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NOTE
Podcast: Acts 29 Vancouver
Episode: The Ark At The Gates - Part 1
Publishing Date: 2026-07-19T03:04:44-07:00
Podcast URL: https://acts29.ca
Episode URL: https://acts29.ca/the-ark-at-the-gates-part-1/

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It might sound kind of, what in the world are they praying? And so in 2007 I met a man

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called Eddie O'Neill. He was South African. He was a guy I met in the UK. He asked me a

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question and his question was, Hey Jacob, do you want to be a pastor that's raising

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a church or do you want to be a father that raises a family of sons and daughters? And

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so my question was, what's the difference? And then he began to explain the difference.

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He said a pastor raises a strong church, a pastor has ministry, a pastor has people who

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attend the church, his intent is to make the church big, but if you're a parent then you

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will not eat before your children eat. You will clean their shoes so that they look better.

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You will do everything in your power to make them increase and make them more than you,

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never less than you. And then he asked me the question, Jacob, how many people in the

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church would you lay your life down for? And my answer in 2007 was none. In fact there

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were a couple I would throw in front of a bus if I could. And so that was my response

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to him. And that was in 2007. But after his visit I met him for two more years and it

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changed my life and it changed the life of the church. Where we stopped thinking of raising

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a church or making a strong church but thinking, what if we could raise a family of sons and

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daughters? Hey, I've got too much echo man. And so that was when this church shifted like

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crazy. Some of the guys here were there right at the beginning. And so now that's being

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passed on where whoever is running a church right now, Beads, Revelation of Beads, Pursuit

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of Beads, Wellspring and all those funny names that you've named your churches, all of you

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have the same approach that I don't want to raise a church. I want to see if I can

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raise people like I would raise a lycan. That's how I want to raise the ones under me. And

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then when that happens, yeah, sometimes that occasions like this when you have a birthday

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or two, people begin to look back at 20 years. I've done this for 20 years, guys. 20 years.

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Have I made mistakes? Absolutely. But is this the best way? Biblically, yes. Go to 1 Corinthians

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4, talks about it again and again and again. You may have many guardians but you have few

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fathers in the faith. And so sometimes on occasions like this, it is recognized and part of me

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wants to back away from it and hide because I think what will people think of those that

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haven't heard this before? What are we running here? Some kind of cult? Well, the fact is

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I know that I have lived that way, loved that way, poured out my life that way and seen

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the rewards of it that way. And I will not back away from that way of building and nor

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will the ones that are leaders here back away from it. And the crazy thing is tomorrow you

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become a leader too and you do the same. Even if you were not a leader, this would be the

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way you function. It's the biblical way of functioning. Families that raise sons and

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daughters so that your quiver can be full of strong people that will go and start other

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families. Yeah? And the intent is to scatter always. Every time a church begins to congregate,

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it becomes a tower of Babel and God will scatter it. Yeah? So just wanted to hear it from the

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horse's mouth. This is the way to build and this is how I've built. And I will see the

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rewards of it. Yeah? And the reason the rewards will come is because it's the, till you show

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me a more excellent way, it is the biblical way to work. And here's the crazy thing. Anything

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that is genuine will be abused. And therefore this whole idea of fathering in the church

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and stuff like that gets a very bad rap because anything here, I still have an echo man. Anything

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that, anything that, okay now you know there's an echo. Anything that is genuine and is really

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good for foundation laying will be abused so that people keep a healthy distance from

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it. Ever been to a doctor who didn't do his job well? Why do you keep going back? Because

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you know that they're all not like that. Yeah? So how do I segue from that? Very simple.

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I just go straight in. Okay. We're going to talk about the Ark at the Gate. Okay. So this

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is the Ark. When we talk about the Ark and we started some time ago and then I went to

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some other topics, we had spoken about the Ark, we had used that as an example because

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that would be approximately the size of the Ark. But let's start with Exodus 25-22. When

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you read Exodus 25-22, hey I need some more volume now. Okay. So I'm going to go back

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to the Ark. Jonathan, do you still love me? Yes. I want to say well then feed the mic

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but I won't. Exodus 25 verse 22. I love this. There above the cover between the two cherubim

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that are over the Ark of the Testimony, I will meet with you and I will give you all

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my commands for the Israelites. The message version is quite similar but let me just read

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it for you. Exodus, sorry, Exodus 25-22 from the message. Okay. So I'm going to read it

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for you. I will meet you there at set times and speak with you from above the atonement

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cover, from between the angel figures that are on it, speaking the commands that I have

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for the Israelites. We talked about the Ark some but one of the things the Ark reveals

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to us about God is that he's a God who engages, meets, walks, and is a God who is a God who

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speaks, speaks, and is present in our midst. Do not settle for a God lessen this because

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it is to settle for something that is not fully God. This must be your personal experience.

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This must be the experience of every believer because we have a God who engages us, who

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meets us, who walks with us, who speaks and is present in our midst. And I'm not spiritualizing

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this. This is actual because he's a person. He engages us as in when you're totally disengaged

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and don't want anything of him, he still engages you, man. He meets us, meets us invisibly

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but face to face. How do we worship the way we worship if he wasn't tangible and real?

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At some point it would stop but it could go on. He walks with us as in, I mean listen

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at the end of the day go to Genesis chapter 1 and you will find that all this is true

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because he used to do this with Adam. It was his plan A. He was still spirit then but he

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would come and walk in the garden and converse with Adam before the fall. So you see both

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how we should have been and how God still is because he hasn't changed. It's us that

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have changed. And then he speaks. Speaks regularly, speaks daily. Show me a dad who does not speak

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to his child every day. Show me a dad who does not speak to his child every day and

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I'll show you a bad dad and who is present in our midst. He is present in our midst

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always. The ark portrays this. The ark was also the carrier, the ark was also the carrier

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of his glorious presence. Glorious presence. The ark was also the carrier of his glorious

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presence. The ark was also the carrier of his glorious presence. Today we are the ark

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because those days God used to symbolize his presence and his power through a wooden acacia

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box coated with gold. Today he represents and symbolizes and lives in the midst of a

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people. This is more real than anything else. That God actually dwells amongst his people.

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It takes forever to wrap our heads around this because he is invisible and we live in

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a ridiculously visible world. But God lives amongst his people. And his people will keep

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increasing because he lives amongst his people. At some point you got added. At some point

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you added someone else. It goes on. God lives amongst his people. It's his favorite resting

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place. Why would he choose heaven? What's there to fascinate him? Yes, I know God sits

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in the highest of heavens but his favorite resting place is his people. Why would a father

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be separate from his children in a distant place his children cannot access him? It is

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so ridiculously stupid. God lives amongst a people and that people is us. He's a father

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before he is anything else. Which father wants to live in a place distant where the weather

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is good and streets are made of gold? You think God wants that? He wants gold. You.

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The most precious thing in the entire universe was Christ and he was sacrificed for you.

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He lives in our midst. The more conscious we get of him, the more he is able to flow

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through us. What if you had in your blood an antidote for the next generation of people?

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What if you had a next big disease? What if you have in your blood something that will

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never have COVID affect anybody in the world? What if you didn't know it? What if you knew

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it? The idea is that once I become conscious that he loves living in the midst of his people,

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then he begins to flow more easily. We are the ark. We are the ark of the earth. We are

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the people who should be conscious of his glorious presence. Who should be conscious

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of his glorious presence in us. And if so, and if so, if I am conscious of this, and

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if so, then he will overflow. He will overflow. He will overflow. He will overflow. He will

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overflow. Through others, through us. If so, now one of the attempts in this church over

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the last many months, whoever speaks, is to make us more and more aware of the one who

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loves dwelling here. It's his favorite resting place. I'm not talking about Acts 29, I'm

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talking about his people. He loves dwelling with his people and we are just a small portion

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of that people. Yeah? So he loves Presbyterians, Lutherans, Baptists, Pentecostals, Charismatics.

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He loves those that have received him. And he loves those that have not received him

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yet, but there are consequences to rejecting him. Yeah? Every Hindu, Muslim, Buddhist is

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loved the same way as a Christian is loved and was paid for by the same way a Christian

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was paid for. It's not different. Any questions before we go on? Any questions before we go

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on?

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Yeah, the Ark is considered the carrier of his presence. The Ark was a carrier of his

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presence. It was many things more than that. So Ark, one, it was a carrier of his presence.

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Two, it was a place where he would meet with Moses. Three, he would issue his commands

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from there. But one of the things that was prominent was that it was a carrier of his

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presence. It was a weapon of war. They would not go to war without it. Moses would say

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in Numbers 25, oh God, every time you take the Ark and go out, he would say, arise, oh

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Lord, let our enemies be scattered. So it would become a weapon of war. But at the end

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of the day, the Ark represented God in the midst of a people. And if that meant, to go

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with Noah, if that meant that they looked at it as the throne, the throne of the king,

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because every time they would bring in the Ark, shouts would issue. They shouted so loud

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before the Ark was taken by the Philistines. When the Ark was brought in, they went to

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war and they got beaten by the Philistines. So what does Saul say? Saul says bring in

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the Ark. When the Ark comes in, the shouting in the Israelite camp is so loud that the

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Philistines begin to say, their God has come into their midst. What are we going to do?

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We've never handled this before. We have heard of this God who took care of Egypt. Is he

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going to do the same to us? But instead, they didn't realize that having the Ark is not

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what gives them power. It is having the presence of God and recognizing the presence of God

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that gives them power. And what happens to the Ark? It gets stolen by the Philistines

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and then the whole story follows. So the Ark is many things. One of the things is the throne

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of God, but that's just one of the many things. We are looking at the presence of God in the

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midst of a people. That's what the Ark represents. The presence of God in the midst of a people.

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Any other questions? Remember when we talk about his presence and his glory or his glorious

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presence, remember how we are defining glory. Glory is the nature, is the essence of his

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nature. The essence of his nature. And so think of all the things that glory constitutes.

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He's holy. He's absolutely true. I don't mind writing it all over again. He's majestic.

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His presence is powerful. He is good. He is laughter. He is faithful. He is kind. He is

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fame. He is faithful. He is gentle. He is kind. He is jealous. He is supernatural. He

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is protective. He is undefeated. He is a dread to the enemy. He is a great enemy. He is a

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great enemy. His voice splits, sustains, forms, creates. He is generous. He is sacrificial.

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He is brilliant. Darkness hides from him. He is splendid. He is a great enemy. He is

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a great enemy. And he is, and you can fill out the rest because there is more. Everything

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that we have written here, the essence of his nature, we try to bring into one word

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called doxa or kabod and that is supposed to describe everything he is. At the end of

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the day, always remember, holy precedes glory. Holy precedes glory. One of the most amazing

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things about Jesus Christ is this. He is holy. As in, the best way to describe holy

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that I'm finding out thus far, and you may have a better way to explain it, is he is

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true man. He is true. Everything about him is so straight. When it comes to his kindness,

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his kindness is so straight. It is perfect. There's nothing wrong with his kindness. What

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makes him holy is his straightness. It's an otherworldly straightness. He's so kind, so

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generous, so sacrificial, so powerful. Everything about him is so straight. And that makes him

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something that is separate called holy. The one thing that Adam did not have, the one

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thing that we have because he dwells in us. It's crazy man. And when you put all this

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together, you end up having a being who is glorious. Keep remembering this, because other

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wise we'll go after glory in terms of the external. Keep going over this list where

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you know this constitutes his glory. And he's here. He's here. And his glory is always.

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So he's never not like this. Listen to me. He's here. And his glory is always. So he's

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never not like this. He is never not like this. Your circumstances do not take away

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from his glory or define his glory. He is never not like this. Never not like this.

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So right now, he's like this. And the more I begin to think of him like this, the more

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I inhabit it. The more I think along my circumstances, the more I inhabit my circumstances. If I

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begin to think of him like this, it's only a matter of time before his glory bursts through

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everything in my life. Breakthrough happens because of both a receiving of who he is and

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allowing him to then do what he wants. So he's never not like this. He's never not like

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this. So when you chart the course of the ark, you'll see that and then there's a scripture

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in Colossians of course which says Christ in us, the hope of glory or the confident

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expectation of present and future. So I think that's the point. I think that's the point.

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Glory. So we both have it now and we will see it consummated in brilliance after this.

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So when you chart the course of the ark, you'll find that charting the course of the ark gives

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you a lesson on how to handle the glory of God. And we need to know that, particularly

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in this church because we've been going around this topic for a while. And so what happens

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to people and how does it work? So in 1 Samuel 5 verse 3 to 4, you'll find that the ark is

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now in the temple of Dagon. The Philistines capture the ark, they take it into the temple

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and it's a temple to a fish god and they set it up next to the temple fish god. And at

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some point in the night, the fish god just keels over, breaks into many pieces. So they

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decide, no, we've got to put it on back together. It's a box. It's a box made of wood with gold

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inlay and outlay. It's a box. They leave the box in the temple and the next day that fish

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god is down on it, broken into pieces. And so they do the humpty dumpty thing and put

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it all back together again and they set it up. The next day they come, again it's down.

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Then something else begins to happen. Plagues begin to break out. There are five kings and

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they start sending the ark to each other. You'll see it travel to Ekron. The guys at

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Ekron say we can't handle it so they send it somewhere else. Everywhere the ark goes,

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they break out into boils. So you know what they do? They make gold boils. This is the

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ultimate remedy. They're suffering from boils or tumors so they make gold tumors, five gold

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tumors and five rats and they put it on a cart and they send it back and the cow takes

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it back to the Israelites and it lands in the field. That's the next stage. It lands

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in the field of a guy called Joshua in a place called Beth Shemesh. In Beth Shemesh, people start

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getting, they know this. Every child in Israel knows how to handle the ark. Beth Shemesh,

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people get curious. They start opening the ark, look into it and 70 of them die. So they

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decide, nah, these are guys who are from the Commonwealth of Israel. They decide,

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nah, don't want it here. So they then send it to Abinadab, Abinadab's house and he lives

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in a place called Kiryat Jeorim. So this you'll find in 1 Samuel 6, 19. This you will find

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in 1 Samuel 7, verse 1 and 2. They send it to his house. Here's the crazy thing. The

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ark remains in his house for 20 years and when it stays there for 20 years, David realizes

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that he better bring it to the temple. And so he puts it in the house of the Lord. And

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on a cart. While bringing it to the temple, Abinadab's sons, Ahiyo and Uzzah decide that

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it needs steadying because the oxen stumble and they are dead on the spot. So they decide,

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not a good idea, David leaves it in the house of Abedidab. This guy has the ark for 3 months

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and he begins to prosper like crazy. And by the way, if you thought 4 or 5 kids was a

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lot, he had 68. Yeah, just a little note there. And his house, he begins to just prosper.

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So when he gets there, he starts to prosper. So he's a little bit of a kid, but he's a

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little bit of a kid. And his house, he begins to just prosper. So where do we see this?

00:25:35.800 --> 00:25:42.800
We see this in 2 Samuel 6 and we see this in 2 Samuel 6, 11. And so then David decides

00:25:51.520 --> 00:25:58.520
that he's going to bring it with the Levites on poles as it is. And so he's going to bring

00:25:58.800 --> 00:26:05.800
what it should have been on their shoulders to the temple. And that's how it comes to

00:26:06.520 --> 00:26:11.720
the temple. Why go through this whole history? Why chart the course of it? Because you'll

00:26:11.720 --> 00:26:17.280
see throughout a few things happening. First, when it comes to the ark, once a people realize

00:26:17.280 --> 00:26:24.280
the presence, the glorious presence of God in their midst, the enemy gods cannot stand.

00:26:24.960 --> 00:26:31.600
It is important, guys, that's the first principle. That when it was first taken and placed in

00:26:31.600 --> 00:26:37.400
the temple of Dagon, the glory of God amongst the people is something the enemy cannot stand.

00:26:37.400 --> 00:26:44.040
The enemy falls and he falls again and again and again and again. Sometimes one of the

00:26:44.040 --> 00:26:51.040
ways to overcome situations that are dark is just to not even think, but first recognize

00:26:51.920 --> 00:26:58.920
the very presence of God in our midst. First recognize the presence of God in our midst.

00:27:01.560 --> 00:27:06.080
Let your singing come from the recognition. Let the singing not come because you're trying

00:27:06.080 --> 00:27:13.080
to get him to appear. We're not doing a magic trick here. He is here. What we are doing

00:27:13.400 --> 00:27:18.840
is recognizing his presence. And once you recognize his presence, then it begins to

00:27:19.520 --> 00:27:25.320
rise. Songs may rise, words may rise, prayers may rise. And every time that happens, be it

00:27:25.320 --> 00:27:31.920
in the jail where Paul and Silas were singing, be it in the valley of Decision where Jehoshaphat

00:27:31.920 --> 00:27:37.160
was taking his army to fight a huge bunch of guys, it doesn't matter where, be it in

00:27:37.160 --> 00:27:43.920
the belly of a fish like Jonah, it doesn't matter where. You recognize the glory of God.

00:27:43.920 --> 00:27:50.920
A people that recognizes his glorious presence will find the enemy cannot stand. You should

00:27:54.080 --> 00:27:59.160
try this out. I've tried it out many times. Sometimes it's individuals, sometimes it's

00:27:59.160 --> 00:28:06.160
groups and it always works, guys. Always works. Derek and I have gone to places right in the

00:28:07.080 --> 00:28:13.200
midst of enemy territory and done this and seen things break and fall within hours. You

00:28:13.200 --> 00:28:20.200
can ask him later. So that's the first thing. Second thing, and we're talking about someone,

00:28:20.720 --> 00:28:26.080
we're not talking about an impersonal power. We're talking about someone being recognized

00:28:26.080 --> 00:28:33.080
and things beginning to change. Next one. Beth Shemesh, the guys in Beth Shemesh handled

00:28:33.080 --> 00:28:40.080
glory callously. Callously is when you treat something that is sacred in a manner that

00:28:47.840 --> 00:28:54.840
you would treat something profane. Where you know for weeks and months you know that every

00:28:55.360 --> 00:29:01.560
time we gather, be it as two people or twenty or a church, that he is present. And then

00:29:01.560 --> 00:29:07.760
when I come in like Cosby and Zimri did. Here's what's happening in that story in Numbers

00:29:07.760 --> 00:29:14.760
17, where the presence of God, a pillar that is so huge. Guys, I know I've explained this

00:29:15.600 --> 00:29:20.040
before but just to refresh your memory, the pillar of cloud and fire was big enough to

00:29:20.040 --> 00:29:27.040
give shade to a million people. It was towering. It wasn't this tinsy-winsy-wimsy little cloud

00:29:27.480 --> 00:29:34.480
that goes... It was this huge cloud that would blaze at night and would be shade during the

00:29:34.480 --> 00:29:41.480
day for a million people. And this cloud has settled now on the tent of meeting, which

00:29:41.960 --> 00:29:47.880
was a camp outside where the Israelites would dwell and Moses would go into it. And at that

00:29:47.880 --> 00:29:54.040
time, as Moses is meeting with God and this cloud appears over it, Cosby and Zimri, Zimri

00:29:54.040 --> 00:29:59.480
is an Israelite, he goes with another woman and he starts caressing her or doing things

00:29:59.480 --> 00:30:04.720
that were not kosher in the view of everybody because everyone would come out and stand

00:30:04.720 --> 00:30:10.040
at the door of their tent when the cloud would move and God would meet with Moses. There's

00:30:10.040 --> 00:30:16.040
something called callousness in terms of how we handle the cloud of glory or how we handle

00:30:16.040 --> 00:30:22.040
God's glory. Learn how to handle it carefully. Mishandling glory affects both Eli and his

00:30:22.040 --> 00:30:27.920
sons, affects Cosby and Zimri and affects the people of Beth Shemesh. How do you define

00:30:27.920 --> 00:30:34.920
callous handling? It'll be different for different people, eh? The profane handling of something

00:30:34.960 --> 00:30:41.640
sacred differs from person to person. God does not establish a protocol saying, do this,

00:30:41.640 --> 00:30:46.800
don't do this. He does not operate like that. But he knows my heart and he knows when I'm

00:30:47.120 --> 00:30:53.800
treating something callously. He knows. So I can't use the same measure that I use for

00:30:53.800 --> 00:31:00.800
myself for you. But know when you're treating the sacredness of God roughly. He is a father

00:31:02.960 --> 00:31:09.480
but he is God. He is father but he is majesty. One of the ways we treat him callously is

00:31:09.480 --> 00:31:16.480
with our words. Just refuse to say things about God that you know are not true to your

00:31:16.480 --> 00:31:23.480
life. Make that a decision in your life. If you are not walking it, don't talk it. Any

00:31:32.360 --> 00:31:39.360
questions on that before we move on? I was watching a video of a woman who was talking

00:31:46.480 --> 00:31:53.480
about season five of Chosen today while flying back. And at one point Jesus turns to the

00:31:53.680 --> 00:31:59.680
Pharisees and he begins to say, the whole series is called, that episode is called Woe.

00:31:59.680 --> 00:32:06.680
And he begins to say, you're hypocrites. You say one thing, you do another. You're like

00:32:06.720 --> 00:32:13.720
whitewashed tombs with bones inside. You're hypocrites. You tithe on small things but

00:32:13.840 --> 00:32:18.680
you will not be generous when it comes to others. You're hypocrites. You make big prayers

00:32:18.680 --> 00:32:24.840
but you aren't living it. He keeps using the word hypocrites. You're hypocrites. You will

00:32:24.840 --> 00:32:30.120
not go and take what I've given you nor will you allow people that are supposed to come

00:32:30.120 --> 00:32:37.120
in. You'll prevent them to. And the anger that rises in that picture. And he invites

00:32:37.120 --> 00:32:44.120
his death that way. He's taking on the establishment and he invites his death. But the point is

00:32:44.120 --> 00:32:51.120
this, callousness differs for different people but learn how to treat what is sacred properly

00:32:52.600 --> 00:32:59.600
and don't be a hypocrite about it. I'd rather be dishonest about what I don't like and like

00:32:59.960 --> 00:33:06.960
about God than pretend. And so he's talking about the same thing. He's talking about the

00:33:07.120 --> 00:33:14.120
same thing. The third group of guys was Abhinadab. You know it's strange, eh? Abhinadab had the

00:33:21.240 --> 00:33:28.240
ark for 20 years and you don't hear nothing about how it helped his house. Obedidam had

00:33:28.680 --> 00:33:35.680
it for three months and it says his house prospered. Abhinadab had it for 20 years and

00:33:41.320 --> 00:33:47.080
the result of it is the death of his sons when it's finally moved out. Not a word is

00:33:47.080 --> 00:33:54.080
heard about how the ark benefited Abhinadab. I want to draw a conclusion from that. Abhinadab

00:33:54.080 --> 00:34:01.080
housed the glory of God in terms of the ark but did not seek presence. He had the ark

00:34:12.200 --> 00:34:19.080
in his house but he did not know how to seek the presence of the ark. It is possible for

00:34:19.080 --> 00:34:25.480
us to enjoy Sundays and enjoy the glory of God and not seek his presence for the rest

00:34:25.480 --> 00:34:32.480
of the week, two weeks, three weeks, four weeks. John 14.20, just listen to this. Christ

00:34:34.640 --> 00:34:41.640
is saying this. Christ is saying it. I am in the Father. I am in joy and joy is in me.

00:34:41.640 --> 00:34:48.640
I am in the Father. I am in Mira and Mira is in me. That's the proximity. There's no

00:34:51.560 --> 00:34:56.560
distance. Just as he and the Father are one. He's saying I am in the Father. The Father

00:34:56.560 --> 00:35:02.080
and I are one. In the same way, Jacob, you and I are one because I am in you and you

00:35:02.080 --> 00:35:09.080
are in me. This presence thing is never absent. It should be your aim in life. It should be

00:35:09.080 --> 00:35:16.080
your aim in life to hunger and thirst so badly that every time you miss the fact that

00:35:18.800 --> 00:35:25.800
you're aware of him, you go back running. That's the degree to which we can develop

00:35:25.800 --> 00:35:31.120
it. What happens if we develop it? Is it for our own benefit? I'd like to tell you that

00:35:31.120 --> 00:35:35.360
you are saved. You know God. You know him as Father. You know him as Lord. He takes

00:35:35.400 --> 00:35:41.600
care of you. Do this for the benefit of others. It's others who benefit because of the presence

00:35:41.600 --> 00:35:46.440
of God in us. Did the world benefit because of the presence of the Spirit of God upon

00:35:46.440 --> 00:35:53.440
Jesus? Yes. Well then, it's the same for you. Just as the world benefited from the Spirit

00:35:53.880 --> 00:36:00.880
of God being fully resident, alive in Christ, so is the body because the Spirit of God dwells

00:36:00.880 --> 00:36:07.880
in this temple. This is reality, guys. We've unfortunately created distance when God is

00:36:08.640 --> 00:36:13.640
trying to create proximity. And the shame is we create distance with theology, the study

00:36:13.640 --> 00:36:20.640
of God. The study of God that will not recognize him primarily as Father. The study of God

00:36:21.520 --> 00:36:28.520
that will not recognize him primarily as Father. The study of God that will not recognize him

00:36:29.440 --> 00:36:36.440
primarily as Father. The study of God that does not recognize God as Father is not the

00:36:41.920 --> 00:36:48.920
study of God. It's twisted when you don't recognize him as Father because that is what

00:36:49.920 --> 00:36:56.920
he primarily is as God. He's always been God the Father. Don't make me go down that road

00:36:56.920 --> 00:37:03.920
because I go down that road every time because he so desires for us to know that he is primarily

00:37:03.920 --> 00:37:10.920
a Father. That's why he's different from every other God. David then takes the ark, but David

00:37:10.920 --> 00:37:17.920
calibrates it. David calibrates glory to what is trending in other nations. Refuse to do that,

00:37:24.560 --> 00:37:31.560
eh? We are not going to take the glory of God and reduce it to feathers or brilliant

00:37:31.560 --> 00:37:38.560
light or gold dust or people falling over. That's not how you calibrate the glory of

00:37:38.560 --> 00:37:45.560
God. It's the essence of his nature. He's brilliant and holy because he's so straight

00:37:46.920 --> 00:37:53.920
to it. It comes to every aspect that you can think of. Anything good, he is the true measure.

00:37:53.920 --> 00:38:00.920
David realizes, eh, that he did it the wrong way. Then it comes to the house of obedient

00:38:01.520 --> 00:38:08.520
both hosted presence and worship. You find it in 1 Chronicles 16.5. Yep. He's the true

00:38:15.520 --> 00:38:22.520
person. He's the true person. He's the true person. He's the true person. He's the true

00:38:23.920 --> 00:38:30.920
person. Sorry? David brought in the ark on a cart. Through Moses, the instructions were

00:38:41.240 --> 00:38:47.720
super clear. It was written down. But listen, when you bring in the ark, carry it on your

00:38:47.720 --> 00:38:52.000
shoulders. Get Levitical priests to carry it on your shoulders. Why? Because this was

00:38:52.000 --> 00:38:55.960
the presence of God. This was the throne of God. This was the weapon of God. This was

00:38:55.960 --> 00:39:02.960
the glory of God. And it is his government or his way of governing. It was him in his

00:39:02.960 --> 00:39:09.040
fullness represented by a box carried on his shoulders because Isaiah 9.6 later on says,

00:39:09.040 --> 00:39:15.440
the government shall be upon our shoulders. This is where you carry government. When someone

00:39:15.640 --> 00:39:22.640
in Isaiah 22.22, Eliakim was given the keys to the courts and he would wear the keys on

00:39:22.880 --> 00:39:28.000
his shoulder. This was where it was worn. It was the mark of government. And he brings

00:39:28.000 --> 00:39:34.040
it on a cart just like the Philistines do. David knew better. He just went and did it

00:39:34.040 --> 00:39:41.040
wrong. Ahio and Uzzah had this ark in their home for 20 years. It is possible to get accustomed

00:39:42.040 --> 00:39:49.040
to glory. It is possible to get accustomed to glory. When you get accustomed to glory,

00:39:49.040 --> 00:39:56.040
you decide it is okay not to be all that reverent. One of the scariest things is when you get

00:39:56.040 --> 00:40:00.040
irreverent about God because you have now pastored for many years or ministered for

00:40:00.040 --> 00:40:06.040
many years or seen too many miracles. It's terrible when one gets familiar with the glory

00:40:06.160 --> 00:40:13.160
of God. The other extreme is the reverence where you don't approach it. Know this, that

00:40:16.160 --> 00:40:23.160
the glory of God fills the earth. It's not a church thing. The Bible says the glory of

00:40:23.560 --> 00:40:29.200
the Lord covers the earth as the waters cover the seeds. Remember we used to say that we

00:40:29.200 --> 00:40:34.900
must think of this roof like a blue balloon full of water. It is the kingdom and the glory

00:40:34.900 --> 00:40:39.900
of God pressing in on the earth. Everywhere you go the glory of God presses in on the

00:40:39.900 --> 00:40:46.900
earth. But you learn about it in a situation like this because this is where he lives.

00:40:48.260 --> 00:40:52.620
When you begin to decide that this is not important anymore, that this is something

00:40:52.620 --> 00:40:59.620
that can come after family, money, work and this, that's getting accustomed to something

00:41:00.260 --> 00:41:06.820
so quickly that it is an occasional motorbike that you ride during summer. Hey, always remember

00:41:06.820 --> 00:41:13.820
it is not God first, then family, then work, then church. That is not a biblical order.

00:41:14.860 --> 00:41:20.220
We talked about this about five, six years ago. It is God as in Christ and then it is

00:41:20.220 --> 00:41:25.740
Christ and the church. You cannot separate Christ and the church. I'm going over old

00:41:25.740 --> 00:41:31.020
ground that we've covered ages ago because many of us haven't heard this. It is not

00:41:31.020 --> 00:41:37.020
Christ and the church. You cannot follow Christ without following him with others called the

00:41:37.020 --> 00:41:44.020
church. You cannot. It's a false premise. If he is the head and you are the body, how

00:41:44.020 --> 00:41:50.140
do you separate them and say I follow the head but I'm not part of the body? It does

00:41:50.140 --> 00:41:57.140
not exist. It's a creation of organizations and when it's focused on the family, then

00:41:59.300 --> 00:42:06.300
it's God, family, church. When it is focused on marriage, it is God, marriage, church.

00:42:06.300 --> 00:42:13.300
It's not true.

00:42:20.140 --> 00:42:27.140
You know when they, Psalm 24, we talked about it earlier. I'll just not go by the notes.

00:42:30.620 --> 00:42:36.580
In Psalm 24, this is what's really happening. They had this thing called the gate liturgy.

00:42:36.580 --> 00:42:41.740
Gate liturgy. This was a common practice in the ancient Near East where when a king would

00:42:41.740 --> 00:42:47.940
return after a conquest, they would come to the gates of the city. Once they come to the

00:42:47.940 --> 00:42:54.940
gate of the city, they would, the person from within the gates would ask who goes there?

00:42:56.100 --> 00:43:00.140
And then you would reply that this is the king of Jerusalem or the king of Salem or

00:43:00.140 --> 00:43:04.980
the king of Vancouver and open up the gates. And when you say open up the gates, the gates

00:43:04.980 --> 00:43:11.020
would be opened and they would come in with things that they had plundered or some symbol

00:43:11.020 --> 00:43:18.020
of victory they would come in with. Even till a few years ago when the king of England,

00:43:18.020 --> 00:43:25.020
and that means maybe a hundred years before Elizabeth, before now, when the king of England

00:43:25.020 --> 00:43:29.940
would come to this place in London called the Temple Bar, there's a gate there. It's

00:43:29.940 --> 00:43:34.860
called the Temple Bar gate and he would come there and it's the division between London

00:43:34.860 --> 00:43:38.420
and Westminster and he would come there and there would be a door that was barred and

00:43:38.500 --> 00:43:42.900
they would shout and say who goes there? And then they would say it's the king of England

00:43:42.900 --> 00:43:47.380
and then the doors would be swung wide open and the king of England would, the king of

00:43:47.380 --> 00:43:52.820
the UK would come straight in to the claps of people. And it was an allusion to Psalm

00:43:52.820 --> 00:43:58.940
24. And Psalm 24 is written in the context of David returning from some kind of a battle

00:43:58.940 --> 00:44:03.980
where he had victory. And every time the doors would open, it was acknowledging two things.

00:44:03.980 --> 00:44:08.820
One, the victory. Two, that we are submitted to you, O king. These were the two things

00:44:08.820 --> 00:44:15.820
that were being spoken of. Only in the case of Israel, they knew that it wasn't David,

00:44:15.860 --> 00:44:22.860
that there was a divine warrior king represented by the ark that gave them victory. And so

00:44:22.860 --> 00:44:27.620
Israel would gather and there would be this voice which would say who goes there? And

00:44:27.620 --> 00:44:32.380
it would say this is the king of Israel. Open up the doors and the doors would be flung

00:44:32.380 --> 00:44:37.140
open and David would come in, the ark would come in, people would begin to cheer. While

00:44:37.140 --> 00:44:41.580
they're cheering, they're cheering for the divine warrior king that they have. The king

00:44:41.580 --> 00:44:47.500
of Israel. And that's not David. And then some of the women and men would start applauding

00:44:47.500 --> 00:44:52.700
David too and they would say Saul has killed his thousands, David has killed his ten thousands.

00:44:52.700 --> 00:44:57.500
Both would get credit but they knew where the victory was coming from. That's what's

00:44:57.820 --> 00:45:04.820
happening in Psalm 24 as the ark comes in on the shoulders of people. And where is he

00:45:05.020 --> 00:45:09.820
taking it? He's taking it to the small hill on which is a tent under which the ark is

00:45:09.820 --> 00:45:14.820
kept. How many people will worship it openly? Sometimes it would happen when they're taking

00:45:14.820 --> 00:45:21.820
it to the temple. The same thing would happen at the temple. This is the glorious presence

00:45:22.820 --> 00:45:29.820
of God coming in. You know how it works for us? It works for us in the sense on one hand

00:45:31.740 --> 00:45:38.020
we are the ones who stand on the inside and say who goes there? And a voice comes from

00:45:38.020 --> 00:45:43.780
heaven or from the word saying this is the king of glory. And then because we are part

00:45:43.780 --> 00:45:50.780
of the city, we also get to open the gates and say come in, come in oh king of glory.

00:45:51.820 --> 00:45:58.820
What an opportunity we have. This is why every time Moses would go out to war with

00:46:08.020 --> 00:46:12.940
the Israelites, he would say numbers 25. Arise oh God, they would take the ark and the ark

00:46:12.940 --> 00:46:16.660
would go out first. Why? Because the presence of God has to go out first, the divine warrior

00:46:16.660 --> 00:46:21.540
has to go out first. What happened with Joshua? Same thing. Put the singers up front and some

00:46:21.540 --> 00:46:26.780
soldiers carry the ark next. Why? Because that was enough to guarantee victory. Arise

00:46:26.780 --> 00:46:32.180
oh God, let your enemies be scattered. Let all those who rise up against you fall. That

00:46:32.180 --> 00:46:38.980
was a statement that God said to Moses you have to speak. And he would speak it and something

00:46:38.980 --> 00:46:44.020
would happen to Israel. You know why? Because that box was a visible sign of the presence

00:46:44.020 --> 00:46:49.180
of God and they had the visible cloud. We do not have it therefore we don't have markers

00:46:49.180 --> 00:46:53.900
to recognize the presence of God in our midst but if we as people who have the spirit of

00:46:53.900 --> 00:46:59.940
God in us can begin to recognize right now that he is hearing us, that he is here, that

00:46:59.940 --> 00:47:06.940
we are talking about the same God from 3,000, 4,000 years ago, it will change us man. That's

00:47:11.740 --> 00:47:17.260
the kind of God we have. And so we get the privilege of doing both. On one hand saying

00:47:17.380 --> 00:47:24.380
who goes there? And either a Rhema word or a promise or a prophetic word or the word

00:47:26.620 --> 00:47:33.620
of God or a vision that God gives us says this is the King of glory. When you look at

00:47:36.020 --> 00:47:43.020
Psalm 24 you see how they address him. Who is this? And they say he is the Lord. And

00:47:47.580 --> 00:47:54.580
he is the Lord strong and mighty. He is mighty in battle. He is the Lord of hosts as in the

00:48:05.140 --> 00:48:12.140
angelic armies and he is the King of glory. Look at who they say is coming into the city

00:48:12.740 --> 00:48:19.740
as the gates are being opened. You think it's any different from Richmond? Who is this King

00:48:20.140 --> 00:48:27.140
of glory? He is the Lord as in Kyrios. He is not tyrannical, he is benevolent but he

00:48:27.220 --> 00:48:33.780
is master of the universe. You see why we getting callous about someone like this is

00:48:33.780 --> 00:48:40.780
not a good idea. Then he is the Lord strong and mighty. What kind of mighty? Mighty in

00:48:40.780 --> 00:48:46.140
battle. This is when we connect the dots. That kingdom implies warfare. There cannot

00:48:46.140 --> 00:48:50.140
be an advancement of kingdom without warfare and warfare does not exist if it were not

00:48:50.140 --> 00:48:57.140
for the kingdom. One cannot exist without the other. He is the Lord strong and mighty,

00:48:57.580 --> 00:49:02.060
mighty in battle. He is the Lord of hosts meaning at his disposal are thousands upon

00:49:02.060 --> 00:49:07.700
thousands and ten thousand upon ten thousand innumerable angels and then he is a King of

00:49:07.700 --> 00:49:13.980
glory as in him lies the essence of his nature that is brilliant and he is who is. This is

00:49:13.980 --> 00:49:20.980
who we are inviting into Richmond. Who goes there? He is the one who goes there. Well

00:49:21.940 --> 00:49:28.940
then because we are part of the city here we fling wide open the gates so God. This

00:49:29.860 --> 00:49:36.860
is how it works guys. In little things. In pouring out coffee for someone at Gary Point

00:49:37.420 --> 00:49:44.200
in having a garage sale in going around praying in undoing things that are dark in covering

00:49:44.200 --> 00:49:51.200
areas of Richmond. This is who we are letting in. This is not a game we are playing because

00:49:51.200 --> 00:49:58.200
he is not a game. So how do we open the gates for him to enter? We will deal with I will

00:49:58.200 --> 00:50:05.200
just give you the list and then we can deal with it later. How do we open the gates for

00:50:16.280 --> 00:50:23.280
him to enter? What does the Bible say? One, announce your intent. Announce your intent

00:50:28.200 --> 00:50:33.400
that is what I am doing today. Yes I am teaching but I am announcing our intent. You will find

00:50:33.400 --> 00:50:39.720
in Deuteronomy 20 verse 10 to 12 God would say listen when you approach a city go offer

00:50:39.720 --> 00:50:45.320
them peace first. Tell them listen we want to make peace we want to come into your city

00:50:45.320 --> 00:50:51.280
we are taking your city but we come in peace. If they refuse then set up siege mounds and

00:50:51.280 --> 00:50:57.240
then begin the battle but offer them peace first. Announce your intent. Announce your

00:50:57.240 --> 00:51:04.240
intent. Second, we should try this before we go today with thanksgiving. You enter his

00:51:08.240 --> 00:51:14.980
courts and his gates you enter his courts with thanksgiving. What does it look like

00:51:14.980 --> 00:51:20.160
when thanksgiving is given for opening the doors of a city? You know the actual word

00:51:20.160 --> 00:51:27.160
used for thanksgiving in Psalm 100 verse 4 it is in Psalm 100 verse 4. The actual word

00:51:28.080 --> 00:51:35.080
given is I will just write it how it is pronounced. It is a word called betoda which means shouting

00:51:35.840 --> 00:51:42.840
and praising but to testify. We are telling of what God has done. It is our testimony

00:51:43.840 --> 00:51:50.840
that we are singing and shouting out. We are testifying. What does it look like when a

00:51:51.200 --> 00:51:56.720
people begin to give thanks but they give thanks testifying that oh God in the middle

00:51:56.720 --> 00:52:01.600
of the song someone from that side saying oh God you've been good. Oh God you healed

00:52:01.600 --> 00:52:07.000
me. Oh God you delivered me. Oh God you fed me. Oh God you kept me. What if in the middle

00:52:07.000 --> 00:52:11.240
of the song Pawan began to say the very things he prayed. What does it look like? That's

00:52:11.920 --> 00:52:18.520
thanksgiving. That kind of thanksgiving opens doors lifts up gates. We'll try that before

00:52:18.520 --> 00:52:23.800
we go. Where you begin to testify while the song is going on. Maybe only your neighbor

00:52:23.800 --> 00:52:30.800
will hear it. Testifying requires voice, vocal cords, words. Always remember the devil cannot

00:52:32.120 --> 00:52:39.120
read your mind. If you want things to be heard say them loudly. The next one is the word

00:52:41.440 --> 00:52:48.440
righteousness. Righteousness. People that are righteous walk righteously have the ability

00:52:52.680 --> 00:52:59.680
to open gates. Psalm 118 verse 19 and 20. I might be going a little fast because for

00:52:59.800 --> 00:53:06.800
some strange reason I'm excited. Swing wide the city gates. The righteous gates. I'll

00:53:19.880 --> 00:53:24.000
walk right through and thank God. The temple gate belongs to the God so that victors can

00:53:24.000 --> 00:53:31.000
enter and praise. Open to me the gates of righteousness that I may enter through them

00:53:35.160 --> 00:53:38.920
and give thanks to the Lord. This is the gate of the Lord. The righteous shall enter through

00:53:38.920 --> 00:53:45.920
it. One of the ways we open gates that are both is by people walking different from the

00:53:46.920 --> 00:53:53.920
rest of the land. It says righteousness exalts a nation. Can I walk righteously so that gate

00:53:54.440 --> 00:54:01.440
opening can become easy? Can I walk righteously? Any questions before I finish the next four?

00:54:04.560 --> 00:54:11.560
I've got four more gate openers. Any questions?

00:54:15.920 --> 00:54:22.920
What does it look like to announce intent? Announce intent is to shamelessly say we moved

00:54:29.480 --> 00:54:36.480
into Richmond because God is giving us Richmond. To confidently say we took up a church building

00:54:38.040 --> 00:54:45.040
in Richmond because God said he would use us to completely change the city. That Hebrides

00:54:45.360 --> 00:54:52.360
2.0 where 20s and 30s would be affected would happen in Richmond. That churches that are

00:54:52.760 --> 00:54:57.440
compromised will begin to come back to life because those that caused the compromise will

00:54:57.440 --> 00:55:04.440
be removed one by one. That this city that has so many temples and mosques and shrines

00:55:06.960 --> 00:55:11.040
dedicated to other gods will find the same thing that happened to Dagon happening to

00:55:11.040 --> 00:55:17.120
them. Why? Because of what we are talking about. That's announcing intent. And they

00:55:17.120 --> 00:55:22.840
do it quite shamelessly because we are few in numbers. A small group of, it's like a

00:55:22.840 --> 00:55:29.840
ragtag bunch. But it's always God's favorite thing, ragtag remnant. Go ahead Prashan. Oh,

00:55:31.720 --> 00:55:38.720
you were just stretching your hand? Okay. But it went straight up by the way. Next one.

00:55:41.600 --> 00:55:48.600
Prepare the way. Prepare the way. And it's in the, how are we preparing the way? This

00:55:49.040 --> 00:55:55.140
is where the things we are doing in terms of prayer, in terms of serving. This is how

00:55:55.140 --> 00:56:02.140
you prepare the way. You see that in Isaiah 62, verse 10 to 12, Hebrews 12, 13. The Gerad

00:56:02.140 --> 00:56:09.140
sale is a prepare the way. The Gerad sale we are having, we are renting tables not to

00:56:13.020 --> 00:56:17.680
ourselves but we are renting 10 to 12 tables to the neighborhood so the neighbors can come

00:56:17.680 --> 00:56:22.940
and sell stuff. And that gives us an opportunity to now prepare the way into the lives of the

00:56:22.940 --> 00:56:29.940
neighbors. Prepare the way. Next one. With keys. With keys. With keys. With keys. With

00:56:32.700 --> 00:56:39.700
keys. We open the gates with keys. With keys. What do you mean with keys? When you go to

00:56:41.740 --> 00:56:48.740
Matthew 16, 19. When you go to Isaiah 22, 22. When you go to Revelation 3, 7, you will

00:56:53.340 --> 00:56:59.340
find that God gives keys. God gives keys. He says to Peter, listen I'm giving you a

00:56:59.340 --> 00:57:04.580
key. You open this kingdom and you will open things and nothing can shut it. What you shut

00:57:04.580 --> 00:57:11.140
nobody can open. He says that to Eliakim, I'm going fast again. He says that to Eliakim

00:57:11.140 --> 00:57:18.140
in Isaiah, this doesn't sound natural. I think it's somewhere in between. He says to Eliakim

00:57:18.780 --> 00:57:25.780
in Isaiah 22, 22, listen I'm giving you keys. Whatever you let in will be let in. Whatever

00:57:25.860 --> 00:57:30.660
you shut will be shut. He says that to the Church of Philadelphia, listen I know you

00:57:30.660 --> 00:57:35.060
have little strength but I placed an open door before you. What you shut will remain

00:57:35.060 --> 00:57:40.340
shut. What you open will be open. What's he trying to say? Listen, there are certain times

00:57:40.340 --> 00:57:46.020
when I give you a key. If I give you a key to the lower mainland of the Okanagan Valley,

00:57:46.020 --> 00:57:51.780
that's yours. If I give you a key to St. Martin's, that's yours. If I give you a key to Richmond,

00:57:51.780 --> 00:57:58.780
that's yours. How do keys come to pass? Here's how keys come to pass. Intimacy leads to purity,

00:58:07.780 --> 00:58:14.780
leads to revelation, leads to demonstration, leads to the process of the Lord. What you

00:58:21.780 --> 00:58:28.780
give to the Lord leads to authority. These two can change places. How do people get keys?

00:58:37.020 --> 00:58:42.100
It's always this way. You take the Church of Philadelphia, you take Eliakim the son

00:58:42.100 --> 00:58:49.100
of Hilkiah, you take Peter, flawed people, small people, ignored people. Then along comes

00:58:50.100 --> 00:58:57.100
God and he sees in them a faithfulness, a desire for intimacy, a walking with him which

00:58:58.100 --> 00:59:05.100
is the idea of purity. That leads then to a revelation from heaven. Hey Peter, this

00:59:05.100 --> 00:59:11.100
didn't come from the earth. This revelation that you have is from heaven. With the revelation

00:59:11.100 --> 00:59:17.100
will come, hey Derek I want you to take care of the Okanagan Valley. Hey Jillian I want

00:59:18.100 --> 00:59:22.100
you to take care of London and France. Hey Jacob I want you to take care of St. Martin's.

00:59:22.100 --> 00:59:29.100
Hey Axel I want you to take care of Richmond. Once revelation is given, any revelation that

00:59:29.500 --> 00:59:34.820
is not demonstrated is just information. Any revelation that is not demonstrated is simply

00:59:34.820 --> 00:59:41.020
information. The world is full of God revelations. Nothing happens with it. It just stays or

00:59:41.020 --> 00:59:45.860
it goes into books. Revelation that is not worked out, that is not demonstrated is simply

00:59:45.860 --> 00:59:50.780
information or knowledge. Once it becomes knowledge it becomes dangerous because knowledge

00:59:50.780 --> 00:59:57.780
always puffs up. Once God reveals something to you, let's say God reveals something about

00:59:58.540 --> 01:00:05.500
himself or the church to Emmanuel. Now Emmanuel has a choice. Either he can write a book or

01:00:05.500 --> 01:00:09.980
he can do nothing with it and it becomes knowledge. Once it becomes knowledge it will puff him

01:00:09.980 --> 01:00:15.860
up. Once he puffs up it's pride and it's only a matter of time before he falls. Any

01:00:15.860 --> 01:00:20.780
revelation that this church receives or you receive in teaching even as I'm teaching,

01:00:20.780 --> 01:00:25.460
if you do not put it into practice at some point it becomes knowledge and knowledge will

01:00:25.460 --> 01:00:32.460
puff up and then pride comes before a fall. That's how it works. Even though you may not

01:00:32.900 --> 01:00:39.900
have a full extent of it with what little you have, put it into practice. So, if you

01:00:39.980 --> 01:00:46.980
put it into practice, you will be able to do it. And then comes authority to wield it.

01:00:48.540 --> 01:00:55.540
Next one, dread. Hey guys, this is an important one. We may not know this but I just wanted

01:00:56.580 --> 01:01:03.580
to tell you that, gosh, being rather bold today, I want to tell you that there are powers

01:01:04.580 --> 01:01:11.580
in the city of Richmond that are in dread of what is happening here. Joshua chapter

01:01:11.580 --> 01:01:18.580
7, verse 1, Jericho was shut up. 6 1, sorry, not 7 1. Jericho was shut up because they

01:01:21.860 --> 01:01:28.860
knew the Israelites were outside. They knew Israel was a slave nation but they knew that

01:01:29.740 --> 01:01:35.260
they had changed because of their God. Jericho was shut up. It was a walled city and nobody

01:01:35.260 --> 01:01:42.260
was going up. We don't see it because in a way it's good that we don't think much of

01:01:43.620 --> 01:01:50.420
ourselves. But on the other hand, we do need to think much of our God and know that powers

01:01:50.420 --> 01:01:57.420
are in dread in Richmond of what is slowly brewing. That power is in dread in Richmond

01:01:59.020 --> 01:02:04.020
of what is actually happening inside Richmond. A large part 킫 is that in Richmond there

01:02:04.020 --> 01:02:11.020
are more there are more. I say actually they just keep Tucker hi. What is going on? Because

01:02:11.020 --> 01:02:15.540
When two people rebuke him, it's two rebukes. What happens when a hundred people rebuke him?

01:02:17.660 --> 01:02:24.960
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

01:02:25.460 --> 01:02:30.940
It the exponential rate at which it multiplies when it comes to scattering is crazy. Why?

01:02:31.820 --> 01:02:33.820
Because he's a finite being

01:02:34.780 --> 01:02:38.200
Imagine an animal in a cage and you start hitting the cage

01:02:38.200 --> 01:02:43.640
But not just you imagine it's two imagine is three imagine is 40 people rattling the cage

01:02:43.640 --> 01:02:45.640
Do you know what happens to that animal?

01:02:50.280 --> 01:02:57.340
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

01:02:58.160 --> 01:03:01.560
You'll still get the rewards, but you won't get the pleasure of

01:03:02.360 --> 01:03:04.360
walking into battle with him

01:03:05.360 --> 01:03:09.520
Man you think I want spoils of war I want to be there. I

01:03:13.200 --> 01:03:15.200
Always feel bad for Nicodemus

01:03:17.080 --> 01:03:19.080
He could have been there

01:03:21.160 --> 01:03:23.240
But he visits after Jesus is dead

01:03:26.120 --> 01:03:28.800
Numbers 23 20 to 25 you should read it

01:03:29.800 --> 01:03:34.040
Numbers 23 20 to 25 is Balaam's prophecy

01:03:34.040 --> 01:03:38.960
He's been hired by an evil king to curse Israel numbers 23

01:03:40.480 --> 01:03:46.600
20 to 25 look at the words he says they numbers 23 20 to 25 I

01:03:49.880 --> 01:03:56.340
Have received a command to bless he has blessed I cannot change it no misfortune has seen in Jacob

01:03:56.340 --> 01:04:03.560
No misery observed in Israel then the Lord that God is with them the shout of the king is among them

01:04:03.660 --> 01:04:07.740
God God brought them out of Egypt. They have the strength of a wild ox

01:04:07.740 --> 01:04:11.460
There is no sorcery against Jacob no divination against Israel

01:04:11.460 --> 01:04:16.860
It will now be said of Jacob and of Israel see what God has done the people rise like a lioness

01:04:16.860 --> 01:04:25.020
They arouse themselves like a lion that does not rest till he devours his prey and drinks the blood of his victims

01:04:25.020 --> 01:04:30.580
Then Balaam said to Balaam neither curse them at all nor bless them Balaam answered

01:04:30.580 --> 01:04:32.900
Did I not tell you I must do whatever the Lord says

01:04:33.780 --> 01:04:36.900
These are the words that go out over the airwaves in Richmond

01:04:39.340 --> 01:04:43.420
It's just that we don't see it therefore find it hard to believe

01:04:50.820 --> 01:04:52.820
Sometimes we have to judge

01:04:53.540 --> 01:05:00.000
Sometimes gates are opened by judging by judging Luke 13 34 Luke 13 34

01:05:01.300 --> 01:05:03.300
Luke 13 34

01:05:13.140 --> 01:05:18.580
Or Jerusalem or Jerusalem you who kill prophets and stone those sent to you

01:05:18.980 --> 01:05:23.540
How often I've longed to gather your children together as a hen gathers a chicks under her wings

01:05:23.820 --> 01:05:28.060
But you were not willing look your house is left to you desolate

01:05:28.060 --> 01:05:33.420
I tell you you will not see me again until you say blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord

01:05:34.820 --> 01:05:36.820
He said it with tears

01:05:37.660 --> 01:05:43.540
It wasn't some pronouncement of judgment. He said it with tears, but Jerusalem was his city

01:05:44.540 --> 01:05:46.100
And

01:05:46.100 --> 01:05:51.420
Instead he's saying I leave he doesn't say I'm leaving you my city desolate

01:05:51.420 --> 01:05:55.660
He's saying I'm leaving you your house desolate even ownership changes

01:05:56.900 --> 01:05:58.900
Look at another one Luke

01:06:00.620 --> 01:06:02.620
1942

01:06:02.820 --> 01:06:04.820
Luke 1942

01:06:05.940 --> 01:06:07.940
Sometimes things have to be judged

01:06:08.420 --> 01:06:14.620
As in when God says hey Jacob hey church go and say this to these people or go and say this

01:06:14.660 --> 01:06:17.740
But if you continue like this, that's what you mean by judging

01:06:18.180 --> 01:06:24.580
Sometimes gates open because we judge because nobody judges now. Everybody is diplomatic. Nobody judges

01:06:25.340 --> 01:06:31.440
You hear silly things like oh we were told not to judge do not judge or you shall be judged true

01:06:31.660 --> 01:06:34.020
But then there's also parts where we are supposed to

01:06:34.820 --> 01:06:36.820
look 1942

01:06:38.940 --> 01:06:43.980
As he approached Jerusalem and saw the city he wept over it

01:06:43.980 --> 01:06:51.340
There's a completely different incident a same writer of the gospel as he approached Jerusalem and saw the city. He wept over it

01:06:52.420 --> 01:06:58.700
And said if you even you had only known on this day what would bring your peace

01:06:58.820 --> 01:07:01.820
But now it is hidden from your eyes

01:07:02.140 --> 01:07:07.700
The days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment against you and encircle you and

01:07:07.980 --> 01:07:12.660
Hem you in on every side they will dash you to the ground you and the children with your walls

01:07:12.740 --> 01:07:18.320
They will not leave one stone on another because you did not recognize the time of God's coming to you

01:07:19.820 --> 01:07:25.400
Severe and it's not coming from an Old Testament prophet. It's coming from Jesus the gentle one

01:07:32.660 --> 01:07:36.700
We know that obedience and faith definitely opens gates I

01:07:37.820 --> 01:07:43.100
Won't stress on that obedience and faith opens gates

01:07:48.340 --> 01:07:51.100
And lastly you are a gate

01:07:56.380 --> 01:07:58.380
You are a gate

01:07:59.020 --> 01:08:01.020
You are a gate

01:08:02.220 --> 01:08:04.220
Question is

01:08:04.700 --> 01:08:10.140
Of what the options are heaven

01:08:11.900 --> 01:08:13.900
Hell

01:08:14.220 --> 01:08:16.220
Flesh

01:08:17.140 --> 01:08:19.140
Traditions of men

01:08:20.900 --> 01:08:24.180
These are the four options when it comes to believers being gates

01:08:24.180 --> 01:08:26.180
Matthew 16 16

01:08:27.540 --> 01:08:29.540
Yeah, Matthew 16 16

01:08:30.540 --> 01:08:32.540
And Peter

01:08:32.620 --> 01:08:36.420
Becomes the gate of heaven when Jesus asks

01:08:36.660 --> 01:08:43.060
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

01:08:43.140 --> 01:08:49.700
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

01:08:49.700 --> 01:08:52.740
The son of the living God for the first time in the history of the world

01:08:53.860 --> 01:08:59.300
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

01:09:00.380 --> 01:09:02.460
Jesus actually commends him saying Peter

01:09:03.020 --> 01:09:08.460
This revelation came to you from my father in heaven. This is not from flesh. That is not from the earth

01:09:09.860 --> 01:09:15.760
Few verses later three verses later. It's now Matthew 16 19 to 22 or something

01:09:16.000 --> 01:09:22.760
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

01:09:23.720 --> 01:09:28.200
Suddenly the same Peter who was the gate of heaven now becomes the gate of hell

01:09:28.840 --> 01:09:33.480
Where he begins to prevent Christ from going to the cross so much

01:09:33.480 --> 01:09:38.040
So that Jesus has to turn around to Peter and say get thee behind me Satan

01:09:38.760 --> 01:09:43.800
He suddenly becomes the voice of the devil the same man who had received a revelation

01:09:44.200 --> 01:09:49.640
Many times we are the gate guys and the two other options when it comes to gates is the traditions of men

01:09:49.720 --> 01:09:56.040
Where we parrot the traditions of men because either we've gotten comfortable in it or that's the mind space

01:09:56.040 --> 01:09:58.400
We live in how we will not budge from it

01:09:59.000 --> 01:10:01.000
And then the last one is flesh

01:10:01.760 --> 01:10:09.060
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

01:10:09.880 --> 01:10:11.840
any questions

01:10:11.840 --> 01:10:16.800
Traditions of men are the only thing that can nullify the word of God a nothing else in the world crazy

01:10:17.280 --> 01:10:21.200
There's one thing more powerful than the word of God the traditions of men

01:10:23.840 --> 01:10:28.720
Well because your granddad or dad did it a certain way you will not leave it

01:10:30.760 --> 01:10:32.760
More powerful than the word

01:10:34.000 --> 01:10:39.480
Any questions I'm done feel free to ask I want to need to come up and do a song where we can do

01:10:39.520 --> 01:10:41.520
Thanksgiving and testify before we leave

01:10:42.800 --> 01:10:44.800
Any questions guys

01:10:47.520 --> 01:10:49.520
Yep

01:10:51.880 --> 01:10:53.880
For

01:10:54.680 --> 01:10:56.360
Traditions of men

01:10:56.360 --> 01:10:58.200
You void the

01:10:58.200 --> 01:11:03.560
Word of God with the traditions of men. I don't know the reference. Yeah, if you find it just shout it out

01:11:05.960 --> 01:11:07.960
Any questions

01:11:09.480 --> 01:11:15.460
Cool Shikha texted me saying she's got a neck pain. That's why she wasn't here, but she all heard us