                    [Times Square Church Pulpit Series]

                        The Salvation of Your Face!
                      You Need a Holy Ghost Face-Lift!

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By David Wilkerson
April 3, 1995
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          DAVID boldly declared, "...God ...is the health of my
          countenance ..." (Psalm 42:11). And he repeats the same
          statement in another psalm: "...God...is the health of
          my countenance..." (43:5). In the original Hebrew, the
          proper rendering of both these verses is, "God is the
          salvation of my face!"

          I believe David is saying something very important
          here. You see, your face is a billboard that advertises
          what's going on in your heart. All the joy or turmoil
          that's inside you is reflected in your countenance.
          When I speak of countenance, I'm talking about facial
          expression, body language, tone of voice.

          For example, when my mind is loaded down with the cares
          of our church - sermon messages, finances,
          relationships - I have a tendency to slouch. I look
          preoccupied. My brow is furrowed. Some people even tell
          me I look sad.

          Not long ago I was walking along 52nd Street near
          Hannah House, totally absorbed with church business and
          probably slouched over. I came upon a crack house where
          a woman sat on the stoop, smiling from ear to ear. I
          could see she was high on crack. She watched me
          approaching - and as I got nearer she spoke up,
          "Mister, it can't be that bad."

          I was flabbergasted! I thought, "Here is this woman,
          high on crack - and here I am, a man of God. She's
          smiling and looking good - and I'm slouched over, as if
          all hope is gone." What a rebuke it was to me!

          Now, I thank God for His great salvation - for
          redeeming our soul, our spirit, even our body. But many
          of us need to get our faces saved! We need a Holy Ghost
          face-lift - because our faces are giving the wrong
          message to the world!

          You've probably heard that an aspirin a day is good for
          the heart. It helps stop blood clotting, which can
          cause heart attacks. But now research has led to
          "aspirin face-lifts." Dr. Nageena Malik, a research
          scientist in Oxford, England, conducted a study
          recently that produced some amazing results. Her
          research shows that aspirin helps to prevent wrinkles
          by keeping the skin flexible, preventing collagen
          stiffening, and blocking some of sugar's bad effects on
          the body.

          So, now science says you can actually look younger by
          taking aspirin. Or, if you want a more radical change
          in your appearance and can afford it, you can pay a
          plastic surgeon to alter your facial features.

          But, beloved, it doesn't matter what kind of face-lift
          you get - medicinal, surgical or any other kind. Your
          countenance will still reflect what is going on inside
          your heart! You cannot hide your inner emotions. Your
          face is the index of your soul!

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

                         Nothing Hardens a Face As
                           Much as Sin and Worry!

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

          "A wicked man hardeneth his face..." (Proverbs 21:29).

          If you live in New York City, all you have to do is
          look around you on the streets - and you'll see faces
          aged and hardened by sin! Visitors from the Midwest
          can't understand it. The people here look twenty to
          thirty years older than their actual age. Sin ages
          people fast!

          I recall about ten years ago, a young film actress - a
          rising star in her twenties - had just recovered from a
          long addiction to crack. The newspapers reported that
          she was trying to get back into movies - but her face
          had aged about thirty years! I saw a photo of her, and
          indeed, her face was etched with sin and hardness.
          Eventually she had to accept older roles, because her
          skin had become hardened and wrinkled.

          On the other hand, I see miraculous changes in the
          faces of the men and women we take in at our Timothy
          and Hannah Houses. They enter our programs with a
          dread, fallen countenance - and within days, as Jesus
          heals their inner man, they begin to shine. They look
          as if they've had face-lifts - literal, Holy Ghost
          surgery!

          One young woman came into Hannah House a year or so ago
          with lines of sin etched deeply in her face. Her
          countenance was extremely hard. Yet, two weeks after
          she was saved, no one could believe the change. I
          didn't even recognize her!

          Why such a change of countenance?
          "...a man's wisdom maketh his face to shine, and the
          boldness of his face shall be changed" (Ecclesiastes
          8:1).

          I take "wisdom" in this verse to mean Jesus Christ.
          Indeed, the very presence of Christ in your heart has a
          direct impact on your face! It affects your walk, your
          talk, the very tone of your voice.

          Worry can also harden a person's face, just as much as
          gross sin can. We all know that as Christians we aren't
          to worry. Our Lord is fully aware of all our needs and
          problems. Yet, you may say, "Come on, Brother Dave. You
          worry, don't you?" Of course I do - but I'm not
          supposed to. (And I wonder how many wrinkles on my face
          are the result of worry!)

          I believe ours is "a religion of the face." When we
          allow Jesus to be Lord of all - when we cast all our
          cares upon Him, trusting fully in His Word and resting
          in His love - our appearance should undergo a deep
          change. A quiet calm should begin to radiate from our
          countenance.

          Scripture gives us many examples of this:
          When Hannah laid her burden down, "...her countenance
          was no more sad" (1 Samuel 1:18). Her face was no
          longer etched with sorrow or sadness. Joy radiated from
          her!

          When Stephen stood before hostile, angry men in the
          Sanhedrin, "...his face [shone] as it had been the face
          of an angel" (Acts 6:15). Stephen stood among
          unbelievers with the shine of Jesus Christ - and the
          difference was clear to all!

          The men in that synagogue council were so angry at
          Stephen, "...they gnashed on him with their teeth"
          (Acts 7:54). Have you ever had angry people grit their
          teeth at you? If so, you probably remember exactly what
          their faces reflected!

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

                 There Are Many Sad, Downcast, Despondent,
                Wrinkled Countenances in The House of God!

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

          I'm convinced we have a duty to let our countenance
          speak of God's faithfulness in our lives. But the
          problem is, our facial features and body language often
          say just the opposite!

          Many believers' faces say, "My God has failed me! He
          doesn't care for me anymore. I have to carry all my
          burdens and problems alone. I grieve and weep - I have
          to decide my own fate, plan my own deliverance -
          because God doesn't come through for me!"

          Now, you may not consciously say such things to
          yourself - but they will show on your face! Perhaps at
          this very moment you have a troubled look. It may be
          because of family problems - your marriage, children,
          finances. Every day, you wake up and these problems hit
          you in the face. They hang over you like a dark cloud!

          I want to show you from God's Word that what you are
          going through is not new. Someone else has been exactly
          where you are:

          "...my sore ran in the night, and ceased not: my soul
          refused to be comforted....I complained, and my spirit
          was overwhelmed.... Thou holdest mine eyes waking: I am
          so troubled that I cannot speak. I have considered the
          days of old, the years of ancient times. I call to
          remembrance my song in the night...

          "Will the Lord cast off for ever? and will he be
          favourable no more? Is his mercy clean gone for ever?
          doth his promise fail for evermore? Hath God forgotten
          to be gracious? hath he in anger shut up his tender
          mercies?... And I said, This is my infirmity..." (Psalm
          77:1-10).

          When the psalmist says, "This is my infirmity," he
          means, literally, "This is what I have to endure." I
          ask you: Could your condition possibly be worse than
          this man's?

          In his own words, he is beyond all comfort. His spirit
          is overwhelmed. He can't sleep. He is so troubled he
          can't speak. He has to jog his memory to think of
          better times. He feels cast off and alone, forgotten by
          God, haunted by memories of better days.

          Yet the psalmist eventually comes out of his trouble
          with his happy countenance restored. Why? It is
          because, he says,
          "I cried unto God with my voice...in the day of my
          trouble..." (Psalm 77:1-2).

          There are many Christians who believe in Jesus and take
          Him at His Word - and yet they continue suffering day
          after day, year after year, because they won't take
          their problems to Him. How many homes are miserable
          because one spouse is wrapped up in his own problems or
          his children's, and he forgets the needs of his spouse?

          For example - a wife may carry her children's problems
          for so long that they actually become etched on her
          face. Year after year, her husband hears only
          complaints from her - he never sees joy in her face -
          because she is bound by her children's burdens. The
          husband tries to hold on in love, but her obsession
          gradually wears him down. Living with her becomes like
          living in a morgue!

          This wife is slowly ruining her marriage - embittering
          her patient husband - because she is enslaved by her
          problems! She has no peace, no calm, no smile, no
          normal days or nights. She is consumed with sorrow, and
          she can't lay it down. Day after day, it's the same old
          story: She sleeps with it, eats with it, talks about it
          - and she stays forever depressed.

          Even her friends are eventually turned off by her. They
          try to offer her strength through prayer. But their
          counseling and encouragement to turn it all over to
          Jesus goes unheeded. It's as if this woman never hears
          a word. And, little by little, her friends drop away.
          Eventually, all that's left in this woman's life is her
          own little world - all wrapped up in somebody else's
          problems!

          Many such people come to their wits' end and wind up
          divorced or having a nervous breakdown. Their faces are
          etched with the lines of sadness. And their worry has
          devastating effects on their children and even their
          grandchildren.

          If this describes you, I beg you: Today, this very day,
          get alone somewhere with the Lord and cry out to Him!
          Tell Him all your problems - everything about you. Tell
          Him you're at the end of your rope, that you can't take
          it anymore, that you're ready to lay it all on His
          shoulders. Have it out with God!

          It amazes me that so many people who say they're in
          love with Jesus come to a hard place and yet won't turn
          to Him. Why won't we shut ourselves into His presence
          and pour out our hearts to Him?

          You may answer, "I'm just not in the habit of doing
          that. I'm not much of a praying person. Instead of
          going to God, I carry the whole load myself."

          Indeed, when a sin problem or crisis hits, many
          Christians have a tendency - like Adam and Eve - to run
          and hide. But, beloved, the best time to learn to run
          to Jesus is at such a time - when you're in great need!
          David said that was his secret of deliverance in time
          of trouble:

          "Deliver me, O Lord, from mine enemies: I flee unto
          thee to hide me" (Psalm 143:9).

          You can start doing that today. And as you do, you'll
          see a miracle take place: Your load will be lifted.
          Your heart will change. You will experience a whole new
          realm of victory - and you'll get a face-lift in the
          process!

          Now, let me get to the heart of my message:

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

                          I Want to Talk About the
                            "No-Name Infirmity"!

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

          There is an unexplainable spiritual depression that
          comes upon the holiest of God's servants at one time or
          another. The psalmist says:

          "Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou
          disquieted in me?... O my God, my soul is cast down
          within me..." (Psalm 42:5-6).

          Scholars aren't certain who the writer of this psalm
          is. But we do know for sure that something is bothering
          him. His soul is deeply disturbed - but he can't
          explain why!

          This psalmist is on fire for God. He pants after the
          Lord the way a deer pants for water (verse 1) -
          thirsting after Him, yearning for intimacy. He asks,
          "...when shall I come and appear before God?" (verse
          2).

          We never do learn what the psalmist's infirmity is. No
          doubt, he tried to figure it out himself, crying out to
          God, "Why, Lord? Why this unexplainable spiritual
          depression in me? I love You more than I ever have. My
          heart pants after You. But for some reason I'm going
          through this depression. I feel so down - but I don't
          know what's bothering me. I can't explain it!" "My
          tears have been my meat day and night..." (verse 3).

          Have you ever experienced this kind of unexplainable
          melancholy - an unexpected, unnamed spiritual blues?
          You're doing fine one day, with no known sin in your
          life. But one day you wake up with a disturbance deep
          in your soul. Some kind of depression has come over you
          - and you can't put your finger on it!

          There is a dear Jewish brother named Joel who attends
          our church. He's a poet, and I know he has a sensitive
          spirit. I saw him one day as he was entering the
          subway, and greeted him with, "How's it going?" Joel
          answered with a half-smile. Then, with a quizzical
          look, he said, "Okay, I guess. I'm feeling something I
          can't explain."

          I knew just what he meant - because I personally have
          just come out of such an experience. I can say with the
          psalmist that I hunger and thirst for God, that my soul
          pants for intimacy with Him. I have no family or
          personal problems that might cause a disturbance in my
          soul. In fact, I have never felt closer to the Lord.

          But out of nowhere came an unnamed infirmity! I felt a
          sense of worthlessness - a boredom and monotony. I felt
          also that perhaps I wasn't accomplishing much. My mind
          was in the doldrums, and I couldn't figure it out. I
          didn't feel like praying at all.

          Beloved, this affected my face! My countenance was sad,
          and the feeling hung on for days. Finally I prayed,
          "Lord, what's going on? Why do I feel this way? I know
          You love me - but I feel like a total failure!" All day
          long I felt my eyes welling up - and a few times I let
          the tears flow freely. I ended up saying with the
          psalmist, "Why are you cast down, O my soul? Why are
          you disturbed? Why the inner mourning?"

          A woman minister once told me, "Occasionally I wake up
          with an empty feeling. Now, I realize I am very secure
          in the Lord, and I have a wonderful intimacy with Him.
          I believe my spirit is strong. But I experience these
          depressing feelings when I wake in the morning, and I
          just can't explain it. I feel my life is on hold - as
          if I'm operating on three wheels instead of four."

          This affliction is widespread among men and women in
          ministry. One pastor's wife told me, "My husband has a
          good church and is well-respected. God has opened many
          doors for us, and our needs are well-supplied. My
          husband has everything he has ever wanted - all he has
          ever prayed for.

          "But at times, something comes over him, and it
          concerns me. He gets restless and tells me he doesn't
          feel like he's accomplishing much. He can't explain
          what comes over him - and it makes me feel really
          insecure."

          I believe this no-name infirmity is behind many
          "two-year teachers" and "four-year preachers." These
          are ministers who remain in a church for a certain
          period, then become restless and leave. Or, sometimes
          they stay but feel compelled to "make something happen"
          in the congregation. A strange restlessness overtakes
          them.

          It is often during such times that a pastor decides to
          launch his church into a huge building project. One
          prayer group in a certain city has written to our
          ministry, requesting prayer for their pastor. They
          write:

          "Something is going on in our pastor that we can't
          explain. He wants to build a gymnasium - and our
          congregation is mostly over sixty years of age!
          Everybody is wondering what in the world we would do
          with a gymnasium. No one wants it. Our pastor can't
          explain why he wants a gym, and his wife doesn't know
          what's behind it, either. Please pray that he'll get
          over this soon - before he builds it!"

          There are many others in ministry who are just like
          this man. But now let's talk about you. Do you feel
          that your life is on hold? Are you cast down, troubled
          at heart, with all kinds of sad, confusing thoughts in
          your soul - all unexplainable? Do your prayers go
          unanswered? Do your dreams not come to fruition? And do
          you feel it is affecting your countenance, your face?

          I've got good news for you: This is an infirmity of the
          righteous! It strikes only those who hunger after
          Jesus. We are not to be afraid of such an infirmity -
          because the Holy Spirit has a part in it!

          I am now in my sixties, and I have experienced enough
          of life to know that a time comes when this happens to
          every Christian. But we mustn't try to figure it out -
          because we can't! The psalmist never did get his "why"
          answers. And there isn't a book, counselor or
          psychologist on earth who can tell you why an unnamed
          infirmity has come upon you.

          I believe this strange infirmity is "the sighing of the
          Holy Spirit" within us. He is letting us know what it
          feels like to be without God - to be on our own,
          without comfort, hope or guidance. He allows us to
          experience just a taste of such an awful, horrible
          condition!

          You see, our bodies are His temple - and He has been
          sent to prepare us as a chaste bride to Christ. He
          knows what it takes to keep us unspotted for the
          Bridegroom. And He knows how important it is for us cry
          out to God for daily strength and for power over every
          besetting sin. We simply cannot stand in these times
          unless we are intimate with the Lord - trusting in Him
          fully and constantly fleeing into His presence.

          The Holy Spirit also knows the mind of God and the way
          out of every problem. He has the power to deliver us
          out of any burden or difficulty. And from His holy
          sanctuary in our heart, He breathes His influence on
          all our emotions - wooing, pleading, encouraging,
          comforting, convicting, guiding, teaching, reproving,
          manifesting the reality of Christ.

          Yet we neglect this wonderful gift inside us. We ignore
          God's Spirit completely! We go about our daily affairs
          as if He doesn't abide in us. And the evidence is in
          our faces - our heavy, drooping countenances!

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

                         It's Sad to Say - But Many
                      Christians Neglect Seeking God!

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

          Many of us read the Bible with boredom. We open God's
          Word only because we know we should, and its message
          doesn't register with us. It brings no quickening life.
          We also pray less and less. We no longer look forward
          to shutting ourselves in to talk to our Lord.

          Beloved, the gift of the Holy Spirit within us provides
          us with all the power, resources, hope, grace and peace
          we will ever need. And yet we subject Him to the awful
          abuse of neglect! It is absolute abuse against the
          Spirit for us to carry unnecessary burdens - to walk
          before a wicked world fretting and looking downcast, as
          if God were dead.

          That is why the Holy Spirit sighs and groans in our
          spirit, with unutterable groanings. He sighs within us
          as He withdraws for a season! No, He doesn't totally
          abandon us - but at times He does remove Himself for a
          season to test our faith.

          Why does He sigh? It is because, rather than running to
          Him, we stay up all night talking to friends, reading
          how-to books, trying to find some answers. And all the
          while we neglect His presence! He sits in the very
          sanctuary of our heart, offering us everything we need.
          But we insist on crying our needs to others and walking
          around with a heavy countenance!

          When the Holy Ghost sighed in my life, I used to
          examine myself, asking, "Lord, what did I do wrong? Is
          there some hidden sin in me?" I have dug and dug for
          answers - reading books, doing word studies. I've tried
          desperately to discover why I was going through an
          unnamed infirmity.

          Sometimes this overwhelming spirit still comes over me.
          But now I know what it's all about - and I'm not afraid
          of it anymore. I know it has nothing to do with being
          in sin. Rather, it is the Holy Spirit at work in me. He
          is sighing so that I'll run back into Jesus' arms!

          That is exactly the effect the Spirit's sighing had on
          the psalmist. It gave him a renewed hunger for God:

          "And I said, This is my infirmity: but I will remember
          the years of the right hand of the most High. I will
          remember the works of the Lord: surely I will remember
          thy wonders of old. I will meditate also of all thy
          work, and talk of thy doings. Thy way, O God, is in the
          sanctuary: who is so great a God as our God? Thou art
          the God that doest wonders: thou hast declared thy
          strength among the people" (Psalm 77:10-14).

          "...bring me unto thy holy hill, and to thy
          tabernacles. Then will I go unto the altar of God, unto
          God my exceeding joy..." (Psalm 43:3-4).

          The Spirit allows this no-name infirmity to plague our
          lives until we say, "I can't figure this thing out! I
          know I can't fight the devil in my own power, and I
          can't overcome any temptation without the Holy Ghost.
          I'm tired of going to others to try to get an answer.
          Oh Lord - I'm calling out to You now. I can't do
          anything without You. Holy Spirit, take over!"

          Simply put, what we experience in this infirmity is a
          loneliness for Jesus. It really isn't a depression. No
          - it's a yearning to enjoy our Savior's presence!
          That's what the sighing and groaning are all about.

          You see, when we don't have His presence, it shows on
          our face. And the psalmist wrote,
          "...they continually say unto me, Where is thy God?"
          (Psalm 42:3).

          Evidently he was so downcast, it was reflected in his
          face and body language. Seeing him in such sorrow and
          hopelessness, others said to him, "You're supposed to
          be a person of faith. So, where is your God?"

          Beloved, if you don't run to the Lord and your face
          reflects that - then the world has every right to ask
          you the same question: "Look at you! You look awful -
          so sad, so hopeless. Where is your God? Where is the
          Christ you preach so much about?"

          Does your face say to a lost, confused generation, "My
          soul is at rest, my mind at peace - because I have
          dwelling in me the very Spirit of God Himself! He is
          guiding me, comforting my troubled soul. And I need
          fear no evil - because I sleep and wake in the saving
          power of the Holy Ghost, who lives in me!"

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

                      Let Me Tell You How God Brought
                          Me Out of My Infirmity!

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

          I was going through just such a time of heavy sighing
          and groaning recently when God sent me a special word
          from heaven. As I was walking through the hills in
          Pennsylvania, the Lord dropped this word into my heart
          - and I repeated it again and again until my unnamed
          infirmity was lifted and gone. The word was a simple
          verse:

          "Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you"
          (1 Peter 5:7).

          Now, it is one thing to quote this verse - and another
          to believe it! As I walked through the woods, I was
          reminded that the Lord cares all about me and what I'm
          going through. He is touched by my infirmities. And I
          cried, "Oh Lord, You do care for me! You do love me.
          You watch over me continuously!"

          Suddenly the Holy Spirit whispered to my soul: "That's
          the secret! It is why the Father has sent Me - to help
          convince you of this Word. You've got to believe that
          no matter what you're going through, no matter what
          your burden is, He cares!

          "God is not mad at you. He is not hiding from you. On
          the contrary, His heart is moved toward you. He cares
          about everything affecting you. Will you believe it,
          David? Will you cast all your cares on Him - all your
          sins, failures, troubles and needs?"

          Dear saint, if you truly believe God loves you, and you
          lay all your cares on Him, you can walk in glorious
          freedom. Your face will be lifted, as mine has been!
          Now, as I walk the cold, uncaring streets of New York
          City, I lay all my cares on the Lord. And I am
          reminded, "My heavenly Father watches over me. He loves
          me - and He cares!"

          And the next time I see that crack-addicted woman on
          52nd Street, I can say, "You're right - it really isn't
          that bad at all. It's good!" Hallelujah!

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