Sermons.love Support us on Paypal

TD Jakes - Step Into It


TD Jakes - Step Into It

Touch three people and say, "I got a devil to fight". Now, you must understand that we are not wrestling against flesh and blood, but powers and principalities and spiritual wickedness in high places. You must understand, when I said thy kingdom come, that this kingdom is not the only kingdom. The kingdom of God is not the only kingdom. There is also a kingdom of Satan. Jesus teaches us that there is a kingdom of Satan, for Jesus said that Satan has a kingdom, and if his kingdom be divided against itself, how shall it stand? Satan has a kingdom, he has regiments.

You remember the tomb of Gadarenes and the man was possessed with devils, and the Bible said his name was called Legion, for we are many. It's not just many, it means organized, in order, regimented, marching, stepping on step, all in accord. What has been fighting you is the kingdom of the enemy, legions of demons. It's not no one demon that could give you that much trouble. It has been legions of demons that have been assigned to destroy you and bring you down, and they are organized, and they are regimented, and they are after your life and after your marriage and after your peace and after your ministry. They are marching against you. And Satan's kingdom is so organized that Jesus complimented it. He says that Satan has a kingdom and he says that the kingdom is not fighting against itself. He said, "For if his kingdom were divided, how would it stand"?

You have never, from Genesis to Revelation, ever seen a demon fight another demon. You don't see demons gossiping against demons. You don't see demons hoping other demons don't succeed. You don't see demons tryin' to pull other demons down. It's only church folk that can't bring themselves together into unity to accomplish anything for God. You are fighting an organized, regimented force that's out to destroy what God has given you, but the devil is a... liar. Have you ever noticed how the attacks against you are synchronized? That they drop at certain times just when you're on the verge of possessing what God has promised you?

All hell breaks loose to destroy you, and it doesn't hit what you don't care about, it hits what you love. It hits what demands your attention, it hits what gets you off kilter. It has studied you, it has researched you, there's been meetings about you. There's an organized attack out to bring you down, and the Lord brought you here so that you could put on the whole armor of God that you might be able to stand against the wiles of the devil, and having done all to stand, stand therefore with your loins girded about. Who am I preaching to? Yeah, yeah, yeah, I don't care whether you believe in hell or not. I don't care what you believe. I don't care whether you believe in demons or not. I don't care whether you believe in devils or not. Your belief will not disarm Satan's kingdom; in fact, the devil doesn't want you to believe in him.

The biggest trick the devil ever did was to make you not believe that there was a devil to fight. You have got a devil to fight. I want to talk about your enemy this morning. You're not wrestling against flesh and blood, but powers and principalities, speaks to magistrates. The word "principalities" is magistrates. The word "magistrates" means regions. There are demons that are assigned to territories. Oh God, help me preach this in here. There are demons that are assigned to territories. That's why you can't always imitate everything you see in another church, because the devil over Texas is not the devil over the UK. You have to understand the principalities over the region that you're in, because you have to fight, the devil I fought in West Virginia is not the devil I fight in Texas. There's another principality that is assigned to this region.

Book of Job chapter 1, "When the sons of God came around the throne, among them was Satan. Also, God said to Satan, 'Have you considered my servant Job, who is faithful and upright?'" Here comes the strategy: "Yeah, I saw him, but you got a hedge around him". The reason you have been able to withstand what the other person fell into is not because you're stronger than them, but God got a... hedge. So stop bein' high-minded and self-righteous and talkin' about, "If you was really saved"... The only reason you didn't fall, God had a... hedge. We ought to take a minute and thank God for the things he didn't let happen, for the doors that he didn't open to us, for the demons that he blocked from attacking us. He kept you even when you were a child.

Some things that happened to this child didn't happen to that child 'cause Jesus was a fence all around them. Who knows, if you had gone through what he had gone through, maybe you wouldn't be as strong in that area as you are, and that's why you ought to praise God in a spirit of humility. I need some folks that'll thank God for what didn't happen. Lord, I thank you for who didn't touch me, Lord I thank you for who didn't rape me, Lord, I thank you for who didn't destroy me, I thank you for the disease I didn't get, I thank you for the pain I didn't have to bear, I thank you for the emptiness I didn't go through, I thank you how you kept my mind from having a nervous breakdown. Can I get a Holy Ghost praise in this place?

You have to understand what I'm trying to teach you. I'm only teaching it to you because you're reapers. If you were just sowing, you wouldn't have to deal with this, but because you're stepping into harvest time, wherever there's a harvest, there's a scarecrow. The Bible said that Simon had spent years convincing them that he was some great one. A scarecrow is not real, but he's tryin' to scare off anybody that's after their harvest. It looks real when the wind blows, it moves real, and wherever you see a scarecrow, they're in the harvest. And the Lord told me to tell you, that thing you've been scared of is a scarecrow hanging over your city, but the devil is a liar. You're gonna get a breakthrough.

Say yeah, say yeah, say yeah. Touch three people and tell 'em it's a scarecrow. Trying to scare you out of the blessing, scare you out of the money, scare you out of the business, scare you out of your testimony, scare you out of writing your book, scare you out of singing your song, scare you out of telling your story. And the Lord told me to preach to you about scarecrows. They stand over the place you're gonna harvest. So when Philip went down to Samaria, he started healing the sick and casting out devils, and the enemy said, "Didn't you see the scarecrow"? Simon the sorcerer is a scarecrow, but what the devil didn't know is that Phillip wasn't scared of no crow. Touch your neighbor and say, "I'm not scared of no crow".

I've been at the conference all week long, I've been gettin' teaching all week long, I've been getting built up all week long, I've been laying out my plan all week long, and the moment you get ready to get on the plane, the devil gonna try to show you a scarecrow, tryin' to tell you that it won't work for you, but the Lord told me to tell you that the devil is a liar. That thing hangin' over your church ain't nothin' but a scarecrow. Behind the scarecrow is the money, behind the scarecrow is your harvest, behind the scarecrow is that property. Every pastor in here, shout "increase". Shout "increase". Every time you shout "increase," you're declaring harvest over your life, over your city, over your marriage, over your business.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. I'll prove to you that Simon was a scarecrow. He had convinced the people that he was a great man of God. A scarecrow is always a phony pretending to be something that it is not. At a distance, it looks real; but the closer you get to it, the more you begin to say, "I don't know, I don't think that's real or not". The enemy wanted to stop you before you got this close, but this week, the Lord has opened up your eyes. You don't have to be afraid of no scarecrow. You can't do it in this city. Ain't nobody ever done it here before. You can't do it 'cause you're a woman. You can't do it 'cause you're too old. You can't do it 'cause you're too young. You don't have enough money to do that. You don't have a degree in that.

Touch your neighbor's hands, say "Scarecrow". Everything that's been holding you back from completing your assignment is a scarecrow, no life in it. It's just straw and fabric standing over top of your promise. Grab your neighbor and shake 'em, say, "I'm gonna shake that thing". I'm gonna shake that thing, I'm gonna shake it till it breaks loose, I'm gonna shake it till it falls apart, I'm gonna shake it till it comes down, I'm gonna shake it till it loses its grip.

So the Bible said that Phillip, not only did he heal the sick, not only did he rebuke the enemy, not only did he cast out devils, but he baptized the scarecrow. Somebody run me some water, 'cause we're gonna have a baptism. We gonna baptize your scarecrow in the name of Jesus. I said, in the name of Jesus. In the name that's exalted above every name, in the name that makes demons tremble, I do indeed baptize you with water. So listen, this year, we're not goin' home with scarecrows. Everybody in here has a scarecrow.

You know people don't like you, you don't have that kind of personality, you don't have the resources. You know you dropped out of school. You know you don't have what you need. You know somebody on the board tryin' to fight you. You know you don't raise money well. You know you don't teach well. You know you're too old. You know you're too young. You know black folks don't do that. You know white folks don't do that. You can't get that kind of glory in your church. Your people are not gonna praise God like that. That's a cultural thing, you can't have it. It is a scarecrow. Watch this: the Lord brought you here. You cannot drive the scarecrow out of the region until you drive him out of you. You cannot rebuke an enemy you sleeping with. Samaria would never reach its potential if Simon was allowed to still shake. When Philip baptized Simon, he shut it down.

Now, some of us got scarecrows over our ministries, and some of us have 'em over our marriage. It's not that you're not married again, you married, but the scarecrow saying it ain't gonna last. Don't nobody love you, ain't nobody gonna stay with you. You can't do that. Don't get comfortable in his arms, 'cause he gonna do you like... don't open up to her, 'cause she don't really get you. Oh, y'all don't hear what I'm saying to you. You are never gonna be the man of God or the woman of God that you saw on that stage; it's a scarecrow, it's a scarecrow. You will always be dysfunctional, you will never be happy, you will never be free, you will always be miserable, you will always be incomplete. It's a scarecrow.

You never see a scarecrow on a highway, 'cause it ain't no fruit there. Wherever there is a scarecrow, there is fruit there, there is something to be gained, there is something to be gotten, there is something to be received. I'mma ask you for something, I'mma ask you for something. I want you to get out, right now, in your mind, I want you to get out and openly pull out your scarecrow. People see you all big and bad and talking all kinds of stuff and quoting Scriptures, and you still got a scarecrow.

And you arrogant people, y'all got the biggest ones, 'cause you put on all that big old front like you've got it together so nobody will know about your scarecrow, that you're not that confident and you're not that sure of yourself and you're not that good at what you do, and you got a scarecrow and you cover it up with bling and fling and numbers and who you know and all kinds of stuff, but at 1 o'clock in the morning, laying in the bed, it's waving in your life. It's a scarecrow. And you've even had some success in spite of your scarecrow. You've healed some people and cast out some devils with your scarecrow, but you cannot take the region until you baptize your demon. You gotta bind the thing that's trying to bind you, you gotta take the thing that's trying to take you.

The good news is, you wouldn't have a scarecrow if you didn't have a field, if you didn't have a field, if you didn't have a harvest, if you didn't have a promise. The devil never gives scarecrows to deadbeats. The reason you got a scarecrow is 'cause you got a destiny, and your destiny is so dadgum big that the enemy started building your scarecrow before you ever started preaching. The Lord told me to tell you, the only thing standing in between you and your harvest is a scarecrow. Scarecrows don't have no power, scarecrows depend on your fear to be successful. Tell me what you're scared of, and I'll tell you your scarecrow.

Think it was Teddy Roosevelt said, "We have nothing to fear but fear itself". The scarecrow ain't never beat up nobody in order to be effective, it lives off of the fear of the beholder. As we come to the end of this meeting, baptism is a funeral. You do understand, baptism is a funeral, it is a burial. And I said, "Lord, how shall I end the conference"? He said, "We're gonna end it with a funeral". We are going to bury our scarecrows. Everybody who don't have room in your car or a ticket for your scarecrow, everybody who doesn't have room on your bus for your scarecrow to go back home with you, the Lord said you can bury him here and go home without him.
Comment
Are you Human?:*