It's All About The Stones - Bishop T.D. Jakes

[Music] put those hands together give the Lord some praise right now I hope you're excited as we are to be back with you to share the word of the Lord I want you to get your heart ready your mind ready to receive the Word of God as we open up our hearts and allow the Holy Spirit to come in get your Bibles as fast as you can and go to the Book of Joshua chapter 4 verse 6 through 11 and there you will find my assignment for today Joshua chapter 4 verse 6 through 11 when you have it stand up on your feet as we prepare to go to the word of the Lord and the word leads like this that this may be a sign among you that when your children ask their fathers in times to come saying what mean he by these stones then he shall answer them that the waters of Jordan were cut off before the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord when it passed over Jordan the waters of Jordan were cut off and these stones shall be for memorial unto the children of Israel for ever and the children of Israel did so as Joshua commanded and took up twelve stones out of the midst of Jordan as the Lord spake unto Joshua according to the number of the tribes of the children of Israel and carried them over with them into the place where they large and laid them down there and Joshua set up twelve stones in the midst of Jordan twelve stones in the midst of Jordan in the place where the feet of the priests which bear the Ark of the Covenant stood and they are there unto this day for the priests which bear the ark stood in the midst of Jordan until everything that until everything was finished that the LORD commanded Joshua to speak unto the people according to all that Moses Joshua and the people hasted the people hasted the people hey stood and passed over and it came to pass when all the people were cleaned passed over that the Ark of the Lord passed over and the priests in the myths in the presence of the people can you say man can you say man again look at somebody say it's all about the stones it is all about the stones let's pray while we're standing here spirit of the Living God fall afresh on us we need a fresh impartation we have a fresh battle we have a fresh opponent a fresh opposition of fresh demonic force coming against us a fresh attack we need a fresh word from you we need a fresh anointing we need a fresh grace we need a fresh power breathe on us great Holy Spirit breathe on us in such a way that we are fortified and by your presence breathe on us until we are assured that we are not in this alone breathe on us until our character is transformed into yours and our thoughts become yours and our ways become your ways let this transformative word revolutionize the way we see our situation the way we see ourselves and the way we see our God I think your events for what you're going to do have your way great God that you are in the mighty name of Jesus we pray everybody who loves him shout amen you may be seated in the presence of the Lord now I'm going to be talking to you after this manner I'm broken the text down into several phrases you might want to jot them down because this is basically the outline in which I'm going to attack this text I want to talk about the man I want to talk about the morning not in daylight morning but morning as in grieving I want to talk about the mission I want to talk about the moment I want to talk about the memorial and I want to talk about the message so the man the morning the mission the moment the memorial the message the man the morning the mission the moment the memorial the message the man the morning the mission the moment to the memorial and the message and our texts today is it's all about the stones it is important for us to understand because I don't want to be presumptive to think that you understand the text so just allow me to be remedial for some of you as we share just the continuity of the text itself to understand that we have a generation a new generation because the former generation for the most part has died off in the wilderness the former generation has done off a new generation has come up with nothing but what their fathers told them while they journeyed in the wilderness about who their God wasn't what he was able to do and they are on the precipice of crossing over into the Promised Land they're very close they are very close after a long journey a long journey with a lot of events and accidents and lots of deaths and lots of burials and lots of funerals and lots of chaos and lots of miracles and lots of storms it's been a long journey it costs him a lot to get to where they are and now as they stand on the brink of family coming into the place for which the Lord God swear that he was going to deliver them they were right on the verge you would think this would be a moment of great celebration that you would think this would be a flamboyant opulent moment of spectacular pageantry and celebration unto the God who had delivered them out of the wilderness she would think that there would be dancing like it started and si crossed over the Red Sea he would think they would have the tambourines out and the women would go forth dancing and shouting before God and celebrating the goodness of God in their last she would think that was the case but that was not at all what was going on at all because sometimes when you are closest to get it to what God has promised you instead of celebration it doesn't feel like you thought it would feel because of what it costs you to get where you're trying to go you don't have the emotional reaction to respond in the way that you imagined that you would I hear people say when I give this house paid off I'm gonna dance all over the house when I finally get out of debt I'm gonna dance when I finally get my children ready and I'm gonna dance when I have this baby I'm gonna celebrate but it cost you so much then I don't see too many women who's just had a baby dancer because the labor delivery cost you so much that by the time you get to where you're going you've gone through so many things and often the greatest battle is when you're closest to your destination I want to say that again the greatest battle is when you are closest to your destination once you learn that about your life you will learn how to get happy in strange places because the greatest battle becomes an evidence and a sign to you that you are nearer now than you have ever been before the closer you get to it the more forces of Hell come against you to try you to dissuade you to intimidate you to make you forfeit the opportunity that God is giving you so a mnemonic that I expected the children of Israel to be dancing they are not dancing you know because there are things that happen that you did not foresee I'm wondering if there's anybody in here who's ever been blindsided I'm wondering if there's anybody in here who's ever been cold-cocked I'm wondering if there's anybody in here who's ever been caught off guard I'm wondering if there's anybody in here who's ever gone through anything in their lives and all of a sudden they cost you more than you thought it would cost you I'm wondering if there's anybody in here who's gone through anything in their life that by the time you got there you didn't have this trip to celebrate like you thought you would celebrate they had imagined themselves reaching the promised land they had imagined themselves coming into a land that flows with milk and honey they had imagined themselves eating the grapes so big that they could hardly carry them they had imagined themselves gardening again and growing again and having a house again these are people who have not lived in a house for forty years they have been in a tent in a place of transition for 40 years and some of you have been in transition for four months and you about today these people have been in a temporary state of living for 40 years they have had no house to call their home they've had no address they've had no playground for their children to play in that would be guaranteed they'd had no moment no plot of ground that they could call their own everything was transitory everything was on the move and just when they were about to finally come into their own Moses died and they never saw it coming how could Moses die Moses wasn't the man he was the man through whose auspices all of this began he was a man who had wooed them away from the clutches of favor he was a man who had given them direction at the Red Sea he is the man who threw a trunk into the waters and the bitter waters of mama returns we he is a man of a man who clapped his hands and manna came down from heaven he is a man who prayed and quail began to drop in the middle of the dinner he is a man who looked up into the heavens and a pillar of fire was above the body in a cloud of smoke by night Moses was the man Moses was a man who lifted up the serpent in the wilderness Moses was a man who healed him of all of their diseases Moses was a man who talked to God face to face Moses was the man who taught the people who they were Moses who are some man who gave them the Ten Commandment Moses was a man who designed who gave them the design for the tabernacle Moses was the man what do you do when the man goes up in the mountain and he never comes down the man was gone God always does everything he starts it with demand at all always trying to make not a not a committee not a board meeting not a group discussion it stars not a mob it's always a man it's always somebody who says enough is enough a deliverer Mahatma Gandhi a deliverer a Nelson Mandela I deliver dr. Martin Luther King and deliver is always somebody who jumps up and says enough is enough was this a man or a woman it doesn't matter it starts with the man there's a deficit in the world today for somebody who will take the mantle of being the man we would rather complain about what they ought to do and what they ought to do and those folks over there these people over there we don't want to take the yoke of the burden of responsibility I can tell you how many people who text me reach out to me on social media who know what hard to do but don't know what they ought to do it's crazy how you can understand what I are to do and you've never been in my situation and Cator on your situation but you got wisdom for me we always want to delegate the responsibility today and them and we don't want to be the man because it's not easy with you the man now go ahead and wear your t-shirt should say I'm the man that's cute you can buy them for $24.99 down at the mall right now but when you really become the man it's gonna cost you more than $24.99 models this was the man he took the bitter with the sweet he took being unappreciated he took he took being you know and he took me in ostracized he took facing off with the enemy he took fighting battles he took dealing with obstacles he took being misunderstood he took big murmured and complained about by the very people he was trying to help because that's what it costs when you demand sure you want to be the man the problem now is that after the same people who murmured and complained the same people who got on his last nerve are the same people who are crying down at the bottom of the mountain because the man was dead look at the schizophrenia of a crowd of people who made Moses his life hell and then had a moment of breakdown when he died with the God that we would appreciate our leader sulla with God that we would not wait until they were there to honor them to recognize them to appreciate them and make it easier for them to do what they do but in most cases you only become the hero of the band after you did I went to God that dr. King can come back and see how many highways have named after him and how many bridges and how many school because while he was living he was not treated like he was the man at all and some of him who Lord his name now did not do it with such gentility when he was living so it could be possible to those of you that are listening at me right now and going through hell with those who follow behind you you could be the man and not know it you cannot wait on the affirmation other people to understand who you are because generally the people don't affirm you until you don't come down off the mountain when you go up in the mountain and they never see you anymore then they recognize the deficit of your absence the deficit of your absence leaves a cave in the heart of the people because suddenly they long for what you feel in you filled it in so well that it made it look natural but when you step out of place all of a sudden there's a cavern and there's a hole there's an empty spot down in the spear and the people started wailing because the man was dead Moses was dead it was unthinkable that Moses would be dead we were not even sure that Moses could die and that Moses would be dead as unthinkable and the people were forlorn and they were upset and they were down at the bottom of the mountain and they were crying for Moses for weeks and weeks and weeks they did nothing but mourn the death of Moses now the man is gone in the morning has started Wehling is coming where murmuring and complaints used to be morning has started of weeping women and children are weeping grown men are crying like babies because Moses gods man who was dead to lose something of the magnitude of a Moses should make you cry because they are such a rare commodity it is so hard to find the Moses that you can't just run through the crowd and say okay I'll make you Moses no you can't make anybody be somebody save God make them be somebody Moses was so unique and so special and so powerful that even God said other prophets have I spoke to through dreams a vision that are my servant Moses will I speak to face-to-face Moses was dead and it seemed as if the future was aborted it seemed as if the conversation was over it seemed as if God had put a period because he spoke to Moses face to face and if Moses was dead the conversation is now over no if we don't hear from God what will we do because Moses brought us the word of the Lord Moses taught us the ways of the Lord Moses gave us the directions of the Lord and Moses was dead and the people were left with mourning the weaving was overwhelming the trauma was so strong it was overwhelming the women were wailing in the middle of the night the children were weeping everything has now stopped at the bottom of the mountain it did funny that at the bottom of the mountain they mourn when there was a time that they danced naked around the calf at the bottom of another mountain but now the dancing has turned into mourning and the people have lapsed into weeping because the man was dead and perhaps so are we perhaps we will go no further perhaps we will not make the journey perhaps we will not go on because the secret of mourning is this whenever people are weeping always remember they think they are weeping for who they lost but in reality they are weeping for themselves there's a part of morning that is laced with self-pity why could you do this to me why did you take her away from me why did you let this happen to me mourning always this laced with self-pity it has a tears of selfishness and if you want to pull it out by the world you have to recognize a part of our we biggest for ourselves and not for who we lost because in many many cases who we lost it who was suffering and agony and pain and we wanted them to stay with us even if it hurt them and then they left us and we are mourning and so the children of Israel who were known for their dancing and their pageantry and the way they orchestrated praise and worship have ceased to Washer the children of Israel who for generations were such worshippers that even the Babylonians acid sing on them to us the song of the Lord because Israel was known for how they danced I wish I I wish I had some Hebrew music with me er there was something different about how the Hebrews danced before God if you could dance in the desert you could dance anywhere the Hebrews danced in the desert up underneath the hot Sun was sand in between their toes and still they dance like fitnah on the roof they dance they dance did their culture and in their tradition they danced in the faith and after their order but the dancing has turned into mourning and they've hung their harps again in the willow trees and they have wept because Moses is and they are busy morning are you morning are you mourning over someone you lost or something you lost or some job you lost or some plan you lost that has gone awry just when you were almost there I want to be transparent and admit to you that I understand that feeling well it seems that just when I'm almost there all hell breaks loose and I worry have a loss the mission because mourning will make you think you lost the mission see now if you'll notice my progression I started out talking about the man number two I started talking about the morning number three I'm talking about the mission because they were mourning because they thought that the man and the mission were the same thing that if you lose the man you lost the mission y'all don't hear what I'm saying if you lose the man you lost the mission they thought that the man was submissive but there's always a difference between the man and the mission they thought that when God stopped talking to Moses God had stopped talking but they were wrong they put a period where God for the Karma they ended where God just took another breath because God understood it was not just about being the man it was about fortifying the mission you can not stop us by killing a man [Applause] you can't you can't make us cry you can make us weep you can make us more you can make us holler you can make a sing-song but you cannot stop a mission by killing a man it didn't work with Gandhi it didn't work with dr. King Oh y'all don't hear what I'm saying and it won't work now it never did work it didn't work with Moses and it won't work today killing a man never stops a mission God immediately turned his head from talking to Moses and without a beat turned to his servant Joshua's and said now Moses my servant is dead as I was with Moses so shall I be with you God didn't go into mourning he didn't go into depression he didn't go into distress he didn't panic he didn't get disrupted he didn't say oh my mission is aborted I've lost my main man I've lost my CEO I'm going to have to file bankruptcy God didn't say to himself I can't get this thing done without Moses as gifted as Moses was still God said Moses saw shall I be with you he's talking to Joshua and now Joshua has two we understand himself because he has always known himself to be Moses sergeant and now with the tide of God's head he is gone from being Moses is sergeant to being the general and Joshua has to Rio so we are dealing with transition in this moment the transition of the children of Israel who are not used to sing Joshua as demand we're dealing with the transition of God who is not used to talking to Joshua like he was a man and we're dealing with the transition of Joshua who is not used to being understood as the man and the opening conversation the God now makes was Joshua says and I was with Moses so shall I be with you and God speaks it to him at a time of stepping into the unknown oh my god I was having the fear of stepping into the unknown it's not like God said I'm gonna be with you and you're gonna continue in the wilderness with which you are familiar now God says I'm going to be with you as you step into a new place in a new role to do a new thing but as I was with Moses so shall I be with you now to the text it is at this point that Moses that know that Joshua comes down to the Jordan River and finds an abnormally swelling Jordan he strongly the Jordan was not that deep normally the Jordan was really a stream with which people would pass over quite easily but at a certain time a seasoned when the waters condensed and there was a great deal of water flowing down from the Sea of Galilee the Jordan would overflowed its banks and it would reach a point of tempestuous this that it was difficult to cross had they got there sooner they could've walked across and just got their feet down and made it over to the promised land I've been to the Jordan myself I've seen it myself it's not that wide it's not that deep but if you're calm at the wrong season what yzz has now become difficult because now I'm in a season of storm and attack I don't know about you but we're in a season right now that what was easy has now become difficult it used to be easy to take your girlfriend out to lunch it used to be easy to plan your meal and your dinner it used to be easy to go to the boardroom and have a meeting it used to be easy to get in your car and go to the church but now in this season the waters above a swirl in the banks of the Jordan and we're not sure where the edges are have you ever lived a life where you weren't sure I feel like preaching this morning where you weren't sure where the rules were where are the boundaries where does this stop I don't know how deep it is I don't know how long yeah I don't know how long I'd have to wait before it got back down to normal again and I don't have time to wait for things to get better to go forward I don't have time for them to change the policy for me to go forward I don't have time for there to complete justice for me to go forward I don't have time for them to pass legislation for me to go forward I don't have time for them to have a political debate for me to go forward I don't have time for the economy to come back for me to go forward I don't have time for the stock market to come up before I go forward I don't have time to wait on them to rebuild buildings for me to get a job I don't have time so now I've got to cross the swelling banks of the Jordan River now Joshua who is a rookie in this role has to go down to the Jordan River with the people behind him steel sniffling for somebody else it's like marrying somebody who's still in love with some yoga me say I want you to see this test if you don't feel this text you read all the distress and you've had it in Sunday school yeah you had it but you didn't hear it you didn't feel what it's like to lead are people who don't want you you didn't feel what it's like to follow behind somebody you're not sure how do we know that God is going to be with him like he was with Moses oh the backdrop of his ears is the rearview mirror of his car he could hear them murmuring about the stories of Moses because if he really want to be great died people are always considered greater in their death that they were appreciated in their life so if Moses was that great in his life can you imagine the stories they were telling the children there was a time we was with Moses and we were backed up in a corner and shelf to the wall and Moses went up on the mountaintop and goddess of victory simply by raising his hands he didn't have to lift a sword he didn't have to get a shield he raised his hands and the Amalekites collapsed up under the gun they were telling the stories of Moses but they were following Joshua I don't know who I'm preaching to the day but you're having to deal with people who are telling the stories of Moses and yet they are following Joshua I look with amazement as a as a as the collegian of generations occurred between the civil rights leaders and black lies - the civil rights leaders came up in my generation they were the Moses of our generation they fought back the enemy they turned down slew suneson turn water hoses on our generation they attacked us and still they march toward they carried charred bodies of dead black girls out of church and still we fought by we were the mouses generation synod strikes at Woolworth's I'm not going in another colored bathroom I'm not gonna drink from another colored water fountain I'm not gonna go to another segregated school and give me my right to vote back but Moses has now slid over into black lives matter and black lives matter has to become the Joshua of a sociological understanding of how our community understands themselves and we are standing here having the benefit on one hand of saying black lives matter erupt into a worldwide revolution no longer can you hinge it in with a grammatical argument all lives matter you can't you can't argue about semantics when the whole world black and white is holding up sighs said black lines Madeline you sound a little bit stupid to shut down Joshua with semantics of course all lives matter that's not the question and you can't get an A if you give the wrong answer to the right question there is no question that white lives matter the question is do black lives matter so if you want to get the answer right on the quiz you gotta check the right block one truth does not cancel out the other saying black lives matters does not cancel out that all last matter but we are used to stopping people with technicalities rather than to confront the underlying issue I'm gonna lose some viewers this morning I can feel it right now I'm gonna lose some viewers and all of a sudden I listed and our Socrates I'm talking and he reminds us of Moses the old generation the old guard those that were there Jesse Jackson is sitting in the crowd ankles swollen and getting up in years and and and and the and the black community is trying to understand itself because we are stuck between Moses and Joshua Joshua is radical and Joshua is different and Joshua's revolutionary but Joshua doesn't realize that Moses wouldn't always over then in our day that the king was at 40 when he was marching youth always gives way to age and you only have a small window to do what you're going to do before you become obsolete and now Joshua is leading a multi-generational group of people into a promised land while they murmur for Moses if dr. King was here today you need to preach more Black Liberation Theology Cohn said gonna be this way the church ought to be doing that way your honor picket this way and see you see the collision of Moses and Joshua and against the backdrop of the confusion of the people coming into the adolescence of identity trying to figure themselves out Joshua will must move forward because after all this is not about a man this is about a mission it is a mission I saw one man out there and I wouldn't have carried my child out there cuz it's dangerous but he had his child out there on his shoulders I understood why cuz you want your children to remember this is what it was like when we crashed yeah it's a mission this is the time for you to tell your children your family stories and tell them who they are and where they came from and what really happened this is not a time for you to relegate the education of your children to the public school system because they have a tendency to get amnesia and leave chunks of the story out and so Joshua now comes down to the Jordan River and the people are uncertain and he is uncertain and to God he is unproven and he comes down to the Jordan River and all he has to fight with is what God promised him and I lost with Moses so shall I be with you so he comes down to the Jordan this time mr. Jordan not the Red Sea the conditions have changed but it's still the same thing the water is obstacle and he comes down to the water with the promise of God and he comes to the Jordan River and nothing happens this is the moment this is the moment that proves the authenticity of his leadership this is the moment that he gets a public validation of a majestical move of God that shuts every mouth as to the authenticity of his calling and he comes down to the breach of the swelling Jordan and nothing happens and the priests over hand him and the people are behind him and the promise of God is before him and nothing happens what are you when it's your moment nothing what do you do after fighting to get to the door and you finally get to the DA and nothing what do you do when it's your moment and it doesn't work this text is not about what worked it's about what didn't if God was going to do with him what he did with Moses he should have gotten to the edge of the Jordan raised up his rod and the waters went hither and thither he walked to the edge of the swelling Jordan and nothing happened can you imagine what the crowd was saying behind him can't you almost feel the beating of his heart and the rushing of blood to his face because he has told him that God was with him and still there is no move from heaven there is no wind there is no blowing there is no water party everything is acting as if he had no anointing at all it is in this moment that he must decide what you must decide right now this moment in your life that you have come down to a critical point and nothing is happening you have to decide are you gonna tuck your tail and turn your head and go back or are you going to step down into the water now God said as I was with Moses so shall I be with you but he didn't say I'm going to do with you what I did with Moses he just said I'm gonna be with you as I was with Moses so he had to step down into the water my God look at his fate suppose nothing happens he went down into the Jordan and the priests followed him into the immovable swelling tide of the Jordan this shyer whoever I'm preaching to you're getting ready to walk into something that ain't moving you getting ready to walk into something that's standing up in the face and laughing at your faith and telling you that your God don't work and you end it by yourself and if God was with you your husband wouldn't left you and if God was with you all hell would've broke loose in your life God was with you you wouldn't have had to go in the store and if God was with you you wouldn't had to fight off the enemy but the devil is alive I said the devil is alive I said the devil is alive I said the devil is a liar I said the devil is a liar somebody give him 30 seconds of crazy breath Pilates the stage just X he he he he is now in the water his feet are wet if it was with him if God was with him okay I'm not gonna be stopped see the devil don't want this to go forth but the devil is a lie and I'm gonna preach this anyway I'm gonna preach it anyway imma preach it anyway because this is gonna unlock something for somebody this is gonna break a yoke for somebody this is gonna open a door for somebody this is gonna release somebody it's gonna set you free you in the middle of transition you're in the middle of change you're in the middle of obstacles and you're thought God was gonna work in one way and it didn't work like you thought it was gonna work and you think that the fact that it didn't work the way you thought it was gonna work means God said no but the devil is alive just because the waters don't part and the bank doesn't mean it won't open in the middle he stepped into the water and there he is out in the water already the type is shattered because Moses is people bragged because their feet never got wet and can you imagine the people coming down into the water saying now you know there's something right something's wrong with this because mama said that when they step down into the water their feet didn't get wet and now this man got us walking in water that ain't moving hallelujah to God and it looks like God is not with us and he kept on walking in the murmuring and the complaints he kept on walking in the controversy he kept on walking our country is in controversy our world is in controversy and some people are trying to figure out what to do you got to keep on walking they can say lit it out they can say whatever they want to say they can do whatever they want to do they can feel hi Evan they want to feel but you got to keep on walking when you know God is on your side you got to keep on walking I don't know who I'm in cars but no matter what your position is you got an opposition I said no matter what your position is you got an opposition and if you feel like your position is really God you got to keep on walking they kept on walking step down into the water and nothing moved and the priests went with it you gotta have somebody who will get in trouble with you if you don't have somebody with you better get in trouble with you you or by yourself you gotta have somebody who is so committed to you that they will step down into waters that ain't moving and say if you say go I'm going if I perish I perish I'm going to see the king we might have to drive out here but I'm going to see hey we might get swallowed up but I'm going to see the king we might get embarrassed and humiliated but I'm going anyway I left too much behind me to mess around and go back where I came from and I made up in my mind if I perish I perish I'm going into this water my feet might get wet but I'm a step in this water Michael's might get wet but I'm a step in this water my knees might be wet but I'm a step in this water though he slay me yet should I trust him I'm getting in the water huh and the Holy Ghost sent me here to tell you step in it anyway I know they don't like you but stepping in anyway I know they're talking about you but stepping in anyway I know they're against you but stepping in anyway I know they've been texting about you but stepping in anyway I know they're talking about your own Facebook and integrand but step into it anyway into the middle of the water and how all of a sudden Joshua and his priest stepped down into the water and when they got in the middle of it when they got in the middle of it when they stepped into the middle of the mess God shooter God told me to tell you he's not gonna do nothing if you don't do nothing he's not gonna move if you don't move he's not gonna show up if you don't show up but if you show up the Lord said I'll meet you halfway God said I'll meet you halfway I'm making everything easy you have to be willing to get your feet wet step pounded pillow water and I'll meet you halfway so Joshua step down into the water because this was the moment and when it's your moment you can't go back when it's your moment you can't give up when it's your moment you can't give in I came to tell America this is the moment this is your moment this is your time this is the kind of moment that changes the world the trajectory of our reality this is our moment this is our time step down into the water step into the controversy step into the confusion step into the messiness get mud in between your toes your cute shoes off and get down in the mud and the mess of it and say yes for me and my house we will serve the Lord I don't know who I'm talking to but I feel like I'm talking to somebody hallelujah tell your neighbors step on it step on it step on in the messiness of it your marriage is in trouble it ain't gonna never get better as long as you stand on the banks you gotta step down into the mess of it you gotta step down in and take get your feet dirty get mud in between your toes mess up your cutie hairdo and tell the devil you can't have my marriage you can't have my son you can't have my daughter you can't have my mind you can't have my church they told me you gotta shut the church down the law says all doors got to be closed you got too many people to be gathered everybody was calling me say what we gonna do as I don't know but I won't step on him do it I will step right down into the middle of it and if I perish perish I'm not gonna sit at home and start crying I'll preach if I gotta preach by myself somebody help me praise him in this place [Music] truster found into it I start preaching to him to buildings I started teaching Bible class I started getting on Facebook line I start getting on Instagram chat I start talking to everybody my friend said look like you doing everything yeah it's a fight and when it's a fight you got to do everything see you a cute fighter you got rules I'm a street fighter huh I'll bite your ankles I'll snatch you by if you get me in a fight I got no rule but when he stepped down into the water and I want you to get this picture all of the priests stepped down into it with him and they're all in the middle of it and when they got in the middle of it God got in their middle God will always get in the middle I listened that dr. James preached Wednesday night and she was preaching on the middle man and God has always been the middle man you got a priest over here and a priest over there you got one standing on this side and one standing on that side and the Bible said where two or three are gathered together in my name there am I in the midst of him the holy house came down in the middle of the priest and begin to drive the waters till they stood on top of the head God will make the waters rolled back out of your way and the Bible said that all of a sudden that the people had to come through quickly you gotta understand what they're walking through it looks like they're walking through one but because the priest was in place they weren't walking through water they was walking through praise that's why the priests had to go first because the priests always represent praise and when praises go up blessings come down I don't know what you're in the middle of right now but you need to drop your iPad and go into a crazy praise you need to praise Him in your pajamas you need to praise Him in your house code you need to praise Him in your slipping down you need to praise Him in your underwear you need to drop your fork and praise it you need to put down your coffee cup and praise it when I think of the goodness of Jesus and all that is done for me my soul cries out hallelujah I thank God for saving me praise it while you're sitting on their back deck praise Him right where you are because if you want God to show up you gotta learn how to give him the praise somebody in this world needs to praise him right now praise Him like you in a fight praise him like you in a storm praise him like you in a battle huh praise him like you want a breakthrough I came here you open your mouth and give God some so the priest was standing still and the children of Israel were coming through the priests and they were coming through fast and they were coming in a hurry and the Bible said where the feet of the priest stood firm God said wherever you stand firm wherever you take a stand whenever you stop being wishy-washy whenever you stop being two-fisted whenever your feet stand firm God said I want you to take a stroll from the place where the feet of the priest stood firm that means you got a stand when it looks like it's not working you got a stand when it looks like God didn't hear you you got a stand when everybody's ostracizing you you got a stand when life looks complicated and the priest just stood there they stood till the wind came they stood till the waters parted they stood till away was made they stood till the children of Israel start coming through they just stood slap your neighbor and say just stand you don't know what they do just stand just stand flat-footed on the rock this rock is Jesus stand on the promises of God stand on the fact that God is not a man that he should lie or the son of man that he should repeat never this is what I'm gonna do having better all the Stanner I must stand therefore with my loins Girt about with truth for slap somebody say stand look at somebody say stand pointed somebody say span lay handle yourself and say and so right where they stood God said I don't want to rock that you're not standing on I don't wanna rock that you're not standing on I can't use the rock that you didn't stand on it is not the rock by itself but it is the combination of rock and feet truth and conviction every place where the priests feet stood firm take a rock so when all of the children of Israel had passed over to the other side God said take a rock where the feet of the priest stood firm cuz I'm gonna turn your moment into a memorial a memorial is something you remember a memorial is something you teach your children a memorial as a standard that sets you apart from other people a memorial is your story your history your destiny your legacy is all tied up to a bunch of rocks look at somebody says all about the stones the stones the stones the stole don't leave it till you get your stone don't leave it till you get your stone you need something to prove to the world I was there when God made a way out and I was there when the tides begin to turn I was there when the NFL offered an apology I was there with the statues beginning to fall I was there where they banded the Confederate fire I was there I was standing right there I was standing right there I was standing right there and the Bible said that the priests were forbidden to leave the Jordan without the stones too many times we leave our Jordan without getting our stones too many times we're just glad to get by and we don't get nothing out of it don't go into a meeting you don't get nothin out of don't let anybody take up your time with something you don't get nothing out of God said I didn't take you through all of this for you to not get something out of it get something out of it before you leave now imagine the waters are standing on the head and we're running out of time and the priests who already got a load got to reach down and get a stone the stones are so important that God added more weights this is the weight of glory glory costs you something glory is heavy on your shoulders Gloria I gotta quit glory adds to your load hallelujah but they carried it out the carrying stones in mud the carrying stones along with religious artifacts they're carrying stones weighted down with the armor of their garment but they carried it anyway because God said your children need to see your strong even as I preach here today my youngest son is standing here to my side I wanted to see my flu shot I wanted to see my stones know that your dad is a fighter know that your daddy will step in a building and fight by myself I want you to understand that a crowd does not define you that if God before you he's more than the world against you and when all hell is breaking loose you just span somebody holler stand this is some you can't get out of a book it's got to be modeled in front of you you got to see it in your life you got to be able to point at it you gotta have enough system recognizer and it ain't nothing but stones ain't even books but they teaching a class take these stones and pile them up where you live so that with your children with your children pass by I say what meaning these stones you tell baby it's all about the stone it's not about the jewelry it's not about the gold it's not about the bank account it's not about the silver it's not about the money it's not about the house it's about the stones if you got the stones you can build a house if you got the stones you can get the gold if you got the stones you can get the silver it's all about it's all about the stones it's the stones you got it's a fight you got it's a stand up you got it's a force you got it's a tenacity you got it's a fight you got it's a tribe you touch it's a relentlessness you got and you got to spend there so they keep slapping on you talking bout you laughs and that's your line no you're trying to kill you you just and so I preached this message today to say it's all about the stones because the Bible said when your children ask you what meaneth these stones tell them how the Lord was with them when you were in the middle in the middle of the Jordan that is the message the stones are the message that a transgenerational it is the stones of the 60s that the 20/20 stand on if we hadn't done what we behaved you couldn't do what you're doing so it's not a competition it's a collaboration it's not this is better than that is this and that it's not either/or it's and in both every Liberty in this country has been controversial women coming out of the kitchen was controversial getting the right to vote for a woman was controversial women used to be considered property it was controversial they'd whip their women like they whip their children because a woman was a child and two women got tired of it and they fought back I'm talking about white women and brown women and black women and pull women and rich women got together and demanded that they were human not just sex objects not just deposit boxes not just some for you to drop a baby into women they insisted that you accept the fact that they were brilliant and we're competitive and had but it was controversial and it's still controversial and they're still fighting and it ain't over yet but they made good ground this country was controversial it was born out of conflict it was born out of warfare I hate debate I hate the wrestling I hate the struggling I hate Ludi I hate the drama I hate the confusion but if we would for that there would be America cuz you laugh for was a revolution it was a fight it was a mutiny it was Luton the Boston Tea Party was Luton bastard stuff and defiance is what founded America and even though I don't like it I understand it there's some for move until radical people speak up your heroes were revolutionaries your Patriots were fighters your Patriots of founding fathers of this country where people who demonstrated against Great Britain and overthrew their product the truth of the matter is freedom has always been a bloody business be right when you do it and wrong when somebody else do it if it's gonna be wrong let it be wrong to the Indians let it be Rob [Applause] [Music] we have a way of of justifying we have a way of justifying it when it's on our side I heard a lady say that we're better at at inflicting pain than receiving pain when we're the ones inflicting pain we we stand up to it and say it was justified but when somebody stands up to us now it's horrendous how could they do that it's terrible and I get it I agree with you it's terrible and it was terrible when you burned down black Wall Street and it was terrible when you burned down rosewood and it was terrible to the British when you threw over all of that precious tea down into the sea but that was what freedom calls when women left the kitchen and threw their aprons down in the floor it was terrible men came home and there was no food in the house they said women had lost their mind it was terrible every revolution has had its casualties Holly because sometimes peace will not be heard dr. King could have been dr. King without Adam Clayton Powell without Malcolm X it was a combination of conflict and peace collaboratively working together and even with all of his peace he was still investigated by the FBI hey J Edgar Hoover steel bug this room they still labeled him a communist see you know no matter how you go about it you are always gonna have a critic [Music] so here we are these are our stones I shut the rough and Athena are stones don't let nobody clean them off leave a muddy just like they are history is of muddy business hallelujah it's only clean when you wash it off to make yourself look good history's always been a messy business it's always been rough and rugged and a ragged it's always had extenuating circumstances and backroom meetings and sabotages and attack to get us to where we are and so these stones gosh these toes it's not about these stones it's all about bending your knee on a football field and being castigated until somebody bends a knee on somebody's neck it's all about it's all about it's all about the progression of a conversation that creates controversy and confusion and cost jobs and unfollowing people and rejecting them and the price people paid for the freedom we have and that's why the freedoms must be precious because they are so expensive they're so so so that's why you have to vote because it was so it was so expensive I know you're frustrated you feel like you vote no counting it doesn't work and I make it a hard but elicit it was so expensive out of respect to what your hand sauce is died for and bled for and suffered for if it don't do nothing but just please them to see you go down and cast a violent it costs too much these were the places where our father's feet stood firm these were the places my father standing at the back door kitchen to get food to feed us fit in the car you remember you remember sitting in the car and daddy go into the back door he could pay for food in restaurants he couldn't eat in but his feet stood firm his feet stood firm guiding us over to the colored water fountain but his feet stood firm Drive in the Mississippi at night to avoid the possibility of running into the police hadn't from the KKK property's on fire fields burned up my relatives I ain't talked about some I read in both these are these are these are the stones my grandmother's body my great-grandmother's body with a brand on it where a hot iron had been put to her naked skin to show who owned her I knew her these are stars along with all the other stones that your story has and their story has and everybody has these stones make up America they're not just black stones they're white stones and brownstones and blue stones and nasty dirty muddy stone says how we got here let's just tell the truth and what I want you to understand what I want you to understand the word understand is the truth you stand under the truth you stand under shelter shoe from the rain of the stones they gonna throw at you some things worth dying for there's something's worth dying for these are our stoves this is what our faith is all about it gives promises to runaway slaves this whole decks that all of us are preaching about is a bunch of runaway slaves Runaways that refuse to be used anymore black man white man red man blue man I don't care what you are you ain't nobody's slave not to drugs not to heroin not to anybody not to in there by day you're the man Oh your head up your back straight that's Stan Stan when it looks like it's not working it's trying when you're loaded you got staying about yourself and stand when he's scared to death staying anyway I want to say to you - do I know you discouraged in your tire I'm tired all of it I'm tired of Kobe at 19 I'm tired and I argued I'm tired of the images I'm tired of the pitches I'm tired of the news I'm tired of all of it I've tried all of it taught all of it time almost and if I die I'm gonna die standing like a grown man sure that's what you do that's who we are you stand [Music] like Rosa Parks like Dorothy Height you just fair baby you just stand there you just stand there with tears running down your face you stand with the wind blowing and the Lightning flashing and the thunders roll and the hold is turned on the end of the dogs too early you just stand and the grain size and the feelings and the pain and agony of your wait to be understood you don't have to be understood you just fair cuz you understand you understand you understand [Music] after you've done are you you've been wounded you've been hurt [Music] after you've done no you prayed you cry [Music] you cry hold on you have to you don't know you can you just stand [Music] this is before I leave on a prey for tired folks you discourage France tired of trying to make ends meet tired of the money coming up short tired of being criticized and misunderstood tired of being lonely tired of being misunderstood tired of having to fight for what is right just just yours I want to pray for all the time [Music] tired of have to change yourself to fit in and it work it fit in with people and fit in in your own church too tires tired of fighting cancer tired of throwing up every morning and pulling your hair out by the handfuls just falling into the singing [Music] lost your toe and now they want to cut off your leg and you're tired complete hysterectomy now you gotta get chemo you tired your body's weak and you're losing weight and you're tired had your third steal boy you're so tired thought you found the man of your dreams and he walked off and left you I want to talk to drug addicts and retired all the stuff you had to do that you ashamed of [Music] and you use willpower and you prayed you anointed yourself of all and you were still addicted it's not you're just tired if you think you need to kill yourself a wait a minute I want to talk to parents who are tired of that child you did everything you could they crush you to your face hit you in your mouth your child your child I want to talk to Grandmama's who's raised in another generation and scared in your own house [Music] I know you tried I know you tried you think I don't get tired - I'm praying for you your faith fail you die like an old days we'd have you touch the screen maybe you let handle your phone but I'm praying for you let the tears come it's the only release you get you can't afford a therapist you can't get the medication I'm praying for you right now that your faith does not fail you Father in Jesus name I know that you are the one who raises the dead if you can raise the dead you can't stress it on people you can strengthen those who are tired of leading you can strengthen those who are tired of bleeding you can strengthen those who are tired of working you can strengthen those who are tired of being unemployed you can strengthen those that are tired of being married you can strengthen those that are tired of being single you can strengthen those that are tired of being sick you can strengthen those that are tired of losing weight and tired of throwing up and tired of being down and tired of being blind and tired of being frustrated and tired of eating the walk and tired of needing a cane and tired of hearing a lumping powder can of may on the side and tired of being paralyzed three times a week and tired and tired of taking needles and tired of Medicine they can't afford and tired of pain riveting their body and tired of being brokenhearted and tired of being made a fool of you can find every last one of them when you can strengthen them I pray that this service supernatural and it strengthens people all over the world that hear this word I pray for strength to come into Africa into Kenya and Ghana and Nigeria and Nairobi I pray for strength to come right now in the South Africa I prefer stress to come into India yes yes yes yes right now the name of peace into Italy in Japan and Asia and Australia North America and Canada and South America Colombia and Venezuela I lift him up before you right now in the name of Jesus I super strength it ain't just my fight I pray for I pray for the fight of the world the fight in the hospital room the fight in the nursing home the fight to get your food to stay to hell the fight to hold on to your hair the fight to hold on to your child the fight not to lose this baby I pray for every fighter every warrior in this country you won't be alright it's all about the stones in the name of Jesus I pray that new strength will get up under your feet I pray that new solidness will get up under you and hold you up in this present moment I pray that the time don't throw you down I pray that your feet stand firm til this is over til your hair grows back hallelujah til your healing comes t the transplant is over I pray that your strength last until the vomiting stops I pray that you'll sprint last to your picket gained weight again I pray that your strength last until love comes back into your life again I pray that your strength last until your family comes back together again I pray that your strength last until we are equally employed I pray that your strength for us till you're not afraid to live in your own neighborhood I pray that you'll strip laughs to the gangs ago until the killing is over till the drug dealers leave your neighborhood I pray that your strength lasts until you're not afraid of flashing blue lights I pray that your strength lies in the name of Jesus sing it one more time [Music] it's all about the storage how do you it's all about the students all about this time happy you've done it's all about the stone it's all about the Stars give us strength Wow pride you want it stand on it then let it pass by you give us strength [Music] give a shrimp where we say give us strength Wow [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] hold on hold on Oh [Music] [Applause] [Music]

Channel: T.D. Jakes

Views: 511,884

Rating: 4.819171 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, td jakes sunday, td jakes 2020, td jakes sermons 2020, it's all about the stones, black lives matter, civil rights, george floyd, blm, breonna taylor, take a stand, stand up for what you believe in

Id: KFRMFuZHMxA

Length: 80min 44sec (4844 seconds)

Published: Sun Jun 14 2020