So, we've been talking about unseen realm, and one of the things that happens in the
unseen and does not manifest until much later is this idea of things that we sow that reap
a harvest.
And I think there's a phrase that goes this way, that there's a forest in an acorn.
And so, I think it was Michelangelo who once said that he saw an angel in the marble and
carved until he set it free.
And so, there is this idea of you give someone a chunk of marble and you don't know what
it might turn out to be, and then he begins to carve it because he saw an angel in the
marble and he set it free.
Or you take an acorn and it looks so tiny, and yet in an acorn is a forest because an
to a tree which gives birth to many acorns and that's how forests are formed.
And so, there is this unseen realm that just gestates within us, but it starts with the
idea of a seed that we plant that at some point manifests.
And if you go to Galatians chapter 6, verse 7 and 8, God puts it this way.
He says,
If you sow to the flesh, you reap corruption, you reap ruin, you reap destruction.
If you sow to the spirit, you reap life.
And so, the Bible indicates again and again and again that there are two destinations
for seed and there are two harvests.
And so, when it says sowing to the flesh, it means if I sow into the traditions of men,
if I sow into the patterns of the world, if I sow into sin, if I sow into desire outside
of God, then it will result in decay, it will result in corruption, it will result in loss.
But then I can also sow into the traditions of men, and I sow into the patterns of the
world. But then I can also sow to the spirit, and if I sow to the spirit, as in if I sow
righteousness, if I sow principles from the word, if I sow what I hear him say, if I sow
his ways, then it results in abundant life. And what does abundant life look like? It
looks like shalom plus rest plus vision plus profit. That's what abundant life is.
What does abundant life look like? Abundant life is this mixture of shalom or wholeness
of rest where there's very little flailing of vision so that our people don't perish,
of profit or increase. It captures the essence of what God said to Adam when he said multiply,
replenish, subdue. That's what abundant life looks like.
And what we don't realize is that each of us is a carrier of seed, and you're always
sowing unknowingly or knowingly. You're always sowing. You're a carrier of seed. Every day
of your life you are sowing, either knowingly or unknowingly you are sowing, and you're
a carrier of seed. Very often the tongue is the spade, the tongue is the spade, and your
words are seed. Very often the tongue is the spade, and your words are seed. Proverbs
18-21 talks about how a man shall live by what he speaks. He either speaks death or
he speaks life, and based on how he speaks, he eats. So your tongue is your spade, and
your words are seed that you sow. Or as it says in Proverbs 23, verse 7, as a man thinks,
so is he. So in that sense your thoughts and attitudes are seed that you plant knowingly
or unknowingly. Throughout the day we are doing this knowingly or unknowingly. If we
don't put it into words, we put it into thoughts, and our thoughts then begin to shape our attitude.
I know you've all either heard this or read this, but sow a thought and you will reap
an action. Sow a thought often enough and it always reaps an action. Sow an action long
enough and it will always reap a habit. Sow a habit long enough and it will always reap
a character. Sow a character long enough and you will always reap a destiny. Eddie used
to say a man of choices is a man of destiny. As in the choices you make with the thoughts
and the actions and the habits that you cultivate is what causes you then to reap a destiny.
So I am the way I am today because of the things that I have sown. And I didn't mean
that in a positive way. I meant if there are negative ways in my life today, they are the
result of what I have sown. And there are positive things too, but when I just said
it, I meant gosh man, many of us could be so different if we had been taught how to
sow right. And the thing is guys, every seed has its body. Every seed has its own body.
1 Corinthians 15.30 it says that every seed has its own body. As in it produces different
things. I mean, now that TNT market is right under my home, I occasionally read a book
and I venture into TNT. It's a scary place. But I'm fascinated by just the apples there, man.
Like you would think that there's an apple seed and it brings apples. No, there's pink
lady, there's granny, there's red delicious, there is golden. There is even something called
envy. And those are really good and the most expensive. If that had dropped on Isaac Newton's
head, we wouldn't have had the law of gravity because it would have killed him. Because
it's that big and super expensive. But if an apple can produce six different varieties
and then there's the most expensive one, the iPhone, but that's a whole different story.
It is a little funny. You could have at least grinned. Okay, it was corny. Okay, moving on.
So I planned that so elaborately for the last 20 minutes and got nothing for it. Okay,
moving on. So every seed has a body produces something. And therefore, guys, here's the
thing. Every time you saw a thought, every time you saw words, every time you saw an
attitude that comes from God, it will produce an amazing bountiful harvest. By the same
token, every time you saw something to the flesh, as in the traditions of men, sin,
pleasing the desires of the body that are outside of God, all human philosophies and so
on, every time you saw it, you will reap ruin, corruption, loss. And the Bible puts
it simply this way, do not be deceived. God is not mocked. It then goes to say that
breakthrough or break ins, break ins are not the same thing. They are not the same thing.
It then goes to say that breakthrough or break ins break ins as in when Satan breaks in or
breakthroughs as in when you break out into the things of God breakthroughs and break ins happen
through what you saw through the seed that you saw, you can either saw into problems or you can
saw yourself out of problems. I would go so far as to say this in a way that sounds ungodly. Some of
the situations that I am in, I can get out of without even praying by sowing the right seed.
Meaning it's okay if you prayed for it, but some of it you can get out of even without praying
because you're inserting a principle of God that can get you out. By the same token, I can also get
into situations without the devil's help. You know one of the things God desired, can we remove
him from the overhead? There's only so much of chat I can handle. Thanks Ryan. Oh he's back.
Thanks. I've got to spend three days with him starting tomorrow. Guys, I'm going to
go ahead and say a few words about the things that I've been doing. I've been doing
I've been doing things for God. Oh he's back. Thanks. I've got to spend three days with him starting tomorrow.
Guys, yeah I can handle that. Guys, God had this idea of divine self governance
and what he means by divine self governance and that's what he really desired for Israel.
He said, hey can you self govern yourself? I'll give you a set of principles.
You don't need a king or a president or a prime minister.
Can you self-govern yourself based on the set of principles
that I derive from my nature that you can participate in?
That was his intent, self-governance.
Subin would be such a happy dad if his son Daniel
could learn at an early age how to self-govern himself
in the ways of God and in the ways of his parents
without the need for a stick or a reward
because that is the way one was supposed to live.
That is why God put his spirit within us.
He says it in Ezekiel and he says it again
in the New Testament where he says,
I replace the heart of stone with the heart of flesh
so that you may know my laws.
No one will have to teach them to you.
They'll be written on your heart and mind.
And so one of the ways we can enter into this whole idea
of divine self-governance is by determining
what do I sow so that I get a godly harvest in my life?
And the great thing about a godly harvest
is every time you have a godly harvest,
others benefit from it.
And then the flip side is every time you have
an ungodly harvest, people are affected.
When you have a godly harvest, people benefit.
When you have an ungodly harvest, people are affected.
None of the things that I do in my life
that are ungodly will not translate into this church.
Everything that I do that is ungodly will affect the church.
And you would think, well, then you're of the past
so naturally, no, what about Achan?
Achan at I, Israel lost the battle because of Achan.
This whole thing called the family
is not some utopian idea in the head of God.
This was in his mind,
we are actually limbs connected together.
He really thinks you're a part of my life
and I'm a part of your life
and we are a part of Christ's life
and Christ is a part of God's life.
He thinks like this.
Any questions before we go on?
So many things in life you can weed out or garden
in your life by following these simple principles.
You can either weed it out or garden
so that your landscape looks so different.
We'll talk about that now.
Any questions?
I hope this church won't be a place
this church won't be a bunch of Christians
who are on either extreme
because churches usually post themselves on two extremes
where it's super legalistic
and by legalistic, I mean, what did I do wrong?
Or the other end, which is super chief grace,
which is, how can I,
this wrong doesn't matter.
These are the two extremes that churches find themselves in.
Either what did I do wrong?
What's God gonna do?
What opening have I given the devil?
How is it gonna end now?
So that's one extreme.
The other extreme is wrong is nothing
because the grace of God covers everything.
Both are extreme.
I pray that we land somewhere in the middle
where we understand that what you sow, you reap.
And we also understand that grace is poured out on me
when I have done wrong, that it's not one or the other.
It's both operating together.
Both have to be held in tension.
They are not contradictory.
That I do sow what I reap, but thank God I don't reap
all that I sow because of the grace of God
that just comes in sometimes like a whirlwind
and just sweeps the seeds away
or comes in like amazing rain and produces a crop
that I haven't worked hard enough to harvest.
That is the idea of grace.
Either it removes that which is harmful
or adds that which I have not earned.
But any of these extremes will paralyze us.
One of the things I like doing is whenever things go wrong
in my life, before I pray, I'd like to find out
if there's anything that I can sow
that will either correct it or anything I can weed out
so that it doesn't become a tear
that will be indistinguishable from the wheat.
So it's good to ask these questions early
before you even pray.
And then you can pray and ask God to help you.
But it's a great method.
We do it in every other area of life,
but for too long the church has told us
that God is so gracious we don't need to do this.
Or the church has told us God's gonna punish you
because you did this.
It's one or the other.
Ministries are based on these.
You either have a ministry that says
if you don't get rid of these roots, you're finished.
Or you have ministries that say,
oh, don't worry about it, grace covers everything.
It's neither, it's both.
One of the things I love about the New Testament
is when it says God does not reckon sins against us.
Every time I go to him, a pastor may reckon your sin
as you come up for prayer saying,
I know what she has done, da da da da da.
God doesn't reckon your sins first.
He sees you with grace and then he deals with your sin.
He doesn't see your sin first
and then deal with your situation.
Very different God, eh?
Any questions before we go on?
Whenever there are situations in my life
that I think I need help with,
the first thing I check is,
is there anything I can weed out
so that the situation will not continue?
Or is there anything I can sow
so that this situation will perpetuate profitably?
And so many times things end so easily without prayer
because I find out what needs to be found out.
And the way you find it out is by asking God
or by just sometimes examining your life.
Husbands and wives do this.
We got zero problem.
Usually wives are more inscrutable than God.
And yet husbands will go through a list of things
that they think could be the reason
why their wife is upset.
And nine out of 10 times they get it right
because they fixed all the things that they went through.
And everything is okay.
Much more so with God who is absolutely readable.
He's not inscrutable.
He's not nebulous.
He doesn't speak in riddles.
Okay.
So when, I'm gonna call them carnal seeds,
as in seeds of the flesh
or seeds that bring out a harvest that is corrupt
or that will result in loss or decay.
And we all have, there's nobody here who doesn't have them.
We have them in different areas.
I have, when I was going through this,
when I was writing down this list,
I was thinking to myself, my God,
you've had all of them at some point in your life.
So all of them are present in this room
in different capacities.
The thing is to make sure that we get rid of them.
So when carnal seeds are sown,
the great thing is God mitigates,
as in he steps in and prevents it
from becoming the kind of harvest that it could become.
God mitigates, God intervenes, God weeds out,
and God smothers the harvest.
So when carnal seeds are sown,
the God of grace mitigates, intervenes,
smothers the seed,
and weeds it out before it can get deep roots
and produce toxic harvest.
So God is anyways working at it.
If we were to actually reap everything we sowed,
we'd be dead by now.
Thank God that's not the way it works,
because he's an amazing gardener
and he takes ownership of his garden,
meaning you, me.
Satan, on the other hand,
contaminates,
plants,
supplies,
seed,
through,
I'm talking about carnal seed,
through friends,
systems of the world,
through giving you your essential desires
or giving you a way to satisfy them,
through the bait of immediate gratification,
because that is something he loves providing.
If you can covet or desire something,
or lust after something,
the devil has a desire to provide you
what you want gratification in.
Or he contaminates plants and supplies carnal seed
through your past experiences,
through pain,
through fear,
where knowing that you have had a traumatic experience,
knowing that you were betrayed,
knowing that trust was broken,
knowing that you were hurt,
now he supplies you seed
that will perpetuate that carnality.
And by carnality,
you are not going to get anything
from that carnality.
And by carnality,
all I mean is that which is not of the spirit,
and that will bring more loss, more decay,
and more corruption,
and nothing that will give you life.
Satan provides that.
And he does it through friends,
it does it through the systems of the world,
does it through human philosophies,
does it through our parents,
does it through sometimes churches.
So what happens is once these seeds are planted,
they can become intertwined,
as in more than one seed intertwined and deeply rooted.
And once they are deeply rooted,
that's when they manifest.
So something like say jealousy,
let's assume I'm jealous.
And so let's assume instead of combating it
or countering it with other ways that the spirit provides,
I keep walking that path of jealousy,
it gets to a point where jealousy can combine with envy,
can combine with bitterness,
can combine with unforgiveness,
and now they are intertwined and they get deeply rooted
because I'm beginning to delve into it,
dive into it, not pull myself out of it.
And as it gets deeply rooted,
it begins to manifest,
as in you will begin to see it in my life.
The thing with seed is, like I said,
the forest is in the acorn.
It has to fall to the ground.
It takes time to develop.
And that is when you and I can call out to the father
and say, father, I'm your son, I'm your daughter.
I'm struggling with this, help me.
What do you think David would do in the Psalms?
What was one of the reasons he wrote the Psalms?
He didn't read it so that we read it in the Bible later.
He wrote it because he wanted to get it out of his system.
Oh God, look at what they have done to me.
I want them to suffer.
I want this to happen to them.
I want that to happen to them.
But oh God, you are good.
It was this lament that he would write
that would turn from lament and anger
to love and purity and worship.
So once it gets deeply rooted, it begins to manifest.
The good news is that you don't have
to let the roots develop.
The good news is you don't have to let the roots develop.
And all of us know as it begins to develop.
Like I know when I am struggling with a certain way of thinking
or I'm struggling with an issue, I know it.
And I can either try to suppress it and say,
oh Jesus, take it away.
Or I can have a conversation with God
so that he can help me weed it out.
My God, he's so good at it.
He's so good at it.
To weed it out.
I remember telling the church a story long ago
where I was really bitter about this other pastor
who I thought was getting unnecessary accolades
even though I knew his life was hollow.
I was sitting there thinking to myself,
Father, how can you do this?
You know the guy's life.
And he's sitting there being such a hypocrite
and you're doing nothing.
And I was so bitter and jealous
about what was happening with him.
And I was complaining to the Lord about it.
The next morning at about eight o'clock, God wakes me up
because that's when he wakes me up.
And he wakes me up and he says,
I've got something exciting to show you in the Bible.
And I'm thinking to myself,
some great revelation is gonna come my way.
And that this will be a profound moment in my life
that God will show me the future.
So I said, yes, Lord.
And then he gives me this particular chapter to go read.
And I'm thinking to myself, hallelujah.
And I go read it.
And it's this passage where it says,
and the women came out and sang,
Saul has killed thousands, David has killed 10,000,
and Saul felt jealous.
And I'm thinking to myself, this is what you woke me up for?
You woke me up because you wanted to correct me.
And yet that is the kind of father we have
who is willing to wake you up excitedly
because he wants to remove weeds from your life
so that you can be the garden he wants you to be.
I was deeply thankful, little disappointed,
but deeply thankful for his willingness to do that with me.
So the good news is he can weed it out.
The bad news is that strongholds, once they develop,
once things get intertwined and deeply rooted,
they become strongholds.
And once strongholds develop,
they become the hideout of the demonic.
Demons hide in strongholds.
Let me give you an example.
Let's assume you have a room in a house
and in that room there's nothing.
And then you begin to stack these wooden crates,
one after the other.
Every time you get a crate or a cardboard box,
you stack it in the room and it just begins to pile up.
And then one day you find that the snake
has been able to get into the room.
And now you can't catch the snake
because every time you go and try to get that snake,
it goes behind the cardboard boxes
or slithers under a wooden crate.
Now, if the room was empty,
it would be easy to get that snake.
But now that you have these wooden crates
and cardboard boxes that I've collected,
every time you wanna go grab that snake or kill it,
the snake disappears behind a crate
or disappears behind these cardboard boxes
that have been stacked there for now months on end.
The only way now that you can get to that snake
and kill it without being harmed
is by removing the cardboard boxes and the wooden crates.
This is what is meant when I say that,
if these seeds that we sow
are allowed to become strongholds,
then they become places that the demonic can hide.
Any questions?
Through the simple word, at the end of the day,
every stronghold is dismantled through the word
and the spirit.
Every stronghold is dismantled by the word and the spirit.
The weapons that we fight with are not carnal,
but are spiritual for the pulling down of strongholds.
And what are strongholds?
Reasonings, thoughts, arguments, imaginations,
and every lofty thing that raises itself up
against the knowledge of God,
to take them captive and bring them into submission
and to be able to do that.
To take them captive
and bring them into submission to the Lord.
How do you do it?
Only with the word.
And the spirit of God begins to work with the word.
As in when I read that passage,
it was not that I didn't know the passage,
but in that passage,
what happens immediately after Saul becomes jealous,
is that the distressing spirit that had already left
because David had played the harp,
returns the very next day.
I'm reading that word thinking,
Father, the last thing I wanna do is waste my time
getting jealous of someone who is perhaps faithful to you.
And the last thing I wanna do is get jealous
and have distressing spirits come into my life.
No, thank you.
It's not worth it.
And this is a person I don't even know well.
The amount of time we waste on people we don't know.
That didn't come out right, but you know what I mean.
So guys, learn the mechanics of how to go about this.
This list is by no means conclusive.
You can keep adding to this list.
If you read the book of Proverbs,
you'll find hundreds of cause and effect equations
where, so this, read this, so this, read this.
Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Isaiah,
they have so many different equations like this.
Life can become just principle-based
and you can use faith for other things.
Learn it, because once you do,
God gives you the keys for weeding your life
and watering it, both your physical life
and your spiritual life.
Any questions?
Because I wanna go into the seed itself.
Today, we'll only be able to do the carnal seeds
and then next Sunday we'll do the life seeds.
Any questions?
Okay.
So, first one is doing nothing.
Doing nothing.
Doing nothing is a seed.
Doing nothing is the seed for decay or deterioration.
Doing nothing is the seed for decay
or things deteriorating.
Doing nothing.
Doing nothing unless commanded.
The only time you do nothing
is God tells you to do nothing,
as when he told Joshua, I don't want you to do anything,
I just want you to walk around the city once
and then go do whatever soldiers do after they walk.
And doing nothing unless commanded
is the seed for decay and deterioration.
Go to Ecclesiastes 10, 18.
Sometimes what I read might depend on the version,
so I'll try to give you the version.
Ecclesiastes 10, 18.
If a man is lazy, the rafters sag.
If his hands are idle, the house leaks.
If a man is lazy, the rafters sag.
If his hands are idle, the house leaks.
Sometimes we do nothing just based on the simple thing
that God will take care of it.
Unless God has told me to do nothing,
I must do what I have been initially told to
and continue with it.
Otherwise it ends up with the rafters sagging
and things decaying or deteriorating.
Doesn't matter whether it's with regard to a job
or whether it's regard to marriage
or whether it's regard to something spiritual.
I must do what I was last told to do
and continue doing it till God gives me something new.
Just this morning I was going over
what God has asked me to do at the beginning of the year.
Just wanted to go over it
because I haven't received any new directions,
so I just have to keep doing what I was told
at the beginning of the year.
Next one.
After three, I'll go over three and then I'll stop
and you can ask questions.
Next one, gossip.
Gossip is a seed for strife.
What does gossip look like?
Gossip looks like defaming someone, spreading rumors,
being someone who mocked someone behind their back,
speaking ill of someone.
It's not a woman thing, it's a man thing too.
I used to think only women do that,
but it's so not true.
Gossip is a seed for strife.
One of the ways you can dismiss strife from a place
is by casting out the scoffer.
The Bible says in Proverbs 21, verse nine,
that throw out the scoffer, or verse 10,
throw out the scoffer and strife will end.
Sometimes the easiest way to cause strife
in any situation to end
is to dismiss the scoffer or the mocker.
One is scoffs.
And who is one who scoffs?
In Proverbs 22, it says a scoffer
is a proud and arrogant man.
And so once you dismiss the scoffer, strife ends.
But gossip is the seed for strife.
So one of the ways you can end strife in your life
is by ending gossip.
Proverbs 18, verse eight.
The words of a gossip are like choice morsels.
They go down to a man's inmost being.
And there's another proverb which talks about
dismissing the gossip or the scoffer and the strife will end.
One of the things I've noticed about Chad
is he is a guy who knows a whole lot of pastors.
He knows their inside and their outside.
He knows what they actually do in their churches
and what he doesn't.
But you'll never hear him either encouraging gossip
or encouraging them to do something
or you'll never hear him either encouraging gossip
about somebody else or talking about them
even though he knows exactly what's happening.
I found that quite fascinating
because when I find out a little about someone,
I have to go tell someone, do you know what happened?
But he has this ability to know a whole lot of information
and not talk about it.
Create strife, eh?
Strife and discord.
Third one, fear is the seed for insecurity
and double-mindedness.
Fear is the seed for insecurity
and double-mindedness.
It's in James chapter one, verses four to six.
Insecurity and double-mindedness.
And double-mindedness invariably leads to unbelief.
So fear is where it starts but then it keeps escalating.
And so whatever area I have fear in
will be an area that I feel insecure in.
And if I don't fix it with the word
and by running into the arms of God
and finding help there, then fear will lead to insecurity.
Insecurity will lead to double-mindedness.
Double-mindedness makes it difficult for me
to believe God in that area.
These are things we must nip in the bud.
The whole idea of not letting a seed grow
is to quickly recognize what is happening
and then run for help.
Run for help to either God,
run for help to someone who is godly,
run for help to the word.
At the end of the day, God uses others,
God uses his spirit and God uses his word.
Any questions on these three before we go on?
These are unseen things, guys.
We only see them once they manifest.
Okay, next one.
Slander-laced,
slander-laced accusation.
As an accusation that has slander in it.
Slander-laced accusation.
Slander-laced accusation is the seed for affliction.
Is the seed for affliction.
I have personally experienced this.
Is the seed for affliction.
Because it couples you with the accuser.
He's known as, Satan is sometimes known
as the accuser of the brethren.
When Jacob actively begins to slander or accuse
someone else, particularly believers,
then he is now running a two-legged race
with the accuser of the brethren.
Once Jacob slanders or accuses someone
without any valid reason,
you then begin to suffer this thing called affliction
because you are way too close
to the accuser of the brethren.
One of the stories in the Old Testament
that highlights this is Numbers chapter 12,
where Miriam and her brother begin to,
not Miriam and Aaron, begin to slanderously accuse Moses
of being married to Zipporah
and saying that he isn't the right guy
and why should God only speak to him?
That's in verse one.
In verse 12, she's suddenly afflicted with leprosy.
Her skin turns white.
I've done this to people that have suffered immensely
and it did not stop till I went and told them
that I had slandered them and accused them.
But thank God I knew the key.
I prayed throughout the night praying
that this affliction would go away and it did not.
I repented of it.
It did not.
Finally, I had to go to the person
and say to the person, I have slandered you.
Will you forgive me?
Or will you pray for me?
And the person forgave me and prayed for me
and the affliction immediately lifted.
The affliction lifted within 20 or 25 seconds.
This is what I mean by knowing these seed and keys
so that many things in your life ends
without even having to do any praying.
My experience shouldn't be the criteria
that we base this on, but I'm just giving you
an anecdote to explain that these things are real.
Yep.
There isn't much difference except that
when I say slander-laced accusation,
I mean, you're now publicly accusing someone.
You are going around saying something
about somebody publicly, at least gossip.
It's between you and me.
But now I'm going, telling people, hey, did you hear about,
it's very similar, but there is something
that Satan does where he picks on things
that are in your life.
Some of it may be true, but he starts accusing you.
Zechariah three is a classic example.
But there's Joshua the High Priest standing on one side,
the angel of God on one side, Satan on one side,
and Satan is accusing him.
He's called the accuser of the brethren.
He still tries to accuse us,
but every time he tries to accuse us before God,
he suddenly has to confront the blood of Christ
and it's freshly slain blood.
So I'm not saying that accusations have to be valid
before you use them.
Sometimes accusations are valid,
but there must be great shown,
because accusations are accusations
where the intent is, can I bring this person down?
That's the point of accusation, right?
Can I bring this person down?
So it's very similar to gossip.
I was thinking I should remove gossip,
but I thought I'd leave that in,
because it's such a familiar word to us.
Jealousy is the seed for demonic oppression.
This is far more nasty than we give it credit for.
It's an ancient spirit.
Jealousy is seed for demonic oppression.
It's an ancient spirit.
In 1 Samuel 18, verse eight to 10,
you'll read the story that I mentioned just now
about Saul.
What drove Satan to rebel?
What drove Satan to rebellion was also jealousy.
Here is the most high God who's receiving all worship.
Why should he receive all worship?
I will sit on Mount Zion.
The king has been installed on Zion,
and yet Satan says, I will sit on Mount Zion.
Jealousy is the seed for demonic oppression.
Whenever you're jealous, get rid of it quickly, eh?
Because this is so common.
Some of the things with these,
some of the problems with these simple things
is that they have become so common to human experience
that we think it is okay.
1 Samuel 18, eight to 10.
Next one.
Stinginess is the seed for spiritual disorientation
and darkness.
Stranger.
Stinginess, as in being miserly,
as in not being generous,
is the seed for spiritual disorientation and darkness.
Jesus put it this way in Matthew 6, 23.
If your eye is evil, how great is the darkness within you?
He was talking about money.
He was talking about treasure.
He was talking about where your heart is.
He was talking about generosity.
In Proverbs 21, verse nine,
you see in the New King James Version
and the King James Version, the opposite,
that if a man has a bountiful eye,
how blessed is he?
By the same token, if a man has an evil eye,
and by evil eye, it didn't mean an eye
that looks at you evilly.
Because Jesus uses the same phrase in Matthew 20,
where he's distributing Dinahri to his laborers,
and he says to one laborer,
why do you have an evil eye
with regard to how much I give this guy?
Can't I be generous the way I want to be?
An evil eye is an eye that is stingy or miserly.
And it is surprising how stinginess
brings in spiritual disorientation and darkness.
What is the measure of stinginess?
It changes from person to person, right?
If I think that being generous
is moving from 10% to 11%,
I would suggest to you that I'm still stingy.
It's not percentage.
Generosity is the heart of God.
Begin to increase in it.
Stinginess brings in spiritual disorientation and darkness.
An evil eye brings such darkness into a person's life,
just as a bountiful eye, as it says in Proverbs 21, nine,
brings such blessedness.
And I'm not talking about offerings, guys.
I'm talking about being generous.
Any questions before we move on?
Okay, next one, unforgiveness.
I know you know enough about this one.
Unforgiveness is the seed
for spiritual quarantine and toxicity.
Spiritual quarantine and toxicity.
As in, once you don't forgive,
once I don't forgive you for what you may have done to me,
if you don't forgive me for what I've done to you,
then till you do, you are not usable.
You are quarantined.
Because there is nothing that I have in common with Jesus
when I refuse to forgive you.
There is nothing that I have in common with Jesus
when I refuse to forgive you.
That's one side of it.
So I'm quarantined saying,
hey, Jacob, if you forgive, it's not that,
I mean, there is a scripture which says,
forgive us our sins as we forgive those that sin against us.
I mean, if you were to flip it around,
do not forgive me my sins
if I do not forgive those that have sinned against me.
That's not what it says.
But the point is, unforgiveness causes me
to be spiritually quarantined.
And then leave that alone,
it begins to develop toxicity inside me,
which I know you've heard enough about,
so I won't go there.
Should I forgive if someone hasn't asked for forgiveness?
Absolutely.
Why?
Because God does that.
When does a person experience forgiveness?
When he asks for it.
When do you give it?
As soon as you can.
Here's a subtle one.
Control is the seed for self-reliance.
It's very subtle.
You know, if you went into the Bible
and Googled or searched for the word control,
you'll only find words that have to do with self-control
or someone controlling something in a good way.
Control is a word that we have developed recently.
I don't know what the right word is,
I don't know what the right word is in the Bible.
But you'll find stories where people,
like for instance in Luke 12,
where the man decided,
hmm, now that I've done well, let me see what I can do.
I can build some barns and then I can build bigger barns
and then I can do this and then if I do this,
then my life is secure.
That is the whole idea of control.
Can I secure my life by taking care of this, this, this
and that so that in the eventuality that that happens,
I can do this and this and it'll all be secure?
Control is the seed for self-reliance.
Control is the seed for us self-reliance.
And it leads to delusion and the neglect of faith.
It leads to delusion and the neglect of faith.
As in one thinks one has everything under control and it's an absolute illusion
because you have nothing under control and it leads to a neglect of faith
because the opposite of faith is not fear the opposite of faith is self-reliance.
What did God challenge people on always in the Old Testament? He did not say you
He said you did not rely on me. Self-reliance is the opposite of faith.
It's not fear that is the opposite of faith. Fear hollows faith but
self-reliance is the contradiction to faith.
It's what we teach our children be self-reliant and then we also expect
them to show faith.
This is going completely on a detour but one of the things that any martial art
does to your child is it teaches your child how to be tremendously self-reliant
for his or her own security and protection and there is a good side to
it and there is a really detrimental side to it.
But that's a topic for another day.
That was supposed to be martial arts.
Deception is the seed for concealment. For concealment. Concealment as a
when I begin to live a life that is steeped in deception, either the world
or sometimes God or the enemy, I don't know who, throws a blanket over me where
I will stay concealed and will never see the light of day or light of
breakthrough or light of emergence or light of God. This is what happened to
Jacob. Jacob was highly deceptive and so every day he would be in a state of
every time he would deceive and he would try to control his circumstances
by thinking if I do this and do this then Esau may react this way. He would
plan things so far ahead. He was a control freak and he was deceptive and
his deception ended concealing him in Laban's land for 20 years.
20 wasted years. That marriage should have taken 20 days, man. It took him 20
years. Deception conceals you. Deception is the seed for concealment. Jacob
deceived and stayed concealed in Laban's house. Any questions before we go on?
Deception is using lies to on one hand pave the way for you and on the other
hand deprive someone of a benefit. It's both. Lies would sometimes be just to
get out of something. Here there's a double whammy. It is pave a creative
path to a better life. It's a path to a better life. It's a path to a better
life. Here there's a double whammy. It is pave a creative path for you and deprive
someone of something in the process and Jacob did that many many times.
Next one. Complaint. Complaint. Complaint or discontentment, which is often where
the complaint comes from, is the seed for coveting or craving. When I complain,
when I'm discontent, it's only a matter of time where I start craving or
coveting. And when I don't get what I crave or covet, now I begin to step into
envy and bitterness. James chapter four, verse one talks about this where it
says, why do you fight? Why do you quarrel? It is because you desire things
and when you don't get them, you don't like it. You ask a miss. You get bitter.
You start fighting. So complaint and discontentment. It is not that you don't
take your complaint to God. Take your complaint to God. David did this often.
Write your own psalm. It's really helpful. Both Val and Jane will endorse your
complaint. But at the end of the day, after you write your psalms and get done
with your complaining, don't go into discontentment because discontentment
will eventually lead to coveting. Coveting is wanting something right now
and wanting it at whatever cost. Craving then leads to bitterness and envy when it
is not met. And unfortunately because we don't have the power to turn stones into
bread, you can crave for something and not get it. And it just leads to envy and
bitterness. And that then brings in its own bitter pill because bitter envy, this
is a nasty one again. Bitter envy is the seed for confusion and the demonic.
Where do we see it? We see it in James chapter 3 verse 16. Complaint is the seed
for discontentment. You'll see that in Exodus 16.3 and many times in Israel's
life where Israel would begin to complain. The complaint would lead to
discontentment. The discontentment would lead to bitterness. Bitterness against
God, bitterness against Moses, bitterness against Joshua. And bitterness and envy
would bring in all kinds of confusion and would bring in serpents. James 3 verse 16
very clearly says, where there is bitter envy, there is always confusion, things
which are sensual and that which is demonic. Guys, remember this. Just to put a
small mark on it. Sexual discontentment also goes this route of coveting and
craving. Next one, pride. Pride is the seed for divine resistance. This is one of
the few things that God resists. Like when you read the word resist, it's a
sense of a soldier taking a stand against the enemy. So every time I walk in pride,
there is divine resistance to my progress. There's divine resistance to my progress.
It's in James chapter 4 verse 6. I was reading something by C.S. Lewis on pride
and he says pride is always competitive. It is always competitive. It will always
compete. It will always compete. If a guy drives a little faster than you, you've got
to show that next turn you'll drive a little faster. Doesn't matter what happens, it
competes. Pride competes. After reading that article by C.S. Lewis yesterday, I was
saying to him, as a father, I'd like to lose this desire to compete. Because
competition, when you lose or win, you get critical. I want to lose the ability to
compete. I don't want to compete. Except with Toronto. But otherwise, don't want to
compete. Except against the Maple Leafs. Everything else is forgiven. So pride is
the seed for divine resistance. It has the tendency to compete by nature and I must
lose it. Next one is anger. Anger is the seed for stupidity. Yeah. Anger really
makes you stupid. Stupidity, contention and plunder. A man who does not have
control of his temper is like a city without walls. Can easily be entered into,
can easily be plundered. A man who is angry is a man who is stupid, literally
some versions say stupid because everything that he builds he destroys in a day.
A man who is angry should be cast out because he will bring contention and discord.
The thing is, we Christians are brilliant at disguising anger. Only our mothers, our
fathers, our sisters, brothers and our spouses and occasionally our kids are ever
exposed to our anger. And it comes out in these nasty flares that just shoot out
and can be withdrawn. I want that gone from my life so that nobody near me gets
singed. It won't be you. Because I'm supposed to take care of you. I'm a pastor.
I'm supposed to be nice to you. It won't be people that I know. It will always be
people that I know I cannot lose that will suffer.
Destroy it out of your life because it brings stupidity, it brings contention and
it plunders you. A man who does not have control over his temper is like a city
that has walls. Anybody can enter anytime, take anything, put anything in.
Oh, I'm glad my mum didn't turn up today. She would have looked at me like,
really, you're talking about this? She was supposed to be here today. She's postponed
her visit by a month. I'll preach some other sermon that day.
So...
Yeah, guys, remove this from your life because it's always the ones closest to us
that bear it. It's never the ones that you are in charge over. It's always the ones
that, you know, won't disappear if you get angry or won't leave the church or won't
leave the company or won't sue you or won't take you to small courts. Those are
the ones who bear it.
Complacency. Complacency is the seed for loss and the sabotage of your destiny.
There's this horrible verse in Zephaniah 1, verse 12 and 13, and God is saying this.
God is saying that, I've heard what you're saying. You're saying that I won't do good,
I won't do evil, that I'm neutral. Well, I want you to know that because of your
complacent attitude, everything you have, you're going to lose. Your homes, your
vineyards, your wells, everything you've planted will go away because of your
complacency because you've decided that you will live your lives neutral, so much
so that you're even saying that, I, God, am neutral. I won't do you any harm. I
won't do you any good. Zephaniah 1, verse 12. What a powerful verse. I read that and
thought to myself, nuts. Another word for complacency is mediocrity. One of the
easiest ways to avoid being spotted for complacency is to make sure that you
never hang out with passionate people because passion will always expose mediocrity.
The easiest way to avoid being labeled or being exposed for mediocrity is if I can
hang out with people just like me because passion will expose complacency and
mediocrity. It's only when you stand next to something bright that you realize that
you're wearing blue and black. Proverbs 1, 32 says your mediocrity will kill you.
I taught something ages ago called taberah. If you ever get a chance, go listen to
it on the website, taberah. Taberah is when the fire of God fell and it fell along
the outskirts of the camp. And you realize that the ones around the outskirts of
Israel's camp were the riffraff, as some versions say, that were complacent, that
were dabbling in this and that, that were a mixed crowd. And that is where the fire
fell. And God will not, after the passion of the cross, will not allow his children
to continue in complacency or in mediocrity. One of two things will happen.
One of two things will happen. Either he will say, I've got to ignite you because
I cannot withstand lukewarmness. Or he will say, there will be loss and a sabotage of
your destiny is one or the other because he hates this. He will do something to ignite
you because lukewarmness and him don't get along well together.
Three or four more and we're done. Legalism. Legalism. As in when I exalt or when I value
the traditions of men, when I value my own culture, when I value my experience, when
I value my thinking about the word, that's legalism. It's Christ plus something. Legalism
is the seed for dullness. Legalism is the seed for dullness. Galatians 3.3, Paul says,
Hey guys, what happened to you? Who bewitched you? Don't you know that everything you've
gotten came by the Spirit and by hearing of faith? Why is it that you've walked into
legalism now? How is it that you've become dull? Galatians 3.3. Legalism brings dullness
and that dullness leads to greater stubbornness. Legalism is not some religious ritual.
Legalism can happen to the best of us. It's stiff-neckedness and the stiff-neckedness
comes because Jacob thinks that his experience, his thoughts, his present understanding or
his culture is now exalted above the word, that this is higher than the word. It doesn't
matter what you tell me. This is what I believe because this is what my experience has taught
me. How do you battle legalism? You battle legalism by always being open to the fact
that what you know today may be incomplete and that tomorrow someone may introduce something
else that is better, that is wiser, that is more accurate. And if I don't live like that,
and especially as we get older, if we don't live like that, this awaits us.
What an encouraging message. Some Sundays we'll have to go through this, guys. Rebellion.
Rebellion is the seed for dislocation. Rebellion is the seed for dislocation. Rebellion is
the seed for dislocation. Genesis chapter 3, verse 24. Once they rebelled, they had to
be put outside of the location that was planned for them before the foundation of time. They
had to be put outside and an angel had to be put at the gate so that they could not
enter back into Eden. Rebellion or the breaking of order is seed for dislocation. Genesis
3, verse 24. Dislocates you. That's why keeping order is so brilliant. It locates you where
you were supposed to be even before the foundations of the earth. Rebellion dislocates you. Once
you're dislocated, then the serpent has rights because it says in Ecclesiastes 10, 8, break
the head and the serpent will bite. Compromise is the seed for blindness and disgrace. Compromise
is the seed for blindness and disgrace. Bible says when a man takes a bribe, when a man
perverts justice, when a man compromises, what happens is that he now deliberately chooses
blindness. He blinds himself to what is true. Eutronomy 16, I think verse 19 or 19, verse
16 talks about it. Compromise is the seed for blindness. Eutronomy 16, 19. There was
this king called Nehash in Judges chapter 11. Nehash, you know what he would do? He
would go and he would blind people who would gouge out their right eye. Israel gathers
7,000 Israelites gathered at Jabesh Gilead and they say, we'll come out to you. You can
take whatever you want. And he says, okay, you come out to me. Here's a treaty I'll make
with you. You come out to me and I'll take out your right eye. Every man, woman and child,
I'll take out your right eye because I want to bring this grace on you. And they say,
give us seven days and we'll let you know. And if nothing works, we'll come out. And
then they send word to Saul. Saul has the spirit of God come down upon him. And he says,
he cuts up an oxen and he sends the oxen to every tribe and he says, if you guys don't
turn up here and fight with me, this will be the condition that all of you will have
to bear as this oxen go. They all come, he goes, fights them, defeats Nehash. It's such
a remote story that most of us don't remember, which is why I said it. But compromise causes
blindness. And stand against this, see? It blinds you. Stand against it because once
the blindness comes, this grace will follow but stand against it. Do not compromise. Do
not compromise with your taxes. Do not compromise with the truth. Do not compromise with little
things that have to do with the law and big things of the law. Do not compromise. Do not
compromise. Daniel is brilliant at this. Keith Green brought out an album long ago called
No Compromise. You should listen to the songs on that Keith Green album. Every one of them
was about not changing or perverting or distorting that which is God. And I think that's why
I said it. A culture that tolerates will also begin to be tolerating of God. We live in
a culture that is very tolerant. Every time a culture becomes this tolerant, people in
that culture become tolerant of God. Not obedient to God, tolerant of God. As in okay, we will
humor you also. But don't get too God-ish on us now. Last two. Scorn. Scorn is a very
important word. Scorn is the seed for barrenness. Scorn is the seed for barrenness. Scorn is
the seed for barrenness. What you scorn or what you despise, you will not birth. Michael
or Mikael, David's wife scorned him, was barren. Esau scorned his birthright, who was barren
for the rest of his life even though he's sotted with tears. Scorn is the seed for barrenness.
I'm talking about barrenness in terms of not being able to produce things in your life
in the area that you despise something in. There are many things I despised with regard
to church. And Acts 29 has suffered because of that. Because I as the pastor despise certain
things about big churches or the way prophecy is being told. And I despise the fact that
churches or the way prophecy is done or things like that. Because of that, this church has
suffered because whatever you despise, you will not birth. Sorry? Whatever, because I
have despised things, I have prevented them from happening at Acts 29. If I have despised
big churches, Acts 29 has struggled to grow. If I have despised a certain way of doing
things that I despise just because I didn't like the person who was doing it, then whatever
I run begins to get affected. Because whatever you scorn, you will not possess. In that area,
you will not be fruitful. If it is a church, you will not be fruitful. If it is a church,
it doesn't matter how I mutilate it, you must believe it. God will judge me for mutilating
it, but you must believe it so that it can be yours. If you despise prosperity because
creatures teach prosperity in distorted, perverse ways, then you will not be able to enjoy what
prosperity may look like here on earth. If you despise prophecy because there have been
prophets that have abused and made money out of it and peddled their gifts, then you will
not benefit. These are things that are already God provided. It is sad that the ones using
that have given it such a bad rap, but we must now be wiser and look beyond them.
Last one. Isolation, isolation, isolation is the seed, isolation is the seed for the
cutting off of wisdom. Isolation is the seed for the cutting off, as in you cut yourself
off from wisdom when you try to, when you choose to live. When you choose to live, you
will not be able to live. You will not be able to live. You will not be able to live
when you try to, when you choose to live an isolated life. You cut yourself off from
wisdom. Proverbs 18.1, depending on the version you read, it says, a man who isolates himself
is a man who strives against wisdom. He does not want to connect with wisdom. Proverbs
18.1. Isolation is like damming a stream so that the water doesn't get through you. It
just cuts you off from wisdom. Now it makes sense why it says in Proverbs that in a multitude
of counselors there is wisdom. Any questions guys?
This seems, 19 of these things seems like a lot and trust me, there's at least 200 and
so we haven't done 10%. So we leave it at this just to give you an idea of how this
works and now it becomes easy for me to stop plunder, to get the Spirit of God flowing over
me and helping me because immediately after the verse which says God resists the proud,
it says he gives grace to the humble and the Spirit of God is my helper. It prevents me
from breaking order because I know that when I break, I dislocate myself. It prevents me
from nursing bitter envy because I know that it is only a matter of time where confusion
and the demonic comes. I'm not even going into things like sexual immorality or adultery
because that's a dirt thing. I mean to go into sexual immorality and adultery and to
think that you can come out of it without being stained is foolish. The Bible speaks
about it at least 40 times out of which 20 are in the Proverbs itself. So I'm not even
going into those obvious sins. I'm talking about these little seeds that we sow without
thinking on a regular basis. Any questions before I conclude? My conclusion is so how
do we deal with this? Very easy, really very easy. The great thing about Jesus and what's
his name was right when he called his book bondage breaker. What was the guy's name?
Anderson. Jesus is a marvelous bondage breaker. He breaks things very very easily. So once
you know which area, let's say it's anger that I am dealing with, then first I go to
Romans 2, 4 and in Romans 2, 4 it says it's the kindness of God that brings someone to
repentance. Start there guys. Remember you're not dealing with a judge, you're not dealing
with a lawgiver, you're not dealing with a faceless surgeon who just wants to remove
an ulcer. You're dealing with a father and that's where it starts. And so you go to the
father and you first begin in Romans 2, 4 where it says receive his kindness because
his kindness leads to repentance. That's where you start. So how do you deal with this?
So father, I am so sorry for flaring against my mom or my sister knowing that they'll always
be around, they can't disown me, they can't disappear. I am so sorry for being angry with
them. Let's take an example because that's happened in the past in my life. I'm so sorry
but father before, I don't want to be just forgiven for this. I want it removed from
my life because this is not who you are. I want it removed from my life. That's a father
I come to you and I think of the millions of times you could have been at least a little
angry with me yet every time you could have, what did you meet me with? With tremendous
kindness like the prodigal father who's running down the lane because he can see his son at
a distance. Kindness is where it starts. And then once I go to Romans 2, 4, I go to 2 Corinthians
7, 10 where it says real repentance has remorse in it, has sorrow in it. Real repentance has
sorrow in it. But that sorrow comes only after I see the kindness of God. And now I
begin to sorrow that I have treated someone made in the image of God in a way that diminished
them, that dissed them, that brought disdain on them. Doesn't matter whether it's your
mother, father, friend, stranger, the guy who did not give you good service for the money
you paid, how can I tear down someone made in the image of God? Father, I am so sorry
because this is remorse that is genuine because repentance carries in it godly sorrow. 2 Corinthians
7, 10. That's the second part. If those two parts are met, then it becomes super easy
because now you're like really skiing down this amazing slope which I've never done in
my life and don't intend to but I watch it and I think, man, this must be fun with the
wind blowing through your locks of your hair which also I don't have but I imagine. And
so now it is you've done those two things. The third thing is now in submission, resist
the devil. In submission. Now that you have submitted to God, resist the devil. Resist
the devil. Resist the devil. Because God has the ability to catch that snake hidden behind
throw it out even before you get rid of the crates. Resist the devil and he will flee from
you because you've just sprayed this amazing thing called snake spray and it makes snakes
slither away like bear spray. And so now in submission to God, resist the devil. Father,
I am done with this anger thing. I remember telling my sister some years ago, I told her,
Reba, I will, I give you my word, I will never be angry with you again. I will never raise
my voice against you because she was so hurt that time that I did it. She didn't say anything
because I was in Bristol. She didn't know what to say but I could see the hurt on her
face. She just walked away. That made me feel worse because at least when you're angry and
someone's angry back, you feel that it cancels each other out. When the person is still nice
to you, now it was like keeping coals on my head. I remember going and sitting her down and saying,
I am so sorry I've done this to you before and it ain't gonna happen again. And surprisingly by the
grace of God, I've kept my word man. And it's only the grace of God. I kept my word. Trust the Holy
Spirit man. Trust the Holy Spirit. One of the things I've learned is when I am not able to do it,
there is someone called the Holy Spirit and he is God and he lives in me. I must trust that he can
change me. I must trust that he can change me. Why is it that he can only change a smoker who has a
20-year addiction? Why can't he change you? He can change us. It's amazing how we trust God to
change other people but we don't trust the Holy Spirit enough to change a habit in you. Trust the
Holy Spirit. He is God. He can change you. He can change you. So now that we resist the devil,
the snakes leaves before the crates are taken down. Trust the Holy Spirit for this. There is nobody
interested, nobody interested in making you like Jesus as much as the Spirit of God. This is his
life work. Can I bring out of you a blemishless bride for the bridegroom? If necessary, confess
your sins to one another. As in go talk to somebody. Tell them, hey I had this problem. Hey guys,
I'm telling you something. There's never been a sin in my life that I haven't gone and confessed
to somebody else. It's been what certifies my victory because it is biblical. There has never
been a sin in my life that I have not beaten, that God did not help me with but I had to bring it out
into the light. You don't know how embarrassing it is when you're a pastor and you have to bring sins
out into the light. But find people and you will always find people who won't write a blog about
it and you can then bring it out into the open saying, here oh God and then go and say to Sheldon,
here Sheldon, this is where I've been failing. Every sin that has been beaten has always found
light in being confessed to someone else. I'm telling you the God-honest truth. God is my witness
that I'm not trying to pull a fast one on you. These are biblically certified ways of victory.
Then now that the snake has been removed from the room, rise up as many times as you need to
cultivate like an athlete, like a soldier from 2nd Timothy 2 verse 2 to 5 where it says, like an
athlete run according to the rules, like a soldier, do not get entangled in civilian affairs, like a
farmer, wait patiently again and again and again go and take down those crates, go take those cardboard
boxes out, throw them. Do they come back again? Get up again, go throw them out. Hey I've said
this before, if you had a hundred dollar note in your hand and the wind blows and it blows out of
your hand, what will you do? Go after it, pick it up. It happens again, what will you do? Go after it,
pick it up. It happens a third time, trust me you won't come to the conclusion, ah if it blew three
times it must be blowing in the wind and you start singing Bob Dylan. No, you would still go after it,
pick it up again. The point being that it doesn't matter how many times I have to clear that room
of crates, I will do it because I cannot afford, cannot afford the serpent and its brood to come
back and build its lair there and so do it again and again like an athlete, like a farmer, like a
soldier, discipline habits that dismantle old strongholds and build godly fortresses. Why? So
that the world may benefit and so that no one is harmed.