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- The Towers Have Fallen (Sept 16 2001) Part 3
The Towers Have Fallen (Sept 16 2001) - Part 3
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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Sermon Summary
This sermon emphasizes the need for repentance and turning away from wicked ways to avoid God's judgment. It warns of the consequences of societal sins, such as idolatry, immorality, shedding innocent blood, and eradicating God's name from history. The message highlights the importance of heeding God's warnings through biblical examples like the judgment on Sodom, Rome, Greece, and Russia, urging a return to God to avoid severe consequences.
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I prospered you above all nations. I endured your worship of gold and silver. I endured your sameless sensuality. I endured your mockery, your continual shedding of innocent blood and murdering of babies. I've endured your tireless efforts to eradicate my name even from your history books. And now I've stricken in hopes of saving you, that you repent and turn from your wicked ways so that I can heal your land and I will destroy your enemies. Now folks, show me where that's not scriptural. Prove to me from God's Word that He will not judge America as He's judged Sodom, Rome, Greece, and now Russia. I've just returned from Russia a few months ago and walking through St. Petersburg and Moscow, shocked at total depression. Average wage $50 a month, nothing but broken down infrastructures everywhere, men laying on the streets, drunk on cheap vodka, drug addicts now, everywhere. Such, such devastation. I broke down in front of ministers and wept and wailed in ice arena, in hockey arena in Moscow, because they tried to outrule God out of their society. They went down the same road we're going down. God said it's enough. And Russia is under severe judgment. It's turned it into a third world nation. Here's the message from the prophet Ezekiel. Cast away from you all your transgressions whereby you've transgressed. Make you a new heart, a new spirit. For why would you die, O house of Israel? I have no pleasure in the death of him that dieth, saith the Lord God. Wherefore, turn yourselves and live. Folks, God knows the pain and sorrow of the death of the innocent. Who could be more innocent than his own son? Who is more innocent? And God laid the world's sins, the sins of the whole world, on the back of his own son. And let wicked man kill him. Should he tell me that he's not a feeling God, that he doesn't feel pain? He said, I take no pleasure in this. And I'll tell you why God bottles tears, because they're his own tears he's retrieving. He weeps through those who are his beloved children. Every tear you shed as a believer in Jesus, a lover of Christ, those are the tears of God. Jesus is still a man and he weeps and he weeps through his children. It's the only evidence he can give. And I tell you now, Jesus has been weeping. God pities he weeps, but his justice and his righteousness force him to restrain his pity and carry out righteous judgments as a last resort. His justice demands, his justice demands that he lay these sins on his son and that an innocent son of God would die. Oh yes, so many innocent people have died. Not that there was personal judgment on them, many righteous died, but God's trying to save a nation. And what's going to happen if this nation misses the message and we don't turn wholly back to the Lord because the window of opportunity is very short now? What's going to happen if abortion continues and we end up killing born babies for research purposes? If we continue rubbing the precious name of Jesus out of our American history? That's what they're trying to do now. All the school books are being rewritten, the majority of school books are being written, removing God's name from American history. Now, what happens if we rebuild bigger and better only to enrich ourselves even more? And all the talk that I hear now is that somebody's going to build the towers bigger and better than ever. What's going to happen if we don't trust God now instead of trusting our armed might? Let me answer that question, not out of my own heart, not out of speculation, but the Word of God, Isaiah, clearly tells us what follows, rejection of his call to repentance and turning to pride and boasting of greatness. Look at verse 18, chapter 9. The Bible says they'll be devouring flowers, mounting to the heavens, darkness over the land, national disunity, a stricken economy, every man out for himself to survive. Now listen to this scripture, for wickedness burneth as the fire. It shall devour the briars and thorns and shall kindle in the thickets of the forest. They shall mount up like the lifting up of smoke, the whole land. Next through the wrath of the Lord of hosts is the land darkened. It will be darkened by smoke of fires. And the people shall be as the fuel of the fire. No man shall spare his brother, it will be every man for himself. He shall snatch on the right hand and be hungry. God's going to touch the economy. He shall eat on the left hand and they shall not be satisfied. They shall eat every man the flesh of his own arm. That means he's going to protect his little world and God help you if you try to get near the flesh of his own arm. Let me read to you a message, just a note, a message I delivered from this pulpit. It was September 7th, 1992. It's entitled, A Prophetic Warning to New York City. Some of you were here perhaps at that time, 1992. And let me read this. This was from this pulpit. Right now, I believe God is speaking a warning to New York City. And I wrestled with this severe word as I prepared this message. And I prayed, Lord, is this really going to happen? Again and again I heard this still small voice preach it and warn the people. Those who want the truth will receive it. This warning is not meant to scare you. It's meant only for you to take to the Lord and pray. This is what I believe the Lord has shown me. Thirty days of chastisement will fall on New York City, such as the world has never seen. God's going to let down the walls. Unimaginable violence, looting, thousand fires will be burning at the same time throughout the city and its boroughs. Times Square will be ablaze, the flames that ascend into heaven will be seen for miles. Fire trucks will not be able to handle them. Trains and buses will be shut down. Billions of dollars will be lost. Broadway shows will stop completely. It will cause businesses to flee the city in an unstoppable hemorrhage. The violence will be ferocious. It will shock the whole world. Our streets will be lined, not with just National Guard, but the militia. Our Los Angeles fires were confined to a few sections of the city, but New York will be ablaze in its boroughs. Such things are expected in third world countries, but not in a civilized nation like the United States. Yet, in not too long a time afterward, New York City will go bankrupt, the city's queen city cast into the dirt, a city of poverty. When will all this happen, you ask? All I can say is I believe I will be here when it happens. When it happens, no matter where we are, in our apartment, on the job, God's people are not to panic or fear. And I've been asked so many calls in our Texas office, Brother Dave, the websites covering this whole United States, is this what you saw? And my answer is no, it's not. Not at all, because what I see is far more, far more severe. The heartland won't be spared, because you see, if we turn away from God now, if we don't have voices rising, then this is what happened to Israel. The whole nation came under economic collapse. I don't like to hear this. Folks, we didn't want to hear it then, and it's happened. And now we wait. You say, well, can't any of this be avoided? Absolutely yes. Yes. If this president proves to be a Josiah, a man who sought the Lord with all his heart, according to God's pattern or the tracts of the Holy Spirit, we may be given a reprieve for as long as we have a godly man who not turns to the right or to the left, but completely trembles at the Word of God, turned to second kings. And I'll give you that hope, if you will, see second kings. And if you want to know what to pray about, folks, this is it. Pray that God will cause President Bush to tremble at the Word of God, that he will stay on his knees and not be turned aside by advisors. Chapter 22. No clapping, please, in this message. I'm going to be completed in just a moment. Second Kings, verse chapter 22, if you will, please. Josiah has just read the Word of the Lord. They've read it to him. There are prophecies of judgment upon the nation because of sin. And he sends representatives to hold to the prophetess. And she gives this message and sends it to Josiah. And this is the message. This is the message. I believe God wants to send to a Christian president. And listen to it. And she said to them, thus saith the Lord of Israel, tell the man that sent you, tell President Bush, for example, thus saith the Lord, behold, I will bring evil upon this place and upon the inhabitants thereof, even all the words of the book which the king of Judah hath read, because they have forsaken me and have burned incense to other gods, that they might provoke me to anger with all the works of their hands. Therefore, my wrath shall be kindled against this place and shall not be quenched. But to the king or to the president, which sent you to inquire of the Lord, thus shall you say to him, thus saith the Lord God of Israel, as touching the words which you have heard, because thine heart was tender, thou hast humbled thyself before the Lord, when thou heardest what I spake against this place and against the inhabitants thereof, that they should become a desolation and a curse. Thou hast rent thy clothes, and you have wept before me, and I have heard thee, saith the Lord. Behold, therefore, here's our hope. Behold, therefore, I will gather thee unto thy fathers, and thou shalt be gathered into thy grave in peace, and that I shall not see all the evil which I will bring upon this place. And brought the king word again. God said, as long as you're in power, as long as you weep before me, as long as you don't turn the right or the left, as long as you tremble at my word, you will not see what is coming. It will not come under your rule. It will not come in your time. My prayer is that we would pray that desperately and even this morning before we close this service, to call this church to pray that God give us, that God give the spirit of Josiah in the White House. We need to plead with God that the spirit of Josiah, the spirit, the same spirit that rested on him, not, folks, not that we should be afraid of what is coming, but to give us some time to evangelize, because there seems to be a visitation of the Holy Spirit that is running in parallel with these judgments. There seems to be God speaking all over the land. Churches in Dallas, churches in Denver are being packed with people. And this was happening even before it. And prayer meetings were called. And these are the Christians, these are the believers that are coming together. There's a temporary pull and call among those who are not believers. But, folks, this is the hope. And here's what the prophet Zechariah said, Thus saith the Lord of hosts, Turn ye unto me, saith the Lord, and I will turn to you. I will turn to you. The most profound word of all with this, I'm going to close. Go to Jeremiah, the 18th chapter, please. And with this, I close. Could you stand with me while we read this? Jeremiah 18, starting with verse 5. Then the word of the Lord came to me. See, the Lord sends his word, saying, O house of Israel, can I
The Towers Have Fallen (Sept 16 2001) - Part 3
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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.