The For-You King

We'll stop, we won't finish for this.

So before we, Ryan, am I good, Wayne, am I good to go?

Okay, so before we started on Jesus Christ as King,

which is what God said we need to keep looking at,

and by the way, I met others in the church

who that very week had God speaking to them saying,

I want you to know me as King.

So I was very encouraged that God was speaking

to others about it.

So before that, I remember concluding a teaching before that

with the words that one of the things that we are appointed

to is to act justly, show mercy, and walk humbly.

Act justly, show mercy, and walk humbly.

That's in Micah 6.8.

And in a sense, anything that God requires of us

is something that he does.

So if God said, do you know man what is required of you?

Act justly, show mercy, walk humbly,

then it also means that God is someone who acts justly,

shows mercy, and walks humbly.

And we'll talk about acts justly at some point.

There's so much in that, man.

But it's something that God is,

which is the only reason he requires it of us.

And it's this nature of his, this is so inherent in him,

that this nature of his causes him and has caused him

for years and years and years to come down

and intervene in the affairs of men.

Because he's like this.

He just steps into the affairs of men often.

Because he can handle things that are unjust for a while

and then he steps in.

Not steps into straightening things out,

but he steps in by, he steps in and goes right into

the grime of what is unjust and then sorts it out.

When things are tyrannical, when things are not working out,

he has this desire to step in and show mercy.

He steps in and shows mercy.

And then he, of all the people, walks humbly.

Behold your king riding on a donkey.

Thanks, man.

He steps in and walks humbly.

Oh, by the way, Kamal and Ann haven't left the church.

They're just in Mexico, but you haven't seen them

for a while, just thought I'd let you know.

Because they haven't been around for a month or so.

And I think Shereen and the kids are also gone

because Ann's son is getting married.

He was married and he's getting married.

Sorry, it's too complicated.

It's a destination wedding.

Yeah, so God's inherent nature fuels his desire

to come down and intervene in the affairs of men.

Hey, can you just remember that?

It's natural for God as a father in my life

and in your life to come down and intervene

whenever he thinks that I gotta do something

that will bring justice to my child

or I gotta do something where I gotta show mercy to him.

I gotta walk humbly as in I gotta come down

to Jacob's level because he's my boy.

I am king, but he is my boy.

Expect God to be like this.

Sometimes even though we know him well,

we know him well, we sometimes assume that

perhaps he won't do this, but he does this regularly.

I'm often surprised at how humble he is.

I'm often surprised at how humble he is.

Well, there'll be something I'm struggling with

and he'll be humble enough to show me how to approach him.

Humble enough to show me what to say to him.

It's almost like this God says,

I want you to say this so that when you say this,

I can do this for you.

That kind of God he is.

Humble God, acting justly.

He can only handle people treating you unjust for so long.

He can only handle situations in the world happening

unjust for so long.

He has this ability to step in.

Think of God like that, eh?

And showing mercy, it's his favorite thing to do.

This is why when we think of him on Mount Sinai

or when we think of him in the desert

where he really got upset and was provoked,

remember who they're provoking.

They are provoking a slow to anger,

gracious, compassionate God.

That must have been sub-provocation, man.

Because this is the same God who sent on Mount Sinai,

I am gracious, my name is Yahweh, I'm gracious.

I'm full of compassion.

I am someone who is slow to anger

and yet they were able to provoke him.

Because when we read the Old Testament,

we think this is a God who's got a lit fuse

that's gonna explode anytime.

Because boom.

No, it took a lot of provocation

to get him to where they got him, man.

We only read the half of it.

Half the things they did are probably not even chronicle.

40 years is about 15,000 days.

But that's a topic for another day.

There are five places in the Old Testament

that you should avoid pitching tenta.

Sinai.

Kibrat, Hattava or Hattiva,

Kadesh, Barnea.

Sounds like Coquitlam and Tawason.

Um.

Um.

Massa.

And there's one more place, I forgot the name of the place.

Don't camp here.

Most of these places were not nice places.

Things didn't go well for them.

Yeah, but we'll talk about that another day.

Here, they fell into idolatry.

Here, they became super covetous and...

Just think of this.

I was just reading this and it blew my mind.

You know how much quail each person collected?

220 liters was the minimum.

Sorry, 2,200 liters was the minimum.

Per family collected 2,200 liters of birds to eat.

2,200.

You know how high it was?

90 centimeters high.

For miles around, 90 centimeters of birds.

Why?

Because they craved, they craved, they craved.

I want, I want, I want.

And God gave and gave and gave,

but sent leanness to their soul.

Kadesh, Barnea is where they were given a promise,

but instead of taking the promise and stepping into it,

they said, no, not now.

And then when God said, okay, not now, no now.

Massa, where...

They began to complain about not having enough,

or getting bitter.

That's it.

I'll, yeah, we'll talk about it another day.

Anyways, guys, God is someone who loves coming down

and intervening, because he is a king

who likes to be not passively present,

but dynamically present, entering into situations

to confront, to intervene.

If you allow him to invade, to transform,

this is his nature.

This is his nature.

Your king wants to be dynamically present

in everything you do.

He wants to be dynamically present

in everything you do, not passively.

And the only thing that allows him to be present dynamically

or present passively is you.

That's the unfortunate part of this,

that I am the one who either allows this king

to either be dynamically present in my life,

in which case he intervenes, he confronts,

he invades, he transforms things.

And my life looks like a kingdom life

that is shaped in heaven.

Or, as a Christian, you and I can be people

who passively allow him to be present.

And when he's passively allowed to be present,

we look like Christians.

I don't wanna look like a Christian.

Big difference this makes, eh?

Because his nature is this.

And this confrontation will not just be confrontation

of things against you, but he'll confront you

with things that need to drop.

Like Sue was talking about, he will intervene

to your benefit.

Everything is to my benefit and to his glory

and to his praise among those that don't know him yet.

Forget it.

Here's another thing your king hates.

Remember, we're talking about King Jesus and who he is.

Here's another thing your king hates.

He hates it.

I mean, I think it was Bill Johnson who said,

you will know what someone loves by what he hates.

You know what someone loves by looking at what they hate.

You know what someone loves by looking at what they hate.

Your king hates bondage.

You must understand how he hates bondage.

There's nothing in him that has even a slight

smell of bondage.

And so he hates bondage, which means he loves freedom.

And so when he sees bondage, my God,

it's like decaying corpse.

He hates it.

You know how uplifting that is,

that he hates the bondages that I am in.

He hates the bondages in my life.

And better still, he hates the bondages

in the world around him,

which is why he's raising up a people

that he can send to do what?

To set the captive free, to open the eyes of the blind,

to bring prisoners out from darkness into light.

He hates bondage.

He hates it, guys.

This is the very nature of your king.

So if there is bondage in your life,

as all our lives do, have bondages,

nobody here is exempt from it.

If there is bondage in your life,

recognize who your king is and his nature

and what he loves and what he hates.

And that is the first step in your life.

And so you must understand that

And he, that is the first step towards him

stepping into your life, first step.

Because if I don't recognize how he comes to me,

then what can I open up in my life for him to touch?

This is what happened to Israel, right?

They were not able to see.

Later, guys.

Yeah.

But Mariana and Jason are leaving the building.

He hates bondage, guys.

And so in your life, when there's bondage,

know that there's someone waiting at the door

to break it down.

He's waiting at the door to break it down.

Ah, the,

the baddest taste, I know it's not grammatically correct.

It's not grammatically correct.

The baddest taste in my mouth is when someone

has an opportunity to allow Jesus to break the bondage

and says no.

And there's nothing you can do about it.

Because even though he has the power to break the door down,

he will not.

You'll have to open it

because he will not violate the will of man.

You cannot even imagine how Jesus felt

when the rich man walked away.

When the rich man walked away, when Jesus said,

you have, he says, I've done this, done this, done this,

done that, and Jesus said, do this.

And he knew that man was in the bondage of

wealth at that time.

And he walks away.

And you can't imagine how Jesus felt.

The king is for his people.

The king is for his people.

The king is for his people.

The king is for his people.

We've talked about this before.

The king is for his people.

The king is against the oppressor.

The king is against the oppressor.

You may know this,

but you need to know this for others in the world

who do not know him yet.

The king is for his people.

The king is against the oppressor.

The king is a mighty man of war.

The king is for his people. The king is against the oppressor, not just for Christians, but for every human being on the earth.

The king is mighty, is a mighty man of war.

You know, that day, on that Sunday, just before he was about to rise up from the tomb,

imagine the weight that was pressing in on the stone that sealed the tomb,

the weight of the entire Roman Empire, the weight of death, the weight of sin, the weight of a satanic army,

the weight of... every conceivable thing was against that stone to prevent it from rolling away.

On the third day, all of them flee, all of them flee, and it opens.

I mean, there was... you can't imagine the empires and the kingdoms that were pressed against that stone that day.

Because if this man stays dead, and they flee away before him as he rises, flee away.

Because one of the things that this king enjoys doing is he likes going to prisons, binding up the strongholds, and releasing prisoners.

You need, and I need to understand, when I say you need, please don't think I'm not thinking about it.

You need to understand that these are things this king is very, very passionate about, very passionate about.

And his eyes are roaming to and fro, looking for a people who can show themselves, loyal and steadfast,

and on whose behalf he can show himself strong. These are passions of the king.

I mean, you understand passion. There are things you're passionate about. Other people can't understand it.

Yesterday, I spent hours watching the air show in Abbotsford. Didn't have a problem driving all the way.

Didn't have a problem walking. Didn't have a problem getting sunburned, I think.

Didn't have a problem. Didn't have a problem spending all the time with Derek.

Why? Because there was a passion that had to be satisfied.

There is a passion in Christ that must be satisfied, and that is a very simple passion.

I like going into prisons. I like binding the strong man, and I like bringing out prisoners.

This is a passion he has. Because the king is for his people.

The king is against the oppressor.

And the king is a mighty man of war.

The deeper this sinks in, the more persuaded you are of what this king can do through you in the lives of people.

He loves creating zest, time and space in people's lives.

He loves creating zest, time and space.

Ah, I can't draw it. It doesn't...

For me, zest is this vibrancy of life.

Time is where God stretches things for you to do here and out.

And space, he gives you responsibilities in space.

That is the essence of freedom.

When it comes to God, freedom may be defined as time, space, and zest in the Holy Spirit.

Time, space, and zest in the Holy Spirit.

That is freedom.

The time to allocate to God to say, you have become my priority, and because you have become my priority, all my time now belongs to you.

How he allocates it doesn't matter, but you have become my priority.

So even though I have 24 hours, you can decide what you want to do with me.

Space, oh God, I am no longer limited to this body, to my gender, to my finances, to this nation, to my ethnicity, to the church I belong to.

I'm not limited by any of that.

The entire universe is my arena because that is your arena.

And zest, zest is this vibrancy that you have that is unquenchable.

And all this is in the Holy Spirit, in the Holy Spirit.

This is the way your King operates.

Embrace it, drink it, eat it.

May you say with him as you sat at the well, waiting for the Samaritan woman, that I have food and drink that you know not of.

This is what we're talking about, guys.

When you are persuaded that this is the nature of your King, the Christ in you will begin to subdue and dethrone other kingdoms and rulers.

When you are persuaded that this is the nature of your King, the Christ in you will begin to subdue and dethrone kingdoms and rulers.

When you begin to be convinced, persuaded that this is the nature of the King, then the Christ in you, who is present, but he is veiled.

The intent often of teaching is not to make Christ increase, but to make the veil go away.

Because the hope of glory Christ in you is already present.

But there is a curtain that must be torn, continuously torn.

Every week the world tries to set up a curtain.

Every week you tear it down so that there is no lamp under a bushel, so that Grouse Mountain is not hidden behind the clouds.

But the veil is torn open so that the Christ in you can subdue kingdoms and dethrone rulers.

Not for your sake really, because you've been taken care of.

But there is a world waiting out there.

Rise up to this guys, because there is only so much you can learn in church.

At some point you begin to turn into fat cats.

Yeah, we are already there.

So, are you talking about the fat cat or the...

Yeah, we don't need any more revelation.

Any revelation that is not demonstrated becomes information.

And information is knowledge that puffs up.

Remember that.

Whenever a people hunger for revelation, God will provide it.

But at some point when the revelation is no longer demonstrated, it just becomes knowledge or information.

And the Bible clearly says, knowledge puffs up.

So my prayer is that, like Paul said in Ephesians 1.18, may our eyes open.

May our eyes be enlightened.

Meaning, as you listen to things like this being taught,

may it not be our external senses that agree with it, that embrace it,

but let there be an internal sensitivity of the spirit that is able to grasp it.

May our eyes be enlightened so that we may be able to see the light of God.

May our eyes be enlightened so that we may begin to plumb the depth and the width of who God is and who he can be through us.

Let something begin to stir up in our spirits, eh?

I mean, I met with a lady and her son from another faith recently.

And they came for ministry.

And I'm wondering how this is all going to start.

I mean, tell them about Jesus Christ.

And the boy is a young boy, less than 10 years old.

He enters and the first question he asks is,

so tell me who Jesus Christ is.

He's been brought there for ministry and for setting free.

And it's a faith that's not necessarily compatible with Christ.

And you're wondering how you'll say, and he says, tell me who Jesus Christ is.

And so I told him who Jesus Christ is.

I told him how the sun and the stars and the moon and the solar system and the cow and the dog

No, there were no cats in my picture.

And the trees and the rivers and me and him.

We were all made by this person called Jesus Christ.

And that he actually likes him a lot.

And the parents are listening.

And because he made all this, including things that are frightening,

he can take care of that which is frightening and he can bring this boy into a place of wholeness.

Overnight, overnight, that boy was set free.

So much so that they're coming back with more members of the family this week.

Your King is passionate about this.

Passionate about this.

It has so little to do with you.

It has so much to do with his passion.

He just wants a vehicle that can express that passion.

2 Corinthians 5 says that we are emissaries, ambassadors of Christ.

Emissaries are ambassadors of Christ. That's who we are.

Keep two verses in mind guys as emissaries and ambassadors of Christ.

One is from Acts 10, 36 to 45 where it talks about,

Let's just read it. We always focus on Acts 10, 38 when there is 36 to 45.

It really puts it out well. Let me just read it. Acts 10, 36 to 45.

I'm reading from the NIV.

You know the message God sent to the people of Israel,

telling the good news of peace through Jesus Christ who is Lord of all. Verse 37.

You know what has happened throughout Judea beginning in Galilee

after the baptism of John preached how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power

and how he went around doing good and healing all who were under the power of the devil because God was with him.

We are witnesses of everything he did in the country of the Jews and in Jerusalem.

They killed him by hanging him on a tree, but God raised him from the dead on the third day and caused him to be seen.

He was not seen by all the people, but by witnesses whom God had already chosen,

by us who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead.

He commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one whom God appointed as judge of the living and the dead.

All the prophets testify about him that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.

While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit came on all who heard the message.

The circumcised believers who had come with Peter were astonished at the gift of the Holy Spirit

that had been poured out even on the Gentiles for they heard them speaking in tongues and praising God.

As emissaries, just...actually we'll deal with that next week.

Guys, your job...we'll end with this.

Your job is that of a stagehand.

And stagehands handle lights and stuff like that.

And your job is only to shine the light on this one called Jesus.

You do that?

Stagehand. You're a stagehand who hardly anyone sees.

Occasionally you come on stage and you handle lights.

And your job is to keep focusing the light on Jesus.

Because it says the light of the gospel.

The light of the gospel.

2 Corinthians 5.19 talks about it.

The light of the gospel that displays the glory of Christ is what changes things.

The light of the gospel that displays the glory of Christ.

So at the end of the day, in every situation, your job is, can I keep moving this light so that Jesus is made evident?

And how is he made evident?

Through your life, through your words, and through your works.

I know this is not new, but I'll repeat it every time till all of us are only living this way.

Your intent is, I'll shine the light on Jesus and I'll shine it through my life, through my words, and through my works.

Continuously this is what you keep doing.

And what is the intent of teaching?

The teaching is so that our life becomes something that reflects it more.

Our words become something that reflects it more.

And our works become something that reflects it more.

That's what teaching does. That's what equipping does.

Equipping helps my life, my works, and my words.

But intent is, can I be a stagehand that keeps throwing the light on Jesus?

And every time you throw the light on Jesus, someone will, must, has to get affected by it.

It's just impossible not to.

So when I was speaking with these people, they said,

Oh well, all roads lead to the same God.

And I said, No they don't.

And so then I had to tell them, this and this and this are not the same.

All roads don't lead to the same God.

There is only one who is called living and his name is Jesus.

There is only one who is called the King of Kings and his name is Jesus.

There is no other that claims that.

All roads do not, do not lead to the same place.

And so keep this week bringing everything back to letting the light shine on Jesus.

And whenever that happens, something or the other changes, guys.

People respond to it. Jesus is able to do what he wants.

I've got so much more I could say.

I'll leave you with one scripture.

Acts 26, 18.

Acts 26, 18.

I'm not sad that I can't say it.

I'm just saying, even if you gave me two hours, I would still have more to say.

Acts 26, 18.

Acts 29 should memorize this verse.

Acts 26, 18.

This is what God said to Paul and this is what God is saying to you.

God is saying to you, I am sending you to open the eyes.

I'm sending you to open the eyes.

Open the eyes of people.

I'm sending you to open the eyes of people.

That they may turn from darkness to light.

From the power of Satan to the power of God.

So that they may receive the forgiveness of sins.

And a place amongst those that are sanctified by faith in Jesus.

I'm sending you to open eyes.

And we open eyes with our words, with our works and with our lifeguides.

That's how we open eyes.

Yet there will be those that are blind.

Because the Bible said, who has heard your message?

Didn't I send you to my own people and yet even though they had eyes open, they were blind.

But if you can just step away from that responsibility and just focus on, I've been sent to open eyes.

Once I open your eyes, if you see and you respond, wonderful.

If you don't, God will come again and help you.

I've been sent to open eyes.

Open eyes of those that are blind.

Guys, there are two kinds of blindness in the Bible.

One is in 2 Corinthians 3, 14.

That is the blindness that comes because of legalism and religion.

Some of this blindness has spilled into the church also.

But basically there are two kinds of eyes that need to be open.

One, eyes that have been blinded because of legalism and religion.

Two, eyes that have been blinded by the God of this age.

This is in 2 Corinthians 3, 14.

This is in 2 Corinthians 4, 4.

Some have their eyes blinded by legalism and religion.

Show them through your life what it is to live a life of zest, space and time.

Show them what it is to live in love and joy.

Guys, the one thing that banishes religion, that puts it in the grave,

is when religion and legalism meets someone who has joy and love.

Legalism and religion flee when joy and love are present.

They can't breathe joy and love.

They suffocate if joy and love are around.

Legalism and religion can only prosper when there is no joy and love.

They can't breathe joy and love.

Legalism and religion can only prosper when there is no joy and no love.

And the second one is those that have been blinded by the God of this age.

2 Corinthians 4, 4 talks about it.

They've been blinded by the God of this age.

Yep, blinded by the God of this age.

Their minds have been blinded by the God of this age.

And so what is the remedy?

The remedy is to be a stagehand.

Because only when you shine the light on Jesus,

are both these conditions of blindness removed.

When you shine the light of Jesus, it says in 2 Corinthians 3, 14,

when they look at Jesus, a veil is removed.

And it says that about 2 Corinthians 4, 4.

The God of the age, whose blinded people, once they hear the good news of the Gospel of Jesus Christ,

their blindness is removed.

And I've been trying to develop this attitude,

which is not easy to develop in the Christianity that we have grown up in,

that Jesus Christ has, that God has reconciled the world through Jesus Christ

so that he does not reckon sins to mankind anymore.

Very, very difficult thing for us who have been Christians for too long.

That God does not count the sins of people against them anymore.

It almost goes against everything you believe in.

Because you divide the world into two.

And for Paul to say, God through Christ has reconciled the entire world.

And he does not count the sins of mankind against them anymore.

2 Corinthians 5, 19.

So in your approaching people, you can't count against them, reckon to them, the sins they are committing.

Why can't you count their sins against them?

Because those sins have been judged.

How were those sins judged?

By him who had no sin becoming sin.

So how can you count the sins against them?

If O.J. Simpson, who's going to be released shortly, has been in prison for nine years and is coming out right now,

you cannot reckon to him the sins for which he has been punished anymore

because he has been judged and he has paid for it.

But in our case and in the case of the entire universe and every human being that exists,

their sins cannot be reckoned to them anymore because they have been judged.

How were they judged?

They were judged by making one who was not sin, sinful, so that they might be free.

This was what happened for us, guys.

He did not count our sins against us.

Because one was sent to become sin for me, that I may not be sin anymore.

This attitude has somewhere deep inside has to change.

Grant Cook always looks at it this way.

I'm not saying it's biblical.

I'm just saying it's a play on words.

The Bible calls the world believers and unbelievers.

But one of the ways Grant Cook looks at them is the reconciled and the redeemed.

The reconciled and the redeemed.

Everyone has been reconciled.

And when they receive forgiveness, they are redeemed.

But God is not counting any human being sinned against them.

Acceptance.

Receiving the fact that it's been reconciled.

What does the word reconcile mean?

Reconciled means there are two sides of a ledger that have to match up.

Whatever was a deficit on one side, God added so that they both, the ledger now, matches up.

And there are two things.

I mean, on one hand, I'm just sometimes bothered by the fact that after all these years, I hardly know anything.

Every time you read the Bible, you see something you haven't seen before.

When is this going to end?

And so, Paul is writing in 2 Corinthians 5, there are two reasons I keep wanting to shine the light on Jesus.

There are two reasons I want to do this.

And so in 2 Corinthians 5, 11, it says, I do this because I know that a day of judgment is coming.

So the fear of God persuades me to keep shining the light on Jesus so that people can see.

Acts 17, verse 31 says, for God has appointed a day when things will be judged.

Acts 17:31

And guys, I came across that crown thing while we were singing.

But there will be promises.

Sorry, not promises.

There will be rewards.

There will be crowns.

There will be responsibilities given to you when your life here is over.

And it will depend entirely on how you worked your life here on earth.

Do not think that crowns are ready to be distributed to you.

You can't buy these crowns.

The only crown that every one of us gets is a crown of life.

All the other crowns God is waiting to give.

Work for them to please your master, not for brownie points.

You don't get a bigger house.

You don't get nothing.

All you get is these crowns that you can lay at his feet with every song.

And the first shall be last and the last shall be first.

You'll be scratching your head thinking, how did she get so many?

I was better than her on earth.

Yeah, I'm just imagining.

Just like people imagine cats in heaven, I'm imagining that.

You can imagine things.

So on one hand, guys, the fear of God should persuade you to shine the light on Christ

and help people recognize who your King is.

And on the other hand, Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 5.20, I think.

He says, the love of God compels me.

The love of Christ compels me.

The love of Christ compels me.

We'll touch on that some other day.

The love of Christ compels me.

It's the fear of God that compels me and the love of Christ both compel me to do what I'm doing.

This is why Paul could never stop.

The love of God compels me.

The fear of God compels me.

This is why then, yeah, we can't get rid of either, because on one hand,

in Jesus Christ's willingness to die, you see his love.

In Jesus Christ's willingness to be judged for you, you see his love.

Let me say that again.

In Jesus Christ's willingness to be judged for you, you see a display of his love.

But in Jesus Christ's willingness to be judged for you, he now has earned the right to be the judge.

He's earned the right to be the judge.

This is why it says the son of man has the right to judge.

Why? Because the son of man was judged for the sons of men.

He has earned the right to judge.

But when he rose again, he rises up as the son of God.

Romans chapter 1.

Romans 1 · chapter mention

He rose again as the son of God, but he was judged as the son of man for the sons of men.

Therefore, he alone has a right to judge.

And the day of judgment is coming, persuaded by the fear of God, compelled by the love of God.

But we'll talk about the compelled by the love of God later.

Heidi, you want to do?

I actually don't have anything to add, but if anyone needs prayers, there will be some people here to pray for.