WEBVTT

NOTE
Podcast: Acts 29 Vancouver
Episode: Testing
Publishing Date: 2019-06-23T06:00:44-07:00
Podcast URL: https://acts29.ca
Episode URL: https://acts29.ca/testing/

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We continue with the unseen realm.

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This one's called testing.

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If you turn to Judges 3, Judges 3, 1 to 5.

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Judges 3, 1 to 5.

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We read this briefly last time.

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So we'll start there.

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Judges 3, 1 to 5.

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I'm gonna read verse one and verse three first.

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And so if we wanna be able to have any

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influence or caliber in the unseen realm,

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then there is a process of testing

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that we will be subjected to.

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So I wanted us to be familiar with that.

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So Judges chapter three, verse one and three.

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So here's what it says.

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Basically it says that the Lord left some nations in the land.

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He left them there in order to put the people of Israel

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to the test.

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Who did he leave?

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Verse three talks about it.

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He left the five rulers of the Philistines.

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He left the people of Canaan and the people of Sidon

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and he left the whites who were living

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in the Lebanon mountains.

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So he left quite a few people in the land,

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five kings of the Philistines and five kings of the Aegean.

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So he left the five kings of the Aegean.

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He left the five kings of the Philistines,

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the people of Canaan, the people of Sidon or Sidon

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and he left the whites who were living

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in the land of Lebanon.

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And he deliberately did this

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because he wanted to test Israel.

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The thing is it's testing that prepares you

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to compete with the horses.

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It's testing, it's testing that prepares you

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to compete with the horses or run against the horses.

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Not run with the horses, run against the horses.

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Compete with the horses.

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And if this testing doesn't happen,

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then you will tire running with men.

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And that's in Jeremiah 12.5.

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So God will, if he wants to raise up a people

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who have any influence or any caliber

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to handle the unseen realm, which is what I believe

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he wants us to begin to grow up into.

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And it's a rarity, let me tell you it's a rarity.

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We're not even calling it spiritual warfare

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because that term has been so messed up

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that anything goes.

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We're talking about having the ability to dispossess,

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to occupy, we'll talk about those things later.

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But the point is this, that for God to raise up a people

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like that who know how to fight,

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he will leave things in the land of your life

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so that you can be toughened up.

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Because running with the horses

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or competing against the horses,

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running faster than the horses is impossible

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if we are not put to the test.

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Because otherwise we will just run with men.

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And then in Judges 3, verse two, look at what it says.

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He did it for all those who hadn't lived

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through any of the wars in Canaan.

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He did it to train the descendants of Israel

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in the art of war.

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He wanted them to learn how to fight.

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I'm taking it from different versions

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and putting it together, which is why it might not read

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exactly that way in your Bible.

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Judges chapter three, verse two,

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he did it for all those who have not fought

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and those who hadn't lived

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through any of the wars in Canaan.

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He did it to train the descendants of Israel

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in the art of war.

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He wanted them to learn how to fight.

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What kind of God is this?

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He does not want people who don't know how to fight.

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And yet the church really doesn't, eh?

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May I suggest that we don't?

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Not may I suggest, let me just say it plainly, we don't.

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May I suggest sounded too polite.

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We don't.

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We don't know how to fight.

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Like I said before, if things are working well for us,

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it's because we are learning how to live righteously

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and that has its own advantage

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because righteousness delivers a nation.

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But fighting is when you deliver the unrighteous too.

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That's the beauty of it.

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Righteousness will deliver you

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but who will deliver the unrighteous?

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Unless someone fights for them.

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And so he took those that had not learned the art of war,

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which means he takes all of us.

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And unfortunately, because I'm your pastor,

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I'm saying yes, God, I'm subjecting you to it too.

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Where I'm saying, okay, oh God, train our hands for,

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battle and our fingers for, war, Psalm 144 verse one.

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Let me read Judges 3-2 again.

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He did it for all those who hadn't lived

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through any of the wars in Canaan.

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There were people before us who have paid a price,

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who have fought and there are people here

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who have learned that too.

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I'm not saying no, but I'm saying,

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I'm not saying no, but I'm saying,

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I'm not saying no, but I'm saying,

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there are people who have learned that too.

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I'm not saying no, but I'm saying as a church,

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we're still newbies at this.

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He did it to train the descendants of Israel

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in the art of war.

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He wanted them to learn how to fight.

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So training or testing, testing trains you,

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testing trains you

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to withstand

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where

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wield

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war.

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And this plays right into Ephesians 6, 10 to 12.

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Testing, and this is God kind of testing,

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it's not temptation.

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Satan tempts, God tests.

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Satan tempts, God tests.

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Satan wants you to fail.

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God is testing your caliber to prove you

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as someone who can get through to the next level.

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And so testing trains you to withstand.

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Ephesians 6 puts it this way,

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after you've done everything, stand.

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Testing trains you to withstand.

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Guys, we quit too easily.

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We quit too easily.

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In a culture that wants everything instant,

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the one person who will never be instant is God.

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Because see, the problem with the timeless being

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is time means nothing to him.

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It's a problem for us, yeah.

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It's a problem for us, yeah.

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Testing trains us to withstand,

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it trains us to wear what we need to wear.

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David knew this, he did not like what Saul gave him to wear.

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He knew how to wear a slingshot,

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how to wear a pouch with five stones in it.

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Paul knew how to wear a helmet and a shield

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and a breastplate and shoes and a belt.

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Because you can't go in a top hat

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or a tuxedo for these kinds of things.

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Which is why Hebrews 12 puts it this way,

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putting away everything that encumbers us,

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that entangles our feet.

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Or Paul says this way to Timothy,

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an athlete has to compete by the rules,

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a soldier does not get involved in civilian affairs.

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Teachers us what to wear.

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And every situation we are facing

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is not necessarily a test from God,

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some of it is straight out evil.

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But the great thing is, when you prepare this way,

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you can handle both ends of it.

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You can show God that you have the caliber

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to step into the next level,

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and you can show the enemy that because I now

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have more muscle I can handle you.

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We'll talk about that.

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Any ways you win.

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And so you learn what to wear,

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and then you learn what to wield,

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because the only weapon we have,

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and I love saying this, weaponize your words.

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Weaponize your words, draw your stones out of the book,

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use them in your slingshot, weaponize your words,

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because it's the only weapon you really have.

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And it's the only weapon the enemy will try to take away

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through sometimes cultural baggage,

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because we are quiet when we, because we are Canadians.

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Or we are way too brashful because we are Americans.

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Weaponize your words, it's the only weapon you have.

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And so you withstand, you wear, you wield.

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Why wield?

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Because the sword of the spirit must be wielded,

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and the sword of the spirit is the word of God.

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We must grow up in this regularly on a daily basis,

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learning how to wield this weapon called the word of God.

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It's the only thing, I mean, you have no idea

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how fun it was to sit before that one little place

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that literally rules Hanoi,

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and declare about 400 names of a God

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who is king over all the universe.

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And as the words were being declared,

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Jehovah, this, Jehovah, that,

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and the meaning that each of those names carried,

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and it was being spoken out.

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Every other religion seems to practice it

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with relative ease.

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Islam practices it five times a day.

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Mantras are spoken in Hinduism on a daily basis.

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I just remember getting up, I did a,

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when I was in India, I attended this thing

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called Transcendental Meditation.

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Every morning you had to wake up in the morning

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and cross your legs and hope they would uncross,

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and then begin to chant this mantra every morning.

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And it was the name of Hindu gods,

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and I, like a fool, would chant them every day.

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The point being this, that once you wield the word of God,

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that is when you learn how to war.

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When these three things come into place,

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war becomes easier, and that is basically

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what Ephesians 6, 10 to 12 talks about also.

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One more bit, and then if you have questions,

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we can go to the questions.

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Judges three, verse four.

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Judges chapter three, verse four, and here's what it says.

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He wanted to see whether they would obey his command,

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and he did.

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And he said, he wanted to see

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whether they would obey his commands.

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He had given those commands through Moses

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to their people long ago.

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He wanted to see whether they would obey his commands.

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He had given those commands through Moses

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to their people long ago.

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Testing is on principles,

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testing is on principles

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that were taught

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and established

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in the past.

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Meaning God tests us on things that he's already taught us.

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He's given us enough time to learn it,

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and now he'll test us.

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Testing is on principles that were taught in the past,

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things that were established in the past.

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You will be tested on them.

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This is the nature of God.

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It's impossible to escape this

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because God is really not interested in anything else,

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but you being conformed to the image of Christ.

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And so when I don't respond well to the test,

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he'll say, all right, Jacob, we can start again tomorrow.

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And so it's Groundhog Day again.

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I love this part of God, man.

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He's so loving and unrelenting.

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What a strange combination.

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Really loving and really unrelenting.

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Any questions?

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Go ahead.

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You have to be careful about the things that you say.

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Yeah, if testing doesn't happen,

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then you can't compete with the horses

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and you will tire out running with men.

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Meaning running with men alone will tire you out.

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So forget competing with the horses.

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And God is saying, I want you to compete with the horses.

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I want you to be so different

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because anybody can run with men.

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Because anybody can run with men.

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The world can do that.

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You don't need God for that.

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But to run and compete with the horses.

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And then he goes on to say in Jeremiah 12.5,

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if you cannot run on plain ground,

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how will you run through the thickets of the Jordan?

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Any other question?

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Yep.

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Yeah, what do I have to wear to war?

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I mean, does my worship change?

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Does my recognition of who God has changed?

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Does my thinking change?

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Does my level of faith change?

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Does my willingness to use the gospel,

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which is the power of God unto rescue become new?

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Does my belt of truth become something

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that doesn't give away every time I'm challenged with fear?

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Does the sword of the spirit become something

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that comes out of my mouth,

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just like it came out of Jesus' mouth?

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These are the things we wear.

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And so in all of these, we begin to increase.

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Saying, father, if you want me to go next to Sri Lanka

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to deal with something there,

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then God give me the faith that I need as a shield.

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Give me the breastplate of righteousness

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so that just blazing purity will intimidate the enemy.

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Give me words, father, so that without wasting words,

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whatever needs to be decimated can be decimated.

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Give me the shoes of the gospel of peace

00:15:31.120 --> 00:15:34.920
so that I'm not a hypocrite who knows how to demonstrate stuff

00:15:34.920 --> 00:15:36.520
but is scared to speak stuff.

00:15:45.320 --> 00:15:47.920
It's sobering, but it's challenging and exciting.

00:15:50.000 --> 00:15:52.440
And don't worry, I'll be excited for you.

00:15:53.440 --> 00:15:55.600
Just live vicariously through my excitement.

00:16:01.320 --> 00:16:02.360
Any other questions?

00:16:05.040 --> 00:16:07.320
Testing is always on principles already taught.

00:16:07.320 --> 00:16:09.480
So he'll test me on things that he's already been

00:16:09.480 --> 00:16:10.960
teaching me for a while.

00:16:10.960 --> 00:16:13.320
It doesn't matter, it's just not about

00:16:13.320 --> 00:16:15.280
dealing with the unseen realm.

00:16:15.280 --> 00:16:17.640
In the seen realm, dealing with patients,

00:16:18.400 --> 00:16:20.320
dealing with kindness, dealing with other things

00:16:20.320 --> 00:16:22.400
that he's teaching me, he will test me on it.

00:16:22.400 --> 00:16:24.560
Because you don't go to the next level

00:16:24.560 --> 00:16:26.200
till you pass the first test.

00:16:26.200 --> 00:16:31.200
Guys, the problem with the message of cheap grace

00:16:33.440 --> 00:16:36.040
is that cheap grace that is being preached

00:16:36.040 --> 00:16:41.040
does not touch testing.

00:16:41.240 --> 00:16:46.120
It's all God is syrupy and he will ooze all over you.

00:16:48.480 --> 00:16:50.320
There is truth to that.

00:16:52.120 --> 00:16:53.880
But there is another side to it.

00:16:53.880 --> 00:16:58.880
He's extremely loving but extremely unrelenting

00:16:59.400 --> 00:17:03.080
in training up a son as one should be trained.

00:17:03.080 --> 00:17:04.400
It's not one or the other.

00:17:05.680 --> 00:17:07.800
And some of us need to take pause and say,

00:17:07.800 --> 00:17:10.040
why is it that life looks the same?

00:17:11.280 --> 00:17:14.640
Perhaps because I'm not responding to training

00:17:14.640 --> 00:17:16.280
in some areas, not some of us.

00:17:16.360 --> 00:17:18.200
I need to look into some areas of my life

00:17:18.200 --> 00:17:21.360
where there isn't much progress and I'm doing the same,

00:17:21.360 --> 00:17:23.880
what's that animal that goes round and round?

00:17:23.880 --> 00:17:24.720
Hamster.

00:17:27.720 --> 00:17:30.920
Yeah, why is it that in some areas of my life?

00:17:41.360 --> 00:17:42.720
Genesis 22, one.

00:17:42.880 --> 00:17:44.360
Genesis 22, one.

00:17:47.280 --> 00:17:52.000
It says sometime later, God tested Abraham.

00:17:53.760 --> 00:17:55.800
Sometime later, God tested Abraham.

00:18:00.160 --> 00:18:03.640
And then in verse 12, it says, I love this from the message,

00:18:03.640 --> 00:18:05.160
Genesis 22, 12 says,

00:18:05.160 --> 00:18:07.960
now I know how fearlessly you fear God.

00:18:07.960 --> 00:18:08.800
I love that.

00:18:08.800 --> 00:18:11.720
Now I know how fearlessly you fear God.

00:18:13.200 --> 00:18:15.600
You didn't hesitate to place your son,

00:18:15.600 --> 00:18:18.120
your dear son on the altar for me.

00:18:19.840 --> 00:18:21.160
Remember in the New Testament,

00:18:21.160 --> 00:18:25.600
the fear of God is the dread of offending the one you love.

00:18:25.600 --> 00:18:29.000
In the New Testament, the fear of God may be defined

00:18:29.000 --> 00:18:32.120
as the dread of offending the one you love.

00:18:32.120 --> 00:18:36.760
You like him so much that the thought of grieving him

00:18:36.760 --> 00:18:38.560
is dreadful.

00:18:38.560 --> 00:18:41.720
That's what the fear of God is in the New Testament.

00:18:41.720 --> 00:18:46.000
It's not being afraid of the Holy one of Israel

00:18:46.000 --> 00:18:49.000
being so holy that you cannot come anywhere near him

00:18:49.000 --> 00:18:51.080
because you don't know what he may do.

00:18:51.080 --> 00:18:53.880
It's completely different in the New Testament.

00:18:53.880 --> 00:18:56.320
But I love what God says to Abraham.

00:18:56.320 --> 00:18:59.200
I'm surprised at how fearlessly you fear me.

00:19:01.080 --> 00:19:03.080
And so one of the things testing does

00:19:04.800 --> 00:19:08.600
is testing measures your allegiance,

00:19:08.600 --> 00:19:13.600
testing measures your primary allegiance.

00:19:19.240 --> 00:19:21.440
Testing measures your primary allegiance.

00:19:24.580 --> 00:19:27.840
Testing measures your primary allegiance

00:19:27.840 --> 00:19:31.400
to God and his ways, to God and his ways

00:19:31.400 --> 00:19:33.640
and to God and his ways.

00:19:39.440 --> 00:19:42.440
And whatever you treasure, whatever you treasure,

00:19:42.440 --> 00:19:45.440
whether it's tradition or culture, whatever it is,

00:19:46.760 --> 00:19:50.760
there is always gonna be a testing of your primary allegiance.

00:19:50.760 --> 00:19:53.760
And our primary allegiance keeps changing.

00:19:53.760 --> 00:19:57.280
Like what's at the center?

00:20:00.760 --> 00:20:01.760
What's at the center?

00:20:02.560 --> 00:20:03.560
What's at the center?

00:20:07.360 --> 00:20:09.360
He must be at the center.

00:20:09.360 --> 00:20:10.360
What's at the center?

00:20:13.960 --> 00:20:16.160
And God doesn't test us to destroy us.

00:20:16.160 --> 00:20:19.160
God tests us so that we may become more like him.

00:20:20.560 --> 00:20:21.560
Any questions on that?

00:20:32.560 --> 00:20:33.360
Okay.

00:20:37.960 --> 00:20:39.560
Is there an eraser anywhere?

00:20:40.960 --> 00:20:41.800
Pardon?

00:20:47.960 --> 00:20:48.800
Oh, thanks.

00:20:50.160 --> 00:20:51.000
May I?

00:21:01.760 --> 00:21:02.600
Okay.

00:21:13.400 --> 00:21:17.200
Usually when you're tested in terms of your obedience,

00:21:17.200 --> 00:21:20.000
it's usually in these areas, pride,

00:21:22.480 --> 00:21:27.480
dependence on Christ and the body.

00:21:32.440 --> 00:21:33.280
Provision.

00:21:38.000 --> 00:21:38.840
Control.

00:21:42.480 --> 00:21:46.280
Lust of the flesh or the eyes.

00:21:46.280 --> 00:21:48.840
Let's just leave it at flesh now because it covers more.

00:21:48.840 --> 00:21:51.760
Lust of the flesh, fear of God,

00:21:56.560 --> 00:21:57.400
fear of man.

00:21:58.400 --> 00:22:00.200
These are usually the areas

00:22:02.600 --> 00:22:04.200
where your obedience is tested.

00:22:04.200 --> 00:22:06.000
And this will happen again and again and again

00:22:06.000 --> 00:22:11.000
because you may overcome pride today.

00:22:12.000 --> 00:22:15.200
Three years from now, you're some famous person

00:22:15.200 --> 00:22:16.800
and there's pride entering again.

00:22:21.600 --> 00:22:24.600
These are the areas that you're tested for.

00:22:25.600 --> 00:22:28.800
These are the areas that God will work on.

00:22:30.400 --> 00:22:33.400
Let me test you, Jacob, and see whether you've grown

00:22:33.400 --> 00:22:38.400
any prouder since you preach to a crowd of a thousand

00:22:38.920 --> 00:22:40.800
or 10,000 or 20,000.

00:22:40.800 --> 00:22:43.600
Let me see, Jacob, if you're still dependent on Christ

00:22:43.600 --> 00:22:46.200
and the body or whether you've gotten so used to doing

00:22:46.200 --> 00:22:49.400
things well that you run on your gifts.

00:22:49.400 --> 00:22:53.800
Let me see, Jacob, if you still can depend on me for provision,

00:22:54.200 --> 00:22:56.800
what if I dried up the brook chariot?

00:22:56.800 --> 00:22:57.800
What are you gonna do?

00:22:57.800 --> 00:22:59.000
Panic?

00:22:59.000 --> 00:23:02.400
Or will you go to the widow who has just a little bit of flour

00:23:02.400 --> 00:23:04.800
and trust that I can even provide through a widow

00:23:04.800 --> 00:23:07.800
even though the crows have started disappearing

00:23:07.800 --> 00:23:09.200
and the brook has dried up?

00:23:12.000 --> 00:23:14.800
Let me see, Jacob, if power has gone to your head

00:23:14.800 --> 00:23:16.400
where you begin to control people.

00:23:19.000 --> 00:23:22.000
Let me see, Jacob, if you have begun to fall in the area

00:23:22.200 --> 00:23:24.200
of the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes

00:23:24.200 --> 00:23:27.200
where anything appealing grabs your eyes.

00:23:28.400 --> 00:23:31.200
Let me see, Jacob, if you still have that dread

00:23:31.200 --> 00:23:33.500
of grieving me because you love me.

00:23:34.400 --> 00:23:36.800
Let me see, Jacob, if you will speak up

00:23:36.800 --> 00:23:39.000
or are you afraid of man because you've gotten dependent

00:23:39.000 --> 00:23:40.000
on a few people?

00:23:43.000 --> 00:23:44.400
Who did this happen to?

00:23:44.400 --> 00:23:46.400
Jesus Christ, Luke chapter four,

00:23:46.400 --> 00:23:48.200
and the devil tested him in the desert.

00:23:48.200 --> 00:23:49.200
In what areas?

00:23:49.200 --> 00:23:52.000
In the area of dependence where he said,

00:23:52.000 --> 00:23:54.400
you got stones you can turn into bread,

00:23:54.400 --> 00:23:55.400
you got the power.

00:24:02.800 --> 00:24:05.000
Where it was appealing, he was hungry.

00:24:05.000 --> 00:24:06.000
You can do it now.

00:24:06.000 --> 00:24:07.200
You have the power.

00:24:07.200 --> 00:24:09.200
Are you gonna take control or are you not?

00:24:11.200 --> 00:24:14.800
All these things happened to Adam and he failed,

00:24:14.800 --> 00:24:17.400
happened to Israel and they failed in the desert,

00:24:17.400 --> 00:24:19.200
which is why in Deuteronomy 8.3,

00:24:19.200 --> 00:24:22.200
it actually says, I gave you manna to test you,

00:24:23.600 --> 00:24:26.000
to humble you, to see whether you would live

00:24:26.000 --> 00:24:29.200
by the simple principle that man shall live

00:24:29.200 --> 00:24:31.500
not by bread, but by every word that goes out

00:24:31.500 --> 00:24:33.200
from the mouth of God.

00:24:36.400 --> 00:24:40.100
Israel failed, Adam failed, Jesus then beats

00:24:40.100 --> 00:24:41.400
the enemy at his game.

00:24:41.400 --> 00:24:43.800
Testing is incremental in the sense that it doesn't go

00:24:43.800 --> 00:24:47.800
from zero to hundred and, I saw this amazing ad

00:24:47.800 --> 00:24:48.800
for Volkswagen.

00:24:48.800 --> 00:24:51.400
This is a really old ad when they used to have

00:24:51.400 --> 00:24:55.400
those little Herbie's, what do you call them?

00:24:55.400 --> 00:24:56.400
Beatles, yeah.

00:24:57.400 --> 00:25:01.400
And it had a BMW and it said zero to hundred

00:25:01.400 --> 00:25:03.800
in 6.3 seconds and then there was the Volkswagen

00:25:03.800 --> 00:25:06.200
and it said zero to hundred in enough time.

00:25:06.200 --> 00:25:07.800
So, it's a really old ad.

00:25:07.800 --> 00:25:10.200
And it said zero to hundred in 6.3 seconds

00:25:10.200 --> 00:25:12.000
and then there was the Volkswagen and it said

00:25:12.000 --> 00:25:14.200
zero to hundred in enough time.

00:25:14.200 --> 00:25:17.000
And that was how they would sell it.

00:25:17.000 --> 00:25:21.400
I mean, that little car was one of the most popular cars

00:25:21.400 --> 00:25:22.200
in enough time.

00:25:22.200 --> 00:25:24.600
I mean, who wants to do a hundred in 6.3 seconds?

00:25:24.600 --> 00:25:27.200
What difference does it make to life in enough time?

00:25:31.400 --> 00:25:33.600
God doesn't take you from zero to a hundred

00:25:33.600 --> 00:25:35.000
in 6.3 seconds.

00:25:35.000 --> 00:25:39.000
It's degrees that he begins to take you through in testing.

00:25:39.000 --> 00:25:41.400
So, I mean, if you look at Abraham's life,

00:25:41.400 --> 00:25:43.200
it was first his country.

00:25:43.200 --> 00:25:44.800
Leave your country.

00:25:44.800 --> 00:25:46.800
Leave your clan.

00:25:46.800 --> 00:25:47.600
Leave your family.

00:25:49.600 --> 00:25:50.600
Let Hagar go.

00:25:53.600 --> 00:25:54.400
Let Ishmael go.

00:25:57.000 --> 00:25:59.200
And then let Isaac go.

00:25:59.200 --> 00:26:01.000
It wasn't, give me Isaac.

00:26:01.000 --> 00:26:01.800
Nope.

00:26:01.800 --> 00:26:03.400
It was step by step by step.

00:26:03.400 --> 00:26:04.800
And what was he doing?

00:26:04.800 --> 00:26:07.400
Proving Abraham to the point where he finally says,

00:26:07.400 --> 00:26:08.800
you fearlessly fear me.

00:26:08.800 --> 00:26:10.400
You're my friend forever.

00:26:10.400 --> 00:26:13.600
I'll speak of you as my friend and you'll be the father of faith.

00:26:13.600 --> 00:26:15.400
My God, man, who doesn't want to hear that?

00:26:20.600 --> 00:26:24.000
It's testing that brought Abraham to receive those titles.

00:26:24.000 --> 00:26:27.200
It's testing that brought Jesus to a place where he has a name

00:26:27.200 --> 00:26:30.000
above every other name because he was obedient unto death.

00:26:35.000 --> 00:26:36.200
Desire testing.

00:26:37.800 --> 00:26:41.400
I know it doesn't sound right, but desire it.

00:26:42.800 --> 00:26:47.600
It makes you like him, which is the only aim of the church and of God.

00:26:56.200 --> 00:27:00.000
Tests allow what is otherwise prevented by God.

00:27:00.400 --> 00:27:12.800
Tests allow what is otherwise prevented by God.

00:27:16.400 --> 00:27:19.600
Tests allow what is otherwise prevented by God,

00:27:19.600 --> 00:27:22.600
as in the devices of the world and the devil

00:27:22.600 --> 00:27:26.800
working through human and spiritual adversaries and circumstances.

00:27:26.800 --> 00:27:29.400
Tests allow what is otherwise prevented by God.

00:27:31.000 --> 00:27:31.800
You can see.

00:27:33.400 --> 00:27:37.400
Yeah, I love the line in Luke 4.1.

00:27:37.400 --> 00:27:41.000
And then the Spirit of God led him into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.

00:27:44.400 --> 00:27:45.600
Tests allow what...

00:27:45.600 --> 00:27:48.800
Guys, the amount of protection we have,

00:27:48.800 --> 00:27:51.800
the amount of accidents that do not happen,

00:27:51.800 --> 00:27:54.200
the amount of attacks that are thwarted,

00:27:54.200 --> 00:27:57.000
the amount of deceptions that we don't fall under,

00:27:57.400 --> 00:28:01.000
the amount of evil that is being planned against you

00:28:01.000 --> 00:28:08.400
by bodiless forces that occupy the air,

00:28:08.400 --> 00:28:12.800
the amount of stuff that we don't see we avoid,

00:28:12.800 --> 00:28:16.200
is simply because God is stepping in continuously.

00:28:19.400 --> 00:28:22.600
It's just incredible if we could, for once,

00:28:22.600 --> 00:28:25.200
if God would open our eyes to just show us

00:28:25.400 --> 00:28:29.800
the different things we don't step into.

00:28:29.800 --> 00:28:31.000
It's like a baby, right?

00:28:31.000 --> 00:28:35.200
The baby runs wherever it wants, doesn't realize that if you weren't there,

00:28:37.400 --> 00:28:40.200
it would have shot itself, skewed itself, been run over,

00:28:40.800 --> 00:28:43.600
and a whole lot of other things, just in one hour.

00:28:50.600 --> 00:28:54.400
And yet there are times when tests will allow what is otherwise prevented by God,

00:28:54.400 --> 00:28:57.600
and it takes the shape of human and spiritual adversaries,

00:28:57.600 --> 00:29:02.000
and it is only allowed because God knows you have the ability to deal with it.

00:29:04.600 --> 00:29:07.800
Because God knows you have the ability to deal with it.

00:29:08.800 --> 00:29:10.600
Don't worry, this will get clearer as we go.

00:29:12.000 --> 00:29:13.400
And we have enough time to go.

00:29:15.400 --> 00:29:16.400
It'll get...

00:29:16.400 --> 00:29:19.600
It's just awesome that He only allows in my life

00:29:19.600 --> 00:29:23.000
that which He already knows I can deal with, but I don't know it.

00:29:25.400 --> 00:29:29.000
Hear me again. He allows things into my life which He otherwise prevents.

00:29:29.400 --> 00:29:32.400
Because remember, all satanic enterprise is by permission.

00:29:33.000 --> 00:29:37.400
All satanic enterprise is by permission, either your permission or God's permission.

00:29:39.000 --> 00:29:43.000
There is this funny term that can only be used for the devil, accountable rebellion.

00:29:44.600 --> 00:29:46.800
It's contrary, but it's true.

00:29:50.800 --> 00:29:54.000
And so God will only allow those things into my life

00:29:54.000 --> 00:29:57.800
to test me that He already knows I'm absolutely able to do.

00:29:58.200 --> 00:30:02.000
The only thing He forgot to tell me was that He knows it and I don't.

00:30:03.400 --> 00:30:05.200
If I knew it, then it ain't a test.

00:30:06.600 --> 00:30:10.800
Now that I don't know it, it proves God right or wrong,

00:30:11.000 --> 00:30:14.400
depending on whether I walk up to it or don't walk up to it.

00:30:15.200 --> 00:30:16.800
And if I don't walk up to it, He'll say,

00:30:16.800 --> 00:30:20.000
all right, I'll get you out of this one, let's try again tomorrow.

00:30:20.000 --> 00:30:22.800
Do you know how many driving tests I went for in Bahrain?

00:30:28.200 --> 00:30:31.200
Come back next Sunday, we'll share it when I talk about Jeevan's other story.

00:30:31.200 --> 00:30:34.800
Yeah. I went for a whole lot of driving tests, man.

00:30:35.000 --> 00:30:37.600
At one point, I remember the instructor had to push the car with me

00:30:37.600 --> 00:30:40.600
because my car was so bad that it broke down halfway through.

00:30:43.000 --> 00:30:46.600
And how do you pass a test when the instructor has to push a vehicle off the road?

00:30:46.600 --> 00:30:50.000
And the next time I took the car, it was a new car, someone else's car.

00:30:50.200 --> 00:30:55.400
I didn't know the indicator was like the thing that makes water splash on the windscreen.

00:30:56.200 --> 00:30:58.800
So I went for quite a few tests before I passed,

00:30:58.800 --> 00:31:04.000
but the intent always in God tests is, hey, Jacob, you have the ability to do this.

00:31:04.400 --> 00:31:08.000
Do you want to? You don't know it, but you're going to show me right.

00:31:09.000 --> 00:31:10.400
You got to step up to it.

00:31:10.400 --> 00:31:12.200
When I came to Canada, I passed in one shot.

00:31:12.600 --> 00:31:15.600
The only comment the instructor made was, you can breathe now.

00:31:16.000 --> 00:31:19.400
So I started breathing. I was so scared of failing.

00:31:22.000 --> 00:31:24.800
Tests allow what is otherwise prevented by God,

00:31:24.800 --> 00:31:29.200
the devices of the devil and the devil working through human and spiritual adversaries.

00:31:30.800 --> 00:31:33.600
God allows us to be able to do what we want to do.

00:31:33.600 --> 00:31:36.200
So I went to Canada, I passed in one shot.

00:31:36.200 --> 00:31:39.400
The device of the devil working through human and spiritual adversaries.

00:31:40.800 --> 00:31:44.000
God allows that sometimes just because he knows you can handle it.

00:31:46.800 --> 00:31:50.200
Tests appraise, tests appraise.

00:31:50.400 --> 00:31:54.200
If you know the nature of God, whether you know the nature of his work,

00:31:55.000 --> 00:31:58.400
whether you know the quality of rest, tests appraise that.

00:31:58.600 --> 00:32:02.000
Hey, Jacob, when you're panicking, will you walk into rest?

00:32:02.200 --> 00:32:05.800
I'm not being allowed into a certain country

00:32:06.000 --> 00:32:08.200
because I didn't have a yellow fever certificate

00:32:08.200 --> 00:32:11.000
and I didn't know that if you come from Africa to this country

00:32:11.000 --> 00:32:12.800
that you need to provide a yellow fever certificate.

00:32:13.800 --> 00:32:16.600
I'm standing there and they're saying, what about a yellow fever certificate?

00:32:16.600 --> 00:32:18.600
I said, I don't have it.

00:32:18.600 --> 00:32:20.400
And then they said, do you have it at home?

00:32:20.600 --> 00:32:21.800
I thought that's my way out.

00:32:22.200 --> 00:32:23.800
And here is this chance to lie.

00:32:24.200 --> 00:32:26.400
And I started lying. I said, yeah, I have it at home.

00:32:26.800 --> 00:32:29.600
And I realized, man, you're being put under pressure.

00:32:29.600 --> 00:32:30.800
You've got meetings to attend.

00:32:31.000 --> 00:32:32.400
You've traveled all the way.

00:32:32.400 --> 00:32:34.200
And so now when you're being challenged on the truth,

00:32:34.200 --> 00:32:36.000
you're lying to get into this country.

00:32:38.800 --> 00:32:42.600
God will appraise you on, hey, when you're put under pressure, how do you react?

00:32:42.600 --> 00:32:44.800
Do you still walk out of rest?

00:32:46.200 --> 00:32:48.200
Do you still step into the nature of God

00:32:48.600 --> 00:32:50.200
or do you take things into your own hands?

00:32:50.600 --> 00:32:54.000
I remember sheepishly telling the guy and he knew I was lying.

00:32:54.400 --> 00:32:56.400
Sheepishly telling him, actually, I don't have one.

00:32:56.400 --> 00:33:00.200
I even thought of, yeah, let's not go into the sins I was going to commit.

00:33:07.200 --> 00:33:09.200
Tests will prove your character.

00:33:10.600 --> 00:33:12.200
Tests will prove your character.

00:33:12.200 --> 00:33:14.200
God will give you chances, eh?

00:33:16.800 --> 00:33:19.200
Tests will appraise if you know the nature of God.

00:33:20.200 --> 00:33:22.600
Tests will appraise if you know the quality of rest.

00:33:23.600 --> 00:33:26.200
To fight from rest, you have to be strong.

00:33:26.400 --> 00:33:28.000
To fight from rest, ah.

00:33:31.200 --> 00:33:32.400
To fight from rest.

00:33:36.000 --> 00:33:37.200
Then you don't flail.

00:33:39.600 --> 00:33:41.000
Any questions before we go on?

00:33:41.800 --> 00:33:42.800
Any questions?

00:33:57.400 --> 00:33:58.400
Yeah.

00:33:59.600 --> 00:34:01.000
That's not a personal test.

00:34:02.200 --> 00:34:09.400
Yeah, so we taught this long ago and I just want to go over it very quickly.

00:34:10.000 --> 00:34:14.400
Whenever things happen, you have to divide them into the fallenness of the world,

00:34:18.000 --> 00:34:19.000
persecution,

00:34:22.000 --> 00:34:23.400
attack of the enemy,

00:34:27.400 --> 00:34:28.400
discipline,

00:34:31.000 --> 00:34:32.000
consequence.

00:34:35.200 --> 00:34:36.600
These are the five big ones.

00:34:40.800 --> 00:34:42.200
Fallenness of the world,

00:34:43.800 --> 00:34:44.800
persecution,

00:34:46.000 --> 00:34:47.400
attack of the enemy,

00:34:49.200 --> 00:34:50.000
discipline,

00:34:52.000 --> 00:34:53.000
consequence.

00:34:54.000 --> 00:34:55.400
Let's just throw in one more.

00:34:56.600 --> 00:34:57.400
Breaking

00:34:59.400 --> 00:35:01.000
boundaries or sin.

00:35:02.000 --> 00:35:03.800
Ah, let's just call it breaking boundaries.

00:35:04.400 --> 00:35:06.600
Where when you break the hedge, the serpent bites.

00:35:07.400 --> 00:35:10.200
So these are usually the things that

00:35:11.200 --> 00:35:17.000
I question when things happen to me that are unusual or not God-ish.

00:35:17.400 --> 00:35:18.400
These would be my questions.

00:35:18.400 --> 00:35:19.800
Father, where's this coming from?

00:35:20.000 --> 00:35:22.600
Because if I know the source, I know how to respond to it.

00:35:26.400 --> 00:35:29.000
If I know the source, I know how to respond to it.

00:35:29.400 --> 00:35:32.200
If it's discipline from God, there's no point rebuking the devil.

00:35:34.600 --> 00:35:35.600
If it is the devil,

00:35:36.400 --> 00:35:40.000
there's no point asking God to teach you what you need to learn through that situation.

00:35:41.000 --> 00:35:42.600
If it's the fallenness of the world

00:35:43.200 --> 00:35:47.000
and a cut on your hand is bleeding, it isn't the devil nor is it God.

00:35:47.000 --> 00:35:49.600
If someone gets pregnant because they slept with someone else,

00:35:49.600 --> 00:35:51.800
then it is not the devil nor is it God.

00:35:51.800 --> 00:35:52.600
It's sperm and egg.

00:35:56.200 --> 00:35:57.400
Some are consequences.

00:36:03.000 --> 00:36:04.000
Any other question?

00:36:05.600 --> 00:36:06.600
Go ahead.

00:36:06.600 --> 00:36:08.400
My God, that's a...

00:36:10.600 --> 00:36:12.000
Josh, do you want to move?

00:36:12.000 --> 00:36:13.000
Just checking.

00:36:13.200 --> 00:36:14.200
Yeah, go ahead.

00:36:22.200 --> 00:36:25.400
Yeah, it's not as clinical as a real thing.

00:36:25.600 --> 00:36:27.600
It's not as bad as a real thing.

00:36:27.600 --> 00:36:29.600
It's not as bad as a real thing.

00:36:29.600 --> 00:36:31.600
It's not as bad as a real thing.

00:36:31.600 --> 00:36:33.600
It's not as bad as a real thing.

00:36:33.800 --> 00:36:37.000
Yeah, it's not as clinical as I've written it.

00:36:37.600 --> 00:36:40.200
But, oh yeah, forgot to include that.

00:36:47.200 --> 00:36:50.800
The great thing about the testing of God is it's always to prove

00:36:52.200 --> 00:36:56.200
either my understanding of his nature or to bring me into a new level,

00:36:56.800 --> 00:36:58.800
which I'll talk about shortly from here on.

00:36:59.000 --> 00:37:01.000
Like, I'll just refer to it now.

00:37:02.000 --> 00:37:02.400
Yeah.

00:37:03.600 --> 00:37:04.600
Apart from this.

00:37:04.600 --> 00:37:05.000
Yeah.

00:37:11.000 --> 00:37:12.600
Guys, it's the only way to learn.

00:37:12.600 --> 00:37:13.800
He will train us.

00:37:14.000 --> 00:37:17.200
I mean, Judges 3, 1 to 5 is so blooming clear.

00:37:23.200 --> 00:37:27.000
It kind of makes sense now why Paul says in 1 Corinthians 10, 13,

00:37:27.200 --> 00:37:28.000
that listen,

00:37:28.200 --> 00:37:31.600
the great thing about the testing of God is it's always to prove

00:37:32.600 --> 00:37:33.400
that listen,

00:37:33.600 --> 00:37:36.200
God won't test you beyond your ability to bear

00:37:36.200 --> 00:37:38.400
and with it will give you a way to escape.

00:37:38.400 --> 00:37:42.000
And we thought it meant that he let temptation come our way

00:37:42.000 --> 00:37:45.600
and then will give us an exit so that we can run from temptation.

00:37:45.600 --> 00:37:46.400
Not really.

00:37:47.600 --> 00:37:51.200
He was saying, hey, I've shown you how to handle this.

00:37:52.400 --> 00:37:56.200
It's not you hiding a tail between your legs and running away.

00:37:56.200 --> 00:38:00.600
It is you knowing how to handle these situations well.

00:38:02.600 --> 00:38:07.600
Where someone is mocking you and you know how to show the kindness of God.

00:38:07.600 --> 00:38:09.600
Where you're scared inside your heart,

00:38:09.600 --> 00:38:15.600
but you know how to trust a God who teaches you how to trust him enough not to be afraid.

00:38:18.600 --> 00:38:22.600
You're being attacked by something spiritual that you know is huge,

00:38:22.600 --> 00:38:24.600
but you have learned how to overcome it.

00:38:24.600 --> 00:38:25.600
We'll talk about that shortly.

00:38:25.600 --> 00:38:28.600
Guys, this may sound complicated in the beginning,

00:38:28.600 --> 00:38:31.600
but really it's very simple if you took a natural example in the world.

00:38:34.600 --> 00:38:36.600
We go through this training every time.

00:38:36.600 --> 00:38:39.600
If you joined the RCMP,

00:38:39.600 --> 00:38:43.600
you would have to drive a car through all kinds of hoops

00:38:44.600 --> 00:38:46.600
so that you can qualify.

00:38:48.600 --> 00:38:51.600
You have to run a certain amount.

00:38:51.600 --> 00:38:53.600
You have to learn how to run a certain amount.

00:38:53.600 --> 00:38:56.600
You have to learn how to handle a fight.

00:38:56.600 --> 00:38:57.600
They don't...

00:38:58.600 --> 00:39:01.600
They put you at the airport if you don't know how to do these things.

00:39:11.600 --> 00:39:13.600
God tests and trains.

00:39:13.600 --> 00:39:15.600
Praise God for it.

00:39:17.600 --> 00:39:20.600
Like one whisper of an amen would help.

00:39:24.600 --> 00:39:25.600
Okay.

00:39:37.600 --> 00:39:39.600
1 Samuel 17.

00:39:39.600 --> 00:39:42.600
1 Samuel 17, 34-37.

00:39:42.600 --> 00:39:45.600
1 Samuel 17, 34-37.

00:39:45.600 --> 00:39:49.600
1 Samuel 17, 34-37.

00:39:50.600 --> 00:39:53.600
Here's what David says.

00:39:53.600 --> 00:39:56.600
Your servant has been keeping his father's sheep.

00:39:56.600 --> 00:40:00.600
One of the best ways to learn how to be trained by God

00:40:00.600 --> 00:40:03.600
is to do the father's business,

00:40:03.600 --> 00:40:05.600
regardless of what you do for a living.

00:40:05.600 --> 00:40:08.600
Engage in the father's business as in begin to pursue him,

00:40:08.600 --> 00:40:09.600
do things his way,

00:40:09.600 --> 00:40:12.600
and not only will you learn to know him better,

00:40:12.600 --> 00:40:14.600
you'll end up being trained well.

00:40:14.600 --> 00:40:17.600
And so this is David's conversation with Saul.

00:40:17.600 --> 00:40:18.600
And he says to him,

00:40:18.600 --> 00:40:21.600
Your servant has been keeping the father's sheep.

00:40:21.600 --> 00:40:27.600
And then he goes on to give an idea of the first test that happens in his life.

00:40:27.600 --> 00:40:29.600
And the first test is,

00:40:29.600 --> 00:40:34.600
when I used to be singing songs in the wilderness by myself,

00:40:34.600 --> 00:40:39.600
when a lion or a bear came and carried off a sheep.

00:40:39.600 --> 00:40:41.600
And so he begins to talk about the first test.

00:40:41.600 --> 00:40:45.600
And by the way, he talks about different types of enemies.

00:40:45.600 --> 00:40:47.600
Not the same.

00:40:49.600 --> 00:40:52.600
Different enemy types carrying different strength.

00:40:52.600 --> 00:40:55.600
When they would come to carry a sheep away,

00:40:55.600 --> 00:40:57.600
steal, kill or destroy,

00:40:59.600 --> 00:41:00.600
what would I do?

00:41:00.600 --> 00:41:02.600
I would go after it.

00:41:02.600 --> 00:41:05.600
I went after it, struck it,

00:41:06.600 --> 00:41:08.600
and rescued the sheep from its mouth.

00:41:08.600 --> 00:41:13.600
This was David's test when he used to walk the wilderness.

00:41:13.600 --> 00:41:14.600
He would go after it.

00:41:14.600 --> 00:41:15.600
He wouldn't say,

00:41:15.600 --> 00:41:19.600
Ah, let me write a song about the sheep that got eaten.

00:41:20.600 --> 00:41:21.600
No.

00:41:22.600 --> 00:41:24.600
He, that wasn't the thing.

00:41:24.600 --> 00:41:26.600
You'll never find a psalm like that.

00:41:26.600 --> 00:41:28.600
I was sitting by the meadow and then the,

00:41:28.600 --> 00:41:31.600
no, it's always, it's different.

00:41:31.600 --> 00:41:35.600
And then he writes about after it struck.

00:41:35.600 --> 00:41:38.600
Maybe you can do a rap thing on that, Derek.

00:41:38.600 --> 00:41:39.600
Yeah.

00:41:39.600 --> 00:41:41.600
Derek's an amazing rapper.

00:41:41.600 --> 00:41:44.600
You throw some words at him, he can start rapping.

00:41:44.600 --> 00:41:45.600
The lion ate my sheep.

00:41:45.600 --> 00:41:46.600
Go.

00:41:49.600 --> 00:41:50.600
Okay.

00:41:52.600 --> 00:41:55.600
So, yeah, next week when we talk about Jeevan,

00:41:55.600 --> 00:41:56.600
you can do the rap.

00:41:58.600 --> 00:41:59.600
I'll have to, yeah.

00:41:59.600 --> 00:42:02.600
Just remind me to tell you about Jeevan's story next week.

00:42:02.600 --> 00:42:03.600
Yeah.

00:42:03.600 --> 00:42:04.600
So, yeah, next week,

00:42:04.600 --> 00:42:05.600
I'll have to, yeah.

00:42:05.600 --> 00:42:07.600
Just remind me to tell you about Jeevan's story next week.

00:42:09.600 --> 00:42:11.600
So, he goes after it.

00:42:11.600 --> 00:42:13.600
I love the fact that he went after it.

00:42:13.600 --> 00:42:14.600
What are you talking about?

00:42:14.600 --> 00:42:17.600
You're talking about going after a lion or a bear.

00:42:17.600 --> 00:42:19.600
Who in his right mind does that?

00:42:20.600 --> 00:42:22.600
It's only a sheep.

00:42:23.600 --> 00:42:25.600
Only one.

00:42:25.600 --> 00:42:27.600
But he goes after it because David learned.

00:42:27.600 --> 00:42:30.600
He was tested when he used to sing.

00:42:30.600 --> 00:42:31.600
And he learned.

00:42:31.600 --> 00:42:32.600
He goes after it.

00:42:32.600 --> 00:42:33.600
He strikes it.

00:42:33.600 --> 00:42:34.600
He rescues the sheep.

00:42:34.600 --> 00:42:37.600
And then listen to the next thing that happens.

00:42:37.600 --> 00:42:38.600
Test two.

00:42:42.600 --> 00:42:44.600
When it turned on me,

00:42:44.600 --> 00:42:47.600
as in when he had pulled the sheep out of its mouth,

00:42:47.600 --> 00:42:48.600
it would turn on him,

00:42:48.600 --> 00:42:50.600
as in it would come to attack him.

00:42:50.600 --> 00:42:51.600
When it would turn on him,

00:42:51.600 --> 00:42:53.600
and this is a new level of combat now,

00:42:53.600 --> 00:42:55.600
when it would turn on him,

00:42:55.600 --> 00:42:58.600
I would seize it by its mane or hair,

00:42:58.600 --> 00:42:59.600
or sheep don't have mane,

00:42:59.600 --> 00:43:01.600
so it would grab the sheep by its hair,

00:43:01.600 --> 00:43:03.600
and he would strike it and kill it.

00:43:03.600 --> 00:43:06.600
He would destroy the work of the enemy.

00:43:06.600 --> 00:43:09.600
This is what David did in the fields.

00:43:10.600 --> 00:43:13.600
He's only an 18-year-old kid, man.

00:43:17.600 --> 00:43:19.600
And then he goes on to say,

00:43:20.600 --> 00:43:23.600
your servant has killed both lion and bear.

00:43:23.600 --> 00:43:25.600
Your servant has killed both lion and bear.

00:43:25.600 --> 00:43:27.600
As in this level is done.

00:43:27.600 --> 00:43:29.600
I know how to handle it here.

00:43:29.600 --> 00:43:31.600
I've done this before.

00:43:32.600 --> 00:43:35.600
This is the great thing about being tested.

00:43:35.600 --> 00:43:37.600
It's not that those tests will stop,

00:43:37.600 --> 00:43:38.600
but I've done this before.

00:43:38.600 --> 00:43:40.600
I know how to do this.

00:43:40.600 --> 00:43:42.600
I love it when I go into certain nations

00:43:42.600 --> 00:43:44.600
and have to deal with certain things,

00:43:44.600 --> 00:43:45.600
and it's not,

00:43:45.600 --> 00:43:46.600
it doesn't come out of a bravado,

00:43:46.600 --> 00:43:47.600
but I know that,

00:43:47.600 --> 00:43:49.600
I know how to deal with this level already,

00:43:49.600 --> 00:43:52.600
because I've dealt with it two or three times.

00:43:52.600 --> 00:43:54.600
Your servant has killed both lion and bear.

00:43:54.600 --> 00:43:57.600
This uncircumcised philistine

00:43:57.600 --> 00:43:59.600
would be like one of them.

00:43:59.600 --> 00:44:01.600
And so David somehow thinks that,

00:44:01.600 --> 00:44:05.600
because he's beaten these at this level,

00:44:05.600 --> 00:44:07.600
he's ready for the next level,

00:44:07.600 --> 00:44:08.600
that he can handle it.

00:44:08.600 --> 00:44:10.600
He can handle an uncircumcised philistine.

00:44:11.600 --> 00:44:13.600
He doesn't know it yet,

00:44:14.600 --> 00:44:16.600
but one of the things that he's done

00:44:16.600 --> 00:44:17.600
is he's done it.

00:44:17.600 --> 00:44:18.600
He's done it.

00:44:18.600 --> 00:44:19.600
He's done it.

00:44:19.600 --> 00:44:20.600
He's done it.

00:44:21.600 --> 00:44:23.600
But one of the things testing does,

00:44:23.600 --> 00:44:25.600
it shows you how powerful God is.

00:44:25.600 --> 00:44:27.600
You will not know, not know,

00:44:27.600 --> 00:44:28.600
I will not know

00:44:28.600 --> 00:44:31.600
how powerful God is till we are tested.

00:44:32.600 --> 00:44:35.600
It is impossible to know the power of God

00:44:35.600 --> 00:44:37.600
till you are tested,

00:44:37.600 --> 00:44:39.600
because He'll have to come through.

00:44:44.600 --> 00:44:47.600
If we are not tested, it's a shame.

00:44:51.600 --> 00:44:54.600
I'm not afraid of it for us as a church,

00:44:54.600 --> 00:44:56.600
because God will only give us that

00:44:56.600 --> 00:44:59.600
which we already have the caliber to handle,

00:44:59.600 --> 00:45:00.600
only we don't know it.

00:45:05.600 --> 00:45:07.600
And then he goes on to make this marvelous statement.

00:45:07.600 --> 00:45:10.600
The Lord who rescued me from the paw of the lion

00:45:10.600 --> 00:45:12.600
and the paw of the lion who rescued me

00:45:12.600 --> 00:45:13.600
from the hand of the philistines.

00:45:13.600 --> 00:45:15.600
This is confidence in God for the next level.

00:45:15.600 --> 00:45:18.600
Confidence in God for the next level.

00:45:18.600 --> 00:45:20.600
Confidence in God for the next level.

00:45:20.600 --> 00:45:22.600
Saying, I've dealt with this level,

00:45:22.600 --> 00:45:23.600
I'm done with that.

00:45:23.600 --> 00:45:25.600
This uncircumcised philistine

00:45:25.600 --> 00:45:27.600
who's about four feet taller than me,

00:45:27.600 --> 00:45:28.600
haven't dealt with this.

00:45:28.600 --> 00:45:30.600
But since I've dealt with that,

00:45:30.600 --> 00:45:32.600
I'm sure God can help me deal with this.

00:45:32.600 --> 00:45:34.600
And now he goes on to the next thing.

00:45:49.600 --> 00:45:51.600
Okay.

00:46:01.600 --> 00:46:03.600
Any questions, feel free to ask.

00:46:13.600 --> 00:46:15.600
I'll give you some practical examples, guys,

00:46:15.600 --> 00:46:17.600
where I would go to certain places

00:46:17.600 --> 00:46:19.600
and after having dealt with something,

00:46:19.600 --> 00:46:23.600
I'd come back and there'd be problems with money,

00:46:23.600 --> 00:46:28.600
with physical body, with relationships, with life.

00:46:28.600 --> 00:46:32.600
Because I did not know how to handle the afterburn

00:46:32.600 --> 00:46:35.600
or the after effects or did not know.

00:46:35.600 --> 00:46:37.600
But with each successive time,

00:46:37.600 --> 00:46:39.600
you learn the ways of God.

00:46:39.600 --> 00:46:40.600
You learn the power of God.

00:46:40.600 --> 00:46:43.600
You learn what to do and what not to do.

00:46:44.600 --> 00:46:46.600
It's like the first time you try to hang a picture

00:46:46.600 --> 00:46:48.600
on the wall and you lose your thumb,

00:46:48.600 --> 00:46:51.600
and next time you know how not to lose the other thumb.

00:46:56.600 --> 00:46:58.600
I haven't done much framing, as you can see.

00:47:16.600 --> 00:47:23.600
So, once a level of testing is passed,

00:47:23.600 --> 00:47:26.600
once a test is passed, in that area,

00:47:26.600 --> 00:47:33.600
in that area, the power of the spirit

00:47:38.600 --> 00:47:42.600
is proven and established in your life.

00:47:47.600 --> 00:47:51.600
You are so sure, you're so confident of God in that area.

00:47:51.600 --> 00:47:53.600
You're absolutely sure.

00:47:53.600 --> 00:47:55.600
It becomes like a fortress.

00:47:55.600 --> 00:47:57.600
It becomes like a stronghold.

00:47:57.600 --> 00:47:59.600
In this area, I know God.

00:47:59.600 --> 00:48:01.600
In this area, I know what God can do.

00:48:01.600 --> 00:48:07.600
David had this amazing habit of remembering the things

00:48:07.600 --> 00:48:09.600
that God had already done.

00:48:09.600 --> 00:48:10.600
In Psalm 42, he says,

00:48:10.600 --> 00:48:13.600
These things I remember as I pour out my soul,

00:48:13.600 --> 00:48:16.600
how I used to praise the Lord amongst a happy crowd.

00:48:16.600 --> 00:48:18.600
He would keep going back and saying,

00:48:18.600 --> 00:48:20.600
You did this, this, this, and that.

00:48:20.600 --> 00:48:23.600
Therefore, I now remember, and in those areas,

00:48:23.600 --> 00:48:25.600
I'm sure that this is who you are.

00:48:31.600 --> 00:48:32.600
That's one of the things tests do.

00:48:32.600 --> 00:48:34.600
If you're not tested, we do not know God

00:48:34.600 --> 00:48:36.600
and how he will be in certain areas.

00:48:36.600 --> 00:48:38.600
What do you think happened to Joshua

00:48:38.600 --> 00:48:40.600
when he met the commander of the armies of Israel,

00:48:40.600 --> 00:48:44.600
who said that I am the commander of the armies of Israel,

00:48:44.600 --> 00:48:46.600
to Joshua's question, who are you for or who are you against?

00:48:46.600 --> 00:48:48.600
And then he watches Jericho fall.

00:48:48.600 --> 00:48:50.600
What does that do to a commander?

00:48:50.600 --> 00:48:52.600
Does he ever doubt the strategy of God?

00:48:57.600 --> 00:48:59.600
How can he doubt the strategy of God?

00:48:59.600 --> 00:49:03.600
I love what Peter says in 1 Peter or 2 Peter.

00:49:03.600 --> 00:49:06.600
He says, We beheld his glory.

00:49:06.600 --> 00:49:08.600
He's talking about the Mount of Transfiguration,

00:49:08.600 --> 00:49:12.600
where Jesus unzipped his earthly suit,

00:49:12.600 --> 00:49:14.600
and they saw him in his brilliance.

00:49:14.600 --> 00:49:16.600
We beheld his glory.

00:49:28.600 --> 00:49:30.600
It's a shame when you meet people

00:49:30.600 --> 00:49:33.600
who went through a test 20 years ago

00:49:33.600 --> 00:49:35.600
and are still talking about it.

00:49:38.600 --> 00:49:41.600
We must be going from strength to strength,

00:49:41.600 --> 00:49:43.600
faith to faith, glory to glory.

00:49:54.600 --> 00:49:59.600
Yeah, what I meant is if they don't have any more stories

00:49:59.600 --> 00:50:03.600
except that one testing, then it's a sad thing.

00:50:03.600 --> 00:50:06.600
Because I don't want to battle Goliath

00:50:06.600 --> 00:50:08.600
that was 9 feet tall and not go to the next Goliath

00:50:08.600 --> 00:50:10.600
that is 12 feet tall.

00:50:18.600 --> 00:50:21.600
Once a test is passed in that area,

00:50:21.600 --> 00:50:24.600
the power of the spirit is proven

00:50:24.600 --> 00:50:26.600
and established in your life.

00:50:26.600 --> 00:50:28.600
There's no doubt there.

00:50:30.600 --> 00:50:34.600
The other cool thing is that once a test is passed,

00:50:34.600 --> 00:50:39.600
once a test is passed,

00:50:41.600 --> 00:50:47.600
once a test is passed, then in that area,

00:50:51.600 --> 00:50:55.600
the opposition, though present,

00:50:56.600 --> 00:50:59.600
the opposition, though present,

00:51:00.600 --> 00:51:03.600
the opposition, though present,

00:51:03.600 --> 00:51:05.600
is aware of the loss inflicted,

00:51:05.600 --> 00:51:09.600
is aware of the loss inflicted,

00:51:09.600 --> 00:51:13.600
is aware of the loss inflicted.

00:51:16.600 --> 00:51:21.600
The lion and the bear may have come again against David,

00:51:21.600 --> 00:51:26.600
but the lion and the bear knew that David had already beaten them.

00:51:27.600 --> 00:51:29.600
Though opposition may be present,

00:51:29.600 --> 00:51:33.600
they are aware of the loss that has been inflicted.

00:51:33.600 --> 00:51:36.600
They are aware of the loss that has been inflicted.

00:51:36.600 --> 00:51:40.600
I love it when the demons turn and ask the sons of Skiwa,

00:51:40.600 --> 00:51:44.600
Jesus I know, Paul I know, but who are you?

00:51:44.600 --> 00:51:48.600
They were aware of the losses that had been inflicted by this man called Paul.

00:51:53.600 --> 00:51:55.600
Word gets around.

00:51:56.600 --> 00:51:59.600
Word gets around in the unseen realm.

00:52:04.600 --> 00:52:07.600
How do you think they went around asking,

00:52:07.600 --> 00:52:11.600
hey, have you seen that man Job, righteous man?

00:52:12.600 --> 00:52:15.600
Conversations happen not just in the angelic realm,

00:52:15.600 --> 00:52:19.600
but also in the satanic realm.

00:52:27.600 --> 00:52:29.600
I'll wrap up in five.

00:52:31.600 --> 00:52:34.600
Once a test is passed in that area,

00:52:34.600 --> 00:52:36.600
the devil knows you're battle ready.

00:52:36.600 --> 00:52:40.600
Once a test is passed in that area,

00:52:43.600 --> 00:52:45.600
the devil knows

00:52:48.600 --> 00:52:50.600
you are battle ready

00:52:50.600 --> 00:52:52.600
you are battle ready

00:52:57.600 --> 00:52:59.600
you are battle ready

00:52:59.600 --> 00:53:02.600
and will be deployed against the next Goliath

00:53:02.600 --> 00:53:04.600
and will be

00:53:06.600 --> 00:53:08.600
deployed against

00:53:12.600 --> 00:53:14.600
the next Goliath.

00:53:20.600 --> 00:53:24.600
In Hanoi, on the last day when some of the leaders and pastors,

00:53:24.600 --> 00:53:29.600
though they came as students, they are all in some capacity serving God,

00:53:29.600 --> 00:53:32.600
when they began to hear God and they began to speak,

00:53:32.600 --> 00:53:37.600
they began to speak words that began to give me an idea of where I have to go next

00:53:37.600 --> 00:53:40.600
and what has to be dealt with next.

00:53:40.600 --> 00:53:45.600
I thought to myself, gosh, Father, once the enemy knows that you are battle ready,

00:53:45.600 --> 00:53:48.600
he also knows that you are battle ready.

00:53:48.600 --> 00:53:53.600
He also knows that it's only a matter of time before God will deploy you to deal with the next Goliath.

00:53:55.600 --> 00:53:58.600
And as a church, when we get battle ready,

00:54:01.600 --> 00:54:05.600
this is not some video game.

00:54:05.600 --> 00:54:10.600
What is at stake is lives and land that is set free

00:54:10.600 --> 00:54:15.600
because the people wield the word as a weapon.

00:54:15.600 --> 00:54:18.600
Lives and land set free,

00:54:20.600 --> 00:54:27.600
where the dominance or the dullness or the blindness that is brought into lives by the God of the world is shattered

00:54:27.600 --> 00:54:33.600
so that people now have the freedom to either breathe in God or to see God or to hear God,

00:54:33.600 --> 00:54:37.600
which was otherwise impossible because of the dense darkness

00:54:37.600 --> 00:54:41.600
that had descended over the land of the Gentiles.

00:54:42.600 --> 00:54:48.600
But arise and shine for your light has come and the glory of the Lord has risen upon thee.

00:54:48.600 --> 00:54:50.600
For behold, I open blind eyes.

00:54:50.600 --> 00:54:52.600
I cause deaf ears to open.

00:54:52.600 --> 00:54:54.600
I cause mute mouths to speak.

00:54:54.600 --> 00:54:59.600
I cause the lame to leap because behold your Messiah.

00:54:59.600 --> 00:55:02.600
Hear a voice crying out in the wilderness.

00:55:03.600 --> 00:55:05.600
Prepare either way of the Lord.

00:55:05.600 --> 00:55:07.600
This is what we are doing.

00:55:07.600 --> 00:55:10.600
The salvation, the battling, everything is done.

00:55:10.600 --> 00:55:12.600
Everything is done by him.

00:55:12.600 --> 00:55:19.600
We join in the adventure of causing light that can never be overpowered by darkness

00:55:19.600 --> 00:55:25.600
to now begin to enter lives in a land that was otherwise covered and there was a dominance there.

00:55:34.600 --> 00:55:37.600
We want to live a God life without training or maturing.

00:55:37.600 --> 00:55:39.600
It ain't going to happen.

00:55:39.600 --> 00:55:41.600
We quit. We quit far too easily.

00:55:41.600 --> 00:55:43.600
We quit too far too easily.

00:55:43.600 --> 00:55:45.600
We quit when Barnabas leaves.

00:55:45.600 --> 00:55:48.600
We quit when Timothy delays.

00:55:48.600 --> 00:55:51.600
We quit when Doze goes.

00:55:51.600 --> 00:55:53.600
We quit when Corinth rejects us.

00:55:53.600 --> 00:55:56.600
We quit when the sun sets us.

00:55:56.600 --> 00:56:00.600
We quit when Demas deserts us.

00:56:00.600 --> 00:56:02.600
We quit too easily.

00:56:02.600 --> 00:56:05.600
And when you look at Paul, he's a god.

00:56:05.600 --> 00:56:08.600
When you look at Jesus, he could have quit in the Garden of Gethsemane.

00:56:08.600 --> 00:56:13.600
He could have quit when he came back and looked for his disciples and all of them were fishing.

00:56:13.600 --> 00:56:22.600
God could have quit when he restarted with Noah and found that Noah was lying naked, drunk.

00:56:22.600 --> 00:56:27.600
He could have quit when Israel built a golden calf.

00:56:27.600 --> 00:56:32.600
He could have quit when he found that Noah was lying naked, drunk.

00:56:32.600 --> 00:56:35.600
Israel built a golden calf.

00:56:35.600 --> 00:56:37.600
He could have quit and said, Moses, let's start afresh.

00:56:37.600 --> 00:56:40.600
He said that and had no intentions of seeing it through.

00:56:42.600 --> 00:56:44.600
We quit too easily.

00:56:47.600 --> 00:56:50.600
Hey, quit today but get up tomorrow and start again.

00:56:57.600 --> 00:57:00.600
Childishness dislikes being put to the test.

00:57:00.600 --> 00:57:03.600
And demands signs and rewards to continue.

00:57:03.600 --> 00:57:08.600
Childishness dislikes being put to the test.

00:57:08.600 --> 00:57:12.600
And demands signs and rewards to continue.

00:57:16.600 --> 00:57:19.600
God will not let you circumvent his end game.

00:57:19.600 --> 00:57:23.600
And his end game is, I want you to mature into the image of my son.

00:57:24.600 --> 00:57:26.600
It'll happen by the spirit.

00:57:26.600 --> 00:57:29.600
And it'll happen by the spirit working through others.

00:57:30.600 --> 00:57:32.600
It ain't gonna happen only through the spirit.

00:57:34.600 --> 00:57:35.600
It ain't gonna.

00:57:37.600 --> 00:57:47.600
God in his wisdom has decided that, Jacob, you will be nothing unless you are dependent on others through whom my spirit will work into your life.

00:57:47.600 --> 00:57:49.600
Yes, my spirit will teach you things directly.

00:57:49.600 --> 00:57:51.600
But you're not gonna make it.

00:57:51.600 --> 00:57:56.600
If you think you and the spirit can do this together, you'll have to be dependent on others.

00:57:56.600 --> 00:58:02.600
And if you're not dependent on others, you ain't making it into a place called maturity.

00:58:02.600 --> 00:58:03.600
You're not.

00:58:09.600 --> 00:58:14.600
Like I said before, for a timeless being, to a timeless being, time means nothing but timing is everything.

00:58:14.600 --> 00:58:17.600
Time means nothing but timing is everything.

00:58:17.600 --> 00:58:26.600
Please, let us rise to this call of Psalm 144, 1 that is being released over this church.

00:58:26.600 --> 00:58:30.600
Come, let me train your hands for battle and your fingers for war.

00:58:31.600 --> 00:58:39.600
Because if growth, the God way, isn't our priority, then we'll just end up watching reruns of Groundhog Day here on Earth.

00:58:39.600 --> 00:58:42.600
Where every morning you get up and you're wondering, why is it the same as yesterday?

00:58:42.600 --> 00:58:50.600
Yeah? Any questions? Before we pray that Vancouver will be spared the yoga thingy.

00:58:50.600 --> 00:58:51.600
Any questions?

00:58:58.600 --> 00:58:59.600
Cool.

00:59:02.600 --> 00:59:03.600
Hey, so,