God Will Never Forsake His People
By David Wilkerson
January 11, 2010 Dearly Beloved:

“GOD IS OUR REFUGE AND STRENGTH, A VERY PRESENT HELP IN TROUBLE”
(Psalm 46:1).
The Lord has promised us, “In your time of trouble — when you face
a persistent, ever present evil —
I will be your ever present help.”
The phrase “ever present” here means “always here, always
available, with unlimited access.” In
short, the abiding presence of the Lord is always in us. And if he is
ever present in us, then he wants
continual conversation with us. He wants us to talk with him no matter
where we are: on the job, with
family, with friends, even with nonbelievers.
I refuse to accept the lie that Satan has thrust upon so many of
God’s people today: that the Lord has
stopped speaking to his people. The enemy wants us to think that God
has allowed Satan to grow in
power and influence, but that he hasn’t equipped his own people with
greater authority. No, never!
Scripture says, “When the enemy shall come in like a flood, the
Spirit of the Lord shall lift up a
standard against him” (Isaiah 59:19). It doesn’t matter what the
devil brings against us. God’s power
in his people will always be greater than Satan’s assaults.
This verse from Isaiah actually refers to the flag-bearer who rode
ahead of Israel’s army. The Lord
always led his people into battle behind his own mighty standard.
Likewise today, God has a glorious
army of heavenly hosts who ride forth under his banner, ready to
execute his battle plans on our
behalf.
You may ask, “So how does God bring us help in our troubles?” His
help comes in the gift of his Holy
Spirit, who dwells in us and works the Father’s will in our lives.
Paul tells us again and again that our
body is the temple of the Holy Ghost. We are the Lord’s dwelling
place on earth.
Of course, we repeat this truth often in our worship and testimonies.
Yet many of us still don’t take it
seriously. We simply don’t understand the power that resides in this
truth. If we did grasp it and trust
in it, we would never again be afraid or dismayed.
I certainly haven’t laid hold of this lesson fully. Even after all my
years as a minister, I am still tempted
to think I have to work up some emotion in order to hear from God. But
the Lord is saying, “You don’t
have to spend hours waiting for me. I abide in you. I am present for
you, night and day.”
Listen to David’s testimony: “I will bless the Lord, who hath given
me counsel: my reins also instruct
me in the night seasons. I have set the Lord always before me: because
he is at my right hand, I shall
not be moved” (Psalm 16:7–8). David is declaring, “God is always
present before me. And I am
determined to keep him in my thoughts. He faithfully guides me day and
night. I don’t ever have to be
confused.”
Thank you for your help in reaching the poor and needy throughout the
world. For information on our
charitable outreaches, go to our website:
www.worldchallenge.org/missions .
God bless you.

In Christ,
DAVID WILKERSON
DW:bbm 1.11.10

Newsletter: God Will Never Forsake His People
January 11, 2010 For the Lord loves justice, and does not forsake his
godly ones; they are preserved
forever; but the descendants of the wicked will be cut off” (Psalm
37:28).
In Luke 22, Jesus delivered a serious warning to perhaps his most
devoted follower. Christ called the
apostle Peter aside and told him the following in no uncertain terms:
“Simon, Simon, behold, Satan
has demanded permission to sift you like wheat; but I have prayed for
you, that your faith may not
fail” (Luke 22:31–32).
Very few Christians would be surprised that Satan wanted to test Peter.
After all, Scripture presents
Peter as a leader among the disciples. To most Bible readers, it is no
wonder the devil sought God’s
permission to come against this bold disciple. Scripture makes clear
that Satan’s main objective is to
destroy the faith of those who serve Jesus. And among Jesus’ inner
circle of twelve, Peter stands out
as a man eager to act on his belief in Christ.
However, there is something about this passage that many Christians
find astonishing. It is this: The
Lord granted Satan access to Peter in order to test him! Yes, our
heavenly Father allowed his precious
servant to become vulnerable to the devil’s wiles.
Think of it: Jesus had already said Peter’s declaration of faith was
the foundation upon which he would
build his church. Yet now Christ was putting his own words at risk by
subjecting Peter to Satan’s fiery
darts. And despite Peter’s bold belief, we know he was a deeply
flawed man.
What if Peter failed the test? How could Christ build his church on the
words of someone so vulnerable
to Satan’s attack? Moreover, how could a loving God subject his
beloved one to such a severe
onslaught? This is what many Christians find troubling.
For some believers, this fact about our heavenly Father simply
doesn’t compute.For many in the
church, this is simply a difficult thought to accept about a loving
God. Yet Scripture shows us again
and again that what happened with Peter has happened as well to many
faithful ones beloved of the
Lord.
For example, this is exactly what happened to Job. Think about what
that righteous man went
through: losing all his possessions, his home, even his precious
children. It’s no wonder that when Job
faced these anguished losses, his godly friends were baffled. They
simply couldn’t accept the idea
that God would allow Satan to test one of his faithful servants so
severely. In their minds, Job surely
had done something to bring on all these horrible losses himself.
Yet nothing could be further from the truth. In the opening chapter of
the book of Job, Satan enters
heaven to seek God’s permission to test Job. And God grants it! He
gives the devil permission to put
an upright man through excruciating trials that would take him to the
very limits of his faith.

Beloved, in every case the Bible make it abundantly clear: The only way
the devil is ever allowed to
test the faith of any servant of God — including righteous Job and
zealous Peter — is through the
express permission of the heavenly Father. We know that God never
changes, that his Word is the
same yesterday, today and forever (see Hebrews 13:8). Therefore, we can
be sure that just as it
happened with those beloved servants, it will happen as well with
everyone who professes to follow
Jesus.
Yet, conversely, consider this truth: Satan cannot shake or test the
faith of any child of God without
the Lord’s permission. What does this tell us? Simply this: God has a
purpose and plan behind every
trial that Satan brings to our lives.
Indeed, when Jesus delivered his warning to Peter, he then encouraged
the disciple with these
incredible words: “But I have prayed for you, that your faith may not
fail” (Luke 22:32). Clearly, Christ
knew Peter would come out of his trial with his faith intact. This
suggests that Jesus had a specific plan
for Peter’s life through the severe trials he was about to face.
The same holds true for us today. Jesus’ promise to pray for his
disciple was made not just to Peter
but to all who would follow Christ in succeeding generations. Our Lord
has a plan to use every one of
our trials.
Consider the many ways Scripture echoes Christ’s warning in this
passage.Revelation tells us that
Satan has come down to the earth in these last days, enraged that he
has but a short time left. And
right now he is waging an all-out attack against the saints: “Woe to
the earth and the sea, because
the devil has come down to you, having great wrath, knowing that he has
only a short time”
(Revelation 12:12).
We are told also that our enemy Satan goes about as a roaring lion,
seeking to devour: “Be of sober
spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls about like a
roaring lion, seeking someone to
devour” (1 Peter 5:8). In short, the devil’s aim is to consume and
swallow the faith of God’s elect.
Likewise, we are told that Satan comes as a thief against all who
believe: “The thief comes only to
steal, and kill, and destroy” (John 10:10). Such a thief doesn’t
just steal from his victims but seeks to
obliterate their faith completely.
Finally, we are told that Satan brings a flood against God’s people,
attempting to sweep away our
faith with awful fear and overwhelming attacks: “The serpent poured
water like a river out of his
mouth after the woman [the church], so that he might cause her to be
swept away with the flood”
(Revelation 12:15).
This is all sobering to consider. Clearly, Peter needed Christ’s
prayer for his faith to come through
intact. But Peter seemed to turn a deaf ear to it all.

In his audacity, Peter was convinced his faith could endure any and all
attacks from Satan.Most
Christians remember Peter’s boast about his own faith: “Lord, I am
ready to go with you, both to
prison, and to death” (Luke 22:33). What Peter says here so brashly
may come across as spiritual
boldness. Yet, in truth, it represents a kind of fleshly audacity that
prompted a warning from Paul to
the church: “Let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall”
(1 Corinthians 10:12).
According to Paul, we are always to have a posture of humility when it
comes to our spiritual battles.
Jude reflects this when he writes: “But Michael the archangel, when
he disputed with the devil and
argued about the body of Moses, did not dare pronounce against him a
railing judgment, but said,
‘The Lord rebuke you’” (Jude 9). God’s Word makes clear the
need for such humility.
Yet, despite this, many Christians still miss it. Often I have heard
believers say, “I am prepared to be a
martyr. It doesn’t matter what I may face. I’m ready to die for the
Lord.” Peter made precisely the
same boast. Yet when his hour came, he wasn’t prepared for it. As
Peter faced the very real prospect
of dying for Jesus, he did something he never could have imagined
doing. He denied the Lord.
In the midst of his crisis, when Peter might have declared his faith in
Jesus, he cursed. In a dark
moment of fear and panic, the disciple shouted to all around him, “I
never knew the man!” What a
devastating moment that must have been for Peter. The boldest of all
believers was reduced to utter
cowardice, fearing for his life.
I’m convinced that most Christians believe they would never commit
the sin that Peter did here. They
tell themselves they are above such a grievous sin. When their moment
comes, they imagine
themselves following Jesus to the death. I have something to say to
every such believer: There is not
a single follower of Christ today who is above Job’s or Peter’s
failures. When troubling sorrows and
trials come to us from the wicked one as they did to these men, we all
become vulnerable to a great
crisis of faith.
I don’t mean to scare anyone by this statement about our capacity for
failure.I simply make this
statement because it is a very serious matter. The Bible makes this
clear. And I see many believers on
the brink of such failure all around me.
Right now, I personally know of precious servants whose faith has been
shaken. I’m talking about men
and women of great faith, some who are preachers of healing and
miracles. These are saints I never
imagined would doubt God’s faithfulness or waver in any way. I was
convinced, “If anybody can make
it through any storm, here is the servant of God who can.”
But now some believers doubt that God even answers prayer. At one time
their trust in him was so
strong it ignited faith in others. But now, like Job and Peter,
difficulties they never imagined have
come upon them. And they find themselves overwhelmed by the severity of
their trials, causing them
to waver.

While Peter was enduring this very kind of attack, Jesus was praying
for him. To me, this is one of the
most encouraging verses in all of Scripture: “But I have prayed for
you, that your faith may not fail”
(Luke 22:32). Consider what Jesus was telling Peter here. He assured
him that no matter what he may
face — no matter what he would go through, including his denial of
Christ — his faith would not fail.
In reality, Peter was not forsaken by God — not for a minute. He
wasn’t forsaken even after he denied
Jesus and ran from the scene. This once-fearless disciple, now broken
and anguishing over his failure,
was never for a moment on his own. And, beloved, neither are we.
It doesn’t matter what your trial may be — what pain you’re
enduring, what test you’re facing, what
failure you now anguish over.At this very moment — in the midst of
your storms, your pains, your
sorrows — Jesus is interceding for you. He is pleading your cause.
And he has never let go of you.
Consider the exhortation Jesus gave to Peter, along with his warning:
“And you, when once you have
turned again, strengthen your brothers” (22:32). This comes on the
very heels of Jesus’ warning to
Peter that he would be sifted. In fact, it is all in the same verse!
Beloved, here is assurance and encouragement for us all. The Lord of
creation holds us in his very
hands. He tells us, as he did Peter, “Get up, go now. Do not focus on
your failure. Rather, feed my
sheep. Warn my precious ones about the enemy’s devices at work
against them. And tell them I hold
them in my hands, through every trial.”
In short, Peter had important work to do. And he’d been equipped with
firsthand experience to preach
the message he was called to deliver. You see, Jesus has told his
church we cannot afford to be
ignorant of Satan’s devices. Peter was able to speak to God’s
precious ones not only about the trials
they would face, but about the faithful God who would see them through
the worst of times.
We must be fully aware of the enemy’s schemes and methods. And the
most powerful weapon in
Satan’s arsenal is a lie — a vicious lie against us, from lips of
the master liar! What is his biggest lie?
That God is not faithful to his people.
Just as he has done throughout history, Satan demands God’s
permission to sift us today. He wants to
attack our homes, our marriages, our children, our health, our jobs and
careers, our very belief in the
Lord. This is the flood that Revelation speaks of: a flood of anguished
trials upon the faithful.
You may wonder: “Exactly how bad can it get for a believer? What does
God allow when he gives
permission for us to be sifted?” I direct you to Hebrews 11, where we
read of the multitude of trials
endured by heroes and martyrs of the faith. Scripture says of them,
“All these, having gained
approval through their faith” (Hebrews 11:39).
The same kind of deep suffering and hardship that those martyrs
suffered is happening to believers
throughout the world today.I think of multitudes of Iraqi Christians
who are under grave threat for

their faith in the midst of a war zone. Many of these dear saints have
had to run for their lives, fleeing
their homes, jobs and churches. To survive they have to escape to
Syria, Jordan and other surrounding
nations that are hostile to Christianity. These Iraqi believers have no
jobs or homes, no haven to run
to. They have to pray daily for food. And many have been killed. Yet
still they minister the gospel in
alien nations where they have been banished by war.
I have received reports from some of these Iraqi believers. They write,
“Brother David, hard times are
not coming. For us, hard times have been here for years.” Because
they have known hardships for
generations, they have learned to cling to faith. Like Peter, they are
equipped to preach with power
Christ’s warning to his church.
I truly believe the majority of godly people in the world today are
under attack from hell, enduring
devilish, seemingly hopeless situations. What about you? If you are not
facing a test of faith, I urge
you: Be very thankful. Yet be humbled, never daring to boast of your
own strength or faith.
Satan waits until the tested one is weary, drained of all strength and
endurance. He waits until all
prayers seem to go unanswered — until everything seems hopeless and
we come to our wit’s end.
That is what happened to Peter, when he watched his Master being
humiliated before the Sanhedrin.
It is what happened to Job, who was forced to ponder the loss of
everything dear to him.
When questions begin rising in the mind of the tested soul — “God,
where are you? Why are my
prayers not being answered?” — that is the moment when Satan
chooses to implant his awful lie:
“God has forsaken you. He has abandoned you. He does not hear you.”
Yet God has not forsaken you — and he never will. Indeed, right now
he is telling you: “I have assured
you I will never leave you. Now, go, get up, feed my sheep. Beware of
Satan’s devices against you.
And lo, I am with you, even to the end of the world.” Amen!
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