1 00:00:06,360 --> 00:00:09,240 Hi and welcome to the Via Zion Sermon podcast. 2 00:00:09,640 --> 00:00:11,400 We are a. Local church based here in 3 00:00:11,400 --> 00:00:14,600 Chennai, India. We are so glad you are with us 4 00:00:14,640 --> 00:00:18,280 and hope that this will encourage, inspire and instill 5 00:00:18,280 --> 00:00:22,200 fresh faith in you. Our theme for the year 2024 is 6 00:00:22,200 --> 00:00:26,680 set apart, and today we look at how God sets us apart to carry 7 00:00:26,680 --> 00:00:30,320 our cross. Jesus was open and honest with 8 00:00:30,320 --> 00:00:33,000 his disciples of the kind of life they would be called to 9 00:00:33,000 --> 00:00:35,560 live should they choose to follow Him. 10 00:00:36,400 --> 00:00:40,200 It's not one that's easy, but one of great fulfilment and 11 00:00:40,200 --> 00:00:44,000 eternal rewards. As you listen in, would you ask 12 00:00:44,000 --> 00:00:47,800 God to show you how better to carry your cross and follow 13 00:00:47,840 --> 00:00:50,840 Jesus, his Son, into the spaces he leads you? 14 00:00:51,720 --> 00:00:54,040 Hi Church, it's my joy to bring God's Word to you today. 15 00:00:54,680 --> 00:00:57,120 As you know, we've begun the season of Lent. 16 00:00:57,560 --> 00:00:59,880 As a church, we've been praying together. 17 00:00:59,880 --> 00:01:02,160 We've been really seeking God. One of the things that we 18 00:01:02,160 --> 00:01:06,040 decided to do over the next 40 days as individuals is to really 19 00:01:06,040 --> 00:01:09,720 take stock of ourselves. It's very easy to take stock of 20 00:01:09,720 --> 00:01:12,680 what's happening in the world, in our city, in our families. 21 00:01:12,680 --> 00:01:15,640 But sometimes we need to do a personal inventory check, you 22 00:01:15,640 --> 00:01:18,640 know, check how we are doing, how our heart is, how our mind 23 00:01:18,640 --> 00:01:20,720 is, and that's what we're going to be doing over 40 days. 24 00:01:21,280 --> 00:01:25,040 But as a church, in terms of our Lent series, we've been really 25 00:01:25,040 --> 00:01:27,280 praying and asking God, Lord, what is it that you are calling 26 00:01:27,280 --> 00:01:29,360 us into? And this is the word that God 27 00:01:29,360 --> 00:01:33,200 gave us that you know, we are set apart to carry the cross and 28 00:01:33,200 --> 00:01:35,400 that's what we're going to be looking at today. 29 00:01:36,160 --> 00:01:39,160 Now the interesting thing I was just I my daughter didn't know 30 00:01:39,160 --> 00:01:41,920 that I was preparing this sermon and then she comes up to me and 31 00:01:41,920 --> 00:01:45,360 she says, Mum, I have a joke for you, so I want to share. 32 00:01:45,360 --> 00:01:47,240 That joke with you, Because I feel like it goes right 33 00:01:47,240 --> 00:01:49,760 alongside our sermon today. Please don't get offended. 34 00:01:50,400 --> 00:01:53,680 She asked me if I knew how Jesus maintained his abs. 35 00:01:54,400 --> 00:01:56,400 And if you didn't know, it's because of CrossFit. 36 00:01:57,320 --> 00:02:00,360 That's not all. There's another story that I 37 00:02:00,360 --> 00:02:04,120 read about how this man, every morning before he went to work, 38 00:02:04,600 --> 00:02:07,280 decided to start carrying his wife right up to the door. 39 00:02:07,600 --> 00:02:10,000 He would leave her there, put her down and then head out to 40 00:02:10,000 --> 00:02:11,360 work. And so his wife and kids were 41 00:02:11,360 --> 00:02:12,680 puzzled. They said, what are you doing? 42 00:02:13,000 --> 00:02:15,840 And he said, well, in the last few weeks the pastor has been 43 00:02:15,840 --> 00:02:18,240 talking to us about, you know, each of us needing to carry 44 00:02:18,240 --> 00:02:20,240 across daily. So I decided to do that. 45 00:02:21,440 --> 00:02:23,600 If you're getting offended, I'm really sorry, but this is just 46 00:02:23,600 --> 00:02:28,040 some humor before we start a rather hard and inconvenient 47 00:02:28,040 --> 00:02:29,760 series. It's not going to be for the 48 00:02:29,760 --> 00:02:32,160 faint of heart, because, you know, when we're talking about 49 00:02:32,160 --> 00:02:33,920 the cross, we know what it implies. 50 00:02:34,240 --> 00:02:36,640 And I believe that each of us have been called to carry a 51 00:02:36,640 --> 00:02:39,240 cross, because that is the mandate that Jesus gave his 52 00:02:39,240 --> 00:02:42,000 disciples, and he gave it to everyone who chooses him. 53 00:02:42,600 --> 00:02:44,760 So even as we get into God's Word today, I want you to come 54 00:02:44,760 --> 00:02:47,920 in with this place of. Laying aside whatever you have 55 00:02:47,960 --> 00:02:49,760 thought this. Series going to look. 56 00:02:49,760 --> 00:02:52,000 Like whatever you are thinking about the cross if. 57 00:02:52,000 --> 00:02:55,920 You could just come in with this heart, ready to learn maybe, and 58 00:02:55,920 --> 00:02:58,360 absorb something. You might just get something new 59 00:02:58,360 --> 00:02:59,920 from this. So we're going to be. 60 00:02:59,920 --> 00:03:03,080 Looking at the book of Luke today, Luke Chapter 9 verses 18 61 00:03:03,080 --> 00:03:06,560 to 23. The same narrative is repeated 62 00:03:07,000 --> 00:03:10,200 both in Matthew and in Mark as well, but we're looking at Luke 63 00:03:10,200 --> 00:03:13,880 specifically as the central passage because it has so many 64 00:03:13,880 --> 00:03:15,760 elements that we want to look at. 65 00:03:16,520 --> 00:03:18,200 So what we're going to do is want to read it and then we're 66 00:03:18,200 --> 00:03:20,680 just going to go into the text a little deeper. 67 00:03:20,720 --> 00:03:23,040 So Luke Chapter 9, verses 18 to 23. 68 00:03:23,040 --> 00:03:26,200 This is what it says. Once when Jesus was praying in 69 00:03:26,200 --> 00:03:29,840 private and his disciples were with him, he asked them who did 70 00:03:29,840 --> 00:03:33,120 the crowd say I am? They replied, some sage on the 71 00:03:33,120 --> 00:03:36,560 Baptist, others say Elijah, and still others that one of the 72 00:03:36,560 --> 00:03:38,960 prophets of long ago has come back to life. 73 00:03:39,440 --> 00:03:40,920 But what about you? He asked. 74 00:03:41,120 --> 00:03:44,960 Who do you say I am? Peter answered, God's Messiah. 75 00:03:45,760 --> 00:03:49,280 Jesus strictly warned them not to tell this to anyone, and he 76 00:03:49,280 --> 00:03:53,520 said, the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by 77 00:03:53,520 --> 00:03:56,680 the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, and 78 00:03:56,680 --> 00:03:59,880 he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life. 79 00:04:00,040 --> 00:04:03,720 Then he said to them all, whoever wants to be my disciple 80 00:04:04,000 --> 00:04:07,200 must deny themselves, take up their cross daily. 81 00:04:07,480 --> 00:04:09,880 And follow me. This is a. 82 00:04:09,880 --> 00:04:14,840 Direct instruction that Jesus is giving his disciples. 83 00:04:14,840 --> 00:04:18,800 And it's not just for them, it was for us as well, Whoever 84 00:04:19,000 --> 00:04:21,720 wants to be my disciple. A bit of history here. 85 00:04:22,840 --> 00:04:26,600 Jesus is talking about carrying a cross even before he had 86 00:04:26,600 --> 00:04:30,640 encountered his cross, even before the disciples saw him 87 00:04:30,640 --> 00:04:33,720 suffer on a cross. So it was literally out of the 88 00:04:33,720 --> 00:04:37,040 blue that he brings this up now. But this was not such a random 89 00:04:37,040 --> 00:04:41,160 thing because the Romans commonly used the cross as a 90 00:04:41,160 --> 00:04:44,200 method of punishment. Any criminal was made to carry 91 00:04:44,200 --> 00:04:47,960 his cross, walk down a thoroughfare and then go up and 92 00:04:47,960 --> 00:04:51,320 then actually watch the cross being erected, and he would be 93 00:04:51,320 --> 00:04:52,880 hanging on. And this was common. 94 00:04:53,280 --> 00:04:55,800 So the people of Judea had seen this time and again. 95 00:04:56,000 --> 00:04:59,840 And so it was a visual, you know, indication of the kind of 96 00:04:59,840 --> 00:05:02,560 death that Jesus was going to suffer. 97 00:05:02,720 --> 00:05:05,160 God was. Jesus was giving them, you know, 98 00:05:05,200 --> 00:05:06,640 like a literally like a highlight. 99 00:05:06,640 --> 00:05:10,560 Really think this was going to happen to me, But my question is 100 00:05:10,760 --> 00:05:14,920 why would Jesus give such a poor campaign speech to guys who had 101 00:05:14,920 --> 00:05:17,800 just become his disciples? If you want guys to join your 102 00:05:17,800 --> 00:05:19,640 campaign, what do you do? You motivate them. 103 00:05:19,640 --> 00:05:21,200 You say they're perks. They're these things that are 104 00:05:21,200 --> 00:05:22,480 going to come. It's going to be amazing. 105 00:05:23,200 --> 00:05:26,000 But Jesus is so upfront. He says, hey, this is the life 106 00:05:26,000 --> 00:05:28,760 you were signing up for. Interestingly, he first says 107 00:05:28,760 --> 00:05:32,280 this is the death I'm going to suffer, but he invites them into 108 00:05:32,280 --> 00:05:35,480 the life, the kind of life that they're going to have to live 109 00:05:35,480 --> 00:05:37,560 for him. He's telling them that you would 110 00:05:37,560 --> 00:05:40,560 have to count the cost. He's not giving them false 111 00:05:40,560 --> 00:05:42,720 promises. He's saying that you know, this 112 00:05:42,720 --> 00:05:44,680 is what lies ahead. Are you ready? 113 00:05:45,040 --> 00:05:48,560 Are you willing? So it was, in our eyes, a poor 114 00:05:48,560 --> 00:05:51,160 campaign speech. Probably a good way to, you 115 00:05:51,160 --> 00:05:53,600 know, weed out the initial candidates. 116 00:05:53,600 --> 00:05:55,800 But. The 12 disciples were gathered 117 00:05:55,800 --> 00:05:57,560 around him, knew what they were getting in for. 118 00:05:57,920 --> 00:06:00,880 And each of us today, wherever we are on this journey, Maybe 119 00:06:00,880 --> 00:06:03,560 you've already been a mature believer, but you have found 120 00:06:03,560 --> 00:06:06,080 that the journey has been hard. It's not been easy. 121 00:06:06,080 --> 00:06:08,560 And you know why? You know that you've been called 122 00:06:08,560 --> 00:06:10,800 to this. Maybe you're a new believer and 123 00:06:10,800 --> 00:06:12,600 you're saying, I didn't sign up for this? 124 00:06:12,800 --> 00:06:14,600 I didn't sign up for this many waits. 125 00:06:14,760 --> 00:06:16,880 I didn't sign up for these many closed doors. 126 00:06:16,880 --> 00:06:19,320 I didn't sign up for this hardship, this relationship 127 00:06:19,320 --> 00:06:21,480 struggle. But I just want to encourage you 128 00:06:21,480 --> 00:06:27,200 that this is the life you signed up for, and it's got so much 129 00:06:27,760 --> 00:06:29,840 that is to be desired. It's not just about the 130 00:06:29,840 --> 00:06:31,960 hardship. There's so much of good that 131 00:06:31,960 --> 00:06:34,840 comes in this life. But I want to ask you this. 132 00:06:34,840 --> 00:06:36,960 What do you think the cross implies? 133 00:06:37,600 --> 00:06:40,720 When we look at that cross, the Jesus Board, all we think of is 134 00:06:40,720 --> 00:06:44,600 shame, suffering, persecution, and why the Christian life will 135 00:06:44,600 --> 00:06:47,400 entail all of that. It's also so much more. 136 00:06:47,520 --> 00:06:49,600 It doesn't just end with that. It's not such a negative 137 00:06:49,600 --> 00:06:51,960 connotation alone. It's something even more 138 00:06:51,960 --> 00:06:54,880 profound and beautiful when you look at Jesus life. 139 00:06:54,880 --> 00:06:57,840 If you look at the book of Isaiah, Isaiah 53 has this 140 00:06:57,840 --> 00:07:00,120 passage which is called the Suffering Servant. 141 00:07:00,680 --> 00:07:04,120 Isaiah prophetically writes about Jesus and what he was 142 00:07:04,120 --> 00:07:07,440 going to suffer on behalf of his people in order to. 143 00:07:07,440 --> 00:07:10,720 Redeem Israel and he writes about the whole chapter and a 144 00:07:10,720 --> 00:07:14,480 half, just about what Jesus could suffer, right? 145 00:07:15,000 --> 00:07:19,640 When you see that, you realize that Jesus assignment for his 146 00:07:19,640 --> 00:07:24,240 time on earth was his death, and the cross was very central to 147 00:07:24,240 --> 00:07:29,080 Jesus's assignment. So today, for you and me, the 148 00:07:29,080 --> 00:07:31,760 cross implies our life's assignment. 149 00:07:32,720 --> 00:07:35,440 As much as we'd like to say that the cross implies all of the 150 00:07:35,440 --> 00:07:38,840 negative parts of our life are the, I believe the cross implies 151 00:07:39,400 --> 00:07:41,360 the entirety of our life's assignment. 152 00:07:41,360 --> 00:07:43,200 And it's not an ordinary assignment. 153 00:07:43,200 --> 00:07:45,720 You know why? Because it's a Kingdom 154 00:07:45,720 --> 00:07:48,280 assignment. It's not the assignment that we 155 00:07:48,280 --> 00:07:50,320 put for ourselves. It's not the things that we grab 156 00:07:50,320 --> 00:07:53,400 and put on our plate. It is a weighty Kingdom 157 00:07:53,400 --> 00:07:55,040 assignment. So what is the cross today that 158 00:07:55,040 --> 00:07:58,520 you are being called to carry? It's a weighty Kingdom 159 00:07:58,760 --> 00:08:02,320 assignment and I want to just bring this to your notice that 160 00:08:03,560 --> 00:08:07,760 it is weighty simply because. Of three things. 161 00:08:07,760 --> 00:08:09,800 Three things that I want you to just remember if you're ever 162 00:08:09,800 --> 00:08:12,880 thinking, Well, I thought the cross was something different. 163 00:08:12,880 --> 00:08:15,200 Well, I want you to turn that around and think of the cross as 164 00:08:15,200 --> 00:08:18,000 your life's assignment, A Kingdom assignment that is very 165 00:08:18,000 --> 00:08:20,640 weighty, which is why you feel the weight of it very often in 166 00:08:20,640 --> 00:08:22,760 this lifetime. And the reason that it's so 167 00:08:22,760 --> 00:08:27,320 weighty is because, first of all, God's glory rests on you. 168 00:08:28,680 --> 00:08:31,840 The Psalms write so beautifully how you set your glory above the 169 00:08:31,840 --> 00:08:34,080 heavens. And what is mind that you man, 170 00:08:34,080 --> 00:08:37,520 that you're mindful of him. You have made him a little lower 171 00:08:37,720 --> 00:08:40,320 than the angels and crowned them with. 172 00:08:40,360 --> 00:08:42,640 Glory and honor. He says that in Psalm 8, which 173 00:08:42,640 --> 00:08:44,920 means that the glory of God, which is actually in its 174 00:08:44,920 --> 00:08:48,640 original meaning, means weighty. It's not something that's just 175 00:08:48,640 --> 00:08:51,640 about light or a visual effect, it is an actual weight. 176 00:08:52,280 --> 00:08:55,400 And so when you're living with this, the implication of the 177 00:08:55,400 --> 00:08:58,080 cross being your Kingdom assignment and if it's a weighty 178 00:08:58,080 --> 00:09:00,920 Kingdom assignment and that you will feel the weight of God's 179 00:09:00,920 --> 00:09:04,720 glory on, the second reason why it's weighty is because it will 180 00:09:04,720 --> 00:09:09,320 not just impact you, but it will impact generations to come, not 181 00:09:09,320 --> 00:09:10,920 just the generations that come from you. 182 00:09:11,160 --> 00:09:12,680 It will impact people around you. 183 00:09:12,680 --> 00:09:14,880 It will impact generations out of them. 184 00:09:15,760 --> 00:09:18,560 And that's why sometimes when you feel oppressed with things 185 00:09:18,560 --> 00:09:21,160 that are happening and coming at you, things that are going on, 186 00:09:21,360 --> 00:09:24,720 the ill health you experience, it's not about you, it's about 187 00:09:24,760 --> 00:09:27,840 all the impact you were created to have. 188 00:09:29,480 --> 00:09:33,840 Direct reason that it's weighty is because it involves bringing 189 00:09:33,920 --> 00:09:37,160 light Into Darkness. It is not ordinary. 190 00:09:37,160 --> 00:09:40,360 That is why this Kingdom assignment is very weighty. 191 00:09:40,360 --> 00:09:46,360 And that is why it is a cross. When you look at Luke chapter 8 192 00:09:46,360 --> 00:09:49,520 that we just looked at what Luke is writing about, there is a 193 00:09:49,520 --> 00:09:52,520 threefold message which he leaves, which Jesus leaves with 194 00:09:52,520 --> 00:09:54,200 his followers. He says first of all you have to 195 00:09:54,200 --> 00:09:56,880 deny yourself. She says you have to take up 196 00:09:56,880 --> 00:09:59,880 your cross daily. You have to follow him. 197 00:10:00,880 --> 00:10:03,920 What does this look like? Honestly, you know, if we are 198 00:10:03,920 --> 00:10:07,760 doing this on a daily basis, the process is very seamless. 199 00:10:08,040 --> 00:10:11,520 I learn to deny myself. I I lay down the things I don't 200 00:10:11,520 --> 00:10:13,920 need. I pick up the things that God 201 00:10:13,920 --> 00:10:17,440 wants me to, you know, take up and do, and then I just follow 202 00:10:17,440 --> 00:10:19,440 after him. I get led by him. 203 00:10:20,040 --> 00:10:23,520 But the problem is, so often we we get, you know, halted right 204 00:10:23,520 --> 00:10:25,240 at .1, which is denying ourselves. 205 00:10:25,520 --> 00:10:28,520 So over the next few weeks as we do the. 206 00:10:28,520 --> 00:10:31,760 Series called DCF Deny, Carry, Follow. 207 00:10:31,960 --> 00:10:34,600 We're going to look close at what it really looks like in 208 00:10:34,600 --> 00:10:39,280 today's times to actually deny ourselves what it looks like to 209 00:10:39,280 --> 00:10:41,840 carry the cross, what it looks like to follow him. 210 00:10:42,080 --> 00:10:44,360 But today, what we're specifically going to be looking 211 00:10:44,360 --> 00:10:49,120 at is how each of us can live, set apart to carry a cross. 212 00:10:50,880 --> 00:10:53,320 As we saw right from the beginning of January, we looked 213 00:10:53,320 --> 00:10:58,680 at how the Father chose us and set us apart even from before 214 00:10:58,680 --> 00:11:03,000 our birth for certain things. We saw how Jesus, through our 215 00:11:03,000 --> 00:11:06,280 salvation, when we believed Him in Him, set us apart. 216 00:11:06,360 --> 00:11:11,080 We saw how the Holy Spirit brands us and He uses us on a 217 00:11:11,080 --> 00:11:13,800 daily basis. He's shaping us, He's nourishing 218 00:11:13,800 --> 00:11:15,720 us. He's nurturing us, giving life 219 00:11:16,360 --> 00:11:18,640 and shaping us into the image of the Son. 220 00:11:20,000 --> 00:11:22,000 But in order for all this to happen. 221 00:11:22,880 --> 00:11:25,560 In order for us to actually grasp the entirety of being set 222 00:11:25,560 --> 00:11:27,120 up. This is a very important 223 00:11:27,120 --> 00:11:30,880 component that we realize we have been set apart to carry a 224 00:11:30,880 --> 00:11:33,520 cross. And this cross is that Kingdom 225 00:11:33,520 --> 00:11:36,320 assignment. It is an assignment that is for 226 00:11:36,320 --> 00:11:39,240 every one of us. None of us get to say I don't 227 00:11:39,240 --> 00:11:41,840 want an assignment because it's really not about us. 228 00:11:42,840 --> 00:11:47,080 God saved us for so much more. And I want to just, you know, 229 00:11:47,080 --> 00:11:49,440 before we get into a deeper thing on this, I want you to 230 00:11:49,440 --> 00:11:52,360 understand that the nature of your Kingdom assignment is very 231 00:11:52,360 --> 00:11:54,800 interesting. It's almost like an oxymoron 232 00:11:54,800 --> 00:11:57,880 because the Kingdom assignment will be very ordinary yet 233 00:11:57,880 --> 00:11:59,880 extraordinary. What do I mean by that? 234 00:12:00,280 --> 00:12:03,960 It's ordinary in the sense it will take the most mundane parts 235 00:12:03,960 --> 00:12:06,480 of your life and make it powerful because now it's 236 00:12:06,480 --> 00:12:09,480 Kingdom life, because now the king has breathed life into it. 237 00:12:09,760 --> 00:12:12,360 So you could be a parent, you could be a spouse, you could be 238 00:12:12,840 --> 00:12:15,560 a single mother or a father. You could be a single person 239 00:12:15,560 --> 00:12:18,680 navigating, you know, career and your your home or whatever. 240 00:12:19,160 --> 00:12:21,520 You could be someone who is, you know, aging. 241 00:12:22,480 --> 00:12:26,080 But the beauty is that in the mundane, ordinary parts of your 242 00:12:26,080 --> 00:12:31,000 life there is assignment given even in that nothing is below 243 00:12:31,440 --> 00:12:34,960 God being you, God using it. It's ordinary. 244 00:12:34,960 --> 00:12:37,760 It's powerful. So why I say this is because a 245 00:12:37,760 --> 00:12:39,960 lot of times people say I'm, I'm waiting for my Kingdom 246 00:12:39,960 --> 00:12:42,960 assignment and they give up on the responsibilities that have 247 00:12:42,960 --> 00:12:45,000 been entrusted to them. You know, the responsibilities 248 00:12:45,000 --> 00:12:47,320 of marriage, the responsibility of having a child, the 249 00:12:47,320 --> 00:12:49,520 responsibility of of running your home. 250 00:12:49,600 --> 00:12:52,120 No, that's not what you've been called for. 251 00:12:52,600 --> 00:12:56,760 Sometimes the Kingdom assignment is literally meshed in with our 252 00:12:56,760 --> 00:12:58,520 ordinary. It means that we need to do the 253 00:12:58,520 --> 00:13:02,120 ordinary well, and in that ordinary you'll find it so 254 00:13:02,120 --> 00:13:06,080 powerful. For me, I thought so often when 255 00:13:06,080 --> 00:13:09,160 I was preparing this, I just put down, you know, what I believe 256 00:13:09,400 --> 00:13:13,320 my Kingdom assignment was. And after I wrote it down, the 257 00:13:13,320 --> 00:13:16,160 next night I had a dream. And I had a dream about my three 258 00:13:16,160 --> 00:13:18,520 children facing some sort of harm. 259 00:13:18,520 --> 00:13:21,720 And when I woke up at 4:00, I just sat up to pray. 260 00:13:21,720 --> 00:13:23,520 For a bit. And I was so disturbed by the 261 00:13:23,520 --> 00:13:25,440 dream. And you know when, as a mother, 262 00:13:25,440 --> 00:13:27,120 as soon as you see something happening to your children, you 263 00:13:27,120 --> 00:13:29,320 freak out. And I was just sitting quietly 264 00:13:29,320 --> 00:13:31,440 in the room. I checked on all of them I came 265 00:13:31,440 --> 00:13:31,800 back to. Room. 266 00:13:31,800 --> 00:13:34,000 And I was just praying quietly and I felt like God was saying, 267 00:13:34,280 --> 00:13:37,200 right now your Kingdom assignment is to pray for these 268 00:13:37,200 --> 00:13:38,840 three, pray continually for them. 269 00:13:39,600 --> 00:13:42,080 You see what I'm saying? Sometimes we magnify the Kingdom 270 00:13:42,080 --> 00:13:45,000 assignment to say, oh, I need to reach these many souls. 271 00:13:45,000 --> 00:13:46,360 I need to take my writing out there. 272 00:13:46,360 --> 00:13:47,680 I need to do this. I need to do that. 273 00:13:48,000 --> 00:13:50,840 And he says in the ordinary because I'm going to call you 274 00:13:50,840 --> 00:13:54,400 first to cover them in prayer, because generations will be 275 00:13:54,400 --> 00:13:56,000 impacted. And that brings me to why it's 276 00:13:56,000 --> 00:13:59,720 extraordinary. The impact you have on that 277 00:13:59,720 --> 00:14:03,000 student in your class, the impact you have on that person 278 00:14:03,000 --> 00:14:06,520 that you supervise, the impact that you have on a Co worker, 279 00:14:06,760 --> 00:14:10,080 the impact that you have in that business enterprise with someone 280 00:14:10,080 --> 00:14:15,440 who is servicing your company extends beyond them. 281 00:14:16,240 --> 00:14:19,280 And that's the beauty of it. You will find that when you 282 00:14:19,280 --> 00:14:23,080 carry that Kingdom assignment with with so much of humility, 283 00:14:23,640 --> 00:14:24,920 God does. Incredible. 284 00:14:24,920 --> 00:14:28,360 Things with it I remember reading this book as a as a 285 00:14:28,360 --> 00:14:30,400 young child, chicken soup for the teenage soul. 286 00:14:30,400 --> 00:14:32,960 And there was this one story that never left my mind. 287 00:14:33,360 --> 00:14:36,720 It's about this young man who is walking with his friend to work 288 00:14:36,720 --> 00:14:40,880 and it's in a busy Manhattan St. and as he's walking, he starts 289 00:14:40,880 --> 00:14:42,720 smiling at people, random people. 290 00:14:42,720 --> 00:14:44,960 He smiles at a teenager getting onto a school bus. 291 00:14:45,680 --> 00:14:49,160 He he smiles at a single mum struggling with two babies. 292 00:14:49,680 --> 00:14:52,120 She smiles at different people along the way and his friends, 293 00:14:52,120 --> 00:14:53,640 looking at him like something's wrong with him. 294 00:14:53,640 --> 00:14:55,960 He says, you're creeping me out. What's going on? 295 00:14:56,040 --> 00:14:58,760 What are you doing? You smile at a construction 296 00:14:58,760 --> 00:15:00,080 worker. You smile at people from 297 00:15:00,080 --> 00:15:01,920 different walks of life. You smiled. 298 00:15:01,920 --> 00:15:04,040 You even shook somebody's hand. What's going on? 299 00:15:04,040 --> 00:15:05,160 I've never seen this side of you. 300 00:15:05,160 --> 00:15:07,520 And he said, well, this is my plan. 301 00:15:08,480 --> 00:15:12,680 If I can impact that one person today, imagine for that single 302 00:15:12,680 --> 00:15:14,960 mum with wrestling. With two little babies, the fact 303 00:15:14,960 --> 00:15:18,760 that I saw her smile at her will make her day a little better. 304 00:15:19,440 --> 00:15:22,160 She will be in a better frame of mind to parent those two little 305 00:15:22,160 --> 00:15:24,560 kids. When I smiled at that teenager, 306 00:15:24,560 --> 00:15:29,160 the one who feels unseen, I hope that I gave her some confidence 307 00:15:29,160 --> 00:15:31,120 to get through her day. Well, when I smiled at that 308 00:15:31,120 --> 00:15:35,400 construction worker, I maybe made his hard job a little less 309 00:15:35,400 --> 00:15:38,560 hard. When I smiled at that banker who 310 00:15:38,560 --> 00:15:41,280 was walking in, maybe the rest of the day in his boardroom 311 00:15:41,760 --> 00:15:44,160 would workout a little better than it does Usually. 312 00:15:44,840 --> 00:15:47,360 You see what happens when we take our ordinary Kingdom 313 00:15:47,360 --> 00:15:50,240 assignments and we allow God to use it. 314 00:15:50,960 --> 00:15:56,800 The the IT becomes extraordinary just because God moves in such 315 00:15:56,800 --> 00:16:00,240 different ways and impacts so many more people than we could 316 00:16:00,240 --> 00:16:01,920 ever imagine. And it's very humbling. 317 00:16:02,560 --> 00:16:04,920 So while it is ordinary, it's powerful, while it's 318 00:16:04,920 --> 00:16:07,400 extraordinary, it's humbling because it's really not about 319 00:16:07,400 --> 00:16:10,680 what we are doing, it's just us being available as being open to 320 00:16:10,680 --> 00:16:12,640 what God is going to do and he does great things. 321 00:16:13,560 --> 00:16:15,240 So I want to want us to go back to this. 322 00:16:16,000 --> 00:16:20,080 When Jesus said carry a cross, the cross was the assignment for 323 00:16:20,160 --> 00:16:22,720 Jesus. It was a divine assignment given 324 00:16:22,720 --> 00:16:26,760 to him by his Father. He came down to earth, became so 325 00:16:26,760 --> 00:16:30,200 humble, accepted it and walked in obedience towards it. 326 00:16:30,400 --> 00:16:33,600 Today for each of us when we have to carry a cross, it is a 327 00:16:33,600 --> 00:16:37,520 weighty Kingdom assignment. It is not going to be easy, but 328 00:16:37,520 --> 00:16:41,680 the beauty is that since God's glory rests on us, a lot of 329 00:16:41,680 --> 00:16:45,680 times the weight which we feel is also the weight of that glory 330 00:16:46,280 --> 00:16:49,440 because he's doing things in US and through us that are beyond 331 00:16:49,800 --> 00:16:52,880 our wildest dreams. So my question to you is this, 332 00:16:53,560 --> 00:16:56,640 Are you ready to take up that Kingdom assignment? 333 00:16:56,920 --> 00:17:00,200 Now you may ask me, well all of this sounds great, but how do I 334 00:17:00,200 --> 00:17:04,000 discern what my assignment is? How do I know is God going to 335 00:17:04,000 --> 00:17:06,400 give me like you know, a dream saying this is your assignment 336 00:17:06,400 --> 00:17:07,920 or is he going to speak through someone? 337 00:17:08,839 --> 00:17:12,079 Well the 1st way in which you can find out your Kingdom 338 00:17:12,079 --> 00:17:15,640 assignment, first thing is you ask the King for your Kingdom 339 00:17:15,640 --> 00:17:18,560 assignment. Too many of us are looking to a 340 00:17:18,560 --> 00:17:20,560 parent for our Kingdom assignment. 341 00:17:20,720 --> 00:17:23,000 Too many of us are looking at a spouse and saying what should I 342 00:17:23,000 --> 00:17:25,240 do with my life. You're looking at a friend who 343 00:17:25,240 --> 00:17:28,240 goes to church or maybe someone who you think is very spirit 344 00:17:28,240 --> 00:17:30,320 filled and saying you tell me what my assignment is. 345 00:17:30,640 --> 00:17:34,680 But today the king is saying what do you want Come to me. 346 00:17:35,280 --> 00:17:38,560 You see what when he was talking to Peter, he says what do people 347 00:17:38,560 --> 00:17:39,200 say? I am. 348 00:17:39,760 --> 00:17:41,760 And Peter was very clear. He knew what the crowds were 349 00:17:41,760 --> 00:17:43,960 saying, but he said no, but what are you saying? 350 00:17:43,960 --> 00:17:47,280 Who are you saying I am and? Jesus, today is asking you that. 351 00:17:47,280 --> 00:17:49,640 Why don't you come to me? I made you. 352 00:17:49,680 --> 00:17:51,160 I called you. I'm your king. 353 00:17:51,600 --> 00:17:53,520 Ask me for your Kingdom assignment. 354 00:17:54,520 --> 00:17:57,320 Maybe you're looking to Instagram for that one word 355 00:17:57,320 --> 00:18:01,160 about what you need to be doing. Have you asked the king? 356 00:18:01,400 --> 00:18:03,720 He should be the one that you ask. 357 00:18:05,440 --> 00:18:09,480 There are parts of this journey as a Christian, as a follower of 358 00:18:09,520 --> 00:18:13,240 Jesus, which would be so heavy. And you will find that there are 359 00:18:13,240 --> 00:18:15,680 times when you don't have an endorser inside, you don't have 360 00:18:15,680 --> 00:18:18,240 someone to validate you, you don't have people who are 361 00:18:18,240 --> 00:18:20,680 standing on the sidelines cheering you on because some 362 00:18:20,680 --> 00:18:23,520 parts of that road will be so lonely. 363 00:18:23,680 --> 00:18:26,120 But the beautiful thing is, the king never leaves you on the 364 00:18:26,120 --> 00:18:28,640 journey. The one who has called you is 365 00:18:28,640 --> 00:18:31,680 with you every step of the way. The one who has given you the 366 00:18:31,680 --> 00:18:35,240 assignment has promised to never leave you, not forsake you. 367 00:18:35,240 --> 00:18:39,240 I love that when God speaks to Joshua and says this is the 368 00:18:39,240 --> 00:18:42,040 land, Moses is gone. You're in charge. 369 00:18:42,040 --> 00:18:44,200 Come on now, get up. Don't be afraid. 370 00:18:44,200 --> 00:18:46,000 Don't be dismayed. I'm going to be with you. 371 00:18:46,000 --> 00:18:48,600 You keep the book of the law front and center. 372 00:18:48,600 --> 00:18:52,240 You'll be fine. God's calling each of us into a 373 00:18:52,240 --> 00:18:54,800 place of personal relationship with him so that he can 374 00:18:54,800 --> 00:18:58,880 personally download on us what our Kingdom assignments are. 375 00:18:59,520 --> 00:19:03,680 It's very important that you soak and meditate in God's Word 376 00:19:03,680 --> 00:19:06,520 in order to find out what your Kingdom assignment is and the 377 00:19:06,520 --> 00:19:08,080 interesting. Thing you know, the interesting 378 00:19:08,080 --> 00:19:12,440 thing is lot of times we may not only find it in God's word, it 379 00:19:12,440 --> 00:19:15,000 comes superimposed on a lot of other things. 380 00:19:15,000 --> 00:19:18,640 What do I mean by that? If you look at the newspaper, on 381 00:19:18,640 --> 00:19:25,120 any given day, the kind of needs around us are in the billions. 382 00:19:26,080 --> 00:19:28,560 There is caste violence, there's communal disharmony. 383 00:19:28,800 --> 00:19:31,400 There is discord. There is a lack of education. 384 00:19:31,400 --> 00:19:34,200 There's there's illiteracy. There is a lack of health, 385 00:19:34,640 --> 00:19:38,520 health care, there's inequality. There is so much that is 386 00:19:38,520 --> 00:19:41,880 happening around us, world over. There are wars, threat of wars, 387 00:19:42,040 --> 00:19:45,320 calamities that have hit people, the homeless, the 388 00:19:45,320 --> 00:19:48,320 disenfranchised. So much is happening and the 389 00:19:48,320 --> 00:19:52,040 question is, am I only reading the word, taking back what I 390 00:19:52,040 --> 00:19:53,680 need for the day and just moving on? 391 00:19:53,880 --> 00:19:58,120 Or am I taking the word, superimposing it on what I read, 392 00:19:58,120 --> 00:20:01,840 what I know of the world, and asking God, Lord, where do I fit 393 00:20:01,840 --> 00:20:05,440 in in this grand story? You put me on planet Earth in 394 00:20:05,440 --> 00:20:09,360 the year 2024 with these skills, with this heart, with this 395 00:20:09,360 --> 00:20:11,840 working mind, what is it you want me to do? 396 00:20:13,400 --> 00:20:15,760 I want to encourage you that when you seek the King for your 397 00:20:15,760 --> 00:20:19,400 Kingdom assignment that you superimpose the issues of the 398 00:20:19,400 --> 00:20:22,760 world or a pressing need you feel in your heart with the word 399 00:20:22,760 --> 00:20:25,480 of God. I remember many years back I've 400 00:20:25,480 --> 00:20:29,200 shared this before when I was so broken about the situation of 401 00:20:29,680 --> 00:20:34,360 women being abused sexually. I remember being in another 402 00:20:34,360 --> 00:20:37,880 continent but my heart breaking for the women of India, for the 403 00:20:37,880 --> 00:20:40,680 children of India and God said you do something. 404 00:20:40,960 --> 00:20:43,520 And I said, are you kidding me? I'm a biotechnologist. 405 00:20:43,520 --> 00:20:45,440 I have no background in social work. 406 00:20:45,720 --> 00:20:50,160 I have no idea what I could do. But I had this stressing need, 407 00:20:50,160 --> 00:20:53,440 this felt need of of my heart breaking for those who have been 408 00:20:53,440 --> 00:20:57,360 traumatized by abuse. But I didn't know what more to 409 00:20:57,360 --> 00:20:58,840 do. So I got into God's word And 410 00:20:58,840 --> 00:21:04,280 that year he spoke to me from Isaiah 58 where it says that we 411 00:21:04,280 --> 00:21:06,680 will be bridge builders, repairers of foundations. 412 00:21:06,680 --> 00:21:09,120 And how will we do it? We remove the yoke. 413 00:21:10,080 --> 00:21:12,800 We stopped the pointing finger. We released the oppressed. 414 00:21:13,040 --> 00:21:15,200 We released the captive. And when he spoke to me from 415 00:21:15,200 --> 00:21:17,640 that, it didn't make sense. But now I had the word. 416 00:21:17,640 --> 00:21:21,920 I had the felt need. I kept it and incubated it. 10 417 00:21:21,920 --> 00:21:27,000 years later, it took ten years. God has enabled us to identify 418 00:21:27,000 --> 00:21:32,080 how we reach the abused, how we help in their rehabilitation. 419 00:21:32,080 --> 00:21:36,560 He has literally given us a road map, but it happens when we take 420 00:21:36,560 --> 00:21:39,400 our felt need we put the word of God be superimposed? 421 00:21:39,400 --> 00:21:42,880 Because without a biblical lens, I can just do social work and 422 00:21:42,880 --> 00:21:45,160 get by. It is with the Holy Spirit's 423 00:21:45,160 --> 00:21:47,640 help when he reveals the scriptures to you and says this 424 00:21:47,640 --> 00:21:49,920 is the way you do it, this is where you occupy. 425 00:21:49,920 --> 00:21:53,280 This is your Kingdom assignment. It changes the landscape of your 426 00:21:53,280 --> 00:21:55,840 life. I want to encourage you today. 427 00:21:56,360 --> 00:21:58,760 Have you been reading the word just to get by? 428 00:21:59,400 --> 00:22:03,520 Have you been meditating on it just for yourself as much as we 429 00:22:03,520 --> 00:22:06,720 abide in God? As much as we have to rest in 430 00:22:06,720 --> 00:22:12,400 him and be with him that has to overflow in US doing things for 431 00:22:12,400 --> 00:22:15,640 him. So I need to repeat this. 432 00:22:15,800 --> 00:22:19,360 Will you ask the king to give you your Kingdom assignment? 433 00:22:19,360 --> 00:22:22,320 The second thing, the second thing that is very important. 434 00:22:22,320 --> 00:22:25,360 As much as you ask the king for your Kingdom assignment, you 435 00:22:25,360 --> 00:22:28,040 also need to discern in your life the non Kingdom 436 00:22:28,040 --> 00:22:31,600 assignments. So often we put these agendas on 437 00:22:31,600 --> 00:22:33,560 ourselves. You know this is where I want my 438 00:22:33,560 --> 00:22:36,560 career to be in the next 10 years and while it's good to 439 00:22:36,560 --> 00:22:38,800 plan, it's important to have a vision, it's important to have 440 00:22:38,800 --> 00:22:41,640 direction. I wonder if there are a bunch of 441 00:22:41,640 --> 00:22:44,920 things in our life which are non Kingdom assignments, stuff that 442 00:22:44,920 --> 00:22:48,040 doesn't even require us to be sweating and striving the way we 443 00:22:48,040 --> 00:22:51,160 are. Maybe you've been single and you 444 00:22:51,160 --> 00:22:53,800 feel that God is calling you in a certain direction, but you are 445 00:22:53,800 --> 00:22:57,760 stubborn about finding that person and then I will pursue 446 00:22:57,760 --> 00:23:00,640 maybe God saying. Why not take this my way? 447 00:23:01,960 --> 00:23:05,040 What is the non Kingdom agenda that you have been pursuing? 448 00:23:06,240 --> 00:23:09,400 Some of us tend to want the assignment that was given to 449 00:23:09,400 --> 00:23:11,040 someone else. Oh well, that person started a 450 00:23:11,040 --> 00:23:12,720 small business. Maybe I should start. 451 00:23:13,120 --> 00:23:15,080 That seems lucrative. Maybe I should do that. 452 00:23:15,280 --> 00:23:17,440 That seems an easy way to, you know, make money. 453 00:23:17,720 --> 00:23:22,520 I should probably do that. Do not covet another person's 454 00:23:22,520 --> 00:23:26,200 assignment because you will not have the grace that they have 455 00:23:26,200 --> 00:23:28,360 for their assignment. Each burden has a grace 456 00:23:28,800 --> 00:23:31,240 associated to it. You will not have that place, 457 00:23:31,240 --> 00:23:34,720 you cannot bear it. What is the assignment given to 458 00:23:34,720 --> 00:23:36,440 you? Is it Kingdom? 459 00:23:36,440 --> 00:23:39,840 Is it non Kingdom? It's so important to understand 460 00:23:39,840 --> 00:23:43,080 that what works for someone else may not work for us because that 461 00:23:43,080 --> 00:23:47,600 is not in God's will for us. This past week I've been 462 00:23:47,600 --> 00:23:52,360 meditating on the Book of Two Kings and as I was reading about 463 00:23:52,360 --> 00:23:56,000 these different kings I just realized how different the king 464 00:23:56,000 --> 00:23:58,840 of kings and Lord of Lords is from the earthly kings that we 465 00:23:58,840 --> 00:24:01,040 read about. There were two kings in specific 466 00:24:01,040 --> 00:24:03,480 that really stood out to me and I want to leave that with you as 467 00:24:03,480 --> 00:24:06,320 you understand what it's like to live on non Kingdom assignment 468 00:24:06,320 --> 00:24:08,560 and Kingdom assignment. You know Hezekiah. 469 00:24:08,560 --> 00:24:10,200 Was one of the great kings of Judah. 470 00:24:10,200 --> 00:24:11,200 He was a good. King. 471 00:24:11,680 --> 00:24:13,520 He followed after his forefather. 472 00:24:13,600 --> 00:24:15,960 You know, David, he did what was right. 473 00:24:15,960 --> 00:24:20,640 He cleared the land of idolatry. He moved people to actually rely 474 00:24:20,640 --> 00:24:22,560 on God. And when he was faced with a 475 00:24:22,560 --> 00:24:26,560 formidable enemy in Sennacherib of Assyria, he didn't, you know, 476 00:24:26,600 --> 00:24:28,280 an attempt to fight. He just took it to God. 477 00:24:28,400 --> 00:24:29,960 He took those threatening letters. 478 00:24:29,960 --> 00:24:33,080 He wept before God. Isaiah brought him a word and 479 00:24:33,080 --> 00:24:34,800 said, God's going to deal with them. 480 00:24:35,040 --> 00:24:36,920 I'm glad you came to me. I'll deal with it. 481 00:24:38,200 --> 00:24:41,120 It's amazing what happens in his Hezekiah's life because of his 482 00:24:41,120 --> 00:24:43,520 trust. But what happens towards the end 483 00:24:43,520 --> 00:24:47,280 of his life is he has gets sick. He develops a boil of some sort 484 00:24:47,280 --> 00:24:48,960 about to die. God says put your house in 485 00:24:48,960 --> 00:24:52,480 order, I'm taking you home. She turns to the wall and asks 486 00:24:52,480 --> 00:24:57,320 God for an extension of his life and Isaiah comes back in almost 487 00:24:57,320 --> 00:24:59,480 immediately after giving him the word that he's going to die 488 00:24:59,480 --> 00:25:02,360 saying hey, God changed his mind, He heard your prayer, you 489 00:25:02,360 --> 00:25:07,280 get a 15 year extension. Now Here's when Hezekiah moved 490 00:25:07,840 --> 00:25:10,640 from being so Kingdom minded to being self minded. 491 00:25:11,080 --> 00:25:14,000 She doesn't believe what Isaiah says, so he says I need proof. 492 00:25:14,600 --> 00:25:16,120 You're telling me 15 years extension? 493 00:25:16,120 --> 00:25:17,920 I want proof? He asked. 494 00:25:17,920 --> 00:25:20,400 What is the proof you want? He says well there's a sundial 495 00:25:20,400 --> 00:25:22,400 where the sun actually shines and the shadow moves. 496 00:25:22,400 --> 00:25:25,880 He says I wanted to move 10° up so that I know that God has 497 00:25:25,880 --> 00:25:29,240 actually given me this word and God condescends to do it. 498 00:25:29,240 --> 00:25:32,920 He gets the sign, he gets his extension as he recovers. 499 00:25:33,240 --> 00:25:36,160 As he recovers, Hezekiah gets visitors from Babylon. 500 00:25:37,560 --> 00:25:40,240 Hezekiah seems to have lost some of his vision. 501 00:25:40,600 --> 00:25:42,520 He seems to have lost some of his direction. 502 00:25:42,760 --> 00:25:46,400 He shows the Babylonian envoys the entire city. 503 00:25:46,720 --> 00:25:49,440 He shows them his treasuries. He shows them the palaces. 504 00:25:49,440 --> 00:25:53,160 He shows them his wealth. After they leave, Isaiah comes 505 00:25:53,160 --> 00:25:56,400 in and says, what did you do? And he says, well, I just showed 506 00:25:56,400 --> 00:25:58,280 them, you know, they came to wish me well. 507 00:25:58,280 --> 00:26:00,240 And I just showed them everything that was, you know, 508 00:26:00,240 --> 00:26:03,440 that I possess. Isaiah says this thing, he says, 509 00:26:03,440 --> 00:26:05,160 you know what? They came to spite. 510 00:26:05,160 --> 00:26:07,080 They came to actually survey the land. 511 00:26:07,720 --> 00:26:10,440 Because in a couple of years, these guys are going to take 512 00:26:10,440 --> 00:26:12,760 over the land. Your sons will be eunuchs in 513 00:26:12,760 --> 00:26:14,520 their palace. They're going to clear the 514 00:26:14,520 --> 00:26:16,400 treasury or they're going to clear the temple out. 515 00:26:16,880 --> 00:26:18,040 They're going to leave it barren. 516 00:26:18,280 --> 00:26:21,360 You just unconsciously showed them what they would come and 517 00:26:21,360 --> 00:26:24,600 take over. And Hezekiah says this one line 518 00:26:24,600 --> 00:26:27,280 which is such a when I was reading it I was so disappointed 519 00:26:27,280 --> 00:26:31,040 in him because he says who? OK, it's not going to happen in 520 00:26:31,040 --> 00:26:32,080 my time. I'm secure. 521 00:26:32,080 --> 00:26:33,440 It's going to happen after my time. 522 00:26:34,120 --> 00:26:35,480 And that's the end of Hezekiah's story. 523 00:26:35,480 --> 00:26:37,320 Not much is mentioned about him after that. 524 00:26:39,600 --> 00:26:44,120 Hezekiah lived on Kingdom assignment up until that time 525 00:26:44,280 --> 00:26:48,080 when his trust moved off. Up until that time when he lost 526 00:26:48,080 --> 00:26:51,280 the bigger call. As a king, he couldn't have 527 00:26:51,280 --> 00:26:54,040 afforded to be so self-centered, he needed to look at the bigger 528 00:26:54,040 --> 00:26:56,680 picture. Now, in contrast, within a few 529 00:26:56,680 --> 00:26:59,520 chapters, the next king comes about and his name is Josiah. 530 00:27:00,480 --> 00:27:03,320 Josiah is this incredible king. He's mentioned as one of the 531 00:27:03,320 --> 00:27:05,480 greatest kings. After him there was none like 532 00:27:05,480 --> 00:27:07,760 him. It says now what happened with 533 00:27:07,760 --> 00:27:09,920 Josiah. Josiah had was an honour. 534 00:27:09,920 --> 00:27:12,560 Honour, you know, Desire had a desire to rebuild the temple. 535 00:27:12,560 --> 00:27:15,120 So there was money that had been collected for it. 536 00:27:15,520 --> 00:27:17,920 So he tells his people, let's get started, let's start 537 00:27:17,920 --> 00:27:20,200 repairing the temple. So the people start collecting 538 00:27:20,480 --> 00:27:22,040 money. They start working on the 539 00:27:22,040 --> 00:27:24,280 temple. As they clear out the temple of 540 00:27:24,320 --> 00:27:28,800 all the old stuff, they find the Book of the Law hidden and dusty 541 00:27:28,800 --> 00:27:31,520 inside. Ironically, this was the book 542 00:27:31,840 --> 00:27:33,680 that should have led their reigns. 543 00:27:33,840 --> 00:27:36,040 It's the thing that should have guided them, but it was now 544 00:27:36,040 --> 00:27:38,520 collecting dust. In an inner room. 545 00:27:39,040 --> 00:27:41,920 So his people find it, they bring it to him and they open it 546 00:27:41,920 --> 00:27:43,040 and say this is the book of the law. 547 00:27:43,040 --> 00:27:44,640 We found it. We don't know what to do with 548 00:27:44,640 --> 00:27:47,240 it. So Josiah takes time to read it 549 00:27:47,520 --> 00:27:49,280 and as he's. Reading the book of the law, he 550 00:27:49,280 --> 00:27:53,920 realizes just how far his people and him have gone from it, and 551 00:27:53,920 --> 00:27:56,600 So what he does now. To begin with, Josiah was a good 552 00:27:56,600 --> 00:27:59,080 king. He had not promoted idolatry. 553 00:27:59,080 --> 00:28:02,720 He he ran the country well, he looked after his subjects. 554 00:28:02,960 --> 00:28:06,720 But after that it says, he tore his robes, fell to the ground 555 00:28:06,720 --> 00:28:08,400 and said, God is going to punish us. 556 00:28:08,400 --> 00:28:11,000 We've done terrible things. What do we do? 557 00:28:11,760 --> 00:28:14,720 And so the prophetess Haldar comes in and says, you know 558 00:28:14,720 --> 00:28:16,920 what? There's punishment, which has 559 00:28:16,920 --> 00:28:19,440 been decreed because one of your ancestors, Manasi, did such 560 00:28:19,440 --> 00:28:21,560 terrible things. So you are going to go into 561 00:28:21,560 --> 00:28:22,680 excel. These things are going to 562 00:28:22,680 --> 00:28:24,520 happen. But Josiah, nothing's going to 563 00:28:24,520 --> 00:28:26,720 happen to you because you were so repentant. 564 00:28:26,960 --> 00:28:29,440 You were so penitent. It will not happen in your 565 00:28:29,440 --> 00:28:31,600 lifetime. Doesn't it sound vaguely similar 566 00:28:31,600 --> 00:28:34,600 to Hezekiah? Interestingly, Josiah's response 567 00:28:34,600 --> 00:28:37,760 is different. He hears that and then he 568 00:28:37,760 --> 00:28:41,280 collects the entire nation, people of low standing, high 569 00:28:41,280 --> 00:28:44,280 standing, everyone in between. He brings them into a common 570 00:28:44,280 --> 00:28:46,840 area. He gets the book of the Lord, 571 00:28:46,840 --> 00:28:49,600 read out loud. He stands beside a pillar. 572 00:28:49,760 --> 00:28:53,520 He gets the people to commit to wholehearted worship of God. 573 00:28:54,440 --> 00:28:57,840 He gets the entire community to repent. 574 00:28:58,640 --> 00:29:02,360 He goes on a rampage against all the heathen idolatry in the in 575 00:29:02,360 --> 00:29:04,640 the city, in the country. He removes altars. 576 00:29:04,640 --> 00:29:07,760 He burns down altars, breaks down asherah polls. 577 00:29:08,000 --> 00:29:13,280 He is on a on a on a real, you know, course of gridding the 578 00:29:13,280 --> 00:29:15,800 land of everything that had triggered God in the 1st place. 579 00:29:16,360 --> 00:29:20,800 He was not content that he was safe because he had a bigger 580 00:29:20,800 --> 00:29:22,880 picture. The Kingdom assignment was 581 00:29:22,880 --> 00:29:24,240 bigger. It was not about him. 582 00:29:24,400 --> 00:29:27,360 It was about the people of the land that he could afford to 583 00:29:27,360 --> 00:29:30,240 influence for God. You see the difference. 584 00:29:30,400 --> 00:29:32,240 Sometimes we behave like Hezekiah. 585 00:29:32,640 --> 00:29:36,200 We're so caught up in just shaping ourselves, in shaping 586 00:29:36,200 --> 00:29:38,360 our immediate family. We forget that there's a bigger 587 00:29:38,360 --> 00:29:40,000 assignment. You were saved not just for 588 00:29:40,000 --> 00:29:41,960 yourself. You were saved for the Kingdom. 589 00:29:42,880 --> 00:29:44,320 You were saved for bigger things. 590 00:29:44,480 --> 00:29:47,960 What have you been doing with what has been entrusted to you 591 00:29:47,960 --> 00:29:49,560 and me? What have we been doing? 592 00:29:50,280 --> 00:29:54,200 Have we been so caught up in ourselves that we forgot that 593 00:29:54,200 --> 00:29:58,400 there's a bigger call out there? Would we be like Josiah? 594 00:29:58,400 --> 00:30:01,240 That even if we know we are in a good place with God, it won't 595 00:30:01,240 --> 00:30:04,120 end there. But we will say, Lord, I'm ready 596 00:30:04,120 --> 00:30:07,240 to run this race outward. Focus to do more for your 597 00:30:07,240 --> 00:30:09,720 Kingdom. Let your Kingdom come. 598 00:30:09,720 --> 00:30:15,640 Has that been our desire if? You want to come in line with 599 00:30:15,640 --> 00:30:18,400 the King's assignment. You need to seek the king. 600 00:30:19,000 --> 00:30:22,120 You need to discover and discern the things that are not of his 601 00:30:22,120 --> 00:30:24,680 assignment. Find out this is not Kingdom. 602 00:30:24,680 --> 00:30:26,640 It's. I'm pursuing this for my own 603 00:30:26,640 --> 00:30:28,480 gain. I want to promote myself. 604 00:30:28,480 --> 00:30:31,640 Therefore I'm pursuing this. I want to preserve myself, so 605 00:30:31,640 --> 00:30:34,160 I'm pursuing it. But maybe this is not Kingdom. 606 00:30:34,160 --> 00:30:35,800 Bring it to God. Lord is this Kingdom. 607 00:30:35,800 --> 00:30:39,240 Is this not Kingdom. She has amazing ways of showing 608 00:30:39,240 --> 00:30:43,360 us what's not. In his will for us as we 609 00:30:43,360 --> 00:30:48,280 continue reading chapter Luke, Luke Chapter 9, I'm going to 610 00:30:48,280 --> 00:30:53,120 read from 24 to 27 just to give you a holistic view before we 611 00:30:53,120 --> 00:30:58,720 end Luke chapter 924 to 27. It says for whoever wants to 612 00:30:58,720 --> 00:31:02,280 save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for 613 00:31:02,280 --> 00:31:05,440 me will save it. What good is it for someone to 614 00:31:05,440 --> 00:31:09,800 gain the whole world and get lose of of it their very self? 615 00:31:10,200 --> 00:31:13,920 Whoever is ashamed of me and my words, the Son of Man will be 616 00:31:13,920 --> 00:31:16,680 ashamed of them when he comes in his glory and in the glory of 617 00:31:16,680 --> 00:31:20,400 the Father and the holy angels. Truly I tell you, some who are 618 00:31:20,400 --> 00:31:24,120 standing here will not taste death before they see the 619 00:31:24,120 --> 00:31:27,560 Kingdom of heaven. Here's the interesting thing 620 00:31:27,560 --> 00:31:30,440 that you can be. You and I can know Jesus. 621 00:31:30,440 --> 00:31:33,280 We can love Jesus, but there have been times when we've been 622 00:31:33,280 --> 00:31:36,840 ashamed of what it looks like to follow him. 623 00:31:36,840 --> 00:31:38,840 We've been ashamed of His word of the Gospel. 624 00:31:39,320 --> 00:31:41,520 We have shield away from actually proclaiming our faith 625 00:31:41,520 --> 00:31:44,520 or saying I stand up for Jesus. And he says if. 626 00:31:44,520 --> 00:31:47,120 You are ashamed from of me. I will be ashamed of you when I 627 00:31:47,120 --> 00:31:51,680 return again. Peter is the best example of 628 00:31:51,680 --> 00:31:55,320 this, right When Jesus actually started mentioning that he was 629 00:31:55,320 --> 00:31:57,800 going to suffer and he talked about you know this is what is 630 00:31:57,800 --> 00:32:00,080 going to happen to me, Peter took him aside and rebuked him 631 00:32:00,080 --> 00:32:03,600 and said said Lord never this will not happen to you and Jesus 632 00:32:03,600 --> 00:32:07,480 calls calls him out and says I rebuke you Satan for you have on 633 00:32:07,480 --> 00:32:09,720 your mind. The things of man, not the 634 00:32:09,720 --> 00:32:12,280 things of God. So often our assignments are 635 00:32:12,280 --> 00:32:14,760 things of man. But he's saying, I want you to 636 00:32:14,760 --> 00:32:19,520 start thinking on things of God, because there is no use if I 637 00:32:19,520 --> 00:32:23,480 choose to not deny, not carry, not follow, What I'm choosing is 638 00:32:23,480 --> 00:32:26,160 to indulge. I'm choosing that I will indulge 639 00:32:26,160 --> 00:32:28,960 in whatever I desire. I'm choosing to take into my 640 00:32:28,960 --> 00:32:31,640 life everything that I feel is an assignment and do it whether 641 00:32:31,640 --> 00:32:35,880 God ordains it or not. And the sad thing is, he says 642 00:32:36,320 --> 00:32:39,400 you could accumulate everything but lose your soul. 643 00:32:41,040 --> 00:32:43,320 If you ask someone like that, you say, I know Jesus, but I 644 00:32:43,320 --> 00:32:45,520 don't think I'm ready to deny carry and follow. 645 00:32:46,000 --> 00:32:49,400 It's not too late. Peter repented, Peter came back, 646 00:32:49,960 --> 00:32:52,200 and he lived on assignment till the day he died. 647 00:32:52,920 --> 00:32:54,840 He was one of the most powerful apostles. 648 00:32:55,120 --> 00:32:58,200 You and I have that potential, but it requires that we are 649 00:32:58,200 --> 00:33:02,000 ready to say I'm here. Lord, I will deny myself daily. 650 00:33:02,200 --> 00:33:03,760 I will carry that cross every day. 651 00:33:03,920 --> 00:33:06,320 I will follow you continuously, lifelong. 652 00:33:07,520 --> 00:33:09,160 Now, if you're like me and you're probably saying, well, 653 00:33:09,160 --> 00:33:13,400 you've told us such a huge bunch of negatives, this Christian 654 00:33:13,400 --> 00:33:16,000 life sounds hard. I want to leave you with two 655 00:33:16,000 --> 00:33:18,640 encouragements. There are perks in carrying the 656 00:33:18,640 --> 00:33:20,480 cross. Over the next few weeks, we're 657 00:33:20,480 --> 00:33:23,440 going to look at how amazing it is to actually walk this kind of 658 00:33:23,440 --> 00:33:25,560 life. Jesus may have shown them how he 659 00:33:25,560 --> 00:33:28,560 was going to die, but he was also showing us the kind of life 660 00:33:28,560 --> 00:33:31,880 we are going to live. And this life is truly one that 661 00:33:31,880 --> 00:33:34,440 is amazing. Matthew 16 talks about the same 662 00:33:34,440 --> 00:33:37,160 passage, but he explains the rewards a little better. 663 00:33:37,160 --> 00:33:40,960 Matthew 1627 to 28. It says for the Son of Man is 664 00:33:40,960 --> 00:33:44,720 going to come in his Father's glory with his angels and then 665 00:33:44,720 --> 00:33:47,560 he will reward each person according to what they have 666 00:33:47,560 --> 00:33:49,880 done. Truly, I tell you, some who are 667 00:33:49,880 --> 00:33:53,720 standing here will not taste death before they see the Son of 668 00:33:53,720 --> 00:33:57,880 Man coming in his Kingdom to rewards. 669 00:33:58,560 --> 00:34:01,600 When he returns, he will reward each of us for what we have 670 00:34:01,600 --> 00:34:04,440 done. It's very clear he is going to 671 00:34:04,440 --> 00:34:06,280 reward us based on what we have done. 672 00:34:06,280 --> 00:34:09,800 The Kingdom assignment is real. What you and I do with it is 673 00:34:09,800 --> 00:34:13,920 what he's going to reward us based on second thing he says. 674 00:34:13,920 --> 00:34:17,120 Truly I tell you, some who are standing here will not be his 675 00:34:17,120 --> 00:34:19,600 death before they see the Son of Man coming into the Kingdom. 676 00:34:19,840 --> 00:34:21,800 The beautiful thing is that applies today. 677 00:34:21,800 --> 00:34:23,520 It is literally present, continuous. 678 00:34:23,800 --> 00:34:28,080 We are continually I I love that I often say this as pastors. 679 00:34:28,080 --> 00:34:31,120 We have the greatest view when we see the Son of Man coming 680 00:34:31,120 --> 00:34:33,560 into his Kingdom. We see it happen when people's 681 00:34:33,560 --> 00:34:36,239 lives are transformed. We see it when people we've been 682 00:34:36,239 --> 00:34:39,520 journeying with suddenly have that turn around and their eyes 683 00:34:39,520 --> 00:34:42,360 are open to the beauty of Jesus and life in him. 684 00:34:43,600 --> 00:34:47,000 You and I get to see that it's not just eternity, it begins 685 00:34:47,000 --> 00:34:48,239 now. Like I said, heaven is 686 00:34:48,239 --> 00:34:52,120 constantly invading earth. You know, at that baptism, 687 00:34:52,120 --> 00:34:54,960 heaven invades earth. When that person experiences 688 00:34:54,960 --> 00:34:57,080 reconciliation, heaven touches earth. 689 00:34:57,080 --> 00:35:00,400 When that healing happens, heaven touches earth. 690 00:35:01,360 --> 00:35:04,360 We recently were in a prayer meeting at church when one of 691 00:35:04,360 --> 00:35:06,480 our young people shared how she'd been having this 692 00:35:06,480 --> 00:35:09,720 persistent ankle pain for almost a couple of months. 693 00:35:10,560 --> 00:35:14,200 She had been on a brace and she was struggling, she said. 694 00:35:14,200 --> 00:35:17,120 One afternoon she was at home. She was worshipping God when she 695 00:35:17,120 --> 00:35:18,840 felt the presence of God in her room. 696 00:35:19,840 --> 00:35:21,800 And he said, why don't you ask me to heal you? 697 00:35:21,920 --> 00:35:25,000 You've been struggling. You haven't asked me so in. 698 00:35:25,000 --> 00:35:27,760 Faith, she put her own hand on her ankle and said, Lord Jesus, 699 00:35:27,760 --> 00:35:31,680 just heal me. She was healed in a second, and 700 00:35:32,440 --> 00:35:34,080 not just that, she wanted to test it. 701 00:35:34,600 --> 00:35:38,200 She was able to jump rope 1000 times. 702 00:35:40,040 --> 00:35:42,760 Can you believe it? Heaven touching earth. 703 00:35:43,280 --> 00:35:45,040 The Son of Man has come in his Kingdom. 704 00:35:45,040 --> 00:35:49,160 The Kingdom of God is here and the violent take it by force. 705 00:35:49,280 --> 00:35:51,440 Not the reticent, not the complacent. 706 00:35:51,560 --> 00:35:54,040 He's asking for those who be passionate, who will take that 707 00:35:54,040 --> 00:35:57,720 Kingdom assignment up every day. Why do I need to take it up 708 00:35:57,720 --> 00:35:59,080 every day? Because there will be days when 709 00:35:59,080 --> 00:36:02,120 you want to just lay down and say God, I'm done. 710 00:36:03,640 --> 00:36:07,000 But it requires that every morning we wake up, we say no to 711 00:36:07,000 --> 00:36:08,480 the things that have been holding us back. 712 00:36:08,840 --> 00:36:10,880 Pick up that assignment and follow. 713 00:36:11,960 --> 00:36:14,520 Would you be ready to do that? That's the call. 714 00:36:14,520 --> 00:36:19,080 As we go through Lent, as we take stock of ourselves, we're 715 00:36:19,080 --> 00:36:22,280 going to be looking deeper at where we need to deny ourselves, 716 00:36:22,280 --> 00:36:25,280 where we need to die to ourselves, and where we need to 717 00:36:25,280 --> 00:36:31,080 live for Christ. As I close, I want us to look at 718 00:36:31,080 --> 00:36:34,320 the image of Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane. 719 00:36:35,120 --> 00:36:38,320 Here he was 3 disciples outside, half asleep, fully asleep. 720 00:36:38,320 --> 00:36:41,120 I don't know. He's alone in the in the garden 721 00:36:41,120 --> 00:36:43,680 of Gethsemane. He knew his assignment, the 722 00:36:43,680 --> 00:36:46,840 moment of his assignment had come and reached its peak. 723 00:36:47,480 --> 00:36:51,600 This is why he had come and even him, him being God. 724 00:36:51,600 --> 00:36:55,120 And yet man was struggling with the weight of the assignment. 725 00:36:56,120 --> 00:37:00,880 And it says he was crying out to his father and said, Lord, take 726 00:37:00,880 --> 00:37:05,680 this cup away from me. Yet not my will, but yours. 727 00:37:06,000 --> 00:37:08,000 Be done. For those of us who know the 728 00:37:08,000 --> 00:37:10,920 weight of the cross. For those of us who know the 729 00:37:10,920 --> 00:37:12,960 weight of our assignment, may that be our prayer. 730 00:37:13,840 --> 00:37:15,280 You can come as you are to the Lord. 731 00:37:15,280 --> 00:37:16,520 You can see that this is very heavy. 732 00:37:16,520 --> 00:37:20,360 I didn't sign up for this, but yet, Lord, let your will be 733 00:37:20,360 --> 00:37:23,360 done, not mine. It's the most powerful prayer 734 00:37:23,360 --> 00:37:26,520 that we could pray. Maybe you're someone who said I 735 00:37:26,520 --> 00:37:29,000 love Jesus, but I'm not ready to DCF. 736 00:37:30,280 --> 00:37:32,360 Can I just ask that you would pray this prayer? 737 00:37:32,360 --> 00:37:35,360 Lord not my will. But yours be done. 738 00:37:35,560 --> 00:37:38,800 Because when we do that, we surrender everything. 739 00:37:39,360 --> 00:37:42,520 We're no longer holding on to our need to self preserve and 740 00:37:42,520 --> 00:37:45,560 promote and protect. We're saying I'm ready for 741 00:37:45,560 --> 00:37:49,560 whatever you're calling me. And so as we get into this week, 742 00:37:49,560 --> 00:37:52,760 as we get into the couple of weeks that are coming up, can I 743 00:37:52,760 --> 00:37:55,920 ask that you would say, Lord, I'm here, and I know you've set 744 00:37:55,920 --> 00:37:58,360 me apart to carry my cross, but I don't know what this cross 745 00:37:58,360 --> 00:38:01,120 looks like. Tell him if you're afraid of it. 746 00:38:02,000 --> 00:38:05,280 The beauty about it is when we live in a place of carrying that 747 00:38:05,280 --> 00:38:08,120 assignment, she gives us the grace we need. 748 00:38:08,560 --> 00:38:10,280 She gives us victories along the way. 749 00:38:10,680 --> 00:38:14,040 Even when we are hard pressed, we are never really destroyed or 750 00:38:14,040 --> 00:38:17,880 demolished. It's amazing what his spirit in 751 00:38:17,880 --> 00:38:20,240 US does. So I want to just pray for you 752 00:38:20,280 --> 00:38:23,960 As we pray, I'm specifically going to ask God that he would 753 00:38:24,120 --> 00:38:27,720 open up your eyes to see your Kingdom assignment. 754 00:38:28,520 --> 00:38:31,840 Read the papers. Ask God, Put on my heart what is 755 00:38:31,840 --> 00:38:36,080 breaking yours? Is there a part of life in this 756 00:38:36,080 --> 00:38:38,520 area that I live that is breaking your heart that you 757 00:38:38,520 --> 00:38:41,160 want me to step into, to bring light into that darkness? 758 00:38:41,360 --> 00:38:44,360 Use me here I am. Can I do that for you? 759 00:38:44,360 --> 00:38:48,440 Can I just help you as you start seeking Godfather? 760 00:38:48,440 --> 00:38:52,600 We just invite you here. I just pray that Lord, each one 761 00:38:52,600 --> 00:38:56,720 of us will have clarity about our assignment. 762 00:38:58,240 --> 00:39:02,040 We thank you that, Lord, you are the one who assigns us these 763 00:39:02,040 --> 00:39:03,760 assignments. And I pray that we will be able 764 00:39:03,760 --> 00:39:06,520 to bear the weight of this assignment, that you would give 765 00:39:06,520 --> 00:39:09,000 us grace for it. You would give us courage for 766 00:39:09,000 --> 00:39:11,600 it. We thank You, Lord, that the 767 00:39:11,600 --> 00:39:14,000 rewards are eternal. We thank you that the rewards 768 00:39:14,000 --> 00:39:17,640 begin now. We thank you, Lord, that we will 769 00:39:17,640 --> 00:39:20,280 see your Kingdom come. We will see it advance. 770 00:39:20,280 --> 00:39:24,520 We will see your Kingdom pervade the spaces we are in. 771 00:39:25,520 --> 00:39:28,640 Help us to be faithful. Help us to be courageous. 772 00:39:29,640 --> 00:39:31,240 Help us to lean on you. Jesus. 773 00:39:31,240 --> 00:39:33,920 We cannot do it apart from you, Holy Spirit. 774 00:39:33,920 --> 00:39:36,000 Empower us. Strengthen US. 775 00:39:36,160 --> 00:39:38,480 Open our eyes. I pray for anyone who's 776 00:39:38,480 --> 00:39:42,680 struggling to identify their Kingdom assignment That Lord, 777 00:39:42,680 --> 00:39:45,680 you would show them this week. You would open hearts. 778 00:39:45,840 --> 00:39:48,200 You would open eyes. Things that have been pressing 779 00:39:48,200 --> 00:39:49,880 them down. We now have clarity. 780 00:39:51,160 --> 00:39:55,800 I pray for those who have been unwilling to deny, to carry and 781 00:39:55,800 --> 00:39:56,920 to follow. Father. 782 00:39:56,920 --> 00:40:05,160 I pray that you will open up their spiritual hearts to open 783 00:40:05,160 --> 00:40:08,560 up spiritual eyes to see Lord the life they are missing out 784 00:40:08,560 --> 00:40:11,080 on. Help them. 785 00:40:12,000 --> 00:40:14,680 We commit ourselves into your hands in Jesus name and pray. 786 00:40:15,240 --> 00:40:16,120 Amen. Amen. 787 00:40:16,480 --> 00:40:19,160 God bless you. We really hope that this series 788 00:40:19,160 --> 00:40:21,720 where we learn to deny, carry and follow will bless you. 789 00:40:22,360 --> 00:40:24,160 It won't scare you, but they challenge you. 790 00:40:24,920 --> 00:40:26,480 God bless you. Have an amazing week. 791 00:40:27,440 --> 00:40:29,800 Thanks for. Listening to this message We 792 00:40:29,800 --> 00:40:33,120 hope you were blessed to hear more messages like this. 793 00:40:33,400 --> 00:40:37,440 Make sure to subscribe and check out our podcast channel for past 794 00:40:37,440 --> 00:40:39,760 episodes. If you like what you are 795 00:40:39,760 --> 00:40:44,320 hearing, consider rating us, subscribing and even sharing it 796 00:40:44,320 --> 00:40:46,880 with friends. That would really help us. 797 00:40:47,560 --> 00:40:52,160 For more content from Via Zion and to connect with us, go to 798 00:40:52,320 --> 00:40:57,360 Via Zion dot in. Remember, whoever finds Jesus 799 00:40:57,640 --> 00:40:58,400 finds life.