Transcription
[Music] You can get your Bibles to go to Mark 5:2-20. I'm not sure whether this is a result of the age and stage I'm in, or whether it is the level of maturity that comes in my thinking, or whether it is a result of the healing of how I see myself. But I am sure that I have come to a point in my life that I don't like to do anything just to be doing something, just being busy for the sake of being busy. When I get ready to do something, I want it to count. I don't want to go anywhere and come back the same. If it's not going to add to me, if it's not going to do something for me, if I'm not going to learn something, if I'm not going to be inspired in some way, I just don't want to do it. Anybody else feel like that?
Well, jump up on your feet and go to Mark 5:2-20, and we're going to talk about, "Don't Leave Like You Came." Don't leave like you came. It's quite a few verses of scripture. Some of y'all haven't read this much Bible since you was five. But the reason I'm reading the entirety of the story is that I have learned not to assume that the audience knows the text, because we have a diversity of people on different spiritual levels and different biblical levels and different theological levels. It requires of me the patience to make sure that I leave no one behind in the process of unloading the text. And so, indulge me just a moment when I begin to break into this text, which comes behind the backdrop of Jesus having survived, uh, the tempestuous winds that threatened the safety of his arrival.
When he says to his disciples, "Let us cross over to the other side," he goes on this journey. And oddly enough, not so much to enter into the city or establish a church. In fact, he is going into a very unchurched region. He is not even going into a Jewish region. He's going into a Gentile region, a polytheistic region of people who do not even embrace the fundamentals of Jesus' spiritual heritage. And still, he goes. We're living in a world today that church people only want to go where church people are. They only want to go with people who agree with them. Jesus goes into an area, a territory in which he is not related ethnically, nor theologically, intellectually. And still, he goes. And he goes through the adversity of a storm that threatened to destroy him, and still, he goes. The winds were boisterous, the waves were intimidating, and even the experience of Peter's, as a, as a ship's guide, was threatened by the perilous sea. Peter goes down into the bottom of the ship and threatens Jesus with the, threatens Jesus' character by saying, "Careth thou not that we perish?" Jesus wakes up and calms the sea and the waves, and still, he goes.
The boat has just docked at his destination when this text begins. And it explains the why, whereas the previous chapter only the what. Understanding the why of a thing is very important as opposed to the what. All people who love to gossip and love to subscribe to those who gossip operate in a realm of the what. People did and lacked the intelligence to think for a moment why they did it. So, there are people who make a living talking about what other people did, generally to deflect what they are doing. Because if I can deflect you from looking at me by talking about other people, then perhaps you will not notice that what I am talking about, I am also guilty of. You have to have a certain level of intellectualism to be not learning enough, but curious enough to ask why. It's the first thing a two-year-old asks you. "Daddy, why is it day?" "Because the sun has come up." "Why did the sun come up?" "You know, because the earth rotates." "Why does the earth rotate?" It is the early stages of intellectualism. It is irritating, but it is necessary. In the previous chapter, we see what happened. In this text, we see why. Why is Jesus so motivated to go where he is likely to be rejected? I don't like to be rejected. If I think you're gonna reject me, I won't even ask the question. Jesus intentionally goes where the amens don't come easily. And he goes with the purpose, not for a crowd, but for a person. I'm getting ready to go teach a leadership question, a conference. And in leadership today, we are so preoccupied with crowds that we ignore people. Now, that's an oxymoronic statement, but it is still quite profound and quite true. I have learned that if you become a lover of people, you will draw crowds. But you cannot draw crowds if you don't love people, because you only attract what you love. I'll say that when for Charlotte.
"Come to Charlotte. And when he was come out of the ship, immediately there met him out of the tombs not a corpse, but a man with an unclean spirit, who had his dwelling amongst the tombs. And no man could bind him, no, not with chains, because that he had been often bound with fetters and chains, and the chains had been plucked asunder by him, and the fetters broken in pieces. Neither could any man tame him. And always, night and day, he was in the mountains and in the tombs, crying and cutting himself with stones. But when he saw Jesus, good condomers, but when he saw Jesus afar off, he ran and worshipped him, and cried with a loud voice, and said, 'What have I to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of the most high God? I adjure thee by God, that thou torment me not.' For he said unto him, 'Come out of the man, thou unclean spirit.' Jesus came all the way over here to get in trouble. And he asked him, 'What is thy name?' And he answered, saying, 'My name is Legion, for we are many.' And he besought him much that he would not send them away out of the country. Now there was there nigh unto the mountains a great herd of swine feeding. This is how you know you are in a Gentile area, because it would have been a herd of sheep. Jews don't raise swine. And all the devils beside him saying, 'Send us into the swine, that we may enter into them.' We're not picky. We'll possess a man, we'll possess a swine. And for which Jesus gave them leave."
Do you know that we are listening at spirits talk? We're listening at a conversation between good and evil, between right and wrong. We are listening at what we cannot hear with our own ears, but through the graciousness of Mark, he has now allowed us to eavesdrop on one spirit talking to the spirit. And for if Jesus came, then gave them leave, and the unclean spirits went out and entered into the swine. And the herd ran violently down the steep place into the sea, the sea he had just gotten away from. They ran into, they were about 2,000, and were choked to death in the sea. And they that fed the swine fled. I don't blame them. I'm out of here. What is going on here? And told it in the city and in the country. They told everybody, and they went out to see what it was that was done. And they came to Jesus, and see him that was possessed with the devil, and the guy who was possessed with the devil and had been raising all his ruckus was sitting up like, "Yo, what's up?" Clothed and in his right mind. And his deliverance scared them to death. Do you know that your deliverance scares them to death? Scares people to death, because people are cool with you being bound. It's loose that they are afraid of. And they that saw it told them how it befell to him that was possessed with the devil, and also concerning the swine. And they began to pray him, "Get out of here." I thought they was going to ask him to stay. They asked Jesus to depart out of their coasts. Go away.
And when he was coming to the ship, he that had been possessed with the devil prayed him, "Don't leave me here. I want to go with you." That's how you feel when somebody touches your life in an amazing way, and you're afraid that it will only last as long as they are there. And he says, "I want to go with you." Howbeit, Jesus suffered him not, but saith unto him, "Go home to thy friends, and tell them how great things the Lord have done for thee, and have had compassion on thee." And he departed, and began to publish in Decapolis how great things Jesus had done for him. And all men did marvel. And he did it all for one man. If he did it for that one man, won't he do it for you? I said, won't he do it for you? Look at somebody, say, "Don't leave like you came."
Father God, in the name of Jesus, sanction this word in the hearts of your people. I thank you for what you're about to do. Have your way in the midst of your people, great God that you are. I believe you for miracles. I believe you for deliverance. I believe you for healing. I believe you for restoration. I believe you for renewal. I believe you for transformation. I believe you for change. I believe you that we will not leave like we came. In Jesus' name, amen. You may be seated. Get comfortable. Let's talk about this. We are triune beings. Yes, we are. Thereby complex and complicated. There are different aspects and ideologies within one individual. We are triune beings. We are spiritual beings. We are spiritual beings. Listen carefully. We are spiritual beings. We are not physical beings. We are spiritual beings. We have a soul, a mind, a memory, emotions, soul, and we live in a body. I'll say that again. We are spirit. We have soul. We live in a body. Say it with me: We are spiritual. We have a soul. We live in a body. That's why Paul says, "If this earthly house of tabernacle shall be dissolved, I have another building." In other words, death is only moving. Death is not the cessation of life. It is the moving from one house into the next. I am not my body. I live in my body. My mother, when she was dying, was talking to me. She said, "Baby," she said, "the only thing got old on me was my body." The body is cursed to withering like figs, leaves on a tree. Though my outward man perishes, my inward man is renewed day by day. So don't let the box fool you. There is a vibrant, thinking, functioning, full of life individual in the most old, frail person you ever meet. So stop treating old people like they're not people. We are one of the few cultures that glorify youth and ignore age. In most cultures, they glorify age because of the wisdom it should accumulate.
Much of our being is like a department store, in the sense a store can have many departments and still be one store. And it is possible to buy some unique product from one department and then go to another department with that same item and get another item and still run it through the cash register. And each, even though each one came from a different department, it's still one store. You can check out in the paint department, though you started in housewares. Okay, now that is simple about the department store, but complex about people. You can check out in your body with an ailment that's coming from your spirit. You can have something that attacks your soul, man, and manifests in hypertension. Your body, sometimes there's nothing wrong with your body. It's coming out of your spirit and out of your soul. Because of that intersectionality, it is easy to misdiagnose a problem as a body problem. It can actually be a soul problem, but manifest in the body. The text before us deals with all three. And I want you to understand, because of our intersectionality, one thing affects the other. Have you ever been so worried you couldn't sleep? I have. And there's nothing wrong in my body, and I can't take a sleep aid and go to sleep, because the sleep aid is designed to help the body. But what's keeping me up is in my head. So all the sleep aid does is make you miserable, because it's treating your body, but the problem is manifested in my body, but I got it in the other department. The problem in the text, they've been trying to fix a spiritual problem with physical restraints, and it has not worked. His problem is affecting his body, but it is not his body. Yet, the text is diagnosed in the opening phrase that says, "There came to him a man with an unclean spirit." How do you chain a spirit? They have chained his body through their misdiagnosis. But the reality is, there's something wrong with his spirit. They've been misdiagnosing him for a while. My father, for instance, died of renal failure, but he actually died from misdiagnosis. It took them so long to find out what was really wrong with him that his chances of being healed in his kidneys began to diminish until his kidneys died while they were searching in the wrong place. They were treating his symptoms, but no one was treating the root causes. I wonder, are we treating symptoms and not causes? Are we treating what's and not why's? Are we praying to be better in our symptoms or cured at our root? Let's talk about this. Can we talk about this? Many overweight people, for example, are being treated with diets. When in fact, it may not be what you're eating that's making you fat. It could be what's eating at you. And the eating is only a symptom. And when you treat symptoms, they always come back. Oh, that was worth coming to church for right there. You've got to get beneath the symptoms that are bothering you and get down to the cause. And you can't cure what you misdiagnosed.
Now, in order to receive this word in a personal way, you have to be open to the fact that you could be wrong about somebody you don't like. You could misdiagnose them as not being honorable or trustworthy because you are looking at what they did and not why they did it. And you might make them act the way they act because you are dominating and intimidating. And you say it's them that's wrong, but you're treating symptoms and not causes. The common theme in the text is four instances of being sent away. I'm just opening up. I haven't got to the text yet. I'm just talking around it. They sent the demonic man away from the village in the first place. They sent him away. Jesus sent the demons away. The villagers sent Jesus away. Jesus, after he had healed the man, sent the man away. And everybody in the text is being sent away. And God is getting ready to send you away. When we step into the text, he is now homeless. Homeless. And later in the text, we will find out Jesus tells him to go home with his friends. If you have friends, how did you end up homeless? The man is living in the tombs. In the tombs, mind you, with friends. The truth of the matter is, even friends get tired. Are there any tired friends in here? And you've done everything you could think of to do to help a person become who they're trying to become. And eventually, sooner or later, you give up because you find out that there is nothing in your inventory that can successfully make them better. And it's called compassion fatigue. Be careful that you don't wear people out always bringing them your problems and never bringing them a blessing. Always bringing them your troubles. It's always you, you, you, you, you. Because even love gets tired. Even love needs a day off. Even love needs a break. Even the most giving person in the world needs reciprocity. Don't ever let anybody out-give you. Out-love you. I'll bless you. I'll sow you. Because eventually, they'll get tired of you and send you away.
The man is dwelling amongst the tombs, the place where we relinquish what we loved. Graveyards, cemeteries, the place where we relinquish what we loved. And though he is not dead yet, they have sent him to the cemetery where we relinquish what we love. And they have sent him there alive, but to die. If you send me to the cemetery chained, you want me to die. It's one thing to send me to the cemetery loose. At least I could scavenge around and get some food. But if you send me to the cemetery and tie me up, you are just waiting on me to become what I am around. And eventually, if you get around something long enough, you become it. He's not dead yet. Oh, my God. Somebody shout, "I'm not dead yet." Yeah, don't be so quick to talk about, "Can I have your car? Can I have your washing machine? Can I have your..." All they gotta do is find out you're sick. Now, eventually, they'll come around, start asking you for stuff. And tell them, "I'm not dead yet." There are some people that are just waiting on you to keel over so that they can get what you got. They're already picking out stuff that they're going to have. There are some people that are just waiting on you to collapse. They're already making inroads to take over your influence, your family, your business, your husband, your wife. They just waiting on you to find it. But type on the line, "I'm not dead yet." Don't count me out. I may be sick. I may be crazy. I may be confused. I may be tormented. I may be in trouble. But I'm not dead yet. I came this morning to tell the devil, "I'm not dead yet." Don't rule me out yet. There's still another miracle. There's still another power. There's still another deliverance working down inside of me. Somebody shout at me, "I'm not dead yet!"
[Applause]
The cemetery is a place of memories and mourning. It is a place of memories and mourning. And that's exactly what he was tormented with, his memories and mourning. It is a place where we visit and not where we live. And Jesus comes to rescue him. In fact, he comes to rescue us from living amongst what should be buried. It is one thing to visit the cemetery. It is another thing to live there. I want to dig into that for a moment. All of us visit the cemetery sometime. We go down in the graveyard and think about things, and things that we buried, and things that we lost, and things that didn't work out. That's normal. It's a human proclivity to rehearse your past. Helps you to have wisdom for your future. It's one thing to visit the graveyard. It's another thing to live there. Some people live in the cemetery of their failures and their mistakes and their areas and their problems. And once you start living in the tombs, it's a sign that you are completely dysfunctional. I can relate to you because I visited my graveyard, but I never stayed in one. It's one thing to get a pillow and a mattress and start living in a graveyard. Don't start living amongst dead things. Have you ever had somebody that brought up stuff you did 10 years ago, 12 years ago, 15 years ago? You moved on with your life, and they're still talking about what you did 15 years ago. They are living in the cemetery. They got a pillow and a mattress amongst corpses. They are living in a dead place because they are tormented by a... Only a spirit can see a cemetery as a castle. Only a spirit will try to handcuff you to your past and leave you stuck in your memories and bound by your mourning and cause you to succumb in death and wait on it to kill you. Because if you stay around dead things long enough, you will become like your friends. If you hang out with the dead, you will become dead. That's why the angel told Mary when she came to the cemetery, "Why seek ye the living amongst the dead?" Jesus visited the grave, but he didn't stay there. He arose without power in his hand. Can I get a witness in this place?
[Applause]
Don't look for me in the grave. I might have been in the grave when you saw me, but don't expect me to stay there. You met me on Friday, but wait till Sunday morning. I'm getting back up again with all power and authority in my hand. And I want to say to somebody who's fallen or collapsed or lost your house or entered into a scandal or everybody hates you and everybody walked away from you, don't live where they left you. Oh, you ought to shout me down. Don't live where your husband left you. Don't live where your boss left you. Don't live where the haters left you. You might visit there, but don't live there. Let somebody tell them, "I will not die here. I've been here, but I'm not going to die here. I visited it here, but I'm not gonna die here. I will not die on drugs. I will not die in depression. I will not die in fear." Whatever it takes to get me out of there, if I have to pray, take medicine, get therapy, go jogging, stand on a mountaintop, whatever it takes for me to get out, I got to get out of here because this don't look like a house to me. This does not look like it was designed for me. I will not die where you met me. I will not die where you met me. I will not die where you left me. Don't chain me to this. Don't tie me to this. Don't hold me to this. Don't lock me up to how you met me.
[Applause]
Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Nudge a couple of people and tell them, "I'm coming out of this. I'm coming out. I'm coming out. I'm coming out. I'm coming out. I'm coming out. I'm coming out. I'm coming out. I'm coming out. I'm coming out. I'm coming out." Typing on the line, "I'm coming out. I'm coming out. I'm coming out. I'm coming out of debt. I'm coming out of poverty. I'm coming out of depression. I'm coming out of despair. I'm coming out of this grace. I'm coming out of dysfunction. I'm coming out. If I got to crawl out, I'm coming out. If I got to roll out, I'm coming out. If I got to dip in the Jordan, I'm coming out. I'm coming out." Somebody's shouting, "I'm coming out!"
[Applause]
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. I feel something mounting in the room. I feel something building in the room. I feel something flowing in the room. Somebody's already getting a breakthrough in this room. You've been in a funk. You've been in a despair. You've been in a dark place. You've been in isolation. It's affected you. It's affected your mood and your emotion. But the devil is a liar. I refuse to be locked up while other people are driving down the highway. I refuse to be shut up in a closet while other people are at the bowling alley living their lives like it's golden. The devil is a liar. You got to get your life back. Come out of the graveyard. I came here this Sunday morning to call you out the graveyard. I don't know who I'm talking to. Come out. Come out wherever you are. Somebody give him 10 seconds of crazy praise.
[Applause]
[Music]
I'm coming out. I'm coming out. I know you need me to stay in here, but I'm coming out. I know you are comfortable with me living in here, but I'm coming out. I know you don't want me to be walking out free, but I'm coming out. I'm coming out. If I'm dragging my leg, I'm coming out. If it can't be glamorous, I'm coming out. If I'm not dressed right, I'm coming out. Even while you're talking about it, talk about me all you want to, but I'm coming out. You will not talk me into staying in my house, living beneath my promise, living beneath my dreams. I'll fight my way out. I'll be scared and come out. I'll be nervous and come out. I'll be shaking and coming out, but I will not stay with the dead. I don't know who I'm preaching to, but God is calling you out. You're in a place, but God is calling you to a new dimension. God is raising you up out of that situation, and it's time for you to break some chains. I feel a chain-breaking anointing about to hit this place. I feel a chain-breaking anointing about to hit this place. Hallelujah. Type it on the line. Cocaine will break. Crack will break. Cocaine will break. Meth will break. Alcohol will break. Whatever's got your bowel, it's going to break this morning. Somebody start praising for a breakthrough.
[Applause]
Can I teach this thing this morning? I want to talk about the, the, the fetters and the chains that people put on you. The, the fetters and the chains they put on him was to keep him in his place. Sometimes titles can be changed. Sometimes people can say something to you that leaves you chained up. They can say something to you early in your life that has you chained up for years. "You're stupid. You're dumb. You're too tall. You're too short. You're fat." These are chains that people put on you to keep you locked up to how they described you. "This is as far as you can go. This is who you are." I told the lady, she said, "You're a preacher." I said, "No, I'm a man. No, I'm a man. Preaching is what I do, but being a man is what I am. I'm a grown man, baby. I'm a full-grown man. Don't lock me up to how you met me. I will not live in the chains of how you choose to describe me, because with that comes a prejudice, with that comes an opinion, with that comes an attitude, and I will not be locked up by the narrow parameters of your understanding of who I am. Just because I play basketball doesn't mean I can't play football. Just because I'm a boxer doesn't mean I can't be a wrestler. And just because I'm a preacher, that mean I can't be a man. Break yourself loose." Type it on the line, "I'm getting ready to break out." Tell all your neighbors, "I'm getting ready to break out. I'm getting ready to break out. I'm breaking out. I'm breaking out of what you think. I'm breaking out of what you said. I'm breaking out of where you left me. I'm breaking out of how you lock me down." Somebody help me praise him. I don't know who I'm talking to, but I'm talking to somebody in this room. This is going to be a massive breakout. Break out. Break. Break. Break. Break. Break. Break. Break out. Break out. Great.
[Applause]
[Music]
And the text says, I'm gonna try to calm myself, but I feel something pushing me. I feel like God got me coming for somebody. Hey, I'm coming for you. I'm coming for you. Make no mistake about it. It ain't no accident. I'm coming for you. The Holy Ghost sent me out to you. We're gonna do some chain-breaking up in here this morning. We're gonna break the chains of your past. We're gonna break the chains your daddy put on you. The chains your mama put on you. Your first-grade teacher left you chained up. But today, I command the breakthrough. I command the breakthrough. I command the breakthrough. I command the breakthrough. I command the breakthrough. Everybody in here that's got a chain to break, make some noise.
[Applause]
See, that's the difference in a crowd like this. Some people just came to church, but some people came to break a chain. Let all my chain-breaking people make some noise in this place. Step past them church folk. Step around them church folk. I ain't got time to be tied to you. I gotta break this chain. Break that chain. Break it. Break it. Break it. Break it. The devil is a liar. I command you in the name of Jesus to break that chain. Let me hear you break. Change. Hmm. Wow.
[Applause]
[Applause]
Last night, night before last, I was talking to Derek, one of my staff people, about our movies on Lifetime that are getting ready to come out. Saturday morning, I was speaking for 10X, a bunch of real estate developing people. Sunday morning, I'm in church preaching. "Get off me! Get off me!" Somebody said, "Get off me!" I'm going to release a chain-breaking anointing over your finances. Stop being limited to your job description. I break the curse of how people describe you. That is not the only thing that you can do. Do all of it. Do all of it and leave nothing out. I release a chain-breaking anointing. Come out. Come out. Come out wherever you are.
[Applause]
Just because you're a housewife, just because you're a mother, doesn't mean you can't be an entrepreneur. Doesn't mean you can't do business. Doesn't mean you can't do public speaking. Doesn't mean you can't do fashion design. Doesn't mean you can't develop your own life. I release you. Go after your stuff. The devil is trying to chain you up, but break every chain. Into the blow their mind. Give them trouble. Trying to introduce you. Tap three people on the shoulder and tell them, "I got more in me than this." That's why I'm moody. That's why I'm frustrated. That's why I'm walking around here tomorrow. Because deep down in my spirit, the down hemisphere, deep down in the spirit, I know I got more in there. I can't die till I get it all out.
[Applause]
Type it on the line, "Break every chain." Break every chain. Every chain they put on you. Every chain they use to lock you up. Every chain that would make you inferior. You stop being polite and living within the parameters of where they left you. Break the chain. Shout, "Yes!" The Bible said, "No man could bind him." Look at your neighbor, say, "You can't hold me." Stare me down all you want to. Write all your notes. Look funny. Whispering gossip, but you can't bite me. I'm grown. You can't bite me. You can't send me to my room and tell me to stay in my room. I kick the door off the hindges. I mean, off the hinges. I will kick down the frame and everything. These are the failed attempts to constrain you. And let me show you the damage of the chains. Had the man accepted the chains, he couldn't have run to meet Jesus when he came. And if you accept your chains, you can't even get loose to get to Jesus. Men bind him with chains. Christ is not a binder. He's a liberator. Christ is not a slave master. He's an emancipator. He is a master of deliverance. He is a master of deliverance. And I want to see massive deliverance. Golly washing deliverance. First quenching deliverance. And I want to see it now. And I want to see it today. And I want to see it in your living room. And I want to see it in your kitchen. And I want to see it on your couch. And I want to see it in this church today. Somebody shout, "Break every chain!"
[Applause]
[Applause]
Y'all don't hear what I'm saying to you. Somebody shout, "Hallelujah!" for about three minutes. Yeah, yeah. For about three minutes, just shout, "Hallelujah!" for about three minutes. For about three minutes, just shout, "Hallelujah!" Just shout, "Hallelujah!" for three minutes. Just shout, "Hallelujah!" for three minutes. Shout, "Hallelujah!" for a minute and a half. Shout, "Hallelujah!" for a minute. Shout, "Hallelujah!" for 45 seconds. Shout, "Hallelujah!" for 32 seconds. Shout, "Hallelujah!" for 15 minutes. Because demons hate it when you praise the Lord. You may be in the tomb, but you're going to praise the Lord. You may be in constraints, but you're going to praise the Lord. Vietnamese breaks to you. So sit down. I'm going further. I ain't finished it. You going with me? Let's do this. So we went from cemeteries to constraints, and from constraints to crying. Because anytime I live amongst the dead, and I am limited by the constraints of where people are comfortable with me staying, they would... Y'all don't hear it. People will lock you up for their comfort. It makes you comfortable to think of me in one dimension. So you describe me within the parameters of your comfort. "You a mother?" "No, I'm a person who happens to be a mother." People will lock you up for their comfort. There is nothing comfortable about constraints for the victim. It was comfortable for the village, but not for the victim. Oh, y'all don't hear what I'm saying to you. Ah, watch out for people who want to tell you who you are. The better conversation is to ask me who I am. But when you, who don't even live in any part of the triunity of myself, try to tell me from the outside who I am, you have stepped on private territory. You cannot tell me who I am. You can tell me who you are, but you can't tell me who I am. And so they took him to the cemetery and they constrained him because that made them comfortable. I'm not denying the fact that the man had problems. I'm not denying the fact that he didn't have, that he had problems. But I also recognize that he had a promise. And when you are trapped between your problems and your promise, people want to move you out of the way because the lack of definitude makes people uncomfortable. Can you think with me this morning? So we went from cemeteries to constraints. But every time they constrained him, he broke loose. Look back over your life at the many times people try to constrain you.
[Applause]
I know we're gonna have church today. I knew it when I got up this morning. I could feel it in my spirit. But I'm here for it, baby. Let's do it. I got up for this one. Let's do it. Look back at the many people in your life who tried to constrain you and tell you how far you could go and what you could do. They were all wrong. No man can constrain you. Anytime any people oppress another people, the chain will eventually break. Because no man can change what God has liberated. Every liberated soul in here, holler!
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Don't get me wrong. You don't have to like me, but you can't hold me. You don't have to invite me to your birthday party, but you can't hold me. We don't have to go golfing, but you can't hold me. I may not be in your inner circle, but you can't hold me. I'll make my own circle. And so we went from cemeteries to constraints. Point three, we went to crying. And the Bible says, "Every day at night, he cried." Every day at night, he cried. I want to talk about seasons of crying. Seasons of crying. And I don't know how you was raised. I was raised not to cry. So I have to climb over top of everything I was taught to cry because I was denied permission to cry. So crying hurts. And when crying hurts, my soul has no way to irrigate itself from the stress it has incurred. Grief doesn't leave if tears don't flow. I need to be able to release. I need to be able to cry. Hear me, brothers. I need to be able to cry. Not crying doesn't make you stronger. It makes you sick. I don't walk around crying all the time, but when I need to cry, I need to let out. There are seasons in your life where you are mourning, and don't nobody have to be dead. You can be mourning the job you lost, the house you didn't get, the age you're at, the stage you're at. You can be mourning the lack of companionship. There are a lot of things you can mourn about that create a season of crying. Whether you see him do it or not, he cries. He may wait till you sleep.
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But he cries. And thank God he does. Because if he doesn't, he's going to die or commit suicide or drive his car into a river. Tears are a gift from God to ventilate the soul when you have ingested too much pain. Tears are a sign to God, "I need you."
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Somebody shout, "Cry!"
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There is a cry. The kids can be playing in the backyard, and they make a noise and hollering, and you don't pay them no attention. But there is a cry that will make you drop a plate on the floor and run out there with soap suds on your hands. Because there is a cry that gets your attention. As a parent, as it is with you, so it is with God. There is a cry that will get God's attention, that will arrest him and stop him in his tracks. If you don't believe it, ask blind Bartimaeus, who sat by the highway begging. But when he heard Jesus was passing by, he said, "Blind Bartimaeus began to cry." And he cried till he got on people's nerves. And they cried till they told him to shut up. But the more they told him to shut up, the louder he cried. And the Bible said, "Can I preach a minute?" The Bible said that blind Bartimaeus cried till Jesus stood still. There is a cry that will arrest the Lord. There is a cry that will get God's attention. I heard David say, "This poor man cried, and the Lord heard him, and delivered him out of all his troubles." If you would open your mouth and cry, God would deliver you. The children of Israel were down in Egypt, and the Bible says, "Moses, go down and let my people go, for I have heard the cry of my people." What's wrong with you is that you keep your mouth closed. If you open your mouth and cry, God will come and rescue you. No wonder the winds couldn't stop it. No wonder the waves couldn't stop him. Jesus had to make it to the other side because he heard one of his children crying. Somebody open up your mouth and just collar.
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Holler! Holler in your house. Holler in your kitchen. Holler in your living room. Holler in your bedroom. Open your mouth and just let it out. Let it out. Let it out. Let it out. Let it out. I don't care what it looks like. I don't care what it sounds like. Open your mouth and holler. Jesus will stand still when you cry. If you don't believe me, ask Abel. They killed Abel, and God said, "I have heard the cry of Abel's blood crying up to me out of the ground." Somebody has left you for dead, but I dare you to open your mouth and holler, "I'm still here. I'm still alive." They threw Jonah in the belly of a fish, and Jonah said, "Out of the belly of the fish cried I, and the Lord heard me." If you make your bed in hell and cry out, God can hear you. Somebody cry.
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Elkanah came to church to worship, but Hannah came to church to cry. And the Bible said she staggered up to the altar like a drunk woman and cried out bitterly before God. Sister, stop fussing and start crying. Stop nagging and start crying. If you start crying, God will deliver you. I feel I get my preach on. Jesus cried. He came to Mary and Martha's house, and the Bible said, "Jesus wept." And if Jesus can cry, every man in here, open your mouth and holler. In the book of Revelation, it said that "I heard the cry of souls crying out up under the altar, saying, 'Lord, how long?'" Somebody said, "How long?" You've been in a condition for a long time. You got a right to cry and tell God, "Enough is enough." Because if you cry out, God will deliver you. If you cry out, God will set you free. I want somebody that's sick and tired of being sick and tired to run out in the aisle and holler out to God, "I'm sick of this. I've had enough of this. I don't want no more of this. I'm gonna cry out. I'm tired of being quiet. I'm tired of shutting up. I'm tired of holding it in." I can't hear you. I can't hear you. I can't hear you. Get it out. Get it out of your mouth. Get it out of your belly. Get it out of your system. Get it out of your heart. I can't hear you. Open your mouth. Something's gonna happen in here. Something's gonna happen in here. Somebody touch everybody you know and tell them, "Something's gonna happen in here. Something's gonna happen in here. Something's gonna happen in here. Something's gonna happen in here. Something's gonna happen in here. Something's gonna happen in here. Something's gonna happen in here." Something's gonna happen. I mean, I want a disruption. I don't care if you moved out of your seat. I don't care if you ain't got no seat. I don't care if you shake down your hair. I don't care if your mascara runs. I don't care if you mess up your makeup. This is about deliverance. I will not die in this cemetery. I will not keep my mouth shut. I gotta get this out of me.
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And the Bible said, have the Bible say, and the Bible is sick, night and day. Look at the oxymoron. Night and day, he cried in the tombs and in the mountains. He cried. Whether he was up or down, he cried. You understand why somebody would cry in the valley, but you have no grace for people who cry from the mountain. You think that because they're at the mountain, they don't cry. But successful people cry. Intellectual people cry. Educated people cry. Crying is God's gift to give you to keep you from a nervous breakdown. And if you don't get that stuff out of you, it will eat it you like cancer. It'll make you sick. It'll upset your digestion. It'll affect your bloodstream. It'll drive up your blood pressure. It'll cost you to have an aneurysm. That's why I told you to open your mouth and holler. Because every time you holler, God will heal you.
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Every time you holler, every time you holler, every time you shout, every time you scream, every time tears run down your face, every time you make a noise, every time you make a sound, you gotta get that out of you. You can't go back home in the state you're in. God said, "I want that out of you. I want you to stop keeping it a secret and let that out of your belly." And let it out. Let it out. Let it out. Let it out. Let it out. Oh, I'm almost finished. Sit down. Let me hurry. I got a hair got here. I'm almost here. I'm almost here. I'm looking for deliverance. I'm not lost. I'm looking for deliverance. I'm looking for deliverance. I'm looking for delivery. Because the Holy Ghost promised me that if I preach this word today, there will be deliverance in this place. I'm looking for deliverance. I'm looking for deliverance. I'm looking in the balcony. I'm looking in the side. I'm looking for breakthrough people. Where are my breakthrough people? Where are my breakthrough people? Are you online? Are you online? Are you online? Let me hear from you. This is a breakthrough. A breakthrough of debt. A breakthrough of fear. A breakthrough of doubt. A breakthrough of grief. A breakthrough of agony. God said, "I'm gonna break it up this morning." God told me, "You won't leave like you came." Slap your neighbor and say, "I won't leave you like a king. Don't expect me to be the same. I won't be the same woman today. I won't be the same man today." Somebody shout, "Hallelujah!" Shout with the shout of victory. Shout with the shout of prayer. I'm almost done. I have to explain to you why the man ran to Jesus. And even though he ran to Jesus, even though he ran to Jesus, even though he ran to Jesus, the demons were still talking. The demons were talking, but the man was running. The demons could talk, but they couldn't stop him from running. You got to run to Jesus while the devil's still talking in your head. I don't care what he's saying to you, what you can't be, what you can't do. You see, let me show you something. I got to show you something. I want you to get this because this is important. We, we, we went from the cemetery to the constraints to the crying to the cutting himself. Here I am at the cutting part. The Bible said that he was cutting himself in the tomb. Now, everything else he had fought was outside of him. They had tried to chain him up, and he fought them off. They tried to lock him down, and they fought him off. But when he was left alone, he started cutting.
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Himself. Now, I want to go deep. I want to go to the damage you've done to yourself. I want to get way down to the things that you've done to yourself. He was cutting himself in the tomb. You got to visualize this. This man is in a cemetery. He's got friends he can't reach. He's got family he can't touch. He's got a life he can't get to. He's...
Got a bed he can't sleep in. He's got a house he can't live in. Everything around him denies everything that he is and has. And so what happens to him? His anger has turned on him. When you get angry about what happened to you in life, anger turns on you. That's what depression is. Depression is anger turned inside. Hallelujah. That's why I'm trying to get it out. Because if you don't get it out, it's going to go in. And if it goes in, it's going to make you cut yourself. And it'll make you your own worst enemy. And it'll make you destroy it. Lord have mercy. I feel like preaching. Oh Lord, you got to help me. It'll make you destroy yourself. And the man was said that when nobody was looking, he was cutting himself. Why would a man cut himself? It is called pain to pain therapy.
I want to tell you about when I was in South Africa and I was on a safari. And they were telling me that safaris, when you go on a safari, they have them in a conservatory. And a conservatory is surrounded by miles and miles of fences. That might be a hundred miles, a hundred square feet big. It's large conservatories for lions and elephants and zebras and gazelles and everything are living in these parameters. But the very fact that they are fenced in is unnatural. So what they do is, to keep the brush from growing up too tall, they burn it off. They burn it off because it is an unnatural. The ecosystem that controls our well-being is so fragile that if you mess with it in any kind of way, it creates cause and effect. So they have to burn off some of the grasslands that normally the free animals would trample and move in herds from place to place. But because they're trapped, they break up the ecosystem and it affects the grass that grows. And so every so often they have to burn it off.
So I asked the zoologists, I said, "Aren't you afraid of starting a fire that you can't stop?" He said, "No, because once we start a fire and we want to stop it, we use a fire to stop the fire." And there's something about burning a fire against a fire that puts the other fire out. And it cancels out each other. So pain to pain therapy is when people try to treat their own pain. And they treat the pain on the inside by creating pain on the outside. And anytime you see people with marks on their arms, they're not crazy. They're cutting themselves to distract themselves from the pain that they have on the inside. And the pain on the inside is so great that they start distracting themselves with pain on the inside. And they are called cutters. This type of reality exists whether you cut yourself physically or you cut yourself mentally. The reason that you're cutting yourself is pain to pain therapy. You're fighting fire with fire. It's self-mutilation. It's self-sabotaging behavior. You could have been out, but you cut yourself. You could have been further, but you cut yourself. You could have been more successful, but you cut yourself because you don't feel worthy on the inside. You reject prosperity on the outside. And every time something intimidates you, you cut yourself back. "I'm too fat. I'm too dumb. I'm too stupid. I'm too ugly. I can't do a photo shoot. I don't like my pictures. I don't like the way I look. I don't like what..." You might as well take a razor and start cutting your arm because you are cutting yourself. And the reason the enemy wants you to do it is that you make his job easier. He's using you against you to destroy you.
And there the man is shut up in the tomb cutting himself. And he can't stop cutting himself. Every time you get a chance to go up, you talk down. Every time you get a chance to have better, you say, "I just don't need all that. It just don't require all that. It don't take all that." What you are doing is cutting yourself. But when the boat docked and Jesus stepped off the boat, before he could get both feet on dry ground, the man came running to Jesus. Slap your neighbor and say, "Run, run, run away from self-sabotage. Run away from self-destruction. Run away from the way you talk to yourself. Run away from canceling out your pain with more pain. You had a bad man, you go get a worse man. You had a wife beater, you get another wife beater. It's pain to pain therapy because you don't feel worthy of good treatment." When a good man comes into your life, "I just don't like him." You're cutting yourself. Slap him and say, "Run."
The man runs to Jesus. Now listen to this. Legions of demons are in this man. Legions are massive multitudes of demons that are in this man. And all the legions in a concerted effort of agreement could not stop him from running. Can't nothing stop you from running if you get ready to get to Jesus. Came nothing stopped you from running. Can't nothing stop you from running. So they couldn't stop him from running. And when he got to Jesus, now the demons who knew that Jesus is a spirit, he knew that Jesus saw them, so they couldn't hide any longer. So they started talking to him and said, "Why have you come to torment me before my time?" And then they started negotiating with Jesus. And they said, "Send us away, but don't let us leave the region." Because demons are assigned regions. They have territories. The demon in Dallas, the principality, let me use a Bible word, the principality in Dallas is not like the principality in Detroit. Is not like the principality in New York. That's why the city has trouble. Whenever they go out and get somebody from the outside to come in and fight a devil in Dallas, they bring a Detroit technique to a Dallas dilemma. And it's an entirely different kind of spirit. I come against the spirit that's over your region. That's over your territory. The devil has a space that he wants to occupy within certain parameters. And he doesn't want to leave the territory. When he gets through with your grandma, he'll jump on your mama. When your mama dies, he'll jump on you. The most dangerous place to be is at a funeral. The most dangerous place to be is at a funeral. I ain't got time to teach it because demons are disembodied spirits. And they need a body to be able to operate. They can't function in the air by themselves. They need a body to work through. And they said, "If we can't have him, we'll settle for the pigs." So the legions that were in one man got into an entire herd of pigs. And the man, watch this, the man was living with legions of demons that the entire herd of pigs couldn't stand. When the pigs encountered the demons that were on that one man, they committed suicide. The pigs said, "I'd rather drown in the river than live with what was in you." You don't know what you've been fighting. You've been fighting enough stuff to be able to kill you. But I came to evict the devil today and say, "You gotta get out of here today." I don't know where you're going. I don't know where you're gonna live. I don't know where you're gonna live, but you got to leave here today. Somebody evict him right now with the Holy Ghost. Praise with the Holy Ghost. Pray.
[Applause] Hold it a minute. Somebody get up on your feet. And for the next 60 seconds, put the devil out of your space. [Applause] You got to go. You got to go. Open your mouth. You can't be passive about this. Put him out. Put him out. Online. Put him out. Put him out. Put him out. Put him out. Cover yourself with the blood because a lot of evil spirits, depressing spirits, frustrated spirits, lonely spirits, perverted spirits, antagonistic spirits, they're coming out this morning. Open your mouth and put him out. [Music] [Applause] [Music] Come on. [Applause] Come on. Come on. Come on. Come on. Put him out. Oh, y'all don't want him out. Y'all don't want him out. Y'all like your devil. You like your devil. I want some people that are sick of that devil. I'm not going home with you today. I'm not gonna live with you today. I'm not gonna be your whole faith. I'm not gonna share quarters with you. I'll put you out. Get out of my house. Get out of my head. Get out of my heart. Get out of my joints. Get out of my blood. Get out of my... I can't hear you. I can't hear you. I can't hear you. I can't hear you. [Music] Lift your hands and open your mouth and shout out to God with the voice of triumph. Shout out to God with the voice of praise. Enough is enough. Shout out to God. Shout unto God. Shout unto God. Shout out to God. Shout unto God. Shout unto God. I said shout. I said shout till demons tremble. There you go. Shout till hell gets... Shout to Satan has to run. Shout till he evacuates. Shout until he's a refugee. Shout till you drown him in a place. [Music] [Applause] Yeah, you being cute. But if you would shout, you would need so much therapy. If you would shout, you could sleep tonight. If you would shout, you wouldn't have to be in that club. If you would shout, you could get your blessing. If you would shout, you would step into your destiny. If you could shout, but you worried about being cute. I said shout out. Shout. Stop being cute and shout. Stop being patsy and shout. Open your mouth and shout till demons tremble. Shout. [Music] Yes. Yes. [Music] Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. That's five people. And tell them, "I'm not going home like this." "I'm not going home like this." "I'm not going home like this." "I'm not going home like this." "I'm not. I'm not. I'm not." Me. [Music] [Music] Never gonna be. It's over. I'm coming out of this. Oh yeah. [Music] [Applause] Now the demons went down in the water. You remember what Jesus told the woman? "Out of your belly shall flow rivers of living water." When you open your mouth to praise him, you give the devil something to drown in. Drown the devil in your praise. Drown hell in your praise. Drown in hell in your praise. He's looking for water. Put him under water. Get your head under this praise. [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] Hallelujah. Somebody feels lighter. Somebody feels lighter. You know why you feel lighter? Something just broke off of you. Something just fell off of you. Something just came off of you. You feel lighter. The glory of the Lord is in this place. Your demon is making bubbles going down, drowning in your praise. Out of your belly shall flow rivers. Yes, Lord. Yes, Lord. [Music] So my last thing was... [Applause] The man who was naked and bruised and bleeding and cutting himself in the tomb. When Jesus got through with him, he was chilling, dawg. [Music] This is the way your spirit is supposed to be. [Applause] He had one fear left. [Music] [Applause] "Will this work when I'm out of this atmosphere?" And he says to Jesus, "Can I go with you, Daddy? Can I go with you?" Because in that presence, there's fullness of joy. And at that right hand, there are pleasures forevermore. There have been several times in this church that I have dismissed service, took a shower, changed clothes, got in the car, driving home, and people were still here. Because there's something about glory. Glory. I mean, real glory. I'm not talking about flesh, but real glory will make you linger. And they would tell me, "Bishop, the people won't leave. They're just sitting around. Some of them are laying prostrate on the floor. Some of them are laying on the altar." The man did not want to leave Jesus. And Jesus, I couldn't understand it. I thought, "Jesus, I understand him because I'm a better man when you're around." [Applause] And I, I, I know what it is to need you like all the time. He said, "No, you don't get it. The only thing that stopped him from going home was being home. And once I got him whole, he could go home." The hardest thing for a man to do is go home. Even if he goes physically, getting him to go mentally where he can really be home at home causes many men to circle the house. [Music] Before they go in the house because they see the house as another kind of job. [Music] But the Lord said, "Go home." [Applause] You will know you are free when you can be home at home. [Applause] Not play the role of being home, but to really be home at home is absolutely priceless. Because hear me, this is not just gender-specific. It's some women too. It's some women too. Because sometimes it's just another job to go home. But when you are free, you can be home at home. [Music] So Jesus said, "As much as I would love to take you with me, I need you in Decapolis. I rode through a tornado to deliver one man. I want them to see you occupy the space that the demons controlled." And all you got to do, you don't have to preach, you don't have to write a book of the Bible, you don't have to write music. But every time they see you sitting on your front porch chilling like a normal guy, and you ain't nervous, listen, and you ain't nervous, and you ain't restless, and you ain't mad, your peace is my glory. I'm scared to say this because I know it's not room, but I'm gonna say it anyway. Everybody, I'll, I'll characterize it this way, maybe that will limit it. Everybody who desperately needed this word, meet me at the altar. You've been wondering why your sewing hadn't been working, and you're tired, and it hadn't been working. It's because God is sending the blessing to your house, but you ain't home. He's sending the blessing to a place you don't live because you sowed it from the tombs. But he sent it to the home. What do you mean by that? When you are at home, really at home with who you are and how you are, and not cutting on yourself for your mistakes and your failures, your creativity goes to a high. Your possibility becomes amazing. When your peace goes up, your power goes up. Your prosperity, your peace, your power requires your presence. And you've been in the cemetery so long. Can I be honest with you? It ain't that God ain't gonna bless you. [Music] God has always blessed you. He has always loved you. He has always cared about you. It's just that you haven't always loved you. And I'm trying to bring you into alignment till you feel about you the way God feels about you. [Music] And the truth of the matter is that man never left Jesus because the spirit of Jesus was waiting for him at the house. [Music] And I call you home today. I want you to come to yourself like the prodigal son did. I want you to come home so you can be home. I'm not talking about your address. I'm talking about who you are. Come to yourself to be at home with yourself. To be at home with yourself. And stop cutting on yourself about stuff you can't do nothing about. You can't do nothing about what happened. The past is in the graveyard. The past is in your graveyard. Stop living with the dead. [Music] Cemeteries are to be visited. Ain't no hotels in the cemetery. [Music] The only thing I know for sure, I don't really know what to do with you. The only thing I know for sure is that the glory of the Lord is here. And I sense the glory of the Lord all around this altar. And right where you are, the glory of the Lord is coming into your house, into your office, into your kitchen. [Music] The only thing I'm sure of right now is that I am commanded to do all that I can to make sure that you don't leave like you came. Whatever you got to leave at this altar, whatever you got to drop off here, it is the will of God that you leave here better than you came. It is the will of God. Don't you log off till you change. Don't you move from the spot till you change. Do you not know it is the Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom that you are begging for stuff that he died to give you? [Music] Like peace and health and joy and prosperity. And God wants you whole so you can step into increase. It ain't about being rich. It's about having enough to fulfill the purpose of God in your life. Whatever that purpose is. If the purpose is sending your kids to college, whatever it is. God doesn't want you to have to worry about stuff. He clothed the lilies. [Music] His eye is on the sparrow. He counts the hairs in your head. God loves you. Why are you cutting on you? Yeah, he knows. Yeah, he saw. He loves you. Ain't nobody gonna ever love you like God. You can stop looking for him. Ain't nobody gonna love you like God. Ain't nobody gonna put up with you like God. Because don't nobody understand your why like God. [Applause] [Music] When you lift your hands, maybe for the first time in your life, when you lift your hands, lift your hands naked and unashamed before God who already has searched you and loved you and known you and wants you to be whole. [Music] Shower down on them, Lord. [Music] Bless your sons and daughters. [Music] I speak increase over their life. I speak increase not just of wealth, but wisdom and courage and strength and contentment. You too old to be discontented. You've come too far to be discontented. You come too far to be bitter and angry and frustrated. The devil is alive. Whatever it is, it is whatever it is. It is what it is. Leave it alone and get your peace back. Stop trying to fix people and get your peace back. Stop trying to change their mind and get your peace back. [Music] God told me to tell you, don't leave here like you came. Now lift your hands and let him know you've been changed. [Music] You.