David Wilkerson was the Founding Pastor of Times Square Church in New York City. He was called to New York in 1958 to minister to gang members and drug addicts, as told in the best-selling book, The Cross and the Switchblade.

Lord give us your word now and speak

clearly to our hearts Lord we need you

you need to hear from heaven and we’re

trusting you now in Jesus name Amen

first Peter fourth chapter first Peter

the fourth chapter getting ready for the

end of all things

first Peter the fourth chapter only just

a few verses starting verse 7 please

1st Peter 4 beginning verse 7 but the

end of all things is at hand now that’s

pretty blunt he gets up before his

people and in his letter he writes the

end has come

instead and be there for sober and watch

unto prayer and above all things have

fervent charity among yourselves for

charity shall cover the multitude of

sins thank you Jesus now in second Peter

1:14 he has just announced the Lord has

shown me that I’m going to die Lord show

me that my time has come and so he comes

to the people now as a dying man he

comes as if to say I’m soon going to be

with my Heavenly Father I’m soon going

to be with Christ so I’m going to give

you my final word he said I want you to

know the end of all things is at hand

it’s right at hand he said well that was

written 2,000 years or so ago but folks

if it were true then it’s all the more

true now at the end of the very last of

the last days and he said I’m going to

tell you what God expects and what he

wants of you I’m going to tell you how

to become secure I’m going to tell you

how to prepare for the end times and you

see he says nothing about the economy he

says nothing about the loss of houses

and life

he says nothing about where to put your

money nothing about safe havens and he

comes with this and I got a letter from

somebody read one of my prophetic books

about how God’s going to keep his people

in the coming depression and he said I

wrote to you Pastor Dave in good faith

then I believe that you’re an honest

righteous man and I ask you where I

should put my money I some safe place to

put my money because he said really if

God’s warning us he wouldn’t be a very

good God if he didn’t tell us how to

survive and he was trying to put me on

the spot and he said I I want to know I

don’t want any theological

cop-out he said that’s what you

preachers do you pop out and just say go

pray because everybody told pray and get

the mind of the Holy Ghost for yourself

and he said I feel cheated he said I

wanted to hear certainly God would have

a word he not warned us unless he gave

us a way to survive and I get letters

like that and already since I mentioned

my topic how to prepare for the end of

all things some of you feel like well

brother Dave this was an ounce of it

well pastor Dave’s going to give us some

good advice on where to put our money

and help us get fixed for the hard times

that have already started that that’s a

good honest question we all ask those

questions but folks this is not going to

make sense to you till we get to the

last half of the message and you’ll see

why Peter goes with this message as he

says first of all be sober in other

words don’t panic that’s his first

advice no matter what happens and

there’s many Christians right now in

panic who have who have believed and

testified all their life time that the

Lord was their keeper we sink Jehovah

Jireh we sing all these wonderful songs

about how good god is and is going to

keep us in the hard times

there is a human nature in us that

responds and we have to bring it under

the word we have to bring it under the

control of faith but he’s saying be

sober first of all be sober and the

second he says go to prayer he said you

you wonder why you’re confused you

wonder why you’re in turmoil you wonder

why you’re in panic and you’re not sober

in these times and he’s saying the worst

gets blacker the night the more you

should be walking in soberness and the

peace and the rest of the Holy Ghost

that’s what he says as hard as that

sounds that is that’s what I’m telling

you God told me before he takes me home

I’m telling the Church of Jesus Christ

in my day and in the days to come they

are going to be hard and difficult times

and Peter describes those time mockers

and scoffers are going to come they’re

going to be those preaching deception in

our churches they’re going to be

preachers of covetousness and

materialism he goes on to describe all

of those things that are coming in he

says don’t panic be at peace about it

and then he says go to prayer and folks

that there is where I go every time fear

tries to rise in my spirit every time

there’s another news report that seems

to just be overwhelming I go to the Lord

I go to my knees and that’s the answer

to all the stress problems I just saw in

the Wall Street Journal yesterday that

all over Wall Street now they have a

whole hour and and many of the corporate

leaders are are into yoga and into

Chinese mantras and they’re trying to

calm their stress and it in some offices

now it’s mandatory that you go and take

yoga so that you can calm yourself well

folks we have a savior we have a promise

and we are going to be a testimony that

we know how to handle stress we’ve got a

little room we go into it’s called the

secret closet tell that to the world

here’s a world here’s a world looking at

crystals hoping beings will come out of

those crystals and they’re people doing

yoga and quoting Chinese mantras that

they don’t know what means mm-hmm yet

then you tell them you’ve got a secret

closet where you go and you come out

strong and they’re gonna say you’re

crazy stupid what do you mean a secret

closet well what do you know about yoga

I’ve got somebody that takes all my

stress away King of Kings I meet him

right in that you meet you meet God yes

we meet God in the secret closet of

prayer and then he he goes on he said in

verse 8 and above all things above all

things above all preparations above

everything you think about how to

survive in the end times he said I’m

going to give you word and this this is

the issue and you have to deal with this

and this is mind boggling at first he

says above all things have fervent on

fire