Sardis Part 1

So today we start on the next church in the book of Revelation.

And like I said, I feel bad for people who go on our website and see the names of these churches

and they must be thinking, ah shucks, this is going to be a description of the church and how it applies to us.

And then they find out, nah, it's just one theme from six verses being pulled out, sometimes out of context.

And then used to explain what we want to explain.

So I feel sad for guys who think that they're going to get this download on the particular church.

But at the same time, secretly gleeful that we are pulling themes from these different churches

and then using them to help understand what God is doing in our midst.

So today we go to the church of Sardis.

Sardis. S-A-R-D-I-S.

Historically, if I were to be scholarly in my approach to this topic,

historically, Sardis was a city that was packed with people, like tightly packed together with hardly any room to breathe.

And their main industry was fishing.

And so they decided, okay, since it's so tightly packed as a city and we basically fish,

they first in Greek called it sardines and over time, historically, it just started getting shorter and then it became sardis.

That's terrible, eh?

I'll just stick to what I know because I'm not very good with stuff like that.

These thoughts did occur to me though while I was preparing.

But it's one of those days when bad jokes will float around like crazy, but perhaps that's the last one.

Okay, let's read Revelation 3, 1-6.

My God, people in Regent must be rolling in their graves saying, why did we allow him in?

Okay, to the church in Sardis, Revelation 3, 1-6.

To the angel of the church in Sardis, write,

These are the words of him who holds the seven spirits of God and the seven stars.

I know your deeds, you have a reputation of being alive, but you're dead.

Wake up, strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have not found your deeds complete in the sight of my God.

Remember therefore what you have received and heard, obey it and repent.

But if you do not wake up, I'll come like a thief and you will not know at what time I'll come to you.

You have a few people in Sardis who have not soiled their clothes.

They'll walk with me dressed in white, for they are worthy.

He who overcomes will like them be dressed in white.

I will never blot out his name from the book of life, but will acknowledge his name before my father and his angels.

He who has an ear, let him hear what the spirit says to the churches.

This is one of those teachings where tomorrow's teaching is kind of built on the back of this.

So just so you know, if you listen to this today, you'll have a better idea of what we are doing tomorrow.

And I'll say that tomorrow too. Yeah. Cool.

So the theme that we want to pick up today is just the first verse.

These are the words of him who holds the seven spirits of God and the seven stars.

That's the only thing we're going to pick up on today.

It's the seven spirits are in some versions.

And I would think that's the best way to help us understand the sevenfold spirit.

The sevenfold spirit. That's the only thing we'll be looking at today.

And the seven spirits of God are mentioned four times in the book of Revelation alone.

And then a few times in the Old Testament.

And so Revelations 1, 4, Revelations 3, 2, Revelation 4, 1, and Revelation 5, 6.

All mention the sevenfold spirit. Sorry, Revelation 4, 5, not 4, 1.

Revelation 4, 5, and Revelation 5, 6. All mention the sevenfold spirit.

And so in Revelation 1, 4, it says the seven spirits before God's throne.

Seven spirits before God's throne.

Before God's throne.

And then in Revelation 3, 2 is what we just read.

That Christ holds the seven spirits.

That Christ holds the sevenfold spirit.

In Revelations 4, verse 5, it links the seven spirits of God with seven burning lamps.

Revelation 4:5

It links the seven spirits of God.

The sevenfold spirit is linked to the seven blazing torches or lamps before the throne.

That actually can even be connected to the vision that Zechariah had in Zechariah 4, but we won't go there today.

And then in Revelations 5, the seven spirits are linked or identified with the seven eyes of the lamp.

In Revelations 5, 6, the sevenfold spirit is linked to the seven eyes of the lamp.

It says in Revelations 5, 6 that the seven spirits or the seven eyes of the lamp are sent out into all the earth.

Then I saw a lamb looking as if it had been slain, standing in the center of the throne, encircled by four living creatures and the elders.

He had seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God, sent out into all the earth.

Revelations 4, 5. From the throne came flashes of lightning, rumblings, and peals of thunder.

Before the throne, seven lamps or seven torches were blazing.

These are the seven spirits of God.

Revelations 3, 2. These are the words of him who holds the seven spirits of God and the seven stars.

Revelations 1, 4.

To the seven churches in the province of Asia, grace and peace to you from him who is and who was and who is to come,

and from the seven spirits before his throne and from Jesus Christ, who is a faithful witness,

the firstborn from the dead, the ruler of the kings of the earth.

So why is it that the Bible keeps referring to the seven-fold spirit?

And you've got a number of such citations in the Old Testament too, so it's not just a New Testament phenomenon.

And so to understand that, we look at the one scripture that I think is the underlying basis for the seven-fold spirit,

and that would be Isaiah 11, verse 2.

Isaiah 11:2

Isaiah 11, verse 2.

Isaiah 11:2

Isaiah 11, verse 2.

Isaiah 11:2

Isaiah 11, verse 2.

Isaiah 11:2

Isaiah 11.

If things go according to plan, we'll finish early?

Yeah.

People are laughing here when I say that.

Yeah.

So it says in Isaiah 11, 2 that, let's start from verse 1.

A shoot will come from the stump of Jesse, and from his roots a branch will bear fruit.

It's talking about Christ.

And so you can see how Christ and the spirit are so, so always connected.

The spirit of God, the spirit of Christ.

And so again, Isaiah 11 starts that way, and then it goes on to say in verse 2,

the spirit of the Lord will rest on him, the spirit of wisdom and of understanding,

the spirit of counsel and of power, the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord.

And you see there that there are seven things said of the spirit there.

And that's where we get the idea of the seven-fold spirit.

So he's the spirit of the Lord.

He's the spirit of wisdom.

He's the spirit of understanding.

He's the spirit of counsel.

He's the spirit of what else?

Knowledge.

He's the spirit of might or power.

And he's the spirit of the fear of the Lord.

The seven-fold spirit.

The seven-fold spirit.

So we look at each of these separately and try to figure out the work of the spirit in our lives

and why it's important to us as a church and important to those that are connected to us as churches.

So first, the spirit of the Lord.

So to say that the spirit of the Lord was upon someone, to say that God's spirit was on someone,

was to say that the person was acting out of a capacity that wasn't merely human but was divine.

So it's not just a simple statement there saying, our spirit of the Lord.

In fact, nobody illustrates it better than Jesus when he quotes from Isaiah 61,

when he takes a scroll in the synagogue and reads it out in Luke 4.

He says, the spirit of the Lord is upon me.

And what he meant to say then is that I am no longer merely operating as Jesus of Nazareth.

The spirit of the Lord is upon me.

And in saying that, he was saying that I want you to know that the capacity that I act out of isn't human.

It is divine.

Then in Acts 10.38, Paul summarizes it saying that you've heard of Jesus of Nazareth who went about doing good

and delivering those that were harassed by the devil.

How did he do it? He did it because the spirit of God was upon him.

And so it's impossible for the body, it is impossible for the body,

for the body to function without an intentional receiving of the spirit of the Lord.

In fact, in the early church, this intentional receiving of the spirit of the Lord was pretty frequent.

It wasn't a one-off thing.

There was a receiving of the spirit of the Lord in John 20 when Jesus breathed upon them.

Then there was a receiving of the spirit of the Lord in Acts 2.

Thenically there was a receiving of the spirit of the Lord in Acts 4.

Then there was a receiving of the spirit of the Lord in Acts 9.

And it seems to be this very intentional we do not want to operate in our mere capacity as humans even though we

Lived walked talked touched Jesus. We no longer consider that enough

We need to live by the intentional receiving of the Spirit of God upon us

And it is not a once-in-a-year thing on Pentecost. It is a daily thing

sometimes a weekly thing sometimes an event thing sometimes

this

Must be very intentional for any church because whatever Christ accomplished

And he's left for the body to accomplish cannot happen without this because he himself said it in Luke chapter 4 listen

Luke 4 · chapter mention

The Spirit of the Lord is upon me

The second thing

Before we go there though have you noticed how these words we easily gloss over because first these are not words that we use in our

Daily vocabulary you don't say hmm. That's great wisdom or I've got some knowledge that you you don't

These words are so interchangeable now. We don't pay attention to this and very specifically though

We as God is showing us that the Spirit is a sevenfold Spirit and there are specific

Characteristics to him. It's not that the Holy Spirit is seven spirits. It's that these are some of the

Defining characters of the Holy Spirit tomorrow. We'll talk about why this is important to the church

So these are terms we gloss over but when you actually look at it each one so brilliant so wisdom

Is the ability

Wisdom is the ability

Wisdom is the ability

To perceive

Complex relationships

Among parts

From an

Eagle-eye

God perspective an eagle-eye God perspective

This is what wisdom is in this situation where God has the ability to look at all the things on this table and

Know how these complex parts will move how they will fit together

He he has an understanding he's able to perceive

The complex relationships among these parts

Because he has an eagle-eye view not just of the present but of the past and of the future

And even though he doesn't program manipulate

Force anyone to do anything because of his foreknowledge

He knows the next move and the move after and the move after ahead of time and it doesn't matter that the devil may be

Playing the fall of the earth will be playing in your decisions and will be will be playing in he has the ability with

Wisdom to plan things so that at the end of the day all things work out for the good of those that love him

He's brilliant his wisdom is there

He's brilliant his wisdom is brilliant and then he gives us a Holy Spirit who is the spirit of wisdom

Hearing God is not just about hearing his voice

It's a shame when we learn to hear God and then only use his

our ability to hear to get answers

That's

That that's so

Insta I

Don't know something I'm gonna ask God God. Give me the answer. I heard him. I do it

That's too instant. It's like drinking instant coffee. Who does that?

Obviously a lot of people do because

They sell it in shoppers

Everything I need is there in shoppers

Go figure I have to go anywhere else

Except the coffee except the coffee everything else I need

Yeah, I bet shoppers has never received an endorsement like this

We could have the next six months of the church sponsored by shoppers, but we leave that alone, okay

Guys wisdom is the ability to perceive complex relationships among parts from God's eagle-eye view and

This is how he sees things they so in his wisdom he knows that a famine is coming in his wisdom

He knows that Joseph

will be in

Prison thrown there by Potiphar's wife

He also knows that Joseph is going to speak to the baker and the cup bearer in his wisdom

he also knows that Joseph will have to stay in prison for a little longer because the word that he's given the cup bearer and the

Baker have to come to pass in his wisdom. He already knows how these complex parts work whether

Baker will be hung and the cup bearer will remember what happened and will tell Pharaoh in his wisdom

Now the famine is nearing in his wisdom

Joseph is released from prison and he goes and speaks to Pharaoh in his wisdom

Joseph now becomes a second most powerful person second only to Pharaoh in his wisdom

God sees 400 years of what he had said to Abraham coming to pass in his wisdom

He has the Israelites gather in a separate place called Goshen

So that in his wisdom when the plagues it and Satan tries to have the gods of Egypt rise up in Goshen

They will see that there is a distinctive people with a distinctive God

Whose God just thrashes all the gods of Egypt in his wisdom

That is how God has the ability to take complex parts and as we begin to

Understand by the Spirit his wisdom and as we begin to trust the wisdom of God we and then like

Paul saying stuff like we are perplexed, but we are not undone

We are pressed on from all sides, but we are not defeated

We have pressures and persecution coming but we are not destroyed

Why because he knows that all things work together for the good of those that are called according to God's purpose and according to how he loves us

This is how it works guys

This is something that's so special to God and

Here is God saying listen. I am giving you this wisdom by my spirit who resides amongst you

Wisdom is essential for building

Wisdom is essential for building the idea of architecting

Is common to the Bible a Bible always talks about architects the Bible talks about being a wise master builder

Paul talked about in first Corinthians 3 10 where he said that

We are all God's field of God's vineyard some water some do this some do that

I am like a wise master builder

The very nature of an apostolic church is a church that is able to build all churches should be

Apostolic and churches that recognize that they are apostolic must have an emphasis emphasis on wise master building

If you're a master builder or an architect you have to have this heavy dependence on wisdom

The great thing is because it is the Spirit of God who dwells amongst the people and when we recognize some of the characteristics of the

Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit says well now that you recognize it you can inhabit it

You cannot inhabit something you don't recognize

That's what happened to Christopher Columbus right landed up in North America and called them Indians when we guys were there from ages ago

Didn't know where he was going when he landed there didn't know where he was and then called them names that already existed

So now they've got to call us East Indians really

The point being it's good to

This is good

Like I said, I think dawn visited me before the teaching and that just messed up my sense of humor so

The point being what was the point

Wisdom

The point being that

The point being that it is not possible to inhabit what you don't recognize I

Want to begin to recognize that the spirit of wisdom is one of the characteristics of the Holy Spirit and he's present Wow, I

Was so impressed by this when I was thinking about it that father, you know

So many things and this is why God can do stuff and

Joseph can say at the end of the day in Genesis 50 whatever you meant for evil God turned into good

Because he's seeing miles ahead. So it doesn't matter even when the devil is winning he is losing

Even when the devil is winning he is losing that's why it says in another place in the New Testament that

The church should reveal the manifold wisdom of God

To the angelic

That we have the ability by the Holy Spirit to see the manifold wisdom of God and it must be displayed through the church

In situations of racism in situations of black lives matter in situations of

Covid it is us who should have the ability to see what and how God is planning things that will work out for the good

Not work out to take sides work out for the good

It's our privilege

The next thing is understanding understanding

If wisdom is the ability to perceive how complex parts work together

Understanding is the ability to divide a thing into its constituent parts

Understanding is the ability to divide a thing into its constant twin parts

understanding is the ability to

Divide things

Understanding is the ability to divide things

Into

Constituent parts

So you actually get to know how things work. You don't just buy a car and something goes

wrong and you go, what happened? It made a noise. What noise? That's not how you explain

things anymore. You know how it works. You know how it works. And so you're able to take

that which is, you're able to take a thing and divide it into parts so you know how each

one works. And the strange thing is you need wisdom and understanding. You need understanding

if you want to establish firm foundations. You need understanding if you want to establish

firm foundations. You need understanding if you want to establish firm foundations.

Otherwise you get something but you don't know how to anchor it because you don't know the parts

that constitute it. When something goes wrong you don't know how to deal with it. And the

Holy Spirit is saying, I'm there to provide you understanding. I'm there to provide you how things

work so that when things are wrong, when the substructure that you can't see is beginning to

shift or when it's beginning to bend, I'll show you how to fix it. In fact in Proverbs 3 19 we

read that, no that, yeah I think it's Proverbs 3, yeah Proverbs 3 19 we read that when Jesus

created the world he founded it, he established it with wisdom and understanding. Proverbs 3 19,

by wisdom the Lord laid the earth's foundations, by understanding he set the heavens in place,

by his knowledge the deeps were divided and the clouds let drop the dew. Guys this is precious,

we don't realize what God is allowing us to share. He's allowing us to delve into, dive into, take

part in his wisdom, the same wisdom and the understanding and the knowledge that he had when

creation was formed. He's saying listen Jacob if you want since you have the Holy Spirit, listen Acts

29, if you want since you have the Holy Spirit residing in you and you're intentionally beginning

to recognize him, if you want I'll give you my God's eye view of things so you know how all the

parts are working. That even in a time like COVID I can show you five steps ahead so that you will

be there right now in August knowing what to do. In the middle of May you'll know what to do in August,

why? Because I have the ability to have you see things from my perspective. And then he says I'll

also let you in on my understanding so that you know how each component works, how each part works.

Try to imagine that in your work situation where because you know how each part works you are

called an expert. You know that if I move this letter here or this word here or this number if

I change it from two to one that everything will get solved. That's all it takes. But you know it

and someone who doesn't know it doesn't know that it's a matter of one digit shifting and everything

will change. They don't know what to do. That's why they call you an expert because you know the

component parts and God is saying listen I can help you do that. Where in each person in each situation

I by the Holy Spirit can give you the kind of understanding that'll be like a key that unlocks

things. All I'm saying is it's a brilliant invitation for the church as a whole.

And when the church as a whole enters then everybody benefits. If individuals enter the

individual benefits and some benefit more than others. But when an entire church invites

responses invitation the entire church benefits. And what you can't benefit in I may benefit in

it so I can give it to you. Third knowledge. Knowledge.

I've never done this. That's so much easier than erasing.

I've been working really hard during COVID. Stuff like this really helps where you don't have to

put in an extra bit of work. Knowledge. Knowledge is to

knowledge is to access first to access and then to apply

the truth that God reveals.

Knowledge. Knowledge is first to access as in the ability to access first the truth

that God reveals and then to apply the truth that God reveals. This is why it doesn't say

truth will set you free. It says the knowledge of the truth will set you free.

You'll hear the world and sometimes even churches saying the truth will set you free brother. No

the truth will not set you free because the truth has been announced for the last 2000 years and

it's not setting people free that easily. It's a knowledge of the truth that is it is the ability

to access the truth that has been given us and then after accessing the truth to apply the truth

that has been given us. That is what knowledge is.

Knowledge. Knowledge is to

knowledge is to access the truth that has been given us. That is what knowledge is.

And so what knowledge does is that it furnishes us towards completion.

It furnishes us towards completion as in let's assume that wisdom and understanding have helped

furnishes the house. Knowledge furnishes the house based on the wisdom and the understanding

it is built with. Knowledge understands that this house has a certain color and therefore the

furniture must be a certain type. Knowledge understands how to furnish something so that

you can furnish it towards completion.

Wisdom and understanding build a house. Knowledge furnishes it.

Brings in the right substance brings in the right treasure. This is this is how learning happens.

Learning happens through knowledge. The sad thing is

that this was a process God wanted to start in Adam and Eve's life. Listen, I put you here on the

earth and from this day on I'll come and talk to you every day. We've got to go forth, be fruitful,

replenish the earth, multiply and subdue. I'll teach you how.

And the plan was that over a period of time they would come into such knowledge that they would

perhaps, this is supposition, they would perhaps be in a place where they could eat of the knowledge

of the tree of good and evil. But what did the serpent do? Had them short circuit the process

and go straight for the knowledge of the tree of good and evil.

The tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

So there was no learning, there was no furnishing and it is still the same

both in church and outside the church. Where the aim becomes can I gain more knowledge and can I

give out more knowledge?

All you end up doing, guys I've said this before, when knowledge is not applied

it is information.

And the information kind of knowledge puffs up.

The information kind of knowledge puffs up.

The information kind of knowledge puffs up.

This is Derek's younger brother who is not going to India immediately to visit parents and to

say hello to the native land.

Unfortunately instead of being furnished with knowledge from God himself, Adam and Eve short

circuit the process and listen to the deceit of the serpent and in the process suspend learning

for years on end.

Hunger for this, hunger for applied knowledge, hunger for applied knowledge.

First of all access is given to you when you dare to step into this.

One of the things that I really like about Peter is that he would dare to step into things

and in the process of daring he would hear things that others would not.

Who do they say I am? You are Jesus Christ the son of the living God.

This revelation did not come to you through flesh and blood but it came to you from my father.

That is the beginning of the truth and that then Peter takes and runs with.

Okay, council.

Council.

Council.

Council.

Council is the direction, the data and the strategic guidance to make decisions.

Council is the direction, the data.

Council is the direction, the data and the...

For our millions of listeners in Britain, data.

But for the rest of us here, data.

Council is the direction, the data and the strategic guidance to make decisions.

Unfortunately, we only go to the Holy Spirit for this.

We only go to the Holy Spirit for this.

When we should be going to him for the other three too.

This is vital for waging war.

This is vital for waging war.

You cannot wage war.

Be it wage the good fight of faith or be it wage the war against the enemy.

You cannot wage war without council.

In fact, it says in Proverbs 24 that in a multitude of council, councilors,

there is wisdom and you win battles through listening to a multitude of councilors.

The point being that it is impossible to wage the good fight of faith or wage war

against the devil without council, which is direction, data and strategic guidance

to make decisions.

But unfortunately, this is the only thing that sometimes we specialize in.

And in churches like Acts 29, this is the focus.

Why it is sad is because the part of receiving God's council has become something we have

fluid in.

But in the process, we've completely ignored the wisdom.

What is wisdom?

The ability to perceive the complex, the relationship between the parts that are before

you.

What is understanding?

The ability to see the constituent parts of a thing.

What is knowledge?

The ability to access revealed truth and then apply revealed truth.

I'd say to you that to fathom the goodness and the love of God in any genuine fashion

would require that you need wisdom, council, understanding and knowledge.

Sometimes we don't recognize the goodness of God because we do not understand the wisdom

of God at work.

Sometimes we don't enjoy the love of God the way we can.

We don't experience it and exhibit it because we do not have the knowledge of the truth

like we need to.

So it's not that God's love is absent or that God's goodness is absent.

Sometimes our minds and hearts are unable to comprehend the goodness and the love of

God because we do not operate by the wisdom, the understanding, the council and the knowledge

of God.

And therefore it's impossible to handle.

So all we can depend on then is the outcome of what we've prayed for as being the only

measure for the goodness and the love of God.

It's in Christianity that hindsight is 20-20 where when you look back at two years ago,

when you look back at four years ago, when you look back at 30 years ago, you realize

that oh shucks, God had set this up.

God had set this up from so long ago and you marvel.

In heaven one of the things that will happen is the amount of prostrating yourself before

God, marveling at his wisdom as every day you see something that he set up that was

so amazing that you scratch your head thinking oh shucks you knew it all along.

It's fascinating his wisdom.

Stories in the Bible are like that, right?

Satan doesn't have this.

He's finite, man.

He's not omnipotent, he's not omniscient, he's not omnipresent.

He does not have this.

He's at such a disadvantage.

But his advantage is can I blind the church from ever getting into this?

Can I blind the church from ever getting into this?

Because if they get into this they will know.

That is his advantage, blinding.

Ephesians 2 talks about it that the God of this world has blinded people.

It's talking about unbelievers.

Unfortunately the God of this world has also blinded Christians from discovering this

so that they walk around in relative darkness.

Wisdom and knowledge and counsel and understanding have brilliant light to it.

You can imagine what was happening during creation.

One of the places where you see all this displayed openly is when God begins to talk to Job

from Job chapter 38 to Job chapter 41.

Job 38 · chapter mention Job 41 · chapter mention

He just puts on the writs, man, when it comes to wisdom, understanding, counsel, and knowledge.

He says, so you tell me how did this happen?

How did I do this?

How did I do that?

He could see all the complex parts working together.

You're talking about one galaxy with a few million stars and the solar system

being kept in place, consisted in him moving around at certain, not at certain speeds,

at breakneck speeds that would snap your neck.

And he keeps it going.

What kind of wisdom it is that has the ability to see the relationship between complex,

inanimate, non-living parts, leave alone this body that is so blooming complex

that the way you hear my voice and the way I see you and the millions of rods and cones in my eyes

that allow me to see you, leave alone.

And now I can't, but not as well.

But the point is, man, it is something else.

Which is why God has a right to say, you can easily see me and my wisdom

in my handiwork, in creation, and you have no excuse left when you say

that there is no God.

Only a fool says there is no God.

Might.

Talks about being the spirit of might.

Might.

Hey, healing, know that the wisdom of God is involved.

He was striped for our healing, but in his wisdom, he knows how every part works

and he is able to reconstruct and mend so beautifully.

Go to Psalm 139, what do you see?

Go to Psalm 139, what do you see?

I marvel at how you formed my unformed parts.

Psalm 139.

It is just, it just weaves in and out this thing called wisdom throughout the Bible.

For you created me and my inmost being, you knit me together in my mother's womb.

I praise you because I'm fearfully and wonderfully made.

Your works are wonderful.

I know that full well.

My frame was not hidden from you.

When I was made in the secret place, when I was woven together in the depths of the earth,

your eyes saw my unformed body.

All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to me.

How precious to me are your thoughts of God.

How vast is the sum of them.

He's able to see so far down the line and there's this, there's this,

there's this classic Jacob that he has made that he's hoping can happen.

Before Jacob leaves the earth with the help of the sevenfold Holy Spirit,

there's this classic Acts 29 that he has formed and he's hoping that before the rapture

based on whether you believe it's pre pan or whatever post before that happens,

can Acts 29 become the bride that I've dreamt her to be.

But they can because they are working with my Holy Spirit, who is the spirit of wisdom of knowledge,

of council and understanding and might.

Everything okay?

Okay.

Might is the moral authority.

Might is the moral authority and the forcefulness

or the power and the forcefulness or the power

required or exerted to execute, exerted to execute

God's will and decisions and wisdom and council on earth.

All these things that we talked about, it's great that a person has all that,

but if they don't have the power to bring it to pass, then it's pointless.

Then you only write books.

That is a sharp jab at.

Yeah.

Then you only write books, but when you have

the power, the moral authority and the forcefulness to execute God's wisdom filled decisions against

all opposition for good, against all opposition for good, against all opposition for good.

That's might.

And what are we saying here?

We're saying the Holy Spirit is the spirit of might.

All these things, and then he's a spirit of might saying, okay, so by the way, guys, now that you've arrived at this point where you know I am upon you, where you know I'm supplying you wisdom, understanding, council and knowledge.

Now I also want you to know that I do have tremendous power.

With this power, I have the ability to forcefully execute God's wisdom filled decisions against all opposition for good.

So do you want to participate with me?

Now, finally, the fear of the Lord, the fear of the Lord.

Fear of the Lord.

Fear of the Lord.

We can combine the Old Testament and the New Testament definitions so that we leave neither out.

On one hand, it is the recognition.

On one hand, it is the recognition of his absoluteness and his holiness.

And our unholiness and our unworthiness.

So that's one way to look at it.

It's this idea of you are so absolutely absolute, and I'm so absolutely unworthy, and you are so absolutely holy, and I'm so absolutely unholy.

To not grovel in it, but to be aware of it.

And I don't lose sight of that.

And then on the other hand, the fear of the Lord by New Testament standards is the dread of grieving the one I love and revere or adore.

Revere is better.

From a New Testament perspective, the fear of the Lord is the dread of grieving the one I love.

Because I love him because I know how much he loves me.

It just bothers me, it pains me.

I'm the dread of grieving the one I love because I can't bear it.

I can't bear to grieve the one I love and the one I revere or adore.

You combine those two and you have this beautiful thing called the fear of the Lord.

Teach your children both.

Teach your children both.

To teach them one or the other leaves them in a place where they miss out on who God is, man.

Teach them both.

So as I was saying, Job 38-41 is this magnificent description of God's wisdom, knowledge, understanding, counsel and might.

And Job 42 is when Job, after hearing this, comes back to the fear of the Lord saying,

I am sorry, I misspoke.

You are something else.

And then he once again begins to revere God as he always did.

Only now it is not out of a fear of what may happen, but it is out of a dread of the one that he has just had a conversation with.

We'll continue the rest later, but I just have one question for you.

So please tell people who tune in tomorrow, hey, did you listen to last evening's part one?

What? No. Where were you? Probation.

And then after that say, all right, let's just go listen to it over the next two days and you'll be fine.

If not, probation.

Here's a question I want to ask you.

If you can ask for anything, what would you ask?

If you can ask, if you can ask God for anything, what would you ask?

Ask. And why?

Think about that for a second. If you could ask God for anything, what would you ask and why?

Write it down if you want to.

Try not to go wholly on God because he knows your actual heart.

Because Manoj, Don and Prafula are thinking wife, but they're writing, serving you.

So that's what I meant. Don't go wholly on God.

They're still laughing because the heart just got exposed.

What's the question? If you can ask God for anything, what would you ask and why?

I got this right once. I got it wrong many times, but I got it right once.

I remember once I'm interrupting while you're thinking.

Smooth on probation.

I've had God ask me this question a few times in the last 33 years.

What do you want to ask me? I'll give it to you.

A couple of times I asked and I got what I wanted, but then the third time it was like a gotcha moment where I knew how I should respond.

So I want to take you to 2 Chronicles 1, 7-13.

We'll end with that. 2 Chronicles 1, 7-13.

Let people find 2 Chronicles because some of you don't believe there's a book like that, so I'll give you a little more time.

2 Chronicles 1, 7-13.

That night God appeared to Solomon and said to him, Ask for whatever you want me to give you. Solomon answered God.

Solomon answered God, You have shown great kindness to David my father.

I'm going to read from the message if you want to switch to the message.

2 Chronicles 1, 7-13.

From the message.

That night God appeared to Solomon. God said, What do you want from me?

Ask. Solomon answered, You were extravagantly generous with David my father, and now you've made me king in his place.

Establish God the words you spoke to my father, for you have given me a staggering task, ruling this mob of people.

Yes, give me wisdom and knowledge as I come and go among these people.

For who on his own is capable of leading these, your glorious people?

God answered Solomon, This is what has come out of your heart?

You didn't grasp for money, wealth, fame, and the doom of your enemies.

You didn't even ask for a long life. You asked for wisdom and knowledge, so you could govern well my people over whom I've made your king.

Because of this, you get what you asked for, wisdom and knowledge.

And I'm presenting you the rest as a bonus. Money, wealth, fame, beyond anything the kings before or after you had or will have.

Then Solomon left the worship center at Gibeon and the tent of meeting and went to Jerusalem.

He set to work as a king of Israel. People really don't know that this was the key to the golden reign of Israel.

This was the golden era of Israel. People don't know that it started with something as simple as this.

Instead of asking for what he received, he asked for something else and received more than any king has ever received on the earth till today.

There has been no one wiser, no one richer than Solomon, which didn't ensure the second half of his life.

Because he did not apply the knowledge he accessed. He received revealed truth, but he did not apply it in his latter days.

But my god man, this guy was so smart. When the king of the universe asked him, what do you want?

Now do you see why Aladdin and all those stories are so sucky?

Rubber ring, rubber lamp, a genie comes out of it, asks for riches.

That's why we end up asking for these things. Give me fame, help me win a thousand people, help me build 200 churches.

Ask for wisdom man and he'll give you that also. Yeah?

It's brilliant what Solomon did here. Let's pray.

Let's pray.

Father, we just want to take a few minutes understanding the weightiness of what you're inviting us to.

And then we'll pray.

Solomon asked for it because he wanted to govern your people well.

There's something absolutely unselfish about what he asked.

Because most kings would not ask for that.

But he asked for it.

We don't have kingdoms to rule over.

We have the entire earth father to shepherd.

This church was meant to shepherd the earth.

Starting from Jerusalem to Judea to Samaria to the ends of the earth.

I pray that I as the pastor and we as a church would recognize the weight of wisdom that you're willing to release to us so that we walk well.

There's a story of a man in the book of Ecclesiastes.

Who nobody knew who was poor but who had wisdom.

And he saved the city. Nobody knew about him.

But the city was saved because of his wisdom.

And Solomon writes it. He writes it almost with a sense of regret.

Saying that one who does not have wealth will not be remembered.

And that is fine with us father.

We are completely cool with not being remembered.

But we definitely want wisdom to save cities.

I just pray that each person in this church ponder it for a second as they listen.

And then I'll end with prayer. And I need wisdom to pray.

So sevenfold Spirit of God.

Holy Spirit, you who have these seven brilliant characteristics.

We as a church come to you.

Ask that you would now open the doors for us to step into this invitation.

That you, O God, would give us the capacity to walk in these divine characteristics.

The Spirit of the Lord is upon us.

That you would give us wisdom, understanding, knowledge, counsel, might, and wisdom.

Understanding, knowledge, counsel, might, and the fear of God.

Holy Spirit, could you give us this?

Could you give us this so that it trickles into our parenting, into our dealing with problems, into the revival,

into the words that we need to speak, into how we see situations in the world,

into how we pray, into how we think, into establishing, founding, building, furnishing.

For your name's sake. Nothing for us. For your name's sake.

So we come and we say with Solomon. We read from what we read.

Aware and how it applies.

Spirit of God, would you release it to us?

That tonight you, O God, are appearing to us.

And you're asking us, what do you want from me?

Ask.

And we are saying, you've been extravagantly generous with us, O God.

You've been a father. You've been our king.

You've established us.

But you have given us a staggering task.

A task of a global revival.

A task of shepherding your people, bringing them back to you.

So we ask that you give us wisdom and knowledge.

As we come and go among these people in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and the ends of the earth,

who is capable of this?

Who is capable of this glorious task that you've assigned to us?

And then you answer to God.

You said, this is actually what is coming out of your heart, Jacob.

Coming out of your heart, Acts 29.

You didn't grasp for more people, for money, for wealth, for fame,

or even the doom of your enemies.

You didn't even ask for things to go well with your church in terms of long life.

You asked for wisdom and knowledge so you could govern well here on earth.

Because of this, I will give you what you've asked for, wisdom and knowledge.

But I'm also presenting you and the families of this church and those connected with you.

The rest of it is a bonus.

Money, wealth, fame, beyond anything.

The kings before are after you.

The churches before are after you.

You will not have what you have had.

Then, Acts 29, left the worship center at Gibeon in Vancouver,

and the tent of meeting that we are presently occupying,

and went back home.

And we began to work at what God had told us to.

But before we leave, should we sing or should we not sing?

Let's leave.

Let's leave.

See you tomorrow, part two.

Remember to tell people, you've got to hear part one so that you can build part two.

Yeah? So tomorrow is Sardis, part two.

Later guys, we'll be breaking bread tomorrow.

See, it was shorter than usual.