Michael Todd - I Ain't Gonna Give You What You Don't Want
Well, welcome to week two of a series we’re calling «What Kingdom?» We’re talking about the kingdom of God. The truth of the matter is that we have to address the fact that most of us, especially those who grew up in church, if you knew, you almost have an advantage. I’ve grown up in church my whole life, and the truth is I’ve been, well, let’s say, a bit ignorant of the truth of what the Word of God says about His kingdom. I truly believe I have been given a burden of passion and a mandate to preach this like it’s the last message I’ll ever deliver. Some of you are like, «No, let’s preach about crazy faith.» I’m more passionate about this than crazy faith. «What about relationship goals?» I’m more passionate about this than relationship goals. «What about this, and what about that?» No, no, no, no, no—if you get the message of the kingdom, you get everything else. Somebody shout at me, «Kingdom!» Only forty of you said it. I said, «Shout at me, 'Kingdom! '»
The kingdom of God is the only message that Jesus preached, and that’s why I must teach this. So, everyone, turn on your thinking caps and open your hearts to be able to receive some of the things I’m going to say. Some of it is going to offend your religion; some of it is going to challenge your tradition, and other parts will cause you to burn with a desire to know more about God’s kingdom. Last week, I took you to Matthew chapter 4, verse 17, to see Jesus’s inaugural address to humanity. This is what He said for His first message: «Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.» Everybody say «repent.» That means «change your mind.» He said, «Turn to God.» Don’t just turn to other things; turn to God. All I want you to do is very simply: everybody say «see the kingdom.»
Most of us have never seen the kingdom on display, so we settle for church. Come on! We’ve never seen the kingdom, and we’ve never seen people living like the King, so we settle for pastors. We’ve never seen what it looks like to be in a community where everything we have we know is not ours—it’s just managed by us—and we can be used as a conduit at any moment to expand the kingdom, so we settle for clubs, groups, and gangs. Oh, and you know there are gangs in church praise teams, oh sure! God said there’s a better way and a more complete understanding that I want all my people to have. That’s why I told you last week, this is not a sermon series meant to impress; this is a sermon series meant to leave an impression. So every week, I need you to touch your mind and say, «God help me understand the kingdom.»
Just one more time with faith: «God help me understand the kingdom.» The way we’re going to understand the kingdom is through knowledge. I know a lot of people in church like experiences; they don’t like learning, and I have to say this because most of us, when we exit formal education, we don’t want to learn anymore. Some of you still don’t remember any math lessons. Okay, y’all, if it doesn’t have an addition or a subtraction sign, where’s the iPhone division? By the time I left the 11th grade, I was like—what ends up happening is that many times we think that formal education and getting a degree is the level that God is satisfied with for our learning.
One of the things many of us stop pursuing is God’s purpose for our lives and learning everything we can about the kingdom. That’s why, in this series, I have to challenge your—watch this—ideas because your ideas are more powerful than anything else you have. If you don’t get the right ideas, you will not understand why you do what you do. Last week, I told you about precepts, which means pre-thoughts, and I was trying to let everyone know that everything you do comes from a place, even if you don’t know where it came from. The reason you bite your nails comes from a place; the reason you act like a player comes from a place; the reason you eat ice cream at 11 PM every night—there’s a reason. Everybody say «idea.»
And that idea began to grow. I want you to understand this: one of my friends told me after Sunday, «Man, when you did that ladder thing about precept and all that stuff, that shook me.» He said, «I saw it as the ladder of light because at the top is knowledge; it’s light, it’s what you do.» He said, «But people need to see it.» So I took his suggestion and decided to show the people quickly how you get to thinking, acting, and living as you do. This may be a cheat code for everyone to understand: everything you do starts with—everyone write down «idea.»
And it’s something that you progress through. Where you start is with an idea, but it goes from the idea or the pre-thought and it transitions from a precept—that’s the word used in the Bible—to a—everyone say «concept.» So, precept, concept. This is where most of us live our lives—at a concept of God—the big man upstairs, you know what I’m saying? I want to shout out. It’s these things we say that expose our concepts about God. But the problem is your concept has to turn into a—what most of us don’t have—conviction about God. This is why you can have a concept about God and never act on it.
Many of us have a greater conviction over the coffee we drink in the morning. «I only mess with Starbucks!» You have a greater conviction than you do about your character, and because you don’t have a conviction about certain things, it messes with you. Watch this next one—your belief. Most of us are living—watch this—at the level of our belief. It’s not that you can’t do it; you don’t believe God can do it through you. But you know where belief started? «Nobody from my family has ever done this.» You applied, and, see, they already had their minds made up about you. You went into the interview with a pre-thought that you wouldn’t get the job.
Now your precept goes to a concept, and it’s now, «I’m just not hirable.» It goes from the concept to a conviction: «I guess I just won’t work for anybody.» And then it goes from a conviction to a belief: «I guess I’ll be in poverty all my life.» And then you have children, and guess what? It turns into an ideology: «Don’t dream too big while you apply for that school! You know how much it costs to go there?» No, no, no, no. You can never do it! You should just get a job where, after 40 years, you can get a pen. They don’t even give Rolexes anymore; you get a pen.
And that ideology now becomes philosophy: «This is how the Johnsons live; this is how the McGregors live.» All of this started with an idea. What you know about God starts with your idea about God. If He’s the big bad guy waiting to punish you, that’s what you think the pre-thought was: «He’s waiting to jack me up.» Then it becomes a concept, and you’re scared to do anything in faith because you don’t want to disappoint God. I’m talking real stuff that I know is true right now, and that thing becomes your conviction, keeping you in prison when God’s saying, «Try, and I’ll be there to catch you. Try, and I’ll walk with you every step of the way.»
He says stuff like this: «I’ll never leave you or forsake you.» But your ideas will never be overridden by God’s truth if you believe more in your idea than in your identity in Christ. Can I give a real example? Okay, one more. I just want to show you—don’t jump from idea to ideology. You have to keep going up. Some of you climb this ladder every day and have landed on things you don’t want to live in. But I had an idea, you know what I’m saying? «I’m gonna be a little player.» Feels good at 14 to flirt! You see how quiet it just got? Flirting!
I can have friends who are girls and them not be my girlfriends. Some of you are like, «What’s wrong with that?» Watch, come on, stay with me. My pre-thought as a teenager becomes, «Hey bro, when we go in here, give me a shout-out if you see someone who fits the description.» I had friends who believed in the same concept. You better evaluate the people you hang around because some of the concepts you’re connected through are the same concepts that are keeping you from your purpose. Uh-huh! That concept turned into a conviction: «We’re not going. Who’s gonna be there? No, we’re not going for that.»
Now, if we are going, we’re okay. The conviction turns into a belief, and now it’s a habit. Now I’m talking to girls I don’t even think are attractive. I don’t even want to be with you; I’ve just built up this habit, and now it’s my belief. I don’t even feel right having a relationship with someone who is actually pure.
Okay, there are some homeboys watching right now, and your mouth is getting ashy because I’m telling your business. You’re 36 years old, doing the same thing you did at 16. Now it’s so much part of your conviction that it’s your belief: «You got two babies by two different baby mamas, and your son is seven. And now you’re teaching them: 'Hey, son, when a little girl comes up to you, just kiss her at seven.'»
Because it’s so much of your belief that now you’ve made it an ideology. And now what has it become? It’s hard to stay balanced up here if you’ve built your life on the wrong ideas. It’s hard to weather, watch this, storms. If a storm came through here, I am the most vulnerable person because I’ve built my life on an ideology that is not solid. It sent the stage manager out here trying to hold on to what I’m on right now that he knows is not stable. Some of you have people around you that you think are hating on you. They’re just trying to hold your ladder right now because the ideas you have are not stable.
What I’m trying to do is get you to come down off some things you’ve built your life on and get a—everybody say «new idea.» Let me tell you what that new idea is: it’s the idea of the kingdom. Now I know that doesn’t fully make sense to everybody right now, so I’m going to make it make sense at the end of this sermon: Proverbs chapter 4, verse 7. Everybody look at it. Oh my goodness, it says, «Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore, everyone say, 'Get wisdom.'» That’s applied knowledge.
We talked about light being knowledge last week and understanding that God wants us to have knowledge in the area of Kingdom. But watch this: «But with all your getting, get understanding!» The reason I’m going to take this series slow is that I would hate for us to hear all the clichés about the kingdom, read all the scriptures, and then leave here without an understanding. This is so easy for us to do because we use things all the time without understanding how they work.
How does the microwave work? Someone said, «You push the button.» The truth of the matter is that’s the extent of our understanding. Some of us don’t even push the button! You had that little 30-second thing. Some of you know what I’m saying—"You don’t even press it, but it’s like 30 seconds, 30 seconds, 30 seconds…» It’s 10 minutes! You might as well—what are you cooking for 10 minutes in the microwave? That’s our understanding.
That’s why, when you don’t understand something, you don’t know how to fix it when it’s broken. The reason people are constructing their faith is that they haven’t understood the Bible. So when something comes to shake it, it’s like, «I don’t even know how this works. I thought they said if I prayed hard enough, if I gave, if I served…» We have missed the understanding. And so when Jesus made the kingdom a priority, I have to tell you, church, this church will make the kingdom a priority—not just saying it, but understanding it! Because I will not be Kingdom; I will not live this life without understanding everything that God has provided for us.
So watch this: Write this point down—understanding the kingdom makes you unstoppable. When you understand the kingdom, it makes you unstoppable. Okay, let me just give you scripture: Matthew 13:19. Do you know how unstoppable this message makes you? It makes your adversary, called the devil, so nervous that he’s looking for everyone who just hears the message of the kingdom and trying to steal it from you immediately. Matthew chapter 13, verse 19…
That some people, I said, is it a few people? It says when anyone hears the message about the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what was sown in their heart. The reason you have to stay locked into this series every single week is that it is so dangerous for you to have to the enemy. If you won’t stay in it, learn it, try to ask questions, write things down, and listen over again, if you won’t be proactive in this, the enemy comes immediately, saying, «Give me that.» You can be saved and ignorant but not learn about the kingdom. You’re so insecure serving but don’t learn about the kingdom.
If they learn about the kingdom, if they actually understand what Jesus did when he came here, if they actually understand their royal role and things like being joint heirs with Christ, if they understand their royal place, ah, I’m gonna keep them ignorant as long as I can. Give me that! This is why I’m telling everybody to protect the kingdom principles that are being taught. Protect the kingdom principles; write down the points that are being planted in your heart. Practically, I want to talk about a lot of things, but the Holy Spirit told me to tell them to play defense. This entire series, you’re gonna have to play defense; you’re going to have to be intentional because you’re going to hear things in this atmosphere, and the enemy is going to come with problems immediately to make you forget about the things you heard.
That’s why some people right now are like, «Yeah, I’ll catch y’all when y’all do the relationship series.» Relationships get better when you understand the king. No, no, no! I’ll check back in when you talk about finances because finances get… understand the kingdom. So, I needed to warn you because we’re only in week two, and I’ve got a lot more weeks to go. We’re gonna… Everybody say «understand.» But the enemy is coming for you, and I don’t give the enemy credit. I don’t know how to say this: the enemy hasn’t been bothering you because you ain’t been doing nothing. He doesn’t bother people that play on his team. So, the opposition you’re feeling is because you’ve taken an opposite side.
The fact that you’ve been coming, you’re trying to listen, and now you’re seeking, looking up scriptures for yourself and asking questions; now you’ve switched jerseys. He hasn’t had to mess with you for five years because you’ve been wandering on his team. He’ll let you come to church with no power. He’ll let you be in that little toxic relationship, keeping you distracted. God is saying to you: be aware that there is opposition when you start to learn the kingdom. And I want to be ten toes down with you and tell you the truth.
Some of y’all are going to walk away because you have never faced any adversity, and I want to let everybody know that in this Christian life, it’s part of it. I know everybody has sold you that when you come to Jesus, everything gets better, and all your problems go away. That is a lie! And I know this is not feel-good stadium preaching, but it’s the truth, though. Many people are so disappointed because they’ve been sold the wrong thing. Ain’t nothing like being told what you’re getting, and you don’t get it! Like, all the way down to like a shirt! Has anybody ordered a shirt from China from one of those websites? Okay, so I’m not the only one. And in the picture, it looked like it fit perfectly—you’re there measuring your arms to find out what is 43 centimeters, and you get it, and it’s built for a stuffed animal!
I spent 62 dollars for 42 garments, and I was completely frustrated! Some of y’all know what I’m talking about—those sweaters! I wish you would have told me to get my size! It would have been a hundred more dollars because there’s nothing like being disappointed when your expectation was one thing, and you get the exact opposite. If you’re going to invest in the kingdom of God, you’re gonna have opposition! And this is my encouragement: don’t stop because you’ve got problems. You’ve got opposition; we ain’t stopping! You’ve got opponents, and that won’t cause me to stop. You’ve got opinions—I won’t stop because of opinions! Oppression: I won’t stop because of oppression! Don’t stop because you’ve got opposition.
We have been so weak when it comes to our faith because, at the moment we get any opposition, it’s like, «You know what? Not really worth it.» The kingdom requires resilience. Okay, let me stop. 1 Peter 5:8. Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour. This is key: stand firm; not calm down. The authorities of both sway and destroy by the spirit of… feel it! I ain’t moving; they left. I’m not moving; they’re talking about me. I ain’t moving! Some of y’all are about to get your fight back! How were you so tough when you weren’t with Jesus, and now you’ve just become so weak? Oh my God! I bet you can talk about me, but I’m gonna stand firm. I bet you can lie on me, but I’m gonna stand firm. You can leave, but I’m not stopping because of opposition. Stand firm against him and be strong in your faith.
Remember that your family of believers all over the world is going through the same kind of suffering you are. The enemy tries to attack, but I’m not moving! I’m not going to stop coming to church because I had a bad week! I’m not gonna stop! I’m not gonna stop loving people because somebody isn’t loving me! I’m not gonna hold bitterness because two people didn’t forgive me for something they misunderstood. I’m going to stand firm! Where are the believers in the room and online that are making a decision? Oh no, no! We’re the people that said, «No matter what comes, I’m gonna stand firm!» I’m trying to prepare a holy rebellion.
Remember, the series is called Kingdom: the Rise of a Holy Rebellion. If we run to the front lines and then back up because we see opposition, this is how believers usually do: «For God, I’m going after you!» You don’t need to do anything to me because I’m just gonna leave. I don’t know who this is for, but God said spiritually, «Hold the line!» Don’t stop praying for that son! Yeah, he’s strung out on drugs right now, but stand firm! God says, «Don’t give up on that husband; you need to stand firm!» You might have just gotten the worst news of your life, but part of understanding what the kingdom is, is that I don’t get moved when something comes to oppose me.
What I’ve found out in my journey is that the kingdom—and this message—is worth, watch this word, pursuing! And I know there are not a lot of things, especially in 2023, that we pursue anymore. Pursuing is a lost art! I mean, we don’t even go get our own food anymore! We will pay 1.99 for a random person to drop off our food at our door! We don’t pursue anything! Relationships? Yeah, I don’t know how to date; I slid into the DM and she didn’t say anything for 13 hours, so I was like, «I’ll move on her!» What? But again, we have a generation of men that don’t know how to pursue. You see, you hear all the ladies, guys are like, «Oh!» But ladies, some of y’all need to pursue cooking!
Oh, let me stop, let me stop; I’m gonna need security! You can’t cook? Somebody said, «Pastor Mike!» Yeah, let’s be honest! Fellas, you want somebody with a… and you’re sitting up there with a keg? You need to pursue the gym! Alright, I’m sorry, but people… So, oh, well, there’s one thing that people haven’t stopped pursuing—their desires—but won’t pursue the mind! I’m going to be real, and for everybody, like my kids, they already know! Any parent that has somebody over the age of 11 that is in this room, I need you to understand, and somebody said, «Younger than that?» Yes, we do know that, but I’m just trying to give them. They’re like Timmy! I’m just trying to give you… It was fifth grade for me that nobody that loved God told me what was going on; it was nasty little boys in the locker room.
What I’m trying to say is if we don’t pursue truth, we don’t pursue opening, we don’t pursue the kingdom, we get sold the counterfeit. Let me just keep moving! The kingdom message is not just about pursuing! Watch this! The kingdom message is about—write this word down—priority! Oh God, help me! Help me help them understand like you helped me understand, Holy Spirit! Help me explain it the way you showed me! Okay, write this down: the kingdom message is Heaven’s response to earthly mess. Please write this down! It’s going to make sense!
Oh my God, when earth has a problem, God has one answer: understand the kingdom! Okay, like I’m gonna take you to a scripture real quick that most of you have heard before, but you’ve never gotten the full context of. Okay, let me ask this question first: how many of y’all in your life are dealing with some type of mess right now? Just… okay, let me use another word—some type of stress? Stress? Okay, okay. If you’re dealing with that in your life right now, there is an answer to the stress/mess that you are going through right now!
Everybody go to Matthew 6:25. I’m so excited to show you this because I’ve always read Matthew 6:33, but I didn’t read it in combination with what was before it to understand that it was the answer to man’s question of how to deal with all this stress and mess. Watch this! If you were to ask God, «God, how do I deal with this stress?» He’s saying. «Therefore, I tell you, don’t worry about your life, what you will eat or drink, or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? Matter of fact, look at the birds! The birds of the air—they do not sow or reap or store away in barns; they don’t have any investments, yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?»
Let me pause and just tell you: what you value most, God values you much more. Your greatest possession—God says, «Do you know how you love that thing? I love you so much more than that!» And then it goes on to say, «Can anyone of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?» And why do you worry about your clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow; they do not labor or spin! Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these! If that is how God clothed the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? When I read that part right there, you of little faith, it was like God was asking!
Another translation says, «Why do you have such little faith?» I’ve proven myself to you over and over and over again! Why do you not trust? Yet what I’ve found out is worry—everybody say worry—is faith in reverse! Worry is faith in the wrong thing! Some of y’all are so convinced you’re gonna get in a car accident when it rains, so you don’t go places because your faith is more in the rain and those tires slipping than in God protecting you! And that faith is strong because if it drizzles, you won’t even go pick your kids up! «Nah, let them stay there; we’re just gonna wait and see!»
I want you to know that worry is robbing you, and there’s an answer for it! Watch this: because worry weakens your faith! And so this is the thing that he says: Jesus is saying this now—who’s talking? He’s saying, «So, do not worry!» He’s literally telling you—so plain—so do not worry saying, «What shall we eat? What shall we wear? Who’s gonna marry me? Where am I going to work? What’s going to happen with the economy?» Oh, don’t worry about that stuff! For the pagans run after all these things! Another translation says: «Those thoughts dominate the minds of the unbeliever.» When you worry about stuff that God promises, He said, «You’re acting like the people who ain’t never met me! How is there a difference when I’m in your life, and you’re screaming, 'If God be for me, who can be against me? '» Except I don’t believe it, so I’m gonna worry. He said, «You’re acting like somebody that don’t even know me!»
So he says this, watch this: «Ah, and your heavenly Father already knows what you need! He knows that you need all these things!» Now here’s our anchor scripture: «But seek first the kingdom and his righteousness, and all the other things you worry about, I’ll give them to you as well.» Oh my! I pray everybody gets this revelation! You’re worried about a relationship? God’s answer is, «Seek the kingdom; I’ll give you the relationship!» By the way, what about my purpose? «Seek the kingdom, because when you seek the kingdom, I’ll show you your identity! I’ll give you a purpose! I’ll surround you with the right people, and I’ll put you in a place where it can happen!»
Everybody say «Seek the kingdom!» But what about these kids? I didn’t have a father; I don’t know how to raise these kids! I don’t know how to be a child of a father? The answer to all worry, the answer to all stress Jesus says, «I’m going to give you one answer that fills in the blank for everything. Don’t come to me talking about specifics if you haven’t sought the kingdom. Oh, this is why some of your prayer requests have not been answered; God says you skipped the step. I came boldly to your throne of grace and made my Christmas list of all the things I want you to do before the end of 2023.» And He said, «Yeah, yeah, I see your list, but those are all things.»
The church has done a poor job because we’ve told people to believe God for things instead of asking God to change their thinking. He said, «The things get thrown in when you seek first the kingdom.» That’s all many of you needed today—the answer to whatever problem you’re going to face later today, this week, or next week. All Jesus is going to say is, «I mean, imagine people coming to me. What if we could sit down one-on-one with Jesus about our problems? Like, if you texted Him on a Wednesday and He got back to you on a Thursday, saying, 'Jesus, I’ve been struggling a lot. I’ve really been dealing with pornography, my purpose, and poverty. I just wanted to know if you could tell me exactly what to do so I could follow your will for my life.'»
Yeah, let me look in the love letter I wrote you: Matthew 6:33. This is your answer: seek first the kingdom. No, no, no, no, no! I’ve heard that one before, seen it on shirts, and sung a couple of songs about it, but I was wondering if you could give me a major key, you know, DJ Khaled major key alert. If you could give me one of the major keys to unlock all of this hidden potential, yeah. Um, my answer is not going to change. Seek—not just seek it, but there has to be a priority to it. Most of us are frustrated because seeking first the kingdom seems fruitless, and we’ve lost the passion for pursuing anything. Why in the world am I going to pursue something that I don’t even understand why it could potentially help me?
Well, when Jesus says if you do this one thing, everything else is added, I just simplified your prayer life: stop praying for everything and pray for a revelation of the Kingdom. You missed it! When I wake up in the morning, Father, let me understand the kingdom. Father, I don’t know how to be married to this woman, so give me kingdom principles, Father God, of how to love, honor, and respect her. Father God, I need money; give me kingdom ideas. Let me understand what you’re trying to say through your word. The crazy thing is Jesus gave you the cheat code. I’m telling you, and you’re going to go out of here and do the opposite. I don’t know how plain it can be. Well, I do know that in this culture we live in, that first word is kind of elusive.
Everybody say, «Seek.» I’m going to camp out here just for a few minutes because I think since childhood, we’ve lost our ability to seek. How many people used to play hide and seek? Yeah, I loved hide and seek because it’s one of the best broke games you could ever play. I mean, you don’t need anything except somebody else to play with you, and all hide and seek requires is—watch this—desire. All hide and seek requires is desire. As a matter of fact, I actually want to play hide and seek. Who wants to play hide and seek with me real quick? Hold on, like I need hands; who would come up here and play hide and seek with me? Hold on, my sister in yellow— is that yellow right there? Yeah, yeah, come here, come here, come here. I want you to play hide and seek. Y’all give it up for my sister as she comes up real quick. Get her to the stage quick, Joe.
Now, what age did you stop playing hide and seek? Somebody said eight. What? Eleven? You never played hide and seek? Okay, she kept playing hide and seek. Anybody else? What age did you stop? How you doing, sister? What’s your name? Gracie? Okay, Gracie, how old are you? Gracie, ten? Okay, so do you play hide and seek? You like hide and seek? Do you play with people? Are you good at hide and seek? Okay, but you know how to play hide and seek, right? Okay, I lost the black envelope in this setup right here, yes, and I’m going to give you 30 seconds to find the envelope. Now, there’s something valuable inside of the envelope, and if you find it you can keep it, okay?
So on your mark, get set, go! Y’all cheer Gracie on real quick! You got 30 seconds! Y’all better help her! Did you find it, Gracie? Oh man, all right, Gracie, open it up. What’s in there? It’s a hundred dollars! Gracie, give it up! You found a hundred dollars! I love you; thank you! Get her out over there, okay? Gracie started her seek very beautifully, and then she heard y’all screaming, and you all didn’t really see it, but she turned the box over and started moving, and she found what she was seeking. She could not seek from the position she started. The only thing she could do is look from there. Last week, I told you the first thing about the kingdom is just to see the kingdom. But when you see the kingdom, the first thing Jesus says is now you have to seek the kingdom, and most of us are looking at the kingdom.
Write this point down: seeking is not looking. Most people are not seeking the kingdom; they’re looking for it. I go to church and stand in the back, didn’t see it, and Jesus said, «You’ll never find it.» You can come to church every day—not just Sundays, every day—for the rest of your life, and if you’re going to casually look, you will never find the value that God has put in the kingdom. The reason I have to say this is because we have done a great job at teaching people how to receive salvation. Receiving salvation is a step that you can do from where you’re at. It’s a free gift of God. So to receive salvation, what we’ve been trying to get the whole church to do is receive Jesus. All you have to do is stand broken, hurting, on drugs—prostitute, bad person. You can stand where you’re at and decide that Jesus Christ is Lord.
Put your hands out and you can—everybody say, «Receive.» After you receive salvation, most people become paralyzed in that position. You’ve been saved 19 years and still cuss everybody out. There’s no fruit of the Spirit, and you think the idea is well, «I’m not going to hell.» Great, great, but you’re living in it! He said, «I have come that you might have life and life to the full.» What you’re living is not life to the full because you thought everything in God is received, and Jesus said salvation is received, but the kingdom is sought after. Okay, okay, okay, okay, okay, okay, okay, okay, okay, write this down: salvation is receiving; the kingdom is seeking. Nobody ever told me this, so I spent many years of my life like, «I’m just waiting on God; whatever God wants to do next. Wait on the Lord, wait on the Lord; he will renew my strength.»
So, wait, I say, looking for you, God, standing with my binoculars looking for a sign that God, and he said, «You’ll never find it because you’ve stopped pursuing.» Today, I’m asking you to turn back on your seek. Some of y’all think because you have a position it’s okay that other people think you have another level of access to God than you actually do, but he knows you stopped seeking 15 months ago. Yeah, you’re on the platform, you’re on the praise team, people know you for your YouTube inspirations, and Jesus looks at that and is like that’s trash; that’s recycled from somebody who actually has a relationship with me. You stopped seeking me so long ago that you don’t even know what it feels like when I speak to you anymore. You have been okay with people applauding you and me with my hands folded, and I keep dropping you crumbs to let you know I still want to use you.
I still want to do something special; I want to give you a vision. But you believe that if it’s not a free gift then you can’t go after it, and God said what I have for you in the kingdom has to be sought after. Ah! Ephesians 2:8—just so y’all got Bible for this salvation: it is a free gift from God. God saved you by his grace when you believed, and you cannot take credit for it. It is a gift. Somebody buys me a gift; I didn’t have to work for that. I don’t have to; all I have to do is receive it. But man, when you want to get the treasures of a kingdom, nobody puts treasures in a place you don’t have to dig for them. The Bible says the understanding and the mysteries of the kingdom are treasures, and if you don’t pick up a shovel and dig for this, you will be standing in a field of wealth, broke.
This is what our churches are filled with every Sunday: «God we need you,» and God is like, «I need you to pick up the Bible—not on Sunday, on Monday! Pick up a book; listen to things that have revelation in them. Shut off the foolishness! Oh, it’s not worth it to you? Oh, you would rather be in a relationship that’s going to leave you broken and bitter? Oh, you don’t want to listen when I give you prophetic words and I send signs… You’re watching something and you say, „God, if you just let me see a crow,“ and then like a crow comes across the street, and you’re like today I’m going to give my life, but the next day you hide in a month. Why do I keep sending signs to people who will close their eyes? He said, „All right, my grace and mercy is new every morning. I’m going to try tomorrow. I’m going to try again tomorrow.“
We’ve been so used to ignoring God, so used to prioritizing everything that everything we actually need. He said it will be fine if we—everybody shout at me, „Seek!“ Okay, put that „ing“ on „seek.“ Yeah, just highlight the „ing.“ When I saw this and we put that „ing“ in there, when „ing“ is put onto something, it makes it active. When I started thinking about the kingdom, the kingdom, you’ve got to find your „ing“ in 2023. You’ve got to be—watch this—learning. That means you’re going to have to be active in picking up something that you normally would not do to be able to find something out that you do not have currently. You’re going to have to be—watch this—"giving,» and I’m not talking about just money because that’s why in church you’d be like, «Oh, there they go; they want my money!»
No, you need to be giving the wisdom you do have right now. You need to be giving the love that you do have right now. You need to be giving the time you do have right now. You need to get active in the kingdom. You need to—watch this—growing. Some of us haven’t grown in a lot of years, at least spiritually. What are you saying, Michael? You need to get active and start—everybody say seeking, sharing, serving, sowing, loving, forgiving! Oh, this one’s—oh, submitting. Ain’t nobody gonna tell me what to do! Jesus was submitted to earthly authority.
Now, if anybody could have done anything and not had anybody check on them, we know that Jesus was submitted to earthly authority. How do we know? Because when he was 12, trying to jump it off early, he went to the synagogue, and he didn’t tell his mom or his dad what he was doing, and Mary had to have a little flip because she was like, «Jesus, Jesus! Where is that boy?» And the brothers were like, «I don’t even know.» She finds Jesus in the temple. This man tries to act on his godliness and says, «Woman, don’t you know I’m doing the work of my father?»
Something happened; the Bible is not clear, but we don’t hear from Jesus for another 18 years. That was the last bit of his earthly ministry till he was 30. His 29th birthday woke up out of a coma like, «And do you know what I’ve never seen before? Is that he still hadn’t passed the test of earthly authority because his first miracle was done at the submission to his mother, Mary. She said, „Turn this water into wine.“ He said, „Woman, my time—never mind, mama.“ Okay, and he said, „Turn up everybody’s drink like this.“
But for him to walk in power, he had to learn that there was power in submitting. Okay, surrendering. This is why—all I’m trying to do is let you know that when it comes to the kingdom, God’s playing hide and seek. Why doesn’t God just give it to us? Why don’t you just show us? He said, „No, no, no, no! I’m going to hide it and you’ve got to seek it, because I have to delineate who really wants this and who’s just trying to be in the in-crowd.“ Some of y’all are like, „I don’t play games! I’ve stopped playing games since I was a teenager.“
Mark 10:15: I tell you the truth—(that’s Jesus talking)—anyone who doesn’t receive the kingdom of God like a child will never enter it. He is talking to all the prideful people. If you don’t come low and approach this like a child—what does a child do? Trust! You tell a child something and they just trust it. God is saying right now, „I need you to come out from all your titles and all your stuff, and I need you to trust me when I say seek for it. I’m not playing you! I’m not telling you to go look for something that’s not actually there. I’m not taking a break and saying, „Yeah, look at those dumb people out here seeking me, and they’ll never find something.“
He said, „What I have hidden in my word and in your life is of such value that I just need you to seek after it.“ And the sad truth is, the church has lost their seek. They’ve lost their seek so much that we’ll watch a three-hour Marvel movie, and we won’t stay in church for three hours. I heard somebody say, „Y’all, church is just too long.“ You don’t ever say that about a football game! And it’s fine; leave! Like all I’m saying is I’m going to do here what establishes the kingdom. And all the football teams you’re going to watch today have a pre-show, a halftime performance, after commentary, and then on ESPN they’re going to run the same story for the next 48 hours. Are you watching the same thing? And somebody’s like, „I don’t do sports,“ but you do do Love and Hip Hop, and you will watch a whole marathon of it! Mike, are you judging?
No, it’s just all about priorities. That won’t help you lose your worry, and Jesus is telling you what’s the answer to everything. Everybody says, „Seek first,“ okay? So the disciples were a little perplexed one day, and they were like, „Why don’t you just tell everybody the secrets of the Kingdom? I hear you always talking these parables, these stories along with the truth, and you tell it to the crowds and multitudes. Just tell them what the kingdom is!“ This is Jesus’s response: Matthew Chapter 13, verse 10. The disciples came to him and asked, „Why do you speak to the people in parables?“ He replied, „Because the knowledge, or the light of the secrets of the Kingdom of Heaven, has been given to you, but not to them. Whoever has will be given more, and they will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them.“
Now, the first time I read this, I was a little frustrated because I was like, „Lord, how are you taking stuff from people that they didn’t even know they had?“ And he said, „Michael, I’m trying to show you that when you’re going to get something of value, there has to be a sacrifice. Why would he give the disciples the keys and the mysteries to the kingdom? Because they left everything they had. These weren’t just average people who didn’t know anything; they had businesses and families. At the moment they came in contact with the kingdom in personal form, which is Jesus Christ, they said, „I don’t fully know what this all means, but I’m leaving all of this to follow him.“ He said, „I’ll give it to the people who have skin in the game, but for those who are just fans, what little you think you have will be taken away.“ And I said, „Okay, God, give me some more explanation on this.“ He said, „Michael, just add the word 'interest' in there because if you’re not interested in this, I ain’t gonna give it to you.“
Look what it says: „Whoever has—everybody say 'interest'—will be given more and they will have an abundance. But whoever does not have interest, even what they have will be taken from them.“ Watch this: what Jesus is saying is that the kingdom is too costly to be treated commonly. The value you will gain from this is too great for you to act like it’s nothing. Has anybody ever had a kid who did not appreciate what you tried to give them? Now parents, I need your help right now. You researched, you looked for the color, you argued with someone to try to get the delivery on time, and then you present it with glee. Somebody is mad in the front row. She said, „And they can’t even say anything!“ You presented it with glee, and they were like, „Oh, I thought you were going to get the one with the X.“
There’s something inside a parent that makes you want to say, „Oh really? Is that how you feel?“ „No, no, no, stay there, keep your little greedy self right there! You can take the whole thing back. I’m taking this right back to the store.“ Why? Because there’s something in you that says, „I’m not going to give you what you don’t want.“ And I think that’s the message that Jesus is telling us with the kingdom: „I’m not going to give you what you don’t want. I have to make sure you want this because this is not cheap.“ I want to say, „Country, put the title of my message up there: 'I Ain’t Gonna Give You What You Don’t Want.' You don’t want to seek this? You can’t have it.“
And I’m telling you what nobody told me. I thought the kingdom was going to be a revelation that I got one day listening to a pastor, and what I’m telling you all I’m doing today is trying to start your appetite. The secrets of this thing are going to require you to actually do something that you’ve never done, and that is seek the kingdom. All right, this is hard for people because this is going to require an expectation of you, and we live in a world that does not want any expectation. We don’t even want cell phone plans anymore—anything with a commitment! If I can’t cut it off tomorrow—how many people have done the seven-day trials of stuff still on the plan? They got you paying $48 a month for stuff you don’t even want because you don’t want any commitment. And God said, „You don’t get the kingdom without commitment.“
Okay, um, I went to a conference this weekend in Houston, and I preached about the kingdom, and man, something came out of me—the same thing that’s coming out of me today. I’m getting a stronger confidence. Every time I start preaching, I just get this sense of assurance. I’m not trying to convince anybody of what I’ve already found. I’m just trying to let you see that it’s available to you. And as I begin to talk to these people, the name of the conference was „Cry Out,“ and I had a whole message prepared. They were crying out for all kinds of stuff: „God, cry for my marriage! Cry out for my stuff!“ I got up there, and it was kind of a little buzzkill, but it was like—a shame—to spend your whole life crying out and find out you cried out for the wrong thing.
That’s what happened in the room; they were like, „Got doggies!“ And I said, „What if I told you you could cry out for one thing and get everything? Stop crying out for the house; cry out for the kingdom! Stop crying out for the relationship; cry out for the kingdom! Stop crying out for the promotion; cry out for the kingdom! Stop crying out for your family to be okay; that is promised with the King!“ And we are out here seeking the condiments of our faith. Don’t seek condiments and miss the main course. Matthew 13:44. Let me just show you one last parable today; this is all we’re doing. All I want you to do is get a value to seek the kingdom.
Okay, Matthew 13:44: This is Jesus giving two parables back to back. He said, „The Kingdom of God is like…“ and then he’s trying to tell you what it’s like. He said, „The Kingdom of Heaven is like a treasure that a man discovered hidden in a field. In his excitement, he hid it again and sold everything he owned to get enough money to buy the field.“ You didn’t get that one, okay. Verse 45: „Again, the Kingdom of Heaven is like a merchant on the lookout for choice pearls, something of value. When he discovered a pearl of great value, he sold everything he owned and bought it.“
Why does it take all that to get the kingdom? Because it’s worth all that! If you just see a little bit of the kingdom, it’s worth taking everything you’ve put your life into and saying, „Never mind, I’m gonna seek this for the rest of my life.“ Don’t miss this: the difference between seeing the kingdom and seeking the kingdom is sacrifice. This man sold everything he had to have an opportunity to find out if there was more where that came from. What’s my sweetheart’s name? What was your name again, sweetheart? Y’all remember Gracie’s Corner? Come up here, Gracie’s Corner; let me show you a live parable. Gracie came up here, and I told her that I needed her to seek for an envelope—not look for it, seek! When she found one black envelope, she stopped looking. Nobody told her to stop looking; we just celebrated, and she just threw the envelope up like, „Willy Wonka, I found the ticket!“
But Gracie, what if I told you there was so much more value in that little setup in that room and that domain than what you experienced? I’m gonna give you 30 more seconds to go over there and see if you can find something else. Go! Hey, found another envelope! Is there anything in there? Another hundred dollars! Okay, um, Gracie, I feel like you need help seeking the kingdom. Can you pick somebody to help? Who’s that with you? Is that your mom? Your sister? Sister? Could you come up here with her? Hey sister, grab one other person to help you seek. Come on, just grab somebody! Come on, hurry! All right, now I’m only going to give you 30 more seconds. Do you get it? She said, „Do I get to help?“ This is for you!
So what I want you to do is act like it doesn’t matter how—how you’re doing? You good? What’s your name? Caden? And what’s your name? Felicia? Caden and Gracie, I’m going to give you 30 seconds to see if there’s any more value in that domain. Ready? Go! There you go! She found something! Ten! Nine! Eight! Seven! Six! Five! Four! Three! Two! One! All right, here we go. Y’all come here! What do we find? We found some more! Did you get some? Okay, come on, let me see! You got a hundred? Take that! Okay, hold on one second; you got a hundred? Take that! The crazy thing about this is they were still trying to be dignified in their pursuit.
Do I have anybody that actually knows? No, no, I’m trying to figure out it doesn’t matter if there’s any opposition. It doesn’t matter if—hey, my man right there—you, you, you! No, no, no, my man in the green right there! Right there! Come on up here real quick! All right, I want y’all to stand right here. Come on, y’all stand right here! That’s your dad? I can’t make this up! Come on, dad! Oh, I love this! What would happen if men of God began to seek? The whole family would turn around! Hey Dad, I’m gonna give you 30 seconds to seek like there’s another thousand dollars in here. Go! Ten! Nine! Eight! Seven! Six! Five! Four! Yup! Three! Two! Oh! One! And come over here, Dad! Did you find anything? Didn’t find nothing? Is there anybody?
I just feel like—come on, come on, Sean! Okay, all I’m asking you to do—watch this: I don’t need you to worry about anything being replaced. I don’t need you to worry about how much it costs. I don’t need you to worry about the opposition. I need you to get a pursuit! You got 30 seconds, go! Uh-huh, uh-huh, turn it over! Ten! Nine! Eight! Seven! Six! Five! Four! Three! Two! One! And yo! Now watch, now watch, now watch, now watch, now watch, now watch! Okay, so hold on! Listen, what they’re saying to me—listen, they’re saying, „What are y’all saying to me? We need another chance!“ But the problem is there’s an expiration date. The problem is there’s time. We’re not going to be able to extend our time and say, „God, send me back so I can actually seek the kingdom.“
I need you to understand seeking is only available while you’re here on Earth. And I don’t know who needs to hear this, but everything in your life is worth turning upside down to be able to seek the kingdom. What I’m talking about is moving walls! What I’m talking about is turning stuff over! What I’m talking about is rearranging what looks pretty and what has not served me anymore! What I’m talking about is finding, ripping, throwing things off the wall! It’s only with a different perspective. The room doesn’t look like—my life doesn’t look like—the purpose doesn’t look like it makes sense, but I found something! Could you pick up a key to the kingdom? Oh my! Is there more attached to it? Y’all missed it! She picked up one key and there was another key, and every—oh my God—and every one of those things! Now come here! Oh, now she wants to look!
Come here! Everybody come here! When a wall was moved, everybody got blessed, but the one who kept on seeking was the one connected! Each of these got $100 in it! It’s time! It’s time for you to go on a vacation! No, nobody told anybody to stop, but we assumed once we found something, we should stop seeking! Today, all I’m asking you to do is seek! It doesn’t matter what the room looks like when you get done; you don’t even know what that is anymore! And that’s what transformation looks like! Oh! Some of y’all, there’s a renovation about to start in your soul! There’s a renovation that’s about to start in your mind! Give God praise for a renovation in your life!
Sean, come here! I just want you to— I just want you to stand right here. Just stand right here, and everybody watch this. If I told her there was more back here, she said, „You better act up!“ Okay? If I told her there was more back here, there is now a confidence that she would have to go seek, but it would not be looking anymore; it would be seeking! But this is the thing: if she stayed right here, even after all she’s gotten, she would be in proximity of the blessing! But watch this! You don’t get the kingdom because of proximity; you get the kingdom because of pursuit!
Coming to church every Sunday, you still won’t see the kingdom until you pursue it. Happen; she still won’t get anything. But as soon as she takes a step toward it, that’s where the blessing is. Thank you, Matthew 6:33: „But seek first the kingdom.“ Oh, there’s something else—His righteousness—right standing with God, not perfect standing, right standing. Okay, and all these things will be given to you as well. What I found out in seeking the kingdom is that there’s no period to the pursuit. There’s no period! Y’all know, like a sentence, and then they put a period? When it comes to pursuing God, there’s no period. You’re 68 years old, and you’ve been a pastor your whole life; don’t stop pursuing God.
Well, I used to teach Sunday school, and I’ve written worship songs for the whole world; don’t stop pursuing God. Well, I know all the Bible stories; don’t stop! Do not put a period, because in the kingdom, there are only commas. He says, „Keep going, comma. Keep going, comma. Keep going,“ because there’s more treasure to be found. The kingdom is not about perfection; it’s about progression. I will be a wiser man of God a year from now than I am today, not because I’m perfect; it’s because I’m going to keep pursuing. Everybody stand up all over the world! All I wanted you to do the first week is see the kingdom. Everybody say, „See the kingdom.“ Now I just need you to know the value of seeking the kingdom. I prophesy over you: this is going to be the greatest season of seeking the kingdom. I don’t know who needs to receive this, but if you want to lift your hands, come on in your home.
Father, I thank you that there would be a seek on the inside of your people that changes everything. God, I thank you that there will be a passion, a burden that will allow us to knock down the walls of religion, knock down the walls of comparison, knock down the walls of permission. Let us seek you with reckless abandon. Can I thank you that people are going to fall in love with your word, that it will be a lamp unto our feet and a light unto our path? God, I thank you for developing Transformation Nation and Transformation Church, a hunger that will never be quenched. God, I thank you that there’s so much value in the principles of the kingdom, and let us keep looking. As we look, we will find; your word says, „Ask, and it will be given. Knock, and the door will be opened.“ Today, God, we’re coming to you, repenting for being lazy in our faith. My bad. I’m sorry; I thought salvation was all you had for me. I thought favor was all you had for me—my bad. There are so many other things that come with the kingdom, and today I thank you that I will sacrifice to start seeking. Have your way in our lives, God. We give you glory, honor, and praise for it, in Jesus' name.
In that same heart posture, I didn’t have time to go fully into it because I’m trying to honor the time, but it said, „Seek first.“ Everybody say, „Seek first the kingdom.“ Next week I’m going to teach you what the kingdom is. I only could stay on the first two words—"seek first"—but next week you’ve got to come because I’m going to teach you. I’m going to share the kingdom with you, and I’m telling you, it’s going to blow your mind what God has shown me about this. Remember, do not stop coming, because the enemy’s coming to steal that word immediately. But some of y’all got revelation today that was like, «The enemy ain’t gonna punk me another day; I’m going to seek the kingdom.» But that scripture says, «Seek first the kingdom and righteousness.» The beautiful thing about righteousness is that you get that in relationship with Jesus Christ.
So seeking the kingdom—yeah, that’s going to take your work—but righteousness takes you receiving. And if you want to be in right standing with the King of this kingdom, all you have to do is receive Jesus Christ. I don’t care what you’ve done, how many times you’ve done it, who you’ve lied to, or what you’re planning to do. Today is the day of salvation, and Jesus wants to invite you into His kingdom. And He doesn’t just want to have you at the low level, being a servant; He wants to call you son, daughter, joint heir, friend. But all it takes is your faith. Today we need a new idea, and if that’s you, no matter who you are, I want to give you the opportunity to accept Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Savior.
Pastor Mike, why is that a big deal? There’s so much I want to do in life. I’m telling you, this is the only way you actually get to do it without the sorrow. The Bible said the blessing of the Lord makes rich and adds no sorrow. It doesn’t matter what you’re stunting and how you’re doing and what you’ve got, if all the sorrow comes along with it. Today I want to offer you the thing that can change your life forever. It took me from being a liar, a manipulator, and somebody who was addicted to pornography. I had a lot of bad things in my heart, and God said, «With all of that, come here!» Some of you are even thinking right now, «Well, let me clean up, let me change, let me do it!» God said, «If you give me your heart, I’ll help you change your habits.»
Today is your day. I need Transformation Nation to begin to pray, because there are people whose lives are in the balance. I don’t care if you’re 15, if you’re 12, or if you’re 78. Today, God’s saying, «Come home! Join this kingdom!» On the count of three, if you’re saying, «Pastor, I want to be a part of that prayer,» I just want you to slip your hand in the air. I know religion is like, «Tell us everything you did.» Man, if people knew everything I did, they wouldn’t even want to be around me. God says, «When you come to me, I throw your sins as far as the east is from the west, and I choose not to remember them anymore.» Christ is the way. I have made all things new.
Today is what you’ve been believing for. If that’s you, I want you to raise your hand. One: you’re making the greatest decision of your life. Two: I’m so proud of you, but forget that. Your name is going to be written in the Lamb’s Book of Life; your eternity is secure. Three: Shoot your hand up all over this building and at home. I see you! I see you! I see you! I see you! Oh, come on, y’all! Heaven is turning up! I’m so proud of you! So proud of you! I see you, my brother; I see you, my sister! At Transformation Church, we’re a family! Somebody shout, «We’re family!» Nobody prays alone. So, with everybody, just lift your hands, and we’re going to pray this prayer for the benefit of those coming to Christ. Father, everybody say:
Father, thank you for sending Jesus just for me. Today I believe that you lived, you died, and you rose again with all power for my salvation. Today I repent and I turn to You. Change my mind; show me the kingdom. Transform me; I’m Yours, in Jesus' name. Amen.