Believing Matters - Bishop T.D. Jakes

[Music] remain standing for a moment i want to pray with you as we go into the word of god we're going to be talking about believing matters believing matters father in the name of jesus we approach thy throne oh god asking you for grace to minister to your people tonight we thank you in advance for what you're going to do and we trust you to do it in jesus name we pray shout amen you may be seated let's go to work on this believing such a nebulous indescript hard to define untouchable thing is very very important before we apply it to spiritual things let's look at the natural there's a fight going on right now over what you believe people in the same family don't believe the same thing different ideologies and different ideas have become so pervasive that wars have been fought over what you believe believing absolutely matters when i came up in the church we focused a lot on behavior and behavior is important but believing trump's behavior in fact i would suggest to you before we get very deep into this that you can't change your behavior until you change your belief what you believe about yourself what you believe about your god what you believe about your house what you believe is going to affect how you behave it's so strong that the bible said with the heart man believeth unto salvation that's incredible with the heart man believe just what what a heart believes constitutes salvation not what a hand does what a heart believes and if you begin to study and to understand the importance of believing which we're going to try to dissect it a bit tonight i think it's important that you understand wow wow go to john 3 16 for a minute go to john 3 16. and let's go to john 3 16 and let's just set a base for a discussion for god so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son you could probably just quote it that whosoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life wait wait wait for god so loved the world that he gave sometimes knowing something and being able to quote it doesn't mean that we really hear it for god so loved the world it's it's the king fallen in love with a harlot it didn't say for god so loved the church it says for god so loved the world god has fallen in love with something that is so beneath him think of that for god so loved the world that he had to fix her up he gave his only son that whosoever believes believes i almost said underlying that because i'm used to people having bibles not phones but whosoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life it's all based on what you believe for god did not send his son into the world to condemn the world but to save the world through him whoever believes in him is not condemned but whoever does not believe stands condemned already now i want you to hear that whosoever whosoever believes in him is not condemned but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because because because not because of what they did not because of who they slept with not because of what they drank not because of what they shot in there but because they have not believed in the name of god's one and only son that's what the charges are that are brought against you not your behavior your belief system because god understands that you can't change your behavior until you change your belief system so in the niv it says this is the verdict light has come into the world but people love darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil now if light were not in the world you had no option but when light comes into the world now you have an option you choose to be in darkness everyone who does evil hates the light and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed but whoever lives by the truth comes into the light so that it may be seen plainly that what they have done has been done in the sight of god so says the word of god can you say amen i want you to see that believing is the pivotal point of what defines you as a uh christian as a believer as a person of faith as a child of the king and so if there's anything that the enemy wants to attack he wants to attack what you believe now intellectualism is extremely important and research should never be discounted you want to be as smart as you can be learn all you can read all you can develop all you can evolve all you can that's very important but believing is our only gateway to god not intellectualism believing is our only it's it's our only it's not making pass it's not paying tabs you can't buy it it's not singing in the choir it's not preaching the word believing is our only gateway to god now there have been many groups that have had ideas that were different from this one of them is is gnostics and they had a philosophy called gnosticism and assumes that the more one knows the closer one is to god that's one of the things they believe they believe in a hierarchy of angels lots of things if this were so then the illiterate would be at a severe disadvantage maybe condemn babies would have no hope of heaven because they don't know yet and the senile would have lost their way to god so if intellectualism is the method through which we embrace god then it's not fair because we don't all have the same iq [Music] we don't all have the same exposure we don't all have the same intellectualism and so god had to reduce it to something that we all have in common which is a belief system gnosticism is the idea of knowing think our contemporary term think of our contemporary term agnostic which means not to know agnostic gnostic is to know agnostic is not to know and through gnosticism had many beliefs and ideas but the substratum of the term evolves around one idea we are still in a fight between knowing and believing we see it in every sphere of our contemporary society take it out in the context of the scriptures for a moment and we're fighting about masks we're fighting about the vaccine we're fighting about politics we're fighting about racism we're we're fighting about everything there's all kinds of arguments going on between knowing and believing take it out of society and take it down to yourself the enemy comes against what you believe and what you know about god because satan knows it is with the mind that we serve the lord most of the things you're worried about that the enemy is playing with he doesn't need satan doesn't need your apartment satan doesn't need your house satan doesn't need your car what's that gonna do with your car the devil took my car what are you gonna do with it he said you you're gonna see the devil driving down thirty break his lead limits talking about i'm the devil he doesn't need your car he needs you worried he needs you upset he needs you emotionally frustrated so any way he can get to your mind the enemy is after your mind so god says that he has given us peace to guard our heart and mind because you got to put up a defense against what you allow to infiltrate the context of your mind because it is with the mind that we serve the lord that your mind has to be healthy and your mind has to be free and your mind has to have a conviction about what it believes even if the person sitting next to you believes something contrary you cannot allow your affection for the individual to override your fidelity to what you believe come on somebody you must understand this when we start talking about god so loving the world that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life he did it so that we would all have an equal playing field he did it so that we would all have an equal footing an equal place he did it so that we would understand that the problem in the first place in the first place in the book of genesis starts with unbelief the original sin is really unbelief at the root of the forbidden fruit is unbelief the does not believe have god said questioning what god says is an attempt to tear down the belief system that was constructed that allowed them to stay in the garden so the enemy doesn't try to physically move them out of the garden he tries to move them away from what they believe because if he moves them away from what they believe then he will automatically move them out of the garden y'all don't hear what i'm saying [Applause] so he comes against what you know about god trying to alter it oh you should eat of it because if you eat you're going to be just like god you will know as god though now he's questioning god's integrity like god is trying to stop you from doing something because god is intimidated by you what arrogance what other arrogance what other stupidity and yet he is attacking he is attacking not their bodies he is attacking their belief system the enemy is not after your body he's after your belief system now he might attack your body but he's only attacking your body to break down your belief system so if that's how sin entered into the world through an ideology an idea that comes against what god has said then in order to fix what how sin entered into the world we have to go from unbelief to believing so god now fixes it so simple that a fool though he'd be a wayfaring man he could still enter therein so that the the person whether they're bright or not bright went to school or didn't go to school intellectual or not intellectual it doesn't make any difference whether they're three or three hundred god has fixed it that we all must become like children and have childlike faith and dare to believe him and while knowing is important and learning is important and growing is important you don't want to lean to your own understanding you don't you you don't want to lean on what you know because what you know is always evolving oh come on somebody for a simple thing when i went to school pluto was the nice planet and then they decided it wasn't a planet at all it was a star because they say no more knowledge is always changing ideas are always changing your belief system has to be built on something that's solid and something that's stable and something that's proven and something that's true and something that you trust in your belief system has to be built on god not church not denominations oh you all hear what i'm saying not preachers but not tele evangelists not small church pastors it doesn't make any difference people make gods out of all kind of stuff they make gods out of their children you can make gods out of anything all of these things will shake all of these things will crumble but your hope has to be built on nothing less than jesus christ and his righteous not yours his not yours but he is not yours but he is not mine but his not your mama's but his righteousness not your grandfather's but his righteousness your faith has to be built on something that's solid as a rock so that you become above being baptist methodist presbyterian church of god in christ church of god prophecy church of god got it going on in jesus name incorporated above whatever you might call yourself if you ain't nothing else at the very minimum you must be what they first called us a believer so somebody shout i am a believer [Applause] if i am a believer what does a believer do of a believer believes so it has to start with beliefs you can come up here to accept christ and get slain in the spirit other people burst into tears and some people get goose pimples some people feel nothing at all it is not any emotion you're looking for it is a change to your belief system i've seen people run all over the church roll and roll and roll and be in the strip club by wednesday because actions don't necessarily necessarily constitute change the bible said esau sought repentance with many tears and found it not this is not about emotions you can't turn on the tear faucet and move god have you ever seen people that could just cry at will and anytime they wanted attention they start crying god said i'm not going to be psyched out because you cry i'm not looking at how you cry i'm looking at how you believe esau sought repentance with many tears and found it not the reason he couldn't find it he was seeking change through his emotions and repentance means to change your mind metatonia to change your mind so you can change your emotions all day long but if you don't change your mind how many of you have had somebody promise you i'm gonna never do it no more i'm never gonna do this no more i promise you i'm never going to do it no more i'm never going to do that right back and did it again they they had emotions they might even felt those emotions but they didn't change their the gospel then is designed to give you a new belief system in which you build your life around not just your habits not just going to church on sunday but you build your life around it you make your decisions around it you make your choices around it you get married around it you decide what i'm going to do and what i'm going to be based on that belief system that sovereign absolute belief system the bahamas used to have uh london as a sovereign even though they were separated by mouths with water the rule of law in the bahamas if they were driving on the left in london they were driving on the left in the bahamas because they were imitating their sovereign that the will of london be done in the bahamas thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven so when heaven becomes your sovereign you want to imitate what's going on in heaven in your life you develop your customs around that which is divine and stop trying to keep up with trying to be contemporary trying to be edgy trying to keep up with the culture the church is not supposed to chase the culture the culture will send you to hell we have a church today who has fallen in love with the culture and the leaders think it's their job to be relevant to the culture i'm not trying to be relevant to the culture i'm trying to be relevant to the kingdom oh y'all don't hear what i'm saying i'm trying to be relevant to the kingdom because the culture can do anything the culture can go anywhere the culture can change its mind about everything the kingdom is my sovereign and it stops me from being shaky and it stops me from being flaky stop it stop it stop and stop it stop trying to always impress the culture with how fly you can be how flipped you can be how cool you can be how edgy i don't know what they saying now i'm using alter whatever term you want to use it is not your job to try to imitate the world it is their job to be influenced by you they are not the salt of the earth you are the salt of the earth come on somebody the meat is not given to season the salt the salt is given to season the meat but the problem today is we have stopped being the season and we start trying to be the meat we're trying to be the culture ye are the salt of the earth a city set up on a hill that cannot be hid you've got your own identity your own personality your own way of doing things and you don't have to live up to their standards in order to be accepted by them you have to dare to be true to what you believe god wants you to believe him his integrity warrants your belief to believe him is to embrace god's integrity not my integrity abraham became we're going to talk about more about him in a minute but abraham became the friend of god because he believed god he believed god's integrity do you believe god's integrity god said i'm not a man that i should lie or the son of man that i should repent have i not spoken it shall i not perform it have i not said it shall i not make it good this is god's word it's not contemporary ideology it's not about embracing the culture it's not about the latest fad they have going on it's about embracing what god has done and believing that his integrity is absolute why do you think jesus performed more miracles than he did messages it's because he did the miracles that you might believe the miracles didn't mean anything to god it was the mechanism to get you to believe oh y'all what let's take lazarus for example lazarus is sick jesus waits and lets him die why why does jesus raise ladder from the dead in john chapter 11 when he knows that no matter how many times he raises lazarus from the dead lazarus is still going to die healing the woman with the issue of blood didn't stop her from dying the feeding the 5 000 didn't stop him from being hungry again he only did the miracle so that you might no y'all don't hear what i'm saying so that you might believe so jesus waits and lets lazarus die and lets them bury him and shows up at the house when they eating chicken he even weeps with them while they're crying and says show me where you laid him down now jesus knows that ladder to die to be absent in the body is to be present with the lord jesus is not sad because lather died jesus is using lazarus death as an illustration he let him die if jesus had been worried about lazarus dying he didn't have to go raise him up he could have spoke the word only and lazarus would have been risen from the dead lazarus dying was a setup and then he goes and raises him from the dead and i told the lord i lost one of my loved ones and as they were passing away i said lord if you're going to take them you might as well go ahead and take them because it's never going to be a good time for you to take them because if you let them live to be 90 i might ask for a hundred if you let them live to be 100 i might ask for 120 anytime you take them it's gonna hurt just give me the strength to stand it because you know what's best for me i trust your decision i trust your choice i trust the way you take and you know how i am it's never going to be a good time to say goodbye to somebody i love go ahead and shoot your best shot do what you got to do you know what's best for me because i believe in eternity and i believe in eternal life and i believe i'll see them again and i believe that they'll take off mortality and put on immortality and i believe to be absent in the body is to be present with the lord and i believe that this whole world is not my home and i didn't come here to stay y'all when you really believe what you believe then you stand on what you believe and yes i like another week but then i'm going to want another week and then if i get another week i'm gonna want another month and then if i get another month i'm going one another year so i'm never gonna be satisfied i trust you to make the decision [Applause] that was painful but that was my conversation with god now god knows that lazarus died and even mary and martha knew they would see him again in the resurrection so why did he let lazarus die he let lazarus die and then came and woke lazarus up go to go to this happened in the gospel of saint john chapter 11 but but go to gospel of saint john chapter 12. all these dramas happening in 11 the crying the the lazarus is dead the tomb mary running out hollering at jesus everybody's freaking out the family's going crazy jesus rolls the stone away lazarus raises from the dead now in john chapter 12 lazarus has been raised from the dead and he's sitting at the feasts with jesus and here comes the unbelievers around and the bible says in john 12 9 meanwhile a large crowd of jews found out that jesus was there and came not only because not only because of him but also to see lazarus whom he had raised from the dead oh good good so the chief priest made plans to kill lazarus as well lazarus was the problem for on account of him many of the jews were going over to jesus and and believing in him so let the whole purpose of life well not the only purpose but one of the purposes of raising lazar from the dead was that they might believe the purpose of the miracle is not the miracle if he gives you bread you're gonna get hungry again if he gives you life you're gonna die again if he heals your body it's not gonna stop death all of this is just so that you might believe [Applause] somebody shout i'm a believer oh you sounded so weak you said you sounded so weak say it like you mean and i'm a believer john 14 28-29 let's continue our bible study tonight you have heard how i said unto you i'll give you a minute i'll give you a minute i'll give you a minute i'll give you a minute i'll give you 10 seconds left 10 seconds finally find john 14 28 29 let's go ye have heard how i said unto you i go away and come again unto you if he loved me ye would rejoice because i said i go unto the father for my father is greater than i and now i have told you before it come to pass that when it has come to pass ye might believe he said i'm telling you before it happens he said i'm giving you prophecies so that when the prophecy comes to pass your faith will be increased and that you might believe he said the only reason i'm telling you what's going to happen before it happens so that when it happens and i get up from the dead and i rise again that your faith might be strengthened and that ye might believe not so you can dance not so you can beat your tambourine not so you can start a choir not so you can shout to your makeup drips on your face no god says what i want from you above everything else is believing and dancing and praising him and beating tambourines and nice but if that leads you to believing you might as well drop your tambourine on the floor we're in a faith fight we're in a faith fight we're in a faith fight we're in a faith fight right now we're in a faith fight and what you believe matters not how you feel not how you hurt not how your emotions are not what you'd like to have not what you'd like to draw life not what you'd like to live in what matters most is what you believe i believe god i believe his word i believe what he said i believe that he's able i believe that he loves me i believe that he knows what's best for me and if i hurt then i heard knowing that if you allowed me to hurt it must go work for my good therefore we glory in tribulation for tribulation working patience let patience experience and experience hope and hope making itself not ashamed if you're listening at this bible god type of the lord i believe god sometimes you got to remind yourself i believe god i believe god i believe god i'm not talking about that crazy kind of i believe god where you don't lock your door where you don't fasten your seat belt where you don't wear masks where you don't do common sense stuff where you don't brush your teeth where you don't comb your hair where you don't take care of your baby i'm talking about deeper than this foolish fanatical crazy kind of faith why do you call that crazy faith i'll prove it by the scripture the enemy tempted jesus said if thou be the son of god cast yourself down off of this mountain jesus did not take unnecessary risks to prove who he was [Applause] this thing about if you really had faith you would take unnecessary risks then jesus should have jumped just because you're a believer doesn't mean you need to jump off a cliff doesn't mean you need to take unnecessary risk doesn't mean you shouldn't fasten your seat belt doesn't mean you shouldn't wear a mask doesn't mean you shouldn't go to a doctor that means you shouldn't do everything you could do to take care of yourself just because you believe it doesn't mean you shouldn't bathe doesn't mean you shouldn't put on deodorant come on somebody come on somebody come on somebody even then satan was trying to get jesus to take unnecessary risks and put himself in danger to prove who he was you never have to prove who you are when you know who you are when you know who you are you just are who you are i don't care what they call you i don't care how they troll you i don't care how they get on your internet i don't care what they say on social media you got to know who you are you can't need the endorsement of people who don't even know you oh i'm preaching better than you shouting now we're coming closer i haven't even got to the text yet [Applause] this is on my way to the text so i might have to break this into two weeks to get it done but this is important look at somebody say believing matters hebrews 11 1-6 tells us again now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see wait a minute let's go back to that faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see i don't need faith for what i can see [Applause] i don't need faith for what i can do myself i need faith when i don't have any other evidence the bible says in king james faith is the substance of things hoped for it is the evidence of things not seen it is my evidence what is your evidence admissible in court i believe i believe i believe it this is what the ancients were commended for by faith we understand that the universe was formed at god's command so that what is seen was not made out of what is visible and most of what you're worried about is what is visible or you're not going to talk back to me most of what you're praying about is what is visible but what you need to understand what made what is visible is invisible and so if you break it in the spirit you can break it in the flesh glory to god you don't hear what i'm saying to you jesus found a woman that was bowed over for 18 years and could not lift up herself and he did not heal her he just gave her a new belief system he said woman thou art loosed from that infirmity and the moment she heard that she was loose she immediately changed her behavior and straightened up herself what you think about yourself has got you bowled over what you got going on in your head has got you tripping the moment you get you shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free i don't know who i'm talking to today but somebody's gonna get a breakthrough i don't care what you see with your eye i care what you believe in your heart this is what the elders were commended for not their behavior their belief by faith abel brought god a better offering than cain did by faith he was commended as righteous when god spoke well of his offerings and by faith abel still speaks even though he is dead he doesn't by faith was taken from this life so that he should not experience death he could not be found because god had taken him away for before he was taken he was commended as one who please god anybody in here want to please god [Applause] if you want to please god make some noise come on make some noise type it on the line i want to please god i want to please god i want to please god i can't hear you i want to please god i want to please god i want to please god i want to please god i can't hear you i want to please god that's why i love that song y'all saying take it out of me if it's not pleasing to you lord take it out of me i want to please god i haven't always pleased god i have disappointed him i have let him down but i want to please god you have to have the desire to please god he that hungers and thirsts after righteousness shall be filled not he that is righteous he that hungers and thirsts after righteousness shall be filled you have to warn it how many people want to please god hebrews 11 6 says and without faith it is in it is him it is in it is impossible to please god without faith i don't care what you give i don't care how talented you are i don't care how you can preach i don't care how important you are to your church i don't care how big the check is you're right the bible said oh my god i better quit i feel somebody i almost changed over to that other voice the bible said without faith it is impossible to be please god because anyone who comes to him must believe that he is that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly earnestly from your heart seek him seek him i came here to seek him i live my life to seek him i haven't mastered god i am in pursuit of god i haven't searched him fully his thoughts are above my thoughts his ways are above my way but i came to seek him the bible says seek and ye shall find ask and it shall be given knock and the door shall be opened unto you are there any god seekers left i see the crowd seekers i see the stage seekers i see the money seekers but are there any god seekers left in the church today i can't find god seekers i can't find people that lay out on their face and say all i want is you [Music] you have to earnestly seek [Music] after him can i go a little bit further now all of that's my setup [Music] i don't even know whether to go any further [Applause] somebody just shout i believe [Applause] the more we start talking about this doubt is being pushed out of the room is being pushed out of your mind it's being pushed out of your spirit it's being pushed out of your behavior i believe say it again if god raised lazarus from the dead just to get people to believe if god prophesied his own resurrection so that when we saw it we might believe that god has been working overtime trying to get your mind together god wants to get your belief system together god wants to get your head on straight god wants to get you away from shouting and worrying and dancing and being upset god wants to get you over coming to church and getting drunk because you can't deal with life god wants to get your mind back to the place that it ought to be [Applause] [Music] somebody throw your hands up and say i believe i'm a believer when you walk in the room they thought a walk in the room when you come in the hospital faith ought to come in the hospital when you come into the office faith ought to come into the office you are a believer that's your contribution that's what you had i believe god my eyes haven't seen my ears haven't heard neither have entered into the heart of man what god has in store for me but it has been revealed unto me by his spirit the spirit not only convicts me the spirit convinces me [Applause] the spirit informs me what's mine the spirit informs me what's possible how do you receive it believe it you cannot receive what you don't believe the preachers don't tell you this they just say sow it and you'll reap it not if you don't believe it you can sew all day long but if you don't have the belief system to go along with the action you'll never reap any higher than what you believe if you don't believe in a harvest you're not going to get a harvest some of you don't feel worthy of the harvest some of you self-sabotage the harvest some of you do things to annihilate the harvest and though your actions are saying one thing your belief system is saying another and you're saying why doesn't this work because without faith it's impossible to get this thing to work if you're gonna work it you're gonna have to work it by faith look at somebody telling me it'll work if you're working i'm so sick of these mammy pansy christian thought about i tried it and it didn't work i tried it and it didn't work i tried to at stock chair and it didn't work i tried to get out of debt and it didn't work and it it'll work if you work it it won't work while you sit on your behind it won't work while you sit up and watch soap operas it won't work while you sit up and play with your teeth your face looks better than your head your makeup is perfect but your mind is crazy it'll work if you're working oops [Applause] [Music] every time the enemy attacks you he's attacking your belief system what you value what's important to you now to the book of romans the impact of paul coming to rome cannot be overemphasized i'm just going to take 45 minutes i'm gonna quit at nine o'clock but i'm finishing up i'll just stop but i built my church off of wednesday night bible class i i said i built my church off a wednesday night bible class i never did build my church off sunday morning i built my church out of wednesday night bible class the impact that paul has on role is is beyond anything that i can really articulate and though it is doubtful that he is the founder of the faith in rome he does extensive work there to shape its impact on what was rapidly becoming its new base for christianity as jerusalem had began to wither as the epicenter of christian thought jerusalem began to wither because jerusalem had been cursed when jesus stood on the mount of ju of olives and cried over jerusalem there's only two times in the greek that it uses this type of word to say cry with a loud voice he said oh jerusalem jerusalem how oft would i have gathered you as a hen gathers her chicks but ye would not behold your house shall be left desolate and like the fig tree he spoke it and by the time it came back the fig tree had withered jesus spoke it and jerusalem ceased to be the epicenter of christianity little by little it moved toward rome am i helping anybody now rome was the most politically endowed city of its era it was a place of innovation and creativity it was booming it was teeming with ideas it was colonizing new territories it was taking over new lands according to iranians a second century church father the church at rome was founded directly by the apostle peter and john peter and paul i'm sorry however many modern scholars disagree with iranians holding that while little is known of the circumstances of the church's founding it was not founded by paul it was in fact strengthened by paul and claims its authorship more likely to be peter hence the roman catholic church establishes peter as their first pope but paul coming to rome has all kinds of implications he's coming into an epicenter of political thought and creativity and ideology multiplicities of religions and ideas and a city that though it was roman it also had a lot of jews with a lot of different sects of judaism co-existing in any city like we do in dallas like you do in memphis like you do in new york like you do in paris not everybody in every city has the same idea adam clark says many of the brethren went out to meet paul on his approach to rome that one phrase there suggests it didn't start with paul if many brethren came out to meet him then there was a church there when he got there there is evidence that christianity and christian people were in rome in considerable numbers considerable numbers and probably had more than one place of meeting when paul first came the occasion of writing the epistle paul wrote had made acquaintances with all circumstances all types of people of the christians at rome there were christians in rome that had jewish descent there were christians in rome that were greek there were christians in rome that were gentile there were christians in rome that were not they were all at rome and any finding that it was partly of heathens being converted to christianity and partly of jews who had with many remaining prejudices ideas they were converted but they had many prejudiced ideas believing in jesus as the true messiah and that many contentions arose from the claims of the gentiles to equality they did not believe that the gentiles could have an equal standing because the gentiles had been idolatrous they had participated in origins they had had a filthy past and the idea that they could just believe on jesus and be equal with people who were steeped in religious tradition and ideology was a tough pill for the jews of that era to swallow their refusal to admit these claims unless the gentile converted became circumcised became more and more pronounced they wanted the gentiles to act like them so many people attempt to evangelize people and they don't just bring their christ they bring their culture oh that's so good so i want your jesus but i don't i don't want your culture don't tell me that the only way to be a christian is to act like you because just because you have that culture doesn't mean that i have to have that culture let's separate your culture from your christ oh y'all not hearing me that's more profound than you think he wrote this epistle to adjust and settle these differences in other words when you think of paul he's almost an abolitionist he's trying to free the new testament church from the religious dogma of judaism and the legalism that required more out of them than what they were supposed to have he is fighting to abolish myths and ideas that cohabitate with christianity and thereby pollute christianity he is trying to teach them like he said in galatia there is neither male nor female greek nor jew bond nor free but that we're all one in christ jesus and even today there's a spirit of separation that exists in the church that does not acknowledge women as having equal footing as men that god can't speak to a woman that god can't use a woman i got news for you if a woman can sing the gospel she can preach the gospel what is the difference oh let me stop fighting what is the difference between letting them sing and teach sunday school and then i steal the word whether i say it in the question or i said on the floor but it's just male egotism that does not accept the fact that the same spirit that a quickens a man quickens a woman the same spirit that quickens a white man quickens a black man the same spirit that quickens the republican can quicken a democrat but we separate and paul is trying to bring them back he's fighting for equality he's fighting for equal rights he's fighting for oneness he's fighting for unity he's struggling for that equality because he vacillates between addressing in the book of romans both the jews and the jewish believers and the gentiles ultimately bringing them both in need of the same radical allocation of faith he said you've got religious traditions you've had religious traditions for years but the door is not your washings your ceremonies or your cleansings you still have to believe god you still have to believe god you won't be saved through your feasts you won't be saved through unleavened bread you won't be saved through your feasts are we the door is believing that she comes to the gentile and said you you should have seen god in nature you failed to acknowledge god in nature you've become a natural and lost natural affection you've gone into all kind of lust and depravity and perversion and wickedness he said but the same door that exists for the religious man exists for the man they both have to be brought down to the same humility of saying if you don't believe god you cannot see the glory of god this is a radical father of faith the believer that he's teaching us here [Music] [Applause] somebody say i'm a believer that's all it takes for me to be anointed i don't care whether i come from judea or samaria i don't care whether i come in the box like a man or a box like a woman it is not my box that god wants to deal with is my content god wants to fill my heart with his power and with his anointing and with y'all ain't gonna say nothing but i don't even care we got to have some freedom in this place and begin to understand if god can use an ass he could use a woman if so paul is trying to bring unity amongst all this division and it is like the swedish alps of the epistle it is his longest writing it is his most eloquent position it is his greatest and most complex document that we are ascribed to the apostle paul is the book of romans it is him writing to the city that he is a citizen of while paul is a jew he is a citizen of rome he writes to rome from a different perspective because he belongs there do you hear what i'm saying and he comes in there to bring them down to one level you must come in at the door you remember that old song you may be high you may be low you may be rich you may be poor when it's all suddenly still got to come in through the door there's still one door there's still one lord there's still one faith there's still one baptism there's one way for you to get in ain't no special door i was down in south africa uh looking at the apartheid museum and they had a door for the colored folks and the door for the black folks in the door for white folks god don't have no three doors jesus said i am the door there's only one door for anybody to come here i don't care what color you are i don't care what language you speak i don't care what country you came from i don't care what your gender is there's only one door god's not gonna create a separate water fountain because you're a woman it is a spirit of division [Music] i'm all for discourse but division is satanic to divide the churches to weaken the church to deny us of the bright potential that exists in our sisters as well as our brothers is to weaken the fabric of the church itself there are women who are finding cures to diseases and finding cures to all types of toxicity we need that mind at a time like this we need every soldier we need every soldier we need every so i want every thinking believing person in this room to clap your hands and let god know you're available i don't care what you did in your past i don't care what your religious tradition is away with your tradition god is trying to bring us down into one place one idea one perspective shouted i'm a believer [Music] understanding that is simply to know that believing matters believing matters not your dogma not your tradition i come from five generations of amy i don't care my great-great-grandmama started the apostolic church i don't care i've been church of god christ all my i don't care why are we so strung up over all these organizations that are less than a hundred years old you serve a jesus 2000 year what happened to the other 1900 years was there no expression of god before your denomination of 100 200 250 years old some of may even be 300 years old what happened to the other 1700 years has god ever left himself without a witness before your founder founded your movement there was still god before his mama was pregnant before she was ever born i got to quit i've got to get started god is still god he's bigger than your bishop he's bigger than your denomination he's bigger than your church creed he's bigger than your ideas god will not be enslaved and trapped behind a religious philosophy god is still god he's sovereign he's absolute he's mighty he's god all by himself he sits high he looks low he has all power in his hand god is god and you believe in anything else you're not a believer you might sound like it you might dance like it you might sing like it but you are not it when the real thing comes then every phony thing is gonna have to back up and get out of the way save you believe him you are going to hell [Music] [Applause] throw your hands up and shout i'm a believer you don't just believe on sunday you don't just believe for a couple of hours this is bigger than church this is bigger than wednesday night bible class i'm a believer in the hospital i'm a believer broke i'm a believer in a breadline i'm a believer on food stamps i'm a believer with no car i'm a believer coming to get to church i used to come to get to my church i was still a believer i'm a believer when i'm up i'm a believer when i'm down my faith is steady my life is crazy but my faith is steady my conditions are wild my position is secure i'm seated together in heavenly places in christ jesus and though he slayed me yet shall i trust him some trust in horses some trust in chariots but i will remember the name of the lord for the name of the lord in the strong tower where the righteous run their hand i want every believer to take a praise break and give your god some praise [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] i believe it i believe it see we got too many text folk that's been raised on junk food five ways to be blessed three ways to get a car 12 ways to get a house get off of this junk food and get back on the word of god because the devil is fighting you and you got to have some word down inside of you that said i still believe if you take my house i still believe if you take my car i still believe knock me down to my knees and i still believe broke busted and disgusted and i still believe what you believe matters [Music] praise him until demons tremble praising until tumors shriek praising until lame men get up praise him till dead people start walking praising till somebody's lungs opens up praise him until hell gets frustrated praise him until witches are slain them if your curses are broken [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] you know what that is in this room right now that's the holy ghost bearing witness to the truth you can't get god to anoint a lie but if you preach the truth the truth will make its own gravy the truth will bring its own anointing the truth will produce its own glory i don't need no tricks i don't need those scams [Music] [Applause] [Music] ugh [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] y'all better come get this y'all better come get this because i'm about to mess this up it's about to be messed up in here it's about to be all jacked up in here because i feel the anointing of the holy ghost up in here right now i feel the power of god adjusting somebody's belief system i feel the power of god reminding you that you are not your circumstance you are not your bank account you are not your emotions you are not your feeling the just shall live by the joshua liver the justified [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] praise him i feel somebody's body getting healed praise him right now praise him right now praise him right now i feel somebody's mind being lifted praise him right now praise him right now there's been a demon of oppression that's been on you all week but i feel it breaking right now in the name of jesus i wish i had somebody that knew how to really praise god i wish you'd stop being cute and open your mouth and praise god like a blood washed believer i dare you i dare you to find the devil to find the devil the power [Applause] [Music] i defy you [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] holland somebody tell them believing matters you can't fight the kind of devil you're fighting and fight him in your emotions and fight him in your feelings you won't have to fight by faith i'll let somebody else and say believing matters believing will heal you believing will restore you believing will revive you believing willing to like you believing will strengthen you believing what strengthen you believing will strengthen you i feel the strength of the almighty god driving up in this place [Music] you don't need a lover you don't need a husband you don't need a boyfriend you already got a man his name is jesus he is the rock he is the minute he is the rose he is the morning star shout yes [Applause] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] what what paul came to do by letter and by word and by ministry and by his life was to change the belief system that was causing so much confusion it was causing so much confusion because the roman church didn't have his head on street and he comes truth always comes to get your head together to adjust your belief system i'm gonna stop right there i'm gonna pick it up next wednesday night [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] i knew i was gonna make it through it i knew i was going to make it to it because god is after your belief system the way you process the way you process what you're standing on has got too much emotion in it contaminated by too much flesh too much flesh and for the kind of assault that has come against the church right now we don't need church members we need believers we need believers we need prayer warriors and intercessors and people laying on their face and moaning and groaning in the holy ghost and travailing in the spirit i know it's old-fashioned you go ahead and keep up with the culture with your cute self but i'm worried about the glory of god falling back in a place to come against hell's forces arsenals of demons have been released in the earth like we have never seen before at a time that the church is trying to be cute and hip and edgy we need some prayer warriors we need some glory we need some old-fashioned rock good supernatural anointing away with this flesh [Applause] that's what defines us we have emotions like anybody else we have feelings just like anybody else they vacillate just like anybody else we move past our soulless man down to our spirit man and we believe god i admit sometimes i have to crawl to get there sometimes i have to cry to get there sometimes i need a few days to get there sometimes i have to feel after it and grope after it and try to get my hands on it like samson trying to get his hand on the pillar but once i get my hand on the pillar i will bring the whole place to him [Music] [Applause] not because of my strength but because of his because believing matters what has been fighting you what have you been trying to handle by yourself what have you been struggling in your emotions about [Music] maybe god is trying to talk to you about your belief system you're watching online right now the holy ghost is talking to you for where you are right now you need to change your belief system god is about to promote you into an area that you cannot enter with your old belief system [Applause] you need to shed it like a snake coming out of skin like a butterfly coming out of a cocoon there has to be a transformative moment where you refuse to be conformed and instead are transformed how am i going to do that by the renewing of your mind lift your hands and talk to your daddy all over the world in front of your computer lift your hands and talk to your daddy you don't talk to your daddy jacob you've been talking to your mama you ain't been talking to your daddy you've been dependent on your own devices your schemes and your tricks talk to your daddy open your mouth be honest with him be honest with him [Music] i've been lost [Music] i've been in the whole bin i spent your money in riotous living and some of this debt i brought it on myself i tried to buy love from my friends and they all forsook me and i'm muddy and i smell like slop but i heard that word and i came to myself and daddy if you let me back i'm coming home i'm coming home in my head i'm coming home in my thinking i'm coming home in my belief system how many servants in my father's house have bread enough and despair and yet i parrot i'm not supposed to be perishing i came to myself and remembered who i am i am who god says i am i can do what god says i can do i can have what god says i can have yeah i elbow shy talk to your daddy you talk to everybody else but the one who can change a thing [Applause] [Applause] [Music] because of the intensity of the struggle you have a glory to god you need to cloak draw closer to him than you've ever been before some of you are on the verge of the greatest elevation of your life but your belief system always sabotages you it brings you down like gravity pulling you back to the same spot and i break the gravitational pull that's been on your life that keeps dragging you back to the same spot and the same kind of people and the same kind of thinking and the same kind of ideas and god has given you enough velocity to spread your wings like an eagle and soar and it's time for you to come out of that chicken coop you are not one of them can't you see you are not one of them you are not one of them you're not one of them now you're not one of them they come over your house but you're not one of them you slept with them but you're not one of them repent come to yourself [Applause] you ain't with them but you're not one of them you work with them but you're not one of them you're a child of the king i want to pray for you right now i want to pray because believing matters and we are in an hour where the devil doesn't want us to believe nothing we fight about everything vaccines masks where we sit where we stand what we teach what we are anything we can find to fight about we fight because the spirit of the witchcraft sunday [Music] [Applause] has become so prevalent that you'd rather die that admit you was wrong you rather die and drown in your own fluids than to humble yourself and change your opinion you rather die lonely and drive all your children away from you don't you know you're gonna grow you're more childish than your children humble yourself change your belief system go home go home say i was wrong i'm no more worthy to be called our son or thy husband or that wife or that worker make me a hired servant humble yourself and watch him kill the fatted calf put a robe on your shoulders put a ring on your finger he's got something for you [Music] everybody in here that knows you need your belief system strengthened come to this altar as we prepare to close i'm going to close praying for you you're online you can't come to this altar but you can receive this prayer [Music] you're not one of them you work with them but you're not one [Music] i need a better belief system i need to be rooted and grounded i need to be instructed in the word not my feelings my flesh is out of control my emotions are out of control my thoughts are all over the place somebody's been fighting the spirit of suicide i feel the spirit of suicide i feel the spirit of suicide i feel the spirit of suicide and you call yourself a christian and you're ready to take your whole life you need to change your belief system i curse that spirit at the root [Music] and i command it to dry up and get out of your mind and out of your thoughts and out of your life and out of your spirit you shall not die but live and declare the works of the lord you have not seen your best day yet you have not sung your greatest song you have not seen your greatest miracle and that demon that tells you you'll never be happy and you'll never smile again and you'll never have joy it's a lying spirit from the pit and i curse it and send it back where it came from sing that again god's doing some adjusting receive it right now right now [Music] he loves you the world that he gave his only begotten [Music] on the cross [Music] supposed to be [Music] [Music] they shall [Music] [Music] father god we've heard your cry and it has resonated in us and i speak to every poisoned belief system contaminated by abuse and bondage contaminated by self-hatred and dread and doubt [Music] contaminated by satanic attack and depression contaminated by grief contaminated by low self-esteem contaminated by pride and arrogance contaminated by loathing and harshness and secrets you are as sick as your secrets [Music] and right now in the name of jesus i decree and declare that will be changed there will be change not just while i'm here not just while she's singing there will be change in your car there will be change in your house there will be change in your kitchen there will be change in your house in your life in your bedroom in your thinking in your private time that god is drawing you back to the father's house back to the fullness of joy back to the presence of god back to the core values that he called us to that he died for us to have [Music] right now let the transforming power of the holy spirit start a transformation in us that gets in the car and gets in the house and gets in our perspectives [Music] we're worried about stuff god that only you can handle we cast our cares on you this stuff is too heavy for us it's too much for us it's too complicated for us it's too complex for us we can't fix everything and everybody and control everybody's choices we surrender to you let god be god hallelujah and his enemies be scattered i'm through taking charge of stuff i'm not in charge of i'm through taking responsibility for things i'm not responsible for i'm through trying to fix stuff that i can't fix i turned it over to you give me my piece back give me my peace i'm taking my piece back i'm hanging up on anybody that tries to disturb my peace i'm taking my piece back so that i can have a guard for my heart and for my mind [Music] fathers we come to the end of this bible class the word has been profitable to us [Music] the word has been helpful to us the word has been healing to us the word has strengthened us the word has invigorated us the word has corrected us the word has rebuked us the word has revived us and we're glad about it keep on talking to me jesus keep on talking to me jesus i might be a hard case but keep on talking to me till you break me down till you fix me till you regulate it keep on talking to me i'm on live but keep on talking to me i'm at work but keep on talking to me i'm in my house but don't give up on me [Applause] i've been praying about my behavior i didn't know to pray about my belief system if my belief system is broken my behavior will always be dysfunctional [Music] thank you for putting hope within my reach you didn't make it so high that i'm not smart enough to grab it you didn't make it beyond my scope my reach i can believe i can't believe children believe i can't believe [Music] they should die that peace is coming into my heart right now i can believe that contentment is coming into my spirit i can believe that i am your son if my daddy don't know me if my mama don't like me if they don't recognize me if they found me in a dumpster i found my daddy god you're my father and i cry to you right now abba abba abba abba pick me up daddy pick me up daddy i'm yours right now in the name of jesus amen give him the best praise you got the best praise you got [Music] you

Channel: T.D. Jakes

Views: 262,355

Rating: 4.8727932 out of 5

Keywords: td jakes, faith, wtal, woman thou are loosed, megafest, potters house, bishop jakes, pastors and leadership, pastors, leaders, instinctbishops, village

Id: wplxXt5pAP8

Length: 85min 21sec (5121 seconds)

Published: Thu Sep 09 2021