TD Jakes - Give Us An Awakening (06/11/2021)
While imprisoned and chained between soldiers, Peter slept deeply in an unbearable situation, but an angel entered his darkness, shook him awake, caused chains to fall, and led him past guards and through an iron gate that opened by itself—showing that God awakens us in stages from toxic slumber the enemy wants us to accept, and once awake, deliverance comes swiftly as doors open miraculously.
Comfortable in the Uncomfortable
He has made himself comfortable in an uncomfortable situation—oh, God. He has made himself comfortable. He has made himself comfortable in an uncomfortable situation. He has made the uncomfortable work. He has made the uncertain a resting place. And Peter has gone to bed between two soldiers—sleeping between two soldiers whose assignment is to hold you where you are.
There are spirits that have been assigned to your life whose only job is to hold you where you are—to make sure that you do not move too far away from where they put you. There are some demonic influences that have been sent on an assignment to make you accept the unacceptable as acceptable, the abnormal as normal, the uncertainness certain—and they want you to go to bed in something that God wants to get you out of.
God wants to get you out of something that the enemy wants you to sleep in. God wants to move you away from something that the enemy wants to give you a pillow and make you go to sleep in. God wants to pull you away from something that the enemy is trying to lure you into—and he has assigned—he has chosen—spirits to make you accept the unacceptable, to make you rest in the uncertain, to lull you into the toxicity of sleep and slumber in a situation that God is about to get you out of.
The Enemy Wants You Asleep
Oh, you all do not hear what I am saying. I said the enemy is trying to get you to go to sleep in a situation that God is about to get you out of. The enemy is trying to make you think that your life is over—and God is about to get you out of it. The enemy is trying to make you think that God does not have another sermon, another song, another job, another message, another life, another love, another hope, another house—and the enemy is trying to make you go to sleep—but God...
I feel the anointing of the Holy Ghost in this place. I said but God—God is trying to wake you up. Somebody type, "Wake up." Wake up, wake up, wake up, wake up, wake up. Somebody type wake up, wake up, wake up. Somebody say, "Wake up." Wake up, wake up. Somebody shake yourself and say, "Wake up, wake up, wake up."
This is not your life. This is not your situation. This is not your go-to. This is not your default setting. This is not how your story ends. This is not how you give up. This is not how you die. I shall not die—not today, not here, not like this—no, no, no, no, no.
The Angel Enters the Night
And while Peter was in this toxic environment of uncertainty—this toxic environment of anxiety—this toxic environment of worry—this toxic environment of discomfort—he was asleep. And the angel came in while he was asleep. The angel walked in to his night. I am going to say that again: the angel walked into his night.
Get ready, somebody—because the angel is getting ready to walk into your night. He is getting ready to walk into your dark place. He is getting ready to walk into your uncertainty. And I do not care how many hell hounds have been assigned to your life—when God gets ready to come get you, God will come get you, and no devil in hell can stop you when God gets ready to come get you.
The angel shows up in the prison. Tell your neighbor, "An angel is showing up." I am broke, but an angel is showing up. I have been depressed, but an angel just showed up. I have been in despair, but an angel just showed up.
The Lord told me that if I preached this Word, it was going to be the Word that woke somebody up. It was going to be the Word that woke somebody up. Tell your neighbor, "An angel is coming"—an angel is coming, an angel is coming, an angel is coming, an angel is coming, an angel is coming, an angel is coming.
Shake Me Awake
The angel shook Peter. They did not hear me. I said the angel shook Peter. Somebody holler, "Shake me, shake me." Whatever You have got to do to move me out of this situation—shake me up. Shake me, shake me till I stop accepting a prison to be an apartment. Shake me till my faith is renewed. Shake me till my soul catches afire. Shake me till I get my fight back. Shake me till I get my sword back—shake, shake.
Watch this—oh, I feel the Holy Ghost here. Something is going to happen in here this morning. Something is going to happen in here this morning—something is going to happen in here this morning. Somebody give Him 30 seconds of crazy, shaking praise—shaking praise. I want a shaking praise. I want a shaking praise. I want a shaking praise. I want a shaking praise. I want a wake-me-up praise. I want a get-me-out-of-this praise. Shout it out.
And then the Bible says something: nothing really changes in this text until Peter woke up. The presence of the angel did not stop the problem. The presence of an angel did not stop the problem. The angel is stronger than all 16 guards—but the presence of the angel did not liberate the apostle. The only thing that will liberate you is when you wake up.
Somebody holler, "I am woke now." Yes, yes, yes, yes—I am woke now. I was depressed, but I am woke now. I was frustrated, but I am woke now—hallelujah, hallelujah. You should have killed me before I woke up. You should have killed me before I woke. You should have killed me before I had an awakening. Wake me up, Jesus.
Waking Up in Stages
Now, let me take you somewhere. I want to take you somewhere. Peter wakes up—and this is the most important part of the message to me. Peter wakes up in stages. Peter wakes up in stages. The Bible says that the angel woke him up—and the moment that the angel woke him up, he said to Peter, "Hurry, get up."
And the moment he said that to Peter—Peter still has not said anything—the chains fell off. Now, the angel spoke loud enough that Peter could hear him but not so loud that the soldiers could hear him. What God has for you is for you—and all them wannabes that are hanging around you cannot get what God has for you.
And the moment he said, "Hurry, get up," the chains fell off of Peter's hands—and immediately Peter got up. This is the thing you have to realize. This is important for you to understand: you always wake up in stages. You fell asleep in stages. If you study sleep, there are several different stages of sleep. You fall asleep in stages—and you wake up in stages.
Following Not Knowing
Peter woke up—and the Bible said that he followed the angel out. Put my text up. He followed the angel out—but he followed him out, but he was not sure what was happening. He followed him out of the prison not knowing. Wait a minute—I thought he was awake. Yes, he was awake. He was awake—and he was following the angel.
Look at the text: he was following the angel not knowing. That is why I cannot have a lot of people asking me a lot of questions—because sometimes I am following the angel, but I am not knowing I am awake. The angel is in front of me. I am following the angel—but I cannot answer no questions. I cannot answer no questions because I am not knowing.
And he thought that he was seeing a vision. That means that my dream and my reality have collided so much so that I do not know whether to believe that my dream is real. I want to talk to somebody that is starting to see a change—but you are scared to believe it. You are scared to believe it. You are scared to trust it.
You have been asleep so long that you are following the angel—and the chains are falling off—but you do not know whether to trust it because it could be a dream. It could be a fantasy. It could be a vision. You believe it—watch this—you believe it, but you do not know it. There is a difference between believing something and knowing something. He is believing it—but he does not know it.
And he is thinking—now, he does not know—his spirit does not know—his mind thinks, "Could be a vision." Why is that so? Because you wake up in stages. It takes you a while to wake up fully to what God is doing in your life. For we walk by faith and not by sight. You do not see it—but you are walking in it. You do not know it—but you are walking in it. God is bringing you out—but you are afraid to trust it because it is not real.
Passing the Guardposts
Now listen—you have got to get this because this is important. Whenever I am interviewed, people ask me—I started out my life—I was doing fine. I was working a job—had a good job—had a tiny church—could take care of myself—had a new car—had a new wife—had a new family—had a new life—lost my job—lost all my income—lost everything—went down to food stamps—repossessed the car—lost everything I had—and then I started the slow climb back up.
And people always ask me, "When did you know that you were coming out?" And it is the hardest question in the world to answer—because I followed the angel not knowing. You have got to be willing to follow the angel not knowing—still uncertain—awake but not fully awake. You just have got to trust that the one in front of you knows what he is doing while you are still uncertain—because you wake up in stages. You do not know who you are yet. You might have a clue—but you wake up in stages.
Give me the 10th verse. When he starts to wake up, they pass by the first guardpost—and then the second—and then they came to the iron gate leading into the city—and the gate opened by itself.
So the angel who was capable of killing all 16 soldiers did not kill any of them—just walked past them. I want to talk to the people who walked past stuff that could have killed you—but God just let you walk past. Oh, I wish I had a witness in here. Somebody knows what it is like to walk past something that should have killed you—but God walked you right past it—and you did not kill it—and it did not kill you. You just escaped it.
They passed by the first guardpost—and then they passed by the second—and they came to the last—to the iron gate that led to the city.
The Gate Opens by Itself
This is the final demarcation between ideas as reality. And the Bible is careful to note—Luke is writing here. Luke is a physician. He is given to details. He takes the time to note that the gate was iron. It is an iron gate.
What had you locked in is an iron gate—but by the time you get to it—hey—by the time you get to it—do not worry about the fact that it has not opened yet. By the time you get to it—you will not see it opened in advance—but the Holy Ghost said by the time you get to it—by the time you walk up on it—God said He has so arranged it that it is going to look immovable—but by the time you get to it—it is going to open by itself.
Whoever I am preaching to—take about ten seconds and praise Him like a gate just opened. Praise Him like a gate just opened. Praise Him like a financial gate—a physical gate—a healing gate—a blessed gate—praise Him. Open, open, open, open, open. Open, open, open, open. Open, open, open. Open, open, open, open, open. Open, open, open. Open, open, open, open, open—open, open, open, open, open.
Pastor Bonet—it just opened. Peter does not get no credit for it. The angel does not get no credit for it. The soldiers do not get no credit for it—there are some things God is going to do for you that nobody will ever get credit for. It is just that by the time you walked up to it—it just opened—just that simple—just that fast. It just opened.
My credit rating—my business—my personal life—my relationship with my child—we had not been speaking for ten years—but by the time I got to it—it just... Oh, you all do not know. You all do not—you all do not—you all do not believe... I was a storefront preacher—but by the time I got here—the door just...
I prophesy to you a door is about to open in your life. A door is about to open in your life. I said a door is about to open in your life. Do not tell me about your circumstance. Do not tell me about your problem. Do not tell me about your situation. Do not tell me about your crisis. Do not tell me about your accountant. Do not tell me what the devil said. The Holy Ghost said that a door is about to open.
Whoever I am talking to—you ought to just lose your mind in a Holy Ghost praise.
Just Walk Out
The thing that gets me—a door just opened—and then the Bible said they just went out. They just—without restriction—without contradiction—without conflict—they just went out—with 16 soldiers assigned to hold them in.
Deliverance was easier than anything you could have imagined. Once he woke up—once you wake up—I want to make sure I give you what God said. Once you wake up to who you are—God will maneuver you past all of these soldiers that have been assigned to you to keep you isolated—and you are just going to walk out. You just walk out.