1 00:00:07,960 --> 00:00:10,960 Hi and welcome to the Via Zion Sermon podcast. 2 00:00:11,320 --> 00:00:14,000 We are a local church based here in Chennai, India. 3 00:00:14,480 --> 00:00:17,240 We are so glad you are with us and hope that this will 4 00:00:17,240 --> 00:00:20,280 encourage, inspire and instill fresh faith in you. 5 00:00:21,160 --> 00:00:24,080 We have started a series called The Kingdom Life based on the 6 00:00:24,080 --> 00:00:27,920 life and teachings of Jesus from the Gospel according to Mark. 7 00:00:28,520 --> 00:00:31,800 We look at how we must live our lives on this earth as followers 8 00:00:31,800 --> 00:00:35,720 of Jesus in a way that is countercultural yet powerfully 9 00:00:35,720 --> 00:00:39,160 impactful. As you listen in, our hope is 10 00:00:39,160 --> 00:00:44,080 that you will be motivated to live, love, lead, and serve just 11 00:00:44,080 --> 00:00:47,760 like Jesus. Hi Church. 12 00:00:47,760 --> 00:00:50,200 It's such a joy and a privilege to be bringing God's Word to you 13 00:00:50,200 --> 00:00:52,960 today, even as we've been going through this entire series 14 00:00:52,960 --> 00:00:55,160 called The Kingdom Life. For those of you who are 15 00:00:55,160 --> 00:00:57,800 watching and for those of you who are listening, our prayer is 16 00:00:57,800 --> 00:01:01,160 that even as you hear this, that God will walk in and through 17 00:01:01,160 --> 00:01:03,800 your lives. And even as I'm speaking, my 18 00:01:03,800 --> 00:01:06,560 prayer is that God will walk in and through me as I speak 19 00:01:06,880 --> 00:01:09,800 because I believe this Kingdom life that we are called to live 20 00:01:10,160 --> 00:01:13,520 is 1, where Jesus is seated on the throne and no one else. 21 00:01:13,720 --> 00:01:15,600 There's no other God that can be seated there. 22 00:01:15,840 --> 00:01:17,760 There's no other person that can be seated there. 23 00:01:18,040 --> 00:01:21,480 There's no other thing that can take its place, it's only Jesus. 24 00:01:21,960 --> 00:01:23,680 And so why do we follow this Kingdom life? 25 00:01:23,680 --> 00:01:25,840 Because Jesus modelled it right here for us. 26 00:01:25,840 --> 00:01:31,400 He walked here on this earth 2000 years back and He lived His 27 00:01:31,400 --> 00:01:34,920 life here on this earth. God as man, just like you and 28 00:01:34,920 --> 00:01:36,480 me. He felt what you felt. 29 00:01:36,480 --> 00:01:40,240 He felt what we all feel today, irrespective of how many years 30 00:01:40,240 --> 00:01:42,680 it has been. But I want to ask you today that 31 00:01:42,680 --> 00:01:45,960 even as we pursue Him, even as we've seen three parts, we saw 32 00:01:45,960 --> 00:01:49,800 in the first part, it matters what matters, this Kingdom life, 33 00:01:49,800 --> 00:01:51,880 our motives matter who we surrender. 34 00:01:52,000 --> 00:01:54,080 Two matters, our breaking matters. 35 00:01:54,320 --> 00:01:57,680 And we also saw the spiritual sensitivity matters In the 36 00:01:57,680 --> 00:02:00,360 second part. We saw that the crushing causes 37 00:02:00,360 --> 00:02:04,760 us to spend time with him, where he causes all these things to 38 00:02:04,760 --> 00:02:08,639 kind of like fall down in the VAT, where we spend intentional 39 00:02:08,639 --> 00:02:11,080 time with him. We allow him to crush us so that 40 00:02:11,080 --> 00:02:14,920 we will be able to see all that we are made-up of. 41 00:02:14,920 --> 00:02:19,600 And many a times we are called to stand on our heels and crush 42 00:02:19,600 --> 00:02:24,160 Satan so that whatever comes out of us will not be that sinful 43 00:02:24,160 --> 00:02:26,720 nature, but will be His nature working in and through us. 44 00:02:27,160 --> 00:02:30,160 And we saw that we have to be this new wine and new wine skin. 45 00:02:30,680 --> 00:02:33,680 And so today, whatever season we are in, we move into that so 46 00:02:33,680 --> 00:02:36,120 that we can be poured out just like the Holy Spirit wants us to 47 00:02:36,120 --> 00:02:39,160 be poured out. Last week we saw it was probably 48 00:02:39,720 --> 00:02:43,320 a heart wrenching sermon where we were called hypocrites 49 00:02:43,680 --> 00:02:46,560 because many a times we say we are following Jesus, but we end 50 00:02:46,560 --> 00:02:49,960 up doing something else. And then in our pursuit of this, 51 00:02:49,960 --> 00:02:53,520 we tend to put that very thing that Jesus called us to do on 52 00:02:53,520 --> 00:02:55,720 shoulders of others and not offer them grace. 53 00:02:55,720 --> 00:03:00,040 And God taught us. And even as we saw last week, we 54 00:03:00,040 --> 00:03:03,160 saw through the Scriptures that it's easy to put on that 55 00:03:03,160 --> 00:03:06,560 attitude, but as we concluded, we saw that His grace is 56 00:03:06,560 --> 00:03:09,120 sufficient for us and we need to hold on to His grace so that 57 00:03:09,120 --> 00:03:12,120 we'll be able to move through. And today, as we go into this 58 00:03:12,120 --> 00:03:19,800 4th part, I've titled the sermon as E&T Be opened, Ears and 59 00:03:19,800 --> 00:03:24,040 throat be opened. And it's coming off of Mark 7, 60 00:03:24,040 --> 00:03:27,520 what we saw last week towards the last few verses of that 61 00:03:27,520 --> 00:03:30,240 chapter. And I want to ask today, you and 62 00:03:30,240 --> 00:03:35,480 me, how will we respond if we encountered Jesus face to face 63 00:03:36,400 --> 00:03:38,400 today? Jesus is seated on the right 64 00:03:38,400 --> 00:03:40,960 hand of the Father. He is right above us. 65 00:03:40,960 --> 00:03:44,280 He gave us the Holy Spirit. And so many a times when we 66 00:03:44,280 --> 00:03:48,080 commune with God, when we talk to God, I don't know about you, 67 00:03:48,080 --> 00:03:50,600 but many a times when I'm making those prayer requests, it seems 68 00:03:50,600 --> 00:03:54,240 just one sided. I often times don't wait to hear 69 00:03:54,240 --> 00:03:58,920 for what He has to say or I'm not pursuing Him enough. 70 00:03:59,400 --> 00:04:01,520 I'm pursuing Him only when things get tough. 71 00:04:01,520 --> 00:04:05,320 I'm pursuing Him only when there's a need in my life, 72 00:04:05,320 --> 00:04:07,800 there's a lack in my life, or there's a breakthrough that I 73 00:04:07,800 --> 00:04:10,040 need. But Jesus is reminding us today 74 00:04:10,040 --> 00:04:13,520 in this Kingdom life, we pursue. We keep that communication going 75 00:04:13,520 --> 00:04:16,120 every day. I delight in His presence. 76 00:04:16,120 --> 00:04:18,680 I want to be in His presence more. 77 00:04:19,920 --> 00:04:24,960 So today, as we look into this, we are called to live out this 78 00:04:24,960 --> 00:04:27,520 Kingdom life. And so to live it out, we need 79 00:04:27,520 --> 00:04:31,800 to experience Jesus more and more in and through our lives. 80 00:04:32,360 --> 00:04:35,240 One of the beautiful things that happens when we invite Jesus 81 00:04:35,240 --> 00:04:38,560 into our lives, when we are aware of our sinful nature, when 82 00:04:38,560 --> 00:04:42,080 we realize, you know what, this is not the right way we are 83 00:04:42,080 --> 00:04:44,800 called to live. We invite Jesus in and we've 84 00:04:44,800 --> 00:04:47,920 become a new creation. Jesus promises. 85 00:04:47,920 --> 00:04:50,080 In fact, Paul writes to the Corinthians in Second 86 00:04:50,080 --> 00:04:55,000 Corinthians chapter 5 in verses 16/17/18, he writes, behold, 87 00:04:55,000 --> 00:04:57,240 you're a new creation. The old is gone. 88 00:04:57,840 --> 00:04:59,680 And in the amplified it says this beautifully. 89 00:04:59,680 --> 00:05:03,080 It says therefore if anyone is in Christ, that's invited of 90 00:05:03,080 --> 00:05:05,520 men. And who says that we are giving 91 00:05:05,520 --> 00:05:07,920 ourselves wholly to Christ and we are in Him? 92 00:05:08,600 --> 00:05:11,920 It says here that it is grafted and we are joined to Him by 93 00:05:11,920 --> 00:05:16,200 faith in Him as Savior. He is a new creature, reborn and 94 00:05:16,200 --> 00:05:19,840 renewed by the Holy Spirit. The old things, the things which 95 00:05:19,840 --> 00:05:23,080 held us capture the previous moral and spiritual condition, 96 00:05:23,080 --> 00:05:25,960 have passed away. Behold, new things have come 97 00:05:26,280 --> 00:05:29,520 because spiritual awakening brings a new life. 98 00:05:29,840 --> 00:05:32,120 It says here that we are grafted, and we've seen this 99 00:05:32,120 --> 00:05:35,120 time and again. I think Tina spoke about this in 100 00:05:35,120 --> 00:05:40,360 a sermon before being grafted and how garden up grafts and 101 00:05:40,360 --> 00:05:44,280 other plant and it's like these. It's like how we can tie 2 knots 102 00:05:44,280 --> 00:05:45,560 together. In fact, you know, they 103 00:05:45,800 --> 00:05:49,160 literally remove those threads, move it together, intertwine it 104 00:05:49,160 --> 00:05:52,560 and they try and that's what being grafted into Jesus looks 105 00:05:52,560 --> 00:05:55,440 like. We the, the minute we have to 106 00:05:55,520 --> 00:05:57,440 pull out, it will be really painful. 107 00:05:57,800 --> 00:06:00,560 We will pull out in such difficult circumstances, but we 108 00:06:00,560 --> 00:06:03,360 join together with him in faith. What is faith? 109 00:06:03,360 --> 00:06:05,720 It's not the scene, but it's in the unseen. 110 00:06:06,000 --> 00:06:08,720 That's why we constantly have to go back to him and say, God, I 111 00:06:08,720 --> 00:06:11,680 trust you wholeheartedly. I believe you're with me. 112 00:06:11,680 --> 00:06:17,040 And that's why this journey of a Christian to walk with Jesus is 113 00:06:17,040 --> 00:06:19,520 one of faith. It's not one without faith. 114 00:06:19,520 --> 00:06:23,400 It's one with faith and that causes us to say no to our dead, 115 00:06:23,400 --> 00:06:28,160 full sinful patterns. And we ask the Holy Spirit to 116 00:06:28,160 --> 00:06:32,240 renew us and restore us each day into this new creation. 117 00:06:33,480 --> 00:06:36,720 And as we've been meditating on this passage, as we saw last 118 00:06:36,720 --> 00:06:41,920 week, I want us to move further down into verses 31 to 37. 119 00:06:41,920 --> 00:06:45,520 And the context before this was Jesus had just finished talking 120 00:06:45,800 --> 00:06:48,720 and telling his disciples and the Pharisees all these things 121 00:06:48,720 --> 00:06:52,480 of, you know, why they are causing this burden to be put on 122 00:06:52,480 --> 00:06:54,200 others. And he was saying you are being 123 00:06:54,200 --> 00:06:57,440 hypocrisy. Why don't you allow, why do you 124 00:06:57,440 --> 00:06:59,640 see the speck so much? Why don't you look into your own 125 00:06:59,640 --> 00:07:02,120 lives? Repent, don't put on the show, 126 00:07:02,120 --> 00:07:05,920 don't look for these immediate places that you can occupy. 127 00:07:06,040 --> 00:07:10,440 We see Mark bring out this beautiful story or story of 128 00:07:10,440 --> 00:07:13,600 faith, of this sight of Phoenician mother who wanted her 129 00:07:13,600 --> 00:07:18,120 daughter to be liberated. And you know, in that culture at 130 00:07:18,120 --> 00:07:21,480 that time, they were probably immigrants from Phoenicia who 131 00:07:21,480 --> 00:07:24,440 were settled there. And so they weren't looked upon 132 00:07:24,440 --> 00:07:26,960 well. And so Jesus is moving across 133 00:07:26,960 --> 00:07:28,640 and this lady catches hold of him. 134 00:07:29,520 --> 00:07:34,840 And as Jesus sees her, he, she's persuasive because she goes on 135 00:07:34,840 --> 00:07:37,960 to say, I need you to heal my daughter. 136 00:07:38,400 --> 00:07:42,080 We see her begging Jesus, would you look down? 137 00:07:42,080 --> 00:07:46,800 And Jesus says, let the children eat 1st and then it'll be given 138 00:07:46,800 --> 00:07:50,560 to the dogs more or less to say there are others who have to be 139 00:07:50,560 --> 00:07:54,840 fed who probably are within my own tribe. 140 00:07:56,000 --> 00:07:58,920 And then it'll come down to you. But look at her persuasion. 141 00:07:58,920 --> 00:08:02,520 Look at she didn't want to move. She said even the children drop 142 00:08:02,520 --> 00:08:06,880 crumbs which the dog can eat. And God knew that she was 143 00:08:06,880 --> 00:08:09,960 desperate. She was desperate in his 144 00:08:09,960 --> 00:08:12,920 presence. And so today, even with that 145 00:08:12,920 --> 00:08:16,560 context in mind, we'll see that Jesus says your faith has been 146 00:08:16,560 --> 00:08:19,520 rewarded and, you know, liberates her daughter from that 147 00:08:19,520 --> 00:08:21,520 oppression that she's been caught in. 148 00:08:22,840 --> 00:08:25,320 The story continues on. And this is the main part of our 149 00:08:25,640 --> 00:08:29,080 passage, which I wanted to speak out specifically because I 150 00:08:29,080 --> 00:08:33,120 believe God is wanting to open our ears. 151 00:08:33,440 --> 00:08:37,880 God is wanting to release a bound tongue today. 152 00:08:38,159 --> 00:08:41,799 So Mark 7 was 31 to 37. And this is what it says in NIV. 153 00:08:41,799 --> 00:08:43,480 Jesus heals a deaf and a mute man. 154 00:08:44,120 --> 00:08:47,280 Then Jesus left the vicinity of Diet and went through Sidon, 155 00:08:47,480 --> 00:08:50,320 down to the Sea of Galilee and into the region of Decophilus. 156 00:08:51,000 --> 00:08:54,480 There's some people brought to him a man who was deaf and could 157 00:08:54,480 --> 00:08:57,600 hardly talk, and they begged Jesus to place his hand on him. 158 00:08:58,000 --> 00:09:00,760 After he took him aside away from the crowd, Jesus put his 159 00:09:00,760 --> 00:09:03,960 fingers into the man's ears. Then he spit and touched the 160 00:09:03,960 --> 00:09:06,000 man's tongue. He looked up to heaven and with 161 00:09:06,000 --> 00:09:10,800 a deep sigh and said to him, FFA TA, which means be opened. 162 00:09:11,360 --> 00:09:15,120 At this the man's ears were opened, his tongue was loosened, 163 00:09:15,120 --> 00:09:19,360 and he began to speak plainly. Jesus commanded them not to tell 164 00:09:19,360 --> 00:09:23,320 anyone, but the more he did so, the more they kept talking about 165 00:09:23,320 --> 00:09:24,840 it. People were overwhelmed with 166 00:09:24,840 --> 00:09:27,120 amazement. He has done everything well, 167 00:09:27,120 --> 00:09:29,560 they said. He even makes the deaf here and 168 00:09:29,560 --> 00:09:33,200 the mute speak. There are three things that I 169 00:09:33,200 --> 00:09:36,240 want us to take from this. We see in the 1st, in the 170 00:09:36,240 --> 00:09:39,520 sycophilician mother, she approached Jesus. 171 00:09:39,520 --> 00:09:43,160 That was a sense of desperation. In the second story, we see that 172 00:09:43,160 --> 00:09:47,600 he, the people around, brought a deaf and mute man to Jesus. 173 00:09:48,240 --> 00:09:52,080 And so even as we look at this Kingdom life, I want us to give 174 00:09:53,040 --> 00:09:55,120 this opportunity for each and every one of us. 175 00:09:55,120 --> 00:09:57,040 For those of you who are watching, but for most of you 176 00:09:57,040 --> 00:09:59,240 who are listening, I want to give you this opportunity. 177 00:09:59,480 --> 00:10:01,880 How are we responding towards Jesus? 178 00:10:01,880 --> 00:10:05,880 So the first thing I want us to make a note of is we move 179 00:10:05,880 --> 00:10:08,640 towards Jesus because he's approachable. 180 00:10:09,120 --> 00:10:12,000 We move towards Jesus because he's approachable. 181 00:10:12,440 --> 00:10:17,200 Today, a lot of us are trying to move towards a particular place. 182 00:10:17,920 --> 00:10:20,800 If I have to ask you if for those of you are working, you 183 00:10:20,800 --> 00:10:23,120 might have a career path where you're like, you know what, I 184 00:10:23,120 --> 00:10:25,640 need to do this, this, this so I can move forward. 185 00:10:25,920 --> 00:10:29,360 For those of you who probably are young working adults and 186 00:10:29,360 --> 00:10:31,440 you're like wanting to settle down and you know, you've, 187 00:10:31,600 --> 00:10:33,760 you've come to a point in life where you know what things are 188 00:10:33,760 --> 00:10:35,920 looking good. Now I can settle down and you 189 00:10:35,920 --> 00:10:41,000 have a trajectory in which you're going, but in our own 190 00:10:41,000 --> 00:10:44,520 lives, very lives, whatever stage we are in from, you know, 191 00:10:44,760 --> 00:10:48,200 a person who's alert enough to make decisions, a young kid 192 00:10:48,200 --> 00:10:51,080 who's able to do that, a college going kid all the way to a 193 00:10:51,080 --> 00:10:54,880 grandparent. Are we moving towards Jesus 194 00:10:54,880 --> 00:10:58,720 because he's approachable? Because today a lot of us are 195 00:10:58,880 --> 00:11:06,720 moving towards those who can be an intermediately between US and 196 00:11:06,720 --> 00:11:08,960 Jesus. There's always that. 197 00:11:09,200 --> 00:11:11,680 You know what, I don't think I can go there, but Jesus saying I 198 00:11:11,680 --> 00:11:14,920 came down here to earth. I lay down my life just for you 199 00:11:15,320 --> 00:11:18,000 so you can approach me, you can talk to me. 200 00:11:18,000 --> 00:11:20,080 You don't have to be eloquent. You don't have to know how to 201 00:11:20,080 --> 00:11:22,440 speak. You can just be there and talk 202 00:11:22,440 --> 00:11:25,560 how you want and he's willing to listen. 203 00:11:26,280 --> 00:11:31,240 Jesus alone is the answer. We see in two instances they 204 00:11:31,240 --> 00:11:36,160 move towards Jesus. There is a sense of desperation. 205 00:11:36,680 --> 00:11:41,800 There is a sense of urgency. He is wanting us to come to Him. 206 00:11:41,800 --> 00:11:43,880 I don't want to be where I am today. 207 00:11:43,880 --> 00:11:47,160 I want deliverance. I want healing. 208 00:11:47,160 --> 00:11:51,040 I want restoration. I want God to work in and 209 00:11:51,040 --> 00:11:54,240 through me. I move towards Jesus. 210 00:11:55,560 --> 00:11:58,160 Probably you're going through some sickness. 211 00:11:58,680 --> 00:12:01,360 Probably you're going. You, you, you want that 212 00:12:01,360 --> 00:12:03,920 breakthrough in that marriage, Move towards Jesus. 213 00:12:03,920 --> 00:12:06,720 Don't move. Move towards, you know, as much 214 00:12:06,720 --> 00:12:09,760 as you're moving towards a counselor and your husband or 215 00:12:09,760 --> 00:12:14,800 your wife or your spouse, or don't move towards your parents 216 00:12:14,800 --> 00:12:19,360 and you move towards Jesus because he alone can heal and 217 00:12:19,360 --> 00:12:23,160 set you free. Why do we move towards Jesus? 218 00:12:23,160 --> 00:12:25,640 Because there's no discrimination from him. 219 00:12:26,080 --> 00:12:28,080 He's not going to look at your status and say you can't 220 00:12:28,080 --> 00:12:30,280 approach me now. He's not going to look at you 221 00:12:30,280 --> 00:12:32,480 and say, oh, you didn't do 1-2 and three, I can't talk to you 222 00:12:32,480 --> 00:12:34,000 now. He won't say. 223 00:12:34,000 --> 00:12:39,240 He is willing to meet with us. He is willing to see us. 224 00:12:40,240 --> 00:12:42,240 Why do I, why do I emphasize this? 225 00:12:42,240 --> 00:12:47,120 Because we move with everything that we are captive to the one 226 00:12:47,120 --> 00:12:49,600 who can liberate us. The Kingdom life is one of 227 00:12:49,600 --> 00:12:52,160 liberation. The Kingdom life is 1 where we 228 00:12:52,160 --> 00:12:54,280 are set free. The Kingdom life is 1 where we 229 00:12:54,280 --> 00:12:57,560 are not bound. And so today I would ask you, 230 00:12:57,760 --> 00:13:03,960 can we move to that place? It's not a sense of freedom. 231 00:13:04,120 --> 00:13:07,480 You are free. You know, I was born, brought up 232 00:13:07,480 --> 00:13:09,520 in Dubai. And so you're living as an expat 233 00:13:09,520 --> 00:13:11,600 in this country. You live by the laws of the 234 00:13:11,600 --> 00:13:14,360 land. There is no sense of ultimate 235 00:13:14,360 --> 00:13:16,520 freedom. You have freedom, but there are 236 00:13:16,520 --> 00:13:19,280 only certain things you can do, certain things you can't do 237 00:13:19,280 --> 00:13:22,080 because you're in another land. But the minute you come into 238 00:13:22,080 --> 00:13:24,560 your home country, you know, this is mine country. 239 00:13:24,840 --> 00:13:27,440 I am free here, democracy is here. 240 00:13:27,680 --> 00:13:30,160 And so you live knowing that you're free. 241 00:13:30,160 --> 00:13:34,800 And so today in your Kingdom life, are you living as a 242 00:13:34,800 --> 00:13:39,160 citizen or are you living as an immigrant? 243 00:13:40,720 --> 00:13:43,200 Because if you're living as an immigrant, you need to move to 244 00:13:43,200 --> 00:13:46,400 that place of getting that citizenship from he's 245 00:13:46,400 --> 00:13:50,560 approachable. Move to him, Talk to him, talk 246 00:13:50,560 --> 00:13:52,240 to him, talk your heart out to him. 247 00:13:52,440 --> 00:13:55,240 Tell him not this, he knows everything, but he wants you to 248 00:13:55,240 --> 00:13:57,200 ask. Move towards him. 249 00:13:57,200 --> 00:13:59,520 A lot of us are having that intermediary, whoever that 250 00:13:59,520 --> 00:14:01,880 intermediate is. For some of us are parents, 251 00:14:01,880 --> 00:14:03,320 spouse. For some of us it's another 252 00:14:03,600 --> 00:14:05,080 pastor. For some of us, it's just 253 00:14:05,080 --> 00:14:07,400 YouTube because that's where we get everything out of. 254 00:14:07,760 --> 00:14:09,480 For some of us, it's our Instagram post. 255 00:14:09,480 --> 00:14:12,920 For some of us, it can be the very mentors that God's brought 256 00:14:12,920 --> 00:14:16,640 into our life and we've started holding them as the filter. 257 00:14:16,720 --> 00:14:19,880 No, you need to approach God. You should always cross check 258 00:14:20,040 --> 00:14:22,400 what they're saying and what you're hearing are true. 259 00:14:22,400 --> 00:14:26,560 That's when growth happens. Jesus promises a life of 260 00:14:26,560 --> 00:14:28,800 freedom, not just physically but spiritually. 261 00:14:28,800 --> 00:14:32,840 And today the Kingdom life first starts with spiritual liberation 262 00:14:32,840 --> 00:14:37,120 before it happens physically. You know, in John there's this 263 00:14:37,120 --> 00:14:40,800 beautiful passage where he writes about the Great Shepherd. 264 00:14:41,160 --> 00:14:44,240 And for too long we've, you know, probably thought, you 265 00:14:44,240 --> 00:14:46,760 know, he'll run after that one. You know, he'll run after the 266 00:14:46,760 --> 00:14:47,920 one. But the problem is in the 267 00:14:47,920 --> 00:14:52,040 Kingdom life, when we have Jesus as a great shepherd, when he is 268 00:14:52,040 --> 00:14:55,280 a shepherd and he's leading us, we all go towards where he's 269 00:14:55,280 --> 00:14:56,960 leading. If he's leading us to the 270 00:14:56,960 --> 00:14:58,400 pasture on the left, we go there. 271 00:14:58,400 --> 00:15:00,360 If he's leading us to the pasture on the right, we go 272 00:15:00,360 --> 00:15:03,320 there. The one that moves away and is 273 00:15:03,520 --> 00:15:06,120 roaming somewhere else, that's his job, not my job. 274 00:15:06,720 --> 00:15:09,040 And so every time they're thinking, you know, oh, the 275 00:15:09,040 --> 00:15:11,880 church didn't come behind me. Oh, the leadership didn't come 276 00:15:11,880 --> 00:15:14,160 behind me. Oh, the people who I was talking 277 00:15:14,160 --> 00:15:15,680 to in church didn't check up on me. 278 00:15:15,960 --> 00:15:22,000 Move towards Jesus because Jesus wants you alone to talk to him 279 00:15:22,480 --> 00:15:24,680 because that's where he talks. That's where he teaches. 280 00:15:24,880 --> 00:15:28,560 John chapter 10 verses 25 to 30 says Jesus answer, I did tell 281 00:15:28,560 --> 00:15:31,480 you, but you do not believe. The works I do in my Father's 282 00:15:31,480 --> 00:15:34,520 name testify about me, but you do not believe because you are 283 00:15:34,520 --> 00:15:37,720 not my sheep. Let's see John 10 verse 27. 284 00:15:37,720 --> 00:15:39,760 This says my sheep listen to my voice. 285 00:15:39,800 --> 00:15:43,320 I know them and they follow me. It says you're my sheep. 286 00:15:43,760 --> 00:15:46,320 Verse 28 I give them eternal life and they shall never 287 00:15:46,320 --> 00:15:48,320 perish. No one will snatch them out of 288 00:15:48,320 --> 00:15:51,960 my hand. My Father who has given them to 289 00:15:51,960 --> 00:15:55,040 me is greater than all. No one's can snatch them out of 290 00:15:55,040 --> 00:15:58,440 my Father's hand. I and the Father are one. 291 00:15:58,440 --> 00:16:02,320 I love this statement in verse 30 because this is a picture of 292 00:16:02,320 --> 00:16:06,120 what Trinity looks like for those of you who still question, 293 00:16:06,120 --> 00:16:08,600 oh, Jesus is lower than the Father God. 294 00:16:08,600 --> 00:16:11,880 No, they all together are one. That is the great mystery. 295 00:16:12,560 --> 00:16:14,240 That is where faith is exercised. 296 00:16:14,240 --> 00:16:16,240 And so today I want to challenge you. 297 00:16:16,240 --> 00:16:18,040 Would you move to the Great Shepherd? 298 00:16:18,040 --> 00:16:22,880 Would you move to Jesus, who is the one who's seated on the 299 00:16:22,880 --> 00:16:28,280 throne and who is the Kingdom? Let's not move towards people. 300 00:16:28,280 --> 00:16:32,280 Let's not move towards of the the, the the men of God or the 301 00:16:32,280 --> 00:16:35,560 women of God who we think they will be the intermediary. 302 00:16:35,680 --> 00:16:38,480 The reason why I'm emphasizing this is if we are not careful, 303 00:16:38,640 --> 00:16:41,400 we will suddenly have different people standing on different 304 00:16:41,400 --> 00:16:43,800 pedestals. People are people. 305 00:16:43,800 --> 00:16:46,960 We are all image bearers. We're all been created, we're in 306 00:16:46,960 --> 00:16:48,880 the image of God and we're all the same. 307 00:16:49,200 --> 00:16:53,720 But God is God, Jesus is God, the Holy Spirit is God. 308 00:16:53,720 --> 00:16:58,760 So look to him for everything. Why do we move to him? 309 00:16:59,120 --> 00:17:01,600 Because as much as he's approachable, there's no waiting 310 00:17:01,600 --> 00:17:04,440 time, there's no appointment every time. 311 00:17:04,440 --> 00:17:07,839 He's no, you don't have to, you know, use an influential person, 312 00:17:07,839 --> 00:17:10,319 put in a word, nothing you can go specifically to him. 313 00:17:10,319 --> 00:17:13,800 So today, if you're going through guilt and shame and 314 00:17:13,800 --> 00:17:17,079 you're struggling to break away from it, go to him, approach him 315 00:17:17,319 --> 00:17:18,560 because he wants to give you freedom. 316 00:17:18,560 --> 00:17:22,839 For those of you who've you know, who've been struggling to 317 00:17:22,839 --> 00:17:27,119 keep your eyes between you and your spouse and you're making 318 00:17:27,119 --> 00:17:31,200 your marriage, you know, really difficult, you're unable to move 319 00:17:31,200 --> 00:17:33,560 to him because he's willing to work with you. 320 00:17:33,560 --> 00:17:36,320 He's willing to work alongside with you. 321 00:17:36,320 --> 00:17:40,600 He'll tell you what to do next. A lot of times we don't want to 322 00:17:40,600 --> 00:17:42,920 do what the word of God says and move towards him. 323 00:17:42,920 --> 00:17:44,680 Rather, you want to do everything outside. 324 00:17:44,920 --> 00:17:49,480 This will give us the guardrail so that we'll sustain us through 325 00:17:49,480 --> 00:17:52,840 our breakthrough. This very word of God will 326 00:17:52,840 --> 00:17:55,080 sustain us. It'll keep us on track. 327 00:17:55,080 --> 00:17:58,280 It'll keep us to go back to him. Say Lord I need your strength 328 00:17:58,280 --> 00:18:01,320 today. I've told it many times Lord, my 329 00:18:01,520 --> 00:18:04,440 my, my, my self-control is bad today. 330 00:18:05,120 --> 00:18:07,760 I just binge eat. I need your strength today Lord, 331 00:18:07,760 --> 00:18:11,120 I need your strength today because I I'm unable to overcome 332 00:18:11,120 --> 00:18:13,480 this. I need you Lord today. 333 00:18:13,480 --> 00:18:18,120 Give me strength to keep myself busy, else my idle mind is 334 00:18:18,120 --> 00:18:21,320 wandering. So today, what can we do? 335 00:18:21,320 --> 00:18:24,200 We draw near to Him. Why do we draw near to Him? 336 00:18:24,200 --> 00:18:27,680 Because He is cleared the way for us. 337 00:18:28,280 --> 00:18:31,480 Long before, when Israel had to approach the Holy of Holies, 338 00:18:31,480 --> 00:18:33,280 there was only one person who could do that. 339 00:18:33,480 --> 00:18:38,160 He had to prepare himself, you know, cleanse himself entirely. 340 00:18:38,480 --> 00:18:41,760 There was an entire process that was involved and only one could 341 00:18:41,760 --> 00:18:44,720 enter that presence. But God would meet with them. 342 00:18:45,800 --> 00:18:48,560 But today when Jesus came down, when he died, when the whale 343 00:18:48,560 --> 00:18:51,800 toe, we all have access. And that's what Hebrews chapter 344 00:18:51,800 --> 00:18:55,680 10 says in verse 19 to 23. He says in verse 21. 345 00:18:56,320 --> 00:18:59,040 Therefore, brothers and sisters, since we have confidence to 346 00:18:59,040 --> 00:19:02,280 enter the most Holy place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and 347 00:19:02,280 --> 00:19:05,720 living way opened for us through the curtain that is His body, 348 00:19:06,000 --> 00:19:10,240 and since we have a great priest over the House of God, let us 349 00:19:10,240 --> 00:19:14,520 draw to God with the sincere heart and with full assurance 350 00:19:14,520 --> 00:19:18,160 that faith brings. Having our hearts sprinkled to 351 00:19:18,160 --> 00:19:20,600 cleanse us from a guilty conscience, and having our 352 00:19:20,600 --> 00:19:25,280 bodies washed with pure water, let us hold unswervingly to the 353 00:19:25,280 --> 00:19:29,240 hope he profess for he who promised his faithful. 354 00:19:29,760 --> 00:19:34,360 So today, I don't know what is causing you to to move away from 355 00:19:34,360 --> 00:19:39,600 Jesus or take a step back, but I want you to draw to Jesus. 356 00:19:40,000 --> 00:19:41,600 Don't. Let's not be those Christians 357 00:19:41,600 --> 00:19:45,520 who are drawing to Jesus, drawing to his church, drawing 358 00:19:45,520 --> 00:19:50,040 to his people only during New York, Easter, Good Friday, and 359 00:19:50,040 --> 00:19:52,720 Christmas. Let's do it to him every Sunday. 360 00:19:52,720 --> 00:19:55,840 Let's do it to him every week. The beautiful thing is Monday to 361 00:19:55,840 --> 00:20:00,720 Saturday I get to move closely with Jesus, talk to him, hear 362 00:20:00,720 --> 00:20:04,000 from his word, and Sunday I come to, I get to come into his 363 00:20:04,000 --> 00:20:07,840 presence with other people rejoicing and thanking God and 364 00:20:07,840 --> 00:20:10,520 hearing and confirming what he's been speaking to me. 365 00:20:10,960 --> 00:20:14,040 That's what the Christian body is. 366 00:20:14,040 --> 00:20:15,800 That's what the Christian life is. 367 00:20:16,480 --> 00:20:20,000 So today I want to ask you, can we make an honest effort to draw 368 00:20:20,000 --> 00:20:23,400 to God? Probably we've drawn away from 369 00:20:23,400 --> 00:20:25,080 God because of certain circumstances. 370 00:20:25,080 --> 00:20:27,560 Probably life happened for I under. 371 00:20:27,560 --> 00:20:31,160 I get to hear people who've gone through grief and they say, why 372 00:20:31,160 --> 00:20:33,480 would God allow? Why would God take this person? 373 00:20:33,960 --> 00:20:38,760 God knows when they're perfect time here on earth ended, but 374 00:20:38,760 --> 00:20:43,960 when he takes them, they go into His hand, the very one who 375 00:20:43,960 --> 00:20:45,440 created. They are in the safe hands. 376 00:20:45,440 --> 00:20:47,040 And God wants us to push through. 377 00:20:47,240 --> 00:20:49,240 God wants us to move through that grief. 378 00:20:49,400 --> 00:20:53,680 God wants us to learn and be a beacon of hope and light so that 379 00:20:53,680 --> 00:20:58,520 we'll be able to tell people that God has great purpose in 380 00:20:58,520 --> 00:21:01,640 and through us in this journey. And so today, don't allow 381 00:21:01,640 --> 00:21:04,760 circumstances for those of you who've gone through trying times 382 00:21:05,120 --> 00:21:08,400 of probably sickness or probably, it could be probably 383 00:21:08,400 --> 00:21:11,400 you, you, you're starting to see, you know, areas in your 384 00:21:11,400 --> 00:21:14,280 life where abuse and the after effects of abuse are starting to 385 00:21:14,280 --> 00:21:18,280 come out or probably neglect and things that you have battled 386 00:21:18,280 --> 00:21:20,120 with in your childhood and your college. 387 00:21:20,120 --> 00:21:22,720 And you're thinking, you know what, life has been hard. 388 00:21:22,760 --> 00:21:26,040 Go to Jesus. He will remove that guilt. 389 00:21:26,040 --> 00:21:29,040 He will remove that heavy load because he says, come to me, 390 00:21:29,040 --> 00:21:31,680 because when we come to him, he's willing to take off that 391 00:21:31,680 --> 00:21:34,080 heavy. My yoke is easy and my burden is 392 00:21:34,080 --> 00:21:36,640 light is what he says. So I would ask you, would you 393 00:21:36,640 --> 00:21:40,840 move towards that incidence? Probably or things or the the 394 00:21:40,840 --> 00:21:45,040 the way the world projects about Jesus is throwing him in a bad 395 00:21:45,040 --> 00:21:46,080 light. And you're like, you know what? 396 00:21:46,080 --> 00:21:49,120 I don't trust in him Holy. If you don't trust in him at 397 00:21:49,120 --> 00:21:52,280 all, you can't expect anything at all from him. 398 00:21:52,280 --> 00:21:55,000 So I would encourage you move towards make that effort. 399 00:21:56,440 --> 00:22:01,160 He is God, he was God who became man and he rose again from the 400 00:22:01,160 --> 00:22:02,960 dead and he's still God. He's alive. 401 00:22:03,520 --> 00:22:07,000 He's wanting to meet with us. The second thing we see from 402 00:22:07,000 --> 00:22:11,680 this entire passage, we intently listen to what Jesus has to say 403 00:22:12,040 --> 00:22:17,000 and we do what he says. Jesus model of operation was 404 00:22:17,000 --> 00:22:19,280 very simple. You know when he met with 405 00:22:19,280 --> 00:22:21,480 people, when you read the entire 4 gospels, when he met with 406 00:22:21,480 --> 00:22:23,840 people, he met with them face to face. 407 00:22:23,840 --> 00:22:27,200 He talked with them one-on-one, He addressed one-on-one. 408 00:22:27,320 --> 00:22:31,520 He met Zacchaeus, Nicodemus, every 12 disciples that he 409 00:22:31,520 --> 00:22:34,400 talked to, everyone that encountered healing, everyone 410 00:22:34,400 --> 00:22:37,880 that encountered deliverance was met face to face. 411 00:22:38,080 --> 00:22:40,000 There was something when they saw his face. 412 00:22:40,280 --> 00:22:45,640 So today we can approach Jesus. We need to seek His face and not 413 00:22:45,640 --> 00:22:48,240 His hand. We need to seek His face because 414 00:22:48,240 --> 00:22:53,280 the minute we lock our eyes with His face, He is starting to 415 00:22:53,280 --> 00:22:56,600 speak to us. And when He speaks to us, we 416 00:22:56,600 --> 00:22:59,520 need to do what He says. We need to do what He says. 417 00:22:59,720 --> 00:23:03,840 Your reasoning, reason with Jesus, your questions, question 418 00:23:03,840 --> 00:23:08,640 with Jesus, your heartaches. Ask Him and He will answer. 419 00:23:09,440 --> 00:23:12,560 And Mark writes this and Mark is a one of the writers who wrote 420 00:23:12,560 --> 00:23:17,400 for a for a non Jewish audience. And so when you see him right, 421 00:23:17,400 --> 00:23:24,440 you can see that he is writing and pointing out elements where 422 00:23:24,440 --> 00:23:28,280 there is clear indication that Jesus came down for all. 423 00:23:28,800 --> 00:23:33,680 So don't, don't let things of this world plague you and cause 424 00:23:33,680 --> 00:23:35,600 you to think, you know what? Jesus won't talk to me. 425 00:23:37,080 --> 00:23:39,880 He created everyone. If he can talk to that person 426 00:23:39,880 --> 00:23:43,040 who follows Jesus, he can also talk to me because I am a 427 00:23:43,040 --> 00:23:47,080 follower of Jesus by faith and I'm living it out and I'm asking 428 00:23:47,080 --> 00:23:49,640 God, God, speak to me. I want to see you face to face. 429 00:23:49,920 --> 00:23:53,480 Intently listen because he wants to tell mistress he's not going 430 00:23:53,480 --> 00:23:55,600 to be holding a placard. He's not going to be sending you 431 00:23:55,920 --> 00:23:57,920 DMS. He's going to be intently 432 00:23:57,920 --> 00:24:02,960 wanting to speak to you, which means when you listen, you also 433 00:24:02,960 --> 00:24:06,280 do what he says. A lot of us come today thinking, 434 00:24:06,280 --> 00:24:09,040 you know what, I listen to Jesus, but I'll see if it's 435 00:24:09,040 --> 00:24:14,760 comfortable for me to do. God did not give us the Great 436 00:24:14,760 --> 00:24:17,880 Commission to do it out of a place of comfort. 437 00:24:18,280 --> 00:24:21,640 God gave us the Great Commission do it as a commandment. 438 00:24:21,880 --> 00:24:26,520 We do it through it all. We do it in the lack, in the 439 00:24:26,520 --> 00:24:28,440 plenty. We do it through whatever 440 00:24:28,440 --> 00:24:33,320 situation we are going through. No sickness has walked away from 441 00:24:33,320 --> 00:24:36,560 Jesus. No one who's approached Jesus 442 00:24:36,560 --> 00:24:39,080 with sickness has just walked away feeling sick. 443 00:24:39,400 --> 00:24:42,480 They came in, they were healed, they met with Jesus, they were 444 00:24:42,480 --> 00:24:44,920 liberated, they met with Jesus, they got their questions 445 00:24:44,920 --> 00:24:46,760 answered. They met with Jesus. 446 00:24:46,880 --> 00:24:50,040 Their old lifestyle immediately changed and they gave back all 447 00:24:50,040 --> 00:24:51,760 that they stole. We see from the life of 448 00:24:51,760 --> 00:24:54,560 Zacchaeus, but there's an interesting story in Mark 449 00:24:54,560 --> 00:24:58,320 chapter 10, verses 17 to 31 about a rich young ruler who 450 00:24:58,320 --> 00:25:01,920 came to Jesus. And when he comes, he says God, 451 00:25:02,240 --> 00:25:05,840 he says, good teacher, I want to, you know, I want to inherit 452 00:25:05,840 --> 00:25:07,600 eternal life. And Jesus says, why do you call 453 00:25:07,600 --> 00:25:09,520 me good? You don't even know me, so why 454 00:25:09,520 --> 00:25:12,360 do you call me good? Do you want any good answers 455 00:25:12,360 --> 00:25:14,720 from me? You see the underlying thing. 456 00:25:14,720 --> 00:25:17,480 If you're coming to a person to ask something, putting 457 00:25:17,480 --> 00:25:19,720 adjectives before that doesn't make sense. 458 00:25:19,720 --> 00:25:22,640 And so Jesus goes on to say, keep the commandments, do not 459 00:25:22,640 --> 00:25:25,440 murder, do not commit utility, do not steal, do not bear false 460 00:25:25,440 --> 00:25:28,320 witness on your father, mother. And he's bold enough to say, I 461 00:25:28,320 --> 00:25:31,840 do everything, but let's read Mark 10 verse 21. 462 00:25:31,840 --> 00:25:35,280 And Jesus looking at him, loved him and said to him, you lack 463 00:25:35,280 --> 00:25:40,160 one thing, go sell all that you have and give to the poor, and 464 00:25:40,160 --> 00:25:44,440 you'll have treasures in heaven. And come follow me to certain by 465 00:25:44,440 --> 00:25:47,440 the saying, he went away sorrowful, for he had great 466 00:25:47,600 --> 00:25:50,720 possessions. And Jesus looked around and said 467 00:25:50,720 --> 00:25:53,680 to his disciples, how difficult it'll be for those who have 468 00:25:53,680 --> 00:25:55,600 wealth to enter the Kingdom of God. 469 00:25:56,400 --> 00:25:58,400 And the disciples were amazed at this was. 470 00:25:58,400 --> 00:26:01,720 But Jesus said to them again, children, how difficult it is to 471 00:26:01,720 --> 00:26:04,840 enter the Kingdom of God. It is easier for a camel to go 472 00:26:04,840 --> 00:26:08,320 through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the 473 00:26:08,320 --> 00:26:13,480 Kingdom of God. And so today we see he intently 474 00:26:13,480 --> 00:26:16,840 came to listen to Jesus, but he didn't want to do what Jesus 475 00:26:16,840 --> 00:26:19,840 asked him to do. He was comfortable as long as 476 00:26:19,840 --> 00:26:21,920 Jesus mentioned some of the things he was doing. 477 00:26:22,440 --> 00:26:26,480 The check boxes are all checked, but there was that one which 478 00:26:26,480 --> 00:26:31,120 said all of the above, which included giving up his 479 00:26:31,120 --> 00:26:34,680 possessions. And so today, if you and I are 480 00:26:34,680 --> 00:26:38,880 wanting that breakthrough, if you and I are wanting that one 481 00:26:38,880 --> 00:26:42,520 thing that God promised from Jesus, He's asking us, are you 482 00:26:42,520 --> 00:26:45,200 willing to let go of what I'm asking you to let go of? 483 00:26:46,040 --> 00:26:48,440 And for a lot of us, it's that control. 484 00:26:49,080 --> 00:26:52,960 It's that control because our hope is in that, our, our 485 00:26:52,960 --> 00:26:56,600 functionality is happening in that, our rest is in that. 486 00:26:56,600 --> 00:26:59,600 But Jesus saying, no, it has to be on me and not on anything 487 00:26:59,600 --> 00:27:04,160 else. Jesus wants us to move towards 488 00:27:04,160 --> 00:27:06,920 him. And as he intently speaks, as we 489 00:27:06,920 --> 00:27:09,680 intently listen, are we willing to do what he says? 490 00:27:10,480 --> 00:27:13,480 I want to ask you, have you given up the things Jesus has 491 00:27:13,480 --> 00:27:17,480 asked you to give up on? You know, we are so quick to 492 00:27:17,480 --> 00:27:23,040 give up, to cut dairy, to cut white bread, to cut everything, 493 00:27:23,040 --> 00:27:25,280 knowing that that will do something good for us. 494 00:27:25,520 --> 00:27:27,680 Even though we don't have control over health, we don't 495 00:27:27,680 --> 00:27:29,560 have control over the diseases of this world. 496 00:27:29,760 --> 00:27:32,960 We don't have control over the environment, the very bubble 497 00:27:32,960 --> 00:27:36,000 that we live and think, oh, if I can give this up, you know, I 498 00:27:36,000 --> 00:27:39,920 can control this part. I want to challenge you today, 499 00:27:39,920 --> 00:27:42,040 Church. Would we intently listen to 500 00:27:42,040 --> 00:27:46,840 Jesus and do what he says? I heard a person speak the other 501 00:27:46,840 --> 00:27:49,960 day and tell me and Tina, you know what, before getting 502 00:27:49,960 --> 00:27:53,280 married, I need to do a genetic testing of my spouse to know 503 00:27:53,280 --> 00:27:55,360 what all sicknesses that person will bring in. 504 00:27:56,200 --> 00:27:58,960 And got us thinking and and we said, you know what, you're 505 00:27:58,960 --> 00:28:01,200 going to be alarmed that you're just not going to have one or 506 00:28:01,200 --> 00:28:03,800 two. You're going to have 10, but 507 00:28:03,960 --> 00:28:07,160 knowing that, what kind of a quality of life are you going to 508 00:28:07,160 --> 00:28:09,320 live? You can have every precaution 509 00:28:09,320 --> 00:28:11,480 possible. You see the world, people are 510 00:28:11,480 --> 00:28:18,920 putting money after billions, after millions to age slow to 511 00:28:18,920 --> 00:28:21,440 make sure that they don't, their body doesn't age. 512 00:28:22,160 --> 00:28:26,600 You can do everything, but what happens to your soul? 513 00:28:27,040 --> 00:28:30,080 Have you lived the life that Jesus has called you to live? 514 00:28:30,080 --> 00:28:34,160 The life He holds the whole world in His hands, which means 515 00:28:34,560 --> 00:28:39,080 you and I can only do so much. A lot of us are going into this 516 00:28:39,080 --> 00:28:42,480 preservative mode. Every preservative mode has an 517 00:28:42,480 --> 00:28:45,880 expiry date. Move into the safe hands of 518 00:28:45,880 --> 00:28:48,360 Jesus. A lot of you want your wombs to 519 00:28:48,360 --> 00:28:50,760 be open. Move towards Jesus intently. 520 00:28:50,760 --> 00:28:52,320 Ask God, what do you want me to do? 521 00:28:52,600 --> 00:28:55,560 What is that one area in my life that I've not given control over 522 00:28:55,560 --> 00:28:57,680 to you? A lot of you want increase in 523 00:28:57,680 --> 00:29:00,720 your job, increase in the in your financial situation. 524 00:29:00,720 --> 00:29:04,840 Move to God and ask God, what is it that I am choosing to listen 525 00:29:04,840 --> 00:29:08,760 but not doing what you say. Most of you are looking. 526 00:29:08,760 --> 00:29:11,360 You know what blood There's been no breakthrough in my life. 527 00:29:11,360 --> 00:29:15,040 You're just unable to make that faith step, go to and ask God, 528 00:29:15,040 --> 00:29:18,640 what is that one big doubt that is causing me to stand back and 529 00:29:18,640 --> 00:29:21,480 not participate in the faith journey that you're calling me 530 00:29:21,480 --> 00:29:26,600 to do today. We, we can camouflage all that 531 00:29:26,600 --> 00:29:29,320 you're going going through. We all can see, you know what 532 00:29:29,320 --> 00:29:33,280 I'm following Jesus. We, we have a set of criterias 533 00:29:33,280 --> 00:29:34,960 that we think, oh, you know what? 534 00:29:34,960 --> 00:29:37,920 I need to do this, this, this, Oh, I can, I need to get on the 535 00:29:37,920 --> 00:29:40,880 stage. I need to do this, the stage, it 536 00:29:40,880 --> 00:29:44,080 can only be a small elevation in front of people, but in front of 537 00:29:44,080 --> 00:29:47,160 God, it's a far bigger microscope that he's going to 538 00:29:47,160 --> 00:29:50,000 look at a heart intention. Is this why you got on stage? 539 00:29:51,120 --> 00:29:53,320 You know, the one verse that scares me when I look into the 540 00:29:53,520 --> 00:29:55,160 Bible is the one where he'll say, you know what? 541 00:29:55,160 --> 00:29:57,440 You did all this in my name and I don't know who you are. 542 00:29:58,840 --> 00:30:02,760 Your name doesn't even come and feature in this book. 543 00:30:03,520 --> 00:30:08,920 So today our heart matters. Why we do matters and the only 544 00:30:08,920 --> 00:30:12,840 reason why I think I'm unable to do what Jesus is wanting me to 545 00:30:12,840 --> 00:30:14,680 do is because I think I know better. 546 00:30:15,560 --> 00:30:19,320 And the Kingdom life is not one where we live knowing we know 547 00:30:19,320 --> 00:30:22,600 better than the King. The Kingdom life is 1 where we 548 00:30:22,600 --> 00:30:26,360 live in surrender saying God you know everything and I'm coming 549 00:30:26,360 --> 00:30:28,400 behind you. The very thing we struggle to 550 00:30:28,400 --> 00:30:33,000 let go because we lose control will be the one which drives us 551 00:30:33,000 --> 00:30:38,600 away from Jesus. And before we know it, we will 552 00:30:38,600 --> 00:30:41,480 be further away from where Jesus is. 553 00:30:42,440 --> 00:30:47,640 We won't be able to see him face to face anymore because the 554 00:30:47,640 --> 00:30:50,320 things that He's calling us to give up will be far bigger. 555 00:30:51,080 --> 00:30:54,000 A lot of us are stuck in the very fact that, you know what? 556 00:30:54,000 --> 00:30:55,880 I gave my life to Jesus. I made this. 557 00:30:56,080 --> 00:30:58,000 But after that, we have no stories to that because we've 558 00:30:58,000 --> 00:31:02,200 stopped pursuing Him. We think it's a demotion move. 559 00:31:02,200 --> 00:31:04,400 God is a God of the hills and the valleys. 560 00:31:04,400 --> 00:31:06,200 A lot of us want the valley moment. 561 00:31:06,400 --> 00:31:08,120 A lot of us want the hill moment. 562 00:31:08,520 --> 00:31:11,840 We are unable to handle It will go through ups and downs. 563 00:31:11,840 --> 00:31:15,320 That's the Christian life. That's the Christian life. 564 00:31:18,800 --> 00:31:22,040 One of the beautiful things that happens when we meet him face to 565 00:31:22,040 --> 00:31:25,440 face, when we see Jesus face to face, when we partake of his 566 00:31:25,440 --> 00:31:27,320 presence face to face is surrender. 567 00:31:28,040 --> 00:31:32,480 Surrender is our stance. Surrender. 568 00:31:33,160 --> 00:31:36,320 Mark 10 verses 20 to 31. I'm reading the message version. 569 00:31:36,320 --> 00:31:39,680 This is right after the rich young ruler and this right after 570 00:31:39,680 --> 00:31:43,560 that you'll see Peter says, Peter tried another angle. 571 00:31:43,560 --> 00:31:44,960 We left everything and followed you. 572 00:31:44,960 --> 00:31:48,680 Jesus said, mark my words, no one who sacrifices house, 573 00:31:48,680 --> 00:31:52,040 brothers, sisters, father, mother, children, land, whatever 574 00:31:52,040 --> 00:31:54,000 because of me and the message will lose out. 575 00:31:54,960 --> 00:31:58,680 They'll get it all back, but multiplied many times in homes, 576 00:31:58,680 --> 00:32:01,760 brothers, sisters, mothers, children and land, but also in 577 00:32:01,760 --> 00:32:04,760 troubles and then the bonus of eternal life. 578 00:32:04,960 --> 00:32:08,000 This is once again the great reversal. 579 00:32:08,280 --> 00:32:11,600 Many who are first will end up last and the last first. 580 00:32:12,320 --> 00:32:15,520 You know, the beautiful thing about family is family is 581 00:32:15,520 --> 00:32:18,000 family. A lot of us are trying to 582 00:32:18,000 --> 00:32:21,800 preserve, you know, the very people that we care about, 583 00:32:21,800 --> 00:32:26,560 father, mother, children, give them to God. 584 00:32:26,560 --> 00:32:30,840 You know, one of the beautiful things that I love doing as a 585 00:32:30,840 --> 00:32:33,240 church leader is dedicating babies. 586 00:32:33,680 --> 00:32:38,280 You know, the, the beautiful thing is because God's trusted a 587 00:32:38,280 --> 00:32:41,520 man and a woman, a father and a mother with a child, he's 588 00:32:41,520 --> 00:32:44,800 trusted them for a season because after that, they'll make 589 00:32:45,040 --> 00:32:48,000 life choices on their own. They'll make decisions on their 590 00:32:48,000 --> 00:32:51,000 own. And it's in that trusting period 591 00:32:51,440 --> 00:32:54,040 what we allow them to be shaped by. 592 00:32:55,000 --> 00:33:00,160 And a lot of us today are trying to do so many things in a more 593 00:33:00,160 --> 00:33:03,600 controlled way of saying, you know, this is right, that is 594 00:33:03,600 --> 00:33:06,160 wrong, trying to create experiences. 595 00:33:07,280 --> 00:33:09,920 You know, I always thought, you know, when growing up, my 596 00:33:09,920 --> 00:33:13,240 parents always thought that, oh, this is how we brought them up 597 00:33:13,280 --> 00:33:16,600 is a way they thought. But then when we went out, we, 598 00:33:16,760 --> 00:33:18,920 we, we explored so many other things. 599 00:33:18,920 --> 00:33:21,920 We were, the entire world was open to us in terms of 600 00:33:21,920 --> 00:33:24,320 information, in terms of everything that we were getting 601 00:33:24,320 --> 00:33:29,040 to see and do. And ultimately in life, we all 602 00:33:29,040 --> 00:33:32,040 make our own choices. You make your own choice. 603 00:33:32,040 --> 00:33:33,520 You're in charge of your own choice. 604 00:33:33,520 --> 00:33:35,160 You need to live by the choices you make. 605 00:33:35,400 --> 00:33:39,960 And so there's this beautiful thing that God wants us to take 606 00:33:39,960 --> 00:33:41,400 control of, and that's free will. 607 00:33:42,720 --> 00:33:46,720 And that's where he's saying if you personally make a choice to 608 00:33:46,720 --> 00:33:51,600 give up, give up is not let go. Giving up is to sing God. 609 00:33:51,600 --> 00:33:55,160 I don't hold them in that stage. None of them have a stage. 610 00:33:55,200 --> 00:33:57,360 All of them, all of us are on level ground. 611 00:33:58,640 --> 00:34:01,320 It's you we're pursuing. We're not pursuing land. 612 00:34:01,320 --> 00:34:03,200 We're not pursuing our finances. We're not pursuing 613 00:34:03,400 --> 00:34:05,000 relationships. We're pursuing you. 614 00:34:05,720 --> 00:34:09,280 And out of that overflow, as we do that, as we fulfil the Great 615 00:34:09,280 --> 00:34:12,199 Commission, as we do the life that God's called us to live, 616 00:34:12,679 --> 00:34:16,560 God will enlarge everything. He'll enlarge it. 617 00:34:16,679 --> 00:34:18,719 He'll make relationships function well. 618 00:34:19,360 --> 00:34:22,960 He'll move people's hearts. He'll work our finances. 619 00:34:22,960 --> 00:34:26,520 A lot of times we are striving so much to work our finances, 620 00:34:26,719 --> 00:34:29,320 but he's saying, if you give it up for me, I'll work it for you. 621 00:34:29,719 --> 00:34:32,679 And I honestly want God to work out the finances because he does 622 00:34:32,679 --> 00:34:35,159 it beautifully. He gives me more than enough. 623 00:34:35,159 --> 00:34:38,159 He's not a debtor. He's blessed me and I choose to 624 00:34:38,159 --> 00:34:44,679 bless His name. So today if we spend time with 625 00:34:44,679 --> 00:34:50,679 Him alone and if we intently are listening to what He wants us to 626 00:34:50,679 --> 00:34:54,600 do, can we do it? And the one big burden that we 627 00:34:54,600 --> 00:34:59,600 see that happens when we face with this is our free will. 628 00:35:00,480 --> 00:35:04,640 Everything bows down to Him. Everything bows down to Him, but 629 00:35:04,640 --> 00:35:08,680 the very free will opposes him because somewhere we think we 630 00:35:08,680 --> 00:35:10,960 know Brent today I want to challenge each and everyone of 631 00:35:10,960 --> 00:35:13,680 you. Is your free will causing you to 632 00:35:13,680 --> 00:35:17,280 miss that very through? Is your free will causing you to 633 00:35:17,280 --> 00:35:23,840 miss that miracle in your life? She was willing to let go the 634 00:35:24,200 --> 00:35:28,800 Cyrophenician woman mother was willing to let go everything and 635 00:35:28,800 --> 00:35:31,760 saying Jesus, even if you put the crumbs, it's enough. 636 00:35:32,000 --> 00:35:35,240 That's where her faiths to that, that's where the faith to death. 637 00:35:35,400 --> 00:35:39,000 It was one of surrender. She surrendered her surrendered 638 00:35:39,000 --> 00:35:42,400 herself to Jesus there over there in that spot. 639 00:35:43,000 --> 00:35:46,960 And that's what attracted that's what gave her her desperation. 640 00:35:47,160 --> 00:35:49,920 The very thing that came from the pit of her belly was Lord, 641 00:35:50,200 --> 00:35:55,200 even those crumbs are enough. And so today I want to ask you, 642 00:35:55,320 --> 00:35:57,600 everything bows down before Jesus. 643 00:35:58,360 --> 00:36:03,640 Everything, everything created bows down before Jesus. the IT 644 00:36:03,640 --> 00:36:08,920 says the earth, the land, the water, the birds, the fish, but 645 00:36:08,920 --> 00:36:13,560 only we have this gift of free will and Jesus saying, would you 646 00:36:13,560 --> 00:36:17,640 trust me and bow down Today a lot of us are holding on to 647 00:36:17,640 --> 00:36:20,680 these images saying, God, you know what you don't know? 648 00:36:21,280 --> 00:36:24,480 I know better than you, but then you also like God. 649 00:36:24,480 --> 00:36:26,960 How can I expect a breakthrough He will come through. 650 00:36:27,240 --> 00:36:30,040 I had a friend tell me recently when their family went through a 651 00:36:30,040 --> 00:36:32,080 hard time. Why is God doing this? 652 00:36:32,080 --> 00:36:33,880 Is God even real? God is real. 653 00:36:34,600 --> 00:36:37,000 Just because he didn't do it doesn't mean he he. 654 00:36:37,000 --> 00:36:38,680 He doesn't have to prove anything to you. 655 00:36:39,560 --> 00:36:41,240 He doesn't have to prove anything to you. 656 00:36:41,240 --> 00:36:44,320 If He kept proving to you, the world will be a different place, 657 00:36:44,720 --> 00:36:47,120 your life would be different. But will you choose? 658 00:36:47,120 --> 00:36:49,480 Because there's a struggle between free will and my 659 00:36:49,600 --> 00:36:51,520 surrender. And I want to ask you, a 660 00:36:51,520 --> 00:36:55,760 surrendered life in the Kingdom is one which will allow God to 661 00:36:55,760 --> 00:36:59,000 work in and through US. The surrendered life is 1 where 662 00:36:59,000 --> 00:37:03,040 we'll be able to say, God, do anything that you want, do 663 00:37:03,040 --> 00:37:06,120 anything that you will, because it's all for your glory. 664 00:37:09,320 --> 00:37:12,400 How many of us have walked away today because the decision that 665 00:37:12,400 --> 00:37:16,040 you're asked to make was hard? Can we wait on him? 666 00:37:16,520 --> 00:37:18,880 Can we wait on him so that he can come through? 667 00:37:20,000 --> 00:37:25,200 The third thing, as we move towards Jesus because he's 668 00:37:25,200 --> 00:37:29,840 approachable, as we intently are wanting to listen to Jesus and 669 00:37:30,200 --> 00:37:33,520 do what he says. There's something that God wants 670 00:37:33,520 --> 00:37:39,600 us to open up and release. And even as I titled it, E&T, be 671 00:37:39,600 --> 00:37:43,800 opened, be released. We let Jesus open our ears and 672 00:37:43,800 --> 00:37:46,720 release our mouths. You know the beautiful story 673 00:37:46,720 --> 00:37:50,560 about this deaf and dumb man who came was people brought him. 674 00:37:51,920 --> 00:37:56,720 Jesus looked at him, looked at him face to face, and when he 675 00:37:56,720 --> 00:38:01,560 saw him, he did something. He took spit, put it on his. 676 00:38:01,960 --> 00:38:04,680 He put his fingers into his ear, unplugged it. 677 00:38:04,680 --> 00:38:08,360 He took spit and then, you know, mixed it and then applied it on 678 00:38:08,360 --> 00:38:11,800 his mouth, and he was able to hear clearly and he was able to 679 00:38:11,800 --> 00:38:15,840 speak plainly. And this is a prophecy which 680 00:38:17,040 --> 00:38:22,640 Jesus fulfilled of Isaiah 35. And when we read this, we see 681 00:38:22,800 --> 00:38:27,480 this is what God is calling His captive people to experience. 682 00:38:27,800 --> 00:38:30,280 Let's read that Isaiah 35 verses one to seven. 683 00:38:30,640 --> 00:38:32,440 The desert and the parched land will be glad. 684 00:38:32,440 --> 00:38:35,880 The wilderness will rejoice in blossom like the crocus. 685 00:38:35,880 --> 00:38:38,600 It will burst into bloom. It will rejoice greatly and 686 00:38:38,600 --> 00:38:41,040 shout for joy. The glory of Lebanon will be 687 00:38:41,040 --> 00:38:43,440 given to it. The splendor of Carmel and 688 00:38:43,440 --> 00:38:45,680 Sharon. They will see the glory of the 689 00:38:45,680 --> 00:38:49,880 Lord, the splendor of our God. Strengthen the feeble hand, 690 00:38:49,880 --> 00:38:53,720 steady the knees that give way. Say to those who with fearful 691 00:38:53,720 --> 00:38:55,680 hearts be strong. Do not fear. 692 00:38:56,040 --> 00:38:59,080 Your God will come. He will come with vengeance, 693 00:38:59,080 --> 00:39:01,680 with divine retribution. He will come to save you. 694 00:39:02,160 --> 00:39:05,480 Then will the eyes of the blindly open, and the ears of 695 00:39:05,480 --> 00:39:09,840 the deaf unstopped. Today God is wanting a spiritual 696 00:39:09,920 --> 00:39:13,520 ears to be opened, a spiritual mouths to be unbound. 697 00:39:14,080 --> 00:39:15,360 What? What do I mean by that? 698 00:39:15,360 --> 00:39:21,400 Because in the physical we are so governed by what we see, we 699 00:39:21,400 --> 00:39:26,320 what we hear and what we talk predominantly. 700 00:39:26,320 --> 00:39:28,960 We are so governed by what we see and what we hear. 701 00:39:29,520 --> 00:39:35,160 But our spirit man has to be in tune with what we are hearing 702 00:39:35,360 --> 00:39:40,360 and what we are declaring. You know, I didn't mention 703 00:39:40,360 --> 00:39:42,360 earlier that, you know, you were staying in Dubai when growing up 704 00:39:42,360 --> 00:39:45,240 and, you know, our apartment was next to a mosque and next to 705 00:39:45,240 --> 00:39:47,960 that was a convenience store. And so as you used to walk by. 706 00:39:47,960 --> 00:39:52,120 And so every time you walk by, the mosque has five times of 707 00:39:52,120 --> 00:39:54,760 prayer. And just because you're in the 708 00:39:54,760 --> 00:40:00,680 vicinity growing up, you know from age 1 onwards you're there 709 00:40:00,960 --> 00:40:04,920 going up and down till age 12, you're listening to it every day 710 00:40:05,680 --> 00:40:09,760 and. Invariably because you're 711 00:40:09,760 --> 00:40:14,720 listening to it. Within a period of time, I was 712 00:40:14,720 --> 00:40:18,000 able to remember the prayer and I could have been recited if 713 00:40:18,000 --> 00:40:20,880 need be. No one taught it to me, no one 714 00:40:22,440 --> 00:40:26,200 told me this is how it has to be sent, purely just by listening. 715 00:40:27,720 --> 00:40:32,080 And I realized as I was reading this, our years have to be tuned 716 00:40:32,080 --> 00:40:35,200 to the Holy Spirit, else we miss out what God's wanting us to do 717 00:40:35,200 --> 00:40:40,320 in this season, in this life. Today, a lot of us are waiting 718 00:40:40,320 --> 00:40:42,280 here for so many things in our life to happen. 719 00:40:42,760 --> 00:40:46,320 So many dreams have been given. A lot of us say, you know what? 720 00:40:46,320 --> 00:40:48,760 When I was praying, this person came and encouraged me with this 721 00:40:48,760 --> 00:40:50,160 word. This person came and told me 722 00:40:50,160 --> 00:40:51,560 this. All that is good. 723 00:40:51,560 --> 00:40:54,120 But what are your spiritual years listening? 724 00:40:54,960 --> 00:40:59,080 Have you clogged it up by logic? Have you clogged it up with 725 00:40:59,080 --> 00:41:01,520 reasoning? Have you clogged it up so much 726 00:41:01,520 --> 00:41:03,960 that everything is just a mind talk that's happening 727 00:41:03,960 --> 00:41:07,600 internally? And are you speaking in 728 00:41:07,600 --> 00:41:11,280 disbelief? Faith will be activated when we 729 00:41:11,280 --> 00:41:15,040 speak, yes, But what we listen to matters because many a times 730 00:41:15,040 --> 00:41:18,840 when Jesus is intently talking to us and when we are called to 731 00:41:18,840 --> 00:41:22,360 do something, it's this and this that causes us to do it. 732 00:41:23,280 --> 00:41:26,640 And many a times when this is bound, when your ears are 733 00:41:26,640 --> 00:41:30,240 blocked, when my tongue is bound, the enemy has control. 734 00:41:31,000 --> 00:41:34,280 The enemy has control through logic, through reasoning, 735 00:41:35,000 --> 00:41:38,000 through our mind talk. And that is where fear sets in. 736 00:41:38,000 --> 00:41:42,120 That's when anxiety sets in. That's when things because it's, 737 00:41:42,480 --> 00:41:45,560 it's, it's within and and everything comes into a place 738 00:41:45,560 --> 00:41:48,800 where, OK, if this situation is not under my control, I don't 739 00:41:48,800 --> 00:41:51,120 think I can handle it. But God's saying, no, you need 740 00:41:51,120 --> 00:41:56,760 to move to that place, trusting me, the enemy is out there to 741 00:41:56,760 --> 00:42:00,920 spiritually bind us. AW Toza. 742 00:42:00,920 --> 00:42:04,360 In the book The Knowledge of the Holy says this faith must 743 00:42:04,360 --> 00:42:06,480 precede all effort to understand. 744 00:42:07,440 --> 00:42:11,480 Reflection upon revealed truth naturally follows the advent of 745 00:42:11,480 --> 00:42:13,920 faith. But faith comes first to the 746 00:42:13,920 --> 00:42:17,880 hearing ear, not to the coggetting mind, not to the mind 747 00:42:17,880 --> 00:42:21,200 that keeps continuously thinking and thinking through it. 748 00:42:22,000 --> 00:42:25,720 And a lot of us today are wanting to fill our intellectual 749 00:42:25,720 --> 00:42:29,440 minds with so much that we miss out on the simplicity of the 750 00:42:29,440 --> 00:42:33,160 faith that is required to follow Jesus and do as he called us to 751 00:42:33,160 --> 00:42:36,920 do. In Mark 733 to 35, we see. 752 00:42:37,120 --> 00:42:38,800 And he took him aside, away from the crowd. 753 00:42:38,800 --> 00:42:42,040 Jesus put his fingers into the man's ears, and then he spit and 754 00:42:42,040 --> 00:42:44,960 touched the man's tongue. He looked up to heaven with a 755 00:42:44,960 --> 00:42:50,240 deep sigh and said, ifatha, which means be opened. 756 00:42:50,280 --> 00:42:53,760 And today I want to ask you church, can we allow Jesus to do 757 00:42:53,760 --> 00:42:56,000 the same thing and say Fatah be opened? 758 00:42:56,000 --> 00:42:58,720 Lord, say that one word so that it will be opened. 759 00:42:58,720 --> 00:43:02,520 Say that one word so that I know and I can hear your voice. 760 00:43:03,440 --> 00:43:09,720 What are some of the things that is causing us to silence Him and 761 00:43:09,720 --> 00:43:12,040 listen and allow the enemy to have a foothold? 762 00:43:13,400 --> 00:43:18,760 Allow your faith to rise up, move towards him, see him face 763 00:43:18,760 --> 00:43:20,840 to face. No one left. 764 00:43:20,840 --> 00:43:25,280 His presence changed. I'm reminded of John the 765 00:43:25,280 --> 00:43:28,760 Baptist, Father Zechariah, when he stood in his presence and 766 00:43:28,760 --> 00:43:32,840 when he had disbelief, God just shut him up. 767 00:43:33,840 --> 00:43:36,240 He said, you know what, no point telling you anything. 768 00:43:36,720 --> 00:43:38,960 Get out the Angel. Shut him up. 769 00:43:39,680 --> 00:43:42,320 And so today if you're standing face to face with Jason, you're 770 00:43:42,320 --> 00:43:45,960 having disbelief and you're and and I want to challenge each and 771 00:43:45,960 --> 00:43:49,080 everyone of you listening because a lot of you are making 772 00:43:49,080 --> 00:43:52,120 decisions for life after A cause and effect. 773 00:43:53,520 --> 00:43:55,600 You know, you thought, OK, this will be good, but then you see 774 00:43:55,600 --> 00:43:57,680 the bad effects of it. Then you want to change. 775 00:43:57,880 --> 00:44:00,480 Why don't we trust God before we go down that step? 776 00:44:01,720 --> 00:44:05,000 A lot of you know, when I talk to parents who bring their kids 777 00:44:05,000 --> 00:44:06,440 to Sunday school, they're like, you know what? 778 00:44:06,720 --> 00:44:09,200 I'm bringing my kids to Sunday school because they started 779 00:44:09,360 --> 00:44:12,720 learning shlokas in the school. They started learning this in 780 00:44:12,720 --> 00:44:14,120 school. They started learning yoga in 781 00:44:14,120 --> 00:44:16,000 school. And I, I, and I'm scared that 782 00:44:16,000 --> 00:44:18,560 they won't know about Christianity. 783 00:44:19,720 --> 00:44:23,520 The very essence of the fact that if you as a parent, and if 784 00:44:23,520 --> 00:44:28,480 you as parents cannot live out the Christ called life in your 785 00:44:28,480 --> 00:44:30,680 own lives, your children won't be able to live it out. 786 00:44:31,800 --> 00:44:34,280 A lot of us are thinking, you know, that two hour of Sunday 787 00:44:34,280 --> 00:44:37,560 school will do the work, but the remaining hours that they spend 788 00:44:37,560 --> 00:44:40,080 at home is what the environment matters. 789 00:44:40,480 --> 00:44:44,760 If all they hear is reasoning, if all they hear is logic, if 790 00:44:44,800 --> 00:44:48,360 all they hear is faith not being spoken, that's what they'll 791 00:44:48,360 --> 00:44:53,680 believe. But if they hear, God will come 792 00:44:53,680 --> 00:44:55,880 through. And when we rejoice when he 793 00:44:55,880 --> 00:44:59,880 comes through, that's when they'll realize Jesus is worth 794 00:44:59,880 --> 00:45:03,240 believing. Psalm 34 verses 1 to say 3 says 795 00:45:03,240 --> 00:45:05,280 this, I will extol the Lord at all times. 796 00:45:05,280 --> 00:45:08,560 His praise will be on my lips. I will glory in the Lord. 797 00:45:08,560 --> 00:45:11,880 Let the afflicted here and rejoice, glorify the Lord with 798 00:45:11,880 --> 00:45:14,320 me. Let us exalt his name together. 799 00:45:14,320 --> 00:45:16,800 In fact, when you read through that and when you go to verse 8, 800 00:45:16,800 --> 00:45:19,080 a lot of us know. And this verse, it says taste 801 00:45:19,080 --> 00:45:21,520 and see that the Lord is good. Blessed is the one whom takes 802 00:45:21,720 --> 00:45:25,640 refuge in him. As I told two weeks back, this 803 00:45:25,640 --> 00:45:30,520 is a generation which thinks food tastes good by watching and 804 00:45:30,520 --> 00:45:33,640 not tasting. And a lot of you today have been 805 00:45:33,640 --> 00:45:35,720 watching Jesus and I have not tasted. 806 00:45:35,720 --> 00:45:37,800 And I'm thinking this Christian life is not for me. 807 00:45:38,600 --> 00:45:40,600 Don't make a judgement like that. 808 00:45:42,400 --> 00:45:48,880 Just because someone can make a food item look good on, on 809 00:45:48,880 --> 00:45:52,160 Instagram, on all these things, don't think it tastes good. 810 00:45:53,240 --> 00:45:56,000 A lot of people think cakes look good, but the minute you touch 811 00:45:56,040 --> 00:45:58,080 that cake and if there's fondness, it tastes bad. 812 00:45:58,800 --> 00:46:02,880 So today, whatever your idea of Christianity is, if you've just 813 00:46:02,880 --> 00:46:06,480 seen it and you've judged it, you've not known Christ at all. 814 00:46:06,920 --> 00:46:10,360 But if you've tasted him, if you're, if you had his praise on 815 00:46:10,360 --> 00:46:13,600 your lips, if you were guided by his Holy Spirit into every 816 00:46:13,600 --> 00:46:16,760 situation of your life and if you came out with Thanksgiving, 817 00:46:16,880 --> 00:46:20,360 giving glory to his name, you will be able to witness that 818 00:46:20,360 --> 00:46:23,600 Jesus is God. The psalmist is encouraging us 819 00:46:23,840 --> 00:46:30,600 to taste him, experience him a heart 1/2 hearted surrender is 820 00:46:30,600 --> 00:46:34,960 half hearted experience. So the more I start tasting of 821 00:46:34,960 --> 00:46:39,880 Jesus goodness in my life of Jesus praise and I start singing 822 00:46:39,880 --> 00:46:41,480 it out. And what is praise? 823 00:46:41,480 --> 00:46:44,280 Praise is surrender saying God, you come and do this. 824 00:46:44,880 --> 00:46:47,520 All I can do is just stand here and just say thank you Jesus. 825 00:46:48,040 --> 00:46:50,160 A lot of us struggle to lift hands in church. 826 00:46:50,400 --> 00:46:52,000 A lot of us struggle to lift hands. 827 00:46:52,000 --> 00:46:55,360 It's a, it's a human posture where we are seeing God. 828 00:46:56,720 --> 00:46:59,640 Honestly, I can't, I want to be in control. 829 00:46:59,760 --> 00:47:03,040 I can't surrender. I challenge you start with 830 00:47:03,040 --> 00:47:04,840 physically lifting your hands and seeing Lord. 831 00:47:04,840 --> 00:47:06,800 I surrender. I surrender my wife. 832 00:47:06,800 --> 00:47:09,880 I surrender my children. I surrender my job, I surrender 833 00:47:09,880 --> 00:47:11,760 my parents. I surrender everything. 834 00:47:12,520 --> 00:47:17,560 Do as you will. Psalm 40 versus 6 to 8 sacrifice 835 00:47:17,560 --> 00:47:21,680 and offering you did not desire. But my years you have opened 836 00:47:21,680 --> 00:47:24,240 burnt offerings and sin offering you did not require. 837 00:47:24,640 --> 00:47:26,400 Then I said, here I am, I've come. 838 00:47:26,400 --> 00:47:27,960 It is written about me in the scroll. 839 00:47:28,280 --> 00:47:32,440 I desire to do your will. My God, Your law is within my 840 00:47:32,440 --> 00:47:34,760 heart. The beautiful thing is a lot of 841 00:47:34,760 --> 00:47:36,800 you are thinking, you know what? I'll come to church, I'll give 842 00:47:36,800 --> 00:47:40,240 my tithes, I'll give my offerings, I'll do a check box, 843 00:47:40,240 --> 00:47:41,880 and I'll go. But God's saying I don't want 844 00:47:41,880 --> 00:47:44,160 your sacrifice. I don't want you thinking that 845 00:47:44,160 --> 00:47:46,080 you're doing me a favor by giving me something. 846 00:47:46,080 --> 00:47:50,680 No, I want your ears. I want your heart where we'll do 847 00:47:50,720 --> 00:47:53,680 what I'm calling you to do. You'll desire to do my will. 848 00:47:55,560 --> 00:47:58,760 Satan wants to take us away. He will distract us. 849 00:47:59,200 --> 00:48:04,040 He will distract us, but I'm wanting you to move to a place 850 00:48:04,040 --> 00:48:09,800 where you'll be able to trust. The problem is when we allow our 851 00:48:09,800 --> 00:48:15,320 ears and our mouth to be shut, we stop hearing from God. 852 00:48:15,480 --> 00:48:20,040 We stop giving Him praise, We stop receiving his 853 00:48:20,040 --> 00:48:23,800 encouragement, We stop giving thanks to him. 854 00:48:24,880 --> 00:48:28,960 And Jesus is saying, I want to set you free today. 855 00:48:29,680 --> 00:48:32,760 If Fatah open up. And so today's church, I would 856 00:48:32,760 --> 00:48:35,960 ask you, would you open up? Would you allow God to open your 857 00:48:35,960 --> 00:48:37,360 ears? Would you allow God to open your 858 00:48:37,360 --> 00:48:42,320 tongue? In Matthew chapter 13 we see 859 00:48:42,480 --> 00:48:47,720 Jesus tells that I'm talking in parables and he goes on to talk 860 00:48:47,720 --> 00:48:51,920 from a passage in which he quotes Isaiah and and this is 861 00:48:51,920 --> 00:48:55,160 what it says in From Worst 13 onwards. 862 00:48:55,160 --> 00:48:57,440 This is why I speak to them in parables. 863 00:48:57,720 --> 00:49:01,240 Those seeing, they do not see, though hearing, they do not hear 864 00:49:01,640 --> 00:49:04,040 or understand. In them is fulfilled the 865 00:49:04,040 --> 00:49:07,880 prophecy of Isaiah. You will ever hearing, but never 866 00:49:07,880 --> 00:49:09,840 understanding. You'll be ever seen but never 867 00:49:09,840 --> 00:49:11,800 perceiving. For this people's heart has 868 00:49:11,800 --> 00:49:15,040 become calloused. They hardly hear their ears. 869 00:49:15,640 --> 00:49:18,400 They have closed their eyes, otherwise they might see with 870 00:49:18,400 --> 00:49:20,840 their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their 871 00:49:20,840 --> 00:49:23,360 hearts and turn. And I would heal them. 872 00:49:23,920 --> 00:49:26,360 But blessed are your eyes, because they see, your ears 873 00:49:26,360 --> 00:49:28,520 because they hear. But truly I tell you, many 874 00:49:28,520 --> 00:49:32,240 prophets and righteous people long to see what you see but did 875 00:49:32,240 --> 00:49:34,920 not see it, and to hear what you did not hear. 876 00:49:34,960 --> 00:49:38,480 This imagine every prophet, minor prophet, major prophet who 877 00:49:38,480 --> 00:49:41,200 wrote about Jesus coming, the Messiah coming, the Redeemer 878 00:49:41,200 --> 00:49:45,640 coming, the Lord will gather his people back into Jerusalem would 879 00:49:45,640 --> 00:49:50,360 have wanted to see it happen. And Jesus is telling that many 880 00:49:50,360 --> 00:49:53,440 would have given up so many things to be here to see this 881 00:49:54,240 --> 00:49:56,800 today. Can our eyes be open? 882 00:49:56,800 --> 00:50:03,160 Can our ears be open? Can our mouth be loosened up 883 00:50:03,760 --> 00:50:07,120 from the clutches so that we'll be able to praise Him and give 884 00:50:07,120 --> 00:50:11,160 Him thanks? So today I would ask you, 885 00:50:11,160 --> 00:50:15,440 church, can your ears be open? Because can your mouth be 886 00:50:15,440 --> 00:50:18,560 released so that you can testify to God? 887 00:50:19,640 --> 00:50:22,880 This Kingdom life is A2 fold where we listen and we speak. 888 00:50:23,560 --> 00:50:26,040 We call on Him and He speaks. We are listening. 889 00:50:26,760 --> 00:50:29,680 We testify about Him, we tell Him about his goodness, we 890 00:50:29,680 --> 00:50:32,560 praise, we give Him praise. A lot of you are coming into 891 00:50:32,560 --> 00:50:35,560 church without being in a position of praising God. 892 00:50:35,560 --> 00:50:39,280 You think, you know what, I'm living in the 90s and I Can't 893 00:50:39,280 --> 00:50:42,160 Sing these songs. God is worthy of our praise 894 00:50:42,160 --> 00:50:45,080 every day. His mercies are new every 895 00:50:45,080 --> 00:50:48,520 morning. If you withheld it, if you 896 00:50:48,520 --> 00:50:51,760 withheld God's praise, He will withheld His blessing. 897 00:50:51,760 --> 00:50:54,920 As simple as that. The minute you start bringing 898 00:50:54,920 --> 00:50:58,960 praise, genuine heart, cry with your heart towards Him, all that 899 00:50:58,960 --> 00:51:02,280 God has to do is sing. I'm here, I'm listening, I will 900 00:51:02,280 --> 00:51:06,480 do it. And so today I would ask you, 901 00:51:06,480 --> 00:51:12,160 can we start speaking in faith, hearing the right things as 902 00:51:12,160 --> 00:51:16,640 Elijah heard the right whisper as he was standing there and 903 00:51:16,640 --> 00:51:23,480 waiting to hear. Today you and I are witnesses, 904 00:51:24,160 --> 00:51:25,880 witnesses. And you know, I'm reminded of 905 00:51:25,880 --> 00:51:29,160 that story where Peter and John went to pray and then they were 906 00:51:29,160 --> 00:51:31,600 caught by the sand hindrance. They said, don't do this. 907 00:51:31,800 --> 00:51:35,440 And Peter says, and for us, we cannot help Speaking of what we 908 00:51:35,440 --> 00:51:39,760 have seen and heard. And so today a lot of us will be 909 00:51:39,760 --> 00:51:43,280 in this position of just speaking out because we've heard 910 00:51:43,280 --> 00:51:46,400 God and God saying, do it with all your heart because you've 911 00:51:46,400 --> 00:51:49,680 seen me face to face, no intentions, Just do what I'm 912 00:51:49,680 --> 00:51:54,000 commanding you to do in line with his word so that you'll be 913 00:51:54,000 --> 00:51:57,440 able to do and fulfill the Great Commission that He's called you 914 00:51:57,440 --> 00:52:01,320 and me to do. And one of the beautiful things 915 00:52:01,320 --> 00:52:05,920 is when we start living out this way, people will know who Jesus 916 00:52:05,920 --> 00:52:08,560 is. You know, if you read in Mark 917 00:52:08,560 --> 00:52:13,640 Chapter 7 verse 24 and then Mark 73637, Jesus told people who are 918 00:52:13,640 --> 00:52:16,720 getting healed, you know what? Don't go out and say, but they 919 00:52:16,800 --> 00:52:20,160 all just came. They came around Jesus in verse 920 00:52:20,160 --> 00:52:23,760 3637 it says, and Jesus charged them to tell no one, but the 921 00:52:23,760 --> 00:52:27,280 more he charged them the most zealously they proclaimed it and 922 00:52:27,280 --> 00:52:29,640 they were astonished beyond measure, saying he has done all 923 00:52:29,640 --> 00:52:32,400 things well. He even makes a deaf hear and 924 00:52:32,400 --> 00:52:36,160 the mute speak. So today, what is God wanting to 925 00:52:36,160 --> 00:52:39,800 do in your life? He's wanting to experience it so 926 00:52:39,800 --> 00:52:42,440 you can witness about it. He wants you to see it. 927 00:52:42,600 --> 00:52:46,720 He wants you to pursue him so that you can experience it right 928 00:52:46,720 --> 00:52:49,480 from him. You can, you will experience 929 00:52:49,480 --> 00:52:52,040 everything from him, the breakthrough from him, his 930 00:52:52,040 --> 00:52:55,160 blessings from him, his provision from him, his strength 931 00:52:55,160 --> 00:52:57,400 from Him. And then you'll be able to 932 00:52:57,400 --> 00:53:00,600 witness it and you'll point them all back to Jesus. 933 00:53:01,280 --> 00:53:03,160 You'll point them all back to Jesus. 934 00:53:03,800 --> 00:53:07,200 And so today I just want to ask you, church, will we move 935 00:53:07,200 --> 00:53:09,040 towards Jesus because he's approachable. 936 00:53:09,680 --> 00:53:13,760 He's not a human person who has 2030 bodyguards. 937 00:53:13,760 --> 00:53:17,640 He's approachable, you call on him and he'll hear you wherever 938 00:53:17,640 --> 00:53:19,440 you're at. So today, whether you're in a 939 00:53:19,440 --> 00:53:22,160 paying guest, in your hostel, wherever you're at, he's willing 940 00:53:22,160 --> 00:53:25,840 to listen. He's willing to listen intently. 941 00:53:29,000 --> 00:53:33,200 We intently listen to Jesus and we have to do what he says. 942 00:53:34,280 --> 00:53:39,720 And the third thing is let Jesus open our ears and loosen our 943 00:53:39,720 --> 00:53:44,320 mouths so that we'll be able to testify about him and we'll be 944 00:53:44,320 --> 00:53:49,560 able to give him the glory and give him all the honor if Fatah 945 00:53:50,000 --> 00:53:52,600 be opened. And so today at church, I just 946 00:53:52,600 --> 00:53:55,400 want to ask you if you can all as an act of surrender, lift 947 00:53:55,400 --> 00:53:58,440 your hands wherever you're at and say, Lord, I'm here waiting 948 00:53:58,440 --> 00:54:02,600 in your presence as I heard this word, as people approached you, 949 00:54:02,600 --> 00:54:06,120 I'm approaching you today. This is me, all of me. 950 00:54:06,120 --> 00:54:09,560 Lord, I pray, I put aside logic, I put aside my reasoning, I put 951 00:54:09,560 --> 00:54:13,280 aside my experiences, I put aside what people have told, and 952 00:54:13,280 --> 00:54:16,360 I've come into your presence because I want to taste and see, 953 00:54:17,600 --> 00:54:20,800 I want to taste you. Lord Jesus, I want you to be the 954 00:54:20,800 --> 00:54:23,000 Lord and Savior of our lives. And Lord, so even right now, I 955 00:54:23,000 --> 00:54:25,760 invite you into the very homes, into the very places and the 956 00:54:25,760 --> 00:54:28,320 very hearts that are listening to this, that your presence 957 00:54:28,320 --> 00:54:30,400 would come in. Lord Jesus, I pray that we 958 00:54:30,400 --> 00:54:34,600 wouldn't contend with you, Lord Jesus, with our free will, but 959 00:54:34,600 --> 00:54:37,320 rather we would surrender ourselves holy to you so that 960 00:54:37,320 --> 00:54:41,160 we'll be able to experience the gospel made alive in US. 961 00:54:41,320 --> 00:54:44,320 Holy Spirit, would you breathe a fresh wind into each and every 962 00:54:44,320 --> 00:54:46,800 heart right now that they'll be able to experience you. 963 00:54:46,800 --> 00:54:50,400 Strengthen them, be with them, We thank you, Lord, go before 964 00:54:50,400 --> 00:54:51,760 us. Lord Jesus, I pray that in 965 00:54:51,760 --> 00:54:54,560 everything we'll be able to give glory and honor to your name, 966 00:54:54,560 --> 00:54:57,600 Lord Jesus. I pray, Lord, as people are 967 00:54:57,600 --> 00:55:01,200 being healed spiritually, I pray and ask Lord, the physical 968 00:55:01,200 --> 00:55:02,760 healing will follow. Lord Jesus. 969 00:55:03,000 --> 00:55:06,560 I pray that Lord, they will be intently able to see and hear 970 00:55:06,760 --> 00:55:10,200 and will be able to speak and give thanks and praise to you so 971 00:55:10,200 --> 00:55:11,720 that you alone will be glorified. 972 00:55:11,720 --> 00:55:14,400 No one else. You alone will be honored no one 973 00:55:14,400 --> 00:55:16,240 else. You alone will be able to take 974 00:55:16,240 --> 00:55:17,640 your rightful place and no one else. 975 00:55:17,640 --> 00:55:21,320 Lord, be glorified. We give you all the glory and 976 00:55:21,320 --> 00:55:23,880 honor because you're the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and 977 00:55:23,880 --> 00:55:26,960 the end. We worship you, Lord, we worship 978 00:55:26,960 --> 00:55:28,880 you. Be glorified and honor and most 979 00:55:28,880 --> 00:55:31,000 holy name we pray, Amen. Amen. 980 00:55:32,080 --> 00:55:34,720 So Church, I charge you that even as you go out this week, go 981 00:55:34,760 --> 00:55:37,640 out in boldness. Go out knowing that Jesus is 982 00:55:37,640 --> 00:55:40,400 approachable. Go out knowing that He intently 983 00:55:40,400 --> 00:55:43,240 wants to talk to you and He wants you to do what He's 984 00:55:43,240 --> 00:55:46,680 telling you to do. And 3rd, I ask and pray that 985 00:55:46,680 --> 00:55:50,560 spiritual ears will be open. Your mouth would be able to 986 00:55:50,560 --> 00:55:52,880 declare him. Spiritual mouth will be able to 987 00:55:52,880 --> 00:55:56,160 declare and witness about him so that we'll be able to fulfill 988 00:55:56,160 --> 00:55:58,800 the great admission. Jesus wants to release us into 989 00:55:58,800 --> 00:56:00,520 the calling that He's calling us to do. 990 00:56:00,880 --> 00:56:06,440 So I declare Fatah be opened. I pray let not Satan come in any 991 00:56:06,440 --> 00:56:08,960 form and take control that we'll be alert. 992 00:56:09,240 --> 00:56:12,360 Our minds will be alert, our heart will be alert, and we'll 993 00:56:12,360 --> 00:56:15,080 be able to fulfill and run this race well so that we'll be able 994 00:56:15,080 --> 00:56:16,480 to give glory and honor to its name. 995 00:56:17,160 --> 00:56:18,080 Pray that you have a blessed day. 996 00:56:18,200 --> 00:56:20,760 God bless you. Thanks for listening to this 997 00:56:20,760 --> 00:56:23,880 message. We hope you were blessed to hear 998 00:56:23,880 --> 00:56:27,600 more messages like this. Make sure to subscribe and check 999 00:56:27,600 --> 00:56:30,240 out our podcast channel for past episodes. 1000 00:56:30,720 --> 00:56:34,000 If you like what you are hearing, consider rating us, 1001 00:56:34,200 --> 00:56:37,160 subscribing, and even sharing it with friends. 1002 00:56:37,560 --> 00:56:42,400 That would really help us. More content from Via Zion and 1003 00:56:42,400 --> 00:56:46,400 to connect with us go to viazion.in. 1004 00:56:46,960 --> 00:56:50,520 Remember, whoever finds Jesus finds life.