WEBVTT NOTE Podcast: Acts 29 Vancouver Episode: Consecration 2 Publishing Date: 2024-02-25T05:00:44-08:00 Podcast URL: https://acts29.ca Episode URL: https://acts29.ca/consecration-2/ 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:07.000 Okay. Guys, so last time we spoke about consecration, and today's topic is consecrate yourself 00:00:09.100 --> 00:00:14.120 for tomorrow. Consecrate yourself for tomorrow. Because that's a scripture you'll find in 00:00:14.120 --> 00:00:19.680 the Bible quite often where God will say, consecrate yourself for tomorrow. We look 00:00:19.680 --> 00:00:26.320 at a couple of scriptures that say that. But one of the statements we made last week was 00:00:26.320 --> 00:00:32.600 a statement by this guy called D.L. Moody, who I was telling you about. And the statement 00:00:32.600 --> 00:00:38.980 he made was, the world has yet to see what God will do with a man fully consecrated to 00:00:38.980 --> 00:00:45.640 him. The world has yet to see what God will do with a man who is fully consecrated to 00:00:45.640 --> 00:00:50.720 him. And when D.L. Moody first heard it, he began to reflect on it. The world has yet 00:00:50.920 --> 00:00:57.000 to see what God will do with a man fully consecrated to him. And then he comes back a year later 00:00:57.000 --> 00:01:01.600 to the guy who told him that, and he says, by God's help, I aim to be that man. Then 00:01:01.600 --> 00:01:08.600 we talked about the Nazarites and how that translates into life today. And so, again, 00:01:09.720 --> 00:01:16.720 to go over the definition of consecration, it's to be associated, or its association, 00:01:16.920 --> 00:01:23.200 with the sacred. That's the basic meaning of consecration, to be associated with the 00:01:23.200 --> 00:01:30.200 sacred. As in, you can transfer a person, or you can transfer a thing, transfer a person 00:01:33.840 --> 00:01:40.840 or a thing to a sacred sphere, and it's usually done through some ritual, to a sacred sphere 00:01:40.840 --> 00:01:47.840 for a special purpose. And so you basically entirely offer yourself, entirely offer yourself 00:01:59.680 --> 00:02:06.680 to God as a sacrifice. That was the sense of consecration. Yeah? And so last time we 00:02:07.120 --> 00:02:13.160 said that, what it is the small, there were three questions we asked, what is a small 00:02:13.160 --> 00:02:17.100 things that get in the way of you separating yourself to God? What are the good things 00:02:17.100 --> 00:02:22.740 that get in the way of you separating yourself to God? That was the odd thing. It's not 00:02:22.740 --> 00:02:27.740 some big thing that gets in the way. It's always the small things that get in the way. 00:02:27.740 --> 00:02:32.520 What are the small things, or the good things that get in the way of you consecrating yourself 00:02:32.520 --> 00:02:35.920 or the good things that get in the way of you consecrating yourself to God. 00:02:35.920 --> 00:02:40.920 But if you want a definition of consecration that you would find easily on Google, 00:02:40.920 --> 00:02:43.920 it's association with the sacred. 00:02:43.920 --> 00:02:46.320 To be associated with the sacred. 00:02:46.320 --> 00:02:51.220 How? By transferring a person or a thing into a sacred sphere, 00:02:51.220 --> 00:02:56.120 usually through a ritual or through prayer, or through sometimes anointing. 00:02:56.120 --> 00:02:58.720 That's how they did it in the Old Testament and the New Testament. 00:02:58.720 --> 00:02:59.920 And why was it done? 00:02:59.920 --> 00:03:02.720 It was for a special purpose. For whom? For God. 00:03:02.720 --> 00:03:04.120 And what was the intent? 00:03:04.120 --> 00:03:06.920 Can you entirely offer yourself to God as a sacrifice? 00:03:06.920 --> 00:03:10.720 Now let's turn to Exodus 19. 00:03:10.720 --> 00:03:14.920 Exodus 19, verse 10. 00:03:14.920 --> 00:03:18.920 Exodus 19, 10. 00:03:18.920 --> 00:03:25.120 And you'll see these verses where it talks about consecrating yourself. 00:03:25.120 --> 00:03:28.120 Exodus 19, 10. 00:03:29.120 --> 00:03:33.320 God usually does it either when he, 00:03:33.320 --> 00:03:37.320 consecration precedes 00:03:40.120 --> 00:03:46.120 a God encounter or a divine visitation. 00:03:50.320 --> 00:03:54.320 And consecration precedes 00:03:55.320 --> 00:04:01.320 a God engagement, or in other words, 00:04:01.320 --> 00:04:07.320 a divine battle, or in other words, 00:04:07.320 --> 00:04:11.320 a holy war. 00:04:11.320 --> 00:04:16.320 In the Old Testament, and you'll see Paul talking about it in the New Testament too, 00:04:16.320 --> 00:04:19.320 one of the things that would precede 00:04:20.320 --> 00:04:26.320 a divine visitation or a divine encounter was this need to consecrate oneself. 00:04:26.320 --> 00:04:31.320 And the moment people would decide that, yep, I'm going to set myself apart, 00:04:31.320 --> 00:04:33.320 God would turn up. 00:04:33.320 --> 00:04:36.320 Sometimes they would set themselves apart through sacrifices. 00:04:36.320 --> 00:04:40.320 Sometimes they would set themselves apart through oaths that they would take. 00:04:40.320 --> 00:04:46.320 But the moment they would set themselves apart, you would find that God would turn up. 00:04:46.320 --> 00:04:52.320 It's one of our biggest challenges today because we don't have time. 00:04:52.320 --> 00:04:55.320 It's our biggest challenge. 00:04:55.320 --> 00:04:58.320 Consecration is the ability to not do the less important things, 00:04:58.320 --> 00:05:01.320 to not do the good things, to not do the small things 00:05:01.320 --> 00:05:06.320 that get in the way of setting yourself apart. 00:05:06.320 --> 00:05:10.320 And it's surprising how much time you can create by getting rid of small things. 00:05:10.320 --> 00:05:14.320 I mean, last week you heard the things that I wanted to set aside. 00:05:14.320 --> 00:05:18.320 You've created so much time, so much time. 00:05:18.320 --> 00:05:20.320 It's surprising. 00:05:20.320 --> 00:05:23.320 You should try it because it requires time. 00:05:23.320 --> 00:05:25.320 Consecration always demands time. 00:05:25.320 --> 00:05:28.320 And some of the good things are things that God brought into your life 00:05:28.320 --> 00:05:30.320 that have gone past the expiry date, 00:05:30.320 --> 00:05:35.320 but you insist on continuing to do it because it's good for you. 00:05:35.320 --> 00:05:40.320 It doesn't do you harm. God brought it into your life. 00:05:40.320 --> 00:05:45.320 So, consecration precedes a God encounter. 00:05:45.320 --> 00:05:47.320 Hey, Crystal, welcome back. 00:05:47.320 --> 00:05:49.320 Where were you? Japan or somewhere, right? 00:05:49.320 --> 00:05:50.320 Yeah. 00:05:50.320 --> 00:05:55.320 Consecration precedes a God encounter or a divine visitation, 00:05:55.320 --> 00:05:59.320 or consecration precedes a divine battle or a holy war. 00:05:59.320 --> 00:06:01.320 So if you read Exodus 19.10, it says, 00:06:01.320 --> 00:06:06.320 And the Lord said to Moses, Go to the people and consecrate them today and tomorrow. 00:06:06.320 --> 00:06:09.320 Have them wash their clothes and be ready for on the third day, 00:06:09.320 --> 00:06:16.320 because on that day the Lord will come down on Mount Sinai in the sight of all people. 00:06:16.320 --> 00:06:18.320 Put limits for people around the mountain and tell them, 00:06:18.320 --> 00:06:21.320 Be careful that you do not go up the mountain or touch the foot of it. 00:06:21.320 --> 00:06:22.320 And then he goes on to say that. 00:06:22.320 --> 00:06:29.320 Go to Joshua 3, Joshua 3, Joshua 3 verse 5. 00:06:29.320 --> 00:06:32.320 Joshua 3 verse 5. 00:06:32.320 --> 00:06:37.320 So if that was divine visitation, look at Joshua 3 verse 5. 00:06:38.320 --> 00:06:42.320 This is when God wants to do amazing things amongst the people, 00:06:42.320 --> 00:06:46.320 which includes engaging his people in divine battle or a holy war. 00:06:46.320 --> 00:06:48.320 Joshua 3 verse 5. 00:06:48.320 --> 00:06:54.320 Joshua told the people, Consecrate yourself, for tomorrow the Lord will do amazing things among you. 00:06:54.320 --> 00:06:58.320 And what was the amazing thing that then evolves after that? 00:06:58.320 --> 00:07:03.320 The ark goes into the Jordan, the Jordan part. 00:07:03.320 --> 00:07:09.320 And just like Moses now, people begin to recognize that Joshua has the same spirit upon him. 00:07:09.320 --> 00:07:13.320 The Jordan part, they walk through it, Jericho is taken. 00:07:13.320 --> 00:07:16.320 Why are we going down this road? 00:07:16.320 --> 00:07:18.320 Because we have to ask ourselves the same question, 00:07:18.320 --> 00:07:23.320 So what is the God that you have for us tomorrow that demands our consecration today? 00:07:23.320 --> 00:07:28.320 We have to ask that question as a body and as individuals. 00:07:28.320 --> 00:07:30.320 We have to ask that question on two levels. 00:07:30.320 --> 00:07:33.320 One, what is it that is the people we need to do? 00:07:33.320 --> 00:07:37.320 And two, what is it that we need to do as individuals? 00:07:37.320 --> 00:07:39.320 What is it that waits for you tomorrow, Ne? 00:07:39.320 --> 00:07:41.320 What is it that waits for you tomorrow, Josh? 00:07:41.320 --> 00:07:46.320 What is it that waits for you tomorrow, Dawn's adopted mom? 00:07:46.320 --> 00:07:49.320 Sorry, one of these days, Auntie is going to get me. 00:07:49.320 --> 00:07:53.320 Hey, Dawn and Derek are both their kids, just so you know, it's clear. 00:07:53.320 --> 00:07:56.320 It just happened that they are their kids. 00:07:56.320 --> 00:07:57.320 It was clear. 00:07:57.320 --> 00:08:01.320 It just happened that last week, it misfired. 00:08:03.320 --> 00:08:06.320 Derek's mom came to me and said, can I speak one more time? 00:08:06.320 --> 00:08:10.320 Because I have to clear there and let people know that Dawn's my son. 00:08:10.320 --> 00:08:14.320 So she'll be coming up again to share the testimony in a couple of weeks. 00:08:17.320 --> 00:08:22.320 So what is it that we need to do tomorrow that demands consecration today? 00:08:22.320 --> 00:08:27.320 And what is it that Dilna needs to do tomorrow that demands consecration in his life today? 00:08:27.320 --> 00:08:28.320 It's both. 00:08:30.320 --> 00:08:36.320 It'll either end up in an encounter that is divine in terms of a visitation, 00:08:36.320 --> 00:08:43.320 or it'll end up in terms of holy war or a battle that you have to engage in to overcome, to win. 00:08:43.320 --> 00:08:46.320 And any battle you engage in is usually not about you. 00:08:46.320 --> 00:08:48.320 It's about setting someone else free. 00:08:48.320 --> 00:08:50.320 When we think battle, we think our struggles. 00:08:50.320 --> 00:08:53.320 When God thinks battle, he thinks setting someone else free. 00:08:54.320 --> 00:08:55.320 That's the difference. 00:08:57.320 --> 00:08:59.320 When we talk battle, we think our struggles. 00:09:01.320 --> 00:09:04.320 He's always thinking of, can I send you to set someone else free? 00:09:05.320 --> 00:09:06.320 Any questions before we go on? 00:09:11.320 --> 00:09:12.320 Any questions? 00:09:15.320 --> 00:09:16.320 Okay. 00:09:17.320 --> 00:09:18.320 Okay. 00:09:24.320 --> 00:09:25.320 So what's our tomorrow? 00:09:29.320 --> 00:09:31.320 And what's your tomorrow? 00:09:35.320 --> 00:09:41.320 Assuming that we are on this topic of consecration because God desires it for us, why? 00:09:42.320 --> 00:09:44.320 So what's our tomorrow? 00:09:44.320 --> 00:09:45.320 And what's your tomorrow? 00:09:45.320 --> 00:09:49.320 What's your tomorrow will be something that you'll have to wrestle with to find out. 00:09:50.320 --> 00:09:51.320 But what's our tomorrow? 00:09:56.320 --> 00:10:02.320 A year ago, this is what the Lord has given us for our tomorrow. 00:10:03.320 --> 00:10:07.320 A year ago, our tomorrow was today, but it's still in the works. 00:10:08.320 --> 00:10:16.320 We've gone to this place called Stornoway off the coast of Scotland to the Hebrides Islands 00:10:16.320 --> 00:10:23.320 where in 1949, November, a revival called the Hebrides revival had broken out. 00:10:24.320 --> 00:10:32.320 One of the things God had said to us with proof that is almost undeniable 00:10:32.320 --> 00:10:36.320 is that Hebrides 2.0 will happen through this church. 00:10:37.320 --> 00:10:46.320 What is Hebrides 1.0? Hebrides 1.0 was young people being swept into a place where they could not but 00:10:47.320 --> 00:10:59.320 no field work with and have God work through them affecting entire islands and nations from 1949 to 1954. 00:11:00.320 --> 00:11:02.320 For some of you who weren't there last year, 00:11:02.320 --> 00:11:07.320 there would be times when this guy called Campbell would turn up in a little town called Arnol 00:11:07.320 --> 00:11:11.320 and some of us visited Arnol. It's a little town, hardly any people there. 00:11:11.320 --> 00:11:20.320 And this guy would turn up at the village and the place would be pretty empty in terms of church. 00:11:20.320 --> 00:11:25.320 And there'd be a dance hall where there were a lot of people dancing. 00:11:25.320 --> 00:11:30.320 And this guy comes to the church and nothing spectacular happens, but just as he is leaving, 00:11:30.320 --> 00:11:36.320 this sense of God entires the entire village of Arnol and people begin to flee the dance hall, 00:11:36.320 --> 00:11:40.320 which is not to say dancing is wrong. That's not the intent here. 00:11:40.320 --> 00:11:46.320 The intent is that something begins to happen in the lives of those in the dance hall and they begin to flee it. 00:11:46.320 --> 00:11:52.320 And where are they fleeing to? They're fleeing to the door of the church because it is a Judeo-Christian culture. 00:11:52.320 --> 00:11:54.320 Today people don't even know where to flee to. 00:11:54.320 --> 00:12:00.320 But those days they knew, find the closest pastor or find the closest church or find the closest Christian 00:12:00.320 --> 00:12:05.320 and they come fleeing and a church that was empty now has 600 people standing before them. 00:12:05.320 --> 00:12:12.320 And they don't know what is happening to them. It's a deep sense, not of repentance, but of penitence. 00:12:12.320 --> 00:12:16.320 They're weeping, but they don't know why. They're begging people saying, 00:12:16.320 --> 00:12:22.320 why is it that this is happening to me? And then Campbell would start stand and he would begin to talk about Christ. 00:12:22.320 --> 00:12:29.320 Now the situation where in another little town called Barnas, they're just praying and not much is happening. 00:12:29.320 --> 00:12:33.320 Two old ladies started the whole movement. They're just praying and nothing happens. 00:12:33.320 --> 00:12:41.320 And then one man stands up and he's a kid. He's a 17-year-old kid whose dad, whose son we met when we went there because that man's dead. 00:12:41.320 --> 00:12:48.320 But when he was a 17-year-old kid, in the middle of the meeting he stands up and he turns to God and he says, 00:12:48.320 --> 00:12:54.320 I have just one question for you. Are these hands clean and is this heart pure? 00:12:54.320 --> 00:12:59.320 And I say to you, O God, that these hands are clean and this heart is pure. 00:12:59.320 --> 00:13:04.320 Well then, O God, why is it that the promise has not come through yet? 00:13:04.320 --> 00:13:11.320 You said you would pour water on dry and thirsty ground. If these hands are clean and if this heart is pure, 00:13:11.320 --> 00:13:16.320 then why, O God, is the promise delayed? We need it now. I need it now. 00:13:16.320 --> 00:13:21.320 And as he begins to pray this, the place begins to shake just like in Acts chapter 4. 00:13:21.320 --> 00:13:25.320 We saw the house where this happened. Things began to fall off the mantelpiece. 00:13:25.320 --> 00:13:29.320 It was as if the mighty rushing wind was once again flowing through the place. 00:13:29.320 --> 00:13:35.320 It begins to shake and people again don't know what to do. They just know that the Spirit of God has entered. 00:13:35.320 --> 00:13:39.320 When we spoke to this man whose dad was the one who prayed this prayer, he said, 00:13:39.320 --> 00:13:43.320 Jacob, all we know is people will be working in the fields and they would begin to weep 00:13:43.320 --> 00:13:49.320 because there was such a heavy sense of God that they didn't know what to do with it and they didn't know what it was. 00:13:49.320 --> 00:13:53.320 And they would come running and say, help, because we can't bear this. 00:13:53.320 --> 00:14:02.320 And for four or five years, he said, he would watch his dad walk under the presence of God. 00:14:02.320 --> 00:14:10.320 And village after village, island after island, started being touched by the Holy Spirit. 00:14:11.320 --> 00:14:16.320 Sometime early January last year or late December, God said, hey, know this, 00:14:16.320 --> 00:14:22.320 that because you have kept digging the wells that people have tried to shut down, 00:14:22.320 --> 00:14:31.320 because you have stayed small and humble, because you do not want fame, this is what I'll do with you. 00:14:31.320 --> 00:14:36.320 I'll bring Hebrides 2.0 to pass here on earth through a small group of people like you. 00:14:40.320 --> 00:14:44.320 It's only a matter of time before this catches fire. 00:14:44.320 --> 00:14:46.320 Our job is very simple. 00:14:46.320 --> 00:14:52.320 Imagine a flame that you take a torch in, put, catch the flame, go, ignite something. 00:14:52.320 --> 00:14:56.320 That's your job. 00:14:56.320 --> 00:14:58.320 And it will happen. 00:14:58.320 --> 00:15:00.320 It'll happen in Belfast. 00:15:00.320 --> 00:15:06.320 It'll happen wherever these guys go if they catch it. 00:15:06.320 --> 00:15:08.320 It'll happen through us who are 50 and above. 00:15:08.320 --> 00:15:13.320 Sometimes when you talk like this, you think the 50s and the 60s and the 70s have no part in it. 00:15:13.320 --> 00:15:16.320 No, we have the substance, man. 00:15:16.320 --> 00:15:18.320 Fuel has been built into us. 00:15:18.320 --> 00:15:25.320 We carry gas tanks so that the wick doesn't have to be trimmed and oil doesn't have to run out. 00:15:25.320 --> 00:15:31.320 Every revival is built on the shoulders of the ones that have substance. 00:15:31.320 --> 00:15:35.320 So when you count yourself out, you're doing yourself a disfavor. 00:15:35.320 --> 00:15:36.320 Oh, I'm not 20 or 30. 00:15:36.320 --> 00:15:37.320 Of course you're not. 00:15:37.320 --> 00:15:40.320 I can see it on the wrinkles on your forehead. 00:15:40.320 --> 00:15:42.320 That was meant to be harsh. 00:15:42.320 --> 00:15:45.320 It didn't fly. 00:15:45.320 --> 00:15:49.320 But the point is, it is a group of people together that begin to do this. 00:15:49.320 --> 00:15:58.320 And so when we were in Stornoway and were crying out saying, pure hands, clean heart, clean hands, pure heart, doesn't matter. 00:15:58.320 --> 00:15:59.320 It's the same. 00:15:59.320 --> 00:16:00.320 This was the word that was given. 00:16:00.320 --> 00:16:06.320 So if you want to know what our tomorrow holds for us as a people, for you, Kamal, for you, Ann, 00:16:06.320 --> 00:16:15.320 if you want to know what we hold as a people going into the future, this is it. 00:16:15.320 --> 00:16:25.320 That through us and upon us, first upon us and through us, a purifying fire from heaven will come. 00:16:25.320 --> 00:16:33.320 When fire like this comes, you can either be consumed by it or you can wear an asbestos suit. 00:16:33.320 --> 00:16:35.320 That's up to you. 00:16:35.320 --> 00:16:38.320 But the fire will come. 00:16:38.320 --> 00:16:40.320 I wouldn't even say the fire will come. 00:16:40.320 --> 00:16:43.320 I'll say the fire is coming. 00:16:43.320 --> 00:16:48.320 There are times when it's already igniting. 00:16:48.320 --> 00:16:58.320 A purifying fire from heaven that burns up religious and historical junk, that burns up religious, as in it turns it into ash. 00:16:58.320 --> 00:17:00.320 No more religious junk. 00:17:00.320 --> 00:17:03.320 No more high Christianity. 00:17:04.320 --> 00:17:11.320 This is a father who has a house in which there are sons and which there are daughters who worship him and who know him as king. 00:17:11.320 --> 00:17:14.320 That's the kind of house that God wants to build. 00:17:14.320 --> 00:17:20.320 Get rid of all the historical and religious junk. 00:17:20.320 --> 00:17:24.320 If we don't do it, he'll do it, eh? 00:17:24.320 --> 00:17:31.320 A purifying fire that burns up religious and historical junk, as what happens, as the divine warrior enters. 00:17:31.320 --> 00:17:38.320 This is not a god who's coming in riding on a donkey as the divine warrior enters. 00:17:38.320 --> 00:17:39.320 Why? 00:17:39.320 --> 00:17:50.320 Because to set the young free in different nations, you will require the ability to on one hand have divine encounters with God, on the other hand engage in battle. 00:17:50.320 --> 00:17:52.320 Through whom? Through you. 00:17:52.320 --> 00:17:53.320 Through me. 00:17:53.320 --> 00:17:56.320 Are we qualified? He qualifies us. 00:17:56.320 --> 00:17:58.320 What's it requiring? Consecration. 00:17:58.320 --> 00:17:59.320 What does that mean? 00:17:59.320 --> 00:18:02.320 Setting yourself aside. 00:18:02.320 --> 00:18:04.320 Nobody is left out in this, guys. 00:18:04.320 --> 00:18:08.320 God doesn't work like I work or pastors work. 00:18:08.320 --> 00:18:11.320 Choosing one here that may be good, choosing there, choosing someone who sings. 00:18:11.320 --> 00:18:17.320 No, he doesn't look like that because it doesn't depend on your talent or gifting. 00:18:17.320 --> 00:18:20.320 He usually picks the least of us. 00:18:20.320 --> 00:18:25.320 And trust me, this church is the least of them. 00:18:25.320 --> 00:18:30.320 And so, as the divine warrior enters, why does he enter? 00:18:30.320 --> 00:18:33.320 He enters because he wants to set young men and women free. 00:18:33.320 --> 00:18:37.320 All this cliched stuff about the young are the future of the church. 00:18:37.320 --> 00:18:40.320 Let me rephrase it. 00:18:40.320 --> 00:18:49.320 20s and 30s are able to decide which way the church goes and the world goes for the next two generations. 00:18:49.320 --> 00:18:51.320 For the next two generations. 00:18:51.320 --> 00:18:58.320 For the next two generations, you catch a 20-year-old that might live to 70 or 80. 00:18:58.320 --> 00:19:03.320 He will be responsible for another two generations. 00:19:03.320 --> 00:19:06.320 What do you think is happening here? 00:19:06.320 --> 00:19:11.320 This is why I said those of us who are over 50 or 60 have substance. 00:19:11.320 --> 00:19:14.320 You think the substance in me has not affected at least two generations? 00:19:14.320 --> 00:19:19.320 You think substance in people here that are over 50 or 60 hasn't affected younger generations? 00:19:19.320 --> 00:19:24.320 Of course it has. 00:19:24.320 --> 00:19:28.320 So, setting young men and women free. 00:19:28.320 --> 00:19:30.320 From what to what? I love it. 00:19:30.320 --> 00:19:32.320 From nations into kingdoms. 00:19:32.320 --> 00:19:33.320 Into the kingdom. 00:19:33.320 --> 00:19:37.320 From nations into the kingdom. 00:19:37.320 --> 00:19:39.320 Not nations into the church. 00:19:39.320 --> 00:19:41.320 Not nations into a youth group. 00:19:41.320 --> 00:19:43.320 Not nations into a Bible college. 00:19:43.320 --> 00:19:46.320 Nations into a kingdom called the kingdom of God. 00:19:46.320 --> 00:19:53.320 Not a kingdom of God that has one culture regardless of how many nations there are. 00:19:53.320 --> 00:19:57.320 And to be sent forth, eh? 00:19:57.320 --> 00:19:59.320 The idea of the church is very simple. 00:19:59.320 --> 00:20:03.320 Gather to scatter. 00:20:03.320 --> 00:20:05.320 It's never gather to grow larger. 00:20:05.320 --> 00:20:08.320 It is always gather to scatter. 00:20:08.320 --> 00:20:10.320 And remember how the scattering happens. 00:20:10.320 --> 00:20:15.320 When a farmer scatters, he just puts his hand into the sack and he goes this way. 00:20:15.320 --> 00:20:20.320 So that it scatters, but if it finds good soil, it will grow. 00:20:20.320 --> 00:20:23.320 Because the seed is potent. 00:20:23.320 --> 00:20:32.320 And you are the seed. 00:20:32.320 --> 00:20:35.320 The shell might be thick for some of us. 00:20:35.320 --> 00:20:37.320 For others the shell might be thin. 00:20:37.320 --> 00:20:41.320 But the seed is potent, guys. 00:20:42.320 --> 00:20:51.320 And the seed never grows, shoots or roots till it meets the ground. 00:20:51.320 --> 00:21:00.320 As long as we can stay in church, nothing happens. 00:21:00.320 --> 00:21:02.320 From nations into the kingdom. 00:21:02.320 --> 00:21:04.320 Calling what? I love this. 00:21:04.320 --> 00:21:10.320 I mean this is why when I look at this, I know it's not written by a human hand. 00:21:10.320 --> 00:21:15.320 Because it's so well-worded, so logical, so brilliant. 00:21:15.320 --> 00:21:18.320 It says, on one hand it says setting young men and women free. 00:21:18.320 --> 00:21:20.320 And then it goes into calling them sons and daughters. 00:21:20.320 --> 00:21:22.320 It's not enough to know young men and women. 00:21:22.320 --> 00:21:28.320 It's to know that they are sons and daughters of a living God who is a father. 00:21:28.320 --> 00:21:30.320 You guys need to catch this. 00:21:30.320 --> 00:21:40.320 Because you are only here for a short time and then you are gone to Egypt and to Vegas. 00:21:40.320 --> 00:21:44.320 And to Qatar and to every other known place. 00:21:44.320 --> 00:21:47.320 From nations into the kingdom, calling sons and daughters. 00:21:47.320 --> 00:21:51.320 Into what? Into that circle of dancing and abandon and joy. 00:21:51.320 --> 00:21:55.320 It's strange, eh? God is not against dancing. 00:21:55.320 --> 00:22:01.320 Jesus danced, trust me, most Jewish men do. 00:22:01.320 --> 00:22:07.320 Calling sons and daughters into that circle of dancing, of abandon and of joy. 00:22:07.320 --> 00:22:09.320 There's a recklessness to this. 00:22:09.320 --> 00:22:12.320 There's an abandoning of self. 00:22:12.320 --> 00:22:18.320 It's not going to be religious and historical junk. 00:22:18.320 --> 00:22:20.320 There will be mistakes made. 00:22:20.320 --> 00:22:26.320 Because the moment you enter a circle of abandon, dancing and joy, mistakes will be made. 00:22:26.320 --> 00:22:28.320 Try that with your kid, eh? 00:22:28.320 --> 00:22:30.320 When you have a little child, try that. 00:22:30.320 --> 00:22:32.320 Mistakes will be made, things will break. 00:22:32.320 --> 00:22:36.320 Phones will be dropped in the toilet. 00:22:36.320 --> 00:22:38.320 Just pray that it's a Samsung. 00:22:38.320 --> 00:22:41.320 So, into that circle of dancing and abandon and joy. 00:22:41.320 --> 00:22:45.320 Before whom? Before the lion and the lamb. Beautiful. 00:22:45.320 --> 00:22:53.320 So it goes from divine warrior to father to lion and the lamb. 00:22:53.320 --> 00:22:56.320 Such an amazing progression, man. 00:22:56.320 --> 00:22:59.320 Divine warrior who sets free. 00:22:59.320 --> 00:23:02.320 Adopts them as his own and now calls them sons and daughters. 00:23:02.320 --> 00:23:09.320 And then turns them around and says, alright, now go as ones that belong to the lion and the lamb. 00:23:09.320 --> 00:23:13.320 Once you have the ferocity to take on what needs to be taken. 00:23:13.320 --> 00:23:20.320 But the meekness to inherit the earth. 00:23:20.320 --> 00:23:21.320 Before the lion and the lamb. 00:23:21.320 --> 00:23:25.320 And who do they become? They become a torch bearing generation. 00:23:25.320 --> 00:23:26.320 And it's full circle again. 00:23:26.320 --> 00:23:30.320 We said that we start with taking a torch, dipping it into the fire. 00:23:30.320 --> 00:23:33.320 That will come and is coming and has come. 00:23:33.320 --> 00:23:34.320 And will ignite. 00:23:34.320 --> 00:23:36.320 And what does happen here? 00:23:36.320 --> 00:23:41.320 The ones that you set free then become a torch bearing generation. 00:23:41.320 --> 00:23:44.320 And what happens in the bargain? 00:23:44.320 --> 00:23:52.320 Usually when revivals like this hit, it prevents disaster from happening to one or two generations. 00:23:52.320 --> 00:23:58.320 And it turns back the earth to the way it needs to go. 00:23:58.320 --> 00:24:10.320 And then to think that this motley bunch, us, are going to be the ones who herald this onto the earth. 00:24:10.320 --> 00:24:14.320 You can see why God uses shepherds. 00:24:14.320 --> 00:24:16.320 Samaritan women. 00:24:16.320 --> 00:24:18.320 Nobodies. 00:24:18.320 --> 00:24:21.320 Join the list. 00:24:21.320 --> 00:24:24.320 This is what we have waiting for us. 00:24:24.320 --> 00:24:30.320 Which is why the demand is, can you consecrate yourself? 00:24:30.320 --> 00:24:32.320 And this is not to one or two. 00:24:32.320 --> 00:24:35.320 This is not to some creme de la creme. 00:24:35.320 --> 00:24:38.320 This is not to leaders in this church. 00:24:38.320 --> 00:24:45.320 This is a call to his people in this church. 00:24:45.320 --> 00:24:49.320 And once they go out, they will not return empty. 00:24:49.320 --> 00:24:52.320 Only the seed is now more potent. 00:24:52.320 --> 00:24:55.320 The longer you keep leaven, the more fermented it gets. 00:24:55.320 --> 00:25:01.320 And the lesser you need to raise a batch of dough. 00:25:01.320 --> 00:25:07.320 The longer leaven stays, the more potent it gets. 00:25:07.320 --> 00:25:14.320 Any questions before we go on? 00:25:14.320 --> 00:25:16.320 Any questions guys? 00:25:16.320 --> 00:25:19.320 Do you realize what's being placed in our hands? 00:25:19.320 --> 00:25:21.320 On one hand, it's a baby. 00:25:21.320 --> 00:25:24.320 You have to take care of it carefully. 00:25:24.320 --> 00:25:29.320 On the other hand, it is the gates of Hebron, which you have to carry on your back. 00:25:29.320 --> 00:25:33.320 And go uphill. 00:25:33.320 --> 00:25:36.320 On one hand, you have to be merry. 00:25:36.320 --> 00:25:39.320 Carry this thing that God wants to birth on earth. 00:25:39.320 --> 00:25:42.320 Carry it carefully, because it's conceived of the Holy Spirit. 00:25:42.320 --> 00:25:45.320 But it is being birthed through you. 00:25:45.320 --> 00:25:49.320 These are words that have never been spoken in a teaching here. 00:25:49.320 --> 00:25:54.320 On the other hand, you have to be Samson, who has the ability to pull gates. 00:25:54.320 --> 00:25:58.320 Put them on your back and carry them uphill. 00:25:58.320 --> 00:26:02.320 700 feet uphill, 9 miles to Hebron. 00:26:02.320 --> 00:26:08.320 So that people can see, aha, there's something afoot on earth. 00:26:08.320 --> 00:26:11.320 That is why he's saying, can you consecrate yourself? 00:26:11.320 --> 00:26:16.320 And it's not a call to one or two, it's to all. 00:26:16.320 --> 00:26:20.320 The Spirit of God can take these words and set our hearts on fire. 00:26:20.320 --> 00:26:23.320 He can do that. 00:26:28.320 --> 00:26:31.320 Any questions, guys? 00:26:31.320 --> 00:26:34.320 Yeah. 00:26:34.320 --> 00:26:37.320 Yeah. 00:26:37.320 --> 00:26:40.320 Yeah. 00:26:40.320 --> 00:26:43.320 Yeah. 00:26:43.320 --> 00:26:48.320 I can tell you a couple of reasons why it ends. 00:26:48.320 --> 00:26:51.320 One, because man takes a wind, tries to control it. 00:26:51.320 --> 00:26:58.320 Two, because man does not control it, and then deception and delusion gets him. 00:26:58.320 --> 00:27:03.320 And when we talk about revival, we're still talking about 20 or 25% of the city turning. 00:27:03.320 --> 00:27:06.320 So after all these things that happened there for five years, 00:27:06.320 --> 00:27:10.320 only about 25% of the village actually gave their lives to Christ. 00:27:10.320 --> 00:27:12.320 The entire village felt it. 00:27:12.320 --> 00:27:14.320 And these are small villages. 00:27:14.320 --> 00:27:20.320 They only had 300 or 400 people, or sometimes some villages had 800 or 900 people. 00:27:20.320 --> 00:27:25.320 They all felt what was happening, but only 20 to 25% turned. 00:27:25.320 --> 00:27:30.320 But 20 to 25% is enough to now take care of two generations. 00:27:30.320 --> 00:27:34.320 And then why else does it stop? 00:27:34.320 --> 00:27:37.320 Because I think we institutionalize it. 00:27:37.320 --> 00:27:40.320 I think we begin to gather it. 00:27:40.320 --> 00:27:45.320 I think we begin to try and prolong it. 00:27:45.320 --> 00:27:50.320 Because it's a good thing, right? 00:27:51.320 --> 00:27:56.320 Remember what Peter and James are doing as soon as Elijah and Moses come. 00:27:56.320 --> 00:27:58.320 Can we build you three shelters? Why? 00:27:58.320 --> 00:28:00.320 Because can we bottle this? 00:28:00.320 --> 00:28:03.320 And if we can bottle this, it'll be a good idea. 00:28:03.320 --> 00:28:08.320 So Jesus, can we build three shelters for you and Moses and Elijah so that you guys are happy here? 00:28:08.320 --> 00:28:11.320 So we have a tendency to bottle it, and it never works. 00:28:11.320 --> 00:28:15.320 You cannot bottle this thing. 00:28:15.320 --> 00:28:18.320 And then at the end of the day, think of this too. 00:28:18.320 --> 00:28:19.320 What is the intent? 00:28:19.320 --> 00:28:28.320 The intent is, can we prevent the next two generations from going away that they are going by God intervening? 00:28:28.320 --> 00:28:33.320 And if that is achieved, then mission accomplished. 00:28:33.320 --> 00:28:38.320 And God will have his way one way or the other because he loves the world and he's laid his life down for it. 00:28:38.320 --> 00:28:43.320 But the question is, who will step up? 00:28:43.320 --> 00:28:48.320 And so I go back to D.L. Moody's word. 00:28:48.320 --> 00:28:55.320 That the world is yet to see what God can do with a man who consecrates himself to God. 00:28:55.320 --> 00:29:00.320 And by God's help, we aim to be that one man. 00:29:00.320 --> 00:29:05.320 That's the intent. 00:29:06.320 --> 00:29:11.320 This then gives you an idea of how you need to begin to figure out, okay, 00:29:11.320 --> 00:29:19.320 so if this is what our tomorrow is, how does my tomorrow fit into this? 00:29:19.320 --> 00:29:21.320 What's my role in this? 00:29:21.320 --> 00:29:24.320 In all these lines, what's my role in this? 00:29:24.320 --> 00:29:27.320 I'm not going to go into the details of this. 00:29:27.320 --> 00:29:30.320 I'm going to go into the details of this. 00:29:30.320 --> 00:29:33.320 How does my tomorrow fit into this? 00:29:33.320 --> 00:29:34.320 What's my role in this? 00:29:34.320 --> 00:29:37.320 In all these lines, what's my role in this? 00:29:37.320 --> 00:29:40.320 In all these lines, what's my role in this? 00:29:40.320 --> 00:29:42.320 Where do I fit? 00:29:42.320 --> 00:29:47.320 And there's enough space for everyone in this, eh? 00:29:51.320 --> 00:29:53.320 And you can't get the answer through inspiration. 00:29:53.320 --> 00:29:55.320 You get the answer through hard work. 00:29:55.320 --> 00:29:58.320 Have you ever tried doing math with inspiration? 00:29:58.320 --> 00:30:01.320 It's disastrous. 00:30:12.320 --> 00:30:19.320 Satan knows that he doesn't have to beat the church. 00:30:23.320 --> 00:30:26.320 He doesn't have to beat the church. 00:30:26.320 --> 00:30:38.320 He just has to deflect, just has to deflect her from her God-given destiny. 00:30:43.320 --> 00:30:45.320 Always remember that, eh? 00:30:45.320 --> 00:30:46.320 He knows he's beat. 00:30:46.320 --> 00:30:51.320 He may not be able to destroy a church, though that can happen and has happened 00:30:51.320 --> 00:30:53.320 and will continue to happen. 00:30:53.320 --> 00:30:57.320 One of the intents of the enemy is not that I need to beat this church, 00:30:57.320 --> 00:31:01.320 but can I deflect her from her God-given destiny? 00:31:01.320 --> 00:31:03.320 Can I deflect her? 00:31:03.320 --> 00:31:05.320 Different ways to do it. 00:31:05.320 --> 00:31:08.320 Have her engaged in securing her future. 00:31:08.320 --> 00:31:11.320 Have her engaged in a massive building project. 00:31:11.320 --> 00:31:14.320 Have her engaged in having conferences. 00:31:14.320 --> 00:31:20.320 Have her engaged in a hundred good, godly, holy things. 00:31:20.320 --> 00:31:28.320 But deflect her from her God-destined purpose. 00:31:28.320 --> 00:31:34.320 That is enough to then have a church. 00:31:34.320 --> 00:31:36.320 What happens then? 00:31:36.320 --> 00:31:39.320 You have a church without an inheritance. 00:31:39.320 --> 00:31:44.320 You have a church without an inheritance. 00:31:44.320 --> 00:31:48.320 That's terribly to have a church without an inheritance. 00:31:49.320 --> 00:31:53.320 Because in Psalm 2, verse 8, what did Jesus say to the Father? 00:31:53.320 --> 00:31:58.320 Ask of me and I will give you the nations as your inheritance. 00:31:58.320 --> 00:32:02.320 And so, if the Son of God, who is the head of the church, 00:32:02.320 --> 00:32:05.320 had an inheritance that was to be a portion to him, 00:32:05.320 --> 00:32:14.320 why do we, who are part of the body, think that we do not have an inheritance in his grand scheme? 00:32:14.320 --> 00:32:15.320 How absurd is that? 00:32:15.320 --> 00:32:20.320 How we don't go around trying to figure that out? 00:32:20.320 --> 00:32:26.320 And so, when we deflect from God-given destiny, 00:32:26.320 --> 00:32:32.320 we then have a church without an inheritance because we do not know the portion that's allotted to us 00:32:32.320 --> 00:32:33.320 that we are supposed to cultivate. 00:32:33.320 --> 00:32:42.320 We do not know the oil field or the gold mine or the potato field that we are supposed to cultivate. 00:32:42.320 --> 00:32:43.320 All three are as important. 00:32:43.320 --> 00:32:45.320 You can't feed anyone oil or gold when they're hungry. 00:32:45.320 --> 00:32:46.320 You need potatoes. 00:32:48.320 --> 00:32:52.320 So, have a church without an inheritance is a disaster. 00:32:52.320 --> 00:32:57.320 And we are so fortunate that we have an inheritance that we are aware of. 00:32:57.320 --> 00:33:00.320 Now begins the process of digging it and finding out what. 00:33:03.320 --> 00:33:05.320 And when you don't know your inheritance, here's what happens. 00:33:05.320 --> 00:33:08.320 Whatever God gives a church, they will bury it. 00:33:08.320 --> 00:33:09.320 They will not trade with it. 00:33:10.320 --> 00:33:11.320 Matthew 25. 00:33:11.320 --> 00:33:14.320 Whenever a church does not know its inheritance, 00:33:14.320 --> 00:33:18.320 they take their gifts, their abilities, their talents, their wealth, their resources, their people. 00:33:18.320 --> 00:33:22.320 And the only thing they do is to fortify it. 00:33:22.320 --> 00:33:24.320 They don't trade with it. 00:33:24.320 --> 00:33:27.320 They don't take five and multiply it into ten. 00:33:27.320 --> 00:33:29.320 They don't take two and make it four. 00:33:29.320 --> 00:33:30.320 They take it and they hide it. 00:33:31.320 --> 00:33:34.320 And so, the church will grow, but there's no trading. 00:33:34.320 --> 00:33:37.320 And when the master comes back, it's a simple question. 00:33:37.320 --> 00:33:38.320 What did you do? 00:33:38.320 --> 00:33:42.320 When you have an inheritance, you know what to transact with. 00:33:42.320 --> 00:33:43.320 You know how to expand it. 00:33:46.320 --> 00:33:49.320 Two things happen with people who get inheritances. 00:33:49.320 --> 00:33:51.320 One, they squander it. 00:33:51.320 --> 00:33:52.320 Three things. 00:33:52.320 --> 00:33:53.320 One, they squander it. 00:33:53.320 --> 00:33:55.320 Two, they keep it intact. 00:33:55.320 --> 00:33:56.320 Three, they multiply it. 00:33:59.320 --> 00:34:02.320 All the big houses you see, Rothschild and this and that, 00:34:02.320 --> 00:34:04.320 they are all going to be taken away. 00:34:04.320 --> 00:34:08.320 All the big houses you see, Rothschild and this and that, 00:34:08.320 --> 00:34:10.320 we're not talking about whether they were corrupt or not, 00:34:10.320 --> 00:34:13.320 but they had the ability to take what their fathers made 00:34:13.320 --> 00:34:15.320 and then begin to expand it, 00:34:15.320 --> 00:34:18.320 so much so that they now have empires around the world. 00:34:24.320 --> 00:34:25.320 Go ahead. 00:34:28.320 --> 00:34:29.320 Can you say that again? 00:34:34.320 --> 00:34:35.320 Yeah. 00:34:35.320 --> 00:34:39.320 So, let's assume that one of the things that we were meant to do 00:34:39.320 --> 00:34:42.320 from the beginning of time, before the earth was founded, 00:34:42.320 --> 00:34:45.320 was to take care of this. 00:34:45.320 --> 00:34:50.320 This then becomes the portion that's allotted to your church to deal with. 00:34:50.320 --> 00:34:54.320 How will you now, if you were the pastor of this church, 00:34:54.320 --> 00:34:58.320 begin to break the ground open, to dig it up, to find out how to do this? 00:34:58.320 --> 00:35:02.320 How do you go about taking this and transacting with it, 00:35:02.320 --> 00:35:04.320 multiplying it, causing it to grow? 00:35:04.320 --> 00:35:06.320 How do you find the oil that might be in this land, 00:35:06.320 --> 00:35:08.320 the potatoes that might be in the land, 00:35:08.320 --> 00:35:10.320 the gold vein that is in the land? 00:35:10.320 --> 00:35:11.320 How do you find it? 00:35:14.320 --> 00:35:17.320 And so, if you have been a part of this church 00:35:17.320 --> 00:35:22.320 and see yourself as someone who is connected to this church, 00:35:22.320 --> 00:35:26.320 then know that this certainly is going to be part of your life. 00:35:26.320 --> 00:35:29.320 You can choose to be part of it, you can choose not to be part of it, 00:35:29.320 --> 00:35:32.320 but it is not something that God is going to hold back from you. 00:35:46.320 --> 00:35:50.320 So, let's take... 00:35:51.320 --> 00:35:59.320 I mean, there's nothing in terms of gifts, fruit, talents, abilities 00:35:59.320 --> 00:36:01.320 that won't fit into all this. 00:36:01.320 --> 00:36:03.320 So, take healing, for instance. 00:36:03.320 --> 00:36:05.320 Set men and women free. 00:36:05.320 --> 00:36:07.320 Take teachings, for instance. 00:36:07.320 --> 00:36:12.320 Bringing them into a circle of dancing in abundance and joy. 00:36:12.320 --> 00:36:14.320 Take loving them, for instance. 00:36:14.320 --> 00:36:17.320 Calling them sons and daughters from nations into kingdoms. 00:36:17.320 --> 00:36:19.320 You take any gift, it will fit in here. 00:36:19.320 --> 00:36:22.320 You take any fruit of the Spirit, it will be required for this. 00:36:22.320 --> 00:36:25.320 You take any talent, it will have to be part of it. 00:36:25.320 --> 00:36:28.320 You take authority, this cannot be done with authority. 00:36:28.320 --> 00:36:33.320 There's nothing that does not fit into what God has. 00:36:42.320 --> 00:36:44.320 Sometimes even the places you're supposed to go to, 00:36:44.320 --> 00:36:47.320 be Trinidad or Sri Lanka, be Japan or China, 00:36:47.320 --> 00:36:49.320 be it Shanghai or Germany. 00:36:53.320 --> 00:36:57.320 This becomes the filter through which we see life. 00:36:57.320 --> 00:37:01.320 And our hearts will always be bent towards it. 00:37:01.320 --> 00:37:05.320 Be it Egypt or Vegas, it'll be... 00:37:05.320 --> 00:37:08.320 It just gets imprinted on your heart. 00:37:08.320 --> 00:37:12.320 And so everywhere you go, once this catches your heart, 00:37:12.320 --> 00:37:15.320 and you have to allow it to catch your heart, eh? 00:37:16.320 --> 00:37:18.320 You have to allow it to catch your heart. 00:37:18.320 --> 00:37:20.320 But once it catches your heart, 00:37:20.320 --> 00:37:24.320 it becomes a filter through which you see, you operate, you sing, 00:37:24.320 --> 00:37:29.320 you teach, you do, you pray, everything operates through it. 00:37:32.320 --> 00:37:37.320 You become like a singular track, narrow-minded... 00:37:39.320 --> 00:37:41.320 I mean that in a nice way. 00:37:41.320 --> 00:37:43.320 ...person. 00:37:43.320 --> 00:37:45.320 We do this with other things, eh? 00:37:45.320 --> 00:37:48.320 We get obsessed with work, we get obsessed with our thesis, 00:37:48.320 --> 00:37:51.320 we get obsessed with playing basketball or training basketball, 00:37:51.320 --> 00:37:56.320 we get obsessed with hockey, we get obsessed with things like that. 00:37:56.320 --> 00:38:00.320 And that obsession gives you tunnel vision. 00:38:00.320 --> 00:38:04.320 Tunnel vision allows you to consecrate yourself. 00:38:06.320 --> 00:38:09.320 You get obsessed with a nation. 00:38:13.320 --> 00:38:15.320 You get obsessed with a bride. 00:38:15.320 --> 00:38:17.320 You get obsessed with the nature of the father. 00:38:17.320 --> 00:38:19.320 You get obsessed with the mind of God. 00:38:19.320 --> 00:38:21.320 You get obsessed with the power of God. 00:38:21.320 --> 00:38:23.320 You get obsessed with the love of God. 00:38:23.320 --> 00:38:25.320 Each person different. 00:38:27.320 --> 00:38:30.320 John was always talking about how loving the father is. 00:38:30.320 --> 00:38:32.320 What's Paul talking about? 00:38:32.320 --> 00:38:34.320 How God thinks. 00:38:34.320 --> 00:38:35.320 What's Mark talking about? 00:38:35.320 --> 00:38:37.320 The acts of God. 00:38:39.320 --> 00:38:40.320 Each one. 00:38:40.320 --> 00:38:44.320 This is the splendor of the many faceted body of Christ. 00:38:44.320 --> 00:38:47.320 Each one has a certain element. 00:38:47.320 --> 00:38:50.320 And you've got this amazing conductor called the Holy Spirit. 00:38:51.320 --> 00:38:54.320 Who doesn't see the part you're playing as any less 00:38:54.320 --> 00:38:57.320 than the part I may be playing at this present moment. 00:38:59.320 --> 00:39:03.320 We saw what can happen when Evan is not there. 00:39:05.320 --> 00:39:07.320 I mean the sound guys did the best they could, 00:39:07.320 --> 00:39:10.320 but Evan knows a little more because he's been doing it for a little while. 00:39:10.320 --> 00:39:15.320 So Jeremy, James and Vignesh had to do the best they can. 00:39:15.320 --> 00:39:18.320 But a person missing makes a massive difference, man. 00:39:30.320 --> 00:39:33.320 So, any questions? 00:39:34.320 --> 00:39:37.320 I won't finish even half of this today. 00:39:41.320 --> 00:39:54.320 Whenever you say yes to anything, you have to say no to something else. 00:39:54.320 --> 00:39:58.320 That is part of this idea of consecration. 00:39:58.320 --> 00:40:03.320 Consecration is saying no to some really good, godly... 00:40:09.320 --> 00:40:11.320 I can preach well too. 00:40:11.320 --> 00:40:14.320 So, I'm not going to say no to anything. 00:40:14.320 --> 00:40:17.320 I'm going to say no to the Holy Spirit. 00:40:17.320 --> 00:40:20.320 I'm going to say no to the Holy Spirit. 00:40:20.320 --> 00:40:22.320 I can preach well too. 00:40:25.320 --> 00:40:28.320 Whenever you say yes to anything, you will have to say no to something else. 00:40:28.320 --> 00:40:32.320 And that's a choice that I hope God will bring all of us to. 00:40:32.320 --> 00:40:35.320 Where if this is what God is consecrating us for, 00:40:35.320 --> 00:40:37.320 if this is what our tomorrow holds, 00:40:37.320 --> 00:40:42.320 you will have to say no to things if you want to say yes to this. 00:40:42.320 --> 00:40:44.320 You can't have it all. 00:40:44.320 --> 00:40:46.320 You can't have it all. 00:40:47.320 --> 00:40:50.320 It's not possible. You're human. You're limited. 00:40:58.320 --> 00:41:04.320 And so, one of the things you have to decide is, is this something I want? 00:41:04.320 --> 00:41:08.320 It is not a question of, is this what God wants for us? 00:41:08.320 --> 00:41:11.320 That, let me assure you, is settled. 00:41:12.320 --> 00:41:16.320 It is only a question of, is this what I want? 00:41:16.320 --> 00:41:18.320 What we want? 00:41:18.320 --> 00:41:21.320 And if we want this, we'll have to say yes. 00:41:21.320 --> 00:41:25.320 But every time you say yes, you'll have to say no to something else. 00:41:28.320 --> 00:41:32.320 Sometimes saying no is costly, because you're giving away something good. 00:41:34.320 --> 00:41:36.320 We always like to juggle. 00:41:36.320 --> 00:41:38.320 Got to have two or three things in the air always, 00:41:38.320 --> 00:41:41.320 so that if one drops, you always have the other one. 00:41:41.320 --> 00:41:43.320 God doesn't juggle. 00:41:49.320 --> 00:41:53.320 In 1 Kings 18, just on the side, Elijah gives people a choice, 00:41:53.320 --> 00:41:56.320 and he says to them, choose this day, 00:41:56.320 --> 00:42:00.320 whether you will serve Yahweh or whether you will serve Baal. 00:42:00.320 --> 00:42:04.320 What he did not expect is that when he gave them a choice, 00:42:05.320 --> 00:42:08.320 the next verse says, the people said nothing. 00:42:11.320 --> 00:42:14.320 It's crazy. He was laying down a choice before them. 00:42:14.320 --> 00:42:17.320 Choose this day, whether you will worship Yahweh or you will worship Baal. 00:42:17.320 --> 00:42:21.320 But the very next verse says, but the people said nothing. 00:42:21.320 --> 00:42:23.320 And you know why they said nothing? 00:42:23.320 --> 00:42:27.320 Because they wanted to find out what will happen after Elijah prays. 00:42:27.320 --> 00:42:29.320 Till then, they did not want to commit. 00:42:29.320 --> 00:42:32.320 And that's something that God doesn't take lightly. 00:42:32.320 --> 00:42:36.320 Jacob, if you want me to jump off the steeple to prove to you 00:42:36.320 --> 00:42:39.320 that I can jump off great heights, then you ain't going to see it. 00:42:43.320 --> 00:42:46.320 One commits to things that one thinks of God 00:42:46.320 --> 00:42:50.320 before one begins to eat of that which God wants to feed. 00:42:50.320 --> 00:42:52.320 Two or three more points and we're done. 00:42:54.320 --> 00:43:00.320 And so we'll be stopping here, and then I've got all this and all this. 00:43:00.320 --> 00:43:03.320 But you look like you want to finish the whole thing, so I'll oblige. 00:43:03.320 --> 00:43:07.320 But for some strange reason, someone's put a clock on there. 00:43:07.320 --> 00:43:11.320 It says I've got 16 minutes and 48 seconds. 00:43:11.320 --> 00:43:13.320 And I'm going to be like, I'm going to be like, 00:43:13.320 --> 00:43:16.320 I'm going to be like, I'm going to be like, I'm going to be like, 00:43:16.320 --> 00:43:19.320 I'm going to be like, I'm going to be like, I'm going to be like, 00:43:19.320 --> 00:43:21.320 look you've only got 40 seconds! 00:43:21.320 --> 00:43:24.320 This is not a mega-church. Take it off. 00:43:30.320 --> 00:43:36.320 See guys, even to be a world class musician or a world class athlete 00:43:36.320 --> 00:43:39.320 or even a local BC athlete, 00:43:39.320 --> 00:43:42.320 you must know what your disciplines are. 00:43:42.320 --> 00:43:45.320 You must know what your disciplines are. 00:43:45.320 --> 00:43:49.320 And you must know what your distractions are. 00:43:55.320 --> 00:44:01.320 And then once you know what your disciplines are and your distractions are going to be, you have to have a plan. 00:44:03.320 --> 00:44:07.320 You must have a plan to overcome it. 00:44:09.320 --> 00:44:12.320 Please, please, please pay attention to this. 00:44:12.320 --> 00:44:18.320 Because guys, if this is serious business and God is deadly serious, 00:44:18.320 --> 00:44:26.320 if this is serious business, then God wants us to take stock of what I need to... 00:44:26.320 --> 00:44:30.320 what your disciplines... sorry, that's disciples. 00:44:31.320 --> 00:44:37.320 What your disciplines are and what your distractions are. You have to know that. 00:44:37.320 --> 00:44:42.320 As I go about pursuing this inheritance that God is giving the church, 00:44:42.320 --> 00:44:45.320 as I go about some of the things that God has spoken to me personally, 00:44:45.320 --> 00:44:48.320 that may one day fit into this or may not right now, 00:44:48.320 --> 00:44:53.320 as I go about pursuing this, what are some of the disciplines I must engage in 00:44:53.320 --> 00:44:57.320 so that I hone my divine skills? 00:44:57.320 --> 00:45:00.320 And what are some of the distractions that I must be aware of? 00:45:00.320 --> 00:45:02.320 And how do I plan to overcome it? 00:45:02.320 --> 00:45:04.320 Both have to kick in, eh? 00:45:04.320 --> 00:45:09.320 They both have to kick in. If not, you usually are rendered mediocre. 00:45:10.320 --> 00:45:16.320 Mediocrity is when people do not choose to locate the disciplines they must engage in 00:45:16.320 --> 00:45:21.320 and do not choose to locate the distractions that have targeted them 00:45:21.320 --> 00:45:24.320 and have been around for years on end. 00:45:25.320 --> 00:45:29.320 Those people usually end up living a very mediocre life. 00:45:29.320 --> 00:45:35.320 And in Christianity, mediocrity is simply defined as being passive about the Spirit of God. 00:45:36.320 --> 00:45:37.320 That's what mediocrity is. 00:45:37.320 --> 00:45:42.320 Mediocrity is not whether you sing well or do well, teach well, not teach well, anointing, not anointing. 00:45:42.320 --> 00:45:44.320 It's got nothing to do with that because that's entirely of God. 00:45:44.320 --> 00:45:49.320 Mediocrity in Christianity is simply defined as one who refuses to get to a place 00:45:49.320 --> 00:45:52.320 where they can be passionate about the Spirit of God, 00:45:52.320 --> 00:45:55.320 instead choose passivity over passion. 00:45:55.320 --> 00:45:57.320 It's very easy to spot that, eh? 00:46:00.320 --> 00:46:03.320 The only ones who don't spot mediocrity are the ones that are mediocre. 00:46:04.320 --> 00:46:07.320 And mediocrity is always exposed in the face of passion. 00:46:08.320 --> 00:46:11.320 You can never realize you are mediocre 00:46:11.320 --> 00:46:14.320 till you mix with someone who is really passionate about something. 00:46:16.320 --> 00:46:18.320 That's how you deal with mediocrity. 00:46:18.320 --> 00:46:22.320 Mediocrity is not just about being passive about the Spirit of God. 00:46:22.320 --> 00:46:23.320 You're passionate about something. 00:46:25.320 --> 00:46:27.320 That's how you know where you stand. 00:46:28.320 --> 00:46:31.320 I might think I'm a good cook till I end up standing next to Tuni 00:46:31.320 --> 00:46:34.320 and then I find that, ah shucks, I know nothing. 00:46:35.320 --> 00:46:36.320 Tuni is the wrong one. 00:46:39.320 --> 00:46:43.320 Someone else, like, you suddenly realize, oh shucks, you thought you were good. 00:46:43.320 --> 00:46:47.320 You are just so average because now passion exposes mediocrity. 00:46:47.320 --> 00:46:52.320 That's why it's a really bad idea to hang out with people that are like you. 00:46:54.320 --> 00:46:58.320 Hanging out with people that are like you is a really bad idea. 00:47:00.320 --> 00:47:03.320 Because you will never get to a place where you can be better. 00:47:06.320 --> 00:47:09.320 Peer-to-peer relationships are the death of the church. 00:47:10.320 --> 00:47:13.320 Peer-to-peer relationships are the death of the church. 00:47:20.320 --> 00:47:24.320 I want to say to you that Satan follows this plan. 00:47:29.320 --> 00:47:31.320 Which plan? This plan. 00:47:32.320 --> 00:47:38.320 He likes to know my strengths and then he also likes to know 00:47:38.320 --> 00:47:42.320 what my weaknesses are so that I can be subdued. 00:47:43.320 --> 00:47:46.320 Turn to Judges 16, 5. 00:47:49.320 --> 00:47:51.320 Judges 16, verse 5. 00:47:53.320 --> 00:47:57.320 This is such a helpful exercise if you can go about it this week. 00:47:58.320 --> 00:48:00.320 Judges 16, verse 5. 00:48:01.320 --> 00:48:03.320 Now let's start with verse 4. 00:48:04.320 --> 00:48:08.320 Sometime later he fell in love with a woman. This is Samsoni. 00:48:09.320 --> 00:48:13.320 Sometime later he fell in love with a woman in the valley of Sorek whose name was Delilah. 00:48:14.320 --> 00:48:17.320 The rulers of the Philistines went to her and said, 00:48:18.320 --> 00:48:33.320 See if you can lure him into showing you the secret of his great strength. 00:48:34.320 --> 00:48:39.320 So the first thing we need to realize is I must know my strengths. 00:48:40.320 --> 00:48:43.320 Find out where your strengths lie. The secret of your great strength. 00:48:43.320 --> 00:48:49.320 Find out where your strengths lie. 00:48:51.320 --> 00:48:55.320 You must know your strengths. You must know your strengths. 00:48:56.320 --> 00:49:00.320 They can change maybe. 5 years from now you can have different strengths. 00:49:01.320 --> 00:49:03.320 But you must know your present strength. 00:49:07.320 --> 00:49:09.320 And there's nobody here who does not have this. 00:49:10.320 --> 00:49:12.320 You must know your present strength. 00:49:13.320 --> 00:49:17.320 So here's what they tell him to do. 00:49:18.320 --> 00:49:21.320 Find out the secret of his great strength. Find out where his strength lies. 00:49:22.320 --> 00:49:26.320 And then the next thing they say to him is how it can be overcome. 00:49:31.320 --> 00:49:39.320 What will it take and what methods can we use to make sure that Jacob's strengths are overcome. 00:49:39.320 --> 00:49:48.320 Why? So that we can subdue him, bind him, humble him. 00:49:50.320 --> 00:49:54.320 Come on man, we are smarter because we belong to Christ. 00:49:57.320 --> 00:50:00.320 Find out your strengths. I'm not talking about your talents or your giftings. 00:50:01.320 --> 00:50:06.320 Find out your innate strengths. If you can never sing, never speak, what are your strengths? 00:50:06.320 --> 00:50:07.320 What are your strengths? 00:50:09.320 --> 00:50:15.320 What are your strengths if you never had the ability to stand on a platform or have a pulpit? 00:50:16.320 --> 00:50:17.320 What are your strengths? 00:50:18.320 --> 00:50:24.320 Surely if Christ lives in you, there's nobody here who has Christ in him that does not have strengths. 00:50:25.320 --> 00:50:29.320 Because we're being restored and renewed in the knowledge of God and being restored to the image of God. 00:50:31.320 --> 00:50:34.320 But the problem is we don't know where our strength lies. 00:50:34.320 --> 00:50:42.320 And once you know it, hold it on just two, just two. Don't think you have just one. God rarely gives one. 00:50:45.320 --> 00:50:46.320 What are your strengths? 00:50:47.320 --> 00:50:49.320 And once you know your strengths then go to the next question. 00:50:50.320 --> 00:50:55.320 How has it been? Not how is it being. How has it been overcome all this time? 00:50:56.320 --> 00:50:57.320 How has it been overcome? 00:50:57.320 --> 00:50:58.320 How has it been overcome? 00:50:59.320 --> 00:51:09.320 And you will find that, ah shucks, I am so good here, but I still am not able to hit my stride or come into the fullness of who I am. 00:51:10.320 --> 00:51:13.320 Why? This is what coaches do. 00:51:15.320 --> 00:51:19.320 In a basketball game or a hockey game, they look for strengths and they look for the weakness. 00:51:20.320 --> 00:51:22.320 And then they go over video, replay after replay. 00:51:22.320 --> 00:51:28.320 Those guys who play hockey, guys, they know it by heart. When the anthem is playing and they are like this, they're not praying. 00:51:29.320 --> 00:51:36.320 They're practicing. Every goalie knows. Every penalty shot that will be taken, they know how the player is going to go. 00:51:37.320 --> 00:51:40.320 They go over video replays again and again and again. It involves work. 00:51:42.320 --> 00:51:51.320 And then once we know how we have been overcome, we know that the intent is to subdue us and to bind us and to humble us. 00:51:52.320 --> 00:51:55.320 But hasn't it worked? Of course it has worked. 00:51:59.320 --> 00:52:09.320 Okay, so when I did this exercise, the strengths that I put down on my phone was, Jacob, you hear God well and you can obey. 00:52:10.320 --> 00:52:14.320 Once you hear. You hear him well and once you hear him, you obey. That's the strength I have. 00:52:15.320 --> 00:52:19.320 And it's been there for the last many years, sometimes just through practice. So that's my strength. 00:52:19.320 --> 00:52:28.320 And then I wrote down how it can be overcome. And on my phone I've got 17 ways that it has been overcome over the last many years. 00:52:29.320 --> 00:52:33.320 Seventeen. And I've left an eighteen just in case I find one tomorrow. 00:52:35.320 --> 00:52:42.320 So here is the strength Jacob has. He hears well and once he hears, he's willing to take the risk of obeying. 00:52:42.320 --> 00:52:49.320 And then I've written down. Yeah, right now it stands at seventeen. Seventeen ways it's been overcome. 00:52:50.320 --> 00:52:56.320 So that I've been subdued, I've been bound, I've been humbled. Right from, go ahead. 00:53:00.320 --> 00:53:02.320 What will you give in exchange? 00:53:02.320 --> 00:53:04.320 What will you give in exchange? 00:53:12.320 --> 00:53:14.320 Here are some. 00:53:16.320 --> 00:53:25.320 When, one of the methods that is used is people accusing me of hearing wrong again and again and again. 00:53:25.320 --> 00:53:32.320 Where it's constant you didn't hear right, you're false, you are getting it wrong, you don't hear from God. 00:53:33.320 --> 00:53:42.320 And after a while if ten people say it twenty times in forty days, it begins to get to you where you begin to hesitate. 00:53:43.320 --> 00:53:49.320 Yeah, mistakes will be made, but it shouldn't rip away my identity. 00:53:49.320 --> 00:53:54.320 This church was built on hearing man, nothing else. 00:53:56.320 --> 00:53:58.320 But that's one, let me give you another one. 00:54:00.320 --> 00:54:04.320 A need for confirmation or signs before I will obey. 00:54:05.320 --> 00:54:11.320 God says something, I want twenty confirmations and forty signs before I will step out. 00:54:12.320 --> 00:54:15.320 By the time the event is already over. 00:54:15.320 --> 00:54:17.320 By the time the event is already over. 00:54:19.320 --> 00:54:23.320 Every car goes by I'm looking at the license plate, it's not saying what I want. 00:54:24.320 --> 00:54:26.320 Billboards are not effective either. 00:54:30.320 --> 00:54:32.320 This is just one more. 00:54:33.320 --> 00:54:36.320 Laziness so that hearing and obedience is procrastinated. 00:54:37.320 --> 00:54:41.320 Where I don't feel like it today. Today, Sunday I've really worked hard. 00:54:41.320 --> 00:54:44.320 I know I've got stuff to do tomorrow, but let's just watch a movie today. 00:54:45.320 --> 00:54:46.320 We'll start tomorrow morning. 00:54:47.320 --> 00:54:51.320 Laziness, which results in procrastination of obedience and of hearing. 00:54:52.320 --> 00:54:54.320 Got fourteen more. 00:54:56.320 --> 00:54:58.320 At least fourteen more. There might be more that's added. 00:54:59.320 --> 00:55:01.320 I'm not looking for help. 00:55:02.320 --> 00:55:09.320 So, know that this is how the realms work. 00:55:12.320 --> 00:55:14.320 Let's kind of stop there. 00:55:24.320 --> 00:55:28.320 Intense enthusiasm must join. 00:55:32.320 --> 00:55:39.320 Discipline pursuit must join. 00:55:41.320 --> 00:55:46.320 Singular focus must join. 00:55:49.320 --> 00:55:55.320 Regular intentionality as in everyday, everyday intentionality. 00:56:02.320 --> 00:56:08.320 That's what then brings you to a place where you function. 00:56:13.320 --> 00:56:15.320 Out of mediocrity. 00:56:20.320 --> 00:56:22.320 Into the hands of God. 00:56:25.320 --> 00:56:29.320 These are words that are not just synonyms of one another. 00:56:29.320 --> 00:56:31.320 Intense enthusiasm is important. 00:56:32.320 --> 00:56:38.320 It's one of the things that we haven't been able to cultivate in this church. 00:56:39.320 --> 00:56:45.320 At least intense enthusiasm is not something that is easily expressed in this church. 00:56:47.320 --> 00:56:49.320 It's hesitant enthusiasm. 00:56:50.320 --> 00:56:54.320 The enthusiasm is there, but it's not necessarily easily expressed. 00:56:54.320 --> 00:56:58.320 So that's one thing that we may have to keep working at. 00:56:59.320 --> 00:57:01.320 Intense enthusiasm must be expressed. 00:57:02.320 --> 00:57:04.320 I've seen Don dancing. 00:57:05.320 --> 00:57:09.320 I took him to a youth conference near Mumbai. 00:57:10.320 --> 00:57:12.320 He was supposed to be my wingman. 00:57:13.320 --> 00:57:16.320 Suddenly I don't have a wingman. Can't find him. 00:57:17.320 --> 00:57:20.320 It's hard to find him in a crowd of six hundred people. 00:57:20.320 --> 00:57:26.320 Then finally I find him in front where the music is going on. 00:57:27.320 --> 00:57:29.320 And this guy is dancing like I've never seen him. 00:57:30.320 --> 00:57:32.320 He's got moves. 00:57:35.320 --> 00:57:41.320 And so when we do this last song, you will see his moves. 00:57:42.320 --> 00:57:43.320 Where's Subin? 00:57:44.320 --> 00:57:46.320 Subin was the best dancer in Chennai, India. 00:57:46.320 --> 00:57:49.320 His wife married him because of his dancing skills. 00:57:50.320 --> 00:57:52.320 So he'll be coming out too. 00:57:53.320 --> 00:57:56.320 Nick, ask James. 00:57:57.320 --> 00:58:02.320 You put on some reggae or African music and Nick completely changes his ethnicity. 00:58:04.320 --> 00:58:06.320 So Nick will be here too. 00:58:08.320 --> 00:58:13.320 Tuni, unfortunately has his guitar so he uses it as an excuse. 00:58:13.320 --> 00:58:17.320 Oh, Sheldon. Oh my God. Did you see him on Christmas? 00:58:19.320 --> 00:58:22.320 And Mike doesn't know why I'm leaving him out. Mike, you too. 00:58:24.320 --> 00:58:26.320 So we shall end with that song. 00:58:27.320 --> 00:58:31.320 But intense enthusiasm is one of the things that needs to be expressed. 00:58:32.320 --> 00:58:33.320 Get your feet moving, Don. 00:58:34.320 --> 00:58:36.320 You've got disciplined pursuit. 00:58:37.320 --> 00:58:40.320 Pursuit that is not disciplined is all over the place. 00:58:40.320 --> 00:58:43.320 It is disciplined pursuit. It's the hardest thing to do. 00:58:44.320 --> 00:58:48.320 Ask your wife or your dog to help you. Disciplined pursuit. 00:58:49.320 --> 00:58:50.320 Disciplined pursuit. 00:58:51.320 --> 00:58:53.320 I prayed for a cat yesterday, by the way. 00:58:56.320 --> 00:58:57.320 Pardon? 00:58:58.320 --> 00:59:00.320 Yeah, the cat is doing well. That was what shocked me. 00:59:01.320 --> 00:59:04.320 So, disciplined pursuit is the other thing. 00:59:05.320 --> 00:59:09.320 And then singular, you know, discipline. 00:59:10.320 --> 00:59:14.320 Tune, focus. Tunnel vision. Tunnel vision is super important. 00:59:15.320 --> 00:59:16.320 Tunnel vision is super important. 00:59:17.320 --> 00:59:22.320 And the last one is everyday intentionality. It has to be a habit. 00:59:23.320 --> 00:59:26.320 This is one of the hardest things to do, guys. 00:59:27.320 --> 00:59:28.320 Hardest things to do. 00:59:29.320 --> 00:59:35.320 Consecration for a period, for a few days is okay, but can you sustain it for six months, eight months? 00:59:36.320 --> 00:59:39.320 And I assure you, God guarantees a difference. 00:59:40.320 --> 00:59:45.320 Because whenever someone consecrates themselves because they know a purpose of it, 00:59:46.320 --> 00:59:50.320 be it God appearing or be it engaging you in a battle, 00:59:51.320 --> 00:59:58.320 whenever you do it, he guarantees that he will turn up because it provokes him. 00:59:59.320 --> 01:00:00.320 It provokes him. 01:00:01.320 --> 01:00:03.320 Yeah. So, Tunny, if you want to come up. 01:00:11.320 --> 01:00:13.320 You can call your other friends up too. 01:00:17.320 --> 01:00:18.320 Done?