Sermon Notes: “More Glory” @ The River on May 27

****Here are the notes to my sermon “More Glory” from The River on May 27. You can listen to this sermon on The River podcast @ http://itunes.apple.com/ca/podcast/river-streams/id432827648 or in the iTunes store by searching for River Streams.****

2 Corinthians 3:7-11 But if the ministry of death, written and engraved on stones, was glorious, so that the children of Israel could not look steadily at the face of Moses because of the glory of his countenance, which glory was passing away, 8 how will the ministry of the Spirit not be more glorious? 9 For if the ministry of condemnation had glory, the ministry of righteousness exceeds much more in glory. 10 For even what was made glorious had no glory in this respect, because of the glory that excels. 11 For if what is passing away was glorious, what remains is much more glorious.

1. The Glorious Law
   1. Psalm 119:72 The law of Your mouth is better to me Than thousands of coins of gold and silver.
   2. Proverbs 6:23 For the commandment is a lamp, And the law a light; Reproofs of instruction are the way of life,
   3. Romans 7:7 What shall we say then? Is the law sin? Certainly not! On the contrary, I would not have known sin except through the law. For I would not have known covetousness unless the law had said, “You shall not covet.”
   4. Galatians 3:24-25 Therefore the law was our tutor to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith. 25 But after faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor.

5. We don’t need to downplay how glorious the Old Covenant was in order to preach the New and proclaim it’s surpassing Glory!

6. The Law for Christians is no longer a “Thou shalt not!” but, rather a “I delight to do Your will, O my God, And Your law iswithin my heart.” (Psalm 40:8)
   1. Fulfillment of Jeremiah 31:33 But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the LORD: I will put My law in their minds, and write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people.

7. Preach one thing! Jesus Christ and Him crucified (1 Corinthians 2:2)
   1. Hebrews 13:8-9 Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. 9 Do not be carried about with various and strange doctrines. For it is good that the heart be established by grace, not with foods which have not profited those who have been occupied with them.
   2. We need to believe God is big enough to reveal Himself in a new way every day.
   3. Same Gospel; Same Christ Crucified; New Insight, Revelation and Depth

2. The Disciples Journey
   1. The Disciples walked with Jesus in the flesh (Gospels)
      1. Acts 4:13 Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated and untrained men, they marveled. And they realized that they had been with Jesus.
   2. They saw Jesus resurrected for 40 days
      1. Acts 1:3 to whom He also presented Himself alive after His suffering by many infallible proofs, being seen by them during forty days and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God
   3. They waited together and prayed for the Holy Spirit
      1. Acts 1:4-5 And being assembled together with them, He commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the Promise of the Father, “which,” He said, “you have heard from Me; 5 for John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.”
      2. Acts 1:14 These all continued with one accord in prayer and supplication, with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with His brothers.
      3. Acts 2:1 When the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place.
   4. Pentecost (Acts 2)
   5. Peter and John arrested for speaking boldly. After they are released they pray for MORE
      1. Acts 4:29-31 Now, Lord, look on their threats, and grant to Your servants that with all boldness they may speak Your word, 30 by stretching out Your hand to heal, and that signs and wonders may be done through the name of Your holy Servant Jesus.” 31 And when they had prayed, the place where they were assembled together was shaken; and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and they spoke the word of God with boldness.
   6. Prayer and laying on of hands of the Seven
      1. Acts 6:3 Therefore, brethren, seek out from among you seven men of good reputation, full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom, whom we may appoint over this business
         1. They were already full
      2. Acts 6:5-7 And the saying pleased the whole multitude. And they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and the Holy Spirit, and Philip, Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolas, a proselyte from Antioch, 6 whom they set before the apostles; and when they had prayed, they laid hands on them. 7 Then the word of God spread, and the number of the disciples multiplied greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests were obedient to the faith.
         1. Impartation from the Apostles, which led to the spreading of the Gospel and souls being saved
   7. Acts 13:1-3 – Ministering to the Lord, prayer and fasting. Barnabas and Saul sent out from Antioch
   8. Pentecost is not enough! We need more every day!
      1. 2 Corinthians 3:11 “passing away” (NKJV) / “done away” (KJV)
         1. The Old Man – Romans 6:6 knowing this, that our oldman was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin.
         2. The flesh dying daily – 1 Corinthians 15:31 I affirm, by the boasting in you which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die daily
         3. That which was created in the image of God, according to the old nature in Adam, which was glorious
         4. Our natural gifts and abilities
      2. Matthew 6:34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.
         1. Don’t worry about tomorrow, God gives you enough grace for today
         2. But the grace for today won’t be enough for tomorrow as well
            1. Remember the manna? Remember the wise vs foolish servants?
            2. We need to know how to go get more from God. We can’t live off of yesterdays provision/revelation.

3. Our Place in History
   1. Church History: Moves of God becoming dead religious structures.
   2. Now He is breaking down traditional/denominational walls.
   3. Isaiah 43:18-20 Do not remember the former things, Nor consider the things of old. 19 Behold, I will do a new thing, Now it shall spring forth; Shall you not know it? I will even make a road in the wilderness And rivers in the desert. 20 The beast of the field will honor Me, The jackals and the ostriches, Because I give waters in the wilderness And rivers in the desert, To give drink to My people, My chosen.

Jeremy Riddle – Our Father

Was enjoying this today and wanted to share it. From earlier this year.

“The Heart of the Father & Prophetic Warnings” – Loren Sandford – April 28, 2010

***I came across this prophetic word today and thought to share it***

“The Heart of the Father & Prophetic Warnings” – Loren Sandford – April 28, 2010

The Father’s heart:
I have not been alone in hearing from God and issuing a prophetic word that God is moving his people from the age of salvation to the age of the kingdom of God, from focus on self, personal healing and individual blessing into a focus on demonstrating the power of the kingdom of God beyond the walls of the church for the sake of all those Jesus came to save. But He has also been calling us deeper into His heart – a message often lost. Sooner or later, power exercised without the loving heart of the Father results in foolishness and abuse, even when it’s heaven’s power. The kingdom of God operates on the law of God and the order of God. He is, after all, a King. His law and His order are the expression of His own nature and character. In the days to come the apostle John’s affirmation that “God is love” (I John 4:8) must become incarnate in our lives and ministries at a deeper level than ever before lest the power of the kingdom of God now being poured out become a temporary manifestation mishandled and misapplied by those who don’t understand its implications. Pastors and leaders (whether women or men) must minister the Father’s heart. Prophets must become shepherds in the Father’s heart. Churches must be infused with the heart of the Father for the healing of lives.

Prophetic warnings for the days to come:

1) Beware the growth of strange theologies and subtle twisting of the Scriptures as teachers seek to impress the body of Christ with “new” revelation and as believers hunger for the power they lost when they surrendered the simplicity of merely being sons and daughters. Have you ever noticed how we moved easily and simply in signs and wonders in the beginning of renewal and revival, but now feel we must go to conferences and schools to learn to do them? Thinking to become mature, we surrender the humble simplicity of child-likeness which is a prerequisite for true heavenly power. Unless we become as children, we cannot inherit the kingdom of God (Matthew 18:2-3, Mark 10:15 and Luke 18:17). At heart this means that only in the simple innocence of being children, sons and daughters, can we truly walk in the power of the kingdom that has come to earth in Jesus. After a lifetime of moving in renewal and revival circles, I no longer aspire to be a miracle worker. I only want to be a son in the confidence that as a son I’ll be a miracle worker. Jesus healed people not because He knew HOW to heal. He healed because He was and is the Son of God who knew His Father and moved in oneness with Him. Ultimately we who have been adopted as sons and daughters through Jesus will not do miracles because we’ve learned how to do them, no matter what we might think. We will only continue to minister the power of the kingdom if we’ve been rooted in the Father’s love and have become one with Him as sons and daughters.To sum it up, in days to come we must be certain to hunger after the right things for the right reasons. As a son of my Father, I hunger to grow up to be like Him. This begins and ends with a transformation of heart that enables us to walk in the height, depth and breadth of His love that passes understanding. This is our family heritage and inheritance. This is the source of our power and authority.

2) Beware those who teach the impartation and exercise of kingdom power without the necessity of walking in the character of the Father and the Son. This leads to abuse, foolish actions, bad prophecies and inflated egos. When power and glory rest upon a foundation built of insecurities, fleshly ambitions, bitterness and judgments, destruction results. Witness the tragedy of King Saul whose broken foundation resulted first in disobedience, then in jealousy of David and finally in the loss of his sanity when the weight of destiny came to rest upon him. In recent years we have seen a long list of national and international Christian leaders fall to immorality and other failures for the same reasons that took Saul down. This must stop. Let this be a season of the broken spirit and the broken and contrite heart that God accepts as true sacrifice (Psalm 51:17). Too many godly approaches to inner transformation in the Father’s love have been sown into the body of Christ for us not to use them.

3) Beware the adoption of absolute statements put forth by those who teach the transfer of the power and sovereignty of God to human hands as if these were under our control to wield at will. Not even Jesus wielded power by His own volition, but said instead, “Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father is in Me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on My own initiative, but the Father abiding in Me does His works” (John 14:10). The use of the present tense in the Greek word “does” indicates ongoing action in the present. As the Father moves, Jesus moves. Heaven’s power does not flow at our beck and call. The Holy Spirit does not obey us. We must rather obey Him. We must move as He moves when He is moving.

4) Beware ever more popular teachings that in any way deny the sovereignty and foreknowledge of God and place the future in the hands of human beings. This may flatter our egos and fill us with a sense of power but it reduces God to a being as bound by time as we are. Time is a created thing. God is not. He knows the end from the beginning because He spoke time into existence. As the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end, all of time is contained within Him while He can be contained by nothing. In this we can rest while continuing to take responsibility for our own decisions. We can believe in the sovereignty and foreknowledge of God while holding to the freedom of man to choose. We will never understand it, but God can never be limited to our finite human understanding.

I see danger of shipwreck for the renewal movement in all these things. Let us hold the course of humility and truth and seek the depths of the Father’s heart.

***Visit Loren Sanford’s personal website at http://rlorensandford.com***

The Necessity Of Fulfilled Promises

Over the last couple weeks we have been celebrating the addition of Asher Allen James to our family! Our newborn son is amazing. We are so in love with him and our 23 month old daughter is abounding with joy over “the baby.” God has blessed us and fulfilled another of the promises that He has made to us. This particular promise began in October 2008 when we received a prophetic word to “Be fruitful and multiply!” This original word was confirmed numerous times and was partially fulfilled in the birth of our daughter. Then God was faithful and good enough to tell us when He was going to give us our second child. One day my wife heard clearly from God, “I’m going to give you another baby.” And now our family has officially been multiplied by 2.

During this time of celebration, I’ve been meditating a lot on God’s goodness, ability AND faithfulness to fulfill promises. I’ve also been struck by the fact that my wife and I have had to work with God to see these promises fulfilled. Okay, joining with God to produce babies isn’t exactly work. It’s definitely more of a joyful partnering! But the point being, we couldn’t just wait around for them to be fulfilled without actively participating. (As a side note, did you know that actively participating with God can be amazing!)

***ANYWAYS… Before I continue, I must insert a bit of a disclaimer. What I’m going to write about below might be a bit controversial. I believe that God wants to bless His children. Now I realize that there are some people that don’t like to be blessed by God and don’t think that Christians should be happy and things like that. If that’s you, just know that Jesus still loves you and try not to be offended by what you’re going to read. Also, I am very aware that some of the Biblical truths I am going to share have been used and abused in manipulative ways by self-seeking ministries. I do not believe in a “name it, claim it” gospel or believe that God wants us to be rich to fulfill our own desires. In all aspects of our lives (finances, time, relationship, giftings, anointings, etc…) we are called to be good stewards who are seeking to build His Kingdom, not our own.***

Remember those days in Sunday school marching around the room singing “Father Abraham had many sons. Many sons had Father Abraham. I am one of them and so are you. So let’s all praise the Lord. Right arm!” We are sons and daughters of Abraham, grafted in to the family through Jesus. We get to share in the covenantal promises God made to him in Genesis 12! Let’s look at that passage:

Now the Lord had said to Abram: “Get out of your country, from your family and from your father’s house, to a land that I will show you.  I will make you a great nation; I will bless you and make your name great; and you shall be a blessing.  I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who curses you; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”   – Genesis 12:1-3

God promised to bless Abraham. Why you might ask? Because He wanted Abraham to have nice clothes, drive a fancy car, and be extremely comfortable. JOKING!!!  The real reason why God was going to bless Abraham was so that he could be a blessing to all the earth. God blessed him to be a blessing. Got it? Let’s put it another way. According to his own resources and abilities, Abraham would never be able to bless anyone. In fact, he would not even have a name on the earth past his own generation!

Some people actually think that it is selfish and greedy to expect God to bless us. That my friend, is a sin called pride. Abraham needed God’s blessing. Abraham knew that he could do nothing apart from God. He was living out John 15:5, “for without Me you can do nothing.” And he was also a man of faith, who lived out Philippians 4:13, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” We need to adopt this same humble attitude as our “Father Abraham”.  We need to humbly let God bless us so that we have something to give away. How can we feed the poor unless we receive the provision of food from God?  How can we clothe the naked if we can’t afford to buy them clothes? How can we love, unless we first receive the blessing of love from God? How can we fulfill our commission to heal the sick, cleanse lepers and raise the dead unless we receive the power of the Holy Spirit flowing through us? We NEED to allow ourselves to be blessed “with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ” (Ephesians 1:3) so that we can do the “good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in” (Ephesians 2:10).

But what about the abuses? What about the selfish manipulations that have been found in certain ministries? What if I think I can’t be trusted with God’s blessings? What about 1 Timothy 6:10 “For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows”?

These are all valid questions. And we should again look to the Father of our Faith, Abraham. All of his blessings were represented in the one blessing of his son, Isaac. We all know the story. What did God ask Abraham to do? Lay the blessing, the VERY PROMISE of God on the alter. Whatever God wants to give you, give it back to Him. If you struggle with loving money, give A LOT of money away. Soon that bondage will be broken through your generosity. Then you will be found faithful and trustworthy to steward all the money God can throw at you. As you love God, your love for money will fade away, because you can’t love God and money. It’s impossible, so love God – problem solved. Do you struggle with trying to control your time or do you feel controlled by it? Spend more time with God in prayer, soaking, reading the Word, or doing nothing but hanging out with Jesus. Give Him control and the first-fruit of your time. Soon your time management will be so Kingdom ordered that you will find yourself gladly wasting your life on God, fulfilling your greatest purpose and calling with rejoicing!

Above all, we should be asking God to bless us with His Spirit. The fruit of the Holy Spirit at work in our lives will build in us the character to carry and steward ANY amount of blessing God would want to flow through us. Galatians 5:22-23 “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,  gentleness, self-control.” If we are walking in love, we are not going to have any fear of being blessed by God, because perfect love casts out fear (1 John 4:18)! If we are ordering our lives with faithfulness and self-control, we can’t help but be good stewards with the provision God entrusts to us. If we cannot be trusted with God’s blessings because we do not have the fruit of the Spirit operating in our lives, the first blessing we should be asking for and expecting to receive is MORE of the Holy Spirit!

We need to be a Church that believes the whole Bible and receives the promises that God has already said are ours. And what promises belong to us? 2 Corinthians 1:20 “For all the promises of God in Him are Yes, and in Him Amen, to the glory of God through us.” It’s true that there are times and seasons for certain promises to be released. And God intends us to work together, so He blesses each of us with complimentary gifts so that we will learn to rely on each other and build unity in the Body. But if we don’t receive the promises and blessings of God, the whole Body suffers, the world around us suffers and God is not glorified. In fact, if we settle for anything less than ALL that God has for us, He is neither glorified or honored. And the world continues to die, as we “despise the riches of His goodness, forbearance, and longsuffering, not knowing that the goodness of God leads you to repentance?” (Romans 2:4)

Beloved Bride of Christ, let’s receive all that our Father has for us. Let’s “pursue love, and desire spiritual gifts.” Let’s become like our Father Abraham and be blessed to be a blessing. The lost, the broken, and the suffering world is waiting for us to be blessed!