Prevailing Church : The Mystery in a nutshell

Guys, again, continue with the prevailing church and the mystery in a nutshell.

As in, at the end of the day, why is God saying become a prevailing church?

That's what we'll talk about.

And that's actually a phrase I took from the message version of either Colossians 1.27 or Ephesians 3.

I'm not too sure, but it's in the message, the mystery in a nutshell.

So let's define church. We haven't defined church for a while.

How do you define church?

I didn't read up on the definition so that I struggle as much as you do.

So how do you define church?

Remember we talked about this.

Churches of people. Go ahead, Jiwan.

Redeemed by the finished work of Christ.

Called out to the world.

And His Spirit.

Sent back into the world.

To demonstrate and proclaim the Gospel openly.

And to make disciples of all nations.

Baptizing them.

You guys are just brilliant. I mean, what is it with you guys?

Such intelligent, good-looking boys.

Great. So the rest of you, I hope, knew it and were giving them a chance to show off.

Yeah. So that's how church is defined. What's the mission of the church?

Mission of the church.

Sorry, Diana, I couldn't hear you. What did you say?

The mission of the church.

Okay. That's one way of saying it. Go ahead, Derek.

We have been set aside by Christ to assist Him in setting others apart.

We have been set apart by Christ to assist Him in setting others apart.

And like Diana was saying, we have been sent to make disciples.

Teaching them to observe everything that He has taught.

And we are sent to build communities of Christ through whom proclamation, penetration, and

progression of the Gospel takes place.

The mission of the church must not be forgotten.

You've got to have all the three things together, guys.

You miss out on any one of them and something falls apart.

One, you have been set aside by Christ to set, to assist Him in setting others aside.

That's the first part.

The second part is to make disciples, not just evangelize and help people,

not just evangelize and help people receive Christ, but then to make disciples of all nations,

teaching them to observe everything I've taught you.

And the third thing is once you make disciples, you have to now begin to include them in a body.

And one of the things we are supposed to do is build communities of Christ,

or build communities that reflect Christ, so that this community can go out and proclaim the Gospel,

take the Gospel and penetrate places that haven't yet seen the Gospel,

and then cause the Gospel to progress, which again is the idea of making more disciples.

These three things must not be forgotten because the church has amnesia every three months.

And they forget the reason for existence.

Keep remembering this.

I didn't look at the notes either because I wanted to remember it.

So keep that in mind.

So here's another word I want to define today before we go on.

Community.

When it says, oh, we need to take the Gospel to our community,

there are different ways that you can define it, but I'd like to kind of keep this definition in mind.

Because we don't necessarily work where we live or buy bread, where we live or bank, where we live,

or even go to school where we live.

Today, your community may be defined as your sphere of influence,

and I know we've said this before, but let us be a common kind of understanding.

Sphere of influence.

Segment of society.

Street you live and work in.

Streets that you live and work in.

Streets include your building.

And the stage of life that you are in.

These four things influence who you most usually rub shoulders with.

So that, in a sense, becomes the people that you relate to.

And that's important because that's where God wants to use you most.

Because he's, I mean, like it says in Acts chapter 17,

Acts 17 · chapter mention

God has appointed certain boundaries and places for me to live

so that at this present time, there is a sphere of influence I have.

There is a segment of society I presently occupy.

There are streets that I live and work in, and then there is a stage of life I am in.

These then begin to define, begin to kind of put a boundary around the people that I usually relate to.

God can send me on errands outside.

Any questions about that?

I'm not saying this is the way you define community.

I'm saying this is what it means when I would perhaps say that,

hey, make sure that you reach out to your community.

Because it's not the place you live anymore.

Just because you have your house somewhere.

Man, most of us return to our homes at 7pm in the evening and disappear at 6 in the morning.

So your neighborhood is much larger than the place you live.

You can add to this.

This is not a hard and fast definition, but just thought I'd let you know.

Guys, revival comes, and I don't like the word revival.

I've avoided it all my life, but I'm beginning to use the word again.

Revival comes when the wall between the church and your community is brought down.

Revival comes when the wall between your church, meaning you and the people that you belong to,

and the community, if I were to define it that way, when the wall between that collapses.

That's when revival comes.

Because most of the time, revival in church has been revival inside the church.

I believe that the kind of revival that God is looking for at this present time is now that I've reformed the church,

I want to revive things.

And how I revive things is by collapsing the wall that keeps you as a people inside a building

or a people that are introspective, but not introspective, that are very inclusive.

No, that are very exclusive.

And so here's how revival will come.

Revival will come when the wall between the church and your community is brought down.

And who brings down that wall?

We bring down that wall.

We bring down that wall.

How?

Through an openly lived life and through relationships.

Who set the example for this?

Jesus.

Who else?

The Holy Spirit talks about it in Ephesians 2, verse 14 to 16.

Ephesians 2:14–16

He says, And Jesus Christ has broken down the wall of hostility between Jew and Gentile,

that he has become our peace.

And now it's the turn of the church to say, I am no longer going to confine myself to this thing called the church.

I am a part of a people of God.

And the wall between the people of God and the Gentiles, if you want to call it that,

or the wall between the people of God and the rest of the world, I'm going to collapse.

I'm going to live an open life, an open Christ life.

I'm going to live it so that people can see what he looks like.

And I'm going to build relationships so that it can permeate into their lives,

so that osmosis happens by the Holy Spirit.

No longer will the church be a secluded something.

This is how the wall is broken.

The wall is broken by you, not by the God.

The wall is broken by you.

When the wall is broken by you, the Spirit of God begins to move in through relationships.

The wall is broken by you.

He is our peace.

He has broken down every wall.

Now it's the turn of the body of Christ.

We are Shalom.

We have broken down every wall.

Making one man out of Jew and Gentile Jesus did it.

We do the same thing now.

We make one man, including more and more and more,

into the body of Christ by breaking down the wall.

How do you break down the wall?

Only through relationships.

People listen better when you relate.

When I moved into this new place, they have this fob thingy.

So you've got to put the fob against this thingy,

and the elevator goes up and the elevator goes down.

So I'm putting my fob against this thingy,

only it turns out to be the speaker.

So you're supposed to put it on the glass panel next to it.

So I kept putting it down on this round thing

that was supposed to tell you that the elevator isn't working,

and so I'm pressing.

So finally a guy comes in and he looks at me strangely as I keep doing that.

And finally he gently says,

perhaps you could put it on that thing.

I felt so foolish, man.

But I've been meeting him three, four times,

and every time I meet him I quickly pull out my phone and I start looking at it.

So on Saturday I saw him again.

This time I decided my asshole face the giant.

So I said, hi, you were the first guy I met in the elevator,

and you were the one who told me that that isn't the thing you put your fob on.

But then we started talking and he told me his name.

I told him my name.

He said his roommate, his roomie has the same name.

And suddenly a conversation has begun, and now begins the rest of the story.

Things happen better through relationship.

It doesn't matter.

I mean, Derek was telling me a story of how...

You want to tell it?

I think this was last month.

We had a sycamore tree meeting,

and I was supposed to come set up the audio and video stuff

and then go back to UBC to play soccer.

So Sheldon and Jane dropped me off next door,

and then I did all the setup.

I didn't have the car to drive back to Marlboro,

so I decided to take a cab.

That morning when I was talking with God,

I had a sense that I'd meet someone in the neighborhood.

And then the cab comes.

I get into the cab,

and I start texting Jacob saying that,

hey, I've set everything up and stuff.

And then immediately this cab driver starts talking with me.

And then I had a sense that I should explore this more,

and then he asked me where I am from, what my name is.

I say, it's Derek.

He said, that's not an Indian name.

I say, well, that's my name.

And he said, my name is Rana, and I don't like my name.

So he's an Indian too.

I said, okay, that's great.

And he asked me one question, which part of India are you from?

And I say, I'm from Kerala.

And he asked me, why is Kerala so different?

So I explained to him, and I put in the word Christianity there.

So I said, that's a big reason why Kerala is different

from other parts of India.

And then we start talking, and he says, hey, you know what?

My wife just got baptized.

My wife just got baptized last week, and now I am wondering more about God,

but it's strange that you guys always pray for other people.

For the last X number of years, I'd go to Gurudwaras,

and then I'd always pray for my needs.

And then just two weeks ago, I went to this church with my wife,

and my son is disabled.

The entire church came over and prayed for him.

And for that very first time, I realized that, yeah,

you can actually pray to God for other people too.

And I was blessed by what they did.

And then I started talking to him about God, and he said,

this is my number.

Don't text me for the next two months,

because I'm going to be busy with weddings and stuff.

But after that, we should catch up.

And I talked to him about the house church that happens in Richmond and stuff.

And it's amazing how God does this, because that very morning,

I had a sense that I would be meeting someone.

And I mentioned this at house church too, in that sometimes...

I'll stop you one minute.

Sometimes then...

I'm not saying this is the equation,

but sometimes when there is an interruption in your life,

and something's different, you're supposed to take your car,

drive it back, but hey, there is something different.

Be very aware that God might have something for you.

It's not an equation, but at least in my life,

I'm seeing over and over again that sometimes God interrupts things

so that his agendas will come into play.

Nice.

Guys, revival comes when the wall between the church and your community is brought down.

We bring down that wall through an openly lived life and relationship,

just as Jesus did.

Engage in it.

I'm telling you, the more I hear your stories,

the more I'm convinced that this teaching is doing us some good.

Because it's making us aware.

I'm so constantly aware of what I teach.

And I keep telling the Lord Father, I better practice it, I better practice it,

I better practice it.

Because otherwise I disqualify myself from speaking it.

So what are we up against?

We are up against 2 Corinthians chapter 4, verse 3.

2 Corinthians 4:3

2 Corinthians chapter 4, verse 3 to 6.

2 Corinthians 4:3–6

This is what you're against, what you're up against.

2 Corinthians chapter 4, verse 3 to 6.

2 Corinthians 4:3–6

So it's not something simple that you're up against.

It is fierce.

Here's what it says.

And even if our gospel is availed, it is availed to those who are perishing.

The God of this age, so there's an actual force, an actual personal force.

This is not some impersonal spooky thing.

And the God of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers

so that they cannot see the light of the gospel or the good news of Jesus Christ

and the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.

For we do not preach ourselves, but Jesus Christ is Lord

and ourselves as your servant for Jesus' sake.

For God who said, let light shine out of darkness,

made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God

in the face of Christ.

Meaning, at the end of the day, Jacob, in this unadorned clay pot called Jacob,

30 years ago I said, let there be light.

You received it, you were born again, and now my son Christ lives in you.

And out there in the world there is a God called the devil with a small G.

And his intent is to keep blinding the eyes of people

so that even if you tell them about Jesus, they do not see the light.

Therefore, get into relationship with them just as someone got into relationship with you, Jacob.

And keep chipping away, keep chipping away, keep chipping away, so that the blindness is removed.

As you tell them about Jesus, the veil is lifted.

And they will see me and they will be saved.

Folks, there is no life after death if you do not have Jesus Christ as the master of your life.

There is no life after death.

There is just eternal damnation.

Therefore, build relationship.

Because when he said, let there be light, now that light dwells in you and shows forth.

And even though you are an unadorned clay pot, it gets, it shines through.

Even if your story was lousy, your testimony was this small,

you look miserable, it still shines through.

Because this light has nothing to do with you.

And yet you become it.

All day he says, I am the light of the world, and then he says, you are the light of the world.

And then he says, you are the light of the world.

Spiritual warfare then is Act 29 fulfilling its responsibility of making Jesus' work on the cross

known in the time that we live in, in the city that we live in, in the places we are sent to.

Don't worry, you will never have spiritual warfare if you keep quiet.

We can talk about spiritual warfare, we can pull down demons, we can cast out demons,

and all of them will say, as long as these guys throw us around, we can do it.

We can do it.

We can pull down demons, we can cast out demons, and all of them will say,

as long as these guys throw us around, we can keep moving from one place to the other.

But as long as they don't indulge in the one thing that Jesus calls us to do, it's all good.

Internal deliverance ministry, the demons begin to enjoy after a while.

Cast out nine demons, and if the guy doesn't change, we'll come back with 63.

And then we can waste the pastor's time because he'll cast out 63,

and then he won't know how to multiply 63 into seven.

And it just goes on and on and on.

So real spiritual warfare happens when a people begin to announce the work of Christ on the cross.

That is when real spiritual warfare happens, because that is when the stakes are high.

A guy who is saved may live a difficult life here on earth with bondages and demons,

but he's going to heaven.

I'm not diminishing the terribleness of bondage.

I'm just saying there is a spiritual warfare.

Acts 29 is just beginning to enter into because of where we are going.

And it will be great because you will see a God you and I have not seen yet.

He ain't rolled up his sleeves even up to his elbow.

Wait till he rolls it above his elbow.

Those muscles bulge, man.

And then you will see, oh, shucks, this is God.

The spiritual warfare that most churches and us have been playing around with is like small stuff.

I'm so looking forward to it.

So looking forward to it. Why?

Because I'll see a God I have not seen.

I will see a God I have not seen yet.

Ephesians 3.10 puts it this way.

Through Christians like you, this is from the message, through Christians like yourselves gathered in churches,

this extraordinary plan of God is becoming known and is declared to the archaic and the exosia,

or the powers and the rulers in heavenly places.

Meaning once you go down this track, just know Acts 29,

that through you, through the gathered church, even rulers and powers in the heavenly realms,

besides God's angels, the rulers and powers in the heavenly realm,

the same term Paul uses for the four or five different forms of demonic spirits,

they will begin to hear your declaration too.

Because that's the highest stake we fight for, guys.

The salvation of souls.

Anything less is to play with the king of Sodom.

When the king of Salem is standing there saying, listen, what are you bringing to me?

And the king of Sodom is, look at what the king of Sodom says.

He says, you can take all the money but give me the souls.

That's what the king of Sodom says to Abraham.

Take all the money, take all the good things, take everything that you have fought for,

take it, take it, take it church, but give me the souls.

And Abraham had the buddhi, knowledge, wisdom.

Abraham had the wisdom to say that I will not take a strap, I will not take anything from you.

Instead, he goes to the king of Salem and he says, unto you I raise my hands,

because I regard you as LLE, the mighty possessor of the universe.

Guys, all the benefits of God are great.

We talked about the divine benefit package last week.

But we will not let go of the souls.

Abraham's children will not let go of the souls.

We are in this for the people, not for the property and the benefits.

That comes, that is added onto you, man.

Any questions before we go on?

Any questions?

Jacob, did you say that Christians who have kept Christ may be claimed by demons

and have a horrible life, they still live in heaven?

Yeah.

Did you?

Yeah.

I know believers who are in terrible bondage and who have demonic problems.

But if they die tonight, they still go to heaven.

But why not try and deal with the demons?

Yep, absolutely.

But I'm saying, if you didn't deal with that, they would still go to heaven.

Is there a reason why you didn't?

No, I was making a comparison.

I was saying that real spiritual warfare begins when you go after the souls of men

that aren't redeemed.

While it is good to set people free, and I so enjoy seeing someone set free

when people pray for them,

there is another place that we need to go to where real opposition starts.

Real opposition begins then.

Because remember, if you have received Christ into your life,

your body can be attacked, your emotions and mind can be attacked,

your spirit can't be touched.

I'm not saying one or the other.

I'm saying real spiritual warfare happens when we take on the high stakes.

Any thoughts, any questions?

I'm not saying bring on the demons or anything.

Bring it on.

No, I'm just saying there's a whole new place to enter into.

Okay.

Our mandate is very simple, Acts 26, 17-19.

Read it from the message.

It is so clear.

Acts 26, 17-19.

Here's what it says.

I am sending you off to open the eyes of outsiders through your life and words.

I put that in.

I am sending you off to open the eyes of outsiders.

Why?

So that they can see the difference between dark and light and choose light.

So that they can see the difference between Satan and God and choose God.

I am sending you off to present my offer of sins forgiven and a place in the family,

inviting them into the company of those who begin real living by believing in me.

Acts 26, 17-19 from the message.

I am sending you off to open the eyes of the outsiders.

How do we do that?

Through our life and through our words.

Let me start again.

I am sending you off to open the eyes of the outsiders.

So they can see the difference between dark and light and choose light.

So they can see the difference between Satan and God and choose God.

I am sending you off to present my offer of sins forgiven, a place in the family,

inviting them into the company of those who begin real living by believing in me.

And then we need to say with Paul that how can we be disobedient to this heavenly vision?

Guys, they should consume you.

It shouldn't be when opportunity comes.

When things begin to consume you, opportunities come.

I am fascinated at how anything I am passionate about, I find.

We are at a stage in our lives where we have come far enough,

but we wait for the opportunity to come and when it comes we do what is good.

I am saying what about I have been touched by a fire,

so let the world come and watch me burn.

Shout it from the rooftops, shout it till everyone has heard, Jesus has changed my life.

That's different. That's when you've been caught by the fire.

You can't shake it off. You've got to burn.

I want that. I don't want, oh, when the opportunities come, Lord, I will speak your will.

That was good, but we're beyond that now, or should we be beyond that,

where we're consumed with Acts 26, 17 to 19.

I am sending you off, says the Lord, to open the eyes of outsiders, not of insiders.

I'm sending you off when? When Sue goes to Sri Lanka, when Jacob goes to India?

No, no, no, no. I'm sending you off immediately after the service.

When the service ends, the ministry begins.

I'm sending you off right after this service to do what? To open the eyes of outsiders.

Why, oh God, so that they can see the difference between light and dark,

and they may choose light. And what else, Father, so that they can see the difference between God and Satan,

and choose God. Why, oh God, why so desperate about all these things?

For the same reason that I was desperate about you, so that they may have their sins forgiven, Jacob,

like your sins are forgiven, that they may have a place in my family, like you have a place in my family.

So that they may begin real living by believing in me.

And our response is, we cannot be disobedient to this heavenly vision.

We cannot be disobedient to this heavenly vision.

Hey guys, I know you've heard this before.

But if it had impacted me as much as it is beginning to impact me now, I'd have been doing this ages ago.

The only reason we are still where we are is because it ain't done nothing inside yet, but it is beginning.

So this isn't old, this is new for us.

Just don't let your ears or your mind say to you, I know all this.

Yeah.

Yeah. Praise God.

Praise God.

Go on.

Awesome. Awesome.

Yeah. Build relationships.

Remember we talked about this.

What was the first thing? Build relationships.

No, the first was something else.

No, that was after build relationships.

Seek out. Seek out, build relationships, open your home.

Derek, I mean, I think today you're associate pastor and Jeevan's been...

Yeah. So seek out. First thing is seek out.

Second thing is build relationships.

Seek out, build relationships. Seek out, build relationships.

Jesus was very good at this.

Seek out, build relationships.

And let it take time guys. Don't be in a hurry.

Who wants to seal a deal?

These are not seal a deal thingies.

Jesus is not seal a deal.

I mean, what blows my mind is when Jesus turns to a scribe and says,

You are almost in the kingdom of God.

And then he walks away. Who does that?

He says, you're at the door of the kingdom.

Well, Jesus, then push him through.

He says, your response shows me that you're almost at the kingdom of God.

And then Jesus goes away.

Ephesians 3, 9, My task is to bring out into the open and make plain what has been hidden for ages in God who created all things.

My task is to bring out into the open and make plain what has been hidden in God since the beginning, but is now being revealed.

And what is this thing that had been hidden in God? Jesus.

But it's been made known now for the last 2000 years.

And I happen to occupy this time in life, in the history of the world, perfectly placed and poised by God, positioned by God to do what I'm supposed to do.

Coworkers with Christ, they think about it for a second.

Tomorrow morning when I wake up, he is thinking, finally, my co-laborer has woken up.

My coworker has woken up. I got to go.

Like Diana was saying, I hope he gets up and does the things that I am doing.

What is he doing? He is building his church.

And the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.

That is what he is doing.

And finally, the co-laborer or coworker has woken up.

Let's go and do what I do.

I pray God that the Holy Spirit puts such a grip on my heart with regard to this that I'll have to shut him out before I can lose it.

Colossians 1.27.

The mystery in a nutshell is this.

Christ in you the hope of glory.

The mystery in a nutshell is just this.

The mystery in a nutshell is just this.

Christ in you the hope of glory.

Christ in you.

Christ in you the hope of glory.

Which then means that if Jacob, my son, Jesus, lives not just with, for, or upon you, but in you,

then in all things show the world that you have an expectation

of his power, presence, goodness, and joy.

And once the world sees that this is what real living is like, they'll hunger for what you have.

I delight myself at your table, O God, for you do all things well.

Let them look at my life.

So just see what it says.

Christ, the mystery in a nutshell is this.

Christ in you the hope of glory.

And what does that mean?

It means if Jacob, my son, Jesus, lives not just with you, not just for you, not just upon you, but he lives in you,

then in all things, dear, dear Jacob, show the world that you have a constant expectation of his power, his presence, his goodness, and his joy.

Exhibit it, son.

Let them see.

This is basically the essence of what she was singing.

I will sing, I will shout.

How can I not sing?

How can I not shout?

Because in everything, just when the waters begin to rise to my nose, again I'll surface because this comes to mind.

Questions, thoughts, comments?

You're slightly excited about this, right?

Okay.

Occasionally, I forget that you're playing poker.

My God, I go over this every week, man.

Every week I remind myself, Jacob, you must have an expectancy.

You must have an expectation of his power, his presence, his goodness, his joy, and laughter in your life.

You must have that expectation.

You lose that expectation.

Christ in you ain't seen.

Because Christ in you is a hope, the expectation of glory.

And I'm saying the word glory, kabodoksa, whatever you want to call it, is at the end of the day the presence of Jesus Christ,

the power of Jesus Christ, the goodness of Jesus Christ, and the joy of Christ, all put together into one.

And you must have this expectation.

Why?

Not because he's out there and you're reaching out for it, but because he's in here and he is already all this in you.

That's a strange thing about this religion of ours called Christianity.

When external presses in, we don't go out to get something.

When the external presses in, we go in to let him come out.

When this is exhibited in difficult situations, it doesn't matter how difficult the situation is, guys.

It doesn't matter how difficult the situation is.

Learn this.

It doesn't matter how difficult the situation is.

Is it your children? Is it your relative? Is it your friend? Is it your life?

Is it your body? Is it your soul? Is it your spirit? Is it your emotions? Is it your finances?

It doesn't matter how difficult it is.

There is Jesus.

There is Jesus.

I have overcome the world.

Do not battle it as a Christian.

Battle it. Let Christ show you how to see a situation before you can even deal with it.

Do not go to pet verses. Do not go and read the verses on your mirror.

Don't go to a promise for the day book.

Let Christ show you how he sees it.

If you see how Christ sees it, you are safe.

This morning I was telling the Lord, Father, I'm really sorry for times when my relationship with you is so smelly.

What I mean by smelly is there are times when I get scared or I'm afraid or I want something in a hurry,

where I'll go and start asking him like a guy who is scared.

I'll say, Father, please, Father, I don't know where this is. Please do this for me, Father.

It sounds so beggarish.

And it bothers me to no extent when I'm beggarish before God,

because it takes away from who he is and makes me something I am not.

I hate being an orphan with a good, good father.

And I find myself that there are still times when something happens.

And my reaction is that of a devotee who is begging a God for his indulgence.

My God, that is not Christianity.

We don't appease him. We don't go to him and beg.

We are jolly beggars, like C.S. Lewis says, who don't have anything but are happy beggars because we are sons.

Just this morning I was telling him, and then there were two things that I needed to talk to him about.

So I said, from now on, if I come to you with a beggarly attitude,

immediately point it out and I'll just leave it alone and you'll have to work it out,

because I ain't going to pray that way anymore.

I ain't going to pray to you that way anymore.

I would rather be scared and stew in my fear than pray to you in fear from the place of a beggar,

because I am a son and I cannot act like a beggar with you,

because it puts dirty marks over your face, oh God.

Do you see why sometimes the world doesn't see the church as an alternative,

but just a nicer version of some other religion?

No other religion gives its people the privilege of being sons.

If that is the greatest gift given to us, then that is the greatest gift that must be shown.

Right off in John chapter 1, it starts off with what?

John 1 · chapter mention

And to them that received him, he gave them the right to be called sons, the children of God.

No other religion, no other faith, no other ism gives its people the right to be called sons and daughters.

And if that is your distinguishing mark, then you must let the world see that before it sees anything else,

because we were sons before we became orphans through sin.

But how can we show them we are sons if we don't behave like sons?

Therefore I must remove from my life words and phrases and approaches that diminish him as a father.

Seek to know his glory, guys. Seek to know his power, presence, goodness, joy.

Seek to know it so that you can make it known all over the earth as the waters cover the seas.

Seek to know that you can make it known to the world.

Seek to know it so that you can make it known all over the earth as the waters cover the seas.

Seek to know it. Seek to know his goodness, seek to know his power, seek to know his presence.

Seek to know it so that you may make it known.

You know who brings this power, presence, goodness and joy to you?

The Holy Spirit. In 1 Peter 4, 14, He's called the Spirit of Glory.

Can you believe that? He is called the Spirit of Glory in 1 Peter 4, 14.

Seek and find, seek and find every morning and then abandon yourself and receive the Spirit of Glory.

Just receive Him every morning.

He yearns jealously over me. He yearns jealously over me.

He yearns jealously over me. My God, He doesn't push me.

But give Him even an inch and He'll fill it.

He'll fill it.

And there's never an end to it.

Moses would observe the glory of God every day in the pillar of cloud and at night when he'd wake up,

he would again see the glory of God in the pillar of fire.

He would go into the tent of meeting and he would again see the glory of God.

And you would think that for a man who walked in the Old Testament that was sufficient.

But then he goes up the mountain with 72 others and they eat and drink with God and they see the glory of God.

And you would think that would be enough for a man in the Old Covenant.

But no, he goes up Mount Sinai and he insists that,

And he insists that, Oh God, show me your glory.

And God says, I'll show you more.

And he hides them in the cleft of the rock behind his hand and he shows him more of who God is.

Thirst for Him, as in thirst for the Spirit of glory saying, Oh God, I seek you.

I heard that you yearn for me jealously.

Holy Spirit, I want to yearn for you jealously.

And then after I find you every morning, because you will be there,

I will abandon myself to you so that I can receive more of you as I give you inch by inch

that you will not have to fight for because I give it willingly.

Because what else can I keep it for?

And then what the power and the goodness and the presence and the laughter of God can do through you, for others.

First He will do it for you and then once it is for you, it will be through you for the sake of others.

There's never an end to this. That's the best part.

I can never come to Acts 29 service and say, We finally touched it.

Next Sunday it's going to be different.

I can never say after a great day with God, My God, I've never been here.

Sure, you've never been here, but you haven't seen what is just around the bend.

And then when you actually get to see it every day, it's a little further, little further, little further.

Never going to be an end to this.

This is why He is satisfying and so unsatisfying, which is not putting a black mark on him.

I'm just saying every time you think you're satisfied, it's just a facet that you saw that you enjoyed.

And there is more because He's infinite.

We'll sing that song before we go. Holy Spirit, you're welcome here.

Because who is He who transforms you to Christ's likeness with increasing glory?

Second Corinthians 3.18 says, It's the Spirit of God.

It's the Spirit of God.

It is the Holy Spirit.

I think as he hears us talking about Him right now, as he sees what you're thinking, I think he's thrilled.

To become aware of Him is to become aware of the Son.

And to know the Son is to know the Father.

He just thrills when we become aware of Him.

He's willing, eh? Because He yearns jealously over you.

Have you ever yearned jealously over somebody?

You want to do something for them desperately. You want to love them. You want to do something for them.

You yearn jealously over them. And yet you can't if they don't say please or yes or nod.

And then suddenly you're just waiting, you're bursting at the seams to do something for them.

And then they say yes. And you just overwhelm them.

That's the sense of it. I yearn jealously over you, Jacob.

And the strange thing is you have capacity for me.

Seek to behold, seek to be undone, seek to be remade.

Seek to behold, seek to be undone, seek to be remade.

This is what happened with Isaiah.

Woe, I am undone, but then he is remade.

Seek to behold, oh but I have seen the glory of the King.

Woe, I am undone, but then the cold touches your lips and you're remade.

Seek to behold, seek to be undone, seek to be remade.

What do you think happened at the Mount of Transfiguration?

They beheld, they were undone, they hid.

Then they decided to make shelters.

And then they were remade.

Seek to behold. How do we know that?

Because in 2 Peter, chapter 2, Peter talks about it.

2 Peter 2 · chapter mention

We beheld his majesty.

A part of the way we do that is through worship.

Engage in your times of worship. It doesn't have to be a song.

But engage in your times of worship.

Because worship brings him into focus.

It's not that he gets bigger, you see him bigger.

Behold him so that you are undone.

I was undone today at a time of worship.

For I seem as a far greater word sometimes during worship than I would normally.

Behold him, be undone.

And then be remade.

Something happens to your spirit.

And your heart and your flesh cry out for the living God.

Something happens guys.

We can't do it once every week, right?

Sing.

One name.

Sing it in your own time.

Don't know the verse's goal.

It will still work.

You'll catch the end of something and it will be enough.

Worship him. Have deep expectation and yearning for the Holy Spirit.

Worship him. Worship God. Have deep expectation and yearning for the Holy Spirit.

Then exert faith to receive him.

Then step out man. Let him.

Be foolish to allow him to create opportunities.

If I am foolish, he creates opportunities.

Allow him by being foolish so that he can create opportunities that you can walk in.

Allow him by being foolish so that he can create opportunities for you to walk in.

I'm going to utrakan to deal with something I've never dealt with that is far bigger than me.

And I'm being really foolish.

But I'm so looking forward to it.

Yeah.

Remember these three things guys.

A new way of thinking.

Think like God.

Think like God.

Because you live in a culture that is so full of ungodly worldviews that

think with the mind of Christ.

Think like God.

And a new way of being.

Not ashamed of your father in a hostile culture.

Just keep that in mind.

Not ashamed of your father in a hostile culture.

Not ashamed of your father in a hostile culture.

Father, I won't be ashamed of you in a hostile, intimidating culture.

I'll think like you, oh God.

There are many worldviews that intimidate me.

But I will think like you, oh God, in the midst of an ungodly worldview.

And I'll be a good responsible servant.

I'll multiply what you trust me with.

I'll own nothing, oh God.

You ask me to give it away, I will.

But treasure, time, life, work, calling, vision, commission, I'll multiply for your sake and for the sake of others.

I'll grow in this, oh God.

Holy Spirit, so help me.

Yeah.

Let's sing that song.

And as you do, just remember, worship him.

Have deep expectation and yearning.

He yearns over you jealously.

He's the only one who can make you into Christ's likeness.

He brings to you God's increasing glory.

His power, His presence is goodness.

Seek Him, find Him, abandon yourself to Him.

There'll never be enough.

There'll always be more for tomorrow.

So don't wait for tomorrow.

Get everything you can eat today off this banqueting table.

Because tomorrow it is set again.

You can sit on your father's lap and eat again.

This is the breakfast of champions.