T.D. Jakes Went WAY Too Far This Time!

T.D. Jakes’ “I Still Want Me” Message and the Problem of Self-Affirmation

Hey guys, Colin here, and welcome back to Fight For Truth, the channel where we bring you Christian commentary about the things that matter. Again, my apologies for any background noises you might hear, I have some ongoing construction happening in my neighborhood.

In today's video, we're going to be talking about a sermon from T .D. Jakes. When it's all said and done, this particular sermon had such levels of false teaching in it that we've already had to make two videos on the same one.

If you're interested in seeing our other videos on this topic, you can click the links in the description. In any case, today will be an analysis of a different part of this sermon. It contains various examples of serious unbiblical errors which should be considered one by one.

So without any further ado, let's listen to this sermon from Prosperity Gospel Teacher T .D. Jakes and compare it to the Bible. Watch this.

Maybe their no is no to them, but it's still yes to me, and if you don't want me, I still want me. Say it, I still want me. House on fire, smoke everywhere, everything burning up, but I still...

So let's review this briefly. T .D. Jakes is painting a picture, if you will, of calamity. He says, quote, house is on fire, smoke everywhere, but I still want me. And then he encourages the audience to repeat this important statement over and over again, saying, quote, I still want me.

This is, at the very least, misguided and problematic. At the very worst, it's man-centered false teaching. In either case, it's subpar, and rather than accepting this, we should compare it to the Word of God.

Is this the way that we ought to respond to calamity in our lives as Christians? Does this sound like the refrain of a Christian in distress, repeating over and over again, quote, I still want me? This doesn't seem to be rooted in Scripture.

Here's an example. The Psalms contain many instances wherein a writer of Scripture is in some sort of calamity or serious distress. Consider Psalm chapter 3, written as David fled from the wrath of Absalom, who was his very own son.

Verse 1, it starts off saying this, quote, O Lord, how many are my foes? Many rise up against me. Many are saying of my soul, there is no salvation for him in God, end quote. In other words, David is in serious calamity.

He's experiencing heavy persecution, threats upon his own life from his very child. Meanwhile, he is still the Lord's anointed. This would be confusing. In fact, it would be more difficult than any of us can imagine.

But is his response to say anything like, quote, I still want me? No. Verses 3 -4 give us David's response, quote, But you, O Lord, are a shield about me, my glory and the lifter of my head. I cried aloud to the Lord, and He answered me from His holy hill, end quote.

So it seems that despite all that's gone wrong, and a lot has, David's sole hope and salvation still is in the Lord, his God. Not in how he feels about himself, no, but rather in how much he trusts the Lord.

And you will find that the Psalms specifically are replete with examples of putting all of one's hope in the Lord, even through difficult circumstances. But I am not aware of any scripture that places its hope in the fact that, quote, I still want me.

This kind of man-centered perspective is very concerning. It should be about trust in God, not affirmation of self. That's not a Christian virtue. In any case, let's move forward and see the next clip, where TD Jakes goes on.

Watch this.

Demons Tremble at God’s Power, Not Human Self-Affirmation

You make me want to do my happy dance. Don't you know demons tremble when you start talking like that? Hell gets nervous when you start talking like that. The devil thought he had you in a full Nelson, thought he had you locked down and you weren't going to get up, and you just jumped up and hollered, I still want me.

Demons tremble. Hell gets frustrated. Witches lose their power. Somebody's shouting out, I still want me.

Now this is even more dangerous, because now Jakes is asserting that when you offer your self-affirmation, when you say, quote, I still want me, hell itself gets nervous and, quote, demons tremble. Again, this is incredibly unbiblical.

And here's an important question. Whose power is it that makes demons tremble, according to TD Jakes? Who has the power to, quote, frustrate hell in TD Jakes' teaching here? Answer? You. You, and specifically your positive self-affirmation, have the power to strike fear in the hearts of demons.

But is this what the Bible says? No. Keep in mind, Jakes is not saying the name of Jesus carries power over demonic forces or that Christians need not fear hell because of the power of God. No, that would be completely biblical.

But this isn't focused on God's power at all. Rather, it is about your willpower, your self-perception. That's the main principle here. Meanwhile, James 2 .19 says this, quote, you believe that God is one, you do well, even the demons believe, and shudder, end quote.

So what do the demons tremble in response to? Well, according to the actual text of Scripture, they tremble because they believe in the one true God. Thus, TD Jakes has taken a phrase that is actually about God's power and has made it about man's power instead.

At best, this is confusing, and at worst, it is outright false teaching. This man-centered motivational speech may get the crowd excited and on their feet, but it's not rooted in sound doctrine. That's the problem.

In any case, let's move forward and see what TD Jakes says next. Watch this. Now, there's a lot to get into there. Jakes pays some sort of lip service to quote-unquote God's grace in this matter, but then he goes on to make the main focus of this obviously, quote, I release you to go after your dream.

God said you have permission. But if you focus in on the bottom left corner of the screen around this time, you'll see something important. He is preaching from 1 Samuel 30 verses 3 -15, and this passage is talking about a specific story, about when David and his men returned to Ziklag to find their families taken captive and their city in ruins.

After grieving, David asked the Lord this in verse 8, quote,. And David inquired of the Lord, Shall I pursue after this band? Shall I overtake them? And he answered him, Pursue, for you shall surely overtake and shall surely rescue, end quote.

So you see, when TD Jakes is saying, I release you to go after your dream, when he says the word pursue in this sermon, he's referring back to this passage where the Lord tells David to pursue the enemies who took his family.

So in the end, what exactly is the problem with this? You might ask. Well, to put it mildly, everything is wrong with this. You see, when God gave David permission to pursue these enemies, this does not mean that He has given you permission to go after your personal dream.

The passage isn't about you fundamentally. Again, it's about David. Of course, at the same time, Romans 15, 4 says this, quote, For whatever was written in former days, the Old Testament, was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures, we might have hope, end quote.

In other words, there are principles in this Old Testament passage which can encourage you, instruct you. But these principles can be found using a sober-minded, consistent, and diligent study of God's Word, not by simply turning the passage into whatever motivational speech you feel like on that day.

And that brings me to another serious issue with this. When God gave David permission, He also blessed David's efforts and assured him that they would be successful. If you recall, God said this, quote, Pursue, for you shall surely overtake, and shall surely rescue, end quote.

T .D. Jakes falsely takes this as a promise that your efforts in accomplishing, again, your personal dream, must be successful. But remember, God never actually promised this to you. He promised it to David in a specific circumstance.

And James 4, 13 says this, quote, Come now you who say, Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town, and spend a year there, and trade, and make a profit. Yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring.

Instead, you want to say, If the Lord wills, we will live, and do this or that, end quote. Now if God's promise to David of absolute success applies directly and materialistically to all Christians, then this passage simply makes no sense.

Why would James not simply say, Pursue, for you shall surely accomplish these things in the future? Why not simply say, God has given you permission to do this, so pursue it? Instead, James says that you should dedicate your work to the Lord, and say, If He wills it, we will do this or that.

Thus, not only has T .D. Jakes broadly attributed a promise to all Christians which was only meant for David, but he now applies this promise in a way that the New Testament here seems to take serious issue with.

But in the next clip, you'll find that the false teaching here comes to a crescendo, if you will.

Watch this. Because you'll never take ownership of what you don't believe you have a right to have. Can I go a little bit deeper? Self-permission led to God's permission.

Now this is incredibly dangerous. Notice what he said here, quote,. Self-permission led to God's permission. But if you read the passage, that is not at all what happens. David never gave himself permission.

It simply never occurred. Again, 1 Samuel 3, 8 says, quote,. And David inquired of the Lord, Shall I pursue after this band? Shall I overtake them? You see, David inquired of the Lord. He was asking, not telling.

David did not give himself permission to succeed. He went to the Lord, knowing that God in His sovereignty would decide what happened. So for T .D. Jakes to say on the basis of this text that, quote, Self-permission led to God's permission, it's absolutely false.

It's not true at all. Not only is it not what the passage said, it's actually the exact opposite of what the passage says. T .D. Jakes is effectively giving you power over God when he says this, intentionally or not.

That is incredibly dangerous. Imagine if a child said, quote, If I give myself permission to do something, this means that my mother and father have to give me permission as well. My permission leads to their permission.

Obviously, this kind of attitude would not be honoring your parents' authority. The whole idea of giving yourself permission beforehand defeats the entire purpose. If your self-permission leads to God's permission anyways, why even ask for God's permission?

If you've decided that the answer is yes, and God effectively has no option to say the answer is no, then what's the point? Why even ask? Again, intentionally or unintentionally, T .D. Jakes is effectively undercutting the authority of God.

This is the epitome of man-centered false teaching. Proverbs 19 .21, on the other hand, says this, quote,. Many are the plans in the mind of man, but it is the purpose of the Lord that will stand. In summation, T .D. Jakes has denied God's sovereignty over creation.

He's denied God's authority over his people. He does this by misusing and misinterpreting a passage in 1 Samuel which demonstrates the very opposite of what he's teaching. And all of this is clearly being done in an effort to preach a man-centered motivational speech, and specifically, one which is obviously not rooted in the Word of God.

In fact, at several points, it goes against the Word of God. It is for these reasons, and many others, that we should mark and avoid T .D. Jakes lovingly as a false teacher. So what should we do from here, then?

Supporting Local Churches With Sound Biblical Teaching

Well, as always, we should seek to empower and edify local churches with sound biblical teaching, starting in our communities and with our families. Let's get to work. I pray that this has been a blessing to you, and please know that this video isn't meant as a sinful attack, but rather as a biblical critique.

And let's pray for T .D. Jakes, that he would stop this false teaching by God's grace and turn to the truth of God's Word. Thank you so much for watching that video. Please give us a like and subscribe so that you don't miss any content.

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