So today we deal with the second part of Exodus, second part from Exodus 34.
Guys, God isn't playing good cop, bad cop.
He never does that.
Because we have a tendency to think he's, he'll say, oh, I'm full of love and then he'll
say, oh, but I'm going to vac you for the next four generations and then love you for
a thousand more.
And it doesn't make much difference to you because you're in the third and fourth generation.
So you get whacked.
He's not like that.
He's not a good cop and a bad cop.
So on one hand, Exodus 34.6 says, I'm gracious, compassionate, merciful and rich in loyal
love.
And Exodus 34 verse 14 says, I'm jealous.
And it almost seems like he's saying, okay, this is who I am.
But now just so you know, don't get too comfortable with this because this is who I am too.
It's because we don't understand sometimes what he really means.
This idea of God being a jealous God actually put Oprah off.
Oprah Winfrey decided not to follow the Christian God because she read a scripture or someone
said to her that the Christian God is a jealous God.
She said, I don't want a God like that.
And I'm thinking to myself, for all your brilliance, couldn't you have gone and read a little more
and you'd have figured it out?
And unfortunately, many of us think like that too.
Where we think God is good cop, bad cop that don't get too close to him because just when
he said he's gracious, compassionate, full of loyal love and mercy, he'll also say, I'm
jealous and I'm very possessive and controlling.
That's not the way this works.
I know it seems like such a flippant start to a teaching, but these are some of the thoughts
that we go through.
So in Exodus 34, 14, look at what he says.
He's so determined about what he's saying that you can't misread his intent.
Exodus 34, verse 14.
He's not even saying that he's a jealous God.
He's literally saying, my name is jealous.
My name is jealous.
That's what he says there.
In the NIV, it says, do not worship any other God for the Lord whose name is jealous is
a jealous God.
He's not talking about, oh, I feel jealous.
He says, my name is jealous.
His very name is jealous.
This is important to grasp in our present context because all religious reform, all
religious revival, when you look at Israel's history, all religious reform or revival in
Israel was brought about by a leader or a people who understood this and were jealous
for their God.
Without a jealousy for your God and without understanding the jealous nature of your God,
it is impossible for a leader or a people to bring about reform or revival.
All religious reform or revival in Israel was brought about by either a prophet or a
king or a leader who understood that God was jealous, that he wanted his people for himself,
and who were jealous for their God.
You take Elijah, my God, he takes it to a new level when he taunts the prophets of Baal.
We look at examples from the Old Testament where their jealousy for the God of Israel
drove them to reform and brought revival to the land.
When we talk about jealousy, it's two-pronged.
On one hand, there is the jealousy that encapsulates or captures, there's a jealousy that encapsulates
God's commitment to bring glory to himself.
So there's that jealousy that he has.
He's absolutely committed to bringing glory to himself.
If I were to say that about someone on the earth, you would think they're highly insecure
or highly self-focused.
But when it comes to God, we need to understand that even though he is in our midst, he is
transcendent, meaning he does not belong, is not part of this created order, that he
is beyond that and he introduces himself into it.
But that's not the reason.
The reason God has committed himself to bring glory to himself is because he is the infinite,
perfect creator.
He is the infinite, perfect creator who intends creation to know him for who he is.
Who intends creation to know him for who he is.
And he does not want his glory, he doesn't want his kabod, distorted, adulterated, scorned
or misrepresented.
He cannot afford it.
He cannot.
He is the infinite, perfect creator.
And if he does not commit to bringing glory to himself, as in displaying his splendor,
his magnificence, his kabod, his weight, his power, his majesty, if he does not commit
to it, then his creation will never know him for who he is.
After having displayed himself as a glorious one, creation has still exchanged him for
Sculptures made of stone and wood, worshipping cows and crosses and rats and grotesque masks
and figures after displaying his glory.
The Psalms say that he displays his glory through creation every day and yet in Romans
chapter 1 it says, they exchange the glory of their creator for idols of created.
Because God is committed to his glory.
That's part of his jealousy guys.
And he will not allow his splendor to be distorted and adulterated, scorned or misrepresented.
He will not allow it.
He tries to make that happen through his body now.
This body must carry his glory like the Israelites carried his glory with sufficient fear and
trembling.
The problem with grace, and it is a problem God knew would happen, the problem with grace
is grace allows us the luxury to sin and gives us a sense that we can afford it because his
grace will cover it.
And wherever sin increases, lawlessness increases but grace increases too.
So God was aware of this.
But that doesn't prevent him from giving it.
But we need to be aware of this flip side of it.
My sister was saying to me that nowadays your preaching seems to bring in a certain element
that in the past was not there as and it was always God is so loving, now you're saying
God is not loving.
I'm not saying that.
I'm saying that God is absolutely loving but things exist in God together and they must
be held in tension.
I remember, this is such a pathetic example compared to God, but I remember travelling
with somebody and the person knows me well but the person kept saying, ah you're such
a miser, you're such a miser, you're such a miser, kept saying it.
I listened to it the first time, I laughed the second time, I was quiet the third time.
The fourth time he said it, something rose in me because I am not a miser.
I know how generous I've been allowed to be by God.
And so the fourth time he said it, I had to speak up because I knew that is not me.
It was important to speak up.
And so I turned to the person I said, I may be many things but the one thing I am not,
I am not a miser.
I know people say, oh you've lived alone for so many years, you must be so lonely.
That's another thing that gets me.
I have never known loneliness in my life.
I'm quite happy when I'm alone.
And whenever people say that, I always retort saying, nope, never been lonely in my life.
Why?
Because it is important for me to state who I am.
If me, a flawed, relatively pathetic being compared to God, feels this way, then imagine
what God feels when his nature is distorted.
We don't realize this guys.
He is committed to bringing glory to himself and this won't change.
Jealousy, he is jealous over his glory.
He is jealous over his glory.
That's why he would rather have his name, this is such a strange thing, God would rather
be true to his nature and have his name smudged, be smudged, dragged to the ground than change
his nature and be deceitful and cover up stuff.
This is why many ministries, when they fall, why doesn't God come and cover it up?
When people fall, why doesn't God turn up and say, let's make this go away.
Let's hide this, let's conceal this.
Why?
Because God's reputation is at stake but he still allows it to be exposed.
Why is it that we hear about David's shenanigans?
Why do we hear about Saul's fall?
Why do we hear about Noah sleeping with his daughters?
Why can't a God who is so powerful, sanitize what he says about his dealings with man so
that he comes out looking better because that's not his nature.
He's so jealous about his nature.
Until a people that are his begin to understand his jealousy and his commitment to his glory,
they'll never be able to be ones who can bring about reform or revival because they have
to be jealous about his name too, Phoebe.
Phoebe was doing this so I just had to respond.
This is also why Jesus drove the money changers out of the temple in John chapter 2 verse
17.
He drives them out.
Why?
He actually says, zeal for my house has consumed me.
You have made my house a den of thieves and robbers.
What was the intent there?
Intent was very simple.
The Gentiles were watching, the poor and the oppressed were watching and they were turning
that place which was supposed to be the dwelling of the glory of the God of Israel into a marketplace.
And at some point you see an indignant Jesus who will not be preached in most churches
and he comes with a whip and he begins to chase them out, flipping tables and driving
them out.
Why?
Because he said, the zeal for the house of God has consumed me.
I am jealous for the glory of my father.
This is also why in Hebrews chapter 12, Hebrews chapter 12 ends with these verses which says
that, listen, another shaking is coming and the reason I am bringing this shaking is so
that all religious and historical junk will be thrown out because I, your God, am a consuming
fire.
The reason he says he is a jealous God is because he is really committed to not having
his glory distorted, particularly by his people.
He can understand those who don't know him, messing around with him, saying things like
Richard Dawkins said when he said, Jesus is the most worthless thing that could have happened
to the world.
Those were his words.
I am listening to it and it is just grabbing my heart and I want to reach into the TV.
And yet God listens to that and he can handle it because his intent is, will my body display
my glory and can my body, can my church become jealous about my name, for my name is jealous.
The second aspect about jealousy, as God's jealousy we are talking about, God's jealousy
restricts the compromise of our exclusive allegiance to him.
God's jealousy, God's jealousy restricts the compromise of our exclusive set-apartedness
or our exclusive allegiance to him.
As in, he says, hey, I know that you are mine, you accept me as Lord and Savior, you are
the bride, I am the groom, well, I do not take lightly your compromise of your exclusive
allegiance to me.
I am going to say something which I find hard to say because if you hear it wrongly, it
will be ugly.
God is love but his love is intolerant when it comes to people who belong to him.
God is love but it is an intolerant love that does not entertain two husbands or loyalty
to two masters.
God is love but it is an intolerant love that does not entertain two husbands or loyalty
to two masters.
You cannot serve God in mammon, you cannot serve God in other gods, you cannot serve
God in other pleasures that draw you away, you cannot.
Any husband who doesn't care that his wife committed adultery certainly does not love
her.
Any husband that says, ah, she committed adultery, I don't care.
It is one thing for the husband to resolve and reconcile it, that is the heart of God,
heart of God.
But when a wife commits adultery, if the husband would say, ah, I don't care, it just means
that there was no relationship.
A husband who doesn't care that his wife committed adultery certainly does not love her.
This God that we have committed to and who has committed to us, in that sense his love
is intolerant.
You cannot immediately think intolerant means he is going to slap me around or beat me or
do me harm.
That's not what intolerant means.
This is how we think because when we think intolerance, our intolerance is always followed
by some nasty action or some nasty words or a nasty attitude.
We are talking about God.
The problem with perhaps charismatic Christianity in particular is that we get so friendly with
God that we make him a better version of us.
He is transcendent.
He is nothing like me.
That he comes and makes me his, it's just such a beautiful thing that he does.
But he is nothing like me.
He is infinite.
He is perfect.
He is creator.
He chooses to introduce himself into creation but he is actually separate from creation.
We are not talking about a Hindu God or some other God that is part of creation.
No, this is a very different God.
I'm not angry.
I'm just super passionate about what I'm saying right now.
His name is jealous and thank God for that because how, I mean just think of it.
We are so blessed in that the self-existent one, Yahweh, who does not need anything like
Jesus, he could have created a walnut and been completely happy.
He didn't need to create man.
We are blessed in that the self-existent Yahweh, this self-existent God has entered into an
intimate relationship with you and I.
And he is jealous when we are unfaithful.
We are blessed because of this.
He is jealous that we are unfaithful and at the same time he is also able to present us
blameless before his father as it says in Jude chapter 124.
It's so many things that God can do.
He is jealous when I'm unfaithful.
He is jealous when I am drawn away by other loves and at the same time even though he
is jealous, even though the self-existent one who really doesn't need me has come into
an intimate relationship with me and now that he is so intimate with me, he is jealous when
I'm drawn away by other loves and at the same time he is also able to bring me to a
place where I'm presented blameless before him as it says in Jude 124.
God's jealousy is an annoying speed bump to believers who love the world and keep God
as a mistress.
God's jealousy is an annoying speed bump.
Like every time a believer is driving down the road and decides that his heart is in
the world, God's jealousy is an annoying speed bump with sometimes nails.
Why?
Because you can't keep God as a mistress.
You can't keep God as a mistress.
He is too jealous to allow that to happen.
You can't keep him on the side.
What happens when we do that?
Guys, whatever draws my affection away from God will come back to strip me bare.
Whatever draws my affections away from God will come back to strip me bare.
It's only a matter of time before the Delilah on whose lap I am languishing will strip me
bare.
Blessed are you if you are on a short leash.
All my life I've been on a short leash.
Ever since I became a believer, I've always been on a short leash.
I don't get much leeway when it comes to sin.
I've always had to come back quickly because otherwise whatever has drawn my affection
away from God in the last 32 years has always ended up stripping me bare.
I come back quickly to him.
Blessed are you if you are on a short leash.
The short leash grows longer when you struggle against it.
Don't struggle against it.
Be thankful that he is jealous.
One of the hardest things to hear is when you meet children or young people who are
out on the streets or who haven't returned home at 2 and 3 a.m. and you meet them.
I've had this experience a few times in different countries and I'll ask them, what about your
dad and mom?
And their response is, ah, they don't care.
And it is so true.
You can come home at 3 or 4 in the night and they don't care.
Do you want a dad like that?
I'm talking about the father now.
I don't.
It's a blessed thing that your God is jealous.
Guys, there's a distinction.
God does not become jealous.
He is jealous.
And he is not envious.
God does not become jealous.
As in these are not feelings that wash over him.
God does not become jealous.
He is jealous.
That is my name.
And it is not envy.
He's not envious.
Envy is a desire to possess something that doesn't belong to you.
And it lies at the core of Satan's rebellion.
Satan wanted something that didn't belong to him.
This is why the Bible is so strong, especially Paul's writings.
Do not succumb to bitter envy.
Because where there is envy and jealousy, and this is the other kind of envy and jealousy,
where you desire to possess something that doesn't belong to you,
or you desire to have someone else who has something that you don't have,
to be deprived of it.
That kind of envy and jealousy, the Bible says,
wherever there is that kind of bitter envy and jealousy,
there is always that which is sensual, demonic, and sinful.
Confusion, sensual, centrality, and demonic is always present
where there is bitter envy and jealousy.
We are not talking about that here.
God does not become jealous.
He is jealous and he is not envious.
Envy or jealousy from an earthly sense is a desire to possess something that doesn't belong to you.
Or a desire to deprive someone who has something you don't have.
And this lies at the core of Satan's rebellion.
God's jealousy is different.
God's jealousy is a strong desire to maintain relational faithfulness with those who belong to him.
God's jealousy is a strong desire, is a very strong desire,
to maintain relational faithfulness, to maintain relational faithfulness with those who belong to him.
Relational faithfulness with those that belong to him.
His jealousy doesn't ever lead to rivalry, to manipulation or possessiveness.
His jealousy led to his death.
So strange, eh?
When we think of jealousy, we think of an...
I mean, I was looking for pictures to put up for a jealous God.
And you type in the word jealous and you say images.
And it's always some husband or wife who has a frown on their face
and who is either being abusive or suspicious.
This is not what we are talking about.
We are talking about a God whose jealousy led to his death.
It didn't lead to rivalry, it didn't lead to manipulation, it didn't lead to possessiveness, it led to his death.
Why? Because he is committed to maintaining relational faithfulness.
Ever since he created man, he has committed himself to maintaining relational faithfulness.
He knows our frailty, his compassion kicks in from 34.6, but he expects relational faithfulness.
And he is jealous over me.
Allow his jealousy to win your heart, guys.
Allow his jealousy to win your heart.
I remember going with Pastor Mike in 1999.
Someone had asked us to go for a meeting to Seattle.
So Pastor Mike and I drove across.
This was before 9-11.
And we entered this house and there's this prophet there called Ira Milligan.
And as soon as we enter, he looks at me and says, what's your name?
And I said, Jacob.
I was not doing well those days, Jacob.
Going through really difficult times, really difficult times.
And I haven't even sat down, I walked through and he says, Jacob, you are special to God.
God distributes things equally.
He's like a parent who gives children the same allowance.
There's something about you that attracts the heart of God.
You're special to him.
So when Satan comes to whoop you up when you're going through difficult times
and you feel like throwing in the towel, don't.
Because Satan knows that God likes you and he's jealous of it.
The reason I can say these words so easily is so many times since 1999,
I have had times that are difficult and I remember the simple words.
And the way he said it, he almost said it on behalf of God.
Jacob, you are special to God.
I almost think it carried the sense of what God was saying.
Let his jealousy win your heart.
He says different things to you, eh?
This is what he said to me.
What has he said to you?
Thing is, guys, again, this might sound very possessive from my end,
but God is already mine.
He is already mine because of his jealous love for me.
He is already mine.
It's scriptural. It says everything is yours.
Christ is yours, too.
On one hand, we have absolutely no ownership over God,
but because of his relational faithfulness, he is already mine.
I find that so odd and so overwhelming and overpowering.
He, as in, oh God, you are already mine because of your jealous love for me.
I asked Emily to learn this song called Already Yours.
That's basically what it says.
He is already mine.
Everything belongs to me because everything is contained in Christ,
and Christ is already mine.
Any questions?
Where is the scripture? Everything is...
I just want to make sure I'm quoting it right.
I can't find it. If I find it, I'll let you know.
Okay.
Don't go looking for it right now because you'll miss out on the points I'm going to make.
So how does this...
Oh, a time for him.
How about $60,000 in debt, no job, promises that haven't come to pass,
nothing working out, no ministry, didn't have money to travel,
could barely have money to put $3 worth of gas to drive to the airport to pick up people,
would pretend that I left my wallet at home because how can you tell someone
you didn't have $3 to fill your gas tank?
Once I had to go past the fast food window of Burger King because the 99 cent burgers,
I forgot that tax was six cents and I didn't have six cents.
People didn't want me to teach, preach, though it was so much on my heart.
And the worst thing was that all these promises were alive and I absolutely believed them.
But none of them had come to pass yet and I didn't know what was going to happen.
I knew an Axe 29 would be in the wings. I knew the nations awaited.
Had sins that I was struggling with that I couldn't snap out of completely, had returned to sins.
Anything good that would come into my hand would eventually slip out so that
whatever I held was like sand that slipped through.
Finally got so discouraged I wanted to throw it all up and say,
forget it, just go and do what I'm supposed to do.
Had job offers that I would refuse because I thought I was supposed to plant a church
or at least work in a church and then nothing would happen.
Lost friends, lost the trust of even family members because they thought,
why are you doing this? We gave you a good start. Does that help or should I go on?
But what kept you going was, but Father you said so, it must happen, it must happen.
I can easily take this job, Father.
Oh my God, I remember May 1st, 2000. I got a job from a local newspaper.
I have a dilemma. If I take the job, I make good money or there's a church that's offering me a job for $550 a month.
And I'm thinking, which one do I choose? It is such a dumb question.
When you have that big a debt, choose what you need to choose.
By the way, my car got repossessed because I didn't have money to pay for it.
I've never seen a sheriff appear at your door. It's not a very peaceful, pleasant sight.
I'm thinking, which one should I take? Feel the Lord saying, go read Isaiah 49.
So I go read Isaiah 49 and here's what it says,
your work is with the Lord and your recompense will come from him and you will be rewarded by him.
And now I'm thinking, okay, so I can't take up the job.
And so I take up the other $550 job and that is the beginning of the restoration of God in my life.
People were so kind to me, people that I owed money to forgave my debts.
And slowly, bit by bit, every promise started coming to pass, every promise.
Psalm 40 is one of my favorite psalms.
I waited patiently for the Lord, he turned and heard my cry.
He lifted me from the mire, from the...
He set my feet on a rock and he gave me a firm place to stand.
He put a new song in my lips, a hymn of praise to God, a hymn of praise to God.
Many will see, many will fear, many will put their trust in the Lord.
What does a short leash look like?
A short leash looks like every time I would fall into sin, fall into disobedience, I'd pay a very heavy cost.
And so it wasn't fun.
It was like, what father, everybody else can do it, they do it and you do nothing about it and I just take one step, prack!
It was never a prack, it was never...
It was a sense that, man, you can't get away with nothing.
It was like those times when your mom has eyes at the back of her head where you do something and you get caught and she wasn't even watching.
It was like that, man.
That's what I mean by short leash.
And it's a wonderful thing, I always thank God for a short leash.
Many times I thank him saying, Father, bless you for keeping me on a short leash.
Okay, before any other questions come from whoever this person is, is it Diana?
Two different people. Was one of them Diana? Thank God for her.
Exodus 34, back to Exodus 34.
My God, why did I tell you all those things? You didn't need to know all those things.
Exodus 34.
Guys, after we read Exodus 34, 14, we need to go above and see what God says will happen in verses 11 to 13.
Because that's how it connects to what we need to do now, that he's a jealous God.
My mom came here the first time. I had to do three and a half jobs because I didn't have enough money to maintain myself.
And so I remember Joan's dad employed me and then there was a church that employed me and then there was Jeremy's dad who employed me.
Yeah, they were so kind, man.
Anyways, Exodus 34, 11 to 13.
It says there, the New King James Version puts it this way, observe, as in take note for yourself what I command you this day.
This is a jealous God's sake. If I'm jealous, then these are some of the things I command you to do.
One, because I'm jealous, I will drive out the enemy from before you.
I will drive out the Hittites, the Hivites, the Perizzites out from before you.
I will drive out the enemy.
So these are the advantages that we have because God is jealous because when he's starting something on earth
and he chooses the people through whom he will do it, like he did with Israel, he gives us some solid promises because his name is jealous.
One of the first promises he gives us in Acts 29, I hope you're in a position to receive this.
The first thing he says is, I will drive out the enemy from before you.
And he names the enemies that are before them.
The second thing he says is, make sure that you don't make a treaty with the cultures around you.
Don't make a treaty with the cultures around you.
Don't make a treaty with the cultures around you because it will ensnare you.
Because it will ensnare you.
And then the third thing he says is, tear down.
Shaken altars and Asherah poles.
These are three things he's commanding us now because of what he's instituting on earth in terms of this revival.
So the first thing is, his jealousy will drive out the enemy relentlessly for two years.
Relentlessly for the next two years because the third year will be such an amazing harvest.
You see the harvest already but the third year will be such a crazy harvest.
But for the first two years, he'll relentlessly drive out the enemy.
Because everyone, why does he do this?
Because he's so jealous for people.
Why would he do this? Because everyone, communists, materialists, democrats, Hindus, Buddhists, Muslim devotees,
everyone actually belong to and exist for the pleasure of the one true God
and have been reconciled through the cross of Christ and need to hear it.
And this is a jealous God and he's jealous for those that he made.
He is creator but he is jealous and it is his jealousy that sent Christ to the cross and his jealousy still loves.
We don't realize that a revival is a result of God's jealousy.
And that it is impossible to participate in a God revival without a people and the leaders being jealous about the jealousy that God has.
No reformation, no revival comes without a people being jealous for God.
Gosh, I wish you guys were here because for some reason the sound crew doesn't shout hallelujah.
Now they did.
God will go before us city after city out working Deutronomy 9, 1-3.
Deutronomy 9, 1-3. Beautiful.
Deutronomy 9, 1-3.
Attention Israel.
Let me read from the Aniomi.
Be careful to follow every command I'm giving you today so that you may live and increase and may enter and possess the land the Lord promised on oath to your ancestors.
Remember how the Lord your God led you all the way in the wilderness these 40 years.
That's Deutronomy 8. Let's go to Deutronomy 9.
Here Israel, you are now about to cross the Jordan to go in and disobey the law of the earth.
Here Israel, you are now about to cross the Jordan to go in and dispossess nations greater and stronger than you with large cities that have walls up to the sky.
The people are strong and tall, Anakites.
You know about them and I've heard it said who can stand up against the Anakites.
But be assured today that the Lord your God is the one who goes across ahead of you like a devouring fire.
He will destroy them. He will subdue them.
He will drive them out and annihilate them quickly as the Lord has promised.
This is what he is going to do city by city by city by city across this earth.
Yah man!
And then look at Zechariah 8 verse 1 to 8 that was given to us before Covid.
Zechariah 8 1 to 8.
Ah! Love this! Sometimes when you see in hindsight what God said you think to yourself, my God you're setting us up.
The word of the Lord Almighty came to me.
Zechariah 8 1 to 8.
This is what the Lord Almighty says.
I'm very jealous for Zion.
I'm burning with jealousy for her.
This is what the Lord says.
I will return to Zion and dwell in Jerusalem.
Then Jerusalem will be called the faithful city and the mountain of the Lord Almighty will be called the holy mountain.
This is what the Lord Almighty says.
Once again men and women of ripe old ages will be in the streets of Jerusalem.
Each of them with cane in hand because of their age.
The city streets will be filled with boys and girls playing there.
This is what the Lord Almighty says.
It may seem marvelous to the remnant of this people at the time but will it seem marvelous to me?
Not really declares the Lord Almighty.
I added the not really.
This is what the Lord Almighty says.
I will save my people from the countries of the east and the west and I will bring them back to live in Jerusalem.
They will be my people and I will be their faithful and righteous to them as their God.
Hallelujah!
Now you understand why we read out that prophetic word given to us for this revival.
So don't be afraid.
I am with you for I will pour out water on the thirsty land and streams on dry ground.
I will pour out my spirit on your offspring and my blessing on your descendants.
I will bring your children from the east and gather them from the west.
I'll send orders to the north and to the south.
I'll say to the north give them up and to the south do not hold them back.
Return my sons from afar and my daughters from the ends of the earth.
I want them back.
Every last one who bears my name.
Every man, woman and child who I created for my glory.
How wonderful and beautiful they will be.
The young men will thrive on abundant grain and the young women will flourish on new wine.
They will spring up among the grass like willows by watercourses.
You will raise up young men and young women.
Bishops, strong apostolic ministry, strong teachers going out from your company and they will reproduce this anointing.
Your young people will freely join you at the break of dawn with all the vigor of youth resplendent in holy armor on the day of your conquest.
I can take breaths in between it's just that it is so exciting.
What can you do?
I will drive out the enemy from before you.
He vines, periscides, jebiscides driven out so that you can have your inheritance.
God will go before a city after city and outwork these scriptures so that anyone who calls on his name will be saved.
Especially the young.
The second thing he says is do not compromise with the cultures around you.
Do not make treaties with the pagan cultures around you.
Why?
So that we may escape spiritual traps.
So that we may not be taken by Trojan horses.
So that we may not have our loyalties divided between things of the earth, things of the world and things of God.
In Numbers 33, 55 God says, hey make sure that with these other cultures you guys don't mix because if you do they will become like thorns in your side.
And blindness to your eyes, Numbers 33, 55.
There is a need guys to avoid and escape spiritual traps.
There is so much of it around us right now and I know this church is aware of it.
But there is so much that comes from practices that are not rooted in Christian tradition that are being allowed into churches.
And I'm being cryptic here.
That are being allowed into churches and embraced because it gives you some physical benefit.
Churches are awash especially in this part of the world.
Just receiving with open arms things that are deeply rooted in traditions, religions and mysticism.
These are Trojan horses that once they enter your fortress will have it open.
That will cause spiritual snares to develop.
That aside as a church, God against being relevant and attractive.
God against being relevant and attractive.
You don't have to be irrelevant and shabby but you don't have to aim for relevance and attractiveness.
God against secular psychology.
The name of Jesus Christ does marvelous things.
The wisdom of Christ does marvelous things.
God against secular psychology.
God against experiential theology where my theology is defined by my experience or your experience and not by the truth of God.
God against sexual standards being lowered.
Or accommodating sexual standards that if you don't will make you look narrow minded.
You are narrow minded.
God against building anything around personalities.
Any personality driven brand will collapse.
God against building anything around personalities.
Any personality driven brand will collapse.
The beautiful thing is guys when nothing competes with God we mirror him well.
When nothing competes with God we mirror him well.
When things compete in our lives with God what is mirrored is a mixture, is a distortion.
But when nothing competes with God you mirror him well.
And then the last one is tear down altars.
Why should you tear down altars?
You should tear down altars to guard the lives of your children.
Guard the hearts of your children.
If you don't tear down altars today your children will not be able to withstand them tomorrow.
Tear down pagan altars.
Tearing down altars is basically subduing powers.
Subduing powers.
These are things the church has taught but I'm just bringing them back.
This is a jealous God.
One of the reasons he would not allow Israel to mix with pagan cultures is because he did not want the purity of Israel to be sabotaged.
Tear down pagan altars as in subdue the enemy.
Because if we don't subdue pagan powers they will take others captive and they will wait for your children to grow up to take them captive too.
You don't know how serious I am.
Which is why you see kings like Hezekiah in 2 Kings 18.3 going and pulling down altars, cutting down Asherah poles.
This is why you see a king like Jehoiada in 2 Kings 11.17 doing the same thing.
Destroying pagan altars, cutting down Asherah poles.
One of my favorite kings in the Old Testament besides David is Josiah.
Comes to kingship when he was 8 years old under a guardian.
But as he begins to grow he is something else.
He was one of the finest kings who took on the ways of David.
And when you read 2 Kings 23, I mean the first 20 verses are dedicated to how Josiah stripped bare every high place.
Cut down every Asherah pole.
Destroyed every pagan altar.
Killed every pagan prophet and priest.
Putting an end to evil in the land.
Do you know why he did it?
Not to establish his kingship but because he was jealous for the God of Israel.
Many versions of the Bible translate jealousy as zealous.
Jealous becomes zealous.
You have to be jealous first to become zealous.
Jealousy is what gives you zeal for something.
I am jealous over this so there is a zeal that possesses me.
That is my prayer for us.
That you serve a jealous God and that jealousy should become yours so that you can possess a zeal to undo this.
Otherwise it will be left to a few to do that.
And the few will do it.
And you will reap the benefits but will not be part of the adventure.
That is such a sad deal.
All religious revival starts with a jealous leader or a jealous people.
And jealousy for God's honor saves lives.
Jealousy for God's honor saves lives.
Numbers 25, this guy called Phinehas who would have never come into prominence except that
Moses is meeting God in the tent of meeting.
And Zimri goes and gets a woman who is a Midianite called Cosby and he brings her and in front of Israel while they are worshiping the God of Israel
what is insinuated there is that he brings this Midianite woman into the camp while the cloud has settled on the tent
and he begins to caress her and is caught up in caressing her.
That is the actual sense of the word there.
And Phinehas sees it and he grabs a javelin and he takes a javelin and shoves it both through Zimri and through Cosby.
And you would think God would say it's not a good thing to do Phinehas.
Instead he says this man will be recorded for the future forever because it's the zeal of God that consumed him.
And a plague had already broken out through the camp.
If Phinehas hadn't done that, that plague would have consumed thousands.
One man's zeal saves the people.
Jealous for the honor of God.
You know, do you know that God wears zeal like a cloak?
We talked about it last week.
He wraps himself in a cloak of zeal.
Hey, if passion is missing in your life and you're a believer, ask for it because it is something your God wears.
I was talking to a pastor four days ago.
And he was telling me about this really great meeting that camp like thing that he was having.
While they were having the camp, at one point he sees this vision and in that vision the Holy Spirit begins to fall and it actually began to happen.
But in the vision he sees women just breaking out of their limitations, receiving the Holy Spirit and coming alight.
And the same Holy Spirit begins to pour and rain upon the men with the same power.
And the men in that vision can sense it, know it, they are aware of what is happening.
But the men somehow are able to disconnect, harden their hearts, hold back their feelings and not commit to the passion and the zeal of the Spirit of God there.
And then the vision ends.
And the pastor was literally weeping as he was telling me this story.
And I say to the men who were listening to me,
You ain't man enough if you are not responding to the Holy Spirit.
You're not a man's man if you're not responding to the Holy Spirit.
You're just responding to some, sorry I'm going to use the hard word, stupid idea of what a man should be in your head.
Men need to be passionate.
It's almost like a curse upon men across churches in the entire world.
When the women step up and sometimes the women have to fight against authority and order.
Or stay quiet in the background because the men are not there.
They will not weep, they will not be passionate, they will not step up, they will not show the zeal.
Why? Why? It's a curse that should be broken and if we don't break it at Acts 29 what will we show others?
In this area imitate me and you will be imitating Christ.
I'm talking to the men.
The weapons of our warfare are obviously divine like it says in 2 Corinthians 10.
Father I just come against the dullness, the sloth, the fear, the lack of passion, the lack of zeal.
Amongst the men, first at Acts 29, amongst, in my life where there is a limitation, where there is a ceiling, where there is inhibition.
Where there is fear, where there is sloth.
I come against it in my life, I come against it in the life of every man.
Stand up men to your feet. Right here, stand up to your feet, only the men.
And in the name of Jesus Christ I come and break it in Christ's name.
I break it in our lives that we shall not be men who do not know how to be cloaked with the zeal of God.
It is time for the men of Acts 29 to step up so that it can be repeated.
Put your hands up guys. What are we standing like this for?
I'm sorry, I'm not angry, I promise you I'm not angry.
But it is time, it is time for men to let go of their inhibition.
Raise their hands up, bless God, shout without provocation.
Without provocation, shout without provocation.
Shout without provocation.
That God is God.
That we are made in His image.
That He has placed us in the order of things.
As below Christ, with Christ as our head.
Why will we not shout and behave like Jesus who was a man?
Come church.
We shall be this way not during services, we shall be this way during the day, during the night.
We shall be men that are called by God with Christ as our head.
I break this curse, this flop, this dullness amongst us first.
And having broken it here, it shall travel from city to city to nation to nation among the young and the old.
In Jesus name, hallelujah.
Hey Phoebs, I'm okay.
Let her come.
You can sit guys.
Thank you for responding.
I hope men at home responded too.
The weapons of our warfare are divine.
We are not meant to be violent like in the Old Testament.
Jesus makes it very clear.
When Peter cuts off Malchus' ear, Jesus responded saying, put the sword away.
When James and John wanted to call down fire upon the Samaritans, Jesus responded and said, you're not of the same spirit.
So our weapons are weapons that are divine for the pulling down of strongholds.
2 Corinthians 10, 3 to 5.
And here are the simple weapons that we'll be using for the next two years.
The first weapon is righteousness.
You wear righteousness, you can be bold as a lion.
You do not walk in righteousness, you do not have boldness.
Righteousness is a weapon.
Righteous living makes me bold.
It gives me the audacity to do things because I know that I now am one who walks with the King of glory,
mighty in battle and have the ability to open ancient doors to let him in and to shut down demonic doors that have existed for hundreds of years.
Righteous living makes me bold.
It's a weapon.
Righteous living is a weapon.
Righteousness exalts a nation.
Wickedness tears it down.
Righteousness is a weapon.
Practice it for no other reason sometimes.
Righteousness makes me bold.
Second weapon is the gospel.
The gospel is the power of God unto salvation.
Romans 1.
The gospel is the weapon.
The gospel is the power of God that rescues.
It's the power that rescues.
The gospel is the power that rescues.
Third weapon is the word of God.
The word is a sword with which you can slay the enemy.
To slay the enemy.
The more you can wield it under the control of the Holy Spirit, the more fluid you are with it, the more you see bodies of the enemy lying on the ground.
The word is used to slay the enemy and the enemy in this case is Satan and his demonic agents.
Then you have the Holy Spirit, the anointing of the Spirit.
The anointing of the Spirit.
The Spirit of the Lord is upon me.
For he does two things with the Holy Spirit.
On one hand you release captives and on the other hand you announce jubilee.
You announce jubilee of favor.
These are all weapons.
You announce jubilee.
Two more.
The knowledge of the truth.
Sets you free.
The knowledge of the truth sets you free.
Continuously seek the knowledge of the truth from the word.
And abhor and denounce false teaching.
Abhor and denounce false teaching.
False teaching.
Even at the risk of sounding intolerant, even at the risk of sounding divisive.
Abhor and denounce false teaching.
The knowledge of the truth sets you free.
False teaching takes people captive.
You denounce it, abhor it, even at the risk of sounding intolerant and divisive.
Which is why I sometimes call out and name things here.
Because they are false.
They bring into Christianity, because of the enormity of the popularity of the leaders who preach this,
it brings into Christianity a falsehood that is hollowing it out.
And then the last one, giving.
Giving is a weapon.
It rebukes the devourer.
Malachi 3, it rebukes the devourer.
Generosity rebukes the devourer.
He is unable to eat the fruit of our harvest.
Because he stands rebuked by our generosity.
And this allows us to increase in it.
These are our weapons, guys.
Please men, don't take what happened here as a token exercise we engaged in.
Know that God has broken sloth, dullness, curse from our lives so that we can walk with a degree of Aman and be cloaked with the same zeal that Christ your king and the ultimate man, if you want to call him that,
Know that God has broken sloth, dullness, curse from our lives so that we can walk with a degree of passion and be cloaked with the same zeal that Christ your king and the ultimate man, if you want to call him that,
wears and has been wearing forever.
Walk in that with passion.
Less inhibition, less afraid.
Loud speaking words.
Framing the world around you and benefiting others with your words.
I'm done.
We're going to just sing this song called He is Jealous for Me.
After that we'll break bread.
This song is both the jealousy of God and the love of God.
Sometimes when I think, when I sing these words, I think to myself,
sometimes men find it hard to sing this song.
But try it, men.
Try it.
Try it in terms of father and son.