Transcription
I am so amazed as you turn into first Samuel chapter 17. I'm amazed that come from across the tracks you could see a great sinner loved every bit of it. I lied. I had more funny one man could shake and you did two wings. We know that sin is fun. Jesus said it's pleasure for the wages of his death. I, I, I've always been amazed at how easily the body of Christ and ministers can be disappointed and discouraged when this Bible is like a Broadway play that the actors change. It's the longest running play ever, and we all have our character parts. We all character actors. You got to understand something about me. I am not a funny man. I'm not. When God saved me, I wasn't funny. Uh, I'm a businessman in my thinking. I really am. I, I, I, I don't just, I meditate. I think before I move on something because I promised myself that what I would start, I wouldn't be a fool and not finish. See what I'm saying? Gotta finish. That's been in my mind since I can remember as a child growing up because I saw my parents never finish nothing. I saw the church never finish nothing. Yet I saw God say, "It is finished." That really touched me in the scripture. I said, "I got to finish what I start." So before I start something, I really think about it. And I'm, let me go back because I'm so amazed at how many people get discouraged so easily when you know the end of the play, when you know the end result.
When God called me to the ministry, which I didn't want to go, I was doing good before he ever called me. I needed none of this. I ran away from this, to tell you the truth. When I got born again, I've lived in spotlights. I believe I couldn't move. If I, if I was in a nightclub, a spotlight would follow me or whatever. I, I never wanted any of this. Let you have it because there's such a great price to pay for these lights. And I'm not talking about the purchase of TV book. I'm talking about the well, the world looking at you. I mean, everything you do, even though you're behind closed doors, the door is a glass door. People see. I never wanted any of this.
Now, when God called me, he said, "I'm gonna do something unique with this boy." Call me a boy. Well, it was a boy. And I thought I wanted to be a dramatic preacher. I wanted homiletics, hermeneutics, philosophy, theology. I like E equals MC squared. That interests me. I want to know why, and I want to know how. I don't like coming and just getting my ears tickled. I don't like just having a good night and a good week. I want results. I'm result-minded. And anything that I do, I do my best. And I do not like to be patronized. My, my best may not be good enough for you, but my God, if it's my best, it's good enough for God. So I, I could care less what people say about me or call me because I don't answer to it because it isn't me. And God said, "I'm gonna do something unique to a boy who's never had this. I'm gonna give him a gift." Call humor. Did not know it was coming. It was a surprise thing. Then I realized God needed to laugh because he got some disobedient kids. The difference between a mama and a daddy is a daddy loves creating kids, but he don't like being around them. Use the truth. You can only stand so long with your family. And he said, "You gotta go see your mama, boy." You're kind of like the big lion and the pride, always kind of away from the girls. Then here come the cub. Ah, come on out of here. Go back to your mama. You've seen that commercial about the JCPenney day out, and there's this man eating in his child, throwing food at him, and he looks at the baby and says, "Where's your mama?" We don't have a patience level as much. So God birthed this into me in 1976 on in January. I believe January the 4th, I preached my first message. There's nobody. There was nobody like me. It's not fun being different because the smiles usually are birthed out of persecution. The greatest clowns have had the greatest sadness. It's much easier to be a dramatic actor than it is to be a comedian, to do comedy, because buddy, when you fall on your face with comedy, you bit the dust, you see.
And God dropped this. Gave me three gifts in my life. He gave me the gift of increase. Everything I touched prospered. Everything I do is under budget. Everything I get, I always get back. Is that arrogance? No, that's the truth. God is looking for somebody who will take the persecution of being rich. You're going to get persecuted. It's going to happen. God is looking for the person who's willing to take the persecution of a hundred-fold belief in your life. You're going to get persecuted, but you're going to get your job done because this is an economic world. He gave me the gift of joy. You can't. I didn't say you couldn't hurt my feelings. You can hurt my feelings, but you'll never know it because joy is my strength. And he gave me that gift of humor. But I wanted to be a dramatic actor. I can preach like TD Jakes. I'm a white man that can do a hoop. And the Lord said, "Huh, come on." I mean, I can flow. Job. Oh, Lord. My favorite music was Motown. Talk to me. Come on. Yeah. I was never into today. I passed you on the street.
God chooses really unique people to do unique things. I don't have a spirit of competition. Oh, and I hear somebody's blessed. I go, "Ah, glory to God." I'm not a competition with nobody. I'm incorporation with everybody. I want. I'm outside. I'm with you. You understand? I'm with you. I'm for you. Why? I, I'm an encourager. Why? Because I've been disappointed. Do you know how heavy discouragement is? So I would rather encourage you in the endeavor that God calls you to do. I want you to succeed, but beyond success, I want you to prosper. I want you to be debt-free. But you can be debt-free and broke, still living in that trailer. Not wrong with a trailer. They're wonderful, wonderful, wonderful homes, especially in hurricane country. You don't have to board up. Just hook up, take the house with you when you leave. Come on back. No, but I also want you to be debt-free and prosperous. There's a difference there. You know, there's levels to these things. So when I hear somebody's being blessed, and George Myers came down to New Orleans, and I had the opportunity to just be with her, just one day. We had, we're not eating lunch, and we're talking about the wonderful things God has done. And I rejoice. I didn't say, "Well, why don't you do that for me?" He did it for me. When he did it for her, we're on the same team. I don't have to be the quarterback. I'll just be the water boy. I would get the jacket. I want the jacket because the girls don't look at what you do. They just look at the jacket. You get that jacket, they think you something, you know what I'm saying? So I'm excited and I'm amazed at the competitive jealousy in the body of Christ and how easy you can be discouraged when this great play is in its final act and you've seen the end result. You know how it's going to end.
First Samuel chapter 17. Saul has been destroyed. And God was right before he's destroyed. He's like, you say, being prophet, king, and whatever things. And but see, God's always got a second man there. There's a or with someone that no one really wants to pick. And then I just say this little preamble before I get into this. So God sends this same Samuel guy down to a man's house named Jesse. His eldest boy looked like a king. Eliab. The boy has the body of a king, the demeanor of a king, the stature. He looks right. Looks just like Saul, doesn't he? Um, he says, "Jesse, God sent me here because out of your house will be the next king of Israel. He has chosen you." Just as excited. "Line my boys up. Line them all up." That's Eliab. "Why can't he be king? What's his problem?" "Jesse, he's got it in him. It's not exposed there, but it will be exposed. It will come out." Samuel's disappointed. Have you ever been disappointed? You knew God told you something was going to happen, and then all of a sudden, there you are in the happening, and it isn't happening. So he says, "Jesse, you got any any other kids?" "Yeah, I do. But we don't let, we don't let this boy come in the house very much." "Well, why?" "He's a musician." Uh, and he got strawberry red hair. You know, he sings. The sheep don't even know it. We don't let him come in the house very much. You don't want to see this boy. He's athletically built, but he's weird. He writes songs. He sings. These sheep, when a man loves a sheep, you know, stuff like that. Oh, can't keep his mind on nothing else. We don't let him come in the house very much. Go get him, David. Uh-huh. Your daddy wants you. You've got to be kidding me. You want me? Because he really loves his daddy, but his daddy doesn't pay that much attention to it because he's got Eliab on his mind. So here come David. "What's up, Sam? How you doing, Big E?" "Y'all went with me, Sam?" "You see him?" He says, "You don't got to be kidding me. God said, 'Get you all out. I'm gonna give him the gift of kingship today.'" And if you don't think he was something, Jesus never called himself the son of Moses. He called himself the son of David. Why? Musician? A little strange? Because you only see his outside. You don't see the quality, the tenacity, the loyalty, the ability to do these things. He anoints him. That don't change nobody's mind today because I don't care how much fresh oil you got. I don't care how many oil changes you've had. You can't become king in people's eyes. And God, you can, but in people's eyes, you gotta do something. Nobody accepted George W. Bush as president of the United States until he made that speech before the Congress, which I think is the greatest speech of any president I've ever heard in my life. And one of the commentators said this, "He won the Florida recount tonight easily." "What do you think about Osama, wanted dead or alive?" "Okay, we can figure that out. We're in hot pursuit. We will bring him the justice." Oh, the other thing, the justice will come to him or bring justice to him. He won the Florida recount. He became president of the United States right there. All the liberals said, "Okay, a unique man." Bring the head of a country called Russia and put him in your pickup truck. Unless you have a relationship with this man, not only politically, but behind the doors, he's likable, but he don't look like a president according to the world standard. Oh, but according to God, he does. Now, I'm not being political. I'm just saying that that's what's happened.
David, they say, going back to the sheep boy. "I don't care how much oil on you. You're still nothing but a strawberry red-headed singing sheep boy." But a war starts. Satan has got to fight you. He's so insane, he will fight himself. So Jesse calls him again. You don't hear Jesse talk much to David at all. He said, "Your brothers need some cheese, some bread, and, you know, I want you to bring them on down there and feed them boys." He said, "Okay, Dad. No problem. I'll go down there." So he goes. And first Samuel chapter 17, verse 1: "Now the Philistines gathered together their armies to battle, and were gathered together at Shoco, whatever that is, which belonged to Judah, and pitched between Shoco and Azekah in, now whatever that is, I don't know." Verse 2: "And Saul and the men of Israel were gathered together, and pitched by the valley of Elah, and set the battle in array against the Philistines. The Philistines stood on a mountain on the one side, and Israel stood on a mountain on the other side, and there was a valley between them." And I said, "Oh, they see two armies. God sees two kingdoms, one that serves Dagon, and the other one that serves Jehovah." Notice that Dagon always seems to have better equipment and bigger people. And I'll prove that a little bit later on. On the other side of the valley is the kingdom of Jehovah Elohim, Yahweh. But between Jehovah and Dagon is Goliath. Even the name sounds big. Goliath. Both armies are afraid. A lot of people didn't write Philistine, just afraid because they ain't crossing that valley unless Goliath go first. So they have a champion in that day and time. They had champions. So he comes out and he spouts off at the mouth. God lets us see how big his helmet, boy's head was, as big as a microwave. It's got a big head. And it says all that, and he says, and he goes on in verse 18, "After all these, then popped off at the mouth." Jesse says, "Carry these ten cheeses unto the captain of their thousand. Look there that thy brother and fare and take their pledge." Verse 19, "I, Saul, and then all the men of Israel were in the valley of Elah fighting with the Philistines." And David rose up early in the morning, left the sheep with a keeper, took and went as Jesse commanded him. And he came to the trench, so was trench warfare, as the host was going forth to the back to the fight, and shouted for the battle for Israel. And the Philistines had put the battle in array, army against army, or kingdom against kingdom. David left his carriage in the hand of the keeper of the carriage, and ran into the army. He ran and came and saluted his brethren. In other words, he's a teenager. He's been singing to sheep. Now you get to talk to some people. "What's up, guys?" Typical teenager. You don't care what's going on. Don't make no difference. I'm here. Have no fear. David's here. How y'all doing? I got some cheese for you. And as he talked with him, oh, oh, he knows how to talk. People like him. He's a good guy. He talked with him. But all that came to champion the Philistine of Gath, Goliath by name, out of the army, as the Philistine spake, according to the same words. And David heard them. So he heard Goliath flapping his jaw, just talking this trash. Hmm. And all the men of Israel, when they saw the man, fled from him and was so afraid. And the men of Israel said, "Listen, man, well, if somebody goes, I didn't take care of this guy, the king will bless him." Now, why don't the king go out there? He's a head and shoulder taller than anybody else. But see, he got enough sense to know he doesn't lost out with God. And when you're that point in your life, you don't care how many people sack you, sacrifice for your own self-preservation.
Verse 26: David speak to the men that stood by him, saying, "What shall be done to the man that kill of this Philistine and take away their reproach from Israel?" Teenagers don't do nothing unless you pale or another what I get. Now watch this. You got to understand what's coming out of this boy here is a quality that no one has ever thought of while they've been out there looking at each other eye to eye. He says this. They respect to the men that stood by him, saying, "What shall be done of this man that killeth this Philistine and take away the reproach?" So he knows it's a reproach to allow that fool to talk to us like this. For who is this uncircumcised Philistine? This is a covenant man of loyalty until Jesus quality. Quote, "I'll never leave you, forsake you." He says, "We got a problem here. This is an uncircumcised, uncommon. I don't have big ears that he should defy the armies of the Living God." Now that was a shot to Dagon because all Dagon was is a statue. People answered him. After this man said, "So shall be done to the man that killeth him." And he told him, "If you kill this guy, you get a woman." You don't tell that to a 17-year-old boy because his hormones kicked up pretty strong. He's thinking, "My God, the Lord had blessed me today. This is 100-fold. I've been believing God. Thank you. It's my day. Yes, I can't say nothing because God's gonna give it to us."
Now watch this. Why wasn't Eliab chosen right here? Eliab, his eldest brother, heard when he's faking the demand. And Eliab's anger was kindled against David. What kindled? Envy, jealousy. He saw David anointed. And he said, "Why came us down here? With whom has I left those few sheep in the wilderness? I know your pride, really, and the naughtiness of thine heart, really. How can you, in your heart so full of jealousy and enviousness and competitiveness for the Lord, come down to thy mighty see the battle?" In other words, he's saying this, "You come down here just to see us lose. If you're going to lose, it's better that most people don't see you lose." That's why you never tell people how many times you prayed for somebody that didn't get healed. That's what brother, uh, brother Dennis said. You know the outcome? Why? Because if it was any other way, we ain't saying nothing. Nobody likes that. Hang on. Now David says this, "What happened? Have I done now?" How many times Eliab has spoken to that boy about different stuff. Now, "What have I done?" Then he says, he looks at his other brother. "Is there not a cause? Wrong with you? You're looking at me when you ought to be looking at that big fool out there talking, flipping his lip. What are you looking at me for? Why am I such a threat to you? I'm your youngest brother. I really love you, but why, why are you threatened by me?" Just a problem with a lot of ministry. That's why sometimes people don't love me because they're threatened by you. You might just get one step higher than them, and it's in front of a bunch of people, and you don't want nobody to know that you're scared.
Now, you know, I could read this whole chapter, but I want to go to this, and it's a big chapter. Verse 32: David said this, "Oh, let no man's heart fail because of him. Thy servant will go and fight this Philistine." I underlined at your Bible. Go to verse 47. Underline this statement: "For the battle is the Lord's." Underline that. Okay, you got that? No. "Is there not a cause? Let no man's heart fail. I'm gonna take care of this boy. Fight? You want fight? You gonna get today." No matter what Goliath says. Verse 47: "Now, what makes him so assured? It's not his battle." How many battles are you fighting that are not God's? You ought to write that down. "For the battle is the Lord's." But go back to verse 38. I'm getting ahead of myself. Saul sees this boy. He said, "He's a punk kid, four-popping his lip. He don't know any better." He knows enough to believe. Have you come so deep that you've drowned that you forgot the very simple principles of why you are what you are, why you believe what you believe? Have you got so deep you drowned? Have you been so used to being king, you don't even realize that you're lying, disobeying, and not understanding the principles of God because you think you've arrived because you seem like you got there? Watch this. So he says, "Look, boy." He figured he's gonna die anyway. "Put on my clothes. Let me give you some armor." Look what he says. Saul armed David. Don't never let a man arm you. Saul armed David with his armor. What else can he give you? And he put a helmet of brass upon his head, and also he armed him with a coat of mail. Now, do you know what he's trying to do? He's trying to make David look exactly like Goliath. You don't need to look like your enemy to defeat him. You don't have to be tattooed from your top of your head to the feet, to the bottom of your feet, to touch people who have tattoos. No, I'm not guessing. If I'm just saying, you don't have to look like the enemy to fight the enemy. I want you to hear what I'm saying here. And this is a big problem in the body of Christ because we're all trying to look the same, and it cannot be. Why? For the this next statement. Saul armed him, put the helmet. Verse 39: David took it. He submitted to authority. Girded his sword upon his armor, and he is saved to go, for he had not, for he had not proved it. David said unto Saul, "I cannot go with these, for I have not proved them." And David put them off. Always submit to authority, but never ever submit to control. Write that down. That will help you in your Christian life. Submit to authority because authority is talking to you. But when they put something on you that does not fit, and you have not proved it, take it off because now you're submitting to control, and you're already controlled by the voice of the Spirit of God in your life. You submit to authority, but not the control. So it knows he takes him off. Why did he take him off? Tyler, this message today is, if the suit don't fit, it's not yours. Write that down. If the suit don't fit, it's not yours. I wish I could be a Kenneth Copeland, but I can't. So I never have tried. I wish I could be a Jerry Savelle, but I'm too tall. Jerry has a wonderful body in that he can walk into a store. I've seen him do it. I don't know how many times. Take a suit off a rack and fit him perfectly. Tell them, "What do you want?" They go, "No, no." He said, "No, no, you understand. You don't do the cuff. Do you know? Go to sleep. Do the cuff." And he's, "I can't do that. I mean, they got to work on me. All they got a cut. Haircut." So it costs me way more money to be dressed. I don't like paying some of the prices that I pay, but if I want this thing to fit me, it's got to be cut to me. You understand what I'm saying? That's a wonderful quality. I wish I could be like that. So I don't try to be. I wish it could be a Mark Barkley that can stick. I mean, that has that power. You know, you're safe with it. You just feel safe around Mark. You want to fight? Go ahead. Mark, pray for us. That's a wonderful feeling. Mark Barkley and Dennis Burke are a lot, in a lot of ways, because when Dennis gets mad, head starts bobbing, you better get yourself out of the way because then they're gonna knock you down. He's coming at you like that. Feel safe around that. Feel safer on that script.
Now, this boy comes to town, and nobody's expecting him to come. But the first thing he does is encourage. He don't know. This is before Goliath's popping off his mouth. David just comes in and starts encouraging people. Listen to this: "In a good cause, you must arouse enthusiasm, you must nourish courage, and you must exchange laziness for action." All right, then I'll help you in a good cause. And all of us got good causes. We call to the ministry, but we're going to have to arouse some enthusiasm. We're gonna have to nourish some courage, and we're gonna have to exchange laziness. So to get something done, because talking about it's great, but doing it is much harder than talking about it. See, you must always be. What made David a king? Listen to this. You must always be true to your own individuality. If not, you cannot be true to someone else. That's what verse 39 says. "I can't wear these. This is not me." It's all. Thank you. They're beautiful clothes, but it ain't mine. So I'm gonna just be me. But boy, you got a slingshot. And this is a, this guy you see in his head, it's big as a microwave. Well, it's a bigger target to hit. Let me say it again. You must always be true to your own individuality, or if not, you cannot be true to someone else. If you're not true to yourself, you will never be true to anyone else. You got to be who you are and be proud of who you are because you are not a duplication. Jerry Savelle is not a small Kenneth Copeland. Are you living in a dreamer? You don't know that man, and you've never heard these tapes, you've never read these books, and you ain't been in any of his meetings. Yes, he's been influenced by Kenneth Copeland. Who hasn't? Bless God. Thank God for it. We've all been influenced by Oral Roberts. But I'm not. All right. I wish I could be, but you know what? I'm glad that I know Oral Roberts. I'm glad I know Kenneth Copeland. I'm glad I know Jerry Smith. And if you get around here, oh, you find individuality like you've never seen in your life. See, you just looking at somebody else's clothes, and you want somebody else to wear somebody else's clothes. So you try to be who your people want you to be. What are you read the scripture that God has delivered you from people? You want to be a success? Walk in deliverance. You must always be true to your own individuality. If not, you cannot be true to someone else. That's what verse 39 is saying.
Many of the battles which are waged on earth are not the Lord's. I've had people say, "Just in the planet, don't seem to ever have a problem. He just seemed like he works well." Do you know I got money? I ain't hurting at all. Glory to God. Yet I've had the devil rob from me on average of almost 10 million dollars a year for the last four years. You know what's the best thing happened to me? September the 9/11. Let me tell you the best thing that's happened to Jesse Duplantis. Anthrax. I've had two thieves stealing and dumping my mail. Listen, I mean, I should sue the shoes off the United States Post Office, but they ain't got money to pay me. They're trying to hike the rate of a stamp up. We found one, put him in jail. Found another. God to get rid of him. And bless God. Well, how did they take my mail? They've caught them with my mail in their hands, looking for cash, opening up the envelopes. But you see, if there was no cash, there's a check in it. Well, you can't put it back in the system because then everybody come at home. So you throw it away. And then the person that wrote the check, we won't know because they get their bank statement. It's not in their bank statement. So you think, my God, well, evidently it didn't make my bank statement. So another month goes by. Now the trail is two months old. Finally, you call and say, "My check did not clear. We never received it." Somebody throwed it away. Now, anthrax came. People are leery of opening letters. This can be a blessing. Immediately. All thieving not. I'm averaging. This is an average of 35 to 40,000 more a day coming into my ministry. This has been going on for four years. You figure out it's about 10 million through here. And a Jeep. God said, "You're gonna send anthrax to Senator Lee, to Tom Daschle." Can you imagine the thief? You know, people don't like preachers, especially the ones that got a little money. Let's don't touch your mail. We ain't had one phone call since September. Whoever sent that anthrax, thank you. Are you going to jail, sucker? But even out of something bad, God turned around, did something. I'm talking an average of 35 to 40,000 more a day is now coming into my ministry that I have been losing. It takes a lot of money to run this ministry. I don't talk much about, but does the point is simply this. I thought, man, we did everything like should. We sue them? I thought of everything to do. In four years, I didn't hear this love message very much. I know some people that'll make you an offer you don't refuse. They like me. They owe me some favors. I didn't sin. I just told them to sin. It's just like Mark Barkley. That I don't want to use this platform for anything I do, but I do have a video score. Awesome. I just play it. Just play it. Gotta keep that sound good. Kathleen on me. She said, "That sounds good." I said, "Yeah, it does."
Many of the battles which are waged in your church or in your ministry are not the Lord's. What made David a success? He said, "The battle is the Lord's." Let me give you some. I just wrote my partners in January, and I just wrote another partner left in February. God told me, he said, "Nothing is impossible to you or for you in 2002." He said, "Jesse, the only job you got is to believe that I can do my job." He said, "That's why I said, you know what? 100-fold. People can't believe it because it's impossible." God ain't asking you to produce it. He's asking you to believe it. He's asking me to produce nothing. He just simply asking me to believe that he can do what he said. So my partner come on February says this, "How do you spell relief?" B-E-L-I-E-F. Belief. Just believe that he can. Because if he can't, we're all under. Right? If he doesn't do the impossible, you can't even do the possible. Um, so maybe your battle's been too strong, or you've been fighting something that's not God's. And he told the devil and told the whole world, he said, "The battle is the Lord's." Hmm. Now, why could he say that? Looking in the Jehovah, who's the author and finisher of his faith? In the New Testament, looking unto Jesus, who's the author and finisher of faith. He knows he can't beat this. However big this guy is, he got enough sense to know that. But he knows he don't have a covenant. He don't have agreement. And his God is a statue, and David's God is a creator.
Now, here's something else. When the king told him, he said, "I go out and fight this Philistine." How do you keep your courage level up? I just never forget past victories. Write that down. They strengthen you for future conflicts. What did David rehearse to Saul? David knew he didn't look like a king. He knew he wasn't big as Goliath. He said, "I won't tell y'all something. Don't think I've been smoking dope on the backside of this mountain with these sheep, and maybe I did a couple of times, but the Lord loved me." Who knows what David did behind that? This man was snorting cocaine on the Bible, and God was. Nobody else would teach him, so the Holy Spirit had to come down there and talk to you. You know, they wouldn't accept me neither because I was, I was a rocker like like Rain was. They said, "Oh, no, we don't want him here too long." You know, most people that say that ain't got no hair. You got envy and stripes because you ball sucker, and not by choice. Thank you. But hey, but you can fix that too. You can fix all that stuff up. So now people are criticized. If you fix yourself up, take on. Criticize if you get a face lift. Why would anybody get mad about that? You lose your teeth, you get false teeth. What's wrong with that? I mean, you don't want to walk around with people privileged. They lose their hand in your mouth. Oh, you go. No, just get some teeth. Go get some teeth. If that's what you want. If you don't want it, that's fine. Never forget past victories. They strengthen you for future conflicts. What do you saying? I'm saying this. Hey, Saul, listen to me. I had a herd of sheep to protect. My daddy beat my brains off. I lose one. You sheep don't like me much, but I love him. Let me show you some of the difference. David said he said, "Who's your father?" He said, "Remember my dad, named Jesse." Man, David, you know, he loved his father, but his father didn't talk too much. What he said, but I want to tell you something, Saul. I had a bear come out. I had a lion come out. See, now he's rehearsing his past victories. Now he figured a lion could take out Goliath. It's going to be a pretty good fight. If Goliath killed his lion and a bear. Now, bear just as big as Goliath, maybe bigger in those days and times. I don't know. He's, I'm just letting you know something. I can handle this. Have no fear. David's here. No problem. What you gonna do? I'm gonna throw a rock at it. I thought the same thing one time, sitting in a, in a pickup truck with Willie George and Kenneth Copeland in a hail storm in Oklahoma, doing a movie. I am, I'm from South Louisiana. We don't know what a hail storm is. We don't get hail storms down. Not New Orleans. Ah, nothing. Very, very seldom that would ever happen. Has to be a freak thing of nature. I'm telling you one thing. I had John Copeland walk around with a shovel on his head, and the ice beating the fire at the shovel, and he comes up and asks this wonderful, intelligent question, "Is this a rap?" Laughs. I said, "The hailstone don't hit John in the head. It got to be a rat." I'm telling you. I have not. I've never heard a hail hit a call. I get my life. Actually, bam, bam. And Brother Copeland's in the front, I'm in the back. I'm thinking, "My Lord." And as they said, there were 11 tornadoes on the ground in Oklahoma. I thought, "They got to be some devils in Oklahoma." All in the tornado. I'm sitting in this truck. I'm not ready. I'mma, hey, I've been around hurricanes. I ain't gonna sit in this truck, let something just beat my brains out. And all of a sudden, Brother Copeland got a, I don't know, he just got a revelation. He sticks his finger out that truck. He said, "Devin, I said, stop it." I said, "Stop it." I said, "I want to say, Kenneth, you're making him mad. Leave him alone." I said, "Stop it." And I felt like saying, "That goes for your cat too." Man, I wanted out of that truck. I've never been in anything like that in my life. I've been in hurricanes. Lord Jesus. You can't stand up and at hell or something. Well, he was rehearsing past victories because I heard him say one time, he told a tornado or whatever, a little twister, to get back in that cloud, and he's flying. So he's just rehearsing past victories. They strengthen you for future conflicts.
Why not? Write this down. Never leave anything undone that might glorify God. Have you left the church and you left things undone that didn't glorify God? See, what you start, you finish. Never leave things undone that might glorify God because remember, this is a Broadway play. This is drama. This is violence. This is sex. This is jealousy. This is envy. This is the play, man. And the actors change by generation. What have you left undone that could have glorified God because you thought somebody might get mad if he did? God told me to stand up, and I'll say it again. God told me to stand up for the hundredfold return message because that is what will touch this world. It will build your buildings debt-free. It will get your people out of debt. It will help you. It's impossible. I know that. So don't do it. Just believe it. It's not your ability. God isn't asking you to produce it. Let me go back to that. He's only asking you to believe that he can do his job. That's it. That's a simple thing, ain't it? I mean, that's a very, very simple thing. Yet, wonder why people struggle so much with that. But you don't. How many times? How long will you stay in line to get healed? What's the difference? You don't get healed. You don't get the manifestation. You still gonna get my healing. Well, so you saw the seed 20 years ago and hadn't come back yet. But let's God, you ain't dead yet. Come on. Let the elevator go to the top. If you do it with faith, do it with money. That is what all of you need to complete your destiny and reach your destination. You need that. If not by you, but God sends somebody to put it into your hands. Rick, that's the reason why he was worried about leaving Tulsa and partners help you, man. I get here. I don't want to lose my money, my financial base. I understand that. That's frequently understandable. You see what I'm saying? Why do people fight that so much? Well, it's not scriptural. It's in red. How many reds do you have to have to believe this? It's a metaphor. Well, bless God, get some metaphor. Lands, houses, sisters, brothers. Is that metaphors? Physical things. But here's the other part. I don't like with persecution. So you're mad at me. I'm gonna just go to the bank. You, I just go to the bank and say, "Beat me." But I'm gonna complete my destiny. Well, we don't like you. Just to the plan. Get what you don't understand. God loves me. He's seeing qualities of me. You know, he sees. Most people only see my humor. Oh, they don't know what's inside this man. They don't know. Son, oh, you have no idea. Is that arrogance? No, no. That's confidence. I had a man jump my case in Thanksgiving. "Ah, you and that Kenneth Copeland, that Jazz, the veil, and that Creflo Dollar Jr." I said, "You could tell a real mad when they start giving you the initials, not Dr. Lee Roth Thompson." "Y'all talk about that debt-free stuff. That just arrogates." I said, "Excuse me, sir. I said, let me help you here." Because I knew I'm dealing with a ball with a broke elevator. He thinks he's smarter than me. I done left this boy's intelligence years ago. I just smiled at him. Now you think that's arrogance? No, that's the truth. I said, "Sir, this is not arrogance. This is peace. Possession of adequate resource. Nothing broken, nothing missing. We're not bragging. I'm not talking about that. This is not arrogant, sir. This is peace. We go to bed in our house knowing no one can take it. You go to bed in your house, and your mattress has a mortgage on it." You come to my ministry. No devil can take it. No government can take it. We owe nobody nothing but to love it. Is that arrogance? No, no. Thank you, Jesus. Giving God the glory, knowing that we could never do it, but God in us could. In us could.
A leader, a person who is not passionately committed to the cause, will not draw much commitment from others. Are you passionately committed to the cause? God called you. David said, "Is that not a cause?" He's passionately committed to it. Yeah, but you might die. Okay, I'll come back. That was killed a lot of people, but the battle ain't over. They coming back. They're coming back in the same body that died with cancer, diabetes, tuberculosis, high blood pressure, crippling arthritis. The devil will say, "Did we kill like 1982? I'm back. You want some of me?" They're coming back. You can't kill a Christian. They come back. Jesus said in Revelation 3:15. You can go read these things. I'm doing as quick as I can. Listen to the point where the leader, a person who is not passionately committed to the cause, will not draw much attempt, much commitment from others. What is God's reaction to non-commitment? You got to find out. What would God think if I disobeyed? I mean, if you're gonna look at the picture, if you are going to disobey, you might want to figure out what he might think about it or what he might do about it. He said this, Revelation 3:15: "I know thy works. Thou art neither cold nor hot. Or whether thy will call or hot." Why? He said, "If you're lukewarm, I'll spill you out of my mouth." God will spit you. Quick. All you all to him is a big loogie. That's kind of gross, but that's the truth. They took care of that Jack because you know what it means to be cold or hot. If you was cold, is it possible? And you became lukewarm? Is it possible you were heading for hot and you stopped? Or were you just screaming hot and you start listening to people and you start getting warm? He said, "I would prefer you never to got hot or never tried to get hot. I would have preferred you to be just flat cold." And some lukewarm thing. My wife loves coffee. Women are such powerful, power thought. We were strong when it's true. I find in all the houses I've been in, you only find one, maybe two rooms that belong to the man. The rest belong to the woman. We're staying at Brother and Sister Colt's home. I guarantee you, walk into that house. He ain't gonna see nothing of Kenneth Copeland in the foyer. Gloria controls that whole house. He broke, got very little square footage. It's all Gloria. You come to my way. I'm gonna stay next year. That's a wonderful thing. You come to my house. There ain't nothing much of me. I gotta study. That's it. Everything else is gathered. You go to Jerry's house. Jerry's studies back in the back. You go to anyone's home. I've been a happy engine. Happy got to study, and he's trying to do what he wants in his study, but his wife won't let him. Is, "I just want to paint them." "No, you ain't painting nothing." Okay, okay. Totally, totally controlled by women. Completely. They got power. They're not the weakest sex. That's what they're using to make us do what they want us to do. That's why that lady said, "Teach him." How many men know what I'm talking about? You feeling romantic at night. You're in that bed. You feel like The Lion King, Mustafa.
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Concept. Watch it because the individuality says the same thing. Man, they understand. They go, "Wait, wait, wait. No, you don't understand." You say, "Hey, honey, what's up?" "Hey, let me talk to your mama." And you start reaching over there. You know, when women have such great control, they said, "Nah, let's do it tomorrow."
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Look at the ladies. I can't believe you said it because it's true.
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I'm thinking about a man's makeup. There's these little bitty lion kings. He, he can't freaking call him. Get ready.
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But not her. Tamara. Okay. And he ain't gonna sleep every two hours. He wakes up.
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That's safe. And you said, "Woman, this is the Lion King. I'm Mustafa." Man, four o'clock. Now six o'clock. How many times you reached over, turn the lamp on? What time the clock say? Just waiting for tomorrow. Tomorrow. I love you. Tomorrow.
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She gets up.
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They're the Lion King in the bed, trying to get a roar out here. Hey, girl. Then she remembers, "Oh, I gotta go to the bathroom." Okay. But then when they come out of the bathroom, they head for the coffee pot. They find little things to do, waiting on you. Don't care how ugly she is. You ain't worried about that. You're just thinking, "Tomorrow is today."
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Ladies, I'm trying to help you. So fine. You're going. Hey, she's obvious. Something. She comes back out. You thinking, "Talk to me, Mama. You got your mane out. You're looking like some bad boy." She gets right close to me. "Oh, I forgot something." "Excuse me." "Oh, I forgot." "Wait, wait. I can't. My breath." "Wait just a minute."
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And you think I don't care. You got sewage on your teeth. Come here. Then you think she goes, "Oh, no, no. Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait."
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By that time, you mean.
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You wanting to be tossing.
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Finally, she comes. Okay. And you got to go through coffee, toothpaste, mouthwash. You think, "Lord Jesus, this is a whole buffet of bathroom stuff." I can't believe I did this. I can't. Here's the point.
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Hang on. Here's the point. Here's the point. Here's the point. There are no accidents with God. Know exactly where I'm at. And none with those who commit their way unto him. You might think I'm an accident. Your people may think you're an accident. But you people may think, bless God, you're not called to preach. You're just an accident going somewhere to take place. No, no, no, no, no. Because see, you're judging from the outside. You don't know what's happening on the inside. There are no accidents with God, and none with those who commit their ways unto him. How do you know that? Proverbs 3:13. Happy is the man that findeth wisdom, and the man that getteth understanding. Happy.
You seen me sad lately? Have you ever saw me sad? I found wisdom. I know what to do. I can build buildings like this, debt-free, on the budget. I can do it. I've done it. I can do it again. Arrogance? No, no, no, no, no, no. You got anything to do with arrogance? Confidence. I said, but you've got to be willing to do some things you never thought you would do. You got to be willing to step off in the concrete when it's wet. You got to be willing to grab a shovel with the guys that are spreading concrete. You got to be willing to let them see that character. You got to arouse that enthusiasm. You got to nourish that courage. And all of a sudden, they're building God's house. And they go, "My God, man, if the owner," because they call you the owner, even though you're not, "they said, 'Only if the guy's willing to step over the concrete, if he's willing, my God, to help these sheetrock or do some drywall, man, that's a good God. I'm gonna do the best I can for him.'" Are you willing to do that? Or have you arrived and you can't? And then you pay over your budget and your contractor cons you.
God never calls us to do something silently. Write that down. Let me hurry. I, I don't want to go into your lunch time. Can I finish this real quick with a couple? I went a little okay. God never calls us to do something silently. He calls us by voice. Samuel, Sam, Sam. What? See, have you heard the voice of God? Or have you heard someone else talking about hearing the voice of God? I believe Oral Roberts heard the voice of God when God said, "I want you will take healing to your generation." He did. Don't tell me this man can't just go to tell us. And look, don't be stupid. Go look. Go look at The Prayer Tower. Go look at the probably a billion dollars worth of assets, if not maybe more. I don't know. Look what faith can build. Now, you see, you can't just, you don't do that on someone else's revelation. Jerry could never have built what he's done for his ministry, only on Brother Copeland's revelation. Ah, God had to call him. Yes, we use those revelations, everyone. But my God, man, you better hear this voice, or you will not complete your destiny or reach your destination.
In the Old Testament, God seemed to work in three voices: The Burning Heart, the Burning Bush, the Burning House. It seems like in the Old Testament. What is the Burning Heart? David said to Saul, "Let no man's heart fail because of him. Thy servant would go and fight with this Philistine." That's a Burning Heart. There's nothing like the heart of a volunteer. God, man, you got somebody volunteer because they're not asked to. In World War II, we were attacked so ferociously by the Japanese. And when men were dying in oil and grease and Pearl Harbor and Hawaii, and FDR, which I was not born then, I was born in 1949, it happened in 1941, December 7th. I remember my grandpa talking about that. I remember my daddy. Oh, it was a terrible time. Then I would experience it in my lifetime on September the 11th, when I was sick. Men and women die. What? And I don't mean that they negate what happened in World War II, but at least in World War II, it was military. But in 9/11, it was civilian. But see, our lives of life, whether it's military or not, life's life. I remember hearing and seeing it. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt said, "All we had, we have nothing to fear but," I believe he said that, "fear itself." It was a terrible time. But something had to happen to Japan. They wiped out our Pacific Fleet. But what they did not understand why America is what it is, because the exact same happened in 1941 that has happened in September 11th. It woke up America. You attack one of us, you attack us all. Why? Because we are family. We are. We don't like it. Even if somebody attacks a preacher, we don't like. We may disagree with them, but if they get too hard on, wait a minute, wait a minute. That's for us to do. No, not for them or you to do. That's for God. That's God's business. So what happens? You wake up a nation. And a man came up to FDR and says, "We may die doing this, and it may not seem much in the oracles of history, and it may be like a needle stuck into a haystack." And his name was Lieutenant Colonel Doolittle. "I will fly a bomber if you can get me close enough to the shores of Japan. I won't have enough to come back. I better learn some Chinese. But it will be a pinprick that will bust right through the very heart of Japan that they are touchable." Colonel Doolittle did that. And yet, in his life, he was awarded the Medal of Honor. Yet he felt he had failed. But he didn't. He drove a sword into Japan. And he died. And his statement came from his lips, "Man, we may die." Learn these statements. And he gave him some Chinese statement. He says, "Because we don't have them, we will not have maybe to get back." And then the Japanese seized the ship, and they have to fly out 200 miles before they get to the point of it. Now they know they're not getting back. But you know what he said? And this is great. Great men say great things. There's nothing like the heart of a volunteer, because he's not doing it for himself. He is doing it for the cause. And brother, Japan knew that a sleeping giant had been lifted. That's a Burning Heart.
The Burning Bush. God will use a surprise approach to get someone's attention because you're not listening. God couldn't get Moses' attention. He was satisfied. But thank God she until a bush started burning. "I would turn and see this great sight." See, that's a voice. God sometimes uses surprise approaches to get your attention. And the Burning House. A whole nation is going down because of a devilish person. But a little girl named Esther and an uncle says, "You cannot. You must reveal who you are." Let me ask you, pastors, have you revealed who you are? Have you revealed who you are to your church? Are you willing to take that protection off and say, "You may kill me, you may shoot me, you may hurt me, but this is who I am." That's what Esther did. What are you saying? The burning house. Never can see who you really are. Revealed identity will make you a legendary leader in your lifetime. Are you willing, for lack of a better term, to become naked before man and say, "This is who I am"? Oh, that's a great quality. If you're gonna be a king. That's a voice saying a burning call, a burning bush, a burning house. Because if you don't, you're going to lose the whole nation. How could you ever hate a Jew when we serve at you? Jesus always Jewish, yet always Christ.
Let me say this in closing. The power of influence will outlast a person's physical lifetime when committed energy is there. Elisha received so much committed energy from Elijah that he raised someone from the dead when he was dead. The influence of Elijah was on Elisha years after Elijah had been taken away. Is your will, your influence, go beyond your lifetime? I know Dr. Robertson's will. I know Sister Evelyn's will. I know Kendall. I know John. And I know you always will too. How do you know that? Because the first shall be last, and the last shall be first. Do you understand what that means? That when we stand in this great bar of judgment called the Judgment Seat, which is the name of the platform, not a place where God beats your brains out and angels clap wings and clap hands because of the work you've done. And you think, "Oh, I've already done just pastored 50 people." Oh, but how many people can say they brought 50 people to heaven? They babied them, they changed their diapers, they've helped them in adolescence, and they brought them to full maturity and grown age. Influence will outlast a person's physical lifetime. Why is that? Everything in life is forming a purpose. Never be anxious to invent your own ways. I'm not a counselor. I don't counsel. I now have built a place. I don't even pastor this church. And you know what? I've had species just, "I won't come preach. I'm going to let that pastor make that decision because I respect this call and his gift." Even though he works for me, I respect him because I don't know how to counsel. I got a three-point way of counseling: Can you counsel with me? Admit it. Quit it. Forget it. Get out of here. I had a friend of mine tell me that just blessed. Admit it. Quit it. Forget it. Go on. That works for me. But you know that does not work for you. Don't criticize me if I believe and admit it, quit it, forget it, get out of here. Don't criticize me. I don't have your gift. I don't need to. You are my gift. I am your strength. You are my strength. We're painting. If you take pieces of it out, it's incomplete. So I don't have that gift. I just tell people, admit it, quit it, forget it, get on out of here. But Pastor David, Lord Jesus, come here, sweetheart. Man is my gift that God has given me that helped me. Because you see, never focus on your strengths. Focus on your weaknesses. Because your greatest weaknesses will stop your greatest desires. Not now, but the day will come when you'll quit looking at yourself and start looking at where God really wanted you to be. And all of a sudden, I want to build a house of God. And David's greatest weaknesses stop his greatest desire. "I'll be your house." God can't do it. You're a woman chaser. You murdered a man. Got it in my heart. My heart. I know. But you can't do that. Oh, sis, I want to go over. I just want to eat one of them grapes. Can Moses? You wasn't delivered from your people. Let me say this. Most of us want to sit next to Jesus at the banquet, but nobody wants to help him clean out the basement. It all starts in the basement. It starts in the basement. You will get to the table, but you got to start in the basement. Why? I don't know. It's just simply His plan. Because you see, if you start at the table, you're going to embarrass God and embarrass yourself. What are you saying? Most of us want to sit next to Jesus at that banquet. Oh, God, I, I see the works of Kenneth Copeland, of a Dr. Roberts. I'm amazed. I just said, "Lord, but you know what? They're my gifts." Let me shock you. You know who built a war? Me. You. Dr. Roberts. Why? Because we're family. When my brother won a fight, I want to fight. And I didn't even know the guy. I fought. But everyone knew that my brother Wayne whipped that boy. And that's Wayne's brother, Jesse. I want to. Yeah. If the suit don't fit, it's not yours. Take it off. Don't be rude. Say, "I have not proved." This Goliath was slow, but David was fast.
One more thing. Not close. Let me pick up my toothbrush and all this stuff. Yeah. Thank you, Lord. I have to say, uh, I never had the honor of meeting Dr. Lester Sumrall. He died before I met him. That's just a little private job. He called me on the phone and he says, "Just to do plans." I'm blessed to Sumrall. I said, "Yes, sir." "I have not met you." I said, "Yes, sir." He said, "I want you to do something." I said, "Well, I'll pray about it." He's already prayed. I was okay. He said, "I want you to preach my next camp meeting." You understand? I said, "When's the dates?" He said, "Does it matter?" I asked you, "Well, think about it for a minute. The President of the United States called you. You had something to do. Does it matter?" No. Commander-in-Chief's calling, man. Let's go. What would you do if a war started and they draft you? Go? No, no, you don't understand. I'm scheduled. Yeah, forget that. He said, "I want you here next year. You've got a unique anointing. You have blessed me greatly. You make me laugh." Huh? Okay. Thank God. I said, "Yes, sir. I will be there." Gave me the date. Thank God. I didn't have to reschedule anybody. I had that was able to work that in. But he went home to be with the Lord before I got there. And so I never personally met Dr. Lester Sumrall, but I did preach his camp meeting. And his influence is just all over the place. He's still there. You will never get rid of me. Never. I will always be there. Isn't that wonderful? People. But he said this to a good friend of mine, Walter Hallam. I always have been preaching Thanksgiving camp meeting for Walter. Oh, good. I don't know how many years. How was the Tuesday night? And Dr. Sumrall looked at Walter Hallam and said, "This. Take me to the office now." Walter said, "Yes, sir." Take him back on me. Walking with him. He said, "I'm going to tell you how to do big things for God. Do you understand me?" Well, to say, "Yes, sir. Tell me." The office. Oh, man. He took Brother Sumrall to the office. Saturday night. Says, "Sit down." "Hey, talk rough." "Sit down." Walter said, "I got my pad." Yes. He said, "Man, I'm thinking." "Praise God, man. I'm, I'm gonna get me some revelation here." He said, "Are you ready to hear how to do big things for God?" Walter said, "Yes." He said, "Don't say 'in'." "Now take me to the hotel." [Applause] Now, is that Lester Sumrall? You knew it. And then a minister asked me the other day, "Well, just say, 'Hi, do things.'" "Hi, do big things for God." I said, "Take me to your office." He said, "I don't have an office." I said, "And I told him that story." I said, "But let me add, let me Jesse rise this if I can give you." Because he said, "If I just tell you what somebody else did, I can't just give you the gospel. I have to give you myself." That's the book of Thessalonians. Paul said, "Not only did I come to give you the gospel, but I gave you my own soul." You won't. You got to give some. You got to give your individuality to that person so they understand why you believe what you believe. And I said, "You want to be successful?" Yeah. I said, "Ministers should never have a past." Never. When you step behind that holy place and that office of that executive branch of God's government, the Apostle, Prophet, Evangelist, Pastor, Teacher, when God calls you, many are called, few are chosen. When you step in there, remember this: Never have a past. If you mess up, ought to forgive you. That's the love of God. Well, it's wonderful. But God got to forget it. But let him tell you something about people. They will forgive you, but they will not forget it. That's right. So don't have a past. That's the Sumrall. Don't fit. That's what he was saying. Well, since I stepped in that pulpit and God called me, I don't have a past. And I've kept that because I will. And I know when people say thank you, but a man think he's standing unless they fall. I know all that. But you see, I also know what lives in me. And I also know, not believe, know that my spirit is stronger than this aggravating flesh. I know that I am believing that. I know that. Don't have a past. If you have one, you will walk with a limp all your life. But you still Jacob. The God of different personalities. The God of an Abraham. When you want to be an Abraham, man of faith. The God of an Isaac. Little timid. If it ain't broke, don't fix it. Well, it don't push the thing. That's Isaac. The fear of Isaac. The God of Jacob. Wheel a dealer. He was heaven. Hey, I want that woman. Yeah, okay. Hey, do this. But he's still there. God. The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. You can go preach on that. The God of different personalities. So you got to understand a lot of people out there like that. But Jacob didn't live as long as his grandpa. Jacob did not live as long as his daddy. You know why? It had a past. Don't have a past. When temptation comes your way, well, think of Mark Barkley's message. Whatever that may be. Money. Women. I don't know. Whatever tempts you. No. Why? That suit don't fit. That's not my suit. Satan. Give Jesus a hand clap. [Applause]