Guys, so today's topic is, it's got an odd name.
I'm calling it Wilderness 40,
Wilderness 40, F-O-R-T-Y, Wilderness 40.
And it's,
it's as much for us as it is for the global church.
It is as much for us as it is for the global church.
And Romans 11, 16 says that if the
first batch of dough is leavened,
or if the first batch of dough is holy,
then the rest is holy.
Or if the root is holy, then the fruit will be holy.
Why am I quoting that scripture?
I believe that sometimes one just has to release
what God is saying for a small church like this,
and it has the ability to spread
and affect the global church.
And to the extent possible, I'm sharing with people
in other parts of the world too,
so that they can prepare accordingly.
So this is as much for us as it is for the global church.
Romans 11, 16, Mike.
So the next, yes.
The next 40 days, taking us into mid-September,
the next 40 days will poise the church.
And when I say church today,
it will mean Acts 29 for certain,
but it does apply to the global church.
The next 40 days, taking us into mid-September,
will poise the church for a new beginning
in terms of the role of the church on Earth,
in terms of the role of the church on Earth.
Next 40 days, taking us into mid-September,
will poise the church for a new beginning
in terms of the role of the church on Earth.
And this is almost like a threshold point,
the 40 days that start now and go on till mid-September.
It's almost like a threshold
where as in Genesis 8, you see that at some point,
Noah sent out the raven,
and the raven kept flying to and fro,
but could not find a place to land.
And then after that, he sends out the dove,
and when he sends out the dove, the dove comes back.
He sends the dove out again after seven days,
and it comes back with an olive branch in its beak.
And that is the sense of these 40 days.
That once these 40 days come to conclusion,
you will find that it's the same condition with the pandemic
where the raven has gone out
and is looking for a place to land,
and the dove comes back with an olive branch.
And that is why the church has to poise itself in a way,
so that as the waters now begin to dry up
to a point where land appears, that the church is ready.
So in other words, we are coming to that point
mid-September or 40 days or so from now,
where suddenly things will dramatically shift,
where the world will begin to relaunch itself.
And as it relaunches itself,
the church has to be poised for it,
because there is a post-pandemic church
that God expects to rise up.
And if the post-pandemic church does not rise up,
then the church will function the same way
as it has always been functioning.
And in the Bible, you see multiple
40 day, 40 night references.
There was the 40 day, 40 night reference
when it came to the rains that came down
and caused the flood.
There was the 40 day, 40 night reference
when Moses went up on Sinai.
And he actually went up twice.
The first time he went up and brought the tablets,
he broke the tablets, and then he went up a second time,
again spent 40 days and 40 nights on Mount Sinai.
And then you see him spending 40 days and 40 nights
on his face, literally, weeping before the Lord,
because in Deuteronomy 9, it says,
you went to Kadesh, Barnea,
and instead of crossing into the promised land,
you rebelled and refused the voice of the Lord.
And so God wanted to consume you,
and for 40 days and 40 nights,
I cried out and interceded for you
that the Lord may not consume you.
You go further and you see that the spies were sent out
for 40 days and 40 nights to explore the land
and to come back with a report
of the promised land they were being sent to.
You see that in Numbers 13.
Then you see Elijah going for a long journey,
40 days and 40 nights, ate angel food,
and then spent 40 days and 40 nights without food.
You see Goliath coming out 40 days and 40 nights
to challenge the armies of Israel.
And then you see Jesus post-resurrection,
before he ascended,
spending 40 days and 40 nights with his disciples.
He spent about 40 days with them,
preaching the kingdom, it says.
But today what we want to focus on
is Jesus in the wilderness.
For 40 days and 40 nights in Matthew 4,
verse one onwards to 11,
it says he spent time in the wilderness.
And so that's where we will go.
So when you look at Matthew 4, verse one to 11,
it talks about Jesus in the wilderness,
and I am comparing this time in the life of the church
to the time that Jesus spent in the wilderness.
And like it says in 1 Corinthians 7, 40, the second part,
I think I too have the Spirit of God,
and so I'm saying to you that I believe
this is something that the Spirit of God
wants the global church to know,
and definitely wants this church to prepare.
And so these next 40 to 45 days,
towards mid-September,
are days like Jesus spent in the wilderness.
That's what we need to compare.
That's the context we have.
Those are the reference points
we'll be looking at for the next six weeks.
And by the way,
we are not wandering through the wilderness.
We are not fleeing into the wilderness.
We are not sentenced into the wilderness.
We are being led into the wilderness by the Holy Spirit.
We've been talking about this as a year of the Holy Spirit,
and that still continues.
We are being led by the Holy Spirit into the wilderness.
There were people who were forced into the wilderness,
who wandered there, who fled there.
Ishmael fled, not Ishmael.
Ishmael, yeah.
Sorry?
Hagar fled into the wilderness, not Ishmael.
Hagar fled into the wilderness.
Cain fled into the wilderness.
Moses was wandering in the wilderness.
Elijah ran into the wilderness.
But we are being led into the wilderness.
Matthew 4.1 starts with the simple premise
that Jesus was led into the wilderness by the Holy Spirit.
And that's great.
If this is the year of the Holy Spirit,
and he's leading us into a 40 year time in the wilderness,
look forward to it.
Any questions?
What about the so-called second game
that you're going to be playing?
As long as the dove returns with an olive in its mouth,
I'm good.
Let me put it this way.
I'm not predicting what is gonna happen with COVID-19.
I'm telling you that over the next 40 days,
the church has to poise itself, prepare itself
for what will happen after.
And almost like the raven flying across
and not coming back into the ark,
like the dove going and not coming back.
It was much later after that
that things actually came to settle.
But by then Noah's boat had landed on Mount Ararat.
And I'm saying we have to now poise ourselves
because God is bringing things to a new launch
or a new beginning.
And so come mid-September,
if the church is not where it needs to be,
then the world will have its way.
Time and time again, this has happened guys.
Again, I go back to the sons of Issachar.
The sons of Issachar had the ability to look and collate
and analyze and say, aha, as this has been in the past,
so it is happening now, so this is what it means.
And therefore the sons of Issachar were crucial
to David's conquests and David's reign
because they had an idea of signs and times.
That is what we mean by knowing times and seasons,
not the prophetic necessarily.
Out of that you can learn how to steward
God's future agenda.
And so what we are saying here is
the global church needs to,
and I've already spoken to Chad and a few others,
the global church needs to now get together and say,
the beginning of the end is coming,
how shall we position ourselves
so that the world systems do not run
how the world will look after?
Every vacuum begs someone to enter.
There is no question of a Jezebel succeeding
as long as the vacuum that was filled by Ahab,
the vacuum that was created by Ahab
was not filled by somebody else,
but Ahab would not move.
And so in the presence of an Ahab, a Jezebel comes.
Whenever there's a vacuum,
either God fills it or the devil fills it.
When God fills it, he looks for a people.
And often his cry in the Bible is,
I looked for a people but I did not find anybody
because they were sleeping.
I was saying they were sleeping
because someone was sleeping, but they were sleeping.
So, often in the Bible God does that.
He goes looking for a people
and then he has to roll up his own sleeve
and roll up his sleeve and bring salvation by himself.
I'm saying, my God, what a shame
if he finds us sleeping when we should be awake.
More than two months ago, more than a hundred days ago,
if you look at the scriptures we had discussed,
I said to you that there must be a post-COVID church,
there must be a post-COVID response,
there must be post-COVID planning.
Businesses are doing it, why is not the church doing it?
Do you know businesses are doing it?
Do you know Microsoft is doing it?
Do you know all the big businesses are planning ahead?
Do you know institutions are doing it?
But one person that doesn't do it is the church
because we've gotten so used to the blooming live stream now.
We're getting highly techie.
So, please don't look at this as some kind of a prediction
on when the virus will dissipate or disintegrate
or when a vaccine will come.
This is about, oh God, you're giving us
till mid-September to prepare the church globally
so that we are poised to take on what happens after this
as the top of mountains become visible
and as doves don't come back to the ark.
I know that sounds a little abstract,
but it'll flesh out as we go on.
And don't think we are the only ones
who are probably hearing this.
Many small churches and big churches like us
all across the earth will be hearing it.
Guys, the one thing that happens once you get popular
is you will have to, once you become popular,
begin to cater to those that have made you popular,
which is why God sometimes has to choose
nobodies to bring his message forth.
The biggest problem with popularity in today's world
is that now you become a focus.
Every word you say has to be measured
because if you say a wrong word, you can be finished.
And so God has to use nobodies to release his word,
but he'll use a thousand nobodies
instead of one popular person.
God is smart.
He doesn't need Twitter.
So here's what I'm doing through this teaching,
and I'm doing, I will be doing over the next few weeks.
I'm calling a holy convocation.
It's a big word.
It's a word almost never used.
Even the NIV doesn't use it.
Only KJV uses it.
But the idea of a holy convocation
was the idea of an assembly,
where in the KJV, say for instance,
when they would have Passover or stuff like that,
I think in Exodus 12 or somewhere it says,
and so call a holy convocation.
Get people together.
And so this is what we're trying to do.
Call a holy convocation.
I'm summoning the leaders of the church,
both locally at Acts 29 and in other parts of the world.
And let us fast and be fed.
Let us fast and be fed.
As in, let us fast before God so that he can feed us.
Let us serve at his convenience.
Let us fast, and we'll talk about that.
Let us fast and be fed.
Let us serve at his convenience.
Not even at his pleasure, but serve at his convenience.
Sometimes it's easy to serve at his pleasure
at my convenience, but serve at his convenience.
Let us study and make everything according to the pattern
that he prescribes.
Let us study and make everything according to the pattern
he prescribes.
Let us fast.
It talks about it in Exodus 25, verse 40
where God says to Moses, listen Moses,
all the patterns that I showed you on the mountain,
make sure that everything you build here on Earth
is based on the patterns I showed you on the mountain.
would you please show us as a church because you are launching us again,
relaunching your bride, relaunching your bride.
You know, it's, we will never see the,
we may never see on this side of the earth,
the effect of our work, our prayer, our toil,
our declarations with regard to the first 40 days between say March 23rd and May
4th. We will never see the outcome of it,
how the globe was affected because of that.
We will never see the spiritual battles and the results of it on this side of
the earth, but we know what happened during that time.
And in the same way, now, as we prepare for the next 40 days,
know that some of these things,
the little people in a little church speak has global impact.
It has always been that way. It has always been that way.
One of the things I'm so convinced about,
and I was repeating it again and again till about six weeks ago,
is that I am a majority of one because I am walking with God and speaking what
he wants spoken and that on the earth,
things are rot when any ordinary person has the ability to hear and then declare
what God is saying. Because that is how God works.
The Bible is alive and well.
The Bible is more alive today than it has ever been.
The Old Testament stories are patterned so that we may take them and affect them
here on earth.
I really can't tell you stories that publicly,
I cannot tell you stories that are rot because you hear God and say one thing
somewhere and governments topple. Men are raised, men fall.
It is the same way that Zerubbabel used to deal with in Zechariah that can be
done even now.
The reason I'm saying this to you is because you need to be encouraged
somewhere deep in your heart that God operates this way.
He will always skin down 30,000 to 300 so that we very clearly know where the
power comes from, where the power went out from,
and who deserves the glory for the power.
So I'm calling a holy convocation,
summoning the leaders,
asking that we fast so that God can feed,
that we serve at his convenience, serve at his convenience,
not when you have built your house,
not when you have completed your marriage,
not when you finished your degree,
not when your work is done at his convenience,
at his convenience.
Not when you are a Christian,
not when you have a Christian,
not when you are a Christian,
convenience at his convenience and make everything just like the pattern shown
on the mountain so that God can easily discharge command saying hey Mike here
go speak this from your balcony facing east because I have found you faithful
hey Manoj go speak this from your balcony facing south because I have
found you pure hey Shikha speak in Coquitlam because I have found you
seeking me more than you used to
fasting is not so that we may show God how humble we are fasting is not so that
we may get extra bonuses from God when I'm talking about fasting here in the
context of wilderness 40 I'm talking about times of separation so that we
can intensely focus on God things and so that we may wear sackcloth and weep for
sometimes the world sometimes the church sometimes for others when was the last
time you wept for anybody but your child when was the last time you wept for
anybody but your child or your immediate family so we're not talking about a
fasting where we are humbling ourselves or rending our garments or no we're
talking about a fasting that allows us to separate ourselves and in the poor
process of separation create time time for what time to intensely focus on
certain things that God may want to bring to us as a church bring to us as
leaders bring to us as individuals and to wear sackcloth in the sense actually
find in the heart of God that space where he weeps for things that you can
then participate in it's a kind of prayer that we know very little of
because it's not common to our modern times which is supplication
charismatic churches rarely see supplication or whatever church we are
called any questions
you're good tape
any questions okay so let me describe the wilderness to you the wilderness is
a place sorry was there a question
sackcloth and weeping for the world for the church and for others
the wilderness let me just describe the wilderness to you it's a place that we
are being invited to that's the first thing that really makes me look forward
to it this is the part that makes me look forward to it that I'm being
invited into it one of the things that God said to Israel when Israel was
going through the wilderness was yes I took you there because I wanted to
humble you wanted to test you but I wanted to do you good in the end and
that was with Israel after sinning and being led into the wilderness in this
case it's not because of sin it is him being is the Spirit of God saying like I
did with Jesus I'm leading you into the wilderness so you're being invited as a
church into the wilderness and that kind of wilderness is a place of provision
is a place of provision as in this is not a place where you dry up shrivel and
die it's a place for provision it's a place of overwhelming revelation of God
it is a place where you find an overwhelming revelation of God nobody
doesn't matter whether you went there because of sin whether you wandered in
there whether you were sentenced or condemned to the wilderness there is not
a person in the Bible who went into the wilderness and did not see God like they
have never seen him before everyone had an overwhelming revelation of God doesn't
matter whether it's Cain whether it's Elijah whether it's Hagar they all saw
God that in a way they would have never seen him Acts 29 I say to you huh roll
up your sleeves consecrate yourself lift up your hearts open your minds because
of the invitation God is giving you because you can come away from this
fully provided for invited with an overwhelming revelation of God in the
next 40 days leading up to mid-september when I say 40 don't start counting the
hours and minutes it's a place of testing which is what we will focus on a
lot today it's a place of testing it's a place of encounter an encounter is
something you haven't had before
these are things that my heart is excited about I look forward to
preaching these things because as I preach I begin to see things that I
aren't in my notes and just excites me to think who are we who are you that who
are we that you are mindful of us so God who are we that you are mindful of us
to have a God who wants to bring to us encounters with himself we're not
talking about no ordinary mortal we're talking about him who is far beyond the
6800 year orbit of neo wise the comet that we've been trying to see far
beyond that him encounters with him
makes you want to go down on your knees man the wilderness is a place of renewal
of being made new that's his intent with the church anyways and I'm talking about
the global church not just acts 29 and the wilderness is always a place where
you return from with power if you read Matthew 4 1 to 11 and Luke 4 1 to 11
you will find this in Luke 4 the word changes slightly where Luke says that
Jesus was driven into the wilderness by the Spirit not even led into the
wilderness by the Spirit he was driven it is best to be led or driven by the
Spirit I don't know why the word driven is used there but even that is great the
spirit saying come on Jesus we got things to do don't want to waste a
single minute of the 40 days we've got to do this we've got to do this we've got
things to do don't want to waste a single minute of the 40 days
sometimes going into the wilderness means setting aside the things that you
presently are focused on this is an invitation to which you can respond
saying can I bury my dad and mum before I join you I'll turn up there by the
third day can I come a little later because I got a buddy bury my dad or can
I just get the inheritance sorted out and then I'll come
this is why it fascinates me that Peter and John Peter and the sons of Zebedee
Peter and Andrew and the sons of Zebedee left their nets right where
they were walked off with Jesus just because he said follow me there was no
cost analysis there was no time given it was probably damaging to the family
because Zebedee now is left without his sons and has to mend his nets himself
and one would now argue oh that is very irresponsible one too bad they were
praised priorities always mean something else is less prioritized
the devil's intention through this is to tempt but it is being subsumed with
God's purpose to test test so devil's intention of tempting is being subsumed
by God's intention of testing and both are different one is to cause you to
fall the other is to prove your metal and promote you one is to cause you to
fall the other is to prove your capacity your metal and METTLE and to promote you
so the devil's intention to tempt is being subsumed under God's intent or
purpose to test why in order that he may reveal to us in order that he may
reveal to us and prove our strength to us against the enemy and against the
systems of the world that await
what I was going to say when we when I was talking about the fact that we prayed
for a long time every week both as a church and as leaders and as groups we
prayed against things that are happening when COVID first started and I would
like to say to you that with many others who were praying we were able to prevent
the irreversible dent that would have been left on the earth and that is
we were able to prevent the irreversible dent that would have been left on the
earth had there been no prayer being offered from churches around the world
if you don't believe it go on Midbar not if you don't not if you don't believe
it if you don't understand it go on to that YouTube channel Midbar and look for
a message called behind the scenes and in that it's very clearly explained what
was happening what is happening and now I look forward to what else God is going
to do
so if God's intent or purpose is to test in order to reveal and prove our
strength what does this testing look like so the Spirit of God will test your
humility the Spirit of God will test your humility Spirit of God will test
humility and the testing of humility is basically proving whether you have a
helpless continuous dependence on God
displaying a child likeness displaying a return to child likeness
it'll come up again and again over the next 40 days where you'll find yourself
struggling with pride struggling with offense struggling with not being
recognized struggling with not having your way struggling with loss of
control it'll come up again again and thank God it'll come up again and again
ever since I started on this process I've been having to fight the fact that
I'm not childlike for having to fight the fact that I'm not being acknowledged at
times having to fight the fact that there are times when I'm being offended
in a sense redemption is a restoration of lost humility redemption is a
restoration of lost humility as in a return to child likeness a continuous
dependence on him it is one thing to be intensely helpless and dependent and is
other another thing to be intensely dependent continuously dependent
continuous dependence a return to child likeness I look forward to it unafraid
the next thing he'll test you on is the condition of your heart the condition of
your heart he'll test you on the condition of your heart he'll test you
on the condition of your heart
he'll test you on the condition of your heart and it'll be on two levels one
when it comes to the cares of the world versus his concerns he will expose the
conditions of your heart condition of your heart when it comes to the cares
of the world versus his concerns he will expose the condition of your heart the
thing with testing is no test can happen without an expo exposing of what
actually is the whole idea of a test is let me show you what is
and once I've shown you what is let me show you what can be and now the
question is which one do you choose
when we talk about the cares of the world versus concerns of his heart
remember there are four things that are struggling against it we haven't talked
about it for a while so I'm quickly going over it family
money work possessions these are the cares of the world and at the center is Christ and the body
he'll test your heart why because what he wants to do is bring the church
globally and locally into a place where once again he can fill in the vacuum that nobody else will
that what has been thwarted in terms of what the enemy planned to do will not just be left
thwarted but the world gets a second chance and who else would he speak to than his own people his
own body his own sons and daughters who does he want to accomplish things through does he really
want to roll up his mighty arm and intervene himself or does he want to stop repeating the
scriptures from Isaiah and Jeremiah where he said I look for somebody and found nobody therefore
I rolled up my mighty arm it's not his favorite scripture it is not his favorite scripture
his thing is when I look for somebody I want to find somebody I don't want to roll up my mighty
arm which father wants to do it continuously isn't he looking for his sons saying who's going
to step up Ruth do I need to call out anything no tables in the way man you're being picky aren't you
it's all your fault Ruth
where are the people who helped move the table I can't find them today
okay you can stay in Vancouver
happy okay it's checking
the other thing that God will test is
deceit of the heart versus non-concealment
decease deceit of the heart versus non-concealment as in Jacob over this time can I bring you to a
place where there's less and less deceit and more and more and more and more and more and more and
more and more non-concealment in all your ways in your dealings with people in your dealings with me
in your dealings with the world in the dealings with your own heart that they
that that scripture won't apply to you that the heart is deceitful above all
will no longer apply to you that there be non-concealment
God needs a people like this if you're going to if he plans to relaunch his body his bride to fill
in the vacuum why is it do you realize that everything the enemy does is a counterfeit of
what God is doing that the enemy by himself is not very creative because he's a finite being
doing that the enemy by himself is not very creative because he's a finite being
that if the world is preparing for a post-covid era why is it that the spirit of God is not able
to get our attention to prepare for a post-covid era that there is more to the church than being
able to live stream services so that people are fed for two hours once a week
that there is a voice here on earth that there is a people here on earth amongst whom he dwells
that he is absolute king and does whatever he pleases and he is sovereign god the lord of heaven
and earth those titles haven't been removed from him the next thing he'll test he'll test his
he'll test your obedience to his word he'll test your obedience he'll test your obedience to the
word under pressure from your culture test your obedience to the word under pressure from culture
and when i say culture i mean acts 29 culture may put pressure on you and then there is a word of
god that comes to you who will you obey your school friends may put pressure on you and then
there is a word who will you obey the government or people around you put pressure on you to behave
a certain way who will you obey he will test your obedience to the word under pressure from culture
so
as the begins to test these things they'll become more and more obvious
they'll become more and more obvious and every time god brings it up don't shy away from it
don't avoid it don't come up with sunday school answers for it face it wrestle through it let him
hurt you because the blows of a friend though they hurt initially are meant for your good
let him hurt you god's questions and god's ways can be piercing they penetrate them the easiest
way to avoid them is to just come up with a sunday school answer like oh sorry oh god forgive me
forgive me forgive me yeah forgive me he does but the problem is never dealt with
he will test you to prove whether you live by the word that proceeds from his mouth or whether you
live by self-generated means he'll test you to prove whether you live by every word
that proceeds from the mouth of god
or whether you live by self-generated means
self-generated means of sustenance
like bread which is what the devil was trying to get jesus to do
prove me in this oh god you know one of the reasons god does not have the ability to prove me in this
it is because if i decide that bread is the only means i'm going to live by there is no question of
proving me because i have to go look for the proceeding word of god every morning father today
what do you have find the proceeding word as in what is the word today oh god that proceeds out of
your mouth this is why one needs to fast to be fed as in find time to separate to him so that he can
feed what does he feed you his proceeding word and what does he say as he feeds you his proceeding
word that you jacob shall not live by bread by stuff you can bake and create with your own hands
but you shall live as i prepare the church you shall live by the words of god you shall live
by the words that come out of my mouth so that you will be effective here on earth because
everything i do jacob since the beginning of time has been with my words everything i've done is
through my words can you hear me so that you can repeat them because that's why that's how i've
always done things this is the church that he's calling forth raising up saying can you step into
the gap or do i have to roll up my sleeves and do it myself
thank god for the influence we have today through just divine connections that god has given us all
over the earth that allows a simple truth released by god into a small church like this to begin to
go across oceans go across nations we do not realize the power of the mustard seed
all it takes is a mustard seed that is planted with care
and absolute belief and you do not realize how much that mustard seed can do
him
he will test to you see if you can look past the scorching sun the desert creatures the hunger and
thirst and spot the table that he has prepared for you in the presence of your enemies he will
test to see during this time whether jacob you can lift your eyes off the scorching sun as in
the hostile terrain that you may presently occupy as in the pressures of life that you're
facing as in the number of things that you are dealing with as in the things that you're
believing for as in the things that are breaking down through all that can you look past the
scorching sun can you look past the desert creatures can you look past the thirst and
the hunger that you actually feel and if you do you will spot the table that i have prepared for
you in the presence of your enemies in the middle of a desert you will find that table where you
can come and get what you need why so that you can go forth and do for the earth that which i want
to do for the earth because this is really not about you axe 29 this is really not about you my
beautiful bride it is about the dwellers of the earth
the angel comes and says to elijah elijah eat because you still have things to do you had to go
anoint jehu you had to go anoint elijah so eat because he had retired he had decided done i'm done with this
angels came and ministered to jesus
because there was a new beginning that jesus was being given he's already lived here on earth for 30 years
but behold the son of god is being given a new beginning it was not that he didn't have the holy
spirit but he returns with greater power than he's ever returned as in the expression of power
these stories were not written for our amusement these stories were written so that we may have an idea of what we can step into in god
my dad used to tell me stories about his youth not to keep me amused because none of those stories were amusing
but the stories he told me were so that i would not make the same mistakes that he made
like trying to catch a duck in a pond that dives as soon as you go to catch it and how he was completely wet and was suspended from school
and you won't believe it 1976 i did exactly the same thing
went with a friend to catch one of these little ducks that as soon as you go to grab it it bobs under and it doesn't take much to drown me at that age
and i come soaking wet and i remember this teacher called anjan sinha mr sinha suspended me immediately some learn some don't
that was just a clear my throat
the devil on the other hand will try to poison your relationship with your father
the same things that he tried with jesus he will come and try with you during these 40 days
he will make you think your father does not actually like you he will question and put
suspicion on your sonship and on his fatherhood during this time as you see jacob you're standing
and doing all this for him what has he done for you lately
he'll try to poison your relationship with your father
he'll try to provoke you to take things into your own hands he'll try to provoke you to take things into your own hands
saying just just do it just just this one chance just do it after this you can repent the thing with the blood of jesus is sometimes it is so easy to think of repenting tomorrow knowing that you can commit a sin today
he will provoke you to take things into your own hands during this time many churches will do it many churches will not wait for this period but they'll begin to rebel against their governments
take things into their own hands with a degree of passion or perhaps even having good reasons but in wrong time guys one of the things we have to watch during these next 40 days is the ability to do things
in time
people at axe 29 can do good things at the wrong time
i can do good things at the wrong time i want to be in the timing of god
how do you find that time by getting up and seeing what the proceeding word of god says
he can prod you into behavior that betrays the father-son relationship he can prod you into
behavior as in he can during this time when these tests happen you can just say forget it this is not good for me i'll do my own thing and it just prods you into behavior that is the same as it always has been pre-covid
pan-covid post-covid this is who i am these sins are part of my life yes this behavior is sorry but nobody is perfect the same old lines let's keep committing the same things we always do
guys we got to come out better than this jacob has to come out better than this
because otherwise the earth is left
untended one of the things that jesus says to adam or god says to adam in the garden of eden is listen
i've made you someone who tends the earth tends the earth it's not just about being green
tending is much more than that being my brother's keeper
and so what happens at the completion of the 40 days
at the completion of the 40 days you will either be proven as servants fit and ready for new kingdom work
or not at the end of 40 days we will either be proven you will either be proven as a servant
who is fit and ready
for new kingdom work or not
you know wall-e is like a tiny lab that god is constructing for us so that we can try out some
of the things that god will teach us over these 40 days in our tiny lab so that we can export it
around the world i'm looking forward to it
here's what you should expect to experience guys the words are very deliberate expect to experience
not here's what you will experience not here's what you could pray for here is what you
here is what i expect to experience i may be the same for you
i expect to experience a surge in the power of the holy spirit i expect to experience a surge
in the power of the Holy Spirit, a surge in the power of the Holy Spirit. It's not
that I'll have more of the Holy Spirit, it is that I will experience a surge of
the presence and power of the Holy Spirit in me. I expect to be able to
throw down a staff and pick up a serpent.
These are very deliberate things that I'm writing down, so they're not just
stuff that makes the prose sound better. I expect to be able to throw down things
that are my security. Moses had a staff that he would always carry, he had been
a shepherd for 40 years. That staff meant a lot to him and God says throw it down
and he throws it down, throwing down things that are my security, that the
things that I have begun to depend on and then picking up things that I'm
afraid of. He picks up the staff that has now turned into a serpent by its tail
and the serpent was a symbol of Egypt. You have the ability to throw down a
staff and pick up a serpent unafraid to pick it up unafraid to throw down what
is so important to you. I expect to be nomadic in following the pillar of cloud
at a moment's notice. I expect to be nomadic in following the pillar of cloud
at a moment's notice where like a nomad I refuse to anchor myself down to a point
where flexibility decreases. This is a time when the church should be more
flexible than ever. I expect the church to be able to level mountains and to
raise foundations with shouts of grace grace. Not by might but not and not by
spirit power but by the spirit of the Lord. Zechariah 4 is where I'm
bringing this out from. For in Zechariah 4 it says, Zerubabel what are these
mountains before you? You will level them and you will raise up the foundations
of the temple with shouts of grace grace. Level mountains and raise foundations
with shouts of grace grace. I expect this church to do it for sure and churches
around who will catch on. Why? Because there'll be mountains that need to be
leveled. How do you level a mountain? What is a mountain? A mountain is an obstacle
in the path of the kingdom, in the path of God's agenda and so how do you level
it? Do you level it again with the one thing that God has always leveled with
mountains with which is clearly stated in Mark 11 23 where he says speak to it
tell it what I need to say to it and it shall move. With shouts of grace grace. I
expect to be authorized I expect to be authorized to shut the heavens and to
smite the Nile. I expect to be authorized to shut the heavens like Elijah did and
smite the Nile like Moses did as in when necessary bring judgment and relief. This
is why God is saying listen I want a church to rise to this capacity. I want
churches to rise to this capacity. The last time the let me remind you of some
of the things we've said the last time the earth was shut down like this cannot
be remembered. Was it World War two or was it World War one more than 84 years
ago? Was it some never before has a globe been shut down like this. Do not think
that this is God's plan that this was something that God wanted to do to give
the earth a Sabbath. God gives the earth a Sabbath without killing the number of
people that have been killed.
People are saying oh God was trying to give us a break by shutting down a
baseball and soccer and football and hockey. Really? All that happened is you
flip to Netflix and Amazon Prime. That's all that happened. You saw more movies
than football. To bring judgment and relief.
Yeah. The next one is something I wanted to avoid. I was talking to Chad last
night and he brought this up and I thought I won't write it down but he
wants a church to be persecution ready.
He wants a church to be persecution ready.
See the thing with persecution is that it is different in different countries.
So in India, in North Korea it might be death, in China it might be prison, in
India it might be a beating, in certain other parts of the world it takes
different forms. In this part of the world it might be the taking away of
privileges. It might be being branded a certain kind or a hate monger. But the
church, one of the things God will do through this, if the church begins to
function the way it should function post-COVID, then know that God wants a
church to be persecution ready and it is only a persecution ready church that
can avoid becoming religious or being co-opted by the people in power. It is
only a persecution ready church that can escape being religious. The one
thing that persecution does to churches is churches immediately become religious
to avoid persecution or they get co-opted by powers so that they become
part of the state machinery. One or the other happens. These are the things that
I expect and I expect the church to be the kind of church that you find in
Revelations 11 and Zechariah 4. Fitting the mold of, stepping into the mold of
Revelations 11 and Zechariah 4. This is what God's dearest heart yearning is.
And
yeah.
Why should we follow the Holy Spirit into the wilderness for the next six
weeks? Why should we follow the Holy Spirit into the wilderness for the next
six weeks? For the sake of the one who loves you and enjoys you. That's one
reason. Why should I follow the Holy Spirit for the next six weeks into the
wilderness? Simply because of the one who loves me. He's inviting me. Why
would I not go? If you read the Song of Songs, she was willing to go in the
middle of the night looking for a lover. Why would the bride not go looking for
the bridegroom if he's inviting her? So what if it is into the wilderness? We
already know that it's a place where we have an encounter and an overwhelming
revelation of the bridegroom. Why would you not? Why would you not church? Why
would you not individual? So one of the reasons I would go into the wilderness
over the next six weeks is because I'm being invited by the one who called me.
It brings to mind Psalm 80, I think verse 15 or thereabouts where it says,
Jacob, you are the root my right hand has planted. You are the Sun that I'm raising
up for myself. My God, why wouldn't I not go? That's one reason. The second reason
is for the sake of those that I love and enjoy, I would go. I would go
for your sake. I want to say this categorically. I'll do everything in my
power with great passion, with labor so that you can enter. I have every
intention of opening this door so that you can enter. I will labor with a
tireless intensity by his power flowing through me to present you mature through
this door so that you get to partake in it. I would do it for your sake. You can
try no a couple of times, big deal.
Third reason I would do it is I would do it for the sake of my calling. I would do
it for the sake of my calling and when I talk about myself, I'm expecting you to
have exactly the same reasons that you would do it for the sake of your
calling. There's a purpose that you were appointed to. There's a reason why you
happen to be at present either a member or connected to or attending Acts 29. Do
not think that it's coincidence or that your friend is the reason you are here.
It is very hard to come with a friend and stay in this church. You are here
because at present God has knit you into this place and if he's knit you
into this place then there is a calling and purpose that this church has that
then begins to form an umbrella over you. In Acts 26, Paul is before Agrippa and
he says to Agrippa, and I saw God in a vision and in that vision he said to me
I'm sending you to draw those out of darkness into light out of Satan's
captivity into freedom. Oh King Agrippa, how could I then be disobedient to the
heavenly vision? We would enter into this because of our calling. The fourth
reason, I would enter into it for the sake of the kingdom. I would enter into
it for the sake of the kingdom. Matthew 6 verse 10, your kingdom come,
your will be done here on earth as it is in heaven. I would do it for the sake of
the kingdom. For times like this, esthers have been appointed. I would do it for
the sake of the kingdom.
And the last reason, I would do it for the sake of the ones who are on earth.
None of these reasons are less important. I put them all together. I would do it
for the sake of the ones who are on earth. It's always a contest for land and
life. From the day that the devil managed to get into Eden, it has always
been about land and life. The thing that they lost besides the presence of God
was land that was carved out for them in the eastward part of Eden and they lost
it and since then it's always been a contest for land and for life and we
would do it for the sake of the earth in Isaiah 18 verse 3. It says,
Oh earth dwellers, if you read the message it says, Oh earth dwellers, when you see a
flag or a signal, pay attention. When you hear the trumpet, listen. God is
desiring to raise the church so that we can put a flag up on the mountain and we
can blow the trumpet so that the earth inhabitants of the earth can hear and
say, Aha! There is rescue.
I'm done. How shall we begin? Let me cherry-pick scriptures from Hebrews
chapter 12 and put it on the slide and have you read it. How shall we begin? How
shall we begin this process? Where shall we start over the next six weeks? We'll
be going through this. Unfortunately or fortunately depending on your
perspective, you'll start receiving again 12 minute videos that will help us
prepare for this. But this is how do we begin? These are scriptures cherry-picked
from Hebrews 12 to give us a sense of how we begin. Do you see what this means?
All these pioneers who blazed the way, all these veterans cheering us on, it
means we'd better get on with it. Strip down, start running and never quit. No
extra spiritual fat, no parasitic sins. Keep your eyes on Jesus who both began
and finished this race we are in. Study how he did it because he never lost sight
of where he was headed. That exhilarating finish in and with God. He could put up
with anything along the way, cross, shame, whatever and now and now he's there in
the place of honor right alongside God. When you find yourselves flagging in
faith, go over that story again item by item. That long litany of hostility he
plowed through that will shoot adrenaline into your souls. Watch out for the Esau
syndrome, trading away God's lifelong gift in order to satisfy a short-term
appetite. You well know how Esau later regretted that impulsive act and wanted
God's blessing but by then it was too late. Tears or no tears. Make very sure
that you never refuse to listen to God when he speaks. For the God who spoke on
the earth from Sinai is the same God who now speaks from heaven. Those
who heard him speak his living word on earth found nowhere to hide. So what
chance is there for us to escape if we turn our backs on God and refuse to hear
his warnings and I would throw in invitation as he speaks from heaven.
Since we are receiving our rights to an unshakable kingdom, we should be extremely
thankful and offer God the purest worship that delights his heart as we
lay down our lives in absolute surrender filled with awe for our God is a holy
devouring fire. This is where we start. We start with these scriptures from
Hebrews 12 saying, oh God you're inviting us so that you can change us into a
church that will benefit the earth and change us like other churches into a
bride that will benefit the earth. We want to say yes this is where we start.
Today is just a start but it is so important to release this word so that
the earth may now prepare. Like I said I will labor with a tireless intensity. I've
taken this out of Colossians 128 from the Passion translation. I will labor
with a tireless intensity by the power of the Spirit flowing through me to
present you mature and you able to walk through this door that God is opening
for us into the wilderness so that we may become the kind of church he wants
us to be as he begins to bring us into a post-COVID era so that the earth may
benefit. So do we say yes? Because I am giving him permission in the church. Not
that he needs permission but because he's a kind of God he always comes to
the person in charge. Be it your family, be it a school, be it your own home, be it
the church. He'll come and say what do you say? And when you say yes then he
doesn't have to wait anymore because he then says great my people are
cooperating with me. And so when I say do I give him permission it's not like
he needs my permission but giving him permission allows him to do what he
would otherwise have to work really hard at because the one thing it does not
violate is the free will of man. We're gonna end with that song. Here I am down
on my knees again and as I sing that a couple of times could you please say yes
could you give him your will because the only thing that you have to give is
nothing else than your will. The breath you have is not yours, the money you have
is not yours, the body you have is not yours, the promises you have are not
yours, the future is not yours, you've got nothing to give him. The only thing
that you have that you can give him that is entirely yours because he decided
that it is the only thing a man will possess that he can have ownership over
is your will. So as we sing this see if you can surrender your will to him. Do
not surrender your will to him as in oh Jesus I surrender myself to you. Come
with it in the context of what has been spoken. Oh God you are inviting us as a
church to step into the wilderness. I lay down my will I say yes to you so
that we may become the church that you want us to so that you can bless the
earth. Remember we are a majority of one do not sell yourself do not sell
yourself short but do not sell your God short.