Palm Sunday – City On A Hill

Hi guys.

Okay, guys, so I read Matthew 21 and if you want a title for today, it's Palm Sunday's

City on a Hill or Palm Sunday Going Public.

Yeah, one of those titles.

Or City on a Hill Going Public, giving you so many titles you can put any which one.

So I read Matthew 21 and Matthew 21 is an account of provocative public confrontation

that Jesus had that was designed to draw attention.

Hear me again.

Matthew 21 is actually Matthew 21 to 24, but Matthew 21 starting in the

Matthew 21 is this narrative where Matthew is trying to present to us the provocative

public confrontations that Jesus had that were designed to draw attention.

I mean, when you look at Jesus's actions in Matthew 21, first there's the royal procession,

the royal procession towards Jerusalem.

Then there is the attack on traders and lenders in the temple.

Then there is the prophetic cursing, prophetic cursing and destruction of the fruitless fig tree,

of the fruitless fig tree, and it was a symbolic prophetic cursing of a fruitless fig tree,

which again was going to point towards what awaited.

And then there were parables, there were healings of the blind and the lame that infuriated some of the leaders.

And then finally there was, there were two parables that denounced and challenged the scribes and the Pharisees,

or basically the Sanhedrin, which was made up of scribes, Pharisees, Sadducees, Herodians,

the most powerful body in Israel.

This is what is happening in that one chapter.

We don't realize that Palm Sunday is suddenly a provocative public confrontation designed to draw attention to Jesus.

And he had just walked about a hundred miles from Caesarea to Jerusalem, like he always used to do.

Jesus met everybody everywhere walking.

I'm kind of glad I wasn't born then because I would have been a disciple of his and there'd be a lot of walking involved.

But he's just walked a hundred miles from Caesarea to Jerusalem,

and strangely the last two miles he rides on a donkey, something that he's never done.

And so you've got all these pilgrims who are coming to Jerusalem,

and it is said that Jerusalem's population used to go up from 60,000 to 180,000 during Passover.

And so you've got all these pilgrims going up the ascent to Jerusalem,

and most of them are on foot.

And then there is this rider on a donkey with hundreds traveling with him.

And these are his traveling companions.

John 12, 17, Mark 11, indicates that the ones who were shouting Hosanna

were ones who knew Jesus, who had seen him raise Lazarus.

John 12, 17 actually talks about some of the guys accompanying him being the ones who saw him raise Lazarus in Bethany.

They were disciples.

And so I've preached this before, and I've said that the crowd that shouted Hosanna

a week later shouted crucify him, and that's not true.

The people that were with him were actually traveling companions, disciples,

and ones who had seen Lazarus raised from the dead.

These were ones who actually believed in this prophet from Nazareth of Galilee.

It was in Jerusalem that there was a crowd that began to say crucify him.

And he had not entered Jerusalem yet. He was on the way to Jerusalem.

And they begin to do for Jesus what was done for Jehu.

If you read 2 Kings 9, 13, you'll find that when Jehu was crowned king,

it was the same thing. People took off their cloaks, laid it on the ground.

They started waving branches, and they started declaring Jehu is king, Jehu is king.

So what was being done there was a reenactment of what had been done for Jehu when he became king.

I mean Elijah had appointed Jehu, and Elisha had sent his man to anoint Jehu.

The same thing was done.

And as they are doing what they're doing as he comes into Jerusalem,

most Israelites would have recognized the prophecy in Zechariah 9, 9,

which says, behold, Zion, here is your king, humble, meek, riding on a donkey.

And that is when they start shouting, Hosanna.

Hosanna basically means save us now. Save us now.

And so they start shouting, Hosanna, save us now, son of David.

And then in shouting that, they are declaring him messiah.

Because the word Hosanna, which means save us now,

and son of David when combined can only be attributed to the messiah.

And so suddenly these people are beginning to make obvious his messianic arrival into Jerusalem.

And the strange thing is Jesus isn't saying anything about it.

Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.

This enthusiasm is what begins to outrage the Pharisees, the scribes, the leaders, the elders, the Sadducees.

It begins to enrage them.

And strangely, even though they are enraged, Jesus is not conciliatory.

He's not trying to calm them down. He's confrontational.

Why is Jesus confrontational?

Because he has this passion to rebuild the tent of David.

He actually talks about it in John 2, 17.

After cleansing the temple, driving away the money changers and the traders,

Jesus actually says, they ask him, what authority are you doing this in?

And his reply is, this is the authority I have.

In three days I will destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up.

What Jesus is bringing into Jerusalem that day is a new order.

Sometimes we get, I get so caught up in the Palm Sunday, the waving of branches and Hosanna

that you miss out on what is actually happening.

Where Jesus is saying the tent of David or the tabernacle of David or the temple is in disrepair.

The traders and the money lenders have filled the outer courtyard of the temple.

That is where the Gentiles used to be able to have access and now the Gentiles have no access.

He actually quotes a verse from Isaiah 56, verse 7.

Isaiah 56:7

Isaiah 56 is a chapter that is dedicated to letting Israel know that a day is coming

when the outsider and the foreigner will be part of Israel.

It is Isaiah 56, 7 that Jesus quotes in Matthew 21.

Go to Matthew 21 and it says there,

Jesus at the temple. It is written, he said,

My house will be called a house of prayer, but you are making it a den of robbers.

And that is taken from Isaiah 56, verse 7.

Isaiah 56:7

And Isaiah 56 is his idea of the foreigners and the outsiders becoming part of Israel.

And so what Jesus is doing, why is he being confrontational?

Because he has this passion to rebuild the tabernacle of David so that the Gentiles may seek him.

If you look at Amos 9, verse 11 from the New King James version,

Amos 9:11

Amos 9, verse 11, this is the beginning or the initiation of that work.

Amos 9:11

Amos 9, verse 11 from the New King James,

Amos 9:11

Amos 9, verse 11, here is what it says,

Amos 9:11

On that day I will raise up the tabernacle of David which has fallen down and repair its damages.

I will raise up its ruins and rebuild it as the days of old.

Why? That they may possess the remnant of Edom and all the Gentiles who are called by my name,

Says the Lord who does this thing.

Behold the days are coming, says the Lord,

When the ploughman shall overtake the reaper, the treader of grapes, him who sows seed,

The mountains shall drip with sweet wine, and all the hills shall flow with it.

I will bring back the captives of my people Israel.

They shall build the waste cities and inhabit them.

They shall plant vineyards and drink wine from them.

They shall also make gardens and eat fruit from them.

I will plant them in the land, and no longer shall they be pulled up from the land I have given them,

Says the Lord, your God.

But I want to focus on 11 and 12.

On that day I will raise up the tabernacle of David which has fallen down and repair its damages.

I will raise up its ruins and rebuild it as in days of old,

That they may possess the remnant of Edom and all the Gentiles who are called by my name,

Says the Lord who does these things.

That is why Jesus refuses to back out.

And it's the work he initiates in John 2.19 when he says,

Hey, three days I will destroy this temple and raise it up.

And the Holy Spirit is in the process of completing it.

Which is why Peter rises up in Acts chapter 15 verse 16

Acts 15:16

And quotes Amos 9.11 again, go to Acts chapter 15, verse 16.

Acts 15:16

The words of the prophets are in agreement with this, as it is written,

After this I will return and rebuild David's fallen tent.

Its ruins I will rebuild and I will restore it,

That the rest of mankind may seek the Lord,

Even all the Gentiles who bear my name, Says the Lord who does these things from long ago.

The same Jesus, here's the strange thing man,

That the same Jesus who said it was not time yet,

Every time someone would say,

Hey, why don't you go and do some miracles and let your glory be known,

He would say it's not time yet.

The same Jesus who would stay in the outskirts of cities

So that he wouldn't be too famous or popular.

The same Jesus who would shun messianic recognition.

In John chapter 6 verse 15,

John 6:15

People recognize him as king and they want to go crown him as king

And Jesus shuns it and walks away.

In John 6 15, the same Jesus who shunned messianic recognition,

The same Jesus who told his disciples not to tell anyone that he was a messiah.

The same Jesus is no longer keeping it a secret.

He's letting it be public.

Palm Sunday is the day he is fine with letting the secret out.

He no longer wants to be known.

He's doing it aggressively.

This is not the meek lamb of God, though there is meekness in him.

There is a strength in him which takes on an entire establishment

And which is what leads to his death.

Palm Sunday was the day they decided that this man needs to die.

Because he had taken on an entire establishment.

Palm Sunday is the day that Jesus was taken on an entire establishment.

A religious, political, social establishment.

So why talk about this?

This sounds so not Palm Sunday-ish, so not Hosanna-ish.

But this is what actually was happening.

So why talk about this?

Because

I'm not going to talk about this.

I'm going to talk about this because

I'm going to talk about this because

We talk about this because

I believe

Not I believe.

We talk about this because

I believe that God is saying

that for Acts 29

that for Acts 29

the time of concealment

the time of concealment

is over.

The time of concealment is over.

The time of concealment is over.

Matthew 5.14b

as in the second part of Matthew 5.14

When I say Acts 29, I mean

all the many people that are connected with Acts 29 too.

If you read from the message

Matthew 5.14

it will give you an idea of what God is about.

Matthew 5.14

Here's another way to put it.

You're here to be light bringing out God colors in the world.

The second part is what I want to look at.

God is not a secret to be kept.

We are going public with this

as public as a city on a hill.

God is not a secret to be kept.

We are going public with this

as public as a city on a hill.

We are going public with this

as public as a city on a hill.

What does that mean? It means corporately and individually.

Today is the day that God is saying

I'm blowing the trumpet and breaking the pitcher.

What do you mean blowing the trumpet and breaking the pitcher?

Go to Judges 7, verse 20.

Judges 7:20

I'm sorry I'm not able to muster

enough excitement in my voice.

I'm not able to muster enough excitement in my voice.

This is a sober prophetic message.

I wish I could be a little more about it like I normally am.

Judges 7, verse 20.

Judges 7:20

Judges 7, verse 20.

Judges 7:20

Judges 7, verse 20.

Judges 7:20

Judges 7, verse 20.

Judges 7:20

Starting at verse 19, Gideon and the hundred men with him

reached the edge of the camp at the beginning of the middle watch

just after they had changed the guard.

They blew their trumpets and broke the jars that were in their hands.

The three companies blew the trumpets, smashed the jars,

grasping the torches in their left hands and holding in their right hand the trumpets.

They were to blow, they shouted, a sword for the Lord and for Gideon.

While each man held his position around the camp,

all the Midianites ran, crying out as they fled.

And so let me say again what I just said.

For Acts 29, the time of concealment is over.

We are going public like a city on a hill.

Corporately and individually,

today is the day that God is saying,

I'm blowing the trumpet and breaking the pitcher.

Today is the day God is saying,

I'm blowing the trumpet and breaking the pitcher.

I'm blowing the trumpet and breaking the pitcher.

Corporately we need to understand that when the service ends,

we need to understand that when the service ends,

the service ends,

when this meeting ends, a new kind of service begins

where God is saying,

your days of concealment are over.

You're going public like a city on the hill.

That's my intent.

I am blowing the trumpet. God is blowing the trumpet.

And he's breaking the pitcher so that the light inside is exposed,

which means we have to blaze.

Today, but that is not part of today's equation.

Individually, you have to think along these lines too.

Individually, I have to examine

what is it that is happening in my life right now

that God wants to say, today I commission you

into what you're doing.

For some of us it may start today, for some of us maybe it started four days ago.

For some of us it may be publicly being declared today

that today you step into all that I've been saying all these years.

Come, step into it right now. Did I call you to be a forerunner?

Step into it. Did I call you to be a warrior?

Step into it. Did I call you to the prophetic? Step into it.

Did I call you to deal with princes and principalities?

Step into it. Did I call you to be a benefactor?

Step into it. Did I call you to be a wall builder?

Step into it. Today is the day.

Why, Jacob, why just pick a day?

Man, I never was going this way when I started this message.

When I was preparing this message, this wasn't part of it.

It was during the preparation of the message that I sensed God saying,

but this is what I want to do.

Like a rushing wind, Jesus breathed within.

Lord, have Your way, Lord, have Your way with us.

Like a mighty storm, stir within my soul.

Lord, have Your way, Lord, have Your way with us.

Father, we just paused for a second.

I don't know how to make this dramatic or drum up enough tension or emotion into this.

But you're saying today is the day that you're literally pulling the covers off us.

Today is the day you're going public with this company of yours.

Today is the day that our concealment ends.

Today is the day you're blowing the trumpet.

You are blowing the trumpet, not us blowing the shofar.

You are blowing the trumpet.

Today is the day you are breaking the picture.

Today is the day you have decided to do all these things.

There's nothing that we need to do.

What we are, you have already made us.

All you're doing is revealing what you've already accomplished.

But Father, as you lift the covers out,

we just sing this song.

We just sing this song.

I sing this song for the church.

I sing this song for seasons and stages and phases and upgrades in my own personal life.

And I sing it for what you're doing with Acts 29.

And across the city, you'll hear the voices singing, Father.

They said, we can't sing together, but we are singing together.

We are singing together.

We are singing together.

Like a rushing wind, Jesus breathes within.

Lord, have Your way, Lord, have Your way with us.

Like a mighty storm, stir within my soul.

Lord, have Your way, Lord, have Your way with us.

One more time.

Like a rushing wind, Holy Spirit breathes within.

Lord, have Your way, Lord, have Your way with us.

Like a mighty storm, stir within our souls.

Lord, have Your way, Lord, have Your way with us.

Let people rise up, Father.

Rise up in the new ministries, in the new phases, in the new seasons, in the new times, in the new roles, in the new calling, in the new rest, in the new mountaintop,

in the new burning bush, in the new burning mountain, in the new mantle, in the new pursuit.

Let people rise up, Holy Spirit, stir within their souls right now.

Stir within their souls.

Call, appoint, anoint, call, appoint, anoint, call, appoint, anoint, call, appoint, anoint, call, appoint, anoint, call, appoint, anoint, O God.

O Lord, have Your way with us.

I am going to start with the cities, with nations.

I am going to start with You first.

You are my prototype.

If I don't do it with You, why would I do it with other cities and nations?

I will start with You.

I will start with the twelve and then it becomes five hundred and then it becomes three thousand and then it becomes five thousand.

Father, He is your prototype. Do as You will.

Lord, have Your way.

Lord, have Your way with us.

Like a rushing wind, Jesus breathed with sin.

Lord, have Your way.

Lord, have Your way with us.

Like a mighty storm, stir within my soul.

Lord, have Your way.

Lord, have Your way with us.

Jesus undertakes three actions that we must replicate going forward from today.

Jesus undertakes three actions that we must replicate going forward today.

The first action He takes is He cleanses the temple.

He cleanses the temple.

This day forth, I pray, O God, that He would expose in us any historical or any religious junk.

This day forth, I pray, O God, that He would expose in us any historical or any religious junk.

Cleanse the temple. Cleanse this temple first and then we will be cleansers of other temples.

But cleanse this temple first.

So this day forth, expose in us historical and religious junk.

Historical as in things from the past that were not wrong but are incomplete that we are holding on to.

Expose it so that we may do away with it.

New wine requires new wine skin.

Expose religious junk, religious legalistic things that we are still caught up in at Acts 29.

Or in our own individual lives or in the pastor's life.

Expose every golden calf, O God, every golden calf, anything that has been shaped in this church with our own hands.

Anything that is created from our own minds.

Anything that is created out of our imaginations.

Anything that did not come from heaven.

Anything that is not birthed solely through your spirit.

Expose it so that we may destroy it, that we may powder it.

Expose the spirit of Jezebel.

Any manipulation, any control, any restriction of freedom, any false prophecy, any fall in sexual standards, any form of idolatry.

Any manipulation.

Any manipulation.

Expose it, O God, in this church because it has no place in this church.

You came against Jezebel in churches in the New Testament, in the book of Revelation.

Paul came against it.

Expose, O God, divisions that you have crucified on the cross.

Divisions between clergy and laity.

Father, in this church, may there be no difference between those that can minister and those that aren't qualified because there is no such division that you have, O God.

We are the common, we have a common priesthood.

Every person in this church is a priest who has gifts and abilities to minister.

Father, we just destroy the division between man and woman that is false.

We hold on to that which is true, but we destroy that which is false.

Where women have to occupy a certain place and men occupy a certain place and women are not allowed in there.

That is a false dichotomy.

Galatians 3 talks about it.

That there is no longer man or woman in Christ.

We destroy this division that you have crucified.

We destroy the division between Jew and Greek, Jew and Gentile.

There will be no such division, Father, between us being special Christians and the world out there being pagan to the point that we are always despising them.

I end that, Father.

Give us the wisdom to know how to deal with that just as you did.

And finally, Father, we destroy the division between Greeks and barbarians where we choose to be Greeks and we look at whoever we want to look at as barbarians and that ends.

There will be no strife or divisiveness based on ethnicity, on background, on color, on sex.

Father, we refuse this.

This is anathema to you, Father.

It is an abomination in your sight.

So even though I'm preaching, Father, I'm also praying.

This temple must be cleansed, Father, because unless this temple is cleansed, we cannot have an intolerance towards this when we see it around us.

Let the zeal for your house consume me, O God.

Let the zeal for your house consume me.

Let the zeal for your house consume me.

Let the zeal for your house consume people.

That it is important to us that this house that we belong in, belong to, will be built correctly because she is the bride of Christ.

Cleanse this temple and then make us temple cleansers.

Unafraid, intolerant, uncompromising, merciful.

The second thing Jesus did is he reconstituted praise.

Reconstituted praise.

Reconstituted praise.

He reconstituted praise.

They told the kids to be quiet.

They were enraged that people were praising.

And Jesus goes ahead and says,

that out of the mouth of babes I have ordained strength, Psalm 8.2.

This day forth, guys, this day forth,

I ask, O God, this day forth, establish through the praise of your children at Acts 29,

a stronghold against your enemies to silence the foe and the avenger.

Father, I know this is scripture.

Sometimes we don't fully understand it, but I pray scripture for this church,

that this day forth, O God, would you establish through the praise of your children,

a stronghold against the enemy to silence the foe and the avenger.

This day forth, O God, would you establish through the praise of your children,

a stronghold, a fortress, a fortress against the enemy that will silence the devil and that will avenge us.

Through praise, O God, would you initiate this?

We haven't tasted it yet.

We've learnt, but we haven't tasted this yet, to build a fortress,

to build a fortress through praise of your children against the enemy that will silence him, that will silence him.

Guys, revivals are almost always fueled by a reconstitution of worship.

So let's ask the Holy Spirit to release a new pattern of worship.

I think on March 15th or thereabouts, Jane had texted me this thing about

what our worship weaponry will look like in the coming months.

I was going over it today.

There's not much we can do about this.

I can't drum up enough oomph to get you to praise or anything right now,

but all I know is that these are things God wants to do,

because he has decided to pull the covers off.

I want to show you a pattern in the Bible.

Go to Revelations 4.1,

a pattern of praise which doesn't necessarily involve singing, but can involve singing.

Revelations 4.1.

So this is how it starts.

We start with Revelations 4.1 where heaven is open,

and God says, hey, come up higher, I want to show you something.

That's where praise starts.

That's where reconstituted new praise that is expected of Acts 29 will start.

Doesn't matter whether it is you or me or us.

Doesn't matter whether there is a worship leader or not.

Doesn't matter whether there are instruments or not.

Doesn't matter whether you have a voice that can sing or not.

The first thing that God will do to reconstitute the kind of praise that he expects of us going into the future is,

hey, let me open heaven and show you what's happening.

I'm calling you up. See who I am. See where I am at.

That's the first thing that happens.

And as soon as that happens in response, the church begins to praise.

That is in Revelations 5, Revelations 5, verse 9.

Revelation 5:9

Revelations 5, verse 9.

Revelation 5:9

The church begins to praise.

So go to Revelations 5.9, and it says there,

The 24 elders fell down before the Lamb.

The 24 elders, as we had learned many, many years ago, represents the complete church.

The 24 elders fell down before the Lamb.

Each one had a harp, and they were holding golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints.

And they sang a new song.

You are worthy to take the scroll to open its seals, because you were slain, and with your blood you purchased men for God.

From every type and language and people and nations, you made them to be a kingdom and priests to serve our God, and they will reign on earth.

Guys, here is the strange thing.

Look at the order.

First, God initiates it by saying,

Hey, I am opening new places for you to look at, to see me.

Come up higher, and then the church begins to praise.

When the church begins to praise, a strange thing happens.

The angels join.

It is not the angels begin to praise and the church joins.

The church begins to praise and the angels begin to praise.

That is in verse 11.

Then I looked and heard the voice of many angels, numbering thousands upon thousands, and ten thousand times ten thousand.

They encircled the throne and the living creatures and elders, and a loud voice they sang,

Worthy is the Lamb who was slain to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and praise.

And then even a stranger thing happens.

When the angels begin to praise, the earth recognizes and joins in the song.

And now you see the earth praising.

Go to verse 13.

Then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth, under the earth and on the sea, and all that is in them singing.

To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be praise and honor and glory and power forever and ever.

It is this strange movement where God shows, God initiates it saying,

Jacob, come up high, I want to show you something.

Jacob sees it and goes, Oh shucks, and he starts praising.

When he starts praising and he cannot stop, the angels join in because now they can't.

But help it because many of the things that are presently revealed are revealed to us as a church

and the angels stoop to listen in on what is being revealed.

And they start praising.

I'm just quoting scripture.

Once they start praising with the church and the angels praising based on what God is showing,

now the earth joins.

The earth joins in praise.

This is a completely reconstituted form of praise that God wants to bring on earth

because he's in the process of rebuilding the tabernacle of David,

which was known for its praise with 4,000 singers and 200-something or 800-something odd instrumentalists day and night.

And then when this happens, the enemy is ambushed.

The enemy is ambushed.

You see that in Revelation 6.15.

The enemy is ambushed.

It's like the 2 Kings 20 story or 2 Chronicles 20 story of Jehoshaphat sending the singers ahead,

where it says in chapter 6, verse 15,

where it says in chapter 6, verse 15,

Then the kings of the earth, the princes, the generals, the rich and the mighty,

and every slave and every free man and hidden caves among the rocks of the mountains,

they call to the mountains and the rocks fall on us and save us from the wrath of the Lamb.

I'll explain 6.15 also with Psalm 149, 6-9.

I'll go over this in a little more detail.

And then the last scene is now that we've reached this place,

God then says, okay, let me open the heavens again.

And you see that in Revelation 11.19.

Open the heavens again.

Open the heavens again.

So if you go to Revelation 11.19,

Revelation 11.19,

starting from verse 16,

And the twenty-four elders who were seated on the throne before God fell on their faces and worshiped God, saying,

We give thanks to you, O Lord God Almighty, the one who is and who was,

because you have taken your great power and have begun to reign.

The nations who are angry in your wrath has come, the time has come for judgment of the dead

and rewarding of your servants, the prophets and your saints,

and those who reverence your name both small and great,

and for destroying those who destroy the earth.

Then look at what happens in verse 19.

Then God's temple in heaven was opened,

and within the temple was seen the ark of the covenant.

And then this cycle just continues.

I pray God that if you are a worshiper,

and I pray God that all of us are worshippers that act through the night,

that we realize that there is something afoot,

that God is wanting to reconstitute praise in this church.

And the last thing that Jesus did was confront, confront powers.

The last thing Jesus did was confront powers, confront powers, confront powers.

First one was cleanse the temple.

Second one was reconstitute praise.

Third one was confront powers.

Hey, I don't know which, I mean, different people watching right now have different roles.

As you hear this, in your role, embrace what is being specifically said.

And make sure you stick with it.

Make sure you stick with it.

Say that, okay, I understand this, this is where I will go, God will help me.

God is the one who both provides the word that we need to hear,

and then fleshes out the word so that we can live it.

I'm not responsible for this.

I'm responsible to receive, I'm responsible to believe,

but I'm not responsible to make it happen.

Because I can't.

Confront powers.

So here's our prayer, here's my prayer for us.

This day forth, oh God, this day forth, appoint us, oh God, to cities, nations, and kingdoms.

Appoint us to uproot and tear down.

Appoint us to destroy and overthrow.

Appoint us to build and to plant.

This was a huge ask.

I was scared to go down this route, because I'm thinking to myself,

come on, are you asking God to set us, appoint us to do this?

This is what God said to Jeremiah in Jeremiah 1.10.

Aren't we perhaps biting more than we can chew?

And yet, these are words that I believe God wants us to pray to him.

We talked about this yesterday.

What does mature prayer look like?

Mature prayer is asking God what he wants to do, and then asking him to do it.

Mature prayer is asking God what he wants to do, and then asking him to do it.

So I'm asking God, and if this is what God wants, then we're asking him to do it.

And so, this day forth, appoint us, oh God, to cities, to nations, to kingdoms.

Appoint us to uproot and tear.

Appoint us to destroy and overthrow.

And appoint us to build and to plant.

Just like you did with Jeremiah, do with us, oh God.

Otherwise, all these songs we're singing are pretty meaningless.

We won't give up on our inheritance.

What is our inheritance? Nations.

But we don't want to tear, we don't want to uproot, we don't want to do anything of that sort.

All we can do is keep singing this song and telling Emily that the words are nice.

So don't want to do that, Abba.

Guys, Jesus confronted, eh? Look at who all he confronted.

This is crazy what Jesus is doing in a matter of a week.

He first goes and confronts the chief priests.

He goes and confronts the chief priests.

The chief priests were like a religious authority regime.

Religious authority regime.

I pray, God, that when God calls us to challenge status quo

in this city and in other places around the world,

that we'll be in a position to do it.

That I'll be in a position to lead it and not be afraid of how it may affect us, how it may affect me.

He confronted the scribes.

Of the scribes, it was said by Jesus in Matthew 21, verse 15,

Matthew 21:15

that they do not enter themselves and they take the keys away so they don't allow others to enter.

They do not enter. They do not enter themselves.

And they take the keys away so others can't enter.

These are highly scholarly people who, despite all they know,

will not enter into the reality of the supernatural, the reality of who Christ alive is,

and then will not prevent others, will prevent others from entering

by coming up with frameworks that people are now trapped in themselves.

He confronted the scribes.

He confronted the elders of the people.

He confronted the elders of the people.

These elders were literally like the tribe leaders.

They were ambitious, Cora-like leaders.

Cora, who's Cora?

Cora is the guy who said, why should Aaron be the high priest?

Why can't my family be the high priest?

Cora was the one who brought censors and saying, why can't we offer incense to the Lord?

And that is when Moses said, all right, all of you bring your rods

and let's see the rod that blossoms and we'll choose him to be the leader.

And Cora and his family were destroyed because the earth opened and swallowed them up.

These are the elders we are talking about, ambitious Cora-like leaders.

And the word ambition and leadership should never be put together.

These are ambitious Cora-like influences. They have tremendous influence.

They swing the fortunes of the kingdom. They swing the fortunes of churches.

May it not be found in us.

May I not be an ambitious leader.

The word leader and ambitious should never go together.

The greater your influence, the more careful you have to be.

I know you're going to text me saying, what's wrong with ambition?

Ambition can only be achieved at the cost of someone else.

When God gives you a dream or vision, run with it. It'll be much greater than your ambition.

I got no ambitions, guys. I got zero ambitions.

Because I can never dream up what I have been able to do today.

This has been a soul work of God.

Everything that I may have attained in my life is just because someone else dreamed it and made it happen.

If I was ambitious, this wouldn't happen.

Like a mighty storm, stir within my soul.

Lord have your way, Lord have your way in us.

Like a rushing wind, Jesus breathes within.

Lord have your way, Lord have your way in us.

Like a mighty storm, stir within my soul.

Lord have your way, Lord have your way in us.

Like a rushing wind, stir within my soul.

Lord have your way, Lord have your way in us.

Just as it blows outside, Father.

Guys, just give yourself over to God right now and then we'll continue.

Father, we just lay ourselves before you, open, bare soul, ready, inadequate.

Willing.

Saying yes.

Desiring.

Hungry.

Wanting.

Seeking latter rain.

Hearing the storm.

Knowing your breath.

As you pull off the covers, the time of concealment is done.

You are blowing the trumpet and breaking the pitcher.

Cleansing this temple.

Reconstituting the pattern of praise.

And giving us the clout and the authority to confront powers.

That you may use us as your servants at your bidding to do what you want.

Like it says in Job 37.

He forms the clouds and he fills them with moisture.

And then he sends them, sometimes this way, sometimes that.

So that through us, you may bring discipline, you may bring extravagance, you may bring love.

You may bring correction.

Here we are, down on our knees again.

Let it be so, God.

He confronted the Pharisees.

The Pharisees, Jesus said, be careful of the leaven of hypocrisy in them.

Where they said one thing and they did another.

He confronted the Herodians.

The Herodians were guys who would crave for signs.

Crave for signs.

They wanted Jesus to perform a sign.

They would validate things only by sight, not by faith.

They were political, but at the same time, aristocratic actually.

But they craved for signs.

Show me a sign. Do this for me.

If you do this, then I will believe you.

Was it Paul or was it Jesus who said?

No, Paul said.

Now, who said it?

The Jews crave, the Greeks crave a sign.

No, I don't remember.

But there's a, you know the scripture I'm talking about.

And finally the Sadducees.

Sadducees.

Sadducees.

And these were religio-political kingmakers.

Religio-political kingmakers.

And these were the guys who constituted what was called the Sanhedrin.

Seventy of them.

And Jesus decides to confront them.

He's confronting them.

He signs his death warrant.

But he also destroys the enormous burdens placed upon a people.

Destroyed.

So that three thousand would respond on the very first day to Peter's message.

Five thousand in a week.

Suddenly the chains were broken because one man decided it was time to confront the powers.

The secret is out.

We are going public.

Till that is done, tyranny continues.

Tyrants, till they are challenged, will not back down.

That is what we are being called to, to confront powers.

Our battle though guys is not against flesh and blood.

I know you know that.

And nor are our weapons carnal, but they are weapons of divine power to demolish strongholds.

Weapons of divine power to demolish strongholds.

We'll talk about these three aspects later, but remember what we are being called to, what we prayed, what I prayed on your behalf.

Now will be the best time to get out of this church because of what I prayed.

And we fully understand if you don't turn up for the AGM.

I'm just kidding.

If you're not there, we'll put you on probation anyways whether you stay or leave.

But the point is this.

This is what we are being called to.

James Freedy, how do you avoid ambition but still get involved in the move of God?

The move of God is just following God.

He's the leader, we follow him.

Ambition has nothing to do with the move of God.

Ambition is setting your sight on something and say, I've got to achieve this, come what may.

When it comes to God, it's different.

With God it is, hey Jacob, this is what I'm calling you to.

I just want to let you know there's no way you can get there.

You don't have the resources, the manpower, the intellect, the connections.

You've got nothing, son.

So now that I've given you this really high place that I'm going to ask you to reach out for,

do you want to stretch out your hand?

See, I told you, you won't get there.

All right, now that you've stretched out your hand because you believe me, let me take you there.

Ambition is let's build a church of a thousand people.

Dream is let's build a strong church that will pour itself out so there's none left.

Ambition is easy, man.

Ambition is what sports stars, Hollywood stars, and hockey players say.

How did you make it?

You just have to believe in yourself and just set your goals high and just go for it.

And it's teamwork.

And I just want to thank my mom and dad and my agent.

That is not how it is done.

Okay, that answers the question, James.

All righty, just want to end with one simple symbolic act.

And it doesn't matter how silly a symbolic act is.

If it is to be done, it needs to be done.

So I'm going to do it.

So this is the best I could do.

So under these covers is a painting that is the first draft of a painting representing Acts 29.

First draft because the person is, actually it's Betty.

She just did a first draft and instead of going ahead with it, she's adding more things to it.

And so it represents Acts 29.

And I just wanted to cover it and then remove the covers.

And in removing the covers, I'm agreeing with God saying the time of concealment is over.

The time of concealment is over.

We are going public like a city on a hill.

Corporately and individually today is the day that God is saying, I'm blowing the trumpet and breaking the pitcher.

So all I'm going to do is just lift up the cover.

That's it.

Nothing else.

Yeah.

So Father, in Jesus' name, I just engage in this.

I just engage in this symbolic act that you have asked.

There's no suspense here.

Just an act here on earth that says we agree with heaven.

We agree with you, O God.

So on behalf of the rest of the body, I just remove these covers, as you said, because the time of concealment is over.

And as I do that, I just thank you that heaven will do everything heaven needs to do.

The angels will be deployed.

The Spirit of God will lead so that this church may now begin to affect the cleansing of the temple, the reconstituting of praise, the confronting of powers,

and the spread of the revival that will wash the globe.

So we just do that, Father, right now, in Jesus' name.

In Jesus' name.

So we thank you, Father.

We thank you.

We thank you that this first draft of a painting that Betty did is sufficient to call to remembrance you saying to us, let your light so shine.

I have not called you and put you under a bucket.

I don't take a lamp and put it under a bucket.

I put a lamp on a lamp stand.

So we're going public, Abba.

Don't know what else to do, Holy Spirit, would you just back this up?

Just want to stop here now.

In Jesus' name.

Amen.

I'm going to ask Derek to close in prayer.

And then we are done.

Go for it.

I can't hear you.

Can't hear you.

Just one sec.

Okay, try now.

Yeah.

Okay.

It's really gusty, windy outside.

Yeah.

Awesome.

Let's pray.

Father, today is a very important day.

It's a very important day, Abba, because you're saying the concealment has been lifted off.

Right next to my building, there is a new building being built, constructed, and there was concealment there and with the wind, it's all gone down.

And we see that as a very important day.

And there was concealment there and with the wind, it's all gone down.

And we see that as you're saying, yeah, concealment days are over and it is public.

So, Father, one of the things that I sense is that for us at Acts 29, if there have been things that we've waited for, if there have been things that we said we wanted to do but we couldn't, because the concealment is over, it's been lifted off.

Now is the time to jump into it.

And so I say I want to do it.

We want to do it together.

Father, the other thing I'm reminded of, as Jacob said, is that you want to cleanse us and we are ready to be cleansed.

So cleanse me, Father, cleanse us of anything that is not from you.

One of the things that we've been talking about lately is the fact that you want clean hands and a pure heart.

So give me and give us clean hands and a pure heart, Abba.

Cleanse us as a body, Abba.

May we be a beautiful bride adorned for our Savior, our groom, Christ.

Father, I also pray that in our lives individually together that there will be a new level of praise, a rebuilding of the building of the temple of David.

Abba, one of the things that I sense is you saying if you come close enough, you will even hear the breath of my nostrils.

That's the level of intimacy.

That's the level of open heavens that we have.

Do you even hear the breath of your nostrils, Father?

Who are we to do that or be even able to attain it?

But that's what you're saying is possible.

That's what you're inviting us into.

And if we are there with you, what else can we see?

What else can you what else do you want to show us?

We're ready, Abba.

Thirdly, Abba, you're saying tear down Asherah poles, tear down things that are not from me.

And we are saying we are willing.

We are willing.

So even as we sang this morning or this afternoon, Abba, train us, empower us by your Spirit.

So I thank you for this new day in our lives, Abba, in the life of Acts 29.

Abba, I can so clearly hear the wind here.

It is so gusty outside.

I thank you that the concealment has been brought down.

And I thank you that the new day has come for us together as a body.

In Jesus' name, I pray. Amen.

You know, when we first started Shekinah, I remember on Shekinah 1, I was half expecting suddenly the wind to blow through Pilgrim when we did Shekinah 1.

I've experienced it once where I was in a church in Africa and we were talking about the Holy Spirit and the wind blew so strong that the doors and windows in the church blew open.

And there were dust storms just raising dust outside.

I was expecting it to be Shekinah 1, the first day, a couple of months ago or whatever.

And yeah.

Yeah.

So to have God show us a visible physical sign while we are singing that song, saying, Like a mighty wind, stir within my soul, so be it, O God, so be it.

In Jesus' name. Amen.

We're not going to sing it in.

We've ended.

But just have a quick announcement that I need to make.

So Pilgrim just texted and said that the 35 people capacity that they had, they realized was when you have 25% of the church.

So the actual 10% capacity is 15 people.

And so we'll have two services on Sunday.

We'll send you the timing of the services because we'll have to work that out with Pilgrim.

But we'll have two services because with the tech crew, we can have 17 actually, 15 plus two.

And the two are supposed to monitor that everybody is behaving.

So we'll take advantage of that and get two more.

And we'll have most probably Phoebe and Jocelyn take care of that.

I'm just kidding.

I'm kidding.

I'm kidding.

So we can have 17 people in each service.

So we'll have two services, details during the week.

Yeah.

I know it's only 3.36 and I know this is not easy for you to finish early.

Let's give it a shot.

Okay.

Jane, you just want to come in, say ciao or whatever.

Okay.

Derek, oh, he's gone too.

All righty.

Ciao and see you later like Derek says.

Bye.

I am the first, the last, and everything between the world.

I hold your future who can know these things about me.

So don't fear.

I will be your song.

Sing it out, y'all.

Sing, sing, oh, baby.

Water is coming to the fantasy.

Oh, you are empty.

I am the well.

Draw from me.

I will provide.

I will provide.

I'm the well of living water.

Never run empty.

Never run dry.

Oh, this is the word.

The Lord your creator.

Say I stand from age.

I stand from age to age.

The ancient of days.

I'm the holy one.

Sing it out.

I am the holy one.

The fairest of 10,000.

And all who call.

And all who call upon.

My name is Shown.

So don't fear.

Don't fear.

I will be.

I will be your song.

Sing, sing, oh, baby.

Water is coming to the fantasy.

Oh, you are empty.

I am the well.

Draw from me.

I will provide.

Sing again.

Sing, sing, oh, baby.

Oh, water.

Is coming to the fantasy.

Oh, you are empty.

Oh, you are empty.

I am the well.

Draw from me.

Draw from me.

I will provide.

So draw from me.

I will provide.

Draw from me.

I will provide.

Because I'm a river in the desert.