Rites of Passage! - Bishop T.D. Jakes

let's get down to business get your bibles and let's go for it first samuel chapter 18 verse 1 through 12 i'm reading out of the niv and i want to go into this word i'm excited about this god's been talking to me i want to talk to you when you have it say amen after david had finished talking with saul jonathan became one in spirit with david and he loved him as himself from that day saul kept david with him and did not let him return home to his family and jonathan made a covenant with david because he loved him as himself jonathan took off the robe he was wearing and gave it to david along with his tunic and even his sword his bow and his belt whatever mission saul sent him on david was so successful that saul gave him a high rank in the army displeased all the troops and saul's officers as well when the men were returning home after david had killed the philistines the women came out from the town of israel to meet king saul with singing and dancing with joyful songs and with timbrels and liars as they dance they say saul has slain his thousands and david his tens of thousands saul was very angry this refrain displeased him greatly they have credited david with tens of thousands he thought but me only with thousands what more can he get but the kingdom and from that time on saul kept a close eye on david can you say man the next day an evil spirit from god came forcefully on saul he was prophesying in his house while david was playing the liar as he usually did saul had a spear in his hand and he hurled it saying to himself i'll pin david to the wall but david eluded him twice saul was afraid of david because the lord was with david but had departed from saul he was jealous he was jealous i want to go down i think it's about 18 and 2. go back to 18 and 2 for me for just a minute from that day so yeah i'm gonna go further than that from that day saul kept david with him and did not let him return to his home come on and jonathan made a covenant with david because he loved him as himself can you say amen i'm going to talk this morning from the subject the rights of passage the rights of passage or the rite of passage of right a ritual we're going to talk about that today you may be seated father god in the name of jesus bless not only the offerings that we sow the seeds that we've given the praises that have gone up before you the sanction your word today that it might be seed to the sower and bread to the eater and i thank you in advance for what you're going to do have your way great god that you are in jesus name amen amen amen amen amen amen well when pastor sarah left off sunday she brought us to the cusp of a new era specifically she ministered about the end of an era but what is an error let's define what an area uh error actually is a long and distinct period of history with a particular feature or characteristic like for instance his death marked the end of an era that kind of understanding puts you in the context of realizing that it's a system of chronology dating from a particular time period a noteworthy event like the dawn of the christian era something like that it might be an epic it might be a period an eon a generation a space or an age of time a time span is an error and she pronounced that we were at the end of an era when you begin to understand that that brings us to the cusp of what's next right to the verge of what's next and when we begin to think about what's next are you ready for it is your mind ready for it and how can you be ready for something when you don't exactly know completely what all is involved the ambiguity of the details of what's next it's what can be terrifying the uncertainty the ill and ease feeling of being excited and apprehensive at the same time the hardest thing at different periods in my life has been to explain how i felt at any given moment on the cusp of something good excited and other people often were more excited than i was because they had the benefit of being excited without being apprehensive but you can have something good in front of you and still wrestle with the uncertainty can i handle it what is it what all comes with that what all is involved with the next level what does it mean to progress how do i get there and what do i do when i'm there and even in the spot i don't know if anybody can relate to this or not but you can be in the spot of blessing and wonder am i enough am i enough to overthink yourself to to perform all day and then go home and lay in the bed and wonder am i enough can i handle it that is the kind of situation that riddles david's life at this particular moment i want you to understand that david is at a point in his life that he's about to step into something for which he has no necessary point of reference for he doesn't fully realize how to function in a palace he knows how to function in a forest he knows how to function in a field he knows how to function when the odds are against him but he doesn't necessarily know how to function in the field of his dreams in the area of his destiny david's life began its prophetic journey at around 15 years old we don't hear much about him before 15 years off when we start out with him we come to understand that samuel has anointed him to be a king and anointed him with oil from the crown of his head to the soles of his feet now you can't get anointed by the prophet i won't take time with you but samuel is the man in my opinion samuel is the greatest prophet of the old testament and he found david over across the tracks on the other side of town in a downtrodden neighborhood he found david and the oil found david's head in fact the oil wouldn't flow until david's head got up under it and then when david's head got up under the oil the oil began to flow everybody else samuel tried to anoint the oil wouldn't flow that lets me know that this the holy spirit is intelligent he knows exactly who you are he knows where you are and that you don't have to fight or play politics or play games to get ahead in this world chill god's got you covered what god has for you it's for you it won't work till they find you it won't go forward till they find you your head is the missing link to the next dimension of all that god is going to do and god anointed david with all and all ran down his head and down his garments and all over his body and he anointed him to be king but david had to go back out into the field now you got a guy with the king's anointing and a part-time job you got a guy with a king's potential and he's working at burger king no offense burger king don't sue me you got a guy who is destined for greatness and he's throwing garbage cans and david has to have the the elasticity of thought and the nimbleness of mind to be able to deal with with obscurity and and and and the paradoxical dilemma of he just said i was king but daddy said you better go out there and shovel that dung and take care of those sheep and put them back in the barn can you imagine him one way you know that be because he's not really sure who he is am i what i see in front of me am i what i what i see in front of me or am i what i'm standing in right now he's 15 years old and scholar suggested samuel anointed him to be king and yet in spite of that anointing nothing really changes in his life there will be seven more years of graduation of graduating conflicts in his life before he steps into his destiny and it's funny i was thinking when i was coming to church today that the bible in all of its details only gives us the moments where things happen it doesn't write about the moments of nothingness and until you learn how to function through ordinariness and nothingness and ambiguity and uncertainty and immobility until you can still believe that the favor of god rests on you even though you're doing things that that really don't even seem significant or important and hold on to your integrity that what god said is still true and it's coming to pass i got nothing to write today if the bible was a journal there's nothing to write today nothing happened today nothing moved today nobody got healed today and david is standing out there in that 15 years trying to grow into his destiny the the oil is ahead of his reality oh y'all don't hear what i'm saying and he's having to grow into who he really is i don't know who i'm talking to right now but somebody's having to grow into it and it's frustrating because you can see it and you can feel it and your head is still slick and yet you're out here shoveling dung and taking care of sheep and you don't smell good and god has put you in a period of absolute nothingness to grow you into what he has next for you and in that process of growing david has to accomplish certain things he has to overcome certain obstacles he has to deal with a period that i like to call uh the mundane until you can deal with ordinariness until you can deal with the mundane until you can deal with the things that happen that are not happening in your life and you can do the menial as if it were mighty if you can do the menial as if it were mighty if you can be significant and take seriously days of absolute nothing if you can dignify your now before you get to your next it makes an amazing difference on what god is able to do in your life you got to be mighty in the mundane i said you got to be mighty in the mundane i said you got to be mighty in the monday that's what makes great people great they're not just great when the light comes on they are mighty in the mundane they care about little things they're significant their significance is not tied to the clapping of people dare david is out there taking care of sheep and look at this he says what in the world do these sheep have to do with me being king and somebody right now is overthinking themselves you're saying i signed up for something greater than this and what i'm doing with my life seems to have nothing to do with where i'm going in my life what i'm doing in my life seems to have nothing to do with where i'm going in my life what i'm doing you know i put a i put a instagram clip up there uh yesterday with me playing the piano and everybody was shocked that i could play the piano and i grew up playing the piano and everybody from home would not be surprised to see me at the piano but people who know me now can't relate to me then and when i was sitting at the piano playing it seemed to have nothing to do with where i am now but god is watching you in the mundane god is watching you in the ordinary god is watching your integrity how do you deal with feeling overlooked how do you deal with feeling delayed how do you deal with days of uncertainty some of you will never get what god has for you because you refuse to do the mundane you are going to sit on that couch until something mighty happens but i refuse to lay on the couch and wait on something mighty to happen i'm going to start something if nobody sees it i'm going to fight if i don't even know what's going to happen i'm going to do what i'm going to do because the mundane is a part of the process and if you make it through the mundane god will bring you into step two he will bring you into the militant the militant is the stage where david begins to fight and he is fighting against a lion and a bear and he's fighting because he's not out there hunting for lions he's not out there hunting for bears he is fighting the lion and the bear because they have snatched up one of the sheep and god is developing in him the instinct to be a leader the instinct to be a protector the instinct to fight off obstacles see it wasn't as mundane as you thought it was those little private battles that you're having right now are taking you somewhere they're preparing you for something they're getting you ready for what god is about to do and you're like help me holy ghost i think i'm talking to somebody right now cause you're in a fight with the lion you're in a fight with the bear but god allows the lion and the bear to come to form the character of kings in you you've got the anointing you've got the talent you've got the degree but do you have the character you got to have the character do you have the tenacity can you can you get scratched and keep fighting can you have a laceration down your arm and still hold on to your vision david had to learn the elasticity to be able to fight off the lion without killing the lamb the bible says that david killed the lion while the lamb was still in his mouth oh you don't hear what i'm saying to you imagine that with me come on come on let's get our childhood imagination the lion has got the lamb in his mouth and david has to kill the lion without harming the lamb and god is grooming him for greatness you have to understand what i'm saying to you god is grooming him for greatness and i don't know who this is for but god said you would be on today and i think the enemy's fighting us while we're having a problem with youtube because the enemy doesn't want somebody to get this word but whoever is supposed to get this word god is getting you ready for something so much bigger than where you are right now he is preparing you for something so amazing he said despise not the day of small beginnings go ahead and knock off that lion go ahead and knock down that bear right where you are i know it doesn't look like it has nothing to do with the prophecy over your life but all of it is leading somewhere the steps of a good man are ordered by the lord and he delighteth in his way and everything is leading everything you have ever been through in your life none of it will be wasted everything you learned everything you experienced everything that went right and everything that went wrong it's all working together for your good the lion attacking the lamb is something going wrong but god will cause all things to work together for good to them that love the lord who are the called according to his prayer it was all preparing him for the moment step three he went from the mundane to the militant to the moment from the mundane to the militant to the moment from the mundane to the militant to the moment and he didn't even know that the moment was the moment because the moment does not announce itself he woke up that morning to carry lunch down to his brother elia there was no announcement saying this is going to be the day that changes your life you're going to meet this person and they are going to change the trajectory of your destiny he got up because he has learned to be faithful with mundane tasks he didn't get up and say i'm too good to be going down here to carry the lunch i'm too great to carry the lunch he brings the lunch down and almost seemingly by accident seemingly by happenstance but we know nothing just happens he steps into the moment somebody is on the precipice of the moment the moment one moment oh god one moment can change the rest of your life one moment can change the trajectory of your future one moment can change what happens to your children and your grandchildren and your great-grandchildren can all be defined by one moment somebody holler lord don't let me miss my moment don't let me oversleep and miss my moment don't let my frustration make me miss my moment don't let my pride make me miss my moment don't let my selfishness make me miss my moment don't let my lust make me miss my moment this is the moment unannounced and in disguise camouflaged in the mundane the moment erupts out of the monday and the holy spirit has set him up oh glory to god type that right quick this is the setup where we are right now is this set up what's going on in the world is a setup what's happening in our country is the setup what's happening on your job is it set up what's happening in your marriage is a setup it's gonna walk you into something that you wouldn't have gotten to had you not walked into it and watch this everything important that ever happened in davis life came with a fight oh god oh i'm gonna shout for my own preacher i said everything important that ever happened in david's life or your life or my life or your life or your life it always comes with a fight if it doesn't have a fight it's not worth taking if it doesn't have a fight it has no value if it doesn't have a fight it doesn't mean anything at all it came with the fight when he comes down to the battlefield you remember how elia said to him uh you come down here with your naughtiness your naughtiness and i never really understood why he thought somebody who was bringing him lunch was naughty or mischievous but i forgot that his brothers did not get the oil that even when david was doing the mundane he must have had a little way about him that got on people's mirrors a little finesse about him he must have had a little swag about him because he lied even though he lied was older and even though he lied was more noted and even though he lied was a soldier david little david got on his nerves because david had swag david was walking like what hadn't happened yet and anytime you walk like what hadn't happened yet it will always irritate people and they'll say things to you and you wonder why they said it he called david naughty and david's bringing him lunch have you ever been trying to help somebody and they were fighting you while you were trying to help them but none of that could cancel out my moment whoa no weapon formed against you shall be able to prosper every tongue that rises against you god said i will condemn and all of a sudden when he saw goliath because he had seen the lion and he had seen the bear he put goliath in context with fighting for the lamb only this time the lamb was the nation of israel this time the lion the lamb was the nation of israel and he had to be able to kill the adversarial force without harming his own people and now he realizes that everything in his life was a rehearsal for this moment god let me stop right here everything in your life was a dress rehearsal for what god is about to do next in your life everything everything everything everything i mean the divorce and everything i mean the loss of the job and everything i mean not having money to go back to school and everything all of it was a dress rehearsal for what god is getting ready to do in your life if you needed more help he'd have given you more help if you needed more money he'd have given you more money if you don't need it more free everything you lost you didn't need lord help me please write a list to everything you didn't everything you lost write a list of everything you lost write a list of everything you lost and write it off because it will not stop you from getting to what god has for you this was the moment and when we step into our text none of that is my text but i just thought i said because my text is really not about its journey my text is really about david being on the threshold because at this point in the text david has killed goliath he's killed the lion he's killed the bear he's now theologians to think that he's about 22 years of age god didn't let the giant come when he was 15. thank you for the giants you held back till i grew up [Laughter] thank you for not exposing me to a giant level of troubles when i have a 15 year old level of experience you let me grow up to earn the right to fight on the next level and when i come into my text it is precisely his ability to fight that has captured the attention of the king over all of the king's soldiers david has captured the attention of king saul saul says this boy is special and david is standing when i open up the text he is crossing the threshold and this is what the holy spirit said to me somebody that would be watching today is about to cross the threshold you're right on the verge the impetus of change you're right there a threshold a threshold is an amazing place it's it's a place of transition it's a place a passage it's a place of crossing over it's a place where you're leaving something behind it's a place where you're about to step into a dimension you've never been before it is the juncture where what god has designed collides with what man has developed all of this has come to a boiling point and david is standing at the threshold he's standing right there he's standing right there at the threshold and the bible says that david is standing there in the presence of saul and saul has brought him into the house but i want you to understand something david didn't stand in there by himself can i can i can i thread this up a little bit david isn't standing there by himself you can't see her but naomi is standing there naomi his great great grandmother is standing there the one who left moab and and went back home to bethlehem naomi is standing there and ruth is standing there ruth is standing there his great great grandmother is standing there and obed is standing there and jesse is standing there all of them are standing there see everybody who came before you helped to make you be who you are their choices and their decisions created you in the first place and when you cross over everything behind you crosses over with you everybody who ever helped you ever prayed for you ever pushed you out to school ever helped you with homework ever trained you everybody's about to cross over with you and david is standing there and the reason i bring up naomi and boaz and ruth and obed and jesse is because david is not of the house of benjamin he is not from the tribe of benjamin and if you're a bible scholar you understand that the kings were to come from the tribe of benjamin david comes from the tribe of judah that means he wasn't even in line y'all didn't hear what i'm saying he wasn't even eligible he wasn't even supposed to be next it was supposed to be benjamin son of my strength song was from the tribe of benjamin it was supposed to be saul and his children and his children's children it would have went from saul probably to jonathan and on down the line like that and here comes this outsider from the wrong side of town on the wrong side of the tracks who does not have the background who doesn't look like he's in line for the promotion but this is the moment where everything switches oh my god my god my god my god my god this is the moment where everything switches and if david doesn't cross his threshold jesus can't come because jesus is at the tribe of judah and the only reason jesus has a right to be king is because david's threshold causes the transition that puts jesus in the succession to be king that's why they called him the son of david because when when when david crossed over jesus is crossing over he's stepping into the lineage to take over as king of israel you know hell didn't want that you know demons were trembling about that you know satan was upset about that do you have any idea how when you come into a struggle an unprecedented struggle of huge fight a goliath of a fight is because more is at stake than just you there's something coming down the line that's so important it's not just that he's trying to stop you he's trying to stop everything that's coming after you now i know all of us won't be kings but all of us will be something and those decisions and choices have a lot to do with how your story ends and god will promote you even if you're not from the right tribe even if you weren't born in the right family even if you didn't come up on the right side of the tracks let me say the way victor he goes hugo says it he says it like this i love it he says nothing else in the world not all the armies in the world is as powerful as an idea whose time has come not all the armies in the world are as powerful as an idea whose time has come nothing in this world no armies no military is as powerful as an idea whose time has come typed typing on the line it's my time oh y'all sitting like you're scared say it like you mean it it's my time it's my time it's my time it took me a whole lot of stuff to get to where i am but it's my time there is nothing that's powerful not a witch not a hex not a spell not a curse not a disease not an affliction not an attack not a divorce not a crisis not a settlement not a dispute nothing as powerful as an idea whose time has come and i'm standing right at the threshold right at the threshold right at the threshold of a brand new beginning i can feel it in my spirit there's something about being at a threshold when you're at a threshold your spirit knows it your belly knows it you know it when you're trying to lay down sometimes you can't sleep because your spirit knows something that your mind can't figure out you know you're at the threshold i wish i had a witness in here i'd settle for three good witnesses in here that know what it's like to be on the threshold [Applause] [Music] when david stepped through that door dobbins when he stepped through that door saw shut the door and the bible says in verse 2 and from that day forward saul kept david with him and did not let him return home to his family this is this is the point of no return a door just shut a door just shut a door just shut in this nation oh y'all didn't hear what i said a door just shut in this nation a door just shut around the world there will be no more business as usual something has shifted and everybody's trying to adjust to it and we keep trying to go back to normal but god just shut the door on normal we'll get up and running but it won't ever be like what it was before because the door just shut in your life whoever i'm preaching to god just shut the door you cannot go back saul would not allow him to go back to his family the crazy thing curtis is he got into the fight for his family and now god just shut the door and he can't go back if you're in your house and i want you to go over as quick as you can and just shut the door and come back to the screen just shut the door just shut it off just shut the door any door the bathroom door the kitchen door the door to the cabinet the door to the refrigerator door just shut it off just shut the door just shut the door just shut it off go shut the door go shut the door go shut the door go shut the door go shut the door go shut the door this is a season where god is shutting doors he's shutting doors you can't go back you can't go back you can't go back you can't go back you can't go back god just shut the door he shut the door you're scared but he shut the door you're nervous but he shut the door you're uncomfortable but he shut the door you don't know the protocol but he shut the door holy ghost said i'm shutting down i'm shutting the door on who you used to be and shutting the door how you used to be god just shut a door he just shut the door ain't no need to crying the door is shut no needing worrying the door is shut the spirit of the living god just shut the door you have stepped into a new dimension you have stepped into a new zone you have stepped into a new arena you have stepped into a new era the former era sarah was right that error has ended it is the end of an era when the door shuts it's over no need to crying about it no need to fussing about it no need them bringing it up anymore not even getting angry about it god just shut the door you'll never be who you used to be again tell the sheep you won't see me again tell the goats you won't see me anymore tell the farmer i won't be back tell the barn you'll operate without me i am coming into another dimension and david has all the bittersweet feelings of letting go of his past the opportunity in front of him is so big that he has to be willing to go through the door and god has prepared a table before him in the presence of his enemies but it is a table for one it is a table for one when i travel across the country sometimes i go into the restaurants and everybody's in there meeting with people and i just came down to get out of my room to get something to eat and most people have a table for two please a table for four table for three a table for two and one more will be joining us and then they'll come to me with the menu in your hand and they say how many and i say a table for one god said where he's getting ready to sit you you won't have any company [Music] whenever i say a table for one they say do you want a newspaper to read here's the washington post would you like to have something to read why you read because they know how difficult it is to sit at a table for one david has crossed through alone he can't bring anybody else with him not physically he is sitting at a table for one and god has prepared the table in the presence of his enemies but you don't get to have any company you don't get to have any company you have to be there by yourself the reason he fought the john in the first place was was to bless his family if you will remember that the bible said that whoever killed the giant their family didn't have to pay taxes anymore he therefore has blessed the people that he can no longer be a part of i'm talking about the loneliness of progress can i talk about it just a minute my friend bishop joseph walker just wrote a compelling book on loneliness and leadership whether you're leading a bank leading a company leading a church or just leading a family or leading yourself there are times of compelling loneliness leadership and loneliness and david is standing at a moment of great leadership but you can't have great leadership without great loneliness oh it got quiet in here y'all were with me real good but you got quiet you were with me on the leadership but you lost me on the loneliness i told you it is a table for one and you have to be willing to sit there alone and you have to be willing to encourage yourself you have to understand that the cost of going forward is the inability of going back the cost of going forward is the inability of going back it means that means that means you don't get invited to the things you get used to get invited to that means sometimes the people who used to like you stop liking you sometimes the circles who used to embrace you don't embrace you and there you are in this dilemma because you can't go back to your family and you can't relate to your future y'all didn't get that that was so good i'm gonna write that down myself you can't go back to your family who you're related to but you can't relate to your future and all of a sudden god has put you in another man's castle in another man's house with another man's family and you're not relate you can't relate to them but everything that you can relate to is counterproductive to your destiny this is where most people lose it because our need for acceptance often drives us backwards to the redundancy of yesterday because we lack the ability to embrace something that we're not related to i tell you the cause of going forward is the inability of going back there are certain things that once you do them you can never undo them it's like literacy once you are literate you can never be i mean you you just can't help it there's there's no way you can be literate and then decide i don't like this i'm gonna go back to being illiterate once you know you can never undo it once you lose your virginity you know i'm not even going to explain that once once you stop being single and getting married and they don't have a slot for it you can't say you're single because you've been married and now if you're if you cease to be married you can't go back to being single you have to check divorced there are certain things there are certain passages that once you cross them it redefines you it sets you in a different category it sets you apart it puts you into a zone for which there is no escape who am i talking to i need to know who i'm talking to if you feel like this message is talking directly to you send me a sign wave blink clap make some noise holla flash your eyes wiggle your toe cough do something you can't go back [Music] you're separated from everything you're related to and you're connected to everything you're confused about it's not enough that he had to say goodbye to his job and goodbye to the sheep and goodbye to his family and goodbye to his past he had to say goodbye to how he understood himself oh are you willing to say goodbye to how you understand yourself because he had never understood himself to be a king he had understood himself to be a kid he had understood himself to be a part of a family and a system and a community of which the king knew nothing about and now he's in a palace he's not dressed right he doesn't talk right he doesn't know the protocol he doesn't know what to do he his gift has brought him into a place where his experiences have not fully prepared him for the culture of the environment that's when he meets jonathan and here the shepherd boy bad shepherd boy strong shepherd boy fighting shepherd boy comes face to face with the prince of israel and the prince is decorated as a prince he's got the full garments of the prince he's got his cape on he's got his robe on he's got his sword at his side and his belt on and he stands in front of david and they are staring at each other and when david looks at the prince the prince looks like he fits and when the prince looks at david david looks like he doesn't and the strangest things happen here the prince he just met the descendant of the king the heir to the throne [Laughter] the one who's in line for the promotion the one who is wearing something that has been tailored for him there were no malls and he looks at david and the strange love this strange love comes upon him i say it's a strange love because he has not known david it's an instinctive love it's an overwhelming love and all of a sudden jonathan takes off his robe your robe prince your robe that defines you as royalty your robe that identifies you in the court as the king's kid you're going to take off your robe you're going to take off your robe and give it to me this this this is where he begins to strip himself this is the rites of passage he takes off his robe and he gives it to david who is dressed like a peasant and then he takes off his office garments his tunic he lets david see who he really is underneath everything you cannot cut covenant with somebody who's not willing to show you who they are up under all the tapestry god ah if you're not willing to show me who you really are we can't go any further this is the right to passage and if your pride is more important than my position we got to stop right here because i got to see who you are and the prince takes off his tunic and he takes off his belt the thing that holds everything together and he gives it to david [Music] and his bow means if you ever get shot it won't be me and his sword i'm defenseless against you you've seen all my secrets you know who i am and this is the rights of passage and what is amazing about this text what's crazy about this text what's weird about this tax what's incredible about this tax is that it fit they made it for jonathan but it fit david and as we're standing in this transitional point before the stripping is over the prince looks like the pulper and the pumper looks like the prince and this rite of passage is a type of the cross because jesus stripped himself yes he stripped himself he stripped himself all i was naked jesus stripped himself that i might be clothed and he that was rich became poor that through his poverty he who was poor might be made rich he who was healed took my sickness that as he took my sickness i could wrap up in his healing he who was holy took my sins that i might be dressed in his holiness and that he might die for my sins it is the right a passage the turning point the crossover the flip the role reversal the change and all of us the stripping has come in the bible whenever a priest would strip he would give it to his heir a parent like eliezer took aaron's garments and put them upon his son it means you're next and the only reason i'm preaching this today is to tell you i i i know i know i know i know i know you you don't have the clothes for it you don't have the protocol for it you don't know when to bow and when to stand up i know you don't know which fort to use i know you're in a new place i know you don't know how to handle the servants and you're never used to being in a position like this but god has exposed you to it that you might become it god that move god has god has exposed you to it that you might become what is in front of you not not what's behind you he's not after what's behind you he wants you to become what is in front of you that's why we shut the door so we would stop being influenced by what is behind us so that we could start being influenced by what is in front of us that's why he shut the door and said you can't go visit them you can't hang out with them you can't run with them you cannot go back this is it gotta go everything in front of you is where god is about to take you and when he went through this rite of passage all of a sudden have you ever put on better and you didn't even know that you wanted it liked it needed it or could fit it until you put it on have you ever have you tried on good shoes and felt how different they felt been cheap shoes and you didn't even know to want the good shoes until you tried on the good shoes and you looked at your own shoes and they said do you want to put them back on you said no i'll wear these outs i wish i had some real people in here i wish i had some real people in here i have actually bought shoes that i wore out of the store i didn't even want to put my old shoes back on to go back home because i had gone through the rights of passage i am here said i am here saying again say it again say it again say it again i am here [Applause] this is this is the most prophetic moment in david's life and david will never go back to being who he was from this point on he will lead armies he will subdue the he will destroy the philistines he will attack them and win every battle because he has gone through the rights of passage you do not have a right until you have gone through the rights you do not have an r-i-g-h-t until you have gone through the rit yes you cannot make yourself the king [Music] somebody has to put this on you oh god somebody has to put this on you you cannot crown yourself you cannot discover yourself somebody has to have a crazy kind of love what we call favor and they give you what you could not earn you could kill giants but you did not earn this robe not this tunic not this sword not this belt no no no no no you didn't earn this this was given to him this is a grace whoever i'm talking to you're getting ready to walk into a grace it's just going to be a grace it's not going to be because of your degree it's not going to be because of your background it's not because of your rich uncle it's not because somebody died in your family you're just going to walk in a grace you're going to walk through the courtship of grace you're going to move and do business in the grace you're going to buy and sell with the grace you're gonna build and stand with the grace you're gonna raise your children with the grace you're gonna do what you do with the grace you're gonna teach your class with the grace david is standing there with the sword and a bow and an arrow the sword was for the enemies that got too close the bow was what you needed to kill him at a distance so whether it was a distant enemy or an up-close enemy david was prepared if he saw you at a distance he had a bow for it if you got up close he had a sword for it either way you attacked him he was ready to do the battle because he could catch you afar and get you before you got to him and if you snuck up from behind him he had he pulled his sword and cut you with his sword and he was fully armed and wait a minute women he was fully armed and prepared in this the david that rejected saul's armor [Music] when he was on the outside of the door he could not appreciate the armor of the people that were on the inside that's why you ought to be careful about speaking against stuff that you haven't stepped into because what you don't like over here you're going to need over there oh god you'll never go up being a hater because all you're doing is speaking against what you could be even if you ain't got it right now don't speak against it you're gonna grow into it in a minute the only people who hate on you are people who have given up on becoming you i'm almost closed david rejected saul's armor but once he crossed the rights of passage what was unfamiliar has now become familiar and how he's walking in what he couldn't walk in before he went through the rites of passage asked me did it work it absolutely worked every time he went out to battle he absolutely slaughtered every time he went to war he absolutely killed every time the enemy stood up against him he was the mightiest warrior that saul had ever had he was such a warrior that all the men wanted to go to fight with david and every time david went to battle he got the victory glory to god i wish i had about 10 victorious people that would just start thanking god for victory [Applause] [Music] yeah yeah [Applause] you need to thank god for victory because somebody's at another stage in their life and they're starting to believe that victory is not possible but for every one of you that god brought from the background to the forefront for every one of you that god bless you to survive things you thought you'd never be able to survive you need to make some noise as a witness to those of them that are in the fight victory is possible victory is possible victory is possible victory is possible watch this watch this something's about to happen so one day david goes to battle i'm almost finished one day david goes to battle and when he goes to battle he comes back from the battle he's been fighting with the king and the women saw them coming back from battle and they knew that if the men were coming back from the battle they had not been destroyed the very fact that they were coming back was a sign that they had survived are there any survivors in here survivors make some noise tell your neighbor i'm still here they tried to take me out but i'm still here they tried to destroy me but i'm still here they tried to cut me off but i'm still here they tried to beat me up but i'm still here i'm scratched up and i'm bloody but i'm still here i've got a black eye and a bruise but i'm still here let the redeemed of the lord say so let the redeemed of the lord y'all playing with me let the redeemed of the lord say so if he brought you through a battle say so if he raised you up say so if he's kept you alive say so if you've been in a fight and you made it say so so they were coming back from the battle and when the women saw the men coming the bible said that they grabbed up a tambourine and began to show what they did come on take me to a sanctified museum take them oh they began to pray and they began to pray they began to pray come on take me to church take me slap to church store for a church devil chase a church yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes god did it god did it god did it god did it who did it god did it who did it god did it who did it god did it who did it god did it who did it who did it who did it who did it who did it who did it who did it who did it who did it give me my praise somebody give him a praise give me no praise give him a praise give him a praise give him a praise give him a praise just for praise a praise a praise a praise a praise a praise a praise a victory a victory freeze a victory in the middle of a pandemic in the middle of a pandemic in the middle of a storm in the middle of a crisis yes and the women got so happy that they made up a song and they started singing it on the spot and they said saul has killed his thousands but david has killed his tens of thousands you see david had gone through the rites of passage and once david had gone through the rights of passage it put him on the trail of an exponential blessing to kill thousands is one dimension to kill tens of thousands is a whole nother dimension whoever i'm preaching to god is about to take you to a whole nother dimension you've killed some thousands but god is ready to take you not to the next level not to the next level there's a difference between going to the next level and going to the next dimension look at your neighbor and say this is the next dimension that's why the war has been so tough that's why the fight has been so intense that's why the lion came out of the jungle that's why the bear came out of the woods that's why goliath got tells you and fought you that's why they tried to destroy you that's why saul wants to kill you because what's in front of you is a whole nother dimension [Music] and i hasten to close another dimension is hard to see when you're in a pandemic but the pandemic is proof that there's another dimension in order for us to have to fight the kind of giant that we're fighting right now there has to be of rights of passage to the next dimension i refuse to be a casualty standing on the outside of the threshold of what god is about to do next in my life if you've been thinking about suicide i arrest the spirit of suicide right now in the name of jesus this storm did not come to kill you it came to push you into the next dimension you never would have left that job you never would have moved from that city you never would have went back to school you never would have taken those courses you'd have stayed right where you were taking care of sheep have been satisfied but god sends disruption to push you into new dimensions after every disruption in this country there has always been a new dimension every disruption led to the next dimensions in the great depression people were jumping out of windows killing themselves they thought that what they had was all there was to be had and when they lost that they couldn't see beyond the temporal they didn't know that it was the gateway to the next dimension as horrific and tragic and cruel as slavery was it still became a gateway to the next dimension and god has a way of taking you through things that should have killed you to bring you into what he has next [Music] for you and the holy spirit said [Music] that this is the rights of passage put on that robe take the sword that you rejected [Music] and put it on your side you are stepping into the next dimension jonathan was a mentor to david here's monroe can you trust me with honor [Music] here's my tunic i'll show you under this robe i'm just a guy here's my sword there's gonna be some people that get close to you that you gotta cut them off here's my bow for dangers far away here's my belt i'm going to teach you how to hold it together so that all that i have given you will never fall apart and i am going to bring you into what you told my father you were running from you rejected his armor not knowing that his armor was yours [Applause] you still had a taste for what you were used to but what worked on the outside of the palace [Music] won't work on the inside you cannot bring your slingshot into this environment where god is taking you your old weapons won't work you're gonna have to learn how to fight with new weapons you're going to have to learn how to fight with new weapons this is your season i want to pray with somebody i don't know who it is i don't know what's going on in your life i don't know whether you're still killing lions or bears with all on your head that you don't understand or whether you're fighting the giant of your life and all you have is a rag on a rock or maybe you're standing at the door of a new opportunity that excites you and horrifies you all at the same time or maybe you're being fitted for something that's not comfortable but necessary because you have transitioned and you got to put it on put on the lord jesus christ do you ever read that put on the lord jesus that means when you first get saved it don't feel comfortable it doesn't feel normal you don't fit in with church folk but he said just put it on walk around in it get your swag with it you're a child of the king and you never read where david ever lived back home again you'll never go back that's how we started that's where we ended you will never be who you used to be ever again so if you're gonna mourn the passing do it now if you're gonna grieve over it grieve now when that door shuts that's it if you're here and you do not know jesus to accept christ as your savior is to shut the door on your sins well i'm afraid that if i accept christ and i mess up again let me tell you something christ is so efficacious that he didn't just die for what you used to do he died for everything you're going to do he didn't want to keep getting up and going back down every time you did something stupid so the blood of jesus is so efficacious that he died for sins past present and future not so that you can continue to live your own life but so as you stumble into your new robe and as you wrestle into your tuna can you get your sword just right and put on your girdle [Music] he wants to hold you together [Music] this is your moment [Music] don't you see god shutting the door [Music] on everything you're related to and everything you're comfortable with don't you see him taking you from the mundane to the militant to the moment this is this is your moment [Music] squeeze it sing it [Music] [Music] i won't be [Music] [Music] goodbye to my comfort [Music] [Music] here i go [Music] [Music] oh i won't be the same i won't be there i want to pray for you i want to pray for you i want to pray that you can move forward and that that you can embrace this change i know you never wore a robe before never had on a tunic in your life never had a sword at your side or a belt around your waist but you're moving forward and you won't be the same anymore father every backslider every sinner every person that's listening at this message right now who's thirsting for change in their life [Music] who's had battle after battle after battle after battle after battle this is the rights of passage for them today i don't care that it's coming on a stream i don't care that it's coming on the zoo [Music] you won't be the same anymore thank you for your efficacious blood that was [ __ ] on calvary that we might have the right to the tree of life i pray for them now that salvation would come into their life right now and that they'd never be the same again i pray for them now [Music] that you would redress them and recover them and bless them as they come into their own in jesus name amen give god appraisers one more thing i've got to do i want to pray for people you're a christian but everything in your life is shaking and changing and moving pushing pushing you out of your comfort zone away from the familiar pushing you into new idioms of thought demanding things of you that you have no point of reference for and you're excited and scared and you anticipated but you're worried about it and you've been sleeping kind of funny and eating kind of funny and your system's been all kinds of ways because change is imminent your rights of passage isn't to become a christian your rights of passage is to become why you were a christian in the first place that you might be about your father's business and you got nobody to talk to because leadership and loneliness go together and you got people that you related to but they can't relate to what you're worried about and you've tried to talk to them about it but they don't get it change is happening transformation is happening and it's such an uncomfortable place [Music] let me just pray for you right now father in the name of jesus even when we know you have something for us sometimes our ability to receive it becomes difficult [Music] to embrace it to walk it out [Music] to own it [Music] and god if this door doesn't shut the future will not open [Music] help my brother help my sister right now to shut the door on any possibility of ever being who they used to be again [Music] with the next step i take i cross the threshold into my future in jesus name amen i want everybody in here to take a step any direction anyway just take a step i won't stay in that same spot i won't sit in that same street i won't stay in that same place i won't be in that same position i won't be the same anymore i won't be i refuse to be i refuse i refuse it i refuse it [Music] [Music] i'm gonna find a way i'm gonna find a way i'm gonna find a way [Applause] [Music] i [Music] [Applause] yes lord yes lord yes lord i will not be i cannot beat i must not be [Music] again i refuse to be [Music] you

Channel: T.D. Jakes

Views: 725,862

Rating: 4.8519382 out of 5

Keywords: td jakes, faith, potters house, bishop jakes, The Potter's House of Dallas, TPH Dallas, td jakes sermons, bishop td jakes, inspiration, td jakes motivation, motivation, sermons, td jakes ministries, motivational speaker, motivational speech, gospel, motivational, sundayservice, tdjakes, expiration date, td jakes 2021, td jakes sermons 2021, rites of passage, ritesofpassage, right of purpose, rite of passage

Id: sflYvPWxhCU

Length: 81min 3sec (4863 seconds)

Published: Sun Feb 07 2021