In this sermon, the preacher discusses the concept of Jesus shutting the door. He emphasizes that Jesus has the power to shut the door at any time, and when that happens, those outside will be left knocking and pleading to be let in, but Jesus will say he does not know them. The preacher highlights the importance of genuine repentance and transformation, as many people claim to want Jesus but do not make any real changes in their lives. He references the story in Deuteronomy where the Israelites expressed a desire to hear from God but were afraid of dying, and he draws parallels to those who claim to want Jesus but are not willing to fully surrender and change.

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. When Jesus shuts the door. When Jesus shuts the door. It's a heavy word, but I know God put this on my heart. Many of you here tonight need to hear it, both Christians and sinners alike. If you have children, there's a full staff nursery. You go to any one of the lobbies, upstairs or downstairs, and the ushers will show you where to go. Let's pray. Let's bind every spirit that's wondering. Let's get our minds on the word tonight, shall we? Now, David, I need just a little bit more. Okay, thank you. Lord, we thank you tonight for your spirit, your power, and we thank you for the living word. We heard anointed word this morning that quickened our hearts and challenged us. We heard it Tuesday, we heard it Friday, we heard it Thursday. Now, Lord, we're never tiring of your precious word. We don't get tired of your word. And I pray that you would make this word a two-edged sword tonight. Holy Spirit, I need you. I need that special unction and anointing of the Holy Ghost. Lord, you're about to shut the door on many, many who've taken advantage of you, who have not valued your presence, who are not heeding your word. You're going to rise up and you're going to shut the door. Oh, Jesus, send your Holy Ghost tonight with conviction. Put the knife to our hearts if you must. Cut it asunder. Lord, let there be a seriousness tonight. Let there be a sobering by the Holy Spirit. We pray in Jesus' name. Amen. I want you to go to Luke, the 13th chapter. Luke 13. And I want you to begin with me at verse 22. Luke 13, 22. I'm reading from King James. And I want you to get the whole story here. I'm going to read right on through verse 30. That's Luke 13, beginning at verse 22. And he went through the cities and villages, teaching and journeying toward Jerusalem. Then said one unto him, Lord, are there few that are going to be saved? And he said unto them, strive to enter in at the straight gate. For many, I say unto you, will seek to enter in and shall not be able. When once the master of the house is risen up and has shut the door, and you begin to stand outside and to knock at the door saying, Lord, Lord, open to us. And he shall answer and say unto you, I know you not whence you are. In other words, I don't know where you're coming from. I don't know who you belong to. Then shall you begin to say, We have eaten and drunk in thy presence and thou hast taught in our streets. But he shall say, I tell you, I know you not whence you are. Depart from me, all you workers of iniquity. There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth when you shall see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God and you yourself thrust out. They shall come from the east and from the west and from the north and the south and shall sit down in the kingdom of God. And behold, there are last which shall be first and there are first which shall be last. Would you go back to verse 23. Then said one unto him, Lord, are there few that be saved? Are there few that be saved? My message tonight, when Jesus shuts the door. Look at me please. This question that was asked of Jesus. Are there going to be just a few people saved? I've asked that question all over the world where God's called me to preach. I remember asking it in Mexico City. It was in one of those arenas to preach where they have the fights. What do you call those? Bullfights. In a bullfight arena. Mexico City has probably, I don't know the population, probably 20 million now. One of the large cities of the world. And you look at the masses of humanity. A city that sprawls for miles and miles. And you ask the question, Lord, how many are going to be saved here out of all these millions? And then the answer always comes back, such a few. I remember asking it in Sao Paulo, Brazil. We're having great meetings there, but it was just a small, even though it was well attended, so small compared to the overall population. Sao Paulo is one of the top ten cities in the world in population. Sao Paulo is a teeming city. Like during noon hour, they come out of those buildings and then at rush hour. New York is nothing compared to Sao Paulo, Brazil. Just like waves of humanity, masses. And you stand there, you have to get off the side, you can't even walk on the sidewalk, and you say, oh God, this is a city given to witchcraft. It's a city of all kinds of idolatries. How many are going to be saved? And you hear that sad report in view of the population, so very few. In Poland for Crusades, five of the major cities, flying into Poland, into the Iron Curtain countries, you feel the spirit of those nations behind the Iron Curtain. You think not only of Poland, Czechoslovakia, Romania, all those eastern bloc countries. You think of Russia, then you move to China, and you think of the multiplied hundreds of millions in China. And then you're talking not millions of lost souls, you're talking billions. Billions, and you say, oh Jesus, how many are going to be saved? And they're just a few, the same question this man asked. I've asked it, I've asked it in Times Square here. I've asked it for years, for 30 years here. I asked it this past summer before we started this church. I would get on the ticket to Rhode Island. Have you ever been out there when the theaters let out? About 10.20 to 11 o'clock, and you watch that mass of humanity in taxis going everywhere, and you see a pleasure mad crowd? Have you never been out there and let tears roll down your face and say, oh Jesus, look at this crowd going to hell? How many are going to be saved? Are there only a few going to be saved? And I tell you now, saints of God, if there was a revival in New York City, and I believe it's coming, and a million people were saved, and we couldn't hold them in any of our churches or not even in the open fields, like Central Park, there would still be just a small remnant of the multitudes. How many of New York would be saved? Just a few, compared to the mass of humanity here. Only a few. Now how can anybody know that there are going to be just a few saved? Jesus said, Enter you in at the straight gate, for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be that go in thereat. But straight is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it. Who said that? Few there be that find it. Now where is this broad way? I'm not talking about Times Square. I'm not talking about Broadway going right down through it. I'm not talking about 42nd Street. That's not the broad way to destruction. That's not the highway to destruction. The broad way, the highway to destruction is right through the door of the church. I tell you, pastors are sending more people to hell than all the pimps and prostitutes and harlots out on those streets, and all the drug pushers included. And I say it with love, but I also say it feeling the wrath of God against a compromising church. The broad way to destruction, the broad way to hell, goes right through the door of our compromising, modern, harder church system. False doctrines, preaching false security, cheap grace, making lukewarm Christians feel like they're going to heaven, when in fact they're going to hell. They've never been warned or told that the gate is straight and the way is narrow. We've abandoned that. Do you know we've abandoned almost everything because we call it legalism? We abandoned keeping the Sabbath day. We said we don't have to keep the Sabbath day. I was raised in Pentecost as a child to honor the Sabbath. And I still have that sense, whether you want to argue it from the Scripture or not, I believe that the Sabbath day, I believe there's a holy day for God. Every day is holy. But there's something about just sanctifying that day and getting set in with God. Now, we've done away with fasting. We've done away with everything because we call it legalism. You know the answer to this man's question, will few be saved? That's discovered in the very first word Jesus answered the man. Look at verse 24. Strive. I'm going to stop and preach on that word for a minute. Don't go any further. Don't get ahead of me. Strive to enter in at the straight gate. You know what that word strive means? To agonize. To wage war. To contend. To fight with fervency. You know what the word straight means? He said, I want you to agonize and contend and wage war to enter in at the straight gate. You know what that straight gate means? It means to take a stand. To take a stand. That's the root meaning of the word. It also means narrow. In other words, because there's obstructions on each side. There's just a narrow path because of the obstructions, because of the barriers trying to hinder. And there's just a narrow way between these obstructions. But the root meaning of the word straight is to abide and to take a stand. Now, we as ministers of the gospel in these last days have been... When I say we, I'm talking about the church in general. In fact, I shouldn't use that word we because it's not done here. I can assure you it's not being done here at this church. And it's not being done in a lot of Holy Ghost churches. But there are preachers today and teachers that are misleading the people. Absolutely misleading them. We are preaching such a cheap grace. We say, come to Jesus. He'll make you happy. Come to Jesus. All your problems are solved. And you know what we're doing? We're selling Jesus like we sell toothpaste. We package Him. And we're trying to make Him attractive to the world. And Jesus never did that. He was always talking about denying yourself, taking up your cross, and fighting and resisting. He wasn't trying to make it attractive. It was a bloody cross. But today, we like to go to church that makes us feel good about ourselves. We like to go to church where you feel comfortable and you can still cheat on your wife. You can still lie. You can still do all these things and feel good about yourself when you walk out the door. I'm going to look up at the... There's some people up there too. A lot of people up there. But you see, we've candy-coated the bait. We're packaging Jesus to make Him attractive. Martin Luther stood up against the selling of indulgences where the priests were trying to sell indulgences. In other words, you could buy your way out of hell or purgatory. And he took a stand against it. The Reformation came out of such a stand. Oh, but brother and sister, what we see in many churches today, far worse than anything in Luther's day. Far worse than those indulgences being sold. You know what? I don't have television in my house. You ought to know that by now. One of these days, we're going to get it out of all the homes of Times Square church people. One of these days, you're going to hear the Holy Ghost like you never heard Him. He's going to blow it right out. When the Lord told me that about three years ago, our staff in Texas got off. I didn't ask them to. We got $10,000 worth of TV sets and went out with shotguns and shot their heads off. I mean, we shot their... and we got a bulldozer and buried them. Somebody said, why didn't you sell them and give it to the poor? We don't sell idols. And to me, it's an idol. And I'm going to go say another word or I'll start preaching on it. But you know, these television evangelists, send us $20. No, $200 now or $1,000 this morning. Did you hear what he said? Our dear brother Tilton down in Dallas. No, no, no, no, no. It's not costing you $250. Your miracle is going to cost you $1,000. The same brother sends out a package of dirt in a plastic bag. I saw it. I read it. Confess your sins over the dirt and send it back and he will wash the dirt and it'll wash your sins away. If that isn't false prophecy, if that's not a false prophet, I don't know one. If you're sending any money there, God forgive you. God forgive you. What a travesty. That which was done in Luther's day was nothing compared to that. But you see, if you send us money, God will save your unsaved loved ones. God will heal your husband, your wife. You can get healed of cancer. $200. The selling of Jesus. All the wrath of God that's stored up for that. You got to see where those men live. You got to see what they drive. You got to see the lifestyle. Bible says there are strivers and there are seekers. There's a kind of seeker who will never enter in and his whole thing is to seek. His whole life is to seek. That's all. He never intends to enter into anything. He's going to ever learn and never come into the knowledge of the truth. The scripture says, for many I say unto you, Jesus says, will seek to enter in and shall not be able. Now that word seek means to inquire, to make an inquiry, to search. One who's looking into things. One who desires and hopes and wishes. Now he said, there are going to be seekers come. And they're going to knock on the door and say, let us in. And that blows my mind that God would shut the door on seekers. Didn't he say, seek and ye shall find? Knock and it shall be open. But you see, the seekers that are mentioned here in verse 24, for many I say to you, will seek to enter in and shall not be able to. What Jesus is really saying, will there be few saved? And his answer really is, many seekers will come. They're going to be searching for me. They're going to ask many questions about me. They're going to look into it. And they'll truly desire to enter in. And they'll appear to be sincere seekers after truth. But they will never, in their heart they really don't intend to enter in. Now, the Bible says, those who strive to enter in are those who agonize. That's what the word means. They're agonizing over their sins. There's a grief in their heart. They hate their sins. They agonize over their self-centeredness. They've decided to count the cost. And that's what this word strive means. You come to this door and you begin to agonize over your sin. You agonize over the cost. Whether or not you're willing to pay that price. And then you have to take a stand. And these are seekers who want to seek but don't want to take a stand. And I see it in this church. I see it everywhere I go. People who are playing a game. They have it in their mind that they can go to heaven as long as they're seeking after truth. And they've been seeking. I know people who have been seeking for 30 years. They are perpetual seekers. But they never ever... If you challenge them, When are you ever going to enter in? Well, I'm looking into it. I'm searching it out. I'm trying to pick up all the pieces. I'm trying to get everything together. You can sit in your home and read for hours. You can play teats for hours. You can do all of these things. You can come to this church and hear the word over and over again. But there's going to come a time God's going to call by the Holy Ghost for you to take a stand. You're going to have to take a stand on what you've heard. Jesus said to the Pharisees, You shall seek me and you won't find me. Because he knew their heart was not in it. Because God said through David, Blessed are they that seek me with all their heart. You've got to seek him with the intention that you're going to enter in. Otherwise you're a hypocrite acting like a sincere seeker. Stop playing the seeker's game. It's a game. For many, many people it's just a game. It's a process. A lifelong process. And deep inside they're convinced. How could Jesus damn me? How could I go to hell if all my life I'm seeking truth? I'm telling you these are the very ones he shut the door on. Now, Jesus is merciful. Kind and long-suffering. But he will not be fooled. He won't be manipulated. And for many seekers the door is going to be shut. Because they're seeking without ever intending to change anything. Three things I want you to know. First of all, Jesus can rise up any day and shut the door at any time. He can rise up any time and shut the door. Look at verse 25. When once the master of the house has risen up, And he shut the door, And you begin to stand without and knock at the door saying, Lord, Lord, open unto us. And he shall say, answer and say unto them, I know you not whence you are. Look at me please. Get the picture because it's awesome. It's very awesome. This picture that Jesus is painting. Remember this is the master speaking. Outside the door there are many, many seeking to get in. But he rises up and shuts the door right in their face. Right in the face of these seekers. They seem so anxious to enter in. In fact, when the door is shut, they're banging on the door saying, Let us in, let us in. Now why would Jesus shut the door on people who apparently act like they so badly want to enter in? Well, man looks on the outward appearance, but God looks on the heart. Why would Jesus turn a deaf ear to seekers who are knocking on a door? Why did he suddenly rise up? He rose up suddenly and shut the door as if to say, That's enough. That's it. You're outside the door. You will never enter in. I'm going to answer the question as to why he shut the door through the course of the message. We're talking about the door being shut not in eternity, but the door being shut now. It can be shut tonight for some. We're not talking now about eternity. Yes, that's part of it. The door will be shut on the Judgment Day. It happened to Israel in their own time. I want you to go with me to Deuteronomy 5, please. Deuteronomy. You do have your Bibles, don't you? Yes, we do, someone said. I know you're from Times Square Church then. Deuteronomy 5. Deuteronomy 5. I want to show you how God shuts doors in time, not eternity. This is going to blow some of your theology away because some of you have been so deceived by teaching of false grace and false mercy. You went to a church that's all they preached. Didn't tell you the other side of the coin. I assure you that I'm on good scriptural grounds. Deuteronomy 5, beginning at the 25th verse. Let's go to the 40th verse. I'm sorry. No, no. I want Deuteronomy 5. Well, I thought it was. Deuteronomy 1. There we are, verse 40. Deuteronomy 1, verse 40. Do you remember this story? They had grieved the Lord so many times. In fact, ten times they grieved the Lord. In fact, if you look at verse 33. Who went in the way before you to search you out of place, to put your tents in, and fire by night to show you by what way you should go. Verse 34. The Lord heard the voice of your words and was wroth, angry, and swear saying, Surely there shall not one of these men of this evil generation see the good land which I swear to give unto your fathers. Verse 40. But as for you, turn you. Take your journey into the wilderness by the way of the Red Sea. You answered. This is Moses reminding them. You answered and said unto me, We've sinned against the Lord. We will go up and fight according to all the word of the Lord our God commanded us. And when ye had girded on every man his weapons of war, ye were ready to go up into the hill. And the Lord said unto me, Say unto them, Go not up, neither fight. What's it say? For I am not among you. Is that the door shut? I'm not among you, lest ye be smitten before your enemies. So I spake unto you, and you would not hear, but rebelled against the commandment of the Lord, and went presumptuously up the hill. The Amorites which dwelt in the mountain came out against you, and chased you as bees do, and destroyed you, and seared you even to armor. And ye returned and wept before the Lord, but the Lord would not hearken to your voice, nor give ear unto you. Is that what it says? God shut the door. God shut the door. Look at it. And you returned and wept before the Lord, but the Lord would not listen to your voice, nor give ear. Look at me please. They had crossed the line. I'm going to show you tonight where God does not draw the line. We draw the line. But there's a line that is drawn. And there's something happens when that line is drawn. That's the point where the door is shut. You know, Israel spoke great pious words about wanting God. Just like we hear in this church in so many places. I really want Jesus. I don't want to hold on to my life. I don't want to be smoking these cigarettes. I don't want to smoke pot. I don't want to use drugs. I don't want to live in lust. I want to live a life free from all these things. I hear that. Sounds good. But you hear it year after year after year after year, and nothing changes. And something's wrong. Now go to Deuteronomy 5. I knew there was something there in the 5th chapter. Deuteronomy 5. Keep your finger on Luke 13, because we're going to go back there an awful lot. Verse 23. Do you remember this is the story? They're standing at the mountain at the time. And it's being reminded again. Moses is reminding them. God spoke that thundering voice out of the mountain. Verse 25. Now therefore, why should we die? For this great fire will consume us. If we hear the voice of the Lord our God anymore, then we shall die. They heard God's thundering voice that scared them. They didn't want to hear it anymore. And who is there? Verse 26. And who is there of all flesh that hath heard the voice of the living God speaking out of the midst of the fire as ye have and lived? Go thou near, and hear all that the Lord our God shall say. And speak thou unto us all that the Lord our God shall speak unto thee. And we will hear it and do it. You don't look at me before going any further. Isn't that what we hear? Preach it to us. Some of you say I came out of something dead and I want life. Or you say I didn't get the word of God. We don't preach the only word. There's a lot of good word going out all over this country and land. But I hear people say I want to hear it straight. I want to hear it as hard as it may be. I'll receive it. That's what they were saying. You go to God. You hear what he says. You bring it to us. We'll obey God. Verse 28. And the Lord heard the voice of your words which you speak unto me. And the Lord said to me, I've heard the voice of the words of this people which they've spoken unto me. They have well said all that they have spoken. Look at verse 29. All that there was such a heart in them that they would fear me and keep all my commandments always. And it might be well with them and with their children forever. Go say to them, get you into your tents again. Oh, look at me, please. God said, all your words, they're all the right words. Yes. I'll obey you, God. I'll obey you, Lord. He said, you speak the word and I hear it. I want that word to take root in me. But you see, if it doesn't touch the heart, if the trembling of the Holy Ghost is not there, oh, what a dangerous thing to hear the word of God and not act on it. How dangerous to hear the word of God and not let it change your life. He said, their hearts are not in it. And so today, we hear the same thing. Yes, you've well said all that you've spoken. We will hear it and we will do it. You know, in Romans, the first chapter, do you mind skipping over to Romans, the first chapter? You know, God shut the door on the Romans and turned them over to reprobate mind, to homosexuality, to all kinds of sin and perversion. Romans, the first chapter. For our new converts, if you find Acts, just keep going to the right. If you got to Corinthians, turn left. Romans, first chapter, 18th verse, 18th verse. Are you ready? For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against what? All ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who hold the truth in unrighteousness. These are men and women. These are so-called Christians that they appear to love the truth. They say, I'm going to walk in the truth. But they're holding on to the sin. Holding on. They won't let it go. They don't want to let go of the truth, but they don't want to let go of their sins and they're caught right here in the middle. Boy, do you know how dangerous that is? Look at the next verse. Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them, for God showed it unto them. And not a person in this church that God hasn't shown his word to. He's shown his word really clearly to you and all. To all of us. We receive the clear word of the Lord. That not one person in this building can stand before the judgment seat on the last day and say, I didn't know, I didn't hear. You can't excuse your sin before the judgment seat of Christ. You can't excuse your sin saying, I didn't hear it clear enough. I didn't hear it with the fear of God in me. I didn't hear it with thunder. You heard it with thunder. You heard it with lightning. You heard it with anointing. Verse 21. Because that when they knew God, glorified him not as God, neither were thankful, became vain in their imagination, their foolish heart was darkened, professing themselves to be wise, they became fools. Verse 24. Wherefore God also gave them up. Is that shutting the door? God also gave them up to uncleanness. Uncleanness. To filth. The filth of their flesh. Through the lust of their own hearts, to dishonor their own bodies between them. You read on and you find lesbian and homosexual acts being committed. But it goes on. Verse 28. Even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, in other words, they went after the word of God, changed them. God gave them over to a, what? A reprobate mind. That's the line. God just turned them over to what they wanted. He turned them over to the sin. He said, you want your sin? He released them to their sin. And that's when the line is drawn. And mankind draws that line. God turned them over to a reprobate mind to do those things which are not convenient. Being filled with all unrighteousness. They didn't want to walk in righteousness, so God just turned them over to their unrighteousness. Now, some would say, now look at me please, you see. Some would say, David, what you're preaching tonight is not lining up with my concept of the mercy of Jesus Christ, His grace and His long suffering. He says, that doesn't measure up. That's not the love of Jesus. How wrong you are. How wrong you are if you're thinking that the most merciful thing Jesus has done in this New Testament is to stand up before a whole system, a religious system. He's warning them. If that's not mercy, I don't know what is. If the bridge is up, and a cop is there, and he flags me down, and he knocks on the window and says, run it down. And he says, if you go any further, you're going down a ravine. I don't call that judgment preaching. I don't call it doomsday. I call that mercy. And he's a cop. Nothing more merciful Jesus can do than to warn us what will happen if we continue in our sins. That's mercy. That's grace. I want you to turn to Numbers 14. I want to show you how God can break His promises. Some would say, well, God can't break His promises. You want to see God break His promise? Do you want to try God and see what happens? You say, all the promises of God are mine. Yes, they're yea and amen to all who believe. And that word believe there means keep on believing. And that implies obedience, yes. Very clearly. Numbers 14, verse 18. The Lord is what? And He's of what? Great mercy. And He's what? Forgiving iniquity and transgressions, and by no means clearing the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generations. He's praying, pardon, I beseech the iniquity of this people according to the greatness of thy mercy. As thou hast forgiven this people from Egypt even until now. And the Lord said, I've pardoned according to thy word. But as truly as I live, all the earth shall be filled with the glory of the Lord. Because all these men which have seen my glory and my miracles, which I did in Egypt and the wilderness, have tempted me now these ten times and have not hearkened to my voice. Surely they shall not see the land which I swore to their fathers, neither shall any of them that provoked me see it. He shut the door to the promised land right in their face. Now look at verse 34. After the number of the days in which ye searched the land, even forty days each day for a year, shall you bear your iniquities even forty years, and ye shall know my, what? You will know my breach of promise. And you'll find that other places in the word of God also. Now look at me. Do you know what that word breach of promise means? In Hebrew, the absolute translation is to break and make void. Otherwise God said, you'll continue your sins and you are going to know my breach of promise. You're going to know that I have to make it void. Christ's mercy endures forever. Jesus will always be going out chasing after the lost sheep. That one lost sheep that's gone. The mercy of God has never changed. God, Jesus will be long-suffering to the last trumpet sound. He will hear the cry of the broken and the repentant. He will always be there with mercy and love. His character doesn't change. But it is not mercy, it is not grace, it is not love to overlook the deeds of those who cry, Lord, Lord, and will not lay down their iniquities. The Lord said, many will come in the last days saying, Lord, Lord, we've cast out devils, we've healed the sick, we did many wonderful works in your name. And he'll say, depart from me, you work of iniquity. I didn't even know you. The door is shut. He shut the door on the five foolish virgins. Didn't he? He went out calling the people to come. One said, I can't come to the marriage supper because I married me a wife. Three parties made excuses. He shut the door on them, said, go out in the highways and hedges and compel them to come in. Over and over, you find the door being shut, the door being shut, the door being shut. Not in eternity, but right here in time. I say to you that Jesus, secondly, will run up and shut the door on those who take his presence for granted and who refuse to obey his word. If you're going to take the presence of Jesus for granted, look at verse 26 and you'll see it. Then shall you begin to say, we have eaten and drunk in thy presence and thou hast taught in our streets. Now look this way. The Lord had just said to them, I don't even know you. I don't know you. Wait a minute. Doesn't he know everything? Didn't he number every hair on our head? Didn't he say he numbered our parts when they were still in the womb? Before we were born, he knew all about us. He knew our character. He knew every cell in our body. How is he says, I don't know you? He knows everything, doesn't he? Sounds like a contradiction, but it's not. It's not a contradiction at all. He said, I don't know whence you're from. I don't know where you're coming from. See, you've not made a stand. You tell me you're here knocking, saying you don't belong to the devil, but you don't belong to me because you've never forsaken your sins. You say you belong to me, but you're a stranger. I don't know you. I don't know where you're coming from. You've never taken a stand. You've never, never faced it as you should. You've never counted the cost. He said, I don't know. He said, you claim to belong to me. But whose are you? Whose are you? You're in some middle ground that I don't understand. You're out there in the middle playing. Those who are mine have counted the cost. They've denied themselves. They've taken up the cross. They know that when they walk in that door, it's a fight. It's a battle. There's a striving. There's an agonizing. This idea, I can't help myself. That is wrong, dead wrong. He said, we're more than conquerors through Jesus Christ our Lord. Do you know that cry outside? When that door is shut, can you imagine the cry? But Lord, you were our teacher. We sat and had communion with you. You taught in our streets. Do you remember teaching about those virgins, Lord? I remember it. How could I know it unless I was there? I was there. You say you don't know me. I sat in Times Square Church. I heard Victor preach. I heard Bob preach. I heard Don preach. I heard Garrett preach. I even heard the Screeching Deacon. That's what they used to call me, the Screeching Deacon. You have heard it. Lord, I heard. What do you mean you don't know me? I sat right there. Fourth row, fifth row. I'm not going to name the row. Lord, I was there. I heard it. What do you mean you don't know me? I was there. I was there. Master, three years you taught in our streets. If Jesus were to come this week, you'd say, for months, weeks, I sat there and I heard the Word of God. What do you mean you don't know me? I had communion with you. I took the Lord's Supper. Jesus, I drank of the fruit of the vine. I partook of your body and your blood. I drank it. Communion. Lord, we ate and drank in your presence. He says, I don't know you. I don't even know you. I don't know where you're coming from because you've never taken a stand. You've never committed yourself. Lord, I was so close to you, I could touch you. I'd go to church and I'd feel your presence. I could reach out and touch you. There are some of you here tonight that have had such close experiences with Jesus. He's been so real to you at times. But you know, in spite of the reality of his presence, in spite of the powerful Word that you've heard many times, you still cleave to your sin. You still hold to that lust. And I'm coming against that thing in the name of Jesus tonight. And that God's fear would hit your heart to know that you can't play with your lust and be saved. You're going to go to hell, brother. You're going to go to hell, sister. In any church that makes you comfortable in your sin, you're going to have to answer to Judgment Day. Now, Jesus loved them all. He was saying he was going to set the door, but he loved them. These are the ones he wept over. When he saw the multitudes, his sheep having no shepherd, these are the very people that he grieved over, and his heart was moving compassion toward them. But nevertheless, Jesus was going to leave this earth. And before he left, he'd cry over Jerusalem. He'd just stand over weeping, saying, Oh, Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which were sent to you, how often would I have gathered your children together, even as the mother hen gathers her little chickens under her wings. But you would not. Behold, your house is left to you desolate. And that's when Jesus closed the door. Now, some people have said this whole story has to do with the Jewish nation only, that Jesus was closing the door so the Jew is going to go to the Gentiles. No, God is no respected person, and the Gentiles that sinned were cut out just the same, just as the Jew. This is not just for the Jew. Listen closely. They came to Jesus and marveled at his Word. The Scripture said they were astonished, amazed by it. But they didn't let it change them. And all bare him witness, and wondered at the gracious words which proceeded out of his mouth. Another Scripture. When Jesus had ended these sayings, the people were astonished at his teaching. Isn't it something to be amazed at it? To sit there, astonished? This is something! What a word! In one ear and out the other. We hear it here. God bless your heart. We hear that. I don't know how it lobbies there sometimes. It's almost embarrassing. What a powerful word that was! Some nights I had 25, 50 people and all the pastors say, Boy, that was a word from the Lord. That was a powerful word from the Lord. I don't want to hear that. I want to hear you say, That word changed me! That word convicted me of my sins. I'm going to lay my sins down. I'm preaching. I am preaching. That's my amen corner. I love it. It's alright. Do you know when Jesus is warning that he's going to shut the door? He's trying to show us how serious he takes this matter of his presence and his word. I don't think the church of Jesus Christ understands how seriously God takes this matter of sitting in his presence week after week. Hearing his teaching. Jesus was saying, Look, I'm here right now. You're taking me for granted. You're taking my presence for granted. The Lord's saying, If you will not value my presence, if you will not mix faith with the word that you're receiving and profit from it, the time is going to come that I'll rise and shut the door so you cannot play an endless game of hearing and not doing. I'll not let you play that game anymore of always hearing and never doing it. There's a young man in this church and I asked him permission to tell this dream. He told it to me last week and it really shook my heart because I know the battle. He's been fighting. He's been saved from alcoholism and he went out and got stoned a couple weeks ago and the Lord is bringing him a long way now but he's kind of been taking things for granted. Last week he had a dream and in this dream he was dying and he was on a dock like he was about to be launched out into eternity and he was crying out for the Lord. Oh Jesus, Jesus! And there was no answer. Jesus wasn't there. And finally the answer came, too late. You've crossed the line. Too late. And he said, I could feel myself slipping back and I was falling and getting further and further away from the Lord. And he said the sense of being, his presence gone, the presence of Jesus wasn't there anymore. It was just darkness. And he said it was terror and I heard voices saying you took it for granted. You took it for granted. And he was telling me, in fact, I recorded it again Friday night because I wanted to get it straight in my heart. He said, Brother David, it dawned on me the game that I was playing and the game was simply this. Look, the Lord's got a call on my life. The Lord called me. Therefore, he won't let me die and go to hell. He's called me. He has his hand on me. So he'll always bring me back. And he's back a few times and come back and the Lord's always been there. But he said, I realized there's going to come a time that he won't be there that the door will be shut. And he had this idea, well, because God has his hand on me and he's called me, I can go out for a while and indulge my sin. I can do this and then I'll come back because God has his hand on me. God has called me. God wouldn't let anything happen to me. God knows I want him deep in my heart. God knows I cry. God knows I pray. But he said, Brother Dave, I found out that God says I'll choose somebody else. He said that call that I had, I abused it. And I'll tell you what, he's sitting here tonight and he's shaken by it. It's still hounding his spirit because he has felt the agony and the terror of the door being shut. And Jesus saying to him, you took my presence for granted. You would not let my word change you. And that sense of being shut out. This is the end of side one. You may now turn the tape over to side two. His presence. Now finally, Jesus is going to rise up and shut the door on those who refuse to lay aside that besetting sin. Look at verse 27. But he shall say, verse 27, but he shall say, I tell you, I know you not what you are. Depart from me all ye, what? Boy, what a good definition. Worker. Have you ever seen people going to work every Friday and Saturday night? See, they've worked all week long on a job. And it's party time. You know what that word work in Greek means? Full-time occupation. Sin is their occupation. And I'll tell you what, it's like going to a job you hate. Oh, you're excited about it at first and you go to a job. Have you ever seen all these yuppies up in Upper East Side and West Side and all over New York on Friday night? They're all going to work in their party clothes. And I'll tell you, sin is a hard job. Sin is a Didn't the Beatles have a song way back, A Hard Night's Work or something like that? A Hard Day's Night? Boy, I'll tell you what, you see them in the bars up at Columbus Avenue and Broadway, and about one o'clock in the morning they're still there saying, will somebody tell me when I'm having fun? I'll tell you, you look at their faces, it's like they're at a they're at a gristmill. I mean, it looks like they're throwing coal into a steel mill furnace in the sweat. I mean, they're sweating, they're trying to have a good time. They're workers of iniquity. And it gives them no pleasure. Driven by it. Come on now, if you're hooked by a lust, if you're hooked by something, tell me now, after all these years of playing that game, how much price you get out of it? It drives you. You're going to work. Workers of iniquity. Now listen, I want God, in the name of the Holy, in the name of Jesus, and the power of the Holy Ghost tonight, I want God to strike down this false concept that we're helpless against our besetting sins. There was a woman in this church, God bless you, I won't mention your name honey, it really stirred in my heart what you said. Tears rolled down her cheeks and she said, look, if one of our best known television evangelists, who preached against sin, stronger than anybody in the world, if he can't get victory over his sin, and if he says that that drove him all that time, how do I ever have a chance? What can I do to get victory over my besetting sin? And I'll tell you, that's done such damage to the cause of Christ. Yes it has. And any man who tells you that he cried and prayed and God didn't deliver him, I'm telling you, he did not strive. He did not agonize to the point of entering in at the straight gate. I hear Christians say, I can't help falling back to this thing. It overwhelms me. Have you ever heard your friend, I heard an alcoholic explain to me what happens. He said, you go along, you try to serve God, and all of a sudden this thing hits you, and he said your adrenaline starts flowing, and excitement comes to you, and it's overwhelming, and you run out and do it. Well why, why, when that first urge hits you, why weren't you on your face before God? Why weren't you getting a hold of the Word of God, and driving out and saying, I bind this in Jesus' name. Why weren't you dealing with it? Are we to say that the devil can run pell-mell over any Christian? Are we to say, well I'm helpless against this? No. Absolutely not. He's given us all the power and authority of all that is in heaven. And I'm telling you, if God's people don't realize their responsibility, so listen, you can't turn anywhere in this book without hearing these words scream at you. Obedience. Responsibility. Run. Resist. Flee. Crucify. Forsake. Put aside. Put off. Put on. Wrestle. Fight. Strive. No, we don't hear that preaching anymore. Now it's all, Jesus laid all your sins on Him, and that's true. But see, by saying Jesus laid it all on you, and you don't have any responsibility, you say, oh I can't fight, the devil's too big for me. And we're using such phraseology, oh we have no strength, we have no strength, we have nothing to fight with. Well then why did He tell us to strive? Why did He tell us to put off the old man and put on the new man? Why did He say this is a war if we can't fight? God's doing something in me. I'm looking back over some of the things in my life. I've not been in doctrine in the way that you're hearing today, but even the thought of it. Even looking with lust. You look at a woman with lust and it's adultery. But you know, I look over my past life, and whenever sin entered in and there was a habit, I'd say, God how did you ever deliver me? And when I search it all out, and go back, do you know the one thing I keep coming back to? I was in a hotel room recently, and there was an R, all the R rated movies and everything, right there. They have them in all hotels and everything. And just a fleeting thought. Flip it on. You know where that comes from, don't you? You know why I don't flip those things on? You know why I don't do that? Because I have in me a fear of a holy God. I have the fear of God, and God keeps whispering in my heart, David, if you do it, it's all over. It's all over. Because you know better, and I've dealt with you, and you've heard the truth, and you're going to pay a price. And I can shut the door any time. If you didn't know, see Paul said, I'm an example of the grace of God. I'm a pattern of what God can do in the way of grace, but he said, I did it ignorantly. You're not doing it ignorantly, David. You're doing it right in the face of the Holy Ghost. Right in the face of God's Word. And God could shut the door any moment. That's what he's doing to evangelists right now, all over the country. Shutting the door. And this idea that we don't have any strength, we don't have any power. And I've heard people say, you can't just bite the bullet. Well, whatever it takes, bite the bullet. Fight the devil. Resist the devil, and he'll free from you. You resist him. We sit around lazy, wanting God to drop deliverance into our heart. Lord, here I am, I want the sin of my, drop it into me, Lord. You can wait no judgment day, and it'll never drop into you. You stand up in Jesus' name and start fighting that thing. Tell the devil, it's enough. You rise up in the name of Jesus Christ and the power of the Holy Spirit to say, I, greater is he that's in me than he that's in the world. No more of this, I'm weak and I'm too cowardly, I can't do it. Yes, you can, in the name of the Lord. Be not deceived. God is not mocked. For whatsoever man soweth, that shall he also reap. For he that sows to the fresh shall also reap destruction. I'll tell you something, I've seen a few men in this church with eyes so full of lust. My prayer is, oh God, if they don't break it soon, they're gonna turn, be turned to reprobate minds right under our preaching. Some of you sitting right now just reeking with it. And I love you too much to just let it go by. We all love you too much. You're gonna deal with that tonight. You're gonna hear God pierce you and say to your heart, you know better now. You have my fear in your heart. Put away the evil of your doing before mine eyes. Isaiah 1 16. Listen to this. Whosoever transgresseth and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ, hath not God. He doesn't have God. That's 2 John, the 9th verse. Whosoever keeps on sinning, in other words, you keep on sinning, and you won't abide in the doctrine of Christ, which is holiness, he doth not have God. You can talk all you want, but you don't have the Lord. For if we live after the flesh, we shall die. But if we through the Spirit do put to death the deeds of the body, we shall live. Put off concerning your former life the old man which is corrupt according to deceitful lust, and put on the new man which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness. Who's to do that? Put off the old and put on the new. Who's supposed to do it? Oh, no, no, no. Gabriel does it. Michael does it. The seraphims come. We get to praying and we say, Lord, a thousand people in Times Square Church send a thousand angels with hot coals and burn it out. No, he said, you put off the old man, and you put on the new man. See, we're not willing to work on our old...the Bible said, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. With fear and trembling. And I do that every day of my life. Folks, this is a battle. You say, Brother Wilson, am I going to have to have a warfare until Jesus comes? Yes, but I'll tell you what. I'll tell you what. The warfare is what makes you sharp. It keeps you looking and expecting and open. Hallelujah. And it brings down strongholds. All the strongholds of the enemy. I'm going to close with just this. I told you before, God doesn't draw the line. We draw the line. And here's what it is. You have confirmed yourself in compromise. God sees your heart and he knows that if he doesn't shut the door...we're talking about the door of his presence now. Keep that in mind, the door of his presence. He shuts the door, access to his presence because he knows that if you go on any further any further it's only going to confirm you worse in your sins. And God says that's it. Doesn't end his mercy. Doesn't end his grace to the world. Doesn't change his character. But as far as you're concerned, the Lord says I can't let you play this game anymore unless you destroy not only yourself, but all those about you. And I'm going to close with this, but I know tonight. I know of evangelists, I know of pastors from all over the world. Thinking of one right now, saved from drugs years ago. Became a mighty evangelist. Preached to some of the largest, some of God's churches in the world. Used to preach... He came in years ago to preach at Teen Challenge. But some of the drug addicts heard him preach and said Brother Dave, he may be preaching to the largest churches in America, but he's a phony. Because drug addicts can smell a phony in the pulpit quicker than anybody. Former drug addicts and alcoholics. And I didn't know what it was, but we found out later that he was still using drugs. He wound up in the streets of San Francisco. And a friend of mine saw him one day. His name was Bobby. He said, Are you ever going to come back? He kept crying. He said, You don't know how bad I want back. You know how many tears I've shed, a river of tears to get back. I want to get back so bad, but to no place on this earth I can feel his presence anymore. Can't sense his presence. I've cried, I've wept. There's an Old Testament story about that. Remember? He sought repentance with tears. He so never did get it. Crossed a line. He had drawn. Listen to me, please. If you don't believe this, go out and ask some of these evangelist friends of mine. How many times I've wept with them and cried and said, Lord, why? Why can't he? Listen to me. He's seeking. He's crying. He's pleading. Why can't he break through? I don't understand all the doctrine of it like I should, and I'm digging into more and more, but I'll tell you one thing. I'm going to be preaching more and more about personal responsibility. And I'm going to show you more and more as God leads me on Sunday nights that this personal responsibility, we're going to stand before God, that judgment seat, we're going to have to answer for that. You're not going to be able to slosh it off onto somebody else. No. True grace teaches us to walk in holiness and righteousness and to be conformed to the image of the Lord Jesus Christ. That's the true message of grace. I'm going to close with this. Up in the balcony, here in the main floor, tonight, the name of the Lord Jesus, our blessed Savior, let the Holy Ghost face you with your sin tonight. And if you're going to come to this altar tonight, don't you dare until you count the cost. Because you see, the door is probably open for you right now, and there's a chance to walk right through. And I'll tell you, when you walk in, it's going to be a, you're walking into, you are enlisting as a soldier in the army of the Lord. You're going to walk in, as soon as you do, He's going to clothe you with His armor. Hallelujah. He's going to put a new robe on your back, new shoes on your feet. The preparation of the gospel of peace. And if you walk in that door and you've counted the cost, you say, Lord, I'm not going back to that. And by your grace, I take my stand. I don't care if every demon in hell is unleashed. Lord, I've taken a stand. And that's the difference between those who make it and those who don't. God's done something in their heart. They've said, I'm sick of my sin. I'm going to take my stand. The fear of God's placed in their heart. And because of the fear of the Lord, they depart from their evil. From their wickedness. Hallelujah. How many sense the fear of God in your heart tonight? I have His fear here tonight on me. Yes, I do. I tremble at His Word. Nobody is preached with more authority on that than these men beside me here. For eight months we've been proclaiming this. But for some of you, how long does it go on? When does this battle end? When are you going to quit blowing smoke in the face of Jesus? When are you going to quit calling your girlfriend or your boyfriend? When are you going to stop playing those lust games? When are you going to lay down that pornography? You think you're going to keep coming here to communion? You're going to keep coming here to hear this thundering message week after week? And God not judge you? This is a message of mercy. It's mercy. God's saying, I want to cleanse you. Jesus said, I want to bring you out. But stand up now. Agonize if you have to. Grieve over your sin, yes. But say, oh God, I want to hate this thing so much. I want to hate it tonight to the point I want to be changed. I'll tell you what, the only reason you're going back is you haven't reached that place yet. You've not reached that place. You say you did, but you haven't. You sit here right now, let the Holy Ghost thunder in your heart. You know now. You know better. Now on the judgment day, the Lord will replay and replay every message you've ever heard. Every tape you've ever listened to. And some of you have listened to dozens and dozens of tapes over the past year or so. I've got such a burden of the Lord in my heart tonight. And I have a sense that I'm preaching mercy as powerful as I've ever preached. Mercy is coming forth. The mercy of God. He loves you so much, church. He loves us all. How about it, deacons? Or rather, ushers? All my ushers. This church. All the workers of this church. All the musicians. I'm going to ask you, are we walking with clean hands now? Are we walking with pure hearts? Are we dealing finally and once and for all with our sin and saying, gee, now that doesn't mean that you won't have a time that you may fall into a temptation. Oh, but you get up with such a hatred for it. And you know that you've broken through to the Lord. You've broken through. You know He's standing with you. We've got people downstairs praying all through this preaching. They're right underneath the stage praying. Praying that God will send conviction tonight. I don't want anybody to walk out of here without dealing with their sin finally. If you're going to come up here with a sin, we don't need to know what it is, but we want you to lay it down tonight. And say, Jesus, I'm taking my stand publicly tonight against all lust, against all sin in my life. I want to break through to you, Jesus. I want your fear in my heart, your holy divine fear. Stand with me, please. Bow your heads. Let's pray. Let everybody pray. Father, right now I pray that you break through by your Holy Spirit. Send great conviction on this audience. Send great conviction, oh God, from your Spirit. Holy Spirit, go to every heart with your glorious love and tenderness. Speak loud and clear. You know better You know better You do have my strength. You do have my authority. I will take you through, but you must take your stand against it. If you want to be delivered, just step out, come to the front. We'll pray with you. We'll ask God to break through to you. Up in the balcony, just go to the center there and down the aisles either side. Jesus Jesus Jesus Jesus Jesus Jesus Jesus Jesus Jesus Jesus Jesus Jesus Jesus Jesus Christ, Son of the Father, Jesus Christ, Son of the Father, Jesus Christ, Son of the Father, Jesus Christ, Son of the Father, Jesus breaks every fetter, Jesus breaks every fetter, and He sets me free. Jesus Christ, Son of the Father, Jesus Christ, Son of the Father, Jesus Christ, Son of the Father, Jesus Christ, Son of the Father, I'd like those who came forward, all of you that came forward, listen closely please. The Holy Spirit's here right now. Did you come here, did you walk down the aisle, you may be in the aisle here, but did you come forward, step out of your seat here tonight, to take a stand finally against that thing in your life? How many, did you do that? Lord, I'm taking a stand here tonight, and I'm asking you to put your fear in my heart. I want you to say this to me, Jesus, I know better. I know better now. Lord, let those words sink into our hearts, so that all this next week and all this next month and next year, we can say it over and over again, I know better now. Lord, I'm responsible. Lord, I'm responsible to fight. I'm responsible to resist the devil. I'm responsible, Lord, I've got a part in this. Yes, Jesus paid it all, it's by his mercy alone. It's by his grace. But Lord, you will not do our part. You'll do your part, we must do our part. Oh God, put that in our heart. I want you to raise your hands as you pray this prayer with me. Now look, the prayer of the Lord won't save you. The prayer of the Lord won't do anything unless it comes from your heart. And you're crying out in despair. You're crying out saying, Jesus, tonight, if ever I meant it, I want to mean it tonight. God hears that. Will you pray this with me? Right out of your heart, from the innermost, right in your heart. Oh Jesus, I'm tired of my sin. I come against it in your name. I lay it down once and for all. Put your fear in my heart. Let me know I can't go back. I can't go back. Jesus, you have given me your promise. That your strength is in me. Your authority is in me. And greater is he in me than he that's in the world. And I claim that. Forgive me. Cleanse me. Make me pure and clean. And I thank you, Jesus, that you have heard my cry. And from this day on, I hate my sin. And I've laid it down. And I rejoice in your power. And your strength. And your love. Now just in your own words, thank him. Thank him. Just thank him. Jesus, I thank you. I thank you, Jesus, for your power. Hallelujah. Thank you for walking with me. Being with me. Oh, hallelujah. Hallelujah. I see a number of you just weeping over that thing in your life. Yes, go ahead. If you're here for the first time in this church, you've never been here before. This is the conclusion of the tape.