Fortress Church - Barzillai or Caleb

We have been talking about the Fortress Church, and today we will talk about what it looks

like to continue being a Fortress Church even as you age. As you begin to age, what begins

to happen is you begin to take the easy way out or resign yourself. That is not how Fortress

Churches are built, because Fortress Churches have both the old and the young.

Next week we will talk about the young. This week we are talking about the old. If you

turn to 2 Samuel 19.32, that sounds like someone's year of birth, 2 Samuel 19 verse 32, you will

2 Samuel 19:32

find this guy called Barzilai, and he was 80. Barzilai was 80. Okay? 2 Samuel 19.32.

2 Samuel 19.32. And here is what it says, Barzilai was a very old man. I am reading from the

message, 80 years old. He had supplied the king's needs all the while. He was in Mahanaim

since he was very wealthy. Join me in Jerusalem, King David said to Barzilai. Let me take

care of you. But Barzilai declined the offer. How long do you think I would live if I went

with the king to Jerusalem? I am 80 years old and not much good anymore to anyone. I

cannot taste food, cannot hear music, so why add to the burdens of my master the king?

I will just go a little way across the Jordan with the king, but why would the king need

to make a great thing of that? Let me go back and die in my hometown and be buried with

my father and mother, but my servant Kimham here, let him go with you in my place, but

treat him well. The king said that's settled. Kimham goes with me. I will treat him well.

If you think of anything else, I will do that for you too. That's Barzilai.

Now go to Joshua 14 verse 12 onwards. Joshua 14 verse 12 onwards. It's about a guy called

Joshua 14:12 Joshua 14:12

Caleb and he was 84. Joshua 14 verse 12, hey I would like a little more volume. Joshua

Joshua 14:12 Joshua 14:12

14 verse 12. Joshua 14 verse 12. Here's what it says. Let's read from verse 10.

Joshua 14:12

Now look at me. God has kept me alive as he promised. It's now 45 years since God has

spoken this word to Moses. Years in which Israel wandered in the wilderness and here

I am today 85 years old. I'm as strong as I was the day Moses sent me out. I'm as strong

as ever in battle whether coming or going. So give me this hill country that God promised

me. You yourself heard the report that the Anakim were there with their great fortress

cities. If God goes with me, I'll drive them out just as God has said. Joshua blessed him.

He gave Hebron to Caleb, son of Daphne, as an inheritance. So you got an 80-year-old

who didn't want to go when King David invited him and then you got an 85-year-old who demands

that things be released to him. A fortress church cannot be built by people who begin

to give away what is theirs as they age. When it comes to age, I want to define what I mean

by age here because you can look at age as age. I'm not just talking about years. I'm

talking about how sometimes indifference can age you. Sentimentality can age you. Circumstances

can age you. Entitlement can age you. Self-pity can age you. The inability to recover from

loss can age you. Work can age you. You can age yourself. You can age yourself. You can

age yourself. Failure can age you. And surprisingly, success can age you. All these things can

age you. You can meet 40-year-olds who live old. So we're not talking about years, eh?

In the midst of all this, if I don't have Christ and his purpose or cause, it's only

a matter of time before I can be young and physically able, but I'm not able... but I

begin to age. I met 45-year-olds who are older than me. Indifference can age you. A callous

indifference attitude can age you where nothing really engages you. You're not passionate

about... Another word for indifference is lukewarmness. Lukewarmness definitely ages

you where you don't want to commit too much, you don't want to commit too less. You're

somewhere in the middle. That's a recipe for aging. When one loses passion, one loses

years. Any questions on this? Sentimentality can, where you're so sentimental about something,

some place, some pursuit, someone, that you get stuck in it and are unable to move on.

Oh, for the good old days. I want to tell you something. The good old days were never

good. There was no plumbing, there was no TV, there was no microwave. Everything had

to be done the wrong way. Any questions on this? So age, we're not talking about just

years, eh? I know 70-year-olds who are much sharper than 40-year-olds and 40-year-olds

who are really old. Entitlement is when you think that because you have spent some time

doing something that you now are owed something. And when you think you're entitled and you're

owed something, you don't do much. Oh, I have put in a lot of work into this. Yeah, I put

in some more work. There's so much left to do. I'm not going to say that I'm going to

spend a lot of time on this. Any questions? Work can aid you where you're so focused and

obsessed with work that you don't have time for anything else. Work is one of the things

that aides people the fastest. We love work. There are people who love work. They enjoy

work, retrieving the pressure of work. What they don't realize is how they age because

everything else becomes less important and the more important things, when they become

less important, it catches up, man. The pressure of work can kill you. People that love work

must learn how to rest before they work. One of the things Cam reminded us of yesterday

was that the first day that man was born, he entered into rest. If one does not learn

rest, work can destroy you. And especially if you are someone who just loves going to

work, then you have to be twice as careful. As you know, there are people who are not

aware of the pressure of work. As you age, here are some things that happen to you.

As you age, as in, man, may you be someone who doesn't think you're really old and

every time they tell you you're old, you get a shock. You realize, oh my God, people see

me as old, but you don't see yourself as old. This odd incident happened some weeks ago,

months ago, where this lady came into the elevator and started chatting me and she was

I think newly immigrated from India and she started chatting me and she must have been

30 something and then she asked me for a number and I thought, boy, nine flows and you're

asking me for my number. And I was a little concerned, but I was in a good mood so I gave

her my number. And then she says, that's great. Now my dad just arrived and perhaps he can

call you and you and him can go for walks. I was like letting air out of a balloon. Here

I was thinking, aren't you being a little too forward asking me for my number? And I

had this thing about me that maybe I really look young, but she took my number so that

her dad and I can walk together in the morning. Thank God she got off because on a floor that

was immediate. Otherwise I'd have given her a piece of my mind about walking.

So one of the things that happens with age is you begin to focus on your hobby horse

as in the thing that you were good at and you are good at and you won't move into anything

else. There's a rigidity that begins to enter your life. There's tolerance of, you know,

where you are morally as in you're 60, you're 67, you're 58 or whatever and you do well,

but you don't want to get better. That's one of the terrible signs of age. You don't want

to get better. You're happy. You're morally happy. When there is a tolerance of where

you are morally, be very, very suspicious because something is seriously wrong. Your

disappointments with God keep you at bay. These are things that happen with age. And

so if you are like this at 35, be careful. And this applies to leaders here. This applies

to anyone who is above 20 or 30, anyone who is above 30. You get stagnant. You lose zeal.

You resign to circumstances. If you're above 30 and this is how you're beginning to feel

about life in any area or you like comfort to the point where you won't leave it, you

are not going to be happy. You're going to be happy. You're going to be happy. You're

going to be happy. You become complacent in your zeal. If you're above 30 and if this

is happening to you, it's a recipe that will take you to a place where you age faster.

I'm not saying you'll die faster. I'm just saying you'll age faster. The rest of us will

have to suffer you. That was, yeah. Any questions?

Okay. So how do we prevent this from happening? How do you maintain your fruitfulness in a

church that is getting younger? How do you maintain your fruitfulness in a church? Don't

worry. You young guys, you're enjoying this. Next week will be your turn. How do you maintain

your fruitfulness in a church? This is for people that are 30 and above like Derek and

the rest of them. How do you maintain your fruitfulness in a church that is getting younger?

How do you maintain your fruitfulness in a church that is getting younger? One of the

ways it's through the sacrifice of time, treasure, talent, privilege, tastes, and the ability

to have strength. You sacrifice all this for the sake of the maturity of the young.

The way to stay fruitful is to sacrifice. Remember something. The seed for fruitfulness

is sacrifice. Jesus put it this way. Unless a seed falls and dies, it does not bear fruit.

If I want my life to be fruitful, it is impossible for my life to be fruitful if I do not sow

the seed of sacrifice. And so one of the ways that the people in this church who are above

30 can maintain fruitfulness as this church will get younger. And I assure you the church

will get younger. This church is going the wrong way. It's not getting older, it's getting

younger. The only way to be fruitful in this church is through the sacrifice of your time,

your treasure, your talent, your privilege, your tastes as in your preferences, your strength

for the sake of the maturity of the young. Any questions on that? If you don't do that,

it's only a matter of time before you are called the aged ones. Any questions?

So, as you age, the company you marinate in, the company you marinate in, the company you

marinate in, affects your thinking and your speaking. And the works you do. Proverbs

Proverbs 18:21

18 verse 21 talks about it. I was at a Christmas gathering this December. Surprisingly, I was

the youngest one there. Everybody else was old. We spent two hours. I mean, I left early.

I decided I had to get out of here. We spent two hours with a group of 13 men only talking

about the diseases that will happen, the mortgages that will go down, the economy that will crash.

This is what they spent two hours talking. Every time I try to interrupt with a positive

word, it will be, no, no, no, look at that person, look at this person. Two hours. And

I thought to myself, my God, if this is how they live, what hope do they have? And here's

the crazy thing. All of them are believers. Proverbs 18 verse 21 says that out of your

Proverbs 18:21

mouth, the words that come will either give birth to life or give birth to death. It was

one of the most deadly Christmas parties I've ever had. On the night that he was born, they

began to talk about how to die. This is important. The company you keep. As you get older, this

doesn't mean you hang out with the young guys. It's usually kiboshes their party. So you

don't want to do that. I hardly turn up for dinner with you guys because I know if I turn

up, you guys will behave well. So I just turn up once every two months. So this is not hang

out with the young and you will feel young. You saw what happened in the elevator. It

does not work. But what you need to do is you need to marinate in company that begins

to speak, think larger, more faith, more things to do, not resign, not retire, not downwards.

And if you don't find the time for it, all you will have is your workmates and your spouse.

And nothing wrong with your spouse. But you need more company than that sometimes to lift

you up. In fact, you both should go. Any questions on that? Feel free to push back. If you think

this is pointless, this is not pointless, but feel free to push back. It is so important

that I spend time with people that will stir me up. That will even sharpen me. The older

you get, the harder it is not to be offended. The older you get, the harder it is not to

be offended. Because everything has to happen the way you like it and your values are the

best values in the world. And the moment you begin to think like that, there are about

hundred people who want to offend you. We will talk about that later. But you have to

marinate with the right company. That is what keeps you alive. Any questions? Yeah.

Sacrificing time, treasure, talent and strength is so that in doing that you can pour it into

someone younger. But at the same time, you have to hang out with people that will keep

sharpening you. Iron sharpens iron. But iron, if it wants to be sharpened, has to connect

with other pieces of iron. You can't connect with plastic and get sharpened. But if you

want to be sharpened, you have to be able to do that. And so the question is, do we

still do that as we get older? The more we protect ourselves, the more isolated we are,

the sooner we will age. Listen to me. The more we protect ourselves and the more isolated

you are, the sooner you will age. And I'm not talking about years of age. I'm talking

about years of age. As you get older, your life should be more public, not more private.

May the experience in your life be put on open display. This is how you live. Next point.

As you age, as you age, purpose and past zest for life are connected. Find one, you will

find the other. As you age, purpose and zest for life are connected. Find one, you will

find the other. As you age, purpose and past zest for life are connected. Find one, you

will find the other. I plead with you, some of us need to pull back, withdraw from our

work. Because the only time you're going to withdraw at the rate you're going is either

when you retire or when you die at work. One or the other is going to happen. Withdraw.

And if you withdraw, you will find your zest for life, it's always connected. Purpose for

life is always connected to zest. As you're getting older, please, please consider this.

Any questions? Any thoughts? Am I really speaking to you? Am I throwing darts into your heart?

I hope I am. And I hope it's hurting. One of the things about these messages is they

are very intentional and they're meant to hurt for the better. If you don't withdraw

from the pace of work that you presently have, you will not find life. Okay? Third one. As

you age, as you age, be, become more fluid, be more, be more, be more, be more, be more

so God can still be unpredictable through you. As you age, become more fluid so God

can still be unpredictable through you. You can be secure in God, but you can never predict

what he's going to do. You can only be secure in God, but you cannot predict what he's going

to do. As you get older, and I'm talking about anyone over the age of 30, you're already

beginning to have set ways of functioning. And if I don't change those set ways of functioning,

it's only a matter of time before the God who is secure but does not predict what's

going to happen will cease to use me because Jacob, you've gotten to a point where you're

inflexible now. Or you've settled into patterns that you think are brilliant and they were

brilliant but they're not brilliant anymore.

As you age, how do you fight this? How do you become like this if you're not like this?

Well, the first point is always I have to acknowledge and recognize that I've got a

problem. If I do not acknowledge and recognize I've got a problem, if my first response is

to justify and defend it, sure, go ahead, justify and defend it. And then after a while,

say, I really have a problem. I'm just trying to justify and defend it. Once you get to

a place where now you've acknowledged that there's a problem, now every time it comes

up, you have to begin to resist it. Every time it comes up, you have to resist it.

A thing that has taken 40 years to build cannot be destroyed in two days or by the anointing

of the Holy Spirit because it's a habit that's created by the mind. The Holy Spirit can give

you a miracle today but tomorrow you can go back to your mindset. Every day I have

to now begin to take a hammer to it and then one day I'll find that there is no brick

left. There are some things that are not miracles. They are change of habit because of a change

of thinking. Why is it that, I mean, you may think this is funny but it's not, though

it is funny. Why is it that you can sit for a three hour service and listen to a one and

a half hour teaching? I'll make it shorter today, but one and a half hour teaching. You've

got to get accustomed to it. Try this in another church. It won't work. Yesterday Campbell

was asking me, so what time are you starting and what time are you finishing? I said 10

a.m. and finish at 8 p.m. He said, you have strange people. When you get accustomed to

it, one has to create a habit. This one, ha, this is one of my favorite things to do as

I get older. Can you always be someone who will respond to the unpredictable? Or are

you also going to end up as someone who now becomes patterned and you find it very hard

to get up and leave, get up and go? Practice this now if you're 20. Practice this definitely

if you're 31. Will all the under 30s stand up?

Wow, we still have a whole lot of them. Thank you. Please sit down. Now you know this message

is for the church. As you age, teachability becomes a problem. Teachability becomes a

problem. So, but teachability is what? Will give you breakthroughs. You want breakthroughs

as you get older? You have to be teachable. Teachability becomes a problem as you age.

And teachability is always connected to humility. One is not teachable when one is not humble.

Teachability will give you breakthroughs in life. I know I have said this in the past,

but there are so many that may not have heard this. Five years, five, no, maybe five or

six years, seven years ago, six years ago, I was sitting in a hotel talking to this guy

who was 10 years younger to me because I was at a conference where he was teaching and

I, after I finished teaching, he came and asked me questions. When he asked me questions,

I was quite offended. You asked me to preach and you are now trying to poke holes in what

I taught and I didn't like it. And so I went back to the hotel that I was staying at and

I remember telling the Lord, Father, this guy doesn't seem to be very teachable. I'll

just finish this conference and won't come back again. I felt the Lord saying, it's not

he who is not teachable, it's you who is not teachable. And so then I looked at what he

had spoken and I realized what he was telling me was the truth. And so I had to then do

this very difficult thing of calling him on the phone and saying to him that what you

said today, this morning, I don't know much about it. Is there any chance that I can meet

you this evening and could you show me what you were talking about? It was one of the

hardest things for me in my life to sit and take lessons from someone 10 years younger

who had invited you to preach at his conference. And he came and he was as humble as he could

be, took out sheets of paper and he started teaching me. It was Chad, many years ago.

And this church has benefited and my life did go to another level because of what I

learned from him. Teachability is critical to breakthrough and teachability involves

humility. It's not that what you know is wrong, it's that what you know is absolutely

incomplete and sometimes irrelevant to your new situation. This church will not be where

it is, was it not for that moment. I could have squandered our inheritance because of

my pride. That's how critical it is sometimes guys. If you notice, I'm not talking about

how humble I was, it was very, very difficult. I'm talking about how proud I was and how

I could have squandered our inheritance because of my pride. As you age, as you age, you

begin to empty yourself, begin to empty yourself materially and spiritually again and again.

If you want a scripture for the last one, it's Proverbs 9.9, Proverbs 9.9.

Proverbs 9.9. You can read it later but it talks about how being teachable really helps

you. Give instruction to a wise man and he will still be wiser. Teach a righteous man

and he'll increase in learning. But it's pointless talking to a scoffer because he'll

hate you while a wise man will love you when you begin to teach him more. The next one

is begin to empty yourself materially and spiritually. As we get older because we are

scared that we are retiring, as we get older because we are scared that we may not earn

an income, as we get older materially and spiritually we stop emptying ourselves. We

did it when we were younger but as we get older we stop doing it because we are scared

now who will help us? Because like Malachi 4.8 says, what does Malachi 4.8 says? That

at 65 I shall abandon thee. We are scared of that. Don't turn to Malachi 4.8. There

is no Malachi 4.8. But the point is we get scared of emptying ourselves. Learn how to

do it again and again. So Jacob, shouldn't we be responsible? We should be good stewards.

We should leave an inheritance for our children. Absolutely. After you give them your inheritance,

learn how to empty yourself again and again. But Jacob, we need to take care of ourselves

and make sure that we have enough money for our retirement. Totally true. But after you

do that, empty yourself again and again. But Jacob, we have needs. We have a mortgage to

pay off. Well then, after you've paid off your mortgage, empty yourself again and again

and again. It's not either or. It's both. And as you get older, it gets harder because

you are scared. Any pushback on that? What we do is as we get older, we invest more and

more. Nothing wrong with that. But if you are investing so that you can empty yourself

again and again, that's more Christ-like. These are not, you know, for some reason,

there's a rumor going around that I said that old people are only meant for praying and

giving. Trust me, I've never said that. And secondly, this is what older people need to

be doing. Emptying myself spiritually is to help people to understand that they are not

able to do it. Here's the thing, guys. How can you empty yourself unless you're filled?

So the moment you say empty yourself spiritually, what you're saying is fill yourself continuously

spiritually so that you can go to empty and fill again. We do that with our cars, right,

till these EVs came along. It was so much fun filling a gas tank. And then it depletes

and you take it to the limit, yeah? Take it to the limit and you keep driving. You know

there's only 50 left, 40 left. You can't do that with EVs. As soon as it hits 15%, Don

is off to a charging station. Doesn't matter how many people are in the car. Doesn't matter

whether his wife is giving birth or not. My EV needs to be charged. Not so with gas cars,

guys. As you age, examine unfinished promises. Ancient paths given you that you haven't walked.

And demand them from God and man. That's what Joshua did in Joshua 14.10. Unfinished promises.

You said that you would give me this land. It hasn't come to pass. 45 years I've waited.

45 years I've waited. I now demand it. I demand it from God and I demand it from you,

more Joshua. I demand it from God and I demand it from you, more Joshua. I demand it from

God and I demand it from you, more Joshua. Caleb said this. As you get older, begin

to look at the promises that were given you that you absolutely know are from God and

that are dying. The thing with promises is it's a song. Dead things come alive. Dead

things come alive in the name of Jesus. So what if the promise looks dead? You think

it can't be revived? We're talking about a God who only understands resurrection. Death

was not something he invented. It was a consequence of sin. He only understands life and resurrection.

Examine unfinished promises. You don't know how fun it is to get older, guys. Okay, that

didn't get any response. As you age, don't back off from challenges or opposition. Do

not choose the broad way. Take the path less walked. Take the path less walked. Take the

path less walked. As you get older, do this because then Jeremiah 12 verse 5 will go

Jeremiah 12:5

into effect where you begin to run with horses and outrun the young and mount up with wings

like eagles. Isaiah 40. Wherever you see, I mean, here's the thing. When you look at

God, God will in the life of any man or woman who is 30 plus, God will put challenges and

oppositions in your path so that you can increase. He will. These are not even tests from the

devil. This is more like God tested Abraham so that he can deliver to him another promise,

another promise, another promise. How do you think new promises are going to come your

way because of a prophetic word? No. New promises are going to come your way because

you finished the last old one. Many of us will die with a sack full of prophetic promises.

But what if God really gives new promises when you finish the one that he gave you last

time? That's how he took Abraham. He would send him from, hey, leave your country, he

goes. Leave your clan, he goes. Leave your family, he does that. Offer your son, he does

that. Challenges. And as these challenges come, he rises to it. And as he rises to it,

new promises are delivered. Genesis 12 has a promise. Genesis 15.1 has a promise.

Yeah. Let me define unfinished promise because one of the things that happens to charismatics

like us is our unfinished promises are all personal. What about unfinished promises that

are meant to affect the world? All our unfinished promises, when we talk about unfinished promises,

the first thing that clicks in your mind and my mind is, God said this would happen to

me and it hasn't happened yet. Yes, it hasn't happened yet. Deal with it. It is good to

talk to him about it. But we are not talking about unfinished promises that are personal.

We are talking about unfinished promises given to us for the sake of somebody else, for the

earth. That's what we are looking at. That's what we desire. When you begin to make a promise,

when you begin to desire that, all other things shall be. So that's the first thing

I wanted to do in answer to Anna's question. Unfinished promises look beyond the personal

promises that have been given to us. Now that we look beyond it, how do we deal with it?

Go argue with God. Contend with him. Climb up the watch tower. Stand there and look for

an answer. Bring him your complaint. Ask him what needs to be changed. Tell him you know

he is fair and perfect, but you're not feeling that he is fair and perfect, even though he

is fair and perfect. How would you deal with a promise that your

dad, your physical biological dad would give? How would you deal with it? You would go and

discuss it with him. You would talk to him about it. You would argue with him, but you

would do it honorably. How is this God any different? When you do that, your dad doesn't

say, you know, you're right, bring me that check. Let me sign it, it's blank. Put whatever

you want. No. He gives it to you in a way that's best for you. This dad is much better.

Here's the question then. Do we have unfinished promises that invite us into some other person?

Person's benefit or the world's benefit? And if you don't, go asking for them, saying,

Jesus, don't want anything for myself. Want something for others. Give me something impossible

for others. Man, those kind of Christians are worth their weight in burgers. Or you

thought I'd say gold?

Next one. As you age, receive God's discipline. As you age, receive God's discipline. As you

age, not receive God's discipline. So your weakness is your weakness. Your weakness is

strengthened. Hebrews 12, verse 12 onwards talks about it. Hebrews 12, verse 12 onwards

Hebrews 12:12 Hebrews 12:12

talks about it. As you age, receive God's discipline. One of the things that happens

as we grow older is there are certain areas of our lives which are weak. It almost gets,

my mom used to do this. She'd say, no, I'm too old now to correct that. Why? Strengthen

the arm that is weak. Strengthen the legs that are weak. In the area that you're weak,

that's where God would love to discipline you. And the moment I say discipline, you're

thinking like some kind of punishment. No. I'm talking about instruction and pruning

that will help me strengthen. While I'm speaking to the 30 pluses, the ones that are below

them, please understand that this is for you also. As I age, this is a very important one.

As I age, forgive offense at lightning speed. As I age, forgive offense at lightning speed.

As I age, forgive offense at lightning speed. As in, erase the memory of it too. Because

sometimes we are able to forgive as Christians, but we can't erase the memory. Because your

ways and your values will be frowned on or challenged. You know, Caleb is here. He's

not here. Caleb was young and I was in the Britain. He's there. Oh my God. Okay, too

bad, Caleb. Caleb was young and I was in his house in the UK and I said something to

him and I said something in him and I thought he listened, but as I walked away, I saw him

and he stuck out his tongue at me. And something rose in me like, how dare he, the little punk?

Who does he think he is? I'm his uncle. Why did he stick out his tongue at me? And all

those thoughts started coming up. It is so easy as you get older when you're not given

the honor or the respect that you're supposed to get. It really bothers you. One of the

things you must learn as you get older is can you forgive offense at lightning speed?

Because if you don't, you will not erase the memory. If I don't erase the memory, the

next time I speak to Caleb, you know what I'll be doing? After I speak to him, I'll

be following him like Nick and Vibi did to see whether he'll be sticking out his tongue.

Because now it's stuck in my memory that this is what he did. He cannot be trusted. And

then all my interactions with him will be based on that one incident. Any questions?

What are we talking about? Why are we talking about this? Because the ones that are 30 plus

must not be like this. That's why you need to build a church that is strong. Another

one. I'll give you three more and then we'll stop. As you age, learn... This is an important

word here. As you age, learn to be foolish and undignified. Learn to be foolish and undignified.

As you age, learn to be foolish and undignified. And if you're young and you still don't know

how to be undignified, learn it because you'll age fast. As you age, learn to be foolish

and undignified. There's a connection between being undignified and foolish and therefore

having God do what he wants. As we age, we get less more and more. Proper. Behavior

age does not apply in Christianity. Any questions? No? Hey Judah, we've got to talk about your

baptism. As you age, may your wisdom... This happens in churches very often. That's why

I'm bringing it up. Like I said, these are intentional teachings. As you age, may your

wisdom not make you absolute. As you age, may your wisdom not make you absolute. As

you age, may your wisdom not make you absolute. As you age, may your wisdom not make you absolute.

Or Ahitofel. The second name we hardly come across, but he was one of Absalom's counselors.

As you age, may your wisdom not make you Absalom or Ahitofel. Go to 2 Samuel 15. 2 Samuel 15.

wisdom instead of bringing people together we are able to bring people

separate because we have the wisdom for it we have the maturity for it we have

the experience for it we have the weight of what we've done about it we have

exploits of the Holy Spirit and then this happens second Samuel 15 to an

Absalom used to rise early and stand beside the way of the gate and when any

man had a dispute to come before the king for judgment Absalom would call him

and say from what city are you and when he said your servant is of such and such

a tribe in Israel Absalom would say to him see your claims are good and right

but there is no man designated by the king to hear you too bad then Absalom

would say oh that I was a judge in the land then every man with a dispute or

cause might come to me and I would give him justice and whenever a man came near

to pay homage to him he would put out his hand and take hold of him and kiss

him Absalom did all did to all of Israel who came to the king for judgment he did

this so Absalom stole the hearts of men of Israel at the end of four years

Absalom said to the king and then the conspiracy continues may you who are

older and who are wiser this applies to leaders it applies to anyone who is over

30 and wiser know may you not do this because that's not how you build a

fortress church that's how you hollow out a fortress church and the other

thing is I hit Ophelia was a very wise man he used to be David's counselor he

goes and joins Absalom if your wisdom is contrary to what is being taught either

come and deal with it with a person who taught it and show the person the error

of his ways but if you cannot do that do not be an Absalom I'm so committed to

building this church as a fortress because of what awaits it that the only

way to sometimes deal with Absalom is to confront Absalom any questions any push

back

I hit Ophelia's in second Samuel 17 verse 14

2 Samuel 17:14

as you aid live your life more publicly as you aid live your life more publicly

I hit Ophelia's

one more we can stop are there some really good points then we need one and

then I'll explain one this is so critical guys expect this if you're 30

the rush of the Spirit to suddenly cause you to do mighty exploits. And when this happens,

do it immediately. One of the things God does with people as they get older is suddenly

the Spirit of God will come upon the person. And you can take a jawbone of an ass and weaponize

it and kill 300 Philistines. You can give birth to things when you're important. It'll

be the sudden movement of the Holy Spirit. When that begins to happen to you, when that

to anyone here who's over 40, oh my God, do not wait. Immediately do it. It's the rush

of the Spirit. It's this special sending of the Holy Spirit upon you for a particular

reason. Do it immediately. Because when we don't, it just drags on, man. We miss opportunities.

You know, every revival that has happened in the world was started by people over 40

amongst the people who were 20s. Hebrides 2.0, classic example. Two women, Peggy and

Sue, what were they doing? Praying. How old were they? 80 plus. Who was the guy who came

to preach? Duncan Campbell. How old was he? 65 plus. He comes to an island and these two

women look at him and say, we don't know if you're really the kind. You don't look like

you really think this is going to happen. Oh God, if this is not the man, they have

the guts to pray while he's standing there. Oh God, if this is not the man, send us the

right man because he doesn't look the type. He was so embarrassed that he decided he better

go and be the type. So he goes and here's the thing. He's at a conference preaching

when the Spirit of God says, go to Bannerus. And so he gets up halfway through the conference,

doesn't finish his assignment and goes to this island. And then these women call him

out like this. And so he goes and he begins to preach. And as he's preaching, nothing

is happening. And he's thinking to himself, boy, this is really going sour. And then one

young man stands up and he begins to pray. And the Spirit of God descends upon that village

and Hebrides 1.0 starts. Every revival on the face of the earth was started by people

over 40 and 50. When your church gets younger, never lament the fact that, oh, we are not

wanted anymore. That's just, I wish certain words were actually kosher. I would use them,

but I can't. To think like that, that as the church gets younger, we, the older ones,

don't have a place. Man, they are getting here because of what you have already done.

And you better not stop till you die. Once you begin to age, don't look for belonging.

Oh, I don't feel like I belong. Forget that. We're not looking for belonging. As you age,

the question is not whether you belong. It's whether you're a pillar that is willingly

able to carry the weight of the house. Hear me again. Once you begin to age, as in once

you cross the 30, 35, 40 mark, you're not looking to see whether I belong. You're looking

to see, please make me a pillar in this church so that my frailty can carry the weight of

this church. That's what you want. When acceptance is an issue with the older brother, it usually

ends up in resentment. Hear me again. When acceptance is an issue with the older brother,

it usually ends up in resentment. Repent of it. I have to close because I said I will.

See you tomorrow. 7 p.m. If you need prayer, there will be people here to pray with you.

You won't see the guys from Bahrain next week. So you can say bye to them. Otherwise, let

me just pray. Father, as we listen to this teaching, one can feel like we're not in the

right place. Some of the points can feel like you're being clubbed. But this is not a clubbing

about this. This is just putting it straight out saying, if this is where you're at, change

because what I'm about, I'm not talking about me, I'm talking about you. What I'm about

is building a fortress church and I will not compromise on it. I would prefer talking about

faith, Father, but you will get what you want. We will change to give you what you want.

Spirit of God, you alone can take something that's sometimes hard-hitting, sometimes a

sharp, harsh rebuke and turn it into something that may still hurt, but it feels like I need

to change in this area. Only you can do it. I prayed, I asked you today before I taught

this, oh God, help me to do it in a way that doesn't compromise it, but not using this

as a bully pulpit to despise or dismiss. The only reason I'm praying it out loud is so

that people know where it's coming from. But if there are ones that are bruised, I pray

that you would help them with their bruise, but that you would not let them free. That

you would work on their hearts and say, he's talking about you. While you take away the

bruise of a, may your finger, Holy Spirit, bring correction. May it begin with me. That

sounds like a really pious sentence. May it begin with me, oh Lord. But really, could

you please hold the teacher responsible? And you said that teachers better be careful because

what they teach, they'll be held responsible for. So hold me responsible, but do not take

your finger off this church, Holy Spirit. Put the finger where the heart needs to feel

the cold from heaven's hurt on the lips hurts. I pray that you would do that, Spirit of God.

Starting with my lips, but any set of lips here that need to feel the burn of heaven,

let it happen through these sets of teachings. That will only give us one choice. Turn and

align with what you want to do or, I don't know what the or is, Father. I'll just leave

it at the sign of hope. Turn and align. May that happen to my life and the lives of this

church. That's what I ask for now. In Jesus' name, amen. Cool? Feel free to come up for

prayer, guys. I know you've been coming for the last three days or three and a half days.

Edwin, you can get up and leave because I might go on.