WEBVTT NOTE Podcast: Acts 29 Vancouver Episode: Encounter Publishing Date: 2023-01-22T05:00:44-08:00 Podcast URL: https://acts29.ca Episode URL: https://acts29.ca/encounter/ 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:07.000 Hey Paul, we know you're watching. So much love to you guys from us. We miss you. Fuyo 00:00:08.640 --> 00:00:15.640 took your place though. Not Fuyo. Sorry. What's your name? What's your name? 00:00:16.440 --> 00:00:23.440 Fuyo's wife, Eko took your place. Thank you Eko. And Emmanuel is watching. So we'll get 00:00:23.440 --> 00:00:30.440 started guys. Father, we thank you. We love you Abba. We love you. We really love you. 00:00:45.280 --> 00:00:52.280 And it's a privilege for us to come together. And I thank you for your words. And I thank 00:00:53.440 --> 00:01:00.440 you for your words that revive us. That lift us up. So Father, we recognize that this place 00:01:03.280 --> 00:01:09.760 and the people here, we belong to you. We belong to no one else. We belong to you. We 00:01:09.760 --> 00:01:16.760 belong to you. Father, do everything you want to do. Holy Spirit, what you started us off 00:01:16.760 --> 00:01:23.760 with. Continue. You work with us, in us. This place belongs to you. We belong to you. In 00:01:23.760 --> 00:01:30.760 Jesus' name, Amen. Guys, I only have pink. I don't have any other color. So pink is what 00:01:31.000 --> 00:01:36.400 we go with. Also for the guys, when you get married you'll realize that there are different 00:01:36.400 --> 00:01:42.440 shades of pink. There is onion pink. I didn't know there was onion pink. There's onion pink. 00:01:42.440 --> 00:01:47.440 There's many other shades. Evan, you got to know this. Very important. Oh, you have green. 00:01:47.440 --> 00:01:54.020 Alright, we're going to talk about encounter. But yeah, there are definitely many shades 00:01:54.020 --> 00:02:01.020 to pink for sure. We're going to talk about encounter. Our Father, He enjoys disrupting 00:02:01.020 --> 00:02:08.020 our lives with His goodness, with His presence, with His kindness, with His laughter, with 00:02:13.300 --> 00:02:19.740 His power. He enjoys disrupting our lives. A few months ago when we started going on 00:02:19.740 --> 00:02:26.740 with this encounter topic, we started meeting. We continue to meet. The idea is that He enjoys 00:02:27.140 --> 00:02:32.300 disrupting our lives. Two years ago when Jacob started talking about Shekinah, glory, the 00:02:32.300 --> 00:02:39.300 words he used were disruptive glory. Because there is no way that God shows up and our 00:02:39.660 --> 00:02:46.180 lives will continue to be the same way. His glory, His presence, the weight of His presence, 00:02:46.180 --> 00:02:50.580 His laughter, His power, His goodness, His kindness, all of those things together that 00:02:50.580 --> 00:02:57.580 we call glory, it is disruptive. It disrupts our lives. It absolutely disrupts our lives. 00:02:59.340 --> 00:03:05.660 And I want you guys today, if you've been going, I believe all of, is anyone here who 00:03:05.660 --> 00:03:12.660 hasn't been to the encounter meetings? Okay, just the two of you guys. Plus Mohini, that's 00:03:14.500 --> 00:03:19.860 okay. You guys will be going in the next few days, I'm sure. So here's the thing guys. 00:03:19.860 --> 00:03:23.860 The encounter meetings are one thing. When we gather, it is one thing. Another thing. 00:03:23.860 --> 00:03:28.980 When we are at our homes, it's another thing. It doesn't matter where. His glory is to be 00:03:28.980 --> 00:03:34.060 encountered. His glory is to be desired by His people. I want to go back to what I said 00:03:34.060 --> 00:03:39.180 before. There is something that I know that the Father is doing with us. Because in heaven, 00:03:39.180 --> 00:03:45.580 the writing is Christ in us, the hope of glory. There is something that He wants to understand. 00:03:45.580 --> 00:03:52.260 In us, Christ, not in me, Christ, not in just you, Christ in us, the hope of glory. Those 00:03:52.260 --> 00:03:57.380 are the words in heaven which will echo down on earth in our midst with what He is going 00:03:57.380 --> 00:04:04.380 to do through us, in us, that I'm sure about. So our Father, He disrupts our life. He enjoys 00:04:04.460 --> 00:04:11.460 doing it. Mathew, the tax collector, is sitting somewhere. Here comes Jesus and Jesus says, 00:04:11.460 --> 00:04:17.260 come follow me. He's at His post. He's doing what He's supposed to do. Jesus says, come 00:04:17.260 --> 00:04:24.260 follow me. Elijah is doing something. He's plowing. Elijah comes around and He says, 00:04:24.660 --> 00:04:31.660 come follow me. Daniel is, sorry, David is keeping his sheep or his father's sheep. There 00:04:33.140 --> 00:04:40.140 comes a call saying, come. He loves disrupting both the mundane and the interesting. He loves 00:04:41.620 --> 00:04:47.060 Him. Nothing stops Him. And when He comes through, everything that He wants to accomplish, 00:04:47.060 --> 00:04:52.900 He will accomplish. So I want us to position our hearts like that. Father, there is something 00:04:52.900 --> 00:04:58.460 you're doing whereby you want to encounter. You want us to encounter your presence, your 00:04:58.460 --> 00:05:05.460 glory. We're not talking about meetings. Meetings happen here, Tuesdays, whenever. But we're 00:05:05.460 --> 00:05:12.460 talking about individually and collectively, us encountering His glory because that's 00:05:12.940 --> 00:05:19.620 His desire for us. So on one hand, we can argue, and there will be people who argue, 00:05:19.620 --> 00:05:25.900 that the Word of God is the way to encounter God, which is rightfully true. We encounter 00:05:25.900 --> 00:05:31.640 Him through His Word. But what I'm talking about today is not just that. What I'm talking 00:05:31.640 --> 00:05:37.040 about today is, yes, while we encounter Him through His Word, there is another place in 00:05:37.040 --> 00:05:44.040 Him for us where we say, I want more. And it is not coming out of a deficiency of what 00:05:44.040 --> 00:05:49.840 we're reading, my goodness. But while we read the Word, the Word comes alive and says, I 00:05:49.840 --> 00:05:56.280 want more of Him. So we are not desperately only limited to what is written, while what 00:05:56.280 --> 00:06:02.040 is written is the source of every truth, and it drives us closer and closer to Him. 00:06:02.040 --> 00:06:09.040 But we are not limiting Him by just what is written. Is that clear? It's very important. 00:06:10.280 --> 00:06:15.760 We're not saying anything else, but my goodness, the Word that we've been given, it helps us. 00:06:15.760 --> 00:06:20.760 It drives us closer to this Father, closer to our Savior. Everything that is needed for 00:06:20.760 --> 00:06:27.760 life and sustenance is in this Word. But what we're talking about today is saying, we need 00:06:28.160 --> 00:06:35.160 more of you. We need your disruptive glory to come interrupt my life, our life. So it 00:06:36.080 --> 00:06:43.080 is a lie and a deception that we can somehow think this is for a select few. It is a lie 00:06:44.080 --> 00:06:51.080 and a deception that we think somehow when we hear about stories of God encounters or 00:06:51.280 --> 00:06:58.280 revivals that it is for a select few. What I'm arguing today is that this is for all 00:06:58.720 --> 00:07:05.280 of us. This is for a people. This is for all of us and for a people. Having said that, 00:07:05.280 --> 00:07:12.280 it is very possible for us to walk through all of the days of our lives without desiring 00:07:12.280 --> 00:07:19.280 an intimate life altering encounter with Him. It is possible for me as a child of God 00:07:20.140 --> 00:07:26.440 who is legs up, I want to go to heaven because I have received Him. I've said the prayer. 00:07:26.440 --> 00:07:31.480 I know that He is good. I know that He is merciful. I'm ready for heaven. It is possible 00:07:31.480 --> 00:07:38.480 for me and for you and for us to go through our lives, live through our days not desiring 00:07:39.480 --> 00:07:46.480 an intimate life changing, life altering encounter with the beauty of God, with the person of 00:07:46.480 --> 00:07:52.480 God. So that's what we want to avoid because we want to at this time with what He is doing 00:07:52.480 --> 00:07:57.480 in us, we want to be readied. We want to be desiring knowing that I could miss it but 00:07:57.480 --> 00:08:04.480 I don't want to. I'm committed to be in this. I'm committed to follow what you're saying. 00:08:04.800 --> 00:08:11.800 I'm committed to walking with you. So we don't want life altering moments of divine disruption 00:08:14.440 --> 00:08:21.440 to be wasted. We want to pursue it individually and as a people. So we have a mission, right? 00:08:24.680 --> 00:08:31.680 This is Matthew 28, I believe 19. What's the mission? Three M's. What are our three M's? 00:08:34.480 --> 00:08:41.480 That Jacob talks about. Make the Father known. Make disciples. Multiply churches. So that 00:08:45.840 --> 00:08:51.680 comes from Matthew 28, 19. It's just a different way of saying the same thing. I want to, we 00:08:51.680 --> 00:08:56.920 want to, as a people, we want to make the Father known because there is no making disciples 00:08:56.920 --> 00:09:02.600 without making Him known. Jesus said go make disciples of all nations. So we want to make 00:09:02.600 --> 00:09:08.720 the Father known. We want to multiply, make disciples and we want to multiply churches. 00:09:08.720 --> 00:09:14.320 This call is a collective call, right? This is for all of us. There is no one person in 00:09:14.320 --> 00:09:19.040 this room who is left out from this call. It is for all of us. Having said that, there 00:09:19.040 --> 00:09:26.040 are specificities to our call in that what Jillian is called to is very different from, 00:09:26.040 --> 00:09:29.960 could be different from what Remy is called to, could be different from what Anna is called 00:09:29.960 --> 00:09:36.960 to. So while we have this common call, which is making the Father known, making disciples, 00:09:38.080 --> 00:09:45.080 multiplying churches, there are specificities to what God is calling us to. And it is impossible 00:09:45.320 --> 00:09:51.880 really for us to walk into everything He has for us without allowing Him to show His disruptive 00:09:51.880 --> 00:09:57.360 glory and for His glory to interrupt our lives. I was talking to someone, Iris yesterday. 00:09:57.760 --> 00:10:04.760 I was saying this idea of we should not think that we can do things without meeting Him 00:10:06.080 --> 00:10:11.520 in the way He wants to meet us. It is a lie that makes us believe that we can do certain 00:10:11.520 --> 00:10:17.560 things without meeting Him in the way that He wants to meet with us. We've got to meet 00:10:17.560 --> 00:10:23.380 with Him like He wants to meet us. Not on my terms, not in the way I want Him to meet 00:10:23.420 --> 00:10:29.100 me. He wants to meet me a certain way. He wants to meet you a certain way. And so I've 00:10:29.100 --> 00:10:35.780 got to say, I want to meet with you. I want you to change my life. This encounter word 00:10:35.780 --> 00:10:42.780 or disruptive glory that we're talking about, it has to, it will change our lives. We cannot 00:10:43.020 --> 00:10:50.020 be the same after. It will change our lives. So what I'm hoping we can do over the next 00:10:50.020 --> 00:10:57.020 few minutes is I want to talk about what are some things to keep in mind as we go down 00:10:57.020 --> 00:11:04.020 this path. What are some things to keep in mind? So I want to start from Psalm 106 20. 00:11:05.060 --> 00:11:12.060 If you can read that. Psalm 106 20 and then read Jeremiah chapter 2 verse 11. I want you 00:11:12.060 --> 00:11:19.060 to read Jeremiah chapter 2 verse 11. I want you to read that. I want you to read that. 00:11:43.060 --> 00:11:50.060 Psalm 106 20. They exchanged their glory with a capital G. I talked about this briefly last 00:11:51.420 --> 00:11:58.420 week for an image of the bull. Jeremiah 2 verse 11, the last part of it. But my people, God 00:11:58.420 --> 00:12:04.520 says, have changed their glory for that which does not profit. We must be, guys, we must 00:12:04.520 --> 00:12:10.580 be accounted among those who sought after His glory and did not exchange it for the 00:12:10.620 --> 00:12:17.620 image of the bull. We must be accounted in heaven as a people who sought after His presence, 00:12:18.420 --> 00:12:25.420 who sought after His glory and did not exchange it. This is a cry in heaven that there are 00:12:25.460 --> 00:12:32.460 His people who would rather exchange our glory. It's a capital G glory. His glory. Christ, 00:12:32.460 --> 00:12:39.460 in us, hope of glory. It's our glory. His glory which is meant for us to pursue and 00:12:40.060 --> 00:12:47.060 possess and inhabit. We must be accounted therefore to be a people who did not discount it, who 00:12:47.140 --> 00:12:54.140 did not let go of it. So what's the image of the bull today in our lives? So going by 00:12:54.140 --> 00:13:01.140 Psalm 106.20, I just want to talk about two or three things and then we'll move on. But 00:13:02.500 --> 00:13:09.500 it's important to touch on this too. What's the image of the bull? One of the things that 00:13:09.580 --> 00:13:16.580 we should be careful about is religion and tradition. Religion and tradition. Religion 00:13:16.580 --> 00:13:23.580 and tradition. One of the things that we should be careful about is religion and tradition. 00:13:27.220 --> 00:13:34.220 This is one thing that Jesus attacked while on earth. Religion and tradition of men. We 00:13:34.260 --> 00:13:39.740 must be militant against this. You know one thing that religion and tradition does? It 00:13:39.820 --> 00:13:46.820 will try to box God. It will try to make Him fit a pattern that we're used to. It will 00:13:50.340 --> 00:13:57.340 try to domesticate the Lion of Judah. He will never be domesticated. But we can try to say 00:13:57.780 --> 00:14:03.340 this is the mold that we're used to. This is the pattern that I've followed all my life. 00:14:03.340 --> 00:14:07.380 And you know what? It's not just my life. My dad and my dad's dad and his dad, they've 00:14:07.380 --> 00:14:12.460 all gone through the process and this is what we're used to. And I'm not talking about 00:14:12.460 --> 00:14:19.460 just our physical parents. This is the ways of men that have come into the church. The 00:14:19.900 --> 00:14:26.620 way of being a people and what to expect. And we are saying as a people collectively 00:14:26.620 --> 00:14:32.480 that we do not want to box Him. We will not even try to. That if there is any possibility 00:14:32.720 --> 00:14:39.120 for us and there is to encounter His beautiful disruptive glory, we have to be militant against 00:14:39.120 --> 00:14:46.120 religion and tradition in our lives. Has to be. Second one, image of the self. I want 00:14:54.200 --> 00:15:00.520 to read it out this way. All idolatry of self has at its core the three lusts found in 1 00:15:00.600 --> 00:15:06.600 John 2.16. Lust of the eyes, pride of life, lust of the flesh. We won't explain it today. 00:15:06.600 --> 00:15:12.040 We don't have time to do that. But we can do it another time perhaps. Image of the self. 00:15:12.040 --> 00:15:18.480 This is, I'm at the center of everything. Everything revolves around me. I'm at the very center 00:15:18.480 --> 00:15:23.800 of my life and I'd like you to be living a life where I'm at the center of your lives 00:15:23.800 --> 00:15:30.800 too. My life is not enough for me. I'd like you to. Image of the self. Next, image of 00:15:36.360 --> 00:15:42.440 Caesar. By that what I mean is going back to what Jesus said. On this coin, whose image 00:15:42.440 --> 00:15:48.440 are you seeing? Image of Caesar. In other words, the systems that we are used to. The 00:15:48.440 --> 00:15:55.440 systems that we sometimes ignorantly bow down to. The environment that we're used to. My 00:15:59.400 --> 00:16:06.400 identity in a job, in a system, my reliance on things of the world before I rely on him 00:16:10.320 --> 00:16:17.320 will cost me. It is a huge price to pay and we don't want to do that. On the other hand, 00:16:18.440 --> 00:16:21.920 to write a couple more things without going into the details, comfort can be another 00:16:21.920 --> 00:16:28.920 thing. Comfort and entertainment, let's say. It may not be for all, but maybe for some. 00:16:41.280 --> 00:16:46.200 Another thing is our souls in that there are still parts of our thinking, our mindset that 00:16:46.200 --> 00:16:52.800 will try to say, no, this is how far God can come. This is how far he can be. I won't 00:16:52.800 --> 00:16:58.200 allow him to move past this barrier in my mind. That's where we say no. It's not just 00:16:58.200 --> 00:17:05.200 religion and tradition or self or Caesar or comfort or soul. Nothing can stand in his 00:17:05.360 --> 00:17:12.360 way that he has prescribed for me to encounter his beauty, his glory. Guys, I need you to 00:17:12.680 --> 00:17:16.960 just think about this over the next minute or two because I don't want to run from this 00:17:16.960 --> 00:17:21.640 to the next without addressing this in our lives. One of the ways we can do it is asking 00:17:21.640 --> 00:17:28.640 the question, where do I spend most of my time? Where do I spend my money? How do I 00:17:31.040 --> 00:17:37.940 derive joy in my life? Those are questions that will help answer this for you. This may 00:17:37.940 --> 00:17:44.940 be different for each of us, but those questions are very important. Where do I spend my time? 00:17:48.180 --> 00:17:55.180 Where do I spend my money? Where do I derive my joy from? Back in the day, I think it's 00:17:57.940 --> 00:18:04.260 changed. Facebook had this thing when I was in school. What's on your mind? I think they've 00:18:04.260 --> 00:18:11.260 changed the whole thing. They used to ask, what's on your mind? What's on your mind? 00:18:12.940 --> 00:18:19.940 Xavier is laughing. He's older than that. Just kidding. Yeah, what I meant there is 00:18:26.220 --> 00:18:33.220 our corrupted thinking that limits God from doing everything he wants to do. Our soul 00:18:33.500 --> 00:18:40.260 is in the process of being transformed to the image of God. In the process, there can 00:18:40.260 --> 00:18:47.260 be things in our thinking, our mindset that limits him. Can you take a couple of minutes 00:18:48.380 --> 00:18:55.380 and think about your life? If we are in pursuit of his glory, I'm telling you that these questions 00:18:55.380 --> 00:19:01.540 are very important. That you shouldn't bypass them. That you should think about it and you 00:19:01.540 --> 00:19:06.500 should pledge. Because you've pledged allegiance to the Lamb, these are things that you have 00:19:06.500 --> 00:19:13.500 to drop. I'll let you talk with God over the next minute or two before we go further. 00:19:31.540 --> 00:19:38.540 Okay. 00:20:01.540 --> 00:20:08.540 Cool. We'll continue. Here are some things to keep in mind. This is the main thing I 00:20:21.500 --> 00:20:25.540 want to talk about today. The other thing was mostly on the side in that we have to 00:20:25.540 --> 00:20:32.540 deal with it. Here are some things to keep in mind in our pursuit of his disruptive glory. 00:20:36.660 --> 00:20:43.660 We cannot experience his glory without leaving the tent. I'll explain it. We cannot experience 00:20:43.660 --> 00:20:50.660 his glory without leaving the tent. This is from Genesis chapter 18. You see this picture. 00:21:02.340 --> 00:21:09.340 It is a pretty hot day somewhere in the Middle East. Abraham is sitting at the tent door. 00:21:10.340 --> 00:21:15.980 He is resting perhaps. Whatever he was doing, he is taking a break from it. He is sitting 00:21:15.980 --> 00:21:22.620 and he sees three people, three men on the other side. What he does is as soon as he 00:21:22.620 --> 00:21:29.620 sees them, he leaves his tent door and he runs to them. He says, please don't go by 00:21:30.580 --> 00:21:36.060 without sitting down and without me entertaining you. I want to make sure that you drink something. 00:21:36.060 --> 00:21:41.100 I want to make sure that you eat something. I want to feed you and provide drink before 00:21:41.100 --> 00:21:47.620 you move on. It's important for me. Please come and sit down. He recognizes what's happening 00:21:47.620 --> 00:21:54.100 and he flees the tent door and he runs to them. I'm going to translate that to our lives 00:21:54.100 --> 00:22:01.100 here in the Old Testament. I'm saying we cannot experience his glory without leaving the tendencies, 00:22:02.100 --> 00:22:09.100 the patterns, the familiarity of our flesh. Like Abraham did, it was a model in that Abraham, 00:22:12.020 --> 00:22:16.460 this is your tent, but you know what? As I encounter him, I'm running from what I'm used 00:22:16.460 --> 00:22:23.460 to to this place of being in awe of his beauty. I'm going to fall right before him and say, 00:22:23.900 --> 00:22:28.900 please don't go. Please do not leave me. I want you to come and sit down under the shadow 00:22:28.900 --> 00:22:33.460 of this tree. I'm going to feed you. I'm going to make sure that you have everything you 00:22:33.460 --> 00:22:40.000 need before you go on. And I cannot and you cannot hear me out very clearly. This is so 00:22:40.000 --> 00:22:47.000 important for us. We cannot experience God by being dependent or being dictated by our 00:22:48.700 --> 00:22:55.700 flesh. It cannot happen. It is very important if as a people we are pursuing this, we will 00:22:56.700 --> 00:23:02.700 have to leave behind the tendencies of our flesh. I'm not talking about sin. I'm talking 00:23:02.700 --> 00:23:09.700 about the way I'm used to engaging with God with my flesh. The way I'm used to in my pursuit 00:23:11.700 --> 00:23:18.700 of God in my mind. I have to, will have to leave that for me to experience him the way 00:23:19.700 --> 00:23:26.700 he wants me to experience him. So my patterns, the things that I'm familiar with and the 00:23:26.700 --> 00:23:33.700 limitations of my flesh, because our flesh is limited, I will have to learn to let go 00:23:34.700 --> 00:23:41.700 of it if I am to experience his glory the way he wants us to. In Acts 29, this is important 00:23:42.420 --> 00:23:49.420 for us. It will show in the way we worship. It will show in the way we live our lives 00:23:50.980 --> 00:23:57.980 every day. And there is no encountering him by being at the tent door. We have to leave 00:23:59.300 --> 00:24:06.300 the tent. This is crucial for as a people we will have to let go of the ways that we 00:24:06.300 --> 00:24:13.300 are used to. Not just in worship. Not just the 30 minutes when we are worshiping him 00:24:14.300 --> 00:24:19.300 together. In our lives there are patterns and my goodness if God is calling us this 00:24:19.300 --> 00:24:25.300 way, do we think that he will not expose these things to us so that we can change from it? 00:24:25.300 --> 00:24:29.300 He will expose it. He will tell us what they are. But are you willing to go to him and 00:24:29.300 --> 00:24:34.300 say, I'm so done being at the tent door, I'm so done with my life, I'm so done with my 00:24:34.300 --> 00:24:39.300 life, I'm so done being at the tent door and having my flesh limit you, I'm going to run 00:24:39.300 --> 00:24:46.300 to you. It goes back to what we heard a couple of weeks ago. I will need to be foolish. And 00:24:47.300 --> 00:24:52.300 we as a church will need to recognize how to respond to the foolishness of man in pursuit 00:24:52.300 --> 00:24:59.300 of his glory. It is important for us. When we see foolishness, will we be watchful of 00:25:00.300 --> 00:25:05.300 the foolishness? Will we sit on the fence and see how foolish someone is or will we 00:25:05.300 --> 00:25:12.300 also join them in their foolishness of the pursuit of God? It is important. It is important 00:25:13.300 --> 00:25:20.300 Acts 29. It is important. And we haven't gotten there. We have to as a people do this. So 00:25:21.300 --> 00:25:28.300 leave your tent. We cannot, you cannot, we cannot, I cannot experience his glory without 00:25:28.300 --> 00:25:35.300 doing that. Number two, I can choose to disengage when his glory is near. 00:25:58.300 --> 00:26:05.300 We will go back to the same story. I will explain it. So the three men, they sit down 00:26:05.300 --> 00:26:11.300 under the shade of the tree and they are having the meal. The meal is done. And it says the 00:26:11.300 --> 00:26:18.300 Lord asks, where is Sarah? See in the previous chapter, Sarah had become Sarah's wife. Sarah 00:26:19.300 --> 00:26:26.300 had become Sarah's wife. And Sarah had become Sarah's wife. And Sarah had become Sarah's 00:26:26.300 --> 00:26:31.300 wife. And in the previous chapter, Sarah had become Sarah because God gave her a new 00:26:31.300 --> 00:26:38.300 name. And God asks, where is Sarah? And it says Sarah was hiding behind Abraham. She 00:26:39.300 --> 00:26:43.300 did not respond. You see what's happening in the story. We sometimes only think about 00:26:43.300 --> 00:26:50.300 Abraham because he is the main guy in the story. But you don't see what Sarah has done. 00:26:50.300 --> 00:26:55.300 After the meal, because she was preparing the cake or the bread before, she is done 00:26:55.300 --> 00:27:02.300 with the meal. Now they have had the meal. And God asks, where is Sarah? Where is Adam? 00:27:03.300 --> 00:27:12.300 Where is Sarah? And Sarah is hearing this. She is behind the tent door. She doesn't 00:27:12.300 --> 00:27:17.300 respond. But what she does is when God proceeds to say, in a year's time, Sarah, I'm going 00:27:17.300 --> 00:27:22.300 to bless you. He actually talks about Sarah. He doesn't talk about Abraham. He says, Sarah, 00:27:22.300 --> 00:27:27.300 in a year, I'm going to bless you. You're going to have a child. She laughs. It's not 00:27:27.300 --> 00:27:33.300 the laughing that we are thinking of today. It's the part that she does not engage. She 00:27:33.300 --> 00:27:38.300 chooses to disengage. And do not think that this is Middle Eastern culture. It's not. 00:27:38.300 --> 00:27:43.300 She could have absolutely engaged with the God of the universe right there at that time 00:27:43.300 --> 00:27:49.300 if she opted to do that. If she chose to do that, she could have done that. And we sometimes 00:27:49.300 --> 00:27:58.300 choose to disengage. And we cannot afford to do that. And so if God is again doing this 00:27:58.300 --> 00:28:06.300 with us as a people, what if I and Iris choose to disengage? What if three or four of us 00:28:06.300 --> 00:28:15.300 choose to disengage? My goodness, we shouldn't. We shouldn't do it. We shouldn't choose to 00:28:15.300 --> 00:28:21.300 disengage because we cannot say, I didn't know. We cannot. Sarah cannot say that. She 00:28:21.300 --> 00:28:26.300 was asked, Hey, where is Sarah? She could have responded. She did not. So I don't want 00:28:26.300 --> 00:28:33.300 to spend more time there, but I pray that as a people, we completely engage with God 00:28:33.300 --> 00:28:42.300 in what he's doing. There is a cry. Come out. Will you come out of the place where you're 00:28:42.300 --> 00:28:46.300 hiding? The place of comfort, the place of shelter, the place of the normal that you're 00:28:46.300 --> 00:28:53.300 used to, the place of convenience. The question is, could Sarah have come out? And the answer 00:28:53.300 --> 00:29:02.300 is yes. And I'll even say if Sarah had come out, she would have had an experience and 00:29:02.300 --> 00:29:12.300 an encounter with God that would then also have dictated the life of Isaac and Jacob 00:29:12.300 --> 00:29:20.300 more than we know today. We don't think like that because Abraham met God multiple times. 00:29:20.300 --> 00:29:26.300 Sarah, here's a chance for her to encounter God and his glory in a new way. So when she 00:29:26.300 --> 00:29:33.300 loses note to, she lacks that, that very thing that she can or could have passed on to Isaac 00:29:33.300 --> 00:29:40.300 and Jacob. So when I don't engage, it's not just I who lose out. The ones who are coming 00:29:40.300 --> 00:29:52.300 behind me, they will lose out too. So your life is not just about yourself anymore. All 00:29:52.300 --> 00:29:58.300 of the people who are connected to us in one capacity or the other, all of them will lose 00:29:58.300 --> 00:30:19.300 out if I choose to disengage. Next. I'll read it out so you can write it. Your recognition 00:30:19.300 --> 00:30:28.300 of your need for him, your recognition of your need for him, your lack and brokenness 00:30:28.300 --> 00:30:40.300 sets you up for an encounter with your all powerful father. Your recognition of your 00:30:40.300 --> 00:30:51.300 need for him, your lack and brokenness sets you up for an encounter with your all powerful 00:30:51.300 --> 00:31:00.300 father. I want us to go to, you don't have to read it, but this is from Genesis 32. The 00:31:00.300 --> 00:31:09.300 chapter is titled Jacob Fears Ezo. This guy has lived a life. See, Jacob was already taught 00:31:09.300 --> 00:31:14.300 about God and previous to this chapter, he's already had encounters or he's already met 00:31:14.300 --> 00:31:21.300 with God. He's seen him in that not the same type of seeing in Genesis 32, but he's had 00:31:21.300 --> 00:31:30.300 encounters with him. He knows the God of his fathers. He's familiar with him. Now, Genesis 00:31:30.300 --> 00:31:38.300 32 begins with Jacob Fears Ezo. He's at a place in his life where everything he has 00:31:38.300 --> 00:31:45.300 tried has failed. And he is running. And what happens before this encounter story is this. 00:31:45.300 --> 00:31:51.300 It's important in that he is working so much with his mind and his controlling thinking 00:31:51.300 --> 00:31:55.300 that he says, you know what, the people that I have, I'm going to break them out into two 00:31:55.300 --> 00:32:00.300 camps because if one camp goes away, I still have another. And even better, you know what, 00:32:00.300 --> 00:32:07.300 after this time, I'm going to have my two wives, my two female servants and my children. 00:32:07.300 --> 00:32:11.300 I'm going to cross them over to across this book and then I'm going to stay here. And 00:32:11.300 --> 00:32:17.300 it says he was left alone. He is, he must have been so tired because he's running away 00:32:17.300 --> 00:32:24.300 from Ezo, but trying to meet him at the same time by appeasing him with a gift. He must 00:32:24.300 --> 00:32:33.300 have been physically exhausted. At the end of everything that he knows, he can manage 00:32:33.300 --> 00:32:41.300 and control. Doesn't have anything left in the tank. If he verses before that, he cries 00:32:41.300 --> 00:32:49.300 out, Lord help me. And just the beautiful thing about that passage is it doesn't tell 00:32:49.300 --> 00:32:54.300 much about how it happened. It's almost like it just says verse three or around that it 00:32:54.300 --> 00:33:00.300 says, and Jacob was left alone and a man was with him until the breaking of the day. There's 00:33:00.300 --> 00:33:06.300 nothing in between. And Jacob was left alone and a man was still with him until the breaking 00:33:06.300 --> 00:33:13.300 of the day. Guys, there is something beautiful about us getting to a place of such brokenness 00:33:13.300 --> 00:33:21.300 and need, which will cause our father in heaven to show up because he's all powerful. The 00:33:21.300 --> 00:33:28.300 more we think we can do it and the more we hold on to ourself, the more we say, I got 00:33:28.300 --> 00:33:37.300 it and I can try to make it and manage it. We are farther away from what he can do. 00:33:37.300 --> 00:33:43.300 There is something about us getting to a place with our lives where we say, I am so needy, 00:33:43.300 --> 00:33:53.300 so broken that I desperately need you. So I serve and we serve a father who is compassionate 00:33:53.300 --> 00:34:01.300 and merciful and loving and kind. He will fight for us. He will fight for you and bring 00:34:01.300 --> 00:34:09.300 breakthrough in your circumstances when you're at the end of yourself. It is a good, great 00:34:09.300 --> 00:34:17.300 place to be when I find myself at the end of everything that I have. I remember this 00:34:17.300 --> 00:34:26.300 time years ago when probably the first few years or first couple of years that I started 00:34:26.300 --> 00:34:32.300 coming to AXE, I remember one time Jacob pulled me aside. I don't remember when or where. 00:34:32.300 --> 00:34:37.300 He told me, man, one of the things that is such a stronghold in your life is a fear of 00:34:37.300 --> 00:34:47.300 man. I remember him saying that and I was like, fear of man. Then I realized that it's 00:34:47.300 --> 00:34:52.300 so easy not to understand it because I'm used to my own ways. Then he said, you have that 00:34:52.300 --> 00:35:00.300 and you can't go ahead in life with what God has for you until this is not an issue anymore, 00:35:00.300 --> 00:35:08.300 until God sets you free. Then once he said it, I began to see it. Once he said it, I was like, 00:35:08.300 --> 00:35:16.300 oh, that and this and that. I can now see it. I remember it was a few years where I would go to 00:35:16.300 --> 00:35:23.300 God and I would tell him, hey, I need out of this. I need out of this. There are things, the 00:35:23.300 --> 00:35:28.300 reason I'm sharing this story is because there are sometimes things in our lives that it only 00:35:28.300 --> 00:35:34.300 comes up every now and then. It's not a daily thing. When it's not a daily thing, it's easy 00:35:34.300 --> 00:35:42.300 for us to overlook it and say, think, that's not a big deal. But my father, our father is so 00:35:42.300 --> 00:35:48.300 interested in our lives every day that he doesn't want anything that's not of him in our lives at 00:35:48.300 --> 00:35:57.300 all. I remember going to the father and saying, I need help with this. Then something will happen 00:35:57.300 --> 00:36:02.300 and experience, a particular situation will happen. Then I'm also aware of this. My goodness, man, 00:36:02.300 --> 00:36:08.300 this is such a thing in my life. I want out of this thing. I'll run to him and say, I want out of 00:36:08.300 --> 00:36:13.300 this. I went on for some time and I thought I was making progress. Then there was this day when 00:36:13.300 --> 00:36:21.300 something happened. My immediate reaction when this thing happened is I have such a brokenness 00:36:21.300 --> 00:36:27.300 feeling inside me. It's like, I need out of this so bad that I'm running out of this place. I ran 00:36:27.300 --> 00:36:35.300 out of where I was. I went to my room and I found myself on my bed and I started talking to him. I 00:36:35.300 --> 00:36:43.300 started crying. As I'm crying and I'm talking to him, suddenly, man, I cannot explain it. I felt 00:36:43.300 --> 00:36:54.300 like I was let loose of chains. It was almost this feeling of I could feel the chains fall off. I've 00:36:54.300 --> 00:37:03.300 not been the same since that day. I can tell you that. There is something about our father when you 00:37:03.300 --> 00:37:12.300 run to him and you say, I need help with this and I will not let you go unless you bless me. He 00:37:12.300 --> 00:37:20.300 will show up. Guys, the best news today is that he is the God he is. He is the father he is and he is 00:37:20.300 --> 00:37:28.300 able. That is the place where we operate from. And because he is loving and all powerful, there is no 00:37:28.300 --> 00:37:36.300 such thing that can stand between him and you. These verses in the scripture must come alive for all of 00:37:36.300 --> 00:37:44.300 us. And he desperately wants now me to move from that to another to another to another because I'm 00:37:44.300 --> 00:37:52.300 continually being transformed in the image of his son. But I can settle. I can say, you know, that was a 00:37:52.300 --> 00:38:10.300 good one. Thank you very much. And sit there. And I pray we we take to him things we need out of. And he is 00:38:10.300 --> 00:38:18.300 able. That's the good news. It's a very good news that it's not based on or dependent on you. It is dependent 00:38:18.300 --> 00:38:30.300 on him. Now the question is, will we do something about it? Because I should you should be asking him and 00:38:30.300 --> 00:38:39.300 telling him there is no way God there is no way father I'm going to leave you without you changing this in my life. 00:38:39.300 --> 00:38:48.300 There is no way I'm going to let you go. You see you can come into meetings or when you're by yourself having this 00:38:48.300 --> 00:38:56.300 attitude. There is no way I'm going to leave this place until and unless you do this. It is rightfully our inheritance 00:38:56.300 --> 00:39:05.300 to be like that. We do not take it and run with it sometimes. I'm telling you man we shouldn't we shouldn't divide 00:39:05.300 --> 00:39:11.300 life into this prayer meeting here this prayer meeting there and then my time at the office and then my time with my wife 00:39:11.300 --> 00:39:17.300 or whatever. We should never divide. We should be so expectant for him to do things wherever we are. 00:39:17.300 --> 00:39:36.300 There's this this line. No one is excluded unless they exclude themselves or themselves. Right. If I exclude myself from this 00:39:36.300 --> 00:39:47.300 person, then he is not not as dependent on what I want to do. And his desire for all of us is that we do not exclude ourselves. 00:39:47.300 --> 00:39:52.300 Okay let's move on to the next one. 00:39:52.300 --> 00:40:12.300 Couple more. I think this is for the words of your mouth. Make way for the arrival of your king. 00:40:22.300 --> 00:40:46.300 I just want to speak want to speak on this from another passage. I think this explains it pretty well. The words of your mouth 00:40:46.300 --> 00:40:55.300 make way for the arrival of your king. And it's not that we don't know it or understand it. We have to practice it as a people and 00:40:55.300 --> 00:41:10.300 individually because the words of our mouth are very important. It's super important. And there is no one here who cannot speak. 00:41:10.300 --> 00:41:29.300 He doesn't look at how proficient my languages or how big the words are that I use. He's so interested in your words though. 00:41:29.300 --> 00:41:44.300 And the words of my mouth are an overflow of words in my heart. It's Luke 6 45 out of the abundance of the heart. The mouth speaks. 00:41:44.300 --> 00:41:55.300 Psalm 139 4 even before a word is on my tongue. Behold, O Lord, you know it all together. Everything that I speak comes from my heart. 00:41:55.300 --> 00:42:09.300 When we manufacture words, he knows it well. And I have manufactured words before. I'm pretty sure you guys have too. But getting to this place where our words flow out of our heart 00:42:09.300 --> 00:42:23.300 and we don't even need to try because the barrier between the heart and the mouth is broken. It's broken. Again, as a people, I'm sorry I keep saying as a people. I'm not sorry. 00:42:23.300 --> 00:42:33.300 As a people, I keep saying this. It's important for us. This will take us to another place together as a church. It will. 00:42:33.300 --> 00:42:43.300 And there is no one sitting here who is exempt from this. The words of your mouth make a way for the arrival of your King. 00:42:43.300 --> 00:42:59.300 The passage is Daniel chapter 10. In Daniel chapter 10, you see Daniel standing on the bank of the river Tigris. And while he is standing there, he sees a vision during the day. 00:42:59.300 --> 00:43:08.300 The guys with him, they don't see what he is seeing. But they all sense that there is something happening. So they are frightened and they run away. They hide themselves. 00:43:08.300 --> 00:43:18.300 But Daniel is still there. And as soon as he sees this, Bible keeps on talking about the experience these men and women had when they met God. 00:43:18.300 --> 00:43:28.300 Physically, they couldn't handle it. So he falls to the ground as well. And then I want to hear this word, okay, because the other parts we can skip for today. 00:43:28.300 --> 00:43:41.300 But essentially, he sees Jesus. What is written in Revelation? Daniel sees in Daniel chapter 10. And here is what I want us to listen to. 00:43:41.300 --> 00:44:05.300 Listen to verse 12. Then he said to me, fear not, Daniel, for from the first day, from the first day that you set your heart to understand and humbled yourself before the Lord, your words have been heard and I have come because of your words. 00:44:05.300 --> 00:44:18.300 From the first day, Daniel, you set your heart on him and then you humbled himself. But I have come here today because of your words. 00:44:18.300 --> 00:44:29.300 This is something we can run with. This is something we must experience. This is something we must create stories for, for our, for the generation to come. 00:44:29.300 --> 00:44:44.300 They must know the importance of words. We must show the next generation the importance of words. Words adoring him, words welcoming him, words shouting out loud who he is. 00:44:44.300 --> 00:45:07.300 And it can only happen out of the abundance of my heart. And so when I am with him and when I am beholding him, when I spend my days and nights with him, I don't need to be ready for something because this is who I am as a person and my heart is full of him. 00:45:07.300 --> 00:45:09.300 So my mouth overflows with words that adore him. 00:45:12.300 --> 00:45:18.300 That's why today if you ask Subin, sorry guys, I can't run away from my soccer examples. My wife hates it, but it's okay. 00:45:20.300 --> 00:45:28.300 Today if you ask Subin, is he happy? My goodness, man, he'll be so happy because he is five points or something top of the table in the English Premier League. 00:45:28.300 --> 00:45:32.300 He came today. The first thing he did was look at Savior. 00:45:32.300 --> 00:45:45.300 He's full of it. He's very happy. Look at him. I haven't seen him this happy. It's short lived though, but that's okay. 00:45:49.300 --> 00:45:55.300 Again, the words of your mouth make way for the arrival of your King. 00:45:57.300 --> 00:45:59.300 Yeah, we'll move on to the next one. 00:46:02.300 --> 00:46:25.300 You cannot engage with his glory unless you turn away from your sins. 00:46:25.300 --> 00:46:39.300 It's a pretty harsh statement. You cannot engage with his glory unless you're willing to turn away from your sin, but it's very true. 00:46:39.300 --> 00:46:59.300 One of the things that this revival that we're talking about, Jacob said this a few times over, he said this revival is about God purifying us, that this is about a people who are being devoted to him. 00:46:59.300 --> 00:47:09.300 And we have to hear his cry for us. He really wants a beautiful bride. 00:47:12.300 --> 00:47:23.300 And I'm sure we'll go down this path more and more together, pretty certain about it. But can we say this? 00:47:23.300 --> 00:47:28.300 This is what happened to Isaiah. We know the story. 00:47:30.300 --> 00:47:35.300 But the beautiful thing about that passage is when Isaiah in Isaiah chapter 6 says, 00:47:35.300 --> 00:47:51.300 God addresses exactly that by bringing the call and it touches his lips. 00:47:52.300 --> 00:48:01.300 The exact same thing that you need help with, he will address that exact thing because it's his desire for you. 00:48:02.300 --> 00:48:10.300 He doesn't come and have the call touch his forehead. I'm a man of unclean lips. We are a people of unclean lips. 00:48:11.300 --> 00:48:19.300 Hey, you've recognized it. You want to turn away from it. Here you go. My fire over you is a purifying fire. 00:48:19.300 --> 00:48:27.300 This wind that I'm blowing is a purifying wind. And therefore that which you need help with, I'll set you free from. 00:48:32.300 --> 00:48:41.300 Happened to Moses in Exodus chapter 3. The guy has been wandering for 40 years. 00:48:41.300 --> 00:48:48.300 What a change in life, right? In the palace to what he was doing for about 40 years. 00:48:48.300 --> 00:48:56.300 He's saying, I'm doing the worst job ever. No one has a job but me. 00:48:58.300 --> 00:49:11.300 He does that. And what's interesting is this. In that passage, you see him. It says he moved from the west side of the wilderness to the Mount Horeb. 00:49:11.300 --> 00:49:19.300 Now this Mount Horeb is the mountain of God, but he did not know it. We call it the mountain of God. He did not know it. 00:49:19.300 --> 00:49:24.300 He later received commandments on this mountain, but he did not know it. 00:49:24.300 --> 00:49:30.300 So there is something about, although in this case he didn't know, there is something about us approaching him. 00:49:30.300 --> 00:49:45.300 Because one of the things that while worship was happening, it's amazing how we can as a people be so close to the temple, be so close to what's happening, but not enter the Holy of Holies. 00:49:45.300 --> 00:49:53.300 I find that very true about me. I'm always close to the temple. 00:49:53.300 --> 00:50:06.300 I'm always close to the activity. I occasionally visit the Holy of Holies, but I don't live out of there. 00:50:06.300 --> 00:50:20.300 So if what we sang is true, the veil is broken and the doors have flung wide, then we must live from that place where he purifies me. 00:50:20.300 --> 00:50:36.300 These words are not words just for the sake of saying it, but I must be in awe and wonder of the beauty and the holiness of the God I serve. 00:50:36.300 --> 00:50:43.300 And therefore he will show to me what I need to let go of, and I can let go of it. 00:50:43.300 --> 00:50:50.300 Moving from glory to glory in him. This is my inheritance. 00:50:50.300 --> 00:51:11.300 So Derek, do you desire now to stop your going around the temple and being in the temple and occasionally visiting the Holy of Holies to living out of this place? 00:51:11.300 --> 00:51:22.300 Living out of this place where we behold his beauty, we know his worth. We know how much he loves us. 00:51:22.300 --> 00:51:33.300 And so we can't hold on to these things that have clung on so long. We will let go of them. 00:51:33.300 --> 00:51:40.300 And it's my decision and your decision, but we can. 00:51:40.300 --> 00:51:46.300 And God says, Moses, Moses, he calls out his name and says, Do not come near. 00:51:46.300 --> 00:51:52.300 Take your sandals off your feet for the place on which you're standing is holy ground. 00:51:52.300 --> 00:52:01.300 It's this idea of all of the accumulated dirt. All of the stuff you've carried with you. 00:52:01.300 --> 00:52:05.300 Take it off. 00:52:05.300 --> 00:52:10.300 I know what I need to change in. You guys know what you need to change in. 00:52:10.300 --> 00:52:13.300 What do you what you need his desperate help with? 00:52:13.300 --> 00:52:17.300 And let's go down this path. This part I can tell you guys. 00:52:17.300 --> 00:52:27.300 I know for certain that with what we've been talking about, this is such heaven's desire for us to purify us, to change us. 00:52:27.300 --> 00:52:30.300 It is his desire for us. 00:52:30.300 --> 00:52:39.300 And I am not even attempting to use big words because I really want him to do this with me and you. 00:52:39.300 --> 00:52:45.300 I pray that this is your heart's cry, that you'll say, I want to be your bride. 00:52:45.300 --> 00:52:50.300 The bridegroom loves his bride. 00:52:50.300 --> 00:52:54.300 I want to be your bride. Blemish less spotless. 00:52:54.300 --> 00:52:57.300 I will not entertain these things in me. It's a hard no. 00:52:57.300 --> 00:53:12.300 And please, please, this is not just sins and all of the stuff that we know we need help with because we have anyone here, I believe, may have their habitual sins, patterns, thinking. 00:53:12.300 --> 00:53:16.300 They're all sins. But it's also see James took it to another level. 00:53:16.300 --> 00:53:23.300 Not James. James does take things to another level, but not this James. 00:53:23.300 --> 00:53:31.300 James chapter four, 17, it says when you know of something that is right and you must do it, you ought to do it and you don't do it. 00:53:31.300 --> 00:53:34.300 It is a sin. 00:53:34.300 --> 00:53:41.300 So we we are we are going to this place of being like our savior. 00:53:41.300 --> 00:53:47.300 We are being fashioned from one place, taken from there to another place in him. 00:53:47.300 --> 00:53:52.300 And so while there are other things we need help with, we are not stopping there. 00:53:52.300 --> 00:53:55.300 We need more and more. 00:53:55.300 --> 00:53:57.300 Can we be like that? That right? 00:53:57.300 --> 00:54:00.300 That thing which is right and I ought to do it. 00:54:00.300 --> 00:54:04.300 But when I don't do it, it is a sin. 00:54:04.300 --> 00:54:06.300 And then there is mindset. 00:54:06.300 --> 00:54:11.300 My goodness, mindsets. 00:54:11.300 --> 00:54:14.300 So now we are not just talking about lust of the eyes. 00:54:14.300 --> 00:54:19.300 We're not talking about murder and adultery. 00:54:19.300 --> 00:54:25.300 While those things are wrong, Jesus's bar is much higher. 00:54:25.300 --> 00:54:32.300 And that's the bar we are after. 00:54:32.300 --> 00:54:40.300 A true encounter with the beauty of God will mark you and set you apart for a life of holiness. 00:54:40.300 --> 00:54:45.300 The other thing I want to say from that story is we'll wrap up in 10 minutes. 00:54:45.300 --> 00:54:54.300 See, God could have used anything really to speak with Moses, but he chooses an ordinary Bush to speak from. 00:54:54.300 --> 00:55:01.300 There was a contradiction in that while there were other bushes that were burning, because it does burn like that in the Middle East, 00:55:01.300 --> 00:55:06.300 while there were other bushes that were burning, this Bush was not consumed by the fire. 00:55:06.300 --> 00:55:09.300 And that was the only contradiction. 00:55:09.300 --> 00:55:12.300 And so we are not stopping there. 00:55:12.300 --> 00:55:15.300 We are not stopping there. 00:55:15.300 --> 00:55:17.300 We are not stopping there. 00:55:18.300 --> 00:55:22.300 But there is this thing of he can use the ordinary to change me. 00:55:22.300 --> 00:55:23.300 Guys, please listen to this. 00:55:23.300 --> 00:55:27.300 He can use the ordinary to change me. 00:55:27.300 --> 00:55:30.300 He can use the ordinary to change me. 00:55:30.300 --> 00:55:33.300 He can use an ordinary day to change me. 00:55:33.300 --> 00:55:38.300 He can bring about a life altering moment in my life in the ordinary. 00:55:38.300 --> 00:55:42.300 He can bring about a life altering moment in my life in the ordinary. 00:55:43.300 --> 00:55:50.300 He can bring about a life altering moment in my life through the ordinary. 00:55:50.300 --> 00:55:52.300 And it is important. 00:55:52.300 --> 00:55:54.300 Let's go to the next one. 00:55:54.300 --> 00:55:59.300 Encounter with his glory causes you to depend on his bride. 00:55:59.300 --> 00:56:05.300 Encounter with his glory causes you to depend on his bride. 00:56:05.300 --> 00:56:10.300 If your encounter with God makes you independent, be very watchful. 00:56:10.300 --> 00:56:17.300 If your encounter with God makes you independent, be very watchful. 00:56:17.300 --> 00:56:18.300 It is what happens. 00:56:18.300 --> 00:56:21.300 Saul is on his way to Damascus. 00:56:21.300 --> 00:56:24.300 And he is encountered by God. 00:56:24.300 --> 00:56:27.300 And he is encountered by God. 00:56:27.300 --> 00:56:30.300 And he is encountered by God. 00:56:31.300 --> 00:56:35.300 And he is encountered by God. 00:56:35.300 --> 00:56:45.300 But while God can give the entire mission to Saul, right there, just like that, he chooses to withhold it from him. 00:56:45.300 --> 00:56:52.300 And what he says is, you need to go to this place and there you will be told what to do. 00:56:52.300 --> 00:56:57.300 Because, Paul, Paul, Paul, I have spent time with the disciples. 00:56:57.300 --> 00:57:00.300 They know that they have to go two by two. 00:57:00.300 --> 00:57:02.300 They know that they have to be dependent. 00:57:02.300 --> 00:57:04.300 But, Paul, you don't know that. 00:57:04.300 --> 00:57:07.300 And because you don't know that, I am going to teach you. 00:57:07.300 --> 00:57:10.300 Right from here, you need to go to this man. 00:57:10.300 --> 00:57:13.300 And this man will lay his hands on you. 00:57:13.300 --> 00:57:15.300 And then the scales will fall off. 00:57:15.300 --> 00:57:19.300 Because I can very well cause the scales to fall off right now. 00:57:19.300 --> 00:57:21.300 But I won't have that. 00:57:21.300 --> 00:57:24.300 Because you need to be dependent on a people. 00:57:24.300 --> 00:57:27.300 You need to be dependent on a people. 00:57:27.300 --> 00:57:29.300 Because there is a Titus coming. 00:57:29.300 --> 00:57:31.300 There is a Timothy coming. 00:57:31.300 --> 00:57:33.300 There is a Barnabas coming. 00:57:33.300 --> 00:57:38.300 You won't have any of them anywhere close to you unless I teach you this. 00:57:38.300 --> 00:57:43.300 So if your encounter with God makes you independent, be watchful. 00:57:43.300 --> 00:57:49.300 Because your encounter with him must make you dependent on the body. 00:57:49.300 --> 00:57:52.300 Must make you dependent on the bride. 00:57:52.300 --> 00:57:54.300 So Paul got it right from the start. 00:57:54.300 --> 00:57:57.300 Because he knew very well what happened. 00:57:57.300 --> 00:58:01.300 Oh wow! I need to go to this man and this man will tell me what to do. 00:58:01.300 --> 00:58:04.300 Yeah, yeah, yeah. That's how I am going to set you up. 00:58:04.300 --> 00:58:06.300 That's what I am going to train you in. 00:58:11.300 --> 00:58:13.300 So, here is the thing. 00:58:13.300 --> 00:58:25.300 Father, as a people, we want to go down this way, this path. 00:58:31.300 --> 00:58:38.300 Guys, one thing that I think is important is we must not allow self-pity and doubt to stop us. 00:58:38.300 --> 00:58:40.300 Somehow that's important. 00:58:40.300 --> 00:58:45.300 Must not allow self-pity and doubt to come in the way. 00:58:45.300 --> 00:58:49.300 Self-pity is, oh, but I am not like that. 00:58:49.300 --> 00:58:51.300 Oh, but this happened to me. 00:58:51.300 --> 00:58:53.300 Oh, but I don't have this. 00:58:53.300 --> 00:59:01.300 Must not allow self-pity and doubt to stop us. 00:59:01.300 --> 00:59:06.300 Father, we come to you and we say, 00:59:06.300 --> 00:59:11.300 we are all in. Are we all in church? 00:59:11.300 --> 00:59:13.300 Yeah. 00:59:13.300 --> 00:59:17.300 Yeah. Father, hear this. We are all in. 00:59:17.300 --> 00:59:23.300 We don't know what we are touching, but we know it's you. 00:59:23.300 --> 00:59:28.300 We know what we are touching, but we don't know what to expect really. 00:59:28.300 --> 00:59:31.300 But we are in it. 00:59:32.300 --> 00:59:35.300 Not in it for this minute. 00:59:35.300 --> 00:59:37.300 Not in it for just this week. 00:59:37.300 --> 00:59:40.300 Not in it for just one encounter. 00:59:40.300 --> 00:59:45.300 But this body, you're training up to have encounters after encounters, 00:59:45.300 --> 00:59:49.300 because we will never be satisfied with you. 00:59:49.300 --> 00:59:53.300 We will always be desperate for you. 00:59:53.300 --> 00:59:57.300 So, we are not talking about one life-altering moment that just changes everything. 00:59:57.300 --> 00:59:59.300 Yes, while it changes everything, 00:59:59.300 --> 01:00:05.300 we want to be a people who will hunger and thirst for more. 01:00:05.300 --> 01:00:08.300 So, hear this cry, Father. 01:00:08.300 --> 01:00:12.300 Father, you're also reminding us that we have to now steward it. 01:00:12.300 --> 01:00:17.300 These things must be stewarded on our own and collectively. 01:00:17.300 --> 01:00:23.300 So, I pray that everyone here and those watching, we will steward this well. 01:00:23.300 --> 01:00:26.300 It will run after you. 01:00:26.300 --> 01:00:30.300 So that let others...Sekarai 12 talks about... 01:00:30.300 --> 01:00:35.300 Let others say that all of them were a certain type. 01:00:35.300 --> 01:00:37.300 All of them were a certain type. 01:00:37.300 --> 01:00:41.300 That's what we want to be about, because we want to leave a legacy. 01:00:41.300 --> 01:00:47.300 We want to leave a legacy for those behind us. 01:00:47.300 --> 01:00:50.300 In Jesus' name, Amen.