TD Jakes - The Father Factor
Happy Father’s Day to all the fathers. Sister Har, you don’t have to text and be an Emember today. You can be here in the building. We’re glad to see you in the service of the Lord. She will text you right in the middle of the service to give you an amen and a hallelujah. But she’s here in the service of the Lord with us. We’re glad about it. Can you say amen? Amen. Ezekiel, God’s prophet, God’s mouthpiece, the man that God used in a very unique, profound, and prolific way, speaks to us. We catch him in the middle of an excerpt to extrapolate a truth from this excerpt that is relevant for all of us today, but for men in particular, it is especially well served.
Having said that, I think it’s actually a genderless truth in its origin, but I think it’s so applicable to where we are right now with fathers. So I sought for a man, verse 30, among them who would make a wall and stand in the gap before me on behalf of the land that I should not destroy it, but I found no one. Are you hearing what I’m saying to you? I looked for a man that would stand in the hedge and make up the gap, but I found no one.
I want to talk from the subject, «The Father Factor.» The Father Factor. Eternal and all-wise God, as we stand before you now, we do it with humility, and we ask you, Lord, to cause the word of God to become flesh in us while it is yet being preached. Manifest yourself in a divine way so that it is applicable to us and so that we might understand what your plan is and what you would have us do and be in this day. That we might be a pattern, that we might emulate you in the earth; that we might actually build something that outlives us and outlasts us. And having built it, that while we live, we might stand in the gap and make up the difference for all mankind. Thank you for what you’re going to do. Have your way, great God that you are, in Jesus' name. Somebody shout, «Amen.» Amen. You may be seated. Let’s go to work.
I’m a team builder, and my style of leadership is team building. Building teams to reach the dream is really how I operate. But when it comes to reading the word of God and understanding how God leads, and everybody has different styles of leadership, God starts his plan off with one man. Not a committee, not a team, not a board—just one person. One strange, unique person that He spoke a word to, that He put a gift in, that He put a song in, that He put a talent in, and everything starts out of that one man. God created all of creation, and it all started out of one man. When God got ready to send the flood, it all started out of one man. When God got ready to create the nation of Israel, it started out of the loins of one man. Look at somebody and say, «You the man.» Yeah, you the man. You the man. God might be preparing you to use you in a way that leaves an indelible impression on the world.
Number two, you have to understand that when you’re the one, you don’t know it. All these people who keep telling you that they’re the one, they don’t know what they’re talking about. Because when you’re really the one, you don’t know that you’re the one. When you’re really gifted, you don’t know that you’re gifted. It’s just natural to you. It takes you half your life to figure out that what is natural to you looks like a gift to other people because God has equipped you and called you to do something in a unique and a powerful way. Are you hearing what I’m saying to you? And God intends for something to be built in the earth beyond yourself. God wants you to leave an impression in the world beyond your need and your situation. Selfishness is the cancer of greatness. I’m going to say that again for the people in the back. Selfishness is the cancer that eats up greatness. People who think about themselves and nobody else never become great. If they do become great, they end up losing their greatness, because God really wants greatness to flow through you, not to you.
Oh, y’all don’t hear what I’m saying. He’s looking for one person. He’s looking for one David. He’s looking for one Joshua. He’s looking for one Ezekiel. He’s looking for one Isaiah. Yes, ladies, He’s looking for one Deborah. He’s looking for one Mary. He’s looking for one person. God doesn’t need a committee to vote on you. He doesn’t need everybody to like you. He doesn’t need everybody to get with you. He doesn’t need everybody to stand by you. God will do it through you by yourself. Hallelujah. If God is in you, He’s more than the world against you. He will anoint you and equip you in such a way and raise up people around you that have your back when you need them. God will do that. And if He doesn’t raise up people, He’ll raise up angels. He’ll raise up angels all around you. I mean angels that can roll stones out of the way, angels that can move mountains into the sea, angels that can open up doors for you. God wants His will done on the earth. And if He chose you to do it, He’s going to use you to do it, whether you’re scared or not, whether you’re nervous or not, whether you’re uncertain or not, whether you got the capital or not, whether you got the friendships or not, God is going to use you in a unique way.
And because God is going to use you, you’re on the hit list of hell. I said you’re on the hit list of hell. So don’t expect everything to go right in order for it to end up all right. It can start out real rough because the enemy knew before you did that you were special. And when Satan knows that you’re special, he makes it hard for you. He tries to break you. He tries to hurt you. He tries to destroy you because he’s trying to hit you before you recognize what God has in you. But the devil is a lie. I said the devil is a lie. There is an awakening going on. That’s why I come to church, so I can wake up, so I can shake up, so I can get up, so I can start up, so I can rise up, so I can understand who I am and what I got and how to use what I got. Somebody shout, «Amen.»
When we start talking about Father’s Day, we tend to siphon our ideas through our experiences. So if you were abandoned by a father, everything is siphoned through that experience. If you were abused by a father, everything is siphoned through that experience. That’s like measuring something and taking the measuring tape and cutting it down to the size of the object you’re measuring. You’ll never get it right if you change the measurement. The metric has to be right, even if the object comes up short. Oh, I said the metric has to be right even if the object comes up short. And you have to understand that before life is over, we’re all going to come up short. That still does not take away from the fact that the metric has to be right. God said, «I look for a man that would stand in the gap.» And He means He’s got something for you to fill in. You don’t have to be the whole thing. You just have to be the something that stands in the hedge and makes up the gap.
Some of us are doing too much. We won’t let anybody be anything but us. We are the gap and the line and the wall and the gate and the door and the hinges and the foundation and the roof and the window and the air conditioning. And we’re wondering why we’re where we are. If the enemy can’t get you to go too slow, he’ll try to get you to go too fast. God said, «I just want you to stand in the gap.» Good God almighty. Y’all don’t hear what I’m saying. I just want your presence. Your presence will make up the difference; it’ll fill in the gap. It’ll make up the difference in the house, in the family, on the job, in the career, in the relationship. You don’t understand what happens when you stand in the gap. If you don’t stand in the gap, the wall is no good.
Standing in the gap makes the wall solid enough that the city is protected. And God said it’s going to take a man to do that. That’s a big job for a man to stand in the hedge and make up the gap. And yet we are called to do it. We’re not here to be decoration. We are not the decoration of the house; we’re the foundation. And you don’t see anybody driving through a neighborhood talking about, «Oh my God, look at that foundation. That’s a beautiful foundation.» They got a bad foundation. Did you see the foundation on that house? So that means that you don’t get the credit, and you don’t get the glory, and you don’t get the recognition, and you don’t get all the things that you feel like you ought to get. In fact, most of the time, you get ignored, overlooked; people drive past you, and yet everything that they’re clapping about is only a result of you standing up under it, holding it up.
That’s what it means to be a good man. You hold it up, and they celebrate on top of it, never even mention you. But you’re the cement that they’re standing on. You’re the solid place that makes it happen. You’re the one that holds it together. And most of the time, you do it with your mouth shut and your lips glued together, and you’re standing there being faithful. And nobody appreciates a foundation till a flood comes, a storm comes, a hurricane comes, a crisis comes. The Bible talks about two men who built a house; one man built it on a foundation, one man built it on sand. Nobody talks about the foundation till the storm comes. When the storm comes, all of a sudden, you can tell what you were built on by how you reacted to the storm.
Some of you are still standing. You don’t look strong; you don’t walk strong; you don’t talk strong, but you got a strong foundation. And even though the wind knocked off your shutters, and even though your gutters are hanging off, and even though a tree fell on your house, you’re still standing there because you’re built on a rock. You’re built on a solid foundation that God can use. Uh, am I preaching to the right people? Fathers are called to be pillars of righteousness. To be pillars of righteousness, you got to be able to stand when nobody agrees with you, when they don’t like you, when they turn up their nose, when they’re talking about you, when they’re talking back to you, when they’re ignoring you, when they’re going in their own way, when they won’t take your advice—you still got to be able to stand there and be a pillar. A pillar doesn’t move. A pillar doesn’t move. You got to be able to stand there.
Now, if you got deficiencies that need to be handled and you need everybody to like you, you’re going to have a hard time being a great father because nobody liked you; nobody clapped for you; nobody acknowledged you; nobody said anything to you, and you feel unappreciated. Come on, fellas. Can we talk a minute? Because most generally, everybody in the house gets more clapping than you do. But you got to be made of the kind of stuff that you know who you are, and you know what you do, and you know what your purpose is, and you stand there anyway. They might not appreciate you until the flood. They might not appreciate you until the fire. They might not appreciate you until they get in trouble. In fact, that might be the only time that they come to you is when they’re in a crisis. But you’re still standing there because you’ve been assigned. Not by the people you serve, but by the God that called you to do what you do. And by the way, if you don’t get it from the people you gave it to, God will raise it up from somewhere else and make some. I wish I had a witness. I wish I had a witness in here. If you don’t get it from the people that you gave it to, God will raise it up from somewhere else. He’ll make sure that somebody sees your value and your worth and appreciates who you are. Come on and give Him a praise.
What I’m trying to get you to see is that you can plant it over here and reap it over there, that you can sow over here and reap over there, that you can do something good over here and be totally ignored and discredited and still reap a harvest. God will give you houses that you didn’t build and vineyards that you didn’t sow because you understand who you are. Somebody holler, «I know who I am.» Even if you don’t know who I am, I know who I am. Even if you don’t give me my title, my flowers, my due, my recognition, my prestige, my honor, my accolades, I know who I am. In fact, I’m learning how to pat myself on the back and encourage myself in the Lord. I’m learning if you won’t do it, I’m learning how to reach back there and get it for myself.
Can I preach this thing this morning? When God got ready to destroy the world, He told one man; the man’s name was Noah. He said, «Noah, I’m getting ready to tear everything up. The secret of the Lord is with them that fear Him.» And sometimes God will show you something ahead of everybody else. And He said, «I’m getting ready to tear this thing up, but I want you to build an ark.» It took him 120 years to get it done, but God said, «I want you to build an ark.» I think our problem sometimes is we want results too fast. We want it too easy. We got TV—instant TV. Our screens are getting smaller and smaller and smaller. Our brains are shrinking smaller and smaller and smaller. Our intelligence is getting smaller and smaller and smaller. Our attention span is getting smaller and smaller and smaller. From the big screen to the television screen to the phone screen, it is getting smaller.
From Facebook to Instagram to TikTok; if you don’t say it quick, we don’t get it. But God doesn’t care anything about TikTok. TikTok is something you play with. When God gets ready to make you, it’s not going to be TikTok. It’s going to take some time. It’s going to take some patience. It’s going to take some endurance. It’s going to take some tears. It’s going to take some crying nights. It’s going to take some loneliness. It’s going to take some heartache. I’m not sure that it took him 120 years to build the ark. It may have taken him 120 years for the ark to build him. Talk to me, somebody. Have you ever been working on something, and God was using the thing you were working on to work on you?
I wish I had a witness in here, and you were trying to build it, but God was using it to build you. You got stronger. You got tougher. You got more powerful. You got more relentless. God has sent people in your life to build you, to teach you how to work under pressure, to teach you how to do it when they don’t like you, to teach you how to stand when they hate you. God doesn’t want them to like you. He wants them to fight you, so that you can learn that greater is He that is in you than he that is in the world. It was good that I was afflicted. If I had not been afflicted, I would have never known the power of God. Thank you for hating me. Thank you for hating on me. Thank you for hurting me. Thank you for wounding me, because that’s how I found my strength. I’m trying to build the ark, but the ark is building me. My God, I feel something about to happen. I feel the glory of God about to hit this place. Somebody make some noise in this place.
I said something a few weeks ago, and they took one little clip out of it, made a clip, and everybody’s making fun of it, but they didn’t hear it in context. But that makes it no less true that the first birth was done by Adam, not Eve, that Eve came out of Adam. Out of the womb of the man, the woman comes. Out of the womb of the woman, the family comes. Out of the womb of the family, the community comes. Out of the womb of the community, the world comes. But it all started with one man who He put to sleep, gave a C-section. Hallelujah. Glory to God. And brought not just a woman, but a grown woman out of it.
They were on TV, they were on Instagram just saying all kinds of crazy stuff. I didn’t say anything because when you know what you know, you know what you know. And you don’t have to argue when you know that you know that you know that Eve woke up a full-grown woman. She woke up with a cycle. She woke up able to give birth. She woke up able to have a family. Now that is pregnant when you can birth a full-grown person. But it makes sense that a full-grown man would birth a full-grown woman because if you get tied up where you’re full-grown and they’re not full-grown, you’re going to have a problem with them. Stop fooling with these babies and find somebody who’s full-grown, who can take a licking and keep on ticking, who can stand in the middle of the storm.
Y’all don’t hear what I’m saying to you. You need somebody standing beside you that can rule and reign and have dominion and take control and take over and be able to stand and be able to fight back. You need all these babies. You need to put them away. Hallelujah. Stop calling the house the crib and reliving your childhood in your adult life. It ain’t no crib, baby. Your crib days are over. You’re in a house now. Cribs don’t have mortgages. I’m going to say it for the people in the back. Cribs don’t have mortgages. You going to the crib? No, you’re not. You’re going to the house, and the mortgage is going to you. And we got to change our language and get up out of this toy box we’re in and begin to understand who we are. Glory to God.
Come on, somebody. As long as you call her mama, you think she’s supposed to feed you. But as soon as she starts to learn to call you daddy, then she begins to set things back in divine order. You can help me, but you shouldn’t have to carry me, 'cause I’mma stand in this gap. I’mma stand my ground. I’m going to hold it down where I am. Do you hear what I’m saying? Am I preaching good or what? Make some noise in this place.
It’s important that you understand that the one man had the capacity to carry something other than himself. Stop loving people who don’t have the capacity to carry anybody but themselves. You don’t have no womb. You don’t have a womb; there’s not enough room for anybody in there but you. Adam had enough room that if God put him to sleep, a whole woman came out of him. She had enough room in her that when God put her to sleep, a whole family came out of her. Do you hear what I’m saying? The family was dysfunctional, but they still produced a community. Everything doesn’t have to be all right for it to be effective. If you got the capacity, I’m wondering if there’s anybody in here that’s got the capacity.
Do you have the capacity to be a leader? Do you have the capacity to stand your ground? Do you have the capacity to fight the good fight of faith? Do you have the capacity to take a licking and keep on ticking? Do you have the capacity to stand there with your back up against the wall and say, «For God, I’ll live, and for God, I’ll die»? I don’t know who I’m talking to, but I’m talking to somebody. God gives stuff to people who have capacity. If He put weight on you, it’s 'cause you got capacity. If He put responsibility on you, it’s because you got capacity. If He put burdens on you, it’s because you got the capacity. Stop telling yourself what you can’t take. You are arguing with God and lying with the word. You have to line up with the word. If you couldn’t take it, God wouldn’t take you through it.
So strengthen yourself. Strengthen the things that remain that are ready to die, 'cause you’re getting ready to birth something. I don’t know who I’m talking to, but I feel something about to break loose in this place. I feel something about to happen in this place. I don’t know who I’m talking to, but you got capacity you haven’t used yet. You got strength you haven’t touched yet. You can handle it. You can push it out. You can bring it forth. You can make it happen. If the company ain’t growing, you can push it out. You know why?
The first word God said, «I’m looking for a man that can build.» The problem today is most men want stuff after it’s built. For that matter, most women want stuff after it’s built. After somebody’s a full-grown man and really a husband, now you want them. But while they were still boys and fools, you didn’t want to build anything. You really have to understand that anything you get that’s going to last has to be built in order to really be yours. It had to be built. When you build it, you know what’s in it. I never will forget when CO was going on. I told my wife, «We can just order food.» She said, «No, I’m a cook.» She said, «Because if I cook, I know what’s in it.» When you make it yourself, you know what’s in it. And some of you think God is giving you a hard time. He’s not giving you a hard time; He’s just teaching you what’s in it. He’s teaching you what’s in it.
Touch three people and say, «I know what’s in it. I know what’s in it. I know what’s in it. You ain’t going to break me with that 'cause I know what’s in it. You ain’t going to kill me with that 'cause I know what’s in it. You might hurt me, but you won’t crush me 'cause I know what’s in it. I’ve been through hell. I’ve been through high water. I’ve been through flood. I’ve been through fire. I know what’s in it. I stirred it myself. I took it myself. I hammered it myself. I nailed it myself. I measured it myself. Having done all to stand, I’m going to stand therefore with my loins girded about with truth. Glory. 'Cause this story ain’t over yet. Come on, somebody. It ain’t over yet. It ain’t over yet. It ain’t over yet. It ain’t over yet. It’s not over yet. God is not finished with me. He’s getting me ready. Shout yes, somebody.
Now, it’s telling you about Noah. When God told Noah to build the ark, He’s telling him to build a womb. I’m not lost. I know where I’m at. He’s telling him to build capacity. You can build capacity. Your daddy didn’t have to have it. Your granddaddy didn’t have to have it. Your great-granddaddy didn’t have to have it. You can build this yourself. God said you can build the capacity to be able to handle all the weight I’m getting ready to put on you. I’m getting ready to put all kinds of animals down inside of you. I’m going to put feed down inside of you. I’m going to put something to sustain you, and you got to build it, and you got to build it by yourself. And there he is out there hammering, hammering, hammering to build capacity.
So if you didn’t come here with capacity, that doesn’t mean you cannot build capacity. In fact, that’s why you’re in trouble right now, 'cause God is trying to build your capacity. You’re sitting up there thinking, „I can’t take no more.“ Oh, yes, you can. God is building your capacity. He’s toughening you up; He’s strengthening you; He’s getting you ready to stand; He’s getting you ready to hold out. A preacher friend of mine called me after I had a heart attack. He said, „If it had been him, he would have dropped the mic and rolled down the steps.“ And we started laughing because I kept seeing in my mind him rolling down the steps. I said, „I wasn’t rolling down those steps. I wasn’t about to roll down those steps 'cause I was going to stay right where I was.“
Sometimes you got to stay right where you are. You don’t know what’s going on, but you got to stay right where you are. You got to stand your ground. I don’t know who I’m talking to, but I feel like I’m talking to somebody. I feel like I’m talking to somebody. You got to stand right there and watch God build your capacity; capacity to deal with debt, capacity to deal with worry, capacity to deal with stubborn people. You don’t know how to deal with people you don’t like. God’s going to give you a lot of people you don’t like so that you can have the capacity to be able to work with a larger group of people and not lose your temper.
God can’t just send you a little mini-mess who always agrees with you. God, for what God is getting ready to do in your life, you need the capacity to be able to manage people who are different than yourself and not lose your temper. So God is causing you to build capacity. I’m talking to the men. I’m talking to the women. I’m talking to the leaders. You got to have some capacity. If you going to do great things, you got to have some capacity. You can’t faint easy. You can’t give up easy. You can’t quit easy. You can’t faint easy. Having done all to stand, you got to stand there with your loins girded about with truth and stand there until you’re delivered. And stand there until a change comes. And stand there until a mountain moves. And stand there until the tree goes in the water. And stand there till you do have a baby. And stand there till your marriage works out and stand there until the church grows and stand there till you feel a change. Who am I talking to? You got to build this thing. You got to build this thing. You got to—
So here he is building this matrix, and he’s building it. And he’s building it. He’s not just protecting it; he is also building it, one to protect what goes in it, two to preserve what goes in it. If you keep switching blessings, you’re not gaining blessings. To the five people who got that, they just got something from the Lord. If you keep switching blessings, you’re not gaining blessings. If you swap this one to get that one, you still just got one. Most people just swap blessings because they don’t have the capacity to handle more. So you got one store, and you got that going good. Now it’s time for two. Get two; now it’s time for five. Get five; now it’s time for ten. You got to—you m— That’s my word. That’s my word. Thank you. Multiply. Be fruitful and multiply.
That’s the first commandment that He gave you was to multiply. And you’re not multiplying if you’re just swapping. Y’all don’t want to talk to me. Y’all don’t want to talk to me. I’m looking for a man that’s a protector. I’m looking for a man who’s a multiplier. I’m looking for a man who can fight the good fight of faith. I’m looking for a man who will guard his household. Not just physically guard it, but guard it spiritually. Drive spirits out of the house. Pray and pray and pray. I’m not saying you won’t go through trouble; I’ve gone through trouble; we’ve gone through trouble. Trouble comes to everybody. Trouble is what teaches you. Trouble is what trains you. Trouble is what teaches you how to pray. I’m looking for a man that will guard the house spiritually and emotionally; that will guard your emotions, that will not fall apart, that will call your mind to order, that will make yourself go to sleep, that will make you have rest, that’ll make you smile at somebody you want to slap in the face. I’m talking about somebody—I’m talking about. Come on. Come on. Am I in the right church? I feel like I might be in the right church. Somebody make some noise if I’m in the right church. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah.
Moses had 70 elders. And when Moses got ready to be taken out of the way, God didn’t use any of them; He had 70. And God didn’t use any of them. God used one man, and his name was Joshua, because God likes to snatch one at a time. Get one at a time, and then show the one how much is in that one man. God used Moses. He started with Moses, but He gave one man multiple situations. One man who was born a slave was raised a prince. He was born a Hebrew, but he was raised an Egyptian. 'Cause it don’t matter what you got on the outside; it matters how you think on the inside. He thought like a prince. He looked like a slave, but he thought like a prince. That means he was going to be multifaceted enough that God could use him in various capacities. Your life is too narrow; it’s too small. It’s either this or that. But in order to be really good, you got to be this and that. You got to be able to be as effective with good soil as you are with the potter’s house.
You got to have more than one gift. Shake your neighbor and say, „You got to have more than one gift.“ God can put you in different situations. The men God used the most always had more than one gift. Paul spoke in five different languages. God could send him to Greece. God could send him to Thessalonica. God could send him to Corinth. And he could preach in their language because he had the capacity to do more than Peter. That’s why Peter only contributes two books. But Paul was able to contribute most of the New Testament because he had capacity. If you really want to grow, you got to have capacity. You got to stop quitting. You got to stop fainting. You got to stop running. You got to stop collapsing. You got to make up in your mind, „Oh, no. I’m not running this time. I’mma stand right here until a yoke breaks. I’mma stand here until a chain falls. I’mma stand here until a mountain moves. I’m going to stand here till a yoke breaks. I’m going to stand here until a demon flees. I’m going to stand here till hell gets nervous. I’m going to stand here till demons tremble.“ I feel something about to break loose in this place.
I don’t know who it is, but I’m preaching to somebody. I’m preaching to somebody that God’s getting ready to use in amazing ways. He’s getting ready to take you to a height that you’ve never been before. You’ve never flown at this height. The higher you get, the thinner the air gets. If you’re going to stay at 20,000 feet, there’s going to be air density. But when you go to 40,000 feet, the air gets thinner. And God takes you to a place where the air is thin. You got to be able to function in thin places. Stop crying about it. Stop worrying about it. Stop toiling about it. But know that God wouldn’t take you up there. He wouldn’t have given you those wings if you couldn’t fly that high. You’re getting ready to fly to a height where you’re functioning on another level.
I feel like I’m prophesying to somebody. I don’t even know who it is, but God is getting ready to take somebody into a place you’ve never been before. And God said, „I’m looking for a man. I’m looking for somebody who won’t quit. I’m looking for somebody who won’t run. I’m looking for somebody who won’t turn back. I’m looking for somebody that’ll take care of their kids. I’m looking for somebody that’ll handle their business. I’m looking for somebody that knows how to be strategic. I’m looking for somebody who appreciates structure. I’m looking for somebody who endures correction. I’m looking for somebody who can stand up to it, go through the changes, and come out with the kind of matrix that’s necessary for the kingdom. Thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. I’m living on earth, but I’m blessing on a heavenly level.
The level I’m being blessed on is a spiritual level. I might look like I’m walking on earth, but there’s something heavenly down inside of me. And every time the devil wants to take me out, something in heavenly stands up inside of me and says, „Fight on a little while longer.“ And as long as I got capacity, I’m going to stand here and fight the good fight of faith. I’m going to fight it like I did when I was 20. I’mma fight it like I did when I was 30. I’mma fight it like I did at 35. I’mma fight it like I did when I was 40. I’mma fight it like I did when I was 42. I’mma fight it like I did when I was 48. I’mma fight it like I did when I turned 50. I’mma fight it like I did when I was 56. I’mma fight it like I did when I was 57. Why? 'Cause I still got capacity. I got age, but I got capacity. I got age, but I got anointing. I got age, but I got knowledge. I got age, but I can still preach. I got age, but I can still move. I got age, but I can still function. I got age, but I can still run.
I got age, but I can still shout. Stop talking yourself into the grave. Stop talking yourself into being an old person to make other people feel comfortable. The devil is a lie. Don’t be no older than you have to be. If you can get up, get up. If you can stand up, stand up. If you can run, run. If you can leap, leap. If you can preach, preach. If you can holler, then open your mouth and shout!
Touch your neighbor and say, „Something’s about to happen in my life 'cause I got capacity.“ I got more capacity than shows in my house. I got more capacity than shows in my bank account. I got more capacity that shows in my friends. I need me some new friends. I need some friends that got capacity. All of these jealous folk have got to go. I got to find somebody that can rejoice with them that do rejoice. I need to run with somebody that’s glad for me. I’m tired of begging you to be taller than you really are. I’d rather find somebody that’s a little taller so we can top on the same level. Hallelujah. I’ll help anybody, but I refuse to fellowship with darkness. I’m going to walk in the light of what God blessed me to do all of my life.
Well, I better quit 'cause I’m starting to feel like preaching. And if I start to preach like I feel like preaching, if I open up my capacity, demons are going to start running out the door, witches are going to have to leave the building, curses are going to have to be broken. Oh, I feel the power of the Holy Ghost. I feel it in my hands. I feel it in my feet. I feel it in my mouth. I feel like running up and down these aisles 'cause a change is coming. I can tell 'cause I’m starting to dilate. My capacity is growing. My strength is growing. My anointing is growing. If you’ve been feeling yourself getting bigger, holler at your boy. When God called Paul, Paul was headed for Rome. He was riding on a ship; it was a big ship, but the big ship fell apart. But just because the ship got small didn’t mean that Paul got small. Just because everything around you starts breaking apart, it’s not time for you to break apart. Grab a piece of the part and keep on going, 'cause greater is He that is in you than he that is in the world.
Slap somebody and say, „I’m too big to die right here. I got something else to do. I got something else to say. Excuse me, but I got something to say. I got something to say about this. It ain’t over till God says it’s over. It’s not over till I get what I see in my spirit. It’s not over till God sends angels coming from every direction. It’s not over till all hell begins to fall out and collapse. It’s not over until angels flap their wings over this building. I feel like preaching until the roof cracks. I feel like preaching until the heavens open up. I feel like preaching till water comes out the ground. I feel like preaching till tumors start shrinking. I feel like preaching till somebody gets healed. I feel like preaching till somebody gets delivered. I feel like preaching until somebody gets a touch from God. I feel like preaching till somebody’s kidneys wake up. I’mma wake up some kidneys this morning. I’mma wake up some livers this morning. I’mma wake up some hearts this morning. I believe I’ll preach. I believe I’ll preach. I believe I’ll preach. I believe I’ll preach. I believe I’ll preach.
Touch your neighbor and say, „Start preaching.“ God’s looking for a man that’s got the word in his mouth that has still opened up his mouth and speak His truth. Yes, I can lecture at the college. I can teach at the camp and still get in the church and open my mouth and start to holler 'cause I have the capacity to become all things to all people that somebody might get saved. Baby, I believe I’ll preach. I believe I’ll preach till the yoke breaks. Till water breaks till somebody who was sterile gets pregnant. I believe I’ll preach till the anointing stands on your arms. Till goosebumps break out on your body. Till you feel like jumping. I don’t know who it is, but somebody in this church got a jump down in them. They feel like jumping. And you just need to jump like you got it. Jump, jump, jump like you got it. Jump, jump, jump like you got it. Jump like you got it. Just jump. Leap for it. Crawl for it. Run for it. Go for it. Build it. Build it. Build it. Build it. Build it. Build it. Build it. Build it. Open your mouth and make some noise. Help. Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes.
Tell your neighbor, „Give me some room. I feel myself growing. Give me some room.“ Tell your neighbor, „Give me some room 'cause I’m growing. I’m getting bigger. I’m getting more capacity. I’m getting more strength. I’m getting more fight. I’m getting more drive.“ Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes.
I’m looking for a man. Looking for a man. Looking for a man. Look, man. Full-grown man. Full-grown man. Full-grown man. Full-grown man. Full-grown man. Full-grown. Full-grown. Full-grown. I feel the power of the Holy Ghost. The Bible says that had God wanted to redeem us by sending angels, He could have sent 10,000 angels, but He said that’s too many to get the job done. He found a virgin and called Mary and said, „Hail Mary, I don’t need 10,000 angels. All I need is one man that’ll stand in the hedge and make up the gap.“ And oh, down in a barn, God found one man. And they called His name Jesus, and He saved His people from their sins. They tried to take Him out, but they played right into God’s hands. For had the princes of this world known what they were doing, they would have never crucified the Lord.
As long as He was living, He was bleeding in. But the moment they crucified Him, He bled out. And when He bled out, the world got redeemed. When He bled out, the world got loose. When He bled out, just one man died till the sun refused to shine. Died till the ground began to tremble. Died until graves opened all over Jerusalem. Died until all the world began to see. All God needs is one man. And I close. Yes, sir. Yes, sir. I want you to know, Hallelujah, you’re the man for the job. You might have messed up. You might have made some mistakes. The only one that had to be perfect was Jesus. The rest of us, all we have to do is be available. And if we make ourselves available, then you’re the man. Everybody doesn’t have to call you the man, treat you like you’re the man.
A lot of them don’t know how to treat you like you’re the man. Amen. 'Cause then they didn’t grow up in a house where there even was a man. And you cannot get blood from a turnip. Foundations never get praised, but you’re the one. And on this Father’s Day, no paint, no shutters, no gutters, no roof, no siding, but we want to thank you for standing. Thank you for coming home when you didn’t want to. Thank you for going to work when you were tired. Thank you for being nice when you felt like being nasty. Thank you for doing your best with what you had to work with. And this is Father’s Day. This ought to be the moment that we acknowledge that we have walked on, walked over, walked past, didn’t mean no harm. We were just getting what we needed. It didn’t mean no harm.
Sorry. Sorry. But today, today we make it right. We know that you did miracles to make it happen for us, and we pulled around thought you were a magician. Didn’t even recognize that you were just a man. We got stretched out of shape trying to make sure our needs were met. And most of the time, we don’t really know what we got until it’s gone. They say the shame of being a great tree is that nobody appreciates the magnitude of the shade that it brings until they cut it down. We don’t want to be that kind of people. We want to be the kind of people that honors trees while they give shade. My God used you to help my dreams come true. Thank you. God used you. When I got too old to run, you ran for me. Thank you. Thank you. God used you to stand by me for over 30 years. You started in this church; your hair was black and mine was too. I’m bald, and you’re gray, and you’re still up front for clapping and dancing.
Thank you. You didn’t think I saw you, but I saw you. I see you serving and working and doing your best to stand on the wall. Even when you’re depressed, you’re on your post. Thank you. Thank you for rejoicing and standing and serving and helping. I see you. God sees you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you for the things you do and go out of your way to serve when nobody seems to notice how much it costs you to stay on the wall. Thank you. Thank you for helping me to build this church. When you have bills that needed to be paid yourself, there are people in this room. They gave to you what they needed themselves. Thank you. God was looking for a man of faith that would stand in the gap and say, „I’m here.“ And I will serve. Thank you, First Lady. I know it’s Father’s Day, but I just got to say it.
My wife didn’t start walking until I collapsed. And when I collapsed, she ran across the stage on a knee that wasn’t supposed to be working. I watch Pastor Robinson serve at every conference till he could hardly walk. Until he could hardly walk, he’s still serving. He put on his tennis shoes and kept on serving. When people say that there are no good men, I don’t know what’s wrong with their eyes. Dobins, I don’t know what’s wrong with their eyes. 'Cause I never asked you to do nothing that you didn’t say yes to. And they say there are no good men left. That’s not true. It’s just that sometimes we’re surrounded by good that we take for granted. I want to give a chance; I want to give a chance to be honest. There’s so much, and y’all deserve it. Women, y’all—I wrote „Woman Loose.“
So I feel you. I get it. But please understand that your pain does not negate ours. The fact that it was hard on you doesn’t mean that it was easy on me. And sometimes you’re so busy making sure that your pain gets acknowledged that you’ve lost your ability to see ours. And some of us feel invisible in our own space, but we would never say so 'cause that would start a fight. And we don’t want to fight at work and fight at home and fight on the way to church and fight on the way home. It’s easier for us to bury it and hide it until it shows up in disease than it is to admit that we’re not magicians. We got the bicycle, but we’re not magicians. We raised the money, but we’re not magicians. We work like a dog to make sure it was there when you needed it. But we’re not magicians. We’re somebody’s little boy.
I want every man in this room that’s ever gotten tired and understands the power of what I’m saying to rush to the front. Don’t care about what nobody thinks. Don’t care what it looks like. My big brother Ernest was my hero. He’s 70 years older than me. He was at the time a street guy. He was tough. I got to ride in the car. I’ve seen him do stuff that made me think he was a bounty. I’ve seen him get into fights and break folks' legs and drive through plate glass windows shooting. I’ve seen him do all kinds of stuff. And I was shocked when he told me that he was scared when he did it. I didn’t know he got scared. I said, „You get scared?“ I get scared, too. Sometimes I get tired. Sometimes I feel like you are not alone. Always remember that your heroes hurt too. Never put us on such pedestals that we lose our humanity for your hunger for heroes because we can only play the role so long before we have to admit heroes hurt too. Frank, am I right about it? Heroes hurt too. Now, I didn’t get you know nothing for Father’s Day. The message and the message I preached doesn’t come from a concordance. You have to live life. There are things out there for the men. You did give them something. They got gifts out there.
See, but you know what? If all you get is what I said, if you get the capacity to be the man that God was looking for. Lift your hands and ask God, „Make me the man that you’re looking for. My capacity. Increase my capacity. Increase my capacity. Renew my strength. Renew my spirit. Renew my joy. Renew my joy. Deliver me. Deliver me from trying to find peace in places that have nothing to give. But teach me how to trust you. How to trust you and become the man of God. Become the man of God that can stand in the hedge and make up the gap.
Make up the gap. I pray, Lord, for these men who have made this confession of faith. I pray the anointing would fall on them one by one and name by name. I pray that you would touch them in places that they don’t talk about and heal them in areas that hurt and give them the strength and the grace to go forward. And for this Father’s Day, we pray to our Father, 'cause sometimes you were the only father we had. We pray to our Father to model us, and mold us, and make us, and shape us, and teach us, and encourage us. Make us better fathers than we were fathered by. Make us better men than the examples we saw. Give us the ability to increase our capacity to be men of God, to keep our word, to strengthen the house whether we get acknowledged or not. I pray in the name of Jesus that every man standing in this circle that’s on the verge of giving up, that’s had suicidal thoughts, that felt like giving up and walking away, and wondered if it was even worth trying to go on.
I pray that this Sunday morning would be his revival moment, his renewal moment, his refreshing moment, his healing moment. Death will not win this fight. I pray that the peace of God that passes all understanding would touch you in a special way and give you grace. You will not die today. You hear me? You will not die today. God has something for you. You got to keep on till you get it. Don’t give up. I know the enemy wants you to give up, but don’t give up. Turn around and lay your hands on his chest. Yeah. Right on his chest. Father, strengthen him. 'Cause he’s been so close to the edge and he can’t tell nobody. The pain is unbearable. But heal him today. Heal him way down on the inside. Heal him way down on the inside.
Let the tears come. Don’t worry about tears. Let them come. God’s healing you. Heal him way down on the inside. Heal him way down on the inside. You will not die today. I want to borrow your hands. I want you to lay your hands right on this guy right here. Yeah. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. It’s too heavy to carry by yourself. It’s too heavy to carry by yourself. May God increase your capacity. May He do it for you right now. Right now. Right now in the name of Jesus. In the name of Jesus. Touch him, Jesus. Come on church, pray just for a moment. Pray just for a moment. Just for a moment. Everybody standing. If you know a young man that should be—old man, young man, 'cause it never goes away—that should be up here. Say a prayer. Sew a seed that somebody reaches him in time. 'Cause there are men around this altar that are getting a breakthrough right now.
If you’re around this altar and God is doing something for you, give Him a praise right now. If you’re watching online and you sow a seed, sew it with His name on it and ask God. And ask God, let somebody get to him in time. Even if it’s my son or my brother or my uncle or my dad, get him in a place, Lord, that he can hear Your voice touch his life. Your father was somebody’s son. Stop being so angry that you cannot see. He needs your love too. Lord, I’m available.
Lift your hands. Let this be the most amazing Father’s Day that every man has had. Touch them and strengthen them. Enlarge them. Give them the capacity to birth their greatest dreams. And may your latter years be greater than your former years, much greater, that it will not be like it started, but a change would come and touch your life in such a way that you would find the joy that you have never been able to find. But God’s going to do it for you. And He wanted you to be in this service to renew your strength today. Receive it. Every one of you, in Jesus' name. I love you. Happy Father’s Day.