TD Jakes - The Toll Road
"Hosanna," they sang. "Hosanna to the King"! They cut down palms and laid them down before him. And on the back of the donkey, he walked into his destiny. I call it the toll road because they started celebrating him on the back of a donkey. And by the time everything is finished in the book of Revelations, he's riding a white horse. In the text when we read about him on the toll road, he starts out with children waving palms, but in Revelation, there are angels casting crowns.
Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God of hosts. And from the colt to the horse, he rides. From the colt to the horse, he rides. From faith to faith, he rides. From glory to glory, he rides. And they started out singing hosanna and they ended up shouting, "Worthy is the Lamb". And the colt, the ass, turned into a horse, and the Lamb turned into a Lion, and the flesh man turned into the God man, and it all happened on the toll road. I can see the beginning and I can see the end, but have you ever gotten on a toll road and drove so far as if it were free? And then you've got up there a little ways and you ran into the toll.
They were saying, "Hosanna," over here, and they were saying, "Hallelujah," up here, but they did not know that Friday they'd come to the toll booth and they would have to pay the bill on the toll road. There's always a price to be paid. Don't let the egress fool you. Don't don't let the ramp fool you. Don't get too excited because you got on free. Sooner or later, if you live long enough, if you keep on driving, you're gonna have to pay the toll. Oh, I see people every day who get on free, giggling and laughing, and they think where you are came without price. And so they've got the radio blasting, and they're leaning, and they're cruising down the road, but you already know this is not a freeway. This is a toll road. This is a toll road.
Would you touch your neighbor and tell 'em, "You gotta pay something to ride". Yeah, you gotta pay something to ride. You don't get to ride this road for nothing. You don't get to ride this road for free. You don't get to just drop it in low, and jump on this road, and skate through this world without any price. Don't let the palm leaves fool you. This is a toll road. You might start out riding on carpet, but you're gonna end up nailed to a cross because this, my brothers and my sisters this Sunday morning, this old world we're living in is a toll road. You don't have to tell your business, but touch somebody and tell 'em, "I paid somethin' to be here". There was a the cover charge to be in this room.
I didn't get in this room free. I didn't walk in here without paying anything. I didn't get to be where I am without shedding some blood. This old road I'm standing on, oh, saints of God and friends of Christ, this is a toll road. Plan your wedding and throw your rice, but before you get to your 50th wedding anniversary, you'll find out this is a toll road. Get your bassinet and birth your little cutie, little itty, little baby, but before you get them through life, you'll find out this is a toll road.
Go ahead and accept the position and take your wife out to dinner and tell her, "I got a new job," but after 20 years, you will have paid a toll. Because everything, everything, son, everything is a toll road. And if you're gonna ride, if you're gonna ride, if you're gonna ride, if you're gonna ride, you gotta understand that just because you didn't see it in the first 100 feet doesn't mean that there's not a booth down the road somewhere because you are living on the toll road. You got on it for the white horse, but you gotta be willing to start. And in between, you'll pay your toll on the toll road.
Touch your neighbor and tell 'em, "I'm payin' for it right now". Yeah, I'm paying for it right now. Paying for it right now. I'm paying for it right now. And if you'll linger here with me just a moment or two, I think that the colt, the ass, if you will, is carrying, seeing as it is a beast of burden, some nuggets of truth for our consideration. Perhaps the burden of the ass is the truth he brings to us to understand that Christ is our scapegoat. He is our sacrificial Lamb; that he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; and that he had laid upon him the iniquity of us all. Maybe that's why they put the coats on him. It was their coats, but the ass had to bear it, and Jesus had to cover it, and they both got on the toll road together.
Maybe the coasts was how I identified with the journey. I couldn't go, but I'll put my coat on to identify with the journey. And the ox carried the weight, and Jesus covered it up, and we all went down the toll road together. But I thought to myself... can I preach this a little bit? This coat that never a man had ever sat upon, what is the significance of the package he brings? What truth does he bring to us that we must know? I know he brings to us a suffering Savior. I know that he brings to us a message of the Messiah. I know that he brings to us connectivity between the Old Testament King and the New Testament King. And I know that he has set Christ in position to inherit the kingdom. I know that he is the first step that will end with the opening of the eastern gate on a horse. I'm clear about that, but I wondered what did the little ass carry for me, for my life right now? What does he teach me?
And I have four little things that I learned on the toll road. I will give them to you and get out of your way. It occurs to me, number one, is that the ass is teaching us the message of discipline. Because discipline is learned when you go from freedom to servitude. You remember that Jesus said, "Loose the ass and let him go". And I've thought about, that's what you did for me. You loosed me from sin and death. I was tied to it. I couldn't get loose. I paced and twisted, turned. I could not be free. He loosed me, but I did not get to enjoy the liberty. Because like the dancing colt who's excited because he's loosed, he's only loosed to serve.
Don't you think for one minute that Christ liberated you to run wild; that he snatched you out of the clutches of the things he snatched you from so you could do your own thing, you could drop it like it's hot, you could do whatever you wanna do, whenever you wanna do it, however you want to do it. Oh no, he is calling us from freedom to servitude. I freed you so I could use you. I didn't free ya so you could go doing whatever you wanna do. Loose him, but tell him the Lord has need of him. I'm going to get you off drugs, but I'm going to tie you back up again. Oh, I'm gonna bring you out the dungeon.
You know the level of discipline you have by how much weight I can put on you, when you can stand up to the weight and the responsibility of purpose. Oh, you're not gonna shout this morning 'cause you want to be free to do what you wanna do. You wanna be free to be seen, and free to be rich, and free to be acknowledged, and free... Oh no, baby. He freed you so you could serve him. He did not free us so we could do our own thing. He freed us so he could ride in on us.
And as he rides in on your life with this nebulous, indescript thing called favor, and you see people standing back out of your way and dropping their branches before you, when you see them singing out praises while you walk, never be foolish enough to think that the praises are going to you. It is the one who's riding on you that they have beheld the wonder of his glory, the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. And as long as you will let him ride, he will make your pathway straight. As long as you will let him ride, he'll let you ride through it on carpet. He'll make your enemies your footstools. You'll be able to walk on dry ground even if you're in a wet place. Can I get a witness, somebody?
Let me tell ya one more thing the ass brought to me. He taught me the frivolity of fame. The frivolity of fame. The frivolity of fame. The ass teaches me not to be excited about those who say, "Hosanna". We often say that they will say, "Hosanna," Today and crucify him tomorrow, but I want to put that saying in a biblical context. They will say, "Hosanna," today. They won't even be there tomorrow. It is not that the children who said, "Hosanna," cried, "Crucify him". They didn't even show up at the cross. The closer he got on the toll road, the more people fell away. And perhaps that is it's own toll, the people you lost along the way. Perhaps that is one of the ways you pay the price to be who you are.
I heard a man say something that I cannot forget. He was talking about business when he said it. He said the problem is not determining where you want to go. The real problem to life is what are you willing to leave behind to get there. He started with crowds and fame. Hosanna! Blessed be the rock. Cast our sheaves down before him. But the closer he got, where are the children at the cross? The crowd turned into a group and the group turned into a cluster. And it is here that he teaches me not to allow myself to be defined by those who react to me, because the frivolity of fame is not just for people you see on TV. It is the visions of grandeur that have seduced you into thinking that people won't change and the foolishness wherewith you have allowed your self-awareness to be based on their recognition of you.
In other words, you only think that you are great when they say so. You only think that you are valuable when they acknowledge your value. So if Christ had done that, he would have only been the Messiah for a moment. Because the further he went down the road, the more they changed their mind. I understand why Peter left. He was up under pressure and threatened for his life. I understand why he denied him. I understand why Thomas ran off and hid. I understand why Judas hung himself. But this crowd just dissipated. No threats. People just fall away. So if you do not find out who you are apart from them, when they go, they take you with them because you were only valuable when they were around.
Can I go a little bit further with it? The other thing it taught me, I thought if you'd set your face to go to Jerusalem, and if the cross was essential, and if it was important that you get there to redeem us from the curse of the law and from sin and death, why would you ride in on an ass when I saw you in Revelations on a horse? A horse is faster than an ass. And then he spoke to me and said, "But ascension takes time". Watch out for shortcuts. Watch out for machines that are tryin' to get you there too fast. Get the rhythm of your master, and if you think yourself to be great, understand that ascension always takes time. It is the taking of time that develops the strength of patience.
It is the taking of time that develops the ability to discern who was just saying, "Hosanna," on the highway but they're not really with you for the long way. If you got there too quick, you couldn't tell Judas from John. But as you poke down the road, you'll learn who's with you by who leaves you. Oh, y'all don't hear what I'm sayin'. Y'all don't want me to preach this morning. Y'all don't want me to preach this morning. Paul said it this way. He said, "They came out from us that it might be made manifest that they were not of us. For had they been of us, no doubt they would have continued with us".
If you don't learn another Bible verse in your life, you ought to learn that, "They came out from us that it might be made manifest that they were not of us. For had they been of us, no doubt they would have continued with us". Now, you apply that wherever you need it. Everybody that came out from you, they came out from you because they were not of you. For had they been of you, there is no doubt they would have continued with you. So stop grieving over who left you, for had they been of you they could never have left you. No matter that they sing, "Hosanna". No matter how they shout and dance. If they are not of you... ooh my God, I feel like preaching this morning. I feel like preaching this morning.
Touch your neighbor and tell 'em, "Something's gonna happen in here this morning". I thought God had forgotten me 'cause he didn't do it when I thought he was gonna do it. I thought God had overlooked me 'cause it didn't happen when I was 20 or it didn't happen when I was 30. But now I know he's right on time. He may not come when you want him to come. Oh my God, somebody praise God for his timing. He's right on time. If he'd have gave it to you earlier, you wouldn't have been ready for it. If he'd have gave it to you when you asked for it, you could not handle it. But the God I serve, he may look slow, but he's right on... I don't know what that meant to you, but I think it meant something. I don't know why the Lord wanted you to be here, but I think he got something for you this morning. Hallelujah to God.
I see somebody shouting on the toll road. I see somebody running on the toll road. I see somebody dancing on the toll road. Somebody take a minute and praise God on the toll road. Aye ya ya ya ya ya. Tell your neighbor, "I will. I will praise God on the toll road". Praise him right now. Make the devil mad. Make hell nervous. You know what's amazing to me? If all you had to pay for a breakthrough was a praise, some folk will sit here and not pay that.
I'm gonna give you one more chance. Give God a praise on the toll road. When praises go up, when praises go up, when praises go up, when praises go up, when praises go up, when praises go up. I don't know who this is for, but the Lord said while you was praising him, the gate just went up. Yes! Yes! Yes! I don't know who that's for, but as you praised him, God just lifted everything that was standing in your way. Go on in. Go on in. Go on in. Go on in. Slap your neighbor and say, "Go on in".