I would have a hard time preaching this if I believe my own flesh telling me that I preached too much of a heavy message. There have been times I’ve been to the Lord and asked him can’t you give me a happy message? But I can’t. Now God may be speaking to me. This may not be for you. But it’s a call to anguish. Lord, if you don’t help me I can’t get through this. I can’t. Lord I’m too old for games. Foolishness. And I’m tired of rhetoric, meaningless rhetoric. It never changes things. Lord, just help me.
a call to anguish
would you open your bibles to the first
chapter of nehemiah please
nehemiah the first chapter
and would you please just leave that
open on your lap
we’ll get to it in the course of my
message tonight
i would have a hard time preaching this
if i
i believe my own flesh telling me that i
i
preached too much of a heavy message
there have been times i’ve been to the
lord in past months saying lord can’t
you give me a happy
well i can’t
now god may be speaking to me
this may not be for you
but it’s a call to anguish
lord if you don’t help me i can’t get
through this
i can’t
lord i’m too old for games
foolishness
and i’m tired of rhetoric meaningless
rhetoric
that never changes things
lord
just help me folks
i’m tired of hearing about revival
i’m tired of hearing about awakenings
and the last day outpourings of the holy
spirit i’ve heard that rhetoric for 50
years
just rhetoric no meaning whatsoever
i’m tired
of hearing about people in the church
who say they want their unsafe loved one
saved
i’m tired of hearing people say i’m
concerned about my troubled marriage
when it’s just talk rhetoric
i don’t want to hear anymore talk about
how immoral america has become
how god does our society how corrupt our
business
i’m tired of hearing about islam taking
control in christians
losing power and how dead the church has
become because
that too is rhetoric meaningless
away with all of our how-to conferences
because they accomplish
nothing it’s how to cope
how to build a bigger church how to
reach the lost how to
improve your people’s skills and how to
impact the world in this computer time
and i look at the whole religious scene
today and
all i see are the inventions and
ministries of man and flesh
it’s mostly powerless it has no impact
on the world
and i see more of the world coming into
the church and impacting the church
further than the church impacting the
world i see the music taking over the
house of god
i see entertainment taking over the
house of god
an obsession with entertainment in god’s
house a hatred of correction and a
hatred of reproof
nobody wants to hear it anymore
tell me now how many churches have you
visited recently
how many churches do you know when you
walk in the holy ghost is so strong
that every one of your sins are brought
up before your face
the loving grace of god
when is the last time you’ve been to
church where you’ve seen young people
under such conviction because the people
of god have been on their face
and there’s such a concern and there’s
such an agony
[Music]
that young people are falling on their
faces and calling on god because
a spirit of conviction is called down
from heaven upon them
how many churches have you been lately
where you
hear a word comes forth that so burns in
your soul
you know it comes from heaven you know
it comes from the heart of god
i hope you hear it here
whatever happened to anguish in the
house of god
whatever happened to anguish in the
ministry
it’s a word you don’t hear in this
pampered age
you don’t hear it
anguish means extreme pain and distress
the emotions so stirred that it becomes
painful
acute deeply felt inner pain
because of conditions about you in you
are around you anguish
deep pain
dear sorrow
agony of god’s heart
we’ve held on to our religious rhetoric
in our revival talk
but we’ve become so passive
our so-called awakenings our stirrings
last but a short time and when the last
one the
short-lived revivings and awakenings
come from the hand of god
they are so short-lived and in those
times we promise god we’ll never
return to our passivity but it’s not
long it’s just weeks or months and we’re
back and this time
we slip further back into passivity than
when we started
speak from experience
and we say this time oh god you’ve
touched me for life
i’ll never be the same
and it’s like fireworks a loud bang a
lot of noise and then it dies
the whole true passion is born out of
anguish
all true passion for christ comes out of
a baptism of anguish
you search the scripture and you’ll find
that when god determined to recover
a ruined situation he would
seek out a praying man and he’d take him
down into the waters of anguish
he would share his own anguish
for what god saw happening to his church
and to his people
and he would find a praying man and he
would take that man and literally
baptize him in anguish
you find it in the book of nehemiah
jerusalem is in ruins
this is the center of god’s interest on
earth at the time
this holy city and it’s wasted and it’s
full of iniquity
mixed marriages with the heathen
they were enslaving their own people
making slaves out of the poor
the house of god was polluted with filth
the high priest was in league with
tobiah heathen
reprobate and how is god going to deal
with this how is god going to restore
the ruin how does he do it what does he
do
you see we face a similar situation
except ours is many times worse
the time when men according to prophecy
of jesus
wax worse and worse and that is
happening
the church that’s defiled with
pedophilia
child molestation incest adultery
a nation in a moral landslide that’s
inundated with pornographic filth
that the whole world blushes at
and now out of khan film festival
according to new york times
there’s a new movie about to hit the
shores of the united states with 13
14 year old kids having unspeakable
kinds of sex
with adults and they said at the con
film festival it’s the
boast of con festival that we have not
only pushed the envelope we’ve gone over
the edge
and america is now ripe for it
the royal the ruin in moral chaos
is corrupting the house of god also
how else do you explain that multiplied
numbers of christians go home
and watch hbo a program i’ve never seen
i don’t have television
but i read about it in the newspaper
today in the new york times called the
sopranos
this is a mafia bunch that kill
and murder and marry
gratuitous sex
cheating wine mafia
and we have millions of christians now
in the united states
getting together and talking about the
next show and they’re addicted to it
connected some of you hearing me now
that’s your favorite show
no laughing this is life and death
did you come here tonight did you raise
your hands and sing and shout and have a
good time
and you know you’ve been watching this
film
i believe in the love of god
i’ve preached mercy grace and love
covenant love
and i believe in preaching the goodness
and long-suffering of christ
but multitudes today are being saturated
with your okay messages
we’ve got people now that are turning
the grace of god into lasciviousness
we’ve become like the children of israel
who said the right words
but here’s what god said i’ve heard the
words of this people
they have well said all that they’ve
spoken all that there was such a heart
in them
that they would fear me and keep my
commandments always that it might be
well with them
and with their children forever he says
oh you have the right words
you sing the right songs but your heart
is not right
nehemiah verses one through three
the words of nehemiah the son of
hackalia
it came to pass the month of chislu in
the twentieth year i was in shusham the
palace
that and then i one of my brother cain
he and certain men of judah and i asked
them concerning the jews that escaped
which were left of the captivity
concerning jerusalem
and they said unto me the remnants that
are left
of the captivity there in the province
are in great affliction and reproach
the wall of jerusalem also has broken
down
and gates thereof are burned
with fire they came to pass
when i heard these words god sat down
and wept
and mourned certain days and fasted and
prayed before the god of heaven
here was the word here
here was a delegation from the ruined
city of jerusalem coming
to nehemiah it said jerusalem is broken
down
the walls are down there’s rule and
nothing but ruin
now these i’m sure were godly men these
were good men but they
they had no concept of how
god was going to deal with the situation
how he was going to bring about a
recovery
and no concept of what god was going to
do
had no call they could see was ruined in
brokenness and despair
and hopelessness
verse 4 when i heard the words i sat
down and wept
and mourned certain days and fasted
and prayed before the god of heaven you
see god found a praying man
and he takes him down into the waters of
baptism of
anguish this man goes down into anguish
and in verse 6 i pray before thee now
day and night confessing the sins of the
children of israel
which we have sinned against thee both i
and my father have sinned
folks look at me nehemiah was not a
preacher he was a career man
he was a king’s cup bearer he was in
comfort he was in royalty
he had made so to speak
this was a praying man
and god found a man who would not just
have a flash of emotion
not just some great sudden burst of
concern
that let it die he said no
i broke down and i wept
and i mourned and i fasted
and then i began to pray night and day
when i heard i wept
why didn’t his brother
remaining why didn’t these other men
who apparently were godly men because
later nina ninaya was given
the rule of the city why didn’t they
have an answer
why didn’t god use them in restoration
why didn’t they have a word because
there was no sign of anguish
no weeping not a word of prayer
it’s all ruined
so they can see
does it matter to you today
does it matter to you at all that god’s
spiritual jerusalem the church
is now married to the world
that there’s such a coldness sweeping
the land
so many people i know that where my
friends and i see them and go one by one
husbands and wives into such passivity
going to churches where they can find
smooth messages
no longer wanting to hear anything of
wrath
of correction some of my closest friends
i see them falling by the wayside and
he’s and his
cries isn’t nothing to you
closer than that does it matter about
the jerusalem that’s in our own hearts
the sign of ruin that’s slowly draining
spiritual power and passion
blind to lukewarmness
blind to the mixture that’s creeping in
you see when spiritual blindness comes
very few recognize it
it’s the last recognized thing that
happens to a child of god
if i as a pastor knew you
personally and i was watching your life
and as one of the fastest churches i
come to you and say
i i i love you but i have to tell you
the truth
you’re you changing
what you were something in the world has
got in your heart i don’t know if it’s
television
i don’t know what it is it has your
heart but i see changes in you i
i don’t see the brokenness i don’t see
the
compassion you had once for your family
i don’t see concern for your unsafe
loved ones
you’re changing little by little
something’s happening to you
would it bring you to your knees when
the ruin that you are not even aware of
is suddenly brought before your eyes
and to tell you the truth i thank god
for the anointing and the singing
tonight i thank god for the praises that
came
from so many sanctified hearts living in
covenant with the lord
but the truth of the matter is in all
honesty
there are numbers among us that are
changing
and they don’t know it
you’ve lost your fight you see when you
when you read the book of joshua it’s
almost a book of failure
because they lost their heart they lost
a fight
that’s all the devil wants to do is get
the fight out of you
and kill it so you won’t labor in prayer
anymore
you won’t weep before god anymore you
can sit and watch
television to your family go to hell
let me ask you is what i just said
convicted you know
did you just let that go in one ear out
the other
when the pastor tells you right now hey
and i don’t know who you are but the
holy ghost is speaking to me
you’re changing little by little you’re
losing
the love of god the love of christ
little by little these things are making
inroads
folks why do you think your pastors
cry out against television do you think
we get any
pleasure out of to the flesh
there’s no pleasure in somebody coming
saying i heard your mess and i threw
away my television
that doesn’t give me any pleasure didn’t
give any pastor pleasure
we have given account because we watch
for your soul
these things i don’t know where it is on
the job things we listen to
these things that creep in and suddenly
this jerusalem the walls go down
rowan sets in
does it really matter to you that your
unsafe loved ones are dying and we’re
getting closer and closer
to the end it doesn’t really concern you
they could die and go to hell
even though you’re a lover of christ
where’s the anguish
where are the tears where’s the morning
where’s the fasting
how many of you fast many of you pray
and broken before the lord
i’m talking about the body of jesus
christ in general
where’s the getting up in the middle of
the night
you see he said night and day i began to
pray
where’s the confessing of
your sins and of your children
confessing your children’s sins before
the lord or your mate sin before god
because
this is exactly what nehemiah does he
confesses his sins and the sins of all
the people
and then he says we have sinned i have
sinned then he said we have sinned
see when nehemiah heard of the ruin of
destruction he never asked
why why can a holy
just god allow his city to go to ruin
why were so many dispersed why were so
many killed and murdered
he didn’t ask the question that we’re
asking america today
why did god allow the towers to fall and
over 2 000 people
died in the the uh affair
in the crash how could a loving god and
folks just like i share what pastor
carter said today the holy anger that
arises in my heart
when i hear preachers on television or
on radio
or hear that they’ve said on television
oh god had nothing to do with it
god had nothing to do with it don’t
put it on god
once you go to daniel 9 and i want to
once and for all
tell you that this was god allowing
america to be awakened
god didn’t do it he didn’t stop the
plans of the enemy
because he had a greater purpose because
it was love for america that was about
to slip into everlasting hell
i i’m going to lower my voice so you
won’t
think i’m angry
daniel ninth chapter
verse five beginning to read we have
sinned and have committed iniquity
we have done wickedly could you say that
about america
and we have rebelled even by departing
from thy precepts and from thy judgments
neither if we hearken to the servants
the prophets which spake in the name
in thy name to our kings our princes and
our fathers and all the people land in
other words
the government has been warned by
righteous men
oh lord righteousness belongeth unto
thee but unto us confusion of faces as
at this day
men of jude and the inhabitants of
jerusalem all israel that are near
that are far off through all the
countries whether thou has driven the
because
of their trespass they have trespassed
against thee
oh lord to us belong with confusion of
face
to our kings to our princes our fathers
because
we have sinned against thee
why because we have sinned against
thee to the lord our god belong with
mercy’s forgiveness though we’ve
rebelled against him neither have we
obeyed the voice of the lord our god to
walk in his laws
which is said before us by his servants
the prophets they all
israel have transgressed the law even by
departing that they might not obey thy
voice
therefore the curse is poured upon us
and the oath that is written in the law
of the moses law of moses the servant of
god because we’ve sinned against him
and he hath confirmed his words which he
spake against us and against our judges
that judged us
by bringing upon us a great evil
for upon the whole for under the whole
heaven
hath not been done has been has been
done upon jerusalem
verse 14 therefore hath the lord watched
upon the evil
and brought it upon us for the lord our
god is righteous in all his works which
he do it
for we what will be
not his voice
now let me get back to the my message
there’s a great difference between
anguish and concern
he has been dealing with me about this
concern is something that you
that biggest interest do you take an
interest in a project or a cause or a
concern
or a need something that gets a hold of
your attention and
usually it comes to some emotional
stimulus
you know you can hear uh
like like we heard last sunday from
south africa and all of the
hundreds of thousands dying with aids
and the children and
you can hear what we heard from sister
holder
montaigne this afternoon of the
thousands upon thousands of children
dying in calcutta and india
you can get all stirred up about it and
you can get emotional
and you get very concerned but folks
there’s a difference between concern and
anguish
because you see you can tie yourself to
a cause you can get excited about it
there’s some project
you can talk it up you’ll go public with
it you can advertise it you can support
it
organize it put a lot of effort into it
i’m going to tell you something i’ve
learned over all my years and 50 years
of preaching
if it is not born in anguish
if it has not been borne by the holy
spirit
where when you saw and heard of the ruin
and it drove you to your knees
took you down into a baptism with
anguish where you begin to pray and seek
god
folks this church was born in anguish
six months of anguish tears
a little country town in pennsylvania
we’re a pastor of a small church
cried out oh god i’m dry and i’m empty
there’s more to it than this and if this
is all the holy ghost is i don’t want it
in such a desperation
weeks and weeks of calling on the name
of the lord
confessing my own deadness and dryness
then finally coming for street rallies
here in the city and walk in the streets
and then wind up on 42nd street
and see them selling a kind of heroin
would kill you so i’ve got the good
stuff that’ll kill you
and i remember breaking down and it
didn’t matter the crowds going by
i sat on a fire hydrant type
on outside of a building and wept and i
was in anguish
i was in anguish four blocks from here
on broadway
weeping and crying and wailing
i wasn’t looking for a ministry i wasn’t
looking to build a church
i was feeling god’s pain
for a lost city
the same agony i felt years before when
he started teen challenge
and i’ve never had anything that’s been
any work to god
in my 50 years that wasn’t born in agony
never never it’s all been
flesh otherwise
flesh and folks i’ve been around the
world
again and listening to the cry of
pastors
dead and empty some treating their
wives like animals
and here i haven’t prayed in months i am
prayed in
six months and i know
that sermons won’t do it i know that a
new revelation won’t do it covenant
won’t do it
i know now oh my god do i know it
until i hired it
until i have been anguished over it
i’m preaching sermons oh
god i’m preaching servants
then i said no it’s too late i don’t
have that much time
and all our projects all our ministries
everything we do
where are the sunday school teachers
that we
our kids they know are not hearing and
they’re going to hell
now everywhere i go somebody got a
project
somebody’s got a plan or a dream
that’s all it is it’s an idea they
didn’t come to me
from a broken heart they didn’t come to
me after hours of fasting and praying
and mourning
not a broken heart you said i did i’m
sick of it
you see a true prayer life begins at the
place of anguish
a place where lifetime decisions are
made
you see if you you set your heart to
pray god’s going to come and start
sharing your heart
his heart with you he’s going to open up
his heart
and i’ll tell you there’s pain in his
heart
but he sees and so few to hear
he’s going to show you the condition of
his church he’s going to show your
conviction to your own heart
and he’s going to ask you a question
what is it to you
what is it
and that anguished servant has to make a
decision
and everyone hearing me now you’re gonna
have to make this decision i have to
make it
you either get up from your
anguished class you walk out of the
baptism waters of anguish yes i can’t
handle this
i can barely make it as it is i don’t
want it
god i have enough i just want to be
an ordinary christian i don’t want to
carry this kind of a burden
i don’t want to have to weep over my
family anymore
i’m going to go take it by faith see you
have to make a decision you’re going to
come and he says
now if you’re going to bear my burden
if you’re going to be an instrument of
restoration
if you are expecting somebody else to be
an instrument to win your
family or to do this work you’re
mistaken
i’ve burned your heart i’ve given you my
heart and i’ve opened up my
anguish to you and i’m letting you feel
it and share it
so that it will bring you to your knees
because it is now that i’ll speak to you
the word of direction
and that’s what happened to nehemiah he
came eventually out of the waters
of anguish with a clear word that nobody
could reject
he brought the city and nation to its
knees
you find that in the mighty chapter
you see you you either walk away
and go back to your passivity you see
i’m just going to be an ordinary
christian
and there’s no such thing
or your heart begins to cry out oh god
your name is being blasphemed
the holy spirit’s being mocked
the enemy is out trying to destroy the
testimony of the lord’s faithfulness and
something has to be done
it can’t go unchallenged
let’s go back to these words when i
heard jerusalem was broken down
you see if he believed this theory that
the need represents the call
you know what he’s done he said
gentlemen if you’ll just wait i’ll pack
my bags
just give me a day or two this is the
kind of challenge that’s my meat i love
it
let’s roll let’s do it
no anguish no fasting
no prayer no brokenness let’s just do it
nothing would have been done the walls
would have never been
rebuilt
and anything you try to do
without this baptism of anguish it’s
going to falter and fall
it’s not going to work
here’s what a sister wrote to me this
past week said brother dave
i’m so hungry for the lord i’m so tired
of how to meetings
it’s all spiritual fluff
i was told of a woman’s conference
it was going to be a great spiritual
experience so i went with a group of
sisters there were 15 000 women
i was horrified the first night
when they opened the conference with a
comedy sketch
it went from bad to worse
these we were hoodwinked by the leaders
there was not a single prayer not one
mention of prayer
it was a farce and i’m as empty as i’ve
ever been
prophet amos cried out to such woe to
them that are ease in zion eating
chanting their music but they’re not
grieved for the affliction of joseph
and in the original hebrew root word
they are not agonizing in prayer over
the ruin and now
and drew and joseph israel
they’re not agonizing they’re not in
anguish about
the conditions comedy yes happy singing
yes
eating fellowship good time yes weeping
anguish praying fasting no
no no you’ll not have it
folks let me tell you something out of
this baptism of anguish comes a
marvelous thing that happens
to those willing to submit to it
marvelous thing it’s the instant prompt
knowing of god’s voice instant
now see if you don’t have a history of
prayer
if you don’t have this willingness to
share god’s heart
you get it by asking him for it he said
i’ll i’ll give i’m more willing to give
you our receipt this is something you
ask oh god
i i want to step out now and i want to
know your heart
and when you begin to seek his face
you allow him to melt and break you you
come into this communion with the lord
out of that experience you see god
hasn’t called us to live in anguish
this is the birth this is the womb of
something god is stirring god wanting to
accomplish
in bringing out of ruin restoration in
your family whatever it may be he’d
bring you down into this baptism
now just like the baptism of waters you
come up you come out
but you’ll come out with this instant
knowing of god’s voice
because you see nehemiah he’d been
fasting he’d been praying
he’d been mourning and left a mark on
his countenance and the king noticed
that he was a cup bearer
and one day he brings the wine to the
king and the king says
why are you so down why your countenance
nehemiah didn’t have time to go and
boost in his heart to the lord
he didn’t have time now to go and say
give me three days to fast and pray no
he had to have an instant word
why you said countenance nehemiah said i
was very sore afraid
so i prayed to the god of heaven and i
said to the king
in other words instant prayer instant
direction
knowing god’s voice
there are times you’re not going to know
what to do
you have no time to run to the closet
you have to hear his voice
this is the way walk in an instant
that is a glorious result
of the baptism of anguish
the servant who willingly takes on
the mantle of god’s pain is the only
servant
who has the authority and the right to
hold god to his covenant promises
we’ve preached covenant here
but only those
who’ve known his heart and in those
times have allowed god to bring healing
has allowed god to go down deep in the
souls oh god
i can’t do this on my own but i’m not
gonna let my kids go to hell
i’m not gonna let my husband my wife oh
god
i’m not gonna live in this death i’m not
gonna live in this lukewarmness and this
coldness anymore god
change me and when you get desperate
before god you set your heart
to seek him then you can hold god to his
covenant promises look look at first
chapter verses 8 9 remember i beseech
thee
the word that thou command us thy
servant moses saying if you transgress i
will
gather you brought among the nations now
he
he holds god this covenant now but if
you turn unto me and keep my
commandments
and do them though there were most of
you cast out from the outermost part of
the heaven yet will i gather
thee them from dance and bring them into
this place
that i’ve chosen to set
my name there he calls on the covenant
made to moses he said
here’s what you promised god and folks
when you
allow god to lead you into this
place beyond concern
beyond just fleeting emotion
he said god i’m going to set my heart
then you have every right to hold god to
every one of his covenant promises
you see and i’m going to close in just a
minute we’ve we we
have a nation a church today full of
diagnostic
experts but just about anybody can tell
you what’s wrong with the church now
and now they’re coming out with
statistics and polls
they can tell you uh how many heathen
there are in china
they give you polls and charts
but not the slightest idea
they have all these how-to books now you
won’t hear one word about anguish
tears and brokenness they won’t hear
that
in my closing thoughts i want to ask you
why why did
nehemiah of all god-fearing men that
were left in israel why
did god share his anguished heart
with nehemiah
because he was a man of prayer he was
already in prayer
now i want to tell you something i
believe in i believe in destiny i
believe that god chooses men
but god can choose a man and he can
abort it just like that
nehemiah could have said look i i i i
have more influence right here
i have the ear of the king i i need to
stay right here
and god i’m sure has i’ll agree with you
that god will raise up somebody
no he he said
oh god
this is my burden open your heart to me
i know now
it’s going to take more than preaching
more than a new revelation
there’s going to be no renewal no
revival no awakening
until we’re willing to let him once
again break us
i don’t know why
you don’t know if something is coming
the other pastors have shared with you
what they feel about
some very very troubling difficult times
just ahead
and tom is not only from the pulpit it
comes from politicians coming
from all over the world
but i have to tell you
that god’s calling me personally
to a baptism of anguish
i don’t know what it’s all about right
now
but i told god i will not i’m supposed
to go on precious conferences in may
in scotland and wales and ireland
and then to minsk and all over the world
i’m only going out two or three times a
year but
i said god i’m not going anymore i won’t
take another meeting
until i know your anguish or passage
i can’t go just because there’s a need i
can’t go just because i’ve wanted and
accepted
i don’t want it
i don’t when i preach sometimes like
this
everything gets so quiet and i get
defending
lord i will make people happy
folks it’s getting late and it’s getting
serious
please don’t tell me
don’t tell me you’re concerned don’t
tell me
that you want your unsaved loved one
saved when you’re spending hours in
front of internet or television
come on
i don’t know how to end this lord help
me
i have a sense that though
this may not be for the whole
congregation
that he’s speaking to some very deeply
speaking to your heart like he’s
speaking to mine
maybe you don’t need prayer along this
line but i beg of you i plead with you i
need
prayer
lord i just have to pray i don’t know
what else to do i just
i’ve preached lord what you put on my
heart and i don’t know how to end it
you ended you do what you want to do
lord
you speak to us lord there’s some need
to get this altar and confess
i am not what i was i’m not where i’m
supposed to be
god i don’t have your heart and your
burden i’ve been
i wanted it easy this won’t be happy
but lord true joy comes
true joy comes out of anguish that’s
where the joy is when we see
the results of our laying hold of your
heart and then you give us direction and
then we see the results that are lasting
we
we see a whole city come to repentance
and then nehemiah stands up and he says
now is the time to rejoice let the joy
of the lord be your strength but that
joy came
out of seeing the victory that came out
of the anguish
oh god
i’m not chastising this church
i’m not trying to bring woe on anybody
but oh god
if you do it for anybody do it for me
i want my heart broken again
lord i want you to take me into your
heart
and i want to feel
the hurts and the needs of this people
too
so that when i stand in this pulpit i
preach your mind in your heart
where you stand
nehemiah the eighth chapter you can
still come while i’m talking
they read in the book the law of god
distinctly gave the sense and caused
them to understand
the reading and the people says
they all said amen they lifted up their
hands they bowed their heads they
worshiped the lord with their faces to
the ground
now folks this is the result
of this baptism of anguish
now god’s dealing with all the families
of israel
he’s dealing with the princes the
leaders and ezra and nehemiah have now
gathered the people
ezra opened the book in the sight of the
people when he opened it all the people
stood up
they read the book of god distinctly
gave the sins and caused them to
understand the reading
and nehemiah
and ezra the priest the scribe and
levites that taught the people said unto
all the people
this day is holy unto the lord your god
mourn not
weep not for all the people wept when
they heard the words of the lord
he said to them go your way eat the fat
and drink the sweet
send the person for this day is holy
unto the lord neither be ye sorry
for the joy of the lord is your strength
you see that’s the result of taking on
the heart of god
the ultimate joy is seeing god fulfill
his word and his covenant promises in
your life
there’s nothing of the flesh will give
you joy
i don’t care how much money i don’t care
what kind of new house there is
absolutely
nothing physical could give you joy it’s
only what is accomplished by the holy
spirit
when you obey him and take on his heart
it gives you the knowing of his voice
that instant knowledge god saying this
is the way walk in it and then
the wonderful joy of seeing god answer
your prayer
build the walls around your family build
the walls around your own heart
make you strong and impregnable against
the enemy
god that’s what we desire
would you lift your hands
would you just tell them what’s in your
heart right now write out loud just tell
him what’s in your heart
tell him there’s a reason you came up
here tell him why just tell him why lord
here’s why i’m here
i want to hear everybody just speak it
out
tell him why you’re here
tell him why you’re here tell him what
you have to do
tell him right now lord forgive me
wherever you’re at all over this
building listen to me closely
all all we can expect god to do is begin
to work in you tonight
a very special work or even you go home
tonight and say lord i’m not gonna lay
my head on this pillow
folks there’s a discipline to this
there’s a discipline
you have to will to do it when god sees
you set your heart he’ll give you all
the power and authority follow through
but there has to be something in your
heart right now so god
i’m going to give you no rest from now
on until i see
my family saved i
i have to do that for i’ve got for my
family i’m praying this desperately
[Music]
and if i’m going to tell you something
[Music]
when a man comes up to me as he did
recently he said on this bout with
pornography
i said you had better baptize yourself
in prayer immerse yourself in the word
of god
and you better get deathly desperate
before the lord
and that’s what he wants unless he wants
that heart that’s set
[Music]
if you do that he will give you
he will balance that with a peace and
joy like you’ve never known before
and the joy that you have then will not
dissipate when you get out
it’ll be an eternal joy his peace if he
gives you his burden he’s going to give
you his peace to accompany
you never let your heart be broken
without all the oil you need
for total healing
[Music]
never before in my lifetime if i want
to be broken beforehand
[Music]
because when i stand now before four and
five thousand pastors at a time
[Music]
i know how long do i ever know
and folks it’s the same thing you face
when you go to job tomorrow
you face all the powers of hell you’ve
got to know that you know that you know
and you’ve got to have his voice
i can’t say anymore i’m not gonna preach
another sermon but i want us to sing
that and i want you to just yield the
holy spirit and i want you to set your
mind
now god tells you your reader television
set do it quickly
[Music]
do it quickly if the internet’s got you
get rid of your computer
do whatever god tell you he’ll give you
direction nobody gonna have to tell you
it won’t be some legalistic thing that
we establish for you to be something
born in your heart out of god’s own
desire for you
would you just now set your heart and
say jesus i’m willing to follow you all
the way i want to
i want to know you and i want to know
your heart come holy spirit you do it
holy spirit
you