TD Jakes - Left For Dead
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's 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 don't even know what that would be like. I don't even have the coordination. I don't even have the muscular dexterity. I'm 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 mean 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're asking me to leap out of my normal.
Paul challenged him to go beyond his experience and do something he'd never done before, to leap out of his normal. The Lord sent me here to tell somebody, I don't know who it is, that he's calling you to do something you've never done before, and in order to do it, you can't gradually do it, you can't do it one toe at a time, you can't stick one foot in and see if it will hold you up. God said, you're gonna have to leap out of your normal, somebody just leap, just leap. That's how you're going to come out of it. That's how you're gonna come out of it. That's how you're going to come out. You're just going to leap out of your door, you're just going to leap out. Your friend's not gonna understand it, your family's not gonna understand it, your neighbors are not going to endorse it, but what God is gonna do in your life is so quick, it's so sudden, it's so massive, it's so comprehensive, it's so complete, it's so all encompassing that you're getting ready to leap.
Look at somebody and tell them, give me some room, I gotta leap. When they saw him leap... bear in mind, they're not Jews, they're not familiar with Jehovah. They're amazed. 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 don't 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 don't understand what you're talking about because they're 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's the same thing as the Greeks what call Zeus.
So, they figured, well, maybe Barnabas is Jupiter. And then they figured Paul must be Mercurius. Paul told them, "Don't worship me, we are man of like passions". And they killed him. They stoned him for being too much like them. And that's what's happens in the church today, we kill people who get caught acting like us. Oh, y'all ain't shouting now. 'Cause when you kill somebody for having like passions, it throws the heat off of you, 'cause if you can kill them, nobody would suspect you. But they had a little help, I'm almost finished. They had a little help, 'cause the Jews came down and talked to the man of Lystra into killing Paul, that very man. They didn't like Paul anyway, but it's funny how many folks hate you. They won't, like, kill you themselves. You don't hear me, they won't kill you theyself. They'll turn a posse.
Is there any witnesses in here? Have you ever had a strange posse rise up to take you out, and you didn't know where it came from, only to find out that it was one of your own? So they said, "If they men of like passions, you gotta 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 gonna 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've 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 won't know what I'm talking about, so I 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'd never be back? And they suppose you'd never get up? And they suppose you'd never be nothing? Have you ever had anybody tell you you can't 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 can't cook, you can't clean, you can't iron, you can't wash, you can't make it without me? I'm gonna 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's 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 gonna prepare you for what God is going to do next. Sometimes you got to lay there and let them think they won. Oh, I'm gonna give you a pathway. Sometime you gotta 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'm harmless. I ain't got no more power. I don't have no more message. I can't get up, so that they could go on somewhere else, 'cause as soon as you shut up, they're 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 don't have to defend yourself. Oh God, this is so good I'm gonna get my own CD. You don't have to defend yourself 'cause 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 ain't over. I may be broke, but it ain't over. I may be sick, but it ain't over. I may be down, but it ain't over. My business might close, but it ain't over. As soon as y'all get outta my way, I'm getting back up again.
So, this is what you're gonna do. You're gonna form your committee. You'll get a few people to surround you who believe in you. And the Bible said, the apostle surrounded himself 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've 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 ain't 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 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 don't look like it 'cause your head is bleeding, and I know it don't look like 'cause they've 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. Don't 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're gone. It doesn't say they bandaged him, it doesn't say they poured wine in his wounds, it doesn't say that they set him on a beast. He just stood up. And I said, my God, he ain't doin' nothin' 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'm 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'm gonna lift you up out of this state. He leaped up on his feet, and he started walking. 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 won't work. No weapon formed against me shall prosper. It won't work. Can I get a witness? Say it again. "No weapon formed against me shall prosper. It won't 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 won't work. No weapon formed against me shall prosper, it won't work".
Hold it right there, don't 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's 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 won't work. "It just ain't work". Think about it. It hurt, but it won't work. "It just won't work". This and that the other and this and that and the other, and I've been sitting up at night on the side of the bed, and my sleep's been bad, and my mind's been upset, and my body's been in turmoil, and I've been walking the floor at 3 o'clock in the morning, but the Lord sent me to church this morning to tell you it won't work. "It just ain't work".
Nothing they did, nothing they said, nothing they're trying to do, nothing that you've been worried about, the Holy Spirit just spoke in my belly and said, I don't care how many rocks they threw. You hear me real good, I don't care how many rocks they threw. And I don't care how dead you look. And I don't care how broke you look. And I don't care how depressed you've been. And I don't care how upset you've been. And I don't care how lonely you've 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 can't get up and that you're tired and you had too many battles and you can't 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's got you surrounded, he 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.
And I want you right now to be renewed, 'cause 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 gonna 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 'em, because you know it didn't 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 won't work". God said it. God said. God said. God said. God said. God said, "No weapon formed against me shall prosper. It won't 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've got a whole list of things. You've been stoned, one thing after another after another after another after another. They're just ain't one. But it's 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 and he keeps on going. Can I tell you something? God is not through with you yet. He goes to Iconia, 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.