Chariots of Fire

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.

Chapter 6, I'll read just one verse, but ask you to leave your Bible open. We'll be using a lot of scripture tonight, but it'll all center around this story here. In 2 Kings chapter 6, I'm reading from the New American Standard.

I'll just read one verse now, and then we'll tell the story as we get into the message. Verse 17 says, Then Elisha prayed and said, O Lord, I pray, open his eyes that he may see. And the Lord opened the servant's eyes and he saw.

And you know what he saw? He saw chariots of fire. And behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha. Hallelujah.

Chariots of fire. They're around Times Square Church tonight. They're around you, they're around me.

Praise the Lord. Lord, we ask you now as we share and as we deliver your word, Lord, I need you tonight. I need you.

I need your anointing. I need your strength in my body. And Lord, I ask you that you would help us tonight.

You would minister to your people. There are some eyes that need to be open here tonight. Some people's eyes have been shut, shut tight.

Some have never been opened. Others, Lord, their eyes are growing dim. There's a dimness over their eyes.

Lord, reach down tonight in healing power. May you apply eye salve tonight. Lord, open our eyes that we might see the chariots of fire that are about your people.

Encourage us in your word tonight. Minister, we pray in Jesus' name. Amen.

Amen. There is a story here in 2 Kings 6 that as far as I'm concerned, ranks right up there with David and Goliath, Daniel and the lion's den, Jonah and the well, and all the popular children's Bible stories. This is lesser known, but it's just as thrilling.

This is the account of the prophet Elisha who was being chased by an entire army. One man, actually it was two. Primarily the target was Elisha because he had made big trouble for the Arameans who were coming against Israel.

And like a CIA agent, the prophet who was endowed with supernatural powers was able to detect the war plans of Israel's invading army. Elisha knew every move the opposing king was going to make before he made it. And this shook up the king, as you can imagine.

It says in the 11th verse, Now the heart of the king of Aram was enraged over the thing, and he called his servants, and he said to them, Will you tell us which of us is for the king of Israel? He thought there must be a secret agent spying for Israel and leaking information to them. You know, during World War II, one of the reasons that the British were able to withstand the attack of the Nazis and their planes coming to drop bombs is because they had secretly developed radar. And when the planes, when the Nazi planes left Germany, their radar picked it up.

They had a 30-minute advance notice and were able to prepare for it. Well, the king of Aram did not know that God had already invaded radar way back in the Old Testament, and he gave it to Elisha. Actually, Elisha had something even better.

He had a listening device planted in the king's bedroom. And the prophet would hear the king saying, Now, tomorrow we're going to go around here, and we're going to send a contingent over here, and we're going to attack over there. And immediately Elisha knew what it was, would go to the Israel generals and say, This is what's going to happen, and they were ready for them.

And this happened on a number of occasions. Have you ever wanted to be a fly on the wall in a room somewhere where someone was discussing their plans about you or against you? Well, I want to tell you, there's something even better than that. It's knowing that God is present in the enemy camp, listening to the plots being formed against you.

The scripture says, No weapon formed against God's child can prosper. You see, God sits or he listens in at the devil's war councils. And every time a weapon is formed or lined up against us or one of God's children is put on the devil's hit list, he dispatches angelic messengers, chariots of fire to surround us.

Hallelujah. That's what the Lord has been showing me. But Elisha was a marked man, became a marked man.

Think of it, an entire army was dispatched. Every other thing, every other invasion was set aside. They forgot all about their other enemies.

They forgot everything else and dispatched an entire army to go after one man. Verse 13, the king said, Go and see where he is that I may send and take him. And it was told him saying, Behold, he's at Dotham.

Now, what took place at Dotham involved not only Elisha, but it involved a knee knocking, frightened and fainting servant, the servant of Elisha who also was witnessing this scene. And Elisha's servant provides us tonight with a picture of a problem that affects many. It's called spiritual blindness.

And spiritual blindness, you see, is the inability or it's an unwillingness to see what men of faith are able to see when the battle rages against them. You see, Jesus spoke of those who having eyes, they see not and having ears, hear ye not and you do not remember. And you see the servant looked at the situation, this entire army coming against them, coming around Dotham, he looked at it with human and natural eyes and he panicked.

The Bible says that the king sent a great army, may have been 10,000, including horsemen and chariots to Dotham where Elisha and the servant were staying. And you see, anytime horses and chariots were used in battle, it showed on one hand the strength of the army that was coming as well as how formidable they felt the enemy was. And the king must have really been shook up and scared, think of it, scared of one prophet, one man of God and his servant and he sent his best against the least and he moved in one night, he sent his troops one night, they surrounded Dotham and the next morning after the troops were in place, the servant wakes up early in the morning, he looks out around that scene, sees what's happened, he runs to Elisha and he says, oh alas my servant, what shall we do? Now by the way, Dotham, the city of Dotham means double sickness, double sickness.

It was at Dotham where Joseph's brothers conspired against him to kill him or destroy him. And you see, Dotham is a place we find ourselves at many times and I dare say that there is some who sit here tonight, you are at Dotham, spiritually speaking. It's a place of attack.

It's a place where forces conspire to destroy us and it's a place that can make you sick. And what happened at Dotham in answer to Elisha's prayer is a scene made for a Hollywood set, a movie set. It's a picture worthy of an artist rendering and yet no artist or movie maker could do it justice.

And what took place at Dotham is a type, it's an illustration of the triumphant struggle of simple, unarmed faith against the onslaughts of the devil with all of its demonic forces. Here we're going to see tonight in this story a microcosm of what it means to walk in true righteousness and holiness. It's one man against an army.

It's one man standing by faith on holy ground wrapped about with a girdle of truth holding a shield of faith and doing battle against horses and chariots that have been sent from the pit of hell. And when that happens we either act and react to spiritual conflict like Elisha or we do it like the servant. Elisha had peace.

The servant was near panic. Elisha looked at the situation through eyes of faith and the army looked defeatable. But the servant looked at the very same scene with natural eyes and he saw big, big trouble.

You know, when I was a kid I was fascinated with binoculars. And every time I'd get a pair of binoculars you know what I'd do? I'd reverse them. Now if you look through binoculars the regular way everything you see is bigger than life.

It brings it right up in front of you. It can scare you. But if you turn them around the opposite takes place.

It moves everything back and it shrinks it down to size. And you see people without faith look at life like high-powered binoculars. Scares them to death.

But people of faith turn don't look at life the same way. We look through binoculars that are reversed. Hallelujah.

That's how eyes of faith look at a situation and it shrinks it down to a manageable and a defeatable size. Hallelujah. Now my message tonight is to the residents of Dotham.

If you're all walled in in a city tonight a place called Dotham and you're doubly sick because you're under an attack of Satan and you're hearing and seeing the hoofbeats of horses and the pounding of chariot wheels into the ground then this has and it may have you wondering and asking I'll ask, what are we going to do? Well I want to tell you tonight Elisha has a word for you. The Lord has a word for you. The scripture has a word for you tonight.

Because what Elisha prayed would happen to his servant I pray happens to some of you tonight. Sometimes you see we just can't see clearly. You see I don't want it said of me what Jeremiah was told to say to God's people and he said God said go tell the people go tell this people hear ye indeed but understand not see ye indeed but perceive not.

My prayer tonight my prayer as God spoke to me out of this story was Lord heal my own blindness because sometimes I'm prone I'm prone to be like the servant. You see there is a blindness of faith that is clearly a sin as much as any sin of the flesh. This is what we're dealing with here in 2nd Kings the 6th chapter.

But let me read to you Zephaniah 117 just listen And I will bring distress upon men that they shall walk like blind men because they have sinned against the Lord. Now there is a blindness that comes as a result of sin but there is a blindness itself a spiritual blindness that is itself a sin. And I want you to consider this story tonight very briefly with me.

Or maybe not briefly I should have said that. First of all Elisha states a fact that must be the basis of our stand and our stability in Christ in times of testing. When the servant stated the obvious fact he saw it with natural eyes and what he said was true.

It was very very true. What he saw was not an illusion. There was an army coming against Elisha.

Now Elisha also stated an obvious truth of the spiritual realm. The servant was of the flesh realm. He was of the realm of doubt.

Elisha was of the realm of faith. And the servant says what shall we do seeing the strength of the army? Now Elisha gives him an answer that stacks up against any similar battle that you and I face. What did he say? What verse is it? Excuse me.

I didn't write down what verse it is. Oh verse 16. Thank you.

I just tested you to see if you were alert or not. Of course I knew it all along. This is verse 16.

That's a pretty good recovery, isn't it? And so he answered Do not fear for those who are with us are more than those who are with them. Now listen to me. Make no mistake about it.

In human and natural terms you and I are outnumbered. The church is outnumbered. We don't have the number of horses that the devil has.

The servant when he looked around Dotham he saw the circling army. He called it a great army referring to their numbers and their strengths. He saw that and in a split second he wasn't dumb.

He wasn't dumb. He calculated the odds of how the battle might go against that army and he said, Oh me. Actually he said, Alas.

What are we going to do? You know the word alas I looked it up in the dictionary. It's an explanation denoting sorrow pity regret and worry. Well listen.

I'd worry too if I thought it was a two man army going up against a 10,000 man army. And I can just hear the servant saying as Elisha says Don't worry. There's more of us than there are of them.

And I think the servant probably said Elisha I'd like to submit my resignation right now. Now you see I can't criticize the servant. I know how he feels.

Because when I look at the numbers that the devil has when I look at his chariots I must admit that the enemy wins the head count. Have you ever looked out at the crowds out on a beach somewhere? Have you ever looked at the crowds on a special day here at Central Park? Have you ever seen the crowds at some stadium somewhere? Have you ever looked at the crowds as they lined up at the movie theaters on a Saturday night in comparison to those that line up to church on Sunday morning? The disproportion is tremendous. And I've looked around.

Have you ever looked around at your school if you go to school? You looked around at your job. You looked around at your neighborhood. And the church seemed so small.

You remember when when Jesus fed the 5,000 or before he fed the 5,000 he asked if there was any any elements of food there and they brought to him what five loaves and two fish and Andrew said but what are these? What are these amongst them? Do you ever feel like that? Ever feel that way? Do you ever look and say well what is this among what am I among so many? You see there's no doubt about it in the natural we Christians are outnumbered. We're out financed. We're out legislated against.

We're out period in America today. The devil has the upper hand seemingly if you're talking about who controls the governments? Who controls the educational systems? Who controls the financial structures and the like? I remember when I was 16 years of age my father was a pastor moved when I was a junior in high school. He moved from one part of from one church to another.

And I had to go into move into Scranton, Pennsylvania and go to Scranton Central High School an inner city high school a public school. It was the largest school that I had ever attended in my life. And at first I knew nobody and I felt overwhelmed and outnumbered because in my previous school where I had lived for 10 years all my friends everybody knew me as as the PK the preacher's kid.

And they they sort of left me alone. I've shared my a little of my testimony before. Even when I wanted to do wrong I couldn't.

They'd say, no, you can't do that because your dad's a preacher. And so the Lord used that. But in my new school when I went and I looked at the situation I felt like the servant I said, alas what oh Lord what are we going to do? I felt like the chariots were circling around me.

I spoke to a young man recently in this church who is the only saved member in a Catholic household. And basically what he was sharing how he was weary. He was weary from the battle and the persecution.

Because he said his father treats him like he's a failure. That somehow he has not he has not lived up to the image of the family because he's a Christian. And because he comes to church here and somehow he's treated as an off-scouring and that he's let somehow he hasn't lived up to the family image of the family name.

And he poured out his heart to me. And I heard a young man feeding the pressure of the enemy's chariots of fire circling around. And I don't know about you tonight but you may be in a situation where the chariots are circling you.

Maybe it's in a home situation. Maybe it's on your job. Some of you are going back to school.

Maybe it's in your neighborhood. Maybe it's in your mind. But I want to tell you the enemy has chariots of fire.

There's no doubt about it. He has them. Oh, but listen.

Let's go on. How did Elisha deal with his servant's spiritual blindness? Well, first of all, Elisha said, you've got to learn how to count right. If you're going to live in this day and age, you've got to learn how to count right.

He reminded his servants. He said, fear not for they that be with us are more than they that be with them. And when the servant heard it, he must have thought, well, the heat's getting to him.

He's hallucinating. There's more of us than there are of them. You've got to be kidding.

Now hear me tonight and hear me good. We will never graduate from the school of Christ and be ready to go into spiritual warfare until we can pass our spiritual arithmetic test. It's right in the scriptures.

They that be with us are more than they that be with them. Let me tell you, friends, Elisha had a Holy Ghost calculator. He was plugged into God.

And the reason he was able to say do not fear was very simple because he saw the numbers. As they say, figures don't lie. Elisha saw numbers.

He saw figures. He saw armies. He saw things.

He saw powers. He saw chariots that the servant was not able to see. And you see, divine arithmetic is different than the ones we, you and I, use at home or at school.

Figures don't lie, but neither does God. For they that be with us are more, much more than they that be with them. And you have to count right or you'll be worried, you'll be fretting, and you'll be running scared all the time going around saying, alas, alas, what are we going to do? You see, the problem with many Christians is that when they're in the kind of situation we're talking about, when they're outnumbered, when they're outfinanced, when they're overpowered, they've not learned to Christ count, to God count.

If you're one that knows how to count and use a divine calculator, listen, how do these numbers sound to you? Listen, this is God's work. Listen to it. You don't need to turn to it.

Let me read it to you. Leviticus 26, seven to nine. But you will chase your enemies and they will fall before you by the sword.

Five of you will chase a hundred and a thousand of you will chase 10,000 and your enemies will fall before you by the sword. So I will turn towards you and make you fruitful and multiply you and I will confirm my covenant with you. Now, how do you like them numbers? How do you like those numbers? Five will chase, what, a hundred? And a hundred will chase a thousand, hallelujah.

Here's Joshua 23, 10. Hey, by the way, folks, why don't you people wake up tonight? This is God's word. Wake up, my friend.

God's trying to open your eyes, hallelujah. Well, we'll keep plowing. We'll see if it'll happen.

It's not happening yet. Joshua 23, 10. But you are to cling to the Lord your God as you have done this day.

For the Lord has driven out great and strong nations from before you. And as for you, no man has stood before you to this day. One of your men puts to flight a thousand.

For the Lord your God is he who fights for you just as he has promised. If God be for us, who can be against us? You see, most of my distresses in times of testing and difficulties come because I count wrong. I don't push the God button on my calculator.

Psalms 124 says, Had it not been the Lord who was on our side, let Israel say, let the church say, let Times Square Church say, had the Lord not been on our side, when men rose up against us, they would have swallowed us alive. Psalms 91, 7, A thousand may fall at your side and 10,000 on your right hand, but it shall not approach you. Isaiah 40 and 17, All nations before him are as nothing.

They are counted to him less than nothing and vanity. You see, we don't know how to count until we count God into our calculation. Someone has said, One is a majority when God's on your side.

Now, here's a warning. Here's a warning. Don't start counting until your inner eye of faith has been opened.

Verse 17, Elisha prayed and he said, Oh Lord. He said, Oh Lord, I pray, open his eyes that he may see. Now listen to me.

You'll never be able to count right until you see right. And only a vision of faith will enable you to see what Elisha saw. And in looking at the events which took place at Dotham, you can't help but be blessed by Elisha's strong, unshaking confidence.

His servant was blind and thus he was stricken with fear. He had not yet formed the habit of looking at things invisible. The servant could count heads, he could count horses, he could count chariots, but he saw naturally, or what he saw naturally made him fear.

But he had no vision of faith. You see, faith is the sight of the inner eye. And if you're in Dotham tonight and you look at your sickness, you look at the doctor's report, you look at the odds that are against you, if you focus in on that, you'll be defeated.

You'll be defeated. You've got to look with the eye of faith. That's what separates God's people from other people.

The thing that makes the difference between a courageous saint and a cowardly one is how they see. One walks by faith and the other by natural sight. But faith has an inner eye.

It sees the invisible. It believes the incredible and it receives the impossible. Hallelujah.

Isaiah 60 and 2 says, But the Lord will rise upon you and his glory shall appear unto you. Then you will see, you will see and be radiant. This is exactly what happened to the servant when God opened his eyes to see the mighty power of God.

Isaiah 40, 18 says, Hear you dumb, and look you blind that you may see. Do you remember? Maybe you don't remember, but I remember in chemistry class when they put a little teeny drop of water under a microscope. And I said, Oh my goodness, all those things are crawling around in a little drop of water.

Oh, faith sees things that no one else can see. Hallelujah. Faith can see God at work.

Glory to God. And I believe that some of you tonight, you're deaf, you're blind. You need the inner eye of faith to be healed.

And you may be downcast here tonight. You may be near defeat. You may be wallowing in self-pity.

You're scared stiff by the enemy's chariots. Well, I pray for you what Elisha prayed for the blind servant. Job 4, 10, 4 says, Hast thou eyes of flesh, or dost thou see as a man sees? Now that was actually talking about God, but it applies to us as well.

Hast thou eyes of flesh, or dost thou see as a man sees? Revelation 3, 18 says, I advise you to buy with me gold refined by fire, that you may become rich, and white garments, that you may clothe yourself, and that the shame of your nakedness may be revealed. And I salve to anoint your eyes that you may see. And oh, that's been the prayer of my heart.

That's been the prayer of my heart. God, anoint me. Anoint my eyes with eye salve.

Because I've needed to feel that prescription many a time because my eyes have been blind to see God at work. I never knew it. I couldn't see it.

And after God came through, I felt like such a dummy. I felt so ashamed of it. Sometimes I'm like the psalmist who said, Mine eyes feel while I wait for my God.

Open mine eyes that I may behold wonderful things from thy law. Now what happens when our eyes are open? Note what the light show. He saw a spectacular that is beyond any spectacular, a divine spectacular, and the Lord opened the servant's eyes and he saw, and behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.

You see, this is what the servant had not seen or counted. Up until now, he didn't see with the eye of faith. And what a sight it must have been for sore eyes and a fainting heart to see chariots of fire.

Because you see, God had dispatched an army from some angelical base, heaven base somewhere. He had dispatched an army and came and surrounded around Elisha before the king was able to get up and put his army into place that morning. And I want you to note something that the scriptures are very specific.

Look at verse 17. I want to read it again. And the Lord opened the servant's eyes and he saw, and behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire.

Where? All around Elisha. Not around the king. Not around the city, but around Elisha.

And they came and they were in place as a buffer, as a defense against the onslaughts of the enemy. Hallelujah. The Bible says, the Lord encampeth around about those who fear him.

You see, there are unseen forces. Yes, angelic beings. There are chariots of fire that are stationed between the child of God and Satan's forces.

This is very clearly taught in the scripture and this is what the Lord has been showing me lately. You see, there is a doctrine of angels that teaches us that there is in the presence of God a vast angelic army, myriads of spiritual beings who are mighty in strength. They are doers of God's commands who constantly praise God.

They are higher in intelligence and wisdom than man and to whom God has assigned them, among other things. There is a group of them He has assigned and He says, I want you to be the guardian of my people. Hallelujah.

Chariots of fire that surround us. Glory to God. Remember Jacob's dream in which he saw a ladder set on earth with its top reaching to heaven and behold the angels of God were ascending and descending on it.

In other words, they were ascending, they were on their way down. They were ascending. They were coming as messengers from heaven.

They are ascending as a messenger from God in order to come and minister to Jacob. And I want to tell you, the ladder is still there and they are there to protect God's people. Hallelujah.

I have seen it so many times. I remember years ago I was traveling. I traveled in ministry from place to place and I'm a type of person that when I get in the car to travel I have a certain hour that I like to leave and once we hit the road we generally never stop.

My family can tell you that. And I like to be punctual and this particular morning for some reason I just couldn't get out the door. I just couldn't get out the door.

I was alone. My family wasn't with me. I wasn't waiting on anybody.

It just didn't work out. And I was about a half hour late. And I finally got in the car and I was upset at myself or I don't know, circumstances.

Didn't know who to be mad at. And I said, I'm 30 minutes late and I'm traveling down the road and I come to a line of cars. And when I came up upon it there was a tragic automobile crash and I could see bodies laying on the road.

And when I saw that the Lord spoke to me and said, now don't you know why I delayed you for 30 minutes? That could have been you. I said, thank you Lord. You see the Lord had some chariots of fire.

Had some chariots of fire. Wouldn't let me out the door. Wouldn't let me out the door.

Oh, I believe that. I believe that. Pastor Bob has told the story how he was walking along the west side one day and a man came with a gun to hold him up.

Broad daylight. And the man's hand started to shake or something and Bob noticed he was a little nervous and reached out and grabbed the gun from him. Now you don't tell me Bob Phillips was able to do that.

The angel of the Lord encampeth around about them that fear him. Hallelujah. A few weeks ago, my wife and daughter, my daughter was driving with my wife one night.

It was a very foggy night and they were lost which is one of my wife's pastimes. Hobbies. Hobbies.

But it wasn't funny because all of a sudden a train, just a two engine train came out across the track and all of a sudden without any arm coming down across the road a man came out with a light and as soon as the light was there the train was there. And my daughter is driving in the car and slams on the brakes and the brakes in my car are very, very bad and came two feet, within two feet of hitting that train. And when I heard, I said, Lord, thank you for the chariots of fire that came and stood between my wife and my daughter and that train.

My daughter also, on another occasion, she works over for the ministry over in Williamsburg, the Challenge Center Community Outreach, Pastor Ben Padilla, and one night as she was walking a gentleman started approaching her and didn't appear to have proper designs in his eyes and look and so forth and she started to talk to him, started to witness to him a little bit and in the middle of it he said, get your angel away from me. Get your angel away from me and he walked away. Well, when Christi gets to heaven I'm sure she's going to look around for that angel and thank him for being there.

I don't know about you, but I thank God that there are chariots of fire around God's people. And you know, the Lord has shown me that I've neglected to thank him for his unseen care manifested to me, to my family. How true it is, Psalms 91-11, for he will give his angels charge concerning you, to guard you in all your ways.

Oh, once in a while the Lord gives us a glimpse of how he is at work, but most of the time we never know. We never know, but God is there. Now, we're not to worship angels, nor should we, as some have done, draw more attention to angels and what they do than to Jesus because there has been over late, there's been kind of an angel mania.

There has been some books written and for some reason God's people are just not satisfied with all the exciting things that are here or other exciting things that happen to them. They like all these other stories and so forth, and so it becomes kind of a thing, who can top this? And everybody's talking about the angels and all kinds of things. But you know, the Lord showed me that all of that overemphasis on angels caused me to lose sight like Elisha's servant, of the angel of the Lord that does encamp around about us and to guard us in my travels.

When you're on the subway, when I'm in the subway and hearing this, I want to tell you, any people need guardian angels, it's right here in New York City. And I'm not talking about those fellows that do a good job called the guardian angels. I'm talking about the ones that we have.

My friends are out there. Thank God they're with us. And if Jesus had angels minister to him, I want and believe they'll minister to me.

Matthew 4, 11 says, then the devil left him and behold, angels came and began to minister to him. Now, another point or two, Elisha had a special kind of protection. They were angels who were sitting on chariots of fire.

Now, Psalm 68, 17 says, the chariots of God are 20,000, even thousands of angels. And the Lord is among them as in Sinai, in the holy place. You see, at Sinai, there was a mighty display of heavenly fireworks with horse drawn chariots of fire.

Now, chariots of fire represent on one hand, chariots themselves represent divine strength. Pastor Davis preached a message here, maybe a year or so ago about chariots and likened them to, they are a picture of strength. And fire, fire represents the judgment of God against the enemies of God and his people.

Listen to Isaiah 66, 15. It says, and behold, the Lord will come in fire and his chariots like the whirlwind to render his anger with fury and his rebuke with flames of fire. The Lord is not only committed to our protection, but also to the destruction and annihilation of all of his enemies, which are our enemies.

In other words, the Lord is a man of war and we are not to have a survival mentality in which we go around feeling like the church is Pee Wee Herman and the devil is Mike Tyson that we have to go to do battle against every day. Psalms 80 and 6 says, our enemies shall laugh among themselves. Our enemies laugh among themselves about God's people.

I've told the story here before, but I think of it again. My daughter, my youngest daughter was one night in a restaurant here with a few others from the church having a hamburger and two young people sat down beside them and they were talking and they had a very interesting discussion. They had been into the Nederlander when we were there and had walked in to find out what was going on and were told it was a church.

And then they were also told, we're moving from here to the Markhallinger. And the two of them were discussing that and they were laughing and they were saying, can you imagine that? These people actually believe that they're going to move from that theater to the Markhallinger and the father said, the Markhallinger, that's the nicest, that's the best theater in Times Square and they think they're going to go into it. Well folks, here we are.

And you know what happened? The chariots of fire drove us right up the street. Hallelujah. Ten blocks.

Ten blocks. That's some taxi service. Hallelujah.

And the chariots are still all around, praise the Lord. The point is, don't be envious of the strength of evil doers. Sure, it pains us when we see the gains that the abortionists are making, or when gay pride flungs its power, or the drug cartel intimidates the whole nation, or Noriega is able to remain in power.

Even worse is to see secular humanism become a state religion in America. But listen to what Isaiah 40 and 15, it says, Behold, the nations are as a drop from a bucket, and are regarded as a speck of dust on the scales. Psalms 59 and 8 says, But thou, O Lord, dost laugh at them, thou dost scoff at all the nations.

Do you want to have a good laugh? Read the book of Revelation. Because we win. You know, this came in the mail to me this week.

It came across my desk. I wrote it down. Some sister in Germany said this at a conference.

She said, Satan is illegal. His activity on the earth since Calvary is absolutely illegal. The works of the devil have already been destroyed at Calvary.

We just wait for the final tallies to come in. Hallelujah. Hallelujah.

All right, go with me to Luke chapter 24. We're going to close on a very personal, personalizing note. Luke the 24th chapter.

I read this last night. And as I read it, I just wept. I just wept.

And I pray that the Lord, you'll see yourself as I close tonight, in this story. It's the account of two disciples who left Jerusalem following the crucifixion. And they were very sad.

Seven miles from Jerusalem to Emmaus. And somewhere along that route, Jesus joined their walk of sadness. And he asked in verse 17, this is chapter 24.

And he said to them, what are these words that you are exchanging with one another as you are walking? And they stood still looking sad. And the disciples went on to explain their sadness and said, don't you understand? Don't you understand? Are you the only one in Jerusalem that knows what's going on? That they have, our rulers have delivered up Jesus of Nazareth to the sentence of death. They said in verse 20.

And they said, this is why we are sad. Ah, but verse 16 is a further insight and reason to their sadness. As they walked along, it says, but their eyes were prevented from recognizing him.

And oh, I wept when I read that. Because I've been on the road to Emmaus many a time. And I've experienced the same sadness as these two disciples.

And I said, oh God. Oh God, where were you? Where are you God in this situation? And the reason their eyes were prevented from seeing Jesus is because they didn't know the scriptures. They didn't really know who Jesus was.

Look at verse 21. And says, but we were hoping that it was he who was going to redeem Israel. You know what they were saying? They were disappointed in the outcome of Jesus' short term on this earth.

He did not do for them what they had expected to liberate them from the Roman oppressors. He did not live up to their expectations. And somehow they felt let down.

And they were so consumed with this. With their unfulfilled expectations. And their eyes were so focused upon the death.

And as a result, something died inside of them. There was a blindness in their eyes that prevented them and here Jesus is with them. And look at verse 21 again.

But we were hoping that it was he who was going to redeem Israel. And indeed beside all this, it's the third day since these things happened. It's the third day.

It's the third day. Do you know what they were saying? The third day is resurrection day. They were saying, nothing has happened.

It's the third day. We've waited. We waited as long as we could.

My goodness, they were proud of the fact. Well, we at least waited three days. We gave them that much time.

And nothing has happened. And they didn't know it. But the third day, you see, is resurrection day.

And God wants to open your eyes and see, yes, it's the third day. But it's the day of resurrection. Hallelujah.

Jesus is there. And this is the reason we're so often sad and defeated. It's because we cannot see that Jesus is there walking beside us.

And I read that I wept and I said, Lord, oh, so many times you've been right there and I haven't seen it. God, forgive me. Forgive me.

Open my eyes. And I pray tonight God would come into some of your situation. Open your eyes.

He's risen. He's alive. There are turrets of fire about you.

God has his hand upon you. Look through eyes of faith. Turn the binoculars around.

Hallelujah. And see that God is there. God has been at work.

And oh, when people come to me with their burdens so many times, I want to say to them, but what about counting your blessings? What about focusing in on what God's done for you? What about that? Open their eyes, Lord, to see all that God's doing. And I pray that for some of you tonight, he will open your eyes. Hallelujah.

Let's stand together. Let's stand together. Glory to God.

Glory to God. Thank you, Jesus. Lord, tonight there are some people here that are hurting.

There are people, Lord, that feel like the two on the road to Emmaus. They feel like the situation is hopeless. They think it's the third day.

Hallelujah. But third day is your day, Lord. Hallelujah.

Let them see, Lord, that you're here. That you're far more involved, active in their life than they suspect. Lord, lift them, we pray.

People, Lord, that are down tonight. People that are hurting here tonight. People, Lord, who have spiritual blindness.

Lord, put some eye salve on them tonight. Heal them. Heal them, Lord, I pray in Jesus' name.

Amen. Amen. Sister Gwen, you grab a chorus.

And tonight, if you're here in the balcony, down on the first floor. If you're hurting. And you're not seeing Jesus in your situation.

Will you reach out and touch him? Open your eyes tonight. The Lord wants to open your eyes. Will you come to this altar? Move out of the balcony.

Down below. The Lord wants to heal your blindness tonight. I want to see Jesus.

Hallelujah. Yes, Lord. Open my eyes, Lord.

I want to see Jesus. Will you reach out and touch him? Open my eyes, Lord. Tell him I love him.

Open my ears, Lord. And teach me to listen. Open my eyes, Lord.

I want to see Jesus. Open my eyes, Lord. I want to see Jesus.

Will you reach out and touch him? And tell him I love him. Open my ears, Lord. And teach me to listen.

Open my eyes, Lord. I want to see Jesus. You know, I just have such a strong sense, witness in my spirit that some of you out there have not opened your eyes to certain situations that God's trying to show you, that you're blind to, of God being at work in your life.

You're saying, well, this message was for somebody else. It wasn't for me. And God hasn't opened your eyes yet to see he's talking to you.

He's talking to you about a situation in your life that maybe you've left off praying about or you've given up on. You've gotten discouraged praying about. And God wants to open your eyes tonight to see that he is, he is in control.

He is at work in that situation. He wants you to know that. He wants you to know that.

And I just, Lord, I just pray right now. Lord, there's some others. There's some others somehow, Lord, they've just not allowed you to see that this word was addressed to their need, to their situation.

Lord, open their eyes tonight. Open their eyes, Lord. May they go out of here with an inspired faith, an inspired faith, Lord, regarding that need, regarding that problem at home or on the job or in the ministry.

God, quicken their faith. Quicken their faith, Lord. In Jesus' name.

In Jesus' name. If God's speaking to you, say, Lord, yes, yes, forgive me, Lord. Forgive me for not seeing that you are at work in my life.

I've denied you. I've denied you the praise that belongs to you. I've denied you the praise that belongs to you in this situation because I haven't been able to see you working.

If God has spoken to you, I want you to step out. Say, yes, God, forgive me. Forgive me.

Step out this altar tonight as we sing again. This is the conclusion of the tape. At the very heart of his message, Jesus said in John 8, 36, If the Son, therefore, hath made you free, ye shall be free indeed.

Amen.