Disruptive Glory 5 – Zeal

Usually towards the end of the year, these messages get very specific,

as in they're being chosen for a specific reason.

And so I'm hoping it's a setup towards what we can announce on New Year's

as our path to follow for six months or a year.

So today we're going to talk about zeal.

I have spoken about this two years ago, but felt that it needed to be pulled up again.

And so glory anchors and is automated through zeal.

Glory is anchored and automated, as in activated or automated by zeal.

When someone is zealous, the glory of God is able to anchor or find traction.

The glory of God is such a precious holy thing that when Israel,

without being given permission, opened the ark, they died.

We made the glory of God an external manifestation that tickles our flesh.

And in the process of doing that, what has happened is the glory of God has lost its holiness.

The moment glory loses holiness, something is wrong.

Because part of God's glory is this holiness.

His weight, splendor, magnificence, goodness, holiness, majesty, laughter, power, all rolled into one.

We keep repeating that.

So you remove holiness from glory and it is a mutation.

It is not God.

And so zeal has this quality of being able to provide great traction for glory to hold.

And it also automates or activates it, as in the glory of God is so God,

so full of power and laughter and presence and weight and magnificence that a person who is not zealous

cannot do anything except to be overcome by it.

Or they? Enemies can be overcome by it, friends can be overcome by it.

But to take the glory of God and run, that's a different thing. That requires zeal.

We've been talking about disruptive glory, as in the glory of God is disruptive

in that it devastates the demonic landscape or the satanic landscape

and it irrigates or makes fertile everything that is geared towards or inclined towards God.

And so zeal is such an important part of this.

And so we'll try to define zeal so we understand it.

And then remember, glory is anchored in a fine distraction and is activated or carried by those that are zealous

or those that have a passion, those that have zeal.

In fact, in Matthew 11.15, it says that the kingdom is advancing

and only those that are zealous or those that are violent can be involved in the advancement of the kingdom.

The kingdom of God can withstand violence and the violent take it by force.

Another word for violence is a zealous passion it advances with.

And those that are zealous and passionate and aggressive with it help advance the kingdom.

I guess what we need to imagine is this.

If you were to separate it from God and just look at it as sheer power or force,

like some kind of an explosive, big bang cosmic kind of power,

it is impossible to contain, hold, carry it if I don't have some kind of caliber to meet it and then take it.

It's like that scene where there's this meteor hurling across the universe and Superman goes and meets it.

And then Superman grabs the meteor and instead of it coming towards the Earth, he begins to push it.

And you can see sparks flying, but this guy has enough to keep pushing it away into the Andromeda galaxy.

And so we get saved.

It's literally like that. God is looking for someone who has a kind of passion to meet his passion and to be able to carry it.

One person usually cannot do it and they only used to do that in the Old Testament.

In the New Testament, God is looking for a people who can carry it.

The ark was never carried by one person.

The ark was carried by a group of four who would then take turns because it was never the same four.

There was a reason it had four poles, two poles attached to it with four carriers.

It was meant to be carried together.

And so when God finds a church that has the kind of zeal required,

and not just external manifestations of zeal where a little bit of shouting, a little bit of hopping,

that Phoebe can do for us.

I'm talking about something more than that.

Her zeal is not just jumping up and down.

That girl has zeal inside and outside.

So how do we define zeal?

Zeal is different words to explain it.

It's spirit-stirred boldness.

Zeal is spirit-stirred boldness.

As in it's a boldness that comes with, because of the spirit of God being allowed,

to break through in my life where I take on a fearless confidence.

Where I take on a fearless confidence.

And so when I say spirit-stirred, it means it's in areas where the spirit wants to give to me the kind of power

that he would give Samson, where Samson would pick up the jawbone of an ass and make it a weapon of mass destruction.

It's that kind of thing where the spirit of God initiates it, the spirit of God sustains it, the spirit of God finishes it.

And so this is not bravado.

This is not recklessness that ends in foolishness.

It is stirred up by the spirit.

It's sustained by the spirit.

It's finished by the spirit.

But when the spirit begins to stir you up, one of the good things about Samson was every time the spirit stirred him up,

he would actually rise up.

He would rise up.

You see the same with Saul.

You see the same with David.

Suddenly the spirit of God would come upon them and they would be stirred up.

They used to experience it in little bits because they were in the Old Testament,

so the spirit of God would only descend on prophets, priests, and kings for a certain purpose to be accomplished.

But because the spirit of God now dwells in me,

if I could become aware of the stirring of the spirit within me,

that is one of the things I really enjoy doing during worship.

And particularly when I don't have a song list,

I just thrill at the fact that we can be stirred up by the spirit and go in a direction.

So then all you need is the first song.

Thereafter it can go any which way because you're following the blowing of the wind.

Some days I wish Bob Dylan had stayed a Christian.

But he's been a Jew, he's been a Christian, he's been an atheist.

He writes some amazing songs.

That's on the side.

That was not important.

It was just personal musings that came out loud.

Fearless confidence despite...

Because if I needed to explain that, I had to start at who Bob and Dylan is.

They are one person, Brandon, one person.

Fearless confidence...

It's a kind of fearless confidence that in the face of current ideologies or hostile ideologies,

hostile ideologies, ideologies, culture, systems, nations, rulers, imaginary lions and real lions,

gods of this age, threats, persecution.

In the face of all this, the Holy Spirit, because he wants to advance the cause of God,

when I say hostile, I mean hostile to Christ, hostile to Christ's ways, hostile to the Gospel,

hostile to salvation only through Christ, hostile to the truth.

We talked about truth on the Christmas Eve service.

If you haven't listened to it, listen to it.

The crux of the message is very simple.

For this purpose I was born to bear witness to the truth.

John 17, verse 37 and 38.

That is the reason Jesus was born.

It was a Christmas message.

But it's a very strange passage to pick on.

Because it was at the end of his days at the trial.

For this reason I was born.

For this purpose I was born, to bear witness to the truth.

And so the Spirit of God stirs up boldness in churches, in Christians, in the book of Acts.

You would see it again and again where there's this fearless confidence,

despite hostile ideologies, cultures, systems, nations, rulers, imaginary and real lions.

Some lions are in our heads.

Proverbs 26, verse 3, or thereabouts says that the lazy guy sits in his home

Proverbs 26:3

and does not venture out because he thinks there's a lion in the street.

Imaginary lions, real lions, God of this age, threats, persecution.

Please understand, wearing a mask, not wearing a mask, is not persecution.

It's just a piece of cloth.

So that is, because when I went to the US,

I was surprised at how wearing a mask was seen as persecution.

And I thought to myself, then visit Nandigama.

Yeah.

So, all I'm saying is, not all I'm saying,

one of the things I'm saying is, guys, let us waste, let us spend zeal on things that matter.

Let us not waste the currency of zeal.

And the kingdom needs boldness.

The kingdom needs boldness.

What happens over a period of time if a church or if a pastor or if a people lack boldness

is they begin to learn how to naturally adjust to the world.

You begin to learn how to naturally adjust to the world.

That is what is frightening, that over a period of time if I am not,

if I'm not, if I don't have a tendency towards boldness,

over a period of time I begin to naturally adjust to the world.

It's like a thermostat that adjusts to the world.

And then boldness becomes very difficult.

And the way we adjust to the world is by saying, but the law says this,

but people would think like this.

There are different ways we can do it, but that's how we normally do it.

So we've got to be careful of that.

It's like that frog that doesn't know the water is boiling.

You just adjust to the world around you and you don't realize how much it is seeping in

and how you're marinating in it and you don't realize how much it is seeping in.

You're marinating in it and you don't realize.

Just take that as a warning.

I'm speaking to myself really that it is so easy to think,

I will be bold when required and I will have the faith for whatever is required when I get there.

And so boldness is not a way of life.

The thing with most things that are the nature of Jesus is that they are supposed to become my nature,

not something I pull out in a time of crisis or need.

And I would suggest to you that without zeal or boldness, revivals are almost impossible.

Without zeal or boldness, revivals are impossible.

Because boldness is the essence of revival.

You're trying to revive something that is decaying and dead

and it goes against the grain of what everyone is saying.

And now you've got to go and revive it and that requires boldness.

As much as we think of Jonah as a reluctant prophet,

please understand that to go to Nineveh and to preach was not easy.

Nineveh was one of the most wicked cities in the world, has always been.

Very rarely has it been spoken of well.

The only one who speaks of Nineveh well is God.

History records it as an evil city.

And yet here is a man who tried to run away from the evil city.

Here is a man who tried to run away for good reason.

He was bold man, he revived an entire nation.

Paul was bold. Goes to Athens, doesn't have too many results, goes to Rome.

Boldness is the essence of revival.

If you go to Deuteronomy 9 verse 1 and 2,

Deuteronomy 9:1

God says that, listen, the cities you are going into are fortified

and you will meet fierce resistance there and you will meet powerful giants there.

Deuteronomy 9 verse 1 and 2.

Deuteronomy 9:1

Deuteronomy 9 verse 1 and 2.

Deuteronomy 9:1

If I'm speaking fast Betty, it's because of the extra scoops.

I noticed you're not able to write as fast.

Deuteronomy 9 verse 1 and 2.

Deuteronomy 9:1

And so God talks about taking fortified cities

and he said in these cities you will meet fierce resistance and powerful giants.

So in a sense what he's saying is, hey, you guys keep talking about revival,

I'll take you there, it won't be just teaching, teaching, teaching.

I'll let you know when I want you to stop teaching on it and jump into the fray.

And when I do, you need to know that there will be fierce resistance and powerful giants.

One of the ways we get ready for it is to shield or reinforce your heart

with the breastplate of righteousness.

Shield and reinforce your heart.

One of the ways, this is, you know, sometimes I myself ask this question of God,

Father, we keep teaching on revival, when are we going to actually do something about it?

And that is when you realize that some of these things if you don't get right,

your revival will be 20 people that you'll be thrilled about

and God will have to pack up bags and move on to someone else to find them.

Because one of the essentials of zeal or passion for revival is to wear the breastplate of righteousness.

To wear the breastplate of righteousness.

I mean, you say it that way, most of us, including me, won't even know what that means.

If I asked you to, we'll all come up with different clips, but we really don't know what you mean.

We won't even know where the verses are that talk about the breastplate of righteousness other than Ephesians 6.

So what is this about? Go to Isaiah 59, verse 17.

Isaiah 59:17

Isaiah 59, verse 17.

Isaiah 59:17

The Lord looked, I mean, it is in a sense the essence of revival being spoken here by the Lord.

Start at verse 15 and a half, 15.

Truth is nowhere to be found, and whoever shuns evil becomes a prey.

The Lord looked and was displeased that there was no justice.

He saw that there was no one, he was appalled that there was no one to intervene.

So his own arm worked salvation for him, and his own righteousness sustained him.

He put on righteousness as his breastplate and the helmet of salvation on his head.

He put on the garments of vengeance and wrapped himself in zeal as in a cloak.

Beautiful, eh?

That is the summation of the distilled version of revival. All those parts.

We'll explore that later, but

shield and reinforce your heart with the breastplate of righteousness,

for it says in Proverbs 28.1 that only the righteous can be bold as a lion.

Proverbs 28.1. Only the righteous can be bold.

Can be bold as a lion.

And righteousness as we have defined in the past is being in right relationship with God,

being in right relationship with yourself, being in right relationship with people around you,

being in right relationship with the environment that God has placed you in.

That's a very simple definition of righteousness.

And righteousness and justice come from the same word,

which then takes us to Isaiah 58, which is such a chapter on justice.

We've talked about that. All these things have to work together,

sometimes so hard to hold them together.

But shield and reinforce your heart with the breastplate of righteousness.

Isaiah 59.17, 15-17.

Let me read it again.

Isaiah 59. Let's try it from the message and see how it reads there.

Isaiah 59, verse 17 to 19.

Isaiah 59:17–19

Sorry, verse 14 onwards.

Justice is beaten back.

Righteousness is banished to the sidelines.

Truth staggers down the street.

Honesty is nowhere to be found.

Good is missing in action.

Anyone renouncing evil is beaten and robbed.

God looked and saw evil looming on the horizon.

So much evil and no sign of justice.

He couldn't believe what he saw.

Not a soul around to correct this awful situation.

So he did it himself, took on the work of salvation,

fueled by his own righteousness.

He dressed in righteousness, put it on like a suit of armor,

with salvation on his head like a helmet.

He put on judgment like an overcoat,

and threw a cloak of passion across his shoulder.

He'll make everyone pay for what they've done,

fury for his foes, just deserts.

How do you pronounce desert there?

Deserts for his enemies.

Even the far off islands will get paid off in full.

In the west they'll fear the name of God.

In the east they'll fear the glory of God.

For he'll arrive like a river in flood,

whipped by a torrent of the wind of God.

I'll arrive in Zion as redeemer to those in Jacob

who leave their sins, God's decree.

And if God says, this is my covenant with them,

my spirit that I've placed upon you and the words that I've given you to speak,

they're not going to leave your mouths, nor the mouths of your children,

nor the mouths of your grandchildren.

You will keep repeating these words and won't ever stop.

That is what we're aiming for, guys.

Now you see how revival is so much more than getting someone saved.

That's what we think revival is.

People repent of their sins and come to church.

That's what we think revival is.

And zeal is such an essential part of it.

So what is the nature of zealousness?

What does it look like?

One, it's being jealous for God's honor.

It starts there.

Jealous for God's honor.

You see that there's a greater cause,

and so you get jealous for God's honor.

You see this in Numbers 25 verse 7,

Numbers 25:7

where a guy called Phinehas takes a javelin,

and he's really jealous for God's honor

because Yahweh has just turned up in the camp.

You can see the tent of meeting glowing

because the Shekinah has descended.

And then there's Zimri and Cosby,

a man and a woman who are caressing while God is appearing in the midst of them.

And so what happens is,

he takes a javelin and drives it through Zimri and Cosby

because a plague had already broken out throughout the camp.

And what God says about Phinehas is,

this man is jealous for my honor.

He has a zeal for my honor.

Jealousy for honor will show in the way I behave.

Jealousy for honor.

This is where we've got to be careful

that if we are talking about God's honor,

we have a way to behave too.

What am I trying to say?

I'm trying to say that there are times when

God can be father and you can run into his arms

and grab him and sit with your feet up,

and it's okay.

There are other times he comes as majesty,

and you've got to instantly realize it.

One of the things that young adults in particular have to figure out

is who is God turning up and who is he turning up as?

Because accordingly you have to change

your mental and physical posture.

For us ones who are older, what happened was

we were always taught to maintain

a physical posture of majesty.

So we never got to understand him as father, friend.

So that's why even today you can go into

really good Pentecostal churches and everyone

is always in the position of the honor of his majesty.

And there's a place for that, but you never realize

the other parts of it.

But with the young adults in all churches,

including this church, what happens with us is sometimes

the posture of his father and friend

doesn't shift, and so you don't behave

mentally and physically with the posture

of, oh, he's appearing as majesty.

Every time I see that in you, I get so irritated.

But you can't speak in irritation.

You have to speak after the irritation is over.

Jealous for God's honor.

Phineas was jealous for God's honor.

One should begin to see a greater cause.

One should begin to see a greater cause

when one is passionate. What do you mean by a greater cause?

This is exactly what's happening in the foxholes of Israel

when David is going up and down. Goliath is out there

and he's walking around saying,

is someone going to do something? And his brothers are getting

really irritated. Who are you, you little runt,

to walk around like this telling us soldiers what to do?

And that's when David says, but isn't there a greater cause?

Imagine our foxholes like this. After the morning and evening

sacrifice, zeal immediately sees the cause

of God and rises up to it.

Any questions? This is what zeal looks like.

This is why glory can be handled by

ones who walk in this kind of zeal.

Any questions on that?

Second, zeal takes first watch.

Zeal takes first watch.

How do you know a soldier who is

zealous? He usually will volunteer to take

the first watch of the night. Can I take first watch?

And everyone has marched and they are tired

and they want to go up to sleep. Here's this guy saying,

can I stay awake? Let me take the first watch.

This is the kind of zeal that you see in the

300 that Gideon led. This is the kind of zeal

that you see in Joshua when he insists on staying by the

tent of meeting because the Shekinah hasn't disappeared yet.

But Moses has disappeared.

This is the kind of zeal that you see

when Habakkuk in chapter 2 climbs up the watchtower

and says, I've got a complaint and I've got to climb up the

watchtower and wait there to see how God is going to address

my complaint.

This is the kind of zeal that you see in Abraham as he cuts

branches and takes his robes and starts driving away

the carrion birds of prey because he's

cut a sacrifice and he knows God is coming.

This is the kind of zeal you do

not see in Gethsemane

when the disciples fell off to sleep.

So zeal takes first watch.

Zeal works with courage.

Zeal works with courage as in

the power of the Holy Spirit envelops your courage.

The Spirit

clothes your courage.

So sometimes if you want zeal,

first ask for courage.

So sometimes if you want zeal, first ask for courage.

Sometimes if you want zeal, first ask for courage.

You see this in Acts chapter 428

where in the face of threats the disciples

call out to God and say, oh God, there are

threats but please could you give us the courage and the boldness

to now stand up against these threats.

I don't have courage.

I used to, I remember my sister got into trouble

because there was a girl who was troubling her

and so I went up and hit the girl

and then ran for my life

because I was scared not of the girl but she had older brothers.

And so I hit the girl

I said, Riva, come! And running away with

and then another time I remembered this dog

called Sheru or Shera and

we were playing and the ball went into the

compound of the neighbor and Sheru's there

but the ball was a very expensive ball

so I sent my sister to pick the ball.

I'm standing on this side of the fence encouraging her, Riva, don't worry, it'll be okay.

The dog won't do anything, just go, just go get the ball.

And she escaped by this much, eh?

And so

I've noticed, given my

past, that I'm not, I don't have too much courage.

I don't have too much courage, yeah.

Yeah. And then eventually

when those, when that girl's brothers

did catch up in the eye, ran like the wind, man

and I ran through people's houses.

Like, I needed to get to my home, I knew all the

shortcuts and I'm running through someone's living room and they're looking

as a little kid goes scurrying through.

Because in India you can go through people's houses to get wherever you want to.

It's like Matt Damon on top of the roofs, only this is through houses.

And so all I'm trying to say is

I know that I don't have courage. And so when I find

myself in situations that I begin to feel fear,

instead of asking for boldness I first ask God for a little bit of courage.

So that you can cloak that

courage with zeal.

A part of a Christian's courage is this.

That I will speak

I will speak.

No, it is Revelation 12 basically that

I will not love my life enough.

That is where my courage comes from.

If I can get there, it's Revelation 13 or 12.

Revelation 12 I think, let's just check.

They overcame Satan by the blood of the lamb and the word of the testimony

and they did not love their lives

even unto death. Wherever it is,

it's in Revelation 11, 12 or 13.

It's in one of those. And so

that is the only place you can begin.

That Father, I know you watch over me,

I know you protect me, I know you give me promises.

But if I can, pardon? Revelation 12, 11.

But if I can choose not to

love my life enough to preserve it,

I will have the courage I need for this situation.

That is where the Christian must

start and end.

If I can choose not to love my life

enough to preserve it.

Very difficult guys.

But we don't define courage by

terms of the world. We define courage by

this simple thing.

A few other quick points on zeal.

Zeal is wise

or full of wisdom.

Zeal is full of wisdom.

As in, when

it comes from God,

zeal is not foolish, zeal is not...

You know, when people are passionate,

you hear two things

spoken to them. Some will say,

you know, it's okay to be passionate, but you have to be wise.

Meaning, don't overdo this. Or you'll say,

or you'll have people saying, come on, just be foolish,

just risk it. It's one or the other.

But with zeal, it actually comes from the Holy Spirit,

so it is full of wisdom.

Jesus was zealous, but he knew

when not to go to Jerusalem.

He would say, my time has not yet come. And he would not go.

Other times, he would go.

Sometimes he would walk through a crowd that was waiting

to push him down a ravine, and he would walk

through them. Other times, he would not appear.

It wasn't because he suddenly was fearful and suddenly was courageous.

No. It was simply, zeal is wise.

And what do you mean when you say zeal is wise?

All we mean is, zeal is informed by the Holy Spirit.

Zeal is informed by the Holy Spirit.

The Spirit of God

tells you what to do in your passion.

Zeal is informed by the Holy Spirit.

Proverbs 19, verse 1 or 2 says,

Proverbs 19:1

Zeal without knowledge is like

a misguided, dangerous thing.

Zeal without knowledge is a misguided, dangerous thing.

Proverbs 19, verse 1 or 2,

Proverbs 19:1

I'm not sure, can someone check?

Zeal without knowledge.

Proverbs 19, verse 2,

Proverbs 19:2

It's not good to have zeal without knowledge,

nor be hasty and miss the way.

Zeal without knowledge is almost like a missile

or a missile without a guidance system.

You don't know where it will fall.

Zeal provokes

signs and wonders.

Zeal provokes signs and wonders.

Zeal carries the gospel.

From Jerusalem to Judea to Samaria

to the ends of the earth.

Zeal provokes signs and wonders.

Passion is required for signs and wonders.

One who is not passionate will not look at a man

and this was ages ago

when I first met Roland Tan

and I saw a man in a wheelchair

on Bridgeport

and he was struggling to cross the road

because he didn't know how to handle his wheelchair well

and so I decided to help him cross the road

and after Roland Tan was in town I helped him cross the road

and then instead of letting him be I started telling him about

the fact that Jesus can heal

and asked him if he wanted to come for Roland Tan's meeting

and then I pushed him all the way home

because I wanted to meet his son and daughter

to tell them to come for the meeting

and it was super heavy pushing that guy man.

I didn't know, I thought wheelchairs were like

you can push them with a finger.

No, it's dead weight and this man was literally paralyzed

and I pushed him all the way. Why?

I remember sweating through that summer day

and pushing him for about a kilometer and a half to get to his house.

Why? Because my passion was this guy must be healed.

I did not have the faith or the ability at that point

to lay hands on him and pray for his healing

but I knew Roland Tan was in town

and that Roland Tan had done this before so I wanted him.

They did come for the meeting, the guy did not recover

and I want to tell you another story.

The point is passion provokes signs and wonders.

God loves seeing passion

when it comes to the provocation of signs and wonders.

God remembers the day

when a few people dug through the roof.

It's not digging through the roof that is a big deal.

It's destroying someone's home.

Imagine that today.

Imagine the insurance hassles.

Imagine doing it during winter,

breaking through your roof.

I don't even know if someone compensated the guy.

Please remember,

as much as chosen is really interesting to watch,

it is not the biblical narrative.

Just remember that. Sometimes we get confused.

When I was growing up,

the opening of The Red Sea was defined

by Charlton Heston and Ben Hur

and the Moses movie.

Just be careful of that

because I love the way they write the story

but it ain't...

Where's my pen? Can anyone see a white pen?

Ah, yes.

Zeal carries the gospel.

One last sentence before we move on.

Realms of faith

and obedience

are restricted to you.

Are restricted to you.

And you are restricted to yourself.

You are restricted to yourself.

You are restricted to you

when boldness

or zeal

is under restraint.

Realms of faith and obedience

are restricted to you. As in, it's not that God

doesn't want you to participate,

but it realizes that there's absolutely no point

inviting Jacob into this realm of faith

or into this realm of obedience because he's not passionate right now

until he recovers his passion.

Giving him this, he won't even see it and if he sees it, he won't even attempt it.

So one of the things that we have to do

and that I find myself doing every few months

is realizing that I'm dulling

in terms of passion.

But some of us who've been Christians for long enough

or who have activity happening in our life

do not realize that passion is dulling and being replaced by activity

or that you are now

operating on vapor, but you have

done it for so long that you can still continue doing it without a problem.

One of the ways

you see passion dying is when you see

that your standards of purity

are lowering. Passion and purity

are like two horses running together. They yoke together.

It is impossible to be passionate

and lacking in purity. It is impossible to be pure

and lacking in passion. Not possible.

Passion and purity run together.

And so one of the ways I notice a lack of passion in my life

because my life is full of godly activity, that's what I get paid for.

But one of the ways I notice

a lack of passion in my life is when I notice

my standards of purity lowering.

As in what I allow into my life, what I'm willing to accommodate.

And that is when I realize something is dulling.

No one will notice it, Jacob,

because you can run on vapor for another two months

and nobody would notice because you're gifted

or you've done this long enough or whatever.

This is how big names in Christianity fall.

They are gifted,

but they're now running not on passion but on activity.

Passion and purity. Purity is an indicator.

It's like the rapid antigen test.

It will tell you whether it's positive or negative.

It's a great measure.

Have you noticed how in the scriptures we read

he wraps himself with a cloak of vengeance or zeal,

but he walks with the breastplate of righteousness.

Righteousness and zeal always go together.

Therefore God is not able, he restricts me

from places of faith and obedience

because he knows it won't be possible for me to be able to do it.

So how do I prevent the loss of boldness?

How do I prevent the loss of boldness?

One, we've got to realize that self-preservation is the enemy.

Self-preservation is the greatest enemy

of zeal.

Self-preservation is the greatest enemy

of zeal.

Self-preservation is the greatest enemy

of zeal

in believers.

Of zeal in believers.

Self-preservation is the greatest enemy of zeal in believers.

And what is worse is guys,

when somebody, a young person or an old person

becomes zealous, the wise ones

begin to tone down their zeal

because they are scared of what may happen.

It comes out of a good place.

Simon, did you don't do that? I mean it could be dangerous.

And so I'm doing that because either I care for him

or I'm scared that if he goes and does it,

someone may say, Jacob, you should have advised him better.

But at the end of the day, self-preservation is the greatest enemy

of believers because we start toning down things

so that everything is middle of the road.

So, it's a good thing.

Enemy of zeal in believers.

Here's another one.

Boldness or zeal loses momentum.

Boldness or zeal loses momentum

when proclamation is subdued.

When proclamation is subdued.

Boldness or zeal loses momentum

when proclamation is subdued.

Whatever you're passionate about,

I will know by the way you speak, guys.

Zeal always speaks.

Zeal always speaks.

You go sit with Don, it'll take hardly a few minutes to know

that he's a supporter of Real Madrid.

You go hang out with Pawan,

you will hear about outdoorsy stuff.

You'll know instantly.

You go hang out with Manoj.

You don't know what he's passionate about

because there are so many things he talks about.

The point being that you always talk about your passion

and therefore zeal loses momentum

when proclamation is subdued.

Zeal loses momentum when proclamation is subdued.

Whatever you're zealous about, you must speak about.

You must talk through your mask, but you must talk.

Just find out whether this is something that effects you.

Zeal is crippled by your need..

...to appear sophisticated and

in the eyes of the world.

In other words,

zeal is crippled

by the fear

of man.

Zeal is crippled by the fear of man.

This thing is such a

crippler, man, it's

like a flesh-eating disease.

The fear of man, the desire,

need to be sophisticated, the need to

not appear

square, the need to

not lose

acceptance,

is something that cripples zeal.

This is why we ask people

to come and

spend some time at Acts

29. Just think of that.

People are coming from different parts of the world.

They spend some time here

and they cannot go back without changing.

My hope is when they go back changed

that they immediately create

a small little test tube

there where others can be cultured.

Otherwise they'll have to keep

coming back.

So when Larissa came here

and she was affected the way she does

and now she goes back and she

wants to come back for a month and she's bringing some friends

with her.

That people can catch it. Passion

and zeal are caught

but it happens in the midst of people

that are that way.

Always remember this. I've said this before.

It is only when you hang out with

a people of passion that your mediocrity

is exposed.

If you don't hang out

that's why guys at Acts 29

if you are really not trying

to hang out with people you will

not see your mediocrity.

That's why I keep saying this again

and you hear me say this almost every

second week.

That if you are not

do not think that coming to a service

is hanging out with the body.

It's not.

It's more than that.

How do you define it? You cannot.

It's not an activity

it is the condition of the heart

that just makes it obvious.

It's not coming to

attending a service.

I just want to end this bit

by asking a question that

I've asked

and I forget

and I keep asking myself.

What if you had no fear?

What would you plan

if you had no fear?

What would you plan

if you had no fear?

And no fear would

be exemplified with confidence

and joy. That's what non-fear

looks like.

Non-fear has to be a mixture of confidence and joy.

Both have to be present.

You can't just be

confident, you can't just be

joyful. You have to be

confident and joyful where there is no fear.

What if you had no fear?

Do you know something? This was how

Jesus lived. He had

no fear.

He was a man of sorrows

who was very confident and joyful.

This is how Jesus lived.

Every so often I ask myself, Jacob

if you had no fear, how would you be

living right now? How would you be handling the situation?

If you had no fear?

What would it look like, guys?

What if you had no fear?

What if you had no fear?

What if you knew, and this is not

my quote or anything, it's

I don't know who said it but I read this some time

ago, what if you knew that Jesus

was in the next room interceding

for you?

If he was in the next

room

praying for you in your

present situation,

what would, I mean, would you

be able to take on millions?

Because he said he intercedes for you

and aren't his prayers answered?

Is there a prayer that Jesus prayed that

isn't answered?

Especially if your will

is

surrendered to his prayer.

The only time a prayer is not answered is when

the will is not surrendered to Jesus' prayer

because Jesus desired that everyone be saved.

Okay.

I could say more about

this but let's move on and conclude.

Because

with only 14 or 15 people

in church it feels like I can go on forever.

So

to stay

in boldness, guys,

intentionally

remain, intentionally

remain

at the center

of

God's affection.

Intentionally remain at the center

of God's

affection.

How do I

explain this with an example?

When children want to be

bold,

when children want to feel safe,

they intentionally

come to their parent and stay

right near the parent and once you're

right near the parent, you're bold.

Any child

does this. Doesn't matter whether the parent

has disciplined them two minutes ago

or got angry with them

any child who wants to be bold

immediately finds boldness

within the circle

of the parent's proximity.

Suddenly the child is not afraid

anymore.

So one of the first things you need to do

when you're afraid, when you lack

zeal, when you're not passionate

is go back to the center of God's

affection. Go back to the

center of God's affection.

Retrace your steps back to the

center of God's affection.

I just want to say something

so that you remember it for the future

and use it as a measure.

If faith comes by hearing,

zeal and passion also come by

hearing.

If faith comes by hearing of the

past,

it comes by hearing of the present.

If faith comes by hearing of the

past, it comes by hearing of the

past.

If faith comes by hearing of the

past, it comes by hearing of the

past. If faith comes by hearing of the

word, then zeal and

passion also come

with the hearing of the word because

it is a word that begins to do something

inside you. The Spirit of God takes the

word and begins to stir up something

within you.

Throughout the Old Testament and the New

Testament, the stirring of the Spirit

came because the word was heard and the

Spirit began to work inside you.

Therefore,

the Spirit of God is able to hear

how you hear

and if you can hear

long.

Let me write that down.

You need to figure out

how you hear

and if you

can

hear

long.

How you hear as in,

am I able to hear the word

God is bringing so that the Spirit of

God can take it and stir up a

passion in me? Because

throughout the Old Testament and the New Testament,

either a voice came

or a teaching was heard or God

said something through a prophet and

something began to stir up within the person.

That's how it always happened in the

Old Testament and the New Testament.

So, how

you hear is

basically

jivan may hear

thirty-fold,

pavan may hear sixty-fold,

jon may hear ninety-fold. As in,

you have the ability to open

your spirit to hear what the Holy Spirit

is saying.

How you hear is important and we hear

differently guys. Some hear thirty, some hear

sixty, some hear ninety and accordingly

you will produce fruit. You will produce

tons of activity. Tons of activity

does not mean fruit.

You and I can work

the same number of hours

over a seed in a pot and yours

will bear fruit, mine will bear

a pot. That's it. Mine will

remain a pot.

Activity does not mean

fruit.

So, how you hear is important. Second,

do you hear long?

The

problem,

these are such precious truths, the problem

is if you don't hear long,

you can

ignite

passion,

but you

cannot

fuel

it.

You start well,

you do not finish.

I must use this

as a measure. Do I have

the ability to hear long?

Can I

stay at it? Can I

continuously hear?

Both the Holy Spirit and

the written word and

the teaching word right now, can you

hear long or does your

mind begin to get

this bit, get ignited,

get passionate

and that's about the end of it.

I'd like to see

the fall on the ground against the children.

Yeah.

Maturity is

one of the measures of

maturity is can you hear long?

Any questions?

Any push back?

Any conviction?

If you're being convicted, stay silent.

That's that way I'll feel happy.

No, I'm just kidding.

These are such critical

truths, man.

I'm so, yeah go ahead.

So how do you

hear long? Yeah, great.

How do you hear long?

Habit

forming.

Seeking

the voice

and words.

Practicing

in bits.

Going back

for fuel.

Running

in the steps

carved by others.

One, it's habit forming.

If you do not have the habit

of hearing long,

bits.

As in whatever I now

hear I have to put into practice.

Otherwise I'm like a man who looks

into a mirror and forgets what he looks

like. One who looks into the world and does

not practice it. So that's the practicing

bits. Habit forming is hearing long

as in do I have the habit

of hearing long?

I have to put into practice.

So hearing long as in do I have the habit

of sitting under the

word, reading the word?

Do I have the habit of it? If you don't

cultivate the habit of it, you may be

gifted but that's about it.

It pains me to see giants

in the making who

end up stunted in their growth

because they will not

cultivate the habit

of hearing long, reading

long, studying long,

meditating long.

Second one is seeking the voice and the word.

Seek comes out of desperation

or hunger.

Seek doesn't come out of hide and seek.

Hide and seek is a nice game.

Seeking comes out of desperation.

Either you're desperate

because

it's like a treasure

or you're hungry.

It's like you will die.

One or the other.

Third, practicing it in bits.

Otherwise I'll forget.

Fourth, going back for fuel.

Father, I've come to this

place where I feel like Elijah.

I've got no more strength. Alright?

Just wait there. I'm sending an angel.

He'll give you a bit of mana. You'll get fueled again.

Man, Jacob was

almost exhausted. Hadn't

any idea that his son was alive.

The brothers come back and they say,

Jacob, your son is alive. The guy won't believe it.

And then Joseph sends the wagons.

And when Joseph sends the wagons, Jacob saw

the wagons and his heart was refreshed.

Fist size

token of

a cloud in the sky. These are the things

that fuel you.

You keep going back to a sign,

a prophecy, a word, a teaching.

But if I do not

cultivate hearing, Jesus had to say

it this way,

be careful of how you hear.

How you hear.

I cannot hear

what I want. I must hear what is spoken.

You don't

know the agony in me right now.

You cannot hear what you want.

You must hear what is spoken.

Otherwise, guys, here's the problem

with being at Acts 29.

That

if you don't cultivate

this habit, you will

be called to account.

Not by me.

Because to whom much is given,

much is expected.

And if you are not able to,

then what you have will also be taken

away. Jesus's

commandments.

And the first person that will be measured

like this and cannot afford to come short

is me, because it will start

with me.

Teachers, be careful

that what you teach is how you live

because you will be held to a higher

standard.

Everything I say, I'm setting

myself up to be measured by it.

I beg you,

please.

Going back for fuel, and then the other one is

running in the steps carved.

Like T.J. was saying, follow the car

in front of you. They've beaten the

snow down. Just follow that track.

It becomes much easier.

They were sent so that they could be four

runners who could create a pathway for you.

So intentionally

remain in the center of God's

path.

And then you can finish in about six minutes.

Draw on the Spirit, eh?

Draw on the Spirit.

When I say draw on the Spirit,

what I mean is, oh no, no, I don't have to

finish in six minutes. We started at 11.

Sorry, my bad, guys.

Don't want to rob you of precious time

spent in the world.

Draw on the Spirit.

Draw on the Spirit.

Why? Because God has given us

the Spirit of love,

of power,

of a sound mind.

And so draw on the Spirit

as in Spirit of God,

you and I have become one.

Can I now please have

that oneness become

more important than the fears of

my soul?

2 Timothy 1.7, God has not given us

the Spirit of fear

or timidity, but a Spirit

of love, power, and a sound mind.

Introverted doesn't mean timidity.

You can be introverted.

That's okay. Some of us aren't

extroverted and that is personality.

But when personality takes on,

when introversion takes on timidity,

then now we are not operating.

2 Timothy 1.7,

then we are not operating the way we need to.

God has not given me a Spirit of fear,

but a Spirit of love, power, and a sound mind.

Why is it that I am still

afraid? It is because my

soul begins to reign over my spirit.

So I must draw on the Spirit

because His Spirit and my Spirit

have become one.

And in actual reality and truth,

my spirit is not afraid.

It is full of power,

full of love as in ability to love

in all circumstances, and full of

a sound mind as in sufficient

clarity. But

my soul begins to get

so afraid.

Draw on the Spirit.

Your mind is renewed

by the Word of God and the drawing

on the nature of the Spirit of God in you,

which is your true nature.

This is what I mean by we have to

practice these things in bits.

One of the coolest ways to be bold,

and this is perhaps

the most powerful way I find,

is that you can be bold

if you received your commission from God.

If you received

your commission

from God.

From God.

As in if God says,

I go before you, and I will drive them out,

and I will be with you, even though you go

against fortified cities,

and even though there are

fears, giants,

and resistance, I go with you.

I will drive them out.

I'll be like a hornet's nest against them.

Once you receive a commission from God,

you can take on a strength

boldness.

This is why it's so critical that anything

we do, individually or corporately,

that if you know God said it,

then you can go about it boldly,

even if it means you die in the process.

Because you know who's backing you.

This then allows you to go into any nation

into any country,

and you can go to any country

This then allows you to go into any nation,

into any situation, because a commission

is from the ruler of heaven and earth.

Then if you die, you're dying for

a greater cause.

It's okay.

And the early church was marked

by this, eh? In Acts

Acts 1 · chapter mention

Chapter 1, 8, you shall have power

to witness in every part of the world.

In Acts Chapter 4, 31, they prayed

Acts 4 · chapter mention

saying, give us boldness, and the whole place shook.

Hebrews 13, Verse 6,

Hebrews 13:6

The Lord is my helper, why should I be

afraid of man?

2 Corinthians 3, 17, where the spirit of God

is, there is liberty, both from the

legal requirements

of the law, and there is freedom

that the Holy Spirit brings. Romans 8, 35,

What can separate us from the love

of God? Can this and that

and the other, but in all things we are conquerors

through Christ.

The early church had these

ways of functioning.

So, here's

how we're going to end.

I'm going to read Acts 4,

Acts 4:29

Verse 29,

and then I'm going to ask maybe

Jillian and Sue

and

Jeevan and May and Betty to come up

and just pray

for a boldness

and a zeal and a passion to

descend on us. And then we'll

sing something if need be.

Yeah? So let me read

Acts Chapter 4, Verse 29.

Acts 4:29

Guys, remember,

eh, sometimes we need to

wait on the Lord.

This is not connected

to this, but prayer

should become conversations.

Prayer should become

conversations

and continuous unceasing

conversations.

So that's one side of prayer. The other side of

prayer is waiting on the Lord

as in being persistent in conversation,

not in a harassing kind of

way, but in a desperate

kind of way.

And there's an excerpt in Psalm 27,

Psalms 27:4

Verse 4, which says, wait on the Lord

and be patient

and He will strengthen your heart.

Sometimes the waiting on the Lord is

not because He's reluctant to give,

but because what He gives

needs to trickle down.

That is why

waiting on the Lord is

allowing what He's pouring

to flow down from the head

to the beard, to the robes, to the rest

of you. And very

often we wait

on the Lord and it hits our forehead

and you know there's oil on your forehead

and you get up and run, and then

you find out that it did not trickle

all the way down to the heart

or the feet. And so at some

point you realize what you have

you don't fully grasp.

And so waiting

on the Lord is not, oh God, please

give, please give, come on Lord,

give, no. Waiting on the Lord is, Father,

I'm just going to have this continuous

conversation with you about this so

that you can talk back to me so I can understand

it and you can understand it.

I mean, whenever I have any questions about

COVID or the

SARS, the virus and all

this stuff, I usually,

even though I'm meeting them for completely different

reasons, I'll ask Manoj and Prashant

questions. And they explain it

in simple terms. And I actually make notes.

Why? Because if I wait

on asking them to understand it,

I'll get an actual picture of what is

happening. You can ask them.

Last time I met Prashant at Denny's,

I'm asking him to, and he's pulling out diagrams

and showing me. Thank God, I

am an amazing

graduate of zoology

before I decided to change track.

But the point being this,

that sometimes waiting is

simply having a persistent

conversation about the same topic

with someone till it gets

down to your head, your heart and your feet.

If your head and heart and feet

and hands are affected, you're ready.

But most of us have

conversations with God that affects the head.

But we do not allow it to go further.

Therefore, we lose out on it quickly.

But I really believe prayer must become

conversation.

I'm beginning to find prayer that's not conversation

tedious.

It has to have promises

and the word has to be full of faith,

has to be serious. What if it's

a conversation? How do kids

learn? Through conversations.

Questions.

Teaching was never like this.

Teaching was always questions

and answers.

So, here's a scripture

and then I'll ask the five that I mentioned

to come up and pray.

Acts 429, I think.

And this is what they can

pray down however they want to

for us as a people.

Hearing the report, they lifted

their voices in a wonderful harmony

in prayer.

Strong God,

what report? The report that

people were out to get them,

to persecute them. There were threats.

Hearing the threats in the report,

they lifted their voices in a wonderful

harmony

in prayer. Strong God,

you made heaven and earth

and sea

and everything in them.

Give your servants fearless confidence

in preaching

your message as you stretch out

your hand to us in healings

and miracles and wonders

done in the name of your holy servant

Jesus. Ask God for zeal.

Go back to Isaiah 59, 15-17.

It appalled

God that there was nobody. Appalled

him. He expected to

find someone. May he not be

appalled that Acts 429 wasn't there.

So if you can come up, grab a mic

and start speaking. Then we'll see

if you need to sing, otherwise we'll end with that.

Yalla, yalla!