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- (Spain) A Cry Without A Voice
(Spain) a Cry Without a Voice
David Wilkerson

David Wilkerson (1931 - 2011). American Pentecostal pastor, evangelist, and author born in Hammond, Indiana. Raised in a family of preachers, he was baptized with the Holy Spirit at eight and began preaching at 14. Ordained in 1952 after studying at Central Bible College, he pastored small churches in Pennsylvania. In 1958, moved by a Life Magazine article about New York gang violence, he started a street ministry, founding Teen Challenge to help addicts and troubled youth. His book "The Cross and the Switchblade," co-authored in 1962, became a bestseller, chronicling his work with gang members like Nicky Cruz. In 1987, he founded Times Square Church in New York City, serving a diverse congregation until his death. Wilkerson wrote over 30 books, including "The Vision," and was known for bold prophecies and a focus on holiness. Married to Gwen since 1953, they had four children. He died in a car accident in Texas. His ministry emphasized compassion for the lost and reliance on God. Wilkerson’s work transformed countless lives globally. His legacy endures through Teen Challenge and Times Square Church.
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In this sermon, the preacher talks about how God can use anyone, including young people, to make a difference in the world. He shares a story about four young ladies who went to South Africa to work with children whose parents died of AIDS. The preacher emphasizes the importance of giving one's life to Jesus and allowing Him to use them for His purposes. He also shares a personal testimony of how he gave his life to Jesus as a teenager and how the Holy Spirit came upon him, leading him to become a pastor and missionary. The preacher encourages the audience to have a personal encounter with Jesus and surrender their lives to Him.
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Tonight, pastors, you can just sit still. I'm going to preach to the young people. I want to talk to you about a cry without a voice. Let's pray. Lord Jesus, there are young people here tonight that are going through a struggle and nobody understands. They can't tell it to anybody. They can't speak it. It's so deep in their hearts. Holy Spirit, I'm asking you to come down on this meeting and get right into the heart of every teenager, every young person, every single person, those that we've named tonight, those who stood tonight. You brought them here to speak to them. You're going to speak to them like they've never heard you before. In Jesus' name. Amen. I told you I have ten living grandchildren. And I know they love me. They hear me preach. They're good kids. They love the Lord. But there was one of my grandsons that I was very concerned because he's a good boy. Doesn't smoke, doesn't drink, doesn't do drugs. But I've never seen him active for Jesus. He seemed to me to be so passive. I didn't see him in the Bible. I never saw any passion for Jesus. And I knew something was troubling him. So I went to their house. And he was in a garage lifting weights. And I sat on the floor. I said, you know, your grandfather loves you. But I'm here to see you. I said, there's something I don't understand. Do you hear me preach? And I see young people coming. I see young people so on fire for Jesus. I don't see any outside evidence. I know deep in your heart you love God. I believe you're a Christian. But there's something locked up inside of you. And I want you to tell me what it is. I said, I'm not going to leave here until you tell me what's going on in your life. He said, Grandpa, I do love you. And I can't tell you. There's something going on inside. It has to do with relationships. It has to do with the future. I don't know what I'm going to do with my life. Things I don't understand. I don't want just your kind of religion. I want my own experience. If I'm going to know Him, He has to show me. But there's something locked up inside. And there's a cry. But I don't know how to tell it to anybody. Because I really don't understand it. There's something I want to say. And what I'd like to tell you. I said, I'm not leaving until you tell me what's going on inside your heart. He said, I can't tell it to any of my friends. I haven't told it to my mother, my father. He said, I'm sorry. And I finally had to get up. And I said, well, I'll be praying for you. And I got in the car. Put my head on the steering wheel. And I said, oh God. He has a cry. And there's no voice. He doesn't know how to express it. They brought a young man like that to Jesus. The Bible said that he could not hear, he could not speak. His tongue was tied to the roof of his mouth. He was different than the others. Can you imagine what he went through? How young people his age would mock him. He couldn't speak to anybody. He couldn't hear. Totally deaf. I'm sure there are many times he'd say, why was I born like this? Why am I different? Thousands of young people ask that question. They don't like the way they look. They want to try to fit in with others. They try to be like their friends. They don't want to be different. But this boy was born different. I'm sure there were many times he would go home after the day and he would cry. And he would be thinking, God, if you could give me five minutes, if I could have all the people around me, and you open my tongue for five minutes, I would tell everybody, I'm not stupid. I'm not crazy. I can't help this. But I feel like everybody else does. I have feelings. And I get hurt. And I can't tell anybody. You know, if you're a Christian mother or father, and you see something happen to your children, and they seem passive, they don't show their love for Christ openly. It doesn't mean that they don't love him. But they don't need anybody to preach to them. They need more than a lecture. They don't need you to preach and quote scriptures to them. Can you imagine these parents going up to him? Why don't you speak? Come on, talk! Why can't you hear me? He couldn't. And young people can't hear God. They can't speak. Unless the Holy Spirit gives them that power. They bring him to Jesus. You see, the only hope for this boy is to have a personal encounter with Jesus. There are many of you sitting here. You go to church. You go through the motions. Maybe you even enter into the service. And everybody calls you a Christian. But God knows what it's like when you're by yourself. He knows what's going on in the heart. And he knows the things that you can't talk about. The emptiness. The loneliness. My other son just finished a movie. He went into the streets of New York and put a big box there in the middle of the street. And had young people walk into the box. The film is called Life in a Box. And these were kids off the street. There was a hidden camera. They knew the camera was there. And they were asked questions. And they began to answer. Some were drug addicts. Not one of them really believed in God. Not one had ever had a personal encounter with Jesus. And almost every one of them said, I know that there's something inside of me. I know there's a cry. I don't know how to talk about it. I don't know how to express it. They bring him to Jesus. And the Bible says Jesus took him aside from the multitude. Can you imagine? He feels like a freak. Because there's a multitude. And they bring him. And they know he's deaf. And the young people, probably laughing. Jesus said to him, come with me. And he took him away from the crowd. Nobody could see. Jesus was saying, this is just between you and me. And he took him aside. And the Bible says he sighed. And the original says he made a groan. It was a cry. Just a cry. I know why he was crying. You see, he was God in the flesh. And he was looking down all through eternity. All the young people. See, this is a cry from Jesus. This time it's not the cry from a young man who couldn't hear and talk. It was the cry that was in the heart of Jesus. Because he was looking down through history. He saw tonight. He saw this meeting. He saw you sitting in the seat you're sitting. And he was weeping. He was crying over young people who could hear. Who could see. Who knew about him. Just like you. He saw you. And you wounded his heart. And you made him groan. Because the Bible said he's touched with how we feel. And some of you here now. You call yourself a Christian. You say, I love Jesus. But I hear Jesus make a groan, a cry. You're not like this young man. You have heard. You've heard about Jesus. You've been to many meetings. Maybe your parents have talked to you. You're not deaf. And you can speak. But you talk to your friends. But you don't talk to me. You give more time to your friends than you give to me. You're not ashamed of your friends. But you're ashamed of me. You can speak. And you can talk to your friends. For hours and hours. And you don't have five minutes for me. You'll never close your door and talk to me like you talk to your friends. You tell them everything that's in your heart. You talk about everything in the world. And you don't have any time for me. You give more attention to your friends than you give to me. You don't give me any time. How can you say you love me? How can you use my name? Here's a boy in front of me. He would love to speak my name. He would like to hear my voice. And he can't see. I mean, he can't hear. And he can't talk. And Jesus groaned in the Spirit. And I was praying before I came out here to preach to you. And I had my head bowed on a desk. And I heard Jesus say to my heart, that's why I was groaning over a whole generation who call themselves by my name. And they never speak of me. They're ashamed of me. They have heard. And heard so much. And they know so much. But they give their time. They give their lives to their friends. And they wound my heart. Because they follow me afar off. He was also crying for all the drug addicts. The alcoholic young people. All the young girls who are giving themselves to boys. Because the boy says, if you don't give me your body, I won't go with you anymore. He weeps over all the young people. They're on the internet. And what they are hearing is not the voice of the Lord Jesus. They're watching internet pornography. And then they get involved. And then there's a cry in the heart. We've heard that cry. We've heard it all over the world. Young men come up. One of the Christian young men that's in my son's movie. He said, I was curious. But I got hooked. And he said, I started looking at girls. They just looked like an object to me. I had no respect. Now Jesus saved him. And healed him. And I'm asking God to do the same thing tonight. Jesus put His fingers in the boy's ear. And He said, open. And his ears suddenly opened. Jesus touched his tongue. And said, be open. And immediately his tongue was open. I was in London years ago. In a crusade. For young people. And there was an auditorium. There were probably 5,000. And up in the second balcony there was a gang called Skinheads. They shaved their heads. And they mocked me all through my preaching. They laughed at me. They were throwing paper down at the crowd. They tried to interrupt me. And I was bothered by it. And when I gave an invitation to receive Christ, none of them moved. They laughed at what they saw. And after the meeting, to get out of the auditorium, I had to go down the basement behind the stage. There was a parking garage. And my car was waiting underneath. And I was walking in this parking garage. And I had two or three associates with me. And suddenly, a Skinhead jumped out in front of me. He said, I have to talk to you. He said, I need help. I said, were you one of those Skinheads making fun of me? He said, yeah. He said, but I need help. I'm miserable. I said, you're not laughing now. But you mocked me. You just made fun of me. What do you want me to do? He said, I want you to pray for me. I need Jesus. And he looked around. And said, what's the problem? He said, I don't want any of my friends to see me. I don't want the gang to see me. But I need Jesus. And there were tears in his eyes. I said, how could you laugh at me and now you cry? He said, you don't understand. That laughing is because we were hurting. You were speaking of love. Something like a knife. There's something going on inside. And you have to laugh. Because we're afraid to cry. I have watched over the years working with drug addicts. And I've heard this cry. One drug addict. A young man been on drugs for a number of years. A heroin addict. He tried every program. He could find no healing. He tried government programs. He tried everything. He said, it's hopeless. And he's laying in his little room. He's laying on his cot. And he sticks a needle in his vein. And he fills the syringe with his own blood. And he lays on his back. Looking at the ceiling. And with his own blood. He sprayed one word on the ceiling. Help. It's the only way he could cry. He can't even use God's name. But God read the message. And God heard his cry. You see, sometimes you can't say it in words. But God reads the mind. He reads the thoughts. He knows your feelings. And the moment you reach out. Once you cry to him. You stop crying to your friends. You say, oh God. I need help. I'm hurting. With another boy. He said, every time I look at. He said, if I could lock myself in a room. For three days. I could kick my drug habit. He stole some handcuffs. Went into his room. Locked the door. Then he chained himself. With his handcuffs. To a steam radiator. About three feet wide. And it was hooked to the wall. And he laid there. He said, I'm going to stay here three days. And I'll be cured. I'll kick the habit. After ten, twelve hours. He was so desperate for heroin. He tried to pull away. He couldn't break the handcuffs. He was just cutting his arm. Hours went by. And he got so desperate for drugs. He stood up in a rage. In a madness. He pulled the radiator off the wall. Off the pipe. Put it on his back. Still handcuffed to it. And went to the pusher. And they cut it. And he's back on heroin. With another boy. He looked at his track. Fifteen years. Sticking a needle in his veins. And one day he said, every time I look at that track. I'm reminded of heroin. He said, if I could remove that. Maybe I could be healed. He went into his little room. He got an iron frying pan. Put it on the stove. And got it white hot. Wrapped the handle with a towel. Closed his eyes. Put that on his arm. Of course he just burned himself. Screaming in pain. He runs to the pusher. For heroin. But God heard the cry of those young men. That cry has been heard all over the world. The cry of those who are hooked. The cry of those who are so empty and lonely. The cry of those who are rejected. And the only hope. The only hope. Is for you to have a personal encounter with Jesus. You see, nobody brings you to Jesus now. Your father, your mother can't bring you to Jesus. I don't know who brought this young man. The Bible doesn't say. Maybe one of his friends. But you see, one of your friends can't bring you to Jesus now. There's only one person that can bring you to Jesus. That's the Holy Spirit. You see, this is a different day and age. Jesus went to heaven. But he sent the Holy Spirit. And the Holy Spirit's here in this house. The Holy Spirit's all over this building. He's right beside you now. And he's the one. Who brings you to Jesus. No one comes to the Father. No one comes to Christ. Except through the Spirit. And now he'll send somebody like me. And like Gary. And he will speak to you. And while we're speaking. The Holy Spirit comes to you. And he opens your mouth. And he goes into your heart. And he said, tonight. This night. Will you let me. Give you an experience. Will you let me touch you. And change you for life. I was eight years old. When I heard his voice. Eight years old. When I heard a man speak. And I was in a meeting just like you are in now. And I heard a message. And that message said. Come and give your life. Don't come and just get saved. Don't come and just say, I believe in Jesus. Make your life count. Jesus wants to use you. Jesus wants to take your life. And use it. I was eight years old. And I remember sitting in a seat. And I said, Jesus. I want you to use me. I want my life to mean something. I don't care if I'm like anybody else. I don't care if I'm lonely. I was skinny. I had big, great, big, thick glasses. They made fun of me. They called me a preacher's kid. But I got up. Because I felt a pull. I felt the Holy Spirit. And Lord Jesus said, go. And I walked down. And I knelt right over him. And I said, Jesus. I give you my life. And when I said that. And I meant it. The Holy Spirit came on me. And I had an experience. With Jesus. I heard a call. And I heard the voice of the Lord. Not an actual voice. But a voice deep inside. I said, I heard you. You're mine. For two hours. Tears. And I'm just laying. An old, gray-haired prophet. Came and laid hands on me. And said, Jesus. Use this boy. I've never forgotten him. I know his name. But tonight. In this meeting. He's going to do the same thing. He's going to put his hand on you. And this won't be different. It's not just another time to come down. It's not just another time to cry. This time. Jesus says. I want your life. I want your future. You say you don't know what you're going to do. You're going to give me your life. And that's your future. You don't have to ask questions. If you give me everything. You're going to suffer. Your friends may make fun of you. You can't be like the rest of the crowd. You can't try to be accepted. You can't just dress like them. And talk like them. Just so they accept you. What good is it to have everybody around you accept you? And then stand before Jesus one day. And see the tears in his eyes. Because you missed it. You wasted a life. Living for yourself. And your own dreams. I'm going to close in just a minute. 35 years ago. I was in Europe. I was in Amsterdam. Copenhagen. I was over most of Europe. I didn't get to Spain. But I was in meetings just like this. And I preached just like I'm preaching now. Young people came by the hundreds. I didn't know what God was doing. But now after all these years. I go from country to country. I meet bishops. And they'll show me a picture. You remember this? This was Copenhagen. I was a teenager. I came forward in your meeting. And you prayed with me. God called me. Now I'm a bishop. Everywhere I go. All over Europe. I was in a restaurant. And a man had a laptop. A wonderful pastor. He opens it up in a restaurant. He said, would you look at this picture? It was one of my rallies. Just like this. He said, I was there. I was a teenager. And I gave my life. He said, the Spirit came on me. He said, I'm going to use you. The pastor is a great church. Missionaries. All over the world. In a meeting like this. Some of them just eight years old like me. Tonight. Before this meeting. God made me a promise. Out of this meeting tonight. There will be young people come to the front. And they're going to say the same thing I said. Jesus. I give you my life. Everything. From this night on. I live for you. I give you my ears. My heart. My voice. Make my life count. Don't let me live stupid. Don't let me give all my time to my friends. Jesus. You be my friend. You walk with me. You make my life count. God made me a promise. I may never live to see the day. But someday. You're going to remember this night. It was the night. God took your life. And turned it around. And he heard your cry. And he's going to give you a voice. That many people are going to hear. You may end up one day. Working with little children. One day. God may send you to Africa. Does that scare you? He may send you to a place. We've got four young ladies now. Sleeping in tents. In South Africa. Working with children. Whose parents died of AIDS. No father. No mother. And they came to a meeting like this. Jesus said, yes. I want you. They're the happiest. You couldn't make them trade it for anything in the world. They said, you can have the cars. You can have the nice clothes. You can have all your friends. But I'm making my life count. And I've got joy. And I'll not trade it. For anything in the world. Will you stand up? Look this way please. Now you're going to see a miracle. I said, you're going to see a miracle. Because I'm going to pray now. And the Holy Spirit is going to come. And he's going to speak. He's going to speak to every young person in this building. You feel a pull. Right in the middle. Of your body. The Holy Spirit. Is going to say now. Make your choice. Choose who you're going to serve. You're going to choose the world. Or Jesus. And when I say choose Jesus. I mean tonight. Before you walk out the door. You will never be the same. While I pray. You feel God speaking to you. And even while I've been talking tonight. Something's happening inside of you. And something inside of you is the Holy Spirit. Jesus is saying I need you. I want to have an experience with you. Tonight. You don't have to cry. You don't have to fall on your face. But you have to make a decision. Jesus. I hear your voice. Set me free. While I pray. And you know the Spirit speaking to you. You may not even know Jesus. You may have drifted away from Jesus. Or you may be a good Christian. But you know in your heart. You have never fully surrendered. You have never given everything in your life. I want you to get out of your seat. And come and stand all across the front. I'm going to pray for a miracle. And God is going to do this supernaturally. Please come. Even while I'm praying. You feel that? Well, come on. Get out of your seat. Walk out right now. And come. There are going to be many, many people coming from all over the place. Move in close. Come on. Right up to the front. Lord Jesus. Send the Holy Spirit. Holy Spirit come now. Over the whole house. Reach out. And go into the heart. And find everyone. Oh Jesus. Ask for a miracle. Hear the cry. The cry of every heart. Answer that cry. Set them free. In Jesus name. Follow these that are coming. The same thing that happened in Amsterdam. The same thing that's happened all over the world. Is happening again. Right here in Spain. Right here in Madrid. Hallelujah. Glory to Jesus. Young people, I want you to begin to talk to Jesus. Tell him why you're here. Tell him, I want to give my heart. Not just my heart. I want to give you my future. I want to give you my life. Come on. Pray it right out loud. Say it right out loud. Jesus, that's why I'm here. I want to make my life count. Jesus, no. Here I am. I don't want to just be another person. I don't want to be like the crowd. I want my heart. Changed tonight. I want everybody that came forward. Look this way please. Look at me please. Just for a moment. The Holy Spirit is on me. The Holy Spirit is speaking through me. And he's saying to you now. I have heard your cry. I know what you've been through. I know what you've done in secret. But I'm not mad at you. And I forgive you. If you have a sorrow in your heart. I don't care what your family is like. I don't care how good you are. In school or college. I don't care if your grades are bad. It doesn't matter what anybody thinks about you. Jesus said it's all that I think about you. And I need you. And I want you. And though there are others here. Don't look at the others. I want to deal with you. Just you and Jesus. And I want you to raise your hand. And I want you to pray this prayer. And I want you to pray it right out loud. I want you to pray it from inside your heart. I want to be able to hear it. And we're going to pray it in Spanish. We're going to pray it from our hearts. I stand here. I stand here. Not ashamed. And I ask you. To come to me right now. And accept my offering. I offer you my body. And my future. As an offering. As a sacrifice. More than anything in life. I want your will. I want my future. To be in your hands. Voluntarily. I give you my heart. And everything I am. To you. Use me. Call me to you. Give me a new heart. Give me a new dream. Whatever you say. I am prepared. And God heard that. You said, I voluntarily give you my life. And I give you my future. And I give you my sins. And I'm going to pray for you. And I'm going to ask you. From this night on. To believe that God heard you. And this very hour. This very minute. And say, that's the day. That's the hour. I made a decision. To give my life. However God wants to use it. I'm willing to change my mind. I'm willing to change my career. To do anything. And I'm going to pray for you. Lord, I heard their cry. So you heard hers. You heard the cry. You heard this prayer. And you said, ask. You shall receive. They ask. Now Holy Spirit. Cause them to receive. And to say, God. From now on. My friends are not the most important thing. I may have to lay some of my friends down. I may have to walk away from some of my friends. But Lord Jesus. Draw me to you. Please draw me closer. Teach me how. To love you. Open the Bible to me. Now just tell Jesus in your own words. How much you love him. And thank him for loving you. I want everybody in the congregation. To begin to thank God. For what he's doing here right now. And that God will put a wall around them. And out of this service tonight. This country can be stirred. God is going to awaken the young people. You see it happening right here. He's going to do it all over Spain. He's going to do it in your churches. He's going to do it on your streets. If you believe that. Raise your hands with me. And say Jesus. Send the Holy Ghost upon our young people. From now on. Wake up this country. Send the Holy Ghost upon us. And breathe on this country. Save thousands of young people. And use these young people. To reach them. God. Put your hand on them now. Glory to God. Glory to Jesus. Oh Hallelujah. God has heard our cry. God has heard the message. And he's doing what he said he would do.
(Spain) a Cry Without a Voice
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David Wilkerson (1931 - 2011). American Pentecostal pastor, evangelist, and author born in Hammond, Indiana. Raised in a family of preachers, he was baptized with the Holy Spirit at eight and began preaching at 14. Ordained in 1952 after studying at Central Bible College, he pastored small churches in Pennsylvania. In 1958, moved by a Life Magazine article about New York gang violence, he started a street ministry, founding Teen Challenge to help addicts and troubled youth. His book "The Cross and the Switchblade," co-authored in 1962, became a bestseller, chronicling his work with gang members like Nicky Cruz. In 1987, he founded Times Square Church in New York City, serving a diverse congregation until his death. Wilkerson wrote over 30 books, including "The Vision," and was known for bold prophecies and a focus on holiness. Married to Gwen since 1953, they had four children. He died in a car accident in Texas. His ministry emphasized compassion for the lost and reliance on God. Wilkerson’s work transformed countless lives globally. His legacy endures through Teen Challenge and Times Square Church.