Okay guys, let's go.
Mei Wong, we want to begin the service.
Guys, it's snowing outside.
But it's not the sticky kind of snow.
Hey Sheldon, you want to tell us a little about your studio?
So remember today is Sheldon's open house at his studio.
So if you have nowhere else to go, nothing else to do, no plans for dinner, turn up.
No plans for dinner, then have dinner and then come over.
Sheldon regretted with me.
I was a grown up by then.
I was running around in the field.
Man, the O'Neill kids must be so happy.
It looks so excited.
Paul, if you want to go run around for a while and come back, it's okay.
They didn't come with you to Switzerland, right?
Okay.
George, have you experienced Vancouver snow yet?
Go run around and come back.
Alrighty, let's go.
So last week we started talking about discernment.
Today we continue with part two.
So, discernment part two.
We said that we are dealing with two invisible kingdoms.
And so we need discernment to distinguish between these two kingdoms.
Because one is real and one is counterfeit.
And we already talked about why we need to discern.
We talked about how to develop discernment.
And we talked about how to test spirits.
How to test spirits.
These three we've already done.
Today we do three other areas that we need to look at.
And then maybe there will be one more left.
I won't be here next Sunday.
I'm in LA.
But we can continue it after that.
So guys, in the church, God is at work, but so is the devil, and so is the flesh.
In the church, God is at work, but so is the devil, and so is the flesh.
As in, so is the human, the humanness of us begins to also react certain ways in church.
And so it's not all God all the time.
We have to face that.
Jesus faced up to it when in Matthew chapter 13, he talks about the parable of the tares and the wheat.
And he says when the farmer was sleeping, in Matthew 13 verse 25 to 30,
he talks about how a farmer had a field while he was sleeping.
The enemy came and sowed tares.
Another word for tares is prostituted wheat.
Meaning it looks a lot like wheat, but it's really not wheat.
And you won't know that it's not wheat till the plant has grown.
Which is why if we can discern things early, we can know things early.
And so Jesus talks about it.
He says, and so they came and sowed tares, and the tares and the wheat grew together.
And Jesus says that the enemy planted it.
And so the people say, can we pull it out right now?
Jesus says, not yet. Let it grow and then we can harvest it.
Why let it grow and then we can harvest it?
That's another topic.
But one of the things that happens is when these things are growing,
you don't know which is wheat and which is tares.
So you can pull out the good with the bad, which is why you need to discern.
If you can find out things early, you can stop things early.
So in the church, God is at work, so is the devil, so is the flesh.
And so instead of exercising discernment and godly authority to deal early with things that are not God,
most of us embrace a tolerant attitude.
Most of us embrace a tolerant attitude towards what is happening.
So instead of detecting it early, identifying it early, recognizing it early,
we have a tolerant attitude towards it,
which is why the church does not have a good attitude towards it.
Which is why the church then has both God at work and the flesh and the enemy.
But here's the crazy thing.
The Bible gives us no liberty, and this is an important statement.
The Bible gives us no liberty.
The Bible gives us no liberty to tolerate the incursion of evil,
the incursion or the invasion of evil into the church.
It gives us no liberty, meaning there's no wiggle room there, there's no freedom there.
If you look at 1 Corinthians 5.1,
Paul gets a little upset with the church there because of the fact that they haven't taken any action.
1 Corinthians 5.1, it is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you
and of a kind that even pagans do not tolerate.
A man is sleeping with his father's wife.
I mean that is so obvious and they didn't.
Let's go to Revelation 2.20.
Revelation 2.20.
And it says that,
Nevertheless, I have this against you, you tolerate that woman Jezebel,
who calls herself a prophet.
By her teaching she misleads my servants into sexual immorality.
By her teaching she misleads my servants into sexual immorality,
eating a food sacrifice to idols.
So there is no room for the toleration of the incursion of evil into the church.
Because once that kind of freedom is given,
it produces results, produces manifestations,
and sometimes they are even labeled as the Holy Spirit.
And that is how even the elect get deceived.
The elect get deceived because something that is evil is tolerated.
It now begins to produce fruit or begins to produce manifestations
or signs and stuff like that.
And because it wasn't called what it was in the beginning,
now even the elect get deceived because it wasn't stopped in the beginning.
So the counterfeit or that which is evil,
because it always disguises itself,
must be discerned early,
must be exposed early,
and must be dealt with early.
Discerned early is easy to do.
Exposed early we need to know to what degree.
And dealt we need to know how.
This is important because in this also mistakes happen.
In some churches people are able to discern things early.
They know something is wrong.
There are enough people who are keyed on to know something is wrong.
But then after it's known, how do you expose it?
Nothing should be exposed in a way that destroys the person.
This is important.
Jesus could have completely destroyed Peter for good
with that statement in Matthew 16, 23.
Get behind me, Satan.
You are a stumbling block to me.
The things that you think of are not of God.
They are the thoughts of men.
How does someone say that to your best friend or second best friend?
How do you say that and still have him as a friend?
So there's a way to expose that must be done in such a way that it doesn't destroy the person.
This is when it gets hard.
Discernment without kindness, discernment without mercy is not helpful.
Nor is discernment with toleration helpful.
This is a fine tightrope walk, man, where you hold two things in tension
and you operate out of the nature of God, not the principles of God.
Very odd, eh?
Principles of God are good, but the principles of God must fit in with the nature of God.
When principles of God do not fit in with the nature of God, you at some point get dogmatic.
How does that tie in with the parable that Jesus taught about leaving things?
About?
The tarot and the wheat, how does that relate to the dog?
Yeah, and the reason it does it is if you pull it out at that stage,
discerning that it has been planted is good,
but not everybody will have the ability to pull out things without hurting others.
So let it grow some more.
Let the fruit show.
Then let me deal with it.
That's the dealing part, which is why I'm saying we cannot deal with it willy-nilly.
That, ah, I discern that Sheldon's keyboard playing is kind of iffy on the G7,
so let's boot him out.
Yeah.
Now you booted out a guy who can't play G7,
then you realize you don't even have guys who can play G.
And so dealing with it is different.
So once we expose it, then we need to know how to deal with it.
And dealing is always towards correction, towards inclusion.
It is not towards exclusion.
Exclusion is only at the, when other methods have been tried,
now you exclude because a person is not willing to repent.
I was watching portions of Unbroken yesterday,
the movie where that Olympian, um, forgot his name,
who was in a Japanese walk, um,
camp, and he goes back to Japan.
He reconciles with everybody except the guy they call the Bird.
And the only reason he could not reconcile with the Bird,
his prison warden, is because the guy refused to meet him after repeated attempts.
I felt sad for the guy, the Bird.
Everybody else who was a prison warden,
he goes and he says, it's okay, forgiveness is exchanged, tears are shed,
but this one guy, he refuses to meet the one who's seeking to reconcile.
I was feeling so bad for the guy.
How many opportunities he got and he rejected it, now what happens?
But opportunities must be given.
Guys, whenever people wrong you, always leave the room.
Whenever people wrong you, always leave the door open.
As in, not the door open, as in you can barge in anytime and beat me up again,
but, um, give them this, give them this sliver that they know,
you can always come back and things will be okay.
It might require talking, but the door must always be there.
It might require talking, but the door must always be left open.
That's so, that comes from the nature of God, right?
He always leaves the door open.
It's not easy, so I'm not saying that for a second.
Counterfeit must be discerned, exposed and dealt with.
And here's the other thing guys, because seven godly things are happening through me,
doesn't mean that you now should afford me the luxury of tolerating the three evil things happening through me.
Because seven godly things are happening through me.
Doesn't mean that you should now say, he's got those seven godly things happening through him,
so these three evil things that he sometimes does, that's okay.
At the end of the day, we are still benefiting.
That's how this thing spreads.
And if you are influential and if you are a leader, you must be held to a higher standard.
Not a higher standard in your gifting, but a higher standard in your character.
Because in the eyes of the sheep, the bad is always validated by the shepherd.
In the eyes of the sheep, the bad is always validated by the shepherd.
The bad is always validated by the shepherd.
At the end of the day, what the sheep eat, agree with, consume, think is good, is endorsed,
validated, stamped by the one who leads them.
So when leaders don't take a stance, a strong stance against something, then it is very
natural for those that they lead to now be affected by whatever the leader has endorsed,
stamped, validated.
Yeah, yeah.
I'm talking about door open as in, let's say, let's say I do harm to you.
And I'm not apologizing, I'm upset, my pride doesn't allow me to come and reconcile with you.
So distance is created between you and I.
Even though distance is created between you and I, you have this amazing habit of on my birthday
saying happy birthday or for Christmas saying Merry Christmas.
What are you trying to do?
You're trying to say that, listen, I know things are broken, but there's always an avenue where I'm
keeping my life open in case you want to come back.
After three happy birthdays, I might actually remember yours, I don't, but I might text you saying
happy birthday, Parvin, and again, the whole process starts.
Leave the door open as let it not be cut off so coldly that it becomes very difficult for the other
person to swallow their pride, swallow their pride and come back.
You should be humble enough so that I can swallow my pride and come back.
Pride is what keeps people from reconciling when things break.
Remember that, eh?
No argument, no confrontation is so severe that you cannot come back.
It is simply pride.
I will not.
Parents do this to children, children do it to parents.
Spouses do it to each other.
I will not.
It's hard, pride is the thing that is opposed to reconciliation.
Do you know that a lot of people don't get saved because of pride?
They cannot understand reconciling themselves with God by admitting that they are sinful,
which is why the salvation message without acknowledging of sin is much easier.
If all you need is a savior without acknowledging sin, then that's easy.
Why would you need a savior without acknowledging sin?
Because you don't need to be saved.
When Peter spoke deceptive words, Jesus did not validate the error.
He did not allow it to stand.
He rebuked Satan and he called Peter a stumbling block.
Terribly, in front of people he does that.
The more prominent and influential a person is, the more important it is to deal with such error.
The more prominent and influential a person is, the more important it is to deal with the error.
Because always remember guys, it's leaders who give deception,
it's leaders who give deception license in a church.
It is leaders who give deception license in a church.
So in this church, one of the easiest ways for deception to come into this church is if I validate it,
give it license, do not check it, tolerate it, accommodate it, do not see it.
That's the easiest way for this church to be affected by deception.
And I'm influential enough here for you to sometimes take it because you think my word is solid
or because I'm godly enough or gifted enough.
Any questions before we go on?
You can hold the leaders to a higher standard.
Yeah, yeah. And it's important that we hold leaders to a higher standard.
Paul writes to Timothy saying leaders must be held to a higher standard.
And usually when leaders are not held to a higher standard and you allow things to go on, the church suffers.
And if you try to hide it, the church eventually suffers because whatever is hidden,
this is what I've noticed, whenever a leader sins and it is hidden,
it stays hidden for a while and things are okay and less turbulence happens, less chaos happens.
But just as the church is beginning to surge and the leader is beginning to do really well,
that is when the enemy takes something that is old and hidden and throws it on the ceiling, man.
It's inevitable. I've seen it so many times, it's scary.
Just when things are beginning to take off.
It's almost like this trump card that you hold and you will not play it till two days before the election.
And then just two days before the election you say, here's the thing, like the midterm elections.
I mean, between now and tomorrow there will be more secrets coming out.
And the enemy, that's an enemy ploy.
So whenever a leader sins, it's best to deal with it while it's going on and to give it time to deal with,
not try and deal with it quickly. That's another thing that happens.
And we may not have that much of a problem because we don't mint money,
but when leaders are the reason a church mints money, then it becomes even more difficult
because now your income dries up if you expose the leader.
But there are benefits to being a small church with an unknown leader
who still hid his address for some strange reason.
Any questions guys before we go on?
Does Betty make this coffee?
Yeah, just a little bit.
Can you address how you go about correcting leaders?
Yeah, Matthew 18 is what we'll have to deal with.
And we will not be doing that today, but Matthew 18 talks about how to go about it.
Matthew 18 was written for this kind of correction.
So we'll deal with that probably in the sermon part three.
Can you speak a little bit to how leadership should be with this body?
But let's say I don't want to take this and maybe put it into my family or other Christians.
Can you talk a little bit about that?
Yeah, so this is your primary family.
So your last name is Ax 29.
And so this is your primary family.
It's got a nice ring to it, Nick Ax 29.
So if this is your primary family, yeah, you have to be mindful of that in here.
But it doesn't apply to other places, partly because you may not have the authority for it.
And to usurp authority or to foment angst against authority, it can quickly turn into rebellion.
And then you are not in a good space.
But in this place, if you follow Matthew 18, it's doable.
The great thing about a family is you're not deliberately out to hurt someone in the family.
Let's say Don does something wrong.
Derek's not out to make sure that he is harmed in the process.
Derek may want to correct him.
Don is doubtful of that, but Derek may want to correct him.
Derek may want to correct him.
But it'll still be, even if they fall out, even if they don't like each other for two days after that,
it is never to destroy or harm.
That's one of the characteristics of a family.
That's one thing I can say quite confidently I'm sure of, that nobody here wants to harm me.
Even on days when you strongly disagree, even on days when I hurt you, you do not have a desire to harm me.
And that makes it so comfortable, right?
And when it's not a family, when it's a church or an organization, then there is harm intended.
Let's get rid of this guy.
Jacob, what if a person works in a Christian establishment
and finds out there's some deception going on against the Word of God?
How does a person then address that?
I would go and check whether the Christian organization has a system through which it can be reported.
And then realize that if I do, it might end up badly for me,
but if it is something I really believe in, that I go ahead and do it, but follow the order that is set.
Yeah.
The time when we really need to stand and say, I will stand for this no matter what,
is when someone else is being oppressed, someone else is being exploited, someone else is being abused.
Then you have to stand till you lose your job or to your hurt.
In a certain place in India, a certain highly placed religious person, not a Christian,
sat in an aircraft flying from one city to the other
and began to molest a person sitting on another seat.
And this person is very high up the ladder in this religion.
And he was pretty open about it.
In that plane, sitting next to this lady, was a believer.
And this lady took it to the cops. They didn't believe her.
They told her to be quiet about it, wanted to silence the whole thing.
And this believer decided, no, this is worth standing up for.
She stood for months on end. There were threats, there was intimidation, there were prayers.
People would come and sit and begin to pray against.
There was physical torment, but she would not give up till justice was done.
I was sitting looking at this husband and wife and looking at the wife and thinking to myself,
oh shucks, would we have the ability to do this?
Where when someone is being exploited, now it is not about complaining about a few dollars being stolen.
It's not God says suffer injustice, but he doesn't say when you see others suffering injustice, don't do anything.
And the last thing I want to say with regard to this incursion into the Church of Evil is what Paul said to Timothy in 1 Timothy 4.7.
He said, have nothing to do with godless myths.
Have nothing to do with godless myths.
And what he means by that is, guys, if it's not specifically outlined in the Bible,
don't get into blood moons and the different scenarios about the end of the world and whether the vaccine has a chip in it or not.
Let's not go down that road because maybe there's sense to it all, but it's not worth spending our time going down that road.
All of it could be true.
There could be stuff in the blood moons.
There could be an end of the world scenario that is real and there could be stuff or no stuff.
The point is not that.
The point is, do not spend your time trying to figure out what role Israel plays when the rapture will happen.
No need.
It's godless myths or fables and endless conversations about genealogies that is not necessary.
And the other thing Paul says is that, listen, make sure that you save both yourself and your heroes by guarding your life and doctrine closely,
by guarding your life and doctrine closely, 1 Timothy 4.16.
And the problem with that statement, though, is everybody quotes that, eh?
Guard your doctrine.
So a cessationist will say, guard your doctrine.
Make sure that you don't get affected by people who say the gifts of the spirit are still around.
They'll use the same scripture.
So that's the disadvantage of some of the things Paul said.
Oh, there are so many things we can talk to Paul about when we get there.
He could have said it a little clearer and so many trees would not be cut down.
So how do we smother discernment?
How can we smother discernment?
One, we can smother discernment by loving people without knowledge.
Love without knowledge dulls discernment.
Philippians 1, verse 9 and 10 says,
In this I pray that your love may abound yet more in knowledge and in all judgment.
Strange, eh?
He says when you love, love with knowledge and judgment.
As in, it's very hard to start a prayer today saying, Father, thank you for this lovely, beautiful day.
Philippians 1, 9 and 10.
It's quite a miserable day outside.
So we should try not to put a positive spin on everything.
I mean, maybe the snow is beautiful till you realize that Diana doesn't have winter tires.
Yeah.
So Philippians 1, 9 and 10.
This I pray that your love may abound yet more in knowledge and in all judgment.
So when loving is without knowledge and judgment, it dulls discernment.
It becomes all-encompassing.
It has no filters and you end up accommodating or receiving or embracing things without any discernment.
So love with discernment.
Any questions on that one?
There's not to say don't love, but it says, yeah, love, but love with discernment.
Jesus used some kind of discernment when the young rich ruler came up to him and said all that he did.
He was loving, but he also knew this man will not follow me.
Two. Confusion mutes discernment.
Confusion mutes discernment.
And that's where we need discernment, in confusion.
So when you're in a confused situation, just withdraw and get into a place of peace.
1 Corinthians 14, 33.
God is not the author of confusion.
God is not the author of confusion, but of peace as in all churches and with all the saints.
So one of the things we need to do when I'm in a situation which is really confusing and my mind is in turmoil,
instead of making quick judgments there, what if I had the ability?
And there's two ways to do this.
You can either withdraw into a space called peace in your heart, spirit, soul, however you want to call it,
or you actually withdraw into a place of peace by pulling yourself out of the turmoil.
If you can do it standing there, brilliant.
Where you know how to get into a place of peace in the middle of a storm, that's brilliant.
But if you're not able to do that, do not make a decision, then step back.
God is the author of peace.
Confusion mutes discernment.
1 Corinthians 14, 33.
I'll write the scriptures down too.
1 Corinthians 1, 9, 1 Corinthians 14, 33.
Third, do not judge by appearance.
Judging by appearance diminishes discernment.
John chapter 7, verse 24.
Judge not according to appearance, but judge righteous judgment.
God will deliberately throw that curveball at you.
Sometimes when he finds that you're becoming too familiar with judging people by the outer looks,
by the words, by their oratorial skills, what he does is he'll send you a word to someone
because that doesn't look your kind.
He'll deliberately do that.
Why? So that he humbles you.
It'll be someone you really...
nothing about the way the guy dresses, nothing about the way the guy speaks.
Everything is wrong.
Everything inside you is saying, this ain't the right package.
And God will say, but this is the right word.
And then you have to humble yourself to receive it.
So discernment goes out of the window when I judge by appearance.
That happens so often, eh?
Why do you think we have such amazing TV evangelists who can say, do whatever they want
and we can swallow it like crazy?
How do we know people swallow things like crazy on TV?
We send them money.
TV runs solely on money.
All of them have to spend thousands and thousands of dollars every day.
And they are still on air because they get thousands and thousands of dollars every day.
Why? Because it's almost always about appearance.
I met someone on TV in Sydney while we were in the immigration line.
And I swallowed because she doesn't look anything like she looks on TV.
Like her husband looked still like her husband, but she, oh my Lord, it wasn't.
Yeah, let's not go there.
Judging by appearance, TV is a lot about appearance, eh?
Yeah.
But next, gaging things by the natural man.
Gaging things.
Gaging things by the natural man.
We've got to break out of this.
This is an important one.
Gaging things by the natural man.
Thanks, man.
Gaging things, thanks.
Gaging things by the natural man.
It's in 1 Corinthians 2, verse 2.
Gaging things by the natural man.
It's in 1 Corinthians 2, verse 14.
It's a beautiful verse.
It says,
And here's the thing.
We are not natural men and women.
We are supposed to be spiritual men and women.
But we can so walk in the ways of the world
of the world that we discern naturally.
And anything that is of the spirit cannot be discerned naturally.
Cannot be discerned naturally.
Where do natural men go to discern things?
Google or Wikipedia.
And that's how we discern.
And the discerning gets confusing because
you go and try to research this and they tell you
20 things that will harm you in that and 5 things that are good.
Then you go to another website and it's exactly opposite.
You cannot walk as a natural man if you want to discern.
Discernment is not limited to church.
Discernment is limited to things outside too.
Any questions on that one?
Guys, here's the thing.
Why do you think Satan tempts us?
Completely different topic.
Why do you think Satan tempts us?
He doesn't tempt us so that we lose salvation.
Because we are saved.
Why does he tempt us?
Make us ineffective.
How?
See, the intent of the devil is can I get Jacob to behave like a fallen man?
Because he is sinless, guileless and innocent before God.
He can always march up to the throne of God.
He has bold entrance into the presence of Yahweh himself.
From where I have been chucked out.
There is nothing I can do about it.
My accusations he can get rid of by the blood of Jesus Christ.
Every time he sins, his guilt and his sin and his remorse can be washed away by the blood of Christ.
What is left to do?
The only thing left to do is as he walks here on earth as a believer,
can I have his fallen nature entrenched in him so that he walks like a fallen man?
So can I take lust in his life?
Can I take pride in his life?
Can I take fear in his life?
And can I entrench it so strongly in his life?
That in certain areas he walks exactly like the people of the earth.
The only difference is he can have it washed away in a second and he has full access to God.
Once that is entrenched and I walked like a fallen man in those areas, I'm ineffective.
I can only be used so much in the kingdom.
So what is the intent?
What should we be doing?
We need to change not in our sinlessness but in our character.
We're not struggling with sin.
We are struggling with the fallen nature of man that is still entrenched.
The character.
Change in your character Jacob.
Change in your pride.
Change in your lust.
Change in your lack.
Change in your fear.
Change in your malice.
Change in your disdain.
Change in affording yourself obedience and disobedience.
Change in your character.
How do you change in your character?
Very simple.
Make choices.
Make holy choices.
How many times?
Again and again and again till it becomes a habit.
And as character begins to change the vessel gets cleaner and cleaner and highly usable.
2 Timothy 2 22.
It's a losing game that the enemy is playing.
The only thing he can do is prevent us from operating at our highest capacity.
That's all he can do.
There's nothing else he can do.
He's so aware of how quickly a person can be cleansed.
This is the only thing he's aiming at.
This is on the side.
Why did I think of that?
Because this is what it means not to walk as a natural man.
A natural man still has his fallenness entrenched.
I was sitting around writing down on my phone.
I still have it.
I'm deleting one by one as I deal with them.
Character, deep character flaws in my life that prevent God from doing anything more.
I had about 13 of them.
I was being very modest.
I wasn't beating myself up or anything.
And even with modesty, I still got 13.
Deep, deep flaws.
I can't even call them flaws.
Flaws sound like some small drawing that went a little crooked.
Deep, deep ungodly character traits of the fallen nature of man.
Entrenched deep enough in Jacob that they keep coming up every so often.
And so, there's a limit to usability then.
The great thing is you can run into the presence of God anytime.
Hebrews chapter 10.
Boldness to enter before God, before the throne of grace, knowing that whatever you need is available there.
Now I have to make moral choices.
How do we make moral choices?
By the strength of the Holy Spirit.
He's there to help.
That's why I'm deleting them.
I'm down to nine now.
I've dealt with four.
I better lock my phone after this.
Hebrews 10, I think.
Next, factions.
Factions detract from discernment.
In 2 Corinthians 11, verse 4, Paul talks about,
Hey, if there are factions, in 1 Corinthians 3 and in 2 Corinthians 11, verse 4,
Paul talks about, Hey, if you are following Peter, Apollos, Paul,
then know that this kind of strife will not help.
Because, guys, as soon as I think that what Dilna is saying is true,
versus what Lydie is saying is true, versus what Gillian is saying is true,
depending on my prejudice, I will not discern when he's going wrong,
because I've chosen him over them.
Factions do not help discernment.
A person who's a cessationist, for instance,
will not be able to discern that the gifts are still active.
A person who doesn't believe in speaking in tongues,
the moment you speak in tongues, his discernment will say,
This is demonic.
What do you do then?
A person who doesn't believe in the prophetic,
the moment a prophetic word comes out, they'll say, This is divination.
Discernment is dulled completely when there are factions that follow a certain doctrine.
Next one.
Itching ears, deafened discernment.
Itching ears.
Deafened discernment.
Second Timothy 4.3.
For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine.
Instead, to suit their own desires,
they'll gather around them a great number of teachers
to say what their itching ears want to hear.
So charismatic chaos is a result of it,
cessationism is a result of it.
You've got charismatic chaos because people come up with whatever they want,
and then you've got the other way around.
You've got the other side that doesn't believe in any of the gifts of the Spirit,
and then you've got one side that believes in gifts of the Spirit that are not mentioned in the Bible.
And you're caught between these.
Why? Because itching ears, deafened discernment.
You have to make sure that we don't have itching ears in this church.
Be alert, man.
Question.
Ask questions.
Ask questions like a student.
I assure you this, the word will not be grafted into my life
if I do not approach both the word and the one who's teaching the word with humility.
Hear me again.
The word cannot be, will not be, has never been grafted into anybody's life.
It has never been grafted into anybody's life since the beginning of time
through the Old Testament and the New Testament
unless the word is approached with humility, James chapter 1.
And the person through whom the word is coming is approached with humility.
Both.
Surprising, eh?
Very difficult thing to do.
Do you know why they couldn't receive what Jesus was saying?
Not because what he was saying was wrong.
He was quoting scripture, man.
They could not receive what Jesus was saying
because they did not have the humility to receive it from someone and from Nazareth.
He didn't have the look.
He didn't have the pedigree.
He didn't have the background.
Yeah.
So there's something called mixture that happens in the church very often now.
And so,
in the church,
there's a mixture of the word and the one who's teaching the word with humility.
And we are taught that the word is not the one who's teaching the word with humility.
So,
it's not theiggers.
It's the ones who are teaching the word with humility.
So,
again,
let's assume I had a
young son who was three years old.
I can pick a cashew or something that's fallen on the ground
and stay there for longer than the proverbial three seconds
and pop it into my mouth and I know I'll be completely okay.
This is what Sheldon and I do.
But,
well, I got to tell you the burrito story. Have you heard the burrito story?
Okay.
So, Sheldon and I are in Los Angeles.
And Sheldon is like Phoebe when it comes to picking things off the ground or eating things.
So, we're traveling in this car and there's two people behind and me in front and the driver and Sheldon.
And so, the person sitting in front is a pastor.
First time Sheldon's there, he says,
this burrito is the best burrito in the world and he takes a bite of the burrito.
Then he hands it to the person behind and he takes a bite and then the third person, then me.
Then he says, Sheldon, you got to have some.
And now we got four people who've slobbered over that burrito.
And now it's being given to Sheldon. It was a test of a mission.
Is this guy a real missionary or not?
You should have seen Sheldon, man.
He's looking at me saying, Jacob, pray that I get raptured right now.
And I'm looking at Sheldon saying, Sheldon, they'll be very offended if you don't.
I have never seen such agony on Sheldon's face.
So, that's a burrito story.
And so, now they do it to him every time he goes there.
Worse than there was a milkshake that went around too.
That was worse because you could even hear the backflush.
Yeah.
And so, this was during COVID, eh?
I didn't see that first.
Yeah, so, going back to May's question.
So, with a child, you may not allow any mixture.
With grown-ups, you may allow some mixture.
Take a piece of fish or a piece of meat.
You remove all the bones. You remove all the stuff from the fish before you give it to a child.
But with a grown-up, you allow some more.
So, when it comes to mixture, depending on maturity, which is again sometimes subjective.
Depending on maturity, one can handle mixture.
One can chew the bones, chew the meat and spit out the bones.
But when people start, it is a real bad idea to afford them the luxury of mixture.
Because it upsets the stomach forever.
Forever.
Do you know how many people were taught as soon as they became believers that tongues don't exist?
How difficult it is for them to get past that block then?
Or that healing doesn't exist?
Or how difficult it is to get past that block?
For the rest of your life, you're stuck with that.
Sir, along with what you just said, in terms of internet and YouTube, what do you listen to?
Yeah.
Are there any other things to consider?
Consider in the sense?
What do you listen to?
Yeah.
At some point, I'll talk about not eating at multiple tables.
And it's okay to listen to people.
But when you give the same weightage to what I teach and to someone else, then you've got a problem.
You've got to choose one or the other.
That's eating at multiple tables.
Different wells.
Yeah.
It's okay to go and listen to what Sheldon might be playing.
But after listening to Sheldon playing, if I go listen to someone else who's got nothing to do with the way he's playing, and I try to mix both, it may not mix.
That's a bad example.
You cannot... let me put it very plainly.
There's such an immodest statement to make.
If you have me teaching you, and you listen to my teaching, and you have the same importance that you give to someone else's teaching, then you are eating at multiple tables.
And at some point, it will conflict.
What if it's not the same importance?
That's different.
You eat at multiple tables when you give the same importance.
And now you're picking and choosing.
You're adding and subtracting.
You're mixing together.
That's a problem.
Where do you see this scriptural president in that?
Just because I'm thinking too late.
There are different gifts in the Bible.
How do you...
Yeah.
So let's assume I'm teaching that healing is something that God does.
And now you've got someone else who teaches brilliantly on speaking in tongues, but says healing doesn't exist.
And now you're giving same weightage to both.
How are you going to compound both together?
It's not possible.
But if it's the same teaching and same...
Then it's different.
But the thing is, I can't have multiple fathers.
I can't have multiple teachers.
I can't have multiple people that I give the same weightage to.
Yes, I need Sue to do something, Dillan to do something, Sheldon to do something.
But I can't give them the same weightage in all areas.
When you begin to eat at multiple tables, what basically happens is you're listening to this and you think this is the best.
And you're also listening to things and this is the best.
And that doesn't work.
You have to decide.
And it's so easy to fix it.
Decide.
Decide which one you give more value to.
That honesty you must have.
It doesn't mean you can't attend a church where the person is teaching.
I'm just saying decide that this is what I think is primary.
Once you do that, everything else will rearrange itself in priority.
But don't hold both together.
Because at some time when there's conflict, you will be a confused mess.
So if I think Dillan is the one who has what I need to follow, then I need to acknowledge that what Dillan is teaching is what I need to follow.
And if I think Sheldon is, then I need to.
But I need to be honest to decide which one.
Which doesn't mean that I can't go listen to a concert here or a concert there.
Do both.
When I say this is a free world, I don't mean it dismissively.
This is a free world as in there is nobody else who treasures free will as much as God.
And if that is taken away or cursed, it's ungodly.
But decide.
You know when people used to get baptized in the Old Testament and the New Testament, to get baptized by somebody was to say,
listen, not only do I acknowledge that you're the one baptizing me, but I also acknowledge the doctrine that you're teaching.
There was a certain breaking away from the disciples of John the Baptist when they began to follow Jesus.
So Jacob, are you saying we should break away and follow you?
You can't follow me, man.
You can only follow Jesus, but I can help you follow him.
But yeah, you've got to decide whether this teaching is primary or whether some other teaching is primary because it will conflict.
The things that we are teaching and learning here will conflict with many.
With many.
But there's only one father in a house.
Yeah.
That's that too.
And others step into the place.
As one begins to withdraw, others should step up.
I'm hoping Encounter will show us how this is done.
Any other questions along this line?
I don't mind taking time over this, guys.
I'm in no hurry to finish it.
Yeah.
See, to begin with Paul, he either went to churches that he had planted or went to churches that he had sent people to plant.
So that was one.
Second, this thing called the plumb line of the word was not there.
It was only his letters and the Old Testament.
And there was very little room for interpretation.
It is we who have begun to interpret it.
Three.
It was we who have begun to interpret it.
Three.
It was Aramaic, Greek, or Hebrew, so it was pretty okay for the people who were talking
it to understand it.
Books hadn't been written about it.
It was 30 to 40 years after Jesus died.
Most of them had met Jesus.
At least the guys who were teaching had either had a vision of Jesus or had met Jesus.
It was very different.
Plus, if you wanted to join another church, you would have to walk 60 kilometers.
Most people tried to stay in the church that they were associated with.
So these were the problems.
So it was a very different context.
And Paul had the same problem.
He would say, hey, remember, you might have 10,000 guardians, but you only have one father.
He wasn't talking about God the Father.
Then he would say, I realize there's a lot of super apostles coming in your midst.
Why do you listen to a different gospel?
Why are you receiving a different spirit?
Even if an angel were to come and tell you something, why do you deviate?
And look at what he's saying.
Why do you deviate from what I have taught you?
He had the audacity to say that.
Thank God we don't have to make statements like that.
We just have to say what the Bible teaches you.
Paul would say, how dare you, Diana, go and listen to anything else than what I have taught you.
If you take this clip in...
Thank God I'm not standing for elections.
Yeah.
So itching ears.
May started this just so we know where it came from.
Yeah.
So even when you are, when you, yeah, moving on.
Pride and arrogance dismantles discernment.
Job 36, 9 to 12.
The arrogance, arrogance and knowledge don't go together.
Knowledge feeds arrogance.
Remember that, guys.
Knowledge puffs up.
Knowledge causes pride.
Arrogance and knowledge don't go together.
May your knowledge, if knowledge doesn't go together,
then you don't have to listen to what the Bible teaches you.
You don't have to listen to what the Bible teaches you.
May your knowledge, if knowledge doesn't translate into character change,
knowledge will puff up.
It's the scary thing about going to, going for theological studies.
It's a good thing to study theology.
It's a scary thing if one is not careful.
It's a good thing to go study theology.
But it's a scary thing when you go to study theology
and the knowledge doesn't change your character, your experience,
your intelligence and the character and experience of people around you.
That is when knowledge puffs up.
Arrogance and knowledge don't go together.
So arrogance, if I am proud and arrogant, my discernment will not work.
Because it's not coming from the knowledge of God.
It's coming from the knowledge of what Jacob knows.
Job 36, 9-12.
Two more and then I'll just touch on one other topic and we're done.
Pursuit in isolation, pursuit in isolation, perverts discernment.
Pursuit in isolation, perverts discernment.
There's this crazy verse in Proverbs 18, 1.
And the ESV puts it this way.
One who isolates himself seeks his own desire and breaks out against sound judgment.
One who isolates himself seeks out his own desire and breaks out against sound judgment.
So pursuit in isolation.
You can pursue God in isolation and completely mess up discernment.
It doesn't work.
And the last one.
It doesn't work.
And the last one.
Dishonor cuts you off from discernment.
You know, it's all in Genesis chapter 9.
Ham the son dishonors Noah and his son Canaan is cut off.
Ham the son of Noah dishonors Noah the father and Ham's son Canaan is cut off.
His son Canaan is cut off.
Ham the son of Noah dishonors Noah the father and Ham's son Canaan is cut off.
For God, this thing called honor is really important.
It doesn't mean honor the pastor.
Here's the list of honor in New Testament.
Honor king, honor men, as in mankind.
Honor widows, honor elders, honor the aged, honor spouse, honor the disadvantaged,
honor parents, honor leaders.
If we think that we can dishonor and yet have discernment,
that's a work together.
Because honor is a seed for all greats, for all greats, for all greats.
Honor is a seed for all greats.
People that honor are people that will always have greats in their lives.
And so I cannot dishonor and expect discernment to work.
Why is discernment so important?
Why are we keeping on going about discernment?
Because we're dealing with two invisible kingdoms.
Both are invisible.
And there is the devil playing a part, there's the flesh playing a part,
and there's God playing a part.
Any questions on this?
Okay.
I'll try and finish by 1.15.
I want to touch on the prophetic.
And the reason I want to touch on the prophetic is partly in my defense
and partly so that you can weigh me and, what's the right word,
examine what I say in the future and examine each other's.
It's partly in my defense because, yeah.
So when it comes to the prophetic, one of the things I want you to know is it,
whether you like it or not, it is not inevitable.
It is not inevitable.
Because there's sufficient teaching now that says the prophetic, well, must happen then.
Strangely enough, in Deuteronomy, it's like God said,
yes, if a prophet prophesies and it does not happen, he's a false prophet.
And then on the other hand, he says, if a prophet prophesies and it does happen
and he tells you to then do something else that is not godly,
it doesn't matter that the prophetic came true,
you've got to have the ability to discern whether it is right or wrong.
There, in the Old Testament, he's already talking about discernment.
But the prophetic is not inevitable, and here's the reasons why it's not inevitable.
One, it could be wrong.
So that's why it doesn't happen.
That's a der reason, so it could be wrong.
What does prophesy do? Wrong, so it does not happen.
Two, God shows mercy.
2 Peter 3.9, we'll have to go over these verses.
2 Peter 3.9, 2 Peter 3.9.
So here's what it says.
Starting at verse 4.
They will say, where is this coming, he promised?
Ever since our ancestors died, everything goes on as it has since the beginning of creation.
And so there's this thing of, oh, so what happened to all that you were saying?
And then verse 9.
Jonah was upset that his word was not coming to pass
because God was choosing to show mercy.
Sometimes mercy requires an extension.
Three, God delays to test.
1 Samuel 10.8.
I don't think you'll get this in any book, guys.
1 Samuel 10.8, 1 Samuel 13.8.
Let's go to the scriptures.
1 Samuel 10.8, Samuel and Saul.
Go down ahead of me to Gilgal.
I'll surely come down to you to sacrifice burnt offerings and fellowship offerings.
But you must wait seven days until I come to you and tell you what you are to do.
1 Samuel 13.8.
He waited seven days, the time set by Samuel, but Samuel did not come to Gilgal.
And Saul's men began to scatter.
And so he goes and offers the sacrifice.
Sometimes there's a delay just to test your ability to stand with what God has said.
Samuel is the ultimate prophet, the ultimate judge during those times.
And he said seven days, and the seven days passed.
Now it's the eighth day.
Nothing has happened.
And what does Saul do?
He decides that there's too much pressure on him because people are beginning to scatter.
So let's go ahead and offer the sacrifice.
Fourth, other divine workings that, other divine workings for greater glory.
John chapter 11, verse 15 and 21.
You know the story.
First he says, this sickness will not be unto death.
And what happens to Lazarus?
He dies.
And then after he dies, he's saying, he's not dead, he's only sleeping.
But by now they've even put him in the grave.
He's beaten to death.
But by now they've even put him in the grave.
He's been in there for four days.
Some divine workings.
This is the hard part.
If we really begin to get into what God really sees as prophetic, not as in a directive that says, go to US, or I'll open this visa for you.
As in things that begin to affect people around you, cities around you, nations around you.
Then you've got to also know that God is merciful, that God delays things to test.
That sometimes there are divine workings which you will not even know of.
But a hundred other things happening in the background that work together almost like an orchestra.
Next one.
Repentance.
That God sees coming.
Repentance that God sees coming.
We don't see it.
In our mind it is, but you said you would destroy them.
How come you're being so kind?
But he sees repentance coming far away.
Sorry, that's the wrong word.
Jonah 4.2.
Jonah was so sure that God would destroy things.
Instead he begins to show mercy.
Look at what Jonah 4.2 says.
Jonah 4.2.
He prayed, isn't this what I said, Lord, when I was still at home?
This is what I tried to forestall by fleeing to Tarshish.
I knew you're a gracious and compassionate God.
Slow to anger and abounding in love.
A God who relents from sending calamity.
I've got nothing to do with this kind of a God.
You gave me a prophetic word, I gave it, and you didn't turn up and do what is right?
Because you are so gracious and compassionate, you cannot be trusted anymore.
That's basically what Jonah is saying.
And God saw repentance coming far away and 120,000 people turning, and he begins to say this.
Next one.
Change of word to accomplish multiple purposes.
Change of word to accomplish two objectives or three objectives.
Let's say in this case two objectives.
Second Samuel 7.3 and 13.
Here's a scene.
David says to Nathan, Nathan, you're a prophet, so I want to say this to you.
I really have a desire.
Look at my palace.
It is so well-paneled, so well-built.
I hate the fact that I'm living in a palace while God doesn't have a temple to live in.
Please, I want to build a beautiful tent and a temple for God.
Nathan says, as you desire, go ahead and do.
This is the prophet of God.
The speaker for God in Israel says this, and he walks away.
He's gone home.
He's happy at home.
He's probably going to bed.
And then the Lord says, I need you to get up right now, go back to David, because I want you to tell him something else.
And so he gets up, goes to David, and he says, David, just want you to know that you aren't the guy.
God accepts your willingness.
He knows you have a desire to do this, but your hands are too bloody.
So he accepts your willingness, but he does not accept your action.
And in verse 13, he says, you can get all the stuff ready, but your son will do it.
He accepts his willingness.
He doesn't say to David, thou shalt not build me any such temple.
No, he says, sure, go ahead.
He accepts the guy's desire, but he also knows that his hands are too bloody to build this.
Next one.
Cooperation.
For the word to come to pass, there needs to be human cooperation.
First Samuel 10, verse 1, verse 9, first Samuel 15, verse 23.
Read from the message.
It's striking, man.
First Samuel 10.
Verse 1.
Then Samuel took a flask of oil, poured it on Saul's head, kissed him.
He said, do you see what this means?
God has anointed you, prince over his people.
This sign will confirm God's anointing of you as prince over his inheritance.
Verse 10.
When Saul and his party got to Gibeah, there were prophets there right in front of them.
Before he knew it, the Spirit of God came on Saul, and he was prophesying right alongside with them.
So this guy was chosen by God, set apart by God, spoken over by God, prophesied by God.
The Spirit of God fell on him.
Now go to 15, 23.
Not doing what God tells you is far worse than fooling around in the occult.
Getting self-important around God is far worse than making deals with your dead ancestors.
Because you said no to God's command, he says no to your kingship.
How does one go from that to that, man?
Human cooperation.
8. The same thing comes up again and again.
Arrogance or pride.
Numbers 12, 12. Numbers 12, 2.
Numbers 16, 3.
Numbers 12, 2 is about a girl called Miriam who was Moses' sister.
Numbers 16, 3 is about Korah.
Miriam says, hey, why is it that Moses thinks that prophetic words can only come from him?
He's married to a Cushite. Who does he think he is?
Chapter 16, verse 3. Korah.
Why does Moses think that God can only speak through him?
We are Israelites too. Surely God can speak through us.
Arrogance and pride always lead to situations where the prophetic that should happen is delayed.
Miriam gets struck with leprosy.
Korah gets consumed by the earth.
Not fun stories, eh?
Last one.
Dishonor the prophet and despise the prophetic and you mangle your reward.
As in when you despise what has been said and you go out of your way to dishonor the person through whom the word has come, you usually mangle the reward.
Reward gets mangled. It becomes...
Matthew 10, 41 says, hey, honor a prophet and you will receive a prophet's reward.
Meaning...let's not go into the meaning of it.
But if you do it otherwise, it mangles it completely.
Any questions? I'm done.
Yeah.
What about the delay thing too?
How do you differentiate between a prophet and a despise prophet?
Any questions? I'm done.
Yeah.
So how do you differentiate between is it your desire or is it God?
So that's the first question.
The second question is two people have confirmed this word but it still hasn't happened.
How do I go about it?
So to the answer to the first one, how do I know whether it's my desire or God's desire?
One, the easiest way is to go and talk to someone else who's walked this before and who's been through this before and has an idea of how to help you.
So that would be one way.
Two is to perhaps consider that you've been walking long enough with the Lord and your desires are his desires.
And three, check to see whether this is a gift that the Father wants to give.
So let me go with him again.
Father, is this your nature? Is this the kind of gift you give?
And usually every gift that comes from him has a certain feel to it and you'll almost always find it in the word.
So you can go and check with that.
So is this what the Father wants to give to me?
Now, the Father may not give.
I can guarantee you if the Father wants to show me love, he won't give me a free ticket to a gardening show.
Highly unlikely.
That is when I would doubt whether it's the Father.
So every gift he has has a nature that is not just godly but it has something to do with the Father and Jill.
That is one of the ways you recognize the substance of it.
Second, go and verify with someone.
So you go to Karen and you say, Karen, you walked this a long time.
So this is what I sense. What do you think?
So that's the second way.
And what is the third way?
Great. I'm glad we're all paying attention at 1.15.
So his desires become your desires.
Whereas you begin to run after him, it's very natural for his desires to become your desires.
You shouldn't worry when whatever you're asking, God is saying, I'll give to you.
It's a scary thing.
I don't expect God to be like that.
But he gave this guy a Steinway piano.
I mean, who does that?
So those are the three ways.
And then the second question is, what if it's taking long?
If it takes long, my question always is, Father, why is it taking so long?
How can I shorten the time?
What do I need to do?
What do I need to change?
And how long will I keep doing that?
For as long as it takes.
So once I did it for 13 years, there's something else that hasn't come to pass
because of many different reasons and workings in the back.
I've been waiting for one year, four months, and I'm still waiting, saying, why hasn't it come to pass?
I know you're doing other things, but what do I need to do?
The question is not even, why hasn't it come to pass?
The question is, what do you want me to do?
How can I help you?
Because this word that I'm waiting for isn't even about me.
It isn't that I'm going to get something.
But it is something will happen.
So what do I need to do, Father?
What am I not doing? Is there anything that I'm not doing?
This is a father-son relationship.
Anytime anything in the Bible leaves out the relationship with God,
you know that you've suddenly entered into religion.
I better end because it's 1.23.
Someone should have stopped me at 1.15.
All of us then who are mature should take such a view of things.
And if on some point you think differently, that too God will make clear to you.
Only let us live up to what we've already learned.
Philippians 3.15.
Okay, not my fault. This is on Jill and Don.
Okay.
Yeah, great question.
If I tell Don tomorrow, this is not going to be the answer you want.
This is going to upset some of you when I say this.
And really it doesn't matter, right?
So let's assume Don says, I say to Don,
Don, go as thou to be.
And I say, don't say this.
And he says, don't say this.
And I say, don't say this.
And he says, don't say this.
And I say, don't say this.
And Don says, I say to Don,
Don, go as thou to Manitoba.
This was, heck of it, let's use the old English.
Go as thou Don to Manitoba.
Be thou a Manitobian.
So, and so I say that.
You know, the real response to that is, yes Jacob.
The real response to that is, yes Jacob.
The biblical response to that is, yes Jacob.
Or whoever is in charge of the church, yes whatever your name is.
But that is not the response we come up with.
Because we do not think biblically.
We think stuff like, let me go think about that.
Let me go pray about that.
Let me go wait.
Let me go wait how?
You're going to go home and look at all your jackets and realize
you don't have a single jacket that will keep you warm in Manitoba.
Therefore I sense the Lord saying, thou shall not go to Manitoba.
I just want to take you back into the New Testament and imagine the scene.
So, Paul is saying to Jill, Jill, I want you to go to Manitoba.
Don, I want you to go to Manitoba.
Where is the response in the New Testament that shows us otherwise?
True, but why not say yes and then test?
I never hear yes and then test.
It's always let me wait and then I will...
You know how it really works?
Yes.
And then, hey Jacob, can we talk about it?
You know what this requires?
The end of self-determination.
And throwing yourself away and your life away for the sake of king and kingdom.
What if Jacob gets it wrong?
I'll have frostbites and I'll come back.
And Jacob will have to make sure that any money I lost is compensated.
It's a scary way to live, guys.
But it is the way of the New Testament.
How we do not live like this.
And I...
I say to you,
I'll leave you with a little bit of a headache.
I'll tell you,
I'll leave 60% of my life like this.
I'd be a very rich man if I didn't do this.
Either when people tell me,
you need to go, I'll go.
And these are not people who are my boss.
Or if God says, go, go.
This is the way where you lay down your wealth,
your time,
your comfort,
your choices,
your friends.
You lose friends.
And you go.
It is the end of self-determination.
It requires also coming under somebody.
Being your own boss and deciding where to go is highly pleasurable.
It's not the end of self-determination.
I'm sorry you brought this up, Dawn.
It is the way to live, guys.
And the world will become a much richer place to be in.
And you'll find that you never pour up for it.
You're only increasing.
I dare you not to ask another question.
So, Dawn, if I told you to go to Manitoba,
the correct answer would be, yes, Jacob.
And then you can say, hey, can we talk about this?
Let's pray.
Father, the only reason I pray is because we've discussed so many things that are hard.
I pray that it's taken in the right spirit.
I pray that it doesn't...
I pray that it chaffs, but it doesn't make us resentful.
I pray that you challenge me on everything I've taught.
I don't earn the right to teach this if I don't practice it.
And lastly, Father, I just go back to that little thing we squeezed in the middle.
Help us not to live in the nature of the fallen man that we were rescued out of this week.
Help us to make holy choices. Strengthen us, Holy Spirit, to make holy choices
so that our character is different this week from last week.
In Jesus' name, Amen.
I wish there was an app, iPhone app, that could tell us how to live.