WEBVTT

NOTE
Podcast: Acts 29 Vancouver
Episode: Prosperity Gospel 2
Publishing Date: 2022-09-18T06:00:44-07:00
Podcast URL: https://acts29.ca
Episode URL: https://acts29.ca/prosperity-gospel-2/

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Check, check, thanks.

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Okay guys, so we start with Prosperity Gospel Part Two today.

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Last time we did part one, so it's important

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that you go listen to part one,

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because otherwise part two may at times

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not make sense in certain places,

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because we've already set it up in part one.

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And so, Prosperity Gospel Part Two,

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and if you wanna title it,

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I shall not want.

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I shall not want.

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So, go listen to the first one if you weren't here

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or if you don't remember,

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and then you'll see why we're doing the second part.

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So, we ended last week saying,

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there is this thing called the False Prosperity Gospel,

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and then there is the True Prosperity Gospel.

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And usually when we use the words Prosperity Gospel,

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we usually talk about the one

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that is not based on the nature of God.

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It may be based on a few scriptures,

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but it is not based on the nature of God.

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It may be based on scriptures,

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but it is not based on the nature of God.

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It is very possible to do things

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that have a scriptural basis

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without it being based on the nature of God.

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That's fascinating thing about Christianity.

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You can build a biblical basis for anything

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without building it on the nature of God.

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And so, that's how we need to examine this.

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So, the False Prosperity Gospel,

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the False Prosperity Gospel tries to serve,

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tries to serve both God and mammon.

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Some of it, if you listen to the first part,

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you'll see why.

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False Prosperity Gospel tries to serve

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both God and mammon.

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So, what happens is, again, it's so subtly,

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it is so subtle.

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You seek first and pursue the kingdom.

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You seek first and pursue.

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This is how subtle it is.

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You seek first and pursue.

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You seek first and pursue.

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You seek first and pursue.

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This is how subtle it is.

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You seek first and pursue God,

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kingdom,

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word,

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church,

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giving.

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You seek first all this so that

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all other things may be added unto you.

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May be added unto you.

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This is a distortion of Matthew 6.33.

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I have preached it and I have repented of it.

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Seek first the kingdom and all his righteousness

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and all other things shall be added unto you.

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It's one of the favorite Prosperity Gospel scriptures,

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thanks man,

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which then means that if I seek God first,

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if I seek the kingdom and the reign of God first

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in my life or in my church,

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then God will add all other things unto me.

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And that's a distortion of Matthew 6.33.

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This is why the false Prosperity Gospel

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ends up serving both God and mammon.

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You serve God so that you can become captive to mammon.

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You give money.

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You give or sow money.

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You give or sow money

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to receive

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and reap money.

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You need some water, Paul?

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Okay.

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You give or sow money to receive and reap money.

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Sowing and reaping is a constant appeal

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from the proponents of

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or the adherents of false Prosperity Gospel.

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I call it false because it's not fully true,

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so why not call it false?

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Nothing wrong with sowing and reaping,

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it's a biblical principle.

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But one of the things Jesus said,

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and when I found that verse,

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and I found it late in my life,

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when I found that verse, it blew my mind.

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Look at the birds of the air,

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they neither sow nor reap,

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but the Father provides for them.

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That just took the breath out of me, man.

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So you give or sow money to receive and reap money.

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By the way, I'm not preaching to people who are not generous.

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This church is one of the most generous churches I've met.

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I know of your generosity.

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I hear stories about your generosity.

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Some of you don't even speak about it, the others,

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but others come and tell me what Dilna did in Wally

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or the number of ministries that you support

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in different parts of the world

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that sometimes has nothing to do with Acts 29,

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and yet you're giving it Acts 29 is splendid too.

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So these are things that you do.

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So I'm not speaking to a group of guys

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that are not generous.

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So this is not about generosity,

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increasing your generosity or increasing your giving.

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This is about an extreme way of living

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that is free from mammon.

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Once life is free from mammon, anything is possible.

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The greatest limitation as we go down this road,

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you'll see one of the greatest limitation in our lives

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is our beholdenness, beholdenness to mammon.

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Subtly, covertly, sometimes overtly.

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That's the intent here.

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The intent is not to try and make you more generous

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because like I said, I'm a recipient of your generosity too,

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so I know that this church is a generous church.

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So you give money or sow money to receive and reap money,

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and this is why ministries end up peddling gifts,

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peddling cloth, peddling oil.

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Because once you start this process, it's never ending.

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So it makes ministries peddle their gifts.

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It makes ministries and ministers lie.

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It makes them jockey for favor.

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It makes them amass the wealth of others.

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It's very rare that you find a prosperity gospel preacher

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who does not engage in some kind of peddling.

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There are exceptions, I'm not saying no,

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but most end up peddling, either their gifts

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or some kind of wear, W-A-R-E.

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Philippians 417 is not the engine.

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Philippians 417 is such a cool verse.

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I don't know why I find scriptures very late in life.

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Philippians 417, it says, Paul is saying to the Philippians,

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not that I seek the gift, but I seek the fruit

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that increases to your credit.

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Not that I seek the gift.

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He's just talked to them about needs in the churches

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he's ministering to.

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And then he says, but I want you to know that even as I ask

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you to supply these needs, I need you to know

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that I do not seek your gift, but I seek fruit

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that will be credited to your account.

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As in, I want you to increase.

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I do not seek the gift.

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Or in other words, I'm not seeking your cash,

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I'm seeking your crown.

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I'm not seeking your cash, I'm seeking your crown.

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What if every minister, every pastor, every person

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in this church began to think like this?

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That even when you ask for a need, you don't think of it

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as a gift to you, but you see it as something

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that is credited to the other person's account.

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And when you begin to see it that way,

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you'll be able to pray it that way.

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Just minutes ago, someone just interacted me 150 bucks,

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saying, Jacob, thank you for this and this and this.

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Do I receive it as a gift?

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Or do I respond to her saying, I credit it as fruit

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to your account, may you increase in this, this and this?

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I remember, this happened in Acts 20 and many years ago,

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where I wanted to teach someone about giving first fruits,

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but they were scared of giving first fruits.

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And I knew it was critical for them to learn first fruits

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because it would help them tremendously in the future.

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So I actually went and told them,

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I want you to give me first fruits.

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And so they wrote a check and gave me the first fruits.

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And then for the next few months,

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I would pay off a certain payment

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that they had to make every month.

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And the reason I did that was, one, if it was a gift,

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then I should keep it to myself.

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But the intent was, can I teach you this principle

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so that you prosper for the rest of your life?

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And I would make sure that I would pay off

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a certain payment every monthly payment at payoff

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so that the money would return to them,

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but they would never forget the principle of first fruits.

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What if we thought like this?

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Now, even when you receive a gift,

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you begin to credit it to their account.

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The prosperity gospel does not think like this.

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The false prosperity gospel seeks ways

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to have money flow into your life,

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not money flow through your life.

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Money flow into your life,

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not through your life.

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And the reason the prosperity gospel,

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the false prosperity gospel is so addictive

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is because it is driven by lack.

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It is driven by lack.

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It is driven by lack,

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and it is driven by a distorted or redacted,

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as in reduced, redacted

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view of the goodness of God,

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view of the goodness of the Father.

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It is addictive.

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It wouldn't have lasted as long as it has lasted

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if it wasn't addictive.

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People will give hoping that,

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it's almost like Christian lottery.

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This time if I sow, maybe this month,

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it'll come back.

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And so we keep getting pulled in by the guy who says,

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today's the seventh of July,

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so if you give seven bucks or 77 bucks

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or any multiple of 77,

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God is gonna bless you.

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Really, God had to wait till July 7th?

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July 17th is a better date.

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Thanks, Paul.

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Paul is new.

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Any questions before we go on to what is true?

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We spoke some more about this last time.

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Any questions?

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No?

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Okay.

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Yeah.

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Is it okay to say you've sown seed by faith?

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Is it okay to?

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Yeah.

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Over and across the place?

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Yeah.

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So I should not ask you to sow seed by faith.

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I should not ask you to sow seed by faith.

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I should not say sow seed by faith.

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But if you sow seed by faith, that's fine.

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But I should not say sow seed by faith

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so that if you sow seed by faith,

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even though you don't have it, God will reward you.

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I should not ask you that.

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You should do it because it's a prompting

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from the Holy Spirit within you.

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But when I use that,

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then I'm going against 2 Corinthians 9 where it says,

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do not give out a compulsion, necessity, obligation,

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or any arm twisting.

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Give cheerfully.

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So if an act of faith in giving

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what I presently don't have but I promise it

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because it's an act of faith that I do cheerfully from within,

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prompted by the Spirit, it's different.

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But when I cajole you into doing it,

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then I'm asking you to go against 2 Corinthians 9.

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And it says, give according to what you have

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and not according to what you don't have.

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And it says that give according to what you have

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and even if you have a desire to give and you don't have it,

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God will receive it based on your desire to give

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even though you don't have it.

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But let it be prompted out of you.

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Let it not be prompted by an external pressure.

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When I was in Bahrain and I needed a,

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I remember going up to my boss

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and before going up to my boss,

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church service was on and I had to speak to my boss

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about a raise but before I went to my boss,

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I already paid my tithes,

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which was what I believed in then, paying my tithes.

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I paid my tithes on the salary I expected,

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not on the salary that I was receiving.

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But that was not prompted by the church.

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The church didn't say,

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if you want the Lord to increase your salary,

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give on what you expect.

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No, it was me saying, Father,

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I really know that you want to bless and prosper.

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So let me just go and pay it on what I'm going to receive,

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not on what I was receiving.

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And then I wished I had paid more.

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Now let's look at the true prosperity gospel.

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Because this is not a God who doesn't like

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prospering his children.

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But his reasons are very different, right?

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Prosperity gospel, true.

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So we start with the premise,

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and this is where it gets difficult.

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And this is where I believe truly that if we don't repent,

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we will not be able to move into this.

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I've been repenting since yesterday afternoon.

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And then Derek interrupted my repentance,

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so that was a relief.

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So here's the first premise of the true prosperity gospel.

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As a son, I lack nothing.

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As a son, I lack nothing.

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Problem is, this is not how we always think.

00:14:51.080 --> 00:14:54.040
We look at what we don't have and we feel that we lack.

00:14:54.040 --> 00:14:55.960
We look at our bank account sometimes,

00:14:55.960 --> 00:14:57.320
and we feel that we lack.

00:14:58.520 --> 00:15:00.160
As a son, I lack nothing.

00:15:00.160 --> 00:15:01.280
The Lord is my shepherd.

00:15:01.440 --> 00:15:03.760
I shall not want.

00:15:05.960 --> 00:15:09.840
And this is based simply on seeing God as Father

00:15:09.840 --> 00:15:11.200
and the Lord as Shepherd.

00:15:11.200 --> 00:15:14.320
It has nothing to do with what's in my wallet or in my bank.

00:15:17.120 --> 00:15:21.000
But our circumstances always challenge our faith

00:15:21.000 --> 00:15:24.000
when it is our faith that should challenge our circumstances.

00:15:25.840 --> 00:15:28.360
And if faith challenges circumstances,

00:15:28.360 --> 00:15:30.840
then the way you live will change.

00:15:30.840 --> 00:15:32.280
Because now you will attempt things

00:15:32.280 --> 00:15:34.880
for which you do not have the resources.

00:15:39.480 --> 00:15:40.680
That's the proof of it.

00:15:43.040 --> 00:15:45.800
Whatever I see, I believe.

00:15:45.800 --> 00:15:50.800
Whatever I believe I speak, whatever I speak I do.

00:15:51.240 --> 00:15:54.000
And if this is not the progression,

00:15:54.000 --> 00:15:57.640
then at some point my faith is not fully mature.

00:15:58.640 --> 00:16:03.240
So yes, as a son I lack nothing,

00:16:03.240 --> 00:16:07.240
but that's not my 24-7 way of existence.

00:16:07.240 --> 00:16:11.040
So when David says in Psalm 23 that the Lord is my shepherd

00:16:11.040 --> 00:16:12.160
or the Lord is my Father,

00:16:12.160 --> 00:16:13.880
because he didn't know God as Father,

00:16:13.880 --> 00:16:15.360
but we can say the Lord is my Father

00:16:15.360 --> 00:16:18.480
or the Lord my Shepherd, I do not lack anything good.

00:16:18.480 --> 00:16:20.480
I have to learn to inhabit this.

00:16:20.480 --> 00:16:23.760
I know it's an old, oft-repeated phrase of mine,

00:16:23.760 --> 00:16:27.200
but I have to inhabit it, inhabit it 24-7,

00:16:27.240 --> 00:16:29.880
like a child, like a child.

00:16:33.000 --> 00:16:36.440
This is what I meant by if I don't have a decent,

00:16:36.440 --> 00:16:38.880
if I don't have a really, not decent,

00:16:38.880 --> 00:16:40.800
if I don't have a really good relationship

00:16:40.800 --> 00:16:45.640
with God, wealth, and myself, limitations are imposed.

00:16:48.960 --> 00:16:51.480
Limitations are imposed on everything I do,

00:16:51.480 --> 00:16:52.960
everything I think.

00:16:52.960 --> 00:16:54.520
There are limitations imposed.

00:16:58.200 --> 00:17:00.800
As a son I lack nothing.

00:17:00.800 --> 00:17:02.040
Can I inhabit it?

00:17:03.440 --> 00:17:04.400
Can I inhabit it?

00:17:04.400 --> 00:17:06.840
As we go further, it'll fill up more.

00:17:06.840 --> 00:17:11.240
As a servant, you know, this is easier,

00:17:11.240 --> 00:17:15.800
because I think many of us are increasingly grasping

00:17:15.800 --> 00:17:17.760
the goodness of the Father.

00:17:17.760 --> 00:17:20.200
So in this church it becomes a little easier

00:17:20.200 --> 00:17:23.320
for us to be sons and daughters,

00:17:23.320 --> 00:17:25.080
and to understand God as a good God,

00:17:25.120 --> 00:17:28.320
and therefore begin to move into this idea of,

00:17:28.320 --> 00:17:29.800
in God I lack nothing.

00:17:29.800 --> 00:17:34.720
So it is who he is that causes me to say I lack nothing.

00:17:34.720 --> 00:17:36.240
It is not what I have.

00:17:38.840 --> 00:17:41.360
That is what takes the limits away,

00:17:41.360 --> 00:17:43.240
because in my Father there's everything.

00:17:43.240 --> 00:17:45.360
Jesus lived like this, taught like this,

00:17:45.360 --> 00:17:47.240
and whenever required he would be able to pull

00:17:47.240 --> 00:17:49.360
what he needed from the Father.

00:17:50.640 --> 00:17:52.480
He pulled what he needed from the Father,

00:17:52.480 --> 00:17:54.960
not through a promise, not through some position

00:17:55.800 --> 00:17:56.720
that he had with the Father.

00:17:56.720 --> 00:17:58.200
He pulled things from his Father

00:17:58.200 --> 00:18:00.240
because he knew the nature of his Father.

00:18:02.960 --> 00:18:04.280
Once you know the nature of the Father,

00:18:04.280 --> 00:18:07.000
you know what he will supply, when he will supply,

00:18:07.000 --> 00:18:09.400
what he will supply for, how much he will supply.

00:18:09.400 --> 00:18:11.240
All the limits are off, all the bets are off,

00:18:11.240 --> 00:18:13.800
because now you know that Father's nature.

00:18:19.120 --> 00:18:19.960
It's like,

00:18:25.520 --> 00:18:28.000
yeah, if you were interested in planes, coffee,

00:18:28.000 --> 00:18:31.040
or good chocolate, I'd buy it for you,

00:18:34.920 --> 00:18:38.120
because now you know the nature of the person who's giving.

00:18:38.120 --> 00:18:43.120
So you know in this area, it's most likely that I'll score.

00:18:44.840 --> 00:18:46.240
Why is it planes?

00:18:46.240 --> 00:18:48.560
Yeah, toy planes.

00:18:52.840 --> 00:18:54.640
The next one is the more difficult one.

00:18:55.520 --> 00:18:59.280
As a servant, I mean, ask Don

00:18:59.280 --> 00:19:01.680
how many tickets I've given him for his birthday.

00:19:02.560 --> 00:19:04.960
As a servant, Don, don't say a word.

00:19:09.480 --> 00:19:11.800
As a servant, I own nothing.

00:19:11.800 --> 00:19:13.120
This is the hard part.

00:19:13.120 --> 00:19:15.000
As a servant, I own nothing.

00:19:15.000 --> 00:19:17.440
As a son, I lack nothing I can handle,

00:19:17.440 --> 00:19:19.640
because I'm getting to know the Father better.

00:19:19.640 --> 00:19:21.760
I know his goodness, I know his nature.

00:19:21.760 --> 00:19:23.960
But as a servant, I lack nothing.

00:19:24.960 --> 00:19:27.000
Sorry, as a servant, I own nothing.

00:19:27.000 --> 00:19:29.120
This is where it gets really difficult,

00:19:29.120 --> 00:19:32.320
because here are the things that you are as a servant.

00:19:32.320 --> 00:19:34.400
You're totally dependent on your master.

00:19:35.440 --> 00:19:38.040
You're totally dependent on your master.

00:19:38.040 --> 00:19:40.480
You're subject to his commands 24-7,

00:19:40.480 --> 00:19:43.640
so you have to do what he tells you to,

00:19:43.640 --> 00:19:45.360
trusting that he will resource you

00:19:45.360 --> 00:19:47.080
for what he tells you to.

00:19:47.080 --> 00:19:51.840
And you have to steward everything on his behalf,

00:19:51.840 --> 00:19:54.000
as in you can't do what you want

00:19:54.000 --> 00:19:55.360
with what he has given you.

00:19:55.360 --> 00:19:57.560
You have to steward everything on his behalf.

00:19:59.160 --> 00:20:01.000
This is where it gets difficult.

00:20:01.000 --> 00:20:04.640
This one is easy, this one is difficult.

00:20:04.640 --> 00:20:07.400
To say to you that all that I have in my bank

00:20:07.400 --> 00:20:08.600
and all that I have in my home

00:20:08.600 --> 00:20:12.600
and all that I have to my name, I do not own,

00:20:12.600 --> 00:20:17.040
is also saying that I may have to give it away.

00:20:17.040 --> 00:20:22.040
It's an extreme way of living, but it is extreme.

00:20:25.000 --> 00:20:27.200
Let me rephrase it.

00:20:27.200 --> 00:20:30.440
It's a Jesus way of living, and it happens to be extreme.

00:20:34.480 --> 00:20:35.320
I own nothing.

00:20:39.840 --> 00:20:42.920
And if for a second I think that I have reached there,

00:20:42.920 --> 00:20:45.280
then the question you need to ask me is,

00:20:45.280 --> 00:20:50.280
do all your possessions, or your wealth and your possessions,

00:20:51.040 --> 00:20:54.200
do all your wealth and possessions

00:20:56.080 --> 00:21:01.080
belong to Christ and the church?

00:21:02.080 --> 00:21:03.520
And the church.

00:21:11.880 --> 00:21:15.800
Do all your possessions and wealth belong to Christ?

00:21:15.800 --> 00:21:18.720
And because Christ is the head and the church is the body,

00:21:18.720 --> 00:21:20.720
does it belong to Christ and the church?

00:21:22.240 --> 00:21:24.960
It cannot be coerced, cannot be legislated.

00:21:24.960 --> 00:21:26.800
You cannot be forced to,

00:21:26.800 --> 00:21:29.000
because that's when you become a cult.

00:21:29.000 --> 00:21:31.320
But it's a decision that I have to make inside.

00:21:32.400 --> 00:21:35.760
Does all my possession, does all my money in the bank

00:21:35.760 --> 00:21:38.960
belong to Christ and to the church?

00:21:38.960 --> 00:21:42.160
And now let's make the church something else, and to you.

00:21:45.080 --> 00:21:48.720
Because a son lacks nothing, a servant owns nothing.

00:21:51.960 --> 00:21:54.960
And my hope is that I can keep increasing

00:21:54.960 --> 00:21:56.680
in saying that, yeah.

00:21:59.200 --> 00:22:01.720
It belongs to the church and belongs to Christ,

00:22:01.720 --> 00:22:04.200
because it can't be one only, it has to be both.

00:22:10.760 --> 00:22:11.960
It's very sobering, man.

00:22:13.360 --> 00:22:17.200
Because the master who saved us lived like this.

00:22:23.760 --> 00:22:25.680
Lived like this when he was human,

00:22:25.680 --> 00:22:28.760
lived like this since he rose and went back to heaven.

00:22:30.760 --> 00:22:32.080
Until we begin to think like this,

00:22:32.080 --> 00:22:33.040
we will never get there,

00:22:33.040 --> 00:22:34.840
we gotta begin to think like this.

00:22:38.720 --> 00:22:41.200
Thought then becomes, your thinking becomes a hammer

00:22:41.200 --> 00:22:44.720
that keeps chiseling away at this thing called

00:22:44.720 --> 00:22:49.640
self-preservation and self-sufficiency and self-care.

00:22:49.640 --> 00:22:51.200
Nothing wrong with any of them.

00:22:52.800 --> 00:22:54.760
Actually, there's something wrong with self-preservation,

00:22:54.760 --> 00:22:56.360
but nothing wrong with self-care.

00:22:57.600 --> 00:23:00.680
So what happens then is, I am supposed to place

00:23:03.680 --> 00:23:06.840
possessions and wealth in the hands

00:23:08.600 --> 00:23:11.720
of the invisible Christ

00:23:15.160 --> 00:23:17.080
and at the feet

00:23:20.080 --> 00:23:23.960
of the visible church, of the visible body.

00:23:24.760 --> 00:23:29.760
So that God can distribute it,

00:23:32.200 --> 00:23:33.800
so that God can distribute it,

00:23:36.200 --> 00:23:37.440
and people can access it.

00:23:45.760 --> 00:23:47.800
We'll pause for questions a little later.

00:23:51.000 --> 00:23:54.080
Another question that I must keep asking myself is,

00:23:54.120 --> 00:23:56.960
am I, and I'm not talking about quantity,

00:23:56.960 --> 00:24:01.520
am I the most generous person at Acts 29?

00:24:07.160 --> 00:24:09.280
Am I the most generous person at Acts 29?

00:24:10.800 --> 00:24:11.640
Oh, sorry.

00:24:13.720 --> 00:24:16.080
Am I the most generous person at Acts 29?

00:24:19.840 --> 00:24:22.160
And anyone who leads must be.

00:24:22.160 --> 00:24:24.560
If he's not, then he better pull up his socks.

00:24:27.760 --> 00:24:30.720
Any of, anyone who's a leader must be,

00:24:30.720 --> 00:24:33.360
because if you're not, you need to pull up your socks.

00:24:33.360 --> 00:24:34.480
Now who is the leader?

00:24:36.160 --> 00:24:39.160
Because God doesn't make leaders and followers.

00:24:39.160 --> 00:24:42.880
He just makes people that can one day lead.

00:24:42.880 --> 00:24:44.240
It's only a matter of time.

00:24:46.160 --> 00:24:47.480
He makes sons and servants.

00:24:47.480 --> 00:24:49.600
He does not make leaders and followers.

00:24:49.640 --> 00:24:53.120
That's another system we have borrowed from the world,

00:24:53.120 --> 00:24:56.720
where we have leaders and followers in Christendom,

00:24:56.720 --> 00:24:58.640
when there are no leaders and followers.

00:24:58.640 --> 00:25:01.480
There are sons and servants who are promoted

00:25:01.480 --> 00:25:02.720
because they are faithful,

00:25:02.720 --> 00:25:04.640
not because of their talents or gifts.

00:25:04.640 --> 00:25:06.440
Does that be clear once and for all?

00:25:08.040 --> 00:25:10.520
God only creates those in his image.

00:25:10.520 --> 00:25:13.440
He created for himself us,

00:25:13.440 --> 00:25:15.240
but he gave us a model in Jesus.

00:25:15.240 --> 00:25:19.040
Jesus was a son and a servant, and he had to be faithful.

00:25:20.160 --> 00:25:21.920
That's the same criteria now.

00:25:21.920 --> 00:25:23.560
There are no leaders or followers.

00:25:23.560 --> 00:25:26.880
That's a false dichotomy that we have created,

00:25:26.880 --> 00:25:30.080
and it's just a continuance of the clergy-lady divide

00:25:30.080 --> 00:25:31.480
that Catholicism brought in.

00:25:35.800 --> 00:25:38.120
And it's not based on gifts.

00:25:38.120 --> 00:25:40.080
It's based on the following of the Holy Spirit

00:25:40.080 --> 00:25:42.280
and faithfulness to what he's called us to.

00:25:44.080 --> 00:25:47.120
But are you the most generous person at Acts 29?

00:25:48.120 --> 00:25:50.480
That's another question you have to ask yourself.

00:25:52.200 --> 00:25:53.720
And generous is not quantity.

00:25:56.600 --> 00:25:59.280
Because a guy who has 100 can give 98.

00:25:59.280 --> 00:26:01.320
What if you have only 10?

00:26:06.200 --> 00:26:09.160
Your only aim and my only aim then, and I love this.

00:26:09.160 --> 00:26:12.280
I've said it many times and I love this.

00:26:13.280 --> 00:26:17.960
Our only aim is that we become, that I become,

00:26:17.960 --> 00:26:21.360
that you become the largest conduit,

00:26:23.000 --> 00:26:26.120
largest pipe or conduit

00:26:29.120 --> 00:26:30.760
through which money can flow.

00:26:38.720 --> 00:26:41.480
Through which money can flow so God can supply others.

00:26:42.280 --> 00:26:47.280
This is the true prosperity gospel.

00:26:51.000 --> 00:26:54.400
The largest pipe, I mean these are very unbiblical words,

00:26:54.400 --> 00:26:56.640
largest pipe you'll never find in the Bible.

00:26:58.560 --> 00:27:03.560
You become the largest pipe through which money can flow

00:27:03.560 --> 00:27:06.600
so God can supply others.

00:27:06.600 --> 00:27:08.840
That is the nature of the prosperity gospel.

00:27:12.640 --> 00:27:17.640
Proverbs 11, 24 and 25.

00:27:18.320 --> 00:27:20.440
Proverbs 11, 24 and 25.

00:27:23.320 --> 00:27:26.160
Proverbs 11, 24 and 25.

00:27:26.160 --> 00:27:27.160
Here's what it says.

00:27:28.160 --> 00:27:31.840
One man gives freely yet gains even more.

00:27:31.840 --> 00:27:35.720
Some versions say one man scatters freely

00:27:35.720 --> 00:27:36.920
yet gains even more.

00:27:36.920 --> 00:27:39.920
Another withholds unduly but comes to poverty.

00:27:39.920 --> 00:27:41.440
A generous man will prosper.

00:27:41.440 --> 00:27:45.000
He who refreshes others will himself be refreshed.

00:27:45.000 --> 00:27:47.560
He who refreshes others, it's always been,

00:27:47.560 --> 00:27:50.360
the prosperity gospel has always been about others.

00:27:52.000 --> 00:27:56.880
If that is your motive, that father shower me with money

00:27:56.880 --> 00:28:01.880
so that I may become a distributor of all of it.

00:28:02.080 --> 00:28:03.400
Then it's different.

00:28:11.720 --> 00:28:14.280
So the true prosperity gospel will always seek

00:28:14.280 --> 00:28:19.200
to have money flow through your life, through your life.

00:28:19.200 --> 00:28:21.720
It's Luke 6, 34 on repeat.

00:28:21.720 --> 00:28:23.960
What does Luke 6, 34 say?

00:28:23.960 --> 00:28:26.280
You have received freely, give freely.

00:28:26.280 --> 00:28:29.560
And if you do, I'll pour more into your laps,

00:28:29.560 --> 00:28:31.480
press down, shaken together and running over

00:28:31.480 --> 00:28:33.440
so you can generously supply more.

00:28:33.440 --> 00:28:35.280
And it's Luke 6, 34 on repeat.

00:28:38.240 --> 00:28:39.360
We've said this about the church,

00:28:39.360 --> 00:28:40.440
we say this about money too,

00:28:40.440 --> 00:28:43.160
we say this about anything that has to do with God.

00:28:43.160 --> 00:28:48.160
Anything that is full must be emptied

00:28:48.160 --> 00:28:50.400
so that it may be filled again.

00:28:50.400 --> 00:28:52.120
Anything that is full must be emptied

00:28:52.120 --> 00:28:53.560
that it may be filled again.

00:28:54.920 --> 00:28:56.720
Anything that is full must be emptied

00:28:56.720 --> 00:28:57.920
so that it may be filled again.

00:28:57.920 --> 00:29:00.720
Otherwise, it will get stagnant.

00:29:00.720 --> 00:29:02.720
It will turn into maggots.

00:29:07.440 --> 00:29:09.120
And that goes for finances.

00:29:09.160 --> 00:29:10.760
It even goes for the Holy Spirit.

00:29:11.720 --> 00:29:15.120
Holy Spirit gets quite annoyed when there's no outflow.

00:29:33.360 --> 00:29:34.280
Any questions?

00:29:34.280 --> 00:29:35.120
Yeah.

00:29:37.120 --> 00:29:39.720
You were talking about leaders and followers.

00:29:39.720 --> 00:29:40.560
Yeah.

00:29:40.560 --> 00:29:45.560
And doesn't the leader say that you're still a leader?

00:29:48.040 --> 00:29:48.880
Yeah.

00:29:48.880 --> 00:29:50.080
Doesn't he say that he's a leader?

00:29:50.080 --> 00:29:50.920
Yeah.

00:29:50.920 --> 00:29:54.760
So tomorrow, you may become a leader

00:29:54.760 --> 00:29:57.760
and the ones that you lead should submit to you

00:29:57.760 --> 00:30:00.480
and you should be worth double honor.

00:30:00.480 --> 00:30:03.760
You should be, I should try and make your life easy.

00:30:03.800 --> 00:30:05.080
I should do everything in my power

00:30:05.080 --> 00:30:07.040
to help you live a life that is easy,

00:30:07.040 --> 00:30:09.280
not make your life difficult.

00:30:09.280 --> 00:30:11.240
But a day may come when,

00:30:11.240 --> 00:30:13.040
because I practiced that with you

00:30:13.040 --> 00:30:14.760
and I've been faithful,

00:30:14.760 --> 00:30:17.080
you now go do something else and you raise me up.

00:30:17.080 --> 00:30:18.240
But now I've learned 12

00:30:18.240 --> 00:30:20.640
and now Nick has to go through the same process.

00:30:21.600 --> 00:30:25.080
So the relationship between leaders

00:30:25.080 --> 00:30:27.280
and the ones that they have been placed in charge of

00:30:27.280 --> 00:30:28.320
should be that way.

00:30:28.320 --> 00:30:30.080
And that's what Paul is describing.

00:30:30.080 --> 00:30:32.720
But the amazing thing is there's only four things

00:30:32.720 --> 00:30:34.840
that Paul requires for leadership.

00:30:34.840 --> 00:30:36.280
Maintain good homes.

00:30:38.960 --> 00:30:40.120
Walk in purity.

00:30:42.360 --> 00:30:43.720
Have a zeal for God.

00:30:44.640 --> 00:30:47.200
Convey things that are taught accurately.

00:30:47.200 --> 00:30:48.040
That's it.

00:30:48.920 --> 00:30:52.000
These are the only four categories for leadership

00:30:52.000 --> 00:30:52.960
in the Bible.

00:30:54.560 --> 00:30:57.320
And they are so attainable

00:30:57.320 --> 00:30:59.320
that there is nobody who is excluded.

00:31:00.320 --> 00:31:01.680
Nobody who's excluded.

00:31:06.560 --> 00:31:07.920
Nobody who's excluded.

00:31:10.040 --> 00:31:12.680
You can be single, you can be divorced.

00:31:12.680 --> 00:31:14.960
You can be a spinster, you can be married.

00:31:14.960 --> 00:31:16.920
How are you maintaining your home?

00:31:16.920 --> 00:31:19.360
So Jacob, how did you throw divorce in there?

00:31:19.360 --> 00:31:22.160
Because a man or a woman who's divorced

00:31:22.160 --> 00:31:25.520
can spend 10 years after his divorce,

00:31:25.520 --> 00:31:26.760
five years after his divorce,

00:31:26.760 --> 00:31:28.520
living an exemplary life

00:31:29.360 --> 00:31:31.880
one must look at his life,

00:31:31.880 --> 00:31:33.360
not at the divorce only.

00:31:37.560 --> 00:31:39.480
In India, if you aren't married,

00:31:39.480 --> 00:31:41.640
you're not supposed to be a leader.

00:31:41.640 --> 00:31:43.400
Thank God I've destroyed that one.

00:31:48.080 --> 00:31:52.480
So these four things are attainable, guys.

00:31:56.080 --> 00:31:58.440
Purity, passion or zeal.

00:31:59.360 --> 00:32:00.200
Maintaining your home.

00:32:00.200 --> 00:32:02.640
As a single person, if I visited your home,

00:32:02.640 --> 00:32:04.400
would everything go under the bed?

00:32:09.960 --> 00:32:10.800
I remember you once saying,

00:32:10.800 --> 00:32:12.560
if I came to your home, could I look in your closets?

00:32:12.560 --> 00:32:13.400
Yeah.

00:32:17.480 --> 00:32:19.360
I've got so many funny stories on that.

00:32:21.720 --> 00:32:22.920
Dad once, I think,

00:32:24.800 --> 00:32:26.600
yeah, my dad was nice.

00:32:26.600 --> 00:32:28.400
Let me not say anything about him.

00:32:29.520 --> 00:32:30.360
It's just funny.

00:32:30.360 --> 00:32:32.680
I still remember when I found the,

00:32:34.600 --> 00:32:35.600
what do you fry things with,

00:32:35.600 --> 00:32:37.560
that thingy that you turn things with?

00:32:37.560 --> 00:32:38.400
Spatula.

00:32:38.400 --> 00:32:40.800
I remember finding the spatula in a very odd place.

00:32:43.160 --> 00:32:47.080
And the fourth one is conveying things faithfully.

00:32:47.080 --> 00:32:49.120
Conveying things faithfully.

00:32:49.120 --> 00:32:54.000
Not your own brain wave or not your own new theology.

00:32:54.880 --> 00:32:56.680
If you're a part of a people,

00:32:56.840 --> 00:32:57.680
what are they saying?

00:32:57.680 --> 00:32:58.800
Convey it faithfully.

00:33:01.400 --> 00:33:02.800
Can you say the four things?

00:33:02.800 --> 00:33:03.960
Yeah.

00:33:03.960 --> 00:33:07.520
Purity, zeal or passion.

00:33:08.680 --> 00:33:10.360
Maintaining your home.

00:33:11.960 --> 00:33:13.800
Conveying things faithfully.

00:33:15.160 --> 00:33:16.720
And when any of these are missing,

00:33:16.720 --> 00:33:19.280
you have to wait till it's caught up.

00:33:24.680 --> 00:33:25.760
Four-legged chair.

00:33:27.680 --> 00:33:31.680
Any other questions, guys?

00:33:32.600 --> 00:33:35.920
So you're saying cleanliness really is next to godliness?

00:33:35.920 --> 00:33:40.160
I'm saying to maintain a home that is orderly

00:33:40.160 --> 00:33:41.000
is a good thing.

00:33:41.000 --> 00:33:42.720
Because if I had four kids,

00:33:42.720 --> 00:33:46.520
I'm not sure of the degree of cleanliness

00:33:46.520 --> 00:33:47.640
that I could maintain.

00:33:47.640 --> 00:33:49.880
I would have to get rid of the kids to be.

00:33:49.880 --> 00:33:52.520
Yeah.

00:33:52.520 --> 00:33:57.520
So, it's not so much cleanliness.

00:33:59.000 --> 00:34:00.520
Are you faithful with the things

00:34:00.520 --> 00:34:02.680
that have been placed in your hands?

00:34:02.680 --> 00:34:07.680
Be it a little hut or be it a palace.

00:34:11.440 --> 00:34:13.280
Yeah, are you faithful with what has been placed

00:34:13.280 --> 00:34:14.120
in your hands?

00:34:16.840 --> 00:34:21.840
And you can't use her standard for her or for him.

00:34:22.840 --> 00:34:24.400
Her standards may be different.

00:34:27.640 --> 00:34:31.440
I mean, maybe Mike helps around

00:34:31.440 --> 00:34:34.120
and he makes sure nothing drops except grandkids

00:34:34.120 --> 00:34:35.400
and takes care of everything.

00:34:35.400 --> 00:34:36.480
But so.

00:34:36.480 --> 00:34:37.320
So.

00:34:43.040 --> 00:34:43.880
Sorry Mike.

00:34:45.480 --> 00:34:46.320
So.

00:34:50.280 --> 00:34:52.160
30 years from now when people will be listening

00:34:52.160 --> 00:34:53.000
to these sermons.

00:34:55.000 --> 00:34:56.320
Yeah, he'll be listening.

00:34:56.320 --> 00:34:59.320
Yeah, he'll be listening to it.

00:35:06.560 --> 00:35:10.200
Because sometimes we think that our way of maintaining

00:35:10.200 --> 00:35:12.360
is the way that everybody else should maintain

00:35:12.360 --> 00:35:15.400
and that's a false premise.

00:35:15.400 --> 00:35:17.200
It's different for different people.

00:35:18.520 --> 00:35:20.720
I can handle some dust on my TV cabinet.

00:35:22.240 --> 00:35:24.200
And if you come to my house and do that.

00:35:29.360 --> 00:35:30.640
Yeah, yeah.

00:35:30.640 --> 00:35:32.560
Either that or lose your finger, one or the other.

00:35:32.560 --> 00:35:33.400
Yeah.

00:35:33.400 --> 00:35:34.800
Okay, sorry.

00:35:34.800 --> 00:35:35.640
Terrible.

00:35:37.680 --> 00:35:41.800
The next thing with regard to the true prosperity gospel

00:35:41.800 --> 00:35:46.800
is that sowing and reaping is a biblical principle.

00:35:47.120 --> 00:35:49.480
You see that in 2 Corinthians 9.6.

00:35:50.400 --> 00:35:52.280
It says in 2 Corinthians 9.6,

00:35:52.280 --> 00:35:54.920
he who sows sparingly, reaps sparingly.

00:35:54.920 --> 00:35:56.360
So it is a biblical principle.

00:35:58.200 --> 00:36:01.480
But you don't focus on it.

00:36:01.480 --> 00:36:02.400
It is secondary.

00:36:02.400 --> 00:36:03.640
You don't focus on it.

00:36:06.080 --> 00:36:08.480
It must be secondary.

00:36:08.480 --> 00:36:09.920
And why must it be secondary?

00:36:09.920 --> 00:36:12.960
Because there is someone who is primary.

00:36:12.960 --> 00:36:14.440
The father is primary.

00:36:15.720 --> 00:36:17.160
The father is primary.

00:36:19.680 --> 00:36:21.920
When second things are put first,

00:36:21.920 --> 00:36:24.200
you lose out on the first and the second.

00:36:24.200 --> 00:36:25.320
The father is primary.

00:36:25.320 --> 00:36:27.080
Jesus said, look at the birds of the air.

00:36:27.080 --> 00:36:29.480
They neither sow nor reap,

00:36:29.480 --> 00:36:31.840
but the father takes care of them.

00:36:31.840 --> 00:36:35.400
Till I get to know the nature of the father

00:36:35.400 --> 00:36:39.080
and my relationship with the father and wealth in me,

00:36:39.080 --> 00:36:42.560
I will not be able to avoid these traps.

00:36:45.600 --> 00:36:47.200
Jesus was trying to say, listen,

00:36:48.200 --> 00:36:50.760
I taught you sowing and reaping in the Old Testament,

00:36:50.760 --> 00:36:53.160
but I want to say to you that there is a principle

00:36:53.160 --> 00:36:56.640
above that which is that the father is a good father.

00:36:56.640 --> 00:36:59.920
If he can take care of birds that do not sow or reap,

00:36:59.920 --> 00:37:03.040
why do you think that you have to do things

00:37:03.040 --> 00:37:04.440
to get him to do things?

00:37:07.520 --> 00:37:11.200
That's the crux of the prosperity gospel, the false one.

00:37:11.200 --> 00:37:13.440
You have to do things to get him to do things.

00:37:17.640 --> 00:37:20.640
But that's not the nature of the father.

00:37:20.640 --> 00:37:23.480
I mean, that distorts the nature of the father.

00:37:23.480 --> 00:37:25.720
Here's another question I ask often

00:37:25.720 --> 00:37:28.320
and the answers are up and down.

00:37:31.200 --> 00:37:32.800
Is the father that I know,

00:37:33.680 --> 00:37:37.480
is the father that I know embarrassingly generous,

00:37:43.360 --> 00:37:44.880
embarrassingly lavish,

00:37:45.720 --> 00:37:50.360
and extravagantly generous?

00:38:00.120 --> 00:38:03.200
Is the father that I know embarrassingly lavish

00:38:03.200 --> 00:38:04.920
and extravagantly generous?

00:38:04.920 --> 00:38:08.080
And the resounding answer, let me speak on your behalf,

00:38:08.080 --> 00:38:09.400
there might be exceptions,

00:38:09.400 --> 00:38:11.760
but the resounding answer in this room is,

00:38:11.760 --> 00:38:13.280
no, we don't see him that way.

00:38:14.280 --> 00:38:16.760
If he did, I would see it in your life

00:38:16.760 --> 00:38:18.400
and you would see it in my life.

00:38:19.920 --> 00:38:21.440
Our attitude to life would be different.

00:38:21.440 --> 00:38:24.840
This is not our 24-7 thinking of who he is

00:38:24.840 --> 00:38:27.080
and yet this is who he is.

00:38:27.080 --> 00:38:30.000
There's such a dichotomy between the God I worship

00:38:30.000 --> 00:38:33.280
and the God I see in my life on a daily basis.

00:38:33.280 --> 00:38:36.240
Is the father embarrassingly lavish

00:38:36.240 --> 00:38:38.440
and extravagantly generous?

00:38:38.440 --> 00:38:40.680
These are questions I have to struggle with,

00:38:40.680 --> 00:38:41.960
if I wrestle with,

00:38:42.120 --> 00:38:45.080
till I come to a place where I actually believe this often.

00:38:45.080 --> 00:38:47.440
And there's enough evidence in scripture to say

00:38:47.440 --> 00:38:49.200
that this is who he is.

00:38:49.200 --> 00:38:51.920
But why is it that I worship a different God?

00:38:59.120 --> 00:39:01.960
Jacob, I agree with that.

00:39:01.960 --> 00:39:05.040
Is there anything that we could be doing in our lives

00:39:05.920 --> 00:39:07.560
that is only believing

00:39:07.560 --> 00:39:10.920
or that we're not experiencing that in this life

00:39:10.920 --> 00:39:12.160
as we should?

00:39:12.160 --> 00:39:14.240
Are we limiting the father?

00:39:14.240 --> 00:39:17.040
Are we closing doors or is it just believing?

00:39:17.880 --> 00:39:20.480
I think it starts with me actually thinking

00:39:20.480 --> 00:39:21.680
that this is who the father is

00:39:21.680 --> 00:39:23.560
or believing this is who the father is.

00:39:23.560 --> 00:39:24.960
If I don't get to that place

00:39:24.960 --> 00:39:28.280
where I begin to see him like this,

00:39:28.280 --> 00:39:30.360
I will not experience it.

00:39:30.360 --> 00:39:33.840
Even when he does it, I see it as,

00:39:33.840 --> 00:39:37.480
oh well, that was his mercy or that was his goodness.

00:39:38.320 --> 00:39:39.760
We forget the person

00:39:39.760 --> 00:39:42.440
and choose a characteristic or an attribute.

00:39:42.440 --> 00:39:46.200
When God is good, we say, oh, that's his goodness and mercy.

00:39:46.200 --> 00:39:51.080
We rarely go into that place of, but that is my father.

00:39:51.080 --> 00:39:53.640
There are things about me that my friends say.

00:39:55.600 --> 00:39:56.680
But what else do you expect?

00:39:56.680 --> 00:39:57.520
That's Jacob.

00:39:58.480 --> 00:40:00.680
They don't say that's Jacob's goodness.

00:40:03.040 --> 00:40:03.880
That's Jacob.

00:40:04.080 --> 00:40:09.080
And so till I begin to understand that this is who he is,

00:40:10.040 --> 00:40:15.040
even when he does it, I'm not able to suck the marrow.

00:40:16.400 --> 00:40:19.400
It'll be the sense of, he was good to me this time,

00:40:19.400 --> 00:40:20.240
praise the Lord.

00:40:25.400 --> 00:40:27.480
It's like getting 20% off at Bay,

00:40:27.480 --> 00:40:30.280
at the Hudson Bay, Sears doesn't exist anymore.

00:40:30.280 --> 00:40:31.120
You feel thrilled.

00:40:31.120 --> 00:40:33.800
You feel like you're getting 20% off at Bay,

00:40:34.720 --> 00:40:35.560
you're thrilled.

00:40:36.680 --> 00:40:38.000
No, it's much more than that.

00:40:38.000 --> 00:40:39.760
What if your father owned the Bay?

00:40:43.760 --> 00:40:47.480
Guys, one of the reasons we don't experience God

00:40:47.480 --> 00:40:49.840
a certain way is because we haven't gotten accustomed

00:40:49.840 --> 00:40:51.760
to thinking that that's who he is.

00:40:51.760 --> 00:40:53.480
We must take God for granted.

00:40:55.600 --> 00:40:59.320
We must take God for granted in terms of his nature.

00:40:59.440 --> 00:41:02.840
We must take God for granted in terms of his nature.

00:41:02.840 --> 00:41:05.480
Then, regardless of whether it happens

00:41:05.480 --> 00:41:08.320
or it does not happen, nothing changes

00:41:08.320 --> 00:41:10.720
because you take for granted his nature.

00:41:19.720 --> 00:41:20.760
What's the difference between that

00:41:20.760 --> 00:41:21.840
and walking in presumption?

00:41:21.840 --> 00:41:26.840
Presumption is when you expect him to now deliver

00:41:26.840 --> 00:41:28.080
on a promise.

00:41:29.320 --> 00:41:32.040
Contractual, that he will come through.

00:41:32.040 --> 00:41:33.240
I'm trusting you for this.

00:41:33.240 --> 00:41:34.320
You better come through.

00:41:34.320 --> 00:41:37.600
That can be presumption because he's got 200 other things

00:41:37.600 --> 00:41:40.680
that he's working in your life through that one incident.

00:41:41.880 --> 00:41:45.320
If Saul knew the nature of Samuel, he would have waited.

00:41:46.680 --> 00:41:49.680
I think a start would be the nature of the experience.

00:41:53.360 --> 00:41:55.520
Secondly, when we have problems,

00:41:55.520 --> 00:41:58.200
we are thinking of the problems instead of focusing

00:41:58.360 --> 00:42:00.400
on how God is getting us out of them.

00:42:02.800 --> 00:42:03.640
Go ahead.

00:42:04.920 --> 00:42:06.240
Let me repeat what he said.

00:42:07.280 --> 00:42:09.160
We begin with this thing of the nature of God

00:42:09.160 --> 00:42:10.400
and experiencing it.

00:42:10.400 --> 00:42:12.880
Then, when circumstances challenge us,

00:42:14.000 --> 00:42:15.600
we still hold on to the nature of God

00:42:15.600 --> 00:42:18.720
and the experiencing of it and wait for God

00:42:18.720 --> 00:42:20.800
to be who he is in our circumstances.

00:42:20.800 --> 00:42:22.560
Our circumstances derail us.

00:42:23.480 --> 00:42:26.640
I can be so pumped about this and tomorrow,

00:42:26.640 --> 00:42:29.640
let's assume $15,000 goes out of my bank

00:42:29.640 --> 00:42:31.800
and suddenly I'm thinking to myself,

00:42:31.800 --> 00:42:34.440
ah, shucks, that is when the nature of God

00:42:34.440 --> 00:42:36.000
should become even more evident.

00:42:36.960 --> 00:42:38.960
But how can I experience something

00:42:38.960 --> 00:42:41.640
when I don't even believe it is the nature of God?

00:42:41.640 --> 00:42:44.520
Every time I experience it, I look at it as an anomaly

00:42:44.520 --> 00:42:45.640
of the mercy of God.

00:42:46.680 --> 00:42:49.840
This is why inhabiting something is so important

00:42:49.840 --> 00:42:52.160
and you cannot inhabit what you don't think.

00:42:52.160 --> 00:42:54.080
You cannot inhabit what you don't think.

00:42:54.080 --> 00:42:55.840
You must think to inhabit.

00:42:57.480 --> 00:42:59.360
But think, I don't mean think.

00:42:59.360 --> 00:43:03.560
Think as in to meditate, believe.

00:43:06.760 --> 00:43:08.920
I was just wondering about whether he's testing me

00:43:08.920 --> 00:43:09.760
in this way.

00:43:09.760 --> 00:43:11.880
Is he testing the nature of God?

00:43:11.880 --> 00:43:14.080
Yeah, in that case, he was saying, hey guys,

00:43:15.000 --> 00:43:18.040
23.3% is what I want you to give every year,

00:43:18.040 --> 00:43:20.520
by the way, that was the tithing then.

00:43:20.520 --> 00:43:23.080
Just in case we thought it was 10.

00:43:23.080 --> 00:43:24.920
Hey, can you turn on the AC a little?

00:43:25.920 --> 00:43:28.680
So God is saying, but this is my nature.

00:43:28.680 --> 00:43:31.440
I'm a blesser anyways, I'll rebuke the devourer.

00:43:31.440 --> 00:43:32.760
But I've set some rules for you

00:43:32.760 --> 00:43:34.920
because your hearts are like stone.

00:43:34.920 --> 00:43:36.320
The Holy Spirit doesn't live in you yet.

00:43:36.320 --> 00:43:37.240
He didn't say that.

00:43:37.240 --> 00:43:38.960
But trust me in this anyways.

00:43:38.960 --> 00:43:41.160
But now he's not even saying that.

00:43:41.160 --> 00:43:42.760
He's saying this is my nature.

00:43:42.760 --> 00:43:44.080
I'm your father.

00:43:46.760 --> 00:43:48.520
I was gonna say I'm your father, darn it.

00:43:48.520 --> 00:43:51.160
And then I realized God wouldn't say anything like that.

00:43:54.920 --> 00:43:57.920
Okay, let's skip a few and keep going.

00:44:01.320 --> 00:44:06.320
Here's some other things about walking in true prosperity.

00:44:06.400 --> 00:44:07.760
These are hard things.

00:44:07.760 --> 00:44:10.520
Your security is not connected

00:44:14.840 --> 00:44:16.080
to your bank account.

00:44:18.080 --> 00:44:21.080
So you're not connected to your bank account.

00:44:21.080 --> 00:44:23.200
You're connected to your bank account.

00:44:23.320 --> 00:44:26.320
Your security is not connected to your bank account.

00:44:27.920 --> 00:44:32.920
Which doesn't mean that one should just barely manage.

00:44:32.920 --> 00:44:35.160
Because that's the other side of this.

00:44:35.160 --> 00:44:40.160
Everything in a message can be taken and used the other way.

00:44:40.480 --> 00:44:42.720
Oh, my security is not connected to the bank account

00:44:42.720 --> 00:44:46.240
so I don't have to worry about the security.

00:44:46.240 --> 00:44:48.280
I don't have to worry about the security.

00:44:48.280 --> 00:44:50.240
I don't have to worry about the security.

00:44:50.800 --> 00:44:52.040
So I don't have lanzer the bank account

00:44:52.040 --> 00:44:53.400
so I don't have to worry about,

00:44:53.400 --> 00:44:57.040
I'll just make a basic subsistence kind of a living

00:44:57.040 --> 00:44:58.200
and somehow manage.

00:44:58.200 --> 00:45:00.000
That's not what God is saying.

00:45:00.000 --> 00:45:03.240
God is saying regardless of whether you have zero

00:45:03.240 --> 00:45:04.920
or whether you have millions,

00:45:04.920 --> 00:45:07.800
your security is not connected to your bank account.

00:45:07.800 --> 00:45:09.200
If you're zero, start climbing

00:45:09.200 --> 00:45:13.040
because I want you to begin to distribute stuff.

00:45:13.040 --> 00:45:14.560
So don't stay at zero.

00:45:14.560 --> 00:45:17.520
So the first thing is your security is not connected

00:45:17.520 --> 00:45:18.360
to your bank account.

00:45:18.360 --> 00:45:21.120
And while I may think this,

00:45:21.120 --> 00:45:25.440
I also know how my heart and my hands begin to react

00:45:25.440 --> 00:45:27.080
when the bank account dips.

00:45:32.720 --> 00:45:36.160
The only one who is stone cold Steve Austin is Heidi.

00:45:37.360 --> 00:45:40.160
Doesn't matter whether the bank account plunges

00:45:40.160 --> 00:45:42.080
or whether the bank account is up.

00:45:42.080 --> 00:45:45.040
Steve, the stone cold Steve Austin was a wrestler, Heidi.

00:45:45.760 --> 00:45:46.600
Just so you know.

00:45:46.600 --> 00:45:47.440
Yeah.

00:45:50.080 --> 00:45:54.240
So for the last 16 years she's had no heart problems

00:45:55.200 --> 00:45:57.200
because it doesn't bother her.

00:45:57.200 --> 00:46:01.000
But it's surprising how when the bank account dips

00:46:01.000 --> 00:46:02.520
we get scared.

00:46:02.520 --> 00:46:04.720
When the mortgage rate rises we get scared.

00:46:05.640 --> 00:46:07.800
Interest rate rises we get scared.

00:46:07.800 --> 00:46:09.160
What if I could somehow,

00:46:09.160 --> 00:46:12.920
the day I, how do I know the day this happens

00:46:12.920 --> 00:46:14.680
when I'm no longer afraid?

00:46:15.160 --> 00:46:16.060
Just so you know.

00:46:20.520 --> 00:46:21.880
Impractical extremely.

00:46:24.080 --> 00:46:26.360
Your job is not connected to your livelihood.

00:46:26.360 --> 00:46:30.640
Your job is not connected to your livelihood.

00:46:34.720 --> 00:46:36.880
Your job is not connected to your livelihood.

00:46:36.880 --> 00:46:56.880
Because if we actually believe that provision and livelihood come from Yahweh Jaira,

00:46:56.880 --> 00:47:12.880
then it frees your life from all limits at God's disposal.

00:47:12.880 --> 00:47:15.880
You become at God's disposal.

00:47:15.880 --> 00:47:21.880
Is there a difference between provision and livelihood?

00:47:21.880 --> 00:47:26.880
Yeah, provision is what I might think.

00:47:26.880 --> 00:47:28.880
Let me explain what I meant.

00:47:28.880 --> 00:47:30.880
Maybe there's no difference.

00:47:30.880 --> 00:47:36.880
But provision is what I think I have in terms of money or whatever to help me live life.

00:47:36.880 --> 00:47:39.880
Livelihood is what supplies that provision.

00:47:39.880 --> 00:47:42.880
That's the way I was looking at it.

00:47:42.880 --> 00:47:47.880
So when provision, as in the money that I have and livelihood,

00:47:47.880 --> 00:47:51.880
are no longer connected to...

00:47:51.880 --> 00:47:57.880
When both come from Yahweh Jaira, then it frees your life from all limits at God's disposal.

00:47:57.880 --> 00:48:01.880
So you might say, but I'm not afraid of losing my job.

00:48:01.880 --> 00:48:03.880
I'm not afraid of this or that or the other.

00:48:03.880 --> 00:48:08.880
The thing is, if this is how I live today, I can drop it today and go wherever God tells me to.

00:48:08.880 --> 00:48:11.880
But we are not free like that.

00:48:11.880 --> 00:48:14.880
We are afraid. We want to secure things.

00:48:14.880 --> 00:48:15.880
I'm not saying be irresponsible.

00:48:15.880 --> 00:48:18.880
I'm just saying prepare your mind to think like this.

00:48:18.880 --> 00:48:20.880
Prepare your mind to think like this.

00:48:20.880 --> 00:48:24.880
This is why I appreciate what Derek did when he first got here.

00:48:24.880 --> 00:48:27.880
I remember him getting a job in Toronto.

00:48:27.880 --> 00:48:32.880
And he had been jobless for six months or four months or something like that.

00:48:32.880 --> 00:48:34.880
Got a job in Toronto. Good job.

00:48:34.880 --> 00:48:37.880
Guy had spent money getting educated here.

00:48:37.880 --> 00:48:42.880
And as a non-resident, you have to pay much more in terms of tuition and all that.

00:48:42.880 --> 00:48:49.880
And I remember having a conversation with him and saying, Derek, you can go to Toronto and you can get that job and you'll do well.

00:48:49.880 --> 00:48:53.880
Or you can stay here without a job and you will do better.

00:48:53.880 --> 00:48:56.880
And he stayed.

00:48:56.880 --> 00:49:02.880
That's when you know what you're connected to.

00:49:02.880 --> 00:49:06.880
I remember May 1st, 2001, standing on a balcony in Richmond.

00:49:06.880 --> 00:49:08.880
I used to live in Richmond then.

00:49:08.880 --> 00:49:16.880
And I just got a job at the province helping the editor do stories and stuff like that.

00:49:16.880 --> 00:49:17.880
I was thrilled.

00:49:17.880 --> 00:49:26.880
And then I also get a worship leader's job at a church in Vancouver, which pays peanuts.

00:49:26.880 --> 00:49:29.880
And I'm thinking to myself, which one?

00:49:29.880 --> 00:49:35.880
And here's what it says.

00:49:35.880 --> 00:49:40.880
Your work is with your God and your recompense is from him.

00:49:40.880 --> 00:49:43.880
And then I thought, there goes the province.

00:49:43.880 --> 00:49:48.880
And so I started working where I first began working.

00:49:48.880 --> 00:49:51.880
And the Lord said, just so you know, this is me.

00:49:51.880 --> 00:49:54.880
I want you to step out to your balcony and look towards the east.

00:49:54.880 --> 00:49:57.880
I didn't know which way east was. I was looking the wrong way.

00:49:57.880 --> 00:49:59.880
Because it was a bright, sunny day.

00:49:59.880 --> 00:50:02.880
And then I looked east and east was Burnaby.

00:50:02.880 --> 00:50:07.880
And then I looked east and the clouds have gathered and there's this beautiful rainbow.

00:50:07.880 --> 00:50:09.880
I was so sure of what God had said after that.

00:50:09.880 --> 00:50:13.880
It didn't matter. It was never a question of going back.

00:50:13.880 --> 00:50:29.880
Those are the times you have to figure out where your livelihood and provision comes from.

00:50:29.880 --> 00:50:32.880
You don't have to have it before you can be a blessing.

00:50:32.880 --> 00:50:34.880
You obey to bless. Remember that, guys.

00:50:34.880 --> 00:50:37.880
You don't have to have it. Money is not a...

00:50:37.880 --> 00:50:40.880
I've said this many times. Money is not a factor.

00:50:40.880 --> 00:50:46.880
It cannot tell me what to do, where to go, when to do it, how I must act, when I can start.

00:50:46.880 --> 00:50:49.880
Money must have that ability in my life.

00:50:49.880 --> 00:50:52.880
Money must not have the ability.

00:50:52.880 --> 00:50:54.880
I hate it when money does that.

00:50:54.880 --> 00:50:56.880
Money must not have the ability.

00:50:56.880 --> 00:51:01.880
Money becomes alive. It comes alive.

00:51:01.880 --> 00:51:04.880
It comes alive and it says, you cannot do this now.

00:51:04.880 --> 00:51:06.880
You cannot stop this now.

00:51:06.880 --> 00:51:08.880
You have to wait. You will not do this now.

00:51:08.880 --> 00:51:10.880
You will not go there now.

00:51:10.880 --> 00:51:12.880
You will have to delay it.

00:51:12.880 --> 00:51:17.880
When you know inside of you, even without a reymar word, you know inside of you,

00:51:17.880 --> 00:51:22.880
everything inside of you is saying, this is the Spirit of God prompting you.

00:51:22.880 --> 00:51:24.880
You don't have any promise.

00:51:24.880 --> 00:51:27.880
You're looking for signs. You can't get a sign.

00:51:27.880 --> 00:51:29.880
But inside you, you know it.

00:51:29.880 --> 00:51:34.880
And at that moment, money comes alive and becomes like a real person saying, you will not.

00:51:34.880 --> 00:51:37.880
It's a tyrant.

00:51:37.880 --> 00:51:42.880
Money is a tyrannical master but a great servant.

00:51:45.880 --> 00:51:47.880
When it begins to tell you...

00:51:47.880 --> 00:51:52.880
What I hate is when it begins to tell you, you cannot start now.

00:51:54.880 --> 00:51:57.880
That's the kind of control this thing has, man.

00:51:57.880 --> 00:52:00.880
And then there will be people who come along and say,

00:52:00.880 --> 00:52:02.880
it won't be a good idea if you start now.

00:52:02.880 --> 00:52:07.880
Remember the last time you started and you just completely failed.

00:52:07.880 --> 00:52:14.880
Hey, there's not a single guy on the face of the earth that has not failed with money.

00:52:15.880 --> 00:52:18.880
If you're going to throw my failures at me,

00:52:18.880 --> 00:52:21.880
hey, I'm as big a target as it comes.

00:52:21.880 --> 00:52:24.880
And I'm not talking about my size.

00:52:30.880 --> 00:52:33.880
Of course there'll be failures.

00:52:33.880 --> 00:52:36.880
But if you're going to throw my failures at me,

00:52:36.880 --> 00:52:39.880
hey, I'm as big a target as it comes.

00:52:40.880 --> 00:52:43.880
Of course there'll be failures.

00:52:45.880 --> 00:52:48.880
You think Jesus didn't fail when he was growing up?

00:52:48.880 --> 00:52:51.880
You think he always won every race?

00:52:52.880 --> 00:52:55.880
You think he didn't mess up a table or two?

00:52:57.880 --> 00:53:01.880
Oops, sorry, this leg is shorter than the last one.

00:53:01.880 --> 00:53:05.880
You have to learn carpentry. You make mistakes in carpentry.

00:53:05.880 --> 00:53:09.880
We just think that he was born with carpenter skills.

00:53:09.880 --> 00:53:11.880
No!

00:53:17.880 --> 00:53:20.880
No, I'm not being blasphemous. Don't look at me like that.

00:53:23.880 --> 00:53:28.880
You don't have to have money before you start or want to start.

00:53:28.880 --> 00:53:31.880
You have to obey to bless.

00:53:31.880 --> 00:53:35.880
After having said what I said, you have to obey to bless.

00:53:35.880 --> 00:53:37.880
You have to obey to start.

00:53:37.880 --> 00:53:40.880
I love what Peter does. Peter doesn't show any faith.

00:53:40.880 --> 00:53:42.880
Jesus is the one who's showing faith.

00:53:42.880 --> 00:53:45.880
Hey Peter, do sons pay taxes? No.

00:53:45.880 --> 00:53:48.880
But these guys are insisting on paying taxes. Yes.

00:53:48.880 --> 00:53:50.880
So here's what I want you to do.

00:53:50.880 --> 00:53:53.880
I want you to take a fishing rod. I want you to go and catch a fish.

00:53:53.880 --> 00:53:55.880
The first fish you catch opens its mouth.

00:53:55.880 --> 00:53:57.880
Hey Peter, there's enough money for your taxes and mine.

00:53:57.880 --> 00:54:01.880
And he obeys. He obeys. He doesn't show any faith.

00:54:01.880 --> 00:54:04.880
He just does what he is told.

00:54:04.880 --> 00:54:07.880
He's a fisherman.

00:54:07.880 --> 00:54:11.880
Money is almost never about faith.

00:54:11.880 --> 00:54:14.880
It is almost always about obedience.

00:54:16.880 --> 00:54:18.880
We use faith for money.

00:54:18.880 --> 00:54:21.880
Money is always about obeying simple principles,

00:54:21.880 --> 00:54:23.880
obeying what you're told.

00:54:23.880 --> 00:54:27.880
And that is what breaks the back of the tyrant called money.

00:54:27.880 --> 00:54:29.880
Then it becomes a servant.

00:54:29.880 --> 00:54:32.880
When you obey the master, money becomes a servant.

00:54:32.880 --> 00:54:35.880
When you obey the master, money becomes a servant.

00:54:35.880 --> 00:54:39.880
When you do not obey the master, money becomes a master.

00:54:39.880 --> 00:54:42.880
And the real master has to wait now.

00:54:54.880 --> 00:54:56.880
So what does true stewardship look like?

00:54:56.880 --> 00:54:59.880
Or in our case, true financial stewardship?

00:54:59.880 --> 00:55:05.880
Because there are lots of financial courses that are doing the rounds in churches.

00:55:05.880 --> 00:55:08.880
And they're done by really amazing people.

00:55:08.880 --> 00:55:11.880
What does true financial stewardship look like?

00:55:11.880 --> 00:55:14.880
It is the ability to be diligent.

00:55:14.880 --> 00:55:17.880
It is the ability to be diligent.

00:55:19.880 --> 00:55:21.880
How do you define the word diligent?

00:55:21.880 --> 00:55:22.880
It's being faithful.

00:55:22.880 --> 00:55:25.880
It's being hardworking.

00:55:25.880 --> 00:55:29.880
It is being responsible.

00:55:29.880 --> 00:55:36.880
It is being faithful with what you've been given in terms of finances.

00:55:36.880 --> 00:55:37.880
How to go about it.

00:55:37.880 --> 00:55:38.880
Directions.

00:55:38.880 --> 00:55:39.880
Find out from the master.

00:55:39.880 --> 00:55:41.880
Ability to be diligent.

00:55:41.880 --> 00:55:44.880
To take into custody what has been given to you.

00:55:44.880 --> 00:55:47.880
Then to transact and multiply.

00:55:47.880 --> 00:55:52.880
What God has asked you to be faithful over.

00:55:52.880 --> 00:55:59.880
What God has asked you to be faithful over.

00:56:05.880 --> 00:56:07.880
For the sake of the kingdom.

00:56:10.880 --> 00:56:13.880
For the sake of the kingdom.

00:56:13.880 --> 00:56:15.880
For the sake of the church.

00:56:15.880 --> 00:56:17.880
For the sake of others.

00:56:17.880 --> 00:56:19.880
This is true stewardship.

00:56:19.880 --> 00:56:20.880
Whatever you're given.

00:56:20.880 --> 00:56:21.880
Are you a businessman?

00:56:21.880 --> 00:56:22.880
Are you a pastor?

00:56:22.880 --> 00:56:25.880
Are you employed somewhere?

00:56:25.880 --> 00:56:31.880
Take your finances and begin to transact and multiply.

00:56:31.880 --> 00:56:33.880
And then you're going to be able to do it.

00:56:33.880 --> 00:56:35.880
And then you're going to be able to do it.

00:56:35.880 --> 00:56:37.880
And then you're going to be able to do it.

00:56:37.880 --> 00:56:39.880
And then you're going to be able to do it.

00:56:39.880 --> 00:56:40.880
Make money.

00:56:40.880 --> 00:56:44.880
And begin to transact and multiply.

00:56:44.880 --> 00:56:46.880
Meaning make money.

00:56:46.880 --> 00:56:48.880
I love telling businessmen.

00:56:48.880 --> 00:56:50.880
What are you doing here sitting and praying?

00:56:50.880 --> 00:56:51.880
Go make some money.

00:56:51.880 --> 00:56:52.880
Make money.

00:56:52.880 --> 00:56:57.880
And then use the money towards the kingdom.

00:56:57.880 --> 00:56:58.880
The gospel.

00:56:58.880 --> 00:56:59.880
The church.

00:56:59.880 --> 00:57:00.880
And the others.

00:57:00.880 --> 00:57:01.880
And others.

00:57:01.880 --> 00:57:02.880
Use it as in distribute it.

00:57:02.880 --> 00:57:03.880
Distribute it.

00:57:03.880 --> 00:57:04.880
Distribute it.

00:57:04.880 --> 00:57:06.880
So what was I repenting about?

00:57:06.880 --> 00:57:08.880
You know what I was repenting about yesterday?

00:57:08.880 --> 00:57:10.880
I told Derek this.

00:57:10.880 --> 00:57:19.880
I'm finding that most of the things I do, I do well.

00:57:19.880 --> 00:57:25.880
Most of the things I do well is not a sacrifice anymore.

00:57:31.880 --> 00:57:35.880
Most of the things I do well is not a sacrifice anymore.

00:57:35.880 --> 00:57:45.880
Yeah, what I was repenting of is, Father, I might be doing things well.

00:57:45.880 --> 00:57:47.880
I might be doing things better than others.

00:57:47.880 --> 00:57:49.880
But whatever I'm doing is so easy now.

00:57:49.880 --> 00:57:51.880
It's not a sacrifice anymore.

00:57:51.880 --> 00:58:03.880
When it's not a sacrifice, something about God, salvation, and people is missing.

00:58:03.880 --> 00:58:09.880
If we are to follow a master, our life must be sacrificial.

00:58:09.880 --> 00:58:13.880
And I'm finding that my life is no longer sacrificial.

00:58:13.880 --> 00:58:17.880
What I do, I do easily.

00:58:17.880 --> 00:58:19.880
I do well.

00:58:19.880 --> 00:58:23.880
And being completely modest, I do it better than a whole lot of other people.

00:58:23.880 --> 00:58:26.880
But it isn't sacrificial anymore.

00:58:26.880 --> 00:58:29.880
And therefore, it lacks the quality of Christ.

00:58:29.880 --> 00:58:32.880
It lacks salvation.

00:58:32.880 --> 00:58:34.880
My mic's going off.

00:58:34.880 --> 00:58:36.880
I'm going to change the battery.

00:58:36.880 --> 00:58:37.880
I think it's done.

00:58:37.880 --> 00:58:41.880
And it's not a prophetic sign that I should stop preaching.

00:59:02.880 --> 00:59:07.880
Okay.

00:59:07.880 --> 00:59:09.880
Okay.

00:59:37.880 --> 01:00:04.880
Any questions?

01:00:04.880 --> 01:00:05.880
Okay.

01:00:05.880 --> 01:00:12.880
So has your life become more sacrificial with Remy over the last six months?

01:00:12.880 --> 01:00:19.880
Because any sacrifice requires a heart that loves more, that gives more, that pulls out more.

01:00:19.880 --> 01:00:24.880
Has my life become more sacrificial with you?

01:00:24.880 --> 01:00:28.880
Or is it, hey, come over and give you 40 minutes and give you some advice,

01:00:28.880 --> 01:00:32.880
and off you go because the next one's coming in?

01:00:32.880 --> 01:00:34.880
Is it that I give away?

01:00:34.880 --> 01:00:38.880
Is it sacrificial or has it become something I can afford?

01:00:38.880 --> 01:00:42.880
2 Corinthians 8 verse 3 to 5 puts it this way.

01:00:42.880 --> 01:00:45.880
These Philippians, he's talking to the Corinthians about the Philippians.

01:00:45.880 --> 01:00:49.880
And he says, these guys, it's such a powerful verse.

01:00:49.880 --> 01:00:53.880
It says, 2 Corinthians 8, 3 to 5, for they, as in the Philippians,

01:00:53.880 --> 01:00:58.880
gave according to their means, as I can testify, and beyond their means of their own accord,

01:00:58.880 --> 01:01:03.880
begging us earnestly for the favor of taking part in the relief of the saints.

01:01:03.880 --> 01:01:07.880
And this was not what I expected.

01:01:07.880 --> 01:01:08.880
And here's what they did.

01:01:08.880 --> 01:01:15.880
They first gave themselves to the Lord, and then they gave them of themselves and what they had sacrificially.

01:01:15.880 --> 01:01:21.880
And what I'm finding is, and the only reason I'm sharing it is so that you ask the question of yourself.

01:01:21.880 --> 01:01:26.880
What I'm finding is, what I do, I don't do, I can afford what I do now.

01:01:26.880 --> 01:01:32.880
When you become good at something, when you've done it long enough, you can afford it.

01:01:32.880 --> 01:01:36.880
What am I doing sacrificially? Because that's the nature of Christ.

01:01:36.880 --> 01:01:40.880
That is the nature of salvation.

01:01:40.880 --> 01:01:47.880
I'm not saying this applies to all of you, maybe four of you or five of you, but it definitely applies to me.

01:01:47.880 --> 01:01:50.880
What am I doing that is sacrificial?

01:01:50.880 --> 01:01:54.880
It is so easy to do things well, do things by the Holy Spirit,

01:01:54.880 --> 01:02:02.880
do things godly, and yet it lacks the nature of Christ because it is not sacrificial.

01:02:07.880 --> 01:02:12.880
So then the question is, Jacob, in your giving, is your giving sacrificial or is it giving plenty?

01:02:15.880 --> 01:02:19.880
Crazy, eh? These are the questions that Jesus would ask.

01:02:19.880 --> 01:02:23.880
Is your giving plenty or is your giving sacrificial?

01:02:23.880 --> 01:02:27.880
My answer is, my giving is plenty, but it definitely ain't sacrificial.

01:02:53.880 --> 01:03:08.880
Sometimes I'm not going to give you that, but there's also, it's not like I'm ignoring it.

01:03:08.880 --> 01:03:20.880
It's almost like, I'm not doing sacrifice, I'm doing pain, but it's not that all of these are sacrifices.

01:03:20.880 --> 01:03:25.880
Yeah, I totally get it. A sacrifice is painful if I don't delight in it.

01:03:25.880 --> 01:03:33.880
And so I can choose my level of delight, and therefore if this is where I want to give, I've stayed here now for very long.

01:03:33.880 --> 01:03:38.880
Now God is saying, can you delight more? Can you love more? Can you love me more? Can you love others more?

01:03:38.880 --> 01:03:41.880
So that this sacrifice will become delightful too.

01:03:41.880 --> 01:03:46.880
When parents sacrifice for their kids, they never say, boy, you're such a pain as I sacrificed.

01:03:46.880 --> 01:03:51.880
It's like, it's such a delight. It's very painful, but it's such a delight.

01:03:51.880 --> 01:03:59.880
That is how you go about sacrifice. So when Jesus lays down his life, yes, it's a sacrifice, but he does it for the joy that is set before him.

01:03:59.880 --> 01:04:04.880
And what was the joy? Pleasing his father and finding us. That was his joy.

01:04:04.880 --> 01:04:15.880
And so I can be here and now get so used to it, and it still might be more than a hundred others, but it's gotten to a place where I can afford it.

01:04:15.880 --> 01:04:22.880
Now I've got to step into another place of delight and another place of sacrifice.

01:04:22.880 --> 01:04:27.880
I keep becoming more and more like Christ. And that's what I was repenting of.

01:04:27.880 --> 01:04:35.880
Saying, how putrid is it that I have reached a place now where I can do this with the Holy Spirit, but without the nature of Christ?

01:04:35.880 --> 01:04:39.880
Very odd, eh? These things combined, you'd think they wouldn't.

01:04:45.880 --> 01:04:50.880
Because I have gotten used to it and it doesn't cost me anything anymore.

01:04:50.880 --> 01:04:54.880
It's like David said. It is David. All the land belonged to the king.

01:04:54.880 --> 01:04:59.880
Everything in Israel belonged to the king. And he has to offer a burnt offering.

01:04:59.880 --> 01:05:07.880
And he says, no, won't do this. It's got to cost me. It's got to cost me.

01:05:07.880 --> 01:05:13.880
We teach our children this. At a certain level, the child gives up two dollars to buy his mama a gift. Great.

01:05:13.880 --> 01:05:24.880
But at 18, if he's still giving two dollars to buy his mama's gift, hang him upside down.

01:05:24.880 --> 01:05:30.880
Pardon? You heard it here first.

01:05:30.880 --> 01:05:36.880
Yeah. No, the reason you hang people upside down, there's a very... I mean, it's not just mere torture.

01:05:36.880 --> 01:05:42.880
When you hang someone upside down, blood rushes to their head and they think clearly. That's why.

01:05:42.880 --> 01:05:50.880
I mean, there's a reason behind it. You thought there was no reason.

01:05:50.880 --> 01:05:54.880
When we begin to live like this, guys, a strange thing happens.

01:05:54.880 --> 01:06:01.880
You're the one who is responsible. God becomes responsible for you.

01:06:01.880 --> 01:06:05.880
God becomes responsible. He is anyways responsible for you.

01:06:05.880 --> 01:06:20.880
But as you think you're going to empty yourself, God becomes responsible for your expenses, for your provision, for your needs, wants, desires.

01:06:20.880 --> 01:06:28.880
Why? Because he takes on the role of father, king, bridegroom.

01:06:28.880 --> 01:06:33.880
When we begin to live like this.

01:06:33.880 --> 01:06:42.880
And the treasures on earth, your treasures on earth become moth-proof, theft-proof, rust-proof.

01:06:42.880 --> 01:06:47.880
Matthew 6, verse 20 onwards. Because you're beginning to live like the world does not live.

01:06:47.880 --> 01:06:52.880
You begin to live the life of another kingdom here on earth in this dark age.

01:06:52.880 --> 01:06:59.880
You begin to live the life of the kingdom. Your treasures here on earth become moth-proof, theft-proof and rust-proof.

01:06:59.880 --> 01:07:07.880
Meanwhile, you're amassing things in heaven, which faithfulness here translates to faithfulness there.

01:07:07.880 --> 01:07:14.880
But we'll talk about that another day. Let me end because we are 1.09.

01:07:14.880 --> 01:07:18.880
Dylan asked this question last time. And I just want to end with that.

01:07:18.880 --> 01:07:26.880
You save, do you save? Yes, you save to leave an inheritance for your children, spiritual and biological.

01:07:26.880 --> 01:07:42.880
That's a new twist, eh? You save to leave an inheritance for your children, spiritual and biological.

01:07:42.880 --> 01:07:52.880
That throws the spanner in the works. Sorry son, I'm raising this other guy spiritually. So you're going to get less.

01:07:52.880 --> 01:07:55.880
Choose a firstborn. Give him two thirds and give the others one third.

01:07:55.880 --> 01:08:05.880
Anyways, next thing is, next thing is, there's always a biblical way out.

01:08:05.880 --> 01:08:16.880
Next thing is you save so that you have more to give away. You save so you that you have more to give away without asking God to provide.

01:08:16.880 --> 01:08:19.880
You save, so you have more to give away without asking God to supply the needs of others.

01:08:19.880 --> 01:08:26.880
You save, so that you have more to give away without asking God to supply the needs of others.

01:08:26.880 --> 01:08:36.400
One of the cool things that began some years ago and I don't do it anymore because of different

01:08:36.400 --> 01:08:40.080
reasons but I started saving.

01:08:40.080 --> 01:08:45.280
You have that thing called, that thing where you can put money?

01:08:45.280 --> 01:08:46.280
What's it called?

01:08:46.280 --> 01:08:47.280
TFSA.

01:08:47.280 --> 01:08:48.280
TFSA, yeah.

01:08:48.280 --> 01:08:52.540
So I started saving, started putting it away and I was wondering why God had asked me to

01:08:53.340 --> 01:08:54.900
And then he said,

01:08:54.900 --> 01:08:58.780
Jigar, why don't you save for three months and then you come and ask me what I want to

01:08:58.780 --> 01:08:59.980
do with it.

01:08:59.980 --> 01:09:02.340
It was so much fun.

01:09:02.340 --> 01:09:05.660
So I'd save in the TFSA and it would grow, it would grow, it would grow.

01:09:05.660 --> 01:09:06.660
Sometimes it would be more, sometimes it would be less.

01:09:06.660 --> 01:09:10.460
At the end of three months or four months I'd go and ask the father, so what do you

01:09:10.460 --> 01:09:12.820
want to do with it?

01:09:12.820 --> 01:09:14.700
And sometimes it would be go give it to this person.

01:09:14.700 --> 01:09:17.180
Sometimes it would be go on a holiday.

01:09:17.180 --> 01:09:21.620
Sometimes it would be go send it to this particular church.

01:09:21.620 --> 01:09:27.580
And I would look forward to the end of three months because now I didn't have to ask God

01:09:27.580 --> 01:09:29.860
to bless the church with provision.

01:09:29.860 --> 01:09:33.780
Now it was, there was provision to give away.

01:09:33.780 --> 01:09:42.020
So one of the other reasons you save is so that you actually have real cash to give away.

01:09:42.020 --> 01:09:45.180
Here's a statement that I need to write.

01:09:45.940 --> 01:09:58.940
The desire for self preservation goes against, this is another thing I had to repent of yesterday,

01:09:58.940 --> 01:10:10.940
goes against the grain of Christ and the essence of salvation.

01:10:15.940 --> 01:10:41.780
True prosperity gives sacrificially more than I can afford to give away.

01:10:41.780 --> 01:10:44.860
And this goes back to Paul's question.

01:10:44.860 --> 01:10:48.860
These are the ways you experience the intervention of God.

01:10:54.860 --> 01:11:02.860
When it's me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me.

01:11:02.860 --> 01:11:07.860
Pretty much, but occasionally you, occasionally you plan for things in the future where God

01:11:08.860 --> 01:11:12.860
And then you set aside money for something that he wants you to save for.

01:11:12.860 --> 01:11:18.860
Let's say you want to visit your wife once every month.

01:11:18.860 --> 01:11:22.860
You'll have to, yeah, yeah.

01:11:22.860 --> 01:11:24.860
Okay, once every two months.

01:11:24.860 --> 01:11:27.860
Yeah, you'll have to set aside some money for it.

01:11:27.860 --> 01:11:30.860
You know, in Bahrain there's this bank.

01:11:30.860 --> 01:11:31.860
It's a new bank.

01:11:31.860 --> 01:11:33.860
It wasn't there when I was around.

01:11:33.860 --> 01:11:35.860
It just started two years ago.

01:11:35.860 --> 01:11:38.860
In the Arab world they have these money pots.

01:11:38.860 --> 01:11:41.860
They're called hasala.

01:11:43.860 --> 01:11:45.860
You don't remember?

01:11:45.860 --> 01:11:48.860
I never had money there.

01:11:48.860 --> 01:11:53.860
So you have these pots called hasalas or something like that.

01:11:53.860 --> 01:11:54.860
I forgot the name.

01:11:54.860 --> 01:11:58.860
And so what this bank does is you can go to the bank and decide,

01:11:58.860 --> 01:12:00.860
I want to put money aside for my car.

01:12:00.860 --> 01:12:02.860
I want to put money aside for my air tickets.

01:12:02.860 --> 01:12:04.860
I want to put money aside for my mother-in-law.

01:12:04.860 --> 01:12:07.860
And so they actually call those accounts mother-in-law,

01:12:07.860 --> 01:12:09.860
this thing and this thing.

01:12:09.860 --> 01:12:12.860
And every month the bank will take and put it aside.

01:12:12.860 --> 01:12:16.860
It's this very simple system where people begin to save.

01:12:16.860 --> 01:12:18.860
It becomes like, instead of putting it in an envelope,

01:12:18.860 --> 01:12:19.860
the bank actually does it for you.

01:12:19.860 --> 01:12:24.860
The point being there are times when you save because God is asking you to put aside for something.

01:12:24.860 --> 01:12:26.860
And then at the end of the day after you put it all aside,

01:12:26.860 --> 01:12:29.860
he'll give it to you free and then you can give the money to me.

01:12:29.860 --> 01:12:31.860
So it works that way too.

01:12:31.860 --> 01:12:35.860
So at the end, terrible, prosperity, God's peddling a gift.

01:12:35.860 --> 01:12:38.860
But otherwise you're right, Don.

01:12:38.860 --> 01:12:44.860
Almost every other form of saving that looks to preserve my life at the expense of something else

01:12:44.860 --> 01:12:49.860
that I know I should do it goes against the grain of Christ

01:12:49.860 --> 01:12:50.860
and therefore the essence of salvation.

01:12:50.860 --> 01:12:52.860
And there's something else I'm trying to repent of,

01:12:52.860 --> 01:12:55.860
that Father, there's so much self-preservation left.

01:13:01.860 --> 01:13:21.860
It's prudent to save for retirement.

01:13:21.860 --> 01:13:23.860
But now to the prudence.

01:13:23.860 --> 01:13:27.860
In the prudence, I have to dig up the word prudence and find if there's any fear there.

01:13:27.860 --> 01:13:34.860
If there's any thought that if I don't do this, I won't be taken care of.

01:13:34.860 --> 01:13:40.860
Those are the things that worm itself in and they are absolutely worldly, non-godly thoughts.

01:13:40.860 --> 01:13:48.860
It comes from this place of absolute fear that once I turn 65, I shall abandon thee.

01:13:48.860 --> 01:13:53.860
And it begins to worm itself in and you're scared.

01:13:53.860 --> 01:13:59.860
So is it prudent? Yes, but the prudence has to be absolutely fear-free.

01:13:59.860 --> 01:14:14.860
And that is where perhaps our struggle is.

01:14:14.860 --> 01:14:17.860
Yeah.

01:14:17.860 --> 01:14:20.860
Last point.

01:14:20.860 --> 01:14:25.860
Okay, let's stop.

01:14:25.860 --> 01:14:31.860
Okay, so, oh my God, some people are watching the clock today.

01:14:31.860 --> 01:14:33.860
Okay.

01:14:33.860 --> 01:14:39.860
All right. Oh yeah, you didn't warn your daughter and grandkids that it goes long?

01:14:39.860 --> 01:14:48.860
I think most of the time was taken up by Derek Mohini, Paul, Paul especially, my God, he went on and on.

01:14:48.860 --> 01:14:52.860
Okay. Can we end on a sadder note? You're laughing too much.

01:14:52.860 --> 01:14:57.860
Let's just repent of anything that we need to repent of.

01:14:57.860 --> 01:15:09.860
Father, could you just stick your finger into one of these things that I need to repent of around this room?

01:15:09.860 --> 01:15:15.860
Repent is to say, I would like to change in this, so help me God.

01:15:15.860 --> 01:15:19.860
Can you give us, can you highlight something for me?

01:15:19.860 --> 01:15:40.860
I'm going to put down the mic, Father, we'll leave after this, but can you do it in two minutes? People are getting antsy.