TD Jakes - It's All About The Stones
And the people are uncertain, and he is uncertain, and to God he is unproven. And he comes down to the Jordan River, and all he has to fight with is what God promised him. "As I was with Moses, so shall I be with you". So he comes down to the Jordan. This time, it's the Jordan, not the Red Sea. The conditions have changed, but it's still the same thing. The water is an obstacle. And he comes down to the water with the promise of God. And he comes to the Jordan River, and nothing happens. This is the moment. This is the moment that proves the authenticity of his leadership. This is the moment that he gets the public validation of a majestical move of God that shuts every mouth as to the authenticity of his calling. And he comes down to the brink of the swelling Jordan, and nothing happens.
And the priest are behind him, and the people are behind him, and the promise of God is before him. And nothing happens. What do you do when it's your moment and nothing happens? What do you do? I have to fight him to get to the door, and you finally get to the door and nothing happens. What do you do when it's your moment and it doesn't work? This text is not about what worked. It's about what didn't. If God was going to do with him what he did with Moses, he should have gotten to the edge of the Jordan, raised up his rod, and the waters went hither and thither. He walked to the edge of the swelling Jordan, and nothing happened.
Can you imagine what the crowd was saying behind him? Can't you almost feel the beating of his heart and the rushing of blood to his face, because he has told them that God was with him and still there is no move from heaven. There is no wind, there is no blowing, there is no water parting, everything is acting as if he had no anointing at all. It is in this moment that he must decide what you must decide right now. This moment in your life that you have come down to a critical point and nothing is happening. You have to decide, are you gonna tuck your tail and turn your head and go back, or are you going to step down into the water?
Now God said, "As I was with Moses, so shall I be with you". But he didn't say, I'm going to do with you what I did with Moses. He just said "I'm gonna be with you as I was with Moses". So he had to step down into the water. My God, look at his faith. Suppose nothing happens. He went down into the Jordan, and the priests followed him into the immovable, swelling tide of the Jordan. Whoever I'm preaching to, you getting ready to walk into somethin' that ain't moving. You're getting ready to walk into something that's standing up in the face and laughing at your faith and telling you that your God don't work and you're in it by yourself, and if God was with ya, your husband wouldn't have left you, and if God was with ya, all hell wouldn't have broke loose in your life. If God was with you, you wouldn't have had to go for the test in the storm. And if God was with you, you wouldn't have had to fight off the enemy.
But the devil is a liar. I said, the devil is a liar. I said, the devil is a liar. I said, the devil is a liar. I said, the devil is a liar. Somebody give him 30 seconds of crazy praise. Oh, let me just set the stage for this text. He is now in the water. His feet are wet. If God was with him, if God was with him, I'm not gonna be stopped. See, the devil don't want it to go forth and the devil is a liar. And I'm going to preach this anyway. I'm gonna preach it anyway, I'm gonna preach it anyway. Because this is gonna unlock something for somebody. This is gonna break a yoke for somebody. This is going to open a door for somebody. This is gonna release somebody, it's gonna set you free.
You're in the middle of transition, you're in the middle of change, you're in the middle of obstacles, and you thought God was gonna work at one way and it didn't work like you thought it was gonna work. And you think that the fact that it didn't work the way you thought it was gonna work means God said no. But the devil is a liar. Just because the waters don't part at the bank doesn't mean it won't open in the middle. He stepped out into the water. And there he is, out in the water. Already the type is shattered, because Moses' people bragged because their feet never got wet. And can you imagine the people coming down into the water saying, now, you know, this isn't right, something's wrong with this, because Mama said that when they stepped down into the water, their feet didn't get wet, And now this man got us walking in water that ain't moving. Hallelujah to God.
And it looks like God is not with us. And he kept on walking. In the murmuring and the complaints, he kept on walking. In the controversy, he kept on walking. A country is in controversy, our world is in controversy, and some people are tryin' to figure out what to do. You got to keep on walking. They can say, let it out, they can say whatever they want to say, they can do whatever they wanna do, they can feel however they want to feel, but you gotta keep on walking. When you know God is on your side, you gotta keep on walking. I don't know who I'm encouraging, but no matter what your position is, you got an opposition. I said, no matter what your position is, you got an opposition. And if you feel like your position is really God, you got to keep on walking.
They kept on walking, stepped out into the water, and nothing moved. And the priests went with him. You gotta have somebody who will get in trouble with ya. If you don't have somebody with you that'd get in trouble with you, you are by yourself. You gotta have somebody who is so committed to you that they will step down into waters that ain't moving and say, if you say go, I'm goin', if I perish, I'll perish. I'm going to see the King. We might have to drown out here, but I'm going to see the King. We might get swallowed up, but I'm going to see the King. We might get embarrassed and humiliated, but I'm going anyway. I left too much behind me to mess around and go back where I came from.
And I made up in my mind, if I perish, I perish. I'm goin' into this water, my feet might get wet, but I'm gonna step in this water, my ankles might get wet, but I'm gonna step in this water, my knees might be wet, but I'm gonna step in this water. Though he slay me, yet shall I trust him. I'm getting in the water. And the Holy Ghost sent me here to tell you to step in it anyway, I know they don't like you, but step in it anyway. I know they're talkin' about ya, but step in it anyway. I know they're against ya, but step it in anyway. I know they've been texting about ya, but step in it anyway, I know they're talkin' about you on Facebook and Instagram, but step into it anyway. Step on into the middle of the water.
And how all of a sudden Joshua and his priest stepped down into the water, and when they got in the middle of it, when they got in the middle of it, when they stepped into the middle of the mess, God showed up. God told me to tell you he's not gonna do nothing if you don't do nothing. He's not going to move if you don't move. He's not gonna show up if you don't show up. But if you show up, the Lord said, "I'll meet you halfway". God said, "I'll meet you halfway. I'm through making everything easy. You have to be willing to get your feet wet. Step out into the water and I'll meet ya halfway".
So Joshua stepped down into the water, because this was the moment. And when it's your moment, you can't go back. When it's your moment, you can't give up. When it's your moment, you can't give in. I came to tell America, this is the moment. This is your moment. This is your time. This is a kind of moment that changes the world, the trajectory of our reality. This is our moment. This is our time. Step down into the water. Step into the controversy. Step into the confusion. Step into the messiness. Get mud in-between your toes. Kick your cute shoes off and get down in the mud and the mess of it and say, as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.
I don't know who I'm talking to, but I feel like I'm talking to somebody. Hallelujah. Tell your neighbor, step on in it, step on in it, step on in the messiness of it. Your marriage is in trouble, it ain't gonna never get better as long as you're standing on the banks. You gotta stepped down into the mess of it. You've gotta step down in and get your feet dirty, get mud in-between your toes, mess up your cute hairdo, and tell the devil, you can't have my marriage, you can't have my son, you can't have my daughter, you can't have my mind, you can't have my church.
God will make the waters roll back out of your way. And the Bible said that all of a sudden that the people had to come through quickly. You gotta understand what they're walking through. It looks like they're walking through water, but because the priests was in place they weren't walking through water, they was walking through praise. When the Spirit comes in like a flood, the Spirit of the Lord will lift up a standard against the enemy. That's why the priests had to go first, because the priests always represent praise. And when praises go up, blessings come down. I don't know what you're in the middle of right now, but you need to drop your iPad and go into a crazy praise.
You need to praise him in your pajamas, you need to praise him in your housecoat, you need to praise him in your slip and gown, you need to praise him in your underwear, you need to drop your fork and praise him, you need to put down your coffee cup and praise him. When I think of the goodness of Jesus and all that he's done for me, my soul cries out, hallelujah! I thank God for saving me. Praise him while you're sitting on that back deck. Praise him right where you are. Because if you want God to show up, you gotta learn how to give him the praise. Somebody in this room needs to praise him right now. Praise him like you're in a fight. Praise him like you're in a storm. Praise him like you're in a battle. Praise him like you want a breakthrough. I can't hear you. Open your mouth and give God something.
So the priests were standing still, and the children of Israel were coming through the priests, and they were coming through fast, and they were coming into heaven. And the Bible said, where the feet of the priests stood firm, God said, wherever you stand firm, wherever you take a stand, whenever you stop bein' wishy-washy, whenever you stop being two-faced, whenever your feet stand firm. God said, I want you to take a stone from the place where the feet of the priests stood firm. That means you gotta stand when it looks like it's not working. You gotta stand when it looks like God didn't hear ya. You gotta stand when everybody's ostracizing ya. You gotta stand when life looks complicated. And the priests just stood there. They stood 'til the wind came. They stood 'til the waters parted. They stood 'til a way was made. They stood 'til the children of Israel started coming through. They just stood.
Slap your neighbor and say, just stand. You don't know what to do, just stand. Just stand flat-footed on the rock. This rock is Jesus. Stand on the promises of God. Stand on the fact that God is not a man that he should lie, or the Son of Man that he should repent. Devil, this is what I'm gonna do. Having done all to stand, I'm gonna stand, therefore, with my loins girded about with truth.
Slap somebody and say, stand. Look at somebody and say, stand. Point at somebody and say, stand. Lay hands on yourself and say, stand! And so right where they stood, God said, I don't want a rock that you're not standing on. I don't want a rock that you are not standing on. I can't use a rock that you didn't stand on. It is not the rock by itself, but it is a combination of rock and feet, truth and conviction. Every place where the priests feet stood firm, take a rock. So when all of the children of Israel had passed over to the other side, God said, take a rock where the feet of the priests stood firm, because I'm going to turn your moment into a memorial.
A memorial is something you remember. A memorial is something you teach your children. A memorial is a standard that sets you apart from other people. A memorial is your story, your history, your destiny, your legacy. It's all tied up to a bunch of rocks. Look at somebody and say, it's all about the stones. The stones, the stones, the stones. Don't leave it 'til you get your stone. Don't leave 'til you get your stone. You need something to prove to the world, I was there when God made a way out. And I was there when the tides began to turn. I was there when the NFL offered an apology. I was there when the statues began to fall. I was there when they burned the Confederate flag. I was there. I was standing. I was standing right there. I was standing right there. I was standing right there. And the Bible said that the priests were forbidden to leave the Jordan without the stone.
Too many times, we leave our Jordan without getting our stones. Too many times, we're just glad to get by, and we don't get nothing out of it. Don't go into a meeting you don't get nothing out of. Don't let anybody take up your time with somethin' you don't get nothing out of. God said. I didn't take you through all of this for you to not get something out of it. Get something out of it before you leave. Now, imagine the waters are standing on ahead, and we're running out of time. And the priests, who already got a load, gotta reach down and get a stone. The stones are so important that God added more weight. This is the weight of glory. Glory costs you something. Glory is heavy on your shoulders. Glory... Oh y'all, I got to quit. Glory adds to your load. Hallelujah.
But they carried it out. They're carryin' stones in mud, they're carryin' stones along with religious artifacts, they're carryin' stones weighted down with the armor of their garment, but they carried it anyway, because God said, your children need to see your stones. Even as I preach here today, my youngest son is standing here to my side. I want him to see my stones. Know that your daddy is a fighter. Know that your daddy would step in a building and fight by myself. I want you to understand that a crowd does not define you. That if God be for you, he's more than the world against you. And when all hell is breaking loose, you just stand. Somebody holler, stand! This is something you can't get out of a book, it's got to be modeled in front of you. You got to see it in your life, you gotta be able to point at it, you gotta have enough sense to recognize it, and there ain't nothing but stones, there ain't even books, but they're teaching a class.
Take these stones and pile them up where you live, so that when your children, when your children pass by and say, what meaneth these stones? You tell 'em, baby, it's all about the stones. It's not about the jewelry, it's not about the goal, it's not about the bank account, it's not about the silver, it's not about the money, it's not about the house, it's about the stones. If you got the stones, you can build a house. If you got the stones, you can get the goal. If you've got the stones, you can get the silver. It's all about [speaking in tongues], it's all about the stones. It's the stones you got. It's a fight you got. It's to stand up you got. It's a force you got. It's the tenacity you got. It's a fight you got. It's a tribe you got. It's a relentlessness you got. And you got to stand there, though they keep slapping on ya, talkin' about ya, laughing at ya, lying on ya, tryin' to kill ya, you just stand.
And so I preach this message today to say it's all about the stones, because the Bible said, when your children ask you what meaneth these stones, tell them how the Lord was with them when you were in the middle, in the middle of the Jordan. That is the message. The stones are the message. That a trans-generational. It is the stones of the '60s that the 2020s stand on. If we hadn't done what we did, you couldn't do what you're doing. History is a muddy business. Hallelujah. It's only clean when you wash it off to make yourself look good. History has always been a messy business. It's always been rough and rugged and ragged. It's always had extenuating circumstances and back-room meetings, and sabotages and attack to get us to where we are.
And so these stones. These stones. It's all about these stones. It's all about bending your knee on a football field and being castigated, until somebody bends a knee on somebody's neck. It's all about, it's all about, it's all about the progression of a conversation that creates controversy and confusion and cost jobs and unfollowin' people and rejectin' 'em, and the price people paid for the freedom we have. And that's why the freedoms must be precious, because they are so expensive. They are so, so expensive. That's why you have to vote, because it was so, it was so expensive. I know you're frustrated, you feel like your vote don't count and it doesn't work, and they make it a hard, but listen. It was so expensive. How to respect what your ancestors died for, and bled for, and suffered for, if it don't do nothing. But just please them to see you go down there and cast a ballot. It cost too much.