When You Come to the Crossroads, Take the Crossroad

A Lighthouse in Darkening Times I'm so thankful for Pastor Tim, and I know you are too. I'm thankful for the clarion call that is going out from this pulpit and going all over the world. By God's grace, we're going to continue to lift up our pastor and pray for him. And for the burden — you have no idea, I do. Many of you don't have any idea the weight that this pulpit puts on a man. It's a phenomenal weight. I used to say years ago when I came through the Lincoln Tunnel — when I lived in New Jersey — I would pick up my baby grand piano when I came through and put it on my back for the whole time I was here. There's just a weight you cannot describe. But God has given this church a prophetic word that was given to David Wilkerson in 1987, when it was first initiated by the Holy Spirit, that this church was going to be a lighthouse. This pulpit would be a lighthouse, and the darker it got, the farther the beam was going to go around the world. And we look at the screen during all of our services and we see that prophetic word — that the Holy Spirit gave to David Wilkerson — now being fulfilled right before our eyes. And the darker it gets, the more people are going to start coming in. I don't know what it is that's going to happen in our country, or maybe in this city, that's going to bring an influx — and maybe worldwide — but it's going to bring an influx of people in uncounted numbers. Just before I turned the pulpit over when Pastor Tim first came in 2020, I had a word from the Lord and I passed it on to him. The word was from John 21, where the disciples had been fishing all night and caught nothing. And Jesus said to them, cast the net on the right side of the boat. What the Holy Spirit spoke to me was: cast the internet on the right side of the boat. The Scripture intimates that he sent the fish into the net. And Pastor Tim, for six years, has been casting the internet on the right side of this church and it has gone all over the world. Now God is going to send the people in. They're going to come. I don't know what the catalyst will be. We're living on the edge of instability in this world in an ever-increasing measure. We don't know what some of these foreign nations are going to do. We don't know what kind of calamity we're going to wake up to in the morning, if at all. But I do know that God promises he will have a people. And I do know that he will give his people strength — if we want to have the strength that God is willing to give us. We have to desire the strength. It doesn't just fall on us without any initiative on our part. We have to love the word of God. We have to want the things of God. We have to go in the direction of God. And if we commit to that, he will give us the strength. Thank God for the promises of God. A New Passion for This Generation I'll be 73 on Wednesday and I feel a new lease on life. I honestly do. A new passion — a passion for him, a passion first for Jesus Christ and for his word, and then for his work and his calling, whatever it is. And then for this generation — a generation that has largely been robbed of truth. A generation that maybe doesn't yet fully know how God longs to give his power to those who turn to him. But I believe that we will, as we open our hearts to it. It's an amazing thing. As Jesus once said to the churches in Revelation, he who has ears to hear, let him hear — or let her hear — what the Spirit is saying to the churches. He wasn't speaking to the church to harm her. He was speaking to the church to strengthen her and to take her into the future with a sureness in her step and an influence that can cause good to happen around us. Each one of us has a sphere of influence. Whether it's in our own families, it can go from there to the hallway of our apartment buildings, into the workplace, or wherever it is we travel. We've all been given a sphere of influence. And every last one of us is a preacher of the gospel of Jesus Christ. We are preachers because we are redeemed by the blood of Jesus Christ, and we have the power of the Spirit of God resident within our earthen vessels. He has equipped our mouths to speak truth. He's given us new eyes to see. He's given us new hands to be able to reach out in the name of Christ, and he's given us a heart to believe that all things are still possible with God — that he can take us from wherever we are and make us into whatever he's destined us to be. That's the beauty of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Thank God for yesterday, but that's gone. And thank God for today — it's wonderful to be alive today. But I'm looking forward to what God is going to do tomorrow, and the day after, and the day after. As the psalm says, morning by morning, new mercies I see. Morning by morning. I don't want to wake up in the morning thinking about yesterday. I want to wake up and think about tomorrow — what it is that God wants to do, where he wants to lead, and how his name can be glorified. The Natural Progression of Sin Against the Light We are living in a perilous time. There's no doubt about it — the hour that we're living in is indeed, as the Scripture tells us, a perilous hour. History repeats itself. The ways of men don't change. The circumstances change and the ages change, but the ways of men don't change. When Jesus Christ walked the earth as a man, he first faced — may I call it — inquiry. People coming up and asking questions out of some genuine curiosity. Then the inquiry turned to scorn. Then it turned to accusation. Then it turned to trial, and ultimately it turned to violence. That's the natural progression of sin in the world. Sin hates the presence of God. Sin hates the light and the life of God through his Son, Jesus Christ. We're living in a day that is starting to turn towards thoughts of achieving its objectives through violence if necessary. There are people — the godless — purporting: if we can't get it any other way, this is the way we're going to get it. We're going to get our objectives. We're going to build our golden statue, and the people of this generation will bow down and worship it. And when they hear the music, as Nebuchadnezzar once said — you either bow down or you burn. You either bow, or we throw you into a place where it's going to get very, very hot for you. There were so many children of God in that kingdom at that time. I leaned over to Pastor Tim during the worship and I said: we don't know the names of the tens of thousands that bent their knee to the gods of that age. And they said, "God, you understand. In my heart I really don't mean it, but I'm just not interested in going through the fiery furnace." So they bent their knee. But we do know the names of three Hebrew boys who didn't bend their knee. And it was because of them that Nebuchadnezzar saw the fourth man in the fire. I'm not convinced they saw the fourth man, but I'm convinced because of Scripture that Nebuchadnezzar saw the fourth man. And when you and I are willing to face whatever we have to face in the days ahead — when we stand for what we know to be true in spite of the consequences — the people around us look and they see a strength in us that can only come from God. They understand that there is a fourth man in our fire. There's somebody else walking with us. We're not doing this alone. They know that, because they know they could not stand where we are standing. Standing Close or Standing Afar When Jesus Christ was taken into captivity and put on trial and ultimately crucified, there were different types of people at that time. There was a group of people that the Scripture says went to the crucifixion of Christ, but they stood afar off. In other words, "I kind of believe I'm part of this, but I don't necessarily want to be associated with it at this time. It's not a popular time. The society has risen up. The violence against God is at the fore. So I'm here, but I'm standing in the shadows...