WEBVTT 00:00.000 --> 00:04.440 All right, quick Sunday. Well, I don't know how quick it's going to be, but let's do a Sunday overview. 00:05.680 --> 00:13.080 Last Sunday, we talked about the Ephesians 4 banner that is part of the forerunner vision and lifestyle. 00:13.920 --> 00:22.360 And primarily what the Ephesians 4 banner, it's scriptural. It's coming out of Ephesians chapter 4 from verse 11 all the way to verse 16. 00:22.360 --> 00:32.300 And what we find there in the scriptures is we find the apostle Paul telling us that when Jesus was ascending into the heavens, he gave good gifts. 00:32.880 --> 00:36.560 And we know them as the five-fold ministries, what we know them as. 00:37.160 --> 00:49.380 And the purpose of the gifts that Jesus gave was not for us to feel entitled or to walk around and flaunt our title and say, I'm a pastor, I'm an apostle, I'm a prophet, I'm an evangelist. 00:49.380 --> 00:59.520 The purpose of the gifts that were given by Jesus was for the sake of his body to be mature. That's what they were given for. 01:00.620 --> 01:07.560 It wasn't just here you go so you can walk in a measure of power, but it was here you go. 01:08.120 --> 01:16.640 I trust you enough that you would use what I've given you as a gift to mature my bride. 01:16.640 --> 01:19.580 That's the purpose of the five-fold ministry. 01:20.920 --> 01:36.420 I was sitting with somebody this week, another pastor this week, and him and I were chatting about what him and I both see is there is a prevalent issue in the body of Christ. 01:36.600 --> 01:44.180 And I said this last Sunday, but there is a prevalent issue in the body of Christ, and that is the fact that we are a bunch of immature people. 01:45.020 --> 01:52.420 That's the truth. And as him and I were grabbing lunch this week, this other pastor and I, we were sitting and we were talking about it. 01:52.840 --> 02:02.320 And I said, look, I said one of the reasons why there is such an immaturity in the body of Christ is because we've actually mishandled the five-fold. 02:03.500 --> 02:08.180 Let me give you an example of what I mean we've mishandled the five-fold. 02:08.180 --> 02:18.620 People that are actually called to be an apostle have been stripped of their apostleship and we refer to them just as pastors. 02:20.760 --> 02:33.520 Do you know that with one of the five-fold, whether it's an apostle, whether it's a pastor, a prophet, an evangelist, a teacher, there is an anointing that is tied with it. 02:33.520 --> 02:43.620 And the purpose of that anointing is not to flex on everybody and say, look what I'm doing, but it's for the sake of maturing the body of Christ. 02:45.260 --> 02:53.560 So when we begin to actually not honor somebody in the five-fold that they walk in, do you know what we're actually doing? 02:53.560 --> 03:05.640 We are actually stripping the anointing that coincides or maybe there's a better word you can use that complements that title. 03:06.600 --> 03:15.360 So when we don't refer to somebody who is an apostle, we're actually stripping that anointing from maturing the body of Christ. 03:18.260 --> 03:25.320 So the prevalent issue in the body of Christ is that we're immature. And do you know how I can tell that we are immature? 03:26.620 --> 03:36.260 Is by our language. The funny thing, according to what Paul writes in 1 Corinthians when he's talking about the body of Christ, this is 1 Corinthians 12. 03:36.260 --> 03:44.940 The funny thing is that he writes if one member of the body, if he struggles or if she struggles, the whole body struggles. 03:46.480 --> 03:55.800 And it's funny to me that we have a bunch of Christians that actually complain about the body of Christ and how immature we are. 03:56.240 --> 04:03.280 And we say, did you see that church? Did you see that person? It's like, hold on a second. The reason is because of all of us together. 04:06.140 --> 04:13.300 If one member of the body struggles, if there is somebody, let me put it to you this way to make it a little more simple. 04:13.640 --> 04:25.360 If there is somebody in your sphere of influence that God has entrusted you to lead, because remember from last Sunday, I said each and every one of us operates in one of the five-fold. 04:25.360 --> 04:35.360 At least one. Yes, not all of us hold the office of it, but each and every one of us operates at least one of the five-fold ministries. 04:35.700 --> 04:43.840 We do. Which means that in some measure or another, you're leading somebody or a group of people. 04:44.800 --> 04:51.440 So the example that I'm trying to bring to you is, if you have somebody that is in your sphere of influence, 04:51.440 --> 04:57.480 and all you've been doing is complaining about them, of how immature they are in the faith. 04:57.940 --> 05:00.220 Friend, I would encourage you to change your language. 05:02.480 --> 05:07.680 Because they could be struggling in immaturity because you're probably not leading them right. 05:12.150 --> 05:17.430 But do you see what I mean? Do you see what I mean? 05:20.150 --> 05:31.770 We have an uproar. I would say in the last two, three years, we have had an uproar that to me all I see it as is that my goodness, Lord, your bride is very immature. 05:32.130 --> 05:41.130 But we have an uproar of a people in the body of Christ that have been going through different... 05:41.130 --> 05:45.990 I'm trying to be careful with my verbiage here. Let me put it this way. 05:45.990 --> 05:58.670 They think they are doing God's work by exposing other people's sins that have actually been dealt with years ago. 06:01.450 --> 06:09.990 And I read a post yesterday by a very reputable man of God who operates in the five-fold by the name of Prophet Jeremiah Johnson. 06:12.290 --> 06:17.250 And I knew that it was a spirit behind it, but I couldn't necessarily identify the spirit behind it. 06:17.310 --> 06:23.190 And last night, I just randomly stumbled across one of his recent posts, and you know what he calls that spirit? 06:24.050 --> 06:29.970 And a bore witness with me stronger. He said, there is a quarreling spirit that is coming against the body of Christ. 06:30.130 --> 06:32.570 And I said, my God, I said, you're right. 06:34.550 --> 06:40.590 There is a quarreling spirit that is literally going against the body of Christ in our day and age right now. 06:40.670 --> 06:45.270 In the last two years, I've seen it personally. I've seen it as an uproar. 06:47.210 --> 06:51.630 But what a lot of us don't see in the body of Christ is friend. 06:52.270 --> 06:55.730 It's because of us is why we have what we have in the body of Christ. 06:56.310 --> 07:03.810 It's because we have actually eliminated and we've stripped those that are called to be apostles. 07:04.530 --> 07:07.970 I'm not going to call them a hierarchy. I'm not going to call them that. 07:08.230 --> 07:14.070 But there is certain people that God has called in a higher authority in the body of Christ. 07:14.250 --> 07:18.310 And we've actually stripped them of their anointing and of their right. 07:18.570 --> 07:21.030 That's why we have what we have in the body of Christ today. 07:24.840 --> 07:29.260 You see, in Jesus is so desperate, I'll even say it this way. 07:29.960 --> 07:38.160 The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are so desperate and are so wanting for the bride of Christ to be mature. 07:38.580 --> 07:45.640 To come to the fullness of who we are in Him as His bride, as His church, as His people. 07:45.940 --> 07:51.320 That we read, that Ephesians 4, we read that it wasn't only that Jesus gave gifts, 07:51.320 --> 07:56.260 but according to Romans 12, we read the Father has given gifts. 07:56.920 --> 08:02.160 And according to 1 Corinthians 12, we read that the Holy Spirit has given gifts. 08:02.880 --> 08:05.220 What is the sake of all the gift giving? 08:07.020 --> 08:09.720 For the sake of the maturity of the bride of Christ. 08:12.660 --> 08:19.360 It's for the sake of maturing the saints to edify the body of Christ 08:19.360 --> 08:23.280 that we would come to a fullness of who we are in Him. 08:25.780 --> 08:33.560 So forerunner vision and lifestyle expresses this Ephesians 4 banner 08:33.560 --> 08:38.180 through literally, think of it this way, mentoring, spiritual adoption, 08:38.620 --> 08:42.300 bringing people into your home, and walking and doing life with them. 08:43.020 --> 08:46.920 That's how we have expressed it for over 10 years now. 08:46.920 --> 08:49.800 That's how we have expressed that type of lifestyle. 08:49.920 --> 08:52.920 This is forerunner vision and lifestyle, the Ephesians 4 banner. 08:54.140 --> 08:57.820 It's bringing people into your home. It's praying for people. 08:58.520 --> 09:03.180 It's taking people that God trusts you with, that you would influence them 09:03.180 --> 09:08.000 to help them be mentored, or I'm sorry, to help them mature in the things of God. 09:10.500 --> 09:14.920 I'm telling you, what if the people that you have been complaining about 09:14.920 --> 09:19.820 that are in your sphere, maybe it's your family members, 09:20.580 --> 09:26.760 maybe it's your coworkers, and you've been complaining about how immature they are. 09:27.160 --> 09:32.200 Friend, what if the fact that they're immature is that you're not doing 09:32.200 --> 09:34.700 what you need to do for the sake of the body of Christ. 09:37.480 --> 09:40.420 It's not just pastors that are called to mentor. 09:41.800 --> 09:44.640 It's not just pastors that are called to teach. 09:45.120 --> 09:47.600 In a church setting, we understand that. 09:48.400 --> 09:53.540 But like I said, each one of us, every individual that is born again, 09:54.220 --> 09:59.320 filled with the spirit, you literally are called to operate in one of the five-fold. 10:01.140 --> 10:03.140 For what? What's the purpose? For what sake? 10:04.040 --> 10:07.420 For the sake of maturing the body of Christ. That's literally it. 10:07.420 --> 10:10.680 It's not to flex and say, okay, I'm a prophet. 10:10.820 --> 10:15.220 I'm going to go prophesy up a storm. You can, if it's God. 10:17.520 --> 10:21.720 But if it ain't God, keep that mouth shut. I'm going to be honest with you. 10:22.640 --> 10:24.880 If it ain't God, keep that mouth shut. 10:24.940 --> 10:27.360 Because I fear for people that speak on their own account. 10:29.580 --> 10:34.420 So again, Ephesians 4 banner is expressed through adopting to... 10:35.740 --> 10:38.360 It's expressed through spiritual adoption, 10:38.700 --> 10:42.620 bringing people under you and walking life with them. 10:42.800 --> 10:47.080 Whether it's one person, whether it's two, whether it's five, whether it's ten, 10:47.480 --> 10:51.320 however many God is entrusting for you to walk through. 10:52.300 --> 10:56.540 I would encourage you to focus on that one. 10:56.760 --> 10:58.000 Start with that one. 10:59.600 --> 11:03.040 And if God finds you faithful in the little, he'll bring more. 11:03.040 --> 11:05.980 Trust me, he will. I've seen it in my own life. 11:07.160 --> 11:12.700 Now I want to talk about a little bit about maturity and what that actually is. 11:12.820 --> 11:18.460 I said it last Sunday, maturity is not measured on how spiritual you are. 11:19.920 --> 11:24.280 Because if maturity was measured on how spiritual we are, 11:24.480 --> 11:27.920 then we can say that the witches and the warlocks are pretty mature. 11:28.660 --> 11:34.520 If that's how we're measuring our maturity is how spiritual I am, 11:34.820 --> 11:38.980 how many encounters I've had, how many angelic visitations. 11:39.240 --> 11:43.380 If that is how I'm measuring or we are measuring our maturity, 11:43.600 --> 11:47.580 then we could say that the warlocks and the witches and people in witchcraft, 11:47.780 --> 11:49.040 they must be very mature. 11:49.960 --> 11:53.200 Because these people have out-of-body experiences on a daily. 11:57.480 --> 12:01.160 Maturity is not measured on how spiritual you are. 12:01.860 --> 12:04.560 But in the most plain language that I could tell you, 12:04.960 --> 12:09.460 maturity actually has to do more with character than it does with gifting. 12:11.320 --> 12:17.160 Maturity actually has to do more with the Galatians 5 than it does with the 1st Corinthians 12. 12:17.960 --> 12:20.240 Though I love the 1st Corinthians 12. 12:21.060 --> 12:22.860 I love the gifts of the spirit. 12:23.460 --> 12:27.380 I'm for them. We need them more than the early church need them. 12:27.400 --> 12:27.960 Did you hear me? 12:28.800 --> 12:32.780 We need the gifts of the spirit more than even the early church needed them. 12:32.920 --> 12:39.040 But I can tell you this, we need the Galatians 5 more than we need even the gifts. 12:39.380 --> 12:41.140 We need the fruit in our life. 12:43.060 --> 12:44.020 That's maturity. 12:45.360 --> 12:49.080 Paul writes in 1st Corinthians 14, he says pursue what? 12:49.340 --> 12:50.260 He says pursue love. 12:52.220 --> 12:54.520 Isn't that a character? It's not a gift. 12:56.880 --> 13:00.820 Isn't developing love a form of character? Would you not agree? 13:02.580 --> 13:05.780 It's not just an emotion because if love was an emotion, 13:05.920 --> 13:08.720 then one day I love my wife and one day I don't love my wife. 13:10.180 --> 13:12.320 And all the men in this room said amen. 13:14.180 --> 13:18.360 If love is an emotion, then there is days that I don't love my wife then. 13:19.080 --> 13:23.840 Because there is days that my emotions are up and down and it's like help me Holy Spirit. 13:24.380 --> 13:27.140 This flesh of mine, this wretched flesh. 13:28.600 --> 13:31.000 But see he says pursue love. 13:31.500 --> 13:35.450 In other words, he's saying pursue the fruit, pursue the character. 13:36.460 --> 13:38.500 And don't worry the gifts will come. 13:40.700 --> 13:43.840 But maturity is actually measured in our character. 13:43.840 --> 13:50.080 It's in our consistency that we are pursuing the Lord and the things of him. 13:51.580 --> 13:54.900 You still with me? You're awfully quiet this morning. 13:57.140 --> 13:58.280 So can it it, huh? 13:59.040 --> 14:01.040 Let me give you some signs of maturity. 14:02.280 --> 14:03.320 God bless you. 14:04.700 --> 14:05.460 That's right. 14:06.400 --> 14:08.100 Here's some signs of maturity. 14:08.740 --> 14:14.520 The way you respond is a sign of how mature you are. 14:16.920 --> 14:21.420 The way you respond I said to good and to bad situations. 14:22.860 --> 14:30.760 The way we respond to good and bad situations will speak to us about how mature we are. 14:31.060 --> 14:32.400 And you're saying what do you mean? 14:32.880 --> 14:34.340 Let's say a bad situation. 14:34.340 --> 14:38.420 Let's say you find out that somebody has been talking about you. 14:40.080 --> 14:41.420 That's a negative thing, right? 14:41.700 --> 14:43.860 They weren't saying good things about you. 14:43.900 --> 14:45.120 They were talking bad about you. 14:46.000 --> 14:50.020 The way you respond, not outwardly, inwardly in your heart. 14:50.360 --> 14:55.240 What is the first thing that comes to your heart when you find out that somebody just spoke badly about you? 14:56.820 --> 14:57.680 Well praise God. 15:00.320 --> 15:06.900 And now on the flip side, the way that we respond to the good things, let's say somebody just raved about us. 15:07.040 --> 15:11.420 Let's say they're like, man, did you hear that message that Pastor Igor spoke someday? 15:11.980 --> 15:15.800 Wow! And people are telling me this, wow, Pastor Igor, you're so anointed. 15:16.140 --> 15:18.580 You are so, man, you're so this and that and the other. 15:19.080 --> 15:24.780 The way that I respond in my heart inwardly tells me about my maturity. 15:26.500 --> 15:28.000 See, we don't think about that though. 15:29.140 --> 15:30.680 We only think about maturity. 15:30.820 --> 15:34.940 Well, I didn't react in a negative way when I saw somebody cut me off. 15:35.660 --> 15:39.880 But how do you respond when there is good things that are going about you? 15:40.400 --> 15:42.980 When the whole world is talking really good about you. 15:44.440 --> 15:50.400 I learned in life, by the way, if everybody's talking good about you, something's off, man. 15:52.460 --> 15:56.860 Either the devil's trying to do something, or somebody's trying to get something. 16:02.720 --> 16:05.780 I was speaking at a church one time. Actually, this happened very often. 16:06.500 --> 16:14.500 When we used to travel a lot, and I would go to a conference or I would go to a youth camp or speaking at a church or something, 16:15.100 --> 16:21.420 you would always, I'd say about eight and a half, I'll even say nine out of ten times, you always had that one person. 16:21.420 --> 16:25.480 And I would go speak at conferences and I'd go speak in different places. 16:26.240 --> 16:31.840 And you'd always have that one person that would come up to you after service, and they would be over the top. 16:33.000 --> 16:37.980 Wow, the anointing and someone would even pray in the spirit right next to you. 16:38.020 --> 16:42.140 Wow, brother, it's radiating off of you. You know what that did to me? That was a red flag. 16:42.360 --> 16:45.180 I'm like, what's up with this dude? What's up with this girl? 16:48.850 --> 16:51.230 How do you react when good things come about you? 16:51.230 --> 17:00.590 Another sign of maturity is your consistency. Not consistency in coasting, consistency in progressing upward. 17:03.750 --> 17:12.050 Consistency can be translatable. I'm consistent. I show up to church on Sunday. I make sure that I go to prayers. 17:12.390 --> 17:20.670 I read my Bible. Good, that's awesome. But is there an actual upward revelation of knowing Him? 17:24.760 --> 17:31.080 Consistency in the upward is a sign of maturity. Servanthood is a sign of maturity. 17:32.800 --> 17:38.240 To be able to serve when it is inconvenient to you. Let me underline that. 17:38.700 --> 17:46.040 To be able to serve when it's inconvenient for you is a sign of maturity. 17:47.420 --> 17:55.020 Because everybody wants to serve when it's convenient. Everybody wants to serve the Lord when it's convenient. 17:55.440 --> 17:58.840 But how about in those times when it's inconvenient? 18:00.080 --> 18:04.880 And I've learned in my life, I actually have more of those times than I do of the convenient times. 18:07.040 --> 18:13.700 The more that I'm maturing in God and the things of God, the more it's inconvenient for my flesh. 18:13.700 --> 18:17.960 Which causes me to die to my flesh. And sometimes that takes months. 18:20.100 --> 18:25.760 Sometimes it takes days. Sometimes it takes weeks till I'm dead to that portion in my flesh. 18:26.680 --> 18:31.380 A sign of maturity. Now I want to elaborate maybe a little bit on this more. 18:31.840 --> 18:37.880 But a sign of maturity is knowing Him and not just of Him. 18:39.500 --> 18:40.520 Big difference. 18:42.600 --> 18:50.300 A sign of maturity is actually knowing the Lord rather than the knowing of Him. 18:52.940 --> 18:59.740 Let me give you an example. I was just talking to a couple this week. 19:00.700 --> 19:04.280 And the wife was sharing this example with me because we were on this topic. 19:05.260 --> 19:09.660 To know the Lord is to know the tone of His voice. 19:09.660 --> 19:11.540 Like you would your husband or your wife. 19:13.780 --> 19:16.680 Let me give you a more... this is the example that the wife gave. 19:17.120 --> 19:21.660 She said, let's say we are at a mall or we're at a place that is... 19:22.440 --> 19:26.000 that there's multiple of people and we hear multiple different voices. 19:26.620 --> 19:35.180 And the wife said, I can hear or I can distinguish my husband's voice amongst the voices of other people. 19:35.420 --> 19:37.080 Why? Because I know him. 19:38.140 --> 19:44.860 And she said more than that, she goes, I can even tell what he's feeling by the tone of his voice. 19:45.820 --> 19:54.660 I can tell if he's happy, I can tell if he's sad, I can tell if he's angry, I can tell if he's frustrated, all the things. 19:54.920 --> 19:59.240 She says, I can tell that because I know him because I spend time with him. 20:00.680 --> 20:05.920 So to know the Lord is not just to read your scriptures and say, well, yeah, I know the Lord. 20:06.080 --> 20:11.720 I mean, he died on the cross, he rose from the dead, you know, he did this, he did that. 20:11.780 --> 20:13.300 And it's like, well, yeah, I know him. 20:14.040 --> 20:18.600 And you could say that, yeah, maybe to a measure, you know, you know of him. 20:18.640 --> 20:27.900 But to actually know the Lord is to be one that can distinguish His voice amongst many other voices. 20:30.520 --> 20:35.680 We live in a time in a generation where there is so many voices. Would you agree? 20:36.180 --> 20:39.940 There is a lot of voices. We got a bunch of YouTube profits, I call them. 20:40.940 --> 20:46.160 We got a bunch of YouTube profits that went to YouTube ministry school. 20:48.720 --> 20:52.080 They have no covering. They have no upbringing. 20:52.080 --> 20:59.340 They have no, no maturing and mentoring by somebody who's actually trusted by God. 20:59.600 --> 21:05.660 And they are a voice for a people. And those that are a little bit more immature in the body of Christ, 21:06.040 --> 21:08.720 they get hooked on these YouTube profits. 21:12.860 --> 21:17.860 But somebody who knows the Lord... 21:17.860 --> 21:21.320 Let me put it to you this way, because my wife and I were just talking about this. 21:21.320 --> 21:26.040 Somebody who knows the Lord and not just of Him, now catch what I'm saying. 21:26.540 --> 21:34.100 Somebody who knows the Lord and not just of Him is actually more aware of Jesus than they are of themselves. 21:35.720 --> 21:37.140 Think about that for a bit. 21:39.800 --> 21:48.420 Somebody who actually knows the Lord and not just of Him is more aware of the Lord than they are of themselves. 21:52.840 --> 21:56.840 Now I believe and I could be wrong. I think there's very few people that can say that. 21:56.980 --> 22:01.520 Yeah, that's... I'm more aware of the Lord than I am of myself. I think there's very few people. 22:02.220 --> 22:05.280 But that just tells us of how immature we are. 22:07.140 --> 22:09.740 That just tells me, Lord, help us. 22:11.320 --> 22:19.160 Help us, Lord, that we would mature, that we would be edified, that we would come to the fullness of who we are in you. 22:21.240 --> 22:26.540 To know Him is to be more aware of Him than we are of ourselves. 22:28.100 --> 22:39.500 To know Him is to be more aware of Him and what He says about us and what He thinks about us than what everybody else says and thinks about us. 22:42.460 --> 22:45.740 See, I feel and I could be wrong. You know, I'm not going to claim this is the Lord. 22:45.740 --> 22:54.120 But what I feel sometimes inside is when we are in a worship set, let's say we're worshiping the Lord, the reason why some people... 22:54.120 --> 22:57.660 Now again, I'm just talking from years of experience of observing. 22:58.580 --> 23:08.340 What I feel like sometimes why we restrict ourselves from going to realms of worship in God is because we're actually more aware of other people 23:08.340 --> 23:13.980 and what they're going to say about us and what they're going to think about us than we are, but what God is going to say and think about us. 23:13.980 --> 23:25.080 And I believe that actually holds us back in worship because if I go back to open heavens, we're all laughing at it that, you know, we had a rapping Russian is with a joke. 23:25.300 --> 23:37.680 But if I go back to that, aside from the joke, aside from the joke side of things, what I saw in that room Saturday night is everybody was more aware about what God was thinking about them than they were what their neighbor was thinking about them. 23:39.140 --> 23:48.080 We even had one of the board members, one of the board members heard the Lord tell him, you got to go up there and dance and he said, no way I'm going to go up there and dance. 23:48.200 --> 23:53.240 And he said instantly, he said, I felt the presence of God lift off of me. And he goes, I got scared. 23:55.440 --> 24:01.820 But why, why did that response come out of the heart of that individual? 24:02.540 --> 24:06.960 Because they were more aware in that moment, they were more aware of themselves than they were of the Lord. 24:07.720 --> 24:14.480 They were more aware about what people were going to say and think about them than what the Lord was saying and thinking about them. 24:15.740 --> 24:20.000 That individual came up and danced and maybe sometime he'll share the testimony. 24:20.560 --> 24:27.640 But see, that's, that's the knowing of him. That's not the knowing of him. That's the knowing him. 24:28.760 --> 24:34.480 Lord, I know you because I am more aware about what you say about me. 24:34.480 --> 24:43.040 I am more aware of when you move. I am more aware of your breath and your word than I even am of myself and my thoughts. 24:45.580 --> 24:54.120 I desire to get to the point where, where all I hear in my thoughts is just the scriptures in his voice. 24:56.940 --> 25:07.790 So a sign of maturity is the knowing him. It's the knowing him. It's being more aware of him. 25:08.950 --> 25:13.790 You still with me? Open up your Bibles to John, the Gospel of John chapter 3. 25:14.310 --> 25:20.970 We're going to get into today's and I'm going to leave you. We're not going to finish it. We're not going to finish the John 3 banner today. 25:22.910 --> 25:27.570 This is the John 3 banner in Forerunner's vision and lifestyle. 25:29.510 --> 25:32.990 And what this is, this is John chapter 3 verse 22. 25:33.650 --> 25:40.730 What this is, is we call the John 3 banner. So again, the Ephesians 4 banner, we call it the edifying, the building up of the saints. 25:40.970 --> 25:50.770 Again, express it. The expression that we use at Forerunner lifestyle and vision is you bring people under you that God has entrusted you to impact and mature. 25:50.970 --> 25:57.490 The John 3 banner is being and becoming friends of the bridegroom. 25:58.710 --> 26:08.430 It's being and becoming friends of the bridegroom and we've always expressed this or we use the expression of this through getting around a table and breaking bread. 26:09.090 --> 26:11.430 That's the way that we just did it and we saw it work. 26:11.430 --> 26:25.490 We saw, aside from just praying for people, prophesying over people, we saw that it was so beneficial to actually have people at your house breaking bread and talking about Jesus. 26:25.770 --> 26:30.770 Having conversations that were aimed towards the Lord and they weren't aimless. 26:31.570 --> 26:35.330 So John 3, I want to read it here for you and we'll try to break it down here a little bit. 26:36.150 --> 26:42.290 John 3 starting at verse 22, I want to read you what is going on here that you have the full context. 26:43.370 --> 26:51.910 After these things, Jesus and his disciples came into the land of Judea and there he remained with them and baptized. 26:52.710 --> 26:53.990 This is verse 23 now. 26:54.890 --> 27:01.350 Now John also was baptizing in Enon near Salim because there was much water there. 27:01.350 --> 27:07.910 And they came and were baptized for John had not yet been thrown into prison. 27:08.850 --> 27:17.710 Then there arose a dispute between some of John's disciples and the Jews about purification. 27:18.850 --> 27:22.470 And they came to John and they said to him, 27:22.470 --> 27:34.730 Rabbi, he who was with you beyond the Jordan to whom you have testified, behold he is baptizing and all are coming to him. 27:35.810 --> 27:38.930 Verse 27, John answered and said, 27:39.090 --> 27:45.430 A man can receive nothing unless it has been given to him from heaven. 27:46.430 --> 27:49.810 You yourselves hear me or bear me witness, 27:50.410 --> 27:55.310 you yourselves bear me witness that I said I am not the Christ, 27:56.330 --> 27:58.610 but I have been sent before him. 27:59.530 --> 28:02.550 He who has the bride is the bridegroom, 28:03.350 --> 28:12.370 but the friend of the bridegroom who stands and hears him rejoices greatly because of the bridegroom's voice. 28:12.370 --> 28:16.170 Therefore, this joy of mine is fulfilled. 28:17.030 --> 28:22.190 Verse 30, now he must increase and I must decrease. 28:23.590 --> 28:25.530 Let me read a few more verses here. 28:26.410 --> 28:29.550 He who comes from above is above all. 28:29.970 --> 28:33.450 He who is of the earth is earthly and speaks of the earth. 28:34.110 --> 28:37.010 He who comes from heaven is above all. 28:37.670 --> 28:41.630 And what he has seen and heard that he testifies. 28:42.650 --> 28:44.890 And no one receives his testimony. 28:45.750 --> 28:52.610 He who has received his testimony has certified that God is true. 28:53.030 --> 28:59.250 For he whom God has sent speaks the words of God for God does not give the spirit by measure. 28:59.630 --> 29:03.950 The father loves the son and gives all things into his hand. 29:04.410 --> 29:10.630 He who believes in the son has everlasting life and he who does not believe in the son shall not see life, 29:10.630 --> 29:13.810 but the wrath of God abides on him. 29:15.530 --> 29:22.430 We are seeing a few different things specifically in this, let's say, in this discussion that is occurring. 29:23.370 --> 29:31.670 We are seeing ones who are not friends of the bridegroom and we can hear their language in the way that they talk. 29:31.670 --> 29:41.030 And then we see somebody who is John the Baptist who is using forerunner language and more than just forerunner language. 29:41.270 --> 29:45.710 But he is using a friend of the bridegroom language. 29:46.150 --> 29:51.830 He is speaking about the Lord in facets that these people have probably never even heard of. 29:53.770 --> 29:57.530 To be a friend of the bridegroom, and we'll get into this more next Sunday, 29:57.530 --> 30:05.350 but to be a friend of the bridegroom is to talk about the Lord in facets that very few people can actually talk about the Lord. 30:06.110 --> 30:08.730 I want you to pay attention to what's happening here. 30:09.510 --> 30:13.750 There is Jesus is baptizing, John is baptizing. 30:14.570 --> 30:23.250 And all of a sudden the disciples of John the Baptist see that Jesus is baptizing and now this dispute basically breaks out with them and the Jews. 30:23.850 --> 30:30.270 And a part of me is thinking that the Jewish leaders and the teachers of the law are the ones that kind of egg them on to get into this dispute. 30:30.390 --> 30:34.610 Just the part of me, just because we know who they are. Those awesome teachers of the law. 30:37.370 --> 30:44.750 But then where we see the contrast of somebody who is not a friend of the bridegroom and the way that they talk is these disciples, 30:45.070 --> 30:50.130 they come to John the Baptist and they are almost worried and they're scared. 30:50.870 --> 31:01.330 They're saying, hey John, rabbi, the guy that you basically said that he is the Messiah, that the dove is going to come and he's going to rest on. 31:01.850 --> 31:05.930 This guy is baptizing now and everybody is going to him. 31:07.530 --> 31:18.310 You see the problem of people that are not friends of the bridegroom, they are too much concerned about the ministry and the working of the ministry than they are of the Lord himself. 31:20.670 --> 31:36.210 People who are not friends of the bridegroom are more concerned if we can have all the chairs fit into the chairs of our sanctuary than we are concerned about what God is saying. 31:38.070 --> 31:43.970 So the disciples, they're coming to John and they're saying, dude, he's taking people from our ministry. 31:45.510 --> 31:54.830 Look, they're leaving. They're going to him now, which by the way, Jesus wasn't even baptizing, it was his disciples that were baptizing. 31:56.910 --> 32:01.890 So the disciples, they're worried and they're scared that they're losing numbers. 32:03.010 --> 32:09.910 But see John the Baptist, being the perfect example of what it means to us in the flesh. 32:11.470 --> 32:15.510 A perfect example for us for humanity of what it looks like to be a friend of the bridegroom. 32:15.830 --> 32:20.710 John replies in a way that's like, guys, you're missing the point. 32:20.810 --> 32:28.670 Did you not hear that I testified, you bear me witness that this is the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. 32:28.670 --> 32:32.310 I must now decrease and he must now increase. 32:34.170 --> 32:38.710 John wasn't worried, John wasn't worried that people are leaving. 32:39.710 --> 32:43.750 He knew his lane that he had to run. He knew what he was doing. 32:44.090 --> 32:47.010 See, that's forerunner talk. That's friend of the bridegroom talk. 32:48.730 --> 32:50.530 That's friend of the bridegroom talk. 32:50.750 --> 32:58.550 And then aside from saying all that, John begins to talk about Jesus in a facet that I'm telling you. 32:58.550 --> 32:59.730 They've probably never even heard of. 33:01.190 --> 33:03.170 He says these things. Let me read it to you. 33:03.910 --> 33:08.350 He says, he who comes from above is above all. Who is he talking about? 33:08.890 --> 33:11.310 He's talking about Jesus. He's talking about the Lord. 33:12.210 --> 33:15.030 And he who is of the earth is earthly and speaks of the earth. 33:15.610 --> 33:18.390 He who comes from heaven is above all. 33:18.630 --> 33:22.990 And what he has seen and heard, he testifies and no one receives. 33:22.990 --> 33:28.890 He's literally prophesying and telling them things about the Lord that they're like, what? 33:31.010 --> 33:36.710 He's testifying. Jesus throughout his whole ministry was testifying that I am the Son of God. 33:36.850 --> 33:40.230 I am the Messiah and how many people missed it? 33:41.550 --> 33:42.750 A lot. There you go. 33:43.950 --> 33:48.310 But see now, John the Baptist being a friend of the bridegroom sees this. 33:49.170 --> 33:56.350 He can identify this and he's talking about the Lord in a facet that nobody else was able to talk about him. 33:59.070 --> 34:06.850 A friend of the bridegroom can identify things of God that a greater majority of Christians are not seeing. 34:08.450 --> 34:10.290 Let me make that statement again. 34:10.290 --> 34:23.250 A friend of the bridegroom can identify and knows facets of God that a greater majority of the body of Christ is missing. 34:26.810 --> 34:31.450 And when a friend of the bridegroom begins to speak out about the Lord in a facet, 34:31.990 --> 34:33.930 a lot of the times people don't even pay attention. 34:34.970 --> 34:38.030 And they will tag him as you're crazy or she's crazy. 34:39.670 --> 34:42.330 She's a woman. She can't even talk. Come on, man. 34:43.790 --> 34:49.990 We pin that. We put that on them where they're actually identifying things. They're actually seeing things. 34:50.250 --> 34:57.230 They're actually expressing and showing facets of the Lord that a greater majority of the body of Christ is not seeing. 34:58.170 --> 34:59.270 You still with me? 35:02.110 --> 35:14.610 So we have found, or I should say, yeah, we have found and we began to express to be and become a friend of the bridegroom is through getting around a table and breaking bread. 35:15.870 --> 35:27.410 Because what happens there, what we have seen over the years, what happens there is that you actually create a space for people to get vulnerable and transparent. 35:29.010 --> 35:34.470 And you actually allow people to talk about the Lord in the facet that they know him. 35:37.230 --> 35:41.950 Because we don't always get a chance. Not everybody gets a chance to come up here, grab a mic and talk about Jesus. 35:42.590 --> 35:52.310 And I'm going to be honest with you. This is not saying this offensively to anybody, but just coming from the Slavic culture and knowing some of the people that went up to preach in the Slavic culture. 35:52.370 --> 35:55.330 There is a lot of people that should not get behind a pulpit. 36:02.040 --> 36:02.880 Wouldn't you agree, Sam? 36:06.020 --> 36:10.120 Not everybody is called to be a teacher and a pastor to hold an office of it. 36:12.480 --> 36:22.080 But we've learned that when we get around a table, you create a space where people can get vulnerable, people can get transparent and you begin to just talk about the Lord. 36:23.100 --> 36:30.080 Not just the things of the Lord which are good and some people are there. Some people can only talk about the things of the Lord. 36:30.080 --> 36:47.560 But those people that only know the things of the Lord, we've learned that when they get around people and you get around a table and you're breaking bread and they begin to hear people that actually know the Lord, it edifies them and it causes them to want to know the Lord more. 36:49.200 --> 36:58.980 I've shared this in some of the previous parts of this series, but I've sat among people and still do sit on a weekly basis next to our pastors. 36:58.980 --> 37:11.320 And I'm telling you, what took them 10, 15, 20 years in a lunch staffing, I can get in 20 minutes. What he spent 10, 15, 20 years discovering in God. 37:13.340 --> 37:23.160 There is a beauty when we get around the table and you begin to hear people share things about the Lord and who he is to them. 37:23.160 --> 37:31.600 And you begin to hear this and we're all at different levels. God trusts each and every one of us in different ways. 37:33.080 --> 37:42.240 And to the measure that God has trusted me and to the measure that I know the Lord, I can actually manifest them to you. 37:43.620 --> 37:53.840 Let me say that again. But let me say it from this perspective. You can only manifest Christ in your life to the measure that you know him. 37:56.160 --> 38:06.980 You can know the right language. This is what I mean by that. A lot of the times people will listen to men and women of God that are trusted by God with greater things. 38:06.980 --> 38:12.720 And people will listen to their sermons. They'll get the language. They'll say all the right stuff. 38:13.520 --> 38:22.600 I've been around people and I've sat under people and they're teaching and they're preaching and you're listening to them and they're saying all the right stuff. 38:23.360 --> 38:30.560 They're talking about getting at the feet of Jesus. They're talking about repentance. They're talking about all these things. 38:30.560 --> 38:40.300 But there is a facet that is missing when we're actually not living it or we don't know the Lord in that facet. He doesn't manifest himself. He doesn't come. 38:41.760 --> 38:52.600 We can say all the right stuff. We can use the right language and we Americans are really good at learning the language. The church language, so to say. 38:54.020 --> 39:04.440 But you can say all the right stuff. You can do all the right stuff. But you will only actually manifest Christ to people to the measure that you know him. 39:07.380 --> 39:15.160 To the measure that you know him. You can take my sermon notes and you can go preach it to somebody else on the street. 39:15.940 --> 39:19.920 But you'll only be able to manifest Christ to the measure that you know him. 39:22.760 --> 39:29.660 So when we get around the table, the John 3 banner, being and becoming. Being and becoming. 39:30.960 --> 39:36.360 A friend of the bridegroom. When you get around the table, you break bread and you begin to hear people. 39:38.580 --> 39:45.680 And people begin to, man, I've been, I've been so blessed. I have been so blessed to get around some people that know the Lord. 39:46.380 --> 39:55.100 And what took them 10, 15, 20 years. And I got to sit with them at a table and break bread together and they would talk about Jesus. 39:55.480 --> 39:58.920 And it just makes you want to leave that table and go and be with him alone. 40:01.980 --> 40:03.320 I don't know if you've ever had that. 40:05.200 --> 40:10.160 But there's been times where I've sat with people at tables and they begin to talk about Jesus. 40:10.380 --> 40:13.020 And I'm like, I want to know him that way. 40:15.900 --> 40:17.860 I want to talk about the Lord in that way. 40:19.520 --> 40:21.200 I want to have an intimate relationship. 40:21.360 --> 40:27.460 I want God to trust me, not for the sake of power and walking in this and signs and miracles. 40:27.760 --> 40:28.960 No, I want to know him. 40:30.520 --> 40:32.320 I want to know you Jesus. 40:33.280 --> 40:34.540 Because here's the beauty. 40:34.740 --> 40:36.960 And again, we'll get into this more next Sunday. 40:37.320 --> 40:38.480 But here's the beauty. 40:39.440 --> 40:41.500 To be a friend of the bridegroom. 40:42.300 --> 40:45.860 You're actually building a storehouse for yourself. 40:47.580 --> 40:51.480 Which means that to whatever measure I know him here on earth. 40:51.740 --> 40:54.100 I get to take that with me into eternity. 40:56.860 --> 41:02.700 To whatever facet I get to learn about who Jesus is here on earth. 41:03.060 --> 41:05.600 I get to take that with me into eternity. 41:07.180 --> 41:10.140 That's why Jesus says, store up treasures. 41:10.140 --> 41:12.140 Where? In heaven. 41:13.660 --> 41:15.280 What treasure is he talking about? 41:15.580 --> 41:17.160 He's not talking about Benjamins. 41:17.820 --> 41:20.400 He's talking about the revelation of who he is. 41:22.940 --> 41:24.360 Of how he speaks. 41:24.740 --> 41:26.020 Of how he even listens. 41:26.400 --> 41:27.680 Of what he thinks about. 41:30.000 --> 41:32.420 You know that God doesn't think the way that we think? 41:33.040 --> 41:35.340 And if you don't believe me, just read the prophet Isaiah. 41:35.900 --> 41:38.520 He says, your ways are not my ways is what he tells them. 41:38.520 --> 41:40.760 He says, your thoughts are not my thoughts. 41:42.140 --> 41:46.000 That's why the apostle Paul said, but we have what? The mind of Christ. 41:46.720 --> 41:49.180 He didn't say, but we have what? The mind of apostle Paul. 41:49.400 --> 41:51.780 He said, we have the mind of Christ. 41:52.420 --> 41:57.120 Which means that Jesus thinks differently than the way that we think. 41:59.300 --> 42:02.900 He views things differently than the way that we view things. 42:06.460 --> 42:09.220 I don't know about you, but I want to know the Lord in ways that... 42:10.640 --> 42:12.920 Very few are willing to pay the cost to know him. 42:17.020 --> 42:17.860 You still with me? 42:26.360 --> 42:29.900 It's noon. I'm going to end here tonight. I'm going to end right here, pastor. 42:30.800 --> 42:31.300 Can I do that? 42:32.040 --> 42:36.220 Because once I get into the other portion, next Sunday, let me give you a little bit of a sneak peek for next Sunday. 42:36.980 --> 42:41.580 Next Sunday, I want to talk about what does it mean to be a friend of the bridegroom? 42:41.600 --> 42:43.580 And I want to go a little bit more into depth in that. 42:44.700 --> 42:46.440 Let me make this statement and we're going to pray. 42:47.440 --> 42:50.940 Because I do believe that I'm sharing the Lord's heart when I'm making this statement. 42:52.780 --> 42:58.260 The Lord desires to have friends in the church, not employees. 43:03.110 --> 43:08.430 I believe God is desiring to have friendship with us. 43:08.850 --> 43:12.190 And not just, you go do that, you go do this, you go... 43:12.190 --> 43:14.170 He's wanting to do it with us. 43:16.010 --> 43:18.370 So now let me make this statement and then we'll pray. 43:19.730 --> 43:26.550 The opportunity, or let me say it this way, the playing field is equal for each and every one of us. 43:27.570 --> 43:36.210 What I mean by that is that the opportunity that I have, you have the exact same opportunity to know him and to be his friend. 43:41.310 --> 43:47.910 The same blood that was spilled for me to be his friend is the same blood that was spilled for you to be his friend. 43:50.230 --> 43:57.770 I say that because oftentimes I feel like we're like, well I'm not a pastor, I'm not this, so God probably doesn't want to be my friend. 43:58.070 --> 43:59.710 Friend, you got it all wrong. 44:01.270 --> 44:10.710 Because the same desire that God had to be a friend with Abraham, that God had to be a friend with Moses, that God had to be a friend with John the Baptist, 44:10.910 --> 44:16.910 and everybody else that we read in the scriptures, that same desire the Father has for us. 44:17.910 --> 44:25.790 He desires for us as his latter church, as his end time church to be his friend and not an employee. 44:29.070 --> 44:33.010 But here's where the real question is, are you willing to pay the cost? 44:34.910 --> 44:43.390 That's really the question. Are you willing to pay the cost to be a friend of the bridegroom? 44:44.990 --> 44:49.710 It's not whether God wants to or God doesn't want to. The question is, do you want to? 44:50.570 --> 44:53.070 That's really the question that we should be asking this morning. 44:54.310 --> 44:57.490 And if you don't want to, that's fine. It doesn't mean that God loves you less. 44:58.830 --> 45:04.070 Just because you don't go after that doesn't mean that God loves you less. God still loves you. 45:05.250 --> 45:15.250 But what you store for yourself here, in the revelation of who he is, you'll be able to take that with you in the age to come. 45:15.390 --> 45:17.830 Let me say one more thing, just one more, and then we'll pray. 45:18.670 --> 45:22.030 I heard a man of God say it this way, and it just edified me. 45:23.090 --> 45:28.730 He said, I want to live a life here in such a friendship with the Lord. 45:29.250 --> 45:38.470 He said that when I get to heaven, he said, God will make it known to everybody else that I was his friend. 45:39.590 --> 45:44.470 And that's for eternity. And God will do that. 45:47.680 --> 45:49.860 So let's stand and pray, and then we'll close with that. 45:51.960 --> 45:59.380 Father, we thank you. We thank you, Lord, for your word. We thank you for the washing of your word. 46:01.380 --> 46:05.780 Father, I thank you for the invitation that you are giving us as your people. 46:08.720 --> 46:13.200 Holy Spirit, I thank you that you are nudging at our hearts. 46:13.880 --> 46:18.840 You are speaking to us as individuals and as a corporate body. 46:19.240 --> 46:26.160 You are speaking to us, and you are inviting us into a friendship with you, with your son. 46:28.500 --> 46:30.200 We thank you for that, God. 46:31.560 --> 46:38.560 Father, we thank you for the examples that we find in the scriptures of men and women of God that were actually your friends. 46:39.040 --> 46:43.280 Father, they were actually your friends, and you called them your friends. 46:44.440 --> 46:51.260 So Lord, I'm asking that you would continue to work in us by your spirit. You would work in us. 46:52.180 --> 46:56.580 You would work in our hearts. You would work in our spirit, my God. 46:57.500 --> 47:04.900 And you would show us. You would speak to us about yourself, Lord, that we would love you more. 47:05.540 --> 47:07.120 And we would know you more. 47:08.180 --> 47:15.900 Father, I bless each and every individual here today, and even those that are watching online. I bless them in your name. 47:16.740 --> 47:18.640 I pray protection over them. 47:20.520 --> 47:23.800 Father, I pray grace over them. 47:25.660 --> 47:28.320 That you would show them your mercy this week. 47:29.240 --> 47:31.860 That you would show them your mercy this week. 47:33.060 --> 47:37.060 Let them see a new facet of who you are this week, Lord. 47:37.860 --> 47:41.620 That it would build them up in Jesus' name. 47:42.600 --> 47:45.500 We thank you, Lord, and we bless your holy name. Amen. 47:51.070 --> 47:52.650 Thank you.