                    [Times Square Church Pulpit Series]

                        God's Hidden Last Days Army

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By David Wilkerson
June 13, 1994
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                    There is something very powerful and
                   awesome going on in the world today!

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          God is at work doing something hidden and quiet -- and
          it is so supernatural, it's beyond human comprehension.
          Yet what He is doing right now is going to affect the
          whole world in these last days.

          God is preparing a small but powerful army of
          Christians! This army is going to be the most dedicated
          on the face of the earth. And the Lord will come forth
          to command them to do exploits and shake hell. 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 were men and women who
          spent hours, even days, in fasting and prayer. They
          knew God's voice. They prayed unceasingly. And they had
          the power and ability to successfully stand up against
          immorality in their day.

          These forefathers have long since passed. But God is in
          the process right now of raising up another army --
          only 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 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. Growing
          numbers of ministers are falling on all sides -- to
          adultery, covetousness, pride and perversions of all
          kinds. Pastors of evangelical churches are bringing in
          entertainment and showmanship. One pastor boasted,"We
          want to give Broadway to our people." I know of
          evangelical congregations in which at least 50 percent
          of the couples are divorced. In some areas, that figure
          is as high as 80 percent, according to church members
          who write me p> Adulterers, fornicators, people
          involved in the occult and witchcraft-- it's all
          creeping into the church of Jesus Christ. Some accuse
          me of being "hard" on pastors. Not so -- because 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 and corruption. And right now the world is
          mocking the house of God! The devil is swaggering
          about, claiming victory through legal abortion, rampant
          homosexuality, drugs, alcohol, Satanism and an Islamic
          invasion.

          Yet the Bible says we are not to fret! God has a plan,
          and His plan is being manifested. It is put forth
          plainly in the Scriptures. In fact, every demon in hell
          knows about it!

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                  Much of God's Plan Can Be Found in the
                   First Four Chapters of First Samuel.

                      -------------------------------

          The prophet Samuel is a type of God's holy 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 a thing in Israel, at which both the
          ears of every one that heareth it shall tingle" (1
          Samuel 3:11).

          This new thing was going to amaze and startle all who
          heard it. Yet what was it? It was the judgment of God
          on the old, corrupt, backslidden religious system --
          and the training, raising up and anointing of a new,
          holy remnant!

          Now keep in mind -- what God did in Samuel's day, He
          does in every generation. Whenever the organized church
          backslides, compromising and growing cold, God gives up
          on it and raises up another. Indeed, in every
          generation there has been a remnant, a praying people
          after His own heart.

          Eli and his two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, represent
          the dying, corrupt church that has forsaken the Lord's
          way. The Bible tells us,

          "Now the sons of Eli were sons of Belial [the devil];
          they knew not the Lord" (1 Samuel 2:12).

          These young men mocked the holy things of God. They
          committed adultery at the very door of God's
          Tabernacle! When women came there to serve the Lord,
          Eli's sons picked them out and seduced them. These men
          had no fear of God -- they simply went through the
          motions of the sacrifices.

          Worst of all, their father winked at their sin! Eli was
          now more than ninety years old, and he had grown fat,
          comfortable and stiff-necked. He had become addicted to
          the choice, red cuts of meat his sons took from the
          Temple offerings. Eli knew this meat was abominable --
          but he did nothing to stop his sons from stealing it.
          He winked at their adulterous indulgences.

          This is a picture of the evil way to which the
          organized church has turned to today. Whole
          denominations now are pushing to ordain homosexuals--
          bringing an abomination into God's house! Eli and his
          sons also represent the dead, cold, formal priesthood
          that has grown soft on sin. Like Eli, many pastors
          today are cowards when it comes to naming sin. They
          merely go through the motions of the ministry, having a
          form of godliness but no power. It is because they have
          grown comfortable in their positions! They have lost
          the touch of God and no longer hear His voice, because
          they wink at evil!

          God said, "For I have told (Eli) that I will judge his
          house for ever for the iniquity which he knoweth;
          because his sons made themselves vile, and he
          restrained them not" (1 Samuel 3:13).

          Because Eli refused to judge and correct the evil, God
          removed his spiritual authority. And that is exactly
          what is happening in the church of Jesus Christ today!

          Some time ago I talked with several Pentecostal pastors
          who visited our church. When I told them of my concern
          about all the corruption creeping into the church and
          the lack of godly reproof, the leader of the group
          merely hung his head. Another pastor confessed:
          "Brother Dave, I'm afraid if I speak out, half of my
          congregation will leave." Every man in that circle was
          easy on his people -- afraid to offend them!

          I can honestly say I don't know of ten gray-haired
          ministers with the courage to cry out against sin. Most
          older warriors for the Lord are either spiritually dead
          or dying -- parked in front of their TV, sucked dry of
          all power because their minds have been vexed by the
          spirit of this world. They are weary Eli's -- rocking
          themselves into oblivion, growing fat and prosperous,
          afraid to deal with sin!

          God Was Fed Up With the Eli Generation!

          The Lord sent an unnamed prophet to warn Eli: "Behold,
          the days come, that I will cut off thine arm, and the
          arm of thy father's house, that there shall not be an
          old man in thine house" (1 Samuel 2:31). God was
          saying, in other words, "I am quitting this house -- I
          am removing My presence. I will make you powerless, and
          I will judge your wicked pastors. I am going to turn
          this old system over to the enemy!" "And thou shalt see
          an enemy in my habitation..." (verse 32).

          Right now, much of the National Council of Churches'
          so-called discretionary funds are used to support
          Communist guerrillas around the world.

          And we wonder why the church in America doesn't have
          any spiritual power or influence! Many denominational
          churches have turned into mausoleums, funeral parlors.
          They have no life, no strength -- because God has
          walked away from them!

          Eli's church -- the church at Shiloh -- is an example
          of this. The Lord severely judged and abandoned that
          church, and it all came down in one day:

          "...and Israel was smitten, and they fled every man
          into his tent: and there was a very great slaughter;
          for there fell of Israel thirty thousand footmen. And
          the ark of God was taken; and the two sons of Eli,
          Hophni and Phinehas, were slain" (4:10-11).

          God said, "Enough!" And in one day the ark of the Lord
          was captured, symbolizing the removal of His presence.
          The glory had departed -- Ichabod was born -- and God
          quickly moved in judgment against the ministry! When
          Eli heard the news about the ark being captured, "...he
          fell from off the seat backward by the side of the
          gate, and his neck brake, and he died: for he was an
          old man, and heavy [fat]" (4:18).

          This is a vivid picture of what is happening to much of
          organized religion in America today. The system is
          under judgment -- its ministers are falling left and
          right, its leaders are spiritually dead. The glory of
          the Lord has departed -- and the church has been turned
          over to the enemy!

          It is just as it was in the days of Jeremiah. The
          people in his day said, "We're safe -- we're in no
          danger. We're not going to lose our salvation." But God
          spoke through Jeremiah:

          "Will ye steal, murder, and commit adultery, and swear
          falsely...and walk after other gods whom ye know not:

          and come and stand before me in this house, which is
          called by my name, and say, We are delivered to do all
          these abominations? ...But go ye now unto my place
          which was in Shiloh, where I set my name at the first,
          and see what I did to it for the wickedness of my
          people Israel" (Jeremiah 7:9-12).
          In every generation God warns cold, corrupt churches:
          "Go back to Shiloh -- go back to the church of Eli. See
          what I did to Hophni and Phinehas! See what happened
          when I took My presence away. My glory will depart
          wherever there is sin in the camp!"

          Yet while the church of Eli was under judgment, the
          Lord was busy raising up a remnant! Samuel represents
          this holy remnant - - a prepared body of believers that
          rises out of the ruins of the old, decadent church.

          I want to show you what goes into the training and
          preparation of this last-day remnant:
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               1. The Remnant Is Always Birthed in Prayer and
                               Intercession!

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          Hannah birthed her son, Samuel, through bitter tears
          and much prayer: "And she was in bitterness [grief] of
          soul, and prayed unto the Lord, and wept sore" (1
          Samuel 1:10).

          Try to imagine the scene: Hannah is at the Temple every
          day, on her knees before the altar, crushed and broken
          because she's childless. And as she weeps, her
          adversary -- Peninnah, her husband's other wife --
          makes fun of her. "And her adversary also provoked her
          sore, for to make her fret..."(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 came to pass, as she continued praying before
          the Lord, that Eli marked her mouth [watched her].

          Now Hannah, she spake in her heart; only her lips
          moved...therefore Eli thought she had been drunken.

          And Eli said unto her, How long wilt thou be drunken?
          put away thy wine from thee" (1:12-14).

          Eli was so out of touch with God -- so dead in his
          spirit -- he thought Hannah was drunk! He said to her,
          "Woman, how long are you going to come in here this
          way? Put away the bottle!"

          This is amazing to me! Eli wouldn't correct his own
          sons for their open drunkenness and adultery -- yet he
          mistook a great woman of God for a drunk! Nothing has
          changed today. Dedicated Christians give themselves to
          prayer, walk holy and separated unto Jesus -- and yet
          pastors often become their adversaries, ridiculing and
          persecuting them!

          When Hannah was at the altar, 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 thou wilt indeed look on the
          affliction of thine handmaid, and remember me...(and)
          wilt give thine handmaid a man child, then I will give
          him unto the Lord all the days of his life..." (1:11).

          If you're going to love God with all your heart, soul,
          mind and strength, then like Hannah you're going to
          feel the pain and grief of God for His church. Yet God
          heard Hannah! That is what Samuel's name means: "God
          heard my prayers!" And likewise today, God is hearing
          the prayers of those who yearn for the birthing of a
          holy, new work of the Spirit.

          These believers want to see God move in a special way
          -- and the Lord is going to hear their cry! Out of the
          spiritual womb of an unknown but small army of
          intercessors, a body of believers is being birthed -- a
          Samuel Company, who have given themselves totally to
          God!

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

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

          2. And, like Hannah, they give themselves to prayer
          every day of their lives. They're not up and down, hot
          and cold. No -- they are wholly given to God! They go
          to Him and pour out their soul: "Trust in him at all
          times; ye people, pour out your heart before him..."
          (Psalm 62:8). "When I remember these things, I pour out
          my soul in me..." (Psalm 42:4).

          Samuel became a great man of prayer -- so much so that
          Israel never asked him for counseling. Instead, they
          asked him to pray for them! Scripture says that when
          the people wanted a king, "...the Lord sent thunder and
          rain that day: and all the people greatly feared the
          Lord and Samuel. And all the people said unto Samuel,
          Pray for thy servants unto the Lord thy God, that we
          die not..." (1 Samuel 12:18-19).

          Time after time we read of the people urging Samuel,
          "Pray for us." Itwas because they'd learned to trust
          his prayers! And in these last days, there is going to
          be a praying remnant whom people will seek for prayer
          as well. People will run to find them, crying, "I know
          someone who touches God!"

          Counseling in itself will not meet the need. Rather, it
          will be the power of praying people who know the mind
          of Christ.

          Dear saint, God wants to make you that person! 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!
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             2. The Remnant Is Trained To Know the Voice of the
                                   Lord!

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          God was not speaking to Israel at this time because of
          the sinfulness of the priesthood and the people. The
          Bible says:

          "And the word of the Lord was precious [rare] in those
          days; there was no open vision" (3:1). Yet, in the
          middle of this famine of the Word, the Lord appeared to
          Samuel: "...the Lord called Samuel...Now Samuel did not
          yet know the Lord, neither was the word of the Lord yet
          revealed unto him"(3:8,7).

          Samuel was only twelve years old at the time. And
          although he was a devout child, he didn't yet know the
          voice of the Lord. So God came to Samuel's bedside and
          called to him plainly. At first Samuel thought it was
          Eli speaking. He didn't know he was being trained to
          discern voices -- to hear directly from God!

          Please note here: God was not speaking to Eli! In fact,
          it seems that up till now only one prophet was hearing
          from God -- the unnamed man who warned Eli God was
          about to cut him off. Yet even this was a man's voice,
          the only voice Eli could hear -- because he had grown
          deaf to the voice of God!

          And so it is today! An Eli ministry, spiritually dead
          and full of compromise, has lost all discernment, all
          authority, all touch of God. What is needed in the
          church today are men and women who can stand up with
          spiritual authority -- because the word they preach is
          backed up by a life of righteous! So many preachers
          today aren't able to stand before the people and say,
          "Thus saith the Lord!" -- because they are not tuned to
          God's voice!

          Hearing from God takes more than quiet time alone. It
          takes more than simply saying, "Speak, Lord, for your
          servant hears!" No, there isn't a formula for hearing
          God -- there aren't ten steps to follow, You see,
          before you can hear God, He has to be talking to you!

          Eli could have spent months alone, shut in with God,
          crying, "Lord, speak to me!" But he had no chance of
          hearing God's voice -- because God was not speaking to
          him. God wanted to talk to Samuel. He talks only to
          those who have prepared their hearts to hear!

          You can forget about evil-minded preachers ever hearing
          God's voice. Forget about any congregation possibly
          knowing God's voice if they continue promiscuous
          divorcing, fornicating and overindulging in sports,
          entertainment, pleasures. The only things God will
          speak to them are one-word sentences: "Repent! Turn!
          Weep!"

          Samuel had no deep theological knowledge of God when
          the Lord first spoke to him. But he had a tender, pure,
          devoted heart that was open to the Lord. So, what do
          you think was the first thing God taught Samuel after
          speaking to him?" I will not put up with sin in My
          house! I will not wink at unjudged sin in my servants."

          In essence, the Lord told Samuel, "I'm going to judge
          Eli -- because he knew his sons were wicked, but he did
          nothing to restrain them! They should have been
          stripped of their robes and told, 'You can't go near
          the holy place!' Now, Samuel, I want to show you My
          hatred for sin in My house. I want to show you what
          it's going to take to hear My voice and walk with Me!"

          Samuel must have shuddered at the Lord's next words to
          him:

          "Behold, I will do a thing in Israel, at which both the
          ears of every one that heareth it shall tingle" (3:11).

          Samuel realized God was going to leave Eli, whom he had
          so admired. And how the boy must have grieved when God
          told him, "I'm going to destroy these wicked, vile
          ministers. And I'm going to raise up a people who yearn
          after Me!" The holy remnant in these last days know
          that right now God is judging His church. And they know
          what God's plan is. They know He is going to pull down
          and destroy unholy ministries!

          It is no wonder the Bible says Samuel spoke such sure
          words -- he had heard the voice of God! He'd spent much
          time praying, seeking the Lord, shut in with Him -- and
          God spoke clearly to him at all times.

          There is also a holy people right now who have been
          trained to know God's voice. These praying saints pour
          out their hearts to Him -- and in turn He pours out His
          to them!

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            3. The Remnant Will Be Trained in True Deliverance.
               -- Through the Knowledge of the Ways of God!

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          I have warned in many previous messages: America is
          headed for chaos and a collapse! Hate-spewing Louis
          Farrakhan has become more popular in the black
          community than any other figure except Jesse Jackson.
          (Farrakhan is now better-known among blacks even than
          Martin Luther King!) And many white talk-radio hosts,
          some of them here in New York, are stirring up hatred
          against blacks.

          You may have read or heard preached my message about
          the coming race wars. As of now, it may not look as if
          this will happen. But very soon, when economic chaos
          comes, watch out! There will be "race armies" -- whites
          against blacks, blacks against Jews, Koreans against
          blacks.

          We are facing such a time of judgment that the word
          deliverance will take on a whole new meaning! In the
          past, Christians have thought of deliverance mainly as
          physical healing -- eyesight restored, crippled limbs
          healed. But soon there will be such wrath from heaven
          poured upon us the greatest deliverance will be from
          fear and terror!

          Deliverance at that time will mean having "a sure word
          from heaven. "Jesus said men's hearts would fail them
          for fear as they see the awful things coming on the
          earth. And indeed, people will clamor to know what God
          is going to do next. They will turn in all directions,
          wanting to hear the voice of someone who is calm,
          peaceful, not going crazy. They'll cry, "Tell me -- is
          this God's judgment? When is it all going to end?"

          And who do you think is going to have the answers? You
          -- the ordinary Christian who has been shut in with
          God! You'll be full of calm and peace while everything
          is falling apart -- because God is with you, and you're
          hearing from heaven. He warned you all this was coming
          -- and He promised to protect you!

          I have a vision in my mind that I believe is from the
          Lord. It is of hundreds of cars fleeing New York...of
          auto camps in New Jersey and Pennsylvania...of people
          sleeping in their cars for weeks at a time, just to get
          away from all the chaos. The same will happen in other
          cities too. It's going to be beyond anything we can
          imagine. But God is going to have ready His holy
          remnant -- a group of people who are steadfast, sure,
          unmovable! Like Samuel, their words will not fall to
          the ground!

          Samuel had the answers for Israel; he offered them true
          deliverance. More than fifty thousand people had died
          because they peeked into the ark. Everywhere the ark
          was carried, people died like flies. The whole land was
          in chaos -- nobody knew what to do!

          The people said, "This judgment has to be from God! Who
          shall go before Him for us?" So they sent for Samuel.
          And he told them, "I want you to gather at Mizpeh with
          me. There I will show you the way out!" Samuel had the
          right word for the crisis hour:

          "And Samuel spake unto all the house of Israel, saying,
          If ye do return unto the Lord with all your hearts,
          then put away
          the strange gods and Ashtaroth from among you, and
          prepare your hearts unto the Lord, and serve him only:
          and he will
          deliver you out of the hand of the Philistines" (1
          Samuel 7:3-4).

          The answer wouldn't be found in praying for anybody and
          everybody, no matter their sinful condition. There was
          no blanket promise of deliverance for all who wanted
          it. No -- Samuel cried, "Get your heart right! Judge
          your sin! Prepare your heart before the Lord!" First,
          sin must be reproved, judged, forsaken.

          "Then the children of Israel did put away Baalim and
          Ashtaroth, and served the Lord only. And Samuel said,
          Gather all Israel to Mizpeh, and I will pray for you
          unto the Lord" (verse 5). So the people fasted and
          humbled themselves before the Lord: "And they gathered
          together to Mizpeh...and said there, We have sinned
          against the Lord. And Samuel judged the children of
          Israel in Mizpeh" (verse 6). He judged them -- he
          exposed sin in the camp! A revival of genuine
          repentance followed Samuel's powerful reproof.

          God is telling us His Samuel Company will bring to pass
          great deliverances through the power of intercession:

          "...and Samuel cried unto the Lord for Israel; and the
          Lord heard him. And as Samuel was offering up the burnt
          offering, the
          Philistines drew near to battle against Israel: but the
          Lord thundered with a great thunder on that day upon
          the Philistines, and discomfited them; and they were
          smitten before Israel" (7:9-10).

          There was thunder from heaven, followed by a great
          slaughter -- and God's people won the victory! It all
          happened because one man knew the answer. Samuel knew
          what to do -- because he'd heard from God!

          I believe God is going to use His holy remnant in these
          last days to stir multitudes, revive pastors and awaken
          churches. This army will turn people's hearts back to
          God by bringing them to repentance -- through the power
          of prayer and godly reproof for sin.

          Your neighbors and coworkers are all going to want
          answers. They already know you by your peace and calm
          -- and one day they'll come running to you, crying,
          "What's the word of the Lord? What is God saying?"

          When I speak of a holy remnant in training, I do not
          mean an army of preachers, evangelists and
          missionaries. I'm talking about ordinary saints--
          lovers of Jesus who themselves will be signs and
          wonders to the world, full of peace and calm. God
          doesn't want a professional army trained in man's
          methods. He wants men and women who are trained in
          prayer by the Holy Ghost! He is seeking believers who
          are shut in with Him, preparing their hearts before
          Him, learning to hear His voice.

          Does this describe you? Is your life right now a
          witness to a scared and shaken world? I urge you -- get
          alone with God and let Him begin to speak to you Ask
          Him to reveal the sin in your life. Forsake all that
          the Holy Spirit convicts you of. And make yourself
          available to Him by giving yourself to prayer. Then you
          will be a ready soldier in His great, last-day remnant
          army. Hallelujah!

          ---
          Used with permission granted by World Challenge, P. O.
          Box 260, Lindale, TX 75771, USA.

          This material is solely for personal use and is not to
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