David Wilkerson Sermon: Counterfeit Spirituality (Transcript)

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I believe I’m going to make you feel like I’m preaching right at you tonight. Hello, because I’m preaching at me, too. Glory to God.

The Message Preparation and Divine Insight

So, honestly, I can’t think of — when I was working on this message for a number of weeks now. I said, “Lord, I really can’t see in the congregation who this would apply to, because our people are growing in.” I don’t see counterfeit spirituality among our people, but the Lord made it clear I had to preach it. So, whoever it is, we’re going to find out.

Heavenly Father, we thank You for Your holy word. This is a church that trembles at the word of God. We tremble at Your holy word. We shudder at it. It’s our joy, and it’s our terror. Hallelujah. It gives us comfort, it changes us, and we love it because Jesus is the word. Hallelujah.

Now, Holy Spirit, I ask You to quicken me that the word would come forth, not in sensationalism. It would come forth in the power of the unction, the anointing of the Holy Ghost. I need Your help. In fact, I need every power of the Holy Spirit that You have available to me tonight. I find in Jesus’ name, every lying spirit, every principality and power of darkness, that nothing shall hinder the word from finding entrance to our hearts.

Lord, we love You. We thank You for Your presence tonight. You’ve been good to us. You’ve been here. And I thank You, Lord, for continuing. Now, thank You for what You did this morning. Continue the good work tonight. Amen.

Before I get into the message, don’t forget the great service Tuesday night. Powerful preaching. God’s been bringing forth a powerful word on Tuesday nights, also and communion service and prayer. And then the powerful intercessory prayer meeting Friday night, Friday night at seven o’clock. And remember, Bible school starts a week from this Thursday, a week from this coming Thursday, six-thirty to eight-thirty. Brother Phillips is going on a long twelve-week course. We’ll be telling you more about it as time goes on.

Counterfeit Spirituality: A Dive into John Chapter 8

Counterfeit spirituality. You have your Bible open to the eighth chapter of John. Look at verse one. “Jesus went unto the Mount of Olives, and early in the morning He came again into the temple.” You see that? Now look this way, please. Let’s just stop right there for a minute. This is the Feast of Tabernacles, and Jesus has been there two days after the first day. There’s very little response to His message. People are still mocking Him.

The whole religious system has turned Him off, and He goes up and sleeps the first night in the Mount of Olives. He comes down early in the morning, right in the temple, in the treasury, and He begins to teach again. And again, it seems like He’s not making much progress. And the big question all over Jerusalem is, “Who is this man? Who is He anyhow? He claims to be the Son of God.” But who is this man? Everybody in Jerusalem was asking that question.

And I wonder if His disciples didn’t get just a little disillusioned and say, “Master, they don’t want to hear what You have to say. The Pharisees are mocking You. The rulers are trying to kill You. The people are not obeying. They’re not listening. Let’s move on somewhere else.” But on the second day, it appears that there’s a break that comes, like a spiritual breakthrough. It seems like the word was finally getting through.

The Believers and Their Counterfeit Faith

Look at verse thirty, verse 30, John 8th chapter. “And as He spake these words,” what does it say? “Many believed on Him.” I can just see the disciples are excited. “Finally, we’re going to have a revival. They’re hearing, they’re hearing.” Now, if that was today and it said many believed on Him, we’d have the pastors running into that crowd. I mean, they’d be made members of First Baptist, First Pentecostal Church right off the bat.

They would have been brought in. No questions asked. These aren’t believers. They would have been told they’re the sons of the living God, heirs and joint heirs with Jesus Christ. They’d have been signed up, made members, because it says here many believed on Him. Many believed on Him. They would have been called Christians. They would have been told they’re the sons of God with every right in the Bible.

But not so with Jesus. Jesus discerned a counterfeit faith in them, a counterfeit spirituality. Jesus was looking at them and He said something’s wrong, and it’s almost as if He said, “Wait a minute, stop everything. I know you disciples are excited about this, but there’s something not right.” And boy, when God began to open this chapter to me, He showed me salvation in a new light. And I want to speak it to your heart tonight.

He’s saying, “Not so fast with these believers. They’re not coming to Me with all their hearts. In fact, there’s a lying spirit here, and we’re going to judge it by My word.” Now, I want you to look at verse 31. “Then said Jesus to those Jews, which believed on Him.” Skip down now to verse 55, this first 55, 8:55. Look what Jesus calls these believers. “Yet ye have not known Him, but I know Him. And if I should say, I know Him not, I shall be a liar like unto you, but I know Him and I keep His sayings.”

Now, from the 30th verse of John, all the way to the end, you’re going to find that Jesus is talking to these Jewish believers who said they believed on Him. Would you look at the last verse? “They took up stones to cast at Him.” That’s how it’s going to end. These believers are going to try to stone Him. So, we know there’s something wrong. Jesus is calling them liars. “I’d be a liar like unto you.” The Lord Jesus. Look at me now.

The Problem with Surface Faith

Our Lord Jesus Christ will have nothing to do with surface faith. He will have nothing to do with it. You see, He’s saying these people are hypocrites. They’re showing that — they’re saying that they have a belief in Me, but My word has not touched them. My word has no place in them yet. They’re just giving mental assent.

Do you know that there are people today just like these Jews who can say, “I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. I believe Jesus is God in the flesh.” They can believe every promise in the book. They believe everything; “Jesus is Lord.” They claim it all, as if to say, “So what?” and move on.

It never touches them. The word doesn’t do anything for them. They pick up their worldly ways and go their way. They claim to be believers, but the word has found no place in them, and according to Jesus, they’re not saved. They can give mental assent, “Yes, He’s the Son of God. Every word He preaches is true,” but that word does nothing in their heart.

Jesus’ Uncompromising Stance

They don’t expect it to do anything in their heart. They’re satisfied with the way they are, and I’ll tell you, the Lord is uncompromising. You see Jesus coming almost ruthlessly against these people who said they were believers. There’s a ruthlessness in there. Now, it’s important to note that this was done in kindness, love, and weeping, but the Lord was bearing down on these.

And I’m telling you, if Jesus stood where I stand tonight and He looked out over this audience and up in the balcony, we all call ourselves believers. I wonder how many Jesus would point to in His discernment and say, “No, liar, hypocrite.” In fact, it gets stronger than that in this lesson tonight. See the Lord’s uncompromising stand against those who claim to be believers. It’s given me such courage to reach out.

The Issue of Counterfeit Conversions

I’m beginning to understand something about the church. There’s a massive number of counterfeit conversions in the church, bringing in a counterfeit kind of spirituality. The gospel has been so watered down. You can go to churches where even demons would be comfortable. There are demons that could say, “Amen,” to everything that’s being preached from the pulpit.

You don’t believe that? Well, let me read to you, “Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well. Even the devils believe, and tremble.” Even the demons believe that God is Lord, and they shudder. That word is shudder. They tremble. You say you believe, but you’re not even shaking, yet the demons shake.

The Influence of Worldliness in Churches

Why is the church today polluted with absolute punk rock? We’ve got kids standing in Pentecostal churches today, dressed in tight spandex, with purple hair spiked out four feet tall. One of that group was in my office in Texas. And I said, “How do you get your hair to stick out like that?” He said, “You lay down like this in the bed, comb it down and get three cans of hairspray and spray it after you’ve colored it.”

They sat in my office. I mean, you see, they were secular rock and rollers. They said they believed in Jesus, so they just brought the rock and roll and everything in that used to dress like that. Now they’re dressing like that for Jesus. The only thing that’s changed is they put Jesus’ words to the same melodies.

And you know what they said to me? I got my Bible out and tried to go through it. They said they wanted help. And you know what they told me after? “Brother Dave, none of these kids listen to old prophets like you anymore. We’re the new prophets of this generation.”

And why are our kids now dancing in the aisles to heavy metal in our churches? The kids dress, squirming around in tight pants, spandex pants, with purple and green hair. And I mean, dancing down the aisle sensuously with lust in their eyes, and calling it a spiritual experience.

The Blurring of Lines Between the Ungodly and the Religious

Why is there no more difference between the ungodly and the religious in many Christian circles today? We’ve got Christian television stations and Christian television programs that parade before the church today, a whole generation of celebrity believers. Celebrity believers, who one day are standing up in a spiritual conference, talking about how Jesus has saved them. And the next time you hear about them, they are on some dirty, filthy soap. They are in some filthy, R-rated movie, and they’re being applauded by the church.

You see them in Las Vegas performing in nightclubs. There is one Christian brother who, if I named him, you’d be shocked. And he’s considered one of the great celebrity Christians in America today. But he goes to Las Vegas for two weeks every year with the news behind him. But you see, he holds prayer meetings after his show in his room, and that’s supposed to make everything all right.

The Need for Separation and Holiness

What’s happened to words like separation, coming out from among them, being separate and clean, and not sitting in the seat of the scornful? You know why the church is becoming more like Hollywood than Jesus? I want to show it to you. It’s because we’ve got greedy dogs in the pulpit. You’re saying, “Hey, that’s strong language.” Well, I didn’t say it, Isaiah said it. Isaiah, that soft-spoken prophet of all the major prophets, Isaiah 56.

I want to show you what’s happening in the church of Jesus Christ today, and why we’ve got this phony spirituality. We’ve got this counterfeit thing that undiscerning Christians are praising God and saying, “Isn’t this wonderful?” But it’s to the devil.

Isaiah 56, that fellow Holy Ghost, is about to wind me up. Isaiah 56, verse 10, “His watchmen are blind. They are all ignorant. They are all dumb dogs. They cannot bark. They’re sleeping, lying down, loving to slumber.”

The Role of God’s Watchmen

‘Yea, they are greedy dogs which can never have enough, and they are shepherds. They cannot understand. They all look to their own way, everyone after his own gain from his own quarter. “Come,” they say, “I will fetch wine, and we will fill ourselves with strong drink; and tomorrow shall be as this day, and much more abundant.”‘ In other words, we’re prospering today. We’re going to prosper more tomorrow. Every day’s the same, and it’s going to get better the way we’re going.

But look what it says here. His watchmen are blind. They’re ignorant. They’re dumb dogs. They cannot bark anymore. Listen to me. Look me right in the eye now. God has called me as a preacher of the gospel, as His watchman, to bark in the house of God. I’m barking tonight.

I’m barking. He’s called every one of us to bark. He said only the dumb dogs, only those who look for their own interest, only those who have their own dreams will not bark. They’re sleeping, they’re lying down. Now, I know a lot of people don’t want that kind of preaching today, and I’m not trying to play to the crowd, but if you go to a church where there’s a man that tries to wake you up and say, “No sin,” and he cries and he barks, you thank God for it. You thank God for it.

He said there’s, in fact, there’s no more barking in many pulpits today.

The Need for Vigilant Shepherds

And that’s why, listen, if we had some barking shepherds who could stand up when this stuff started coming in and stand up with the word of God and say, “Sin, this is wrong, this is not of God, this is the devil,” we would have driven it out of the house of God long ago. It wouldn’t be here now. But the shepherds went to sleep. Shepherds were building big churches, trying to have the world’s biggest church.

They were trying to build these super domes. They were trying to have 10,000 in Sunday school, and their kids were going to hell. They can’t bark; they’re lazy on sin, self-seeking. While they slept, the enemy came in and planted a counterfeit gospel. I’ll tell you, this is the church of the barking dog shepherds. Tell everybody.

Identifying Counterfeit Believers

Now, Jesus has revealed in this. Go back to John. Jesus has revealed in this passage how to tell what’s counterfeit and what is genuine. I’m going to give you three ways to tell the counterfeit; three ways you want to know what’s real, what’s counterfeit today. You want something to help your discernment. I’m going to have to get your Holy Ghost antennas up, and it’s all right here, all from this passage.

First of all, counterfeit believers are blind to their bondage and slavery that they’re under. They’re under bondage and slavery and don’t know it, and they get mad if you try to show them. Yes, they do. When Jesus told these believers that they could not be His disciples unless they allowed His word to break their sins, they got offended. Look at verse 31.

The Deception of False Belief

Then Jesus said to those Jews that believed on Him, “If you continue in My word, then are you My disciples indeed; and you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” Jesus is inferring they’re in bondage. He would have never said, “Come to My truth and be free” if they were not. It’s right there, very clearly. And what He’s saying, “You say you believe in Me, but you’re not free. You’re still bound.”

“If you really believe in Me, you must obey My word and continue in My word.” In fact, the better translation is simply this, “Whosoever practices sin is his servant.” Look at verse 34, “Jesus answered them, saying, ‘Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin.'” That doesn’t mean you commit one sin, but he who practices sin is a slave to sin.

But Jesus is saying, “But I mean,” these people look at me. They were horrified. They were angry. They said, “What do you mean bondage? What do you mean sin? We’ve never been in bondage to anybody.” Look at it in verse 33, “They answered Him, ‘We be Abraham’s seed, and were never in bondage to any man: how sayest thou, Ye shall be made free?'”

“What do you mean there’s sin in my life? What do you mean that I’m not a child of God? What do you mean that I’m taking direction from the devil rather than from God, my Father?” And that’s what Jesus tells them. You’re going to see it very, very clearly here. But they would, they would say to Jesus, “But Master, You told one of us, Nicodemus, who was one of us. You told Nicodemus, ‘Whosoever believeth on You shall not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not His Son to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.'”

The Full Message of Jesus

And they’re saying, “Jesus, we believe; we stand on Your word. You said we believe, we’re saved. You won’t condemn us. We’re Your righteousness.” And Jesus would have to come back to them and say, “Now, wait a minute. I also told Nicodemus something else.” And it’s that something else that people don’t want. It’s that something else. It’s that big ‘if’ that Jesus puts there before all believers.

He said, “You didn’t quote Me right. See, you go down from John 3:16, John 3:17, and you go to John 3:19, and this is what you get. ‘And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved. But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God.'”

He said, “If you’re going to say you believe in Me, I’m the light, you’re going to come to Me and let Me expose everything that’s in your life, that I can change you. And if you won’t come to Me and accept My word and continue in the word and let My word continuously purge you and work in you, then you’re not My disciple. You can’t be My disciples,” He said. “Unless you do that, you cannot be My disciple. You can’t say you’ll believe in Me unless you take all My word and let it work in you.”

“We say a lot in this church about letting the word of God cleanse. Let the word of God work in you. Let the word of God do it.” And according to Jesus, now listen closely, “No one is a true believer until the word has a place in his heart.” And these are the very words that Jesus uses: a place in the heart.

The Power of God’s Word in True Believers

Until the word is both a terror to you, a hope to you, and you’re committed to obey every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God. Until the word exposes and breaks the bondage of sin and tradition and false doctrine. Oh, we’ve got an easy belief in the church today. We’re telling us, “Just believe and you’ll be saved.” And we blocked off the whole rest of the Bible.

We just mark it all off, just as they did. They would say, “Well, You told Nicodemus just believe and You won’t condemn us. Won’t even talk about walking in the light, resisting the devil that he flees from you.” To these believers, Jesus said, “You seek to kill Me because My word has no place in you.”

They were flabbergasted. “What do you mean? We’re saying we believe in You.” And He said, “You’re out to kill Me. You’re out to kill Me.” Now, you say, “Well, we don’t do that, brother. How would that ever apply?” Oh, yes, we do that. He’s the word, isn’t He? Jesus is the word.

And when we will not accept it and we drive it out, we put Jesus Christ afresh to an open shame. We crucify the Son of God by crucifying His word, driving it out of our lives. Jesus is saying to them, “You cannot be a doer of My word because you’ve never laid down your sin. You still take orders from Satan. You do that which you have seen with your father.”

The Danger of Surface Faith

Can you imagine Jesus, pointing His finger lovingly at these people, these Jews, saying, “You’re doing what your father, the devil, tells you to do”? You’ve never separated from the world. You’re still doing it. You have your old habits, your old ways. You’ve hung on to your old traditions.

Now, we may not like it, but listen close. I believe this is on my heart. A great majority in the church today who call themselves believers have never, never been saved. They have never been touched by the conviction of the Holy Ghost and the Word of God.

They’re still slaves to their old ways and old habits and old friends. Not one iota of change in them. They have one foot in the world. They’re living a lie. They’re putting Christ to an open shame. They go to Jesus and say, “I believe,” but they’re doing more harm to Jesus than Scorsese in his film, “The Last Temptation of Christ.”

The Deception of False Security

The greatest grief of God are those who say ‘I believe’ and will not walk in His words. They can’t see that they’re bound. They get angry if you try to show them. The Bible says they’re going to be cast out as unprofitable servants. They’re going to go to hell thinking they’re believers. They’re going to be damned by deception. They’re going to trust in some false doctrine of security. Did you hear me? A false doctrine of false security. They’re told they’re believers. They’re told everything is alright.

You know, I believe there are some people in the church more deceitful than all those half-dead junkies out on the street. Let me tell you what the lie is. Here’s the lie that many so-called believers are buying from the devil. Those Jews bought it, and now it’s happening again today.

It’s someone who says, “I believe in Jesus.” They say, “God is with me.” This is what the Jews were saying, “We’re children of Abraham. We belong to God. God’s our father.” And this is what you get from people who don’t want to break away from the world. They’ve got a career. They’re in show business. They’re on Broadway. They’re in television. They’re performers, and you get it everywhere you go.

The Delusion of Using God for Personal Gain

“All I have is what God gave me. All my talents and abilities are gifts that He’s given to me. I’m doing exactly what God told me to do. God and I are on good terms.” There’s a young lady who started coming here almost when we opened, the first two months, and she’s an excellent concert-type pianist.

She hasn’t come in months. In fact, she got angry because she was playing in a drinking nightclub, and she, as well as asked if we could approve what she was doing. And her idea is this, “I’m a child of the king. God opened this door for me. Yes, I do perform where there’s a drinking, cursing crowd. Yes, I’m in the middle of wickedness, but God put me there as His representative. God told me it’s all right.”

I had another young starlet who doesn’t come anymore, not one that sang in the choir or anything else, just visited the church. “Yes, I play a role that’s off-color.” She had a movie piece, “But that’s not the real me. The real me is a lover of Jesus. That’s just something I play.” How do you separate the two? How do you separate the two?

The Truth About Following Jesus

Do you know what my Bible says? Jesus said, “When He puts forth His own sheep, He goes before them, and the sheep follow Him.” Did Jesus go before you, and you followed Him there? See, it’s this line. It’s the worst kind of counterfeit spirituality.

See, there’s never been a surrender. There’s never been a separation from the world. There’s been no heartbreak over sin. There’s been no laying down of the past life. And Jesus knows that. He tells it like it is.

Jesus said, “You people really don’t want My word. You don’t tremble at it. You don’t really want to hear it. You don’t stop and let it sink in. My word means nothing to you. You say you believe in that. My word doesn’t have any meaning to you whatsoever.”

He said, “You say you’re My disciples, but you’re not. ‘If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.’ God said to Malachi, ‘If I be a father to you, where is My honor? And if I be your master, where is My fear?’ You’re going to call Me master. Why don’t you tremble at My word? Why don’t you believe what I’ve given to you? Why don’t you believe My servants the prophets?”

The Indifference of Today’s Youth

You know, I have been among young people so addicted to their rock and roll, so addicted to heavy metal, even punk music. And I tell you, as I stand here, an angel from God’s heaven could come down. In fact, Jesus Christ Himself could come in the flesh and stand there, and they could know He was Jesus, and He could preach to them. They would not let it go.

I’ve had them stand up against me. “I don’t care what you say. God told me it’s alright. I don’t care what it says there. God told me it’s alright.” You see, they have this kind of no sense of need, no need to repent, no need to change, nothing to lay down and forsake for Jesus. Just pick everything up and go with Jesus.

You see, they don’t see Jesus as an emancipator from sin. They see Him as an enhancer of their career and of their personality. They enhance. In other words, “I’ll add Jesus. He’ll help my career.” You know that most of these rock groups that are in the church, and I’m not just dealing with rock groups here at all, do you know that they just use Jesus?

They’re not one of them who could make it in the secular world. So what they do, they come into the house of God, they’re second and third rate to start with, and they come in and the shepherds are blind and they say, “If the kids want it, let’s get them. We don’t want to lose the kids.” So they’re bringing it all into the house of God and they set up their entertainment. They bring this pollution into the house of God.

The shepherds are asleep. Greedy dogs. I’m not indicting all of them. I’m indicting those who allow this stuff in the church. I better smile when I talk to you. You’ll think I’m mad. I’m not mad. I’m just burning inside with the zeal of God.

But you know what they do? They use Jesus. They can’t make it, but if I add Jesus’ words to this, and they use all of these poor, blind, misguided, shepherdless teenagers in our churches to walk on their backs, to give themselves a reputation and try to make it. And I’ll tell you the first time CBS or anybody else would lay a contract down there, they’d jump to the secular right on the nose. They’d jump just like that to get a contract. Many of them are doing it right now.

Jesus’ Condemnation of False Spirituality

He said, “You are doing the deeds of your father.” Jesus said, “I don’t have anything to do with this business. You call it spirituality. No, it’s of the devil.” Jesus said, it’s of Satan. Did you get that first one now? You can’t correct them because they say, “I am right. I don’t care what you say. I don’t care how much you preach. I don’t care how you prophesy. God told me I’m God’s child. Everything’s all right.” Me? Well, it just says it right there.

The Illusion of Freedom from Bondage

“We’ve never been in bondage to any man, but we won’t be in bondage to You. You won’t put a guilt trip on us. No bondage.” These people were bound by sin. They were taking direction from their father, the devil, and didn’t even know it. And they look right at the Son of God and say, “Never, not us.”

Alright, number two: they won’t even believe Jesus when He calls them fornicators and idolaters. They won’t even believe Jesus. Jesus boldly said to these people, “What you are doing is of the devil. All these deeds you think are approved by God are deeds of the flesh.” Verse 41: “You do the deeds of your father,” and they became absolutely indignant.

Refusing to Accept the Truth

I want you to look at verse 41. What does Jesus say? “You do the deeds of your father.” Then said they to Him, “We be not born of fornication; we have one Father, even God.” Alright, look at me, please. Here’s the excuse: “We are doing nothing wrong. We’re not evil. We love God. There’s absolutely nothing wrong in the way I’m living my life.”

The devil is not in me. The devil is not directing me. It’s the Spirit of God that’s in me. We’re children of God. We’re special. We’re chosen. That’s what these Jews were saying to Jesus. “We’re not born of fornication. We have one Father, even God. He’s our father. We’re being directed by God.” Jesus didn’t buy it. Jesus didn’t buy it at all.

The Standards of True Children of God

Jesus said, and I want to make this clear, if Jesus stood here today, you know what He would say? “I made it clear who My children are. You say you’re a child of the Father, a child of God, My Father. Well, My children, the sons of God, are free from all ties to this world. My sons are not unequally yoked with unbelievers. My sons have no fellowship with the works of darkness.”

“My son has no communion with the workers of wicked iniquity. My sons refuse to take My temple into dens of iniquity. My sons are separated from this world. They touch not the unclean thing.” If you want the words for that, that’s 2 Corinthians 6:14-18. Jesus listened to these people. They said, “We’re not committing idolatry. God speaks to us.”

Jesus’ Exasperation with Unbelieving Believers

And Jesus seems exasperated. He, you know, like Jesus says — He can’t understand why they’re so blind. He’s made the word so simple. He’s saying, “Don’t be yoked with unbelievers. Don’t fellowship with darkness. What fellowship has light with darkness? Come out from among them. Be ye separate and clean,” saith the Lord. “Then I receive you as My son or daughter.” How clearer could that be?

And Jesus is, He seems exasperated because He knows they’re into idolatry. He knows they’re fornicators, and they have to spit it into. And they’re saying, “We believe on You, Jesus.” And Jesus keeps backing away. He said, “No, that’s not enough just to say you believe in Me.” And He keeps coming down. And you hear this exasperation—look down in verse 43.

The Heartbreak of Unheard Preaching

“Why?” See if you can see the exasperation there. “Why do you not understand My speech? Why don’t you understand what I’m saying?” People, look this way. We look at that scripture. I tell you, that’s the heartbreak of preaching, especially to the young generation today. That’s the heartbreak of preaching to people that, you know, as a pastor, are compromising in their life.

And you come with the word time and time again. And you say, “I thought, I thought that was as clear as it could be made. A little child could understand that.” I’ve known this desperation, this exasperation that Jesus seems to have here. “Why? Why aren’t you seeing it? Why don’t you understand? It’s not complicated. I made it so simple that a child can understand it.”

“You’re confusing it because you’re not of God. You’re not hearing in the heart because you really don’t want to pay the price.” Look at the verse again, verse 43: “Why do you not understand My speech? Even because you cannot hear My word.” Verse 44: “Ye are of your father, who? And the lust of your father, you will do.”

The Inability to Let Go of Worldly Lusts

You see, there was a lust. They couldn’t let it go. They lusted after the things of this world. They lusted after something there. And He said, “No, as long as you won’t lay that lust down, don’t talk to Me about believing in Me. No,” He said, “you’re lying. That’s of Satan. You’re just doing the lust of your father.”

Is that what He’s saying? You remember He’s talking to those who claim to be believers. I’ll tell you what, Jesus is not going to buy a lot of the things we try to pass off on Him. “Why don’t you understand? Because you cannot hear My words.” Look at verse 47: “He that is of God heareth God’s words. Ye therefore hear them not, because you are not of God.”

The Devil’s Influence in Idolatry Among Believers

Listen, do you hear the word when it goes forth from this pulpit? Jesus was saying that all idolatry among believers is personally directed by the devil. All idolatry is whispered into the heart by the devil. You know, after Jesus immediately told the believers they weren’t hearing the truth, He said, “Why don’t you hear Me? You’re not hearing Me.”

Then He tells them who they’re listening to. He said, “You, verse 44, are of your father, the devil. The lust of your father, you will do. He speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own, for he is a liar and the father of it.” I got a letter here Friday from someone who’s from another nation and visits this church occasionally when in New York City.

He said, “David, I travel frequently to New York City,” and he said, “I’m a hypocrite. I’m just acting. I’m one whom the Lord denounces. I’m sure that I’m saved, but also think that I’m playing games with God.” You see, “I’m overcome with a sin that so easily besets me. The sin of pornography, sexual fantasy, and lust. In two worst places I can be alone in a hotel is London and New York.”

“I have never physically compromised my wedding vows, but my filthy mind has many times. I know many men and Christian men included suffer from this same sin, but they lack the desire or the ability to do anything about it. I have the desire, yet even this desire is sometimes strong, like right now. And sometimes it’s weak, like one hour before the R-rated movies come on television.”

“Before these abominations are due to go on at 10 o’clock to be shown, I try to fight it, knowing I’m going to lose. It really is so hellish. I guess it must be like drugs. I’ve wondered about diving out of an open window at times, but what would that accomplish? The enemy would just score points. Brother Dave, I want to fight this thing. Even I want to be delivered. My problem is I’m not sure if it’s an outside influence coming at me, or if it’s just the deceitfulness of my own wicked heart.” And he goes on, he just cries, “Sometimes I feel like jumping out of a window.” Here’s a man fighting, raging against a lust inside.

Hope for Those Who Acknowledge Their Sin

But you see, there’s hope for this kind of man. There’s hope for this man because he sees the exceeding sinfulness of it. He wants to hear the word of God. And he said, “I want to close this. I’d like to come in and have you show me the word. Try to help me.”

But you see, many Christians are allowing what this man called an outside influence in the home. Told you I’m going to talk about Johnny Carson or Jesus Christ. Well, here I go again, but I’m going to be trying to be as sweet and kind as I know. Lord, help me to be sweet.

I want to ask you a question, saints, all back here and here. I know right now you’re saying, “Here he goes again.” I mean, you’re going to get your defense mechanism up. But in light of what I’m talking to you about right here, and Jesus says, “Why don’t you understand even because you’re not hearing My voice?” I want to get dead serious with this church.

We’re talking about walking in holiness in this church. We’re talking about setting an example for the lost. We’re talking about being free to worship the Lord with clean hands and a pure heart. And you hear us talk about this idolatry, this idolatry.

And yet I get the feeling that some of you are not hearing a word I say or any other pastor that’s mentioned it, that you’re not hearing it at all. But I’m going to ask you a question. I want to say it in very great love right now. Who told you? Who told you it’s OK to sit for hours drinking in filth in front of television?

Questioning the Source of Moral Guidance

Who told you it’s not idolatry to sit and watch something that’s totally corrupted out of the pits of hell? Who told you that’s not corrupt? Who told you it’s not an idol? Was it Jesus who told you that? Was it the Holy Ghost said, “You’re mature? Brother Dave’s just on a hang-up right now. He’ll get over it.”

I have a preacher friend, who I thought was very close to me, one night in his church because I sensed the spirit of idolatry in that church of wickedness. And I knew where it was coming from. And I began to thunder this message and I did it in love with the Holy Thunder of God. I trembled as I preached it.

Addressing Idolatry in the Church

You know what the pastor did? That was Sunday night, Wednesday night in prayer meeting. He got up and he said, “Please don’t. It works so much like, ‘Please don’t take Brother Dave too serious on that.'” When he comes to my house, I hide it in the closet. I bring it out as soon as he’s gone. “He goes through those stages.” No, folks, I hear the Holy Thunder in my soul.

I hear God says, “You don’t sit in the seat of the scornful.” I hear a scripture that says, “I’ll set no evil thing before my eyes.” I hear the word that says, “Bring no abomination into your house.” I hear it by the hundreds of scriptures. And I don’t understand why our people in this church are not hearing it.

The Challenge of Confronting Worldly Influences

You say you are a believer. You say you want to go all the way with Jesus. Who told you it’s OK? Did the Holy Ghost tell you you can sit there and watch Dallas and Dynasty? Did the Holy Ghost say that you’re mature? You can sit there and watch violence. You can bring those R-rated movies and videos into your house and come into this house and praise God. Who told you that? Did the Holy Ghost tell you that?

I ask another question in love as a pastor who weeps over this congregation who’s talking to you now. Is it the devil going to tell you to tear it away and get away from idolatry? Is it the enemy? Is the devil saying, “Get away from iniquity”? Is it the devil that breaks my heart over this kind of iniquity in the church? Is it?

Alright, then, if it’s God, you’ve got a dilemma. You have to make a choice. You cannot say, “Brother Wilkerson is legalistic.” You cannot say, “I’m sick and tired of hearing this.” You have to make your choice. And I’ll tell you why the choice has to be made, because it’s getting worse.

And if you can’t handle it now, and this gets a hold of you, the lust and the filth that comes out of that tube, if it gets a hold of your heart any more than it has now, no angel, nobody is going to ever break it from you. Who told you that you can enjoy that Fatal Attraction? Even the devil calls it a fatal attraction. It’ll kill you and destroy you.

The Deception in Rationalizing Sin

Who told you that’s alright, that you can come to God’s house? Who told you you can run out on your husband or wife, and you can walk right out the door and come in the house? Who told you that? It wasn’t God. It was the devil. Who told you it’s alright to slip out occasionally and go nightclubbing? Who told you that? Did that come from God? Or of your father, the devil, and the lust of your father, you’re doing.

“Why do you not understand My speech? Why can’t you hear My word?” You know what shakes my soul to the very core? Jesus is speaking to those who call themselves believers, but He’s saying, “You’re of the devil. You’re doing the lust of your father.” That shakes me up.

The Blindness of Self-Justification

Because you can sit in this church tonight, being blind to who you are and what you’re doing, making excuses, saying, “That’s not me. I love God. I’m not a fornicator.” “We be not fornicators,” they said. “We’re not committing adultery. We’re not fornicating.” You’ll say, “It’s a I. I don’t see it. I don’t see it like you see it.”

You don’t have to see it like I see it. You have to see it the way the word sees it. I begged the Holy Ghost. I begged the Lord in the ways you’re speaking. Say, “Lord, I don’t want to. I don’t even want to do that anymore. I don’t want to talk about that.”

I don’t want to glorify anybody’s flesh. But I know what it’s like. I know the tracks of this thing. It’s so satanic, even though I preach like this, in a case. Now I’m in a hotel somewhere. There’s a tendency to turn on the news. I did it a few weeks ago. I turned on to get the 10 o’clock news. And there was something. “Come on. Just watch the next movie.”

And boy, the Holy Spirit, I begin to feel this pull, this pull. I said, “Oh, God, if it’s not even in my home, then that pull’s there, just occasionally like this. What kind of an attraction is that? What kind of attraction is it that you get angry at me for talking about it?” I’m barking. I’m a barking watchman. And I weep for your soul.

Confronting Sin with the Truth

Number three. Oh, my. Alright, here’s the trick. Here’s the here’s. This is this is really cute the way the devil. This is something else. And boy, does this hit the nail on the head. Rather than deal with their sin, they try to switch the blame by crying, “Don’t judge.” You want to see it black and white? I got this in the Holy Ghost.

Brother, sister, look at verse 48. ‘Then answered the Jews and said unto Him, “Say we not well that thou art a Samaritan? You have a devil in you.”‘ Look at verse 53. The verse, the last part, the last three words, four words of verse 53: “I thought greater than our father Abraham, which is dead.” The problem is, “Who makest thou thyself? Who are you? Why are you judging us?”

Now, look at me. Listen, I’m going to speak, but I want you here good. Because it strikes at what’s happening in the whole charismatic movement today and evangelical circles everywhere. And that shocks me. The anger that should be directed to their own sin is turned around and directed against the reprover.

Turning the Tables on Reproval

Did you catch it? Jesus is reproving them, and they say, “No, wait a minute.” Then they turn the tables and they said, “No, You’re the one with the devil. Devil speaking through You. You’ve got a devil in You because we’re of God, and You don’t recognize it. If You’re of God, You’d recognize it. And You’re wrong because You’re judging, and judging is a sin. So that makes You the transgressor.”

So they take the searchlight away from their own sin. And they said, “I don’t want any preacher telling me what to do. I don’t want anybody telling me what to do. I know I’m all right with God. I’m not going to let anybody tell me different.”

What a clever device that’s being used by the devil these last days to cover a false doctor. He uses it to cover up sin in the pulpit and in the pew. The cry everywhere today is, “Don’t judge,” because you’re trying to hinder unity. It’s, I call it a love trap, a false love trap.

If you give me a good ear now, please. If you’re not careful, somebody’s going to come to you here in New York City. You’re going to get it from a preacher. You’ll get it. Somebody said, “Don’t go to Times Square Church because those preachers down there are judging churches. They’re judging everybody else. They think they’re the only ones that have the gospel.”

The Misinterpretation of Judgment in the Church

And that’s the furthest thing from the truth. Not at all. We fast and pray. We seek God for other pastors and we’re praying for revival in this city. And we love every one of them. We’ll spend our last moment and waking hour. Anyone who will walk in righteousness with us, but they’ll say, “No, there’s a unity movement. And those men are standing there. They don’t believe in unity.”

There is no unity outside of holiness. There is no unity outside of walking in His righteousness. We are one because we come under the word. We come under the power of this word. We surrendered to the word. We are united at the cross of Jesus Christ and through His shed blood.

But I’m not going to walk with those who will not deal with these issues that Jesus is dealing with. And the cry is, “Don’t judge.” And folks, we don’t even begin to understand it. We’ve got a lot of people so confused about this.

The Biblical Perspective on Judgment

Yes, the Bible says, “Don’t judge.” But then it goes on to quickly explain. Don’t judge after the flesh. It’s right in this chapter. I’ll show it to you. Eighth chapter, verse 15. Jesus is still talking. Saints, would you agree that it’s on pretty good ground that Jesus is doing the talking? Is that in red letters in your Bible?

Verse 15: “Ye judge after the flesh; I judge no man.” But He’s saying, “You judge people after the flesh. I don’t judge them that way because next versus says, “yet when I judge, or if I judge, My judgment is true.” And look at verse 26: “I have many things to say and to judge of you.” He said, “I’ve got many judgments I’ve got to pass on you.”

Righteous Judgment Versus Fleshly Judgment

I want you to look this way, please. When Jesus says, “Don’t judge,” the Bible and Paul, all the apostles, anyway you read it, don’t judge. He said, “Don’t judge after the flesh.” Judging after the flesh is vindictive. It comes from a mean spirit. It comes from arrogance. It comes from some doctrinal issue that somebody is trying to uphold.

It doesn’t come from a broken heart. To judge after the spirit, and the Bible calls it judging righteous judgment, is to judge redemptively. This comes from a broken heart. This comes from a pastor who stands like tonight and says, “Look, I have to preach like this because I see danger in it.”

“I love you too much. I care about you, and I’ve wept over you. And I stand here now. I’m not judging you according to the flesh. I’m judging you redemptively, hoping that you’ll see the error of your ways and be saved and be healed. And I can hug you, and I’ll know there’s something of God’s character in you. Hallelujah.”

The Role of a Shepherd in the Church

We’re not judging after the flesh. We’re judging righteous judgment according to the word of God that comes first of all from having a zeal for God’s word, a zeal for His holiness, and then a love for the people involved. Oh, I’ve heard preachers just get up and just bang their congregations over the head.

I’m not banging you over the head tonight. Not at all. If you’re a Christian and you’re delving into the world, I cry out like this for one reason: redemption, that you can be redeemed from it because I see the danger. We see the danger. That’s what God calls ministers of the gospel for, to show them the dangers of these things.

“Have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them.” Would you go to 2 Timothy, please? I’m going to close in just a few moments. 2 Timothy, the fourth chapter, because, you know, if we don’t judge righteous judgment, we’re going to be carried away by every wind and wave of doctrine.

And God help this church if the time ever came when we had pastors up here afraid to judge righteous judgment. 1 Timothy, the fourth chapter. 1 Timothy, fourth chapter, verse one: “Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of devils.”

The Danger of False Doctrines and Worldly Influences

People, listen to me. What kind of pastors would we be if we saw these doctrines of devils coming in? If we saw this worldly spirit, these fables coming in, and we didn’t stand up and bark to wake you up? I wouldn’t be a shepherd. I have no right to be in this pulpit.

If I don’t weep when I’m alone, shut in with God, if I can’t come here in this pulpit and bear my soul as a holy ambassador of Jesus Christ to see Jesus formed in you. Some of you that are off Broadway, some of you are in all these other things, and you’re still dabbling around.

I’m not mad at you. I’m not trying to put you down. I’m trying to say that’s going to destroy you. And I want to fellowship with you. I want to look you in the eye and see Jesus in you. I want to see holiness in you. I want to have that comrade spirit with you.

And I’m not going to stand before the judgment day and have to answer for your soul. You sat in this church. You heard us preach. Have we never tried out? We never barked? No, no. It comes from a broken heart because we see the devil trying to destroy you.

The Responsibility of Being Aware of Spiritual Dangers

Read the next verse. “Speaking lies in hypocrisy, having their conscience seared with a hot iron, forbidding to marry and commanding to abstain from meats.” Look at verse 4. I want to skip. I want you to go to Titus. Just keep going right to Titus. First chapter, verse 10.”

“For there are many unruly and vain talkers and deceivers, especially they of the circumcision, whose mouths must be stopped, who subvert whole houses, teaching things which they ought not for filthy lucre’s sake. One of themselves, even a prophet of their own, said, “The Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, slow bellies. This witness is true. Wherefore, rebuke them sharply, that they may be sound in the faith.””

Alright, look this way, please. I’m going to close in just a few minutes. This morning in this pulpit, God raised up a word of warning against those who say “the blood of Jesus Christ is not enough; it did not atone for sin.” In fact, if you want to come to us privately, it’s not been the practice of this pulpit to name names because we’re talking about principles, not people. We’re talking about doctrines and not those who preach them.

But we can give you the name of almost every prosperity preacher in America, your favorite, if you’re into it, and we can show you where every one of them now believes that “the blood of Jesus Christ does not totally atone.” In fact, three of the major ones have said that the blood of either one is either one of the things. Isn’t that correct? The blood of either one of the thieves could atone, if the blood could atone for sin, either one of the thieves would have done.

We can talk to you in black and white. We can give you tapes and you can listen to them. Now, can we just sit back and say, “Go get burned?” Or do we stand here and say, “No, here’s what the word says,” and bark and warn? That’s what we’re trying to do.

And in the next month or so, there’s going to be a lot of barking. Holy Ghost barking. Oh, yes, there is. Not against men, but against doctrines of demons and devils. Hallelujah. My Bible says we’re going to start closed. Come on out.

I asked the Lord to give me the key to this whole chapter before I close. I asked the Lord to give me the key to this whole chapter. What is it You’re trying to say in closing? All right, here it is. Listen closely. I’ll try to say it very simply. I want it to be clear in your mind.

Counterfeit spirituality. That is a person who refuses to lay down the world, to lay down anything for Jesus. The spiritual man, the truly spiritual believer, the true believer, is the one who lays everything down. That’s as simple as it can get.

The Contrast Between True Believers and Counterfeits

The one who’s counterfeit holds on to the world, his habits, his crowd, his career. He wants to hold it. And that’s what Jesus says, “No, you can’t be My believer till you let go. Let go.” And all the Holy Ghost all last night till probably two o’clock in the morning I was praying, “Oh God, what is the key? What are You trying to say tonight? Make it real to the people. Make it simple.”

The Lord said even the whole thing. The reason I couldn’t accept their faith. I couldn’t accept what they said as believers is because they would not let go of their tradition. They would not let go of their own religion. They wouldn’t let go and come to Me. They wanted to believe that I was God in the flesh, but hold everything they had. They wouldn’t let go.

They really didn’t need Me. They were just adding Me on top of what they had. No, Jesus is the life. You come to Him. He’s the door. Everything goes. Everything. “Lord, everything goes. It’s all Yours. I lay it all down.” Stand, please. Stand.

I would tonight that if you were angry at my preaching, I could see you backstage and just hug you and say, “No, you didn’t hear me right. We want to see Jesus formed in you.” We don’t want to see the hypocrisy anymore. We don’t want to see that double standard. We don’t want to see the devil plaguing your soul.

We don’t want to see the devil coming after you trying to tear your soul apart anymore. We don’t want to see your home divided. We want to see the Holy Ghost come down on you. We want to see that first love that you once had renewed. That’s what this service is all about tonight.

I want God by His Holy Spirit to deal truthfully with you. Will you bow your heads and ask the Holy Spirit to deal with you? Would you open up your heart, your mind to the Holy Spirit tonight? Well, I pray. Holy Spirit, I can’t do anything now. You have to do it.

Holy Spirit, fall on us tonight. Everyone in the balcony, everyone on this main floor, Holy Ghost, fall on us right now. Fall upon us. Convict us. Are we doers of the word? Did we hear something tonight and just slough it off? Or are we going to take it to heart and said, “Yes, Jesus, I heard You tonight. I’ll obey You. I heard. If I never heard before I heard it tonight. I lay my sin down. I lay my idolatry down. Yes, Lord, I’m going to obey You.”

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