TD Jakes - Anointed For The Altercation
What I love about Jesus is that he was just as much God's Son in isolation as he was in consecration, as he will be an altercation. He was still the same. Whether men clapped or didn't clap, whether they were there or weren't there, whether they supported him or didn't support him. Do not allow your situation to define your identity. I am who God says I am. I can do what God says I can do, glory to God. I was telling some pastors, I said, "I would be a pastor if I didn't have a church. I'd be a pastor if I didn't have a building, because none of those things define me. Pastoring is an anointing". It's an anointing. It's a flow of the spirit. It'll happen around the kitchen table. It will happen in a restaurant. When God makes you something you are that, whether you got anybody to bear witness to that or not.
Oh, don't fool with me. Don't fool with me. You're going to fool with me. You gonna fool with me. If your food with me, you're gonna make me preach. If you fool with me, you're gonna start something. Hallelujah, glory to God. And all of the Godhead set it off. They had to all set it off to correspond with Genesis when they said, "Let us make the first man, Adam". "Let us make the first man, Adam". And now in the Jordan, the us is at it again. I said the us is at it again. The us is at it again. The us is at it again. The us is at it again. The us, and let us make man. Let us make Adam. Let us be added again. You ought to tell the devil you fooling with us now. You're not just jumping on me, you fooling with us. I got a us behind me. I gotta army behind me. I gotta brigade behind me. I got support behind me. I got secret forces behind me.
It is amazing to me to recognize how the Holy Spirit at one moment can descend like a dove, the Father can speak from heaven, and the Son can be immersed in the water. And then the next moment, from this pinnacle of spiritual supremacy, from this apex, a spiritual awareness and identity. From this apex of an understanding of the Messiah coming from which they had waited thousands of years, in the very next verse, it plummets from the pinnacle of this height of spiritual supremacy and authority down into the abyss of an altercation. And it wasn't like he just wandered into the altercation, he was led of the Spirit into the altercation. See, we don't have that kind of spirit anymore. The only kind of spirit we got today is the kind that leads us into a Cadillac or a Rolls Royce, or a Mercedes.
So, for 40 days he went without food. Forty days without food will make you weak in the body. But there's a difference, Cora, between being weak in the body and weak in the spirit. Forty days without food will make you weak in the body, but he wasn't weak in the spirit. And the enemy tempted him for 40 days, and after the 40 days was over, he comes along, and the Bible says he saw Jesus was hungry. So he said, "If thou be the Son of God, turn this stone into bread". And then he said Satan took him up on a pinnacle and showed him all the kingdoms of this world, and he said, "All of this will I give you if you bow down and worship me". Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, if you just bow down and worship me, I'll turn it over to you. And then he took him up to the top of the temple and said, "Thrust yourself off this temple, for it is written the angels will give charge over thee".
Now, everything, the bread to be hungry is not a sin, so how could you tempt me with somethin' that's not a sin? The temptation wasn't the need, the temptation was how you go about satisfying the need. You're not wrong to be hungry, but you gotta be careful how you fix it. Oh, y'all don't hear what I'm sayin.' Y'all don't hear what I'm saying to you. You was built to be hungry. There's no sin in being hungry, but Satan will try to get you to take a shortcut to satisfy a legitimate need. It is, in essence, a legitimate need satisfied in an illegitimate way. Satan showed him all the kingdoms of the world, showed him. The word emphasis should not be on the kingdoms of this world, it should be showed him, because it's the lust of the eye. And he showed him all the kingdoms of this world in the flesh.
Have you thought about what that would look like? To show him Asia, and Japan, and Russia, and Germany, and all of the different countries in Africa, and all the different language, and he did it all in a flash, all over Europe, and Norway, and Belgium, Antarctica, and Australia. All the kingdoms, kingdoms of the world. He showed it to him in a flash and said I'll give it to you, all you gotta do is worship me. Legitimate that it belongs to me, because the kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our God and of his Christ. But for me to have to worship you to get it, that is the temptation. And by the way, why would you tempt me to turn the stone to bread when I am the bread of life? "Cast yourself down off of this pinnacle, for it's written the angels will bear you up". In other words, show how tough you are. And it was written that the angels would bear him up, but it was not written for him to do things to tempt God.
That's why this is just my conviction. You can have whatever conviction you want. Feel free to do whatever you wanna do. You can take peroxide, you can eat the container that the toothpaste comes in if that's what you wanna do. You do whatever you feel led to do, but it is my conviction that if I can do somethin' that will protect me from the virus, yes, God can heal me, but just because God's a healer doesn't mean that I should tempt him. C'mon, it does not mean that I should have to tempt him in order to do what he does. But this was the pride of life. You're too important to get sick. You're too important. The angels will come down and get you. Jesus did not need Satan to loose the angels to bear him up. Seeing as Jesus was a captain of the hosts, and he could've called 10.000 angels on the cross, he did not need Satan to lift him up. But here is the mystery. We have learned a trick. Satan only got three tricks.
The lust of the flesh, the lust of the eye, and the pride of life, that's all he got. If you pass them three things, you got an A. The lust of the flesh, the lust of the eye, and the pride of life. If you can bypass what your flesh is craving for, the lust of the flesh, and how you go about satisfying it, that's the temptation. The lust of the flesh. The lust of what you see. Have you ever had God bless you and you was afraid to show people? Have you ever had a dress and you were scared to wear it 'cause you wonder could they handle it? Have you ever had a house and you didn't wanna invite people over 'cause you wasn't sure how they were gonna feel about it? For some people, exposure makes them better, for other people, exposure makes them bitter. When Satan has got a stronghold on you, the lust of the eye stops you from rejoicing with those that do rejoice.
It's what haters have made out of. They can't rejoice with you because when they look at that, they got a hatred about it. The lust of the eye, the lust of the eye. That's why God can't show you anything, 'cause instead of learning from it, you lust after it. It's easier for you to lust after taking it than it is to learn how to acquire it. All Satan has in the world is the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eye, the pride of life. I'm gonna show it to you real quick, and then I'm gonna close. Genesis 3 verse 6, and don't even turn to it, I'm gonna read to you. "And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food," oh that it was good for food, that's the lust of the flesh, "And that it was pleasant to the eyes," that's the lust of the eye, "and that it's desire is to make one wise," that's the pride of life.
The same tricks he used on Eve, he's using on Jesus, he's using on you. All you gotta do is whip those three and you've got it beat. The lust of the flesh, the lust of the eye, and the pride of life. Am I important? Am I important? You know you like to be important. Am I important? The pride of life. God hates pride above all of 'em, 'cause the pride of life will bring you down. Sometimes you need to be overlooked. Sometimes you need to be ignored. Some of you have a syndrome where you need to be seen all the time. Sometimes you need to be ignored, because God is killing out that pride of life. See me, see me, look at me, come get me, salvage me. The angels will come get me. The family will forgive me. I'm too important. I can do something stupid, and the angels will catch me. Oh, y'all got quiet. The lust of the flesh, the lust of the eye, and the pride of life. That the Bible says that is all that is in the world.
John 2:15-17 says that is all that is in the world. You know how the old folk used to tell us don't be like the world, come out from the world and be ye separate? That's worldliness, earrings was worldliness, wearing pants was worldliness, wearing makeup was worldliness. Men, having long hair was worldliness. All of that was worldliness, and it was worldliness because they couldn't read good. Let me tell you what's worldliness. The lust of the flesh, the lust of the eye, and the pride of life. And you can have them with earrings, and with makeup, and with pants on, and wear shorts, and you can go swimming together, and you can still be full of lust. It a long dress down to your ankles and be lustful. Dress on fire, dress on fire, all the way down to your ankles, dress smells like smoke, lust of the flesh, lust of the eye. Yeah, I said it. I meant it. I'm here to represent it. The lust of the flesh, the lust of the eye, glory to God, thank you, Jesus, and the pride of life.
Ain't nothin' more prideful than the old church world with their big hats, and their high seats, and everybody had to look up, and everybody had to acknowledge you every time they got up. They're giving honor to the bishop and... we said it 20 times, and we still got to say it again. What is more proudful than church folk? That devil is wreaking havoc in the house of God, but I bind that spirit in the name of Jesus. I bind that spirit in the name of Jesus. I bind that spirit in the name of Jesus. I bind that spirit in the name of Jesus. Nudge three people and tell 'em, "I got a devil to fight. I got a devil to fight. I got a devil to fight. I got a devil to fight". He's been studying me, and I've been studying him, and I'm anointed for the altercation. I'm anointed to fight the good fight of faith. I'm anointed to get the breakthrough. You might have defeated a lot of people, but you're not gonna defeat me. "A thousand shall fall at my right side, 10.000 shall fall at my left side, it shall not come nigh me". It shall not come nigh me.
Y'all scared to say it. It shall not come nigh me. Say it again, "It shall not come". Say it like you mean it. Shake your fist at the devil and say it. I'm anointed to fight off everything you tried to send to kill me. Look at me, I'm 64 years old, I started preaching when I was 19. They said I wouldn't last but two weeks, and I was scared they might be right, but I kept on fighting. Nineteen turned to 20, 20 turned to 22, 22 turned to 24, 24 turned to 28, 28 turned to 32, 32 turned to 38, 38 turned to fighting. Touch somebody and say, "I'm still in the fight". Forty-two turned to 46, 46 turned to 50, 50 turned to 52, 52 turned to 54. Tell your neighbor, "I'm still fighting". Fifty-four turned to 58, 58 turned to 60, 60 turned to 61, 61 turned to 62, 63 turned to 64.
Slap your neighbor and say, "I'm still in the fight". I'm anointed for this fight. I'm anointed for this altercation. I'm anointed for this battle. God wouldn't send Jesus in the wilderness till he anointed him in the Jordan, and God won't send you into the battle until he anoints you. That's why you can't sit up in church with your lips glued together, looking all cute, but you gotta open your mouth and receive the anointing, the anointing, the anointing, the anointing. The anointing you get on Sunday is preparing you for Monday. The anointing you're getting right now is preparing you for what you've got to deal with. When you're really anointed, it'll fall off you like water off a duck's back. When you're really anointed, the witch cannot hex you. When you're really anointed, the wicked cannot do you in. I feel the anointing of the Holy Ghost.
Somebody in this room, folk have been trying to do everything they could to curse everything you did, but the reason you're still here is that you were anointed for the altercation. And all God wants you to do is learn how to give him the praise. You didn't get here by yourself. You didn't stay here by yourself. You didn't do this by yourself. You didn't survive by yourself. If it weren't for the anointing, you would've lost your mind. If it weren't for the anointing, you would have threw in the towel. If it weren't for the anointing, you would've been in jail. If it weren't for the anointing, you'd have had a needle in your arm.
I want some anointed folk to start praising God for the power. For the power. You shall have power. After that the Holy Ghost has come upon you, you shall have power. I decree and declare power over your life. I decree and declare power over your finances. I decree and declare power over your emotions. I decree and declare power in your family, power over your business, power over... y'all ain't receiving nothing. I decree and declare power over your house, power over your dream, power over your vision. I decree and declare no weapon formed against you shall be able to prosper. I decree and declare your joy will be full. I decree and declare you shall be the head and not the tail, above and not beneath. I decree and declare every tactic that hell sent against you, I send it back. I send it back. I send it back in the name of Jesus.
I decree and declare your latter day shall be greater than your former day. I decree and declare you go in better than you started. I decree and declare a breakthrough is coming your way. I decree and declare you're comin' out with power, you're coming out with victory, you're coming out with anointing, you're comin' out with power. I decree and declare you shall win. You shall win. You shall not be defeated. You shall not give up. You shall not give out. You shall not faint. I dare you to open your mouth and praise your God like you lost your mind. I just need a hundred people that'll jump out in the aisle up under the anointing of the Holy Ghost, and fight that devil out of your life, fight it out of your body, fight it out of your spirit. Give me some shouting music. I feel the victory.