WEBVTT NOTE Podcast: Acts 29 Vancouver Episode: Wisdom in War 1 Publishing Date: 2026-06-28T03:04:44-07:00 Podcast URL: https://acts29.ca Episode URL: https://acts29.ca/wisdom-in-war-1/ 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:20.000 The title today is Wisdom in War. We won't be finishing it. We will just go as far as we can and then stop. 00:00:20.000 --> 00:00:28.000 Wisdom in War. When we talk about wisdom in war, we are thinking, what do you mean war? We are not engaged in any kind of war. 00:00:28.000 --> 00:00:36.000 But that's not what Ephesians 6.12 says. In Ephesians 6.12, if you read it—and I know you know it—but just read it again. 00:00:36.000 --> 00:00:50.000 Ephesians 6.12. This is the condition that we find ourselves in as long as we are here on the earth. 00:00:50.000 --> 00:01:04.000 And so, starting at verse 10, finally, be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power. Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes. 00:01:04.000 --> 00:01:17.000 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood. Other versions say, for we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against rulers, against authorities, against powers of this dark world, 00:01:17.000 --> 00:01:33.000 against spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. It's almost like it's divided into four categories. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against rulers, against authorities, against powers of this dark world, against spiritual forces of evil in heavenly realms. 00:01:33.000 --> 00:01:42.000 Therefore, put on the armor of God. So it's not that anyone is exempt from what is happening. This is your matrix. 00:01:43.000 --> 00:02:02.000 The advantage we have is that we are wrestling with an enemy that has been disarmed. So if you go to Colossians 2.15—Colossians is after Philippians—Colossians 2.15. 00:02:02.000 --> 00:02:23.000 It says there, and having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross. So it's an enemy that has been triumphed over by Christ, has been disarmed, but we still are in an actual war with this disarmed foe. 00:02:23.000 --> 00:02:32.000 Which is why he's suggesting that we even—not suggesting, he's commanding us to wear an armor so that we know how to deal with our present condition. 00:02:32.000 --> 00:02:45.000 And you'll be surprised at how so much of our present condition is actually a result of this onslaught that is continuous. And that's what I just want to touch on today. 00:02:45.000 --> 00:02:56.000 And in this teaching, it'll add to what Thuney taught last week, because what Thuney taught last week, if I don't add this to it, will be incomplete. 00:02:56.000 --> 00:03:08.000 So what Thuney was teaching last week, and I listened to it, this part, if it's not added to Thuney, leaves Thuney's teaching incomplete. So this is like almost a second part to it. 00:03:08.000 --> 00:03:20.000 Because when we talk about warfare, we have to figure out where things are coming from, and not everything can be piled under one category. 00:03:20.000 --> 00:03:36.000 So we'll examine the different categories so we understand. So let there be no doubt about whether God thinks we are in this situation or not. 00:03:36.000 --> 00:03:52.000 Turn to Judges 3, verse 1-4. Judges 3, 1-4. Let there be no doubt about stuff like that. It's silly to have doubts about these things, the scriptures speak about it very clearly. 00:03:52.000 --> 00:04:05.000 Judges 3, verse 1-4. In fact, God wants to prepare us for this. And when we don't prepare for this, then it's like being beaten by a disarmed foe. 00:04:05.000 --> 00:04:18.000 Judges 3, verse 1-4. And it says that, these are the nations the Lord left to test all those Israelites who had not experienced any of the wars in Canaan. 00:04:18.000 --> 00:04:26.000 He did this only to teach warfare to the descendants of the Israelites who had not had previous battle experience. 00:04:26.000 --> 00:04:36.000 The five rulers of the Philistines, all the Canaanites, the Sidonians, the Hevites, living in the Lebanon mountains from Mount Baal Hermon to Lebo Hamath, 00:04:36.000 --> 00:04:44.000 they were left there to test the Israelites to see whether they would obey the Lord's command which he had given their forefathers through Moses. 00:04:44.000 --> 00:04:49.000 God wants people to be battle ready. It's not even a choice. 00:04:49.000 --> 00:04:56.000 Second, Proverbs 21, verse 22. I'll read it from the Passion Translation. 00:04:56.000 --> 00:05:04.000 If I read anything from the Passion Translation, it's because I've compared it to the other translations and it holds true, otherwise I will not read it. 00:05:04.000 --> 00:05:16.000 So Proverbs 21, verse 22. Let me read the ESV first or the NIV first. 00:05:16.000 --> 00:05:24.000 It says, A wise man scales the city of the mighty and brings down the stronghold in which they trust. 00:05:24.000 --> 00:05:35.000 The Passion Translation says, A warrior filled with wisdom ascends into the high place and releases regional breakthrough, bringing down the strongholds of the mighty. 00:05:35.000 --> 00:05:43.000 There is this need to understand that one of the things God wants us to do as a church, especially given all that has happened in the last one and a half hours, 00:05:43.000 --> 00:05:52.000 that we use wisdom because one of the best ways to wage war is with wisdom. 00:05:52.000 --> 00:05:59.000 Just so you know the character of God, Exodus 15, 9-11. 00:05:59.000 --> 00:06:07.000 I'm putting to rest once and for all this notion that I hear often from, I mean I know one pastor who keeps saying, 00:06:07.000 --> 00:06:12.000 we don't want to focus on the enemy. True, we don't want to focus on the enemy, but we are not. 00:06:12.000 --> 00:06:16.000 We are talking about who God is and who he wants his people to be. 00:06:16.000 --> 00:06:21.000 So Exodus 15, 9-11 and then verse 3. Exodus 15, 9-11. 00:06:21.000 --> 00:06:28.000 This is what Satan does. He has been saying the same words from the ancient times. 00:06:28.000 --> 00:06:42.000 Exodus 15, 9-11. The enemy boasted, I will pursue, I will overtake them, I will divide the spoils, I'll gorge myself on them, I will draw my sword and my hand will destroy them. 00:06:42.000 --> 00:06:48.000 But you blew them with your breath and the sea covered them. They sank like lead in the mighty waters. 00:06:48.000 --> 00:06:54.000 And just so you know who the you is who blew with his breath, goes to verse 3. 00:06:54.000 --> 00:07:05.000 The Lord is a warrior. The Lord is his name. He even gives himself the name of being a warrior. 00:07:05.000 --> 00:07:20.000 Next one. Ecclesiastes 9, 13-18. Ecclesiastes 9, 13-18. Again, it's how wisdom can help beat the enemy. Ecclesiastes 9, 13-18. 00:07:35.000 --> 00:07:41.000 I also saw under the sun this example of wisdom that greatly impressed me. 00:07:41.000 --> 00:07:50.000 There was once a small city with only a few people in it. And a powerful king came against it, surrounded it and built huge siege works against it. 00:07:50.000 --> 00:07:58.000 Now there lived in that city a man poor but wise and he saved the city by his wisdom. But nobody remembered the poor man. 00:07:58.000 --> 00:08:05.000 So I said, wisdom is better than strength. But the poor man's wisdom is despised and his words are no longer heeded. 00:08:05.000 --> 00:08:11.000 The quiet words of the wise are more to be heeded than the shouts of a ruler of fools. 00:08:11.000 --> 00:08:17.000 Wisdom is better than weapons of war. Wisdom is better than weapons of war. 00:08:17.000 --> 00:08:22.000 One of the ways we fight the enemy is through the wisdom of God. 00:08:22.000 --> 00:08:27.000 And so when we talk about wisdom in war, it's the ability to know. 00:08:27.000 --> 00:08:31.000 What do you mean by wisdom? How do you define wisdom? It's factual knowledge. 00:08:31.000 --> 00:08:39.000 It's divine perspective. It's situational insight. 00:08:39.000 --> 00:08:45.000 And it is God's way of thinking about a situation and how he plans to resolve it. 00:08:45.000 --> 00:08:49.000 Hear me again. It is factual knowledge. 00:08:49.000 --> 00:09:05.000 And this can be with everything from disease to finances to evangelism to enjoyment to everything that was taken away in the Garden of Eden can be restored. 00:09:05.000 --> 00:09:10.000 Not fully. Already not yet. But we work towards it. 00:09:10.000 --> 00:09:16.000 So here's what wisdom is. Wisdom is factual knowledge. So we are aware of facts. 00:09:16.000 --> 00:09:23.000 It's situational insight. Where God provides the knowledge. Listen, I know what you're seeing, Jacob, but these are the facts. 00:09:23.000 --> 00:09:34.000 God deals with facts also. God prefers, God trumps facts with truth, but God deals with facts also. 00:09:34.000 --> 00:09:43.000 He has a way of overcoming every fact with the truth. That is the definition of a miracle, a sign or a wonder. 00:09:43.000 --> 00:09:49.000 But God deals with facts. So he gives you factual knowledge. Then he gives you situational insight. 00:09:49.000 --> 00:09:57.000 As in in this situation, you, Jacob, here's an example. A man comes to your shop. 00:09:58.000 --> 00:10:05.000 Three men come to your shop. They all steal an apple. Fact. They all stole an apple. 00:10:05.000 --> 00:10:12.000 Situational insight. Jacob, one needed it for his child. One needed it because he was hungry. 00:10:12.000 --> 00:10:19.000 One needed it because he just wanted to steal and do you harm. Divine perspective. 00:10:19.000 --> 00:10:25.000 Jacob, this is how I want you to deal with number, man A, man B, man C. 00:10:25.000 --> 00:10:31.000 And the last one, the ability to resolve it in the way that God thinks. 00:10:31.000 --> 00:10:37.000 Jacob, I want you to give that man two apples. Give this man four apples and tell him to bring his son 00:10:37.000 --> 00:10:41.000 and tell that man that if he ever comes into your shop again, you're going to report him. 00:10:41.000 --> 00:10:46.000 This is how the wisdom of God works. Four things that go into effect at once. 00:10:46.000 --> 00:10:52.000 This kind of wisdom, you can fight any war. Any war. 00:10:52.000 --> 00:10:55.000 This kind of wisdom, you can fight your diseases. 00:10:55.000 --> 00:10:59.000 This kind of wisdom, you can repair your marriage. 00:10:59.000 --> 00:11:01.000 This kind of wisdom, you can deal with your boss. 00:11:01.000 --> 00:11:04.000 This kind of wisdom, you can deal with your visa problems. 00:11:04.000 --> 00:11:07.000 This kind of wisdom will give you financial breakthrough quy 00:11:07.000 --> 00:11:13.000 This kind of wisdom will help you deal with a demonic, whether it be during times of worship or during times of dryness. 00:11:13.000 --> 00:11:14.280 during times of dryness. 00:11:14.280 --> 00:11:17.200 This kind of wisdom will get you through. 00:11:17.200 --> 00:11:19.040 And if you think for a second 00:11:19.040 --> 00:11:20.800 that we are not waging a war, 00:11:23.200 --> 00:11:25.400 then that's like a soldier with blinds on. 00:11:29.320 --> 00:11:31.200 It's continuous in all around you, 00:11:31.200 --> 00:11:34.240 but it is with a disarmed foe, so it becomes easier. 00:11:36.000 --> 00:11:38.280 Proverbs 24, verse five and six. 00:11:38.280 --> 00:11:40.780 Proverbs 24, verse five and six. 00:11:43.080 --> 00:11:45.840 Proverbs 24, verse five and six. 00:11:45.840 --> 00:11:50.840 Again, reading from the passion translation. 00:11:51.280 --> 00:11:54.600 Wisdom can make anyone into a mighty warrior, 00:11:54.600 --> 00:11:57.440 and revelation knowledge increases strength. 00:11:57.440 --> 00:12:01.000 Wise strategy is necessary to wage war. 00:12:01.000 --> 00:12:03.800 And with many astute advisors, 00:12:03.800 --> 00:12:07.320 you will see the path to victory more clearly. 00:12:08.540 --> 00:12:10.240 One last one, just so we know 00:12:10.240 --> 00:12:12.080 that we are dealing with this reality, 00:12:12.120 --> 00:12:13.560 even in the New Testament, 00:12:13.560 --> 00:12:16.240 because what if you say these are all Old Testament scriptures? 00:12:16.240 --> 00:12:20.880 Romans chapter 16, Romans 16, verse 19 and 20. 00:12:25.400 --> 00:12:27.320 Romans 16, 19 and 20. 00:12:31.120 --> 00:12:33.040 For your obedience is known to all, 00:12:33.040 --> 00:12:34.800 so that I rejoice over you. 00:12:35.720 --> 00:12:39.080 But I want you to be wise as to what is good and innocent, 00:12:39.080 --> 00:12:40.760 as to what is evil. 00:12:40.800 --> 00:12:44.440 The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. 00:12:44.440 --> 00:12:46.600 Will soon crush, hasn't happened yet. 00:12:46.600 --> 00:12:49.040 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. 00:12:49.920 --> 00:12:52.040 Finally, one other scripture that shows us 00:12:52.040 --> 00:12:54.920 that we are in a battle because we've been provided weapons 00:12:54.920 --> 00:12:56.320 is 2 Corinthians 10, 00:13:03.320 --> 00:13:07.480 verse three to six. 00:13:07.520 --> 00:13:09.680 2 Corinthians 10, verse three to six. 00:13:10.840 --> 00:13:12.200 For though we walk in the flesh, 00:13:12.200 --> 00:13:15.640 we are not waging war according to the flesh. 00:13:15.640 --> 00:13:19.120 For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, 00:13:19.120 --> 00:13:22.320 but have the divine power to destroy strongholds. 00:13:22.320 --> 00:13:24.960 We destroy arguments in every lofty opinion, 00:13:24.960 --> 00:13:26.640 raised against the knowledge of God, 00:13:26.640 --> 00:13:29.920 and take every thought captive to obey Christ, 00:13:29.920 --> 00:13:32.400 being ready to punish every disobedience 00:13:32.400 --> 00:13:33.880 when your obedience is complete. 00:13:33.880 --> 00:13:36.600 It's a complicated words, but the fact still remains 00:13:36.600 --> 00:13:39.920 that God provides us weapons to wage this war. 00:13:45.440 --> 00:13:49.080 So we have to move from just being prophetic 00:13:49.080 --> 00:13:51.880 or just being seers to being sages. 00:13:51.880 --> 00:13:53.960 The difference between a seer and a sage 00:13:53.960 --> 00:13:56.960 is that the seer has to see before he knows what to do. 00:13:56.960 --> 00:13:59.440 A sage gathers wisdom. 00:13:59.440 --> 00:14:02.440 And there aren't too many sages left here on earth. 00:14:02.440 --> 00:14:03.680 Everything is instant. 00:14:04.680 --> 00:14:06.800 Becoming a sage takes time. 00:14:06.800 --> 00:14:08.680 Some of you should plan for this. 00:14:08.680 --> 00:14:13.000 Some of you should decide that I want to gather wisdom 00:14:13.000 --> 00:14:14.520 so that when I leave the earth, 00:14:14.520 --> 00:14:18.640 I can bequeath it to others who have the same hunger. 00:14:20.840 --> 00:14:22.720 The prophetic is highly attractive. 00:14:22.720 --> 00:14:25.360 I'm not despising it at all, I love it. 00:14:25.360 --> 00:14:28.280 But the prophetic is highly attractive to this generation 00:14:28.280 --> 00:14:30.560 because it is instant delivery 00:14:30.560 --> 00:14:32.160 of something that God is seeing. 00:14:33.000 --> 00:14:36.720 Well, the idea of raising sages 00:14:36.720 --> 00:14:39.120 is this idea of gathering wisdom. 00:14:39.120 --> 00:14:40.440 It is the main thing. 00:14:40.440 --> 00:14:41.640 It has to be sought. 00:14:41.640 --> 00:14:46.280 And you learn it from your own fathers 00:14:46.280 --> 00:14:50.200 who sit you down and teach you how to. 00:14:50.200 --> 00:14:51.960 Proverbs chapter four, verse three. 00:14:51.960 --> 00:14:54.240 Solomon is talking about how he gained wisdom. 00:14:54.240 --> 00:14:56.360 You should read it, it is so beautiful. 00:14:56.360 --> 00:14:58.040 Proverbs chapter four, verse three. 00:14:58.200 --> 00:15:00.360 Proverbs four, verse three. 00:15:06.360 --> 00:15:10.360 When I was a boy at my father's knee, 00:15:10.360 --> 00:15:12.560 the pride and joy of my mother, 00:15:12.560 --> 00:15:14.760 he would sit me down and drill me, 00:15:14.760 --> 00:15:17.320 take this to heart, do what I tell you, 00:15:17.320 --> 00:15:20.000 live, sell everything and buy wisdom. 00:15:20.960 --> 00:15:22.720 Forage for understanding. 00:15:22.720 --> 00:15:25.600 Don't forget one word, don't deviate an inch. 00:15:25.720 --> 00:15:28.600 Don't forget one word, don't deviate an inch. 00:15:28.600 --> 00:15:30.320 Never walk away from wisdom. 00:15:30.320 --> 00:15:31.720 She guards your life. 00:15:31.720 --> 00:15:33.880 Love her, she keeps her eye on you. 00:15:33.880 --> 00:15:35.960 Above all and before all, do this. 00:15:35.960 --> 00:15:38.640 Get wisdom, write this at the top of your list. 00:15:38.640 --> 00:15:40.120 Get understanding. 00:15:40.120 --> 00:15:42.120 It's become a prayer of mine every morning. 00:15:42.120 --> 00:15:45.120 Oh God, I need your wisdom today. 00:15:45.120 --> 00:15:47.440 I need your wisdom to deal with each person. 00:15:48.840 --> 00:15:51.800 I need your wisdom to deal with each situation. 00:15:51.800 --> 00:15:52.640 Why? 00:15:52.640 --> 00:15:57.640 Because he'll give me supernatural grasp of factual knowledge. 00:15:58.520 --> 00:16:03.520 He'll give me situational insight into why. 00:16:03.720 --> 00:16:08.720 He'll give me divine perspective and resolve as to how. 00:16:08.960 --> 00:16:12.880 And anybody who asks, James chapter one, verse five, 00:16:12.880 --> 00:16:14.800 says without any shadow of doubt, 00:16:14.800 --> 00:16:18.040 I will not hold back if you ask me. 00:16:18.040 --> 00:16:19.840 Do that before you get to your WhatsApps 00:16:19.840 --> 00:16:22.240 and your Facebooks and all that stuff, eh? 00:16:23.120 --> 00:16:25.960 You know what'll happen if you go first to wisdom? 00:16:25.960 --> 00:16:29.280 You'll stop thumping through your phone 00:16:29.280 --> 00:16:32.920 for every conspiracy theory on everything 00:16:32.920 --> 00:16:36.840 that you so readily do, sometimes while I'm preaching. 00:16:40.480 --> 00:16:44.320 In the words of Bob Newhart, stop it! 00:16:45.800 --> 00:16:49.720 Okay, Mike knew who that was, nobody else did, 00:16:49.720 --> 00:16:50.560 but that's okay. 00:16:51.560 --> 00:16:55.080 Yeah, you want a reference on what I just said? 00:16:55.080 --> 00:16:56.440 Ask Mike, yeah? 00:17:03.120 --> 00:17:05.080 Wisdom is an ancient voice, guys. 00:17:06.760 --> 00:17:09.480 It's a voice that creates, it's a voice that commands. 00:17:10.360 --> 00:17:12.680 And you will hear it when you turn to your left or your right. 00:17:12.680 --> 00:17:14.960 Isaiah 30, verse 21. 00:17:14.960 --> 00:17:17.160 Isaiah 30, verse 21. 00:17:17.160 --> 00:17:19.680 As you walk with me, says the Lord, 00:17:19.720 --> 00:17:20.920 you turn left or you turn right, 00:17:20.920 --> 00:17:23.360 you will hear a voice saying, walk here. 00:17:23.360 --> 00:17:24.960 Wisdom is an ancient voice. 00:17:27.200 --> 00:17:29.240 It's a commanding, creating voice. 00:17:30.720 --> 00:17:33.800 Ask for it, we need it during these times, eh? 00:17:33.800 --> 00:17:35.120 In what lies ahead of us. 00:17:37.320 --> 00:17:41.640 So, when we look at these things that happen to us 00:17:41.640 --> 00:17:44.600 on a daily basis, weekly basis, monthly basis, 00:17:44.600 --> 00:17:47.200 here are some of the things that we need to understand. 00:17:47.200 --> 00:17:50.000 So we know how to separate things 00:17:50.000 --> 00:17:52.800 and not lump them together under one category. 00:17:52.800 --> 00:17:55.520 So, we need to look at what is a trial. 00:17:56.880 --> 00:17:59.640 We need to look at how do we deal with 00:18:02.600 --> 00:18:03.440 things 00:18:06.040 --> 00:18:07.920 hurled by the enemy. 00:18:12.920 --> 00:18:17.080 We need to look at what is a temptation. 00:18:17.640 --> 00:18:20.640 We need to look at when we are being incited 00:18:20.640 --> 00:18:22.920 so that we don't get incited 00:18:22.920 --> 00:18:25.640 like David was incited with the census. 00:18:25.640 --> 00:18:28.040 We need to know when something is disciplined. 00:18:32.480 --> 00:18:34.040 And we won't get through it, 00:18:34.040 --> 00:18:36.680 but this will continue next week. 00:18:36.680 --> 00:18:40.280 We need to know when something is a test from God. 00:18:40.280 --> 00:18:43.480 Only God tests, the Satan doesn't test. 00:18:43.480 --> 00:18:46.880 We need to know when something is a test from God. 00:18:46.880 --> 00:18:49.000 We need to know what is a test from God. 00:18:49.000 --> 00:18:51.520 We need to know when something is persecution. 00:18:54.080 --> 00:18:56.280 And we need to know when something is pride. 00:18:57.600 --> 00:19:01.320 These are the different levels at which things happen 00:19:01.320 --> 00:19:03.760 to every one of us. 00:19:03.760 --> 00:19:08.760 All of us go through this on almost a daily or weekly basis. 00:19:09.000 --> 00:19:11.000 All of us, nobody is exempt. 00:19:11.000 --> 00:19:14.000 This then allows us to know 00:19:14.000 --> 00:19:15.680 what needs to be warred against, 00:19:15.680 --> 00:19:17.440 what needs to be corrected, 00:19:17.440 --> 00:19:19.840 what needs to be repented of. 00:19:19.840 --> 00:19:22.040 Otherwise you put everything under repentance 00:19:22.040 --> 00:19:24.520 or everything is correction or everything as Satan 00:19:24.520 --> 00:19:25.960 or everything as war. 00:19:25.960 --> 00:19:27.040 It's not. 00:19:27.040 --> 00:19:29.040 We need to break it into these categories. 00:19:30.400 --> 00:19:32.600 And so we might get through one. 00:19:32.600 --> 00:19:36.600 And as we go through the first one, which is trials, 00:19:36.600 --> 00:19:39.080 we might get through two categories. 00:19:39.080 --> 00:19:42.400 The first one is trials, which is trials. 00:19:42.400 --> 00:19:47.400 Please try not to fall into the pit of condemnation. 00:19:49.800 --> 00:19:50.640 Trials. 00:19:50.640 --> 00:19:53.120 And we'll try and look at the life of David 00:19:53.120 --> 00:19:55.800 as we talk about this, because David was a man 00:19:55.800 --> 00:20:00.800 who both was a warrior and he was a man after God's heart. 00:20:03.440 --> 00:20:07.200 He's just the best example to choose, 00:20:07.200 --> 00:20:08.520 because he was both. 00:20:08.720 --> 00:20:10.480 And there was blood on his hands. 00:20:10.480 --> 00:20:14.360 And yet he was also someone who was a man after God's heart. 00:20:14.360 --> 00:20:16.960 And he was obviously a man of wisdom, 00:20:16.960 --> 00:20:19.280 because Solomon says, 00:20:19.280 --> 00:20:23.000 I sat on my dad's knee and I learned wisdom. 00:20:23.000 --> 00:20:25.640 Solomon was taught by David. 00:20:26.640 --> 00:20:28.480 David is the one who instructed him. 00:20:31.040 --> 00:20:33.840 Sometimes you need to build a man. 00:20:33.840 --> 00:20:36.320 Sometimes you need to build wisdom into a man 00:20:36.320 --> 00:20:39.080 before the man can use wisdom to build a city. 00:20:43.480 --> 00:20:45.840 Sometimes you need to build wisdom into a man. 00:20:45.840 --> 00:20:47.520 That is very hard. 00:20:47.520 --> 00:20:49.920 It's easy to find an architect. 00:20:49.920 --> 00:20:52.160 It's hard to find an architect with wisdom. 00:20:55.640 --> 00:20:57.680 It's easy to find a pastor. 00:20:57.680 --> 00:21:01.280 It's hard to find a pastor who has wisdom built into him 00:21:01.280 --> 00:21:02.880 because he sat and learned. 00:21:02.880 --> 00:21:04.160 And then there's this guy, 00:21:04.160 --> 00:21:06.760 this guy named Minton Marsalis. 00:21:06.760 --> 00:21:11.760 He's a very famous jazz saxophonist. 00:21:11.920 --> 00:21:16.920 And he was a guy who has lived on forever 00:21:18.240 --> 00:21:20.400 and sings blues and jazz. 00:21:20.400 --> 00:21:24.040 Anyways, in one of the songs he says, 00:21:27.160 --> 00:21:30.720 if a preacher needs to go to school before he can preach, 00:21:30.720 --> 00:21:32.840 then all he is is an educated fool. 00:21:34.040 --> 00:21:38.560 The point being that it is easy to find people 00:21:38.560 --> 00:21:40.320 without wisdom to do a job well, 00:21:40.320 --> 00:21:43.360 but it takes forever to build someone with wisdom. 00:21:43.360 --> 00:21:45.600 Takes two generations sometimes. 00:21:45.600 --> 00:21:47.480 David had to build wisdom into Solomon 00:21:47.480 --> 00:21:48.760 so that Solomon had the wisdom 00:21:48.760 --> 00:21:50.360 to seek God to build a temple. 00:21:57.000 --> 00:21:58.400 I don't know why I'm laboring that point, 00:21:58.400 --> 00:22:01.680 but maybe it is so that when you raise people, 00:22:01.680 --> 00:22:05.000 you raise them by making wisdom a chief thing 00:22:05.000 --> 00:22:06.040 that you put in them. 00:22:10.880 --> 00:22:12.440 I love how some of you pray. 00:22:14.280 --> 00:22:17.200 I listen to some of you pray and I think to myself, 00:22:17.200 --> 00:22:18.800 you're only 27 or 28. 00:22:18.800 --> 00:22:20.760 Where are you getting this wisdom from? 00:22:22.560 --> 00:22:23.560 Marvels. 00:22:26.200 --> 00:22:28.320 It can't be your age. 00:22:29.280 --> 00:22:30.120 You're too young to pray like that. 00:22:30.120 --> 00:22:31.120 How come you're praying like that? 00:22:31.120 --> 00:22:34.360 Because you've learned something about God. 00:22:35.400 --> 00:22:37.760 Another way of defining wisdom is 00:22:41.480 --> 00:22:44.600 a wise person is someone who lives in God's world, 00:22:44.600 --> 00:22:48.600 in God's ways, with God's thinking amongst God's people. 00:22:49.480 --> 00:22:53.440 A wise person is someone who lives in God's world, 00:22:53.440 --> 00:22:57.320 in God's ways, with God's thinking, with God's people. 00:22:57.360 --> 00:23:00.600 And he speaks, and he examples, and he influences others 00:23:00.600 --> 00:23:02.200 because that's the way he thinks. 00:23:03.200 --> 00:23:05.040 So when we talk about trials, 00:23:05.040 --> 00:23:08.520 please try not to feel condemned 00:23:08.520 --> 00:23:09.720 because as we talk about this, 00:23:09.720 --> 00:23:12.920 please understand that I'll try my best 00:23:12.920 --> 00:23:17.800 not to convey condemnation the way I teach and in my tone. 00:23:17.800 --> 00:23:20.040 But if you begin to feel condemned, 00:23:20.040 --> 00:23:23.120 just brush it away because it's just the father saying, 00:23:23.120 --> 00:23:25.360 hey, listen, I know you're going through trials. 00:23:25.360 --> 00:23:26.600 Could it be one of these? 00:23:26.640 --> 00:23:27.480 Examine it. 00:23:28.400 --> 00:23:31.040 We've become so namby-pamby with believers 00:23:31.040 --> 00:23:34.640 that we think to talk about sin or to examine oneself 00:23:34.640 --> 00:23:35.920 is a terrible thing. 00:23:35.920 --> 00:23:39.800 No, Psalm 139 talks about it. 00:23:39.800 --> 00:23:42.280 Search me, oh God, I know my heart today. 00:23:42.280 --> 00:23:44.280 See if there is any wicked way in me. 00:23:44.280 --> 00:23:46.160 We've completely shelved that. 00:23:48.040 --> 00:23:49.320 It's cheap grace. 00:23:51.200 --> 00:23:53.840 One of the first places that you should look 00:23:53.840 --> 00:23:56.440 when trials are happening is yourself. 00:23:57.400 --> 00:23:58.520 It's not condemnation. 00:23:58.520 --> 00:24:00.400 It is not self abasement. 00:24:00.400 --> 00:24:02.800 It is, if I can get that out of the way, 00:24:02.800 --> 00:24:05.240 I can go and look at other things. 00:24:05.240 --> 00:24:08.040 So please don't feel condemned as we go down this list. 00:24:11.480 --> 00:24:16.480 First, trials happen because of bucking. 00:24:17.080 --> 00:24:19.360 I'm just using the B word everywhere. 00:24:19.360 --> 00:24:21.520 So bucking order. 00:24:21.520 --> 00:24:25.560 Bucking order means throwing off order. 00:24:25.560 --> 00:24:30.440 And where we see it is in 2 Samuel 6, verse three to eight, 00:24:30.440 --> 00:24:32.520 and that's when David decides 00:24:32.520 --> 00:24:34.400 to bring the ark into Jerusalem. 00:24:35.560 --> 00:24:37.120 But he knows the protocol. 00:24:37.120 --> 00:24:38.960 He knows how it actually works. 00:24:38.960 --> 00:24:41.120 He has been taught right from when he was young 00:24:41.120 --> 00:24:44.800 that the ark must be brought on the shoulders of Levites. 00:24:44.800 --> 00:24:48.160 Instead, in his enthusiasm and his passion 00:24:48.160 --> 00:24:50.680 and he being a man after God's heart, 00:24:50.720 --> 00:24:54.640 he instead brings the ark like the Philistines did it. 00:24:54.640 --> 00:24:56.360 The Philistines captured the ark 00:24:56.360 --> 00:25:01.160 and they would put it on the back of a cart pulled by oxen. 00:25:01.160 --> 00:25:03.040 And David began to do it the same way. 00:25:03.040 --> 00:25:06.280 David brings it in and as he brings it in, 00:25:06.280 --> 00:25:10.240 the oxen stumble, Uzzah and Ahiyyot touch the ark 00:25:10.240 --> 00:25:11.960 and they die instantly. 00:25:11.960 --> 00:25:15.520 And David is very upset, but he also knows why it happened. 00:25:15.520 --> 00:25:19.080 Some trials come because we buck order 00:25:19.080 --> 00:25:21.400 or we break order. 00:25:25.760 --> 00:25:27.080 When you disrupt, 00:25:28.240 --> 00:25:31.240 when you disrupt God ordained order 00:25:35.920 --> 00:25:39.160 or God arranged order or process, 00:25:41.680 --> 00:25:45.680 and you try and steady or shake, 00:25:45.680 --> 00:25:50.680 steady or shake what you are not appointed to, 00:25:59.200 --> 00:26:01.240 then you break the hedge 00:26:05.120 --> 00:26:09.120 and the serpent can bite. 00:26:10.600 --> 00:26:11.800 And that's in, 00:26:12.800 --> 00:26:19.800 and that's in Ecclesiastes 10,8. 00:26:26.080 --> 00:26:28.360 So when I break order, 00:26:29.720 --> 00:26:33.840 when I disrupt God ordained order or process 00:26:33.840 --> 00:26:38.840 and I try to steady or shake what I am not appointed to, 00:26:41.840 --> 00:26:46.840 I break the hedge and the serpent can or may bite. 00:26:48.480 --> 00:26:49.320 Why? 00:26:49.320 --> 00:26:52.600 Because breaking order is one of the favorite things 00:26:52.600 --> 00:26:56.120 Satan enjoys because that's what he did. 00:26:56.120 --> 00:26:58.960 It's his favorite thing because that's what he did. 00:26:58.960 --> 00:27:01.560 He did it in the backyard of heaven 00:27:01.560 --> 00:27:03.720 and then he did it in the backyard of Eden. 00:27:05.680 --> 00:27:08.840 So some trials are brought on by this. 00:27:12.760 --> 00:27:17.280 Second, and after I'm done, we can ask questions. 00:27:17.280 --> 00:27:20.960 Second, you can buy into sin. 00:27:20.960 --> 00:27:23.240 You can buy into sin. 00:27:24.280 --> 00:27:26.240 Why am I using the word buy into sin? 00:27:26.240 --> 00:27:28.560 Because God will try to save you from it. 00:27:32.040 --> 00:27:37.040 David's life again, you see it in 2 Samuel 11, 25 to 28, 00:27:38.280 --> 00:27:40.240 and 2 Samuel 27, 00:27:40.600 --> 00:27:45.600 sorry, 2 Samuel 12, verse 7 to 12. 00:27:47.160 --> 00:27:48.440 What are we talking about? 00:27:48.440 --> 00:27:51.640 We're talking about Bathsheba. 00:27:52.920 --> 00:27:56.000 David was given opportunities to exit the sin. 00:27:56.000 --> 00:27:57.400 That'll always be the case. 00:27:58.280 --> 00:28:00.720 You'll always, I'll always have an opportunity 00:28:00.720 --> 00:28:03.600 to exit sin, but sometimes sin can lead 00:28:03.600 --> 00:28:06.840 to costly, irreversible consequences 00:28:06.840 --> 00:28:09.680 that God then intervenes and tries to soften 00:28:09.680 --> 00:28:14.680 and mitigate, and some trials are because of sin. 00:28:19.480 --> 00:28:24.440 And so that's another thing that we need to examine 00:28:24.440 --> 00:28:25.960 when trials come our way. 00:28:26.840 --> 00:28:30.840 Oh, Jacob, why are you beating me when I'm already down? 00:28:30.840 --> 00:28:32.960 I'm not beating you when you're already down. 00:28:32.960 --> 00:28:34.640 I'm helping you get out of it. 00:28:38.040 --> 00:28:39.280 These are realities. 00:28:40.640 --> 00:28:41.480 Why? 00:28:41.480 --> 00:28:43.840 Because we have a holy God and we have a Holy Spirit 00:28:43.840 --> 00:28:47.840 who convicts us of sin and brings to us the rightness of God. 00:28:47.840 --> 00:28:52.120 He does everything, but this is reality. 00:28:55.120 --> 00:28:58.040 I may have shared this with you before, 00:28:58.040 --> 00:29:00.400 but I've been through this multiple times 00:29:00.400 --> 00:29:03.440 where I realized it was something that I did, 00:29:03.440 --> 00:29:04.840 and sometimes I had to go repent, 00:29:04.840 --> 00:29:06.640 and sometimes repentance was not enough. 00:29:06.640 --> 00:29:09.360 Sometimes I had to go to the person that I offended, 00:29:09.600 --> 00:29:12.280 and say to the person that I did you harm, 00:29:12.280 --> 00:29:13.520 this is what I did. 00:29:13.520 --> 00:29:15.000 And once I said that to the person, 00:29:15.000 --> 00:29:17.480 I would ask the person, could you pray for me 00:29:17.480 --> 00:29:19.400 like Joe prayed for his friends, 00:29:19.400 --> 00:29:21.160 because I went and did you harm? 00:29:21.160 --> 00:29:22.440 And God would try and stop me, 00:29:22.440 --> 00:29:26.520 but I was so caught up in my anger or whatever 00:29:26.520 --> 00:29:27.960 that I went and did people harm. 00:29:27.960 --> 00:29:30.040 And I remember this pastor called Stefan, 00:29:30.040 --> 00:29:32.840 who I spoke against to multiple people, 00:29:32.840 --> 00:29:34.400 and then I remember going and saying to him, 00:29:34.400 --> 00:29:36.720 I'm sorry, these are the people I spoke to, 00:29:36.720 --> 00:29:38.680 would you please pray for me? 00:29:38.680 --> 00:29:40.160 And he forgave me and he prayed for me, 00:29:40.160 --> 00:29:42.640 and in an instant, 20, 30 seconds, 00:29:42.640 --> 00:29:45.400 what I was suffering physically disappeared. 00:29:47.560 --> 00:29:49.680 I'm a man of faith, I can pray with faith 00:29:49.680 --> 00:29:52.960 for things to disappear, but this was something else. 00:29:56.400 --> 00:29:59.400 Sobering message, eh, but it's necessary. 00:29:59.400 --> 00:30:00.800 Don't worry, it gets better. 00:30:00.800 --> 00:30:02.640 I thought I'd put the bad news first. 00:30:04.760 --> 00:30:07.160 Next one, bearing burdens. 00:30:07.160 --> 00:30:08.680 Bearing burdens. 00:30:08.680 --> 00:30:11.080 We'll just finish this section of trials 00:30:11.080 --> 00:30:12.280 and then we'll stop. 00:30:12.280 --> 00:30:13.360 Bearing burdens. 00:30:14.560 --> 00:30:17.720 Bearing burdens, you'll find it in 2 Samuel 21, 00:30:20.240 --> 00:30:22.560 verse one to six. 00:30:24.160 --> 00:30:27.840 And then you'll also find it in, 00:30:28.800 --> 00:30:31.040 and then the verse is nine to 12. 00:30:31.040 --> 00:30:33.120 So here's what happens in this situation. 00:30:34.080 --> 00:30:37.960 Bearing burdens is when some trials are burdens 00:30:37.960 --> 00:30:42.000 you either take on willingly or inherit unwillingly. 00:30:42.000 --> 00:30:45.680 Bearing burdens, it's when some trials 00:30:47.680 --> 00:30:51.480 you have taken on willingly 00:30:55.040 --> 00:30:58.800 or you inherit unwillingly. 00:31:04.080 --> 00:31:09.080 Examples, remember the woman who comes to Elijah, 00:31:09.920 --> 00:31:11.720 I think it was Elijah, and she says to him, 00:31:11.720 --> 00:31:15.160 alas, alas, master, my husband has died 00:31:15.160 --> 00:31:18.480 and he had debts and the debtors are coming 00:31:18.480 --> 00:31:20.200 to collect the debt and they're going to take 00:31:20.200 --> 00:31:22.600 my two sons as slaves. 00:31:22.600 --> 00:31:25.720 And that's when Elijah asks, what do you have in your house? 00:31:25.720 --> 00:31:28.040 The story of the oil that keeps running. 00:31:28.040 --> 00:31:30.920 And she pays off her debts and he says, 00:31:30.920 --> 00:31:32.160 now go and live on the rest. 00:31:32.160 --> 00:31:35.120 That was not something she did. 00:31:35.120 --> 00:31:37.520 It was something she inherited. 00:31:38.520 --> 00:31:40.320 Sometimes you inherited willingly. 00:31:40.320 --> 00:31:42.840 There are people in this room that have taken on 00:31:42.840 --> 00:31:46.200 the burdens of others, financial burdens, physical burdens. 00:31:46.200 --> 00:31:48.440 You've taken it on willingly, why? 00:31:48.440 --> 00:31:51.680 Because you think it is your responsibility to discharge. 00:31:51.680 --> 00:31:54.000 Once you take on a burden willingly, 00:31:54.000 --> 00:31:55.480 there are only two choices, 00:31:55.480 --> 00:31:58.480 bear under it graciously or disconnect. 00:31:58.840 --> 00:32:01.400 What happens is when we can't bear it anymore 00:32:01.400 --> 00:32:04.120 and we start lamenting and getting resentful, 00:32:04.960 --> 00:32:07.240 then it becomes a terrible trial. 00:32:08.840 --> 00:32:11.080 Some things are inherited unwillingly. 00:32:11.080 --> 00:32:14.480 In this scripture, what happens is King Saul, 00:32:14.480 --> 00:32:19.480 he killed the Gibeonites in his land. 00:32:20.240 --> 00:32:24.040 The Gibeonites had a pact made during Joshua's time saying, 00:32:24.040 --> 00:32:26.040 we will serve you, you cannot destroy us. 00:32:26.200 --> 00:32:27.760 King Saul killed the Gibeonites. 00:32:28.960 --> 00:32:30.320 The mother of the Gibeonites killed, 00:32:30.320 --> 00:32:33.160 sat there with the bodies hanging on the tree saying, 00:32:33.160 --> 00:32:35.000 I want justice. 00:32:35.000 --> 00:32:38.160 David also found out that there was a famine in the land. 00:32:38.160 --> 00:32:39.520 He begins to seek God. 00:32:39.520 --> 00:32:41.560 There's a trial going on. 00:32:41.560 --> 00:32:44.080 The entire land is stricken with famine. 00:32:44.080 --> 00:32:45.720 David is praying nothing is happening. 00:32:45.720 --> 00:32:47.560 He goes to the Lord and he asks him, 00:32:47.560 --> 00:32:49.480 Lord, why is there a famine in the land? 00:32:49.480 --> 00:32:52.880 And the Lord says, because there was a God pact 00:32:53.120 --> 00:32:54.600 made with the Gibeonites by Joshua. 00:32:54.600 --> 00:32:57.600 Your predecessor, King Saul, killed the Gibeonites 00:32:57.600 --> 00:33:02.600 and the land is under a curse for what was done to them. 00:33:02.760 --> 00:33:04.680 It was not David's problem. 00:33:04.680 --> 00:33:06.640 It was an inherited trial. 00:33:06.640 --> 00:33:09.640 And David had to then pay the price for it 00:33:09.640 --> 00:33:11.080 so that it'd be lifted up. 00:33:13.080 --> 00:33:15.520 But if you take on a burden like that, 00:33:15.520 --> 00:33:17.880 then make sure that you're not going to be 00:33:17.880 --> 00:33:19.880 in a situation where you're not going to be 00:33:20.200 --> 00:33:21.400 in a situation where you're not going to be 00:33:21.400 --> 00:33:22.840 in a situation where you're not going to be 00:33:22.840 --> 00:33:23.880 at the place where you're going to be. 00:33:23.880 --> 00:33:26.120 If you take on a burden like that, 00:33:26.120 --> 00:33:31.120 then make sure that you either bear it graciously 00:33:31.600 --> 00:33:34.360 or unharness it off you. 00:33:34.360 --> 00:33:36.240 How do you unharness things? 00:33:36.240 --> 00:33:39.320 You can go and say, I need to mark my boundaries. 00:33:39.320 --> 00:33:40.920 I can't do this anymore. 00:33:44.480 --> 00:33:49.480 Or you can dissociate like Abraham and Lot did. 00:33:49.880 --> 00:33:56.420 like Jacob and Laban did, or you can dissociate like Abraham and Lot did, but deal with it. 00:33:56.420 --> 00:34:01.340 Don't lament or get resentful. 00:34:01.340 --> 00:34:03.460 All these things apply to all of us in this room. 00:34:03.460 --> 00:34:09.700 We are all going through it at some level or the other. 00:34:09.700 --> 00:34:16.180 These are trials in our lives. 00:34:16.180 --> 00:34:17.180 Next one. 00:34:17.600 --> 00:34:22.080 I mean, there are times when I've gone and taken on, 00:34:22.080 --> 00:34:25.760 willingly taken on, huge responsibilities, 00:34:25.760 --> 00:34:31.680 which if I had not taken on, I could live splendidly. 00:34:31.680 --> 00:34:39.320 But there were deliberate, intentional taking ons, and it's okay. 00:34:39.320 --> 00:34:42.120 But if my heart ever gets resentful, I go back to saying, 00:34:42.120 --> 00:34:45.640 listen, you took this on willingly, now graciously bear under it. 00:34:45.780 --> 00:34:51.140 The strange thing is when you graciously bear under it, the Lord begins to provide, 00:34:51.140 --> 00:34:55.900 so that even though it is sacrificial, the Lord begins to provide. 00:34:55.900 --> 00:34:56.900 It's beautiful. 00:35:02.140 --> 00:35:06.340 The next one that causes trials is bad or good seed. 00:35:06.340 --> 00:35:07.340 Bad or good seed. 00:35:07.340 --> 00:35:09.180 We did this teaching long ago. 00:35:09.180 --> 00:35:11.220 Maybe you've done it in your house churches. 00:35:11.220 --> 00:35:12.220 Bad or good seed. 00:35:12.220 --> 00:35:16.520 In Colossians 6, verse 7 and 8. 00:35:16.520 --> 00:35:22.520 Here's what it says, do not be deceived. 00:35:22.520 --> 00:35:24.120 God is not mocked. 00:35:24.120 --> 00:35:27.080 What a man sows, he reaps. 00:35:27.080 --> 00:35:30.560 If he sows to the flesh, he reaps destruction. 00:35:30.560 --> 00:35:37.080 If he sows to life, he reaps life. 00:35:37.080 --> 00:35:43.380 Some of our trials are just because of habitual sowing for long periods of time. 00:35:43.380 --> 00:35:45.240 Good seed, sorry, bad seed. 00:35:45.240 --> 00:35:50.200 But the good thing about God is whenever that happens, he comes in any ways and says, 00:35:50.200 --> 00:35:54.080 I won't allow this crop to grow because if this crop really grew, you'd be devastated, 00:35:54.080 --> 00:35:55.240 so let me save you. 00:35:55.240 --> 00:35:57.680 And he comes and takes it out in the middle of the night. 00:35:57.680 --> 00:35:59.900 He mitigates the situation completely. 00:35:59.900 --> 00:36:04.160 But the fact remains that how do we sow these seeds? 00:36:04.160 --> 00:36:06.120 We sow these seeds in two ways. 00:36:06.160 --> 00:36:08.160 Our tongue and our action. 00:36:08.160 --> 00:36:10.160 The tongue is a spade. 00:36:10.160 --> 00:36:13.680 It digs holes and sows bad seed. 00:36:13.680 --> 00:36:17.400 Most of the bad seed sown has the tongue to be used. 00:36:17.400 --> 00:36:29.200 Slander, gossip, anger, negative opinions, negative thoughts, always expressed, or actions. 00:36:29.200 --> 00:36:31.000 But then the same applies to good seed. 00:36:31.000 --> 00:36:35.240 When good seed is sown, God says, you know, this can only produce this much of a crop. 00:36:35.360 --> 00:36:37.360 He wants me to really pour some rainwater on it. 00:36:37.360 --> 00:36:39.360 And he makes it grow like crazy. 00:36:39.360 --> 00:36:41.360 And then the last one. 00:36:45.360 --> 00:36:47.360 Fallenness of the world. 00:36:47.360 --> 00:36:51.360 Fallenness, fallenness of the world. 00:36:51.360 --> 00:36:55.360 Actually, there's no... 00:36:55.360 --> 00:36:57.360 Fallenness of the world. 00:36:57.480 --> 00:37:07.480 Fallenness of the world is when as a result of the fact that we live in a broken world, 00:37:07.480 --> 00:37:13.480 in a decaying world, there is cause and effect. 00:37:17.480 --> 00:37:23.480 There is death that awaits every person except the last generation before Christ comes. 00:37:23.600 --> 00:37:27.600 The fallenness of the world brings us trials. 00:37:27.600 --> 00:37:31.600 If you go to Ecclesiastes 12, 00:37:34.600 --> 00:37:36.600 verse 3 to 6, oh my God. 00:37:36.600 --> 00:37:38.600 If you ever want to feel... 00:37:38.600 --> 00:37:43.600 If you're feeling really high and you're on a high and really feeling charged about things 00:37:43.600 --> 00:37:47.600 and you want a depressing scripture, go to Ecclesiastes 12, verse 3 to 6. 00:37:47.600 --> 00:37:49.600 Yeah? 00:37:49.720 --> 00:37:53.720 Especially if you're older than 50, this can get even worse. 00:37:53.720 --> 00:37:57.720 Ecclesiastes 12, verse 3 to 6. 00:38:00.720 --> 00:38:04.720 When the keepers of the house tremble and the strongmen stoop, 00:38:04.720 --> 00:38:06.720 when the grinders seize because they are few. 00:38:06.720 --> 00:38:10.720 I counted mine, there are supposed to be 32, but there are only 29. 00:38:10.720 --> 00:38:16.720 And those looking through the windows grow dim and the windows are closed. 00:38:16.840 --> 00:38:19.840 And those looking through the windows grow dim. 00:38:19.840 --> 00:38:22.840 When the doors to the street are closed and the sound of grinding fades. 00:38:22.840 --> 00:38:26.840 When men rise up at the sound of birds, but all their songs grow faint. 00:38:26.840 --> 00:38:29.840 When men are afraid of heights and of dangers in the streets. 00:38:29.840 --> 00:38:32.840 When the almond tree blossoms and the grasshopper drags himself along. 00:38:32.840 --> 00:38:34.840 The desire no longer is stirred. 00:38:34.840 --> 00:38:38.840 The man goes to his eternal home and mourners go about the streets terribly. 00:38:38.840 --> 00:38:41.840 It's what happens to you supposedly as you get older. 00:38:41.840 --> 00:38:45.840 That's what Solomon, who I think had lost his wisdom by now, 00:38:45.960 --> 00:38:48.960 begins to say in Ecclesiastes 12, 3 to 6. 00:38:48.960 --> 00:38:51.960 So there's the fallenness of the world that begins to happen. 00:38:51.960 --> 00:38:53.960 But I want to show you another scripture, 00:38:53.960 --> 00:38:59.960 which kind of not contradicts this, but gives you another side of the story. 00:38:59.960 --> 00:39:01.960 Deuteronomy 34, verse 7. 00:39:01.960 --> 00:39:03.960 Deuteronomy 34, verse 7. 00:39:08.960 --> 00:39:12.960 Solomon didn't live this long, but here is a man who lived long. 00:39:12.960 --> 00:39:14.960 Look at how he went out. 00:39:15.080 --> 00:39:17.080 Deuteronomy 34, verse 7. 00:39:18.080 --> 00:39:21.080 Moses was 120 years old when he died, 00:39:21.080 --> 00:39:25.080 yet his eyes were not weak nor his strength cost. 00:39:28.080 --> 00:39:31.080 There's always a way around trials, guys. 00:39:31.080 --> 00:39:33.080 Any questions? I'll end there. 00:39:33.080 --> 00:39:38.080 We'll do dealing with the enemy, temptations, incitement, discipline, 00:39:38.080 --> 00:39:40.080 test, persecution, pride. 00:39:40.080 --> 00:39:42.080 We'll do all that next time. 00:39:42.080 --> 00:39:44.080 Any questions on this? 00:39:45.080 --> 00:39:47.080 Trials. 00:39:49.080 --> 00:39:51.080 Trials. 00:39:51.080 --> 00:39:53.080 Breaking order. 00:39:53.080 --> 00:39:55.080 Buying into sin. 00:39:59.080 --> 00:40:01.080 Bearing burdens. 00:40:01.080 --> 00:40:03.080 Breaking order. 00:40:09.080 --> 00:40:11.080 I'm trying to give an example from my life. 00:40:11.080 --> 00:40:13.080 Where I broke order. 00:40:15.080 --> 00:40:23.080 I didn't pay a price for it, but I was invited to church, 00:40:23.080 --> 00:40:27.080 and I was asked to speak at that church on a certain topic. 00:40:27.080 --> 00:40:31.080 And the people were very gracious. 00:40:31.080 --> 00:40:35.080 I went there, and just before I began to preach, 00:40:35.080 --> 00:40:37.080 I felt the Holy Spirit saying, 00:40:37.080 --> 00:40:39.080 I want you to speak on this. 00:40:39.080 --> 00:40:41.080 And I really trusted that it was the Holy Spirit. 00:40:41.080 --> 00:40:44.080 And I decided to go down that road. 00:40:44.200 --> 00:40:48.200 After I finished, the person who ran the group came up to me and said, 00:40:48.200 --> 00:40:53.200 why did you change the topic when we told you what topic you should speak on? 00:40:53.200 --> 00:41:01.200 So I said, but I just felt prompted by the Holy Spirit to preach this. 00:41:01.200 --> 00:41:03.200 And the person said, if that was the case, 00:41:03.200 --> 00:41:08.200 then why didn't you come and tell me that that was what the Holy Spirit was asking you to speak on? 00:41:08.200 --> 00:41:11.200 Don't you know how to operate under order? 00:41:11.320 --> 00:41:14.320 I thought to myself, nuts! 00:41:14.320 --> 00:41:17.320 The person was absolutely right. 00:41:17.320 --> 00:41:19.320 Even if the Spirit of God tells you, 00:41:19.320 --> 00:41:23.320 you still go and speak to the person who is in charge. 00:41:23.320 --> 00:41:25.320 You don't take things into your own hands. 00:41:25.320 --> 00:41:29.320 Example from the Bible, David. 00:41:29.320 --> 00:41:31.320 People around him are egging him on, saying, 00:41:31.320 --> 00:41:33.320 David, you got Saul at your mercy. 00:41:33.320 --> 00:41:37.320 Saul went into the cave to take a leak, and David is in the cave. 00:41:37.440 --> 00:41:41.440 And he could have slain Saul then. 00:41:41.440 --> 00:41:46.440 And he actually cuts off a piece of Saul's robe. 00:41:46.440 --> 00:41:51.440 And then he begins to regret it because he knows that he shouldn't have done it. 00:41:53.440 --> 00:41:56.440 And he goes out and he stands and Saul is on a cliff and he says, 00:41:56.440 --> 00:42:00.440 Saul, I never meant to harm you, but I need you to know that. 00:42:00.440 --> 00:42:04.440 I'm even sorry for what I did in cutting off a piece of your robe 00:42:04.560 --> 00:42:08.560 because I know you are king and you were placed there by God. 00:42:08.560 --> 00:42:12.560 And yet David also knows that Saul is going to end and he will be the next king. 00:42:12.560 --> 00:42:16.560 Just because I know something, just because I might be better 00:42:16.560 --> 00:42:22.560 still does not give me the right to break the arrangement that God has. 00:42:24.560 --> 00:42:27.560 It applies to our homes, it applies to our marriages, 00:42:27.560 --> 00:42:30.560 it applies to government, it applies to civil authority, 00:42:30.680 --> 00:42:35.680 it applies to church, it applies to any arrangement that is of God. 00:42:35.680 --> 00:42:40.680 And the amount of times we do this and bring unnecessary hassle into our life is stupid. 00:42:45.680 --> 00:42:49.680 Many of the things that we deal with can be dealt with by dealing with this. 00:42:50.680 --> 00:42:54.680 Feel free to ask questions because I won't teach anymore. 00:43:00.680 --> 00:43:09.680 So, if the son shall not be an orphan, neither shall the father be an orphan. 00:43:09.680 --> 00:43:16.680 Can I only pass that with sin that passed down from generation to generation? 00:43:16.680 --> 00:43:22.680 Yeah, so I don't think sin can be passed down from generation to generation. 00:43:22.680 --> 00:43:26.680 I think the same temptation is offered from generation to generation. 00:43:26.800 --> 00:43:30.800 Yeah, so if my father was a drunkard and he was not, 00:43:30.800 --> 00:43:34.800 then I will be offered the same option to drink. 00:43:34.800 --> 00:43:38.800 And so then I might fall for it and so it continues. 00:43:38.800 --> 00:43:42.800 All it takes is one generation to stand up and say, no. 00:43:49.800 --> 00:43:51.800 Any other questions? 00:43:51.920 --> 00:43:57.920 So, I would suggest to you that you go home and look at some of the trials you're going through 00:43:57.920 --> 00:44:03.920 and without feeling condemned, first thing to do is go and stand before God and say, 00:44:03.920 --> 00:44:10.920 I know that you don't condemn, that you are not evil, you do not condemn. 00:44:10.920 --> 00:44:14.920 Fathers do not condemn their children, you do not condemn. 00:44:14.920 --> 00:44:18.920 I know you said, there is no condemnation for me. 00:44:19.040 --> 00:44:24.040 There is no passing of sentence and despising and setting me aside, it's not there. 00:44:24.040 --> 00:44:27.040 Now that I know that, I want to come to you and say, 00:44:27.040 --> 00:44:31.040 these trials I'm going through, do you want to put your finger and say, 00:44:31.040 --> 00:44:34.040 perhaps you need to fix this Jacob? 00:44:34.040 --> 00:44:39.040 And if you do, I'll do it willingly because I know that's your solution for it. 00:44:39.040 --> 00:44:41.040 Go down that route. 00:44:41.040 --> 00:44:43.040 Yeah? 00:44:44.040 --> 00:44:46.040 Cool. 00:44:46.160 --> 00:44:49.160 It's overwhelming if you stand here and you say, yeah, 00:44:49.160 --> 00:44:52.160 and not a muscle moves on anyone's face. 00:44:52.160 --> 00:44:55.160 It's powerful stuff, man. 00:44:55.160 --> 00:44:58.160 And yet God sees us as having plateaued. 00:44:58.160 --> 00:45:02.160 He doesn't know that your face has plateaued about 18 years ago. 00:45:02.160 --> 00:45:06.160 But let's just pray. 00:45:06.280 --> 00:45:13.280 If there is one thing that you want us to focus on, what would that be? 00:45:13.280 --> 00:45:17.280 If there is one thing that I would like to focus on from this message or from today? 00:45:17.280 --> 00:45:19.280 From the message. 00:45:19.280 --> 00:45:26.280 From the message it would be, do not shy away from examining yourself 00:45:26.280 --> 00:45:30.280 when trials come or trials are around you. 00:45:30.280 --> 00:45:33.280 Do not shy away from examining yourself. 00:45:33.400 --> 00:45:35.400 It is not condemnation. 00:45:35.400 --> 00:45:36.400 It is scriptural. 00:45:36.400 --> 00:45:39.400 It is a God trait. 00:45:40.400 --> 00:45:43.400 Search me, O God. 00:45:44.400 --> 00:45:45.400 Try me, O God. 00:45:45.400 --> 00:45:48.400 Test me, O God. 00:45:48.400 --> 00:45:51.400 This is later on carried into 1 Corinthians 11. 00:45:51.400 --> 00:45:56.400 When you come to break bread, examine yourself. 00:45:56.400 --> 00:46:00.400 So that you are not judged. 00:46:00.520 --> 00:46:03.520 And because you do not examine yourself, 00:46:03.520 --> 00:46:08.520 many of you end up sick or dying. 00:46:11.520 --> 00:46:17.520 The table of grace suddenly becomes a table where people fall sick and die. 00:46:17.520 --> 00:46:18.520 That's crazy. 00:46:18.520 --> 00:46:23.520 And yet there is grace available to immediately raise you from both sin and death. 00:46:25.520 --> 00:46:26.520 It is scriptural. 00:46:26.520 --> 00:46:29.520 It is part of a holy God. 00:46:29.640 --> 00:46:33.640 If our God was not holy, if he was a Krishna or a this or a that, 00:46:33.640 --> 00:46:35.640 then no problem. 00:46:35.640 --> 00:46:37.640 But he is not. 00:46:39.640 --> 00:46:42.640 He is holy and just, therefore he is merciful and forgiving. 00:46:43.640 --> 00:46:47.640 If he wasn't holy and just, no need of mercy, no need of forgiveness. 00:46:48.640 --> 00:46:50.640 That's what I would focus on. 00:46:51.640 --> 00:46:52.640 Okay, let's pray. 00:46:52.640 --> 00:46:53.640 Jesus. 00:46:53.760 --> 00:47:01.760 The reason I asked Diana from the message or from today is because what you've done today is pretty remarkable. 00:47:03.760 --> 00:47:06.760 First, in the middle of worship, you said, 00:47:06.760 --> 00:47:09.760 I'm getting you ready to move on. 00:47:09.760 --> 00:47:11.760 That you will create a breach. 00:47:11.760 --> 00:47:14.760 That we are entering another level. 00:47:14.760 --> 00:47:16.760 If you want to enter this level, ask me. 00:47:16.760 --> 00:47:17.760 I'll help you. 00:47:17.760 --> 00:47:18.760 I'll help you. 00:47:18.760 --> 00:47:20.760 Keep saying that again and again. 00:47:20.880 --> 00:47:25.880 And then Michael Scantleberry comes up and he spent a sleepless night last night 00:47:25.880 --> 00:47:27.880 and he texts me this morning saying, 00:47:27.880 --> 00:47:29.880 I want to come to your church. 00:47:29.880 --> 00:47:31.880 I need to say something to the worship team. 00:47:31.880 --> 00:47:35.880 What he had to say coincides with what we were doing during worship, Abba. 00:47:35.880 --> 00:47:37.880 And we received that word. 00:47:39.880 --> 00:47:45.880 You said we've plateaued, not in a way of you've gone dull or you've just stagnated. 00:47:45.880 --> 00:47:48.880 No, you're saying, where you're at, there's nothing more to do. 00:47:50.880 --> 00:47:51.880 That's brilliant. 00:47:51.880 --> 00:47:54.880 And you're saying, okay, now let me take you elsewhere 00:47:54.880 --> 00:47:56.880 and you will break the breach and go through it. 00:47:56.880 --> 00:47:59.880 So we receive that with great gratitude. 00:47:59.880 --> 00:48:04.880 And then help us examine ourselves fearlessly before a loving father. 00:48:06.880 --> 00:48:07.880 In Jesus' name. 00:48:07.880 --> 00:48:09.880 Never forget that story, guys. 00:48:09.880 --> 00:48:16.880 Four children spill paint in the father's storehouse, store room. 00:48:17.000 --> 00:48:21.000 One child runs and dives under the blankets and says, 00:48:21.000 --> 00:48:23.000 I'm terrible, I'm terrible. 00:48:23.000 --> 00:48:25.000 No, the first child runs under the blanket and says, 00:48:25.000 --> 00:48:28.000 as long as I'm under these blankets, everything will disappear. 00:48:28.000 --> 00:48:30.000 I don't have to worry about it. 00:48:30.000 --> 00:48:33.000 Second child, I'm lousy, I'm terrible. 00:48:33.000 --> 00:48:34.000 I should not be a child. 00:48:34.000 --> 00:48:35.000 I should be thrown out. 00:48:35.000 --> 00:48:37.000 Third child, it wasn't my fault. 00:48:37.000 --> 00:48:38.000 It was Dishaldi's fault. 00:48:38.000 --> 00:48:41.000 He was the one who told us to go and play in the store room. 00:48:41.000 --> 00:48:45.000 Fourth child goes up to the father and says to the father, 00:48:45.120 --> 00:48:47.120 we spilled paint. 00:48:47.120 --> 00:48:51.120 And the father says, do you know what your dad is known for? 00:48:51.120 --> 00:48:53.120 And the child says, you're an inventor. 00:48:53.120 --> 00:48:55.120 He says, you know dad's greatest invention? 00:48:55.120 --> 00:48:56.120 The child says, no. 00:48:56.120 --> 00:49:01.120 He says, dad invented the world's best paint remover. 00:49:01.120 --> 00:49:04.120 And then the dad grabs the boy's hand, 00:49:04.120 --> 00:49:08.120 goes, collects all the other children, one under the blanket, 00:49:08.120 --> 00:49:11.120 one cursing himself, one girl blaming others 00:49:11.120 --> 00:49:13.120 and they all go into the store room 00:49:13.240 --> 00:49:17.240 and they take the world's best paint remover 00:49:17.240 --> 00:49:20.240 and they spray the store room and it becomes clean. 00:49:20.240 --> 00:49:23.240 Please, as you deal with this, be the fourth child. 00:49:26.240 --> 00:49:27.240 Okay, cool.