The Ark At The Gates - Part 1

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Exodus 25:22

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Genesis 1 · chapter mention

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

on?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

1 Samuel 5:3–4

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

1 Samuel 7:1

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

We see this in 2 Samuel 6 and we see this in 2 Samuel 6, 11. And so then David decides

that he's going to bring it with the Levites on poles as it is. And so he's going to bring

what it should have been on their shoulders to the temple. And that's how it comes to

the temple. Why go through this whole history? Why chart the course of it? Because you'll

see throughout a few things happening. First, when it comes to the ark, once a people realize

the presence, the glorious presence of God in their midst, the enemy gods cannot stand.

It is important, guys, that's the first principle. That when it was first taken and placed in

the temple of Dagon, the glory of God amongst the people is something the enemy cannot stand.

The enemy falls and he falls again and again and again and again. Sometimes one of the

ways to overcome situations that are dark is just to not even think, but first recognize

the very presence of God in our midst. First recognize the presence of God in our midst.

Let your singing come from the recognition. Let the singing not come because you're trying

to get him to appear. We're not doing a magic trick here. He is here. What we are doing

is recognizing his presence. And once you recognize his presence, then it begins to

rise. Songs may rise, words may rise, prayers may rise. And every time that happens, be it

in the jail where Paul and Silas were singing, be it in the valley of Decision where Jehoshaphat

was taking his army to fight a huge bunch of guys, it doesn't matter where, be it in

the belly of a fish like Jonah, it doesn't matter where. You recognize the glory of God.

A people that recognizes his glorious presence will find the enemy cannot stand. You should

try this out. I've tried it out many times. Sometimes it's individuals, sometimes it's

groups and it always works, guys. Always works. Derek and I have gone to places right in the

midst of enemy territory and done this and seen things break and fall within hours. You

can ask him later. So that's the first thing. Second thing, and we're talking about someone,

we're not talking about an impersonal power. We're talking about someone being recognized

and things beginning to change. Next one. Beth Shemesh, the guys in Beth Shemesh handled

glory callously. Callously is when you treat something that is sacred in a manner that

you would treat something profane. Where you know for weeks and months you know that every

time we gather, be it as two people or twenty or a church, that he is present. And then

when I come in like Cosby and Zimri did. Here's what's happening in that story in Numbers

17, where the presence of God, a pillar that is so huge. Guys, I know I've explained this

before but just to refresh your memory, the pillar of cloud and fire was big enough to

give shade to a million people. It was towering. It wasn't this tinsy-winsy-wimsy little cloud

that goes... It was this huge cloud that would blaze at night and would be shade during the

day for a million people. And this cloud has settled now on the tent of meeting, which

was a camp outside where the Israelites would dwell and Moses would go into it. And at that

time, as Moses is meeting with God and this cloud appears over it, Cosby and Zimri, Zimri

is an Israelite, he goes with another woman and he starts caressing her or doing things

that were not kosher in the view of everybody because everyone would come out and stand

at the door of their tent when the cloud would move and God would meet with Moses. There's

something called callousness in terms of how we handle the cloud of glory or how we handle

God's glory. Learn how to handle it carefully. Mishandling glory affects both Eli and his

sons, affects Cosby and Zimri and affects the people of Beth Shemesh. How do you define

callous handling? It'll be different for different people, eh? The profane handling of something

sacred differs from person to person. God does not establish a protocol saying, do this,

don't do this. He does not operate like that. But he knows my heart and he knows when I'm

treating something callously. He knows. So I can't use the same measure that I use for

myself for you. But know when you're treating the sacredness of God roughly. He is a father

but he is God. He is father but he is majesty. One of the ways we treat him callously is

with our words. Just refuse to say things about God that you know are not true to your

life. Make that a decision in your life. If you are not walking it, don't talk it. Any

questions on that before we move on? I was watching a video of a woman who was talking

about season five of Chosen today while flying back. And at one point Jesus turns to the

Pharisees and he begins to say, the whole series is called, that episode is called Woe.

And he begins to say, you're hypocrites. You say one thing, you do another. You're like

whitewashed tombs with bones inside. You're hypocrites. You tithe on small things but

you will not be generous when it comes to others. You're hypocrites. You make big prayers

but you aren't living it. He keeps using the word hypocrites. You're hypocrites. You will

not go and take what I've given you nor will you allow people that are supposed to come

in. You'll prevent them to. And the anger that rises in that picture. And he invites

his death that way. He's taking on the establishment and he invites his death. But the point is

this, callousness differs for different people but learn how to treat what is sacred properly

and don't be a hypocrite about it. I'd rather be dishonest about what I don't like and like

about God than pretend. And so he's talking about the same thing. He's talking about the

same thing. The third group of guys was Abhinadab. You know it's strange, eh? Abhinadab had the

ark for 20 years and you don't hear nothing about how it helped his house. Obedidam had

it for three months and it says his house prospered. Abhinadab had it for 20 years and

the result of it is the death of his sons when it's finally moved out. Not a word is

heard about how the ark benefited Abhinadab. I want to draw a conclusion from that. Abhinadab

housed the glory of God in terms of the ark but did not seek presence. He had the ark

in his house but he did not know how to seek the presence of the ark. It is possible for

us to enjoy Sundays and enjoy the glory of God and not seek his presence for the rest

of the week, two weeks, three weeks, four weeks. John 14.20, just listen to this. Christ

is saying this. Christ is saying it. I am in the Father. I am in joy and joy is in me.

I am in the Father. I am in Mira and Mira is in me. That's the proximity. There's no

distance. Just as he and the Father are one. He's saying I am in the Father. The Father

and I are one. In the same way, Jacob, you and I are one because I am in you and you

are in me. This presence thing is never absent. It should be your aim in life. It should be

your aim in life to hunger and thirst so badly that every time you miss the fact that

you're aware of him, you go back running. That's the degree to which we can develop

it. What happens if we develop it? Is it for our own benefit? I'd like to tell you that

you are saved. You know God. You know him as Father. You know him as Lord. He takes

care of you. Do this for the benefit of others. It's others who benefit because of the presence

of God in us. Did the world benefit because of the presence of the Spirit of God upon

Jesus? Yes. Well then, it's the same for you. Just as the world benefited from the Spirit

of God being fully resident, alive in Christ, so is the body because the Spirit of God dwells

in this temple. This is reality, guys. We've unfortunately created distance when God is

trying to create proximity. And the shame is we create distance with theology, the study

of God. The study of God that will not recognize him primarily as Father. The study of God

that will not recognize him primarily as Father. The study of God that will not recognize him

primarily as Father. The study of God that does not recognize God as Father is not the

study of God. It's twisted when you don't recognize him as Father because that is what

he primarily is as God. He's always been God the Father. Don't make me go down that road

because I go down that road every time because he so desires for us to know that he is primarily

a Father. That's why he's different from every other God. David then takes the ark, but David

calibrates it. David calibrates glory to what is trending in other nations. Refuse to do that,

eh? We are not going to take the glory of God and reduce it to feathers or brilliant

light or gold dust or people falling over. That's not how you calibrate the glory of

God. It's the essence of his nature. He's brilliant and holy because he's so straight

to it. It comes to every aspect that you can think of. Anything good, he is the true measure.

David realizes, eh, that he did it the wrong way. Then it comes to the house of obedient

both hosted presence and worship. You find it in 1 Chronicles 16.5. Yep. He's the true

person. He's the true person. He's the true person. He's the true person. He's the true

person. Sorry? David brought in the ark on a cart. Through Moses, the instructions were

super clear. It was written down. But listen, when you bring in the ark, carry it on your

shoulders. Get Levitical priests to carry it on your shoulders. Why? Because this was

the presence of God. This was the throne of God. This was the weapon of God. This was

the glory of God. And it is his government or his way of governing. It was him in his

fullness represented by a box carried on his shoulders because Isaiah 9.6 later on says,

the government shall be upon our shoulders. This is where you carry government. When someone

in Isaiah 22.22, Eliakim was given the keys to the courts and he would wear the keys on

his shoulder. This was where it was worn. It was the mark of government. And he brings

it on a cart just like the Philistines do. David knew better. He just went and did it

wrong. Ahio and Uzzah had this ark in their home for 20 years. It is possible to get accustomed

to glory. It is possible to get accustomed to glory. When you get accustomed to glory,

you decide it is okay not to be all that reverent. One of the scariest things is when you get

irreverent about God because you have now pastored for many years or ministered for

many years or seen too many miracles. It's terrible when one gets familiar with the glory

of God. The other extreme is the reverence where you don't approach it. Know this, that

the glory of God fills the earth. It's not a church thing. The Bible says the glory of

the Lord covers the earth as the waters cover the seeds. Remember we used to say that we

must think of this roof like a blue balloon full of water. It is the kingdom and the glory

of God pressing in on the earth. Everywhere you go the glory of God presses in on the

earth. But you learn about it in a situation like this because this is where he lives.

When you begin to decide that this is not important anymore, that this is something

that can come after family, money, work and this, that's getting accustomed to something

so quickly that it is an occasional motorbike that you ride during summer. Hey, always remember

it is not God first, then family, then work, then church. That is not a biblical order.

We talked about this about five, six years ago. It is God as in Christ and then it is

Christ and the church. You cannot separate Christ and the church. I'm going over old

ground that we've covered ages ago because many of us haven't heard this. It is not

Christ and the church. You cannot follow Christ without following him with others called the

church. You cannot. It's a false premise. If he is the head and you are the body, how

do you separate them and say I follow the head but I'm not part of the body? It does

not exist. It's a creation of organizations and when it's focused on the family, then

it's God, family, church. When it is focused on marriage, it is God, marriage, church.

It's not true.

You know when they, Psalm 24, we talked about it earlier. I'll just not go by the notes.

In Psalm 24, this is what's really happening. They had this thing called the gate liturgy.

Gate liturgy. This was a common practice in the ancient Near East where when a king would

return after a conquest, they would come to the gates of the city. Once they come to the

gate of the city, they would, the person from within the gates would ask who goes there?

And then you would reply that this is the king of Jerusalem or the king of Salem or

the king of Vancouver and open up the gates. And when you say open up the gates, the gates

would be opened and they would come in with things that they had plundered or some symbol

of victory they would come in with. Even till a few years ago when the king of England,

and that means maybe a hundred years before Elizabeth, before now, when the king of England

would come to this place in London called the Temple Bar, there's a gate there. It's

called the Temple Bar gate and he would come there and it's the division between London

and Westminster and he would come there and there would be a door that was barred and

they would shout and say who goes there? And then they would say it's the king of England

and then the doors would be swung wide open and the king of England would, the king of

the UK would come straight in to the claps of people. And it was an allusion to Psalm

24. And Psalm 24 is written in the context of David returning from some kind of a battle

where he had victory. And every time the doors would open, it was acknowledging two things.

One, the victory. Two, that we are submitted to you, O king. These were the two things

that were being spoken of. Only in the case of Israel, they knew that it wasn't David,

that there was a divine warrior king represented by the ark that gave them victory. And so

Israel would gather and there would be this voice which would say who goes there? And

it would say this is the king of Israel. Open up the doors and the doors would be flung

open and David would come in, the ark would come in, people would begin to cheer. While

they're cheering, they're cheering for the divine warrior king that they have. The king

of Israel. And that's not David. And then some of the women and men would start applauding

David too and they would say Saul has killed his thousands, David has killed his ten thousands.

Both would get credit but they knew where the victory was coming from. That's what's

happening in Psalm 24 as the ark comes in on the shoulders of people. And where is he

taking it? He's taking it to the small hill on which is a tent under which the ark is

kept. How many people will worship it openly? Sometimes it would happen when they're taking

it to the temple. The same thing would happen at the temple. This is the glorious presence

of God coming in. You know how it works for us? It works for us in the sense on one hand

we are the ones who stand on the inside and say who goes there? And a voice comes from

heaven or from the word saying this is the king of glory. And then because we are part

of the city, we also get to open the gates and say come in, come in oh king of glory.

What an opportunity we have. This is why every time Moses would go out to war with

the Israelites, he would say numbers 25. Arise oh God, they would take the ark and the ark

would go out first. Why? Because the presence of God has to go out first, the divine warrior

has to go out first. What happened with Joshua? Same thing. Put the singers up front and some

soldiers carry the ark next. Why? Because that was enough to guarantee victory. Arise

oh God, let your enemies be scattered. Let all those who rise up against you fall. That

was a statement that God said to Moses you have to speak. And he would speak it and something

would happen to Israel. You know why? Because that box was a visible sign of the presence

of God and they had the visible cloud. We do not have it therefore we don't have markers

to recognize the presence of God in our midst but if we as people who have the spirit of

God in us can begin to recognize right now that he is hearing us, that he is here, that

we are talking about the same God from 3,000, 4,000 years ago, it will change us man. That's

the kind of God we have. And so we get the privilege of doing both. On one hand saying

who goes there? And either a Rhema word or a promise or a prophetic word or the word

of God or a vision that God gives us says this is the King of glory. When you look at

Psalm 24 you see how they address him. Who is this? And they say he is the Lord. And

he is the Lord strong and mighty. He is mighty in battle. He is the Lord of hosts as in the

angelic armies and he is the King of glory. Look at who they say is coming into the city

as the gates are being opened. You think it's any different from Richmond? Who is this King

of glory? He is the Lord as in Kyrios. He is not tyrannical, he is benevolent but he

is master of the universe. You see why we getting callous about someone like this is

not a good idea. Then he is the Lord strong and mighty. What kind of mighty? Mighty in

battle. This is when we connect the dots. That kingdom implies warfare. There cannot

be an advancement of kingdom without warfare and warfare does not exist if it were not

for the kingdom. One cannot exist without the other. He is the Lord strong and mighty,

mighty in battle. He is the Lord of hosts meaning at his disposal are thousands upon

thousands and ten thousand upon ten thousand innumerable angels and then he is a King of

glory as in him lies the essence of his nature that is brilliant and he is who is. This is

who we are inviting into Richmond. Who goes there? He is the one who goes there. Well

then because we are part of the city here we fling wide open the gates so God. This

is how it works guys. In little things. In pouring out coffee for someone at Gary Point

in having a garage sale in going around praying in undoing things that are dark in covering

areas of Richmond. This is who we are letting in. This is not a game we are playing because

he is not a game. So how do we open the gates for him to enter? We will deal with I will

just give you the list and then we can deal with it later. How do we open the gates for

him to enter? What does the Bible say? One, announce your intent. Announce your intent

that is what I am doing today. Yes I am teaching but I am announcing our intent. You will find

in Deuteronomy 20 verse 10 to 12 God would say listen when you approach a city go offer

Deuteronomy 20:10–12

them peace first. Tell them listen we want to make peace we want to come into your city

we are taking your city but we come in peace. If they refuse then set up siege mounds and

then begin the battle but offer them peace first. Announce your intent. Announce your

intent. Second, we should try this before we go today with thanksgiving. You enter his

courts and his gates you enter his courts with thanksgiving. What does it look like

when thanksgiving is given for opening the doors of a city? You know the actual word

used for thanksgiving in Psalm 100 verse 4 it is in Psalm 100 verse 4. The actual word

Psalms 100:4 Psalms 100:4

given is I will just write it how it is pronounced. It is a word called betoda which means shouting

and praising but to testify. We are telling of what God has done. It is our testimony

that we are singing and shouting out. We are testifying. What does it look like when a

people begin to give thanks but they give thanks testifying that oh God in the middle

of the song someone from that side saying oh God you've been good. Oh God you healed

me. Oh God you delivered me. Oh God you fed me. Oh God you kept me. What if in the middle

of the song Pawan began to say the very things he prayed. What does it look like? That's

thanksgiving. That kind of thanksgiving opens doors lifts up gates. We'll try that before

we go. Where you begin to testify while the song is going on. Maybe only your neighbor

will hear it. Testifying requires voice, vocal cords, words. Always remember the devil cannot

read your mind. If you want things to be heard say them loudly. The next one is the word

righteousness. Righteousness. People that are righteous walk righteously have the ability

to open gates. Psalm 118 verse 19 and 20. I might be going a little fast because for

Psalms 118:19

some strange reason I'm excited. Swing wide the city gates. The righteous gates. I'll

walk right through and thank God. The temple gate belongs to the God so that victors can

enter and praise. Open to me the gates of righteousness that I may enter through them

and give thanks to the Lord. This is the gate of the Lord. The righteous shall enter through

it. One of the ways we open gates that are both is by people walking different from the

rest of the land. It says righteousness exalts a nation. Can I walk righteously so that gate

opening can become easy? Can I walk righteously? Any questions before I finish the next four?

I've got four more gate openers. Any questions?

What does it look like to announce intent? Announce intent is to shamelessly say we moved

into Richmond because God is giving us Richmond. To confidently say we took up a church building

in Richmond because God said he would use us to completely change the city. That Hebrides

2.0 where 20s and 30s would be affected would happen in Richmond. That churches that are

compromised will begin to come back to life because those that caused the compromise will

be removed one by one. That this city that has so many temples and mosques and shrines

dedicated to other gods will find the same thing that happened to Dagon happening to

them. Why? Because of what we are talking about. That's announcing intent. And they

do it quite shamelessly because we are few in numbers. A small group of, it's like a

ragtag bunch. But it's always God's favorite thing, ragtag remnant. Go ahead Prashan. Oh,

you were just stretching your hand? Okay. But it went straight up by the way. Next one.

Prepare the way. Prepare the way. And it's in the, how are we preparing the way? This

is where the things we are doing in terms of prayer, in terms of serving. This is how

you prepare the way. You see that in Isaiah 62, verse 10 to 12, Hebrews 12, 13. The Gerad

Isaiah 62:10–12

sale is a prepare the way. The Gerad sale we are having, we are renting tables not to

ourselves but we are renting 10 to 12 tables to the neighborhood so the neighbors can come

and sell stuff. And that gives us an opportunity to now prepare the way into the lives of the

neighbors. Prepare the way. Next one. With keys. With keys. With keys. With keys. With

keys. We open the gates with keys. With keys. What do you mean with keys? When you go to

Matthew 16, 19. When you go to Isaiah 22, 22. When you go to Revelation 3, 7, you will

find that God gives keys. God gives keys. He says to Peter, listen I'm giving you a

key. You open this kingdom and you will open things and nothing can shut it. What you shut

nobody can open. He says that to Eliakim, I'm going fast again. He says that to Eliakim

in Isaiah, this doesn't sound natural. I think it's somewhere in between. He says to Eliakim

in Isaiah 22, 22, listen I'm giving you keys. Whatever you let in will be let in. Whatever

you shut will be shut. He says that to the Church of Philadelphia, listen I know you

have little strength but I placed an open door before you. What you shut will remain

shut. What you open will be open. What's he trying to say? Listen, there are certain times

when I give you a key. If I give you a key to the lower mainland of the Okanagan Valley,

that's yours. If I give you a key to St. Martin's, that's yours. If I give you a key to Richmond,

that's yours. How do keys come to pass? Here's how keys come to pass. Intimacy leads to purity,

leads to revelation, leads to demonstration, leads to the process of the Lord. What you

give to the Lord leads to authority. These two can change places. How do people get keys?

It's always this way. You take the Church of Philadelphia, you take Eliakim the son

of Hilkiah, you take Peter, flawed people, small people, ignored people. Then along comes

God and he sees in them a faithfulness, a desire for intimacy, a walking with him which

is the idea of purity. That leads then to a revelation from heaven. Hey Peter, this

didn't come from the earth. This revelation that you have is from heaven. With the revelation

will come, hey Derek I want you to take care of the Okanagan Valley. Hey Jillian I want

you to take care of London and France. Hey Jacob I want you to take care of St. Martin's.

Hey Axel I want you to take care of Richmond. Once revelation is given, any revelation that

is not demonstrated is just information. Any revelation that is not demonstrated is simply

information. The world is full of God revelations. Nothing happens with it. It just stays or

it goes into books. Revelation that is not worked out, that is not demonstrated is simply

information or knowledge. Once it becomes knowledge it becomes dangerous because knowledge

always puffs up. Once God reveals something to you, let's say God reveals something about

himself or the church to Emmanuel. Now Emmanuel has a choice. Either he can write a book or

he can do nothing with it and it becomes knowledge. Once it becomes knowledge it will puff him

up. Once he puffs up it's pride and it's only a matter of time before he falls. Any

revelation that this church receives or you receive in teaching even as I'm teaching,

if you do not put it into practice at some point it becomes knowledge and knowledge will

puff up and then pride comes before a fall. That's how it works. Even though you may not

have a full extent of it with what little you have, put it into practice. So, if you

put it into practice, you will be able to do it. And then comes authority to wield it.

Next one, dread. Hey guys, this is an important one. We may not know this but I just wanted

to tell you that, gosh, being rather bold today, I want to tell you that there are powers

in the city of Richmond that are in dread of what is happening here. Joshua chapter

Joshua 7:1

7, verse 1, Jericho was shut up. 6 1, sorry, not 7 1. Jericho was shut up because they

knew the Israelites were outside. They knew Israel was a slave nation but they knew that

they had changed because of their God. Jericho was shut up. It was a walled city and nobody

was going up. We don't see it because in a way it's good that we don't think much of

ourselves. But on the other hand, we do need to think much of our God and know that powers

are in dread in Richmond of what is slowly brewing. That power is in dread in Richmond

of what is actually happening inside Richmond. A large part 킫 is that in Richmond there

are more there are more. I say actually they just keep Tucker hi. What is going on? Because

When two people rebuke him, it's two rebukes. What happens when a hundred people rebuke him?

Why does it say in the Bible that a hundred should scatter so many of five shells scatter so many a hundred shell scatter so many

It the exponential rate at which it multiplies when it comes to scattering is crazy. Why?

Because he's a finite being

Imagine an animal in a cage and you start hitting the cage

But not just you imagine it's two imagine is three imagine is 40 people rattling the cage

Do you know what happens to that animal?

I'm giving you word pictures. So you understand what is actually happening in the spiritual and it's a shame when you opt out of it

You'll still get the rewards, but you won't get the pleasure of

walking into battle with him

Man you think I want spoils of war I want to be there. I

Always feel bad for Nicodemus

He could have been there

But he visits after Jesus is dead

Numbers 23 20 to 25 you should read it

Numbers 23 20 to 25 is Balaam's prophecy

He's been hired by an evil king to curse Israel numbers 23

20 to 25 look at the words he says they numbers 23 20 to 25 I

Have received a command to bless he has blessed I cannot change it no misfortune has seen in Jacob

No misery observed in Israel then the Lord that God is with them the shout of the king is among them

God God brought them out of Egypt. They have the strength of a wild ox

There is no sorcery against Jacob no divination against Israel

It will now be said of Jacob and of Israel see what God has done the people rise like a lioness

They arouse themselves like a lion that does not rest till he devours his prey and drinks the blood of his victims

Then Balaam said to Balaam neither curse them at all nor bless them Balaam answered

Did I not tell you I must do whatever the Lord says

These are the words that go out over the airwaves in Richmond

It's just that we don't see it therefore find it hard to believe

Sometimes we have to judge

Sometimes gates are opened by judging by judging Luke 13 34 Luke 13 34

Luke 13 34

Or Jerusalem or Jerusalem you who kill prophets and stone those sent to you

How often I've longed to gather your children together as a hen gathers a chicks under her wings

But you were not willing look your house is left to you desolate

I tell you you will not see me again until you say blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord

He said it with tears

It wasn't some pronouncement of judgment. He said it with tears, but Jerusalem was his city

And

Instead he's saying I leave he doesn't say I'm leaving you my city desolate

He's saying I'm leaving you your house desolate even ownership changes

Look at another one Luke

1942

Luke 1942

Sometimes things have to be judged

As in when God says hey Jacob hey church go and say this to these people or go and say this

But if you continue like this, that's what you mean by judging

Sometimes gates open because we judge because nobody judges now. Everybody is diplomatic. Nobody judges

You hear silly things like oh we were told not to judge do not judge or you shall be judged true

But then there's also parts where we are supposed to

look 1942

As he approached Jerusalem and saw the city he wept over it

There's a completely different incident a same writer of the gospel as he approached Jerusalem and saw the city. He wept over it

And said if you even you had only known on this day what would bring your peace

But now it is hidden from your eyes

The days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment against you and encircle you and

Hem you in on every side they will dash you to the ground you and the children with your walls

They will not leave one stone on another because you did not recognize the time of God's coming to you

Severe and it's not coming from an Old Testament prophet. It's coming from Jesus the gentle one

We know that obedience and faith definitely opens gates I

Won't stress on that obedience and faith opens gates

And lastly you are a gate

You are a gate

You are a gate

Question is

Of what the options are heaven

Hell

Flesh

Traditions of men

These are the four options when it comes to believers being gates

Matthew 16 16

Yeah, Matthew 16 16

And Peter

Becomes the gate of heaven when Jesus asks

Who do they say I am and none of the disciples want to answer so they keep saying Elijah good teacher and all this stuff

But Peter has the audacity to say you are Jesus Christ the son of the living God for the first time in the history of the world

The son of the living God for the first time in the history of the world

Someone was being equated with God himself. You are Jesus Christ the son of the living God and he becomes a gate of heaven and

Jesus actually commends him saying Peter

This revelation came to you from my father in heaven. This is not from flesh. That is not from the earth

Few verses later three verses later. It's now Matthew 16 19 to 22 or something

Jesus is saying he's going to the cross and Peter says to him Jesus don't talk like this. Don't say stuff like this and

Suddenly the same Peter who was the gate of heaven now becomes the gate of hell

Where he begins to prevent Christ from going to the cross so much

So that Jesus has to turn around to Peter and say get thee behind me Satan

He suddenly becomes the voice of the devil the same man who had received a revelation

Many times we are the gate guys and the two other options when it comes to gates is the traditions of men

Where we parrot the traditions of men because either we've gotten comfortable in it or that's the mind space

We live in how we will not budge from it

And then the last one is flesh

Where we become the gate of the flesh where we do things not because we are inspired by the spirit, but because it pleases the flesh

any questions

Traditions of men are the only thing that can nullify the word of God a nothing else in the world crazy

There's one thing more powerful than the word of God the traditions of men

Well because your granddad or dad did it a certain way you will not leave it

More powerful than the word

Any questions I'm done feel free to ask I want to need to come up and do a song where we can do

Thanksgiving and testify before we leave

Any questions guys

Yep

For

Traditions of men

You void the

Word of God with the traditions of men. I don't know the reference. Yeah, if you find it just shout it out

Any questions

Cool Shikha texted me saying she's got a neck pain. That's why she wasn't here, but she all heard us