TD Jakes - Left For Dead
Drawing from Paul's healing of the lame man at Lystra and his own stoning where enemies supposed him dead, Bishop T.D. Jakes declares that no weapon formed against you shall prosper—it won't work—urging believers to leap out of broken normals into destiny, surround themselves with faith-filled people for resurrection, and trust God's sudden turnaround after attacks.
Challenging the Impossible
And the Bible said that Paul fastened his eyes on the man. And he yelled out at him, and when he yelled out at him and told him to get up and walk, he asked him to do something for which he had no point of reference.
It is one thing to ask a man to walk who has walked before, but to ask a man to walk who has never walked before—I do not even know what that would be like.
I do not even have the coordination. I do not even have the muscular dexterity. I am not sure my nerve endings are connected in my feet.
My ankles have never worked together with my feet in a coordinated method in order to be able to walk.
I have never walked since my mother's womb. I was born broken. I was born broken.
That means—can I take time? Oh God—that means broken is my normal.
I could keep going until I get—that means anger is my normal; that means alcoholism is my normal; that means malice is my normal—and you are asking me to leap out of my normal.
Paul challenged him to go beyond his experience and do something he had never done before—to leap out of his normal.
The Lord sent me here to tell somebody—I do not know who it is—that he is calling you to do something you have never done before.
And in order to do it, you cannot gradually do it; you cannot do it one toe at a time; you cannot stick one foot in and see if it will hold you up.
God said you are going to have to leap out of your normal. Somebody just leap; just leap.
That is how you are going to come out of it. That is how you are going to come out of it.
That is how you are going to come out. You are just going to leap out of your norm; you are just going to leap out.
Your friends are not going to understand it; your family is not going to understand it; your neighbors are not going to endorse it.
But what God is going to do in your life is so quick; it is so sudden; it is so massive; it is so comprehensive; it is so complete; it is so all-encompassing that you are getting ready to leap.
Leaping Into Destiny
Look at somebody and tell them, "Give me some room; I have got to leap."
When they saw him leap—bear in mind, they are not Jews; they are not familiar with Jehovah.
They experience God; they experienced Paul's ministry, but it is through the lens of their theology.
So God has done it through Paul, but those who behold it do not know how to understand it.
A lot of you have an experience with God, and you go home and you try to explain it to people, and they do not understand what you are talking about because they are experiencing it through their theology.
Their theology was built around Jupiter, who was the king of the gods of a polytheistic society in Roman mythology. Jupiter—he is the same thing as the Greeks call Zeus.
So they figured, well, maybe Barnabas is Jupiter. And then they figured Paul must be Mercurius.
Paul told them, "Do not worship me; we are men of like passions." And they killed him.
They stoned him for being too much like them.
And that is what happens in the church today—we kill people who get caught acting like us.
Oh, you all are not shouting now. Because when you kill somebody for having like passions, it throws the heat off of you because if you can kill them, nobody would suspect you.
But they had a little help—I am almost finished. They had a little help because the Jews came down and talked the men of Lystra into killing Paul—that very man.
They did not like Paul anyway, but it is funny how many folks hate you—they will not, like, kill you themselves.
You do not hear me—they will not kill you themselves. They will turn a posse.
Is there any witnesses in here? Have you ever had a strange posse rise up to take you out, and you did not know where it came from—only to find out that it was one of your own?
Supposed to Be Dead
So they said, "If they are men of like passions, you have got to kill him."
And they took rocks, and they stoned Paul with rocks—big rocks.
Hit him in the head, lacerating his skin, knocking him down to the ground.
They stoned him—which was a custom amongst their people like they were going to stone the woman caught in adultery.
They had experience; they knew how to kill you with rocks.
I want to talk to some haters. You good at what you do; you know how to kill with rocks.
You throw your rocks; you hide your hands, and you keep throwing rocks—and you have had experience at being a rock thrower.
And the Bible said they threw rocks and supposed him to be dead.
This is where it gets good to me. They supposed him to be dead.
Now, I realize maybe 50% of the church will not know what I am talking about, so I have got to preach to the other 50%.
Have you ever had anybody do anything to you to take you out, and they supposed you was dead?
And they suppose you would never be back? And they suppose you would never get up?
And they suppose you would never be nothing?
Have you ever had anybody tell you you cannot be nothing without me?
And they suppose you to be dead? And they left you in trouble?
And they left you in debt? And they left you with the kids?
And they left you with the bills? And they laugh and they went on to the strip club, and they suppose you to be dead?
Have you ever had somebody leave you and think you cannot cook, you cannot clean, you cannot iron, you cannot wash, you cannot make it without me?
"I am going to expose what a bum you are," and they suppose you to be dead?
They suppose Paul to be dead, and they left him for dead.
Everybody who has ever been left for dead—give me 60 seconds of praise.
Well, this is a resurrection service. We are about to have a resurrection service.
We are about to give you some tips that are going to prepare you for what God is going to do next.
The Power of Being Still
Sometimes you have got to lay there and let them think they won.
Oh, I am going to give you a pathway. Sometimes you have got to stop fighting and stop kicking and stop fussing and stop cussing and stop calling and stop yelling and stop texting and stop writing—and display real steel—and act like, you got me—and just lay there with blood running down your forehead and act like, I am harmless.
I have not got no more power. I do not have no more message. I cannot get up—so that they can go on somewhere else because as soon as you shut up, they are going to leave you alone.
Your mouth is fueling the fight.
If you be still and know that God is God, God will fight your battles for you.
You do not have to defend yourself.
Oh God—this is so good; I am going to get my own CD.
You do not have to defend yourself because the battle belongs to God.
If you just be still and lay there, they will leave you for dead—but just because they left you for dead does not mean that you are dead.
I feel a resurrection spirit in this place right now.
Look at somebody and say, "It is not over."
I may be broke, but it is not over. I may be sick, but it is not over.
I may be down, but it is not over. My business might close, but it is not over.
As soon as you all get out of my way, I am getting back up again.
Surround Yourself with Believers
So this is what you are going to do. You are going to form your committee.
You will get a few people to surround you who believe in you.
And the Bible said the disciples surrounded him with a few people that believed in him, and they made a circle around what they thought was dead.
This is nature's way of incubation. Whenever nature gets ready to incubate anything, it will always put it in an egg.
It will wrap it in a shell.
And you have been out there by yourself, but God said for the second half of your life, you need to surround yourself with a few people who know it is not over—a few people who are wishing you well; a few people who can get a prayer through; a few people who are expecting a return; a few people who have got the same mind and the same spirit.
Paul was laying there bleeding—laid up; looked dead; changing colors; getting cold—but because he surrounded himself.
Get you a handful of people that can come into agreement.
This is your year.
I know it does not look like it because your head is bleeding, and I know it does not look like it because they have been rocking you ever since January, but the devil is a liar.
Can you hear me on the Internet? The devil is a liar.
This is your year.
Do not let the stones fool you.
They rocked you; they stoned you; they scandalized you; they laughed at you; they left you—but now that they are gone.
It does not say they bandaged him; it does not say they poured wine in his wounds; it does not say that they set him on a beast.
He just stood up.
And I said, my God—he is not doing nothing but reaping what he sowed.
God said what you make happen for other people, God will make happen for you.
And because you raised up the lame man, God said, I am getting ready to raise you up.
Who am I preaching to?
God said I have not forgotten your kindness to other people.
And in your day of vulnerability—because you had the courage to make a lame man leap—I am going to lift you up out of this state.
He leaped up on his feet, and he started walking.
Confronting the Haters
And, Pastor... this is what got me.
I would have walked away from Lystra, but he went right back into Lystra just to let them know.
No weapon formed against me shall prosper. It will not work.
No weapon formed against me shall prosper. It will not work.
Can I get a witness? Say it again.
"No weapon formed against me shall prosper. It will not work."
God will do what he said he would do. He will stand by his Word; he will come through.
I know God will do what he said he would do. He will stand by his Word; he will come through.
No weapon formed against me shall prosper; it will not work.
No weapon formed against me shall prosper; it will not work.
Hold it right there; do not let it go; just hold it right there.
I want you to take a minute and think about the weapons that have been thrown at you this year.
Over the last 12 months, everybody has taken some blows—some hits; some scrapes.
Wanted you dead. Left you for dead.
Wanted to drive you over the edge. Wanted to wear you completely down.
But the Lord sent me here to tell you that what they threw at you—it will not work. "It just is not work."
Think about it. It hurt, but it will not work. "It just will not work."
This and that the other and this and that and the other—and I have been sitting up at night on the side of the bed, and my sleep has been bad, and my mind has been upset, and my body has been in turmoil, and I have been walking the floor at 3 o'clock in the morning—but the Lord sent me to church this morning to tell you it will not work. "It just is not work."
Nothing they did; nothing they said; nothing they are trying to do; nothing that you have been worried about—the Holy Spirit just spoke in my belly and said, I do not care how many rocks they threw.
You hear me real good—I do not care how many rocks they threw.
And I do not care how dead you look. And I do not care how broke you look.
And I do not care how depressed you have been. And I do not care how upset you have been.
And I do not care how lonely you have been.
And I can see you laying in the bed crying at night. I can see you crying on your pillow in the middle of the night thinking that you cannot get up and that you are tired and you have had too many battles and you cannot make it out of this one—but the devil is a liar.
The devil is a liar; the devil is a liar; the devil is a liar.
God has got you surrounded; he has got you surrounded.
The angels of the Lord encamp about them that fear him.
No weapon that they send against you is going to work.
Your Future Is Waiting
And I want you right now to be renewed because you have made other people leap all your life.
You have made other people leap all your life, but you are coming into a season that you are not just going to make other people leap.
You are getting ready to leap into your destiny.
You will leap so far in your destiny that you can confront your haters and smile at them because you know it did not work.
And I want you to lift your hands and open your mouth and fill this room with praise as the Holy Ghost comes in this room.
Here he comes. Here he comes. Here he comes. Here he comes. Here he comes.
God said, "No weapon formed against me shall prosper. It will not work."
God said it. God said. God said. God said. God said. God said, "No weapon formed against me shall prosper. It will not work."
The anointing of God is in this place. The Spirit of God is right in your house—right in your living room—sitting there with you.
And you have got a whole list of things. You have been stoned—one thing after another after another after another after another.
They just are not one. But it is not going to work.
And I want you to step into an attitude of gratitude.
He goes back into Lystra, and then he moves on to Derbe, and he keeps on moving.
Can I tell you something? God is not through with you yet.
He goes to Iconium, brother; he goes to Antioch. He keeps on moving.
Your future is waiting on you. Your future is waiting on you.
Your future is waiting on you. Your future is waiting on you.
Your future is waiting on you.
Do you receive it? Lift your hands up and receive it.