WEBVTT NOTE Podcast: Acts 29 Vancouver Episode: Boldness to Advance Publishing Date: 2026-07-12T03:04:44-07:00 Podcast URL: https://acts29.ca Episode URL: https://acts29.ca/boldness-to-advance/ 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:21.000 While we are sitting, I want to sincerely talk to Jesus, and we must do it together. What 00:00:21.000 --> 00:00:25.920 Jacob started off last week with, which is boldness to preach, and he talked about being 00:00:25.920 --> 00:00:32.360 filled with boldness. We will have part two today, and the title is, The Boldness that 00:00:32.360 --> 00:00:37.920 God Gives Us to Advance, to Push Through. So that's the title, but there's really no 00:00:37.920 --> 00:00:45.800 point in talking about any of that without being centered around Jesus, because the whole 00:00:45.800 --> 00:00:52.440 point of all of this is that, one, we serve Him, two, we give all of what we have to Him. 00:00:52.440 --> 00:01:01.520 So let's just with our mouths quietly, with voice, just speak a Tao to Him. So Father, 00:01:01.520 --> 00:01:06.840 we come to you. We come to you, Jesus. We come to you, Holy Spirit, this afternoon. 00:01:06.840 --> 00:01:19.880 Jesus, one thing you really love is when your children come huddled around you, when they 00:01:19.960 --> 00:01:30.960 centered around you. And so this afternoon, Jesus, we want to hear from you. We want to 00:01:30.960 --> 00:01:37.160 be filled by you. We want to receive everything you have for us. Your Word is so fresh. Your 00:01:37.160 --> 00:01:46.160 Word is alive. Your Word is life-giving for us, for every and anything in our life where 00:01:46.160 --> 00:01:52.320 we need your touch, your presence to give us everything we need. Even that which seems 00:01:52.320 --> 00:02:03.320 like just a sliver of hope. You brighten it up. Thank you, Jesus, for your presence. Jesus, 00:02:04.640 --> 00:02:11.640 we don't serve an idol. We don't serve a thing that cannot speak or a thing that cannot move 00:02:11.840 --> 00:02:18.840 or a thing that cannot see. We serve you. You fill our space with your glory. You fill 00:02:20.800 --> 00:02:27.800 our spirits by being one with us. Jesus, it's a privilege for us as a people to know that 00:02:28.520 --> 00:02:35.520 we serve a living God. So real. There is not a shadow of doubt in our being that you are 00:02:35.520 --> 00:02:42.520 so present here, not just here, but to accomplish everything you have through us on this earth. 00:02:44.160 --> 00:02:50.160 So we just praise you, Jesus. We give you our attention. We give you our honor. We give 00:02:50.160 --> 00:02:57.160 you our praise. Like one of the songs said, yours is a name that's matchless, undefeated 00:02:57.680 --> 00:03:04.680 name. Above every power, principality, you are the most powerful. You are the most powerful 00:03:05.520 --> 00:03:12.520 in the world. You reign. You reign. Jesus, I love it when you said all authority in heaven 00:03:16.080 --> 00:03:20.940 and on earth has been given to me. And so while we are seated here, we recognize who 00:03:20.940 --> 00:03:26.960 you are. You are the risen Christ. And we go marching forward because you are right 00:03:26.960 --> 00:03:33.960 in front of us. Your presence is with us. And so I thank you. In Jesus' name. Amen. 00:03:34.280 --> 00:03:41.280 Okay. So when the first century church was born right after Jesus resurrected and the 00:03:46.840 --> 00:03:53.040 spirit of God descended upon people, the 120 gathered there, the first thing they faced 00:03:53.040 --> 00:04:00.040 is opposition. And the thing with opposition is that sometimes you can feel it without 00:04:00.960 --> 00:04:07.760 hearing anything. But most times opposition is something you can perceive because there 00:04:07.760 --> 00:04:14.160 is a real threat being spoken at you. And so for the first century church, yeah, the 00:04:14.160 --> 00:04:21.160 opposition was real and it was spiritual opposition, but the spiritual opposition came in voices 00:04:23.200 --> 00:04:27.280 that were communicated to them because they would talk about, hey, these guys are coming 00:04:27.280 --> 00:04:31.280 to arrest you. They heard, hey, these guys are coming because they are going to catch 00:04:31.280 --> 00:04:38.280 you and they may kill you. So threats and opposition is communicated in real words and 00:04:39.720 --> 00:04:46.720 through feelings that these powers try to infiltrate with. And what we have is when 00:04:48.360 --> 00:04:53.840 the spirit of God is in us and the spirit of God leads us, he gives us everything we 00:04:53.840 --> 00:05:00.840 need to face opposition and then to advance through it. So the spirit of God isn't given 00:05:00.920 --> 00:05:05.200 to us so that there is no opposition. The spirit of God is given to us so that in the 00:05:05.200 --> 00:05:11.240 midst of opposition, which is often expressed through threats, we still advance through 00:05:11.240 --> 00:05:17.680 it, which is what happened with, when you think about Elijah in second Kings chapter 00:05:17.680 --> 00:05:24.680 19, you see Elijah, he's in, by the time chapter 18 is closed off, you see he had the 00:05:25.160 --> 00:05:32.000 biggest of victory perhaps in all of Old Testament. One man standing up knowing God is with him 00:05:32.000 --> 00:05:39.000 and on that mountain top he experienced God's glory. Fire came down. Too many people watching 00:05:40.000 --> 00:05:47.000 him. Threats and fire came down. He experienced what it is to receive God's power, stand in 00:05:49.400 --> 00:05:56.400 it. But then what happens is in the next chapter, chapter 19, verse 1 and 2, you read this that 00:05:56.560 --> 00:06:03.560 Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah to say this, that I'm going to kill you. And so the 00:06:04.560 --> 00:06:11.560 opposition that was around then sent word to Elijah and basically said, Elijah, I'm 00:06:12.120 --> 00:06:19.120 going to kill you. And the Bible says in verse 2 of chapter 19 that Elijah, recognizing what 00:06:19.440 --> 00:06:25.680 was happening, he ran for his life. Yeah, he ran for his life because it was a real 00:06:25.680 --> 00:06:31.880 threat to his life. And so while he had this amazing victory on the mountain top, in the 00:06:31.880 --> 00:06:38.880 next chapter he's running for his life. But what I love is in the midst of all of that, 00:06:40.280 --> 00:06:44.080 and this is where we're going in the New Testament, we'll have a completely different understanding 00:06:44.080 --> 00:06:49.280 of this. In the midst of all of this, the opposition that he faced was real, that Elijah 00:06:49.280 --> 00:06:55.680 faced was real. On one hand there was an attempt to arrest whatever he was doing and on the 00:06:55.680 --> 00:07:02.480 other hand there was also an attempt so that Elijah doesn't show up. Chapter 19, the last 00:07:02.480 --> 00:07:08.800 couple of verses actually talks about not Elijah but Elisha. That these powers that 00:07:08.800 --> 00:07:14.680 tried to stop the advancement of what God was doing because in God's plan Elisha already 00:07:14.680 --> 00:07:21.680 was there. Elijah just didn't know it. Elijah didn't know when chapter 19, verse 1 and 2 00:07:21.680 --> 00:07:28.120 happened that there is an Elisha. But then when he found Elisha towards the end because 00:07:28.120 --> 00:07:32.760 God worked with him to get him out of the cave, what did Elijah do? He found residence 00:07:32.760 --> 00:07:39.760 in a cave. He was tired, he was done, he even said, God I'm done, take me. Not knowing what 00:07:40.720 --> 00:07:47.720 God had prepared for him. And so for us in this time that we occupy, the threats are 00:07:48.720 --> 00:07:55.720 different. The opposition is different. You don't have a Jezebel lady throwing threats 00:07:56.520 --> 00:08:03.520 at the church. You have spiritual powers that try to bring fear, that try to bring opposition. 00:08:05.480 --> 00:08:10.280 And the spirit of God is given to us very different from what happened with Elijah because 00:08:10.280 --> 00:08:15.080 Elijah was in the Old Testament. He did not have the spirit of God living inside him. 00:08:15.080 --> 00:08:20.200 But we now do have the spirit of God living inside of us and the spirit of God has been 00:08:20.200 --> 00:08:25.240 given to us not to say well there is no opposition, there is no threat, I'll keep moving forward. 00:08:25.240 --> 00:08:31.280 No. In the face of opposition, in the face of threats being hurled at the church, the 00:08:31.280 --> 00:08:37.720 church is now given everything the church needs including boldness to stand up and say 00:08:37.720 --> 00:08:44.720 yes there are threats, yes there is opposition, but we will advance. And that is how Elisha 00:08:45.080 --> 00:08:50.160 how the early church did it. And if there was any opposition you can recount over and 00:08:50.160 --> 00:08:57.160 over again, we just need to read what happened in the book of Acts and you keep seeing this. 00:08:57.160 --> 00:09:01.400 Whenever they tried to do some things, people came around and said no you can't, we are 00:09:01.400 --> 00:09:04.480 going to finish you, we are going to kill you. And even outside of the scripture when 00:09:04.480 --> 00:09:11.480 you hear about what happened to the disciples, you see the level of threat there was. The 00:09:11.920 --> 00:09:18.000 only difference is sometimes we don't even perceive the threats there are because we 00:09:18.000 --> 00:09:23.760 are so not interested fully in doing everything that Christ has asked us to do. Sometimes 00:09:23.760 --> 00:09:28.240 we hear about threats here and there and we are like oh yeah we'll pray about it. But 00:09:28.240 --> 00:09:35.080 the reality is this, when we stand up together as a people of God and we say there is a mandate 00:09:35.080 --> 00:09:40.520 given to me, there is a mandate given to us. What is that mandate? Matthew chapter 28, 00:09:40.560 --> 00:09:46.600 19 when Jesus said go therefore make disciples. That is the mandate that has been given to 00:09:46.600 --> 00:09:51.200 us. So when I really stand up and when we really stand up and say this is the mandate 00:09:51.200 --> 00:09:58.200 that Christ gave us, all of our beings, all of what we have is toward this one purpose 00:09:59.960 --> 00:10:06.960 and we stand up then God gives us power to advance. He gives us power to advance because 00:10:07.480 --> 00:10:14.480 His mission will always happen. It is always going to be accomplished. There is no power 00:10:15.200 --> 00:10:22.200 that can stop our father. There is no power that can bring about impediment toward what 00:10:22.240 --> 00:10:29.240 God wants to do. God's plans always works out. Now what He is looking for is this, willing 00:10:29.680 --> 00:10:36.680 participants. And so even though God's plan will always work out, we always have the will 00:10:37.560 --> 00:10:44.000 and option to either be a willing participant and a partner in what He is doing or we can 00:10:44.000 --> 00:10:51.000 here and there dabble with it. And what we must be about is we go full in the work that 00:10:52.520 --> 00:10:58.100 Christ has commissioned for us. And that does not always mean standing up on the street 00:10:58.100 --> 00:11:05.100 side and preaching. It means different things for different people. But we must huddle around 00:11:05.660 --> 00:11:12.660 Jesus and say, Jesus if this is what you asked me to, then that is so fully mine to take 00:11:12.940 --> 00:11:19.940 on. This mantle is not something I will wear on a Sunday and not on a Friday afternoon. 00:11:20.620 --> 00:11:26.900 This is a mantle that has been given to me 24x7. And when I walk like that and you walk 00:11:26.900 --> 00:11:32.660 like that and when we have this common understanding, this culture, this mindset that this is all 00:11:32.980 --> 00:11:39.980 what we are about, everything else is gravy, then something happens. Gravy is a bad word. 00:11:42.580 --> 00:11:47.280 It's so true. And that this becomes, whenever the church then comes together, which is what 00:11:47.280 --> 00:11:52.700 happened with the first century church, when they got together, what was the deal? Were 00:11:52.700 --> 00:11:58.460 they about just sitting and worshipping only? No. They were about sitting and worshipping 00:11:58.460 --> 00:12:04.120 and hearing and learning and then going out. That was very natural for them. It was the 00:12:04.120 --> 00:12:11.120 most natural thing for the first century church to do. And it is, even today, that it must 00:12:11.740 --> 00:12:17.660 be natural to us. Yeah? So I want to talk about a few things. I'm hoping we'll go very 00:12:17.660 --> 00:12:24.660 quickly through a bunch of points so we finish not too late. So I want to talk about the 00:12:28.740 --> 00:12:35.740 point. So the attempt is to keep the light covered. Light as in you and I. Covered. Covered. 00:12:39.340 --> 00:12:44.620 Because what the devil tries to do is, because the devil knows that the battle has already 00:12:44.620 --> 00:12:51.620 been won. Christ already said that I have disarmed the enemy. And so as far as the devil 00:12:51.620 --> 00:12:58.620 is concerned, he knows already that when darkness comes against light, what happens? 00:13:00.340 --> 00:13:07.140 Light wins. It is established. You know that even just from a point of science. Light and 00:13:07.140 --> 00:13:12.780 darkness, there is no match. When light comes, darkness goes. That's just a physical reflection 00:13:12.780 --> 00:13:19.780 of what Christ has already done. Darkness, Bible says, cannot comprehend light. And so 00:13:21.820 --> 00:13:28.820 I love it. It cannot comprehend light. The light of Christ cannot be comprehended by 00:13:28.820 --> 00:13:35.820 darkness, even today. Even today, it does not have an answer and it will never have 00:13:35.820 --> 00:13:42.820 an answer. And so as far as the devil is concerned, it fears light so much so the only thing it 00:13:43.240 --> 00:13:46.900 can do is not fight light because there is no point fighting light because it's already 00:13:46.900 --> 00:13:53.900 defeated. But what if light can be covered? And that is what the attack is. To keep the 00:13:55.860 --> 00:14:02.860 church from recognizing that this light must go out. This light must be on the city hill. 00:14:07.140 --> 00:14:13.540 It is up on the hill so everyone can see it. So that it attracts people to it. And that 00:14:13.540 --> 00:14:19.740 is the attempt of the devil. Once we know that, then we must also realize the power 00:14:19.740 --> 00:14:26.740 of light in us. That when I wake up, then when you wake up, Jesus is so present in us 00:14:29.500 --> 00:14:36.500 that this power in us, this reality of Jesus in me makes the devil tremble. Makes the devil 00:14:36.500 --> 00:14:43.500 tremble. That the reality of Jesus in the context of a church makes the devil tremble. 00:14:46.540 --> 00:14:53.540 It is true. But we don't think like it because we sometimes don't even think that the battle 00:14:53.980 --> 00:15:00.980 has been won. Christ has already won the battle. Bible says the devil is already disarmed. 00:15:01.980 --> 00:15:08.980 And then like I said, what my mentality and your mentality should be, aha, if that is 00:15:09.380 --> 00:15:16.380 so then Jesus, I want to rise up and shine this light so that it will not be covered. 00:15:17.340 --> 00:15:24.340 And so you see from heaven when we are looked at, there is light. There is light. There 00:15:25.340 --> 00:15:32.340 is light in us. That beyond the flesh and the bone and whatever we are, there is light. 00:15:35.020 --> 00:15:39.540 Who gave you this light? Jesus. Where do I get that from? Jesus said, you are the light 00:15:39.540 --> 00:15:45.900 of the world. Because he is the light of the world. And he has given his light to me and 00:15:45.900 --> 00:15:51.120 to you. And so when I go around, the reality is this, I have the light. That when you go 00:15:51.160 --> 00:15:54.840 around, the reality is this, you have the light. But what does the devil want to do? 00:15:54.840 --> 00:15:59.240 Make you believe, make me believe that I don't have the light. But I have the light. And 00:15:59.240 --> 00:16:06.060 as soon as and when this light confronts darkness, there is only one result. Always. It's established 00:16:06.060 --> 00:16:13.060 at the cross. What is it? Darkness cannot comprehend light. And light always reigns 00:16:13.060 --> 00:16:20.060 victorious. Yeah? So let's define a couple of things. True boldness is the expression 00:16:35.300 --> 00:16:42.300 of the spirit of God in you. Expression of the spirit of God in you to express the spirit 00:16:43.180 --> 00:16:50.180 of God in you to advance without compromise in the face of opposition. To advance without 00:16:54.760 --> 00:17:01.760 compromise in the face of opposition. So genuine boldness then is not speaking with a loud 00:17:01.760 --> 00:17:08.760 voice. Genuine boldness then is not standing up when 15 people march into the church and 00:17:09.360 --> 00:17:16.360 say, oh no, I'm going to stand up. That's not genuine boldness. Probably a couple of 00:17:16.360 --> 00:17:23.360 weeks ago I was driving and I saw a word before even Jacob started this theme. I saw a word 00:17:23.400 --> 00:17:27.440 and I was like, what is this world? I've never understood the meaning or I haven't thought 00:17:27.440 --> 00:17:34.440 about it. I think it is A-R-C-H-I-B-A-L-D. Archibald. I was like, what is that? So I 00:17:35.640 --> 00:17:42.640 looked it up and it says genuine boldness. Genuine, sincere, true. That there is a type 00:17:42.800 --> 00:17:49.800 of boldness that is genuine. Which is not raised voice. It is beyond that. It is the 00:17:50.320 --> 00:17:56.320 internal posture of me and you. When we have the posture of hey, this is who I am inside. 00:17:56.320 --> 00:18:00.920 Here is who I am inside and doesn't matter what happens, I always am this way. Doesn't 00:18:00.920 --> 00:18:05.240 matter if I am woken up from night, when I'm sleeping, doesn't matter if I am at work, 00:18:05.240 --> 00:18:10.080 doesn't matter if I am doing something. There is this boldness inside you that is sincere 00:18:10.080 --> 00:18:15.480 and genuine because something has already happened to you. And we'll get to that. What 00:18:15.480 --> 00:18:22.480 that is, we'll get to. It is so sincere, it's so real and genuine that you're not making 00:18:23.080 --> 00:18:29.600 something up to be that. You know what I mean? Because sometimes we have pressure to become 00:18:29.600 --> 00:18:34.720 something. And with Christ we don't have any pressure to become something because he makes 00:18:34.720 --> 00:18:40.640 us everything we need to be and we then can walk exactly as he has designed us. And so 00:18:40.640 --> 00:18:46.200 there is this thing called true, genuine, sincere boldness of the spirit that Christ 00:18:46.200 --> 00:18:52.440 gives. He doesn't give you anything fake. If you can trust one person who can give you 00:18:52.440 --> 00:18:59.120 things that are not fake and that which will withstand the test of fire, it's Jesus. He 00:18:59.120 --> 00:19:05.840 doesn't give you fake stuff. He always gives precious things. And when he gives me boldness 00:19:05.840 --> 00:19:11.440 and he gives you boldness, it is a real thing. It does not always have to be heightened 00:19:11.440 --> 00:19:18.440 voice. Yeah? And so if that is the definition of boldness, then we go down this path of 00:19:18.440 --> 00:19:23.920 what are a couple of things that you need to have in order to function in this? Number 00:19:23.920 --> 00:19:30.920 one, it requires a cause, C-A-U-S-E, cause. It's pointless to have boldness if you don't 00:19:32.880 --> 00:19:39.880 have a cause. Yeah? You must have a cause. And so if you ask David, he will tell you 00:19:42.080 --> 00:19:47.840 that his dad sent him to the Israelite camp to check out what's going on and give some 00:19:47.840 --> 00:19:54.040 supplies to the army, including his brothers. That's why he was sent. But when he is there 00:19:54.040 --> 00:20:01.040 and he hears what's happening, he says, is there not a cause? Is there not a cause to 00:20:02.080 --> 00:20:09.020 take away the reproach of Israel? That is what it says in the Bible. That this man found 00:20:09.180 --> 00:20:14.060 in that place at that time, even though it wasn't for him to do, because there are much 00:20:14.060 --> 00:20:20.380 more capable people in the land, he said, is there not a cause? And so one of the things 00:20:20.380 --> 00:20:27.380 that the Holy Spirit desires in us is this, that we are so consumed by this reality. What 00:20:28.220 --> 00:20:35.220 is this reality? That there is a cause which Christ has already made so clear to us. That 00:20:39.380 --> 00:20:45.340 even though it is everything around us tries to tell us it is okay, that when we walk into 00:20:45.340 --> 00:20:52.460 a grocery store or wherever we are at, we are surrounded by people who need Christ. 00:20:52.460 --> 00:20:59.460 And that is the cause. If I don't have that, then I don't need boldness. But if I have 00:21:00.780 --> 00:21:07.780 that, then God knows I need it. Yeah? So it's almost a prerequisite. I cannot ask him, God, 00:21:09.260 --> 00:21:15.340 give me courage and boldness, when if that is not my cause. Now, the reality is this, 00:21:15.340 --> 00:21:20.780 everyone sitting here, we have it. We know what the cause is. It's very clear to us. 00:21:20.780 --> 00:21:27.780 We have heard that enough. We have understood it. We know it. We can all say, Matthew 28, 00:21:28.980 --> 00:21:34.260 19. We can even quote other scriptures to communicate to other believers what this thing 00:21:34.260 --> 00:21:41.180 is and how they ought to be. We can do that. But having the cause is one thing. There is 00:21:41.180 --> 00:21:48.180 another thing which is conviction. Now, those who wrestle with the cause, they develop conviction. 00:21:50.660 --> 00:21:57.300 Understanding 28, 19 is one thing. But then when I wrestle with 28, 19 and say, God, is 00:21:57.300 --> 00:22:04.300 this what you want? Why? How? When? Conviction develops. And that conviction is so important 00:22:06.180 --> 00:22:12.460 for the Spirit of God. Because I'm a willing participant, like I said before. So on one 00:22:12.460 --> 00:22:17.300 hand, the Spirit of God gives me conviction, but there is also a need for me to wrestle 00:22:17.300 --> 00:22:23.660 with what he has already said. And the reality is this, like I said that while all of us 00:22:23.660 --> 00:22:30.660 know it, how can we all be so consumed? How can we all be so convicted by this? So convicted 00:22:32.940 --> 00:22:39.540 by this. I wonder sometimes there are days when I feel so convicted about this and then 00:22:39.540 --> 00:22:46.460 there are days when I am somewhere and I just want to do something else. Because I feel 00:22:46.460 --> 00:22:53.460 like I've done enough or I feel like, yeah, now is the break time. But I feel like I'm 00:22:53.660 --> 00:23:00.660 not. That is not how it ought to be. That always 24, 7, this is what I carry. That I'm 00:23:02.420 --> 00:23:09.420 consumed by what he has already given me as my mandate 24, 7. Any questions? Because as 00:23:10.580 --> 00:23:16.540 much as we want the courage and the boldness in the Spirit, we can't really walk in it 00:23:16.540 --> 00:23:23.460 truthfully if we don't have the cause. And even if we have that, if we have not developed 00:23:23.460 --> 00:23:30.460 the conviction, then it doesn't go together. We need conviction. We need to know why this 00:23:30.620 --> 00:23:36.260 is important. And the recent conviction is something you develop. On one hand, Christ 00:23:36.260 --> 00:23:42.820 gives you through his Holy Spirit this conviction, but it is also something you have to steward. 00:23:42.820 --> 00:23:49.540 You have to nurture it. You have to work with it. You have to wrestle with it. And this, 00:23:49.540 --> 00:23:55.240 I tell you, is important. Because if you think and if I think that we are rising up 00:23:55.240 --> 00:24:02.240 to advance the kingdom of God, we must take time. We must take time to wrestle with that 00:24:03.780 --> 00:24:10.780 word. Why did Jesus say what he said? We know it here, but it has to then travel the 18 00:24:10.780 --> 00:24:17.780 inch journey from here to here. That it is not head knowledge we pass on to others. It 00:24:18.780 --> 00:24:24.500 is this reality, which is why, see, we all know this. There are times when someone comes 00:24:24.500 --> 00:24:29.820 to us and we know this person needs Christ. It's so easy to say. I just wanted you to 00:24:29.820 --> 00:24:34.660 know, you know, Jesus loves you. Jesus is so real. I want you to know that Jesus will 00:24:34.660 --> 00:24:39.100 help you. And you walk away because, yeah, you said what needed to be said. You may have 00:24:39.100 --> 00:24:44.020 quoted even 15 scriptures. But that's one thing. There is another thing, which is to 00:24:44.020 --> 00:24:50.820 look at the man and even without him knowing, see how Jesus sees him. And the love of Christ 00:24:50.820 --> 00:24:57.820 then compels you not to just say a thing and move on, but to stay. But to look at him. 00:24:58.140 --> 00:25:04.740 But to recognize who he is and then speak what the Holy Spirit births into your being. 00:25:04.740 --> 00:25:10.780 It is a completely different thing. We sometimes become so proficient in our Christianity that 00:25:10.860 --> 00:25:17.000 we know what the gospel is. But the gospel must be something we wrestle with. And those 00:25:17.000 --> 00:25:22.220 who wrestle with the gospel, those who spend time to look at it, to understand it, to say, 00:25:22.220 --> 00:25:27.060 God, I want to get to the bottom of this. I want to go so deep in it that my entire 00:25:27.060 --> 00:25:34.060 being gets consumed by it. That is a different type of people. Otherwise, we are Christian-ies 00:25:34.060 --> 00:25:41.060 The other thing is sons and daughters of the Father, which is what the firstborn in 00:25:41.900 --> 00:25:46.940 that house of the prodigal did not have. He did not have the heart of the Father. He knew 00:25:46.940 --> 00:25:51.060 everything. He knew there was a son gone. He knew that, you know, this and that. But 00:25:51.060 --> 00:25:55.820 what he did not have is the heart of the Father. How can I have the heart of the Father? How 00:25:55.820 --> 00:26:00.140 can you have the heart of the Father? Unless we wrestle, unless we are with him, unless 00:26:00.140 --> 00:26:04.460 we spend time with him, it is impossible to have fully. And now even after we have 00:26:04.460 --> 00:26:10.880 received it, it is something that must be stewarded. See, I know what I am saying is 00:26:10.880 --> 00:26:17.880 so real, because we can all say the gospel easily. But to be convicted by the gospel 00:26:18.500 --> 00:26:25.500 every day as you go about your affairs is another thing. It is an entirely another thing. 00:26:26.060 --> 00:26:32.660 And that is something Christ wants us to have, because all of the Holy Spirit is real, in 00:26:32.660 --> 00:26:37.780 his reality wants to impart that to me. And I can have it easily. All I need to do is 00:26:37.780 --> 00:26:44.780 spend time working with that word. Why? Why, Abba? I know it here. Bring it here, Abba. 00:26:44.780 --> 00:26:51.780 Have it move from here to here. That I am not about saying a few things and saying it 00:26:56.260 --> 00:27:02.860 right, but I am about getting your heart. Once you are not about saying it right, when 00:27:02.860 --> 00:27:09.860 you are more about getting his heart, that's good. Otherwise we want the right words. We 00:27:10.060 --> 00:27:15.380 want to say it right. We don't want to look foolish. Who cares? Who cares if I then go 00:27:15.380 --> 00:27:19.660 to Jonathan and say whatever I say, but he goes away because the power of the Holy Spirit 00:27:19.660 --> 00:27:26.660 worked through me and he understood the reality of gospel in five seconds in the words that 00:27:26.660 --> 00:27:30.620 I spoke. Otherwise I can sit there, stand there, talk to him for 20 minutes because 00:27:30.620 --> 00:27:34.340 I am with all my head knowledge trying to convince him something, but he doesn't get 00:27:34.420 --> 00:27:41.420 it. This is why the first century church was different. And we now, together with the 00:27:42.500 --> 00:27:49.500 mandate that God has given us, let's be different. So one, we talked about is there not a cause? 00:27:50.500 --> 00:27:57.500 Two, we talked about those who have wrestled with the cause develop conviction. Now, when 00:28:04.460 --> 00:28:11.460 we talk about the spirit of the Spirit, and I want to give a very quick detour. The response 00:28:14.600 --> 00:28:19.600 of the flesh to opposition and threats is fear. But the response of the Spirit is boldness 00:28:19.600 --> 00:28:26.600 and joy. So when there is opposition and fear hurled at you, at the church, the natural 00:28:26.600 --> 00:28:34.740 the church the natural response in the flesh is fear but the response from the 00:28:34.740 --> 00:28:44.680 Spirit of God is not fear it is courage boldness and then joy which is important 00:28:44.680 --> 00:28:49.320 because we don't put those things in the same sentence when we talk about 00:28:49.320 --> 00:28:54.680 advancement but here is what Jesus said through the Bible when Apostle Paul 00:28:54.680 --> 00:28:58.080 writes here is what he said about the kingdom what is the kingdom of God it 00:28:58.080 --> 00:29:05.540 is not eating and drinking but it is righteousness peace and joy and so you 00:29:05.540 --> 00:29:12.460 see kingdom the word itself if you were to just put it here kingdom means 00:29:12.460 --> 00:29:19.120 conflict we have heard about that a few times here and so within that context of 00:29:19.120 --> 00:29:26.920 kingdom there is righteousness there is peace and there is joy see joy is a 00:29:26.920 --> 00:29:33.520 weapon it is something that God gives us to use in the midst of fear in the midst 00:29:33.520 --> 00:29:41.040 of confusion in the midst of threats he gives us a weapon and that weapon is 00:29:41.040 --> 00:29:48.440 also called joy which is why somewhere in Psalm 35 or somewhere there it says 00:29:48.440 --> 00:29:56.960 who comes in the morning joy comes in the morning and all of heaven so let's 00:29:56.960 --> 00:30:00.200 assume Jonathan sorry today you're sitting in the front so let's assume 00:30:00.200 --> 00:30:07.440 Jonathan wakes up here's the reality as Jonathan opens his eyes who comes the 00:30:07.440 --> 00:30:14.960 Holy Spirit has brought joy to him already now does he realize that or not 00:30:14.960 --> 00:30:22.160 is his deal do I realize that or not is my deal but what the Holy Spirit wants 00:30:22.160 --> 00:30:27.320 is Derek can you touch joy today it doesn't matter what's happening around 00:30:27.320 --> 00:30:35.440 you but this morning I have delivered this greater kingdom reality to you that 00:30:35.440 --> 00:30:41.440 in the midst of threats in the midst of pain in the midst of confusion I have a 00:30:41.440 --> 00:30:47.880 weapon that I want you to use weapon joy we don't think like that but it is 00:30:47.880 --> 00:30:54.120 the kingdom of God is made of not eating and drinking but righteousness 00:30:54.120 --> 00:31:00.640 right standing with God peace will cover it another day and joy we must which is 00:31:00.640 --> 00:31:08.120 why I think last week Tony was talking about Paul and Silas that these guys 00:31:08.160 --> 00:31:14.000 were in the prison what are they doing it's not worship guys it's worship 00:31:14.000 --> 00:31:19.360 that's born out of joy otherwise we think they're singing songs no no no it's 00:31:19.360 --> 00:31:25.340 the internal conviction that floors flows outside of them through this music 00:31:25.340 --> 00:31:30.600 songs clapping worship but what they have inside of them is this reality of 00:31:30.600 --> 00:31:36.960 joy it is a different thing that we should spend more time about because 00:31:37.000 --> 00:31:43.120 this is so critical to get somehow we we often think of joy as this that's not 00:31:43.120 --> 00:31:48.360 that important because there are so many other important things to look at no it 00:31:48.360 --> 00:31:56.600 is strength it's a weapon that's why God says rejoice rejoice rejoice rejoice 00:31:56.600 --> 00:32:02.040 rejoice rejoice rejoice because when you rejoice there is something that happens 00:32:02.040 --> 00:32:06.680 inside of you you say yes to what God says irrespective of what's happening 00:32:06.680 --> 00:32:14.720 around you rejoice rejoice and one thing we must do is to learn how to be 00:32:14.720 --> 00:32:25.440 more joyful without manufacturing it without faking it without somehow trying 00:32:25.440 --> 00:32:32.040 to piece it all together trust the Holy Spirit to make us more joyful like 00:32:32.040 --> 00:32:39.360 legitimate genuine true sincere joy because here's the other thing you 00:32:39.360 --> 00:32:47.800 cannot represent Christ well and fully if you're not joyful I don't know if you 00:32:47.800 --> 00:32:55.860 know this but there is this guy who who got born again and was so mad about the 00:32:55.860 --> 00:33:00.440 cause of Jesus that he goes to the store where he works and a lady walks in at 00:33:00.440 --> 00:33:06.120 9 a.m. and he says if you're not born again if you don't know Christ you're 00:33:06.120 --> 00:33:10.360 going to be thrown into hell and so somehow the other employees hear about 00:33:10.360 --> 00:33:13.960 what happened at 9 a.m. just as the store opened and they all reported what 00:33:13.960 --> 00:33:18.280 happened to the boss the boss comes and he says what did you do Randy like you 00:33:18.280 --> 00:33:21.480 should have never done that no one wants here it is is that's going to happen to 00:33:21.480 --> 00:33:26.840 you too if you don't know what's the point because the message is right but 00:33:26.840 --> 00:33:32.520 it's there is no the only objective there is to communicate it doesn't have 00:33:32.520 --> 00:33:40.200 the heart and these things are rare in the world but the church must always 00:33:40.200 --> 00:33:50.320 have it and when the church has it it will show not fake joy but real yeah so 00:33:50.360 --> 00:33:57.720 let's go through a few other things we'll finish on time I'm telling it to 00:33:57.720 --> 00:34:00.120 myself 00:34:03.080 --> 00:34:10.320 son allow my joy to touch your past your present your future and that's also true 00:34:10.320 --> 00:34:20.160 because see you can only have true joy when your past as you look at it is 00:34:20.160 --> 00:34:25.440 covered in Thanksgiving it doesn't matter that yes there are scars yes 00:34:25.440 --> 00:34:30.720 there are things that you wish were different but you must be able to look 00:34:30.720 --> 00:34:37.840 back at your past and say thank you you must then be able to look at your 00:34:37.840 --> 00:34:44.440 present and it must be marked by his presence and then you must be able to 00:34:44.440 --> 00:34:49.800 look at your future and you must be able to say I've given it to you I trust you 00:34:49.800 --> 00:34:55.260 you're good you're faithful and you'll see that your future is painted by his 00:34:55.260 --> 00:35:03.800 promises when all these three things are done it is natural to have joy and so I 00:35:03.800 --> 00:35:09.080 look at my past yeah there are things where I wish it was different but that's 00:35:09.080 --> 00:35:15.240 okay he's got it now you say thank you you look at your present and you see his 00:35:15.240 --> 00:35:21.280 presence has now marked it right now he's marking your presence your present 00:35:21.280 --> 00:35:25.440 today he's it's marked by his presence and then you look at the future and you 00:35:25.440 --> 00:35:29.240 have questions you still have things that you're not sure about but that is 00:35:29.240 --> 00:35:32.880 okay because you look at your future and with the conviction that the Spirit of 00:35:32.880 --> 00:35:37.200 God has given you you look at it and say I can see you being painted by his 00:35:37.200 --> 00:35:44.880 promises and when you have those three then you say I have joy it's real that 00:35:44.880 --> 00:35:50.000 is genuine that is sincere because all of your life has now been covered by 00:35:50.000 --> 00:36:01.680 him so that let's get back to okay let's get back to what I wrote down here is 00:36:02.480 --> 00:36:07.800 progressive boldness but doesn't really matter what the subtitle is there are 00:36:07.800 --> 00:36:16.040 five or six types of boldness that I want to cover one to believe you see 00:36:16.040 --> 00:36:21.920 this in rehab rehab in Joshua chapter 2 is a lady who should not even be in the 00:36:21.920 --> 00:36:26.280 Bible if we are all going by what we have done but thank you because we don't 00:36:26.280 --> 00:36:30.600 go by what we have done we go by what he has done and so you find rehab in 00:36:30.600 --> 00:36:34.920 chapter 2 of the book of in the book of Joshua and you read this about rehab 00:36:34.920 --> 00:36:40.600 that she heard about this God that did something miraculous somewhere else and 00:36:40.600 --> 00:36:44.760 she was convicted that this God is a real God and that anything and 00:36:44.760 --> 00:36:49.600 everything that happened in Jericho is not the real stuff and so she said uh-huh 00:36:49.600 --> 00:36:54.320 if you guys came from that land and if you guys came here representing that God 00:36:54.320 --> 00:36:59.160 then I'm gonna say I'm gonna give you hospitality I'm gonna have you guys be 00:36:59.160 --> 00:37:07.080 hidden here because I trust in that God so to believe you need boldness in the 00:37:07.080 --> 00:37:12.120 midst of opposition you must believe who he is in the midst of opposition can 00:37:12.120 --> 00:37:20.560 you believe that this is the same God who split the sea open that when the 00:37:20.560 --> 00:37:27.880 devil tries with all its deceit true to then bring these words of confusion to 00:37:27.880 --> 00:37:32.800 you you say I have been given the boldness to stand the boldness to 00:37:32.800 --> 00:37:40.920 believe I believe in who he is just like guys I talked about earlier we take time 00:37:40.920 --> 00:37:47.880 to wrestle with what God has given in terms of the gospel in terms of his 00:37:47.880 --> 00:37:52.560 cause so that it develops true conviction inside of us one thing we 00:37:52.560 --> 00:38:02.960 must do is to spend time thinking and seeing and hearing who he really is we 00:38:02.960 --> 00:38:09.880 think we know our God we think we've understood him but if you were to sit 00:38:09.880 --> 00:38:17.760 down at his feet and say what does David even mean in Psalm 18 what is he talking 00:38:17.760 --> 00:38:24.520 about what is he talking about about him coming on the clouds what is he 00:38:24.520 --> 00:38:29.360 talking about that from his nostrils come what is can't get someone read some 00:38:29.360 --> 00:38:36.480 18 real quick only if you can read it real quick 00:38:42.360 --> 00:38:45.480 I can go there too 00:38:45.480 --> 00:38:56.760 see it's so important that we think about these things differently otherwise 00:38:56.760 --> 00:39:07.040 we fall trap to familiarity here is what David wrote then the earth reeled and 00:39:07.040 --> 00:39:12.000 rocked the foundations also the mountains trembled and quaked because he 00:39:12.080 --> 00:39:16.080 was angry smoke went up from his nostrils and devouring fire from his 00:39:16.080 --> 00:39:21.000 mouth glowing coals flamed forth from him he bowed the heavens and came down 00:39:21.000 --> 00:39:26.360 thick darkness was under his feet and then it goes on what is what is he 00:39:26.360 --> 00:39:34.320 talking about because we all have our extent of understanding of God and all 00:39:34.320 --> 00:39:39.720 of us are in different places with it one thing that we must do is to in in 00:39:39.760 --> 00:39:45.960 times of fellowship with him also ask him to show you more of who he is 00:39:45.960 --> 00:39:52.800 because otherwise we will live good Christian ease life for 70 80 years 00:39:52.800 --> 00:39:58.200 without having understood what this is and God says when a son or a daughter 00:39:58.200 --> 00:40:06.520 comes to him and says ABBA I really want to know haha you will know this morning 00:40:07.000 --> 00:40:13.120 prefer the second thought we've already gotten used to the first thought because 00:40:13.120 --> 00:40:16.200 just as you read that you know exactly what it means that's why we don't read 00:40:16.200 --> 00:40:20.160 it again we go back to it the next time you read it but preferring the second 00:40:20.160 --> 00:40:27.560 thought which is hold on hold on what is this I want to touch it father I want to 00:40:27.560 --> 00:40:33.040 understand this father it changes it which is what rehab did she heard many 00:40:33.080 --> 00:40:38.280 others heard it too but she said hold on I ain't going past what I just heard 00:40:38.280 --> 00:40:43.120 right now and sleep no I have to think about what I just heard you think she 00:40:43.120 --> 00:40:47.320 was the only one who heard no others heard it too but there was something 00:40:47.320 --> 00:40:52.560 about rehab that insisted no I'm gonna go deeper that insisted that I want to 00:40:52.560 --> 00:41:00.240 learn more and anytime you and I say about teach me he teaches me next 00:41:03.240 --> 00:41:06.080 boldness to perceive who you are this is so important 00:41:06.080 --> 00:41:13.080 X chapter 2 boldness to perceive who you are 00:41:21.120 --> 00:41:29.840 if you want to write down this is accept the to 14 through 21 the whole idea is 00:41:29.880 --> 00:41:35.280 this the Spirit of God came down powerfully and the believers have been 00:41:35.280 --> 00:41:40.160 filled with the Holy Spirit all of a sudden when people started mocking what 00:41:40.160 --> 00:41:45.080 was happening Peter rises up he stands up and he goes straight back to Joel 00:41:45.080 --> 00:41:51.280 chapter 2 to perceive what God is doing and more importantly also to perceive 00:41:51.280 --> 00:41:55.280 who you are in the story of God is very important we don't think like that 00:41:55.480 --> 00:42:00.440 sometimes because we are all about about who are you in this we also need to know 00:42:00.440 --> 00:42:07.920 who we are in this otherwise we miss our roles Peter understood that there is a 00:42:07.920 --> 00:42:13.320 reason why Jesus said what he said when he said I have given you the keys to the 00:42:13.320 --> 00:42:18.520 kingdom Jesus said that back then and Jesus reminded him again in mark chapter 00:42:18.520 --> 00:42:24.120 16 and then now you see Peter just as the Holy Spirit came down the first 00:42:24.120 --> 00:42:27.560 response is not all that good because now people are saying you guys just 00:42:27.560 --> 00:42:31.600 drank a bunch of new wine and that's why you're doing all of this he rises up he 00:42:31.600 --> 00:42:36.520 recognizes that this place this time has been reserved for him to rise up it is 00:42:36.520 --> 00:42:41.160 important that on one hand we recognize who God is at the same time we need need 00:42:41.160 --> 00:42:46.880 to also recognize who you are and I am it is deeply important because once you 00:42:46.880 --> 00:42:51.960 realize his power in you once you realize how see he sees you everything 00:42:51.960 --> 00:42:57.560 changes everything changes this is so real guys I I tell you this is so 00:42:57.560 --> 00:43:03.520 important to know who you are in Christ it is so important for you to know who 00:43:03.520 --> 00:43:11.240 you are in Christ it is deeply important you need to know who Christ is then you 00:43:11.240 --> 00:43:16.200 need to know who you are in Christ once you have the understanding true 00:43:16.200 --> 00:43:21.280 understanding of who you are in Christ things begin to change the way you stand 00:43:21.280 --> 00:43:25.500 up changes the way you sit down changes the way you walk the streets changes 00:43:25.500 --> 00:43:32.880 everything changes once you realize who you are in Christ because he did not 00:43:32.880 --> 00:43:38.040 create us to be just somebody's our father is one who does not have unplanned 00:43:38.040 --> 00:43:44.680 kids he does not have unplanned kids he is one father who does not have unplanned 00:43:44.680 --> 00:43:50.040 kids meaning when I was formed he has plans when you were formed he has plans 00:43:50.040 --> 00:43:55.600 it is not planned it is plans plural which means then those plans recognize I 00:43:55.600 --> 00:44:01.640 must recognize I must see where I met in those plans once I recognize that then 00:44:01.640 --> 00:44:11.800 my understanding of who I am in him changes drastically changes so important 00:44:11.800 --> 00:44:20.440 otherwise we become like light that's covered is there light yes is it covered 00:44:20.440 --> 00:44:26.880 yes and understanding this takes that lid off because we realize who we are in 00:44:26.880 --> 00:44:35.880 Christ third 00:44:36.880 --> 00:44:48.120 boldness to refuse I won't explain that much references Daniel chapter 3 16 00:44:48.120 --> 00:44:53.160 sometimes you need power to not sometimes you need in life the power to 00:44:53.160 --> 00:44:58.880 say no the boldness to say no 00:45:07.800 --> 00:45:16.160 one thing that we can do sometimes is when we have a theme like this talked 00:45:16.160 --> 00:45:21.800 about at in church on Sundays it seems like this is about the church advancing 00:45:21.800 --> 00:45:28.000 and it is we can fall into the trap of thinking these things don't apply to our 00:45:28.000 --> 00:45:34.760 individual lives all of these things super apply to our individual lives 00:45:34.760 --> 00:45:40.320 outside of Richmond and it applies to everything that God wants to do as a 00:45:40.320 --> 00:45:48.480 church it's true and so the power to say no the boldness to say no is something 00:45:48.480 --> 00:45:52.920 that the Spirit of God gives and it is important in these times to sometimes 00:45:52.920 --> 00:45:59.080 look at something and say no I refuse it I refuse it I refuse to go down that 00:45:59.080 --> 00:46:02.560 path which I don't want to explain today because we all know the story of 00:46:02.560 --> 00:46:06.480 Shadrach, Mesheke, and Abednego and what they did but I just wanted to flag that is 00:46:06.480 --> 00:46:14.040 one of the things that we as believers are given by the Holy Spirit boldness to 00:46:14.040 --> 00:46:21.720 stand boldness to stand next one first Chronicles chapter 11 12 first 00:46:21.720 --> 00:46:29.480 Chronicles 11 12 hey Brandon you don't need to bring it up now but the the 00:46:29.480 --> 00:46:39.160 slides v2 just have it ready thanks not now okay first Chronicles chapter 11 12 00:46:39.160 --> 00:46:44.800 this is one of the three mighty men of David his name is Eliezer a beautiful 00:46:44.800 --> 00:46:50.040 picture and may this picture never leave your mind there is an army coming but 00:46:50.040 --> 00:46:55.200 there is Israelites have this land and it's it's it's it's filled with barley 00:46:55.200 --> 00:47:02.160 yeah and everyone else on the Israelite side has run away but there is one man 00:47:02.160 --> 00:47:06.800 standing his name is Elias Eliezer and he's standing right in the middle and he 00:47:06.800 --> 00:47:14.840 wars when even when people leave God gives power to stand and it is important 00:47:14.840 --> 00:47:24.800 that we have it which is why you know that song from Nagaland though no one 00:47:24.800 --> 00:47:33.000 yes don't don't no one join me still I will follow that is what we are about 00:47:33.000 --> 00:47:39.480 that it doesn't matter who it is with you who it is not with you that you are 00:47:39.480 --> 00:47:45.480 so compelled by this truth so much so that you will stand up that you will say 00:47:45.480 --> 00:47:50.120 no that you will say yes to his ways and no to the ways that are not from him 00:47:50.120 --> 00:47:59.400 yeah last couple of things boldness to witness and then boldness to preach 00:47:59.400 --> 00:48:04.200 boldness to witness and the point after that is boldness to preach Acts chapter 00:48:04.200 --> 00:48:10.120 3 if you read that you'll see this one you know again with all these these 00:48:10.120 --> 00:48:14.240 things that I'm talking it's very natural to think that well this is about 00:48:14.240 --> 00:48:20.440 standing up and preaching the gospel to 500 people on the street side if you do 00:48:20.440 --> 00:48:24.120 that it is good there is nothing wrong with it it's a good thing to do as long 00:48:24.120 --> 00:48:29.200 as we do it the right way but this is beyond that this is living out the 00:48:29.200 --> 00:48:34.760 gospel and what Peter and John did in Acts chapter 3 was not any of these 00:48:34.760 --> 00:48:39.080 things first because they were walking to the temple when they saw this guy and 00:48:39.080 --> 00:48:45.760 all they wanted to do was because they felt compelled to witness who Christ is 00:48:45.760 --> 00:48:51.400 they witnessed to him because they had already been witnesses of his power and 00:48:51.880 --> 00:48:57.280 of his healing might which they transferred onto this man who was needy 00:48:57.280 --> 00:49:02.200 that's all they did so there is the boldness to witness that if I know that 00:49:02.200 --> 00:49:07.480 this is who God is then before even I preach sometimes before even I say 00:49:07.480 --> 00:49:11.560 anything anything with my word do I have the boldness to look at the situation 00:49:11.560 --> 00:49:20.200 and say Christ is enough to heal this man Christ is enough to heal this woman 00:49:21.400 --> 00:49:26.280 and then in that case because a miracle happened they also found room to preach 00:49:26.280 --> 00:49:32.120 they weren't going to preach because it happened a lot of people came together 00:49:32.120 --> 00:49:40.920 and said oh okay what's going on and then they preached the gospel see in 00:49:40.920 --> 00:49:46.360 all of these things one thing is clear that the Spirit of God has certain 00:49:46.360 --> 00:49:52.240 things that he has always done with the church that we can easily have and there 00:49:52.240 --> 00:49:56.520 is no magic trick to it there is no five steps to it that this is the reality 00:49:56.520 --> 00:50:02.720 that he wants this for us all we need to do is work with him desire this and then 00:50:02.720 --> 00:50:06.840 this is our portion what I'm going to show you next is something that I came 00:50:06.840 --> 00:50:12.880 across while sitting down to to prepare for the sermons I otherwise wouldn't 00:50:13.360 --> 00:50:18.000 but I just want you to see something that I saw in the word and get something 00:50:18.000 --> 00:50:23.160 from it just so that it gives us a fresh insight I really believe that nothing in 00:50:23.160 --> 00:50:31.320 the word is placed in the word by chance everything in the word of God is placed 00:50:31.320 --> 00:50:37.120 there to inform me educate me give me ways to live well righteousness all 00:50:37.120 --> 00:50:40.240 these things that then in the New Testament it's talked about everything is 00:50:40.240 --> 00:50:45.720 birthed by God we cannot take any story and anything in the Bible and say well 00:50:45.720 --> 00:50:51.120 that's a story now everything is placed there for a reason it's life-giving so 00:50:51.120 --> 00:50:58.200 for that reason I want to brand if you can bring this up please is that V2 go 00:50:58.200 --> 00:51:05.200 go forward okay so there's this guy in second Chronicles chapter 20 I had 00:51:05.200 --> 00:51:09.200 read the story before but this time when I read this something stood out and it 00:51:09.200 --> 00:51:14.040 reminded me very quickly as a Reddit of another passage in the Bible what had 00:51:14.040 --> 00:51:17.040 happened here is if you just listen to me and then I'll show you what the 00:51:17.040 --> 00:51:22.640 slides are see Jehoshaphat is the king and he finds out there are three types 00:51:22.640 --> 00:51:30.080 of three armies coming to fight him and the natural response was fear oh wow 00:51:30.080 --> 00:51:35.560 there are three armies coming to fight but what he does is he he asked God what 00:51:35.560 --> 00:51:41.360 to do and here is what he does see oh you can't yeah you can see it so you can 00:51:41.360 --> 00:51:47.920 see in verse 6 it says he is now talking to God Oh Lord God of our fathers are 00:51:47.920 --> 00:51:52.400 you not God in heaven you rule over all the kingdoms of the nations in your 00:51:52.400 --> 00:51:57.120 right in your hand of power and might so that none is able to withstand you this 00:51:57.120 --> 00:52:04.200 is a key see when we face opposition and trial it is so important to first 00:52:04.200 --> 00:52:10.360 recognize who God is this is why I said what I said before that we must all 00:52:10.360 --> 00:52:15.680 regardless of us being new to faith perhaps and only being in faith and for 00:52:15.680 --> 00:52:20.360 six months versus someone who has been in faith for 50 years we must all take 00:52:20.360 --> 00:52:28.120 time to be with God to learn his magnificence his bigness his might his 00:52:28.120 --> 00:52:32.960 power it is so important that part is deeply important for the work of God 00:52:32.960 --> 00:52:39.560 through us it is absolutely important that we must know him beyond almighty 00:52:39.560 --> 00:52:45.200 almighty is good but there is something beyond almighty a deep understanding of 00:52:45.200 --> 00:52:50.320 what almighty means and this man had it when he said something like this you 00:52:50.320 --> 00:52:56.400 rule over all the kingdoms of the nations in your hand our power and might 00:52:56.400 --> 00:53:00.380 so that none is able to withstand you yes there are three armies coming 00:53:00.380 --> 00:53:06.180 against me but no one is able to withstand you one number two he then 00:53:06.180 --> 00:53:12.700 recognizes what God has already done and said so did you not our God drive out 00:53:12.700 --> 00:53:16.580 the inhabitants of this land before your people Israel and give it forever to the 00:53:16.580 --> 00:53:20.140 descendants of Abraham your friend you see what he is doing without reading the 00:53:20.140 --> 00:53:26.300 next verse verses what he is doing is he started with recognizing who God is 00:53:26.300 --> 00:53:35.060 immediately he goes to God did you not say this did you not do this next slide 00:53:39.340 --> 00:53:45.980 okay then he goes to the present reality when he says God now behold the men of 00:53:45.980 --> 00:53:50.020 Amon and Moab and Mount Seir whom you would not let Israel invade when they 00:53:50.020 --> 00:53:53.660 came from the land of Egypt and whom they avoided and did not destroy so now 00:53:53.740 --> 00:53:58.540 he says here's what's happening but before he said what was happening he 00:53:58.540 --> 00:54:04.260 started with who God is then he moved on to what God has already said what God 00:54:04.260 --> 00:54:09.300 has already done and then he says this is my present reality and then he goes 00:54:09.300 --> 00:54:14.180 on to pray what he needed pray for what he needed okay this is second Chronicles 00:54:14.180 --> 00:54:18.020 chapter 20 I was reading this passage and then immediately I realized that 00:54:18.020 --> 00:54:24.180 this is Acts chapter 4 so go to ask can you go to the next slide and and and 00:54:24.180 --> 00:54:36.260 yeah next slide and then one after okay sorry yes go back thanks Brandon okay so 00:54:36.260 --> 00:54:40.060 here acts have to for what's happening except for you now have the same 00:54:40.060 --> 00:54:43.740 situation instead of three armies now the people of God the first century 00:54:43.740 --> 00:54:49.500 church is faced with severe threat and opposition what do they do they do this 00:54:49.500 --> 00:54:53.700 they pray together sovereign Lord who made the heaven and the earth and the 00:54:53.700 --> 00:54:57.940 sea and everything in them what is it one before anything else recognizing who 00:54:57.940 --> 00:55:03.620 God is see guys the victorious life that Christ has given for us to live on earth 00:55:03.620 --> 00:55:11.180 is rooted in who he is it's rooted in who he is when we say you're the Lord of 00:55:11.180 --> 00:55:16.260 heaven and of earth what do we mean by that let's go deeper to realize that 00:55:16.260 --> 00:55:20.860 there is no power nothing that is beyond his control everything that is created 00:55:20.860 --> 00:55:28.020 is created by him second or Colossians chapter 1 everything that is created is 00:55:28.020 --> 00:55:32.900 created by him and so you see this pattern in the scripture where they go 00:55:32.900 --> 00:55:40.300 back to who God is before making any requests because once you know that 00:55:40.420 --> 00:55:47.740 something changes once you know who God is something shifts when I see him 00:55:47.740 --> 00:55:54.060 accurately inside of me his spirit will help me understand aha Derek yes this is 00:55:54.060 --> 00:55:58.820 real opposition but let me tell you who I am because there is nothing that is 00:55:58.820 --> 00:56:04.100 too impossible for him everything is possible for him second thing here again 00:56:04.100 --> 00:56:11.500 in Acts chapter 4 you see this what did God say what did God do so now he they 00:56:11.500 --> 00:56:18.980 say did you not through the mouth of our father David your servant said by the 00:56:18.980 --> 00:56:23.980 Holy Spirit why did the Gentiles rate essentially quoting accepted or some to 00:56:23.980 --> 00:56:29.660 that's all he's doing some to God did you not say this already did you not do 00:56:29.660 --> 00:56:36.900 this already and then next slide then they say the present reality then they 00:56:36.900 --> 00:56:43.140 ask God for boldness and then in the next verse they launch out in the gift 00:56:43.140 --> 00:56:49.580 that God already gave them it says they were filled with boldness and then they 00:56:49.580 --> 00:56:57.740 went on to proclaim the good news of God what am I saying with all these things 00:56:57.780 --> 00:57:08.860 we can't shift our focus away from who God is in all these things one thing 00:57:08.860 --> 00:57:17.980 that's primary is who is he who is he who is he his father his king his Lord 00:57:17.980 --> 00:57:23.900 his creator and then to say ABBA I want to know you so much more I want to I 00:57:24.340 --> 00:57:29.020 know you deeper I want to be like David who saw certain things that he and 00:57:29.020 --> 00:57:34.940 others did not perhaps see I want to be like others who have experienced things 00:57:34.940 --> 00:57:40.300 from you that I haven't experienced I want more I'm not satisfied with one I'm 00:57:40.300 --> 00:57:47.060 not satisfied with two show me who you really are help see my father and your 00:57:47.060 --> 00:57:51.940 father is someone when you and I go to him and say more he will reveal more 00:57:52.140 --> 00:57:59.380 some things he has already kept in secret just so that we can ask and those 00:57:59.380 --> 00:58:05.020 who ask will find it Proverbs it says it's a glory of God to conceal things 00:58:05.020 --> 00:58:10.620 it is for us to go and ask and then to find it but it and even better not even 00:58:10.620 --> 00:58:14.860 better the second part of it is Deuteronomy 29 29 where it actually says 00:58:14.860 --> 00:58:19.300 that which you have found that God had kept secret which has now been revealed 00:58:19.300 --> 00:58:25.420 to you that is now for yours that is now yours forever and your generations 00:58:25.420 --> 00:58:32.780 that the awareness of God that he gives me is now for generations after that the 00:58:32.780 --> 00:58:37.980 awareness of God that he gives you please read sorry I don't have can 00:58:37.980 --> 00:58:42.500 someone read a Deuteronomy 29 29 00:58:42.500 --> 00:59:01.700 the secret things belong to the Lord our God but the things revealed belong to 00:59:01.700 --> 00:59:10.380 us and and to our generations forever you see this so we always go back to who 00:59:10.460 --> 00:59:15.940 our goddess and then we say and understand see and understand and believe 00:59:15.940 --> 00:59:19.820 what he has already said and done and then from that place we ask for more 00:59:19.820 --> 00:59:24.900 boldness the boldness to advance he then gives it so that we can launch into 00:59:24.900 --> 00:59:32.220 things that he has given us in the face of fear and then without it yeah 00:59:40.420 --> 00:59:56.340 so Jesus we we don't want to live life to accumulate head knowledge we don't 00:59:56.340 --> 01:00:04.100 want to live life to hear and hear again to simply hear and hear again we want to 01:00:04.100 --> 01:00:14.580 experience kingdom realities here on earth that you have already kept as 01:00:14.580 --> 01:00:23.580 inheritance for your church and so today I say this Jesus show us your 01:00:23.580 --> 01:00:38.420 magnificence show us your glory Abba you are ruler of heaven and earth creator 01:00:38.420 --> 01:00:45.580 you gave yourself the name I am who I am every other name points to something 01:00:46.420 --> 01:00:59.180 you are I am who I am Holy Spirit there is no one like you you hovered over the 01:00:59.180 --> 01:01:12.900 face of the earth and then you now fill us and so help us as a people to know 01:01:12.940 --> 01:01:19.700 you more to not be Christians but to be sons and daughters to walk in our 01:01:19.700 --> 01:01:25.700 inheritance Lord we ask you that you will give us understanding and wisdom 01:01:25.700 --> 01:01:32.820 that you will cause us to be truly convicted by your cause convicted that we 01:01:32.820 --> 01:01:38.060 would wrestle with what you have said and that you will impart to us your heart 01:01:38.100 --> 01:01:45.060 that we carry then your heart as we go out into the world that this becomes not 01:01:45.060 --> 01:01:54.980 a reality for some days but an ever-present state of our being that we 01:01:54.980 --> 01:02:00.140 are always consumed by who you are and what you want so that we partner with 01:02:00.140 --> 01:02:06.900 you in your work Jesus we desire this sincerely we ask this of you today and 01:02:06.900 --> 01:02:13.100 we pray that you grant this to us in Jesus name Amen