Faith to Glory - Part 1

Faith. I thought I'd go back to Fortress Church after that, but I feel that we need to talk about how do we go from faith to glory, or what does that even mean?

Is there a transition in between? I'd like to suggest to you that what we need to do is go from faith—not go from, as in understand faith—and then what does anointing mean, and then what does glory mean.

We'll look at it today, and then we'll have a part two because I don't think today we'll be able to deal with, so what do we do now that we know it?

Faith is the law of expectation. Faith that does not expect is not faith. So every time you say that, I have faith, your question should be immediately, then what is your expectation?

If you say you have faith, what is your expectation? And your expectation may be credible, may be insignificant, may be a lot, may be a little, but it begins to define your faith.

So any faith that has no expectation is not faith. So there's a law of expectation that's connected to the very word faith. And so why? Because there is power in expectancy.

One who does not expect anything from God, according to Hebrews 11, it says, if you go to God, you should go to him with expectation that there is something that he will reward you with.

To go to God without expectation and say you have faith is actually an anomaly. It's not true. And so what is your expectation? And then the next question would be, what do you base your expectation on?

And that we've talked about. The expectation has to be based on his nature, on his word, and on his promise, in that order. That order is important. We mess with that order and it gets messed up.

Expectation must be based on first his nature, then his word, and then his promise. What's the difference between word and promise? A promise is what is directly given to you and drawn out of the word.

But it's impossible to understand his word without knowing his nature. And his nature is very simple. His nature is that of a father. Christianity is not very complicated once we look at God as father. It simplifies everything.

Any questions on that? It's actually, when you boil it down to this core, it's actually so simple. Expectation is required if faith is real. If faith is real, one must have an expectation.

The capacity of expectation we'll talk about later. But if faith is real, then one must have expectation. What is expectation based on? Expectation is based on first the nature of God, then the word of God, and then the promise of God.

What's a promise? A promise is something that's directly spoken to you from the word, but the nature is what gives the word its correct interpretation. Because if you don't read it through the eyes of a father, we're finished.

What often happens is people go for the promise without knowing the nature. Or people stick with the word and do not know the nature of God as a father. And it really messes you up. And you can stay messed up for 40 or 50 years, yeah?

That's why it's critical that we teach our young kids that he is father. They get that right, they get 60, 70% of Christianity right. Then you only have to teach them English.

The capacity of your expectation determines the large-ness of your faith.

The capacity of your expectation determines the large-ness of your faith. And the scale of your exploits.

The capacity of your expectation, what you expect. We said expectation must be based on the nature, the word, and the promise of God. But the capacity of expectation determines the large-ness of your faith.

Sometimes, I mean, if I expect less, I do not have to exert much faith. One of the tricks that Christians play on themselves is to have low expectancy.

Low expectancy hollows faith out. Once you have low expectancy, you don't get too disappointed. You can handle it if things don't work out. You don't care if it takes too long because your expectancy is low.

There are so many of us that operate by the principle of what's the worst case scenario. That has nothing to do with Christ. And so our immediate approach to anything in life is what's the worst that can happen? And from there on it can get better. That's got nothing to do with Christ.

So the capacity of my expectation determines the large-ness of my faith. And the large-ness of my faith then determines the scale of my exploits in Christ that are started by him, authored by him, sourced through him, fueled by him. Any questions?

So one of the first things you should do when you say you're standing in faith is you must define what your expectation is. Otherwise, it's so undefined, so nebulous that it keeps changing.

And one of the ways you define what you're standing for is by speaking it so that others hear. And now you'll either make a fool of yourself or you'll make God look brilliant.

One of the ways we hide expectations is by never speaking about them. And if you don't speak about them, then we don't have to worry if it fails.

Expectation speaks. Seen anybody here who keeps their marriage a secret? I don't want to tell anybody I'm getting married. I don't want to tell anybody I'm having a baby. I don't want to tell anybody I'm getting a new house.

Did you know that Derek has a new car? How do you know that? Maybe I let the cat out of the bag. Bad example. Sorry, Derek. So at the end of the day, expectation speaks and that's how you make your expectation known.

And sometimes Jesus deliberately asks that question that we started the service with. What do you want me to do for you? That allows Jesus to gauge your expectancy. Not because he doesn't know it, but he wants you to hear it.

It allows him to gauge your expectancy. It was a Jesus question that was deliberate because who goes and asks a blind man what he wants? And yet, when Jesus went and asked the man who was lying by the pool of Bethesda, what do you want me to do for you?

The guy doesn't say, I want my legs healed. He goes and says, I've been lying here for so many years. Every time the water is stirred by somebody, nobody puts me in. He doesn't say he wants to get healed. Strange, eh?

And so define your expectations. How do you define expectations? Again, we go back to what we said earlier. Through the nature, the word, and the promise of God in that order. You can't change the order.

Hey, that little child, I forgot to introduce her. She's my cousin's daughter, Korean and Ruth's daughter. That's Elizabeth. Do a Lion King with her quickly.

Okay, she might burp. Don't do the Lion King right now.

Yeah.

Yeah. Sometimes when you begin to speak of your expectations, know that people may scoff. When you speak of your expectations, people may mock, scoff, laugh.

But that's part of the territory of faith. It comes with that. So you see in 1 Samuel 17, verse 28, you see David, he's quite riled up because Goliath is beginning to defy the armies of Israel.

1 Samuel 17:28

And so David at one point begins to say, so what will you give to the guy who brings Goliath down? And as he goes about doing this, Eliab, his older brother, comes and says, what's wrong with you?

You're so self-conceited. You're so proud. Who do you think you are? And begins to scoff at him. So when you begin to speak of your expectations, it's likely that people will laugh at you.

I know I've talked to you about Kony, the circle drawer. It's such an amazing story. It really affected me where this guy, it's from Hebrew folklore. His village hadn't had rain for years.

So what does he do? He goes to the town square, draws a circle around him, and he says, I'm going to stand here till it rains.

People say, who does he think he is? He thinks he can stand there and pray and God will send rain. And he stands there and prays, and God begins to send rain.

But the rain is like little droplets, eh? And so people say, okay, Kony, so you got what you wanted. And he says, no, these are little droplets. After the drought we've had, this rain ain't enough.

And so he refuses to move. And now the teachers and pastors get even more riled up. Who does this little punk think he is, that he can stand there and demand rain when God has given him rain?

And then it begins to rain profusely, eh? Big drops. So much so that the ground is being completely ripped open. And they say, okay, Kony, so you got your rain.

And Kony says, no, this rain isn't from God. He's a father. This is way too violent. It's going to destroy our land and our crops. I want rain that's profuse but not violent.

And he stands there. And after some time it begins to rain. And this time the rain is just plenty, but it's not violent. And he's standing in the circle enjoying it.

And then they say, all right, Kony, so you did what you said. God has given you rain. Come back in now. And then he says, no, this is so good, I just want to stand and get soaked.

And so he stands there and gets soaked in the rain. The point being, this man had the ability to expect certain thing of God. What he expected was not rain. He expected a certain kind of rain.

Why did he expect a certain kind of rain? Because he knew the nature of God. And then once he begins to expect that kind of rain, he begins to enjoy it.

But he declares what he's going to do and draws a circle in the town square so that people know what he's up to. That is the nature of biblical faith.

Any questions?

How do we know who to tell this to? Initially tell it to people that you're sure won't laugh at you. Then as you get braver, begin to declare it louder.

Yeah, there are things that we shouldn't share. Here's the point.

Our problem is not oversharing when it comes to faith. It's undersharing. So we need to swing the pendulum the other way so that we land in the middle.

Our problem is not that we don't share. Our problem is we like to keep it quiet until it's a sure thing and then we speak about it.

Because we don't want God to get a bad name. But the real thing is we don't want to look foolish if it doesn't happen.

God's gotten a bad name for centuries. He can handle it.

Expectancy. Once you have expectancy, it always initiates bold action.

It always initiates bold action.

If you are expectant, it initiates bold action. And so you'll see stuff like Abraham.

What does Abraham do once God calls him out? He starts counting the stars because he knows that his children will be as many as the stars.

He changes his name from Abe to David.

God calls him out. He starts counting the stars because he knows that his children will be as many as the stars.

He changes his name from Abraham to Abraham. He begins to call his wife Sarah, not Sarai.

Moses. Once he knows God's going to deliver them, he stretches out his staff.

Can you imagine stretching out your staff and nothing happening?

He can throw him into the sea just like Jonah.

Moses stretches out his staff.

Later on he decides that the blood of bulls and goats will keep all the children in Israel safe.

So he uses the bloodline. There's always something that expectancy initiates.

At one point, Aaron and her help Moses hold up his hands.

And then later, Joshua stretches out his javelin because he saw it happen before, till the battle in Ai was completed.

The woman decides that she's been sick with an issue of blood for so long that she has to do something that might even make Jesus unclean.

But it has to be done. And so she goes and touches his garments.

All expectancy always ends up in some action that requires boldness and initiates a process.

When we started the church in New York, and sometimes it's so odd to see Jobin and Bessie here right now.

They belong to the church in New York. But I remember going with Sheldon.

Sheldon and I were walking the streets of New York knowing that God is going to help us plant a church in Manhattan.

So we're walking up and down. All we're doing is walking up and down and praying.

But we knew that a day is going to come when there will be a church in New York.

And today there is and there are multiple meetings happening every month.

So praise God for initial action. You have to have bold initial action that declares your expectancy.

And when we don't do that, and we're scared to do that, go back to the nature of God.

Go back to the Word of God. Go back to the promise. To say I don't have faith is an easy way out.

If I do not have faith, I've got to go back to the nature of God. Is he a father? Okay.

So let me begin having conversations with my father.

And then I go to the Word. And then I go to the promise.

Grace is given freely. It's received as a responsibility.

Any questions?

And guys, learn to stay in expectancy. Learn to stay in expectancy.

Because sometimes expectancy is exchanged for diluted hope.

And then wishes, wishful thinking.

Now, stay here. Don't come down here. Don't go here.

Learn how to stay in expectancy. One of the ways expectancy is fueled is by talking about it to others.

One of the ways expectancy is fueled, when you know it's a God thing,

you need to go and begin to speak your expectations of God to others.

There's a thing called the expectation of God.

Expectations of God to others.

There's a thing to proclamation that is so critical to God.

You see, Jesus is doing this. His expectation was that Lazarus would not remain dead.

And so his words agree with what God is telling him to do.

Be it, this is not unto death. Or be it, he's only sleeping.

His words would agree.

That's the only bit about faith that I wanted to touch on today because we hadn't touched on it last week.

Any questions on that?

So at the end of the day what we are saying is that faith must carry in it the law of expectation.

And there is power in expectancy. And if I don't have an expectation, it's not faith.

Any questions?

Go ahead, Meera.

How does God explain this in another word?

I don't know what to expect. I think that God planned it better for me so I expect something specific.

How does that align with that?

Yeah. So how do you balance the expectation that you have with the will of God?

This is where our Father who art in heaven hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done here on earth as it is in heaven.

So my expectation is built on what I know is the will of God, which is found either in his nature or in the word or in the promise that he directly gives.

So one has to find out the will of God so that you can build your expectation on it.

So for instance, for my birthday if you got me a green tea, that's wonderful, that's very thoughtful of you, kind of you, but it's not very thoughtful because I don't like green tea.

So find my will first. Ah, the guy likes really dark coffee.

So if you get me a dark coffee I'll be thrilled.

But if you get me green tea I'll say thank you but I'll probably re-gift it to somebody.

If someone has given me green tea in the past I apologize.

I just realized that was a possibility. I am really sorry.

Something's come out during teaching that I don't expect.

So now it's Mira's job to find out what is Jacob's will.

Because if she doesn't know Jacob's will, what she then spends her money on, spends her effort on is futile because she gave me green tea which I don't like.

So yes, you don't balance it, you find it and then build on it.

And finding it is difficult. Finding it can only come through relationship.

And so then begins the whole process of relating to God as a father.

That begins to unveil his thinking.

And that's a lifelong thing. So you'll get to a place when you turn 60 where you know the thoughts and the emotions and the ways of God.

Isn't that brilliant? For who has the mind of Christ? We. Why?

Because that's what the scriptures say the Holy Spirit does for us in 1 Corinthians 2.

It's an easy answer but it's a difficult process because it's a relationship, right?

Go ahead, Nick.

Should one put timelines on their expectations?

If you look at Abraham, no. If you look at Noah, no. If you look at Moses, no.

If you look at some of those guys in Hebrews 11, no.

But meaning things could take time.

All things could take time because of many different reasons which we can't go into right now.

But what if God also says that, hey, this is the timeframe where I want things done?

Then you have a timeframe. If he doesn't, things may take time.

But it's time that tests faith, right? It's always time that tests faith.

And it's at that juncture that I revert to being a son to my father.

Not being a devotee to God, not being a faith-filled disciple to Christ.

I go back to being a son to my father.

The moment I go back to being a son to my father, everything will be alright.

Because once again, I'm like Jackson in his father's arms.

And he knows he's safe there. He knows he'll be provided for.

Even if his baby formula doesn't arrive in time, he knows he'll not starve to death.

Everything will be alright.

It's the hardest thing to do, guys, running into your father's arms.

It's the one thing that Satan will always try to do.

Alienate you from your father's arms and yet allow you to be friends with God.

Here's a trick. Here's a trick when it comes to Christians.

Make them believe and be disciples of Christ.

Make them become devotees of their Lord and Savior.

But do not let them know him as father.

Because the day they know him as father, everything changes.

What did Adam lose in the garden? Fatherhood.

What did the Spirit of God come to restore? Fatherhood.

Abba Father.

I never get tired of saying that because it's strange how every system in the world is attuned to do one thing.

Alienate man from his father.

Okay. We go on to this thing called anointing.

So the title today is Faith to Glory. In between is this thing called anointing.

On one hand, the very name Christ means anointed one.

And so he lives in us by his Spirit.

And so John put it this way in 1 John.

We have the anointing. Christ itself, the word itself means anointed one.

So we're not trying to say that the anointed one doesn't live in us.

We're talking about this idea of anointing as a supernatural empowering of the Spirit.

You can use the word in you, on you to accomplish God's purpose.

This is real. How do we know it's real?

Because without this, there is no Jubilee.

There is no making all things new.

And so we go to that critical scripture, Isaiah 61, verse 1 to 5.

Isaiah 61:1–5

Where it says, the Spirit of the Lord is upon me, for he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor,

to open the eyes of the blind.

And you see the list of things that the anointing accomplishes.

Let's just pray for Kez's baby. Father, we just pray for Kez's baby right now.

He's just waiting to come out, Lord, and he wants to come out a little ahead of time.

And you're okay with that.

And so we thank you for this baby that will arrive soon.

We bless this boy about looking forward to him.

So even as we speak, Father, I just thank you that by your Spirit,

you'll stir him up right now.

That you'll stir him even now as we pray at the church for this baby that's in the womb waiting to come out.

We thank the Spirit of God that he touched his baby even as we pray right now.

Like you have with John the Baptist and with others,

may your hand touch this boy, let him know you early.

Right now he may just sense what he's sensing.

He may not know you, but a day is coming very soon when he will.

So we as a church bless this boy, Father.

We bless him right now. We speak peace upon Kez.

And pray a short labor about him. In Jesus' name. Amen.

Yeah, Isaiah 61, verse 1 to 5.

Isaiah 61:1–5

The Spirit of the Lord is on me, for he has anointed me.

So the idea of anointing was something that even Jesus needed.

Other scriptures that talk about it, Acts 10.38.

Jesus Christ of Nazareth was anointed with the Holy Spirit and with power.

Sorry, go ahead.

When you were talking about Father, there's so much authority and revelation that you carry.

I just want to draw it in.

I want to just take all that I can and spread it.

Because there's revelation in this church of the Spirit of the Father.

I would honestly say I don't have that revelation quite yet.

And I would love to have that revelation.

Where is that revelation that it comes from?

That you have such authority when you speak on it.

I can sense that.

I think it just came through years of knowing it.

And now perhaps it comes out with authority.

And it is yours for the taking.

When are you leaving? Are you and your husband?

We'll meet tomorrow.

Okay, we'll try and meet this evening.

Okay.

Because this church does have a grasp of the Father.

And it's just His grace given to us.

So what He's recognizing is true.

And one shouldn't back away from it, right?

Good, thank you.

So Acts 10.38, Jesus Christ, Jesus of Nazareth was anointed with Holy Spirit and with power.

Why?

So that He could go around doing good and delivering those that were harassed by the devil.

Luke 5.17.

Luke 5.17 says that the Spirit of God was present to heal.

That suddenly, this is crazy.

In Jesus' life, there was a moment in Luke 5.17 where it says the Spirit of God was present there.

There was an anointing to heal.

What if we began to recognize the anointing that's present in a place?

I remember being in Ulaanbaatar.

And I was scared because people expected Jesus to heal.

I'm fine with Jesus healing, but not through me because I don't know how to do it.

And so people line up and I'm in the back while worship is going on.

I'm pacing, speaking in tongues, singing songs, telling myself scriptures.

Why? To drum up some faith.

And at some point God said, listen, you can do all this and it won't work.

Why don't you just settle down and I'll take care of it?

And so finally after the worship, I go up and people turn up for healing.

And you could see that the power of God was present to heal to the point that I started calling up kids.

Because it didn't matter who laid hands on the sick person.

The sick would get healed.

It did not matter.

It didn't matter whether it was your Mongolian interpreter.

It didn't matter whether it was a young child that was sitting up front.

It didn't matter who laid hands.

Christ was there to heal.

What if you recognize the anointing that's in a place?

Where you discern or not even discern, you just know that our shucks Jesus, you're here to do this.

These are the things God's inviting us to recognize.

And then a whole service can shift.

That's how this works.

Luke 517, another scripture that talks about anointing is Acts 1-8.

That hey, listen, just wait.

I'll send you power.

Because anointing is always connected with the idea of power.

I'll send you power.

And that power will make you witnesses from one end of the earth to other.

So what do we do if we want to handle anointing?

There's a process to receive it.

There's a process to receive it and release it.

One, there has to be yieldedness because yieldedness creates inflow.

I'll just go through the list and then we can talk about it.

Next, faithfulness creates capacity.

Third, these are critical, man.

Write it down and try to memorize it.

Character creates usability.

Four, order creates a framework to work within, as in you know your boundaries.

Five, giftedness, as in spiritual giftedness, creates room.

And finally, foolishness creates outflow.

Beautiful, eh?

So to receive and release the anointing, the first thing I require is a yieldedness,

as in I want, what does yieldedness really look like?

At the end of the day, yieldedness simply looks like a surrender of self-will.

Surrender of self-will.

It's not to say I will do anything you want.

It is to say I don't want to do this, but I like you most so I'll surrender my will to you.

That's the difference, eh?

People think to surrender your will is to say I'm willing.

Now, it's to say I really am not willing, but because I like you, I'll lay it down.

Help me, because I really don't want to.

That's what it looks like.

So the first one is yieldedness.

Yieldedness creates inflow, as in the spirit of God says, ha, here's a guy who really doesn't want to,

but he really wants to lay down his not wanting to.

Let me move into his life.

Yieldedness creates inflow.

Faithfulness creates capacity.

Faithfulness creates capacity, as in the spirit of God looks more than anything else in a person's life

for two things, faithfulness and character.

Will you be faithful?

If I began to use you, will you be faithful?

Will it be on and off?

Will you have good days and bad days?

Or will you be consistent?

Can I expect average out of you where it's a line that doesn't go up and down?

Faithfulness creates capacity.

Your capacity increases.

Your domain increases.

The radius of your influence increases with faithfulness.

The next one is character.

Character creates usability.

2 Timothy 2.20.

In a wealthy home are vessels, some of gold and some of clay.

The good ones are used for guests, the bad ones kept away.

If you stay away from sin, you're like a vessel of gold, used for the very best, used for Christ alone.

2 Timothy 2.20.

Character creates usability.

Where God says, here's a clean plate I can use.

So let's begin using this person.

Order creates a framework.

Remember, we talked about 2 Timothy 2.1-7.

Verse 3 or 4 says, listen, you're a soldier enlisted in an army.

And there are ways you function.

Order creates a framework.

These are the boundaries that are presently set for me by Christ and his body.

And within these boundaries I will operate.

Order creates a framework.

Giftedness creates room.

Proverbs says that your gifts will bring you before kings.

Discover your gift and you'll find that you can go into the marketplace, you can sit on a plane,

you can go into the king's palace or you can go into a slum and your gift will open room for you.

Every time I go traveling, every time I'm sitting with anybody who's not a believer,

one of the gifts I use is the prophetic.

I can sit there and tell a person without saying, thus says the Lord, in a tone that's not at all

God-ish or loud or sounds base and heavy.

I can tell them who they are and what God wants them to do and give them my name and number and say,

call me when it happens.

And invariably it opens up room for me in those lives or in those places.

What's your gift? Because your gift is supposed to open room for you.

Sometimes it's a spiritual gift.

Sometimes it's just you open your mouth and you start singing and people freeze.

It's like the Rockefeller tree.

Everybody stares at it.

So your giftedness creates room.

And finally, foolishness creates outflow.

The Holy Spirit moves through you.

Once you decide you're willing to be foolish, anybody who is foolish will be somebody through whom the Spirit of God flows.

If you're not foolish, if you want to maintain your dignity, it's highly unlikely.

A foolishness will also be laughed at and frowned.

Classic example, David dancing.

Cause led to his divorce, man.

Any questions on this?

Or we can look at this and say, yeah, this is good, but not right now.

Four or five years from now when I've graduated from college or when I have my own business or when my family is settled.

That's what we normally do.

Any questions?

When it comes to anointing,

when it comes to anointing,

the believer must

use faith

to place a demand

on the anointing.

Anointing.

To believe.

When it comes to the anointing that one has, the believer must use faith to place a demand on the anointing.

Hey, have you ever thought of this?

So I know that I teach well.

I have an anointing to teach.

32 years has proven that and you being here has proven that.

But have you ever wondered why I'm so confident that if you ask a question, I'll answer it.

Actually, I'm not confident, but I do place a demand with faith on the fact that the Spirit of God is upon me to teach.

And that if you ask a question, the scriptures will begin to move in my head like they move on a screen and I'll be able to give you the answer.

You need to place a demand on the anointing that is there with faith.

Unless you do that, you won't know how far you can go.

It's like marathon runners or 100 meter sprinters.

They're completely out of what it takes to get to the finish line, but they know how to place a demand.

And the moment they place a demand, they're able to go that extra mile.

Because anointing that is not demanded in faith will never see what it's actually capable of.

And what are we talking about?

We're talking about the supernatural empowering of the Spirit of God.

How vast is that?

How broad is that?

Where's the end to it?

Any questions?

Anointing is the supernatural empowering of the Holy Spirit to accomplish a purpose.

A gift that you possess is a supernatural ability to accomplish a purpose.

And that is the supernatural ability to accomplish a purpose.

And that is the supernatural但onment of the Holy Spirit.

And that is the supernatural anointing of the Holy Spirit.

How do you accomplish a purpose?

A gift that you possess is a supernatural ability given to you by the Spirit of God for the benefit of others.

There's a difference.

One is to accomplish a larger purpose.

The other one is a role that one plays towards an end.

Any questions?

Here's the crazy thing.

Everybody in this church right now who has to an extent grown in the Lord and discovered things about the Lord and you,

has the ability to place upon yourself a demand with faith, by faith,

to perform at a level for Christ by his power at a level that he haven't performed yet.

Tuni can take worship to another place.

Someone who prophesies to another place.

Someone who leads to another place.

Someone who teaches to another place.

You're looking at me like it doesn't apply to you, but it does, eh?

Yep.

Yeah.

There were times when he, there were times when the Spirit of God was present

and he knew that this was the moment where the Spirit of God wanted to heal

and that anything that moved could be healed.

It's the only place in Scripture where in Luke 5 it says,

and the power of God was present to heal.

And yet Christ came to the earth to heal.

And yet why does it specifically then go in?

Just pick on that part.

We need to recognize it, eh?

And to recognize it, then you begin to move into it.

It's almost like an eagle that finds a thermal current.

An eagle can fly, it can soar, and suddenly it finds this current

and gets into the current and it begins to move at a pace that's remarkable.

When it comes to anointing, anointing requires newness.

Anointing requires two words that we can use, newness and filling.

Where do we see that? We see that with David.

It's strange how Samuel first comes and Samuel anoints David in 1 Samuel 16.13.

And then you see David being approached by the people of Judah

at this place called Hebron, and that's when he has his second anointing,

and that's in 2 Samuel 2.4.

And then you see later that Israel comes to him and says,

we want you to be king, and so they anoint him a third time.

And that's in 2 Samuel 5.3.

And so depending on the phase that God brings you into,

that God brings you into,

the Spirit of God supernaturally empowers you for that phase.

Just think of that.

See, what we do not know, we do not inhabit.

What we know, we can choose to inhabit.

When you do not know, you can't inhabit because ignorance is not bliss in the kingdom.

Once you know, you can choose to inhabit.

So let's say someone is stepping into a certain place,

stepping into a certain calling of God, a certain vocation at work,

or stepping into a new phase with your family, stepping into another territory, another location.

Go and ask God, Father, for this new phase in my life, for this new job,

can you supernaturally empower me so that I begin to walk,

not with what I had, but what you will give me?

Intentionality always helps, guys.

And you'll see the difference, eh?

Let's assume I was to decide that, okay, next year I'm going to go settle in Timbuktu.

Timbuktu needs a whole different way of functioning.

None of you will be there.

And so I'm in Timbuktu.

I've got to go evangelize Timbuktu, or I've got to plant four churches in Timbuktu,

or these guys are going back to Japan.

When they go back to Japan, how are they going to function in Japan if this is a new phase in their life?

What do they need to do?

The supernatural empowering of God.

What if I call Evan to plant a church day after tomorrow?

What if Gael has to go back to Paris next week and start a new ministry?

What does it take?

You know in the Old Testament what they would do?

They'd immediately call the prophet or the king or the priest, and they would anoint them for service.

In the New Testament, what would they do?

The presbytery would gather around, and they would call them forth, and they would anoint them,

and they would begin to, through prophetic declarations, give them an idea of what God wanted.

So it's not uncommon.

It's just that we've shied away from these things because it looks too charismatic or looks too fluffy.

And yes, sometimes it's fluffy, but we don't throw out everything just because it looks fluffy,

or it doesn't look Baptist, or looks Pentecostal.

Those are terms that we put on things that make them anathema, when they shouldn't be.

Either I'm really connecting today, and you guys are amazingly, or I'm not connecting at all.

I'm going to go with the first one.

In other words, that's used when we talk about anointing its filling.

And you see that in the Bible as well.

And I'm going to go with the first one.

So that's what anointing its filling.

And you see that in the Bible. I'll just give you the scriptures, Acts 4, 29-31.

I love the story where Samson knows that he's lost his strength, and they're making fun of him.

They've drawn him out into this huge arena where the Philistines are making fun of him,

and he goes and tells the boy, can you place both my hands, one hand on each pillar?

And then he calls out to God in Judges 16. He calls out to God saying, one more time, oh God, just one more time,

give me back the strength I had.

It's the same cry he used to have when he'd pick up the jawbone of an ass and make it a weapon of mass destruction.

It's the same thing that would happen when he would break his locks free of Delilah's yarn.

Only this time, it is give me one more chance, oh God, where my hair has grown, but it had nothing to do with the hair.

Can the Spirit of God rush upon me one more time so that I can tear down this building

and take with me more than I've taken when I lived?

That's what the supernatural empowering power of the Spirit can do.

Question is, will I go over those six things that we spoke about so that I can tap into it,

not on an occasional basis, but on a regular basis? Is this how I live?

When this becomes a habit, it's upon you 24-7.

What a cool way to live, eh?

I don't know too much about this, so I won't create a theology around it,

but in Luke 8 verse 46, Jesus makes a strange statement.

Luke 8:46

He says, I perceived power leaving me.

What in the world was happening then?

Isn't he the one in whom all power dwells? Was he speaking as fully man?

How do you get that power back?

But he said, someone touched me because I perceived power leaving me.

We won't touch that today.

You want to be sure before you touch stuff, right?

Okay, let's go to the last one.

Take about 10 minutes for that and then stop.

Glory.

Guys, faith and anointing have limits

because to an extent, it's dependent upon man.

It depends upon me, man, you.

Both this and the ability to handle this sometimes depends upon man.

When it comes to this idea of glory and we'll define it, there are no limitations.

There are no limitations.

So if the anointing, just to give you a kind of example,

the anointing is like taking water in a glass.

Glory is like an ocean poured down from heaven into that glass.

And so you might have an anointing to heal the sick,

but when the glory of God descends, then sickness is banned.

Did that happen? Psalm 105.

God led a people through the desert, a million of them.

God led a people through the desert, a million of them.

God led a people through the desert, a million of them.

Psalm 105, God led a people through the desert, a million of them,

a million people through the desert.

And the Bible says not one of them was feeble or sick.

How's that even possible, man?

A million people, young and old, walking through a desert

and not one of them is feeble, not one of them is sick.

How does that even work?

Because they had in their midst something called the Shekinah cloud,

the cloud of fire by night and the cloud of, the pillar of cloud by day

and a pillar of fire by night.

The Shekinah or the glory of God,

dwelt in the midst of the camp and not one of them was feeble.

Faith requires me to have it.

Anointing, there's a capacity that one needs to function in it.

We have those six things that can increase it.

But when it comes to glory, it's the splendor, the weight, the magnificence,

the power, the laughter, the presence, the excellence, the goodness of God

in one word called doxa or kabod and that's this word glory.

And when he decides that I want to disrupt things,

he, you know, whenever he senses glory, the intent is to disrupt things

so that he can remake it.

The glory of God is not sent to a church so they feel a little ticklish and fall over.

And we look at falling over, but that's not the intent.

The intent is can I enter this group of people or this life or this city or this nation

with the splendor, the weight, the magnificence, the goodness,

the power, the presence, the laughter of who I am.

The I amness of God begins to move into a people or a place

and when that happens, he disrupts everything.

The only ones who survive the disruption of the glory of God

are those that hold on to their dignity.

Just hear me again.

The ones that survive the glory of God,

the ones that survive the glory of God coming in like a flood

are ones that hold on to their dignity or hold on to their traditions.

They will survive it.

Everyone else gets swept away

because you can never accommodate the glory of God.

Everyone else gets swept away

because you can never accommodate it.

You can only surrender to it.

You can never accommodate God's I amness.

You can only surrender to it.

As in take me away with this.

He always disrupts.

He sends it so that he may be disruptive.

Why disrupt? Because he hates status quo.

One of the things you need and I need to understand

is that God despises status quo.

I can't say it harsher.

He despises status quo

because he is the only one who is supposed to be unchanging, not you.

Despises status quo.

Always from faith to faith, always from strength to strength,

always from glory to glory.

It's another level that he wants to go to.

And so he comes to disrupt.

He comes to disrupt and once he disrupts, he now makes anew.

He makes anew.

Why? Because he has one thing in mind always.

I have come to make all things new.

I have come to make all things new.

Therefore in Revelation 21, verse 5, it says later on,

Revelation 21:5

behold, I heard a voice from the throne saying,

behold, I have made all things new.

That is intent, man.

When he was here on earth and through you.

The Spirit of God is here on earth for one reason alone,

to make all things new.

Where does he begin?

With the souls and the hearts of men.

He makes them new.

And then what is he doing?

Everything he does is towards one end.

I am here to make all things new.

Why?

Because the day is coming when everything will be new.

No tears, no fear, no crying.

Just everything made new like it used to be in Eden.

But till then, the Spirit of God moves the world.

He makes everything new.

And His glory is powerfully hidden in John 18,

John 18:36

verse 36 or thereabouts.

It is a scripture that I don't know why we never see it.

Perhaps because we don't know the language.

But in John 18, here is what happens.

Jesus is in Eden.

He is in Eden.

He is in Eden.

He is in Eden.

He is in Eden.

He is in Eden.

He is in Eden.

He is in Eden.

He is in Eden.

He is in Eden.

In John 18, here is what happens.

Jesus is in Gethsemane.

People come to arrest Him.

Do you know how many people came to arrest Him?

The Greek word used there is a Greek word called Spira.

Spira means a cohort.

There were 600 Roman soldiers there to arrest Him.

Leave alone with the Levites and the Pharisees and the priests.

There were about 700 people who came to arrest Him in the Garden of Gethsemane.

And they come and ask Him,

I am Jesus.

And He says, these are the words He says,

I am.

When He says those words, 700 people fall backward.

You think feeding 5,000 was a big deal?

You think catching a net full of 153 fish was a big deal?

The only event that matches John 18 is when He drove 2,000 demons into a herd of pigs.

This is the kind of man He is when He walked the earth.

What do you think He is now?

May we develop a taste for His glory.

A desire to see this God.

This kind of God.

And they all fall backward.

All enemies all fall backward.

And what did He say?

I am.

Those are the words He uses.

And then almost to verify, the next word says,

And Jesus again said to them, I am He.

And they all fell backward.

You can imagine that sight, eh?

Why am I picking on that?

Sometimes we as humans need physical images to know this massive God,

because we don't understand His massiveness.

Because we've miniaturized Him and put Him in our hearts, right?

Faith places a demand.

We said that faith places a demand on the anointing.

And the anointing opens the floodgates of glory.

One of the classic examples where this happens is in 2 Chronicles 7, 1-3,

where Solomon had faith.

The musicians and the prophets had the anointing.

And when those things combine, the glory of the Lord fills the temple.

And neither Solomon nor the musicians could stand.

And when the glory of God fills the temple, a strange thing happens, guys.

You know, here's the thing, guys.

Don't long for this for yourself.

We're not here to get tickled by God.

We long for this because when this happened, Solomon had the faith.

He knew that as he built the temple, he knew that if he cried out to God,

because he had prayed this before,

Oh God, I'm building this temple.

When I come into this temple and I turn my face to you and I cry out,

Be drought, be famine, be locusts, when I cry out, Oh God, you will hear and you will do.

And so he begins to build the temple.

Now he's finished the temple.

He begins to offer sacrifices like have never been offered before.

There was blood running all over the place because of the sacrifices.

He had the faith to do what he knew he had to do.

And then the 2000 musicians begin to sing,

because David had ordained a worship ministry that was just crazy.

2000 musicians begin to sing and begin to prophesy.

You can imagine that scene in the temple right now.

Just the kind of worship that you and I perhaps have occasionally had,

but 2000 people at the top of their voices prophesying and singing.

And when that happens, the glory of God moves into the temple

and neither the priest nor the musicians nor Solomon can stand.

But there are people watching from outside and here's what the people start saying.

And this is why I'm saying we should aim for this.

The people started saying, we declare that God is good

and his steadfast love endures forever and they began thanking God.

That's what we are aiming for.

We're not aiming for glory or glory.

That's what we are aiming for.

We're not aiming for glory so that the church may feel ticklish

or a few people may fall over or Tuni may sing better.

Those things are useless.

What we want is people who watch to say,

oh my God, this God of theirs, this Yahweh of theirs,

praise the Lord for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever.

His goodness is what people will begin to see when the glory of God descends.

The greatest tool of evangelism on earth is the glory of God.

The greatest weapon that has been formed on the earth is the glory of God.

Both.

Both.

Desire it.

You know, people want stuff without desiring, hungering for it.

Do you know how terrible it is when you...

I had a friend who had arrived in Vancouver.

I was taking him to someone's home.

They had prepared lunch.

I told them, there's lunch waiting for you.

These people have worked really hard.

They knew your parents.

They want to honor you.

It's your first time in Vancouver.

There's lunch waiting.

He heard it.

I should have known then itself that...

Forget that.

He knew it.

And yet, he says, I don't know what they may have cooked.

I just want to have some good steak.

So he goes, eats a full steak,

knowing that there are people that have slogged throughout the day to prepare him lunch.

And he turned.

I drive him to their home.

They want to honor him.

They worked really hard.

And he's sitting there saying, no, no, I've got a steak.

I've had a steak.

I'm not interested in your food.

Why tell you this story?

Because at the end of the day, no hunger, no glory.

One must desire it.

A desire must be followed by hunger.

The strange thing with God is whatever you hunger after, he will feed you.

But it will not last long because you will feel even more hungry.

There's never going to come a day where you can say, oh, gosh, tasted Jesus.

What's great.

Thank you, Lord.

Don't need you for another four years.

Now, four days later, you'll want it more.

It's like being in love with somebody.

You see them every morning.

Their breath stinks.

And yet, the next day, you still want them there.

Because why?

Because you're in love with them.

I know how you feel, Kazia.

Dawn's not smiling.

She is.

Yeah.

So I figured, yeah.

Hunger for it, guys.

These are some lines that we can't even explore today, but take them home and think about

them and see if you can just wrestle with them.

Yeah.

I'll just write down a few lines and then we'll do the rest next week.

Barb and Chris, you're up next.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Barb and Chris, you're welcome to come back again to the BNB next week.

Yeah.

Faith brings life to God's principle.

Anointing brings life.

When you're driving to work this week, take one of these lines and start playing with

it.

Try to ask God to bring scriptures to mind.

How does it work?

Anointing brings life to God's power.

Sorry, brings to life God's power.

Faith brings to life God's principle.

Anointing brings to life God's power.

Glory brings to life God's unlimited presence.

That's one statement.

Play with that.

The name that Derek and Iris have given the church is Bethkabod.

Bethkabod in Hebrew means house of glory.

House of glory.

This is what they must desire and run and share with people.

Here's another critical line.

Anointing is critical for the role I function in.

Hey, just imagine if the Lord's hand was not present on me to teach or to speak or to prophesy,

if the Lord's hand was not upon me, I'd have to really slog and give you academic stuff

and tell you the meaning of Greek words.

I'd be pretty sad, man.

And the same applies to you.

So on one hand, anointing is critical for the role I'm functioning, but listen to this line.

Glory is critical for the move of God through me.

One's a function, one's a move, and they're different.

So, ponder on these.

Let me leave you with a few questions that we'll deal with next time.

Can you turn to Exodus 33, 18?

We'll just read those scriptures and then I'll leave you with questions.

Exodus 33 and we'll deal with it next week.

Exodus 33.

Exodus 33, 18.

There's something, I mean, why did the people in Solomon's temple respond saying,

praise the Lord for he is good?

Because every time God's glory is revealed, there's something about his goodness that

we don't even grasp because the word good is used so easily nowadays,

but there's something about his goodness that happens.

So Exodus 33, verse 18.

Exodus 33:18

So that's Moses' request.

God says, yeah, I'll show you my goodness.

Now go to chapter 34, verse 1 to 6.

So this is what happened after what Moses asked, starting from verse 5.

So here are my questions.

Try and see if you can come up with answers for next week.

How did God make all his glory and his goodness pass before Moses?

What was it that he showed Moses?

How come Moses understood?

What did Moses see?

What was it?

He hides him in the cleft of the rock saying, you can't see my face,

but God does not have form.

So what are we talking about?

What did he see?

But it convinced Moses forever, changed the man.

So that's the first question.

What did Ezekiel see?

Because Ezekiel had the same thing.

In Ezekiel 10, verse 4, talks about the same thing.

Ezekiel 10:4

What did Ezekiel see in Ezekiel 10, 4?

What did Ezekiel see in Ezekiel 10, 4?

In Ezekiel 10, 4.

What did Isaiah see?

Isaiah 6, 5.

What happened at the wedding in Cana?

What happened at the wedding in Cana?

And it says, Jesus revealed his glory for the first time when he changed water into wine.

What happened?

What happened at the wedding in Cana?

What blew the guys away?

Was it just a miracle or was there more?

In John 2, verse 11, what did Peter witness on the mountain?

John 2:11

Where in 2 Peter, verse 1, 16-18, he begins to say,

we heard the voice from majesty, we saw his glory,

we're not creating fables, we actually saw it.

What did they see?

What did James and John and Peter,

what did Peter, James and John see on the mountain when Jesus' clothes were transformed?

What did they see?

Was it just a physical sight or was there more?

What happened in Ephesus?

What happened in Ephesus where fear fell upon the entire city?

After Paul began to cast out demons,

what happened in Ephesus in Acts 19-7?

How come we aren't seeing it?

What should we be looking for?

What should we be doing?

Last question.

How do we open the door?

Open the gates so that the King of glory may come in.

How did God make all his glory and his goodness pass before Moses?

What did Moses see?

What changed him?

What did Ezekiel 10 verse 4 where he says,

Ezekiel 10:4

I saw the glory of God in the cherub lift and it moved and it filled the temple with a cloud

and it filled the courts with his brightness.

What did Isaiah see in Isaiah 6-5 where he says,

War undone for I have seen the glory of the King.

What happened at the wedding in Canaan where it says,

and Jesus did his first miracle and revealed his glory

and the disciples saw it and they believed.

What happened in 2 Peter 1-16-18?

We're not creating fables.

We saw his glory.

We heard a voice from majesty saying,

This is my beloved son. Listen to him.

What happened on the mountain with Peter, James and John

when Peter blurted out,

Shall we make tents for you so that Elijah, Moses and Jesus can live in a tent?

Because they saw his form change.

What happened in Ephesus?

The seven sons of Sceva got beaten up.

Ephesus is a magic town.

It began to burn its papyri and its magic incantations

and fear fell upon this whole city.

They began to treat Christians with a certain degree of reverence.

How come we aren't seeing it?

What should we do?

How do we open the gates so that the King of glory may come in?

Any questions we'll answer next week.

It'll be good if you think about it too.

Any questions?

No?

Go ahead.

How do you hunger after...

If I don't taste it, I don't know what to go after.

I have to taste it first.

Here's the thing, in John 17 verse 24 or thereabouts,

John 17:24

Jesus says, I desire to reveal the fullness of my glory to you.

It says desire to reveal the fullness of my glory to you.

I don't know what to go after.

I don't know what to go after.

I don't know what to go after.

I desire to reveal the fullness of my glory to you.

It's his desire.

It's your father's desire to show you his splendor.

As I got older, my dad would take me to places

so that he could show me more about his life.

He would share details of his bank account.

Bad idea with a kid.

But he would begin to show things.

Every father wants to reveal his splendor to his son

so that his son carries his attributes and will convey it forward.

So that's one.

Second, we know from Moses' example

that God is willing to show his glory.

And so when Moses says, show me your glory,

God says, yeah, I'll show you my goodness.

He's not reluctant.

So I would say the best way to hunger after him is to first locate him

and then begin to ask, saying, Father, show me.

Help me to know what this looks like.

And as you begin to ask that question,

God begins to change you so you can handle it.

Guys, there are three examples of mishandling glory.

The first one was at a place called Beth Shemesh.

The ark was left in Beth Shemesh,

and they went and they opened the lid of the ark,

which they knew was a complete no-no.

It's so sacred because it was the very presence of God.

And they go lift the ark and they open it and they die.

The next time around, they mishandled glory in terms of protocol

because there's a way that this holy one is supposed to be approached.

And they brought the ark in on a cart

instead of carrying it on the shoulders of the Levites.

And Ehiyo and Uzzah died.

And finally it dawns to David that there's a way to bring it.

So he says from now on, only the Levites will carry it on their shoulders.

He prepares the ark on the shoulders and they bring it in.

The moment you start desiring for glory,

one of the first things God will do is,

hey Jacob, can I change a few things in you?

Because if you want to handle this, you need to be a certain this.

I'm not looking for an experience.

I'm looking for the I am-ness of God.

And the first reaction to the I am-ness of God

is always to hit the floor and lie on the ground

and say, go away from me, Lord, for I'm a sinner.

That's the first reaction.

After that you'll hear the magic words, fear not.

And then begins the journey.

And once you taste it, oh my God.

Guys, just think of this. These are all real things.

Do you know what it is to hear the sound of heaven?

It's not a real noise.

When the Holy Spirit came in Acts chapter 2, there was no wind.

Acts 2 · chapter mention

Things were not blowing away.

Candles didn't go out.

They heard the sound of heaven like a mighty rushing wind.

What does it mean to hear that sound?

You think it was only meant for chapter 2 in the book of Acts?

Surely not.

What does it mean to know that a move of God

that has been promised for years is suddenly born?

And now you don't need to now cry out for it

because you know it has arrived.

And you now try to figure out ways.

How do I walk in what has arrived?

I want us to taste hunger, have our tongues hanging out, panting for this man.

And when we do, he rewards.

Hunger is always rewarded.

So let me end with this.

Blessed are those that hunger and thirst,

for they shall be satisfied only to wake up tomorrow

and find that you're still hungry.

And they shall be satisfied only to wake up day after tomorrow

and find that you're still hungry.

And they shall be, tell me when to stop.

Alrighty.

Tuni, I want us to end with

From the mountains, no, what's the other song?

Open up the gates,

let the music play,

let the streets resound with singing.

What are we singing when we sing this?

We're saying, oh God, let Jubilee happen.

Let things be made new.

Let the anointing come.

We'll praise the demand.

And, oh God, may we see your glory, not for our benefit,

so that when we go out, people will see your goodness through us.

Not as individuals alone, but as a people.

Hey, we got one month before we moved to Richmond,

we moved to Richmond, didn't we?

Ask God these questions during the week.

Father, what's the sound I'm hearing?

How come I'm not hearing anything?

When I hear it, what is this sound?

What do you mean sound? I hear nothing.

No, it's God saying, hey, this is what I'm going to do.

This is the move I'm bringing.

This is what I'll do with the young people.

This is what I'm repeating again.

It's that kind of stuff.

Ask.

Make mistakes.

You can't learn this without mistakes.

I'm not going to do it.

I'm going to do it.

I'm going to do it.

I'm going to do it.

I'm going to do it.

I'm going to do it.

I'm going to do it.

I'm going to do it.

I'm going to do it.

I'm going to do it.

I'm going to do it.

I'm going to do it.

I'm going to do it.

I'm going to do it.

I'm going to do it.

I'm going to do it.

I'm going to do it.

I'm going to do it.

I'm going to do it.

I'm going to do it.

I'm going to do it.

I'm going to do it.

I'm going to do it.

I'm going to do it.