Lyle Jan 28

The speaker shares about their experience on holiday in Samoa, where they had a moment of frustration and desire for more in their relationship with God. They emphasize the importance of believing in God's word and having faith for prosperity and blessings. They discuss the issue of unbelief within the church and the need to overcome it. They also talk about the enemy's attacks on individuals' self-confidence and the power of the name of Jesus to bring freedom and breakthrough. The speaker encourages listeners to believe in their identity in Christ and their ability to bring change and transformation to the world. Just a bit of a recap from what I spoke on last week, just for those who weren't here last week. I was sharing about how on holiday I was floating in the South Pacific. It was effortless. I could lie back in the ocean and just float. It was awesome. And for those of you who don't know, I was on holiday in Samoa, so there was sun. And I was floating there in the ocean. And I was praying as I was floating there looking at the blue sky. And I said to God, there's got to be more. I was thinking about the new year, thinking about what's ahead. And I was just sort of sharing with God my frustration in the sense that, Lord, I want more. I want to see more. I expect more of God. There's got to be more. I was saying to God. And I was lying there on the water just floating and I heard God say to me, I want more too. I want more. I was putting a demand on God saying, I want more God. And God was putting a demand on me saying, I want more. And as I was meditating and allowing that demand to percolate in my spirit, I felt that God was saying, oh, you need to believe for more. You need to believe for more. The reason why you aren't seeing what you want to see, the reason why there's a deep cry in your spirit for more is because you haven't attained that yet. And in order to attain what you want to see, you've got to believe it. You've got to believe it. And I was sharing about how the church seems to have, and when I say church, I'm including me in this because I'm part of the church, has a believing problem. I spoke about unbelieving believers. The Bible says in 2 Chronicles 20 verse 20, believe in the Lord your God and you shall be established. We have a problem believing in God. We are saved. We are born again. Our name is written in the Lamb's book of life. We have been established in the kingdom of God. That is not a problem. We understand that. We know that. There's a witness in our spirit that we are children of God. Romans 8, 16 says the spirit of God bears witness in our spirit that we are children of God. I've got that witness. I know that I'm a child of God. I know that my name is written in the Lamb's book of life. There's a hope that is set before me that I'm going to live forever because of the eternal nature of who I am now in God, in Christ Jesus. Amen? But the second part of the verse is this, believe his prophets and you shall prosper. Believe in his prophets. Believe the word of the Lord. Believe that which you hear, that which you read, that is of my word and you will know prosperity. You will know an overflow in your life. You see, we can be established in the kingdom of God and not know a prosperity. We can be in the kingdom of God and our belief system, our mindsets can hold us back from entering into all that God has for us. But if we believe his word and stand on his word, we shall know a prosperity and a blessing. I'm not talking about necessarily a financial prosperity. That's part of it in some sense, but it's a prosperity of life. 1 John 1.9 talks about, I pray that your soul prospers, that you prosper as your soul prospers, that there's an understanding. Your soul is made up of your mind, will, and emotions, that there's a comprehension of the reality of who you are in Christ Jesus that releases a prosperity of soul in your life. You can be content whether you have lots or you can be content when you have less, not much. There's a contentment, there's a peace, there's a reality that knows that no matter my circumstance, my soul is secure because of Christ Jesus. Amen. There's that sense of believing. I spoke from a couple of stories that talk about a father who had a son who was deaf and mute and he would often get overtaken by a spirit that would seize him and he would have seizures and he would fall into fires or fall into water and the devils were trying to kill the kid and he was desperate for healing. He was desperate for a breakthrough. He was desperate for his son to come and know relief from the condition that he was under and he brought his son to the disciples. He heard about you carry power to heal, but the disciples couldn't cast out the demon. But Jesus came and he rebuked the disciples and he says, you unbelieving generation, how long must I be with you? And it's like God was speaking to me saying, it's like there's an echo in my spirit saying, I don't want to be an unbelieving generation. I want to be a believing generation that leads to the breakthrough in other people's lives. I want to be an instrument in the hand of God, and I'm sure many of you want to be an instrument in the hand of God that reaches out and touches those who are desperate and need to see a supernatural outcome rather than seeing nothing happen and wonder, where is God? Because Jesus said to the guy, just believe. And he says, I do believe, but help me in my unbelief. This is that prayer right now for 2024. Lord, help me in my unbelief. I want to get beyond where I'm at. I want my belief, my faith to grow. I want my understanding and my comprehension. I want revelation that will take me to a place where I haven't been before so I can see the prosperity of others through the fact that I stand firm in the knowledge of who you are, God. We looked at the story of Jairus who had a daughter who was sick and he was desperate and he came to Jesus seeking him to come and pray for his daughter. And even as he came to Jesus and got to him, a servant came and declared that your daughter has died. And Jesus heard the report and turned to Jairus and said to him, only believe. Only believe. All things are possible for those who believe. So there's an understanding that there's something of God crying out to his church, come on, believe. Just believe my word. And this morning I want to continue to dovetail into this theme, into this thought, but I want to really speak into something that's very personal. I think the Lord wants us to believe in who we are in him as individuals. Because there's an assault on the church, there's an assault on humanity by the enemy to undermine a person's confidence in who they are. The Bible says the devil's out to steal, kill and destroy. He wants to kill you. He's on a mission to kill you and me. He wants to destroy your life. People, they find themselves trapped in drugs, trapped in snares that the world offers, lust after this and a lust after that. They find themselves trapped and they get to a point where their backs are in a corner. Mental health is a big thing now, a big issue now as people are wanting to kill themselves and all that sort of stuff. That's just the enemy speaking lies, bringing people into a corner where they believe a lie rather than knowing the truth. I was talking to someone recently who has a family member who has mental issues and the person is an alcoholic. I was saying they got a pocket call from the person that had the mental issues. They answered the phone and they heard the conversation that was going on in the background on this phone call. The conversation was between two individuals, but the two individuals were the same person. They heard one voice which was a deeper voice telling the other voice, the other person, you're useless, you're no good, you're not worth anything, you should kill yourself. Then the other voice was speaking in a meek manner and was sobbing and crying. It was the same person, same individual. What they were hearing was a demon speaking in the voice out of the individual to the individual. Telling them they're useless, no good. Telling them to take their life. The sense of self-belief in who you are as a man, as a woman in God has been undermined by the lies of the enemy. Where the enemy will come and remind us of our past, remind us of our limitations, our weaknesses, remind us of the sin that easily ensnares us and gets us into a cycle of feeling unworthy, feeling useless, feeling no good. In order to numb the pain, rather than going to God, some are going to other measures to try and numb the pain. To the point now, you may be in a space like this individual who is so overtaken by not only a thought, but by the Spirit of the Bible, sees a stronghold has been established. And it's manifesting itself in this person's life. That we have the power in the name of Jesus to come and bring freedom and liberty to people who are trapped, who are ensnared in such a way. Because that's who we are in Christ Jesus. But if the church is crippled, ensnared in a snare that doesn't believe in who they are in Christ Jesus, we'll never advance the kingdom. We've got to understand that we are mighty in God and the pulling down of strongholds. We've got to believe that we're called by God to be the head and not the tail, to be above and not beneath. We've got to believe that we have signs and wonders that follow us as we go in the name of Jesus. That we carry an authority to stomp on snakes and scorpions, on every demon in Jesus' name. To go into dark places and change the atmosphere and bring the light of God. We're called by God to change the world, to transform society, to bring light in the dark places, as I said. We've got to believe that. We've got to understand that. When we hear testimonies of people, how they're struggling or how they're in a place where things are coming against them, that we can come in the name of Jesus there and hold their hand and believe for them to know a breakthrough in Jesus' name. The families are going through cycles of problems where there's a psychic deal going on. We can break that in the name of Jesus. We've got to believe that. Oh, that's the way it's always been. My great-grandfather had heart problems. My father had heart problems. And I've got heart problems. And I'm probably going to die at 50 like the rest of them. Why are you believing a lie? Break that cycle in the name of Jesus' genetics. Whose DNA are you trying to tap into? Tap into God's DNA. You're a child of God, born again. You carry the DNA of heaven. You've got to hear this, church. We have been transformed in that born-again experience. We've been born of the Spirit. We may carry a Kiwi passport or a passport of some earthly nature, but our passport now, we are citizens of heaven. This is a church, an embassy of heaven. An embassy is a place where the land which it stands on represents the land that it represents. It's got the same laws. On this ground, the church of the Lord Jesus Christ, we live and operate on heaven's laws and rules. You may stand, oh yeah, this is a full wall and a steeple. No, no, this is an embassy of heaven. There's a portal over this place of heaven. People come into this place and know the power of God touched them in Jesus' name. But not only that, we're carriers of the power of God. You go into the highways and the byways of our world and see people set free in Jesus' name. Yeah? I'm only warming up. 2024 is a new year. The scripture for this week is this, 1 Thessalonians 5, 9-20. I love this. Read 1 Thessalonians and it will help you understand how you should live and how you should walk as a Christian. In fact, most of the letters in the New Testament give you instructions or give you insight on how we should operate as Christians if you ever read it. Now these two verses are what I'm going to focus on this morning. It says this, do not quench the spirit. Do not despise prophecies. Do not quench the spirit. Do not despise prophecies. Another version says do not scorn prophecies. Another one says do not stifle prophecies. Another version says do not treat prophecies with contempt. Do not treat the Word of God when you hear the Word of God. Now hear me in this. There's a written Word of God that we read, we understand, and we grow as we read that. And there's the Word of God that we get through a, the Bible calls it a rhema Word of God. It's the whisper of the Spirit where we read something, we hear something, we see something. God speaks to us and there's a yes or there's a knowing with our spirit that because we know that this is God speaking. The rhema Word, the prompting of the Spirit. That's what I'm believing this is talking about. It's talking about do not despise those promptings of the Spirit. Like we hear, you know, the cartoons where you got the person with the angel on one shoulder and the devil on the other shoulder. You know what I'm talking about? And contending for your attention. One voice is saying one thing, another voice is saying the other thing. And it's our ability to heed what the Spirit of the Lord is saying rather than having the voice be cancelled out by the voice of the enemy trying to undermine the truth. You see, I believe we all hear God. God speaks to all of us. He's walked through the kitchen and saw dishes on a bench and heard a voice say, I should clean the dishes. And then you say to yourself, nah, someone else will do that and you keep walking. Who said that voice? That's what it sounds like. That's what the leading of the Spirit sounds like. The devil won't tell you to do the dishes. He's an unclean spirit. He likes dirty dishes. But God will lead us into things and we'll hear His voice. And it's at those promptings that we need to believe and step out and begin to step in who we are as the child of God called for that moment to bring about a miracle. It doesn't matter what size the miracle is, it's a miracle. If it brings about a breakthrough, if it brings about a shift of change, if it brings about a lift of somebody's heart, even a word of encouragement makes all the difference in someone's life. Do not quench the Spirit. The Greek word translated for quench also means to extinguish. It indicates to turn off, to obstruct the flow, or cut off the source of power. We want more of God's power in our life, amen? But quenching the Spirit happens when we despise the Word. And despise the Word might be a harsh word to use, but just simply shunning it off and saying, oh, that's nothing. Oh, that's not God, that's this, that, that. That there in itself is quenching the Spirit of God is speaking. Now, I want us to understand here that grieving the Holy Spirit relieves to our character. Do not grieve the Holy Spirit. If we've got a character that is contrary to who we should be in God, a character that lacks integrity, a character that wants to run towards sin, that grieves the Holy Spirit. But I'm not talking about grieving the Holy Spirit here, I'm talking about quenching God. It's quenching the Holy Spirit that relates to His power. The correlation for lack of power is connected to our unbelief and our decision to resist stepping out in obedience to what we hear God saying. But if we want a flow of power that comes by the Holy Spirit in our lives, it's connected to us stepping out in obedience to the Word of God that we hear. Does this make sense, Church? Is it too simple? Hopefully it's simple, because it is simple. Being a Christian is actually quite simple, and it's quite hard. It's simple if you've got the Holy Spirit with you, because the Holy Spirit leads us. Those who are led by the Spirit of God have the rights to be called sons and daughters of God. But if you have not been led by the Spirit and you're trying to be a Christian, that's very hard. You'll fail every time. You need to have a born-again experience. You can't be a Christian from a mental capacity. Christianity is not another philosophy that you take on board and you abide to because it sounds good and makes sense. Christianity is an experience. Christianity is about having a born-again experience by the Holy Spirit of God as we activate faith, as we activate our belief in Christ, that He came, He died, and He rose again. And when we confess with our mouth and believe with our heart, boom, there's a born-again experience that takes place. There's an encounter. There's a shift. There's a change. We get made alive in the Spirit. The dwelling Holy Spirit leads us and guides us and He speaks to us and He gives us power. These signs shall follow those who believe. They'll lay hands on the sick and the sick will recover. They'll cast out demons. They will speak in new tongues. It's amazing. But only follow those you believe. You've got to believe it. If you don't believe it, you won't have it. You've got to believe it. But belief is built by the Word of God. And when we hear the prophetic words, when God speaks, do not quench the Spirit, but allow that flow to continue to flow as we step out in obedience. Galatians 3 verse 5 to 6 says, Does God give you His Spirit and work miracles among you because you observe the law or because you believe what you heard? Let me say that again. Does God give you His Spirit and work miracles among you because you observe the law, because you follow the rules, or because you believe what you heard? Consider Abraham. He believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness. There's something powerful in the believing of God's Word, something powerful about believing. We've just got to believe. We've just got to believe. Abraham believed that he was going to have a son. Even in his older age, he believed. An old man on a walking frame, he still believed that he could produce a son. He believed, and it happened. Church, I want to provoke us here this morning. God wants us to believe in His Word, not only on the wider scale of things, but narrow it right down to your own life. You're not on this earth by accident. My daughter said when New Year ticked across, we're saying, Happy New Year to one another. And she goes, another year above ground, she was saying. I was going, gee, it's a bit dark. But the reality is, if you're above ground, you've got a job to do in Christ Jesus. We're not here by accident. We're here because God has called us to be here. God has called us to do great things. Yeah? Yeah, the Bible tells us that. Jesus says, you will do greater things than what I have done. You will do greater things. I will do greater things than what Jesus did on the earth, and He sends His Holy Spirit. We will do greater things. We'll not be greater than Jesus. He didn't say that. He didn't say you'll be greater. He says you'll do greater things. So the greatness in what we do in God is linked not only to what we believe in God, but in the doing of what God tells us to do. It's in the doing. You see, God didn't send His Son to die on a cross for us to live insignificant lives. Each one of us has a significant role to play in the kingdom of God. We've got to believe it. I read a book once. I think it was called Wild at Heart was the title. It talks about the male journey in life. The first third of a man's journey in his life is the quest for identity, the quest to find out who they are, what they are about, what they're meant to be. The second third of a man's life is about significance. Once you find out who you are and what you're meant to do and what you are, it is pouring your effort and your work into making a significant impact on the world that you're in through the gift that is on your life. And then the final third of a man's life is about legacy, where they now are looking beyond their life and wondering how they can make what they've started last beyond their lifetime. And they think about legacy and empowering others and seeing others do what they've done. And there's the quest of leaving inheritance and all that stuff. And as I was reading that, and I don't think it was a Christian book from memory, but it's very true in our journey as Christians, is that when we find Christ and then realize that identity is set in Him, that we are children of God, that we're seated with Him in high places, that we are royalty, we are holy priesthood, that we are servants of the Most High God, that He calls us sons and daughters, that all of heaven's at our disposal, when we realize that we are like the prodigal son who now has the ring on the finger, the robe on the shoulders, and carry an authority that represents the father within the family business, we understand that we carry some weight, that we have an authority on the earth because of the name of Jesus. Then we know that because of all of that, okay, God, I want to do something significant for your kingdom. There should be a pursuit in all of our hearts to want to do something significant for God, something significant for God. Some of us will stand on platforms like this and declare the word of God. Others will be in the trenches working hands-on, touching lives, bringing about a shift and a change in people's lives. Others will be maybe in a back room creating structures and empowering pathways for the kingdom of God to be advanced. Because we all of us have different gifts. We're one body made of many parts with different gifts, different attributes and whatnot. But when we work together with an understanding that we're here for significance for the kingdom of God, we can change the world. That even as we get into our older age, we recognize that we've experienced something in God and we want to see that reproduced not only in others but to see that continued on for generations to come. There's an understanding that we want to leave a legacy, and Pastor John, I spoke about that last year, but I want to reiterate it again. We need to believe that we are here with significance and with intention to build something that will last beyond our own lifetime because we don't live on the timeline of this side of eternity. We live on the timeline that is eternity. And we have a part to play in it in Jesus' name. And we need to lift up and understand that we are called by God for a time such as now. And we need to stop the voices of the enemy and advance forward in who we are in Christ Jesus with a belief and an understanding that we are called by God. Invercargill needs you and me. We're here residing in this part of the earth because God has placed us here. It's a small church. It's not a small church. God changed the world with 12 blokes. Can he change the world with a congregation of 120 people? I think so. I think it was 120 up in the upper room with the understanding that we are here for a mission. It's not the churches on the mission. The mission has a church. It's us. And when we get serious and we begin to pray and present to God together, let's pray for an upper room experience where we find ourselves filled again with the fire of the Holy Spirit that will spill out onto the streets and there will be a revolution, as it were, another Jesus revolution, where people will come and know that Christ is Lord through the very fact that we believe who we are in Christ Jesus. Don't allow the enemy to hold us back. Do not quench the Spirit of God. Do not shun the... I know for Southerners, we are very good of, you know, letting encouragement, any sense of acknowledgement to fall off us like water for ducks back. No, no, no, shucks, no. You know, we like to be quiet about it. We're not boisterous, you know. But I think to some extent we may need to repent because when God begins to highlight greatness in our lives and to prophesy and call out what God has called you and I to, we can't be embarrassed by it because God can't bless you beyond your embarrassment. God wants to flow the prosperity of His kingdom flowing in our lives and that comes by believing who we are in God, no shame about it, and walking in it in Jesus' name. It's not about age. It's not about our upbringing. It's not about whether we're male or female. We know that. The Scripture says that. It's not about whether we're educated or uneducated. It's not about any of those things. It's simply about just believing. It's just believing. It's just believing. God's called, you know, the foolish to confound the wise and the weak to confound the strong. God's turned it all upside down. The world's striving to climb ladders to attain to something that they'll find that's not there. But we are called to seek after God and our seeking after God and believing who we are in God will attain to doing great things for God in Jesus' name. Amen. Let me pray for us. Father, I thank You for Your people. Father, I thank You that You are provoking us, priding us.