Train My Hands For War - Part 5 - Giving

Music

Now that means starting.

All righty?

Just read it slowly.

Bring your…

Hello?

Hello?

Bring your tools and let me shape them into weapons.

Draw near, draw near.

The veil is torn.

Rise up.

The time for awakening is now.

Prepare a holy war.

Wake up the warriors.

Let all the soldiers draw near.

Let them come up.

Beat the iron tips of your plows into swords and your pruning tools into spears.

Let the weakly say, I am mighty.

Cut with the sickle, for the harvest is ripe.

Go and crush grapes, for the winepress is full.

The jars overflow with wine, for their wickedness is great.

Crowd after crowd fill the valley of judgment, for the day of the Lord is near in the valley of judgment.

Cool. Thank you. I'll just read it one more time.

As you worship, as you bow, I call.

I announce among the nations, bring your tools and let me shape them into weapons.

Draw near, draw near.

The veil is torn.

Rise up.

The time for awakening is now.

Prepare a holy war.

Wake up the warriors.

Let all the soldiers draw near.

Let them come up.

Beat the iron tips of your plows into swords and your pruning tools into spears.

Let the weak say, I am mighty.

Cut with the sickle, for the harvest is ripe.

Go crush grapes, for the winepress is full.

The jars overflow with wine, for their wickedness is great.

Crowd after crowd fill the valley of judgment, for the day of the Lord is near in the valley of judgment.

Just keep that in mind, eh?

It goes with some of the things we've been teaching and talking about.

That was something that the Lord pointed out to her while we were worshipping.

So we go on with the same series that we started.

Train my hands for war.

Train my hands for war.

This is the fifth in the series.

And today we talk about an enemy that if we don't learn how to handle, usually destroys us before we start.

And the weapon that we use against this enemy is giving.

So if you want a title, it is Train My Hands for War-Giving.

Giving.

Giving becomes a weapon.

And if giving is a weapon, then mammon is the enemy.

And I want to talk about that and conclude with some other things that will set us up for the year ahead.

So here goes.

Guys, God created everything to give of itself, eh?

Everything, when he made everything, he made it in such a way that it would give of itself.

So if you look at Genesis 1, 11, it says each tree or each animal had the ability, had the seed within to be able to produce more.

Had the seed within to be able to produce more.

And so in creation, God had already decided that, hey, this isn't working, Brandon.

God had created everything to give of itself.

God had created everything to give of itself.

And so giving is written into his covenant.

Giving is written into his covenant.

Is this working?

No.

Giving is written into his covenant.

Let me go over that again.

Everything God created was meant to give itself, including me, including Derek, including Brandon.

Everything God created was meant to give itself.

It's part of the covenant.

It doesn't matter whether it's the Adamic covenant or whether the New Covenant in Christ.

Everything God created was supposed to give itself.

And then when you go to Luke 16, verse 13, you find that mammon is very different.

Luke 16:13

Mammon is very different.

Everything about mammon is self-serving.

Self-serving.

In Luke 16, 13, it says you cannot serve God and mammon.

Everything about mammon is self-serving.

Another way to phrase mammon, which comes from Aramaic, is that which you trust in.

That which you trust yourself to.

Or that which you trust in.

That's what the word mammon means at its very basis.

That which you trust yourself to.

Or that which you trust in.

And so everything that mammon is, is opposed to both the Adamic covenant and the New Testament covenant in Christ.

It's opposed to it.

Mammon, it says, is deceitful.

Mammon, it says, is greedy.

Mammon, it says, hinders discipleship.

So let's throw the word mammon away and put money in.

Money is deceitful.

Money hinders discipleship.

Money is greedy.

Money, mammon is a spirit.

It devours.

It devours.

The rich man walked away from Jesus discipling him because it was impossible for him to give up this one thing that had to happen.

This one thing that had such a hold on him.

And the rich man is no exception.

Everybody sitting here.

We belong to a category in the world called the 1% that are the richest.

Anybody that earns over 24,000 pounds makes up that 1%.

Anybody that makes more than 24,000 pounds or say 40,000 dollars a year is actually in the top 1% in terms of riches a year.

And so one of the things we have to realize is that there is no winning this battle unless I have a different approach to money and I have a different attitude to giving.

Any questions before we go on?

Any questions before we go on?

So there are literally two systems in the world, guys.

And you'll see this particularly played out in the book of Revelation where there is a system of the beast of Babylon and there is a system of the kingdom.

Both are diametrically opposed in approach, in nature and in the way they function.

One is the system of the beast and Babylon.

And the other one is the system of the kingdom and how it uses resources and wealth.

Two completely different systems.

The problem is in the church there's been a hybridization so that we behave like people of the kingdom but think like people of the world.

We behave like people of the kingdom so external behavior seems to match how people should behave.

But internally we are thinking like the world when it comes to these two systems.

And if it doesn't change then we really do not win battles.

I must begin to look at money as a devouring spirit.

I must begin to look at money as a devouring spirit.

I must use it but I must hate it.

I must use it but I must hate it.

Use it.

But have a dislike for it. Hate it.

Dethrone it. You cannot dethrone anything that you don't hate.

I've said this before, whatever you don't hate you will tolerate.

Dethrone it.

People have a tendency to say that money is amoral, meaning you can't call it good or evil.

I'm saying it has the power to devour.

It has the power to worry you.

It has the power to give you sleepless nights.

It has the power to influence your decisions.

It has the power to control.

It has the power to have you begin to plot.

It has the power to give you anxiety.

But the worst thing that money does is it turns you into an orphan and alienates you from your father.

That is the ultimate degradation that happens to humans.

That is the ultimate degradation that happens to humans.

Which is why Jesus very plainly stated, you cannot, Jacob, serve God and serve money.

You cannot.

I hate the fact that it has the power to turn us into orphans.

We who claim to be sons of the father are the ones that money can turn into orphans

and it turns us into orphans and it turns us into orphans every so often.

And it alienates a man from his father.

That shouldn't happen.

Jonathan, I need a little more volume.

That shouldn't happen.

So look at it as a devouring spirit.

Look at it as something that needs to be dethroned.

It's a thing that you will use but you will begin to hate for any control it exerts over you.

And it's a lifelong process.

It's week after week, month after month.

It does not stop.

There is a scene in Revelation 17 where there is a woman seated on a beast, the harlot Babylon,

who traded with the nations of the world and is brought down.

I'm not going to talk about that image today but know that it stays till the end and it has the power to ruin.

And if this church wants to train its hands to war, if this church is to do anything,

it must be completely free, starting with me, from the fear and the love for money.

Completely free.

Anyone who is completely free from the fear of money and a desire for money

is a man who can now serve the king without problems.

Money is the greatest hindrance to discipleship, to real discipleship, to practical discipleship.

I'm not talking about attending a discipleship class.

That's easy.

I'm talking about practical discipleship, where you now become someone who follows Christ where he goes.

The greatest hindrance is money.

And if you think you don't have a problem with it, that's another lie.

When he said you cannot be slave to God and mammon, what he was saying was you can only choose one master.

You cannot have two masters.

And the moment anybody says that, good Christians like you and I stand up and say,

but who said money was my master?

Here's a question you need to ask, some simple questions.

What is the greatest factor in your decision-making in terms of what you do, where you go, when you go?

What is the greatest factor?

Here's another question that kind of embarrassed me because I never thought along those lines.

Why do you go to work?

Do you go to work to earn wages or do you go to work to represent Christ?

The resounding answer all across this room, evident in your silence, is most of us go to work because we need to earn wages.

And for the only reason, one was supposed to go to work because God is provider and our livelihood does not come from our work,

but from Jaira, was to be continuously representative of him wherever he puts us.

So is there a struggle between God and mammon in this church?

Absolutely yes.

Starting where? Starting here?

Any questions?

Why are my decisions determined by money which tells me what I can do and when and where I can go?

Why am I life-consumed and full of careful worry?

Why am I consumed with careful worry?

That's an Oswald Chamber statement.

Careful unbelief. Careful unbelief. Careful unbelief.

Where we switch from Jesus' statement about, but your father knows you need, to the statement about,

but I have to take care of things. I have to use my mind and be reasonable.

Okay.

You know, someone gave me a shirt. It's a little too tight otherwise I'd have worn and then done my incredible hulk thing,

but then I didn't want to frighten you with my muscles.

But on the shirt it says, can I hear an amen?

And occasionally I wouldn't mind. Yeah?

Thank you.

Does this mean anything Brandon?

Oh it's there. Okay.

Our life and decisions are determined by money. Do you go to work to earn money or to represent Christ?

What I hate about money, and I've seen this in my own life and I've seen it in your life,

mammon attacks the father-son. By the way, this is my writing.

This is how I write when I'm not in a hurry. Yeah?

And this is how I...

And this is what it looks like when I'm with you.

Mammon attacks the father-son relationship while children...

Where's that going?

While children abide in peace and trust, not abandonment.

So some of the ways we can break out of it...

Guys, faith can always break you out of the snare of mammon.

Faith can break you out of the snare of mammon, and we'll talk about that.

Faith can break you out of the snare of mammon.

Obedience can make mammon your servant.

Faith can break you out of the snare of mammon.

As in, money can capture you and say, you can't do this, you can't do this, you don't have the ability.

You step out and take a risk and you're going to lose everything.

So what if God said it? Your leather Bible does not matter, your leather wallet matters.

And it begins to scream at you, and at some point you can break out of that snare with faith.

And that's great, you break out of it.

But one of the ways you make money your servant is through obedience.

You break out of the snare of money with faith, but you make money your servant through obedience.

That's what obedience means.

When God says something and you decide that I am going to obey.

Period. I'm going to obey.

That's how you make it your servant.

Let me say a word to husbands or wives who don't deal with money because their other spouse deals with money.

That doesn't mean you don't have a problem with money.

That just means you're not tested yet.

Because often I meet spouses, sometimes the wife handles all the money and the husband is like a free bird.

He has no problems with money.

You know why? Because his wife takes really good care of the finances.

Occasionally throw it back at him.

How it goes.

Acts 20 verse 35 says it's more blessed to give than to receive.

Acts 20:35

It's more blessed to give than to receive.

Hey, hear this.

These are things that Jesus said that we are glad he said it but really doesn't apply to us.

It is more blessed Jacob for you to give than to receive.

Meaning you will be more blessed when you give than when you receive.

You, now I'm pointing to you, you will be more blessed when you give than when you receive.

Let it sink in.

We have a covenant-keeping God who has a certain nature.

This is his nature.

This is why giving is a weapon.

It's more blessed to give.

Don't worry, it's going to get worse before it gets better.

Acts 20 verse 35 says that.

Acts 20:35

One of the ways we can really, on one hand it's more blessed to give than to receive.

On the other hand, don't kill receiving by eating up everything that you receive.

Every time you receive, set something aside to sow.

No farmer eats up all his grain.

Every farmer separates his grain into bread that he will eat and into seed that he will sow.

Otherwise he'll die before the next season arrives.

Anything you receive, anything you receive, even if it's $5 from your child,

practice taking 50 cents out and saying, this is bread, this I will consume, this is seed, this I will sow.

It's just the way, you know, most things with regard to giving and money happen through obedience and repeated habit-making practice.

Otherwise it doesn't happen.

Otherwise you have to use faith.

And here's the news about faith and money.

Nowhere in the Bible is faith used for money.

Nowhere in the Bible do you hear a prayer where they stood in faith for money.

Nowhere.

Why? Because it's the least of things.

2 Corinthians 16 talks about it.

2 Corinthians 8.5 would be a great way to function.

2 Corinthians 8.5, if you turn to it, you'll see how crazy the Macedonians were.

2 Corinthians 8.5.

Hey, these are things I want to become and these are things that you must become if we are to fulfill the mandate,

the global mandate that has been appointed to us.

2 Corinthians 8.5, here's what it says.

Macedonia, by the way, was a really poor country.

It still is a really poor country.

It was then and it is so now.

And now listen to how they went about doing things.

And they did not do, Paul is writing to the Corinthians who were pretty messed up when it came to giving.

And he's saying to them, and they did not do as we expected,

but they gave themselves first to the Lord and then to us in keeping with God's will.

What a statement, eh?

That where does giving begin?

Giving begins by first me coming and saying, oh God, I give myself to you this morning or I give myself to you this week.

And the moment Aaron and Reni say that, the moment they say, oh God, we give ourselves to you this morning or this week.

You know what they're saying?

That you are our owner so everything in our possession is now yours.

Do we have the ability to step into that space, man?

That's the question.

What happened, Bria?

Oi, oi, she's fine.

You can come back now.

Bye.

Where was I before, Bria?

Yeah, everything you...

So the Macedonians used to do it this way.

They would come and they would...

Thank you for the translation in Farsi, too.

So one of the things that would happen is they would come and they would say to God, oh God, we are yours first.

Now that we are yours, they would give themselves to God first, which means everything they own now belong to God.

And then they would give themselves to the leaders.

Now, if I even said that, you would say that that's too controlling, that's too demanding.

I hate to break it to you, but it's biblical.

Yes, can you be exploited? Yes.

Can you be abused if you do that? Yes.

What should you do if you're exploited and abused?

Expose it and run.

But I'm not going to shy away from it just because you think that I am controlling or the church is controlling

or one of your leaders is controlling an authority.

I ain't going to back off from it because it's biblical.

They gave themselves to the Lord and then they gave themselves to the apostles according to the will of God,

meaning it matched up with the will of God.

Read 2 Corinthians 8.5. I'm not taking it out of context.

Crazy, eh?

Any questions? Any challenges?

Where I come and say, hey Diana, I need you to consider going to Indonesia with Jeremy and with Nick

to the jungles of Kalimantan because we need to build people there and then we need to build an actual shelter for them.

And you just happened this morning to wake up and say, oh God, I first give myself to you.

And the Lord says, great Diana, which means everything that you have is mine.

And now you begin to struggle with it because it's a wrestle.

And then you come up sheepishly in the front of the church and you stand before the church and say,

guys, guess what I did this morning? I said this to the Lord.

And now Jacob's asking me if I'm open to go to Indonesia.

I just want to say, whatever it takes to build that church, I felt the Lord saying that, take everything I have.

And so Jeremy and Nick, if you can just make sure that you take care of me when I come to Kalimantan, sign me up.

Now you see how scary it is.

Any other questions Diana?

It's just nuts.

See, here's the thing.

On one hand, God gives me free will.

Everything that I teach today, you don't have to do and you will still go to heaven.

Everything that I talk about today, you don't have to do and you can still go to heaven.

He gives you free will, but he has a way of operating.

And when you operate that way, then you partake of what the kingdom makes available.

And when you don't operate that way, you still go to heaven, but you do not partake in what the kingdom can do with you.

That's the difference.

It's like, Jonathan, I need more volume.

It's like a child you have that's grown up and you have told the child this is how you should function.

But if the child doesn't, he doesn't stop being your child.

He doesn't get locked out of the house.

He still can come home for dinner.

He's still your child.

You might be a little more careful in terms of giving him an inheritance too early, but it's still reserved for him.

But he misses out on functioning well.

So nothing I say can be coerced, legislated.

It's free will.

One of the things David found out very early in life is that, yes, I have free will, but I love running in your statutes.

Enlarge my heart, oh God, that I might run in your statutes.

All righty.

So let's go to Malachi 3.

Oh, it's working.

Malachi 3, verse 11.

Malachi 3:11

And you'll find this conversation that God is having with Israel, and he's talking about tithes and offerings and first fruits and so forth.

Guys, we have a hostile world system that will try to use money to prevent you from stepping into the fullness of the kingdom,

into practical discipleship, and will do everything in its power to alienate you from God as someone who's untrustworthy when it comes to money.

Every human being will have to go through this.

And it's a powerful tool, which is why if we don't take a stance, who's going to teach our children?

One of the things that used to happen in Israel is a drought would come, and once the drought came, the locust eggs would stay in the dry ground.

And they would stay as long as the drought would continue.

By now, Israel would be quite impoverished because the drought had seriously affected their crops, and then the first rains would come.

But here's the horrible thing.

As soon as the first rains would come, these eggs would begin to hatch.

And anything that grew would immediately be devoured.

How many of us this year have ever seen a drought?

How many of us this year have been through that?

There was this long patch where nothing seemed to happen.

And you were praying, and then suddenly you saw this little shoot come out, and your heart left.

But as soon as the little shoot came out, it was immediately devoured.

There are many sitting here.

I know some of your stories, and some of you haven't shared your stories, but it's true.

What did you feel?

That nothing works.

That neither God helps, nor church helps, nor parents help.

Abandonment.

It's a powerful tool used by the enemy.

Until I overcome this, I will not win wars.

And here's where God says in Malachi 3.11, guys, I will rebuke the devourer.

I will rebuke the devourer.

I will rebuke the devourer.

As in, I will put him at a standstill.

He will not harm you.

But he says, return to me, because you're robbing me.

Strong words, eh?

You're robbing me.

Guys, you know that we don't even take up an offering in this church.

You just have that box there, and you guys come and put your money.

One of the things I can be thankful to God for as I preach this message is that this church does not grab money.

Therefore, there's a freedom in what I have to say.

And again, as I begin to talk about this, know that you have the free will to or not to.

But God says to them, hey, you're robbing me.

And they say, what do you mean, robbing?

And God says, you haven't brought your tithes.

And he also talks about offerings and first fruits in other places.

You haven't brought that.

And then he says something strange.

He says, return to me, but in your returning, you will have to bring in your contributions.

He somehow connects the return to money.

Why?

Because tithes, offerings, and first fruits will always test your heart, guys.

It will always test your heart.

The same Jesus who said you cannot serve God in mammon is saying to the people of Israel, come back, return to me.

But as you return, bring your contributions with you.

And now that's where the rubber meets the road.

I want to return, but there is a struggle.

On one hand, there is mammon or money that has such a severe hold on my life.

On the other hand, there is God that I want to serve.

It always tests your heart.

It tested Abraham's heart, Genesis 14.

And with every test will come ridiculous rewards if you pass.

Genesis 14, he says to the king of Sodom, I raise my hands to El Elyon, the Lord of heaven and earth,

the possessor of the universe, and I will not take a sandal strap from you.

How does God respond? Genesis 15, 1.

And God said to Abraham, I will be your great shield, as in I will protect you,

and I will be your exceeding great what? Reward.

It will always test you.

Bring your tithes, bring your offerings, bring your first fruits into the storehouse.

God said he would rebuke the devourer.

So what would happen if you rebuke the devourer?

Here's what would happen.

The devourer, whether you look at it as money or money,

the devourer, whether you look at it as money, mammon, or whether you look at it as the devil,

however you look at it, the devourer will not destroy your crops and fruits.

But you will have to return by giving.

It's strange how God uses this so often.

Another thing that really surprises me is there's a temple which is larger than this.

And of all the places that he can go and sit, Jesus goes, sits next to the treasury box.

And he's watching people put money.

And then he says, this widow has given more.

He was looking at the heart condition, not the quantity.

It always reveals something in me, guys.

Money always reveals something in me.

So, people were robbing God by neglecting the tithe, the offering and the first fruits,

People were robbing God by neglecting the tithe, the offering and the first fruits,

the renewal of the relationship required.

Just think of this, eh?

This sounds so odd.

Renewal of the relationship required returning with offerings.

Odd, eh?

And if they did, then God says, God will bless them.

I've argued this and I've heard others argue it where they say, but tithing is mosaic law.

Guys, I haven't taught on this for 14 years, I think.

Yeah, I'm going to stop making disclaimers.

The Bible says, people say, but tithing is from the mosaic law.

Moses started it, so we shouldn't be legalistic.

The crazy thing is tithing started with Abraham.

And then tithing was brought in by Jacob.

In Genesis 14, you see Abraham tithing to Melchizedek, 1420.

And then in Genesis 28, 22, you see Jacob tithing.

And you need to change your thinking and change your language.

Leviticus 27 says that the tithe belongs to the Lord.

So if anyone here says, I made a contribution or a donation to the church,

or I made a contribution towards the salary of the pastor, here's the news.

You did not.

The tithe belongs to the Lord.

It belongs to him.

In the Old Testament, in the New Testament, all of you belongs to him.

This is why sometimes I chaff.

I'm not saying we're going to remove it.

But I chaff at the idea of a charitable receipt or a donation receipt.

Nothing we give is a donation, a contribution, or a charity.

It belongs to him.

And what is a tithe?

For those of us who don't know what a tithe is, if a farmer had ten sheep,

they would walk past him and one would go nine, seven, eight, nine,

and the tenth one would be separated.

One tenth of what belonged to you.

What were offerings?

Offerings were besides the tenth.

They would give for different reasons.

What was firstfruits?

Firstfruits was anything that came out of the ground, anything that you produced first.

Anything.

You would say, oh God, I'd happily give it to you.

You should read how happy they were to do this.

Deuteronomy 26, 1-11.

Listen to this.

I'm just reading it from the NIV, but listen to it.

When you have entered the land the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance,

and have taken possession of it and settled in it,

take some of the firstfruits of all that you produce from the soil of the land

the Lord your God is giving you and put them in a basket.

Then go to the place the Lord your God will choose as a dwelling for his name.

And say to the priest in the office at the time,

I declare today to the Lord your God that I have come to the land,

the land sworn to our forefathers to give us.

I mean it's like all my life you have been faithful.

That's what they're basically saying.

And then it goes on to say in verse four,

the priest shall take the basket from your hands

and set it down in front of the altar of the Lord your God.

Then you shall declare before the Lord your God,

my father was a wandering Aramean.

He went down into Egypt with a few people

and lived there and became a great nation, powerful and numerous.

But the Egyptians mistreated us and made us suffer, putting us to hard labor.

Then we cried out to the Lord the God of our fathers

and the Lord heard our voice and saw our misery, our toil and oppression.

So the Lord brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm.

We are not talking about a blooming contribution.

We are talking about the goodness of God in the land of the living,

day after day after day after day,

and recounting and calling to remembrance all that he has done.

That's what we are talking about.

And then it goes on to say,

so the Lord brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm

with great terror and with miraculous signs and wonders.

Verse nine, he brought us to this place and gave us this land,

flowing with milk and honey.

Then, verse ten, and now I bring the first fruits of the soil

that you, O Lord, have given me.

Place the basket before the Lord your God and bow down before him,

and you and the Levites and the aliens among you shall rejoice

in all the good things the Lord your God has given you

to you and to your household.

Beautifully. It was a joyous thing, man.

Any questions before we go on?

Go ahead.

You mentioned Abraham and Jacob's tithe.

Did they tithe or was it offered?

It was a tithe.

Abraham gave a tenth of his spoils,

and Jacob said, I'll give you a tenth of all that I.

So it was a deliberate tithe.

Go ahead.

The New Testament talks about giving.

So would it be right to say that giving is more important than giving?

Yes. Wait for my next point.

So how do we deal with this with the New Testament?

Guys, the Old Testament discipline of giving

creates the New Testament habit of generosity.

The New Testament discipline of giving

creates the New Testament habit of generosity.

The New Testament demands everything of me.

Hey, look at me.

I'm not a human being.

The New Testament demands everything of me.

Hey, look at the law.

What did the law say?

Give me one day out of seven.

And what do we do?

Give him all seven days.

What does the law say when it comes to the twelve tribes?

Set aside for me one tribe, and they shall be priests to me.

What do we say?

We have a common priesthood, regardless of which tribe we come from.

The law says, set aside a tenth, for the tenth belongs to the law.

What do we say?

Everything, oh God, belongs to you.

What do you want?

It is easy to say, but to develop this giving of the New Testament,

which does not have percentages, which does not have type,

I would suggest to you that this is where you can start.

This itself is very difficult.

This is very difficult.

But this actually belongs to the law if we went to the Old Testament,

but we belong to him completely.

You think any of what you have in your bank is yours.

Do you think anything that you have in the bank came by your own effort?

Yes, you were diligent.

Yes, you sweat and you work, and there's the toil that comes in.

But do you think any of that actually belongs to you when you belong to Christ?

The New Testament ups the ante because it's no longer based on law, but based on love.

Hey, do you think anything Mike has actually belongs to him?

Won't he lay it all down for Karen?

Why?

Because Karen has the law on her side?

No, because Karen has love on her side.

She's done it already.

The difference between the Old Testament and the New Testament,

and the reason the New Testament ups the ante is because the Old Testament is the love,

but the New Testament is based on love for him and love for others.

That's why it goes up a notch.

I mean, if TD Bank fell in love with me, can you believe the interest I would get on money?

No, but they stick to the law.

Bitcoin, don't even talk about it.

One day it's in love with me, one day it hates me.

Right now it hates me.

Oh, Jacob, so you have Bitcoin.

I didn't say that.

I see how your mind is working.

Tithes and offerings test the heart.

Tithes and offerings test the heart.

And in testing the heart, it proves where you're at.

And then I end up either having the ability to handle greater wealth

or stay where I am or handle lesser wealth.

And let's not even go into before taxes or after taxes.

You shouldn't be asking that question.

Yeah?

It's like your wife giving you money to buy groceries

and then checking to see if you return the right change.

Personally, I don't care for a charitable receipt,

but that's my personal opinion and I'm not imposing it.

Yeah?

Charitable receipts, is it a good idea or not?

I'm saying do not look at anything you give to the church

as a contribution or a donation.

It actually belongs to him.

You cannot interact it to him, so you're bringing it here.

If you can interact it to him, try it, and then let me know how it works.

Guys, here are some other truths that we need to...

And if you do this, if you bring your tithes, your offerings,

and your first roots...

So Jacob, how do you do first roots?

There are people in this church that have been practicing

first roots for years on end.

Here's how it works.

Every year at the beginning of the year,

I'll decide either a week of my annual income or a month of my annual income

or a percentage of my annual income or just in a month that I feel God saying,

or putting in my heart, I'll go to God and say,

Father, this money I'm going to release even before I know what's going to come next year.

It's like a farmer.

He was a principal.

It was a beautiful principal.

A farmer would have a crop that was coming up.

He would look at the crop, and he doesn't know if the rains will come.

He doesn't know if the locusts will attack.

But as soon as the sheafs would come up, he would say,

Oh, God, thank you for these first sheafs.

The first always belongs to you.

And therefore, I take this and I bring it to you, saying,

I don't care about whether the locusts come or the rain comes.

I'm not going to hedge my bets.

I trust you enough.

And I bring it as a heave offering to you.

And they would literally bring it before God.

And God would turn and then say, and this is in Scripture,

God would turn and then say,

You do not know what the future holds, but you trusted me.

And because you trusted me and gave me the first, I will bless the rest.

Again, all of this is free will.

And so how do you apportion it?

Up to you.

Up to you.

But these are surefire ways of the kingdom,

where a God who is a covenantal God says to Josh, says to Mike, says to Jane,

Listen, you trusted me with the first and I'm going to bless the rest.

Do you know what that even means when he says I am going to bless the rest?

Malachi 3, verse 11 or 12 says, Here's what I'll do.

Malachi 3:11

I'll rebuke the devourer, as in he won't be able to get to you.

Second, I'll make sure that your wine and your trees will never be childless.

That's the actual sense of the word, that they will not cast their fruit,

that they will not be childless, and that I'll bless the root of your crops.

And then he says, Do it only if you want to.

It's a free will offering.

It doesn't affect your eternal security.

But my God, it tests your heart, man.

Even as I'm saying right now, I can see some of your hearts chaffing.

The right ventricle and the left auricle are just going this way.

I don't know if auricle is part of the heart, but let's just go with ventricles.

Isaiah 55, verse 1.

Isaiah 55:1

Here's what God is shouting out.

He's saying, Hey, you can't buy milk and bread with money,

but if you hunger, I'll give you everything.

Do not waste your time running after bread and milk that you have to buy with money.

Come to me.

Come with hunger.

It's strange.

A man who hungers after the things of God will do anything,

including put mammon at the feet and not on the head.

Some of you are sitting here and saying, But you don't know my condition.

I'm a student. You don't know my loan.

Hey, guys, you students who are here and have taken loans,

you have no idea how many of the people sitting here have taken loans that are at least 20 times more than yours.

I just want our students who are here to get off our horses that we ride saying,

You don't know how difficult it is.

You got squat in terms of difficulties.

You should have seen when Derek came in.

You should have seen when Sue came in.

It was tough.

That's just a gentle rebuke to students who think that the weight is on their shoulders.

It ain't.

Yeah, it ain't.

I'm not saying your situation is not difficult.

I'm just saying, don't wallow in it.

Don't wallow in it.

If you felt hurt by the strength of what I said, just reel it back a little.

Once you're hungry, guys, you will not hold back.

You will not hold back because of mammon.

You will not hold back because of your security.

Any man who gets hungry after God is unstoppable.

Any man who is hungry after God is unstoppable.

Elisha was plowing with 12 yoke of oxen.

I don't know whether all 12 belong to him or whether just the last pair belong to him, but he was hungry.

He had been hungry for 15 years.

He'd been washing Elijah's hand.

He'd been following Elijah.

He'd been learning how to prophesy, but he was hungry.

And what does he do?

Elijah comes and throws his mantle on Elisha.

And what does Elisha do?

Burns up the plow, takes an oxen, slays it, puts it on the altar, and says, can I go and say bye to my parents?

And Elijah says, what is it to me?

And Elisha begins to follow him.

Hunger will bring you to a place where mammon no longer is given the respect that you give it.

Isaiah 55.1 says it correctly.

Why run after bread and milk that you have to pay for?

Come. If you're hungry, come.

Hunger has the ability to beat mammon.

Because a man who is hungry will use faith to break out of the snare of mammon and will use obedience to make mammon his servant.

Only then can we embrace Isaiah 54 verse 2.

Isaiah 54:2

What does Isaiah 54 verse 2 say?

Isaiah 54:2

Lengthen your stakes, strengthen your cords, sprint your tent curtains wider.

How can you do that when you don't have money for the rope and the tent?

That's a great scripture to give everybody in the beginning of the year.

After that, what do you do?

That's when hunger and faith and obedience must kick in.

And if a man is not hungry, he will not extend his tent.

And why are we extending our tent?

It's not let my business grow bigger and let my church have more people.

It is, oh God, extend our tent so that we can make desolate cities come alive and the nations I inherit.

That's why.

It's always for the benefit of someone else.

This is not a prosperity message.

This is a message that will teach you to die to something that is super important to you and to me, which is money.

What does it mean to extend the tent?

It is if God says, hey Nick, I want you to start a school for those that are struggling with studies.

And you're struggling with teaching and he's telling you to start a school.

That's extending your tent.

And now begins the process of how do I even do this?

Does this mean that I give up my day job?

You cannot stretch your tents till you begin to hear his voice and know that now you can extend your jurisdiction into wherever he tells you to go.

And so the room you create is the space that God will fill.

The room you create is the space that God will fill.

The room you create.

Part of the reason I want to teach things is so that we can create room, man.

So that he can fill.

We're not going to take him an offering after this teaching.

But what if someone here got it?

Do you know how expansive your life will become?

Do you know how expansive my life will become as I practice this?

Do you know the things that I can accomplish if I lived like this without touching anything in Acts 29?

Your life begins to expand.

Oil will flow as long as you provide vessels.

What are vessels?

Vessels are the work God has you to do and the life that you present to him.

Present a life that is free from both the love and the fear of money and you will find that the vessel that you are and the work that you do,

will always be provided for and I intend to prove it to you this year.

And you can take that word and hold me to it at the end of December.

Because what is appointed to this church is so impossible, so global,

that we don't have either the manpower or the resources to do it.

It must be the hand of God and it must be the hand of God.

And I want to tell you that the manpower is the hand of God.

And I want to tell you that the manpower is the hand of God.

And I want to tell you that the manpower is the hand of God.

And I want to tell you that the manpower is the hand of God.

And I want to tell you that the manpower is the hand of God.

And I want to tell you that the manpower is the hand of God.

And I want to tell you that the manpower is the hand of God.

And I want to tell you that the manpower is the hand of God.

And I want to tell you that the manpower is the hand of God.

And I want to tell you that the manpower is the hand of God.

And I want to tell you that the manpower is the hand of God.

As long as you present yourself before God, the oil will flow.

And here's the thing, guys.

I'm trying to work this out.

Like Paul, I say, I don't know it fully, but I'm trying to work it out.

The oil will flow every day.

Here's a question that you need to ask.

Can I live carefree in the certainty of daily bread?

Can I live carefree?

Not can I live scared.

Can I live anxiously?

Can I live carefree in the certainty of daily bread?

Wow.

Can I live carefree in the certainty that my daily bread will be provided?

The oil will flow because he is I Am.

I read you that verse from 1 Kings 17, 9, two weeks ago.

Such a beautiful verse.

Look at what it says in 1 Kings 17, 9.

Verse 9, it says, And God said to Elijah, I have already prepared a widow for you,

who will supply you food, so go.

The I Am God is saying he has already, so that Elijah will have.

And yet the woman doesn't know it because when he gets there,

the woman says I'm making a little bit of cake, planning to eat it, and I'm going to die.

But Yahweh says, I Am, I have already, and you will.

Come on, man.

If we ponder on these things, if we settle on these things, if we think on these things,

you're talking about the creator of the universe for whom nothing is impossible.

Surely, Jacob, you can step into this.

Surely, we can step into this.

Any questions?

Okay.

Guys, this is more, this is almost like not a second teaching.

Don't worry, it won't go that long.

This is like some of the things that I expect of you as we go into the year ahead.

In the year ahead, I want to raise up sons of God, not sons of Jacob.

Sons of God, I want to raise sons of God here, sons of God who are not alienated from their father

just because of money, sons of God who know the nature of the father.

In the year ahead, I want to raise up sons of God, not sons of Jacob,

though the fact remains that you have to accept me as a father if you want to be part of this house.

Yeah?

On one hand, if you want to be part of this house, it's impossible for you to be part of this house

without accepting me as the father of this house.

But I'm not interested in raising sons of Jacob.

I'm interested in raising sons of God.

And I'm going to do everything in my power to do that.

Any questions on that one?

This, in a way, is my commitment to you that I pray God that he will give me the grace to somehow bring through.

Second, in the year ahead, I'm hoping to raise sons.

And when I say sons, it's gender-free.

A son is both a male and a female.

In the year ahead, I'm hoping to raise sons who are battle-ready.

We are training our hands for war.

Kingdom implies warfare. Warfare implies kingdom.

You cannot have one without the other.

And Richmond cannot have the kingdom advance without warfare.

In the year ahead, I'm hoping to raise sons who are battle-ready, who can carry new mantles.

New mantles.

Not old ones.

Who can carry the weight of our work globally.

There's things to be done in Egypt.

There's things to be done in St. Martin's.

There's things to be done in Brazil.

There's things to be done in so many places.

How few do we have to carry the weight globally?

And that's when you think, how in the world are we going to do that when I'm already working three jobs and can barely meet my needs?

And then we go back to the earlier message, which I won't repeat. Don't worry.

In the year ahead, I'm hoping to raise sons who are battle-ready, who can carry mantles, who can carry the weight of the work globally,

who have abilities and an inheritance from God.

And some of the inheritance is from God, and some of the inheritance you can only get through your leaders.

You can question on these things.

Open, innocent, honest discussion will be encouraged in this church in 2026.

Foolishness, no.

But open, honest, innocent questions will be encouraged.

What does foolishness look like?

Foolishness looks like when it's accusatory, when it's fault-finding, when it's divisive, when it's rebellious, when it's entitled,

when it's familiar, when it's not.

That's when it's foolishness.

But honest, innocent, inquisitive questions will always be encouraged.

You must question things that you think doesn't match with the word.

Here's the other thing.

In the year ahead, do not go back to your past and say, this happened to me 25 years ago.

Here's the other thing.

In the year ahead, do not go back to your past and say, this happened to me 20 years ago in that church or this church,

and so I have to be careful.

If that is how you lived your life, you would never work a day in your life because of the last experience you had at work.

We can't hold on to that forever.

Remember, guys, it's only what is original that will be counterfeited.

It is only what is authentic that will be abused.

The counterfeit will never be counterfeited.

And that is why things in the Bible that are so precious, that are God principles,

principles of the Creator are being swept under the carpet because nobody wants to touch it because someone perverted it.

That is a shame.

Because these are the principles that are covenant making God made with his bride.

In the year ahead, this is a house where you can receive your inheritance and the grace needed for life.

Because we are going to reinforce the structure of fathers and sons in this house.

For too long, I've been soft on it because I was scared of the abuse that had happened in different parts of the world

and ones that had made accusations against some of us and definitely against me.

I was backing off.

I felt the Lord saying, bring it back.

Bring it back.

Bring it back.

Bring it back.

Bring it back.

Bring back the foundation of the church, which is a family made up of fathers and sons.

Bring back that structure and people will get their inheritances.

And people will walk in their grace.

So your question is, what is my inheritance?

Hey, you will find your inheritance because it is being gathered for you from God to be given to you.

And you will find it.

But it shall be available in this house going forward.

Because we will restructure how that is done.

No more backing off for it.

I repent for being a little lacking in courage because of a few experiences that were sour.

Nothing like receiving your inheritance and grace.

What is grace?

Grace is the substance or the property in something that drives it to function a certain way.

Hear me again.

What is grace when God says, I'll give you grace for this?

What is grace when someone says, what is the grace that's resident in Mike?

What is grace?

Grace is defined as a substance or the property in a thing that drives it to function as it should.

It is the substance or the property in a thing that drives it to function the way it should.

It's not ministry.

It's not being a pastor.

It's not a position.

What is the grace in Iris?

There is a property or a substance that was given to her from the divine nature of God that drives her to function the way she is.

Once you find it or once we help or I help her or Derek helps her to find it, she now begins to operate in it.

Acts chapter 14, verse 26 and 27.

Acts 14:26

It says that after they went to Presidia, they decided to come back to Antioch.

Who?

Paul and Barnabas.

And they came back to Antioch and they began to share with the disciples what had happened in their journeys.

And they came back to the place where they were commended to grace.

And they came back having accomplished everything that grace had meant them to accomplish.

How do you receive grace?

You receive grace only through two methods.

One, the word.

Because it says in John 1, 14, and he was the word and he was full of grace and truth.

You receive grace through the word and you receive grace through sent ones.

One sent to you to give you grace.

Read Ephesians chapter 3, verse 4 and verse 7.

Ephesians 3:4

Paul is saying to the Ephesians, listen, I've been given a grace to come to you and to unearth, stir up, extract, reveal to you what God wants you to have.

So that you may walk in that grace.

Two things you require for grace.

One, the grace that comes through knowing the word.

And two, the grace that comes through one sent into your life to help you increase in it.

This will be available in this house.

Not just through me, but through others also.

It's yours for the taking.

Again, it's free will.

It won't be legislated.

What we will raise in this house over the next one year will be sons that will be battle ready.

Sons that know how to carry their mantle.

Sons that begin to understand the weight of the global work that is upon us.

Sons that begin to operate in the grace that they were supposed to function in.

Sons that walk in their ability and sons that say, oh shucks, I have found an inheritance.

You know, Jacob, that Jacob, he was a salesman in Edmonton.

But his dad was building something here.

And one day he and his dad decided that he would come here and work.

There's an inheritance waiting for him that was given to him.

Did he know what it was?

Not fully.

But as he began to work, he's beginning to find out the extent of the grace.

Extent of the inheritance.

And one day his dad will say, Jacob?

And I will say yes?

No, sorry.

He'll say yes.

And he'll say, here, this is all for you now to run.

And then one day, Jacob and Michelle's kids will have the inheritance that was given to him by his dad.

And now it just keeps multiplying.

This is what will be available for you in this house.

And tell others who are not here that this is how it's going to be.

Foolishness will not be tolerated.

Foolishness is accusatory.

It's fault-finding.

It's divisive.

It's rebellious.

It's entitled.

And it acts familiar.

Like Cora.

Like Nibal.

Like Aaron and Miriam.

Don't go down that route because it'll poison the well.

But innocent, honest, inquisitive discussions must be encouraged.

It's wrong not to have that.

Guys, here's a prophetic invitation for you.

Why do I call it prophetic?

Because I really believe it's for us.

In Proverbs 25, 2, it says that it is the glory of God to conceal a matter.

And it's the glory of kings to discover it.

To search it out.

It is the glory of God to conceal a matter.

God conceals things in the open.

He hides things in the open.

But he looks to see if Maya will search for it.

If Shireen will search for it.

If Chomi will search for it.

If Karen will search for it.

And if they search, he gets thrilled.

Because it's his splendor to conceal it.

Your splendor to discover it.

This year, make it a point.

You know the mandate of this house for 2026.

We talked about it over the last two weeks.

An anointed bride in army boots on assignment.

An anointed bride in army boots on assignment.

We'll have tasks.

We will have assignments.

And when I say we, all of us can have a part in it.

Or like I said, free will.

You can step back.

Strange thing is you will still benefit even if you step back.

It won't be taken away from you.

An anointed bride in army boots on assignment.

Go home.

Begin to ask God about Isaiah 13, verse 2 to 4.

Isaiah 13:2–4

We talked about it last week.

What kind of formation do you want of God for 2026?

Do you want of God for this army?

Isaiah 13, verse 2 to 4.

Isaiah 13:2–4

Go read Isaiah 61, verse 1 to 4.

Isaiah 61:1–4

The spirit of the Lord is upon me.

Go read it.

May the cognitive buffering that's happening in your head right now

result in something productive when you go home.

Yeah?

I can handle this.

Sometimes I think even God can't.

So go home and read these scriptures.

Read Micah, chapter 5, verse 4 to 6.

Micah 5:4–6

These are some of the pillar scriptures of what awaits us in 2026.

Go read them.

Study them.

What was the prophetic invitation that I was talking to you about?

It's in Joshua 15, verse, I don't remember.

Joshua 15, verse 19.

Joshua 15:19

Let's read Joshua 15.

Let's read Joshua 15, 19.

What a cool story.

Joshua 15, verse 19.

Joshua 15:19

This is what I say you and I should be like.

I want to be like.

Joshua 15, verse 19.

Joshua 15:19

Let's start from verse 17.

Othniel, son of Cana's, Caleb's brother,

took the city that Joshua said.

If you take it, verse 16.

And Caleb said, I will give my daughter Aksa in marriage to the man

who attacks and captures Kyriat-Sephir.

Othniel, son of Cana's, Caleb's brother, took it.

So Caleb gave his daughter Aksa to him in marriage.

One day when she came to Othniel, she urged him to ask her father for a field.

When she got off her donkey, Caleb asked her, what can I do for you?

She replied, do me a special favor, since you have given me land in the Negev.

Give me also the springs of water.

So Caleb gave her the upper and lower springs.

I love this story.

She knew what was the right order.

She knew that it was her husband who should go and ask for land.

She says, go and ask my dad for some land, even though she's a daughter.

She follows order.

And she goes up and he says, give me this land.

And he gets land.

And she looks at the land and she realizes, gosh, this is desert land.

It's in Negev. It's still desert-like.

And so she decides, let me go up to my dad.

And she goes up to her dad and dismounts from her donkey,

and he looks at her and says, what do you want?

And without a moment's hesitation, she says,

give me the upper springs and the lower springs.

This is what awaits some of you.

Think and ask.

Think and ask.

Ask and access.

Think and ask. Ask and access.

Think and ask. Ask and access.

Because God will give it.

If you think and ask, you will not ask for what is within your ability to do.

Think and ask and you will begin.

When I say think, think with the Holy Spirit and ask.

Come on, man.

If I don't think with the Spirit and ask for next year,

what I will do will still be what I've already learned how to do this year.

Think and ask. Think with the Spirit and ask.

And then ask and access.

It won't be held back from you.

It won't be held back from you if you're sincere.

And here's the thing, guys.

Every time someone asks for their inheritance,

for the grace that is theirs for 2026,

with inheritance and with asking for grace

and with bringing what belongs to the Lord,

let me assure you from Haggai chapter 2

Haggai 2 · chapter mention

that the silver and gold will be yours, too.

You know what God says in Malachi 3.11?

He has an odd...

He says...

He throws out an invitation and asks us to risk something.

He says, I'm inviting you and I want you to take a risk.

How does he phrase it?

Please, that's the actual sense of the word.

Please test me in this.

Please test me in this.

I've got three lines in LN.

In the year ahead, I say to the leaders here,

and I'm talking about the guys who lead churches here,

in the year ahead, I say to the leaders here,

draw afresh from the new mandate and the mantle

that I presently carry.

So let me single you out.

I say to Sheldon James,

to Tony Analei, to Don Kez, to Derek Iris, to May...

Who am I missing?

Who?

Jillian.

Who else?

I say to you leaders and I say to the ones that help you,

draw afresh from the mantle and the mandate that I carry.

Draw afresh from the mantle and the mandate that I carry.

You will need it for the year ahead.

You will not be able to serve your churches

if you don't draw afresh from the mantle

and the mandate that is on me.

Because some of what you may carry right now

is old and is familiar,

and you need to draw afresh from the mandate

and the mantle on me,

because it's completely different

from what you've experienced in the past.

I beg you to do it,

because otherwise you will do this church a disservice.

Fathers must sacrifice for sons,

but fathers must also circumcise their sons.

Fathers must sacrifice their...

Fathers must sacrifice for their sons.

Fathers must sacrifice for their sons.

But fathers must also circumcise their sons.

If fathers don't, they run the risk of getting killed.

Exodus 4.24.

Moses, Zipporah, and his son were walking along.

He was going to set Israel free from Egypt.

And it says, God nearly killed him.

The guy must have been lying on the floor

wrestling with God, losing his breath.

And Zipporah had the sense to take a stone

and circumcise his son,

saying, You're a husband of blood to me.

Fathers must sacrifice for their sons,

but fathers must also circumcise their sons,

because if fathers don't, they may get killed.

And this is another commitment I make to you

that I want to do,

and that your other leaders want to do.

Nope.

That would involve coastal and Vancouver health.

Last thing I want to say is when I talk about

draw afresh from the new mandate and the mantle on me.

Guys, here's a little bit of a story.

I'm a man of my word.

I'm a man of my word.

I put a new mandate and the mantle on me.

Guys, here's the thing.

What's a mantle?

The grace that is rescued in a person

can be valued for you

in terms of the mantle.

So let's say, Dawn is someone

that God wants to conference for the mantle in my life, too.

And so a mantle is simply

the grace being conveyed through a person to somebody else.

And a mantle is not preaching.

A mantle is not ministry. You don't get a mantle till you see it. You only get it if you see it.

Go to the Elijah, Elisha story. What does it say? Elisha says, give me your mantle. Give me twice the grace that you had in your life.

He's not asking for twice the ministry. He's not asking for twice the miracles, though that happens. He is saying, you have a grace.

That is so evident, both in the heavens and the earth. I've seen how to the enemy you become the chariots of Israel.

And to the people of Israel, you become protection. I want twice that grace. And what does Elisha say?

Elisha says, give me this. And Elijah says, here's how you will get it, if you see it. If you see me being taken away. If you see it, you will get it.

Mantles are transferred through being able to see. If you don't see, you don't get. And the only way to see it is to walk closely.

You cannot see it if you don't walk closely. It doesn't matter who it is. Do you want something from Vivek's life?

Do you want something from Aaron's life? Do you want something from Fuyo's life? You'll have to walk closely.

If you do not walk closely, you will not see it. If you do not see it, you will not get it. Therefore, draw fresh again.

The band-aids and the mantles of my life, because the year ahead needs it.

All righty. Any questions?

Anything you want to challenge. Anything you think is not scriptural. Don't come in. There are some questions you should come and ask me later.

Because you want to sit and understand well. But there are some questions you should ask loudly.

Any questions? Why loudly? Because it's for the benefit of others. Go ahead, James.

Can you say it louder? Can you respond publicly about the giving? Yeah, you can respond publicly. You want to? Go ahead. But loudly.

I've never been in a job. But the prayer was for Manila, and she said, you should be the first fruit of that impossible.

And at my work, they paid me retroactively for the year. And there was also a raise. So I just, from what you're speaking, I just want to say that I want to give half of that retroactive.

As a way of breaking that stuff that I've squandered. But go ahead. Awesome. Bless you, James. Thank you.

Anyone else? If you didn't hear that, you can go and ask James again. I should have given him a mic, and I'm sorry I didn't.

Anyone else who wants to ask any questions? Go ahead. If I like or don't like? Okay.

If your dad liked giving to you, would it be selfish of him to give to you? No. Enjoy it, man. Yeah. Any other questions?

Yeah. Why is it that this idea of fathers raising sons and this idea of mantles and grace falling on sons and going forward, why, even though it's so biblical, is it so resisted?

Some of the obvious reasons are it's also highly abused. Highly abused. In different, you take any continent, you take North America, Africa, Asia, you will find situations where sons were made to slog like crazy and got squat after that.

And it went to some biological son who spent most of his life drinking and smoking and became a believer just six months ago. And so there's abuse. And it's very sad. It's very sad. It happens again and again and again.

But here's the thing. How do you throw out a principle of God because it is being abused? It's wrong. So that's one of the main reasons. The second reason is, let's say I do not abuse, but I take advantage of your finances. I take advantage of your service. I take advantage of whatever you do for me.

But it's for personal, personal increase. It's almost like a pyramid scheme then. And so when one person prospers, you know, you know what is, here's the thing, guys. So I'm going to share this. Here's the thing.

To Elisha, people brought first fruits. And it was tons of cakes and raisins and wine and all this stuff. Here's what Elisha did. He brought it, he prayed over it, multiplied it, and distributed it to people.

When first fruits come into my life, I've got to make sure that these first fruits are not for my personal increase in wealth, but that they should be distributed for the advancement of the kingdom. I pray over it, multiply it, so that the 20 bucks he gave now become 60 bucks that distributed.

Elisha sets us a precedent for how it should be done. So that's the second reason why it is difficult. The third reason is, accusations can damage your confidence. You go down this road, you will be accused.

And some of those accusations will stick really close and will feel like a stab. Because always remember, guys, only a friend can betray a friend a stranger has nothing to gain.

When accusations come, if Sean accuses me, I can handle it. This is the first time I'm meeting him. Sean, Sean. I can walk away because he's new. But if Don accuses me, it will sting. Why? Because he and I are made from the same cloth.

He wears my shirts. And so, so accusations really affect the construction of a house. A family, father, sons, it really breaks your confidence. You almost shy away. Fourth, the reason this is not practice is because it needs courage.

It needs courage to stand here and say to you that if you don't draw afresh the mantle and the mandate and the grace in my life, that you will not be able to handle the year ahead. It takes courage for me to say that to you because it's so self-promoting when it isn't.

So people back off. They don't talk about it.

And finally, people, sorry, just one, one second. One more statement. Finally, churches are not built on the foundation of a family, not like a family, actual families of fathers, mothers, sons and daughters.

Churches are not built on that. Yet, from the beginning of time, be it the Father and Jesus, be it Father, God and Adam, be it Elisha, Elijah, be it Paul, Timothy, be it any structure of either the church in the wilderness or the church in the New Testament, it was always built on the building block of fathers and sons.

It's been this way for years. That's why he refers to himself as a god of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Go ahead.

So I just want to make a comment. I think a lot of the churches today, the whole Father-Son ship thing and then the passing of men, it requires sacrifice.

And men are not willing to sacrifice. I want what you have, but I'm not willing to sacrifice. The intimacy, the closeness, the duties, the service to receive what you have. And until the church is ready to sacrifice, they will never receive such a thing.

I'm just assuming that about you because of the fact that you've heard this before and you've seen it practiced. Leonard Ravenhill, one of the fireiest preachers that existed, basically said what she was saying.

When he was dying, a lot of people came and gathered around him saying, I want your mantle, I want your mantle. And when his son came in, David Ravenhill, he said to his son, David, David, everybody wants my mantle, but nobody wants my sackcloth.

And so you can't have one or the other. But my god, man, Elisha's then begin to fly far more than Elijah's. Any other questions?

So the idea of sowing and reaping and giving and receiving will work for anybody. It will work for the Muslim, the Hindu, the Christian, the philanthropist, the atheist.

It will work for everyone. It's like a universal principle because in Genesis 8 it says, as long as the earth remains, there will be sowing and there will be reaping. There will be sunrise and there will be sunset.

So it's a universal principle like gravity that applies to everybody. When that becomes a reason for giving, it is not covenantal enough. It is a principle, yes.

But the covenant principle for Christians is we give because everything was created to give. God so loved the world that he gave. And so the prosperity gospel sometimes hones in on the giving and the receiving.

But just because that's been perverted doesn't mean that it won't happen. But your reason for giving should be, can I get to a place where my giving is so sacrificial that I can't help that it comes back, but I just want my giving to be sacrificial.

This God is an odd God. On one he says free will, then he says sacrificial. And both can exist together.

Alrighty, let's pray.

Jesus.

Spirit of God, would you please take the things we've discussed today.

Would you help us practice it immediately.

Practice it immediately. It's not a New Year resolution.

May we be able to practice it immediately. Jesus, I need to practice this.

I need to prove this.

We need to prove this.

There are many things that are said today, but can you take the things that I, that I need to work and wrestle with and each one needs to work and wrestle with and could you change this.

If the weapon of giving is not used by us, we will be cut down by mammon, which is a devouring spirit, it's demonic.

We've been given this word under this master at different times in our lives for long.

We want to put an end to it today.

Jesus, I just ask that no heart be left neutral today.

There should either be a denial or a recognition or an acceptance, but not neutrality, Lord.

So I ask Spirit of God that not a single person in this room right now remain neutral about this or postpone it.

Lord, we sometimes have learned the art of neutrality by postponing wrestling with the word and with you, Spirit of God.

I pray, O God, that that not be a luxury afforded to this church and to the people sitting here right now.

So that was one part of it, Father.

Then the second part was how this church will go about the year ahead.

Please help us, Father, in the year ahead and I read out a whole lot of statements.

Please bring them to life.

We don't have the power to accomplish it, but this I know that the zeal of the Lord will accomplish it.

So we stand up to be cloaked with zeal.

We stand up to be cloaked with zeal.

We stand up to be cloaked with zeal.

Jesus, I pray that this church, even this evening, be cloaked with zeal.

Father, I'm going to have the mic here and ask a couple of people to come up and pray.

Would you cloak us with zeal? Cloak us with zeal.

Come up, pray. Cloak us with zeal. Cloak us with zeal.

Zeal for your mandate, your mission, your grace, your mantle. Cloak us with zeal, O God.

Father, we cry out to you, O Lord. We cry out to you.

We cry out to you. Let no one go from here without being clothed with zeal.

Father, the zeal that will burn us, O God.

Thank you, Father.

Burn the draughts that's not supposed to be in us.

O God, I pray that you would give us a vision for this 2026.

You're calling us to a new beginning, O God.

Let us not miss that, Father.

I pray that every single one who's here, who's here, Father,

that we'll open our hearts and say, yes. Yes, God. Yes.

We say yes to you, Jesus. We say yes to you, Jesus.

Father, come. Come, Lord. Come.

Father, in the name of Jesus.

I pray for this entire Church, Father.

In the name of Jesus, O God. Thank you.

Hallelujah.

Thank you.

Go up, Evan.

Thank you, Father.

Shikra prashto.

Father, the time has come.

You have been stirring our hearts for a long time. You've been building us for a long time.

This message is perfect time, Abba.

We are waiting. You are waiting.

Father, pray for this whole Church, every one of us, that our hearts would be ready, our hearts would be strengthened.

You'd strengthen our spirits. You'd strengthen our bodies. You'd strengthen our minds.

That we would be able to break off the old, things that have stuck to us for years with breakoff.

That we'd be able to shake it off and step into new wineskin.

That this year would be a year of many graces, of many favours,

of stepping into things that we have been praying for, asking for, for years.

Father, pray that you would cloak each and every one of us.

Thank you, Abba.

Something that we didn't even know that we could do.

Things that we didn't know we could step into that we've been scared to.

Father, pray that we have the courage to do it.

In Jesus' name.

Hallelujah.

Abba, give us zeal to build the house of the Lord.

Give us zeal to build the walls.

Give us zeal to build what you are asking us to build in 2026.

Would you give us a passion and a desire?

I ask for a hunger.

Today, would you make us hungry and thirsty?

I ask for a hunger and a thirst that we've never known before.

Would you whet our appetites?

I ask it for me and I ask it for this house.

Can you make us hungrier than we've ever been before?

Can you make us so thirsty that we lap the water like dogs?

Can you make that thirst come on us now?

In the name of Jesus Christ, I pray that nobody leaves without a greater hunger and thirst than we've known today.

In the name of Jesus. Amen.

Hallelujah.

Hallelujah.

Abba, give us what Christ has for his bride.

Yeah.

Abba, wherever we are lacking, wherever we have not understood what it means,

Father, wherever we need more of you, more of your grace,

Abba, wherever we think we are sufficient, but we are actually sufficient.

Yeah, we break sufficiency, O God.

We break sufficiency.

We break sufficiency and self-preservation.

We break it in the name of Jesus.

It is not enough.

When a man stops hungering, he becomes stagnant.

So, Father, we come and we say, Abba, we are fully reliant.

Give us a seal with which Jesus walked on the spot, with a passion to build his church,

with a passion to build his church.

Abba, we haven't even scratched the surface, but give us more of it.

Yeah.

A new coat, a new robe, Father, of many colors.

We ask for it.

We ask something new from you, Abba.

What will we have?

What will we achieve?

What do we have as crowned Father?

We lay it down and we say, Abba, now give us something new.

Give us something fresh.

Give us a new wind, Abba.

Give us something that is crazy and that we have not imagined, Abba.

Give us something new.

We say to this Father with the same seal that Jesus carried, Abba, give us that.

So we can walk a different walk, talk a different talk.

We can raise good sons and daughters, Abba, who will stay the course, Abba, who will raise many other sons and daughters.

Even when Jacob passes, Abba, even when I pass, Abba, I pray this mantle continues.

Hallelujah.

This is what we need, Abba.

Give us something that stays forever, like a tower that is built forever, where it is a refuge house, Father, where people can come in year after year, generations after generations, Father.

This is what we are asking for, Abba.

So take off what we don't need.

Father, cut off things that are weighing us down.

But give us new things, Abba.

Your precious name, I pray, Abba.

Amen.

Abba, Father, God of generations, I pray that you make this house a house of fathers and sons, Father, that you fortify this in us, that it becomes a part of our DNA, that you strengthen our leaders for this.

First, we strengthen Jacob, that you return to him as courage, full courage, full zeal, Father, to be the Father that you've meant him to be, that you fathered him well so that he could father the next generation, that you father all the leaders so that they could father the next of the sons.

And I pray for all the people here who are sons, who will come willingly, Father, who will come with open hearts, Father, the hearts that have been plowed so that they can receive their inheritance, not only for themselves, but for the world that awaits us, Father.

So we pray we fortify this in the name of Jesus, from the top to the bottom, from the oldest, the more mature to the youngest, to the growing budding plants, trees that will grow and bear much, much fruit in your name, Jesus.

We pray this in your name.

Amen.

Amen. Praise God.

Father, will you cloak us like Elisha?

Cloak us like Elisha, who had the ability to see what was in Elijah.

May each one here begin to cloak themselves with a desire and a hunger that stirred up by you to see the mantle that you have placed in this house, to see the mantle that you placed in the leaders above them.

That as they see, they will say, I want to sell all that I have.

As they see, they will leave everything behind.

That when people come to them and say, oh, you know, this is going to happen, you should leave.

They'll say, no, I'm going to stay.

Yeah.

Because there's a requirement that you're placing on those here to stick close.

Yeah.

Because it's only when each one here chooses to stick close that they will be able to see and walk in the mantle that you desire to give them.

Thank you.

So I ask for us, Father, that you give us eyes to see.

Give us eyes to see and then the obedience to burn our oxen, to sell it.

We're not selling it for our own gain.

He said that Elisha sold it and he invited everyone to come and partake.

But then he left how he was living.

He left how he was walking.

And he went and began to walk with Elisha.

Yeah.

I ask for those within this house, Father.

I ask for us as leaders that you give us the ability to draw close.

Yeah.

And I ask for those within these churches that they desire to draw close.

I ask that you stir this up within us today, Father.

Yeah.

We want eyes to see.

Thank you, Abba.

And we want the heart to walk in it, Abba.

Thank you, Father.

Amen.

Father, we come to you and we dare to ask something we have never asked before.

Father, give us a double portion.

A double portion of what you have for Jacob and for this house of God.

We do not back down.

We do not ask for anything lesser of God.

If Jesus can cry out everything that the Father has in his mind, so do we.

We cry out, Father.

We say that everything that you have given to Jesus, would you give it to us?

Would you give it to us, Abba?

May Isaiah 61, Abba, come to pass through us.

Hallelujah.

Because the Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is in this house.

The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is upon Jacob, O God.

And so, Father, right now, as a church, we come together and we lift up Jacob to you right now.

This man.

Father, we recognize him as the set man of this house.

We recognize that he is a spiritual father of this house, O God.

We recognize him.

Father, we honor him and we lift him up to you, Father.

We do not idolize him, but we honor him, O God.

We honor him, Father.

We lift him up to you, Father.

And may the grace that is upon this man now begin to flow in every member of this house,

every person who sets his foot in this house, O God, may it be for the taking, may it be for the benefit, O God.

I pray and I lift up Jacob to you right now.

And I pray that the mantle that he has, the mandate that he has upon him, Father,

which now increase and make it into a double portion of what he already has from the past, O God.

Lift him up to you, Father, and Father, we come together as a family more united than ever.

I uproot any spirit of deception, any spirit of jezabal, anything that has been deceived,

anything that is half-hearted, any person that is neutral, I banish the spirit of orphanhood in this house.

Because there's no neutral zone.

Every person who walks into this house is given the permission to become a son and a daughter of this house.

So, Father, we welcome everybody who is lost, who is confused, who is unsure.

We say, come and be part of this family that God is establishing through Jacob and through Acts 29, Father.

And Father, we are excited for what you have for us in 2026, O God.

Nothing less, O God, nothing less.

The mandate that you have for us, Father, that we will be anointed, because the spirit of the Sovereign Lord is upon us.

We are your anointed bride, and we will train, Abba.

We will go the last distance, O God, that sacrifices will be made, the price will be paid,

and you will find us faithful, and you will train each one so that there's no feeble among us, O God.

No one will be feeble among us, O God, and we will take on the assignments that you have for us for 2026.

Everyone will be on an assignment. No one will be left out, O God.

Everyone will partake in this, and we will see the hand of God.

We will see things we have never seen before, because you are with us.

You are with us, O God.

So, Father, we thank you for this important day and important evening that you have setting us apart.

You have been orchestrating for this, O God.

Sons will be raised. More fathers will rise up, and we bless you.

In Jesus' name. Amen.

Receive a prophetic word, Father Church, from the Lord.

He's saying that I have today reconstituted this house.

It shall no longer be an orphanage or a widow's home.

Instead, bring the vessels, create space, and I will keep filling it.

There shall be no end to it as long as there are vessels to fill, needs to be met, works to be done.

You shall see a pouring out of my spirit like you have not yet.

But today, I have reconstituted this house.

There's a new plumb line that I'm holding to this house.

A new plumb line.

So we thank you, Father.

We will not be foolish.

We will not be like Cora.

We will not be like Aaron and Miriam.

We will not be like Ananias and Sapphira.

We won't.

We'll walk this the way you want us to.

In Jesus' name.

Amen.