Pentecost_III_Jericho

Today we continue with Elijah and Elisha from Gilgal to Bethel. We completed Gilgal

and Bethel and now we're on to Jericho. And so we said that receiving a double portion

of the Spirit is not really an increase in the measure of the Spirit, it's in the increase

of your capacity to receive the Spirit. Because the Spirit is a person. There's nothing double

about a person. He comes in his full measure. But I can increase in my capacity to receive

the Holy Spirit. And we're trying to trace the journey of Elijah and Elisha from Gilgal

to Bethel to Jericho to Jordan. And that's where Elisha receives his double portion.

And we're trying to extract principles out of that journey to see how we can increase

in our capacity to receive the full measure of the Spirit of God. That's what we've been

doing. So today we are at Jericho. Here are some things about Jericho that I want to go

over. Let's see how far we get. Because whenever Jane leads worship. So Jericho is a place

of faith. Jericho is a place of faith. Every one of these points that we make will help

us see that if we step into what Jericho means, then it's but natural for me to increase my

capacity to receive the full measure of the Holy Spirit just as Jesus did. So Jericho

to begin with is a place of faith. And faith is essential for an increase in my capacity

to walk with the Spirit. Faith is essential for an increase in my capacity to walk with

the Holy Spirit. Because almost everything the Holy Spirit does requires me to exert

a degree of faith that I don't have but that God thinks I have. Everything he does. Take

any story in the Bible and you see that. When the Spirit of God asked people to do things,

it was beyond them. Be David, be Noah, be any of them, it was the same. When you look

at Hebrews 11, 29 and 30, hey can you keep the volume up? It went down some. When you

look at Hebrews 11, 29 and 30, Hebrews 11, 29 and 30, you'll see that between verse 29

and 30 there's a 40 year gap. Hebrews 11, it's fascinating that there's a gap of 40

years between verse 29 and 30. Which actually then almost betrays the fact that there was

very little faith exerted in the desert as they went round and round on Mount Sinai.

Hebrews 11, 29 says that by an act of faith Israel walked through the Red Sea on dry ground,

the Egyptians tried it and drowned. And then it skips 40 years and it comes to Hebrews

11, 30 where it says, by faith the Israelites marched around the walls of Jericho for seven

days and the walls fell flat. Just think of that, a 40 year gap between verse 29 and verse

30. What happened to the acts of faith? Same God, Moses was around, Joshua was around,

but a people, here's the crazy thing, sometimes you can miss windows of great exploits of

faith that you and I are supposed to take. And we miss those windows and then it'll take

another 40 years before we can step into stuff like that man. Whenever we talk about windows,

people say no, God is a God of second chances. Absolutely, but he also has put you in time

and because he has put you in time, there are windows. And for 40 years, you don't hear

anything mentioned in Hebrews 11 of the 40 years of spent in the desert. And then verse

30, it restarts again with Jericho. And when you really look at it, you see that

Israel is facing a city that they had seen before. When the spies were sent out in Deuteronomy

chapter one, verse 28, they talked about walled cities that were so impenetrable that it was

out of question taking the land that God had promised. The 12 spies probably went past

Jericho, they spied out the land and now they're once again at that same place. And now it's

a different story that evolves. The thing is, without conquering Jericho, there is no

possession of the promised land. Just think of that. Without conquering Jericho, there

is no possession of the promised land. And you have to do it with seven priests blowing

trumpets and army walking silently. That's the problem with things God invites you to.

He has you do it illogically. So they're once again at the city gates, the same city gates

that their fathers could not take, the same city gates that their fathers, they heard

their fathers saying were impenetrable, that this is a really bad idea, don't follow Jehovah

on this, you'll be eaten up like bread. And now the children are standing in front of

the same gates. They haven't recorded acts of faith in between. But they know that if

they don't take Jericho, they don't get to the promised land. And so your question and

my question is, what is your Jericho? What is your Jericho? There are Jerichos in every

life here that prevents us from taking the next big step. I mean, you hear what Jill

said, you hear what Jane said, you hear what people said, and everything leads back to

the same thing. I'm doing a new thing, Jacob. Abide in me. Do not despise the day of small

beginnings. It is a new thing. But for me to step into this new place, and God has it

prepared for me, it's always an invitation. But unfortunately, with every invitation of

God comes a new requirement of trust and dependency. And therefore there are the gates

of Jericho and you cannot take the promised land if you don't take Jericho. What is your

Jericho? What is your Jericho? Sometimes your Jericho is sin. Sometimes your Jericho is

pride. Sometimes your Jericho is independence. Sometimes your Jericho is a way of thinking.

Sometimes your Jericho is your cultural upbringing. Sometimes your Jericho is mammon. Sometimes

your Jericho is inferiority. Sometimes your Jericho is fear in certain areas. Sometimes

your Jericho is self-consideration. I think that's one of the biggest ones in the lives

of Christians, where we begin to consider ourselves before anything and everything else.

Self-consideration prevents you from marching into places that are reckless. I use the word

reckless and it conjures a bad image. Let me change the word reckless to risk-filled

faith in God is always blunted by self-consideration. Risk-filled faith in God, which is another

word for recklessness, but we won't go there. Risk-filled faith in God is always blunted

by self-consideration. Where I consider myself, my life, it blunted by self-consideration.

What is your Jericho? The thing is, I've got to count the cost. Here's the strange thing

about what Jesus says. He says count the cost. After he says count the cost, he doesn't mean

hey now that you counted your cost you know whether you can do it or not. He says count

the cost, you'll realize you don't have what it takes. You'll realize you don't have what

it takes. Now that you know you don't have what it takes, you'll realize you don't have

what it takes. Step out and set yourself, just one sec, set yourself afloat on my power.

When a king sees another king coming to attack, count the cost. Yeah, Jesus, in a parable

Jesus is saying hey make sure you count the cost. And so when we hear count the cost we

think okay I've got to count the cost and I've got to decide whether I want to step

into this or not step into this. But that isn't what Jesus is saying. Jesus is saying

count the cost and you'll realize you are so inadequate to meet it, that you don't have

the ability to do it. Now that you know you don't have the ability to do it, what are

you going to do? Leave your father's nets, follow me. Count the cost, really bad cost.

The entire fishing business will collapse. Go around the city seven times not making

a noise. Count the cost, they could pour boiling water on you and you'll die silently. Counting

the cost is just so that you know you're not, you don't have it. It's a very different count

the cost when it comes to Christianity. Any questions?

Alex, one of the things God wants to say to you is you're so ordinary that he finds you

easily reusable. You are so ordinary. You have, you're such a balanced, plain, moderate

estimation about yourself. Not too high on any day, not too low on any day. You're like

an ECG that is flat. And it's not a negative thing. He finds it so useful to put you into

situations where it won't go to your head. So here's an invitation he's giving you today

saying you're the kind of guy who I can throw into things that are turbulent and you'll

come out looking like nothing ever happened. You're the kind of guy that I can put into

things where people will be amazed and they'll say, oh my God, Alex, you're the next best

thing in the world and you'll walk away from it not affected by it. God is saying your

ordinariness is what makes you so extraordinary in my hands. You're like a piece of clay that

I can do whatever I want with. So God is saying what is your answer? Because if you don't

decide soon, your ordinariness will also become an anchor that weighs you down. Where it'll

get to a point where it'll be like half my life is spent. My ass will continue this way

because I'm happy. And God is saying your happiness really doesn't matter to me. You

matter to me. So he's being a little brusque with you but at the same time he's saying

please, Alex, allow me to take your ordinariness and do something with it. So at some point

today, maybe towards the end of the teaching, you'll get an opportunity to, between you

and God, I'd suggest you respond because it could be a life-turner. Yeah? Can I just

pray for you? Just stay there. I'm one of those humble pastors who comes to people.

Father, I just lay hands on this man and the reason I do it after saying what I did is

so that I can stir within him what you have put in him. His ordinariness is just his approach

to life, his mental attitude and you actually treasure it because it makes him highly usable.

You can make him into a beautiful vase and then completely take the clay, put it back

on the potter's wheel and nobody will even know that he was a priceless vase. That's

the kind of guy that's his father. But then he can also settle and just be ordinary. And

so in the name of Jesus Christ I lay hands on him, Father, I break within him the monotony

that is trying to creep up, the complacency that he's trying to creep up, the I'm okay

where I am that is trying to creep up. I say no to that in the name of Jesus Christ, Father,

and I begin to stir up waters within him. I stir up the water within him. I stir up the

waters within him even if it muddies things in his life, even if it puts things out of

balance, even if it brings up things from his past that he'll have to deal with in the

name of Jesus Christ. I pray, Father, that this man be so discomfited over the next three

months that he will cry out saying, Oh God, take me a piece of clay and put it on your

wheel and do with it what you want to because use my ordinariness the way you can. That

is what makes this man extraordinary, Father. So I stir it up within him right now in the

name of Jesus Christ. Amen. Thanks, man. Any questions on Jericho? We'll need Jericho,

a place of faith to walk into things of disparity. We'll need it. Begin to look at some of your

troubles as opportunities to exert faith. Begin to look at some of your present troubles

as opportunities to exert faith so that God can show off through you. Don't see them as

things that are going to destroy you or pull you down. God does not create failures and

when we are failures, he's still able to take it and make something out of it. Begin to

see some of your troubles as opportunities for faith that can change both your situation

and others through it. Don't see them as punishment. Don't see them as, Oh, why am I in this situation?

Second, Jericho is a place of breakthrough. Jericho is a place of breakthrough. Jericho

is a place of breakthrough. And the thing with breakthrough, guys, is breakthrough believers

are people that are okay or sometimes even enthusiastic about stepping into the unknown,

stepping into the unfamiliar, and stepping into that which is unclaimed. In Micah chapter

Micah 2:12

2, verse 12 and 13, it talks about how God will gather his people and then he'll form

them into a people that he will lead and he will be the master of breakthroughs or the

one that breaks a breach in a stronghold and takes his people through. Micah chapter 2,

Micah 2:12

verse 12 and 13, your God is a God of breakthrough. Your God is continuously entering into places

that he hasn't entered before. Jesus came to change what was normal. It is not possible

to enter into breakthrough without being willing to continuously have this idea in your head

that God is going to bring things unfamiliar into my life because he's interested in changing

me. And then once he changes me, he's able to change everything around me. And it does

not happen except through that which is unfamiliar, that which is unknown, and that which is unclaimed.

It is the only way breakthrough happens, guys. Stick with the familiar, stick with that which

has already been claimed, and stick with that which is known. And there will be no change

because a seed does not, does not, does not change if it doesn't hit something unfamiliar

called the soil. Nothing happens. We've talked about this many times before and I want to

bring it up again. Begin to develop almost a secret enthusiasm for the unknown and the

unfamiliar. Where inside you, you train your heart, you train your heart to look forward

to that which is scaring you. You train your heart to look forward to that which is scaring

you. Because once you overcome that place, my God, man, everything opens up. Any questions?

You think Gideon wasn't afraid? You think Joseph wasn't afraid? You're getting thrown into a pit

which is supposed to be prison for the next little while. You think he was praising the Lord?

Trust me, he wasn't. That was Paul. You think Jacob wasn't afraid? Our guy was so scared, he ran.

You think Moses wasn't afraid? God had to get angry with him. Who gave you a mouth? You think Peter

wasn't afraid? Many, many times. Me being afraid of something doesn't mean I don't step into it.

Me being afraid of something is I begin to train myself inside saying, who am I to be afraid when I have

you as a God? That's where I start. How dare you be afraid, Jacob, if you have God as your God? You can

either start breaking something by going up slowly or you can start breaking something by jumping right in.

Up to you. Depends on your ways of God. But begin to train yourself inside your heart saying, I will not be

afraid of the unknown, the unfamiliar, the unsettled because that is how I change and that is how God

uses me to change things. Any questions? It will require that I refuse to be bound by prevailing mindsets.

I refuse to be bound by prevailing mindsets. As in what is my prevailing mindset with regard to certain things,

certain people, certain areas. The next one is so critical. I refuse to be bound by spiritual sufficiency.

Spiritual sufficiency is that place where you like where you are and everything is really going well spiritually.

Oh, happy day. And everything is happy day. It's a good thing. It's a good thing. It's a good thing.

It's a good place spiritually. Most people should aim for that. That's where you, I mean, when you hit that, it's like the sweet spot.

And God is saying, hey, no sweet spots for you from now on. Just when you hit the sweet spot, I'll take you to a new place

where you'll taste a new dessert that's made of durian, which is another thing altogether. Yeah.

So refuse to be bound by prevailing mindsets, refuse to be bound by spiritual sufficiency, refuse to be bound by present demands.

Present demands. Present demands are when things have a demand on me right now, which by the way,

I'm not going to be able to do it. I'm not going to be able to do it. I'm not going to be able to do it.

So I'm saying that when things have a demand on me right now, which makes it impossible on me right now,

which makes it impossible for me to follow God, which makes it impossible to follow God.

To follow God. So I'm not saying that you can change tomorrow.

I'm saying that in our hearts we have to train ourselves to refuse to be bound by prevailing mindsets,

refuse to be bound by spiritual sufficiency, refuse to be bound by present demands.

Train myself there that, okay, I'll get better tomorrow so that if you place a demand on me, I'll be able to do what you want me to,

I'll be able to learn from my father, leave my nets and walk away with you. It is something that I have to train myself to.

Any questions?

Anything that he asks us to do, he's already done, eh?

This is what then will give us advantages and influences in this area when people are willing to be so unfamiliar.

Any questions? Wow, easy crowd today. Go ahead.

No, I'm saying I should train my heart in such a way that I'll be faithful to what I'm doing right now.

But if tomorrow I know without a shadow of a doubt that I'm supposed to leave my nets and leave my dad and walk away from fishing,

I'm in a place to do that without cost and benefit analysis. I can leave it.

I've got to train myself like that because if I don't, tomorrow when the demand is made of me, I ain't able to move.

So you have to be faithful to what you've been called to, eh? But you've got to train yourself to walk away from it.

If?

Yeah, we've got to get to a place where there is no if.

Tomorrow if God says, okay, take a walk away from Acts 29, oh my God, that would be terrible.

I should be able to train my heart to do it.

Hey, I walked away from Vancouver. You think that was easy?

Next one. Jericho is where your inheritance is possessed.

Jericho is where your inheritance is possessed.

When God gives you stuff, but he expects you to either seize it or appropriate it.

Seize it as a little violent. Appropriate it as a little more gradual.

But he expects that. When he gives you something, he expects you to seize it or appropriate it.

The very word possess comes from a Hebrew word called yarash, which means dispossess to possess.

So there is this idea whenever God talks about, I want you to possess your inheritance, there is this idea that, listen,

there is required if you need to seize things or to appropriate things. Seizing is a little more violent.

Appropriating is a more gradual process. But anyways, when something is given, it has to be seized or appropriate.

But why, Jacob, why should something be seized or appropriated when God is giving it?

Because whenever you are given an inheritance, remember there is a rival kingdom.

There is a rival kingdom that knows that if you get your inheritance, it will be a great damage to the rival kingdom.

So a few things that will be attempted is a resistance to what God is giving you.

There is this word that I am still trying to pronounce, obfuscation. Thank you. Opposition.

And the last one is deconstruction. And you will see this when you read Deuteronomy 9, 1-5, Numbers 33, 52-56, Deuteronomy 9, 1-5.

Deuteronomy 9, 1-5. God is giving them their possession, but listen to what he says.

Attention Israel, this very day you are crossing the Jordan to enter the land and dispossessed nations that are much bigger and stronger than you are.

You are going to find huge cities with sky high fortress walls and gigantic people, descendants of the Anakites.

You have heard all about them. You have heard them saying no one can stand up against an Anakite. God is not helping here.

Today know this. God your God is crossing the river ahead of you. He is a consuming fire. He will destroy the nations. He will put them under your power.

You will dispossess them and very quickly wipe them out just as God has promised.

And so there is this idea that listen I am giving you this land, but I am also going to show you who I am and I am also going to change you in the process.

So if you want to inherit anything that God is giving you, it doesn't matter whether it is these things that were spoken of this morning or whether it is something that has been promised to you.

If you think that when God gives it will just fall on you like a soft bathroom. It ain't happening.

It is this idea of either appropriating it or seizing it because there will be resistance.

There will be obfuscation. Obfuscation is when he wants to get out of this pew and I am stopping him. I will stand here or I will stand like this or I will sit like this.

It depends. Sorry it rained. That is called obfuscation where he doesn't get a chance to get out because I am blocking his way.

It is just this annoying delay and then there is opposition where people will oppose you and then there is deconstruction where God says listen now that you have come into the land I need you to deconstruct this place

where you break down every idol, where you remove every altar, where you raise down everything that they have built that was to Molech or to some other god.

I want you to cleanse this land before you start again. That is deconstruction.

For all this we need the Holy Spirit. It is so easy living a life without all this. That is called a church life.

Just don't do any of this. Come every Sunday, attend a Bible study and you can live happily ever after. Plus you go to heaven. It is actually a good deal. But there is a better deal.

What is your name? I know you were Jaden. I know you were David. Luke, can you come out? Why do you have to be taller than me?

Can I just pray for you? What can you do? I just pray for Luke right now. Father, some of the things that we are going to talk about today are going to happen through his life.

He won't even have to pay attention father. Even if he tries to shut his ears he won't be able to escape it. Even if he looks at his phone and plays video games he will catch everything he is supposed to.

Were you playing video games? Okay. What I am trying to say father is that even if he tries not to pay attention some of the things being said today he will end up doing.

This boy will be a boy who matures in exploits of faith. Some of these Joshua like characters will be his thing. Right now he looks like he doesn't have a care in the world but this guy is alert about it. He hears.

So I thank you Abba that as he hears today he will remember this day many years from now saying you caught me then and you have fulfilled what you told me. Thank you for bringing him here.

He thinks he came here because his parents came here. What he doesn't know is how you set it up for him. So I bless him in Jesus name. Amen.

And guys the thing is if we don't seize or appropriate our inheritance and you let things stay that should be removed what will happen is it will turn to barbs in your eyes and thorns in your side.

When I am given something and I am told to deal with it a certain way when I choose to amend what God is saying. If God says hey Jacob this is how I want you to build Acts 29. If I amend it it will run smooth. People will be happy.

But later on it will become barbs in your eyes and thorns in your side. Whatever you are told to do, do it without shifting. There is no amending.

We amend things. The reason we amend things is because it is so much more palatable. It is so much easier to do. You don't affect people.

Any questions?

We might actually finish this.

Next one. Jericho is a place where you see spirit, strategic, obedience and evidence.

Obedience and evidence. Everything about Jericho was so spirit, strategic.

The strategy is very simple when it comes to the Holy Spirit. Hey can you hear me? Ah you can. Can you obey? Can you stop when I tell you?

Simple eh? Did you hear me? Great you did. Now will you please obey without amending?

And then the last one is can you stop when I tell you? Don't stop till I tell you to stop. And stop when I tell you to stop.

Jericho was so spirit, strategic. Where everything was told eh? You got to do it this way. You got to now take this step. Everything was told.

This is something I am looking forward to as a church and I pray God for you as an individual. Whenever you are told something, hear, obey.

If you are not sure of what you are hearing, go check it with somebody. Check it with the word. But hear, obey, stop when you are told.

Don't add anything to it. And the two ways you hear and obey is to first look at what I have heard. Does it match up with the word? Does it match up with the nature of God?

Does it match up with the people that I have checked with who probably have walked this before? What do they say about it?

In that order eh? The nature of God, the word of God, people that have walked before me. Compare it and then decide okay, now I got to take this risk of obeying.

Guys, unless and again I am going to use the word reckless. Once you recognize the voice of God, if you are not reckless you will not be able to step into it.

Once you recognize the voice of God, if you are not reckless you will not be able to see through. Let me throw in another R word.

Once you recognize God, if you are not reckless, once you recognize the voice of God, if you are not reckless you will not realize it.

Once you recognize the voice of God, if you are not reckless you will not realize it. You cannot.

Any questions?

You will not, yeah. I mean we can pray about it, we can sing about it, we can even write about it and talk about it but we will not realize it.

Is it also possible that basically if you doubt then you lose the, you lose the conviction, like can you lose the whole thing to begin with?

Like you won't recognize that it is God, like first you believe it and then you, and then you don't act on it and then you don't believe it is God.

The longer I take to obey something that I know is God, the more I will find myself coming up with reasons not to do it.

I mean I love the story when Jeevan had to give his car away and he is sitting there and he thinks the best idea is to call his mom.

So he calls up his mom and says, mom, God is asking me to give my car to this guy I am supposed to give a ride to.

And his mom says, do it now, the longer you take, the less likely it is that you will give the car away.

Really bad advice from a mom.

Any sensible mom would say, son, this is a really bad idea, keep the car to yourself.

No, his mom says, give it away, do not think about it, the longer you think about it, the less likely it is that you will give something like that away.

This idea of committing is so critical.

It's a woman who has done that.

Pardon?

That's a woman who has experienced that and knows the truth about it.

Yeah.

So Jeevan, in your life, is it an emotional experience or is it...?

So let's say God says to you tomorrow that, hey, I want you to go to Ukraine and you recognize the voice is God.

And that is really reckless for you to now go to Ukraine because you don't even know if you'll come back.

And the longer you take, the less likely it is that you will realize that action because you'll be pumped with so much information that is contrary to it being a good thing to do.

So there is this idea of committing to things once I know it is God that is critical.

And we need the Spirit of God for that, eh?

So we have then an opinion, Senator.

Yep.

To be Spirit-strategic is to take stories from the Old Testament and the New Testament and begin to use them.

I'm not sure we are well-versed in that, eh?

But there is enough precedence in this Church to actually begin to practice it.

Do you know how to shut the lion's mouth?

Do you know how to fight the bear?

Do you know how to slay Goliath?

Do you know how to catch the foxes, tie their tails together, set their tails on fire and send them back into the enemy's standing grain?

Do you know how to send confusion to Babel?

Do you know how to set the prey of the mighty free?

Do you know how to expose Antichrist?

Do you know how to subdue Mammon?

Do you know how to deal with Leviathan?

Do you know what to do with Jezebel?

Do you know how to deal with Legion?

Do you know how to dismantle systems?

Do you know how to dismantle the Pharisaical system?

Do you know what to do with Artemis?

Do you know how to confront powers like Moses did in Pharaoh's court?

Do you know how?

This is how you increase in the capacity of being Spirit-strategic.

We've got to take stories from the Old Testament and the New Testament and try them out in prayer and in real-life situations to see if we actually get evidence and results.

If we don't try this, we don't get evidence.

But if you try them and fail, at least you're falling in the right direction.

No questions on that one?

Too many.

Too many, okay.

But this is what it means to be Spirit-strategic.

To be Spirit-strategic is to go into the book of war, which is what we're calling the Bible for a second.

Go into the book of war and see the strategy of the Spirit in the book.

And take those strategies and apply them to life.

And you apply them to life and see if they work.

And if they don't work, you change them.

I know some of you have heard this story, but when my papers were stuck in Vegreville, Alberta, Roland Tan's wife comes and says to me,

Hey Jacob, little foxes are spoiling your vine.

I know where that scripture is in the Song of Songs, but I don't know what to do with it.

What do you do with it?

Little foxes are spoiling your vine.

I'm praying like crazy saying, let my immigration papers that are stuck in Vegreville be released and nothing's happening.

I got two days left.

If nothing happens in two days, I got to leave the country.

Because everything is done.

I just need these papers released.

And so finally I come across this story from Samson where Samson slew a whole lot of foxes.

So I decide that's what I'm going to do.

I said, I don't know what these foxes are that are beginning to spoil my vineyard or spoil my vine, prevent these papers from being released.

I slay these foxes.

I'm praying and nothing is happening.

I remember going up to this pastor's wife and talking to her and she said, go read the Samson story again.

So I go read it again.

And here's what happens in the story.

Samson catches those foxes, ties the tails together, sets the tails on fire by putting a torch between the tails,

sends it back into the enemy's standing grain and it not only takes care of the foxes,

it destroys the enemy's grain and it causes the enemy to pay a high cost.

Next morning I get up and I pray that.

The father, I catch these foxes that are preventing my papers from being released.

I tie their tails together, I set their tails on fire, I send it back to the standing grain of the enemy.

Twenty minutes later I get a call from Vegreville saying,

we just want you to know that 20 minutes ago we released your papers.

They're on their way.

I got the papers within four or five hours.

That is the first time I realized that to go into the book and take strategies that were authored by the Spirit

and apply them deftly to the present situation is a thing that we are called to do

because it says, wield the sword of the Spirit.

Wielding the sword of the Spirit is a skill.

Give a child a sword and bad things can happen.

But if you teach the child how to wield the sword, you'll have to rename him Zoro.

That's how this works.

And only the Spirit of God can do this because he's the Spirit.

He's called the, the word is called the sword of the Spirit.

Use strategies, man.

And the New Testament, yeah, both.

Okay, next one.

Jericho is a place.

What time is it?

Did you say that happily or sadly?

All those funds.

Yeah.

Jericho is a place of unity and order.

Place of unity in order.

In order.

Place of unity in order.

Oh, sorry.

Place of order in unity.

Place of order in unity.

It's crazy, man, when you look at it.

All the soldiers had to march together.

Any person who was armed had to march.

There was order in unity.

There was, they had to march silently.

There were specific commands given.

You can't do what you want.

March silently.

You had to have seven priests.

Seven priests up front.

They had trumpets.

There was the ark that had a certain position in the arrangement.

Then there were soldiers in front and soldiers in the back.

There was no war cry.

They were very specifically told in verse 10 of Joshua 6,

no war cry, no voices.

This wasn't a, hey guys, let's go march around the walls.

Just whisper and occasionally go, ah.

No, it was like you've got to be completely still.

And occasionally the trumpets will be blown.

There was a certain order.

The soldiers had to march up front.

Then there was the priest.

Then there was the ark.

Then there was the soldiers behind.

Everything had unity.

Everything had order.

They even had distance.

I don't know if they had distance when they marched around Jericho,

but when you read Joshua 3, verse 4,

Joshua 3:4

you find that God is actually saying to Israel,

hey listen, I want you to keep 2,000 cubits away from the ark.

Position yourself at a distance.

You know why?

Because you haven't gone this way before.

There are times when God will insist that you keep a distance from him

as he takes you down a path.

There are other times when God will say, hey, I want you to be intimate with me.

Jump into my arms and he'll carry you.

Every time God invites you into something,

figure out where he wants you to stand and watch.

There are times when God wants you to be intimate with him,

where he'll say, John, Peter, James, come with me.

He'll take them right with them up Mount of Transfiguration

so that they can see something that no man has ever seen before.

And then there are other times that God will say,

hey Jacob, follow me at a distance,

because next time I won't be here and you'll have to take Wayne with you.

If you follow me at a distance, you will look and see the footsteps that I take

and you'll be able to take the same.

Every invitation comes with this idea of,

listen, this is how I want you to walk.

It's fabulous to know how God wants you to walk.

It's the same thing we do with our kids.

Sometimes we'll grab their hands and walk with them side to side, arm to arm.

And there are other times that you'll say to your child,

walk behind me and as daddy puts a step on the dry ground,

you put your step on the dry ground too,

because otherwise your shoes will get really ugly

and your mom will have things to say about it.

That's how this works, man.

There is unity.

There's order and unity.

Order and oneness are critical to increase spiritual capacity.

Critical. 1 Corinthians 12, 1 Corinthians 14, that's what it's about.

You are all diverse. You have all different spiritual gifts.

But if there is no order, I want you to know that I'm a spirit of order.

When I bring oneness together, there is order to my oneness.

Remember that song, the knee bone to the this bone and that bone and...

Remember that Sunday school song?

Pardon?

Okay, you guys are really old. You forgot that song.

Any questions on that one?

Ah, guys, if we can only get that right.

I was going through this and I think to myself,

Father, please Lord, help me to know the distance that I need to maintain sometimes.

Sometimes our way of operating with him is so formulaic.

There are times when I need to watch him from a distance so that I can avoid mind fields.

There are times when I need to watch him from a distance so that I can avoid mind fields.

It's not the same always.

Okay.

Jericho is a place of prophetic destiny.

Jericho is a place of prophetic destiny.

Everything about that journey in Jericho was so...

I mean, to begin with, in verse 2,

I mean, to begin with, in verse 2,

the commander of the armies of heaven is saying to Joshua,

Hey Joshua, and he's foretelling what is going to happen.

I have already given you the city.

And Joshua hasn't even lined up his army for a war.

The idea of blowing these trumpets goes back all the way to Moses' time in the book of Leviticus

where Joshua must have remembered so clearly.

When Leviticus 25,

Joshua was there when God told Moses,

I want you to blow these trumpets and every time you blow these trumpets, I will listen.

And every time you blow these trumpets, I will bring liberty to the land.

Jericho was also where a school of prophets was established.

Elisha used to go there often.

That is where Elisha had the...

took a bowl of salt and sprinkled it at the stream and the stream became free of toxicity.

That was at Jericho.

Jericho is a place where God begins to teach people how to see what he is going to do.

That's why it was important today to take 20 minutes off to practice what you had written.

What's the point of going home and thinking about it?

You're supposed to say things here so that we all benefit.

Next one.

Jericho, I'll...

I got two more and then we are done.

So we should be done by 1.15.

Jericho.

I love this.

There's a new sound in Jericho, guys.

That's why I find what was said today by many of you so, so totally God.

There is something afoot, man.

I know sometimes, Jacob, you say this so often.

Yeah, but what do you do when something is afoot and God says,

there's something afoot, there's something afoot, there's something afoot.

And one day it breaks on you.

Hey guys, if you think you've been waiting for long for God to do stuff,

in the Old Testament they waited for 2,000 years.

So be happy.

Jericho, a new sound.

When God talks about a new sound, it's two things.

One, it's a convergence of two things.

It's a convergence of two things.

One, it is whatever heaven is saying, as in whatever God is saying.

And two, it's the sound of His people responding to it.

It's two things, eh?

Whenever there's a new sound, it's two things.

It's one, whatever God is saying in heaven, the sound of heaven,

this is what God is saying and you happen to hear it, like Isaiah did.

Who shall I send? Who will go for us? Isaiah heard it.

So that's what heaven speaks.

The other is the sound that of the people of God who hear what God is saying and they respond.

And that isn't one of our plus points.

We don't respond vocally.

Perhaps it's happening in your heart and your British, but it ain't showing.

Yeah? But we have to.

I mean when you read 1 Samuel chapter 4, 1 Samuel chapter 4,

1 Samuel 4 · chapter mention 1 Samuel 4 · chapter mention

1 Samuel chapter 4, verse 5 to 7.

1 Samuel 4:5–7

Verse 5 to 7.

1 Samuel chapter 4, verse 5.

1 Samuel 4:5

Guys, there is something called a response that frightens the enemy.

It doesn't have to be shouting.

I can get you all to shout right now.

And if I try really hard, perhaps we can get somewhere

and the next door neighbor will think something is wrong.

But that's about all we can do with shout.

We're not talking about shout.

We're talking about such an enthusiasm or a stirring that builds up in our heart

that it is impossible to hide it.

It doesn't have to be in a shout.

But you don't go away saying, good message.

Well done, Jacob.

No. It is like, oh my God, something has to happen this week.

And that is ruining to the enemy.

What happened in 1 Samuel 4 was these guys see the ark come back

and they raise a shout because they know the presence of God.

Sometimes during the teaching, guys, you know the presence of God.

Sometimes during the teaching, I know the presence of God.

I'm listening to my own voice.

And when that happens, something stirs within it.

And when that stirring happens, please let a couple of muscles move.

It's completely okay.

Because you go away stirred.

And then let that do something for you during the week.

And then let that do something for you during the week.

It's really important to speak things out.

Yeah. See, really, we're not into shouting pointlessly.

We can do that.

We can cultivate a culture where everybody says hallelujah or amen or preach it, brother.

And then it becomes just a habit.

There's nothing to it.

I'm talking about something stirring inside.

Something that happens internally.

Whatever happens internally, we'll express it externally

through our different cultures, backgrounds and personalities.

That is what we're looking for.

The glory of God has a sound.

Hey, the glory of God has a sound.

The glory of God has a sound.

When you read Ezekiel 43, 2, the glory of God has a sound.

What do you think was happening in Acts chapter 2?

Acts 2 · chapter mention

The glory of God carries a sound.

If you want to bang the door harder to let us know you're leaving, let us know, Diva.

Ezekiel 43, 2.

I think he wants to let me know that I'm past 110.

Ezekiel 43, 2.

And behold, the glory of God,

behold, the glory of the God of Israel was coming from the east

and the sound of his coming was the sound of many waters

and the earth shone with his glory.

Every time God's glory comes through a city, a place, a people,

or even in a service, it carries a sound.

I'm not saying you need to hear the sound of a mighty rushing wind,

but I'm saying you need to know that something is stirring within

and you can capture it.

You can capture it during worship, you can capture it during a preaching,

you can capture it sitting there doing nothing

because you suddenly realize, oh shucks, God is here.

God ties victory to new sounds.

Be it in Jericho, be it the sound of the wind in the trees when David won a battle,

be it the sound of rain when Elijah heard it and said,

I hear the sound of the abundance of rain. Really?

Or whether it be the sound of the rushing wind.

And with a new sound comes new anointings, fresh strength, new strategies.

Let me explain this because it's worth explaining it.

New anointings, new fresh strength, new strategies.

Let me give you an example.

Bitcoin was a new sound.

Forget what happened over the last one month.

Bitcoin was a new sound.

You heard the sound of Bitcoin thousands upon thousands

from people right at the top to people right at the bottom.

We got to respond to it.

Trillions and trillions of dollars shifted.

It was a new sound.

It wasn't the sound of wealth really.

It was the sound of the whole monetary system being decentralized.

That was the sound.

You must get it right.

It is very easy to hear a sound and think this is the sound we're hearing.

It wasn't.

It wasn't about people making money.

It was finally a whole host of young people thinking that there is the possibility

that the entire monetary system can be set free from centralized banks.

And that caused a surge where a sound was heard and people started causing Bitcoin to rocket.

If that can happen in the world and nation after nation after nation can catch it on,

so much so that San Salvador has declared crypto as regular currency.

They've got a beach called Bitcoin Beach where you can't buy anything without Bitcoin.

The point is this, that when the world hears a sound, they're quick to respond.

They get it.

They know that with the sound will come a new strategy.

There'll be fresh ways of doing things.

But then there is a church.

We hear a sound and if it doesn't happen by the end of the service, it ain't worth pursuing.

When you hear a sound, buy into saying, Oh God, I know this is what you're saying.

And my heart begins to leap in anticipation.

Let John the Baptist within your womb begin to jump because you heard Mary come.

And when that happens, you now know it will happen.

It will happen.

It doesn't matter that I have to climb up Mount Carmel seven times.

I can hear the abundance of rain.

It's only a matter of time.

Last point.

And guys, when we hear new sounds, don't try to fit it into the old.

One of the things we do is we take the old, we hear a new thing and we say,

How does this fit in the old?

It doesn't.

It doesn't.

Because if you try to fit new things that God is doing in the old,

all you create is Frankenstein's monster.

Made up of a few new parts and a few old car parts.

You go to Wayne's garage, which he will soon be shutting down and you will see it.

Old parts, new parts.

Put them together and you get a monster.

Sometimes when there are new sounds, you have to abandon the old to hold on to the new sound.

He can't squeeze what was said today into his old way of functioning.

He cannot.

Last one.

Jericho, and this applies to so many here and to me.

And I pray, God, that we get the hang of it.

We'll talk about it more later.

Jericho is a place where you have to learn to keep what you have won.

Keep what you have won.

Jericho is a place where you have to learn how to keep what you have won.

Strange thing is, they win that battle in Jericho and they lose almost everything in AI one chapter later.

Joshua 6, great victory at Jericho.

Joshua 7 verse 1, a loss at AI.

Joshua 7:1

Why? Because a man stole a few Babylonian garments.

They get beaten again and again and again.

The same army that could have the sun stand still, could bring down walls that were thick and large, now are being taken captive at AI.

So one of the things we have to learn is there is one battle to get free, one battle to get free, another to stay free.

One battle to get free, but it's another to stay free.

Isn't this so typical of our lives, eh?

We get free, but we don't know how to stay free.

God wants to say to you, I like calling you the woman of understanding.

That's what he sometimes refers to you as, a woman of understanding.

What I'll do over the next three or four months is turn that understanding into practical steps so that others benefit.

Most of your understanding has remained with you.

You love it. You know how to spend time with me.

You know how to have times where I can be father and daughter with you.

But it hasn't translated to the extent it can to others around you.

I'm going to take what happened to Esther and make it happen to you.

Over the next three or four months, all that you've gained in your wisdom and your understanding,

I'll show you practical ways to put them into one or two projects that will begin to affect people around you and then will have a ripple effect.

By then, Alex will be so on at some of the stuff you'll do together.

Go through the book of Esther, the first three or four chapters, where it gets to the point where she's now crowned queen.

Know that it's the time of preparation, but in three or four months, you'll have an understanding of one or two projects that you're supposed to do that will begin to affect people around you.

And you'll write a book.

So begin to think along the lines of, what do I do with these projects?

What are the steps that I take?

Keep a scrapbook so you can write down the lines of how you got to the project becoming what it is.

And then the second book will be about how the project scaled.

So you guys will have jobs, eh?

So you don't have to worry.

Don't worry about studies or anything.

Your parents will employ you from here on.

I'm kidding.

That part was not prophetic.

Yeah.

Stop it.

You write a second book.

Yeah.

So yeah.

Just thought I'd let you know.

He calls you a woman of understanding, which is such a cool thing to be called, man.

He usually doesn't refer to me like that.

Yeah.

Yeah, he doesn't.

One man.

One battle to get free, another to stay free.

One to take ground.

One to take ground.

One to take ground.

One to hold ground.

One to hold ground.

This is what we'll be talking about next time whenever I'm here, because next week I'm in

New York as far as I know.

One battle is to get free.

Another is to stay free.

One is to take ground.

One is to hold ground.

This is a dilemma for us.

How do we take ground and hold it?

How do we get free?

How do we stay free?

In all areas of our lives.

I'm not talking about sin.

I'm talking about mental makeup.

I'm talking about persistence.

I'm talking about endurance.

How does this work?

Because what is one in Jericho can be lost in AI in a chapter.

That's what we'll talk about next week.

So we won't go to Jordan yet.

We'll deal with this.

So one of the things you can do to prepare is to write down areas, write down areas,

write down the areas where the enemy is making gains on ground taken.

Not too many.

Just take three.

There must be 20, but take three.

I find this very difficult.

I've been set free in a way of thinking or in a habit or in a way of life.

I'm thrilled and I praise God and I know the power of the Spirit of God set me free.

Bonds have been broken.

And then I don't know how to stay free because it keeps coming back.

Thought patterns, ways, fears.

Same with ground taken.

How do I hold on to the ground that I have taken?

I'm assuming you also do have this problem occasionally.

Confessions are a bad idea in this church.

You look at me with masks on as if I'm the only one suffering this.

Yeah.

Okay.

Let's pray.

Hey Jane, since it's not 1.30 yet, do you want to do a Razor Hallelujah?

Okay.

All the more reason to Razor Hallelujah.

Just try.

We'll sing with you.

Once the song is done, and sing it just once through because that's an endless song.

So just sing it once through and then we can leave.

And guys, if you have any questions or anything you want to add to what I said, feel free to come and ask me later.