Transitioning I

We've been talking about how we can establish the rule and reign of God in our individual lives.

We talked about that last week, that we've done a good job of establishing the rule and the reign of Christ in the house,

but that we need to establish the rule and reign of Christ in our individual lives too.

And so, how do we transition to that? That's what we're going to talk about today.

And like Jesus Christ, the Son of God, one of the things we want to do is we want to walk under an open heaven,

and I'll explain what open heaven is. We want to walk under an open heaven because it's the best climate to establish its rule and reign in your lives.

The best climate to walk under, if you want to establish its rule and reign in your life, is to walk under an open heaven.

And we'll see what that word open heaven means today and how we transition into it.

Okay, so again, let me just say that again. One, we are trying to see how we can establish the rule and reign of Christ in our individual lives.

We talked about that last week. I'm saying to you that Jesus Christ, when he walked the earth, walked in a way where he was able to establish all the things that his dad wanted, his father wanted in his life.

And he always walked under an open heaven. And so we're going to try and figure out what an open heaven is from the biblical point of view and then see how we walk in it and how best to transition to it.

So if you want to turn to Matthew 3, Matthew 3, 13 to 17. Matthew 3, 13 to 17.

And here's what it says, Matthew 3, 13 to 17. It says that then Jesus came from the Galilee to the Jordan.

Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to be baptized by John. But John tried to deter him saying, I need to be baptized by you and do you come to me?

Jesus replied, let it be so now. It is proper for us to do this to fulfill all our wishes.

Let it be so now. It is proper for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness.

Then John consented. As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water.

At that moment, heaven was opened and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and lighting on him.

And a voice from heaven said, this is my son whom I love with him I am well pleased.

Guys, when we talk about an open heaven, and it's a phrase used quite often now and sometimes very loosely.

So let's define what an open heaven is. When we talk about an open heaven,

an open heaven means, an open heaven announces, an open heaven announces a new movement of God.

An open heaven announces a new movement of God. An open heaven, to begin with, announces a new movement of God.

So when we talk about walking under an open heaven, it is knowing what God wants to do in your individual life

or knowing what God wants to do with a church or a denomination or a people or a nation.

Because an open heaven announces a new movement of God.

Announces a new movement of God.

Announces a new movement of God and goes without saying that God is continuously moving.

He hasn't stopped. No denomination, no church has reached a place where it can say,

this is what God always wanted to do because God is continuously moving. Eddie mentioned that in the past.

Every time a church or a denomination or an institution decides that they've reached the

pinnacle of where God wants to be, that's when they stop hearing because God is continuously moving.

So the Lutherans didn't get it, the Baptists didn't get it, the Pentecostals didn't get it,

the Charismatics didn't get it and neither have we got it. So unless we keep moving,

we'll never be in step with God. Instead, we'll become stagnant. So secondly,

an open heaven announces the pleasure and the delight of God.

Announces the pleasure and delight of God.

You see that in Matthew 3, 13-17. On one hand, you have the heavens open and the Spirit descending,

announcing first that here stands one who is going to change the way

that the world ever saw God from there on. Completely change the way God and man related.

But with the open heavens came a voice that acknowledged Jesus as one who God delighted him,

delighted in and one who God had pleasure in. So an open heaven announces the pleasure and the

delight of God. Here's another thing that an open heaven means. An open heaven announces

reinstatement to your rightful place. An open heaven announces reinstatement to your rightful

place. An open heaven announces reinstatement to your rightful place.

Guys, if you read Psalm 27, you'll see that in Psalm 27, there's a scripture where God says

of David that he's basically saying the same thing that he said over Jesus. Go to Psalm 27.

Psalm 27 says, I'll proclaim the decree of the Lord. He said to me, you are my son. Today I

become your father. It's a coronation psalm. And it is suggested that this whole idea of God saying

to Jesus that this is my son whom I love, with him I am well pleased is drawn from Psalm 2, verse 7,

Psalms 2:7

where the idea is that God is saying, here is my son in whom I dwell and through whom I'll

establish my reign. So one of the things that open heaven does is it announces a reinstatement

of you to your rightful place, meaning it reinstates you. It reinstates you to your rightful place.

It reinstates you to your rightful place. Fourthly, go to Genesis 28.

Fourthly, go to Genesis 28.

Genesis 28, verses 12. Genesis 28, 12.

Genesis 28:12

Let's start at 10. Genesis 28, 10 onwards. Jacob left Beersheba and set out for Herod.

When he reached a certain place, he stopped for the night because the sun had set. Taking one of

the stones there, he put it under his head and laid down to sleep. He had a dream in which he saw a

stairway resting on the earth with its top reaching to the heaven, and the angels of God were ascending

and descending on it. There above it stood the Lord, and he said, I am the Lord, the God of your

father Abraham and the God of Isaac. I will give you and your descendants the land on which you are

lying. Your descendants will be like the dust of the earth, and you will spread out to the west and

the east, to the north and the south. All the peoples on the earth will be blessed through you

and your offspring. The point being, guys, an open heaven gives you

a greater glimpse

of your destiny or inheritance.

An open heaven gives you a greater glimpse of your destiny or your inheritance.

Let's look at another scripture, Acts 7.55.

Acts 7.55.

Acts 7.54 onwards.

When they heard this, they were furious and gnashed their teeth at him. But Stephen,

full of the Holy Spirit, looked up to heaven and saw the glory of God and Jesus standing at the

right hand of God. Look, he said, I see heaven open and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of

God. At this they covered their ears and yelling at the top of their voices, they all rushed at him,

dragged him out of the city and began to stone him. Meanwhile, the witnesses laid their clothes

at the feet of a young man named Saul. While they were stoning him, Stephen prayed, Lord Jesus,

receive my spirit. And then he fell on his knees and cried out, Lord, do not hold this sin against

them. When he had said this, he fell asleep and Saul was there giving approval to his death.

One of the things an open heaven does is it gives you the courage to endure. An open heaven

gives you the courage to endure against great odds.

An open heaven gives you the courage to endure against great odds.

An open heaven gives you the courage to endure against great odds.

Guys, do you see why it is good to begin to walk under an open heaven? And we talk about how do we

end up walking under an open heaven? Basically, an open heaven is not a hole in the ozone layer.

An open heaven is this thing that God wants you to walk in. And you walk in it because you want to

walk in it because you want to walk in it because you want to walk in it because you want to walk in it.

It's like a dad who wants his son to walk in his favor. So it's like a dad saying to his son, or it's like

let's pick on James and Sarah. It's like James saying to Sarah or Jason saying to Tavis,

listen, if you walk in this area within my sight, within my hearing, and within the pleasure of my face,

if you walk in this area, this is what's going to happen to you. One, you will always know when I want you to do something new.

Two, you will always have my pleasure and delight. Three, I will reinstate you in your rightful place

whenever you're off course. Four, I'll give you a greater glimpse of what's going to happen to you next year.

Five, I'll make sure that you can see me and have the courage to endure when you're going through difficult times.

It's an open heaven. It's an invitation by God to step into this place where like Jesus,

you can have all these things happening for you.

That's what an open heaven is. Questions, comments, disagreements?

Yeah, the whole idea of saying this is my beloved son whom I'm well pleased is drawn from Psalm 2,

which is a coronation psalm where when a king was crowned, you would say that about your son.

So when it talks about reinstating you to your rightful place, there are many times you and I are not aware of

who we are in Christ and an open heaven always allows you to be reinstated to your rightful place.

So you never veer off from a deep knowledge of who God thinks you are.

And there's nothing as powerful as that. Why is it that some children do very well

when their circumstances are not as good? Because one of the things some children know

is that when it comes to who they are, they are not as good as they are in the world.

They know it because they know what their father and mother say about them.

Then it doesn't matter how bad the circumstances are. The child knows within his heart that he's loved.

It changes everything for the child. It's the same manner. Your circumstances can be rotten,

but once you are reinstated into the place that you actually belong to in terms of how God sees you,

it's very different. Very different.

Any questions?

Q. Do you remember what time you were teaching in open heaven and there was something about the intersection of the Kronos and Kairos?

A. Yeah. Q. Do you remember what time you were teaching in open heaven and there was something about the intersection of the Kronos and Kairos?

A. It does, but I'm not touching that right now.

Questions, comments? Disagreements?

Q. It seems to me that you can be deceived out of your open heavens.

A. Yeah, you can.

Guys, during this week as I've been preparing those notes, I've been thinking,

my Godfather, I'd like to live here. And it's easy. It's very easy. We'll talk about that.

But before we go there, just one thing, guys, and use this as a measure.

With every manifestation of God in the Bible, you will always hear the voice of God after.

Just remember that. Whenever God manifests Himself,

one of the things that follows immediately after the manifestation is the voice of God.

When there is only a manifestation and the voice of God is missing, question the manifestation.

Because God is not into putting up performances for you.

He's not into tickling my fancy.

If He does something that is dramatic, is very supernatural or is a manifestation,

it is always followed by the voice of God. You can go right back to the beginning, Genesis 1.

Whenever the Spirit of God moves, the Word of God follows, man.

Genesis 1 verses 1 to 3 says,

Genesis 1:1–3

And the Spirit of God was brewing over the chaotic mass that was the earth.

And what follows immediately after? And then God said, let there be light.

Isaiah 6 verses 1 to 4. Isaiah suddenly sees this vision in which he sees heaven's open.

Isaiah 6:1–4

And after he sees heaven's open, he says that he was... Let's read that. It's fascinating.

Isaiah 6, 1 to 4.

In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord seated on a throne high and exalted,

and the train of His robe filled the temple. Above Him were the seraphs, each with six wings.

With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying.

And they were calling to one another, Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord Almighty.

The whole earth is full of His glory. At the sound of their voices,

the doorposts and the thresholds shook and the temple was filled with smoke.

So that is what he sees. That is the manifestation. Look at the voice, verse 8.

Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, whom shall I send and who will go for?

Us. The manifestations of God are always followed by the voice of God.

Just keep that in mind. It's a good way to measure what's happening.

Let's take another one. Exodus 3. Exodus 3, you know this one.

You almost see this pattern throughout, man.

There might be exceptions, but this is the pattern. Exodus 3.

I can't hear myself today, Matt. I'm kind of shouting.

Exodus 3, verses 2 onwards.

Exodus 3:2

There the angel of the Lord appeared to him in flames of fire from within a bush.

Moses saw that though the bush was on fire, it did not burn up.

So Moses thought, I'll go over and see the strange sight, why the bush does not burn up.

When the Lord saw that he had gone over to look, God called to him from within the bush.

Moses, Moses, and Moses said, here I am. Manifestation followed by the voice of God.

The sad thing is today what happens in most churches is that

if you ask people what they remembered, they'll remember the manifestation.

If you ask them, and what was taught after that, no one remembers.

Just make sure that the manifestation is followed by the voice.

God is more interested in the word that is deposited after and through the manifestation

than for us to be hung up with the manifestation.

Being preached, read, taught, whichever way it comes through.

The voice is vital because the whole idea of God manifesting something is so important.

The whole idea of God manifesting something is so that the people now listen and obey.

So guys,

what is it that will allow me to walk under an open heaven?

What is it that will allow me to walk in God's pleasure?

What is it that will allow me to soar in the movements of God?

You don't want to be stagnant. It doesn't matter how old or young you are.

The last thing you want to do for the rest of your life here on earth is get to a place with God

and decide, this is where I'm going to camp. God is saying, hey, but I'm moving on. Move with me.

So what does it take to transition into a place where this becomes a reality for you?

What does it take to soar as an eagle does in the movements of God?

What does it take to walk in God's pleasure? And the answer is so simple that

it's a kind of a letdown because you would think it's something a little more profound, but it's not.

If you want to walk under an open heaven,

If you want to walk under an open heaven,

all you need to do is walk in obedience.

Obedience.

That's all it takes. Jesus

left Galilee, which was familiar terrain for him,

where he was dwelling at that time. He goes all the way to the Jordan

to be baptized by a man, to fulfill all righteousness

in obedience to what he knew his father was saying.

At the end of the day, if you want to walk under all the things we mentioned, the one thing that's required of you and me is obedience.

And by the way, guys, let me define obedience a little differently.

Obedience is

willing alignment.

Obedience is willing alignment.

And I'd suggest to you every word here is packed with meaning.

Obedience is willing alignment with

the nature,

the ways,

the acts, and the desires

of

God. See, we see obedience as, ah, he's put in a command there,

got to obey. That's one way of saying it, and that's not

the correct way of looking at obedience.

And at the end of the day, it's the knowledge of him. So, obedience is willing alignment.

Hey, you guys can't see this at all.

Okay. Obedience is willing alignment.

Man, tough crowd to please today.

You happy? Yeah. Guys,

Obedience is willing alignment because, you know, David got the hang of this.

If you read Psalm 119, he always says, he doesn't say, I obey your statutes.

He says, I delight in your statutes. I love walking in your pleasure.

I find your laws absolutely delightful. The guy got the hang of it.

When we reduce it to commands, it becomes a list of do's and don'ts.

But when you see obedience as a willing alignment,

Isaiah 1, 14, if you are obedient and willing, you will eat the good of the land.

Many of us know how to be obedient, but not necessarily willing in our obedience.

Absolutely, man. If the willingness ain't there, it ain't obedience, really.

Ah, love that.

I run in the path of your commands because you have set my heart free.

Psalm 119, 23. You'll see David's delight in God's laws.

He doesn't see them separate from the nature of God. So obedience is willing alignment

with his nature, with his ways, with his acts and with his desires.

And if we get this right, it is promised to you that you will have an open heaven above you.

It's progressive, Matt.

I wish one of us could stand right now and say, I'm obedient all the time.

No. But if you ask me, are you more obedient than you were two years ago?

I'd say yes.

Yeah, the whole idea of transformation means it's progressive.

Bring obedience in my character to these things,

not necessarily to rules. Because that is the Old Testament way of living.

Now we bring our character in alignment with God's nature,

God's ways, God's acts and God's desires. And then there's a natural outworking of walking the way he does.

Yeah.

At the Jordan,

Jesus was basically aligning himself with the principle. Hey, by the way,

I know we talked about this before, but just think of this. When Jesus was being baptized by John,

what was he basically saying? What was John's message?

Yeah. And? Yeah.

And? Those are the actions. What was his message? The kingdom of God is near.

So when Jesus is coming and getting baptized in the Jordan,

because whenever you got baptized by anybody in terms of Jewish tradition, you were coming into

agreement or alignment with the message of the one who was baptizing you. And Jesus is being baptized

by John. And one of the things he's doing in being baptized is he's coming into alignment with what

John was preaching, that the kingdom of God is near.

And why did Jesus have to do that? Because guys, if you want to get to a place where you have to say

the kingdom of God is here, you have to first obey the kingdom of God is near.

Please understand this. Many of us want to be obedient tomorrow and want to be

obedient to something big that God has for us tomorrow. I'm saying to you, get obedient to what God wants you

today. You cannot begin now.

Now. If you want to declare that the kingdom of God is here as Jesus did,

you have to first come into alignment with the kingdom of God is here.

Alignment.

Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah. Yeah.

Which is a scary thing because if you do not know the nature of God, then you'll have to live by rules.

Here's the scary thing, guys. If you do not know the nature of God, you will have to resort to rules.

It's a terrible place to be.

Like I said last week, we are not governed by a set of laws outside us.

We are governed by the rules, a set of laws inside us because Christ is the lawgiver.

He lives in me. He lives in me.

Yeah. See, let's put it this way.

Let's say Tavis and let's say Jason gives him a list of rules to live by.

So the boy keeps the rules in the house and so he lives.

But what if Jason opened up his heart to Tavis and showed him what his desires were and Tavis gets it and he begins to live off the heart of his father?

And then the dad takes time to train both of them.

It is God sends equipers our way so that we are equipped to learn a certain way.

But the father is not the father.

The father is the father.

So the father is the father.

It is God sends equipers our way so that we are equipped to learn a certain way.

But then in perspective of Tavis and Kayla, Tavis being the elder one and Kayla having the spirit of obedience because you are my elder brother, I need to obey you.

But I think my dad...

Like, do you know what I'm trying to say?

No.

We can talk about it.

Yeah.

At the end of the day guys, be governed by knowing the heart of the father within you because if you don't, this is a sad thing.

We will have to live by rules.

I better draw this right back to my notes because I know where this is going now. I'll have to now talk about automotives.

The point is this guys, I think it's such a fine point that if you do not know the nature of God, you will have to resort to living as the Old Testament saints live.

You will have to live by laws.

If a church does not know the heart of God, the church will have to institute policy so that it will govern the conduct of people.

But if the church knows the heart of God, people will be led by him who lives within you instead of a set of rules outside.

It's magical, that transformation.

Okay, there you go.

Say that again.

Again.

It does. Moving on.

Guys, obedience plows loose and draws out that which is hidden in heaven from the earth.

Obedience plows loose and draws out of heaven what you need to walk here on earth.

In the sense, once you begin to obey, and this is very simple, God says,

be faithful in the little things I've already given you, Jacob, and I'll show you greater things.

I'll give you greater things to be faithful over.

At the end of the day, my obedience today plows up the heavens in a sense of speaking so that I can draw out of heaven what I need to walk here on earth.

Look at Exodus 33.

I've read this verse out to you before. It is such a cool verse.

I don't know how Moses knew all this then, man.

Exodus 33.

He got the hang of it.

Exodus 33, 12, 13.

I love these verses.

Exodus 33, 12, and 13.

What Moses is saying is,

great, O God, you say your favor on me. Wonderful.

Now teach me a way so that I can walk in them so that I can continue to walk in favor.

That's the whole point.

And then show me more so that I can continue to walk the way you want me to.

By the way,

if obedience opens the heavens, what is it that shuts the heavens?

Disobedience.

Deuteronomy 25, I think, the scripture is on top of your page.

Deuteronomy 8 says that when you're disobedient, the heavens are like bronze.

The heavens are like bronze.

Which means that they literally

shut you off from glimpsing what God wants you to do.

Shut you off from walking in the pleasure and delight of God because you choose to walk a different way.

So disobedience.

Not really.

Not really.

You and I are not dads so we don't know this.

But parents have the ability to see the willingness of the child.

And even if the child gets it wrong, parents know the heart of the child.

My heart is able to run after him.

I've seen so many situations here in church where you mess up, yet I know your heart.

Doesn't matter.

Hey, doesn't matter.

Let me put it this way.

I know your heart, Matt. So it doesn't matter how many times you mess up, I wouldn't have a problem with you.

Yeah, but I'm still going to live in the consequences of the mess.

Because you know the principle. Repent, move on, and validate what Christ has done for you.

Parents know the heart of their child, man.

God knows when I'm really running after him, then it doesn't matter how many times I mess up.

I know that this boy really wants to run after me.

Deuteronomy 28, 15, and 23.

Walked in his ways.

You can't lose on anything.

You can.

You can't lose on anything.

Yeah, that's what James is saying.

Guys, by the way, an open heaven does activate the demonic.

An open heaven over you does activate the demonic in the sense that

the intent of the enemy once you start walking under an open heaven is to abort or prevent you from walking

in the pleasure of God.

So in a sense, when you come into a place where you begin to walk in the favor of God, it activates the demonic.

Not in terms of you being harmed or attacked or stuff like that, but now it is the enemy's intent

to try and prevent you from walking in the favor of God.

This is where you get to slay Goliath.

If you're not frightened by it, just know that when one begins to

walk in the things of God, there is an attempt

by the enemy to revisit you with things of the past, sins of the past,

buttons that used to trigger you off before, to see if you can be

derailed or your paths can be aborted just through discouragement of sins that

used to exist in your past. And resist them. Slay those Goliaths and keep walking.

It's but natural for Satan to try and prevent me from walking in everything that I'm supposed to walk in.

I'm not supposed to be afraid of it.

I'm supposed to be aware of it.

David was doing phenomenally well. Every time David would do very well, there'd be some plot

hatched or some incitement that would be provoked against him. At times he would beat it,

at other times he succumbed to it. So that he would never end up walking in the

fullness of his destiny. But we now have come into a place where we know how to be aware of it

and then slay these Goliaths so that these buttons that are pressed do not affect us anymore.

Which one do you think that David succumbed to?

Taking a census?

At times when he was doing really well.

Uriah murdering Uriah.

So just be aware of that.

Yeah, he could have killed Saul. He refuses to touch Saul.

Yeah, but succumbed is when he was at the peak of what he was doing.

When he was doing really well, there was always a thing that would prevent him from becoming all that he was supposed to.

So be aware of that.

So guys, how do we transition into this? How do we transition into this? Just want to pick on one verse

and then move on to the rest of the teaching. Look at Hebrews 11.13.

Hebrews 11.13.

Hebrews 11.13.

I'm just taking the second part of Hebrews 11.13.

How do we transition into the pleasure and the movement of God? We said obedience. So how do we go about it?

Obedience is the way to do it, but what else do we need to know?

Hebrews 11.13.

Hebrews 11.13.

And here's what it says, the second part. Hebrews 11.13.

It says, And all these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised,

but here's what they did. They only saw.

They saw them.

They welcomed them.

They welcomed them from a distance.

And they admitted

that they were

aliens or strangers

or foreigners here on Earth.

Aliens or strangers or foreigners here on Earth, depending on your version.

So we just want to pick on that, guys.

Sorry, Matt.

Guys, so we said obedience is a way to walk under an open heaven.

One of the things we need to do as we begin to transition into the

things that God is calling us to, and I've already started meeting with some of you to talk about stuff

this week and then every week we'll

meet with different people to try and figure out, okay, oh God, what am I

heading towards? Who am I as you see me?

What is my role as an individual in the large picture? And we've been talking about that.

And one of the things you need to do is, guys, always try to see

what God is trying to say about you and who you are and what you're supposed to do.

Welcome it and admit that today

where you are

may not be

where you're supposed to be.

Admit the possibility that there is room for improvement.

One of the things Christians don't quite often do once we get to a certain level is

we get very settled in what we already know and don't keep moving. So the first thing we need to do

is make sure that you see what God

says you are

and what

he has pointed out

as your destiny.

Just imagine there will be thousands of people who know Christ

who will never discover their destiny and go to their graves without knowing what

their inheritance here on earth was, what they were really crafted for, what they were meant to do,

where they were supposed to fit, what they were uniquely created for.

Not that they won't go to heaven. It's not to do with our eternal security.

I'm talking about here on earth.

So one of the things we need to do is see what God is saying as to who we are

and what our inheritance and destiny is. Two, an ability to welcome it or embrace it.

And three, to admit that perhaps there is

room for much more improvement that we are not where we are supposed to be.

That we are like foreigners who haven't come to a place where we can settle. That our position

perhaps is inaccurate or incomplete.

I'd suggest to you, and I said this last week and I say this to you again,

that there is not a single person in this church, starting with me, who can at present claim that we are

operating at the potential we need to as individuals or that we are in a place that is

accurate and complete. Not one person in this church right now.

So let's look at John the Baptist and how he did in this regard.

And draw principles out of him, out of his life.

Look at John chapter 1, verse 1.

John 1:1

John 1, verse 29.

John 1:29

John 1, verse 29.

John 1:29

The next day John saw Jesus coming towards him

and said, Look the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world,

and the sin of the world, and the sin of the world, and the sin of the world, and the sin of the world,

and the sin of the world, and the sin of the world, and the sin of the world.

The next day John saw Jesus coming towards him and said,

Look the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.

This is the one I meant when I said, A man who comes after me has surpassed me because he was

before me. I myself did not know him, but the reason I came spicy with water was that he might be

revealed to Israel. Then John gave his testimony.

I would not have known him except that the one who sent me to baptize with water

told me, The man on whom you see the Spirit come down and remain is he who will

baptize with the Holy Spirit. I have seen and I testify that this is the Son of God.

Guys, John did see what he needed to see.

He saw a new movement of God being initiated here on earth through Christ.

He saw and heard the pleasure and the delight of the Father over

Jesus. He saw all that.

There is no doubt to that. He actually turns and calls Jesus the Lamb of God.

Look at how assured or how easily John welcomed who Jesus was. Look at John 3.

John 3, verse 30 and 31.

John 3, verse 30 and 31.

John 3:30

Or let's start at 28.

You yourselves can testify that I said, I am not the Christ, but I am sent ahead of him.

The bride belongs to the bridegroom. The friend who attends the bridegroom waits and listens for him

and is full of joy when he hears the bridegroom's voice. That joy is mine and it is now complete.

He must become greater. I must become less. The one who comes from above is above all.

The one who is from the earth belongs to the earth and speaks as one from the earth. The one who comes from heaven is above all.

He testifies to what he has seen and heard, but no one accepts his testimony.

The man who has accepted it has certified that God is truthful.

So the point being, John saw what happened with Jesus. He saw the double lighting on him.

He saw the Spirit of God fall on him. He acknowledged him as the Lamb of God.

He welcomed the one who had come from above, acknowledged Jesus as the Christ.

But listen to this guys. After all that, John still did not transition.

Transition.

John sees Jesus Christ as the Lamb of God. He says this is the Lamb of God.

John says he is from above and he is Christ. Yet John fails to transition.

After seeing, after welcoming who he is, John still fails to transition

and still continues to operate from where he is operating.

In John 11, we find that John still had disciples. How come John the Baptist, who has just

proclaimed Christ as the Son of God, how come John the Baptist, who has just said, Behold the Lamb of God,

how come John the Baptist still operates in his present parameters?

Because he failed to transition into what?

Was new in terms of what God was doing.

He gets doubtful later on. In Matthew 11,

you still see that John had disciples when he should have abandoned his ministry and message to follow Jesus.

Just think of that guys. He should have abandoned his ministry and message to follow Jesus.

Cost him his head.

It is crazy how a man who turns and says,

Behold the Lamb of God, was not able to follow the Lamb of God.

It is amazing how 9 chapters later, he still has disciples.

The irony is, his disciples begin to believe what he is preaching.

Behold the Lamb of God. You see in Matthew 4, 2, that some of his disciples go after Jesus.

They say, we want to find where you live.

Jesus says, come and see. They follow Jesus and become his disciples.

John's disciples followed Jesus, but John refused to shut down his message and his ministry.

His message was old. Repent for the Kingdom of God is near.

What was Jesus preaching? Repent for the Kingdom of God is here.

Jesus said that there is no one greater than John the Baptist.

Yet the least in the Kingdom of God is greater than him.

John the Baptist was preaching a message that was old

while refusing to come into alignment with the message that Christ the Lamb of God was preaching.

This is what can happen to us, guys,

if we don't transition in terms of our individual lives into what God wants us to do.

I just want to re-emphasize how important it is

to know where God sees you at today and not operate by what you were yesterday.

It is important for you to do everything in your power to transition into what God sees you as today.

Otherwise it is possible for you to walk alongside Jesus and yet not follow Jesus.

I'm not talking about your eternal security. I'm talking about where we are at in life.

In Matthew 11,

2-4,

go to Matthew 11, 2-4.

Matthew 11, 2-4.

It just shows you that

his disciples were still around. When John heard in prison what Christ was doing,

he sent his disciples to ask him,

are you the one who was to come or should we expect someone else?

Look at verse 13. This is Jesus speaking.

For all the prophets in the law prophesied until John,

it is a shame that everything that all the prophets in the Old Testament prophesied

right up till John was present in Jesus. And yet even though

John had presented Jesus to the world, he refuses to follow the one who he was

talking about.

No man, he refused to transition. He saw it, he welcomed it,

but he could not admit that he was in an inaccurate position.

We go back to the point. Who pursues whom?

John pursues Jesus.

The burden of pursuit is always on the one who wants to

seek.

John saw who Jesus was. John even welcomed, embraced and declared it, but he was not

able to move out of his inaccurate position.

He would not admit that the message he was preaching and what he was doing was

no longer necessary. He should have folded who he was into what

Jesus was doing and he refused to. I know we don't talk about this.

We like John the Baptist the way he is, but these are examples so that we may learn from it.

Guys, I must fold what I was yesterday

into what God wants me to do today. I must fold.

When we are done, you will realize

why it's not a question of obedience

by the time we get to the end. As I would say to Matt, just wait.

I must fold what I was yesterday.

You know what John should have done? He should have folded his ministry into what Jesus was

doing, but he refused to. I must fold what I was yesterday

into what God wants me to be today.

I must fold what I was yesterday into what God wants me to be today.

Fold meaning, let's assume I have an idea of what I was supposed to do till yesterday.

And it's very successful. It's doing very well. People really think

that, wow, Jacob, wonderful. My ways, my ministry, my goals

are great and yet I can be so caught up in it that it becomes an inaccurate

location that I dwell in. When God is saying, but Jacob, I must fold

it into what I was yesterday.

This is how I see you today. Move into it. Then what I have to do is I have to take what I was yesterday

in terms of my goals, in terms of ministry, in terms of ways, fold it and say, okay, Father,

this is good, but that is better even though I don't know what it is, even though I have no idea how I'm going to accomplish it.

I'm going to fold all that I am and join you here today.

No, that's it.

If necessary, fold it and throw it away. If necessary, fold it and blend it in.

Just depends.

Move.

Yeah.

Meaning it can be any which way.

Guys, I must fold what I was yesterday into what God wants me to be today

or what God wants me to do today.

When truth is progressively revealed, if we choose to hold on to our ministry,

if we choose to hold on to our ways of doing things, if we choose to hold on to our positions,

if we choose to hold on to our mindsets, if we choose to hold on to our stubborn habits,

if we choose to hold on to our personality peeves, if we

choose to hold on to our followers, we set ourselves up. Let me say that again.

When truth is progressively revealed,

and for the sake of the CD, I say this again,

if someone went and asked Noah, what shall I do to be saved? Noah would have said,

get into the ark. If someone went and asked Moses, what shall I do to be saved?

Moses would have said, follow the Ten Commandments. If someone went and asked John the Baptist,

what should I do to be saved? He would have said, repent and be baptized. The kingdom of God is near.

If someone went and asked Jesus, what should I do to be saved? He would have said, unless you be born again, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven.

If someone went and asked Paul, what shall I do to be saved? He would have said, it's not by words, but by faith.

Truth is progressively revealed to us.

And if we do not move along with God's revelation of the truth,

the same truth to us, we will end up trying to get into an ark to be saved

when we should be doing something else. The truth didn't change.

The truth is absolute, but it is revealed to us bit by bit by bit by bit.

And if we do not walk with truth as it's progressively revealed,

if we choose to hold on to our ministry, our ways, our stubborn, sometimes sinful,

habits, our mindsets which we refuse to let go of or change,

our positions, our ways of doing things,

our positions as in, sometimes it's a position in the church, sometimes it's a position in terms of our spiritual stance.

It could be any position.

No, we'll get there.

You'll see it later. Our positions, our mindsets, our stubborn habits,

our personalities that sometimes are defective, our pet peeves.

If we do not let go of these guides,

we won't be able to walk in what God is revealing at present because it becomes an obstacle.

I got this email from one of the guys in Bahrain.

He writes,

Just thought I'd update you so far. Things are going good.

I've been able to walk righteously. In fact, learning each day not to sin.

And like you say, to hate sin with a passion. Not there yet completely, but I know I'll get there soon.

You were so right about telling me to believe in who I am and to start walking in it.

And that would lead me into whatever God wants me to go into.

I'm realizing that people are opening up to me and relating to me, trusting me enough to open and tell me their problems and issues.

I'm really excited about what God is doing. And at the same time, there's suddenly a demand on me to keep my vessel holy and righteous.

Because it is this vessel that God will use to pour into others.

His problem was,

he wanted to be involved in things and do all that God was doing.

He wanted to do, do, do. And I was telling him, become, become, become.

Be who God wants you to be and you will do what God wants you to do.

And once he started doing that,

things have changed radically.

I'll try to finish by 1.05.

Guys, make sure that you don't see your present position as complete or accurate.

Because you will be content then.

And you will start living your life on your own terms and your rate of progress will be limited.

Don't do what John did.

John saw and confessed Jesus as God's son, but he did not transition.

It seems to me, Jacob, that it's set in order.

That there are things that you,

God has just put them there so that you have to change.

Yeah, and if you don't, you're like a potted plant that will have stunted growth because you're not being transplanted into new soil.

Guys, failure to transition is failure to grow or stunted growth.

Let's put it this way, failure to transition with God

will result in stunted growth.

Because a plant that is in a pot that needs to be transplanted

will not grow if you don't transplant it.

No, I heard about it. I do not know that from experience.

Half the plants that my mother put in pots died after she left.

So I wouldn't know about it.

I've heard that that's what's supposed to happen if you don't transplant them.

Guys, let's look at some other things that transpired in John's life because of his failure to transition.

This is so sad, man. I was reading this and I felt so sad.

John is called a type of Elijah, right?

We just read that. Jesus said John was like Elijah and that John was a type of Elijah.

And Elijah is supposed to be someone who announces the coming of the King and the Kingdom.

And so John came and said, prepare ye the way of the Lord, and he announced the coming of Jesus.

So John is a type of Elijah, but look at what happens to John.

He's supposed to be like Elijah and imitate Elijah and all the good things that he does.

But he wasn't supposed to die like Elijah died.

When you look at the book of Kings, you find that Elijah was basically

relegated to nothingness by who?

By Jezebel.

And here you see another type of Jezebel,

in the form of the daughter of Herodias, Salome,

who now renders John the Baptist completely ineffective

by throwing him into prison.

The way both these men were brought to the end is so sad, man.

They weren't supposed to reflect each other in death, by the way.

But just as Jezebel, put to death, or put an end to

Elijah's ministry, so Salome, Herodias' daughter, puts an end to?

John's ministry.

A type of Elijah is put to death by a type of Jezebel.

And Jezebel, by the way, is basically, we've talked about this in the past,

it's a spirit of control. It's not a female, it's just a spirit of control.

And when you are not controlled by the agenda of God,

then know this, that there will be some other agenda that will now come to drive and manipulate you.

Let me say that again. If you are not controlled by the agendas of God,

then know this, that someone or something else will come

and begin to drive and manipulate and control your steps here on us.

So why not come into alignment with God? Everybody is somebody's fool.

Why not be Christ's fool?

A failure to transition into what God is calling me to

will end up with someone else

like Jezebel setting up my agendas

and manipulating and driving my steps.

Another thing that happens to John,

John ends up in prison.

John goes from the wilderness to the prison.

And it says in Matthew 4, 12, that when Jesus heard that John was in prison,

he left for Galilee. I mean, you would think that Jesus would go visit him.

But strangely enough, what the Bible says is that when Jesus heard that John was put in prison,

Jesus left for Galilee. He departed to Galilee.

Guys, the parallel I want to make is that I want to make it clear

that when Jesus left for Galilee,

he departed to Galilee.

Guys, the parallel I want to draw out is this.

Failure to transition will result

in an absence of His manifest presence in the things you do.

You'll still do them, but His manifest presence will be missing.

There'll be stagnation.

There'll be stagnation.

And there'll be a loss of spiritual influence.

It's a terrible thing, guys, because there are churches, ministries, individuals

who, because they failed to transition, are still doing what they're doing.

You know what happens when the manifest presence of God is not involved in something?

You've got to do smoke and light and stuff, because now you've got to make your show look attractive.

When God is in the picture, He's the biggest distractor there can be. So you don't need smoke and lights.

But when God is missing in terms of His manifest presence, because you failed to transition

into what God wants you to do presently, then you have to do you, smoke and lights and drama.

I'm not saying drama is wrong, but you've got to get more dramatic.

Jesus would keep things

absolutely quiet. He would not want anyone to know what He's doing,

but He wouldn't be able to get out of a house because of the crowds around Him.

How about that today, if we began to do things that way, and yet

because God is the biggest distraction in the world, people gather around.

Imprisonment

is basically stagnation and a loss of spiritual influence.

Guys,

at the end of the day, who put the potential that you have in you?

God. Hand it over back to Him. Let Him cultivate it.

Let Him develop it. Some of it He develops directly. The rest of it He develops through equipers

that are appointed to the church and are sent into your lives

so that you may come into your full potential.

Three more points and we're done. Guys,

John displayed strong initial acceptance of what God was doing.

We talked about that. He was so absolutely convinced that this was the Lamb of God.

Even though there was strong initial acceptance, I want you to know that

John did not have the ability to

see it to the end. What I'm trying to say is this.

Strong initial acceptance is not a guarantee or an indicator

of your ability to finish. Strong initial

acceptance is not

an indicator or a guarantee

of your ability to

finish. At the end of the day,

what good is it if I start well and do not finish?

I'm telling you, Christianity is full of people who start well. Because when you start

well, you've got that, I've got to do it. I'm all that. But at the end of the day, it's how you

finish that matters, man. And with what is happening in our lives at present where

as individuals we're beginning to come into who God wants us to be, you may be gung-ho about to

start, but really it counts for nothing if you don't finish. It counts for nothing.

It's how I finish the race.

Have you noticed you don't have any gravestones on which it says,

I have started the race well? All the gravestones say I've finished the race well.

Because that's what counts.

Shockingly, look at John's question. I mean, can you even

imagine this, guys? It is so hard to put this together. Behold the Lamb of God.

The one who comes from above is God. He is Christ. And then

here's the other question. Are you the one who is sent

or should we look for another?

Are you the coming one or do we look for another?

Guys, here's the answer to James's question. When you fail

to transition, you stop hearing the preceding word.

Let me say that again. When you fail to transition,

you stop hearing the preceding word. Let me simplify that.

The reason people are not able to hear

is because God is saying, Jacob, come there, come there, come there. I'm there, Jacob.

I'm on that side of the table. Come there. And I refuse to transition.

He makes it possible for Ryan and Marcus to come into my life and say,

Hey, Jacob, we have the strong sense that you need to be there. I thank them for it, bless them, but I refuse to move.

I go to a conference and they say, Jacob, move. Refuse to move.

I have dreams in the night. Go ahead.

But who's the one who's calling?

Yeah. God knows how much coaxing I need, guys.

You know, I had a little kid I knew who was very scared of stepping

into elevators because the one time he did on his own, the door shut.

Little boy, his name was Vicky. And so

I didn't know this. The first time I took him out, he was my neighbor's kid and we had to go up.

I had to walk up the stairs with the kid, which wasn't very enjoyable because I hate stairs.

The point being that this kid wouldn't get into the elevator and you have no idea

how difficult it was to convince this boy that it was okay and how

once I had explained it to him, then I had to stand and show him how the door opens, how much time there is.

And then finally it was that day when I held his hand and I said, Vicky, when I step,

you step with me. And Vicky said, okay. And we both stepped across that little threshold

and stood in the elevator. And you should have seen the relief on this boy's face.

But it took three or four outings before Vicky decided to step into the elevator.

So I understand giants, but if I have a heart like that, I'm not a dad and I can have that

for a neighbor's kid, imagine your dad's heart towards you when it comes to

massive obstacles. He knows how long he needs to work on you so that you can get to that place.

Then it becomes a choice where if I refuse to transition, you know what God does? He still loves me as much,

but he will only speak to me with regard to what is here. And you stop hearing God

because you have failed to transition. You stop hearing God.

Failure to transition will end in the proceeding word of God,

no more evident to you. Listen to this guys. John the Baptist was in the wilderness

under the rule of Caiaphas and the other guy.

He was in the wilderness under the rule of Caiaphas and he could hear God.

The same John now is in prison under Herod and he cannot hear God.

This man who proclaimed the beginning of the ultimate kingdom here on earth

cannot hear God, so much so that he has to send his disciples to figure out, are you the coming one?

It is such a sad story sometimes.

When I fail to transition to what God is calling me to, I stop hearing the proceeding word.

Why? Because like Eddie says, you cannot listen to God on a shortwave transmitter

when God is speaking on satellite. Change your transmitter to satellite.

Change your transmitter.

Did I say three more points? I meant two more points.

Guys, if you fail to transition or align yourself with what God is calling you to,

you can be involved in inaccurate battles.

If you fail to transition, you cannot listen to God.

You can be involved in inaccurate battles.

If you fail to transition into what God is calling you to,

it is possible that you can be drawn into inaccurate battles that you were never supposed to be involved in.

Skirmishes that will end up costing you when you never needed to.

This is just a supposition. It's just hypothesizing on John's life.

Guys, can you imagine how different John's life would have been

had he folded his life into that of Jesus?

When you transition, you don't fight some battles

because they are not yours anymore to fight.

You only take on skirmishes that God sends you out on.

You don't end up fighting some battles.

Never know, man.

Strangely enough, John's name is not mentioned in Hebrews 11.

At the end of the day, guys, pursue what God is calling you to in Christ.

Pursue it with violence, with tenacity, with consistency.

Pursue it with violence, with tenacity, with consistency.

Pursue it with violence, with tenacity, with consistency.

Matthew 11.12 says,

Again, Jesus makes a reference to John.

Unfortunately, John was one of the guys who did not.

Matthew 11.12, I think. It's up there on the top of the sheet.

Pursue what God is calling you to in this season with tenacity,

with violence, and with consistency.

Think of it like this, guys. John is what you were yesterday.

Jesus is what you were meant to be today. So don't follow John when Jesus is around.

John is what you were yesterday. Jesus is what you are supposed to be today.

Don't follow John when Jesus is around.

John is what you were yesterday. Jesus is what you are supposed to be today and tomorrow.

So please don't follow John when Jesus is around.

Because Jesus and John can co-exist,

but John will have limited significance.

You saw that happening. Jesus had his disciples, John had his disciples.

Here's the sad thing, guys, and please listen to this.

Guys, if you don't transition, know that what you will birth on Earth

will not transition either. Please hear this.

You know, John did not transition and join Jesus, right?

Go to Ephesians 18. What do you find there? You find in Ephesians 18, 25,

a guy called Apollos.

Go to Acts 18. I'm glad you're still awake.

Acts 18. You find in Acts 18,

Acts 18:25

verse 25, a guy called Apollos. Who was Apollos?

A disciple of John, preaching

inaccurately. So Aquila and Priscilla had to come in,

straighten them out. It says there,

Apollos, a disciple of John. Acts 19, you see another situation

where there are 10 or 12 people, and who were they? They were disciples of

John, who hadn't even heard about Jesus. Just imagine

this, guys.

They probably did not hear of Jesus' death and resurrection and did not know of the Holy Spirit.

You see how

two people can coexist, Jesus and John on the earth at the same time. And years

later you're still producing the same offspring. It's a dangerous thing, guys. What then

will have to happen is Aquila and Priscilla will have to come in, save those that we have produced.

Even today, in Iraq and Iran, in the southern part of Iraq

and certain parts of Iran, there's a group called the Mandians,

M-A-N-D-E-A-N-S. And these Mandians are a group who have a

mixture of beliefs, but one of their heroes is John the Baptist. Many of their beliefs come

from John the Baptist. They're not Christians, but they follow

John the Baptist mixed with a lot of Persian beliefs. Still,

2,000 years later, you still see the evidence. Guys, understand that

if you fail to transition, the produce of it is transgenerational. 2,000 years later

you still have the Mandians.

For the sake of your children and your children's children's children's children's children's children's children's children's

children, that covers about 500 years,

transition so that when you leave the earth, you leave from where God wanted you to be, not where God once

once was. Become all that you're supposed to become. I'm done. Inaccurate transitioning

is generational. It results in bondage. Do not fail to move in this season, guys. It's

fresh, it's new, it's under an open heaven. And as, sorry? Yeah, do not fail to transition

in this season. We already talked about it last week, that God is about to specifically

take each of our individual lives, as he did with us as a church two years ago, and begin

to build into our lives what each of us is, who we are supposed to be, so that we can

do what he wants us to do. That's what he's doing in this season in our lives as a church.

It's fresh, it's new. We have an open heaven in terms of the favor of God upon us, because

when he says he wants to do something, he'll go about doing it. Do not fail to transition.

Do not go halfway. Go all the way, because this is the time for each of us. Some of you,

I've already met with and we've been talking about how you can move on, and I know that

some of you have had a huge rock put on your lap saying, here, carry this and run with

it, and I could hear the nervousness in your laughter, but you're still willing to go.

Go for it, man, because the demand on your life will always be beyond your present ability.

Let me say that again. God's demand on your life will always be beyond your present ability.

Otherwise, you could do it. Then you wouldn't need him. Father, could you please take all

that we've talked about and stitch it together so that it makes more sense? Some parts of

what I taught today seem a little disconnected, so could you please stitch it together so

what needs to make sense will settle deep, Papa. But when you think of John the Baptist,

who your son walked with, it's stark, Lord, what happened with him, and if it can happen

to him, it can happen to the best of us, Father, because you said he was one of the greatest

in your kingdom. So I do ask, Abba, that during this time of transition that we will not fail

in these areas, Abba. Father, I pray that not one person in this church will stay put

or choose to not go to where they're supposed to go, Lord. Become all they're supposed to

in this time, at this time, Abba. Every one of us, Abba. Every one of us. Take us to where

we need to operate from. Make us who we are supposed to be. We're so willing to do that,

Father. We just ask that right now. Amen.