In this sermon, the preacher emphasizes the importance of having faith in God and believing in His power to bring about deliverance and change. He encourages the congregation to come forward and present all their doubts, fears, and weaknesses to God as a sacrificial offering. The preacher refers to a vision he received from the Holy Spirit, where he saw a basket symbolizing the act of surrendering everything that is unlike God. He then turns to the story of Jeremiah in the Bible, highlighting how even a man who knew the word of God can reach a point where all his past experiences and knowledge seem to be of no help in times of darkness. The preacher concludes by emphasizing the need to hold on to the word of God and have faith, as it is the only defense against the enemy.

This message is one of the Times Square Church Pulpit Series. It was recorded in the sanctuary of Times Square Church in Manhattan, New York City. Other tapes are available by writing World Challenge, P.O. Box 260, Lindell, Texas 75771, or calling 903-963-8626. You are welcome to make additional cassettes of this message for free distribution to friends. However, for all other forms of reproduction or electronic transmission, existing copyright laws apply. My message, a fire in my bones. A fire in my bones. I want you to go to Jeremiah 20, please. 20th chapter of Jeremiah. Let's start at verse 1. Now Pasher, the son of Emer, the priest, who was also chief governor of the house of the Lord, heard that Jeremiah prophesied these things. Then Pasher smote Jeremiah the prophet and put him in the stalks that were in the high gate of Benjamin, which was by the house of the Lord. It came to pass on the morrow that Pasher brought forth Jeremiah out of the stalks. Then Jeremiah said to him, The Lord hath not called thee Pasher, but Megarmishab. I want you to skip down to verse 7. O Lord, this is Jeremiah speaking, the great prophet of God. O Lord, thou hast deceived me, and I was deceived. Now, that's not a misprint. I'm going to have this in your Bible. Raise your hand. Wave it at me, please. Is that what it says in your Bible? Now, you may have another version, but that's what it means. Thou hast deceived me, and I was deceived. Thou art stronger than I, and hast prevailed. I am in derision daily. Everyone mocketh me. For since I spake, I cried out, I cried violence and spoil, because the word of the Lord was made a reproach unto me and a derision daily. Then I said, I will not make mention of him nor speak any more in his name. But his word was in my heart as a burning fire shut up in my bones, and I was weary with forbearing, and I could not stop. What it really means, I couldn't hold it in anymore. I had to shout it out. Lord God, there's a fire in our bones, in our very being, and we cannot shut up, we cannot be quiet. My Lord and my God, speak from high heaven. Speak your holy word and glorify your holy name. Lord Jesus, speak clearly to our hearts. God, let this be an encounter with you as I preach it and as we hear it. In the name of Jesus Christ, my Lord, I pray, amen. Now, God sent Jeremiah into the house of God with a message, and you find that message in the 19th chapter, verses 14 and 15. Then came Jeremiah from Tophet, whither the Lord had sent him to prophesy, and he stood in the court of the Lord's house and said to all the people, Thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, Behold, I'll bring upon this city and upon all towns all the evil that I've pronounced against it, because they've hardened their necks that they may not hear my words. The pastor, the governor of the house of God, or the chief priest at the time, slapped him in the face. He was incensed. He was angered. And then he commanded his harlings to take him and lock him in the stock. Now, you have to get the picture, and some of the historians tell us what the stocks were like. They're like a wooden yoke. The neck was put in the yoke, and then the hands were twisted like this and put in, contorted. The whole body twisted. And the pastor, the priest, had him there at the gate of the temple where everybody could see his humiliation. And all night long and all the next day, for 24 hours, this man, the prophet of God, is locked up, humiliated, and in pain and in agony. Here's a man who could not doubt his calling, because God spoke to him very clearly. Before I formed in the belly, I knew you. This is found in Jeremiah 1, the first chapter in verse 5. And before you came out of the womb, I sanctified you, and I ordained you to be a prophet to the nations. Now, you can't doubt a call when you hear that clear word. God says, I knew you before the earth was created. I had a plan for your life. In your mother's womb, I sanctified you, and I set you up to preach the gospel. He returns to the Lord and said, But Lord, I can't speak. I'm a child. The Lord answered, Do not say I'm a child. Now, don't say I'm not worthy. Don't say I can't do it. You shall go to all I send you. And whatsoever I command you, you shall speak. Do not fear men. I am with you to deliver you. Jeremiah said, Then the Lord put forth his hand and touched my mouth. And the Lord said to me, Behold, I put my words in thy mouth. What a wonderful thing to know when God puts his hand on you and touches your mouth. And he gives you his mind, and he gives you his heart, and you speak his mind. It's a mighty thing to be obedient to the call of God. And this man was totally obedient. And God gave him specific orders. Gird up your loins, rise up, speak to the people all that I command you. Don't be afraid of any man's face. Don't be afraid of anything that man can do. Be not dismayed, lest I confound you before them. It's a powerful word, and I want to expand on it just a moment. Gird up your loins. Now, this is a very strong word. He said, Jeremiah, I've called you from the womb. And I've given you a word, and I've made you a promise. I'm going to be with you. You don't ever have to be afraid. As long as you live, I am with you. No demon can touch you. No enemy can touch you. Nobody can prevail against you. So I want you to rise up and in faith do as I've commanded you. And I am with you. Now, you speak my word. You obey me. And you give me your confidence and your trust. And don't ever be confounded. I will never put you to shame. Don't be confounded before any man. Don't worry about their frowns or their smiles. Don't think about flattery. Don't think about anything but one divine purpose, and that is to speak my mind. Speak what I tell you to speak, and I will be with you everywhere you go and everything you do. You are impregnable. You are a city that can't be touched. And when you walk in obedience, when you walk under the anointing of the Holy Spirit, all the demons in hell can't hurt you. They cannot touch you. He said, you plant the seed. You pull down. You destroy the lies of Satan. You throw down idolatry. You build up the believers. You plant the seed, and I'll give you the word when it's needed. Lest I confound you before them. Now, God tells Jeremiah in verse 18, I have made you this day a defensed city. In other words, He says, I've got an army around you. I have defended you. You're a city now. I've made you a defensed city, an impregnable city, with iron pillars and brass walls against the whole society, against kings and priests and all the people. They shall fight against you, but they shall not prevail, for I'm with you to deliver you. This is God's message to every pastor, to every worker, to every believer. I am with you. I've made you a defensed city. There are pillars holding up the walls, and there are brass walls around you. Be not afraid. Glory be to God. Lest I confound you before them. And what He's saying, if you're not going to trust what I told you, if you're not going to take my word, if you're not going to believe that I am with you, if you don't believe I'm faithful, if you're going to live in doubt and fear, I'm going to have to let you flame out. I'm going to have to let you be confounded, because without faith you can't please me. The fire will begin to become extinguished. He said, unless I confound you before them. And that hits my soul. It's like a knife in my soul, because of my doubt and because of my unbelief. Our doubts and our unbelief make us helpless before the powers of hell. Nothing weakens us more than unbelief. And He said, I've given you these promises. I've told you you're a walled city. I've told you I'm with you. I'm going to give you the word. You have nothing to fear. No man anywhere can hurt you. So you take a stand now, and you take my word, and you act on it, and you believe it. Lest I confound you, lest I let you flame out, in other words. Lest you be in confusion. They shall not prevail against you, for I am with you to deliver you. Now, this message has to do with everyone I'm talking to this morning, because we've all been called by God. Let me read it to you. 1 Timothy 1.9. Who has saved us and called us with a holy calling? Who? All who are in Christ have a holy calling. Not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace, which is given us in Christ Jesus before the world began. We've had a mandate, every one of us, to speak the word. Speak it on the job. Speak it in the home. Speak it wherever you go. We are called upon the Lord to speak the word, and God wants to give you the word. If you're praying at home and on your face before God, when you go out in public, on your job or anything else, God will have already given you the word. He would have already prepared your heart. It'll be an instant word, and you'll have a word in season. Because you've been shut in with God, and you are believing the Lord that you don't have to have a prepared message, you don't have to have something memorized. He said, I will give you the word on time. But only if you trust me. Only if you believe that I'll give you the word. And that doesn't come to those who are living in and practicing sin. Paul said, Others are appointed as preachers, apostles, teachers, for which cause they will suffer. Paul said, This is why I suffer, because I've been appointed. God has appointed me. God's given me a work to do, and because of that I'm going to suffer. Let me read it again. Others are appointed as preachers, apostles, teachers, for which cause they will suffer. Paul never burned out. He was never dismayed or put to shame before man. Now, he was tempted by the enemy. He was abused by people and by so-called religious people. And few men have suffered as Paul the Apostle did. But he was never dismayed. He was never confounded before men. Never on any occasion did this man stand before a people and stutter and have nothing to say. He had an anointing from the Holy One of Israel. Satan tried to kill him, but he said, I know in whom I believe. And I'm persuaded that he's able to keep that which I've committed unto him against that day. I've committed my life. I've committed everything. Live or die. Hallelujah. Paul then commands us to hold fast to sound truth, to faith and love which is in Christ Jesus. That's the very word I sent to a pastor this week by mail. His wife had written to me an agonizing letter. She said, my husband has just quit his church and is very discouraged about ministry. He's a godly man. He's a praying man. He loves the Lord. But it just broke my heart to see the agony in this man because he wasn't giving birth to spiritual children. People were not wanting to hear his word. It was not a hard word, but it was a word from heaven and they didn't want to hear. And there was nothing left for him to do. And the man is discouraged, deeply discouraged, a precious man. And I send him these very words to hold fast to the faith and the love which is in Jesus Christ and encourage him to keep going on. And I believe God will do just that. But you see, Jeremiah's low point came that night, that dark night in a twisting of his body and his humiliation. He reached the low point of his ministry. Here's a godly man, a caring man. Oh Lord, he's released the next day. He spends 24 hours in this torture. And he comes out of that and he turns to the pastor first and he says, I'm going to tell you what your name is. And in the Hebrew rendering is, you will live in fear the rest of your days. He said, yes, you put me in this stock and you go around boasting. But you and all who are with you, he said, you're going to live in constant fear till the day you die. That's the new name that you have. And folks, when you touch God's anointed, let me tell anybody in this church, you speak against any pastor in this church, you might as take a knife to your belly. Because you're going to physically suffer. You're going to go through a living hell. You cannot touch God's anointed. Oh, the tragedy I've seen, the people who gossip about those who have the touch of God in their life and the anointed of the Lord. But you see now he's having his darkest night and he comes out of that experience. He says, oh, Lord, you've deceived me. And I was deceived. You're stronger than I am. And you've prevailed. I'm in derision daily and everyone mocks me. The word deceived here means opened up. And what this prophet saying, you can't sugarcoat it. He said, God, you called me. You anointed me. You said I was called from a mother's womb. But I don't understand. I don't understand this kind of pain and mockery and derision that I'm going through now. You never told me about this. You never let me know that word deceived means open up. And he said, you've opened me up to delusion. You've exposed me. There's no way on earth you can soft coat or sugarcoat what he said. This man is angry. He's upset. He's confused because he's in a twisted situation in his life now. And he says, God, I don't understand. You have opened me up. And I've ended up now as a failure. I'm nothing but a deluded, deceived man. And, folks, I get letters like that from pastors around the world who say I feel defeated. And I feel like God hung me out in the wind to dry. Those are the very words of one man. He said, God gave me a dream, sent me to the mission field. And I'm there and I'm praying and believing God. But he said, I felt suddenly after a time in the field that God just hung me out to dry. He didn't answer my prayers. And I went through agony beyond endurance. Just as Jeremiah is speaking now, you have deceived me, you have deluded me. And I'm now just sitting here, a deluded man. And I'll never again speak your name. I'm not going to preach anymore. I quit. It's all over. You call me and then you forsake me. Can you imagine what he went through that night of torture? The same thing that some of you are going through right now. Some of you who are hearing me now, you're going through your night of torture. You're going through a painful situation. There's a lady here whose husband just died of a heart attack, I guess, last night. She's here. The burial is tomorrow. He died of a heart attack. She and her daughter are here in the auditorium right now. My dear God, bless both of you and give you comfort. What a terrible night of pain and hard to understand. Lord, I preached to you mercy. I preached mercy to the people and they abused me. Oh, God, don't you remember how my bowels burned in me for these people? The nights I wept over them. And I preached mercy. I told them if they just returned to you, you would heal their land and you would bless them. I'm not angry at these people. I've just loved them. I poured out my life to them. Oh, God, I've given everything but my blood. And then you let me be humiliated. You let me go through this living hell. Can you imagine what he's thinking in all of the love that was in his heart? And now how the humiliation before these people. You see, I told you God said I would put you to shame. He was not being put to shame. God was doing something mighty in the land. God was going to show that this man is not going to be confounded. This man is not going to give in. He's going to be a testimony. Not only to his age, but to every age until Jesus comes again. And to me and to you this morning, I have listened to the cries of so many that have fallen. So many that in that time of trial and testing have absolutely given up. I know what this is all about. A few years after this church was established, I think Jersey is only five years old. Some of you were not here at the time. It was even before Pastor Carter came in to the Lord sent him to hold up our hands. The devil tried to destroy this church and tried to destroy my ministry. Gossipers rose up. And it was a night of torture. Incredible torture. I can't even open, and I've said this once before, I think, I couldn't even open up the journal I have. I can't open it. It's too painful to read it. Of the Sundays that I hated to come to this church because I would be met on the street and backstage by young people who say, Are you a phony like they say you are? And the pain and the agony until finally I said, God, I would sit in a chair in the apartment over here, and I'd cry like a baby until Gwen would have to pick me, literally, and I would say, let's go. Halfway I'd say, I don't need this, honey. They're calling even my children. And my children would call and say, Dad, just tell me it's not so. And I would go and stand and weep and cry until there were no tears left. I said, God, I'm alone. And I told my wife, I don't need this. I'm known around the world. God's given me a good name, except there are people here trying to destroy my name. They're trying to destroy this church. And she said, how can they do that? Don't they know the danger? Folks, don't you know the danger of touching God's anointed? You see, I say it with godly sorrow. Because, you see, I never rose up against my enemies. I blessed them. Many of them were in financial problems, and I paid their bills to one. I gave a car. I did everything. And I'm not boasting. I'm just telling you, I didn't let it in my spirit. And if you were here, you know I never stood in this pulpit and talked about it. Because, you see, I was going through that. But I tell you, I experienced what Jeremiah did. I didn't want to quit the ministry, but I wanted to quit this place. I know the pain this man feels. And I know the pain that some of you are going through right now. Because you're being twisted and turned, and you're going through your night of confusion. And you're going to say things that you never thought you would say about God. And about the service, saying, I don't need this. My prayers aren't being answered. I can't go through it anymore. That's enough. I can't go on. I'm not going to live this Christian life anymore. I had it easier when I was in the world, some of you say or think. But I want you to know, God did not correct this man. He did not rebuke him. Because he saw his heart. He saw something burning and stirring inside. He said, oh, this is my man. He'll let off a little steam. He'll get angry. Because I'm doing something in him. He's going to come out of the fire with a faith that can't be shaken. Folks, I'm telling you, God brought me out, and he brought this church out with glory. And his eyes roamed to and fro through the whole earth until he can find three of the most righteous men he can find, and they're sitting right here now under the anointing of the Holy Ghost. And he threw in Sister Teresa as a bonus. I cannot tell you the glory that he has bestowed upon those children and the honor of those who honor his word. Not his glory, but the respect. You go any place on the earth, and you'll find this church and its pastors honored. Because the Lord never let the devil touch it. Glory be to his name, and God's going to bring you out. You may be twisted and turned by the enemy right now. You may have your head in the stock. You say, this is above my head. You may be in humiliation, somebody humiliating you. I don't know what you may be going through, but here's the prophet Jeremiah. He said, I'm in derision daily. I will not speak anymore in his name. I won't preach anymore. For ever since I speak, I cried out. I warned of violence and spoil. Because the word of the Lord has made a reproach unto me in a derision daily. Then I said, I will not make mention of him nor speak more in his name. But, oh hallelujah, that's what God saw. But his word was in my heart as a burning fire set up in my bones. And I couldn't hold it in anymore. I could not stop. Folks, that's why I didn't quit. That's why you can't quit. That's why Jeremiah couldn't quit. Because you've got a fire burning in your bones. God made you a promise. God spoke to you. He called you from the womb. Folks, this man, boy, he spoke suicidal words. Folks, when you read verses 14 to 18, most scholars believe that should come after verse 11. And it's still a part of his night of confusion. Cursed be the day I was born. Cursed be the man who brought tidings to my father saying, a man child is born to you. Let that man be as the cities which the Lord overthrew. Verse 17, because he slew me not from the womb. Or that my mother might have been my grave and her womb to be always great with me. Why did I come forth out of the womb to see thus labor and sorrow that my days should be consumed with shame? Now, those are suicidal words. Have you never heard those words that Job heard? Give up on God and die. Have you never ever thought the prayer that Elijah prayed, Lord, take my life, I'm a failure. I get a call this past week from a pastor who's fallen evangelist. Can't name his name. He said, I'm so grieved at how I've fallen so deep. He said, it just didn't feel like living. He came to Times Square Church, just coming through, and the Lord changed his life. The Lord restored him. All of the terror so bad that he despaired and even thoughts of taking his very life. You see, he said, the Word is a fire. And the only defense you and I have, the only defense that you and I have against the enemy in this time, these dark nights, there's only one defense, and that's to hold on to the Word, to the promise. It's to let that fire. And folks, without faith, faith is the only thing that's going to bring you out. You have got to believe God's Word. God said, you're not going down. You're not going to quit. And the fire began to burn in his heart, and he said, the Word of the Lord, the Word of God's a fire. It's a consuming fire. And if you will allow it to burn by just adding the fuel of faith, you're going to see it consume all your doubts. It'll consume your lust for sin. He is a consuming fire. That's the Word of God. Hallelujah. Every time the enemy comes, I go back to the Word. I run right back to the Word of God, and I stand on that Word. And folks, it's been working now for over 50 years of ministry, and that Word keeps burning. I'm now 73, and that fire is burning brighter, and it's going to burn until Jesus comes. Hallelujah. And it's in your heart. You say, oh, brother David, my fire is going out, and I'm just dry now. Oh, folks, there's the nations of the world. They're full of pastors, and they're full of Christians. It's a valley of dry bones, because sin has killed the fire. And for some, there's just a little spark. But I'm telling you this morning, there's still, if you've ever known Jesus, if you've ever heard the Word, you see, with this I'm going to close, Jeremiah knew the Word of God. He had the law. He had the Psalms, and this man has heard so much. He stood before the Lord and heard and heard and heard the Word. But you see, there comes a time, there comes a dark night, when all the Word you've heard, all the preaching you've heard, you may have heard a thousand sermons, and everything you've been through with God, every past experience seems to have no value, no help to you in this hour. You've forgotten it all. That's happened to me where times, it just seemed like nothing could help, because it seems like all of that has vanished. Nothing seems to be able to help, and heaven seemed brash. There's only one thing that God wants out of you and me, and that's to trust. Just say, Jesus, I can't fight, this is over me. I know the Word that you've given me is a fire, and I know you abide in me, and you lay hold of that Word. If it's just one promise that God gave you, you believe it, you stand on it, and then you go to the Word and you start taking God and His Word. And folks, that's the secret of the covenant, that's the secret of the overcoming life. I have to just stop and move in the Spirit for just a moment here, in prayer this week. The Lord made it so clear to me there are going to be people here this morning, and you are on the brink of quitting, literally are, because you say, I cannot take anymore. Now, I'm talking to those who may have been in this church for ten years or longer, whatever it may be, and you've heard many, many sermons, and you say, well, I shouldn't be like this, I should be over that, I should have the resources. Well, I'm telling you, you do. You do have the resources. They're there. What you're lacking now is confidence, simple, childlike confidence. God is going to keep His Word to me. God is going to keep His Word. I didn't come to bring you a sermon. I came to bring you something from the heart of God, something He spoke clearly. It wasn't an audible voice, but it could be just as clear as that. It might as well be that many in the annex here in this church, main sanctuary, I don't know what your battle is. I don't know what the devil is throwing at you, but I know His voice. He's saying, I've made you a walled-in city, brass walls, impregnable gates, and I've made you a promise. I'll never fail you. I'll give you the Word. I'm speaking to somebody supernaturally. I know it. I know who you are. God is speaking supernaturally to you. Now, you hear it, and you receive it, and you stand on it. Don't let the devil shake you. Stand, please. Precious Lord, how You love Your people. How You love those who hurt among us. My God, do a miracle now as we open this altar. I'm asking for the healing power of the Lamb of God. I'm asking You, Lord, to bring a spirit of refreshing from on high. I'm asking You, Lord, to put the devil to chase. In every doubting thought, the enemy will like to interject into our hearts and our minds. Some, Lord, who have sinned against You, and now they're so ashamed and thinking, well, I should have been so far ahead of this. I don't understand it. I can't comprehend it. Oh, God, why? Why this continual battle? Why such a thorn? Oh, God, I pray now that You bring such peace and assurance to their hearts that they can depend on Your Word and the promise that You gave them, the keeping, healing power of Christ. If the message was for you, that's all I can say. And you need to step out. Now, if you're here now, and you don't even know the Lord, and you just walked in here, but you feel the power of Christ, you feel the power of the Lord is here, I want you to come and give everything to Jesus. Now, in the annex, just go to the lobby, and ushers will show you how to come down into this building, and come down the stairs and meet me here at the front, and we'll pray for a miracle, and we'll believe the Lord. Please don't come unless the Spirit draws you. We're not interested in just packing out this front. You come only as the Spirit is drawing you. Pastor Dave, if this message hadn't come this morning, I don't know what would happen in my heart. The Spirit of God is speaking to you. You can have your miracle of deliverance today. You can walk out of here free. But you have to come in faith, believing that God made you. Don't come down to this front unless you're going to believe God now, that He's going to change things and change it now. While they were singing, the Holy Spirit gave me a picture. I want you to listen very closely. I'll give you a picture. It was of a basket. And the Lord said, Tell the people, just tell them to take everything that's unlike me and put it in the basket and bring it to me. Take your unbelief. Take your fear of man. Take your fear of the flesh, whatever it may be. Take everything and put it in that basket. Just come and present it to Him as an offering, a sacrificial offering. Say, Here, Lord Jesus, take it and consume it. Consume it. When you do that right now, it's an act of faith. It's an act of faith. It's something you do in your spirit and your mind, saying, Lord Jesus, I'm coming to you now, believing your word. I'm not going to trust my feelings. I'm not going to trust what I hear from the enemy, the voices that come to me. Lord Jesus, you're not trying to rebuke anybody. You're not trying to correct anybody right now. You're trying to bring healing. You're bringing the healing word right now. God, you've spoken clearly to every one of those who don't know you. Let them just reach out and say, Jesus, here, take. I bring all my sins in this basket. I pile all my sins, everything I've done. Here they are, my sins, Jesus. I lay them at the foot of the cross and I give them to you right now. Pray this prayer with me now. Jesus, forgive my unbelief, my doubts and my fears. You are true and your word is true and you are faithful to your word. I thank you for the promise that you've given me to put a wall around me and to keep me. The enemies will not prevail. I shall not fear men, but I will trust you. Now, in the name of Jesus, I give you my heart, my fears, everything unlike you, Jesus. Now, raise your hands and thank him right now that he hears and answers prayer. I give you thanks, Lord. Everybody, raise your hands and let's worship him. Give him thanks. Father, thank you for your faithfulness. You are the deliverer. Folks, it doesn't take God long when your heart's ready. He does it in a moment of time. Yes, he does. Now, he said the thing that angered him about Israel is that when he delivered them, they didn't return to give him thanks. You have got to thank him. That's when the victory begins to come. This is the conclusion of the message.