TD Jakes — Man Upstairs
Greetings in the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ on this resurrection Sunday. I greet you with the power of the Holy Spirit who raised up Jesus Christ from the dead and he did and he did, then he can raise you up from any situation and circumstance you might face. Those of you that think you're in the battle by yourself there a man in glory who hears our petition, who carries our griefs and our so rose before the father. The message today is the man upstairs and as you listen to it, I pray you'll be blessed from on high.
God who was sovereign had to become man to relate to us. Again he came that he might relate to us. I want to take that a step further saying he relates to what the Bible calls our kinsman redeemer. Very unusual word for this generation. Kins Mandy vieded into kin and man. He is kinked to me. Are you any kin to me means are you related to me. He is my kins man related. He's related to me if you study Ruth you will understand in order to redeem property you had to be kin to the one that needed redemption or you could not redeem the property.
So God was in a dilemma when he got ready to deliver us because he has to prove he was kin to us before he could redeem us from the curse of the law and from sin and death. And it us with for this purpose he came that he might relate to us as kinsman redeemer. We're related. Connected in a way that boggles the mind of the enemy because the enemy could destroy me if I wasn't kin to God. There are a whole lot of things that couldn't happen to me and didn't happen to me because I'm kin to the Lord and when you start jumping on me God will speak up for me real quick and say don't mess with him. That's my son. You remember the Lord told Pharaoh Israel is my son. My first born son and everyone that offends him, God said I'm fighting because you're messing with my kids.
Ask your neighbors, say are you any kin to God. Everything, everything, everything but Christ restored what Adam lost for us by establishing kinship to God be the glory for the things he has done are. You following me. He came that he might relate to us. Number two. He died to redeem us. He died to redeem us. His coming did not redeem us. He had to die to redeem us. He redeemed us as our Sacrificial Lamb and paid the price that liberated me from the clutches of sin and death. Redemption is a financial term that means he paid the wages, Satan had me locked up and Christ paid the bond that got me out on bail to freed me from the curse of law and liberated me. You were not purchased with silver or gold but bought with the precious blood of Jesus Christ.
What can wash away my sins? Nothing but the blood of Jesus. What can make me whole again. Nothing but blood. Somebody say thank God for the blood. Because he died to redeem me, you have a terrible time convincing me that I'm worthless. Because God proved what I was worth when he died on the cross for my sins. My net worth cannot be tabulate guide buildings I own or property I have or the CD's I have. I could have it and lose it and none of that would change my net worth to God. I'm valuable to God. Whether you like me or not. Approve of me or not. I'm somebody to God. If when God got ready to prove what I was worth he crucified Jesus and said this is how much Jakes is worth to me and died on the cross for my sin.
Touch your neighbor and tell them, I am somebody. You may not read about me in the paper and you may not see it in monuments in my name, but I am somebody. God so loved me that he shed his blood for me that's why I don't have time for low self-esteem. Fear or depression I must be valuable. Look at how much he paid to get me out of my bondage. That's why I refuse to go back into what God pulled me out of. Look how much he paid to get me out of jail. I'm a free man, who died to redeem me. Free at last. Free at last. Thank God Almighty I'm free at last.
Steadfast in liberty where Christ has made you free and be not intangibled again with the yoke of bondage. There's folks in this room that made up their mind. Once I get out I'm never going back to being who I was before. I'm free right now the name of Jesus. Every now and then we get happy and loud and clap our hands and we shout and we weep and we rejoice, because when we think about what the Lord did for us. It makes us praise his name.
You go ahead and praise him about your big bad cars and your nice house and fur coats and diamond rings. None of that means anything compared to what I'm shouting about. I'm shouting because my name has been written in the lamb's book of life. My sins have been covered by blood. I'm saved from the crown of my head to the soles of my feet. Hell will never get to see me. Jesus delivered me out of hell, I'm a free man! God, ah, oh. He came to relate to us. He died to redeem us and that's why the Bible said let the redeemed of the Lord say so. I think redeemed people need to come out of the closet sand say so.
Stop worrying about who is laughing at you or look at you funny or who doesn't understand why you praise the Lord. Anything none of their business why you praise the Lord. You don't know what was holding on to me and what I went through to what had me tied up. I'm glad to be freed Clyde. If nothing else wonderful happens to me I'm glad to be freed. Tell every devil and witch I'm free and every dust thrower I'm free right now in the name of Jesus. Good God. Glory to God. Glory in the highest. To the Lamb of God. To the King of kings. To the Lord of lords. To the I am, to the Mighty God. Somebody give him glory right now.
What did you say? Isaiah said he was wounded for our transgressions and bruised for our inequities and our peace was upon him and with his stripes we are healed. Redeemed. I wish the redeemed would holler I'm redeemed. Whenever you say that always say, redeemed. Not I'm going to be redeemed, not I hope to be redeemed, not I wish I was redeemed. I am redeemed. Let the devil know there's an Edd on it.
Past tense. It's over settled finished complete. My witnesses in heaven and my record is on high. I know who I have believed I am redeemed. Redeemed. Great God I thank you. He came to relate to us, he died to redeem us what a mighty God we serve. Who redeemed us. There's some things God redeemed you from that you can't even tell anybody about. Just look at him and say I'm redeemed. Not given up any details I'm just redeemed. Free at last. Thank God Almighty I'm free at last. I've been redeemed.
Number three, he lives to represent us. He lives to represent us. He rose from the dead to represent us. I'm not without representation. He represents me. The Bible said in Hebrews he ever liveth to make intercessions for us a cording the the will of God he rose up from the dead and continues to occupy the position of High Priest to intercede on my behalf. He represents me in the portals of glory. I got a man on the inside of the board room of heaven that represents me. He is in heaven what my congressman is in congress. He represents my interest and my affairs.
Do you understand what I'm saying. Many times hell would have destroyed me but because I had a man on the inside pleading my case every time the devil got ready to snatch me Jesus said not him. He's redeemed. Not her. You cannot have her and some of you have to pry break through and can't figure out how you came through. You just keep saying something happened. Let me tell you what happened. There was a man in glory pleading your case and making a way. That's why the enemy didn't destroy you and the car wreck didn't kill you and the disease didn't eat you up and the witch couldn't hex you because every time the devil said NO, God said YES!
He came as a servant. Took on the form of a servant. Walked where we walked. Slept where we slept. It where we it and in the fullness of time. A little over 33 years he walked upon the earth. We trace his life to the age of 12 and pick it up again at the age of 30 from 12 to 30 there's 18 years of silence we don't have any information at the age of 30. John the baptist is baptizing in the Jordan river and somebody in the crowd is there that distracts him from the baptism and he looked up from the baptism and says behold the lamb of God that takes a way the stoiven world.
I feel like preaching this morning. Just put one me. And all of the sudden he steped from background into the forefront and came out of hiding and exposed himself and the spirit descended on him like a dove and the voice from heaven said this is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased and the Spirit led him to the wilderness and after 40 days of fasting was over and the devil shot his best shot. Jesus kept treating him with the word of God it is written. It is written. I just need to read his resume to you. Because anytime you hire a lawyer you need to check out the resume. I don't need an attorney that can't get himself out of trouble, but we have a high priest that's able to deliver himself and if he can deliver himself, surely he can deliver - surely! He can deliver you.
And the Bible said they took him from judgment hall to judgment hall and couldn't find any fault in the man. They beat him, they scourged him with cats of nine tails though they found no fault in him. A weaker man would have died on the post but he knew he had to be a sacrifice and death was trying to get him at the whipping post because if he'd died there on the whipping post he wouldn't have redeemed you from the curse of the law and sin and death. He carried his own cross up the hill and humbled himself. Go to the sheer and humbled himself to the death of the cross and they hung him high and stretched him wide and he still wouldn't die until high priest looked over and said, let him go.
When the high priest nodded his head he became a sacrifice and when Christ died the Son said I can't look at this and the ground got nervous and began to tremble and the veil in the temple was ripped from the top bottom and deaf men were seen walking the streets. The mercy and truth were put together and rye anxious necessary and peace, he died until every curse was broke and every demon - he died. Oh! He died.
Oh, Satan say we got him now. Said he's down and he won't be back. Maybe they got together and decide they were going to throw a party. Planning on having a week's party to celebrate the death of the the Lord but after three days they had to stop the party. Because early Sunday morning, he got up from the dead with all power in his hand and he said, I am he that weren't dead, I'm alive! For everything more! The devil got on the telephone and said, death, I thought you stung him? Death said I tried but he took the sting out of death. Grave, I thought you would hold him. I held him three days but he broke loose from my death. Mr. Stone I thought you were rolled in front of him? The stone said he rolled me out of the way!
Oh! Thank the Lord! All that he's done for me. My soul cries out. Hallelujah. I thank you Lord. For saving me. Ask your neighbor say to you know the man. Do you know the man? Do you know the man upstairs? He's able to heal you. He's able to deliver you. Shout yes! Looky here, children. Looky here. I know this phrase, the man, might bother you but you got to understand you need this phrase. The man, Christ Jesus. If you don't understand the man, Christ Jesus you understand, or misunderstand the mystery of the God head. It's locked up in the man. Christ Jesus.
Ah, can I preach? Will you let me preach? I love to preach. I'm gonna preach. Touch your neighbor and say there's something about that man. That never been another man like this. I his disciple said what manner of man is this that even the winds and waves obey him. There's something about that man. Looky here. Looky here. Looky here. Looky here. The Bible says that earlier Sunday morning. He rose up from the dead. Snatched the sting out of death. Took the victory out the grave. Said I am he that was dead. But I'm alive forever more. Somebody say forever.
What I like about Jesus, he didn't just get up from the dead and run into heaven as if he were scared of the roman soldiers but the book said that he hung around for 40 days to show himself alive with many infallible proves and after he showed himself to the disciples he called for a cloud. Walked over and climbed up in the cloud and the cloud began to take the man. Christ Jesus. Up in the air. It wasn't a ghost. It was a man. Thomas will tell you. It was a man. Because Thomas touched the nail prints in his hand and where they pierced him in the side and the Bible said as he was going up in the air, the man who started going upstairs.
As they were watching him go upstairs, I heard an angel say, ye men of Galilee, why stand ye here gazing at him? This same Jesus that you see us in. Enlightenment. Somebody help me say yeah. But when that cloud hit glory and he stepped off the cloud. All of the sudden there was a man. In glory. And there was glory in the man. And Paul said, that he seated on the right hand of the Majesty. On the Father. Up on high. That he's just sitting there waiting for you to get in trouble and when everything you call on his name. He steps into active duty because he is your attorney. And when you call his name, somebody say Jesus. Ah, Jesus. Jesus! Jesus! Jesus! Looky here, church.
Can I preach this morning, look here this morning the Bible says he was seated on the right hand of Majesty on High. As far as I know he kept on sitting there until one day one of his deacons got in trouble and they were stoned and as the rocks began to hit him in the head the Bible says Stephan looked up into the heavens and he didn't see him seated because his attorney had stood up then. He saw him stand up! Oh God. Won't he stand up for you when the devil is trying to kill you. Won't the man stand from you when sickness is trying to destroy you. Won't the man stand from you when hell has it out for you. Won't the man. Won't the man?