David Wilkerson: In One Hour Everything is Going to Change

In this powerful prophetic message from Times Square Church, Pastor David Wilkerson preaches from Isaiah 24: “In One Hour, Everything’s Going to Change.”

Key themes include:

• God’s warning of sudden global shaking and judgment (Isaiah 24, Revelation 18)
• Why the world can change in a single hour
• How violence, sin, and idolatry bring nations to the tipping point
• The hope and comfort found in Christ—even in crisis
• Revival, faith, and a song in the fire rising from the Church worldwide

Wilkerson reminds us that God has not appointed His people to wrath but to salvation through Jesus Christ (1 Thessalonians 5). In the darkest times, the Spirit will raise up a people filled with courage, hope, and worship.

This is not a message of fear, but of hope. No matter what comes, we live or die in Christ—and we are safe in Him.

Learn more: https://tsc.nyc

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In One Hour Everything is Going to Change

I have a prophetic word this morning. It’s been quite a while since the Lord has entrusted me to bring a prophetic message, but this is very strong on my heart. I want you to turn to Isaiah 24—Isaiah 24. My message: “In One Hour, Everything’s Going to Change.” I’m going to read just the first few verses, then keep your Bible open because I’ll keep coming back to this. The prophecy is all here. It’s not my prophecy; it’s the Lord’s prophecy given through Isaiah, His holy prophet.

“Behold, the LORD maketh the earth empty, and maketh it waste, and turneth it upside down, and scattereth abroad the inhabitants thereof.
And it shall be, as with the people, so with the priest; as with the servant, so with his master; with the maid, so with her mistress; as with the buyer, so with the seller; as with the lender, so with the borrower; as with the taker of usury, so with the giver of usury to him.
The land shall be utterly emptied, and utterly spoiled: for the LORD hath spoken this word.” (Isaiah 24:1–3, KJV)

Prayer: Father, in love and brokenness I come to this congregation with something You placed on my heart—something prophesied many, many years ago, aimed at this very generation and this time. Lord, awaken our hearts; that we would not tremble, we would not fear, but we would trust Your Word to bring strength to us. Now, Lord, come upon me by Your Holy Spirit. Let me speak the Word of the Living God with confidence and faith. In Jesus’ name I pray, amen.

Through the prophet Isaiah, God said, “I’m going to turn everything upside down.” Scripture makes it very clear: “Behold, the LORD maketh the earth empty… and turneth it upside down.” There’s a sudden judgment coming to this world, and it’s at the door.

I want you to hear what the prophet Isaiah is saying. It’s not my message. If you’re tied to this world, in love with the things of this world, and you are not walking with the Lord, you won’t want to hear this. You may want to cast it aside and say, “I’ll endure this message.” Even if you are a born-again Christian who loves the Lord and is close to Him, if you don’t believe this is the pure Word of God, there may be a tendency not to take it seriously. But this is the Word of God. There are many prophecies going forth in the world; some may or may not be scripturally based. This is Scripture. If you believe this is the pure Word of God, open your heart to what Isaiah says today: in one hour the world is going to change.

When you get to Revelation the 8th chapter, John warned: in one day death and mourning; yes, in one hour an utter burning and judgment will come. That’s the 18th chapter of Revelation, and it confirms this is going to happen. Jesus said it will be when all men cry, “Peace and safety,” then sudden destruction comes—sudden, unexpected destruction from the hand of the Lord.

Isaiah warns that there’s a city—he mentions a city; in fact, a number of prophets do. Most eminent Bible scholars (and I’ve checked my library) believe, as I do, that this prophecy we’re hearing is directed to this generation. In a moment, I’ll enlarge on why I believe we can pinpoint it to our very time.

In one day, in one hour, he says, there’s going to be a great burning. Secular prophets—those in homeland security in the United States, England, Germany—all over the world—are saying a nuclear accident or holocaust is coming to a city. They often name New York City. You know what’s happened here: we lived through 9/11. From our apartment, you could see the burning and the smoke ascending to heaven. A few weeks ago, remember the eruption of the steam pipe—the earth opened up and swallowed a truck. You saw pictures of people running everywhere, screaming, “Is this it?” They were thinking nuclear.

Scripture says in Isaiah 24 that the gates are going to be dissolved—devastated. That means exits and entrances. The city is not named, but a burning and a fire are mentioned. I’ve prophesied for a number of years about something I saw at Broadway and 42nd Street—coming back to me many times—of a thousand fires burning in this particular city in which we live. I don’t know where it is; Isaiah doesn’t name it. But he does say there’s going to be a sudden destruction that changes everything: the world will change in one hour, the church will change in one hour, and we as individuals will change in one hour.

This message is not to frighten. If you’re confident you’re saved—under the blood of Christ and redeemed—you know that if anything like this happens, it’s instant glory. We pass from life into death. Like Paul said, we thank God for this world and our life, but our preference is to go and be with Christ. That should be the desire of your heart.

Scripture says the fear of death is a dominion, a terror. Paul said people lived all their lives that way, but God doesn’t want you to live that way. He wants to deliver us from the fear of death. If we lose the fear of death through trusting in Christ and the power of the Holy Spirit, we will not fear, no matter the newscast or a message such as this. You will be moved only to obey what the Lord says to do.

We don’t know where this will happen. First: the hour will come when the whole world is going to change. Eminent Bible scholars believe Isaiah 24–25 has to do with our time—this very day. A sudden cataclysmic event is going to strike. Isaiah says the lofty (the proud) city will be laid low, even to the ground (see Isaiah 26:5).

According to the prophet, there is utter chaos. You can go out on this sunny Sunday and say, “How could it happen that in one hour there could be such confusion where government can’t do anything, societal agencies can’t do anything?” Even when 9/11 struck, they came from all over the world—firemen, police officers, helpers. But this cataclysmic event will be beyond human ability to cope. Even now, our secular prophets talk about preparing, but a day is coming when in one hour society changes—the whole world changes. The Bible says the merchants will weep and cry because no one buys their merchandise. They’re all sellers and no buyers.

This last week, the CEO of a large fund put his 142-foot yacht up for sale; his 16-bedroom house in Aspen went up for sale because his high-risk funds are failing. It happened overnight. Now these risk funds and mortgage companies are going bankrupt left and right. We are facing an incredible economic upheaval. I warned about that. I stood in this pulpit a year ago this Sunday—within a week or two—warning about the mortgage market, telling people: if you’re flipping houses and you don’t know what you’re doing—get out. We warned because Jesus, foreseeing the destruction of Jerusalem, said, in essence: “I’m telling you now so that when it happens you’ll believe.” You’ll believe there is a God who loves you and warned you (cf. the Gospels’ warnings about the Temple: “not one stone left upon another”).

Paul, speaking of sudden destruction, called that information light. He said you, members of the Body walking in light, are getting Holy Ghost insight. You’re not in darkness, so that when sudden things come and there’s panic all around, something will happen to you by the Holy Spirit—you’ll be quickened: “My God warned me.” True words came forth from the pulpit, even though in a day of prosperity nobody wants to hear it. I don’t want to hear it—but it is here.

Why bring this message now? Before I close, two reasons Isaiah 24 speaks to our generation:

1. The growing number of prophets—not just church prophets—warning of an apocalyptic moment. God uses secular voices too: experts, scientists. In Scripture, God said of Assyria, “Assyria is my rod” to correct Israel. He spoke through Assyria to His people. Of Cyrus, a heathen king, He said, “Cyrus is my shepherd” (see Isaiah, Ezra). So when you hear secular scientists say, “It’s at the door,” pay attention.
2. God always moves in judgment when the cup of violence overflows. There is no greater violence in God’s sight than the violence of pedophiles—raping children, stealing them off the streets, trafficking them to the Far East into brothels, and here in the United States. Entire church denominations are paying hundreds of millions to settle lawsuits because little children were sodomized. In places like Darfur, hundreds and thousands of children are slaughtered. Think of the thousands and thousands of babies aborted in the United States and around the world. Their blood cries from the ground. God destroyed Noah’s age because the earth was filled with violence. He was patient—120 years of faithful preaching—and then judgment came.

Think of the murdering in our schools and the terrorizing of our children. Are we getting hardened? It moves the heart of God. That blood cries from the ground. How long will God endure? Even now, on the internet, a pedophile posts how to find children—and can’t be stopped. That’s all going to change—in one hour.

Secondly: sudden destruction will change the Church in one hour. Dead churches will change; live churches will change. The prophet pictures a great shaking—as though God took an olive tree already harvested and shook it again. God said, “I’m going to shake everything that can be shaken.” He’ll turn everything upside down.

But in this shaking, something incredible happens. Look at Isaiah 24:13–16:

“When thus it shall be in the midst of the land among the people, there shall be as the shaking of an olive tree…
They shall lift up their voice, they shall sing for the majesty of the LORD, they shall cry aloud from the sea.
Wherefore glorify ye the LORD in the fires…
From the uttermost part of the earth have we heard songs, even glory to the righteous.”

In the fires you will sing! In the middle of all this, God will have a people not in panic—a people who will praise the majesty of Almighty God. There’s a song coming to the Church of Jesus Christ. We’re not going down—we’re going up. From China, India, the tribes of Africa, from Darfur, from every nation, every island of the sea, from the United States, Canada, South America—the uttermost part of the earth—there will be a song. Millions upon millions will sing in the darkest time of all.

I believe something is going to happen among our youth, especially college students. For the past ten years, our young people have gone into colleges and had their faith robbed by atheistic professors who hold them captive for years. Many leave believing there is no God. I believe that’s going to change. In one hour, when everybody awakens and the world is shaking, those professors will be looking for somebody to give them a word. Prosperity preachers will get their Bibles out, looking for something to say: “What happened? Why didn’t you warn us?” Everything in the colleges will change.

This is not the end of the world. Beyond that hour are things yet to come—the Antichrist, for example. The Antichrist cannot come to power until there’s chaos. Hitler came out of chaos. The Antichrist will arise from a chaotic world, with a demonic wisdom that offers the world a kind of hope. I’m speaking of the secular world. But this is all about to change.

The Bible says we as individuals will change in one hour. Our focus will change. We will no longer obsess over our own problems and adversities. Things once dear to us will no longer have value, except those of the Spirit—love and Christ. Isaiah says:

“By this therefore shall the iniquity of Jacob be purged… when he maketh all the stones of the altar as chalkstones that are beaten in sunder” (Isaiah 27:9).

In other words, this cataclysmic event will bring down all the idols—trampled to dust. The last thing the world will be talking about is sports. (I like sports; I’m a football fan.) But there won’t be any more $250 million settlements while the world starves. It’s all going to change.

It goes deeper:

“And it shall be, as with the people, so with the priest; as with the servant, so with his master; as with the maid, so with her mistress; as with the buyer, so with the seller; as with the lender, so with the borrower…” (Isaiah 24:2)

Everything will be brought to the same level—presidents, world leaders, those in poverty—facing the same struggles. No respect of persons.

Are you ready for some comfort? I don’t like to preach like this. The last six weeks I’ve preached nothing but grace. I risk people getting mad every time I preach messages like this. People leave. But one day I’ll stand before God, and He says: if you see these things coming and you don’t warn, the blood is on your hands. I read that and tremble. No one who comes to Times Square Church should be surprised.

Let me tell you what Paul said:

“God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ,
who died for us, that, whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with him.
Wherefore comfort yourselves together…” (cf. 1 Thessalonians 5)

He’s talking about sudden destruction and our being with the Lord. He says, comfort one another. Whether we live or die, we are the Lord’s. Watch the news in the next 30 days—especially the next two weeks. Listen to what’s happening in the economy. Remember: God is speaking—not to make you afraid, but to prepare your heart. Paul said: put on the breastplate of faith. In these times, you’re not to tremble or sorrow as the world sorrows. Comfort one another: live or die, we are the Lord’s.

I’m asking God—more and more—not to live in fear. I don’t live in fear. I want to be here in New York City if anything happens to this city. I want to be in the middle of it, and I don’t want the fear of death to have dominion over me. You can’t have freedom until you comfort yourself with the Word of God, saying, “Whatever happens, if it happens tomorrow, I’ll be shouting on the streets of glory with all the saints of God.” We’re not to live in fear or bondage.

My message today is that there’s a song coming out of this. If you leave this building discouraged, saying, “That’s nothing but gloom and doom”—yes, on a human level. But on a spiritual level, it’s life eternal. I have a secret thought—perhaps just David Wilkerson’s thoughts—but I have a feeling, just as before 9/11 the Holy Spirit moved in this church and others and warned us—there were moments of silence; sometimes 15 minutes we sat here before the blasting—God was speaking to us not to be afraid. I believe that if something is going to happen in this city—or wherever—the saints of God will be quickened by the Holy Spirit. There will be singing and shouting and praising to encourage and strengthen the Body.

[Congregation stands]

Declaration: I bind the spirit of fear in the name of Jesus Christ our Savior. He has not given us a spirit of fear, but of love, power, and a sound mind. The Holy Spirit wants to quicken you and take fear out of your heart. Young people, there is a future. The world thinks there’s no future—this is just the beginning of ours. Hallelujah.

Many will tune out this tape too quickly. They’ll miss the praises and shouts of God’s people in this house. Hallelujah—there shall be a song.

If someone asks you what Pastor Dave preached, say: “Revival—a song in a hard time.”

Application: You’re to sing in your present fire—in your adversity, your hard time, financial or otherwise. Get a song. There should be that quiet, steadfast song in the soul: “Great is our God.” Isaiah says they’ll sing of the majesty of God. I walk these streets and sing—in spite of crisis. God puts a song in the heart. Get your song now.

Build up your faith. Paul said: put on the breastplate of faith and love, and the helmet—the hope of salvation. Praise God for the hope in our hearts.

We have a space here at the front we call the altar—a place to meet God. I invite you: if God has spoken to you—He’s not interested in changing your life through fear, but through hope—and your hope has been staggered by a crisis, come. Perhaps you’ve drifted from Christ, or have never known the new birth. Come, and we will pray for you. Even now, get out of your seat; in the balcony, use the stairs. In the annex, go to the lobby and they’ll show you the way. We’re going to believe God for a tremendous change. Everything can change in an hour—this can change you in the next five minutes.

Prayer: Heavenly Father, walk through this congregation. Find everyone who needs a miracle—a life-changing miracle. We believe with them for that change, in Jesus’ name. While they’re singing, come.

There may be many here—worried and fretting: “Pastor Dave, what do I do if these things begin to happen? What about my house, my mortgage?” The Lord says: “Casting all your care upon Him; for He careth for you.” Can you imagine a God who flung not just this world into existence, not just this galaxy, but millions and billions of galaxies? The Hubble telescope has discovered billions beyond. Can a God who keeps all of that in order not keep our lives in order?

We’ve preached faith so long—talked, tested—but now is the time to believe God. Somehow God will deliver His people.

How do you explain the 16 Korean Presbyterians in the hands of the Afghan Taliban—two murdered? We say, “The fiery furnace, the lions’ den—God delivered.” “God has not appointed us to wrath.” Yes, but there are martyrs under the throne of God, multitudes crying out (cf. Revelation). We have to be honest. You and I must be prepared to die for Jesus if necessary. We will go through hard times. But if God can keep this world in orbit and name every star, He surely knows my name and your name.

God help us believe—and get a song in our trial.

Closing Prayer: Father, in Jesus’ name, we fight against doubt and unbelief and this cast-down spirit. Help us face the days ahead with Holy Ghost courage. You are a strong tower; we can run into You and be safe. We are safe in Christ.

Congregational Prayer:
“Lord Jesus, give me confidence in the days ahead. I trust in You. Help me to cast my cares upon You. Forgive my sins, forgive my unbelief. Come by Your Holy Spirit; lift my spirit. Put joy in my heart and a song in my heart—of praise and glory to Your holy name.”

Final Prayer: Father, sweep over this congregation—in the annex, overflow rooms, balcony, choir loft, pulpit, the whole house. Breathe upon us now. As we walk into the sunlight of this day, let us realize this is not the Sun we’re looking for. We thank You for it, but we go to a city where You are the Sun—where You will wipe away every tear and strengthen us. We anticipate Your coming—the soon return of Jesus Christ our Lord from glory.

Hallelujah.