In this sermon, the preacher talks about the presence of Christ and how the Lord spoke to him. He presents a scenario where a person is faced with the option to quit and share their problems with others or to trust in God's will. The preacher emphasizes the importance of trusting in God's sovereignty and divine governance, as stated in the Bible. He also highlights the current state of the world, with various disasters and threats, and urges the congregation to find peace and rest in the Lord amidst these challenges.

This recording is provided by Times Square Church in New York City. You're welcome to make additional copies for free distribution to friends. All other unauthorized duplication or electronic transmission is a violation of copyright and other applicable laws. This recording cannot be posted on any website. However, written permission to link to the Times Square Church homepage may be requested by emailing info at timessquarechurch.org. Other recordings are available by calling 1-800-488-0854 or by writing to Times Square Church Tape Ministry, 1657 Broadway, New York, New York, 10019. As I mentioned, these are very perilous times and I hear people saying this is World War III. You hear it everywhere you go. But this past week, I started writing down, before I preach, I just want to tell you something that should give you perspective. You have to get a perspective from history. If you just take it issue by issue and event by event, you'll not capture the full picture of what is going on. Let me tell you my memories of just what has happened in my lifetime concerning Israel and the Mideast and all of the armies that have gathered over the years. And I just wrote this down. I'm going to go through what my notes are and then I'm going to preach. I think we'll call this His Eye is on the Sparrow. His eye is not on the Mideast right now. His eye is on the sparrow, which means you and I. But in 1967, a terrorist organization called Al-Fatah terrorized Israel and sabotaged. And Syria started bombing the kibbutzes and their settlements. Gamal Nasser sent Egyptian troops into the Sinai and announced that Egypt was prepared to declare war on Israel. King Hussein of Jordan put his army under Nasser's control. Iraq had joined with Nasser and King Hussein. Egypt, Jordan, Syria, Iraq declared war on Israel. Israel mobilized on June 5th, 1967. I'll never forget, as long as I live, as a young pastor, because Israel made a preemptive strike on June 5th, 1967, and bombed all the airfields in Egypt, Syria, Jordan, Iraq, destroying 452 planes in three hours. The war lasted six days. Israel marched toward Cairo, ready to take Cairo. We thought, this is it. This is World War III. This is Armageddon. It was preached by prophets, God's prophets all over. And it was from the pulpits where I was. I said the same thing. This is World War III. It's all over. And this nation was in absolute panic. And we thought that was it. Israel smashed the Jordanian army. They ran over the Golan Heights, dropped their weapons, and ran frightened. Israel moved to the very edge of Cairo. Iraq was helpless. On June 10th, they called a ceasefire. Six-day war in Israel prevailed. 1973, this is 33 years ago. Yom Kippur War. Again, Egypt, Syrian troops massed at the ceasefire lines again. Israel mobilized again. 2 p.m., October 6th, 1973, Arabs struck suddenly. In the south, Egypt sent in 70,000 troops across the Sinai, 1,000 tanks across the Suez Canal. And in the north, 40,000 Syrian troops moved in with 800 tanks and a huge army. Iraq sent troops. Russia sent in all kinds of ammunition and weapons. Israel armed again and became a powerful force against these. And again, pushed the Jordanians back to within 25 miles of Damascus. Again, pushed Nasser back to the border of the Suez Canal. And again, people said, this is the last war. All the armies, the prophets were saying, all the armies are gathered around Jerusalem now, and this is the end. Israel prevailed. The problem is Russia threatened to move in with their own forces. And you remember in 1973, all our forces were on alert all over the world. And there was a tremendous threat. The world was in panic. I don't know if some of you remember that 33 years ago. And remember the OPEC cut oil production 5% on America and Holland. Remember the long lines at gas stations. It was a fearful time, and everyone said, this is the end, this is World War III. 1973, you remember that. And then in 1974, terrorist groups from the Al-Fatah began to plant explosions. Explosions and human bodies were exploding. PLO started using young men as human explosives. Israel, 1979, a year later, could not take it anymore, and they started bombing the headquarters of PLO, bombed it, and held prisoners, the leaders of PLO. Now, again, in 2006, the Arabs have forgot the lessons of history, and now we have a terrorist organization called the Hezbollah. Now, folks, this is not, and you've got to understand this, I'm not a politician. I'm not an expert in the Mideast, but I know my Bible. And I was there right after the war in 1973 in Israel. There, the Jordanian, they took us up on the Golden Heights, and we were one of the first groups in there. At that time, the cross in Switzerland was popping around the world, and I was treated as a celebrity. Allowed to go up on the Golden Heights. Jordanian tanks were still burning. We were one of the first to go down. The doors were open, went down, some of the first Americans to see the Wailing Wall. And I saw the hand of God. I saw how God protected Israel. That's when I became truly a burden for the people of Israel. And this is not a war between Israel and Hezbollah. This is a war of Islam against Christianity. This is, folks, this is against Christ. These, folks, the enemy is not Lebanon. It's really not the Hezbollah. This is probably going to have a ceasefire. I don't see this as the end of the war unless Iran comes in. But an army official, the head of their Israeli army, and their Knesset has said they will not allow Iran to get a hydrogen bomb or nuclear weapons. Which means they have to bomb out all of Iran's facilities. And they know where they are. They have the biggest spy agency in the world. And they will do it. If that happens, then we are in the Third World War. But, folks, this is, you know, the Lord has said armies will gather around Jerusalem. Well, since 1948, that's happened five times. This is the sixth time. So we have to keep it in perspective. But for us, we don't look at headlines. If you are a lover of Christ, you know the Shiites in the mullahs, they are running it. Shiites are hated even among many of the other groups in Iraq. And they're the ones that are causing the problem. They are the demon-possessed leaders of Islam determined to wipe Israel off the map. And every one that's left would have to become an Islamic to survive. And that is where it's headed. It's a threat to the United States. So when we pray for Israel, we are praying also that Islamic forces will be driven back. This is absolute demonic war against the true Church of Jesus Christ. And until you see that, you watch the news and you'll start taking sides. And you'll see all of the devastation of war. But, folks, that is nothing compared to the devastation. And, folks, when we were in, how timely our conference was in Israel. Folks, I remember the first night when we called all the people to prayer. What a sound went up to heaven. The weeping and the crying and the praying. It was the Holy Spirit praying through people. We've been receiving e-mails and they're saying it was a visitation of the Holy Spirit. It was not a conference. And certainly after this war just broke out. But I think God in some way was trying to encourage the body of Christ. We met Arab pastors. In Haifa, I had meetings with some Arab pastors and what Godly men. In Lebanon, there are many believing Christians, many of them having to flee. And we hurt for them and we pray for them. When we talk about praying for Israel, we're praying for God's people all over that region. But God is moving in every Islamic country on the face of the earth. There's an underground church and God is still moving. And we can give Him thanks for that. Having said that, I want to get to my message. And I want to speak to you about the sparrows and the hair on your head. Father, we thank you that we have a hope in these days. We're not bound by the events that happen. We can look back to history and we can see how God has had His way. God has everything under control from the very beginning to this day. Lord, I pray you encourage and lift up our spirits today. We are not those that sorrow like the world sorrows. We do not tremble as the world trembles because we have a hope that's based on an eternal salvation. Now, Lord, speak clearly to our hearts and chase all fear from our hearts and let us stand as believers. Able, Lord, even in this time to rejoice in you, not because of the suffering but in spite of the suffering. Nothing, no one can take this joy of Jesus out of our hearts. We magnify your name. Now, Spirit of God, come and speak through me. Speak to us and let us be able to walk away from this church this morning with our hearts at peace and at rest in the Lord. Hallelujah. We don't preach politics from this pulpit, Lord. We preach the governing power of a sovereign God. Hallelujah. And the glory of His Son through His crucifixion and resurrection. In Jesus' name, amen. Beloved, every day you wake up now and turn on the news, it's another frightening experience. Terrorists blowing up trains in Spain. Terrorists blowing up trains in India. Hundreds and hundreds in India die through this terrorism. Disastrous earthquake last year in Pakistan. Hundreds of thousands still homeless and still hungry. After the mass tsunami, there are still thousands and even hundreds of thousands homeless, hungry and hurting. You listen to these news reports. Think of what's happened in the past two years, especially even in the United States. All the hurricanes in Florida. Katrina strikes and destroys much of America, one of America's major cities. Even now, there are thousands upon thousands of acres burning in Texas and Oklahoma, Utah and California. Never before in the history of the country have there been so many fires, hurricanes. And now the whole world is focused on North Korea, where a mad dictator fires off missiles and threatens the whole world. And no world leader seems to be able to know what to do about him. A mad, devil-possessed dictator. Now we have a mad, devil-possessed dictator in Iran. Iran declaring they're going to to have nuclear bombs with one ambition is as to wipe Israel off the face of the earth. Blasting the nation. And nobody seems to be able to deal with it. And then came Gaza and Lebanon. And all these things are breaking out. It's amazing what is coming in the way of bad news. This is a bad news generation. This past week, I heard a doctor just attended leaders, world leaders, scientists and others about the avian flu. And I had to turn it off. I just couldn't handle it. They said there's no question about it. Over 15 now humans have died from the avian flu. They're waiting for a mutation. And if that happens, they say one fifth of the world's population is going to die. Folks, we get this input from all over. Every day you turn on the news now. Almost every hour it's changing. And now the world, the secular world says there are no more solutions. Everything is spinning out of control. Every time I go into a restaurant, almost every time, you see this look on the face of people. My daughter had the waiter sit down and said, what's happening? Found out she was a Christian. What's happening? I'm scared. Everybody around me is scared. There's an absolute panic. Folks, I've been through this before. I've been through these panics. They say the people, the secular people, especially those who are in the very liberal column, say that there is no divine governance. There's no governance now. No one is governing the universe. In other words, nobody's in control. Everything is spinning out of control. Now, we've been warned that God said he'd shake everything that can be shaken. So we should not be surprised. We understand that. But, folks, unless you and I get a hold of something from the scripture, unless we get our faith founded so strong, you're going to have to do it because it's going to be intensified. There's no going to be letting up. There will probably be a temporary ceasefire where we're at now. But things are happening that have never happened before in any of these past events that we've been talking about. And everybody knows something is about to break. James Robinson, a friend of mine who's on television, sent me his latest warning and asked me to sign up on it. I didn't feel led to sign up. But he said God has shown him and then Pat Robertson that a great world-shaking event is going to come and change the course of the earth and the world and civilization as we know it. Some of us have been saying that for a long time. But, folks, that's not the message of the church of Jesus Christ. We can see these things. We can hear them. But when they tell me that there's no divine governance, when there's nobody in control of the universe, all we have to do is go to our Bible. All we have to do is go to the word. Isaiah the prophet said, Come, listen, all you nations, and hear this, all you people of the earth. That's Isaiah 34. He said, I want you to give me your good ear. And then he proceeds to tell them. And this is what he said. For the kingdom is the Lord's, and he is the governor of all nations. He is the governor of all nations. Isaiah 40th chapter. Behold, the nations are like a drop in a bucket. They're counted as small dust in his balance. All nations before him are as nothing. They're counted to him less than nothing. It is God who sits upon the circle of the earth. And the inhabitants are like grasshoppers. To whom will you liken me? That's the word of God. Of course, God knows everything that's happening on the face of the earth. Nothing happens without his knowledge or his governance. And he is in control of all things. And he knows where it begins. He knows where it is now. He knows how it's going to end. But I want to tell you that the eye of God is not on ten God dictators around the world. His eye is not focused on world events. I want you to hear me close. That's not where his focus is. He has that. He knows the end from the beginning. There is a map. There is a plan of God. And it's coming to fruition. But in the meantime, while you and I sit here and listen to the news, where is his eye focused? What is the focus of God's eye? What is he looking about? What is his greatest concern right now in this particular year, this particular month, and this particular day right now? God said of the leaders of the world and the dictators and these mullahs, these demon-possessed mullahs, No sooner, Isaiah said, for the chapter, no sooner are they planted, no sooner than they take root, I blow on them, and they wither, and the whirlwind sweeps them away as chaff, and I reduce them to nothing. Now, folks, I have lived through a world war. When I was a boy, about seven years old, I was riding with my father in the hills of Pennsylvania. We were coming from a meeting he had conducted. Soft music was playing on the radio, and suddenly it's interrupted by a news bulletin. Pearl Harbor has just been bombed. Hawaii is in panic. Warships have been sunken and destroyed. And my dad said, this is it. This is the end. This is what we've been prophesying. Then came the blackouts, and we lived in a little town, and they had blackouts, and sirens were ringing. A little town, there were no bombers around, but everybody all over the country was in great panic. And when you went to school, they passed out these little cartoons of Hirohito, the world's Satan. And we were taught to hate the Japanese, and Hirohito, and the emperor of Japan, he was the great Satan. And, of course, in Germany, there was another dictator. A tin god had set himself up, terrorizing all of Europe and then into Russia. And it was a terrifying time. Wars were going on all over the world. Bombs were falling. Millions of soldiers were dying. There were gas shortages, and food shortages, and coupons. And Hitler seemed unstoppable. He was going to take Russia, then move to England. He wanted to take the whole world, wanted to be a world dictator. We had Hirohito in Japan. We had Hitler in Germany, in Europe. And then we had Stalin in Russia, murdering millions of his own people. And I remember the cartoons, and I remember all of the pictures. And I remember the panic, and I remember the prophecies, and I remember all these things that come by. But, folks, I live to see the day, and I'll never forget the picture of Hirohito on a battleship. And MacArthur was there, and with his head down in humility, he was signing papers of surrender. And Hitler dies in a bunker of suicide, and they can't find anything but his ashes. Stalin dies a wretched death. All gone. God said, no sooner are they planted, no sooner they take root, I blow on them, and a whirlwind carries them away. Saddam, who terrorized Iraq, is now a dying man sitting under terror, ready to be executed in a very short time from now. Where are all these world leaders? Where are all those that caused panic in the world? Folks, there's been a lot of panic in my lifetime over the years. I don't panic in what I see today. I've been through it before. I know that at the end, I don't care how I go, because if I go, I don't care what happens or how it happens, that's instant glory to me. It should be instant glory to you until we lose the very fear of death. The devil can't hurt you. No noose can hurt you. The moment you're ready to lay down your life and say, I'm not living for this world, live or die, I am the Lord's. These emperors are gone. Turn to Luke 21, and just keep in mind what Jesus told us to do. The 21st chapter of Luke, starting at verse 25, Luke 21, verse 25. There should be signs in the sun and the moon and the stars. And what does this say? That upon the earth distress of nations with perplexity, the sea and the rays warring, men's hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth for the powers of heaven shall be shaken off. Folks, remember what Jesus said, then you're to look up, look up because your redemption draws nigh. He said, when you see these things begin to happen, just begin. That means when you start seeing these things, lay hold of your faith, anchor your faith, get into the word of God, seek his face, draw nigh unto him, and get this solid, unwavering faith established in your heart because it's going to intensify. I don't think anybody could stand in this pulpit and tell you, nobody knows how terrifying. According to one of the national news services yesterday, they said the next thing is a dirty bomb is going to shake the world. Everybody is anticipating something. Folks, we should be on anticipation of anything, of this world, anticipating only one thing. Then shall the Son of Man appear in his glory and in his might. Jesus said, when you see these things begin to happen, then look up. And in a time of all shaking, I'm telling you, his eye is on the sparrow. I want you to follow me through. He said, behold, I'm reading from Psalms 33, 18. Behold, the eye of the Lord is where? In the Mideast. No, the eye of the Lord is upon them that fear him and upon them that hope in his mercy. Don't fear those who can only kill the body, but not the soul. Fear only him who has the power to destroy both soul and body in hell. Well, that's in Matthew 10. We just turn left to Matthew 10. Tenth chapter of Matthew. Folks, these are familiar scriptures, but you need to anchor them. We need to anchor them in our souls. Matthew 10, let's look at beginning of verse 28. Fear not them which kill the body are not able to kill the soul, but rather fear him that's able to destroy both soul and body in hell. Verse 29, are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? And one of them should not fall on the ground without your father. Now, folks, listen to me. Barclay, a wonderful, godly professor who is now dead. Barclay said the original is from a root Aramaic word that says to hop or skip along the ground. And it's a picture of a bird that's fallen out of the ground. It's not just God, Jesus or God, the father, counting the birds, the little sparrows that fall to the ground. But even their wounded hop, even their wounded fall from the nest. It's not just that. He said it in first Jesus is inferring. And Jesus saying every sparrow that falls from its nest and hops along the ground wounded. He has the knowledge of that. He understands it. Now, folks, this was given to the disciple. Look at the next verse. The very hairs of your head are all numbered. So fear you not. Therefore, you're worth many more sparrows. He said, I value those little sparrows. There's some value to those. And I'm concerned about every detail of their life. Think of it. The apostles had just been called to go forth into various cities. And they are told that they're not going to have a place to live. They're told not to take any money. They're told that they're going to suffer. They're going to be brought before synagogues and judges and they're going to be persecuted. And he starts naming all these things that are going to happen to them as they set out to do his will. Godly man in the center of God's will. He said, you're going to be hated. You're going to be despised. You'll be stoned. And that had to be a very fearful time because the Lord already told them he's going to leave them. And here are these fearful disciples facing the bleakest outlook of life. What kind of a ministry is this? What kind of a future? And the Lord is really trying to tell them one day you're going to drink of the cup that I cup that I have to drink. And they know that's death. So this is almost like a death sentence to to obey God and to fulfill his mission on Earth. And I'm sure the Lord sees the fear and senses the fear in his disciples. And so he comes up with the Lord makes it so clear that a child can understand it. And he says, look, he said, don't don't fear all that. But let me give you an antidote against fear. I want to give you an antidote. This should take away the fear of your life. He knows that they're going to be walking among sparrows and birds. And he said, you just look at that sparrow. Look at the one hopping along the ground. I know all about it. I have the knowledge of everybody. Now you think of this. Now, modern theologians say that this is just a quaint saying of Jesus, almost like it's a flippant thing. Suddenly, Jesus thought the last moment. No, Jesus never plays with words. He's speaking the mind of God because he is God in the flesh. And he said, you're going to have hard times. But everywhere you go and you are down, just look at the little bird. Look at the little sparrows fall around and look at the cloud, sometimes black with sparrows, black with it. It's not just a spare. It's all the little birds and the birds of the universe. And think of all the birds in the universe. And God says, my eye is on the sparrow. Your father's eye is on the sparrow. Now, that doesn't mean anything to you until you ask the Holy Ghost to make it real. I got this message and I took one of the doctors past week and I'm sitting in a chair and there's a big window floor to ceiling. I'm looking out and there's a little sparrow playing right there in front of me, right on the other side of the window. He just chirping away and playing and picking up worms. And I said, look at him. Get it. My eye is on that bird. What makes you think my eye is not on you? What makes you think I'm not concerned about every detail in your life? There's no detail in our lives that he is. And then he says, furthermore, I've numbered your father's number every hair on your head. Now, if you don't have hair, sir, he's numbered it. He knows it's zero. Now, I'm not trying to be facetious, folks. Jesus is saying to his disciples, look, I want to show you how your father cares for you in hard times. Every detail, your money, your house, your family, your husband, your wife, your marriage, your bills. Everything in your life. He knows about it. He's concerned about it. He's a loving father. He said, now, don't fear. Don't be afraid because your father knows. Folks, I have seen and heard. I've been reading so many letters of those who write to us from around the world. And I can honestly tell you, if you love Jesus and you're sitting here, I would say ninety nine out of one hundred of you could say that you're going through one of the worst testing times in your life. This has to be majority. Now, maybe you just got married and you're on honeymoon and it's honeymoon time, but it won't be long. These tests come, Mr. But it's more than that, folks. It's the bad devil who knows his time is short, who is pushing the Shiites now to take over all of Israel and take over all of the Western bloc. And so are these two bloc. And so this is a time of great testing. I got a letter this past week. It just blew me away. So pastor, a godly pastor of a church, small church in the south, about 50 people. And he has a five year old grandson. And the mother is alone now, his daughter. I think it was a divorce. And so he's been babysitting that child while the mother works as much as he could. So he became so bonded to that five year old son. And he put him to bed. This had been a few years ago. He put him to bed when he woke up. The baby was dead from SIDS, sudden infant death syndrome. His jewel, the apple of his eye. No warning. The child was healthy and strong. He said it was a devastating time in his life. And that wasn't the end of it. The mother couldn't handle it. This is the pastor's daughter. And his daughter couldn't handle the death of her son, the five year old. So she overdosed on Oxycontin. And he got a call. He wasn't in town. He got a call and said your daughter's dead. But she survived. But she was brain damaged. And now for the past few years, this dear pastor has been caretaking his daughter 24 hours a day, seven days a week. She can talk. And she's alive. But her body, the rest of her body is paralyzed. And then he goes into a study and he said, my God, my God, what's going on? And the next year, this past year, he's in the ports in the back and his teenage, his youngest son comes to him and says, Dad, I've got some heavy news, but I know you have a heart problem and you can't take it. He said, well, son, I have to know. He said, I've been indicted for two murders. I killed the pusher who gave drugs to my sister. This was the daughter that was paralyzed. And he said, I'm indicted for his murder and his girlfriend. Now, let me stop for just a minute. I'll come back to the story. But let me tell you, when that man is in his office and he is overwhelmed, he took out the picture of his little five year old grandson. I'm not telling you a tear jerking story because I just talked this man two days ago. And I called him. Wonderful man of God. He said, well, Dave, I took my baby's picture out of the door and I had a number of pictures and I just lost it. I just lost it. Let me ask you something. Do you think that man's thinking about the Mideast? Do you think he's talking about thinking about the war, the economy? You think he's focused on any world event? No. He's he's focused on one thing. I am in over my head and I don't know what to do. Folks, let me take it a step further. If this man's sitting at his desk, he looks out the window. And there's a sparrow's nest and he just looks across the pain, outside the pain, and that sparrow falls to the ground and the father sees it. And the father knows it. Who would tell me that on the other side of the pain where a pastor sits weeping and broken and not knowing which way to turn? How can you tell me how can anybody say that God's interest in that sparrow, but not interested in this man? That his focus, if it's there, it's here, surely because he's of such value to the Lord, that man. And when I talked, he said, brother, I was sitting there overwhelmed and thinking, why fight anymore? It's enough. He said the presence of Jesus. He said the door opened. And the presence of Jesus came in the room. And I sensed that he was sitting opposite my desk. Beautiful, incredible presence of Christ. And he said the Lord spoke to him and said, I know. He said, I'll give you two options. If you want to quit, that's your option. You can tell everybody about your problems. Every passerby, everyone who knows you, everyone in your circle, anyone, you can tell them why you're quitting. You can tell them about the death of your grandson. Tell them about your daughter. Tell them about your son who's now in prison awaiting a death sentence. Now, can you imagine a father sitting in his office knowing his son is awaiting a death sentence? He said, you have an option. Your option is you can quit and I'll still love you. You can tell people your story. A lot of people will sympathize with you. He said you have another option. And he spoke with such love and grace. He said, just kindly put the picture back in your desk. And trust me, just trust me now. Nothing's going to happen to you except in my will. And I know what I'm doing. And I'm going to give you the grace that you need. Your option is to just go ahead. You can quit. You can go that way. And I'm still your father. But the other option is get up. Take courage and walk out and face your future because I'm not finished with you. He said, Brother Dave, I just put the picture away. He said, I'm not going to sit there and mourn over it anymore. And he said, I was filled with peace and grace. It's been almost a year now. He said, Brother Dave, I'm still not over all my battles, but I know his hand is on me. And I quote him as scripture. We do this. We so flippantly throw people who are suffering. We throw a scripture verse. And I said, well, Pastor, the Bible says many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivers them all. He said, please, Brother Dave, I'm not there yet. I'm not there yet. I believe it, but I'm not that year. So that doesn't help me. You see, sometimes people hurt so much. They're so bound up and a heavenly father understands that. I don't believe Jesus comes to somebody like that, hurting and bruised. And the Lord won't come to you and judge you. He understands the pain. He's touched with the feelings of our infirmities. And he's saying, just just remember, all you have to do is touch the head of your hair and just remember. I have numbered every hair. And every time you see a little bird, I'm trying to make you understand that I understand that I care. And, folks, Jesus did come to that man. And that's been the hope. He said, I believe that Jesus has given me courage as I go. And this man now has he has an understanding of the love of God like he's never understood before in his life. And now he's laying everything down. I'm praying with him about one certain battle he has. And he said they don't need to know my name. But I do want you to pray, folks, in these days that are becoming so overwhelming. And I don't think we understand that. I'm going to close here in just a minute. I don't think we understand how much we need one another. How much we need to have a comforting word from God. And some of these scriptures, I'm asking God to give me wisdom, know how to use the word of God. Because, you see, even Joseph, when he was in his worst trial, the word of God tried him. The word of God tried him. You look at some of these scriptures. All things work together for good to them. The people of God are called according to his purpose. And you wait and wait and wait and you can't see the good. And all the time God is working. God is saying, if you if you just rest in me now, just don't even try to measure your faith. Don't try to figure it out. I was walking down the road praying at a place I call my Emmaus Road. And I'm walking down the road and so overwhelmed. And I said, well, I don't know if I have great faith right now. I don't know if I have little faith. I don't know if I have much faith at all. I just hurt. And I think I may have said this last time. I said, Lord, just hug me. I don't want to figure it out anymore. I just want you to hug me. And I want you to know that your eye is on me and you're in control of everything. And as long as your eye is on me, I'm going to be OK and I'm going to come out on top. Will you stand, please? Oh, beloved. Stay close to the word. Hide this word in your heart. Go to the word and find your answers. There's no counselor. There's no one going to be able to answer the questions. Your counselors are called of God. Yes, you go for counseling for marriage or whatever it is. But in the final analysis, you have to have the Holy Ghost give you a word from heaven. I think it was Pastor Neil who was given the words to a song we sing here. Just one word from heaven. Everything's all right. Now, Father, we face days that are going to try the hearts of men. Men's hearts will fill them for fear. But I pray you, Lord, that everyone in this house and everyone within the sound of my voice, O Holy Spirit, help us to understand that God, a loving father, will allow nothing in our lives. He will allow nothing except for the purposes of his own nature. It will be according to his love. And, Lord, you said there's going to be sufficient grace. My grace is sufficient. My grace is enough to see you through. My grace is enough to bring you to victory. So we will face the future, Lord, fearless. Oh, Lord, we'll have those natural fears that come upon us. We thank you, Holy Spirit, for your presence. Lord, everyone here that's been walking in the spirit, help us to recognize your presence, to acknowledge your presence and to wait for your voice, to hear that still small voice of the Spirit, which is the Spirit of Christ, who is the Spirit of Christ. And, Lord, let us hear that inner voice, that inner all-knowing voice saying, I'm with you, my eye is upon you, I've seen you, and I will hear and I will answer in my time. But meanwhile, I will give you the strength to bear it. Lord, I'll give you the strength to endure it. Oh, God, we thank you for your faithfulness. Audience, those in the annex, can we just lift our hands and thank God for his faithfulness, how faithful he has been, how faithful he is, how faithful he will be in the days ahead. Father, we raise our hands to say thank you. You've taken us thus far. We've been through the waters, we've been through the fire, and, Lord, you're going to take us through until Jesus comes or until you take us home. Lord, lift every spirit of worry and fear and bondage and fretting. We have nothing to fear. Lord, even the President Roosevelt once said we have nothing to fear but fear itself. Oh, but, Lord, no, he said we're to fear him who can cast into hell. We do have the fear of God in our hearts for the sake of the whole world, but, oh, God, we have a father who cares. Your eye is on the sparrow, so I know it's on me. Hallelujah. Now, give him thanks for that. Lord, we give you thanks. We give you praise. There are some of you that are here tonight, this morning, that are really not walking near Jesus. Folks, those who are near him, he said, draw near to me and I'll draw nigh to you. More and more, that's becoming the theme of my life and the call of my life. Just spend time drawing near to the Lord. On the subway, wherever you are, just keep drawing nigh to the Lord, drawing closer to him. The greatest thing in my life as far as keeping all anxiety, it's not just my scope of history and what I've seen, but more than that, it's the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, that he is here. He's not out in the universe. He's not out trying to take care of some world event or some crisis. He's not in the middle of a crisis, or though he's there, he's everywhere. But his main focus, the main work is right here. How many believe the Holy Ghost indwells you that he is here? Raise your hand right now. Well, then, why would you ever again fear anything, any news, dirty bomb, clean bomb, unclean bomb, any kind of bomb, any kind of tragedy? Don't go through this city in subways wondering what's going to happen. Glory be to God. Just every time I get in the airplane, I used to be afraid of flying, but now I just say, I have a conscience clear before God and before man. Jesus, if I go down, I'm going straight to heaven and I'm going to be standing beside you. That takes the fear out of it. If your conscience is not clear, that's when the fear comes. Clear conscience before God and man. Now, if you're here this morning, and I say this in love, we don't try to put people on the spot, but there is such a thing as taking a stand. If you're here up in the balcony and here and in the annex, you've not taken that clear stand. You're not walking close to Jesus. Maybe you know, have known the Lord. I'm meeting so many. We use the word backslid, means sliding away from the presence of the Lord, sliding away from that intensity and that love. And if you've been slipping away, call it what you want, slipping away, just not right. And you know it. And it becomes clearer to you because the thermometer of fear keeps rising in your heart. So I invite you to step out of your seat and come and let me pray with you and for you. And this church will pray with you to believe that you walk out of here and now. And some of you brought a heavy, heavy burden. I talked about what happened to this dear pastor. Something very serious is happening in your life. And it's caused you maybe to question, God, where are you? You can have your faith renewed. Sometimes it's the best to take a step. And so I'm stepping out of that unbelief. We don't count heads here. We don't know how many come. We don't take a record of that. Only the Lord does. And while I pray, I'm just going to pray for you right now. I'll put a balcony. Go to the stairs on either side. And in the annex, just step forward between the screens so you won't block the screen. Because the Lord's there. And I'll pray with you and be just as effective as if you were here in the main auditorium. Step out while I'm praying. We're not looking for masses of people. We're just looking for those who are honest before the Lord right now saying, Pastor Dave, I've got to have a touch from the Lord today. I need my faith renewed. You may be not even serving Christ. You don't know him. You've been running from God. Or you don't even know Jesus. I want you to come and join these and let the Lord do a miracle work in your heart today. Heavenly Father, I pray for every hurting spirit, every hurting soul and body, everyone in this house that is desperately in need of a touch. Lord Jesus, we all need a touch. But I'm talking about those who are a point of desperation. Those who are a point of being overwhelmed. Lord Jesus, we believe that here at this front of this church, right now, you can answer prayer. You can do a mighty work in their hearts. In Jesus' name. Follow these that are coming now, please. My help comes from the Lord, which made heaven and earth. He will not allow your foot to be moved, and he that keepeth you will not slumber. For he that keepeth you shall neither slumber nor sleep. The Lord is your keeper. The Lord will preserve you from evil. He shall preserve your soul. The Lord shall preserve your going out and your coming in from this day forth, even forevermore. The Lord said, I'm going to preserve your going out and your coming in. Father, now pray this with me right now. Lord Jesus, I bring to you all my fears and my unbelief. I come, Lord, asking you to give me faith. Give me your faith, Jesus. I want to have confidence in you. And for the rest of my days, I want to trust you. Cleanse me, purge my heart from all that is not like you. Lord Jesus, thank you for your promises. I take it to my heart that the Lord has promised me to keep me from falling and present me faultless before the throne of his Father. Now let's give him thanks. Lord Jesus, we give you thanks. We give you praise for you are worthy. Glory be to God. This is the conclusion of the message.