TD Jakes - Stay In the Fight
Hey, we’re back, we’re back, we’re back, we’re back, we’re back, and we’re excited to have the opportunity, uh, to give and sow into the Kingdom of God. I’m going to pray for God’s blessing; I want you to join your faith with mine, and let’s come into covenant agreement.
Father, in the name of Jesus, we thank You. You said in Your Word that the blessing of the Lord maketh rich and addeth no sorrow to it. We don’t want the kind of blessing that will make us have nervous breakdowns or lead us to despair; we want the kinds of blessings that add no sorrow to it. Bless Your people in a supernatural way—spiritually, financially, physically, emotionally—in every area of their lives, as they attach their faith to this moment through the giving of their seed. I speak harvest and increase over their lives right now, in the mighty name of Jesus. I thank You that You do all things well; You are good at everything. Do Your thing, Lord; bless Your people in Jesus' name. Amen.
If you didn’t get a chance to give during the giving part of the service, the prompter is going to come up to give you an opportunity to give, and I pray that you bring your seed under that same blessing because He does do all things well. There are some things He wants to do for you that you cannot do for yourself, so believe God with us, and it shall come to pass.
I have been laboring in the book of Romans, and I’m going to go back into the book of Romans. We’re going to have a little bit of a discussion as we begin to explore how Paul gets personal in the seventh chapter of the book of Romans and talks about who he is, how he struggles. So go with me now to the seventh chapter of the book of Romans, and we’re going to begin to dive into the Word of God. Let’s start around verse number 14: «For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am carnal, sold under sin. For that which I do I allow not; for what I would, that do I not; but what I hate, that do I.» If then I do that which I would not, I consent unto the law that it is good. Now then, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me.
It’s amazing, for I know that in me, that is to say, in my flesh, dwelleth no good thing. For to will is present with me, but how to perform that which is good I find not; for the good that I would do I do not; but the evil which I would not, that I do. Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. I find then a law that when I would do good, evil is present with me. If I delight in the law of God after the inward man, I see another law in my members warring against the law of my mind and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin, which is in my members. Oh, wretched man that I am! Who shall deliver me from the body of this death? I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then, with the mind I myself serve the law of God, but with the flesh the law of sin.
I’m going to go a bit further down into Romans 8:1: «There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.» So ends the reading of God’s Word tonight. Let’s pray for a blessing over the Word. Father, take charge of the Bible class tonight and take us into the depths and the riches of the Word of God that we might be strengthened, edified, grow, and be nourished by the Word of God. Let it be made flesh, in Jesus' name. Amen.
It is ironic to me that in the book of Romans, of all places, Paul chooses this time to be transparent. Sandwiched in the theology that he is infusing into the Roman church, it’s almost effusive in the way that he explains the theology of God’s plan for Gentiles and Jews and how He connects and brings us all in. He talks to us quite lavishly in the fifth chapter of Romans, teaching us about faith, and through faith we have peace with God. He says, «Therefore, being justified by faith, we have peace with God.» I think it’s Romans 5:1 that speaks of that amazing accomplishment that we possess. We have, right now—not wishing for it, but we have peace with God by faith.
No longer at odds with Him, no longer at war with Him; faith has given us an amicable relationship with God. Later, we’ll become like Abraham, the friend of God, because we have believed Him. We become God’s friend not because we clap or sing, but because we believe Him. Having become the friend of God, we have peace with God. There are three types of peace: there is peace with God, there is the peace of God, and then there is peace in God.
So, He says by faith we have peace with God, which means that God and I are no longer wrestling. I’m no longer an enemy or in enmity with God. I have peace with God. Now, the peace of God is to have a peace that didn’t originate from me. It’s not a peace coming from my environment, my circumstances, or my situation. I have the peace of God, which passeth all understanding. The peace of God will guard your heart and mind. The peace of God passeth all understanding; this is not even my peace. I should be upset, angry, volatile, frustrated, and anxious. But there’s a peace that isn’t even coming from me; it is the peace of God.
Then I have peace in God: «He that dwelleth in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.» If I can’t find peace anywhere else, I have peace in God. Maybe not in my house, maybe not in my job, maybe not with my friends, maybe not with my family, but when I run to Him, I dwell in the secret place of the Most High, and He has become my sanctuary. His presence is my sanctuary; it’s not a building, and it’s not attended by ushers. To flee into His presence gives me peace in God, and that’s why we’re online tonight, on a Wednesday night when you could be doing something else, but you have learned the value of pursuing Him. Having pursued Him, you have peace in God.
Paul begins to talk to us about that in the fifth chapter and the sixth chapter. Let’s go over to the sixth chapter for a moment. In the sixth chapter, he goes even into a deeper understanding of something that we really need to know. We understood about faith and being justified by faith, having peace with God. In the sixth chapter, he says, «What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound?» God forbid! He’s warning us against taking grace for granted. How can we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein? He didn’t say, «How can we sin?» He said, «How can we live any longer therein?» To merely live in it, to wallow in it.
I heard a preacher say this years ago, and it always stuck with me: the sheep and the pig can both fall in the mud, but the pig wallows because it’s in its nature to be muddy, while the sheep cries. It’s the same mud hole; they did the same thing, they fell into the same spot, but the pig’s nature is an attraction to being muddy, while the sheep’s nature is a desire to get out. Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? How can we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein? Then he begins to make a very powerful argument: «Know ye not that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into His death?»
He tells us about the dying part of Christianity that dying to oneself that baptism typifies; it’s not just a symbolic act that we do. The old man that we’re putting away is his control over our lives. Look at it this way: if you have a throne and you have a cross, if you are sitting on the throne, then Christ is on the cross. If you nail your flesh to the cross, it is a sign that Christ is sitting on the throne. Who’s throne and who’s being crucified? One or the other has to be crucified. If you’re sitting on the throne, then Christ is on the cross. He shouldn’t be on the cross anymore; He finished His work on the cross. But if you are self-enthroned, you crucify the Son of Man afresh; you put Him on the cross.
But if you struggle to put your flesh on the cross, it’s only because Christ is sitting on the throne. He says to us that when we were baptized, we are baptized into His death, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should no longer serve sin. We baptize you in water, take you down, and bring you up out of the water: it typifies putting away the old man and his deeds so that he no longer reigns or has control over us. He elaborates on this in chapter 6.
In chapter 7, however, he begins this conversation with us, and it’s a very interesting conversation. There are two different schools of thought. Some people say that when Paul talks in chapter 7 about that which I would not do, I do, and that which I would do, I do not—oh wretched man that I am! —and he talks about I find a law in my members, that when I would do good, evil is present with me, that he’s talking about before he got saved. But if we follow the sequence of the text, other theologians have concluded that he’s not talking about before accepting Christ; he’s talking about even after accepting Christ—there’s still a struggle, and tonight we’re going to talk about that struggle.
There is a struggle, and a God-intended struggle. God did not intend for us to live completely free from struggle. Think of this: when He put Adam and Eve in the garden, He placed them in a utopia, an environment where all of their needs were met. They didn’t even have to till the soil or water the ground; a mist came up every day and watered it. The fruits were bountiful and plentiful, and all of their needs were met. They had no need for clothing; they were free, vibrant, moving about in the garden of Eden in almost a heaven-on-earth environment. Except, there were some restrictions. Restrictions create friction in our lives; they create the friction necessary for faith and growth.
He told them not to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. The discipline He put into their lives was there for a reason. If a man walks up to a woman and she is the only woman in the world and he says, «I love you,» it’s not really a big compliment because there’s no one else to love. But when I choose you above others, that means I had options; now love has depth because I could have chosen another way, but I chose to come to you. God wants us to choose Him, and He has chosen us because the choice is only proven when you have the conflict of having options.
Oh, think about that; that’s good! God puts them in a situation that allows for a certain degree of friction because that friction is where faith is fertilized. That friction is where maturity is developed; that friction is a place where discipline gets involved. We’re truly His disciples when we have options and choose to commit our way unto the Lord.
Now, Paul has told us not to take grace for granted. He’s clear about that in chapter 6. He has taken us down to the watery grave and immersed our sinful old man and his deeds underwater until our past has been buried with Him by baptism, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should no longer serve sin. Yet, in chapter 7, he enters and engages in a conflict.
If you were in the Bible class last Wednesday, I talked about the container and the content—the container is human but the content is divine. The Bible says we have this treasure in earthen vessels; the treasure is of God, but the vessel is ourselves. We have this treasure in earthen vessels that the excellency may be of God and not of us. There’s a sharp distinction between the treasure on the inside and the trashy human container on the outside, and this difference between the content and the container, conflict arises; it is this conflict that we must confront, just as Adam had to contend with the tree and Eve had to deal with it as well. A certain amount of conflict is necessary to bring legitimacy to your faith.
Think about that—God’s not going to remove every thorn, Paul; He’s not going to eliminate every thistle, every problem, or every temptation. There is a need for a certain conflict in our lives so that we grow, wrestle, desire, pray, remain humble, and avoid arrogance and judgmental attitudes. There will be some conflict in your life. This conflict stems from the content, which may be truly anointed and gifted, as my T-shirt says: «Team Gifted.» Now, you may be talented, but you possess this gift in a container contaminated by your humanity, which creates conflict because both the content (the holy thing) and the container (the natural thing) are constantly fighting for control in my life.
Even though I was buried with Him by baptism in chapter 6, that the body of sin might be destroyed, and henceforth I should no longer serve sin, it does not mean that there isn’t a residue of carnality that keeps rearing its head, causing me to wrestle. Paul is confessing this ongoing conflict in his life: «That which I would do, I do not; that which I would not do, I do.» He begins to discuss his realization that there is a law at play, a war going on in his members. This war in his members serves as a wrestling match that we all experience, whether we acknowledge it or not. At some point in your life, there’s a voice in you urging you to go astray while another voice encourages you to do what’s right. You may find yourself listening to both sides of this debate.
You remember how, in old cartoons, there would be an angel on one shoulder and a devil on the other? You hear the devil urging you to tell them this or speak your mind while the angel suggests turning the other cheek. We are torn between these two polarities, attempting to find balance. When I would do good, evil is present with me. So even though I was baptized in chapter 6, which should have destroyed the body of sin, I did not completely eradicate my capacity or potential to yield to temptation. I did not entirely eliminate the fact that there is still a presence of evil in the world.
Listen, now let’s talk about deliverance. Okay? There is a lot said about deliverance. Well, I think in 2 Corinthians, or it might be 1 Corinthians, I’m not sure, in the first chapter where Paul talks about how God has delivered, He does deliver, and He shall deliver. He has delivered me from the law of sin and death; He delivered me, and that’s already done. It is finished—He has delivered; He does deliver. That’s the daily process of continually delivering me from the habit of sin. So, He has delivered me—write this down—He has delivered me from the penalty of sin; He did that on the cross. He does deliver me, that’s what I’m undergoing right now with this good and this evil, for He shall deliver me from the presence of sin. To be delivered and to be with Him means to be taken out of the very presence of sin. Until then, I will be uncomfortable because I remain in its presence; I am still surrounded by it, still wrestling with it. I have something on both shoulders urging me to do right and to do wrong, to be weak and to be strong.
Paul is candid about this; he is transparent in a way that, sometimes, we are not. He openly admits that your greatest hero in the kingdom has temptations, struggles, and failures. Your strongest hero—regardless of their age—will always face challenges. Life gets better; you grow stronger and mature, but you never reach a point where you can say, «I’m completely holy.» The Bible says that even the very thought of foolishness is sin. So, who among us can claim to be without sin? The Bible tells us that our righteousness is as filthy rags in His sight; even when we feel clean and proud of ourselves, we must remind God that we appear as filthy rags before Him.
Have you ever thought something was purely white because you saw it against something brown, just to realize it’s actually off-white when placed beside something genuinely white? When you measure your holiness against God’s holiness, you realize it is not holy at all. Now, Paul delves into the inner struggle he faces. If the gentleman who wrote the Bible is transparent about his frailties and struggles, then surely those of us who read and preach it can be open and honest about our own.
He mentions that there is a war going on in his members. Now, a war is a messy business. It’s one thing to have a street fight—in such cases, everything around gets torn up. If the fight breaks out in the house, get it out; otherwise, you’ll damage everything inside. That’s just a street fight. But in a war, trees come down, things get uprooted, and there’s extensive damage. He emphasizes that there is indeed a war going on inside of him. I want to speak to people who have had a war inside you—this means all of us. Yes, I’m talking to you!
There’s an absolute war happening within. Have you ever been in a war zone where bombs are falling and people are maimed? He says that’s what’s happening inside of him. There’s a war in his members. This is profound. While he is writing to you, ministering to you, and preaching to you, he sees another law in his members, in his body, in his physical existence, warring against the law of his mind and bringing him into captivity to the law of sin, which resides in his members.
He acknowledges that there have been times he has felt captive. He confessed that although he rose to walk in newness of life, there have been moments when he was dragged into captivity. And God does deliver. He has delivered me from the penalty of sin; He does deliver me from the habit of sin; He shall deliver me from the presence of sin. I’m in the «does deliver» stage, and we are all in that phase. We won’t reach the full «shall deliver» until we are taken out of this flesh, out of this body, transformed by the power of God.
As we delve into this, we begin to understand that the war within us creates a sense of angst and anxiety. You don’t engage in this war if you don’t have the desire to do what’s right. There’s no conflict for those who choose to do wrong; there’s no conviction for them, no problem. They can do as they please without regrets. But when you have a divine nature within you, it’s a battle to yield to the flesh. This leads to a war filled with guilt, condemnation, and struggle. You can’t find comfort; you’re like the sheep that fell into the mud, while the pig revels in it because it’s in its nature. The sheep, however, desperately tries to get up because deep down, it knows it doesn’t belong in that muddy situation; that’s the war.
We’ve all experienced moments of saying something and regretting it as soon as we leave the room. You get in the car, wishing you had kept your mouth shut, dealing with regret all the way home. That turmoil occurs because you have exposed something that should not have been revealed; you participated in something you shouldn’t have. That turmoil only happens to Christians; sinners don’t wrestle with that reality because they aren’t grappling with the holy part. This internal war does not indicate insincerity; it is evidence of it. Your growth and wrestling signify that there is a divine nature calling you to a higher standard.
Now, when you attempt to do what you once could do freely, you still have that choice, but there’s always an internal conflict. There’s a voice in you reminding you that you shouldn’t be in that situation, that you don’t belong there. That’s what Paul is teaching us tonight, and he states, «I find it a law that there is always a war going on in my members.» This is a rule; there will always be a struggle. There’s always a gravitational pull dragging me down—whether it be through depression, fear, anxiety, lust, evil, dishonesty, or deceitfulness. There’s always something pulling me down, and I must wrestle to resist that gravitational pull.
The law of gravity dictates that whatever goes up must come down. It acknowledges that the earth is moving in a way that makes it easy to fall. The law of aerodynamics is what allows planes to stay in the air; they operate in a higher dimension. My prayer is that you and I can rise into that higher dimension and away from the pull of gravity, enabling us to resist the temptation to revert to who we were. My God, think about where you could be if you stopped falling down! Where could you go? What heights could you reach? The law of aerodynamics offers possibilities beyond what gravity could ever provide.
Gravity is predictable; it’s going to pull you down. You know that before the tug comes, the destination is already down. Aerodynamics take you out, beyond, and above, into the next dimension. Walking in the spirit is akin to harnessing aerodynamics. Walking in the spirit frees us from fulfilling the lust of the flesh, allowing us to soar in areas where we once succumbed to gravitational pull. Walking in the spirit elevates us to another level.
But Paul writes to us today and admits, «I haven’t mastered it. There are still inconsistencies in my life.» I want to address real people today, those who love Jesus. There’s no doubt about your sincerity; I’m not talking to hypocrites or pretenders because they can’t relate. Look, you love what you love, and you just enjoy doing what you love without any sense of consequence. I’m speaking to those who wrestle with guilt when they let God down. You feel hurt and bothered by your shortcomings. You try to silence that internal voice, yet it persists in reminding you that you’re better than this.
The war raging in your members is proof that something genuine occurred in you during the baptism mentioned in chapter 6. Something real happened when you confessed Christ and were baptized in water. In that moment, you were buried with Him in His death by baptism; it was so profound that now, when you do what you prefer, you find you don’t enjoy it anymore. There’s a war within you. Paul writes of the conflict in his members as he pens an epistle for us in the New Testament. He’s still in the fight.
And if I were to title this brief lesson tonight, I would call it «Stay in the Fight.» Stay in the fight. Fight to stay in the fight. Don’t allow the pull of the world to drag you down to a place where you just give up on your dreams, your hopes, your calling, your position, and all the things that God has done in your life. Don’t fall into the abyss of your base nature and let it drive you further down. Who knows how far down gravity would pull you if the earth weren’t in the way? How far down is down? We don’t know. All we know is that there is a law—a law that, by nature, pulls us down. We have to fight to think up, to live up, to pray up, to walk up, to do the right thing, to turn the other cheek, to forgive people, to be balanced, to have consecration, to seek God, and to discipline ourselves.
This is an ongoing battle, but the battle is a blessing. When you were in sin, it wasn’t a battle at all. When you were in unrepentant sin, it was no contest. I want you to understand, and I want to encourage somebody in the fight right now that the fact that you’re in the fight is a sign that you’ve been changed. You didn’t used to fight against it. You may say, «Oh, but I’ve lost so many battles.» But not the war. The very fact that you’re in the fight is a sign that there is something in you calling you to a higher place. Glory to God! There’s something in you that gives you the desire to rise above the mediocrity of your background, to be more committed to Christ than you used to be, to truly anchor down and stop making excuses. Away with this «church hurt.»
What are you talking about? Church hurt? Christ was crucified! Somebody talked about you, hurt your feelings, or made fun of what you wore, and you ran away because of that? He hung there, bled to death in front of everyone, and you think you can go to heaven and meet the apostles who were crucified upside down, thrown into snake pits, and skinned alive—who would not lay down their faith? If you’re going to say, «Well, I had church hurt,» really? What do you think Christianity was? This is not Disneyland. This is not Disney World.
Anytime Jesus says, «Take up your cross and follow me,» what do you think this means? You need to stay in the fight. You can’t let another patient in the hospital run you out, just because they don’t want you there. Arise and shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you. Stay in the fight! You didn’t come to this hospital because of the person in another bed; you came to see Dr. Jesus, who works 24 hours a day. He is working with you to accomplish the healing you need to be the person He called you to be. The discomfort you feel, the war you are in, the conflict, the shame, and the remorse are all indications that a legitimate work of grace has been done in your life because you didn’t used to feel bothered at all.
So what do we do with this conflict? What do we do with this struggle? Paul said, «Oh wretched man that I am!» (verse 24) Not «Oh wretched man that I was.» To all of you who say he was talking about before he got saved, he didn’t say «Oh wretched man that I was»; he says, «Oh wretched man that I am!» Paul has come face to face with the darkest parts of himself and concluded, «Oh wretched man that I am! If I did any good thing, it’s only because of Christ.» Earlier in the text, he says, «In my flesh, dwells no good thing.»
By the time we get to this verse, he is confessing everything: «Oh wretched man that I am! Who shall deliver me from the body of this death?» I’m miserable. Some scholars say that when Paul wrote this particular text, it echoed the Roman practice of tying a corpse to a living man as punishment for murder. As the corpse began to rot, its infectious diseases would transfer to the living man. Paul thinks of this when he says, «Oh wretched man that I am! Who shall deliver me from the body of this death?» He feels this dead thing hanging on him, affecting him. He cries, «Get it off me! Get it off me!» Now when he asks, «Who shall deliver me?» he recognizes that while he is in the fight, the fight is too big for him; he has to yield to a greater power that is not himself.
Think of the imagery that comes to mind: you have murdered someone, and this corpse is now attached to you. You carry this dead body everywhere you go; it is decomposing, and you want to be rid of it. I want to speak to everyone out there tonight who has something on them and wants it off: a habit, a secret, an issue, a scar, something horrific tied to you. People can’t see it; they can’t smell it, but you can. And no cologne in the world can cover up the stench of your own carnality. Deep down, you’re saying, «Who shall deliver me?» You’re fighting, wrestling, doing what you can, but you know you need something greater than yourself to set you free—not from the devil, not from witches, hexes, or curses, but from yourself. The enemy is in you.
So the Romans would tie the dead body to the living one until the infection from the corpse transfused into the living body. That was the punishment for death. The only hope the man had to avoid dying with the corpse was for someone to get it off him. I feel the Holy Spirit saying tonight, «I want to lift something off of you that’s been weighing you down, threatening your future, and has attached itself to pollute you with an infection that only God can remove.» «Who shall deliver me from the body of this death?» Imagine walking down the street; nobody wants to talk to you, nobody wants to invite you to dinner. You have this corpse hanging on you—this smelly thing has affected all your relationships. You can’t hold a job, you can’t get married, you can’t pull your life together because you’re attached to death. «Who shall deliver me from the body of this death?» This question reverberates throughout the ages, time, and eternity. We find the answer in Jesus.
Let’s delve deeper. «Oh wretched man that I am! Who shall deliver me from the body of this death?» (verse 25). «I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord.» That’s the only way—through Jesus Christ our Lord. He’s the only one who can lift it off of you. Everything life has put on you—every curse, every problem, every inferior order, every low self-esteem, every intimidation, every addiction, every craving—Christ says, «I am the one who can come and lift it off of you.» «Who shall deliver me from the body of this death?» Paul thanks God through Jesus Christ our Lord. That’s the hope!
He says, «So then, with the mind, I myself serve the law of God, but with the flesh, the law of sin.» In other words, his mind is fixed on God, but his flesh is fixed on sin. How do we get out of this dilemma? That is why I had to read Romans 8:1: «There is therefore now no condemnation.» Get that off of me! Take it off! I’m exonerated. «There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh but after the Spirit.» I’m not walking after the flesh; I’m walking after the Spirit. I may stumble; yes, I may fall, I may hit a ditch now and then, but I’m not focused on the ditches. I’m walking after the Spirit of the living God!
If this message has resonated with you, if it has spoken to you about some things you need to be loosed from, if this word has reached you, saying, «Stay in the fight,» and you’ve been discouraged, tempted to give up, or sometimes questioned your sincerity, then let me reassure you: If you were really not who you were supposed to be, you wouldn’t struggle. Why struggle if you’re a sinner? Sinners don’t struggle; they just sin. You’re struggling because something new is happening to you. You’re going through a metamorphosis. This is no time to give up; this is the time to stay in the fight.
Somewhere in the process of staying in the fight, God steps in—whether through grace or experience—and liberates you from what you could not remove on your own. I want to pray with you tonight; I want to believe God with you tonight—not for the things you can do yourself because you should fight those battles. But I want to pray with you over the things you have fought and fought and found a law you cannot escape. I want to pray with you that you turn that battle over to the Lord and allow God to lift off of you what threatens to infect and destroy.
Do you need this prayer? Don’t be afraid to be honest—do you need it? I can offer you this prayer because I have prayed this prayer. I know how to minister to you because I have been on both sides of the train. Honestly, even now from time to time, I have to call on Him to come and get me. I have been with the pigs, but I’m still your sheep. Now you see why the shepherd left the 99 to find the one that was lost. No matter where he finds the sheep—in the mud, the river, the bristles, the briars, patches, or the forest—nothing about its condition changes the fact that it is still his sheep.
You belong to God. You can run away from the fold, from the church, from people. You can say you’re not worthy, hide wherever you want. But the Master is hunting for you. If you go to the bar, you’re just a sheep in the bar. If you go to the club, you’re just a sheep in the club. God wants you back in the fold. Tonight is your night for an encounter with Him. All Jesus wants for Christmas is you!
I feel the Holy Spirit speaking to you tonight. This is your moment of transformative reality. I want to pray with you because there’s been a weight on you. It feels heavy, like something pressing on your chest, weighing you down. «Who can deliver me from the body of this death?» Thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord! «There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus.» Let me in! Where do you want to be? Into Christ! Because the deeper I get into Him, the greater my victory over the warfare that perpetuates itself in my life.
I want to pray with you. Are you ready? Is your heart open? Lift your hands right where you are. Don’t worry about texting anything; just lift your hands right now. Start worshiping right where you are. Reach up to Him like a two-year-old with a dirty diaper, saying, «Daddy, pick me up!» Lift your hands toward Him like a child who soiled themselves and the parent just walked into the room to clean them up. Lift your voice to Him and cry out like a sheep who’s fallen in the mud and says, «I’m doing what I like, but I need you!»
Don’t like what I do? Let him hear you. Let him hear you. Let him hear you. Let him hear you, Father. Your Word said, «This poor man cried, and the Lord heard him and delivered him out of all his troubles.» I pray everywhere you see raised hands and open hearts and people reaching out to you, that you would hear them, that you would hasten to their cry, that you would minister to our needs. For all we like sheep have gone astray, and we need you more today than we’ve ever needed you before. Tonight, on this Wednesday night Bible class, Level Five will break out in somebody’s spirit—unexpected, rejuvenating, soul-cleansing, gully-washing, thirst-quenching revival. Let it break forth in their spirit and set them free by the power of the Holy Ghost. I thank you for it; I thank you for it. In Jesus' name, Amen.
Now you listen to me; I’m almost finished. All over the country, dealing with this pandemic, dealing with stress, dealing with job retention, dealing with downsizing, dealing with all kinds of issues, people are giving up. Stay in the fight! All around this country, people are contracting COVID-19, and some of them are throwing their hands up.
Stay in the fight! Three hundred thousand families have lost loved ones—empty tables, empty chairs, empty places at the table. Nobody’s there—they’re depressed, they’re hurting, they’re bleeding. I know you heard them cry if you want to, but stay in the fight. You may have to move to a small apartment, but stay in the fight. You may need assistance to get back on your feet again, but stay in the fight. Whatever the enemy is throwing at you right now, I declare unto you that the Word of the Lord is saying that you stay in the fight. Soon and very soon, Christ is coming to rescue you from the weight that rests upon you, and until He does, with all that is within you, stay in the fight.
I’m Bishop T.D. Jakes, the senior pastor in The Potter’s House. It’s been such a joy to have the opportunity to spend a little time with you, sharing the Word of the Lord. I hope you got something out of it that would encourage you, bless you, strengthen you, and enable you to stay in the fight because you’re on Team Gifted, and God has a plan for your life. Don’t let the stench of the container destroy your faith in the contents that it carries. Be like the woman with the alabaster box; she broke the box so the smell of the ointment could get out.
I invite you to spend the last few minutes in worship and praise as we break our alabaster box in the presence of the Lord and give Him glory. As He shatters the outer encasement, the ointment and the precious smell and aroma of what God has put inside of you will begin to erupt in that room where you are right now. I know it might look funny and it might seem strange, but right where you are, if you open your mouth and give Him the praise, you will break that box and that ointment will fill that room.
Right where you are, you will be blessed! Stay in that fight until you break that box and you receive that washing, that cleansing, that renewal, and that meeting of needs that only comes when your soul kisses heaven. Break it! Break the container and let the room feel the ointment, the anointing, and the aroma that comes from true worship as you worship your God in the beauty of holiness. All I want to hear is worship. All He wants to hear is worship. He loves you too much to leave that rotten thing hanging on you. Give it to Him now, in Jesus' name. God bless you, and Amen.