Spirit Strategic

Rosalind's in the house.

Guys, what we have to talk about today is,

I think, one of the most important teachings we've done in a while.

Because last time when we left off,

we were talking about,

if you were the CEO of a company,

how would you go about strategizing Matthew 18 to 20?

And I got your replies and looked at them.

And so this kind of sums it all up.

So he'll give out the sheets and then we'll start.

Okay, cool.

Okay, cool.

So guys, here's a statement we started off with last week and the week before.

That we have been set apart by Christ to assist him in setting others apart.

This is the statement we made.

Or we've been making over the last two weeks.

That we have been set apart by Christ,

so that we may assist him in setting others apart.

That's where we've been parked for the last two weeks.

You can go on to the next overhead whenever you're ready, Ryan.

No hurry.

And so the question asked last time was, as an individual,

how do I go about this?

As an individual, how do I go about this?

That's why we kind of stopped.

That's why we kind of stopped.

As an individual, how do I go about this?

And the response was,

I'm just summing up what we did last time.

The response was you take the single cell of your life

and you join it.

That's the first thing you do.

You join it to the body of Christ.

Because by yourself, you can't accomplish much.

But when you're joined to a body,

now you find your place, your location, your direction, your function.

So the first thing we do, and this is critical because

in our highly individualized societies,

we prefer being single cells.

So we come to church on a Sunday

and come in as single cells, go away as single cells,

and we have our own ministries, our own gifts and talents,

which we try to put into application during the week.

And while there's nothing wrong with it, it's not effective.

That's not how Christ wanted us to do things.

Hey, May. How's your uncle?

Stable, huh? Okay.

So you take the single cell of your life

and you join it to the body of Christ.

Now when this single cell joins the body of Christ,

now you've got direction, function, location, strength, ability,

and all of Christ helping you to accomplish what you need to accomplish.

So that's where we come in.

And so today we want to talk about this thing called Spirit Strategic,

which you can take any title and give it to this message.

I just like the sound of Spirit Strategic.

And what are we trying to say when we say the word Spirit Strategic?

We're saying, what is the action plan of the Spirit?

What is the action plan of the Spirit

What is the action plan of the Spirit?

What is the action plan of the Spirit

revealed in Christ's teachings,

revealed in the book of Acts,

revealed in the epistles?

What is the action plan of the Holy Spirit?

For a church, or for the church,

Acts 29 being one of the churches that exist.

But what is the Spirit of God's action plan?

Why is this important, guys?

Because if you don't have that, then what do you have?

On what basis are we running the church

if it is not by the basis of the Spirit?

Why even bother?

Because really, we're not about gathering here for a time of worship.

We're not even here gathering here for a time of teaching.

Those things are a means towards an end.

When church becomes about Sunday school worship and teaching,

or marriage counseling,

then it is a false end.

It's a false horizon.

All this is towards another end.

And the strategy of the Spirit, or the plan of the Spirit,

is revealed through looking at what Jesus said about the Holy Spirit,

then revealed by looking at what the Holy Spirit did in the book of Acts,

and then finally looking at what did Paul say

when he wrote letters to the churches

who had problems with the way the Holy Spirit dealt with them.

Once you see it all, you get to understand,

aha, so this is the blueprint of the Spirit.

And guys, once you know the blueprint,

and it is so simple, so easy to follow,

once you know the blueprint, you know where you fit.

You can prepare to fit when you know the blueprint.

Like, I've sat with guys who are architects

when they're designing a house.

There's a guy in Vernon who does it,

and I was watching him do it,

and he outlines the whole blueprint,

and then he even phases when each person should come in.

There are trades that need to come in on a certain day,

do a certain thing.

A mason can't turn up whenever he wants.

A plumber can't turn up first because there's nothing to plumb.

So everyone gets to prepare and be ready for the right fit

once you know the blueprint.

And so the Spirit of God isn't keeping it a mystery or a secret.

He's revealed it so that we as a church may know it,

and when we as a church know it,

then you get to know the part you play.

And so the starting point for anything

that has to do with church and the Spirit of God

is profession and demonstration of the Gospel.

That's where it starts, so that's where we go first.

The first thing that the Spirit of God wants us to do,

the starting point is that, guys,

if you are someone who, there's one less,

then profess and demonstrate the Gospel.

Profess and demonstrate the Gospel.

This is the starting point.

We can't avoid this, and this is what we love avoiding.

What do I mean by profess?

Meaning proclaim and confess.

Proclaim is not a word we use often,

but professing is something we do.

We profess stuff.

It's not even an opinion, it's a conviction.

We profess.

We proclaim and confess.

We put it together.

We profess and demonstrate the Gospel,

where in our spheres,

segments of society,

streets we walk in,

that's where we profess and demonstrate.

You see this, in the city that God has placed you in,

in the city that the Spirit of God has led you to.

This is where we start.

If you go to Acts 16, Acts 16,

you see that happening, Acts 16,

they would be led by the Spirit,

and once they were led by the Spirit,

they would turn up at a certain city,

and once they would turn up at a certain city,

they would have, they would go to the streets.

Paul went to the river,

because he knew people would gather there.

Let's go to Acts 16,

and let's read from 6 to, say,

6 to 13, Acts 16.

Here's what it says.

Paul and his companions traveled throughout the region

of Phrygia and Galatia,

having been kept by the Holy Spirit

from preaching the word in the province of Asia.

So they were prevented by the Holy Spirit from preaching in Asia.

When they came to the border of Mycea,

they tried to enter Bithynia,

but the Spirit of Jesus would not allow them to,

so again they were stopped.

So they passed by Mycea and went down to Troas.

During the night,

Paul had a vision of a man of Macedonia

standing and begging him,

come over to Macedonia and help us.

After Paul had seen the vision,

we got ready at once to leave for Macedonia,

concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them.

So once they knew which city they had to go to,

they went there.

And they knew what?

Not first to build a church,

but to preach, to confess and demonstrate

the Christ of the gospels.

This is so critical, guys,

and this is what we use evangelists for

and have crusades for,

when the truth of the matter is you and I.

Confess and demonstrate.

And so look at what happens next.

From Troas we put out a sea and sail

straight for Samothraeus

and the next day onto Neopolis.

From there we traveled to Philippi,

a Roman colony and leading city

in the district of Macedonia.

And we stayed there for several days.

And now look at the street or the place

or the segment of society or sphere that they go to.

On the Sabbath we went outside

the city gate to the river

where we expected to find a place of prayer.

We sat down and began to speak

to the women who were gathered there.

So the first step or the starting point is,

Oh God, in the city that I met,

will you teach me and lead me to places

where I can confess

or profess and demonstrate the gospel?

Because there are certain areas

that you've given me in the city.

You as a teacher have certain segments

and spheres of society.

You as a retired person

have certain people that you can access,

have access to. You as a pianist

have certain people that we will never be able to touch.

You as a construction worker

have a bunch of guys that will never be

willing to come to meet a pastor.

That's where we start.

What's the intent?

The intent is what I've written here.

Through our profession and demonstration of Christ

and his teachings, we persuade men and women.

Turn to 2 Corinthians

2 Corinthians

2 Corinthians 3.16

2 Corinthians 3.16

2 Corinthians 3.16

I'm going to read it out loud.

2 Corinthians 3.16

Here's what it says then.

Whenever anyone turns

to the Lord, I'm going to say

Lord Jesus Christ, but whenever

anyone turns to the Lord Jesus Christ,

the veil is

taken away.

And then we

go to the next verse which we sang about today.

Now the Lord is the Spirit

and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.

But the first step guys,

so when we say profess and demonstrate,

what are we saying?

We are saying, oh God, through our speaking

and through our actions and demonstration

of who you are, Jesus,

we want to persuade.

Not gently placed.

Not, if you don't mind.

Persuade has a degree of

force to it.

It's not aggressive. It's not

invasion of someone's space.

But there is a pressing

to it. There's a persuasion requires

a certain amount of pressing.

We persuade men and women

to turn to the Lord. Why do we

want them to turn to Jesus Christ?

Because the moment they turn to Jesus

Christ, your work is done.

This is the beauty

of it. We don't have to bring

a person into a place of

confess now and receive Jesus.

Otherwise you'll go to hell. We got to show

them Jesus. When they see Jesus,

what happens is

they have

their veil

taken off.

Till then guys, there's a dullness.

But the moment you show them Jesus

as who? Jesus as both

Savior and God.

I've said this

before and I say it again. You can't

have someone accept Jesus Christ

as Lord and Master till they first

admit that they need a Savior

who can save them from sins.

I find it easier

to bring someone to Jesus saying

do you like to accept Jesus as your

Master? But the first

thing that Jesus wants is

do you want to recognize that you

are sinful and that

I am not your enemy. I'm your friend

and I died for you to save you from sins.

If you can

show them who Jesus is

and they turn to look at him,

things change. I mean I showed you these

images before and I told you it's not

a religious image. It's not against

any religion but it highlights this point.

Just go to the next slide.

Yeah. This is how most

people walk. This is how you and I used

to walk. Faces veiled.

Completely covered in darkness.

And trust me, I'm not talking about this religion.

I'm talking about just the

imagery of it.

Completely covered in darkness.

Veils on our face. And then at some

point, the Holy Spirit

used someone again

and again and again in my life and your life

till we were

able to look at Jesus.

And the moment we looked at Jesus,

Ryan,

the veil is removed.

And for the first time,

the dullness

goes away. This still doesn't mean

that the person is now willing

to receive Jesus. But now

the person has an understanding of Jesus

based

on which they can exert their will

either to say yes or no.

But the veil is removed.

When you look at it,

our job is so simple

to turn people to Jesus.

Because Jesus and his Spirit do

the rest of the work.

And when the veil is removed,

at some point, the Spirit of God

moves in and where the Spirit of the Lord

is there is freedom.

And what does freedom look like, Ryan?

You take off everything, eh?

Joy hits you.

The reason I wanted to

bring up these images again is because

it kind of sums up

what we are trying to do.

Where is this from?

It's in 2 Corinthians

5,

go to 2 Corinthians 5

2 Corinthians 5:20

verse

20, 19 and 20.

Let's go to verse 19

first.

2 Corinthians 5, verse 19.

2 Corinthians 5:19

Look at what it says there.

That God was, I love the word,

not that God is,

that God was reconciling

the world to himself in Christ.

Not counting men's sins

against them. And he has committed

to us the message of reconciliation.

God was, as in

the price for all sin

and every sinful person

on the face of the earth has been

paid for. He was reconciling.

Having done that, having

paid the price, now he entrusts

you, as in assigns you

with a degree of trust

that you will continue

to let people

know that he is not an

enemy, he is a friend who laid down his life.

That God

was reconciling,

verse 19, that God

was reconciling the world to himself in Christ.

Not counting men's sins against them.

And he has committed to us the message

of reconciliation. Verse 20,

we are therefore Christ's ambassadors

as though God

were making his appeal through us.

We implore you on

Christ's behalf, be reconciled to

God.

This is what it means when we say

assisting Christ to

set others apart. We have

been reconciled so that we

may assist Christ in helping

him reconcile others

to himself.

Any questions on that before we go on?

Guys, this is the core of our being.

There is no greater

mandate. You don't need to find another

ministry. Every Christian has

been given, entrusted, I love

the word entrusted. It carries, hi

George.

Every, every, every

Christian carries this ministry

of being entrusted

with. As in, I trust

you enough to assign this to you.

You don't need to find another

ministry really. This is the

general character of your ministry.

Anything that avoids

this is actually fake.

It's cosmetics.

It's not the real foundation.

And we churches have

become experts at avoiding this.

We've mastered

the art of avoiding this.

With stuff like crusades and stuff like that.

Nothing wrong with it, but it prevents

the actual people from participating

in the ministry of God.

And it leaves it to some professionals.

Who have to

collect thousands and thousands of dollars

before they can handle a crusade.

While for you,

it'll take no dollars. You're doing it

at work. Someone's paying you for it.

Questions?

If we all did this, then we wouldn't need to have a crusade in the areas that we live in.

Other areas, I'm not saying crusades are a bad thing.

I'm just saying we have come up with

less than excellent

things to make up

for avoiding the more excellent things.

Any questions, guys?

Any questions, guys?

Then you let them be.

Because the person has a will and a choice.

And one must respect

that the other person is made in the image of God.

And exerts his will.

Jesus gave Adam the freedom

to go through the motion of

taking the forbidden fruit

from Eve to eat.

Jesus gave Lucifer

the freedom in his

backyard to plan

a rebellion.

Not to just

disobey. To disobey and then

plan a rebellion.

A rebellion takes

a little time to ferment.

Or maybe it takes two seconds.

But he got two seconds.

So,

when a person does not want

to hear,

stop short of shaking

the dirt off your shoes, because that only do

to believers.

But you have to say,

if you do not want to know about

Jesus Christ, then I will not

force it on you.

Because Jesus who loves that

person who rejected him, will find

at least 51

other ways

to bring his reality to them.

That's the beauty of it.

Just because I rejected him four

times, didn't mean

that Jesus didn't come chasing

after me. I remember finally

when I did give my life to the

Lord, I was in a train and I was

these were my words to Jesus. Jesus,

you have told me through many

people about yourself. And

I have kept rejecting it again and again

and again and again, deliberately.

I've lost the number, count

of the number of times I have said, no,

I don't want Jesus. I am

at this moment, not even

sure if you are

still willing to open the door.

And therefore, if you're still willing

to open the door and receive me,

would you give me a visible

sign, because I have rejected you so many

times. And that's when the train

comes and stops opposite

a hill on

which is a, on top of which is a

Catholic church and in front of the Catholic church,

is this three times the size of life

statue of Jesus with his arms

open wide like this. And I

see that and I think to myself, my

God, I can come to Jesus today

after rejecting him so many times.

And I did

what you just said. One man,

he would come after me and say, you need to receive

Jesus. And I started using filthy

words on him saying, Paul Daniel, you stay

away from me because he was calling me the son of

darkness, which isn't exactly

the way to.

Yeah.

Yes, absolutely.

So

Jesus Christ keeps coming after

you.

But he

never takes away your will to decide.

Our intent is, can I

turn this person's face

towards Jesus? Because if he can

see what Jesus did,

it will change him.

Or it will at least open his eyes.

Now he can still choose. Ah, it is

so brilliant that God does not take away free will.

What a, what a, what a

God. If there is anybody

in the world who has the right to

take away your will,

it is the one who gave you your will.

And he will not.

What a God.

How dare we? How dare

pastors.

What is our motivation for

professing and demonstrating the Gospel

in, as Christ has commanded us?

I mean, if you go back to that first slide,

it says, go and make disciples.

Don't, Ryan, I'm just saying.

You can shut the slight thingy off.

Because there's nothing else, right?

Okay.

So

what is the

motivation? It's in 2 Corinthians 5,

2 Corinthians 5,

2 Corinthians 5:11

verse 11,

and verse 14.

Look at what it says, 2 Corinthians 5,

2 Corinthians 5:11

verse 11 and verse 14.

It says in 2 Corinthians 5,

since then, we know

what it is to fear the Lord.

We try to persuade

men. And verse 14,

for Christ's love

compels us, because we are

convinced that one died for all and therefore

all died. So there are two motivations

for professing and demonstrating

the Gospel. The first one

is the fear of

God, and the second one

is the love

of God. The fear

of God persuades

us, and

the love of God compels us.

These are the

two motives that are mentioned in the Bible

for going ahead

and helping

people look at Jesus.

What do you mean the fear of God? We'll only

touch that. We won't do the love of God today.

We'll just talk about the fear of God. What do you mean

the fear of God persuades us

to let people know

who Jesus is?

What is this fear of God? Guys, the fear

of God is this.

If you have received

Jesus Christ, you will not

be judged anymore as a sinner.

But there is an

evaluation of the saints.

If you

are someone who's

received Jesus Christ,

who died on a cross for your sins,

you will no longer be judged as a

sinner. There is no longer

condemnation for anyone

who has received Christ into their lives.

But

there is an evaluation

of your life

by Jesus Christ.

Christ will judge

his servants,

sons, and daughters,

which we are.

If you have received Christ, you will

be evaluated on, hey,

I gave you a gift.

Salvation is a gift

that comes with responsibilities.

Salvation is a gift

that comes with responsibilities.

Jesus is saying, I gave you a

gift. Let me see how you did

with it, and you will be evaluated.

There is a sense of

accountability to the Lord Jesus Christ.

There is a sense.

This is not some big screen

on which everything you do will be

put. Read 2 Corinthians

2 Corinthians 5:6

chapter 5, verse 6 onwards.

2 Corinthians

2 Corinthians 5:6

5, verse 6 onwards.

Therefore, we are always confident

and know that as long as

we are at home in the body, we are away from the Lord.

We live by faith, not by

sight. Verse 9.

We make it our goal

to please him, whether we are at home or

in the body or away from it. Listen

to verse 10. That's a clincher. For

you, I'm going to change the

words a little, for you will

appear before the judgment

seat of Christ, that you

may receive what is

due you for the things done

while in the body, whether

good or bad.

So there is a day when

Wayne, when Rosalind,

when Jacob, when Sheldon

will stand

before Jesus Christ as judge

to be evaluated

on in your body,

knowing the truths you knew,

the gifts you have, the life

that was given you. What

did you do with

it? It won't be put on a

screen for public display because God is

not into doing

anything but giving you dignity

and honor.

But there is commendation,

there are rewards.

And there

will be responsibilities given.

I want us to understand

this.

And it will be based on did we

please him?

And if we go by the

last will and testament

of the one who died for us, Jesus Christ,

then Matthew 28, 18

to 20 will come into play.

Go therefore and make

disciples of all nations.

How did you do with it?

And Wayne and Rosalind and I

will probably face this before

Jillian and

Dawn face it.

Redeem time if you are older than

50.

Be wise with

time if you are younger than 29.

There will be a sense of accountability to the Lord Jesus Christ with regard to the call on your life and with regard to specific tasks given you.

Some of us, all of us have this general call on our life.

That hey guys, you are

meant to turn people

to see my son Jesus

because you were set apart

to assist him in setting others

apart. Through your

profession and through

a demonstration of your life,

show them who Jesus is

so that they may look at him.

That's your job. One says look

at him. The dullness is removed

and they can choose whether they want

to step in or not.

I reconciled you,

meaning I made peace with you.

I shed my blood on the cross

for you, Jacob, so that

you could be mine. Now that you

are mine, join me in the one

task that I'm still doing on the earth

which is bringing others

for whose lives I've paid the price

to recognize who I am.

This is a ministry

that is common to every person

who receives Christ.

And then there are specific mandates.

In Paul's case, his

specific mandate was I have been

sent to non-Jews

to show them who Christ is.

In Peter's case, his mandate

was I am being sent to the

Jews to show them who

they put on a cross.

John's mandate was

I am being shown what

awaits in the future

so that I can write it down and give hope to

people.

Timothy's mandate was you

are an evangelist and a pastor. I'm

going to send you to these churches and there you have to do well.

Phoebe's

mandate was I'm a woman of

some substantial means and

resources. I'll be a benefactor.

Epaphroditus'

mandate was I'm a faithful

messenger. If you give me a message,

I'll take it and do it well.

Aquila and Priscilla's mandate was

we are tent makers. We go from city to city.

We'll start churches, teach people,

bring Paul in, and then we'll move to another city.

So please, the Master in your service here on Earth, for you will be judged on the management and the execution of the gifts and responsibilities he gave you for the sake of Christ and the body.

Go to 1 Corinthians 3 and you'll see a passage there that is quite strong.

I'm so grateful to visit the

passages after so long because it will prevent me from hiding behind being the pastor of a church.

We're only talking about the fear of God persuading us, the love of God compelling us. We'll talk about that next week.

Both are solid motives for professing the Lord.

Professing and demonstrating who Christ is.

1 Corinthians 3, verse 10-15.

1 Corinthians 3:10–15

1 Corinthians 3, verses 10-15.

1 Corinthians 3:10–15

By the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as an expert builder, and someone else is building on it. But each should be careful how he builds.

For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ.

Listen to the next bit. This applies to us.

Because every believer is called to work with Christ in building his church. Nobody is exempt.

So here's what it says in verse 12.

If any man builds on this foundation, meaning the foundation of Christ, using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, his work will be shown for what it is because the day, meaning there is a day of judgment, which will bring it to light.

It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each man's work. If what he has built survives, he will receive his reward. If it is burnt up, he will suffer loss.

That's the strangest thing that I thought I would read there, that there is actually loss in heaven.

Because you would think it's a place only of rewards, gains, responsibilities, commendation, but there is loss in heaven.

Now you can see why Paul said that the fear of God persuades me to do this because he really got a grip of, oh shucks, it's not going to be all angels and philities.

There's more to it in heaven than that. And so he, this is why it really grabbed him, eh? It bothered him.

Because look at what it says there. Verse 15. If it is burnt up, he will suffer loss. He himself will be saved, but only as one escaping through the fire.

As in, yes, your salvation is secure, but you will suffer loss in heaven.

Questions?

I'm way behind the eight ball on this, guys. As a pastor, it's been easy to do pastoral things and not really step out to engage in professing and demonstrating Christ.

It's easy to do this and be absolutely content and happy with, but I'm doing such a great job.

Thoughts, questions? I mean, if you don't respond, I can understand because it's, I'm sure when Paul's readers read this, they didn't shout hallelujah either.

Okay. Someone can find the eraser.

We'll talk about how the love of God compels us next week.

But I wanted to touch on the fear of God because I've rarely thought about that as a motivation for speaking.

Well, there's this movie called The Fourth Magi or something like that. The Fourth Wise Men.

It's a Christmas movie, kind of corny, but nice.

And I used to watch it every Christmas for five Christmases because I kind of liked that movie. And it was Martin Sheen anyways.

And in the movie, he's the fourth wise man who doesn't make it in time to join the three wise men who are going to see Jesus.

And so he's got in his hands these very precious stones that he wants to give to Jesus.

And he's chasing behind the three who've gone ahead.

And then he comes to a place and there is a friend of his whose daughter has been kidnapped.

And the soldiers are taking away, not kidnapped, she's being just taken away by the soldiers.

And so he now has a choice. These three stones that he brought for the infant Jesus, he wants to give it to.

But then he sees his girl being taken away. And so he takes one of the stones and exchanges it for her life, gets her back.

Then he goes further and then he finds a leper who takes him to a leprosy colony and they are desperate for help.

And now he gives the second stone away to the leprosy colony.

And he ends up staying, helping the lepers for years and years and years.

And then the third stone he gives away for someone else's sake. In the end, he's got nothing.

And he misses the birth. He's been in Judea now for 30 years.

Completely given up on life. He's become a bitter old man.

And then the movie ends with Jesus being put on the cross.

And as he's being taken to the cross, this fourth wise man comes across him.

And Jesus looks at him and Martin Sheen, whatever his character was, says,

But Lord, I've got nothing to give you. Nothing to give you.

And that's when Jesus turns around, looks at him and says, But you gave your all.

And this Martin Sheen starts crying and he says, Oh, something.

I mean, his expression is, Oh, Jesus, you mean you noticed all those things I did?

And why am I telling you this entire story? Guys, you have no idea what Christ's commendation will do to you.

It'll break your heart. It'll melt your heart. It'll mold your heart.

And you will desire that my God could I have given more.

We have no idea what well done, good and faithful servant means, because no one says that here.

We get a bonus in our salary.

But that commendation will wreck you.

Because it's the king of the universe, the one who laid down his life for you, turning to you and saying,

Hey, you did really well with the gifts and responsibilities I gave you.

And it'll wreck you. It'll also wreck you not to hear it.

It will also wreck you not to hear it.

Worse, if there is loss suffered by me in heaven, it'll be hard to handle.

Therefore be persuaded for a day of judgment is coming when every servant of God will be evaluated.

And so Paul says, it persuades me to go ahead and do what I am supposed to do.

Spend every precious stone you have, because those are the stones that go into building the foundation.

When Paul talks about gold, silver, precious stone, hay, straw, rubble, what's he saying?

He's not saying that you have to build with six different materials.

He's dividing those materials into two things, one that can be burnt, one that cannot be burnt.

And in that you see what you need to build.

And like Jesus said, the sum of the first here on earth will be last and some of the last will be first.

The lion who sits behind the sun board may end up being in the front of the lion and I might be at the back of the lion.

Why? Because he evaluates you on your gifts and your responsibilities, not on your preaching, man.

Regent evaluates you on preaching, not Jesus.

What's this doing here?

Okay. Yeah, we've got time.

Guys, once you go into a city and profess and demonstrate, the next thing is to gather.

So the first thing is, profess and demonstrate in the city that you're in.

Profess and demonstrate Christ in the city.

You are based on your sphere, your radius of influence.

Second, once you do that, gather those that are interested or have begun looking at Jesus into households.

We are talking about the strategy of the Spirit. We are talking about Jacob's strategy or Acts 29 strategy.

Jacob's strategy and Acts 29 strategy won't get you nothing.

Have you seen that in the past, some of my strategies? We're talking about the Holy Spirit strategy.

So gather those that are interested or those that have committed or those that have begun looking.

Gather those that are committed, interested, or begun looking into households.

Really? It says so in the Bible? Yep. Go to Ephesians 2.19.

First we look at the idea of a household. Is it a word we came up with or is it really in the Bible?

Ephesians 2.19 talks about the church as a household. Why? Because it has a father, it has children, it has grownups, it has elders, it is young.

It is supposed to be that which represents a family. So Ephesians 2.19.

Here's what it says. Consequently, you are no longer foreigners or Trump's favorite word, aliens.

Consequently, you're no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with God's people and members of God's household.

So the church was known as a household forever.

But see, the churches in the New Testament were made up of smaller households, two or more families.

So what we're doing, let's settle this once and for all. Let's not, like Paul says, not that you've troubled me with it,

but like at one point Paul says, do not trouble me with this because it's been established.

Now let's settle it once and for all by looking at what the New Testament says about the entire church as a household made up of smaller households.

And how small were these households? Two or more families. So let's look at it.

Go to Romans 16.10. Romans 16.10.

Because if it ain't in the blueprint, we shouldn't be doing it. If it is in the blueprint, we need to obey it. Romans 16.10.

11. And then we'll look at another word. Romans 16.10 and 11. Here's what it says.

Greet a palace, if that is how his name should be pronounced.

Greet a palace tested and approved in Christ. Greet those who belong to the household of Aristobulus.

So there was a house run by a guy, owned by a guy called Aristobulus, where people used to meet in church.

And yet remember, Romans is being written to an entire group of people who were believers in Rome.

And Rome was a large city. Paul starts of Romans saying to the saints in Rome.

And yet they were not all in one big stadium. They were in little households.

Verse 11. Greet Herodian, my relative. Greet those in the household of Narcissus who are in the Lord.

So we see another household there. Let's go to verse five. This even clarifies it further.

Greet also the church that meets at their house. Whose house? Priscilla and Aquila.

So he actually used to call the group that met in the house a church, that met in the house, and he called it household.

This was normal in the New Testament.

And if it's in the blueprint, then let's copy it, unless you and I are to believe that the first century ways are not our ways.

Which isn't true, because Jesus is now in heaven. This is happening after Jesus went to heaven.

It's the Holy Spirit who's doing this. This isn't even a Middle Eastern thing. It's spread. It's gone to Asia Minor now.

Corinth was not part of Israel, nor was Rome. Rome was called Babylon because it was the center of darkness.

Let's look at Acts 16, verse 14 and 15.

Acts 16:14

Acts 16, verse 14 and 15.

Acts 16:14

Acts 16, verse 14 and 15.

Acts 16:14

Acts 16, verse 14 and 15.

Acts 16:14

Let's start at verse 13.

So, the Bible persuaded us, and that was the beginning of the first church in Philippi,

which became one of the most commended churches in the Bible.

So, profess, demonstrate Christ in the city.

Gather those that are committed, interested, or have begun looking at Jesus into a household.

Strengthen their faith. Strengthen their faith.

And appoint leaders,

so that the church can have an attractive witness.

So that the church can have an attractive witness.

I was talking to a relative of mine, and we were talking about babysitting.

And so this relative of mine says that they go to two churches.

One church does not believe in getting people born again.

So that particular church has nobody who's born again.

But people in that church are very willing to babysit for you. They'll do it with absolute ease.

And so you can go drop your children there, and they'll babysit.

And when you finish babysitting, guessing that you had a busy day,

they'll even cook a meal for you so that when you come to pick up your children,

you can get your kids and a meal. But they're not born again.

And then they also go to another church. In that church,

everyone is born again and clapping and shouting and dancing.

But the moment you ask them to babysit, the first question that comes out of their mouth is,

would 20 pounds be okay?

The first thing that's negotiated is, would you be able to pay me 20 pounds?

And so this person was telling me, Jacob, what do we do?

On one hand, you can go to a church where there's nobody who's born again, but they're very loving.

On the other hand, you can go to a church where everybody is born again, and they're not very loving.

You need to find a third church.

The point is, guys, it's important to have an attractive witness,

and it's the hardest thing for us to do because the moment you say you're a Christian,

know that you are under the microscope, and rightly so.

There is a higher standard expected of you.

The moment you move from businessman to president, there is a microscope on you,

in case any of you are aspiring.

But the point is this, guys, it is right for the world to look at us,

and it is time for us to stop saying, but we are also sinners.

I don't know who came up with that line, but I've quoted it here before.

God is a distant star, and we are the telescope.

For many, God is a distant star, but when they look at us, they will see him being magnified.

And so may we come out of the microscope and do well with warts and pimples,

but my God, the skin has complexion.

So that's why we need to strengthen faith and appoint leaders.

Let's go to Acts 14, verse 21 to 23.

Acts 14:21–23

Acts 14, verse 21 to 23.

Acts 14:21–23

Acts 14, verse 21 to 23.

Acts 14:21–23

Here's what it says.

Why are we looking at the book of Acts?

Because you see the strategy of the spirits, Acts 14, verse 21 to 23.

Acts 14:21–23

They preached the good news in the city and won a large number of disciples.

Then they returned to Lystra, Iconium, and Antioch, strengthening the disciples

and encouraging them to remain true to the faith.

We must go through many hardships to enter the kingdom of God, they said.

Paul and Barnabas appointed elders for them in each church,

and with prayer and fasting committed them to the Lord in whom they had put their trust.

And so on one hand they would go through step one and step two,

and then they would go back to strengthening the faith of the disciples.

Through what? Through teaching, through visiting,

and then appointing elders and leaders.

Appointing leaders. Why?

So that the church would begin to look attractive,

so that through hardship they would still shine,

so that through different things that they're going through they would still be cities on a hill.

This has never been done before. Paul is learning from the Holy Spirit.

What is so cool is as we go down these steps you'll see that by mistake we have started doing this.

Like by God having us tumble upon it, that's what I mean.

Not by mistake as in oops, no, as in without really planning it we ended up here.

And praise God for that.

This is the grace of God that despite your pastor not knowing stuff,

he still was able to do stuff.

Strengthen their faith, appoint leaders. Go to Acts chapter 2, verses 42 to 47.

Acts 2:42–47

Acts chapter 2, verses 42 to 47.

Acts 2:42–47

Here again, Peter and the rest of the apostles.

This has happened in Jerusalem.

They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching, to fellowship, to the breaking of bread, and to prayer.

Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles.

All the believers were together and had everything in common,

selling the possessions and goods they gave to anyone as they need.

Every day they continued to meet together in temple courts.

So they did meet together in large areas, and then they broke, not then,

they broke bread in their homes and ate together, households, with glad and sincere hearts,

praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people.

And the Lord added to their numbers daily those who were being saved.

You had a church that had an attractive witness.

Next.

I love this.

Use the church as a base to further the gospel.

Use the church as a base to further the gospel to new frontiers.

Use the church as a base to take the gospel to new frontiers.

Guys, please don't think as you listen to this that it doesn't apply to you.

Because this is the blueprint. You know the blueprint, you will know where you fit.

Who in their wildest dreams ever thought that Aaron would fit in a blueprint called Kenya?

Who in their wildest dreams ever thought that Aaron would fit in a blueprint called Kenya?

Who in their wildest dreams ever thought that Aaron would fit in a blueprint called Kenya?

I never in my wildest imaginations for him thought Aaron will go to Kenya.

Forget Aaron. Mike? Who sends Mike to Kenya?

You would never think he was sending Mike anywhere but to Burnaby.

Yeah, he was happy with North Burnaby.

But see, when you know the blueprint, you suddenly begin to know how people fit.

And it will be great when you begin to know it too and you begin to say this is where I should position myself towards.

So when Sue writes to me saying I know that there is this urgency of a Macedonian call upon my life,

it is then necessary to have her recognized.

Because why not just fade into the sunset? She's done enough teaching, just retire.

Go to Hawaii or Florida or the game with Florida on February 14th, Valentine's.

Start there if you don't want to go to Florida.

Just hoping I can sell those tickets.

Rhonda, I think Mark would love it.

And Dawn would just so enjoy taking babysitting the kids.

Or maybe I could go with Mark if Dawn is going. Yeah, moving on.

So guys, but give it to him as a gift. Buy both tickets and give it to him as a gift.

And then let him choose who he wants to take with him.

So guys, use the church as a base to further the gospel to new frontiers.

Without knowing this is what we've ended up doing.

Mongolia is the...

After Mongolia, if you go beyond Mongolia, you fall off the face of the earth.

Because that's the end of the world.

But who would have ever thought that Acts 29 would be in Mongolia and that Uqan Nagi and Azza would be here?

Who would have thought?

This is why there's a team going from here to India.

And none of them are Indians.

I just love what has happened without us knowing, guys.

I pray God that you'll see the enormity of what the Spirit of God is doing here.

Without our interference or despite our interference.

Still doing such an odd, magnificent thing with a small group of people.

See the blueprint and let your heart start thumping saying,

Oh God, before I leave the earth since I am in this church and I don't have any plans of leaving Canada for the next few years,

could you hook me in?

Because God operates in individual lives through the body that they belong to.

And I will try my best not to put a ceiling on you and stop you.

God hold me responsible if I do. Because nothing is going to stop you, man.

No pastor can stop what he has for you, eh?

No man has that much power to prevent your destiny from flowering.

Let's look at some scriptures to see if this is true.

Go to Acts 13, 1-4. Beautiful chapter.

Antioch was a very, very cool church.

In the church at Antioch there were prophets and teachers.

Barnabas, Simeon called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Menean who had been brought up with Herod, the Tetrarch, and Saul.

While they were worshipping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said,

Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.

So after they had fasted and prayed, they placed their hands on them and sent them off.

The two of them, sent on their way by the Holy Spirit, went down to Seleucia and sailed from there to Cyprus.

When they arrived at Salamis, they proclaimed the word of God in the Jewish synagogues.

John was with them as their helper. The journey started.

Furtherance of the Gospel using the church in Antioch as a base.

The church in Antioch, if there is any church that was a beacon, that was a model to the early New Testament believers,

it was a church in Antioch because they followed these steps, man.

Look at another scripture.

Philippians 4, Philippians 4, 15 to 20, Philippians 4, 15 to 20, Philippians 4, 15 to 20.

This in a sense is what's happening in Nandigama.

This in a sense is what is happening with Chelyos in Mongolia.

This in a sense is what is happening in the hills of Vietnam.

This in a sense is what is happening, what happened in Indonesia.

This in a sense is what happened in many places in India.

Through Acts 29, Philippians 4, 15 to 20.

It says, moreover, as you Philippians know, in the early days of your acquaintance with the Gospel,

early days, this was a church that began doing this right off the bat,

in the early days of your acquaintance with the Gospel,

when I set out from Macedonia, not one church shared with me in the matter of giving and receiving, except you only.

For even when I was in Thessalonica, you sent me aid again and again when I was in need.

Not that I'm looking for a gift, but I'm looking for what may be credited to your account.

I have received full payment and even now I'm amply supplied, now that I've received from Epiphorus.

This is a gift that you sent.

There are a fragrant offering and an acceptable sacrifice pleasing to God.

And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus.

This church will do well financially because of your giving.

Your giving has gone to so many places in the world.

Fragrant offering it is before God.

And my God shall supply your needs according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.

We didn't use the money to build ourselves a temple or to prosper the pastor.

Much of it was sent outside.

$24,000 sent in the last 18 months to Nandigama.

I mean, isn't that worth applause?

$24,000. Where did that come from, guys?

Not from under these benches, from your pockets.

And from others' pockets outside the church too.

We're on to something, guys.

We're on to something and I'm excited about it not because I'm the pastor of this church,

but because I'm seeing, oh shut spirit of God, you've been working undercover.

Yeah.

Then maybe the last step if you want to put it is continue establishing,

continue establishing through letters and visits.

In our case, social media and visits.

Continue establishing through letters, media, and visits.

This was the, in a sense, the last step.

And this cycle would be repeated.

Establish and trust.

No, evangelize.

This is a simple picture, guys, that was repeated again and again by the Holy Spirit in different ways.

In different ways.

At one point, Lucy goes up to Aslan and says,

but why didn't you turn up?

And Aslan says, you don't do things the same way twice.

And the point is God is unpredictable in how he will do it.

But there is logic and system to God.

He's the ultimate mathematician.

And here's a simple way he does it.

Evangelize as in confess, a profess and demonstrate Christ in your city.

Establish, equip, and trust.

And move on.

And move on.

Evangelize, establish, equip, and trust.

Evangelize, establish, equip, and trust.

And it keeps going on, keeps going on.

And the circle gets bigger and bigger and bigger.

Surely you can find your place in, am I supposed to at present focus on evangelizing?

Am I supposed to focus on establishing?

And if I'm establishing how?

By going every now and then, taking the message faithfully,

being a co-worker like Aquila and Priscilla, am I supposed to equip?

Is that what I'm called to?

Or am I supposed to entrust as in become an elder somewhere,

a leader somewhere who can be entrusted to entrust others and move on?

Surely you can find your place in this cycle.

Sometimes more than one place.

And so if I report for duty saying, oh, so I want to be an equip and know that the first thing that happens is you start getting trained as an equip.

Just because you want to be an athlete doesn't mean we send you to represent Canada at the Winter Olympics.

First you start eating Kellogg's and then we work from there.

Continue establishing the churches by visits and letters.

Guys, look at Colossians 4.16.

I'll wrap it up in five minutes.

Colossians 4.16.

Colossians 4.16.

Man, Paul sometimes would say things so straight that there was no question as to what they needed to do.

Colossians 4.16.

Colossians 4.16.

After this letter has been read to you, see that it is also read in the church of the Laodiceans and that you in turn read the letter from Laodicea.

He didn't have email.

He didn't have Facebook or Twitter or any of those things.

It was letters.

But man, when he sent a letter, he expected it to be read at Acts 29.

And then he expected Acts 29 to give it to Pilgrim and Pilgrim's letter to be given to Acts 29 so that we have the whole council of God in the epistles written.

And Paul was not the only guy who did this.

Go to 2 Peter 3.

2 Peter 3.

Peter's towards the end of the Bible.

2 Peter 3.

This is how you establish through media.

So if there is a CD or if something is available on the Internet, it is not because we want to have a website.

It is because people can access the website to do something with what is on it.

And if you don't believe me, believe Peter.

Chapter 3, verse 1 and 2.

Dear friends, this is now my second letter to you.

I have written both of them as reminders to stimulate you to hold some thinking.

I want you to recall the words spoken in the past by the holy prophets and the command given by our Lord and Savior through your apostles.

He wanted them to go read the letters.

Look at one last scripture, Acts 15.36.

Acts 15.36.

I want us to have no doubt as to what is being established here today, which is why we are going over so many scriptures.

Acts 15.36.

Hey, can you take a quick picture of me before the sun disappears?

This halo is...

Yeah, it doesn't happen too often.

Silence. This is an important moment in Jacob's history.

Oh, come on, quickly now.

The sun's going down. Will your phone take a pic or not?

Fire in?

Okay, I hope you got a good one because maybe that's what the website is all about.

Yes, hats.

Acts 15.

You're my new favorite, Sue.

Acts 15, verse 36.

Acts 15:36

No probation for Sue for the next three months.

Don's got so many probations that we've made him the chief probation officer.

We can distribute probations now.

Sue, let me have a look.

Oh, wow, not bad, man.

I've got Jesus Christ's name above my head also.

It's all coming together.

Okay, guys, Acts 15.36.

Abel, we are usually much more disciplined here.

Today is one of those days.

Acts 15.36.

Some time later, Paul said to Barnabas, let us go back and visit the brothers in all the towns where we preach the word of the Lord and see how they're doing.

Beautifully.

Visits were not abnormal.

If I go to Bahrain once every three months, it's not because that is a place I used to live in and shawarma's are really tasty.

Because that's a whole lot of money to spend to go for a shawarma.

It's because you need to visit to reestablish.

You know, one of the problems that Paul had that we don't have or I don't have is that Paul often had to give up expansion for the sake of establishing the church

because the church was having problems.

Very often, Paul would want to expand further, but he would not be able to go because the church that he had established was having its own problems.

And whenever it comes to a choice between expansion or establishing, you are supposed to establish, not expand.

One of the gifts that acts 29 has given at least me and you, but definitely me, is that we really don't have major issues.

And because we don't have major issues, it's safe to go and come back knowing that the church will still be there.

Paul had difficulties when he would leave Corinth and he didn't know whether when he comes back to Corinth, whether people would still have him back.

That's a huge blessing.

Many times he had to forego expansion.

Like one of the places is in 2 Corinthians 2, 12-14.

Look at this. I feel really bad for him when I read this in that context. I had never seen the context in that sense.

2 Corinthians 2, 12-14.

It says, Now when I went to Troas to preach the gospel of Christ and found that the Lord had opened the door for me,

I still had no peace of mind because I did not find my brother Titus there.

So I said goodbye to them and went on to Macedonia.

So why do you say it connects to problems?

Because if you read the passage before, it's talking about a man in the Corinthian church who had done something sexually immoral that Paul was correcting and the church didn't like it.

And so he's sent for Titus and Titus isn't coming.

And now Paul has an open door in Troas to expand the gospel.

He says, God gave me an open door.

And even though God gave me an open door, my heart was not at rest. Why?

Because he's got a problem in Corinth that has to be dealt with.

And so he goes back to Corinth even though there was an open door.

Much later in Acts chapter 20, God gives him another opportunity to go to Troas.

Acts 20 · chapter mention

But he had to forego an opportunity because of problems at home.

And then if you go on 2nd verse 14.

Yeah. But thanks be to God who always leads us in triumphal procession in Christ.

And then he goes on to explain the rest.

Verse 9. Look at verse 9.

The reason I wrote to you was to see if you would stand the test and be obedient in everything.

And the church wasn't. So he had to forego expansion for the sake of strengthening.

I'll stop there guys.

Our intent is can we train men and women and teams and send them to establish, equip, evangelize and entrust both at home and abroad.

Let me show you three more scriptures.

First Thessalonians 3.

First Thessalonians 3.

First Thessalonians 3.

When was the last time you read Thessalonians?

First Thessalonians 3.

This is what rusting of paper sounds like for you guys who use phones.

It's a strange sound to you, but it's a very real sound.

First Thessalonians 3.

Verse 1 and 2.

So when we could stand it no longer, we thought it best to be left by ourselves in Athens.

But look, he had already trained leaders.

We sent Timothy, who is our brother and God's fellow worker, in spreading the gospel of Christ to strengthen and encourage your faith so that no one would be unsettled by these trials.

Look at 2 Timothy 2 verses 1 and 2.

2 Timothy 2:1

2 Timothy 2 verse 1 and 2.

2 Timothy 2:1

2 Timothy 2 verse 1 and 2.

2 Timothy 2:1

Paul is writing to Timothy.

You then my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.

And the things you've heard me say in the presence of many witnesses and trust to reliable men who will also be qualified to teach others.

This is our intent, eh?

This is why today for Marcus and Chris and me to see another group of guys doing worship here was in no way robbery, but absolute joy.

Because finally we have another, if Marcus and Chris and I were raptured tomorrow and all of you were left behind, you would still have a worship team.

That was the correct teaching.

Yeah, sorry, it's too late to now cover that.

But the point is guys, to be able to have Timothys and Titus and Apollosus in a church is a wonderful, wonderful thing.

And thank God that God has supplied us more and more that are able to step up.

Where the ones that used to do it can now go ahead and do other things.

This is the whole idea of entrusting the next generation with what you have so that they can now be trusted to teach the generation that comes after.

And so figure out guys, where am I supposed to plug in?

Am I an equiper?

Go to the message from January 21st.

It was called Your Role in His Purpose.

And we talked about are you an equiper?

Are you a minister?

Are you a messenger?

Are you a co-worker?

Are you a benefactor?

Are you a short-term compassion team like the one that is going to Nandigama two weeks from now?

What is God impressing on your heart besides the Ministry of Reconciliation?

That is common to all.

This is common to all.

But when it gets to specificities, what is your role?

Go listen to that teaching if you don't remember.

And prepare yourself as a co-worker.

Prepare yourself as a co-worker.

And if you want to know what a helpful co-worker looks like, listen to the message on helpful or harmful co-workers from November 5th.

Where it talks about the things you have to be if you're a helpful co-worker.

Guys, let's assume you come and say I want to be a minister or I want to be a co-worker or I want to be a benefactor.

Then here's the immediate four things that you require.

Are you a God lover?

Does it show in your life?

Two, are you a loyal co-worker?

Three, are you a reliable teacher?

Four, do you know how to divide the word correctly?

And by reliable teacher, I don't mean standing in front of a church and teaching.

Standing in front of Roslyn and teaching her one on one or standing in front of the three of them and teaching one on three.

Doesn't matter.

But are you a reliable teacher?

Are you a reliable teacher?

Have you learned well so that it is both spoken by you and demonstrated by you?

These are the four qualifications from the book of First Timothy and Second Timothy that qualify you to be a co-worker.

Are you a God lover?

Are you loyal?

Loyal to a cause and to a people.

You can't be loyal to Christ and not be loyal to his people.

Has to be both.

Three, are you a reliable teacher?

What you have learned?

Can you teach someone else?

And four, do you divide the word correctly?

When you read the Bible, do you now have you learned how to see what it says?

If these four fit you, then you are now ready to be a helpful co-worker.

And a harmful co-worker is one who is not loyal.

He may be loyal to the cause but not loyal to the people of God who does not know how to teach one on one.

Is not reliable.

An unreliable teacher doesn't know how to divide the word because there is no interest in the word.

And four, is not a lover of God but is a part-time lover.

Remember that song?

That song.

This is a very old song.

That song ain't a hymn in the church.

That's from the 80s, early 80s, which rules out two-thirds of this church.

But there are no part-time lovers.

One last scripture, one last scripture.

2 Corinthians 10, 15.

2 Corinthians 10, 15.

Look at what happens when we begin to live like this.

2 Corinthians 10, 15.

Paul is saying, hey guys, when you begin to live like this, as your faith increases, our area of influence is greatly enlarged.

Verse 15.

Neither do we go beyond our limits by boasting of work done by others.

Our hope, this is a clincher.

Our hope is that as your faith continues to grow, our area of activity among you will greatly expand.

So that we can preach the gospel in regions beyond you.

So, let's for instance assume that tomorrow, tonight, Sue actually sees a man from Macedonia saying come.

And so, this weekend, she goes to Greece.

Macedonia, Summonia, Greece, right?

Yeah.

So she goes.

Now, her faith will cause our influence to expand so that we go beyond our present parameters into regions that we would not have otherwise been able to go.

Because God looked at one or two people in a body and said, you now are ready to go and have the faith to go.

So go.

And they actually obeyed.

When they obeyed, our influence increased.

Because what is she going to go and deposit there?

That which she has learned with us here.

This is what was happening in UK 10 days ago.

What we've learned here was taken there to the church in Bristol and in the church in Bristol, which is 13 and a half times bigger than us on the day that all of us attend, which hasn't happened yet.

That church is beginning to employ the same things that we are teaching here.

If I continue any longer, Heidi's eyes may shut because it's blazing.

Okay, so let's stop.

Father, I think this is one of the coolest things we could have learned in our lives.