TD Jakes - God's Mercy Seat
Number one, it's the tablets of stone, the tablets of stone, the tablets of stone. "What do you mean by the tablets of stone? Do you mean God had legal pads sitting in there"? No, I mean that the Ten Commandments, not the broken ones, not the broken ones. Let me show you this real quick. This is something very few believers know. God gave the Ten Commandments three times. Some people say two, but they overlook the first one was oral. A careful study of the book of Exodus will show you that the first Ten Commandments were delivered orally. Then Moses goes back on the mountain again and God hews out the rock and writes on the stone. And Moses comes down off the mountain with his face lit up with glory, and the people are dancing naked around the calf. He drops the Ten Commandments, those broke.
That's important to know because God is saying the law was broken before we ever got it. "Therefore shall no flesh be justified by the law". So, away with you telling me you keeping the law. You a liar. You did not keep the law. The law was broken before you ever got it. So God tells Moses, "This time it's gonna be a collaborative effort". He says, "I want you to hew out the stone and I'm gonna write the law," collaboration, humanity, divinity. "You cut the rock. I'll do the writing". These tablets remained whole. These are the tablets placed in the ark of the covenant. It is not the law broken. It is the law fulfilled. "I came not to destroy the law but to fulfill the law".
So the law comes from the Father. The law is the constitution of the new theocracy. These people who were not a people 400 years in slavery have now become a people. Their form of government is not a democracy. It's not a republic. It is a theocracy. That's why you must understand this seat, because he reigns. You cannot have a government without a constitution. The constitution comes through the commandments. So, when you look at the Ten Commandments, you're looking at Israel's constitution that set them apart from other people. They never got a king until they asked for one. They asked for a king because they said, "All the other nations have a king that they can see. Give us a king that we can see". And because they wanted a king they could see, he gave them Saul. They insulted him.
What do you think the mercy seat was? Why do you think you couldn't enter in? It's because he's the King and he was a good King. He turned the bitter waters of Marah sweet. He sent the quail down to feed them when they were hungry. He clapped his hands, and manna fell from heaven. He was a good King, and they rejected the good King for a human king 'cause we always someone that we can touch. So, inside the ark of the covenant, we have the Ten Commandments. I'm hurrying, I'm gonna move on.
Second thing we have... are y'all with me? Okay, 'cause I swear I can do this a while. The second thing we had was the golden pot of manna. And the golden pot of manna is important for a reason. The golden pot of manna's so important. Let me go up here to my drawing so you can see what we talking about. We got the Ten Commandments over here, not broken, fulfilled, complete in him. We got the pot of manna here. We're not supposed to have a pot of manna that makes it through the wilderness. Manna didn't last but a day.
The Bible said that the manna fell in the dew of the morning, and each family received according to the size of the family or their capacity. He warned them not to save the manna. He said, "Because if you try to save the manna, the worms will eat it up". The worms ate up every pot, but this one. This is Jesus. Jesus said, "Your fathers did eat manna in the wilderness and they perished, but I am the true Bread that cometh down out of heaven. If you eat of this Bread, you shall never die. You shall never die". The fact that this pot of manna never went bad is a sign that Jesus is just as nutritious today as he was 2.000 years ago. He is the true Bread. Come on with me, somebody. Come on with me, somebody.
So we have a golden pot of manna, manna, manna. "What does manna mean, Bishop"? What is it? We're still trying to understand who Jesus is. We're singing about him, dancing about him, jumping about him, but there's so much to his glory that it's still being unveiled who he really is. He's more to you today than he was ten years ago. He's more to you today than he was five years ago. He's gonna be more to you five years from now than what he was yesterday. Are you with me? This is my last class, so just bear with me just a minute. It is the golden pot of what is it? It is the golden pot of what is it? It is the golden pot of what is it? "Who shall I say sent me"? "I Am That I Am. You can't limit me down to your definition 'cause I'll be whatever you need me to be when you need me to be it".
Are you hearing what I'm saying? Are you hearing? "Just as soon as you need me as a Doctor, I'll turn around and be a Lawyer. When you need me as a Lawyer, I'll come along and be a Friend that sticketh closer than a brother. When you're hungry, I'll be Bread. When you're thirsty, I'll be Water. When you're sick, I'll be Healing. Manna means don't limit me. I Am That I Am. I can do whatever I wanna do. I can heal whoever I wanna heal. I can bless whoever I wanna bless. I'm gonna be more to you tomorrow than you are today. I'm gonna show you the manifold glory of God from glory to glory, from faith to faith, manna".
And then there was Aaron's rod that the children of Israel put out, trying to figure out which tribe was to be priest. And for the tribe of Levi they put out Aaron's rod and they left it out overnight. Aaron's rod is a walking stick. A walking stick is not a root. It's not a plant. It's not a stalk. It's a stick. You must understand that it's a stick. You gotta understand that it's a stick, Serita, because if it were a plant or a root or a stalk, it would be living. And if it were living and budded and blossomed, that would not be a miracle. But if it's a stick, it's a dead thing. So they took a stick and they laid it out overnight, and the sign of the priesthood, of who was to be the priest over Israel was in the morning it had budded and blossomed.
You remember the almonds on the candlesticks, that they were to be made like almonds? This is the sign of the priests. Life out of death. This is the sign of Jesus. "If you destroy the temple, in three days I'll raise it up again". See, you don't get how dead Jesus was. He was as dead as Aaron's rod. He was so dead that rigor mortis had set in and they had to peel his hands off the cross and force his rigor mortis flesh to form into this way so that they could prepare his body for burial. There was no heat. There was no warmth. He was solid. He was cold. That's why the disciples knew he was dead. They were sure he was dead. It was not a rumor he was dead.
They had wrapped his body in 1-inch pieces of linen. They knew he was dead. They put him in the grave on Friday before the Sabbath started. They knew he was dead. The women got up early Sunday morning to come down to put some frankincense and myrrh around him, but when they got to the graveside, the stone had been rolled away and he had got up. That's Aaron's rod that budded and blossomed. God brings life out of death. God brings life out of death. And you were dead, and God came along and quickened you and brought life out of your death. I wish I had some resurrected people that would make some noise in here. I was dead. I was dead. I was dead. I was dead on drugs. I was dead in sin, but early Sunday morning.
The Bible said, "The same Spirit that quickened Jesus's body and raised him from the dead shall also quicken your mortal body". So this shows us the Holy Spirit. This shows us the eternal Son slain from the foundations of the world. This shows us the dictates of the Father, the Son, the Holy Spirit all in a box. "The fullness of the Godhead dwelled in him bodily". Are you following what I'm saying to you? Are you following what I'm saying? Are you following what I'm saying? I wanna get to the top of the box. Take me to the top of the box I wanna see the whole ark of the covenant. That's what I want right there. I want you to see the angels, the cherubims. We saw them on the veil.
You remember last week? We saw them on the veil. Now we see them on the ark of the covenant. There they are, two wings facing each other, covering the mercy seat. Once a year on the Day of Atonement, the preacher would go in and put blood on the mercy seat so that when God looked down he couldn't see the law. He saw the blood. He saw the blood. But what is intriguing to me is that the angels, the cherubims, the cherubims are facing each other, which takes me... do you remember when the women came down to the tomb looking for Jesus, and the Bible said that there were angels on each side? They came to where the body of Jesus had laid, and there were angels on both sides, saying, "Why seek ye the living amongst the dead? He is risen. He is not here".
Oh, my God, I thought of something else. "In the year King Uzziah died, I saw also the Lord high and lifted up and his train filled the temple. And above him were seraphims, and with two wings they covered their face, and with two wings they covered their feet, and with two wings they did fly, saying, 'Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of God of hosts.'" But wait a minute, "Saying one to another". You heard me, didn't ya? See, what you gotta realize is that the glory dwells in the conversation. Y'all don't get it yet. The glory dwells in... come here, honey. The glory dwells in the conversation. "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God of hosts". And you say it back to me.
Serita Jakes: "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God of hosts".
Bishop Jakes: "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God of hosts".
Serita Jakes: "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God of hosts".
Bishop Jakes: "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God of hosts".
Serita Jakes: "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God of hosts".
Bishop Jakes: "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God of hosts".
"Holy, holy, holy. Holy, holy, holy. Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God of hosts. Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God of hosts. Holy, holy, holy s the Lord God. Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of God of hosts". And the more they began to talk about him one to another, "He inhabits the praises of his people". Oh, my God, my God, my God. "Holy, holy, holy, holy, holy. Holy, holy, holy. Holy, holy, holy". I need some help in here. I hope you're sitting beside somebody who's got a praise. And I want you to say one to another who He is. Yes, yes, yes, yes, it's when you talk about him. It's when you talk about him. When you say one to another, "He's been my Doctor. He's been my Lawyer. He's been my Bridge. He's been my Waymaker. He's been my Help. He's been my Strength. He's been my Joy".
You oughtta tell somebody. You oughtta talk about him, talk about him, talk about him, talk about him. Tell 'em your testimony. Tell 'em your testimony. Tell 'em what you know about God. Tell 'em what he's been to you. Tell 'em how he's delivered you. Tell 'em how he made a way. And the more you talk about him, the more he'll sit down. "Where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I in the midst of them". "If any two or three of you agree as touching anything on earth, it shall be done". He dwells in our praise. He dwells in our fellowship. He dwells in our conversation. He dwells in the midst of us. Shout, "Yes".
I wanna tell you something. They took Paul and Silas and locked them in jail. Had they put 'em in a different jail, they'd have never got a breakthrough. But they made a mistake when they put 'em in the same cell. And the Bible said, "At midnight, at midnight Paul and Silas," holy, holy, holy, "sang praises unto God. And suddenly there was a sound, and suddenly there was an earthquake". If you find somebody and start talking about God, he'll send an earthquake. He'll send an earthquake. He'll send an earthquake. He'll break up your prison. He'll give you a breakthrough. He'll deliver you.
Find somebody else and tell 'em who God is to you. He's coming. Touch everybody you can reach and tell 'em, "The glory is coming. The glory is coming". Bring me the glory, the glory. Hallelujah, here comes the glory. Tell the devil to get out. Here comes the glory. Tell the witches to get out. Tell the enemy to get out. Here comes the glory. Here comes the glory. I dare you to praise him. I dare you to praise him until demons tremble. Here comes the glory. Yes, shout unto God. Shout unto God with a voice of triumph. Shout unto God. If you ever needed mercy, if you ever needed grace, shout unto God. Lift your hands and open your mouth and open your mouth and glorify Him.