TD Jakes - My Feet, His Fire (06/14/2017)
God called Aaron and his sons as the first priests, but Nadab and Abihu brought strange fire—not from God's altar—and were struck dead for it. The message drives home that God only accepts and sustains what He Himself initiates; anything from our own agendas, motives, or effort is rejected as strange fire.
The Priestly Calling and the First Disobedience
So God says, He wants Nadab, Abihu, Ithamar, and Eleazar, and Aaron to be His first family of priests. And He said, I want you to take unto thee Aaron thy brother, and his sons with him, from among the children of Israel, that he may minister unto Me in the priest's office, even Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar, Aaron's sons. Somebody say amen.
The problem is that Nadab and Abihu have gone on their assignment, their first assignment, to go in to offer up sacrifice for the children of Israel. Now I have to set all of this up. This is going to take a minute, but it is going to be good.
The Three Parts of the Tabernacle
There were three parts to the tabernacle. There is the outer court, there is the inner court, and there is the Holy of Holies. What you see out there, that is the outer court with the brazen altar and the brazen laver. It was in the yard. There was no tent covering it. There were drapes around it, indicated by the dotted diagram.
There were drapes around it, but the pool you see out front there, that is the brazen laver, and in front of it, illustrated by the box, that is the brazen altar, and on the altar is where you offered up sacrifice. At the laver is where the priests washed themselves. Then they went into the tent, and the first part of the tent is the holy place, and it is adorned with the table of shewbread, the altar of incense, and so forth. And then behind the purple line, which was drapes, was the Holy of Holies.
The Holy of Holies and the Day of Atonement
Behind the purple line, you did not go across that line but once a year. That was on the Day of Atonement, and on the Day of Atonement, once a year, the high priest himself was able to enter in and offer up sacrifice and prayers before God. He carried in his hand a censer which was taken from the altar of incense, and it put off a smoke.
And that is where we get your prayers going up as a sweet-smelling savor before God. It put off a smoke, and it enabled him to go into the Holy of Holies without death. The problem is—somebody say the problem is—Nadab and Abihu have decided to go into the Holy of Holies without getting fire from the altar of incense. They made their own fire to go before God.
Strange Fire Rejected
And when they made their own fire to go before God, God rejected it and called it strange fire. They have come into the Holy of Holies with a strange fire. They have come into the Holy of Holies with a human fire. When you bring humanity into holiness and try to make holiness accept humanity, God rejects it because He will only receive that which is of Him.
That which came from Him is all that can go back to Him, reciprocity. It came from Me, it goes back to Me. Give and it shall be given unto you again. God said, I am a holy God. I am represented by a holy fire. And now you are causing Me to receive a strange fire, and I reject it because it did not come from Me. It cannot come back to Me. I will not receive it.
And not only did He reject it, He rejected the ones who brought it. And Nadab and Abihu fell dead. They fell dead because they were bringing that foolishness in the house of God. I believe that they fell dead in part because God wanted to set up a standard that says when I give a directive, you do it the way I said do it.
No Personal Preferences in God's Presence
Do not bring your personal opinion, your personal ideas, your personal philosophy, or your personal preference into My presence. I said what I meant, and I meant what I said, and until you do it like I said it, I will not receive it, and I will not receive you. They fell dead.
So I understand this: God is particular. You do not get to do whatever you want to do however you want to do it. They could have at least gotten the fire from the brazen altar, the place where the lamb was slain. They could have gotten it from the altar of incense, but they did not. There were various elements. There were five different elements that were afire in the tabernacle.
The Brazen Altar and Judgment
The first one was the brazen altar. That was the place where the lambs were slain, where they were tied to the altar and gutted, and all the blood was caught. The entrails were laid aside, and then they were set afire. That was a burnt offering. A burnt offering.
The fire that was at the brazen altar is a picture of judgment. It is God's judgment against sin, but He executes that judgment on an innocent lamb who stands in proxy for the one who did the sin. The lamb pays the price. The fire consumes the lamb so that the man can live only through the sacrifice of the lamb.
See, this is God in the Old Testament teaching you of His master plan for Jesus, who would stand in proxy for us and take our judgment that we might be made whole. So the brazen altar was a smelly place. I am going to try not to get too deep into it. It was just... can you imagine the lambs being brought in for slaughter? The peace offerings, the turtledoves, the wave offering. All of this burning, smelly flesh set on fire, filling out the outer court of the tabernacle with the stench of burning flesh.
Progression Into God's Presence
The priest would wash at the laver and then go to the table of shewbread, where they would find that in the holy place. The altar, the golden altar of incense, would be where they begin to prepare themselves to go into the Holy of Holies. The other thing that was burning was the candlesticks, which represents the Word of God. Thy word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my pathway.
Now, in the outer court you had daylight. When you went into the inner court, you had revelatory light which comes from the candlesticks. When you went into the Holy of Holies, you had divine light. The closer you get to God, the less you see a man. So there they are, about to go into the Holy of Holies with a fire that did not come from a holy place. And the Lord struck them dead.
God Looks at the Origin
Now to anybody else, fire is just fire, but God looks at the origin of the fire to determine His holiness. It is not just what it is; it is where it came from. It is not the idea; it is the intent behind the idea. What you are trying to do—is it a God thing or is it a flesh thing?
Are you trying to get God to bless something so you can prove to your sister that you got just as much as she does? Strange fire. If you are trying to get even with your ex-husband and trying to get God to be a part of the plot, strange fire. God said, I will only bless that that I started. If I started it, I will finish it. I am Alpha. I am Omega. I am the beginning, I am the end. I am the first, I am the last.
Everybody who had something that God started, you need to shout right now. Because if God started it, He will finish it. Nadab and Abihu had their own fire, which really means they had their own agenda, and they were bringing their agenda into God's presence, trying to get God to bless their mess, and they fell dead.
The Reason for Their Death
And God tells us not only did they die, He tells us why they died. He said they died because they offered up strange fire. What was strange about it? It did not come from God. That is it. That is the only thing. It did not come from God. It cannot come from revenge. Ooh, it got kind of quiet in here. It cannot be born out of envy. It cannot be born out of spite.
Oh, I am just action, action, action—all kinds of agendas that you keep bringing before God, trying to get God to bless something that is already cursed. It is strange fire. You are trying to prove something to me is strange fire. Trying to get even, strange fire. Trying to be important, strange fire. Need to be recognized, strange fire. Want to be seen, strange fire.
True Humility Before God
I have never seen God bless a preacher who thought they needed to be heard. It is always somebody who says, O God, not me. I am not ready, I am not ready yet, Lord. I cannot do it. O God, if You do not do this, it cannot be done. I am scared to do this without You. I cannot walk without You. I cannot talk without You. I cannot think without You. I do not speak good enough. I am not smart enough. I am not holy enough. I am not righteous.
When it is not of you, it is all of God. And when it is all of you, it is not of God. Touch ten people and say, I want His fire. I want His fire. I want His fire. I want His fire. I want His fire. I want His fire. I want His fire. I want His fire. I want His fire. I want His fire in my house. I want His fire in my marriage. I want His fire in my finances. I want His fire in my body. I want His fire in my future. I want His fire.
I do not care what you want—maybe you came to church because you are looking for a girlfriend. Somebody came to church because you are looking for a good man—but the rest of us came to church because we want His fire. Give me His fire. Give me His fire. Give me His fire. Give me His fire. Give me His fire.
Confirming God's Will in Dallas
When I came to Dallas and I walked into that old building that we just tore down, and I was talking to W. B. Grant about it, I said, can you leave me alone in the building? They left me alone in the building. I asked God one question. Not how much does it cost. Not where is the money going to come from. Not where are the people going to come from. Not will they like me in Dallas? Not will they take me out to dinner? I do not care about none of that.
I asked Him, Lord, is it meant to be mine? I do not want anything that is not mine, because if God says it is mine, He will send the people. He will send the money. He will send the favor. He will open the door. He will make the way. I wish I had a witness in this place. Give God a praise.
Slap three people and say, it has got to be His fire. It has got to be His fire. It has got to be His fire. If it is God's fire, the money is coming. If it is God's fire, the provision is coming. If it is God's fire, the favor is coming. Stop just a minute and give Him a praise. I feel glory.
Give me the fire. Give me the fire. Give me the fire. It has got to be His fire. It has got to be His fire. It cannot be my fire. It has got to be His fire. It has got to be, it has got to be, it has got to be. Throw your hands up and say give me the fire.
It cannot be willpower. It cannot be intellect. It cannot be because I have a degree in it. It cannot be because people say I got a preacher's head. It cannot be because somebody wants me to go into business. It has got to be His fire. His fire. His fire. Somebody give God praise for fire.
The Consequences of Our Own Fire
I am through offering up my own fire. Every time you do something with your own fire, it ends up falling dead. Everything that came from you is Nadab and Abihu, strange fire. Strange fire. Everybody told you not to marry him, strange fire. Hard head would not listen at anybody. You are going to do it anyway. Look what your fire got you.
If you do not learn anything else, you need to learn to stay away from your fire. How many of you have ever been burned by your fire, your decision, your choice, your person? That is why your heart is broken. That is why your head is down. That is why you cannot get the business together. That is why it is driving you crazy.
If you start it, you have got to finish it. But if God started it, I do not care how many witches try to hex you. I do not care how many haters trying to kill you. I do not care how many neighbors try to destroy you. If God be for you. Whoever that was for, give God a crazy praise.
From Storefront to National Television
I never will forget. God took me from being in a storefront preaching—literally in a storefront—to preaching on national TV. It happened so fast that before I knew it, I was on national TV. Did not own a camera. Had two people on the staff, pastoring in a church that seats 200 people, and there I am on national television. Did not even know what in the world was going on.
Everybody congratulated me. Everybody excited. My mama is glad. My sister is glad. My brother is glad. My wife was glad. The kids are dancing and doing cartwheels. I came to the house one day and all of them are gone. I fell out on the bed and started crying. I started crying because I was so afraid. How in the world did I go from cooking chicken dinners to being on national television?
I called my spiritual father on the phone, and he picked up the phone. I could not even talk. Could not even talk. And he said to me, he says, it just hit you, didn't it? Have you ever had God shift you so fast that before you knew anything, you were in a situation that was so big, too big for you. It was too big for me.
He said, do not worry about it. He said, you did not give Paul Crouch your business card. You did not ask him to let you preach. You did not send him a tape or video. He said, if you would have started it, you would have had to finish it. He said, but since God started it. And I want Bishop Watkins to know that was almost 26 years ago, and I am still doing what God called me to do.
Sustained by God's Fire
I did it when I had money. I did it when I had no money. I did it when I had staff. I did it when I did not have staff. Because God is not blessing me because of me or because of them. He is blessing me because He lit the fire, and if God lights the fire, no devil in hell...
Oh my God. I do not know who this is for, but run over and slap somebody and tell them God's got the money. God's got the people. God's got the favor. And God's got the fire. God's got the fire. God's got the fire. Church, God's got the fire. Church, God's got it.
The reason we teach you to praise the Lord is that when you start praising God, it puts out a smoke that drives the devil back. God's got a fire. God's got a fire. God's, God's, God, God's got a fire. God... y'all do not hear me!
Touch your neighbor and say, neighbor, it is about to get smoky in here, because I am going to drive that devil out of here in the name of Jesus. Open your mouth and give God the praise.
His Fire and Our Feet
The only thing I need to tell you: God made the fire, but the priest had to provide the feet. Some people think that all they need to be is anointed and they think that if they have enough fire, they can get the job done. But it is going to take my feet. It is going to take my feet. Y'all do not hear how pretty this is. It is going to take His fire, but it is going to take...
Stomp your foot. God told Joshua, I have given you the land—to possess it. It is already yours. It is already yours, but everywhere your feet trod, I will give it to you. Somebody stomp your foot.
God said He has got the fire if you have got the feet. Let me tell them. God said He has got the fire if you have got the feet. I want every believer that has got some faith in your feet to take a step somewhere. God said, if you step on it, I will give it to you. If you walk in it, I will give it to you. If you step on it, my feet, my feet.
His fire, my feet. His fire, my feet. His fire, my feet. His fire. Touch your neighbor and say step on something. You have been sitting too long. You have been watching too long. You have been looking too long. Step on something. Tell your neighbor step on it, step, step, step.