WEBVTT NOTE Podcast: Acts 29 Vancouver Episode: Ark 2 - Aaron's Staff Publishing Date: 2026-02-22T02:04:44-08:00 Podcast URL: https://acts29.ca Episode URL: https://acts29.ca/ark-2-aarons-staff/ 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:23.000 Guys, we had stopped a week ago before last Sunday with the Ark and how the contents of 00:00:23.000 --> 00:00:28.880 the Ark work. So today we continue with the contents of the Ark. Pray for Rennie. She's 00:00:28.880 --> 00:00:33.600 not feeling well and Aaron had texted that. You just pray for her so that she begins to 00:00:34.640 --> 00:00:43.760 feel normal and breathe easy and the Lord hears your prayer. I'll call her after. Hebrews 9, 00:00:43.760 --> 00:01:02.560 verse 4. I'm starting at verse 3. Behind the second curtain was a room called the Most Holy 00:01:02.560 --> 00:01:08.320 Place, which had the golden altar of incense and gold-covered Ark of the Covenant, and then 00:01:08.320 --> 00:01:14.960 the contents of the Ark. This Ark contained the gold jar of manna, Aaron's staff that had budded, 00:01:15.600 --> 00:01:20.160 and the stone tablets of the Covenant. Above the Ark was the cherubim of glory, 00:01:20.160 --> 00:01:23.840 overshadowing the atonement cover. We cannot discuss things in detail now. 00:01:25.040 --> 00:01:32.800 So Aaron's staff—we're going to look at that today—and here's the basic idea and we'll see 00:01:32.800 --> 00:01:54.000 why we say this. Aaron's staff was representative of the eternal, unchanging principle 00:01:54.000 --> 00:02:07.200 of divine order. These words are deliberate. Aaron's staff—God specifically tells Moses, 00:02:07.200 --> 00:02:13.120 listen, I want you to keep these things in the Ark so that they might be a reminder to Israel 00:02:13.120 --> 00:02:21.120 for generations to come. And one of the things in the Ark was the staff that Aaron used to hold. 00:02:21.440 --> 00:02:27.440 So it's Aaron's staff, that's what it's called, and it was representative of the eternal, as in 00:02:28.720 --> 00:02:34.960 divine, unchanging, as in not something that changes from culture to culture, time to time, 00:02:34.960 --> 00:02:41.600 Old Testament to New Testament. So it is eternal, it's unchanging, and it's a principle of divine 00:02:41.600 --> 00:02:47.840 order. Not divine orders, divine order. So where do we get that from? Go to Numbers 17.10. 00:02:51.360 --> 00:03:04.400 Numbers 17.10, and you'll get the back story. Numbers 17.10. So let's start at verse 1. 00:03:05.280 --> 00:03:10.800 The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, Speak to the people of Israel, and get from them staffs, 00:03:11.760 --> 00:03:17.280 one for each father's house. From all their chiefs, according to their father's houses, 00:03:17.280 --> 00:03:23.040 twelve staffs. Write each man's name on the staff. Write Aaron's name on the staff of Levi, 00:03:23.040 --> 00:03:28.640 for there shall be one staff for the head of each father's house. Then you shall deposit them in 00:03:28.640 --> 00:03:34.320 the tent of the meeting, before the testimony where I meet with you. And the staff of the man 00:03:34.320 --> 00:03:40.800 whom I choose shall sprout, thus I will make to seize from me the grumblings of the people of 00:03:40.800 --> 00:03:47.600 Israel, which they grumble against you. Moses spoke to the people of Israel, and all their chiefs 00:03:47.600 --> 00:03:52.400 gave him staffs, one for each chief, according to their father's houses, twelve staffs. And the 00:03:52.400 --> 00:03:58.320 staff of Aaron was also among their staffs. And Moses deposited the staffs before the Lord in the 00:03:58.320 --> 00:04:05.200 tent of the testimony, as in the tent where the ark was kept. On the next day, Moses went into the 00:04:05.200 --> 00:04:12.160 tent of the testimony, and behold, the staff of Aaron for the house of Levi had sprouted and put 00:04:12.160 --> 00:04:19.120 forth buds and produced blossoms, and it bore ripe almonds. Then Moses brought out all the staffs from 00:04:19.120 --> 00:04:25.280 before the Lord to the people of Israel, and they looked, and each man took his staff. 1710. And the 00:04:25.280 --> 00:04:31.680 Lord said to Moses, put back the staff of Aaron before the testimony, or before the ark, to be 00:04:31.680 --> 00:04:40.480 kept as a sign for the rebels that you make an end of their grumblings against me, lest they die. 00:04:40.480 --> 00:04:45.840 Thus Moses did, as the Lord commanded him, so he did. What's the backstory? The backstory was 00:04:45.840 --> 00:04:50.080 different people saying, but I should be the leader. Another one saying, what qualifies you 00:04:50.080 --> 00:04:54.000 to be a leader? Another one saying, but you married an Egyptian called Zipporah, what gives 00:04:54.000 --> 00:04:58.960 you the right? I'm the one who's supposed to be leader. To settle it once and for all, God 00:04:59.600 --> 00:05:06.320 asked Moses to take the staffs of the fathers of all 12 tribes, and he told them, 00:05:06.880 --> 00:05:12.480 I'll tell you, I'll select one, and then let's end this grumbling. And then he takes the staff 00:05:12.480 --> 00:05:18.800 and puts it in the ark of the covenant as a reminder for the rest of Israel's history, that listen, 00:05:20.000 --> 00:05:28.480 there's a way I go about choosing and appointing leaders, and I want you to understand it and not 00:05:28.480 --> 00:05:33.920 keep rebelling and grumbling. That's why I'm calling it an eternal, unchanging principle of 00:05:33.920 --> 00:05:41.200 divine order. He still goes about it that way. We may have changed it because of culture and time, 00:05:41.200 --> 00:05:56.720 but he hasn't. One of the things God wanted to prove was, listen, this staff is like a 00:05:57.200 --> 00:06:20.400 signal or flag against bitterness, rebellion, obstinacy, or stubbornness in the house. 00:06:20.720 --> 00:06:24.240 That's what Aaron's staff was meant to do. 00:06:26.400 --> 00:06:28.640 Crazy, eh? It matters to God 00:06:31.280 --> 00:06:35.680 against bitterness, against rebellion, against obstinacy, or stubbornness. 00:06:38.240 --> 00:06:49.600 And so what's God's idea of leadership? Go to Numbers 27, 16 to 16 and 17, Numbers 27, 16 and 17. 00:06:50.400 --> 00:06:57.760 Numbers 27, 16 and 17. 00:07:03.200 --> 00:07:08.960 And this is a conversation between Moses and the Lord. And Moses spoke to the Lord saying, 00:07:09.600 --> 00:07:15.840 Let the Lord, the God of the spirits of all flesh, appoint a man over the congregation, 00:07:16.720 --> 00:07:22.320 who shall go out before them and come in before them, who shall lead them out and bring them in, 00:07:23.040 --> 00:07:30.160 that the congregation of the Lord may not be sheep that have no shepherd. So the Lord said to Moses, 00:07:30.160 --> 00:07:34.880 take Joshua, the son of Nun, a man in whom is the spirit, and lay your hand on him. 00:07:35.520 --> 00:07:40.800 Again, what's the back story? Moses knows it's his time to go. Moses knows a leader has to be 00:07:40.800 --> 00:07:46.240 appointed. So he says to the Lord, he doesn't pick one, he says to the Lord, Lord, why don't 00:07:46.240 --> 00:07:53.200 you appoint a man? And he says, some versions say a set man, a man who is set in place, a man who 00:07:53.200 --> 00:07:58.080 is appointed. Why don't you appoint a man? And what's the role of this man? The role of this man 00:07:58.080 --> 00:08:07.200 is very simple. He leads people out and he leads them back in so that God's people may have a 00:08:07.200 --> 00:08:13.120 shepherd and they will not be sheep without a shepherd. He didn't say appoint a committee. 00:08:14.240 --> 00:08:20.400 He didn't say appoint a board. There are many different versions of leadership that I've entered, 00:08:20.400 --> 00:08:22.640 but there are certain things that are eternal and unchanging. 00:08:24.560 --> 00:08:28.640 And we'll see how it develops in the New Testament and what must be added, 00:08:28.640 --> 00:08:34.800 but what cannot be taken are. Things are added in the New Testament, but certain things are 00:08:34.800 --> 00:08:48.560 not removed. One has to know what is not removed. And so we can use different words to describe 00:08:49.680 --> 00:08:52.480 what God was saying here, but basically every house. 00:08:56.080 --> 00:09:02.960 Guys, here's the other thing. I'm not saying this for my benefit because I know who I am in this 00:09:02.960 --> 00:09:10.240 house. I'm saying it for your benefit because the time will come when you may have to be in 00:09:10.240 --> 00:09:14.720 charge of a household and you need to know what the structure is. It takes one generation for 00:09:14.720 --> 00:09:22.800 principles to be lost. Judges chapter 2 verse 10, and the sons of Joshua did not know the God of 00:09:22.800 --> 00:09:31.840 their father. It takes one generation. So if John hears it, if Jacob hears it, if an Emily hears it, 00:09:32.480 --> 00:09:39.440 and they happen to lead a household seven years, seven months down the road, will they be able to 00:09:39.440 --> 00:09:45.120 remember these principles and not circumvent them for something that's more convenient or more trendy? 00:09:50.720 --> 00:09:59.040 So that's the intent of this. And the other intent is to expose any false assumptions in our midst 00:09:59.040 --> 00:10:08.240 because we can be part of this church and know all this and still behave almost quietly against 00:10:08.880 --> 00:10:14.880 principles that God establishes. And the third thing is, at this present time in Christianity, 00:10:14.880 --> 00:10:20.880 with the amount of noise being raised about leadership, it's good to once again lay down 00:10:20.880 --> 00:10:24.880 fundamental biblical principles. Those are the three main intents. 00:10:24.880 --> 00:10:30.880 Besides the fact that we started on these series and this happens to be part of it. Numbers 27, 00:10:30.880 --> 00:10:43.840 16, and 17 basically says every house must have an appointed, or an easier word would be, set man. 00:10:44.480 --> 00:10:45.040 Set man. 00:10:47.520 --> 00:10:48.240 A set man. 00:10:51.200 --> 00:10:54.800 To shepherd in and out. To shepherd in and out. 00:10:57.760 --> 00:11:04.960 Who said this? God. And so while we all have a common priesthood, 00:11:05.600 --> 00:11:08.800 while we all have a common priesthood and we are co-equal before God, 00:11:13.840 --> 00:11:21.920 God for some strange reason selects, please listen to these words, inadequate, 00:11:24.720 --> 00:11:31.360 sometimes working on their faults people, working on their faults people, I mean 00:11:32.960 --> 00:11:38.960 on their faults, as in these are people that are still a work in progress, inadequate. 00:11:39.920 --> 00:11:42.800 He selects them by divine design, 00:11:46.320 --> 00:11:55.040 divine sovereign design, and he doesn't care for my opinion about them, 00:11:56.800 --> 00:12:01.440 because people had strange opinions about David. He doesn't care for my opinion about them, 00:12:01.440 --> 00:12:07.120 he doesn't care for their pedigree, and he doesn't care for their reputation. 00:12:09.760 --> 00:12:13.040 And he appoints them 00:12:15.920 --> 00:12:18.640 as set men or women. 00:12:22.560 --> 00:12:30.320 He does this. There's this tendency nowadays to say that we don't follow man, we follow Christ. 00:12:30.320 --> 00:12:37.520 I want you to know that divine order can only exist and only exists on earth through man. 00:12:39.920 --> 00:12:45.760 Anybody who says that I only follow Christ is following someone who's invisible 00:12:46.400 --> 00:12:48.000 and you can get away with murder. 00:12:53.200 --> 00:12:55.360 All divine order happens through man. 00:13:02.720 --> 00:13:06.000 This shouldn't chaff guys, this shouldn't chaff. 00:13:09.600 --> 00:13:19.120 If we were to look at the story that we just read, it then requires that a leader have a life that 00:13:23.200 --> 00:13:29.600 is spiritually and therefore practically 00:13:32.240 --> 00:13:33.040 budding, 00:13:33.760 --> 00:13:34.260 budding, 00:13:37.440 --> 00:13:44.240 blossoming as in continuously growing and producing fruit. 00:13:45.680 --> 00:13:50.560 These are some qualifications that God had. In that staff that belonged to Aaron, 00:13:51.120 --> 00:13:55.440 it says three things about it. One, it was budding, two, it was blossoming as in the flowers had 00:13:55.440 --> 00:14:01.520 appeared, and three, that it had actually produced almonds. Almonds in the Bible were always a sign 00:14:01.520 --> 00:14:04.000 of an early awareness of what God was doing. 00:14:06.480 --> 00:14:12.480 An early awareness. In Jeremiah 1 12, God asks Jeremiah, what do you see? Jeremiah says, 00:14:12.480 --> 00:14:17.440 I see a branch with almonds on it and God says, you have seen well. 00:14:18.960 --> 00:14:24.640 And so this idea of almonds in the Bible, it was an early fruit, it always came early. 00:14:25.200 --> 00:14:30.480 You and I are blessed if we have leaders that have an ability to see what God wants to do 00:14:30.480 --> 00:14:34.560 early so that a path is already prepared for us to walk down. 00:14:37.520 --> 00:14:42.560 That's an essential qualification of leadership, an ability to see early what God is doing. 00:14:48.000 --> 00:14:53.760 So the qualification for a set man is not that he's a prophet or a pastor or has a 00:14:54.640 --> 00:15:00.000 degree from regent or is an apostle. Those are not the qualifications. The qualifications are 00:15:01.440 --> 00:15:05.920 almost similar to what David had, which was a man after God's heart, 00:15:10.640 --> 00:15:11.680 quickly repentant, 00:15:17.120 --> 00:15:17.920 giant slayer. 00:15:23.760 --> 00:15:27.280 Hands skilled for war. 00:15:33.520 --> 00:15:34.400 Love for the bride. 00:15:39.200 --> 00:15:40.160 Ability to hear. 00:15:46.560 --> 00:15:47.120 Anointed. 00:15:50.560 --> 00:15:51.520 Recognized by 00:15:54.400 --> 00:16:00.080 other sages in those days or other other Samuels. 00:16:03.040 --> 00:16:04.400 That's what qualifies it. 00:16:06.800 --> 00:16:12.880 And if there are such leaders, if you insist on circumventing the process, 00:16:12.880 --> 00:16:14.480 then know that you will languish. 00:16:16.960 --> 00:16:22.800 If such leaders exist, but you insist on circumventing the process as in 00:16:23.360 --> 00:16:27.520 this may be true, but I'll keep a healthy distance. I've had bad experiences in the past. 00:16:27.520 --> 00:16:32.560 This is as close as I get. Then know that you will languish. 00:16:34.160 --> 00:16:39.520 What is languish? Languishes when bones decay internally. 00:16:41.120 --> 00:16:47.200 Life saps out. Outside you may look fine. Spiritually, it's a recipe for decline. 00:16:47.200 --> 00:16:52.240 When people deliberately subvert divine order, that is recognizable. 00:16:52.880 --> 00:16:59.440 In a church, please again, think of the future and think of our mindsets. 00:17:00.800 --> 00:17:03.920 Don't think of people right now. You can think of people a little later, 00:17:05.760 --> 00:17:13.520 but I'm trying to attack the mentality that we sometimes have that yes, this may be true, 00:17:13.520 --> 00:17:17.360 but I've had my experiences. I'll keep a healthy distance. You will languish. 00:17:18.000 --> 00:17:21.120 That's a very simple threat. Not from me. 00:17:21.200 --> 00:17:23.520 It's from the scriptures. 00:17:36.000 --> 00:17:43.120 How does one get past spiritual abuse, hurt, being let down? 00:17:43.680 --> 00:17:51.440 How does one get past it? To begin with, time heals everything. This is very true. 00:17:52.480 --> 00:17:59.680 That aside, you have a God that heals. That aside, you have the scriptures that renew vision. 00:18:00.640 --> 00:18:03.840 That aside, there is the spirit that brings the conviction of truth. 00:18:04.640 --> 00:18:10.400 That aside, there are people that have experienced differently and you can go and talk to them. 00:18:10.400 --> 00:18:18.880 That aside, you get to taste and see if it's real because it must be experienced and embraced 00:18:18.880 --> 00:18:25.840 or experienced and rejected. Far too many advantages for us to keep it at a distance. 00:18:27.120 --> 00:18:33.040 I would rather that you reject it than keep it at a distance. 00:18:33.920 --> 00:18:36.400 Keeping it at a distance is what causes languish. 00:18:36.640 --> 00:18:40.240 Reject it. That's okay. 00:18:52.720 --> 00:19:01.760 The other thing that happens is in most churches, because this seems so 00:19:02.160 --> 00:19:09.360 not how we live in our highly individualized, independent, democratic societies. 00:19:09.360 --> 00:19:21.280 So we've come up with other systems. While these systems aren't bad, they aren't biblical. 00:19:21.280 --> 00:19:29.200 Some of the systems that we see, the first one is Episcopalian, which is you have a bishop, 00:19:29.200 --> 00:19:36.800 he isn't here today, and you have pastor or you have a pope and you have cardinals. 00:19:37.600 --> 00:19:43.200 So there's a head summon and there's a direct communication. 00:19:43.600 --> 00:19:55.440 Then the second one is Presbyterian, where it is elders and board tell you how to function. 00:19:55.440 --> 00:20:00.880 This is quite common and that's why we have this system. 00:20:01.600 --> 00:20:08.800 This is usually coupled with a third form, it is congregational, where the congregation votes 00:20:09.760 --> 00:20:15.760 on what is or is not permitted. 00:20:19.280 --> 00:20:28.800 The fourth one is the Church of Christ, where it is elders and board tell you 00:20:29.760 --> 00:20:39.840 the fourth one, equally dangerous, is when it is an independent leader, in which case he's charismatic 00:20:41.200 --> 00:20:47.680 and can be authoritarian and he becomes a bridegroom and the church becomes his bride. 00:20:51.840 --> 00:20:57.600 These are the usual forms that churches embrace. Most of them embrace these two. 00:20:58.320 --> 00:21:04.560 Small catholic when this happens, but this is more common in most protestant churches, 00:21:04.560 --> 00:21:11.840 and this is common in independent churches. What is ideally required is what we find in the book 00:21:11.840 --> 00:21:21.680 of Acts, where you have a plurality of elders with a set man. 00:21:22.480 --> 00:21:30.000 Are there examples of this? If you go to Acts 15, 13 to 20, you will find that in the church 00:21:30.000 --> 00:21:35.680 in Jerusalem, which was one of the first churches that was formed, there were elders. There was Peter, 00:21:38.720 --> 00:21:44.720 there was John, later on there was a guy called Judas, another guy called Silas. 00:21:45.360 --> 00:21:51.840 There were all these guys, but the one who was a set man in Jerusalem was James. 00:21:52.800 --> 00:21:58.000 James the just, the brother of Jesus, and so James would be the one who in Acts 15, 00:21:58.000 --> 00:22:04.400 after the Jerusalem council discusses what Paul should do, James is the one who stands up 00:22:04.400 --> 00:22:13.360 and delivers what is the final decree. In the same manner, in Ephesus, there is a set man, 00:22:13.360 --> 00:22:21.600 in Ephesus there were elders. How do we know that? Because we know that in Acts chapter 20, verse 28, 00:22:21.600 --> 00:22:31.120 we see Paul meeting with the elders, saying, I won't see you again. I appoint you so that no wolves 00:22:31.760 --> 00:22:37.520 or Philistines, actually he doesn't use the word Philistines, he uses the word wolves, will savage 00:22:38.080 --> 00:22:43.920 the flock. You I appoint you as shepherds, he says to the elders. So we know there were elders, 00:22:43.920 --> 00:22:53.680 but we also know from 1 Timothy 5, 1 to 20, that the one who was a set man in Ephesus was Timothy. 00:22:55.680 --> 00:22:57.200 So if you go to 1 Timothy 5, 00:22:57.200 --> 00:23:11.840 1 Timothy 1 to 5, sorry, 1 to 5, sorry, that's not the truth, 1 Timothy 1, 1 to 5, sorry, 00:23:11.840 --> 00:23:20.000 1 Timothy 1, 1 to 5. Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by command of our God and Savior Jesus Christ, 00:23:20.000 --> 00:23:25.360 our hope to Timothy, my true child in the faith, grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father, 00:23:25.360 --> 00:23:30.560 and Christ Jesus our Lord. As I urged you when I was going to Macedonia, remain at Ephesus so that 00:23:30.560 --> 00:23:35.840 you may charge certain persons not to teach any different doctrine, not to devote themselves to 00:23:35.840 --> 00:23:40.640 myths and endless genealogies which promote speculations rather than stewardship from God, 00:23:40.640 --> 00:23:45.200 that is by faith. The aim of our charge is love that it choose from a pure heart and a good 00:23:45.200 --> 00:23:50.160 conscience, and he begins to tell Timothy what he needs to fix things at Ephesus. 00:23:55.520 --> 00:23:56.480 Embrace this, eh? 00:24:00.080 --> 00:24:06.480 Or reject it. But for God's sake, and I mean that as in really, for God's sake, 00:24:06.480 --> 00:24:09.280 do not hold it at distance because you will languish. 00:24:13.520 --> 00:24:20.320 Why? Because these are eternal, unchanging principles of divine order, and everything 00:24:20.320 --> 00:24:31.280 in the kingdom works based on order. Order is an arrangement of God set here on earth 00:24:31.280 --> 00:24:37.680 so that things function a certain way based on heaven's patterns, which is why even Jesus 00:24:38.320 --> 00:24:43.440 had to be part of an arrangement where even though the Father, Son, and Spirit are co-equal, 00:24:44.080 --> 00:24:47.120 Jesus said the Father was his head. 00:24:57.520 --> 00:25:03.360 While most churches have a set man, as in most churches have a pastor or a leader, 00:25:03.360 --> 00:25:08.400 while most churches have a set man or a leader or a pastor or whatever you want to call them, 00:25:08.400 --> 00:25:18.720 they are prevented from functioning as fathers. They are prevented from functioning as fathers 00:25:21.680 --> 00:25:25.280 and are forced to operate 00:25:28.320 --> 00:25:29.280 as hirelings. 00:25:35.440 --> 00:25:36.320 As hirelings. 00:25:38.720 --> 00:25:43.520 They're forced to operate as hirelings. As in, you're not even given permission 00:25:45.920 --> 00:25:50.560 to be a leader that can be a father to the congregation, but you have to, 00:25:52.400 --> 00:25:55.840 you have to realize that you're a hireling, that you can be hired and you can be fired. 00:25:58.800 --> 00:26:02.880 And strangely enough, really good believers think that's a great idea. 00:26:02.880 --> 00:26:08.000 A hireling cannot produce sons, only fathers can produce sons. A hireling cannot produce sons. 00:26:08.000 --> 00:26:14.320 A hireling can only sire a mixed brood of sons and daughters, a mixed brood of males and females. 00:26:14.320 --> 00:26:20.800 When you go to Judges, go to this chapter, it's fascinating. Judges 17.10. Judges 17.10. 00:26:24.320 --> 00:26:27.920 You don't know what a privilege it is for me to be a judge. 00:26:28.640 --> 00:26:34.960 You don't know what a privilege it is for me to be so sure that I'll die with you. 00:26:35.760 --> 00:26:41.760 One day, you guys will turn up at my funeral. This is a, I can say like Ruth, 00:26:43.200 --> 00:26:48.400 your God is my God, where you die, I'll die. Or if I'm older than you, where I die, you'll die. 00:26:49.200 --> 00:26:52.800 But the point being that what a privilege. 00:26:53.040 --> 00:26:53.920 What a privilege. 00:26:56.880 --> 00:27:00.400 And yet when you look at the scripture that I gave you, people were, 00:27:01.920 --> 00:27:08.480 this business was normal even ages ago. Judges chapter 17, Judges chapter 17, verse 10. 00:27:12.400 --> 00:27:16.880 And Micah said to this young man, where do you come from? And he said, I'm a 00:27:16.880 --> 00:27:24.080 Levite of Bethlehem in Judah, and I'm going to Sojourn where I may find a place. And Micah said 00:27:24.080 --> 00:27:28.640 to him, stay with me and be to me a father and a priest, and I'll give you 10 pieces of silver a 00:27:28.640 --> 00:27:34.240 year and a suit of clothes for your living. And the Levite went in. Now go to 18, chapter 18, verse 19. 00:27:34.240 --> 00:27:41.760 Someone else hires him. Chapter 18, verse 19. And they said to, and when they went into Micah's house 00:27:41.760 --> 00:27:46.160 and took the carved image, the effort, the household goods, the gods and the metal image, 00:27:46.160 --> 00:27:49.920 the priest said to them, what are you doing? And they said to him, keep quiet, put your hand on your 00:27:49.920 --> 00:27:54.080 mouth, come with us, be a father and a priest to us. It's better for you to be priest to the house 00:27:54.080 --> 00:27:57.920 of one man or to be the priest to a tribe and clan in Israel. Just hiring. 00:28:02.560 --> 00:28:11.040 You as a future leader should carry in you the desire to father people. Will you fail? Absolutely. 00:28:11.600 --> 00:28:17.520 Did your dad fail? If you say your dad didn't fail, you either didn't have a dad or you were 00:28:17.520 --> 00:28:23.840 dreaming. There's not a dad here that hasn't failed a child or a child here whose dad didn't fail them. 00:28:26.640 --> 00:28:33.760 Oh my God, it's the only way to raise households. Think of it this way, guys. God wants a family. 00:28:35.040 --> 00:28:38.960 He has wanted a family in Genesis. He will have a family in the book of Revelation. 00:28:39.440 --> 00:28:46.640 If God wants a family, then he approaches the family not as an uncle, not as a tutor, not as a 00:28:46.640 --> 00:28:55.600 mentor, not as a guardian. He approaches his family as a father. It is impossible to build a household. 00:28:55.600 --> 00:28:59.440 It is possible to build a church. It's possible to build a ministry, but it is not possible to 00:28:59.440 --> 00:29:08.000 build a household without leaders being fathers and fathers that will make mistakes. 00:29:09.280 --> 00:29:13.360 If the mistake is repeated, then 1 Timothy 5.20 kicks in immediately. 00:29:13.920 --> 00:29:20.880 Any leader who keeps persisting in sin must be called out and must be rebuked publicly 00:29:21.600 --> 00:29:24.240 as a warning to others that this cannot go on. 00:29:31.280 --> 00:29:37.520 I've said here before that God makes people in his image. His image is not of a leader and follower. 00:29:37.520 --> 00:29:43.840 His image is of a son and a servant. If that is the case, then every person sitting in this room 00:29:43.840 --> 00:29:50.560 right now has the potential to, in one form or the other, at some stage or the other, 00:29:51.200 --> 00:29:55.520 be able to rise to a place where they can father 200,000. 00:29:58.880 --> 00:30:04.160 Do not think this message is to solidify positions that presently exist in the church. 00:30:05.120 --> 00:30:12.240 It is meant as something that is meant for everyone here because everyone who is a leader 00:30:12.240 --> 00:30:20.160 here today was not a leader one day. I wasn't born like this. I paid my dues big time to 00:30:20.160 --> 00:30:30.640 get to this place where I was a good son. Any questions before we go on? 00:30:35.040 --> 00:30:35.760 Any questions? 00:30:42.160 --> 00:30:43.680 God builds generationally. 00:30:48.320 --> 00:30:49.840 God builds revelationally. 00:30:53.280 --> 00:30:59.200 God builds relationally. And there is no other relationship on the face of the earth 00:30:59.920 --> 00:31:08.880 than a father and sons and daughters where these factors can be effectively conveyed. 00:31:08.880 --> 00:31:14.080 No other relationship. Nowhere else can you find a relationship on the face of the earth 00:31:14.880 --> 00:31:19.680 where things can be done generationally, revelationally, relationally, other than in 00:31:19.680 --> 00:31:26.080 the context of fathers and sons existing in a household. No other relationship. No guardian, 00:31:26.560 --> 00:31:32.960 no mentor, no pastor, no teacher. Nobody can do this. This is the only relationship 00:31:32.960 --> 00:31:45.600 where things can be conveyed and transmitted. You take this kind of interest in anyone. It is only 00:31:45.600 --> 00:31:51.920 a matter of time before they see the father. Hey, hear me again. It doesn't matter who you are. 00:31:51.920 --> 00:31:55.920 You might be a believer that has been around for one year or a believer who's been around for 40 00:31:55.920 --> 00:32:03.040 or 50 years. If anyone takes this on, it is impossible for the person that you are taking 00:32:03.040 --> 00:32:11.200 care of not to see the father. Impossible. Even if you mess up, it'll be impossible 00:32:12.800 --> 00:32:17.840 because this is your constant attitude. It's impossible. 00:32:21.600 --> 00:32:23.680 Can it still be resisted? Absolutely. 00:32:25.920 --> 00:32:39.440 Which brings us to this context of Matthew 23 19, 00:32:40.640 --> 00:32:46.800 which either you're thinking or someone else will bring up at some point. Matthew 23 19. 00:32:48.000 --> 00:32:49.680 Go to Matthew 23 19. 00:32:56.400 --> 00:33:03.920 Did I say Matthew 23 11? Sorry, Matthew 23 11. 00:33:09.040 --> 00:33:15.120 And call no man your father on earth for you have one father who is in heaven. 00:33:16.160 --> 00:33:22.320 And so often the scripture is brought up as in how can we go down this road when Jesus very 00:33:22.320 --> 00:33:29.600 specifically said call no man your father. So understand the context of Matthew 23 11. Sorry, 00:33:30.560 --> 00:33:39.680 no titles. No one is called father. No titles, no ownership. 00:33:41.280 --> 00:33:47.840 We are not talking about titles or ownership. We are talking about one simple word, relationship. 00:33:53.280 --> 00:33:59.360 Pardon? 23? Okay, 23 9. 00:34:01.680 --> 00:34:08.000 Matthew 23 9. The context is yeah, don't call anyone father. Don't call anyone. Hey, here's 00:34:08.000 --> 00:34:13.040 the odd thing. We only get stuck at this concept of father because it says don't call anyone rabbi. 00:34:13.040 --> 00:34:17.440 Don't call anyone instructor. Just make sure if you go to Regent or any Bible college that you go to, 00:34:17.520 --> 00:34:23.360 make sure you don't call your professor professor. Yeah, take it to the full extent. If you're going 00:34:23.360 --> 00:34:29.360 to try to drain out gnats and grasshoppers from your drink, you might as well go the whole way 00:34:29.360 --> 00:34:34.320 and call no man sir, professor, teacher, instructor. Don't call them anything, 00:34:34.320 --> 00:34:40.080 because you want to stick to Jesus's words. That's not the point being made here. The point is listen, 00:34:40.720 --> 00:34:45.600 you don't look for titles. You're not looking for ownership. You're looking for a relationship, 00:34:45.600 --> 00:34:52.720 and that's a relationship you must build. And so how best to put it? 00:34:56.640 --> 00:35:06.080 No man can be a father. No man can be a father other than father God. No man can be a father. 00:35:07.040 --> 00:35:17.600 Jesus was consumed. Jesus was consumed with and represented the father, and no man should take that place. 00:35:20.320 --> 00:35:23.920 No man, never. To do that is almost sacrilegious. 00:35:26.320 --> 00:35:31.360 By the way, God comes into a family, by the way God comes into a family, 00:35:31.520 --> 00:35:41.040 is through a representative figure. It's through a representative figure who substitutes for him, 00:35:44.240 --> 00:35:51.200 who substitutes for him, and that's how he creates households on earth. 00:35:52.080 --> 00:35:57.360 So there's no ownership. There is no ownership, and if you see ownership, 00:35:58.800 --> 00:36:05.760 you should question the person in terms of, you're supposed to steward, not own. There is no 00:36:05.760 --> 00:36:12.880 ownership in representation. There is no ownership in representation. There is no ownership in 00:36:12.960 --> 00:36:18.320 representation. Only stewardship. Do you know, and this might be hard for us to wrap our heads around. 00:36:18.320 --> 00:36:23.840 Do you know that God actually thinks like this about Eliakim? Do you know that he actually thinks 00:36:23.840 --> 00:36:29.600 that Don and Keziah do not have ownership? Do you know that he's not actually the owner of the 00:36:29.600 --> 00:36:34.640 foundation? Do you know that God has actually survived the foundation? Do you know that he 00:36:34.640 --> 00:36:40.160 was the owner of the foundation? Do you know that he was the guardian of the foundation? Do you know 00:36:40.160 --> 00:36:44.160 that Don and Kezia do not have ownership over Eliakim. 00:36:46.160 --> 00:36:51.160 That Eliakim is a full individual that God made before the earth began. 00:36:51.160 --> 00:36:58.160 And that at some point in history, he decided that he was going to send Eliakim in 2025 to the earth. 00:36:58.160 --> 00:37:02.160 And that before the earth existed, before man was created, 00:37:02.160 --> 00:37:06.160 he had already decided that Don and Kezia would be the parents. 00:37:06.160 --> 00:37:09.160 And that he would place them in Don and Kezia's care, 00:37:09.160 --> 00:37:16.160 so that they can steward this person that he had created with full destiny, full brilliance. 00:37:16.160 --> 00:37:23.160 That he doesn't think that they own that child, even though all of us think parents own the child. 00:37:23.160 --> 00:37:25.160 And yet they don't. 00:37:28.160 --> 00:37:31.160 This is how it works in the larger household too. 00:37:31.160 --> 00:37:35.160 And the moment parents begin to stop stewarding a child, 00:37:35.160 --> 00:37:39.160 they become the determinants of the child's destiny and future. 00:37:41.160 --> 00:37:44.160 And it ends usually disastrously. 00:37:49.160 --> 00:37:51.160 Here's the crazy thing guys. 00:37:52.160 --> 00:38:03.160 Jesus, born of a virgin, without any male interference, 00:38:04.160 --> 00:38:11.160 still was given to a dad and a mum to be raised, 00:38:11.160 --> 00:38:15.160 so that Luke chapter 2, verse 51 and 52 could unfold. 00:38:15.160 --> 00:38:18.160 And what does Luke 2, 51 and 52 say? 00:38:18.160 --> 00:38:23.160 This is shortly after he comes back from the temple, when they find him in the temple. 00:38:23.160 --> 00:38:30.160 And it says, from that day on, Jesus went home and submitted to his parents. 00:38:30.160 --> 00:38:37.160 And the boy grew in wisdom and in stature and in favour with God and man. 00:38:37.160 --> 00:38:42.160 What makes me think that I can do Christianity without this? 00:38:45.160 --> 00:38:47.160 It's absurd. 00:38:48.160 --> 00:38:55.160 I beg you, reject it or embrace it, but don't hang out in between. 00:38:55.160 --> 00:38:59.160 You'll be like Absalom with his head tied to a tree. 00:39:05.160 --> 00:39:08.160 But Jacob, what if I have this problem and this problem and this problem? 00:39:08.160 --> 00:39:14.160 Hey, embrace the eternal, unchanging principle first. 00:39:19.160 --> 00:39:24.160 You have to embrace the eternal, unchanging principle of divine order first. 00:39:31.160 --> 00:39:33.160 Everything else follows. 00:39:35.160 --> 00:39:37.160 Any questions? 00:39:38.160 --> 00:39:42.160 Guys, many houses do not get you an inheritance. 00:39:42.160 --> 00:39:45.160 You can adopt me, I can be your child, I can be your child, I can be your... 00:39:45.160 --> 00:39:46.160 I can go everywhere. 00:39:46.160 --> 00:39:47.160 At the end of the day, guess what? 00:39:47.160 --> 00:39:50.160 Judah will get what Remy has, not me. 00:39:51.160 --> 00:39:53.160 Why? Because... 00:39:55.160 --> 00:39:59.160 The marvellous thing about how God transmits inheritance 00:39:59.160 --> 00:40:06.160 is when one is able to lodge oneself in a household that is faulty, inadequate, broken, messy, 00:40:06.160 --> 00:40:09.160 difficult and wonderful at times. 00:40:09.160 --> 00:40:13.160 But you begin to step into what you're supposed to be stepping into. 00:40:14.160 --> 00:40:16.160 Without that, it's not possible. 00:40:18.160 --> 00:40:20.160 We can't be cats. 00:40:21.160 --> 00:40:23.160 Cats go to every house, so they belong to everybody. 00:40:23.160 --> 00:40:25.160 Dogs don't. 00:40:29.160 --> 00:40:32.160 In terms of why that's included, 00:40:32.160 --> 00:40:35.160 in terms of why that's included, 00:40:35.160 --> 00:40:38.160 so leaders have an ultimate state of... 00:40:40.160 --> 00:40:45.160 One of the sins of leadership is when leaders begin to behave like Gehazi, 00:40:45.160 --> 00:40:54.160 where they throw away their integrity for some Babylonian garments and a few silver shekels. 00:40:54.160 --> 00:40:58.160 Finances and leadership literally have nothing to do with each other. 00:41:00.160 --> 00:41:01.160 Nothing. 00:41:04.160 --> 00:41:08.160 They are two completely separate things that have nothing in common. 00:41:10.160 --> 00:41:12.160 A father is not looking for your money. 00:41:14.160 --> 00:41:19.160 And if he is, it should come because you gave it, not because he took it. 00:41:19.160 --> 00:41:23.160 And if he takes it, he should distribute it and not use it for himself. 00:41:25.160 --> 00:41:31.160 Our present system has brought together leadership and money as if it was something that is owed them. 00:41:32.160 --> 00:41:33.160 But it's not. 00:41:37.160 --> 00:41:42.160 If you shift from leader to set man and father, 00:41:42.160 --> 00:41:44.160 you'll find that your way of functioning changes. 00:41:47.160 --> 00:41:51.160 Which father here wants to exploit his children? 00:41:55.160 --> 00:42:01.160 Which father here is raising children so that the father gets richer? 00:42:02.160 --> 00:42:07.160 Which father here is raising children so that the father gets richer? 00:42:07.160 --> 00:42:09.160 And the children get poorer? 00:42:13.160 --> 00:42:15.160 Any dads here like that? 00:42:15.160 --> 00:42:18.160 Derek looks like he's raising Brielle just for one thing. 00:42:18.160 --> 00:42:20.160 A big mansion and a Bentley. 00:42:28.160 --> 00:42:31.160 It's we who brought this together and convoluted it. 00:42:31.160 --> 00:42:36.160 The systems of this world that have wormed their way into the church. 00:42:39.160 --> 00:42:42.160 When people would come and lay money at the apostles' feet, 00:42:43.160 --> 00:42:47.160 it was not so Paul could ride a better horse. 00:42:47.160 --> 00:42:54.160 It was so that everything could be taken to Jerusalem or Judea or Samaria, wherever they were going, and completely disbursed. 00:42:54.160 --> 00:43:01.160 It was so that everything could be taken to Jerusalem or Judea or Samaria, wherever they were going, and completely disbursed. 00:43:09.160 --> 00:43:11.160 I love Paul's letters. On one hand he says, 00:43:11.160 --> 00:43:15.160 I won't take a pie from you because I know how you think. 00:43:16.160 --> 00:43:18.160 On the other hand, he says, 00:43:18.160 --> 00:43:24.160 Why can't I and Barnabas have the same rights that you give Peter and his wife? 00:43:26.160 --> 00:43:29.160 Isn't a man supposed to eat from the garden that he cultivated? 00:43:30.160 --> 00:43:32.160 I used to say this 20 years ago. 00:43:34.160 --> 00:43:36.160 I'm saying it again after a very long time. 00:43:36.160 --> 00:43:40.160 If I brought a truth into your life that completely revolutionized your life, 00:43:40.160 --> 00:43:42.160 how much would you pay me? 00:43:43.160 --> 00:43:47.160 How much would you pay me for God using me to heal your life, 00:43:47.160 --> 00:43:50.160 bring a truth into your life, set you free from the demonic, 00:43:50.160 --> 00:43:52.160 bring you into a place of your destiny? 00:43:52.160 --> 00:43:55.160 How much would you pay me that would be enough? 00:44:00.160 --> 00:44:02.160 How much could I pay Eddie? 00:44:02.160 --> 00:44:04.160 How much could I pay Michael Scantleberry? 00:44:07.160 --> 00:44:11.160 How much could I pay Chantel's parents who are here? 00:44:13.160 --> 00:44:16.160 How much could I pay these guys for where they have brought me? 00:44:16.160 --> 00:44:19.160 What is the price that you pay for what you become? 00:44:21.160 --> 00:44:24.160 I dare not put a price on what they did for me. 00:44:27.160 --> 00:44:31.160 Because there is nothing I can give them back that will say, 00:44:31.160 --> 00:44:34.160 this is now full payment for what you've done for me. 00:44:42.160 --> 00:44:46.160 Jesus was begotten of the Father, 00:44:46.160 --> 00:44:49.160 wombed in a virgin without the agency of man, 00:44:49.160 --> 00:44:54.160 was placed in the care of a substitute Father in Joseph. 00:44:54.160 --> 00:44:59.160 Please understand, he was placed in the care of a substitute Father, 00:44:59.160 --> 00:45:00.160 God. 00:45:00.160 --> 00:45:04.160 He was placed in the care of a substitute Father in Joseph. 00:45:04.160 --> 00:45:07.160 He was placed in the care of a substitute Father, 00:45:07.160 --> 00:45:08.160 God. 00:45:08.160 --> 00:45:12.160 Please understand, he was placed in the care of a substitute Father. 00:45:12.160 --> 00:45:14.160 Come on man, that's crazy. 00:45:18.160 --> 00:45:20.160 I love preaching messages like this, 00:45:20.160 --> 00:45:24.160 especially at a time like this because I remember three weeks ago 00:45:24.160 --> 00:45:27.160 talking about a teaching called Holy Defiance. 00:45:28.160 --> 00:45:31.160 In your face, why? 00:45:31.160 --> 00:45:33.160 Because it's the truth in your face, man. 00:45:34.160 --> 00:45:37.160 I'm not talking to you right now, eh? 00:45:37.160 --> 00:45:40.160 I'm talking to people who have a problem with this. 00:45:40.160 --> 00:45:42.160 Just find it so... 00:45:46.160 --> 00:45:47.160 so... 00:45:49.160 --> 00:45:50.160 limestone. 00:45:56.160 --> 00:45:57.160 That's his story. 00:45:57.160 --> 00:46:00.160 Joseph and Mary were to relay the grace, 00:46:00.160 --> 00:46:03.160 the love, the correction and the will of the Father to Jesus. 00:46:03.160 --> 00:46:10.160 And Jesus had to do two things to learn and grow in wisdom, stature and favor with God. 00:46:10.160 --> 00:46:11.160 It'll just blow your mind. 00:46:11.160 --> 00:46:14.160 Go to Luke chapter 2, verse 52. 00:46:14.160 --> 00:46:17.160 Luke 2, 51 and 52. 00:46:17.160 --> 00:46:21.160 And he went down with them and came to Nazareth and was submissive to them. 00:46:21.160 --> 00:46:24.160 And his mother treasured up these things in her heart. 00:46:24.160 --> 00:46:28.160 And Jesus increased in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and man. 00:46:28.160 --> 00:46:35.160 There is the need for submission and dependence on the ones that are appointed to take care of you. 00:46:35.160 --> 00:46:37.160 If you want to be a good man, 00:46:37.160 --> 00:46:39.160 you have to be a good man. 00:46:39.160 --> 00:46:41.160 If you want to be a good man, 00:46:41.160 --> 00:46:43.160 you have to be a good man. 00:46:43.160 --> 00:46:46.160 The ones that are appointed to take care of you, 00:46:46.160 --> 00:46:51.160 if you want to grow in wisdom and stature and favor with God and man, 00:46:51.160 --> 00:46:56.160 try to do it on your own and you will slow down the progress that can be made. 00:47:00.160 --> 00:47:01.160 It's the truth, man. 00:47:04.160 --> 00:47:06.160 Two words that we hate right now, right? 00:47:06.160 --> 00:47:08.160 Submission and dependence. 00:47:13.160 --> 00:47:15.160 In an entitled world, 00:47:15.160 --> 00:47:23.160 guys, one of the things I learned with all the three or four people I mentioned, 00:47:23.160 --> 00:47:28.160 I learned how to access, 00:47:28.160 --> 00:47:33.160 I learned how to access the world. 00:47:33.160 --> 00:47:36.160 I learned how to access the world. 00:47:37.160 --> 00:47:39.160 To access, 00:47:42.160 --> 00:47:46.160 I learned how to access the grace 00:47:50.160 --> 00:48:00.160 and the attributes of the Father in their lives. 00:48:07.160 --> 00:48:09.160 I wasn't looking for 00:48:14.160 --> 00:48:16.160 I wasn't looking for endorsement, 00:48:19.160 --> 00:48:22.160 for emotional feel-good moments, 00:48:28.160 --> 00:48:30.160 and I had to humble myself 00:48:37.160 --> 00:48:39.160 multiple times 00:48:42.160 --> 00:48:44.160 when corrected. 00:48:49.160 --> 00:48:52.160 Because that's what children do. 00:48:53.160 --> 00:48:56.160 This is why building like this is so much more painful, 00:48:56.160 --> 00:48:59.160 so much easier to just pastor a church. 00:49:02.160 --> 00:49:04.160 Any questions before we go on? 00:49:04.160 --> 00:49:07.160 I'll conclude in two minutes. 00:49:10.160 --> 00:49:12.160 Some of my real stories, 00:49:12.160 --> 00:49:14.160 I think I've shared some I'll pull out two. 00:49:14.160 --> 00:49:17.160 One is a story that has to do with Wayne, 00:49:17.160 --> 00:49:19.160 where Wayne had to humble himself. 00:49:19.160 --> 00:49:22.160 He doesn't even remember what it has to do with me. 00:49:22.160 --> 00:49:24.160 Heidi will probably remember this. 00:49:24.160 --> 00:49:27.160 I remember Eddie coming to Vancouver 00:49:27.160 --> 00:49:31.160 and I had gone with him to Chris's house for lunch 00:49:31.160 --> 00:49:35.160 and Chris's mom, Gisela, would always give me 00:49:35.160 --> 00:49:41.160 the chair where her husband used to sit 00:49:41.160 --> 00:49:44.160 and I would feel so much at home in that house. 00:49:44.160 --> 00:49:46.160 I could literally do what I wanted. 00:49:46.160 --> 00:49:49.160 I remember sitting there and finishing my lunch. 00:49:49.160 --> 00:49:51.160 I had taken Eddie there as a guest. 00:49:51.160 --> 00:49:54.160 I finished my lunch and I got up from my seat 00:49:54.160 --> 00:49:56.160 and I went to the living room 00:49:56.160 --> 00:49:59.160 and I sat down on the sofa waiting for the rest to finish. 00:49:59.160 --> 00:50:01.160 I remember Eddie looking at me and saying, 00:50:01.160 --> 00:50:05.160 boy, you will come back and sit at this table 00:50:05.160 --> 00:50:07.160 till everybody is finished. 00:50:08.160 --> 00:50:10.160 And everything in me rose up. 00:50:12.160 --> 00:50:13.160 He's a guest. 00:50:13.160 --> 00:50:15.160 How dare he talk to me like that? 00:50:16.160 --> 00:50:17.160 He's not my real dad. 00:50:18.160 --> 00:50:20.160 How dare he embarrass me in front of all these people 00:50:20.160 --> 00:50:21.160 and try to correct me? 00:50:23.160 --> 00:50:24.160 And I have two choices. 00:50:24.160 --> 00:50:26.160 Either I can defy him 00:50:26.160 --> 00:50:28.160 or I can do my usual thing when I get nervous, 00:50:28.160 --> 00:50:30.160 crack a joke and make it all go away. 00:50:31.160 --> 00:50:32.160 Those are my choices. 00:50:32.160 --> 00:50:34.160 And I also know something else that's happening in my heart. 00:50:34.160 --> 00:50:36.160 What are you going to do, Jacob? 00:50:37.160 --> 00:50:40.160 Are you going to be humble enough to say you were wrong 00:50:40.160 --> 00:50:42.160 and go back and sit with the rest of them 00:50:42.160 --> 00:50:43.160 or are you going to crack a joke 00:50:43.160 --> 00:50:46.160 or are you going to try to show your rebellion? 00:50:46.160 --> 00:50:49.160 I remember getting up from the sofa, going back to the seat, 00:50:49.160 --> 00:50:51.160 sitting down, looking around the table 00:50:51.160 --> 00:50:54.160 and you can ask Heidi this, if there's any exaggeration in this, 00:50:54.160 --> 00:50:56.160 looking around the table and apologizing 00:50:56.160 --> 00:50:59.160 for getting up from the table and leaving while the rest of them were eating. 00:51:00.160 --> 00:51:01.160 Something happened that day in my heart 00:51:01.160 --> 00:51:05.160 where I realized that I was ready to do what it takes 00:51:05.160 --> 00:51:07.160 to be who I need to be. 00:51:13.160 --> 00:51:17.160 It was in 2009 or 2010. 00:51:19.160 --> 00:51:21.160 Wayne and I used to struggle with things, 00:51:21.160 --> 00:51:24.160 because Wayne was much older than me 00:51:24.160 --> 00:51:27.160 and we'd have these arguments about stuff. 00:51:27.160 --> 00:51:29.160 And one day, I remember saying to Wayne, 00:51:29.160 --> 00:51:32.160 Wayne, you're a great help in this church. 00:51:32.160 --> 00:51:35.160 Without you, we couldn't have set up the church like we did. 00:51:35.160 --> 00:51:38.160 But I want you to know that you're still not a son in this church. 00:51:38.160 --> 00:51:42.160 You're still someone who stands on the outside, advises, 00:51:42.160 --> 00:51:45.160 but you're not a son in this house. 00:51:45.160 --> 00:51:47.160 There's a man who's much older than me. 00:51:47.160 --> 00:51:49.160 He's old enough to be my father. 00:51:50.160 --> 00:51:51.160 One of the things you have to realize, 00:51:51.160 --> 00:51:54.160 if you are placed as a set man and a father over the house, 00:51:54.160 --> 00:51:59.160 is sometimes you have to bring torment, touchstone torment. 00:51:59.160 --> 00:52:03.160 Touchstone is what gold, that's how you find out what's real gold. 00:52:03.160 --> 00:52:06.160 Sometimes torment or friction with the truth is necessary. 00:52:06.160 --> 00:52:07.160 I want to say that to Wayne. 00:52:07.160 --> 00:52:09.160 Wayne didn't say a word. 00:52:11.160 --> 00:52:13.160 I went on a trip. 00:52:14.160 --> 00:52:17.160 Somehow Wayne found out when I was coming back. 00:52:18.160 --> 00:52:20.160 I arrive at Vancouver. 00:52:20.160 --> 00:52:22.160 And guess who's waiting there? 00:52:22.160 --> 00:52:26.160 This man, old enough to be my father, is waiting there. 00:52:26.160 --> 00:52:30.160 Without a word, he comes and he picks up my bags. 00:52:30.160 --> 00:52:33.160 And I'm thinking to myself, I shouldn't let him, 00:52:33.160 --> 00:52:36.160 but I also know what he's doing. 00:52:36.160 --> 00:52:40.160 He picks up my bags and he carries it to his car, 00:52:40.160 --> 00:52:44.160 opens the door for me, has me sit in the car, drives me home. 00:52:46.160 --> 00:52:48.160 Everything changed that day. 00:52:50.160 --> 00:52:52.160 A man old enough to be my father. 00:52:54.160 --> 00:52:58.160 Either embrace this guy or reject it, but please don't hang in between. 00:53:07.160 --> 00:53:11.160 I can give you story after story after story of what it takes 00:53:11.160 --> 00:53:15.160 to on one hand be someone who is a leader and a father, 00:53:15.160 --> 00:53:19.160 and on the other hand, look forward to becoming that one day. 00:53:20.160 --> 00:53:23.160 By learning how to walk now. 00:53:30.160 --> 00:53:33.160 Yeah, Diana was there too and Eddie was there, I think. 00:53:41.160 --> 00:53:45.160 This teaching is meant to cement truths, build this household, 00:53:45.160 --> 00:53:49.160 and it's a reality check on false assumptions you may have about yourself. 00:53:51.160 --> 00:53:57.160 Because fathering really reconstitutes and positions you spiritually. 00:54:00.160 --> 00:54:03.160 1 Corinthians 4, 15-17, I'll have to end. 00:54:03.160 --> 00:54:05.160 1 Corinthians 4, 15-17. 00:54:16.160 --> 00:54:18.160 Let me start at 14. 00:54:18.160 --> 00:54:21.160 I do not write these things to make you ashamed, 00:54:21.160 --> 00:54:23.160 but to admonish you as my beloved children. 00:54:23.160 --> 00:54:27.160 For though you have countless guides in Christ, you do not have many fathers. 00:54:27.160 --> 00:54:30.160 For I became your father in Christ through the gospel. 00:54:30.160 --> 00:54:32.160 I urge you then, be imitators of me. 00:54:32.160 --> 00:54:36.160 That is why I sent you, Timothy, my beloved and faithful child, 00:54:36.160 --> 00:54:38.160 in the Lord to remind you of my ways in Christ, 00:54:38.160 --> 00:54:41.160 as I teach them everywhere, in every church. 00:54:41.160 --> 00:54:45.160 Some are arrogant, as though I were not coming to you, and so on. 00:54:49.160 --> 00:54:52.160 I always run out of time. 00:54:56.160 --> 00:54:58.160 There's a whole page left, huh? 00:55:02.160 --> 00:55:04.160 We shouldn't, right? 00:55:05.160 --> 00:55:06.160 We shouldn't. 00:55:11.160 --> 00:55:14.160 Let me end with this and we'll talk about it next week. 00:55:14.160 --> 00:55:16.160 I'll just give you the points. 00:55:16.160 --> 00:55:22.160 One, read the story in 2 Kings 4, 18-22, right now. 00:55:22.160 --> 00:55:27.160 2 Kings 4, 18-22. 00:55:28.160 --> 00:55:30.160 We'll talk about that next time. 00:55:34.160 --> 00:55:36.160 What will we be talking about? 00:55:36.160 --> 00:55:40.160 What does it look like to have disengaged fathers? 00:55:41.160 --> 00:55:45.160 We'll then talk about the sins of fathers. 00:55:45.160 --> 00:55:49.160 What are the sins that fathers presently commit 00:55:49.160 --> 00:55:54.160 that really wrecks a household and destroys sons and daughters? 00:55:55.160 --> 00:55:59.160 Then we'll talk about engaged fathers. 00:55:59.160 --> 00:56:02.160 What does it look like when a father is engaged? 00:56:02.160 --> 00:56:05.160 Is it all fun and games? 00:56:05.160 --> 00:56:07.160 No, it's not. 00:56:08.160 --> 00:56:20.160 And then finally we'll talk about what will you be tested in 00:56:20.160 --> 00:56:27.160 so you can rise and father? 00:56:29.160 --> 00:56:33.160 Okay, so let's read 2 Kings 4, just for those four verses. 00:56:33.160 --> 00:56:37.160 When the child had grown, he went out one day to his father 00:56:37.160 --> 00:56:40.160 among the reapers, and he said to his father, 00:56:40.160 --> 00:56:43.160 Oh, my head, my head, the father said to his servant, 00:56:43.160 --> 00:56:45.160 Carry him to his mother. 00:56:45.160 --> 00:56:47.160 And when he had lifted him and brought him to his mother, 00:56:47.160 --> 00:56:50.160 the child sat on her lap till noon, and then he died. 00:56:50.160 --> 00:56:53.160 And she went up and laid him on the bed of the man of God 00:56:53.160 --> 00:56:55.160 and shut the door behind him and went out. 00:56:55.160 --> 00:56:57.160 Then she called to her husband and said, 00:56:57.160 --> 00:56:59.160 Send me one of the servants, one of the donkeys, 00:56:59.160 --> 00:57:02.160 that I might quickly go to the man of God and come back again. 00:57:02.160 --> 00:57:04.160 What we see there is a father who's missing, 00:57:04.160 --> 00:57:07.160 who's disengaged, who isn't present. 00:57:07.160 --> 00:57:09.160 What does it do to a son? 00:57:09.160 --> 00:57:13.160 We'll talk about that and these things next time. 00:57:13.160 --> 00:57:19.160 And here's the ways that what will you be tested in 00:57:19.160 --> 00:57:21.160 so you can rise and father? 00:57:21.160 --> 00:57:23.160 Guys, just be aware of this. 00:57:23.160 --> 00:57:25.160 We won't be talking about it today, but just be aware of this. 00:57:25.160 --> 00:57:28.160 You'll be tested with purpose. 00:57:28.160 --> 00:57:30.160 With purpose. 00:57:33.160 --> 00:57:35.160 With your past. 00:57:36.160 --> 00:57:38.160 With purity. 00:57:39.160 --> 00:57:41.160 With power. 00:57:41.160 --> 00:57:44.160 How do you do with power when you're given power? 00:57:44.160 --> 00:57:46.160 With offense. 00:57:47.160 --> 00:57:50.160 With hiddenness, when nobody knows your name, 00:57:50.160 --> 00:57:53.160 nobody is giving you credit though you did all the work. 00:57:53.160 --> 00:57:55.160 With opposition. 00:57:58.160 --> 00:58:00.160 With satanic resistance. 00:58:02.160 --> 00:58:04.160 Why do I want to end with this? 00:58:04.160 --> 00:58:11.160 Because I want you to know that the leaders you have in this church, 00:58:11.160 --> 00:58:16.160 including me, are inadequate and faulty, 00:58:16.160 --> 00:58:20.160 and you'll find ways in their life that have errors 00:58:20.160 --> 00:58:23.160 and that sometimes those errors stand out like a sore thumb 00:58:23.160 --> 00:58:27.160 and the only one that doesn't see it is them, the rest of us see it. 00:58:27.160 --> 00:58:32.160 All that may be true, but I want you to know that none of them are where they are 00:58:32.160 --> 00:58:35.160 without having gone through this process. 00:58:35.160 --> 00:58:37.160 Every one of them. 00:58:38.160 --> 00:58:44.160 Was tested with purpose, tested with their past, tested in purity, 00:58:44.160 --> 00:58:49.160 tested with how they dealt with power, tested with offense, 00:58:49.160 --> 00:58:53.160 tested with hiddenness when credit wasn't given, 00:58:53.160 --> 00:58:57.160 tested with opposition, and tested with satanic resistance. 00:58:57.160 --> 00:59:01.160 And it is because they were tested and tried 00:59:01.160 --> 00:59:07.160 that they now have the ability to do what they're doing. 00:59:07.160 --> 00:59:12.160 And I desire for myself and for them that they'll be leaders and fathers, 00:59:12.160 --> 00:59:15.160 not just Settman, but Settman and fathers. 00:59:15.160 --> 00:59:19.160 And my desire for you is when your turn comes, Remy, 00:59:19.160 --> 00:59:23.160 when your turn comes Sedi, when your turn comes Sen, 00:59:23.160 --> 00:59:26.160 when your turn comes Mark, when your turn comes Josh, 00:59:26.160 --> 00:59:32.160 that these things would be so easy for you because the path was ploughed for you. 00:59:34.160 --> 00:59:36.160 The path would be ploughed for you. 00:59:36.160 --> 00:59:41.160 That you'd be able to stand and be like a Vivek to a Mia, 00:59:43.160 --> 00:59:45.160 or a Remy to a Judah. 00:59:45.160 --> 00:59:48.160 My God, can you imagine that? 00:59:48.160 --> 00:59:51.160 Can you imagine the households that will rise? 00:59:53.160 --> 00:59:56.160 God is desiring households. 00:59:57.160 --> 01:00:00.160 Households are built by fathers. 01:00:00.160 --> 01:00:02.160 It's a genderless term. 01:00:02.160 --> 01:00:04.160 Please don't think I'm thinking of men. 01:00:04.160 --> 01:00:06.160 It's a genderless term. 01:00:06.160 --> 01:00:08.160 Households are built by fathers. 01:00:09.160 --> 01:00:15.160 A household that does not have a father is either a widow's home or an orphanage. 01:00:16.160 --> 01:00:19.160 And it's not conducive for raising sons. 01:00:22.160 --> 01:00:24.160 Let's pray. 01:00:25.160 --> 01:00:29.160 You know, October 2005, I should ask Derek to read this. 01:00:29.160 --> 01:00:31.160 Derek, come up and read this. 01:00:31.160 --> 01:00:33.160 I'll listen because I want to listen to this. 01:00:33.160 --> 01:00:35.160 October 2005. 01:00:36.160 --> 01:00:39.160 This was the word that was given to this church. 01:00:39.160 --> 01:00:43.160 And I don't know why Derek reminded me of it a year ago, 01:00:43.160 --> 01:00:45.160 and I found it again. 01:00:45.160 --> 01:00:47.160 And I'll just ask him to read it. 01:00:47.160 --> 01:00:50.160 So listen to it as he reads it, and then once he's done, we're done. 01:01:04.160 --> 01:01:09.160 There are fatherless multitudes, orphans in the spirit, 01:01:09.160 --> 01:01:12.160 waiting to find a spiritual father. 01:01:15.160 --> 01:01:20.160 In this house, there will be a reconciliation of wandering Christians 01:01:20.160 --> 01:01:23.160 who will come back to the father's house. 01:01:25.160 --> 01:01:30.160 There are fatherless churches that you will become the spiritual father over, 01:01:31.160 --> 01:01:35.160 not just in Vancouver, but around the world. 01:01:35.160 --> 01:01:41.160 And God will father through you a supernatural work to reproduce. 01:01:44.160 --> 01:01:48.160 You will wait on God for the supernatural food of heaven 01:01:49.160 --> 01:01:53.160 because there are going to be such men and women around you hungry 01:01:53.160 --> 01:01:56.160 for the word of God to flow from you. 01:01:59.160 --> 01:02:03.160 You're about to step into a new realm of the mercy and grace of God 01:02:03.160 --> 01:02:07.160 because mercy is on the left and grace is on the right of you. 01:02:07.160 --> 01:02:12.160 And wherever you turn, you will find every need met in the grace of God. 01:02:14.160 --> 01:02:19.160 This city will begin to realize that Papa God is moving in his power, 01:02:19.160 --> 01:02:23.160 restoring back what you did not even know was missing. 01:02:25.160 --> 01:02:29.160 I will revive, provide, break through even right now. 01:02:29.160 --> 01:02:35.160 You will see manifestations of faith that only I, God, can take credit for. 01:02:36.160 --> 01:02:39.160 You will be part of something the world has never seen before, 01:02:39.160 --> 01:02:45.160 the greatest restoration man has seen since Noah, 01:02:45.160 --> 01:02:48.160 affecting every continent at the same time. 01:02:48.160 --> 01:02:52.160 You will not contain it. You will not resist it. 01:02:52.160 --> 01:02:56.160 If you stand on the banks and put tip of your toe in it, 01:02:56.160 --> 01:02:59.160 it will still reach over the banks and drag you in. 01:03:00.160 --> 01:03:03.160 I have assigned angels, flames of fire, 01:03:03.160 --> 01:03:07.160 who will be ministering spirits to and through you. 01:03:08.160 --> 01:03:10.160 God is about to do something in this house. 01:03:10.160 --> 01:03:15.160 He is about to release gifts of the spirit and things inside you 01:03:15.160 --> 01:03:18.160 that you have never even accepted. 01:03:19.160 --> 01:03:26.160 Gifts, ministries, anointings are about to spring forth in this church 01:03:26.160 --> 01:03:29.160 and even those listening online. 01:03:30.160 --> 01:03:36.160 Young men and young women, bishops, strong apostolic ministries, 01:03:36.160 --> 01:03:41.160 strong teachers will be going out from your company, 01:03:41.160 --> 01:03:45.160 and they will reproduce this anointing. 01:03:46.160 --> 01:03:50.160 Here's the important bit. Everything else God will do. 01:03:50.160 --> 01:03:55.160 So take time to pull aside and develop the strong anointing 01:03:55.160 --> 01:03:58.160 stored for a time such as this. 01:03:58.160 --> 01:04:03.160 What God is starting today is extravagant and beyond your ability to cope with. 01:04:03.160 --> 01:04:06.160 Are your ears awake? Listen. 01:04:06.160 --> 01:04:10.160 Listen to the wind words, the spirit blowing through the church. 01:04:15.160 --> 01:04:18.160 Crazy, eh? 20 years ago. 01:04:20.160 --> 01:04:22.160 Wayne just wants to share something. 01:04:22.160 --> 01:04:25.160 I don't know what, but he's going to take two or three minutes. 01:04:25.160 --> 01:04:30.160 He half-acidated after this word, but I'll still let him go ahead, because he's just... 01:04:35.160 --> 01:04:38.160 I may end up crying here. 01:04:38.160 --> 01:04:42.160 But his message this morning 01:04:42.160 --> 01:04:47.160 just proves that when we started this church, we did what he was talking about. 01:04:47.160 --> 01:04:52.160 He was a father, and the way he has functioned proves that he is. 01:04:52.160 --> 01:04:55.160 I know you probably don't need me to tell you that, 01:04:55.160 --> 01:04:59.160 but we knew it when we started this whole thing. 01:04:59.160 --> 01:05:03.160 So thank you for your word. It's right on. 01:05:03.160 --> 01:05:06.160 Thanks, Wayne. Bless you. 01:05:07.160 --> 01:05:12.160 It just shows that it's not age-dependent, and it's not gender-dependent, eh? 01:05:12.160 --> 01:05:17.160 I remember Derek was the first leader here, and I told him to do a Bible study, 01:05:17.160 --> 01:05:20.160 and everybody in that Bible study was older than him. 01:05:20.160 --> 01:05:22.160 He went there the first time, and he came back saying, 01:05:22.160 --> 01:05:24.160 Jacob, how am I going to face all these people? 01:05:24.160 --> 01:05:28.160 Like, they were not his fathers, they were his grandfathers. 01:05:28.160 --> 01:05:34.160 But this is not age-based or gender-based, and I invite all of us into this, 01:05:34.160 --> 01:05:37.160 because if you listen to that word, you hear what it's saying. 01:05:37.160 --> 01:05:40.160 There are fatherless generations waiting. 01:05:40.160 --> 01:05:43.160 And that word was as true 20 years ago as it is today. 01:05:43.160 --> 01:05:46.160 Yeah? Bless you.