TD Jakes - Unfinished Business (05/10/2017)
God is immutable in essence (unchanging being), attributes (consistent power), and counsel (fixed purpose); using Moses' 40-year detour in Midian, the preacher shows God's unchanging plan redeems backsliders—calling us back to purpose despite drifts, declaring "Let my people go" over bondages.
God's Immutability
It is God's will for you to have increase. Nobody teaches you without the hope of you having increase.
It is not just learning the digesting of the information that is important. That is one element of it. But if you do not know what to do with the information—what good is it?
I can tell you how to lose weight. You can understand how to lose weight. You can write books about losing weight—but if you do not do what I am telling—it will not work.
What good is it to know it if you do not do it? So faith without works is... oh—come on, somebody. Are you with me?
Three Ways God Is Immutable
God is immutable—and I am going to give you three ways that God is immutable.
He is immutable—number one—in His essence. He is immutable in His essence.
That word "immutable" means that He will not mutate—He will not change—He will not evolve into something else.
In His essence—in His being—He is immutable. He is immutable. He will not mutate into something.
God cannot grow—because growth is mutation. He cannot grow—and He cannot diminish. He is.
Never was—He is. In His essence He will never be reduced.
Arthur Pink says it this way—he says: "God is often mentioned as a rock"—and when I came in this morning—the choir was singing about Him being a rock.
Picture a rock in the middle of the ocean and the ocean comes in and it goes out—and it goes back—and it goes forth—and it has hurricanes—and it has tornadoes.
But when it is all over—the rock is still standing there unmovable. That is your God.
He is stable in His essence. He cannot be reduced—and He cannot be increased. He was perfect when He started. He was absolute in His majesty.
He is immutable in His essence. He is unchangeable. He will not be mutated by your circumstances.
He made up His mind—and it is what He says that it is. Somebody say, "Amen."
Number two—He is immutable in His attributes. Whatever God could do—God can do. Whatever God was—He is and will be.
His attributes remain the same. His power will not diminish over time. His attributes are consistent.
If He was a healer—He is a healer. If He was a provider—He is a provider. If He was a waymaker—He is a waymaker.
His attributes are still the same. If He could part the Red Sea—He can part the Red Sea. If He could raise the dead—He can raise the dead. If He could turn water into wine—He can turn water into wine.
There is nothing that God could do that He now cannot do. His attributes are immutable. They will not diminish.
Your attributes diminish—that is why you wear glasses. That is why you got those plastic teeth in your mouth—because what was is not anymore.
That is why you got that piece in your hair. That is why you are putting that protein in your scalp.
Because you have a lot of things that were that are not—but whatever God was—He is and always will be.
His attributes are immutable. Do you hear what I am saying to you?
Immutable in Counsel
And number three—and this is the one I want to really weigh in—He is immutable in His counsel. He is immutable in His counsel.
His counsel will not change. He will not tell you...
See—this is what I have a problem with. Excuse me—I am going to have a pet peeve right now.
This is what I have a problem with. People are always coming to you—tell you what God told them to do—and then it does not work and they look stupid.
God's counsel does not change. If He told you to come—He told you to come. If He told you to preach—He told you to preach. If He told you to shut up—He told you to shut up.
His counsel does not change—which means your purpose does not change.
If He created you with something in mind—He will not then create you and change His mind.
Oh—I could really drop into something really heavy with that.
If He created you with something in mind—He will not create you and then change His mind.
His counsel does not change. His method may change—but His counsel does not change.
I got a GPS system—and if you want to—you can push a button and it will reroute you—but the destination remains the same.
God may reroute you. What He used to do with the blood of bullocks and goats—He now does it with the blood of Jesus Christ.
He may reroute you—but the redemption does not change—His counsel does not change.
So if He called you to something—He is yet calling you. And if He told you to do something—He is yet telling you.
And if He created you for a purpose—that purpose remains the same—whether you are in the hog pen or in the palace—whether you are in the prison like Joseph or whether you are in Potiphar's house—whether Potiphar's wife lies on you or not.
If God told you you were blessed—when it is all over you will still be blessed.
He may have to reroute you—but the destination remains the same.
That is why Job said, "Though He slay me—yet shall I trust Him."
When He slayed me—He rerouted me. But when it is all over—I will arrive where He created me to arrive—because His counsel cannot be mutated.
He is immutable. Good God Almighty.
I want that to soak in—because many of you God has created you for a purpose—and you have gotten off-track—but He has not.
Your circumstances do not change His purpose. He is absolute.
Oh—if only Moses had attended this church—I could have saved 40 years of his life.
When Moses started running away from the children of Israel—the Hebrew children—he ran from them because they rejected him.
He loved them—and they hurt him. And the bad thing about love is that you cannot help who you love.
Your love is not rational—and Moses is having this love affair with the Hebrew children—because his mama was Hebrew—his daddy was Hebrew—but his experience was Egyptian.
And you always want what you did not get. I told you last week—he was related to people he was not connected to.
And so Moses needs to connect to who he is related to—and he is loving them and longing for them—and he goes to them and they misunderstood him—and he rejected them.
His dilemma is this: once they rejected him—he could not go to them—and he could not go back to Egypt—because he had murdered the Egyptian.
Caught between a rock and a hard place.
Moses' Detour
Now Moses goes on the run. So he runs away from Egypt—and he crosses through the desert and across the water to Midian—and he hides in Jethro's house amongst the Midianites.
For 40 years he disappears. Forty years—this Moses goes to Midian.
He was so much like the Egyptians that the Midianites thought he was an Egyptian.
He walked like an Egyptian—he spoke the Egyptian language—he was educated in the Egyptian school—he passed himself off as if he were Egyptian—and he dwelt amongst the Midianites for 40 years.
Forty years he lived there. Forty years he ate there. Forty years he slept there. Forty years he met a woman and married there.
One of the seventh daughters of Jethro—he married her. Her name was Zipporah and from her loins she births him two children there in Midian—and Moses thought that he had gotten away from God.
He has been successful—but success is irrelevant to purpose. It is possible to be successfully wrong.
"What do you mean, Preacher?" I am glad you asked. I would remind you that God told Joshua that "I want you to have good success."
If God said, "I want you to have good success"—then it only reasons that there must be such a thing as bad success.
And so I ask you—what kind of success do you have? If your success does not bring you into God's purpose—it is bad success.
You can be successfully wrong. Forty years—Moses was successfully wrong.
Built a business—got a career—got a job—got a wife—got a life—got a house. Moved into a nice community. Sent your kids to the best schools. Doing your thing—doing it big in Midian.
You the man in Midian. And you are a reject in Hebrew. You are an outlaw from Egypt. You are alienated from heaven—but you are the man in Midian.
And we go to whoever claps the loudest for us—especially those of us who have been rejected.
Rejected people always love acceptance—even if they have to compromise destiny to get it.
We are so attracted to being accepted that we would rather be accepted by a fool than to be rejected by a sage.
And so Moses is successfully wrong in Midian—and he is wallowing in his victories—walking around—tending the flock and living his life—when all of a sudden after 40 years—God appears in a burning bush.
The bush is so spectacular to us as preachers that we have preached the bush at the expense of the message.
The bush was only there to get your attention. It is not the message. It is the vehicle that carries the message—because when you really belong to God—God will send something on fire to get your attention.
God's Unchanging Call
The Bible said when Moses saw the bush burning—he kept on walking. But when he saw that the bush was not consumed—he turned aside to see.
The wonder was how can it be on fire this long and not burn up?
I want to talk to some people in this room who have had something on fire for a long time—and you thought it should have burned out by now—but it is still burning.
Could it be that the immutable God has gotten an immutable circumstance and set it on fire and regenerated it to get your attention—so that you would turn aside to see?
Ah—but enough with the bush. Let us get to the message.
"Moses—Moses—I am the God of your fathers."
"What? I am over here with the Midianites although we do not even believe in You. They have spent 40 years re-indoctrinating me to worshiping Ashtaroth.
After all—Lord—we have not heard from You in over 400 years. You have been silent for 400 years."
And you will see that again between Malachi and Matthew—400 years of silence.
But every now and then God gets quiet for a while. But just because God has gotten quiet—does not mean that He has forgotten you.
Four hundred years later—oh—I am preaching to somebody. I do not know who it is.
Four hundred years later—"Moses—I am the God of your fathers. I am the God of Abraham."
"Abraham has been dead for over 400 years." "But I am still his God. I was his God when he was alive—and I was his God when he was dead.
Because I am not just a God over the living. I am the God over the dead.
And I promised him—surely I will bless you. Moses—I am the God of Abraham—and I am the God of Isaac—and I am the God of Jacob."
When he heard Him say that He was the God of Jacob—that is what really got him.
"I knew You were the God of Abraham—and I knew You were the God of Isaac. But I did not know that You were the God of Jacob.
How can You be the God of Jacob? Did You not say to Jacob, 'Thy name shall no longer be called Jacob—but Israel'?
Because Jacob meant trickster—con artist—schemer—and Israel means prince.
I knew You would be the God of the good part of me—but I had no idea that You would own the bad part of me."
Truth be told—every man in here got a little Israel and a little Jacob.
And you always trying to show God your good side—but "I am the God of Abraham—I am the God of Isaac—and I am the God of Jacob."
If I did not say another word—if I dropped the mic and walked out the room—I have already said enough to mesmerize the thinking mind—because God is saying, "I am the God of the part of you that has not changed."
"I am the God of Jacob—old backslidden—lying—conniving Jacob—I am his God."
And the Bible said when Moses heard that—he went to trembling—because you see—Jacob was a trickster.
And Pastor Moses was a backslider—and if He was the God of Jacob—then He was the God of Moses—even when Moses was backslidden—hanging out with the idolaters in Midian—even though Moses had married a heathen woman—Zipporah—who did not worship Jehovah—and all of a sudden Moses did not know that God could be the God of the part of me that has not changed.
"Take off your shoes—for the ground you stand on is holy—is holy—is holy—is holy.
Wherever you see Me is holy. However I reveal Myself is holy. However I show up is holy.
Before I got here—it was not holy—but the moment I stepped in here—the ground you stand on...
Kick off your shoes and recognize that you are standing..."
"We are standing—on holy ground. And I know—that there are angels all around."
Right in the middle of the fire—"Let us praise Jesus now."
"For we are standing in His presence on holy ground. We are standing—on holy ground."
Yes Lord. "And I know that there are angels all around. Let us praise Jesus now."
Yes Lord. Yes Lord. "For we are standing in His presence on holy ground."
In His presence—that is what I was missing. That is why I got defeated the first time.
I was fighting the battle in my own strength. That is why right went wrong—because I was fighting the battle in my own strength—out of my heart—not out of His heart.
Now I see it is not by might—nor by power. It is by Thy Spirit—saith the Lord.
I can do what I could not do before—but I have got to be in His presence in order to get the victory.
And God says, "I have heard the cry of My people. Go down to Egypt."
"To Egypt? The place where I was defeated?" "Go down to Egypt and tell Pharaoh—that I said—'Let My people go.'"
I want you to tell whatever has been holding you hostage—whatever has been binding you—whatever has incarcerated you—whatever has worried you—upset you—intimidated you—and scared you—"God said 'Let My people go.'"
I prophesy deliverance in this place. I prophesy release in this place. I prophesy restoration in this place.
I prophesy such a liberation in this place that whatever has been holding you today—whatever disease—whatever affliction—whatever depression—whatever discouragement—God said, "Let My people go."
Touch everybody you can reach and say, "You have got to get out of this. You have got to get out of this. You have got to get out of this."
Tell them. Spread the word. Spread the word. You have got to get out of this. You have got to get out of this. You have got to get out.
You have got to get out. Spread the word. You have got to get out. You have got to get out. You have got to get out.
You have got to. You have got to get out. You have got to get out. You have got to get out.
And Moses says, "Yes Lord. I drifted a long ways from You—but I am coming back.
I spent 40 years doing my own thing—but I am coming back.
I have been hooked up at the wrong place at the wrong time with the wrong people doing the wrong things—serving the wrong god—but I got to get back.
I am running back to You. I am running back.
I am running back. Pharaoh—here I come. I am coming back. I am coming back.
I drifted a long ways away from God—but I got unfinished business.
I got to get back in the place that God called me to be.
I got to get back to the purpose that God called me to have.
I got to get back to the post that God created me to be on—and I am running back.
I am running back. I am running out of my weakness. I am running out of my fears.
I am running out of my sins. I am running out of my doubt. I am running out of my intimidation.
I am running back.