Usta
04-07-2002, 01:49 AM
I understand that this message is a little long, but it is very urgent. Please read it and open your mind to what is being said instead of blowing it off.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
By David Wilkerson
October 8, 2001
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
On Tuesday, September 11, 2001, the twin towers of the World Trade Center in New York City were destroyed. Five days later, as I was preparing this message, I looked out the window of my study in our 30th-floor apartment. Huge clouds of smoke were still smoldering from the ruins. They rose from the rubble and drifted out over the Hudson River, passing above the Statue of Liberty.
The following Sunday, just before I preached this message at Times Square Church, I wept at the sight of the utter devastation. I pleaded with God for mercy: mercy for the grieving families who lost loved ones. Mercy for the workers still digging through the rubble, hoping to locate survivors, but finding only corpses and severed body parts. Mercy for all the police officers, fire fighters and volunteers, who wept openly over the indescribable horrors they saw.
Our church was allowed to set up a relief tent at ground zero of the disaster. Ministry leaders and volunteers from our congregation worked tirelessly around the clock, helping to feed and encourage the weary workers.
Six weeks prior to the disaster, the Holy Spirit forewarned our pastoral staff that a calamity was coming. We had scheduled several major events for the weeks ahead, including our Missions Conference and Youth Convention. But God's Spirit prompted us to cancel them all. Instead, we felt stirred to call our congregation to prayer.
We decided to hold prayer meetings four nights a week. From the very beginning, each meeting was marked by an awesome stillness that settled over the congregation. We sat quietly in the Lord's presence, often without a sound, for up to an hour, followed by soft weeping and heartrending repentance. In one meeting, I had to steady my knees with my hands, to keep them from trembling in God's awesome presence.
During this visitation from the Lord, the Holy Ghost revealed there was a reason for the weeping in our hearts. We were being so moved because a tragedy was coming. A severe calamity was coming to the nation. And even though we didn't know what it was, our hearts were stirred to intercede concerning it.
Then suddenly, the calamity struck. And it hit not only our city, but the nation's capital. One network anchor declared, "Think of it, our two symbols of power and prosperity have been smitten in one hour." Little did he know, he was quoting Revelation 18:10: "Alas that great city Babylon, that mighty city! For in one hour is thy judgment come."
As a policeman from our church helped out at ground zero, his fellow officers kept asking him, "What's this all about? What's happening?" Meanwhile, the whole nation has been asking, "Where is God in all this?"
We're right to ask this question. We need to understand where God is in this calamity. And to do that, we have to trust his holy Word alone. We've heard hundreds of opinions from media experts and politicians. But all their rhetoric has begun to sound the same. There's no real understanding about the meaning of this sudden destruction.
There is one thing I can assure you of: God wasn't taken by surprise. He knows the thoughts of all human beings, including every ruler, despot and terrorist. The Lord monitors the movements of every person in the entire mass of humankind. He knows when we sit down or stand up. And I can tell you, this one thing is sure: God has everything under control. Nothing on the face of the earth takes place without his knowledge of it, his permission for it, and, at times, his doing behind it.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
If You're a Christian, You Know God Has Delivered
a Message to America and the World through
this Disaster.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ministers and theologians everywhere are saying, "God had nothing to do with these disasters. He wouldn't allow such awful things to happen." Yet nothing could be further from the truth. This kind of thinking is causing our nation to rapidly miss the message God wants to speak to us through the tragedy.
The fact is, we have to have a word from God. Like many pastors, I've wept and grieved over this awful calamity. I've sought the Lord in prayer and through his Word. And I want to tell you, I've experienced a grief that's even deeper than the mourning for innocent people dying. It's a grief that says if we miss God's message, if we turn a deaf ear to what he's loudly proclaiming, then much worse is in store for us.
The prophet Isaiah speaks directly to what we've just experienced. (If you object to using the Old Testament for examples, consider Paul's words on the subject: "All these things happened unto them for ensamples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come" [1 Corinthians 10:11]. Paul makes it clear: the examples of the Old Testament reveal just how God moves in times like ours.)
At the time that Isaiah prophesied, God had been dealing patiently with Israel for about 250 years. The Lord had sent "light afflictions" upon his people, calling them to repentance. He was trying to woo them out of their brazen idolatry and back into his blessing and favor.
All of the prophets throughout the years had spoken to Israel the same essential word: "Humble yourselves." Scripture says, "They served idols...yet the Lord testified against Israel, and against Judah, by all the prophets, and by all the seers, saying, Turn ye from your evil ways, and keep my commandments and my statutes" (2 Kings 17:12-13).
But God's chosen nation rejected his call to repentance. "They would not hear, but hardened their necks" (17:14). These people mocked the prophets who called them to humility. And, instead, they "followed vanity, and became vain...and they left all the commandments of the Lord their God...and sold themselves to do evil in the sight of the Lord...therefore the Lord was very angry with Israel" (17:15-18).
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
God Sent Wake-Up Calls to Israel.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Lord's first wake-up call to Israel came in an invasion by Assyria. This arch enemy attacked two Israelite provinces, Zebulun and Naphtali. Fortunately, the attacks were limited to these two points, and the damage was minimal. Yet God was clearly speaking to his people. The Lord's chosen nation lost their sense of security. Yet they still missed the message God was speaking.
Israel then received a second wake-up call. This one was very severe. Two nations whom Scripture calls the "enemies of Israel" -- the Syrians and the Philistines -- combined forces for a sudden attack. According to Isaiah, this attack came from both "before, and...behind" (Isaiah 9:12). This means the invaders came from the east and the west, surrounding Israel. And their sudden attack was totally devastating.
Now we come to the heart of my message, and to the question most Americans are asking: Where was God in this sudden invasion of his chosen land? What were his people to make of the disaster that had come upon them? Isaiah tells us God was faithful to speak to his people: "The Lord sent a word into Jacob, and it hath lighted upon Israel" (Isaiah 9:8). God spoke a clear word. And he sent the message to the whole nation.
Beloved, this verse tells us something very important at our own time of devastation. It says simply, "God always sends his word." Never in history has the Lord left his people clueless in a time of calamity. He has never abandoned us and forced us to figure out things on our own. He always provides a word of understanding.
Even now the Lord is raising up godly watchmen to speak for him in these times. These shepherds are grieving, weeping and repenting as they seek God's face. And I believe they're hearing and understanding the Lord's message behind the present events. Moreover, they're not afraid to proclaim dire warnings, because they know they've heard from God. They're compelled to speak of his purposes behind our calamities.
Continued In Next post >>>
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
By David Wilkerson
October 8, 2001
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
On Tuesday, September 11, 2001, the twin towers of the World Trade Center in New York City were destroyed. Five days later, as I was preparing this message, I looked out the window of my study in our 30th-floor apartment. Huge clouds of smoke were still smoldering from the ruins. They rose from the rubble and drifted out over the Hudson River, passing above the Statue of Liberty.
The following Sunday, just before I preached this message at Times Square Church, I wept at the sight of the utter devastation. I pleaded with God for mercy: mercy for the grieving families who lost loved ones. Mercy for the workers still digging through the rubble, hoping to locate survivors, but finding only corpses and severed body parts. Mercy for all the police officers, fire fighters and volunteers, who wept openly over the indescribable horrors they saw.
Our church was allowed to set up a relief tent at ground zero of the disaster. Ministry leaders and volunteers from our congregation worked tirelessly around the clock, helping to feed and encourage the weary workers.
Six weeks prior to the disaster, the Holy Spirit forewarned our pastoral staff that a calamity was coming. We had scheduled several major events for the weeks ahead, including our Missions Conference and Youth Convention. But God's Spirit prompted us to cancel them all. Instead, we felt stirred to call our congregation to prayer.
We decided to hold prayer meetings four nights a week. From the very beginning, each meeting was marked by an awesome stillness that settled over the congregation. We sat quietly in the Lord's presence, often without a sound, for up to an hour, followed by soft weeping and heartrending repentance. In one meeting, I had to steady my knees with my hands, to keep them from trembling in God's awesome presence.
During this visitation from the Lord, the Holy Ghost revealed there was a reason for the weeping in our hearts. We were being so moved because a tragedy was coming. A severe calamity was coming to the nation. And even though we didn't know what it was, our hearts were stirred to intercede concerning it.
Then suddenly, the calamity struck. And it hit not only our city, but the nation's capital. One network anchor declared, "Think of it, our two symbols of power and prosperity have been smitten in one hour." Little did he know, he was quoting Revelation 18:10: "Alas that great city Babylon, that mighty city! For in one hour is thy judgment come."
As a policeman from our church helped out at ground zero, his fellow officers kept asking him, "What's this all about? What's happening?" Meanwhile, the whole nation has been asking, "Where is God in all this?"
We're right to ask this question. We need to understand where God is in this calamity. And to do that, we have to trust his holy Word alone. We've heard hundreds of opinions from media experts and politicians. But all their rhetoric has begun to sound the same. There's no real understanding about the meaning of this sudden destruction.
There is one thing I can assure you of: God wasn't taken by surprise. He knows the thoughts of all human beings, including every ruler, despot and terrorist. The Lord monitors the movements of every person in the entire mass of humankind. He knows when we sit down or stand up. And I can tell you, this one thing is sure: God has everything under control. Nothing on the face of the earth takes place without his knowledge of it, his permission for it, and, at times, his doing behind it.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
If You're a Christian, You Know God Has Delivered
a Message to America and the World through
this Disaster.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ministers and theologians everywhere are saying, "God had nothing to do with these disasters. He wouldn't allow such awful things to happen." Yet nothing could be further from the truth. This kind of thinking is causing our nation to rapidly miss the message God wants to speak to us through the tragedy.
The fact is, we have to have a word from God. Like many pastors, I've wept and grieved over this awful calamity. I've sought the Lord in prayer and through his Word. And I want to tell you, I've experienced a grief that's even deeper than the mourning for innocent people dying. It's a grief that says if we miss God's message, if we turn a deaf ear to what he's loudly proclaiming, then much worse is in store for us.
The prophet Isaiah speaks directly to what we've just experienced. (If you object to using the Old Testament for examples, consider Paul's words on the subject: "All these things happened unto them for ensamples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come" [1 Corinthians 10:11]. Paul makes it clear: the examples of the Old Testament reveal just how God moves in times like ours.)
At the time that Isaiah prophesied, God had been dealing patiently with Israel for about 250 years. The Lord had sent "light afflictions" upon his people, calling them to repentance. He was trying to woo them out of their brazen idolatry and back into his blessing and favor.
All of the prophets throughout the years had spoken to Israel the same essential word: "Humble yourselves." Scripture says, "They served idols...yet the Lord testified against Israel, and against Judah, by all the prophets, and by all the seers, saying, Turn ye from your evil ways, and keep my commandments and my statutes" (2 Kings 17:12-13).
But God's chosen nation rejected his call to repentance. "They would not hear, but hardened their necks" (17:14). These people mocked the prophets who called them to humility. And, instead, they "followed vanity, and became vain...and they left all the commandments of the Lord their God...and sold themselves to do evil in the sight of the Lord...therefore the Lord was very angry with Israel" (17:15-18).
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
God Sent Wake-Up Calls to Israel.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Lord's first wake-up call to Israel came in an invasion by Assyria. This arch enemy attacked two Israelite provinces, Zebulun and Naphtali. Fortunately, the attacks were limited to these two points, and the damage was minimal. Yet God was clearly speaking to his people. The Lord's chosen nation lost their sense of security. Yet they still missed the message God was speaking.
Israel then received a second wake-up call. This one was very severe. Two nations whom Scripture calls the "enemies of Israel" -- the Syrians and the Philistines -- combined forces for a sudden attack. According to Isaiah, this attack came from both "before, and...behind" (Isaiah 9:12). This means the invaders came from the east and the west, surrounding Israel. And their sudden attack was totally devastating.
Now we come to the heart of my message, and to the question most Americans are asking: Where was God in this sudden invasion of his chosen land? What were his people to make of the disaster that had come upon them? Isaiah tells us God was faithful to speak to his people: "The Lord sent a word into Jacob, and it hath lighted upon Israel" (Isaiah 9:8). God spoke a clear word. And he sent the message to the whole nation.
Beloved, this verse tells us something very important at our own time of devastation. It says simply, "God always sends his word." Never in history has the Lord left his people clueless in a time of calamity. He has never abandoned us and forced us to figure out things on our own. He always provides a word of understanding.
Even now the Lord is raising up godly watchmen to speak for him in these times. These shepherds are grieving, weeping and repenting as they seek God's face. And I believe they're hearing and understanding the Lord's message behind the present events. Moreover, they're not afraid to proclaim dire warnings, because they know they've heard from God. They're compelled to speak of his purposes behind our calamities.
Continued In Next post >>>