TD JAKES - Worship In The Wilderness
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00:00:00 As you stand on your feet and prepare your heart to hear what the Spirit of the Lord
00:00:15 is saying to the church, I'm probably not going to get finished.
00:00:21 So this is likely to be a series.
00:00:25 Okay?
00:00:27 It's likely to be a series and I'm entitling the series, "Worship in the Wilderness."
00:00:37 Worship in the wilderness.
00:00:40 Anybody in here know how to worship?
00:00:44 Anybody in here in the wilderness?
00:00:48 Generally we put our worship in one place and our wilderness in the other.
00:00:54 Then we come to church or we get up early in the morning and we have a worship service
00:00:59 and then we go into our wilderness and deal with it.
00:01:03 But we're going to talk about the collision between wilderness and worship and what happens
00:01:08 when that erupts.
00:01:09 I'm going to go to Exodus chapter 14 verse 9 through 14.
00:01:16 And we're going to have a conversation out of the Word of God.
00:01:19 If you were here last Sunday when we celebrated our anniversary, our 27th anniversary, the
00:01:32 Spirit of the Lord was thick in here.
00:01:35 The glory of the Lord was thick in here and it was powerful.
00:01:38 And then I began to vision cast for where I think the church ought to be going.
00:01:44 And true to form I am starting in that direction today.
00:01:48 There were many tenets that I talked about that were relevant to the vision of this church
00:01:54 and where I see us going and how I believe we can get there.
00:01:58 But one of the tenets was to cause you to have encounters with God, real encounters
00:02:06 with God.
00:02:07 Now that might sound redundant because a lot of you don't know the distinction between
00:02:12 encounters with church and encounters with God.
00:02:21 Some have encounters with talent, some have encounters with personalities, some people
00:02:27 have an encounter with God.
00:02:31 As out of step as it was when I came along, the old school where the church mothers would
00:02:44 put you on the altar and have you tarrying for the Holy Ghost.
00:02:49 As out of step as it might seem with today's trends, there is one thing that I noticed
00:02:56 that once it really got in, I don't care where you went or where you tried to go or where
00:03:05 you tried to run, it never fully came out.
00:03:09 I'm getting a few amens because some of you are in here today because you had an encounter
00:03:14 with God.
00:03:16 Now our churches didn't look so good.
00:03:20 They weren't so fancy, our pews weren't so comfortable and our presentation wasn't so
00:03:25 polished but there was an explosive encounter with God that stayed down inside of us that
00:03:35 tethered us to Him in a very unique, powerful and profound way that caused us to come to
00:03:42 know Him not just on Sunday.
00:03:46 Yeah.
00:03:50 We didn't come to church to get a little bit of Jesus.
00:03:54 We're living in an age now that people come in and they use Jesus like oregano.
00:03:59 They want a little sprinkle, just a little sprinkle for decoration over the top of their
00:04:04 lives.
00:04:05 And so because we only get a sprinkle of Jesus and we don't really get an encounter with
00:04:11 Jesus, we don't get along with His people.
00:04:15 I'm going to get into it.
00:04:22 We don't even get along with our own people.
00:04:25 We don't get along with our own children.
00:04:27 We don't get along with our own family.
00:04:29 We don't get along with anybody.
00:04:30 And I'm just going to take you through a little bit of this.
00:04:33 So you all going to go with me?
00:04:35 Go to Exodus chapter 14 verse 9 through 14.
00:04:39 I welcome all of you that are online to have this experience with us.
00:04:43 Prepare yourself for church unusual.
00:04:47 Prepare yourself for us to break routines and rituals.
00:04:51 Prepare yourselves for us to have an encounter with God.
00:04:56 Oh my God.
00:05:05 You know that our church believes in therapy and we believe in counseling and we recognize
00:05:10 the power of counseling.
00:05:12 But a lot of things that we're trying to counsel need to be cast out.
00:05:22 There is no replacement for therapy if you need it, but there's no replacement for spirituality
00:05:29 working on your mind when your spirit is torn up.
00:05:34 Come on somebody.
00:05:35 And so we got to take a deep dive and do what we do.
00:05:40 Look at somebody and say, "Let's do what we do."
00:05:46 So we're in the middle of a transition.
00:05:48 Oh gosh, I'm just, I'm scared of myself.
00:05:52 We're in the middle of a transition in the text and we're in the middle of a transition
00:05:57 in life.
00:05:58 We have personal transitions like transitioning from one age to the other, transitioning from
00:06:05 one marital status to the other, transitioning from being a parent to an empty nester, transitioning
00:06:11 from being a couple to having a baby.
00:06:13 We're transitioning from one job to another, transitioning from one city to another.
00:06:18 We're always in different states of transition coupled with the fact the world is in transition.
00:06:27 The entire planet is in transition.
00:06:29 Now I don't know whether you're alert enough to notice it because most of us are so preoccupied
00:06:34 with our personal transitions that we do not notice all of the empty retail stores and
00:06:42 commercial real estate.
00:06:44 They remind me of dinosaurs left behind.
00:06:49 We don't pay any attention to the fact that these are buildings that have become not movements
00:06:54 but monuments and a testimony to the fact that the ground has shifted up under our feet.
00:07:01 And now you can get commercial property at reduced rates while residential property is
00:07:08 skyrocketing because the way we do life, the way we do business, the way we do the world
00:07:14 has changed so drastically that there are no absolutes.
00:07:20 Your job is not solid.
00:07:23 Your career is not solid.
00:07:25 I hate to bring you this bad news but it's true.
00:07:28 They are inventing machines to do what you do.
00:07:32 Who can do them at faster rates or speeds than what you do?
00:07:36 They took 20 of the best lawyers they could find to go through about 100 contracts to
00:07:42 determine if there was anything wrong with the contracts.
00:07:47 They got 85% of it right but it took them like two days to process all of it.
00:07:54 And ChatGPT did it in 96 seconds.
00:08:02 Now common sense tells you if we can develop artificial intelligence that can speed up
00:08:09 cures to cancer and leukemia and resolve contracts and do it at that speed and at that ratio
00:08:18 then the world is in the middle of a big shift.
00:08:22 It's a huge shift.
00:08:24 All the experts are trying to figure out what to say because you're never as smart as you
00:08:29 were 10 years ago.
00:08:31 Because all of your information is based on the world as you knew it.
00:08:36 But the world as you knew it is changing it.
00:08:39 We grew up with Sears and Roebuck.
00:08:44 We grew up with JCPenney's.
00:08:47 Later in life we went to shop at Christmas time at Toys R Us.
00:08:52 Where are they now?
00:08:54 These huge conglomerates that ran the country and ran the world and had huge employees and
00:08:59 databases are all gone.
00:09:01 They have been reduced to apps and been replaced by Amazon and other companies that have replaced
00:09:07 them and there are companies who are fighting for their life to stay relevant.
00:09:12 Used to be you go in a FedEx warehouse there were all kinds of trucks moving and there
00:09:18 were all kinds of people moving around with forklifts and all of that sort of thing.
00:09:24 A friend of mine took a picture of a FedEx warehouse and sent it to me.
00:09:27 I expected to see forklifts.
00:09:29 I expected to see people.
00:09:31 I expected to see people in uniforms.
00:09:33 I expected to see union signs.
00:09:36 No union signs, no uniforms, no people, all robots.
00:09:44 All those jobs are gone.
00:09:47 Goldman and Sachs has predicted that over 300 million people across the world globally
00:09:53 will lose their jobs in the next 10 years.
00:10:01 We are in transition.
00:10:04 The world is changing.
00:10:06 We are in transition spiritually.
00:10:09 The witches now have more influence in the preachers.
00:10:19 You can burn sage in your house but don't wear a cross to work.
00:10:23 Come on talk to me somebody.
00:10:26 What used to be wrong is now right and what used to be right is now wrong.
00:10:31 Are you hearing what I'm saying to you?
00:10:33 You are forbidden to say anything about any group that might offend anybody and you end
00:10:38 up offending everybody and everything is controversial and it has leaked into the church and it has
00:10:45 leaked into our marriages and it has leaked into our homes.
00:10:49 It used to be that when we married somebody we were a team, now we're a competitor.
00:10:59 When did we get into this gender competitiveness where it's the women against the men?
00:11:04 I posted a picture of a bunch of women working around the table and all the comments said
00:11:09 oh my God look at how smart the women are.
00:11:11 That's what I want to see is a room full of women like we're at war with men.
00:11:18 It's great to see the women standing shoulder to shoulder with men but are we trying to
00:11:24 dominate each other?
00:11:27 Replace each other?
00:11:29 Didn't God create us together and put us in the garden together and make us a team together
00:11:34 so that we would compliment each other and not compete with each other?
00:11:38 What has happened to our society?
00:11:40 And it's not just in the world, it's in the church.
00:11:43 It's in the church, it's in the kingdom, it's in your house.
00:11:52 Now we're having debates between boomers and millennials, between millennials and Gen X's
00:11:57 and it's the Bible fulfilling itself that fathers are against sons and daughters are
00:12:03 against mothers.
00:12:05 Generational fights are breaking out all over the world and we're in transition.
00:12:11 And so were they in my text.
00:12:16 So the Egyptians pursued them, all the horses and chariots of Pharaoh, his horsemen and
00:12:23 his army and overtook them, camping by the sea beside Pi-ho-hiroth before Bil-zephon.
00:12:32 And when Pharaoh drew near, the children of Israel lifted their eyes and behold the Egyptians
00:12:40 marched after them.
00:12:43 So they were afraid.
00:12:45 And the children of Israel cried out to the Lord.
00:12:50 Then they said to Moses, "Because there were no graves in Egypt, have you taken us away
00:12:57 to die in the wilderness?
00:13:00 Why have you so dealt with us to bring us up out of Egypt?
00:13:07 Why are you bringing us out of what we were into?
00:13:14 How dare you?
00:13:18 Let's pick where we die."
00:13:21 That's what this discussion is about.
00:13:23 Are there no graves in Egypt?
00:13:25 Is this not the word that we told you in Egypt saying, "Let us alone that we may serve the
00:13:32 Egyptians."
00:13:33 For it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than that we should die in the
00:13:39 wilderness.
00:13:40 Isn't that the way they think?
00:13:44 And Moses said to the people, "Don't be afraid.
00:13:48 Stand still.
00:13:53 See the salvation of the Lord, which he will accomplish for you today.
00:14:01 For the Egyptians whom you see today, you shall see again no more forever.
00:14:13 The Lord will fight for you.
00:14:21 And you, and you, and you," this is your job, this is your job, this is your assignment,
00:14:36 "you shall hold your peace."
00:14:41 Look at somebody very politely and say, "Shut up."
00:14:49 Very politely.
00:14:50 I don't know if there's a polite way to say, "Shut up," but maybe be quiet.
00:15:02 My subject, my question, my thesis, my approach to this text is not the normal approach.
00:15:12 The normal approach to this text is the enemies that you see today, you will see them no more.
00:15:19 And if we were interested, if we were preaching for reaction, that's the easy way to get there.
00:15:27 But I am stuck at a much more complicated place.
00:15:32 My title is, "Are There No Graves in Egypt?"
00:15:40 Are there no graves in Egypt?
00:15:44 Let's pray, Spirit of the Living God falls fresh on us as we open up the Word of God
00:15:50 today.
00:15:51 I pray that this would speak to us in very deep places, that we would begin to recognize
00:15:59 how often we resist better because better is complicated, because better is frightening,
00:16:10 because it's difficult, because it's more work.
00:16:13 And we argue against those that would take us higher, preferring to go back to the familiar,
00:16:20 even if it's slavery.
00:16:23 I pray that you would speak to us in a profound and prolific way and that our lives would
00:16:30 be changed by this Word, that our very living would be changed, not just this moment, not
00:16:36 just this service, not just that we'd have a high hope big time and everybody would run
00:16:40 out, but that our lives would be changed by having an encounter with you.
00:16:47 In Jesus' name we pray, amen.
00:16:49 You may be seated.
00:16:50 Yeah, I'm going to disrupt this place.
00:16:57 The whole purpose of the Saga of Exodus is built around the birth of the Old Testament
00:17:06 Church.
00:17:08 Birth and death are always synonymous.
00:17:10 Anytime something is born, something has to die.
00:17:14 It has to die in its original form that it might be reborn in another form.
00:17:18 And so the whole notion of Exodus is centered around the Old Testament Ecclesia, called
00:17:25 out church.
00:17:27 They were called out.
00:17:28 Moses' name means drawn out.
00:17:32 And so life is a perpetual state of evolutions, of births and deaths, of being reborn, of
00:17:40 being redeveloped, of in one person's life there are at least 10 of you.
00:17:51 You're not the 7-year-old you were.
00:17:55 Your idealistic perceptions have all been altered.
00:17:59 You're not the 20-year-old you were.
00:18:04 Your optimistic view of how you were going to do this or that or the other has been altered
00:18:08 or changed.
00:18:09 Every year, every situation, every circumstance, every birth, every death gives you another
00:18:14 little grain of wisdom that becomes a block that builds the framework and the substratum
00:18:20 of who you are.
00:18:22 We see God inviting His estranged children to be emancipated, not only to receive the,
00:18:29 not only to relieve the oppression, but to meet them in the wilderness to worship Him.
00:18:36 I want you to understand that they had not had a conversation with God for 400 years.
00:18:44 They are the people of God.
00:18:47 They are born to be with God, but they have not had a real relationship with God for 400
00:18:54 years, in part because of their association and in some ways assimilation with Egypt.
00:19:02 Their association and assimilation with Egypt started out as a blessing and ended up as
00:19:06 a curse.
00:19:08 Okay.
00:19:09 It started out a blessing because there was a famine back in Israel and Jacob moves toward
00:19:17 his family, toward where Joseph already was in Egypt, that they might get corn to withstand
00:19:22 the famine.
00:19:24 Everything that starts out a blessing doesn't end up a blessing.
00:19:30 So the first 30 years or so, it was a blessing and it was a wonderful thing, but when the
00:19:34 Pharaoh died, there was a Pharaoh who died that did not know Joseph nor regard his God.
00:19:42 From that point, they became enslaved and they entered into 400 years of slavery.
00:19:48 Watch this closely, but God knew it.
00:19:54 Not only did God know it, God arranged it.
00:19:59 Not only did God arrange it, God prophesied to Abram that this was going to happen.
00:20:05 He said, "Your seed is going to sojourn in Egypt for 400 years and afterward, they will
00:20:13 come out with great substance."
00:20:17 There is an expiration date on trouble.
00:20:29 If there's a date you go in, there's a date you come out.
00:20:33 Are you hearing what I'm saying?
00:20:35 They were not there because they were subservient or less qualified or less capable or less
00:20:41 brilliant than the Egyptians.
00:20:43 They were there by a divine prophecy whereby God incubated Abram's seed from a family into
00:20:51 a nation.
00:20:53 And in order to incubate the greatness that was in them, he put pressure upon them, but
00:20:59 they were no less than the Egyptians, but they were forced to serve the Egyptians for
00:21:05 400 years.
00:21:07 Now, psychologists teach that when somebody is abducted, they have a tendency to fall
00:21:15 in love with their abductor.
00:21:20 I don't understand that, but somewhere along the way, they have a love-hate relationship
00:21:25 with the abuser.
00:21:26 It might be involved also in domestic violence, a love-hate relationship with abuse, a love-hate
00:21:34 relationship.
00:21:35 Moses has come to emancipate them from 400 years of being contorted into whatever Egypt
00:21:45 wanted.
00:21:47 And anytime you contort who you are into what other people want, there comes a point where
00:21:52 you become unfamiliar with who you really are.
00:21:58 Some of you know what I'm talking about.
00:22:00 You've shifted everything about yourself to contort around what somebody demanded of you
00:22:06 and then something happened, they left, they changed, they died, and you're standing there
00:22:10 trying to figure out who am I outside of what you needed me to be.
00:22:16 So these are a people who have no sense of real identity.
00:22:22 They have no sense of real understanding of their language.
00:22:27 Their food is gone.
00:22:29 Their cuisine is gone.
00:22:30 Their uniqueness is gone.
00:22:32 Their religion has been aborted.
00:22:34 They have assimilated to the environment that they're in for survival.
00:22:40 Survival necessitates sometimes that you adapt and adopt to situations that you didn't prefer
00:22:46 because it is necessary in order to survive.
00:22:50 And our Creator so endowed us with the ability to adapt that no matter what climate we're
00:22:56 in, we physically adapt.
00:22:58 No matter what situation we're in, we emotionally adapt.
00:23:02 No matter what circumstances we engage in, we adapt to that environment for survival
00:23:08 state because we have a strong survival instinct.
00:23:13 We have a strong survival instinct.
00:23:15 You wouldn't be sitting here today if you didn't have a strong survival instinct.
00:23:22 Your heart has been broken.
00:23:24 Your life has been altered.
00:23:25 You've been disappointed.
00:23:26 You didn't get everything that you wanted.
00:23:29 Everything didn't turn out like you wanted it to turn out.
00:23:31 But once you were in the situation, you adapted to the situation, found a way to cope with
00:23:37 the situation, survived through the situation, and you ought to give yourself, even if you're
00:23:42 not going forward, you ought to give yourself a hand clap that you didn't go back.
00:23:54 Their poverty exceeds income and is an all-encompassing, barren blight that has been comprehensively
00:24:05 damaging and diversely documented.
00:24:07 They've lost everything.
00:24:09 They've lost everything.
00:24:11 They have left Egypt to rediscover themselves by reconnecting with God.
00:24:20 Watch this closely.
00:24:21 They have left Egypt to rediscover themselves by reconnecting with God.
00:24:28 You will never find you without Him.
00:24:37 You will never find yourself, your identity, get your self-esteem back without Him.
00:24:43 This is why they got out in the middle of the wilderness and started asking for the
00:24:47 leeks and onions of Egypt because their taste buds had become like the Egyptians.
00:24:55 This is why they built an image of God that looked like the Egyptian God because their
00:25:00 concept of who God was is influenced by Egypt.
00:25:05 This is why you come to church and start talking about a higher power because you are adopting
00:25:13 the language of the people you work with.
00:25:18 The man upstairs, I'm not a Christian and I'm spiritual.
00:25:27 This kind of language is where you have lost your language that God gave you and adapted
00:25:33 the language of the people around you in part because of your need to fit in.
00:25:40 Your need to be connected, your need to be fresh, your need to be accepted, your need
00:25:44 to be accepted by other people, other employers, other CEOs, other companies, other entrepreneurs,
00:25:51 other women, other men have forced you to shape your personality into something that
00:25:57 they applaud you for.
00:25:59 And they don't applaud you for being who you are.
00:26:02 They applaud you for being contorted into an image that reflects the times that we're
00:26:07 living in.
00:26:08 And so they'll tell you, "Oh, you're out of style.
00:26:11 That's out of date.
00:26:12 That's old school."
00:26:13 In other words, you got to contort back because now the style has changed.
00:26:17 I'm sick of style.
00:26:22 I'm sick of style.
00:26:23 I do me.
00:26:24 I wore something the other day, they said, "That's out of style."
00:26:27 No, it's not out of style because it's in my closet.
00:26:34 Out of style will leave you broke trying to keep up with what's in style.
00:26:39 That's why they keep changing the style every week to make you have to go buy again so you
00:26:45 can fit in again rather than invest in your money.
00:26:48 You are breaking yourself trying to keep up with something that somebody dictated out
00:26:53 of Paris that you don't even know and you ain't gonna never be on a runway, but you're
00:26:59 gonna be homeless in a shelter if you don't wake up and recognize.
00:27:06 Too much of our energy is spent trying to reconcile with men.
00:27:20 We're trying to reconcile with men.
00:27:21 We're trying to be in with people.
00:27:23 We're trying to be in vogue.
00:27:24 We want to be in shape.
00:27:25 We want to develop the right language that gets us ahead, that gets us applauded, that
00:27:30 gets people to clap for us.
00:27:32 We're ashamed to say things that we used to be proud of.
00:27:37 Things like I love my wife.
00:27:40 I care about my family.
00:27:42 I take care of my husband.
00:27:44 I make sure that he's good.
00:27:46 Those guys, I dare you to make a post about it right now and watch how many people attack
00:27:52 you.
00:27:56 It's not that they're wrong to be them, it's that they want you to act like them or something
00:28:03 is wrong with you if your values are not in the same place their values are and so the
00:28:10 fight goes on.
00:28:13 It's a fight with men.
00:28:14 It's a fight with women.
00:28:15 It's a fight with generations.
00:28:17 It's a fight with denominations.
00:28:18 It's a fight with ethnicities.
00:28:20 We're having war, war, war, war, war, war and I'm tired.
00:28:27 Anybody tired?
00:28:29 Anybody tired of twisting and turning and reshaping yourself into all kinds of configurations
00:28:36 and by the time you get it all worked out, the style has changed.
00:28:42 We don't do that over here.
00:28:43 We don't do that over there.
00:28:45 We don't do this over here.
00:28:46 We don't wear that over here.
00:28:47 We wear that over here.
00:28:48 We do this and that until you're afraid to be yourself because your need to fit in trumps
00:28:53 your need to be who you are and now you don't know who you are and so you got to go back
00:28:59 and hit reboot and go back to the manufacturer and go back to God and say, "Who did you create
00:29:07 me to be?
00:29:08 What did you have in mind for me?
00:29:10 How have you designed my life to function because I am so tired?
00:29:14 I've been what my mama said.
00:29:16 I've been what my daddy said.
00:29:17 I've been what my friends said.
00:29:19 I've been what my gang said.
00:29:20 I've been so many different things.
00:29:22 I've been what my denomination said.
00:29:23 I've been what the board said.
00:29:25 I did what the school said.
00:29:26 I did what everybody said to promote me to get to the next level and now I just don't
00:29:31 even know who I am.
00:29:33 I speak a little bit of Hebrew.
00:29:35 I speak a lot of Egyptian.
00:29:37 I got a little bit of Hebrew left in me, but I got a whole lot of the Egyptians left in
00:29:42 me and now here comes this joker trying to move me out from what I have adapted to and
00:29:49 even though I prayed that God would send a deliverer, when the answer came, I rejected
00:29:55 what I prayed for.
00:29:57 Come on, come on, I want you to see what I'm saying.
00:30:02 I asked God to deliver me from this bondage and now when God sends a deliverer, I'm fighting
00:30:09 him tooth and nail and asking him, "Are there no graves in Egypt?"
00:30:15 We just left Egypt.
00:30:16 If you wanted to stay in Egypt, you could have stayed in Egypt, but you got one foot
00:30:21 in Egypt and you got one foot on the promises of God and the moment you run into trouble,
00:30:28 you revert back into what is familiar even though it's not effective and you're asking,
00:30:33 "Are there no graves?"
00:30:34 In Egypt, by the way, what difference does it make where you die?
00:30:45 Is death less deadly in Egypt than it is by the Red Sea?
00:30:52 It's like during the AIDS epidemic, I remember when it first came out, when you told somebody
00:30:58 you had AIDS, the next question they asked you was, "How did you get it?"
00:31:04 And I asked them, "Is there a good kind and a bad kind?
00:31:11 Is it any less AIDS if you got it over here than if you got it over there?"
00:31:15 People ask stupid questions.
00:31:16 AIDS is just AIDS.
00:31:17 And I said, "It don't make any difference how I got it.
00:31:18 If I got it, I just got it."
00:31:22 Come on, somebody.
00:31:23 The moment people got sick with COVID, the first thing they said to me, "I don't know
00:31:27 where I got it from."
00:31:29 If you find out where you got it from, would that heal it?
00:31:34 Are there no graves in Egypt?
00:31:38 The same people who prayed to get out of Egypt are now praying, are now asking Moses, "Are
00:31:44 there no ... Let me die a slave in Egypt serving Pharaoh."
00:31:53 Reverse engineering your prayer because of your pain.
00:32:00 You reverse engineer your prayer because of your pain.
00:32:06 Let me go deeper.
00:32:07 You reverse engineer your pain because of how much it costs you to get your promise.
00:32:14 I didn't know it was going to be like this.
00:32:15 I didn't know it was going to be this hard.
00:32:17 I didn't know it was going to be ... I didn't know ... So you want to go back?
00:32:26 Now listen, I know we're supposed to love our neighbors as we love ourselves.
00:32:33 I know that Jesus prayed, yes, he prayed that we might be one.
00:32:37 I get that.
00:32:38 Yes, God wants us to leave our mother and father and take unto us a wife and become
00:32:44 one flesh.
00:32:47 Human unity is important, but our most important assignment is to be reconciled to God.
00:33:01 You don't hear me yet.
00:33:03 It is not my most important assignment to make sure that you're reconciled to the potter's
00:33:10 house.
00:33:13 It is not my concern to make sure that you're reconciled to me because if you get cancer,
00:33:20 I can pray for you, but I can't help you.
00:33:23 If you get down, I can wish you well, but I can't lift you.
00:33:28 The potter's house can't come get you.
00:33:31 If all you are reconciled to is this, you will always be writing #churchhurt.
00:33:46 There wouldn't be a #churchhurt if you weren't conciled to the church more than you were
00:33:53 to God.
00:33:54 I don't see anybody doing #Godhurt, but anytime you confuse God with church and you think
00:34:05 that church is God and God is church, you're always going to walk away with a hashtag.
00:34:16 Can I go deeper?
00:34:17 Go to Luke 9, 49, 50.
00:34:24 And John answered and said, "Master, we saw one casting out devils in thy name and we
00:34:29 forbade him because he followeth not with us."
00:34:36 That's why we forbade him.
00:34:37 And Jesus said unto him, "Forbid him not, for he that is not against us is forth."
00:34:45 In other words, don't expend energy trying to reconcile the church down the street.
00:34:52 Anytime anybody builds a ministry around correcting everybody else, anytime you are known by what
00:35:03 you are against rather than what you are for, you cannot worship God and be the spiritual
00:35:11 police over the world.
00:35:17 Are y'all hearing what I'm saying?
00:35:19 Can I show you another scripture right quick?
00:35:21 2 Corinthians 5, 18-21, take a look at this.
00:35:25 And all things are of God, and all, good God, Lord, stop.
00:35:32 And all things are of God who has reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ.
00:35:39 All things, matter, material, stuff, all things are of God who have reconciled.
00:35:49 So we can't worship things.
00:35:52 We can't worship money.
00:35:54 We can't worship being in the top percentile in the nation.
00:35:57 We can't worship billion dollars, million dollars, trillion dollars.
00:36:01 We can't worship at the shrine of things because all things are of God who have reconciled
00:36:09 us to himself by Jesus Christ.
00:36:13 All God wants is to be reconciled with you.
00:36:21 And he has reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ and has given us the ministry and has
00:36:26 given us, and has given us the ministry and has given us the ministry and has given us
00:36:32 the ministry of reconciliation.
00:36:34 He has given us the ministry of reconciliation.
00:36:37 I do not have the ministry of separation.
00:36:40 I have the ministry of reconciliation.
00:36:43 I will not aid and abet you in leaving.
00:36:46 My job is all the way down to the end is to have the ministry of reconciliation.
00:36:52 So if there's an argument, I'm not going to go to this side and get the scoop and then
00:36:57 go back to this side and tell the scoop and then go back and say what you said so I can
00:37:02 go back and tell them.
00:37:04 Because I don't have the ministry of division, I have the ministry of reconciliation.
00:37:09 Come on, talk to me somebody.
00:37:15 You have the ministry of reconciliation.
00:37:17 If I'm stepping on your toes, I apologize, but they got to get hit today.
00:37:22 You have the ministry of reconciliation.
00:37:25 You can't help who breaks up.
00:37:27 You can't help who falls out.
00:37:28 You can't help who doesn't speak.
00:37:30 But if you are aiding and abetting in the separation and the deterioration of anything
00:37:36 that God put together, you are guilty.
00:37:40 You have the ministry of reconciliation.
00:37:42 I'm not saying there won't be people that get divorced.
00:37:45 I'm not saying that there aren't people that you don't need boundaries.
00:37:48 I'm not saying that there—see, you guys spent a half hour on what I'm not saying so
00:37:52 that I won't get as many tweets afterwards.
00:37:54 I'm not saying that you need to be close to everybody, but it is not my job to help you
00:38:00 hate somebody.
00:38:02 It's my job to help you love somebody.
00:38:05 I have the ministry of reconciliation.
00:38:08 Do you know what would happen in this church if everybody in this church had the ministry
00:38:13 of reconciliation?
00:38:15 Not the ministry of separation, but the ministry of reconciliation?
00:38:20 If everybody started functioning in their gift, do you know what would happen in your
00:38:24 family if you stopped taking sides and operating the ministry of reconciliation?
00:38:31 Whenever you take sides, you've lost 50%.
00:38:35 Why take sides when you can take over?
00:38:38 Y'all didn't hear that.
00:38:41 Y'all didn't hear that.
00:38:44 Why take sides when you can take over?
00:38:47 Whenever you take sides, you're down to 50%.
00:38:50 But when you get the ministry of reconciliation, you can take over.
00:38:53 You can take this 50 and this 50 and have 100 and put them together.
00:38:58 Oh my God, I feel something about to happen in this place and I'm just getting started.
00:39:06 You got to have the ministry of reconciliation.
00:39:08 Quit trying to break up your daughter with her husband.
00:39:11 And then coming in here speaking in tongues, you got to have the ministry of reconciliation.
00:39:19 If she's not in danger, if her life is not threatened, if she's not fearing for her life,
00:39:25 you shouldn't be on the other end pulling her, talking about he ain't nothing, he ain't
00:39:30 nothing.
00:39:31 Where your husband?
00:39:32 We act like we're masterful at things that we are not masterful at.
00:39:55 And we're giving out advice to people as if we have conquered in areas that we haven't
00:40:00 conquered and the truth of the matter is misery enjoys company.
00:40:06 So now you all can get together and talk about how bad men are or now you can get together
00:40:10 and talk about how bad women are.
00:40:13 So everybody wants you to be where they are so that you can make them feel comfortable.
00:40:19 But if God hasn't told you to give up, fight for whatever it is or whoever it is that God
00:40:26 has given you.
00:40:28 You have the ministry of reconciliation.
00:40:34 I'm going to go deeper.
00:40:35 To wit that God was in Christ.
00:40:38 To wit that God was in Christ.
00:40:40 To wit that God was in Christ.
00:40:42 There's no argument about it.
00:40:43 To wit that God was in Christ.
00:40:46 God was in Christ reconciling the world unto Himself.
00:40:52 Reconciling the world unto Himself.
00:40:55 God was using Christ in Him to draw them back to Him.
00:41:05 To wit that God was in Christ reconciling the world unto Himself.
00:41:12 Not imputing their trespasses unto them and have committed unto us the word of reconciliation.
00:41:22 I could stay there all day.
00:41:26 I could stay there all day because some of us are so busy trying to perfect ourselves
00:41:31 that we don't propel ourselves.
00:41:35 And we're trying to fix something that God is not imputing.
00:41:39 I'm not going to go deeper than that.
00:41:42 Now then we are ambassadors for Christ.
00:41:47 As though God did beseech you by us, we pray you in Christ's stead be ye reconciled to
00:41:58 God.
00:42:00 So that means I got to stop telling people you ought to come to my church and you ought
00:42:06 to start telling them you ought to find my Jesus.
00:42:12 And once you lead them to the Lord, then you ought to invite them to church.
00:42:16 You ought to stop bringing work in here for me to do when you've been talking to them
00:42:21 for six weeks and you haven't brought up Jesus and now I'm going to bring you to my pastor
00:42:26 so you can find the Lord.
00:42:28 They can find the Lord in Starbucks.
00:42:30 They can find the Lord in the grocery store.
00:42:33 They can find the Lord in a meat market.
00:42:35 They can find the Lord anytime they find somebody who has the ministry of reconciliation.
00:42:41 You don't need no papers, you don't need a PhD, you don't need a D-min, all you need
00:42:47 is a mouth.
00:42:48 If you open up your mouth and start winning souls, people will come to Jesus.
00:42:54 I am tired of a lazy church.
00:42:57 We need to wake up the church.
00:43:01 Church don't begot sheep, sheep begot sheep.
00:43:14 Take your neighbor and tell him I got to do something.
00:43:19 For he hath made him to be sin for us who knew no sin.
00:43:25 I hope I get to tie this into my next verse.
00:43:28 For he hath made him to be sin for us.
00:43:31 Talking about Jesus.
00:43:33 He have, God has made Jesus to be sin for us.
00:43:37 Do you understand how huge that is?
00:43:40 God have made Jesus to be sin for us.
00:43:42 Father, if it be thy will, pass this bitter cup from me, it is not about a cross.
00:43:49 I don't want to take on the sins of the world.
00:43:53 That is the horror of Calvary.
00:43:55 It is not the physical debauchery of the nails, it is taking on that which God hates.
00:44:01 Eli, Eli, lama sabbathaneh, my God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?
00:44:07 God have made him to be sin for us who knew no sin.
00:44:13 He didn't do it, but he took the, he paid the bill for it.
00:44:17 He took the charges.
00:44:19 He accepted the charges of a sin he didn't commit.
00:44:26 That we might be made the righteousness of God in him.
00:44:32 Park right there for a minute, I want you to understand.
00:44:35 Jesus is just as innocent as I am guilty.
00:44:44 And yet the innocent paid the debt for the guilty so that the guilty could have the righteousness
00:44:52 of the innocent.
00:45:00 And just like he was judged for a crime that he didn't commit, I'm accepted with a righteousness
00:45:08 that I could never earn.
00:45:11 Come on somebody, come on somebody, come on somebody.
00:45:14 I come boldly to the throne of grace.
00:45:19 If I'm coming boldly to the throne of grace, I must be coming in the name of Jesus, because
00:45:24 I can't be coming in the name of Jake's, I have to be coming in the name of Jesus.
00:45:37 Are you hearing what I'm saying?
00:45:43 Yeah that's the gospel.
00:45:45 That's the gospel.
00:45:47 That's what we got to go back to the gospel.
00:45:49 We got to preach the gospel, because time is winding up.
00:45:54 We got to preach the gospel, because the world is changing.
00:45:58 We got to preach the gospel, because this planet is getting harder than it has been
00:46:03 in thousands of years.
00:46:05 And the gospel said that the works of the earth will burn with fervent heat.
00:46:10 When I first read that scripture, that sounded ridiculous.
00:46:13 But in these temperatures rising every day, I'm starting to see that the prophets from
00:46:18 2000 years ago are prophesying a day that we are seeing today.
00:46:23 Air conditioners are just quitting.
00:46:28 Just say I quit.
00:46:31 I can't keep up with this heat.
00:46:35 Prisoners are dying in prison.
00:46:38 No air, no air conditioning, no ventilation in prison.
00:46:42 The majority of prisons have no air conditioning.
00:46:45 Can you imagine 115 degrees surrounded by concrete walls and no window?
00:46:53 And our government is not interested in air conditioning the prison.
00:46:58 In other words, they don't want to put you in prison, they want to cook you.
00:47:11 And nobody seems to care about that.
00:47:14 They don't deserve air conditioning.
00:47:15 Well, just kill them in the first place.
00:47:20 Why would you make people die?
00:47:21 Right this week, people are dying in prison.
00:47:29 Are there no graves in Egypt?
00:47:37 While you sit in your air conditioned home, fanning yourself.
00:47:41 I think it's roughly about 92% of American homes have air conditioning.
00:47:47 Your cousins, your sons, your uncles are in prison cooking.
00:48:00 Hashtag that.
00:48:09 But all lives matter.
00:48:20 I'm just saying, if all lives matter, I'm just asking a question.
00:48:29 If all lives matter, do their lives, that's somebody's baby, that's somebody's child,
00:48:34 that's somebody's daughter, that's somebody's mama, that's somebody's son.
00:48:38 I know they did wrong or maybe they did wrong.
00:48:41 You going to cook them?
00:48:47 Homeless people are burning up on the sidewalks.
00:48:51 Can't find a place to lay their head.
00:48:58 No headlines about that.
00:49:01 But all lives matter.
00:49:04 Really.
00:49:07 Keep the black and white out of it.
00:49:09 Just life period.
00:49:14 You pro-life?
00:49:15 I asked you a question, are you pro-life?
00:49:27 Stop cooking people.
00:49:40 Now the text takes us to a place where there is a battle between gods.
00:49:45 Can I go deeper?
00:49:47 There is a battle between gods.
00:49:51 There is Elohim, the God of the universe, and there is Pharaoh who sees himself as God.
00:50:05 Pharaoh thought he was a god.
00:50:10 But God will remove anything and anyone who is standing in between us being reconciled
00:50:19 to him.
00:50:20 It is the most dangerous thing you can do is to get in between me and God.
00:50:33 If me and Sarah, stand up for a minute Pastor Sarah, if me and Sarah get mad at each other
00:50:38 it would be smart not to get in it.
00:50:42 Because whatever we arguing about it ain't going to last long and after a while we're
00:50:46 going to come back together and both of us are going to jump on you.
00:50:50 So yes, I'm telling you right now, I'm telling you what's going to happen, I'm telling you
00:50:54 what's going to happen right now.
00:50:56 It would be foolish for you to get in between us because the tie that binds us is bigger
00:51:02 than the argument that divided us and it's a temporary argument and it's not going to
00:51:07 last because love is going to win the fight.
00:51:10 It would be foolish to get in between me and my wife.
00:51:14 So don't come in the house and try to be a broker some kind of division between us because
00:51:22 we might be mad as fire at each other when you came in the house but before the week
00:51:27 is over, you understand?
00:51:30 Now if you think that's bad to get in between me and Cora, how you going to get in between
00:51:39 me and me?
00:51:50 Y'all understand that?
00:51:51 That's just a metaphor.
00:51:52 To get in between me and God when I was created in His likeness and created in His image,
00:51:59 if you try to get in between me and God, Pharaoh you going down bro.
00:52:04 You going down dude.
00:52:06 You going down.
00:52:07 You going down.
00:52:09 You going down.
00:52:10 You going down.
00:52:11 You going down.
00:52:12 You going down.
00:52:14 You going down because you got in the way of me and God.
00:52:18 Last Paul and Silas praying in the jailhouse at midnight, the jail was trying to stand
00:52:24 in between Paul and Silas and God.
00:52:27 God sent an earthquake, tore down the whole jail.
00:52:30 If you start crying out to God, I don't care who your oppressor is, God will defeat your
00:52:37 oppressor when you want to be connected with God.
00:52:41 Do you hear the words that are coming out of my mouth?
00:52:44 Do you hear the words that are coming out of my mouth?
00:52:47 Do you hear the words that are coming out of my mouth?
00:52:52 Woe be unto the man that's trying to stop your woman from going to church.
00:52:57 You must want to die because if you get in between that woman and her God, I don't care
00:53:02 how big you are.
00:53:03 I don't care if you work out in the gym eight days a week.
00:53:08 God will bring you down.
00:53:11 You're a Pharaoh.
00:53:14 Somebody give Him 30 seconds of praise and praise.
00:53:22 Crazy praise.
00:53:34 Crazy praise.
00:53:35 I said crazy praise.
00:53:48 I can't explain it, but He loves me.
00:53:51 I can't explain it, but He's for me.
00:53:54 I can't explain it, but He wants me.
00:53:57 He literally moved heaven and earth to be with me.
00:54:00 He came down through 42 generations to be with me.
00:54:04 He wrapped Himself in human flesh to be with me and called Himself Emmanuel, tabernacle
00:54:10 with us just so He could be with me.
00:54:12 And even though you think I'm a funny looking, out of shape, no good old man, ain't good
00:54:17 for nothing, He thinks I'm the apple of His eye, altogether lovely, full of truth and
00:54:23 glory, the head and not the tail, above and not beneath.
00:54:27 And if you get in between me and Him, He will move you out.
00:54:35 Sit down, because I'm about to get fired up.
00:54:59 And I'm not supposed to be fired up because I'm still in the opening.
00:55:03 And I ain't got no, and I know I'm not going to finish, but I do hope to get a little bit
00:55:08 further than this.
00:55:11 So I started on this hunt to try to figure out which Pharaoh is the Pharaoh that got
00:55:18 the weapon.
00:55:21 And some people said it was Ramesses II, but other theologians disagree with that.
00:55:28 Ramesses II lived from about 1300 BC to about 1213 BC.
00:55:35 He is normally called Ramesses the Great.
00:55:38 He was an Egyptian Pharaoh that stood above all other Egyptian Pharaohs.
00:55:43 He was in a class all by himself.
00:55:47 But he was the third ruler of the 19th dynasty.
00:55:52 Although thought most the third of the 18th dynasty, he is often regarded as the greatest,
00:55:59 most celebrated, and most powerful Pharaoh of the New Kingdom, which itself was the most
00:56:09 powerful period of ancient Egypt.
00:56:12 So Egypt is not just a country like it is now, it was a superpower.
00:56:20 It was, I want that to sink in, it was the superpower.
00:56:25 This is not just a bunch of men wearing funny hats.
00:56:29 This is the superpower of its era.
00:56:33 There was no Supreme Court.
00:56:37 There was no jurisdictional court.
00:56:38 There were no lawyers.
00:56:39 There were no attorneys.
00:56:41 There was nobody to plead your case.
00:56:43 Whatever Pharaoh said, that's what it was.
00:56:45 If he said cut her head off, it was off.
00:56:49 If he said boil him in oil, he was fried.
00:56:53 Pharaoh was the boss.
00:56:55 That's why he thought himself to be God.
00:56:57 There was no system in place of checks and balances that diminished his power.
00:57:07 And power corrupts.
00:57:13 And total power totally corrupts.
00:57:16 And he was in total power.
00:57:18 I was in a country, I won't name the country, but it has a king and not a democracy, not
00:57:22 a government, it has a king.
00:57:24 And the king was nice to me.
00:57:25 We had a great time.
00:57:26 But I was sitting on the plane thinking to myself, if he says I can't fly out, I can't
00:57:31 get out of here.
00:57:34 He don't need a rule.
00:57:35 He don't need a reason.
00:57:36 He's a king.
00:57:37 So you don't understand real power.
00:57:39 Real power never has to explain itself.
00:57:43 Real power just is.
00:57:46 That's why your mama said, "Because I said so."
00:57:53 Now you want to have a debate and a council meeting in the boardroom.
00:57:56 When we grew up, it was because she said so.
00:58:01 If you're staying here, that's how the sentence was started.
00:58:05 If you're going to stay in here, if you don't want to sleep out there on the snowy back
00:58:09 porch or find yourself a place to stay, I'm not advocating for it, I'm just explaining
00:58:19 it.
00:58:24 Ramesses was often considered a possible favor during this period in part due to the references
00:58:29 in the Bible to him and the development of cities assigned to the growth of Egypt of
00:58:36 which the Hebrews were building.
00:58:40 He built more.
00:58:41 He did more.
00:58:43 He had in place economic systems that survived more.
00:58:47 He had an army to be revered.
00:58:49 All of these are signs of a superpower.
00:58:52 Economic wealth, military power.
00:58:55 He had both of them simultaneously.
00:58:58 He had 600 chosen chariots.
00:59:02 That wasn't the entire fleet.
00:59:03 Those were just the chosen chariots out of the mass of fleets.
00:59:07 So he releases the 600 chariots after a bunch of farmers.
00:59:16 It's like dropping a nuclear bomb in the hood.
00:59:23 The odds are totally stacked against him.
00:59:26 And when they heard the hoof prints coming after them, they were afraid.
00:59:32 Are you hearing what I'm saying?
00:59:34 Or it could have been Akhenaten.
00:59:37 He was the 10th ruler of the 18th dynasty.
00:59:39 I don't know.
00:59:40 The theologians don't know.
00:59:41 I can't figure it out.
00:59:42 I'm not going to worry about it.
00:59:44 But Akhenaten's reign is noteworthy for another reason.
00:59:48 During this period, he was able to do some unique things.
00:59:52 Egypt's polytheistic religious system was completely removed and replaced by an unprecedented
00:59:58 turn toward monotheism.
01:00:01 So that kind of tells me that he, Akhenaten, is also being influenced by the Hebrews who
01:00:11 were monotheistic.
01:00:14 One thing affects the other thing.
01:00:17 I was teaching a master class the day before yesterday in D.C. and I told them when Jesus
01:00:23 said we are in the world but not of the world, I said imagine taking a glass Coke bottle.
01:00:28 I know they don't make it much now, but a glass Coke bottle and putting it down in a
01:00:32 pan of water.
01:00:34 The Coke is in the water but it's not of the water.
01:00:38 But it's affected by the water.
01:00:40 Because when you start boiling the water, the glass is going to eventually shatter.
01:00:46 So we are in the world but we are not of the world.
01:00:50 And if the glass shatters, now the Coke is going to affect the water because the water
01:00:54 affected the Coke.
01:00:58 So we cannot be in the world with blinders on, not noticing what's going on around us
01:01:04 because if the water boils, the glass shatters.
01:01:10 So you can't just read your Bible.
01:01:15 Because you got to keep check on the temperature of the water, even though you're not of it,
01:01:21 you're in it.
01:01:26 You're in it.
01:01:27 Are you hearing what I'm saying?
01:01:29 I can't galvanize in my own mind exactly which one it is and it really doesn't matter.
01:01:34 What is important is that Moses asked for the liberation of the Semites or Israelites
01:01:42 or Hebrews, however you want to phrase it, all points to the same thing.
01:01:46 Pharaoh's response was increased affliction.
01:01:52 Can I go deeper?
01:01:53 I want to go deeper.
01:01:54 I've been getting ready for you.
01:01:55 I've been getting ready for you.
01:01:57 I'm loaded.
01:01:58 I'm locked.
01:01:59 I'm in place.
01:02:00 I'm on fire.
01:02:01 I'm ready to go.
01:02:02 I got something to say.
01:02:06 Now Pharaoh is chasing them, trying to get them back, it would appear.
01:02:15 But I wonder if he wasn't trying to get the gross national product back because they had
01:02:22 borrowed so much economic wealth that they survived 40 years in the desert and never
01:02:29 went broke.
01:02:32 That they had enough wealth that Moses was raising an offering and had to say, "Stop!
01:02:38 I have never raised an offering."
01:02:40 Moses said, "You all giving so much, just stop."
01:02:48 There's so much wealth left with the slaves when they were leaving Egypt that they had
01:02:54 to put it on the backs of their children, generational wealth.
01:03:03 So even little Johnny had a bag of gold.
01:03:06 Mary Sue had a bag of gold.
01:03:08 Grandma had a bunch of bracelets and silver in her hand.
01:03:13 Everybody was dragging something out of Egypt.
01:03:15 And they didn't steal it.
01:03:16 The Bible says they borrowed it, but it was really due them because after 400 years of
01:03:21 not getting paid, this is what reparations look like in the book of Exodus.
01:03:26 They were dragging the wealth of 400 years of back pay.
01:03:30 I don't know who this is for, but God's about to give you back pay.
01:03:35 He's about to give you double for your trouble.
01:03:38 God's about to restore unto you the years that the canker worms and the palmer worms
01:03:43 and the locusts ate up.
01:03:44 Who am I talking to?
01:03:45 Who am I talking to in here?
01:04:03 All that stuff you did for people and they never paid you back.
01:04:07 Every time you helped somebody and they forgot you, every time you delivered somebody, encouraged
01:04:12 somebody and they stuck a knife in your back, every time they borrowed money and never paid
01:04:16 it back, you may not get it back from them, but God will send it from somewhere.
01:04:21 He'll give you houses you didn't build, vineyards you didn't go.
01:04:25 God's going to make sure you get it back because God is a just God.
01:04:30 God is a just God.
01:04:31 God ain't going to let me work that hard for you and not bless me somewhere.
01:04:36 Y'all don't hear me?
01:04:40 God is going to bless me.
01:04:42 He's going to always bless me.
01:04:44 He's always blessed me, not because I'm good, but because he's good.
01:04:52 All the blessed people, holler at your boy.
01:04:58 My God, I feel like something's about to happen in this place.
01:05:10 Something's about to happen in this place.
01:05:13 You might want to stay in Egypt, but I don't.
01:05:16 You might want to be buried in Egypt, but I don't.
01:05:19 You might think your story ends as a slave, but I don't.
01:05:22 You might think that you were just created to serve somebody else, but I don't.
01:05:26 I believe I'm going to be the head and not the tail.
01:05:29 I might start at the bottom, but I'm not going to stay at the bottom.
01:05:32 Glory to God.
01:05:33 I'm going to be like the Beverly Hillbillies.
01:05:35 I'm going to move on up.
01:05:37 Come on.
01:05:38 I'm coming up a little higher.
01:05:39 I'm loading up my trunk.
01:05:41 God's got something else for me.
01:05:43 God didn't let me die in Egypt because God has prepared a table before me in the presence
01:05:48 of my enemies, and you're going to get to watch me eat before it's over.
01:05:53 Oh, sit back and watch me.
01:05:55 Watch me.
01:05:56 Watch me.
01:05:57 Watch me.
01:05:58 Watch me.
01:05:59 Watch me.
01:06:00 Watch me.
01:06:01 Watch me.
01:06:02 Watch me.
01:06:03 Watch me.
01:06:04 Watch me.
01:06:05 Watch me.
01:06:06 Watch me.
01:06:07 I feel the Holy Ghost about to break loose in this place.
01:06:08 I feel the anointing about to have a fit in this place.
01:06:09 The glory of the Lord is about to break loose in this place.
01:06:10 You're coming into an eating season.
01:06:11 You've been through a weeping season.
01:06:12 You've been through a working season.
01:06:13 You've been through a waiting season, but now you're coming into an eating season.
01:06:14 You've been through a waiting season.
01:06:15 You've been through a waiting season.
01:06:16 You've been through a waiting season.
01:06:17 You've been through a waiting season.
01:06:18 You've been through a waiting season.
01:06:19 You've been through a waiting season.
01:06:20 You've been through a working season.
01:06:26 You've been through a waiting season.
01:06:27 You've been through a waiting season.
01:06:28 You've been through a waiting season.
01:06:29 You've been through a waiting season.
01:06:30 You've been through a waiting season.
01:06:31 You've been through a waiting season.
01:06:32 You've been through a waiting season.
01:06:33 You've been through a waiting season.
01:06:34 You've been through a waiting season.
01:06:35 You've been through a waiting season.
01:06:36 You've been through a waiting season.
01:06:37 You've been through a waiting season.
01:06:38 You've been through a waiting season.
01:06:39 You've been through a waiting season.
01:06:40 You've been through a waiting season.
01:06:41 You've been through a waiting season.
01:06:42 You've been through a waiting season.
01:06:43 You've been through a waiting season.
01:06:44 You've been through a waiting season.
01:06:45 You've been through a waiting season.
01:06:46 You've been through a waiting season.
01:06:47 You've been through a waiting season.
01:06:48 Somebody praise him for justice.
01:07:13 If you didn't get it in your first relationship, you're going to get it in your next relationship.
01:07:18 If you didn't get it in your first job, you're going to get it in your next job.
01:07:22 If you didn't get it in this city, you're going to get it in that city.
01:07:26 God has a table prepared for you.
01:07:28 He didn't wait until you sat down to set the table.
01:07:32 He set the table before you ever sat down.
01:07:36 He set the table before you ever sat down.
01:08:04 Ask 10 people and tell them he's got something for me.
01:08:07 He's got something for me.
01:08:08 He's got something.
01:08:09 He's got something for me.
01:08:10 He's got something for me.
01:08:12 He's got something for me.
01:08:13 He's got something for me.
01:08:14 Eyes have not seen, ears have not heard.
01:08:17 God's got something for me.
01:08:18 God's got something for me.
01:08:20 That's why the cancer didn't kill me.
01:08:22 That's why the car wreck didn't destroy me.
01:08:25 That's why the Pharaoh can't have me.
01:08:28 God!
01:08:29 God!
01:08:30 God!
01:08:31 God!
01:08:32 I feel the reckoning day coming.
01:08:57 I feel the reckoning day coming.
01:09:00 I feel the reckoning day coming.
01:09:02 I feel the reckoning day coming.
01:09:05 Somebody thank the Lord right where you are.
01:09:11 Touch your neighbor, touch your neighbor and tell him, "Put death on hold.
01:09:23 Put death on hold.
01:09:26 I ain't got time to die.
01:09:30 I ain't got time not until I'm carrying out everything that God has for me.
01:09:36 I cannot die until I cross this Red Sea.
01:09:41 I cannot die until I get back everything that I invested in life.
01:09:47 The devil is alive.
01:09:49 Stop planning my funeral.
01:09:52 God!
01:09:53 God!
01:09:54 God is!
01:09:55 He ain't through with me yet.
01:09:56 He isn't through.
01:09:57 He's not through with me yet.
01:10:02 Can I get a good hallelujah?
01:10:05 Can I get a good hallelujah?
01:10:08 Can I get a crazy praise of expectation in this house?
01:10:14 Make some noise if I'm preaching to you.
01:10:38 So I was reading.
01:10:50 I didn't realize that Egypt had a northern region and a southern region.
01:10:59 And the southern region was dominated by Semites, Hebrews.
01:11:04 And they were growing in power and authority.
01:11:08 And I can't understand why Pharaoh is trying to get them back.
01:11:13 Because he said, he said, "They are growing in might and power."
01:11:18 And he said, "We have to do something.
01:11:20 Let's deal wisely with them.
01:11:23 Lest they overcome us."
01:11:25 Anytime people hate you, it's because they're scared of you.
01:11:29 They're scared that you'll overcome them.
01:11:32 Oh, y'all don't hear what I'm saying.
01:11:34 I feel like preaching now.
01:11:36 You keep thinking there's something wrong with your hair.
01:11:40 There's something wrong with your dress.
01:11:42 There's something wrong with how you speak.
01:11:43 No, they're scared of you because you are growing in power.
01:11:48 And they see you growing when you don't see yourself growing.
01:11:52 Lay your hands on yourself and say, "I'm growing.
01:11:55 I'm a better woman.
01:11:57 I'm a better man.
01:11:58 I'm a bigger woman.
01:12:00 I'm a bigger man.
01:12:02 I'm a better preacher than I've ever been in my life.
01:12:06 Because I'm growing.
01:12:08 You don't have to tell me I'm growing.
01:12:11 I know when I'm growing.
01:12:13 Can I get a good witness?
01:12:16 Somebody that's been dwarfed all your life and you're starting to grow.
01:12:21 Take 10 seconds and praise God.
01:12:23 Let's see.
01:12:42 So you got one side growing rapidly because they are the seed of Abraham.
01:12:49 They're growing so fast that Pharaoh is afraid of them.
01:12:53 He's afraid of anarchy.
01:12:56 So his adamant suppression and desire to kill the baby Moses and to make it hard for them
01:13:04 by causing them to make bricks without straw is not because they are weak.
01:13:11 It's because they're strong.
01:13:17 Are you hearing what I'm saying to you?
01:13:20 So he thought, "I'm going to afflict them because I'm afraid of them."
01:13:27 Anybody who's afflicting you, anybody who's afflicting you is afraid of you.
01:13:42 The only problem was the curse didn't work because the Bible said the more they afflicted
01:13:52 them, the more they afflicted them, the more they ... No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no.
01:14:00 I don't want to talk to you folk that ain't been afflicted.
01:14:03 I want to talk to a thousand people in this room that have been afflicted.
01:14:07 Haven't you noticed the more they afflicted you?
01:14:12 The more you grew.
01:14:14 They meant it for evil, but God made it good.
01:14:18 I decree and declare a boomerang blessing in this place.
01:14:24 God is about to make a boomerang in your life.
01:14:29 I don't know who I'm talking to, but I feel a shot of victory in the middle of your dry
01:14:36 place, in the middle of your desert, in the middle of your storm.
01:14:42 Put up your mouth and holler.
01:15:01 It's coming.
01:15:02 It's coming.
01:15:03 It's coming.
01:15:04 It's coming.
01:15:05 No devil in the hell can stop it.
01:15:10 No downsizing the job can stop it.
01:15:13 When God says I'm blessed, I'm blessed.
01:15:16 I'll be blessed in the city.
01:15:18 If you throw me in the field, I'll be blessed over there.
01:15:23 If you let me in, I'll be blessed in.
01:15:27 If you put me out, I'll be blessed out.
01:15:31 Y'all don't hear me?
01:15:38 I wish I had some blessed people in this room.
01:15:42 I don't care what they put you in.
01:15:45 You turned it into a blessing.
01:15:47 Slap your neighbor and say boomerang.
01:15:51 Back at you devil.
01:15:53 Back at you devil.
01:15:54 Back at you.
01:15:56 Back at what you said.
01:15:58 Back at what you did.
01:16:00 Back at how you showed out.
01:16:03 Back at you right now.
01:16:05 I'm still blessed.
01:16:07 I'm blessed.
01:16:09 I'm blessed.
01:16:10 You threw me in the pit.
01:16:13 I still got blessed.
01:16:15 You put me in part of his house.
01:16:17 I still got blessed.
01:16:19 You threw me in jail.
01:16:22 I still got blessed.
01:16:24 Somebody shout yes.
01:16:26 [APPLAUSE]
01:16:29 [MUSIC]
01:16:39 [APPLAUSE]
01:17:03 Grab your neighbor by the hand and stand on your feet.
01:17:08 This is part one of worship in the wilderness.
01:17:31 I don't care how good they smell.
01:17:34 I don't care how nicely dressed they are.
01:17:38 The person you touched has been in a dry place.
01:17:45 They've had their wildernesses.
01:17:48 They've had their calamities.
01:17:52 They've had their altercations.
01:17:55 They've had their struggles.
01:17:57 But squeeze them by the hand and let them know,
01:18:03 I have the ministry of reconciliation.
01:18:06 I'm coming to get you out.
01:18:09 If I'm coming out, shake them real good.
01:18:14 You got to come out with me.
01:18:17 If I get blessed, you got to get blessed with me.
01:18:22 If I'm an overcomer, you got to overcome with me.
01:18:27 And I bind every devil.
01:18:30 And I bind every devil that's trying to keep you in Egypt.
01:18:36 You will not die.
01:18:38 You will not collapse.
01:18:40 You will not faint.
01:18:42 You will not give in.
01:18:45 You will not die in Egypt.
01:18:48 Shake their hand like you lost your mind.
01:18:51 You coming out today.
01:18:53 You coming out today.
01:18:56 You're coming out.
01:18:59 Out, out, out, out, out, out.
01:19:01 [VOCALIZING]
01:19:04 You're coming out today.
01:19:07 Every demon, every devil, every witch, every spell
01:19:12 has got to let you go.
01:19:14 [VOCALIZING]
01:19:19 Now break loose and praise him like you a loose man,
01:19:23 like you a loose woman, like you a loose preacher,
01:19:28 like you a loose mama, like you a loose daddy.
01:19:34 I can't hear you.
01:19:36 [VOCALIZING]
01:19:39 [MUSIC - "FREE INDEED"]
01:19:43 [VOCALIZING]
01:19:47 [VOCALIZING]
01:19:53 [VOCALIZING]
01:19:59 Oh, yeah.
01:20:03 Free indeed, free indeed, free indeed.
01:20:12 [MUSIC - "FREE INDEED"]
01:20:16 [VOCALIZING]
01:20:18 Yes, yes, claim your rights.
01:20:25 Yes, claim your privileges.
01:20:29 Yes, stand up like a grown woman and let hell know I'm not coming.
01:20:38 I will not die where I suffered.
01:20:42 I will not die in my trauma.
01:20:46 I will not die in my pain.
01:20:50 Shout yes.
01:20:52 [CHEERING]
01:20:55 [MUSIC - "FREE INDEED"]
01:21:05 [VOCALIZING]
01:21:08 Oh, yes.
01:21:13 Oh, yes.
01:21:18 Oh, yes.
01:21:20 Pastor Torrey, what I didn't get to tell him
01:21:28 is in the middle of all of this trouble and this attack, which
01:21:33 I'll pick up next week, there was
01:21:37 the greatest wealth transfer--
01:21:40 [CHEERING]
01:21:43 --in the history of the Old Testament.
01:21:55 Pharaoh was trying to get his stuff back.
01:21:58 There was a massive wealth transfer.
01:22:06 Too much for the grown people to carry.
01:22:08 The kids had to carry it.
01:22:16 Grandpa had to carry it.
01:22:19 The slaves had the goal of the masters.
01:22:23 There is no other explainable reason
01:22:30 why Pharaoh would use 600 chosen chariots
01:22:35 to get back people he was trying to get to go,
01:22:41 to get back people who he was afraid of.
01:22:44 Let's say outgrow us.
01:22:46 He should have been glad they were gone.
01:22:50 Then why was he mad?
01:22:52 It was because there was a download,
01:22:56 a supernatural download of increase
01:23:01 to establish them as a superpower.
01:23:04 I'm telling you right where you stand,
01:23:11 there's going to be a shift.
01:23:12 And you've got to put yourself in a position, in a position.
01:23:25 I don't care how much food God has
01:23:27 prepared at the table for me.
01:23:29 If I don't get in a position where I can consume what he has,
01:23:35 I'm going to shut up.
01:23:37 Yes, things are going crazy.
01:23:48 Yes, the weather is going crazy.
01:23:50 The climate is going crazy.
01:23:52 The government is going crazy.
01:23:53 Politics is going crazy.
01:23:55 Businesses are going crazy.
01:23:57 Commercial products are going crazy.
01:23:59 Industries are going through changes.
01:24:02 But the more they afflicted them, the more they grew.
01:24:09 Are you hearing what I'm saying?
01:24:11 In the middle of the craziness,
01:24:14 I haven't even got to talk about the 10 plagues yet,
01:24:17 but I'm going to talk about all the plagues that fell on Egypt
01:24:20 and all the diseases that came
01:24:22 and all the destruction and the pestilence
01:24:25 and the trouble with the animals and the boils that broke out
01:24:29 and the water turned red, polluted with blood.
01:24:33 In the middle of all of that pollution,
01:24:35 same stuff we're seeing today,
01:24:37 in the middle of all this chaos going on,
01:24:39 there was the greatest wealth transfer
01:24:42 and the greatest spiritual liberation imaginable
01:24:46 that came upon the people of God
01:24:48 because God doesn't need you to get out of trouble to bless you.
01:24:52 God is a present help in the time of trouble.
01:24:55 What I preach it to, God is!
01:25:00 God is!
01:25:04 God is!
01:25:08 The very strength of my life,
01:25:11 he's a lifter up of my head.
01:25:14 He establishes a way for me.
01:25:17 He prepares a table before me.
01:25:20 He guides me past my enemies.
01:25:24 I don't know who I'm talking to.
01:25:26 My job is to get you reconciled to God
01:25:33 and to break this mindset
01:25:38 where you want to die in Egypt,
01:25:43 in disease,
01:25:46 in disgrace,
01:25:48 in mediocrity,
01:25:50 in depression.
01:25:52 Just 'cause you ran into trouble in front of you,
01:25:55 you gonna want to go back
01:25:58 to what God just brought you out of?
01:26:02 [applause]
01:26:13 When you come back next week,
01:26:14 I'm gonna go into this deeper.
01:26:17 Somewhere in the journey,
01:26:20 it ceased to be about who they were running from
01:26:26 and who they were running to.
01:26:32 Some of us are only in church
01:26:35 because something drove us here.
01:26:41 That's not what God wants.
01:26:47 God wants the splendor of his presence
01:26:53 to be the object of your adoration.
01:26:59 Not just belonging to a group,
01:27:03 not just running from a favor,
01:27:05 an addiction, an abuse, a trauma.
01:27:11 So he drowned what they were running from
01:27:19 because he doesn't want you
01:27:21 to come into his presence as a refugee.
01:27:30 So he killed the one who made you run
01:27:37 so you could fall in love with the one
01:27:45 who gave you life.
01:27:48 And the Lord said to me,
01:27:51 when I prayed about what the vision for the church was,
01:27:53 one of the things he said to me,
01:27:55 he said, "I want you to teach and preach
01:28:00 until they have an encounter with me."
01:28:04 A real encounter.
01:28:09 A real encounter with me.
01:28:11 I know you're used to going to church
01:28:13 and you're used to doing whatever you're used to doing
01:28:16 and you're used to doing this and that.
01:28:18 God said, "I'm sick of it."
01:28:21 I want to envelop you.
01:28:23 I want to engulf you.
01:28:25 I want you to be the burning bush.
01:28:30 I want you to be the bush I set on fire.
01:28:33 I want to be in your Monday, in your Tuesday,
01:28:36 in your Wednesday, in your Thursday, in your Friday.
01:28:39 I want to engulf your decisions.
01:28:45 I want to make big moves with you.
01:28:50 I want to be the one you consult with
01:28:53 before you make your next move.
01:28:59 I don't want a bunch of church members.
01:29:05 Church is good, it's important, it's necessary.
01:29:09 But what God wants is for you to have an encounter with him
01:29:14 that explodes in your life.
01:29:20 And on the first deposit of this series,
01:29:26 the only thing he asks you right now
01:29:29 is to be hungry for him.
01:29:33 He that hungers and thirsts after righteousness
01:29:39 shall be filled.
01:29:42 He's not even talking to you about righteousness.
01:29:46 He's not talking to you about righteousness.
01:29:50 He's not talking to you about righteousness.
01:29:52 He's talking about hunger.
01:29:55 He's talking about want to.
01:30:01 He's talking about you listening at your own life.
01:30:04 Don't you hear your life send you the signals
01:30:07 that something is missing?
01:30:10 ♪♪♪
01:30:21 [BLANK_AUDIO]