THE EMMAUS WALK PRESENTS:

"Growing Cold on the Eve of Destruction,"

An Excerpt, Epilogue of the Article, 6-13-1988, by David Wilkerson

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 thney will not endure sound doctrine...and they will turn away their ear 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 widespread rejection of holiness preaching and prophetic warnings which will cause the grat 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!"

[Does this word not reflect on New Orleans after the hurricanes' destruction of the city, and the stated official policy to rebuild the wickedness of that city and its Mardi Gras, casinos, prostitution, and immoral, voo doo worship, corrupt city administration, and pleasure-seeking lifestyle and ambiance as they were before the disasters? But New Orleans does not stand alone. It is symptomatic of our entire nation's attitude toward God and His judgments, even after the catastrophe and wake-up call of 9/11. We have returned to our pleasure-seeking, immorality, pornography, violence, murder, dishonesty, greed, graft, government and civic corruption, oppression of the poor, elderly, and disadvantaged, blasphemous and dirty speaking, persecution of Christ and Christianity as if 9/11 never happened. Has history ever witnessed such? Even mighty, wicked, violent, pleasure-loving Nineveh repented when warned of imminent judgment by the Prophet Jonah.--Ed.]

Judgment was falling on Israel--God's wrath was upon them--"Yet the people do not turn back to him who struck them, nor do they seek the Lord of hosts" (Isaiah 9:13). Jeremiah mourns for his people, "...Thou hast 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: "Yet therefore, beloved, seeing ye know these things before, beware lest ye also, being led away with the error of the wicked, fall from your own steadfastness...;lBut grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour 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 given only 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 fal 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 [nuclear-blast created firestorms in the major cities of the world?--Ed.] "and the rest of the men which were not killed by these plagues yet repented not of the works of their hands, that they shouldl not worship devils, and idols of gold...neither repented they of their murders, nor of their sorceries, nor of their fornication, nor of their 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).--David Wilkerson, Times Square Church, Epilogue of Message, "Growing Cold on the Eve of Destruction," 6-13-1988

With only one or two exceptions, what I find on Christian TV and other channels where Christian programs are aired does not fit the Gospel of Jesus Christ and does not give us any real warning about our genuine spiritual backwardness and stubborn spirits. It is all so self-centered and self-glorifying and contrary to the Cross of Jesus Christ and St. Paul's teachings. To my experience, this is very disturbing, and I fear for our churches and the Christians and this nation. Do you find it better than I do? Is this an exaggeration on my part? I am interested only in what God says about us--not what we presume as mortal men to be the case. I am convinced that a true revelation about our Christianity, if given us by God, would be completely soul-shattering. We would be completely "blown away."

Isaiah, certainly a holy prophet, cried, "Woe is me! I am a man of unclean lips!" If such a righteous and holy man, seeking God's holiness continually, could feel so unclean and raggedy before God, how can I think I am better than he, when he stood before the Majesty, the Holy One of Israel, revealed to him from heaven? Earth has seldom witnessed the existence of so holy and righteous a prophet--yet he saw himself a dirty , foul-mouthed, carrion-eating hyena before God's indescribable purity and holiess!

I am so thankful to Pastor David Wilkerson, who has showed his great courage and faithfulness since the 1960s, fearlessly proclaiming holiness to the erring, unholy Church of God in America. He took the liberating Gospel right to the center of NYC's idolatrous heart and would not be deterred from preaching the glory of the gory Cross, day after day, while reaching out with compassion to the poor and oppressed and sin-sick of the city around him. He has consistently challenged American church people with revival and repentance and righteousness. He has been bitterly attacked for this unequivocal stand of his. But his reward will be great in heaven--and his critics? They will suffer rebuke and shame someday before God.

If you still do not think this is a current message, meant for you and me and the Church, think again. It would have saved Saddam Hussain the other day before he died in the hangman's noose, if he had heard it and taken it to heart. We too have the hangman's noose of God's judgments round our neck, but will we take it to heart? Or will we too harden our hearts in the concrete of self-denial and our own presumptions of goodness, even as this most brutal, violent, murderous, deposed dictator of Iraq apparently, according to BBC reports, did.--Ed.

David Wilkerson's mail address is:

World Challenge

P.O. Box 260

Lindale, TX 75771

Or call:

(903)-963-8626

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