Following God In Transition - Bishop T.D. Jakes [March 18, 2020]

[Music] maybe CD thank you for joining us online around the city around the country around the world as we explore truths out of God's Word and we find the way to worship Him no matter what's going on around us we will not allow the center and the apex of who we are as believers to be disrupted so welcome to the potter's house welcome to the service of the Lord welcome to the Wednesday night Bible class honor to all the pastor's that are joining us amen we appreciate each and every one of you dr. James is in the house of Mighty One of God that normally stands in this office thank you for your ministry and your teaching and your revelation here sherry and I got her hooked in that Wednesday night and one letter ago so tonight she just breaks for a minute as we begin to show you the Word of God I will be taking some live questions so I encourage you to write your questions and send them in and I'll get to as many of them as I can some of you have already sent in some questions for us to consider and I'm gonna take them as well but I'm gonna direct your attention to the Gospel of st. John chapter 16 verse 1 through 11 and today I'm going to be talking about following God in transition following God in transition amen following God in transition there are there are times that you have to follow God with a degree of uncertainty because you don't clearly understand what the Lord is doing and anybody that's too sure themselves I'm doubtful of them because if I've said we walk by faith not by sight and people scare me when they know too much then there should be a certain ambiguity a certain apprehension a certain respect a certain reverence a certain progressive revelation as you walk with God as he begins to unfold by himself to you and it comes more clear to you the Word of God we go from glory to glory and from faith to faith but now we see through a dark glass darkly later on we'll see face to face so if you're going through something right now and you don't see everything clearly don't be upset about it because God doesn't always give us details hey come on Sumati he doesn't always give us details here he'll give you just enough give us this day our daily bread I'm not promising you next week I'm not promising you next month but I'll give you this day your daily bread and I've chosen your scripture it's just a jump off point because I think it's a good one it says these things have I spoken unto you that ye should not be offended they shall put you out of the synagogue's yea the time cometh that what whosoever killeth you will think that he doeth god's service and these things will they do unto you because they have not known the father nor me but these things have I told you that when the time shall come you may remember that I told you of them and these things I said not unto you at the beginning because I was with you I didn't give you everything at the beginning because I was with you it reminds me that little phrase reminds me of having adult children if you raise children there are certain things you can tell your children as they get older that you couldn't tell them when they were children and they said well how come you didn't tell me that earlier one time to tell you a relationship has to ferment it has to grow it has to develop come on somebody and these things I said not unto you at the beginning because I was with you but now I go my way to him that sent me and none of you asked of me whether so ever whether goest thou but because I have said these things unto you sorrow has filled your heart and I and I chose this texture in part because I wanted to show to you that even in the days of Jesus Christ changes brought anxiety anytime something changes from your norm it brings ends that anxiety because we're out of our comfort zone and Jesus is ministering to them because they are heavy of heart because he's leaving them he's leaving them not now to put this in context you have to realize that following Jesus was controversial to begin with okay to lead the traditional Orthodox Judaism and start to follow Jesus you were kind of ridiculed and considered a cult to begin with you were ostracized from the beginning you were riddled with critics from Pharisees and Sadducees from the beginning there were other sorts a sex than a groups of people that had different ideologies that persecuted them just because they named the name of the Lord yet they were motivated to follow Jesus because they thought that he was going to bring the kingdom John the Baptist had preceded him and saying repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand now you must understand that the Orthodox Jew now is oppressed by the Roman Empire and when you start talking about the kingdom coming and the king coming they are looking for Jesus to set up his kingdom on earth they could see the kingdom but they could not see the cross see often when we get these prophetic words we see the crown but not the cross so they're following him in anticipation of the crown and then he began to interject as they matured a little bit more and a little bit more about the cross he says for example if you destroy the temple in three days I'll raise it up again okay and and this they thought oh how can you destroy the temple and raise it back up again they didn't really fully understand the full measure of what he was saying to them but they had to follow him in the fog okay see this is a real test of faith is can you follow him in the fall if everything were clear and everything were paid for and everything was okay and everything was in order you wouldn't need faith you need faith because if you're gonna walk with God you have to walk with Him in the fall and the Bible says we go on to know it's progressive knowledge gnoffo we go on to know God doesn't reveal everything all of us he we're just seeing glimpses of his glory we just seen glimpses little excerpts of the story that we go on and follow from faith to faith and from glory to glory and now he's getting ready to go and they are sad not only at his departure but at their inability to fully comprehend that God did not do what they expected him to do now I want to talk a little bit about that because I want to know can you follow him when he didn't do what you expect him to do can you can you serve Him in disappointment anybody anybody can serve Him but everything's going good can you serve Him with a broken heart can you say like Joel though he slay me yet will I trust him can you serve and when you don't understand him can you follow him when your vision and his vision creates a division because you have in your mind how you expected things to go and then he has a higher purpose that deviates from your purpose and you thought you had one vision but your vision is that vision are you humble enough to submit your vision up under his vision and let his vision right if you're not not even talking about Jesus being Lord because he's really not Lord if you're gonna boss him if he's gonna be your Butler if he's gonna be your maid if he's gonna be at your beck and call then he's not Lord at all the real proof of Lord and the real proof of submission is not obeying when I do when you ask me to do what I wanted to do anyway the real test of faith is to obey even though my heart is broken even though I'm disappointed even though things didn't go the way I thought even though there is a division between your vision and mind I will bring my vision up under subjection even if I have to go to the Garden of Gethsemane and pray three times to get there I will eventually come out with not my wheel the most about it not my will but thine be done now I'm a disciple okay now I decided I'm not a disciple because I wear church clothes I'm not a disciple because I have a church title I'm not a disciple because I go to church but when I discipline okay when I discipline my vision and bring it up to under submission and I can follow him with a broken heart now I'm really starting to be a disciple yeah and he told his disciples follow me and I will make you just because she started with him you are not what you're going to be he's gonna make you into what he wants you to be are y'all getting what I'm saying here he said nevertheless I tell you the truth it is expedient for you that I go away for if I go not away the comforter will not come unto you but if I depart I will send him unto you and when he has come he will reprove the world of sin so what we are seeing is a transition of authority the transition has started when we see in the Old Testament we see the father reigning and ruling and except for a few exceptions we don't see a manifestation of the son in the Old Testament except occasionally the fourth one in the furnace I believe Jacob wrestling with the angel there are occasional manifestations Thea phonic manifestations of Christ in the Old Testament but for the most part we do not see him until we start to hear the story Hail Mary you've been highly favored amongst women you shall bring forth a son now we behold the wonder of his glory according to the gospel of Saint John chapter 1 full of grace and truth and so we see the advent of the reigning of the son as he moves to and fro he is the king of glory he is the mighty God he is the great I am he is the everlasting father he is the father dressed up in flesh walking amongst us and we got to see the wonder of his glory we couldn't see the naked glory of God our eyes couldn't stand to see that naked power of God have you thought about how great God is I'm not talking about how great church is I'm not talking about how great religion is I'm talking about how great God is have you thought about how powerful he is that we're going to a place that his presence will outshine the Sun you're talking about a kind of glory that is so all-encompassing that no evil thing can stand in his sight he'll share his glory with nobody every Idol that they ever brought up in his face like Dagon he'd knocked it down to the ground because he said I alone at God and besides me there is no other that's who we talked about what we're talking about God we're not talking about church we're not talking about religion we're not talking about your bishop we're nothing about your cousin without talking about your hymnbook when you start talking about God you talk about somebody who rules and super rules and has all power in his head and we see him parting red seas and we see him swallowing up nations in the earth and we see him shaking mountains and setting them on fire and we see the mountains shake and quake with the glory of God the Father and then in a manger in a humble place wrapped in swaddling clothes laid amongst lowly places in the new gaze of the Shepherd the Lamb of God enters into the world God obeying his own word whose job that man that is born of a woman has about a few days in order for him to enter into the earth realm he didn't want to break his own law he could visit us but to abide with us he had to submit himself and be born of a woman we have not just wrapped in swaddling clothes but wrapped in flesh come on you hear what I'm saying now he needs this body because he is coming to redeem us from the sin and the curse of Adam and he needs a body that he might be a sacrifice for our sins are you with me okay so he comes in the body and then he's getting ready now to offer himself up and the disciples are following God in transition and the hardest thing in the world to do ah its to follow God in transition oh you talk being you talk to the you testify real good you make a lot of noise but I'm talking about two o'clock in the morning sitting on the side of the bed wondering how things are gonna turn out yeah it's really easy to talk a good game when you're in church on Sunday morning but I'm talking about three o'clock in the morning driving your first day to work going to the first day to school moving across country anytime God destabilizes things that's a real test of your faith can you stand having done all the stand can you stand there for with your loins Girt about with truth and what we do know is that they are following him but they are troubled in their heart are you with me and he says to them he said if I stay the comforter cannot come see he can't come we can't occupy the same space at the same time what we are seeing is a transition of authority a changing of the guard we're seeing him handing authority over when you go to Acts chapter 2 and you can run over there right quick if you want to Acts chapter 2 verse 1 and he says the winter day was a Pentecost was fully come and we were in one place with one Accord suddenly there came a sound from heaven like a mighty rushing wind and cloven tongues appeared like as a fire sat upon each of them and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost this is the only time that you see this much drama with the Holy Spirit coming you do not see that in Acts chapter 10 when they were baptized in the name of the Lord and when Paulin laid his hands on them they received the Holy Ghost you don't see it until you don't see it and I accepted 19 Paul having passed through the upper coast of Ephesus finding certain disciples said unto them have ye received the Holy Ghost since she believed they said we have not so much as heard whether there be any Holy Ghost unto what then were you baptized he said they said unto Jones about Chisolm and then he goes on to baptize them in the name of the Lord and when Paul had laid his hands on them they received the Holy Ghost but we don't see a mighty rushing wind we don't see cloven tongues of fire we don't see this great inaugural procession because in Acts chapter 2 this is bigger than them being filled with the Holy Ghost this is the inaugural rain of the Holy Spirit as he sets up residence in the earth realm to rule and control and anytime you go to an inaugural service there's gonna be a processional so the wind comes first and then cloven tongues of fire come next and then you see the Holy Spirit come in and set down and take his authority and his rule and he begins to reign and he begins to take over this era and the kingdom has slipped into the spirit it has moved from the physical manifestation to the spiritual manifestation of Jesus Christ you miss that the kingdom has slipped into the spirit they were looking for earthly kingdom but the kingdom has slipped into the spirit it's not meat or drink we were letter here later here but joy and peace in the Holy Ghost a lot of people are stuck in the flesh but gonna slip this thing over into the spirit he said I was with you but I shall be in you come on talk to me somebody so we are seeing the kingdom come in a spiritual way we are seeing the disciples then having to move from understanding the temple to be a place of worship to understanding that their body was the temple of the Holy Spirit that God has moved inside of you and that he reigns inside of you this is this is a new idea are y'all following me right now so what we're seeing is a transition and in transition they're stumbling they're stumbling there's there's there's confusion there's uncertainty and we see the disciples trying to figure out certain things like who is going to be a successor now that Judas has committed suicide who's going to be a successor that one guy says well let's cast lots and so they took one spicket made it shorter than the other and they in the book of Acts they begin to cast lots and the lot fell on Matthias and Matthias was inducted in as who they had chosen to be the next apostle as they were choosing Matthias God was picking out SAW see but they're stumbling trying to figure out their way and they figure they're gonna cast lots and a lot of us find ourselves in places where we're casting Lots and gambling on destiny gambling on purpose playing look man make games trying to step in to the purpose of God but you never have to go by chance when destiny is already 4-4 predestined it's not up to a lot it's not up to a game it's not up to a ritual God already knew that he was gonna take Saul and Saul was gonna have an encounter on the road to this Mascis that would turn him into Paul that would be so transformative and he couldn't have told them that he was going to use Saul because at that time Saul was a Christian killer and sometimes people will literally evolve into who you're gonna be because they're so stuck on who you oh y'all hear what I'm saying they're so stuck on who you used to be that they cannot update their understanding of you and so we're following God in transition most of the epistles are written in transition and if you study them closely the epistles are argumentative because everybody has an opinion of how much do we bring of our history into our destiny so there are debates about circumcision should we circumcised or not circumcised should we eat meat these types of meats are not eating because their president is informed by their past and this is the problem of transition because anytime you're going through a transition the only thing you have to draw from is past references see all I know is all I know and all they knew was Orthodox traditional Judaism and they were walking with Jesus but they didn't understand how much do we bring and how much still we do we leave behind and Paul begins to make a strong argument for the grace of God whereas James is talking about works and there's a debate because they're trying to fit they're trying to they're like you and me we're trying to get it right we don't really know what we're doing we're in transition and we go on to no but we stumble into destiny you will notice in the early part of the book of Acts and I want you to even take the time I have you turn to it they started out they commanded everybody to sell everything and said we're gonna have all things in common okay we're bring it all down to a level playing field where we were gonna have all things in common and we're gonna distribute out to each man according to his need and this is the interesting thing about that obviously that was not God's plan but even though it was something that they came up with God honored it you know God will honor things even though they're not his ultimate discipline how do you say God honored it because when Ananias and safari min and lied to them about not bringing all the money it was serious enough that God killed them for lying to Peter even though Peters plan was flawed I want to talk to some people that God defended you when you was wrong I need I need two or three witnesses that you didn't have the full revelation but God still didn't let the witch have here he's feeling it let the enemy have you you didn't really know what she was talking about but God protected you in your foolishness oh my god hallelujah glory to God I gotta stop a minute and praise it myself thank you Jesus and God stood up for them and still would not allow them to be disrespected what a mighty God see we're following him we have caught up with him we're following him where we're looking for footprints if we're tracing his steps and we're trying to understand his way and get in his path but we have not caught up with him nor have we overrun him we're stumbling yes is it your pastor is stumbling I'm stumbling the bishop is stumbling the super Bishop but it's tumbling the Pope is covering all of us I'm looking for a glass darkly don't nobody know what they're talking about as much as they'd like to make you think that they do because God is so high you can't get over it and he's so low you can't get under it his ways are higher than our way and there's nobody in the church world that's gonna be selling their books in heaven so whatever you're right you better sell it down here because you're not gonna be teaching theology when the master himself comes along all of these teachers are gonna have to sit down and shut up because all of us at our best are just trying to follow him [Music] are you saying what I'm saying to you now now as we come in we're coming into this spiritual thing her shut this this spirit of thing this spiritual thing please see Christ has birthed the church and the church is a thing it doesn't even have a man there it's a it's a spiritual thing it's some people later at Antioch will call them Christians and some called it the way and then I can show you the crit scriptures where they call them believers because that we go through many phases of understanding who we are but it is a holy thing that term holy thing I didn't create that that's what they call Jesus with Mary was having Jesus they call him that holy thing anytime God birthed something in you it's a holy thing before we get a name for it before we can inducted into our our vernacular and make it fit into our theology when God first births it you don't even have a name for it it's just a holy thing and the church in its core is a holy thing not much has been said today a lot has been said today about you know the churches and who's open and who's closed and this is that another and how we doing this and that the other and the problem begins when you start thinking that the church is a building see that's that's the first problem we have to get down to that because the kingdom is not meat or drink but joy and peace in the Holy Ghost it was never about a building in the first place when Jesus said upon this rock I will build my church he wasn't talking about your church building your building front committee your Cathedral your triple of the Living God fire baptized got it going on in Jesus name incorporated he wasn't talking about any of this man-made stuff the church that he's talking about building is a holy thing oh my god it's a holy thing it defied has no address it has no location GPS can't track it the church is a holy thing it'll get in the car with you you can be the shower prayer and wherever you lift up holy hands the church is right there it's not a building it's not a stage it's not a platform it's not a choir stare it's not an usher boy it's not a greeting committed the church is a holy thing the only reason this building is a church is when we come in here if we start serving liquor in him put poles in here it could be a club this this is just a building so so don't get into a fight with somebody about whether we meet in a building because if you if you start fighting about locations and addresses you're driving me back into the Old Testament which is a shadow of things to come the truth of the matter is the early church didn't have a building they went from house to house breaking bread and in fellowship and when they went in the temple they were going in the temple to persuade the theology of the Jews to embrace Christianity they were going there to worship they were going there to make a defense for the gospel that's why when you see later in the book of Acts when Peter and John came up at the hour of prayer it's not so much that they're coming to worship they're coming to lay out a case to see if they can convert the Jews and they were successful at converting some of them for a while but the book of Hebrews will show you that many of them went back they went back and the mother said it is impossible for those who were once enlightened and tasted of the heavenly gift if they should fall away to renew them again to repentance seeing as they crucified the Son of man afresh then whole crucify the Son of man afresh is a clue that this refers to the people who crucified Him the first time by rejecting him when they backslide they go back into the apostasy of rejecting him and crucify the Son of man afresh a council study they're my brothers and sisters of the book of Romans will show to you that that the whole whole of the Gentile nation is a result of the rejection of the Jews he comes first to the Jew and then to the Greek that's what the scripture says and so as the Jews began to reject them more and more we see the transition over to the Gentiles now watch the end my brothers and sisters how stealthily the Holy Spirit moves I'm starting to sweat glory to God watch how stealthily the Holy Spirit is transitioning them and in the process of transitioning them he is educating them he is maturing them he is developing them it's not transitioning just about moving in a new realm and a new reign it's a new mentality it's a new mindset it's new revelation it's new understanding they have yet to discover Deacon's see they had the church but they didn't have the fire for ministry they didn't have the fivefold ministry to the Apostle Paul comes along says he he gave some apostles and some prophets some pastors some teachers some evangelists all for the perfecting of the Saints but the church existed before structure [Music] there wasn't any organization but its feel existed so that if the enemy thinks that he can change our address and shut us down and he needs to watch this Bible fast cuz it was never about a building in the first place oh my god it was about a belief system it was about a lifestyle it was about a message we started in the house Jesus did most of his preaching in the house so we're back to where we started ah we're back to where we started we've gone full circle back to where we came from again the gospel and the anointing and the power and the preaching that used to be your understanding had it locked up in a building but even through this adversity that we're going through you're gonna have to rediscover the sanctuary in your house in this transition that we're going through you can no longer relegate the teaching of the faith to somebody who is doing the children's church you're gonna have to go back and do it like we did old school where your mama told you who Jesus was and your daddy told you who Jesus were and they taught you the fundamentals of the faith you can't just bring them out and throw them on somebody and put all the responsibility on the teacher and children's church to tell them about these let me tell you why if they're telling them about Jesus at children's church but they going home and they seeing something else all you're gonna do is confuse the child since you are the one that God gave the child to responsibility of training up the child is not in the babysitter it's not I will get in trouble I'm against Atlanta it's not on somebody that you paying 40 bucks an hour to watch your child they may be helpers but the responsibility rest on you so where is your sanctuary where is your sanctuary if you're going to follow him in transition and we're in transition right now and and in the middle of all of this transition and all of this chaos the Lord said to me that everything that can be shaken will be shaken so that those things that cannot be shaken will remain and we're seeing a shaking now depending on where you live in the world what you're seeing in Dallas right now it is illegal for us to have over 50 people in a gathering of any kind not just Church anything so so the gym classes are shut down the nightclubs are shut down the restaurants are shut down I was driving up here looking at the empty parking lots all of them shut down all kinds of people laid off and and the latest decree is you would get a fine and or up to six months in jail if you exceed the requirement because they're trying to stop the virus now it's Noble that they're trying to stop the virus but I do understand that while they're trying to stop the virus the enemy is trying to stop the church see two things can be true at the same time that there's a nobility of them trying to stop the virus but the enemy is trying to stop the church because he thinks that if you can't find your way to an address you will lose your vision of God but I came to serve notice on the devil tonight that it was never flesh and blood it was never me to dream it was always in the Holy Spirit and even if we couldn't scream we could connect in the Holy Ghost because if we start praying in the spirit you don't even have to walk by sight to feel the power of the Holy Ghost that's why we got to get back to the Holy Ghost yeah we cannot depend even on technology to convey Gloria yeah because all the technology in the world cannot produce glory glory is not coming through laughs I glory it's coming out of my spirit and out of my heart and out of my life oh you don't hear when I go ready I had this before we had Wi-Fi no no no we don't have to have Wi-Fi we don't have to have no crowd we don't have to have no big assembly I cut my piece preaching in empty buildings two or three people here no problem cuz it was never about the crowd not all of you that it was about the crowd you can't preach if you don't have a crowd but I can preach if everybody walked out of this room cuz it was never about the crowd in the first place maybe that's why he gave me the crowd because I never trusted you see you have to have this thing on the inside but what Jesus is trying to teach the disciples is that you must have him on the inside he says I'm going to send you another comforter Alice Perry Cletus one who stands alongside to help that any rudiment understanding of the Holy Spirit he is your helpmate he stands alongside you to empower you to make you effective you can sing you got a gift you got a talent you can sing you can sing that's nice but if you want to be effective you got to go past talent to anoint it because the world Got Talent the thing that sets us apart is the anointing of the Holy Spirit how are we doing so far when you think about transition I'm gonna say this and then I'm gonna take a few questions when you think about transition I went back to the Old Testament and thought about how difficult it was for the Old Testament Israel to come out of Egypt and make that transition and an entire generation died in the wilderness in the middle of transition because the influence of where they came from they came out of Egypt but Egypt didn't come out of them are you hearing what I'm saying and it took an entire generation to scrub Egypt out of them enough to get them ready to go into the Promised Land sometimes God will delay your promise in transition because he's still scrubbing out your prospective y'all ain't gonna talk to me tonight cuuu out and you got the promise but your perspective is painted by your experience do you hear what I'm saying to you now now I'll prove it to you when Moses well as long as Moses was with them they were good but when Moses went up on the mountain and had to go away for 40 days when he came back down they have built an image of God and the image of God looked just like the Egyptian God because they've been with the Egyptians so long that it affected how they saw God you cannot hang around the world all the time and get a good glimpse of who God is and so we we begin the scrubbing process this is grandma's stuff y'all don't screw up nothing now but I can see my grandmother's her arms shakin scrubbing scrubbing out a stain and a life will scrub out a stain some of you right now you think that the enemy's attacking you it's not the enemy God is scrubbing out a stain saying in your perspective so that you could see him more clearly and he's got you in transition because you have come out of who you were but you're not ready to go into who you're gonna be and so you have to get into a little wilderness and a time of transition we see it clearly in the Old Testament it is less clear but equally true in the New Testament that the epistles are written in the wilderness of becoming yeah they have come out of the relationship that they had with Christ where he walked amongst him which incidentally was Old Testament Matthew Mark Luke is all Old Testament to begin with why is it all testament it has to be Old Testament because Ebru says that the Testament is not enforced until the testator dies so it's not divided by where King James divided it what device Old Testament from new is the cross so so so so Jesus died under the law and rose up in under grace that's where the transition occurs right there but they're still trying to understand what does that mean what do we take with us what do we do and so they're in a wilderness where they're having to be scrubbed out they almost got into a fight in Antioch over what do we take what do we leave because God is scrubbing out see this this uncomfortable stage of disagreement and controversy and what we call haters and people saying like this and that not that's not new that's not new that's always been it's tragic but it's true so we are most often and most likely to be wounded by our own brethren [Music] yeah yes sometimes you're safer with the sinners than you are with the Saints if it's anybody's gonna come out and criticize you and attack you a lot of times it because we have different levels we're all in one house but we have different levels of understanding and we tend to criticize what we don't understand and we tend to criticize what we can't duplicate and we tend to criticize often what we admire yeah criticism is often a sign of admiration because if they didn't want to be you and they didn't see you where they seen you they wouldn't attack you like they attack you so when you have haters you ought to thank God because you you are significant enough to be attacked because if you weren't effective they wouldn't fight you but come on somebody yeah yeah don't nobody fight somebody who's losing don't matter no nobody fight somebody who's failing nobody wants to stick up a bag lady she can walk down the roughest part of Chicago pushing her cart and nobody bothers her because nobody thinks she has anything in order for somebody to want a mug you they have to respect that you got something oh you're not talking to me so you got to begin to understand that these light afflictions which are but for a moment work for us a far more exceeding way to work for we look love at the things that are seen for the things that are seen are temporal and the things that are not seen are eternal are you in transitions and I are you in transition in your life I'm not just talking about coronavirus I'm talking about in in the entirety of your this just made it worse but are you in transition are you trying to follow God and change your perspective of who he is and who you are in him if you are you must understand that that the God that you perceive on the outside has to come and dwell on the inside and become more intimate and more personal in your life if this is helping somebody give them a praise right now I'm gonna take a few minutes and I'm gonna begin to answer some of the questions but put some of the questions up there and come in and we'll see where we go with them thank you Jesus it's a coronavirus part of God's plan to wake us up I am careful about definitively saying what God is doing by any particular thing because I have lived long enough to see people misrepresent God in crisis like this I remember 9/11 and they said that God was trying to purge New York and and people have always quick to speak on what God is doing but the truth of the matter is I don't know whether it is part of God's plan to wake us up but I do know that the coronavirus is waking us up yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah I don't know whether he sent it or whether he allowed the enemy to send it for whatever reason but I know that one of the benefits of the burden of the coronavirus is that it is waking us up how is it waking us up it's waking us up in a lot of ways it's waking us up but the silly bickering we have been doing for the last decade now seems foolish in the face of a real attack it is waking us up to appreciate the walk of faith in a way that we didn't appreciate it before see now you're fighting wanting to come to church but before when you couldn't come you were staying at home in the bed and some of the very people who are complaining about not having church one half coming when we could have come on talk to me for a minute about it it is waking up because sometimes we don't appreciate something until it is pulled back from us and when it is pulled back from us we have a deeper appreciation it is waking us up to the perspective that we must bring our church experience into our house yeah it's waking us up to the experience that we must read our Bibles what what happens if they shut us completely down what happens if we get into a war and we're unable to do it and to all of you who think that the church cannot survive save we lead cannot take you to China where the church was meeting underground in basements for years can I take you to the Upper Room where the disciples were locked up behind closed doors for fear of the Jews the churches often had to go underground and even when it had to go underground it has never been destroyed for 2,000 years in many times we have gone through periods and eras where the church had to go underground to survive Hitler was trying to kill the church the enemy has always been after the church but the church has always survived every attack whether it was a virus or man jesus said upon this rock I will build my church and the gates of Hell shall not prevail against it what is happening now is that this new kind of Saints we got now who are more church members than they are Saints are having to become Saints in a way they didn't have to before because the pacifier is taken out of your mouth of being able to depend on somebody else to pray for you now you have to get down by the side of your bed like your grandmother and pray yourself through and drive the enemy out of your house now you've got to go really go old-fashioned and get you some consecrate at all and anoint your house and say coronavirus you should not come in my dwelling place and I anoint the head of my doorpost and I know that every wall and every window and you got to walk through your house and plead the blood and sanctify your space since you in the house anyway you might as well use it to overcome the enemy that's come against your life yes it's waking us up it's waking us up and it is high time that it wakes us up I am just careful about saying what all God is doing because I have learned in my life that sometimes it takes you 20-30 years and you look back in retrospect to fully comprehend what God is doing whatever God is doing I can tell you this it's bigger than America whatever he's doing is global it's reaching all over the world whatever he's doing I don't see us arguing over who's got the biggest weapons anymore because God had a weapon that I did all the weapons we were talking about I don't see us fighting and arguing between Democrats and Republicans sometimes it takes a common enemy to create unity sometimes it takes a real threat to make you appreciate your spouse you don't see anybody fussing oh I can't stand him know now y'all praying together and now you're trying to see sometimes hardships create gratitude are you following what I'm saying I'll take another question as I get older my fears seem to be challenging my faith to act on my instincts how do I overcome well so let me say this let me just speak for myself I have never had faith without it being surrounded by fear the notion that you either have one or the other destroys the very definition of faith itself because faith Springs out of the ground and the fertility of fear the year what I'm saying to you now now if there were no fear there would be no need for faith let me show it to you real plain when the children of Israel got ready to go down into the Red Sea and God made the water stand up on the right and the left we talked about the faith that they went down into the dry bed with but we don't talk about the fear but imagine walls of water 40 feet high and you got your children walking through walls of water that could collapse at any moment you don't think there was no fear the real art to life is not to be controlled by the feeling of fear but to let faith drive the wheel even if fear is sitting in the back seat [Music] y'all don't hear what I'm saying to you yeah because you cannot count on fear to get out of the car in order for you to be mobile you just don't want fear to drive the car you want your faith to drive the car and just because you have the even though you acknowledge the fact that you have a feeling that wants to drive called fear it's up to you not to turn your car keys over to your fears and be driven by fear you want to be driven by faith so if I want to encourage you to read Hebrews 11 by faith Abel offered up a more excellent sacrifice than Cain by faith nor built an ark to the saving of a sir by faith even walk with God it was not how did they do it by faith that doesn't mean that they didn't have fear they didn't have problems they didn't have opposition they didn't have insecurities if you're waiting for a clear path before you walk you don't need faith you need faith because you're facing fearful times you understand though he slay me yet shall I trusted see see see the paradoxical dilemma of faith how faith is flourishing in an adverse atmosphere now you you as an act of your will have to decide what's going to drive your next move I'll take another question the bishop how do I stay holding to God when I feel more and more depressed daily I'm sorry you feel the press on one hand I want to dig down into why you feel depressed because there is a reason that you're feeling depressed it can be an emotional reason it can be a biological reason or it can be a spiritual reason and depending on where the depression is coming from how you are to handle it not everything is resolved just by laying hands on it sometimes depression as a result of suppressed anger and frustration and you would be it would be better for me not to lay hands on you but for you to confront the issue that you're angry about so that you can give that anger out because depression is often anger turn inside okay but listen let's let's let's fly up into the higher aspects of your question how do I stay holding to God when I feel more and more depressed that's all the more reason you ought to be holding on to God you you you cannot let your relationship with God be based on your feelings the the trick the answer to your question is when I feel your relationship with God is not based on feelings your relationship with God is based on his word and the facts of his word and they often stand in total opposition to your feeling I'm not a Christian because I feel like one I'm a Christian when I don't feel like one I'm not a preacher because I feel like a preacher I'm a preacher when I don't feel like being a preacher I don't need my feelings to align with my calling so let's not give too much power to our feelings because they're gonna change in the morning see so so you can't build a house on sand because saying it's not stable and emotions are not stable and if you build your house on sand when the storm comes is go calm down that's conditional circumstances you have to build on something that won't move and feelings will move today I'm happy tomorrow I'm not sometimes before the day is over my moods change all together you cannot base your relationship with God on feelings listen dear heart you have got to get back into the Word of God and build your faith on things that are eternal and hold to God's unchanging hand you cannot build your faith of feelings and circumstances and know there is a God because he gave me a husband I know there is the God because he put the dress on sale I know there is a God cuz of mortgage I got the mortgage of proof no no no no no no I know there is a God if there is no house I know there is a God if my spouse leaves me I know there is a God if I shut up in a hospital because my faith is not built on my circumstances the if your faith is built on your circumstances all the enemy has to do to kill your faith is attack your circumstance the reason he couldn't bring job down is job's faith was never in jobs possessions you gotta build your faith on the integrity of God's Word and we have got to win this church we have today from leaning on conditional circumstances rather than building your faith on the integrity of God's Word are you hearing what I'm saying this next question I'm gonna take this next question we don't all right everybody good everybody with me let's do this thing how do you explain all that is currently going on to your children especially if you have raised him to pray and trust God one the fact that you've raised him to pray and trust God does not mean that because we have trouble this in some way is an indictment against prayer you wouldn't listen I would need to trust this chair if I wasn't gonna put weight on it but you see you see the the whole notion of trusting God means I trust you when the circumstances are against me so what you want to do is teach your children to believe God and to trust God but to differentiate God from Santa Claus he didn't just come down the chimney to give you good stuff sometimes God orders sunshine and sometimes he orders raining sometimes he orders pleasure and sometimes he orders pain well why should I serve Him if he's gonna order pain because sometimes pain is what it takes to get you into your purpose see so it might not be good but all things are gonna work together for good so you begin to teach the children this is a trial of our faith and this is a season that we're going through right now and we're going to lean and trust God to take us through those circumstances and to bring us out safely and so we're going to pray tonight and we're going to trust God and you must understand that our faith is being challenged by a virus that has been talked about since January I know people whose faith had been tested by hundreds of years of slavery see how many weeks are we in today's let's go back to the Holocaust let's look at how long the Saints were persecuted let's let tell your children about how the disciples were crucified upside down and thrown into snake pits and die tell him how Stefan was stoned and even died looking up into heaven we got to teach a real faith not a candy cane faith a real faith a faith that struggles our faith that wrestles a faith that fights back and you start that early I every time I think about this I get emotional I every day of my life I think the God thank God for the way my parents raised me because they were tough they were rough they didn't give you a whole lot of anything borrowed money from my mother you just assume go to the Internal Revenue and try to get them to pay your taxes yeah because she raised you not to expect something for nothing we have got to stop creating a euphoric world for our children trying to give them everything that we didn't get because in the process of giving them everything that we didn't get we're not going to get the results that we became from the hardships we encountered so prepare them for a real world some days it's gonna be a Disney World kind of day and other days you're gonna not feel like getting out of the bed but when you don't feel like getting out of the bed and when you are afraid you keep going this is a great opportunity to teach your children obedience boundaries structure order and you can teach it if you are not terrified yourself but it's hard to teach a child something that hadn't fully penetrated the parent in other words you you're afraid they're gonna be afraid I tell my children all the time don't be scared to you see me get scared yeah don't be scared to you see me gets here and and I live by that I'm on a plane I can't fly a plane and as long as the pilot don't come out of that door white as a sheet I'm doing but the day the pilot comes out the door and said oh my god we got a problem I don't know what he's talking about but I'm worried about it as a driver as a leader all my leaders listen at me you cannot allow your feelings to be projected on your passengers you can't vent on your children you have to be steadfast because when you are not steadfast you represent their whole world so this is a great opportunity to teach them about life that things come out of nowhere change all your plans rearrange all your fears but your adaptability quotient has to be so designed that you adapt to change I know you thought we were going to go away on vacation now we're not gonna go we're gonna have a staycation so take that take the sheet off the bed and let's make a tent and let's learn how to play with what we got let let's just do some creativity in here this is an opportunity it's not an opposition it's an opportunity to teach your children the reality because if you don't take this opportunity when they get out in the real world and something happens out of the blue they don't know how to handle it see because we have created this this world of euphoria that's really not real this is real is I'm sorry I don't like it I don't want it I want it to be over to but this is real and we have to operate without boundaries we have to obey laws we have to respect leadership this is a great opportunity to teach your children a lot of life lessons and how to be happy in confinement but you don't need all these people to make you happy oh I can think of so many things that you can teach from this I'm excited I want to teach your child myself glory to God this is gonna be good do you think the current a coronavirus situation will cause a shift in how we experience church after all of this is over I hope so I hope that when all of this is over we have a deeper appreciation for the right and the privilege to come together in worship I hope that we'll get up out the bed a little bit more and drive to service a little bit more I hope that the scarcity of this moment would increase our Bible study so that when I'm preaching I don't have to always go back to fundamentals before I can build on it because you have a foundation I hope that it does that for it I hope that it makes us love one another more I'm hope that it makes us reach out across generations more I hope it makes young people care for the elderly elderly respect the young people in a way that sometimes we're at odds with each other and we don't need to be and now we're in a situation where we need each other now I need the grandchild to go to the grocery store for me might not be able to go for myself those kinds of opportunities either make you weaker or wiser how you handle it is up to you there another question I feel like my faith is on trial any words of encouragement first of all me too I have had periods that I didn't feel like my face was on trial but but I'm in a period now that I think that my faith is on trial it's not necessarily about coronavirus but anytime there is going to be elevation there's generally preceded by frustration and the fact that I feel like my faith is on trial is not necessarily a bad thing because a lot of times I think we have been taught faith wrongly that we think that faith is magic and that we're using our faith just to get what we want but faith aptly taught says if I don't get what I want I still believe God see others not accepting deliverance that they might obtain a better resurrection some dwelt in caves it didn't see the Bible doesn't teach faith that always ends up in a mansion the Bible is open that some of the people with the greatest faith hid in caves so don't think that your faith is on trial because your conditions are being tested it might be that your choices are on trial because a lot of times we are not where we are because of the weakness of our faith sometimes we are where we are by the poverty of our decisions so before you think that that that you are where you are because you didn't believe God and God didn't come through for you and all of that you got a whole litany of things I go through before I get to that is there anything that I did that brought this on myself is there a better choice I could have made do I am i handling my money correctly am i living beyond my liens what do i what do I need to do before I even get to what doesn't God need to do you see what I'm saying because just because you're going through adversity doesn't mean you don't have faith just because Peter was in a storm didn't mean that there wasn't faith on the boat Jesus was on the boat but that didn't mean the storm didn't come so don't think it's strange that fiery trials have come against you to try your faith don't think that's all that's supposed to happen that's not a demotion you're not gonna ever outgrow that as far as I can tell up to 62 there's always going to be something that tries your faith there's gonna be some gymnasium that God puts your faith in to workout in that's what problems are there gymnasiums for your faith to workout in and when God gets ready for your faith to get strong he but he put some resistance in your life because you'll never build up strength without resistance Oh glory to God you'll never be strong without resistance you'll never be tenacious without resistance the resistance it's good that we've been afflicted because through all of that you become tough like like our ancestors before us what we call tribulation today our ancestors were called kool-aid come on somebody what we call my car lost my car they never had one see see a lot of it is we're conditioned to things that fluctuate how do you handle being alone in times of trouble that's a very good question on one hand we all go through periods of aloneness whether we are alone or not you can be you don't have to be alone to be lonely okay finding some safe place and and and I'm not just answering your question I'm also discerning you that's into question finding some safe place where you can talk it's very therapeutic now that safe place may not be a permanent friend it might be a temporary encounter it might be a counselor it might be a pastor it might be a minister at your church but choose wisely in times of trouble it's really not company that you need its sound wisdom so so this is not just about being lonely in times of trouble this is about getting in in times of trouble because you're really feeling alone because you're thinking inside of yourself I do that sometimes it's like I grew up in West Virginia and your wheels would get on ice and they'd be spinning and rubber would be burning and your burning gas but you're not getting anywhere anytime you think the same thing five times you're not thinking you were in any time you keep rehearsing the same thing over and over to get well do another so oh my god what if I don't do sometimes it'll happen oh it's coming back Thursday and I don't know where I would say at first I was thinking but if I keep repeating it I'm just worrying and you're never gonna get the answers you need just by worrying I'm gonna take one more question then I'm gonna close how do I draw closer to God in prayer I love that question how the more real he becomes in your life the easier it is to pray now let's back then all the way back and unpack that for a minute when you first start praying you don't really feel like anybody's listening because it's awkward because we are sensual what do you mean by essentially you mean I'm sexy you might be but that's not what I mean there's a difference between being sexual and being sensual sensual means that we have a tendency to gravitate to that that titillates our senses as ear smell touch mouth all all those things are essentials through which we sense the world a prayer does not allow you to operate in your senses because you can't see God you can't audibly hear him answer you now you have to work on another set of senses did you know that we have another complete set of sense okay we have spiritual senses that the Bible says I think is in Hebrews like 13 I'm not sure that that it is our senses are exercised by reason of use so when we first start praying it might be mechanical it might be mundane but if you keep praying after a while it becomes something that you can sense and that you can feel and that you can commune with God and you rush to do it you rested you can't wait to do it oh god I kind of talk to you oh god I lead you right now and want you right now in my spirit and in my life and sometimes it's the only place where you can find peace is that sometimes he's the only one you can trust sometimes he's the only one you can really open up to and see but that happens by reason of use and then you discern him more clearly and all of a sudden you can hear him and what your Bible calls your inner ear yeah you you can hear you can literally hear him not in your natural ear but in your spiritual ear and you can sense him in the room when God's glory comes in the room you can sense his presence in the room you'd know that he just walked in the room ah bless his name the choir can be singing and the point where the glory comes in everybody can sense the glory of God those senses I'm talking about are exercised by reason of use their asking me to answer two more questions yes I'll do it put it up there I have been trying my best to stay positive during this trial how do I bring God and the Holy Spirit into the healthcare facility I work at to boost morale and show them God has got this that's a very good question I don't I don't think that there's a way in the world that you could leave him out if you came in you're asking me how do I bring God and the Holy Spirit into the healthcare facility that you work here he walked in in you and as soon as you grasp that he may have not even put you there to make the money hallelujah that you're on assignment in that place and that when when you walked in the temple of the Lord walked into that healthcare facility and I'm gonna give you another little tip that will really help you sometimes influencing the morale of the people and show them that God has got this is not about what you say it's what you do it's the atmosphere and you create when you walk in the room it's the jovial disposition that your hair it's a carrot switching touch them and all of a sudden your kindness creates opportunities for your witness it's not where your witness creates opportunity for your kindness your kindness creates opportunity for your witness because you're gonna want to know how can you be that upbeat how can you be singing this morning why are you always so happy and it opens up a way well my peace comes from the Lord my feet and you can be at that testimony because when you walked in that place God His Holy Spirit his angels his authority his healing his deliveries all walked in all walked in with you so you don't have to get in there and talk God in the coming if you got in there he's in there with you too if you make your bed in Hell the Bible said he's there if you take your wings and fly to the uttermost parts for that he's there they lock you in jail look at Paul and Silas head midnight wherever you go God is still there God is still there conference yourself with those words let them know that God is with them in this season of their life let them know that the God that brought them through all of those years will be with him all the way back home let them know that the God that burst them into the world and that they came out of their mother's womb and fell into his arms will be the same arms that touch them into bed as they get ready to go back to the God that gave them let him know that he is Alpha and Omega the beginning and the end He is God and life He is God over death he's gone over every stage of their lives let them know that aging is not failure its success old ages of reward for people who live right and make good choices it's a benefit it's the benefits of blessing the world it's a blessing to grow what's sad is a short casket oh but a life where live is a testimony Thank You these let let's not have poor old age let's welcome it that's why I wearing my gray here I earned this grave I earned this gray I never spread of it glory to God it's my crown to my grown man stuff holiday I ain't do it affliction awareness gray hair to remind myself that when I was suicidal it didn't work and I would live to be the age I if this is success on my face puss ha Oh bless his name hallelujah I don't know if I'm helping anybody or not hallelujah don't despise age don't despise age appreciated glory to God that all the people who despise it you just wait you hope to be lucky enough to get here if God cover you and you make enough good choices and you're kind enough you might get here you might get here Bishop just was wondering could you do a worldwide prayer right now I can always pray I don't know if it's worldwide but I can always pray I can pray for the world I can pray for you right now and I think this is a good thing to do I may ask you to stand with me as we do it all over the world there is chaos all over the world there's hunger all over the world there is poverty and all over the world there's pain all over the world there's political unrest all over the world there is disease all over the world there's disorientation all over the world there are people with dreams wondering how will they be realized all over the world there is turmoil there is no place on the planet that sin didn't reach no tribe no culture no color no language of people that do not wrestle with their flesh all over the world sin did abound but the Bible said where sin did about grace did much more about all over the world the blood of Jesus will prevail all over the world the name of Jesus has hired and lifted up it worthy to be prayed all over the world God is a healer there's not a place in the world you can go that there's a power in Jesus name so as we pray wherever you're watching from it may be the middle of the night you may be over in Europe somewhere watching me so sleeping you can't keep your eyes open you may be in South Africa in the middle of the night watching me right now it must be about four o'clock in the morning over there I'm praying for you glory to God you might be in Hawaii watching me right now I'm praying for you even though I'm a day ahead of you I'm praying backwards and forwards hallelujah prayer didn't have hands owns prayer then we're about calendars present watch to watch or care about the clock father in the name of Jesus as we come together in prayer hallelujah prayer knows no boundaries we right where I am there's telling us to distance ourselves but prayer is my hookup it's my connection it brings us into unity and fellowship and I pray for pain all over the world I pray for people in the hospital I pray for families that are in divorce and trials and tests I pray for emotions that are distraught in mental disorders and physical disorders that those that are wrestling with the virus and those who have lost loved ones and those who have incurred tragedies that are not even on our radar while we're talking about one thing somebody's fighting something else I rebuke cancer and hypertension and lung disorders I pray for my brother-in-law I pray for my neighbors I pray for my friends I pray for people in South America and in Africa and in Europe and Japan and China and Australia and New Zealand I pray for the Caribbean islands I pray for wherever there is faith I pray that God would touch amongst all the languages of the world that the hand of the Lord would make itself resident let no minister to the needs of your people whether they're in the slums of Soweto or whether they're in the mansions of a Leawood prayer knows no boundaries go there now in the name of Jesus find them Lord in the name of Jesus in the bush and can you find them Lord right now in the name of Jesus in what Sid Los Angeles damara walking the street itself Chicago fandom right now God in the name but you blanket the world with your love and your peace and your power because your God all by yourself you're not just an American god you're the god of the whole earth you sit on the circle of the earth everything is up under your power my god tonight leave the name of Jesus let healings flow let it flow right now let it go into Italy hallelujah let it go into the Vatican let it walk up and down the streets of Rome oh my god I lift up fit people and disease and hurting people and dysentery and infections and disorders and mental disorders and strife and confusion and autism arthritis and every kind of disease and lift of Alzheimer's and kidney failure I lift up blindness and blood diseases I lift up the hiv-positive and those that are wrestling with age I lift them up before you in the name of Jesus hallelujah I lift up worried parents that are sitting and waiting room praying over children wondering what the outcome is going to be I lift up parents that are sick and diseased in age and don't recognize their children but the children recognize him God let your power overshadow every situation for dieter's he gave them the power and glory forever and ever and ever amen you've got the best phrase you've got right now my brothers and sisters you ought to praise him right where you are in your living room sitting on the couch and on your job where we in the hospital you ought to lift up some hands and give God some glory right now comforter comforter comforter when we think about the Holy Spirit we think of him comforting like this but in the original language it is not comfort like this the word is para Cletus okay one who stands alongside to help the comforter is help a parent reaches on the loading dock when you got something really heavy and you can't lift it there's an apparatus called a Paraclete the Paraclete makes you able to lift stuff that you couldn't lift because it leverages if I tried to lift it in my own strength I couldn't do it and I would fail in my own stress but if I just take a chain and hook it to the Paraclete I can pull it up easier because I got help you see that's what the Holy Ghost is you better pay attention this year because some of the stuff you don't breath you're not gonna have the strength to lift but don't give up on your vision you got a call over the Paraclete say I couldn't lift this in the old strip but I have a comforter that is a bad cleat that gives me strength that's not now and he says when you go in I'm going in with you when you go after it I'm going out did with when you get in the fight I'm gonna fight with you I'm gonna long side you to help and when you run out of strength that's when I will kick the air [Applause] [Music] I will not leave you comfortless [Applause]

Channel: T.D. Jakes

Views: 955,125

Rating: 4.8119826 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: JAu95AkMyVg

Length: 83min 42sec (5022 seconds)

Published: Thu Mar 19 2020