David Wilkerson steps off the battlefield of global spiritual warfare and into the one nobody talks about—the private war—where affliction piles on affliction, lust attacks the holiest saints, and the only voices left are lying spirits sent on assignment by the devil himself.

Preached: July 29, 2007

Main Points:

• Every believer has a private war that nobody else can reach, not a pastor, not a spouse, not a counselor. David Wilkerson watched his son Greg endure two and a half years of unbearable pain and could not touch it. His wife Gwen, who battled cancer, would look at him with pain etched in her face and say, "This is my silent war; I can't explain it."

• God does not want you putting on a brave face in the pew, singing along when your soul is shattered. He has sympathy for where you are, but what needs to happen can only happen between you and him, and no amount of pumped-up meetings will substitute for that.

• The lust that wars in your members is not reserved for the carnal and the backslidden. David was godly, righteous, and admired by his enemies before his world came crashing down. Sleepless nights, unbearable guilt, bones aching, God seemingly silent—that was the private war of a saint.

• God cannot take you out of your battle because people around you are depending on your strength without knowing it. The intensity of your private war is often proportional to how many weak believers are sheltering in your shadow.

• The way through is not escape but magnification. Made a decision: live or die, I am going to praise God in the middle of this. Not after deliverance. Not on the other side of the Red Sea. Right here, right now, in the fire.

• Deliverance is not God's final goal. Israel was delivered ten times and still complained. God wants to know whether the trial made you more Christlike, more compassionate, more dependent on him, more ready for the next battle that is already coming.

• The devil sends lying spirits on assignment to those who walk closest to God, whispering night and day that you're a hypocrite and your anointing is gone. The answer is not to argue with the voice but to open your Bible and read promise after promise until the liar has nothing left to stand on.

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