It might sound kind of, what in the world are they praying? And so in 2007 I met a man
called Eddie O'Neill. He was South African. He was a guy I met in the UK. He asked me a
question and his question was, Hey Jacob, do you want to be a pastor that's raising
a church or do you want to be a father that raises a family of sons and daughters? And
so my question was, what's the difference? And then he began to explain the difference.
He said a pastor raises a strong church, a pastor has ministry, a pastor has people who
attend the church, his intent is to make the church big, but if you're a parent then you
will not eat before your children eat. You will clean their shoes so that they look better.
You will do everything in your power to make them increase and make them more than you,
never less than you. And then he asked me the question, Jacob, how many people in the
church would you lay your life down for? And my answer in 2007 was none. In fact there
were a couple I would throw in front of a bus if I could. And so that was my response
to him. And that was in 2007. But after his visit I met him for two more years and it
changed my life and it changed the life of the church. Where we stopped thinking of raising
a church or making a strong church but thinking, what if we could raise a family of sons and
daughters? Hey, I've got too much echo man. And so that was when this church shifted like
crazy. Some of the guys here were there right at the beginning. And so now that's being
passed on where whoever is running a church right now, Beads, Revelation of Beads, Pursuit
of Beads, Wellspring and all those funny names that you've named your churches, all of you
have the same approach that I don't want to raise a church. I want to see if I can
raise people like I would raise a lycan. That's how I want to raise the ones under me. And
then when that happens, yeah, sometimes that occasions like this when you have a birthday
or two, people begin to look back at 20 years. I've done this for 20 years, guys. 20 years.
Have I made mistakes? Absolutely. But is this the best way? Biblically, yes. Go to 1 Corinthians
4, talks about it again and again and again. You may have many guardians but you have few
fathers in the faith. And so sometimes on occasions like this, it is recognized and part of me
wants to back away from it and hide because I think what will people think of those that
haven't heard this before? What are we running here? Some kind of cult? Well, the fact is
I know that I have lived that way, loved that way, poured out my life that way and seen
the rewards of it that way. And I will not back away from that way of building and nor
will the ones that are leaders here back away from it. And the crazy thing is tomorrow you
become a leader too and you do the same. Even if you were not a leader, this would be the
way you function. It's the biblical way of functioning. Families that raise sons and
daughters so that your quiver can be full of strong people that will go and start other
families. Yeah? And the intent is to scatter always. Every time a church begins to congregate,
it becomes a tower of Babel and God will scatter it. Yeah? So just wanted to hear it from the
horse's mouth. This is the way to build and this is how I've built. And I will see the
rewards of it. Yeah? And the reason the rewards will come is because it's the, till you show
me a more excellent way, it is the biblical way to work. And here's the crazy thing. Anything
that is genuine will be abused. And therefore this whole idea of fathering in the church
and stuff like that gets a very bad rap because anything here, I still have an echo man. Anything
that, anything that, okay now you know there's an echo. Anything that is genuine and is really
good for foundation laying will be abused so that people keep a healthy distance from
it. Ever been to a doctor who didn't do his job well? Why do you keep going back? Because
you know that they're all not like that. Yeah? So how do I segue from that? Very simple.
I just go straight in. Okay. We're going to talk about the Ark at the Gate. Okay. So this
is the Ark. When we talk about the Ark and we started some time ago and then I went to
some other topics, we had spoken about the Ark, we had used that as an example because
that would be approximately the size of the Ark. But let's start with Exodus 25-22. When
you read Exodus 25-22, hey I need some more volume now. Okay. So I'm going to go back
to the Ark. Jonathan, do you still love me? Yes. I want to say well then feed the mic
but I won't. Exodus 25 verse 22. I love this. There above the cover between the two cherubim
that are over the Ark of the Testimony, I will meet with you and I will give you all
my commands for the Israelites. The message version is quite similar but let me just read
it for you. Exodus, sorry, Exodus 25-22 from the message. Okay. So I'm going to read it
for you. I will meet you there at set times and speak with you from above the atonement
cover, from between the angel figures that are on it, speaking the commands that I have
for the Israelites. We talked about the Ark some but one of the things the Ark reveals
to us about God is that he's a God who engages, meets, walks, and is a God who is a God who
speaks, speaks, and is present in our midst. Do not settle for a God lessen this because
it is to settle for something that is not fully God. This must be your personal experience.
This must be the experience of every believer because we have a God who engages us, who
meets us, who walks with us, who speaks and is present in our midst. And I'm not spiritualizing
this. This is actual because he's a person. He engages us as in when you're totally disengaged
and don't want anything of him, he still engages you, man. He meets us, meets us invisibly
but face to face. How do we worship the way we worship if he wasn't tangible and real?
At some point it would stop but it could go on. He walks with us as in, I mean listen
at the end of the day go to Genesis chapter 1 and you will find that all this is true
because he used to do this with Adam. It was his plan A. He was still spirit then but he
would come and walk in the garden and converse with Adam before the fall. So you see both
how we should have been and how God still is because he hasn't changed. It's us that
have changed. And then he speaks. Speaks regularly, speaks daily. Show me a dad who does not speak
to his child every day. Show me a dad who does not speak to his child every day and
I'll show you a bad dad and who is present in our midst. He is present in our midst
always. The ark portrays this. The ark was also the carrier, the ark was also the carrier
of his glorious presence. Glorious presence. The ark was also the carrier of his glorious
presence. The ark was also the carrier of his glorious presence. Today we are the ark
because those days God used to symbolize his presence and his power through a wooden acacia
box coated with gold. Today he represents and symbolizes and lives in the midst of a
people. This is more real than anything else. That God actually dwells amongst his people.
It takes forever to wrap our heads around this because he is invisible and we live in
a ridiculously visible world. But God lives amongst his people. And his people will keep
increasing because he lives amongst his people. At some point you got added. At some point
you added someone else. It goes on. God lives amongst his people. It's his favorite resting
place. Why would he choose heaven? What's there to fascinate him? Yes, I know God sits
in the highest of heavens but his favorite resting place is his people. Why would a father
be separate from his children in a distant place his children cannot access him? It is
so ridiculously stupid. God lives amongst a people and that people is us. He's a father
before he is anything else. Which father wants to live in a place distant where the weather
is good and streets are made of gold? You think God wants that? He wants gold. You.
The most precious thing in the entire universe was Christ and he was sacrificed for you.
He lives in our midst. The more conscious we get of him, the more he is able to flow
through us. What if you had in your blood an antidote for the next generation of people?
What if you had a next big disease? What if you have in your blood something that will
never have COVID affect anybody in the world? What if you didn't know it? What if you knew
it? The idea is that once I become conscious that he loves living in the midst of his people,
then he begins to flow more easily. We are the ark. We are the ark of the earth. We are
the people who should be conscious of his glorious presence. Who should be conscious
of his glorious presence in us. And if so, and if so, if I am conscious of this, and
if so, then he will overflow. He will overflow. He will overflow. He will overflow. He will
overflow. Through others, through us. If so, now one of the attempts in this church over
the last many months, whoever speaks, is to make us more and more aware of the one who
loves dwelling here. It's his favorite resting place. I'm not talking about Acts 29, I'm
talking about his people. He loves dwelling with his people and we are just a small portion
of that people. Yeah? So he loves Presbyterians, Lutherans, Baptists, Pentecostals, Charismatics.
He loves those that have received him. And he loves those that have not received him
yet, but there are consequences to rejecting him. Yeah? Every Hindu, Muslim, Buddhist is
loved the same way as a Christian is loved and was paid for by the same way a Christian
was paid for. It's not different. Any questions before we go on? Any questions before we go
on?
Yeah, the Ark is considered the carrier of his presence. The Ark was a carrier of his
presence. It was many things more than that. So Ark, one, it was a carrier of his presence.
Two, it was a place where he would meet with Moses. Three, he would issue his commands
from there. But one of the things that was prominent was that it was a carrier of his
presence. It was a weapon of war. They would not go to war without it. Moses would say
in Numbers 25, oh God, every time you take the Ark and go out, he would say, arise, oh
Lord, let our enemies be scattered. So it would become a weapon of war. But at the end
of the day, the Ark represented God in the midst of a people. And if that meant, to go
with Noah, if that meant that they looked at it as the throne, the throne of the king,
because every time they would bring in the Ark, shouts would issue. They shouted so loud
before the Ark was taken by the Philistines. When the Ark was brought in, they went to
war and they got beaten by the Philistines. So what does Saul say? Saul says bring in
the Ark. When the Ark comes in, the shouting in the Israelite camp is so loud that the
Philistines begin to say, their God has come into their midst. What are we going to do?
We've never handled this before. We have heard of this God who took care of Egypt. Is he
going to do the same to us? But instead, they didn't realize that having the Ark is not
what gives them power. It is having the presence of God and recognizing the presence of God
that gives them power. And what happens to the Ark? It gets stolen by the Philistines
and then the whole story follows. So the Ark is many things. One of the things is the throne
of God, but that's just one of the many things. We are looking at the presence of God in the
midst of a people. That's what the Ark represents. The presence of God in the midst of a people.
Any other questions? Remember when we talk about his presence and his glory or his glorious
presence, remember how we are defining glory. Glory is the nature, is the essence of his
nature. The essence of his nature. And so think of all the things that glory constitutes.
He's holy. He's absolutely true. I don't mind writing it all over again. He's majestic.
His presence is powerful. He is good. He is laughter. He is faithful. He is kind. He is
fame. He is faithful. He is gentle. He is kind. He is jealous. He is supernatural. He
is protective. He is undefeated. He is a dread to the enemy. He is a great enemy. He is a
great enemy. His voice splits, sustains, forms, creates. He is generous. He is sacrificial.
He is brilliant. Darkness hides from him. He is splendid. He is a great enemy. He is
a great enemy. And he is, and you can fill out the rest because there is more. Everything
that we have written here, the essence of his nature, we try to bring into one word
called doxa or kabod and that is supposed to describe everything he is. At the end of
the day, always remember, holy precedes glory. Holy precedes glory. One of the most amazing
things about Jesus Christ is this. He is holy. As in, the best way to describe holy
that I'm finding out thus far, and you may have a better way to explain it, is he is
true man. He is true. Everything about him is so straight. When it comes to his kindness,
his kindness is so straight. It is perfect. There's nothing wrong with his kindness. What
makes him holy is his straightness. It's an otherworldly straightness. He's so kind, so
generous, so sacrificial, so powerful. Everything about him is so straight. And that makes him
something that is separate called holy. The one thing that Adam did not have, the one
thing that we have because he dwells in us. It's crazy man. And when you put all this
together, you end up having a being who is glorious. Keep remembering this, because other
wise we'll go after glory in terms of the external. Keep going over this list where
you know this constitutes his glory. And he's here. He's here. And his glory is always.
So he's never not like this. Listen to me. He's here. And his glory is always. So he's
never not like this. He is never not like this. Your circumstances do not take away
from his glory or define his glory. He is never not like this. Never not like this.
So right now, he's like this. And the more I begin to think of him like this, the more
I inhabit it. The more I think along my circumstances, the more I inhabit my circumstances. If I
begin to think of him like this, it's only a matter of time before his glory bursts through
everything in my life. Breakthrough happens because of both a receiving of who he is and
allowing him to then do what he wants. So he's never not like this. He's never not like
this. So when you chart the course of the ark, you'll see that and then there's a scripture
in Colossians of course which says Christ in us, the hope of glory or the confident
expectation of present and future. So I think that's the point. I think that's the point.
Glory. So we both have it now and we will see it consummated in brilliance after this.
So when you chart the course of the ark, you'll find that charting the course of the ark gives
you a lesson on how to handle the glory of God. And we need to know that, particularly
in this church because we've been going around this topic for a while. And so what happens
to people and how does it work? So in 1 Samuel 5 verse 3 to 4, you'll find that the ark is
now in the temple of Dagon. The Philistines capture the ark, they take it into the temple
and it's a temple to a fish god and they set it up next to the temple fish god. And at
some point in the night, the fish god just keels over, breaks into many pieces. So they
decide, no, we've got to put it on back together. It's a box. It's a box made of wood with gold
inlay and outlay. It's a box. They leave the box in the temple and the next day that fish
god is down on it, broken into pieces. And so they do the humpty dumpty thing and put
it all back together again and they set it up. The next day they come, again it's down.
Then something else begins to happen. Plagues begin to break out. There are five kings and
they start sending the ark to each other. You'll see it travel to Ekron. The guys at
Ekron say we can't handle it so they send it somewhere else. Everywhere the ark goes,
they break out into boils. So you know what they do? They make gold boils. This is the
ultimate remedy. They're suffering from boils or tumors so they make gold tumors, five gold
tumors and five rats and they put it on a cart and they send it back and the cow takes
it back to the Israelites and it lands in the field. That's the next stage. It lands
in the field of a guy called Joshua in a place called Beth Shemesh. In Beth Shemesh, people start
getting, they know this. Every child in Israel knows how to handle the ark. Beth Shemesh,
people get curious. They start opening the ark, look into it and 70 of them die. So they
decide, nah, these are guys who are from the Commonwealth of Israel. They decide,
nah, don't want it here. So they then send it to Abinadab, Abinadab's house and he lives
in a place called Kiryat Jeorim. So this you'll find in 1 Samuel 6, 19. This you will find
in 1 Samuel 7, verse 1 and 2. They send it to his house. Here's the crazy thing. The
ark remains in his house for 20 years and when it stays there for 20 years, David realizes
that he better bring it to the temple. And so he puts it in the house of the Lord. And
on a cart. While bringing it to the temple, Abinadab's sons, Ahiyo and Uzzah decide that
it needs steadying because the oxen stumble and they are dead on the spot. So they decide,
not a good idea, David leaves it in the house of Abedidab. This guy has the ark for 3 months
and he begins to prosper like crazy. And by the way, if you thought 4 or 5 kids was a
lot, he had 68. Yeah, just a little note there. And his house, he begins to just prosper.
So when he gets there, he starts to prosper. So he's a little bit of a kid, but he's a
little bit of a kid. And his house, he begins to just prosper. So where do we see this?
We see this in 2 Samuel 6 and we see this in 2 Samuel 6, 11. And so then David decides
that he's going to bring it with the Levites on poles as it is. And so he's going to bring
what it should have been on their shoulders to the temple. And that's how it comes to
the temple. Why go through this whole history? Why chart the course of it? Because you'll
see throughout a few things happening. First, when it comes to the ark, once a people realize
the presence, the glorious presence of God in their midst, the enemy gods cannot stand.
It is important, guys, that's the first principle. That when it was first taken and placed in
the temple of Dagon, the glory of God amongst the people is something the enemy cannot stand.
The enemy falls and he falls again and again and again and again. Sometimes one of the
ways to overcome situations that are dark is just to not even think, but first recognize
the very presence of God in our midst. First recognize the presence of God in our midst.
Let your singing come from the recognition. Let the singing not come because you're trying
to get him to appear. We're not doing a magic trick here. He is here. What we are doing
is recognizing his presence. And once you recognize his presence, then it begins to
rise. Songs may rise, words may rise, prayers may rise. And every time that happens, be it
in the jail where Paul and Silas were singing, be it in the valley of Decision where Jehoshaphat
was taking his army to fight a huge bunch of guys, it doesn't matter where, be it in
the belly of a fish like Jonah, it doesn't matter where. You recognize the glory of God.
A people that recognizes his glorious presence will find the enemy cannot stand. You should
try this out. I've tried it out many times. Sometimes it's individuals, sometimes it's
groups and it always works, guys. Always works. Derek and I have gone to places right in the
midst of enemy territory and done this and seen things break and fall within hours. You
can ask him later. So that's the first thing. Second thing, and we're talking about someone,
we're not talking about an impersonal power. We're talking about someone being recognized
and things beginning to change. Next one. Beth Shemesh, the guys in Beth Shemesh handled
glory callously. Callously is when you treat something that is sacred in a manner that
you would treat something profane. Where you know for weeks and months you know that every
time we gather, be it as two people or twenty or a church, that he is present. And then
when I come in like Cosby and Zimri did. Here's what's happening in that story in Numbers
17, where the presence of God, a pillar that is so huge. Guys, I know I've explained this
before but just to refresh your memory, the pillar of cloud and fire was big enough to
give shade to a million people. It was towering. It wasn't this tinsy-winsy-wimsy little cloud
that goes... It was this huge cloud that would blaze at night and would be shade during the
day for a million people. And this cloud has settled now on the tent of meeting, which
was a camp outside where the Israelites would dwell and Moses would go into it. And at that
time, as Moses is meeting with God and this cloud appears over it, Cosby and Zimri, Zimri
is an Israelite, he goes with another woman and he starts caressing her or doing things
that were not kosher in the view of everybody because everyone would come out and stand
at the door of their tent when the cloud would move and God would meet with Moses. There's
something called callousness in terms of how we handle the cloud of glory or how we handle
God's glory. Learn how to handle it carefully. Mishandling glory affects both Eli and his
sons, affects Cosby and Zimri and affects the people of Beth Shemesh. How do you define
callous handling? It'll be different for different people, eh? The profane handling of something
sacred differs from person to person. God does not establish a protocol saying, do this,
don't do this. He does not operate like that. But he knows my heart and he knows when I'm
treating something callously. He knows. So I can't use the same measure that I use for
myself for you. But know when you're treating the sacredness of God roughly. He is a father
but he is God. He is father but he is majesty. One of the ways we treat him callously is
with our words. Just refuse to say things about God that you know are not true to your
life. Make that a decision in your life. If you are not walking it, don't talk it. Any
questions on that before we move on? I was watching a video of a woman who was talking
about season five of Chosen today while flying back. And at one point Jesus turns to the
Pharisees and he begins to say, the whole series is called, that episode is called Woe.
And he begins to say, you're hypocrites. You say one thing, you do another. You're like
whitewashed tombs with bones inside. You're hypocrites. You tithe on small things but
you will not be generous when it comes to others. You're hypocrites. You make big prayers
but you aren't living it. He keeps using the word hypocrites. You're hypocrites. You will
not go and take what I've given you nor will you allow people that are supposed to come
in. You'll prevent them to. And the anger that rises in that picture. And he invites
his death that way. He's taking on the establishment and he invites his death. But the point is
this, callousness differs for different people but learn how to treat what is sacred properly
and don't be a hypocrite about it. I'd rather be dishonest about what I don't like and like
about God than pretend. And so he's talking about the same thing. He's talking about the
same thing. The third group of guys was Abhinadab. You know it's strange, eh? Abhinadab had the
ark for 20 years and you don't hear nothing about how it helped his house. Obedidam had
it for three months and it says his house prospered. Abhinadab had it for 20 years and
the result of it is the death of his sons when it's finally moved out. Not a word is
heard about how the ark benefited Abhinadab. I want to draw a conclusion from that. Abhinadab
housed the glory of God in terms of the ark but did not seek presence. He had the ark
in his house but he did not know how to seek the presence of the ark. It is possible for
us to enjoy Sundays and enjoy the glory of God and not seek his presence for the rest
of the week, two weeks, three weeks, four weeks. John 14.20, just listen to this. Christ
is saying this. Christ is saying it. I am in the Father. I am in joy and joy is in me.
I am in the Father. I am in Mira and Mira is in me. That's the proximity. There's no
distance. Just as he and the Father are one. He's saying I am in the Father. The Father
and I are one. In the same way, Jacob, you and I are one because I am in you and you
are in me. This presence thing is never absent. It should be your aim in life. It should be
your aim in life to hunger and thirst so badly that every time you miss the fact that
you're aware of him, you go back running. That's the degree to which we can develop
it. What happens if we develop it? Is it for our own benefit? I'd like to tell you that
you are saved. You know God. You know him as Father. You know him as Lord. He takes
care of you. Do this for the benefit of others. It's others who benefit because of the presence
of God in us. Did the world benefit because of the presence of the Spirit of God upon
Jesus? Yes. Well then, it's the same for you. Just as the world benefited from the Spirit
of God being fully resident, alive in Christ, so is the body because the Spirit of God dwells
in this temple. This is reality, guys. We've unfortunately created distance when God is
trying to create proximity. And the shame is we create distance with theology, the study
of God. The study of God that will not recognize him primarily as Father. The study of God
that will not recognize him primarily as Father. The study of God that will not recognize him
primarily as Father. The study of God that does not recognize God as Father is not the
study of God. It's twisted when you don't recognize him as Father because that is what
he primarily is as God. He's always been God the Father. Don't make me go down that road
because I go down that road every time because he so desires for us to know that he is primarily
a Father. That's why he's different from every other God. David then takes the ark, but David
calibrates it. David calibrates glory to what is trending in other nations. Refuse to do that,
eh? We are not going to take the glory of God and reduce it to feathers or brilliant
light or gold dust or people falling over. That's not how you calibrate the glory of
God. It's the essence of his nature. He's brilliant and holy because he's so straight
to it. It comes to every aspect that you can think of. Anything good, he is the true measure.
David realizes, eh, that he did it the wrong way. Then it comes to the house of obedient
both hosted presence and worship. You find it in 1 Chronicles 16.5. Yep. He's the true
person. He's the true person. He's the true person. He's the true person. He's the true
person. Sorry? David brought in the ark on a cart. Through Moses, the instructions were
super clear. It was written down. But listen, when you bring in the ark, carry it on your
shoulders. Get Levitical priests to carry it on your shoulders. Why? Because this was
the presence of God. This was the throne of God. This was the weapon of God. This was
the glory of God. And it is his government or his way of governing. It was him in his
fullness represented by a box carried on his shoulders because Isaiah 9.6 later on says,
the government shall be upon our shoulders. This is where you carry government. When someone
in Isaiah 22.22, Eliakim was given the keys to the courts and he would wear the keys on
his shoulder. This was where it was worn. It was the mark of government. And he brings
it on a cart just like the Philistines do. David knew better. He just went and did it
wrong. Ahio and Uzzah had this ark in their home for 20 years. It is possible to get accustomed
to glory. It is possible to get accustomed to glory. When you get accustomed to glory,
you decide it is okay not to be all that reverent. One of the scariest things is when you get
irreverent about God because you have now pastored for many years or ministered for
many years or seen too many miracles. It's terrible when one gets familiar with the glory
of God. The other extreme is the reverence where you don't approach it. Know this, that
the glory of God fills the earth. It's not a church thing. The Bible says the glory of
the Lord covers the earth as the waters cover the seeds. Remember we used to say that we
must think of this roof like a blue balloon full of water. It is the kingdom and the glory
of God pressing in on the earth. Everywhere you go the glory of God presses in on the
earth. But you learn about it in a situation like this because this is where he lives.
When you begin to decide that this is not important anymore, that this is something
that can come after family, money, work and this, that's getting accustomed to something
so quickly that it is an occasional motorbike that you ride during summer. Hey, always remember
it is not God first, then family, then work, then church. That is not a biblical order.
We talked about this about five, six years ago. It is God as in Christ and then it is
Christ and the church. You cannot separate Christ and the church. I'm going over old
ground that we've covered ages ago because many of us haven't heard this. It is not
Christ and the church. You cannot follow Christ without following him with others called the
church. You cannot. It's a false premise. If he is the head and you are the body, how
do you separate them and say I follow the head but I'm not part of the body? It does
not exist. It's a creation of organizations and when it's focused on the family, then
it's God, family, church. When it is focused on marriage, it is God, marriage, church.
It's not true.
You know when they, Psalm 24, we talked about it earlier. I'll just not go by the notes.
In Psalm 24, this is what's really happening. They had this thing called the gate liturgy.
Gate liturgy. This was a common practice in the ancient Near East where when a king would
return after a conquest, they would come to the gates of the city. Once they come to the
gate of the city, they would, the person from within the gates would ask who goes there?
And then you would reply that this is the king of Jerusalem or the king of Salem or
the king of Vancouver and open up the gates. And when you say open up the gates, the gates
would be opened and they would come in with things that they had plundered or some symbol
of victory they would come in with. Even till a few years ago when the king of England,
and that means maybe a hundred years before Elizabeth, before now, when the king of England
would come to this place in London called the Temple Bar, there's a gate there. It's
called the Temple Bar gate and he would come there and it's the division between London
and Westminster and he would come there and there would be a door that was barred and
they would shout and say who goes there? And then they would say it's the king of England
and then the doors would be swung wide open and the king of England would, the king of
the UK would come straight in to the claps of people. And it was an allusion to Psalm
24. And Psalm 24 is written in the context of David returning from some kind of a battle
where he had victory. And every time the doors would open, it was acknowledging two things.
One, the victory. Two, that we are submitted to you, O king. These were the two things
that were being spoken of. Only in the case of Israel, they knew that it wasn't David,
that there was a divine warrior king represented by the ark that gave them victory. And so
Israel would gather and there would be this voice which would say who goes there? And
it would say this is the king of Israel. Open up the doors and the doors would be flung
open and David would come in, the ark would come in, people would begin to cheer. While
they're cheering, they're cheering for the divine warrior king that they have. The king
of Israel. And that's not David. And then some of the women and men would start applauding
David too and they would say Saul has killed his thousands, David has killed his ten thousands.
Both would get credit but they knew where the victory was coming from. That's what's
happening in Psalm 24 as the ark comes in on the shoulders of people. And where is he
taking it? He's taking it to the small hill on which is a tent under which the ark is
kept. How many people will worship it openly? Sometimes it would happen when they're taking
it to the temple. The same thing would happen at the temple. This is the glorious presence
of God coming in. You know how it works for us? It works for us in the sense on one hand
we are the ones who stand on the inside and say who goes there? And a voice comes from
heaven or from the word saying this is the king of glory. And then because we are part
of the city, we also get to open the gates and say come in, come in oh king of glory.
What an opportunity we have. This is why every time Moses would go out to war with
the Israelites, he would say numbers 25. Arise oh God, they would take the ark and the ark
would go out first. Why? Because the presence of God has to go out first, the divine warrior
has to go out first. What happened with Joshua? Same thing. Put the singers up front and some
soldiers carry the ark next. Why? Because that was enough to guarantee victory. Arise
oh God, let your enemies be scattered. Let all those who rise up against you fall. That
was a statement that God said to Moses you have to speak. And he would speak it and something
would happen to Israel. You know why? Because that box was a visible sign of the presence
of God and they had the visible cloud. We do not have it therefore we don't have markers
to recognize the presence of God in our midst but if we as people who have the spirit of
God in us can begin to recognize right now that he is hearing us, that he is here, that
we are talking about the same God from 3,000, 4,000 years ago, it will change us man. That's
the kind of God we have. And so we get the privilege of doing both. On one hand saying
who goes there? And either a Rhema word or a promise or a prophetic word or the word
of God or a vision that God gives us says this is the King of glory. When you look at
Psalm 24 you see how they address him. Who is this? And they say he is the Lord. And
he is the Lord strong and mighty. He is mighty in battle. He is the Lord of hosts as in the
angelic armies and he is the King of glory. Look at who they say is coming into the city
as the gates are being opened. You think it's any different from Richmond? Who is this King
of glory? He is the Lord as in Kyrios. He is not tyrannical, he is benevolent but he
is master of the universe. You see why we getting callous about someone like this is
not a good idea. Then he is the Lord strong and mighty. What kind of mighty? Mighty in
battle. This is when we connect the dots. That kingdom implies warfare. There cannot
be an advancement of kingdom without warfare and warfare does not exist if it were not
for the kingdom. One cannot exist without the other. He is the Lord strong and mighty,
mighty in battle. He is the Lord of hosts meaning at his disposal are thousands upon
thousands and ten thousand upon ten thousand innumerable angels and then he is a King of
glory as in him lies the essence of his nature that is brilliant and he is who is. This is
who we are inviting into Richmond. Who goes there? He is the one who goes there. Well
then because we are part of the city here we fling wide open the gates so God. This
is how it works guys. In little things. In pouring out coffee for someone at Gary Point
in having a garage sale in going around praying in undoing things that are dark in covering
areas of Richmond. This is who we are letting in. This is not a game we are playing because
he is not a game. So how do we open the gates for him to enter? We will deal with I will
just give you the list and then we can deal with it later. How do we open the gates for
him to enter? What does the Bible say? One, announce your intent. Announce your intent
that is what I am doing today. Yes I am teaching but I am announcing our intent. You will find
in Deuteronomy 20 verse 10 to 12 God would say listen when you approach a city go offer
them peace first. Tell them listen we want to make peace we want to come into your city
we are taking your city but we come in peace. If they refuse then set up siege mounds and
then begin the battle but offer them peace first. Announce your intent. Announce your
intent. Second, we should try this before we go today with thanksgiving. You enter his
courts and his gates you enter his courts with thanksgiving. What does it look like
when thanksgiving is given for opening the doors of a city? You know the actual word
used for thanksgiving in Psalm 100 verse 4 it is in Psalm 100 verse 4. The actual word
given is I will just write it how it is pronounced. It is a word called betoda which means shouting
and praising but to testify. We are telling of what God has done. It is our testimony
that we are singing and shouting out. We are testifying. What does it look like when a
people begin to give thanks but they give thanks testifying that oh God in the middle
of the song someone from that side saying oh God you've been good. Oh God you healed
me. Oh God you delivered me. Oh God you fed me. Oh God you kept me. What if in the middle
of the song Pawan began to say the very things he prayed. What does it look like? That's
thanksgiving. That kind of thanksgiving opens doors lifts up gates. We'll try that before
we go. Where you begin to testify while the song is going on. Maybe only your neighbor
will hear it. Testifying requires voice, vocal cords, words. Always remember the devil cannot
read your mind. If you want things to be heard say them loudly. The next one is the word
righteousness. Righteousness. People that are righteous walk righteously have the ability
to open gates. Psalm 118 verse 19 and 20. I might be going a little fast because for
some strange reason I'm excited. Swing wide the city gates. The righteous gates. I'll
walk right through and thank God. The temple gate belongs to the God so that victors can
enter and praise. Open to me the gates of righteousness that I may enter through them
and give thanks to the Lord. This is the gate of the Lord. The righteous shall enter through
it. One of the ways we open gates that are both is by people walking different from the
rest of the land. It says righteousness exalts a nation. Can I walk righteously so that gate
opening can become easy? Can I walk righteously? Any questions before I finish the next four?
I've got four more gate openers. Any questions?
What does it look like to announce intent? Announce intent is to shamelessly say we moved
into Richmond because God is giving us Richmond. To confidently say we took up a church building
in Richmond because God said he would use us to completely change the city. That Hebrides
2.0 where 20s and 30s would be affected would happen in Richmond. That churches that are
compromised will begin to come back to life because those that caused the compromise will
be removed one by one. That this city that has so many temples and mosques and shrines
dedicated to other gods will find the same thing that happened to Dagon happening to
them. Why? Because of what we are talking about. That's announcing intent. And they
do it quite shamelessly because we are few in numbers. A small group of, it's like a
ragtag bunch. But it's always God's favorite thing, ragtag remnant. Go ahead Prashan. Oh,
you were just stretching your hand? Okay. But it went straight up by the way. Next one.
Prepare the way. Prepare the way. And it's in the, how are we preparing the way? This
is where the things we are doing in terms of prayer, in terms of serving. This is how
you prepare the way. You see that in Isaiah 62, verse 10 to 12, Hebrews 12, 13. The Gerad
sale is a prepare the way. The Gerad sale we are having, we are renting tables not to
ourselves but we are renting 10 to 12 tables to the neighborhood so the neighbors can come
and sell stuff. And that gives us an opportunity to now prepare the way into the lives of the
neighbors. Prepare the way. Next one. With keys. With keys. With keys. With keys. With
keys. We open the gates with keys. With keys. What do you mean with keys? When you go to
Matthew 16, 19. When you go to Isaiah 22, 22. When you go to Revelation 3, 7, you will
find that God gives keys. God gives keys. He says to Peter, listen I'm giving you a
key. You open this kingdom and you will open things and nothing can shut it. What you shut
nobody can open. He says that to Eliakim, I'm going fast again. He says that to Eliakim
in Isaiah, this doesn't sound natural. I think it's somewhere in between. He says to Eliakim
in Isaiah 22, 22, listen I'm giving you keys. Whatever you let in will be let in. Whatever
you shut will be shut. He says that to the Church of Philadelphia, listen I know you
have little strength but I placed an open door before you. What you shut will remain
shut. What you open will be open. What's he trying to say? Listen, there are certain times
when I give you a key. If I give you a key to the lower mainland of the Okanagan Valley,
that's yours. If I give you a key to St. Martin's, that's yours. If I give you a key to Richmond,
that's yours. How do keys come to pass? Here's how keys come to pass. Intimacy leads to purity,
leads to revelation, leads to demonstration, leads to the process of the Lord. What you
give to the Lord leads to authority. These two can change places. How do people get keys?
It's always this way. You take the Church of Philadelphia, you take Eliakim the son
of Hilkiah, you take Peter, flawed people, small people, ignored people. Then along comes
God and he sees in them a faithfulness, a desire for intimacy, a walking with him which
is the idea of purity. That leads then to a revelation from heaven. Hey Peter, this
didn't come from the earth. This revelation that you have is from heaven. With the revelation
will come, hey Derek I want you to take care of the Okanagan Valley. Hey Jillian I want
you to take care of London and France. Hey Jacob I want you to take care of St. Martin's.
Hey Axel I want you to take care of Richmond. Once revelation is given, any revelation that
is not demonstrated is just information. Any revelation that is not demonstrated is simply
information. The world is full of God revelations. Nothing happens with it. It just stays or
it goes into books. Revelation that is not worked out, that is not demonstrated is simply
information or knowledge. Once it becomes knowledge it becomes dangerous because knowledge
always puffs up. Once God reveals something to you, let's say God reveals something about
himself or the church to Emmanuel. Now Emmanuel has a choice. Either he can write a book or
he can do nothing with it and it becomes knowledge. Once it becomes knowledge it will puff him
up. Once he puffs up it's pride and it's only a matter of time before he falls. Any
revelation that this church receives or you receive in teaching even as I'm teaching,
if you do not put it into practice at some point it becomes knowledge and knowledge will
puff up and then pride comes before a fall. That's how it works. Even though you may not
have a full extent of it with what little you have, put it into practice. So, if you
put it into practice, you will be able to do it. And then comes authority to wield it.
Next one, dread. Hey guys, this is an important one. We may not know this but I just wanted
to tell you that, gosh, being rather bold today, I want to tell you that there are powers
in the city of Richmond that are in dread of what is happening here. Joshua chapter
7, verse 1, Jericho was shut up. 6 1, sorry, not 7 1. Jericho was shut up because they
knew the Israelites were outside. They knew Israel was a slave nation but they knew that
they had changed because of their God. Jericho was shut up. It was a walled city and nobody
was going up. We don't see it because in a way it's good that we don't think much of
ourselves. But on the other hand, we do need to think much of our God and know that powers
are in dread in Richmond of what is slowly brewing. That power is in dread in Richmond
of what is actually happening inside Richmond. A large part 킫 is that in Richmond there
are more there are more. I say actually they just keep Tucker hi. What is going on? Because
When two people rebuke him, it's two rebukes. What happens when a hundred people rebuke him?
Why does it say in the Bible that a hundred should scatter so many of five shells scatter so many a hundred shell scatter so many
It the exponential rate at which it multiplies when it comes to scattering is crazy. Why?
Because he's a finite being
Imagine an animal in a cage and you start hitting the cage
But not just you imagine it's two imagine is three imagine is 40 people rattling the cage
Do you know what happens to that animal?
I'm giving you word pictures. So you understand what is actually happening in the spiritual and it's a shame when you opt out of it
You'll still get the rewards, but you won't get the pleasure of
walking into battle with him
Man you think I want spoils of war I want to be there. I
Always feel bad for Nicodemus
He could have been there
But he visits after Jesus is dead
Numbers 23 20 to 25 you should read it
Numbers 23 20 to 25 is Balaam's prophecy
He's been hired by an evil king to curse Israel numbers 23
20 to 25 look at the words he says they numbers 23 20 to 25 I
Have received a command to bless he has blessed I cannot change it no misfortune has seen in Jacob
No misery observed in Israel then the Lord that God is with them the shout of the king is among them
God God brought them out of Egypt. They have the strength of a wild ox
There is no sorcery against Jacob no divination against Israel
It will now be said of Jacob and of Israel see what God has done the people rise like a lioness
They arouse themselves like a lion that does not rest till he devours his prey and drinks the blood of his victims
Then Balaam said to Balaam neither curse them at all nor bless them Balaam answered
Did I not tell you I must do whatever the Lord says
These are the words that go out over the airwaves in Richmond
It's just that we don't see it therefore find it hard to believe
Sometimes we have to judge
Sometimes gates are opened by judging by judging Luke 13 34 Luke 13 34
Luke 13 34
Or Jerusalem or Jerusalem you who kill prophets and stone those sent to you
How often I've longed to gather your children together as a hen gathers a chicks under her wings
But you were not willing look your house is left to you desolate
I tell you you will not see me again until you say blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord
He said it with tears
It wasn't some pronouncement of judgment. He said it with tears, but Jerusalem was his city
And
Instead he's saying I leave he doesn't say I'm leaving you my city desolate
He's saying I'm leaving you your house desolate even ownership changes
Look at another one Luke
1942
Luke 1942
Sometimes things have to be judged
As in when God says hey Jacob hey church go and say this to these people or go and say this
But if you continue like this, that's what you mean by judging
Sometimes gates open because we judge because nobody judges now. Everybody is diplomatic. Nobody judges
You hear silly things like oh we were told not to judge do not judge or you shall be judged true
But then there's also parts where we are supposed to
look 1942
As he approached Jerusalem and saw the city he wept over it
There's a completely different incident a same writer of the gospel as he approached Jerusalem and saw the city. He wept over it
And said if you even you had only known on this day what would bring your peace
But now it is hidden from your eyes
The days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment against you and encircle you and
Hem you in on every side they will dash you to the ground you and the children with your walls
They will not leave one stone on another because you did not recognize the time of God's coming to you
Severe and it's not coming from an Old Testament prophet. It's coming from Jesus the gentle one
We know that obedience and faith definitely opens gates I
Won't stress on that obedience and faith opens gates
And lastly you are a gate
You are a gate
Question is
Of what the options are heaven
Hell
Flesh
Traditions of men
These are the four options when it comes to believers being gates
Matthew 16 16
Yeah, Matthew 16 16
And Peter
Becomes the gate of heaven when Jesus asks
Who do they say I am and none of the disciples want to answer so they keep saying Elijah good teacher and all this stuff
But Peter has the audacity to say you are Jesus Christ the son of the living God for the first time in the history of the world
The son of the living God for the first time in the history of the world
Someone was being equated with God himself. You are Jesus Christ the son of the living God and he becomes a gate of heaven and
Jesus actually commends him saying Peter
This revelation came to you from my father in heaven. This is not from flesh. That is not from the earth
Few verses later three verses later. It's now Matthew 16 19 to 22 or something
Jesus is saying he's going to the cross and Peter says to him Jesus don't talk like this. Don't say stuff like this and
Suddenly the same Peter who was the gate of heaven now becomes the gate of hell
Where he begins to prevent Christ from going to the cross so much
So that Jesus has to turn around to Peter and say get thee behind me Satan
He suddenly becomes the voice of the devil the same man who had received a revelation
Many times we are the gate guys and the two other options when it comes to gates is the traditions of men
Where we parrot the traditions of men because either we've gotten comfortable in it or that's the mind space
We live in how we will not budge from it
And then the last one is flesh
Where we become the gate of the flesh where we do things not because we are inspired by the spirit, but because it pleases the flesh
any questions
Traditions of men are the only thing that can nullify the word of God a nothing else in the world crazy
There's one thing more powerful than the word of God the traditions of men
Well because your granddad or dad did it a certain way you will not leave it
More powerful than the word
Any questions I'm done feel free to ask I want to need to come up and do a song where we can do
Thanksgiving and testify before we leave
Any questions guys
Yep
For
Traditions of men
You void the
Word of God with the traditions of men. I don't know the reference. Yeah, if you find it just shout it out
Any questions
Cool Shikha texted me saying she's got a neck pain. That's why she wasn't here, but she all heard us