Consecration 2

Okay. Guys, so last time we spoke about consecration, and today's topic is consecrate yourself

for tomorrow. Consecrate yourself for tomorrow. Because that's a scripture you'll find in

the Bible quite often where God will say, consecrate yourself for tomorrow. We look

at a couple of scriptures that say that. But one of the statements we made last week was

a statement by this guy called D.L. Moody, who I was telling you about. And the statement

he made was, the world has yet to see what God will do with a man fully consecrated to

him. The world has yet to see what God will do with a man who is fully consecrated to

him. And when D.L. Moody first heard it, he began to reflect on it. The world has yet

to see what God will do with a man fully consecrated to him. And then he comes back a year later

to the guy who told him that, and he says, by God's help, I aim to be that man. Then

we talked about the Nazarites and how that translates into life today. And so, again,

to go over the definition of consecration, it's to be associated, or its association,

with the sacred. That's the basic meaning of consecration, to be associated with the

sacred. As in, you can transfer a person, or you can transfer a thing, transfer a person

or a thing to a sacred sphere, and it's usually done through some ritual, to a sacred sphere

for a special purpose. And so you basically entirely offer yourself, entirely offer yourself

to God as a sacrifice. That was the sense of consecration. Yeah? And so last time we

said that, what it is the small, there were three questions we asked, what is a small

things that get in the way of you separating yourself to God? What are the good things

that get in the way of you separating yourself to God? That was the odd thing. It's not

some big thing that gets in the way. It's always the small things that get in the way.

What are the small things, or the good things that get in the way of you consecrating yourself

or the good things that get in the way of you consecrating yourself to God.

But if you want a definition of consecration that you would find easily on Google,

it's association with the sacred.

To be associated with the sacred.

How? By transferring a person or a thing into a sacred sphere,

usually through a ritual or through prayer, or through sometimes anointing.

That's how they did it in the Old Testament and the New Testament.

And why was it done?

It was for a special purpose. For whom? For God.

And what was the intent?

Can you entirely offer yourself to God as a sacrifice?

Now let's turn to Exodus 19.

Exodus 19, verse 10.

Exodus 19:10

Exodus 19, 10.

And you'll see these verses where it talks about consecrating yourself.

Exodus 19, 10.

God usually does it either when he,

consecration precedes

a God encounter or a divine visitation.

And consecration precedes

a God engagement, or in other words,

a divine battle, or in other words,

a holy war.

In the Old Testament, and you'll see Paul talking about it in the New Testament too,

one of the things that would precede

a divine visitation or a divine encounter was this need to consecrate oneself.

And the moment people would decide that, yep, I'm going to set myself apart,

God would turn up.

Sometimes they would set themselves apart through sacrifices.

Sometimes they would set themselves apart through oaths that they would take.

But the moment they would set themselves apart, you would find that God would turn up.

It's one of our biggest challenges today because we don't have time.

It's our biggest challenge.

Consecration is the ability to not do the less important things,

to not do the good things, to not do the small things

that get in the way of setting yourself apart.

And it's surprising how much time you can create by getting rid of small things.

I mean, last week you heard the things that I wanted to set aside.

You've created so much time, so much time.

It's surprising.

You should try it because it requires time.

Consecration always demands time.

And some of the good things are things that God brought into your life

that have gone past the expiry date,

but you insist on continuing to do it because it's good for you.

It doesn't do you harm. God brought it into your life.

So, consecration precedes a God encounter.

Hey, Crystal, welcome back.

Where were you? Japan or somewhere, right?

Yeah.

Consecration precedes a God encounter or a divine visitation,

or consecration precedes a divine battle or a holy war.

So if you read Exodus 19.10, it says,

And the Lord said to Moses, Go to the people and consecrate them today and tomorrow.

Have them wash their clothes and be ready for on the third day,

because on that day the Lord will come down on Mount Sinai in the sight of all people.

Put limits for people around the mountain and tell them,

Be careful that you do not go up the mountain or touch the foot of it.

And then he goes on to say that.

Go to Joshua 3, Joshua 3, Joshua 3 verse 5.

Joshua 3:5

Joshua 3 verse 5.

Joshua 3:5

So if that was divine visitation, look at Joshua 3 verse 5.

Joshua 3:5

This is when God wants to do amazing things amongst the people,

which includes engaging his people in divine battle or a holy war.

Joshua 3 verse 5.

Joshua 3:5

Joshua told the people, Consecrate yourself, for tomorrow the Lord will do amazing things among you.

And what was the amazing thing that then evolves after that?

The ark goes into the Jordan, the Jordan part.

And just like Moses now, people begin to recognize that Joshua has the same spirit upon him.

The Jordan part, they walk through it, Jericho is taken.

Why are we going down this road?

Because we have to ask ourselves the same question,

So what is the God that you have for us tomorrow that demands our consecration today?

We have to ask that question as a body and as individuals.

We have to ask that question on two levels.

One, what is it that is the people we need to do?

And two, what is it that we need to do as individuals?

What is it that waits for you tomorrow, Ne?

What is it that waits for you tomorrow, Josh?

What is it that waits for you tomorrow, Dawn's adopted mom?

Sorry, one of these days, Auntie is going to get me.

Hey, Dawn and Derek are both their kids, just so you know, it's clear.

It just happened that they are their kids.

It was clear.

It just happened that last week, it misfired.

Derek's mom came to me and said, can I speak one more time?

Because I have to clear there and let people know that Dawn's my son.

So she'll be coming up again to share the testimony in a couple of weeks.

So what is it that we need to do tomorrow that demands consecration today?

And what is it that Dilna needs to do tomorrow that demands consecration in his life today?

It's both.

It'll either end up in an encounter that is divine in terms of a visitation,

or it'll end up in terms of holy war or a battle that you have to engage in to overcome, to win.

And any battle you engage in is usually not about you.

It's about setting someone else free.

When we think battle, we think our struggles.

When God thinks battle, he thinks setting someone else free.

That's the difference.

When we talk battle, we think our struggles.

He's always thinking of, can I send you to set someone else free?

Any questions before we go on?

Any questions?

Okay.

Okay.

So what's our tomorrow?

And what's your tomorrow?

Assuming that we are on this topic of consecration because God desires it for us, why?

So what's our tomorrow?

And what's your tomorrow?

What's your tomorrow will be something that you'll have to wrestle with to find out.

But what's our tomorrow?

A year ago, this is what the Lord has given us for our tomorrow.

A year ago, our tomorrow was today, but it's still in the works.

We've gone to this place called Stornoway off the coast of Scotland to the Hebrides Islands

where in 1949, November, a revival called the Hebrides revival had broken out.

One of the things God had said to us with proof that is almost undeniable

is that Hebrides 2.0 will happen through this church.

What is Hebrides 1.0? Hebrides 1.0 was young people being swept into a place where they could not but

no field work with and have God work through them affecting entire islands and nations from 1949 to 1954.

For some of you who weren't there last year,

there would be times when this guy called Campbell would turn up in a little town called Arnol

and some of us visited Arnol. It's a little town, hardly any people there.

And this guy would turn up at the village and the place would be pretty empty in terms of church.

And there'd be a dance hall where there were a lot of people dancing.

And this guy comes to the church and nothing spectacular happens, but just as he is leaving,

this sense of God entires the entire village of Arnol and people begin to flee the dance hall,

which is not to say dancing is wrong. That's not the intent here.

The intent is that something begins to happen in the lives of those in the dance hall and they begin to flee it.

And where are they fleeing to? They're fleeing to the door of the church because it is a Judeo-Christian culture.

Today people don't even know where to flee to.

But those days they knew, find the closest pastor or find the closest church or find the closest Christian

and they come fleeing and a church that was empty now has 600 people standing before them.

And they don't know what is happening to them. It's a deep sense, not of repentance, but of penitence.

They're weeping, but they don't know why. They're begging people saying,

why is it that this is happening to me? And then Campbell would start stand and he would begin to talk about Christ.

Now the situation where in another little town called Barnas, they're just praying and not much is happening.

Two old ladies started the whole movement. They're just praying and nothing happens.

And then one man stands up and he's a kid. He's a 17-year-old kid whose dad, whose son we met when we went there because that man's dead.

But when he was a 17-year-old kid, in the middle of the meeting he stands up and he turns to God and he says,

I have just one question for you. Are these hands clean and is this heart pure?

And I say to you, O God, that these hands are clean and this heart is pure.

Well then, O God, why is it that the promise has not come through yet?

You said you would pour water on dry and thirsty ground. If these hands are clean and if this heart is pure,

then why, O God, is the promise delayed? We need it now. I need it now.

And as he begins to pray this, the place begins to shake just like in Acts chapter 4.

Acts 4 · chapter mention

We saw the house where this happened. Things began to fall off the mantelpiece.

It was as if the mighty rushing wind was once again flowing through the place.

It begins to shake and people again don't know what to do. They just know that the Spirit of God has entered.

When we spoke to this man whose dad was the one who prayed this prayer, he said,

Jacob, all we know is people will be working in the fields and they would begin to weep

because there was such a heavy sense of God that they didn't know what to do with it and they didn't know what it was.

And they would come running and say, help, because we can't bear this.

And for four or five years, he said, he would watch his dad walk under the presence of God.

And village after village, island after island, started being touched by the Holy Spirit.

Sometime early January last year or late December, God said, hey, know this,

that because you have kept digging the wells that people have tried to shut down,

because you have stayed small and humble, because you do not want fame, this is what I'll do with you.

I'll bring Hebrides 2.0 to pass here on earth through a small group of people like you.

It's only a matter of time before this catches fire.

Our job is very simple.

Imagine a flame that you take a torch in, put, catch the flame, go, ignite something.

That's your job.

And it will happen.

It'll happen in Belfast.

It'll happen wherever these guys go if they catch it.

It'll happen through us who are 50 and above.

Sometimes when you talk like this, you think the 50s and the 60s and the 70s have no part in it.

No, we have the substance, man.

Fuel has been built into us.

We carry gas tanks so that the wick doesn't have to be trimmed and oil doesn't have to run out.

Every revival is built on the shoulders of the ones that have substance.

So when you count yourself out, you're doing yourself a disfavor.

Oh, I'm not 20 or 30.

Of course you're not.

I can see it on the wrinkles on your forehead.

That was meant to be harsh.

It didn't fly.

But the point is, it is a group of people together that begin to do this.

And so when we were in Stornoway and were crying out saying, pure hands, clean heart, clean hands, pure heart, doesn't matter.

It's the same.

This was the word that was given.

So if you want to know what our tomorrow holds for us as a people, for you, Kamal, for you, Ann,

if you want to know what we hold as a people going into the future, this is it.

That through us and upon us, first upon us and through us, a purifying fire from heaven will come.

When fire like this comes, you can either be consumed by it or you can wear an asbestos suit.

That's up to you.

But the fire will come.

I wouldn't even say the fire will come.

I'll say the fire is coming.

There are times when it's already igniting.

A purifying fire from heaven that burns up religious and historical junk, that burns up religious, as in it turns it into ash.

No more religious junk.

No more high Christianity.

This is a father who has a house in which there are sons and which there are daughters who worship him and who know him as king.

That's the kind of house that God wants to build.

Get rid of all the historical and religious junk.

If we don't do it, he'll do it, eh?

A purifying fire that burns up religious and historical junk, as what happens, as the divine warrior enters.

This is not a god who's coming in riding on a donkey as the divine warrior enters.

Why?

Because to set the young free in different nations, you will require the ability to on one hand have divine encounters with God, on the other hand engage in battle.

Through whom? Through you.

Through me.

Are we qualified? He qualifies us.

What's it requiring? Consecration.

What does that mean?

Setting yourself aside.

Nobody is left out in this, guys.

God doesn't work like I work or pastors work.

Choosing one here that may be good, choosing there, choosing someone who sings.

No, he doesn't look like that because it doesn't depend on your talent or gifting.

He usually picks the least of us.

And trust me, this church is the least of them.

And so, as the divine warrior enters, why does he enter?

He enters because he wants to set young men and women free.

All this cliched stuff about the young are the future of the church.

Let me rephrase it.

20s and 30s are able to decide which way the church goes and the world goes for the next two generations.

For the next two generations.

For the next two generations, you catch a 20-year-old that might live to 70 or 80.

He will be responsible for another two generations.

What do you think is happening here?

This is why I said those of us who are over 50 or 60 have substance.

You think the substance in me has not affected at least two generations?

You think substance in people here that are over 50 or 60 hasn't affected younger generations?

Of course it has.

So, setting young men and women free.

From what to what? I love it.

From nations into kingdoms.

Into the kingdom.

From nations into the kingdom.

Not nations into the church.

Not nations into a youth group.

Not nations into a Bible college.

Nations into a kingdom called the kingdom of God.

Not a kingdom of God that has one culture regardless of how many nations there are.

And to be sent forth, eh?

The idea of the church is very simple.

Gather to scatter.

It's never gather to grow larger.

It is always gather to scatter.

And remember how the scattering happens.

When a farmer scatters, he just puts his hand into the sack and he goes this way.

So that it scatters, but if it finds good soil, it will grow.

Because the seed is potent.

And you are the seed.

The shell might be thick for some of us.

For others the shell might be thin.

But the seed is potent, guys.

And the seed never grows, shoots or roots till it meets the ground.

As long as we can stay in church, nothing happens.

From nations into the kingdom.

Calling what? I love this.

I mean this is why when I look at this, I know it's not written by a human hand.

Because it's so well-worded, so logical, so brilliant.

It says, on one hand it says setting young men and women free.

And then it goes into calling them sons and daughters.

It's not enough to know young men and women.

It's to know that they are sons and daughters of a living God who is a father.

You guys need to catch this.

Because you are only here for a short time and then you are gone to Egypt and to Vegas.

And to Qatar and to every other known place.

From nations into the kingdom, calling sons and daughters.

Into what? Into that circle of dancing and abandon and joy.

It's strange, eh? God is not against dancing.

Jesus danced, trust me, most Jewish men do.

Calling sons and daughters into that circle of dancing, of abandon and of joy.

There's a recklessness to this.

There's an abandoning of self.

It's not going to be religious and historical junk.

There will be mistakes made.

Because the moment you enter a circle of abandon, dancing and joy, mistakes will be made.

Try that with your kid, eh?

When you have a little child, try that.

Mistakes will be made, things will break.

Phones will be dropped in the toilet.

Just pray that it's a Samsung.

So, into that circle of dancing and abandon and joy.

Before whom? Before the lion and the lamb. Beautiful.

So it goes from divine warrior to father to lion and the lamb.

Such an amazing progression, man.

Divine warrior who sets free.

Adopts them as his own and now calls them sons and daughters.

And then turns them around and says, alright, now go as ones that belong to the lion and the lamb.

Once you have the ferocity to take on what needs to be taken.

But the meekness to inherit the earth.

Before the lion and the lamb.

And who do they become? They become a torch bearing generation.

And it's full circle again.

We said that we start with taking a torch, dipping it into the fire.

That will come and is coming and has come.

And will ignite.

And what does happen here?

The ones that you set free then become a torch bearing generation.

And what happens in the bargain?

Usually when revivals like this hit, it prevents disaster from happening to one or two generations.

And it turns back the earth to the way it needs to go.

And then to think that this motley bunch, us, are going to be the ones who herald this onto the earth.

You can see why God uses shepherds.

Samaritan women.

Nobodies.

Join the list.

This is what we have waiting for us.

Which is why the demand is, can you consecrate yourself?

And this is not to one or two.

This is not to some creme de la creme.

This is not to leaders in this church.

This is a call to his people in this church.

And once they go out, they will not return empty.

Only the seed is now more potent.

The longer you keep leaven, the more fermented it gets.

And the lesser you need to raise a batch of dough.

The longer leaven stays, the more potent it gets.

Any questions before we go on?

Any questions guys?

Do you realize what's being placed in our hands?

On one hand, it's a baby.

You have to take care of it carefully.

On the other hand, it is the gates of Hebron, which you have to carry on your back.

And go uphill.

On one hand, you have to be merry.

Carry this thing that God wants to birth on earth.

Carry it carefully, because it's conceived of the Holy Spirit.

But it is being birthed through you.

These are words that have never been spoken in a teaching here.

On the other hand, you have to be Samson, who has the ability to pull gates.

Put them on your back and carry them uphill.

700 feet uphill, 9 miles to Hebron.

So that people can see, aha, there's something afoot on earth.

That is why he's saying, can you consecrate yourself?

And it's not a call to one or two, it's to all.

The Spirit of God can take these words and set our hearts on fire.

He can do that.

Any questions, guys?

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

I can tell you a couple of reasons why it ends.

One, because man takes a wind, tries to control it.

Two, because man does not control it, and then deception and delusion gets him.

And when we talk about revival, we're still talking about 20 or 25% of the city turning.

So after all these things that happened there for five years,

only about 25% of the village actually gave their lives to Christ.

The entire village felt it.

And these are small villages.

They only had 300 or 400 people, or sometimes some villages had 800 or 900 people.

They all felt what was happening, but only 20 to 25% turned.

But 20 to 25% is enough to now take care of two generations.

And then why else does it stop?

Because I think we institutionalize it.

I think we begin to gather it.

I think we begin to try and prolong it.

Because it's a good thing, right?

Remember what Peter and James are doing as soon as Elijah and Moses come.

Can we build you three shelters? Why?

Because can we bottle this?

And if we can bottle this, it'll be a good idea.

So Jesus, can we build three shelters for you and Moses and Elijah so that you guys are happy here?

So we have a tendency to bottle it, and it never works.

You cannot bottle this thing.

And then at the end of the day, think of this too.

What is the intent?

The intent is, can we prevent the next two generations from going away that they are going by God intervening?

And if that is achieved, then mission accomplished.

And God will have his way one way or the other because he loves the world and he's laid his life down for it.

But the question is, who will step up?

And so I go back to D.L. Moody's word.

That the world is yet to see what God can do with a man who consecrates himself to God.

And by God's help, we aim to be that one man.

That's the intent.

This then gives you an idea of how you need to begin to figure out, okay,

so if this is what our tomorrow is, how does my tomorrow fit into this?

What's my role in this?

In all these lines, what's my role in this?

I'm not going to go into the details of this.

I'm going to go into the details of this.

How does my tomorrow fit into this?

What's my role in this?

In all these lines, what's my role in this?

In all these lines, what's my role in this?

Where do I fit?

And there's enough space for everyone in this, eh?

And you can't get the answer through inspiration.

You get the answer through hard work.

Have you ever tried doing math with inspiration?

It's disastrous.

Satan knows that he doesn't have to beat the church.

He doesn't have to beat the church.

He just has to deflect, just has to deflect her from her God-given destiny.

Always remember that, eh?

He knows he's beat.

He may not be able to destroy a church, though that can happen and has happened

and will continue to happen.

One of the intents of the enemy is not that I need to beat this church,

but can I deflect her from her God-given destiny?

Can I deflect her?

Different ways to do it.

Have her engaged in securing her future.

Have her engaged in a massive building project.

Have her engaged in having conferences.

Have her engaged in a hundred good, godly, holy things.

But deflect her from her God-destined purpose.

That is enough to then have a church.

What happens then?

You have a church without an inheritance.

You have a church without an inheritance.

That's terribly to have a church without an inheritance.

Because in Psalm 2, verse 8, what did Jesus say to the Father?

Psalms 2:8

Ask of me and I will give you the nations as your inheritance.

And so, if the Son of God, who is the head of the church,

had an inheritance that was to be a portion to him,

why do we, who are part of the body, think that we do not have an inheritance in his grand scheme?

How absurd is that?

How we don't go around trying to figure that out?

And so, when we deflect from God-given destiny,

we then have a church without an inheritance because we do not know the portion that's allotted to us

that we are supposed to cultivate.

We do not know the oil field or the gold mine or the potato field that we are supposed to cultivate.

All three are as important.

You can't feed anyone oil or gold when they're hungry.

You need potatoes.

So, have a church without an inheritance is a disaster.

And we are so fortunate that we have an inheritance that we are aware of.

Now begins the process of digging it and finding out what.

And when you don't know your inheritance, here's what happens.

Whatever God gives a church, they will bury it.

They will not trade with it.

Matthew 25.

Whenever a church does not know its inheritance,

they take their gifts, their abilities, their talents, their wealth, their resources, their people.

And the only thing they do is to fortify it.

They don't trade with it.

They don't take five and multiply it into ten.

They don't take two and make it four.

They take it and they hide it.

And so, the church will grow, but there's no trading.

And when the master comes back, it's a simple question.

What did you do?

When you have an inheritance, you know what to transact with.

You know how to expand it.

Two things happen with people who get inheritances.

One, they squander it.

Three things.

One, they squander it.

Two, they keep it intact.

Three, they multiply it.

All the big houses you see, Rothschild and this and that,

they are all going to be taken away.

All the big houses you see, Rothschild and this and that,

we're not talking about whether they were corrupt or not,

but they had the ability to take what their fathers made

and then begin to expand it,

so much so that they now have empires around the world.

Go ahead.

Can you say that again?

Yeah.

So, let's assume that one of the things that we were meant to do

from the beginning of time, before the earth was founded,

was to take care of this.

This then becomes the portion that's allotted to your church to deal with.

How will you now, if you were the pastor of this church,

begin to break the ground open, to dig it up, to find out how to do this?

How do you go about taking this and transacting with it,

multiplying it, causing it to grow?

How do you find the oil that might be in this land,

the potatoes that might be in the land,

the gold vein that is in the land?

How do you find it?

And so, if you have been a part of this church

and see yourself as someone who is connected to this church,

then know that this certainly is going to be part of your life.

You can choose to be part of it, you can choose not to be part of it,

but it is not something that God is going to hold back from you.

So, let's take...

I mean, there's nothing in terms of gifts, fruit, talents, abilities

that won't fit into all this.

So, take healing, for instance.

Set men and women free.

Take teachings, for instance.

Bringing them into a circle of dancing in abundance and joy.

Take loving them, for instance.

Calling them sons and daughters from nations into kingdoms.

You take any gift, it will fit in here.

You take any fruit of the Spirit, it will be required for this.

You take any talent, it will have to be part of it.

You take authority, this cannot be done with authority.

There's nothing that does not fit into what God has.

Sometimes even the places you're supposed to go to,

be Trinidad or Sri Lanka, be Japan or China,

be it Shanghai or Germany.

This becomes the filter through which we see life.

And our hearts will always be bent towards it.

Be it Egypt or Vegas, it'll be...

It just gets imprinted on your heart.

And so everywhere you go, once this catches your heart,

and you have to allow it to catch your heart, eh?

You have to allow it to catch your heart.

But once it catches your heart,

it becomes a filter through which you see, you operate, you sing,

you teach, you do, you pray, everything operates through it.

You become like a singular track, narrow-minded...

I mean that in a nice way.

...person.

We do this with other things, eh?

We get obsessed with work, we get obsessed with our thesis,

we get obsessed with playing basketball or training basketball,

we get obsessed with hockey, we get obsessed with things like that.

And that obsession gives you tunnel vision.

Tunnel vision allows you to consecrate yourself.

You get obsessed with a nation.

You get obsessed with a bride.

You get obsessed with the nature of the father.

You get obsessed with the mind of God.

You get obsessed with the power of God.

You get obsessed with the love of God.

Each person different.

John was always talking about how loving the father is.

What's Paul talking about?

How God thinks.

What's Mark talking about?

The acts of God.

Each one.

This is the splendor of the many faceted body of Christ.

Each one has a certain element.

And you've got this amazing conductor called the Holy Spirit.

Who doesn't see the part you're playing as any less

than the part I may be playing at this present moment.

We saw what can happen when Evan is not there.

I mean the sound guys did the best they could,

but Evan knows a little more because he's been doing it for a little while.

So Jeremy, James and Vignesh had to do the best they can.

But a person missing makes a massive difference, man.

So, any questions?

I won't finish even half of this today.

Whenever you say yes to anything, you have to say no to something else.

That is part of this idea of consecration.

Consecration is saying no to some really good, godly...

I can preach well too.

So, I'm not going to say no to anything.

I'm going to say no to the Holy Spirit.

I'm going to say no to the Holy Spirit.

I can preach well too.

Whenever you say yes to anything, you will have to say no to something else.

And that's a choice that I hope God will bring all of us to.

Where if this is what God is consecrating us for,

if this is what our tomorrow holds,

you will have to say no to things if you want to say yes to this.

You can't have it all.

You can't have it all.

It's not possible. You're human. You're limited.

And so, one of the things you have to decide is, is this something I want?

It is not a question of, is this what God wants for us?

That, let me assure you, is settled.

It is only a question of, is this what I want?

What we want?

And if we want this, we'll have to say yes.

But every time you say yes, you'll have to say no to something else.

Sometimes saying no is costly, because you're giving away something good.

We always like to juggle.

Got to have two or three things in the air always,

so that if one drops, you always have the other one.

God doesn't juggle.

In 1 Kings 18, just on the side, Elijah gives people a choice,

and he says to them, choose this day,

whether you will serve Yahweh or whether you will serve Baal.

What he did not expect is that when he gave them a choice,

the next verse says, the people said nothing.

It's crazy. He was laying down a choice before them.

Choose this day, whether you will worship Yahweh or you will worship Baal.

But the very next verse says, but the people said nothing.

And you know why they said nothing?

Because they wanted to find out what will happen after Elijah prays.

Till then, they did not want to commit.

And that's something that God doesn't take lightly.

Jacob, if you want me to jump off the steeple to prove to you

that I can jump off great heights, then you ain't going to see it.

One commits to things that one thinks of God

before one begins to eat of that which God wants to feed.

Two or three more points and we're done.

And so we'll be stopping here, and then I've got all this and all this.

But you look like you want to finish the whole thing, so I'll oblige.

But for some strange reason, someone's put a clock on there.

It says I've got 16 minutes and 48 seconds.

And I'm going to be like, I'm going to be like,

I'm going to be like, I'm going to be like, I'm going to be like,

I'm going to be like, I'm going to be like, I'm going to be like,

look you've only got 40 seconds!

This is not a mega-church. Take it off.

See guys, even to be a world class musician or a world class athlete

or even a local BC athlete,

you must know what your disciplines are.

You must know what your disciplines are.

And you must know what your distractions are.

And then once you know what your disciplines are and your distractions are going to be, you have to have a plan.

You must have a plan to overcome it.

Please, please, please pay attention to this.

Because guys, if this is serious business and God is deadly serious,

if this is serious business, then God wants us to take stock of what I need to...

what your disciplines... sorry, that's disciples.

What your disciplines are and what your distractions are. You have to know that.

As I go about pursuing this inheritance that God is giving the church,

as I go about some of the things that God has spoken to me personally,

that may one day fit into this or may not right now,

as I go about pursuing this, what are some of the disciplines I must engage in

so that I hone my divine skills?

And what are some of the distractions that I must be aware of?

And how do I plan to overcome it?

Both have to kick in, eh?

They both have to kick in. If not, you usually are rendered mediocre.

Mediocrity is when people do not choose to locate the disciplines they must engage in

and do not choose to locate the distractions that have targeted them

and have been around for years on end.

Those people usually end up living a very mediocre life.

And in Christianity, mediocrity is simply defined as being passive about the Spirit of God.

That's what mediocrity is.

Mediocrity is not whether you sing well or do well, teach well, not teach well, anointing, not anointing.

It's got nothing to do with that because that's entirely of God.

Mediocrity in Christianity is simply defined as one who refuses to get to a place

where they can be passionate about the Spirit of God,

instead choose passivity over passion.

It's very easy to spot that, eh?

The only ones who don't spot mediocrity are the ones that are mediocre.

And mediocrity is always exposed in the face of passion.

You can never realize you are mediocre

till you mix with someone who is really passionate about something.

That's how you deal with mediocrity.

Mediocrity is not just about being passive about the Spirit of God.

You're passionate about something.

That's how you know where you stand.

I might think I'm a good cook till I end up standing next to Tuni

and then I find that, ah shucks, I know nothing.

Tuni is the wrong one.

Someone else, like, you suddenly realize, oh shucks, you thought you were good.

You are just so average because now passion exposes mediocrity.

That's why it's a really bad idea to hang out with people that are like you.

Hanging out with people that are like you is a really bad idea.

Because you will never get to a place where you can be better.

Peer-to-peer relationships are the death of the church.

Peer-to-peer relationships are the death of the church.

I want to say to you that Satan follows this plan.

Which plan? This plan.

He likes to know my strengths and then he also likes to know

what my weaknesses are so that I can be subdued.

Turn to Judges 16, 5.

Judges 16, verse 5.

Judges 16:5

This is such a helpful exercise if you can go about it this week.

Judges 16, verse 5.

Judges 16:5

Now let's start with verse 4.

Sometime later he fell in love with a woman. This is Samsoni.

Sometime later he fell in love with a woman in the valley of Sorek whose name was Delilah.

The rulers of the Philistines went to her and said,

See if you can lure him into showing you the secret of his great strength.

So the first thing we need to realize is I must know my strengths.

Find out where your strengths lie. The secret of your great strength.

Find out where your strengths lie.

You must know your strengths. You must know your strengths.

They can change maybe. 5 years from now you can have different strengths.

But you must know your present strength.

And there's nobody here who does not have this.

You must know your present strength.

So here's what they tell him to do.

Find out the secret of his great strength. Find out where his strength lies.

And then the next thing they say to him is how it can be overcome.

What will it take and what methods can we use to make sure that Jacob's strengths are overcome.

Why? So that we can subdue him, bind him, humble him.

Come on man, we are smarter because we belong to Christ.

Find out your strengths. I'm not talking about your talents or your giftings.

Find out your innate strengths. If you can never sing, never speak, what are your strengths?

What are your strengths?

What are your strengths if you never had the ability to stand on a platform or have a pulpit?

What are your strengths?

Surely if Christ lives in you, there's nobody here who has Christ in him that does not have strengths.

Because we're being restored and renewed in the knowledge of God and being restored to the image of God.

But the problem is we don't know where our strength lies.

And once you know it, hold it on just two, just two. Don't think you have just one. God rarely gives one.

What are your strengths?

And once you know your strengths then go to the next question.

How has it been? Not how is it being. How has it been overcome all this time?

How has it been overcome?

How has it been overcome?

And you will find that, ah shucks, I am so good here, but I still am not able to hit my stride or come into the fullness of who I am.

Why? This is what coaches do.

In a basketball game or a hockey game, they look for strengths and they look for the weakness.

And then they go over video, replay after replay.

Those guys who play hockey, guys, they know it by heart. When the anthem is playing and they are like this, they're not praying.

They're practicing. Every goalie knows. Every penalty shot that will be taken, they know how the player is going to go.

They go over video replays again and again and again. It involves work.

And then once we know how we have been overcome, we know that the intent is to subdue us and to bind us and to humble us.

But hasn't it worked? Of course it has worked.

Okay, so when I did this exercise, the strengths that I put down on my phone was, Jacob, you hear God well and you can obey.

Once you hear. You hear him well and once you hear him, you obey. That's the strength I have.

And it's been there for the last many years, sometimes just through practice. So that's my strength.

And then I wrote down how it can be overcome. And on my phone I've got 17 ways that it has been overcome over the last many years.

Seventeen. And I've left an eighteen just in case I find one tomorrow.

So here is the strength Jacob has. He hears well and once he hears, he's willing to take the risk of obeying.

And then I've written down. Yeah, right now it stands at seventeen. Seventeen ways it's been overcome.

So that I've been subdued, I've been bound, I've been humbled. Right from, go ahead.

What will you give in exchange?

What will you give in exchange?

Here are some.

When, one of the methods that is used is people accusing me of hearing wrong again and again and again.

Where it's constant you didn't hear right, you're false, you are getting it wrong, you don't hear from God.

And after a while if ten people say it twenty times in forty days, it begins to get to you where you begin to hesitate.

Yeah, mistakes will be made, but it shouldn't rip away my identity.

This church was built on hearing man, nothing else.

But that's one, let me give you another one.

A need for confirmation or signs before I will obey.

God says something, I want twenty confirmations and forty signs before I will step out.

By the time the event is already over.

By the time the event is already over.

Every car goes by I'm looking at the license plate, it's not saying what I want.

Billboards are not effective either.

This is just one more.

Laziness so that hearing and obedience is procrastinated.

Where I don't feel like it today. Today, Sunday I've really worked hard.

I know I've got stuff to do tomorrow, but let's just watch a movie today.

We'll start tomorrow morning.

Laziness, which results in procrastination of obedience and of hearing.

Got fourteen more.

At least fourteen more. There might be more that's added.

I'm not looking for help.

So, know that this is how the realms work.

Let's kind of stop there.

Intense enthusiasm must join.

Discipline pursuit must join.

Singular focus must join.

Regular intentionality as in everyday, everyday intentionality.

That's what then brings you to a place where you function.

Out of mediocrity.

Into the hands of God.

These are words that are not just synonyms of one another.

Intense enthusiasm is important.

It's one of the things that we haven't been able to cultivate in this church.

At least intense enthusiasm is not something that is easily expressed in this church.

It's hesitant enthusiasm.

The enthusiasm is there, but it's not necessarily easily expressed.

So that's one thing that we may have to keep working at.

Intense enthusiasm must be expressed.

I've seen Don dancing.

I took him to a youth conference near Mumbai.

He was supposed to be my wingman.

Suddenly I don't have a wingman. Can't find him.

It's hard to find him in a crowd of six hundred people.

Then finally I find him in front where the music is going on.

And this guy is dancing like I've never seen him.

He's got moves.

And so when we do this last song, you will see his moves.

Where's Subin?

Subin was the best dancer in Chennai, India.

His wife married him because of his dancing skills.

So he'll be coming out too.

Nick, ask James.

You put on some reggae or African music and Nick completely changes his ethnicity.

So Nick will be here too.

Tuni, unfortunately has his guitar so he uses it as an excuse.

Oh, Sheldon. Oh my God. Did you see him on Christmas?

And Mike doesn't know why I'm leaving him out. Mike, you too.

So we shall end with that song.

But intense enthusiasm is one of the things that needs to be expressed.

Get your feet moving, Don.

You've got disciplined pursuit.

Pursuit that is not disciplined is all over the place.

It is disciplined pursuit. It's the hardest thing to do.

Ask your wife or your dog to help you. Disciplined pursuit.

Disciplined pursuit.

I prayed for a cat yesterday, by the way.

Pardon?

Yeah, the cat is doing well. That was what shocked me.

So, disciplined pursuit is the other thing.

And then singular, you know, discipline.

Tune, focus. Tunnel vision. Tunnel vision is super important.

Tunnel vision is super important.

And the last one is everyday intentionality. It has to be a habit.

This is one of the hardest things to do, guys.

Hardest things to do.

Consecration for a period, for a few days is okay, but can you sustain it for six months, eight months?

And I assure you, God guarantees a difference.

Because whenever someone consecrates themselves because they know a purpose of it,

be it God appearing or be it engaging you in a battle,

whenever you do it, he guarantees that he will turn up because it provokes him.

It provokes him.

Yeah. So, Tunny, if you want to come up.

You can call your other friends up too.

Done?