TD Jakes - What Does it Feel Like to Have a Visit From God?
Have you ever been visited by him? Have you ever had him stop by your house while you were running your sweeper, and he just came in the house with you? You start looking kind of crazy to the kids because the next thing you know, you’re rocking your head and tears are rolling down your face. They come in the house and say, «Mama, what’s wrong with you?» They don’t know you have company. They didn’t hear the door open; they didn’t hear the door close. Nobody heard the doorbell ring, but there’s a visitor in the house. Good God almighty, I looked out in the driveway and didn’t see a car anywhere, but there’s a visitor in the house. I don’t see an extra place setting at the dinner table, but there’s a visitor in the house. I want to talk to somebody who knows what it’s like to get a visit from Jesus. You were going to quit your job, but overnight you got a visit from Jesus. You were going to leave your husband, but overnight you got a visit from Jesus.
Let’s be real for a moment; we’re not here because we’re so good, but every time we got ready to quit, we got a visit from Jesus. So, my brothers and sisters, the text says, «The former treaties have I made, O Theophilus, of all that Jesus began both to do and to teach.» Notice the word «began.» Whenever it says he began both to do and to teach, it means he isn’t finished yet. Write yourself a note and tell yourself he isn’t finished yet. Tweet your neighbors and tell them he isn’t finished yet. Take a picture of your house and put it on Instagram, and right underneath, write, «He ain’t finished yet.» Take a picture of yourself and say, «He ain’t finished yet.»
Good God almighty, he just began to teach! God is not through with me. Take a picture of your church and finish it. Go out to the garage and take a picture of that raggedy car and write a note to yourself: «He ain’t finished yet.» He said all that Jesus began both to do and to teach. I’m happy because I know he ain’t finished yet. He’s still working on me. He’s still building me up. He’s still getting me ready. He’s still sending me down. He’s still nailing me together. He’s still varnishing me out. He’s doing some finish work on me. Have you had God put some finish work on you? Oh, you should have seen me before. You think I’m a mess now—you should have seen me before! I came a long way to be where I am right now. Somebody shout yes! Somebody shout yes! Somebody shout yes! Somebody shout yes! Somebody shout yes again! Put your hands together and give the Lord some praise.
Now, we must understand something: these are particular men. There are 11 men left; one of them has committed suicide. His entrails have spilled out in the potter’s field; his name is Judas. The unity has been broken by suicide. So their Lord has been crucified; the comrade has committed suicide. They’re trying to hold the ranks together in the absence of the physical presence of Jesus. They’re trying to figure out who’s going to replace Judas. They start casting lots because men will do men’s things, trying to fix God’s problems, but men’s things won’t fix God’s problems. In order to fix a God problem, you need a God thing. You can’t do a man thing and fix a God problem; you have to turn it over to God. While they were casting lots for a boy named Matthias, God was looking for a guy named Saul. They picked Matthias; God picked Saul. Good God almighty, I don’t want who you pick; I want who God picks. That’s what’s wrong with your life now. You’ve been picking who you pick, but the next one who comes into your life, you want it to be who God picks.
Now, I want to admit that Matthias looked like a better deal. Matthias had been around; Matthias was on the right side of the tracks, and the guy that God picked had been an enemy of the church. It didn’t look like a good deal; it didn’t look like a good decision. But when God makes up his mind, he’ll take wrong and make it right. He’ll take down and build it up. He’ll take loose and make it strong. He’ll take weak and give it power. Some of you are in this room because God picked you. Nobody else would have thought you’d ever be where you are right now, but God picked you out.
If you ever had God pick you out, it’ll put running in your feet and clapping in your hands. They picked Matthias; God picked Paul. Paul wrote more of the New Testament than Matthias ever got to hear of. We’ll never hear of Matthias again. A historian said he built a church somewhere, but he didn’t write an epistle. Not one book was added, not one miracle was written, not one revelation was given. Not one dead man was raised; not one sick man was healed. But the stone that the builders rejected was the one that the miracles came through. The doors were open, blind eyes were opened, and the lame began to walk. Never despise being God’s man. I’d rather be God’s man than to be your man. I’d rather be on God’s side than to be on your side. Somebody who’s been rejected, give God a little bit of praise right now.
So now they’re trying to figure out what to do. The last thing they’ve said in the text with Jesus, even after all of his visits, all of his speaking, and all of his revelations, they still were not clear on his direction. So they asked him, «When are you going to set up your kingdom?» Because once people get something in their head, no matter how they shout or how they dance, it’s still in the back of their mind.
I’ve counseled people till my tongue turned blue, and once people get something in their mind, it’s still in their mind all the way down to the end. They were asking him, «Oh yeah, that’s good. Thank you; we’re gonna have the Holy Ghost. Thank you for the dead you raised. Thank you for the sick you healed. Thank you for turning water into wine. Thank you for cleansing the leprous and setting the captives free. But when are you going to set up your kingdom?» The reason they wanted the kingdom is that if Jesus set up the kingdom, they were going to be on the board. Lord have mercy! Everybody has a reason why they follow you, but Jesus kept on walking and said, «It’s not given to you to know when the kingdom is going to be set up, but ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Judea and in Samaria and the uttermost parts of the earth.»
Good God almighty, I said to myself, «They shall be witnesses to you.» Were they not already witnesses to you? They were there on that night when the wind was whispering through the air and the lightning was flashing, and you were walking on water. They saw you walk on water like a ghost. They were there when the storm began to rise, and you were sleeping in the bottom of the boat. You wiped sleep out of your eye, arrested the winds, and commanded the waves to be still. They were there when you stopped the widow of Nain’s funeral, ran down, and touched the casket, and the boy got out of the casket and started walking all around.
They were there when you stopped by the blind man and spat in his eye, and he washed in the Pool of Siloam and came out seeing. They were there when Lazarus was down in the tomb, and you didn’t even go in the tomb. You stood outside at the door, stood on the front porch, and said, «Lazarus, come forth!» and the dead man came walking out of the tomb. They were there; they were there; they were there when the woman with the issue of blood touched the hem of his garment, and she was made whole.
They were there when the crowd sought you, and you disappeared out of their midst. They were there when you took two fish and five loaves of bread and fed five thousand people. They were there when they cut a hole in the roof, and a lame man came down, and you healed him, and he picked up his bed and began to walk. They were there when they took you from judgment hall to judgment hall. They were there when they hung you high and stretched you wide. They were there when the stone was rolled away, and you stood up again. They were there when you walked through a solid door—ghost enough to walk through the door but man enough to eat fish when you got inside. They were there!
How could they not be witnesses since they were there? He said, «Oh no, Jake, that ain’t the witness I’m talking about. Everything you talking about is on earth, but in order to be a witness unto me, you had to be there when I was in the portals of glory, and I rolled up my divinity and threw it from eternity down into time, wrapped up in the dressing room of a womb called Mary, and came walking out in the flesh. You had to be there when I said, 'Let there be light, ' and there was light, and it was good. You had to be there when I wrestled Jacob in the middle of the night. You had to be there when I appeared in the fiery furnace. You had to be there! Y’all don’t hear what I’m saying—you shall be witnesses! You’re not a witness yet; you got a good memory, but you’re not a witness yet. You’re not a witness until the witness comes. You’re not a witness until the witness comes. You’re not a witness until the witness comes.
I said, „How could that be? I saw some stuff!“ He said, „Yeah, you saw some stuff.“ I said, „I got evidence!“ He said, „Yeah, you got evidence, but you’re not a witness until the witness comes.“ A witness—who is the witness? The Holy Ghost is a witness, and that’s why I said you shall be witnesses unto me when the Holy Ghost has come upon you. He can witness things that you never got to see and that you never got to do. He said, „Go to Jerusalem.“ What do the young people say? „Wait for it! Wait for it!“ You got to wait in Jerusalem until you’re endued with power that comes from on high.
I feel my old school stuff kicking in right now. The problem with the church today is they want everything instant; they want it quick; they want it in a hurry. And anything you get in a hurry, you lose in a hurry. But I remember the old school, where you had to get around the altar and wait for it. Good God almighty! If you waited around the altar, you didn’t let nobody talk you out of that. If you tarried around the altar, you didn’t let nobody get you drunk out of that. There’s something about waiting on it. When you get it, you appreciate it. What you need to do is wait until you get an encounter with God—a real encounter with God. I’m not asking you to give God your heart and shake my hand; it’s not in my hand. I’m asking you to get in the presence of God and wait on the anointing of the Holy Ghost!
There is a power that comes from the Holy Ghost that’ll shake your dry bones out of the valley. There is a power that’ll come from the Holy Ghost that’ll drive cancer out of your flesh. There is a power that comes from God that’ll save everybody in your house. There is a power that will deliver you from crack and cocaine. There is a power that will loose the shackles that are in your life! You want it? Wait for it! There is a power that has set the captives free. There is a power that opens up prison doors! Wait for it! There is a power that’ll bring you out of the dungeon. There is a power that the witch can’t hex! There is a power that will break every curse over your life—what your grandma did, what your granddaddy did. There is a power that’ll loose you and set you free! Wait for it!
There is a power that’ll bring you off a ventilator. There is a power that will bring COVID out of your system. There is a power that will set the captives free! Somebody somewhere give God a praise right now! I dare you to wait! I dare you to wait! I dare you to wait! I dare you to wait! Cut the clock off and wait! Take the phone off the hook and wait! Cut off the telephone and wait! Shut the door and wait! Pull the blinds and wait! Stop texting and wait! I dare you to wait on it! Get in the room and wait on it! Lay on the bed and wait on it! Get on your knees and wait on it! Clap your hands and wait on it!
After that, the Holy Ghost has come upon you, you shall have power—power to walk right, power to talk right, power to live right, power to pray right! Somebody said yes! Wait for it! Wait for it! Wait for it! It’s coming in your room! Wait for it! It’s coming in your house! Wait for it! It’s coming in your finances! Wait for it! It’s coming on your job! Wait for it! It’s coming after your cancer! Wait for it! It’ll heal your leukemia! Wait for it! It will deliver your lupus! Wait for it! Wait for it! Wait for it! He says, „You shall be endued with power from on high! After that, the Holy Ghost has come upon you, ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Judea and in Samaria and the uttermost parts of the earth!“
The challenge today is that we don’t want to wait for it. We don’t want to wait. God is ready to do it.
We don’t want to wait for it; we want to grow up overnight. We want to become a bishop in 30 minutes, a pastor in two weeks, and an apostle in a year. The reason the church is in trouble today is that we don’t want to wait for it. But Jesus is teaching us clearly and succinctly that great things come to those who wait. They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles. They shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint. If you don’t learn anything else this Sunday morning, I challenge you to learn how to wait for it.
God has already told you some things He’s going to do in your life—some great and mighty things—and the prophecies are true. But just because it doesn’t come speedily doesn’t mean it’s not going to happen. You’ve got to have enough faith to wait for it. You don’t raise a good child overnight. You don’t get out of debt in three days. You don’t lose weight in a week. You don’t have a strong marriage in three years. You’ve got to cry for it, crawl for it, and work for it. Shut your mouth and cry out for it; endure for it, suffer for it. He told them to go on to Jerusalem and wait. Wait for it; I’m going to send it. There’s no question of whether I will send it—the question is, are you willing to wait?