Relentless

Welcome back everyone. Find your seat or find a new seat. Find any seat. Nick, can you get people to come back?

Merci beaucoup.

Okay, so as people come back, this morning we have Betty and Don who will be teaching us.

All right, people are trickling in. I think everyone's here. So yeah, Betty and Don this morning will be teaching us.

Over to you Betty.

Thank you. Okay, let's begin with a word, a prayer. Let's begin with a word of prayer.

Father, we just want to acknowledge your presence with us. Father, you have a message for all of us here.

A message that you will speak into our hearts. So I pray for all our hearts to be ready to receive the seed of your knowledge of your goodness.

So that we may become the people that you want us to be. One that's after your heart and after those around us.

So anoint my lips, Father anoint the lips of Don so that we may speak your life into this congregation and let it overflow into the world around us.

In Jesus name we pray. Amen. And so just to continue with what Evan spoke this morning.

To no longer be conformed to the pattern of the world. How do we do that? How do we do that?

We can do it because Christ is in us. And we can do it because we can be relentless. And that's the topic for today. Relentlessness.

When a people agree with God, when we say, hey God, I agree with you. I agree with who Jesus is.

I agree with your plan for the world. When people agree with God, Jesus comes in and he transforms the hundreds of small, tiny, micro, daily decisions that we make.

And in transforming those small, daily decisions we make, he turns it into a powerful tsunami of change.

A powerful tsunami of change. Where we dismantle Satan's power with these blows.

An example of this is in 1989, the Berlin Wall was brought down. Do you know how it was brought down?

It wasn't through extravagant power. It wasn't through strategy. It wasn't through fighting with our bodies.

It was brought down by 800,000 blows of prayer. 800,000 blows of prayer over 48 hours.

The prayer of the people. 800,000 individual what might seem insignificant blows.

But whatever we place in the hands of God, whatever God breathes is significant.

Is significant. So we must learn to be relentless. To act in unfazed obedience with endurance and expectation.

So what is relentlessness? What is relentlessness?

It is a dynamic and deliberate process of seeking out or hunting which needs to be changed.

I'm going to write this down. I think this is important.

It is a dynamic and deliberate seeking out and hunting of what needs to be changed.

And how do we do this? Because it is hard to change. It is hard to seek. It's hard to see ourselves sometimes.

Sometimes we don't want to admit that we have things to change. But when we do, how do we go about it?

Well we can go about it in three ways. We can be relentless against imposing odds by one, grasping his presence.

We grasp the presence of God which gives us the courage to persist.

So one, the presence of God.

Which gives the courage to change. Courage to change.

Okay, look at Paul's life. If you look at Paul's life and his walk with the Lord.

If you look in the book of Corinthians, and there's a lot of examples in the book of Corinthians.

I'm going to read out to you the things in Paul's life.

Paul was hard pressed on every side. He was perplexed, persecuted, struck down and delivered to death.

He was put in prison. He faced riots. He had to go many nights without sleep. He was often hungry and thirsty.

Sometimes he didn't have any clothes to wear. He got cold. He was slandered. He was sad.

He was whipped as a punishment by the Jews five times. He was beaten with sticks three times. He was stoned and left for dead.

He was shipwrecked three times. He was left lounging in the ocean for 24 hours.

He faced robbers. His friends left him. Some of the churches he founded rejected him.

How do you persist in that? How do you continue to be relentless in that?

For king and kingdom, how do you do that? You carry with you the presence of God.

I could do all things through God who strengthens me, right? So his presence gives us courage to persist.

Secondly, how can we be relentless? We can be relentless by grasping onto his permission.

His permission which fuels fearless passion.

Permission fuels fearless passion.

I'm a teacher, for those of you who don't know, and I have to give permission.

To my students, they need a piece of paper. They ask permission.

They need to go to the bathroom. They ask permission. And when I say yes, you can go to the bathroom.

Yes, you can go get that piece of paper. They go. And they know they can do it.

But when they go without my permission, they're fearful because they know they shouldn't have gone.

So when we have permission, what we have is we have God's authorization. We have his consent.

We are allowed to walk into greater measure.

We are allowed and given permission to do hard things and succeed.

We are allowed and given authorization to encounter the unfamiliar and the unknown and overcome.

Permission is a question that we all ask ourselves or we ask our friends in the quiet of our homes.

What would you do if you know you cannot fail? That is permission.

And thirdly, we can be relentless by grasping onto his purpose,

his purpose, which forges discipline and habit.

So his purpose, which helps forge discipline and habit.

So purpose is our raison d'etre, the reason for our being.

Purpose is the why of what we do.

And for achieving this end, when we have a purpose, we have a reason for ordering our lives around him.

We have a reason for making changes, engaging in disciplines that direct our hearts to him.

Because I value him. I'm compelled to do everything that I can to meet him.

So having purpose, I can forge, it helps me forge discipline and habit.

So in the present time, we need to be relentless.

We need to be relentless in pursuit. We need to be relentless in loving kindness.

We need to be relentless contending and seeking justice.

Okay. Can I erase this? Continue.

Okay. And...

Relentless in pursuit.

Okay. When we engage in the pursuit of God, I loved how Evan said,

why do we do the things that we don't want to do? Like, why do we cook?

He doesn't like to cook. I don't like to cook. But why do we cook? Well, because we're hungry.

We're hungry. And so when we engage in the pursuit of God, an appetite for God will be awakened.

An appetite for God will be awakened. And usually we have an appetite for what we desire.

Right? If we desire God, he has our attention. When I desire beauty and skin care.

And that stuff always gets my attention. Like, I could be doing something that I really like,

like watching a TV show, but there is an ad or something pops up on my Instagram about beauty and skin care.

Everything. My mind goes there. Right? And anything I pay attention to affects my feelings.

My affections for it is very evident. Right? You spend time, you spend energy.

And usually your feelings are very positive. Okay? And if your attention and your feelings are towards God,

then his successes and his losses will be like your own. Right? In the beauty industry, when the prices go up, I'm sad.

Right? When there's a sale, I'm happy. Right? And it absolutely in all things governs my directions.

It governs my directions. Because if I desire something, like I said before, it will determine what I do with my money.

It will determine what I do with my time and my talent. And if my desire is God, that's a litmus test, guys.

If your desire is God, where do you think all your money and time and thoughts and energies go?

Where does it go? To him, to his kingdom. Right? And so the strongest Christians are the hungriest Christians.

They have the biggest appetite for God. And the amazing, wonderful thing about that,

hopeful thing about that is that God always satisfies. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,

for right relationship, for intimacies with God. Because they will be filled. They will be filled.

And when you're the most satisfied by him, in him, you will inadvertently, by accident, glorify him. Okay?

When you're the most satisfied in God, you will accidentally, inadvertently, inevitably glorify him.

Because you always, always glorify what you're the most satisfied with. Right? We do that all the time.

I think you've heard this before. When I have a good experience at a restaurant, what do I do? I talk about it.

I make recommendations. Suddenly, when you have an experience that's life-changing, you become a witness. Right?

I love this restaurant. This is amazing. This product, blah, blah, blah. We do this all the time.

And with God, it's the same. When he satisfies us, we glorify him.

And he will satisfy you because your hunger for him is strong. And what you hunger for reveals your heart.

In Matthew 6, 21, it says, For where your treasure is, there your heart will also be.

What do you think of all day long? Where does your mind go when it has a moment to itself?

When you are not able to acquire that thing, when that thing cannot come to pass, it will haunt you.

It will hurt you because that's the nature of hunger. Hunger pains us.

Do you hunger after the Lord? Does it pain you that you went about your task, your decisions, your day, your moment?

Does it pain you that you did it without him? Does it hurt you that he went about your task, your decisions, your day, your moment?

Does it hurt you that he is not the center of your world?

And the positive thing about all this, the thing that just shows the graciousness of God, is that we can ask God.

We can go before our God and say, Father, I don't have this hunger. Father, I'm lacking in this area, but I know in my head

that what you are and who you are to the world and your plans for the world is good.

Father, give me a hunger. Give me a hunger. Replace the hunger that I have for other things for the hunger for you.

In Psalm 63 it says, Oh God, you are my God. Earnestly I seek you. My soul thirsts after you.

My flesh faints for you as in a dry and weary land where there is no water.

Because your steadfast love is better than life. My lips will praise. So I will bless you as long as I live.

In your name I will lift up my hands. Okay? And when we get to that point, when we say, you know what, Father,

Father, I am hungry for you now. Father, I hunger for you. Then you can begin to discipline your body.

A lot of times we go backwards. We're like, Father, I want to discipline myself for you so I can get to the place of hunger.

No, that's putting the cart before the horse. We need to ask for hunger first.

And when we are hungry, then we can discipline the body. We can discipline. I have reason now, right?

Now that I'm hungry, I have reason. Now that I'm hungry, I will cook. Okay?

I have reason now to redirect my attention, to redirect my affections for Him.

I will take all of it from my body, my mind, and my soul, aligned up to seek after Him. Right?

Because I long to be satisfied now. I long to be satisfied by my first love.

So when I'm relentless in my pursuit of God, I hunger for Him. I replace all things that are not of God.

I locate all things that get in the way of my first love.

Then I ruthlessly sell off all the things that are not of His nature or hinder my pursuit of Him.

So I pursue Him, and then I locate. Okay? What are the things that are in the way?

And then I sell off.

Okay? Say goodbye to the things that are not of Him, not from His nature.

Okay? And some of these things are very innate to who we are.

Some of the things that I need to sell off have made me successful, that have helped me in my journey, like my pride. Right?

Maybe the way I've always done things was good, and I like the way I do things. Maybe I have to cast that off.

Maybe it's what I know, because I'm pretty intelligent. I may be an expert in my area. I know more than the people around me.

My experience, that thing. Okay? Comfort. Comfort has driven a lot of us from stepping out. Inconvenience.

What about your dreams? What about the things that you've held your breath for for a long, long time?

Can you sell that off? Does it hinder you from your God?

What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things.

I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ. And it will be a fight. Right? Obviously.

It will be a fight because it's hard. We like these things. They have helped us at one point.

But we need to get to a place where we're relentlessly trimming away the things so that I could depend fully on the Lord.

And so once you have done that, once you've relinquished the things not of God, you then can engage with Him.

And fight. Okay. Engage. You can wrestle with Him.

Then you can engage with God of the things of God. You can wrestle for the things of His heart. For the nations. For the lost.

You can be bold to contend with your God. Because when you get to the place where you want what God wants, you will fight for it.

Naturally, it will just become a part of you. Like, I want what you want. It's not happening. Let's go.

Father, Father your people. Father your nations. Father, my neighbor.

Okay? And in this, in all of this, please continue to eat of His presence.

Eat of His presence. Now what does that mean? Eat of His presence.

That means to continue to engage with Him in intimacy. To go deeper with Him. To want more of Him.

More depth. More time. More reading into His Word. More hearing of Him. Seeking Him out. More resting in His presence.

And once you have been filled with intimacy, once you are brimming over with intimacy, then you can pour out.

You can pour out to the world around you. And you can pursue those that God pursues.

And you can pursue.

So that's relentlessness and pursue. Being relentless and trimming away.

Casting away the things that hinder us so that we can be with our God.

We can engage with our God for the things of His heart. For the things of His people.

Okay. Next. Relentlessness in loving kindness. Relentlessness in loving kindness.

In Genesis chapter 3 verse 9.

Genesis 3:9

The Lord God then called to the man and asked, Where are you?

At this point in the story, Adam had sinned against the Lord, Adam and Eve, and they have eaten the fruit that they should not have.

In this story, God demonstrates loving kindness.

It's the word, chased. And it combines the ideas of unconditional love, generosity, enduring commitment.

God immediately seeks out the man who is hiding and trying to cover his shame.

It's the seeking out and restoring.

He asks that of us. He asks us to be relentless in this.

Because in our loving kindness, we are like Jesus. We are being just like Jesus.

And these three aspects interact at once. There's strength, there's steadfastness, and there's love.

Strength, steadfastness, and love.

Okay. For those of you who like to take notes, and for me, who is trying not to be nervous,

Relentlessness in loving kindness. Here we go.

Okay. Strength, steadfastness, and I know this, loyal love.

Okay. Strength, steadfastness, and I know this, loyal love.

Jesus demonstrated this on the cross. In his whole life, actually. His whole life.

But most significantly, that's easier to see, is on the cross, right?

The strength that he displayed when he bore the sins of man, the steadfastness of his nature to complete his work,

And also his loyal love for his father. Loyal love for his father.

Okay. And we hear of this loving kindness every morning.

In Psalms 143, 8, it says,

God does this for us whether we acknowledge it or not.

God always shows up every morning. His mercies are new every morning. His presence is with us every morning.

Every morning he shows up, he shows up, he shows up. Are we aware of it? Are we aware of it?

Right? Because we become dull to it. Sometimes when someone's nice to us for too long,

We know we don't really value it. That's why girls like bad boys, right? We don't value it.

And so he commands us in Psalms 42, 8,

The Lord will send his faithful love by day. His song will be with us in the night.

A prayer to the God of my life. Do we pray to the Lord? Do we thank him?

Do we acknowledge him with our words? Do we do that? We must recognize it.

We have to recognize it to receive it. When we receive it, then we can release it.

So loving kindness is ours. It has always been ours.

And so the greatest thing you can do for your father is to be kind to others.

We are kind to others that are made in his image. I teach at a Christian school,

So I'm able to like speak Bible truth to the kids. And I asked my children,

I said, how can you show kindness to others? No, no. How do you show kindness to God?

I said, God's invisible. How do you show kindness to God? And they're like, prayer?

And I'm like, no. Right? Read the Bible. I'm like, no.

I didn't use that tone, but in my head I was like, no.

I'm like, but he's invisible. He's invisible. I said, can you hug the Lord?

No, you can't hug the Lord. Can you give the Lord a glass of water?

I'm like, how do you show love to an invisible God?

Oh my God, I'm stumped. And I think sometimes we get stumped too.

You show love to an invisible God by loving his people, because his people,

all people actually, because every person is the image bearer of God.

And then the righteous will answer him, Lord, when do we see you hungry and feed you?

Or thirsty or give you something to drink? When do we see you a stranger and invite you in?

Or needing clothes and clothe you? When do we see you sick in prison and go visit you?

Hmm. We can love an invisible God by loving the people around us who are visible,

who are needy, who are before us.

The king replied, truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters

remind you did for me.

And loving kindness shows an unbidden generosity and is tender hearted,

especially in today's world. There's indifference, there's hostility.

The quality of kindness leads people to God and it leads people to change.

And that's in Romans 2.4.

People are not interested in the God who requires you to follow all these rules.

We know this. We are personally turned off by this.

And yet sometimes we go forth and unwittingly we demonstrate that to others.

There is a deficit of patience. There is a deficit of compassion.

There is a deficit of tenderness in this world. So when we are kind, we are counter-cultural.

When we show love and generosity, people are refreshed and they want to know why

and they want to seek after it.

So loving kindness turns people to Christ.

Loving kindness changes others.

And loving kindness also does something for you.

Loving kindness allows God to intertwine you into the life of others.

And when we are intertwined with God into the life of others, we shape destiny.

We shape the future. All parents know this. All parents know this.

Your loving kindness towards your children impacts their future and well-being.

You pour into them, you pour into them with the expressed hope that they live a better and greater life than you.

Right? It's natural.

But what do you think will happen when we partner with God for the sake of His children?

When we are deliberate in our submission to God with our time and attention, in our care and our affections,

we can also change the lives of others and their destinies.

Parenting is how God intertwines your life with others.

And loving kindness dismantles the oppression of the kingdom of darkness.

The enemy comes to steal, to kill, and destroy.

And loving kindness seeks to restore and redeem.

It opposes the desolation that the enemy brings.

So in Jeremiah 2, 2, it says, God says, I remember your kindness.

What does God remember of your kindness?

How were you kind last week?

How have you shown kindness to God?

To the ones who bears His image.

Okay. Done.

Thank you, Betty.

Do you want to take your notes? I don't need your notes. I'm just looking.

Do you have any questions for Betty?

Because I cannot answer them.

No? Everything is clear? Cool.

So I'm going to continue on what she said.

So she said, relentless in pursuit, then relentless in loving kindness.

So the next thing, so once you have these two factors, then the next thing is relentless in, what is it?

Contenting. Relentless in contenting.

I'm going to talk about God's nature here.

So Isaiah chapter 49, verse 25.

Isaiah 49:25

But this is what the Lord says.

Yes, captives will be taken from warriors and plunder retrieved from the fears.

I will content with those who content with you and your children I will save.

God is saying, I will content with those who content with you and your children I will save.

Every time God contents, there is a contenting for and there is a contenting against.

God is going to content for me, for my sons, because I am His child.

And He's going to content against anybody who comes against me.

So if I am God's child, this nature is in me.

This contenting nature is just part of me.

Because every time we say, I become bored again, we take the very nicest things of Him.

Oh, I love other people because God loves other people.

But this contenting nature, we're like, okay, maybe not.

I don't want that.

But honestly, every time if God lives in you, every nature of His lives in you.

Every nature of His comes through you.

One such nature is contenting.

It is His nature to content for His people.

It is my nature to content for His people.

To explain this, let's look at 1 Kings chapter 18, verses 36 to 46.

1 Kings 18:36–46

1 Kings chapter 18, verses 36 to 46.

1 Kings 18:36–46

So it's a long chapter.

So I'm going to quickly go through the...

Anybody knows which chapter I'm talking about?

Nobody? Oh, you pagans.

1 Kings chapter 18.

1 Kings 18 · chapter mention

So this is the portion where God tells Elijah,

Hey, I'm going to send rain back because the country has been in drought for the last little while.

There is no rain, so there is no food.

And then God tells Elijah, hey, go back and tell them I'm going to bring rain in this land.

And Elijah has been in hiding.

So he goes and then he meets with King Ahab, which is a pretty bad king.

He has a pretty bad wife, Jezebel.

And so what's his name?

Elijah then goes, tells him, hey, I am going to bring all your prophets of Baal.

And then, you know, what happens?

God displaces power.

All of Baal's prophets are killed and slaughtered.

So we're going to look at what happens after that.

So soon after that, Elijah tells Ahab, hey, now you go back

because I hear the sound of heavy rain.

And so Ahab goes in.

Elijah goes up Mount Carmel and he prays for rain.

So this is what we're going to look at, OK?

Is that a simple enough idea of chapter 18?

OK, so this is what we're going to look at.

So every time as a son, I'm going to do something that Elijah did.

I'm going to content for the land, for the people.

So just like Elijah contented for rain, I'm going to content for this land.

Just like Elijah contented against Baal, the prophets of Baal,

against Baal, against Ahab, and against Jezebel,

I'm going to fight against the enemy who is trying to destroy his people.

This is the nature of God that has to be evident through us.

Kezi and I, we were actually talking last day about

how this country was actually built on Christian principles.

Everything about this country was built on Christian principles.

And slowly deception crept in.

Things slowly started to change.

There was a marriage of this land with Jezebel.

And through that, perversion crept in.

As in Elijah, what would you do?

We always close our eyes on things like this, guys.

We're silent about things like this.

Yahweh is not.

The fighting warrior God is not.

He fights for his people.

Content for the land.

In this present ravage, content against the deviance of Ahab,

the sorcery of Jezebel, content for rain, and return to Yahweh.

This has to be in our mind every time we go to Wall-E,

every time we go to Victoria.

You're contenting for people. You're not doing it for yourself.

You're contenting for the people.

Why? Because there is a God who is contenting for the people,

and he wants to do it through you.

My nature now is of the contenting father.

Then God says, oh, I'm going to fight your battles.

Somebody contented for me.

Mohini contented years for Pawan. Right, Mohini?

Why? Because she owned it.

If she doesn't do that, probably Pawan might, but I don't know, maybe nobody else.

But Mohini had to do it.

Mohini had to content for him.

I remember years after years, Mohini will come up and say,

no, I know he's going to come to Christ. I know.

She will go back home and she'll content.

Do you content for the people of this land?

Is there an ownership?

If it's not your son, if it's not your daughter, do you still content?

When you go to Victoria, is that your heart?

Do you have a burden?

Well done, Betty.

So the next step when you content is there's a declaration.

There's a declaration.

So Elijah then says to Ahab, go eat and drink, for there is a sound of the heavy rain.

There is a speaking out on God's behalf.

Because if you read that chapter, the first line is talking about God tells Ahab,

hey, I'm going to send rain.

And now he's confident.

Now he goes to Ahab and he says, okay, now you go because the rain is going to come.

There is a declaration that needs to happen.

There's a declaration that needs to happen upon the land.

When we do Victoria, when we do Wally, what happens is that we are declaring God's intent upon the land.

We have done it.

Over the last little while, Jacob was here. He was talking about Victoria.

What was he doing?

He was declaring God's intent upon the land.

Every time we meet for an encounter, what do we do?

We declare God's intent upon the land.

There is a declaration that has to happen if we are contenting.

After contenting, there's a supplication.

Make sense?

So there is a declaration.

You know God's heart now.

You declare it.

After you declare it, then you go.

Why?

Because if you look again, so he tells Ahab, hey, there is rain that's going to come.

So Ahab goes.

So Ahab went off to eat and drink.

But Elijah climbed to the top of Carmel, bent down to the ground, and put his face between his knees.

There was a posture that was very different.

The supplication is very different.

He's contenting.

This is a fight that he is now doing for God, for the people on behalf of God.

He goes to Mount Carmel.

He bends down.

He puts his head between his knees, and he cries out.

There's a posture.

Do you guys know Jackie Pullinger?

She's my nephew.

No, she's not.

Jackie Pullinger is one of, I don't know, warriors of God.

She went to Hong Kong, and then she, I think we briefly talked about her last time,

but she's the person who went to Hong Kong, and then she rescued people with addiction, right?

All those kind of addiction.

And then she had a tactic.

So I was just, I didn't read the whole book, but I read a glimpse of it,

and my confidence is extremely high.

You might think that I actually know her personally, right?

But I just read like one chapter of it, and in that...

I know, right? I just read the back.

I mean, that's all that matters, I guess.

But in that, she says, okay, she goes.

She knows there is a calling.

She goes to the land, and then she starts sharing gospel.

Sharing gospel.

Nothing happens.

And she's like, but I'm doing the right things.

There is an art of war.

She meets with somebody from the US, and then she realizes the power of speaking in tongues.

And then everything changes.

So every time, the next time she goes out, she starts speaking in tongues.

In the spirit, she's declaring things.

And then she goes, and miraculous things happen.

Now people are receiving Jesus.

Lives are being transformed, but still there is that struggle for addiction.

Then she says, okay, if this can happen in my life, when I am filled with the Holy Spirit, if this is how it is, let me pray over other people.

And they start speaking in tongues.

Art of war.

When you're contending, there is a different posture that you have to take.

That was Jackie Pullinger's way, how God, how Spirit told her to do things.

Warring in the Spirit and then declaring it out.

In our case, there is a prophetic...

Use prophetic as a weapon.

This is what 1 Timothy, 1 Timothy chapter 1, verse 18 and 19 says,

1 Timothy 1:18

Timothy, my son, I am giving you this command in keeping with the prophecies once made about you, so that by recalling them, you may fight the battle well.

I'm going to read it again.

Timothy, my son, I'm giving you this command in keeping with the prophecies once made about you.

Hey, remember the prophecies that I once made about you.

Remember them and then now fight the battle well.

Make sense? In the case of Elijah, he knew what God had told him.

I'm going to send rain.

Stand on that prophetic and then fight your war.

And when you do this, time is not a factor.

How many years did you wait for power in Mohini?

Two years.

It was not one day. It was not two days.

But she knew the result. She knows what's going to happen.

Time did not matter for her.

Bhagavani, you're laughing at me.

You're filled with happiness and joy, I believe.

Nothing.

But when you know the outcome, the result does not matter.

The result does not matter. I mean, not the result does not matter.

The time does not matter. How long it takes does not matter.

You don't have to see it happen.

Every time we go out in Bali, Derek reminds us one thing.

Hey, when you go out right now, don't look at the results.

No, stand on the prophetic word that this city has been given to you.

You go out, God will do the rest.

If you're going to look at time or how fast is this going to happen

or where are the results, you're going to fail.

In our case, we know things are going to happen.

So if you look at Elijah's story about Ahab,

the servant had to go back seven times to look at the cloud.

Seven times. It did not happen the first time.

It did not happen the second time. He had to do it seven times.

Time does not matter.

The result is going to come.

The route of evil in any season is determined by the violence of contention.

So the damage that you will cause to the enemy kingdom

is determined by how much of an effort that you are putting in the Spirit.

Like the route of evil in any season is determined by the violence of contention.

Right? It says in Matthew chapter 11, verse 12 says,

Matthew 11:12

From the days of John the Baptist until now,

the kingdom of heaven has been subjected to violence,

and violent people have been raiding it.

Violent people have been raiding it.

There has to be violence, man.

You talk about Real Madrid to me, you trash talk about Real Madrid to me,

I'll have violence.

Real Madrid is a club that I support, just in case you didn't know.

That's not the kind of violence I'm talking about,

but there's a different kind of violence.

Because look at kids, man.

If you are a kid and if you steal an eraser from a mother's kid's pocket,

which I did once, that kid's mother shows up.

Why? It's an eraser.

Then I met Jesus and my life changed. I don't steal anymore.

But the intent is that there is an ownership for the kid.

Right knee? You'll do anything for your baby.

Hopefully not for the eraser, but...

But there is that intent with which, man, this is my son, this is my daughter.

I'm going to show up. Why? For silly things and for big things.

You'll be there.

Contenting.

In 2 Kings chapter 13, verse 19, this is a story where Jehovah, Jehovah and Elisha,

2 Kings 13:19

both of them are there. Elisha is on his dying bed.

And Jehovah goes to meet Elisha and he tells him, hey, take the arrows, strike the ground.

So Jehovah takes his arrow and he strikes it three times.

And this is what Elisha says.

The man of God was angry with him and he said, you should have struck the ground five or six times.

Then you should have, then you would have defeated Aram and completely destroyed it.

And now you will defeat it only three times.

How much violent are you against this?

Against the enemy plotting and planning against your people?

How violent are you?

The damage that will cause to the enemy kingdom depends on how much violent, how violent you are.

After this, wrestle with God for the land.

Jacob wrestled with God for his blessing.

Sometimes we are like Jacob because we wrestle for ourselves.

But wrestle for the people.

Wrestle for Victoria.

Wrestle for Vancouver.

Wrestle for Nenemo.

Wrestle for UBC.

Wrestle for the land that God has given you.

And once you wrestle, there will be a name change.

Jacob became Israel.

What Victoria stands for today will change.

Victoria's identity will change.

Victoria's name will change to what it is intended to be.

Content, guys.

Content, content, content.

Content, content, content.

Content, content, content.

Content, guys.

Where is the clock?

Okay.

I'm only used to preaching in churches with clock.

What is the time?

Huh?

Okay.

We have time, guys.

That's okay. Not for today. Maybe next time.

So, the next one is relentless injustice.

So, we talked about relentlessness in contenting.

The next topic is be relentless in justice.

When Jesus, every time Jesus did something, he was delivering justice.

We don't see it that way.

But when Jesus met the woman at the well, he was repairing a life.

Oh, total 40. Thank you. Thank you.

Now it feels like the mega church I spoke last week.

Every time Jesus did something, he was delivering justice.

A woman at the well, he was repairing her life.

He was delivering justice.

When Jesus healed the man at the pool of Bethesda, he restored his life.

But justice was delivered.

When Jesus restored the man with the unclean spirit,

Jesus gave back his identity and his worth, he was delivering justice.

We usually don't see it that way.

We see, oh, God did miracles. God did wonders and everything.

Every time he did something, justice was a big part of it.

And when he says, okay, people who believe in me, they'll do the things and even greater things.

We always look at miracles. Okay, let me raise the dead.

But it's the intent of justice.

Yes, when healings happen, you don't see the bigger picture.

Justice is being delivered.

What does justice look like?

It is if harm has been done, repay that man.

That is part of justice.

So when God healed the man who was harmed by the enemy, justice was being given.

It says in Isaiah chapter 58, verse 12, your people will rebuild the ancient ruins

Isaiah 58:12

and will raise up the age old foundations.

You will be called the repairer of broken walls, restorer of streets with dwelling.

God desires to work through us.

God desires to work through us to repair things.

God desires to work through us to restore things.

God desires to work through us to deliver justice.

Make sense? Any questions so far, guys?

Any questions? No questions?

Okay.

Recognize that people have rights as image bearers of God.

Recognize that every person has a right as an image bearer of God.

Because everybody was created in his image.

Not just Christians.

Every person was created in his image.

Do justice for anybody who was created in his image.

In Deuteronomy chapter 27, verse 19, it says,

Deuteronomy 27:19

In Deuteronomy chapter 27, verse 19, it says,

Deuteronomy 27:19

Cursed is anyone who withholds justice from the foreigner, the fatherless or the widow.

He's not talking about his own people now.

He's talking about even for the foreigner, if you withhold justice.

Deuteronomy chapter 27, verse 19.

Deuteronomy 27:19

Cursed is anyone who withholds justice from the foreigner, the fatherless or the widow.

Justice is the rendering to people of those rights that has been given to them by God.

Be it a Christian or not a Christian.

It is the rendering to people of those rights.

Isaiah chapter 61, verse 8 talks about God's nature about justice.

Isaiah 61:8

For I, the Lord, love justice.

I hate robbery.

For I, the Lord, love justice.

I hate robbery and wrongdoing.

In my faithfulness, I will reward my people and make an everlasting covenant with them.

But for I, the Lord, love justice.

That's his nature.

He loves justice.

Justice for the people who are not his sons yet.

And justice for his sons.

If you read Leviticus and Isaiah, these are some of the things that

it's spoken about. Justice for the poor and the needy.

Justice for your neighbor.

Justice for the foreigner.

Justice for the widow.

Justice for the fatherless.

Justice for the oppressed.

He's not talking about Christians.

Because it's easy for us to choose justice for our people.

We have that, right?

Like if something happens to our church, let's stand up.

If you look at the Christendom right now, like Christian Kingdom,

this is what's happening.

You only rise up for things of the church.

You're not too bothered about people outside the church.

What about the widow outside the church?

What about the foreigner in this land who is being denied justice?

What about...there are people in this church, eh?

There are people in this church who have got a glimpse of that.

The heart of God's justice for people.

But let it spread to everybody in this room.

This is what Job said in chapter 29.

Let this be spoken about us too.

Whoever heard me spoke well of me.

And those who saw me commended me.

Because I rescued the poor who cried for help.

And the fatherless who had none to assist them.

The one who was dying blessed me.

I made the widow's heart sing.

I put on righteousness as my clothing.

Justice was my robe and my turban.

I was eyes to the blind and feet to the lame.

I was a father to the needy.

I took up the case of the stranger.

I broke the fangs of the wicked and snatched the victims from their teeth.

This is Job talking about his life.

What he did.

Can we say things about that?

Derek spoke a little bit about this last time.

If you meet a person who is hungry, feed him.

Don't ask for discernment.

Right?

If you ask, if you see a person who is in need, help him.

If you see a person who is in need, help him.

If you ask, if you see a person who is in need, help.

Don't ask for discernment.

Same way, if you see somebody, Christian or not a Christian, and justice is being denied, act.

That's his nature.

Act.

Don't ask for discernment there too.

Deliver justice.

Deliver justice.

For this to happen, there should be an awareness of desolate...

Pawan, what are you doing, bro?

Just joking.

For things to happen, there has to be an awareness of desolate heritage.

An awareness of desolate heritage.

Desolate heritage, yeah.

It talks...I think it's Isaiah.

Isaiah 49, verse 8.

Isaiah 49:8

In the time of my favor, I have lanced at you, and in the day of salvation, I will help you.

I will keep you and will make you to be a covenant for the people, to restore the land and to reassign its desolate inheritances.

There has to be an awareness of desolate inheritances.

That's the first step.

Have an awareness of the desolate inheritance or desolate heritages.

Now that you're aware of it, lament.

That's an action.

So now you know there is a desolate heritage.

Now lament.

Cry.

Cry for the people.

Cry for the inheritance that's for you.

That's desolate right now.

In Habakkuk chapter 1, verse 2 and 4, it says, How long, Lord, must I call for help?

Habakkuk 1:2

But you do not listen, or cry out to you, violence, but you do not save?

Why do you make me look at injustice?

Why do you tolerate wrongdoing?

Destruction and violence are before me.

There is strife and conflict abounds.

Therefore the law is paralyzed, and justice never prevails.

The wicked hem in the righteous, so that justice is perverted.

This is his lament.

This is Habakkuk's lament.

To God.

Our posture should be the same.

There should be a relentless cry for the people.

A lament for God's justice upon the land.

Lament is not just an emotion.

It's not forcing out emotions.

It is actually for Christians, it is not forcing out emotions.

It is actually for Christians, it is standing on the truth, standing on the prophetic, and then declaring things.

It should not be just, ah, too bad.

That is not what I'm talking about, lament.

Lament is where you wrestle with God for the land.

Promises like Luke chapter 4, 18 to 19.

Luke 4 · chapter mention

The spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim the goodness to the poor.

He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners, and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free, to proclaim the ear of the Lord's favor.

In Revelation it says, he will wipe every tear from their eyes.

There will be no more death or mourning or crying or mourning.

For the old order of things has passed away.

We know what's going to come, guys.

We have been assured of what is in hand.

Now stand on it.

Now relentlessly pray for it.

Once you do this, then the spirit ignites and redirects you to the truth.

Lament is not just an emotion.

It is actually for Christians, it is standing on the truth.

It is actually for Christians, it is standing on the truth.

Once you do this, then the spirit ignites and redirects our time, our strength, our willingness to do things.

Make sense?

Any questions?

Be relentless. This is what we have been talking about.

Relentless. Relentless in things.

Relentless in pursuit. Relentless in loving kindness. Relentless in contenting. Relentless in justice.

Can I ask somebody to pray for this?

Because as we go to Victoria and we go to different places that God is going to send, this has to be there.

A relentless attitude.

It's not going to happen in one day.

As she was talking about, the Berlin Wall did not come down in one day.

What if you struck Berlin Wall for like 24 hours and you were like, ah, this is going to be a disaster.

What if you struck Berlin Wall for like 24 hours and you were like, ah, this is not going to happen.

Going to go back home.

That attitude won't work.

We are fighting against spirits that has been holding that country captive for a little longer.

Years and years of demonic oppression upon the land.

Do you think one prayer will take it away?

Be relentless.

Because we know what we have.

We know His promise.

And the cities and places have been given to us.

Now stand on it and fight.

Can somebody pray for it?

My name is Leigh.

I'm from Vernon House of Faith.

Just last week, Jacob sent us to Ventura.

We have no idea what Ventura is like.

So Ventura is in the northern side of Los Angeles.

And amazingly, you mentioned about the Jackie Pullinger book.

That's exactly the book Jacob gave me before we headed down there.

And I read it through the flight, through while we were there and on our way back.

And you're right.

I read the whole book, so it's so fresh on me.

There is oppression because there is an enemy who is really willing to get us.

And there are us Christians, when we're called, it's so hard not to just turn a blind eye.

And then we also feel helpless too because this is their lives for years and years and years.

And yet God wants to restore them.

And so I believe when you guys are called to Victoria, I'm not sure what Victoria is going to do.

Victoria Island?

Okay, I just wanted to make sure because there's a Victoria Street too.

But I want to be more specific about my prayer.

But yeah, to go to Victoria is not easy.

You have to take a ferry.

It's not cheap either.

But yes, there is something about Victoria that God wants to move in there.

And so as we come to the Spirit,

Father, you have called Victoria.

That Victoria is beautiful.

And it's just not beautiful just because of the scenery, Lord.

But the people that you have called in there, Lord, the real estate is so high in there because all of the fanciness.

But amidst all the fanciness, Lord, there's an underbelly.

And so I believe that's what you're calling in there.

Because all of the fanciness, but amidst all the fanciness, Lord, there's an underbelly.

And we called out against those underbelly.

It's like a city that's like walled up.

Like we can see how magnificent the houses are there.

But we also see what the enemy has done and hardened the hearts of some people there.

Lord, we call on your Holy Spirit because you have done it.

You have done it in our lives.

You have redeemed us.

You have fully restored us, Lord.

That the facade would be shattered.

And we don't know how to pray.

And just like how Jackie Pullinger came and walked and she prayed in the Spirit.

Lord, teach us, give us that gift that we could pray in Spirit every day.

Every walking time when we go in there, Lord.

You already have prepped up the hearts of the people that are in there that we are going to get connected to.

They are going to get connected to, Lord.

And Lord, as they jump into that fair, as they drive over there and they take that little bit of a drive, Lord, just open up our hearts.

Let us be so sensitive from you.

Because that's all going to come from you, Lord.

It's not going to come from our strength.

But we are so willing.

We are so willing to be there and be sent out.

Because you have done the same for us.

We have done the same for us.

So thank you for this time of prayer for us, Lord.

Amen.

To paraphrase another verse, Father God, we are only able to be relentless because you are first relentless.

It's a part of who you are.

You never quit.

You never give up on us or on anybody else.

And so following that example, we refuse to quit or give up on chasing after you and on growing closer to you and also on going where you tell us to go.

On being your hands on completing your will in this world.

We will be relentless in that in the same way that you are relentless in chasing after us and in having your will completed in this world.

So thank you for first doing that and showing us how we can do the same.

Amen.

As a response to what we have been hearing, we are going to sing the song God of the City.

There is still so much work to be done and we are going to be relentless in praying over the city, over Nanaimo and over the cities and nations that God puts in your heart.

So as we sing these songs, sing over the nations and the cities and places that God puts in your heart.

Let us be relentless as we sing this song.

God of the City.

You're the God of the City.

You're the King of this people.

You're the Lord of this nation.

You are.

You're the light in this darkness.

You're the hope to the hopeless.

You're the peace to the restless.

You are.

There is no one like our God.

There is no one like our God.

For greater things have yet to come.

Greater things are still to be done in this city.

The greater things have yet to come.

Greater things are still to be done in this city.

You're the God of the City.

You're the God of this city.

You're the King of this people.

You're the Lord of this nation.

You're the Lord of this nation.

You are.

You're the light in this darkness.

You're the hope to the hopeless.

You're the peace to the restless.

You are.

There is no one like our God.

There is no one like our God.

For greater things have yet to come.

Greater things are still to be done in this city.

For greater things have yet to come.

Greater things are still to be done in this city.

You're the Lord of creation.

The creator of all things.

You're the King above all kings.

You are.

You're the strength in the weakness.

You're the love to the broken.

You're the joy in the sadness.

You are.

There is no one like our God.

There is no one like our God.

For greater things have yet to come.

Greater things are still to be done in this city.

You're the Lord of creation.

You're the glory in the hearts of life.

We praise you, Lord, in this city.

There is no one like our God.

There is no one like our God.

There is no one like our God.

There is no one like our God.

So Father, I'm just mindful that it's Palm Sunday.

And Palm Sunday as you entered Jerusalem, that set things in motion.

And today you have done things, you have put things in place to set things in motion.

And so I thank you, Holy Spirit, for that kick start and how you're going to continue that work in each of us through this week.

Thank you, Holy Spirit.

Thank you, Holy Spirit.

So church, there's going to be a Good Friday service.

Details are to come.

And there'll be a service on Easter Sunday as well.

So look in your emails for that information to come during the week.

So have a great week and we'll see you next week.