In this sermon, the speaker addresses the concern and grief of a holy remnant of people in the nation who are troubled by the abominations in the land and in the church. The speaker mentions receiving thousands of letters from people who feel that the nation is headed for a crisis and that the name of the Lord will be vindicated. The speaker then discusses the mark of the beast and reassures the audience that they do not need to fear it or any other prophetic events. The speaker emphasizes that once the audience grasps the truth they are about to hear, they will no longer worry about a depression, the mark of the beast, or the tribulation.

This message is one of the Times Square Church Pulpit series. It was recorded in the sanctuary of Times Square Church in Manhattan, New York City. Other tapes are available by writing WORLDCHALLENGE PO BOX 260 LINDALE, TEXAS 75771 or calling 903-963-8626. None of these messages are copyrighted and you are welcome to make copies for free distribution to friends. Heavenly Father, I ask you now to open the word to our hearts. Let us hear from the Holy Spirit, not from man. Lord, I know you put this in my heart. I got it from your throne and not from a book. I got it in prayer. I pray, Heavenly Father, now that you multiply it. Oh God, encourage our hearts for only the truth sets us free. Nothing but truth. Lord, nothing in the world can deliver us but the truth. That sets us free. Now, Lord, set us free by your truth, I pray. In Jesus' name, amen. Now, if your babies begin to cry, you can go into exit 7 through exit 7. We have a wonderful nursery there to take care of your children. Then you can come back and enjoy the service. In the annex also, if you'll go to the hallway, they'll show you how to get to nursery facilities. The Lord bless you. The preservation of Zion. Now, God has a holy remnant of people in the nation today that grieve over the abominations in the land and in the church. They weep over it. They're concerned about it. They talk about it. My recent book that's gone out, America's Last Call on the Brink of a Financial Holocaust, has brought in literally thousands of letters. My wife and I have been reading them for hours and hours, and everybody's saying the same thing. They say the Holy Spirit has spoken the same thing to us that our nation is headed for a crisis. And they said physically there's an amount of fear, but our hearts rejoice because the name of the Lord is going to be vindicated. And all over the country we hear people writing to us now saying, we feel just as you do. There's something on the horizon. This bubble's about to burst. And folks, it's not just a few. It is a massive response, not only here but on the 700 Club and wherever you go. People are concerned, of course, about the Y2K. The Y2K is the year 2000, when many computers are supposed to break down and bring disorder. Tomorrow, here in New York City, Wall Street is doing a mock rundown. They're going to have this as the year 2000. They're going to have the computers turn to year 2000 and see if it turns over. They've made the adjustments. And these are the people that are way out in front. And if this doesn't work, then most computer experts say we are in deep trouble, that the only government agency that is compliant now is the Social Security Agency, where the elderly will probably get their checks, but they claim there could be a great breakdown, power failures and so forth. And that's being widely disseminated all through the country. And, of course, there's always a doomsday chic about the millennium and a lot of voices in the land, a lot of talk about the destruction of the nation and the downfall and either a depression or a total collapse of the computer systems. Our government is not prepared. Our national defenses are not ready. The computers are not compliable and will not be probably until the year 2007 to the year 2010. Hard times, no question, are in store for America. The entire world, Jesus said perilous times are going to come, crisis times, frightening times. But there's good news. There's wonderful news, exciting news for God's people. And once you lay hold of the truth I'm going to give you this morning, you never again in your life have to worry about coming prophetic events. You don't have to worry about a depression. Should it come? You don't have to worry about the mark of the beast. You don't have to worry about the tribulation. It doesn't matter whether Jesus comes before the tribulation, middle tribulation, then tribulation. It won't matter to you anymore. You won't talk about the mark of the beast. You won't even give a concern. I'm going to talk about the mark of the beast this morning. And I'm going to ask God to knock the fear out of you once and for all so that you never again have one thought about the mark of the beast or any of these things. I believe with the Puritan writers who said it's not enough to warn the nation. If you're a messenger, a watchman, it's not enough to warn. You must simultaneously seek God for the solution. You've got to seek God for the hope for the church of Jesus Christ in the last days. And that's where I'm headed in the days to come. Now all you have to know about the future, all you have to know about the times that are coming, in fact, all you have to know is that God has made an ironclad promise to preserve and protect what is called Zion. Zion. Now first of all, this morning I want to give you the incredible promises of deliverance and preservation God has made to Zion. And then secondly, I want to attempt to prove to you that Zion is the overcoming church of Jesus Christ and that you are born into Zion. When you give your life to Jesus Christ, you're born again. You are born into Zion. I don't care if you're a Nigerian, I don't care if you're a Mexican, I don't care if you're who you are. If you are in Christ, you are a citizen of another country. You are a citizen of what the Bible calls Zion. I want to enumerate all the promises of preservation God's made to Zion and I want you to know that you are Zion if you're an overcoming believer. And I want you this morning to lay hold of these promises and never again worry or think about prophetic events. We have prophetic conferences everywhere and so much speculation and folks, if you get into this addiction to the prophetic events that come, you're going to run in circles and you're not going to have a day of peace or rest in your mind. The Lord said, when you see all these things come to pass, look up and what? Rejoice, because redemption draws nigh. We're not to go around fearful and despondent whatsoever. Now, who is Zion? You've read about Zion. Some say a Jew is a Jew, Jerusalem is a natural city only in a geographical location in Israel, that there's one Israel, there's only one Jew, and there's only one Zion, that that was the city of David in ancient Israel. And they say that's it. Many Christians preach that and many preachers preach that a Jew is a Jew, Israel is Israel, and Zion is the city of David, an Old Testament revelation, an Old Testament truth that has nothing to do with us today. But the Bible makes it very clear that there are two Israels. There's only one kind of Jew that can be recipients of all the promises of God. There's only one kind of Jew in the eyes of the Lord. No matter where you were born, there's one kind of Jew. Paul the Apostle, in fact, Jacob was called Jacob for a while, but he had a spiritual name, Israel. This is a two-named man. Israel was his spiritual name. It was his name given to him by faith, by grace. It was his regenerate name, a spiritual name. In fact, I'm going to show you from Scripture absolutely beyond question that there are two Israels. Paul spoke of the Israel of the flesh in 1 Corinthians 10.18. That's the natural Jew who is born in Israel, or wherever you're born, of a Jewish mother. In Galatians 6.16, Paul talks about another Israel, and he calls it the Israel of God, and not the natural Jews, because when he speaks of the spiritual Israel, he's talking about those in Galatians, the sixth chapter, who are new creatures in Christ Jesus. Now, the Jewish nation, when Christ was on this earth, denied Christ. Some, Paul said, were saved, and many will be saved at the end. Romans 9.6, For they are not all Israel which are of Israel. He said, natural Israel, that's not the Israel of God. They which are the children of the flesh, they are not the children of God. Do you hear me? They that are the children of the flesh, they are not the children of God, but the children of the promises are counted for the seed of the children of Abraham. Those who come to Christ by faith are the children of Abraham. God's promises were made to a spiritual seed. Know ye not that they which be of faith are the children of Abraham. The children of Abraham are those who by faith have received Christ Jesus as Lord and King in their life. Now, there is a Jerusalem, and the New Testament name for Jerusalem is Zion. There's a New Jerusalem which is spiritual, it is not natural, has nothing to do with natural Israel in the Mideast. For this Agar is Mount Sinai in Arabia, and answereth to Jerusalem which now is, and is bondage with her children. He said, you can, actually, in modern language, I'm going to be speaking in Jerusalem in September, there's a conference I'm going to be speaking, I'm going to go to natural Israel, I'm going to fly by American Airlines or something, I'm going to a natural Israel. But that's not the Israel of God. Not at all. They are not really the recipients of the promise, because the Scripture said it's they which are of faith are the children of Abraham, or the children of the promises of God. But Agar represents Sinai in Arabia, and answers to Jerusalem which now is, and is bondage with her children. But Jerusalem which is above, or spiritual Jerusalem is free, which is the mother of us all. In other words, we belong to another Jerusalem. I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of God, which is New Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my God. The New Jerusalem, the Bible said, is a heavenly Jerusalem, with a heavenly people who are born into this Zion city of God by faith in Jesus Christ. Now, there are two kinds of Jews mentioned in the Bible. But Paul in Romans 2.28 says, For he is not a Jew which is one outwardly. Now, this is hard to receive if you're a Jew who does not believe in Christ, and you do not accept the Word of God as the final authority. But we as Christians, we accept the Bible as the final authority. It says to us, he's not a Jew who is one outwardly. Neither is that circumcision which is outward in the flesh. But he is a Jew which is one inwardly, and circumcision is that of the heart in the spirit, not of the letter, whose praise is not of men, but of God. Folks, you, if you are in Christ, are a spiritual Jew. Now, folks, if that doesn't sit well with you, I'd check your antisemitism. We are spiritual Jews. And we have been born into a city called Zion. Zion is the New Testament word for Jerusalem, New Jerusalem. We are Zionians. I thank God for my American heritage. I'm an American. But spiritually, I am, and my future is not in America. My future is in Zion. Folks, there's a song we've been singing here. I want to change the words. It says we're marching to Zion. No, we're not marching. We're in Zion. We're living in Zion. Who is Zion? Zion is the last day church, blood-bought, walking in the righteousness of Christ, and everyone who is truly born again in Christ, you were born into Zion. Psalms 87, 5, 6, And out of Zion it shall be said that this and that certain man was born in her, and the highest himself shall establish her. The Lord shall count when he writes up the people that this man was born there. You can't get there except by being born there. When you accepted Jesus Christ, and you were born again by the flesh and the word of God, you were born into Zion. I tell you again, you're a Zionian because of your faith in Jesus Christ. Isaiah the prophet said of the last day church, Zion shall be redeemed with judgment and her converts with righteousness. This is proof that Zion is comprised of a purged, righteous people being converted into Jesus Christ. God said of Zion, It shall be called the city of the Lord, the Zion of the Holy One of Israel. I will make thee an eternal excellency. That cannot be natural Jerusalem. That's not an eternal city. The Bible said all this is going to burn. The only thing that's eternal is the city of God, the city of Zion. Now, beloved, this is not some fanciful interpretation of Bible truth. This is not a theological supposition whatsoever. It's not a doctrinal scheme that I'm talking about. This is a foundational truth that if you get a hold of it today, if you will get a hold of it, you will never again in your lifetime ever have to ask, How is God going to take care of me and my family? How's he going to take care of his church when everything falls apart? When there's trouble and perilous times on all sides, you will never again ask, How is God going to do it? Folks, Zion is not heaven. Zion is the church of Jesus Christ alive and well on the planet Earth, consisting of all believers from all over the nations, all tribes, kindreds, and tongues. We are the city of the great God in the mountain of His holiness, the joy of the whole earth. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Now let me list for you some of the many promises God has made to protect and preserve Zion. Are you ready to acknowledge that you're a Zionian? Are you willing to acknowledge this morning that by faith you're a Zion? You're a Zion? If that be true, every promise God made to Zion is yours. It's mine. All right, first of all, God's promise to provide a covering and a defense for Zion through every storm and every crisis. Mount Zion, the Scripture says, God has made Himself known in all her palaces as her refuge. He said, I am going to make known to you in every one of your homes, rich, poor, whoever it may be, if you will trust in me, I will be your refuge. Now I want you to go with me, please, to Isaiah, the fourth chapter. I'm going to take you through a number of scriptures. I want to convince you that you never have to fear again, ever. Let the economy fail, God forbid. Let everything come apart. Let the stars fall from heaven, the mountains shake. Let the planets collide. Folks, you and I have a special provision made for us. Glory to God. Verse 5, chapter 4 of Isaiah. Isaiah, fourth chapter. Let's start verse 3, really. It has succumbed to pass that he that is left in Zion, he that remaineth in Jerusalem shall be called holy, even every one that is written among the living in Jerusalem, when the Lord shall have washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion. You see, these promises are not made to every Christian. So called Christian, it cries, Lord, Lord. The Bible said, men will say, Lord, Lord. And the Lord said, I don't even know you call yourself a Christian. I don't even know who you are, because you're living in sin. You never even tried to lay down your sin. You never tried to get victory. You lived a double life. The Lord shall have washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion, and shall have purged the blood of Jerusalem from the midst thereof by the spirit of judgment and by the spirit of burning. The spirit of judgment is the word of God. The spirit of burning is the Holy Ghost. These are people who have applied the word of God to their heart. They've been sanctified by the power of the Holy Ghost. That's the spirit, burning of the word and of the spirit. And all of those who have been purged by the Holy Spirit, who have received Christ as Lord and King in their life, here's the promise. The Lord will create upon every dwelling place of Mount Zion and upon her assemblies a cloud and smoke by day, the shining of a flaming fire by night. For upon all the glory shall be a defense, and there shall be a tabernacle for a shadow in the daytime from the heat, and for a place of refuge and for a covert from storm and from rain. Folks, there's coming to our nation not one storm, but to the whole world, storm after storm after storm. We're headed in that. Everything in this book says so. Everything in the word of God says so. It is going to rain down torrents of fearful troubles and sorrows upon mankind. But the Bible says that those who are in Zion are going to have a covering. He's going to be a covert in the storm. And even the rain is not going to hurt them, the Scripture says very, very clearly. I want you to lay hold of this now. In Zion, God promises you will never again have to flee or run for your life. You don't have to run to the mountains. You don't have to run to the desert. And you who live on 110th Street, 103rd Street, Lower East Side, Brooklyn, Bronx, wherever you are, you don't have to run. You don't have to get through the Lincoln Tunnel and get out of here. I heard one guy said that when this hits, everything's going to be packed and they're going to be ten miles out of the city, bumper to bumper, people sleeping in the fields and everything else. I would tell you now that you have a promise of your Zion, you'll never run anywhere. You don't have to flee ever again. You never have to be afraid. You never have to run. You don't believe me? Then let me give it to you. Go to Isaiah, go to Isaiah 28, to the right. Verse 16. Mark this in your Bible. Therefore, thus saith the Lord God, Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation, a stone, a tried stone, a precious cornerstone, a sure foundation. He that believeth shall not make haste, and if you look there it says, shall not be forced to run or to flee. In Hebrew it says, to never run again. Look at me. Who's the rock? Tried stone, a rock. And he said, if you are on the rock and trusting his keeping power, you never again have to be afraid. You never run. The Bible said you resist the devil and he'll run from you. You don't run. The mayor of this city has asked the city to spend 15 to 20 million dollars to build a special command center deep down into Manhattan. That's all rock. They're going to have to dig it out of the rock. A command center in case the city goes into chaos. His rock shelter. The Bible said their rock is not our rock. That rock is going to shake. Let him go to the rock. You have a rock, my friend. We are on a rock. God said, I'm going to shake everything that can be shaken. I don't care how deep they dig. God said, I'm going to shake everything so that the only thing that's going to left standing are those spiritual things that cannot be shaken. That's your faith in the keeping power of Jesus Christ. You are on a solid foundation. You may be living in a one-room tenement house. You may be living in a little hotel room that you pay a hundred dollars a week for and all you've got is a bed and you can already turn around. But you're on a rock. Hallelujah. Another promise? God has promised to provide for Zion all the essential needs of life in the hardest of times. I want you to go to Psalm 132. You go back to the left for the new believers. Psalm 132. You see, if I just give you these, I want to prove to you that it's in your Bible. I want you to see it in black and white and red. Psalm 132. You should be marking these in your Bible. Beginning to read at verse 13. For the Lord hath chosen, who? Zion. He hath desired it for his habitation. He said, that's where I live. You want to know where God is? He's in his church. He's right here in Zion. In me and he's in you. A born-again, blood-washed church. Forgive me for screaming. I get excited about his word. Verse 14. This is my rest forever. Here's where I dwell, for I've desired it. I will abundantly bless her provisions. I will satisfy her poor with bread. I will also clothe her priests. We are all known as kings and priests in Zion, the Bible says. I will clothe her priests with salvation. And her saints shall shout aloud for joy. Now let me tell you why his saints are going to shout aloud for joy. Because this is given in a time of great calamity. This promise was given in a time of great calamity in Israel. Let me tell you what it means. I will abundantly bless her provision. Provisions in Hebrew reads like this. I will provide her with... You can get a stash of corn and look it up for yourself. He says, I will bless her provisions. It means lunch, venison, which means deer, deer meat, game, supplies, groceries, enough for a trip. And the Hebrew word for bread here is meat, fruit, bread, and all the grain for making bread. God said, look, no matter how hard it is, I am going to make provision. It's right there again, look at it. I will, how is he going to do it? Abundantly? Bless her provision. I will satisfy her poor with bread. You know, when I read this in Hebrew on venison, deer. New Jersey is not allowed to kill deer. My wife and I were driving down the road. One deer went, another deer hit the side and wrecked the whole side of our car. There's so many deer, they could feed New York for a year. It's incredible, everywhere you go, thousands and thousands of deer. I don't know how, what I'm telling you, God has ways that you and I don't even know about. I have a minister friend, a wonderful friend, down south, and he has a heart for the poor. He takes in drug addicts, alcoholics, and every Thanksgiving, every first of the year, he gathers shoes and clothes and goes to Mexico. Just a wonderful young man, a burden for the needy. Every Thanksgiving, he gathers up groceries and turkeys, and he finds the poorest people and goes from door to door. This Thanksgiving, he had pretty well given out all of the bags of groceries and turkeys, and he had one turkey and one box of groceries left. And he and his associate bowed their head. This young man said, you know, I want to see a miracle. I want God to lead us into a house where somebody's actually praying in their food. Just encourage my faith. I want to see how God answers prayer. So he kept driving around, and suddenly there was a little lane, and he said, go in there. And he goes in, there's a little shack. And he knocks on the screen door, and a gruff voice says, come in! And there's an elderly black man sitting in a wheelchair with his Bible in his lap. And my friend said, sir, I don't mean to embarrass you, but we're Christians, and I see you're a Christian, but you would understand this. We were praying that God would lead us to somebody who needs a Thanksgiving meal. A turkey and his groceries. Would you be offended if I left this on your table here? Big smile and tears came down. He yelled at somebody next door. He said, daughter, get in here! He said, I told you so! A poor retired preacher. He said, I told you, daughter, you trust God with me, you'll make it. We have people fretting about the Mark of the Beast. And they dread the time that they're going to have to take a stand. And whether it's, there's all kinds of speculation about this thing. You know, that there's going to be a computer breakdown and the whole world is going to go into chaos? That could very well be. And then there's some computer czar. In fact, at a meeting of many of the computer experts, one of the top computer experts stood and said, we need a computer czar standing by. They recommended Gorbachev. It was in the New York Times. But they talk about an embedded ship in the forehead. They already have embedded ships in dogs now that have their whole medical history. An embedded ship in the forehead, an embedded ship in the hand, because the Bible said that there's coming forth a beast who's going to insist that you can't buy or sell unless you take this Mark of the Beast, or the Antichrist. And so we have Christians, there are books written about it, and warning, don't take the Mark of the Beast. Now folks, most of what I read about the Mark of the Beast is pure speculation. You can find, you can go to, I'll show you in my library, the Puritans thought that the Mark of the Beast was coming out of Rome at that time. The Mark of the Beast, there are some things that we will never know. But I want to tell you once and for all, and I want you to listen to me because I believe I have the mind of the Holy Spirit on this. I'm going to ask the Holy Spirit so get a hold of you, you will never ever again even think of the Mark of the Beast. Because first of all, those in Zion are already marked in their forehead. They're already marked. Let me read it to you. I give it to you now, Revelation 22, 4, And they, the saints, shall see his face, and his name shall be in their foreheads. Revelation 7, 3, Hurt not the cattle or the sea nor the trees, till we have sealed all the servants of our God in their foreheads. Here's another proof. And it was commanded them, these were the demonic locust powers of the last day, they should not hurt the grass of the earth nor any tree, but only those which have not the seal of God in their foreheads. Folks, when you gave your life to Jesus Christ, he wrote his name on your forehead. There's no room for the beast to mark anything on your forehead. These exotic, elaborate schemes about the Mark of the Beast, and vision and computer chips and all these things. Brother, let me tell you, Jesus didn't die for a bride that's going to be starved just before her wedding. My Bible says he died for a triumphant church against which the gates of hell shall never ever prevail. Secondly, the Mark of the Beast is for devil worshippers only. You read it, it talks about those who first worshipped the beast. It's worship. It is a demonic worship. And folks, the way we're going with so many now into demonic things, it's not inconceivable that men, I believe a great number of people on this earth will trade, will gladly accept prosperity even at the expense of worshipping a demonic image, a demonic power. We don't know what this is, but I know one thing, the Scripture makes it very clear. I don't care whether Jesus comes, it matters not whether he comes concerning the Mark of the Beast, whether it's before the great troubles, the great tribulation that the Bible talks so clearly about, or the middle or at the end of it. The Bible makes it very clear that we will not be here when the wrath of God, the wrath of God, that could be after the tribulation, the wrath of God comes upon the earth. By the time the Mark, whatever that Mark may be, where you cannot buy or sell, you already be safe in the arms of Jesus, so don't worry about it. You know what you're going to be able to say when you get before the throne of God? You think for one minute that Jesus who died for his bride is going to have you stand before him saying, I bear in my body the Mark of a beast? His bride? No, you're going to say with Paul, I bear in my body the Marks of the Lord Jesus. Glory to God. I don't hear anybody in this church talk about the Mark of the beast. You're going to talk about the Marks of Jesus Christ and focused on him. Hallelujah. Glory be to God. God has promised to preserve Zion in perilous times with creative miracles. Go back to Isaiah 4, folks. I'll get through this quickly here. To the right. Isaiah 4 again. Same verses that I read to you, but I want to show you something. We can't pass over. Isaiah 4 or 5. Did you hear what I said? God's going to preserve you with creative miracles? You heard Denny Durant talk about how they were praying in for their school. They had no money for all these poor kids, about 2,000 kids in the thing, and prayed and prayed, oh God, we don't have any money, we don't have any food, and a guy calls them and said, Pastor, do you have a freezer? A truck has just broken down on a highway outside your town. He said, yeah, well, I think I can get a couple of freezers. He said, no, no, no, you're not talking about... He said, I got an 18-wheeler. And that provided the whole summer food. If God has to allow an 18-wheeler to break down in your block, I don't know. Let me tell you what the Bible says, alright? Isaiah 4, verse 5 again. And the Lord will what? Create upon every dwelling place at your house, at your home, every dwelling place of Mount Sinai, and upon her assemblies, the churches, the very buildings, the people that inhabit those buildings and worship the Lord. He says, a cloud and smoke by day, that's guidance. The shining of a flaming fire by night for upon all the glory shall be a fence. What is the glory of God? That's Christ's presence. He said, if you have my presence in your life, you maintain my presence. I'm going to guide you, I'm going to defend you, and I am going to create out of nothing preservation for you. Folks, tell me when God lost his creative power, who created the heavens and the earth and sent man and closed the lion's mouth and walked through fiery furnaces with his servants. Tell me when God ever lost that creating power. God says, I'm going to create for you. But in 1970s, when we had that terrible recession, I thought, well, I'm going to prepare. I went out and we bought a big farm in East Texas, and I bought 50 head of black Angus cattle, and I built lakes and stocked them with fish, and I was going to ride out the tribulation or whatever. Boy, I was set. But it always dawned on me, well, why me and all those Christians in New York, what are they going to do? What's so special about me? And all the people running for the hills, they got to think about that. Well, who are you? I mean, God's got millions of Christians in cities that can't escape. The cattle all got Bang's disease and had to sell them. The fish cost more to feed than you could go and buy at the store. I got in debt trying to save myself. My secretary's sitting down here, been with us for years, and Barbara's telling me way back, somebody told her to store water, so she stored these big plastic jugs a couple years ago, went in the closet yesterday, and there was no water, and they were bone dry. They'd evaporated. Now, if God tells you to store food, I would store food. If the Holy Ghost tells you to do that, according to your faith, so be it. I do believe you always should have two or three weeks of groceries in your place if you can afford it. But some of you can't afford it. And God's going to see you through. How He does it, I have no idea. I'm not going to give you a list of things that you're supposed to do. He said, I will create for you in your house, in your dwelling, I will create for you a preservation plan that will be all designed just for you. Hallelujah. Now, folks, that's the Word of the Living God. Every household, bringing deliverance out of nothing. Now, Christians have been writing to me saying, Pastor Dave, what about Social Security? What if that fails? What if Medicare fails? And what if I lose my job? A thousand what-ifs. And I'll tell you, if you're in Zion, it really doesn't matter. I mean this with everything in my heart. God will get more glory out of doing something out of nothing for you. What a testimony for His glory. Now, if you don't want holiness, forget security. The Bible says, those left in Zion shall be called holy. Holy people. Not the self-righteousness of the flesh, but those who are trusting in the imputed righteousness of Jesus Christ, allowing the Holy Spirit to mortify the deeds of their flesh. All the Old Testament cries out, God is miraculous. God supernaturally. Where can you show me anywhere in the Old Testament that God delivers people except supernaturally? What about the manna fall from heaven? Do you think that could be manufactured by General Motors or anybody else? No malls anywhere? Nothing? Not a corner grocer? And God took care of him? He cried for meat, He rained meat down out of heaven. They needed water, He got it out of a rock. They needed transportation, He opens up the Red Sea. He takes a prophet, He takes an old prophet and feeds him with a raven, and then when that goes down, He sends him to a widow, and that widow suddenly discovers her barrel never goes dry and her oil never fails. That's creative supernatural deliverance. And folks, until you're ready to believe that's the kind of God you serve, that's the only way you can have faith. You've got to believe that my God is supernatural. He'll provide supernaturally. Now, I'm going to close in just a minute, but here's the most irrefutable thing. Nobody can argue with this one. God is going to preserve us in Zion because He set up the throne of His own Son there. He has enthroned Christ in Zion. I have set my King upon my holy hill in Zion, Psalms 2.6. God says in the same chapter, Why do the heathen rage? Why all this foolish imagination and counsel against my people? Why do they plot against me and my anointed? God says, I'm going to laugh at their conspiracies and all their raging and all their evil counsel against me and my holy people. And God declares Zion will stand any storm. Zion is immovable because in Zion there's a King on the throne. Where is He enthroned? Here in my heart. He's enthroned. He's King. He's Lord. If God has enthroned Christ in your heart, you are one of His servants. You're one of His subjects. And I want to tell you the only way God, the only way the devil could bring down Zion is to put Jesus off His throne. And that's impossible. How safe are you? You're as safe as the King on His throne. Glory to God. The Bible said He's not going to turn over His reign to the Heavenly Father until every enemy is put under His feet. Every enemy. The King of the church of Jesus Christ has the power to preserve His church. If He's King, He has all power. He's going to preserve His people. Hallelujah. Now let me summarize in closing. Zion is the New Testament name for the church and the body of Christ. And you are born into it by faith in Christ. And before you can ever exercise true faith, you've got to lay hold of the fact that I am a Zionian. I am in Zion. And being in Christ, I am safe. That doesn't mean you won't have some suffering. But even in the suffering, He said He'll bring joy. He'll bring peace. You'll not starve to death. He'll put clothes on your back, He said. He'll provide food for you. David said, I'm old and gray. I've never seen God's people beg for bread. Can you imagine Jesus dying for a church, a bride who in her last days, just before she goes to her wedding, has got a demonic mark on her head and on her forearm and begging for bread and starving to death. God forbid that we should ever attribute something like that to our blessed Savior and God. No, no, no, no. God loves Zion. His eyes are before Him. It's beautiful. It's His eternal city. Beautiful for situation. He speaks of Zion as a land that the Lord God cares for. The eyes of the Lord God are always upon it from the beginning of the year to the end of the year. 365 days a year, my eye, God said, is on Zion. For the Lord does keep it. I will water it every moment, lest anybody hurt it. I will keep it night and day. For the Lord hath chosen Zion. He has desired it for His habitation. Alright, one last closing verse. Now, please, balcony behind me in the annex. I'm going to give you a verse that proves that it's impossible that the devil can destroy you without getting by the walls that God has put around you. And that's an impossible situation. And I want to prove to you once and all that you endeavor to fear the mark of the beast, not to fear of anything that's coming in the future. One verse that nails it down. I want you to go to Luke first chapter. And don't race around trying to find it until I tell you where it's at. Because I want us all to get it once together. Can you stand while you're holding your Bible there? This is so holy, this is so wonderful, you ought to be standing anyhow. Glory to God. Are you ready? Verse 73, beginning to read. The oath which he swore to our father Abraham. Are we the children of Abraham by faith? God has made a sworn statement to us, a sworn promise, that he would grant unto us that we being delivered out of the hand of our enemies might serve him with fear in holies and rites before him. How long? All the days of our life. Now folks, if you're alive when there's a mark of the beast, he said you're going to live without fear all the days of your life. So don't fear it. Don't fear a depression. Don't fear a breakdown of the technology. Don't fear the loss of a job. Don't fear your rent payments. Don't fear that you might not eat. You're a Zionian. You have promises that you will live without fear in holiness all, all the days of your life. I intend to live that way. Hallelujah, I intend to live that way. Heavenly Father, I ask you to give us messages in the days to come, Sunday after Sunday, of hope and strength that we will be strong in faith in the days ahead. When all around us people are trembling, we will have a testimony, a steadfastness in the Lord, because we approach the storm with peace and assurance that we're in Zion. God says I have my heart in Zion, my throne, my sun, rules and reigns in Zion. Let no devil, no demon, no power touch Zion, for Zion is my city set on a hill. Hallelujah. Beautiful for situations. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. I want us to sing a chorus. I'm going to give an invitation in just a moment, but just sing with us a moment this chorus. Just hold steady, please. I ask you not to leave. ...the Holy Spirit to lead me in this invitation that I give to you now in the annex and balcony here on the main floor, wherever you are listening to me. The invitation is this, and I believe the Lord gave this to my heart, whispered it into my spirit. There are some of you here now that need to get out of your seat and walk down the aisle. Come and stand here. I'll pray with you. If you'll come humbly before the Lord and honestly. And it's for this reason. I believe the Holy Spirit's revealed to me that there are a number of you here this morning who find it difficult to even sleep because there's a restlessness, there's an anxiety, could be a depression. And I'll tell you what, if there is a sin that has not been totally surrendered, it's that one sin you think, if I can just get victory over this, I've got it made, you know. God's looking deeper than that. But even that can cause you to be restless and under guilt, fear. There's really no peace where there's sin, where there's failure. The Lord's trying to bring some of you back to your first love for Him because something's happened. You sit so comfortably now in front of a TV set or a VCR and you watch R-rated filth. And some of you have really allowed your mind to become gripped and polluted by this. I want you to know that those scenes are indelibly printed on your mind and you'll never shake them off except some miracle of the Holy Spirit. And it's a pollution that disturbs the Spirit. Now, some of you may come down and say, Pastor, that's not my problem. It's just that I have not been walking close to the Lord. I'm not seeking God as I should. I'm not into His Word. I'm drifting. I'm not where I should be. Simply put, I'm not where I should be. And I want to draw closer to the Lord. Your love for Him may be waning, lukewarm, or even cold. I want you to have your seat. While we sing it again, up in the balcony go to the stairs on either side and in the annex go to the back of the auditorium and they'll show you the door in here. Come down the stairs and right down any aisle and meet me here. I'll pray with you and we'll believe the Lord. I'm not trying to just build up numbers here. This is life and death with me and with you. This is your day. This is the time the Lord wants to meet you. The Holy Spirit's in this church and He's in this service and He wants to change your life. Follow these and come. Please move in close to make room for those that are coming, if you will, please. While we sing it. Coming. You can just line them across the back there because the aisles are full. Just across the back, just so they can hear. Get them inside the auditorium just so they can hear. All right. You that have come forward, look this way, please. Coming to Christ for any need is not a matter of just physically walking down an aisle. It's a heart matter. It's something from the heart. Now look at me, please. With everything in you, if you've come to Him with your heart, and said, Lord Jesus, I want a change. I don't want to go on the way I've been going. I want a change. And God looks at the heart. Man looks at the outward appearance, but God looks at the heart. He saw everything and heard everything and is viewing everything as you walked even down the aisle and as you stand here now. Just coming up here doesn't do anything. Nothing I can say can change you other than the fact that your heart is willing to hear the truth that sets you free. There has to be confession, first of all, and acknowledgement. I am not where I should be. I am not what the Scripture declares. God said whether you're hot or cold, but because you're lukewarm, I would spit you out of my mouth. He said, I'm not hot for God. I'm not hot for Christ. I don't have that heat, that passion. And He wants to give that to you. He wants you to walk out of this building today with that passion for Him. Now, I'm a minister and I pray and I seek God and that's my calling. But even as a minister, I have to guard that. Because it's so easy to just slip and drift and allow things, little things, and say, Lord Jesus, awaken my spirit. And you're going to have to make a pledge in your heart, to your heart, that you will get into this Word and discipline yourself to study it and ask the Holy Spirit to make it life to you because faith comes by hearing the Word of God. And you hear it only by reading it and the Holy Spirit gives you a hearing for it, an understanding, in other words, of the Word of God. Now, you see, we don't have a membership here at the church so you can't join. We're not trying to get you to join a church. We're trying to get you into Zion. And to say, I know whom I have believed. I know, I'm persuaded. Hallelujah. Now, this prayer I'm going to ask you to pray doesn't mean anything unless it comes from your heart, unless it becomes your prayer and not mine. Would you pray this with me now? Jesus, I walk down this aisle and I stand here now because I admit I have a need in my life. I need to be awakened. I need forgiveness for living selfishly, for drifting, for not seeking your Word, for not praying as I ought. O Jesus, I want to do these things but not out of obligation but out of the wooing of the Holy Spirit and the desire of my own heart. So put a desire in my heart to live with passion, to absorb your Word and to be consumed with Christ. Lord Jesus, I renew my heart. I renew my faith and my confidence in you. By faith, I acknowledge Jesus Christ as King and Lord of my life. And I acknowledge now that I'm born in Zion. He is my King. He is my Lord. And I trust you, Lord, with my present and with my future. Now will you tell him in your own words how much you love him and give him thanks for what he's doing right now. Lord, I give you thanks. I love you. I praise you. And I give you my heart. I give everything that I am and all that I have. Hallelujah. Now look at me, please. If you were a super Calvinist, you would say, you don't need altar calls. And what can happen if people just come up and say a prayer and so forth? But I want you to know that boys like Nicky Cruz, who were gang leaders, came at an invitation that I gave just like you, and now evangelists and preaching and winning thousands to Christ. And over the years, thousands and thousands have come to altars like this. And even though some people decry altar calls and everything else, thousands are in the ministry, missionaries, and God has answered prayer. So I believe in it. I believe in it with all my heart. He said he made us fishers of men. And when God gets you on the hook, I'm not going to let it go. I'm going to draw it in. I'm going to wind it up and bring it into the road. Hallelujah. Amen. I'll tell you what. If you really believe what I preached, and you really believe that we can confess our sins, he's faithful and just to forgive us and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If you honestly believe that the prayer of faith saves you and your commitment to serve him with the help of the Holy Spirit and the power of the Holy Ghost, then let faith arise. I am truly his. Jesus is king and lord of my life. Every promise in the book now is mine. And I'm going to put my faith in that. He's promised to keep me from falling. He's promised to give me power over my sin and my lust. I don't have to fight it in my own strength. I just call on him and he will give me power. He will say, don't do it. He'll give me strength. Amen. Now that's something to be happy about. That's something to rejoice about. Amen. I want you to turn around and with at least ten people, every one, say, God's good. God is faithful. God is faithful, my brother. Yes, he is. God's faithful. God's good. Amen.