With fear spreading across the world after 9/11, David Wilkerson turns to Isaiah’s warning that gladness is taken from a proud nation under judgment. But the same prophets also saw a holy remnant who would “obtain joy and gladness.” This sermon calls believers to the mountain of prayer to feast on Christ, who was anointed with the oil of gladness. There they can lose their fear of death and stand at peace while the world reels.

Preached: July 28, 2002

Main Points:

• When a nation becomes proud and forgets God, one of the first things lost is its gladness. Fear moves in, the singing stops, and even prosperity can’t buy back the joy.

• People reach for distractions, pills, parties, and screens to numb their fear, but when morning comes, the emptiness is still there. Lasting gladness can’t be manufactured. It has to be received.

• In the same days the world loses its joy, God promises a holy remnant who will “obtain joy and gladness,” a joy no headline, crisis, or judgment can steal.

• Jesus was anointed with the oil of gladness, and he has enough for all of us. Walking in the Spirit means walking in that oil.

• The strongest witness in a fearful world isn’t a forced smile or a quick Bible verse. It’s quiet peace in the middle of real suffering, the kind that makes people ask what’s different about you.

• Many believers talk fear instead of casting their cares on the Lord. Our homes and marriages need a baptism of joy, so the people we love come home to gladness, not gloom.

• God lovingly asks why we fear a man who will die and forget the one who parted the sea for his people. He is still the deliverer, and his people are safe in his hand.

• The only way to keep this joy is to go up to the mountain of prayer and feast on Christ daily. When you lose your fear of death and live for the day you’ll see him face to face, nothing can move you.

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