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.

my message this morning the unrelenting

love of god

the unrelenting love of god second

corinthians

13th chapter please

starting at verse 11.

finally brethren farewell be perfect be

of good comfort be of one mind live in

peace

the god of love and peace shall be with

you greet one another with a holy kiss

all the saints salute you now here’s my

text the grace of the lord jesus christ

the love of god communion of the holy

ghost be with you all

amen father i thank you for your

unrelenting love i thank you lord jesus

for the word

of truth that sets men free and i humble

myself before you

and i ask you holy spirit to take every

word that you’ve given me

and anoint it now without the anointing

it’s a dead letter

and i ask you to anoint me with your

holy spirit i’ve been with you lord

and i know you have placed this on your

heart you’ve opened my mind to this

and i pray that you would give us an

understanding of the love of god today

lord we’ve heard about it we’ve tried to

understand it but we do not yet fully

understand the

uh magnitude and the glory of your love

for this world and for your people

especially and we ask you now to open

our hearts and our minds to receive it

in jesus name i pray amen

unrelenting love of god this word

unrelenting means

that which does not diminish in

intensity

and effort it cannot be diminished

it means it’s unyielding it’s not

capable of being persuaded by arguments

not capable being changed it’s

uncompromising

in other words it’s sticking to a

determined course

and what a marvelous description of the

love of god

the marvelous description nothing can

diminish

or hinder his loving pursuit of both

sinners and saints

nothing can hinder him in his pursuit of

love

for his people david the psalmist

expressed it this way

god you have beset me behind him before

in other words you’ve closed

me in you’ve hedged me in

whether shall i go from my spirit where

shall i flee from thy presence

if i ascend up to heaven or if i make my

bed in hell behold thou art there

david’s talking about his lifestyle the

times in his life when he was very high

feeling good

he’s talking about having such lows that

he’s like a living hell

if i make my bed inhale if that’s my

human condition sometimes my human

condition is

everything is going fine everything is

all right there are other times that i

am so low

i feel unworthy i feel condemned

and he’s talking about literally uh

experiencing a hellish uh manifestation

in his life

and yet he said i can’t get away from

your presence i can’t get away from your

love

you’re still pursuing me no matter where

i go

no matter how i’ve drifted away

no matter my human condition you were

there your love

is unrelenting i can’t chase you away

you don’t even accept my arguments

against or why you shouldn’t love me you

find that all through the writings of

david through the psalms god even when i

argue with you that i’m unworthy

that i’ve sinned against grace now david

sinned

incredibly against uh

he had godly men who were mentoring him

he had the holy spirit ministering to

him he had the law

he loved the word of god he said it was

a lamp to his feet

and in spite of all of this david’s sins

grievously against god

you know the story of david’s sin you

know how he

lusted after another man’s wife and how

he got her pregnant and then to cover up

his sin

he brings her husband home from the

battlefield and gets him drunk

trying to get him back into his wife’s

bed and when that failed

he connives the with

the leader of his army to have the man

killed

and the husband uriah

is killed literally murdered sent into a

hopeless situation on the battlefield

and god said it was a grievous evil

thing that you’ve done david

and he sent the the thing david had done

the script said displease the lord

god sent the prophet nathan to him and

he said you have despised the word of

the lord

you’ve given great occasion to the

enemies of the lord to blaspheme

now god disciplined david for his sin

you can be sure

no matter what your past has been your

experience of the lord how deep you’ve

been in christ

how you’ve walked with god when you sin

against the light

you’re going to you’re going to be

disciplined whom the lord loves he

disciplines

and david is disciplined the baby died

and it grieved david’s heart but god

never abandoned

he he kept pursuing david with his love

bathsheba gives birth to a son and the

scripture says

and david called his name solomon and

the lord

loved him he loved solomon he loved

david

god’s love was unabated still

unrelentlessly chasing after him

expressing his love at all times you

find it all through the scripture

you go to the new testament and look at

saul of tarsus

making havoc of the church entering into

homes of many christians

dragging them off to prison the

scripture said

he was breathing out threatenings and

slaughter against the disciples of the

lord

you see him going to the high priest

asking for letters

to scar the country to find other

christians to murder and in prison

and yet paul after saul after conversion

when he became paul the apostle said

even when i was in sin even when i was a

murderer and i hated

christians believers i hated

he still loved me here’s the scripture

but god demonstrates his love toward us

and that while we were yet sinners

christ died for us

he said amazing grace that even then

though i were not i was not conscious of

it god was pursuing me

the unrelentless love of god kept coming

after me until that day

that he literally knocked me off my high

horse

it was the love of god

paul testified that god loved him when

he was blind

when he was full of racial prejudice

god’s

love was still with him even when he had

murder in his heart

once you go to romans eighth chapter

and let’s see it magnified uh in there

in paul’s own words eighth chapter

of romans verse 38

39.

this is paul’s persuasion for i am

persuaded this is romans 8 38

i’m persuaded that neither death nor

life nor angels or principalities nor

powers

things present or things to come not

height not

depth nor any other creature shall be

able to separate us

from the love of god which is in christ

jesus

paul said he loved me before

i was a believer no he didn’t weaken my

sin

yes i’ve understood his tasting hand

but god never stopped loving me he never

stopped pursuing me

and he said now that i am his there is

no

devil there is no demon there is no

principality there’s no power

there is nothing that can separate me

from the love of god there’s nothing to

stop god from loving me

please hear what the spirit’s saying

nothing can separate you from

his relentless love we find that almost

impossible to believe

when we sin and fail god we lose the

sense of his love and then when anything

bad happens to us we say god’s whipping

me

god’s angry at me there’s a problem here

and a trouble here and something else

breaks out and we say

well and really what we’re saying god

has stopped loving me because there’s

some failure in my life

i i have displeased him he’s angry at me

or we blame with it the devil

of course the devil is active in this

way

many many occasions but you see

all of these things that happen around

you

do not affect it’s not a result it’s not

always the result of

of of god turning against you not at all

it’s it’s that

we’re not comprehending his love we’re

not understanding that god still pursues

no matter what the trouble no matter

what we’re going through he continues

and relentlessly pursue both saint and

sinner

paul wrote by the way i don’t believe

you can face what’s coming

all the terrors that are now existing in

the world and

and all of the things that are ahead of

us both

in your personal life and in the world

scene

i don’t know how you’re going to make it

until you’re convinced god loves you

how can you make it if if you have to

live under this sense that god is angry

at you and that

somehow god doesn’t love you because

you’re unworthy

you’re unfaithful and there’s you’re

still struggling with sin

and you feel that god is there’s no way

god could love me there’s no way a holy

just god could love me the way i

am and if you have to live under that

you’ll never make it

it’ll tear you down and lead to a

nervous breakdown that can lead to

insanity

the thing that keeps the thing that

keeps us sane in this day

the thing that keeps us with hope and

joy in our heart is that we are

convinced

that god loves me

god loves me

paul wrote two epistles to the

corinthian church first corinthians

second corinthians

and in one sentence now at the end of

the last

book the text that i’ve just read to you

he says the grace of the lord jesus

christ

the love of god and the communion of the

holy ghost be with you all

now this verse has been used as a

benediction

it’s it’s usually benediction when a

service is closed usually

now made the the no

now may the grace of god the love of god

the communion of the holy ghost be with

you now and forever that’s a benediction

no it’s not a benediction this is a

prayer

a one verse prayer that sums up

everything god paul

is trying to teach about the love of god

he said there are three

issues involved here there are three

things i want you to understand and may

it be with you

all the time now and forever get this in

your mind get this in your understanding

and you will never again doubt the love

of god

this one verse prayer deals with these

three divine issues

and i want to talk to you about them

let’s start with the grace of god

just what is grace now now we know

whatever it is the scripture said it’s

to teach

us to deny ungodliness and wor or

worldly lust live soberly

righteously in this present world

how do i reach this place that says the

holy ghost is going to teach

her grace is going to teach me how to

deny ungodliness and worldly lust

what is that teaching holy ghost you’re

my teacher

give me this is a foundational truth

what what is it now

you’re saying that if i have grace if i

understand the grace of god

this is going to teach me how to live a

holy godly life

i want to live a holy godly life so holy

spirit

what is the teaching what is the

foundation of grace

you find it in second corinthians don’t

turn there but ii corinthians 8

9 8 chapter verse 9

for you know the grace of our lord jesus

christ

that though he was rich yet for your

sakes he became poor

that ye through his poverty might be

made rich

he said now you want to know what the

grace of god is the grace

of the lord jesus christ he said he gave

up his riches

became poor that you and i may become

rich

now i can bring up so many i’ll bring up

numerous scriptures that prove that this

is not material riches

in fact the material to those who are

materially rich without christ

especially or those who pursue riches or

those

who have a love of money which is the

root of all evil uh how how would he

suggest that this is that he’s going to

bless you with the root of all evil

no the scripture is full of

spiritual riches paul speaks of the

riches of his glory

the riches of wisdom and witches of

grace

unsearchable riches of god in christ

jesus

true riches as against the deceitfulness

of riches

of the world rich in good works rich in

faith rich in mercy

here’s what it is here’s what paul’s

saying

summing it all up jesus christ came in

this world to bless

edify and build up others at his own

expense

he came to show

and manifest this very character of god

jesus didn’t come to magnify himself

to glorify himself as a human being

it’s all through the scripture he gave

when he came up he

surrendered the privilege of this

capital i

me or mine the capital i in other words

emphasis on me and my blessings and

me personally he gave up every

opportunity

to pray down blessings upon himself at

the expense of others

how many how many of us

lack this grace

we can’t see other people blessed we

can’t under

we can’t really rejoice

when somebody else gets ahead of us

neighbor gets a car so far beyond yours

puts in a swimming pool and you can

hardly pay your bills

bring it into the church bring it into

the body of christ and you see god

blessing others with spiritual gifts and

he’s honoring them he’s doing something

special for them

are you able to rejoice in that are you

able truly

and honestly to say i am glad i rejoice

in this god bless them

you see somebody being blessed in their

home in their marriage and their

children their children are becoming

very blessed

you know they’re and for pastors this is

especially

a needed grace oh how this is needed

for pastors who see a friend or a

neighbor

pastor somewhere just taking off with

the blessings of god apparently

god just poured his blessings on and

here

i am this man is struggling in prayer

and he doesn’t see it

he’s not yet seen the fullness of

blessing in his own life but all the

grace

the grace to be able

to be able to continue in what you feel

is your spiritual poverty

and rejoice in the riches and blessings

of others

this is the grace he’s talking about

that he wanted the

corinthian church the corinthian people

to experience

christ didn’t come to glory in his

achievements his power his ability

he came to build up the body he would

hear his disciples

glory in his miracles and he would back

off

and say oh you’re going to do far more

than me he said

when i’m gone greater works than these

that you’re going to do

you see he was already rejoicing in the

greater works that his subordinates will

experience

and when the report came back that his

disciples were going everywhere and the

demons were subject and they were doing

these great miracles

multiplied more than christ himself had

ever achieved

up to that time and jesus dance with joy

oh god i want to know that grace

the grace of god

this unrelenting love of god in christ

is preferring

others above yourself

let love be without hypocrisy be kindly

affectionate

affections one to another in honor

preferring one another

in honor prefer those around you

now in first corinthians you find very

little that kind of grace

very little of that grace is in first

corinthians read it through and you’ll

see what i mean

instead you find competition in the

things of god

you find men glory and spiritual gifts a

church full of self-exaltation

you find christians jostling for

position

it’s all there they’re going to court

suing one another their self-seeking

self

important even at the communion table

they were

strutting with pride at their in

arrogance at all of the

the special foods and exotic things they

were bringing to the table

while the poor around them had nothing

it was all contrary to the grace that

paul was

preaching first corinthians is stamped

with an immense eye me

mine taking and not giving

god knew their hearts he knew all about

it he knew the fornication the incest

he he knew all this is going on in the

church

at court the fact even today when you

talk about

a carnality you think of the corinthian

church even today that

is stamped with the mark of carnality

and in spite of that what amazing grace

the holy spirit inspires paul

to open up his greeting

to these people the same people

he greets them as the church of god

sanctified in christ jesus

called to be saints incredible

can you imagine the people that

corinth when that letter was read

and opened up and here are people

of carnality there’s fornication of the

church

so much so that paul turned went over

the devil destruction of the flesh the

soul might be saved

and and all of this going to law against

one another

in this individualism and all of this

self

and that paul comes along

and he writes to to the church

god’s church christ church sanctified

sanctified

called to be saints

paul is under divine inspiration

is god winking at their sin no but god

knows they have no resources to fight

their sin

because there’s carnality that they are

not in a position

they are not understanding the love of

god and the love of god

god on his own it’s unmerited

unconditional love that he comes to

these people

and he said you’re still my children i

call you

saints i call you sanctified

now just listen very closely god is not

winking at sin

he is securing his people there has to

be a position

contrary to your condition in other

words if god just

just judged you and i on our condition

we’d be saved one day and unsave the

next day we’d get saved 10 times a day

backslide 10 times a day you can’t

understand this until you understand

this word position

my position in christ now my condition

right now a struggle my condition that

i’m still fighting

i’m still trusting i i am not where i

should be there’s still weakness and

frailty in my flesh

but i gave my heart to jesus christ and

i trusted his covenant promises

and so he seats me in heavenly places

with christ that’s my position

and god says i look at you at your

position in christ

your position in christ you claimed that

and when you claimed that god said i

want you secure i want you without that

fear that i’m giving up on you

and then you come to this once you see

that you come to this

you come finally to first corinthians 1

30 but i

am in christ jesus who now

of god has become my wisdom

my righteousness my redemption

now he’s become he set me free of my

fears and my bondage

he tells me he still loves me for one

reason

that i can now claim his righteousness

his holiness

his purity in my heart

because he’s secured me

he secured me in his grace doesn’t mean

that

i’m not talking about eternal security

because you can

absolutely absolutely turn away from the

love of god and reject it until your

heart gets hard and the love of god

cannot penetrate the walls that you

that you erect yourself because of

rejection

the second issue paul speaks of is the

love of god

now in first corinthians grace is needed

because of their failure

in second corinthians you find the focus

now is on the love of god

now this this second chapter of

corinthians proves

that the

love of god this pursuing love of god

is power to change

its power to change now i want you to

follow me

closely on this

jesus our lord said he didn’t come to

condemn but to save i read

from john 12 47 for i came not to judge

the world but to save the world

for god sent not his son into the world

to condemn the world but the world

through him might be saved

now in first corinthians you find a

powerful truth about god’s unrelenting

love it’s in verse four

christ or rather charity

charity do you remember this this

passage of scripture

first corinthians 13 is all about the

love of god

in verse 4 charity or love suffers long

charity is kind love does not envy

love does not brag or boast it’s not

arrogant or selfish

it’s not rude not easily provoked love

seeks the best for others rather than

self gets no

satisfaction in the sins and failures of

others

now that’s some definition of the love

of god

that’s i see most of us look at that and

say well that’s what god’s expecting us

yes but first of all

that’s that’s a absolute declaration of

what the love of god is

god is not easily provoked he’s not

jealous he is not arrogant

he doesn’t gloat in the sins of his

children

he grieves over them all of this

and i can prove that because when you

get down

a little further it says and love never

it love never fails now our love

fails our love for god fails but his

love for us is never failing it’s

unrelenting it keeps coming

and pursuing that’s what i’m talking

about here today

unconditional he’s if that love is going

to withstand all of our failures

if we’ll just turn to him in our failure

and receive his love that receiving his

love releases the power of god in our

lives

because his love never fails

now i said god’s love is a power

he gives us and the revelation of it is

the power he gives us to change that

inner power

of the holy spirit and it is a

revelation of the love of god

i i know now that i can pray

about my sins and i can trust god

because i know he

loves me and i he he doesn’t remove me

from my

position in him

you know look how it changes paul

even himself in first corinthians

paul had every reason to give up on

these people he had every reason to give

up

he could have started his letter like

this dear corinthians

i wash my hands of you

you’re an incorrigible people the more i

love you the less you love me

you hate me and all i’ve done is pour

out my life for you

i leave you to your own devices go ahead

fight it out my work’s finished

amen

had every right every reason

because it’s true the more he loved them

the less they loved him

church full of failure

but paul had been apprehended by the

love of god

he said how can i not love these people

when god loved me even when i

was persecuting his body how could i not

do that and

even though he turns a man over the

destruction of the flesh that his soul

might be saved

he did it mercy and then he turns to the

man when the man’s

despair and says now that you have

repentance of heart come back

and all yes he reproved sharply the

scripture says

but he said he did it through tears and

he did it with the gentleness of a nurse

paul preached the triumph the triumph of

the love of god

and these carnal people melted under

that message

can you imagine when that was read to

the body and they’re looking at each

other and here’s

here’s the man who’s suing this man over

here and this man’s looking at him

said saint he’s no saint he’s suing me

and everybody look at the fornicator a

saint

no no no no we’re gonna throw him out i

know he

if he continues to sin he’s to be put

out of the church he needs to be put out

of the body

there’s discipline the spiritual

discipline and there’s

the discipline of the body of christ by

leadership

you see paul

had experienced the love of god

and do you know what that kind of

preaching did

to these people absolutely melted and

changed them

i told you that the love of god is the

power to change the unrelenting love of

god the revelation of it is the power to

change

and here’s what the scripture says you

sorrowed unto repentance

godly repentance you cleared yourself

you you became careful you became

indignant over your past sins

you god put his true love and fear in

your heart

you were filled with zeal you vindicated

yourself

in all things you proved yourself clear

and clean before god

folks i am so convicted by this

you see the eye is gone

immediately after this the bible says

they began

to get a vision of of those that were in

famine and they began to give they began

to collect offerings and

giving not only their money but

themselves they started giving

no no longer are they all wrapped up in

gifts and signs and wonders and miracles

because up to this time these people

have been so

centered in what they wanted for

themselves and edifying themselves

but they were transformed by this love

this message you know that convicts

me because

for so many years in my younger ministry

and even occasionally in my later years

i’ve looked on the evil condition of the

church

in the backslidden condition of many in

the ministry

and i’ve set out with what i thought was

a holy zeal

to correct it and i came in like a wild

bull with a sledgehammer

and i just started swinging the sword in

all directions

now paul the apostle had come in to that

church and start swinging a sword

if he’d come with a sledgehammer now the

word of god is a hammer the bible says

but it’s in the hands of a velvet glove

and i want you to know

if he had gone in yes fornication would

have been gone

adults could have been gone all of these

things they would probably stop shooting

one another but the church would have

dissolved it had been gone

it would not have existed anymore

boy do i pray for wisdom wisdom

of the holy ghost

to come against carnality and sin

in a righteous manner oh yes we’re to

cry out against sin

we’ve got to do it through tears

if if i stand in this pulpit and i don’t

weep when i talk about sin

in the house of god or in this world

then i’m in hypocrisy it has to be that

brokenness

do you know why in my early years i

preached this in your face kind of

preaching

i i listen some of my old sermons and i

i say turn it off i don’t want to hear

it i can’t have it

i i no i i can’t

that’s all i knew but i looking back i

know i preached that way because i was

not convinced he really loved me

i wasn’t convinced of his love i i

thought i’m not worthy of it

i can’t live up to his standards i

failed too much

and so how can he love me how can he

love me so

a lot of my crying out was my own agony

this terrible agony that and and it

brings guilt and condemnation where it

shouldn’t be

and finally paul speaks of the community

or the communion of the holy ghost the

word communion there in greek is

fellowship the fellowship of the holy

ghost

now at first these corinthians didn’t

know anything about fellowship

everything was me

everything was i paul said

each one of you say i’m of paul

i’m of apollos i’m of cephas

paul but i’m of christ

and added to that individual

individualism there was

an individual attraction to the gifts of

the spirit

so that there had been evidence of such

disorder that paul has to write

clearly and explicitly to this body

in corinth saying look there’s not

divine order he said you come in

and one has a gift of tongues and so he

there’s four or five messages

everybody’s waiting for the one to sit

down so the next one get over his

message

and here’s somebody itching to interpret

here’s somebody over here

has a word of wisdom and everybody’s

come under church and everybody’s

gathered together to edify themselves

so that they can even say i had a

blessing i gave a prophecy

i gave a word of wisdom i i was mighty

in the spirit today

this was in the church it was it was

it was a church full of individuals not

connected to each other

totally disconnected all kinds of gifts

all kinds of things going on

that look spiritual

but it brought great grief to the heart

of god

the deepest work of the holy spirit

is to establish fellowship and unity in

the body

the greatest work the holy spirit has

nothing to do with the gifts

those are great works those are

spiritual those are needed

but the greatest work and the hardest

work

of the holy spirit is to unite the body

as jesus said to be one what

i’ll tell you the holy ghost has a big

enough job getting two christians

together letting the whole church

paul ties this fellowship in

to the other two previous issues

he said if you’re going to understand

the grace of god the love of god

it has to bring you together

and i’ll tell you what what brings the

body together

where there’s no jealousy where nobody

is being easily provoked by another

or everybody is rejoicing the blessing

of another and all these things we’ve

been talking about

when we truly experience the love of god

you don’t have to sit here

you see some of the blessing well god

loves god loves him

more than loves me or loves her more

than loves me and no

you’re not comparing yourself with

anybody else

you’re just anxious to give to give of

yourself

paul said they not only gave her the

material things but they first of all

gave themselves

now you come here you give your praise

you give your tithe and you give your

offerings

have you understood that god says now i

want you to give yourself one to another

and folks we’re just beginning to see

that more and more in this church how

god is making a body bringing people

together of all races

all colors bringing them down to one

blood

glory be to jesus

give me five more minutes now having

said all this what’s the point

what does this have to do with my

everyday walk with jesus it simply boils

down to this

are you willing to be changed are you

willing to allow the holy ghost to show

you where you need to change

and i i am open the holy spirit god i

said god after all these years

and and 71 years of age now i’m asking

you

i’m asking you to show me the areas of

my life

that have to be changed

now i can tell you how much god loves

you and loves you unconditionally he

loves you with

uh unrelentingly with his grace

but there has to be a purpose to it

there has to be a purpose to it

it doesn’t mean anything if i just tell

you god love if you come to me and say

well i’m a good man

i’m i’m a good person i i’m not into any

gross sin

and and i i’ve believed in the lord

jesus christ

but you see we’ve been born with an adam

nature

and i’m going to tell you something if

you’ve got a problem today you you’ve

got a real problem

i’m going to tell you it’s not a money

problem

it’s not a family problem and it’s

usually not a lust problem

it’s an old nature problem it’s the old

nature in

us and we’re constantly trying to change

that old nature

we’re trying to do something we’re

trying to improve it i’m going to tell

you some

your old nature your flesh is always

going to be flesh and you can’t change

it

it’s beyond redemption it has to be

crucified

and when i say it’s crucified it i can’t

do that it’s something i acknowledge

that christ done at calvary

so i acknowledge i admit i say that

i cannot in my own flesh please god i

cannot

come into the fullness of his grace his

peace his mercy

and his love i can’t fully understand it

my

problem is that i’ve been fighting

against something that

i was born with my nature we have a sin

nature in us

it manifests itself different in every

individual

the various kinds of lusts that come out

but it’s all from this root nature

you can’t read you can’t redo it

god’s not interested in redoing your old

nature

he’s not listen my flesh will always

be flesh i don’t expect any good thing

out of my flesh

i i don’t know any man after the flesh

anymore

listen to me closely please because this

is the key in the heart of understanding

and receiving the revelation of his love

and the ultimate goal of his love the

change

that we’re talking about he has to give

you a new nature

the very nature of jesus christ it’s a

new nature

the old has to pass away now when it

says my

man crucifies that the flesh is

crucified before the lord it means that

i look at it as is not being able to

help me i look at it as dead as having

anything to do with my salvation i can’t

change it

there will always be flesh it’s always

good if the flesh

could be changed then this battle with

the spirit would have ended

and he said no there’s going to be a

battle between the flesh and the spirit

until you die

i’m trying to make this as simple as i

can because this is the key to the new

covenant

the new covenant is not just about power

over sin god’s been dealing with me

so much about this i can’t tame all

these promises just for forgiveness

and power over sin because i can have

power over sin

by the covenant and still have prejudice

in my heart i can still

not come in he’s bringing us out of sin

to take us into the promised land

it’s something he wants to do about our

whole nature

not just about forgiving our sins you

can be sitting here forgiven of your

sins

and still not loving your brother not

being unity

because he wants more than just

forgiveness the new covenant has made

provision for a new nature god says i’ll

be god to you

and the only condition is faith

nothing can change me with my faith

in his promises great and precious

promises whereby i made a partaker or

sharer

of his divine nature glory be to god

god loves me to change me in the very

image of jesus christ

not only the image of jesus christ but

the very character

of jesus christ coming out in me and

when you get this nature

you don’t start with the fullness

everyone has been given the scripture to

the measure of faith

i used to think that all you the only

way you can have faith is if god

gives it to you well he’s given you

already everyone everyone has a measure

of faith

the most vile sinner has a measure of

faith you have the capability to believe

you have the capacity to believe if you

believe his promise

god said i’ll be god to you i’ll be

merciful to your sins

and i’ll provide every resource you need

to fulfill every command that i made of

you

because i love you so it all

comes down to this

lord jesus show me where i need to

change

i don’t have this kind of grace that

paul’s speaking about

if you tell me that you believe god

loves you

unconditionally you’re confessing

that you having you the power to change

by his grace

that’s the confession if you say think

about him if you say

i know god loves me you’re saying you’re

confessing without knowing it

i have the power by the holy spirit to

be changed

well folks that’s it will you stand

please

if you’re here this morning in the annex

the overflow or here in the mandatory of

the balcony wherever you may be

i can tell you knowledgeably by the

intuition of the holy spirit

that some of you walked into this church

this morning

not really believing in your heart

that god still loves you

because of failure because of something

of

drifting away from him

whatever it may be you came in here

you’re not convinced that god loves you

and usually that’s the reason people

don’t pray anymore

that’s the reason people give up

because they’ve given up on this this

knowledge they’ve given up on this truth

that god keeps pursuing in love

the holy ghost has been called the hound

of heaven not to hound you about your

sins

but to hound you in love about his mercy

and his great love i’m going to tell you

now he’s not mad at you

you say brother dave there’s no way see

i’m talking about those who receive

christ as lord at one time

and you’re here now you’re going through

a struggle

terrible struggle

he said there’s no way that he could be

looking at me

and calling me one called to be a saint

he can’t look at me and call me

sanctified

there’s no way

you may have a corinthian streak in you

you may have the spirit of corinth in

you

i don’t understand that kind of grace

but i know i’ve experienced it i don’t

understand it fully but i i’ve

experienced it

i’ve experienced god’s mercy

that in my most failing hour

he’s come to me with that still small

voice david i still love you

you’re still mine and because you’re

mine

let me change you let me bring you back

into the fullness if you’ll just trust

my promises now

you just confess it don’t harden your

heart

let my spirit bring your condition

to match your position it’s the work of

the holy spirit

if you’re here you say oh brother dave i

need this message i needed some hope

this morning

that’s the good news of the gospel not

just the flip and god loves you

you can see that and on car stickers and

posters all over the world

nobody loves me because that’s how he

works

the power of change and made to become

christ-like

father i pray for everyone in this

building and those in the annex wherever

they may be

lord jesus by your spirit now open up

our minds to receive

to receive that love let us not reject

that love

god that’s what grieves you more than

anything else that we should we that we

should reject

this unrelenting love of god do it for

us we pray

change hearts this morning bring peace

lift the burden of guilt and

condemnation as we confess

our need to you and our sins in jesus

name i pray

wherever you’re at i’ll pray with you

you step right out of your seat

personally

this was for me upstairs in the balcony

and even in the annex go to the hallway

and the ushers will show you how to get

down here you can meet me right here at

the front of this altar

those in the overflow those are the

annex you feel the holy spirit thank you

don’t come to the spirit

now you may be backslid you mean you may

not know jesus

you’ve not accepted christ as lord come

receive him as lord and savior this

morning

the the greatest thing that i’ve ever

learned in my life

other than the victory of the cross

and that’s a part of what i’m about to

say

is the day i became fully totally

convinced

that i’m loved by god

and when i know that and when i rest in

that come into that rest

that remains for the people of god then

that

enables me to love others it’s going to

be hard to love others when you don’t

feel that you’re loved by god

how are you going to love

if you’re not sure but will you let him

love you now would you just

just just say right now lord jesus

i receive your love cleanse me

sanctify me help me in my struggle

but never let me doubt your love again

god loves me through jesus christ

lord and savior by faith

i agree with that and i receive it

and lord the next time i doubt that

send back this word and quicken it by

the holy spirit

that i can come back and rest in your

love

in my worst failure not as an excuse to

sin

but to melt my heart and wound me back

into your presence

lord i give you thanks just do that just

thank him in your own words i give you

thanks

lord i give you thanks with all my heart

all my soul

and all my strength hallelujah

hallelujah

in closing this service

i i just have to tell you what a church

god has raised up here in new york i’m

going to boast in him

not in you or me or any of the pastor

most in him

here’s here’s a city that’s under orange

alert

here’s a city that everybody talking

about being pushed by gun god get duct

tape and seal yourself in

and nobody is hiding behind duct tape

here

and i’ll tell you what this this church

was full

and the overflow is full and i

when pastor carter flipped it to look in

the

overflow and his phone i said to myself

i said until the pressure cooker that’s

amazing in my heart

what a church what a people that are not

afraid

that is a testimony when when people are

afraid to come in

to the city you came people afraid to go

in the subways

even political leaders who have children

those in washington have children here

sent telephone calls and telegrams their

kids not to get on the subway for a week

but here we are subway bus train

everything else no fear

no fear

hallelujah

this is the conclusion of the message