Year of Release Gates

So, if you want a title for today's teaching, it's the year of release, and we're going

to talk about Gates.

The year of release, and we're going to talk about Gates, G-A-T-E-S.

This message is sponsored by Microsoft.

I'm just kidding.

It was just one of those Bill Gates things.

I knew you wouldn't get it, so I knew it would fall flat.

But like I said, you crack a bad joke like this, and from here on, it's all the way up.

So this teaching is called Year of Release, Gates.

And so, guys, Isaiah 61, if you look at it, Isaiah 61, verse 4.

Isaiah 61:4

Hey, Don, where's Don?

Okay.

Isaiah 61, I'm not sure you noticed this.

Isaiah 61.

It's not important.

I don't need Don.

Isaiah 61, verse 4.

Isaiah 61:4

Isaiah 61, verse 4.

Isaiah 61:4

So here's what it says.

They will rebuild the ancient ruins and restore the places long devastated.

They will renew the ruined cities that have been devastated for generations.

So let me read that again.

Isaiah 61, verse 4.

Isaiah 61:4

Isaiah 61 is basically a release and favor passage for the next very long.

But here's what it says in verse 4.

They will rebuild the ancient ruins and restore the places long devastated.

They will renew the ruined cities that have been devastated for generations.

So the question is, who is they?

And to your surprise, perhaps, look at who they are.

Go to verse 1.

The poor that are oppressed, the brokenhearted, the captives, the prisoners, those who mourn,

they are the ones who will, in verse 3, become oaks of righteousness, a planting of the Lord

for the display of his splendor.

And they will then go and rebuild ruined cities.

I'm not sure you knew that.

When we think of rebuilding ruined cities, we think of ourselves.

But what God is saying is, as you go about releasing people from oppression, from captivity,

from prison, from blindness, from mourning, from heaviness, from ugliness, from despair,

as you begin to set these ones that I'm sending you to free, they will then become the oaks

of righteousness who will rebuild cities that have been long devastated.

It's not us who go and build it.

It's the one who you go to set free that builds the city.

That's just nuts because half my life, actually three-quarters of my life, actually nine-tenth

of my life, I thought it's talking about us, not them, but it's talking about the ones

you set free who will become the oaks of righteousness who will go and rebuild the city.

What a brilliant strategy.

If you think you're building cities now, how did you come to be?

Because someone came to you who were poor, who were oppressed, who were blind, who was

a captive, who were in despair, who were ugly, who were in mourning.

Someone came and set you free.

And today you are going into a place to build the city.

And by the same token, now when we go into a place, the intent is not that we build the

city but we set people free to build the city.

I think that's brilliant.

Suddenly it's like, ah shucks, I'm called to set people free.

Thanks Joan, that was good music.

There's nothing you can do about it.

Once it starts playing, it's so loud, I have to talk about it.

So, I'm so caught up with this fact that our job is to go set or bring release to people

that need release because that is the only way cities are built.

Guys, please understand this.

When God prescribes a pattern, he then makes sure that if you stick to that pattern, the

city will be rebuilt.

The city will be rebuilt.

You'll do anything to come on camera.

Yeah, that's like a cameo appearance.

Oscar for the best supporting actor.

Problem is now Derek will come and do something too.

Okay guys, so think of this, if you don't do things according to how Jesus Christ wants

it, what you'll end up doing is a lot of hard work with less results.

If you do things the way Christ prescribes, you do less but you get maximum results.

And whether it be in Nandigama, whether it be in Wali, whether it be in Vancouver, or

whether it be in Mongolia, here is the pattern.

Can you go and bring release by the spirit of the sovereign Lord to the morally and spiritually

oppressed, to the broken hearted, to those that need freedom from prison and captivity,

those that are in despair, in heaviness, in mourning.

Will you go to them and if you go to them and bring release by my spirit, then here's

what's going to happen.

They will then become orcs of righteousness.

How will they become orcs of righteousness?

Because one of the ways God brings relief into a place is not just by setting people

free but by teaching them to observe everything that I have taught you.

So the raising up or the planting of churches in places is critical.

Because that's how you take a captive, a slave people that have been set free and make them

a nation.

What do you think is happening here?

Why is it that I have the confidence, leave alone me having confidence, that's not too

difficult but think of God having the confidence in this group of people that have been set

free that he's willing to send you into a city because he knows that you have now the

ability to set others free.

Once this happens, it is invariable that the city begins to, inevitable that the city begins

to come to a place where it begins to prosper.

Any questions on that?

So we plant or raise a people so that we can teach them to observe everything that we have

been taught.

But they are the ones who now becomes orcs of righteousness that can go into it, that

the city they were and begin to bring it into a place where the streets will be restored,

where the ruins will be rebuilt, where generations that have been devastated for ages will once

again begin to flourish.

This is why Jesus, when he cast out of the man in Decapolis or in Gadarenes, when he

cast out a legion from the man who had thousands of demons in him, the man said to Jesus, can

I come and follow you?

And Jesus said, no, go back into the city that you came from.

And he goes back to Decapolis and in Decapolis, he begins to minister.

Jesus was chased out of that village because the pigs went into the water.

You read a few chapters later and the disciples go by that village again and they find that

there are believers now in that village because a one man who was set free, who then went

back and became an orc of righteousness in the very place that people used to shun him.

This is the way to build and thank God that the spirit has revealed this key.

Hallelujah.

But know that cities and lives will be contested by giants and tyrants.

Know that cities and lives will be contested by giants and tyrants and they must be overcome

if cities are to be transformed.

And to overcome them, you need the fierceness of the spirit of God.

Know that land and life, cities and lives will be contested by giants and tyrants who

must be overcome if cities are to be transformed.

And you need the fierceness of the Holy Spirit or you need to know and understand the fierceness

of the Holy Spirit for this to happen.

Go to Isaiah 49, verse 24 and 25.

Isaiah 49:24

I decided not to put verses on the screen because I want us to make the effort of opening

to scriptures using this thing called the phone or the Bible because otherwise it's

getting a little too comfortable.

Everything comes on screen and then it's up to you whether you read it or not.

This way if you don't, you'll feel a little guiltier.

Isaiah 49, verse 24 and 25.

Isaiah 49:24

And here's what it says, can plunder be taken from warriors or captives rescued from the

fears?

Some versions say tyrants and giants.

Can plunder be taken from warriors or captives rescued from the fears?

So this is what the Lord says, yes, captives will be taken from warriors and plunder will

be retrieved from the fears.

I will contend with those who contend with you and your children.

I will save.

Let's go on to verse 26.

I will make your oppressors eat their own flesh.

They will be drunk on their own blood as with wine.

Then all mankind will know that I the Lord, I'm your savior, your redeemer, the mighty

one of Jacob.

We sang about that.

The point here is guys, tyrants and giants will oppose the taking or will contest the

taking of cities.

And when they do, they must be overcome to transform that city.

And you can only overcome them by knowing and then operating in the fierceness of the

Holy Spirit.

And that is why we keep going back to Isaiah 61 where it says the spirit of the Lord is

upon me to set the captives free, to open prison doors.

Any questions before we go on?

Any questions?

Isn't it a relief guys that we will not have to rebuild cities and restore generations

that is the people that are set free that do it.

It just changes your mindset, eh?

I can't tell you what a cool key it is.

And to think that it's been hidden, I can't believe I didn't know it.

Any questions?

Okay, guys, cities are spiritually fertile places, eh?

Cities are spiritually fertile places, both positive and destructive.

Both in a positive sense and destructive senses, all cities are spiritually fertile places.

Jesus knew this in Luke 4.43, when he's told to wait in a particular place because things

are going well there.

In Luke 4.43 he says, I must proclaim the good news of the kingdom to the other cities,

for I was sent for this purpose.

I must proclaim the good news of the kingdom to other cities, for I was sent for this purpose.

When you look at the history of cities in the Bible, you will see that there were fertile

places both positively and destructively.

It showed the best of man and it showed the worst of man.

I mean, when you look at last Sunday, 2000 years ago, Jerusalem, 3000 in that city were

saved at Pentecost.

If you look at the jailer's family in Philippi or Lydia's family in Philippi, you find that

families and households were saved in Philippi just by one preaching.

You look at the witness of the woman at the well in Samaria, you find an entire city turning

to God because one woman who was of great ill repute began to see Christ the way he

wanted to be seen.

You look at Aeneas, the guy who was crippled in Lydda, he got healed and the entire city,

I'm talking about an entire city turning to God.

You look at this chief called Publius in Malta, Acts 28.

You find him being healed after Paul shakes off the snake that came out of the firewood

and the entire city turns to God.

There is something about a city that can suddenly take on mass conversions to Christ because

of what Christ can do and how he is presented.

Go ahead.

Sorry?

Yeah, so we have been set free to go into a place to set free others and in the process

the rebuilding continues.

Today because someone set me free, I'm in the process of building.

Today because someone set you free, you're in the process of building.

What we see around us is a result of someone else setting us free and so we have built

this.

It's our turn to pay it forward where we go and set others free so that they then learn

how to build.

And this is just brilliant.

It's so God.

It's like the idea of the seed.

God could have planted trees at the beginning of creation and said, these trees shall remain

forever.

But he didn't choose that.

He decided that there would be this thing called seed that would fall to the ground

so that more trees would grow.

That is the idea here.

We perpetuate through not going and building ourselves but releasing people to build.

One of my favorite things to do in life because this is what I've been called for and have

the grades for is to release people into what they are supposed to do.

Because if you can release people into what they are supposed to do, they will do it.

Otherwise you'll have to do it.

So on one hand you have these amazing things happening in these different cities in the

Bible.

But on the other hand you also see in Acts chapter 8, Philip's ministry required dealing

Acts 8 · chapter mention

with a manipulative sorcerer before things could begin to happen in Samaria.

In Acts chapter 16, Paul had to deal with the spiritual oppression of divination because

Acts 16 · chapter mention

The caves of Delphi were very close to where Paul had landed and there were oracles that

would come from false prophetesses and the spirit of divination called Python.

He had to deal with it.

In Nineveh, Jonah had to deal with an evil warlike regional presence because the Ninevites

were known throughout the Old Testament as vicious.

In Ephesus, Paul had to deal with sorcery and magic.

In Paphos in Acts chapter 13, a wizard controlled the government.

Acts 13 · chapter mention

His name was, I think, Elimas.

In Pergamum, Jesus Christ himself says to the church in Pergamum, I know where you dwell,

where Satan's throne is.

In Athens, Paul had to confront both idolatry and the false philosophies of the world.

In Rome, Paul had to deal with Caesar worship which is why he was so insistent that Jesus

Christ is Lord.

So on one hand you have this positive aspect of cities where people can turn to Christ

because of the way Christ presents himself through the church and then you have this

negative or destructive aspect of cities where cities are actually controlled by giants

and tyrants that must be overcome.

But take all these stories and you find that today you might not have these obvious giants

and tyrants but today's spiritual realities disguised as isms and institutions but the

underlying forces are the same.

The underlying forces are the same.

So you may not have an evil war-like regional presence but you may have the same presence

being extremely oppressive to a certain caste, class, color, gender.

So we call it an ism but it is still evil.

The strange thing is you take any of these stories or all of these stories and the one

common thing you see in all of these stories is that when the power of the gospel or the

power of Christ came forth and undid disease or drove out demons, it often initiated transformation.

Do you really think, I don't because I've been asking this question again and again,

do you really think that Christ no longer does this?

Do you really think that the one who said he is the same unchanging Jesus has decided

that this is not the way I'm going to do things anymore?

You know what a lie that is.

Every city that I mentioned and I went through city after city, in every city I mentioned,

the common theme is either the gospel was preached to a people who had some idea of

When 3000 turned to Christ at Pentecost in Jerusalem, you're talking about Jews who already

knew Yahweh.

They knew the concept of the Messiah but in most other places where Christ dwells, not

familiar, what is the common theme?

The driving out of demons or the demonic and the driving out of diseases.

This was a common theme that opened up city after city after city after city.

What makes you think that Christ would do it any different because of a people that

are faithless?

Man, you don't want to be sterilized, sanitized Christians who try every other method but

the method that Christ uses.

You know how hard it's going to be?

Is that an upward slog it's going to be?

Any questions?

It's an organized kingdom so like any organized kingdom there are multiple layers.

This is how the government of kingdom of God advances.

Any questions guys?

Okay, guys, this is the time of God's favor for Wally and his time of favor towards us.

Gosh man, what a privilege it is.

You think Paul didn't count it a privilege.

You think Peter didn't count it a privilege.

Jonah didn't count it a privilege because he was reluctant.

We can be Jonah like or we can say, oh God, you're actually going to use us as a church

to try this out and wherever you're listening, be it in Sydney or Bahrain or India, the same

applies to your churches too.

This is the time of God's favor for Wally and for us and with a time of favor comes

promises.

Whenever there's a time of favor, there are promises that come with it.

Whenever there is favor, there is a promise that comes with it.

There was favor upon Abraham.

Hey Abraham, I know your name is R-A-M but I'll make it R-A-H-A-M because you'll be the

father of nations.

Whenever there's favor, there's a promise.

Hey David, I know you're a shepherd boy but I'm going to make you king.

Along comes Samuel and anoints him though by appearance he's got absolutely no rights

to be anointed.

With every time of favor, there are promises with it.

So I want us to be aware of these promises.

So the first one I want to talk about, before I go to the promises, guys, God is speaking

to us from Exodus 33, 14 and he's saying to us, my presence will go with you.

My presence will go with you.

I will see the journey to the end.

You must understand something.

I'm scared to say and God said this or the Spirit of God said this or God is giving

this promise or God is saying this.

I'm scared to say that if God didn't say it because that would just add drama to the

teaching and really you think I want to impress you?

You know, we are one nation.

We are one nation.

So when I'm saying to you that hey, God is speaking to us from Exodus 33, 14 and saying

my presence will go with you.

I will see the journey to the end.

I want you to be assured that it comes with the backing of God that he's going to do this

for us as we begin to step into Wally.

So I want you to be assured that God is speaking to us from Exodus 33, 14 and saying my presence

will go with you.

I will see the journey to the end.

And so here are the promises that God is giving us that I want us to consider, that I want

us to remember, that I want us to remind ourselves of.

The first one is from Psalm 24, verse 7.

Psalms 24:7

Psalm 24, verse 7 and 8.

Psalms 24:7

Psalm 24, verse 7 and 8.

Psalms 24:7

And it says lift up your heads, oh gates.

Lift up your heads, oh gates.

Be lifted up, oh you ancient doors, that the king of glory may come in.

That's one of the promises God is giving.

Guys, the first six verses of Psalm 24 is how us mere mortals ascend the holy hill of

him who is immortal, invisible and eternal.

Who shall ascend the holy hill of God?

And so you start this ascent.

That's the first part of it.

And verse 7 onwards it changes.

Now it's no longer the mortal ascending the hill of the immortal.

It is the immortal, eternal, invisible king of glory now saying, okay, now that you have

done your part, I am going to come down.

And here is what God is saying.

Go stand and say to Wally, lift up your heads, oh gates.

Lift up, you ancient doors, that the king of glory may come in.

This is not the king of the plains or the king of Surrey or the king of Vancouver or

the king of the mountains.

This is the king of glory.

And when you are the king of glory, there can only be one victor when he comes in.

There can only be one victor.

One of the scriptures you need to use that I will use, Derek and I were driving around

Wally a couple of days ago.

It's this idea that, oh God, this is what you are saying.

You are saying to us and you are saying to that city, you know, why say lift up your

heads, oh gates?

Because there was this tendency when kings would sit around their thrones and they were

staring defeat in the face, their heads would be bowed.

It says in the council of kings, their heads would be bowed because they were being beaten.

And then someone would come along and say, lift up your heads, oh you gates.

Lift up, you ancient doors, that the king of glory may come in.

We've talked about the idea of ancient doors.

There are some doors that God in Kairos, as in God in the fullness of time wants to open.

These are doors that God ordained before certain places existed.

We talked about this.

We talked about how in Genesis 12, God said, Abraham, through you the nations will be blessed.

At that time, it was a promise given to the whole earth.

But the Jews thought that that promise was only meant for them.

It was an ancient promise.

Thousands of years later, Peter stands up at Pentecost and now he begins to remind people

of that promise that was given long ago.

And for the first time in Acts chapter 10, the Holy Spirit falls on the Gentiles and

Acts 10 · chapter mention

the Jews.

And what God had promised Abraham in Genesis 12, that through your descendants the nations

will be blessed, happens in Acts chapter 10.

Acts 10 · chapter mention

It's an ancient door being opened.

Lift up your heads, oh you doors.

Lift up, you ancient gates, that the king of glory may come in.

Guys, I don't know why he's choosing us to do this, but be absolutely sure that his presence

will go with you and he will see your journey to the end.

I'm so looking forward to this.

Just based on the promise of God, not because I know how to do this.

Ancient demonic doors will be shut.

Ancient demonic doors will be shut.

When Jericho was destroyed by Joshua, a king called Hel, H-I-E-L, decided to build it.

And Joshua had said, anyone who builds a city is cursed.

And Hel decides to build it.

And he builds it by sacrificing one of his sons.

He rebuilds Jericho.

But there's a problem in Jericho now.

The water is barren and it produces barrenness and it just is toxic.

The water is toxic.

And an ancient demonic door has to be shut.

And along comes Elisha and he takes a bit of salt and sprinkles it at the source of the waters.

And an ancient demonic door is shut.

Lift up your head, oh you doors.

Lift up, you ancient gates, that the king of glory may come in.

This king of glory did come to the earth once.

And he is so victorious that there would be no question of a contest.

But the odd thing with this king of glory is this king of glory was willing to lay down his life

so that we can now go into Wall-E and claim absolute victory because his presence will go with you.

And he will see your journey to the end.

Any questions?

Okay, next verse.

Isaiah 45 verse 1 to 3.

Isaiah 45:1–3

That's the next promise being given to us.

Isaiah 45, say verse 2 and 3.

Here's what it says.

And this God is saying to us.

Saying, listen, this is what I'm going to do for you.

And so he says, I break city gates open so you can go through them.

I will march out ahead of you.

I will cut through their heavy iron bars.

I'll give you the treasures that are hidden away in dark places.

Then you will know that I am the Lord and I am sending you for, I am sending for you by name.

And so what God is basically saying is, listen, I'm giving you access to Wall-E.

What am I giving you access to?

To treasures hidden in dark places.

What are the treasures hidden in dark places?

The souls of men.

The souls of men.

What will I do to help you get in?

I'll give you access.

How are you going to give us access?

I'll go ahead of you.

And do what?

The very doors that are barred.

Doors of government.

Doors of poverty.

Doors of politics.

Doors of business.

Doors of depravity.

I'll break them open.

I'll break those iron doors open.

When Babylon was shut up, Cyrus was sent to break Babylon open.

And it was said that Babylon had double doors made of bronze.

Double doors made of bronze.

And that when Cyrus actually came, because he was anointed of God, to attack Babylon,

these doors began to be left open so that Cyrus could go right in and take Babylon.

And God is saying the same thing today.

That listen, I'm giving you Wall-E.

I'm breaking open the iron bronze doors so that you can go right through.

I will march out ahead of you.

I'll cut through the heavy iron doors.

I'll break the city gates open.

I'll give you the treasures that are hidden away in dark places.

Then you will know that I am the Lord.

You will know that I am sending you because I am giving you access.

Hey, please get something inside you to say hallelujah to these promises of God.

Because you're not saying it to me.

I don't need your encouragement.

Just looking at your faces encourages me.

If you believe that.

No, it really does.

Because I know that you are actually hearing this and absorbing it.

But the reason you need to respond is my God, man, God is giving you a promise from heaven

for a city, you must respond to him.

You're not responding to me.

I really mean it.

I don't need an encouraging amen.

But you need to respond to a promise.

Because otherwise the devil does not know that you are agreeing.

You don't have to shout it out.

Whisper it to your wife.

If you don't have one, you'll need another promise for that one.

The third promise that he is giving us, these are promises from God given to a people.

And may it so be with the churches that are watching that you have the same access given to you

in perfect Kairos time for your neighborhood.

The third promise that God is giving us is from Revelation chapter 3 verse 7 to 9.

Revelation 3:7–9

Revelation 3 verse 7 to 9.

Revelation 3:7–9

If the second one was accessed, if the first one was, listen, look at what I'm going to do.

This is my thing.

If the second one was accessed to Wally, the third one is, hey, I want you guys to know what clout you have.

The kind of clout you have.

And so here's what he says in Revelation 3 verse 7 to 9.

Revelation 3:7–9

Only he's saying it in Acts 29 now.

These are the words of him who is holy.

These are the words of him who is true.

These are the words of him who is true.

These are the words of him who holds the key of David.

By the way, the key of David.

When you go to Isaiah 22, verse 22, you find that there was this guy called Eliakim.

Isaiah 22:22

Eliakim was chosen by God to handle the key of David.

The key of David was basically a key that you would wear on your shoulder.

It would hang from your shoulder.

It showed that you had governing authority.

And the key of David was given to Eliakim so that he could decide who could enter the presence of the king

and who could now be dismissed from the presence of the king.

He was the one who would open a door into the king's presence and you could enter

or who would lock a door into the king's presence and you could not enter.

It's this idea of Xerxes stretching out his scepter towards Esther and saying,

Esther, you may come, or stretching out his scepter to Vashti and say, you cannot come.

That was the idea of the key of David.

And so here is Christ now in Revelation 3 verse 7 to 9 saying,

Revelation 3:7–9

these are the words of him who is holy.

As in listen, I God who is holy, I'm saying this to you Acts 29.

Hey Jacob, I God who is true.

So don't begin to try and figure out is this really you.

I am the one who is true and I'm saying this to you.

And this is what I'm saying.

That I am the one who holds the key of David.

What I shut, nobody can open.

And what I open, nobody can shut.

And he's already said in the preceding scripture that I'm opening the door to Wally.

And no one can shut it now.

You can avoid it.

You can ignore it, but you can't shut it.

And if you don't go in, you'll find someone else.

One of the things I always think is father, when I get to heaven,

may I never regret any door that you opened that I didn't walk through.

May I never settle for second best.

May I never settle for that which is good and in the process miss out on the best.

And then he says, I know your deeds.

It just bothered me when he said that, that he's watching.

I know your deeds.

He's not saying it to me, he's saying it to us as a church.

I know your deeds.

See I've placed before you an open door that no one can shut.

I know that you have little strength.

He must have counted how many of us actually up regular.

I know that you have little strength.

Yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name.

I thought that is such a high compliment from God.

One of the things we need to learn how to do if you want keys given to you

is to step into the matrix of the word.

But after stepping into the matrix of the word,

you have to be open to revelation that comes from God.

Which is proceeding and which is present.

Because one can look at these promises in Revelation 3, 7 and 9 and say,

oh yeah these are promises given to the church of Philadelphia and it is good.

We must receive it.

Whatever door he opens we should walk through.

What he shuts we...

That is such a sad attitude.

Stand in Revelation 3, enjoy all of it.

But then may your ears be tuned to listen to us.

You are saying 7 to 9 is ours?

Because that is what is meant by standing in the matrix of the word

and listening to the proceeding word as in the word that proceeds from the mouth of God

and is present as in it is present for now.

Capish?

I loved it when he said,

I know that you have little strength yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name.

And what that means is God is willing to trust us.

He is willing to give us the ability to admit and the ability to exclude.

He is giving us a choice.

Any questions?

Any comments?

Okay.

I want us to remember two images.

I want us to remember two images for the future as we step into...

Wally will just be one of many.

You will have a decade.

You will have a decade.

You will have a decade.

Wally will just be one of many.

You will have a decade of taking cities, guys, in the future.

The 2020s will be known as a decade when Acts 29 either learned how to do it

or learned and taught nations and churches across nations of the earth how to do this.

The reason I don't feel proud or pompous or ho about it is because I really don't know how to do this.

So you can't show off when you don't know what you are doing.

But it's going to happen.

Okay.

So I want us to remember these two images.

The first images from Judges 16 verse 3.

Judges 16:3

It's just that one verse.

I just want you to remember it.

And so we are talking about gates and the first images from Judges 16, 3.

And I want you to remember this.

Then Samson got up.

He took hold of the doors of the city gate.

He also took hold of the two door posts.

He tore them loose together with a metal bar.

He picked them up, put them on his shoulders.

Then he carried them to the top of the hill that faces Hebron.

It is this idea of knowing that God has given us the ability to tear out gates that bar entry into arenas in that city.

I remember my dad and mom giving me this illustrated Bible.

But the illustrations were not silly paintings.

These were paintings done by super famous painters from hundreds of years ago.

And I still remember this painting of Samson with the gates on his back trudging up a hill.

I remember reading it as a five year old and thinking, wow.

And when I was writing this down yesterday, I was thinking, this is what you're going to do with this, father?

This is probably with the

eso diet arrives.

With Samson's

of David or the mighty 30 of David. By the time we get to mighty 3 and mighty 30, that's more

than people right now. So everybody's included. And the other image I want you to have is that of Nehemiah

Nehemiah 3:3

3 verse 3 and Nehemiah 4 verse 17. Combine it together. Nehemiah 3 verse 3 and Nehemiah 4 17.

Nehemiah 4:17 Nehemiah 3:3

So one is the tearing out of gates so that nothing can imprison. And then there's Nehemiah 3 verse 3

Nehemiah 3:3

and Nehemiah 4 17. And here's what it says. The sons of Hasena rebuilt the fish gate. They laid

its beams. They put its doors and metal bolts and bars in place. And Nehemiah 4 17, the people

continued to build the wall. Those who carried supplies did their work with one hand. They held

a weapon with the other. And so that's the counter image. One is of removing the gates,

as we will do in Wall-E. And the other one is putting in gates so that people cannot be ravaged

at will anymore. Where you will build a wall, where you will put in beams, where you will put

in the gates, where you will have a weapon in one hand while you're working with the other.

Carry these two images. I pray God that the spirit of God will plant in your fertile imagination

right now these images as we begin to go into this place. Hey, remember this guys. When God

gives a people an invitation, all he needs is one person to respond and he can do it. But the 99

others who do not respond will get the benefits but will never enjoy the adventure. And adventure

is only enjoyed when you have passion for it. And passion, like we said last time, is provoked only

when it becomes a burden on your heart. Let me go through that sequence again. When God invites you

into something he is doing, it only needs one person to work with him. He can do it even without

the one. But when he's laid out an invitation, he's just looking for one. And may we defy the odds in

the Bible. May this invitation not be spurned by anybody listening because in the Bible they did.

May you not be biblical in your disobedience. But if you respond to this invitation, then great. If

you don't, you will still get the benefits. People who went to war and people who didn't go to war,

both got the benefits. But the ones who went to war with God would get to be part of an adventure.

That they would tell their sons and their sons sons so that you would have generations that knew

the God of their father. You don't take part in the adventures of God. You will spawn a generation

that does not know your God. That's a terrible thing. Once you want to take part in this adventure,

you need passion. And if you want passion, you need to have a burden. And that burden better be

a God burden. But if you get it, my God man. Things are very different. Remember these two pictures.

I also want us to remember two things that the devil is scared of as we begin to prepare to step

into this. And I pray that everybody does. I'll cajole you, coax you, threaten you to take part

in it, but you can still resist. I want us to remember two things that the devil knows and is

afraid of. First is from the scripture Matthew 16 18. Matthew 16 18, where he knows that Jesus

said I will build my church and the gates of hell will not prevail or overcome it. So that's one

thing that the devil knows and is afraid of. That should Acts 29 or should the churches that

attempt this get a hang of it, then they will know that as they begin to take lives and a city

called Wally, that if they begin to enter in as a church, that the gates and the powers,

gates of hell, all gates of hell means is the powers of hell. Why? Because gates were where

the elders used to sit in the city. Gates would be like city hall. And so even today when you go

into a village in India, you'll find the panchayat sitting at a big tree, usually at a center place

in the city. In the olden times, gates were always found at this right at the entry of the city. And

so here is what God is saying. Here is what the devil is afraid of. If these guys realize that

they can go into Wally and build again there or continue to expand the church, if they realize

that then the gates and the powers that are at work in Wally right now will not be able to prevail

or overcome them. He's aware of it, but he's hoping that we will not be aware of it. Or that we will

just see it as a great scripture that Jesus said that applies to apostles, prophets, and people

like that and not to us ordinary people. And the second thing that Satan is afraid of is Genesis

22, 17, the second part where it says, I will bless you. And then it goes on to say, and your

children will possess the gates of the enemy. Not too many people know this little gem of a scripture

that is hidden in Genesis 22, 17. I will indeed bless you and your children. He's saying it to

Abraham. And your children shall possess the gate of the enemies. Your children shall possess the

gate of the enemies. This is another thing that the devil is aware of because he knows the word

well. He knows this too. That should these guys realize that they are being given the city,

they don't realize that God has blessed them to possess the gates of the enemy.

Get, get, listen to the last six or seven weeks of teachings guys. Now that you know that we are

amazing podcast people, listen to it in your car. Listen to it again and again. Because as you listen

to it, you'll see what God is trying to do. And if you don't listen to it, you will not get the

hang of it. You'll be a hanger, hanger on, not a participator. That won't be as much fun. Would

you rather bungee jump or hang on to the one bungee jumping? Neither. Therefore guys, withhold

nothing from your life. As we step into the next two and a half months, withhold nothing from your

life. Withhold nothing from your life back. Withhold nothing from your life back. Let's keep walking

in the simple things that God reveals and let's be guys who enjoy his co-mission. Enjoy his co-mission

and withdraw or hold nothing back from your ability to step into this. Because as you do guys,

you think you won't grow spiritually. I mean, if we have grown this much, what will happen as we

keep growing in it? What will life look like 20 years from now? What will life look like? What

will you be like 20 years from now? I mean, besides the fact that I'll be 65, there'll be

so many other things that will be added to my life. Hey, by the way, I hope there's a committee

or two that is planning Maya's birthday. She'll be quite disappointed if you don't plan a surprise

birthday for her. And you can do it either on Saturday or Sunday. And if there are too many

people, we can have one group meet on Saturday, the other group meet on Sunday. Yeah?

I'm learning that it takes just a few who know the times and who carry the sound of heaven to

affect the earth. I'm learning that it takes just a few who know the times and who carry the sound

of heaven to affect the earth. All you have to be is faith-filled and faithful. Faith-filled as in

our shucks God. Never done this before. We'll step out. Faithful as in our shucks God. Even though I

don't see it working. You never stop. So I will be faithful. And you just continue being faithful.

What? You can sing better? Yeah. Come, come, come, come, James. Tell them to play. You can sing.

Come, come, come. Come on, man. Come, Bishop. Remember the majority of one, guys. Remember

the majority of one. Never forget that. Any questions before I end? Any questions? Okay.

Guys, when you look at Acts and the epistles, you will see how the Spirit transforms cities

throughout the church. And he would do, he would affect different areas. I love the fact that in

Acts chapter 6, the Spirit of God noticed racial discrimination. And so he said, all right, we got

Acts 6 · chapter mention

to change this. The Hellenist women and the Jewish women are not getting along well. The Hellenist

women are being discriminated against. So he tells the apostles, got to change this. And so in Acts 6,

he begins to work on racial divides. In different parts of the Bible, he realized that, okay,

got to use businesses to establish households. Then he would use arms for the poor as part of

the absolute core of Christianity in the decision made by the Jerusalem Council in Acts chapter 15.

Acts 15 · chapter mention

He would free slaves. The whole letter from Paul to Philemon is about this slave called Onesimus

and his treatment of him. He would begin to affect three different categories in cities. I don't know

why they call it the Acts of the Apostles. It should be the Acts of the Holy Spirit. And so here

are the three aspects in cities that the Holy Spirit would try to change through the church.

One, infrastructure. As in, I'm not talking about bridges and roads. I'm talking about the

infrastructure of the society. Two, he would affect their behavior. Was Rome a place that was given

to debauchery and decadence? Well, Christians, you will learn how to behave differently. What

is the Lord? Do you have to be part of a guild? I will tell you that Christ is Lord and there is a

different way he provides even if it means suffering. And the third thing he would do is

he'd begin to change the worldview or the spiritual culture of a place. And you saw that happening

particularly in Ephesus where Demetrius the silversmith said, hey, this place is changing so

radically that our businesses are failing because no one's buying idols anymore. These were three

things that would change in every city that the Holy Spirit decided to touch down in. How does he

touch down? Through a people. Can you imagine us going into cities with Jesus for the rest of this

decade? I very deliberately worded it that way. Can you imagine us going into cities with Jesus?

Hey, I'm going to Nazareth tomorrow. Want to come, Jacob? Really, Jesus? How bad is it? No,

that's not the question. And they would follow. And then they would go to Nazareth. I'm going

to Jerusalem tomorrow. Really bad idea, Jesus. You might get crucified. Get thee behind me, Satan.

Oops. And then you would go. So imagine, can you imagine us going into cities with Jesus for the

rest of this decade to do three things? To establish his presence through planting,

to establish his presence, to establish his presence through planting, his presence through

planting churches. Can never avoid that, eh? Because that's critical. The last word is church. So to

establish presence through planting. The second one, rebuilding one life at a time. Rebuilding

one life at a time. Doesn't matter what kind of life is it. Is it a juvenile deliquent? Well,

deal with, rebuild that. Is it someone who is challenged? Rebuild that life. Is it someone who

has been in poverty for three generations? Deal with that. Is it someone who's discriminated?

Deal with that. I'll show you how to. And the strange thing about how God starts things is,

he wants you to start it and he will find people to help finish it. One of the things that Paul

says in Romans chapter 15 is, I have nothing more to do in these areas because whatever pioneering

Romans 15 · chapter mention

work I had to do, I finished. So I'm looking towards Spain and I'm going to head to Spain.

And when I'm going to Spain, I'll come your way, he says to the Romans. The intent is not that you

become the author and the finisher. The intent is that you start what God wants and then God begins

to send others who can bring it to maturity. Can you imagine us going into cities with Jesus for

the rest of this decade to establish presence through planting, to rebuild one life at a time?

And then the third one is to engage in the welfare of the city through projects that we take on.

Welfare of the city. And by this, I don't mean distributing Starbucks at a gas station. Something

little more than that. We are not trying to be the friendly neighborhood, not Spiderman,

the friendly neighborhood church. We're not, that's not our intent. The intent is to change

the neighborhood, not to become the friendly church that you can visit.

I want to show you where we've been and the role you could play in the future. This is just the

first draft. So just lick it and just taste it, but don't think this is it.

So I wish I had one of those rods that point from this far. Or the laser thing. Do we have

the laser thing? We've got podcasts, we've got YouTube, but we don't have the laser thing.

Okay. It wouldn't be a smart idea to use a guitar, right?

Can you track me with the camera, please?

Okay. So these are the stages we've learned. We've learned Christ. We are continuing to

learning Him. We've learned how to operate as a church. Oh, shots. I have the same thing on my

sheet here. Yeah. So here's the thing. We've learned Christ. We've learned how to function as a

church. We've had leadership beginning to mature. We have levels of leadership coming up. God

doesn't make leaders and followers. He only makes one kind, servants. And these servants then learn

how to lead other servants. And then the other servants begin to step up. He makes servants and

sons. He doesn't make leaders and followers. So we've learned leadership. We've learned stages

of life. And what do you mean by stages of life? That these are some of the things that

I am good at. These are some of my abilities. These are some of my natural talents. These are

my gifts. This is my vocation. I'm beginning to figure out my groove and I'm willing to step into

other things. And as we learn the stages of life, we know how to be fruitful in our life work.

It's amazing that many at Acts 29 have good jobs but don't think much of their work life

because they're beginning to shift towards this idea of life work.

How will I know that your life work is more important? When you lose your job,

you're not very troubled by it. Or when you don't have a job, you can live with your brother

and mooch off him for one and a half years without a problem.

Sorry, that was just a low blow. Who is it? I don't know.

Suddenly if my volume gets cut off or the camera disappears, you know who it was.

So you've learned fruitful life work. So these are stages that we've worked through and we'll

continue to work through. But look at the things you can get involved in in Wally. Enabling your

sphere of influence, relief and rehabilitation. As in what about the poor? What about those that

have mental and physical challenges? What about those that are in prison? What about those that

have had problems with law? Poverty and hunger. It's rife in that city. Some of us will be involved

in that sphere of influence. Education and training. Works and economics where you will

deliberately set up your piano business, both in Vancouver and in Wally. Or your

artificial intelligence business or whatever. Or your construction business. Public service

and governance where we begin to step into a meeting with or asking how we can help the

local authorities. Industry and technology where I don't know what it even looks like. So that's

why I said this is just a taste. Just lick it and move on because we'll figure out how to do this.

Art and media. My God, what if, what if we were able to begin a profitable newspaper in Wally

that begins to not promote a Christian world, Christian literature but a Christ-like worldview?

Art and media. Sports and recreation. Try getting Joe Sackink and Cliff Ronning and a few others to

help. Environment and climate action where people begin to be concerned about ecology,

justice and recreation. The justice issues that Wally is exposed to begin to get taken care of.

Health care and well-being. The strange thing is this church has such a cross-section of people

that these areas can be touched.

Don't worry. Thank God God is in charge and not Jacob.

People are willing to give us money for this. I've met two people in the last four days

who want to give money towards this because they want to see how this works.

Money will not be the issue. Money will not be the issue. We will be the issue.

Any questions because I'm done? Oh shucks, it's not even four.

Any questions? Go ahead.

Sorry, justice and reconciliation. But justice and recreation will do too.

I've changed it. Yeah.

Any other questions? Because it does say reconciliation on the side. Yeah.

Any other questions?

Okay, let's close.

Sheldon, are you free to play?

Okay, pardon?

No, no, no. Let's sing that song in the river

because this river has the ability to go into the city and change things.