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Angels in Your Wilderness - Bishop T.D. Jakes · Pst T.D Jakes -The POTTER'S HOUSE

• 0:09
  Speaker 1: In the gospel of St.
• 0:11
  Speaker 2: Mark, chapter number 1, verse 9 through 13. We will
• 0:21
  Speaker 2: find our assignment for this morning. Thank you, Jesus. Mark 1,
• 0:31
  Speaker 2: 9 through 13. I may read another text, too, before
• 0:35
  Speaker 2: I get too lost. Just a brief text. And it
• 0:39
  Speaker 2: came to pass in those days that Jesus.
• 0:42
  Speaker 3: Came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized of John
• 0:48
  Speaker 3: in the Jordan. And straightway coming up out of the water,
• 0:54
  Speaker 3: he saw the heavens open and the spirit like a
• 0:58
  Speaker 3: dove descending upon him.
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  Speaker 4: And there came a voice from heaven.
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  Speaker 2: Saying, thou art my beloved son in whom I am
• 1:12
  Speaker 2: well pleased. And immediately the spirit drive him into the wilderness.
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  Speaker 2: And he was there in the wilderness 40 days and
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  Speaker 2: tempted of Satan and was with the wild beast.
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  Speaker 5: And the angels, and the angels ministered unto him.
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  Speaker 4: Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait.
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  Speaker 2: Hold that text right there. We got a wilderness. We
• 1:53
  Speaker 2: got a beast. We got a weary savior. And we
• 1:59
  Speaker 2: got angels. All of it together in the same sentence.
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  Speaker 2: You think you're strange because you got so many things
• 2:13
  Speaker 2: going on, good and bad simultaneously in the same space.
• 2:18
  Speaker 2: That's where the glory of the Lord is revealed. This morning,
• 2:24
  Speaker 2: by the grace of God, I want to talk to
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  Speaker 2: you just a little while about angels in your wilderness.
• 2:34
  Speaker 2: Look at your neighbor like you know what you're talking about.
• 2:38
  Speaker 2: Look them right eyeball to eyeball. Fake eyelash to fake eyelash.
• 2:43
  Speaker 2: Lip gloss to lip gloss. Glory to God. And tell
• 2:47
  Speaker 2: them I got angels in my wilderness. Yeah, I got
• 2:57
  Speaker 2: angels in my wilderness. You better be careful fooling with
• 3:00
  Speaker 2: me because I got angels in my wilderness. I'm not
• 3:03
  Speaker 2: in this by myself. I got angels in my wilderness.
• 3:07
  Speaker 2: I got angels in my wilderness. And if you don't
• 3:09
  Speaker 2: help me, they'll help me. And if you don't come
• 3:12
  Speaker 2: get me, they'll come get me. And if you don't
• 3:14
  Speaker 2: protect me, they'll protect me.
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  Speaker 4: I got angels! In my wilderness.
• 3:21
  Speaker 2: Spirit of the living God, fall fresh on us today
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  Speaker 2: as we open up the oracles of God. Open your mouth,
• 3:28
  Speaker 2: clear your throat and speak to us, oh God. Speak
• 3:31
  Speaker 2: so clearly and so succinctly that we are mesmerized by
• 3:35
  Speaker 2: the profundity of your truth. The relevance of your elevation.
• 3:40
  Speaker 2: The healing words should flow into our souls, our spirits,
• 3:44
  Speaker 2: our families, our finances, our emotions. God, we will not
• 3:49
  Speaker 2: hold any place back from you getting to. If you
• 3:53
  Speaker 2: need to correct us, correct us. If you need to
• 3:55
  Speaker 2: turn us around, turn us around. If you need to
• 3:58
  Speaker 2: chasing us, chasing us. But please, sir, don't leave us.
• 4:03
  Speaker 2: For without you, we are nothing. Have your way, great God,
• 4:07
  Speaker 2: that you are. In Jesus' name, somebody shout amen. You
• 4:13
  Speaker 2: may be seated in the presence of God.
• 4:17
  Speaker 4: Yeah. It is important.
• 4:23
  Speaker 2: That we look at this with a very clear understanding
• 4:30
  Speaker 2: of contextualization. Because when people step into the middle of
• 4:36
  Speaker 2: your story, they misdiagnose who you are. And they make
• 4:42
  Speaker 2: false assumptions based on brief statements. We're living in an
• 4:47
  Speaker 2: age now where people will take a snippet of a
• 4:51
  Speaker 2: sermon and write an argument against a snippet. A phrase,
• 5:00
  Speaker 2: one statement you put out and they say they know
• 5:02
  Speaker 2: you by a phrase. As if you could be reduced
• 5:06
  Speaker 2: to a sentence. See, the quickest way to get into
• 5:11
  Speaker 2: heresy is to take a.
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  Speaker 4: Text out of context.
• 5:16
  Speaker 2: Now I'm all for technology, but sometimes when people text me,
• 5:19
  Speaker 2: I have to pick up the phone and call them
• 5:21
  Speaker 2: because sometimes you meant it in one way, but I
• 5:25
  Speaker 2: read it in another way. And before I respond, I
• 5:30
  Speaker 2: read it, I just want to be sure. Do you
• 5:35
  Speaker 2: really mean for me to go off like I'm getting
• 5:37
  Speaker 2: ready to go off? I just want to be sure.
• 5:41
  Speaker 2: Let's set some rules straight, because I might have read
• 5:43
  Speaker 2: it in the wrong tone. And most of the time,
• 5:46
  Speaker 2: I was wrong. Because it is difficult to deliver sensitive
• 5:53
  Speaker 2: information in a text. Because a text does not give
• 6:00
  Speaker 2: you context. So as we read this brief statement, these
• 6:05
  Speaker 2: four verses of scripture in the gospel of St. Mark
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  Speaker 2: chapter one, I'm not sure that this text of a
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  Speaker 2: scripture gives us context. Jesus wasn't born in a wilderness.
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  Speaker 2: Neither did he grow up in a wilderness, okay? Nor
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  Speaker 2: was he baptized in a wilderness. And yet he finds
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  Speaker 2: himself the wilderness I have been in the same spot
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  Speaker 2: that Jesus was in I had the privilege years ago
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  Speaker 2: of going to Jerusalem and not only going to Jerusalem
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  Speaker 2: which is amazing but going down to the Jordan and
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  Speaker 2: across the Jordan River into the country of Jordan and
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  Speaker 2: when you cross the Jordan River you are standing in
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  Speaker 2: what is now currently called Jordan And you're on your
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  Speaker 2: way to Amman.
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  Speaker 4: But you have to go through the wilderness to get there.
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  Speaker 2: And little did I know that the same wilderness I
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  Speaker 2: was standing in is the wilderness in which Jesus was tempted.
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  Speaker 2: It's also the place where Elijah comes having crossed the
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  Speaker 2: Jordan to be caught up in the chariot of fire.
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  Speaker 2: So the history of the text goes archaeologically deep.
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  Speaker 4: Into the soil of the same space.
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  Speaker 2: A lot of things happen in the same geographical location.
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  Speaker 2: So in the same place that God sends a chariot
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  Speaker 2: down from heaven.
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  Speaker 4: To evacuate Elijah out.
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  Speaker 2: Of the human capacities of this mundane ritualistic world. It
• 7:47
  Speaker 2: is in that same spot where he allows the spirit
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  Speaker 2: to carry Jesus to be tempted. Have you ever had
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  Speaker 2: a spot that provoked many different memories? A house you
• 8:02
  Speaker 2: used to live in and you can remember good times
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  Speaker 2: and bad times. A person you grew up with and
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  Speaker 2: you remember something nice and you remember something.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, yeah. Spaces are complicated. and the Spirit has
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  Speaker 2: brought him to this place. But I don't want to
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  Speaker 2: take the text out of context. It is important that
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  Speaker 2: we understand that Jesus has dropped off the scene for
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  Speaker 2: at least 18 years.
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  Speaker 4: We know nothing.
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  Speaker 2: And it is funny to me because the Bible gives
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  Speaker 2: us the highlights of the life of Jesus, And not
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  Speaker 2: the nothing moments of his life. And the hardest parts
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  Speaker 2: of walking with God are through the days of nothingness.
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  Speaker 2: They're neither hot nor cold. They're neither good nor bad.
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  Speaker 2: It's just to her. I just woke up. I just
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  Speaker 2: made it through another day. What you doing?
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  Speaker 4: Nothing. You know, what you doing? Nothing.
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  Speaker 2: Just stuff I got to do. Can I stay with
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  Speaker 2: God through days of nothingness? 18 years that are obscure
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  Speaker 2: from us where Jesus is just a no-name carpenter's son
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  Speaker 2: moving about growing up from 12 to 30 years old
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  Speaker 2: in total obscurity. He doesn't pick up again until this
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  Speaker 2: new life highly successful and accomplished disruptive thinking john i
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  Speaker 2: call him a disruptor because he broke all of his
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  Speaker 2: father's rules and won doing it he didn't dress like
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  Speaker 2: a priest he didn't eat like a priest he didn't
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  Speaker 2: function in the synagogue he was in the wilderness eating
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  Speaker 2: wild locusts and honey and dressed in camel's hair.
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  Speaker 4: Don't be scared to be different.
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  Speaker 2: Different does not disannul greatness in fact it actually confirms
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  Speaker 2: greatness nobody writes books about ordinary Go to the library,
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  Speaker 2: you won't see any books written about people who weren't
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  Speaker 2: disruptive or in some way extraordinary. And you have to
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  Speaker 2: understand that and realize that Jesus spends 18 years that
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  Speaker 2: we know nothing about. And then at 30 years old,
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  Speaker 2: he's in the crowd, not on the stage. He's in
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  Speaker 2: the crowd, not on the program. He's in the back
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  Speaker 2: row of the crowd coming to hear his.
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  Speaker 4: Cousin, John.
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  Speaker 2: And he comes down to the Jordan and all the
• 11:00
  Speaker 2: eyes are on John and none of them are on Jesus.
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  Speaker 2: Because John the Baptist was the new hot thing. And
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  Speaker 2: you know how we love the new hot thing.
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  Speaker 4: I tell young preachers, when you start a church, you're
• 11:13
  Speaker 4: only new once. Amen.
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  Speaker 2: You only knew once, so while you knew, you might
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  Speaker 2: as well rock it. Rock it, go all the way
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  Speaker 2: with it, because as soon as people get used to you,
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  Speaker 2: they start taking you for granted. Oh, I won't go
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  Speaker 2: this week. I'll go next week. I'll check it out later.
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  Speaker 2: I'll check it out online. If I get to it,
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  Speaker 2: I'll come to it. That's what happens in any relationship.
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  Speaker 2: Familiarity breeds contempt. If you want to stay fresh, stay back.
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  Speaker 2: Because if you overexpose yourself, no matter how good you
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  Speaker 2: are at what you do, people get used to you.
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  Speaker 2: You can sing the paint off the wall, but if
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  Speaker 2: you sing all the time, they get used to your
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  Speaker 2: riffs and runs. And the person they shouted about today,
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  Speaker 2: they ignore tomorrow. You can be the greatest wife in
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  Speaker 2: the world and celebrate it for the first few years.
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  Speaker 2: But after a while, they get used to it and
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  Speaker 2: they want to know, are there any new tricks? So
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  Speaker 2: save some. Don't spend everything on the first week.
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  Speaker 4: Hallelujah.
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  Speaker 1: Come on somebody.
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  Speaker 2: Don't spend everything in the first week. Don't tell everything
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  Speaker 2: in the first week because you got to keep it fresh.
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  Speaker 2: You got to update. You got to remain interesting. You
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  Speaker 2: got to keep reading. You got to keep developing yourself
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  Speaker 2: because once people get used to you, they walk past you.
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  Speaker 4: They ignore you.
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  Speaker 2: They walk past Jesus to get to John because John,
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  Speaker 2: what's the new thing?
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  Speaker 4: And he was bad. And he was disruptive. And he
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  Speaker 4: was dressed different. And he was, you know.
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  Speaker 2: And they was coming to hear him and to check
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  Speaker 2: him out. And while John is baptizing in the Jordan,
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  Speaker 2: nobody is talking about Jesus. You better go make some
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  Speaker 2: shoes somewhere. Make a table, a chair somewhere. Push past
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  Speaker 2: Jesus trying to get to John. Often we push past
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  Speaker 2: the greater trying to get to the lesser. Because it
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  Speaker 2: takes time to reveal greatness. And when time has not
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  Speaker 2: exposed who you really are, people shove you to the
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  Speaker 2: side trying to get to something that is less than
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  Speaker 2: what's down inside of you. And you got to be
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  Speaker 2: okay with it because that's the test too. Obscurity is
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  Speaker 2: a test too. Being ignored is a test too. Being
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  Speaker 2: treated as ordinary is a test too. To make sure
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  Speaker 2: that your ego is low enough that when God exalts you,
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  Speaker 2: you won't start worshiping yourself. He'll let people push past
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  Speaker 2: you and say how you like me now. Because he
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  Speaker 2: doesn't want you to be ego driven. He wants you
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  Speaker 2: to be spirit led. And you can't be spirit led
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  Speaker 2: and ego driven. So God allows people to walk past you.
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  Speaker 1: Can you imagine?
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  Speaker 2: Walking past the water walking Jesus. Can you imagine walking
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  Speaker 2: past the dead raising Jesus? Can you imagine walking past
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  Speaker 2: the Jesus who turned water into wine? Can you imagine
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  Speaker 2: who you might have walked past this morning? And Jesus
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  Speaker 2: does not stop them from walking past him. He doesn't
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  Speaker 2: whip out his business cards. He doesn't start doing sideshow
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  Speaker 2: miracles to get on their itinerary. I like him because
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  Speaker 2: he got class. There's a difference between education and class.
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  Speaker 2: There's a difference between money and class. There's a difference
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  Speaker 2: between a great vocabulary and class. I'm not sure you
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  Speaker 2: can teach class. Jesus, class makes you handle rejection. Class
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  Speaker 2: makes you handle not being celebrated. Class won't let you
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  Speaker 2: just do anything to get on the itinerary because you
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  Speaker 2: think too much of yourself to lower yourself down. to
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  Speaker 2: make yourself a tramp for somebody just so you can
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  Speaker 2: get their attention. Class will make you wait. Class will
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  Speaker 2: make you hug a pillow. Class will make you roll
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  Speaker 2: over by yourself. Class will make you hold your head
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  Speaker 2: up when other people are ignoring you. Class will make
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  Speaker 2: you sit back and let them take somebody's lesson to
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  Speaker 2: the day.
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  Speaker 4: Class!
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  Speaker 2: Jesus had absolute class. Oh my God, I think I'm
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  Speaker 2: still on the road. I feel like preaching up in here.
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  Speaker 2: If y'all mess with me this morning, it's going to
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  Speaker 2: be church up in this place. I feel something flowing
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  Speaker 2: up in this place right now. I want to celebrate
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  Speaker 2: all the people who have kept their class. It wasn't
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  Speaker 2: that you weren't lonely, but you kept your class. It
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  Speaker 2: wasn't that you weren't qualified, but you kept your class.
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  Speaker 2: It wasn't that God wasn't going to use you in
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  Speaker 2: a mighty way, but you held on. to your integrity.
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  Speaker 2: Job lost everything but he held on to his integrity.
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  Speaker 2: Without your integrity you got nothing. Your integrity is determined
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  Speaker 2: by what you won't do. There are some things that
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  Speaker 2: I'm just not going to do. I'm just not gonna
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  Speaker 2: do that. I'm just not gonna do that. If I
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  Speaker 2: go broke, I'm not gonna do that. If I have
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  Speaker 2: to sell a car, I'm not gonna do that. If
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  Speaker 2: I have to sell the shoes, I'm not gonna do it.
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  Speaker 2: I'm just not gonna do it. Why? Because I think
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  Speaker 2: too much of myself. You don't know me, but he does.
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  Speaker 2: And all of a sudden, John the Baptist looks up
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  Speaker 2: with his feet standing in the Jordan River, in the
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  Speaker 2: same Jordan River that Joshua's feet had stood in The
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  Speaker 2: same Jordan that went hither and thither and the children
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  Speaker 2: of Israel had walked across on dry ground. John is
• 17:15
  Speaker 2: standing in that same Jordan, the same Jordan where they
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  Speaker 2: took out the 12 smooth stones, where the feet of
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  Speaker 2: the priest stood firm. John is now standing in that
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  Speaker 2: same Jordan, only instead of him pulling out a rock,
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  Speaker 2: he's about to reveal the rock. the rock of ages
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  Speaker 2: the rock in a weary land the rock in a
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  Speaker 2: sure place I'm talking about Jesus everybody's looking at John
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  Speaker 2: but John looks.
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  Speaker 4: Up and he sees Jesus.
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  Speaker 2: And how you manage greatness has a lot to do
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  Speaker 2: with how you end up a lot of people will
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  Speaker 2: not shine a light on anybody who might make them
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  Speaker 2: look less.
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  Speaker 4: Let me hear it.
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  Speaker 2: So John says, behold. Don't keep looking at me. Behold.
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  Speaker 2: There's something greater than me. Behold the one you walked past.
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  Speaker 2: Behold the one you overlooked. Behold the one you ignored.
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  Speaker 2: He is the Lamb of God. of God taking away
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  Speaker 2: the sins of the world. And the Bible says the
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  Speaker 2: crowd parts Jesus goes from obscurity to notoriety in a step.
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  Speaker 2: You think it's gonna take years? You're just gonna step
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  Speaker 2: into what God has just, just, just done. The steps
• 19:02
  Speaker 2: already been ordered. Don't worry about the stage. Pray for
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  Speaker 2: the step. If you make this step, the stage will
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  Speaker 2: take care of itself. Too many people are in love
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  Speaker 2: with the stage and not the steps. So they get
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  Speaker 2: on the stage and can't stay on it because they
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  Speaker 2: don't take the steps to qualify them for the stage.
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  Speaker 2: Don't pray for the stage, pray for the step. The
• 19:24
  Speaker 2: steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord
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  Speaker 2: and he delighteth in his way. I feel something in
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  Speaker 2: this place. I feel something in this place. Something's about
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  Speaker 2: to break loose in this place. And Lord, if it
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  Speaker 2: ain't cousin Jesus. Coming from obscurity to notoriety. and the
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  Speaker 2: Bible says that Jesus came down into the Jordan and
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  Speaker 2: John didn't even want to baptize him footnote for my
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  Speaker 2: new members this is a deja vu moment this is
• 20:04
  Speaker 2: the first time that we have seen Jesus and John
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  Speaker 2: in the same space since they were in Mary and Elizabeth.
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  Speaker 2: And there's something familiar about them standing in fluids again.
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  Speaker 2: The last time wet Jesus and wet John were together,
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  Speaker 2: John got filled with the Holy Ghost while he was
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  Speaker 2: still in his mother's womb.
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  Speaker 4: Good God almighty.
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  Speaker 1: And here they are!
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  Speaker 2: In the wet place. In the birthing place. in the
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  Speaker 2: reshaping place, in the rebuilding place. It's familiar but it's
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  Speaker 2: not familiar. It's the same but it's not the same.
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  Speaker 2: It's deja vu. Somebody in this room, what God is
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  Speaker 2: doing in your life is familiar but it's not familiar.
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  Speaker 2: Everything in your past has prepared you for what you're
• 21:07
  Speaker 2: about to do now. It is the same, but it's
• 21:10
  Speaker 2: not the same. They're standing in the fluids again. And
• 21:15
  Speaker 2: just like before, the Holy Ghost shows up. The Holy
• 21:24
  Speaker 2: Ghost shows up. It showed up the first time, leaped
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  Speaker 2: in Elizabeth's womb, and John was filled with the Holy Ghost.
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  Speaker 2: This time, it descends like a dove. It descends like
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  Speaker 2: a dove. And the Bible says that the heavens open up.
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  Speaker 2: Hold up a minute. Lord, please lead my steps to
• 21:44
  Speaker 2: the place where the heavens open up. Hey, Jesus, if
• 21:50
  Speaker 2: you don't mind, lead my steps to the place where
• 21:53
  Speaker 2: the heavens open up. I don't want to shout in
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  Speaker 2: front of closed heavens. I don't want to give in
• 21:59
  Speaker 2: front of closed heavens. I don't want to work in
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  Speaker 2: front of closed heaven. Put me in the position where
• 22:05
  Speaker 2: the heavens open up. They're only going to open in
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  Speaker 2: one spot, so I got to be in place when
• 22:10
  Speaker 2: they open. Excuse me, I don't have time to argue
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  Speaker 2: with you. I got to get to this place. I
• 22:15
  Speaker 2: got to get to this place. Because they're only going
• 22:18
  Speaker 2: to open in one spot. And I got to be
• 22:20
  Speaker 2: in the spot. Jesus, Jesus comes to the spot. Glory
• 22:28
  Speaker 2: to God. Nudge your neighbor and say, I'm close to
• 22:30
  Speaker 2: the spot. I know I'm close to the spot because
• 22:35
  Speaker 2: hell is nervous. I know I'm close to the spot
• 22:38
  Speaker 2: because it's tougher than it's ever been. I know I'm
• 22:40
  Speaker 2: close to the spot because my emotions are all over
• 22:43
  Speaker 2: the place. I know I'm close to the spot because
• 22:46
  Speaker 2: the enemy's trying to discourage me and he wouldn't be
• 22:49
  Speaker 2: trying to discourage me if I weren't close to the spot.
• 22:52
  Speaker 2: I'm online this morning because I'm close to the spot.
• 22:55
  Speaker 2: And God wants to give me some directions that we
• 22:58
  Speaker 2: be made to do it for. But joy comes at
• 23:01
  Speaker 2: the end of the morning. God is trying to tell you,
• 23:03
  Speaker 2: you're getting close to the spot. Don't give place to
• 23:07
  Speaker 2: the devil. Don't give territory to the devil. Don't give
• 23:10
  Speaker 2: up your spot to the devil. Stand on your spot.
• 23:19
  Speaker 2: Look at somebody and say, this is the spot where
• 23:21
  Speaker 2: it goes down. This is the spot where the heavens
• 23:26
  Speaker 2: open up. This is the spot where the demons get
• 23:29
  Speaker 2: stirred up. This is the spot where the yokes are broken.
• 23:34
  Speaker 2: This is the spot where the glory comes down. This
• 23:37
  Speaker 2: is the spot where the Father speaks. Somebody shout, this
• 23:41
  Speaker 2: is the spot. Stay with me. Ain't nothing but a distraction.
• 23:51
  Speaker 2: Stay with me. This is the spot. This is the spot.
• 23:55
  Speaker 2: Look at your neighbor and say, this is the spot. See,
• 23:58
  Speaker 2: you got to know when you're in the spot because
• 24:00
  Speaker 2: if you don't know what you have, you won't know
• 24:02
  Speaker 2: if you lose it. When you know you're in the spot,
• 24:05
  Speaker 2: you can't let no devil in hell move you out
• 24:08
  Speaker 2: of your spot. This is a spot. Devil can't have
• 24:11
  Speaker 2: no stage here. This is a spot. If you're looking
• 24:15
  Speaker 2: for entertainment, you better go down the street. This is
• 24:18
  Speaker 2: the spot. This is the spot. This spot is occupied.
• 24:22
  Speaker 2: I got this spot covered. Camera over here. I got
• 24:26
  Speaker 2: this spot covered. This is the spot. This is the spot.
• 24:46
  Speaker 2: I know you want it, but this is the spot.
• 24:48
  Speaker 2: I know you're trying to take it from me, but
• 24:50
  Speaker 2: this is the spot. I know you're trying to be
• 24:52
  Speaker 2: a sideshow on my theater, but this is the spot.
• 24:55
  Speaker 1: I'm going to hold it down.
• 24:56
  Speaker 2: I'm going to hold it right down. I'm going to
• 25:00
  Speaker 2: hold it right down. Put it right here. I got
• 25:03
  Speaker 2: it right here. I'm going to hold it right down.
• 25:07
  Speaker 2: The enemy's after your spot. Let somebody say, hold it down.
• 25:25
  Speaker 2: I've been around too long to give up my spot.
• 25:28
  Speaker 2: I've been preaching too hard to give up my spot.
• 25:31
  Speaker 2: You don't do something for 46 years and let a
• 25:33
  Speaker 2: sideshow take your spot.
• 25:35
  Speaker 4: The devil is alive. This is my spot.
• 25:37
  Speaker 1: I paid for this spot. I cried for this spot.
• 25:40
  Speaker 1: I studied for this spot. I labored for this spot.
• 25:46
  Speaker 1: Stop somebody and say, hold it down.
• 26:04
  Speaker 4: This is the spot.
• 26:07
  Speaker 2: Watch this. This is the spot where everything changes. This
• 26:15
  Speaker 2: is the spot that obscurity turns to notoriety. This is
• 26:20
  Speaker 2: the spot where his purpose is revealed. This is the
• 26:26
  Speaker 2: spot where the yoke breaks. This is the spot, check
• 26:32
  Speaker 2: this out, of affirmation. He gets affirmed in this spot.
• 26:39
  Speaker 2: Not just by God, but by John. You need somebody
• 26:43
  Speaker 2: else to affirm you other than you. If you're the
• 26:46
  Speaker 2: only person who thinks you're great. When John pointed him out,
• 26:57
  Speaker 2: it put him on the mat. It made him relevant.
• 27:02
  Speaker 2: John took his influence and directed it toward Jesus when
• 27:08
  Speaker 2: he said, behold the Lamb of God. He told his
• 27:11
  Speaker 2: crowd to watch him. That's the turning point. You have
• 27:18
  Speaker 2: to be a pretty big person to use your influence
• 27:23
  Speaker 2: to make somebody else look good. Very few people will
• 27:27
  Speaker 2: do that. They'd rather write you a check than give
• 27:30
  Speaker 2: up some influence. This is the spot where Jesus is
• 27:36
  Speaker 2: discovered by the crowd. This is the spot where the
• 27:45
  Speaker 2: heavens open up and the Holy Spirit floated down. It
• 27:52
  Speaker 2: wasn't a dove, but that's as close of a metaphor
• 27:56
  Speaker 2: to how we describe how it descended. The Holy Spirit
• 28:01
  Speaker 2: is gentle. It's not out of control. If you got
• 28:07
  Speaker 2: a spirit that got you out of control, it's not God.
• 28:13
  Speaker 2: God's spirit, God's spirit is a gentle spirit. It don't
• 28:18
  Speaker 2: take 20 people to hold you when it's God. God's
• 28:21
  Speaker 2: spirit is a So the writer said, I need a
• 28:25
  Speaker 2: metaphor to describe it because I can't explain how soft
• 28:30
  Speaker 2: it felt. One minute we were just singing the song
• 28:34
  Speaker 2: and we don't even know what verse it fell in,
• 28:36
  Speaker 2: but the Spirit just descended like a dove. I started
• 28:41
  Speaker 2: out praying out of my intellect and all of a
• 28:43
  Speaker 2: sudden the Holy Spirit just took over. It descended like
• 28:46
  Speaker 2: a dove. I can't teach it because I can't control it.
• 28:52
  Speaker 2: I can't tell you about it because I can't control it.
• 28:55
  Speaker 2: I didn't do it. I didn't manufacture it. The Holy
• 28:58
  Speaker 2: Spirit descended like a dove. It is a place of affirmation.
• 29:02
  Speaker 2: It is a place where he shuts down your haters.
• 29:04
  Speaker 2: It is a place where even your critics have to
• 29:06
  Speaker 2: admit that boy got some oil on him. It is
• 29:09
  Speaker 2: a place where they got to recognize you can do
• 29:11
  Speaker 2: what you do like you do. And I'm not just
• 29:15
  Speaker 2: talking about preaching. Whatever it is you do, if it's surgery,
• 29:17
  Speaker 2: if it's medicine, if it's pulling teeth, there's something that
• 29:20
  Speaker 2: God gave you that you can do like you do
• 29:22
  Speaker 2: like no other people could do. They went to the
• 29:24
  Speaker 2: same school. They took the same classes. They took the
• 29:27
  Speaker 2: same courses. But God put something down inside of you
• 29:31
  Speaker 2: that you got an instinct, not just information. You got
• 29:34
  Speaker 2: an instinct that causes you to stand head and shoulder
• 29:38
  Speaker 2: above other is because the Holy Spirit descended on you like.
• 29:42
  Speaker 4: A dove.
• 29:46
  Speaker 2: This is the spot and then if that were not
• 29:50
  Speaker 2: enough his father affirmed him.
• 29:56
  Speaker 4: His father affirmed Come on, fellas.
• 30:01
  Speaker 1: His father said, that's my boy. Boy, you bad. You
• 30:11
  Speaker 1: got the juice.
• 30:14
  Speaker 4: You the one.
• 30:17
  Speaker 2: Look at you looking like your daddy. Expressing your daddy
• 30:21
  Speaker 2: in the earth. Expressing your daddy in the earth. No
• 30:24
  Speaker 2: man have seen the father at any time save the son,
• 30:27
  Speaker 2: but the son.
• 30:28
  Speaker 4: Have revealed him. Can I teach this class?
• 30:32
  Speaker 1: And so he says, this is my beloved son.
• 30:35
  Speaker 2: In whom I am well pleased. So there is no
• 30:40
  Speaker 2: question as to whether God is pleased with him. Yet
• 30:46
  Speaker 2: the same spirit that anointed him led him into the wilderness.
• 30:53
  Speaker 2: The reason we must put the text in context is
• 30:57
  Speaker 2: because sometimes when you find yourself in the wilderness, you
• 31:00
  Speaker 2: think you did something wrong. This wilderness is not your fault.
• 31:14
  Speaker 2: It is not your punishment. It is your preparation. This
• 31:23
  Speaker 2: is the place where God proves the authenticity of what
• 31:28
  Speaker 2: he said in the Jordan. Because God says, I'm not
• 31:33
  Speaker 2: going to call you something that you can't manifest. So
• 31:38
  Speaker 2: I'm going to lead you into the wilderness, but don't
• 31:42
  Speaker 2: walk into it feeling punished. Oh, that's better than y'all shouting.
• 31:51
  Speaker 3: Yeah.
• 31:51
  Speaker 2: Yeah. The wilderness has been designed to set.
• 31:58
  Speaker 4: You into a category of exceptionalism.
• 32:05
  Speaker 2: The wilderness is where I will use you to teach
• 32:10
  Speaker 2: Satan you're not like the first Adam. That his little
• 32:17
  Speaker 2: three tricks that he used in the garden will not
• 32:20
  Speaker 2: work on you. Satan's three tricks, this is all he
• 32:24
  Speaker 2: has in his bag. The lust of the flesh, the
• 32:26
  Speaker 2: lust of the eye, and the pride of life. That's
• 32:30
  Speaker 2: all he got in his bag. It may have a
• 32:32
  Speaker 2: different dress on it, it may be wearing jeans, it
• 32:35
  Speaker 2: may be sagging, but all of it is the lust
• 32:38
  Speaker 2: of the flesh, the lust of the eye, and the
• 32:41
  Speaker 2: pride of life. That's all that's in the world. We
• 32:44
  Speaker 2: get hung up on details. God is talking about categories.
• 32:49
  Speaker 2: The Bible said he was tempted in all points like
• 32:52
  Speaker 2: as we are yet without sin. It don't make no
• 32:55
  Speaker 2: difference to your body whether you ate banana pudding or
• 32:58
  Speaker 2: chocolate cake. It's still calories. Now we get in the fight.
• 33:02
  Speaker 2: How dare you like chocolate? I like banana pudding. That's
• 33:05
  Speaker 2: details that God doesn't care about. It's lust of the flesh.
• 33:09
  Speaker 2: Lust of the eye and the pride of life. They
• 33:13
  Speaker 2: were in the garden with Eve. I don't have time
• 33:16
  Speaker 2: for this. They were in the garden with Eve when
• 33:19
  Speaker 2: she saw that it was pleasant to the eyes. When
• 33:25
  Speaker 2: she saw it was good for food, the lust of
• 33:28
  Speaker 2: the flesh, the lust of the eye. Here's the pride
• 33:30
  Speaker 2: of life and desires to make one wise. Yes. That's
• 33:36
  Speaker 2: how we all fell behind those three things. The lust
• 33:38
  Speaker 2: of the flesh, lust of the eye, pride of life.
• 33:40
  Speaker 2: Now the second man, Adam, has to face those same
• 33:44
  Speaker 2: three things to pass. So he is led by the
• 33:48
  Speaker 2: spirit into the wilderness. So what I want you to
• 33:51
  Speaker 2: get out of this is I may be going through
• 33:54
  Speaker 2: a wilderness, but that does not mean that I am
• 33:57
  Speaker 2: not his beloved son in whom I am well pleased.
• 34:02
  Speaker 2: God's favor does not exempt famines. See, you keep saying,
• 34:15
  Speaker 2: I thought I had the favor of God. If I
• 34:17
  Speaker 2: had the favor of God, I wouldn't have lost my job.
• 34:19
  Speaker 2: If I had the favor of God, I wouldn't have
• 34:21
  Speaker 2: gone through this crisis. If I had the favor of God,
• 34:23
  Speaker 2: I wouldn't have this lump. The two things have nothing
• 34:25
  Speaker 2: to do with the other. This is not punishment. It's preparation.
• 34:30
  Speaker 4: It's preparation.
• 34:34
  Speaker 2: So he led him into the wilderness because God has
• 34:37
  Speaker 2: history with this wilderness. He caught up Elijah in this wilderness.
• 34:43
  Speaker 2: He taught Joshua how to lead in this wilderness. He
• 34:48
  Speaker 2: established Israel as a nation. in this wilderness. God has
• 34:53
  Speaker 2: history in this wilderness. He met Rahab in this wilderness.
• 34:59
  Speaker 2: God is a wilderness God. He is a rock in
• 35:04
  Speaker 2: the wilderness. He'll put streams in the wilderness. God is
• 35:09
  Speaker 2: a God of the wilderness. You're looking for him in
• 35:12
  Speaker 2: the sanctuary, but God hangs out in the wilderness.
• 35:16
  Speaker 4: I heard him say, I am a present help in trouble.
• 35:19
  Speaker 2: If you ain't in trouble, you ain't in God because
• 35:22
  Speaker 2: God is a present help in trouble.
• 35:24
  Speaker 4: I want to talk to my people in trouble right now.
• 35:27
  Speaker 2: If you in trouble, you're not in it by yourself
• 35:30
  Speaker 2: because God is a present help.
• 35:36
  Speaker 4: Watch this.
• 35:38
  Speaker 2: He led him in the wilderness to be tempted, to
• 35:42
  Speaker 2: be tested, to be tried, to be proven. Not as
• 35:46
  Speaker 2: though that God did not know, but so that all
• 35:49
  Speaker 2: of his spectators would know that he was legit. They
• 35:55
  Speaker 2: know you legit by how you handle pain. If you
• 36:03
  Speaker 2: can handle power and you can't handle pain, you're not
• 36:08
  Speaker 2: fit for the kingdom. The Bible said if you put
• 36:11
  Speaker 2: your hand to the plow and look back, you're not
• 36:15
  Speaker 2: fit for the kingdom. Stand up to it. And he
• 36:23
  Speaker 2: went out there and he fasted for 40 days. Now look,
• 36:27
  Speaker 2: I can't imagine, I'm going to be honest. Obviously I
• 36:35
  Speaker 2: have not fasted. for 40 days. And respectfully, you don't
• 36:40
  Speaker 2: look like you have. See, I love this new generation church.
• 36:46
  Speaker 2: The old church I grew up in, when we went
• 36:48
  Speaker 2: on a fast, you just had water. Y'all fast got
• 36:54
  Speaker 2: hours like it works a job.
• 36:57
  Speaker 4: I'm fasting.
• 36:58
  Speaker 2: I'm on the Ezekiel fast. I'm on the Daniel fast.
• 37:00
  Speaker 2: I fast till six o'clock. I fast from TV. I
• 37:04
  Speaker 2: fast from porn. What kind of fast is that? I
• 37:08
  Speaker 2: fast from Facebook. I fast from Twitter. Y'all got these
• 37:12
  Speaker 2: nice little fast. We had the kind of fast where
• 37:15
  Speaker 2: your jaws were sunken. And you was hoping you didn't
• 37:18
  Speaker 2: have bad breath. And you was scared to eat a search.
• 37:23
  Speaker 2: Come on, somebody. When we went on a fast, it
• 37:26
  Speaker 2: was a fast. It wasn't a fast from vegetables. It
• 37:30
  Speaker 2: wasn't a fast from Big Macs. It wasn't a fast
• 37:33
  Speaker 2: from fast food. It was a fast fast. It was
• 37:38
  Speaker 2: a jaw-sicking fast. It was an eye-bulging fast. It was
• 37:43
  Speaker 2: a fast where you came to church, but you was weak.
• 37:45
  Speaker 2: It was a fast where you wanted to dance, but
• 37:48
  Speaker 2: if I couldn't say a word, that's where that came from.
• 37:51
  Speaker 2: I just waved my hand because when you was fasting,
• 37:55
  Speaker 2: you couldn't dance. Jesus fasted for 40 days to say
• 38:05
  Speaker 2: to his flesh, you will not control me. To say
• 38:10
  Speaker 2: to his flesh there is something more powerful than your urges.
• 38:15
  Speaker 2: To say to his flesh that I won't fall where
• 38:19
  Speaker 2: Adam fell, though I feel what Adam feels. I feel
• 38:24
  Speaker 2: it enough to be touched by the feeling of your infirmity,
• 38:27
  Speaker 2: but I'm strong enough to win where you lose. Because
• 38:31
  Speaker 2: if I'm gonna give you my victory, and take on
• 38:34
  Speaker 2: your failure, I must maintain my victory or all we
• 38:39
  Speaker 2: will do is exchange sin. That's why you make a
• 38:45
  Speaker 2: mistake when you come against the devil in your righteousness.
• 38:49
  Speaker 2: Because your righteousness is as filthy rags. You have to
• 38:53
  Speaker 2: come at the devil with the righteousness of God. That's
• 38:56
  Speaker 2: why Paul teaches that I am the righteousness of God
• 38:59
  Speaker 2: in Christ Jesus. He is my righteousness. I am complete
• 39:03
  Speaker 2: in him. I will never be complete in myself. It
• 39:12
  Speaker 2: seems like to me that the devil should have attacked
• 39:15
  Speaker 2: him while he was fasting. But he knew Jesus had
• 39:21
  Speaker 2: too much integrity to break his fast. So he waited
• 39:28
  Speaker 2: till the fast was over. When it was legal for
• 39:33
  Speaker 2: him to eat. He said, there is no biblical reason
• 39:40
  Speaker 2: why you can't have some food.
• 39:43
  Speaker 1: So if thou be.
• 39:46
  Speaker 2: The son of God, just have some lunch, man.
• 39:52
  Speaker 4: Have some lunch. We ain't got to the deli. We
• 39:54
  Speaker 4: ain't got to go to the deli. Turn this stone
• 39:57
  Speaker 4: to bread.
• 40:00
  Speaker 2: Use your power to satisfy your need. Turn something that
• 40:10
  Speaker 2: ain't into something you want. Y'all quiet now. Cause some
• 40:21
  Speaker 2: of y'all sitting by a stone. Some of y'all, you
• 40:27
  Speaker 2: knew that wasn't bread when you married him. You knew
• 40:32
  Speaker 2: that wasn't no bread, but you said, I'm gonna turn
• 40:34
  Speaker 2: it into bread. You can't turn no stone into bread.
• 40:43
  Speaker 2: You can't turn stones into bread. Jesus said, you will
• 40:49
  Speaker 2: not tempt me to see stones as bread. Are you
• 40:55
  Speaker 2: tempted to see stones as bread? For the record, stones
• 41:02
  Speaker 2: are hard. Bread is soft. Have you married some heart
• 41:08
  Speaker 2: trying to make it soft? Because that is a temptation
• 41:15
  Speaker 2: that comes on you after the fast, after you have
• 41:19
  Speaker 2: spent yourself You can't trust yourself not to see stones
• 41:26
  Speaker 2: as bread. He says, I shall not tempt the Lord
• 41:30
  Speaker 2: thy God. Then he takes him up to.
• 41:35
  Speaker 4: A high place.
• 41:38
  Speaker 2: And when he goes up to a high place, he
• 41:41
  Speaker 2: says to him, he shows him all the kingdoms of
• 41:44
  Speaker 2: the world and the glory of them.
• 41:47
  Speaker 4: Now, I was at the high place. It's Mount Nebo.
• 41:50
  Speaker 2: It's the same high place that Moses went to, to
• 41:53
  Speaker 2: see the promised land he couldn't go to. Mount Nebo
• 41:57
  Speaker 2: is high enough that you can see for miles and miles.
• 42:01
  Speaker 2: You can see Jordan and Jerusalem. You can see Jerusalem
• 42:06
  Speaker 2: and Tel Aviv. From Mount Nebo, you can see a
• 42:12
  Speaker 2: lot of land, but you can't see all the kingdoms.
• 42:15
  Speaker 2: So he took him to a high place and showed
• 42:17
  Speaker 2: him beyond sight lines what he.
• 42:19
  Speaker 4: Would give him.
• 42:21
  Speaker 2: He showed him Jerusalem, the city that Moses was happy
• 42:25
  Speaker 2: just to see. I may not get there with you.
• 42:29
  Speaker 2: But I got to see it. He knew what Jesus
• 42:34
  Speaker 2: wanted before he showed it to him. Because Satan will
• 42:38
  Speaker 2: never tempt you with something you don't like.
• 42:47
  Speaker 4: Quick story.
• 42:48
  Speaker 2: I was going through a test yesterday. And this woman
• 42:50
  Speaker 2: was calling us all time the night early, long time ago.
• 42:53
  Speaker 2: Years in our marriage, you know the story, so don't
• 42:55
  Speaker 2: tighten up. Two o'clock in the morning, three o'clock in
• 42:59
  Speaker 2: the morning, she said I was going to die, her
• 43:01
  Speaker 2: husband was going to die, and we was going to
• 43:03
  Speaker 2: get married. All our children was going to die. She'd
• 43:05
  Speaker 2: kill all y'all. All our children was going to die.
• 43:09
  Speaker 2: And we were going to get married. And it was aggravating.
• 43:14
  Speaker 2: It was nerve-wracking. And I called a spiritual mentor, and
• 43:18
  Speaker 2: I said, What do you think about this? She said,
• 43:21
  Speaker 2: are you attracted to this woman?
• 43:22
  Speaker 4: I said, no.
• 43:24
  Speaker 2: And not at all. Do you want this woman? Absolutely not.
• 43:28
  Speaker 2: She said to me, don't you think that if the
• 43:30
  Speaker 2: devil was going to tempt you, he would tempt you
• 43:32
  Speaker 2: with the woman you wanted? So then she asked me,
• 43:37
  Speaker 2: what do you feel when she calls?
• 43:38
  Speaker 4: I said, rage. She said, that's the temptation.
• 43:44
  Speaker 2: So the next time she calls, I want you to
• 43:46
  Speaker 2: resist rage and worship I'm just telling this to help somebody.
• 43:55
  Speaker 2: So instead of getting rage and tossing threats at each
• 43:58
  Speaker 2: other and threatening to run over her with the car
• 44:00
  Speaker 2: and stuff like that, because I was growing in the Lord.
• 44:05
  Speaker 4: I was growing. I was growing.
• 44:07
  Speaker 2: I wasn't there yet. Don't, don't, don't, don't judge me.
• 44:10
  Speaker 2: So when she called again, I said, oh, I bless you, Lord.
• 44:13
  Speaker 2: I bless you. I bless your holy name. There's nobody
• 44:18
  Speaker 2: like you, Lord. You're holy in the earth. I give
• 44:20
  Speaker 2: you glory and I give you honor and I give
• 44:23
  Speaker 2: you praise and I lift you up. And she started screaming.
• 44:28
  Speaker 2: You might be fighting the right devil with the wrong weapon.
• 44:38
  Speaker 2: Jesus is at the end of his fast and the
• 44:42
  Speaker 2: enemy is now tempting him with the pride of life.
• 44:46
  Speaker 2: And by the way, you are offering Jesus what's already his.
• 44:50
  Speaker 2: Because the earth is the Lord's, the fullness are all,
• 44:54
  Speaker 2: the world and they that dwell therein. And how you
• 44:57
  Speaker 2: gonna offer the bread to the bread when he is
• 45:01
  Speaker 2: the bread of life? The enemy is always offering you
• 45:05
  Speaker 2: stuff you already got. Counting on you not knowing it
• 45:12
  Speaker 2: to need it. And Jesus has been living life. And
• 45:20
  Speaker 2: let me tell you what living life is. Living life
• 45:22
  Speaker 2: is like going to Six Flags. It's up and it's down.
• 45:32
  Speaker 2: You laughing and you crying. You screaming And you threatening the.
• 45:39
  Speaker 1: Man, let me off, let me off, I want off
• 45:41
  Speaker 1: this thing.
• 45:42
  Speaker 2: That's what I do. I threaten him, let me off.
• 45:44
  Speaker 2: I said, let me off. I don't care that it's
• 45:48
  Speaker 2: the middle of the ride, let me off. If you
• 45:51
  Speaker 2: don't want me to throw up on you, you better
• 45:52
  Speaker 2: let me off because I'm in.
• 45:55
  Speaker 2: You don't get to get out of it because the
• 45:59
  Speaker 2: ride gets rough. Jesus' first lesson to us is to
• 46:05
  Speaker 2: teach us that one moment... you're being affirmed by man
• 46:12
  Speaker 2: and God. And the next moment, you're in the wilderness,
• 46:19
  Speaker 2: in the fast of your life. And that's normal. One moment,
• 46:25
  Speaker 2: you're talking to your father. And the next moment, you're
• 46:30
  Speaker 2: fighting with your devil. And that's normal. One moment you're
• 46:36
  Speaker 2: reconciling with your friend and the next moment you are
• 46:42
  Speaker 2: by yourself.
• 46:46
  Speaker 4: That's life. That's normal.
• 46:51
  Speaker 2: Jesus exemplifies faith in transition. You keep waiting for faith
• 47:01
  Speaker 2: to stop the movement. you gotta have faith in the movement.
• 47:08
  Speaker 2: Life is gonna do what life is gonna do and
• 47:12
  Speaker 2: it doesn't mean that you don't have faith and it
• 47:15
  Speaker 2: doesn't mean.
• 47:16
  Speaker 4: That God is judging you.
• 47:19
  Speaker 2: Just because you're in a wilderness, by the way, a
• 47:23
  Speaker 2: wilderness is a dry place. Very few things grow there.
• 47:29
  Speaker 2: A wilderness is a place of isolation. A wilderness is
• 47:32
  Speaker 2: a place of unpredictable temperatures. It is hotter than fire
• 47:37
  Speaker 2: during the day. It is ice cold at night. You
• 47:42
  Speaker 2: can't dress for it. You can't prepare for it. You
• 47:45
  Speaker 2: have to survive it. Some of you are in a wilderness.
• 47:48
  Speaker 2: You're living in a city, but you're in a wilderness.
• 47:51
  Speaker 2: You got a nice condo, but you're in a wilderness.
• 47:54
  Speaker 2: You got two kids and a dog, but you're in
• 47:56
  Speaker 2: the wilderness. You are in a wilderness right now because
• 48:00
  Speaker 2: nothing is growing and nothing is moving and it is
• 48:03
  Speaker 2: dry and you are alone and you are wondering where
• 48:07
  Speaker 2: is God? who opened up the heavens last month now
• 48:11
  Speaker 2: that I'm in the wilderness.
• 48:14
  Speaker 4: And that's why I had to preach this message.
• 48:18
  Speaker 2: Because we only see God in the magnificent. We don't
• 48:23
  Speaker 2: see God in the mundane. But God reveals himself in
• 48:28
  Speaker 2: the mundane wilderness places of your life.
• 48:32
  Speaker 4: Anybody need this?
• 48:36
  Speaker 2: You can see God when the choir is singing and
• 48:38
  Speaker 2: everybody's shouting. You can see God real good. But you
• 48:41
  Speaker 2: can't see God when you're driving home from a job
• 48:43
  Speaker 2: you lost. You can't see God when the doctor says
• 48:48
  Speaker 2: there's a lump in your breast. You can't see God
• 48:50
  Speaker 2: when the principal says we're putting your child out of
• 48:52
  Speaker 2: school and you ain't got no place to put him.
• 48:55
  Speaker 2: You needed him to go to school because it was
• 48:56
  Speaker 2: good for him, but it was good for you too.
• 48:59
  Speaker 2: And now you got this grub snatcher at home, not
• 49:02
  Speaker 2: doing nothing, nobody.
• 49:04
  Speaker 4: To take care of him.
• 49:05
  Speaker 2: And his actions have made your life complicated.
• 49:10
  Speaker 4: Talk to me, somebody.
• 49:11
  Speaker 2: Have you ever had somebody's life make your life complicated?
• 49:15
  Speaker 2: And you're trying to figure out what you're going to
• 49:16
  Speaker 2: do because where is God in my wilderness? And by
• 49:25
  Speaker 2: the way, the fast is over. So why am I
• 49:32
  Speaker 2: under attack now? You bring me up here and show
• 49:38
  Speaker 2: me all the kingdoms. the lust of the eye, that
• 49:43
  Speaker 2: you will give me if I just bow to you.
• 49:48
  Speaker 2: But it is written that I shall only serve the
• 49:52
  Speaker 2: Lord my God and I will have no other gods
• 49:56
  Speaker 2: before me. So though I'm hungry and though I'm weak
• 50:01
  Speaker 2: and though I will weep over Jerusalem, I will not
• 50:05
  Speaker 2: bow for Jerusalem.
• 50:09
  Speaker 4: Watch this.
• 50:10
  Speaker 2: And so the Bible says that as Jesus experienced in
• 50:14
  Speaker 2: the wilderness, continued being weak from the fast, but not falling,
• 50:21
  Speaker 2: he is now against the rocks. He is now against
• 50:27
  Speaker 2: the rocks. Now everybody will understand that phrase, against the rocks.
• 50:34
  Speaker 2: But Jesus is now against the rocks. I'm against the rocks.
• 50:43
  Speaker 2: I can't walk no further. I can't talk no further.
• 50:49
  Speaker 2: I can't pray no louder. And one writer says that
• 50:53
  Speaker 2: Jesus is up against the rocks. Watch this. In the
• 50:57
  Speaker 2: presence of beast. So the beast are waiting on him
• 51:04
  Speaker 2: to die. Because we see him as savior. but the
• 51:11
  Speaker 2: beasts see him as dinner. See, you got to understand
• 51:18
  Speaker 2: that you see yourself as a person, but many people
• 51:22
  Speaker 2: see you as an opportunity. And they're just waiting to
• 51:27
  Speaker 2: catch you against the rocks. So Jesus is against the rocks.
• 51:37
  Speaker 2: And The wild beasts are just waiting on him to
• 51:41
  Speaker 2: pass out. And then the Bible says that the angels
• 51:46
  Speaker 2: came and ministered unto him. The angels didn't say nothing
• 51:56
  Speaker 2: when he was on the mountain. The angels didn't say
• 51:59
  Speaker 2: nothing while he was fasting. The angels didn't say nothing
• 52:03
  Speaker 2: while he was tempted. But when the beasts got ready
• 52:06
  Speaker 2: to devour him, The reason I like this text is
• 52:14
  Speaker 2: I know what it is to be against the rocks
• 52:17
  Speaker 2: and know that the beasts are waiting on me and
• 52:19
  Speaker 2: they see me like dinner. I know what it's like
• 52:23
  Speaker 2: to see the glare, the red glare of the eyes
• 52:27
  Speaker 2: of the enemy saying, I got you where I want
• 52:29
  Speaker 2: you and I am going to take you out. I
• 52:33
  Speaker 2: know what it's like to come at the most inconvenient
• 52:36
  Speaker 2: time when I'm at my tiredness and I'm at my
• 52:39
  Speaker 2: weakest and I'm hungry and I've been fasting. I know
• 52:42
  Speaker 2: what it's like for the enemy to come at the
• 52:44
  Speaker 2: most vulnerable moment in your life and says, I'm coming
• 52:47
  Speaker 2: in to kill. But I also know what it's like.
• 52:51
  Speaker 2: for the angels to come in and rescue me out
• 52:55
  Speaker 2: of stuff. I know what it's like that when the
• 52:58
  Speaker 2: enemy comes in like a flood, the Spirit of the
• 53:01
  Speaker 2: Lord will lift up a standard against him. I know
• 53:05
  Speaker 2: what it's like for God to show up in the
• 53:07
  Speaker 2: moment of your calamity. For the Bible said that the
• 53:12
  Speaker 2: angels of the Lord encamp about them that fear him
• 53:16
  Speaker 2: and he will show them his covenant. And I want
• 53:19
  Speaker 2: to tell you right now, your angels are on the way.
• 53:24
  Speaker 2: I know you're tired. I know you've been up against
• 53:27
  Speaker 2: the rocks. I know it's been harder than it should
• 53:30
  Speaker 2: have been. I know you're out of food and you're
• 53:33
  Speaker 2: out of strength and you're out of friends and you're
• 53:36
  Speaker 2: out of fellowship. And I know your life looks schizophrenic,
• 53:40
  Speaker 2: that it's the best of times and the worst of times,
• 53:43
  Speaker 2: but your angels are on the way. And if you
• 53:48
  Speaker 2: get this out of the message, you got the whole message.
• 53:52
  Speaker 2: God is not gonna see his children up against the
• 53:56
  Speaker 2: rocks and not rescue them. We have a God that
• 54:01
  Speaker 2: will send angels coming at you in every direction. And
• 54:06
  Speaker 2: in case you don't believe it, let me get some witnesses.
• 54:09
  Speaker 2: The reason the car wreck didn't kill you is because
• 54:13
  Speaker 2: the angels covered you. The reason you got by with
• 54:17
  Speaker 2: stuff that other people drowned in is because the angels
• 54:22
  Speaker 2: covered you. Let me go a little bit higher. The
• 54:27
  Speaker 2: reason you got the job wasn't your degree. There were
• 54:32
  Speaker 2: people that had more credentials, but they didn't have more favor.
• 54:37
  Speaker 2: That when God gets ready to minister to you, God
• 54:41
  Speaker 2: will minister to you. And the reason you are here
• 54:45
  Speaker 2: right now is because the angels are in your wilderness.
• 54:50
  Speaker 2: I can't get you out the wilderness, but I can't
• 54:53
  Speaker 2: get your angels out either. I want you to know
• 54:58
  Speaker 2: that you can learn whatever state you're in to still
• 55:02
  Speaker 2: be content. Whether I'm in the Jordan, whether I'm on
• 55:07
  Speaker 2: the mountain, whether I'm in the wilderness, the one consistent
• 55:12
  Speaker 2: thing is that the angels are always there. You don't
• 55:17
  Speaker 2: seem to understand what I'm saying, but the angels are
• 55:22
  Speaker 2: wrapping all around you right now. I'm glad if you
• 55:26
  Speaker 2: want to wear a mask. I'm glad if you got
• 55:28
  Speaker 2: on PPP. I'm glad if you got on special clothes.
• 55:32
  Speaker 2: I don't care what you got on. Your greatest force
• 55:36
  Speaker 2: field is that the angels of the Lord encamp around you.
• 55:40
  Speaker 2: And I don't want to insult you, but the reason
• 55:44
  Speaker 2: you haven't lost your mind is not because you didn't
• 55:47
  Speaker 2: have trauma, but when your mind was coming unglued, the
• 55:52
  Speaker 2: angels of the Lord encamped round about you. And when
• 55:56
  Speaker 2: your enemy was glaring at you and seeking your position,
• 56:01
  Speaker 2: it was the angel of the Lord that went in
• 56:04
  Speaker 2: the boardroom and got your job back. And if there's
• 56:07
  Speaker 2: anybody in here that ought to give God the praise,
• 56:12
  Speaker 2: it's people that's got angels in their wilderness.
• 56:22
  Speaker 1: Yes.
• 56:23
  Speaker 4: Yes.
• 56:24
  Speaker 2: Yes, yes, you go ahead and shout because you got
• 56:30
  Speaker 2: on Gucci shoes, but I'm going to shout because I got.
• 56:35
  Speaker 4: Angels in the wilderness.
• 56:37
  Speaker 2: You go ahead and shout because you just got married,
• 56:42
  Speaker 2: but I'm going to shout because Because I got angels
• 56:45
  Speaker 2: in the wilderness.
• 56:47
  Speaker 1: You go ahead and shout.
• 56:49
  Speaker 2: Because you got a four bedroom house. But I'll stay
• 56:53
  Speaker 2: in this one bedroom efficiency suite. And give God the glory.
• 56:58
  Speaker 2: Because I'm never by myself. You go ahead and shout
• 57:05
  Speaker 2: because you're fine and wonderful. But I'm shouting because I'm
• 57:09
  Speaker 2: healthy and covered with the blood. You go ahead and
• 57:14
  Speaker 2: shout because you got a court of officer. I'm working
• 57:19
  Speaker 2: from my house, but I'm still giving God the praise
• 57:23
  Speaker 2: because every time the devil thinks he's got me, God
• 57:28
  Speaker 2: sends angels in my wilderness. I want you to take
• 57:33
  Speaker 2: 30 seconds and praise him till the angels know that
• 57:39
  Speaker 2: you know that God is there. Yes, yes, yes. I'm
• 57:54
  Speaker 2: praising him because I'm recognizing I was never by myself.
• 58:01
  Speaker 2: Clap your hands and give God the glory. Yeah, look
• 58:21
  Speaker 2: at seven people and tell them I got angels. I
• 58:24
  Speaker 2: got angels, don't mess with me. I got angels, I
• 58:26
  Speaker 2: got angels, I got angels. I got angels, I got angels,
• 58:29
  Speaker 2: I got angels. I got angels, I got angels all
• 58:32
  Speaker 2: around me. I got angels watching my house. I got
• 58:35
  Speaker 2: angels watching my car. I got angels watching my mind.
• 58:39
  Speaker 2: I got angels watching my peace. I got angels watching
• 58:42
  Speaker 2: my joy. I got angels covering for me. I thank
• 58:46
  Speaker 2: you for my angels.
• 58:47
  Speaker 1: Hallelujah.
• 58:48
  Speaker 2: He sent angels. He sent angels. Sometimes they look like people.
• 58:53
  Speaker 2: Sometimes they didn't look like anything I could see. But
• 58:56
  Speaker 2: God sent angels to rescue. To God be the glory.
• 59:01
  Speaker 2: To God be the glory.
• 59:02
  Speaker 4: To God.
• 59:03
  Speaker 1: To God.
• 59:05
  Speaker 2: To God be the glory for the things he's done.
• 59:09
  Speaker 2: To God be the glory. My story shouldn't end up
• 59:13
  Speaker 2: like this but to God be the glory. They tried
• 59:17
  Speaker 2: to eat me for dinner but to God be the glory.
• 59:21
  Speaker 2: I thought I couldn't make it but to God be
• 59:25
  Speaker 2: the glory. As I close today, I'm just trying to
• 59:43
  Speaker 2: make you aware of how blessed you are. How good
• 59:46
  Speaker 2: God's been to you. How you didn't get through just
• 59:49
  Speaker 2: because you were smart. Sometimes stuff was glaring at you
• 59:53
  Speaker 2: that you didn't even know was glaring at you. In
• 59:57
  Speaker 2: the presence of beasts, God bless you. In the presence
• 1:00:00
  Speaker 2: of enemies, God bless you. In the presence of haters,
• 1:00:03
  Speaker 2: God bless you. In the presence of envy, God bless you.
• 1:00:08
  Speaker 2: In the presence of tricks, God bless you. In the
• 1:00:10
  Speaker 2: presence of witchcraft, God bless you. In the presence of
• 1:00:14
  Speaker 2: people trying to overthrow you, God bless you. In the
• 1:00:16
  Speaker 2: presence of rumors, God bless you. In the presence of
• 1:00:20
  Speaker 2: office politics, God bless you. In the presence of people
• 1:00:23
  Speaker 2: playing games, God bless you. I'm preaching to somebody. In
• 1:00:27
  Speaker 2: the presence of all hell breaking loose, God bless you.
• 1:00:30
  Speaker 2: And what God is trying to figure out is how
• 1:00:33
  Speaker 2: can you stand there with your lips glued together? and
• 1:00:36
  Speaker 2: act like I am not good to you when I
• 1:00:38
  Speaker 2: brought you all this way by my right hand and
• 1:00:42
  Speaker 2: my holy arm. If don't nobody else praise me in
• 1:00:47
  Speaker 2: this building, I did too much in your life for
• 1:00:52
  Speaker 2: you not to give me the praise. They might not
• 1:00:56
  Speaker 2: know how good I am, but I know you know
• 1:01:00
  Speaker 2: how good I am. I was watching one of these
• 1:01:19
  Speaker 2: crazy television shows where they do crazy stuff, like jump
• 1:01:26
  Speaker 2: out of helicopters with chains wrapped around them, or open
• 1:01:31
  Speaker 2: their mouth and eat worms. And there's a disclaimer on
• 1:01:35
  Speaker 2: the show. Don't try this.
• 1:01:41
  Speaker 4: On your own.
• 1:01:45
  Speaker 2: I want to say to you this morning as I close,
• 1:01:50
  Speaker 2: don't try this. Don't try this. Now don't try this
• 1:01:58
  Speaker 2: just because you came here at a time I was
• 1:02:00
  Speaker 2: on the mountain. Don't try this on your own. Mountains
• 1:02:05
  Speaker 2: are made out of valleys. Don't try this because you
• 1:02:12
  Speaker 2: came in and you saw the text but you didn't
• 1:02:15
  Speaker 2: see the context. Don't try this because of three years
• 1:02:21
  Speaker 2: of fame after 18 years of silence. You think you're
• 1:02:29
  Speaker 2: gonna reach past the 18 and get the three? If
• 1:02:34
  Speaker 2: you reach past the 18 and get the three, you
• 1:02:36
  Speaker 2: can't stand the pressure that comes with the three. It's
• 1:02:40
  Speaker 2: the 18 of being ignored that gets you ready for
• 1:02:45
  Speaker 2: what God is going to do next. Everybody stand to
• 1:02:47
  Speaker 2: your feet. Do you feel me? Do you feel me?
• 1:02:49
  Speaker 2: Do you feel me this morning? Do you feel me online?
• 1:02:53
  Speaker 2: Do you understand the words that are coming out of
• 1:02:55
  Speaker 2: my mouth? Don't try this on your own. I was watching,
• 1:03:02
  Speaker 2: I don't watch a lot of TV, but I was
• 1:03:04
  Speaker 2: watching the show and they had people get up on
• 1:03:06
  Speaker 2: a helicopter and they fell backwards and you're supposed to
• 1:03:09
  Speaker 2: keep your back straight and your head go through the water.
• 1:03:12
  Speaker 2: If you bent your back, the water would feel like
• 1:03:15
  Speaker 2: concrete you might pass out or break your neck. First
• 1:03:20
  Speaker 2: thing I knew is that I didn't want to be
• 1:03:21
  Speaker 2: on that show. Yeah, that's the first thing I knew.
• 1:03:27
  Speaker 2: The second thing I came to understand, that only certain
• 1:03:32
  Speaker 2: type of people are inclined to take certain kinds of risks.
• 1:03:39
  Speaker 2: And I wasn't going to be jealous of something that
• 1:03:42
  Speaker 2: I'm not equipped for. So stop envying what God gave
• 1:03:51
  Speaker 2: somebody else and only appreciate what God has equipped.
• 1:04:00
  Speaker 4: You for.
• 1:04:01
  Speaker 2: Am I preaching to them? See, I can't do what
• 1:04:05
  Speaker 2: you do. I love you, but I can't do what
• 1:04:08
  Speaker 2: you do. If I could do what you do, I
• 1:04:10
  Speaker 2: would have done it. And ain't no need in me
• 1:04:13
  Speaker 2: getting here and trying to do it now. If I
• 1:04:15
  Speaker 2: didn't do it before now, I probably can't do that.
• 1:04:18
  Speaker 2: Not on the field, not even on the dance floor.
• 1:04:22
  Speaker 2: But just because I don't have what you got don't
• 1:04:24
  Speaker 2: mean I don't have anything. So the reason I have
• 1:04:29
  Speaker 2: the grace to let Emmett Smith be Emmett Smith is
• 1:04:32
  Speaker 2: because I'm happy being T.D.
• 1:04:33
  Speaker 4: Jakes.
• 1:04:35
  Speaker 2: When you learn how to be happy to be who
• 1:04:38
  Speaker 2: God created you to be, you'll be free. Listen at
• 1:04:42
  Speaker 2: me good. Let me tell you why it's not working
• 1:04:46
  Speaker 2: out for you right now. It's not that you go
• 1:04:50
  Speaker 2: through wilderness that we don't go through. We go through
• 1:04:53
  Speaker 2: all the same wildernesses. That's not the problem. I'm not
• 1:04:57
  Speaker 2: trying to say if you come to Jesus, your wilderness
• 1:05:00
  Speaker 2: are over. It wasn't over for Jesus, so it's not
• 1:05:02
  Speaker 2: going to be over for you. How can I take
• 1:05:05
  Speaker 2: a Jesus who went through a wilderness and teach a
• 1:05:08
  Speaker 2: gospel that denies wilderness? Wilderness come to everybody, but not angels.
• 1:05:20
  Speaker 2: The angels only come to them that fear him. The
• 1:05:25
  Speaker 2: word fear means reverence. People who reverence God have angels.
• 1:05:32
  Speaker 2: And I'm going to tell you right now, Life will
• 1:05:35
  Speaker 2: always bring its wilderness. It will bring it to young people.
• 1:05:40
  Speaker 2: It will bring it to older people. It will bring
• 1:05:42
  Speaker 2: it to white people. It will bring it to black people.
• 1:05:45
  Speaker 2: It will bring it to brown people. It will bring
• 1:05:46
  Speaker 2: it to rich people. Quit idolizing rich people. If I
• 1:05:51
  Speaker 2: just had money, everything would be all right. I know
• 1:05:54
  Speaker 2: lots of crazy rich people. I know rich people crazy
• 1:05:58
  Speaker 2: as a bed bug in a bottle of rum. Wilderness
• 1:06:05
  Speaker 2: comes to everybody. But angels only come to those who
• 1:06:16
  Speaker 2: the Father sends them.