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