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“The day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.

“Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness, looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat?

Recently, a dear Christian woman told me, “I’m learning my purpose in life through a class I’m taking.” She was finishing an eight-week course meant to help people discover their calling. She said everyone in the class was anxious to find their purpose.

I heard a pastor on the radio advertising something similar. He offered to help listeners discover their spiritual gifts. If you would request his questionnaire, fill it out and send it in, his staff would evaluate your particular gifts. Then they would tell you how to find your place in the body of Christ.

When God says to humankind, “Believe,” he demands something that’s wholly beyond reason. Faith is totally illogical. Its very definition has to do with something unreasonable. Think about it: Hebrews says faith is the substance of something hoped for, evidence that’s unseen. We’re being told, in short, “There is no tangible substance. There isn’t any evidence at all.” Yet we’re asked to believe. Can you think of any demand that’s more unreasonable than this one? It says, simply, “Accept this without evidence. Trust the unseen.” It’s totally beyond logic.

"The apostles said unto the Lord, Increase our faith" (Luke 17:5). The men who comprised Christ's close circle were asking something important of their master. They wanted a greater understanding of the meaning and workings of faith. They were saying, in essence, "Lord, what sort of faith do you desire from us? Give us a revelation of the kind that pleases you. We want to grasp faith in its fullest meaning."

Thirty-five years ago, God put it on my heart to start a boys' home in Amityville, New York, on Long Island. I truly sensed the Lord was behind this work. Yet, after just a year and a half, state officials put impossible stringent regulations on the home. They told us we had to have a full-time psychologist on staff, as well as a priest or rabbi if we took in boys who were Catholic or Jewish. We couldn't afford to operate under those restrictions, so we simply shut our doors.

You know the story of King David - how he committed adultery with Bathsheba and secretly arranged for her husband's death. Yet, after the prophet Nathan exposed David's sin, holding it up before his face, the broken king repented of his horrible misdeeds. And he later wrote four psalms expressing the distress and terror he had felt as a result of his sin.

I want to tell you about an anointed servant of God who hated sin as few people ever have. His hatred for evil was so passionate, so intense he was ready to kill all transgressors.

I am speaking of Saul, the first king of Israel! No person in the Old Testament expressed a greater hatred for sin than did Saul.

The title of this message is no joke — I'm not being facetious. I believe the Bible speaks very clearly on this subject of demons: They can't swim — because they hate water!

The Hebrew word for "awful" means dreadful, fearsome, great— awesome! We normally give this word a negative connotation, but that is not at all the biblical meaning.

In the Old Testament, Jacob was touched by a holy dread. During his journey to Haran he lay down and slept, and in the middle of the night he awoke and saw a ladder of angels reaching into heaven. At the top of the ladder the Lord appeared, and He revealed Himself to Jacob, declaring, "I am the Lord God of Abraham thy father, and the God of Isaac" (Genesis 28:13).

"Ye are they which have continued with me in my temptations. And I appoint unto you a kingdom, as my Father hath appointed unto me; that ye may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom, and sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel. And the Lord said, Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat: But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not: and when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren. And he said unto him, Lord, I am ready to go with thee, both into prison and to death.