Ruah - Part 4

Music

We can read to them today's...

Be Free

And then perhaps after that, Be Fire. Not Be On Fire, Be Fire. Basically, Be Free first.

Yeah, so if you go to John 7, verse 38, John 7, 38, John 7, 38.

John 7:38

It says,

Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.

Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.

And so this idea of rivers of living water contains in it the idea of what we have been talking about, what Jeremy mentioned,

zest, life, space, light.

What do all these have in common? The one thing they have in common is joy.

You cannot have zest, you cannot have life, the God kind of life, you cannot have space, you cannot have light if there is no joy in it.

It's a critical element, eh? And it frees us.

We talked about this two days ago, so I want to continue from there.

This really looks good, Matt. Even my writing is improving.

So, at least for now. So when you talk about rivers of living water, I had a picture of a river just in full flow.

Everything about it has zest in it, has space in it, has life in it, has light in it.

And the one common thing that's common to zest, life, space and light is this thing called joy.

Even obedience without joy is something that God doesn't think much of.

In fact, in Isaiah he says that if you're obedient and willing, you eat the good of the land.

And willingness has to come with joyful obedience.

So this idea of living a life of zest is impossible without joy, impossible without joy.

And we're going to take this further and it's going to trouble us, just like yesterday troubled us. Yeah?

So, if we were to define joy then, it is a good feeling.

It is a good feeling in the soul, produced by the Spirit,

as He causes us to see the splendor or the beauty of Christ in the world,

in His works, in His Word.

It is a good feeling. So let's not pretend that joy is something internal and that it's not a feeling.

Joy is a feeling. How do you feel about joy?

It is a good feeling. So let's not pretend that joy is something internal and that it's not a feeling.

Joy is a feeling. Happiness is a feeling.

Sometimes those words intermingle and yes, we can divide them and put them separately, but that's not the intent here.

We are talking about something that is felt, expressed, shared.

And if it cannot be felt, expressed, shared, it's not joy.

It is a good feeling in the soul, produced by the Spirit,

as He causes us to see sometimes the splendor or the beauty of Christ as knee is driving through the mountains.

As someone else here talked about reading the Word and finding out more.

Others talked about the works of God, how things happen in their lives.

So be it works, world or word, it is a good feeling that the soul produces by the Spirit,

that is produced in the soul by the Spirit as He causes us to see.

Any questions on that one?

Which then means one of two things.

Either when I'm lacking in joy, it's because I'm blinded or I'm distracted by something else.

Because He'll always do it. He'll always bring these three things to the front.

Because He is the most exuberant, joyful being in the entire universe.

Joy would not exist if He did not exist.

He's the most joyful being in the universe.

It's such a part of who He is.

And so every time I'm not able to see, it's not because He's not showing,

it is because I'm either blind to it because of my circumstances

or I'm distracted by other smaller things than the main thing.

It's one or the other.

Which means then that you can practice seeing it so that you can be in this place of zest, light, life, space.

But trust me, without that, it is not possible to have a life full of zest,

a dynamic life as we said on the first day.

Psalm 96, verse 11 to 13 from the message reads this way.

Psalms 96:11–13

Psalm 96, because even creation is up to the task.

Psalm 96, if I read from the message, verse 11 to 13,

Let's hear it from the sky with earth joining in and a huge round of applause from the sea.

Let wilderness turn cartwheels, animals come dance,

put every tree of the forest in the choir and extravaganza before God as He comes,

as He comes to set everything right on earth, set everything right, treat everyone fair.

There's this idea of creation, of the trees clapping,

the mountains beginning to shout, the oceans beginning to roar.

It's almost this idea of creation saying, hey, children of God, come into the dance.

We are inviting you into the dance. Come join.

You of all the people should be the most expressive of the Lord

because you have the source, the person who is ultimate joy.

Thank you for breaking out into just ridiculous laughter and joy.

I know it's hard for us, but this must change. It must change.

I pray God that it changes today.

That scales fall off our eyes and as scales fall off our eyes, we get up and we are baptized in fire.

That our eyes open.

That we consider the cultures we come from so secondary,

that we consider our family background so secondary,

that we consider our denominational streams so secondary,

that we consider our own clumsiness so secondary for the sake of one who is joy

and who needs bodies, hands, mouths, muscles to express who He is.

Even though He was a man of sorrows, He was the most joyful being on earth.

He was a man of sorrows because He was taking on our sorrows.

But a man cannot get along with fishermen, prostitutes, tax collectors if he ain't funny.

So creation is saying, hey, I'm inviting you into the dance.

You're the children of God. We are in bondage, but at least you are liberated.

But this is what the Bible says continuously, continuously that mountains burst with joy,

brooks bubble with laughter, trees clap their hands,

and creation is sending out an invitation saying, what are you waiting for?

Come join the dance.

Not come join the muscle twitch, come join the dance.

The muscle twitch is what you cannot see, but my knee is moving.

You see?

We're not talking about muscle twitches. We are talking about so much more.

Joy is the happiness. Joy is the happiness that...

Joy is the happiness that we experience, that we experience over a treasure, over a treasure we love.

And it makes us willing to sell everything to have it.

Joy is the happiness we experience over a treasure.

And so the question is, what makes you joyful?

Check this out, eh? There is nobody here.

I mean, if you're alive, then there is nobody here that does not have, at some point, joy over something.

This week, there was nobody here that did not experience joy over something.

And the reason you experience joy over something,

be it May skiing down at 90 kilometers down Manning Park,

or whether it's Evan suddenly realizing, shucks, I can drum,

or whether it's Brandon pulling out songs randomly and on his knees fixing flags.

I don't know what it is, or eating a burger, or bok choy.

It doesn't matter what it is. Don't all look at him.

It doesn't matter what it is. There is nobody here who hasn't found some happiness over a treasure that we love.

The question is, what is that treasure?

What is that treasure?

And if you and I can allow the Holy Spirit to do the work, to complete the work that he has already started,

then there will be one man central to our joy, and you won't be able to take your eyes away from him.

For some of us, it may be our children. For some of us, it may be our spouses.

For some of us, it may be a dog. And for some of us, it may be that other animal.

It doesn't matter.

Any questions on these two statements?

What's my treasure?

I was asking this question to myself, and I very modestly and humbly say to you,

have my treasure as him and his will.

I find no greater joy. No greater joy.

No aircraft, no canuts, no burger compares to the joy I derive from him and doing his will.

It's the greatest pleasure. And I'm saying to you, it's your pleasure too.

Otherwise, you wouldn't be here. At least not four nights in a row.

It's your greatest pleasure. It's just that we need to be reminded of it so that he stays there.

There is no greater pleasure than enough for you.

Nothing else matters to you, Mr. Butler. Nothing. It is our greatest pleasure.

Do not let pride, offense, inferiority, complexes, hurt crowd out this thing called joy.

Because there were people in 1 Thessalonians 1, 6. There were people in 2 Corinthians 8, 2 that were suffering.

That were being squished and squashed and trampled over.

And the Bible says, in their sorrow and in their abject poverty,

they had the ability by the Spirit to overflow with great generosity and great joy by the Holy Spirit.

We do not have an excuse because none of us are going through stuff like that.

Sorry to hear. I sometimes shout.

1 Thessalonians 1, 6 and 2 Corinthians 8, 2.

Kids sometimes ask why Jacob shouts.

There are many different reasons. Give them the best you can.

Any questions, guys?

Therefore, now we answer the questions we asked 2 days ago.

Are you able to rejoice if you have to give away or if you have to,

if it costs you time, resources and even your life to serve God or the faith of another, are you willing to give it away?

I would say this church, if asked in the quiet one-on-one, you would say yes.

That it is absolutely worth it for you to give away money, time, resources and even parts of your life.

If it means that God will be pleased and someone else will benefit and come to faith, you will do it.

I'm not trying to encourage you. I'm not trying to flatter you. I'm not trying to make you feel good.

But we have come to a point where you would do it and you would do it joyfully.

You've done it many times. But now we're going to rise up as a people and do this, saying this is our life.

Our life is meant to be spent for him and for the faith of another.

That resources, costs, money, time will be spent by us as a people, as an individual,

for the sake of a Dilna or a Mark or a Jacob or a Honey or a Hip, that we will do it.

It's so worth it. So worth it. So worth it.

And sometimes it takes a village to raise one. So be it. Be that village.

It is so worth it. And we are there, guys.

Don't back off from this, eh? Just get poured on by fire and lit.

Here's the thing, though. If joy is unexpressed, if joy is unexpressed,

if joy is unshared, if joy is unsacrificial, it becomes not a river but an algae-covered pond.

Joy when it is unexpressed, joy when it is unshared,

joy when it is unsacrificial, it's no longer flowing. It becomes stagnant. It gets covered by muck.

And by shared, I don't mean on X or WhatsApp. I mean shared. Joy must be shared.

So now you know where we are heading this evening.

What does it look like to be expressive, to be sharing joy, to be free, to be sacrificial?

Any questions?

How is it different between unexpressed and shared?

Unexpressed is when joy is personal but it cannot get past clenched teeth.

Shared is when you invite other people into your joy.

That's something God does continuously. The Holy Spirit, every time He meets with us.

I mean, Jesus put it this way. Listen, come into my joy.

I have told you these things so that you may partake of, share of my joy.

He didn't say of my holiness. He didn't say of my love.

He said, I have said these things to you ahead of time so that you may partake or share of my joy.

It's what heaven is about. It's a reward.

Eden was like that. Heaven will be like that. We are caught in between.

But we are supposed to show who this God is. Psalm 4, 7.

In the message it says it this way.

People go on shopping sprees and they want more and more.

But I have a God who is more than enough and His joy is better than all the shopping sprees you can go on.

Psalm 4, verse 7, message.

Psalms 4:7

The simpler version is, my God, I am more joyful than all these guys who bring in the harvest.

Very happy that they collected a lot of grain.

What is God trying to say? If you want to show me off to the world, show them how joyful you are.

Please understand, if you want to show me off to the world, you must show it with joy.

My love is joyful. My rest is joyful. My peace is joyful.

My companionship is joyful. My intimacy is joyful.

Worship in heaven is joyful.

Any questions? Imagine getting a spouse like that. Go ahead.

Well, Matt, this is one of those few things I can't take credit for, even if I tried.

Where was that before Joan Shedder Joy?

No, I don't want to be that joyful.

Everything he does is joyful. It's like everything, guys.

And so we do have a problem, don't we?

We have like a wet blanket, usually.

I think it's FCC's fault. I think when other churches come, they let the wet blanket down.

Because every time we come here, other than the time of worship, there's not much expression, right?

All righty, moving on so that it gets worse.

George Muller, the one who built that amazing orphanage in Bristol and would take care of tons of children,

not knowing where things would come from. This is his line.

The first and primary business of the day is to have my soul happy in the Lord.

The first and primary business of the day was to have my soul happy in the Lord.

Imagine finding a spouse like this, whose love is joyful, rest is joyful, whose peace is joyful, whose face is joyful.

Oh my God, if you find a person like that, marry him on the spot, or marry her on the spot.

Yeah.

This is when husbands should jump up and say, my wife is like that.

You would have gotten so many brownie points, man.

Okay.

Joy needs permission and grace.

Matt?

So what should I do?

It would be much easier if you came up here, Brandon.

I'm finding that I'm getting less and less tech savvy as I grow older.

Joy needs permission and grace to be undignified.

Joy needs permission and grace to be undignified.

Ever met anyone who is joyful, who behaves dignified?

Nope.

Most joy, when it's really expressed, is undignified.

But we have to give joy permission so that we can be undignified.

Undignified is not jumping, undignified is not shouting, undignified is not laughing, undignified is not any of those things, and yet all of those things.

But joy needs permission and grace.

Permission so that I am free to be undignified.

We'll look at one scripture and then we'll end and then go into trying and being undignified, just so you know what's coming next.

This is the best time to leave.

So joy needs permission to be undignified.

As in, can I give myself permission where I do not care anymore about restricting my freedom as I celebrate before God and to God alone?

Can I give myself permission?

And then the grace to be undignified.

As in, if someone else is not, can I be gracious not to hone in on that, focus on that, but realize that all of us will go through this process whereby we will one day come to the place where David was?

Go to 2 Samuel 6 22.

2 Samuel 6 22.

Here's what David says.

David returns and Michael, his wife, says, man, for a king, you sure made a fool of yourself dancing naked before these servant girls of mine.

And here's what David says.

The first thing he says, and I've taken it from many different versions, is that I was dancing before the Lord who chose me.

And I will celebrate him.

I will celebrate him all I want.

That's the first statement.

This is not a new issue, guys.

We've had this issue since more than 3,000 years.

But here was the first statement.

I was dancing before the Lord who chose me.

It doesn't have to be dancing.

What about when there's no dancing involved?

What does it look like for joy to be expressed?

But in his case, in 2 Samuel 6 22, he says, I was dancing before the Lord who chose me.

And he's telling her, listen, your dad and your family was chosen.

But then remember that your dad has been replaced.

Your family has been replaced.

He chose me.

I'm an ordinary shepherd boy.

I've been chosen by him.

Why will I not celebrate all I want before him?

And then he goes on to say, I am willing to look more foolish, more reckless,

and become more undignified, more contemptible, more shameful than this.

And even to be humiliated in my own eyes.

And these girls that you talk about will honor me.

This is where we're going, guys, tonight.

I realize it makes us queasy because what does that mean?

What am I supposed to do?

I don't like doing this.

All that may be true, but this is where we're going.

Where are we going?

I am willing to look more foolish.

What does more foolish look like?

In your case, what does more foolish look like?

This is not more foolish for me.

I do this every Sunday.

So what does more foolish look like?

But more than foolishness, what is it when you become childlike and free?

That is where I must focus on.

What is it to be childlike and free before God?

What is it when you play with your dog?

What is it when you run around sofas behind a cat?

What is it when you get excited about a lemon tree or a few roses budding?

What is it when Nathan McKinnon scored a goal today against Finland?

The point being this, guys, what is it to be a little child that is free?

Think along those lines and then think, I am willing to look more foolish,

become more reckless, become more indignified, more contemptible, more shameful than this,

and even to be humiliated in my own eyes where I realize, boy, this is getting really bad,

but this is really good.

Any questions before we go on to the last bit?

Everybody wants to be a man after God's own hat and be like David.

Well, our chance has finally come.

Any questions?

Listen to this.

The undignified carry the heartbeat of heaven.

They are unafraid to be misunderstood.

Do you know how many of us sitting here live in the absolute fear of being misunderstood?

It is the worst thing that can happen to you.

Oh my God, I was misunderstood.

You know how we are paralyzed by that, how we always want to be understood.

The undignified carry the heartbeat of heaven.

They're not afraid, unafraid to be misunderstood, unafraid to be misunderstood.

Rejected.

Mocked.

Why?

Because you are lovers of God.

That's why.

The undignified are forerunners of freedom.

You know, 2010, not 2010, 2009, Acts 29, Ross Street and Marine had a Southall.

We used to meet there.

Eddie, some of you have met him, came and was leading worship

and encouraging us to respond to God physically, not just in singing.

Nobody was moving.

We only had about 10 men in the church and maybe 15 women.

And then a man who is Persian, who was older than many of us, who was quiet,

who was almost docile, who would never move, is sitting in the back.

And as Eddie keeps preaching, he gets up.

He gets up and he comes shouting and running and starts running around the church

as if something happened to him.

As soon as that happened, the rest of the men in the church got up

and we started going round and round, literally like kids do when they go,

that's what we started doing.

And I'm scratching my head thinking, you better join too.

And so I jumped in too.

And I remember thinking to myself, how did this man suddenly get that?

He was the last one you would think.

I thought we'd have to get horses to get him to join.

But he was the first and he triggered something.

The point being, the undignified carry the heartbeat of heaven.

The undignified carry the heartbeat of heaven.

There's something about being undignified that allows you to react to God immediately.

You stop thinking. You stop thinking of being misunderstood.

You stop thinking of being mocked or rejected.

You stop thinking and reasoning, how will I look?

How is this going to appear?

They immediately respond and in their immediate response, they're usually clumsy,

but it triggers everything else.

They are forerunners of freedom.

You've heard me talk about the wildebeest in South Africa.

They just graze in huge fields, 30 or 40,000.

And then one day, seven or eight of them start pouring the ground.

And they start snorting and they start running.

But the rest of the herd stays still.

They don't go after them.

And it happens day after day after day, till on the fifth day,

they start running and they don't stop.

And the entire herd starts running after them.

We're not talking about dancing for worship.

We're talking about being undignified in our response to God.

Forerunners of freedom, the ability to hear the heartbeat of heaven.

We cannot do this being polite, considerate, kind, dignified.

It does not work.

Heaven is meant to disrupt the earth.

But the earth is beginning to put a shield around us, seed around our lives,

so that we begin to try to make heaven happen, coated in a seed called the earth.

It's not possible.

Not possible.

Why leave this for the last day?

Because this is a breakout day.

It's a breakout day.

As in everything we have learned, now breakout, breakout of the seed.

Everything we have learned requires us to take risks, to step out,

to be what we have never been.

It is hard.

All of us will not be doing the same thing.

I don't know what each of us will be doing.

But you can't escape it.

You can't escape it because what God is doing in our midst has already started.

And you will not want to miss out.

Because nobody here that foolish.

Forerunners of freedom.

You refuse to let fear, you refuse to let fear masquerade as light.

Where you say, oh, it's not my culture.

No, no, no.

We're not talking about jumping.

We're talking about being undignified and free.

We're talking about being childlike.

I don't know what that looks for each of us.

We have to decide that we're going to break out of the earthly suit that we have put on ourselves

that is so difficult to break out of.

And it's not a one-time event.

This has to be forever.

And here's the crazy thing.

Once we start going down this road, as you step out, as we step out,

as we step out, I really want us to step out, as we step out, a chain reaction will begin.

We keep talking about inviting others into the circle of abundance, of joy and dancing.

It does not happen.

But a chain reaction begins when we begin to step out.

And then a wildfire of authenticity, a wildfire of authenticity and a boldness spreads to every fearful and desperate heart.

Because there are hearts that really want to step out, but they don't know how.

And you come along and you show them what it is to live free.

Any questions?

I love that line, a wildfire of authenticity.

I'm not copying anybody.

I'm not dancing unto you.

I'm not singing unto you.

I'm not laughing unto you.

I'm not smiling unto you.

But to him.

Why?

Because he chose me.

He saved me.

He saved me.

He saved me.

He saved me.

He saved me.

He saved me.

He chose me.

And I will celebrate my joy expressively before him.

And you will see it and you will say, oh my God, he seems to know his God.

He seems to enjoy his God.

I've never seen a mother come and say, yeah, had a baby.

Never seen that before.

It's like, come sit.

Let me show you my videos of the baby.

And I have to tell them I've seen it four times.

No, no, see it one more time.

You missed parts.

Oh my God.

It's never done.

Vidisha, please, I can't see it one more time, yeah?

I'm just kidding.

She hasn't done anything like that.

So as we enter a time of worship, why do I write down everything?

Why couldn't I just say it and then move on?

This is getting terrible.

You know how much I could teach if I wasn't writing?

As we enter a time of worship and freedom, and freedom,

I'm trusting that a river will flow upon us first and then out of us.

So if you want to see the river that God wants to flow upon us,

go to Daniel 7, verse 10.

Daniel 7:10

If you want to see the river that flows out of us, go to John 7, 38.

Just check it out.

The first river that he wants to have flow in our midst is from Daniel 7, verse 10.

Daniel 7:10

It says,

He sat on a fiery throne with wheels of blazing fire,

and a river of fire was pouring out, flowing from his presence.

That is what I pray will touch me today.

Guys, I need this as badly as you.

I need to be more foolish, more reckless, more humiliated in my own eyes,

more contemptible, more undignified,

because I want to be as childlike as I have ever been in my life.

I want to be like Judah. I want to be like Emmanuel.

I want to be like Phoebe when she was small.

I want to be like just...

First, let the fire from the throne of God flow,

and then let the river from inside you flow.

Be touched by it. God will be faithful. God will be faithful.

He's going to do this, otherwise I wouldn't say it to you.

If you read Luke 3, 16, and we'll end with that from the message.

Luke 3, 16. Come to me.

Luke 3, 16 from the message.

But John the Baptist intervened.

I'm baptizing you here in the river.

The main character in this drama, to whom I'm a mere stagehand,

will ignite the kingdom life, a fire, the Holy Spirit within you,

changing you from inside out.

So Holy Spirit, I have delivered what you asked me to say,

and now let fire flow from heaven, because you are faithful,

touching hearts here, not having us do certain actions,

but setting our hearts free to embrace undignified joy.

Embrace joy and embrace the idea of being undignified.

No more properness, because heaven cannot be contained in properness.

You know, in Germany, there are high churches and there are low churches.

High churches have a lot of high litany and all this stuff.

It's very formal. Which would you prefer, guys?

Would you prefer a high church or would you prefer a low church?

I would prefer a low church any day. You know why?

Because our God, even though He's high and lifted up, is a Father.

I want to dance before my Father, and when I dance before my Father,

I do not try to maintain my dignity.

And this is what David knew.

And so whatever I do today, as we are worshipping,

it may not be an action, but it will be the freedom of the heart, man.

And the freedom of the heart is always expressed in action.

And if you are struggling with it, break past the struggle.