TD Jakes - Numerology and Social Equity
This is an introductory moment in the ministry of Jesus Christ. I emphasize the Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because this is as much about Spirit as it is about anything else. And when you refer to the Spirit, of course, you understand that the Spirit is in fact, the study of the Spirit is pneumatology. To understand that the Spirit has had a premier role in authenticating and validating that Jesus is not just the carpenter's son, but he is Jesus the Christ, the Christ, the Christavus. He is the one that has just received an anointing at the Jordan River. The Jordan River has so impacted him and so empowered him that it has led him first into the wilderness, first into hiding, and then into exposure.
When you are really chosen of God, he hides you before he exposes you. The fact that you are in a hidden season does not mean that you will not come to a place of exposure. Do not become frustrated when you see other people exposed while you are hidden. Greatness has to be incubated. It has to be prepared. It was validated in the Jordan. It was incubated in the wilderness. It was instituted when he began to speak. It was validated in the Jordan: "This is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased". That validation was important; but, in order for it to be instituted in the message, it had to be hidden in the isolation. Anything significant that is life-giving and life-changing is pneuma, is Spirit, and anything that is birthed of the Spirit must also go through a stage of hiding.
God hides what he has called. He hides it to protect it, to prepare it, to invigorate it, to motivate it, to prove it. Obscurity proves authenticity. If you rush to the stage, you're not in love with the calling, you're in love with the stage. Until you can worship him in the wilderness, you have no right to worship him in the synagogue. And every now and then, the Spirit will lead you into the wilderness. This is not the devil doing it. The Spirit led him into the wilderness and says, "How you like me now? Can you love me with nobody looking? Can you worship me when your needs are not being met? Can you go through a fast and say, 'I'm still God?'"
Whether it's a fast for food or fast for friends or fast for family or fast for love, there's not a person in this room that hasn't been in seasons of fasting and isolation and needed desperately to get a touch from the Lord; but it was God, not the enemy. It was God that led you into that spot of seclusion to prepare you. "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me". Say it. "The Spirit of the Lord is..." Say it again. Say it again. Now the Spirit of the Lord is upon me, but not for me. The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, but not for me. We don't understand that the Spirit of the Lord that is upon him is not for him until he opens up the book of Esaias and then he begins to list that he is anointed to preach to the poor, to bind up the wounds of the brokenhearted, to set the captive free.
In other words, everything that was on him was for them. Until we get beyond our narcissistic view that everything God is doing in me is for me, we will never see the explosion of response that we are looking for. From the position you've been appointed to, to the calling that you have, to the elevation that you've received, to the promotion that has happened on your job, all of it was upon you, but none of it was for you. So if you do not have the willingness to be a channel from which God operates through rather than a vessel through which God pours into, you will never see the abundance of your ministry. You'll be a mighty fish in a five gallon tank; but, you'll never flow into the ocean of what God has for you because narcissism builds small walls, puts you in a place of incubation when you should be into a place of integration, where you are integrating what was poured on you into the lives and for the betterment of other people beyond yourself. Are you with me so far?
Jesus said, "It was only for the poor," so he cares about economy. I am shocked at what he read. And then he said, "This day the Scriptures is fulfilled in your eyes," because I would have thought that he would have said, "The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me to redeem people, to go to the cross, to establish my kingdom, to show you who I really am, to show you what I'm working with, to show you what I got. The Spirit of the Lord is upon me to take over. The Spirit of the Lord is upon me to overthrow Rome. The Spirit of the Lord is upon me to do all of this other stuff". Instead, Jesus says, "God has anointed me with fresh oil for the least of these".
God is doing a level set; and, whenever God does a level set, there will be a mighty shift. Jesus goes from being the lord of lords and the king of kings and the mighty I Am and the fourth one in the fiery furnace and the one who wrestled with Jacob in the Old Testament. He goes from the theophonic manifestation of who he is as God himself, and then comes down from being the CEO of heaven to a manger. He who was rich became poor that through his poverty we might be made rich. There is a level change going on here and a shift going on; and, whenever God is going to move, there will always be a shift. He has brought him from the royal diadem and the host of heaven and the crystal sea, and with cherubims all around his head to the smell of sheep and oxen born in a manger.
Conversely, Moses, who is born around the manger and the smell of sheep and dung all around him is promoted from down to up. There is a shift going on. Jesus went from up to down. Moses went from down to up. How could I be born the child of a slave on the hit list of Pharaoh and end up being nursed in the palace and raised as a king? Shifting: God is always moving us this way and that way. He says, "I raise up one and I bring down another. I am God. It is not you. It is not your ambition. It is not your dream. It is not your goal. It is my purpose to move you in either direction I want to move you because I am God and besides me there is no other and I will level set. So what you're a slave; I'll make you a prince. So what you're a CEO; I will bring you down to your knees. I am God so that you are not serving me for conditions or positions. I will shift you in the wind of change to see and to test the legitimacy of your faith".
He told Abram, "Now, I know that thou hast believed me. I test you that you might be proven and I prove you in the shift and I will change and I will level set however I want to to say, 'How do you like me now?' You like me in the Jordan, do you like me in the desert? You like me in the desert, do you like me in the synagogue"? Is that love consistent because what we want to become is consistent. Shout it like you lost your mind. Consistent. The problem that we have in our churches, in our businesses, in our company, it's not that we can't find talented people, it's that we cannot find consistent people.
So here is our problem: you want to do great business and you own a company, but you have little value on your customer? You will have no more brand loyalty than you have loyalty to your customer. When your customers believe that you care about them, they will care about you. That's why every smart company has added some more alphabets to their organization. Like DEI: diversity, equity, and inclusion. DEI did not exist a few years ago, but companies are starting to realize that it is profitable; and, not only right, it's profitable to have diversity because society is more diverse, equity and inclusion. Churches, smarten up. You love crowds, but don't like people.
So you don't want to be bothered with the people; but, you want to brag about the crowd. But what you don't understand is you got it backwards. I'm gonna give you a freebie. And if you get this, your church is gonna explode. If you build people, people will build crowds. If you focus on building up people, the people will build crowds. God wants you to be a builder. Shout, I'm a builder. Shout it again, I'm a builder. Everybody who said it in mean it, you'll never have to worry about a job, you'll never have to worry about a lover, you'll never have to worry about a raise, you'll never have to worry about an advance because anybody that builds is attractive. Shout, I'm a builder. That means that God is going to give you stuff to build and the problem you've been complaining about is God giving you an opportunity to have something to build.
Shout it again, I'm a builder. God brought you into that situation, the level set. No, it's not finished. No, it's not perfect. No, it's not where you want it to be. If it were where you want it to be, you wouldn't get to exercise of it. God has put you in a situation where you can build; because when you build it, you own it. And if you built it once, you can build it again. There are things you learn from building that you cannot get from inheriting. Shout, I'm a builder. If you're a builder, any woman in the room wants you because every woman loves to be married to somebody who is a builder. When I met this girl, I said, "Follow me and I'll take you places you've never been and show you things you have never seen". And when I said it to her, I was on welfare; but, I kept my word because I'm a builder, and I'm a master builder.
So Paul says in Corinth, "I speak unto you as a master builder". I don't have to go where the grass is green and the house is built. I can come on dry ground and build something out of nothing because I'm a master builder. I don't have to come into a full church. I can come into a half-full or empty church because I'm a master builder. Shout out, I'm a master builder. The purpose of us gathering together into a sold out crowd and thousands streaming online is because I want to raise up a nation of master builders. I don't care whether you're white, black, brown. I don't care whether you're millennial or boomer, you're still here to build.
As long as you can breathe, you can build. If you can breathe, you can build. If you can breathe, you can build. I build people, I build families, I build churches, I build businesses, I build companies, I build neighborhoods, I build relationships. I'm a master builder. I'm not a master gossiper, I'm not a master tear down, I'm not a master ratchet person. I'm a master builder. Deliver me from people who live off of tearing other people down. I don't have time to tear you down because I'm a builder. I know that the same crew that specializes in demolition cannot specialize in construction. You've been hanging out with the wrong crowd. You've been hanging with the demolition crew; I'm hanging with the construction crew. I'm a master builder.
Nudge five people and say, I'm a master builder. I'm a master builder. I'm a master builder... I'll build my kids, I'll build my children, I'll build my house, I'll build my living room, I'll build my neighborhood, I'll build my community, I'll build my yard, I'll build my country, I'll build my company, I'll build my business. I might start out working in the kitchen, but I'll build me a restaurant. I'll build. I'll build it because I'm a master builder. I came here because I'm a master builder. I flew 15 hours to hear I'm a master builder.
There are people who are here from around the world listening at me in different languages; but in whatever language you speak, shout, I'm a master builder. Twenty-something countries are represented in this room today, and everybody's here because they got something to build. You thought you had a problem. Your problem is not a problem; it's an opportunity. It's a place to work out in. It's a place to exercise. It's a place to develop. It's a place to grow. Somebody shout, I'm a master builder. I will build this house. I will build this marriage. I will build this relationship. I will build my daughter. I will build my son. I will build my house. I will build my company. If I like it, I'll build it. If I wanna wear it, I'll build it. If I wanna drive it, I'll build it. I'm a master builder.
You were created in the likeness and the image of God, and God is a master builder. And if you're like God, get to building. Get your hammer, get your rake, get your nails, and let's get to building. Stop waiting on a miracle. Building is not a miracle; it's a function. And if you put more into it, you're gonna get more out of it. I need 30 seconds of praise for somebody that's motivated to build. Come on, come on, come on, come on, come on, come on, come on, come on, come on, come on, come on, come on, come on. Come on people, come on, come on. Come on. I feel the spirit of Nehemiah in this room. He built a new wall out of old stones. And I challenge you to take those old stones that you got and build a brand new wall.
Run over and touch five people and say, I'm going to build it. I'm going to build it. I'm going to build it. I'm going to build it. I'm going to build it. I'm going to build it. If you don't help me, I'll help myself. If you don't support me, I'll support myself. If you don't get behind me, I'll get behind myself; but, I refuse to live and die and not build something. I'm gonna leave a legacy in the earth that lets my great-great-grandchildren know that I was here. You know why? I'm a master builder. Is there a master builder out there? Make some noise in this place. Open up your mouth and shout unto God. The reason I quoted Albert Einstein is because Albert tapped into something that is very relevant to people of all cultures and walks of life. You cannot build new things with old consciousness.
I am telling you what you called a problem, an impasse, an injury, a wound, a dysfunction, a broken place is actually a construction site. And if you change the way you think about it, the reason innovative ideas are not coming to you is because you misallocated what it was. "Unto one, he gave one talent, to another, he gave two. to the third, he gave five. And then took his journey into a far country". Not once did the householder tell them the build. Not once did he tell them, "I expect more when I get back". He just gave it to them and left. And when he came back, he said, "Where is my return on what I have given you"? What I have given you, watch this: it is a transference from the owner to the slave. All three men were slaves. Who leaves slaves as stewards of their property? What is Jesus telling us? He is going to transfer influence into your life. Lift your hands. Influence.
That's what leadership is is influence. Influence is coming to some of the most unlikely people in the world, not at the same level. Yes, the guy across from you's got five talents and you only got two. And that woman up front may only have one; but, every person in this room has been gifted. Shout out, gifted. No, your low self-esteem didn't hear you. Shout out, gifted. No, your doubts didn't hear you. Shout, I'm gifted. I am too gifted to be depressed. I am too gifted to be defeated. I am too gifted to be discouraged. I am too gifted to be jealous of you. I am too gifted to be a hater. I am too gifted to give up on my dream. Shout it again, I'm gifted. Hell trembles when you talk like that. Demons tremble when you talk like that. Satan is enraged when you talk like that because he wants you to think you don't have anything to work with; but, tell him he's a liar and shout, I'm gifted.
To the one who had five, without getting a command, he turned it to 10. To the one who had two, he turned it to four. Now, it looks like the one with five out did the one with two; but, it's not true. They both delivered a hundred percent return based on what they had been given. The one who had one, he buried it; and, Jesus exiled him into a place of wailing and gnashing teeth because he did not do anything with what he had been given. I close with this question. What have you done with what you have been given? You are not accountable for what I have been given. You are only accountable for what you have been given. Shout it again, I have been gifted.