Naked and Not Ashamed - Bishop T.D. Jakes

[Music] the 2022 international leadership summit have a master builder learn from leading theological minds whatever god put in your spirit you got to build it i'm looking at leaders thinkers creators and builders so get your hard hat get your toolbox you got some building to do ready to build visit this is ils.org to register now turn with me while you're standing to the book of ezra chapter 3 verse 9 through 13. yes somebody hollered when i said ezra yeah you've been reading this for that's a witness chapter 3 verse 9 through 13. we're going to go into the word of the lord then stood yeshua with his sons and his brethren kedmile and his sons the sons of judah together to set forward the workmen in the house of god the sons of ginad with their sons and their brethren the levites and when the builders laid the foundation of the temple not the temple the foundation of the temple of the lord they set the priest in their peril with trumpets and the levites the sons of asap with symbols to praise the lord after the ordinance of david king of israel and they sang together by course in praising and giving thanks unto the lord because he is good for his mercy endureth forever toward israel and all the people what shouted all of them not some of them not a few of them not just the voices or they all shouted with a great shout when they praised the lord because the foundation of the house of the lord was laid just the foundation just a foundation but many of the priests and levites in chief of the fathers who were ancient men old folks that had seen the first house when the foundation of this house was laid before their eyes wept with the loud voice and many shouted aloud for joy so there is some difference in reaction to this moment so that the people could not discern the noise of a shout of joy from the noise of the weeping of the people [Applause] for the people shouted with a loud shout out and the noise was heard afar off can you say man remain standing over the next few moments i want to talk to you from the subject naked and not ashamed [Applause] naked and not ashamed now spirit of the living god fall afresh on us today endow us with the power that enables us to quicken the words that they might live through us i thank you for what you're about to do in the midst of your people and please lord let me be a conduit that i can tell them effectively what you told me like you told me and if you do that then all of your will will be accomplished in the house i give you praise in advance for what you're about to do have your way o god in jesus name amen you may be seated in the presence of lord [Music] [Applause] look at somebody say daddy's home [Applause] i had the uh experience of talking to a young man who had succeeded his father as leader of church now the father had built and owned the church from years ago perhaps back in the 40s and 50s back at a time that most shouting folks didn't really have a church church if they had a building but it might not have really been a church they had a church sweated their brow they had built a church and his father had served as pastor of the church and he passed away and the son succeeded him in leadership and fell on the hard times and struggles and got behind and lost the church and he called me in great distress because to lose the church was almost like losing the legacy of his father and his grandmother who had cooked and served and raised money to get the church all of it is gone with the building and getting back a building wasn't the same as that building because that building had history it had meaning it had a story it had a narrative and he was ashamed and and hurt and all of us all of us so most of us most of us let me not generalize and say all of us but most of us have gone through something that we lost they caused us shame [Music] have you ever lost something that kept you up at night a job or a car or a relationship or a person and you and you wondered is it my inadequacies that has caused me to have this loss because if if we outwardly we blame the person or persons or the job or the church or the company but inwardly we have to listen at that nagging accusing voice that attacks us that says maybe maybe i was not enough that that kind of takes you to a place emotionally and mentally and spiritually that can be agonizing that can cause you to smile outwardly but weep inwardly until your emotions are arguing with each other you're grinning and entertaining people and acting like you're okay but you're really not okay you're in trouble the text that we're talking about today is in the book of ezra now i'm going to take you to school for a minute you must realize that ezra and nehemiah were written on one scroll they were divided into two books but originally they were one scroll both nehemiah and ezra write about a time of restoration after babylonian captivity when they begin the arduous task of reclaiming what they had lost you remember babylonian captivity when babylon besieged israel and rendered it helpless and brought it to its knees and pilfered everything and destroyed everything and left them and and left them in such a state of being that there was burnings and murders and killings and atrocities and babies wounded stabbed and women raped and men castrated blood running down their legs and chains around their ankles they left they left jerusalem jerusalem is more than their country it is their heritage it is that which father abraham has gotten from god there is history and ancestry that i didn't really understand reading my bible until i went to israel and particularly to to jerusalem that when you look at jerusalem it is really not that big it's just that deep the deeper you dig back the further you go in the bible so that you begin to recognize at the same place where abraham offered up isaac is in the same area where christ was to be crucified so we're not looking at different locations we're just looking deeper down through time at the same location layers and layers of history on top of each other has created an attitude toward jerusalem that goes beyond losing a house or losing a car it's losing ancestory and history and dignity and identity so even bruised and beaten and battered even castrated and raped they left jerusalem and they wept when they remembered zion and they said if i forget jerusalem let my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth they may take me away from my homeland but they can't take my homeland away from me i will always remember the smell of baking bread early in the morning walking down the cobblestone streets of jerusalem i will always hear the artisans as they begin to raise the hammers and begin to beat against the steel and sharpen and make tools oh jerusalem there is no place like jerusalem to this day there is no place like jerusalem and but they were taken captive and and they were taken captive and hostage and many of the jews not all were exiled into babylonian captivity and they remained in babylon for about 70 years until the persians came along and when the persians came along up under cyrus ii he released them from captivity now they are free he says when the lord turned again our captivity we would like them to dream then was our mouth filled with laughter and our hearts with singing they that sow in tears shall reap in joy he that goeth forth and weep with them bearing precious seed shall doubtless come again with rejoicing bringing his sheaves with him in other words we're back [Applause] the comeback kid have you ever had to tell the devil i'm bad you thought you had me i was in the hospital i was down i was out i was sick i was broke i was lost i'm back anybody that comes made a comeback the jubilation the excitement the enthusiasm the anticipation of being back somebody how i'm back [Applause] [Music] [Applause] this text ensnares a moment in history of them coming back and you know when you've been away a long time a lot of things can happen other people had come in and taken over the territory and besieged the land and much of what they had remembered had been destroyed the walls around jerusalem now lay and ruin that's why the book of nehemiah is written because nehemiah is given the task of building back the walls because when they got back it wasn't like it was it wasn't it just it just wasn't it wasn't and you had to be an old man to remember what it used to be the city had been badly burned and the temple laid bare and it ruined solomon's temple solomon's temple you mean solomon's temple that was made out of the cedars of lebanon that david collected and gave to his son to build god a house you mean solomon's temple with all of the artisans and the masons coming together with great skill to build such an awesome temple that when the queen of sheba beheld solomon's order there was no breath left in her and now it lays in ruined strips of its glory and stripped of its honor and stripped of its gold and stripped of its silver it has been totally desecrated it's down to nothing and the city itself is half gone the walls are broken down anytime your walls are broken down you're in danger because walls give you dimension and territory and barriers and you need everything needs walls i'm gonna say that again because i think it went over your head everything needs walls territories it's protection if you don't have walls anything can happen anything can climb over jerusalem has lost its walls [Music] and nehemiah is preoccupied with building back the walls and esther talks more about building back the temple because this is more than a building it was sacred it was historical the things that they that they took were irreplaceable [Music] it's heartbreaking it reminds me of maybe maybe you lost a loved one and and you had them cremated and you put their ashes in an urn and maybe a cleaning lady comes in and knocks the urn over and damage it's a urn and and the ashes go all over the floor and she vacuums up the ashes and says i can replace cern yes you can replace the urn [Applause] but you cannot replace the ashes filling a more expensive vest with sand will not take away the agony of what i lost because that was my father in the face [Music] that was david's faith in the temple that was his legacy of the temple that was solomon's achievement in the temple that was the place where the glory fell until the priest lay prostrate in the floor and a cloud of glory set on the place so strong that solomon asked god what do i do if you shut up the heavens and there are no more reigns what do i do and that's when god said if my people who are called by my name shall humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked way then will i forgive their sins and healed their land they were discussing the glory of the temple because shekinah glory had set down upon man's talent and man's ability and the coupling of glory and man's ability to build and orchestrate a majestic place and created a spectacular amazing depiction of the glory of god and the all men remembered that glory they must have been babies when they were drug away they spent 70 years in captivity and now there are old men and they will long to see what they have seen before and when they get back to the land it doesn't look like how they remembered it the walls have been torn down the city is naked it is vulnerable it is uncovered it is unclothed it is not protected there are no guardrails there are no barriers there are no fences anything that has no fences will let anything go on you need walls in your life you need walls around your emotions you need walls around your marriage you need walls around your property you need walls around your brand you need walls around your business anytime you cannot describe what you are then you can be anything walls give you identity and they came back to a city that was stripped naked [Music] the walls were torn down and the stones were burned and little was left erected and as for the temple it was almost completely destroyed but they were free free of the babylonian rule and free of the babylonian food and free of the babylonian song and free of the babylonian departure and free from their connections with their oppressors at least they were free so when they got back home and they dug the foundations of the temple not the temple they just laid the foundations were laid to reveal the second temple out of what was left and they were hampered by limited resources they couldn't finish it and the foundation showed little signs of ever becoming what had once been the foundation depicted a much smaller version nothing like solomon's temple the foundation was enough to tell you that this will not repeat the glory i remembered and without walls and without barriers and without stability and with nothing but the foundation everything that they held dear was naked and they came back home and here they are and they call for the singers and the levites and they call for the harps and the violins and the trumpets and the flutes and they started praising god in a naked place stripped of its golden strip of islam and labor and stripped of its courts and stripped of his power and its authority and its walls and still they danced still they praised god still they glorified god still they glorified him and lifted them up in spite of what had been stripped away from them [Applause] it was the death of what the old men remembered it was the end of what was normal sometimes when god restores your life you have to be willing to give up what you remembered and you have to be willing to change what you call normal [Music] are you in love with what you imagined or are you in love with god are you in love with normalcy some of us need normalcy we need everything to stay just like it is don't move my couch don't move my chair don't turn anything around don't paint the room another color i need it to stay just like it is and yet you serve a moving god a breathing god a changing god a scaring god and you want to walk with god but you don't want to walk with change how can you walk with god and not walk with shame because god is doing something new every day every hour every second every moment and you're trying to make it make it like it was no it will not be like it was it was the death of what they remembered no wonder the old man wept because to see this pitiful little foundation doug was to say what i remembered is gone never to return it is to say that my normal has been taken away from me like a baby screaming for a bottle they cried out for what was and some of us are crying out in our spirit for what was we're staying up at night crying about people who are gone jobs that are lost situations that no longer exist and we are tormented in spite of what we have we are tormented because we have seen the depth of what we remembered and the end of what we had in mind and we are not sure what is normal anymore it represented the trial of their faith to worship god with less than what had been this is a real test of our faith the challenge was to see the greatness of god without the splendor of man-made artifacts can you have less and still serve god oh i'm talking to somebody i'm talking to somebody can you downsize and still have a great praise can you do it by yourself and praise god raising the children by yourself and praise god have to do it on your own and praise god make less money but have more peace you only go talk to me i want to talk i want to talk to somebody the old men had seen god through an abundance that had been stripped away and they were so busy crying over what was gone that they found it difficult to shout over what was left [Music] [Applause] are you so busy crying over what was lost [Applause] you don't thank god for what is left [Applause] are you living in a fantasy of a memory that has dissipated in front of your face and is not that the thief that has stolen your joy you were waiting for somebody to break in the house come up through the basement crash in the windows kick open the door the thief that has stolen your joy is the memory of your expectation and your refusal to accept that god can be present with less i don't know who i'm talking to but i'm talking to somebody this morning that it can still be god and downsize that it can still be god and be smaller that it can still be god and not have the cedars of lebanon that it can still be gone [Applause] [Music] there may be maybe we don't have to have everything we had in mind [Applause] to serve it maybe everything doesn't have to be perfect to praise him [Music] can i praise god in an imperfect marriage oh yeah go talk to him can i praise god with an imperfect child can i praise god with an imperfect situation can i praise god with an imperfect position can i praise god with things have done incomplete foundation dove no walls can i praise him naked [Applause] strip to my stuff straight to my name stripped of this and stripped of that and still dance in the presence of god because i may have lost my walls and i may have lost my labor and i may have lost the silver and i may have lost the goal but i have not lost my god to god be the glory strip down to nothing but joy how can you still praise him [Applause] soon or later at some time or another your faith will face the test of a naked praise [Applause] stripped of your this and stripped of your bed and stripped of your friends and stripped of what you had in mind and stripped of what money you thought you would make and stripped of all of the things from which you draw pride and ego and understanding of yourself can you still praise god [Applause] you see hell is betting against you that if god moved the hedge from around you then all your praise will stop that if god uncovers you then all your praise will stop hell is betting against you satan is having a board meeting in heaven and say yeah i guess she does praise you everything's going all right but if you strip her down i'll make a question [Applause] the the book of job the oldest book of the bible satan says does job serve god for not i guess he does serve you [Music] he's closed with fine array his name is respected in the gates his children are well trained and well-mannered his crops are harvesting on time i guess he does praise you with all that stuff but if you strip him [Music] if you're him from the things that give him pride and self-esteem he'll crush you to your face because satan doesn't believe that you can praise him naked [Applause] satan doesn't believe that you are praising the healer he thinks you are just praising the healing satan doesn't believe that you are praising the provider he just thinks you are praising the provision and at some point in your life you have to be stripped down of all of that stuff and pass the test that you can stand on a foundation and still praise god with nothing but a foundation i don't have no walls i don't have no courts i don't have no gates all i got is my prayer i need 30 seconds of radical praise to break loose in this house [Applause] yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah praise him on the internet praise him on the stream praise him on facebook praise him on youtube praise him on the back road praise him with an empty checking account praise him with no investments praise him with no 401k praise him with no husband praise him with no job praise him with no friends praise him lonely praise him frustrated praise him tired praise him on a walker praise him in a wheelchair praise him with a bad back praise it with a bad name praise him with one hand praise him with a sick child praise him with a broken hope let everything that have breath i can't hear you [Applause] so listen to me a minute so they stripped job of all of his stuff his cattle and his crops his name and his reputation his children were burned alive and his wife told him why don't you curse god and die [Applause] and you ain't got nothing left you're stripped of everything you used to be respected you used to be somebody i'm talking to somebody that's been through some losses i want to talk to you we normally talk to people at increase i want to talk to somebody who's been through some decreases and you need to understand don't panic baby it's just the test and joe tells them he made me naked [Applause] he found me in my mother's womb naked naked came out into the world and naked shall i return [Applause] the rich man dies just like the poor man they both go home naked they both came here naked and the only difference between the two are the toys they collect in the meantime naked came out into this world and i don't care how they deck you out for the funeral naked shall you return your clothes will be laying in the casket when your body is gone because god brought you here naked and god will take your home naked and all of your worried about stuff all of your weeping about things and people and flaky relationships stinks in the nostrils of god cause you didn't come here with that friend you didn't come here with that husband you didn't come here with that job you didn't come here with that wife i brought you here naked and i'm gonna take you back naked y'all don't hear what i'm saying to you [Applause] and the scene of the text has always flabbergasted me it's blown my mind the complexities of the text the amalgamation of so many different reactions to the same thing it is amazing to me how many people can see the same thing and have a completely different reaction that one group of people can see it and it makes them dance and the other people can see the same thing and it makes them weak if the thing is the same then the difference in reaction must be based on perception how do you perceive what you see determines how you react oh y'all don't want to talk to me and if if perception is controlling my reaction rather than to try to change my reaction somebody's got to fix my perception because if you fix my perception then my reaction will automatically change but the bible says that the weeping got together with the shouting until you could not tell one from another we are in weeping times and yet we are in times god stripped us till it didn't matter whether you were famous or not it didn't matter how many degrees you had or not it didn't matter how big your house was it didn't matter what you drove god stripped us down with this virus he brought us all the way down to our knees till it didn't make no difference whether you were sleeping in a one-room shanty or a 12-bedroom mansion all of us were trying to be careful because he stripped us of all the things that we thought mattered and brought us down to a place of vulnerability for to be naked is to be vulnerable to be negative to be exposed to be mechanisms to be brought to a place of basement and with the whole world from hong kong to korea from indonesia to africa from australia to alabama he stripped down the walls they tried to put barriers and say you can't come in our country but it came in anyway you can't come in this country but it comes in anyway we can't seem to put up a wall that control it because the walls are torn down when it comes to god and the whole world is butt naked the whole world is naked [Music] and then we start fighting about perceptions i'm an anti-baxter i'm a vaccine taker i don't believe in the bacteria i don't believe in the backseat it's got many embryos in it it's got cow's milk in it it's got goat meat and it got big feet in it we started arguing back and forth because perception determines reaction and when we can't change reality we start arguing about perception oh it's not just about the virus it's about your marriage too it's about perception your wife perceives it one way you perceive it another way and when you can't change reality the only thing left to argue about is perception oh i ain't gonna stop till i hit it bro the old man wept and when they wept god responded the silver and the gold are mine if i wanted it to have more silver and gold i'm god i got it [Music] [Applause] god wants him to understand that what god possesses is not indicative of who he is i'ma say it again what god possesses is not indicative of who he is god knows who he is and when you know who you are whether you're in a swimming trunks or a three-piece suit when you know who you are you are who you are do we worship the healing or the healer do we worship the blessing or the blesser you can't be sure till you're stripped [Applause] and you got nothing left but god and god alone if you can praise him then now i know now i know let us talk a moment about the notion of nakedness the young man shouted in a temple that was stripped everything had been taken away they had been born in captivity but it was enough to be free they weren't worried about buildings they rejoiced in the liberty of being free they were home in their own land again welcome to worship their own god freely again with only the foundation doug and no money to complete even the modest replica of what they had still they had a praise i wish i wish i could get us to have a still praise [Music] sometimes when you're under attack your praise becomes a weapon [Applause] and you start to find the enemy by saying i still got my praise i lost my job but i got my praise i lost my car but i got my praise i lost my friends but i got my pray and sometimes you got to get right up in the devil's face and go to dancing whether you feel like dancing or not to let him know that you took a lot of stuff but you ain't took everything i still got my shout out and all the people shouted there is power in your shout there is deliverance in your shout there is healing in your shout there is warfare in your shout yolks are broken in your shout your heart is restored in your shout your mind is renewed in your shout your perspective is changed in your shout and all the people shouted [Applause] oh that is good all of that is real good and god gets blessed anytime you shout but there is a special blessing when you're shouting in the midst of adversity when you're shouting in the middle of uncertainty when the foundation is dug and you don't know how you're gonna finish what you started but to shout anyway when you don't know what tomorrow's gonna bring but you shout anyway when you're standing on the verge but you don't know yet but you shout anyway it is a sacrifice of praise somebody open your mouth and shout [Applause] yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah what is that i hear what is that i hear what is that i hear i hear change breaking i hear change falling i feel yokes breaking i feel barriers coming down i dare you to open your mouth and shout with your cute self with your dressed up self with your conservative self i dare you to shout like if i don't have nothing but god god is enough to deserve my praise [Applause] yeah yeah yeah i feel something happening in the spirit world some shifting in the spirit some shifted in your perspective some shifting in your heart and in your mind something that's happening in your spirit and in your body when you shout over an unfinished foundation you let hell no it ain't about the stuff baby it ain't about the stuff it ain't about the cedars of lebanon it's not about the walls and the fortress if i got god i gotta praise somebody open your mouth and sh out of the guard [Applause] sit with me let me go a little bit further let me go just a little bit further i want to go a little bit further i feel something happening in the room i feel somebody being renewed in the room i feel somebody being changed in the room i feel somebody being restored in the room i feel the glory of the lord about to break loose in the room i feel somebody's mind being renewed in the room you ain't got no reason to be walking around with your head down the silver and the gold belong to god you need to open your mouth and praise god anyway praise him on a bad knee praise him with her bad back praise him with a bad check praise him in a leaky roof praise him with a cold house open your mouth and praise him anyway and let the devil know that i'm naked but i'm not now to be honest [Applause] to be honest i i did not create the title myself it is extracted out of the word of god because god created us naked he created adam from the dust of the earth and adam was born unclothed and the bible goes out of its way to call him naked and not ashamed naked and not ashamed he clothed the birds with feathers he clothed the fish with scales he clothed the lion with fire but adam and eve he created them naked and not ashamed so that they could walk in his presence naked and not ashamed because your god is naked and not ashamed your god is a spirit and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth oh you think i'm just talking about clothes oh no i'm talking about the things you hide behind that you don't come before him with your real self with your honest self with your true self with your confused self with your troubled self that you put on this image and you camouflage i'm talking about camouflage how you dress yourself up so that you can fit in with people until god doesn't even recognize you adam where are thou [Music] i didn't create you like you're looking [Applause] i didn't create you like you have become i want a relationship with you not your representative no no no no i don't want a relationship with your degree [Applause] no no no i i don't want a relationship with your 401k plan [Music] i don't want a relationship with your gender [Applause] i want a relationship with you strip down of all your recruitments if you want to talk to me you got to come just as you are you remember when when moses uh said who shall i say sent me and god said i am that i am i am that i am what you see is what you get i am that i am there's no shadow of turning no changing in me i'm keeping it 100. they're just telling i'm keeping it 100 just telling i am that i am don't try to put me in no box don't try to explain me don't try to define me i am god and beside me there is no other i am that i am and i come just like i am and so that i am that i am came walking down through the cool of the garden looking for the i am that i am you didn't get it wherever choir i need to find somebody to preach that i am that i am comes walking through the garden looking for the i am that i am because he had created adam in his likeness and in his image and he did not create adam to hide behind stuff and the naked power of god came walking through the garden looking for what he had created and what he had created was naked and not ashamed but what he found was in camouflage and i'm wondering this morning if you're missing the blessing that god has for you because of your camouflage now let's talk about camouflage for a minute camouflage originally was a term that was referred to organisms living organisms like animals using camouflage their chameleons say change colors as a way of protecting themselves against their adversaries they camouflage themselves so if they lean up against a tree they look like bark and so it is to cause the predator to pass by them because of camouflage later the troops and soldiers started wearing camouflage so that they could bend blend into their environment and not be detected and be able to do warfare because they were camouflaged camouflage started out being born out of fear in organisms to give me a safety to hide behind [Music] and when god came looking for adam adam was wearing camouflage watch this closely the bible says that he made aprons out of fig leaves and that when he made aprons out of fig leaves in genesis 3 7 and 8 he made aprons out of fig leaves and hid amongst the trees [Music] [Music] it wasn't just that he made aprons out of fig leaves and these were taken from fig trees he was trying to blend in with the trees so that when god came looking for him he would not look like himself he would be one with them rather than one with god so god says adam why now in other words what are you doing hanging out with them trees [Applause] i didn't create you to be dressed like a tree [Applause] you don't have to put on leaves to please me [Applause] [Music] and adam says i heard they heard the voice of the lord walking in the garden in the cool of the days and had him and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the lord amongst the trees of the garden and i'm wondering i'm glad you came to church and i'm glad you logged online but it's not going to do you any good to be here if you hide yourself amongst the trees from the presence of the lord i'm going deeper can i go deeper can i go deeper can i go deeper let me go deeper let me go deeper deeper deeper deeper deeper deeper deeper deep deeper deeper deeper deeper camouflage originally hid adam from the presence of the lord i can't tell you how many sundays i see the glory fall on some and not others because others choose to hide themselves from the presence of the lord they tell themselves that's just my personality that's just how i am i'm not wired like that they tell them but the truth is you're hiding and when you put on something that ain't you god won't touch you because he knows that's not you oh you have to hear me i'm going to say it again when you put on something that's not you god won't touch you because that's [Music] not you it may be the you you put on for work because you're hiding amongst the trees it may be the you that you put on to fit in your community because you're hiding amongst the trees it may be the you you became after you went through your divorce but you're hiding amongst the trees and the reason you're not getting everything you ought to get out of church is because what you did to fit in with them made you hide from god and god is looking for you even if the you is wrong even if the you has partaken of the forbidden fruit god said i'm still looking for you even if you made a bad choice i'm still looking for you even if you're headed in the wrong direction i would rather have you wrong and naked than have you covered up with some pretense that you covered yourself up in to hide from me and the voice of the lord walked through the cool of the garden and said adam i'm looking for you i'm looking for you i'm looking for you with your broken self i'm looking for you with your whoremongering self i'm looking for you with your cheating self i'm looking for you with your depressed self i'm looking for you with your confused self i'll be looking for you with your frustrated self i want truth come before me with truth [Applause] come before me naked [Music] and i want to get rid of your shame [Music] [Applause] the bible said besides all things are naked before him with whom we have to do you think that fig leaves is stopping me from seeing you i got superman eyes i got x-ray vision i know you boy i know your thoughts are far off i know what's running through your mind i know what's running through your head whatever it is you're handling i know what's going through your mind come on stay with me i know what to say i know i'm on the verge of something because the enemy will always send a distraction when i'm on the verge of something and i'm gonna ride it till i break it i've been preaching too long to be distracted come on somebody god said i know you god said i know you and i'm waiting to see the real you on this altar i'm waiting to see the real you collapse in my presence i want you to come to the altar i know you made a bad choice i know you bit the apple i know you took the fruit i know you made a bad choice but i want you to come naked and not ashamed if it's going to be any covering i got you covered i got your provision i am your covering i am your defense i am your response but i'm tired of you hiding in your camouflage your camouflage really you're gonna come in my house and be important you you important in front of me are you educated you educated in front of me you smart [Music] who gave you your brain who gave you your money who gave you your fame who gave you your stuff who gave you your looks you so busy being pretty oh you came to my house to be cute you gonna be fine with me [Applause] i want you to come naked and uh i want you to come naked and not ashamed i want you to come to the foot of the cross on your face i want you to become your real self your worried self your stress self your broken self your bad itself come just like you are i don't care nothing about your silver i don't care nothing about your goal you can't impress me with your stuff i want you to connected and not ashamed and get in my presence and seek my face and call on my name that my glory can fall in your life and all the people shouted and all the people shouted you you see stand on your feet i want you to know i'm not advocating for nudity if you get that you've got the wrong message i'm not advocating for duty i'm advocating for transparency [Applause] if you're depressed bring it here [Applause] if you're grieving bring it here if you're worried bring it here if you're scared bring it here stop quoting all them scriptures hiding all that fear [Applause] i want you and i want you on the foundation of the faith not the walls not the covering i want you right down i brought you down to your foundation i let that trouble hit you in the face i let you discover you weren't all of that so you could lose some of your opinion and you would come before my presence naked and not ashamed the shame my friend felt over losing his father's church a shame there's not a person in here that doesn't have a shame something that you don't want me to know and i'm not asking you to tell me but god is yes god says i want to take your shame away you have been carrying that shame for years and god said i came looking for you and i don't want your leaves i don't want your trees you hanging around with the trees them trees are not you and people you running with they not you [Music] i know who you are i see you i see through your makeup i see through your eyes them great contacts you gotta see through them i see you i see you [Music] and i want you to shout out i don't just want you to come to church yes you come to church in your fig leaves i'm a deacon shut up [Applause] you are pouring at it shut up [Applause] don't you come to me and flash your cards at me [Applause] i want you to come naked [Applause] and not a shame and if you come as you i will come as me and we will meet and we will become the temple of the lord we will become see in the in the new testament the temple is not a building the temple is a people and that people is what god is calling for a people of praise and worship and transparency in his presence is what he's calling for and what is passing for church today it ain't a church dr james we don't have a church today that's why you leave early because you're not a church you're a crowd there's a difference between a crowd a church seeks its god a church comes on its face a church calls on the name of the lord a church comes with a thirst a church comes to the one place where you don't have to play games where you could be transparent and say here i am i'm marred in the hand of the part of her i'm hurt in the hand of the potter i'm grieving in the hand of the potter i'm upset in the hand of the potter but i'm honest yes [Applause] i'm honest i am naked and i'm not ashamed and i'm not going to let another sunday pass me by because of my victories [Music] now the devil is daring you to come to this altar hell is defying you to see god's face [Music] hell is trying to hold you back and say no no no don't give up your leaves don't give up your leaves don't shed your tears don't open your heart don't open your mouth don't see god no you in the balcony you came in late no no any excuse to hold you back [Music] from coming but if you feel that nudge of the holy spirit calling you to transparency if you feel like god's got his eyes on you if you feel like he's calling you if there's been a thirst in your belly if there's been a wailing in your soul if there's been a crying in your spirit if there's been a thirsting in your heart the only thing i ask is that when you come come naked the 2022 international leadership summit have a master builder learn from leading theological minds whatever god put in your spirit you got to build it i'm looking at leaders thinkers creators and builders so get your hard hat get your toolbox you got some buildings to do ready to build visit this is ils.org to register [Music] you

Channel: T.D. Jakes

Views: 505,455

Keywords: td jakes, faith, wtal, woman thou are loosed, megafest, potters house, bishop jakes, pastors and leadership, pastors, leaders, instinctbishops, village, Ezra 3:9-13 (KJV), Naked and Not Ashamed, Restored, Strength, Vulnerable, I am vulnerable but strong, having confidence in my faith

Id: WvU5P3lqSMM

Length: 72min 56sec (4376 seconds)

Published: Sun Dec 05 2021