Preparing for Hard Times: David Wilkerson (Transcript)

But what should I do to prepare?”

Well, this message is for this dear lady and for all other Christians who are in a tizzy about how do I get ready and prepare for Y2K or for the collapse of the government or for the collapse of the economy. Folks, I believe these things are coming. It may be worse than any of us know, but let me give you God’s mind on this, all right?

The message I want to share with you is how to prepare God’s way. Not man’s way, but God’s way. The way that I want to share with you, you don’t need any extra money. You don’t need to leave your apartment or your house. You don’t have to move out of New York City. You need no private source of water. You need no guns. You don’t have to stockpile anything, because I’m going to give you God’s plan.

A Different Kind of Preparation

Now, I know that there are pastors all over America today who don’t utter a word such as you’re hearing this morning, evidently because they don’t see what is coming or don’t want to see it, because if they did see it and didn’t warn, the Bible said blood would be on their hands. So either they ignore it, or they don’t want to stir up the congregation, and especially if they’re building a new building and they have a heavy mortgage, they’re sure not going to preach gloom and doom to their money people.

But you see, if you hear the sound of the trumpet, the Bible says, and you don’t warn the people, the blood is on your hands.

The Sound of the Trumpet

And I’ve heard the sound of the trumpet, and I can’t do anything but make it sound. And I know there are some of you here that have been listening to me the past six weeks, saying, “I sure wish our pastor would move on.” I don’t mean out of the pulpit, but out of this stream. But I know my heart, and the hours I spent with the Lord, I know what I see coming.

And I know that I’ve been appointed to be one of His many watchmen. And I know how much time I’ve spent seeking the Lord about what is coming, because as pastors of this congregation, we’re responsible. This past week, I was out on a country road in New Jersey, a moonlit night, the moon was shining bright, and I had a number of hours from twilight right on up into hard darkness. And I was seeking God about this congregation.

And what is the responsibility on us as pastors to prepare a congregation for hard times? Now, folks, I warned three, almost four years before the Iraqi war, and I warned there would be 500 fires burning in the Mideast, and everybody winked. If you remember, there were 503 fires set by Saddam Hussein. I’ve been able to see these things since I was a child.

Visions of Crisis

I was writing these things down when I was a teenager, things that God would show me. He’s never said that I was a prophet, I’ve never believed that, but as a watchman. And I see what’s coming. I see, I was walking, and I was in my mind seeing New York City aflame, over a thousand fires burning, riots, troops and tanks on our streets, not only here, but everywhere.

Folks, I had just heard that same day, this past week, that our Secretary of Defense has a specially trained army, a special unit, to move into 120 cities now in case of riots and difficulty and crisis, 120, they are trained, our troops are trained, ready to move. They’re like super SWAT teams, ready, even now standing, at alert. And I began to see the grocery stores being mobbed, and New York only has a three-day supply of food in reserve, and mobs out of control, looting.

And I thought of all of our dear people. We have probably now 7,000 to 8,000 people that worship here and call Times Square Church their home. And I’m saying, well, we have a people that can’t run to, we can’t run out of this city. Some people just, many people live from paycheck to paycheck, hardly able to pay their rent, let alone have enough money to run to Vermont or somewhere in Pennsylvania or Idaho or Montana, wherever you are, and buy some land, and then it’s enough to get tokens for the subway.

A Spiritual Approach to Preparedness

Lord, we’ve got people living in little one-room apartments, they can’t store food. Lord, how in the world, what do You want me to tell these people? Do You want us to stockpile food? And boy, God began to show me some things. He mildly, lovingly rebuked me, said, “David, wait a minute, you’re looking at it from your point of view and not Mine. And I want to show you from God’s viewpoint.”

I became so overwhelmed by what I saw coming, I grabbed a picket rail fence beside the road, and I almost fell weeping and broken before the Lord, and I said, “God, if You had me warn people, now why won’t You give me a word that will take away once and for all the fear and show us what we’re to do?” And God heard my cry, and He spoke to my heart, and I’m going to share that with you this morning.

Here’s what God spoke to my heart. First of all, listen very closely, the only trustworthy preparation for hard times is in the heart and not for the body. This is a spiritual matter more than it is a bodily or physical concern. It’s a spiritual thing of the heart that God is looking at first and primary of all.

God’s Guidance for Hard Times

Let me tell you this. Here’s what I’ve heard clearly from the Lord. Those who set their hearts to seek God with everything in them, their heart, their mind, their soul, their body, with all their strength, those who are saturating their hearts with the word of God, those who are cleaning up their hearts by faith in the work of the Holy Spirit, trusting in the sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ, growing passionately in love with Jesus, you are better prepared for the coming storm.

You are safer, you’re more protected than those Christians who have a year or two of supply of food and live out in some remote area and have all kinds of gear, everything saved up to ride out the hard times. You are safer if you’re making preparations in your heart than those who are half-hearted, holding Christ and making all kinds of physical preparations. You are ready.

The children of Israel were told to stand by to leave at any moment, and folk, they were headed for hard times. They were leaving from the security of Egypt, and even though it was a furnace of fire, a burden to them, though they were slaves and in bondage, they had everything they needed to eat. There were supplies. And they were going to move into a wilderness where there was no water, there was no food, there were no resources whatsoever, and Moses said, “Stand by.”

Spiritual Instructions for Crisis

He didn’t give them any instructions to stockpile, to get wagons, build wagons and load them down with food to last a year or so. They were given the following instructions, and they were all spiritual. These were spiritual instructions. The instructions were, “Get secured by the blood.” They were to kill a lamb and sprinkle that blood on the doorpost, and they were to trust in that blood as long as that blood was applied and sprinkled on the doorpost. They were secure. They were secure physically, not only spiritually, but physically. Their human bodies, their children, their families, their dogs, their cats, everything was secure in that house.

Folks, if you want to get ready for what is coming, make sure you’re under the blood. You’re secured and you have your confidence in the keeping, delivering power of the blood of Jesus Christ.

Secondly, they were told to eat the lamb. They were to feast. That lamb is Jesus Christ, the type of Christ. That is His shed blood. That is His body. We eat and drink Christ. What are you feasting on? Are you building up your spiritual body, getting spiritually strong for the wilderness experience to come?

When there are no human resources available, then you better be feasting on the Word, on the lamb. This is the lamb. This is the Word. This is Christ. You better be feeding on it. This is the food that you store up right now. You store up until you’re so strong in faith, nothing can shake you.

Store up the Word of God. “Thy word have I hid in my heart, that I might not sin against You.” And the sin that he’s talking about is unbelief. All right, that’s spiritual. You get secured by the blood. You eat the lamb.

What are you feasting on? Don’t tell me that God should give you a plan of survival. If you’re sitting in front of a filthy television program, or you’re in a dirty movie feasting on filth, or you’re on the Internet, I’m now swamped with letters from wives, preachers’ wives included, saying, “I don’t know what to do with my husband.”

One woman wrote, she said, “I went into the room and I saw my husband watching child pornography.” She said, “I divorced him immediately.” She said, “a good man who’s gone bad, who’s ruined, feasting his mind on filth.” Don’t talk to me. Don’t talk to God about protection, or getting ready for what is coming. Brother, sister, when it hits, you will run in fear. You will run in fear.

He said, “You feast on the lamb,” and then he said, “be ready to go.” In other words, don’t be tied down to this world. Don’t have your eyes focused. Get your eyes on eternal things. Get a New Jerusalem state of mind. This is not my home. I’m not living here. I’m living here in my body, but my spirit and my soul is with the Lord, and my body and my soul, my mind cries out, “even so, Lord Jesus, come quickly.”

They had just enough dough in their kneading troughs to last a day or two, and then it’s gone. The Lord said, “you’re going to trust Me. You’re going to cast your future, you’re going to cast everything into My hands, and you’re going to learn to trust Me.”

The cry of the Scripture is still, “when I see the blood, I will pass over you.” Judgment was on the land. Awful judgments were falling upon a sinful, idolatrous nation, and yet there were a people secured, because it said, “when I see the blood, the judgment will not hit you.”

I see the heart of grief over this poor spiritual condition of the bride. God chose a bride for His Son. You didn’t choose the Lord. He chose you. He said, “you haven’t chosen Me, I’ve chosen you, I’ve called you, and I’ve bought you with a price. You’re not your own.”

There’s a blood-purchased bride in waiting for the bridegroom. This bride of Christ is the overcoming church, it’s the Holy Zion, the New Jerusalem coming down out of heaven, which He purchased with His own blood. This bride is spoken for. This bride is set apart. It’s agreed to be espoused to Christ, who is the bridegroom.

Folks, you and I sitting in this congregation, you who are listening to me right now, we, if you are under the blood, if Christ is your passionate love, if you are walking in the Spirit, you are a part of the bride company. You’re the bride.

So what should be the focus of the bride? No matter what conditions are, what is the focus of the bride? The focus of the bride is to get ready for the wedding, to get ready to go, ready to be with her Beloved. But sadly, many in the Bridehood of Christ have eyes for other lovers. Many in this company have corrupted themselves, their garments sustained and soiled.

Ephesians 5:25, “even as Christ also loved the church, gave Himself for it, that He might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the Word, that He might present it to Himself, a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that that should be holy and without blemish.” Holy and without blemish.

In Revelation 21, verses 1 and 2, you read of the holy people coming down from God, prepared as a bride. “And I, John, saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride for her husband.”

Now, folks, those that are seated with Christ in heavenly places, every time you go into the secret closet, every time you get alone with the Lord, every time you open that door and come out to meet the public, or your family, or to do your business, you’re coming down out of God. You’re coming down out of heaven. This is the new Jerusalem. This is a holy people, hallelujah! Overcoming spiritual children of God.

Beloved, let me tell you something. There are a people in this world today, it’s a remnant, it’s a small people, who have eyes for no one but Jesus. Their eyes are not on the things of this world, they’re not coveting the things of this world, they’re not wrapped up in materialism. There is a magnetic draw to their heart, they are reaching out to the Lord. Every time they get up in the morning, every single day of the week, they say, “Lord, there’s nothing here for me. Thank You for my family, thank You for my job, I thank You for everything You’ve provided for me, but this is all going to burn, my heart is not here. My heart is with You, Lord.”

They are not focusing on the things of this world, they’re not trying to save their skin, they’re trying to adorn themselves as a bride. To adorn in Greek is to make preparation and to set things in order. This bride is setting her heart in order, she’s making arrangements, she is not looking to the things of this world, she’s not afraid of anything because her heart is drawing her heart to her beloved.

Folks, the bride is not preparing for a storm, she’s not preparing to save their bodies, they’re making preparation to leave to a wedding feast. The bride is adorning herself, readying herself, purifying herself. Her heart is not here, there’s not a day, there is not a day anymore. And I must tell the Lord a thousand times a day, “Lord, there’s nothing here. I thank You for Your touch on my life, I thank You for the people You’ve raised up, I thank You for my family, my children, my grandchildren, but oh God, this is not where my heart is.”

That should be the heart cry like Paul the Apostle, “I would rather go to be with the Lord, I remain here with you just because you need me.” I have a question for you. Are you making serious arrangements to prepare now, not for a crisis, Y2K, not for the smashing and the breaking down, and I believe God’s fist is coming down on our stock markets and bond markets, no question about it.

And very soon, the pastors who heard me preach that in a couple cities now and who walked out saying that’s foolishness, after 300 points last week they’re thinking now, I just got a call from one of those conferences, the leaders of the conference that I preach warning like this and suddenly my tapes warning of that in such demand they can’t keep up with them after the stock market went down 300 points. Amazing.

Calls for, I want to hear it now, some want to hear it after it’s too late, but it must be the grief of heaven, it must be the grief of God’s heart to see so many of God’s people so serious about making sure they’re earthly secure, that they’re secure, that they have food, that they’re making all these plans and it must be the heart of God, the grief of the heart of God that so much is going in, so much thinking, so much preparation trying to get things in order to ride out a storm and absolutely neglecting God, neglecting their prayer life, neglecting the Word of God, not preparing their spiritual minds and hearts.

It must be the grief of God said, all that you could give me that kind of intensity, all that you could make such preparation for me and your heart. I’m not against Christians storing food and preparing for calamity. Probably makes sense to have two or three weeks or 30 days supply of food around if you can, and if you don’t need it, you can always give it to somebody who needs it.

But those who are preaching these times of preparation, even though they’re mostly believers and they quote the Scripture, the Scripture they quote most, and I’m not putting this down and I’m saying it lovingly, they quote Proverbs 22:3, “a prudent man foreseeth the evil and hideth himself, but the simple pass on and are punished.” And that’s repeated word for word in Proverbs 27:12, and they say if God repeated it twice, He must mean that you’d better listen and act on it.

But to see this very verse that is quoted as a motivation to store food and prepare physically for the coming storm proves my point right now, that a prudent man foresees the evil and hideth himself. And what does Isaiah say? A man shall be the hiding place from the wind and a covert from the storm, as rivers of water in a dry place and as a shadow of a great rock in a weary land.

If you’re prudent, if you’re wise, you’ll get under the blood, you’ll come to Christ and hide yourself and put your faith and confidence there. There are all kinds of people that have put their eternal destiny in the hands of the Lord, but they’ve not put their earthly destiny in the hands of the Lord.

Your earthly destiny has to do with what you eat, what you wear, the clothes on your back, the house over your head, your apartment, whatever it may be. That is your earthly destiny? And it’s amazing that you can ask questions. Do you really believe you’re… are you going to heaven when you die? Are your sins under the blood and they’d be offended? Of course it is!

I have by faith given my eternal destiny in the hands of the Lord, by faith. The whole thing is by faith. Why then is it so hard for us to put our earthly destiny, our future, where our paycheck comes from, where our food comes from, why can’t we put our… You know what, Jesus healed a man. They brought a palsied man to the Lord and Jesus healed him and he got up and walked away and the scribes said to themselves, “He blasphemes.”

You know what Jesus said, “What’s easier for me to say, your sins are forgiven, or rise up and walk?” And the man was still in his bed. He said, “your sins are forgiven,” and they said “He blasphemes,” and Jesus says, Rise up and walk. I’m God. Which is easier for Me? Which is harder? To keep this man, make him whole and keep him secure and send him back to his family as a whole man, or to forgive his sins?

Now, God’s saying, think, gentlemen, I’m God, and if I can forgive sins and I can save your eternal soul, how hard is it going to be for Me to take care of you? You see, if all you’re going to do is prepare physically, you’re in trouble. You see, they say, have a 30-day supply of food, and some say a one-year supply, some say two years. What if this thing lasts 10 years, 12 years? I’ve listened to many sane economists saying that we’re going into either a major recession or depression, and it’s going to be 12, 15 years long.

Now, if Jesus tarries, where are you going to get that kind of place to store all that? I had a gentleman tell me that about 20 years ago he got scared to death, and he bought a warehouse and filled it with dried foods, and he went in this past year to check it out, and it was all rotted, and it was all wormy, and it was all gone.

I told you how years ago I was going to prepare. I went out and got a country place, and 50 head of Black Angus cattle, and built ponds and filled them with fish. The cows got Banks’ disease, had to sell them all off, and I told you it cost me more to raise the fish than to go to the store and buy it. I had big gardens, and it was costing me more to keep those gardens than to get it in the local grocery store. The Lord cured me.

I’m not against any of that, but I’m saying if that’s your main focus, then what are you going to do? Because we’ve got many people now saying, Jesus is not coming until we go through three and a half years of the tribulation, and some say we’re going to go through all the tribulation for seven years. How are you going to store for seven years, if that’s what you believe? Where does it end?

I’m telling you, by the Spirit of God, if you’re preparing your heart, you’re getting your spiritual heart in order, you’re making changes, you’re dealing with sin and lust, you’re calling on the Lord more and more with intensity, you’re trusting His Word, and you’re building up your faith, you are ready for a depression, you’re ready for any privation, you’re ready for the earth to tremble, the mounds to be cast in the midst of the sea, you’re ready for troubled waters, you’re ready for floods and fiery furnaces and lion’s dens and persecution, crop failure, drought, shortages, sickness, trial of all kinds, most of all, you’re ready for the coming of the Lord and for the wedding feast of the Bridehood.

He said, “Seek ye first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you.”

Now let’s go on, and I’ll show you a little more of the heart of God on this. I believe what I’m going to show you now sums it all up. God has made a covenant to keep and protect those who stay passionately in love with His Son. I’m going to say it again. God has made an everlasting covenant to keep and protect those who stay passionately in love with His Son.

If you believe God’s Word, then you have got to believe this covenant. In fact, if you get a hold of this truth, it’s the secret to having all fear cast out of your heart. You don’t care if the whole world shatters apart. This covenant was first made with Abraham in Genesis 15:1, “Fear not, I am thy shield and thy exceeding great reward.” Shield here is protector, hedge, and a wall of security.

And what an amazing promise, what an amazing covenant God made with Abraham. Abraham, He’s saying, wherever you go, whatever nation you’re in, whatever crisis you face in life, no matter what you face, never be afraid. I am going to be all you need. I’m going to be your wall of protection. I am your shield, your exceeding great reward. And that exceeding great reward in Hebrew is salary, wages, compensation, benefits.

That’s what it means. I’m going to be your boss. I’m going to be your paymaster. Everything you get is going to come from my hands, everything. In other words, I’m going to protect you, take care of you, all your physical needs, all you have to do, Abraham, is walk before Me righteously, put your trust in Me, and love Me with all your heart.

This covenant was made with Abraham’s son also, Isaac. It was made with his son then, Jacob. It was then made with Israel, and finally, to the whole seed of Abraham. Psalm 105, the whole psalm is about God’s promise to the seed of Abraham.

Now listen to me, please. You’ve heard me say this before, and you’ve got to get a hold of this truth. Every blood-bought, blood-washed child of God, everyone walking with Jesus Christ by faith, living an overcoming life, you are the seed of Abraham. The natural Jew is not the seed of Abraham.

Now if you’re a Jew and you believe in Jesus Christ, you are the seed of Abraham. There are no Jews, no Gentiles now, there’s only one Jew, and that’s who is a Jew by faith. The scripture makes it very, very clear. Now listen to what the Bible says, “they which are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God, but the children of the promise are counted for the seed, the seed of Abraham.” That’s Romans 9:8.

Listen to this, please. “Know ye therefore that they which are of faith, the same are the children or the seed of Abraham.” Are you trusting Jesus as Lord and Savior? Do you belong to Christ? Are you His by faith, then you are the seed of Abraham? You say, well, how important is it for me to see that? Why should I be so concerned about whether or not I’m the seed of Abraham?

Because the promise that God made to be a shield and a protector and a wall was made to Abraham and to all his seed. If that be the truth, then if I lay hold of this by faith, I get the same power, I get the same deliverance, I get everything that was promised to Abraham. I am a child of Abraham, I’m the seed of Abraham.

God has made an everlasting covenant, “I will keep you. You don’t look at the storms, you don’t look at that, you look at My covenant. I’ve made a covenant with you, I’ve swore an oath, and I cannot lie. I will keep you by My grace and power.”

Forgive my screaming and my falling hair here. I’m getting excited here. But you see, God put a condition on this covenant. This covenant was given to a thousand generations, and believe me, that covers us. He has remembered His covenant forever, the words which He commanded to a thousand generations, the same covenant He made with Abraham, the same covenant He made with Abraham, to a thousand generations. Hallelujah.

He confirmed the saints, speaking of the covenant, to Israel for an everlasting covenant, showing mercy unto thousands of them that love Him and keep His commandments. The condition is to stay in the love of God in Jesus Christ. This is the covenant condition. This covenant is not for every Christian who says, “Lord, Lord.”

Deuteronomy 10:12, and “Now, Israel, what does the Lord thy God require of thee?” Or what are the conditions of this covenant? “But to fear the Lord thy God, to walk in all His ways, and to love Him, and to serve the Lord thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul.”

He said, “Here’s what I require of you. I want My fear in you, this awe, this respect for your heavenly Father.” Yes, I have intimacy with Him, but my blessed Redeemer, You’re also the one who created the heavens and the earth. You spoke everything into being, and I have a holy, righteous awe and fear of You. You’re my friend, you’re my kinsman, Redeemer, but You’re also almighty God, creator of heaven and earth,” and that’s what has been lacking in the church, this great awe and respect for Him.

I want you to go to Deuteronomy 11, please, Deuteronomy 11, and show you this condition. We’re moving on quickly here, please. I trust you’re still with me. Deuteronomy, the 11th chapter, trusting God’s word to drive all fear out of our minds.

Deuteronomy 11, I haven’t lost it, friends, I’m still here. Start verse 13, Deuteronomy 11, verse 13, “It shall come to pass, if ye shall hearken diligently unto My commandments which I command you this day: to love the Lord your God and serve Him with all your heart and with all your soul.” Now, what’s He going to do? He’s going to keep covenant.

“I will give you the rain in your land in its due season, the first rain, the latter rain, that thou mayest gather in thy corn, thy wine, and thy oil.” You’re going to eat.

Look at me, folks. He said, you’re going to eat. You’re not going to go hungry. I will send grass in thy fields for thy cattle, that thou mayest eat and be full. Take heed yourselves that your heart be not deceived, and ye turn aside and serve other gods and worship them.

Go to verse 22, if you will, please. For if ye shall diligently keep all these commandments which I command you to do them to what? To love the Lord your God, to walk in all His ways, and to cleave unto Him. Then will the Lord drive out all those nations before you, and ye shall possess greater nations and mightier than yourselves. Every place whereon the soles of your feet shall tread shall be yours, from the wilderness and Lebanon, from the river Euphrates, even unto the upmost sea your coast be. There shall no man be able to stand before you.

See, you don’t need a gun. For the Lord your God shall lay the fear of you and the dread of you upon all the land that ye may tread upon his, he has said unto you, Behold, I set before you this day a blessing and a cursing.

Look at me, please, folks. He said, you love Me, and you draw near to Me, you cleave to Me, and you don’t have to be afraid of anybody. They’re going to be afraid of you, not because you have a gun, not because you have a stash of ammunition, but because you are full of Christ and the power of God, and all you’ve got to do is smile at them.

I believe this with all my heart. When I came to New York City, God knew I was going to walk the streets and have to work with prostitutes and everybody else, and boy, God said, David, if you just draw near to Me, I’ll put such a dread of you that any prostitute or any woman ever looks you on the street, the fear of God will hit them.

And folks, God kept that word all these years. I love their souls, but I’ve had many just get near, uh-oh, and just back away, don’t even say a word, uh-oh. That’s the hand of God. I’ll put the dread of you. You get full of Jesus, they’ll know you’ve been with Christ, they’ll know. You cleave to Me.

The Truth Shall Set You Free

Go to Deuteronomy 30. “You shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free.” Let’s start in verse 6. Deuteronomy 30, verse 6, “And the Lord thy God will circumcise thine heart, and the heart of thy seed, to love the Lord thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul, that thou mayest what? Live!”

Glory be to God. The Lord thy God will put all these curses upon thine enemies and on them that hate thee, which persecuted thee. Thou shalt return and obey the voice of the Lord and do all His commandments, which I command thee this day. The Lord thy God will make thee plenteous in every work of thine hand, in the fruit of thy body, the fruit of thy cattle, the fruit of thy land, for good. For the Lord will again rejoice over thee for good, as He rejoiced over thy fathers.

Glory be to God. Verse 16, In that I command thee this day to what? Love the Lord thy God, to walk in His ways, and to keep His commandments and His statutes and His judgments, that thou mayest live and multiply.

And look at this, And the Lord thy God shall bless thee in the land, whether thou goest to possess it. And I’ll bless you. I don’t care what’s happening all around you, I’ll bless you with enough, a sufficiency. I will bless you.

There’s more. Verse 19, I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing. Therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live. Thou mayest love the Lord thy God, that thou mayest obey His voice, that thou mayest live, that thou mayest cleave unto Him, for He is thy life and the length of thy days. He’s your security. There it is. He is your security. Glory be to God.

Now look this way, please. Deuteronomy 6:5 says, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, all thy soul, and all thy might. Look, please. What more does God have to say to prove to us that if we would stay passionately in love, see, everything God has done has been vested in His Son. You stay in love with Jesus. And do you know what it means to be in love with Jesus?

First of all, “He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me.” But to keep those commandments, they have to be done through loving submission. Now, a wife, the Bible said, is to submit herself to her husband. That’s what love is. I give you my body. Every time I go to prayer, Lord, I go, I submit to Your will, everything. I have no will of my own. I give everything. It’s submitting. It’s going to Him, loving Him in submission, saying, God, my body, my mind, everything, I’m going to trust You. You give me a voice.

Folks, I’m going to tell you now. You say, well, what am I going to do about the money that I’ve accumulated, my IRAs or my retirement or the pension funds? What do I do? I’m going to tell you something. If you stay close to Jesus, you’ll know His mind. He’ll speak to you. He’ll tell you what to do. He’ll tell you what to do.

If God tells you that you’re to store food or you have the money to go, it’s because He’s trying to help you to be a haven for everybody else. And folks, I’m going to tell you, God told me in prayer that when this time comes, every home is to be a haven. Every home is a haven. Every home is a place.

I don’t care if I have to take some other Christian into my family, if we have to sleep on the floor in sleeping bags, whatever it is, my home is a haven. We are getting hundreds of letters now from people who are saying that. Right now, the Holy Ghost is, I’ve never seen anything like the Holy Spirit speaking to thousands and thousands of Christians. And they’re not running, they’re not afraid, they’re saying, I have been told by the Holy Spirit to put away some things and put away a little money that I’ve accumulated so that I can help others that are less fortunate than I am. That is fine. Every home a haven.

But now, let me give you the problem. And here’s where some of you have been confused for a long time. You read and hear about all these promises we just read to you of God’s keeping power, He’s your shield, He’s your protector, a wall of fire around you. Put your body, your earthly destiny, as well as your eternal destiny in His hands and God will take care of you.

But then you say, well, what about Hebrews 11:36 to 40? Go there, please. And I want to tell you something, folks, unless you deal with this, you’ll never have proper faith. The scriptures I’m going to read to you now have been just absolutely overlooked by many because they’re afraid to touch it.

Hebrews 11, verse 36, beginning to read. And others had trial of cruel mockings. We’ve just heard true faith. They subdued kingdoms, they wrought rights, they obtained promise, they stopped the mouth of lions, they quenched the violence of fire, they escaped the edge of the sword out of weakness, were made strong, waxed valiant in fight, turned to fight the armies. Women received their dead raised again, but others were tortured, verse 35, not accepting deliverance that they might obtain a better resurrection. And others had trial of cruel mockings, scourgings, bonds, imprisonment, stoned, sawn asunder, tempted, slain with a sword, wandered about in sheepskins, goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, tormented, of whom the world was not worthy. They wandered in deserts and in mountains and dens and caves, these all having obtained a good report through faith received, not the promise. God having provided some better thing for us, that they without us should not be made perfect.

Now, folks, look at me, please. You look at that and you say, all right, where was the covenant? Where was the shield? Where was the wall of protection? Sawn asunder, they were cut in two, beheaded. These were all in faith. These were all passionately in love with Jesus, and you say, that argues against everything you’ve been preaching this morning, brother Dave.

And there are many whose faith has come up against this wall and it’s collapsed. Folks, you’ve got to understand something, that there are going to be, until Jesus comes, there’s going to be much more of this, and I’m going to show it to you.

Go to Revelation 6:9. There’s going to be incredible suffering until Jesus comes. Revelation 6, verse 9, beginning to read, “And when he had opened the fifth seal, he saw unto the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held. And they cried with a loud voice, saying, ‘How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth?’ White robes were given to every one of them. It was said unto them that they should rest for a little season, until their fellow servants also, their brothers, that should be killed as they were, should be fulfilled.”

See what he’s saying? He’s saying there’s going to be many, many others persecuted, sawn asunder, betrayed, just like this. Folks, in Indonesia, I was given a report, an official report, and I get reports from the United Nations, because people here from the United Nations have supplied these reports to me, a report out of Indonesia.

All we heard in the news was that there were many Chinese, ethnic Chinese, that were killed in the riots a few months ago. And very few realized that most of them were Christians. Over 1,500 of them brutally murdered. Their wives and their women were raped. And it was, it’s still going on, persecution.

But at the same time, because of their testimony, now listen closely, the Bible says they were slain for the word and for their testimony. Listen closely. What has happened in Indonesia in the past three months, first of all, the Christians decided, all the Christians, and they are opening, there’s such a revival now, such an outpouring of the Holy Spirit in Indonesia, they’re opening dozens of churches every week now, all over the country.

Christians are bound together and decided to eat one meal a day. And they went to the new president, new prime minister of Indonesia, and told them what they were doing. You remember in the news, he asked the whole country to fast a day a week? That came from the meeting with the Christians.

And the Christians were told by the Holy Spirit that God was judging Indonesia because the Muslims, the Muslims had risen up against the Christians and for the past two years have been violently persecuting the church. Remember my message, the controversy over Zion, that God judges nations not just for the wickedness, but primarily because they touch His holy apple of His eye?

Now, let’s talk about this for just a minute before I close. Most of you don’t have to worry about that. You can forget it and put it out of mind. It’s not for you. Because God has more volunteers than He can handle right now, of people that are closest to His heart. Because you see, these are our chosen people who have such a testimony of intimacy with Christ.

They are so heaven-bound and so in with Christ now, they won’t take anything to give them a shortcut and a quick route to heaven. The Bible said they chose not to be delivered, choosing a better resurrection. And I want to tell you, God only gives this gift of martyrdom, He only gives the gift that we’re talking about in the bottom part of Hebrews, to a certain Paul who was chosen to suffer as a testimony.

There are many, many, many Christians worried, well, how can I believe? Listen, everyone mentioned here were of the Gideon army. All of the fearful of the Lord says, you go home, they’re still my children, but you go home. This battle’s not for you. This is not for you.

Folks, God’s not going to choose cowards for this crown. He’s going to bypass you. You say, “oh, thank God, He’s bypassing me.” Let me tell you something. I’ve read Foxe’s Book of Martyrs, and I keep reading about the martyrs, and every martyr story that I’ve read, they all said, when the hard times come and I’m tested, I’m going to fall, I don’t have it in me. But when the time came, God’s Spirit came on them, gave them the grace and the mercy and the power.

I read of one dear pastor who was in prison. They were about to take him to the fire and burn him at the stake, and he left a note to his wife. He’d been in prison for a year. He said, this has been the Garden of Eden. He said, this has been like a palace. I have never known Jesus more than I’ve known Him. Jesus came into my cell every day, and because of His presence, He made it a palace.

This is a chosen people. This is a gift from God. It’s holy for those. It’s a special holy remnant. They’ve passed the mark. They’ve already gone through. They’ve really left the world. They’re here, but they’re really not here. They’re with Christ. And they have this testimony for the Word of God, and they’ll not let it go.

They’re like the Hebrew children who said, “we know God is able, but if not, we trust Him.” The promises of God. And every one of these people who were cut asunder, and every one of these that wandered in caves and dens hungry, every one of them, if they could take voice right now, would tell you, every promise is true. God will supply. God will keep. They would be the strongest to stand here and tell you, God is faithful to His Word. Hallelujah.

Folks, we’re going to take a back seat to all of these martyrs. They’re the ones who are going to be around His throne, closest to His heart. But take heart, folks. God still loves the faint-hearted, like me and like you. He still loves the faint-hearted. His covenant still stands, and He’ll give you all the grace you need. If it ever came to this, you’ll have more. It’ll be the most blessed experience you ever had, you’ll go out shouting the praises of God. So there’s no need to worry. Hallelujah.

You should anticipate that. We should look forward to it. Paul said, “Live or die, I’m the Lord’s anyhow.”

Let’s stand. I’ve preached a little longer than I like to, but I wanted to finish this word that the Lord has given to me. Folks, look at me for a moment. Hold steady. We’re not done. Your dinner can wait.

Make sure this morning that you deal with every bit of trepidation, every bit of fear. I know the Lord has taken it completely out of my heart. I love this congregation, as Pastor Carter and all the other leaders of this church love you dearly. And I believe you love us too, equally.

We are concerned about you, but folks, we have placed this congregation into these great, big, strong hands of the Lord. He said, commit your ways to the Lord and He’ll bring it to pass. Commit it.

Listen, folks. Listen closely to your pastor now. The news that’s coming even before this year has ended. The news that’s coming of violent terrorism. You’ve seen just some of it this past weekend as our embassies have been blown up in Africa. There’s going to be some terrifying news, awful news.

There has to be something in you so at peace with God, so at rest, that nothing can shake you. Let the news be what it is. The shaking is coming. But you see, when the shaking comes, take comfort that my God’s behind it all. My God has everything under control. God is doing this. God has a purpose to it.

And folks, He’s going to clean up His church. He’s going to purge His bride. I was sitting here while that wonderful explosion of worship and praise broke out in this meeting this morning. And the Holy Spirit whispered to me, He said, David, that’s nothing compared to what it’s going to be. After all of these things begin to happen and the saints gather here, He said, you won’t be able… You won’t be able to contain the glory, the shouting, and the worship, and the praising of God, what a time it’s going to be.

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