TD Jakes - The Proceeding Word of God
"It is written, 'Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.'" Now, "Every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God". One translation just says, "Every word of God," the other translations says, "Every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God". Somebody say proceedeth. I want you to think about that because that's what we're talking about right now, "The Proceeding Word of God".
The proceeding word of God is important for us to understand because it suggests that God is not through talking, and that's important for you to know because a lot of times we're going off of what God has said. Have God not said? We're going by what God has said, and not what he is saying right now. I'm gonna make this clear to you where you can really get it. You remember in Genesis 22, when God said to Abraham, "Take now thy son, thy only son... 'and' go to a place I will show thee; and there you shall offer him up as a burnt sacrifice unto me".
And Abraham grabbed his son and he grabbed the wood and they started going up the hill to the mountain. And his son is going up there, he knows something is up, you know? He said Daddy, I see the knife, something's wrong with this, I see the wood, "But where's the sacrifice"? The son is starting to feel like maybe, you know, am I dinner or something? And he gets up there and Abraham takes his son, his only son, and lays him out on the altar and ties him down on the altar, and puts the wood up under him, fully prepared to offer him up like you would a lamb for a burnt offering. He even pulls the knife and raises the knife up to slay his son. And then God says, "Abraham, Abraham," and he speaks right to him, "Behold, I've got a ram tied up in the thicket".
Now, if Abraham would have continued to walk in what God had said, he would have slain his son. The only reason Isaac is alive is because Abraham was in tune with the proceeding word of God. I see so many churches and so many ministries and so many Christians who are walking in an antiquated word of something that God said to you five years ago, three years ago, two years ago, 10 years ago. And you're obedient to what God has said but you're not close enough to hear what God is... Oh, this is good. And when you don't hear the proceeding word of God, there will be casualties, wherever there is deafness. There will be casualties wherever there is deafness.
Now, if man shall only be sustained, because that's what, "Live by," means. Man shall only be sustained by the proceeding word of God, if my survival depends on it, I need to hear. See, a lot of people come to church, you just like a little inspiration, you just wanna get a little inspiration from God. Some of us come to church 'cause we need direction, and we are listening at the word of God, we are listening at the sermon being preached, we're listening at the message, we are praying ourselves, we're having devotionals every morning because we know how important it is to get the Word of God right. Because we must confess, we've gotten it wrong sometime, and gotten in trouble sometimes going in our own way.
And I don't want to go in my own way, I want to go in God's way so I want to hear clearly, what are you saying at this junction? I don't want to quit this job if you're telling me not to quit this job, I don't want to move to Alaska if it's not your will for me to go to Alaska. I don't wanna make a dumb decision, Lord, I need to hear from you. Touch your neighbor and say he still speaks. The question then becomes, not so much, does he still speak? but, are you still listening? Because, if I'm correct, the Bible said, "He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit is saying to the church".
So God says don't doubt that I'm talking, I'm doubting that you're listening. It's not about me talking, it's, are you listening? Let all the parents say amen. It's not that I didn't warn you, it's not that I didn't tell you that boy wasn't no good, it's not that I didn't tell you to leave that girl alone. It's not that I didn't tell you, but are you listening? And I want to suggest to you, I know that there are some people that rebel or just intentionally do not listen, but there are also other people who really have a good heart but we get so distracted, by the noise and the pestilence and the things going on around us, that we lose sight of what we heard; like Peter walking on the water.
When Peter was walking on water, Peter stepped off the boat into the water, and we say he was walking on the water, I say he was walking on the Word, because you can't walk on water, you can walk on Word. Sometimes Word is water, sometimes water is Word. And when Jesus said, "Come," Peter didn't step off the boat till Jesus said come, because when Jesus said come, not only did he give him permission, it gave him foundation. Where Jesus says come, I could walk into a shaky situation and still remain stable because I know in whom I have believed and I can remain stable. Though the winds and the waves are boisterous all around me, I can keep my head above water, and keep on progressing and going forward when others are going down because Jesus said come.
That's how important divine permission is. Divine permission can allow me to prosper when other people are going bankrupt. Divine permission can cause me to get healed while other people are getting worse. Divine permission can cause me to be successful where other people fail. I don't always have to read the newspaper to get my cues because everything around me could be going down, but if God said come, I can step out on his Word. The problem is, the only problem Peter found was when he start listening at the winds and the waves, distractions. It's hard to hear God in noise and this is the noisiest time we ever had in our lives. It's just noisy, just all kind of noise. All kinda noise, all on TV, all on your phone, all in your life, all on your job, all around you; 24/7 you are bombarded with noise.
There is a reason the Bible said, "Be still and know that I am God". I'm gonna say that again. It is a reason the Bible said, "Be still and know that I am God". There's a reason the Bible said, "He leadeth me beside the still waters". If God is gonna restore your soul, you gotta get in a calm place. Not he say, not she say, not they say, not I heard, not this, not that nor the other, you gotta be still. And that's why the devil wants to keep you so busy that you can't find your still place so that you can have a sure word from the Lord.
I'm talking to somebody, I don't even know who it is. The enemy can't stop God from talking but he can stop you from listening, and you just gotta be in a still place. I was traveling, I just got back, I've been on the road and I got, you know, it's interesting, these limo drivers, not limo drivers but car drivers, car services that come and pick you up. It depends on the mood of the driver what the experience is like. And I had to speak and I got this driver who act like he was on speed or something, not because he was driving fast, he'd just start talking like somebody just, talking about all kinds of stuff, his girlfriend or how they met and where they went to school and how they grew up and all that kinda stuff.
And I'm getting ready to preach, and anybody who knows me, that when I'm getting ready to preach, I don't like to hear anybody say anything. I don't like noise, I don't like, I don't even want to hear Gospel music, I don't want to hear other people preach. I wanna get so in tune with God that when I walk up there to minister, that I have got a clear and a definite word from God. Sometimes the enemy will put people in your life just to create noise and turbulence. They're just rattling in your life, it doesn't make any sense, they're just chattering in your life to break your focus.
Somebody lift your hands and say I need to hear from God. My children are depending on me to hear from God, my future depends on the fact that I hear from God. I need to hear from God. We need to hear from you, we need a word from you. I want you to understand what you got when you have the Holy Spirit. What you have when you have the Holy Spirit is inside information. "He shall not speak of himself," he's not just gonna talk, he's not just gonna say things, he's gonna bring you fresh manna from heaven, he's going to come right out of the boardroom of glory and he's gonna say, "That building is yours". He's not saying that to make you dance, he's not saying that to make you shout, he's speaking to you of things to come.
I am here right now, in this building right now, because I walked into this, wasn't this building but next door, I walked into the building that existed at that time and asked God one question. Is it mine? I didn't ask you how am I going to pay for it, where the people are gonna come from, what's gonna be done about this or that or the other, how's this gonna happen over here, how many days do I have make transition, what am I gonna do with my mother and father, what am I gonna do about the... No-no-no-no-no-no-no-no-no-no, one thing, is it mine? And when the Holy Spirit said yes, I walked out there and told the man, "Sign the papers, I'm doing the deal".
Obedience is better than sacrifice. There's no need to ask God what his will is if you are going to bombard him with a bunch of questions. I'm going to tell you something that I learned from experience: God is not big on details. He told Abraham you're gonna have a child, but he didn't tell him you're going to be an old man when you have the child, your body's gonna be dried up, your wife is going to be dried up, you're going to feel like it's not gonna happen but I'm still going to bring it to pass. God doesn't give you a lot of details, he just tells you what the end is going to be. Talk to me, somebody. I don't know who I'm talking to but I'm talking to somebody right now. You need to stop with all of your questions and just say yes.
So why does God... am I helping anybody? Why does God give us the Holy Spirit? And this is why I put it up there now. "Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities". The Spirit didn't come to our perfectness, the Spirit came into our brokenness. He was drawn to me because I was messed up, he said, "They that are not sick don't need a physician. I came to seek and to save that which is lost". I chose you 'cause you're crazy, "My strength is made perfect in weakness".
Oh, I'm going to preach the Word till you get it. I chose you so that, when I stand up in you, they're going to know it's me and not you, they're going to know that I was on your side, they're going to know you couldn't do this without me. Who am I preaching to in here? "Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities," 'cause not only do we not know his voice, "We know not what we should pray for as we ought". I don't trust myself to pray 'cause sometimes my prayer will take a side road and go right in the middle of it. I mean, just right in the middle of the prayer, right in the middle of praying about love and forgiveness and everything, and kumbaya and everything.
And right in the middle of prayer, I'll say something like, "Kill him," just something stupid just jumps out of my mouth. Pray for me, it just happens sometimes. Sometimes I don't know how to pray. Give me the job or take it, keep Mama here or let her go, move to Chicago or fight for Dallas. "We know not what to pray for as we ought". I hear the Holy Spirit in here. But, "The Spirit helpeth our infirmities: we know not what to pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself," that's where I want, "The Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings".
"Why is Bishop making that noise, Mommy? He sound like somebody having a baby". I mean to. The Spirit itself is groaning and moaning down in you until Christ's nature is birthed in you; he's travailing and warring for you. The Spirit is working on the inside of you 'cause, while other people are talking about what you do, the Spirit has gotten down in there and he knows why you do it. And he's trying to heal you from the inside, not from the outside, so that you won't need people like you need them, you won't need validation like you need it, you won't need commendation like you need it. You don't need six lovers, you don't need seven wives, you don't need 12 white horses to feel good about yourself. The Spirit is down in you.
Right now, while the devil is trying to kill you, the Holy Ghost is down in you with groanings and moanings, fighting to heal the why of you and not the what of you. And when he gets through warring for you, you will know his voice because you will have heard that groaning in your soul till there is an awareness in your Spirit: that's God, that's God for my life. That's not my flesh, that's not my pride, that's not my temper, that's not my lust, that's God.
So I'll tell you this. We don't ask you to worship because we want to have an electrifying service, we don't ask you to worship because we want theatrics and spiritual gymnastics and biblical calisthenics. We ask you to worship so that you can contact God Spirit-to-spirit, Spirit-to-spirit. We ask you to worship so that you can strip yourself of all of your agendas and all of your opinions, and all of your attitudes, and come down before him, naked in his presence, naked in his presence.
We're not asking you to worship because we're black or because it's cultural or because we're Pentecostal, it's denominational. No, we are asking you to worship because God has to get in your spirit before he can change your life. We need you to get contact in your spirit, and we're asking you to worship because you do more for your flesh than you do for your spirit. You do more for your flesh than you do for your spirit. Everything flesh wants, flesh gets. That's why Jesus went on the fast, as I close, he was trying to deny his flesh so he could awaken his spirit.
And God said the reason your flesh is running you is because you're more focused on your outside than you are on your inside. But when Zion travails, sons and daughters shall be born. I'm lonely, I'm hungry, hold me, touch me; all about your flesh. But when you worship, when you worship, when you lift your hands and open your mouth and start worshiping, when you open up and surrender your agenda to God and say, if I don't get a position, if I don't get a kingdom, if I never get to preach, if I never record, if I never write the book...
When you worship, when you worship. My God, I wish I had a musician who was sensitive to the Holy Spirit. When you worship, when you worship, when you worship, the deepest part of you cries out to the deepest part of God. When you worship the Holy Ghost gets to the why of you and beyond the what of you. And I want you to lift your hands and I want you to open your mouth. And worship leaders, you don't need a song to worship lead, if you'll worship leader, lead us in worship. We don't want to hear you sing, we want to hear you worship. We want to hear you worship until something breaks open in your heart, worship until something is healed that's been bleeding in you all of your life.
Worship to your grandmama's words don't matter, worship til what your daddy did doesn't hurt. "Lift up your head, O ye gates; and be ye lifted up, ye everlasting doors," because God wants to say something to you. "He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit is saying to the church".
I'm here, because I need the Lord, it's not that the Lord needs me. I didn't come to pay a bill or make a visit or do a checkup, I'm here because I need the Lord. I need to hear his voice, I need him to speak at me and walk at me and talk at me, and help me with my temper and help me with my pride and help me with my mouth and help me with my anger. And help me 'cause I can be insensitive, and help me because I'm anointed but I'm rude, I'm gifted but I got a nasty mouth, and I got it 'cause my mama had a nasty mouth.
And I really don't know how to be nice but, God... get down, I dare you to open up before him. It doesn't matter whether Bishop preaches or whether the choir sings, or whether the worship singers sing. It matters that I hear you speak in me, talk to me, Jesus. I surrender my will and my agenda and my brokenness and my barrenness and my frustration and my attitude, here it is.