                    [Times Square Church Pulpit Series]

                  Growing Cold On The Eve of Destruction!

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By David Wilkerson
June 13, 1988
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          According to God's Word, Christians are to live every
          day as if "the end of all things is near." We are to be
          always looking for His coming. We are to be awake and
          diligent, as servants waiting for their master to
          return from a long journey. With Paul, we should
          rejoice that we will be leaving this earth to put on
          our new bodies. We ought always to long to be with the
          Lord.

          In my book, Set the Trumpet to Thy Mouth, I warned that
          a hydrogen holocaust is coming to America; that Russia
          will flood us with ballistic missiles from over the
          North Pole. It will be a massive first strike, aimed at
          destroying this nation before it can retaliate. (The
          CIA has recently discovered Russia's incredible
          underground cities which are equipped to shelter their
          government and all the elite of their society.)
          Ministers were enraged at this message - even
          charismatic pastors banned the book in their churches.
          Evangelists and teachers called me a false prophet. In
          fact, one even wrote a book using me as a classic
          example of a false doomsday prophet. He went on to say,
          "All bad news preaching is of the devil. The gospel is
          good news only. None of this preaching of judgment and
          hell, this harping on sin - it's all false!"

          By this definition Peter was a false prophet! Isn't
          Peter's epistle part of the gospel? He warned, "But the
          heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word
          are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day
          of judgment and perdition of ungodly men. But, beloved,
          be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with
          the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as
          one day. The Lord is not slack concerning his promise,
          as some men count slackness; but is long-suffering to
          usward, not willing that any should perish, but that
          all should come to repentance. But the day of the Lord
          will come as a thief in the night; in the which the
          heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the
          elements shall melt with fervent heart, the earth also
          and the works that are therein shall be burned up.
          Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved,
          what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy
          conversation and godliness, looking for and hasting
          unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens
          being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements
          shall melt with fervent heat? Nevertheless we,
          according to his promise, look for new heavens and a
          new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness" (2 Peter
          3:7-13).

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                           God's Fiery Judgments,
                  Which Are Stored up and Held in Reserve
                  Are Meant to Provoke Us to Holy Living

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          In the original Greek, 2 Peter 3:11 best reads, "In
          light of everything being dissolved, what country are
          you of?" Are you of this earth, which will dissolve and
          melt away? Or are you a citizen of heavenly Zion, the
          city whose builder is God? Peter is saying that this
          knowledge God gives you of the destruction of the
          present heaven and earth ought to encourage you to holy
          living and to holding this world very lightly. Peter
          then goes on to say in verse 14 that we are not to
          dread the coming destruction, but to look for it, to
          anticipate it, and in so doing, to keep our garments
          spotless! "...Seeing that ye look for such things, be
          diligent that ye may be found of him in peace, without
          spot, and blameless."

          If Peter was resurrected and visited America today, he
          would be appalled by all the sugar-sweet,
          [cotton-candy] preaching of the pillow prophets! He
          would ask, "Why aren't they warning their people of the
          coming destruction? God gave me this message directly
          from the Holy Ghost! Why do they not believe it? Why
          aren't they provoking them to holy living with these
          warnings? Don't they know Jesus gave the same warning
          when He said, The sun shall be darkened, the moon shall
          not give her light, and the stars of heaven shall fall,
          and the powers of heaven shall be shaken" (Matthew
          24:29)? Isaiah, the prophet, says, "And all the host of
          heaven shall be dissolved, and the heavens shall be
          rolled together as a scroll: and all their host shall
          fall down, as the leaf falleth off from the vine..."
          (Isaiah 34:4). John on Patmos tells us, "...and the sun
          became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became
          as blood; and the stars of heaven fell unto the earth,
          even as a fig tree casteth her untimely figs,.. and the
          heavens departed as a scroll when it is rolled
          together; and every mountain and island were removed
          out of their places" (Revelations 6:12-14).

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            The Willful Ignorance of God's Righteous Judgments

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          Peter was given these awesome warnings to stir up pure
          minds, to bring to their remembrance the warnings of
          the prophets (see 2 Peter 3:1-2). Even while Christ,
          the apostles, the prophets, and watchmen warn, there
          will come scoffing shepherds, walking after their own
          lusts, ridiculing the message of Christ's soon return.
          "...There shall come in the last days scoffers, walking
          after their own lusts, and saying [teaching,
          preaching], Where is the promise of His coming? For
          since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as
          they were from the beginning of the creation" (2 Peter
          3:3-4). Peter calls these scoffing prophets liars!
          Things have not continued "business as usual" from the
          beginning of creation! These preachers are willfully
          ignorant of God's past dealings of judgment. "...They
          willingly are ignorant... that... the world that then
          was, being overflowed with water, perished" (2 Peter
          3:5-6).

          This is a serious charge by Peter! He is saying, "They
          know there was once a preacher of righteousness named
          Noah, who warned of judgment for 120 years. They know
          that God has already shown the world that He will judge
          wickedness and violence. They know God sent a raging
          flood and destroyed all that breathed on the earth!"
          No! Things have not continued as they were from the
          beginning. But we have teachers, false prophets, and
          peace and prosperity preachers who know the Bible is
          full of warnings, full of examples of how God judges
          sin (e.g. the destruction of Sodom, the destruction of
          Jerusalem), but they willingly ignore it all. Why?
          Because they are walking after their own lusts! Their
          desire for acceptance, popularity, or bigness has made
          them willingly blind to all god's righteous judgments.
          It has caused them to embrace "kingdom now" doctrines,
          all of which cater to their lusts. They spiritualize
          the fire! They spiritualize the destruction, putting
          off the coming of Jesus to some distant future date, to
          a time after they have taken the dominion.

          These preachers are killing off Holy Ghost conviction!
          They are now preaching the very opposite of the message
          of Peter and the apostles. Peter warned, "...We,
          according to his promise, look for new heavens and a
          new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness. Wherefore,
          beloved, seeing that ye look for such things, be
          diligent that ye may be found of him in peace, without
          spot, and blameless: (2 Peter 3:13-14). Today you hear,
          "Jesus is not coming soon, not until we take dominion -
          all this doom talk of fire and destruction is symbolic.
          We are here to stay - we don't meet Him in the clouds.
          So relax! Get yourself in position to be somebody in
          this new thing!" A pastor friend who was involved in
          that doctrine was told that his marble company was
          going to be a "new kingdom" marble company - the
          biggest and best! It now sits bankrupt and he is free
          from deception.

          Here is the real gospel according to Peter: "...The
          heavens and the earth, which are now [our world], by
          the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire
          against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly
          men" (2 Peter 3:7). America should have been destroyed
          by fire already! Those fires held in store should have
          already dissolved everything. The first one million
          abortions should have filled our cup of wrath! We are
          drowning in an ocean of child blood! The last million
          rapes should have brought down His fire! When little
          children by the thousands were molested, murdered,
          beaten, and maimed, God should have rained fire and
          brimstone upon us! The last ten billion dollars worth
          of drugs should have been the final straw, with all the
          robbing, stealing, and violence that goes with it. The
          day our Supreme Court thumbed it's nose at God by
          putting prayer, the Bible, and everything sacred out of
          our lives and schools - was that not enough indignity
          against God? While at the same time the murder of
          millions of babies became legal, along with the rights
          of homosexuals!

          Why have we been spared until now? For the same reason
          God waited patiently for 120 years in the day of Noah.
          "...When once the long-suffering of God waited in the
          days of Noah, while the ark was appearing, wherein few,
          that is, eight souls were saved by water" (1 Peter
          3:20). The Lord gets no pleasure out of the death of
          the wicked. Even now, He is "...long-suffering to
          usward, not willing that any should perish, but that
          all should come to repentance" (2 Peter 3:9). He is
          waiting now for the preparing of Zion, God's holy
          people of the last days. He is pouring out His Holy
          Spirit, bringing to us a spirit of mourning for sin. He
          is tearing down idols and calling out a people wholly
          given to Him, without spot or wrinkle, who are
          blameless.

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                      Many Believers Will Be Led Away
                       By a Great Flood of Iniquity.

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          Jesus warns that on the eve of destruction, at the
          midnight hour for mankind, the love of many believers
          will be cold: "And because iniquity shall abound, the
          love of many shall wax cold" (Matthew 24:12). The New
          American Standard translation says, "the love of most
          will grow cold." In the original Greek it refers to "a
          great number; a large host." Think of it: Judgment is
          at the door with the angels of God standing ready to
          release the fires, to unleash a cosmic explosion that
          will engulf all of nature - and many Christians will be
          going the wrong way! "Wax cold" means "reduction of
          temperature by degrees; evaporation, little by little."
          Just when believers ought to be wide awake and
          expectant, when they ought to be aware, overflowing
          with zeal and love they will be chilled by degrees! A
          great host will be decaying in their love.

          There will be in these last days many deceivers and
          false prophets and many who will follow them: "For many
          deceivers are entered into the world..."(2 John verse
          7). "And many shall follow their evil ways; and because
          of them the way of truth shall be evil spoken of" (2
          Peter 2:2). "For there are many unruly and vain talkers
          and deceivers... who subvert whole houses, teaching
          things they ought not, for filthy lucre's sake" (Titus
          1:10-11). Satan is even now pouring out a flood of
          wickedness against God's people, in a last effort to
          "carry them away." "And the serpent cast out of his
          mouth water as a flood after the woman, that he might
          cause her to be carried away of the flood" (Revelation
          12:15).

          The President's chief advisor on America's war on drugs
          said recently, "We are losing the war on drugs - it's
          out of control." Our walls are down and drugs are
          pouring in from every border. Satan himself is behind
          this flood! Pornography is now an unstoppable flood. In
          fact, child pornography has become the most popular of
          all! Incest, rape, and child molestation are being
          glorified. Husbands, fathers, and businessmen drink it
          all in. It is all right out of the devil's mind! The
          reason I warn Christians to rid their homes of
          television is that it is a floodgate of evil right in
          their houses! Jesus warned that iniquity will get worse
          and love will grow cold. In other words, if we refuse
          to stop the devil's flood of evil on our minds, we will
          be carried away from innocent purity and away from our
          fervent love for Christ.

          As you sit reading this message, are you loving Jesus
          passionately? Is your love for Him white-hot, fervent,
          and ever-growing? Can you imagine being one of the many
          who will slowly grow cold, the nearer we get to the
          midnight hour? The sad truth is that many who were
          delivered from sin, from dead churches, from false
          doctrines, from confusion and worldliness will turn
          back. They will be carried away with the spirit of this
          world, going after things, indulging in pleasures,
          being sucked in by the flood of filth. They will say,
          "I've come far enough. I can't take any more separation
          from the world - I want to enjoy life! Enough of being
          so on guard, of being so watchful! It's too demanding!"
          They will find teachers and churches who preach a
          gospel of ease! Their love will grow cold by degrees,
          becoming lukewarm, then finally cold.

          Many are going to grow cold by turning away from what
          they believe is a "hard word." Jesus gathered his
          disciples and made them know He must be everything to
          them. Their very lives had to be focused on Him. His
          body was their bread; His blood was their drink. They
          were to have no other source of life on this earth.
          "Many therefore of his disciples, when they had heard
          this, said, This is an hard saying; who can hear it? ..
          From that time many of his disciples went back, and
          walked no more with him (John 6:60, 66). They simply
          quit! They gave up, saying, "His message is too hard -
          we can't take it! We can't believe it has to be that
          hard! Enough!" [I'm not referring here to being "weary
          in welldoing." There are times that the most devoted of
          God's people have a dry and weary spell, a day or week
          when they slip out of His rest. But these will quickly
          return and grieve at the very thought of going back to
          the old ways of carnality.]

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                             Even God's "Woes"
                         Can Be Honey From Heaven.

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          We must learn to accept every word from Him as honey
          from heaven. You can measure any believer's love for
          His Lord by how much he respects every word that
          proceeds from the mouth of God. Those who truly love
          Him live by every word proceeding from His mouth. A
          preacher once said, "I can't serve God of wrath! I will
          preach nothing but encouragement - no reproof! God is
          love! Enough of all those lamentations and woes!" He
          knows nothing of God's honey.

          The Lord instructed Ezekiel: "Son of man, stand upon
          thy feet, and I will speak unto thee... I send thee to
          the children of Israel, to a rebellious nation that
          hath rebelled against me: they and their fathers have
          transgressed against me, even unto this very day. For
          they are impudent children and stiffhearted... But
          thou, son of man, hear what I say unto thee; Be not
          thou rebellious like that rebellious house: open thy
          mouth, and eat that I give thee... And then I looked,
          behold, an hand was sent unto me; and, lo, a roll of a
          book was therein; And he spread it before me; and it
          was written within and without: and there was written
          therein lamentations, and mourning, and woe" (Ezekiel
          2:1-10)

          God's woes were honey to the prophets. "Be not thou
          rebellious..." How could Ezekiel be rebellious? By not
          preaching the truth about judgment that God gave him.
          "...A hand was sent unto me... "This was the hand of
          God! God's hand held out a scroll, written on both
          sides with "lamentations, and mourning, and woe" - all
          written by the finger of God. What does Ezekiel do with
          these very hard words of God? He is told to eat them!
          To satisfy his belly with them! "Moreover he said unto
          me, Son of man, eat that thou findest; eat this roll,
          and go speak unto the house of Israel. So I opened my
          mouth, and he caused me to eat that roll. And he said
          unto me, Son of man, cause thy belly to eat, and fill
          thy bowels with this roll that I give thee. Then did I
          eat it; and it was in my mouth as honey for sweetness:
          (Ezekiel 3:1-3).

          This was food from heaven, manna dipped in honey!
          "...Fill thy bowels with this roll that I give thee..."
          Bowels represent the heart. "Eat it" means "take it to
          heart - heed it!" "...Then did I eat it; and it was in
          my mouth as honey for sweetness." Jeremiah said that
          all the prophets of old warned of judgment and woe.
          "The prophets that have been before me and before thee
          of old prophesied both against many countries, and
          against great kingdoms, of war, and of evil, and of
          pestilence" (Jeremiah 28:8). All the prophets lived by
          every word out of God's mouth - the sad word, as well
          as the glad word. They took it all in as honey!

          David's love for the Lord never grew cold because he
          had respect for every word, positive or negative. "The
          fear of the Lord is clean, enduring for ever: the
          judgments of the Lord are true and righteous
          altogether. More to be desired are they than gold, yea,
          than much fine gold: sweeter also than honey and the
          honeycomb... By them is thy servant warned: and in
          keeping of them there is great reward" (Psalm 19:9-11).
          By them thy servant is warned! Who is going to warn all
          those deluded sheep, whose shepherds shut out all the
          scrolls of woes and lamentations? They call this
          doomsday preaching, negative false prophecy! David and
          the prophets called it all sweet honey!

          The sweetest, most merciful thing God is doing today
          for His people is to once again send fearless prophets
          and watchmen to awaken the church, to instill the fear
          of God. How sweet the sound: "Flee the wrath of God..."
          Honey! "Without, holiness no man shall see God..."
          Honey! "Except ye repent, ye shall die in your sins . .
          " Honey! "The earth and also the works therein shall be
          burned up!" Honey! Can you say with Jeremiah, "Thy
          words were found, and I did eat them: and Thy word was
          unto me the joy and rejoicing of mine
          heart..."(Jeremiah 15:16).

          An angel gave John a book, full of God's final
          judgments: "...And he [the angel] said unto me, Take
          it, and eat it up; and it shall make thy belly bitter,
          but it shall be in thy mouth as sweet as honey"
          (Revelation 10:9).

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              Only Those Who Endure to the End Will Be Saved!

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

          Jesus warned, "...But he that shall endure unto the
          end, the same shall be saved" (Matthew 24:13). This
          speaks of those whose love never decays, but rather
          grows and perseveres through all trials. Timothy ties
          it to our attitudes toward sound doctrine: "For the
          time will come when they will not endure sound
          doctrine... and they will turn away their ears from the
          truth, and shall be turned unto fables" (2 Timothy
          4:4). There is coming in these very last days a great
          resistance to pure, uncorrupt doctrine. Sound doctrine
          conforms hearers to godliness; but many will not put up
          with it - they won't endure it! There will be a
          widespread rejection of holiness preachings and
          prophetic warnings which will cause the great falling
          away. "...Because they received not the love of the
          truth... for this cause God shall send them strong
          delusion, that they should believe a lie: that they all
          might be damned who believed not the truth, but had
          pleasure in unrighteousness" (2 Thessalonians 2:10-12).

          There will be thousands of Christians so cold at
          midnight that not even the falling judgments will move
          them back to God. Like backslidden Israel they will
          defy God, as if to say, "Let judgment come! We'll just
          rise up and build again!" Judgment was falling on
          Israel - God's wrath was upon them - "Yet the people
          don not turn back to him who struck them, nor do they
          seek the Lord of hosts" (Isaiah 9:13 NAS). Jeremiah
          mourns for his people, "...Thou has stricken them, but
          they have not grieved; Thou hast consumed them, but
          they have refused to receive correction..." (Jeremiah
          5:3). We have this warning from Peter: "Ye therefore,
          beloved, seeing ye know these things before, beware
          lest ye also, being led away with the error of the
          wicked, fall from your steadfastness... But grow in
          grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior
          Jesus Christ..." (2 Peter 3:17-18). Don't Be led away
          by sin or false doctrines, or by anger at the Word!

          A minister friend of mine was only given a few months
          to live due to terminal cancer. I asked him, "What
          changes did this awful news make in your life? Do you
          pray more? Do you try to get more out of each day? Is
          Jesus more real?" He said, "Nothing has changed!" He
          seemed frozen in his emotions - what he was, he
          remained. Death did not move him to greater works! So
          it will be when horrible judgments fall. Cold love will
          grow still colder; a stupor will fall upon them. Like
          many AIDS victims, their impending death will only
          harden them. In Revelation 9 we see God's terrible
          judgments and plagues falling on mankind. One-third of
          mankind will be killed by fire "and the rest of the men
          which were not killed by these plagues yet repented not
          of the works of their hands, that they should not
          worship devils, and idols of gold... neither repented
          they of their murders, nor of their sorceries, thefts"
          (Revelation 9"20-21). "And [they] blasphemed the God of
          heaven because of their pains and their sores, and
          repented not of their deeds" (Revelation 16:11).

          Cold love is like concrete: it sets and hardens! Love
          is easily measured - it is not mystical - it is not
          feelings. Herein is love: if we obey Him and heed His
          commandments! "For this is the love of God, that we
          keep His commandments: and His commandments are not
          grievous" (1 John 5:3).

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

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