Thank you, Jesus. Thank you for your real presence in this room. There is nothing we can do without you, Jesus. And tonight or this evening, we want to fully experience everything you have for us. Help us. Help us. Amen.
The title of my message today is Appointed. Appointed. You can write it down and I'll later on say to what? Appointed for what? We'll get there. But if you look at the scripture, there is this idea that you keep seeing, which is that on one hand you have the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit at the beginning of the creation narrative. What happens?
God says in the beginning, as He says that, as He creates everything He creates, what He does is He ushers in time as we know it. He exists outside of time. But when the verse says in the beginning, our understanding of time begins at that very point, even though He is outside of that time.
And then what God does is He looks at this canvas of time that He exists outside of, that we are inside of. He looks at the stretch of time that He has created and then He begins to look at day and night. He begins to divide them.
Weeks and months, seasons and years, decades, centuries, millennia, He begins to divide it all in His wisdom. And we end up in, for me, 1988 through. For some of you before after. But He saw everything before it, existing outside of time.
And you see this, what God then does is across this canvas of time that He creates, He puts markers one after the other. He puts markers. What He then does is He says, Derek, this is the time that I have for you and inside your lifetime I'm going to give you a point at times.
Times for you to be doing things with me. Times for me to accomplish things inside you. And so for all of us, it's the case. We have appointed times that God has said even before we were born.
He does that with individuals. He also does that with families. He does that with churches. He then does that with nations, villages, towns, the world. About five years ago we started in this church, started talking about this idea that God is going to birth a revival amongst young people.
What is that? It is an appointed time that God sets, looking at the canvas of time and He says this, I'm going to accomplish these things at this time. You see this in Jesus's life.
Jesus is born. We read of Him when He is 12 years old and then we read of Him when He is around 30 years old. And at that time in His life, God says this is the time that was appointed for Jesus to enter into public ministry as we read it through the four Gospels.
It had to happen at a particular time. It couldn't have happened before. It couldn't have happened, have happened after. So think with me. So for our lives, this is of significance then, eh? That when I was created, God said, Derek, here are the things that I want with you, for you, in you, through you.
And here is the life that I have for you. And inside of this lifetime that I have for you, I am kind of dividing it, marking it into different appointed times.
You see this throughout the scripture. If you go to Habakkuk chapter 2, verse 2 and 3, you see this again, God is speaking to Habakkuk and God says, write down this vision. Make it plain on the tablet. Write it down. I'm giving you a vision. I want you to write it down. Why? Why, God? Why do you want me to write it down? Make it plain so that anyone who reads it will run with it.
You begin to see this. So God has a vision. He has an idea that he wants to happen on earth at that time. So he asks Habakkuk, write it down. Why? I want them to read it. And anyone who reads it, I want him to run with it.
Now you begin to see appointed time is not just something that he sets up for us, for us to enter into. There is something that we need to partner with him. The very next verse in Habakkuk chapter 2, verse 3, it then says the vision is awaiting an appointed time.
So God speaks it. God atters it. He then says this thing that I have just spoken to you, this thing that I am wanting of you to write down on tablets, there is an appointed time for it.
And then he adds, the time will not be delayed. It is working towards that time. So as you press in, as you stay the course, everything that I appointed for you will come to you.
I want us to see this grand plan that God has. We are not just going through life and just coming out of it and then going to heaven. He has plans.
He has plans. Appointed times. And may I say, when a person, a man or a woman or a family or a church, a town, a village, a city, a nation, and even the church globally begins to recognize what God wants to do at any period in time, now you are aligned with him.
One, you need to know what it is that God has appointed this time for. So if you go to 1 Chronicles chapter 12, verse 32, you see sons of Issachar.
So we only talk about sons of Issachar in one way. What do we say typically when we say these guys knew the times in which they were living in.
But we often forget to quote the other part, the next part of the scripture. What is it? Not only did they know the times in which they were living in, they also did know what the Israelites had to do at that time.
Aha. So on one hand, there is appointed time that we are to understand. And two, the men of Issachar, that tribe, they knew what had to be done at the time that God revealed to them.
So then, if God has an appointed time for me, if God has an appointed time for you, if God has an appointed time for Acts 29, then there are certain things we are to understand from him about what we are to do, how we are to stand, how we are to move, how we are to pray, how we are to be, how we are to talk.
Because every season has certain things that are important. So we want, once we understand what it is, we then have to partner with God. So what is appointed time then? Let's define it this way. Appointed time is the time ordained by God.
So God ordains it. Thankfully, that's great. We don't have to ordain it. He ordains time, and he's impartial. So any man he creates, any woman he creates, any church he builds on earth, he has appointed times.
So appointed time is a time that is ordained by God, where he intends to, wants to partner with you and me to do things in me, through me, for me, different stuff.
And one of the things I want to tell you is this. If you've been waiting for things and you feel like time is passing by, God says, son, daughter, I have an appointed time, a time I have appointed for certain things.
Stick the course with me. Don't pull back. Stay aligned with how I want you to be. You'll come to see it. You'll experience it. I exist outside of time, God says. Is anything too hard for me? You tell me, is there anything God says that's hard for me?
I planned you. Bible says Psalm 139 says it this way. What does it say? It says, David understood it somehow, and he says, every day of my life were formed for me before I was born.
And there is a book in which all the days that were formed for me have already been written. And it says this is the best part. Vast. How precious are your thoughts?
So this book that has is there for Jane and Sheldon. It's got many pages on it. What is filled in it? Bible says, according to Psalm 139, in it are the vast, precious thoughts of God for Jane and Sheldon.
Oh man, if we can understand this and we go through life, not just at this point in this church's life, but individually in our lives, having a desire to say, I want to be like sons of Issachar.
I want to understand where I'm at in life and what it is that you want me to do. What is important for me? What are the things that you're trying to tell me? I'm not going to miss it.
And when you show that desire, God then begins to birth what he wants to do with us inside us. I want you to see it. No one is excluded.
Every single one of us. And so for Acts 29, I was, Jacob had told me
about a week and a half ago that last Sunday he told me he was not going to be here last Sunday. So I had this teaching all kind of written out.
And then Saturday, last Saturday, he told me, no, I'm in town. And then I was here and Jacob taught on everything he taught on. And this is a continuation. Therefore, what happened last week?
And it had to be said after what Jacob said, because this church right now, according to what Jacob said, there is a time that God has allotted for us in this land.
And he said, this is a time of supernatural harvest for acts 29. This is a time of supernatural harvest.
I always like us not all also seeing what God does in the landscape of the world. Otherwise we get too caught up in a little thing.
Begin to see the earth. Begin to see what God is doing. Don't be small minded. This God that I serve and you serve.
He takes care of entire nations, the entire earth. He has plans. And then God says, I'm going to bring this people that I both into this place called Richmond and enrichment.
I'm going to have you do certain things. And so Jacob heard that he shared that along with that. There are a few things he said. He said one church.
This is a time when you gather together and you do what? Fasting. Number two, praying.
Number three, take the sickle, go out and harvest because the harvest is here already. Yeah. So this is the appointed time for acts 29 to step into what God has said.
Now having an awareness of this is what God wants to do is one thing, but then doing it is another thing. And you know, when you when you're a dad and you look at your daughter or your or your son,
they may be little, but still you want them to do that thing. You know, if they get that right, it's amazing. And there is a part of you that's just anticipating and waiting for them to connect the two dots.
That's how he is with us. He shares it. He reminds us. He has us think about it. And then he's just waiting, waiting to see if I'll connect the dots and step into it.
And may I say there is nothing more important for you and I than this. This isn't just church stuff, guys. This isn't just telling Jacob, yeah, we'll go to Richmond.
This isn't saying yes, because a few other people at X said yes. You need to understand how integral this is to what God has for you.
I often say this in sidetrack, but see when we are in a community with the people as you are here, it is important to understand why what is being is said.
And then if you are part of the community, jump in. If you struggle, ask. Never say stay somewhere without knowing what to do.
Never say stay somewhere without knowing what to do. Because sometimes we can be like this. We can circle around the pond and get a feel of it. You understand what it is, but still you're hesitant.
Just felt like I should share that. So important to know what it is that God wants for you. And then if you have questions, if there are things you don't understand, ask. Such a good thing.
Why go through another three months not understanding and not doing anything about it? That's a wastage of time. It is wisdom to ask. It's wisdom to then try to understand. Yeah.
So that's what Jacob said with regards to acts 29. It is a time of supernatural harvest. This is the appointed time that God has given us at acts to be involved in this.
And then he said fast and pray and go out and do the work. All I want to do today is talk about one aspect of what we need to do as a church.
So even though on YouTube you won't see appointed time dash anything, what I want to talk about is consecration. Being set apart for the things God has for you and I.
This is where I begin to partner with him. This is where you need to partner with him. So my with the time we have today, what I want to do is talk about a few principles derived from the word that we can look at and say, what's this framework that I need to take on for my life at this time?
And frankly, even if this is 10 years later, the same thing will apply. But more so right now, given where the church is at. So the first thing I want you to go to Genesis chapter 18.
Genesis chapter 18.
We'll get to how much we can get to and that would be it. So Genesis chapter 18.
Brandon, I don't know if you can bring it up. That'd be great if you can, because I want to go through a couple of verses.
It says, and the Lord appeared to him by the oaks of Mamre and he sat at the door of his tent.
So this is Abraham. Yeah, this is Abraham Genesis 18 and the Lord appeared to Abraham by the oaks of Mamre.
And as he sat at the door of his tent in the heat of the day, he lifted up his eyes and looked and behold, three men were standing in front of him.
When he saw them, he ran from the tent door to meet them and bowed himself to the earth and said, Oh Lord, if I have found favor in your sight, do not pass by your servant.
Okay. And then if you versus down, you'll see he really wants to entertain the three men who have shown up to his place.
So he entertains them. He gives them curd, milk, baked cake, lamb or a calf. So he feeds them.
And then it says at the end of verse eight, and he stood, Abraham stood by them under the tree while they ate. Yeah.
Verse nine, they said to him, where is Sarah, your wife? And he said, she's in the tent.
The Lord said, I will surely return to you about this time next year. Wow.
Now we begin to see for Abraham and Sarah. God is beginning to show them this whole idea of appointed times.
So he tells them, on one hand, I am here in front of you and I'm talking to you.
And on the other hand, in about a year's time, I'm going to come back to you. What does it say?
I will surely return to you about this time next year. And Sarah, your wife shall have a son.
And Sarah was listening at the 10 door behind him.
And God says in verse 14, because he understands that Sarah was laughing to herself.
God says, why did Sarah laugh? Shall I and saying, shall I indeed bear a child now that I am old?
Is anything too hard for the Lord at the appointed time?
God says it again, at the appointed time, I will return to you.
There is a couple of things in terms of principles that I want to draw out from this passage.
Number one, see, when scripture elaborates on certain things in stories that we read,
there are things that God wants us to understand and then apply.
This is the most wise God who ever existed. He is God Almighty.
And when he decides that he's going to put certain, he's going to articulate what happened in certain ways,
there are always things we need to see and understand. So where is Abraham sitting?
He's sitting at his door. So Abraham, if he was sitting inside his tent, will he have seen the three visitors?
No. Where is Sarah sitting? Sarah is inside the tent. Did Sarah see the Lord? No, she heard a conversation.
So number one, at times like this, and if you want to be sons of Issachar, like them to not just know, but to do.
First principle, stay at the door of your tent.
Stay at the door of your tent. What does that mean?
Derrick is made of body, mind, or soul and spirit.
And so as I, so today I've seen William is here. My eyes saw him.
I heard that William is here. I saw him talking to Sheldon.
So I'm relating to everything around me through my body, my soul, and I have a spirit that surreal me.
I can live two ways on earth. One is having my mind, my soul realm, and my flesh, my flesh.
Take in, take out anything that's out there or to guard these two things because your spirit, if you're a believer, has already been born again.
You are 100% like Christ because his spirit now dwells inside you.
However, you've got to now hold the responsibility for the gates of your life.
What is it? At this tent door that Abraham sat at, which is for me the gates, the doors to my soul realm, the way I think, what I consume, my eyes, my ears, my mouth.
All of these things are important because when we are in the midst of this,
they are important because when we do not guard our doors, we get too occupied with other things.
And so if I'm here right now and if all I am doing is try to finish my notes, if all I am doing is to think about what's next, if all I'm doing is whatever,
and if I'm not guarding my, so let's say five of you yawn at the same time. Let's just assume.
If five of you yawn at the same time, I got to be at the door of my tent because five people yawning at the same time cannot take me away from what I have to do.
You understand me?
We are tuned sometimes to react to what we see around us.
And God needs men and women who will stand at the tent door and watch what goes in and watch what goes out.
If you are the head of the family, it's your responsibility to watch what goes in and watch what goes out.
If you're a leader and you're shepherding people, it's your responsibility to watch what goes in and watch what goes out.
For your own life, it's your responsibility to know what's going in and what's going out.
Abraham did that. And what happened? He was right there at the right time and he couldn't miss it.
I want us to have this desire to say, Lord, in my life, I don't want to miss what you want to do.
I do not want to miss what you want to do.
What is the point of being called a Christian, thinking you're a Christian, walking like you're a Christian,
but not getting what he wants to do with you at a particular time? What is the point?
But to then say, Aba, I want to know what you want to do with me. I want to know what this time is about.
I cannot miss it. And having a desperation inside you and say, first show me please, then somehow I'll partner with you to do it.
Don't worry about doing it. But first have a mindset that says, I want to understand this.
I want to know where I am supposed to be. I want to know what I am supposed to do.
The doing part gets easier once you know what's happening. So what happened in the case of Abraham?
God says, I'm going to come back in about a year's time. And at that time, Abraham, you're going to have a son.
So the first point before we get into that, in terms of principles we are drawing out from the story is, as I said, sitting at the tent door.
Sit at the door of your tent to know the appointed times of God for your life.
One more thing I want to highlight from there. He's sitting, Abraham is sitting at this tent door at the heat of the day.
And so when we are in church and we hear a message like this, and when things are going well, it's easy to be at the tent door to watch what goes in and what goes out.
But again, God is looking for a people who even in the heat of the day, even in the heat of what's happening around you, even in the pressure that you face,
even when you feel like you're being surrounded, even when you feel like people are talking, even when you feel this, that, the other, God wants you to stand at the tent door.
Because it is more important for you to understand times like that because the devil crafts certain things for you to be completely ignoring what God wants to do.
So it is your responsibility and my responsibility to say, Abba, doesn't matter if it's in the cool of the evening where I feel like I need to walk with my father, or if it's the heat of the day, I want to be at the tent door.
Yeah. Yeah. Okay.
Second point. Appointed times demand your obedience and partnership with God. Appointed times demand your obedience and partnership with God.
So in the story, you see Abraham and Sarah, God said, Sarah, you're going to have a son, Abraham, you're going to have a son.
Yeah, they can't say, well, I'm too old now. We can't try.
You got to try because I'm going to send you a baby.
Similarly, when God says, Acts 29, this is the time to do things, understand what it is that we need to do and begin to obey and partner with God.
And, let's say, God tells me, Derek, for what I need you to do, for what I am to you at this time in your life, I need to make your heart soft because you're walking around with a heart that is not soft.
Because you're walking around with a heart that is not soft.
And as long as you keep walking around with a heart that's not soft, you can't be who I am to the people that I sent to you.
And if God tells me that, hearing it is one thing.
The other thing is understanding something like Jeremiah chapter three or four, where it says, break up the fallow ground.
Break up the fallow ground. Derek, it's one thing that I want you to do these things, but there is a prerequisite.
There is a level of obedience that you need to show.
There is a level of partnership that I expect from you.
What is it, Abba? I'm going to draw your side to this passage.
And I need you to look at this passage and understand what it is that you need to do.
What is it, Father? Well, break up the fallow grounds, Derek.
What does it mean, Father? Well, this is a land that has been un-agriculturized, unused for a year, two years.
So fallow ground effectively means land that has not been used for a year or two years because the farmer decides they need to bring the best out of the land again.
And so they leave it having done nothing with it.
But the problem is you can't just go and sow seeds on it right away because the soil is hard even though the stuff underneath is good.
And so what does God expect you to do, me to do then?
Well, break up the fallow ground.
And then I have to go through that process.
Simple example.
What is it for you that God is saying now?
Are you at a place in life, a time in life where you're expecting something to happen, but it hasn't happened yet, but it seems like pressure is coming in from all sides.
What does God want you to do?
Ask him. He'll tell you exactly what he wants you to do.
And then you stand on it. When we hear that word, man, everything changes.
You can live for 15 years, 20 years, 50 years with one word he says.
It's the truth.
If you listen to him and you know he's the one talking, you can stand on it for the rest of your life.
Even though things may not look as nice on the outside, even though you may doubt at some points in time, but he will give you a word.
He will give you something on which you can hold on to these guys that we read off in the Bible.
All of them had to do it without seeing it.
They had to they had to hold on to certain things without seeing it.
They had to hold on to certain things.
So what is it?
Think about it. What is it that God wants you to do at this time in your life?
Are you searching and trying to figure out what this is?
Then, for instance, I would highly encourage.
Be part of a community because you won't be able to find out what this is without doing it.
Do you feel like you know enough but don't know what to do next?
Then be like certain people in the Bible who throughout their life, they kept asking God, David inquired of God.
What is it that? How do I go for battle?
What is it?
Find out even now.
I pray that your heart, as you hear what appointed time is and how it relates to you and how it relates to the church.
I desire and I pray that you begin to ask God and anyone who asks my father says he will receive.
If you ask, you will receive.
If you ask, there is no way he'll walk past you.
And once you're aware, as I said, appointed times demand your obedience.
Number three.
Brandon, can you go to Numbers, Chapter 6 and bring it up?
Go to Numbers, Chapter 6.
We'll finish on time.
Numbers, Chapter 6.
And while Brandon brings it up, let me tell you this.
So again, back to what Jacob said.
Jacob is saying to us, as God reveals it for Acts 29, this is a time of supernatural harvest.
So we've understood it. We've heard it.
That's step one.
But step two is what?
Now being able to partner with God, now being able to walk with him, obeying it.
What's the best way to start this process?
Do exactly what Jacob said.
Number one.
Pray fast.
Pray.
Take out the sickle.
Go out and begin the work.
So there is.
It's been said already.
All we've got to do is take the next step.
Numbers, Chapter 6.
I want to look at this passage.
I don't know if you can zoom in a little bit, Brandon.
You begin to see as you read through Numbers, Chapter 1 through 5, God is doing things with the people of Israel.
Yeah.
Hearing aid is important, guys.
Spiritually, spiritually.
That's the Holy Spirit.
Okay.
So you see in Numbers, Chapter 1 through 5, God is talking to the people of Israel through Moses, through the leader.
And God says, here is what I need you to do.
Different tribes, different responsibilities, different duties.
In Numbers, Chapter 4 or there about, God says, Levites, here is what you need to do.
Because Levites are different from all the other tribes.
Levites, you are a minister.
And that's the responsibility and the charge that I place on you.
So all of those things are communicated through Moses.
And then I love this passage.
In Numbers, Chapter 6, God begins to reveal how he thinks through this passage.
The Lord said to Moses, speak to the Israelites.
So all of the tribes and the different instructions and the duties.
It's all been assigned.
It's been communicated.
They understand it.
And then the Lord says to Moses, speak to the Israelites and say to them, if a man or woman wants to make a special vow, a vow of dedication to the Lord as a Nazarite, they must abstain from wine and other fermented drink and must not drink vinegar made from wine or other fermented drinks.
Stay with me, please.
They must not drink grape juice or eat grapes or raisins.
As long as they remain under their Nazarite vow, they must not eat anything that comes from the grape wine, not even the seeds or the skins.
Here's what I love about it.
Before anything else, number one.
Levites, as I said, are precious.
And for you to be a priest at that time as a Levite, you had to be a particular rage and you had to be a guy.
And obviously you had to come from the priest of Levi.
Oh, sorry.
The tribe of Levi.
What about all of the other guys?
What about the women?
See, our God is not a God who is partial.
He has responsibilities that he assigns to all of us.
But when it comes to being with him, when it comes to being alone with him, when it comes to the purposes and plans that God has for the earth that needs to be accomplished through a process of being with him.
When it comes to being accomplished through a people, there is no differences.
He gives, in this case, Numbers Chapter 6, a new invitation.
And he says, it doesn't matter if you're a man.
It doesn't matter if you're a woman.
It doesn't matter if you are from the Levi tribe.
It doesn't matter which tribe you come from, which family you come from.
It doesn't matter how long you've been a believer, just one week versus 55 years.
It doesn't matter what happened when you were a child.
It doesn't matter what your interests are.
It doesn't matter what your disinterest are.
It doesn't matter where you've been.
It doesn't matter what you plan to do.
It doesn't matter if you want to make a special vow with me to be with me to consecrate yourself beyond what has been said Numbers Chapter 1 through 5.
Here is the invitation. Be a Nazarite.
Be a Nazarite.
And the question that God asks of us is, do you want to make a special vow?
Something you haven't done before in your life.
Something you have not done in your life.
What is it?
Well, you decide what it is.
We'll go through a couple of these verses as I go to the second part of my message here.
And I'll explain some of these things in terms of what it could look like for us.
But I'm asking you a question.
This God you love, this God you want to serve, this God you want to walk with, this God you're expecting things from.
This God you have known for a week or 50 years.
What is it that you want to do next?
What is that special thing you want to give him?
Because like I said, he's a father as well.
And he's also looking to see how you would respond.
So when something like this is shared in a group of amongst a group of people, let me guarantee you the father also watches in from the corner right there.
And he says, I want to see how he or she understands it, receives it and does something with it.
This is like it or not, the nature of our father.
He gives us open invitations like this, like what happened last Sunday.
And it is for you and for me to decide to what level we want to go.
And all through your life, I don't want to rush through this.
See, you know this.
You've in fact about some time ago when we were praying, Iris and I, I asked Iris to pray for me.
And as Iris was praying, she said, I said this at that car boat.
So it would be a repetition for a couple of you guys.
But Iris is praying and I'm listening and Iris says, God is saying, God is showing me three, you know, wind turbines.
The stuff that, yeah, wind turbines.
So she is seeing three wind turbines and the wind turbines are standing in water.
And then there is the turbine.
Yeah, the wheel.
And so God is saying one is slow.
The second one is a little faster than the first one.
And the third one is very fast.
Derek, choose what you want.
Wow.
Derek, choose what you want.
You choose what you want.
I'll give it to you.
You want slow?
I'm with you.
I'll give it to you.
You want a little bit faster than the slow?
I'll give it to you.
You want the really fast one?
I'll give it to you.
And so we we asked, what is it?
Well, where is the turbine standing?
It's standing in water.
What is it?
Word.
What is the turbine moving by?
It's the wind.
What is it?
The spirit.
How fast do you want to progress in the word?
How fast do you want to progress in the spirit?
You tell me, Derek.
You tell me.
Whatever you say, I'll do it.
And the truth is, guys, I've been a believer now 30 plus years.
At no point in my life was I rushed by God.
All these years, he has allowed me to choose what I want.
Yeah.
He has allowed you to choose what you want.
So point number three, at this time in our lives, make a special vow.
Make.
Is special.
I want you to underline if you're writing that word, it must be special, man, because you are special.
How you are a special.
We're going to do this.
So Jacob talked about one meal a week, praying 30 minutes a day.
Don't forget it.
Step into it.
And then whatever it is that's that's special that you want to offer him, begin to offer it to him.
Number four.
Can you bring it back?
Please, Brandon.
Where's three?
So it talks about the wine and fermented drink.
And then it's interesting.
It doesn't just talk about the wine and the fermented drink.
It's even goes to goes to even the seed or the skin of the grape.
You can't even have that.
Here's the interesting part.
As for the priests, when they were serving, they couldn't drink, but otherwise they could.
So the priest could drink it when they were not serving.
But if you were a natural, right, you couldn't drink wine or fermented drink at all.
Can you begin to see if this is a costly affair?
This is and the second point will come there.
It said, don't cut your hair.
So why?
Because it has to grow long.
As you can see, the hair doesn't grow as fast.
It takes time.
I'm glad we will have a different understanding of that in the New Testament age.
We'll get there.
But it's amazing.
So what is it for you?
I'll tell you this.
Do not drink of the cup.
Tony, please.
Thank you for this side of the New Testament.
Yes, we would be seen and found out.
What does it mean for us here?
Do not drink of the cup of comfort and entertainment.
Do not drink of the cup.
I wouldn't even say sin.
God is expecting a next level from us.
Sin and standing against him and someone can hide the ad.
Everyone is looking at the ad.
This is why I said you got to stand at the 10 door.
We have to be sure that we do not drink of the cup of comfort and entertainment.
So much so that you have no capacity to drink anything else.
My cup, if I fill my cup, my days, my time, my mind with comfort and entertainment
to a point where I don't have any more capacity, then what will God fill me with?
He wants to fill me with water and oil.
Yes.
But if I'm not doing that, what happens?
So can you can you begin to think, guys, in your life, in my life,
what are the things that we fill our cups with our days with some of it?
Like I said, this passage should not be looked at as that sin.
And I need to abstain from sin.
That's given.
This passage should be looked at as what are the things that are permissible?
What are the things that are good that I must now abstain from?
Is it too many meetings?
Is it too many gatherings?
Is it chit chat?
Is it tick tock?
It just rhymed correctly.
Is it whatever else?
Whatever that is, I must make sure that I don't drink of it to a point where I can.
I do not have the capacity anymore because you only have like it or not.
God established it 24 hours a day.
You're not getting 75.
It's 24 hours.
So in 24 hours, it depends on how you fill your cup.
So if your capacity for 24 hours has already been consumed by other things, you got to now push into the second day.
Next one.
If we can scroll down during the entire period of the natural right?
Well, no razor may be used on their head.
They must be holy until the period of the dedication to the Lord is over.
They must let their hair grow long.
Think about it.
What is happening?
So on one hand, God says, don't do this with grape and grape wine and the seed of the skin.
And then God immediately switches from that to say, this is how I want you to do with respect to your hair.
What's happening here is and you read Samsung story story in Judges.
You see, Samsung, he's a natural right.
And so he grows it long.
And what does it say when Delilah comes?
Samsung says, you know what?
This is where the power is.
What is it that we need to see here?
Your hair, sorry, receiver of the signal from God.
So what it means with respect to the hair is simply this.
Whatever level of consecration is happening inside of you, God also wants a public display of that consecration.
So the fact that you're not drinking wine, unless you're someone comes along and smells you, no one will know.
In our case, no one will know.
But God also wants a public and outward representation of your inward condition.
It's important because when one of the things that I always think about is my eyes, whenever I'm anywhere, keeps looking for certain things.
And I don't know why I why I'm doing this now.
Maybe there's a reason I'll find out.
But I always think so if I'm in a room where whatever setting it is, I ask myself how many people here believers?
Because I want to see if there is something about a believer that I can see and understand without them saying they're a believer.
So if you think about it, guys, so let's say this whole section, we didn't know each other and we're in a room with 50 other people.
Surely, I should be able to look at Daniel and say, ah, he's another one.
I should be able to look at Anil and say, she's another one.
And I must be one someone else can look and say he's another one.
We go through life and it's actually sometimes painful for God, I'm sure that he sometimes puts us all even in the same room without and we can't even understand what's happening.
Because our beliefs are so inward.
It has not come outward.
And so with something like this, God is saying, what is the public, the outward representation of your inward convictions and your inward consecration?
What is it?
The place we moved to that we bought in Aldergrove, there were a couple of there was a tenant there before we bought it.
So we were asked the question, would you like to keep them?
And we said yes. And so we've had tenants there now for the last three, four months.
We all go out for shopping one day and we come back.
And as we as we drive back in, this is early October, I couldn't believe what I was seeing because the basement area is full of decor Halloween decor and pretty gore like weird once.
And I looked at Iris and I was so frustrated.
All I wanted to do was go knock on the door.
So I just said this is where you should get mad at.
I said, hold on.
Hold on.
Let's go inside and pray and then do things.
So we quickly pray about it.
We talk about it.
And that night I do certain things that I felt I needed to do.
But as we were praying, God said, do not shrink back.
The Derek don't go and open knock on the door and say, please take this out because that's not how I want you to be.
That's your religious attitude because you're so religious that you just want to take it down.
But who I am is I want to come into places like this and I want to have people see things differently.
And so God said, spoke through the word and said, do not shrink back.
Share the whole council of God.
And so we take them out for dinner.
We hadn't talked much.
And so we talk about who I am, who Iris is, our story, where we come from, what we do, stuff like that.
And in the process, we share the good news of Christ Jesus, who we believe in.
And you cannot share the good news of Christ Jesus unless you also talk about what happened in Eden and who Satan is, who the devil is, what the devil tries to do and how Christ is victorious and how Christ helps us.
You can't share about the good news without that.
So because God said, share the whole council of God.
So we shared the whole council of God over dinner.
And at the end, I asked the question, would you be okay taking off those things?
And the person said, absolutely, absolutely.
The next day, so it was taken out that night itself.
And next day, I'm throwing something into the garbage and I see all of the stuff there because they had paid for this and bought it with their money.
Not only did they take it out, they had now disposed.
And then a few days later, and John and Prosper know them a few days later, they want to talk more.
We talked more and now they want to get baptized.
See, your your inward conviction and your inward consecration must be displayed outside.
And God says, do not shrink back.
That's right.
If you are in that's right for me, I want you to not just not consume this.
I want you to be one person.
I want you to be one who walks around on earth, who goes into your university, your school, your office, wherever I set you.
And I want you to grow your long hair.
I want you to have an outward expression of your inward conviction and your inward consecration.
Yeah.
Can we begin to be like this?
I'll guarantee you the world is waiting.
We'll finish finish at six.
Someone was looking at their watch distribution.
We'll finish at six.
Think, guys, where can we do it more?
Not in a pressured way, but in a natural way, in an organic way.
Not to get brownie points, but because this is who you are.
Because the world around us needs to see.
And like I always say, the truth is this.
See, we sometimes have a skewed understanding of the Bible because one of the things that Christians often like to talk about is how the world gets offended by the cross.
It is true.
But Jesus wouldn't say, go have don't wait for four months, go harvest quickly if certain fruits were already ready for harvest.
We forget that.
But we like to just sit back and say, you know what?
I'm a Christian.
When I go there, people just persecute me.
People just look at me as a weird guy.
People just do, no, no, no, no, no.
There are so many lives, so many people waiting for you to just speak.
That is the truth, guys.
The other thing that we have somehow thought about is false.
It's not true.
There are so many people around us who are waiting for the sons of God to speak.
For the daughters of God to speak.
And then the last thing, if you can go back without the ad to the next verse, or I'll just read it.
Today is an ad day.
I mean, Advent.
Sorry.
Okay.
Verse, oh, no, Numbers, Chapter six.
Okay.
Throughout the, this is the last one, throughout the period of their dedication to the Lord, the Nazarite must not go near a dead body.
Even if their own father or mother or brother or sister dies, they must not make themselves ceremonially unclean on account of them.
Is there, yeah, account of them.
Because the symbol of their dedication to God is on their head.
Throughout the period of the dedication, they are consecrated to God.
What does it mean?
And I talked with God for a few days, really, for him to tell me what I should have understood from this or what I should understand from this passage.
God has nothing against dead bodies.
Because the Levites who went before this, obviously they were in, they did not have this restriction.
This restriction was only to the Nazarites.
And how does it apply to us today?
Here's how you need to see this.
Dead situations and dead things around you are conspired by the devil for you to touch it with your flesh.
And if you touch a dead thing, i.e. an evil thing, i.e. a thing that has its root in the demonic, i.e. a thing that has its root with how the devil thinks and his principles.
If you touch those things with your flesh, it has the capacity to make you unclean.
But if you were to touch it with your spirit, you have the capacity through the Spirit of God to give life.
I'll explain it.
So as I go through life, let's just say, hip and Daniel and William get together and they begin to talk about me.
And, you know, let's just say I have a problem with whenever people talk about me, I react a certain way.
What does the devil do?
The devil can work with these three guys to keep saying something which is a dead thing.
It's a dead situation.
Its root is evil.
It is designed for me to react a certain way.
Correct?
Because I always react without Christ with my flesh.
How would I react?
Hey, you shouldn't be doing this.
You know, why are you keep on doing this stuff to me?
Yeah, I had a yada or I'll go home and cry or I'll go home and there is some trigger.
Whatever.
You understand me?
But that is me touching that situation with my flesh because I've heard it with my ears.
I've thought about it with my mind.
I have understood it with my psyche, whatever.
And now I need to I have the rush to go back and touch this.
It could be a form of temptation, but beyond a temptation, beyond the temptation, because one of the things that God does is like William said,
Temptation is part and parcel of life.
Temptations will come.
But there are things that are beyond it, which is it's not that you were drawn to it.
It is that it was placed right in front of you for you to touch it.
You see the difference?
It wasn't that you desired it.
There is nothing that decided.
You did not want anything to do with you are supposed to walk somewhere else and do something else.
But it was put and placed in your path.
That's how.
So the way to think about it is the devil does that to distract you to have you touch on things that you shouldn't touch.
OK, what is God's solution?
God says, Derek, with instead of you touching it with your flesh, with your mind, with your understanding, I want you to touch it with your spirit.
What happens when I do that?
Same situation.
I'll be able to address it differently.
Here is what the word says.
The word says overcome evil with.
Ah, overcome evil with good.
You don't count evil with your flesh.
You don't count evil with your understanding.
You overcome, overcome, overcome with your spirit.
So I have the ability when I walk in spirit to look at certain things and say, I mean, I ain't going to touch it with my flesh, with my emotions, because that has the ability to cut up me.
And then I'll always come out of it because I'll walk with God.
But why waste 24 hours?
Why waste 36 hours?
Why waste a week?
Why waste three months when all you've got to do is touch it by your spirit?
Guys, there is something that the Lord gives us, which is wisdom and understanding.
And when we practice this, there are certain things that the devil may have conspired for five years that loses power in a second.
It does not have any impact.
It won't have you trip because you have learned you've become a man, you've become a woman who walks in the spirit.
This is why Ezekiel 37 is amazing because you begin to read it and it says as the water flows from the temple, who is the temple?
You.
As the water flows from you, rivers of living waters flow from you.
What happens?
Anything that it touches must become a life.
Any dead thing will become alive.
Do you believe it?
Anything you and I touch in the spirit will become alive.
It is the truth.
So last thing.
See, one of the things that God wants to do with us is for the work that is at hand.
He also wants us to be equipped.
And when Jacob said the things he said last week, fasting and praying, give yourself to it, which way you can.
If you're part of this church, jump in.
Don't stay on the sidelines.
One of the things you should ask God for is.
And this has been something that's been in my spirit for the last few days is I have a desire about to touch you.
To touch you.
I have a desire, Jesus, to touch you.
I have a desire, Holy Spirit, to touch you.
See that woman with the issue of blood touched Jesus.
Mary Magdalene.
She touched Jesus or tried to touch Jesus, tried to cling on to Jesus after Jesus had resurrected.
What did Jesus say?
Don't cling on to me because I've got to go to my father.
In other words, what Jesus is saying, Mary, you can cling on to me when I am with my father.
You can touch him.
And I almost have this thing in my mind where it's almost like I want to touch the father and then I want to touch on the other side because that's the any dead thing.
Anything that has to be touched in Richmond, any people situations in here outside where God wants to touch.
What's the best way to deal with it?
Guys, you touch the father, the son and the Holy Spirit.
You touch him.
You have life.
You have power because the disciples in Acts chapter one eight.
What did they do?
What was the spirit supposed to do?
Give them power.
What happened when they received the Holy Spirit?
They got power.
Touch him.
That's where the power is.
So you have you touch him with one hand and then you can touch anything that God brings to you.
And those things will come alive in the name of Christ Jesus, who is supreme Lord King over all.
Yeah.
Can we sing these are the days.
So as you sing this song.
See, normally we finish at six fifteen or six twenty.
So we're finishing early today.
I had to say it.
So as as Tony sings.
As Tony sings.
Can you sing it from a place of this is what's supposed to happen with your life, with our lives, that these are indeed the days of Elijah, that these are indeed the days of David.
These are indeed the days of Prosper, the days of Remy, the days of Tony, the days of hip.
These are the days.
The appointed times set apart by God for purposes on earth in you through you for you for others.
These are the days.
Can you make a special, a special vow, a special thing between you and him?
Beyond what is asked, because you need him so much, because you desire him so much.
Can you do that?
Like I said, what's the point of living Christian life if we don't give and access everything that we have?
And I say we have more we can touch.
I say there is more we can receive.
I say there is more we dare ask him because he is the all sufficient one who rules over the earth.
And there is nothing he cannot do.
Nothing he cannot do.
Our father, there is no one like him.
We should not allow the world to define and tell us what happens and what cannot.
But because when a people stand up in agreement and a people say, Jesus, I want all of what you have for me.
Something happens, man.
This God responds to the cry of your hearts.
This God hears every word you speak.
This God gives when you ask.
Then do it. Let's do it together.