That you are my disciples – Part 3

that says, no more let sins and sorrows grow.

That's what the breaking of bread does for us.

And because we were moving,

we don't know where the little cups are,

so can spouses share their cup, please,

so that the rest of us can use the cups that are available.

Brandon, can you put it up?

Sing and ever,

let us sing

and ever,

let us sing.

It's mercy,

joy to the world,

let's save your things.

Let men,

let songs deploy,

while fields and floods,

drop souls and graves,

repeat the sounding noise,

repeat the sounding noise,

repeat, repeat,

the sounding noise.

He rules the world,

he rules the world,

with truth and faith,

and makes the nations true,

the glories of his righteousness,

the hearts of his love,

and the wonders of his love,

and the wonders, wonders of his love.

The words that says, as far as the coast is come,

we left it at.

This is the idea of communion.

The agent rank with them on Mount Sinai,

he will eat and drink with us one day,

for the marriage supper of the Lamb.

We might stand here and we say,

the time is coming when sorrows will end,

that Christ has died,

and his blessing goes as far as the coast is come.

It's your life, my life, and our life,

and it lies on everyone else who wants it not.

No more excellent than sorrow,

no more incest the ground,

he called to make his blessing come,

far as the coast is come,

far as the coast is come,

far as, far as,

goodness on our side,

no more excellent than sorrow.

No more incest the ground,

he called to make his blessing come,

far as the coast is come,

far as the coast is come,

far as, far as,

the coast is come.

So Father, as we break bread,

we thank you and we remember

that you came to make all things new.

That the day you died and rose again,

the curse started withdrawing

like a moth eaten garment.

It's being rolled up.

A day when there will be no tears,

no pain, no sorrow, no shame.

A day when thorns will no longer infest the ground,

a day when we will return to Eden.

But as we partake of the bread and the cup today,

here's what you want us to remember.

I have come to make all things new.

I am here.

There is a new kingdom afoot on the earth.

It keeps increasing, keeps increasing,

till it will be the only kingdom left here on earth.

I have come to make all things new.

Will you join me?

Will you join me in making creation new?

That's what we eat and drink to today.

In our lives, in our marriages, in our relationships,

and through us.

Amen.

Come guys, if you can distribute the...

Once you're all dressed up, you can come and pray for the bread.

And then...

Come.

Let's wait for the bread.

Thanks.

Thank you.

Everyone's got bread?

Okay, let's wait till everyone has bread.

Then I'll ask...

I'll ask you to come up here.

Come on.

Come on.

And then I'll ask Derek and Don's mum to pray for the cup.

After this.

What happened here?

So much.

Yeah.

Thank you.

Thank you.

He has come to make all things new.

Through our whispers, through our conversations.

Just hold on to some simple truth.

He has come to make all things new.

I have a camera inside that this is what God has come to do.

This is what I partner with him in.

He has come to make all things new.

As far as the curse is found, he is reversing it.

Ready guys?

Everyone has bread and grape juice?

Okay, Pastor Sheldon, if you can pray first.

With the mic, yeah.

Yeah.

Go ahead.

Jesus, you said remember every time we eat this, what you have done.

So we remember this, that when you came,

what is light darkness cannot overcome?

And what I see is that as we're singing that song,

that the light that you have done,

that it's like a shadow, it's like this whole area that's dark,

but the moment this light touches, it just flees, it moves,

it just runs away, that there's no room for the darkness to be.

That it is fleeing, it's fleeing, it's fleeing.

And then you're also saying that because as we eat this bread,

remember this one thing, that I have placed my spirit in you,

that you are now light, that wherever we go,

that the darkness also flees.

So we eat in remembrance of that.

And then you continue to do it in us, through us, for this kingdom.

So we eat this bread in remembrance of that now.

Thank you, Father. So on the night he was betrayed,

Jesus took bread, he broke it, he gave thanks,

and he said, this is my body,

which is broken for you.

Eat it in remembrance of me.

And as we eat it, we remember, you came to make all things new.

We also remember what Sheldon just now said,

we eat this. Darkness has no part in us.

And as we submit to your Lordship and resist darkness,

it will flee.

So we submit to your Lordship,

resist any area of darkness in our lives.

And it must flee.

So we eat now, thanking you in Jesus' name. Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

So even before we pray for the cup,

I just stretch my hand out to people that are not well.

When I say, Father, that as we partake of the bread

and drink of the cup, may your healing flow.

Like Solomon, we stand in the temple, we look up and we say,

where else can we turn to when we have a need?

So Father, there are people here who are struggling with sicknesses.

And the breaking of the bread and partaking in it

is a mechanism of healing.

We're added to healing.

That my body was broken, so that you be healed.

My body was broken, so that you be healed.

My body was broken, so that you be healed. Jesus, you said,

you who never tell the lie. You, who are the truth.

You who are God. My body was broken, so that you may be healed.

My body was broken, so that you may be healed.

I was striped, so that you may be healed.

My back was plowed open, so that you may be healed.

of Jesus Christ we we trust you God we trust you that you do not lie that you

are true that your word is true we trust you

let us pray for the cup and then partake in it

praise God Lord we thank you for the holy blood Lord we remember how you died on

the cruise for us and saved our lives from the darkness and from all the evil

that is spreading in this world we believe in the strength of your holy

thank you Lord strengthen us as we drink this wine in remembrance of the holy

blood on the cruise Lord strengthen this church strength each one of us and make

us stand against all the darkness and make us strong in your spirit the holy

spirit Lord we submit ourselves unto your holy hand and your holy feet Lord

bless this church and bless everyone and every family thank you Lord so father

on the night you were betrayed after you broke bread you took the cup you gave

thanks and you said this is my blood with which I write a new agreement with

you but you are my sons and my daughters that I have paid and purchased

you that you belong to me that I'm your master I own you but I'm also your

father and you're my sons and daughters that I put my own spirit in you that I

will never leave you I will not abandon you I will always create a pathway for

you I am for you I am for you I am for you I am for you I am for you Jacob I am

for you I'm always for you I paid with my blood I signed a new agreement with

you you're seated with me in heavenly places I will shower you with loving

kindness I do not change I'm always like this I am always like this I do not

change so we thank you Jesus for this temple that is cleansed by your blood

that is a perfect place for the Holy Spirit to reside so welcome Spirit of

God welcome dwell in the dwell in the temple cleansed by the blood of the Sun

dwell in the temple cleansed by the blood of the Sun dwell fully dwell well

to your joy so we raise our cups to you Jesus we say you're magnificent you're

awesome you are king you are Lord and we drink remembering you right now in Jesus

name amen

amen

cool you'll come up there Brandon okay Betty are the kids going down

already kids see ya remember try not to get into two-minute trouble

you

hi

R retrouve

R Kollege

Rirrel

no

do

do

Okay, we go back to what we had stopped at when we went down the road of culture of the

household.

We go back to that, you are my disciples.

We had done parts one and two and we continue with that, that you are my disciples.

Where Jesus says a few times in scripture, you do this and you are my disciples.

So that's what we had begun and so we go on to part three now.

Yahya, where are you?

Thank you for doing that.

Okay, so guys, if you read John 8, John 8, 29 to 33.

John 8, 29 to 33.

Let's just read that.

John 8, 29 to 33.

So starting at 29, reading from the NIV.

The one who sent me is with me.

He has not left me alone for I always do what pleases him.

That's Jesus speaking.

Then it says, even as he spoke, many believed in him.

To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, if you hold to my teaching, you are really

my disciples.

That's the whole idea, that you are my disciples.

So in this case, what Jesus is saying is, if you hold to my teachings, you are really

my disciples.

If you read the ESV, it says, if you abide in my word, you truly are my disciples.

If you read the New King James, it says, if you continue in my word, you are my disciples

indeed.

So basically, it's along the same lines.

And so he says, if you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples.

John 8, 32.

Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.

They answered him, we are Abraham's descendants and have never been slaves of anyone.

How can you say that we shall be set free?

Guys, one of the things that we, it's easy to go down the road of, oh, so if I continue

in the word, then I'm a disciple and be happy with that.

So all I have to do is dwell in the word and I'll be a disciple.

But there's something more here that Jesus wants us to get.

And that is that the life of a disciple should be a life of freedom.

Because he says, if you continue in my word, you will know the truth.

If you know the truth, you will walk free.

And yet the very guys who believed him, in verse 30, they said, we believe you.

And Jesus began to talk to the ones who believe.

But in verse 33, you see the very ones who believed him now begin to question this idea

of freedom.

Because in their mind, they were already free because they were Abraham's descendants.

And so their question is, what do you mean you're going to set us free?

We are already free.

We are Abraham's descendants.

And so sometimes what happens is, I don't think most of us think along the lines of,

I have to live a life that is so free that the world will watch and wonder.

Freedom is not a highly prized item in the kingdom.

Freedom from what?

Freedom from fear.

Freedom from sin.

Freedom from death.

Which is what in this case, Jesus is specifically addressing.

If you're a slave to sin, you will die.

Freedom from death.

Freedom from fear.

Freedom from sin.

Freedom from legalism.

Freedom from anxiety.

Freedom to live as father and son without any fear, no torment.

Freedom in relationship.

Freedom from the ways of the world.

But really enough, even though Christ has come to set us free, I don't think freedom

is a prized quality for Christians.

Heaven is a prized quality.

The Holy Spirit is important.

We want to live godly lives.

We want to live Christian lives.

But for what?

Jesus put it this way.

He said, for freedom, I have set you free.

Do not use it wrongly, but for freedom, I've set you free.

What did it look like to live in Eden?

At the end of the day, discipleship should reflect what it looked like for Adam and Eve

to live in Eden before the fall, where there was only one prohibition.

And that prohibition was put in place just so they have a choice.

Because without choice, there is no love.

Everything else was, you can take freely of everything I have created, except eat from

this tree.

And even that was not because he wanted to withhold it.

He was going to give them that too.

But he had to give them a choice so that they could choose between him and their own will.

Think of this for a second and please think about it.

How important is free living to you?

The problem in asking that question is we don't even know what freedom tastes like,

which is what happened in verse 33.

They thought freedom tastes like being the physical sons of Abraham.

But they still think so.

What does it taste like to be free?

What does it taste like to be free of fear?

Free of anger?

Free of shame?

Free of condemnation?

Free of bitterness?

Free of doing anything holy that lacks love or joy?

Free from religion?

Free from the ways of the world?

Free from lust?

Just free never to be bothered by it again?

Free from deceit, deception, lies?

Free from what is going to happen tomorrow?

Free to love, free to be loved.

What does it even feel like?

And Jesus is saying, listen, you are my disciples if you dwell in, dwell on, continue in the

word and when you do, the truth in the word will set you free.

His aim at the end of the day is, hey, disciples, can you be guys who live freely?

Jesus was like this.

He was free.

He didn't have fear of man.

He didn't have fear of man.

He didn't have fear of offense.

He didn't have fear of maintaining equality, dignity.

John 13, 1-3, knowing where he had come from and knowing where he was going, he disrobed,

wrapped a towel around him and began to wash the feet of his disciples.

Free to be a servant.

Freedom to be a servant.

Try and taste it.

It is so difficult.

So difficult.

Free to dance under the sun.

S-O-N.

All S-U-N.

Free to dance.

Free not to be embarrassed anymore.

What do you think Eden was like?

Free from what people think.

And then Jesus goes on to say, Paul goes on to say in the Corinthians, I think, he says,

yes, for freedom we came to set you free, but not so you can use it to your own advantage

or use it to harm others.

Begin to seek this freedom, guys.

Otherwise, all you will become is a godly man or a godly woman.

And that's nice, but it ain't nice enough.

Any questions before we go on?

Genesis 2, verse 16 and 17.

Genesis 2:16

He says to them, listen, I give you everything, everything is yours to have freely, except

eating the street.

Freedom to explore.

Freedom to explore.

To steward things on his behalf.

How do I do this, O God?

Flow in the spirit.

Exert your will and your intellect.

Exert will and intellect.

To love freely.

To be loved.

Not to be afraid to be loved.

Not to be afraid to love.

Romans 8, 14.

I have been freed from slavery.

Into what?

I have been freed to be a son.

It's one of the few things that I think I can taste what it means to be free, to be

a son of the living God.

It's one of the few things that I can feel the taste.

Most of the other things I don't know.

I don't know what it tastes like.

You're no longer in bondage of slavery to a spirit of fear, but I've given you the

spirit of adoption, which causes you to cry out and say, Abba, Father, that I can taste.

I like this idea of the Father, Son.

I've explored it.

It's good.

It's tasty.

That I understand, but the rest of it I don't understand fully.

Go ahead.

Sorry?

See, truth cannot be learned only.

Truth must be experienced.

Because at the end of the day, however we look at the word, the word is truth, Jesus,

and yet truth is a person.

And so when I relate to the word, I must also relate to the person called Jesus.

And you cannot relate to a person and not experience him.

So yes, we were called into freedom, but then God begins to bring you into freedom.

For us, it's not a prized quality.

Most people sitting here don't get up and think, I want to be freer.

Our thing is, I want to sin a little less and be more godly.

That would be a start.

But to be free?

No, that's not the goalpost.

I mean, Romans 8, 20, Romans 8, 21.

You know what it says?

It says, creation has been subjected to corruption, but is eagerly waiting for the freedom of

the sons of God to be revealed.

That's why I say there's an end goal.

It is part of the end goal.

Can you now begin to show people how free you are because the Christ, the freest person

in the universe lives in you?

Can you show what it is to be free?

And if you ask me to define freedom very hard, all I can say is freedom is equated to how

Christ is.

And he worked under severe limitations.

He was eternal, immortal, invisible God confined to a five feet, ten inch body maybe.

He was working with severe limitations, but he knew how to walk the earth free.

And creation is longing for this.

And because it says one day it will happen, we don't care about it.

But what about the ones who need to see it today?

What about the ones who need to see the freedom of your conversation with the Father?

What about the freedom of not being under stress and anxiety when your world is collapsing?

What about the freedom of not observing anything religious that is devoid of joy and love?

What about living like that?

What about not caring about what others think of what you do when you're right and when

you're right in the sight of God?

We are so beholden to man and in our being beholden to man, we have the fear of man.

Sometimes we are like people who are stuck on an island not knowing that the war is over

and that freedom has been declared.

I want to taste this.

Freedom from sin.

What about the sins in your life?

Freedom from Satan and the attacks he brings.

Freedom from death which has already been given.

Freedom from disease which we talked about just now.

Freedom from fear which ends when we know how perfectly we are loved.

Freedom from abandonment, knowing the new covenant that God has with us and that people

around us have.

Freedom from condemnation.

Are these kids conspiring?

Almost looks like they are sending messages to each other saying, let us do this together.

I think he's the ringleader.

Freedom from condemnation.

Freedom from legalism.

Freedom from lust.

Freedom from offense.

Freedom from pride.

How cooler if some of these things began to work in your life?

This is what a disciple was supposed to portray.

If we define discipleship, this is how we defined it last time.

If we define discipleship as divine sonship and divine servitude, as in I have a father,

I have a master.

That's discipleship.

Can my life display divine sonship and divine ownership?

That's discipleship.

Can I get into this place of freedom?

Let me just pray that for us right now because we don't even desire this freedom.

It's not a high priority item.

Let's just pray that.

Jesus, we don't think this is important.

We have a world in bondage and we don't think this is important.

We don't think it's important for our own lives.

We don't know what it, when we talk about freedom, we don't know what it tastes like.

Freedom as ones that are born again.

Not freedom from the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of light.

That was taken care of.

To live freely.

I don't know what it means.

So Spirit of God, since we are desiring to be disciples, disciples are supposed to be

changed by the truth to live free lives.

The knowledge of truth sets you free and to exhibit free lives.

We are so constrained.

So in the name of Jesus Christ, I ask Spirit of God to create in me, to create in us an

appetite, a desire, a hunger, a longing, a searching, a wanting to live lives that are

free here on earth before I die so that others can see what it is to be in relationship with

God.

To show others what it is to be in relationship with God.

I ask this for everybody here and for myself.

In Jesus' name.

Amen.

So John 8.31.

Now that we've established why, what we are aiming towards, now Jesus says to really be

his disciple, to be his disciple, I must dwell on his word, dwell in his word, or abide in

his word, hold to his teaching.

There are only four or five statements he makes like this, that you are my disciples

and this is one of them.

To be his disciple I must dwell on his word, abide, abide is to remain or to continue and

three, hold to his teaching.

And if I do, I will know or experience the truth.

So the first one is easy, dwell on his word means we'll have to, there's no way to walk

in discipleship without dwelling on his word, as in actual dwelling on his word.

So it's very possible for us to live an entire life without entering into this aspect of

discipleship because we never dwell on his word.

We do our daily readings but we never dwell on his word.

Daily readings are just a substitute for easy Christianity.

It's to finish the Bible, yes it's nice, I'm not talking about the daily Bible, the

one year Bible, I'm talking about daily readings like those little passages with a little scripture

on top that appears on your phone and you read it and you feel happy, those things are

not for us.

Chunks of scripture, so dwell on his word, dwell, abide in his word, to abide is to remain

or to root or to continue his word, to abide in his word.

So then when I begin to read, I must also learn how to abide in it, as in root in it,

sink in it, surround myself with it, wrestle with it, receive it, surrender to it.

That's how you abide in something.

How do you abide in someone's arms?

By resisting it?

No, you let yourself go.

You abide, you rest, you root, you remain.

Abide in his word and then the last one is hold to his teaching, hold in the sense that

I can't see it today and forget it tomorrow, I must hold on to it tomorrow and day after

and day after and day after, hold to his teaching.

And here is Jesus saying this, he's saying, Jacob, to be my disciple you must.

And if we don't, then we don't.

You'll still go to heaven.

But the world will not see a life of freedom ever while you're on earth.

They must, they must.

They must see it despite your circumstances.

They must see it even though you don't have money.

They must see it even if your marriage isn't working.

They must see it even when you're not feeling well.

They must see it even when you have a lack.

They must see it even when you're in trouble.

They must see freedom.

So what is this?

He says, if you do this, you will know or experience the truth.

The word know actually means, in this case, experiencing it.

So it's not knowing the truth as in knowing the truth.

I've got the knowledge of the truth.

This is not enough.

It must be experienced.

It must be experienced.

Meaning somehow it has to become something that happens to me daily.

The word must be something that happens to me daily.

Because, and here's the thing about this truth.

So this truth is full of grace, love, holiness, and the Spirit.

So if I say that I know the truth of God's word, you must evaluate it by checking.

If I have a life that is increasing in grace, increasing in love, increasing in holiness,

and increasing in the life of the Spirit.

And if I don't have those in increasing quantities, then what I have is the knowledge of the truth here.

The experience must be realized by the entire person.

Because the nature of the truth of God is that it is full of grace, it is full of love,

it is holy, and it is full of the life of the Spirit.

The problem is, not the problem, the good problem is truth is a person.

I am the truth, I am the way, I am the life.

I am the truth, I am the way, I am the life.

He's a person.

The word and the truth, surprisingly, are a person.

The word made flesh.

Truth is a person.

So it is not possible for you to increase in the knowledge of the truth

without increasing in a vibrant relationship with Christ.

And any vibrant relationship with Christ must bring you into greater freedom.

Any vibrant relationship with Christ must bring you into greater freedom.

It's just the nature of things.

If you had hung out with Kobe before he died, you'd have been a better basketball player.

If you had hung out with Tiger Woods before he messed up, you'd have been a better golfer.

It translates.

So when you have a relationship with the word, but you are not increasing,

or if I have a relationship with the word, but I'm not increasing in grace, love, holiness, and the flow of the Spirit,

then I really only have a relationship with the word, not the word made flesh in Christ,

and not the word made flesh in me, because it's transformative.

Any questions?

Yep.

Yeah.

The problem with freedom is this.

You can always take it to another level.

You can always take it to another level.

You can always take it to another level.

The problem with freedom is this.

You can always take it to an excess.

But the problem with freedom is also this.

God will not limit it because it's taken to an excess.

So he gives Adam and Eve freedom in the garden.

He could have so easily put an electric fence around that blooming tree.

So every time Adam and Eve go and try to pluck that, let's call it apple for now,

but no, he didn't put anything there.

He gave absolute access.

So the problem with freedom is there is always the possibility that you can be excessive.

But the problem with freedom is also that God does not place limits on it.

He tells you in advance what can happen, but he does not prevent you from exerting a choice.

And that is a dilemma we'll have.

I mean, this is the same freedom that the angels exploited,

and a third of them got thrown out of heaven.

They had the freedom to rebel.

And they must have planned it for a while.

Do you think God wasn't aware?

Yeah, so there is a possibility to get into excess.

But then, my freedom should do three things,

and this is perhaps a litmus to use when we talk about freedom.

My freedom must one, benefit others.

This is why Paul says all things are permissible, but all things are not beneficial.

And then he goes on to explain that, listen, Dilla, you're free to eat whatever you want.

But if Jacob has a problem with pork, or with beef, or with fish, or with broccoli, don't eat it.

Jacob has a problem with broccoli. Don't eat it.

And so you refuse to eat it just so I don't stumble.

And so that's one of the things.

My freedom must benefit others.

My freedom must increase.

My freedom must bring me to the same place of relationship that Christ has with the Father.

And third, my freedom must cause love, grace, purity to increase.

In my life.

Beautifully.

Sorry, my freedom must cause love, grace, and purity to increase in my life.

These are litmus to examine freedom.

My freedom must benefit others.

All things are maybe permissible, but not all things are beneficial.

So just because I may have the ability to exert freedom in an area doesn't mean that I do it if it causes you harm.

Two, my freedom must bring me to the same place of relationship that Christ has with the Father.

He is so free with the Father.

Why is he so free with the Father?

Because he knows that his Father loves him perfectly.

There is no fear.

There is no torment.

And then the third one is my freedom must cause love, grace, and purity to increase in my life.

Sometimes when I watch the video of that guy, what's his name?

Nick something.

He doesn't have arms.

Nick Wojcik.

That guy is freer than most of us.

I read stories of Richard Wombran locked up in a Soviet prison.

That guy is freer than all of us.

I met him once in Bahrain long ago.

So this truth brings you into greater freedom.

How badly do you want it?

How badly do you want it?

Try to experience it, eh?

Because truth, truth on one hand is the word.

On the other hand, it's the word made flesh and therefore is a person.

You can read that in John 1, 14 and John 14, 6.

The word became flesh and dwelt among us, is a person.

And so to know the truth of the word is to be in relationship with a person.

And it changes you.

And it changes you.

Any questions, guys?

So when you read the word, try to approach it.

Yes, you're reading the Bible.

Yes, you're doing the Christian thing.

But he's a person.

I don't know how to equate it.

It's so difficult to comprehend.

But we'll try and look at it.

So how do we know or experience the truth?

How do we know or experience?

You must link these two words, guys.

Please don't separate them.

These two words must be linked.

Otherwise it remains knowledge.

It remains something that's in the mind.

It must be experienced.

Go ahead, Ruth.

Sure.

I mean, how terrible if we did not experience forgiveness.

It would have been so terrible.

What if we knew the truth that Jesus forgives?

But what if we never experienced it?

Haven't we struggled with condemnation where you feel condemned

and you go read the word and it says,

therefore there is no condemnation and it tastes like sawdust.

You read it again.

Now it tastes like broccoli.

But it doesn't help.

And at some point you realize, oh my God, I experience no condemnation

despite the fact that I have done something that requires condemnation.

What is it when you suddenly know God is love, God is love, God is love,

and then he does something in your lowest moment,

he comes and does something and it breaks your heart.

Truth must be experienced.

What is it to know the anointing of God?

Oh, the anointing will fall, the anointing is in you and all that stuff.

And then one day you're sitting with one person or your cat or with a group of people

and suddenly you know the anointing of God and the cat immediately leaves the room.

And so there's this thing of you know.

So that's how this works.

Truth must be experienced.

So how do we know or experience the truth?

Ruth, can I move on?

Oh, thank you.

Okay, one, to know the truth you'll have to go with James 1.19 where it says,

receive it with meekness and humility.

As in, if you want to absorb, wrestle, receive the truth of the word,

it requires that you come with meekness and humility.

Or in other words, a proud man or woman cannot receive the word

or let the implanted word grow.

This is why Christianity is such a stumbling block to the Greek,

as in the ones who think, who are full of themselves and full of the intellect.

Blessed are the poor in spirit, as in blessed are the bankrupt.

Blessed are those that know they're spiritually bankrupt.

For if you know you're spiritually bankrupt, then everybody is spiritually bankrupt,

but some recognize it, some don't.

To those that recognize it, the kingdom of God is theirs.

To those that don't recognize it, there is resistance.

And so I know I've said this before.

I remember I was supposed to host a scholar from China who was studying in UBC.

All I had to do was drive him around.

I'm driving him around and obviously I used the time to tell him about Jesus.

And at the end of the two days of hosting, he says,

Jacob, I heard everything you said.

I understand what you're saying, but it is too simple.

Salvation requires more than receiving someone who's done all the work.

I thought to myself, wow.

It was not his lack of understanding, but he was too proud to be able to get to a place

where someone had done all the work and he has to receive it.

That's just nuts, eh?

So he walked away.

So a proud man cannot receive the word.

A proud woman cannot receive the word.

And so if you want your circumstances to change and you're going to the world,

one of the first things you will do is that you'll have to let go of all the things you're holding onto

because it matters, because it's your reputation, because it's dignity,

because it's what people will think and what this one will say.

You'll have to let go of all of it and come with meekness

so that the implanted word can grow and the grafted word can spring to life.

James 1.19.

Sometimes God will bring me to my knees so that he can do this.

Sometimes he'll bring me to my knees saying,

take a look, I've got to orchestrate circumstances because you're so full of yourself

that right now you think you can do this on your own.

Yeah, you come to me and pray, but you really don't want my will.

You want me to fit in your will.

Second thing we can do if you want to experience the truth is

this is a very cool thing.

Exodus 40, verse 20. This goes back so long.

Exodus 40:20

You know, in the Old Testament they would have the Ark of the Covenant

and it used to be made of gold and there'd be two angels with their arms stretched out

and this place would be called the Mercy Seat.

And God would say to Moses in Exodus 40.20, saying,

and you know what was inside this?

It was the Ten Commandments or the Law.

The Law was inside the box and yet God would come and say,

listen, I want you to come to me, sprinkle blood on the Mercy Seat.

I know the covenant is in the box, but when you come,

I will speak to you from the Mercy Seat.

Meaning, sometimes the way to understand the Word is to let the voice of the Spirit explain it to you.

It is important that we take the Word and have the Spirit of God explain it to us.

It's Word and Spirit. It's never Word or never just the Spirit.

You just have the Spirit and it can go like Dilna was pointing out.

It can go to any excess. The Lord told me, the Lord told me, the Lord told me.

And if it's only the Word, then you're stuck again.

Because there is something called the Proceeding Word.

Deuteronomy 8 verse 3 talks about it.

Deuteronomy 8:3

Deuteronomy 8 verse 3 talks about it.

Deuteronomy 8:3

And it says in Deuteronomy 8.3 that I humbled you in the desert.

Look at how it works. That whole idea of humility and meekness.

I humbled you in the desert. I fed you just manna.

Why did I feed you manna? So that I could humble you in the desert.

Why? So that you would understand that you cannot live by anything else but the Proceeding Word that comes from my mouth.

Meaning, the Word that I continuously speak.

It will be based on the covenant that has been given.

But it is God explaining it.

I can't take one or the other. I can't say the Spirit, the Spirit, the Spirit.

I can't say the Word, the Word, the Word.

It's Word and Spirit because we are Word and Spirit beings.

And if you read Exodus 40 verse 20.

Exodus 40:20

Exodus 40 verse 20.

Exodus 40:20

It says there.

Not verse 20.

Exodus 40 verse...

Yeah, 20.

Shoot.

Okay, just go to Exodus 25 for a second.

Maybe it's there.

Oh no, no, stay in 40.

No, no, no, no. Go to 25.

Yeah.

25 verse 21.

Or let's start at 20.

The cherubim are to have their wings spread upward, overshadowing the cover with them.

The cherubim are to face each other looking towards the cover.

Place the cover on top of the ark and put in the ark the tablets of the covenant law that I've given you.

There above the cover between the two cherubim that are over the ark of the covenant law.

I will meet with you and give you all my commands for Israel.

Just imagine this. God has already given them the law.

But despite having given them the law, he's also saying to them, but I will come and I will speak to you.

It has to be both guys.

If you want to know the truth, you'll have to go knowing that the Spirit of God is the Spirit of truth.

The truth of the Word is made alive to you.

The truth of the Word is made alive to you.

By the Spirit of truth.

The truth of the Word is made alive to you by the Spirit of truth.

So engage him. John 14.26 calls him the Spirit of truth.

Engage him. Holy Spirit, as I begin to read this word, please can you help explain?

I'll give you an example.

So this message, by the way, is sponsored by Mei Wong because she texted me last night saying,

can we please continue with the series you didn't finish?

So not exactly those words, but it sounded like that when I read it.

And so I started work on it and at two in the morning I'm getting up saying, Spirit of God, there's something else.

There's something else. Why is Jesus wanting to have us continue with the Word?

Why abide in the Word? Why continue in your teaching?

What are you trying to get at? And that's when God started speaking about Jacob.

You have no idea what freedom looks like.

Most of us don't know what freedom looks like.

I want you to hold to my teachings. I want you to abide in my Word.

I want you to dwell on my Word so that I can show you the truth.

And if I show you the truth, I can set you free.

And I want you to know what freedom tastes like because I like my sons and daughters to be ones that love freedom as I do.

And I created Eden. I created them free. I created them free.

They were supposed to be the freest people on the face of the earth.

I want you to once again show the earth what it is for man to be in relationship with God.

And that is when you think, ah shucks, engage the Spirit of truth.

Keep asking why, why, why, why, why?

Tuck in his tail coats if he's wearing a tuxedo.

Any questions?

Another thing you should do if you want to, you remember the Spirit of truth leads you into all truth.

John 14 26, I am not leaving you orphans. I'm giving you the Spirit.

The Spirit of God will lead. The Spirit of truth, he's called the Spirit of truth, will lead you into all truth.

And it is the same Spirit who in 1 John, who in 2 Corinthians 3 16, what does it say of the Spirit?

It says that where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is what? Freedom.

Freedom from legalism, freedom from religion, freedom from holiness without love and joy, freedom from all that crap.

It is crap. God hates religion.

There are two things that are critical to him when he made the earth.

Before he made man, even as he was creating the, creating just the universe and then when he made man,

two things that were critical to him in creation and which have the essence of freedom is love and joy.

And when anything we do for him lacks love and joy, if I'm teaching you and I lack love and joy,

then it becomes sheer religion and don't we live moments, many moments of religion then?

Another thing you do if you want to experience truth is,

one, be like the Berians of Acts 17 11 and examine the word,

but examine the word after receiving it gleefully or enthusiastically.

Everyone wants to be Berian, as in it said,

the Berians were very noble, so everyone wants to be Berian.

Everything is, we better check with the word, we better check with the word, let's find out.

You know, I used to, my first job, my first ever job was that of a proofreader

and every proofreader thinks he's better than the editor.

And my joy at proofreading was, can I find a mistake?

Because if I can find a mistake, it will prove that I'm better than the editor.

The days when there would be no mistakes would be the saddest days at work.

And so sometimes when we approach truth or teaching,

the intent should be, I'm going to receive it gleefully,

it says the Berians received the word gleefully, enthusiastically, and then they examined it.

So if you want to experience воле, if you want to experience the word,

if you want to experience truth of the word, receive it gleefully, examine it.

Second, go check with others.

Paul did that. Once he received a revelation from Christ,

he goes and he checks with others in Jerusalem.

It says, once I received this revelation, I went to Jerusalem and I checked with esteemed or well-learned men

so that they could tell me if what I had received from God was kosher or not kosher.

He actually did that.

And then the third one is Ephesians 4, 11 to 14.

There are people that can teach us.

There's a reason Dr. Matt, Dr. Thune, and Dr. Prashanth teach somewhere.

They have a little more knowledge than the rest of us.

That's why they have DR before their name.

Same way, one of the ways we experience the truth is by learning from those that have DR before their name.

Learn from them.

Next one.

Cannot be doers.

Have to be hearers.

Cannot be hearers.

Have to be doers.

Last one.

I love this one.

It's such a scripture hidden away.

It says Ezra began to study the word.

He began to study the word so that he could do it.

He began to study the word so that he could do it and he could teach it.

So cool, huh?

Ezra 7, 10. You should read it.

It is such a cool hidden word.

Ezra began to study the word.

Ezra began to study the word and do it.

Ezra began to study the word and do it so that he could teach it.

And the proof or the evidence of you studying the word and doing it

is in the fact that you respond to situations differently now when they come.

What's your response like to the same situations that used to happen six months ago?

Is it the same response or are you changing?

The word wrestles you away if you go down this road.

And remember, discipleship is not possible without this.

Heaven is possible, discipleship is not.

If you believe in Jesus Christ, you will be saved.

If you believe in Jesus Christ, you do not become a disciple.

John 5, 39 and then we can begin to land this plane.

John 5, 39.

John 5, 39.

Hey, have you landed any planes yet?

You have, eh?

What did you fly?

Cessna.

And you could fly it well?

Wow.

How many flights have you been on?

And you did it, eh?

With an instructor or without?

Okay.

I won't fly with you yet.

John 5, 39.

You study the scriptures diligently because you think that in them you have eternal life.

These are the very scriptures that testify about me, yet you refuse to come to me to have life.

Let me read it from the message.

You have your heads in your Bibles constantly because you think you'll find eternal life there,

but you miss the forest for the trees.

These scriptures are all about me, and here I am standing right before you,

and you aren't willing to receive from me the life you say you want.

Crazy.

It is possible to read the Word, to have the knowledge of the Word, and not experience the Word.

Experiencing the Word is what begins to shape you into Jesus Christ

and begins to make you one who lives in freedom.

Big difference, man.

Let's close.

What happens if you continue to abide in his words?

Ruth, are you okay with the stuff about?

Okay.

What happens if you continue to abide in his words?

Go to John 15, 7.

This is crazy.

John 15, 7.

If you continue to abide in his words, here's what Jesus says in John 15, 7.

If you remain joined to me, or if you remain joined to me,

depending on the version you're reading,

and if my words remain in you, ask for anything you wish,

and it will be given to you.

Don't stop there. It gets better.

When you bear a lot of fruit,

and we have to ask, bear a lot of fruit, what does that mean?

When you bear a lot of fruit, it brings glory to my Father.

It is how he shows who he is.

It also shows that you are my disciples.

Crazy.

What he's saying is, if you remain in me, and my words remain in you,

ask for anything you wish, and it will be given to you.

Then he goes on to say, when you bear a lot of fruit,

what do you mean by when you bear a lot of fruit?

What it's basically saying is, bearing fruit means answered prayer.

When you bear a lot of fruit, it brings glory to my Father.

It is how he shows who he is.

It also shows that you are my disciples.

So here's another scripture that says that you are my disciples,

but it again goes back to the word.

Any questions on that? It's a little mind-boggling.

If you dwell on my word, if you dwell in my word,

if you continue in my word, if you hold on to my teachings,

then I want you to know that if you remain joined to me,

and my words remain in you, hey, John, ask me for anything you wish.

Sounds like too much of a blank check.

Surely it cannot be.

But this is when Psalm 37, verse 3 kicks in.

Psalms 37:3

You delight in the Lord, and he gives you the desire of your heart.

Why does God give you the desire of your heart when you delight in him?

Because once you delight in someone, their likes, their dislikes,

their tastes, their distaste become yours.

Therefore, it is easy for God to give you what you desire,

because your desires and his desires have suddenly aligned.

Anything you delight in, you will change for.

So if I delight in someone, my taste will change.

I will eat what they want, I will drink what they want,

I will stop watching movies that they don't like,

I'll start watching movies that they like,

I'll go to places that they don't like, I'll like the climate they like,

I'll go to the vacation spots they like.

Everything changes. Why? Because I've started delighting in someone.

Delight in the Lord and he'll give you the desires of your heart. Why?

Because when you delight in someone, your desires and their desires align,

and God has no problems giving to you what you ask for,

because you don't know how to ask outside of his delight and his desire.

And so he's saying here, if my words remain in you, Jacob, I'm bringing you into truth.

Your mind, your thinking, your feelings all begin to align with mine.

Ask anything you wish and it'll be given to you.

And then he goes on to say, if you get to this place where you can ask anything you wish and I'll give it to you,

know that you will start bearing a lot of fruit. And what fruit is this?

If you read the scriptures in the passage that it is,

he's saying you will bear a lot of fruit and then you will have a whole lot of answered prayers.

I think it's limited to that, because we don't even know what our real desires are sometimes,

and he gives us what we don't know.

Agree. Yeah. Not fully, but I agree. Yeah.

No, no, I know where you're going with it. That's why I agree. I'm not just simply saying I agree.

At the end of the day, bearing fruit means answered prayer.

Bearing fruit, answer prayer for yourself, answer prayer for others.

Wouldn't you want that?

And when that happens, it says, this is how it says in the message or the NLT, it says,

it brings glory to my father.

It is how he shows who he is.

And the last one, it also shows that you are my disciples.

Sometimes this Jesus is too good to be true, but thank God he's good.

And therefore true.

But when people make statements like this, you want to check the fine print.

There's no blooming fine print here.

The fine print is the word saying, please, can you go dwell on, dwell in,

and hold on to my teachings because I'll do this for you.

Hard to believe, right? Someone please prove this.

It's like preaching to Jesus at Seyfri.

This is true, guys. I want to try this.

Answered prayer, answered prayer is tied to the truth of the word and continuing in it.

When you dwell on the word, what happens?

You familiarize yourself with the nature of God, with the history of God,

as in what he has done in the past, with the promises of God,

with our yes and amen in Christ, with the rewards of God, and the wisdom of God.

And you get to live it out daily.

Not in big mission moments of big faith stuff, just daily.

In other words, answered prayer is evidence of being a disciple.

Yikes. That sucks, eh? Or stinks.

Oops. Oops.

Answered prayer is evidence of being a disciple.

Now you can see why God says to Joshua in Joshua 1.7,

listen, I want you to go meditate on the word.

And if you meditate on the word, you'll prosper.

I'll cause you to increase. Everything will work out.

Now you can see why James 1, it says,

the fervent prayer of a righteous man as in a man who does the will of God,

the fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.

Any questions? I'm done. Any questions?

Okay, so what's the takeaway? If you can call out.

What's the takeaway?

Just wherever you're sitting, just call out what you're taking home.

Fruit comes from abiding. And in this context, the fruit is answered prayer.

There are other scriptures in John 15, it's not answered prayer.

But here, in this context, fruit comes from abiding and abiding in the word.

And in this context, the fruit is answered prayer, at least in this situation.

What else?

Jesus wants us to see freedom as something that is critical to our existence.

He wants this for us. For this reason, He came.

At the end of the day, if you can remember scenes out of Chronicles of Narnia,

everyone is in bondage. Everyone is getting frozen by the white witch.

And then along comes Aslan. And the moment he dies,

freedom breaks across the earth. I have come to make all things new.

And part of that is bringing us back into the joy of Eden when the morning stars sang.

Okay, what else?

Yeah, you can read the word and you can know it.

And yes, that knowledge can sometimes help and sometimes puff up.

But when that begins to get lived out because it enriches your relationship with Christ,

then it becomes experiential. That is when you can understand,

I am forgiven. When you've done something terrible, I don't feel condemned.

I am loved. I know His anointing. Ah, such compassion flowing from my heart.

I know this is what I'm going to do. I know that I'm going to be a good man.

I know this is what kindness tastes like.

You experience the truth of the word. It's more than the knowledge of the word.

What else?

That we need to read the word with God. Yeah.

Go to the Spirit of Truth, saying, Spirit of Truth, show me.

I don't want just a reading. I don't want just a commentary.

We're gonna show me.

I'm the son of the living God.

Not like Jesus with the small s.

Show me my Father, show me.

You reveal to me.

You are the spirit of truth.

You, instead of you, you will guide me into truth.

What else?

Sorry?

Be doers.

Once you read the word, practice it.

Fail, but practice it.

Fail, but practice it.

Never, Christianity is never about practicing

something to perfection.

Christianity is about practicing.

We are never aiming for perfection because that was done.

Always remember that.

You're never practicing anything to be perfect

because perfection was taken care of.

You've been made perfect.

Now you practice.

You practice what you are.

You practice what you already are.

And it begins to show.

What else?

Yeah, man, the three important things of freedom.

My freedom must benefit others.

My freedom must bring me into the same level

of relationship that Christ has with the Father.

And thirdly, my freedom must end up with great increase

in love, grace, and purity.

That is the true essence of freedom.

Others will see it, eh?

One or two more and we'll stop.

Dwell on the word, dwell in the word.

Hold to the teaching.

It's the hardest thing to do.

Hard thing to do.

Martha couldn't do it.

Mary didn't.

We have been provided every tool possible to do it,

but we also have the world in our pockets.

As in this.

And so it becomes very hard, very hard,

to dwell on the word, dwell in the word,

and hold on to the word.

Okay, let's wrap up.

Father, we just thank you.

It's been good.

We learn new things, Holy Spirit.

We are grateful to you.

We are grateful to you.

Please keep teaching us.

The benefits of dwelling on, dwelling in,

and holding on to the teachings are just enormous.

Enormous.

Better still, you're saying,

Jacob, this is the way you can be my disciple.

Dwell in my word and you can be my disciple.

Dwell in my word, I will lead you into truth.

Dwell in my word and I'll bring you

into a place of great freedom.

Dwell in my word and you will see answered prayer happening.

And by this, they will know that you are my disciples,

and by this, I will show that I am God.

Come on, Father, we gotta do better

than we are presently doing, and we look forward to it.

Thank you for this place.

It's pretty decent, Abba.

Let's try acapella.

For yours is the kingdom,

yours is the power,

yours is the glory forever.

Amen.

Yours is the kingdom,

yours is the power,

yours is the glory forever.

One last time.

Yours is the kingdom,

yours is the power,

yours is the glory forever.

Amen.

Very cool, we should have a Christmas choir at last.

Bless you as you go.

If you need prayer, Sue will be standing at that corner.

Oi!