WEBVTT NOTE Podcast: Acts 29 Vancouver Episode: Ezk 37 By the Spirit Publishing Date: 2019-09-01T06:00:44-07:00 Podcast URL: https://acts29.ca Episode URL: https://acts29.ca/ezk-37-by-the-spirit/ 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:03.080 a rattling sound and the bones came together bone to bone. 00:00:03.080 --> 00:00:05.640 I looked and the tendons and the flesh appeared on them 00:00:05.640 --> 00:00:08.760 and the skin covered them, but there was no breath in them. 00:00:08.760 --> 00:00:11.320 Then he said to me, prophesy to the breath, 00:00:11.320 --> 00:00:13.360 prophesy son of man and say to it, 00:00:13.360 --> 00:00:15.320 this is what the sovereign Lord says, 00:00:15.320 --> 00:00:17.300 come from the four winds of breath 00:00:17.300 --> 00:00:20.040 and breathe into these slain that they may live. 00:00:20.040 --> 00:00:21.800 So I prophesied as he commanded. 00:00:23.540 --> 00:00:25.960 And breath entered them, they came to life 00:00:25.960 --> 00:00:28.560 and they stood up to their feet, a vast army. 00:00:28.600 --> 00:00:29.960 And then he said to me, son of man, 00:00:29.960 --> 00:00:32.680 these bones are the whole house of Israel. 00:00:32.680 --> 00:00:33.960 They say our bones are dried up, 00:00:33.960 --> 00:00:35.680 our hope is gone, we are cut off. 00:00:35.680 --> 00:00:37.320 Therefore prophesy and say to them, 00:00:37.320 --> 00:00:39.020 this is what the sovereign Lord says, 00:00:39.020 --> 00:00:41.080 oh my people, I'm going to open your graves, 00:00:41.080 --> 00:00:42.300 bring you up from them, 00:00:42.300 --> 00:00:44.180 I'll bring you back to the land of Israel. 00:00:44.180 --> 00:00:46.520 Then you my people will know that I am the Lord, 00:00:46.520 --> 00:00:49.280 when I open your graves and bring you back from them, 00:00:49.280 --> 00:00:51.280 I'll put my spirit in you and you will live 00:00:51.280 --> 00:00:53.120 and I will settle you in your own land. 00:00:53.120 --> 00:00:55.160 Then you will know that I, the Lord have spoken 00:00:55.160 --> 00:00:56.920 and I've done it declares the Lord. 00:00:56.920 --> 00:01:00.120 Hey, strange, this entire chapter, 00:01:00.120 --> 00:01:04.760 God is asking a man to prophesy on stuff that is dead. 00:01:04.760 --> 00:01:08.740 And yet it is something that churches hardly engage in. 00:01:10.240 --> 00:01:12.640 Where we begin to speak what God wants us 00:01:12.640 --> 00:01:14.280 to speak into situations, 00:01:14.280 --> 00:01:17.240 trusting that if he commands it, he can do it, 00:01:17.240 --> 00:01:18.960 but he uses man to do it. 00:01:20.640 --> 00:01:23.080 Over the next four weeks, we'll talk about stuff 00:01:23.080 --> 00:01:27.160 that we think is either the realm of a few select 00:01:27.160 --> 00:01:29.860 or is the realm of the Old Testament. 00:01:31.060 --> 00:01:34.520 Instead, we'll find that a lot of what God says 00:01:34.520 --> 00:01:37.040 in the Old Testament, and that is the old covenant, 00:01:37.040 --> 00:01:39.840 where the spirit of God did not actually dwell in people. 00:01:39.840 --> 00:01:41.960 It only came upon, the spirit of God only came up 00:01:41.960 --> 00:01:44.040 on prophets, priests and kings. 00:01:44.040 --> 00:01:46.480 And yet now we have the Holy Spirit dwelling in us. 00:01:46.480 --> 00:01:48.840 And yet this looks so alien to us, 00:01:48.840 --> 00:01:51.580 this sounds so alien to us. 00:01:51.580 --> 00:01:53.400 And yet time and time again, 00:01:53.400 --> 00:01:56.020 the one phrase that is used often in the Old Testament 00:01:56.020 --> 00:01:58.740 and the New Testament is that the spirit of God 00:01:58.740 --> 00:02:00.540 came upon me, that the spirit of God lifted me, 00:02:00.540 --> 00:02:01.780 that the spirit of God carried me, 00:02:01.780 --> 00:02:03.240 that I was found in the spirit, 00:02:03.240 --> 00:02:05.440 that I was completely in the control of the spirit. 00:02:05.440 --> 00:02:08.860 The spirit of God showed me, I heard a voice of the spirit, 00:02:08.860 --> 00:02:10.260 I turned around and I looked. 00:02:10.260 --> 00:02:12.780 These are phrases that go throughout the Old Testament 00:02:12.780 --> 00:02:15.660 and the New Testament, and yet it is not our experience. 00:02:15.660 --> 00:02:16.500 How come? 00:02:18.260 --> 00:02:20.420 Partly because I think we are scared of anything 00:02:20.420 --> 00:02:22.300 that has to do with the spirit, 00:02:22.300 --> 00:02:25.220 except perhaps now speaking in tongues. 00:02:26.420 --> 00:02:27.460 And that took a while. 00:02:31.140 --> 00:02:33.260 And yet speaking in tongues is one of the, 00:02:33.260 --> 00:02:35.700 I don't wanna call it a minor gift, 00:02:35.700 --> 00:02:39.020 but it's just one-on-one. 00:02:39.020 --> 00:02:41.380 There's so much more that the Holy Spirit does. 00:02:41.380 --> 00:02:42.220 Because at the end of the day, 00:02:42.220 --> 00:02:45.580 the spirit of God didn't come necessarily to give us gifts. 00:02:45.580 --> 00:02:47.320 He came to make us like Christ. 00:02:48.080 --> 00:02:50.120 That was the intent of the Holy Spirit, 00:02:50.120 --> 00:02:51.680 that we become like Christ. 00:02:55.120 --> 00:02:56.680 I'm becoming like Christ in demands 00:02:56.680 --> 00:02:58.720 that I walk like Christ, that I obey. 00:03:00.240 --> 00:03:03.920 And so we'll touch on stuff that is normally avoided, 00:03:03.920 --> 00:03:06.720 because it almost sounds like we're stepping into stuff 00:03:06.720 --> 00:03:08.320 that's only the realm of a few. 00:03:08.320 --> 00:03:09.640 And it's not true, man. 00:03:09.640 --> 00:03:12.240 The entire church is supposed to behave a certain way. 00:03:12.240 --> 00:03:15.920 God would rather have a people of God that are prophetic 00:03:16.360 --> 00:03:18.600 than one or two individuals who are prophetic. 00:03:19.600 --> 00:03:20.840 Just imagine that, eh? 00:03:20.840 --> 00:03:22.440 If a people became prophetic, 00:03:22.440 --> 00:03:25.800 as in if a people began to figure out 00:03:25.800 --> 00:03:27.680 how to know what God wants, 00:03:27.680 --> 00:03:29.800 and then how to bring that to pass on Earth. 00:03:33.200 --> 00:03:37.400 That was the intent when God called Israel out of Egypt. 00:03:37.400 --> 00:03:38.240 What did he say? 00:03:38.240 --> 00:03:41.000 You are a kingdom of priests to me. 00:03:41.000 --> 00:03:42.720 That I want you to use, 00:03:42.720 --> 00:03:44.440 I want to use you as a people 00:03:44.520 --> 00:03:47.600 I want to use you as a people to let other nations know 00:03:47.600 --> 00:03:49.200 that Yahweh is God. 00:03:50.160 --> 00:03:51.200 That was his intent. 00:03:54.000 --> 00:03:57.080 And what if we stopped looking at one or two people 00:03:57.080 --> 00:03:58.680 who play the role of prophet, 00:03:58.680 --> 00:04:01.720 what if an entire community became prophetic in nature? 00:04:03.080 --> 00:04:04.880 And what do you mean by prophetic in nature? 00:04:04.880 --> 00:04:09.480 Being able to figure out what God's wisdom is in situations 00:04:09.480 --> 00:04:12.880 and beginning to say it at any cost, 00:04:12.880 --> 00:04:14.920 because it is the right thing to say. 00:04:14.920 --> 00:04:17.120 The prophetic always involves truth 00:04:17.120 --> 00:04:19.400 and it always involves persecution 00:04:19.400 --> 00:04:20.840 if it is spoken clearly. 00:04:24.240 --> 00:04:26.400 Name one prophet in the Old Testament 00:04:26.400 --> 00:04:28.800 or in the New Testament who wasn't persecuted. 00:04:29.880 --> 00:04:30.800 All of them were. 00:04:32.200 --> 00:04:33.920 John the Revelator was thrown away 00:04:33.920 --> 00:04:35.560 into an island called Patmos 00:04:35.560 --> 00:04:37.520 and had to spend most of his time there. 00:04:37.520 --> 00:04:41.360 Every other prophet was at some point put in chains. 00:04:43.680 --> 00:04:45.880 What if a people began to work like this? 00:04:45.880 --> 00:04:46.720 That's the intent. 00:04:46.720 --> 00:04:47.800 It's not to make us prophets, 00:04:47.800 --> 00:04:49.560 it's to make us a prophetic voice. 00:05:02.560 --> 00:05:06.240 No, I'm talking about when a people begin to figure out 00:05:06.240 --> 00:05:09.080 what God wants and when a people begin to stand up 00:05:09.080 --> 00:05:12.560 for the truth and when a people begin to have 00:05:12.560 --> 00:05:14.680 the boldness to speak that truth. 00:05:15.640 --> 00:05:17.840 And it's happened over the ages, eh? 00:05:17.840 --> 00:05:19.880 There were people who stood up and said 00:05:19.880 --> 00:05:22.760 that we would rather die than not get baptized. 00:05:22.760 --> 00:05:25.240 There were people who stood up after Martin Luther 00:05:25.240 --> 00:05:28.200 nailed his thesis to the church door and said, 00:05:28.200 --> 00:05:31.360 we would rather walk this way than go back to the old way. 00:05:31.360 --> 00:05:33.200 There were people who did this. 00:05:33.200 --> 00:05:36.760 There've been people in every age who found a leader 00:05:36.760 --> 00:05:39.320 who told them the truth and then they began to stand up 00:05:39.320 --> 00:05:40.560 and they paid a price. 00:05:40.560 --> 00:05:42.640 Anything that we have today that is true 00:05:42.640 --> 00:05:44.600 has already been paid a price for. 00:05:50.080 --> 00:05:53.480 Anything we enjoy as freedom has been paid for. 00:05:55.240 --> 00:05:56.640 I'm not talking just about Christianity, 00:05:56.640 --> 00:05:59.680 I'm talking about any freedom that is really freedom 00:05:59.680 --> 00:06:02.920 that comes from the nature of God has been paid for. 00:06:02.920 --> 00:06:05.640 And the ultimate payment was Christ himself. 00:06:06.400 --> 00:06:10.400 So if you look at Ezekiel 37.1, 00:06:10.400 --> 00:06:12.760 it starts off with this idea of the hand of the Lord 00:06:12.760 --> 00:06:16.480 was on me and he brought me out by the Spirit of the Lord 00:06:16.480 --> 00:06:18.520 and set me in the middle of the valley, 00:06:18.520 --> 00:06:19.520 it was full of bones. 00:06:19.520 --> 00:06:20.840 Now some say it was a vision, 00:06:20.840 --> 00:06:24.960 some say it was an actual lifting up of Ezekiel 00:06:24.960 --> 00:06:26.720 by the Holy Spirit, it doesn't matter. 00:06:26.720 --> 00:06:29.120 At the end of the day, it says the hand of the Lord 00:06:29.120 --> 00:06:31.360 was on me and he brought me out by the Spirit of the Lord. 00:06:31.360 --> 00:06:32.680 If you go to Ezekiel 11, 00:06:33.200 --> 00:06:34.840 if you go to Ezekiel 11, 00:06:34.840 --> 00:06:36.800 in Ezekiel 11 verse five it says, 00:06:36.800 --> 00:06:39.280 the Spirit of the Lord lifted me up 00:06:39.280 --> 00:06:43.240 between earth and heaven and in visions God gave me, 00:06:43.240 --> 00:06:46.080 the Spirit told me about Jerusalem. 00:06:46.080 --> 00:06:47.520 This is in the Old Testament. 00:06:50.720 --> 00:06:53.320 In another place in Ezekiel it says, 00:06:53.320 --> 00:06:55.640 the Spirit of the Lord came upon me. 00:06:55.640 --> 00:06:58.680 Another place it says, I was in the Spirit, 00:06:58.680 --> 00:07:00.720 the Holy Spirit took complete control of me 00:07:00.720 --> 00:07:02.440 on the Lord's day. 00:07:02.480 --> 00:07:04.600 In Acts chapter 10 verse 10, 00:07:04.600 --> 00:07:07.800 Peter is hungry, he goes and sits up on the balcony 00:07:07.800 --> 00:07:09.920 of Cornelius' house and as he's, 00:07:09.920 --> 00:07:12.440 not Cornelius' house, Simon the Tanner's house, 00:07:12.440 --> 00:07:14.360 and as he's sitting on the balcony, 00:07:14.360 --> 00:07:17.760 he falls into a trance where he's transported 00:07:17.760 --> 00:07:20.440 by the Spirit and he sees visions 00:07:20.440 --> 00:07:22.920 of that sheet being lowered with a whole lot 00:07:22.920 --> 00:07:27.000 of uncultured insects on it and creepy crawlies on it. 00:07:28.800 --> 00:07:30.360 This was common man. 00:07:31.280 --> 00:07:34.840 Where the Spirit of God would take people 00:07:34.840 --> 00:07:38.280 and show them things that he needed to show them. 00:07:39.280 --> 00:07:44.280 Revelations 1, 10, John is taken by the Spirit 00:07:45.240 --> 00:07:49.640 and he sees a vision and in that vision he hears a voice 00:07:49.640 --> 00:07:52.280 and he looks around and he sees one who looked 00:07:52.280 --> 00:07:55.440 like the son of man walking amongst the lampstands 00:07:55.440 --> 00:07:57.040 and he turns around and looks 00:07:57.040 --> 00:07:58.640 and that is when Jesus begins to speak 00:07:58.640 --> 00:07:59.840 and he then begins to tell him, 00:07:59.880 --> 00:08:02.520 hey listen, I got seven letters I wanna write 00:08:02.520 --> 00:08:05.200 to the churches and he begins to dictate the letter. 00:08:05.200 --> 00:08:06.560 And after he dictates the letter, 00:08:06.560 --> 00:08:09.040 the next line says in chapter four, one, 00:08:09.040 --> 00:08:13.120 after this I looked and I saw heaven 00:08:13.120 --> 00:08:17.240 and a door standing open and I heard a voice saying, 00:08:17.240 --> 00:08:21.360 come up higher for I have things to show you. 00:08:23.200 --> 00:08:25.040 Hey, one of the things the Holy Spirit does 00:08:25.040 --> 00:08:27.680 is show us what awaits. 00:08:27.720 --> 00:08:30.920 Who else to show it to than his own people? 00:08:34.000 --> 00:08:36.280 When I'm talking about a people being prophetic, 00:08:36.280 --> 00:08:39.840 what I'm saying is the Spirit of God wants to show the world 00:08:39.840 --> 00:08:44.840 what God is up to and who God is through his own people. 00:08:45.440 --> 00:08:46.320 Any questions? 00:08:47.200 --> 00:08:48.400 Any disagreements? 00:08:49.720 --> 00:08:52.880 Hey, wrap our hearts and minds around this thought 00:08:52.880 --> 00:08:55.280 that if he is God and we are his people, 00:08:55.280 --> 00:08:57.920 then the primary vehicle he will use 00:08:57.920 --> 00:09:01.200 to express his ideas, his will, 00:09:01.200 --> 00:09:03.280 his understanding of what's gonna happen 00:09:03.280 --> 00:09:06.840 will come through his people, not through somebody else. 00:09:06.840 --> 00:09:08.920 The primary vehicle, I'm not saying 00:09:08.920 --> 00:09:10.360 it's the only way he does it, 00:09:10.360 --> 00:09:12.120 but it is through us that he does it. 00:09:12.120 --> 00:09:14.440 And the quicker we grow up into this 00:09:14.440 --> 00:09:17.360 or wrap our heads around it or open our hearts to it, 00:09:17.360 --> 00:09:19.200 the sooner we get to experience it. 00:09:20.360 --> 00:09:22.920 The Christian life is not an adventure 00:09:22.920 --> 00:09:24.840 as long as God is not involved. 00:09:25.800 --> 00:09:28.280 It's just sheer religion, man. 00:09:28.280 --> 00:09:30.200 And it is pathetic, it sucks. 00:09:33.360 --> 00:09:35.320 Christian life becomes interesting 00:09:35.320 --> 00:09:37.600 only when God is active in your life. 00:09:38.840 --> 00:09:42.000 Our activity is very disinteresting. 00:09:42.000 --> 00:09:43.800 I was talking about this yesterday. 00:09:43.800 --> 00:09:47.960 I was saying every other religious has temples 00:09:47.960 --> 00:09:49.840 that look better than us. 00:09:49.840 --> 00:09:52.440 Their gods look better than ours. 00:09:52.440 --> 00:09:54.000 I mean, they're all decorated. 00:09:55.960 --> 00:09:59.760 Their songs sometimes have better beats than ours. 00:09:59.760 --> 00:10:01.840 Their rituals are more, 00:10:02.720 --> 00:10:07.200 even seances have more to do than some worship services. 00:10:07.200 --> 00:10:11.200 We can't compete on any other level with other religions. 00:10:11.200 --> 00:10:13.800 The only place where we can compete is two things, 00:10:13.800 --> 00:10:15.240 word and presence. 00:10:15.240 --> 00:10:18.800 We got the word of God and we got the presence of God. 00:10:18.800 --> 00:10:22.080 And if that isn't active in our lives on a regular basis, 00:10:22.120 --> 00:10:25.600 then it is very difficult then to continue as a Christian. 00:10:25.600 --> 00:10:27.440 I would die, man. 00:10:27.440 --> 00:10:28.360 That would be a good deal 00:10:28.360 --> 00:10:30.760 because you're born again, you go straight to heaven. 00:10:36.720 --> 00:10:38.320 All I'm trying to say is this, guys, 00:10:38.320 --> 00:10:43.000 that God wants to speak, act, do, see, 00:10:43.000 --> 00:10:45.960 show things through his people. 00:10:45.960 --> 00:10:50.120 And the sooner we rise up to this, the easier it becomes. 00:10:50.120 --> 00:10:51.480 And who does it do it through? 00:10:51.520 --> 00:10:53.280 He does it through the Holy Spirit. 00:10:54.160 --> 00:10:55.000 Through whom? 00:10:55.000 --> 00:10:56.160 Nobody's like you and I. 00:10:58.600 --> 00:11:00.040 Any questions, any comments? 00:11:05.640 --> 00:11:08.920 What do you think happened in Acts chapter eight, 00:11:08.920 --> 00:11:13.920 verse 39, where Philip has baptized the Ethiopian eunuch? 00:11:15.160 --> 00:11:18.480 And then it says in chapter eight, verse 39, 00:11:18.480 --> 00:11:21.560 and then the Holy Spirit whisked him away 00:11:21.560 --> 00:11:24.320 or translated him or took him away. 00:11:24.320 --> 00:11:27.400 And he found himself in a place called Asortus. 00:11:28.800 --> 00:11:30.800 How does the Spirit of God do that, man? 00:11:31.720 --> 00:11:33.960 This sounds so unreal. 00:11:33.960 --> 00:11:36.920 We don't want to touch it because we don't understand it. 00:11:36.920 --> 00:11:39.240 Man, if that was the criteria that we use, 00:11:39.240 --> 00:11:40.520 we wouldn't touch the Holy Spirit 00:11:40.520 --> 00:11:42.600 because we can't understand him most times. 00:11:43.560 --> 00:11:46.920 And yet he is waiting gleefully to be embraced 00:11:46.920 --> 00:11:49.120 so that he can take us along on the right. 00:11:55.840 --> 00:11:57.240 If I didn't know you better, 00:11:59.040 --> 00:12:00.880 I think you weren't listening 00:12:00.880 --> 00:12:02.120 because these are exciting things. 00:12:02.120 --> 00:12:04.080 You can show a little bit of excitement. 00:12:10.920 --> 00:12:13.560 That's kind of what happens in Ezekiel 37, one, 00:12:13.560 --> 00:12:17.840 where it says the Spirit of God took Ezekiel 00:12:17.840 --> 00:12:20.520 and dropped him in a gleeful of bones. 00:12:22.000 --> 00:12:23.560 Don't know how it happened, man. 00:12:23.560 --> 00:12:25.360 And so what do commentators do? 00:12:25.360 --> 00:12:27.920 They would rather call it a vision 00:12:27.920 --> 00:12:30.480 than an actual transportation. 00:12:30.480 --> 00:12:33.720 And nowhere in that scripture, in Hebrew or Greek, 00:12:33.720 --> 00:12:35.560 does it say that it was a vision. 00:12:35.560 --> 00:12:40.560 That this man was actually taken by the Spirit of God 00:12:40.560 --> 00:12:42.080 and dropped in a value of bones. 00:12:43.240 --> 00:12:45.840 Just like Philip was at one point 00:12:45.840 --> 00:12:49.800 with the Ethiopian eunuch baptizing him. 00:12:49.800 --> 00:12:52.640 And in the next moment was in a city 00:12:52.640 --> 00:12:56.200 at least 18 to 20 kilometers away, instantly. 00:12:58.520 --> 00:13:00.760 I'm not trying to say that that's what should happen to us. 00:13:00.760 --> 00:13:02.480 I'm just saying that the possibility 00:13:02.480 --> 00:13:04.720 that he was actually taken by the Spirit of God 00:13:04.720 --> 00:13:06.680 is that he was taken by the Spirit of God 00:13:06.680 --> 00:13:08.440 and dropped in a value of bones. 00:13:08.440 --> 00:13:10.440 And so I'm saying that the possibilities 00:13:10.440 --> 00:13:13.160 with the Holy Spirit are limitless, limitless. 00:13:25.680 --> 00:13:27.400 When we went to New York on Friday, 00:13:27.400 --> 00:13:29.560 we went to pray at a certain place 00:13:29.560 --> 00:13:32.680 where, like I was saying, 140 years ago, 00:13:33.280 --> 00:13:35.320 tons of rituals and it was planted in New York 00:13:35.320 --> 00:13:40.280 and sensed before I went and I talked to a few others 00:13:40.280 --> 00:13:43.440 that I should take someone from New York, go there. 00:13:43.440 --> 00:13:46.520 We're gonna pray that, oh God, this city invited 00:13:47.920 --> 00:13:51.200 a certain way of living with the reverence 00:13:51.200 --> 00:13:52.320 given to this monument. 00:13:52.320 --> 00:13:56.000 And just wanna pray that things change for the city. 00:13:56.000 --> 00:14:00.520 That your ways begin to prevail in the city 00:14:00.520 --> 00:14:03.000 and change for the ways that we're invited. 00:14:03.000 --> 00:14:07.320 And finished praying that and yesterday morning, 00:14:10.320 --> 00:14:14.280 in the sense that we should go to this shop 00:14:14.280 --> 00:14:16.320 called Bergdorf Goodman. 00:14:16.320 --> 00:14:19.320 It's on 57th and sixth of fifth. 00:14:24.280 --> 00:14:28.080 And all we were told was go to this particular place 00:14:28.120 --> 00:14:30.880 and look at all the window displays 00:14:30.880 --> 00:14:34.280 because this shop has amazing window displays. 00:14:34.280 --> 00:14:36.600 And that God would speak through the window displays. 00:14:36.600 --> 00:14:37.880 And you might think, really, Jacob, 00:14:37.880 --> 00:14:39.040 God does stuff like that? 00:14:39.040 --> 00:14:41.560 Hey, go to Jeremiah 15. 00:14:41.560 --> 00:14:43.200 Listen to what Jeremiah 15 says. 00:14:43.200 --> 00:14:46.200 And then God said to Jeremiah, go to the potter's house 00:14:46.200 --> 00:14:47.840 and stand at the gate of the potter's house 00:14:47.840 --> 00:14:49.800 and I will speak to you there. 00:14:49.800 --> 00:14:51.600 You think this doesn't happen now? 00:14:51.600 --> 00:14:54.360 Why is it that we can believe it of Jeremiah 00:14:54.360 --> 00:14:56.240 who lived in the Old Testament 00:14:56.280 --> 00:14:59.040 and why is it that we can't believe it of ourselves 00:14:59.040 --> 00:15:01.720 when the Spirit of God actually dwells in us, man? 00:15:09.360 --> 00:15:10.840 And so we go to this window display. 00:15:10.840 --> 00:15:12.120 Sheldon and I walked, 00:15:12.120 --> 00:15:16.000 because Jane is not into walking nowadays. 00:15:16.000 --> 00:15:20.480 So Sheldon and I walked to this place 00:15:20.480 --> 00:15:23.480 and we're looking at every window display 00:15:23.480 --> 00:15:26.000 and all we know is God is saying, 00:15:26.960 --> 00:15:28.240 what you prayed yesterday, 00:15:28.240 --> 00:15:29.880 I'll show you what happened today. 00:15:29.880 --> 00:15:31.680 And so we go to this window display. 00:15:31.680 --> 00:15:33.080 There are 12 displays. 00:15:33.080 --> 00:15:34.720 And so we went around each display looking 00:15:34.720 --> 00:15:36.320 and it didn't make any sense at all. 00:15:36.320 --> 00:15:38.160 Then we come to this 12th display. 00:15:38.160 --> 00:15:39.920 And it's got this amazing display in them 00:15:39.920 --> 00:15:44.920 and that was so reminiscent of 1 Samuel 17, 51 to 54. 00:15:46.080 --> 00:15:50.000 And 1 Samuel 17, 51 to 54 talks about how David 00:15:50.000 --> 00:15:52.680 brings Goliath down and he takes a sword, 00:15:52.680 --> 00:15:54.000 cuts Goliath's head off 00:15:54.000 --> 00:15:55.960 and carries Goliath's head in his hand 00:15:56.960 --> 00:15:58.360 and comes back to Jerusalem. 00:15:58.360 --> 00:16:01.080 And guess what the display in the window, 00:16:01.080 --> 00:16:04.720 it is of a man holding a head in his hand. 00:16:06.880 --> 00:16:08.720 And as soon as we saw it, 00:16:08.720 --> 00:16:13.240 I mean, it's exactly 1 Samuel 17, 51 to 54. 00:16:14.200 --> 00:16:17.280 A man holding a head in his hand. 00:16:17.280 --> 00:16:20.120 Of all the displays that you can put up in a shop, 00:16:20.120 --> 00:16:21.680 that was the display. 00:16:21.680 --> 00:16:23.600 I remember going to the guy who I went to pray with 00:16:23.600 --> 00:16:25.920 and I said, guys, remember what we prayed for yesterday? 00:16:26.840 --> 00:16:27.680 All of Goliath. 00:16:29.000 --> 00:16:32.080 And to see 1 Samuel 17, 51 to 54 00:16:32.080 --> 00:16:33.920 being played out in a window display. 00:16:36.200 --> 00:16:38.880 What are the odds that God does stuff like this, man? 00:16:38.880 --> 00:16:40.840 Where he tells you to go look at the window display 00:16:40.840 --> 00:16:42.640 because he wants to speak through it. 00:16:45.760 --> 00:16:49.880 And yet this is exactly what happens in Jeremiah 15 00:16:49.880 --> 00:16:51.920 where it's Potter's house 00:16:51.920 --> 00:16:54.200 and I'll begin to speak to you there. 00:16:54.200 --> 00:16:55.640 God speaks through symbols. 00:16:55.800 --> 00:16:57.840 God speaks through pictures. 00:16:57.840 --> 00:16:59.400 God speaks through phrases. 00:16:59.400 --> 00:17:02.760 God speaks inaudibly and audibly through words, 00:17:02.760 --> 00:17:04.040 occasionally audibly. 00:17:05.440 --> 00:17:07.640 And he does it all through the Holy Spirit. 00:17:09.800 --> 00:17:11.640 And the sooner we get to know him this way, 00:17:11.640 --> 00:17:14.600 the easier it is to get things done. 00:17:14.600 --> 00:17:16.840 You fight less, you get better results. 00:17:19.480 --> 00:17:22.440 How does a guy like Paul walk into a city like Ephesus 00:17:22.440 --> 00:17:25.000 where Diana of Artemis is worshiped? 00:17:25.000 --> 00:17:28.640 She is known as the greatest deity in the region. 00:17:28.640 --> 00:17:29.520 How does he go there 00:17:29.520 --> 00:17:32.440 and how does the economy begin to change? 00:17:32.440 --> 00:17:34.720 Why is it that Demetrius the silversmith 00:17:34.720 --> 00:17:36.480 has to gather the guilt together 00:17:36.480 --> 00:17:39.160 because idols are not being sold? 00:17:39.160 --> 00:17:40.760 How does the Ark of the Covenant 00:17:40.760 --> 00:17:42.560 enter into the temple of Dagon 00:17:42.560 --> 00:17:44.800 and Dagon fall flat on his face? 00:17:48.560 --> 00:17:50.400 Shattered into three, four pieces. 00:17:51.400 --> 00:17:53.720 How does the seventh sons of Sceva 00:17:53.720 --> 00:17:55.160 who tried to cast out demons, 00:17:55.160 --> 00:17:58.080 the moment they say that I cast you out 00:17:58.080 --> 00:18:00.000 in the name of Jesus Christ that Paul knows, 00:18:00.000 --> 00:18:01.680 that the demons beat him up 00:18:01.680 --> 00:18:03.280 and the whole city turns around, 00:18:03.280 --> 00:18:04.600 Ephesus turns around. 00:18:04.600 --> 00:18:08.360 50,000 drachmas of sorcery material 00:18:08.360 --> 00:18:10.080 was burnt in Ephesus that day. 00:18:10.080 --> 00:18:10.920 How come? 00:18:20.960 --> 00:18:24.800 Hey, there's a world out there that is demonic 00:18:25.680 --> 00:18:27.360 and that is active. 00:18:31.320 --> 00:18:35.800 Being ignorant of it may not affect us, 00:18:35.800 --> 00:18:38.960 but it prevents us from setting others free. 00:18:43.640 --> 00:18:45.080 Let me say that again. 00:18:45.080 --> 00:18:47.840 You can ignore the demonic and still be safe 00:18:47.840 --> 00:18:51.640 because you might have received Christ into your life 00:18:51.640 --> 00:18:53.080 and he keeps you safe. 00:18:53.080 --> 00:18:56.080 But the longer I ignore the demonic, 00:18:56.080 --> 00:18:59.720 the harder it will be to set others free. 00:18:59.720 --> 00:19:03.080 Some 49 puts it, Isaiah 49 puts it this way. 00:19:03.080 --> 00:19:04.920 Say to those in prison, come out. 00:19:04.920 --> 00:19:07.320 Say to those in darkness, come into the light. 00:19:09.600 --> 00:19:11.040 Jesus put it this way. 00:19:11.040 --> 00:19:13.560 Go raise the dead, heal the sick, 00:19:13.560 --> 00:19:16.120 cast out demons, cleanse the lepers. 00:19:18.840 --> 00:19:21.160 I love where we are going, guys. 00:19:21.160 --> 00:19:23.360 We've got to show the world that this is real. 00:19:27.440 --> 00:19:28.280 It can't be theory. 00:19:28.280 --> 00:19:32.000 It can't be stuff in the Bible that isn't real. 00:19:37.560 --> 00:19:38.400 Any questions? 00:19:48.200 --> 00:19:49.040 Any comments? 00:19:50.120 --> 00:19:51.280 Any disagreements? 00:19:59.600 --> 00:20:01.440 The guy that we were staying with in New York, 00:20:01.440 --> 00:20:06.120 he comes from a place in India where rituals are very common 00:20:06.120 --> 00:20:11.120 and people use spells and magic and stuff like that 00:20:11.320 --> 00:20:12.160 to harm others. 00:20:12.160 --> 00:20:14.600 He was telling us of this story where 00:20:14.640 --> 00:20:17.920 in that village there was a man who was like 00:20:17.920 --> 00:20:21.200 in the book of Acts, known as the Great One, 00:20:21.200 --> 00:20:23.600 the great sorcerer or the wizard. 00:20:25.600 --> 00:20:27.480 What was that guy's name in the Bible? 00:20:28.520 --> 00:20:29.880 Simon Magus. 00:20:29.880 --> 00:20:32.320 He was that kind of a guy in this particular city. 00:20:32.320 --> 00:20:34.640 And so his brother became a believer. 00:20:36.040 --> 00:20:37.480 And when his brother became a believer, 00:20:37.480 --> 00:20:40.520 he found that as an affront to the family 00:20:40.520 --> 00:20:42.520 and he was a believer in the Bible. 00:20:42.560 --> 00:20:44.880 And so he found that as an affront to the family. 00:20:44.880 --> 00:20:49.880 So he started practicing all kinds of rituals 00:20:50.320 --> 00:20:51.160 on his brother. 00:20:52.320 --> 00:20:55.320 He would cut things, hoping his brother's hand would break. 00:20:55.320 --> 00:20:57.480 He would break things so that he would hope 00:20:57.480 --> 00:20:58.880 his brother's leg would break. 00:20:58.880 --> 00:21:02.200 But every time he would try some kind of a magic 00:21:02.200 --> 00:21:03.800 or a ritual on his brother, 00:21:03.800 --> 00:21:06.360 every time he would try that, it would happen to him. 00:21:09.480 --> 00:21:12.120 At one point he decided that he would take his dog 00:21:12.720 --> 00:21:16.840 and break its leg and then broke the dog's leg 00:21:16.840 --> 00:21:19.840 and wanted that to happen to his brother. 00:21:19.840 --> 00:21:23.960 Instead, it broke legs in his family. 00:21:23.960 --> 00:21:26.160 And that is when he realized that there is a power 00:21:26.160 --> 00:21:29.160 greater at work than the power that he was known for 00:21:29.160 --> 00:21:30.560 in that city. 00:21:30.560 --> 00:21:31.880 And he goes to his brother 00:21:34.240 --> 00:21:37.160 and begins to ask his brother, how come you're protected? 00:21:37.160 --> 00:21:39.720 People come to me because they want others' harm 00:21:39.720 --> 00:21:41.080 that I'm so successful. 00:21:41.120 --> 00:21:43.160 Why is it that when I try to harm you, 00:21:43.160 --> 00:21:44.600 it always rebounds on me? 00:21:48.480 --> 00:21:50.720 And that's how he became a believer. 00:21:50.720 --> 00:21:54.760 That city was stunned at how this man who was known 00:21:54.760 --> 00:21:58.640 as the Great One, who was the Simon Magus type, 00:21:58.640 --> 00:21:59.480 turned around. 00:22:07.040 --> 00:22:08.920 This is happening everywhere, man. 00:22:08.920 --> 00:22:12.000 We just dress it up better in the West. 00:22:12.000 --> 00:22:13.320 It's packaged better. 00:22:17.880 --> 00:22:20.240 The demonic realm is not in Africa and India. 00:22:23.240 --> 00:22:24.600 It doesn't look at color. 00:22:24.600 --> 00:22:26.960 The strange thing about the satanic realm is that 00:22:26.960 --> 00:22:29.120 it's one realm that's non-racist. 00:22:31.880 --> 00:22:34.160 It's equal to the white, black, brown, 00:22:34.160 --> 00:22:35.800 everybody is fair game. 00:22:39.400 --> 00:22:41.440 It's just that it's better packaged here. 00:22:45.560 --> 00:22:49.680 I'm praying that a time comes in the life of this church 00:22:49.680 --> 00:22:54.680 where the setting free of people who haven't been set free 00:22:56.040 --> 00:22:57.480 will become common. 00:23:01.640 --> 00:23:02.560 Will become common. 00:23:03.600 --> 00:23:08.120 God really puts on the rits when you deal with people 00:23:08.120 --> 00:23:09.360 who are not believers. 00:23:09.360 --> 00:23:10.960 He really likes showing off. 00:23:25.880 --> 00:23:30.120 So how do we get to a place where we now are able to hear 00:23:30.120 --> 00:23:32.200 exactly what the Spirit of God is saying? 00:23:32.200 --> 00:23:35.000 I begin to do, I mean, so absurd. 00:23:35.000 --> 00:23:36.000 Just think of it. 00:23:36.960 --> 00:23:38.360 If someone told me that, 00:23:38.360 --> 00:23:41.960 hey, go to this place called Bergdorf Goodman, 00:23:41.960 --> 00:23:44.800 the first thing I'd think is what kind of name is that? 00:23:44.800 --> 00:23:47.160 Instead, what if you obeyed and actually went, 00:23:47.160 --> 00:23:48.440 things begin to transpire. 00:23:48.440 --> 00:23:50.080 The strange thing about the Spirit of God 00:23:50.080 --> 00:23:51.240 is the moment he says something 00:23:51.240 --> 00:23:53.120 and you know it is from the nature of God, 00:23:53.120 --> 00:23:55.800 or you sense it is from God, take a chance and go. 00:23:55.800 --> 00:23:58.080 What's the worst that can happen? 00:23:58.080 --> 00:23:59.520 You look foolish, big deal. 00:24:00.440 --> 00:24:02.440 Come and admit that you made a mistake. 00:24:02.440 --> 00:24:03.680 Get up and start again. 00:24:06.000 --> 00:24:08.240 We've got to learn how to hear a man 00:24:08.240 --> 00:24:10.680 and that's something we've been practicing for years now. 00:24:11.840 --> 00:24:14.360 There's almost nobody here who can't hear. 00:24:14.360 --> 00:24:17.480 We sometimes doubt if it's God, even when it's God, 00:24:17.480 --> 00:24:19.240 but most of us know it is God. 00:24:20.120 --> 00:24:22.240 The strange thing is anything that God tells you, 00:24:22.240 --> 00:24:23.080 he'll test you. 00:24:24.160 --> 00:24:26.120 The reason he tests you is he wants to see 00:24:26.120 --> 00:24:28.680 whether your faith can be translated into work. 00:24:28.680 --> 00:24:30.760 Why did God test Abraham? 00:24:30.760 --> 00:24:31.960 Why did he test Abraham? 00:24:32.000 --> 00:24:33.680 Why did God test Abraham? 00:24:33.680 --> 00:24:34.920 Why did he test Abraham? 00:24:36.240 --> 00:24:38.040 Abraham was known as the father of faith. 00:24:38.040 --> 00:24:41.560 He counted the stars in the sky and the sand on the earth. 00:24:42.480 --> 00:24:44.200 But now that you've counted the stars, 00:24:44.200 --> 00:24:46.120 which was an easy thing to do, 00:24:46.120 --> 00:24:47.800 and now that you say that you believe 00:24:47.800 --> 00:24:51.720 that I will give you sons that will populate the earth, 00:24:51.720 --> 00:24:53.120 now God says, let me test you 00:24:53.120 --> 00:24:54.600 and see whether you actually believe it, 00:24:54.600 --> 00:24:57.640 because faith must go with works. 00:24:57.640 --> 00:25:02.000 God tests only to see whether the words that I speak 00:25:02.000 --> 00:25:06.040 in faith are actual words that can translate into works 00:25:06.040 --> 00:25:07.960 or whether they're just words. 00:25:16.200 --> 00:25:18.000 Words are easy, man. 00:25:18.000 --> 00:25:19.400 Show me your works. 00:25:19.400 --> 00:25:20.880 James put it so brilliantly. 00:25:20.880 --> 00:25:22.880 Some people dislike James 00:25:22.880 --> 00:25:25.600 because it's almost like he's contradicting Paul. 00:25:25.600 --> 00:25:27.120 And yet he puts it this way. 00:25:28.080 --> 00:25:30.240 Show me your faith by showing me your works. 00:25:32.720 --> 00:25:34.920 And that faith without works is dead. 00:25:34.920 --> 00:25:36.920 Here's a question I asked ages ago of us, 00:25:36.920 --> 00:25:38.040 and I'm asking it again. 00:25:38.040 --> 00:25:41.600 What is it at present in your life that you are engaged in 00:25:41.600 --> 00:25:44.560 that requires oodles of faith? 00:25:44.560 --> 00:25:46.480 And if you don't exert faith, 00:25:46.480 --> 00:25:48.080 you're gonna fall flat on your face. 00:25:48.080 --> 00:25:51.840 What is it in your life right now that you or I are doing 00:25:51.840 --> 00:25:55.280 that you don't have the resources for the ability 00:25:55.280 --> 00:25:57.320 for the manpower, for the gifts, for the skills, 00:25:57.320 --> 00:25:58.480 for the wealth, for? 00:25:58.480 --> 00:26:00.440 What is it that you're attempting 00:26:00.440 --> 00:26:03.560 that you would actually need God for? 00:26:11.320 --> 00:26:16.320 There must always be one or two projects in my life 00:26:17.880 --> 00:26:21.400 always happening where it is impossible for me 00:26:21.440 --> 00:26:26.440 to make headway if I don't depend on God. 00:26:28.080 --> 00:26:32.280 Always, may your life always have an impossible project. 00:26:34.880 --> 00:26:36.080 An impossible project. 00:26:39.880 --> 00:26:41.760 Because otherwise who needs God? 00:26:41.760 --> 00:26:44.560 I got the money, I got the help, I got the manpower, 00:26:44.560 --> 00:26:47.040 I got the resources, I got the gifting, I've got the talent, 00:26:47.040 --> 00:26:49.680 I got the education, I don't need God. 00:26:51.400 --> 00:26:53.120 We asked this question in 2013. 00:26:55.120 --> 00:26:57.280 Do you live by faith because you don't have any choice 00:26:57.280 --> 00:26:58.920 or would you prefer living by faith? 00:27:00.120 --> 00:27:02.120 And my answer in 2013 was, 00:27:02.120 --> 00:27:04.240 I live by faith because I have no choice. 00:27:05.000 --> 00:27:09.600 But the question is, would you prefer living by faith? 00:27:09.600 --> 00:27:12.640 And my answer then was, nope, I don't prefer living by faith. 00:27:12.640 --> 00:27:13.880 It's a dangerous way to live. 00:27:13.920 --> 00:27:15.480 Jesus preferred living by faith. 00:27:17.600 --> 00:27:20.680 As in hearing God, trusting his Father, 00:27:20.680 --> 00:27:22.880 stepping out to see what will happen. 00:27:26.360 --> 00:27:27.720 What a way to live, eh? 00:27:29.720 --> 00:27:31.280 It's changed a little. 00:27:32.400 --> 00:27:34.520 I don't know if it's my default, 00:27:34.520 --> 00:27:37.080 but I'm not going to lie, I'm not going to lie. 00:27:37.080 --> 00:27:37.920 I'm not going to lie. 00:27:37.920 --> 00:27:38.760 I'm not going to lie. 00:27:38.760 --> 00:27:39.600 I'm not going to lie. 00:27:39.600 --> 00:27:40.440 I'm not going to lie. 00:27:40.440 --> 00:27:41.280 I'm not going to lie. 00:27:41.280 --> 00:27:42.120 I'm not going to lie. 00:27:42.120 --> 00:27:43.760 It's my default, 00:27:43.760 --> 00:27:46.000 but it might be getting close to preference. 00:27:51.480 --> 00:27:54.640 Guys, some of the ways you can begin to cultivate this idea 00:27:54.640 --> 00:27:56.560 of both hearing the Holy Spirit 00:27:56.560 --> 00:28:01.480 and then obeying immediately, obeying immediately. 00:28:02.520 --> 00:28:05.520 Nothing happens till you take the first step of obedience, eh? 00:28:05.520 --> 00:28:08.520 Secondly, not secondly, nothing happens till you 00:28:08.520 --> 00:28:10.040 take the first step of obedience. 00:28:10.040 --> 00:28:16.040 And do not try to validate what the Holy Spirit is telling you 00:28:16.360 --> 00:28:18.280 through immediate results. 00:28:18.280 --> 00:28:20.560 Sometimes the results are not immediate. 00:28:20.560 --> 00:28:24.120 It doesn't mean that what God said was not true. 00:28:24.120 --> 00:28:29.120 Habakkuk chapter two, verse one, verse three says, 00:28:29.120 --> 00:28:30.920 this thing that I have done, 00:28:30.920 --> 00:28:33.160 I have done, I have done, I have done, 00:28:33.200 --> 00:28:34.560 verse three says, 00:28:34.560 --> 00:28:38.120 this thing that I have shown you is for an appointed time. 00:28:38.120 --> 00:28:39.800 It will not tarry. 00:28:39.800 --> 00:28:41.400 It will come to pass. 00:28:42.920 --> 00:28:44.960 Every time God says something, 00:28:44.960 --> 00:28:48.280 I don't have to try to validate it with an immediate answer. 00:28:48.280 --> 00:28:49.800 Things can take time. 00:28:49.800 --> 00:28:54.640 Hold on to it, nurture it, persevere, endure, nurse it. 00:29:00.280 --> 00:29:02.120 Things gestate, man. 00:29:02.160 --> 00:29:05.960 Divine things gestate so that they come into a place 00:29:05.960 --> 00:29:08.760 of perfect maturity when it happens. 00:29:16.520 --> 00:29:19.120 Isaiah 50, verse four, listen to it from the message. 00:29:19.120 --> 00:29:20.080 It's brilliant. 00:29:20.080 --> 00:29:24.880 This is one way, man, that you and I can begin to figure out 00:29:24.880 --> 00:29:26.920 what the Holy Spirit wants. 00:29:26.920 --> 00:29:29.240 Isaiah 50, verse four, from the message, 00:29:29.280 --> 00:29:31.800 He wakens me morning by morning, 00:29:31.800 --> 00:29:35.280 wakens my ear to listen like one being instructed. 00:29:35.280 --> 00:29:39.160 He opens my ears to listen as one ready to take orders. 00:29:39.160 --> 00:29:40.600 I didn't go back to sleep, 00:29:40.600 --> 00:29:42.360 didn't pull the covers over my head. 00:29:42.360 --> 00:29:44.840 I followed orders, stood and took it. 00:29:44.840 --> 00:29:48.120 The sovereign Lord has given me a well-instructed tongue 00:29:48.120 --> 00:29:50.760 to know the word that sustains the weary. 00:29:50.760 --> 00:29:52.920 He wakens me in the morning, every morning, 00:29:52.920 --> 00:29:55.440 wakens my ear to listen like one being instructed, 00:29:55.440 --> 00:29:58.440 opens my ears to listen as one ready to take orders. 00:29:58.440 --> 00:29:59.800 I didn't go back to sleep, 00:29:59.800 --> 00:30:01.640 didn't pull the covers back over my head. 00:30:01.640 --> 00:30:04.560 I followed orders, stood and took it. 00:30:04.560 --> 00:30:06.240 What if everybody sitting here 00:30:06.240 --> 00:30:08.440 actually started doing this every morning? 00:30:08.440 --> 00:30:11.160 Wake up tomorrow morning and the first thing you do is 00:30:12.120 --> 00:30:14.720 lend them your ear saying, okay, God, 00:30:14.720 --> 00:30:16.360 so what do you have for us today? 00:30:16.360 --> 00:30:17.800 What do you have for me today? 00:30:21.000 --> 00:30:21.920 Tomorrow's a holiday. 00:30:21.920 --> 00:30:23.280 It's a great day to begin. 00:30:29.120 --> 00:30:30.680 Diana was asking, how do you know Dallas? 00:30:30.680 --> 00:30:32.040 How do you know New York? 00:30:32.040 --> 00:30:33.400 This is how you know, man. 00:30:34.720 --> 00:30:38.160 You get up every morning because God is a conversationalist. 00:30:38.160 --> 00:30:39.960 God is a conversationalist. 00:30:39.960 --> 00:30:42.760 He discovered the whole idea of talking. 00:30:46.000 --> 00:30:48.520 Let him begin the conversation. 00:30:48.520 --> 00:30:51.160 If he begins the conversation, you will go places 00:30:51.160 --> 00:30:52.720 you could otherwise not go. 00:30:52.720 --> 00:30:54.160 Because when I begin the conversation, 00:30:54.160 --> 00:30:58.320 it usually concerns me and my people and my family 00:30:59.200 --> 00:31:00.040 and my immediate needs. 00:31:00.040 --> 00:31:00.880 When he begins the conversation, 00:31:00.880 --> 00:31:03.520 those things are taken care of, but others get helped. 00:31:06.120 --> 00:31:09.240 Hey father, so it gets to a point guys, 00:31:09.240 --> 00:31:11.480 where our question would be, hey father, 00:31:11.480 --> 00:31:13.640 so what do you want to do with me 00:31:13.640 --> 00:31:15.440 in different parts of the world today? 00:31:15.440 --> 00:31:16.960 Because here's the thing we've got to do. 00:31:16.960 --> 00:31:18.680 On one hand, we have to be faithful 00:31:18.680 --> 00:31:21.400 with the little jar of oil that you have. 00:31:21.400 --> 00:31:24.160 On the other hand, you have to stretch out your hand 00:31:24.160 --> 00:31:27.760 and ask for the nations, because that is the inheritance 00:31:27.760 --> 00:31:30.360 that the children of God are being given. 00:31:31.480 --> 00:31:33.200 And it doesn't matter who you are. 00:31:33.200 --> 00:31:36.000 It doesn't matter how little or more you know of Christ. 00:31:36.000 --> 00:31:38.840 It doesn't matter if you're 26 or 86. 00:31:38.840 --> 00:31:43.560 This is something that both David did when he was 16 00:31:43.560 --> 00:31:46.480 and Caleb did when he was 84. 00:31:46.480 --> 00:31:47.880 So it covers all of us. 00:31:50.000 --> 00:31:54.520 Man, imagine a passionate life like this. 00:31:54.520 --> 00:31:57.000 What it would do to people around us. 00:31:57.040 --> 00:31:59.200 Leave alone how interesting life would be. 00:32:06.680 --> 00:32:08.160 Isaiah 50 verse four. 00:32:08.160 --> 00:32:11.200 The next scripture, Isaiah 50 verse four is when you get up 00:32:11.200 --> 00:32:13.080 and because you have a relationship with God 00:32:13.080 --> 00:32:15.120 and because you're engaged with him 00:32:15.120 --> 00:32:19.000 in having the kingdoms of the world 00:32:19.000 --> 00:32:20.800 become the kingdom of our Lord and King, 00:32:20.800 --> 00:32:23.000 as it says in Revelation. 00:32:23.000 --> 00:32:24.800 So you have this conversation with him. 00:32:24.800 --> 00:32:26.840 In Habakkuk chapter two, verse one, 00:32:27.680 --> 00:32:30.680 if you read it from the NIRV, it puts it this way. 00:32:30.680 --> 00:32:32.880 I will go up to the lookout tower. 00:32:32.880 --> 00:32:35.200 I will station myself on the city wall. 00:32:35.200 --> 00:32:37.640 I'll wait to see how the Lord will reply to me. 00:32:37.640 --> 00:32:39.960 Then I'll try to figure out how to answer him. 00:32:39.960 --> 00:32:41.520 Habakkuk two, verse one. 00:32:41.520 --> 00:32:43.360 I will go up to the lookout tower. 00:32:43.360 --> 00:32:45.480 I will station myself on the city wall. 00:32:45.480 --> 00:32:47.600 I'll wait to see how the Lord will reply to me. 00:32:47.600 --> 00:32:49.920 Then I'll try to figure out how to answer him. 00:32:49.920 --> 00:32:51.360 The point is this, guys. 00:32:51.360 --> 00:32:53.960 There are some things where we engage in conversation. 00:32:53.960 --> 00:32:55.800 There are some things that are very deliberate 00:32:55.800 --> 00:32:58.680 and intentional where you are actually someone 00:32:58.680 --> 00:33:01.400 who has a watch tower or a lookout tower 00:33:01.400 --> 00:33:02.800 that you go and stand on 00:33:02.800 --> 00:33:05.680 because you're fighting for something or someone. 00:33:05.680 --> 00:33:09.240 And if you don't take a stance, then it does not work out. 00:33:10.120 --> 00:33:12.600 Some of you have kids that need to be stood for. 00:33:12.600 --> 00:33:14.320 Some of you have husbands and wives 00:33:14.320 --> 00:33:15.640 that need to be stood for. 00:33:15.640 --> 00:33:17.160 Some of you have nations and cities 00:33:17.160 --> 00:33:18.520 that need to be stood for. 00:33:25.800 --> 00:33:28.800 This church was birthed as a church 00:33:28.800 --> 00:33:30.640 that is called to the nations. 00:33:31.680 --> 00:33:34.760 It was not the pastor that was called to the nations. 00:33:34.760 --> 00:33:37.080 This church was called to the nations. 00:33:38.520 --> 00:33:40.400 And when I say the church was called to the nations, 00:33:40.400 --> 00:33:41.520 here's what it means. 00:33:41.520 --> 00:33:44.240 It means that this church was supposed to go into nations. 00:33:44.240 --> 00:33:45.960 As it says in Isaiah 49, 00:33:45.960 --> 00:33:48.680 God would send us as a light to the Gentiles. 00:33:48.680 --> 00:33:50.280 If you want to use that word, 00:33:50.280 --> 00:33:51.280 you can use the word, 00:33:51.280 --> 00:33:52.400 you can use the word, 00:33:52.400 --> 00:33:53.400 you can use the word, 00:33:53.400 --> 00:33:54.400 you can use the word, 00:33:54.400 --> 00:33:56.880 Gentiles, if you want to use that word Gentiles. 00:33:56.880 --> 00:34:00.600 And two, when we are sent to the nations, 00:34:00.600 --> 00:34:02.360 it is so that we can dismantle things 00:34:02.360 --> 00:34:03.800 that hold nations in bondage. 00:34:05.200 --> 00:34:09.480 It is so ridiculous a task for a church as small as this 00:34:09.480 --> 00:34:10.840 and as limited as this, 00:34:10.840 --> 00:34:11.880 that it must be God. 00:34:11.880 --> 00:34:15.840 I don't mind your faces not responding to what I'm saying, 00:34:15.840 --> 00:34:18.120 but my God, your hearts better ignite. 00:34:26.840 --> 00:34:29.480 Gosh, man, this is what we live for. 00:34:33.280 --> 00:34:35.280 God, we are living for God. 00:34:35.280 --> 00:34:37.280 God, we are living for God. 00:34:37.280 --> 00:34:39.280 God, we are living for God. 00:34:39.280 --> 00:34:41.280 God, we are living for God. 00:34:41.480 --> 00:34:43.480 God, we are living for God. 00:34:43.480 --> 00:34:45.200 God, we are living for God. 00:34:45.200 --> 00:34:47.040 God, we are living for God. 00:34:52.560 --> 00:34:55.320 Why do you think we want to pay the airfare 00:34:55.320 --> 00:34:58.720 for people to come and be here for a little while? 00:34:58.720 --> 00:35:01.120 This couple from New York who I said, 00:35:01.120 --> 00:35:02.880 hey, do you want to come? 00:35:02.880 --> 00:35:06.560 This pastor from Vietnam that we are trying to bring, 00:35:06.560 --> 00:35:08.960 this pastor from Brazil 00:35:08.960 --> 00:35:17.000 we've got tons of money? No. But because we are hoping that if they come and spend 00:35:17.000 --> 00:35:23.280 a little time with us, something will spark that will help them go back and do 00:35:23.280 --> 00:35:31.440 things differently. Not spend time with me, spend time with us. Almost any person 00:35:31.440 --> 00:35:35.660 who comes to this church, I'm not the guy who spends time with them, I let them 00:35:35.660 --> 00:35:38.160 lose on you. 00:35:39.960 --> 00:35:47.560 Because meeting the pastor is always not real. He'll give the best picture 00:35:47.560 --> 00:35:51.160 possible of his church man, meet the people and you'll really know where the 00:35:51.160 --> 00:35:58.560 church is at. We're paying their effort and bringing them so that we are hoping 00:35:58.560 --> 00:36:01.960 something will ignite and every one of these guys that's coming here is a 00:36:01.960 --> 00:36:10.320 person who at some point will affect nations. I remember meeting Jeevan the 00:36:10.320 --> 00:36:17.920 first time. This guy who you all like now. The first time he came into this 00:36:17.920 --> 00:36:23.040 church, he came into the church, he sat behind someone big thinking I couldn't 00:36:23.040 --> 00:36:27.940 see him. So he comes and sneaks in halfway through the service and sits in 00:36:27.940 --> 00:36:32.900 the back row and sneaks and sits behind someone big. It was Don and so he sits 00:36:32.900 --> 00:36:42.660 behind Don. I'm kidding. So Jeevan is sitting there and he thought I couldn't see him 00:36:42.660 --> 00:36:47.100 but at some point I began speaking over his life and prophesying on him and then 00:36:47.100 --> 00:36:50.460 for the next four months he disappeared. 00:36:50.460 --> 00:36:58.940 And it didn't turn up for four months man and I sent Derek after him and Derek went 00:36:58.940 --> 00:37:03.900 and hunted him down and then we met at Denny's and I remember sitting at Denny's 00:37:03.900 --> 00:37:10.540 and saying this to Jeevan. I said Jeevan you will either be known as someone who 00:37:10.540 --> 00:37:16.220 is doing work in Nandigama in India and you will be called to different places 00:37:16.460 --> 00:37:25.100 to tell the same story about how God is restoring the Dalits in India. They'll 00:37:25.100 --> 00:37:30.380 ask you to say the same story. You can either stay there or you can respond to 00:37:30.380 --> 00:37:36.020 the call of God upon your life where you are a guy who'll go to different nations 00:37:36.020 --> 00:37:44.560 and stir up a storm. That was three or three and a half years ago and he took 00:37:44.560 --> 00:37:52.680 it man. He took it and ran with it and he's hardly called to talk about what he 00:37:52.680 --> 00:37:58.120 used to talk about anymore. Why am I telling you this? Guys if you are in 00:37:58.120 --> 00:38:03.520 this church for any length of time you have no choice. Two things or three 00:38:03.520 --> 00:38:08.860 things are sure to happen to you. One there will be the ability to hear God. 00:38:08.860 --> 00:38:14.700 Two don't be surprised that you start speaking on behalf of God because this 00:38:14.700 --> 00:38:22.540 church was birthed in prophetic grape juice. You just can't help it. You'll come 00:38:22.540 --> 00:38:28.220 out stained and three it is almost inevitable that you will at some point 00:38:28.220 --> 00:38:35.060 be involved with the nations. Every tribe in Israel had a trait. Jacob had 12 sons 00:38:35.060 --> 00:38:39.500 each tribe had a trait. You go read what Moses prophesized over them in Deuteronomy 00:38:39.500 --> 00:38:47.060 32 or you go to Exodus 49 and you see what Jacob prophesized over them. Every 00:38:47.060 --> 00:38:51.900 tribe had a trait. You think it doesn't continue now. This tribe has a trait and 00:38:51.900 --> 00:38:59.180 if you are here it is impossible for you to escape these three things. Impossible. 00:39:00.180 --> 00:39:05.420 And you didn't land up here by accident man because we've invited nobody here. 00:39:05.420 --> 00:39:11.420 In fact we've tried to the way we do things most people don't want to stay 00:39:11.420 --> 00:39:14.820 here but if you stayed it's either because you're thick-skinned or because 00:39:14.820 --> 00:39:21.860 you're meant for this place. And if you're here for the first time you're 00:39:21.860 --> 00:39:26.380 welcome back next week. Things get better next week. Simon you know the 00:39:26.380 --> 00:39:28.380 only one there are other guests too. 00:39:38.380 --> 00:39:44.380 So sometimes you've got to climb up the watchtower intentionally and start 00:39:44.380 --> 00:39:50.380 looking for things. Stand there and fight man as God shows you. Fighting is 00:39:50.380 --> 00:39:55.380 so much fun when God shows you what to do. And you're not going to be able to 00:39:55.380 --> 00:40:03.380 fight man as God shows you what to do. You become the big bully. Fighting is so 00:40:03.380 --> 00:40:09.380 much fun when God shows you what cutest do. Because you're not fighting against 00:40:09.380 --> 00:40:11.380 flesh and blood eh. 00:40:16.380 --> 00:40:21.380 Powers and rulers, spirits of darkness, spiritual hosts of depravity, rulers 00:40:21.380 --> 00:40:29.380 of flowers, real beings. I hope one day God shows us what we've achieved over 00:40:29.380 --> 00:40:31.380 the last 15 years and it'll stun us. 00:40:35.380 --> 00:40:37.380 I hate the fact that I can't share everything. 00:40:37.380 --> 00:40:54.380 Since events on the earth have their origin in heaven, seeing things from God is to be expected. 00:40:54.380 --> 00:41:01.380 Since events on the earth have their origin in heaven, it's but natural that the 00:41:01.380 --> 00:41:11.380 Holy Spirit will show you things. Since events on earth first transpire in heaven, 00:41:11.380 --> 00:41:16.380 it's natural that the Holy Spirit will show you things. Guys I'm hoping that at the end of these 00:41:16.380 --> 00:41:22.380 four weeks when we deal with Ezekiel 37 that you will realize that I now belong to a 00:41:22.380 --> 00:41:28.380 people who have the ability to affect the outcome of nations, of cities, of people 00:41:28.380 --> 00:41:37.380 groups, that we actually begin to think like that. That's my hope. Not through 12 hours of 00:41:37.380 --> 00:41:44.380 praying through the night. That is so painful. But through simple, easy, effective prayer. 00:41:44.380 --> 00:41:46.380 Because you know what God has shown. 00:41:46.380 --> 00:42:01.380 I'll end man. Got so much more but I'll stop in a little while. 00:42:01.380 --> 00:42:10.380 Some of you haven't heard this story. Some of you have. If you've heard it, too bad. 00:42:10.380 --> 00:42:18.380 This happened 13 years ago. And if this happened 13 years ago and it was effective, 00:42:18.380 --> 00:42:20.380 then imagine what we can do now. 00:42:20.380 --> 00:42:30.380 It was shortly after the second tsunami in Indonesia where the first tsunami was December 26. 00:42:30.380 --> 00:42:38.380 The second tsunami was May 6. And the Sultanate of Java in Indonesia, 00:42:38.380 --> 00:42:42.380 the Sultanate of Java, in the middle of the country, 00:42:42.380 --> 00:42:46.380 was devastated. There were cracks in buildings, floods that killed thousands. 00:42:46.380 --> 00:42:52.380 And then the second time when the tsunami hit again, another 600 or 700 died. 00:42:52.380 --> 00:42:59.380 And shortly after that, God had opened a door for a new tsunami. 00:42:59.380 --> 00:43:05.380 And the tsunami hit again. And the tsunami hit again. 00:43:05.380 --> 00:43:14.380 And shortly after that, God had opened a door for Act 29 in Indonesia. 00:43:14.380 --> 00:43:18.380 Anne Elmer and I had gone there. 00:43:18.380 --> 00:43:21.380 Heidi, did you come to Indonesia, too? You went to Sri Lanka, right? 00:43:21.380 --> 00:43:25.380 Yeah. Anne Elmer and I had gone there and met with people. 00:43:25.380 --> 00:43:30.380 And shortly after that, I was supposed to go to Bahrain. 00:43:30.380 --> 00:43:35.380 And so here's what happens. I asked God, 00:43:35.380 --> 00:43:40.380 Father, do you have any preference in terms of how I fly to Bahrain? 00:43:40.380 --> 00:43:47.380 Because God may have strange reasons for routing you a certain way. 00:43:47.380 --> 00:43:51.380 Ask him everything, man, because he's really smart. 00:43:51.380 --> 00:43:54.380 He is. Because remember what he did with Jesus. 00:43:54.380 --> 00:43:59.380 Jesus was supposed to go to Jerusalem and his father routed him through Samaria. 00:43:59.380 --> 00:44:03.380 And because he routed him through Samaria, he meets a woman at the well. 00:44:03.380 --> 00:44:08.380 And because he meets a woman at the well, an entire city gets saved. 00:44:08.380 --> 00:44:12.380 So he's really smart at routing you. So I asked him, which way do you want me to go? 00:44:12.380 --> 00:44:15.380 And I felt him saying, go via Singapore. 00:44:15.380 --> 00:44:18.380 And so I'm saying, but Father, going via Singapore is going around like this. 00:44:18.380 --> 00:44:23.380 Why do you want to spend more money and go around that way? 00:44:23.380 --> 00:44:27.380 Because we think God is this miserly missionary who doesn't have much to spare. 00:44:27.380 --> 00:44:31.380 So he just recycles money and makes everybody miserable. 00:44:31.380 --> 00:44:36.380 But he has plenty of resources, man. 00:44:36.380 --> 00:44:40.380 It's going out of your pocket. That is what hurts. 00:44:40.380 --> 00:44:44.380 But he has the ability to provide. 00:44:44.380 --> 00:44:48.380 And so I felt him saying, go via Singapore. So I go through Singapore. 00:44:48.380 --> 00:44:51.380 And there was a pastor who used to visit this church ages ago. 00:44:51.380 --> 00:44:55.380 His name was Alvin Chia. Some of you have met him. 00:44:55.380 --> 00:45:00.380 And so I go to Singapore and I have a day and a half layover. 00:45:00.380 --> 00:45:05.380 And so I call up this pastor and I say, hey, can I have lunch with you? 00:45:05.380 --> 00:45:10.380 And he says he's in Indonesia. And he says, do you want to have dinner with me? 00:45:10.380 --> 00:45:15.380 And so I thought I've got a day and a half. So why not hop on a plane and fly to Indonesia? 00:45:15.380 --> 00:45:19.380 So I flew to Indonesia. It just takes an hour and a half. 00:45:19.380 --> 00:45:24.380 And that evening, the Sultan of Java, the King of Java, 00:45:24.380 --> 00:45:29.380 calls people from every religion 00:45:29.380 --> 00:45:34.380 to join together to seek their gods 00:45:34.380 --> 00:45:38.380 for the healing of his land. 00:45:38.380 --> 00:45:43.380 And so at midnight we go to this atrium that faces the 00:45:43.380 --> 00:45:47.380 South China Sea. And he's got this amazing resort by the sea. 00:45:47.380 --> 00:45:52.380 So he calls us all and I go in there and there are Hindu priests 00:45:52.380 --> 00:45:56.380 sitting in lotus position, Buddhist monks, 00:45:56.380 --> 00:46:01.380 magicians banging sticks on the ground, Muslim Imams 00:46:01.380 --> 00:46:07.380 chanting prayers and doing the beads. It is like a scene out of Nebuchadnezzar, 00:46:07.380 --> 00:46:12.380 out of Daniel Chapter 2, when Nebuchadnezzar calls his astrologers, 00:46:12.380 --> 00:46:17.380 sorcerers and all this stuff. And then the king comes and there's a lot of incense burning. 00:46:17.380 --> 00:46:22.380 And he says, seek your gods and tell me what your God is saying. 00:46:22.380 --> 00:46:27.380 And this king is supposed to be the earthly consort 00:46:27.380 --> 00:46:32.380 of a demonic deity worshipped in Indonesia called Ratu Kidul, 00:46:32.380 --> 00:46:37.380 or the Queen of the South Seas. And he is supposed to 00:46:37.380 --> 00:46:42.380 go into an ivory tower that I've seen where he spends an entire day 00:46:42.380 --> 00:46:47.380 once or twice a year. And he has this ritual that happens with his deity. 00:46:47.380 --> 00:46:52.380 And the jewelry that he owns is so powerful, at least in terms of magic, 00:46:52.380 --> 00:46:57.380 that politicians would come and borrow this jewelry to win elections. 00:46:57.380 --> 00:47:02.380 This really happens in almost every nation, including Canada by the way. 00:47:02.380 --> 00:47:07.380 Only you don't go borrow jewelry, you borrow other stuff. 00:47:07.380 --> 00:47:12.380 And so he calls us and comes with his two wives, sits in front and he begins to say, 00:47:12.380 --> 00:47:17.380 pray. And so we pray just one simple prayer. This is when prayer becomes so simple. 00:47:17.380 --> 00:47:22.380 Once God tells you what to pray, it becomes so simple. And this is the prayer we pray. 00:47:22.380 --> 00:47:27.380 Oh God, silence the prophets of Baal and speak through your children. That's it. 00:47:27.380 --> 00:47:32.380 So we finish sitting around for two and a half hours and then he calls us 00:47:32.380 --> 00:47:37.380 to his garden and he says, tell me what your God said. 00:47:37.380 --> 00:47:42.380 And everybody knows that this guy is very tuned to the spiritual realm. 00:47:42.380 --> 00:47:47.380 So all of them are scared to just blurt out anything. And so we sit there 00:47:47.380 --> 00:47:52.380 and none of the others speak, not one. Everybody is silent. 00:47:52.380 --> 00:47:57.380 I've got nothing to say. And this pastor had a dream and he relates the dream 00:47:57.380 --> 00:48:02.380 to the king and I had four prophetic words for him and I prophesied over him. 00:48:02.380 --> 00:48:07.380 He was educated in West Point so he knows English well, understood everything, 00:48:07.380 --> 00:48:12.380 wouldn't show that he was understanding, but he speaks perfect English. 00:48:12.380 --> 00:48:17.380 And so after we finished, we left. And four months later, 00:48:17.380 --> 00:48:22.380 this king becomes so highly aware that what was spoken was God, 00:48:22.380 --> 00:48:27.380 that the Sultan of Java gets baptized in this palace on February 11, 2007. 00:48:27.380 --> 00:48:32.380 This is a Muslim king, an animist Muslim king who gets baptized 00:48:32.380 --> 00:48:37.380 and gives his life to God. That began six years 00:48:37.380 --> 00:48:42.380 of Java being open for mission work for anything we wanted to do in Java 00:48:42.380 --> 00:48:47.380 for six years. When Anne Elmer and I went back, he sent his wife 00:48:47.380 --> 00:48:52.380 and his wife sat through three and a half hours of Christ's life. 00:48:52.380 --> 00:48:57.380 His daughter became a believer. And then the king started asking for 00:48:57.380 --> 00:49:02.380 Christian businessmen to be sent to Indonesia because they got tons of gold, 00:49:02.380 --> 00:49:07.380 coal and uranium. And he said, why don't you send us Christian 00:49:07.380 --> 00:49:12.380 businessmen? And so someone approached the PMO's office when Harper was 00:49:12.380 --> 00:49:17.380 the Prime Minister and tried to send Canadian businessmen from the UK, 00:49:17.380 --> 00:49:22.380 British businessmen men. Right now, there are still businessmen in Indonesia 00:49:22.380 --> 00:49:27.380 right now at this moment who are still earning the fruit of what happened then. 00:49:27.380 --> 00:49:32.380 When God begins to do something in a nation, it's not just mission that happens. 00:49:32.380 --> 00:49:37.380 It's not that churches that happen. It's economy, it's business, it's every area that is affected. 00:49:37.380 --> 00:49:42.380 This was 13 years ago, guys. 00:49:42.380 --> 00:49:47.380 Why am I telling you this story? Because some of you haven't heard this before. 00:49:47.380 --> 00:49:52.380 Some of you have heard it 20 times. But then there might be 20 of you who haven't heard it once. 00:49:52.380 --> 00:49:57.380 And this was when we had eight people in the church. 00:49:57.380 --> 00:50:02.380 Time to step up our game, man. 00:50:02.380 --> 00:50:07.380 The way we step our game up is to go down this road of Isaiah 50, verse 4, 00:50:07.380 --> 00:50:12.380 Habakkuk 2, verse 1 to 3. Once you know it is God, 00:50:12.380 --> 00:50:17.380 have the courage to come and say, hey, I'm sure this is God. 00:50:17.380 --> 00:50:22.380 But the thing is, if you're sure it is God, we will push you to the next level. 00:50:22.380 --> 00:50:27.380 Meaning you'll have to prove that what you are saying you have faith for can translate into works. 00:50:27.380 --> 00:50:32.380 Questions, comments, thoughts, disagreements, I'm done. 00:50:33.380 --> 00:50:38.380 Okay, so we're going to go back to the beginning of the story. 00:50:38.380 --> 00:50:43.380 So we're going to go back to the beginning of the story. 00:50:43.380 --> 00:50:48.380 So we're going to go back to the beginning of the story. 00:50:48.380 --> 00:50:53.380 So we're going to go back to the beginning of the story. 00:50:53.380 --> 00:50:58.380 So we're going to go back to the beginning of the story. 00:50:58.380 --> 00:51:03.380 As in? 00:51:03.380 --> 00:51:08.380 As in? 00:51:08.380 --> 00:51:13.380 As in? 00:51:13.380 --> 00:51:18.380 If God shows me something that I don't know clearly, 00:51:18.380 --> 00:51:23.380 I'll still take the first step and then I'll go ask somebody. 00:51:23.380 --> 00:51:28.380 I'm waiting for clear understanding. I'm just waiting for the first step. 00:51:28.380 --> 00:51:33.380 Yeah. Mongolia happened that way. I didn't have any idea what will happen in Mongolia. 00:51:33.380 --> 00:51:38.380 All I knew was that we needed to go to Mongolia. 00:51:38.380 --> 00:51:43.380 We've been praying for Mongolia for seven years. So land in Mongolia and see what happens. 00:51:43.380 --> 00:51:48.380 Guys, it's only the first time you take the risk that it is scary. 00:51:48.380 --> 00:51:53.380 After the first time you get used to it. 00:51:53.380 --> 00:51:58.380 The first time it is scary. 00:51:58.380 --> 00:52:03.380 And you know where the greatest fear is? Two areas where the greatest fear comes from. 00:52:03.380 --> 00:52:08.380 Money and what people may think if I fail. 00:52:08.380 --> 00:52:13.380 You get over those two humps and you're home free, man. 00:52:13.380 --> 00:52:18.380 You're going to get the money from our shucks. What if I spend this? 00:52:18.380 --> 00:52:23.380 How am I going to live next month? That's the first thing that scares you. 00:52:23.380 --> 00:52:28.380 And the second thing that scares you is what if this isn't God? People will think I'm really foolish. 00:52:28.380 --> 00:52:33.380 Get past those two because those two will happen. 00:52:33.380 --> 00:52:38.380 Get past those two and you're home free. 00:52:38.380 --> 00:52:43.380 So here's your homework. 00:52:43.380 --> 00:52:48.380 Come back next week with... 00:52:48.380 --> 00:52:53.380 I have to ask God, you can't do this with bravado. Come back next week with 00:52:53.380 --> 00:52:58.380 something that God has prompted you to do that is impossible. 00:52:58.380 --> 00:53:03.380 How do you know it's God? You don't have the ability to do it. 00:53:03.380 --> 00:53:08.380 You don't have the resources to do it. You don't have the money to do it. 00:53:08.380 --> 00:53:13.380 It doesn't have to be going to Indonesia. It can be something in Abbotsford. 00:53:13.380 --> 00:53:18.380 Next week, come if you can. 00:53:18.380 --> 00:53:23.380 Guys, all we can do is really try saying, Father, I really want to step into this realm 00:53:23.380 --> 00:53:28.380 where I'm just ridiculously dependent on you because if I am not, this won't happen. 00:53:28.380 --> 00:53:33.380 Ask God for a God-sized Endeavor Project dream walk 00:53:33.380 --> 00:53:38.380 that He wants to give you. 00:53:38.380 --> 00:53:43.380 That is impossible to accomplish. 00:53:43.380 --> 00:53:48.380 Ask Him for it. 00:53:48.380 --> 00:53:53.380 Because if you dream it up, it will be within your reach. 00:53:53.380 --> 00:53:58.380 Ask Him for something impossible. 00:53:58.380 --> 00:54:03.380 And guess what? It will be right up your alley because He knows how you're made. He knows your personality. 00:54:03.380 --> 00:54:08.380 He knows your abilities. 00:54:08.380 --> 00:54:13.380 It's highly unlikely that He'll ask me to run a marathon because that ain't my thing. 00:54:13.380 --> 00:54:18.380 But to travel somewhere and do something, 00:54:18.380 --> 00:54:23.380 I would be 84 by the time I get there. 00:54:23.380 --> 00:54:28.380 Shush! Silence! 00:54:28.380 --> 00:54:33.380 But it'll be up your alley so that you can get on it immediately. 00:54:33.380 --> 00:54:38.380 You won't have to train yourself for the next three years before you do it. 00:54:38.380 --> 00:54:43.380 Hopefully, you won't ask me to run a marathon. That would be terrible, eh? 00:54:43.380 --> 00:54:48.380 So, come back next week with a project 00:54:48.380 --> 00:54:53.380 and write it on a sheet of paper. Bring it. We'll have a box that you can put it in. 00:54:53.380 --> 00:54:58.380 You don't even have to put your name on it if you don't think you want to put your name on it. 00:54:58.380 --> 00:55:03.380 I don't know your handwriting so I won't call you out anyways. 00:55:03.380 --> 00:55:08.380 It's time for us to 00:55:08.380 --> 00:55:13.380 step into Hebrews 11. 00:55:13.380 --> 00:55:18.380 Hey, and if possible, let it not be about you. 00:55:18.380 --> 00:55:23.380 Let it not be about you. Let it be an impossible project that someone else will benefit from. 00:55:23.380 --> 00:55:28.380 Let it not be about you. I've got to end with Hebrews 11, verse 35 to 37. 00:55:28.380 --> 00:55:33.380 Listen to this, eh? This is just nuts, man. I know you've heard it before, 00:55:33.380 --> 00:55:38.380 but man, every time I read it, I think to myself, this is nuts. 00:55:38.380 --> 00:55:43.380 Hebrews 11, verse 35 to 37. 00:55:43.380 --> 00:55:48.380 That's why I said, let this humongous project not be about you. 00:55:48.380 --> 00:55:53.380 Hebrews 11, verse 35 to 37. 00:55:53.380 --> 00:55:58.380 Let's start at 32. 00:55:58.380 --> 00:56:03.380 Let's start at 32. 00:56:03.380 --> 00:56:08.380 And what more shall I say? I do not have time to tell you about Gideon. 00:56:08.380 --> 00:56:13.380 I mean, you would think Paul would pick on Gideon, but he doesn't. Gideon, Barak, 00:56:13.380 --> 00:56:18.380 Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel, 00:56:18.380 --> 00:56:23.380 and the prophets, who through faith, conquered kingdoms, 00:56:23.380 --> 00:56:28.380 administered justice, gained what was promised, 00:56:28.380 --> 00:56:33.380 who shut the mouths of lions, quenched the fury of flames, 00:56:33.380 --> 00:56:38.380 escaped the edge of the sword, whose weakness was turned to strength, 00:56:38.380 --> 00:56:43.380 who became powerful in battle, routed foreign enemies. 00:56:43.380 --> 00:56:48.380 Women received back their dead, raised to life again. Others were tortured and refused to be released 00:56:48.380 --> 00:56:53.380 so that they might gain a better resurrection. Some faced jeers and flogging, 00:56:53.380 --> 00:56:58.380 while still others were chained and put in prison. They were stoned, they were sawed in two, they were put to death by the sword. 00:56:58.380 --> 00:57:03.380 They went about in sheepskin and goatskins, destitute, persecuted, and mistreated. 00:57:03.380 --> 00:57:08.380 The world was not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and mountains and in caves and holes in the ground. 00:57:08.380 --> 00:57:13.380 These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised. 00:57:14.380 --> 00:57:19.380 God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect. 00:57:19.380 --> 00:57:24.380 This is where we will live. 00:57:24.380 --> 00:57:29.380 Yeah? Looking forward to your project next week. 00:57:29.380 --> 00:57:34.380 All of us, eh? 00:57:34.380 --> 00:57:39.380 And if you can't make it next week, send it in by email or give it to somebody 00:57:39.380 --> 00:57:44.380 so that you don't miss out on this adventure. 00:57:44.380 --> 00:57:49.380 And for the 30 people that are not here today, let them know too. 00:57:49.380 --> 00:57:54.380 Let's pray. 00:57:54.380 --> 00:57:57.380 Father, I'm not praying because we want to end with prayer. I'm praying because I plead with you.