5. He's trying to show them something here. Lamentations 1.5. Her adversaries have become her masters. Her enemies prosper. For the Lord has caused her grief because of the multitude of her transgressions. Her little ones have gone away as captives before the adversary. Captives to drugs, alcohol, molestation. Her little children. Did you hear the shocking news the other day? A drug gang war, a fight in Brooklyn, and one of the men in the war, foolish, flying, he picks up a little innocent bystanding three-year-old boy, holds him up with a shield, and the boy was shot. He was shot. Now, when judgment is on the people, the Bible said the young people are cast out into the streets. Look at verse 15. The Lord has rejected all my strong men in my midst. He's called an appointed time against me. To what? Cross my young men. The Lord's trodden as in a winepress the virgin daughter of Judah. Do you see it? Our young men are crossed. Does that explain what's happening a little bit? Our young people are being crossed by these moral pressures that this nation has never had to endure before in such power. Look at verse 18. The Lord is righteous, for I have rebelled against His command. Here now are people, and behold, my pain, my virgins, and my young men have gone into captivity. Would you call drug addiction captivity? Would you call alcoholism captivity? Would you call these little children being molested as prisoners? Verse 20. See, O Lord, for I am in distress, my spirit is greatly troubled, my heart is overturned within me, for I have been very rebellious. In the street, the sword slays. In the house, it is like death. The murder, the murder. Did you see in New York, or rather in the Time Magazine this week, in England, with 25 million people, this year, they've had, what, four murders from handguns? Russia, it wasn't even listed because it was so negligible. France had, I think, seven or eight. The United States had 8,400. 8,400? In fact, it went off the chart. I saw it and it just broke my heart. Look at verse 16. For these things I weep, my eyes run down with water, because far from me is a comforter that restores my soul. My children are desolate because the enemy has prevailed. Do you see what happens? The children, the young people, are affected first. Do I hear somebody say tonight, all these people on the streets, all these young people lying at the intersection of the streets, there's no prophetic meaning to that. Look at Lamentations 2.21. 2.21. Look at it. On the ground, in the streets, what? What? Why, young and old, my virgins and my young men have fallen by the sword. Thou hast slain them in the day of thine anger. Thou hast slaughtered, not sparing. On the ground, in the streets, lie the young and the old. And what the prophet is saying, wake up! Look at your children. Lift up your hands to God. Look at verse 2.19. Arise, cloud out in the night. At the beginning of the night, watch as pour out your heart like water before the presence of the Lord. Lift up your hands to Him for the life of your little ones who are faint because of hunger at the head of every street. Jeremiah traced these judgments back to fearful changes that were happening in their society. Terrible decay had set in. I want you to go to Lamentations 4. Lamentations 4. I'm going to show you how clearly he describes what happens in a society. Look at verse 1. How dark the gold has become! How the pure gold has changed! The sacred stones are poured out at the corner of every street. Do you know what he's saying? In other words, you read the next verse, the people of God are the gold. Right there you see it in the next verse. The precious sons of Zion weighed against fine gold. How they're regarded as earthen jars, the work of a potter's hands. Look at me. Do you know what he's saying? This nation that was once so golden in its morality, so pure, founded on righteous principles. In fact, it was founded by praying men of God. It was pure gold at one time. There were moral standards. He said how dim the gold has become. He said even the sanctuary, the stones of the sanctuary, the stones of people, those who once walked with God, now the gold is gone. They lie on the streets like pottery that's smashed. At the head of every street, every intersection. Verse 17, 2-17. We already read that. Let's go on to verse 5. 4, verse 5. Those who ate delicacies, or who ate deliciously, are what? They're desolate in the streets. Those reared in purple embrace ass pits. In the original, it's garbage heaps. And another edition said piles of filthy rags. It's all there if you want to search it out. They that did feed delicately or deliciously are desolate in the streets. They were brought up in Scarlet and embraced dung hills. The prophet weeps over young men and women lost in the streets walking like skeletons, sunken cheeks, dying on their feet. Look at verse, I believe it's verse 8. Look at verse 8. Their appearance, these are the beggars on the street, their appearance is blacker than soot. It means they're filthy. That's all it means. They sleep on the streets and they can't help it. They don't have a place to bathe even. They are not recognized in the streets. Why? Because they're runaways. They're abandoned. Their skin is swiveled on their bones. It is withered. It has become like wood. Have you ever looked at the sunken cheeks? Have you ever looked at it close? Verse 14. They wandered blind in the streets. They were defiled with blood so that no one could touch their garments. Verse 17 and 18. Yet our eyes failed. Looking for help was useless. Oh, look at that. Looking for help was useless. Where are we going to go to change this? Do you think the government of the United States is going to change anything? Do you think Congress is going to change anything? They've thrown up their hands. Where are we going to go for help? There's no other help outside of our God. There is no help outside of repentance. There's none. No. No. Brother, listen. Please. You don't interrupt me now. Look at it. Verse 17. Yet our eyes failed. Looking for help was useless. In our watching, we have watched for a nation that could not save. Is that there? Look at verse 18. See if this doesn't describe New York City and so many other cities and towns and hamlets. They hunted our steps so that we could not walk in our streets. Our end drew near. Our days were finished for our end has come. Now think of that for just a minute. The end began to draw near. Judgments were coming fast and furiously. Society reached a point that there was no solution. Changes became so rapid their intersections and streets were filled with skeletal, hungry, naked, poor. They were once moral, well-to-do young people. Now they rummage through garbage. They sleep on rags. Those desolate beggars hunted down the rest of society, making the streets unsafe. Now you tell me that's not America. That's also in America. Now, look at me please. Look again. When you go out on the street, look again in the face of the young beggars and tell me what you see. Now see what I see. I see a sign from God. I see a sign from God with His warning and with His pleading. That beggar on the street is the United States of America. That's America. And what God is showing us, that's what's happening to this nation. This nation is going to end up drug-crazed. It's going to wind up lost. It's going to wind up in a spirit of madness, insanity. That is a picture of the United States under judgment. It's God's illustrated sermon. God is saying, look at them. Look at their faces. Yes, love them. Pray for them. Minister to them. Do all that you can. But that's the future of America without repentance. The daily news, today's daily news, there's a cartoon, February the 5th, 1989, there's a cartoon, and the children are in a classroom facing the American flag. They have helmets on and shields and they're fully armed and they're making a new pledge. And you know what the pledge is? One nation under siege, indefensible, with liberty and AK-47s for all. And we've got preachers who say nothing but peace and we've got men who don't even know Christ are trying to preach through their cartoons. You said I want to hear it? Well, you're in the wrong church. I say it in love. We're going to warn. We're going to plead. We're going to beg that God's church wake up. I want to make a statement. Well, first, I want you to read... Oh, I'll tell you what. No, I was going to skip this, but I can't. How did this happen to a once righteous nation who so... Who are we going to blame for this downfall, this moral landslide? Do you know who Jeremiah blamed? Well, let me show it to you. Verse 4. Why did it happen? Because of the sins of who? Because of the sins of her prophets and the iniquities of her priests who have shed in her midst the blood of the righteous. How do they shed the blood of the righteous? By not warning them of the judgments that are coming. By telling them all is peace and prosperity. Jeremiah said the prophets prophesy falsely and the priests rule under their own authority and my people love to have it so. But what will they do at the end of it all? Jeremiah said the shepherds are greedy for gain. And that's why some are afraid to preach judgment. They won't get their buildings paid for. And I try to say it kindly, but it's the truth. A young man in a prayer meeting Friday night broke my heart. Just broke my heart. He got up and prayed. We were praying for America. And he said, Oh God, I went to a church that preached prosperity. I named it. I claimed it. I framed it. And he said, and then a storm came to my life and I wasn't ready. This is the end of side 1. You may now turn the tape over to side 2. I didn't have roots. I didn't have a foundation. And then he was groaning. He said, Oh God, my friends are still in that church and they're still deceiving the people and the people love it that way. And he said, when the storm comes, oh God, they're not going to be ready. And that's the gospel truth. When this thing hits in its fury, they'll be running to the hills. They'll take these men by the collar and say, why didn't you tell me the truth? Why didn't you tell me the truth? Why didn't you wake me up so I could be repentant and living in holiness? I've lived in foolishness. I've had my eye on the dollar and success and prosperity. I've been on a buying spree. I should have been on my face. Look at Ezekiel, the twelfth chapter. While you go to Ezekiel 12, I'll go with you. Ezekiel 12. Folks, it's going to take at least an hour. I've got at least 15 more minutes. I've got to get this off my heart. So, Ezekiel 12. Are you beginning to hear from the Holy Ghost tonight? I sure am. Ezekiel 12. I told you I'm preaching Bible tonight. Twelve, verse 21. Now, while you have it, could you look up this way? Forgive me for saying it again, but look this way. So I can get it right through to you. You see what happened? The prophets, they knew they couldn't stop this man from preaching and warning, so they tried to undermine him. And it's the same thing that's happening today. There's two ways this message is undermined. First of all, they're saying, well, we've heard it for years and it hasn't happened. In fact, it's just the opposite of what he's preaching or they're preaching. Look around. That's what they say. And secondly, they say, oh, yeah, that's a good prophetic word, but that's for a long way off. And so they undermine the message by putting it into this. And that's exactly what they did to Jeremiah. Look at verse 21. Ezekiel 12. Then the word of the Lord came to me, saying, Son of man, what is this proverb you people have concerning the land of Israel, saying that days are long and every vision fails? Therefore say to them, thus says the Lord God, I will make this proverb cease, so that they will no longer use it as a proverb in Israel. But tell them that days are drawing near as well as the fulfillment of every vision. For there will no longer be any false vision or flattering divination within the house of Israel. For I, the Lord, shall speak, and whatever word I speak will be performed. It will no longer be delayed. For in your days, O rebellious house, I shall speak the word and perform it, declares the Lord God. Furthermore, the word of the Lord came to me, saying, Son of man, behold, the house of Israel is saying the vision that he sees is for many years from now. And he prophesies of times far off. So relax. I had a preacher of a large church call me on the phone and he said, David, I believe you're a prophet. I've never claimed to be a prophet, I'm a watchman. But he said, I believe you're a prophet. He said, now I understand that prophets have to see everything in black and white and you don't believe there's any gray. And what he was saying is this very thing, well, they may be true, but they're so far off, why don't you... I'm so glad that you're in New York and you're back to reality. Back to reality. In other words, I'm no longer preaching a message of judgment. At least that's what he thought. And I say it lovingly, but what he was trying to say, David, there's no doubt that God said something to you, but that's for way off. Look at verse 28. Therefore say to them, thus says the Lord God, none of my words will be delayed any longer. Whatever word I speak will be performed, declares the Lord God. That's what you're going to do, folks, one of these days, it's all over. How fast it's going to happen. Now I'm going to make a statement in just a minute, it's going to shock some of you, make some of you angry, but if you love the Lord, it won't make you angry. First of all, I'm not going to say it until I root it in the Word. We'll go back to Lamentations, the fourth chapter. Fourth chapter. Now, just open and listen to what I'm going to say. He's about to tell them something that's very profound. He's saying, God had more mercy on Sodom than you. And I want to read it to you. Verse 6. For the iniquity of the daughter of my people is greater than the sin of Sodom, which was overthrown as in a moment, and no hands were turned toward her. No one was there having to wring their hands in despair. There was no famine. There was no drought. There were no armies surrounding it. And what God is saying, now listen closely, if judgment is coming, God judged Jerusalem far more severely than He judged Sodom because their sin was worse than Sodom. The most merciful thing God could have done for Jerusalem was to send fireballs from heaven as He did for Sodom and destroy it. And all my life I've preached, how can God judge Sodom and not judge America? Because we have sinned as Sodom or worse. But I want to tell you something. That's not the issue anymore. The most merciful thing, if we're headed for judgment and His wrath is going to fall, the most merciful thing God could do for America is to emit the bombs from Russia to come and annihilate us. That would be the greatest act of mercy God could do for this country if it's headed palmetto into the fury of His judgment. That's what He's saying right here. So that no hands were being wrung, the children wouldn't have to be devastated, they wouldn't be dying a slow death of AIDS. God, the most merciful thing He could do, is wipe it out. With one stroke, where no man's hand touched it. He said, there was no man touched the judgment of Sodom. But for Jerusalem, I turned you over to the hands of men. But for America, God says, I'm going to turn you over to the devil. He said, Walt, if it happens after the sea, for the devil's come down on you having great wrath because he knows his time is short. I hear people say, I don't want to hear about an atomic explosion. I don't want to hear about New York going up in smoke. That's the most merciful thing God could do to America. Rather than see and watch our children of this nation be molested, and rather than see these wild, beasted men taking babies out of cribs and raping them, to watch hundreds of thousands of teenagers robbing and stealing and plundering, the best thing God could do for America is burn it. No, no clapping. It would be mercy compared to what is coming. Look at verse 9 and 10. Better, you don't believe me, some of you, listen, read it. Verse 9. Better are those slain with the sword than those slain with hunger, for they pine away being stricken for lack of the fruits of the field. The hands of compassionate women boiled their own children. They became food for them because of the destruction of the daughter of my people. We don't boil our children, do we? We turn them over to drugs. We molest them. We do these terrible things to our children. Better to boil them than to put them through a lifetime of hell. Woe, woe, woe, he says. AIDS is another sign to America. It speaks of the loss of our immunity to sin. It makes us susceptible to every kind of immorality. It speaks of a slow death. Is it just hearsay? Is it just a fairy tale that in just a few years AIDS, they say, is going to bankrupt our hospital system? AIDS is going to bankrupt our hospital system in just a few years? Is it just gossip that our jails are now at 110% capacity and there's no other place now to put the prisoners that are piling in? There's no place to put them. They're trying to put them in barges right here in New York. We're at 110% all of the United States. Is it just hearsay that thousands of children are molested? Is crack just going to go away? Are these six to ten year old pushers just going to disappear? Is this rampaging murder and rape and robbery and pornography and greed and violence and perversion, is that just American cultural states we're going through that's going to pass away? What we are witnessing, brother and sister, is the total breakdown of a society. With its gates in ruin, its walls crumbling, and the outbreak of divine judgment on a nation that's grieved God. All right. Now. Okay. The good part. What about us? What about the church? What about your children, saints? I want to start with the children. Some of you are saying, Oh, brother Dave, when I hear these things, what about my little girl, my little boy, my children? You know what God said to children of Israel? He said, but your little ones, which you said would be a prey or a casualty, them I will bring in and they shall know the land that you despised. He said, I'm going to bring your children in. I'm going to protect your children. Hallelujah. I'm not worried about the children of the saints. Glory be to God, because they have angels that are walking with them. Four abreast. Hallelujah. I'll tell you what. I'll take you through the good part. If you promise your heart and before God that you won't just try to wipe this out, but you walk out and every time you see a beggar, you say, Lord, keep me open. Keep me awake. Keep me on my knees. Let me know how short the time is. Let me live so loose to the things of this world. Don't let the world attach itself. You know, I heard a preacher the other day, some missionaries came here to America to a conference, and they saw all the beautiful cars out there and the people eating steaks and all this, and these people from Africa were overwhelmed and with tears, went to one of the pastors, and I heard the pastor on the tape yesterday, and he said to a pastor, he said, we've never seen anything like this. You people live like kings. We're primitive Christianity. We have nothing. He said, you have all this and you want more? He said, well, we don't understand. You have all this and you want more? I said, I'm going to get to the good part. You know what I asked the Lord yesterday, last night? I said, Lord, when all this comes, am I going to have what it takes to see me through and endure suffering and hardship? I'm telling you folks, the church is going to suffer. They're going to be suffering. But it's still the good. Listen closely. I said, Lord, I don't think I have what it takes to see me through. I read about all the martyrs. I read about what people have gone through for the sake of Christ. Lord, I feel so weak. I don't know if I have what it takes. You know what the Lord answered me? David, you don't have what it takes right now. But when you need it, you'll have it. Something else the Holy Spirit whispered to my heart. He said, David, if in the times of prosperity you've humbled yourself, you've repented, you've turned to the Lord with all your heart, in troubled times, I'm going to give you a double portion. He said, if you turn to me in prosperity, I'll walk with you in poverty. I'll walk with you when the trouble comes. I'll tell you what, it's more difficult to serve God in times of prosperity than in times of poverty. Hallelujah. The Christ who calls you in prosperity is going to hide you in the secret of His pavilion. In the strife of tongues and the judgment, He's going to hide us. Now, let's go to Psalms and start shouting. Psalms 27. Is God going to keep His church? The sanctified, those who walk in His righteousness. Oh, there's so many good promises, I can't know where to start. Psalms 27. I want you to follow me. We're going to go real fast through this. And we're just going to let the Holy Ghost bring joy to our hearts. Hallelujah. Psalms 27, verse 5. Let's start verse 1, Psalm 27. The Lord is my light and my salvation. Whom shall I fear? The Lord is the defense of my life. Whom shall I dread? When evildoers came upon me to devour my flesh, my adversaries and my enemies, they stumbled and fell. They'll host and camp against me. My heart will not fear. The war rise against me. In spite of this, I shall be confident. One thing have I asked from the Lord, and I shall seek that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life. To behold the beauty of the Lord and to meditate in His temple. Verse 5. For in the day of trouble, He will conceal me in His tabernacle, in His secret place, in His tent. He shall hide me. He will lift me up on a rock. He's got a special tent. He's got a hiding place. And when the trouble comes, He said, come on, little chickens. Come on under my wing. Come on, little chickens. Come on under my wing. Psalms 31. Psalms 31. You marking these down? Verse 19. How great is Thy goodness which Thou hast stored up for those who fear Thee, which Thou hast wrought for those who take refuge in Thee before the sons of men. Thou dost hide them in the secret place of Thy presence from the conspiracies of men. Thou dost keep them secretly in a shelter from the strife of tongues. Blessed be the Lord, for He has made marvelous His lovingkindness to me in a besieged city. Boy! That's New York. That's Los Angeles. That's Chicago. Wherever it is. He's got a hiding place. Blessed be the Lord, for He has made marvelous His lovingkindness to me in a besieged city. As for me, I said to my Lord, I'm cut off from before Thine eyes. Nevertheless, Thou didst hear the voice of my supplication when I cried, All of the Lord, all you His godly ones, the Lord preserves the faithful and fully recompense the proud ones. Be strong and let your heart take courage, all you who hope in the Lord. Take courage. 46. Keep going. Psalms 46, verse 1. God is our refuge. Why don't we stop right there? God is our refuge. How's God going to keep it? The Bible said that Jeff shall live by faith. We're going to live by faith. Lord, God is my refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore, we will not fear, though the earth should change, and though the mountains slip into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam, though the mountains quake. It doesn't matter about the earthquakes, about the famines. There's a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy dwelling place of the Most High. When God's in the midst of earth, she shall not be moved. God will help her when morning dawns. The nations made an uproar, the kingdoms tottered. He raised His voice, the earth melted. The Lord of hosts is with us. The God of Jacob is our stronghold. Chapter 57. Just one verse, but boy, is it powerful. Chapter 57, verse 11. Be exalted above the heavens, O God. Let Thy glory be above all the earth. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Thy glory. He's going to keep us by His glory. Look at 58, verse 11 also. Verse 10. The righteous will rejoice when He sees the vengeance. He will wash His feet in the blood of the wicked. And men will say, surely there is a reward for the righteous. Surely there's a God who judges on earth. Our God's going to be doing the judging. Hallelujah. The Bible says that in a time of judgment, His people are going to rejoice in His faithfulness. Go back to chapter 48. Oh, I love the word of encouragement. 48, verse 11. Let Mount Zion be glad. Let the daughters of Judah rejoice because of Thy judgments. Walk about Zion, go about her. Count her towers, consider her ramparts, go through her palaces, that you may tell it to the next generation. For such is our God forever and ever. He will guide us until death. Glory be to God. And that's just where He begins. Well, I'll tell you what. The Bible says, in the shadow of His wings will I have refuge until these calamities be overpassed. That's Psalm 57.1. Let me read Psalm 27.5. In the time of trouble He shall hide me in His pavilion. Psalm 50.15. Call upon me in day of trouble. I'll deliver you. I'll deliver you. Look at me, please. You say, well, what if we have to go to jail? Get so bad in persecution, so and so, we've got to go to jail. Well, that's where Paul wrote his epistles. Do you know that Pastor Gu in China, in fact, this church has helped build a Bible school in the Hunan province of China. And they have some 40 students. I got a letter about it just this week. In fact, we have the missionary going to be coming to our Missions Conference here in the spring. He'll be telling you about it. Pastor Gu is the president of that Bible school, but he spent over 20 years in a communist prison. By the communists. No books, no Bible. And for 20 years, Jesus appeared to him and taught him the Scripture. For 20 years. No Bible. Jesus appeared and taught him, and now he's so deep in the Word of God, I hear. So powerfully deep. He's the teacher and the president of the Bible school. Hallelujah. Well, what if we lose our jobs and our money, our house, our apartment? Well, then we all go on Holy Ghost Welfare. And Jesus becomes our social worker. Because it's Jesus who said, Take no thought for your life, what you're going to eat or drink. He said, Or for your body, what you're going to wear. Behold the fowls of the air. The Lord takes care of them. Your Father feeds them. Are you not much more important than sparrows? He said, I take care of the litters in the field. The sparrows, you're much more important than that. I'm going to take care of it. Don't worry about it. I'll take care of it. You say, Well, that's naive. That's naive. No, that's faith. Now, before I close, I want to show you something. You say, Can God take care? Look, we've got hundreds of people here tonight. Can God take care of all the saints? New York's going to get hit. All's going to get hit. But I want to tell you something. You go into the Old Testament, you got your exam, because He said, These are patterns for us. For 40 years, our God kept hundreds of thousands of His people in the wilderness. They had no jobs, no income, no stores, no malls, no shopping centers, no cars, no houses, no apartments, no bank accounts, no new clothes for 40 years, didn't have a bank, no stocks, no air conditioning, no heaters, no refrigerators, no deep freezers, no stove, no electricity, no indoor plumbing, no stored up food, no weapons, no mountain hideaways, no doctor, no hospital, no medicine. They were surrounded by snakes, wild animals, ferocious enemies, extreme heat, extreme cold, water shortages, and all that they had over their head was a flimsy little tent. And for 40 years, God fed them and kept them. I want you to go one last step to Deuteronomy 2.7, and I'll tell you, I want you to stick this right in the face of the devil. Deuteronomy. The last verse I'm going to read to you. Deuteronomy 2.7. Glory be to God. Deuteronomy 2.7. Hold on, I want you to mark it in the Bible. This is after 40 years of God's care. For the Lord your God has blessed you in all that you have done. He's known your wanderings through this great wilderness. These 40 years the Lord your God has been with you, you have not lacked a thing. For 40 years, what have you lacked? For 40 years, I took care of you. Saints, that's the same God we serve. Have you lacked anything yet? Is God taking care of you? I can stand before you tonight and say, in all these years, I'm 57 years old, started preaching when I was just 17, and I'll tell you, all these years, not one time has He failed me, and He's not going to fail me until my dying day. He's not going to fail your church. He's not going to fail us. He's faithful. We serve our Holy God. I stand. Sing what you sang this morning. Hallelujah. Sing it this morning. We're all going to sing it. It was appropriate for Bob's message. It was appropriate to get it today. We're going to give it all to God in just a minute. Let's worship the Lord. Hallelujah. The Lord is my light and my salvation. The Lord is my light and my salvation. The Lord is the strength of my life. Whom shall I fear? In the time of trouble, He shall hide me. In the time of trouble, He shall hide me. In the time of trouble, He shall hide me. The Lord is the strength of my life. Whom shall I fear? Praise upon the Lord. And be of good cheer. Praise upon the Lord. And be of good cheer. Praise upon the Lord. And be of good cheer. Praise upon the Lord. And be of good cheer. Praise upon the Lord. And be of good cheer. Praise upon the Lord. And be of good cheer. Chorus In shall I be The Lord is my strength The Lord is my strength The Lord is my strength and my salvation. The Lord is my strength and my salvation. The Lord is my strength and my salvation. The Lord is my strength and my salvation. Who shall I be? God, by His Spirit, would like to remove all fear from your heart except that godly fear that leads to repentance. Hallelujah! God's going to do that before we leave this church tonight. He's going to remove every bit of fear from your heart. And yet a holy respect for His righteous judgments. Do you know that it's possible to rejoice in His righteous judgments? That finally God is vindicated and His holy name is lifted high? Hallelujah! Oh, but the Lord's faithful tonight. His grace is here. You that came forward, look this way for just a moment, please. If you're standing here now with a heart reaching out to Him, He said, You draw nigh to Me, I'll draw nigh to you. God's not a liar. He'll tell you the truth. And He said right now to set you free from all bondage, all fear, all anxiety. But most of all, He wants you to lay it down. Ah, let this be the night that the string is cut. Let this be the night you break it off and say, Lord, You did something in me tonight. I'll tell you what. You'll be in one service just like either this morning or tonight or Tuesday or Friday. And there'll be a service that you break through. Let it be the night that you break through to the Lord. He's breaking through to you. Please pray. Lift your hands. Lift both hands and write down in your own words and say, Jesus, touch me tonight. Just lift up your heart and your voice and say, Touch me, Jesus. Heal me. Take my sins. Take my burden. Set me free. Take it, Lord. Take it all. Speak it out. Speak it out from your heart. Lord, take it. I want you to talk to Jesus right now. Talk to Jesus. Saints, let's pray for these. Let's pray. Lord, open their hearts. Holy Spirit, open their hearts. Let Your Spirit come. Open their hearts. You that are standing here, open your heart to Him right now. Just open up. Jesus, touch me. Heal me. Set me free. Now, I want you to pray this prayer with me. Loud and clear. Dear Lord, I need You. I come to You to repent. To lay down everything in my life that's unlike You. I know You're touching me. I feel Your love. Your Spirit pulled me. That's why I came forward. And here I stand to say I love You. I give You my sins. Forgive. Cleanse me. Remove the fear. And baptize me with love and the Holy Ghost. Now, right now, you just thank Him for being faithful to you. Say, Jesus, I thank You for Your faithfulness. Oh, God, thank You for Your faithfulness. You're faithful, oh Lord. You're so faithful, dear Lord. Come, Holy Spirit. Come, Holy Spirit, now. All right, now, you that are up here, that prayer alone, unless you meant that from your heart, the Bible does say from the abundance of your heart, your mouth speaks. You don't have to play games with the Lord. You just be honest with Him at all times. That's what you want more than anything. You can give Him honesty. Give Him your honest heart. Say, Lord, here's where I'm at, and I desperately need You. How many of you that came forward, have come forward tonight in this church for the first time? Would you raise your hand, please? You're here for the first time. Anyone in the house over here, your first time? First time? All right, you that have your hand up, that are here for the first time, I'd like you to go up the other steps here. You can turn and come up those steps and on that step, and backstage for our counselors. You don't join anything. We just want to pray with you and minister to you. Would you come right up those steps? All you that are here for the first time, make your way right through the crowd, up those steps or up these steps on this side, right backstage where we can minister to you. God bless you. You're from Pennsylvania, weren't you? God bless you. God bless you. Amen. From San Juan, Puerto Rico? Bless you. God bless. God bless you. Amen. Lord bless you, young people. Lord touch you tonight. Hallelujah. Set us free, Lord. Hallelujah. Isn't that wonderful to see all these first- No clapping, please. Wonderful to see all these first-timers. Now, how many others of you that are standing here now, you've been up here before, but you came up here tonight because you're still in a battle. The enemy has tried to tear your soul apart. You'd like to have a brother or sister stand with you in agreement for victory in your life. You can come. Yes, you can come. Others that want to come back, we have maybe room for five or six more back there. All right. Just follow. God bless you. Is the Lord touching you tonight? Lord, touch her tonight. God need her need tonight in a wonderful way. Lord, break through, fill her with your spirit. That's it. Don't be afraid to cry. That's the Holy Spirit. That's the Holy Spirit breaking through. Holy Spirit breaking through. Hallelujah. This is the conclusion of the tape. Paulson, the pastors, could you help back there? I think they may need some help back there in counseling. We appreciate it very much. Hallelujah. Do you believe the Lord's here? Tell you what, you that came forward, we've got lots of room. Move up here closer where the fire is right here. Noah fires everywhere here tonight. It'd be nice to have you in this little close. Move in closer so you're not in the aisles. Just move a little closer. This way, please. Tell you what we're going to do. We're going to sing and rejoice because we're redeemed. This is the conclusion of the tape.