Give Us An Awakening - Bishop T.D. Jakes

[Music] i am uh at my core a pastor i actually uh just have that passion and the love for god's people you are what you are whether you're in a place or not if you're a father you're a father i don't care where you are in the world you're a father if you're a mother you're a mother i don't care how far the kids move away you're still mama it's not about a location it's about it's about an unction and a perception and understanding who you are in god get your bibles i'm ready to go let's go to the book of acts let's go to the book of acts axe acts acts acts acts acts acts what the king james says are acts of the apostles but what i believe are the acts of god because the apostles could do nothing save god act through them amen god is gonna act up in your life glory to god you didn't hear what i said god is gonna act up in your life the people are gonna say is you doing it but they don't know that the force behind you is god doing the work we're going through the book of acts chapter number 12 verse 6 through 11. and there we're going to share the word of the lord with you out of the good news bible i'll be reading you read and whatever translation is available to you you're familiar with this story i want to extrapolate from this story a focus in the text from which the holy spirit wants to encourage and renew you and inspire you and empower you that you might accomplish and become all that god would have you to be uh in the earth and it reads after this manner the night before herod was going to bring him out to the people peter was sleeping between two guards he was tied with two chains and there were guards on duty at the prison gate suddenly an angel of the lord stood there and the light shone in the cell angel shook peter by the shoulder woke him up and said hurry up get up and once the chains fell off peter's hands he woke him up and at once the chains fell off of his hands then the angel said fasten your belt and put on your sandals peter did so and the angel said put your cloak round about you and come with me peter followed him out of the prison not knowing however if what the angel was doing was real he thought he thought he was seeing a vision they passed by the first guard post and then the second and came at last to the iron gate leading into the city the gate opened for them by itself and they went out they walked down a street and suddenly the angel left peter then peter realized what had happened to him then peter realized then peter realized what had happened to him and said now i know that it is really true the lord sent his angel to rescue me from herod's power and from everything the jewish people expected to happen can you say amen then peter recognized then peter realized what had happened to him i i want to use a subject give us an awakening give us an awakening i started to just use what the young people use and just say woke are you woke give us an awakening spirit of the living god fall fresh on us right now as we embark upon this mission to establish the truth of god through the text that the truth of god might pierce through the text in such a fashion that it becomes rhema cut to the continuity of where we are right now and what's going on in our individual and collective lives [Music] and thereby we might gain a deeper richer fuller understanding of what you would have us to do and what you would have us to know and what you would have us to see and why we are where we are like we are for such a time as this i thank you in advance ah for what you're about to do i believe your own credit you're going to bless somebody i decree and declare that somebody's life will never be the same again ah i decree declaring that it is so i'm not afraid to thank you now you can do it later in jesus name somebody shout amen on your way to your seat just say awakening awakening awakening yeah i need an awakening i need an awakening i need an awakening we are in the 12th chapter of the book of acts that means that the church as we know it today does not exist it is in the embryonic stages of its development it is not seen as a massive global movement as it is now it is not seen as a collection of denominations and philosophical ideologies that embrace a particular theology that causes us to have a certain degree of continuity in the midst of our distinctives no no the church is so small and so my newt compared to the other religions of its time it is debatable in the circles where it is mentioned that it could be considered almost occult only a handful of people even knew what it was in fact it was a while before they even had a name for it they called it the way then they called them believers and at antioch they called them christians and it wasn't always meant in the nicest way but that was the term that they put on them to call them christians so those crazy christians and though it was small we must not diminish the fact or trivialize its ability or its potency because god was in it and you must understand that god gets in small stuff that god gives him controversial stuff that god gets and looms large in small places and just because other people minimize you does not mean that god's presence is not available in your life you have to know that he that has began a good work in you shall perform it until the day of jesus christ and not so desperately clamor for the accolades of people in order to affirm what god has spoken to you you've got to know that it's god whether people call it god or not you've got to understand who you are while they're trying to figure out who you are because the truth of the matter is by the time people really understand you you might be dead so if you need their affirmation before you can progress you may be a lonesome soul all of your life waiting for the accolades of men who are confused about what to call you you see the church exists inside of two different sociological constructs at the time while it is not of the world it is in the world and the fact that it is in the world means it is affected by the world we cannot claim autonomy from the in the church to the degree that we completely ignore what's going on in the world because what's going on in the world affects the church it's not just that the church affects the world the world also affects the church such were the times from the earliest of stages and even to now it is arguable which one affects the other the most because we are affected by the environment in which we are planted just like a seed is affected by the soil it is placed in and the seed affects the soil in like manner the church is in the world and yet not of the world and yet it is affected by the world and yet it has an effect on the world did you get that all right stay with me because i'm i'm going down into the deep of the water and i want you to be able to go with me we are seeing the church at a time that it is born out of the scars and the scrapes and the oppression of a suppressed people called jews who are being suppressed in their own land they have not traveled by boats into a far country to be suppressed and to be oppressed they are being oppressed in their own house can you imagine somebody taking you captive in your own house rome has come into israel's house and taken them captive in their own community and subjugated them and caused him to submit to the sovereign powers of a political system that is enforced and impels on a jewish community and out of that jewish community the church is a sect of that community so you have roamed the sovereign power dominating the jewish community or israel as if they were trying to set up a a a a an an offshoot of their roman empire and then inside of that offshoot which is israel is a religious sect called the church and peter is ministering to the church hoping to affect the nation and ultimately the world but he is fighting at a complete disadvantage he is not fighting as if he were the emperor of the roman empire with all the support of power and influence no he is a subcategory of a sect of people that are basically ignored not only by the romans but by the jews that's why the text is careful to talk about him overcoming not only the oppression that herod had placed on him but the expectation of the jews in other words he was ministering to a people who were not interested in his message have you ever tried to help somebody who didn't want your help and there you were fighting off their enemies and they didn't even appreciate you for what you had to bring i wish i had a witness somebody have you ever tried to save somebody and the person you was trying to say was trying to kill you and you were trying to fight off devils you didn't even have to fight that is the situation for peter he has attracted the hatred and the acrimonious disposition of herod only because he seeks to serve the jews of which herod is not even a part but herod is interested in the roman empire and the roman empire is interested in dominating the jews and so what goes on with the jews concerns the romans and they have no tolerance for the jews one way or the other and now this little group is causing an upheaval and it has gotten all the way to the ears of caesar for which herod is a subordinate and herod is trying to prove to caesar that i can handle this problem so that he will get out of this dismal post over in israel and go back and get a better assignment in rome where his family and his life and the power and the seat of their government exist it is in that environment that we step into this text you must understand the peripheral or you won't appreciate the predicament herod has arrested peter this is not a bunch of jewish priests that have taken him into captivity this is a sovereign power this is a government attack and the powers that be have arrested peter and taken him hostage and assigned 16 soldiers to one man for an overnight stay you know you're important by the level of the attack that is leveled against you the enemy would be assigning so many demons to you if you weren't significant in the kingdom of god 16 roman soldiers is a lot to have surrounding one individual i don't know that they used 16 soldiers to arrest jesus and yet peter finds himself so significant that he is attacked and guarded by 16 soldiers perhaps it is because peter has a reputation as a disciple peter is an outspoken disciple peter is a radical disciple peter is the kind of disciple that will stand up on the boat in the middle of a storm and say hey jesus if lest you bid me to come peter was not a passive lackadaisical johnny come lately saw the disciple if peter was on the boat he was gonna make some noise if something was going on on the boat peter was going to make some noise even if he had to jump off the boat naked and swim to jesus on the piece peter was radical i'm talking about water walking peter i'm talking about the peter who reached to his side and pulled his sword and cut off the ear but not of a jew but of a roman soldier peter was bad he didn't take any stuff he was radical he would set it off that's what he used to do that's what he used to do that's what he used to do that's how he used to work it he had a reputation they assigned 16 soldiers to control him because peter was bad his reputation was bad but his reputation i must confess is seen in the light of the fact that he has always functioned in the midst of his comrades every time we see peter cutting off ears or walking on waters he's surrounded by other believers but not now not anymore he is no longer surrounded by the crowds because you draw a certain amount of energy from the crowd the crowd is gone it is dissipated in fact the crowd has gone and shut up in a in a woman's house named mary and they are praying for him because they figure like simon peter's probably next to be beheaded in the morning and it is the night before the trial and peter is alone you know you can be mighty at doing what you do but you still got to deal with your devils when you're alone [Laughter] in the crowd in the right environment you're tough and you're strong and you're rambunctious but when you go home and you take off your makeup and you get out your clothes and put your hair on the stand you come down to the real you real faith always strips you of all of the mechanisms that make you seem mighty and bring you down to your lowest common denominator and the enemy wants to know how you like me now who are you now it's not who you are on the stage it's not who you are when you're doing what you do like you do when you do it the real test and agony of life is how many years do you cut it when you are alone and how much water do you walk on when you are lonely and how much power do you have when you are by yourself when there's nobody egging you on and there's nobody believing you there's nobody to bear witness to who you are how do you handle alone and besides all of the things that i listed that peter did he did them when he was younger the historians say that when when jesus was crucified peter was in his early 40s that's why john outruns him going down to the tomb because john is young and not that 40 is old but peter is not moving as fast as john did because john is a younger person he gets to the tomb first so if peter was in his 40s when jesus was crucified he's probably in his 50s let me speak on behalf of all of the people that are 50 and older you might have been amazing at 25 you might have walked on water at 28 you might have jumped out of a car and snatched somebody through a window at 19 and you might have a bad reputation but by the time you are 50 it's not just that you're older but you have spent so much energy getting to where you are the question becomes can you do what you used to do now that you are where you are when it took so much for you to get here i want to talk to somebody that it took so much for you to get here and somebody would look at you now and they would judge you and they would say you're wimp but they don't realize how much it costs you to get here peter is mighty in the spirit jesus has declared that peter thou art the rock now when jesus calls you a rock baby you're a rock jesus said peter thou art the rock and upon this rock i will build my church but it shall do get heavy when people build on you i want to talk to some people that that have been built on and they built on you because you were stable and they built on you because they could count on you and they built on you because you would always come through and they just put block after block at the block after block after block have you ever had anybody just build on you we knew you would handle it you just strong like that you just wired like that and they don't know that weight is still weight and tide is still tied and time is still time and after a while the erosion of taking other people's weight on you begins to corrode your youthful vitality and it is not so much the calendar that has weakened you it is the weight of all the people that have been built on you pit of thou of the rock and upon this rock i will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it and now the rock is tired i wish i had some people this morning who were tired rocks any tired rocks in the building any tide rocks always there for everybody fixing every problem handling every situation everybody counts on you everybody calls on you everybody leans on you everybody pulls from you you're a rock but you're a tired rock you're a strong black woman but you're a tired black woman you're a strong white woman but you're a tired white woman you're a strong black man but you are tired black man i want to talk to some tired rocks i'm tired tired of you putting all that weight on me i'm tired of you always counting on me i'm tired of having to stand up against all the opposition i'm tired of traveling and going and doing and reaching and serving and fighting as if i were not a human peter is tired i i for one am amazed that he is asleep in the story the guy who walked on water and cut off ears and it's the rock of the church it's asleep in the story how in the world do you go to sleep on the eve of you possibly being beheaded maybe i think it's that way because when i'm stressed out the first thing that goes is my sleep the more worried i am about something the less sleep i am at to get i could not go to sleep knowing that in the morning i could be beheaded that would be a long night of tossing and turning i wouldn't get no sleep the chains wouldn't get any rest the guards beside me wouldn't get anywhere peter is asleep between two soldiers and there are 14 more scattered out there and peter it's just tired can we be honest for a minute ain't you tired of fighting things and surviving things and enduring things and standing up to things and fighting off obstacles and walking on water and doing your miracles and and taking a bad situation and going on anywhere aren't you tired surviving divorces and neglects and crisis and dilemmas and tragedies i want to talk to somebody that's tired i want to talk to somebody who has been awesome and has been fierce and has been mighty and has been an attack dog but even attack dogs get sleepy now i'm just tired and not only am i tired i'm tired and i'm alone you see this texas really if it were a windows if we were in microsoft we would have two windows open because the people that he loved that supported him that gave him energy and gave him strength they're in one window they're back in the house and he is in another window he's in a prison and this text pulls up both windows at both times but they are two different stories the people on one side that are praying for his escape represent his ideals and peter sleeping between two soldiers represents his reality how do we get our ideals and our realities to come together the the idea we preach our ideals we talk our ideals we teach our children our ideals we tell our friends our ideals but we go home to wrestle with our realities and sometimes i must confess that our realities go line up with our ideals i know you call it hypocritical but if it's hypocritical we got a lot of company because there is a vast deal of difference between what i intended and what happened between what i believe and what i am experiencing between what i teach and what my emotions are mandating on one hand the church is over here in one end indoor window functioning like believers rebuking the devil and pleading the blood and war and doing spiritual warfare and on the other window their leader it's time i want to talk to some time mamas it ain't that you don't love your children you love your children god knows you do but you're tired you're tired of arguing and you're tired of standing up to their moods and their temperaments and their attitudes and their arguments and you're tired of not being appreciated and you're tired and then pointing out the one thing you didn't do right and ignoring the 12 things you did do right you're just tired i want to talk to some mamas that are tired of trying to make it do what it do by yourself and come in and go by the grocery store and get off work and cook and get food done and study and get the clothes laid out and wash your clothes and get ready for tomorrow i want to talk to some tithe mamas you strong but you're tired i want to talk to some tired men who have done everything you could to make it do what it do and still it's not working like you wanted it to work and your ideals over here but your realities are over there and people are judging you by your realities and they pay no attention to your ideals and they don't know that have they caught you at another season you you had a sword you had a sword but they've taken your sword away how can i fight when you took my sword away i have spoken in the storm and walked out on the water but now he's speechless in this text peter doesn't say a word peter who preached on the day of pentecost is speechless in this text there are no quotes from peter in this text he is speechless peter who said hey if this you bid me to come it's saying nothing in this text because peter is just tired and if time were not enough he is alone because when you are an extrovert you can get energy from being in a crowd but the enemy knows that and he has put him in isolation if you've been feeling isolated wave your hand at me you don't have to be single to be isolated you you you you don't have to be in a house by yourself to be isolated if you've been feeling isolated this is the message for you because peter is now though powerful and anointed and gifted and chosen by god and called a rock by jesus he is now in isolation and the only company he has are the soldiers that are assigned to keep him in isolation and he is left alone and i don't care how you smile it up and paint it up and dress it up and do your hair and put on your clothes when you're feeling alone you can't put on enough makeup to cover up the fact that you are alone and he has fallen asleep he has fallen asleep almost it seems to me that he has accepted that maybe this is it and in my mind i try to climb into his mind for a minute and realize that he did not know how the story was going to end so he doesn't know whether it's just last night or not and maybe he has dealt with the uncertainty with acceptance and say well my my my master was crucified my mentor was crucified and maybe it's my time to go and if i'm gonna be like jesus maybe this is the night before i am to go and maybe i've resigned myself to it and i don't know whether god's got another miracle left in his bag for me or not i want to talk to people who are dealing with uncertainty you're trying to believe but you don't know exactly what to believe you don't know whether to use your faith to accept your faith or use your faith to fight your situation you don't know whether this is god's will or the devil at work again you don't know whether this is how your story is or whether god is going to do something and especially at this age in your life and at this stage in your life after all you've been through and all your bag of tricks you're not sure there's another trick left in the bag and is there at least is there at least one more miracle that's left in the bag for me i am not sure i am not sure i and uncertainty is anxiety can i go deeper uncertainty is anxiety if you live with uncertainty long enough you will build up anxiety because you just don't know am i going to lose my head am i going to be crucified am i going to be thrown in the lion's den i don't know it's the virus homer i don't know does the vaccine work i don't know will i get my job back i don't know will the company come back i don't know will i get married again i don't know will i ever be loved again i don't know i don't know how to plan i don't know what kind of house to buy i don't know where my life is going i just don't know and the anxiety years and years and months and months and weeks and weeks of not knowing will just wear you out fighting in your own head i'd rather fight a roman soldier than to fight in my own head i'd rather fight the whole freaking army than to fight in my own head i'd rather line up all 16 soldiers and let's just go at it but the fight has gone from the outside to the inside and i'm fighting the fact that i am a believer who don't know what to believe ah are there any real believers in the house with me i'm a believer but i don't know i don't know what to believe i don't know what to pray i don't know what to say and i have shut my mouth that's when you need intercessors when you can't pray for yourself [Music] that's when you need somebody to call on god for you when you have run out of words to say that's when you need somebody to touch the throne of grace when you are speechless up under the attack that's when you need some prayer warriors to be marching around at three o'clock in the morning pleading the blood and rebuking the devil clean the blood and rebuking the devil pleasing the blood and rebuking the devil bleeding the blood and rebuking the devil that's when you need somebody in a seating for you because you are exhausted from the pressure of not knowing peter doesn't know how his story's gonna end peter doesn't know if this meal was his last meal or this night was his last night and so he has settled watch this he has settled in to uncertainty as if it were normalcy i want that to settle he has settled into uncertainty as if it were normalcy and he has made himself comfortable in an uncomfortable situation oh god help me he has made himself comfortable he has made himself comfortable in an uncomfortable situation he has made the unworkable work he has made the uncertain a resting place and peter has gone to bed between two soldiers sleeping between two soldiers whose assignment is to hold you where you are there are spirits that have been assigned to your life whose only job is to hold you where you are to make sure that you don't move too far away from where they put you there are some demonic influences that have been said on an assignment to make you accept the unacceptable as acceptable the abnormal as normal the uncertain as certain and they want you to go to bed and something that god wants to get you out of them [Music] god wants to get you out of something that the enemy wants you to sleep in god wants to move you away from something that the enemy wants to give you a pillar and make you go to sleep here god wants to pull you away from something that the enemy is trying to lure you into and he has assigned his chosen spirits [Music] [Applause] to make you accept the unacceptable to make you rest in the uncertain to lull you into the toxicity of sleep and slumber in a situation that god is about to get you out of oh god oh you don't hear what i'm saying i said the enemy is trying to get you to go to sleep in a situation that god is about to get you out of the enemy is trying to make you think that your life is over and god is about to get you out of it the enemy is trying to make you think that god didn't have another sermon another song another job another message another life another love another hope another house and the enemy's trying to make you go to sleep but god [Applause] [Music] i feel the anointing of the holy ghost i said but god god is trying to wake you up somebody type wake up wake up wake up wake up wake up wake up somebody type wake up wake up wake up somebody say wake up wake up wake up somebody shake yourself and say wake up wake up wake up this is not your life this is not your situation this is not your go-to this is not your default setting this is not how your story is this is not how you give up this is not how you die i shall not die not today not here not like this no [Music] no no no no and wow wow peter was in this toxic environment of uncertainty this toxic environment of anxiety this toxic environment of worry this toxic environment of discomfort he was asleep and the angel came in while he was asleep the angel walked in to his night i'm gonna say that again the angel walked into his night get ready somebody because the angel is getting ready to walk into your night and you get ready to walk into your dark place he's getting ready to walk into your uncertainty and i don't care how many hellhounds have been assigned to your life when god gets ready to come get you god will come get you and no devil in hell can stop you when god gets ready to come get you the angel shows up in the prison tell your neighbor angel is showing up i'm broke but an angel is showing up i've been depressed but an angel just showed up i've been in despair but an angel just showed up the lord told me that if i preached this word it was going to be the word that woke somebody up you should have killed me before i woke up you should have killed me before i got one god you're gonna kill me before i had an awakening wake me up jesus [Music] this is the turning point of the text the text doesn't turn until the apostle wakes up the angel is already awake but until you wake up nothing in your life is gonna change until you wake up you think you're waiting on god god is waiting on you you think you're waiting on god god is waiting on you somebody holler wake up [Applause] now let me take you somewhere i want to take you somewhere peter wakes up and this is the most important part of the message to me peter wakes up in stages [Applause] peter wakes up in stages the bible says that the angel woke him up and the moment that the angel woke him up he said to peter harry get up and the moment he said that to peter peter still they said nothing the chains fell off now the angels spoke loud enough that peter could hear him but not so loud that the soldiers could hear him what god has for you is for you and all them wannabes that are hanging around you cannot get what god [Music] god has for you and the moment he said harry get up the chains fell off of peter's hands and immediately peter got up but this is the thing you have to reel up this is important for you to understand you always wake up in stages you fell asleep in stages if you study sleep there are several different stages of sleep you fall asleep in stages and you wake up in stages peter woke up and the bible said that he followed the angel out put my text up he followed the angel out but he followed him out but he he wasn't sure what was happening he followed him out of the prison not knowing wait a minute i thought he was awake yeah he was awake he was awake but he and he was following the angel look at the text he was following the angel that's why i can't have a lot of people asking me a lot of questions because sometimes i'm following the angel but i'm not knowing i'm awake the angel is in front of me i'm following the angel here they'll say but i can't answer no questions i can't answer no questions because i'm not knowing and he thought that he was seeing a vision that means that my dream and my reality have collided so much so that i don't know whether to believe that my dream is real god i want to talk to somebody that's starting to see a change but you're scared to believe it yeah you're scared to believe it you're scared to trust it you've been asleep so long that you're following the angel and the chains have fallen off but you don't know whether to trust it because it could be a dream it could be a fantasy it could be a vision you believe it watch this camera you believe it but you don't know it there is a difference between believing something and knowing something he is believing it but he doesn't know it and he's thinking now he doesn't know his spirit that no his mind thinks could be a vision why is that so because you wake up in stages it takes you a while to wake up fully to what god is doing in your life for we walk by faith and not by sight you don't see it but you're walking in you don't know it but you're walking in it god's bringing you out but you're afraid to trust it because it's not real now now listen listen you gotta get this because this is important whenever i'm interviewed people ask me i started out started out my life i was doing finals working a job had a good job had a time in church take care of myself had a new car had a new wife had a new family had a new life lost my job lost all my income lost everything went down the food stamps repossessed the car lost everything i had and then i started to slow climb back up and people always ask me when did you know that you were coming out and it is the hardest question in the world to answer because i followed the angel not knowing you got to be willing to follow the angel not knowing still uncertain awake but not fully awake inside you just got to trust that the one in front of you knows what he's doing while you are still uncertain because you wake up in stages you don't know who you are yet you don't know who you are yet you don't know who you are yet you might have a clue but you wake up in stages give me that tense first when he starts to wake up they passed by the first guard post and then the second and then they came to the iron gate leading into the city and the gate opened by itself so the angel who was capable of killing all 16 soldiers didn't kill any of them just walk past them i want to talk to the people who walk past stuff that could have killed you but god just let you walk past [Music] oh i wish i had a witness in here somebody knows what it's like to walk past something that should have killed you but god walked you right past it and you didn't kill it and it didn't kill you you just escaped it they passed the first guard post and then then they passed by the second and they came to the last to the iron gate that led to the city this is the final demarcation between ideals and reality and the bible is careful to know luke is writing here luke is a physician he is given to details he takes the time to note that the gate was iron it is an iron gate what had you locked in is an iron gate but by the time you get to it [Applause] [Music] [Applause] by the time you get to it don't worry about the fact that it hadn't opened yet by the time you get to it you won't see it open in advance but the holy ghost said by the time you get to it by the time you get to it yes i'm talking to you right in your house by the time you get to it by the time you walk up on it god said he has so arranged it that it's gonna look immovable but by the time you get to it it is going to open by itself whoever i'm preaching to take about 10 seconds and praise him like a gate just opened [Music] praise it like a gate just opened praise him like a gate just crazy like a financial case a physical gate a healing gate a blessed gator pray them open open open open open open open open open open open open open open open open open open open open open open open open open open open open open open open open open open open open open it open open open [Music] [Applause] [Music] it just opened [Music] [Applause] peter don't get no credit for it the angel don't get no credit for it the soldiers don't get no credit for it it just there are some things god is going to do for you that nobody will ever get credit for it's just that by the time you walked up to it it just opened just that simple just that fast it just opened it just opened my credit rating [Applause] my business my personal life my relationship with my child we had been speaking for 10 years but by the time i got to it just [Music] y'all don't believe that pagan i was a storefront preacher but by the time i got here the door just i prophesied to you a door is about to open in your life a door is about to open in your life a door is about to open in your life a door is about to open in your life i said a door is about to open in your life don't tell me about your circumstance don't tell me about your problem don't tell me about your situation don't tell me about your crisis don't tell me about your accountant don't tell me what the devil said the holy ghost said that a door is about to open whoever i'm talking to you ought to just lose your mind in a holy ghost rage the thing that gets me marcus the door just opened and then the bible said they just went out [Music] they just [Music] they just went out with 16 soldiers assigned to hold them in deliverance was easier than anything you could have imagined once he woke up [Music] [Applause] once you wake up i want to make sure i give you what god said once you wake up to who you are god will maneuver you past all of these soldiers that have been assigned to you to keep you isolated and [Music] i was here and now i'm there and i cannot explain to you how it happened a door just opened and i just [Music] who would have thought that that little girl would walk up on that stage and recite that poem at the inauguration and the whole world would go bananas and everybody would know who she was by one point other people have done poems at inauguration for you my angelou did one a lot of people do point this was the moment that the door opened you never know which thing you go to do is the door the iron gate that will open up to a dimension of yourself you have never seen [Music] before you don't know which gate is the gate you don't know which gate it is that's why you have to be excellent all the time because you don't know which time is gonna be the time that changes the trajectory of your life six pain soldiers [Music] without a fight they went out and the bible said the gate led to the city the gate opened for them by itself they went out they walked down the street just like people taking the walk they just what they didn't dance they didn't shout they didn't speak in towns they just walked down the street and suddenly the angel left [Music] as quickly as he came he left [Music] and when the angel left give me the next verse [Music] then this is what you got to get then peter realized what had happened to him see he was he was woke but he wasn't fully awoke yeah you are more awake in retrospect than you are in real time speed because you're so busy doing it that you don't have time to interpret it it was after he was out and the gate had opened and they had walked down the street and the angel was gone then peter realized that's why i called it an awakening then peter realized so waking up isn't just a biological state of being it is also a psychological state of acceptance then peter realized what had happened to him do you all hear the words that are coming out of my mouth you mean all you walked past 16 soldiers three doors and an iron gate and before you knew it you were down the street and you didn't realize what had happened until you were out of the prison pass the doors through the gate away from the soldiers and then you look back at it and say i'm out i didn't know i was out i'm ouch i'm out so don't expect to feel out while you're getting out [Music] by the time you feel out you will have already been out then peter realized what had happened to him and said now i know it is really true the lord sent his angel to rescue me from herod's power you just now figuring that out peter you didn't know that while you were walking past oligarchy no you don't know you're getting better while you're getting better you don't know you're getting stronger while you're getting stronger you don't know that you're getting up on your feet while you're getting up on your feet it's only when you look back at it that you get a chance to process what god has done in your life he said you know what the lord did now wait a minute peter is finally talking and ain't nobody there to talk to all the while there was somebody there to talk to peter ain't saying nothing the first time peter brings word to the text there's nobody there to hear him he's talking to himself and that's where deliverance occurs through what you say to yourself what you say to yourself determines the trajectory of your oh god i'm preaching better than you shall be what you say to yourself determines the trajectory of your life peter realized what had happened once he realized it once his mind got it then he started talking what his mind had processed if you don't think right you're not going to talk right if you don't talk right you're not going to be right when he got it right in his head he got it right in his mouth he said now i know that it is really true the lord sent his angel to rescue me from herod from herod's power and from every and from everything the jewish people those are two different dimensions expect it to happen he delivered me from the jews and the romans and the soldiers and i didn't even realize it now i'm gonna say this and i'm gonna close it goes on to say that in the morning when the guards woke up and herod came and peter was gone herod was furious and he said find him and they were searching everywhere but he was gone where the enemy is looking for you you will not be the enemy is expecting you to be where he left you where he changed you where you talked where you live where you slept where you accepted he expected you to be there but you will not be there they could not find him they could not find him god said do not let the enemy find you where you fell asleep do not let the enemy find you where you fell asleep that the whole purpose of sending the angel was to give you an awakening so that when they start looking for you where they left you you would not be there anymore god is going to move you from that spot and they will not find you though they searched for you and when they couldn't find peter then herod pronounced the sentence on the soldiers [Music] he had the soldiers killed y'all didn't hear me the guy who was going to sentence peter now sentences the people that were holding him in other words what was supposed to happen to peter now happened to his captors the ones who held him down are now dying at the hands of herod and peter just walking around chilling over at mandem's house trying to get roto open up the door so he gets something to eat so he chill out change his clothes take a shower put on some aftershave comb his hair get ready to go about his business and continue his mission and after that the bible says that herod went to the next city where he died [Music] he was still left standing he was only supposed to have had one night but he remained alive after 16 soldiers were killed and herod is dead peter is still preaching because he had an awakening lift your hands and open your mouth before god and start praising him right out of your mouth right now because this is the sunday that god said he's going to shake you and give you an awakening [Music] this is the transformative moment this is the moment of change this is the moment of the awakening this is the moment that he shakes your shoulder and brings you out of your stupor open your mouth to him open open open your mouth open open open your mouth open your mouth open open open open give us an awakening give us an awakening give us an awakening give us an awakening i'd rather have an awakening than to have a new car i'd rather have an awakening than to have a new house i'd rather have an awakening than to have a new friend god give us an awakening god give us an awakening god give us an awakening and awakening in my marriage and awakening in my family and awakening in my finances as an awakening in my body god god god if you don't give me anything else if you don't give me anything else if you don't give me anything else if you don't give me anything else give us an awakening our hands are stretched our mouths are open our spirits are receptive i will not sleep this next season of my life away i refuse to lay here and forget who i am and forget who you created me to be and forget what i have the power to do it's time for me to wake up even if i have to wake up in stages even if i have to wake up little by little even if i have to get out before i fully comprehend what has happened to me the process starts today so today i'm going to take a step today i'm gonna take a step if it's gonna be cut back on food i'm gonna cut back on food if it's gonna be cutting back on alcohol or liquor or gossip or foolish i'm gonna i refuse to hear another sermon and not make a change i am tired of collecting sermons i'm gonna make changes if i have to wake up in stages if i have to break up in stages if i have to say goodbye in stages i am going to have an awakening that starts today i'm going to start at this point becoming who god created me to be it may be a process i may have to get out before i realize it but i'm going to start right now i will not fall asleep in an affair i will not fall asleep in poverty i will not fall asleep in depression i will not fall asleep in doubt i will not fall asleep in worry i will not fall asleep and become an alcoholic just because i'm lonely just because i'm isolated just because things aren't going the way i want them to go i refuse to anesthetize my pain and medicate my crisis to my own destruction give us an awakening right now i don't know who i'm talking to but this is your moment [Music] god told me that my role in this message was to be the angel that shook you and i pray this message shakes you until all of a sudden hurry up and get up from there [Music] god said if i preach this word change we're going to fall two chains are going to fall off of you 16 guards are gonna sleep through it and you're gonna walk through it all and god is going to do it two chains 16 guards and god said you're going to walk out and when you get to the iron gate it's going to open and you won't realize it until the angel is gone there are certain things that are going to come behind this message that you won't realize until this broadcast is over when the angel disappears the full impact of what i just shared is going to gradually make itself clear to you and you're going to have an awakening that the guards are gone herod is dead the chains have fallen and your reality has come knocking on the door of your ideals when peter walked up to mary's house and knocked on the door it scared them so bad they couldn't hardly believe it when your reality slides into your ideals is going to blow your mind that you have become what you believed i'm not talking about just visiting church and watching the broadcast and still being who you used to be i sleep stuff sleep stuff wake up when you wake up things are gonna start changing chains are gonna start falling you're gonna start walking past doors and you walk through gates [Music] iron gates this is the deliverance that is on this word two chains are going to fall 16 soldiers are going to perish and you're going to come into a realization that the lord was with you all the while do you hear me watch this word will not fail for those who receive it it will come to pass two chains 16 guards two chains 16 cards two chains 16 guards these guards have been on assignment to you it's been an unfair fight in your life it's been unfair what you had to deal with but it was only unfair because the enemy knows your potential that's why he put so many guards on you because he knows when you get loose you are the rock man you're the rock you always have been even in your sleepy state even in your weak state even in your sinful state god has already ordained you to be the rock them chains fall off of you and you stop allowing them guards to hold you captive trying to keep company with people who are trying to hold you down is killing you do change 16 guards typing out two chains 16 guards two chains 16 guards they've been assigned to keep you incarcerated this is a liberating word that is coming right now i want to take a moment honey i want us to sow 216 just in this moment two chains 16 guards two chains 16 guards i'm gonna do it you do what you want to do you you can sew it if you want to but two chains 16 guards are coming off of my life yes i have some things need to come off my life absolutely and you do too two chains 16 guards [Music] i'm coming into a new place i'm coming into a new dimension god's going to give me an awakening 216 just text it as fast as you can i want it i want it i want it i want it to symbolize that i'm going to have an awakening there is power and awakening there is power and awakening the name of jesus ain't nothing wrong with you man all you need is an awakening you ain't cursed you're not the black sheep of the family you just need an awakening since ain't nothing wrong with you you just need an awakening you are not what you did you are not what they said about you you are not the names they call you you need an awakening two chains 16 guards they gonna fall down two chains [Music] then i realized i realized what the lord listen if you're here and you are not saved if you're here and you have never given your life to christ if you are here right now and you're watching me on this broadcast and you have not given your life to jesus christ i'm so sorry for the prison you've been in i'm so sorry for the persons that didn't love you and didn't treat you right and all the things that happened into your life and all the bad things that you have been through and i understand what it's like to try to medicate your own pain in your own way doing your own thing i get it man i get it right but let me introduce you to the liberator the real liberator is jesus them other things you tied up in the number chains and guards that are holding you down and you need to come to jesus and let him change your life and every chain that's on you it's gonna fall it can fall i don't care if it's meth it can fall i don't care if it's cracked it can fall i don't care if it's cocaine it can fall i don't care what it is it can fall to chains [Music] 16 guards he put him on you because he knew you was bad he knew you was going to do some awesome stuff that's why he assigned them to him and i want you right where you are to just pray this prayer with me say lord jesus come into my heart forgive me of my sins i've messed up bad i've done some things i'm ashamed of but if you would wash me with your blood i'll be clean i accept your blood to cleanse me from my sins and not only that i'm gonna rise up from here and walk in the newness of life because i just gave my life to jesus in jesus name amen let the whole house praise it everybody pray what did you say [Music] rising up [Music] break every change [Music] to break every chain [Music] [Music] i hear the changes i hear the changes

Channel: T.D. Jakes

Views: 733,417

Rating: 4.8493643 out of 5

Keywords: td jakes, faith, potters house, bishop jakes, The Potter's House of Dallas, TPH Dallas, td jakes sermons, bishop td jakes, inspiration, td jakes motivation, motivation, sermons, td jakes ministries, motivational speaker, motivational speech, gospel, motivational, sundayservice, tdjakes, td jakes 2021, td jakes sermons 2021, give us an awakening, awakening, giveusanawakening, spiritual awakening with jesus

Id: zSUfig6qzmI

Length: 82min 40sec (4960 seconds)

Published: Sun Feb 28 2021