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NOTE
Podcast: Acts 29 Vancouver
Episode: Fifty Eight Twelve part 2
Publishing Date: 2021-03-14T06:00:44-07:00
Podcast URL: https://acts29.ca
Episode URL: https://acts29.ca/fifty-eight-twelve-part-2/

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Yesterday we were talking about Isaiah 58.

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So the title of this teaching is 58-12.

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This is the second part.

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And yesterday we talked about the actual doing.

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What does Acts 29 actually need to do,

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like the physical doing in terms of Isaiah 58-12

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and why that is so much a part of revival.

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And we spoke about that yesterday.

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Today we are going to deal with the spiritual part of it.

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The spiritual part of it.

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Yeah?

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So here's the thing we need to realize.

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So these are certain spiritual realities

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when it comes to a city where a group of people

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are now engaging in a concerted, deliberate, focused effort

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to undo things and to bring the presence

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and the revival of God into a city.

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It's okay as long as you do it in conferences.

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You can come for conferences, pray for a city, leave.

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That's okay. It doesn't trouble the enemy.

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Because he's been used to that for the last hundred years.

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He's seen so many conferences where people come,

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pull down things that perhaps are pulled down, perhaps not.

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But there's nobody else to follow up.

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But when a church or a group of churches

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or a group of people begin to consistently hammer away

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at old demonic edifices,

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that is when the demonic realm or the satanic realm becomes aware of it.

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And so what we are going to talk about today

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is the spiritual component of 5812.

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So depravity ravages a city, making it inhospitable.

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Depravity ravages a city, making it inhospitable.

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And by the way, God has always had cities in mind.

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And the Old Testament and the New Testament

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have so many stories that deal specifically with cities.

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The first city that was built, I think, was called Enoch.

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I'm not sure. I know that's the name of a person.

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But I think Cain built that city.

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In the plains of Shinar, Nimrod built a city.

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Jerusalem was a city that was after the heart of God.

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Most of the cities mentioned in the letters to the churches

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in the book of Revelation were prominent strategic cities

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from which the gospel went out.

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So cities have always played a surprisingly prominent role

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in God's agenda for the earth.

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Yeah?

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And therefore, there's always a battle for the city.

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One that seeks to have it transformed,

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the other that seeks to have it decay.

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But unfortunately, in most cases,

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conferences and short-time prayers pull down things.

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But the thing with pulling down things is if you pull down things

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and don't build anything else there,

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then the story from Luke kicks in,

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where the very same powers that were driven out

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come back, find the place swept and empty,

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and then they're gone.

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They come back, find the place swept and empty,

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and go and gather seven other spirits stronger

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and come back, and the condition of the land

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is worse off than when it first began.

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Which is why a concerted effort over a period of two or three years

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is just demon-rattling.

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You know I'm not sensational, but it is true.

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And now we have to learn how to stay the course,

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and that's why we need to study the spiritual component of 5812.

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So depravity, the intent of the enemy in a city,

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when he brings in forms of depravity,

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is that he knows that depravity ravages a city,

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depravity ravages a city, making it inhospitable.

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Depravity ravages a city, making it inhospitable.

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And once a city is made inhospitable through depravity,

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its palaces and fortresses, its palaces and forts,

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its palaces and forts are run over,

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are run over with thorns, thistles and brambles,

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and it soon becomes the haunt of evil spirits.

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You see this in Isaiah 34, 13 and 14,

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where it talks about how...

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Let me just go to Isaiah 34, 13 and 14.

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Isaiah 34, 13 and 14.

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What we are exposing is the evil strategy behind depraving a city.

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Isaiah 34, verse 13 and 14.

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Thorns will overrun her citadels or palaces,

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nettles and brambles are strongholds of fortresses.

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She will become a haunt for jackals, a home for owls.

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Desert creatures and hyenas will meet with hyenas.

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And wild goats, or actually the word used is satyrs,

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or the night hag, will also repose and find for themselves places of rest.

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Meaning the very city that is supposed to be a place where transformation happens

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now becomes a place that is inhospitable.

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Its palaces and forts overrun with thorns,

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absolutely ruined, and the haunt of evil spirits.

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So a concerted effort, a concerted effort is required by the people of God.

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A concerted effort is required by the people of God to bring desolation

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or desolate heritages or desolate lands or desolate inheritances back to normalcy.

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But the desolation every time you go and try to repair,

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like it says in Isaiah 58, verse 12, to repair,

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when you go to try and repair broken down walls, streets that are unsafe to dwell in, ruins,

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then there is resistance.

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Because as it says in Psalm 80, verse 13,

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the wild boars or the wild pigs of the forest try to ravage and resist

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your clearing of the thorns, the brambles and the thistles.

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And that's when the church holy, and I am very specifically using the words church holy,

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I'm not just saying church, I'm saying that's when

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the church holy, that's when the church holy must rise up,

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because when the church holy rises up,

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it opens the ancient doors and gates

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so that the King of Glory may come in to save.

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And that is what we are at present doing.

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In our times of prayer, in our times of worship,

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in our times when we declare, in our times of gathering together,

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this is what we're doing. The church holy is rising.

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The church holy is rising. I'm not calling it just a church, I'm calling it the church holy.

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That is important, because if you read Psalm 24,

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it is required that only the holy that ascend the hill of the Lord

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have the ability to open the ancient gates and doors so that the King of Glory may come in.

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I cannot tell you the demand and requirement of holiness of you at this present time.

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I cannot emphasize it enough.

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So here are seven practices that enable us to...

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Here are seven practices that... So I kind of let the cat out of the bag.

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Yes, there are seven points now. Seven points each with three sub-points,

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and each of the sub-points has four subsets. So that's seven into three, 21 into four is 84.

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So here are seven practices that will enable us

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to do what Isaiah 58.12 says we are supposed to do.

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Seven practices that will help us rebuild, repair, restore.

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It says you will, in Isaiah 58 verse 12, it says you will rebuild on old foundations,

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and you will rebuild the ancient ruins. It says you will repair the breaches,

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the breaks in the walls you will repair.

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And it says you will be called restorers so that the streets will be safe to dwell in again.

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Jacob, how can a small church do this? It's not a small church that's doing it.

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It's a super big God who's doing it.

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Every time I think small church, I think church of Philadelphia.

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You have little strength, but you have kept my word and you have been faithful.

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That's all it takes for a big God to act.

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And over a period of two or three years, you will see, because we will be consistent,

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because this is a commission from God. We have no choice in this matter.

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We cannot amend it. We cannot move away from it.

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It's constrained us. It's restrained us. It's compelled us.

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It fuels us. It leads us. It drives us. What choice do we have?

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Thank God we've gotten to a place where we know we don't have a choice.

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So here are seven practices that enable us to rebuild, repair, and restore the city spiritually.

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These are spiritual practices that we must engage in so that the city may be restored.

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And this is the same pattern then that can be used in cities across the earth by different people.

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If you have any questions, feel free to ask now that you need an invitation.

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I use that as an excuse to just take a sip of coffee, actually.

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Not all that sincere about you asking questions.

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But I'm sincere in my answers.

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Oh, some days coffee tastes so good.

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Okay, so the first spiritual practice is we must destroy apathy.

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We must destroy apathy.

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We must destroy apathy.

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Apathy, I'll read this definition out twice.

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It was written by a lady called Dorothy Sayers who used to at one point hang out with C.S. Lewis.

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Don't think she was a Christian, but anyways, I love this definition.

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Destroy apathy. Apathy is a sin which cares for nothing, seeks to know nothing,

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interferes with nothing, enjoys nothing, loves nothing, hates nothing,

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finds purpose in nothing, lives for nothing, and only remains alive because there is nothing it would die for.

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And this can happen to Christians.

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The problem with Christians is right off the bat we are told that our ticket to heaven is booked.

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That's the only advantage that JWs have over us.

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They still have to qualify to get into the highest of heavens.

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So they strive, they strive, they strive. We are told right off the bat, hey, your salvation is secure.

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Which is the truth, by the way.

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But in the process, apathy can set in.

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Let me define apathy again.

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Apathy is a sin which cares for nothing.

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As in, nothing is so important that you care for it.

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Cares for nothing, seeks to know nothing.

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If I'm sure there are things happening in the world, not too inquisitive, not too curious, seeks to know nothing,

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interferes with nothing, hey, your truth is your truth, my truth is my truth, let's just live happily ever after.

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Enjoys nothing, as in, doesn't take any great pleasure in any of the things that God puts out here on the earth.

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Man, you know, when I go for any event, I'm always surprised at how few Christians there are.

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It's almost as if the only thing Christians enjoy is worship service and church.

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And sometimes that ain't enough, man.

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There's music, there's sports, there's mountains, there's aircrafts, there's burgers, there's dogs, occasionally even cats.

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I mean, there's so many things that God has made for our pleasure.

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But why is it that Christians don't necessarily relish them?

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At some point we've become so away, we've so pulled ourselves away from the world that we're not in it anymore, though Jesus wanted it different.

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Zest, space, light, life belongs to us.

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Hear me again. Zest, space, light, life belongs to us.

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It is our God who made it. It's our God who discovered it. It's our God who made us that way.

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Zest, space, light, life belongs to us.

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Interfers with nothing, enjoys nothing, loves nothing, doesn't love anything excessively, nor does it hate anything excessively.

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Everything with apathy is this absolute place of neutrality.

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Finds purpose in nothing, lives for nothing, other than, I'm a Christian, I will live for the Lord.

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I know that's important, but it's not anything more than that.

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Living for the Lord suddenly exposes you to a whole lot more, eh?

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Lives for nothing, and this last line really bothered me, because if this is true of you, then it is a very sad way to live.

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A city that lives for nothing, lives for nothing, and only remains alive because there is nothing it would die for.

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And only remains alive because there is nothing it would die for.

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A city that is being ravaged by wild boars, that is being overrun by thorns and thistles,

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whose citadels and palaces and fortresses are breaking down, whose ruins have become a haunt for the hyenas and the jackals and evil spirits.

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A city like that thrives when the people who have salt in them decide to settle in apathy.

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Thank God this is not where God has brought us or God is taking us.

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Ask God to bathe you in passion. Ask God to bathe you or bake you, whichever works for you, in passion.

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Pray against the dullness of self-preservation. We'll actually pray that.

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Pray against the dullness of self-preservation.

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Self-preservation is when I choose to prioritize my life and my comforts over the commands of Jesus.

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Self-preservation, and all of us engage in it.

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God gives us self-preservation to keep our lives from harm and danger,

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but what we do is we take that idea of self-preservation and just ramp it up so that self-preservation now becomes where I choose to prioritize my life and its comforts over the commands of Jesus.

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It avoids doing right if doing right will bring me hardship or pain.

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It avoids doing right if doing right will bring me hardship or pain.

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It avoids doing right if doing right will bring me hardship or pain.

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And it justifies that Jesus would never ask me to risk my life.

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That Jesus would never ask me to risk my life.

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So can we pray and destroy this from our lives, right now?

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Destroy this from my life.

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Every day of the week I struggle with self-preservation.

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Every day of the week I struggle.

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I at some point wrestle with self-preservation.

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And occasionally it wins.

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Every day.

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So let's pray.

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Heavenly Father, I pray for the church.

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I pray for me.

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I pray, O God, Spirit of God,

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there is a dullness that comes upon people, upon me,

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with apathy and self-preservation.

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It is a variation of that man who said,

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I will build barns, I will store my grain, I will take care of my tomorrow.

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When tomorrow comes, I will do this. When tomorrow comes, I'll do that.

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When I retire, I will do this. When I have more money, I'll do this.

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It's this idea of at present, let nothing disturb my present way of living and comfort.

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I come against that with the sledgehammer of the Holy Spirit.

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And I break in the name of Jesus Christ across this church

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and across borders, Father, whenever this message is heard.

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I break in the name of Jesus Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit,

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the apathy and the self-preservation that I wrestle with every day.

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I break it in Christ's name.

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So that the veil of flesh will no longer prevent me

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from being all that Christ wants to be through me in this world, in this city,

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in the name of Jesus Christ.

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It's sloth, it's laziness.

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I despise it, O God. Let this week be different for me.

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Light, zest, space, life belong to us.

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I pray that, Father, even if a person is in a wheelchair, O God,

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and is not able to be mobile, Father, I just pray, O God,

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that something would transpire in our hearts this week, in my heart this week.

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That no excuse would be good enough to continue dwelling under this dullness.

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I break it, I break it, I curse it in the name of Jesus Christ.

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I curse this tree in the lives of people in this church.

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I curse it in Jesus Christ's name.

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Dry up from your roots!

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In Jesus Christ's name, in Jesus Christ's name, in Jesus Christ's name,

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for your sake and for the sake of each of us, for my sake, O God,

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in my life, let it end.

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In Jesus' name.

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The second spiritual practice, the second thing we have to be aware of spiritually

00:20:11.000 --> 00:20:18.000
is this name that God has in the Bible that you will never hear in a song

00:20:18.000 --> 00:20:21.000
or in a prayer, and it is...

00:20:32.000 --> 00:20:35.000
It's Bir Lahai Roi, Bir Lahai Roi.

00:20:35.000 --> 00:20:38.000
It's from Genesis 16, verse 4.

00:20:38.000 --> 00:20:41.000
Genesis 16, verse 4.

00:20:41.000 --> 00:20:43.000
It's the name that Hagar...

00:20:43.000 --> 00:20:46.000
Genesis 16, verse 14, sorry.

00:20:46.000 --> 00:20:50.000
It is the name that Hagar gave God,

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and it means the God who hears and sees.

00:20:52.000 --> 00:20:54.000
Let's just read it.

00:20:54.000 --> 00:20:59.000
Genesis 16.

00:20:59.000 --> 00:21:09.000
Genesis 16, verse 14.

00:21:09.000 --> 00:21:11.000
Let's start at verse 13.

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She gave this name to the Lord who spoke to her.

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In the message, she answered God by name, praying to God who spoke to her.

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That's how the desert spring got the name, God alive sees me.

00:21:40.000 --> 00:21:43.000
That spring is still there between Kadesh and Bered.

00:21:43.000 --> 00:21:45.000
Guys, God sees.

00:21:45.000 --> 00:21:47.000
He's neither blind nor insensitive.

00:21:47.000 --> 00:21:48.000
God sees.

00:21:48.000 --> 00:21:50.000
He's neither blind nor insensitive.

00:21:50.000 --> 00:21:55.000
This is important for us in terms of prayer for the city.

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God sees.

00:21:56.000 --> 00:21:58.000
He's neither blind nor insensitive.

00:21:58.000 --> 00:22:02.000
He sees and hears the clamor of Sodom.

00:22:02.000 --> 00:22:06.000
He sees and hears the clamor of Sodom,

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and he decrees that sin does have its limits.

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This is not a God.

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My God, I'm tired of people who just make God out to be someone who has no other side to him other than grace.

00:22:24.000 --> 00:22:30.000
God is a God full of truth and grace, but he knows there are limits on sin.

00:22:30.000 --> 00:22:35.000
He sees and hears the sound of Sodom in different cities across the earth,

00:22:35.000 --> 00:22:37.000
and he's not insensitive to it.

00:22:37.000 --> 00:22:39.000
He's a God who sees and hears.

00:22:39.000 --> 00:22:48.000
I know it is hard to have a God who can be on one hand so loving, so full of grace, and yet a God who judges.

00:22:48.000 --> 00:22:49.000
I know it doesn't compute.

00:22:49.000 --> 00:22:54.000
I know it is not palatable to today's Christianity and to the world outside.

00:22:54.000 --> 00:22:58.000
We want a God who will never judge, who will never do anything wrong.

00:22:58.000 --> 00:23:02.000
We want a Joseph Prince kind of a God who is grace, grace, grace.

00:23:02.000 --> 00:23:09.000
And I deliberately took that name.

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But we have to hold the aspects of God in tension, guys.

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It is not one or the other.

00:23:17.000 --> 00:23:23.000
Both exist at the same time.

00:23:23.000 --> 00:23:33.000
He's a God who hears the clamor of Sodom and decrees that there is limits on the sin he will allow.

00:23:33.000 --> 00:23:47.000
He's a God who likewise sees the oppression of his people in Egypt and determines to put an end to it, even today.

00:23:47.000 --> 00:23:54.000
This must become important as a spiritual principle in our prayer because sometimes when we lament for a city,

00:23:54.000 --> 00:23:56.000
we must remember that he's a God who sees.

00:23:56.000 --> 00:24:00.000
He's a God who sees exploitation and knows that there's a limit to this.

00:24:00.000 --> 00:24:08.000
And he's a God who hears the cry of his people and says there is a day of deliverance coming.

00:24:08.000 --> 00:24:13.000
He's a God who sees oppression and says thus far and no further,

00:24:13.000 --> 00:24:19.000
Kings, nobles will be toppled in a day for the stench has risen to my nostrils.

00:24:19.000 --> 00:24:21.000
You think he doesn't do it now?

00:24:21.000 --> 00:24:26.000
Why does it say in Galatians 6 that God is not mocked?

00:24:26.000 --> 00:24:29.000
Do not be deceived. God is not mocked.

00:24:29.000 --> 00:24:35.000
What a man sows he will reap either to life or to destruction.

00:24:35.000 --> 00:24:42.000
New Testament scripture by Paul, the author of the grace of God, the gospel of grace.

00:24:42.000 --> 00:24:52.000
In Revelation, in Judges chapter 6, it's a scene being played out in heaven,

00:24:52.000 --> 00:25:02.000
but it is pertaining to the earth when the martyrs in heaven cry out to God in Revelation chapter 6,

00:25:02.000 --> 00:25:07.000
verse 9 to 11 and say to God, Oh God, how much longer?

00:25:07.000 --> 00:25:09.000
When are you going to judge?

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How much longer are you going to wait?

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God's response strangely is there are a few more who are going to be killed who will die for my name's sake

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and after that I will judge.

00:25:21.000 --> 00:25:23.000
And he's talking about the earth.

00:25:23.000 --> 00:25:29.000
Though the prayer is in heaven, he's talking about the earth.

00:25:29.000 --> 00:25:39.000
The reason we need to integrate this spiritual principle into our lives is because in a revival,

00:25:39.000 --> 00:25:46.000
there is a time when lament for the city must include this idea of a God who sees and hears

00:25:46.000 --> 00:25:51.000
and who knows how to judge the oppressor and deliver the oppressed.

00:25:54.000 --> 00:25:57.000
Otherwise, you'll take things into your own hands.

00:25:59.000 --> 00:26:22.000
The next spiritual practice that we need to embrace with regard to repairing, rebuilding,

00:26:22.000 --> 00:26:27.000
and restoring our city is the idea of wearing body armor.

00:26:31.000 --> 00:26:32.000
Body armor.

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I want to take you to Isaiah 59, verse 14 to 17.

00:26:37.000 --> 00:26:40.000
Isaiah 59, verse 14 to 17.

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And you'll find that verse 14 to 16 is basically the backdrop and a commentary on the condition of Jerusalem

00:26:51.000 --> 00:26:58.000
then and perhaps the condition of every city in the world, and Vancouver for instance today.

00:26:58.000 --> 00:27:01.000
And then verse 17 tells us how to go about dealing with that.

00:27:01.000 --> 00:27:04.000
Isaiah 59, verse 14.

00:27:07.000 --> 00:27:08.000
I'm reading from the message.

00:27:10.000 --> 00:27:11.000
Justice is beaten back.

00:27:12.000 --> 00:27:15.000
Righteousness is banished to the sidelines.

00:27:15.000 --> 00:27:17.000
Truth staggers down the street.

00:27:18.000 --> 00:27:20.000
Honesty is nowhere to be found.

00:27:21.000 --> 00:27:23.000
Good is missing in action.

00:27:24.000 --> 00:27:26.000
Anyone renouncing evil is beaten and robbed.

00:27:27.000 --> 00:27:29.000
God looked and saw evil looming on the horizon.

00:27:30.000 --> 00:27:33.000
So much evil and no sign of justice.

00:27:33.000 --> 00:27:35.000
He couldn't believe what he saw.

00:27:36.000 --> 00:27:38.000
Not a soul around to correct this awful situation.

00:27:39.000 --> 00:27:40.000
So he did it himself.

00:27:41.000 --> 00:27:42.000
Took on the work of salvation.

00:27:43.000 --> 00:27:45.000
Fueled by his own righteousness.

00:27:46.000 --> 00:27:47.000
Crazy, eh?

00:27:52.000 --> 00:27:54.000
And then look at what he does.

00:27:56.000 --> 00:27:57.000
He wears his body armor.

00:27:58.000 --> 00:28:01.000
It's the imagery of a warrior preparing for battle.

00:28:02.000 --> 00:28:08.000
And it is perhaps a prototype for Ephesians 6, 12 to 17 when Paul draws from Old Testament scriptures

00:28:09.000 --> 00:28:12.000
and presents the armor of God in Ephesians 6.

00:28:12.000 --> 00:28:17.000
But look at how God dresses up to correct what is happening in the city.

00:28:17.000 --> 00:28:18.000
Justice is beaten back.

00:28:18.000 --> 00:28:19.000
Righteousness is banished.

00:28:19.000 --> 00:28:20.000
Truth staggers.

00:28:20.000 --> 00:28:21.000
Honesty is nowhere.

00:28:21.000 --> 00:28:22.000
Good is missing.

00:28:24.000 --> 00:28:25.000
Anyone renouncing evil is beaten.

00:28:26.000 --> 00:28:27.000
Evil looms on the horizon.

00:28:27.000 --> 00:28:28.000
No justice.

00:28:29.000 --> 00:28:31.000
God could not believe what he saw.

00:28:31.000 --> 00:28:33.000
Not a soul around to correct the awful situation.

00:28:34.000 --> 00:28:35.000
Which is why he has raised this church.

00:28:36.000 --> 00:28:38.000
And now the church should robe itself.

00:28:38.000 --> 00:28:40.000
Wear the same body armor that God does.

00:28:41.000 --> 00:28:43.000
And so here is the body armor that he dresses up in.

00:28:44.000 --> 00:28:46.000
He puts on righteousness.

00:28:47.000 --> 00:28:50.000
As in he is asking us to do the same thing.

00:28:51.000 --> 00:28:54.000
Listen, wear what I wore when I needed to correct the situation.

00:28:55.000 --> 00:28:56.000
Wear righteousness as your breastplate.

00:28:57.000 --> 00:28:58.000
As in right standing with me.

00:28:59.000 --> 00:29:00.000
Right standing with yourself.

00:29:01.000 --> 00:29:02.000
And right standing with your neighbor.

00:29:03.000 --> 00:29:04.000
And right standing with your city.

00:29:05.000 --> 00:29:06.000
Wear it church.

00:29:06.000 --> 00:29:07.000
Wear it.

00:29:07.000 --> 00:29:09.000
This is essential armor for this kind of work.

00:29:10.000 --> 00:29:12.000
This is that call to holiness again.

00:29:14.000 --> 00:29:16.000
This is why it is so important.

00:29:16.000 --> 00:29:18.000
We cannot open ancient doors and gates.

00:29:19.000 --> 00:29:22.000
And we cannot shut down ancient demonic doors and gates.

00:29:22.000 --> 00:29:24.000
Till the people walk.

00:29:25.000 --> 00:29:27.000
In this kind of holiness.

00:29:28.000 --> 00:29:30.000
I am not even teaching on holiness.

00:29:30.000 --> 00:29:35.000
Because it is so a demand that it is basic 101.

00:29:39.000 --> 00:29:41.000
He puts on righteousness as his body armor.

00:29:41.000 --> 00:29:43.000
Then he places a helmet of salvation.

00:29:43.000 --> 00:29:45.000
Then he places a helmet of salvation on his head.

00:29:46.000 --> 00:29:48.000
And we are asked to do the same.

00:29:49.000 --> 00:29:53.000
Always remember the word salvation immediately translated to rescue.

00:29:54.000 --> 00:29:55.000
The helmet of rescue.

00:29:56.000 --> 00:29:57.000
Helmet of salvation.

00:29:58.000 --> 00:29:59.000
Of rescue.

00:30:00.000 --> 00:30:03.000
As you have been rescued so I send you out now in the power of the Holy Spirit.

00:30:04.000 --> 00:30:05.000
To rescue others.

00:30:06.000 --> 00:30:10.000
You have been set apart for Christ so that you can assist him in setting others apart.

00:30:10.000 --> 00:30:11.000
The helmet of salvation.

00:30:12.000 --> 00:30:13.000
Rescue from physical danger.

00:30:13.000 --> 00:30:14.000
Rescue from death.

00:30:14.000 --> 00:30:15.000
Rescue from sickness and disease.

00:30:15.000 --> 00:30:16.000
Rescue from sin.

00:30:16.000 --> 00:30:18.000
Rescue from the penalty of sin.

00:30:19.000 --> 00:30:20.000
Rescue from false doctrine.

00:30:20.000 --> 00:30:21.000
Rescue from hell.

00:30:26.000 --> 00:30:28.000
And then the next thing he wears.

00:30:28.000 --> 00:30:32.000
He clothes himself in robes of vengeance.

00:30:34.000 --> 00:30:37.000
The kind of vengeance that is meted out to the evil.

00:30:37.000 --> 00:30:40.000
The kind of vengeance that is meted out to the enemy.

00:30:41.000 --> 00:30:42.000
Are we talking about the devil?

00:30:43.000 --> 00:30:45.000
Are we talking about the demonic realm?

00:30:46.000 --> 00:30:50.000
If you deal with that then physical obstacles are dealt with too.

00:30:50.000 --> 00:30:51.000
But a vengeance.

00:30:52.000 --> 00:30:53.000
There is a vengeance that comes in.

00:30:54.000 --> 00:30:55.000
And we will talk about that in the end.

00:30:57.000 --> 00:31:01.000
And then he cloaks himself with zeal or passion.

00:31:01.000 --> 00:31:03.000
Cloaks himself with zeal or passion.

00:31:04.000 --> 00:31:07.000
Because it is impossible to do this without zeal or passion.

00:31:08.000 --> 00:31:11.000
Which again destroys apathy and self-preservation.

00:31:12.000 --> 00:31:13.000
So can we pray for this?

00:31:16.000 --> 00:31:17.000
So Father again we come.

00:31:18.000 --> 00:31:21.000
These are simple prayers that only you can answer.

00:31:22.000 --> 00:31:23.000
That is why we just turn to you.

00:31:24.000 --> 00:31:25.000
I pray with sincere hearts right now.

00:31:26.000 --> 00:31:29.000
That I pray that you will be able to see the light of the light.

00:31:29.000 --> 00:31:30.000
I pray with sincere hearts right now.

00:31:31.000 --> 00:31:35.000
That across this city would you begin with Acts 29?

00:31:36.000 --> 00:31:37.000
And anyone else who is listening?

00:31:38.000 --> 00:31:39.000
And could you cloak us oh God?

00:31:40.000 --> 00:31:42.000
Can you put the breastplate of righteousness in place?

00:31:43.000 --> 00:31:45.000
It is something you are offering us.

00:31:46.000 --> 00:31:48.000
Right relationship with you every morning.

00:31:49.000 --> 00:31:50.000
Right relationship with myself.

00:31:51.000 --> 00:31:52.000
Zest, space, light, life.

00:31:53.000 --> 00:31:55.000
Right relationship with my immediate neighborhood.

00:31:56.000 --> 00:31:57.000
Right relationship with the environment, the city I am in.

00:31:59.000 --> 00:32:00.000
Right relationship with you.

00:32:04.000 --> 00:32:05.000
The helmet of salvation.

00:32:06.000 --> 00:32:08.000
Knowing that I can be rescued in every situation.

00:32:09.000 --> 00:32:10.000
Does not matter what awaits.

00:32:11.000 --> 00:32:13.000
I will be rescued because I have a God who never leaves me nor forsakes me.

00:32:14.000 --> 00:32:15.000
And this is the God I now proclaim to you.

00:32:17.000 --> 00:32:18.000
Vengeance upon the enemy.

00:32:19.000 --> 00:32:22.000
So that I may learn how to be aware of the devices of the devil.

00:32:23.000 --> 00:32:25.000
And learn how to destroy the works of the enemy.

00:32:26.000 --> 00:32:28.000
In the name of Jesus Christ who came down in the flesh.

00:32:29.000 --> 00:32:32.000
And finally a passion and a zeal for people and the city.

00:32:33.000 --> 00:32:35.000
A passion and a zeal for God and his people.

00:32:36.000 --> 00:32:38.000
A passion and a zeal for God and the city.

00:32:40.000 --> 00:32:43.000
We talked about what we are supposed to do a God in the city.

00:32:44.000 --> 00:32:45.000
You talked about it yesterday.

00:32:46.000 --> 00:32:48.000
A passion and a zeal to take care of the homeless.

00:32:49.000 --> 00:32:53.000
And to rescue those that are caught up and trapped in the sex trade.

00:32:59.000 --> 00:33:01.000
I only mentioned women yesterday father.

00:33:02.000 --> 00:33:03.000
Sorry about that.

00:33:04.000 --> 00:33:06.000
There are men, women and children caught up in it.

00:33:13.000 --> 00:33:16.000
Holy Spirit dress us up please.

00:33:17.000 --> 00:33:19.000
Dress us up please.

00:33:19.000 --> 00:33:23.000
The next one I think is perhaps in our present context.

00:33:24.000 --> 00:33:28.000
The most important heart condition that we need to develop spiritually.

00:33:33.000 --> 00:33:38.000
Guys just as satanic systems or the spiritual system.

00:33:39.000 --> 00:33:41.000
The spiritual system is the most important thing.

00:33:42.000 --> 00:33:44.000
And the spiritual system is the most important thing.

00:33:44.000 --> 00:33:54.000
Guys just as satanic systems or just as satanic powers ravage cities with systems.

00:33:55.000 --> 00:34:01.000
Just as satanic powers ravage city after city with their own demonic systems that are very depraved.

00:34:02.000 --> 00:34:04.000
So we need to build into cities.

00:34:05.000 --> 00:34:07.000
We need to build into cities that which is precious to God.

00:34:08.000 --> 00:34:09.000
We need to build into cities.

00:34:10.000 --> 00:34:12.000
We need to build into our cities.

00:34:12.000 --> 00:34:13.000
Our cities.

00:34:14.000 --> 00:34:15.000
Our cities.

00:34:16.000 --> 00:34:17.000
That which is precious to God.

00:34:18.000 --> 00:34:22.000
That which is precious to God and therefore precious to us.

00:34:24.000 --> 00:34:25.000
Satanic systems do that.

00:34:26.000 --> 00:34:30.000
They build depraved things into cities.

00:34:31.000 --> 00:34:33.000
So that the city is ruined.

00:34:34.000 --> 00:34:35.000
They build that.

00:34:36.000 --> 00:34:37.000
Over a period of years they build that.

00:34:38.000 --> 00:34:39.000
What about us?

00:34:39.000 --> 00:34:40.000
What about us?

00:34:41.000 --> 00:34:45.000
Why don't we then build into cities what is precious to God?

00:34:46.000 --> 00:34:52.000
One of the things that is always precious to God when it comes to cities.

00:34:53.000 --> 00:35:02.000
One of the things that is always precious to God when it comes to cities is this thing called protective hospitality.

00:35:03.000 --> 00:35:07.000
I tried googling this word and I kept coming up with PPE.

00:35:07.000 --> 00:35:08.000
PPE.

00:35:11.000 --> 00:35:13.000
Personal protective, what's it called?

00:35:14.000 --> 00:35:15.000
Personal protective equipment.

00:35:16.000 --> 00:35:17.000
That's all I could get.

00:35:18.000 --> 00:35:19.000
Protective hospitality.

00:35:20.000 --> 00:35:21.000
Protective hospitality.

00:35:22.000 --> 00:35:24.000
God loves this idea in every city.

00:35:25.000 --> 00:35:26.000
It's precious to God.

00:35:27.000 --> 00:35:30.000
It is something that the church is supposed to build into its city.

00:35:31.000 --> 00:35:32.000
Protective hospitality.

00:35:33.000 --> 00:35:35.000
You see it in Leviticus 19.34.

00:35:35.000 --> 00:35:36.000
I'll give you a few scriptures.

00:35:37.000 --> 00:35:38.000
Leviticus 19.34.

00:35:39.000 --> 00:35:41.000
I talked about this ages ago.

00:35:42.000 --> 00:35:43.000
Leviticus 19.34.

00:35:48.000 --> 00:35:49.000
I'm reading from the message.

00:35:50.000 --> 00:35:56.000
Treat the foreigner or the alien or the immigrant the same as a native.

00:35:57.000 --> 00:35:58.000
Love him like one of your own.

00:35:59.000 --> 00:36:00.000
Remember that you were once foreigners in Egypt.

00:36:01.000 --> 00:36:02.000
I am God your God.

00:36:02.000 --> 00:36:19.000
The idea of listen, if there is a stranger, if there is a foreigner, if there is an immigrant, if there is someone who is oppressed, if there is someone who hasn't been spoken to for years so much so that she doesn't even fear being attacked because at least, because she's sure no one wants to speak to her like Derek was talking about yesterday.

00:36:20.000 --> 00:36:31.000
Protective hospitality is the protection that you offer someone out of an extremely hospitable heart so that you draw them in and they are under your protection now.

00:36:32.000 --> 00:36:33.000
That's what protective hospitality is.

00:36:34.000 --> 00:36:39.000
God is a God who's always desired this in every city right from when Israel began.

00:36:40.000 --> 00:36:41.000
Let me give you another scripture.

00:36:42.000 --> 00:36:43.000
Psalm 23 verse 5.

00:36:44.000 --> 00:36:47.000
It's a brilliant portrayal of God's protective hospitality.

00:36:48.000 --> 00:36:54.000
It says, I will prepare a table for you in the presence of your enemies.

00:36:55.000 --> 00:36:57.000
As in, yeah, I can see your enemies.

00:36:58.000 --> 00:36:59.000
I can see that they are after you.

00:37:00.000 --> 00:37:01.000
But you know what I'm going to do?

00:37:02.000 --> 00:37:03.000
I'm going to sit at that table with you.

00:37:04.000 --> 00:37:05.000
Now let me see who will touch you.

00:37:06.000 --> 00:37:15.000
In the presence of my enemies, I will prepare a six course banquet for you so that they know that one, you're at my table and that to get to you, they have to get to me.

00:37:16.000 --> 00:37:21.000
Two, that you're not just at my table, that I consider you as someone I am in fellowship with.

00:37:22.000 --> 00:37:31.000
Scary thought, man, because all table fellowship in the Old Testament and the New Testament was an intense form of I now receive you as an equal.

00:37:32.000 --> 00:37:38.000
And Paul was pretty upset in 1 Corinthians 11 where they would gather at the table of the Lord and would treat each other disparagingly.

00:37:39.000 --> 00:37:42.000
Let's see another scripture.

00:37:43.000 --> 00:37:45.000
Mark 14, 6.

00:37:46.000 --> 00:37:59.000
Where Jesus actually turns to his host and to his disciples and says to them because this woman is crying at his feet and washing his feet with her hair.

00:37:59.000 --> 00:38:02.000
And she's a woman who's a prostitute who's coming from the streets.

00:38:03.000 --> 00:38:07.000
And he says, leave her alone. Stop bothering her.

00:38:08.000 --> 00:38:10.000
What she's doing is a beautiful thing.

00:38:11.000 --> 00:38:23.000
When the chief guest at a banquet says that about a highly disreputable woman who walks in and does act that is not at all kosher, everybody else is silent.

00:38:23.000 --> 00:38:28.000
Protective hospitality ruins your reputation but gives dignity to somebody else.

00:38:29.000 --> 00:38:32.000
It is in the heart of God for years, man, years.

00:38:33.000 --> 00:38:34.000
It is the heart of God.

00:38:35.000 --> 00:38:45.000
The next example I'm going to do you is almost, I mean, a revulsion may rise in your heart when I talk about this instance.

00:38:45.000 --> 00:38:57.000
But it is the instance of Lot where there are these angels that have come at his door and a group of men gather to have sex with them.

00:38:58.000 --> 00:39:09.000
And Lot draws them into his house because it's a common practice in all Abrahamic faiths that once one comes into your house, now they are under your protection.

00:39:10.000 --> 00:39:14.000
And no harm will come to them till some harm has already come to you.

00:39:15.000 --> 00:39:16.000
They will be kept safe.

00:39:17.000 --> 00:39:20.000
And Lot goes to the extent of saying, here, I've got two daughters.

00:39:21.000 --> 00:39:26.000
Use them, abuse them, but you cannot touch these men because they are under my protective hospitality.

00:39:27.000 --> 00:39:37.000
And in an odd way, it's a portrayal of what the father does with his son saying, now, you will leave Jacob alone.

00:39:37.000 --> 00:39:40.000
I have decided to bring him under my protective hospitality.

00:39:41.000 --> 00:39:43.000
Here, have my son, crucify him.

00:39:44.000 --> 00:39:47.000
But my boy Jacob is now under my protection.

00:39:48.000 --> 00:39:51.000
Throws out his son, pulls me in.

00:39:55.000 --> 00:40:05.000
Of all the points I can make today, the point that perhaps God wants to brand into us is,

00:40:05.000 --> 00:40:10.000
can you begin to think like this about your city?

00:40:11.000 --> 00:40:13.000
And when I say city, I mean the people.

00:40:14.000 --> 00:40:21.000
Can you allow me to implant in you, to grow in you the idea of protective hospitality?

00:40:22.000 --> 00:40:26.000
It becomes something that's very natural to who you are, Jacob.

00:40:26.000 --> 00:40:33.000
Some of these guys that we don't think much of because of how we've heard them preached, like Lot,

00:40:34.000 --> 00:40:41.000
who's the not-so-smart-brother of Abraham kind of a thing, or uncle of...

00:40:42.000 --> 00:40:44.000
I forgot how he's related.

00:40:45.000 --> 00:40:51.000
Nephew of Abraham, who's the nephew of Abraham.

00:40:51.000 --> 00:41:00.000
Oh, you think of Job and you think to yourself, Job, that guy just kept lamenting, got God wrong.

00:41:01.000 --> 00:41:02.000
You think of them and you don't think very highly of them.

00:41:03.000 --> 00:41:07.000
But when God shows you these vignettes of who they were and what they were doing,

00:41:08.000 --> 00:41:10.000
you think to yourself, man, I can see how different they were.

00:41:11.000 --> 00:41:12.000
I can see how different they were.

00:41:13.000 --> 00:41:14.000
I can see how different they were.

00:41:14.000 --> 00:41:18.000
When God shows you these vignettes of who they were and what they were doing,

00:41:19.000 --> 00:41:21.000
you think to yourself, man, I can see how different they were.

00:41:22.000 --> 00:41:24.000
I mean, look at what is said of Job.

00:41:29.000 --> 00:41:32.000
Look at what it said of Job in Job 29.

00:41:33.000 --> 00:41:39.000
And you'll understand why Job was one who offered the people in his city protective hospitality.

00:41:39.000 --> 00:41:45.000
Job was one whose righteous activity became a cloak around him.

00:41:46.000 --> 00:41:48.000
It was not the righteousness that he wore as an armor.

00:41:49.000 --> 00:41:51.000
It was, now that I've worn righteousness as an armor,

00:41:52.000 --> 00:41:55.000
I'm going to step out and indulge in these righteous acts and they become a cloak around me.

00:41:56.000 --> 00:42:01.000
But that's not the point. Job 29, Job 29, Job 29, 12-17.

00:42:02.000 --> 00:42:06.000
I'm reading from the message. Job 29, 12-17, from the message.

00:42:06.000 --> 00:42:15.000
I was known for helping people in trouble and standing up for those who were down on their luck.

00:42:16.000 --> 00:42:21.000
The dying blessed me and the bereaved were cheered by my visits.

00:42:22.000 --> 00:42:24.000
All my dealings with people were good.

00:42:25.000 --> 00:42:27.000
I was known for being fair to everyone I met.

00:42:28.000 --> 00:42:34.000
I was eyes to the blind and feet to the lame, father to the needy and the champion of abused aliens or immigrants.

00:42:34.000 --> 00:42:40.000
I grabbed street thieves by the scruff of their neck and made them give back what they've stolen.

00:42:41.000 --> 00:42:42.000
That's from NIV.

00:42:43.000 --> 00:42:47.000
I rescued the poor who cried for help, the fatherless who had none to assist him.

00:42:48.000 --> 00:42:52.000
The one who was dying blessed me. I made the widow's heart sing.

00:42:53.000 --> 00:42:57.000
I put on righteousness as my clothing. Justice was my robe and my turban.

00:42:58.000 --> 00:43:00.000
I was eyes to the blind and feet to the lame.

00:43:01.000 --> 00:43:02.000
I was a father to the needy.

00:43:02.000 --> 00:43:03.000
I took up the case of the stranger.

00:43:04.000 --> 00:43:08.000
I broke the fangs of the wicked and snatched the victims from their teeth.

00:43:09.000 --> 00:43:11.000
Beautifully. Guys, this is not a ministry.

00:43:12.000 --> 00:43:13.000
This is the nature of Jesus.

00:43:14.000 --> 00:43:15.000
We're not doing ministry.

00:43:21.000 --> 00:43:22.000
Job, can you turn the heat down?

00:43:24.000 --> 00:43:26.000
Bring it to 68 or something.

00:43:29.000 --> 00:43:30.000
This is not ministry.

00:43:30.000 --> 00:43:33.000
This is what a church does during a time like this.

00:43:34.000 --> 00:43:35.000
We saw yesterday clearly.

00:43:36.000 --> 00:43:43.000
I was telling somebody last night that yesterday's message was one of the simplest messages I've preached because there was hardly any work to do.

00:43:44.000 --> 00:43:45.000
It was all there in Isaiah 58.

00:43:46.000 --> 00:43:47.000
There was nothing to do.

00:43:50.000 --> 00:43:51.000
This is what you guys are.

00:43:52.000 --> 00:43:54.000
This is what will happen to you in terms of the revival.

00:43:55.000 --> 00:43:57.000
This is what you need to do to make this happen.

00:43:58.000 --> 00:43:59.000
Period.

00:44:00.000 --> 00:44:01.000
That's all I have to say.

00:44:08.000 --> 00:44:09.000
Any questions, anybody?

00:44:20.000 --> 00:44:21.000
I can't hear you.

00:44:21.000 --> 00:44:24.000
Is this a protective hospitality?

00:44:25.000 --> 00:44:27.000
Is it a phrase that's a term that you just put together?

00:44:28.000 --> 00:44:32.000
No, no, no. I'm sure protective hospitality is a term that exists.

00:44:33.000 --> 00:44:36.000
I just thought I could Google it and find out some more, but I only got PPE.

00:44:37.000 --> 00:44:43.000
Perhaps a year ago I would have gotten something, but every time you put protective, only equipment comes up.

00:44:44.000 --> 00:44:50.000
Yeah, I'm sure it's somebody else's word because I used it four years ago and I found it somewhere,

00:44:51.000 --> 00:44:53.000
and this is the thing that I found somewhere after four years.

00:44:58.000 --> 00:44:59.000
Protective hospitality.

00:45:00.000 --> 00:45:01.000
Next one.

00:45:02.000 --> 00:45:10.000
Next one is when we think of the city, these are spiritual practices.

00:45:11.000 --> 00:45:19.000
Guys, we populate the heavenly city by weeping, identifying, preaching, and sacrificing for the earthly city.

00:45:19.000 --> 00:45:21.000
We populate the heavenly city.

00:45:22.000 --> 00:45:24.000
We populate the heavenly city by weeping.

00:45:25.000 --> 00:45:27.000
Jesus did that, Luke 13, verse 34.

00:45:28.000 --> 00:45:33.000
Oh, Jerusalem, oh, Jerusalem, how I've longed to gather you in as a hen gathers her chicks.

00:45:35.000 --> 00:45:40.000
You populate the, you can only populate the heavenly city by weeping,

00:45:40.000 --> 00:45:52.000
weeping, marrying, preaching, and sacrificing for the earthly city that you are in.

00:45:54.000 --> 00:45:57.000
Marry the land, as in I have a stake in this land.

00:46:01.000 --> 00:46:02.000
We don't think like that.

00:46:03.000 --> 00:46:05.000
Guys, remember Act 17.

00:46:05.000 --> 00:46:13.000
We have been appointed to certain places, placed within certain boundaries for a certain time so that we may find God.

00:46:14.000 --> 00:46:17.000
And finding God doesn't stop with being born again.

00:46:18.000 --> 00:46:21.000
Finding God is finding what else, what else, what else?

00:46:23.000 --> 00:46:28.000
You're in the city because you were placed in the city for a time such as this.

00:46:29.000 --> 00:46:34.000
Marry the land, not marry the customs of the land, but have a stake in the land.

00:46:35.000 --> 00:46:38.000
A place that is supposed to serve me.

00:46:39.000 --> 00:46:45.000
When it comes to Christians, we serve the place we are planted in.

00:46:46.000 --> 00:46:47.000
We serve.

00:46:49.000 --> 00:46:51.000
It's not, why can't the government do this for this?

00:46:52.000 --> 00:46:53.000
Why aren't they changing this rule?

00:46:54.000 --> 00:46:55.000
When are the masks going to go?

00:46:56.000 --> 00:46:57.000
When is it going to be 12 people and not 10?

00:46:58.000 --> 00:47:02.000
All these are reasonable thoughts, arguments, discussions.

00:47:02.000 --> 00:47:12.000
But, while we are doing that, I need to pay attention to the fact that Jesus, you have placed me in the city for 27 years now.

00:47:13.000 --> 00:47:16.000
What have I done for it that has significantly impacted it?

00:47:19.000 --> 00:47:21.000
And that is bothersome.

00:47:24.000 --> 00:47:30.000
Not what I've done for the church that I'm pastoring, for the Christians that I've heard my brilliant preaching.

00:47:30.000 --> 00:47:32.000
Or what have you done for the city?

00:47:33.000 --> 00:47:35.000
As in what have you done for the rest of the people?

00:47:39.000 --> 00:47:41.000
I don't feel like I'm going on a guilt trip.

00:47:42.000 --> 00:47:46.000
I just think now is the time to ask these questions.

00:47:50.000 --> 00:47:53.000
It's not like this mask is preventing me from doing anything.

00:47:54.000 --> 00:47:56.000
For the last 26 years, there was no mask.

00:47:56.000 --> 00:48:10.000
One of the prayers I want to pray for the next little while is make me aware and available to people throughout the day who need their dignity or their image restored.

00:48:11.000 --> 00:48:15.000
Make me aware and available to ones who are not in the church.

00:48:15.000 --> 00:48:22.000
Make me aware and available to people throughout the day who need their dignity or their image restored.

00:48:23.000 --> 00:48:27.000
Make me aware and available to ones who need their image restored.

00:48:28.000 --> 00:48:31.000
I want to pray that so that it becomes kind of a habit.

00:48:32.000 --> 00:48:36.000
And I want to read Matthew 25.

00:48:37.000 --> 00:48:49.000
Guys, if I ever read from the Passion Translation, it's only after I check the other versions to see if the Passion Translation is saying the same thing.

00:48:50.000 --> 00:48:55.000
Because the Passion Translation takes liberties with the translation.

00:48:56.000 --> 00:48:57.000
It is beautiful to read.

00:48:57.000 --> 00:48:58.000
It's touching.

00:49:02.000 --> 00:49:08.000
I would go so far as to say it may even be of the spirit, the way it portrays God.

00:49:09.000 --> 00:49:13.000
But it is still not an accurate translation of the original.

00:49:14.000 --> 00:49:22.000
So if I ever quote the Passion Translation, it is after I check multiple other scriptures to see whether what is being said has the same meaning.

00:49:22.000 --> 00:49:28.000
And then the reason I choose it, if and when I choose it, is because it conveys what it needs to beautifully.

00:49:29.000 --> 00:49:32.000
So I'm going to read this next scripture from the Passion Translation.

00:49:33.000 --> 00:49:39.000
It's Matthew 25, verse 34 to 40.

00:49:40.000 --> 00:49:44.000
Matthew 25, verse 34 to 40.

00:49:47.000 --> 00:49:50.000
Matthew 25, verse 34 to 40.

00:49:50.000 --> 00:50:04.000
This is why I'm asking God, Father, could you make me both aware and then available during the day to people who may need dignity restored or the image of God restored to them?

00:50:05.000 --> 00:50:08.000
Could you please make me more aware and available?

00:50:10.000 --> 00:50:17.000
Because I'm usually not. If it happens, it's because it's staring me in the face, not because I've been particularly aware of it.

00:50:17.000 --> 00:50:18.000
So here's what it says.

00:50:19.000 --> 00:50:25.000
Then the King will turn to those on his right and he will say, You have a special place in my Father's heart.

00:50:26.000 --> 00:50:33.000
Come and experience the full inheritance of the Kingdom realm that has been destined for you from before the foundation of the world.

00:50:34.000 --> 00:50:40.000
For when you saw me hungry, you fed me. When you found me thirsty, you gave me something to drink.

00:50:41.000 --> 00:50:51.000
When I had no place to stay, you invited me in. When I was poorly clothed, you covered me. When I was sick, you tenderly cared for me.

00:50:52.000 --> 00:50:54.000
When I was in prison, you visited me.

00:50:55.000 --> 00:51:01.000
Then the Godly will answer him, Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty and give you food and something to drink?

00:51:02.000 --> 00:51:05.000
When did we see you with no place to stay and invite you in?

00:51:05.000 --> 00:51:09.000
When did we see you poorly clothed and cover you?

00:51:10.000 --> 00:51:13.000
When did we see you sick and tenderly care for you or in prison and visit you?

00:51:14.000 --> 00:51:16.000
And the King will answer them, Don't you know?

00:51:17.000 --> 00:51:23.000
When you cared for one of the least important of these, my little ones, my true brothers and sisters, you demonstrated love for me.

00:51:23.000 --> 00:51:30.000
So, Jigab, why are we shifting like this to doing things that we haven't done for the last 16 years on a regular basis?

00:51:31.000 --> 00:51:37.000
Because this is part of how God brings a revival across the earth and in cities.

00:51:38.000 --> 00:51:41.000
Isaiah 58, go and listen to yesterday's teaching.

00:51:42.000 --> 00:51:46.000
To bring the kind of 58-12 revival, we engage in the 58-12 fasting.

00:51:46.000 --> 00:51:53.000
And the 58-12 fasting has two components, an attack on personal sin and an assault on injustice in cities.

00:51:54.000 --> 00:51:57.000
We cannot take care of all the ills in our neighborhood or in our city,

00:51:58.000 --> 00:52:03.000
but we can definitely put our hands and our hearts to the thing that God puts his finger on.

00:52:04.000 --> 00:52:11.000
And in our case, it's caring for the homeless and rescuing those that are trapped or caught up or in prison.

00:52:11.000 --> 00:52:14.000
And as we do that, light will come into darkness.

00:52:15.000 --> 00:52:19.000
Dry ground will be watered and springs will flow from there.

00:52:20.000 --> 00:52:21.000
Bones will be strengthened.

00:52:22.000 --> 00:52:25.000
The righteousness and the glory of God will begin to surround you.

00:52:26.000 --> 00:52:28.000
There were three more.

00:52:29.000 --> 00:52:32.000
The first is to be aware of the darkness.

00:52:33.000 --> 00:52:35.000
The second is to be aware of the darkness.

00:52:35.000 --> 00:52:38.000
And as you are aware of the darkness and the glory of God will begin to surround you.

00:52:39.000 --> 00:52:40.000
There were three more.

00:52:46.000 --> 00:52:49.000
You'll be called repairers and restorers of the bridge.

00:52:50.000 --> 00:52:52.000
Two more. I don't remember.

00:52:57.000 --> 00:52:59.000
Amy Grant,

00:53:00.000 --> 00:53:03.000
I once wrote a song in 1979.

00:53:03.000 --> 00:53:07.400
I know that's before three quarters of the church was born.

00:53:07.400 --> 00:53:11.960
I think other than Mike, most of us were born after that.

00:53:11.960 --> 00:53:19.240
But Amy Grant wrote this song called The Father's Eyes.

00:53:19.240 --> 00:53:21.760
And I have it on my phone.

00:53:21.760 --> 00:53:23.480
I've always loved the song.

00:53:23.480 --> 00:53:28.680
It says, eyes that find the good things, when good things,

00:53:28.680 --> 00:53:31.920
eyes that find the good in things,

00:53:31.920 --> 00:53:38.160
when good is not around, eyes that find the source of help,

00:53:38.160 --> 00:53:41.520
when help just can't be found.

00:53:41.520 --> 00:53:47.400
Eyes full of compassion, seeing every pain,

00:53:47.400 --> 00:53:54.000
knowing what you're going through, and feeling it the same.

00:53:54.000 --> 00:53:59.960
She's got her father's eyes, her father's eyes,

00:53:59.960 --> 00:54:09.920
her father's eyes, she's got her father's eyes.

00:54:09.920 --> 00:54:11.280
Love that song, man.

00:54:11.280 --> 00:54:14.880
She's got her father's eyes.

00:54:14.880 --> 00:54:16.400
I'd love that for myself.

00:54:21.600 --> 00:54:22.480
Two more things to go.

00:54:22.480 --> 00:54:27.560
The next thing we have to deal with spiritually is mammon.

00:54:27.560 --> 00:54:33.560
Mammon is the wealth that gives us security.

00:54:33.560 --> 00:54:34.720
Mammon.

00:54:34.720 --> 00:54:37.440
This revival will create opportunities

00:54:37.440 --> 00:54:41.640
for the Church of Jesus Christ to challenge the Church of Mammon.

00:54:41.640 --> 00:54:47.680
This revival will give us opportunities,

00:54:48.520 --> 00:54:54.360
will create opportunities for the Church of Jesus Christ

00:54:54.360 --> 00:54:58.760
to challenge the Church of Mammon.

00:54:58.760 --> 00:55:01.720
The Church of Mammon is already at work

00:55:01.720 --> 00:55:06.240
trying to secularize our faith.

00:55:06.240 --> 00:55:07.440
It's already at work.

00:55:07.440 --> 00:55:10.360
You know, I was having a discussion with Chad

00:55:10.360 --> 00:55:13.320
some days ago, and we were talking about the fact

00:55:13.320 --> 00:55:20.320
that however the mark looks, when people take it

00:55:20.320 --> 00:55:22.400
on their foreheads and their forehands,

00:55:22.400 --> 00:55:24.320
I'm not trying to figure out what the mark is

00:55:24.320 --> 00:55:25.840
and what the mark looks like.

00:55:25.840 --> 00:55:30.960
All I'm saying is that we in the West

00:55:30.960 --> 00:55:36.120
are so secularized in our faith because of money, wealth,

00:55:36.160 --> 00:55:41.360
security, and our justification of it

00:55:41.360 --> 00:55:47.680
that we have primed our foreheads for the mark

00:55:47.680 --> 00:55:51.840
in the sense we will continue to buy and sell

00:55:51.840 --> 00:55:56.120
because it is so critical to our existence in the West

00:55:56.120 --> 00:56:01.040
that we will come up with justifications to go along

00:56:01.040 --> 00:56:02.440
and not be persecuted.

00:56:02.440 --> 00:56:07.440
Well, that's a separate topic that we'll talk about another day.

00:56:07.440 --> 00:56:12.440
But the Church of Jesus Christ will find ample opportunity

00:56:12.440 --> 00:56:16.440
during this time of revival, Acts 29 will find ample opportunity

00:56:16.440 --> 00:56:19.440
to challenge the Church of Mammon.

00:56:19.440 --> 00:56:21.440
The Church of Mammon exploits,

00:56:21.440 --> 00:56:23.440
let's not call it the Church of Mammon,

00:56:23.440 --> 00:56:25.440
you might actually think it's some guy from India

00:56:25.440 --> 00:56:28.440
who started a church because there is a name in India

00:56:28.440 --> 00:56:31.440
called Mammon, so I don't want you to think that.

00:56:31.440 --> 00:56:40.440
So, yeah, so Mammon exploits for gain at any cost.

00:56:40.440 --> 00:56:44.440
Mammon exploits for gain at any cost.

00:56:44.440 --> 00:56:51.440
We empty what we have for others at any cost.

00:56:51.440 --> 00:56:54.440
This is the difference, and I pray that this revival

00:56:54.440 --> 00:56:56.440
gives us opportunities.

00:56:56.440 --> 00:56:58.440
And there are people at Acts 29, guys,

00:56:58.440 --> 00:57:01.440
you don't know how generous a church this is.

00:57:01.440 --> 00:57:03.440
How generous a church this is.

00:57:03.440 --> 00:57:07.440
Chantal and Heidi can give you actual figures,

00:57:07.440 --> 00:57:10.440
but this is one of the, for the size of this church

00:57:10.440 --> 00:57:13.440
and for the jobs that people hold,

00:57:13.440 --> 00:57:17.440
this is one of the most generous churches I have experienced.

00:57:17.440 --> 00:57:18.440
There's never a lack of money,

00:57:18.440 --> 00:57:21.440
and the only reason there is never a lack of money

00:57:21.440 --> 00:57:25.440
is because there is never a lack of generosity.

00:57:25.440 --> 00:57:28.440
Heidi doesn't sleep on pillows that have money appearing

00:57:28.440 --> 00:57:32.440
in them in the middle of the night.

00:57:32.440 --> 00:57:34.440
At least, last time I checked, she said,

00:57:34.440 --> 00:57:36.440
no, hasn't happened for a while.

00:57:36.440 --> 00:57:39.440
The point being that there is no lack

00:57:39.440 --> 00:57:42.440
because this has been a super generous church,

00:57:42.440 --> 00:57:45.440
and I pray, God, that we see miracles

00:57:45.440 --> 00:57:49.440
when it comes to things pertaining to money.

00:57:49.440 --> 00:57:52.440
Miracles.

00:57:52.440 --> 00:57:54.440
Fish in your freezer, you keep serving it,

00:57:54.440 --> 00:57:55.440
and the fish keeps appearing.

00:57:55.440 --> 00:57:58.440
I'm giving you real life stories.

00:57:58.440 --> 00:58:00.440
So much so that you name the fish,

00:58:00.440 --> 00:58:01.440
you call him Simon or something.

00:58:01.440 --> 00:58:03.440
Let's have Simon out for dinner.

00:58:03.440 --> 00:58:05.440
But we had him yesterday, go check the freezer.

00:58:05.440 --> 00:58:07.440
Oops, he's there again.

00:58:07.440 --> 00:58:09.440
We only have two loaves.

00:58:09.440 --> 00:58:12.440
My God, how are we going to feed Don, Derek,

00:58:12.440 --> 00:58:13.440
and Praful with two loaves?

00:58:13.440 --> 00:58:18.440
Let's just pray, and it multiplies.

00:58:18.440 --> 00:58:20.440
Oh, and I'm going to ask you a question.

00:58:20.440 --> 00:58:25.440
Oh, and Sheldon, we leave a lot of loaves then.

00:58:25.440 --> 00:58:28.440
The point being this, guys, times of revival

00:58:28.440 --> 00:58:31.440
are times where you see miracles of money,

00:58:31.440 --> 00:58:33.440
and it defeats Mammon.

00:58:33.440 --> 00:58:34.440
It defeats Mammon.

00:58:34.440 --> 00:58:39.440
We realize that Mammon will exploit for gain at any cost

00:58:39.440 --> 00:58:41.440
while we keep emptying ourselves,

00:58:41.440 --> 00:58:46.440
and the more we empty ourselves, the more appears.

00:58:46.440 --> 00:58:49.440
Mammon uses money to exert power.

00:58:49.440 --> 00:58:52.440
Mammon uses money to exert power.

00:58:52.440 --> 00:58:57.440
I love this line, and for once I can claim ownership.

00:58:57.440 --> 00:59:03.440
Mammon, guys, there's no copyright on any truth from God.

00:59:03.440 --> 00:59:05.440
Whenever you hear anything preached in this church,

00:59:05.440 --> 00:59:07.440
take it, use it, make it yours.

00:59:07.440 --> 00:59:10.440
It belongs to you because it belongs to your father.

00:59:10.440 --> 00:59:14.440
Mammon uses money to exert power.

00:59:14.440 --> 00:59:17.440
We use money to exude grace.

00:59:17.440 --> 00:59:19.440
Mammon uses money to exert power.

00:59:19.440 --> 00:59:20.440
I have money.

00:59:20.440 --> 00:59:22.440
I will use it to exert power.

00:59:22.440 --> 00:59:28.440
But we use money to exude or to pour out grace.

00:59:28.440 --> 00:59:30.440
Use money to pour out grace.

00:59:30.440 --> 00:59:32.440
Use money to show grace to people.

00:59:32.440 --> 00:59:37.440
Money is a powerful, amoral commodity

00:59:37.440 --> 00:59:40.440
that we can use to show grace.

00:59:40.440 --> 00:59:43.440
Use it to your advantage to show grace.

00:59:43.440 --> 00:59:44.440
Let it be okay.

00:59:44.440 --> 00:59:46.440
It's okay to be exploited.

00:59:46.440 --> 00:59:51.440
A friend from many, many, many years ago turned up recently,

00:59:51.440 --> 00:59:55.440
actually emailed the church address.

00:59:55.440 --> 00:59:58.440
I was so thrilled to find him,

00:59:58.440 --> 01:00:02.440
little knowing that it was an attempt to get some money.

01:00:02.440 --> 01:00:05.440
So what? Exude grace.

01:00:05.440 --> 01:00:07.440
Use money to exude grace.

01:00:07.440 --> 01:00:11.440
Because the world uses money to exert power,

01:00:11.440 --> 01:00:15.440
to exert dominance, to puppeteer.

01:00:15.440 --> 01:00:18.440
And then use money.

01:00:18.440 --> 01:00:21.440
The world uses money to hedge in and to keep out.

01:00:21.440 --> 01:00:22.440
I have this much money.

01:00:22.440 --> 01:00:23.440
You don't have it.

01:00:23.440 --> 01:00:25.440
So you stay there and I will stay here.

01:00:25.440 --> 01:00:26.440
This hedges me in.

01:00:26.440 --> 01:00:27.440
This keeps you out.

01:00:27.440 --> 01:00:29.440
We use money to make money.

01:00:29.440 --> 01:00:31.440
We use money to make money.

01:00:31.440 --> 01:00:35.440
There's that parable of the unjust steward.

01:00:35.440 --> 01:00:39.440
Jesus commanded him for using읛 money to make friends.

01:00:39.440 --> 01:00:41.440
Make money to use friends.

01:00:41.440 --> 01:00:45.440
Sorry, make, make, use money to make friends.

01:00:45.440 --> 01:00:50.440
Make money to use friends.

01:00:50.440 --> 01:00:53.440
Oops, two colors are coming out.

01:00:53.440 --> 01:00:55.440
Make money to use friends.

01:00:55.440 --> 01:00:57.440
Ha ha ha ha.

01:00:57.440 --> 01:00:59.440
Oops, true colors are coming out.

01:00:59.440 --> 01:01:01.440
Ha ha ha.

01:01:01.440 --> 01:01:03.440
Make money.

01:01:03.440 --> 01:01:05.440
Make friends using money.

01:01:05.440 --> 01:01:07.440
Yeah, make friends using money.

01:01:07.440 --> 01:01:09.440
Cool.

01:01:09.440 --> 01:01:11.440
Last one.

01:01:11.440 --> 01:01:13.440
Last one is,

01:01:13.440 --> 01:01:15.440
I know what it is.

01:01:15.440 --> 01:01:17.440
I'm just checking it.

01:01:17.440 --> 01:01:19.440
I'm just checking it.

01:01:19.440 --> 01:01:21.440
I'm just checking it.

01:01:21.440 --> 01:01:23.440
I know what it is.

01:01:23.440 --> 01:01:25.440
I'm just checking to see what I

01:01:25.440 --> 01:01:27.440
titled it, yes.

01:01:27.440 --> 01:01:29.440
Spiritual Strongholds.

01:01:29.440 --> 01:01:31.440
Spiritual Strongholds.

01:01:31.440 --> 01:01:33.440
Spiritual Strongholds in the city

01:01:33.440 --> 01:01:35.440
need to be dealt with spiritually.

01:01:35.440 --> 01:01:37.440
Spiritual Strongholds

01:01:37.440 --> 01:01:39.440
in the city need to be dealt with

01:01:39.440 --> 01:01:41.440
spiritually.

01:01:41.440 --> 01:01:43.440
Spiritual Strongholds in

01:01:43.440 --> 01:01:45.440
the city need to be dealt with

01:01:45.440 --> 01:01:47.440
spiritually in this city.

01:01:47.440 --> 01:01:49.440
There are spiritual powers

01:01:49.440 --> 01:02:00.440
And in this city, spiritual powers operate like this.

01:02:00.440 --> 01:02:11.440
There's one set of powers that are the public face.

01:02:11.440 --> 01:02:15.440
There's one set of powers that are the public face of the city.

01:02:15.440 --> 01:02:18.440
And so they are dominant.

01:02:18.440 --> 01:02:23.440
And see, one of the things that when I talk about spiritual strongholds and spiritual powers in this city,

01:02:23.440 --> 01:02:34.440
I cannot name names, will not name names, because of the fact that this is live streamed and it's heard over and over again in different parts.

01:02:34.440 --> 01:02:37.440
But I'm just explaining the dynamics of it.

01:02:37.440 --> 01:02:43.440
And then later we can talk about the specifics in a way that is more private.

01:02:43.440 --> 01:02:48.440
So when it comes to spiritual strongholds, in this city there are spiritual powers.

01:02:48.440 --> 01:02:51.440
There are ones that posture as the public face of it,

01:02:51.440 --> 01:03:03.440
ones that posture as the public face or the front facade.

01:03:03.440 --> 01:03:17.440
And then behind it are a host of violent, is a violent horde, violent horde of powers,

01:03:18.440 --> 01:03:34.440
a violent horde of powers that are strangling the city and its people, that are strangling the city and its people.

01:03:34.440 --> 01:03:39.440
Guys, this is not uncommon.

01:03:39.440 --> 01:03:40.440
This is not uncommon.

01:03:40.440 --> 01:03:47.440
In many, many cities across the world, what happens is the churches focus on what seems most obvious.

01:03:47.440 --> 01:03:56.440
And it is not that these are not powerful, but behind this are violent hordes of powers that are strangling the city and its people.

01:03:56.440 --> 01:03:58.440
So we have to deal with both.

01:03:58.440 --> 01:04:04.440
We have to deal with this, but we also have to deal with this.

01:04:04.440 --> 01:04:14.440
So we have known this now for about eight months and have been praying and restraining these powers for the last eight or nine months,

01:04:14.440 --> 01:04:24.440
sometimes going to very specific places in this city and literally doing walks around certain places

01:04:24.440 --> 01:04:31.440
and praying strongly against things that have had a stronghold on the city for a while.

01:04:31.440 --> 01:04:40.440
Recently, someone who is not part of Acts 29 was just praying in a certain place.

01:04:40.440 --> 01:04:46.440
And they texted me and they said that they were praying at a certain place.

01:04:46.440 --> 01:04:53.440
And all this is anecdotal, so again, I'm not saying take it with a pinch of salt, but take it as obviously not scripture.

01:04:53.440 --> 01:05:06.440
So they were praying at a place and they saw a wall on which there was a mural that was painted that portrayed a certain power.

01:05:06.440 --> 01:05:18.440
So they were sitting in their car praying and they saw a wall that portrayed a certain power.

01:05:18.440 --> 01:05:25.440
And then as they looked, they found just a big slab of cement with the words F-I-T-H on it.

01:05:25.440 --> 01:05:35.440
And as soon as they texted me and told me this, I was quite thrilled because it encouraged me a lot that my Godfather,

01:05:35.440 --> 01:05:40.440
sometimes you can pray again and again and again and you don't think nothing is happening.

01:05:40.440 --> 01:05:44.440
Then someone sends you a vague thing like this that I was sitting and praying.

01:05:44.440 --> 01:05:49.440
I saw a wall on the wall with a certain power that was painted almost like a mural.

01:05:49.440 --> 01:05:54.440
And I saw a slab of cement on the ground and on it it said F-I-T-H.

01:05:54.440 --> 01:06:01.440
And the cool thing about F-I-T-H, I don't know whether they know it, is F-I-T-H stands for fire in the hole.

01:06:01.440 --> 01:06:08.440
And a fire in the hole is what happens when someone is detonating a building.

01:06:08.440 --> 01:06:11.440
They put up this sign saying fire in the hole.

01:06:11.440 --> 01:06:16.440
It's a warning that an explosive detonation in a confined space is imminent.

01:06:16.440 --> 01:06:25.440
A warning that an explosive detonation in a confined space is imminent.

01:06:25.440 --> 01:06:33.440
I felt that I must share this in this teaching because partly because I'm okay sharing things with Acts 29.

01:06:33.440 --> 01:06:38.440
Partly because in the future maybe someone will benefit from this in some city somewhere.

01:06:38.440 --> 01:06:41.440
Guys, our prayers bring results, see?

01:06:41.440 --> 01:06:45.440
And God sends little images like this to say, hey, keep on.

01:06:45.440 --> 01:06:50.440
What are you doing in terms of praying and restraining powers, breaking their hold upon the city?

01:06:50.440 --> 01:06:54.440
He's waiting for, I've already put up a sign saying there's a fire in the hole,

01:06:54.440 --> 01:07:01.440
a warning that an explosive detonation in a confined space is imminent.

01:07:01.440 --> 01:07:11.440
Let me end with how do we as a church get involved in praying against strongholds and praying against spiritual powers?

01:07:11.440 --> 01:07:13.440
And this is important, eh?

01:07:13.440 --> 01:07:22.440
So pay attention because sometimes towards the end of a teaching you begin to switch off.

01:07:22.440 --> 01:07:24.440
Don't.

01:07:24.440 --> 01:07:26.440
So the time has come for prayer.

01:07:26.440 --> 01:07:31.440
People ask me, hey, shouldn't revivals be things that have prayer involved in them?

01:07:31.440 --> 01:07:32.440
When are we going to pray?

01:07:32.440 --> 01:07:33.440
When are we getting together to pray?

01:07:33.440 --> 01:07:39.440
I know prayer is important and I know the time for prayer is almost upon us.

01:07:39.440 --> 01:07:42.440
But in real warfare, prayer is not indiscriminate.

01:07:42.440 --> 01:07:45.440
In real warfare, prayer is not indiscriminate.

01:07:45.440 --> 01:07:47.440
And this is super important, eh?

01:07:47.440 --> 01:07:51.440
In real warfare, prayer is not indiscriminate.

01:07:51.440 --> 01:07:55.440
Gathering together and praying, let me assure you, does not always do good.

01:07:55.440 --> 01:08:04.440
It's a very Christian, churchy practice, but indiscriminate prayer can sometimes harm.

01:08:04.440 --> 01:08:06.440
So what do you mean by that?

01:08:06.440 --> 01:08:15.440
Guys, when it comes to praying in real warfare, it's based on weight class.

01:08:15.440 --> 01:08:18.440
Weight class?

01:08:18.440 --> 01:08:29.440
As in whenever you go, I mean, if I go beat up Isaiah or Phoebe, I'll win every time, man.

01:08:29.440 --> 01:08:31.440
They're not my weight class.

01:08:31.440 --> 01:08:45.440
But if you put me up against Kamal or Bishop, then maybe I might get a few blows in and they might win.

01:08:45.440 --> 01:08:49.440
But the point is you cannot punch above your weight class.

01:08:49.440 --> 01:08:57.440
And so when it comes to praying in actual spiritual warfare, you have to know your weight class.

01:08:57.440 --> 01:09:07.440
And you have to figure out whether you do wear your armor or whether the armor has become so natural to you

01:09:07.440 --> 01:09:18.440
that the way I think, the way I walk in righteousness, the shield of faith have become quite natural to us.

01:09:18.440 --> 01:09:19.440
This is a constant process.

01:09:19.440 --> 01:09:21.440
It's not like this will ever end.

01:09:21.440 --> 01:09:25.440
It's not like someone ever reaches a place where they know how to deal with this.

01:09:25.440 --> 01:09:32.440
But these are things that one needs to consider, which is why I've been hesitant to just launch into prayer for the revival.

01:09:32.440 --> 01:09:36.440
And I know that it is the right way to go about it.

01:09:36.440 --> 01:09:38.440
The third thing is swordsmanship.

01:09:38.440 --> 01:09:45.440
How fluid are you as you weave in and out of the word?

01:09:45.440 --> 01:09:48.440
How well do you wield the word of God?

01:09:48.440 --> 01:09:49.440
It is your offensive weapon.

01:09:49.440 --> 01:09:51.440
How well do you wield it?

01:09:55.440 --> 01:10:01.440
How well do you wield it?

01:10:01.440 --> 01:10:04.440
Swordsmanship is important.

01:10:04.440 --> 01:10:14.440
It's not that we cannot engage in prayer, but my question is which place do we engage in prayer?

01:10:14.440 --> 01:10:17.440
All of us can't engage at the same place.

01:10:17.440 --> 01:10:20.440
That's what I meant by weight class.

01:10:20.440 --> 01:10:21.440
Swordsmanship.

01:10:21.440 --> 01:10:23.440
How about purity?

01:10:23.440 --> 01:10:24.440
Purity.

01:10:24.440 --> 01:10:31.440
Purity is critical if you want to open the ancient doors and gates and shut down demonic, ancient demonic doors and gates.

01:10:31.440 --> 01:10:38.440
Without purity, it is not possible.

01:10:38.440 --> 01:10:44.440
It's not possible.

01:10:44.440 --> 01:10:48.440
Because it is my purity that gives me...

01:10:48.440 --> 01:10:50.440
Like I've used this line thousands of times, really.

01:10:50.440 --> 01:10:52.440
It must be a thousand times now.

01:10:52.440 --> 01:10:53.440
Or maybe 998.

01:10:53.440 --> 01:11:01.440
But purity is proof of my intimacy with God and it intimidates the enemy.

01:11:01.440 --> 01:11:04.440
Purity is proof of my intimacy with God.

01:11:04.440 --> 01:11:13.440
And it is my intimacy with God that intimidates the enemy.

01:11:13.440 --> 01:11:14.440
Next one.

01:11:14.440 --> 01:11:16.440
Order and formation.

01:11:16.440 --> 01:11:20.440
Do we know how to walk in order and in formation?

01:11:20.440 --> 01:11:28.440
Or do we have a tendency to go off on our own like Jonathan did with his armor-bearer?

01:11:28.440 --> 01:11:31.440
Do we know how to walk in order and formation?

01:11:31.440 --> 01:11:44.440
If I'm given a task in prayer, can I stick with it?

01:11:44.440 --> 01:11:45.440
Divine strategy.

01:11:45.440 --> 01:11:59.440
Do I know how to hear God when he says, hey, circle around the mulberry bushes and go attack them from the rear as he did in 2 Samuel 523 when David asked him, how shall I attack?

01:11:59.440 --> 01:12:02.440
God says, go around behind those bushes.

01:12:02.440 --> 01:12:08.440
Do I know how to take a divine strategy and then go about it?

01:12:08.440 --> 01:12:09.440
Next one.

01:12:09.440 --> 01:12:31.440
Have I already had experiences with lions and bears as in 1 Samuel 17 where David says to Saul, I can, I believe, take on Goliath because I've already dealt with lions and bears.

01:12:31.440 --> 01:12:34.440
What about weaponry?

01:12:34.440 --> 01:12:36.440
What am I adept at using?

01:12:36.440 --> 01:12:37.440
Is it the prophetic?

01:12:37.440 --> 01:12:39.440
Is it declarations?

01:12:39.440 --> 01:12:40.440
Is it decrees?

01:12:40.440 --> 01:12:47.440
Is it sometimes money which rebukes the devourer?

01:12:47.440 --> 01:12:50.440
What is the weaponry that I know how to use?

01:12:50.440 --> 01:13:04.440
In 2 Samuel 23, towards the end, David makes a statement when he's talking about the sons of Belial, which is just depraved wickedness.

01:13:04.440 --> 01:13:08.440
And he says, some of these things can only be touched with a spear or a shaft.

01:13:08.440 --> 01:13:11.440
One should not use one's hands to touch it.

01:13:11.440 --> 01:13:12.440
Use a spear or a shaft.

01:13:12.440 --> 01:13:17.440
So the point being, what am I adept at?

01:13:17.440 --> 01:13:27.440
Do I just take what is given to me or do I use my sling and my five stones?

01:13:27.440 --> 01:13:28.440
What about authority?

01:13:28.440 --> 01:13:31.440
What is it that I've been appointed to?

01:13:31.440 --> 01:13:42.440
All of us have authority in Christ, but we have certain things appointed to us to deal with.

01:13:42.440 --> 01:13:45.440
Nobody has authority in a classroom like a teacher.

01:13:45.440 --> 01:13:47.440
Doesn't matter that the pastor turns up.

01:13:47.440 --> 01:13:50.440
The teacher has authority there.

01:13:50.440 --> 01:13:54.440
What is it that I've been appointed to where God says, hey, you've got sufficient clout here.

01:13:54.440 --> 01:14:01.440
You can take liberties because I've appointed this to you.

01:14:01.440 --> 01:14:11.440
And then there's the idea of courage, courage.

01:14:11.440 --> 01:14:21.440
Do I have the courage required to kind of know that God is saying, hey, if you want to do this, if you've got the guts, go?

01:14:21.440 --> 01:14:27.440
This is what the mighty three did when all that David said was, man, I'm thirsty.

01:14:27.440 --> 01:14:36.440
And the three had the courage to go through enemy territory to get water from a particular well that David just happened to muse saying,

01:14:36.440 --> 01:14:39.440
I wish I could drink from this particular well.

01:14:39.440 --> 01:14:41.440
And they had the courage to go get water from it.

01:14:41.440 --> 01:14:47.440
All these things, guys, work in tandem.

01:14:47.440 --> 01:14:52.440
So every one of us can engage in prayer.

01:14:52.440 --> 01:14:56.440
Every one of us can engage in prayer in real time spiritual warfare.

01:14:56.440 --> 01:15:02.440
But we have to know which place we stand in to engage.

01:15:02.440 --> 01:15:15.440
And that is something I have to be careful of because this is how we can ensure that everyone fights, but everyone comes home safe, victorious, unharmed.

01:15:15.440 --> 01:15:24.440
Everyone fights, but we have to find out ways to make sure that everyone who fights comes home safe, victorious, unharmed.

01:15:24.440 --> 01:15:34.440
Never fun coming back from a battle and people are missing, people are hurt, people are discouraged, people are so filled with fear that they'll never attempt it again.

01:15:34.440 --> 01:15:36.440
People don't win.

01:15:36.440 --> 01:15:37.440
And you've got far too many scars.

01:15:37.440 --> 01:15:44.440
It's okay to have battle scars, but not the kind of scars that cripple you from wielding something.

01:15:44.440 --> 01:15:47.440
And this is why we need to take time before we pray.

01:15:47.440 --> 01:15:54.440
And even when we pray, that at times we'll have to say, you too can pray about this, you too can pray about this, you too can pray about this.

01:15:54.440 --> 01:15:58.440
Because we learn throughout our lives to walk like this.

01:15:58.440 --> 01:16:01.440
So the question you may raise is, so where am I at?

01:16:01.440 --> 01:16:03.440
How do I know where I'm at?

01:16:03.440 --> 01:16:05.440
How do I know whether I'm good at this or good at that?

01:16:05.440 --> 01:16:08.440
It's never a question of am I good at it or not good at that.

01:16:08.440 --> 01:16:12.440
It is this idea of I'll keep growing in these.

01:16:12.440 --> 01:16:24.440
And God will either put me in a situation where I have to now show the kind of muscle I've developed or God will ask Jacob or whoever is in charge to put me in a situation so I can prove my mettle.

01:16:24.440 --> 01:16:26.440
It's not a question of where am I at.

01:16:26.440 --> 01:16:30.440
It is a question of it doesn't matter where I'm at.

01:16:30.440 --> 01:16:34.440
When I'm called, I'll be ready to the point that I'm ready at right now.

01:16:34.440 --> 01:16:39.440
And I'm trusting God and trusting the ones that lead me to put me in the right place at the right time.

01:16:39.440 --> 01:16:43.440
Never try to measure this because it is all invisible and spiritual.

01:16:43.440 --> 01:16:44.440
I don't measure this.

01:16:44.440 --> 01:16:51.440
So it doesn't matter whether you're a voluntary firefighter who...

01:16:51.440 --> 01:16:57.440
I mean it doesn't matter whether you're an elite commando or whether you're a voluntary firefighter.

01:16:57.440 --> 01:17:00.440
There's a dog stuck in a tree.

01:17:00.440 --> 01:17:03.440
Well then go get the dog down.

01:17:03.440 --> 01:17:05.440
By the way, cats never get stuck in trees.

01:17:06.440 --> 01:17:14.440
Cats just climb up trees and then they have you stuck at the bottom waiting for all kinds of things to happen.

01:17:14.440 --> 01:17:17.440
Cats never get stuck in trees.

01:17:17.440 --> 01:17:19.440
They just get people stuck.

01:17:19.440 --> 01:17:25.440
And then they jump into your arms and start purring because they don't know they have nine lives anyways.

01:17:25.440 --> 01:17:30.440
Sorry, that's a complete detour.

01:17:30.440 --> 01:17:34.440
Sorry, I have to get over this thing with cats man.

01:17:34.440 --> 01:17:36.440
Yeah.

01:17:39.440 --> 01:17:42.440
The only solution may be to get a cat.

01:17:42.440 --> 01:17:46.440
Let's do that for my 60th birthday.

01:17:46.440 --> 01:17:50.440
Give me a cat as a gift.

01:17:50.440 --> 01:17:55.440
And I'll give you months and months of probation.

01:17:55.440 --> 01:17:57.440
Okay.

01:17:57.440 --> 01:18:01.440
So we don't ask where are we at.

01:18:01.440 --> 01:18:03.440
We just respond.

01:18:03.440 --> 01:18:14.440
So be it something as crazy as taking down some great power or be it as simple as getting a cat down from a tree.

01:18:14.440 --> 01:18:18.440
We just keep growing in this and whatever we are asked to be, step up and do.

01:18:18.440 --> 01:18:21.440
And faithfulness is always what expands domain.

01:18:21.440 --> 01:18:24.440
Faithfulness is always what expands domain.

01:18:24.440 --> 01:18:25.440
Things are multiplied to you.

01:18:25.440 --> 01:18:27.440
Things are increased for you.

01:18:27.440 --> 01:18:32.440
You're given charge over more because you're faithful over what you presently have.

01:18:32.440 --> 01:18:38.440
And then as you go into situations, it is always slightly beyond you.

01:18:38.440 --> 01:18:41.440
Therefore, your reliance is not on your strength.

01:18:41.440 --> 01:18:50.440
Your reliance is always on God because whatever you deal with spiritually in warfare is always beyond what you thought you were.

01:18:50.440 --> 01:18:55.440
You will never fight anything that is your size.

01:18:55.440 --> 01:19:06.440
If all your battles and all your faith exploits over the last one year have been things that you have been dealing with that have been dealt with in the past, it means something ain't working right.

01:19:06.440 --> 01:19:08.440
It always has to be beyond it.

01:19:08.440 --> 01:19:10.440
It has to be beyond it.

01:19:10.440 --> 01:19:12.440
It has to be beyond it.

01:19:12.440 --> 01:19:14.440
It has to be beyond it.

01:19:14.440 --> 01:19:18.440
It means something ain't working right.

01:19:18.440 --> 01:19:20.440
It always has to be beyond it.

01:19:20.440 --> 01:19:27.440
It has to push you, stretch you, pull you beyond anything you have ever experienced.

01:19:27.440 --> 01:19:28.440
Cool.