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                        God's Grief Over his People

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By David Wilkerson
May 15, 1985
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          The final outcome of the church of Jesus Christ is
          glorious victory. In the end, the gates of hell shall
          never prevail against the true church, which is the
          invisible body of Jesus Christ on earth.

          It is supposed to be a glorious church, without a spot
          or wrinkle, washed and secured by the blood of the
          Lamb. But anyone with spiritual discernment can readily
          see that the church of Jesus Christ at this present
          time is not victorious over sin or the enemy. The sad
          and pitiful condition of many believers is a great
          grief to our Lord.

          Satan is trampling over multitudes of God's people
          almost at will. The lives of millions of believers are
          in total disarray. Our ministry receives thousands of
          letter's weekly from Christians all over the world.
          What my wife and I read is heartbreaking, and our
          workers weep with us as we read the pitiful prayer
          requests from multitudes of despairing Christians who
          are at the end of their rope. So many homes and lives
          seem to be totally out of control, with some wanting to
          escape by suicide.

          In one week we will hear from hundreds of Christian
          wives whose husbands have left or are in the process of
          leaving them. Many of these husbands were once on fire
          for God, but now they drink, they fool around with
          other women, and they are totally deceived by Satan.
          There are Christian wives who hate to wake up in the
          morning, and they go to bed each night crying
          themselves to sleep.

          Children are rebelling and backsliding. There is chaos
          and confusion in too many Christian homes. We even hear
          from ministers whose wives are leaving them. There are
          so many once radiant Christians turning their backs on
          the Lord, and the backsliding is widespread and getting
          worse. Because iniquity abounds, the love of many waxes
          cold.

          We detect from so many Christians a sense of
          helplessness and despair. Many are giving up hope, and
          there is no joy or victory anywhere in their lives.
          They seem so defeated, cast down, defenseless, trodden
          down, wearied, and troubled. From the way many talk,
          the walls and gates are broken down, and Satan is
          having a field day without a challenge.

          We read these thousands of heartbreaking requests, and
          we are driven to our knees to cry out, "Oh, God - what
          is happening to your beloved people? How can the enemy
          walk over them and hurt them with such fury? Why are so
          many held captive by fear and turmoil? Why such havoc
          among Your dear children? Why aren't God's people
          rising up with holy indignation and crying out,
          "Enough!?"

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                 My Grief Only Reflects God's Greater Grief
                  Over the Pitiful Conditions in The Lives
                       and Homes of the Lord's People
                       - Because It Need Not Be So!

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          God does grieve over His people. He grieved for forty
          years over His people Israel because of the trouble and
          sorrow they brought upon themselves through unbelief.
          "But with whom was he grieved forty years? Was it not
          with them that had sinned, whose carcasses fell in the
          wilderness?" (Hebrews 3:17).

          God has promised to carry them in his own arms through
          the difficult wilderness. He promised to be their
          guide, their keeper, their shelter, their strong arm,
          their covert from every storm, their deliverer from
          every enemy, and their high tower of protection. He
          promised that no weapon that was formed against them
          could ever prosper. They were to be the apple of His
          eye, the delight of His soul, the object of his tender
          loving care. Their enemies were to be their footstools;
          they were to be always more than conquerors.

          Had they believed what God told them, had they believed
          his promises were faithful and true, had they rested in
          his mighty power to save and deliver them, they would
          have been invincible! They would not have been victims
          of despair and trouble. They could have walked through
          that perilous wilderness well fed, without thirst,
          without fear or despair, with every need met, with a
          song and great joy. They could have had a life of
          peace, rest, and victory in a beautiful land of
          promises; and all spiritual and physical needs could
          have been met! That is what God had planned for them!
          That was what He promised! He so wanted them to be
          victorious, joyful, peaceful, and blessed. He wanted to
          make their bed for them in their sickness; He wanted to
          perform all things on their behalf to secure them and
          keep them a s a special people to Himself.

          But unbelief destroyed it all! Unbelief blinded their
          eyes to the ways of God! They missed God's glorious
          plan simply because they would not believe his
          promises! "And to whom sware he that they should not
          enter into his rest, but to them that believed not? So
          we see that they could not enter in because of
          unbelief" (Hebrews 3:18, 19).

          It was not just their lust and immorality that brought
          upon them all their troubles and grief. God was
          gracious toward their sins, and the slain lamb provided
          all the forgiveness they needed. He provided atonement
          for sins of the flesh.

          It was their blatant unbelief that tied God's hand so
          that He could not longer help or deliver them. Unbelief
          robbed them all their peace and rest and rendered all
          god's promises useless and powerless on their behalf.

          The door to fullness, joy, and victory was open; but
          unbelief kept them from going in to claim it. They
          began to doubt God's love and care for them. They began
          to question His mercy and concern, and they turned
          inward to seek help from the flesh. It brought them to
          a sad condition of hopelessness, and troubles broke
          upon them on all sides.

          We look over the pitiful history of Israel in the
          wilderness and we say, what a waste! What it could have
          been for them if they had simply believed God! They did
          not have to live in such fear and bondage! They did not
          have to fall into unbelief and bring upon themselves
          such trouble! It was self-inflicted! Why would they not
          choose the good way of faith and confidence, the
          victorious way, God's preferred way? Why did they have
          to die such a sad, horrible, death, defeated, broken,
          and helpless?"

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          God Grieves Even More Over This Generation of Believers
              Because We Have Better Promises ans Still Won't
                                  Believe!
                       Our Unbelief is Inexcusable!

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          "Let us therefore fear, lest a promise being left us of
          entering into his rest, any of you should seem to come
          short of it. Let us labour therefore to enter into that
          rest, lest any man fall after the same example of
          unbelief" (Hebrews 4:1,11).

          Think for a moment of God's grief as He sees what is
          happening once again in the lives of his people! God is
          saying, in this very text, "It should be different now!
          You have My promise to bring you into a place of
          perfect peace and rest - if you will only believe! You
          have an example before your eyes of the danger of
          unbelief! Take heed from the tragic example of My
          people in the past."

          Israel had no example of the destructive power of
          unbelief! They could not read a detailed, step-by-step
          account of a people who lost everything by foolish
          unbelief. But we can! We have the same promises -
          promises of a life of full and complete rest and
          deliverance in Him! We serve the same God! But even
          more, we now have a high priest in heaven who looks
          after all our interests. Ours is a better hope, built
          on better promises. We have a Man in glory who is
          touched, by personal experience, with the very feelings
          of our troubles, care, and needs.

          God say, "You have a reason to hold fast to your faith
          - a reason Israel did not have! You have a high priest
          who has passed into heaven - a priest who invites you
          to come boldly into his presence." "Let us therefore
          come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may
          obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need"
          (Hebrews 4:16).

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                  When Will There Ever Be a People of God
                      Who Enter Into His Perfect Rest?
                   If We Do Not, No Generation Ever Will
                         Because We Are The Last!

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          So often it is the Lord's own people who bind his hands
          so that He cannot help and deliver. It is the unbelief
          of his chosen ones that hinders most His divine power.
          So it was when he walked this earth in the flesh. He
          went into His own country, among his own people, and
          they were offended by Him. "And he did not many mighty
          works there because of their unbelief" (Matthew 13:58).

          When Jesus wept over Jerusalem, he cried out,
          "Jerusalem, Jerusalem, I would... but ye would not."
          Jesus wanted to take them under His wings and protect
          them from the coming storms, but they refused through
          their unbelief. Such dread blindness! They were in such
          dire need, and there He was having all they needed, and
          their unbelief could not see it or appropriate it.

          There is not a single reason for believers to live as
          victims to such horrible fear, anxiety, and torment.
          What is happening in the lives and homes of Christians
          today is as senseless as the self-inflicted bondage of
          the Israelites. It should not be - it need not be!

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                   In These Last Days Those Who Have Not
                  Learned To Trust Him in Everything Will
                  Be Consumed By Their Fears and Troubles!
                         They Will Be Overwhelmed!

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          All the Israelites who came out of Egypt, except Joshua
          and Caleb, were consumed in the wilderness. They died
          out of God's will, without hope, without peace or joy -
          they died alone and forsaken. And it should not have
          ended that way. They should have all been delivered and
          brought into the land of rest and peace.

          Before he died, Moses told them why they would be so
          dreadfully consumed. He reminded them, "God promised to
          fight your battles... He bore thee in his arms as a man
          doth bear his son... yet in all this you did not
          believe the Lord your God" (Deuteronomy 1:30-32). Moses
          said, "And the Lord heard the voice of your words, and
          was wroth, and sware saying, Surely there shall not one
          of this evil generation see that good land... turn you,
          and take your journey into the wilderness... Go not up,
          neither fight; for I am not among you... the Lord will
          not hearken... nor give ear unto you" (Deuteronomy
          1:34,35,40,42,45). God told them it was their continual
          unbelief that damned them to such a horrible end.

          Do we think God does not hear us when we complain and
          when we doubt him? God says, "I heard what you said in
          your discouragement! I heard the words of your doubts
          and fears! You refused to trust Me! You even think
          doubts!"

          Oh, saints of God, beware of your language in your
          times of testing and trial! It may be you truly love
          the Lord, pray, you read His Word. But what about your
          thoughts and words to Him - He reads your mind! God
          takes this very seriously, and He must be trusted.
          Unbelief is the greatest grief you could cause him.

          Do you believe Him when His Word promises, "When the
          enemy shall come in like a flood, the Spirit of the
          Lord shall lift up a standard against him" (Isaiah
          59:19)?

          Is the enemy coming against you, your home and your
          loved ones? Is there a flood of difficulty and trouble
          roaring down upon you? Do you despair, fear, and blame
          God? Or do you turn to the Lord, cleave to Him in the
          time of trouble and need, resting in his promises to
          bring you through, and give Him complete trust and
          confidence - no matter how bad things look?

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                 It Is a Great Evil In The Eyes of the Lord
                 For His Children to Speak or Think Doubts
                   About His Love and Care For His Own.

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          Isaiah said, "Cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice
          like a trumpet, and shew my people their transgression"
          (Isaiah 58:1).

          What was the great transgression? Amazingly, Isaiah was
          speaking to those who "sought the Lord daily, who
          delighted to know his ways... who did righteously...
          who forsook not the ordinances of their God... who took
          delight in approaching to God" (Isaiah 58:2).

          Isaiah was addressing genuine lovers and seekers of
          God. They were not wicked sinners - these were the very
          best of God's chosen people - yet they were guilty of
          this grievous sin of unbelief! They served God without
          believing He was concerned about the details of their
          lives. They prayed to a God they really didn't trust.
          They were coming to a God they did not believe was
          answering their prayers or working miracles for them.

          Listen to their unbelief! (Wherefore we have fasted,
          say they, and thou seest not? Wherefore have we
          afflicted our soul, and thou takest no knowledge?"
          (Isaiah 58:3).

          Let me explain what this means, because many are being
          severely tested in the same way. You begin to seek the
          Lord with all your heart. You tear down all the idols
          of self and flesh. You get hungry for God and begin to
          pray and seek his face. You honestly want to please the
          Lord, trust him, and live a true and victorious life.
          For a while all goes well. But one day the enemy comes
          with his horrible lies to test you! He whispers, "It
          doesn't pay to be so holy and pure. Nothing has really
          changed. There are no miracles happening for you. You
          try so hard, yet you are no better than you were. Look
          at all the trouble and pain in your life. God is no
          more at work in your life that when you were cold. It
          isn't working for you."

          The devil will taunt you, "You are the same old person
          you always were - lonely, forsaken, hurting, a rug for
          others to walk on. God is not answering your prayers.
          The troubles and problems won't go away. Even your
          fasting doesn't get results. Why not relax, be like all
          the others? Why put so much effort into being holy when
          you don't see much in the way of results? Why read the
          Bible, why pray, why live separated and pure lives when
          it doesn't seem to change things?"

          Be very careful during those testing times! Don't let
          thoughts continue in your mind that God is not at work
          in your life! Don't relax and give in to the lying
          spirits of fear and unbelief. It is a grievous sin
          against God to doubt his interest in you! Prayer is
          changing you, and that is more important. God is at
          work, and what he is doing is hidden from our eyes -
          but every prayer moves His loving heart, and He still
          bottles every tear.

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                    We Are Approaching A Time When Only
                  Those Who Fully Trust God Will Survive!
                 If You Can't Trust Him In the Good Times -
                   What Will You Do When Judgment Comes?

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          Jeremiah warns, "If thou has run with the footmen, and
          they have wearied thee, then how canst though contend
          with horses? And if in the land of peace, where in thou
          trustedst, they wearied thee, then how wilt thou do in
          the swelling Jordan?" (Jeremiah 12:5).

          In other words, "If you can't make it now, trusting God
          - in this easy race, when all is peace and prosperity -
          how will you ever make it when the floods of judgment
          come rolling in? The majority of God's people are not
          ready for the judgments at the door. If they can't
          trust the Lord in these good times, where will they
          find faith in the days of sorrow and perplexity?

          Brother, sister, we are in a race right now - but it is
          just a slow foot race compared to what is soon to come.
          We must soon contend with the horses of the apocalypse
          - with judgments falling upon a sinful nation on all
          sides. God is saying, "if you can't trust Me in a time
          of peace, where you are not being persecuted or put to
          death for your faith, what will you do when it does
          come? If you can't trust Me in times of security and
          relative prosperity, how will you trust Me when
          everything is shaking and coming apart?"

          Believe me, children of God - we face a swelling
          Jordan, a time of overflowing judgments and evil days.
          Those who can't see that coming are spiritually blind,
          deaf, and dumb - and they will end up being shipwrecked
          in faith. The Spirit is making a cry to all sleeping
          virgins, "Awake, put on your strength, O Zion!" We had
          better start trusting our dear Lord now, in all things,
          while He is near and ready to deliver.

          I think of all the doubting, fearful, despairing
          children of God, living right now in such turmoil, and
          I say to myself, "What will happen to these poor, dear
          souls when real trouble comes? More trouble will only
          cause more doubt, more unbelief."

          God help us! This trend toward helpless doubt and
          debilitating unbelief must stop! God's people must put
          an end to every single doubt - they must rise up in
          holy and righteous anger and cry aloud, "Devil, I am a
          child of an all powerful, all caring, heavenly Father -
          and you can no longer trample me into the dust of
          despair and defeat! I will trust my God! I will pray
          and believe God is hearing!"

          God is sounding his trumpet. He is making a midnight
          cry. He is trying to awaken His bride! He calls out a
          people who will cast themselves upon Him, who will
          believe in His saving, keeping, delivering power!

          Don't look at conditions! Don't look for evidence!
          Trust Him even if you see no visible results at all.
          "Blessed are those who have not seen, yet believe."
          Absolute faith and trust in God will lift you above any
          and all trials and problems! Faith will declare, "It
          may not happen the way I think it should. God may not
          do it my way, but He will do what is right for me! He
          will keep me! He will sustain me! His presence will go
          with me! He will one day wipe my tears away! He will be
          faithful!.

          We had better start "casting" all our cares upon Him -
          now! He wants to lift every care from our shoulders! He
          wants to be trusted with every single need and problem.
          It has been His grief that so few trust Him, but it
          will be His great joy to find a body of believers who
          have cast every care upon Him! Turn everything over to
          Him! Your home! Your children! Your work! Your needs!
          Your mate! Your future!

          Do you believe Him when He says, "I care for you"? God
          must weep for joy when He finds a people who are
          anxious for nothing because they are resting in His
          care!

          David said, "Blessed is the man that feareth the Lord,
          that delighteth greatly in his commandments. He shall
          not be afraid of evil tidings: his heart is fixed,
          trusting in the Lord" (Psalm 112:1,7).

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                           Is Your Heart Fixed?

             Are You Fully Trusting In The Lord In All Things?

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          Then no bad news will ever move you. You need be afraid
          of nothing! Let the economy fail, let the banks close,
          let the violence rage, let the world tremble with fear,
          let the hydrogen bombs fall. My heart is fixed -
          anchored! I trust my Lord! Live or die, I am the
          Lord's.

          Those who put their trust in the Lord can shout with
          joy even when the floods of judgment roll in. "But let
          all those that put their trust in thee rejoice: let
          them ever shout for joy, because thou defendest them:
          let them also that love thy name be joyful in thee. For
          thou, Lord, will bless the righteous; with favour wilt
          thou compass him as with a shield" (Psalm 5:11,12).

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                   His Word Calls Us To A Life of Trust.

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          "Shew thy marvellous lovingkindness, O thou that savest
          by thy right hand them which put their trust in thee
          from those that rise up against them. Keep me as the
          apple of the eye, hide me under the shadow of they
          wings" (Psalm 17:7,8)).

          "Oh how great is thy goodness, which thou hast laid up
          for them that fear thee; which thou hast wrought for
          them that trust in thee before the sons of men! Thou
          shalt hide them in the secret of thy presence from the
          pride of man: thou shalt keep them secretly in a
          pavilion from the strife of tongues" (Psalm 31:19,20).

          "The angel of the Lord encampeth round about them that
          fear him, and delivereth them. O taste and see that the
          Lord is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in him.
          O fear the Lord, ye his saints: for there is no want to
          them that fear him" (Psalm 34:7-9).

          "Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is
          stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee" (Isaiah
          26:3).

          "The Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart
          trusted in him, and I am helped: therefore my heart
          greatly rejoiceth, and with my song will I praise him.
          The Lord is their strength, and he is the saving
          strength of his anointed" (Psalm 28:7,8).

          "Our soul waiteth for the Lord: he is our help and our
          shield. For our heart shall rejoice in him, because we
          have trusted in his holy name. Let thy mercy, O Lord,
          be upon us, according as we hope in thee" (Psalm
          33:20-22).

          "They that trust in the Lord shall be as mount Zion,
          which cannot be removed, but abideth for ever" (Palm
          125:1).

          "Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not
          unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways
          acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths"
          (Proverbs 3:5,6).

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

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