A Touch From God - Part 1 — David Wilkerson

Hunger for a Closer Walk With Christ

Share with us in our pursuit for a closer walk with Jesus. I presume you wouldn't be here if you didn't want that. And those who are speaking at this conference met last night, and we've been broken for two or three weeks just falling before the face of the Lord.

Who are we to tell anybody how to pursue Christ? None of us are one step ahead of you in your pursuit of Christ. And we wanted together, together here in this city, those of like heart who just hunger for more of him.

Not a program, not something that has worked in us in the flesh, but just an absolute overwhelming hunger to seek him more than we've ever sought him before. This city, like the rest of the country, is in turmoil.

There's fear on every side. New Yorkers fear the explosion of tunnels and bridges, buildings, and now everywhere you go there's just fear and anxiety. And it was rather bold of you to step out and say, I'm not afraid.

I'm coming to New York anyhow. We're delighted to have you here with us. Now tomorrow is going to be a very intense day, and I would advise you and I would encourage you not to miss a single service. I believe, I feel sure you didn't come to state city.

Ministry in Times Square and Testimony of Protection

I've been in this, we founded this church 15 years ago, Times Square Church. I've not been to the Statue of Liberty. I've not been on top of the Empire State Building, and I've not been to a theater. I'm not asking you to go the way we go, but I would hope that you come to all three of these services, and there'll be some time between afternoon and evening service where some of you perhaps want to go to Ground Zero.

It's quite an experience to see that massive hole. Times Square Church was one of the first groups down there. We were called by the mayor's office, and our church was down there with the Red Cross. The very few hours after it happened, the dust had settled, and of the many people from Times Square Church that worked in those buildings, not one of our people was lost.

God protected them. We're so sorry. We're so sorry for all of those who are lost, and we pray for them, and our church had the pleasure of giving over a million dollars to both the police and the fire departments, and we thank God for the burden he's put on our hearts, and as Pastor Carter said, it is so true.

We've come to wash our feet, and we've come to learn. There are no other programs. There are no other sessions anywhere. There's only one session altogether, and folks, I've talked already to a number of people that are here, some by mail, some by telephone, and some by person.

Pastors in Crisis and the Moscow Revival Testimony

I'm overwhelmed at what I heard of the hurt and the pain. So many wanting to quit the ministry. I just came the last week. I've been traveling more in ministry conferences in Moscow, our last meeting, or the next to last meeting.

They came from all over Russia and from Siberia, and of all those hundreds of pastors at the end, the last service, I said, how many of you had decided that you would come to this conference of mine, and you would quit the ministry, you would leave as soon as you got home, and over 250 pastors came forward.

250 who had planned to quit, but God healed them, and they went back with a new vision and a burden, and we trust and pray that that's what God will do for you. I want to speak to you tonight about the touch of God.

The Touch of God and Hunger for His Presence

How does God touch a man's life? I'm talking not about individuals, but a corporate body, of men and women who rise above the turmoil, rise above their hurts, and they begin to hunger and thirst for God, and God does something miraculous.

And why does God choose certain men to touch them? Now, when I say men, I include women in this, so please don't correct me after the service. This is both men and women. Heavenly Father, since your anointing on this meeting tonight, you have come to touch us.

You've come to heal us, but Lord, you've come also to dig deep into our hearts. Lord, my heart is open to hear what will be taught and preached from this pulpit. When I step down, Lord, I want to hear.

I'm ready for reproof. I'm ready for correction. I'm ready for edification, whatever you have in mind. Lord, I'm asking you to come down upon my heart now. You've humbled us before you, and who are we to speak, Lord, to those far more educated and those who have prayed more than we have, but they've come, Lord, out of a hunger.

Lord, speak through me tonight. Lord, just speak your mind, I pray. In Jesus' name, amen. God has a remedy for a world in chaos. He has a time-tested plan that he's used all through time. He hasn't changed it.

It's the same plan from the very beginning, the Word. How does God remedy a generation? What does he do to correct a generation that is in chaos, that is slipping out of control? What is God's plan? He's always used man.

He's used men that he has chosen. He's laid his hand upon them. He separated them. He called them to himself and touched them in a special way. The God-touched man is described in Psalm 65, for blessed is the man whom thou choosest and causes him to approach unto thee that he may dwell in thy courts.

The Holy Spirit's Call Into God's Presence

Blessed is that man that is especially touched, that woman especially touched by the hand of God, and the Holy Ghost causes him to draw nigh to the Lord and dwell in his courts. But this man, this woman, begins to dwell in the presence of God and everything about him and everything in him changes.

It's a wooing of the Holy Spirit that many of you that are here now know and understand. It was the wooing of the Holy Spirit that called you to prayer. History proves what I've been saying to you because it's very painful to read the history of Israel.

Israel's Backsliding and God's Pattern of Revival

The constant backsliding of God's people, generation after generation, getting more wicked than the other. But what did God do all through this Bible? How did God deal with it? How did he bring reviving?

How did he change everything and bring it back to his heart? The scripture says, Samuel chiding Israel, said, when you forgot the Lord, he sold you into the hand of your enemies. And then you cried unto the Lord and said, we have sinned.

The Lord said, you are indelible and beaten. Jephthah, Samuel, delivered you out of the hand of your enemies on every side and you dwelt safe. God touched men, became the instruments of the deliverance.

God Uses Touched Men and Women for Deliverance

And folks, I'm going to tell you, God's not going to send angels down to solve our problems. He's not going to send heavenly angels or heavenly forces down. He's going to touch men. He's going to touch women.

He's going to cause them. He's going to woo them to draw nigh to him. God touched men, become his instrument, and have been that all through scripture. Now, why does God touch certain men? Why? There's something amazing that happens when God touches a man or a woman.

It's an awesome sight. It's an awesome thing to be around these people. I am not there, but I know what he's calling me to, and I know the way, and I want to follow him in it. You see, these are men, not just men of destiny.

God's Call and Saul's Aborted Kingdom

No, no, no. You see, Saul was called just as David was called, and the scripture says that God had told Saul, I had planned to give you an everlasting heritage. An everlasting kingdom was to be yours, and he aborted God's plan because he went halfway.

These were not supermen. I believe that there are two calls that God gives to every man or woman that he touches.