Witness - Part 2

Part two today of what we started last week.

We started a new series called Witness.

And so this is part two.

And I just want to recap some of the things that we need to remember from last week.

And so here's the recap.

To witness, who is a witness?

A witness is a person with experience and knowledge.

It has to be both.

It can't be one.

Vivek, you're OK?

OK, just checking.

Oh, Sheldon asked me to sit with him.

I was wondering why you came from the last row to the first row.

Yeah.

I thought deep conviction or something.

No.

Same.

OK.

OK.

I hope your wife is watching.

OK.

So who's a witness?

A witness is a person with experience and knowledge.

It's not enough to have knowledge.

You have to have experience and knowledge.

And we talked about it last week.

So I won't go over that.

But it's a person with experience and knowledge that can help establish the truth of some

fact that might be in dispute or that might be doubted, helps establish the truth of some

fact that might be disputed.

That's who a witness is.

It doesn't matter.

We're not talking about Christianity.

We're just talking about the definition for the word witness.

And then we said that we are here to bear witness.

We are here to bear witness to three things.

One, we are here to bear witness to who he is, what he did, and what he is doing.

Who he is establishes the godness of him.

What he did establishes the salvation and the savior part of what he did, the redeeming part,

the redemption part.

What he does is your story where he continues to do things in your life.

All three have to be part of the equation.

If someone says I know who God is and what he did and you can't talk about what he's

presently doing in your life, then who God is and what he did is really not effective

in your life.

It's always his story that continues in us.

It never ends.

Then we said that the power of the spirit is present where bearing witness is practiced.

Wherever someone practices bearing witness, and that's what we did last week, doesn't

matter whether it was with Davant and me at Starbucks or with the girls at the blends

or the boys at Central Park.

Every time someone makes a clumsy attempt at bearing witness to who he is, what he did,

and what he does, the power of the spirit is present.

The spirit of God can be resisted, but he will be present.

That's a crazy thing.

In all the situations that we spoke about today and we didn't speak about today, be

the Indian lady the Hanamari met, be someone else met, at the end of the day, every time

you open your mouth to tell anybody who he is, what he did, and what he is doing, at

once the spirit of God is present and that is your only hope.

There is no convincing anybody.

There's only convicting by the spirit.

All of us are here in this place because the spirit of God convicted us because of words

people spoke.

Crazy.

Each of us is the result of what the spirit of God did when someone spoke.

And some of us were hard nuts to crack and are still hard nuts to crack.

And it still worked.

Chava is thinking, why am I looking at him?

For obvious reasons, Chava.

So, kidding man.

So, and you might think why am I looking at you?

So, just so you know, this is how it works.

And then finally we talked about Acts 26, 17 and 18, which should be one of the scriptures

we learn by heart.

And it says that I, as in God is saying to Paul and he's saying to us, I am sending you

out so that you can open their eyes.

We open eyes, we bring light with the words of the gospel or the good news of Christ.

The gospel is simply the good news of what Christ did.

And we talked about it last week.

We open eyes and we open hearts.

We undo blindness through the words that we speak.

It is the opening of eyes through the words that we speak.

And the words that we speak bear testimony to who he is, what he did and what he does.

That's how we open eyes.

When we open eyes, what happens?

People turn from darkness to light.

People are delivered from the power of Satan to the power of God.

And then two things happen.

They experience the forgiveness of sins and they receive a place in the family of God.

What a gift to give mankind.

What a gift to give mankind.

It's crazy.

And who does he trust this enormous task to?

To people like you and I.

This is the foolishness of God.

This is the foolishness of God.

That he takes such a precious thing and places it absolutely confident that he is on the

path to victory.

He places it in our hands.

This is the beauty of it.

Who does all the work?

The Spirit of God.

Who does all the work?

Us.

We are partners in this work.

We are partners in this work.

God has chosen not to do it without us.

We have to realize we can't do it without him going to work in the hearts of men.

We do the visible thing.

He does the invisible thing.

We do it clumsily.

He does it brilliantly.

He takes your clumsy words and he brings light.

So everybody who went out this week, and sometimes we need pressure to do it, left to ourselves,

we'll probably not do it.

And yes, we're going to do it again next week.

We have to get over the awkwardness, the obnoxiousness of tearing down someone's privacy and telling

them about Christ.

It's difficult.

And so this week we'll do it again.

Any questions on these?

It's powerful what happens to clumsy words and awkward people.

That's how we all got saved.

Oh, by the way, there are some new guys here.

Emily's mom Shirley's been here before.

Elle is sitting next to Sen.

Her real name is Elior, but you can call her Elle.

No, it's not Elle.

It's Eliora.

I missed out one word.

So it's far easier calling her Elle.

You don't mistake the name then.

So that's Elle.

Elle, you want to turn around and do the royal bow?

And then I think there's someone next to Janelle or…

Sorry, I can't hear you.

She's Melissa.

Hi, she's Melissa.

Yeah.

And Karen, you brought someone along.

Good to see you, Mike.

I hope you're well.

Can you hear us?

Sorry, Mike.

I just had to do that.

It's been a while since I saw you.

Yeah.

Trust Mike to come up with something when you treat him well.

Yeah.

Okay.

My notes have flown away.

Okay, so when we witnessed, we do two things.

So we're starting today's…

When we witnessed, we do two things.

So we announce…

That's what we were trying to do this week.

Two, we exchange.

So we announce who he is, but we also exchange, as in we tell people what they can exchange.

And so if you look at Isaiah 61, for example, we see there that there are five proclamations

and five instidoffs.

So on one hand, there's a proclaiming of liberty to the captives.

There's the proclaiming of the good news to the poor.

On the other hand, there are five instidoffs.

Instead of sorrow, I'll give you joy.

Instead of prison, I'll give you freedom.

There are five instidoffs and five announcements.

So in our witnessing, always remember, it's not enough to tell them who he is.

It's also to help them exchange what they want to.

Yeah?

And this week, that's what we'll attempt.

We'll try and exchange what they have.

So we'll go a step further than we went this week.

And so this exchange is only possible if we force the devil to let go.

Why is this important?

If you turn to Colossians 1.13, you see that...

Just go to 2 Corinthians 4.4 and Colossians 1.13.

First, 2 Corinthians 4.4.

We need to understand that people are being held captive by a real person called the devil.

He's not a figment of our imagination.

I know you know that, but there are people who actually...

I met Pentecostals who think he's a figment of our imagination.

I don't understand that.

Colossians 4.4.

Now go to...

What was the other scripture I gave you?

Colossians 1.13.

Colossians 1.13.

Colossians 1.13.

So you see there that the rescue is actually from a dominion or a kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of light.

So we are finding it difficult to go up to people and speak to them.

And you must understand the resistance and the rejection is part of the war we are waging.

In the bargain is the rescue of actual human beings from one kingdom into the other.

The clearer it gets in your head, the more determined you will be in the process.

The clearer it gets in your head, the more determined we become.

That as we sit there, and I reject it, sometimes despised, sometimes mocked, sometimes scorned, sometimes received,

that what is actually happening is a tussle between a person being delivered from something called the dominion of darkness into the dominion of the sun.

Dominion is the same word for kingdom.

And so at risk is someone, and that's why it is difficult. It's not easy.

But at some point we are able to make the words that bring light and suddenly the blindness is lifted.

Suddenly one gets converted. Every time you think it's difficult, think of yourself.

Think of yourself. How difficult was it for people to get you from where you are to where you are now?

I mean, I remember how difficult it was for people. People stopped fasting and praying for me, saying it's no use.

I know how difficult it was to move Pawan from where he is to where he is at today.

But a lot of people were praying and a lot of people were speaking.

I mean, I look at Vivek and I can't even imagine how difficult it must have been to move him.

This is what happens if you sit in the first row.

So if we force the devil to let go, he lets go.

But our weapons of warfare are words, prayer, sometimes logic, because God is very logical, truth.

What he did, which seems foolish but is the only way to salvation, and what he's doing in your life.

These are what delivers most people. Besides this, there's the instead of, where you pray for someone,

where you say something to someone and it just clicks and it opens their lives.

We know this. It's just putting it together.

If we force the devil to let go of people, he lets them go.

This is very, very old. What did God say to Moses? Tell Pharaoh to do what? Let my people go.

It's very old. The same captivity that existed now, existed then exists now.

Let my people go. Let my people go.

And so every time you do that, he's forced to let go.

What are our weapons? Our weapons are words, prayer, logic. God is logical.

Truth, and what he did and what he's doing in your life.

And then the last one is instead of. That's besides the announcement.

Instead of is when you put into action the confidence that you have in God, that he can turn someone's situation around.

That's crazy. That's when people find out whether you actually believe in your God or not.

We are putting your confidence in the God you said is a friend, a father, a healer, a pain remover, a history maker.

That is when people think, oh shucks, he's putting his money where his mouth is.

And we will have opportunities this week to try this.

And we can't do a thing. It's entirely the work of the Spirit.

Any questions on this before we go on?

So then if we know we are working against a kingdom or a dominion that holds people captive,

how should we be?

This is not imagination, guys. Look at the scriptural, Acts 26, 17, 18.

I am sending you to open their eyes so that they turn from darkness to light,

from the power of Satan to God, to receive forgiveness of sins and a place in God's family.

That's why I am sending you. It's very real.

Pardon?

No, this is what I'm pointing at, Acts 26, 17 and 18.

So that is what God is doing.

So what kind of a lifestyle should we then live if we know we are working against a dominion that holds people captive?

I can give you tons of scriptures that prove that, but I don't think you need that.

The first thing we need to know is Revelation 12, 11.

How do we overcome this enemy that holds people captive?

So if you realize, here's what it says, they overcame him, they overcame him because the Lamb gave his life's blood for them.

At some point during the series, we will talk about how everybody now belongs to Christ,

but they can choose whether they serve him or not.

There is nobody who is any longer belonging to someone else.

Everyone, the price has been paid. There's nobody whose ransom has not been paid.

Everybody now belongs to him. He actually exerts claim over them by paying a price for them.

But whether they choose to serve him or not is the free will that he offers to them despite having paid a price for them.

It's just completely nuts.

So at some point during the series, we'll talk about the claim that Christ has on your neighbor, on the communist, on the Buddhist,

on the Hindu, on the Republican, on the Democrat, the claim he has over them.

That he, she belongs to me and then he gives them the choice, but they must know the choice and that is where we come in.

We are telling them that someone has paid the price, you belong to them, do you want to serve them?

That's what we are telling them. The good news is everybody has been paid for.

Ones not born yet have been paid for. It's crazy. The logic of it is crazy.

And so here's how they overcame the devil. They overcame him because they knew that the lamb gave his life's blood for them.

Second, they overcame him by giving witness about Jesus to others.

This is Revelation 12, 11. I'm just quoting directly from the NIRV. I'm not adding anything to it.

They overcame him by giving witness about Jesus to the others.

First, they knew that everybody has been paid for by the blood of the lamb.

Second, they began to give witness to it. And third, they did not care too much for their lives.

They were willing to risk their lives even if it led to death.

We don't have that. We are risking our lives in having people despise us, people reject us.

We are risking our lives in terms of us feeling bad. And it's not a small deal. It's a big deal.

But this is just the beginning. There are people in different countries that are risking their lives unto death so that someone gets saved.

But this is sure defeat for the enemy of our souls. This is what defeats them.

It just completely takes away any advantage he has. And we will work towards this.

Step by step by step we will work towards this. Where courage will begin to grow. Where the stakes will be recognized.

It's very difficult, guys. Persecution is different in different places. In some places it's death.

In other places it's a cancer of silence. The cancer of silence.

We are saying that... We're not saying Christianity is exclusive. We are saying Christ is exclusive.

Christianity is open to all. But Christ is exclusive in that the claims he makes are claims that no other god or religion can make.

And in a society that despises exclusivity and emphasizes plurality, this is very, very difficult. You don't know what you're against.

It's not easy what we're doing. Sure, you're not being thrown into prison.

But you must understand that the force of everything around you, that the zeitgeist or the spirit of the world that we live in,

smothers anything that is exclusive. Suffocates it. So what you're doing is credible. It's applaudable.

It is the only way to overcome. NIRV, Revelations 12-11. You know what 12-10 says?

12-10 says, hey, I want you guys to know that the salvation of God, the kingdom of God, and the authority of Christ has come.

And the accuser, as in Satan, has been kicked out. Now that you know it, go overcome. How?

By knowing that Christ's life blood has been poured out for everybody, that you must bear witness and the Holy Spirit will be there immediately.

And three, love your life a little less. Start there. Don't die. But at least love life a little less. Start there.

Any questions? It's a lifestyle, guys, that we're trying to develop. So many things in this church have become a lifestyle.

What an amazing piece to add to our life. What an amazing piece to add to our lives.

We love it. We've loved everything else God has put into our lives. It's become part of our culture.

When this gets added, all those things we've longed for. Because remember, wherever you bear witness, there the Spirit of God turns up.

And if he turns up, he bears witness to our witness, which is what Mark 16, verse 18-20 said.

Mark 16:18–20

And they went out and began to preach the good news. And God worked with them, endorsing what they spoke with signs and wonders.

Have longed for it, right? Now as we go out, on one hand we should say to the world, let my people go, and on the other hand in the church we should say, let my people go.

Both places people need to be let go.

So this is a lifestyle we'll cultivate and it'll become part of our life. What a beautiful addition to our lives.

What's our mission? Go to Mark 3, verse 14 and 15.

Mark 3:14

I'm reading from, I think the NLT or the message, I'm not sure.

He settled on the 12 and designated them apostles. The plan was that they would be with him,

that he would send them out

to proclaim the word.

And to banish demons.

Mark 3, verse 14 and 15.

Mark 3:14

This is our mission. What is the disciples' mission? The disciples' mission is that they would be with him.

How can we be with him now? One, yes, we connect with him, we communicate with him on a daily basis.

But the other way of being with him is being with ones that have been with him for longer so that you get to learn from them too.

It's always that way. Why did Jesus call people to himself so that they could be with him?

In the same way, as an apprentice learns from someone who's done this before, go with them. It gives you more courage.

Why are we going out two by two? Because you'll be surprised at how much more strength you have when you go out two by two.

Suddenly, it's fun being rejected together.

Being rejected alone, you feel like a dog with its tail between its legs.

When rejected together, you feel like two dogs being rejected with their tails between their legs.

Some strengthen it. Two by two is critical.

Our mission is to go with... In some areas, we need to learn from others.

They would be with him, he would send them out. Here's the crazy thing. They were not going to be with him so he could keep them.

They were going to be with him so he could send them out. Right off the bat, he told them,

guys, just so you know, if you come with me, you will be going.

If you come with me, you will be going. Come and go with me. Not to my father's house, but out into my father's world.

Some of the old timers here will know that song. Come and go with me to my father's house, to my father's house.

That's like escaping and going to heaven. The actual song is, come and go with me into my father's world, into my father's world.

Where things really get nasty, come and go with me into my father's world.

And the actual song says, there's joy, joy, joy. Here it says...

And then, to do what? To proclaim the word and to banish demons or to cast out demons.

I'm quoting scripture. I'm not adding anything to it.

This is kind of what I want us to be aware of, that there is the casting out of demons that is part of the proclamation of the gospel.

How we go about it, we'll talk about. Next time we may talk about healing.

Here's the other crazy thing. Even when we teach, even our teaching...

You know, when you read Mark 1, 21 to 28, beautiful scriptures, man. I've so enjoyed reading the gospels this week.

Mark 1, 21 to 28.

Mark 1, 21 to 28. I mean, what was it to follow this man around, man?

Starting at 21, reading from the NIV.

They went to Capernaum, and when the Sabbath came, Jesus went into the synagogue and began to teach.

The people were amazed at his teaching, because he taught them as one who had authority, not as the teachers of the law.

Just then, a man in the synagogue who was possessed by an evil spirit cried out,

What do you want with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are, the Holy One of God.

Be quiet, said Jesus sternly. Come out of him.

The evil spirit shook the man violently and came out of him with a shriek.

The people were so amazed that they asked each other, what is this?

A new teaching and with authority? He even gives orders to evil spirits and they obey him.

News about him spread quickly over the whole region of Galilee.

You know, people nowadays want authoritative teaching.

You don't want to exchange authoritative teaching for teaching with authority.

Authoritative teaching will have all the Greek and the Hebrew and the process and the system.

But at the end of the day, do you want the ho ho ho or do you want to, in your teaching, present the truth?

And the truth happens to be the person of Christ.

Can you imagine where you begin to teach, where you begin to speak about Jesus and as you speak,

it's like one of those science fiction movies where as you speak a hologram appears.

I'm not saying Jesus turns up like that. I'm just saying that is what we are talking about.

We are teaching is so from within, so from the spirit that as you speak,

the person of Christ becomes real where you are talking and that provokes the demonic.

It does two things. It exposes falsehood and it drives it away.

Begin to expect this guys. Begin to expect this. It's a long time coming.

2006, people have been saying it's in 2006.

May you be not the generation but the bunch of guys who sees the beginning of it.

Let there not be another influx before we see this because still that's getting old.

Yeah. So make sure that this begins to happen.

Do you want me to explain anything, the last sentence? No. Okay.

Go ahead.

When do we?

Swine. Yeah. So Jesus says do not throw your pearls before swine.

When do we, how do we go about that?

At the end, one of the statements I have is balancing Ecclesiastes 3.1,

which says there's a time and a season for everything with Ecclesiastes 11.4-6,

which says one who watches for the wind will not chop down a tree.

So it's not one or the other. We hold it in tension and we begin our work

and then look for the season or the time. So we don't look for pigs.

Don't throw your pearls before swine. We don't look for the swine.

We look for the pearls and we have those pearls and we're going around.

So the intent is not to hold back the pearls.

No, the intent is not to spot the pigs. The intent is to,

I want to distribute these pearls but I also know seasons and times.

And Ecclesiastes 3.1 puts it so beautifully. Ecclesiastes 3.1, 3 verses 1-6 says

there's a season and a time for everything. A time to be born, a time to die.

A time to harvest, a time to sow. A time to mourn, a time to be happy.

And one must know it. There will be someone you will meet at Starbucks

who is mourning because their mother died yesterday.

And if you are able to discern it, you will not start with,

hey, Jesus wants to bring joy into your life.

You'll start with a different sentence.

There's a time and a season. Can we discern that by the spirit?

Because he's present there. Remember, every time you go out to witness,

the spirit of God is there. To do what? To help you.

Why? Because the person needs help.

We just haven't practiced this enough to lean back on this.

It's only a matter of practice.

You know how to prophesy on people. Why? Because you've gotten used to practicing it.

It's only a matter of practice, guys.

And now having figured out what the season or the time is, we don't hold back.

We're not waiting for the wind to change directions before we do something.

Ecclesiastes 11, verses 4-6 says a man who watches the wind

Ecclesiastes 11:4–6

before he goes to work will not work.

A man who wants to chop down a tree, if he's trying to determine which way the tree will fall,

he won't chop the tree. And then it goes on to say,

so, get up in the morning, trust God, take your acts, set your hand to work,

and let things happen as they happen.

It's holding both intention. Or go to Isaiah 28, verses 23-28.

Isaiah 28:23–28

It says there's cumin, there's barley, there's wheat.

Each one is threshed differently. Each one is worked on differently.

Can you imagine if God used the same method to draw me to Christ with you?

Mine was very simple. You're going to hell.

I turned to him. It was a loving message, but it carried very negative connotations.

You don't change, you're going to hell. I came running.

But with some you try that and it won't work.

Even in your speaking and teaching, try to present, try to build the composite of Christ the best you know.

Sometimes I pray God that Father, I worked really hard on this teaching.

Help me not to get caught up in it. Help me not to get caught up in it.

Help me to present the composite of Christ so that you and the way your heart works

and your mind works becomes evident to everybody.

That is so much better than a set of notes that are brilliant.

So even in our teaching if we can do that, my God man, that's when demons and falsehoods are exposed.

Falsehoods are exposed. He's teaching and a man can't bear his presence beautifully.

What can't bear his presence? Darkness cannot bear his presence.

We set people free from the power of Satan to the power of God.

What else are we doing when we go out like this?

We are giving evidence of a king who is making all things new,

which in a sense sums up what the kingdom is.

A king who is making all things new. A king who is kinging.

A king who is kinging. He's making all things new.

And nothing matters to him more than making a person new.

In Matthew 12, 27 and 28. Matthew 12, 27 and 28.

Take great courage from this. It says,

It says, if I am casting out demons by the Holy Spirit,

then know that the kingdom of God is in your midst.

As in, hey guys, as you go forth, I will have you deliver people.

I said that in Isaiah 61. I've said that to the apostles.

I said that in Mark 16, 17, 18. This is something I want to do.

I'm turning them from darkness to the light.

I'm turning them from the power of Satan to the power of God.

You may not even see it, but you need to know that I'm up to this.

And if my spirit of God is doing this, then know, Dhillna, no crystal, no toony,

that I, the king of kings, is actually kinging and making things new.

It's happening. And awareness of the invisible.

If we could for a second open our eyes and see what happens around us,

it would be crazy, man. It would be crazy.

Unfortunately, that doesn't happen.

The words you are saying are hitting so hard some guy who you don't know,

but everything you are saying is making sense to him

because you don't know what happened to him yesterday.

One of the guys that Davant and I spoke to today was a guy who heard of his young friend

die in Hong Kong the day before. What does that do to him?

Jesus said this to his disciples in Matthew 10, verse 7,

Matthew 10:7

As you go, tell them that the kingdom of heaven is near.

He said, Heal the sick, bring the dead back to life,

make those who have skin diseases clean again,

drive out demons you have received freely, give them the power of God.

He said, Heal the sick, bring the dead back to life,

make those who have skin diseases clean again,

drive out demons you have received freely, give freely.

The moment you see anyone who has any skin problems, immediately remember Jesus.

He likes taking care of skin problems.

Dare to say, Hey, can I just pray with you?

I know thousands who had skin problems change.

But Jacob, I don't know if there are thousands. Jesus said he did that with...

Okay, make it a few hundred then if you are suspicious about a thousand.

Any questions?

Okay, how do we initiate the process of dealing with the devil?

How do we initiate the process of dealing with the devil?

How do we initiate the process?

We'll just follow what the scriptures say.

Initiating the process of dealing with the demonic.

You know what surprised me guys?

I just thought, let me check out what Christians, like solid Christians,

Christians that I would listen to say about this.

I was surprised at how many say that this was in the gospels to prove who Christ was.

And that it's not something we should pursue now.

I mean, there's that website called gotquestions.org or something where you have amazing answers to God.

They didn't necessarily espouse this way of thinking.

I listened to some other guys that are really good so I won't mention the names.

They also said this was to prove that Christ was God.

So what is he now?

It's a dying belief guys.

And the way to give life to a dying belief is when people who have life begin to practice

truth. It's always been that way.

So how did the gospels initiate this?

Here are some ways that the gospels initiated this.

Mark 1, Mark 1, 32 to 34.

It says, in the evening after sunset, people brought to Jesus,

brought to Jesus all the sick and demonized or possessed.

And Jesus healed them and drove out demons.

So that's one way they brought to Jesus.

As in they will bring to you those that are suffering spiritually.

But they won't bring to you unless they know you can help.

So start advertising.

Start advertising the Christ who sets people free.

When I was at another church before this, there was a man who used to drive a truck.

And every time he would drive a truck, this power would cause him to veer off the road

and deliberately cause an accident.

And so he went to multiple temples.

He went to places that were spiritual here in Vancouver and nothing would help.

And so he decided he would come to a church.

But every time he would come to a church, his relatives in India would know that he has visited a church.

And they would call him and say, why are you going to churches?

And so in desperation, he went to a particular church on Fraser and they didn't know what to do.

And so they referred the person to Acts 29 saying, Jacob, is there any way you can help?

We've got to get to that place where people refer people to us saying, we have heard that you can help.

How do we do that? By practicing truths.

And so this person comes to Acts 29 and we tell him about who Christ is.

He receives Christ.

The demon leaves.

And as it leaves, you can see his hair literally moving from one side to the other.

It is just something physical that happened.

But the point was not the hair moving from one side to the other.

The point was this man leaves as a believer.

He takes all the clothes, all the charms, all the rings that he had received from places in India and he trashes it and burns it.

The moment he burns it, the people in India stop hearing what's happening to him here.

We need to develop a reputation as a church that if you bring someone, they will go home free.

And it can't be one or two.

What if an entire group of people could behave like this?

What if we walk towards that?

Because these things are dying. Time to give it life.

So they can't bring them to you unless they know about it.

They can't know unless it's true.

Anything true gets out.

Jesus used to do this and he used to try to keep it quiet.

Even Jesus failed. You got no chance.

Jesus failed to keep his miracles quiet because someone would go and tell someone and every place he went to, he would not be able to enter because someone blabbed.

But how can you not blab about this?

Next one.

Confrontation.

Sometimes what would happen in the Bible is there would be confrontations like in Mark 5 verse 6.

Mark 5:6

What happens in Mark 5, 6?

Jesus comes to a land called Gerizin or Gadarene and there is a man who is Roman and he is a Christian.

In Mark 5, 6, Jesus comes to a land called Gerizin or Gadarene and there is a man who is roaming in the tombs who cuts himself, who breaks his chains.

And there is a confrontation.

And in the confrontation the man is set free.

Go further down. Acts chapter 16.

Acts 16 · chapter mention

There is a confrontation.

And as Paul is walking around and as he is walking around there is a woman who comes up and keeps saying stuff about Paul and Barnabas till he gets annoyed and he confronts the spirit that is at work in her.

Acts 16 verse 18.

Acts 16:18

And he casts out the spirit.

Many times God will create encounters so that you see a confrontation so that you can set the person free.

Hallelujah! Just think of it for a second.

These are not chance things that happen.

These are encounters orchestrated by God where he uses the enemy's desire to attract attention as the very means of setting the person free.

The encounter is so that Christ can use you to set the person free.

I am hearing about a person who at present is dealing with a young child who cannot help what is happening inside her.

But it has come out into the open and the child can be set free.

So these are the different methods you will see in the Bible where God uses ordinary people like us who know and learn how to deal with the situation.

And learn how to exert extraordinary authority to set someone free from an invisible power that holds them captive.

What a glorious ministry we have guys.

What a glorious ministry we have.

To work with Christ in liberating the sons of God, the sons of Adam.

Brought into bondage by that one evil thing that happened.

Thousands of years of bondage.

With what? With simple words like, peace be still. Come out of him.

Those are the words that set people free.

And we shall get there because we will practice the truth.

And as we practice the truth, the truth goes to work because the Spirit of God honors the Word of God and the King will King.

These are foolproof, surefire methods.

It's not going to fail.

The only way this fails is if we withdraw.

But we are not the type that will shrink.

2 Timothy talks about that.

Even when we are faithless, he is faithful.

Third way that it would happen is you discern the condition of someone.

Discern conditions.

Acts 8.23.

Acts 8.23.

Where Paul is talking to this guy who has just been baptized and given his life to the Lord.

And Paul says, hey, I see that you are bound up in bitterness and wickedness.

If you don't repent, things will not go well with you.

You discern.

You are with somebody and you know they are troubled.

You are with somebody and you know they are having nightmares.

You are with somebody and you know there is torment in sight.

You are with somebody and you know they are caught up in some sin that they cannot escape from.

You are with somebody and you know that they go through bouts of depression.

Nobody has told you that.

It's the supernatural work of the Holy Spirit to reveal to you something that allows you to discern the condition of a person.

Hand with simple words, you say, can I just pray with you and can I speak these words?

And you speak these words over them.

Patak.

Patak is Greek for suddenly.

Yeah?

Patak.

It changes.

Yeah?

Any questions?

Discern.

These are ways in the Bible that people dealt with powers.

Last one.

Sickness.

And demons sometimes work in tandem.

Not all sicknesses, some.

You may meet people who are sometimes sick, not because of an illness but because of a spirit.

So you see that in Luke 13, verse 11.

Luke 13:11

Luke 13, verse 11.

Luke 13:11

Where there was a woman who was bent for 18 years or 38 years, I don't remember.

And Jesus addresses her and asks her to come forward and she comes forward.

And he says, woman, I set you free from the spirit of infirmity.

He sets her free first from a spirit of infirmity.

And after he does that, he takes his hand, puts it on her back.

And the moment he puts it on her back, she straightens up.

You see the same in Mark 7, 25.

Sorry, Mark 7, 31 or thereabouts.

Where you have a boy who is a girl who's deaf and Jesus just heals her of a deafness.

It's just a sickness.

And then you go to Mark 9, 25 and there's a boy out of whom he casts the spirit of deafness and muteness out.

One was a spiritual condition, one was a sickness.

How do we learn these things?

We learn these through walking with others who've done this before

and we learn this through walking with the spirit of God who teaches us.

Both. Not one or the other.

Not one or the other.

Any man that does not learn from another man is a fool.

Harsh words but true words.

We learn from the spirit and we learn from others who have experience.

We do that every day in human life.

Any of you tried learning driving on your own?

Most of you learned driving from Evan.

Evan will get not just a mansion in heaven but a car.

Sorry, someone raised a question.

Okay.

Let me end with the fact that sometimes like in Acts 19,

let me end with the fact and then another fact after that.

In Acts 19, 18, sometimes guys, people will have to give up heirlooms, charms, magic stuff.

Ancestral stuff.

Please don't think this is an Asian problem or a South Asian problem.

It's a global problem.

It just gets packaged differently in the West and it's not as well packaged in the East.

That's the only difference.

Satan uses the same tricks everywhere.

So Acts 19, 18, it says that many that believed came and confessed and showed what they had.

Many of them brought curious arts, books, things and burned them before the apostles

and they counted the price of them and found it to be 50,000 pieces of silver.

Like huge cache of heirlooms, traditional stuff, ancestral stuff.

Doesn't matter whether you're Indian, Asian, German or Brit, we all have this stuff.

And some of it is so deeply rooted in anything from witchcraft to masonry to occult to paganism to meditation

to Buddhism to Jainism to anything that sometimes what we need to do is lay down the things that we hold on to

and then help others lay it down too.

We did a whole series on this and I know that many benefited as Betty here.

She's teaching.

So are there any things we should be aware of, alert?

Just one thing, guys.

When we deal with proclaiming the gospel and casting out spirits, foul spirits,

we need to understand that authority is closely related to purity,

is closely related to intimacy with Christ.

Don't forget that.

Keep increasing in this.

I have to keep increasing in it.

You have to keep increasing in it.

Yeah?

They're very closely related.

And if this equation is not present, you will see failure only because the things that you come against

will refuse to obey you because I don't obey the one above me.

That's why.

It's not that Christ is powerless.

But if I am working under Chava and I do not listen to Chava,

when Chava sends me to talk to Vivek, Vivek doesn't listen to me

because he knows that Jacob doesn't listen to Chava.

So why the heck should I?

And if I don't, what can he do to me?

Because he can't go talk to Chava because Chava knows how he behaves.

And that is why we see failure every so often.

And as this increases, your batting average increases.

There are times when Christ will do it regardless of how you are.

Richmond Pentecostal Church, 1994.

A man called Alan Jones, praying for people.

I was leading worship, finished, put my guitar down, was glad it was over.

Because I wasn't doing well with the Lord.

My life wasn't going the way the Lord wanted it to.

Finished worship, went and sat down.

And Alan Jones has this huge line of people that he's praying for.

And he must have thought the worship leader is a really good guy.

So he calls the worship leader out and says,

Jacob, could you pray for these two people?

And I said, okay.

I'm thinking to myself, why today, oh God?

And this woman comes up and she had tried jumping off the Alex Frasier.

And so she comes up and I go and begin to pray for her.

As I begin to pray for her, this demon begins to manifest.

I don't know what to do because I've never dealt with this in my life.

But surprisingly, God, because of his love for her,

bypassed the fact that this was not working in my life and was able to rescue her.

So God will do it despite you.

This is why God still uses preachers and people that you find out later

are living morally bankrupt lives.

But God still uses them, not because they are usable,

but because they're someone who's in desperate need.

But what needs to happen is this.

Authority is related to purity, is related to intimacy with Christ.

As you increase in this, it is impossible not to increase in this.

And as you increase in this, it is impossible not to increase in this.

It's a very simple straightforward equation.

This is not faultless living.

It is increase in intimacy.

Hello, this is important, guys.

It is not faultless living.

It is increase in intimacy.

An increase in intimacy always relates to an increase in purity,

which always relates and an increase in authority.

And that no enemy can come against.

Because he was fully yielded to his father,

everything around him fully yielded to him.

To the extent that you are fully yielded and increasingly yielded to Christ,

to that extent, everything around bows to you.

Bowels to you.

No, Jacob, it bows to Christ.

No, it bows to you because you are standing there with Christ.

In the name of Christ, you're saying it.

So this week, as you go out again, two by two or three by three,

go out and this time go down the route of can I pray for you?

Yeah?

This week, it's can I pray for you?

So if an opportunity opens up a proclamation after or before, take it.

Because remember, we are here to open their eyes

so that they may escape from the power of Satan to the power of God,

that they may turn from darkness to the light,

that they may receive forgiveness of sins,

and that they may become part of the father's family like you are.

But this week, you're asking people, hey, can I pray for you?

Maybe some of you should just rent a table outside Starbucks

and park yourself there with a sign.

Oh, God, those girls may actually do it.

So this week, it's can I pray for you?

Yeah?

It's 6.16. Can we break bread, please?

I want you to read certain scriptures about the breaking of bread.

Let's read Exodus 24.

Exodus 24.

Verse 4.

Moses then wrote down, Exodus 24, verse 4.

Exodus 24:4

Moses then wrote down everything the Lord had said.

He got up early the next morning and built an altar at the foot of the mountain

and set up twelve stone pillars representing the twelve tribes of Israel.

Then he sent young Israelite men, and they offered burnt offerings

and sacrificed young bulls as fellowship offerings to the Lord.

Moses took half of the blood and put it in the bowls,

and the other half he sprinkled on the altar.

Then he took the book of the covenant and read it to the people.

They responded, we will do everything the Lord has said.

We will obey.

Moses then took the blood, sprinkled it on the people.

This is the blood of the covenant the Lord has made with you

in accordance with all these words.

Imagine the scene.

So he's built an altar with twelve stones representing the twelve tribes.

He gets the young men to come and sacrifice bulls and goats.

Then he takes the blood from the bulls and goats, and it's kept in these vessels.

He takes some of the blood and sprinkles it on the stone tablets that he's,

or the tablets that he's written the law on.

Then he sprinkles some on the altar.

Then guess what he does?

He takes it and he goes around sprinkling the blood of bulls and goats on the people.

They're standing there, thousands of them,

and he's sprinkling them with the blood of bulls and goats.

And then you go to Hebrews 7.

Go to Hebrews 7.

And look at the words, eh?

The words that Jesus spoke are the words that were taken from Exodus 24.

Look at the words he speaks.

In Exodus 24, verse 8,

Exodus 24:8

Moses took the blood, sprinkled it on the people, and said,

This is the blood of the covenant that the Lord has made with you

in accordance with all these words.

Jesus uses the very same words.

Now go to Hebrews 7.

Hebrews 7.

Hebrews 7.

Can you find the place where it talks about?

Thank you.

Where he sprang...

Sorry, Hebrews 9.

Hebrews 9, verse 11 onwards.

Hebrews 9:11

When Christ came as high priest of the good things that are already here,

he went through the greater and more perfect tabernacle that is not man-made.

That is to say, not a part of this creation.

He did not enter it by the means of the blood of goats and calves,

but entered the most holy place once and for all by his own blood,

having obtained eternal redemption.

The blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a hypha sprinkled on those who are ceremonially unclean,

sanctify them so that they are outwardly clean.

How much more then will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal spirit,

offered himself unblemished to God,

cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death so that we may serve the living God.

Hebrews 9.

You are sprinkled absolutely clean.

Relish that for a moment.

Please look at me.

I rarely ask that.

You are absolutely cleansed from all sin, all fault, all wickedness, all iniquity, all transgression, all law-breaking.

Every wrong thing you have done, thought, felt, everything, totally cleansed.

You are the purest people on earth.

Can you relish it? Can you taste it?

Very hard. We find it very difficult.

So as you feel it, shout it out in your own words before we eat and drink.

We'll eat and drink together.

Understand how clean you are.

And if you can put it in words, put it in words.

I want to speak on behalf of everybody to you, Father,

and say this is a spotless, blemishless bride.

I am guiltless at this moment before you.

Because the fans are on, speak louder, yeah, guys?

Hallelujah.

There's something I share with you, Lord.

Amen.

Who can bring an accusation against me?

Who is he who condemns?

Christ has absolutely set me free.

I look behind me and my past is undone.

My sins as far away as the East is from the West.

Restore unto us the joy of your salvation.

Amen.

Amen.

You don't tolerate us, Abba. You cherish us.

Yeah.

Yeah, man.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Always presentable.

No guilt, no condemnation, no separation, no sin.

Yeah.

We remember them.

You don't remember them.

Gloriously holy people because of a gloriously holy God.

Exodus 24 says, and then Moses took Nadab, Abihu, and Aaron, and 70 others with him.

And they went up the mountain.

And when they got to the top of the mountain, they saw the God of Israel.

He had something like sapphire, as blue as the sky under his feet.

And the 70 with Moses, Abihu, Nadab, and Aaron ate and drank with God.

Will you eat and drink with your God? Yeah?

Will you eat and drink with your God? Yeah?

We eat and drink with him.

And as you do, remember the blood that he sprinkled, that Moses sprinkled on the people.

Then remember the blood that has been sprinkled on you,

giving you the same holiness that he has. Yeah?

Eat and drink with him.

A holy, forgiven, peculiar people.

A holy nation.

A kingdom of priests.

Eat and drink with him.

Amen.

When you reduce it to just bread, it's so not what it was supposed to be, but we'll have to make do.

Mike, it's really good to know you. I see you as the son of the living God.

Thanks.

Pawan, I love your faith, man, and your courage.

Just admire that so much.

If you need prayer, there'll be someone here to pray with you.

And expect God who is present to meet your need.

Otherwise, we learn how to eat and drink making noise. Yeah?

This is way too somber eating and drinking.

And we'll try to do it with real food.

This is symbolic, but it must be in the midst of eating and drinking food.

It becomes more fun then. And we'll practice that.

Besides that, Monday, tomorrow, 6.45, Christ Life, I most likely won't be here next Sunday.

I'm going to UK Bahrain in India. I'll be back on Tuesday.

But I'll be here tomorrow, so I'll see you then.

But if you need prayer, feel free to come up and someone will pray with you.

Compliment Don on a really nice t-shirt that he's wearing.

Say hi to Elle, Melissa, and Shirley. Yeah? Cheryl, sorry. My bad.

Okay.