Walk It Out Wednesday: The Danger of Entitlement | Bishop T.D. Jakes

2:15 I want to go to the gospel of St. Mark 12 verse 1 through 12 where we left off Sunday. The gospel of St. Mark chapter 12 verse 1 through 12. And if once you have it, would you stand? If you can put it on my monitor to make it easy for me. Thank you so much. Thank you, Jesus.

2:45 Let me preface this by saying they were always trying to set Jesus up. Always trying to set Jesus up. I'm so glad for the Bible because the Bible lets you know what's normal. There's nothing new up under the sun. And right before this, they were trying to set him up. And so Jesus said, they asked Jesus a question. Jesus asked them a question. He answered the question with a question. And he said, now, if it's the baptism of John of God or not. And they were in a dilemma because they reasoned in themselves. If we say it's not of God, the people are going to judge us. If we say it is of God, they're going to want to know why didn't we participate. And Jesus had a way of kind of putting them in a stronghold. And what I like about it, he had a fierce clap back. Yeah, yeah.

3:39 Without being nasty or anything like that, he just had a way of clapping back. So this parable comes at the end of this deliberation. And the parable is designed for them to see themselves. Because if he told them about themselves, they would deny that it was true. But a parable is designed that you can find yourself in the parable. And it's been a while since I preached something on Sunday. that so many people said they saw themselves in the text. Yeah, they saw themselves in the text. And that's a good thing because if you can't see yourself in the text, something is wrong. The women used to beat brass and fill it with water, and it became mirrors for them where they said, you don't go to the word of God.

4:31 The word of God is like a woman who goes over to the mirror and forgets what manner a man she, what manner a woman, or what manner a man he saw. The Word of God is a looking glass for you to see yourself more clearly and understand yourself more dearly. So it starts out in the first verse. I got to tell somebody to say, would you please get past the first verse?

4:55 Because I could have stayed in the first verse all Sunday long. I don't think I got much further than the first verse. But it says, go back to the first verse for a minute. Then he began to speak to them in parables. He began to speak to them in parables, which is mostly what he did. We got very few sermons from Jesus. Isn't that funny? We got very few sermons from the Sermon on the Mount, you know, maybe one or two other things. Jesus preached till the woman's house was filled and they was cutting up her roof. And the Bible still doesn't give us his text, his subject, his sermon, or anything else. He preached out in the desert until people were about to faint, and we still don't know the sermon. We know everything that happened around the sermon, but we don't know the sermon itself. And here, this is not a sermon. It's a parable.

5:46 He's a storyteller. He's telling a story, but there's truth in the story. A parable is a story that has truth in it that you can extract from it that you can use to better yourself. So this is one of them. He said, a man planted a vineyard and set a hedge around it. dug a place for the vine vat and built a tower, and he leased it to vinedressers and went into a far country. Verse 2. Now, at vintage time, harvest time, he sent a servant to the vinedresser that he might receive some of the fruit of the vineyard from the vinedresser. Now, wait, I got to stop here and go back and say this. I made it a comparison Sunday that I'd like to elaborate a little bit on. Everything in verse 1, the owner did. The vine dresser didn't do anything at all.

6:39 He did the digging. He built the tower. He set them in the garden. He built the hedge. They walked into the finished work of the vine dresser, which is much like Genesis, where when you look at Genesis, God is doing all the work, and he creates man to walk into the finished work of God, which is much like salvation. we don't do anything to save ourselves. We walk into the finished work of Jesus Christ. So anytime you walk, he finished on the fifth day. Okay? He created man on the sixth day. Five is the number of grace. Five is the number of grace to typify all the things that God does for us that we walk into and we didn't have any right. So we just walked into it and received it by the grace of God. And so I wanted to draw the parallel between those three things.

7:34 The finished work of Christ is what we are saved by. It's not your works, lest any man should boast. It is done by the finished work of Christ. So these people have now come in here to lease a garden that they didn't build. To work, to do what he told Adam to do, to tend the garden. But he didn't have to build the garden. He just had to tend the garden. So we are stewards of what God owns.

8:07 And we are judged by how well we steward what we have been given. And so every now and then you need to do an accounting inventory of what you have been given. Because if you're going to have to give an account for what you have been given, you need to know what you got. So there's no need in being coy. I know I got this, I got this, I got this gift, I got that gift, I got the other gift. I didn't get this. You need to know what you do have and what you don't have. Silver and gold have I none, but such as I have, give I unto thee. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk. See, he said, I don't have any money on me, but I do have some power. And he said, in the name of Jesus Christ, rise up and walk. He had to know that he had the power. And the enemy's job is to try to make you not know that you got what you got.

9:03 Because the only thing you have to give an account for is what you've got. You don't have to give an account for somebody else's gift. That wouldn't be fair. If God said to me, I want you to sing like Donnie McClurkin, you didn't sing like Donnie McClurkin, I ain't fair, you didn't give me that. Okay, so I can't sing like Donnie because you didn't give me that. So I don't have to give an account for that. because I don't have that. I can enjoy him singing like that. In my mind, I can sing like that. In my mind, I sing him out the table. Don't let me get in the shower and go to singing. I'll run him right out the room. But in real life, you cut that water off and it's just me out there? Lord, it's embarrassing, Jesus. Have you ever been singing in your car with somebody and you was killing it?

9:51 And then they stopped singing and we heard you? Yeah. Yeah, that's what that's like. So that's where we are. Now at the finish time, let me go back to the other verse because I lost my place. Now at the finish time, he sent a servant to the vine dresser that he might receive some of the fruit of the vineyard from the vine dresser. Now this is how they pay rent, by giving a portion of what he's given back to them. They're in business with God. Whether you know it or not, you're in business with God. And God says, if you give me a portion of what I have given to you, just a portion, I'll be satisfied with that. So he sent the man during the time of the harvest and he says, go and collect because I know it's time. I know it's come to fruition. It's developed now. They have grown, hopefully.

10:44 It has grown definitely. Now it's time to do some collecting. Even sooner or later, you come into a point that God has a right to ask something of you. He's given so much to you that he's got a right to ask something of you. Oh, yeah, I'm good already. Yeah, he's given so much to you, he's got a right to ask something of you. God will not ask of you something that he hasn't given to you. So, of thine own have we given thee. So, we need not walk up to the altar and lay something down on the altar like we're doing God a favor. because whatever you give God, he already gave you. So all you're doing is proving your faithfulness by giving back to him a portion of what he has given you. Come on, somebody. And if you keep the portion, you rob the owner.

11:37 If I say I'm going to give you $100 and for every $100 I want you to give me $10 and you can come along and you keep the $90, I got the $10, and you take the whole hundred, you rob me. And you've also taught me not to do business with you because I can't trust you. So this is more about trust than it is the $10. He don't need the $10. It's not about that. It's about can I trust you? And God says if I can trust you with a little bit, I can trust you with a whole lot. Or if you be faithful over a few things, I'll make you ruler over many. So instead of them doing what they needed to do, how they needed to do it, which would have been the end of it, seeing as they didn't work for it, they didn't labor for it, they didn't build it, they didn't grow it, they didn't plan, all they had to do was say, here's your portion right here, and it would have been over.

12:32 No. Sometimes we bypass the simple thing and do something that's so much worse. and they took him and beat the man and sent him away empty-handed. So they beat him up. Again, he sent them another servant, and at him they threw stones, wounded him in the head. These are mean people. And sent him away shamefully treated. And again, he sent another, and him they killed, and many others beating some and killing others. Now, I want to stop there for a minute. I won't leave you standing too long. But I want to stop there for a minute and point out to you,

13:18 Cain, all Cain had to do was offer up a lamb in the book of Genesis. That was very simple. All he had to do was offer up a lamb. It was very simple. It was very plain. And the Bible said, by faith, let me prove it to you, And by faith, Abel offered up a more excellent sacrifice than Cain. Well, how do I get faith? Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God. So he had to be in earshot. He had to be in earshot, and he chose to give him what he grew out of the ground. First problem with that, what came out of the ground was cursed.

13:55 Second problem with that is if Abel did it by faith, then Cain had a chance to do it by faith too. Okay? Third thing about it is you won't kill a lamb, but you turn around and kill your brother. Now, it seemed like to me it would have been easier to kill the lamb, okay? Now, I'm not itching to kill no lamb, but it seemed like it would be easier to kill the lamb than it would be to kill my brother. And then he got smart about it. Am I my brother's keeper? That's how you know you done wrong because you get an attitude. You get a real nasty attitude. And time after time after time, notice what I want you to see through this text. It's the patience and the long suffering of God. Because when I sent the first servant and you beat him up, see, that's where this whole parable would have stopped right there.

14:54 It would have stopped right there because I would have drove my chariot right through the field. and set it on fire and burned it all down because you don't appreciate what I've given you. But no, he sent another one. And they threw rocks at him, hit him in the head and sent him away shamefully. He comes back shamefully. I'm not sending you nobody else. That's two I've given you. You had two times to do the right thing. You ain't going to do right. But no, he sent another and another one and another one. And every time it happened the same. But what I want you to see is how long-suffering he was. Our God is gracious. He's long-suffering. He's merciful. He gives you time after time after time to get yourself together. And again, he sent another, and him they kill, and many others beating some and killing some.

15:52 Now they didn't know there wasn't that stuff. They know they had no right for that. Don't kill the mailman because you don't like the mail. But they killed all of them. Therefore still having one son. Now he's down to one son. And this is important because this is prophetic. Therefore he's now down to one son. His beloved is a clue. This is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased. Okay, so he's not just his son. He's his beloved son. You know, beloved son. This is my beloved son in whom I'm well pleased. He's like Joseph to Jacob. He's his beloved son. He's his favorite son. They sent somebody that he had deep emotional attachment to. They sent him.

16:45 He also sent him to them last saying, they will respect my son. They're not that bad. They will respect my son. Verse 7, but those vine dressers said among themselves, oh, goody, this is the heir. Come let us kill him and the inheritance will be ours. Which shows you what their intention was in the first place. There are a lot of people who grin in your face and smile and act like they're with you, but all the while they're plotting. They don't want to be like you, they want to be you. They want to be you. They want to be you. Brother came to me and said he wanted my anointing. I said, I'm not through with it. When I finish with it, you can have it. But right now, you can't have it while I'm working with it.

17:38 They killed his son. Now, maybe this hits me harder as a father, and maybe it hits you harder as a parent. It'd be hard for me to get over that. It'd be hard for me to, I don't know if I could like you no more. because you kill my son. You kill my son. My son is worth more to me than all the grapes in the field. And you kill my son. And now you have killed my son in the midst of the harvest of grapes. And there is a correlation between the grapes and the blood. Do you see that? You got the grapes and the blood. Take, drink.

18:30 This is my blood. The New Testament is in my blood. Look at the correlation between the two things. So they took him and killed him and cast him out of the vineyard. He was the heir to the vineyard and they cast him out. Let me stop there for a minute and point out to you that there are the scripture in Hebrews, I believe it's Hebrews, where the Bible said that Jesus was crucified outside the camp. He died outside of the camp. He died outside of the religious order of Israel. He died outside. And I'm glad they crucified him outside because by them crucifying him outside, it gives me just reason to come in. Are you following what I'm saying? So therefore, what will the owner of the vineyard do? Now we're down to this.

19:21 He will come and destroy the buying dresses and give the vineyard to others. Now, he says, I've reached my limit. Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? God forbid. There is a limit. And here's the scary part about the limit. You don't know where it is. You don't know how far is too far. You got by with this and you got by with that and you got by with the other, but I'm not sure I'm going to get by with this because he doesn't mark the spot where grace ends. Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? He doesn't tell you where the limit is. He doesn't tell you when he's coming back. He doesn't tell you when judgment is going to be required upon you so that there will be a certain reverence that you have all along the way and a temperance that you have along the way because you don't want to push him too far.

20:18 Have you not even read this scripture? The stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone. You may be seated. Now, the reason I had you sit down right there is because that's where I want to start. I want to start right there for a good reason. I want to start there because we have gone from grapes to stone. we have gone from grapes to stone. Everything else was about vineyards and grapes, and now we've gone to stone. And he says to them, go back to the other verse. Go back one. Go back one. Yeah.

21:10 Have you not even read this scripture? the stone which the builders rejected. Now, there's a whole lot. He implied it when he said, he implied it when he said, my beloved son. We know he's hinting at Jesus. When he goes from talking about grapes, which you could see Jesus if you look deeply enough into it, you could see the vineyard in it. But when he comes down to stone, it's a mixed metaphor. because we've gone from grapes to stone. It's not that he doesn't know English well. It's not that he doesn't know grammar well. It's a mixed metaphor because the point of the story isn't the story. The point of the story is the stone. Whenever I say the stone to you, and if you're a believer, you ought to thank Jesus.

22:13 Because Jesus is the stone that the builders rejected. Jesus is the stone in the wilderness that the Bible said that they drank from the stone. That's Jesus. If you drink of the water that I have, you shall never thirst again. That's Jesus. He's my rock in the weary land. He's my stone hewed out the mountain. He's a stone that God hewed out the mountain to write the Ten Commandments in. That's Jesus. Whenever you see the stone, you see Jesus. He's a stone. He's a rock of ages. He's a stone. He's a solid one. He's an absolute one. He's a complete within himself one. When you see the stone, the stone, there's no shakiness. There's no variable.

23:05 Ain't no crushing the stone. You ain't going to crush the stone. You're crushing grapes. But you're not going to crush the stone. And he said, have you not heard the stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone? I want to lay on that a little bit. always go with the one that everybody else rejects. because God will always use the rejected one to indicate this is going to be my chief cornerstone. I'm not going to pick the one that's the most popular. I'm not going to pick the one that everybody likes. I'm not going to pick the one that nobody's talking about. I want, in fact, his rejection is direction. Come on with me.

24:02 Come on with me. See, you have to understand there was a reason for your rejection. That God allowed you to be rejected to indicate that he was going to do something massive in your life. The rejection was very important to the process. So you can't allow yourself to stay wounded over being rejected no matter how bad you hurt. Because rejection helps to fulfill the prophecy that God is going to build something out of those who have been rejected. Why is it like that? Because when you're rejected, you've got a different attitude. When you're rejected, it means you have not been selected by man. To be not selected by men means you are chosen of God. Are you hearing what I'm saying?

24:55 Now you can't, if you're going to be chosen of God, you can't spend the rest of your life chasing man, trying to get man to change his mind about rejecting you. You've got to accept their rejection as God's selection. We're my chosen ones. Yeah, we're my chosen ones. Now, I can walk with my head up because I know that the stone that the builders rejected has been made the chief cornerstone. The cornerstone that holds up everything that's going to be built in two directions. The cornerstone is going to build this way. It's going to build that way. It sets the parameters of the building. It is the chief cornerstone.

25:48 He's the chief cornerstone because he reaches all the way back to the Hebrews, to Israel, to the Old Testament on one hand, and he reaches all the way forward into the New Testament to the Greeks and the Gentiles on the other hand. He is the cornerstone. He is accessible to both sides. He is the chief cornerstone. The stone that the builders rejected couldn't be placed in one side and not the other, so they put him on the corner so there was equal access to him no matter which side you were on. Whether you were building on the east side or the west side, you still had access to Jesus because he's the cornerstone. You can't have all of Jesus and take him from me. No, because he's the chief cornerstone. You don't have no hell to send me to because he's the chief cornerstone.

26:44 Oh, y'all don't hear what I'm saying. I have never read in the scriptures where God gave anybody the keys to hell. So you can say I'm going to hell all you want, but you can't send me to hell because you don't have no keys. And number two, you ain't sure where you're going.

27:05 Yeah, yeah. You ain't sure where you're going. And you notice how people are so quick to send you someplace and they're not sure where they're going? Yeah, you might be there opening up the door when I get in. See, you have to understand that Jesus is the chief cornerstone. You got to understand the access that I can come boldly to him, to the throne of grace, to obtain mercy and find grace to help in the time of need because he has made himself available to me. He is the chief cornerstone. Oh my God, I'm about to get happy already and I just got started. He's the chief cornerstone. I'm never that far from him. I'm never that far from him. He's not afar off. In him I live.

27:56 In him I move. In him I have my being. He's available to me. He is the chief cornerstone. I don't have to holler for him. Way over there somewhere. Because he is nigh unto me. Even in my mouth. He's so close to me. That when he speaks to me. He speaks in a whisper. he speaks in a whisper because he's that close to me he's that close to me you could be sitting right beside me and not hear what he said to me because he's that close to me he is the chief cornerstone are you hearing what i'm saying to you and i wanted you to get this part but i didn't have time sunday to get into it i wanted you to understand you ain't never by yourself you're never alone you don't live by yourself you didn't drive over here by yourself you didn't make it through the storm by yourself you didn't survive the test by yourself he's the chief cornerstone he's always been your chief cornerstone if your mama forsake you if your daddy forsake you if your sister forsake you if your brother forsake you he's been your chief cornerstone He's been, it's through the cornerstone that you set the plumb line.

29:13 That's how you make everything straight because you do it through the cornerstone. And when you set the plumb line, you can't set a plumb line without a cornerstone. The cornerstone lets you know. And once you set that line, everything else you build is going to be built in accordance with that line. Come on. I need me some masons in here now. I need some masonry people in here now who understand that this plumb line, he said, is so I won't go too far.

29:45 This plumb line shows me when I'm about to go too far over the edge. This plumb line causes me to be able to adjust myself. This plumb line. So you're not my plumb line. You're not my plumb line. So I don't have to spend a whole lot of time talking about, are you looking at me funny? I don't care how you're looking at me because you're not my plumb line. Jesus is. Tell your neighbor Jesus is. My God, I better stop because I feel something stirring down in my soul. Jesus is my plumb line. He's my plumb line. He's what I measure up to. He's what I come into alignment with. He's how I determine where I am. He's my plumb line. He makes the pathway straight. The Bible said that he would make the crooked path straight. He'll make me straight.

30:38 He'll make me straight. He'll fix me up. He'll get me together. He'll clean me up. He'll get me off drugs. He'll get me off cocaine. He'll get me off of whatever I'm strung out on. He'll get me out of it because he'll make the pathway straight if I set my plumb line on Jesus. the problem with today, we set our plumb line on our feelings. Come on. Come on. Stay with me. Don't move now. Don't move now. Stay right where you are. Everything is to be decided by how you feel. I don't like my mother. I don't agree with how my father raised me. I don't like my school. I don't like my church. Everything's about how you feel. They hurt my feelings. They hurt my feelings. So your feelings have become your God. you can't have your feelings as your God and have faith because faith and feelings will often be a contradiction one against the other. Seldom are your feelings going to line up with your faith.

31:43 In spite of your feelings, you're going to walk by faith and not by sight. Glory to God. If you get this, it's going to help you a whole lot with how you deal with people because you have overemphasize the importance of other people's opinion and if you're not careful you'll set your plumb line to their applause oh you didn't hear what I said there that was bad right there that was that was worth writing down right there so just because you clapping don't mean God is pleased and just because you rolling your eyes don't mean that I'm in trouble because you are not my plumb line. I'm not going to do it because you said do it. I'm not going to do it. I'm not going to do it. You hear me? I'm not going to do it because you said do it because you're not my plumb line. You're not my judge. You're not my king. You're not my ruler. You're not my bullwark. You're not my trumpet. You're not my defense. You're not my help in ages past. You're not my rock of ages.

32:47 You're not my joy. You're not my peace. You're not my power. You're not my God. You're not my kinsmen redeemer. You're not my day star. You're not my bulwark. You're not my trumpet. You're not my shield. You're not my buckler. Oh y'all don't hear me. You're not my dove. You don't hear what I'm saying? You're not my eagle. You're not my wind blowing in the trees. You're not my lily of the valley. You're not my bright and morning star. You overinflated your place in my life. And if you think you can walk away and kill me, that means you don't understand who you are. I love you, but you're not my cornerstone. If I line up with my cornerstone and he decides to bless me, you can't curse me. You got to sit up and watch me eat because he'll prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. and he don't ask you to vote on whether I can eat or not.

33:48 You can be mad and I can still eat. oh that's good oh that's good oh that's good I got one person to please and that's God I got one person to please and that's God and that's enough that's enough that's hard I don't need nobody else putting their mouth in me and God's business because if he wasn't long suffering he would have cut me off and I don't trust anybody else to be my chief cornerstone because you're too flaky and you change too much and you're double-minded and you're unstable in all your way but he said I am the Lord thy God I change not from everlasting to everlasting I'm still God I'll be right where you saw me Monday I'll be there Tuesday I'll be there Wednesday I'll be there Thursday and Friday.

34:50 And when you get to Saturday, I'll be waiting on you. And when you get to Sunday, I'll be waiting on you saying, come this way. Because I am the same yesterday, today, and forevermore. Do you hear what I'm saying? I feel a praise about the breakout in this place. I feel a praise about the breakout. I feel a praise about the breakout in this place. I feel a praise about the breakout in this place. See, the disciples did real good as long as Jesus was popular.

35:22 They did real good as long as Jesus was popular. But when it got where Jesus was controversial, a whole lot of people left him. But them rejecting him is what qualified him to be the chief cornerstone. In fact, the Bible said if the princes of this world would have known what they were doing, they would have never crucified the Lord. Because when they crucified him, they identified him as being the chief cornerstone. Are you with me? Are you with me right now? Are you with me right now? When was the last time you spoke to your stone? speak to the stone. Water can come out of the stone. Speak to the stone. It can turn to bread. Speak to the stone. It can meet your need.

36:13 Speak to the stone. It can kill your Goliath. Speak to the stone. It can build what you don't have. Speak to the stone. It can direct you and give you what life didn't give you, what your mama didn't give you, what your daddy didn't give you, what your sister didn't give you, what your brother didn't give you he said i'm all of that who shall i say sent me i am that i am whatever you need me to be whatever you didn't get whatever you like whatever you're unsure about whatever you're insecure about i am that if you're hungry i'm bread if you're thirsty i'm water you don't hear what i'm saying if you need direction i'll guide you i'll be a cloud by day I'll be a pillar by night. I got you covered. Whatever you need. Don't worry about the desert. I knew you were in the desert. But I got you covered in the desert.

37:07 I will fan you in the desert. I'll be a shade over your head. I'll be a fire by night. I'll give you an HVAC. Because I'm God. I can cool you when it's hot. I can heat you when it's cold. I'm God. I can do anything you need. and all you got, as long as you see me, you know your needs are going to be met. I will do whatever it takes to make you able to receive what I have for you, but all I ask you to do is don't get arrogant.

37:44 Don't get arrogant and act like you have a right to it. Don't get arrogant and act like you're entitled to it. Don't get arrogant and get beside yourself and start believing the applause of men and thinking you are more than you are. Because you know I know you. I know you ain't nothing. I know you came from nothing. I know what you will do. I know what you're capable of. I know what you used to do. I know what you're still doing. And still I chose to bless you anyway. So if don't nobody else praise me in the whole church. when I look at you I expect to see some praise I want to see some praise out of you because I I I know you I know you I'm not asking about you I don't need a prophet to come tell me about you I know you and I saved you anyway and half the things I sent you you killed and I kept you anyway you stoned it and I kept you anyway you threw rocks at it and I kept you anyway And if nobody in your role Praise God You owe me a praise You owe me a praise You owe me a praise To God be the glory To God be the glory To God be the glory For the things he has Thank you.

39:18 Somebody who's a witness, give him a praise right there. Somebody, somebody, somebody, somebody, somebody, somebody give him a praise right there. The problem is that when you look at God's attitude and you look at their attitude, there's such a stark contrast between his kindness, his grace, his growth, his goodness, and their greed, which is a derivative of their entitlement. You know why you're greedy? Because you're entitled. ain't nothing never enough cause you're entitled you're entitled it's your way or the highway cause you're entitled you spoil bread you're entitled you think I was supposed to do it that's why you won't praise me you think I was supposed to heal you you think I was supposed to bring you out I'm looking for somebody who's grateful I'm looking for somebody who's grateful I'm looking for somebody who knows they're not worthy.

40:37 I'm looking for somebody who's ready to throw their hands up and give me the praise because you know it was me that brought you all the time. You know you didn't do right. You know you left a bloody trail behind you. You killed some folks. You stoned some folks. You bruised some folks. If I dealt with you like you dealt with them, you wouldn't be here today. I'm looking for somebody to give me the glory. but it's not your personality and you don't feel like praising God and your feet hurt and you're too tired and you're not in the mood and somebody parked in your parking space and somebody sitting in your seat what seat? you ain't got no seat you don't own no seat you don't own no seat come out of this craziness you got in your mind like you own something one day your seat will be empty and you will be missed and somebody will be sitting in your seat.

41:33 Somebody's going to drive your car. Somebody's going to wear your coat. Somebody's going to wear your shoes. They're going to be selling your shoes down at Goodwill. You better come out of it. You act like you're in a coma. Wake yourself up. Wake yourself up, Zion. Zion, wake yourself up. Come out of your sleep and recognize ain't nothing that you got you're not going to leave behind. You can't take a blanket with you. You can't take a pillow with you. You can't take a steak dinner with you. Everything you got is on loan. I just don't like for nobody wearing my clothes. Who else somebody going to wear them? Somebody going to wear them. Somebody going to buy that suit that you paid $250 for. They going to buy it for $15. They going to buy it for $15.

42:25 And they going to take it where you would never take it before. And they going to do what they want to do. Because you don't have nothing. You don't have nothing. I don't owe you nothing. I chose to bless you. I decided to bless you as an act of my sovereign will. Hallelujah. I don't owe you no blessing. I chose to wake you up this morning. I chose to give you the activity of your limb. I chose to make you smart. I chose to give you a good memory. Stop looking down your nose at other people. I chose to bless you. I chose you for that house. I chose you for that job. I chose you for that house. So no matter how high you get, keep on praising me as low as you can go. Prostrate yourself on the floor and never act entitled because I don't even want you to look entitled. I don't even want you to turn your face up like you're entitled.

43:23 I don't want to see it on your face because you and me got a covenant and I know you. Oh, my God, something's going to happen in here tonight. I can feel it. I said, something is going to happen in here tonight. Something is going to happen in here tonight. Something is going to happen in here tonight. And when he came, when the owner came, when the owner came, he killed the man that he had chosen to be a steward because they had not been a good steward over what he'd given them. Now I'm going to go deep. You with me? Have we been a good steward of the planet? so whatever happens to the planet we cannot say to God you're unjust because of how we handled what he gave us how did you handle your children I mean when it got on your nerves and you didn't feel like being bothered.

44:44 what did you say to your spouse you no no no all you remember is what they said to you so you got a one sided narrative of what all they did wrong and I learned a long time ago when you get somebody in a room talking about their spouse or their old church or their old boss you only get half of the story if you get that other half and you batch them two sides together, you will get a complete picture of what you should hear what he called me. What did you say? So what we have to do is do inventory over what we have been given. What I'm telling you is real important because God is going to judge you according to what he gave you.

45:38 Every person he made like you, every opportunity he gave you, every position he put you in, you're going to have to give an account for it. he's only going to judge you over what he put under your control. So when you take inventory, the reason it's important that you take inventory is because whatever he gave you wasn't yours. the chance he gave you, the people he let you meet, the favor he gave you, the attitude they have towards you is all because of your association with him.

46:25 And you fooled around, you thought they liked you. No, no, no, no, no. They didn't like you. They didn't like you. He turned the heart of the king in his hand. And made them to like you. And carved out a space for you. Now you don't want to go to work. He carved out a space for you. And you feel like you're so entitled that now you want the whole thing to be rearranged to fit your needs, your lacks, your attitude, your aptitude. never realizing none of this is yours.

47:09 None of it's yours. None of it's yours. Anybody in here work in a funeral home? Hold your hand up if you work in a funeral home. Anybody? We're over here. Yeah, yeah. Then you know what I'm talking about. You know when it's all said and done, I don't care how pretty you are. I don't care how fine you are. I don't care how many degrees you got. I don't care what college you went to. when it's all said and done, they put you on that slab. You're going to be naked on that slab. You ain't going to be able to hide nothing on that slab. It ain't going to matter how fine you are. You're just dead. People walk past you and say, you look like yourself. Oh, she look like she's asleep. You ain't asleep. You dead. All them hours you worked out in the gym, all them biceps and triceps and all that. The reason the Bible said bodily exercise profit is little doesn't mean that you're not supposed to take care of your body.

48:10 But it says when you get through doing all of that and taking all them vitamins and BK-12 and K-17 and I don't eat this and I don't eat that and I'm a vegan. and when you get through doing all of that stuff and running five miles in the morning and five miles in the evening, when you get through doing all of that stuff and almond milk and I don't drink soy milk and I'm allergic to cow milk, when you get through doing all of that stuff, you still, you still gonna be dead. I'm not saying don't do it. Do all of it. Do all of it. Anything, maybe if it keeps you a week longer, do it if you want to be here a week longer. But when the week is up. When the week is up, I don't care who you met that told you you was fine, you're still going to be dead. I don't care who fell in love with you, they're going to cry at the funeral.

49:09 But by next week, they're going to find something funny and be laughing about it. And in a couple of months, they're going to feel a little bit better. And if you wait nine months, they're going to be dating again. And if you fool around a year, they're going to be sleeping in the bed that you were sleeping in the bed with her. It's all, y'all don't want to hear the truth. I've lived long enough. I've lived long enough that I've seen the truth. You are expendable. You are expendable. You are expendable. You are, listen, let me tell you, I don't want to hurt your little feelings, but you are expendable. I know they told you ain't nobody in the world like you, and can't nobody love you, love me like you love me, and you blew my mind, and my eyes rolled up in my head, and my toes curled up to my kneecaps. They gonna uncurl them toes and find somebody else and keep right on going because you're expendable. And the reason you're, that's why you can't be entitled.

50:08 Oh, you didn't hear me. I think you're the only one who heard me. That's why you can't fool around here and be entitled because you're expendable. If you think for one minute that out of 8 million people on the planet, that you're the only one in the whole wide world that can do whatever it is that you're doing, you are out of your mind. There's somebody drunk up under the bridge that'll sing you up under the table. There's somebody in the prison that can outdraw you and do draft. There's somebody in the street. There's somebody with a needle in their arm that God'll raise up and use them and blow your mind. You are expendable. That's why you got to be humble. That's why you got to be grateful. He chose you.

51:01 He picked you out. He gave you a chance. He opened up a door. He gave you an opportunity. He exposed you to blessings that you didn't even work for. Hallelujah to God. You can't be entitled. You're too expendable to be entitled. You have to humble yourself up under the mighty hand of the Lord. You don't know who's going to have to hand you your last drink of water. You don't know who's going to have to change you in the bed. You don't know who's going to have to roll you over. You don't know who's going to have to put your lipstick on. who's going to have to fix your face or who's going to have to close your eyes. You are expendable. So you can never be entitled. You've got to be grateful. You've got to be grateful because out of 8 billion people in the world, there's somebody who can do what you're doing.

51:56 There's somebody who can do what you're doing. There's somebody in the bush who can do what you're doing. There's somebody in the woods that can do what you're doing. There's somebody in college right now that can do what you're doing. They can do what you're doing. And there's somebody, I hate to tell you this, that can do it better than you do it. So if you're jealous, you're wasting your time because there's always somebody going to be cuter than you. There's always going to be somebody smarter than you. That's why you got to be grateful when God brings people into your life because people have options. God has options. Jobs have options. life presents options and there's always somebody. I used to work at a plant and a man would make me so mad. He would tell us there's a barefoot boy standing right outside the door that would love to have your job. It didn't sound good but it was true. I went on to work. I humbled myself down and stopped complaining about short lunch break and went on to work and ate my little ham sandwich and went on back up on the dock and did what I had to do because I knew I was expendable.

53:04 And if you ever get in your head that you are expendable, you'll stop being entitled. if you're looking for a cure for entitlement you got to spend some time facing the fact that you're expendable and even if you don't expire you're going to slow down and retire and you're not going to be able to do what you used to do So if all they wanted you for was what you used to do, they're going to be gone. That's why you can't set your plumb line on their opinion. Because as soon as you stop performing, they were going about their business. Very few people will stay beyond you giving them what they need.

54:00 This text shows you, okay, the owner came back and said, I came to get what I need over and over again. You beat him up. You hit him in the head. I sent my son. You killed my son. You didn't take care of what I gave you. to him whom much is given, much is required. Now I'm going to take you out. You're not going to get none of it. You're not going to get your half or my half. You're not going to get your third or my two thirds. You're not going to get any of them. You were conspiring to get it all. And because you were greedy and you wanted all of it and you wasn't satisfied to let anybody else be blessed but you, you talked yourself out of the whole thing.

54:54 Now you don't get nothing. and there's nothing as sad as running into some old person who has lived their whole life and ends up with nothing because no matter what God gave them, they always blew it. because sometimes it takes getting old to get some sense. And you get older, you get some sense. As you get older, you begin to realize, I'm not so such as much. I'm not so great. I'm not so wise. I'm not so smart. I don't speak so good. I don't sing so good. I'm not the only one God has. I'm not the only tree in the forest. I'm not the only one, and it'll give you a whole different attitude. The problem is, most of the time, by the time we wake up, it's too late. it's too late. That's why the Bible said the day you hear my voice harden not your heart because the first time I sent somebody you should have gathered up what was mine and give it to me. How many of you are sitting on gifts right now?

56:03 Sitting on talents right now? Sitting on blessings right now? Sitting on increase right now? Sitting on opportunity right now. Sitting on skill. I know the choir sings on Tuesday and I just don't feel like doing nothing on Tuesday because I'm tired on Tuesday. yeah yeah and she said i'm going to choir rehearsal yeah she said i passed that test go with the dance i'm at it if god gave you some see i'm being funny but i'm also being serious god gave you something if you can understand calculus and trigonometry and it comes easy for you, that don't mean you're better than me.

56:55 That means God gave you something that's in alignment with his divine purpose for your life. He equipped you with everything you needed to take care of everything he gave you. Y'all didn't hear me. I'm going to keep coming until you get it. He dug out the vat. He built the tower. He placed the hedges in place. He gave you everything you need to be successful at what he called you to do. And everything you didn't need, he didn't give you. So there's no need in you coveting what your neighbor got because you don't need what your neighbor got to do what he called you to do. For everything God called you to do, he equipped you for it. I want you to say this with me. I got everything I need.

57:49 I've got everything I need to do what God called me to do. Hallelujah, hallelujah. I got everything I need. I got everything I need. I got everything I need to do what God called me to do. And I'm not just talking about church stuff. I'm talking about everything God called me to do in the world. Everything God called me to be in life. I got everything I need. I got just the right brokenness. Come on, stay with me. I got just the right brokenness. I was broken in all the right places. He had a plan when he broke me. He broke me in all the right places so I would have the right thirst and the right need and the right drive and the right humility and the right perseverance. He allowed me to be broken.

58:41 Where was God when I went through there? He was watching it. He was measuring it. He was making sure that it went deep enough to put you in a position that when he puts you in there, you would fit God monitors, not just the day, but the night. He's God of the midnight. He's God of the darkness. He's God of the storm. He's God of the trouble. He's God of the rejection. He's God of the pain. He's God of everything that you went through to get where you're trying to go. Who am I talking to? He monitored it. The enemy might have been used to do it, but God controlled it and said, here and no further. You can touch this, but not that. You can touch the other, but you can't touch this. And all of it was a setup so that you would have the right personality to dig in and become what you need to be to do what God created you to do. Glory to God. And he expects you to do it like you got some sense without the spirit of entitlement because other people are going to come along and try to take what you got with the spirit of entitlement, but they're going to all perish.

59:51 they're going to all pray because what God has for you is for you. As long as you don't get entitled. Is this helping anybody? Put my first scripture up at the top. Yeah.

1:00:13 Not Mark 12 one. The other one. The first one at the top of the page. Then he began to speak to them in prayer. No, no, no. Above that, that we haven't used yet. At the very top of the notes. Let me go up here. Let me go up here. Let me go up here. Sorry. I'll do this myself.

1:02:16 Matthew 21, 42 through 45. Yeah, give me that. Yeah, there you go. Now, this is the same story told from another gospel writer. And he goes into more detail. And that's why I wanted to use it. Jesus said to them, have you never read in the scriptures, the stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone. This was the Lord's doing. Is he talking about the stone or the rejection? we always we always quoted for something good this is a Lord's doing child and it's marvelous in our we don't say that when he's whooping our behind I've never heard nobody quote that scripture while they were going through hell but this is the Lord's doings the rejection that brought the selection the furnace is seven times harder than it ought to be? This is the Lord's doings. The lions are hungry and they threw you in the lion's den. You know why?

1:03:28 This is the Lord's doings. None of the physicians have been able to heal your body and you're still bleeding. You know why? This is the Lord's doing. I set you up so that when you got your healing, you would know it was an absolute miracle and you would know that I was on your side. I did it so you would be sure that it was me and not them. I let them try and fail so that you would praise me and you wouldn't be confused and be running around there jumping around no hospital, praising no doctor. God said, I'm going to do it myself. Dr. Jesus is going to come in the room and do it myself so you have no doubt. This is the Lord's doing. This is the Lord's doing. Hallelujah. Somebody shout this is a large door my god and it is marvelous in our, it is marvelous that he can put that much heat on me and not destroy me.

1:04:29 It is marvelous that he can expose me to that much pain and I still survive. It is marvelous that I can be exposed to that much dysfunction so that I might be able to function where he put me. It is marvelous that I can withstand so much stuff that I thought I couldn't bear. And I thought I would die. And I thought I would lose my mind. And I thought I would go crazy. It's marvelous that he would push me that close to the edge and yet keep my feet from falling. It's marvelous. Oh, my God, who am I preaching to? It's marvelous. If half the people in the room knew what you've been through, they wouldn't even understand how you could be sitting here. Why you hadn't lost your mind. Why you're not sitting on the floor eating a ball of cotton. And yet when your mind was about to fall apart, God kept your mind from falling apart. And it's marvelous.

1:05:23 It's marvelous. Oh, text somebody and say it's marvelous. It's marvelous. I'm talking about the pain I bore. I'm talking about the nights I suffered. I'm talking about the times I cried myself to sleep. I'm talking about the time I didn't have nothing to eat. It's marvelous. I'm talking about our lights being off. I'm talking about our water being off. I'm talking about me thumbing to teach Bible class. It's marvelous. I'm talking about teaching Bible class to 10 people for 10 years. It's marvelous. I'm talking about the times I've ran out of gas. I'm talking about the times we had to float down the hill and put it in neutral to try to stretch the gas. It's marvelous in our eyes. It's marvelous that you could go through all of that licking and still keep on ticking. It's marvelous. It got me ready for this. It got me ready for you. It got me ready for the storm.

1:06:17 It got me ready that I don't break as easy as you thought. You thought you'd break me, didn't you? You thought you'd utterly destroy me. But he fired me up and put me in the furnace. And it's my thank you for burning me till I got stronger. Thank you for dealing with me till my soul said yeah. Thank you for building me up where I'm weak. Thank you for giving me the power. I brought my own Holy Ghost. In case you left yours in the car, I got enough with me that I can drag this service by myself. Thank you because I'm used to preaching to an empty room. I'm used to preaching that folk have sleep. It's marvelous the way he brought me. It's marvelous the way he took me. It's marvelous. You want to see marvelous? Look at me. Oh my God, it's marvelous. Look, turn to your neighbor and say, you want to see marvelous?

1:07:13 Look at me. Thank you. It's marvelous. It's marvelous. Don't know who my daddy is, but it's marvelous. Got raised by my grandmother, but it's marvelous. Had no shelter over my head, but it's marvelous. Slept up under a bridge, but it's marvelous. So now you can't talk about me and run me off, because if I made it up under the bridge, I can make it around you. you can't roll your eyes and send me home it's marvelous you see why you can't be entitled and be leaving this and quitting that and running over here and running there sometimes god wants you to sit down be still and know that i am god and besides me there is no other hallelujah having done all to stand stand therefore with your loins girt about with truth because if you can stand it I'll do something marvelous in your eyes.

1:08:16 He whose feet are planted in the house of the Lord shall flourish in the courts of our God. It's marvelous. I'm teaching you how to stand something. I'm teaching you how to take something. I'm teaching you how to endure something. I'm teaching you when to shut your mouth. I'm teaching you when to hold your peace. I'm teaching you how to be still. I'm teaching you how to let me fight your battles. I'm teaching you how to know that I will provide for you when I get ready. And until I get ready, you can cry, you can scream, you can moan, but you're not getting out until I say you're getting out. The chains aren't going to fall until I say they're going to fall. The door's not going to open, Peter, until I say it's going to open. The way's not going to be made until I say it's going to be made. You can knock at the door all night, but the door's not going to open until I get ready for it to open.

1:09:09 And when I get ready for it to open, I'll touch Rhoda and let Rhoda hear you. And Rhoda will open the door and let you in. Good God Almighty, I feel something. I better stop because I feel something in this place. Don't you know when God gets ready to let you in, he's always got a Rhoda somewhere that can hear the knocking at the door. And he'll open up a door for you. And he'll make a way for you. And it's marvelous. And I feel like shouting. somebody take a minute and give me 15 seconds of Pentecostal praise. Oh, Holy Ghost praise. Give me sanctified praise. Give me devil chasing praise. Give me rock throwing praise. Give me thirst quenching praise. You got one more minute. Give me a praise that'll bring down a giant. Give me a praise that'll shut up a lion.

1:10:04 Give me a praise that'll open up a door. Give me a praise that'll make a way out of no way. Give me a praise that'll let every demon around you know that you've been with the Lord. Give me a praise that'll make your fever go down, that'll bring your high blood pressure down, that'll bring your low blood pressure up, that will regulate your blood sugar, that will regulate your blood sugar, that will regulate your blood sugar.