David Wilkerson was the Founding Pastor of Times Square Church in New York City. He was called to New York in 1958 to minister to gang members and drug addicts, as told in the best-selling book, The Cross and the Switchblade.
Lord give us your word now and speak
clearly to our hearts Lord we need you
you need to hear from heaven and we’re
trusting you now in Jesus name Amen
first Peter fourth chapter first Peter
the fourth chapter getting ready for the
end of all things
first Peter the fourth chapter only just
a few verses starting verse 7 please
1st Peter 4 beginning verse 7 but the
end of all things is at hand now that’s
pretty blunt he gets up before his
people and in his letter he writes the
end has come
instead and be there for sober and watch
unto prayer and above all things have
fervent charity among yourselves for
charity shall cover the multitude of
sins thank you Jesus now in second Peter
1:14 he has just announced the Lord has
shown me that I’m going to die Lord show
me that my time has come and so he comes
to the people now as a dying man he
comes as if to say I’m soon going to be
with my Heavenly Father I’m soon going
to be with Christ so I’m going to give
you my final word he said I want you to
know the end of all things is at hand
it’s right at hand he said well that was
written 2,000 years or so ago but folks
if it were true then it’s all the more
true now at the end of the very last of
the last days and he said I’m going to
tell you what God expects and what he
wants of you I’m going to tell you how
to become secure I’m going to tell you
how to prepare for the end times and you
see he says nothing about the economy he
says nothing about the loss of houses
and life
he says nothing about where to put your
money nothing about safe havens and he
comes with this and I got a letter from
somebody read one of my prophetic books
about how God’s going to keep his people
in the coming depression and he said I
wrote to you Pastor Dave in good faith
then I believe that you’re an honest
righteous man and I ask you where I
should put my money I some safe place to
put my money because he said really if
God’s warning us he wouldn’t be a very
good God if he didn’t tell us how to
survive and he was trying to put me on
the spot and he said I I want to know I
don’t want any theological
cop-out he said that’s what you
preachers do you pop out and just say go
pray because everybody told pray and get
the mind of the Holy Ghost for yourself
and he said I feel cheated he said I
wanted to hear certainly God would have
a word he not warned us unless he gave
us a way to survive and I get letters
like that and already since I mentioned
my topic how to prepare for the end of
all things some of you feel like well
brother Dave this was an ounce of it
well pastor Dave’s going to give us some
good advice on where to put our money
and help us get fixed for the hard times
that have already started that that’s a
good honest question we all ask those
questions but folks this is not going to
make sense to you till we get to the
last half of the message and you’ll see
why Peter goes with this message as he
says first of all be sober in other
words don’t panic that’s his first
advice no matter what happens and
there’s many Christians right now in
panic who have who have believed and
testified all their life time that the
Lord was their keeper we sink Jehovah
Jireh we sing all these wonderful songs
about how good god is and is going to
keep us in the hard times
there is a human nature in us that
responds and we have to bring it under
the word we have to bring it under the
control of faith but he’s saying be
sober first of all be sober and the
second he says go to prayer he said you
you wonder why you’re confused you
wonder why you’re in turmoil you wonder
why you’re in panic and you’re not sober
in these times and he’s saying the worst
gets blacker the night the more you
should be walking in soberness and the
peace and the rest of the Holy Ghost
that’s what he says as hard as that
sounds that is that’s what I’m telling
you God told me before he takes me home
I’m telling the Church of Jesus Christ
in my day and in the days to come they
are going to be hard and difficult times
and Peter describes those time mockers
and scoffers are going to come they’re
going to be those preaching deception in
our churches they’re going to be
preachers of covetousness and
materialism he goes on to describe all
of those things that are coming in he
says don’t panic be at peace about it
and then he says go to prayer and folks
that there is where I go every time fear
tries to rise in my spirit every time
there’s another news report that seems
to just be overwhelming I go to the Lord
I go to my knees and that’s the answer
to all the stress problems I just saw in
the Wall Street Journal yesterday that
all over Wall Street now they have a
whole hour and and many of the corporate
leaders are are into yoga and into
Chinese mantras and they’re trying to
calm their stress and it in some offices
now it’s mandatory that you go and take
yoga so that you can calm yourself well
folks we have a savior we have a promise
and we are going to be a testimony that
we know how to handle stress we’ve got a
little room we go into it’s called the
secret closet tell that to the world
here’s a world here’s a world looking at
crystals hoping beings will come out of
those crystals and they’re people doing
yoga and quoting Chinese mantras that
they don’t know what means mm-hmm yet
then you tell them you’ve got a secret
closet where you go and you come out
strong and they’re gonna say you’re
crazy stupid what do you mean a secret
closet well what do you know about yoga
I’ve got somebody that takes all my
stress away King of Kings I meet him
right in that you meet you meet God yes
we meet God in the secret closet of
prayer and then he he goes on he said in
verse 8 and above all things above all
things above all preparations above
everything you think about how to
survive in the end times he said I’m
going to give you word and this this is
the issue and you have to deal with this
and this is mind boggling at first he
says above all things have fervent on
fire