The Coming Persecution — David Wilkerson

Jesus, we desperately need your power and strength to do what you've asked me to do tonight. I ask, humbly now, that you give me the courage and help me to say it from my heart without fear and trembling, in Christ's name, amen.

God has placed me here tonight to warn of a coming hour of persecution. The Holy Spirit is my witness. This convention tonight is being warned here and now of an intense hour of persecution for all spirit-filled believers.

You're to prepare to be hated, rejected, maligned, and ridiculed. Now, if you believe Acts 2 .4 about a special endowment of power from on high, then you've got to also believe Acts 2 .17. Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions.

I saw a vision this past April. So frightening, it staggered my mind. And for the past three months, I've tried to shake it off, but I can't do it. I've only had two in my life. The first, 15 years ago, took me to the streets of New York, and every fact of that vision has been fulfilled.

I've been terribly afraid to share this vision up until tonight for fear I'd be called a fanatic. But the same Holy Ghost that prompted me 12 years ago to share the story of the cross and switchblade has prompted me tonight to share this vision with you.

In this vision, I saw five terrible calamities coming to America and the world. First of all, a worldwide recession caused by economic confusion. I saw in my vision at most a few more fat, flourishing years, and then an economic recession that's going to affect the lifestyle of every wage earner in the world.

The world economists are going to be at loss to explain what's happening. It's going to start in Germany, spread to Japan, and finally to the United States. Large and trusted corporations are going to go bankrupt.

Many churches are going to go into bankruptcy. And some missionary projects are going to flounder. And one of the clearest messages I've ever received from God in my life is this, use the next few good years left to prepare for a financial crisis, get your house in order because hard times are coming.

Number two, I saw nature having labor pains, supernatural signs and changes that can't be explained by men. Worldwide disasters that we're witnessing right now I see as labor pains in nature, which are going to become more and more frequent and more intense the closer we get to the birth of the kingdom of God.

I saw major earthquakes coming to the United States. I saw worldwide famine, especially in China, India, and Russia. I saw the world's food supplies completely dwindled and millions starving. I saw coming a new kind of cosmic storm appearing as a raging fire in the sky, leaving a kind of vapor trail.

Tornadoes, hailstorms, floods, and hurricanes are going to pound the earth with such intensity and violence that all of mankind is going to have to admit the world is under supernatural siege. Number three, a flood of filth and a baptism of dirt in America.

I see the prophecy of Nahum coming to pass in the very near future. God said, I'll pour a bombable filth upon you. This means triple X-rated movies on cable television after midnight. This means R-rated movies within the next few years on network television.

This means our newsstands are going to be flooded with such filth that Playboy magazine will look like a puritanical piece of trash. It means sex education classes in school will be using animated cartoons and filmed, dramatized sexual intercourse.

And just when it appears there's going to be a successful campaign against smut, just when the Supreme Court seems to be ruling against pornographers, and when it appears the nation's returning to old-fashioned moral standards, suddenly the floodgates are going to swing open and Satan is going to vomit filth out of hell, and it'll be just as it was in the days of Lot and will vex the souls of God's most devout saints.

Number four, rebellion in the home. I see the new number one youth problem in America and the world as hatred toward parents. Now, I'm reading this tonight for fear I'd change a single word of what I've seen and had to write down as the Holy Spirit laid on my heart.

And man's worst enemies will be they of his own household, the Bible says. Children are going to turn against their parents with a passion. Parents are going to be betrayed and will die a thousand deaths at the hands of children who've learned to despise their hypocrisy.

There are going to be millions of stay-at-home runaways who need not go away anymore and run away from home because their parents are going to give them what they choose and what they want as long as they stay home.

Kids will not even be expected to communicate with their parents. They're going to live under the same roof but will be like enemies at war living under a truce. This is the clearest vision I've ever seen in my life.

It's going to be bigger than drug addiction, bigger than sex abuse or alcohol or any other youth problem. And in a recent survey we did, the 5 ,000 kids in 12 major cities, over 45 said, I hate my parents already.

Number five, a persecution madness against truly spirit-filled Christians who love Jesus Christ. Now, I don't have time tonight to go into all the details of these four calamities I've just mentioned.

However, the Holy Spirit has prompted me tonight to go into detail and share with you what I see coming in the way of persecution. Now, it was Jesus himself who told us to tarry for a penny cost. Jesus himself told us the Holy Ghost would fall upon us.

Jesus himself promised us power from on high. But it was also Jesus Christ himself who predicted persecution was coming for all true spirit baptized believers. Jesus predicted it. John 15, 19, Jesus said, if you were of the world, the world would love his own.

But because you're not of this world, but I've chosen you out of the world, therefore, the world will hate you. Remember the word that I said to you, the servant is not greater than his Lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you.

If they have kept my saying, they will keep yours also. Here is another one, the brother shall deliver up the brother to death, the father, the child. Children will rise up against their parents and cause them to be put to death.

He shall be hated of all men for my name's sake, but he that endureth to the end shall be saved. But when they persecute you in this city, run to another, because I tell you, you will not have gone over the cities of Israel till the Son of Man become.

The disciple is not above his master, nor the servant above his Lord. It is enough for the disciple that he bears his master. Now the purpose of this coming persecution that I see in the spirit will be to separate and scatter the true believers from the false.

Time is running out, and the gospel still has to be preached to all nations before Jesus comes. Now the Holy Ghost has been poured out upon thousands, but just as in the early Pentecostal outpouring, disciples still sit around singing and rejoicing and sharing only with each other.

Among us are still those who talk in tongues and still live like the devil, but he is going to lay the axe to the root, he is going to separate the wheat from the chaff, he is going to scatter his seed to the far corners of the earth, and God's word will be fulfilled.

Second Timothy 3 .12, all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution. You quote the scripture, they shall be filled with the Holy Ghost, they shall speak with tongues. Go all the way if you're going to be a charismatic Christian, read it all, accept it, all, all, all, A-double-L-L, all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.

Now let me share with you what the Holy Spirit has revealed to me in vision concerning this persecution. Number one, it's going to come as a persecution madness on the earth. I see now persecution coming such as mankind has never before witnessed.

This will be a persecution of true Jesus believers, and it's going to rise like a many-headed monster out of the sea. It will start slowly, subtly, coming at a time when religious freedom appears to be at a peak.

But it's going to spread to the United States, Canada, the entire world, and finally become a kind of madness. That madness is already upon us, the antichrist spirit is entering the hearts of certain men in high places already, government in the judicial system, and it's led to a spiritual wickedness in high places.

And this spiritual wickedness in high places will eventually and soon lead to a harassment not only of officials, but those in churches, missionaries, and ministers. There's already evidence of this harassment.

I see a time coming when nearly all evangelical missionary projects, all religious radio and television programming, all incorporated missionary societies are going to be so closely monitored, questioned, and badgered by government agencies, they'll be cautious and worried about moving or expanding in any direction.

Number two, I see rising a super-world church. I see the formation of a super-world church council consisting of a union between liberal ecumenical Protestants and the Roman Catholic Church, joining politically hand in hand to create one of the most powerful religious forces on earth.

And this union is going to start as a cooperative charities program, and it will end in a political union. This visible super-world church is going to be spiritual in name only, freely using the name of Jesus Christ, but will in fact be anti-Christ and political in many of its activities.

This powerful church union will be deeply involved in social action, tremendous charity programs, and ministries of compassion. Its leaders will make statements about meeting human need. They'll send out a call for social action, political intervention, and a greater voice in world affairs.

There's going to be, fourthly, a sudden, mysterious chain of events. Just when it appears the ecumenical movement is nearly dead, a rather mysterious chain of events will bring about the framework for this union.

Rome is going to insist upon and receive concessions from the Protestant ecumenical leaders. The Pope will be considered more of a political rather than a spiritual leader of this church union. Protestant leaders of the ecumenical movement are going to insist upon and receive concessions from Rome.

Protestants will not be asked to consider the Holy Father as the infallible head of the church. They accept his political leadership without accepting his role as Peter's successor. I'm not suggesting that the Pope or any of these church leaders involved in the super-church will be engaging in anti-Christ activity.

The Bible talks about something about that line, but I can't get into it now. The Bible, as far as I'm concerned, though, I see something that frightens me at the very core of my soul. I see an army of career people invading the most influential post in this super-church.

They're going to be ungodly anti-Christ people, obsessed with the idea that this super-church must become a big political power, strong enough to defeat anybody who opposes its actions. And while those that are in leadership are speaking about miracles and love and reconciliation, these hirelings who work under them are going to be harassing and persecuting every religious organization that does not come under their leadership.

Fourthly, I see homosexuals and lesbians. Welcome to the super-church union. I see this super-world church, in the guise of understanding, accepting homosexuals and lesbians into its fellowship. Homosexuals and lesbian love will be vindicated by the leadership of this church union.

Homosexuals will not only be welcomed, but they'll be encouraged to continue in their practices. Homosexual and lesbian ministers will not only be ordained and given places of authority, they'll be heralded as a new breed of pioneer evangelists, introducing new concepts of love and evangelism.

I see, in nearly every major city in the United States and around the world, homosexual churches catering exclusively to the spiritual needs of their own kind, with full recognition from organized religion.

Their Sunday school and church literature, distributed to their children, will suggest to teenagers that homosexuality is a normal and acceptable form of Christian practice. Nude dancing in the church.

Nude dancing in some of these member churches will be excused as an artistic form of worship. Men are going to become worshippers of the creature more than the Creator. And God will be forced to give these kind of worshippers over to their sins.

And as a result, many will be given over to reprobate minds, creating a new form of mental illness that will not respond to any kind of treatment. Now, God will not let that go unanswered. And although nude dancing will not become widespread, it's going to be accepted by many church leaders in the future as a legitimate expression of worship.

Next, occult practices within this church. I believe this super-world church will condone certain occult practices. They'll set up study committees to defang the devil and remake his image into one of a non-entity, bland, someone not to be feared.

Now, in some of the most respected, wealthy churches in America, seances will replace prayer meetings. And that's already happening. More and more ministers are going to be intrigued by the supernatural claims of the spiritualist and Satanist groups.

And I see the day coming when certain ministers who've never been too close to Jesus will get very close to the devil. Satan is going to appear as an angel of light to deceive if he were possibly the elected chosen of God.

Satan's own ministers will appear as these angels, and they'll try to spread the message within the church that the enemy, Satan, is not to be feared. The super-church will never officially accept the occult practices outright, but chronology, palmistry, fortune-telling, and horoscopes will be widely respected and accepted.

Now, listen closely. Next, I see the rise of another super-church, a supernatural, invisible church, a union of deeply spiritual followers of Jesus Christ, bound together through the Holy Spirit and mutual confidence in Christ and his word.

This supernatural church of two believers will become a kind of underground church and will include Catholics and Protestants of all denominations, young and old, black and white, and people of all nations.

And while this visible, super-world church gains political power, this invisible body of believers will grow tremendously in spiritual power. This power will come from persecution. The persecution madness that's coming upon this earth will drive these Christians closer together and closer to Jesus Christ.

There will be less concern about denominational ties and more concern and emphasis on the coming of Jesus Christ. The Holy Spirit will bring together and one all people of all faiths and walks of life.

And although this supernatural church already exists around the world, in the days coming soon, it will become politically almost invisible. It will not speak out much on social issues, but as persecution becomes more intense, this body of true believers will become almost radical in its evangelistic efforts, and this invisible church will receive supernatural unction and Holy Ghost power to preach the gospel to the four corners of the earth.

Next, persecution for charismatic Catholics. This makes me tremble, and I've fought with the Lord for three weeks now saying, I can't say it. The Lord said, you say it. Charismatic Catholics who consider themselves members of the invisible, supernatural church of Jesus Christ face the most grievous hour of persecution of all.

The Roman Catholic Church, I predict in the spirit, is about to pull in the welcome mat to all Catholics who speak with tongues and who lean toward the Pentecostal teachings concerning the Holy Spirit.

High-level political pressure will be placed on priests at a local level to put the fire out. Watch for the Pope to take a negative stand against the charismatic movement within the Catholic Church. The honeymoon is about over.

Catholic magazines will soon begin to speak out against the movement within its ranks and call for a purging. It will begin as a very slow trend, but will gather quick momentum until all Catholics in this movement will eventually face real persecution from within their own church.

The charismatic movement within the Catholic Church will become so powerful and widespread, it will appear to some leaders as a threat to those who don't understand what it means. I see more than 500 ,000 involved in the Catholic charismatic movement within a short time, and those not in the movement will accuse it of lacking social concern and being too oblivious to the traditions of the Church.

They'll be accused of turning away from the Virgin Mary and negating the authority of the Pope, and that every charismatic Catholic who boasts about a baptism in the Holy Ghost prepares for persecution.

It's not going to happen overnight, but most assuredly the day is coming when every single Catholic who has experienced the Spirit's awakening will have to understand where his loyalties are. Some will be forced to return to tradition and allow the experience to be frozen.

Many others, however, will soon discover that they have more Christian love, fellowship, and spiritual rapport with other Spirit-filled Protestants and Catholics who have now centered their lives around the person of Jesus Christ, the fullness of the Holy Ghost, and he has soon returned.

Many will not believe me, but I see the day when Catholics, Lutherans, and many others of all denominations are going to have to come out from among them. These new Christians will not call themselves Protestant or Catholic, but simply renewed Christians.

Their fellowship will not be based on the experience of speaking with tongues, but will be centered on the Father and his Son, Jesus Christ. That is our fellowship. Number nine, I see a persecution through a media struggle.

There is at present tremendous freedom for preaching the gospel on radio and television. Never has the door been more open to minister Christ in the media. Christians even own and operate their own radio and TV stations.

They are at liberty to pray for the sick, raise money, and promote the gospel in any way they see fit, but watch out. Persecution and harassment is already beginning. There is a sound of change in the air.

Christ-centered radio and TV programming will become the target of satanic forces determined to force every one of them off the airwaves. Already, there is a behind-the-scenes movement to establish a kind of rating system for all religious radio and TV programming, and the liberal leaders of this super-church council will soon attempt to establish a kind of screening board and force themselves on the FCC as the final authority on all paid and sustaining religion on the media.

They want no program to be aired without their approval. The doors that are now wide open are slowly but surely going to close. Christian radio and TV stations should begin to expect persecution and harassment.

Atheistic and antichrist forces are even now preparing litigation against certain religious stations, and I see Satan trying to bog down these programs and stations in red tape, legal proceedings, and tax problems.

And Satan will use every tactic at his disposal to remove all Christ-centered programs from the media. And the message I have for all of you who minister in the media is this, from the Holy Spirit, work while it is yet day, for the night cometh when no man can work.

And that's a message for the media. Persecution from Hollywood. Watch for Hollywood to step up its attack against true religion with more expose-type films. The film Marjo was the most brazen attempt by the devil to put down and ridicule all religion having to do with the blood of Jesus Christ.

Never in American history was it done before. Revivalists and evangelical ministers are going to be stereotyped as Elmer Gantry's charlatans, cheats, money-mad comedians. More and more movie makers are going to attempt to debunk our morals.

Gospel-preaching churches and ministers are going to come under special attack, while at the same time the occult and witchcraft will be glorified and sensationalized. Next, persecution from television comedies.

TV comedy shows, the Holy Spirit has shown me, will become bolder and bolder and will poke fun at Christ and all true Christians. Comedy writers are going to strike out blow after blow, designed to put down sacred traditions.

And eventually these shows will be punctuated with four-letter words, and anything will go on television. Television programmers will become absolutely blasphemous. And millions and millions of unbelievers will sit in front of their TV sets laughing and mocking as subjects once considered sacred are undermined and mocked and ridiculed.

And last night on the Today Show it was brought home so vividly as Impressionist David Fry maliciously mocked Billy Graham as a money-raiser and a money-grabber. Made my blood boil. Marjo sat there knocking all Roberts and Billy Graham and it came home to me so hard.

David, this is just the beginning. Talk shows everywhere, movies, theaters, debunking Christ in his blood and glorifying the devil. Next, persecution through taxation of churches. And you listen to me.

There's coming an attempt to tax churches and church-related organizations. These atheistic forces, with the help of the Civil Liberties Union, are going to push this matter to the Supreme Court. They're going to have a temporary setback, but it's not going to stop them from pressing for congressional action.

And a legal setback in the courts will not stop it. In spite of court decisions, we are eventually going to have taxation of our churches. I see it coming as an insignificant, very small kind of property tax, but it's soon going to burgeon into a monster-sized tax that will push some independent churches and missionary societies to the brink of bankruptcy.

The IRS, Internal Revenue Service, one day I see becoming one of the most powerful weapons against the Church of Jesus Christ. It would then be possible for government agencies to maintain a stranglehold on churches.

And government agencies, even now, are delving into the private books of almost every non-profit religious organization in America, including ours right now. These Christian schools and colleges and universities are not going to escape the coming hour of persecution and harassment.

First, there's going to be political harassment, red tape, acute financial problems. Federal and state aid is going to come with more and more strings attached to it. Secondly, an almost unexplainable student mood, apathy, unrest, and disrespect for leadership.

Thirdly, you can expect the faculty to be infiltrated by teachers and professors who have become the unwitting tools in the hands of Satan to undermine the foundations of faith and leadership. Satan is going to attempt to wrest the leadership of these schools and institutions out of the hands of true men of God and place them in the hands of compromising liberals who will not attempt to take the movement toward agnosticism.

The leadership of Christian educational institutions had better prepare themselves for difficult times financially and spiritually. Next, the Jesus revolution is going to go sour. The Jesus revolution will become a Jesus revulsion movement.

Oh, hear me. My friends, I have never in my life ministered with more of the unction of the Holy Spirit, have never felt more divinely called to speak his word than I do here and now. And the Spirit of God upon me and I prophesy now and hear it.

The Jesus revolution among young people will stagnate and undisciplined followers are going to return to their drugs, their free sex, and their old ways of life. Persecution is coming to separate the sheep from the goats and only totally surrendered disciples will be left standing when the fall clears.

The time is soon coming when it will no longer be popular to be a Jesus person. The Jesus songs will not be on the hit parade. His name will no longer be a commercial asset to Broadway or Hollywood. The world that once used the name of Jesus so promiscuously is going to turn on him and put him down.

I see a replay of the first recorded Jesus movement in history. Remember when Jesus came riding into Jerusalem on a donkey to the Horahs and the Hosannas and the praises of thousands that were caught up in this Jesus movement?

Young people ripped branches from palm trees and spread their jackets on the ground so a little donkey could walk over them. They cried, Jesus, Jesus, Hosanna, our King is coming. But that first Jesus movement soon went sour.

A very short time later that same Jesus stood before that same angry crowd and now they were screaming, crucify him, away with him. The same crowd turned against him. The modern Jesus movement has had its crowds and its excitement.

They sang the praises of Jesus and Jesus was really in. But look what's happening now. The joy poppers are going back to drugs and a Jesus revulsion movement is now springing up as a result of the occult practices of young people in our schools.

Young devil worshippers have started nucleus of hate Christ clubs in our schools already. Hate Christ clubs whose chief aim is to harass Jesus people and refute the claims of Jesus Christ. All but friends, out of this Jesus movement is coming a hard core of Jesus people completely given over their old ways of life.

They've forsaken their old habits and they've committed their lives to service to Jesus Christ. And my message to you Jesus people today is loud and clear. Get ready to be persecuted. Prepare to face these hate Christ clubs in your schools.

In many places Christian young people who take an open stand for Christ will be verbally stoned by those their own age. This revulsion movement against Christ is going to be personally directed by the devil himself and carried out by those who are committed to his worship.

Jesus people are going to be not only considered freaks, they're going to be called all manner of names, they're going to be spat upon in the corridors of high schools and college campuses and the day will come when Bibles will be plucked from their arms and ripped apart by a laughing crowd of mockers.

The harassment is going to eventually become so violent and widespread that Christian young people will either harden themselves like steel and stand up and witness against it or crumble before it and deny their faith.

And this is what persecution is all about. I see coming also a spiritual awakening behind the iron and bamboo curtains. While the free nations are experiencing this wave of persecution, the iron and bamboo curtain countries will experience a short period of spiritual awakening.

Those who have lived under religious, terrible religious persecution are going to enjoy a limited time of freedom. God's Holy Spirit's going to split the iron and bamboo curtains and he's going to seek out and find hungry hearts in Russia and China and Eastern Europe, no doubt about it.

God's promised to pour out his Spirit upon all flesh. He did not exclude these nations. God is bringing to pass a temporary truce between the East and the West for the express purpose of getting the Gospel into these communist countries.

Japanese and Korean Christians will be used of God to reach thousands in China. The outpouring of the Holy Spirit in West Germany is to reach through to East Germany. The outpouring that's taking place in Finland now is destined to spread through Northern Russia.

A tremendous move of the Holy Spirit. Ironically, while the doors are beginning to close on this side of the curtain, the doors will open on the other. And after a short period of freedom and spiritual awakening, the doors will suddenly close and those nations cast into horrible persecution.

Finally, one of the most important of all, and this comes down close to every pastor and every Christian in this building, I see already started. Now many of these things I've talked about tonight are mountain peaks that I've seen.

I do believe that they will all be fulfilled in this generation. Not all at the same time. Some of these things beginning to happen even now. But one thing that is already upon us. And I see it clearly.

I see a gossip war. I know now that Satan has declared war on every true minister of Jesus Christ. He's going to leave no stone unturned in his attempt to discredit and shipwreck every man of God who's determined to stay true.

Those ministers and priests who refuse to cheat on their wives, they refuse to indulge in the freedom of the new morality, are going to be the target of the most vicious, malicious gossip of all time.

The devil is going to raise up gossip mongers to harass and malign and lie against you. I believe that Billy Graham and other great gospel ministers throughout the world are going to face more and more ridicule, gossip, and misunderstanding by the press and by liberal people in the media.

Every motive is going to be questioned. Every statement is going to be examined and cross-examined. They're going to be mocked and maligned by comedians on television. And ministers who once thought they had no enemies in the world will one day wake up to find out that someone's talking about them.

They won't understand where it comes from. Pastors of churches especially are going to face the most malicious gossip of all. There will be innuendos, lies, false statements that will float around that come from the very pits of hell.

It will be a supernatural demonstration of demonic power. There will not be a single true minister of the gospel immune. And the wives, hear me now, the wives of those ministers who are married are also going to come under the attack of malicious gossip.

Legions of lying spirits have been turned loose upon the world with the single purpose of accusing Christians through gossip and slander to rob them of their victory in faith and trust in Jesus Christ.

This gossip war will not only be aimed against ministers but against every true, spirit-filled believer of Jesus Christ. Even the teenagers are going to see what it's like to face malicious gossip. And now I come to my final word from the Lord.

You have no idea. You could not begin to know the battle I've had to stand here and say what I've said tonight. I've had the enemy tell me, everybody will call you a fanatic. Why risk 15 years of a certified ministry where people respect you and stand out like a fool?

And friends, I can't stand here tonight honestly and just tickle your ears. The ends of the world have come upon us. And I've always been a positive preacher. I've never preached much about judgment. But my friends, you can't talk about the coming of Jesus Christ until you open your eyes and see that all that's happening around us now, the Lord is saying, look up when you see these things begin to happen and rejoice because your redemption draws nigh.

And I bring you to my final word. When I received this vision of calamities, it so frightened me. I was just so transfixed before God that He kept me up night after night, again last night in the middle of the night.

And I asked the Lord about all these things. How are we going to do all that we're supposed to do when so many are forsaken and people are going into hiding and they're afraid the ship is sinking? What do we do, Lord?

Do we abdicate? Do we turn this whole world over to the devil and just let him have his way? Do we pay off all our bills and sold away a couple of reserves in the bank, buy a little farm and escape and try to ride out the storm hoping a better day will come?

Do you just give up? How can you look at all the tornadoes and the weather forecasts and how can you see all the calamities that every prophet of God has predicted? How can the Christian remain sane? How can he keep his fortitude?

How can he be objective? How can he be rational in an age that's falling apart, Lord? Where do we stand now? And dear friend, you've got to hear what the Holy Spirit said to me. Just five little words that so powerful, they awakened in me a glorious new hope and faith and I woke up shouting.

And those five little words that blazed in my heart were these, God has everything under control. Hallelujah. This is what I got. All of nature is under control. We hear of earthquakes, famines, pestilence, hailstorms, killer heat waves, floods, drastic weather changes are breaking all past records.

It looks like nature's out of control. But God's word is clearly predicted it would happen. The wrath of God is to be outpoured on this earth through an unleashed fury of nature because God is warning mankind that judgment is coming and these are labor pains and the closer we get to the birth of his kingdom, the more frequent and intense it will get until the birth of the kingdom of God.

And it was God who told Job that he shut up the sea with doors. The sea can't cross the door. He set bars and doors to stay the proud waves. God said he took hold of the ends of the earth that the wicked might be shaken out of it.

Reserve the treasures of hail and snow against the day of battle. He divided the water courses for the overflow of the waters. That's the flood. He set the domain of the earth in the ordinances of heaven.

He sends forth lightnings and he statters the wind upon the earth. Who does it? God does it, child of God. In these days to come, the Holy Spirit would say to you, don't fear the fury of nature. God is still king of the flood and you look upon those floods and earthquakes and hurricanes and you say to yourself, that's my God talking.

He's calling, he's chastising and he's saying, get ready. Even the devil is under his control. As with Job, God may permit him to touch every material, physical thing around you, but you hear it, Satan cannot possess you or rob you of your faith in God.

The devil's power is limited and the Bible said even a baby Christian can put him to flight simply by resisting him through the word and the blood. The Bible said resist the devil and he will flee from you.

Does that sound like defeat? Does that suggest a victorious devil? Never. God has everything under control and we are under his control, so we are not afraid of the devil. It is the fear of the Lord that's the beginning of wisdom and God's message is this, I have not given you the spirit of fear, but of love and power and a sound mind.

You and I and everything that touches us is now under his control. No matter how things look in this drunken world, all things are still working together to everyone who loves God, called according to his purpose.

All right, let the dollar fail, let the depression and recession come, let there be unemployment and pollution and inflation and wars and rumors of war. Let the fabric of society disintegrate for the true child of God, everything is under control, it doesn't matter, nothing can harm you.

He said look up and rejoice and be happy. And in closing, the future is under his control. God has everything pre-programmed. He knows the exact moment that Christ will return. The final tribulation, the judgments, the battle of Armageddon are all on his calendar and he's blocking them off one at a time.

And the God who controls all of heaven and earth says to us, Christians, spirit-filled, the nations are as a drop of a bucket and are counted as small dust in my balance. The nations of the world are just a drop in a bucket.

All nations are as nothing before me, they are less than nothing. Don't worry about worldly power. I've got it all programmed. God is still counting the hairs on our heads. He's still counting the sparrows that fall.