In this sermon, the preacher warns of various calamities and signs of the end times, including famine, war, pestilence, earthquakes, and fear. He emphasizes the importance of trust in God during these times and highlights three specific instances where special trust is needed. The preacher then focuses on the story of Abraham and how God called him to leave his country and go to a land that God would show him. He emphasizes the need for obedience and trust in God's promises, even when it means stepping into the unknown. The sermon concludes with a reminder that God wants to have a people who have unwavering trust in Him, even in the midst of difficult times.

This message is one of the Times Square Pulpit series. It was recorded in the sanctuary of Times Square Church in Manhattan, New York City. Other tapes are available by writing to World Challenge, P.O. Box 260, Lindale, Texas, 75771 or calling 214-963-8626. None of these messages are copyrighted, and you are welcome to make copies for free distribution to your friends. My message tonight, these times demand special trust. Special trust. Few of us, as Christians, are going to survive the very hard times that are just ahead unless we get a hold of a very special kind of trust. Now, all Christians, all Christians claim to have trust in the Lord. But the truth is many, many Christians are not ready to face the black storm that's racing down on us right now. You and I know that the vials of God's wrath are about to be outpoured upon the earth. It's going to be a time of great trouble like none other in all of man's history. But I tell you sadly tonight, from the bottom of my heart, when the full fury of the storm breaks upon us, when the destructive wars come, when unemployment covers the land, when anarchy is ruling in our streets, when there's uncertainty falling like a cloud over the whole country, multitudes of Christians are not going to be able to handle it. They won't be able to handle it at all. They're going to be overcome with fear. There'll be terror, hopelessness. They're going to lose their song of victory. They'll not have an ounce of trust in the Lord. They're going to be spiritually, physically, mentally bankrupt. They're going to give up hope. And folks, what I see coming is going to drown many Christians in distress and despair. They are not ready for what is coming, not ready at all, even though they say, I have a trust in God. And I know right now those who are not going to be ready. I can name them, not by name, but a class of people that are not ready. You may think you're ready, but you're not ready for what is coming. Let me tell you who they are. Those who have not cultivated a consistent daily life of prayer with the Lord. They have heard the shepherds stand in the pulpit and cry and unburden their heart about the need to meet with Jesus every day in a secret closet. How often has the church of Jesus Christ heard this admonition of Jesus? When you pray, enter into your closet. And when you shut the door, pray to your Father which is in secret. And your Father which is in secret shall reward you openly. Beloved, only those who have learned to pour out their hearts to the Lord are going to be rewarded by that communion with a trust. Now, hear me please. Trust gives birth, or rather communion gives birth to trust. Now, there's a principle. I want you to get it before we go any further in this message. It couldn't be any clearer in the Word of God. If we're going to have a trust in these last days that will carry us through, we're going to have to come out of the secret closet having poured out every day our doubts, our worries, our fears, our distresses so that we come out of the secret closet with assurance and confidence in the Lord. There are going to be a people of God who become bolder and bolder as the country and its conditions become blacker and blacker. And it's because the Scripture said they're calling on the name of the Lord so that we may boldly say the Lord is my helper and I will not fear what men shall do unto me. You know, when you read the life story of David, you find that David had learned to call on the Lord in every crisis of his life so that when the big storm came, he knew how to handle it. He knew how because the Scripture said, In my distress, David said, I learned to call upon the Lord. I cried to my God. He did hear my voice out of his temple. My cry did enter into his ear and he delivered me. And then when the storm came, David didn't have to run around looking for a measure of faith or trust. He didn't have to lean on somebody else. He had learned to go daily to the Lord, unburden his heart. He had gained strength from that. And then when David's biggest storm in his life came, when it looked like everything was going to collapse, listen to what David could say. This was his song. The Lord is my rock. He's my fortress, my deliverer, the God of my rock. In Him will I trust. He is my shield and the horn of my salvation. He's my high tower, my refuge, my Savior. Thou savest me from violence. And violence had broken everywhere. And he said, You save me from violence, my refuge, my Savior. I will call upon the name of the Lord who is worthy to be praised. So shall I be safe from all my enemies. And when David saw this storm break, he said, I see a storm of violence, floods of ungodly men coming. The sorrows of hell will compass about me, waves and snares of death. But he said, I shall not be moved. David had a consistent daily time with God. Now, what a rude awakening is coming for many Christians who have ignored this urgent cry to become a man or woman of prayer. The Scripture declares, They that know thy name will put their trust in thee. They that know thy name. How do you get to know His name? It's not just by coming to Times Square Church, doing church time. It's not just by sitting under preaching, no matter how annoying it may be. It's not just worshiping the Lord for an hour, an hour and a half. As marvelous, as commendable as that is, it's life-giving, it's marvelous. But that in itself is not the secret of strength for the black days ahead. The secret of having a special trust in particular times like these is to be a man or woman, shut alone with God. You have a place at your house. You have a place somewhere that is a trusting place with God. And you get alone. There's no problem that you have that you won't give to Him. There's no burden that you haven't learned to unload on Him. And you don't leave His presence until you come out assured, until you're leaning on the everlasting arms. And if we're not having that, if you don't have that, now if you're sitting here in this building and not, you can say, Brother Dave, I don't have that. I've heard you talk about it, I've heard the pastors talk about it. I know dark days are coming. I know it's going to be probably worse than anything I've anticipated or I've been told. And you can believe that. But I don't have that daily time of prayer. I don't have that daily seeking into this word. I don't have that kind of walk, that kind of communion. You know, some of you dear folks can come to church and you're so blessed. You're such a channel of His blessing, and yet you don't have at your home, you don't have it. Many of you wives, husbands, you have no 15 minutes, half hour, one hour in a day where you are just shut along with God, building up your confidence in God. Oh, brother, sister, how it's going to carry you away. The storm's going to blow you away. You'll not be ready. You will not be ready, folks. Take this heed tonight. You will not be ready until you've learned daily. And every time you hear an evil report, every time you see a storm coming, you know where to go. You have a hiding place. You have a refuge from the storm. Now, I believe that these times call for more than a general trust in God, but rather a particular or special trust for particular times. Now, all Christians have what I call a general universal trust in God. In fact, almost every Christian on the face of the earth knows certain general scriptures given to the body, and they've been a blessing to the body for years, and Christians for years have drawn strength and courage from these general promises to the body. I'll read some of them. Hebrews 13.5, I will never leave thee nor forsake thee. Now, that's a general promise that's accepted by Christians all over the world. It's been a great hope. Romans 8.28, all things work together for good to them that love God, to them that are called according to His purpose. Beloved, I hear sinners quote that. All things work together for good. They forget the rest of it to them that love God and are called according to His purpose. It's one of those universal promises that even the devil wants to claim. There is people. Psalms 84.11, for the Lord is a sun, a shield. He will give grace and glory. No good thing will He withhold from them that walk uprightly. And again, we have a lot of people who love prosperity who say He will give grace and glory. No good thing will He withhold. And they stop there, from them that walk uprightly. Quote the rest of it. But you see, these are general universal promises. But folks, beyond these general universal promises, there are specific promises in the Word of God for specific hard times. Now, we may know them and use them as holy arguments. Now, the Puritans called every promise a holy argument. And their thinking was this, and that's why God so blessed those holy Puritans many, many years ago. They said, we don't go into the presence of God with just a general promise, with a general faith, a universal faith. In other words, it's not knowing really why you're there, other than the Bible says you should come, or rather just, well, you know my heart. You give me whatever you see fit. Now, that sounds good. But you see, there are specific promises, particular promises for particular times, specific times. And we need to get into this book, lay hold of these, and let those promises, those special, particular promises get hold of our hearts. How is it that we can go boldly to the throne of grace? We're invited to come boldly to the throne of grace, to receive mercy and grace in the time of need. What is it that gives you that boldness? It's that you have heard God's own Word, and you come back to Him with His Word, with a living, particular, specific promise. And I believe when you get specific with God, He gets specific with you. In recent, many of us have not heard an answer because we have been giving Him general faith, general confidence, without being specific. And I want God to make that very clear as we go on tonight. He's giving, He's armed us with holy arguments. He said, come, bring forth your strong reasons. Why should I, bless, why should I do this? Now, God knows why, but He wants you to know why. He wants me to know why. No matter what we face in turmoil ahead, no matter how difficult or dangerous, God has a promise to match it. Now, I want to take you into the Word of God, and I want to show you three particular, special times when special trust is needed based on special promises. Now, I know there are more than three, but these three are especially noteworthy, and I want to bring them to your attention. First of all, we need special trust and special promises, first of all, when an act of obedience casts you out into the unknown. When an act of obedience casts you out into the unknown. Now, God came to Abraham, and He asked an incredible thing of Abraham. In fact, I want you to go with me to see it, Genesis, the twelfth chapter. Let's get now into the Word. Genesis 12. Now, I've just got through the introduction. Now, let's get to the meat. Twelfth chapter of Genesis, first four verses. Now, the Lord had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country and from thy kindred and from thy father's house unto a land that I will show thee, and I will make of thee a great nation. Now bless thee and make thy name great, and thou shalt be a blessing. And I will bless them that bless thee and curse them that curse thee, and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed. So Abram departed as the Lord had spoken unto him. He departed as the Lord had spoken unto him. Look at me, please. The Hebrew writer says this, Abraham, when he was called to go out, went out not knowing where he was going. He was cast out of the unknown. God asked of this man an incredible thing. Abram, pick up your family, all your belongings. I want you to leave your family, I want you to leave everybody, and I want you to go to a place that I'll tell you of. God didn't give him a special little package, detailed, nicely wrapped, of the excursion or the trip he was about to take. In fact, Sarah, I believe, is just like any other modern wife. She was a wife who would ask the same questions you would ask if your husband came to you and said, honey, pack everything, we're going. And she says, well, are we going north? Are we going south? How do we dress? How do I pack? Every time we go somewhere, my wife says, how do I pack? Is it going to be hot? Is it going to be cold? When we get there, Abram... By the way, where are we going? When we get there, are we going to have a settled home? Are we going to be keeping on the move? Abram, you have a habit of moving. You're going to be moving. Are we going to live in tents? Are we going to have a home? I'm sure she was asking the question any wife would ask. And, naturally, all that Abram could say is, honey, God said go, and I'm going to go. I don't know where we're going. I was told to leave my family, leave my country and go. I have to just go out in blind faith. And he went out not knowing. It's that not knowing that gets us. He said, I want you to go, and I want you to cast yourself on my word. I'll bless you, and I'll show you as you go. I'll show you. He didn't show him until he moved. He had to move, and then it became a day-by-day walk. Well, we have the idea when God commands us to do something, and we obey, He's just going to make everything easy. He's going to give us a four-lane highway to happiness. In fact, I know there are times God told me to step up by faith, and I've stepped down and said, God, don't ever ask that of me again. Lord, I did it, and you blessed me, but, Lord, I don't want to live like that. But, folks, one act of obedience doesn't make a walk of obedience. It doesn't make a life of obedience. God keeps calling for this exercise of stepping out into the unknown. Stepping out to the unknown. We think God should be very grateful, but, you see, when you step out by obedience and just obey God's sheer word in blind obedience, there's a great reward. There's a constant, invincible protection of a covenant God, and then the Bible says God gives Himself to those kind of people. God reveals Himself. The Lord came unto Abraham in a vision saying, Fear not, Abraham. I am thy shield, and I am thy great reward. I give myself to you. Now, God's making a wonderful statement. Those who obey me, stepping out in faith, not knowing where they're going, but simply trusting my word, they will never be in danger. I will hover over them like a shield. I'll be their reward. I give myself to them. Now, you may be sitting here tonight, and God has already commanded you to lay something or someone down. You've been told to take a step of faith or a step of obedience, and you know that if you do, it's going to cast you into the unknown. In fact, it may cost you everything. Your career, your business, your loved ones may think you're crazy, but you know in your heart God's ordered you lovingly. Obey me and do it now. We mentioned Diane Venore this morning. Diane Venore is a young actress who's here tonight. She's in this church. I asked her for permission to repeat something that, a testimony that she gave her office this past week. Diane's been in a number of movies. She won Best Actress Award, the Globe Award, others which she's put all aside, and God's been dealing with her. She's been counseling with the pastors and also with many dear friends, and most of the counsel has been Diane, and she knew in her heart, leave the business. Leave show business, and she left show business. She walked in to her agent and said, I resign. I want no more parts sent to me or anything, and you know Diane had to step out into the unknown with no promise of financial security, no job, just absolute obedience to the Lord. God said, you step out, and it's the same thing. I want you to go, and so Diane went out not knowing where she's going. The next day, the agent called, and won the best offers ever with three of the top Hollywood names, three of the top stars, and she was offered a starring role in the movie and turned it down. She said, oh no devil, I know what you're up to, and I'll tell you what, that's the way it's going to be when you step out by faith. There's going to be some enticement to get you back on the other side of disobedience, but I'm going to tell you, there's no easy way when you step out. It's going to cost you something. Anybody who tells you otherwise doesn't know the Bible, and you can't step out saying, Lord, if I step out, I know you're going to come and pick me up. No, because when Abraham stepped out, I'm so glad God didn't tell him what was coming, and Diane, I'm sorry to tell you, it's not going to be easy, not going to be easy at all. Well, she found out already that it's not easy. The devil tried another way, but you know, the devil will come any possible way to take away that step of faith. Abraham goes out, not knowing where he's going, he has to face a negative desert, he has to go over mountains that are cold, snow-topped mountains, he has to go through another desert, he has to go through Canaan, he goes through a war-like country full of sin and debauchery, he winds up in a famine in Egypt. I'm so glad God didn't tell him the path, but you know, that whole path was different than any other trip he'd ever taken because he was never in danger, he was invincible, nobody could touch him, God was his shield, and God was giving himself to him every day. He was becoming a friend to God. He was becoming God's personal friend. God called Abraham his friend. God called Bob, Don, myself, our wives and our families from a comfortable East Texas ranch to come to New York City. He said, Go! Beloved, I know I still feel that call burning in my heart. All around these books, I walked up and down in front of this theater never dreaming we'd ever be in here. And God's saying, Go to New York City, come back to this city. I went back to East Texas after the call was confirmed. I remember we were staying right over here at the Ramada Hotel. And I said, God, I hear the call, and I said, but Gwen, how am I going to tell her? I went up to the room and God already told me. She said, We're coming to New York, aren't we? And I said, Yes. I thought she'd say, Well, what about that beautiful home on the lake? What about quiet East Texas? Folks, it's not sagebrush. There's beautiful trees and hills and everything else. I don't know what you think Texas is, but it's beautiful where we live. I told Brother Bob, he felt the same burden. Brother Don, and I said, We don't have much money. We don't have a place to worship. We have no people. But God said, Go. We were cast out of the unknown. We went out not knowing. Now, that was a specific call. We didn't just go to New York and say, Go to Times Square. Go to Broadway. And raise up a church. Raise up a holy remnant and warn the people of coming judgments. That was a specific call. I remember Don saying, Look, we'll stay at an efficiency, anything. And Bob with two children said, I said, Bob, you only have one bedroom with your two children. He said, It doesn't matter. We'll go with one bedroom. We'll go. And brother, sister, we went. And God became our shield. And he began to give himself to us. And you sit here tonight as a part of that miracle of hearing God say, Obey me. And when you step out, God begins to move in a wonderful way. Hallelujah. The word abounds with special promises for those who step out into obedience. I want to give you just a few. Now, if you can't remember these, write them down. You'll get a copy of the tape and we'll have all these scriptures for you. If you will obey my voice indeed and keep my covenant, you shall be my possession above all people. Now, I want you to remember, God wants you to get a hold of specific promises so that you can have a particular special trust in particular hard times. These times when you have to step up by faith, go to the word of God and get a hold of something like this. If you be willing and obedient, you shall eat the good of the land, but if you refuse and rebel, you shall be devoured. Here's another. Obey my voice and I'll be your God and you shall be my people and walk in all my ways that I've commanded you that it may be well with you. Hallelujah. Here's one of the best promises of all that you can get a hold of right now to build up your special faith for a special time. It's this. Acts 5.32. Just listen. And we are His witnesses of these things and so is the Holy Ghost whom God has given to them that obey Him. The Holy Ghost to whom God... Listen. Here it is. So is the Holy Ghost whom God has given to them that obey Him. You step out by faith. You lay that thing down, that someone down. You do what He told you to do. You obey Him no matter what it costs. I've been counseling a few people that attend this church and I've brought clear word about obedience. And, folks, I know that every one of those, some of them are not here tonight, and I know that every one of them, if they obey what God is saying to them and they know it in their heart, it's very costly. In one case, it may cost everything the man has. And there's a... I tremble, absolutely tremble in my heart for anyone who hears the Lord say, knowing that there's such a great reward, that God Himself is the reward, and they disobey God. The Scripture says, if you will obey Him, He said, the Holy Ghost will be given to you. The Holy Ghost will be given to you as a guide. The Holy Spirit given to you for strength. He'll give you everything you need to complete the act of obedience. Hallelujah. How many believe that? The Holy Spirit will do it. Now, let's go to the second. We need a particular special trust when our very livelihood is threatened. Our very livelihood is threatened. Beloved, in my lifetime, listen closely, in my lifetime, I've never talked to so many frightened people as I have the past three months, and especially the past two weeks. I've talked to builders, real estate people, Wall Streeters, retailers, executives, lawyers, restaurant owners, small business owners, entrepreneurs. They all say the same thing. They say, it's worse than anybody knows. It's going to get worse. Everything's come to a stop. One man said, there's all sellers and no buyers. And many Christians have lost their jobs all across America. And many more are going to lose their jobs. And we're really racing toward very hard times. I read the other day in the newspaper, or in one of the magazines, Time magazine, but it was in one state, 21,000 homes repossessed. In Denver, Colorado, hundreds are walking away from their houses and their mortgage commitments because they found out they now owe more than the house's worth. They're just walking away. They're stripping the houses on most occasions, stripping them of everything, even the copper tubing, and walking away in the middle of the night. Now, folks, we don't like to hear things like this. The Puritans had a statement. They had a saying, our affections bribe our discernment. Our affections, in other words, we so love America. We love America. That's fine to be patriotic. But sometimes when we hear some prophetic voice warning us about what is coming, we rise up and say, he's speaking against America. And our affections bribe our discernment. And we're not discerning the times. Beloved, we've got to discern the times. We've got to know where we stand. So we begin to be provoked to dig in and get a hold of that confidence and trust we're going to need to see us through. That's why I cry out like I do. Folks, I'm not going to tell the Lord that it's a burden to preach these warnings unless he left his hand for me. And I don't want him to do that prophetically. But I tell you, it takes a lot of grace of God because people are bombarded. We have spent ourselves and all of our fears. We've just spent it and spent it so there's hardly anything left. But folks, already in New York City, over a hundred thousand people have doubled up in apartments. A hundred thousand people are in two and three families in one apartment. And they claim that it could go to three to four hundred thousand if the recession goes very long. Now, beloved, Jesus certainly, listen closely, Jesus certainly knew all this was coming, didn't he? Do you think any of this is taking Jesus by surprise? He who numbered every hair on our head, he counted every fallen sparrow. He knew everything that we're going to face in these days. I believe he knows where every dollar was going to be spent. He knew every bill that you would face. He knew when your rent would go up, your taxes would go up. He knew what we were going to face in New York of violence. He knew it all. There's not one thing that our blessed Savior didn't know when he gave us this admonition in Matthew 6, and I want you to go to Matthew 6. In times like these, when we face mass unemployment, when we face people doubling up in their apartments, a number of you here tonight are unemployed, and the devil would like to bring fear and anxiety. I want you to hear what Jesus said. Jesus said this, knowing all that's happening. Matthew 6. Start reading with me verse 25. I'll read. You follow me. I'm reading from King James. Therefore I say unto you, take no thought for your life, what you shall eat, what you shall drink, nor yet for your body, what you shall put on. Is not life more than meat and the body than raiment? Behold the fowls of the air, they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns, yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are you not much better than they? Which of you, by taking thought, can add one cubic to a stature? And why take your thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow, they toil not, neither do they spin. Yet I say unto you, that even Solomon, in all his glory, was not arrayed like one of these. Wherefore, if God so clothed the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith? Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat, or what shall we drink, or wherewithal shall we be clothed? For all these things do the Gentiles seek, for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have needed these things. But seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you. Hallelujah. Now, Jesus foretold us, beloved, that perilous times were coming. He warns of famine, war, pestilence, earthquake, perplexities, calamities, fear on all sides, men's hearts failing them for fear. This is the end of side one. You may now turn the tape over to side two. Wishing the eye of the Lamb that had been down by the sea. Here comes the ocean and the waves down by the shore. Here comes the ocean and the waves crashing in. Insects are evil thoughts thought of by selfish men. It really drives me crazy. I am a lazy son. I never get things done. Made up mostly of water. And here come the waves down by the shore. Wishing the eye of the Lamb that had been down by the sea. I'll be your mirror, reflect what you are in case you don't know. I'll be the wind, the rain and the sunset, a light on your door to show that you're home. When you think the night has seen your mind, that inside you're twisted and unkind, let me stand to show that you are blind. Please put down your hands cause I see you. I find it hard to believe you don't know the beauty you are. But if you don't, let me be your eyes, a hand to your darkness so you won't be afraid. When you think the night has seen your mind, that inside you're twisted and unkind, let me stand to show that you are blind. Please put down your hands cause I see you. Sunday morning brings the dawn in. It's just a restless feeling by my side. Early dawning, Sunday morning, it's just the wasted years so close behind. Watch out, the world's behind you. There's always someone around you who will call. It's nothing at all. Sunday morning and I'm falling. I've got a feeling I don't want to know. Early dawning, Sunday morning, it's all the streets you crossed not so long ago. Watch out, the world's behind you. There's always someone around you who will call. It's nothing at all. Around you, there's always someone around you who will call. It's nothing at all. First of all that, we hear it. Don't give it a second thought. Don't worry about it. You say, well, if you're unemployed, how can you not give a thought? If you have children, how can you not give a thought? Beloved, we cannot back down from what Jesus is saying. These are the eternal words. In fact, it says, Jesus said, I say unto you. In fact, you can take that to the throne room of God and say, Jesus, these are the red letter words. You said, I say unto you, give no thought. And you know what it also says in verse 26? Your Father feedeth them. Who? The birds, the fish, the animals. Your Father feeds them. Now listen to me, please. Put your thinking cap on for a minute. Listen. Suppose the stock market crashes. How many birds is that going to affect? Do you suppose the deer and the rabbits and the skunks gather together, start chewing their claws? And they're saying, the national index went down three points yesterday. And the rabbit says, I don't know what we're going to do tomorrow. The stock market melded to 1,200 points. Jesus said, Your Father feedeth them. What kind of a father would feed dogs and not feed his children? What kind of a father would feed the birds and let you starve? The thought is blaspheming. Raining. Your Father feedeth them. Glory be to God. Are you not much better than they? Shall He not much more feed and clothe you? I don't know how He does it. I don't know how He does it. I was talking to Pastor Chesler, Paul Chesler in Poland. And he told him how God preserved his father who had been captured by the Germans, a Polish brother who was captured by the Germans and sent to a prison camp. And there was no food, and people were starving, and he was a man of prayer. And nobody outside the gates of that prison had soap, but somehow the Germans had provided soap to them, and he'd have little chips of soap. And one day the Lord told him to go to the fence and flip out a piece of soap, and he did, and somebody there had a potato and threw it back over the fence. God took care of that man, all through that with those potatoes and a little piece of soap. Protected the man. He ate potatoes without starving through the whole thing. What a God we serve. Squirrels don't worry, but we do. They know their Father is feeding them. We've got a whole ocean sitting right out here in the harbor full of fish, all kinds of created beings, and God feeds them all. He's going to take care of his children. Hallelujah. I'm going to give you a very special particular promise for you to take to the throne room. I want you to go to Luke, the first chapter, and I want you to take this to prayer. Every time you're worried, I'm going to give you an oath from God, an eternal promise that will take all fear out of your heart from now till Jesus comes. Say that again. You want to hear it again? I'm going to give you a promise. Don't try to find it. Just go to Luke 1. I'm going to give you an oath from God, given from the foundation of the world, from the very foundation of the world. Before you were created, God gave you a promise that you can lay hold of and take to the throne room of God and stand on it. And God has to honor it because it's His own word. Are you ready for it? Go to verse 68. Mark this in your Bible. Mark it. Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for He hath visited and redeemed His people and hath raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of His servant David. Who is that? It's Jesus, the horn of salvation. As He spake by the mouth of His holy prophets, which have been since the world began, that we should be saved from our enemies and from the hand of all them that hate us, to perform the mercy promised to our fathers and to remember His holy covenant, the oath. Is that in your Bible? What's the New American say? The oath which He swore to our father Abraham. It's an oath. Remember, a covenant promise, an oath, that He would grant unto us that we, being delivered out of the hand of our enemies, might serve Him without what? In holiness and righteousness before Him. How long? Now you look at that and let it sink in. Come on. Do you have it? Read it with me again. Just let it sink in. Very good. That He would grant unto us, verse 74, that we be delivered out of the hand of our enemies. Poverty is an enemy. Hunger is an enemy. These things are our enemies. He would deliver us from our enemies that we might serve Him without fear. Hey, look at me. Say it again. Without fear. Again. Without fear. How long? All the days of our life. You can't serve Him without fear unless you're trusting Him. Hallelujah. It's an oath. It's a promise. Beloved, hang on it. Take it to the throne. Pray it. Say, Lord, here's my argument. I've got fear in my heart. I don't have a job. I don't know where my dollar's coming from next. I don't know how to pay my bills. But God, You said here, You would grant to me that I'd be delivered from all the hand of my bill collectors, that I may serve You without fear in holiness and righteousness before You all the days of my life. I stand on that, God. Special faith for special times. Hallelujah. Okay. I've got some good ones. Come on, let's go to Psalm 121. Psalm 121. Glory to God. We're going to put the devil to chase tonight. All you that fear. God bless you. So many have fear. So many have been scared. God, use this to chase all the fear out of your heart. Blessed be the name of the Lord. Here's an ironclad promise from God. All right, go follow me. I will lift up my eyes unto the hills from whence cometh my help. My help cometh from the Lord which made heaven and earth. He will not suffer thy foot to be moved. He that keepeth thee will not slumber. Behold, he that keepeth Israel will neither slumber nor sleep. The Lord is your keeper. The Lord is your shade before thy right hand. The sun shall not smite thee by day nor the moon by night. The Lord shall preserve thee from all evil. He shall preserve thy soul. The Lord shall preserve thy going out and thy coming in from this time forth even for evermore. Glory to God. Look at chapter 126. 126. Mark it down. When the Lord turned again... Wait, I want you to go 124 first. If it had not been the Lord who was on our side, Israel would say, If it had not been the Lord on our side when men rose up against us, then they would have swallowed us up quick when their wrath was kindled against us. The waters would have overwhelmed us. The stream had gone over our soul. The proud waters had gone over my soul. Blessed be the Lord who has not given us as a prey to their teeth. Our souls escaped as a bird out of the snare of the fowlers. The snare is broken. We are escaped. Our help is in the name of the Lord who made heaven and earth. Glory to God. The devil's a liar. Now folks, there's one that I don't know if I'm going to let you have or not. It's mine. God gave it to me when I came to New York. It was something personal. Now it's yours? Yes, but it's mine especially. And it's yours if God makes it real to you. Chapter 126. When the Lord turned again the captivity of Zion, we were like them that dreamed. Then was our mouth filled with laughter and our tongue was singing. Then said there among the heathen, The Lord hath done great things for them. The Lord hath done great things for us where we are glad. Turn again our captivity, O Lord, as the stream in the south. They that sow in tears shall reap in joy. He that goeth forth and weepeth bearing precious seeds shall doubtless come again with rejoicing bringing his sheaves with him. Hallelujah. I gave you chapter 121. I gave you chapter 124. And now take 126. I tell you, when God comes and delivers you, it's like you're in a dream. When I walked into this theater with Joe Shukert, and he said, Brother Dave, I believe this is the place. I thought, I'm in a dream. And when we dedicate, by the way, next Sunday is our third anniversary. Do you know that? Hasn't it been like a dream? How God fulfilled it. How marvelous. That's what I got. When the Lord turned again the captivity of Zion or New York, we were like them, the dream. Praise God. Now I've got to rush on. The third very special time where we need special trust. In times of calamity associated with divine judgment. In times of calamity that are associated with divine judgment. Now I want to talk to you about signature judgments. Signature judgments. Now, when I speak of signature judgment, and God's really gripping my heart with this. I believe America, right now, is enduring the signature judgments of a holy God. A signature judgment are those judgments that bear a special mark from God. And it's a signature judgment because it's cut out of the same cloth, so to speak, as the sin or the crime. It mirrors the crime. It mirrors the sin. And when God does it, we know. It's got God's signature on it. No man can do it. We call it irony. God calls it His signature. Now, God's signature of judgment, God's signature judgments are found all through the Bible. Now, I know you've never heard this before, but I want to show it to you. Just follow me closely. Do you remember the story in the Old Testament? Adonai Zizek. Adonai Zizek. He was a heathen king who had a habit when he conquered other kings. In fact, he conquered 70 who ate at his table. And when he conquered them, he cut off his thumbs and their big toes. He cut off the thumbs and big toes of 70 kings. He went against Judah. Judah captures this heathen king. And you know what the first thing they did? God's judgment. They cut off his thumbs and his toes. You'll find that whole story in Judges 1, chapter 5-7. You know what the king said, the heathen king said? As I have done, so God has repaid me. We call it irony. It's a judgment. It's a signature judgment of God. Do you remember Pharaoh casting the firstborn, all the baby boys, into the river to drown them? How did God destroy Pharaoh? By throwing them in the river. Do you see what I'm talking about? It's cut off the same cloth. It mirrors the sin. It has those special markings. God repays in the same coin, so to speak. It's all through the Bible. Jezebel causes the death of Naboth, and the dogs lick his blood. Ahab dies, and the dogs lick his blood. Jezebel is cast down from her room, cast down to the ground, and she's entombed in the belly of dogs. It's a signature judgment. God says, you're going to shed blood, your blood will be shed. Haman erects the gallows for Mordecai, and he's hung on it himself. King Asa, think about this thing, King Asa puts the prophet, locks his feet in the stock, and this man dies because his feet were diseased. Asa died through diseased feet. The very man who locked up the prophet, his feet in the stock hold. A signature judgment that was cut of the same cloth. Jacob supplants his elder brother, and then when he's old to bless, the elder is brought before the younger. It's cut from the same cloth. Obadiah, the 15th verse, sums it up, As thou hast done, it shall be done unto thee. Thy reward shall return unto your own head. Now that's the process that I'm talking about. How many understand what I'm saying now? Let me show you something of God's signature judgment on America. All our sins are written in our judgments. You'll see all of our sins mirrored in our judgments. Now listen closely please, I know the Holy Spirit put this in my heart. I've never seen it before, and I feel it so strong. Our greatest sin in America since our birth has been a vaunted pride. In the last hundred years especially, America has been called a can-do nation. We can do anything. We're a nation that could solve any problem. We could find a cure for any disease. We would win every battle. We became the policemen for the whole world. We were confident in our might, in our strength. And for a long period of time, God honored America. Because we still had legislators who knew to call on God, at least honor Him. He was still in our schools. We had not mocked Him out of our society. And beloved, our legislators were able to solve problems. This was a young country. No problem was too big. No disease. They'd go down and build a canal. Malaria breaks out. The scientists get together, and soon there's a cure for malaria. They worked on diphtheria, found a cure for diphtheria. Smallpox, TB, measles. And I remember when I was a young man, we had polio, swept like a plague across America. And our scientists went all out. And within a year, we had the Salk vaccine. God honored us. Our armies never lost a battle. The cures now in America are few and far between. We have no cure or vaccine for AIDS in sight. We are now drowning in unsolvable problems. We have an unsolvable drug problem, an unsolvable AIDS plague, an unsolvable SNL collapse. We have unsolvable problems in schools and jails and hospitals and homelessness and crime and violence. Name it. We can't solve it anymore. You know what our judgment is? It's been cut from the same cloth. It's a signature judgment. And what it is is a humiliating confusion and helplessness. Senator Rudman, yesterday, New York Times, said this, and I want you to listen closely. Senator Rudman, I really wonder whether we have reached a stage in history when the three branches of our government are really working anymore. It's getting to be a formula for gridlock in America with no accountability. Gridlock. There you have it. America is gridlocked in our traffic, in our government, in our problems, by the admission of a U.S. Senator. Our Congress does no longer work. Our government is not working. We are gridlocked. Pride. Beloved, we have come from being the head to the tail. We came in five years. Five years ago, we were the number one creditor nation. People owed us money all over the world. In five years, we've become the number one debtor nation. We've become the tail in five years. It was Kissinger who said, we have reached the age of unsolvable problems. God's most severe signature judgment, though, is yet to come. What do you think it's going to be? Now, stop just a minute. You think right now of this nation trampling underfoot all this moral, all that's holy, trampling underfoot everything that's godly. You think of the storm that we've had among the arts when all over America they're having an art show that depicts the cross of Jesus Christ in a vat of urine. Trampling everything that's sacred. Trampling the cross of Jesus Christ. Trampling here and trampling there. Everything clean, moral, holy. Christ is trampled in our theaters. The sacred is mocked and the profane is exalted. What kind of judgment are we going to have? It's going to be a signature judgment cut from the same cloth. God's going to repass in the same coin. You know what it is? God is going to trample America under His foot. We're going to become His footstool. God said, I'm going to make your enemies your footstool. You say, Brother Dave, don't you love your country more than ever? And that's why I weep and grieve over it. But like I said, I'm not going to allow my affections to bribe my discernment. God said, I will tread them in my anger and I'll trample them in my fury and their blood shall be sprinkled upon my garments. Isaiah 63.3 I will tread them down in my anger I'll trample them in my fury and their blood shall be sprinkled upon my garments. Now here's what the signature judgment is. For years we've been the number one superpower on the face of the earth. Russia was number two. Japan probably number three or four with Germany. Isaiah 63.6 I will bring down their strength to the earth. I'll bring it to the dust. God used Babylon as a rod against Israel. And when God was finished with that rod He said, I'm going to send a judgment on you. And you know what the judgment was? He cut it from the same cloth. When Babylon went into Jerusalem they tried to level everything. In fact, the cry of Babylon, down to the rocks. To the bare rocks. Everywhere they went, they slew everything. They burned everything. They wanted it down to the rocks. And you read Ezekiel and you'll find the judgment on Babylon. I will take you down to the bare rocks. They'll spread their nets on the rocks. All you hear, bare rocks. God gave them the same judgment they had meted out for the years that they were in power. And now, we are no longer a superpower. Our strength is ebbing very fast. We are now a nation number three behind Japan and Germany in our economic strength. And we are failing fast. Our wealth is going to melt away. It's going to absolutely melt away. The ten nations of the revived Roman Empire. The new power that's emerging. The common market is going to grow in strength. And it's going to become the world's great power in these last days. America is going to be dwindling in its strength, its influence, and its power. God said, because of your sins, I'll make you the tail and not the head. And I'll tell you what He's going to do. He's going to expose our nakedness before the whole world. Of course, the whole world now knows that we're bankrupt. God said He'd do that. He'd make it naked before the whole world. They're on to our secrets now that we're bankrupt. And more than that, you know what God's going to do? He's going to take the moral spiritual bankruptcy of the inner man. America's soul has become bankrupt. Broadway is spiritually bankrupt. Our government is spiritually bankrupt. Modern church is spiritually bankrupt. So God is going to simply turn the inside, the interior will become the exterior, and we are going to have an exposure of our American soul. And this is the judgment. The spiritual bankruptcy will be mirrored by the economic bankruptcy. He's going to show to the whole world what is in our heart. That moral spiritual bankruptcy is going to be shown to the world in physical, absolute, material bankruptcy. We're going to have cities and states go bankrupt. Philadelphia's going bankrupt without question. New York State, New York City, Massachusetts is ready to go bankrupt. There's no money to bail them out. Brother, sister, we're seeing God's signature. I'm going to make this so clear that no nation on the face of the earth can miss it. I'm going to take just like Babylon, one of the great powers of all time, of all history, and I brought it down and they won't listen to that. I'm going to take world superpower America, who's trampled on my blood, who's laughing my name, and put my cross in a vat of urine. And I'm going to strike its strength to the ground. I'm going to bankrupt its armies. God may use us one more time as a rod to bring Saddam Hussein down, but once he has used the rod, watch out, Bolivar, watch out. Now, I'm not going to leave you here. No way. I've got a promise for us. So good that I can't wait to give it to you. Now, you may say, brother, I just can't accept that about my nation. Well, they couldn't accept it about Babylon. Israel couldn't accept their prophets. They didn't believe a word of it. And it happened. Babylon's gone. Jerusalem was plundered. All those kingdoms are gone. What makes us think we stand? We've sinned more than all of them. We've sinned more than all of them. We've got 30 million dead babies now. 30 million murders. There's blood on our hands. Do you think God's going to wink at that? God's going to say, oh, I'm going to ignore that because we've got a handful of remnant holy people. No, he said, I'm a just God. He said, you shed blood, your blood will be shed. I said, I'm going to get to the good part. I want you to go to Psalm 112. I'm going to close in just about three minutes. Psalm 112. Blood. Look at me. Up in the balcony. You know, when I preach like this, everything gets so dead and so quiet. I sometimes think I took your breath away or something. And I kind of have a tendency to back off. I said, Lord, am I going to have to keep doing this? I want to make you shout. But you see, folks, these things are going to happen. And most of America is going to be asleep. They're not going to know. They're not going to have faith. They're not going to have trust. God wants you. He wants me. He wants to have a people in the heart of Sin City, in the heart of Babylon, the seed of Satan. He wants to have a people so strong in confidence in Him that nothing, absolutely nothing can shake them. In fact, the worse it gets, the happier they get because they're on a rock. Now get your Bibles out. Glory be to God. Here we go. You ready? Verse 4. 112, verse 4. Hallelujah. Look at verse 7. Why? Verse 8. He shall what? You shall not be afraid. Those who are established in confidence in the Lord, walking in trust, walking in righteousness. He shall not be afraid until he sees desire upon his enemies. Why don't you go to Psalms 9. Skip to the left to Psalms 9. It gets better, beloved. Psalms chapter 9, verse 8. And he shall judge the world. Oh, hallelujah, folks. Do you understand what he's doing right now in the Mideast? He's judging the world. Yes, he is. We're watching it happen. Look at me a minute. Is it dawning on you yet that you're living in the very last of the last days? Has it dawned on you that it's just about all over? Has it dawned on you the Lord's coming is right at the... Like I said, it's like a... It's not even a door. It's a tissue paper. He's just going to move it out of the way. We're going to move right through. And we're right there. Oh, that excites me. We are right there. Folks, that should be with us every day. Don't let that leave you. Don't let that leave you for a moment. You've got to see it and believe in my heart. Thank God. It's with me every waking hour. Lord, thank you. I've lived to see the day. Thank you that we're living the day when all the prophets longed to see. Thank you, Jesus, that we will probably hear the trumpet blow. We will hear the trumpet. We will see the skies part. We'll see him coming in clouds of glory. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. You know, we get to thinking, I'd love to see Abraham and hear his story. Wait till he hears ours. You were there. You saw him come in his glory just as he left. I wanted to see Peter and all the men. I said, we saw him leave. You saw him come. Can you imagine the excitement of seeing all the saints and gathering together at times? Times where people are going to be the loudest, happiest, rejoicing people ever. Because we came out of sin city. And he said, where sin abounds, grace did much more abound. We're the grace people out of New York. Hallelujah. Did we get to this yet? Psalms 9 verse 8. He shall judge the world in righteousness. He shall minister judgment to the people in uprightness. The Lord also will be a refuge for the oppressed. A refuge in times of trouble. And they that know thy name will put their trust in thee. For thou, Lord, hast not forsaken them that seek thee. Hallelujah. Now I've held the best for the last. I want you to turn to Psalms 27. Psalms 27. And I want you to stand while we read this. Psalms 27. Anthem of the saints. International anthem. Chapter 27, verse 3, beginning to read. Though a host should encamp against me, my heart shall not fear. Though war should rise against me, in this will I be confident. One thing have I desired of the Lord, that will I seek after, that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life. To behold the beauty of the Lord and to inquire in his temple. For in the time of trouble he shall hide me in his pavilion. In the secret of his tabernacle shall he hide me. He shall set me upon a rock. Amen. Glory to God. Glory to God. Even so, Lord Jesus, come quickly. Even so, come quickly. Even so, Jesus, come quickly. We long for you. There are people in New York that long for you, Jesus. We long for your coming. Hallelujah. This is the conclusion of the tape.