Glory – Kingdom Life in a Fallen World – Part I

Now we shift our focus in our study of glory to something that's a new way of approaching

it and so here's how we go about it.

Guys all the attributes of glory center in Jesus Christ.

We said that before.

Exodus 33, 18 I repeated every Sunday.

Moses said show me your glory and God begins to define glory for him and as he begins to

define it you find that he's defining his attributes.

So all the attributes of glory center in Jesus Christ.

Why do we say Jesus Christ?

Because he's a visible expression of the glory of God.

In Exodus 33 God starts talking about glory and he begins to explain his attributes and

we see these attributes in Christ.

Therefore the glory, all the attributes of glory center in Christ Jesus who is a visible

expression of God's glory and so here's the clincher.

When the church centers on Jesus Christ and when the church centers on Christ and establishes

the reputation of Jesus Christ in our own lives then the world will begin to see God's

glory.

Let me say that again.

If Christ is the glory of God and the church begins to center on Jesus Christ and begins

to establish the reputation of the son in our lives, you establish his reputation in

your lives then the world will begin to see the glory of God.

That's how this works.

Especially given what is peddled as glory nowadays where physical manifestations are

peddled as glory, when I would go as far as to say that some of these physical manifestations

are actually the doctrines of demons and the signs of seducing spirits in established charismatic

churches in North America.

That's what they are.

So what we are going to see over the next maybe three months is Jesus unveiling the

foundations of his glory through Matthew 5-3-10.

I mean he'll unveil the character of, what Jesus is going to do in Matthew 5-3-10 and

listen to this guys because it's important to understand this.

Jesus is going to unveil the character of a glory ascribing life in Matthew 5-3-10.

We've never looked at Matthew 5-3-10 that way.

But what Jesus is going to do is he's going to unveil the character or the characteristics

of a glory ascribing life in Matthew 5-3-10.

Most of us know Matthew 5-3-10 as the Sermon on the Mount and I want to say to you that

it's the best known, least understood, least obeyed verses in the Bible.

The best known, least understood and least obeyed verses in the Bible.

We usually dismiss them as, oh those were the starting years that Jesus just started.

He put together a lot of nice words and they sound good every now and then.

Say them occasionally preach a sermon on them.

Blessed are the distinct, blessed are the that thing.

Really doesn't relate to us.

Blessed are the poor in spirit.

That's the last thing we want to be.

For the kingdom of heaven is ours anyways, so why look after the blessed?

And yet in those verses you will see that what is happening is Jesus is revealing the

character of a glorious ascribing life.

So if you want to turn to Matthew 5-3-10.

In other words guys, if you want to spot a Christ glorifier in a crowd, look for these

supernatural character attributes in them.

If you want to spot in this church, not a worshipper, not a pastor, not a good Christian,

not a healing ministry like say Anne and Elmer's.

If you want to spot a Christ glorifier, then look for these eight supernatural characteristics

in them and if they display it, I want to say to you that they are walking displays

of the glory of God.

So Matthew 5-3-10.

It says that now when he saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down and

his disciples came to him and he began to teach them saying, blessed are the poor in

spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Blessed are those who mourn for they will be comforted.

Blessed are the meek for they will inherit the earth.

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness for they will be filled.

Blessed are the merciful for they will be shown mercy.

Blessed are the pure in heart for they will see God.

Blessed are the peacemakers for they will be called the sons of God.

Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness for theirs is the kingdom

of heaven.

Go to Isaiah 61.

Verses 1-3.

You will see echoes of the beatitudes in the character of the Christ who came to the earth.

Isaiah 61, verses 1-3.

Isaiah 61:1–3

The spirit of the sovereign Lord is on me because the Lord has anointed me to preach

the good news to the poor.

He has sent me to brighten up the broken hearted and proclaim freedom for the captives, release

from darkness for the prisoners, proclaim the year of the Lord's favor, the day of the

vengeance of our God to comfort all who mourn and to provide for those who grieve in Zion,

to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning,

a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair.

They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the Lord for the display of

the splendor of God.

So again here we see echoes of Matthew 5-3-10.

We see in Isaiah 61 when he's describing Christ.

By the way, if you want to see some things that God hates, you will find that the beatitudes

are an antithesis of Proverbs 6.

Proverbs 6, 16-19.

Proverbs 6, 16-19.

There are six things the Lord hates, seven that are detestable to him.

So Matthew 5 says, blessed are the poor in spirit.

Here it says God hates haughty eyes.

He hates a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked schemes.

There it says pure in heart, feet that are quick to rush into evil, a false witness who

pours out lies.

There it says peacemaker.

Here it says a man who stirs up dissension among brothers.

You'll see that the things that you're going to read in Matthew 5 are things that actually

are attributes of God that God is now saying, hey, you guys want to begin to see what it

is to live a life full of my attributes?

Practice these and you will see what will happen to you.

Guys, these are supernatural spiritual torpedoes, man.

I mean, the more I read it, the more I think to myself, what took you 20 years?

These are supernaturally charged spiritual torpedoes that arm you for a God life on earth.

What it's basically doing is it's saying, Jesus is saying, Wayne, if you begin to practice

this, do you realize, Wayne, that you will be partaking in my divine nature?

That whole thing in 2nd Peter where it says we have precious promises in the written word

to partake in the divine nature.

Hello, these are the precious promises.

And then it goes on to say to goodness add faith, to faith add loving kindness, to loving

kindness add love, all that is encompassed in these 8 things that you will see.

And by the way, even though it's called the Sermon on the Mount and there was a huge multitude,

have you noticed how in the beginning of the chapter, he begins to speak and what does

he do?

He calls his disciples to himself first.

He's speaking to his disciples.

We assume that the multitude heard it.

Maybe they did, maybe they didn't.

But he was addressing his disciples.

If you want to spot a Christ glorifier in a crowd, look for these 8 supernatural character

attributes because they are a reflection of God's nature, splendor and character.

Guys, don't make the mistake of being selective about these character attributes.

Don't say, I'll be merciful but I don't want to be a peacemaker.

I want to be pure in heart but I don't want to be meek.

Can't do that.

You cannot be selective with this because we can't apportion God.

Any questions before we go on?

So over the next, I think, three months or so, or probably four with Eddie coming in

between and me going out in between, probably four months.

In the next four months, what we'll do is we'll begin to study these character attributes

that Jesus wants us to develop.

And I would suggest to you that if these become permanent in our lives, turn to 2nd Peter,

2nd Peter 1, 2nd Peter 1 verse 3 onwards, 2nd Peter 1, 3 onwards.

That time is right.

We've got a lot of time today.

2nd Peter 1, verse 3 onwards.

His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our

knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness.

Through these, he has given us these very great and precious promises so that through

them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused

by evil desires.

That's why I call them spiritual torpedoes.

You both are armed for a life with God and you're also able to undo that which is the

corruption of the world.

Then verse 5, for this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness and to

goodness knowledge and to knowledge self-control and to self-control perseverance and to perseverance

godliness and to godliness brotherly kindness and to brotherly kindness love.

Now those things we will see are part of the Beatitudes, but look at verse 8, for if you

possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective

and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

But if anyone does not have them, he is near sighted and blind and has forgotten that he

has been cleansed from his past sins.

Therefore brothers, be all the more eager to make your calling and election sure.

For if you do these things, you will never fall and you will receive a rich welcome into

the internal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

That is how potent these principles are going to be.

I might call them Beatitudes occasionally, but it's not a word that you see in the Bible

anyways.

Any questions before we go on?

Guys, if we are, please, one of the things I desire of you and I desire and I'm doing

it anyways myself is that you go and practice the Beatitude that you're taught every week.

Practice it.

Remember on what we're going to learn next week, but practice what you're taught this

week, because you'll have ample opportunity to practice this.

These are so real and practical that it's fascinating that they are the least understood

things in the Bible and least obeyed even if you understand them.

So questions before we go on?

Happy Attitudes.

Yeah, some call them Happy, Be Happy Attitudes.

Attitudes to be.

Yeah.

I don't know, Diana, I thought I can get away with that one.

If it was Greek, I used to get away with it, but now because of certain extenuating circumstances,

even that is not possible.

The only language I can get away with nowadays is Punjabi and Hebrew.

And Malayalam.

And Malayalam.

Okay.

So Beatitudes is a Hebrew word, which means be happy in your attitude.

Okay, so let's take the word, the first Beatitude.

And basically, as the title of your page says, this is Kingdom Life in a Fallen World.

How in a fallen world can we begin to display Kingdom Life, which is basically the life

of the king?

We're living according to the values, the norms of a kingdom that has come in a world

that is fading away or passing away.

And the reason we can live Kingdom Life is because the king took up residence in us.

I'm always fascinated by that.

That when it comes to kingdom, the king lives no longer in a palace that we have to visit,

but we have become his palace.

And that everyone is a citizen, yes, but everyone is his younger brother.

That fascinates me.

There's no other king like that.

So the first word that we need to look at in blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs

is a kingdom of heaven.

That's the first one.

That's the first one.

Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is a kingdom of heaven.

Blessed, the word blessed, the root idea is approval, guys.

The root idea is approval.

Blessed is to say approval, as in God is saying, listen, I want to say to you that if you are

able to adapt this principle into your life, then know this, that I unreservedly, exuberantly

endorse or approve you.

Endorse or approve you.

Now you can go and find the meaning of blessed in Greek and Hebrew and all this stuff and

they'll say to be envied.

Yeah.

Unreservedly.

And you'll find that it says to be envied and all that stuff.

All that is true.

But we are not looking at the meaning of the word to explain this.

What we are looking at is what's the sense of God saying this?

And what God is saying is, listen, approved are you, exuberantly unreservedly endorsed

are you.

That is a sense of it.

Crave it, guys.

See, I knew there was happiness somewhere in there.

Yeah.

Yeah.

So the root is really approval.

So those who live out what Jesus is spelling out in these eight, nine verses, those who

live it out will have the unreserved exuberant endorsement of God.

That's what it's saying.

And by the way, for fishermen and tax collectors who were continuously used to the verbal assaults

of Pharisees and Sadducees telling them how lousy they were, this was like music to their

ears, man.

There they would be told, you are proud, you are lousy, the kingdom of heaven ain't going

to be yours and you blessed know you're cursed.

And suddenly here is this man who's coming and telling them, endorsed are you unreservedly

and exuberantly and I'm fully approving of you as you begin to walk in the poverty of

your spirit.

So it must have been music to their ears, regardless of whether the multitude heard

it or whether the disciples heard it.

So the root idea again is approval.

Whenever you, as we go through this, whenever we come across this word blessed, remember,

it is God exuberantly unreservedly endorsing you and saying, approved are you when you

begin to operate in these things that I'm spelling out to you or super blessed are you

because of my endorsement.

It's the craving.

What else should you crave for but the pleasure of the acknowledgement of the father?

What else does a dog crave for?

Am I calling you dogs?

Kind of.

But the whole idea of worship by the way is this picture of a dog wagging its tail coming

and licking its master.

That's the whole idea of worship.

That's the, that's the literal picture of worship.

And yet, be your sons, be your sons.

So now let's talk about poor.

Had a late night what?

Last night?

Late night, right?

Yeah.

No, late night.

I didn't mention your name so they don't know who I'm talking about, Ryan.

Sorry Matt.

I haven't done this for two years.

Yeah, just making it famous.

Blessed are the poor.

Poor now comes from a Greek word that Jason's going to pronounce loudly.

P-T-O-C-H-O-S.

That wasn't very effective but moving on.

So P-T-O-C-H-O-S, something like tocos.

But basically poor, the picture of blessed are the poor.

The poor here is a beggar who's crouched in a corner with one arm stretched out asking

for arms and the other arm literally hiding his face in shame.

That's the literal picture of the poor.

That word.

A person crouched in a corner begging, one hand held out for arms, the other hiding his

face ashamed of being recognized.

That's the picture.

One of the things we need to recognize or realize right off the bat is that, let there

be no mistake, the poverty being described here is about a man's spirit, not about his

pocket.

When Jesus says blessed are the poor, he's not talking about a man's pocket, he's talking

about a man's spirit.

Otherwise every rich man is not blessed, which means none of you are blessed.

Because where's the line for poverty?

Who do you compare it to?

Maybe one day I'm richer than you, another day you're richer than me, but we're all

richer than more than two-thirds of the world.

So where does it end?

No.

Matt, tell him how long it will take before we get there.

Yeah.

Bless it.

No, it's not mindset.

Yeah, we'll come to that.

That's what we'll be talking about.

So let there be no mistake, the poverty being described here is a man's spirit and not his

pocket rephrased.

How would you rephrase this?

Blessed are those who are spiritually bankrupt.

Blessed are those who are spiritually bankrupt.

Or blessed are the spiritually bankrupt ones.

Blessed are those who are spiritually bankrupt who cringe and cower because of their helplessness.

OK.

because of their helplessness and for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

And like Wayne is saying, everyone is spiritually bankrupt,

some realize it, some think about it, some recognize it,

most don't realize it, most don't think about it, most don't recognize it.

And we are only talking about Christians now.

Jesus called aside his disciples and began to tell this to them.

So let's just leave the rest of the world alone.

For now.

Go ahead, An.

Kamal, go ahead.

I just didn't understand spiritually bankrupt.

I thought being financially bankrupt was spiritually...

Yeah.

Just as you would think of one who is financially bankrupt,

having nothing.

So now God is saying, blessed are those that are spiritually bankrupt,

who are absolutely helpless, who are literally willing to recognize,

think and acknowledge that they got nothing to offer,

but come absolutely helpless to the king.

That is one of the conditions for blessedness.

And as we talk about it, you'll find out what we mean by spiritually bankrupt.

Because to come to God with any semblance of money in your spiritual account

is going to result in you not being as productive as you can be.

And we'll talk about that as we continue.

So is that a presumption of what is spiritually rich?

Because if you're coming to God with something, you hold it spiritually rich.

Then it's a presumption that as we'll find out, quite dangerous.

Quite dangerous.

This is total dependence on God.

Totally depending on His spirit.

Yeah, yeah.

As we go, we'll flesh that out.

Spiritually banked out as money.

Yeah, not money. Not money.

Spiritually banked out as the word.

Yeah. And a whole lot of other things as we'll see.

You're saying it's not the prophet.

Yeah, it's not the prophet. Put pocket.

So let's define spiritual bankruptcy then.

Guys, spiritual bankruptcy may be defined as a continuous state of inadequacy.

Spiritual bankruptcy is a continual state of inadequacy.

Continual state of inadequacy.

Where you come to the King as absolutely helpless.

Where you come to the King as absolutely helpless.

And you shed, we'll go over that slowly.

Spiritual bankruptcy is defined as a continuous state of inadequacy before God.

Where you come to the King as helpless, regardless of how long you've been a Christian.

Because you don't come with any spiritual assets.

You're always coming to Him in a state, or living out of a state of inadequacy, of helplessness before the King.

And you begin to shed all self-sufficiency.

And any confidence that you have in your human skills or abilities.

And you might say, no, no, no, that's going too extreme.

Well, Jesus is the standard and we'll get there.

We'll talk about that today.

So it's defined as a continual state of inadequacy.

It's defined as a continual state of inadequacy.

Where you come to the King as helpless, shedding all forms of self-sufficiency.

And shedding confidence in your own human abilities and skills.

But isn't that God given?

Yes it is, but you shed your confidence in your human abilities and skills.

And we'll talk about that some more.

I'll have to say that a few times because there's quite a lot to say.

Guys, if you and I think, and sometimes there is a tendency for us to think,

but that's how we are, we are not self-sufficient, we are dependent on God.

Then if you think you are that already, show me how transparent you are.

And how free from pretensions you are.

If you think that you are already living in that state of inadequacy.

That you've shed all your self-sufficiency.

That you've shed all your confidence in your own human skills and abilities.

Then show me how transparent you are.

And show me how free of pretensions and masks you are.

Because a beggar has nothing to hide and has nothing to hide behind.

Except his inadequacy.

And even that he doesn't hide because he stretches out his hand asking.

If you, let me say that again, if you say that this is how you are, or if Jacob says,

but I'm already living out of inadequacy, I don't have any self-sufficiency.

I'm not confident of my human abilities and skills.

And I'm completely poor in spirit.

Then you need to ask, okay Jacob, show me your transparency.

How transparent are you?

And you'll find that Jacob isn't as transparent as he should be.

Far from it.

Do you wear any masks or do you have any pretensions?

Absolutely I do.

Well then Jacob, you're not a beggar yet.

Because a beggar has nothing to hide.

A beggar does not pretend because there's nothing to hide and there's nothing to hide behind.

Except the shame of his inadequacy.

And he shamelessly expresses his need.

Right on. Right on.

The Pharisees couldn't get there.

Why? Because they came with spiritual assets.

They came from a pedigree. They came from a line. They came from knowledge.

They came from a place of information. They had skills.

They had abilities. They had confidence in these abilities.

You may say, but isn't it God-given abilities?

Absolutely. But where's your confidence in?

We'll come to that.

This is a continual state of living.

And you will see that Jesus lived this way.

Oh, when we get there, it'll fascinate you.

When Dano in Bahrain was going through this turmoil of people questioning him and saying,

This church is not right.

And Eddie had said,

Jacob, can you bring Dano with you to South Africa in March?

And I asked Dano, hey, you want to come to South Africa?

And he said, Jacob, what will I contribute?

I just realized how little I know.

They asked me questions and I couldn't answer.

I don't even know what awaits this church six months down the line.

I got nothing that I can contribute.

And I said, absolutely true, man. You got nothing.

You are one of the most unqualified people I have met to lead a church.

All you have is this thing called the grace of God inside you.

Other than that, you got nothing.

So if you think I'm taking you to South Africa so that you can show them something you got,

I want to tell you, you got nothing.

And that helped him.

Because what else do you have, man?

You got nothing.

Jason, you got nothing.

Do you think that any of the shayans that you've mentioned,

they're not backing off the picture of the French mentality of the people that you've met?

You kind of, like, you know, you're not giving them anything.

Yeah, so he's an imperfect beggar.

He's really a good example of that.

Yeah. It was just a comparison of two things.

Guys, as long as, and this sentence may again rub us a little wrong,

as long as we have this conceited self-righteous idea that we can do a thing if God helps us,

I would say that's still not where you need to be.

We Christians are like that, man.

We think we can do this thing if God helps us.

And, you know, when we sing that song,

I can do nothing for him. He does everything in me.

That's where we are heading towards.

For me to even think I can do this thing with a little bit of help from God

is an exalting of certain abilities that I have.

I've got to come to a place, and you'll see that with Jesus,

where even when I have an ability, I'm choosing to say, I can do nothing for you.

I'm not able to start this.

This has to be offered and finished by you.

That is poverty.

Because sometimes we have a conceited self-righteous idea

that we can do a thing with a little bit of help from God,

and when we think like that, God allows us to go on

until we break the neck of our ignorance on some obstacle.

He did this with, what do you think he was doing with Gideon?

Brought him to a place where there was a poverty of spirit, of people, of resources, of weapons.

How much do you reduce an army by?

Be reasonable, be logical, use your common sense.

Don't whittle it down to 300 to face an army of 20,000 or 200,000.

Guys, understand this. We have this stinking confidence in our human abilities,

experience, common sense and goodness.

Let me say it again.

We have this stinking confidence,

let me speak for myself,

I have this stinking confidence

that we can do a thing with a little bit of help from God.

I have this stinking confidence

that we can do a thing with a little bit of help from God.

I have this stinking confidence in my human ability,

in my experience, in my common sense and in my goodness.

I was telling someone, I don't remember who it was,

I was telling someone,

I don't know, I feel very inadequate when I have to sit across someone and counsel.

That was great, that was a good comment that was coming in the right place.

But then I said, but hey, I love teaching,

just put me anywhere to teach and I can teach like crazy.

And I'm thinking to myself as I'm writing these notes, wow Jacob,

sure you express your inadequacy in one area,

but in the other area you've got this stinking confidence

in your own abilities, in your own experience,

in your own common sense and goodness.

Guys, even the most devout of us are sometimes atheistic in this regard,

where we take common sense and we put it on the throne.

Or we take our ability and put it on the throne.

All these are given by God. Common sense is given by God,

ability is given by God, experience is given by God,

goodness that we have is given by God.

But don't put it on the throne.

An atheist puts something else on the throne before God,

above God or in place of God.

We put our common sense on the throne and then attach God's name to it.

We try to guard ourselves, I said this last time,

we try to guard ourselves and in the process of guarding ourselves,

we attach God's name to us from his deliverance.

Jacob, where does God's wisdom fit in there?

We'll come to that. I'm not trying to delay things.

It just has to be built step by step.

Because these things are God given, man.

The thing is Psalm 147, verse 10, it says in the message

Psalms 147:10

that God is not very impressed with your horse power,

nor your little muscle.

Basically what God is saying is that,

it's one of those few verses if you really look at it

where God doesn't think much of men's legs.

It says, I have no pleasure in the strength of a horse

or the legs of a man.

But what it basically means is that he doesn't have,

he's not impressed with horse power,

he doesn't have the size of our muscles,

which means little to him.

That is the bedrock of Jesus Christ's kingdom.

The bedrock of Jesus Christ's kingdom is poverty, not possession.

It's poverty, not possession.

In a sense again, I'm not talking about the pocket,

it's talking about the poorness of your spirit,

the poverty of your spirit, your bankruptcy in your own strengths.

It's the bedrock of the kingdom of Jesus Christ.

It's not decisions for Christ that matter to him,

it's your sense of absolute futility that he really enjoys.

It's not decisions you make,

but it's the futility of your condition that he's able to work with.

Paul got it, huh? Paul got it.

When I am weak, then I am strong.

Therefore I will rejoice and enthrall myself in my infirmities and weaknesses,

because that is when the power of God moves into my abject weakness.

He got it.

You know, at the end of the day, have you noticed how

people can make decisions for Jesus Christ in a crusade?

Raise up their arms. What is God looking for? Decisions? No.

He's looking for the bankruptcy of a person,

because if you don't need a savior, what is the point of lifting up your hands?

And you won't need a savior till you know you are completely bankrupt.

Why would you need saving for anything else?

Sure, you want your pain to go away, you may need a, like I said before, you may need a healer.

If you want a sense of destiny, you may need God.

But what God is saying, I didn't come to give you destiny and take away your pain.

I came to completely bring you out of a place of spiritual bankruptcy into sonship,

from the dominion of darkness into the kingdom of light.

We've got to change our way of presenting the gospel.

I know I've said this before, but Acts 29, understand this.

We present a savior who comes to help those that know they are spiritually bankrupt.

If you do not know that and see Christ as one of immeasurable words,

then we are peddling a different Jesus Christ.

I've done that. Don't want to do that anymore.

And so basically, here's what Jesus is saying.

Jacob, when you begin to say, I can do nothing of myself,

when you begin to say, I cannot even begin to do it,

that's when I'll turn around to you and say, blessed are you.

That is nuts.

But these are such radical statements he's making

that we don't even want to touch them because it would mean too much of a change.

When you, Jacob, say that I can do nothing by myself,

when you say I can't even begin to do it,

that's when I will come and say, blessed are you.

I endorse you fully.

I am unreservedly and jubilantly, exuberantly approving you.

Because guys, every time I usurp or assume responsibility for my own affairs,

I abdicate my dependence on God.

Every time I usurp the responsibility for my own life,

usurp is to take or to forcibly take.

Every time I usurp the responsibility for my own affairs and my life,

I abdicate my dependence on God or I cancel my dependence on God.

Now let's just look at Jesus.

Look at what Jesus is saying in John 5.19.

He's saying that the son, now who are we talking about?

We're talking about God, the son.

And John 5.19 says this, the son can do nothing by himself.

We are talking about Jesus Christ and he's saying the son can do nothing in himself or by himself.

And then just in case we didn't get the point,

look at what he says in John 15.5.

In John 15.5 he says, apart from me, you can do nothing.

So let's break the word nothing into no thing so that it's even clearer.

First he's saying the son can do no thing by himself.

And then in John 15.5 he repeats it and says, apart from me, you can do no thing either.

Separate it from me.

We'll come back to that.

We'll just keep that in mind.

One of the questions I have to ask myself from here on is,

in everything I do, who's my source?

Where am I?

Jacob, you've come up with an idea.

Who's the source?

Jacob, you've come up with an idea.

Who's the source?

Or Jacob, you've come up with a way of doing it.

Who's your source?

Is your source your experience?

Is your source your skill?

Is your source your ability?

Is your source your spiritual gifts?

Because even spiritual gifts can be exerted separate from God.

You know that?

And you see thousands of people doing it.

Did you hear that?

You can use your spiritual gifts separate from God.

They are active in you.

They express themselves.

People are benefiting.

And yet you can separate yourself from God and do it.

Many will come casting out demons.

And I will say to them, I did not even.

Guys, where's the source?

Who's the source?

What's the source?

This is a question I have to keep asking.

This plan, this idea, this thought, where is it coming from?

Where am I drawing this from?

Is it from my experience?

Is it from my ability?

Is it from my skills?

Is it from my goodness?

Is it from my spiritual gifting?

Where is it coming from?

That's one question.

The second question is, and this is important, Axwainian, you will understand this.

So it's not un-understandable.

You've got to ask yourself, not who am I living for, but who am I living from?

Important, guys.

Not who am I living for, but who am I living from?

Who am I living from when I do this thing?

Who am I living from?

When I was irritated at the beginning of the service, the reason I needed to say it was

one, because it could be out there and so it loses its power.

But two, who was I living from?

Who am I living for?

Jesus.

But who was I living from?

Jacob.

Got to ask myself this.

Who am I living from?

Guys, Galatians 2.20, this church knows it well because we've talked about Christ's

life.

What does it say?

It says, I have been crucified with Christ.

I no longer live, but Christ lives in me and the life I now live, I live by the faith.

Yeah, Jason and I were talking about this or he was talking to me and we were talking

about how you go to the New King James Version and the versions that were the earlier ones,

at least in print, you will see that it says, I live by the faith of the Son of God, not

in the Son of God, but of the Son of God.

Agree or disagree?

I know that one of the things I have to live out of is the faith of the Son of God.

Not faith.

There, I'm talking about the ability to live out of the faith of the Son of God.

Who am I living from?

I have been crucified with Christ.

I no longer live, but Christ lives in me.

I can understand that.

And the life that I now live, I live by the faith of the Son of God.

Not faith in Jesus, but faith like Jesus.

Because I possess Christ, now I live out of the faith that Christ had.

Just a caution before we go on with this.

Guys, the poverty of spirit can be artificially induced by debasing ourselves or by self-debasement

or self-pity.

Let me say that again.

The poverty of spirit can be self-induced by self-debasement or self-pity or beating

oneself up.

This is why, this is the error of every monastic order that ever existed or that exists even

today.

Any monastic order that begins to say, I must leave society, I must punish my flesh, I must

suffer hardship.

That is a debasement that has nothing to do with God.

That is not poverty of spirit.

That is such an intense focus on oneself that your focus is completely off God.

The more conscious you are of yourself, guys, the more conscious I am of my successes and

my failures, the more conscious I am of my distinctions and my distortions, the less

conscious I am of my failures.

I will be poor in spirit.

Is it necessary to starve the flesh?

To what?

If you mean starve the flesh as a not indulgent sinful thing, yes.

But starve the flesh to become spiritually greater, no.

Oh, yeah.

There the principle used to be flee from youthful lusts or flee from things that feed your flesh

and not your spirit.

But one of the things that happens with these orders that begin to punish the flesh and

suffer hardship is they're doing it thinking there's some kind of merit that comes from

it.

The more I concentrate on my failures and successes, which the church has done very

well, the more I concentrate on my distortions or my distinction, the less poor I am in spirit

because now the focus is me and not God.

In Matthew 4, Jesus was led by the spirit because there's a three-tiered desire to

be under the firstborn.

Quite easily, the Spirit of God was testing, was the one who led Jesus into the desert

and he fasted 40 days one day for every year that Israel spent in the desert.

He was the true son of Israel doing exactly what happened with Israel.

Every temptation that was thrown his way was temptations that were thrown in the desert

to the other Israel.

And every temptation here comes Christ who is a victor in them.

Yeah, yeah, and we'll come to that.

Actually, there's a line I talk about that too.

Guys, when it comes to fasting, you'll have to ask me separately what I think about it

because we don't have time for that.

But you'd have to come and ask me separately about that.

Guys, the more conscious you are of yourself in terms of your successes and failures,

distinctions and distortions, the more you look at yourself and the more you look at yourself,

the less poor you are in the spirit.

The less poor in spirit you are.

Do you know the way to become poor in the spirit?

The way to become poor in the spirit.

I'll phrase it another way.

The way to become poor in the spirit is to look at God.

And we'll have to explain that too.

The way to become poor in the spirit.

How do I become poor in the spirit?

Look at Him. Look at God.

Now, there's a way to look at Him too.

Because if you notice, the Laodicean church in Revelation 3.17 looked at Jesus Christ.

And what did they say?

Guys, guys, listen to this.

What did they say?

It was not that the Laodicean church wasn't looking at Christ.

They looked at Christ and this is what they said.

I am rich. I am wealthy.

I have no need for anything.

And what did Jesus say to them?

You are naked, wretched, poor, blind and...

He said five things.

He said, you are wretched.

Oh, I list out miserable.

And Jesus said to them, you're wretched.

Talk about being straight with your words.

I mean, no mercy there, man.

So the Laodicean church of Revelation 3.17 looks at Christ and yet thinks to herself,

I'm rich, I have become wealthy and I have need of nothing.

And here's what Jesus says to them.

You are wretched, miserable, poor, blind and naked.

So it's not just looking at God that makes you poor in spirit.

There's a way to look at God.

And we'll talk about that.

By the way, if you do not recognize how poor you are in spirit,

you run the risk of being vomited out of the mouth of God.

Spiritual bankruptcy.

Where you...

We're not talking about the spirit of God in you.

We're talking about your condition of coming to God saying,

I'm helpless, I can do nothing by myself.

So my mind's safe, right?

Somewhat.

Somewhat.

Yeah, it's not just your thinking.

It's a whole attitude and approach.

The condition of your heart.

It's more than just my thinking.

The Holy Spirit doesn't seem safe there.

Oh, no, no, no, no.

No.

Yeah, it's not...

Yeah, yeah.

So I'm not saying you're...

Yeah, so I'm not talking about the Holy Spirit or your spirit.

Yeah, it's your thinking.

It's the way you approach things.

Yeah.

I mean, I don't want to define it as one thing.

It's all these things put together where sometimes we say,

hey, that guy's so humble in his ways.

What do we mean by that?

Is it in his thinking?

Not just his thinking in his heart.

Not just his heart.

In his approach.

Not just his approach.

It's everything put together.

Yeah, because his appearance could deceive you too.

Yeah.

Like, there are...

It's not...

I'm not even talking about...

Everybody would have a meek heart because we've got Christ in you.

But why do we go and say, hey, that guy's got such a humble spirit?

Why do we say that about certain Christians?

Because there's something about them.

Their approach, their way of thinking, their heart,

everything combined together.

I mean, you always say that about me.

Such a humble guy.

It does.

It should.

Yeah.

So I'm not talking about the spirit of God or your renewed spirit.

Guys, a failure to recognize your spiritual poverty

can put you in danger of being vomited out of the mouth of God.

Hot and cold.

How do you think lukewarmness happens?

Lukewarmness happens when you don't recognize your true condition,

but worse, you assume a condition that you are at

that is better than what you really have.

So, you're not in a situation where you're not in a situation

that is better than what you really are at.

That's when you lukewarm.

When God comes and says, Jacob, you are this, this, and this.

No, not me.

I'm here.

I'm better than vain and David.

Therefore, I'm okay.

Lukewarmness comes out of...

But if you are in poverty, then you would think,

oh, where can I correct this?

Yeah, you would be like a beggar.

But I would challenge Marcus on this.

I think it's not where would I correct this, it's not the body.

No, that's what I meant.

How can you go into the world and see where you can correct yourself?

But we're not correcting ourselves.

Absolutely.

How can you be in poverty if you're also in poverty?

At some point, feel free to let me interject.

No, the reason I agreed with Marcus was because I...

Because I assumed that's what he meant, and the reason I don't disagree with Dionysus

because I assumed that's not what she heard.

So it's good.

No, meaning your question is legitimate,

but his answer meant that it would be God who would do it,

not him correcting it himself.

Yeah.

So, guys, it's not sufficient to look at God.

There's a way we need to look at God.

What is it that will allow me to develop spiritual poverty?

It's my looking at God.

How do I need to look at God?

The way I need to look at God is in Mark 10.15.

Mark 10.15 says that the way I need to look at God is like a child looks at his father.

It has to be a look that has at once in it awe and wonder,

and at the same time has in it helplessness and dependence.

If I were to be someone who is to develop the poverty of spirit,

if I'm to be spiritually bankrupt, then I have to approach God as a child would.

It goes back to what Jesus says in Mark 10.15.

Unless you be like a child, you will not enter the kingdom of God.

And what is this unless you be like a child?

It is awe and wonder, continuously.

Awe and wonder.

And the second part of it is helplessness and dependence.

And you will see this in Jesus.

Helplessness and dependence and awe and wonder mixed into one.

I spent some time yesterday at Jason and Marianna's house,

and you should see how Evelyn and Tavis go about.

Evelyn, your Bruno is down here.

Or Bruno is the bear she has. It's a Christian bear.

And you could see little pieces of Lego that Tavis was enjoying.

Right, Tavis?

Things that are jaded now for you and I,

but awe and wonder and helplessness and dependence.

That is the way I need to look at God.

And if I'm aging, I need to look at God.

That is the way I need to look at God.

And if I'm able to cultivate that as the only way I see God,

it is impossible for me to be anything but walk in the poverty of my spirit

as in a child that is continuously helpless and dependent upon the parents.

And yet a child that is not helpless from a point of you can't help me,

but helpless from a point of awe and wonder where I know you can help me.

When this is cultivated,

now you begin to step into that thing called poor in spirit.

Most equations in the Bible are simple.

I mean, look at what God is saying as a reward.

And now you will see how Jesus exemplified this.

And it will suddenly make it even clearer, hopefully.

He says, blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

What is he saying?

And by the way, this is the first principle of the kingdom that,

hey, you want the kingdom of heaven to be yours?

Blessed are those that are spiritually bankrupt

and are poverty stricken in their spirit

as in having absolutely no self-sufficiency,

no confidence in one's own skills, abilities, wisdom, common sense, goodness, experience.

But coming before God as a child,

knowing that every time I come, I'll be filled with awe and wonder with you

and I'll be helpless and dependent upon you.

And every time I see you, this is what comes up in my heart, Father.

So I'll constantly ask myself, what's my source in this?

Where's this thought coming from?

Where's this plan from?

Who am I living from, not who am I living for?

I'll be living for you for the rest of my life,

but I want to know how I'm living from, what I'm living from.

Different way of operating.

Marvelous way of operating.

First principle of the kingdom.

And look at what God is saying.

If you live this way, Jacob, I will give you the kingdom.

And what does the kingdom mean?

Royal rule and reign and riches.

I'm not talking about money, I'm just talking about everything.

Money is just a mode of transaction.

It's a medium of transaction.

What is God saying?

Look at the paradox of it.

Blessed are those that are spiritually bankrupt,

for theirs will be the royal reign and rule and riches of God.

What an upside down kingdom is this?

That my access, my power, my power, my power,

that my access, my freedom, my liberty in the kingdom of God

in terms of royal access, in terms of rule and reign,

in terms of royal power and riches is based on what?

On being spiritually bankrupt before him.

Kingdom riches when you're poor.

How do you obtain kingdom riches?

By being spiritually bankrupt.

Kamala, I'm not sure if that's a hand raised.

No.

I was trying to figure it out for the last 40 seconds.

It was going up and down and I wasn't sure.

You know, Salome, John and James' mother didn't get this.

So she goes up to Jesus and says,

when you come into your kingdom, I've got a small favor to ask you.

And Jesus says what?

And she says, could one of my sons sit on your right hand

and the other son on the left hand?

And if you notice, listen to what Jesus said.

I just want you to know that that's not mine to give.

My father decides those places.

What does the father decide it based on?

He decides it based on the poverty of your spirit,

the bankruptcy of your spirit.

Salome didn't know it, otherwise she wouldn't have.

But kudos to the woman's audacity to go up to Jesus and say,

hey, I've got a small favor to ask you.

Yeah, probably brought him cookies before that.

Could be.

Could be.

Is it based upon the cup that the person has to drink?

Because you will notice that blessed are the poor

and spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

What else is said as a reward for the kingdom of heaven?

Do you know?

It says blessed are those that are persecuted for theirs

is the kingdom of heaven.

So there are two, the kingdom of heaven rewards us for?

Two things there.

So drinking the cup could, we'll talk about that

when we get there about four months from now.

I would say if you were a Jew, it would be kingdom of heaven.

If you weren't a Jew, it would be kingdom of God.

Well, you know what?

You might be preaching when I'm away.

Guys, how does it work?

Why is it that the poor and spirit possess the kingdom?

Let's look at that.

And here are some equations.

And then we look at whether Jesus lived this way.

And then we'll see if we can now practice it this week

and for the rest of our lives.

Why is it that the poor and spirit possess the kingdom?

Guys, to be poor and spirit then, to be poor and spirit,

one, you have to be emptied of self-reliance.

To be poor and spirit, the first thing is you have to be emptied

of self-reliance or self or self-importance or self-ability.

You have to be emptied of self-reliance too.

You have to be conscious of absolute insufficiency.

You have to be conscious of absolute insufficiency.

The first part is you've got to be emptied of self-reliance

on all those things that we talked about.

Second, you have to be conscious of absolute,

you've got to be conscious of your absolute insufficiency.

And thirdly, you've got to be joyfully dependent,

on the life of God in you.

You've got to be joyfully dependent on the life of God in you.

So let me say that again.

To be poor and spirit, you have to be emptied of self-reliance

of all those things we talked about.

So let's look at Jesus.

The crazy thing is, this was his lifestyle on Earth, man.

To begin with, Philippians 2, though he was rich,

he became poor and he emptied himself.

So, he was poor and he emptied himself.

So, that's the first thing.

If you look at the first thing,

To begin with, Philippians 2, though he was rich, he became poor and he emptied himself.

Though he was rich, he becomes poor and empties himself to the point of being a bond servant.

Philippians 2 verses 4 to 9.

Philippians 2:4–9

Philippians 2.

Who being in the very nature of God, did not consider equality with God something to be held onto or grasped, but made himself nothing.

Taking on the very nature of a servant being made in human likeness and being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death, even death on a cross.

The point being, here is someone who could have relied on who he was, and it wouldn't be seen as wrong or seen as holding on to power.

Because he was God, and yet he empties himself and becomes poor.

Then, here is the thing that really got me, I can handle Jesus emptying himself because he had to come down to the earth.

But this is the bit I really cannot grasp or understand or fathom.

That this son of God, son of man who walked the earth, now consciously chooses to be absolutely insufficient.

It's not like he didn't have the might to do mighty works.

He did.

And yet, he walks in the consciousness of his inability to do anything apart from the Father.

He is so determined not to speak his own words, follow his own plans or work his mighty works.

He is so determined not to speak his own words, follow his own plans or do his mighty works.

He had the ability to turn stones into bread.

He was conscious of his inability to do anything apart from the Father.

He was conscious of his inability to do anything apart from the Father.

I mean, he made this amazing statement.

The son can do no thing of himself.

But he only does what he sees his father doing.

He only does it after he or once he sees his father doing it.

The son can do nothing by himself.

It's a conscious choice he makes in being absolutely insufficient or choosing to be unable to do anything apart from his father.

He determines not to speak his own words.

He determines not to follow his own plans.

He determines not to work his mighty works in his own might.

Not that he wasn't able, he was able.

But he chooses not to.

Hey, how many did he heal, man?

Hundreds upon hundreds he heals.

Yet, every time he heals a blind man, he's waiting for his father to show him stuff.

Was there any lack of wisdom with him?

Why does he have to depend on women in the Jewish culture to supply his needs?

Why does he have to wait 30 years, waste 30 years doing nothing?

Why can't he call down a legion of angels?

At least that one I can understand.

He thought of me.

Why can't he always provide food for himself by causing the same victory that could be cursed and that disappears, causing it to rise up again the next morning?

Why can't he feed himself with ravens bringing him bread?

Why can't he provide manna for himself?

Why can't he have quail come during the noonday sun so he can eat some good fish or multiply bread every time he wants?

Why isn't he doing all this, man?

Because he's operating out of this place of absolute insufficiency.

Because only a place of absolute insufficiency can bring him to the next step.

It is not possible to live here if I don't live here.

Now you begin to get this thing of spiritual bankruptcy.

It boggles my mind, man.

It doesn't depend on his own experience even.

If I had the experience of healing that Jesus had, I'd be full of myself, man.

Every time I touch something, I feel like I'm being touched.

I'd be full of myself, man.

Every time I touch something, I'd begin to do it.

I'd write a book on it.

By now you would have had two or three books that you would have been forced to buy.

He didn't depend upon his experience.

He didn't depend upon his common sense.

And by the way, he was a normal human being.

Probably not good looking but had common sense.

Good looking or not, you still have common sense.

He did not depend on his skills or ability.

Didn't do tent making like Paul.

Didn't start a small carpenter shop.

Didn't even depend on his experience.

Didn't depend on his power to do mighty work.

Didn't speak out of his own mouth.

Didn't plan things himself.

What kind of person is this?

A person who emptied himself of self-reliance and then was conscious of his absolute insufficiency.

Why? Because he knew without these he cannot go on to the third one.

Instead, now he moves on to the next one.

He becomes completely dependent on his father.

And once he's dependent on his father, he becomes a channel or an instrument through which the father spoke, the father did, and the father reconciled the world unto himself.

And therefore now we see the glory of God evident in Christ. Why?

Because here is a man who has chosen to be joyfully dependent upon the father and in being joyfully dependent upon the father, he becomes a channel or an instrument through which the father speaks, the father does, and the father reconciles the world to himself.

And therefore the world beholds a channel or an instrument that has become an instrument of the glory of God.

It's this process of poverty, guys, that unlocks the treasures of the Kingdom of Heaven.

And then God says, blessed are you.

Or like Marvin Weinand said yesterday, I got you.

I got you safe.

Blessed are you. I endorse you. I approve you.

Guys, descend to this level of abject poverty of spirit so you can ascend to living out of his life.

And then the world will see that you are an epistle written by Christ.

This week, practice spiritual helplessness, spiritual dependence, spiritual childlikeness.

And you'll suddenly see that, oh shucks, the presence of his rule and reign through my life is working even without me being necessarily conscious of it.

Questions before we close.

Niggling questions.

The new category that we have in, new category that's been added.

Questions, comments, challenges, disagreements, and niggling questions.

Is this, which one of this is this? Niggling? Okay.

At what point did we do this?

Like, did we just start knowing what's going on in the morning, or did we just start knowing what's going on in the morning?

Did this cover everything?

There are some things that I use common sense for, but I refuse to put common sense on the throne.

There are some things I'll use my ability for, but I refuse to put my ability on the throne.

There are some things that I'll use experience for, but I will fight my experience from being on the throne.

So I'll use my common sense to wake up later because I don't have anything to do until 11.

But I will not let it sit on the throne and have me wake up later when inside me is this thing saying,

get up because you need to call this person now, now, now.

Then my common sense will not sit on the throne. My experience will not sit on the throne.

I'm experienced in leading worship and teaching.

And I was telling the Lord, I will not let it sit on the throne ever again, Father.

Because the flourish with which I said, just give me something to teach, man.

And I can just stand there and teach for as long as you want.

It came out of gifting and ability and experience.

And I thought to myself, gosh, you definitely are not poor in spirit there.

But with awe and wonder, with childlike awe and wonder, with helplessness and dependence,

every time, I was really enjoying worship today because I was trying to approach it with that point of view.

Not out of experience, not out of, I can handle it. Nah, no more.

No more.

And there is no area that this doesn't touch.

Where does this not touch?

Empty myself of self-reliance, conscious of absolute insufficiency that I walk in,

then I become joyfully dependent on the life of God.

And the more this becomes a part of me, the more transparent I become and the lesser pretension.

Any other questions?

It seems to me that it's easy to do the first two, but the third one is to be joyful.

Yeah, joyfully dependent.

Self-debasement and self-pity are just deceptive ways of becoming poor in spirit.

Joyfully dependent.

You have to be cautious of God.

Yeah.

Where do I come from? What's my source?

Yeah. What did you attempt to murder this week?

The only thing I attempted to murder is this sense.

Pardon?

Maple leaves, no. That was harakiri.

It was, they just jumped off a cliff every time they come and play the kanax.

Yeah.

But guys, get with this program because it has the ability.

I'm so excited about this teaching because it's new.

Eddie has already done it and I'm calling up Eddie.

And I don't want Eddie's notes yet.

I want us to discover this ourselves.

And then after we're all done, I'll ask for Eddie's notes to add to this.

So all I do is ask him and say, this is the track I'm taking.

What do you think of it?

But I don't want what he has yet because we've got to discover this and begin to practice this ourselves before we,

and once we do that, we can add that, but not right now.

And the reason I'm excited about this is because I believe in this lies the keys to some of our lives beginning to operate on a Christ level

that will begin to display his nature, man, his attributes.

And at the end of the day, his attributes are his glory, man.

So being a practices, keep asking, what's the source of the sabah?

This approach of mine to get some money, what's the source of it?

Is it fear? What's the source of it?

This approach of mine to take care of the situation, what's the source of it, Abba?

Where's it coming from? Whose life am I living from at this point?

Is it Jacob's life? Is it Jacob's sanctified life?

Is it Jacob's fleshly life? Is it Jacob's fear?

What life am I living from?

And in each situation begin to combat it because I can only combat it by emptying myself of it,

being conscious of my absolute insufficiency.

I can do nothing for him. He does everything in me.

Where I will stop being conceited about my confidence and my own abilities, my common sense, my wisdom, my skills and my experience.

Because somehow there's this thing that with a little bit of help from God, I can pull this off.

No. Jesus could have pulled everything he did on earth off.

And the Bible would have sounded exactly the same way.

We would still be in awe of Jesus.

He didn't have to pull it off. He'd have performed it well.

After all, we know who he is.

What a model man. What a model he served.

Isn't this... This is when I'm in awe of him.

What a model. Why he should live like this and set up such a perfect example for us to follow.

This is something else man. This is God.

So Father, we give you praise, Abba.

We bless you. We marvel at your son, Father.

Gosh Lord, what a master plan. What a master plan.

Everything that you ask of us will be something that you have already done.

There is nothing that the Godhead will demand of us that you have not already done.

So we marvel at your son.

We marvel at your son.

And we say, Jesus, it's amazing how you lived like this.

When you were the last person who needed to live like this.

You emptied yourself. That should have been sufficient.

No.

Father, only your spirit can take what has been taught and make it part of my life.

Only your spirit can remind me of situations I can practice this in this way.

Only your spirit can give me the ability to live this way.

Only your spirit.

We have no assumptions that now that we have learnt it, we can do it.

No, no, no, no, God. Only your spirit can bring this to pass in our lives.

I want us to remember these three things, Abba.

One, I can do nothing by myself as Jesus Himself said.

Two, that apart from you, I can do no thing.

Three, I'll be like a child unless I be like a child with awe and wonder, with helplessness and dependence.

I won't be able to swim in the kingdom of God the way I need to.

I'll be someone who is standing by the side of the pool.

These are the things we ask for ourselves, granted, Abba.

Spirit of God, unfold what has been taught in our minds.

Our spirits have understood. Our minds need to learn now.

So we thank you. We look forward to how this is going to work out.

The next one, Jesus, the next thing you said was, blessed are they who mourn.

And you really didn't mean ones who are attending a funeral.

But we'll ponder on that next week.

Just like you didn't mean blessed are the poor in spirit as being no money in the pocket.

But we'll talk about that next week. Thank you.

I mean, these are just eight or nine things, Jesus, and yet we're going to spend at least four months and yet not understand half of it.

It is amazing. You are amazing.

In a way, I'm glad. It would be terrible if we got to the end of you.

Thank you.