TD Jakes - A Tasting with the King
Just as ancient Israel threw massive, days-long harvest feasts to celebrate God's provision after droughts, God the Master Vintner celebrates us when we emerge from crushing as His fine wine, inviting us into eternal joy and intimate fellowship with Him.
Harvest Feasts of Gratitude
Let us talk about the historic feasts and parties of ancient Israel and understand that the harvest seasons were huge events, not just work events. They were moments of elaborate celebrations, and people would come from miles and miles around to appreciate what God had done because they so recognized that the harvest was at the mercy of God sending the rain.
The big parties that they would have would last for days and days and days because they had experienced drought. Nothing causes you to enjoy harvests like having experienced drought. It gives you a spirit of gratitude and appreciation. If you have never been through a drought, you will think you did it because of your own goodness, but once you have been in a drought, you know that you are at the mercy of the Lord.
Usually representing a key moment in Jewish history was symbolic of the fact that we are dependent upon God to meet every need. Our harvest depends on Him. Our increase depends on Him. Our growth depends on Him. Our promotions depend on Him. Our businesses depend on Him. The health of our children depends on Him, our livelihood, and so we give Him the glory.
In Israel, these were robust parties, huge celebrations. The Master Vintner is celebrating you as well. He is celebrating you. He has got a plan for your life. You are not an afterthought. You are not an accident. You are not an incident. He has a plan for you.
Imagine the collaborative effort of God celebrating His children while they are celebrating Him. It is much like praise and worship, that we can praise until God turns around on His throne, dance till God dances with you. That is a celebration.
The Seven Feasts of Israel
In Israel, they had seven different kinds of feasts, and I just want to name them quickly so that you might know them and remember them: you have got the Feast of the Passover, you have got the Feast of Unleavened Bread, you have got the Feast of Firstfruits, you have got the Feast of Weeks, or Pentecost; Rosh Hashanah, which is the Feast of Trumpets; the Day of Atonement, Yom Kippur; the Feast of Tabernacles.
All of these feasts point to different attributes and aspects of their faith and their trust and their collaborative living with God. It is no incident that the first miracle that we see Jesus do occurs at a party. After John 1 talks about "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. All things were made by Him, and without Him was not anything made that was made.
In Him was life, and that life was the light of men. And the light shined in darkness, and the darkness comprehended it not." There was a man sent from God whose name was John. He was not that light, but he was sent to bear witness of that light, saying there is one coming after me who is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to unlatch. I will indeed baptize you with water, but He will baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire.
Finally, "And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, and we beheld the wonder of His glory, the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth." The Word was made flesh. The abstract was made concrete. The invisible was made visible. The intangible was now touchable. Christ materialized.
Jesus at the Wedding Feast
Matter materialized, and we beheld the wonder of His glory, the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth, just so that He could hang out with you. They talk about that in John 1, and the moment they get through telling you that Jesus is God, by the time you turn the page to chapter 2, He is at a party.
You would think that after all this elaborate introduction to teach that Jesus, the Word, was made flesh, that Jesus is God, He would go out and do some God stuff, but in John 2, He is at a party. He is chilling. He is at a party with His disciples, and the biggest problem He solves is not a withered hand, it is not leprosy, it is not a woman with the issue of blood.
It says they have run out of wine, and all of a sudden He solves the problem by taking the mundane waters of Cana and turning it into the blissful, powerful, fragrant wine of a wedding whose guests were so appalled that they said, "You have saved the best wine for last."
How do you celebrate God? How do you celebrate God fulfilling His promise? Now that we know that God can be holy in one chapter and party in two, how do you celebrate God? All I have to do is remember the times when I had no electricity or no running water and look back over my life and see where God has brought me from, and I celebrate God.
I honor Him, and I worship Him, and I appreciate Him, and I know I did not get here by myself. I know I did not deserve to be where I am. "To God be the glory for the things He has done." I wonder, did God also celebrate Israel during these feasts in the same sort of way, just like a parent celebrates the accomplishments of their children?
Often the giver, the parent, receives as much joy in the giving as a child does, sometimes more.
The Parable of the Talents
In Matthew 25, it talks about a very interesting story where Jesus, in a parable, talks about the talents that He has given out to various ones of His servants, and to one He gave five, and to one He gave two, and to one He gave one, each with the expectation that you would do something with what He gave you because that is really what life is all about, doing something with what God gives you.
The master leaves the three servants in charge of the possessions that He has placed into their hands. Bear in mind, the servants are now in charge. These people who were subservient are now in leadership, moved into a position so powerful that now they are accountable to the owner Himself.
Things can turn in a moment. That is why you have to be careful how you treat people because the person you met down might end up up, and the person who is up might end up down. You never know how it is going to go. When He returns, He awards His servants who produced more with what He had. The servant who buried his talent, everything he had was taken away from him.
If the Master Vintner celebrated Israel, then I believe He celebrates you. He celebrates you by becoming all that He has labored for you to become. When you win, He wins. The Bible says that God is so interested in you being fruitful that it pleases Him that you bring forth much fruit. "So shall you be My disciples."
The Eternal Celebration
As you move beyond your crushing and fermenting, God sets the table for His royal wine tasting. This celebration is a celebration for all of eternity to understand that everything that God has laid out on the table, He has done it without hiding it, even from your haters. He has done it openly and publicly and is not ashamed of the journey He took you through.
So sit back and take the white napkin and put it in your collar, if you please, and allow the very angels themselves to pour you the first glass of success, and enjoy the nectar that comes from obeying Him, and recognizing that "He does all things well."
There are some places in God that are reserved only for those that He chooses. "He that dwells in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty." There are some places that God will take you into that are only a celebration of your intimacy with Him that only you and He alone can enjoy the inner sanctum.
My favorite scripture in the Bible is Psalm 27: "The Lord is my light and my salvation; of whom shall I fear? The Lord is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid? When the wicked, even my enemies and my foes, came upon me to eat up my flesh, they stumbled and fell.
Though a host should encamp against me, my heart shall not fear; though war should rise against me, in this will I be confident. One thing have I desired of the Lord, and that will I seek after, that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord and to inquire in His temple."
Intimacy in the Secret Place
"For in the time of trouble He shall hide me in His pavilion; in the secret of His tabernacle shall He hide me; He shall set me up upon a rock. Now shall my head be lifted up above my enemies round about me; therefore will I offer in His tabernacle sacrifices of joy; I will sing, yea, I will sing praises unto the Lord."
This is the hope of every believer to have that communion, that koinonia, that fellowship, that covenant, that closeness, that intimacy where you and God, and God and you alone can enter into that place of intimacy. It is so wonderful to be in a place with Him, to be around somebody with whom you have nothing to hide.
The Bible says, "All things are naked and opened unto the eyes of Him with whom we have to do." There is nothing about you that He does not know—not just what you did, but what you think, what you thought, what ran through your mind, what you would have done, what you are capable of doing, what you dreamed about.
All things are naked before Him, so there is no need to be pretentious, important, self-righteous, spectacular, impressive. You can be your authentic self because He already knows who you are, and what makes it even better, you are "accepted in the Beloved." Your life is hidden with Christ in God.
When you come before God, you come in Christ. In Him I live and move and have my being. "If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new." Because of my position, not my condition. My condition is a work in progress, but my position is complete. It is finished.
Bold Access and Transformation
I am already in the holies of holies. The veil was rent from top to bottom so that I would have no restrictions. That is why Hebrews says I can "come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need."
There is nothing restricting me from accessing Him anytime, anyplace, at any moment in my life. I do not have to be in a sanctuary or put on a certain outfit. I can access Him in my shower, in my bathtub, on my way to work.
I am the wine at the table of showbread. I am the smell of burning incense in the holies of holies because I am in Him, only because I stood with Him in the crushing. "If we suffer with Him, we will reign with Him."
The pain only lasts for a season, and then it is over. The joy lasts for a lifetime. Take heart, my friend. Have hope. Be filled with trust. God is working in you to transform and prepare you for this eternal feast.
If you think we are partying over here, you just wait till we get over there. Wait till the trumpet sounds and the skies roll back and the angels bow and welcome us into the eternal presence of God. Everything we have taught on this side is only the pattern of the dress. When we get there, we are going to put on the real thing, the real feast, the real celebration.
That is why Jesus said, "I will not drink of this fruit of the vine until I drink it new with you in My Father's kingdom." Save the best wine for last.
Blessed Despite the Battles
There are moments when the enemy whispers that because of what I am going through, maybe I am not blessed—maybe because I have a mountain to bring down, a valley to cross, a problem in my family or finances. Then I remind him that I am not blessed because of what is on me. I am blessed because of what is in me.
I am blessed no matter where I go, in the city or the field, going in or coming out. I have been blessed to see drug dealers turn into deacons, winos into choir members, convicts into converts, deadbeat dads into responsible fathers.
I have seen the downtrodden uplifted, homeless people buy houses, families reconciled. I have seen God do the impossible, the amazing, the spectacular, the supernatural. I have access to Him anytime, without ceremony or ritual. I am accepted in the Beloved.
Jesus took our griefs and sorrows, but He desires to make us like Him. Every step I take, I inch closer to being like Jesus. I rejoice in the crushing because without it, I would have no hope to be His glass of wine held in His hand.
Joy in the Morning
The Bible says, "Weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning." This is longer than a normal night. It can be months. It can be years where weeping endures, but the promise yet remains that joy comes in the morning.
I am praying with you for morning and for strength to endure however long the night until the morning comes. I have experienced the crushing pain of life, and I have seen the bright awakening of morning.
Father, bless my brothers and sisters right now as they face that dark, midnight season in their marriage, in their finances, in their business, in their heart, in their home, with their children, with bereavement. Lift them up, and let the early shadows of daybreak begin to appear above the eastern sky. I thank You for it now in Jesus' name, amen.