Restored : A People of Order

Unless you're Derek.

Show us Derek.

Okay.

Oh, happy day, oh, happy day.

Alrighty guys.

We've been talking about this whole series called restored and it started off some weeks ago where we said that God is bringing Ryan Am I a good to go.

Okay, God is bringing and has been bringing right from the garden onwards and through Christ God has been bringing people back into a forgiven relationship with him.

He's restoring people back to him through bringing them into a forgiven relationship with him.

And so we said, what does it look like when a people are restored?

What does it look like when people are restored and when the living God dwells amongst them?

What do they look like?

Because the church is supposed to be a microcosm or a demonstration of what it looks like when God lives with the people that he has restored and brought into a forgiven relationship with him.

That's what we've been talking about.

And so we continue with that.

And today we talk about that.

Today we deal with the idea that a restored people are a people of order, a restored people are a people of order.

So here's the thing, guys.

So here's the thing, guys.

Jesus actually identifies each of you as a vital member of his body.

A pastor may not, you may not, the church may not, but Jesus actually identifies you as a vital member of his body.

That's the way he sees it.

And if you're a vital member of his body, and that's how he, the king of the universe identifies you,

then he also thinks that you have an important role to play in the successful functioning of his body.

Now, I may not see you that way.

I'm not saying I don't.

But I may not see you that way.

The church may not see you that way.

You may not see yourself that way.

But Jesus Christ, the one who has left his body here on earth, Jesus Christ, the one who includes you in his body,

thinks you are a vital part of his body, and he thinks that are millions and millions of people who've accepted him.

And he thinks that because you are a vital part of the body, that you have a significant function in helping him have his body work successfully here on earth.

This is how he thinks.

And he's not into lip service.

He's never given lip service in his life.

He's never flattered anyone.

He doesn't make you feel better about yourself.

He's not that kind of a psychologist.

What he says is always what he means.

So when you look at scriptures like 1 Corinthians 14, 26, or Colossians 3, 15, 16, or Ephesians 5, 19 to 21,

you'll find that his idea of how the body functions is very different from a pastor's idea or a church's idea.

And at the end of the day, how dare a pastor or a church determine how his body should function except him?

So if you go to 1 Corinthians 14, 26,

1 Corinthians 14, 26,

it says there,

It says there,

What then shall we say, brothers, when you come together,

when you come together, everyone has a hymn,

everyone has a hymn or a word or instruction, a revelation, a tongue, or an interpretation.

All of these must be done for the strengthening of the church.

Let me read it again just in case you missed it.

What then shall we say, brothers,

When you come together, everyone has a hymn or a word or instruction, a revelation, a tongue, or an interpretation.

All of these must be done for the strengthening of the body.

Let's go to Ephesians 5.

Ephesians 5,

19 to 21. Ephesians 5, 19 to 21.

Here's what it says.

Speak to one another with psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs.

Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord,

always giving thanks to God the Father for everything in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Sing and speak to each other in psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs.

Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord,

always giving thanks to God the Father for everything in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Do you know what we do with these songs?

We make them into a little song for kids.

And we make kids sing it.

A joyful heart makes good melody, good melody, a joyful heart.

And the kids sing it, and that's about it.

Grown-ups hardly practice stuff like this, man.

And these are prescribed by Christ, the head of the body.

Let's look at another one. Colossians 3, 15 and 16.

Colossians 3, 15 and 16.

Colossians 3, 15 and 16.

Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts,

since as members of one body you were called to peace.

And be thankful.

And let the word of Christ dwell in you richly,

as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom,

and as you sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs

with gratitude in your hearts to God.

And whatever you do, whether in word or deed,

do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus,

giving thanks to God the Father through him.

And so because he thinks that each of us,

and not just the pastor, not just the worship team,

not just some of the leaders,

because he actually thinks that each of you is a vital part of his body,

and that the moment you were baptized,

you were baptized into the body of Christ,

that you have a significant role to play

in the successful functioning of the body here on earth.

And a lot of it happens during our times of corporate meeting,

be it in a household, or be it on a Sunday event like this.

This is where the chiseling happens.

It's like a quarry.

They said of the Temple of Solomon when it was being built,

that the Temple of Solomon,

you could not hear the sound of hammer or chisel,

because that was done in the quarry,

and then the bricks were bought and put together

when the Solomon's Temple was built.

The point being that here is where the chiseling happens.

In the next six days, they won't hear a sound,

but they will see the functioning of the body of Christ in the world out there.

But here you will hear noises and chiseling,

and this is not the Temple of God.

This is an activity of the church called Sunday.

The Temple of God functions in six days of the week,

where God dwells amongst His people

and expresses Himself through His people in the world.

Beautifully, here is where the chiseling happens.

This is the quarry,

and He builds the temple together so that starting tomorrow till Saturday,

out there in the world, He will show Himself through a body called the church.

But when we gather like this, He has certain prescriptions

that He expects us to follow,

and unfortunately we don't.

All these scriptures that I read implies

that our assembling together must be a time

where each one can participate.

Where each one not must participate,

but each one can participate.

All these scriptures we read,

written by the Holy Spirit,

directed by Christ for us,

says that when you assemble together,

doesn't matter whether it's on a Wednesday, Tuesday, or Sunday,

when you assemble together,

each one must have the opportunity to participate.

You can or cannot, but you must have the opportunity

so that the body functions successfully.

I believe there are 206 bones in the body by the time you are a grown up.

What if three of them decide that they are not going to function?

Because they are not important enough.

You know how much it hurts when a little bone gets a little something, right?

It is so blooming painful.

And the whole body then has to compensate

by either bending one way or bending the other or not moving,

just because one or two bones decide

that they want to fuse or they don't want to fuse.

Why did Christ use the analogy of the body?

It wasn't because He thought,

well, let's see, what's the favorite thing today?

No, it's because the body actually helps explain what He wants to do.

But for the radical participatory nature of the body to thrive,

order is critical.

For the radical participatory nature

of the body,

to thrive,

order is critical.

Why is it that we don't go down this road?

Because we are scared that it can get disorderly,

scared that it can get hijacked,

scared that it can be error-prone,

scared that it will be so messed up.

So why don't we have a few guys who are either educated enough

or anointed enough or appointed enough

or have something that allows them to lead us

and they participate on our behalf.

And it brings me to that scripture in Exodus

where Moses goes to the people and the people say to him,

you go talk to God and then come tell us what we need to do.

And we have our own variation of it.

But we are scared to go down this road

because going down this road could end up being really messy.

So why not leave it to the professionals?

My hope is that through this teaching

and through practicing it first in the households,

that even this event or activity of the church

that we celebrate at 1.45 every Sunday

begins to change in its nature.

This is not a teaching so that we go home thinking,

aha, we have an insight.

It is so that we can have an insight and then actually practice it.

This church must be a lab in which the things of God work

so that it can be exported to Tokyo and to Vilnius in Lithuania.

And other places too. Those two places came to mind.

Any questions before we go on?

Any questions?

Guys, one must begin to think of oneself as a vital part of the body of Christ

and the way Christ identifies you.

If you don't see Christ identifying you as a vital part of his body,

you will always settle for the pews.

And you'll always be looking for, am I talented enough?

Am I gifted enough?

Am I educated enough?

Am I passionate enough?

Am I educated enough?

Am I passionate enough?

And for that to happen, you'll have to be stirred up.

By the time you're really stirred up, you're almost old enough to die.

So we can avoid all that by really identifying ourselves as Christ identifies us.

And when it comes to anointing, I just love that scripture.

We'll talk about it next week.

The Spirit of God is upon me because he has anointed me.

The Spirit of God is on me because, as in, hey, Jacob, the Spirit of God is on you

because I have anointed you to do, and then he gives you a list.

And it's the same thing that comes up in Acts 10.30, it says,

God anointed Jesus with the Holy Spirit and with power.

This is our true present condition.

We may not be exhibiting it, but it is our true present condition.

So order, if you want to define it, I love this definition.

You can add to it, but I just thought this was a God definition.

Order is God's arrangement of authority relationships.

Order is God's arrangement of authority relationships through which

he works his will, he works his will, and prospers his people.

It kind of captures the essence of what order is, better than I've ever captured it before.

Order is God's arrangement of authority relationships, meaning in this arrangement,

in this structure that he has, there is this idea of authority, but it is relational.

It is not impersonal and hierarchical.

It is relational.

Authority relationships through which he, God, works out his will,

and through which he, God, prospers his people.

And it applies to God, it applies to a righteous government, it applies to a righteous employer,

it applies to a family, it applies to every aspect of society, because everything works under order.

Nothing works out of order.

When things work out of order, it's called disorder, and we'll talk about that.

And so the converse of what I've written here is the cause of our present condition in the world,

in the sense that when the arrangement of authority relationships is destroyed, disrupted,

when it's rebelled against, then God is not able to do anything about it.

When it's rebelled against, then God is not able to work his will,

and he is not able to prosper his people because they've chosen the way of the first one who rebelled against order,

which was Lucifer, and therefore now Lucifer gets to work his will, and Lucifer gets to destroy people.

It is a bedrock of the way a society functions, it is a bedrock of the way a church functions,

it is a bedrock of the way you function, it is a bedrock of the way a family functions.

We don't realize how critically important order is to life.

So when you look at scriptures, you will find that there is an order to...

Yeah, we'll get there a little later.

Each member of the Trinity subjects themselves to order.

So in the Trinity they are interdependent, they are subject to order,

they are relational, there is an authority structure,

and why is it? So that they can complement God's will together,

complement God's will together, and so that they can bring the Father glory.

Even the Trinity, the triune God, the Godhead, works this way,

where they are interdependent, where there is a structure of authority,

where they fulfill specific roles, where it is relational,

all towards one end, to complement the Father's purpose or will, and to display his glory.

Therefore, 1 Corinthians 11, verse 3 says that the Father is ahead,

1 Corinthians 11:3

Christ submits to him, and that the Holy Spirit in John 14, 26,

takes that which is of the Son and displays it to us.

And even when Jesus talks about the Holy Spirit, he says,

I will pray to my Father to send you his Spirit.

There is this beautiful interdependent, subject to order, relational authority structure

that exists in the triune Godhead, and how do we think we can function without that?

How do we think we can function without that?

You will find that if you were to go and correct the idea of order in your families,

in your work, in your own life, you will find half your situations disappearing,

just evaporating. You will find that you won't have to pray against the devil,

because the devil does not have traction, because he only bites when you break the hedge.

You will be surprised at how much peace comes into life,

and by peace I mean solid shalom, comes into your life when order is followed.

I can't tell you how much.

Some solutions to life are so simple, guys. So simple, it's crazy. You don't need to pray.

So here's the thing. Order only exists if authority relationships are recognized and honored.

Order only exists if authority relationships are recognized and honored.

And order will only exist if authority relationships,

and I love the word authority relationships because there is authority, but it is relational.

Authority that is not relational is not tethered to the nature of God,

and will take on a dictatorial dominant, dominating, Garden of Eden fall nature.

Order will only exist when authority relationships are recognized and honored.

It has to be recognized first, and then it has to be honored.

Can you turn up the heat a little, please?

It must be recognized. So sometimes things cannot be recognized if you don't go discovering them.

Ignorance is bliss in the world, not in Scripture.

Ignorance is bliss in the world, not in Scripture.

So it has to be recognized. So search it out.

Searching it out requires diligence because laziness is what destroys us Christians, right?

If I can't get it on Google, then I ain't going to search for it.

But if you discover it and recognize it and then honor it, honor it,

what happens? The will of God begins to prosper and you begin to prosper.

I'm not talking about money. I'm talking about this great thing called God's ways.

Just permeating your life.

There's no extent you should not go to to make sure you're under order.

I went to the UK recently, right? I don't know whether I told you this.

So I'm going to my sister's house, my brother-in-law's house,

and that evening that I landed, they have a church meeting there.

Their church meeting.

And I'm going to the church meeting.

And I'm going to the church meeting.

And I'm going to the church meeting.

That evening that I landed, they have a church meeting there.

Their church meeting.

And I know that if I go there, there'll be people asking me questions.

They might even ask me to teach.

What do you know?

As soon as I, before I even go there, they're saying, could you teach this evening?

It's my sister's house.

And here's the letter I write to the pastor of the church who's in Houston.

I'm going to be in Bristol. I'll be in my sister's house on Wednesday.

They have a house group meeting on Wednesday.

I'm quite sure that someone's going to ask me to share or they'll ask me questions or I'll have to teach.

I want to find out if it would be okay with you if that happened.

If not, do not worry. I'll find something to do.

And I will not be in my sister's house when the meeting is happening.

How dumb is that?

I'm going as a visitor.

I have the right to be in my sister's house more than any other guys who are there.

There's no question of doing it because that house group does not belong to Axman.

It belongs to somebody else.

And so the pastor took two or three days, thought about it,

and then wrote back saying that I'm fine if you do this,

but please remember not to answer these questions or to talk about these.

And I said, I'll make sure that I don't.

This is what I mean by discovering or first discovering, then recognizing, then honoring what is orderly.

Any questions before we go on?

This whole idea of as long as you don't know it, it's okay does not work in the kingdom.

As long as you don't know it is disadvantages to us because where are people lack vision, they?

I don't know why God makes important things not very attractive.

But he's always been like that.

He never wants you to grab something because it's charismatic and exciting.

He wants you to grab it because it's true.

So, we've got tons of time.

So look at the different order equations in the Bible.

There's Christ and the church.

There's Christ and the church and the principalities and powers.

There is parent child.

There is husband wife.

There is pastor and the common priesthood.

There is government and citizens.

There's leader and those that they lead.

There's employer employee.

There are how issues in a church should be administered.

Ephesians, that book is full of order.

Go to Ephesians 1.

Ephesians 1.

20 and 21.

Ephesians 1, 20 and 21.

Hey, are there lights here that can be turned on?

Ephesians 1, 20 and 21.

Not the psychedelic ones, just the normal ones.

Yeah, yeah, that's good.

Like, given that I'm a mega church pastor, I'm kind of used to these lights.

So when they're not there, it kind of feels kind of odd.

So, Ephesians 1, 20 and 21.

Which he exerted in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every title that can be given, not only in the present age but also the one to come.

And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way.

We read that and we don't realize that what is being spoken of there is the authority relationship between Christ and the church and Christ and the powers, and therefore Christ and the church and the powers.

I'm just running through this. We'll talk about it another time.

Chapter 4, verse 12 to 16.

Ephesians 4, 12 to 16.

I'm just skimming through it, eh? So if we don't understand it, that's fine.

Ephesians 4, 12 to 16.

Starting at 11.

It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, some to be pastors, and some to be teachers to prepare God's people for the works of service so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.

There he talks about different categories of equipping and how they relate to the church.

And even in those categories, there are specific authority relationships where he talks about first apostles, then prophets, but we're not going into that right now.

Chapter 5, verse 24 and 26.

Chapter 5, verse 24 to 26.

Starting at verse 22.

This is why it doesn't fit with our modern society, eh?

I've said this before over and over again.

The whole idea of equality came because of the fall.

It is a flawed idea.

It is one thing to be equal.

It is another thing to grasp for equality.

Grasping for equality was a result of the fall.

The first time equality was desired was when Satan whispered to Eve and Adam, do not you, don't you want to be like God?

The be like someone else lies at the heart of equality and grasping it.

Choose.

And so just remember that guys.

It's a great democratic value, but it ain't a great kingdom value.

Because the one who started the kingdom, it says of him in Philippians chapter 2, verse 6 to 9, that even though he was equal with God, he chose not to grasp his equality or to hold on to it as something that he must somehow retain.

Philippians 2:6–9

But he laid it down.

So things in heaven and earth, do they all have some hierarchy?

Hierarchy would remove from it relationship.

So that's why the word authority relationships is important.

It's very deliberate because hierarchy kind of makes it impersonal and kind of makes it positional.

All authority relationships and the whole idea of order is so that function may happen.

And what is a function that God's will may be done and God's people may prosper.

Yeah.

Ephesians chapter 5, verse 22 onwards.

Ephesians 5:22

Wives submit to your husband.

What?

Wives submit to your husbands as to the Lord for the husband is head.

What?

For the husband is head of the wife.

As Christ is head of the church, his body, of which he is a savior.

Now, as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands and everything.

Husbands, love your wives just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by washing with water through the word and to present herself to himself as a radiant church without any sin.

A radiant church without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless.

Again, skimming over verses chapter six, verse one to four, chapter six, verse one to four.

Children obey your parents in the Lord for this is right.

Honor your father and mother, which is the first commandment with the promise that it may go well with you and that you may enjoy long life on the earth.

Fathers, do not exasperate your children.

Instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord.

Chapter six, verse six to eight between slaves and masters of bosses and employees.

Slaves, obey earthly masters with respect and fear them with sincerity of heart, just as you would obey Christ.

Obey them not only to win their favor when their eyes on you, but like slaves of Christ, doing the will of God from your heart.

Serve wholeheartedly as if you were serving the Lord, not men, because you know that the Lord will reward everyone for whatever good he does, whether he's slave or free.

Masters, treat your slaves in the same way.

Do not threaten them, since you know that he who is both their master and yours is in heaven and there is no favoritism with him.

Yikes! If you read it in the message, you will shudder.

Authority relationships. Let's look at another one.

Romans chapter 13, verse one and two.

Romans 13 · chapter mention

Romans 13, verse one and two.

Everyone must submit himself to governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established.

Yikes! Which means even when authority is defunct and cruel and evil, it was set there by God and it turned evil, but it is not existing in a vacuum.

You can resist it when it goes against the nature and the commands of God.

But know this, everyone must submit himself to governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established.

The authorities that exist have been established by God.

Consequently, he who rebels against authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves.

Yikes!

One last one.

When it comes to issues that have to do with dealing with church, there is again authority relationships.

Administration of the household is important and there is stuff to that too.

Look at Matthew 18, verse 15.

Matthew 18:15

If your brother sins against you, go and show him his fault, just between the two of you.

If he listens to you, you have won your brother over.

But if he will not listen, take one or two others along, so that every matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.

If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church.

And if he refuses to listen even to the church, treat him as you would a pagan or a tax collector.

Let's look at one more and stop.

We're not talking about it, we're just looking at it so you have an idea of how the Bible is replete with authority relationships to deal with issues.

And to establish God's order.

Let's go to 1 Timothy 5, 1 Timothy 5, 19 and 20.

1 Timothy 5, 19 and 20.

Where's Timothy?

Before Hebrews?

Yeah.

1 Timothy 5, 19 and 20.

Do not entertain an accusation against an elder unless it is brought by two or three witnesses.

Those who sin are to be rebuked publicly so that others may take warning.

But do not entertain an accusation against an elder unless it's brought by two or three witnesses.

There's order in this kingdom, man.

There is order in this kingdom.

Any questions before we go on?

And if we don't, sorry, just one sec, if we don't really subscribe to this order, we will never be able to do what those first few scriptures talked about, where the entire church can participate.

Because Jesus Christ actually sings that you are a vital part of his body.

But if all the 206 bones in my body wanted to speak at the same time, we'll keep singing that song.

My bones cry out, what's that song?

Great are you, Lord.

I mean, everything will start screaming at the same time.

It can't happen.

Each one has its place and order is so critical to this whole thing.

Sorry, go ahead.

Yeah, I guess the reason why he says order is necessary is for function.

It seems like it's more like a touch of a military style structure where there's a chain of command, authority at the top, and then orders get carried down from the bottom and it gets done.

And then even Jesus talks about the century and really honors and respects some word of authority and structure.

Yeah, as we go further, as we go down, you'll find that even though it looks like there's someone on top and someone below and someone below, that once we think in terms of common good, the whole thing disappears.

Because the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, even though the Father is at the head and Jesus Christ glorifies him and the Holy Spirit takes what is Jesus', the Holy Spirit points to Jesus, Jesus points to the Father.

But guess what?

The Father points to the Son and the Son points to the Holy Spirit.

So whose head?

Honshu.

Very hard to figure out.

Jesus Christ, the Father points to Christ saying, look at him and you will see me.

Christ says, I have come to show you the Father.

Christ says, listen to the Holy Spirit and he'll tell you the truth about me.

Holy Spirit says, I've not come to glorify myself, I've come to glorify Jesus.

Jesus says, I can do nothing by myself.

Everything that I do, I do by the Father.

Your head is spinning because there is authority relationships, but it is for the common good.

And nobody thinks one is more important than the other.

And everybody thinks the other one is more important.

Do you see how far we've fallen?

No.

It is, we've got to recapture these things.

This is critical to living and critical to establishing the kind of church that Jesus Christ wanted to establish.

Yeah.

This thing of mine is the head.

Remove that.

The rest of the body is equal, even though it's not.

It's hard how this works, but it works wonderfully, guys.

We've got to figure and wrap our heads around it, eh?

And if we can, we can show the world what it looks like.

So here are some things about order that you need to know.

First, order submits to the principles of God first.

Order submits to the principles of God first.

We get stuck because we think, ah, I've got to submit to him?

No. Before you think I've got to submit to him or her, think along the lines of order first submits to the principles of God.

And then, in submitting to the principles of God, it submits to someone in authority.

What does that mean?

That means that when a wife thinks, how can I follow this guy who's my husband, who's such a, you know what?

And what I meant was such a wonderful guy.

Sorry.

He's such a great guy.

That's exactly what I was thinking.

Awesome fellow. Yeah.

So such a, you know what?

And so when you begin to think like that, it just chaps, eh?

Because, and that is when you have to go to the other part, which is I first submit to a principle that God has ordained.

And that helps me then submit to authority even when authority is dysfunctional.

And when authority is dysfunctional, there are ways to deal with it, but that's not what we're talking about today.

So don't go down that road because that's an entirely different sermon and you'll have to stay here till 6.30.

There is a way to deal with dysfunctional authority in marriages, in churches, in every situation.

Thank God, God covers all the gaps, eh?

So the first submission is to the principle and then to people.

My pride can deceive me into partial or unwilling submission to order.

My pride can deceive me into partial or unwilling submission to order.

And both will lead to evil.

Both will lead to evil.

Unwilling submission to order.

Yeah.

So for instance, first Samuel 24, David is being egged on by his...

Has anyone gone to the restaurant called Expectation in Richmond?

No way. There's a new restaurant called Expectation.

It's where the old IHOP used to be.

But anyways, moving on.

David, yeah.

David was being egged on. That's where the whole Expectation thing started.

David was being egged on by his men when Saul was sleeping in the cave.

They're going and telling David, hey David, you're supposed to be the next king.

Go kill him right now.

He's alone in that cave. His men are not there with him.

And David actually is deceived into thinking that's the way to go.

He enters the cave and then he realizes he shouldn't.

And then he still doesn't stop.

He goes and cuts off a piece of his robe.

And then he comes out and in verse 6 of 1 Samuel 24, he's regretting it, saying,

I should not have done this.

Because there is this thing called being deceived into partial or unwilling submission.

And both will eventually lead to evil because it opens the door for rebellion to start.

Guys, I'm sorry we can't go into it, but when authority is dysfunctional,

Christ gives us ways to deal with it.

But we can't talk about it now.

We've dealt with it in the past.

We'll deal with it some other time.

So don't go down that road.

Don't think of, oh, so how am I going to deal with this and that and that person and this person?

Leave those people alone right now.

Just focus on this.

Because otherwise you lose what I think God is trying to say.

Second, order recognizes the flow of the spirit and synchronizes with the flow instead of swimming solo.

And now we're coming back to the idea of church.

Why are we talking about order?

Because if we can establish order, then we can practice church as it's meant to be practiced.

Order recognizes the flow of the spirit and synchronizes itself with the flow instead of swimming solo.

The point being, guys, every time we meet together on a Sunday, on a Wednesday in a household, in Pilgrim,

try and figure out where the Holy Spirit is going and try to flow with it instead of swimming solo.

Where it is me, my God and my church.

No, no, no.

Figure out where the Holy Spirit is going.

That way, even if there is something important that is on your heart, you will seize from saying it or thinking it

because you're finding out that that day in church, everything is flowing another way.

And so you begin to flow with what the spirit of God is doing in the church.

Everything works together in unison because at the end of the day, it's the spirit of God who leads things in the church.

It'll be great, wouldn't it?

When one day, and I'm telling you all of us are changing, when one day all of us come to the church

and all of us are trying to figure out what is the spirit of God saying or doing today?

What does he want to affect us with? Infect us with?

And all of us actually begin to get the idea and we begin to flow that way.

Can you imagine what he can accomplish to our people?

The idea of unity is so...

Unity actually should be replaced by the word oneness.

Unity seems to be kumbaya. Oneness seems to be thinking, feeling, working with the spirit of God together.

And for that, you'll have to open your heart and mind and spirit.

Unity is easy. You only have to open your hands.

And then hold someone else's hand and we feel united.

Oneness is a whole different ballgame because now you've got to take the effort to open your heart, mind and spirit.

That requires work.

If I'm leading worship here and I hear Jane beginning to mumble things and say things...

Mumble was the wrong word.

And I'm listening to her and she's beginning to sing something and then I realize that, okay,

I think that's the spirit of God so now you back off, Jacob, and let her go with it.

And so then today she started singing about laying down life and how Christ laid down his life.

And so after she finished, I took off from the same place.

Find out. It doesn't matter who you are or what your position is.

Flow with the one who has the only position in the church, who is the spirit of Christ.

We've got to show the world how this works, guys.

Not because we are special but because God loves the lab.

Order thrives when common good and building up others is more important than you.

Order thrives when common good and building up others is more important than you.

Why do things get disorderly? Because envy comes in, ambition comes in, self-focus comes in,

exhibitionism comes in, narcissism comes in. That's when order is broken. Lucifer came with all of

that. That guy was loaded with instruments. He was an ace at worship. He saw God closer than anybody

else. He used to walk with God on diamond studded floors. He knew and saw God and yet that creature,

one of the indulgent exhibitionism, narcissism, self-focus and got kicked out of the one place

that he had. Order thrives when common good and building up others is more important than myself.

And so the works of order will always exhibit the meekness of wisdom. The works of order will

always exhibit the meekness of wisdom. The works of order will always exhibit the meekness of wisdom.

The works of order will always exhibit the meekness of wisdom. Please don't think of meekness as some

kind of frail guy bent over saying yes to everything. It's like a war horse whose muscles

just shimmer under its skin and yet who is absolutely still, not snorting, not stomping

the ground, absolutely still. 1 Corinthians 1438 puts it this way, if anyone ignores this they should

be ignored. The message puts it even more crudely, if you won't play by these rules God can't use you,

sorry. 1 Corinthians 1438, if anyone ignores this they should be ignored, if you won't play by these

rules God can't use you, sorry. Do you realize how important this is guys? When order is frayed,

and it only takes one or two, let's assume I decide that I'm not going to follow order,

I decide that I'm going to be disorderly. And when order is frayed two things will come in

immediately through me, confusion and disorder. Confusion and disorder will come in through me.

And doesn't matter how small or how big, if Sheldon is leading worship and he says stop,

then it doesn't matter how anointed I am, I better stop. If I'm leading worship and I look

at Chris and say stop playing, doesn't matter how musically wonderful she is, she's got to

stop playing. I picked on two people who haven't done anything wrong, I would never pick on you

if you had done something like that, or maybe I would. The point being as soon as whenever

there is order there is submission to the principle and submission to authority. Chaffs man,

you know why chaffs? Because we have been brought up very differently, where our individualism is

the most important thing in the world. We are a product of our evil environment. Now let salt

recover its saltiness. Disorder is usually attributable to self-focus, exhibitionism,

disdain for others with lesser abilities and disregard for common good. Disorder is usually

a result of self-focus, as in I am the most important part of this. Exhibitionism, as in

I've got to show them how good I am, how well I preach, how well I sing, how wonderful I am.

Disregard for the common good, as in yeah he might have a better idea but it doesn't matter

because my idea needs to be heard first. Paul railed against this. 1 Corinthians 14, even though

it's a chapter on prophecy and the order, how to be prophetic, it's not as much about prophecy as

it is about order in the church. And he says listen, if someone else is speaking then you sit down

and let him finish, two or three at the most, some way because God is not a God of confusion.

And the idea of confusion there, the word confusion there, I was looking at it and it implies this

presumed defiance or opposition to God's prescribed ways. Presumed defiance or opposition to God's

prescribed ways. That's what the word confusion means there. I always get surprised by this,

and I'm not saying every time this happens it's the reason I'm giving, but I've seen this happen

so many times in churches where you'll ask people to sit in a circle and they'll always be, always

be one or two that will not join the circle. Because you will, this is strange, it's almost,

it's not a generic statement but please listen to what I'm saying. You will find that when you

set a circle in a group that is supposed to be one, there will always be people who will not join

the circle. And you might think of it as nothing. Sometimes it is because you don't like being in a

circle, it's a cloistered thing, so you may choose not to. But time and time again I've noticed in my

life and I've noticed in the life of others. Set a circle and there'll always be people who refuse to

join the circle. It's not a generic statement, it's not in the Bible. I'm just saying it happens. If

it is because you are uncomfortable because the guy next to you is too close or girl next to you is

too close or you feel cloistered, that's different. But when you sit out because you want not to be

caught up in what is happening, then know that there is something in it. And I've always noticed

the ones that sit outside the circle are usually the ones that cause a whole lot of problems later.

I'm talking about... I'm old man. I just realized how long I've been doing something that is

connected to pastoring. In the last 30 years I've seen this so often and it's always been the people

who choose and you can invite them back into the circle and they will not sit. It's on the side,

don't pay too much attention to it and if you find yourself outside the circle I won't even look at

you. The idea is not that. It's not a generic statement. Okay, let's move on. But I needed to say

that because we should know our own hearts. I used to do that, guys. I used to do that when I

wouldn't like the person who was running the meeting and I had to be part of the meeting.

I would stay outside the circle just to show that if I wanted to leave I could leave any time. That

was my way of showing that yes I'm here because I'm willing to help you but on my terms by staying

outside the circle I can choose to leave any time I want to. I'll keep my options open. It is not a

generic statement but I'm just letting you know. Okay, we said that the body of Christ has a

radical participatory nature where each one can participate but that won't be... but how do we...

here's what I'm trying to say. If you want to radically participate in the body these are the

things we have to keep in mind. I'll just go through it. One, make sure that you're not centered

on yourself but on common good and on building up the body. Let's assume you have a revelation.

Yeah, let's assume you have a prophetic word. Let's assume you have a hymn or a song. May it

be for the common good. Cultivate these guys because I want to change the way we do services

here. This is not the way services are done. I was talking to the worship team some days ago. Do

you know that till 313 AD worship used to be like we read in Ephesians, Colossians and

1 Corinthians. Worship used to be everybody participating. Everybody had an opportunity.

Come Constantinople and in 313 AD was the first time that there was a choir. 313 AD was the first

time there was a choir and as soon as the choir came suddenly people's participation began to go

out of the window. These choirs were developed so that communion could be celebrated. Come 367 AD,

congregational singing was banned because they were afraid that congregational singing may have

a lot of mistakes. There might be error. So in 367 AD in churches congregational singing was banned.

As is a variation of that we sing but you will sing from where you are because there are

professionals who run the show. But for the first 300 years of the church there was no problem till

Christianity became the state religion through Constantinople. And so from 367 to 580 there was

no singing from the congregation and then there was one of the Pope developed a singing school

in 580 and the singing school you had to go and train for nine years so that you could be

professionals who lead congregational singing. In 1517 congregational singing was brought back

to the churches. In 1800 choirs helped lead congregational singing but you could not use

instruments. Slowly after that came robes. Now you could sing in robes. After that came the organ.

Now you could sing in robes and the organ and some churches are still stuck there. And then in the

late 1960s that is when worship teams replaced choirs and worship pastors emerged. And yet

for the first 300 years of Christianity it was biblical. We are going back to the way of Christ

and his Apostles. Doesn't mean that everybody has to sing that Derek has to come and lead worship.

It just means that everybody now participates in the idea of service and it does not have to be

all musical. So keep these things in mind. Will you stay in order? And staying in order requires

that you not be self-centered. That I'm not self-centered but I look for common good and

building up the body. Two, will I be considerate of you? Will I be considerate of you? And will I

make sure that I'm not easily offended if you cut me off and start saying something? Will I be

considerate of you? Will I do what Paul says where he says, well if someone else has a revelation

why don't you sit down Jacob because you've been speaking for a while except when I'm teaching guys.

One was will I choose not to be self-centered but instead will I look out for common good and one

anothering so that the body is built up? You just became members and don't take advantage.

Oh you haven't given it to Heidi? Okay. Am I going to be self-centered or am I going to look out for

common good and therefore one another to build up the body? Moving on. Will I be considerate of

you or will I be easily offended? Will I submit to authority at any level? Will I subscribe to the

common set of teachings that the church is teaching? Sometimes guys, and here's the thing,

my ears are super sharp. I can eavesdrop at very long distances and so sometimes when I eavesdrop

I can hear people advising others in this church and I think to myself but that's not what the

church believes in and sometimes I correct it sometimes I don't. The point being if you subscribe

to the common set of teachings then your advice will be accordingly and if it is not then you

need to check it with somebody before your advice. This is important, eh? It's part of being in order

and in doing that you may correct me because what if what I'm teaching is wrong then I'll have to

change it. There are things that I've taught in churches both here and in other parts of the world

where I had to go and apologize to them saying I was wrong forgive me for teaching this. Why?

Because when people finally showed me that what the way I was practicing something was wrong I

had to go back to all the churches that I practiced it in and say that I was wrong I should not have

done this. So in you coming and checking with me whether this is right it might so be that the

entire church may benefit just in case I was wrong. But when you advise people in this church make

sure it subscribes to the common set of teachings otherwise hold back your counsel to people in

this church because that is being in order. Any questions because these things sound a little

harsh. Any questions? Yep? Order thrives in common good.

Order thrives in common good is more important than me.

And so what's your question?

I think at the root of it is rebellion which lies in the heart of every man. That's where it

starts where order is broken. We start with this whole idea of rebellion to individualism. It is

the very nature of man to behave like that but having changed and having received Christ into my

life I must now begin to resist these two things. Rebelling because I don't like the package that

you are regardless of whether you tell me the truth or not. Two, individualism where I want to

exert my rights before I exert the common good. These two lie at the heart of it. Everything else

is gravy. Favouritism may affect me. Discrimination may affect me. But at the end of the day everything

starts with these two things. That there is the tendency in man to rebel against authority

because we live in a fallen world. Two, individualism is highly prized and it is what we are taught

right from when we are kids. Guys I'm telling you something and I've said this before. Ambition

ain't a godly value. Ambition will cause you to trample somebody else to get to where you have to.

Ambition will cause you to compete. Ambition will create rivals. Ambition will limit you because you

only can dream so far. If I had ambitions I wouldn't be anywhere near where I am right now.

God keeps setting dreams for you that are so beyond what you can ask, think or imagine. And

because they are so far beyond what you can ask, think or imagine you are heavily dependent on him

because you can't do it yourself. And they are so uniquely you that there is no rivalry or

competition because you can't do what they do, they can't do what you do. And yet you are so

reliant on the body because you realize you can't pull it off yourself. Individualism is nice but

before individualism there is something else called interdependent, subject to order, relational,

so that God's purpose may be complemented. I'm sorry I may not have answered it the way you want

to but it's brought up two other points that lie at the root of most everything. Next one, if I'm

ignorant of the word or the nature of God it's going to be very hard to practice things commonly

and it's a learned process. Every day we learn more about the word of God and the nature of God

and therefore when we come up here and share a revelation our revelation will be more and more

accurate because it matches the word of God. Because I've had people come, I've seen people

come up in meetings, I'm not talking about Acts 29, though it's happened at Acts 29 too, and share

a revelation that ain't from the nature of God. It's a revelation but it was just a revelation,

it was in the nature of God. So the more we learn the word the more we can participate to build each

other up. So just be aware of that and it's a learned thing. What I knew 10 years ago, 5 years ago,

2 years ago is not what I know now. I know more so now it can be more accurate. So that's a constant

process so we don't have to worry about that. Two, if I'm dull to what the spirit is doing then it

becomes very hard to participate as a body. If I'm dull to what the spirit is doing, if I'm dull to

what the spirit is doing. The spirit of God is doing something but I'm dull to it. Dullness happens

because of two reasons. One, during the six days of the week I ain't interested. That brings

dullness. And then the other reason dullness comes is because I don't sharpen my life with a word.

Those are the two reasons for dullness. Dullness is either because of infrequent use or because of

the lack of sharpening. Those are the two reasons for dullness. Why doesn't Acts get dull? Two reasons,

you don't sharpen it. Two, you use it a lot but you don't use it. One or the other. I'll tell you when

we Christians get dull. When during Monday to Saturday nobody knows that you're a Christian

because it doesn't show in your words, your deeds, your acts, internal or external. That is when

dullness sets in. The second reason dullness sets in is we are actively Christian out there but we

don't sharpen our lives with a word. So we are a blunt axe and we can't understand why it's taking

longer to chop down a tree. The scriptures say though that an axe that is blunt will take longer

to chop down a tree. I don't know whether this is true or not but either George Washington or Abraham

Lincoln, one of them said that, I'm both, I don't know which one, one of them said that if they were

given four hours to chop down a tree they would take three hours to sharpen the axe. Must be George

Washington, wasn't he the guy who chopped down the cherry tree and lied? Yeah. Who knows if it's true.

Here's another one. It is impossible to participate, everyone participating in order if we are unwilling

to be corrected and be a stiff-necked. If you're unwilling to be corrected and if you're stiff-necked,

it's very hard to participate together because what if I say something that isn't true and someone

has to correct me but I'm stiff-necked. Then what happens? Now how do I improve? I think I said this to you, right?

I said to Jane that hey you have to plan the service next week so she said okay and then she

planned it and then she came to ask me so I'm planning to, I said don't tell me. I don't want to

know but if you are doing things wrong after the service they'll correct you. I don't know whether

that was encouraging or not but the point was that don't tell me. If you make a mistake there

is always time for correction but are you open to that? Trust me man, if I am anything I am today,

it is because I have been open to correction most of my life. You may find this hard to believe but

standing before you is one of the most teachable correctable people you've met. You can ask people

who corrected and taught me. Guys it sounds like a boast and the only reason I'm boasting is because

I pray God that is the same with you. Here's another super important one. If you don't see

the family of families as a primary route from where you draw your core values, too complicated,

if you don't see this family as the place that you draw core values for your family,

you won't be able to participate for the common good. If you don't see this family as the main

family from which your family draws your core values, it'll become difficult. Yemen, this is

called the family. Your last name ain't your last name anymore. Your last name doesn't tell us

anything about you. Your last name is different and your last name is not Acts 29 just so you

know. Your last name is now that you belong to the body of Christ and therefore this becomes

your primary family. So the Osman family has to derive its values, core values from this family.

The carpenter family has to derive its values from this family and so it's critical that the

values we establish here are biblical because how terrible is it if the values we establish

here are not biblical but churchianity. Jesus said this, eh? I'm not telling you stuff that Jesus

didn't say. We've talked about this Mark 10. Jesus talks about this. Two more and then we're done.

When I stand and participate as Ephesians and Corinthians and Colossians says, for the common

good of the body, will I magnify God through the telescope of my life? Will I magnify God through

the telescope of my life? Will I magnify God through the telescope of my life? When you come

and share a testimony, will you be reluctant to come up and share a testimony because you're

scared that it'll glorify you because you're so desperate to become a telescope that will magnify

God? I do coax Jeevan into sharing that story because Jeevan was saying it'll look like I'm

blowing my own horn. I said blow it so that all of us can blow it too. The point being, will my

life telescope and magnify God? When I share a revelation, when I sing, when I teach, will it

telescope God? And the last one, will I seek self-preservation? Will I seek self-preservation

over building up the body? Will I seek self-preservation over building up the body? How does that apply Jacob?

Hey, why is it that most of us may not venture out and say stuff because we're not sure and we would

rather be quiet than make fools of ourselves? And there is something valid about that. Nobody likes

making fools of themselves but most things in the kingdom are wrought through being foolish. There

was a time at Act 29 when we used to meet at Roth Street where worship was very static. Most people

would move just one muscle in their calf during worship and you could hardly see it. And therefore,

I remember at one point deciding that I will dance. I dance at home and I don't look very

graceful because I usually dance in front of the mirror just to see how ungracious I look when I

dance. And so I was very aware of how I would look if I started dancing. But I decided we've got to

have this happen if this church is to be more animated. The first time I danced I was so scared

that I caught Elmer and I started dancing with him because I thought two people looking foolish

is better than one person being the focus. So I remember holding him and twirling him around

thinking I might dislocate his arm in the process. But the point was you must be foolish if participation

is supposed to happen. Self-preservation will maintain your dignity but prevent us from benefiting.

And then the other fear is what if I'm wrong? Then what if Jacob says something? I will do

my best not to do it publicly and occasionally if I do I will come and crave your forgiveness

and then repent of it publicly next week. But let's just stick to the first part. I will not do it.

I will not do it. Psalms, hymns, spiritual songs. Let's read that scripture one more time and then

we'll stop. This was how the church used to be in the beginning guys. And because of that it was

authentic. Because of that it was attractive to visitors. Because of that it could expand

spontaneously because you now didn't need a worship leader and a pastor to start a church.

Crazy, huh? You didn't need a worship leader and a pastor to start a church. You needed leaders

who had four qualities. Four simple qualities. One, they loved pursuing God. Two, they managed

their lives well and if they were married and had kids they managed their families well.

Three, they were faithful. Four, they had the ability to convey teachings faithfully.

Four things. One, they had a desire or a love to pursue God. Two, they managed their lives and

their families well. This is all throughout when you read the episodes Paul is looking for these

kind of men. They managed their families well and they managed their lives well. Three, they were

faithful and pure. When I say faithful I meant faithful to God. So let's use another word. Their

lives were pure. Time and time again Paul says don't be too hasty in laying your hands and

appointing people to leadership because what if their lives are not pure? Third, lives are pure.

Fourth, they could convey what they were taught faithfully. When I look around this room I can't

see anyone who cannot achieve these standards. You'll have to prove it but it is absolutely

attainable and when you prove it then you must be given space to step into. This is what leads

to spontaneous expansion. This is what leads to spontaneous expansion which is how the church

expanded. It spread like wildfire. Such a cool thing God has waiting for us man. You do feel a

little excited right? Okay thank you. Just wanted to feel a little better myself because

just a little excited. You're moving your calf muscle. Happy for you man. So it'll bring

authenticity to our gatherings. It can be reproduced easily into any assembly. Be it two people,

three people, hundred people. It can be reproduced. It's attractive to new people who come because

they're thinking to themselves, those shucks didn't know church was like this. And four,

it causes spontaneous expansion. Any questions before we wrap up? Any questions?