So we've been talking about Wilderness 40,
I think for the last three weeks,
and I think we've got another 20 days
or three weeks left on the same topic.
So today, if you want a title for it,
it's Wilderness 40 Essential Service.
Wilderness 40 Essential Service.
That's the title.
Wilderness 40 Essential Service.
So we were saying three weeks ago
that this is that time when the church needs to prepare
for a post-COVID landscape.
Businesses are doing it, airlines are doing it,
nations are doing it,
but perhaps the only institution
that isn't necessarily planning for it,
because we are really enamored with Livestream now,
is the church.
And so we were saying that the post-COVID landscape
has to be prepared for,
and one of the ways we prepare it
is by withdrawing into the wilderness like Jesus did.
Where he spent 40 days and nights,
and so if he followed the Holy Spirit into the wilderness,
we drew aside, and like I said last week,
it's fascinating how you guys have been taking time
to either fast or to draw aside
in ways that I quite marvel at.
And so why do we draw aside?
We draw aside so that God can be revealed
like we've never seen him before,
and that after these next three weeks,
we return with power to seed or restore
the post-COVID landscape that awaits.
Our intent is to seed the post-COVID landscape that awaits.
And different churches across the earth are doing this.
In India, in South Africa, in UK,
I've been talking to the leaders there,
and they are going down the same road.
So we withdrew,
because we were led by the Spirit into the wilderness,
and we return with a fresh revelation of God.
We return with power.
We return to seed the post-COVID landscape
with what God wants.
So what I wanna ask today,
or what I wanna plan for us as both a local church
and for churches around the earth,
what I wanna plan for us today
is when the next COVID comes along,
how can we be an essential service?
Why is it that the church has labeled
a non-essential service during a global crisis?
Why is it that the church has been labeled
a non-essential service during a global crisis?
We should be an essential service, but we are not.
Anywhere on the earth, the church is a non-essential service.
Doesn't matter which nation you take.
And so why is the church labeled a non-essential service
during a global crisis?
And perhaps part of the reason can be found,
and both the reason and the solution can be,
oh, Anne just texted saying,
Dagmar is very happy to watch the service online,
and thrilled that you mentioned that she came home.
She says she had so many CD scans, PET scans, X-rays,
three COVID tests, blood work, and still I made it.
She says thank you, Jesus, and thank you church
for praying for me, blessings.
Okay, hey Anne, you didn't hear the church respond.
It was very loud, and I can get away with it online.
So why is the church a non-essential service?
If you go to Matthew 5, turn to the message version,
Matthew 5, verse 15 and 16,
perhaps that's one reason why the church
is a non-essential service.
In those scriptures, you perhaps have both the reason
and the solution.
Matthew 5, 15 and 16, I'm reading from the message.
And it says in Matthew 5, 15,
if I make you light-bearers,
you don't think I'm gonna hide you under a bucket, do you?
I'm putting you on a light stand.
Now that I've put you there on a hilltop,
on a light stand, shine.
Keep open house.
I mean, it goes back to that Graham Kendrick song,
Shine Jesus, that we just sang.
Now that I've put you there on a hilltop,
on a light stand, shine.
Keep open house.
Be generous with your lives.
By opening up to others, you'll prompt people
to open up with God, this generous Father in heaven.
One more time.
Matthew 5, 15 and 16 from the message.
If I make you light-bearers,
you don't think I'm gonna hide you under a bucket, do you?
I'm putting you on a light stand.
Now that I've put you there on a hilltop,
on a light stand, shine.
Keep open house.
Be generous with your lives.
By opening up to others,
you'll prompt people to open up with God,
this generous Father in heaven.
So the thing is, guys, part of the reason
that I believe the church is a non-essential service
is because we are a light on a hilltop,
but we are covered with a bucket.
I'm quite happy with that.
And one of the ways we can prepare
for a post-COVID landscape is by making sure
that we no longer, yep, sorry, use a different pen, okay.
So that we no longer are hidden
and that we have open houses,
open lives, generous living,
shining light, light-bearers,
shining light, light-bearers.
And we'll talk about all this, but here's the thing, guys.
Whenever a church, whenever God talks about a church,
he's talking about people, which then means
that we're not looking at an institution
that behaves this way.
We are looking at a group of people
who collectively behave this way.
And when a group of people collectively begins
to behave this way, you become essential
in your workplace, in your neighborhood,
to your extended family, to your relatives,
to the streets you live in, to the spheres you occupy,
to the strata in society that you hold,
in the spheres of your influence, you become essential.
That is how the church continues to be essential.
What's happening now is a church will decide
through its pastors and through its ministries
and professionals that we will distribute food out there,
or we will take care of a few sick, or we will send money.
It's an institution that does that.
The church will remain non-essential
as long as it is not the saints that do the work.
And where the church has failed
and is so unlike the New Testament church
is that people don't necessarily recognize
that there is someone who follows Christ,
who is now essential to my life,
who I cannot do without.
I will never meet Mike and Karen's neighbors.
But Mike and Karen must begin to live their lives
in a way that makes them absolutely essential
to their immediate neighbors.
I'll never meet the people who walk up
to Laurieann's desk at Lufthansa.
But in little things, she now becomes
absolutely essential to their lives.
This is how the church moves
from being non-essential to essential.
Where we got stuck is that everything happens
within these walls for two or three hours
on a Sunday run by professionals or run by clergy
or run by ministries that are paid
and nobody else participates.
Everybody just funds it or volunteers occasionally.
And that will not cut it in today's world.
It won't.
And so what we want to look at is,
Father, what are the six or seven different things
that we can begin to do so that we become
an absolutely essential service going forward
that no one will ever label as non-essential?
Any questions?
Any questions, guys?
Hey, it's okay for people to become highly dependent on you
till they meet Christ and still continue
to be dependent on you as they grow.
Don't point them to Jesus immediately.
Let them come to you.
There's this thing we have in our heads
that if anybody comes to us, point them to Jesus.
Jesus is invisible.
You are visible.
Let them come to you.
Let them become heavily dependent on you.
Let them meet Jesus and let them begin,
then begin to shift the weight of the person
on your shoulder onto Jesus.
Let them ask you for counsel.
Let them ask you for help.
Let them ask you for counsel.
You know what Malachi said?
He said that knowledge should be found
on the lips of the priests.
That it mediates between.
This is right, I won't take it back.
I won't take it back.
Yeah, so knowledge is found on the lips of the priest.
Make people dependent on you.
Don't shy away from it.
And then after they get dependent on you and you keep introducing Jesus to them, shift
them onto Jesus.
It's the right way to go about stuff.
Let them come to you for healing.
It's Jesus who wheels through you.
Let them come to you for counsel.
It is the Holy Spirit who counsels through you.
Let them come to you for help.
You are God's gift to mankind.
Sounds ridiculous, but it is true.
So let's look at a few ways that we can make ourselves an essential service to people around
us.
The first one is, guys, decide that we will reveal the Father's goodness and the zest
and His zest for life in all circumstances.
That's where we start.
And this does not happen within the church.
This happens outside the church.
This does not happen within the church.
This happens outside the church.
Every day, decide, guys, these are things we must covenant with because we're not playing
the fool here.
We said that the Holy Spirit is leading us into the wilderness to prepare us for a post-COVID
landscape.
Businesses take it seriously.
Air Canada is taking it seriously.
Trudeau's government is taking it seriously.
There is a time coming when things are going to be set right and it's a new world that
is going to come up after COVID.
And so how do you plan for it?
Sorry?
And a zest for life in all circumstances.
And so we need to plan thoughtfully.
We need to plan with urgency.
We need to plan with literally covenant in saying, Oh God, for this we have come.
Decide in your heart that in all your circumstances, and some of you have difficult circumstances,
and that on a daily basis in all your circumstances, the Father's goodness, the Father's goodness
and his zest for life will be displayed by you in all circumstances.
That we will reveal the goodness and the zest of life that the Father has in all our circumstances.
Remember guys, we've said this before, but he is unadulteratedly, intentionally, extravagantly
good and seeks opportunities every day to be that to me.
This is hard to wrap our heads around, eh?
This is not where we live.
This is not where I live.
There are times during the day when circumstances begin to affect me that I do not think of
God like this.
How I think of God is what the world sees of God.
The world does not need a God who may or may not be there in times of trouble.
The world does not need a God who may or may not be behind a disaster.
The world does not need a God who may be good or may be bad.
The world does not need a God who is neutral.
There are plenty of institutions that offer the world that.
I have to wrap my head around this fact that, oh God, you as a Father are unadulteratedly,
intentionally, extravagantly good to me, and you look for opportunities throughout the
that to me.
When you read Matthew 7 verse 9 to 11, and I know you know these verses, but it is so
important to keep going back to them.
Would you as a father give your son a stone when he asks for bread?
Would you as a father give your daughter a scorpion when she asks for an egg?
Would you as a father give your child a serpent when he asks for a fish?
If you being as evil as you are refuse to do that to your children, then why would I
not give you good gifts?
How many times?
As many times as is required.
He has both an ability and a willingness to be good.
It is not something he is because he is a father.
It is something he is because he is.
He did not have to have us to be good.
He was good before he had us.
He did not need to have us because he needed fellowship.
He is a self-existent one who was quite happy, and as I often say, would have been as happy
as he is now if he had created just a walnut.
Any questions?
Any thoughts on that?
Guys, you've got to wrap your heart around this.
It's very difficult to think of a God like this.
One of the most successful ploys of the enemy is can we question God's goodness?
It started in the garden with Eve.
Really?
You think he is that good?
Don't you realize that what he is doing is just so you don't get to become like him?
Suspicion cast on the face of God is an old trick.
The intent is always, can I whisper in your ear and convince you that he is not all that
he says he is?
Yeah, how does it work that Christians are starving because of COVID?
Guys, like I always refer you to one of Jeevan's little boys in Nandigama, where he asked me
a question, and this is a really poor kid who has a shirt with two buttons and a safety
pin.
He asks me, I'm telling them about how good God is, and he turns it on and says to me,
why is it that a good God has such poor, desperate children?
I told him I'd get back to him the next day because I didn't have an answer.
It was a simple but ridiculously theological question.
The next day, I hear the story of what happened with this kid.
He goes back to his room because it was a camp.
A young kid, must be this small.
How old was he, Jeevan?
Eight, nine, ten?
Nine years old.
So he has two shirts.
He gives one of his shirts to his friends who has a shirt that has absolutely no buttons.
He gives his shirt with two buttons to his friend who has a shirt with no buttons because
he has an extra shirt.
Then he says to the child, the reason that God's children are poor is because God's rich
children do not share what they have with their poor children.
I always think that, and we'll come to that later, if I empty myself, there will be many
who will have enough.
If we forgo one aircraft carrier, if we forgo three F-18s, if we forgo the Oculus Quest,
if we forgo driving a decent car, there's no limit to how much can be provided.
I'm not asking that you forgo it.
I'm just saying there are ways that the entire earth can be taken care of very easily.
Day before yesterday, the earth reached what is called, I forgot the name, it's something
like a zero point where the earth exceeded in consumption what it produces.
It was on August 23rd.
Last year it was on July 27th.
In 1980, it was December 29th.
Why?
Because the earth is consuming more than it produces.
And they measure it every year.
This year, two days ago, the earth had already consumed more than it produces.
Because of COVID, we managed to eke out an extra month.
The point being that there will be no dearth.
The New Testament church functioned like this, guys.
Acts chapter two, verse 42, Acts chapter four, what does it say?
They had no poor amongst them.
Why didn't they have any poor amongst them?
Because those that had brought their property, brought their monies together, and they laid
it at the apostles' feet so that it could be distributed.
So that 2 Corinthians 8 may come to pass.
And what does 2 Corinthians 8 say?
Those that went out to collect manna, nobody had too much, nobody had too less.
And then it goes on to say that Paul says, listen Aaron, today let your plenty supply
Jacob's lack so that tomorrow Jacob's plenty will supply your lack.
There is an economy in the New Testament that is crafted by God that can solve at least
problems of poverty within the church.
Whether the world will take it on is out of question, as far as I know.
But in the church it can work.
Guys, besides being good, God has a zest for life.
God has a zest for life.
Participate in the glorious aliveness of the Father.
We don't, we don't.
Participate in the glorious aliveness of the Father.
This is the only way that a post-COVID world will see that God is different from what he
used to be before COVID hit.
John 1, 4 says that in him was life and that life was a light of man.
It should show there's an aliveness that comes when you participate with the Father.
He's a life giver.
You have no idea how much God loves life.
How much he loves beetles, how much he loves birds, how much he loves colors, how much
he loves sky, how much he loves leaves.
When he began to create the morning stars began to sing and the angels sang, he loves
life.
This is something about Tate that I always think of.
Whenever I think of Tate, the first thing that comes to mind is that boy loves life.
And that if he steps into a forest, the birds will start to sing.
Will the trees clap their hands and will the birds begin to sing?
Will the animals do cartwheels when you enter a forest?
Because there is something about God's life that if it is in you and you begin to explore
and express will cause nature to resonate.
Participate in the aliveness, in the glorious aliveness of the Father.
He has such a zest for life.
C.S. Lewis in his book, The Magician's Nephew, writes about Aslan the lion standing and
beginning to sing.
And as he begins to sing, when he has deep tones in his singing, suddenly you see trees
begin to spring up on the edge of the hills.
And then when there are these lilting tones in Aslan's voice, roses begin to spring up.
And then Aslan makes this amazing statement.
He says, creatures, I give you yourselves, said the strong happy voice of Aslan.
I give to you forever this land of Narnia.
I give you the woods.
I give you the fruits.
I give you the rivers.
I give you the earth.
And I give you myself.
I give yourself.
I give you yourselves.
The greatest gift you have guys is your life.
Just imagine it because I have life.
I can discover the Father and I can discover him to the same extent that Jesus discovered
him.
It is the greatest gift you can get.
Life itself is such a precious gift.
At some point he said, Jacob, I give you Jacob.
And he released me.
He willed me into existence.
And when I turned away from him, he went to Ezekiel 16, 6, found me lying in my blood
and he looked at me, picked me up and he said, live.
And I began to live again.
There is a zest to God's life that we possess that the earth must begin to see.
They must begin to see it guys.
And then the creatures and the mountains and the hills begin to respond back to Aslan.
I give you yourself.
Jacob, I give you Jacob.
That I exist is a gift because I am able to know the Father like the Son knows him.
You should read Matthew 11, 28 from the message.
It kind of gets you the meaning of it.
Matthew 11, 28 from the message.
Sometimes the message captures certain things that are so beautiful.
Verse 27, sorry.
Jesus resumed talking to the people but now tenderly.
The Father has given me all these things to do and say.
This is a unique Father-Son operation.
Coming out of Father and Son intimacies and knowledge.
No one knows the Son the way the Father does nor the Father the way the Son does.
And I love this next line but I'm not keeping it to myself.
I'm ready to go over it line by line with anyone willing to listen.
So that we begin to taste, savor, enjoy for the rest of eternity the discovery of the
life of the Father.
Begin to express or reveal the goodness of God.
But first begin to walk in the presence of the Father.
You cannot ever display anything that isn't working in your lab.
And your circumstances really don't matter guys when it comes to these things.
The unadulterated intentional extravagant goodness of God and his ability and willingness
to do it again and again and again and again.
Second, his zest for life.
His zest for life.
You must capture it.
It is within you.
I sometimes think that decay and death is brought into our lives through two things
since the beginning of time.
Through rebellion and through distorted sexuality.
It has always been the case.
First there was rebellion.
I mean can you imagine what life in Eden was?
Can you imagine it?
If things were in Eden, if things were in the West, if things were in the West, if things
were in the West, if things were in the West, if things were in the West, if things were
in the West, if things are as beautiful as they are right now, what was it in Eden?
What did BC look like before the fall if it looks as stunning as it is now?
If you can't handle my handsomeness now, imagine what it was like before the fall.
You're supposed to laugh at that.
I'll hold up a gun.
So guys, rebellion and distorted sexuality always has the ability to mutate the essence
of who God made you.
Rebellion was used in Genesis 1 and it just mutated the essence of who Adam was, the essence
of who Eve was.
And then in Genesis 6, there's such a distortion of sexuality.
And by the, I mean, I'm talking about, it doesn't matter whether it's heterosexual,
bisexual, homosexual, it doesn't matter.
Once sexuality was distorted in Genesis 6, it somehow damaged the essence of man.
And with it comes such decay.
And decay is one thing, but the abject sadness that descends upon a human when that happens
is unfathomable, guys.
And the only way to deal with that is to disguise it in falsehoods and expressions that supposedly
make a few nerves in your body feel better.
That's about it.
Hey Christians, you're a different species, man.
You've got to recapture the zest for life that God as Father has given you.
We must show it, eh?
And please don't show it in here, because I already know you belong to him.
Show it out there.
I mean, show it here, but it's only for two hours.
I knew a preacher, I could never stand it, and I'd usually be sitting in the front row
because I was a guest speaker, and he would have the entire church go,
all right now, let's be joyful.
And then everyone gets ready.
And then he would go, repeat after me.
And so everybody had to repeat, ha ha.
And then I'd be sitting in the front row, and the cameras are usually on you
if you're the guest speaker, right?
So you have to go, ha ha.
And then, ha ha ha ha ha.
And then the entire church will go, ha ha ha ha ha.
And this is the joy of the Lord.
That is not what this means.
Thank God I don't try it here, eh?
Guys, this week, can you decide?
I mean, every week we've had homework.
This is your homework this week.
Can you this week hear him sing over you?
When you get up in the morning, can you turn to Zephaniah 3.17
and allow God to do what he says in Zephaniah 3.17?
I know it's a very popular verse.
Zephaniah 3.17, it says there,
Your God is present among you, a strong warrior, there to save you,
happy to have you back.
He'll calm you with his love and delight you with his songs,
or he'll sing over you with delight.
Can you this week, every morning,
I always have a head start on you guys,
because I know what I'm going to preach.
So this week, can you hear him sing over you?
Go and ask him, Father, so what are you singing over me today?
I had the strangest thing that he sang over me today.
He sang over me saying, Jacob, you're faithful.
I'm thinking to myself, but that's what I say to you,
that you are faithful, and here is God saying to me,
hey, Jacob, you are faithful.
Faithful you are, and faithful you've been all these years.
You are faithful.
You know what that does to you when God begins to say stuff like that?
It does the same thing to you that a parent does to a child
when the parent looks at the child and says,
you're the best thing that happened to me.
Rips your heart off, polishes it, puts it back,
and you become like the Iron Man with a new thingy.
That was a bad example, but it was supposed to go the right way.
Go ahead.
Yep.
You want to use the mic?
Yeah, you do, because you usually say, please use the mic.
Come, use the mic.
No, you have to come and stand here, because otherwise people won't hear.
Yeah, I mean, do it for the sake of others.
Bless you is going to come and stand with me.
All right.
When we were singing earlier, your presence is heaven to me,
because Jacob was talking about God singing back,
and the fact that you're singing in the same way that I am,
and I'm not saying that you're singing in the same way that I am,
but I'm saying that you're singing in the same way that I am,
and I'm talking about God singing back,
and God repeated that right back, like your presence is heaven to me,
and I wasn't quite sure what to do with that,
so I'm still working on that, but that was what it was.
Thank you.
Guys, whenever someone makes a statement like this,
you have to go and see, is there a scripture to substantiate it?
There are so many places in the Bible where God turns to his people,
and he says, you are my portion.
We always think he is our portion, and it is true,
but he so many times turns to us and says, but you are my portion.
You are my inheritance.
So this week, every morning, get up and ask, not get up and ask,
get up and hear what he's singing over you.
Write it down.
Don't be surprised if it is really good,
because he has a better opinion of me than I do of myself.
And as you go through this process over the next seven days,
you'll find that it stirs up in you the aroma of life that Yahweh has given you.
It stirs up in you the aroma of life.
When God begins to do this, it's literally like stirring up the aroma of life in you.
If you go to 2 Corinthians 2.15, it talks about that, 2 Corinthians 2.15.
Again, unless I tell you I'm reading from the message,
not because it's my favorite version, but it's just clicking today.
2 Corinthians 2.15.
Because of Christ, we give off a sweet scent rising to God,
which is recognized by those on the way of salvation,
an aroma redolent, how do you pronounce R-E-D-O-L-E-N-T?
Redolent with life.
Because of Christ, we give off a sweet scent rising to God,
which is recognized by those on the way of salvation,
an aroma redolent with life.
Beautifully.
The second thing is we will reveal the Son.
The first is we will reveal the Father's goodness and a zeal for life.
The next one is we will reveal the Son.
We will reveal the Son, displaying His works by the Spirit.
We will reveal the Son, displaying His works, displaying His...
Hey, Derek, we need new pens, man.
Displaying His works by the Spirit.
We will reveal the Son.
What are we saying?
We will reveal the Son.
What are we saying?
Hey, for a post-COVID landscape, the church has to behave differently.
It must reveal the works of the Son.
Words ain't enough.
And anyways, all of Jesus' words were backed up by His works.
We will reveal the Son, displaying His works by the Spirit.
Luke chapter 7, 19 to 22.
Luke 7, 19 to 22.
Here's what's happening.
John the Baptist is in prison.
He sends two of his disciples to check with Jesus,
because he's hearing things about Jesus that aren't fitting with his Jewish mindset.
And so he sends two people to ask Jesus, are you the real Messiah?
And so here is Jesus' reply.
He says, tell John what you have seen and heard.
The blind see, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised.
The poor have God's salvation, hospitality extended to them.
One more time.
Tell John what you have seen and heard.
The post-COVID world must see.
world must see through this church and through other churches the works of God
by the power of the Spirit of God. The only way to let that happen is to
actually risk it and to be foolish. If you're not foolish it will not happen.
That's what happens when you play cricket. If you're not foolish it does
not happen. Hey, pray over anything that moves that has a disease. Ask but pray.
Your batting average goes up like crazy when you bat more. Whenever I come to
this verse I look at Marcus and I think to myself, my God I don't need proof.
God can do anything. She started already I got another 20 minutes to go. I mean
Marcus was lying dead outside the pavement and God raised him back to life
after three, three and a half minutes. After seeing that anything is possible.
Go to Matthew 10 verse 7 and 8. Hey Marcus do you share it with people? What
happens to them when you share it? Like when you when you say to people what is
the reaction? I've never been there when you're talking to somebody about it.
It's crazy man.
I know that's special treatment only for you Diana. So Matthew 10 I just want to
go through some scriptures that reveals the Sun and how we reveal the Sun by
displaying his works because these are commands given to us in the Bible.
Matthew 10 verse 7 and 8. As you go preach this message. The kingdom of
heaven is near. Heal the sick, raise the dead. Cleanse those who have leprosy.
Drive out demons. Freely you have received, freely give. It is not a
suggestion, it's a command. As you go preach this message. The kingdom of
heaven is near. Heal the sick, raise the dead. Cleanse those who have leprosy.
Drive out demons. Freely you have received, freely give. Mark 16, 17 and 18.
Mark 16, 17 and 18. Familiar passage. And these signs will accompany those who
believe. In my name they will drive out demons. They will speak in new tongues.
They will pick up snakes with their hands and when they drink deadly poison
it will not hurt them. They will place their hands on sick people and they will
get well. Everything is a will not a perhaps. They will get well. This is how
you show a post-COVID world a church or a people that become essential to
livelihood and living. Let's look at another scripture. Acts chapter 10 verse
38. Another familiar passage. Acts chapter 10 verse 38. How God anointed
Jacob of Vancouver with the Holy Spirit and power and how he went around doing
good and healing all who were under the power of the devil because God was with
him. Do you doubt that? I don't. How God anointed Jacob of Vancouver with the
Holy Spirit and power and how he went around doing good and healing all who
were under the power of the devil because God was with him. You have to
take that scripture and put your name there because of the Christ who lives in
you. Go over these scriptures again and again so that in your heart you know
that aha I must reveal the Son by displaying his works done through the
Holy Spirit. Let's look at another one. Acts 26 verse 17 and 18. Acts 26 verse 17
and 18. Acts 26 17 and 18. I will rescue you from your own people and from the
Gentiles. I am sending you to them to open their eyes and turn them from
darkness to light from the power of Satan to God so that they may receive
forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.
These are some of the mandates given us and the next one I really like because
it follows right after Jesus finishes 40 days in the wilderness. Luke chapter 4
verse 18 and 19. Luke chapter 4 verse 18 and 19. It's drawn from Isaiah 61 with a
few changes because it's the year of God's favor. Luke chapter 4 verse 17
onwards. The scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. Unrolling it he found
the place where it is written. The Spirit of the Lord is on me because he has
anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom
for the prisoners, recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to
proclaim the year of the Lord's favor. Then he rolled up the scroll and gave it
back to the attendant and sat down. These are the works of God. They reveal the
Son. What happens when we go down this route guys is that in the process of
revealing the Son through the works of God, men are drawn to Jesus Christ
because he is lifted up. The Spirit of God begins to flow because he's been
pleading saying Jacob out of you shall flow rivers of living water. Can you go
and do something? And then the third thing is in the process of revealing the
Son you always reveal the Father because it's in the revealing of the Son that
the Father is revealed. Any questions?
Any questions? Guys we've got to be really...
It's like being a salesman who's so convinced about what he's selling and
he'll do anything to prove to people that this product works. It's not because
he's getting a commission, not because his father happens to have invented the
product. Anything that is damaged, diseased, demonized, decaying or dying
requires your touch. Anything that is damaged, diseased, decaying, demonized or
dying requires your touch. Why? Because you now participate in the glorious
aliveness of the Father and you have become a life-giver because you draw
your life from him. You become the reservoir through which he flows.
You're trying to say something Betty? Was that a worldly song?
Okay, moving on. The next thing is guys we need to learn to think, inhabit and
display the keeping power of God. We need to learn to think, inhabit and display the
keeping power of God. We need to think, learn, inhabit and display the keeping
power of God. Oh man I wish the church had learned this before COVID. We've
always been a people who are supposed to keep others. We are people who have been
One of the favorite things that God would say throughout the Old Testament is,
I will keep you, I will keep you, I will keep you. We were supposed to be ones
that keep God. The Old Testament and the New Testament have stories of being kept
by the people of God. You go to Goshen, Exodus 822. How do we do this? We do it
by the word of a mouth, by faith, by practice. Not word of a mouth, by the word.
It is possible to become a people that others run to in times of trouble
because in you is refuge because of the one who is the great refuge. In you is a
hiding place because you have made him your hiding place. People come to use for
safety. Exodus 822. But on that day I will deal differently with the land of
Goshen where my people live. No swarms of flies will be there so that you will
know that I the Lord am in this land. Where is that God man? Look at the words
he's using. I will make a difference and I will show you I am in the land. A place
of safety. But the church has been rendered almost as fearful as any other
institution. It's common sense not to pick up a rattlesnake but it doesn't
mean that we don't when venture out because there are snakes. You don't pick
it up unless you're told to. So there might be there are places where you
exert that kind of sense but not at the I don't know if you remember what we
preach in March. Resist some of the things that are happening at present
regardless of how many times they happen. Learn how to live by the law of the land
but resist fear. Here's another scripture. Daniel chapter 6 verse 20. Daniel 6.
What happened? Phoebe what's happening? Daniel chapter 6.
Daniel chapter 6 verse 20. When he came near the den he called to
Daniel in an anguished voice. Daniel servant of the living God has your God
whom you serve continually been able to rescue you from the lions. And then go
to verse 26. He realizes what has happened because Daniel replies and then
he says I issue a decree. Verse 26. I issue a decree that in every part of my
kingdom people must fear and reverence the God of Daniel for he is the living
God and he endures forever his kingdom will be will not be destroyed his
dominion will never end he rescues and saves he performs signs and wonders in
the heavens and the earth he has rescued Daniel from the power of lions. This is
the story that people begin to write that Jacob's God rescues people from the
power of lions. Ruth's God rescues people from COVID. Lydie's God rescues people
from disease but these are the ways that we become a people who keep and we got
to prove it eh. Saying it ain't enough it must be proven. And proving requires
taking a risk. Let's look at another one. Paul Acts chapter 28 verse 2 to 9. Acts
chapter 28 verse 2 to 9. The islanders showed us unusual kindness they built
fire and welcomed us because it was raining and cold. Paul gathered a pile of
brushwood and as he put it on the fire a viper driven out by the heat fastened
itself on his hand. When the islanders saw the snake hanging from his hand they
said to each other this man must be a murderer for though he escaped from the
sea justice is not allowed him to live but Paul shook the snake off into the
fire and suffered no ill effects. The people expected him to swell up or
suddenly fall dead but after waiting a long time and seeing nothing unusual
happened to him they changed their minds and they said he was a God. There was an
estate nearby that belonged to Publius the chief official of the island he
welcomed us to his home and for three days entertained us hospitably. His
father was sick in bed suffering from fever and dysentery. Paul went in to see
him and after prayer placed his hands on him and healed him. When this had happened
the rest of the sick on the island came and were cured. They honored us in many
ways and when we were ready to sail they furnished us with the supplies we need.
Essential service, essential service. We got to go down this route man got to go
down this route. I'm not even going to touch Psalm 91 because we read about
Psalm 91 when you read Psalm 91 4 to 10 you see that we are a people who keep
and a people who must keep sorry a people who are kept and a people who
must keep. Okay any questions? Guys even if this is not your experience yet even
if you don't see God this way yet prove him prove him tomorrow prove him but
Jacob what if I fail get up day after tomorrow and try prove him again
because he is faithful. My circumstances don't determine who God is. Just because
while I was praying my dad died in my arms while I was praying and reading
scripture does not mean that prayers are not powerful or the scriptures don't
give life doesn't mean that the next person's dad will die it means that my
dad died period I do not know why but that doesn't color the face of God I
will not listen to whispers that caused me to cast suspicion on the glorious
aliveness and the goodness of a God who lives in the zest of life and has always
been that way. Your circumstances don't count I don't know how much ruder to get
they don't they don't count in terms of who God is I'm not saying your
circumstances don't count your circumstances really matter because
they are your circumstances but they don't count in terms of who God is
that's what I'm trying to say. Next one we'll be a people of the spirit that
gather to scatter we will be these are all ways to prove ourselves essential
services in the future we will not be labeled a non-essential service it's
such a sad thing we will be a people of the spirit we will be a people of the
spirit who are gathered to scatter who are gathered to scatter who are gathered
A church that doesn't scatter dies strong A Church that doesn't scatter dies strong
A church that scatters empties itself out and reproduces
A Church that doesn't scatter dies strong. You don't want to be a church that helicopes
you want to be a church or a people that when they come
and are going to throw you into a grave, they realize that there's nothing to
rob from you because you emptied yourself out, that you poured yourself out,
that there is nothing left. I've been covenanting with God literally saying,
Oh God, do not allow me to make Acts 29 a church that is strong, but allow me to
make Acts 29 a church that is continuously emptying itself out, pouring
itself out in terms of its monies, in terms of its best, in terms of its people,
in terms of its gifts and talents, empty itself out so that it reproduces because
at the end of the day all multiplication is the result of the scattering of seed.
All multiplication is the result of the scattering of seed. You know how a farmer
scatters seed, he just puts his hand into the sack, he pulls out whatever comes in
his hands and then he goes whoosh. He doesn't go hmm gifted one, not gifted one,
good singer, good worshipper, no he doesn't do that. He just puts his hand in,
gathers a whole lot and scatters it this way and they fall where they need to
fall and if the ground has been dug well they grow because the seed that is in us
is Christ himself and he can grow. Genesis 1 28 if it must come to pass
will only come to pass when people scatter. If you want to be fruitful, if
you want to increase in numbers, if you want to subdue the enemy it is required
that you go forth and multiply which is the scattering. Churches that do not
scatter cannot fulfill the mandate of Genesis 1 28. I mean Mark and Rhonda and
the kids will be going by September 10th or so. Next week we were supposed to do
it this week but decided to move it on to next week where we'll send them off.
Scatter them. I pray God that I prepare my heart to let you be scattered so that
we'll have to find some new guy to do sound. We'll have to find another
worship leader. It's the only way to multiply, it is the only way to fulfill
the Genesis mandate. If you want to subdue the enemy, if you want to multiply
if you want to increase in fruit, if you want to be fruitful increase and subdue
the enemy it is impossible to do without being scattered. Starting next month we've
been on this route for a while but I covenant with God that oh God for the
post-covid landscape make us a people of the spirit that only gather to be
scattered because there is no other reason for the existence of a church and
in this our house churches have failed. We don't reproduce we just get stronger.
I'm looking forward to sitting on zoom this week with a few of you are going to
get a zoom link saying hey wanted to tell you I got something new for you to
do so that you get scattered. Look forward to it. Wally, Wally awaits us.
We'll think about it next week. You know what God is saying literally to us
through this through this point. Guys he's saying that he'll open up ancient
doors for us if we as a church decide we live to be scattered. Open up ancient
doors for us in different parts of the world if we choose to be scattered.
I think I'll take eight minutes more. You got any questions? I love the fact that
some of you are willing to go and settle in Wally. I love the fact that you're
looking for property to start businesses in Wally. You guys are nuts. Who does
stuff like that? But for this reason we live right?
Next one be like the sons of Issachar. Be like the sons of Issachar. Be like the
sons of Issachar in the post-covid landscape. Be like the sons of Issachar.
They had the ability to reveal times and seasons and then do what was necessary
in those times and seasons. They knew what time they were in. They knew the
season they were in and then they had the ability to do what was required.
What happened? I mean I question Acts 29. We are supposedly a prophetic church. What
happened to the prophetic church? What happened to the prophets in Christendom?
How come nobody saw the COVID thing coming? Now everybody is grasping for
straws. I had said two years ago that a dark time will come. Really? How come an
event that literally froze the earth was not known by the church? God is not
nebulous in his speaking. He doesn't speak in vague riddles. He actually says
that in Isaiah. I don't speak in vague riddles. In Amos chapter 3 verse 7 he
says that I like telling my prophets what is going to happen, what I'm planning
to do. God likes to tell what he's planning to do. In the Old Testament he
used to say through prophets. Now he still uses prophets but he prefers
speaking through a prophetic people. What happened to us? How come we didn't hear
this? We heard about different nations. May we have that ability to be like the
sons of Issachar who know their times and seasons because our ears are tuned not
just to how God will do well for us but how God will do well on the earth. 1st
Chronicles 12-27 is where we hear about Issachar. They knew their times, they
knew how to position themselves, they knew what to do. Is this uncommon in the
Bible? You read Psalm 105 verse 17 to 22 and you see that there was a man called
Joseph that he was shackled, that a word was given to him and the word came to
pass and that he became the Prince of Egypt, that he was one who governed over
its nobles, he was the one who caused the children of Jacob to survive, a man sent
before the famine. That's in the Old Testament. You look at the New Testament
in Acts chapter 11 you find a man called Agabus, a prophet who knew that
there was a famine coming during the time of Claudius and the famine came and
he prepared the church to collect what was necessary for the poorer churches
of Judea and Samaria. This was common. What happened to us?
Guys, sometimes you know when the church deviates from being the pillar and the
foundation of truth and you can't afford it now, Acts 29 and other churches that
go down this road have to like 2nd Timothy 3.15 says become a pillar and the
foundation of truth in an environment that is combative. When I say combative I
mean one of the things the church faces today is power, wealth and heresy and you
can't stand drawn by power, wealth and heresy and then prophesy accurately. You
cannot stand prophesying power, wealth and heresy and have your ears open to hear
what God is doing on the earth. It is one or the other. 2nd Timothy 3.15 says
that the church must be the pillar and the foundation of truth. Once a church
decides that it doesn't matter what, we will stand for the sheer truth of God and
wrestle with it, grapple with it and will not fall for the seduction of power,
politics, money, mammon, wealth or heresy that tickles the ears of people. Those
people will begin to hear God well. American Christianity lies at the feet
of power and wealth and heresy and a heresy that tickles the ears of people.
Begin to walk like that and you will hear, you will become, not hear, you will
become the voice from the wilderness that prepares the way of the Lord. Last
point, be a people who provoke a response, be a people who provoke a response. Why?
Because God is with us. Be a people, become a people, become a people during
this post-COVID era. Stand as a people in this post-COVID landscape who provoke a
response, who provoke a response. Why? Because God is with us. What do I mean by
that? Guys, if you look at the New Testament or look at Jesus's life, you'll
find, I mean before I go there, 1 Kings 18 verse 21. 1 Kings 18, 21, here's what
happens. I know you know this. Elijah says, who will you serve? Will you serve Yahweh
or will you serve Baal? And guess what the people said? Nothing. Somehow we've
neutered ourselves so badly that it doesn't matter what the church will say,
nobody responds. Because the first five points that I wrote down or we've written
down have not been met. Why should anyone listen? And then you go to 1 Kings
18, 39. What has happened by now in the last 18 verses? Fire fell and now Elijah
asks the same question. Who will you serve? Yahweh or Baal? We'll serve Yahweh, we'll serve Yahweh
and they slaughter all the prophets of Baal. But 18 verses ago the guys did not
say a word. The thing with the church in the New Testament was it was either
feared, favored or hated. But no one was neutral. It was feared, favored or hated.
We don't have any such problems. We are not feared, we are not favored, we are not
hated. The only favor we get is a charitable receipt. Feared, favored, hated.
Feared, you see it in Acts chapter 19 verse 17. Acts chapter 19 verse 17. It
says that this is after the seven sons of Sceva were beaten up. Verse 17, when this
became known to the Jews and the Greeks living in Ephesus, they were all seized
with fear and the name of the Lord Jesus was held in high honor. Many of those who
believed now came and openly confess their evil deeds. A number who had
practiced sorcery brought their scrolls together and burned them publicly. When
they calculated the value of the scrolls, the total came to 50,000 drachmas. In
this way the word of the Lord spread widely and grew in power. There was
sufficient reverence of fear for the church. Next, the church was favored. You
read that in Acts chapter 2 verse 47. Acts chapter 2 verse 47. Acts chapter 2
verse 47. It says that they broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad
and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all people. And
every time there was fear or favor, look what would happen. And the Lord added to
their numbers daily those who were being saved. See all these these three things
always add numbers. If they fear you, numbers will be added. If they favor you,
numbers will be added. If they hate you, numbers will be added. If they are neutral
about you, numbers stay where they are. You have to have people come with babies
before the church begins to grow. Hated. You go to Acts chapter 7 verse 54. You'll
see there was sheer hatred that spills over into Acts chapter 8 verse 1.
Acts chapter 8 54. When they heard, this is Stephen speaking about Jesus Christ,
when they heard this, they were furious and gnashed their teeth at him. Acts
chapter 8 verse 1. On that day a great persecution broke out against the church
in Jerusalem and all except the apostles were scattered through a Judea and
Samaria. But you read at the end of Acts chapter 8 that the church again begins
to grow because in the hatred was scattering. Plead with God saying, Father,
in the coming year could you please make sure that Acts 29 is either favored,
feared or hated but that it is not accepted neutrally. Jesus put it very
clearly in John 17 when he said, if you begin to think like me you will be hated.
He actually says that, Father, I give them to your hands. The world will hate them
just as the world has hated me because I have given them your word. So make sure
as individuals that you banish complacency. That might be a little easy
for Acts 29 but here's the other tough one, banish self-preservation. Banish
self-preservation. Banish self-preservation. Try everything in your power not to
preserve yourself. Preserving self never ends up with empty. Preserving self
always ends up with gaining. Self-preservation has never been the secret
to emptying or pouring out. I honor and respect some of you guys. I marvel at how
you empty yourself out, how you do not preserve, how you give away. Sometimes I'm
jealous of the way you've done it. May you keep increasing and may the rest of us
join you in banishing self-preservation because these are the two things that
have the ability to neuter or render us non-essential. Whenever the church decides
to be complacent and does not take an extreme position, whenever the church
engages in self-preservation so that they become fat cats and fat pews, it
always renders the church non-essential and it neuters the church, it castrates
the church. This is horrible scripture in Zephaniah 1.12. Zephaniah 1.12. You're going and
looking at books we never look at. Zephaniah 1.12. Oh man, may this not be said of us.
I'm reading it from the message. On Judgment Day I'll search through every
closet and alley in Vancouver. I'll find and punish those who are sitting it out,
fat and lazy, amusing themselves and taking it easy, who think God doesn't do
anything good or bad. He isn't involved so neither are we.
Instead, in the post-COVID landscape that awaits us and we only have to go down this
road for another three weeks then the 40 days are over, may you continue fasting,
may you continue drawing aside, may you continue doing whatever it takes to have an encounter
with God and get a fresh revelation of him. But in the post-COVID landscape that awaits,
I pray God that Ruth the Moabitess will seek you out and say, your God will be my God,
your people will be my people, where you go I will go, where you die I will die. This must
happen on an individual basis amongst your neighbors so that the Moabitess comes out
and seeks you and says take me to your God. The church functions through the people,
through its saints and every saint must have what Zechariah 8.23 puts as and ten Jews will
come and tug at the sleeve, tug at your sleeve saying take us with you because we have heard
that God is with you. You should read that Zechariah 8.23, it's such a cool scripture.
Zechariah 8.23. This is what the Lord Almighty says, in those days ten men from all languages
and nations, it's a typical Vancouver like city, this is what the Lord Almighty says,
in those days ten men from all languages and nations will take firm hold of one Jew by the
hem of his robe and say let us go with you because we have heard that God is with you.
What a resounding scripture man. Cool? If you don't say cool I'll go on. Cool? Oh my God,
what a response. So remember guys, I keep going over this. Goodness of the Father,
works of the Son, kept by God, scattered by the Spirit, Issachar generation, returning with truth.
Goodness of God, goodness and life of God, works of the Son displayed, kept by God and therefore
keepers of men, scattered by the Spirit, Issachar generation returned with truth,
the Moabiters. Or in other words, let them say your God, could your God be my God, could your God
be my God. Learn it, go over it again and again. Let these things settle in your head and remember
this week make sure you go and ask, hey Father what are you singing over me today? Listen to it,
write it down. Let it stir up the zest for life that he has and the zest for life that you should
have because his life is in you. Yeah? The only other thing I want you to do, I won't do it now,
no I won't do it now, is go read Zechariah 80. It was given to us in September of last year as an
inheritance passage. We were at Josh and Charlene's house and I read it out the first time and at that
time there were a few of us there and I felt a lot saying that listen, this is an inheritance passage
for you Acts 29 and in hindsight when you read it you see so many lines of hope in Zechariah 8,
given our present context. I know I've read it before but some of the lines are, this is what
the Lord Almighty says, once again men and women of ripe old age will sit in the streets of
Jerusalem, each with cane in hand because of his age. The city streets will be filled with boys and
girls playing there. This is what the Lord Almighty says, it may seem marvelous to the remnant but will
it seem marvelous to me? And then he goes on to say, before this time there were no wages for man
or beast, no one could go about his business safely because of the enemy but now I will not
deal with you that way. The seed will grow, the vine will yield its fruit, the ground will produce
its crops, the heaven will drop to you. Go read Zechariah 8 a couple of times during the week and
we'll talk about it next week perhaps and see what God wanted to say in September and what we
probably didn't see and what we need to see. Yeah, that's great. Father, I think some of the stuff
that we are talking about is really you. It's not even like a sermon or a teaching. It's like a
current word or a present truth that you want to enrich our hearts with and so we receive it,
Abba. We receive it. I receive it, Lord. And having received it, I ask for faith to believe
it is something that you want us to explore, work at, display. Spirit of God, I believe the
soil in this room is really good so I disallow birds from taking away the seeds that have been
sown. I chase them away in the name of Jesus Christ. I pray, Father, that we won't let this
word just lie but that we'll water it by going over it perhaps once or twice. Go over this acronym
or whatever the thing is called. It's not but you know what I mean, Abba. And that it would take
root and that we would begin to show the world that we are an essential group of people because
God is with us so that what happened this time will never happen again, never happen again.
These things are beyond me, beyond us, but these things are absolutely doable. This is the desire,
the yearning of the Holy Spirit and this is your pleasure, your pleasure to give us a kingdom. Do
that, Spirit of God, do that. So I thank you now as we go. Father, let none of us die with things
intact but completely emptied and poured out. Let that be said of the people of Acts 29. There
was nothing to take from them because they were empty. In Jesus' name, Amen.