That you are my disciples – Part 2 – Fire

I'm going to ask Emily to come up and share something she had written down last week.

Can we get her a mic? Oh, one of these mics. You can try that.

I was spending some time in prayer and this is something that I saw that I sensed for us as a church.

I saw a valley of dry bones coming together, snapping together, but they were coming together as doctors, as artists, as teachers, authors, politicians.

It was in a valley called Silom, which means sent ones.

It was a very ordinary army brought back to life by the spirit of an extraordinary God.

And this is who we are. This is who we go out as.

I asked Father, what was the word that you spoke over us as you sent your spirit to bring our bones together?

And he said, may they be one as we are one, I in you and you in me.

We were breathed back together in his love, and we are sent out, covered in love to show the world the love of the Father.

This love drips off us like oil wherever we go, leaving a mark everywhere we go.

But the oil is like a seed. Each drop is planted in our homes, in our workplaces, on planes and buses and cars, here and in Europe, the Middle East, Asia, Africa, across the Atlantic and Pacific.

Each drop of oil we leave is like a seed that has the power and the potency to bear fruit.

By men, Paul arrived in Malta as a prisoner, but by God, Paul was sent to Malta as a disciple, as a much-loved son, eagerly obedient servant.

We may be sent across cities and countries as businessmen, nurses, creators or coaches, but God sends us out as disciples.

We must find ourselves first in this identity, and I plead that each of us, every person at Acts 29 and those we're connected with, pick up and put on this identity, to wrap it around themselves like a robe or a cloak.

That I once was dead, but now I am made alive in Christ.

I have been raised up in unity with you, by the love of the Father.

I've been set apart and called to display this love wherever I go, through the work of the Spirit in me and in us.

It's like oil. It will stain. It will leave a mark. And it's like a seed. It will grow and it will bear fruit.

Jacob, can you read it again?

Sure.

Aha, you won't be in a tent.

No, I was. I can pray now. I can pray now. But you usually do that. I'm sorry.

Go ahead, into you.

I saw a valley of dry bones coming together, snapping together, as doctors, artists, teachers, authors, politicians, in a valley called Silom, sent ones.

It was a very ordinary army, brought back to life by the Spirit of an extraordinary God.

This is who we are. This is who we go out as.

I asked, Father, what was the word you spoke over us as you sent out your Spirit to bring our bones together?

He said, may they be one as we are one, I in you and you in me.

We were breathed back together in love. We are sent out, covered in love, to show the world the love of the Father.

This love drips off us like oil, leaving a mark everywhere we go. But the oil is like a seed.

Each drop is planted, in our homes, our workplaces, on planes and buses and cars, here and in Europe, the Middle East, Asia, Africa, across the Atlantic and the Pacific.

Each drop of oil we leave is like a seed that has the power and potency to bear fruit.

By men, Paul arrived in Malta a prisoner. By God, Paul was sent to Malta as a disciple, as much-loved son, eagerly obedient servant.

We may be sent across cities and countries as businessmen, nurses, creators, coaches, but God sends us out as disciples.

We must first find ourselves in this identity. I plead that each of us, every person at Acts 29 and those we're connected with,

pick up and put on this identity, to wrap it around themselves like a robe or a cloak, that I once was dead, but now I am made alive in Christ.

I've been raised up in unity with you, by the love of the Father. I've been set apart and called to display this love wherever I go, through the work of the Spirit in me and in us.

It's like oil. It will stain. It will leave a mark. It's like a seed. It will grow and it will bear fruit.

Father, we come before you as one, as one body, one mind, and we are joined together in receiving what you have spoken over this body.

Lord, may these words come to pass in our own lives and together as a church.

Prepare our hearts, O God. Help us to know and see that this is already being done. It's a done deal, O God.

There's no walking backwards, so we go forward, O Lord, and we give ourselves to you afresh.

Renew us, bind us together, help us to grow into what you have spoken. In the name of Jesus, we pray. Amen.

If you haven't seen Ruth for the last little while, it's because Ruth's having her cataracts operated on.

She did one eye and now she's got to do the other eye. That's why she's missing, just so you know.

And Mike isn't here today because he wasn't feeling all that good.

So last week we started on this series called That You Are My Disciples, as in what are some of the criteria that Jesus has for true disciples.

So we talked about it last week, and so today we continue.

And one of the criteria Jesus has for his disciples is this idea of baptism in the Holy Spirit.

These are the words he uses, baptism of the Spirit and fire.

And the first one who talked about that was John the Baptist.

So if you go to Luke chapter 3, verse 16, you'll see that Luke chapter 3, verse 16.

Luke 3:16 Luke 3:16

And so John answered them all saying, I baptize you with water, but he who is mightier than I is coming,

the strap of whose sandals I'm not worthy to untie.

He will baptize you. And the word baptism is very simple. It means to immerse.

He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.

Let's see what the message says.

But John intervened. I'm baptizing you here in the river.

The main character in this drama, to whom I'm a mere stagehand, will ignite the kingdom life of fire,

the Holy Spirit within you, changing you from inside out.

Crazy, eh? Will ignite kingdom life.

Will ignite kingdom life.

A fire.

The Holy Spirit within you.

Changing you from inside out.

Chaining you from inside out.

And so last week we talked about how one who says one is a disciple must have two distinct markers.

One is he should or she should exhibit divine sonship and divine ownership.

That's how Jesus was.

When Jesus walked here, there were two things he constantly displayed.

One was divine sonship. He was the son of the Father.

And the other one was divine ownership, where he would say, I'm but a servant.

He was son and servant.

And so the mark of any true disciple is to constantly exhibit these two things in increasing visibility.

Divine sonship, divine ownership.

And that's the question we ask ourselves.

That Father, am I displaying in my life that you are my Father?

Am I displaying in my life that you are my Master?

That's the basic definition of discipleship.

Father, Master. You can't have one or the other.

You have to have both.

And so one of the things that's required for both divine ownership and divine sonship is this idea of the Spirit and fire.

That's what we look at today.

Spirit and fire.

And the question is, are they both different or are they the same?

Baptized with Holy Spirit and fire.

And guys, discipleship must be visible.

If it's not visible, they don't know your Master.

In the New Testament and in the Old Testament, when anyone said I was someone's disciple,

it meant that they would spout the theology of that Master.

They would speak about it. They would behave like it.

They would change the apparel they wore.

They would move because they needed to show that they belonged to a certain Master.

That's how they let people know who they belonged to.

So one would belong to Rabbi Yaakov.

The other one would belong to Rabbi Derek.

And so you'd have to dress in pink if you were following Derek.

And you'd have to dress smart if you were following me.

So there was this distinction.

Yeah? And so...

Where's Derek? Is he still around?

Oh, okay.

So at the end of the day, hey, I came up with a great name for a cat.

Just on the side.

Esau.

Great name, right?

Jacob have I loved, Esau have I hated.

So I just thought, be a great name for a cat.

But that's just on the side. Just forget that, eh? Forget that.

For those who are new here, I really love cats and love naming them.

I don't know, it suddenly came to me.

Let's go back to...

So, where were we before we talked about Esau?

Pay attention.

Sorry?

Shoot. Sorry, what was the last thing I said?

Yeah.

So disciples would always exhibit a lifestyle and a way of speaking and a way of thinking.

And their theology would be so revealing of their master.

So revealing of their master.

And so, spirit and fire, an absolute necessity for revealing your master.

Because that's how he lived.

And so it's not a question of, am I Protestant or am I Catholic or am I Pentecostal or am I charismatic.

It's a question of spirit and fire.

And there is no measure.

You can't say I can have these things of the spirit.

Because unfortunately the spirit is a person.

He ain't some kind of liquid.

And so this must increasingly be exhibited in our lives for the master to be made evident.

Because he was full of the Holy Spirit.

The moment we say Holy Spirit, we think of all the excesses that we hear about in Christianity today.

I don't know why.

There are so many other good things about the Spirit of God than the excess.

And so, spirit and fire.

So let's go down that road and see what we can come up with.

So first thing guys, as soon as you use the word fire, Jesus used it in different contexts.

One, he said that the Spirit of God would be like fire.

So he talks about fire in terms of the Holy Spirit, the power of the Spirit.

And we see that in Acts chapter 1, verse 5, verse 8, and Acts chapter 2, verse 3.

Acts 1:5 Acts 2:3

So let's go there.

Acts chapter 1, verse 5, and verse 8.

Acts 1:5

And Acts chapter 2, verse 3.

Acts 2:3

Let's go to Acts chapter 2, verse 3 first.

Acts 2:3

In Acts chapter 2, verse 3, this is the coming of the Holy Spirit.

Acts 2:3

There could be so many ways it could be symbolized.

But look at what God chooses.

This is the first entry of the Spirit of God who's coming down on earth.

Joel had prophesied these years ago.

And finally the day has come when the prophecy of Joel is coming to pass.

And look at how he comes on earth.

Starting at verse 1.

When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place.

Suddenly a sound, like the blowing of a violent wind, came from heaven

and filled the whole house where they were sitting.

They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them.

All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them to.

Now go to Acts chapter 1, verse 5.

Acts 1:5

Yeah.

The other thing is we can't limit the Holy Spirit to speaking in tongues.

If that was all he was, then he's a very weak spirit.

We're talking about much more than that.

So Acts chapter 1, verse 5.

Acts 1:5

For John baptized with water, and this is going back to Luke 3, 16.

Jesus is taking these words that John spoke in Luke 3, 16.

And he's now bringing it to life in Acts chapter 1, verse 5.

Acts 1:5

And it says, for John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.

And then in verse 8 we see what happens.

He says, but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes to you, comes on you,

and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in Judea and Samaria to the ends of the earth.

The point being, one of the ways Jesus portrayed fire was to say that the fire would be what symbolized the power of the Spirit.

The second thing he said was fire would be judgment.

Fire would be judgment.

Fire would be judgment.

You see that in Luke 3, verse 9.

Luke 3:9

It talks about how there is a time coming when fire will judge things.

It talks about it in 1 Corinthians 3, 2, where it says,

Hey believers, know that your works will be tested by fire.

What is the foundation that you built your life on?

What is the foundation that this church is built on?

Hey Jacob, so you planted a church.

What is the foundation that you built with?

I will test it with fire.

And when I test it with fire, it will either be gold, silver, diamonds, or it will be hay, straw, or rubble.

This has nothing to do with my eternal life.

My eternal life is secure because Jesus Christ paid the price.

But my works will be tested by fire.

And what is the reason for testing it?

What foundation did you build it on?

Was it flesh or was it Spirit?

Was it Christ or was it Christ plus something?

All of us will have to go through this.

And it says, you will escape out of it even if you built wrong.

You will escape out of it.

So it's not about our eternal security.

It is this idea that, hey, how are you building?

So judgment is one of the things that fire represents.

The third thing it represents is cleansing.

Cleansing.

Cleansing.

Or refining.

We used to sing that song long ago.

Refiner's fire.

Cleansing, refining.

We see that in Malachi 3.3.

Malachi 3.3.

And finally, fire brings division.

You see that in Luke 12, 49 to 53.

Where Jesus says, ah, there's a baptism of fire that I have to go through.

And when you go through it, it will divide parent from son, brother from sister.

So these are some of the things a disciple must expect in their life.

Dilna must expect that the power of the Spirit of God will come upon him just like it did in Acts chapter 2.

Acts 2 · chapter mention

That he is no less.

That he has had less doubts than Thomas.

That he did not flee like Peter.

He must also expect that his works will be tested.

That his foundation that he builds on will be tested.

Dilna must expect that.

It's not what I think about how she does stuff.

It is how she's building stuff on a daily basis, on a weekly basis.

Third, cleansing.

I'll have to not be afraid of the cleansing that the fire brings.

The great thing about the fire of God in a believer's life is we don't need to be afraid of it because it doesn't consume you.

It consumes the rubble and the hay and the straw.

It consumes all that is dross.

That's the great thing about the fire of God in a believer's life.

He says it in a way that says, hey listen, I will refine you.

Why? Because a day must come when you look like me.

And refining can come in different ways but you will recognize it.

One of the things, and I've said this before, when you go through stuff that's negative,

always ask why. Always ask why.

Where is it coming from?

Because there are five places it can come from.

I'll just give you those five places and we won't talk about how today.

But the five places anything can come from are, one, the fallen world.

Because the world is fallen, things can be negative.

Two, sin and the consequence of sin.

Three, the devil in terms of an attack.

Four, discipline where God disciplines you.

Five, the fault of someone else.

And if you want to throw in a sixth one which is kind of connected to the devil, persecution.

These are the different places that negative things come from in a person's life.

One has to ask what is the source.

And if you don't ask this question, you can respond wrongly to any of these.

If God is disciplining you and you're rebuking the devil, good luck with that.

Sometimes it's hard to receive an answer for these questions but one must ask these questions.

Father, why am I going through what I'm going through?

Where is it coming from?

One must diagnose the origin.

Because if you do, then you know the antidote.

Otherwise you can mess up.

If it's the devil and you think it's discipline, shoot.

He'll do a number on you.

If your next question is, so how do we deal with it, we'll talk about it another time.

Now we'll talk about it another time.

One must expect, Sheldon must expect division in his life when he follows Christ.

It's part of a disciple's life.

It's part of a disciple's life.

I'm not even going to comment on the baby that's crying because last time I did I got into a lot of trouble.

So, Sheldon must expect division in his life if he is a disciple of Christ.

Any questions thus far before we go on?

Any questions?

A division would be your family turning against you because you are now acting crazy.

Culture beginning to dismiss you saying who do you think you are that you can now come against cultural norms that have held on for so long.

Nationalism becoming an issue where people that believe in certain things in your nation now despise you because you have chosen a different track.

Work becomes an issue because you stand up at work and division comes in.

So division can come on different levels.

But these four things are characteristic of a disciple's life.

Either endure it or overcome it or make peace with the ones that are probably causing the division.

Either endure it or overcome it or make peace with the ones that are probably causing the division.

That at some point they will see.

No, make peace as in the sense that at some point they will see that you were right.

Yeah, and they will come into a place of peace.

Yeah, and that may not happen immediately but it happens later.

Any other questions guys?

Okay.

Nick.

Judgment for believers, it's a question of what are you building with?

And sometimes God does not want me to build the way I'm building because I'm building with flesh not with spirit.

And thank God he intervenes because if I built wrongly here, everybody suffers.

So he will expose it or he will send someone saying, fix this.

Because whatever you build must be tested by God because we're not playing with anyone else's wife but God's wife in a sense of speaking.

Because the church is his bride.

Nobody gets to decide what she wears, where she goes, what she eats, how she behaves.

There's only one who decides that and that's the bridegroom.

So you can't build with any other foundation but Christ.

This is why churches must continuously examine what they're building.

Projects must be stopped halfway through.

Sub-structures must be corrected.

Money must be lost.

Not must be but can be lost.

Because you can't start something and not go and re-examine the structure.

Engineers do it always.

They start building something and then they go and try and hold a plumb line to see if it's crooked.

Hold a plumb line to see if it's crooked and if it's crooked, what do they do?

They fix it.

Jenga you play better than how we do Christianity sometimes.

You've got to pull out those pieces carefully.

So in terms of judgment, yeah, it'll be tested.

And it's good that it's tested.

Because otherwise you might end up building something.

I mean, I've got a picture of someone who built a bridge but didn't plan for the river meandering.

They took one and a half years to build a bridge.

I have the picture on my phone.

And now the bridge leads nowhere because the river changed course.

So you got a bridge and the river came and then turned and went this way.

In Exodus 3, again we're talking about Holy Spirit and fire.

In Exodus 3, verse 1 to 3, we find one of the first instances of God and fire.

Exodus 3:1–3

So if you go to Exodus 3, 1 to 3.

Just imagine it.

Imagine what's happening here.

There's a guy in a desert walking around and then this happens.

Now Moses was standing the flock of Jethro, his father-in-law, the priest, and he was sitting there.

He's sitting there, he's standing there, he's walking around in the desert.

So Moses is standing there.

And then the guy comes out and he's standing there.

And he's standing there.

And he's walking around in the desert.

And he's standing there.

And he's talking about his father-in-law, the priest of Midian.

And he led the flock to the far side of the desert.

And he came to Horeb, the mountain of God.

There an angel of the Lord appeared to him in flames of fire.

Crazy, eh?

Christ, pre-incarnate, appears in the fire.

And whenever it talks about the angel of the Lord, it usually refers to pre-incarnate Christ.

And he appears in the fire.

He literally descends into the fire.

And an angel of the Lord appears in the fire.

It wasn't the bush that was speaking.

There an angel of the Lord appeared to him in the flames of the fire from within a bush.

Moses saw that and...

Moses saw that though the bush was on fire, it did not burn up.

Moses thought, I will go over and see this strange sight, why the bush does not burn up.

Guys, if you...

One of the things that we need to realize is that if you want to be someone who is always within the burning distance of God's fire,

then you have to have curiosity.

You have to have a hunger for the mystery of God.

And you have to have a searching heart.

Lose any of this and you will become old and stale.

Remember this, eh?

It doesn't matter what age you are.

There must be a curiosity about the Holy Spirit in fire.

There must be a curiosity.

A Christian who has lost curiosity will eventually lose awe and wonder for God.

You lose awe and wonder for God.

What do you have, man?

You got a finite God that you have constructed with a few years of grey matter.

When he is infinite and has to be continuously explored.

And curiosity must take you one step further, one step further, one step further.

It is curiosity that causes you to ask if you can step out of the boat.

If you are not asking for it, know that it is because the one thing that every believer must have is a hunger for more of God.

Curiosity, when it disappears, begins to kill the hunger for God.

And staleness sets in.

You become old.

And remember, if you ever get old in Christianity, you will persecute the next generation.

And some of us don't have to get old in age to begin to persecute the new thing that is coming from the Spirit.

Curiosity is one thing.

The next thing is a hunger for the mystery of God.

I was talking to Phoebe two days ago.

And I was telling her one of the lines that really grabs me about the song Oceans is,

You call me out upon the waters, the great unknown, where feet may fail.

And then the next line is so beautiful.

And there I find you in the mystery.

One of the things that faith does is faith allows you to walk into the great mystery of Christ.

And without faith, you do not get to explore him.

You get to explore the Word, but you do not get to explore him.

Because the Word, if it's not tested with faith, you never get to explore him.

And there I find you in the mystery.

Tomorrow morning, you must get up with this thing of, what is it about God that I will be able to fathom today?

Instead, work takes over, money takes over, the need or the lack or our schedules take over.

What about God am I going to fathom today that I have never known?

And there will never be a day when it stops.

If you can find that about your children who are finite pieces, finite four-foot pieces,

if you can find new things about them,

and the third one is searching heart, searching heart.

David, this is why David did as well as he did.

David had all three, curiosity, the mystery of God, and a searching heart.

I will seek your face, O God.

This is how you end up at the burning bush.

It doesn't happen once in life, it happens multiple times.

Any questions?

Warn this, guys, warn this.

Let's just pray. Father, I just ask right now,

had all of us begin to be captivated by the mystery of you,

the things unknown that you so badly want to reveal to us.

This was your plan with Adam.

You would come to him and say,

this was your plan with Adam.

You would come down every evening and talk to him.

He was supposed to find out who you were,

find out how things work,

find out how you think,

find out why you created,

find out how you planned the rest of the universe.

We will find it out one day.

But while we are here on earth, allow us to complete what Adam failed at,

to find the mystery of creator God.

I pray, Holy Spirit, since we are talking about you,

that you would create in me, create in us,

such a deep longing, such a searching.

Only you can do this.

It's strange how you are, O God.

You give us the appetite and then you give us the food to satisfy.

Do that, please.

Do that, please.

It's not the parent that gives the child the appetite.

The child is born with an appetite.

God gives you appetite and then he satisfies you.

Let me go to Exodus 19, verse 18.

Exodus 19:18

Or you can check Deuteronomy 4, 11, 12, Exodus 19, verse 18.

Exodus 19:18

Then Moses led the people out of the camp to meet with God,

and they stood at the foot of the mountain.

Mount Sinai was covered with smoke.

Look at the next line, it's critical.

Mount Sinai was covered with smoke because the Lord descended on it in fire.

Because the Lord descended on it in fire.

The smoke billowed up from it like smoke from a furnace.

The whole mountain tripped.

The whole mountain trembled violently,

and the sound of the trumpet grew louder and louder.

Then Moses spoke and the voice of God answered him.

Go to Deuteronomy 4, verse 11.

Deuteronomy 4:11

You came near and stood at the foot of the mountain while it blazed with fire

to the very heavens with black clouds and deep darkness.

Then the Lord spoke to you out of the fire.

You heard the sound of words but saw no form.

There was only a voice.

He declared to you, his covenant, the Ten Commandments,

which he commanded you to follow and then wrote them on two stone tablets.

Now go to Exodus 40, verse 38.

Exodus 40:38

Exodus 40, 4-0, verse 38.

Exodus 40, verse 38.

Exodus 40:38

Exodus 40, verse 38.

Exodus 40:38

Let's start with verse 34.

Then the cloud covered the tent of meeting,

and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle.

Moses could not enter the tent of meeting because the cloud had settled upon it,

and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle.

In all the travels of the Israelites,

whenever the cloud lifted from above the tabernacle, they set out.

But if the cloud did not lift, they did not set out until the day it lifted.

So the cloud of the Lord was over the tabernacle by day,

and the fire was in the cloud by night in the sight of all the house of Israel during all their travels.

So during the day it would be a cloud, and in the night a fire would enter the cloud.

Now what was this fire that tracked them throughout their journey?

What was it that a million people in this tent city in the desert saw every day?

That fire would hover.

Once they built a tabernacle, a strange thing happened.

So initially it would just leave them, and then one day they built a tabernacle.

And when they built the tabernacle, the cloud with fire would add to the fire.

The cloud with fire would actually hover over the Holy of Holies.

They had a Holy of Holies in that little tabernacle in the desert,

and the fire would be dwelling on the Holy of Holies.

It was the presence of God. It was frightening.

I wonder if the Egyptians saw it.

There's no evidence that the Egyptians saw it.

It almost seems like only the Israelites could see it.

But the Egyptians experienced it.

They tried getting to the Israelites, but they could not,

because there was something blocking their path.

It was darkness on one side.

It was light to the Israelites and darkness to the Egyptians.

This thing that we are talking about is invisible, but it is absolutely real.

What has happened to the church is we are desiring some kind of shekinah that is visible,

so that fire, you see fire outside, or you begin to tremble.

No, even in the Old Testament.

Israel was aware of it because they could see it,

but to the Egyptians it says it was darkness.

How can a pillar that is flaming fire be light to someone and darkness to the other?

And the same pillar of fire that was above the Holy of Holies now has moved into you.

The same pillar of fire now lives in your temple.

And it might be invisible in terms of its glory.

Paul talks about it. He says we are like jars that carry treasure.

It doesn't show because of all our faults and defects,

but my God, the same pillar of fire that dwelt over the Holy of Holies is the same pillar of fire right now in this place,

and right now in John and Lorian and Marcus and me.

Same pillar of fire.

The more we get accustomed to it, the more we will begin to experience it.

What you think is what you inhabit.

What you think is what you inhabit.

I must begin to think like this, to begin to inhabit in it and it in me.

Holy Spirit on fire, raging inside.

Why did the fire come? Very simple. The words are very simple.

God descended.

What do you think happened when you got born again?

God descended.

God descended.

God descended.

God descended.

God descended.

Where?

Got to get used to thinking like this.

We are not.

When we get used to thinking like this, it becomes natural for this invisible pillar that others can't see.

To begin to do the same things that it did in the desert.

Any questions before we go? Any questions guys?

Hey, did you turn me down a little, Evan, because I was shouting?

Thought so.

Can you turn me back again? I won't shout. If I'm going to shout, I'll quickly lift my hand up.

Do you see now why, when the Holy Spirit then comes on earth,

he breaks into little flames that settles on 120 people?

It's the same thing. God is descending. Where is he descending?

Not on a mountain. Where is he descending?

Into a room, into an upper room. Who's there? People. What's he doing?

Instead of settling on a mountain, the same fire that he descends in now breaks

into little flames appear over each person's head.

What's he trying to say? I have descended. Where? Into people.

Into this individual and this individual and this individual and we form a people.

Same thing happening.

Any questions?

Why do you think some of the people who don't doubt the truth know God?

Say that again, Mark.

Why do you think some of the people who don't doubt the truth know God?

In the Old Testament? You can get used to it after 40 years.

That's when you... I think one of the reasons they started doubting is because of the absence of curiosity,

the absence of war and wonder, the absence of searching because every day for 40 years they had manner.

Every day they were taken care of. It became a thing that no longer...

It wasn't different. Every morning you would see it.

This is why it is so critical for us as believers to keep exploring God.

I'll ask you a simple question as an answer.

Haven't you met many believers who have been believers for 40 years that have lost their fire?

How come? They've been believers for longer than you're alive.

They were involved in revivals. Why take revivals?

What about the churches that you see littered across the UK, for instance?

So many great revivals started there.

What about Stornoway?

We went there in the beginning of the year.

The Hebrides' Revival started there. You go there and people don't remember, people don't know.

I went to the church and I'm standing in front of the church and I'm weeping.

Phoebe was there. Weeping there because this was where...

There was such a tangible presence of God that the entire village would start weeping not knowing why they are weeping.

And you're standing there and you're talking to people.

Like I said, I know I've repeated this but I'm saying it just for the sake of the message.

I go to a guy whose dad was one of the heroes of the revival.

He doesn't expect or believe that it can happen again.

He has a history but he has no expectation.

At some point when curiosity, when wanting the mystery of God and the searching begins to dry up,

be warned that you can be old at 21.

Worse, you will either hinder, block or be the enemy of the next move of God.

That's a scary thing. Settlers will always fight pioneers.

The sons of Lot will always persecute the sons of Abraham.

You know one of the names of God, not names, one of the phrases that was spoken of God in 1 Kings 18, 24,

Such a cool thing that Elijah calls God.

He says, the God who answers by fire, he is God. So cool.

The God who answers by fire, he is God.

This God is so normal for him to do things by the Spirit.

Don't be fazed, don't be disappointed, don't quit on the fact that we are waiting for something to break.

Something is going to happen. The filament is so thin.

It's only a matter of time before we break through it and then we'll be singing that song, man.

You deserve the glory and the honor, for I lift my hands in worship and I bless your holy name.

You are great, you do miracles so great, there is no one else like you.

There is no one else like you.

You are great, you do miracles so great, there is no one else like you.

There is no one else like you.

Let's sing this one more time.

You deserve the glory and the honor, so we lift our hands in worship and we bless your holy name.

You deserve the glory.

It's coming, guys.

You deserve the glory and the honor, so we lift our hands in worship and we bless your holy name.

You are great, you do miracles so great, there is no one else like you.

You are great, you do miracles so great, there is no one else like you.

There is no one else like you.

It's a matter of time, guys. We are very close.

One of the things that has to happen in this church is we are getting old and stale.

Things have to be renewed.

Many of the things we are doing are old.

House

It's just renew things.

There is a staleness to what we are doing right now.

There is an oldness to what we are doing.

It's become routine. We know what we are doing.

We can do this now without the Holy Spirit.

That's when you know, gosh, renew, oh God.

Renew. Make it difficult again.

Raise challenges.

That's where we are at as a church right now.

Look forward to it.

The God who answers by fire, he is God.

He is God.

You know when we were talking about the revival among the young people and we had that series on the things that God said,

one of the things he said is that this church will be involved in raising up a torch bearing generation,

a torch bearing generation that goes forth, that goes forth and does not return empty.

That is the last line in that series.

That we will do this in different parts of the world.

A torch bearing generation.

If that is the case, then you better be burning to set torches on fire.

You better be burning.

In Daniel 7 verse 10, I was thinking if we do a couple of songs after,

Daniel 7:10

then Daniel 7, 10 talks about how I then saw the ancient of days set up a throne.

He set up a throne and sat on it and there was an altar before the throne and from the altar ran a river of fire.

A river of fire.

As in he has the ability to do things by the Spirit of God that this church and other churches have an experience and that we should step into.

So one of the things that we need to do is, can we do that right now?

Can you ask God in your own words, Father, if this is true.

So the question is if you believe this.

If you don't believe this, pray anyways.

But if you believe this, that this church will be responsible for a torch bearing generation in different parts of the world that goes forth and does not return empty,

then ask God today, just a simple prayer right now, Father, could you then ignite me?

Could you ignite me?

You're not even doing this for your sake, you're doing it for the sake of others.

You're doing it for the sake of others.

Yeah?

Just ask.

Just ask.

The Spirit of God is so kind that He'll oblige.

So I'm going to switch off my mic for a second.

Let's just ask, okay?

Okay.

Okay.

In Acts chapter 4, we've seen it in Acts chapter 9, we've seen it in Acts chapter 10, we've seen it in Acts chapter 2,

Acts 4 · chapter mention Acts 9 · chapter mention Acts 10 · chapter mention Acts 2 · chapter mention

when a church begins to pray, when simple prayers are prayed by ordinary people.

I thank you that you answer.

We are so close to the Sabbath.

It's like palpable.

You said, you look at the clouds and you say, it's going to rain or it's not going to rain.

How is it then that you do not notice the signs of the kingdom?

How we are saying today, oh God, we notice the signs of the kingdom.

That the works of the Spirit are about to break.

This is not rah-rah, Father.

This is just a fact because you are true.

Let's just take one more and then we'll stop.

Here, for whatever reason, I need to, this is just on the side, it's got nothing to do with this teaching.

What's the difference between courage and boldness?

Courage and boldness.

Just want to define it so that we see how this works.

Courage is when you step into something even though you're afraid.

Boldness is when you're doing something and you're not afraid.

But to get to boldness, you sometimes need courage.

Someone needs to hear that. More than one person needs to hear that today.

Courage is when you are afraid and you're still saying, I'll take this step.

You're afraid.

And God says to you, God doesn't say, be bold.

He says, take courage.

As in, hey, step out.

I'll be with you.

Boldness is a whole different thing.

Boldness is almost the absence of fear.

The absence of fear almost.

There's an urgent conviction and absence of fear.

You go into it like a bull in a china shop.

Courage sometimes requires that despite your fear, you step into it and then you see boldness hit you.

Just be aware of that.

Some of you are waiting for boldness and God is saying, take courage.

Don't wait for the fear to go away.

Don't wait for the fear to go away.

Just keep that in the back of your mind.

For some of us, it's important.

One last one.

One of the things the Spirit of God, the Spirit and the Fire does is it commissions you.

It approves you and it commissions you.

If you go to Genesis 15, 17.

Genesis 15, 17.

Genesis 15, 17.

When the sun had set and darkness had fallen, a smoking fire pot with a blazing torch appeared and passed between the pieces.

On that day, the Lord made a covenant with Abraham.

To your descendants, I give this land from the River of Egypt to the great river of the Euphrates and so on.

Go to Judges 13, verse 20.

Judges 13:20

Judges 13, verse 20.

Judges 13:20

This is a Samson story, starting at verse 17.

Then Manoah inquired of the angel of the Lord, what is your name, so that we may honor you when your word comes true?

He replied, why do you ask my name? It is beyond understanding.

What a cool answer.

This is the pre-incarnate Christ again.

They would not know what Christ meant.

It is beyond understanding.

Then Manoah took a young goat together with a grain offering and sacrificed it on a rock to the Lord.

And the Lord did an amazing thing while Manoah and his wife watched as the flame blazed up from the altar towards the heaven.

The angel of the Lord ascended in the flame.

Seeing this, Manoah and his wife fell with faces to the ground.

Again, it's this idea of approving what was offered.

One last one.

Leviticus 9, Leviticus 9, 22-24.

Leviticus 9, 22-24.

Then Aaron lifted his hands towards the people and blessed them.

And having sacrificed the sin offering, the burnt offering, and the fellowship offering, he stepped down.

Moses and Aaron then went into the tent of meeting.

When they came out, they blessed the people and the glory of the Lord appeared to all the people.

Fire came out from the presence of the Lord and consumed the burnt offering and the fat portions on the altar.

And when all the people saw it, they shouted for joy and they fell down.

God, one of the things God wants to do tonight, and then we'll just go into maybe a few songs of worships.

I'll ask Tony and Sheldon to come up right now.

And so one of the things God wants to do as we end this service is if you know the approval of God on your life,

if you know the approval of God on your life,

the question is how will we know the approval of God on my life?

What has God been saying to you for the last little while?

If you know the approval of God on your life and the commission of God in your life,

as in, hey, let's assume he was talking to May, he would say, hey, May, I approve you and I now want you to step into something new.

If you know that for you,

even if you don't have a firm idea, if you have a faint, blurred idea of it, stand where you are, eh, when we sing.

It's time to re-enlist. It's time to re-enlist.

So let me say it again.

You know, and I'm doing this without permission, I don't know whether it was Rachel's granddad.

Rachel's granddad experienced things of the Holy Spirit that most of us haven't experienced, have read about it.

This Rachel.

Maybe it's time for Rachel to re-enlist because of the approval of God.

Maybe it's time for Rachel to re-enlist because of the approval of God.

Another word from God saying, step up, you have a heritage, I want you to own it.

Maybe it's time for Anne to step up.

Had to take a backseat for many different reasons.

Time, Anne, to say, I'm re-enlisting.

I refuse to get old and fade away.

Maybe it's time for Evan and Brandon to step out of their present skin.

And say, we are gentle, passive, nice guys, but oh God, your approval and your hand is so heavy upon us.

And oh God, would you help us to come out of it and begin to walk like giants in this land.

Maybe it's time for Jill, her parents are people of great faith who expect the impossible.

Maybe it's time for Jill, her parents are people of great faith who expect the impossible.

If you know that the hand of God is upon you,

and you are not in the hands of your God,

and you are not in the hands of your God,

you will have the power to take everything away from you.

If you know that the hand of God is upon you,

and you are not in the hands of your God,

God is upon you. It's odd, last week we talked about Ezekiel 37 and we got to that place

where bone came together with bone, where flesh came on the bones. But here's the strange

thing. After all that was done, all you had was a valley full of intact corpses. That's

not where the story ends. First it was a valley full of dry bones and then the valley full

of dry bones becomes a valley full of intact corpses because everything comes together.

Sin you flesh and then God says something. Can these bones live? And then he says if

they can live then call down the spirit of God. He literally says to them in the ISV

it says, say to the spirit of God, breathe as you did in Eden upon these corpses so they

come back to life. That is what we are talking about. It is not enough to be put together.

It is now time for intact Christians to become ignited Christians. When suddenly you know

that the hand of the Lord is heavy upon me, that I cannot escape this, that I am approved

of God. Not approved of man. If you think you are approved of God. Where he says, but

Prashant I've been waiting for you. Jacob I've been waiting for you. Dilna I've been

waiting for you. Karen I've been waiting for you. If you know the approval of God on

your head, my God if I bang any harder I'll leave a dent. If you know the approval of

God on your head then know that the next step is God saying come if you stand up I'll tell

you where to go. Might be training involved. Might be going involved. There is nothing

in God without going. There is nothing in God without going. There is nothing in God

without going. I don't know whether he did it deliberately but the first two letters

of the word God is go. I'm sure he didn't do that deliberately. Sorry I'm shouting Evan.

We are this close guys. Any questions before we go on? Diana has that expression on her

face which means she has a question. Go ahead Diana. Then wait till next week. Ah sure.

When I finished in Salzburg Austria ten days ago, just to repeat it for people who were

not here, so I went there and there were supposed to be 60 young people and there were 25 young

people. That itself was kind of disappointing. They were supposed to be from all over Europe.

They were just from Vienna and a couple from Germany. They were all supposed to be young.

Forty percent were old. I had one and a half days of meetings but they gave me about three

and a half hours with translation. That's normal service time here. So by every count

it was kind of disappointing. I felt like shoot I traveled so far, spent so much and

felt like I was gypped. So the guy told me to talk about two topics which I'm so used

to talking about that I thought okay big deal. Father if this is what you want, you want

me to teach I'll teach. I want to get out of here. I changed my flight. I decided to

leave early. Then the guy said why don't you pray for people? I thought oh my god this

is going to take long because everybody will turn up for prayer and every prayer needs

translation. So I thought to myself I'll just quickly pray a prayer and get out of here.

Because the last time I went for something like this we finished at 3 a.m. So I decided

I'll just quickly pray. I'm sitting there and people start coming one by one and two

things hit me and two things hit me from the church here. One, know the presence of

God is here. So that was the first thing. Father you are here. Your presence is here.

The second thing was I'm here because I want to make all things new. And that changed everything.

Then as you begin praying torn ACLs are being healed, knees that cannot bend that had muscles

torn and require surgery that start getting healed, back start getting healed, two three

deaf ears get instantly healed. None of the healings were delayed. Everything was instant.

Instant. I'm scratching my head. It was a while since I've seen instant. It's always

late. I remember getting on the plane flying back to Frankfurt. One of the things I do

when I finish a trip and I'm heading back is I ask God, so Father how do you think it

went? And so I'm asking God, so Father how would you rate this trip? And I just finished

asking this question, how do you rate this trip? And the stewardess comes and gives me

a bottle and on the bottle are simple words, 100%. I start laughing saying only you can

pull off something like this. You ask a question and I've got the picture, I took a picture

quickly of this bottle, there's this 100%. And so my next question is why 100%? Why?

And his response is very simple. He said, Jacob you were faithful. You didn't want to

be there, you wanted to head out quickly. When I told you that my presence was there

and I wanted to make all things new, you were faithful. And because you were faithful, you

became an open heaven. You became an open heaven as in I was able to flow through you.

That's how this works guys. There's nothing you and I can do. The only thing we can do

is be faithful to something that he says. And then what happens? You become an open

heaven. Through you the things of heaven begin to happen on earth. His will in heaven begins

to flow through you. What is that? The ancient of days set up a stone and from under his

stone came a river of fire and he descended in that fire and he did what he wanted. So

as we sing now, feel free to stand anyways. All of us can stand or sit or do whatever

we want. But if you know that you are approved and that your offering

to God of your life is approved and that he is descending,

then feel free to take some kind of a stance that will show that here I am. You can either come up

or you can kneel where you are or lie flat on the ground. Whatever. But do something that will let

God know, I hear you God and here I am. What chord is that? Can you go lower?

Oh, you are here. Go see.

You are here.

We worship you.

We worship you.

We worship you.

We worship you.

Don't get caught up in the song, get caught up in God. Some can sing, some can not.

Father, we thank you that you are here. This is how you wanted us to end the service.

We bless you God. Every day you keep inviting us. Every day.

Saying son, your best is still ahead. Daughter, your best is still ahead.

Look at the heritage I have given you. Every day you invite us. And then today again you are doing the same.

You are here.

Still ahead.

We worship you.

We worship you.

You are here.

Working in this place.

I worship you.

I worship you.

You are here.

Moving in the blessings.

I worship you.

I worship you.

I worship you.

I worship you.

I worship you.

I worship you.

Way maker.

Miracle worker.

Drama skipper.

Light skipper.

Miracle worker.

Promise skipper. Light in the darkness.

My God, that is who you are.

Way maker.

Miracle worker. Promise skipper.

Light in the darkness. My God, that is who you are.

Just keep playing.

Father, I stand before you.

I look up to the future.

Spirit of God, please help us.

I worship you.

I worship you.

I worship you.

I worship you.

I worship you.

I worship you.

I worship you.

If you are standing, have the courage to say to God what you want to say in terms of being approved and ready for commission.

You speak it out.

Let God hear it.

What does God own you for?

It's not a boast in this stuff.

It's a boast in God.

To all the walking children.

Come to speak.

Come to speak.

Thank you, Jillian.

Come on now.

Father, you are helping us to recognize what you are doing in your life and to go playing out.

Come on now.

I know what you are doing most of the time.

I know you are just showing people what you are doing.

God is saying speak it out, kids.

You know, speak it out, kids.

That's how he is talking to you.

Speak it out, kids.

You are boasters in me.

But you need to own what I own you for.

Amen.

Amen.

Keep going.

We'll take ten minutes to do this and then we are done.

So if you can do it faster, we can get to everybody who is standing.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Amen.

Awesome.

Amen.

I know that you are going to be able to stand on your own ground.

And we are standing on our own ground.

And if you are not moving to kick off, you should.

And you can hold up instead.

Thank you Father for being an invite.

Thank you Father.

Amen.

Father, we want to be so grateful to you.

We care a lot about you in our lives.

Father, we know that when I help you, now that we have spread the fire of faith, we take hold in you.

And all things in our lives.

Thanks, Eddie.

Nice. The time of preparation is over.

Awesome.

Ordinary people.

Beautiful.

Father, you have asked me to reignite a revival that will change an entire generation of 20s and 30s across the earth.

You have asked me to shape nations, to tyrannize their kings and to tame nations.

I thank you that I stand approved and ready Father for more.

Yeah. Awesome.

Yeah.

Father, thank you for taking me to encourage me to speak the word you want me to speak.

Yeah.

Speak the truth.

Yeah.

Awesome.

Awesome, Mark. Love the way you phrased that.

Say that again, Jeremy.

Awesome.

Yeah.

Hallelujah.

Thank you, Father.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah. So Father, we disagree with him. He's a stranger.

Thank you for speaking to us through a stranger.

We begin to open our mouth and we give you praise, Holy Spirit, for what you're doing in our midst, for cleansing us, for sending fire, for causing, Father, your power to fall upon us, Father.

We begin to open our mouth. We begin to change, oh God.

We begin to change, oh God.

We speak to the valley of intact Christians and we say, let it now ignite by the power of the Holy Spirit.

We are not afraid of fire.

Fire cleanses.

Fire empowers.

Fire sets us on fire to set others on fire.

Let it be so, Holy Spirit.

Let it be so, God.

We agree with you.

We agree with heaven.

We agree with heaven.

If heaven sends a sound of a violent rushing wind, why can't we respond with our voices and say a resounding yes back to heaven saying, yes, oh God.

Yes, oh, Holy Spirit.

Yes, oh, God.

Yes, oh, God.

The filament is this thing, Father.

It will tear.

Heaven shall meet us.

We shall engage heaven.

We shall see rivers of fire leave from this church, not for our benefit, but for the benefit of the nations.

We say yes, oh, God.

We say yes, oh, God.

We say yes to the Spirit and to fire in Jesus' name.

Amen.

And the blind set free.

Is it still today?

That when people pray

The trials that skies will break

The things that we will shame

Yes, it's true

And I believe it

I'm living for you

Living for you

Is it still today?

That when people pray

We see hand in hand

And the blind set free

Yes, it's true

And I believe it

I'm living for you

Living for you

I'm gonna be

The history-maker

In this

Time

I'm gonna be

The speaker of truth

All my life

I'm gonna die

I'm gonna run

Into your arms

Again

Into your arms

Again

Is it still today?

That when people stand

With the fire of God

And the truth in hand

We see miracles

We see endless dreams

We see broken hearts

Making history

Yes, it's true

And I believe it

I'm living for you

Living for you

I'm gonna be

The history-maker

In this

Time

I'm gonna be

The speaker of truth

All my life

I'm gonna die

I'm gonna run

Into your arms

Again

Into your arms

Again

Is it still today?

That when people stand

With the fire of God

And the truth in hand

We see miracles

We see angels sing

We see broken hearts

Again

Is it still today?

That when people stand

With the fire of God

And the truth in hand

Making history

Yes, it's true

And I believe it

I'm living for you

Living for you

I'm gonna be

The history-maker

In this

Time

I'm gonna be

The speaker of truth

All my life

I'm gonna die

I'm gonna run

Into your arms

Into your arms

Again

Thank you, Holy Spirit

Not for visiting, but for inhabiting

Some of us didn't get to say

That we're living for you

And we're living for you

And we're living for you

And we're living for you

And we're living for you

But on our way home

We'll speak it aloud

We'll say

Why the hand

Of God is heavy upon me

What is it that I'm owned for

What did you

What did you grasp me for

As Paul said

What did you possess me for

I'll speak chamber

I'll say I'm not

own it I'll say I have your approval

the time of preparation is over

Esther must be revealed

Esther must be revealed

for a time such as this

so we thank you now

thank you holy Israel

in Jesus name

Amen

I'm gonna be a speaker or two to all that I

I'm gonna stand

I'm gonna run into your arms

into your arms again

Bless you guys

See you when we see you

Is it true today?

It was very slow