"The Reproach of the Solemn Assembly" by David Wilkerson (Urgent)

(Transcribed from a audio tape recording of a Message at Times Square Church)

Zephaniah 3:18 - "I will gather them that are sorrowful for the solemn assembly who are of thee, to whom the reproach of it was a burden. "

This is a dual prophecy by Zephaniah. It has to do with the children of Israel . . and also with spiritual Zion (which is the church of Jesus Christ of the last day). First of all, he was speaking to Jews - that God was going to gather together the dispersed . . . but He was only going to bring back those who had a broken heart for the sad condition of Israel. . . . . He would remember all who carried the reproach. . . all of the horrible things that were going on in God's House. Those who carried the burden of it, He said, "I am going to gather you". He made great promises to these. . .

This prophecy is also to the Church of Jesus Christ in the Last Day. In the Old Testament, the children of Israel were called to their festivals for seven days. On the eighth day - it was called an Solemn Assembly. That was when they met especially together - putting everything aside in focused worship and praise to the Heavenly Father. The scripture says, "On the eighth day you shall have a Solemn Assembly". This Solemn Assembly is all through the Old Testament representing the congregation that is separated unto God needing to meet the Lord.

This is the Church of Jesus Christ in the Last Day. According to Zephaniah, the House of God in the Last Days is going to be under reproach. The Hebrew word hear means "shame and disgrace".

There is going to be shame and disgrace in the House of God. We are not talking about the backslidden, liberal modern church. . . . The Lord said on the Judgment Day, He will deal with that Church. We can pray for them, but we are not spend any of our grief on that which is not really the Church.

God is looking for a people who will sorrow and grieve over the reproach that is being fostered on the Church of Jesus Christ in these last days. I am talking about the Church that was born at Pentecost. I am talking about the Church that was born in the teaching of the Apostle Paul and the Apostles. The Church born in the doctrine of the Godhead of Jesus Christ. That born-again Church is under attack. That Church is suffering reproach.

It has been prophesied that in this day of reproach, shame and disgrace, God is going to raise up a holy remnant who are going grieve and weep over this defilement. . .

God will have a remnant that will not sit idly by while all of these things invade the Church. God says, "I will have a people that are not going to be satisfied to go their merry way and just ignore what is happening as Charlatans and money-mad false prophets are coming into the House of God and destroying everything in sight."

God is going to gather a people who grieve over this. . . . If you truly love the Lord and you love His Church, you can not look honestly at what is happening today (and I am going to name these reproaches this morning). If after you hear what I have to say about this reproach, and you can walk out of this Church and you can say, "I just stand on Matthew 18 'the gates of hell shall not prevail against the church', I am not going to worry about, God has everything under control".

That is not enough. God uses people. God uses people to perform His work. He does not send angels. Angels weep over it, but God does not use angels to accomplish His purposes. He uses burdened broken-hearted weeping men and women. . . . . Judgment is at the door, Jesus is coming. The Day of the Lord is at hand.

Wake up elders. Wake up pastors. Wake up shepherds. Take a look at the Church. Get the burden. Carry it. Why should we take on the burden of the reproach of the Solemn Assembly? Joel said, "because there is a rotten seed being planted."

A gospel is being preached that is withering everything that is in sight. Everything that is green and Godly and pure is being withered. The seed is rotten . . . . . there is a famine of hearing the pure Word of the Lord. . . . there is no pasture. The flocks are desolate and hungry. The rivers are drying up. A strange fire is devouring the pastors. Ezekiel says that Shepherds are trampling down the good pasture and eating the best for themselves. What are the shameful disgraceful things that are happening in the Church of Jesus Christ today?

First of all it is the rotten seed that is being preached by covetous Shepherds. This is known as the PROSPERITY GOSPEL.

This is one of the greatest reproaches that the Church of Jesus Christ ever perpetrated since Christ.

This perverted gospel is poisoning multitudes - even in China, Africa and all over the world. It is an American gospel invented and spread by rich American evangelists and pastors. Rich!

It alarms me that so many people can hear the tapes and see videos that are coming out of these prosperity conferences and not weep over them. This poison has spread all over the world. Cuba is about to open and they are itching to get in there right now with their Prosperity gospel to tell them, "you have been poor enough now, God wants all Cubans to be rich."

This past week I was given a video tape recently recorded in Kenneth Copeland's meetings. I listened to the speakers and I was dumbfounded.

Folks, you read the New Testament, you will find that Paul the Apostle named those who he believed were false prophets. He warned and he named their names. I am telling you now that if you can listen to what I am about to tell you, and not be grieved, then you are blind. You are spiritually blind. You have a hard heart. A heart with a shield on it so that the pure gospel can not penetrate it. The mind has been so saturated with this unbalanced gospel that you can not come to many of them. You can not preach the truth. You can not show them anything else in the scripture because they have a shield over their hearts. Hard hearted.

Some of you will not receive it. If you have been feeding your soul on Copeland or Hagin's tapes, you are not going to like what you hear. Folks, I am a Shepherd, I've been called by God. I made this church a promise. As long as we are in this pulpit, if we saw wolves in sheep's clothing coming to rob the flock, we would stand up and cry out against it. It is up to you to do something about it.

I sat this week and listened to the speakers at this conference and I was so shocked and hurt. The burden of the Lord came on me. That is why I am preaching this message. Grieve over it.

I quote word for word what was said. All the speakers could hardly get by because all of the people were running up stuffing their pockets with money. The reason they do that is a new doctrine that has just come out that says, "if you want to be blessed, you have to find the most blessed evangelist or pastor you can find because he that has been given much receiveth much, he that has little, even that which he has will be taken from him. If you find the most blessed prosperous preacher and give him money, then you will be blessed. The more blessed he is, if you give you to those that are most blessed. . . ". it is a pyramid scheme. If these men were in the secular world, they would be in jail. Ponzie schemes. Pyramid schemes. The man at the top who appears to be the holiest and speaks the loudest. Hundreds of people were running up until the pockets were bulging. The sinner says, "is this the free gospel? Dollar bills?"

Listen to what was said. The speaker got up and he said, "if a poor widow on welfare hands you $5.00, you better take it. Elijah took the widow's last meal. You are the anointed one, you deserve it, you take it."

The same speaker said, "I live in a 8,000 square foot house. I am going to build a bigger one now. One that King Solomon would be proud of. I just paid $15,000 for a dog. You see this gorgeous ring on my finger, I was in Jamaica and just paid $32,000 for it. I want you know that when the people in my town come past my mansion and they see my Rolls Royce sitting in the driveway, they know there is a God in heaven."

Now, you tell me, that is the gospel? You tell me that you can't weep over that.

One of the speakers got up and said, "We made a covenant along with Brother Copeland that for the next 365 days none of us are going to suffer for a single day. We will not know a moment of discouragement. We will never be sick or in need. We are going to enjoy all the blessings. We reject all suffering, all pain, all financial problems." That is fine if you are on the top of the heap.

Here is what grieves me most. This was preached. "The Holy Spirit can't be poured out upon you until first you are in the money flow. Until you are prospering, the Holy Ghost cannot do His work."

Think of it! How does this affect you? What does it do to your spirit when you see poor people who are living from pay check to pay check and suddenly he says, "run for the money" and people are running wildly everywhere and they say as they run, "they are claiming the riches".

Then I see people withering like snakes out of their seats onto the floor. I see the evangelist going up and hissing like a snake and people falling everywhere. Folks, what is going on?

The Reproach of the Solemn Assembly! The prophet called them "greedy dogs, ungodly watchmen". Folks, if you had the heart of God and the burden of the Lord you would be crying out with Isaiah, "they are blind watchmen, ignorant, dumb dogs, sleeping, loving to slumber, yea, greedy dogs which can never have enough."

"I've got 8,000 square foot but I am going to sell it and I'm going to make one now that King Solomon could live in...." Never getting enough.

He said, "Shepherds that cannot understand, they all look to their own way, every one for his own gain from his quarter". Jeremiah spared no words. He said, "My people are lost sheep. Their Shepherds have caused them to go astray. " You say, "Pastor, you have no right to speak so strongly on this subject." If you think I'm strong, listen to Ezekiel 34:1-10. [read this scripture]

You take $5.00 from the widow and you buy a $15,000 dog. You take the pay check from the widow and the poor and you tell them that they do not have enough faith - that is why they are prospering. You take the very wool from off the back of the sheep. You are not out for souls, you are out for money.


"The Shepherds fed themselves and fed not the flock, therefore O you Shepherds, hear the Word of the Lord. Thus saith the Lord God, Behold I am against the Shepherds and I will require my flock at their hand and cause them to cease from feeding the flock. Neither shall the Shepherds feed themselves any more, for I will deliver my flock from mouth that they may not be meat for them anymore".

I am going to deliver my flock from the teeth of these men. My God, help us.

Second, the misrepresentation of the blessed Holy Ghost. This is the worst reproach. It should make us fall on our faces. The way and the manner in which the Holy Ghost is being represented to the whole world.

Sad to say, there is so little discernment left in the church among so many pastors and even church leaders. They don't even know when the Holy Ghost is being misrepresented or blasphemed. There are thousands of Christians that go to crusades and they see things that they think is the Holy Ghost and they don't even know what they are sitting under. They are clapping and praising God while a man stands up there blaspheming and misrepresenting the Holy Ghost and they don't even know it.

Entire Charismatic denominations, including the Assemblies of God, are being torn apart, literally torn apart by pseudo revivals. All kinds of things that are happening - there is something new being introduced almost every week. The leaders don't whether to embrace it or to curse it. They don't know what to do. We get letters from hundreds and hundreds of pastors from all over the world. They say, "what is right and what is wrong?" Where are the leaders? Where is somebody to tell us?

Folks, what we are seeing today in what is called so many revivals and things that are happening attributed to the Holy Ghost can not be found in the Scripture. Anything that can not be found in this Book has to be rejected outright. Totally rejected!

I weep when I see these videos that are sent to me from all over the country. Whole groups of bodies jerking out of control, falling on the floor, laughing hysterically, staggering around like drunkards, writhing like snakes, howling like wild animals. We have evangelists that stand and blow on people to knock them down, as if the breath of the Holy Ghost is now incarnated him. Throws his "designer" jacket at people and says that is the "hand of the Lord".

Now a new Gospel has just hit South America. Folks, it is rude and crude, but I have to tell you. When you get away from the parameters of Scripture, when you get up and say: "Oh, it is a New Thing, God is doing a New Thing? I don't understand it, it is not in the Scripture, but I don't want to stand against the Holy Ghost".

Folks, if it is not in this Book, you must stand up against it. Now the New Thing is that you can't enter the Kingdom of God except you come as a little babe. The people come with diapers under their outer clothing so that they can defecate and urinate in the meetings. This is the New Thing. Folks, where does it end?

A pastor said, "Is it come down to this, that one day some evangelist stands up and says, 'I've got a revelation from the Lord, it is time to add Mary to your worship". That is what it is going to come to.

Another evangelist calls himself the Holy Ghost Bartender. [Rodney Howard Browne] He says, "Belly up to the bar and take a drink of the Holy Ghost." They call that drinking the new wine. I hear ringing in my ears the prophet that said, "The day of the Lord is at hand. Wickedness abounds. Weep between the porch and the altar. Put on sackcloth. Fast and mourn for the backsliding of my people."

Jesus is about to come. The masses are unreached. When I see Christians belly up to what is called the "Holy Ghost Bar", staggering like drunkards, Joel's words come to me loud and clear, "Awake you drunkards and weep all you who drink new wine because the harvest in the field is perished."

Souls are dying by the thousands, what are you laughing about? Anything of the Holy Ghost has to work anywhere on the face of the earth. You have to be able to take it into the most vile wicked places. You have to take it into poverty nations. You have to take it to the dregs of humanity and it has to work there. It can't work just in prosperous America. It has to work everywhere on the face of the earth.

I dare these men take this gospel, the laughing gospel into the Balkans now. Go into the refugee camps where wives are crying because they saw their husbands shot. Their daughters have been raped. Their children are hungry. They have lost their homes and go in there and ask them to "belly up to the bar" - the Holy Ghost wants you to laugh. This so-called revival is coming to Madison Square Gardens this summer. Knowing what you know about the Scripture, carrying the grief and the burden for the Solemn Assembly, how can you even conceive of embracing such a doctrine?

Let me tell you who is laughing. The world. The ungodly, the heathen. It has become a spectacle. In a time so close to the coming of the Lord when the Church of Jesus Christ ought to be shut away in a secret closet of prayer. Where it ought to be weeping for the lost. Where it ought to have the desire to forsake all and follow Jesus. Where there should never be a mention of the dollar bill. The American god. The American idolatry. We have the world looking at this foolishness and do you know what they are thinking now - that the Holy Ghost is a Ringmaster. It is a Charismatic Circus.

I don't care what anybody thinks any more. I don't care if people drop off the mailing list. I care for their souls and the fact that many are into this blindness. I have a duty before God to stand before the congregation that He has called me to minister to and warn you and tell you that these are reproaches of the Solemn Assembly and the Bible says that you are to be sorrowful about it. The elders are to be sorrowful. The congregation, the Pastors, the Ministers, the Evangelists, We should be praying down these strongholds.

Finally, the reproach of downgrading depravity in the Church. Woe unto them that call evil good and good evil - that put darkness for light and light for darkness. They put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter. (Jer. 23:15).


I've seen in the prophets a horrible thing. They commit adultery, they walk in lies, they strengthen also the hands of evil doer and non returns from his wickedness."

I received a letter this past week from an irate Christian woman. She said, "My husband, who is supposed to be a Christian, is a big time gambler, in the millions." She said, "I've been so concerned with the crowd and the danger he is in". I thought, "I'll urge him to go to the pastor."

She said, "Brother Wilkerson, you will not believe what happened. I am so angry, hurt and confused. I sent my multi-million dollar gambling husband to my pastor."

He said, "I have searched the scriptures from Genesis to Revelation and I can't find one thing in the scripture against gambling. I see no sin in it, enjoy yourself." She was dumbfounded, "How can a man of God say such a thing to my husband?"

This is exactly what Jeremiah meant, "the pastors strengthen the hands of evildoers that none doth return from his wickedness." He explains why they have downgraded depravity in their congregation and why they are calling evil good and good evil and bitter sweet and sweet bitter.

He said, "The prophets have committed adultery and are walking in lies." Any man that has sin in his life is not going to get up and talk about sin in the camp. He is convicted by his own adultery, his own sin and his own evil mind.

I am not painting every minister in the country with this brush. The majority of ministers are on fire for God. There young ministers so clean and so pure in this wicked day and age. I've met many of them and I thank God for them. Even in this City I've met some of the most righteous preachers I've ever met in my lifetime.

Multitudes of ministers feel just like I feel this morning and they are looking and waiting for voices to expose that which is evil. "If they had stood in my council and had caused my people to heard my words. . if they were speaking what I really have in my heart. If they were speaking the mind of God, they should have turned the people away from their evil ways and from the evil of their doings"

You can tell if a man knows the Lord. God says of the others, "I didn't send them, I didn't speak to them. They speak their own mind out of their own imagination. Out of the evil of their own hearts."


"They speak of vision of their own heart, I sent them not. I have not spoken to them. They say unto them that despise me, 'the Lord said, you shall have peace' and they say unto every one that walks after the imagination of his own heart, 'no evil shall come upon there.'"

The reproach upon the Solemn Assembly should be the greatest sorrow to every one who loves Christ and His Church. This should be the greatest sorrow in our heart - these reproaches on His name and on His Church. Weep over the condition of the Church.

When you take your stand and when you take on the burden of the Lord, by fasting and prayer. Every child of God needs to be praying that everyone in this snare will be delivered. Don't touch it, don't go near it, if you go in just out of curiosity it will grab you because it appeals to everything of the flesh.

Until you know how to deal with the flesh with the power of the Holy Ghost, stay away from it. Jeremiah said, "The Lord thy God in the midst of thee is Mighty. He will save, He will rejoice over thee with joy. He will rest in His love. He will joy over thee with singing."

Why? Because He has found a people who are sorrowful over the things that sorrow His heart. Who carry the burden that He carries, the Reproach of the Solemn Assembly.

This is going to become a "love-trap" . You will hear this: "We love everybody. It doesn't matter what you preach. It doesn't matter if you are in prosperity. It doesn't matter what your gospel is - or anything else. God is love. Let us all just get together and embrace one another."

How can two walk together unless they be agreed. How can you walk with those when you don't agree with the unscriptural practices, you can not. That is a love trap. They say, "Don't condemn anybody. Don't judge anybody."

That is not what the Bible says. It says that we are to judge righteous judgement. Reprove and rebuke with all longsuffering. I am not on a soapbox, I am on a Rock. God is trying to save you, Church.

What are the riches of God in Christ Jesus? The peace of God, the wisdom of God, the nearness of Christ, all that is in Christ is ours. . . . .

Folks, beware! Beware! Have I scared you? Are you ready to take on the burden of the Lord.
You can't do that in your own flesh. Get alone with God!

The time has come to call a Solemn Assembly. If you have any of these tapes or books, get them out of your house. Don't give them away, burn them. If somebody invites you to go to these things, say, "I'm sorry, I don't want a famine of the Word and I don't my heart to whither and dry. I want the pure Word of the Lord that will cause me to grow. I don't want any message that is going to appeal to my flesh or to foster covetousness in my spirit."

God does supply needs and He is a miracle working God, but He does it only His way. Not by misappropriating and not mis-using the scripture.

Abraham was not looking at things on earth, He was looking for a City whose Builder and Maker is God.


The late David Wilkerson's sermons can be heard and downloaded here: http://www.sermonindex.net/modules/mydownloads/viewcat.php?cid=27

LISTENING TO GOD

by David Wilkerson
[May 19, 1931 - April 27, 2011]

Most Christians don't listen to God. They go to Him only to talk! Yet the Scriptures reveal that any person who was ever used of God learned to remain in His presence until hearing from Him.

Scripture makes it clear that the Lord wants to talk to every one of us: "And thine ears shall hear a word behind thee, saying, This is the way, walk ye in it, when ye turn to the right hand, and when ye turn to the left" (Isaiah 30:21).

I heard of a little girl suffering from leukemia who was struggling with the thought of dying. One morning when her mother came into her room, the girl was all aglow and happy. "What has happened to you?" her mother asked.

The little girl answered, "An angel came to me and said I was going on a trip. God came and took my hand and walked with me through a beautiful garden. He told me, 'You're coming here tomorrow to be with Me.'"

God spoke to that little child and took all the pain and fear from her heart. When she left to be with Him the next day, she had total peace.

When you are intimate with Jesus, do you receive direction from Him? Does He tell you what to do and when and how to do it? Some Christians don't believe God does this but Jesus says, "My sheep hear my voice . . . and they follow me" (John 10:27).

In your trial, get alone with Jesus and cry, "Lord, You're the only One who can help me. Only You know the way through this trial, so I'm going to stay here till You tell me what to do."

This is the kind of praying that is pleasing to God. It means stopping everything, all activity. Only then will you hear Him speak clearly to your heart: "You must make things right with this person." Or, "Just stand still till next week. Don't get in a hurry. Sit in My presence and trust Me." He will give you clear directions.

LOOK FOR HIS COMING

by David Wilkerson[May 19, 1931 - April 27, 2011]

Jesus says in Matthew 24:44, “Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.”

A characteristic of the bride of Christ is an expectancy of His soon return.

Jesus’ bride is to live in continual, joyful expectation of His imminent return—because He may come at any moment. Jesus warned, however, that in the last days evil ministers will infiltrate the church in an effort to put the bride to sleep. They will attempt to take away her heart of love for the Bridegroom by claiming, “My master is delaying his coming” (verse 48).

This gospel is preached by those who do not want to pay the price of obeying Christ’s commands. They really do not want Jesus to come back because they have sinful habits and lead double lives; in fact, they have concocted a doctrine to justify their continuing in sin. What is the result of this false teaching? First, it ends in worldliness because those who believe it want to enjoy worldly success and prosperity.

Beloved, do not give in to this doctrine of delay! If you are a part of Jesus’ bride, you will be so lovesick for your Lord you will not be able to buy into it. Instead, you will cry out, “My Lord said I am to be ready at any moment for His return. I know He is near—I can sense it. My heart cries out
within me, ‘Behold, the Bridegroom is coming!’”

The early church was wide awake, heeding Jesus’ words. Their lamps were trimmed and burning, and they had a good supply of oil. Peter summed up the spirit of the early church this way: “Looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God . . . nevertheless we, according to His promise, look for new heavens and a new earth” (2 Peter 3:12-13). Likewise, Paul said: “[We are] eagerly waiting for the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Corinthians 1:7).

DIRTY FEET!

by David Wilkerson
[May 19, 1931 - April 27, 2011]

“If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet” (John 13:14).

The disciples were twelve men beloved of God—precious in His eyes, full oflove for His Son, pure of heart, in full communion with Jesus. Yet they had dirt on their feet!

Jesus, in essence, was saying to these men, “Your hearts and hands are clean, but your feet are not. They have become dirty in your daily walk with Me. You do not need your whole body to be washed—only your feet.” The dirt Jesus mentions here has nothing to do with natural dirt. It is about sin—our faults and failures, our giving in to temptations.

No matter how dusty and dirty the roads were in ancient Jerusalem, no age has ever been as filthy as ours. I wonder how many of you reading this message right now have some dirt clinging to you.

Perhaps this past week you fell into a temptation or failed God in some way. It is not that you have turned your back on the Lord. On the contrary, you love the Savior more passionately than ever, but you fell and now you are grieving—because your feet are dirty.

Scripture tells us: “Brethren, if a man is overtaken in any trespass, you who are spiritual restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness, considering yourself lest you also be tempted” (Galatians 6:1). The Greek word for trespass here means “a fall, a sin.” We are to restore every Christian who falls into sin
if there is a repentant heart.

Foot washing, in its deepest meaning, has to do with our attitude about the dirt we see on our brother or sister. So I ask you: What do you do when you are face to face with someone who has fallen into a sin or transgression?

We are to take up the towel of God’s mercy and go to that hurting one. In the special love of Jesus we are not to judge him, expose him, lecture or find fault. Instead we are to commit to being his friend. We are to help him come to salvation by sharing the correcting, healing, washing, comforting Word of God.

LEAVING AND FORGETTING

by David Wilkerson
[May 19, 1931 - April 27, 2011]

The Holy Spirit's message to the bride of Christ in Psalm 45 was: "Forget your own people also, and your father's house" (v. 10). The still, small voice was whispering, “It's not enough just to leave your past behind. You must also forget it all - put it out of your mind - all past loves and distractions!"

The messenger here is saying to the bride, "Are you counting the cost as you prepare to be united to Him? Or are you going to give Him mere lip service after the wedding? Have you started a commitment you're willing to finish or does your mind wander back to things of your past - old friends, old habits, old loves? If you commit to this marriage, you must not only leave your past behind, you must forget it completely!"

When Jesus speaks of some who "do not forsake all" (Luke 14:33), He is speaking of those who turn from Him and cling to idols. An idol is anything that becomes the sole focus of our devotion - anything that possesses our time, attention, money, love, interest.

Many husbands can rightly say they are good providers. They work long and hard, don't waste their money, and spend quality time with their family. But how much time do they devote to Jesus? Do they have what I call a "leaving-and-forgetting time" - a time when they mentally leave everything, setting aside quality time for Jesus alone? It's a time to set aside all thoughts of work, family, children and say, "This is Your time, Jesus. I'm Yours alone right now!"

The problem isn't business or family or career. Rather, it is "loitering" - aimlessly lounging around and wasting time. Multitudes of God's people spend their time endlessly loitering - idly spending time with friends or lolling in front of a TV. We waste so many precious hours and neglect our Lord and Savior!

Now I want to speak to wives: You have given your husband and children the best years of your life. You are hardworking and faithful and you take good care of your family. Yet, how much "leaving-and-forgetting time" do you give to Jesus?

How many hours a week do you shut the world out and draw close to Him?

How jealous the Lord must be over all our other loves, all the things that eat up our time and attention. The old adage is true: It's not the "bad" that is the enemy of the Christian, but the "good." It's family, career, job, children.

Yet these things in themselves do not stand between us and the Lord. No - it's our loitering!

Now the Lord stands before us, asking: "Do you love Me more than these?" (John 21:15).

THE MINISTRY OF CONSOLATION

by David Wilkerson
[May 19, 1931 - April 27, 2011]

The apostle Paul said, “[The Lord] comforts us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort those who are in any trouble, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God” (2 Corinthians 1:4).

One of the neediest ministries in the church of Jesus Christ today is that of consolation—comforting others in their trouble and affliction. Many believers simply do not know where to turn in their hurt.

When I am really hurting, suffering deeply, I do not want to read a book outlining ten steps on how to find victory or go to a big-name evangelist who will zap me. None of these is the answer - because none will reach the root of my suffering! No - I want to talk to some ordinary saint who has suffered heavily, and yet has come through it all praising God, comforted and full of faith!

It is suffering people who receive the consolations and comforts of the Lord. They know the sympathy of Jesus, because His voice speaks true comfort to them in their hour of darkness. These sufferers become rich in spiritual resources. They develop a confidence born out of having endured tribulations and testing. Best of all, God gives them influence they could not have attained in any other way!

I think of Corrie Ten Boom and the wonderful experience it was for the thousands of people who sat and listened to her talk about Jesus. Many pastors and leaders all over the United States were comforted and encouraged by this once-unknown woman - because all her suffering had produced a wealth of knowledge of the Lord. She had an abundance of consolation and comfort from the Holy Spirit - and she used it as an influence for Jesus!

Paul was able to rejoice in all his tribulations because he knew his sufferings were for others’ benefit. He saw his trials as a kind of schooling he was going through. He could say, “God has a purpose in this because He is training me! There will be people who are going to need the comfort and consolation that I have received in my suffering!”

It is no wonder Paul referred to his heavenly Father as, “The Father of mercies and God of all comfort”
(2 Corinthians 1:3).

POWER BELONGS

by Gary Wilkerson
“Then he called his twelve disciples together and gave them power” (Luke 9:1).

Jesus gave his disciples power not because they were ambitious but because they were his. Belonging to Christ is a non-negotiable to receiving his power. Power is birthed out of belonging. Belonging brings real power.

So many Christians lead powerless lives—having habitual sin practices, a poor testimony, a weak spiritual life; lacking a fervent, radical prayer life and any answers to their prayers.

Do you feel powerless? This one short verse is loaded with words of power:

“Called”—meaning, in essence, not our own agenda, direction, self-will or resource of power.

“Disciples”—those who abandon all to follow the life, teaching and direction of the teacher.

“Together”—that power is not to be contained in singular vessels but expressed in community, in work toward kingdom purposes.

“Gave”—showing we can do nothing unless Jesus gives us power to do it.

“Power”—it is not what we desire, work for or strive after, but comes only and exclusively through His giving it. We never outgrow this part of our history as Christians. Every follower of Jesus is commanded to wait until we are endued with (given) power from on high.

Are you lacking power? There is no other way to obtain it than to have it given to you by the One you belong to. Jesus has power to give to those who are totally and fully His.

Don’t strive for power. Desire to belong—fully, passionately, humbly, ambitiously, to the One your heart yearns for. Then power will come to you beyond what you can imagination.

PRAYING SUCH AS THE WORLD HAS NEVER KNOWN!

by David Wilkerson
[May 19, 1931 - April 27, 2011]
A missionary spoke to our church of great awakenings around the world. In every case, the "spirit of prayer" is tied to the last harvest. In Vietnam, China, Siberia, the Amazon, Africa, and numerous other places, God's people are praying with fire and fervency—weeping and crying out to God, seeking His face, dealing with sin and turning to righteousness.

You cannot manufacture this kind of inclination to pray. It is the result of the Spirit of supplication-as God promised in Zechariah 12:10. And these believers are already experiencing it!

Not long ago we called for weeks of prayer at Times Square Church and we also have experienced a small taste of this outpouring of the Spirit. Indeed, there is a measure of fire and diligence in prayer throughout this nation. But we have not yet experienced the outpouring of the Spirit of supplication!

God is showing me that even the desire and inclination to pray must come from the Holy Spirit. Now my dilemma is this: God has promised to pour out a Spirit of supplication on His church, and I want to be a part of the genuine move of God. So, how can I make sure I receive this outpouring?

The answer is in Zechariah 10:1: “Ask the Lord for rain in the time of the latter rain. The Lord will make flashing clouds; He will give them showers of rain, grass in the field for everyone” (Zechariah 10:1).

We must ask the Lord for this Spirit of supplication! The flashing clouds in this verse speak of "lightning, thunderstorms." God has promised to give us showers! He is telling us in Zechariah, "Ask and I will give you this burden from heaven. But you must seek it from Me!"

It is time we started asking the Lord, "O God, pour your Holy Spirit on me that I may learn to pray! Open up the fountain. Let me be a part of Your final harvest!"

Once His Spirit of supplication showers down upon you, you will find yourself praying for holiness, godliness, purity. You will intercede for your lost loved ones and weep over this dying world. But you have to ask the Holy Spirit to do it in you—and then trust Him!
 

THE SPIRIT OF GRACE

by David Wilkerson
[May 19, 1931 - April 27, 2011]

The Bible says the Holy Ghost will be poured out as “. . . the Spirit of grace and supplication”
(Zechariah 12:10).

The book of Titus tells us that grace is given to us as power over sin, to enable us to live sober, holy lives: “For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men, teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age, looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ” (Titus 2:11-13).

There has been a marvelous measure of this grace in God’s people since Pentecost. The Holy Spirit has sent conviction of sin on all nations, teaching believers of every race and tongue how to forsake ungodliness and worldly lusts. The result has been a people who live soberly and righteously in this
present world and who long for the coming of Jesus.

I believe Zechariah 12:10 prophecies that in the very last hour, the Holy Spirit will fall mightily on God’s people with a spirit of grace that turns them completely from all worldliness. It will produce in them a cry for purity of heart!

A dear brother in the Lord, the head of a ministry, called to tell me that leaders in his ministry had been gathering to seek the Lord. The Holy Spirit began exposing sin in their midst and several of the ministry team had to be dismissed. The brother told me, “Now that the Holy Spirit has come down,
there is a pressure to do right.”

His phrase struck me and I couldn’t shake it off: a pressure to do right. When the Holy Spirit comes down and exposes sin, those who have been lukewarm or in compromise become convicted. Ministers will wake up to true “grace preaching,” the kind that convicts people of every hidden thing in their
lives.

Beloved, the pressure to forsake sin and to do right is going to get hot and heavy in God’s last-day church!

DARKNESS CANNOT STOP THE LIGHT!

by David Wilkerson
[May 19, 1931 - April 27, 2011]

When I first began this ministry I spoke in churches all over America, warning of the moral landslide to come. I told people in Iowa, Oklahoma and all the Southern states that drugs would strike even the smallest hamlet. Pushers would appear in schools and on playgrounds. I warned of blatant homosexuality, with nude parades taking place in our cities, and I prophesied that nudity and
sexual acts would air on prime-time television.

Many people who heard me preach thought I had come from Mars. Pastors berated me and sincere Christians came to me saying, “No way! God will never let that happen in America.” Today, some of those people are grandparents. They sit before their TV watching the R-rated movies I prophesied about and their grandchildren are addicted to drugs and alcohol. The darkness I warned about
has now come.

Can you imagine how dark it is going to be ten years from now, should the Lord tarry?

Yet, I ask you: As you see the darkness deepening on all sides, do you believe it will exceed the light of the gospel? Are you afraid the darkness is going to squash it, snuff it out?

No—never! God’s people must never be intimidated by the darkness and fury of the enemy. The Bible says Jesus is going to rise and shine in the darkness no matter how dark the world becomes! “The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelt in the land of the shadow of death, upon them a light has shined” (Isaiah 9:2).

We live in a time of widespread death and darkness. But God says that in such times He will shine His light the brightest: “I will bring the blind by a way they did not know; I will lead them in paths they have not known. I will make darkness light before them, and crooked places straight. These things I will do for them, and not forsake them” (Isaiah 42:16).

No darkness will ever stop God’s light! So get your eyes off the darkness, off the sin, off the fury of violent people, and believe the Lord for the bursting forth of His shining, effusing light!

BIRTH OF THE LAST-DAYS REMNANT
by David Wilkerson
[May 19, 1931 - April 27, 2011]

The prophet Samuel is a type of the last-days holy remnant—a prepared body of believers that rises out of the ruins of the old, decadent church.

Hannah, Samuel’s mother, birthed her son through bitter tears and much prayer. “And she was in bitterness of soul, and prayed to the Lord and wept in anguish” (1 Samuel 1:10).

Try to imagine the scene: Hannah was at the temple every day, on her knees before the altar, crushed and broken because she was childless. As she wept, her adversary—her husband’s other wife—made fun of her. “And her rival
also provoked her severely, to make her miserable, because the Lord had closed her womb” (1 Samuel 1:6).

There are three important things I want to point out from this passage:

* First, the remnant that Samuel represents is born in grief and intercession.
* Second, those who pray and grieve after God’s heart will be provoked by adversaries.
* And third, God’s remnant is always going to be misunderstood!

Note what happened to Hannah as she prayed: “And it happened, as she continued praying before the Lord, that Eli watched her mouth. Now Hannah spoke in her heart; only her lips moved, but her voice was not heard. Therefore Eli thought she was drunk. So Eli said to her, ‘How long will you be drunk? Put your wine away from you!’” (1 Samuel 1:12-14). Eli and his sons represent the dying, corrupt church that has forsaken the Lord’s way. Eli was so out of touch—so dead in his spirit—he thought Hannah was drunk!

When Hannah was praying, she was filled with grief, burdened for the birth of a son. All she could do was move her lips because of her groaning in the Spirit. She prayed, “If You will indeed look on the affliction of Your maidservant and remember me, and . . . will give Your maidservant a male child, then I will give him to the Lord all the days of his life” (1 Samuel 1:11).

Here are two distinguishing marks of God’s holy remnant:

* They pray like Hannah. Their burden is deep and their heart is stirred because of the wickedness in God’s house.


* Like Hannah, they give themselves to prayer every day of their lives.

God wants to make you like that. He wants you to be able to touch Him and hear from Him. He wants to give you a ministry to others who will come to you with their burdens and trials. And as you pray for them, His Word will come forth!

GOD’S POWERFUL ARMY

by David Wilkerson
[May 19, 1931 - April 27, 2011]

Something very powerful and awesome is going on in the world today—something beyond human comprehension—something that will affect the whole world in these last days.

God is preparing a small but powerful army of Christians, the most dedicated army on the face of the earth. The Lord will come forth to command them to do exploits; He is going to close out the ages with a pure, devoted, fearless remnant.

All my life I have heard stories about our godly forefathers who hated sin. These men and women knew God’s voice and spent hours, even days, in fasting and prayer. They prayed unceasingly and had the power and ability to successfully stand up against immorality in their day.

These forefathers have long since passed on. But God is in the process of raising up another army and this time His warriors will not be made up only of elderly, gray-haired fathers and mothers of Zion. This new army will be composed of both new and seasoned believers, both young and old, ordinary
Christians who lay hold of God! A whole new realm of ministry is about to come forth!

The denominational church system appears to be in the throes of death. It has almost no influence in the secular world, no mighty power in Christ. Some accuse me of being “hard” on pastors. But I am in touch with many godly pastors who grieve as I do over the backsliding in the ministry today. There is
a holy remnant of godly pastors in the land, and I thank God for every one of them. Yet, it is still a fact that more and more ministers are racing down the road of compromise.

The Bible warns that we are not to fret! God has a plan and it is being manifested. It is put forth plainly in Scripture, mostly in the first four chapters of First Samuel.

The prophet Samuel is a type of God’s last-days remnant. The Lord chose him amid the worst of times and hid him away in training until it was time to bring forth His new thing. God told Samuel, “Behold, I will do something in Israel at which both ears of everyone who hears it will tingle” (1 Samuel 3:11).
What would so amaze and startle all who heard it? It was the judgment of God on the backslidden religious system and the raising up, training and anointing of a new, holy remnant!

What God did in Samuel’s day, He does in every generation. Indeed, in every generation there has been a remnant, a praying people after His own heart.

CARELESS WORDS

by David Wilkerson
[May 19, 1931 - April 27, 2011]

“But I say to you that for every idle word men may speak, they will give account of it in the day of judgment. For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned” (Matthew 12:36-37). We seem to think our words simply fall to the ground and die, or vanish into
thin air and dissolve into nothingness. Not so! Our words live on—they do not die!

You may say, “But I only told this gossip to one friend and he promised never to repeat it. It will end with him.” No, it will not! Every single word you and I utter is recorded, written down in eternity, and we will hear them all repeated to us at the judgment.

I recall coming under deep conviction after sharing a vicious bit of gossip with a friend. What I said was indeed true. It was about a moral situation I had had to deal with concerning a minister. His name came up in the conversation and I said, “Don’t trust him. I know something about him!”

Even as I mouthed off, I felt condemned. The Holy Spirit whispered to me, “Stop right there! Nobody needs to know that. Don’t say more, because there’s no purpose to it. Even though it’s true, don’t repeat it!”
\
What I had already said was bad enough. But then I blurted out the lurid details! I knew I should have been quiet and sure enough, I was deeply convicted by the Holy Spirit. So later I called my friend and said, “I’m sorry, that was gossip. I was out of order. Please don’t repeat it. Try not to even think about it.”

Is my sin covered by the blood of Jesus? Yes, because I fully acknowledged that I had sinned and I allowed the Holy Spirit to show me some of the legalistic pride left in me. I allowed Him to humble me and heal me! Now, whenever I begin to say something against somebody, I obey the Holy Spirit as I hear Him say, loud and clear, “Stop!”

DRY BONES CAN LIVE!

by David Wilkerson

Ezekiel 37 is all about God’s desire for us to lay hold of the promises of His new covenant—learning how to truly live by entering into the blessing of the covenant.

We have all heard the story of the “dry bones” that Ezekiel speaks of. It is important to note that these vessels lying lifeless on the ground were under the covenant. You see, the Lord had told them, “O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord!” (Ezekiel 37:4). They had heard God’s covenant promise: “I will
put My Spirit in you, and you shall live.”

Yet, even though these dead bones had the new covenant promise preached to them, they had not yet entered into the enjoyment of its blessings. Many believers today know of God’s new covenant—yet they can hardly believe it, because it sounds too good to be true. They say, “I know God has given us the Holy Spirit to indwell us. And I know the Spirit takes it upon Himself to cause us to obey Christ. Oh, I want that blessing badly, but how can I obtain it for my life?”

There is something we must do. Ezekiel writes that God told him to prophesy, “Thus says the Lord God: ‘Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon these slain, that they may live’” (37:9). Then Ezekiel says he prophesied as God had commanded, “. . . and breath came into them, and they
lived, and stood upon their feet, an exceedingly great army” (37:10).

Suddenly there stood before Ezekiel a great army, alive and breathing! The Holy Spirit had filled all those dead bodies with life—and now they were prepared to do battle. In an instant they had entered into the full enjoyment and blessings of the new covenant. God’s Spirit had taken His rightful place in
them—and He was bringing about all the promised changes.
 

THE CURE FOR UNBELIEF

by David Wilkerson
[May 19, 1931 – April 27, 2011]

I searched my reference books and found lists of ways to “cure” unbelief, but none of these dozens of things touched me. So I asked God for something simple and He gave me two thoughts on how I can rid my heart of unbelief:

1. Lay hold upon every worry, fear and burden. Take them all to Jesus and leave them on His shoulders!

“Casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you” (1 Peter 5:7).

Beloved, this is God’s personal invitation to you, His request: “Put it all on Me! Do not carry it one hour longer. I care about everything that is happening to you and I am big enough to take it all for you!”

Not long ago someone in an extremely stressful situation called me seeking a word of encouragement. But I was overwhelmed that day by so many problems, I could not handle even one more, so I answered, “I’m sorry but you’ll have to call some other time. I’m too overloaded right now.” Thank God, He is never stressed out! He is never overloaded! His shoulders can carry the load of all His children! He urges us, “Lay it all on Me!”

“Cast your burden on the Lord, and He shall sustain you; He shall never permit the righteous to be moved” (Psalm 55:22). Go down your list right now:

“God, I give You this, and this, and that. I give You this burden, this trouble, that relationship, that problem.” And be fully convinced that He cares!

2. Launch out in full faith on the written Word of God. Take up the Lord’s challenge to live by His Word!

“Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God” (Matthew 4:4). You must be able to say, “I’m going to live and die by God’s Word to me!”

I ask you: How is it that we can trust His Word for our eternal salvation, but not for our daily needs and problems? We can believe Him for the hardest part. Why is it harder for us to believe for help, guidance and power over sin? “Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to present you faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy” (Jude 24). God promised this to you, so let Him take on the burden of keeping you! Go to the Lord and challenge His Word. Tell Him you are going to stake your life on it!

Show Him you trust His every word—and be blessed!
 

JACOB’S BATTLE WAS WITH THE LORD

by David Wilkerson
[May 19, 1931 - April 27, 2011]

One of the greatest lessons we can ever learn is that our battle is never with people. It is never with co-workers, neighbors, or our unsaved loved ones—but with God!

If you settle things with God, everything else has to fall into line. When you are right before Him—sprinkled with Christ’s blood, having no sin in your life, prevailing in prayer—then all the demons in hell cannot make a dent in what God wants to do! He wants you to have that kind of holy strength. Hosea said, “The Lord also brings a charge against Judah [His people]” (Hosea 12:2). What is this controversy God has with His church? It is spiritual laziness! We want miracles, blessings, deliverance, but at no cost, with no effort!

Who among God’s people today prays all night, wrestling, fighting, weeping, crying out to God as Jacob did? Who wants holiness, purity and Christlikeness so much they are willing to shut themselves in with God until they break through? Who is so consumed with pleasing God that they are desperate to be delivered from all habits, all lusts—and they cry out, fight and wrestle with God until He breaks all chains?

Hosea said to Israel, “All you want is prosperity and security! You are not willing to take a stand. You don’t want to live for Jehovah’s pleasure, but for your own!”

Jacob was a fighter from the day he was born. He prevailed “by his strength” (see Genesis 25:26) and so must you and I! We have His strength, but we do not use it! “Strengthened with all might, according to His glorious power, for all patience and longsuffering with joy” (Colossians 1:11).

“He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man” (Ephesians 3:16).

The church of Jesus Christ is never going to see what God has for His body until He sees us seeking Him in earnest! “The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much” (James 5:16).

God wants you to lay hold of Him because He loves you! He is saying, “Here it is. If you want it, come and get it!” He wants to make a strong soldier out of you, fit for His army!

THE POWER OF A CLEAN AND BLAMELESS LIFE

by David Wilkerson
[May 19, 1931 – April 27, 2011]

When you set your heart to walk blameless before God—living in a way that is pleasing to the Lord—you will be feared and despised by those who have lost the favor and blessing of God. Lukewarm or compromised Christians will be absolutely disturbed and repelled by your life!

We see this illustrated vividly in 1 Samuel: “Now Saul was afraid of David, because the Lord was with him, but had departed from Saul... And David behaved wisely in all his ways, and the Lord was with him. Therefore, when Saul saw that he behaved very wisely, he was afraid of him” (1 Samuel 18:12-15).

David’s blameless behavior struck fear in Saul’s heart! Whenever Saul was around David, he remembered the time he had enjoyed the favor of God and the high esteem of men. But disobedience, envy, pride and self-will had cost Saul every bit of power with God. And it robbed him of all respect of the people.

Now, Saul had come face to face with a younger man—a less experienced, probably less articulate, man—who exuded the power and integrity of holiness.

He was pure in heart, full of the Holy Spirit and Saul was afraid of him!

Keep in mind that this was no idolatrous pagan who was afraid of David. No, Saul was a man who had known the power of the Holy Spirit! He had once been God’s anointed, a mighty man chosen of God!

David was simply living a clean life and God was pouring out favor upon him! “All Israel and Judah loved David, because he went out and came in before them” (1 Samuel 18:16).

Saul did not want to be around David. Scripture says “Therefore Saul removed him from his presence” (1 Samuel 18:13). Sadly, Saul represents the compromised church of today, those Christians who have compromised and lost the anointing of God. He is a type of the believer who once was full of the Holy Spirit, baptized, on fire for God, but has been robbed of everything they once knew of God by their disobedience, pride and lust.

There is nothing scarier to a compromised Christian than a holy blameless life. And the more your life lines up with the Lord’s will and His holiness, the more repelling you will become to backslidden believers.

THE POWER OF A BLAMELESS LIFE

by David Wilkerson

"You are witnesses, and God also, how devoutly and justly and blamelessly we behaved ourselves among you who believe” (1 Thessalonians 2:10).

That is a powerful statement to make—to call on God as a witness to your holiness! Yet, without flinching, Paul boasted to the believers in Thessalonica: “My co-workers and I lived blamelessly before you and before God. Our conduct was righteous and pure. God is witness to our holy behavior and you also are witnesses. You saw that we walked holy and blameless before God and men!”

Paul was an effective preacher and he knew the secret of his effectiveness in moving people toward God. He could stand boldly before every living soul, every principality and testify: “I live daily under the gaze of a holy God. I walk always as if His holy eyes are upon me. And you all are witnesses to my blameless life!”

The apostle desired every believer to have the same power he had in moving people toward God. He prayed night and day that all of God’s children would be established holy and unblamable before God: “So that He may establish your hearts blameless in holiness before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all His saints” (1 Thessalonians 3:13).

The rich young ruler who came to Jesus had been good from his youth upward and that won him the love and respect of Jesus (see Matthew 19:16-20). But something was lacking and that one thing makes all the difference! Beloved, if you do not have this same purpose operating in all you say and do, you can never be blameless before God and man: “That the name of our Lord Jesus Christ may be glorified in you” (2 Thessalonians 1:12).

This is what motivated Paul to live a blameless life: He was jealous for the glory and name of Jesus! He knew everything had to be built on that foundation—because all human goodness is as filthy rags! What distinguishes the blameless walk is a consuming desire to honor the name of Jesus before all men.

Read this devotion online: http://www.worldchallenge.org/en/node/14791?src=devo-email

WHAT IS A BLAMELESS LIFE?

by David Wilkerson

Here is the behavior of the blameless believer, according to the Apostle Paul:

1. To be blameless is to have no deceit of any kind. “For our exhortation did not come from deceit or uncleanness, nor was it in guile” (1 Thessalonians 2:3).

A blameless Christian is one without any deceit in his heart. Paul was saying, “I was not a fraud, preaching one thing to you and yet living another. My behavior was an open book!”

2. To be blameless is to touch nothing unclean. “For our exhortation did not
come from . . . uncleanness” (1 Thessalonians 2:3).

Paul’s emphasis here is on sensuality or lust. He is saying, “Not an unclean word came out of my mouth. My conversation was pure, coming forth from a clean heart.” Paul had his body under control. No fleshly passion drove him—no spirit of lust or fornication possessed his mind. He was a free man! A believer who tells dirty jokes, makes sexual innuendoes, or has roving eyes is someone whose heart has not yet been cleansed! God says, “If you are going to walk blameless before Me, you must have clean ears, a clean heart and a clean tongue!”

3. To be blameless is to be without error. “Our exhortation did not come from deceit” (verse 3).

The Christian without error or guile is not trying to be clever, crafty or manipulative. He has no hidden agenda and is totally open and honest. Paul said, “I did not manipulate you into the kingdom of God nor did I use clever words or try to play on your feelings. I gave the gospel to you straight!” Paul never played word games; he never used psychology to get people to like him. Paul said, “But we were gentle among you, just as a nursing mother cherishes her own children” (2:7). But when sin came in, he rebuked it with thunder out of heaven! He did not desire or need approval of any man, yet he loved people with all his heart. “For neither at any time did we use flattering words, as you know, nor a cloak for covetousness—God is witness. Nor did we seek glory from men, either from you or from others” (verses 5-6).

Paul was always mindful that God was watching him and checking his motives. He abstained from “every form of evil” (1 Thessalonians 5:22) and lived as if Jesus were coming within the hour!

Read this devotion online: http://www.worldchallenge.org/en/node/14792?src=devo-email

What It Means To Live By Faith by David Wilkerson

Full article: http://www.worldchallenge.org/node/6222