Scripture reference: Genesis 1:28-30 (MSG); Matthew 6:31-34 (TPT); Deuteronomy 28:1-2, 11-12 (AMPC); 2 Corinthians 6:16 (TPT); Romans 4:17-18 (TPT)
Pastor John:
Hello, everybody. Welcome to the Word of God and the presence of the Holy Spirit. Pastor Sharon and I are delighted to be with you today. We just know that in what we have to say and what God is going to do in your hearts, and touch you wherever you are – through these lenses, through your television, through your mobile device – the anointing of the Holy Spirit is going to be on you because we have prayed. Pastor Sharon and I have prayed and we’ve come into agreement before we came live that the anointing of God will produce everything that you need in your world. The Word of God will touch you and will change you and impact you in Jesus’ Name. Hallelujah.
This is not just a medium to communicate with you, this is a medium for you to actually receive the Words of God. The anointing of God is everywhere all the time. On that basis you can receive healing, you can receive dynamic revelation that will change your life because the anointing of the Word will come upon you and touch you even though we might not physically be in your presence. We believe God will meaningfully touch your life today. Praise the Lord.
Pastor Sharon:
Praise the Lord.
Pastor John:
We’ve been having a really wonderful time in the Word, haven’t we? Just on Sundays, and the way we’ve been sharing the Word and the way God’s taking care of us.
Pastor Sharon:
Yes, yes. It’s been a great joy to be doing this with you and to be sharing the Word and preparing together before we actually go live. It’s just been a very precious thing. It’s a very precious thing.
Pastor John:
I hope they enjoy it as much as we do, Sharon.
Pastor Sharon:
Yes, I’m sure you do.
Pastor John:
Yeah, so we’re going to get into the Word. I’m going to refer to our last Sunday’s message and we’re continuing with Big and Bold. God is leading us in a particular direction with the message of Big and Bold, and I must say that, again, as we’ve been ministering this the Lord has dropped a mantle upon Pastor Sharon of some things that she feels very strongly needs to be said. So, we are going to get there in weeks to come. For the moment, we are creating a framework and a context for when the Word is spoken that everybody’s hearts will be prepared, and they will be ready to receive what God is going to be saying.
I think that’s a wonderful thing, Sharon. We want them to receive it that’s why we want to prepare their hearts for it. The Word is always liberating but sometimes when you’re in a dark space and suddenly light comes in – you just switch on bright lights – you have to blink your eyes. It might even hurt your eyes because now the light is so bright. We’re actually not wanting to be like a rabbit in a spotlight of a vehicle, you know, just freeze because the light is so bright. We are wanting you to grow, sort of take the light from darkness and sort of slowly use a dimmer and get brighter and brighter as the light comes to you over the weeks to come.
So, if you are listening to this, I want to encourage you that the last two Sundays that Pastor Sharon and I have done, and the Sundays that are going to be coming, all these messages will be a complete revelation of what God is bringing to our ministry and to our church right now.
I’m going to read a passage of Scripture just to be part of the context. Pastor Sharon, you can jump in wherever you want, as soon as I finish reading this passage of Scripture, and you can jump in. I’m reading from The Message translation, and I’m reading Genesis chapter one, verse 28 and it says, 28God blessed them: this is man and woman, blessed them: “Prosper! Reproduce! Fill the Earth! Take charge! So here’s a dominion mandate, here’s an authority mandate. Be responsible, so if you have got authority then you have to have responsibility with it. Be responsible for fish in the sea and birds in the air, for every living thing that moves on the face of Earth.” (Genesis 1:28 MSG). What God has done right there, is He’s saying, “Although I’m the Creator, I’m now handing the responsibility, the management of everything that’s on the earth – all of the resources on the earth – I’m now handing it to you, man and woman.
29-30Then God said, verse 29, “I’ve given you every sort of seed-bearing plant on Earth. And every kind of fruit-bearing tree, given them to you for food. To all animals and all birds, everything that moves and breathes, I give whatever grows out of the ground for food.” (Genesis 1:29-30 MSG). This is a powerful passage of Scripture because it indicates that God took care of everything. When He made man, He said, “I’m taking care of all of your needs. There is never a moment where you have to worry about eating, drinking or anything. It’s all provided for you. Not only are you provided with food, all the animals, everything that’s living and breathing is provided with resources to live. The responsibility you have, man, is to manage all of this in their coexistence together.”
When we go into Matthew chapter six, that scripture becomes very powerful and relevant because Matthew, chapter six, says in verse 31, 31“So then, forsake your worries! Why would you say, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear?’ 32For that is what the unbelievers chase after. (Matthew 6:31-32 TPT). If you go from the Garden of Eden, if you believe in God, and you’re under His authority and His mantle, these things are taken care of. If you’re an unbeliever you have no choice but to chase. That will preach good hey, Pastor Sharon? You have no choice but to chase because you don’t have a God provision. You don’t understand God’s provision, so you have no choice, but to chase after. You can never actually chase fast enough or hard enough because it can never satisfy because instinctively you become someone that has to chase.
Pastor Sharon:
The next thing and the next thing.
Pastor John:
Ja, and so, 32For that is what the unbelievers chase after. Doesn’t your heavenly Father already know the things your bodies require? 33“So above all, constantly chase after the realm of God’s kingdom and the righteousness that proceeds from him. Then all these less important things will be given to you abundantly. 34Refuse to worry about tomorrow, but deal with each challenge that comes your way, one day at a time. Tomorrow will take care of itself.” (Matthew 6:32-34 TPT). So once again, this passage of Scripture, if I can flip it on its head, and you can come in here, Sharon, and just share but if I flipped it on its head, I can say this; if my life is about seeking God, then my seeking God will automatically trigger God’s relationship with me that says, “He’s a seeker, I’m the Provider.” So, we don’t have to chase for provision, we just have to seek and the provision comes. The question for us is; do you want to be a chaser or do you want to be a seeker? If you’re a chaser then you will never ever actually know the provision of God and the way of God. But if you’re a seeker and you’re after God’s plan and purpose and God’s will and God’s things that He has got for you then that’s where the abundance lies.
Pastor Sharon:
That’s right. That reminds me a little bit about Deuteronomy 28. In fact, very much it reminds me about Deuteronomy 28.
Pastor John:
Especially if you read verse 11, Sharon, but the whole from verse 1.
Pastor Sharon:
It says, 1If you will, because here’s the seeker, from verse 1, ¹If you will listen diligently to the voice of the Lord your God. You see, you’re listening to His voice, being watchful to do, what you are hearing, all His commandments which I command you this day, the Lord your God will set you high above all the nations of the earth. ²And all these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you. That is exactly what He is saying; don’t chase after these things. Seek, seek first the Kingdom then these things will be added unto you. So, you seek Me first, Deuteronomy 28 verse 1 and then all these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you, if you heed the voice of the Lord your God. (Deuteronomy 28:1-2 AMPC) Because you are seeking to heed. Wow, it’s very powerful.
Pastor John:
Read verse 11 for us, please.
Pastor Sharon:
¹¹And the Lord shall make you have a surplus of prosperity. There’s the abundant overflow. 11 And the Lord shall make you have a surplus of prosperity, through the fruit of your body, of your livestock, well that is our business, places of business, and of your ground, in the land which the Lord swore to your fathers to give you. ¹²The Lord shall open to you His good treasury, the heavens, to give the rain of your land in its season and to bless all the work of your hands (Deuteronomy 28:11-12 AMPC).
Pastor John:
If you translate that into our modern-day language, if you seek Him and you put Him first all these blessings will come upon you, prosperity comes upon you, increase comes upon you, well-being comes upon your life and if you look at verse 11 and verse 12, then He’s saying, blessing is going to come upon you, surplus of prosperity, surplus. He will make you have a surplus of prosperity through the fruit of all of that you put your hand to. Every channel of income, God will bless it.
¹²And the Lord, verse 12, will open to you His good treasury of the heavens (Deuteronomy 28:12 AMPC). I mean, what a thing that He is saying, and I mean there is a lot that we can talk about that because it refers opening of the treasury of the heavens goes directly to Malachi chapter 3; tithe and prove Me now, if I won’t open up the windows of heaven and pour out blessings upon you that you can’t contain. As we have talked about it in the past, Sharon, that’s not like we don’t have enough money in a bank, there are not enough banks to hold the money. It’s an idea that God is blessing, blessing, blessing, blessing, prospering, prospering. It just doesn’t stop, it just keeps flowing, it just keeps going.
Pastor Sharon:
Yes, as you keep seeking first, it just keeps getting added and you still seek Him first and it keeps getting added and you’re listening for His voice and you’re obeying Him and the blessings just come and overtake you. It’s just like that all the days of your life.
Pastor John:
All the days of our life.
Pastor Sharon:
That’s right.
Pastor John: It’s an interesting thing, and we’re going to talk in a minute here about the times that we find ourselves in, and the relevance that the Holy Spirit spoke to me and said; Be Big and Bold. He spoke to Brother Jerry and said; This is going to be a Year of Abundant Overflow. He spoke to Brother Copeland and said; It’s the Year of the Local Church in which God is going to show divine healing and divine prosperity. If you see what the Holy Spirit is saying, He’s saying it doesn’t matter what the world looks like because if you speak that kind of language in a timeframe where everything is, we’ve got to prevent sickness, we’ve got to prevent the disease from spreading, we got to isolate, we got to separate we got to be contained and controlled and confined. And everything you hear about in the world, today is businesses are shutting down, economies are on the brink of collapse, you know, and just certainly small to medium business enterprises are really struggling to actually make it. So, if you listen to the news, what we’re saying is completely different to what the world is saying, what the news is saying.
That’s a bit like what happened to the children of Israel in the land of Goshen, Sharon, you know, where actually all these plagues and all these things were happening to the disobedient nation that wouldn’t let God’s people go. But in their space, they had light, they had prosperity, they had increase, all the time.
Pastor Sharon:
They had no loss. They had no lack. That’s right. That’s what the Word of God, the faith, our faith does that. Our faith in the Word of God, that abundant overflow, and Big and bold and these things that Brother Jerry’s been saying and that you’ve been saying. It overrides what’s happening in the world. Our faith overrides that. Our faith in the Word of God has got nothing to do with what’s going on in the world. It’s a completely separate thing because we don’t live in that kingdom. We live in the Kingdom of God.
Pastor John:
This is a unique opportunity for us as Christians because by and large, Sharon, in the Western world, the Western world has had no major wars like a World War. In America and Europe, although there are Nations in Africa that have seen genocide, and rather horrible things have happened, but by and large, there’s not been a World War. There’s not been a scalable war in the world that has impacted all of the world all at the same time since the Second World War. But now we have a war that has touched the whole world. It’s a war of an unseen enemy; it’s a virus. If we think that this war that is happening is not as destructive and as harmful as an actual machine gun and tanks kind of a war, hand grenades kind of a war, then I’m wanting to bring some insight to you today that actually, this is an attack of the enemy of God against God’s people, against all people. But it’s designed to isolate God’s people. Everybody’s isolating. Everybody’s struggling but actually, the enemy is after God’s Church. The enemy is after God’s people and he’s wanting to actually make you think small. He’s wanting to make you think that the provider of government and the provider of economies is going to leave you stranded because it’s all collapsing.
Here’s the time for us to shine. Here is the time for us to show what we really believe. Here is the time for us to really put our trust in God.
Pastor Sharon: That’s right. He’s wanting to make your whole world very small – the enemy – so that you become introspective about yourself, and it’s me, and it’s my family, and I’ve got to do whatever I can to keep us safe. It’s meant to isolate us from the Body of Christ and before you know it, your world will be so small.
Pastor John:
Yes. I mean, we’ve experienced that, Sharon, even you and I where the government has said, it’s time to self-isolate or be in isolation. Initially, everybody was isolated. Then as things have sort of changed and the momentums and the flows have changed we’ve been aware of ongoing restrictions. Still, churches can’t have more than fifty people or two hundred people, whatever the size, depending on the size of your building, or whatever. But it is pretty much not more than fifty people can gather together at any given time, you know, no matter where you are. That affects restaurants, that affects churches. Even in the most recent news, there is in South Africa, there is an announcement that will be coming, not too far from now, where the question is, what about more restrictions? Less restrictions? How do we go about it? Even though they are wanting to go back to level one, in some instances, they’re still saying, the churches and the gatherings of people are not going to be more than fifty.
I mean, that’s not coincidental that this particular disease is causing isolation, causing introspection, and causing you to feel like you’re disconnected from the flow of economic well being, the flow of social and family prosperity and love and joy that comes from all of that. The enemy is trying to isolate us so that we don’t feel like we have, our future is kind of stifled. It’s what the enemy is trying to do. He is trying to take your hope and your faith in the future away. But we have a hope in Jesus.
We have a hope in the Lord and our hope is from second Corinthians. I’m going to read the second part of verse 16. And He says, 16I will make my home in them, and walk among them, I will be their God, and they will be my people (2 Corinthians 6:16 TPT). That is something that we can really, you can take that to the bank, literally. He is saying, I will be there for you. I will be in you. I will be around you and I will be amongst you.
I have to say to you and ask you this question, believer, Church; if God is with you, do you think that if He created creation and He put Adam and Eve in Creation and said, “Here is all your needs provided for,” that He is not going to take care of us? Isn’t that what Matthew chapter 6 is all about. If you just seek Me as your Creator, as your God, I’ll take care of the things you need. That does not mean to say that we don’t work and if you don’t have work that you can’t believe God for work. That is part of activating our faith and our trust in Him but we’ve got more to say because life is not just about eating and drinking and what am I going to eat and wear for the future.
I’d like to read this passage of scripture in the book of Romans chapter 4, from The Passion Translation and it says here, verse 17, 17That’s what the Scripture means when it says: “I have made you the father of many nations.” He is our example and father, talking about Abraham of course. Here is what I really want you to see, for in God’s presence he believed that God can raise the dead and call into being things that don’t even exist yet. 18Against all odds, when it looked hopeless, Abraham believed the promise and expected God to fulfil it (Romans 4:17 TPT). So, this is a time for us, Sharon, to believe the promises of God that He will fulfil and take care of us.
Pastor Sharon:
That’s right. It’s such an exciting, joyful time for us to experience, really, in the midst of famine, the way many of God’s people in times past, experienced famine and then experienced the supernatural provision of God. I’m in that space, John, with the promises of God where I am like, God’s going to show Himself. God is going to show Himself strong because I believe His Word. I am not moved by what I hear with my natural ears. I am not moved by what I see with my natural eyes. I am only moved by what I believe, and I believe His precious Holy written Word, and I believe what His prophets are saying and I know that I am going to prosper. I am already prospering. It is already happening in this new era. God is doing miracles. It’s a very, very wonderful time in my heart.
I am having a party in my heart because the Word of God is, I keep feeding my spirit man with the prophetic word and the written Word and I am having a feast. Proverbs talks about; He has a feast, regardless of circumstances. He has a continual feast in his heart, and I am feasting on the Word of God. So, I can only be joyful at this time, John, that the worst things seem to be getting out there, but more my joy and my faith arises because I know what the Word of God has said, and I believe what God has said. I do not believe the report of the world. I believe in the report of the Lord.
Pastor John:
Because His Word is in my heart and it is on my mouth. His Word is in my heart and it is on my mouth. I have experienced, in recent days, I have experienced where I’ve been in the Word and I’ve been listening to messages that the services that Pastor Sharon and I have preached. We’ve been listening to them over again.
Pastor Sharon:
We’ve been listening to them ourselves, over and over.
Pastor John: Because the Word has been ministering to me that God has been giving to us to minister to you, and I have been filling my heart with the Word of God in other ways. Then I wanted to know what was going on with, you know, any new news about COVID, any new news about restrictions, any new news about stuff in our country. So, I switched on the news to get information and it was the most amazing thing that happened to me after it, listening for about ten or fifteen minutes, Sharon. It was like, I just felt that hopelessness and that almost fear that is in the world system. I recognise governments doing as good a job as they can do – I am not speaking against them. I am just saying that out there, there are a lot of words that are speaking about the impacts and the effects of all of this and how many people are in hospitals and how many people are dying. We are only going to get the vaccines maybe next year, and you know, there is a lot of talk about, when, and how many and how is it going to be rolled out, etcetera, etcetera. There’s just lots of news. After listening to that for just a short while, I immediately began to feel like my spirit man was being deflated. That hope and that joy was kind of, o dear, you know, o dear. Immediately I switched off the news because I recognised immediately that these words are negative words, there’s no life in them. They’re information fact feeding words, but they’re not giving me life.
Pastor Sharon:
They’re not truth, they are fact feeding words. They are not truth. God brings truth to me that sets me free.
Pastor John:
Yes. I need to fill my future with the Word of God that I believe in rather than fact feeding words. If you feed on facts, then you’ll get fat on facts.
Pastor Sharon:
You’ll be fearful on facts
Pastor John:
You’ll get fearful on facts. If you feed on facts you’ll get fat on facts, and you’ll get fearful on facts. In the end, it’ll actually end up driving your future because of fear. If you feed on the Word of God you’re going to get a well-being from the Word. You’re going to get wealthy from the Word.
Pastor Sharon:
Yes, and you’re going to receive the comfort of the Scriptures because the Bible talks about receive the comfort of the Scriptures and the strength from the Word of God in you. That’s right.
In line with what you were saying now, Pastor John, the Word of God says be careful what you are hearing. Be careful what you are hearing. Don’t lend your ears to anything but the bare minimum of what you need to know to obey the law. That’s all. You don’t need to hear. You don’t need to know anything more than that. You don’t need to, otherwise, you’re going to hear the report of the world, and have happened to you what happened to Pastor John. You start feeling things slipping from you to erode your faith.
Pastor John:
That’s right, as words are designed to actually and this whole system is designed to cause us to actually withdraw, and be consumed by that tininess of what the world system is trying to do, you know.
I believe that as we are growing stronger in the Word that we are going to get stronger and God is going to see to it that we are blessed, we have abundant overflow, we have increase and we have all of the goodness because if we seek Him it doesn’t matter what time of, in man’s time it is. It doesn’t matter how much the disease is out there. It doesn’t matter how much the economy is being shut down. God has got ways of providing for His children that are truly an intervention; spiritually. They’re supernatural divine interventions to take care of His people. If He has to He will do that in many different ways. Pastor Sharon, you have some extra words that Brother Jerry spoke that we haven’t shared with the people yet.
Pastor Sharon:
Yes. Also, if we have time to just read this what Kenneth Hagin prophesied. Let me read here a little bit extra of what Brother Jerry received on the 1st of January. January the 1st, the Lord said to Brother Jerry, the things I have planned will bring you great joy. And blessing after blessing, that’s what I’ll deploy. Never have you witnessed such goodness that you will soon see. I’m pouring it out in abundance so that you will have greater victories.
Don’t fear, this is 29th of November now, don’t fear the future because it’s bright. And I’ll see you through each and every fight. That’s your fight of faith. So stay in faith and watch what you say. Stay in faith and watch what you say. Speak only My Word and I’ll have My way. It’s never My will for you to fail. It’s always My will for you to prevail, or to win. So, don’t be moved by what you hear and see. This is how you enter into greater victories.
It’s not to be moved by what you hear and see but only by what you believe; the Word of God. Be bold. There we go. Be bold and courageous, and stay free from all fear. For 2021 is going to turn out to be a great year. I’ll take you higher than you’ve ever been before. This is My promise and My promises are sure. So stay in My Word and rest in Me. This is your year to be totally free.
Pastor John:
What a contrast if you hear these words. What a contrast to what the world is saying, Sharon. And in fact, you know, I already started to receive from the Word from the Lord in October last year about Being Big and Bold. I wanted more from Him and of course, I have shared more about that and will continue to do that, but this is what Brother Jerry is saying. It’s that spirit, if you are sure about abundance, if you’re sure about overflow, if you’re sure about that if you seek Him God’s going to take care of you, and you keep speaking that, it’s not to try and convince yourself. It’s not about a formula. It’s about I’m genuinely engaged in this walk with God. He is my God. I will walk with Him because He walks with me. I will have Him live with me because He wants to live with me. I live with Him. He lives with me, in me, around me and with me. When you are genuinely involved with God in that way there is absolutely no doubt in my mind that He will take care of every one of your needs. Absolutely. And what He’s saying there is be bold and courageous because this is going to be the greatest year.
Pastor Sharon:
Exactly. The most wonderful thing always for me and I know the Heritage of Faith people have heard me say this many, many times. But I am so grateful that it’s my choice to believe. I, Sharon Bendixen, can choose with my own will to believe the words of the prophets and to believe God’s Word. It’s my choice to believe. Hallelujah.
Pastor John:
Hallelujah. Praise the Lord.
Pastor Sharon:
Just as we are closing here, John, what Brother Jerry said here. Speak only My Word. Stay in faith and watch what you say. Speak only My Word and I’ll have My way.
I just recently pulled this out of what Kenneth Hagin said, in 1973. The Lord says; My creative power is given to man in word form. I have ceased for a time from My work and have given man the Book of My creative power. That power is still in My Word. For it to be effective, man must speak it in faith. Jesus spoke it when He was on earth and as it worked then, so it will work now. But it must be spoken by the Body of Christ. Man must rise up and have dominion over the power of evil by My Words. God says, My Word is not void of power. My people are void of speech. So by observing worldly circumstances, My people have lost sight of My Word, they even speak that which the enemy says. That’s what we’re talking about here today, Heritage of Faith people. And my people destroy their own inheritance by corrupt communication of fear and unbelief. No, says God. No Word of mine is void of power. It’s only powerless when it is unspoken and not believed.
Pastor John:
Wow, I mean, that was 1973. I mean, that is so packed full of revelation, when he talks about especially like the beginning of that, Sharron. The Lord says, My creative power is given to man in word form. In other words, you know, you have words. If you believe the words that are My words that I’ve given you in book form, and you believe them and you speak them, God’s creative power goes to work.
In other words, if we put that very plainly we can say. We can create streams of income, we can create things that we are in need of purely by saying God says. If I trust Him and I live in Him, He provides for me. I receive provision. I receive multiple streams of income and I begin to thank Him and praise Him because I have that walking among Him, walking with Him. Words, working and walking with them and His presence walking and working with them and so they create for us our future.
Pastor Sharon:
Praise God.
Pastor John:
In the next Sundays that we are going to be together we are going to push this envelope a little bit further. We’re going to turn the dimmer switch off the lights, on a little bit more, and we’re going to talk more about the impact of living a focused life of chasing after houses and homes and cars and what we’re going to eat or drink or wear. Chasing after that with your faith.
Pastor Sharon:
Versus chasing after the Kingdom of God
Pastor John:
Versus chasing after the Kingdom of God and seeking His ways as using your faith. Because on the one hand, God is desiring to take care of all of that. Your faith must be so strong in Him that you just know it’s coming. Whereas on the other hand, He’s wanting us to live on assignment for the Kingdom. We’re going to talk some more about it the next time we get together next Sunday.
I know you had a wonderful time again around the Word today. It’s so amazing when you begin to share the Word, how time just flies and it feels so good to be in the presence of the Lord like this. Yes. Sharon, do you want to just say a blessing over the people as we close our session today?
Pastor Sharon:
Yes. Thank you. Thank you, Pastor John.
Father, thank You that these words of Pastor John and I that have been spoken, inspired by the Holy Spirit, will be ignited in the hearts of all of the people that have listened to this message. And that they will be watchful for it not to be stolen out of their hearts by the enemy but that they will hold fast to these words in their hearts so that off of Your words they will be the fruit of the things that they are saying and believing.
I speak peace and wholeness, well-being, blessing. Blessing to all that have listened and are listening right now and protection.
Pastor John:
Protection of your physical world, your health, your income, all of those things. The Word and the blood of Jesus surround you and protect you. May He give His angels charge over you as you go forth and live life with joy.
Thank you for joining us in Sunday service. May the Lord bless you, in Jesus’ name. Bye.
Pastor Sharon:
Bye-bye everybody.
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