It'll Work If You Work It - Bishop T.D. Jakes

we are going to first kings chapter 19 verse 19 through 21 and then we're going to second kings chapter 2 verse 7 through 18. oh the offering oh i forgot i forgot i forgot pass it all the way down to the left this for the kids lord have mercy i made all that appeal and broke that sweat and dance and everything and yeah they're giving it over their phone and over everything y'all responded oh i love you so much thank you for helping me help other people thank you jesus you're fabulous father you said you would bless them that bless us and curse him and curse us i thank you for the reciprocity on this seed as we saw it right now in jesus name we pray amen give god praise god i got the breakdance and stuff i thought i was michael jackson i forgot okay so we're going to first kings chapter 19 verse 19 through 21 and second kings chapter 2 verse 7 through 18. let's go so elijah went from there elijah watch this closely it's a familiar passage of scripture but watch me close so elijah went from there and found elisha son of shaphat he was flying with 12 yoke of oxen and he himself was driving the 12th pair elijah went up to him and threw his cloak around him elijah then left his oxen and ran after elijah let me kiss my father and mother goodbye he said and then i will come with you go back elijah replied what have i done to you so elijah so elisha left him and went back he took his yoke of oxen and slaughtered them he burned the plowing equipment to cook the meat and gave it to the people and they ate then he set out to follow elijah and became his servant oh my god that's good now go to sucking kings right quick and and and we're gonna put this together this is years later elijah and elijah have walked together for a while 50 men from the company of the prophets went and stood at the distance facing the place where elijah and elijah had stopped at the jordan elijah took his cloak rolled it up and struck the waters with it the waters divided to the right and to the left and the two of them crossed over on dry ground imagine that hanging around a dude that bad yeah that's what's up when they had crossed elijah said to elijah tell me what can i do for you before i am taken from you he said let me inherit a double portion of your spirit elijah replied you have asked a difficult thing elijah said yet if you s if you see me when i am taken from you it will be yours otherwise it will not as they were walking along and talking together suddenly a chariot of fire and horses of fire appeared and separated the two of them and elijah went up to heaven in a whirlwind elisha solved this incredible father my father the chariots and horsemen of israel and elijah saw him no more then he took hold of his garment and toyed into elijah then picked up elisha then picked up elijah's cloak that had fallen from him and went back and stood on the bank of the jordan this is critical he took the cloak that had fallen from elijah and struck the waters with it and said where now is the lord the god of elijah he has when he struck it when he struck the water it divided to the right and to the left and he crossed over stay there stay there i want to read that again he took the cloak that had fallen from his teacher and struck the water with it and said where now is the lord the god of elijah the question we always want to know is what is what i am being taught effective for me will it work for me it's nice to hear about it and to get sermons about it and to shout about it but in the back of our mind there is a mental block that says that's nice for you but will it work for me so when elijah says where is the god of elijah he doesn't even call him the god of elisha he calls him the god of his teacher where is the god of my teacher and then he took what he had and struck the water and it divided to the right and to the left and he crossed over and i'm gonna pause right there i'm gonna read a little bit more but i'm gonna pause right there and tell you what my subject is it'll work if you work it look at somebody say it'll work if you're working give me the rest of that give me the rest of that text the company of the prophets from jericho who were watching said the spirit of elijah is resting on elijah and they went to to meet him and bowed to the crown before him look they said we your servants have 50 able men let them go and look for your master perhaps the spirit of the lord has picked him up and set him down on some mountain or in some valley no elijah replied do not send them but they persisted until he was too embarrassed to refuse so he said send them and they sent 50 men searching for what was who searched for three days but did not find him when they returned to elisha who was staying in jericho he said to them didn't i tell you not to go when it's over it's over i want to talk to you from the subject it'll work if you work it let's pray spirit of the living god we are at the point with our church we have taught them about faith but we have not thought about works and faith without works is dead being alone if we leave it in the euphoric atmosphere of just believing and don't bring it down to the practicality of the works that are required to follow in the footsteps of the mighty we would have failed them illuminate their minds and captivate their spirits and hold them over the next few moments as i discuss with them what you have discussed with me i thank you in advance for what you're about to do have your way great god that you are in the name of jesus we pray somebody who believes god shout amen on your way to your seat look at somebody say it'll work if you're working this is somebody's word i don't know whose but this is some body's word it is somebody's word it will work if you work it the text before us has been one of the most abused texts in the old testament in some cases it's not just abused it's been misunderstood but whether it's misunderstood or misappropriated it has been the catalyst through which a spirit of covetous entitlement has stopped us from grasping the power and the intent of the text itself this is not about blabbing and grabbing this is not about coveting what somebody else has and getting up under them so you can get an opportunity it is my hope to share insight that will contextualize the powerful and brief relationship underlying brief relationship through which god in his providence passed the mantle and the mission from one man to another to accomplish his purpose not their agenda his purpose not their agenda this is about what god has purposed to do not what you have decided to do god has purpose accomplished his purpose and agenda by using these two men who walked together for a brief six years and he was gone this is about that this isn't about the transference of property or platforms nor is it a background deal where influence is conveyed it's not about ego and ambition this is about the will of god's eternal purpose it isn't about the ambition of one generation for the goods of another he wasn't asking elijah for his stuff this is deeper than that god chose elisha to be a prophet in elijah stead it is the mysterious influence of the holy spirit and his ability to transfer the unction of the holy spirit's work throughout ages for his glory and it is not about elijah's ambition ego or career are you with me because of god's ability to use whomever he chooses his work has never been void of a representative never god will always have somebody from say from moses to joshua from elijah to elisha from saul to david from david to solomon god's purpose will always have a successor no man being moved will stop god from doing what god is about to do god will find somebody else and use that person for his glory and his honor do you hear what i'm saying no elijah is irreplaceable i don't care how gifted you are never allow the devil to make you think that you are so gifted a speaker a teacher a singer a draftsman a doctor a philosopher an engineer that god doesn't have somebody else in the wings who can do what you do like you do or better than you do no elijah is irreplaceable no elisha is self-appointed no elisha is self-appointed you can't just sit there and decide to be me number one you don't know what all goes along with being me this this hour or so on the stage is the tip of the iceberg the real work is beneath the surface if you watch the swan from the top of the water the swan is just moving nicely across the water but if you look up under the water it's flapping like crazy to keep things going you want the flow but you don't want the flap this is the lord's doings and it's marvelous in our eyes i i feel good y'all in trouble i don't know what y'all gonna do this one because i'm feeling good first king shows us how god spoke through the prophets of old it reminds me of hebrew hebrews when it says god hebrews one when it says god who at sundered times and in diverse matters spoken to us by the prophets but having these last days spoken unto us by a son and first kings and sucking kings you are seeing god speaking to us through the prophets tearing down kingdoms destroying idolatry to bring his people into right standing through his infallible word that's what he was doing through his prophet god's word is sovereign it's sovereign it's psalm of reigns it rules it's the boss it's in charge it is absolute his word pre-existed pen and paper when i say god's word i'm not just talking about bible god's word predated printing machines god's word predated pens and pencil in fact the bible said in the beginning was the word and the word was with god and the word was god so when you say the word is infallible you're not talking about the book you hold in your hand you're talking about the integrity of god the god's word if he said it he'll bring it to pass do you understand what i'm saying glory to god glory to god the word pre-existing pen and paper his word is his integrity it is his integrity whatever he speaks is true he's greater than any doctrine stronger than any opinion more powerful than human creeds boards or bishops he will use whomever he chooses he is sovereign he is god he will use the jawbone of an ass do you hear what i'm saying he will speak through a goat he will use a woman or a man he will use a child and a little child to lead them you don't get to decide who god uses because god is god and god can use whoever he wants to use for his glory he will use the professor and the intellectual and he will use the illiterate look at the dichotomy between paul and peter paul is an intellectual and peter is an unlearned man and yet god uses both this is not flesh at work this is the holy spirit at work the two texts i have chosen are dealing with how these two men met an appointment with destiny it is about the passing of the baton see them as bookends the first story is one part of it and the last text is the end of it the first story shows how it started the next text shows how it ended elijah is outside working in the field he is oblivious he is oblivious to the fact that his entire life is about to change he has no idea that today would disrupt all of his family and change the trajectory of the rest of his life it's just another day of getting up early in the morning and perhaps having the breakfast at four o'clock in the morning my grandmother would get up before day morning was dark and you ate breakfast in the dark because work in the field starts in the dark before it gets hot and elijah is just working in the field working in his parents field working in the field of the dreams of his parents working in the field that he will inherit working in the field that he will order that he will own his life is set it is nice it is neat it is traditional it is orthodox he is in it this is just another day he has no idea that god is about to disrupt his entire life one text can disrupt your entire life one phone call can disrupt your entire life one meeting of one person can disrupt all of your plans and everything about it and put you in conflict because all of a sudden he has to wrestle with what he has imagined to be his destiny all of a sudden evaporates through one meeting and what about the expectations of his parents the pressure that's on him to be who they raised him to be they didn't raise him to be gallivanting across the country with this weirdo they raised him to run this farm he was their legacy he was their future he was their destiny and all of that was fine until he was exposed to something exposure will bring about conflict exposure will bring about the disalignment and confusion and can you imagine the pressure that's in him to live up to the expectations of the people around him and can you imagine the pressure that's on you to live up to the expectations of people around you the expectations of people will make you cut your hair it'll make you grow your hair it'll make you get your teeth replaced the expectations of people will make you go back to school the expectations of people will make you lose weight or gain weight the expectations of people will drive you crazy the pressure to be everything that everybody wants you to be is killing us the pressure we put on ourselves because we don't want to face the disapproval of the people we love all of this has come into play god has not spoken to elijah god has spoken to elijah back in the cave and told him that elisha would be a prophet in his room but god did not speak to elisha god has spoken about him but not to him what has god spoken about you that he has not spoken to you and there you are focused on what's in front of you god always chooses somebody who is focused on what's in front of him because if you can't focus on what's in front of you you can't focus on what's ahead of you if you're not faithful over what's in your hand you're not going to be faithful over what's in god's hand every time god ever called anybody they were busy they weren't laying on the couch watching soap operas they weren't laying on the couch reading magazines they weren't playing with gaming they weren't sitting around every time god found anybody they were focused on what they have some of you have decided as soon as i figure out what i'm supposed to be i'm going to focus you'll never be anything you got to focus on what's in front of you whatever is in your hand focus on that and if you focus on what's in your hand your future will find you your future finds you you don't find it elijah's not looking for elijah he's looking how to plow this field before the sun gets hot elijah is looking for elisha but elisha was not looking for elijah he was just plowing on the 12th yoke of oxen this is a big field it's a lot of property his parents have a lot of land it's how they eat and he's young enough to work and they need him to be who they expect him to be and there are some of us right now that we cannot get loose from people who need us to be what they expect us to be and it was all cool and organic and orthodox and natural and normal until elijah shows up and he he messes everything up because he exposes elisha to something that we all secretly need it wasn't just his mantle elijah saw somebody who was like him and isn't that what we all really want to find somebody who gets us and whatever we're doing while we're waiting is just filling space until we have an encounter with somebody who gets me who speaks my language who understands where i'm coming from somebody who represents the possibilities of what i could be this plow is my father's plow these oxen are my father's oxen i'm busy doing what they expected and i i'm talking about having the courage to be yourself the courage to be yourself sets you in conflict with your environment do you hear the words that are coming out of my mouth the courage to be yourself sets you in conflict with your environment because your environment is predescribed and predisposed for you to function in predictable ways and now here comes elijah and he throws off the predictable pattern of elijah's life and puts him in conflict shall i stay with the people who have invested in me all of my life and try to be their dream filler or shall i go for myself and go after my own dream oh i want to stay there i'm going to stay i know this is going to be hard for me because i want to stay there because some of us are stuck in in that place in prison by expectations you'd be surprised at the things people do to keep peace the jobs they don't take the careers they don't pursue the entrepreneurial pursuits they don't go after the churches they won't attend the religion they won't embrace all just to keep peace because i want to be what you expect me to be so you'll be quiet keep everything nice and keep everything neat and keep everything quiet and all of you people who need everything to be nice and need and be quiet have contorted yourself and distorted yourself into a mere caracature of who you could have been because you lack the courage to be your own person i love you but i gotta be me you love me but you gotta be you and the only reason our marriage has survived is that we have finally grown to give each other the permission to be different instead of trying to make me be her or me make her be me we finally realized that god didn't make a mistake when he made her the way he made her and he didn't make a mistake when he made me the way he made me and i am through shutting my mouth to fit in to anybody's expectation i want you to see how difficult it is for elisha to make this next move all of the hopes of his ancestors is on him plowing in this field stay right here this is what we designed for you we are living in a we are teaching out of a patriarchal society where the father's word was law and if daddy didn't approve it it didn't happen and all of a sudden instead of him living up to the expectations of his father he has to have the courage to confront them and be himself you'll never be successful at being me you'll only be successful at being you you have to figure out who you really are aside from who you are expected to be and ask god to bless who you are because god does not even know who you pretend to be adam where art thou doesn't mean you disappeared it means you lost your identity oh god help me help me help me i'm talking to somebody i don't know who it is elijah passed by that boy and threw his mantle on him for a moment and it was it was a glimpse it was a glimpse i preached a few weeks ago about glimpses have you ever caught a glimpse just a glimpse of something that that didn't even fit your surroundings and didn't fit your environment and didn't fit your paycheck and didn't fit your pedigree it didn't fit your degree and didn't fit your background but you got a glimpse and it was so attractive it was so alluring it was so dynamic it was so magnetic it was so sexy that all of a sudden that once you have been exposed you could never be unexposed that's why the devil doesn't want you to be exposed because once you know you can never unknow what you know once you know it you know it once you know it you know it there was something about this mantle that spoke to him in such a way that he gathered his courage to go with elijah wait a minute elijah didn't know that elisha was going to follow him because god had told elijah to anoint elijah but he didn't say he was going to have to live with him and elijah said look dude i'm just supposed to anoint you and now you have upped the ante you want to follow me what have i done to you go away god doesn't give either one of them all the details and some of you are waiting on all the details before you make your next move you will die an old lady and not have all the details god fills in the blanks as you activate on what he has already given you to do day by day the steps of a good man are ordered by the lord and he delighteth in his way away with all your questions and what do we do when we get there where are we going to stay and what do the people think and what and what and what you have spent years asking questions rather than obeying commandments i'm talking to somebody i don't even know who it is god is not going to give you all the details for the just shall live by good god almighty i feel some about to happen in this place i feel a stirring in the spirit this was the call on his life this was the call a call to something a call is in front of you not behind you if i say serena come here i have to i can't be there and say come here a call is futuristic because put you in conflict because in order to answer the call you have to leave there to come here separation come on it means you had to leave the familiar it means you had to leave the comfort of the chair it means you had to leave your surrounding it means you have to leave your position it means you had to leave how you knew yourself it means you had to step out on something you didn't even know i was going to do when god calls you you don't know what's going to happen next you didn't know i was going to call you you didn't know what i want you for you don't even know what i'm going to do now you disobeyed because i called you give god a prayer that's what he wants that's what he does that's how he moves that's how he works that's how he speaks that's how he delivered you got to have courage to walk away from everything that's comfortable to you and do what god called you to do i call you elijah come here somebody pray thank you baby somebody praise it if you understand what i'm talking about glory to god type on the line he called me he called me he called me he called me he called me he called me and all the while you've been praying about where you're sitting and the reason god isn't answering you is because it ain't about where you are it's about where you're going stop praying to me about the feel and the arcs and the plow cause i'm calling you if you have the courage to detach yourself from the expectations of others do you have the courage to be yourself i'm i'm asking do you have the courage to be your authentic self how long do you think you can play this role how many years of your life are you gonna waste playing a role just because that's where you are that doesn't mean that's where he called you and i want you to see how much elijah sacrificed to say yes to god type on the line sacrifice how much he had to sacrifice he had to risk his relationship with his mother and his father he had to risk being made to look like a fool he had to risk everything in his life to follow elijah an elijah on the other hand didn't notice dude is going to start following him elisha goes from being the leader in the field to being a servant with the master oh god leader servant leader servant leader servant am i going to be a big fish over here or am i going to be a servant over here and because you can't humble yourself to serve over here you lead in a small pond rather than to serve in a big park you lead in your history rather than to serve in your destiny servant leadership means you have to have the dexterity and the ability to transition from being the boss over a bull to being the servant of a prophet and most of us will never respond because we lack being a boss over a pond over a little place rather he gave up being in charge and his inheritance and he gave up being a boss to serve because the secret to leadership is always servitude and until you can wash feet peter you cannot be my disciple as long as you see being disciples at stages and lights and camera and action you're not fit to be my leader because you're not willing to be a servant if i your lord can switch from being lord to washing feet how much more are you to be able to make the transition somebody said i got a switch i gotta switch i gotta switch i gotta serve my way up i gotta serve my way up i gotta serve my way up i gotta serve my way up i gotta serve my way up so it's gonna require sacrifice and it's going to require service and so when he asks elijah can i go with you elijah said no elisha goes back and burns up the ox and the plow do you know how long it took to raise an ox he cooked him he burned up the plow he cooked the ox to say to elijah there's nothing to go back to i want you to shut the door on your exit strategy i want you to shut the door on your back-up plan i want you to shut the door on your safety net if you really believe that this is god it is time for you to shut the door and go who am i talking to i feel like i'm talking to somebody i don't know who it is but i knew when the lord gave me this word he would give me the right people to deliver it to somebody in this room god is talking directly to you he cooked the ox he burned up the plow he said i've got nothing to go back to i honestly believe that when the children of israel crossed the red sea and pharaoh chased him down to the water that when the red sea closed in and drowned pharaoh it didn't just drown pharaoh it closed up any possibility of them ever going back to egypt because sometimes when you follow god you get scared and you want to go back to what's safe and you want to go back to what's familiar but in order to follow god you got to close up your exit strategy and make up your mind for god i live and for god i'll die i'm throwing all my chips in it i'm throwing everything i got at it and i shut the door you praise god for the doors he opened i praise god for the doors he closed i praise god for the doors he closed so i could never go back to that just because times got hard i wanted to go back i missed it i longed for it but he shut the door if for the word of god is speaking to you this morning take 30 seconds and give him crazy praise so honey come bring me some water honey no i don't want you to do it i want her to do it come on honey come bring me some water you mean you gave up being first lady just to give me some water pour the rest of it on my hands just pour it right let it go on the floor just put it right on my hands he poured water on the hands of the prophet all of it he poured water on the hands of the prophet he poured water on the hands of the prophet he poured water on the hands of the prophet no recognition no name for himself he just served the man of god the anointing you serve is the anointing you receive the anointing you said is the anointing you receive the anointing you serve is the anointing you receive did you hear me on the screen the anointing you serve is the anointing you receive you can't be it if you can't serve it it's just water it'll be all right it'll be all right what i want you to see is that the true essence of leadership is servitude i am the leader of the potter's house it is true but in reality i am serving you now i am serving you right now i am pouring water on your hands water on your dreams water on your prophecy water on your potential water on your possibility i am pouring water on your hands right now if you have the willingness to receive it i am pouring water on you right now that's why paul said one man plants and another man watereth and god gives the increase good god almighty hallelujah all we are are water pours watering your dreams watering your prophecy watering your future watering your potentials i want to water seeds that are in your ground that you didn't even know you had i water water potentials that you didn't even recognize i want to water dreams that will blow your mind i'm watering them right now i'm watering through my preaching i'm watering through my doing i'm watering through my business i'm watering through my entrepreneurship i'm watering through my foundation all of that is pouring water on your drink why don't you i didn't know that was possible i never thought about doing that i didn't know you could be two things at the same time you could be ten things at the same time according to the grace that worketh in you don't do it just to imitate me but if god gives you the grace for it and you have the same kind of spirit i am just modeling the possibility that you don't have to be locked into one dimension that you have the freedom to be your authentic self can i go just a little bit further so sit with me he followed elijah as a servant for six years for six years for six years he goes from gilgal to bethel from bethel to jericho from jericho to jordan because after everything is said and done you have to have sacrifice you have to have service and you have to have stability stability means i have passed this church when i felt like it and i have passed it to church when i didn't feel like it means i have preached with power when my heart was broken and i had preached with power when i was on the top of the mountain i had preached and sometimes you didn't even know it i was hollering up at you from the valley stability means that i don't take you on the roller coaster ride of my personal experience that i am professional enough to function in my capacity with stability and the reason god can't use you is that you are too into your feelings you're talking about how you feel about this and how you feel about that and how you feel about the other god's plan cannot be hindered by your feelings you love to feel anything you know you have crazy you're schizophrenic anyway you can't do this according to feeling you have to open up the business and be open when it's good and be open when it's bad and be open when you're happy and be open when you're sad be ye steadfast unmovable always abounding in the work of the lord god wants you to have stability if you can't say amen say ouch you don't understand sometimes you pass the test by staying it's not about winning it's about staying it's about being stable preach to word timothy be instant in season out of season reprove rebuke with all long suffering for the time will come that men will not endure sound doctrine they're going to be flaky but don't you be flaky preach the word be stable be steadfast be unmovable oh my god who am i talking to you in the middle of a test of your stability you're not stable how can you leave if you are not stable for what god was getting ready to lay on elijah he had to pass the test of six years of stability stability gilgal the place of cutting the place of separation stable at bethel the house of god you're not even stable about the house of god and yet you want god to be stable about blessing you you if you're not preaching you're not coming if the choir is not singing you're not in it he had to be stable at bethel to the house of god that means you got to worship in the hospital you got to worship in grief you got to worship in pain you got to worship when your mama's dead you got to worship when your feelings are hurt you got to worship when somebody ticked you off you got to worship when they got on your nerves you got to worship when somebody cuts you out you have to pass the test of stability because of the weight of glory that god is getting ready to lay on you you can't have that kind of glory and fluctuate six years the number of man it was on the sixth day that god made man six years god spends making elisha a man forming a man six years of stability of forming a man forming him in good days and bad days in bleeding days they circumcised at gilgal the separation place from gilgal to bethel away with your feelings you cannot serve god out of your feelings god doesn't care how you feel how do you think he felt about going to the cross and still he died he hated it but still he died the bible said he despised the shame but for the joy that was set before and still he died be steadfast unmovable always abounding always always abounded always abounding always giving your best always doing it to the limit always leaving it all on the floor i'm only happy when i walk away from this pulpit and i feel like i left it all on the floor i left it all on the floor i gave it my all i'm not competing with anybody else i'm competing against the voice that's down inside of me when i walk off the stage i have only comforted when i left it all on the floor he was stable in the house of god he was then following him to jericho jericho the place of possibilities the place where it all started the place where the promise became real the place where the battle ensued the place where the walls were high the place where the challenges were he followed him even to jericho and they're having a walk and jordan they're just walking along and elijah asked elijah late in the journey not the first year not the second year not the third year not the fourth year the fifth year he says what shall i do unto thee and he says i would like to have a double portion of your money oh i'm sorry a double portion of your platform a double portion of your contacts a double portion of your stage no he says i want a double portion of your spirit do you know what to ask for are you asking for the wrong thing are you asking for the thing that is covetous rather than prophetic what you call faith the bible calls coveting you are not to cover your neighbors oxen you are not to covet your neighbor's wife you're not to covet your neighbor's state that is not what he wanted from elijah he didn't want elijah's stuff he wanted his unction i want the option i see the anxious if you give me that unction i can get my own stuff give me the unction i want a double portion of your upset i want a double portion of your power i want a double portion of the power of the holy spirit and elijah says to him you have asked a hard thing because only god can give a transference of spirit you have asked something that is beyond my ability to give just because i like you doesn't mean i can make you what he didn't create you to be so how dare you feel rejected of me because you have asked me for something that i can i tell you what if you see me when he shows up if you're still here when the boss shows up if you are still there when he shows up and they're just walking along and suddenly the heavens opened up shut the books up i don't know who i'm speaking to but god said you're going to get a suddenly moment and when god gives you a suddenly moment after years of service you're going to have a suddenly service suddenly service suddenly stability suddenly nothing and then suddenly after years you said it's not working it's not working it's not working don't stop doing what's not working because it will work if you're working it will work if you're working it will work if you're working it will work if you're working it might not work on year one it may not work on year two it may not work on three year three but if you stick to your gods it'll work if you're working and suddenly somebody shouts suddenly somebody shouts suddenly somebody shouts suddenly that's how your prayers are gonna be answered that's how the door is gonna be open that's how the mountain is going to be moved that's how the way is going to be i don't know who i'm talking to but i'm talking to somebody in this room god said i'm going to give you a suddenly does your neighbor say suddenly after years of looking like you weren't getting anything after years of being overlooked after years of being ignored god said he's going to give you a suddenly a certainly it's going to break out in your marriage and suddenly it's going to break out with your child and something is gonna break out in your ministry somebody give him a praise for suddenly suddenly suddenly suddenly suddenly suddenly suddenly suddenly suddenly suddenly i prophesied suddenly i prophesied suddenly i promised i suddenly a suddenly a suddenly a suddenly a suddenly a suddenly after six years suddenly the heavens open up the chariot came now the guy who watch this stand on your feet because if you don't i'm gonna keep going stand up you gotta stand up you gotta stand up because i'm fired up about this suddenly the guy who wants a double portion of elijah's spirit when he got to the place that he could get it he suddenly realizes i don't want the mantle i want the man my father my father the chariots of israel have carried you away and now i realize what a privilege you are oh my god i will see you i will see you no more i will have to walk the rest of the way without you he wasn't crying out the mantle the mantle the mantle he was saying my father my father my father everything i learned i learned it from you everything i understand i understand it from you everything you taught me i had made me who i am and i will see you no more oh god i will see you no more how can i do this without you the chariots of israel have carried my father away you see i left my other father and you're the closest thing to a father i have and i will see you no more forgive me for valuing the mantle more than i did the man because it's going to be hard to be you without you in fact it's gonna be hard to be me without you everything i ever did i did it with you everything i ever learned i learned it from you everything i ever accomplished i accomplished you got me in the gill gal you got me into bethel you got me in the jericho you brought me across this jordan river we just crossed over and i don't even know for sure that i know how to get back without you and he ringed his garments which in the old testament the ripping of your garments is a sign of utter grief he ripped his clothes off and he snatched his father's mantle and he raised it high and he said where is the god of elijah where is the god of elijah what that means is will it work for me you have been hearing me preach for years but it doesn't mean anything if you don't learn how to make it work for you will it work for me and god says nothing back to him he gives him no assurance he gives him no promise it's not like joshua where he told joshua as i was with moses so shall i be with you god shut his mouth and left him to discover that it will only work it won't work because you listen to it it won't work because you took notes on it it won't work because you shouted about it it won't work because you spoke in tongues it will only work if you work it and so what he did he did what his father did not just heard what his father said he said let me see he he bound up the mantle he took the path and he bound it up like the old man had mounted and he took it and he smote the water and when he smoked the waters the waters would hither and dinner but they only parted because he wanted and the lord told me to tell somebody who's been praying to him i don't know whether this is going to work he sent me through all of this to tell you he heard your prayer come on come on he sent me through all of this to tell me he understands your anxiety your insecurity your uncertainty but in order for there to be real succession we we've gone through sacrifice we've gone through service we've gone through stability succession it will only work if you walk it how many years we've been married 39 39 years soon to be 40. no no no don't clap for us we haven't been married 40 years because everything's been easy and everything's been good and everything's been nice and i've been the perfect husband and we've always agreed and everything went right and we didn't have problems and we didn't have tests and we didn't have trials and i didn't get on her nerves and she didn't get on my nerves no no no we've been married 40 years because we worked it marriage only works if you work it i started my church with seven people in a building cooking ribs and chicken to pay the rent that boy y'all brought out here the other sunday almost wrecked me he was the first face to walk through the door of my storefront ron smith and judy were the first people to walk through the door in my empty storefront and they were the first people to join my church when they were calling me the boy pastor and they were making fun of me and said i would never be nothing they were the first people to walk through the door and i was working a job full-time something that most young preachers won't do they'll raise an offering but they won't work a job i work the job and i preach on the side and i put my check in the in the offering to keep the doors open and whatever we had left we cooked up and sold dinners to raise money to get another month to fight again and don't you come here 45 years later and asked me for the keys when you haven't done the time until you have preached when you didn't have no car until you have thumbed to bible class and walked up the road like this with your thumb out and climbed across the railroad tracks and knocked cold us off your pants and went in and taught on the tabernacle to a handful of people don't you come here with your cute suit on and tell me that you are my successor because until you are my sufferer you can't be my successor it may not be the same way it may not be the same story but in some area of your life you have to earn the right to be elijah every one of our children were born on a sunday morning and i was in the labor room with a clergy caller and my wife was pregnant and would sleep on the pew in between the morning service and the night service waiting on the night service so we could have church again we preach with our lights off we preach with our water off to get to where we are right now and i came to tell you today whatever it is you are trying to build if you want sacrifice for it if you want labor for it if you won't be hungry for it if you want thumb for it if you won't sweat for it if you won't bury your pride and put in the work for it and all you want to do is high sign and bling and impress people for it you don't have the right to get it until you will stay up at night and go to school while other people are watching the game and read and study and work and pray to get to be whoever it is you are trying to be you have not got the right it will work i said it will work what's the rest of it it will work it will work it will whack it will whack it will work there are nearly 60 000 people listening at me right now around the world in other tongues in other languages who never saw me fry fish they never saw my mama putting fish in hot grease behind a wall of the stage i was preaching in am i telling the truth you know exactly what i'm talking about i got living witnesses right now but you want to come in when the glamor is and you want more glamour and you need more guts you need guts you can't be this without guts and if you think i'm an easy takedown try me i preached a year and a half with in an empty room and i paid all my staff and didn't lay off not one of them because i'm in my 60s but i'm still bad it will work it will work it will work it will work it will work it will work this is god's word forget about my dream what is your dream what is your purpose what is your goal and how much what will you put into it in order to get what you're trying to get from god how much it will only work if you're working if this message spoke to you as a man where my brothers are i have no fear of how how she goes or how great she becomes or how much money she makes or how successful she becomes that is between her and god because her being great don't take me down you can either cower down and give up and let your wife become your mama or you can stand up like a grown man and handle your business where my sister's at get out of your feelings it's not gonna come to you emotionally people will not work for emotional people who have meltdowns and freak out and hold grudges you have to be bigger than that you might can do that at home but if you come out into the corporate space and the work world and the business space we don't have time to deal with your attitudes so stop popping your neck hold your head up get yourself together get out of your feelings and get ready to fight the good fight of faith you can't raise your children in your feelings and you cannot keep nagging your husband to death and wonder why he left it will work it will work oh you're kind of weak now you're kind of weak now it will work it will work it will work this is what i wanted i'm gonna go close because i'm throwing a party for our pastors i want on this altar people who realize that you have not thrown your best shot that you have not slung your furthest arrow that you have faced your giants but you have not thrown your best rock and this message spoke to you today in a prophetic way that you got some work to do i want those of you that are online you cannot be physically but i want you to indicate on the type on the line include me in the prayer you spoke to me you talked to me you made things clear to me you answered questions that i've been praying about i've been wondering why it didn't happen i didn't realize he walked with him six years i didn't realize i had to serve to lead i didn't realize that i had to be stable in the house of god i did not nobody ever taught me how much it cost greatness is expensive succession is expensive i want young people who are next in line this does not work like your phone this does not work like an app you have to work it and you have to work it a long time and it doesn't happen overnight for most people yes there are one or two people who put something on youtube and they got discovered and they went famous but out of millions of people those who only wanted to the rest of us have to work it clap if you know i'm right i'm going to close out the service with this prayer but i want every entrepreneur every business person every leader every thinker every dreamer every person who's got to profess a prophecy on your life i want you on this altar i want every person who's dealing with something that ain't working right on this altar i want you on this altar i want you on this altar it will work if you were every discouraged person every person who's at their wits in every person who's been feeling like it's just not working it's just not working it's just not worth it it's just not working it's just not working i paid my time i come to church i shout i dance i speak in tons but somehow it's not working this was your message if i never preach again this was your message this was your message this was your message it will work if you work it where is the god of elijah he's right here he's right here where is the god of elijah where is the god i believe y'all we need to show dallas where is the god of elijah it was not easy it was heartbreaking it was grieving people died along the way we cried along the way we went through scandals and disgrace along the way and we kept on walking the chandelier you think you can wish your way up you cannot wish your way up you have to be steadfast it'll work if you're working it'll work if you work it if i never see you again remember these words it will work if you work it i rebuke every giving up spirit i rebuke every quitting spirit i rebuke every spirit of depression i don't want you i rebuke every spirit of depression i rebuke have a spirit of forlorn man i rebuke every spirit of frustration the devil is alive he's trying to talk you out of your future talk you out of your dream and talk you out of your destiny and tell you you cannot do what god called you to do i call you out of other people's expectations i break you loose from trying to please everybody but yourself and your god i speak to you right now in the name of jesus to cook your ox and burn your plow and set your feet like iron's feet this is a war this is a fight this is not a game this is a fight it will work if you work it it will work if you work it i call you out of your emotions i call you out of your frustrations i call you out of feeling sorry for yourself i break every excuse that you have given yourself to fail my mother wasn't there my father wasn't there my husband left me my wife forsook me whatever lie you told yourself as evidence of your right to fail i take it away from you now and i command you in the name of jesus by the power of the holy ghost by everything that lies inside of me and everything that i've ever learned about god everything i've ever read in his word to rise out of the ashes of your despair it costs what it costs it will take what it takes let no man steal your crown lift your hands up a fresh anointing is coming up on you a fresh anointing from god a fresh anointing is coming from god oppression ointing is coming from god a mantle is falling in your hands a release that's coming in your spirit a mantle from the divine a move of the holy ghost a flow of the spirit it falls on you now it falls on you now it's gonna go home with you it's gonna get in the car with you i command you to get your fight back i command you to get your fight back i command you to get your drive back i command you to get your dream back i command you to stand up and respond to what god created you to be take me higher and right now in the name that's been exalted above every name i release angels over your house over your business over your car open up your mouth and begin to praise it here comes the glory the glory of the living god the anointing of god from the crown of your head to the souls of your feet open your mouth and receive and receive and receive a fresh anointing a fresh anointing i can't hear you you

Channel: T.D. Jakes

Views: 315,117

Rating: 4.8924618 out of 5

Keywords: td jakes, faith, wtal, woman thou are loosed, megafest, potters house, bishop jakes, pastors and leadership, pastors, leaders, instinctbishops, village, 1 Kings 19:19-21, 2 Kings 2:7-18, It'll Work If You Work It, the potters house of dallas, it will work if you work, have you found glory

Id: qpveHcpPwX0

Length: 83min 16sec (4996 seconds)

Published: Sun Oct 10 2021