Scripture reference: Ps 62:5,6 (NKJV), Prov 10:28 (NKJV), Prov 11:23 (NKJV); Luke 3:15-16 (NKJV); Ephesians 4:4-8 (NKJV); Ephesians 4:11-15 (NKJV); Philippians 1:19-23 (NKJV); Philippians 1:25-26 (NKJV); 1 Peter 1:10-12 (NLT); 1 Peter 1:12 (TPT); 1 Peter 2:9 (TPT); 1 Peter 2:9 (NKJV)
Pastor Christi: Well, Father, in the mighty name of Jesus, by Your leading, Holy Spirit, we come by faith today to receive Your words and Your message to us as a people today. We bless Pastor John. Father, we ask You for Your power and Your anointing on everything that Pastor John must say and do in this service today, in the mighty name of Jesus. We have spiritual ears and eyes to see today and ears to hear as we hear Your words today in the name of Jesus, and we all say, amen. Pastor John, thank you for bringing us the Word.
Pastor John: Hallelujah. Thank you. Wow. How many wonderful young people, children, and kids do we have in the service today? Praise Jesus. glory to God. And, I’m glad it’s not just because of the reproduction of kids. But long may that live too. Hallelujah. It’s a good day today. We truly are blessed. And I trust that you will experience the grace of God and the love of God in this service today. You will experience everything that God has for you, today. Amen.
So, are you ready? I’m ready. I’m ready. I’m ready. [Congregation repeats after Pastor John] One more time. I’m ready. That’s better. Hallelujah. I heard someone doing a talk at a conference recently. And this person who was doing a conference talk was inspiring younger people to be successful. So, they were calling, they were asked to come and do this conference because they had already achieved success as far as the world is concerned. They were a successful person. Status, money, those kinds of things. So, they came to address a whole number of people who came to this conference to address the conference. And this person was encouraging people to press for their dreams. So, the way that this particular person was a lady, a woman that was addressing the conference, and she was encouraging especially young women to really press for success. And so, she talked about a meme that she had seen, and the meme was a Maserati and a school bus.
And she said, “Well, who you hang out with is going to determine your future.” So, a Maserati seats how many people? Maybe 2. How many people sit in a school bus? 40, 50? Depends. So, I got to thinking about this meme. Ferrari versus school bus. A Maserati versus a school bus. So, I got to think about it. If I ask you today, what kind of vehicle you want to drive? Now you’re reluctant to say what car because you don’t know where I’m going in the message. Right? Hold on a bit before we answer this question, Pastor John. But come on, there is no trick here. If you just had a choice, here’s the school bus and here is a Maserati, brand new one, which one do you choose? The Maserati. The Maserati. Right?
Because what? It’s about a 2,000,000 Rand car, it’s a sports car, it’s fast. You know? Yes? Yes. Who wants to ride in a school bus when you can ride in a Maserati? I mean, if we drove a Maserati onto the stage here and a school bus onto the stage here, which one are you going to look at? [Congregation says Maserati] For sure. You shush Pastor Lynn, you’re just being controversial this morning.
I mean, let’s just say the Maserati was on this side of the stage here, and the school bus was on that side of the stage. I’m sure you’d see everybody going here, and you want to touch the Maserati, open the door, and see what it feels like. Right? Well, I mean, we’re all like that. Maserati dreams rather than school bus dreams. Right? Well, I got to think about this, you know, and I thought, ahh, you know. I mean, the message that she was presenting was all good, and it was all that, and it was a public event.
And, obviously, she’s there to really inspire young people to press for success, you know. But I got to thinking about it when I was watching it, and I was thinking, it’s it’s a little bit disingenuous. You know, because you’re actually making, not that she was being disingenuous. The meme that she used between a Maserati and a school bus is like, everybody’s got to do the school bus thing sometime in their life. You don’t grow up unless you do the school bus thing. Right? Everybody.
I mean, I’m talking about, figuratively, everybody does the school bus thing. You all got to go to school. You’ve all got to start somewhere in life. You all, we all got to do the school bus. Not everybody gets to do the Maserati thing. So, that’s the point of the meme. You know, the point is, if you want to do the school bus thing, there’s very few people, ag, the Maserati thing, there’s very few people that rise to the level of Maserati dreaming stuff. But, again, it leaves you with this impression, and it leaves you with a desire, if you like, that is not, it’s not full.
It’s not a full thing. It’s not… it just leaves everything hanging out there, and then you get to chase what you want. Well, yesterday, when I was talking to the men, I did tell them I was going to share some of this with you all today. Pastor Sharon and I have been spending some time over the last couple of weeks talking about people that are normal. So, you know, there’s been quite a lot of stuff happening in the ministry. Pastor Jerry’s gone home to be, Brother Jerry’s gone home to be with the Lord. He was our spiritual father for many, many years. And so many things have happened. And many, there were many years where actually I knew that my assignment was directly connected to his assignment.
And to some extent, it’s always going to be. But on the other hand, I don’t have any other father right now that God has placed in my life. So, I got to figure some things out. “So, Pastor John, what’s the school bus and the Maserati got to do with it?” I’ll tell you in a minute. Don’t lose faith. But Pastor Sharon and I were talking about it and as I’ve said to you in recent messages, if you don’t count the cost before you go into something and properly find out what it’s going to cost, you might find yourself short. And nobody wants to find themselves short. And if you’re going to build and part of what the Bible says if you’re going to start building a house, who doesn’t count the cost of what it’s going to take to build a house before he builds the house so that he can finish building the house? Right?
So, as we go in the ministry, there is a, there is a cost to count. You can’t imagine all of the costs that you’re going to pay. If you saw all of it upfront, you probably wouldn’t do it. That’s why I’m amazed at the Apostle Paul because God showed him what he was going to suffer in his body before he did it, and he still said yes. And that’s quite something that he saw it. God revealed it to him. Most people that actually get to do something significant in their lives or something that is really purposeful, they don’t really know what it’s going to cost until they’ve got some way down the track.
So, if you are involved in spirit life, you’re involved in spiritual life, you are very much aware that spiritual life has an element to it that is it’s not normal. So, we were talking, Pastor Sharon and I were talking about how do normal people live? How do normal people live?
So, in our conversation together, we began to talk about people who do normal things versus people that are normal. And I suggest to you that there are no normal people. There are only people that do normal things. Well, why do I say that there are no normal people? Well, because everybody that lives on the planet, whether they know it or not, their future is a spiritual future. So, most people want to have a box that is spiritual, philosophical, whatever they want to call it. They want to have a box that they can tick, that they say, they can say, “We’ve done that, we are part of that, we know about that.” And so, when you look at their lives, they get up in the morning and they go about work, they go to work, they go to school, they come back, and everybody else is doing the same thing.
That would be considered ‘normal’, but they’re not all doing they’re not all normal. They’re just doing normal things. So, normal things are, you going to brush your… oh, well, I hope you brushed your teeth this morning. Just breathe on somebody. No. No. Don’t do that. Don’t breathe. I hope you brushed your teeth. You know, I hope you came here and did some normal things so that while you’re in here, that… and I hope you put deodorant on. Because if you don’t, people might not treat you normally. They might walk away from you, walk around you, or you understand? Okay. I’m just trying to indicate to you that there are normal things that people do, but it doesn’t mean to say the things that people do that are normal things makes them normal.
And I would suggest to you that there is no such thing as normal. Because everybody has to make a choice about their spiritual future. And when you choose your spiritual future, you’re either choosing light or you’re choosing darkness. Now, people that go about doing normal things that live their life in a wholesome way, integrated into society, that other people would say there is a normal person, those people may feel like, because I’m normal, I’m okay. And as long as I’m fitting normally, I want to be sort of at the highest level of normal as I can possibly go, but I still want to be fairly normal. Right?
Well, I don’t think that God called any Christian to be normal. We, as Christians, may do normal things, but that does not define who we are. So, we must do normal things, and here’s our challenge as Christians. Our challenge is that as we do normal things, that we continue to see ourselves normal, not as spiritual. God expects us to be spiritual, not just naturally normal. And it’s only those people that do spiritual things that can do extraordinary things. You know, I mentioned this recently, you know, when Steve Jobs, who was a multi multi multi-billionaire, one of the most successful entrepreneurs on the planet earth ever. He has literally changed the direction of technology and products, technological products on the earth. When he got pancreatic cancer and then ultimately died from pancreatic cancer, he spent as much money as he could, did all the clinical, marginal, over-the-top, new stuff, everything. He did everything he could to try and save his life, and he couldn’t, Money couldn’t buy it for him. And in the end, on the last days of his life, before he died, he basically said these words, and I’m just kind of, putting the headlines out there. He basically said, “What’s the point of all of this? I’ve done all this stuff. For me, what’s the point? Now I’m dying. My money means what to me?”
You see, even though everybody was applauding his extraordinary achievements, he was just an ordinary man that made choices, that his ordinary would propel him to what others would say is successful life. But in the end when he died, he had to admit that he is nothing but an ordinary being. Now when you and I die, if we have been spiritual and we have given our lives to God, we take our ordinary things that we do in our lives, and if we have lived by faith and we have lived with the foundation of spirit life, we take it to heaven with us. And the Bible says if you have done that, you will be presented, and your works will be presented to God as silver and gold. But you can live your life on the earth, and your works can be as wooden items. They can easily be discarded because they are not worthy.
So, now, come on, let’s ask you now. For eternity, what do you want to drive? Do you want to give up everything for the Maserati, or the school bus? See, now you are not so sure about the Maserati anymore, because on the earth the Maserati is very nice. But in heaven, God might say, “I want you to go and pursue a school bus. And everything you do with a school bus, when you get to heaven, you will be presented with gold and silver because your works were a school bus works, but they were My works.”
So, what do you choose now? If your works are school bus works, but they are God’s plan for your life, but you can go ahead and obtain a Maserati, but it’s got nothing to do with your life, guess what happens when you get to heaven? “Hey guys, you enjoyed the Maserati for your 50 years or 70 years you were alive. You had all the fun you are going to have eternally.” The school bus dude, “Hey, maybe you didn’t drive as fast and have everybody rubbing your car, but hey, enter into the joy of the Lord, and here you are with gold. You are a gold vessel for Me.” What do you think?
So, our dreams, ask for what? What do we want to dream? It’s a little bit empty if we just say, “Go out all out for your dream. Go all out for your dream. Do what you can to get your dream.” Who gives you the dream? Psalm chapter 62:5 to 6. The Psalmist says this, 5 My soul, wait silently for God alone, For my expectation is from Him. 6 He only is my rock and my salvation; He is my defense; I shall not be moved. (Ps 62:5,6 NKJV). Are you with me this morning? Proverbs 10:28, 28 The hope of the righteous will be gladness, But the expectation of the wicked will perish. (Prov 10:28 NKJV). Doesn’t matter if your expectation is for a Maserati. If you get it within the means that are just for yourself, it will perish. Proverbs 11:23, 23The desire of the righteous is only good, but the expectation of the wicked is wrath. (Prov 11:23 NKJV). Okay.
So, what I’ve got to confront in my humanity every day, is, every day I’ve got to say to myself, “I am not a normal person. I’m doing normal things, but I’m not a normal person. I do normal things, but I’m not a normal person. I do normal things, but I’m not a normal person. I am a child of God.” That makes me different. That makes me different.
So, I have taught this in different ways. Previously, I’ve said, if you live in the realm of reason, reality, and relevance, and that is only where you live, then you are going to live as a normal human being that does normal things, and you touch the normal continuously. But God says you must live in redemption so that you can have revelation of who He is and what life He has for us. And then you will have a revolution, because your life will not be the way that you’d planned it to be, but your life will be something that God wants it to be. Amen. Luke chapter 3 verse 15 says, 15 Now as the people were in expectation, and all reasoned in their hearts about John, whether he was the Christ or not, 16 John answered, saying to all, “I indeed baptize you with water; but One mightier than I is coming, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to loose. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. (Luke 3:15-16 NKJV)
Here’s what was happening. Here was an anointed person who was calling for repentance, and so everybody was asking, “Is this the time for our Messiah? Is he perhaps the Messiah?” And so, John doesn’t answer them and say, “I’m not the Messiah.” He says, “There’s One coming that’s going to do a baptism with the spirit, not just in water.” So, what expectations do you want? Do you want the expectation to be baptized in water, or do you want to have the expectation to be baptized with fire?
So, I’m talking about the way John… John was saying, “I’m not the end deal.” So, let’s not stop at John. Let’s go on to Christ. Let’s not stop with what’s just acceptable and good in the short term, the baptism of John in water, the baptism of repentance. Let’s move on to the baptism of Christ. I mean, I know that the story that I’m telling, I suppose, in my own world of of the way I prepare, I know that I’m also reflecting on what the apostle Paul wrote when he, Apollos when they asked Apollos, “Why, what are you going around preaching?” And he said, “Well, I’m preaching on the into the baptism of John.” And so, then he had to be taught about the baptism of Christ, and then he received that, and then he started to preach the baptism of the Holy Spirit and the baptism of Christ. Amen. Praise Jesus.
So, how many of you watched Brother Jerry or listened to Brother Jerry’s audio? Many of you, not all of you. All of you should have watched it or listened to it rather. You should have. If you haven’t, you have time between church services. Because, this afternoon and tomorrow morning, I’m going to be referring to Brother Jerry’s message quite a lot. But Brother Jerry stood in this on this, in this church, on this platform, and he was about to retire. And he basically said, “You guys in this church have lived with excellence.” And he was saying, “I’m going to retire and now I’m going to watch you take it further.”
So, well, I mean, he used these words. That’s partly why I wanted you to listen to it because he used these words. He referred to Oral Roberts standing with Kenneth Copeland and talking about how he was a proud father watching what Kenneth Copeland was doing, and he used that analogy about us. How excellent our ministry was, our church, and that he was expecting us to go and continue to be excellent and to do great things. If you haven’t listened to it, you should. I mean, what is stopping you from listening to it? Not enough time? Well, you won’t receive the fullness of what I’m going to say this weekend if you don’t listen to it. If you haven’t yet, you should. Please. Amen.
So, we have as a church, we’ve had dreams. We have dreams. A dream. I want to share something with you later on, I want to share with you what Brother Jerry says. If you have a dream, then this dream… the likelihood of this dream coming to pass, if you know it’s God, then these are things that you might look at if it’s a dream from God. Anyway, I’ll get to that a little bit later. Dreaming. Dreaming. A dream is quite a powerful thing. I said previously in other messages, dreams that little boys have, I dreamed of becoming a game ranger. It was just a passion I had. I still have a passion for wildlife but just because wildlife was my passion didn’t make it a dream for me to pursue.
I was passionate about sport, but just because I was passionate about sport didn’t make it a dream that I must pursue. So, what was the over-overwhelming desire in my heart and my life? It wasn’t what I was good at. It wasn’t necessarily what I was that passionate about. It was about my walk with God and what He was showing to me. So, my own walk with God is not something that because I’m called to the 5-fold ministry, that God is only speaks to 5 fold ministries the way He spoke to me. So, I want to put it to you this way. When I was 15 years old, round about my 15th birthday, I was supposed to go to church that night, and I really felt… I mean, bear in mind, here was a young boy, teenager, that never missed church. I was either at school, playing sport, or at church. There wasn’t much else to my life.
Because I love church, for me to miss church, you must understand what the pull of God was for me to miss church. So, God was pulling on my heart to spend time with Him. And in fact, in that time when He was spending… when I got into His presence, the glory of His presence filled my room so strongly, and He called me to my future from Jeremiah chapter 1.
And I’m still living out that dream that He placed in me. That calling that He put on me. Amen.
Now assume, let’s assume for a moment, and I’m going to use it because it’s probably the next biggest thing that people do. Let’s assume that God wants you to provide finance for the kingdom of God. That means you are likely to be in some form of business venture. I believe God can call you to business in the same way that He called me. He will give you a scripture. He will put a deep passion in your heart and your life for that, and you will know that this is the course and the direction of your life. Right?
At the same time, I do believe that there are people that are called with different gifts. The scripture talks about in Romans 12, talks and I’m going to just use one of the other gifts, the gift of teaching. You will find that some people just have the ability to communicate and teach stuff. And they’re just good teachers, and people like to be in their class because they can teach well. It’s like you can take a boring subject like maths or, you know, history or something, and if someone’s got a passion to teach, they’ll make maths come alive. And it’s like even people who don’t… who are not good at maths or think they’re not good at math, suddenly, they can be in a classroom because that teacher has got an anointing to teach maths. And it’s like a passion, and it’s, I want you to get this. I know how to communicate it to you so that it makes the most complex thing seem simple. It’s a gift. It’s a gift. And because that gift is on you, God wants to use that gift in your life to touch others, And He… and I’ll tell you what, if that’s the thing that’s driving you then you’ve going to give God opportunity to let that be revealed and let that work in your life because His glory will be connected, and your provision and your future will be connected to the use of the gift. Amen.
I mean, she’s a Pastor now, but I know that this is the way that God uses Pastor Christi quite significantly is through the teaching gift. And before she even started teaching in the church, she was teaching at Wits Technicon. Right, Pastor Christi? I mean, because she was passionate about helping students and teaching people, and she knew that in this subject, she could go and teach students about stuff. Right?
So, if you and I are going to dream, then we should be dreaming the stuff that God wants us to dream. This is not schoolboy-dreaming stuff. How many of you know that all the while I was dreaming, I was playing sport at that time, A-team rugby, I was doing, you know, athletics. I was doing all that kind of stuff that a guy at school would do. So, what do you think, you know, when I’m getting ready for a match to play, a soccer match to play, playing for my club, you know, what are you getting to think? You’re dreaming about your future and how you can play the game, how you can do better. Right? But how many of you know that at 15, if you’re getting God’s dream just passionate inside of you, then there must be something else to that dream? It’s not because I can touch the Maserati. It’s the thing that’s on the inside. Hello?
So, here’s how you can, well, I’m going to get to it in a little while, you know, the dream that, one of the things that Brother Jerry says, if you have a God dream, what it would look like. But for you and me, what do you think God’s dream is for every Christian? Every Christian. I’m not just talking specifically about a business, or a teacher, or a 5-fold minister. What do you think God’s dream is for every Christian? Every Christian on the planet, what’s God’s dream? I wasn’t planning to use the scripture, but since you all asked. I’m so happy you asked. I just need to get here quickly. So, just getting to the scripture here. I’m ahead here.
So, in Ephesians chapter 4, the scripture says to us, he’s talking about gifts. 4 There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called in one hope of your calling; 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism; 6 one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all. 7 But to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of Christ’s gift. 8 Therefore He says: “When He ascended on high, He led captivity captive, And gave gifts to men.” (Ephesians 4:4-8 NKJV)
So, verse 11 says, 11 And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, and here is what God’s desire for every Christian is. 12 for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, 13 till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man or a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; 14 that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, 15 but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ— (Ephesians 4:11-15 NKJV)
This is God’s dream for you. I ask you, if you get God’s dream fulfilled, what’s He going to do to your dream? Your dream is going to come to pass. So, come on now. He gave gifts to the church so the gifts could teach people so that people in their learning will get to know who Christ is. And in Christ, we will all come to maturity, and we will be able to reveal who Christ is in our living together in maturity in the love of God. Can I ask you a question? Is that possible if you’re not connected to a church? So, the Apostle Paul is very clear about this. It’s amazing to me you know, that most people don’t hear this when Kenneth Copeland preaches this, or when Brother Jerry Savelle used to preach this, but they all, they all say you need to be planted in a – in fact, brother Copeland says this, he says, “Your geographic location where your job is must be where your church is. You don’t look for a job and then go to a church. You look for the church and then you find a job.”
People think this comes from John and Sharon. This doesn’t come from John and Sharon only. This comes from other men of God that have been in this, in this – in the, in the walk for longer than I have, and I’m grateful that we are connected to them. Brother Jerry was very strong about this. You have to have a local church where your gifts can work. It’s, I mean, Mark Barclay says it, Kenneth Copeland says it, Rick Renner says it, Jerry Savelle said it. Many people said, “You don’t choose your job and then find a church. You find the church that God wants you to be at, and God will provide you the job.” Now sometimes that gap might be a little time, time to take some – take some doing. So, it might be, there’s my church – I’m involved in that church – now God, I can’t just leave my financial stuff where it is, but I’m trusting you that I can be part of that church. Hello? See, I have to, I have to preach this like this because as I’m going further, I’m going to talk to you about our dreams as a church, but we’re also going to talk about your expectations. So, I’m going to just give you some time to think about it.
In the message that Brother Jerry preached here in 2012, he said, “Please write down your 3 highest expectations.” Right? Now, he went so far as to say, now I’ve listened to a number of stuff that Brother Jerry has spoken about this subject, so my heart is full of it, and I, and if I get some details wrong here, don’t take me to the cowshed and “slag” me. Okay? But, Brother Jerry, in one of his messages, said it this way. He put down 3 highest expectations for his overall life and ministry, but then he had 3 highest expectations for his aviation ministry, for Chariots of Light, for other parts of his life that he wanted expectations for. So, he had all these highest three expectations written down for the different compartments of his life that he chose to believe God for.
So, as we go through, further through our weekend together, I’m going to have you write it down. I’m just giving you a heads-up so you can think about it. Right? Because when you start writing down your expectations, your heart’s going to get tested, and I’m already going to test it. If your expectations that you write down does not include this church, then maybe this is not your church. Now Pastor Sharon, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit last Sunday night, was on fire, last Sunday afternoon on Message Moments. I mean, the fire of God burned through her, and we had so many people call me, speak to Pastor Christi, many people, you know, how that fire just set them free of so much in their lives. I’ll tell you what, for me, it was distinctly uncomfortable.
Well, when I was speaking to Pastor, you know… you might not think this, but every time that God uses Pastor Sharon with that fire, I want to tell you that she’s more uncomfortable than anybody else. She doesn’t want to be used like that. She is aware of actually what she’s doing and what’s going on in her when that happens, and she’s aware of what’s happening to the people. And when she comes home, she’s like, “John, John, I know I obeyed God, but John…” And the human compartment of her starts to feel remorse, just because she knows what it’s doing. Hey, if you take your hand and you’ve got a gas stove burning in your house, go and put, take your hand and start putting it closer to the flame. See what happens. See how far you can get before it starts getting really uncomfortable. Right? So, if the fire is burning and you’re feeling uncomfortable, join the club. It’s the nature of being close to the fire. It’s meant to make us all uncomfortable. What you do with it is going to be dependent on what happens to you next. Hey?
So, dreams are so powerful because dreams can give you the direction of your whole life. Come on. I had a dream. I had a dream. A dream was that one day I would own a piece of property in the Timbavati or at some form of wildlife reserve. I had a dream. At one stage in my life, I had the money to go and participate in fulfilling that dream for myself. Now hold on a minute. I want you to understand my life is dedicated to the Lord, committed to Jesus. My whole ministry, my whole life, everything I’ve made, all my choices are dedicated to the Lord Jesus. I’m still dedicated to the Lord Jesus, but I’ve always had a dream since when I was a poor boy whose father was in the ministry. One day, I’d like to be one of those wealthy guys that have a house here on the Sabi River near the Kruger National, the Kruger Gate. I can dream that. Right? I can dream that. I mean, I’m a young man. I can look at the people that can afford it and say, “Yo, I’d like to be that one day.” You meditate on that dream. You meditate on that dream. You meditate on that dream. What happens to the dream? It gets bigger in you. By just the very fact that you’re thinking about it. Yes? You’re thinking about it. You’re thinking about it. You’re thinking, then you start to talk it. Now you’re thinking about it. Now you talk it. Now you begin to act on it.
So, I did. I found a piece of property in Hoedspruit, Big Five country. Since I was a teenager, I’ve been dreaming this stuff. Now I’ve got the financial means to do it. I found a business, I found a partner who also had enough finances to say, “Let’s go and do this together.” So, we went in there. We looked at the property. It was a beautiful piece of land. It was just amazing. We started to do all of the sums. How much is it going to cost? You put in so many million, I’ll put in so many million. Let’s do this. The dream was in my thinking, was in my talking. Now it’s in my acting. So, before we say, “Let’s do this,” we say, “Let’s go and pray about it.” Thank God. Thank God. Let’s go pray about it.
So, I going to pray about it. Yeah. I just don’t feel like I can just let’s do this thing. Just can’t I just can’t get there. Hello? So, then we did some more sums and we said, “You know, if we have this piece of property for ten or fifteen or twenty years, the cost of putting money into the property, the cost of doing this is going to be the cost of lost opportunity.” So, if you took that money and did something else with it, how much is it going to cost you to have that piece of land? So, now it’s invested there. You can’t do anything with your money, but if you could do something with that money, what’s it going to cost you? So, you lose money because you’ve invested in something. You have to say, “How many years am I going to have to wait till I get an appreciation on that land that is going to make up for the cost of lost opportunity?” Number one. Number two, what is the maintenance cost of that property given where it is and given the kind of things that happen around that property? What’s the cost of the maintenance? Finally, what does God want me to do with the money? So, we all got together and said, “Hey, guys. I’m not comfortable. I can’t do this.”
You know what happened? The minute I went to God, my dream was subject to His will. My dream became subject to His will for my future. So, I didn’t pursue the dream anymore, I just said no. Let me tell you. Since that time, I have never lacked for anybody wanting me to go to the bush and have private encounters in private bushes with private homes where people have got it, and I don’t have to pay anything for it. God has just blessed me and favoured me. And you say, “Well, Pastor John, it’s because of who you are.” “No. It’s because I put Him first place in my dream, and I said, I’m going to follow You. I’m not going to invest money into that.”
But you see, I will talk about this further on, when we, when we have time, more time together. I’ll share more of this with you, but sowing seed, and I’m going to talk language of investment, because what you’ve done today, coming to church today, what you’ve done is you’ve come to sow a seed. Yes. You’ve brought your energy, you’ve brought your gifting, you’ve brought your time, you’ve brought something that, you, just so that you know this, you can never get this day back, you know. These few minutes you’re sitting in church, you can never get it back. Once you’ve spent these minutes in the church, they spent. They’re gone. You can’t get them back. Same thing with everything else. Whatever you spent your time on, you can’t get it back. You can’t get it back. So, what you’ve done today by coming here is you got to decide for yourself if you’re coming here, what’s the value? What’s your investment in coming here? Because you could say, “I could be doing something else.”
Let’s just take a businessman who really… a business person who really wants success, and they see Sunday mornings as an opportunity to do admin, so they can get ahead of their admin, so that when Monday comes, they can hit the ground running because Monday, everybody else is back at work. It’s a productive time. So, let’s use Sundays to work.
I know people, some people that used to be in this church have left this church because they worked 7 days a week. How many of you know if you come to this church, we’re going to teach you balance of life. Because if I had to give 7 days a week, 24 hours a day, or my waking hours to my wife, how much do you think I would reap as an investment back from her? A lot. A lot more than my time that I’m giving her now. But I can’t give her all that time because I’ve got other stuff to do. So, this becomes a balance of how we spend our time.
But you came here this morning, you can’t get this time back. So, now you can either sit there and make it a waste because “I’m just here. I’m here. Hey, everybody. See me. I’m here. I’m pretty good, hey? Came to church this morning. And, of course, it’s Father’s Day, so I need to be in church. But, hey, I’m a good father, so I’m good. Hey, everybody. I’m at church. See me? See me?” Of course, nobody does that. You know, they all, everybody’s like, “How’s it? How are you doing? How’s your life? How are you going? But you see me, I’m at church.” You know, you’ve got all the thanks and the praise you’re going to get eternally, you’ve just got it all, that’s your reward. But if you came to church this morning and say, “I’m investing in the kingdom, I’m investing in the Body of Christ, I’m investing in what God’s plan is for the Church.” You get the reward back of this time. He, God the Father, sees, “You give Me this time, you give Me your energy. Not only do I reward you eternally, but in this life, I’m going to give you back a 100 times productivity that those 3 hours you could have done. I’m going to give you back that productivity through an increase supernaturally in your life.”
You want to talk about why I want to live a Maserati dream rather than a school bus dream? I’d rather have a school bus dream if that’s God’s dream for me. And I’m happy. People go around in their Maseratis, and everybody along the streets goes, “Look at the Maserati. Look at the Maserati. Oh, the Maserati.” You got all the glory you’re going to have. “Look at the Maserati.” Come on.
I think I have a fairly healthy spiritual perspective of my calling, because if I had you going, “Oh, Pastor John. Oh, Pastor John. Oh, Pastor John. Oh, Pastor John.” I’ve got all the glory I’m ever going to get eternally, and sorry, your glory doesn’t do it for me. I’m not interested in your glory at the expense of God’s glory. I don’t want your praise. If it’s a difference between your praise and God’s praise for me eternally, I want to say this in the nice pass nicest possible way, “Stick it.” Because really your praise doesn’t matter that much to me.
Now here’s what I do know. I do know that as I honoured Brother Jerry and as you honour fathers and as God has an honour system in the church, I understand honour, I receive the honour because it’s a channel that God uses to bring humility into the church. It causes humility in the people. If we honour each other, that’s why the Bible says, “You must submit to each other as unto the Lord” because in the submission to each other, we understand that you submit to someone, you honour them, and that honour provides humility. And humility, God says, “I’m going to bless someone that’s humble.” He says, “He resists the proud, but He gives grace to the humble.” Power to prosper. [Congregation says, You’re preaching good Pastor John] Thank you. I also think I’m preaching great. Hallelujah. All of this is because I’m preaching about dreams. You didn’t think this could all come out of a dream preach, hey? Praise Jesus. This is the Holy Ghost talking to us. This is the Holy Ghost speaking to His Church. Hallelujah.
So, you’ve invested your time. Get it back. Get it back. Let God redeem the time. This is what He means by redeeming the time. If you’ve got faith in what God called you to do here, then you can redeem the time that you spent here, in productivity, in supernatural ideas, in revelations, in the intimacy of what He now produces through you, greatness. Hallelujah. So, you know who’s got the most difficulty with this message? Very talented people, normally. Thank God, in our ministry, we have lots of talented people, but they’ve given their lives to God.
But normally, it’s talented people that have this trouble with this message. Why? Because talented people say, “Look at my talent. Look what I can do with my talent. Look what I can get a Maserati-life with my talent.” “Oh, I see it. Yes, my Maserati-life, my talent, my choices, my dream, my desire, my stuff. I see it.” God doesn’t want – God gave talented people their talent because He wants to use it for the Kingdom. And guess what? Every time somebody brings their talents to use it, God’s going to honour them. He’s going to bless their lives. Hallelujah. Praise Jesus. That’s all because you asked me about Ephesians.
Listen to what the Apostle Paul says. Man, I think this is so amazing. Philippians 1 verse 19, 19 For I know that this will turn out for my deliverance through your prayer and the supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ, 20 according to my earnest expectation and hope that in nothing I shall be ashamed. Let me tell you. Anybody that can live their life and say, “In nothing, I shall be ashamed.” That person knows who they are in Christ. Because most Christians even, have got some level of shame. I’m not here to talk about that today, but I’m just saying.
20 But with all boldness as always, so now also Christ, will be magnified in my body, whether by life or by death. Let me tell you, this is quite something when a man can say, “Christ is going to be magnified in my body whether I’m living or whether I’m dead. Christ is magnified in my body.” Hello? 21 For to me, to live is Christ. To live is? Christ. Say it again. Christ. To live is? Christ. He doesn’t say to live is to meet my dreams. To live is to have all my desires of my life to come fulfilled that He gave me anyway because I think He gave it to me because I’m living it because it’s my desire. So, because it’s my desire, I’m living it. That doesn’t make it His dream for you. It depends on what put the desire there. Just because you’re a Christian, doesn’t mean to say you have automatic God desires. If you automatically had God’s desires, then Paul wouldn’t have had to write and say, “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed to renewing of your mind.” Because all of us have the ability to be tempted to follow our human desires rather than God’s desires. All of us.
20 So, now Christ will be magnified in my body whether by life or by death. 21 For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is my gain. 22 But if I live on in the flesh, this will mean fruit from my labor. Do you understand what he’s saying here? He’s talking about his expectation, and he’s saying, “If I choose to live in my body, whatever I’m doing in my body because I’m doing it for Christ, I will eternally reap the labour and the fruit from my labour because I’m in my body still.” 22 Yet what I shall choose, I cannot tell. He had such a walk with God that God is saying, “You’ve done so good, Paul. You can come home anytime you like.” He’s saying, “Lord, I know I can come home now because I’ve accomplished my assignment, yet my desire is for the church, that’s Your church.” 23 For I’m hard-pressed between the two, having a desire to depart and be with Christ, which is far better (Philippians 1:19-23 NKJV). Why? Because he’s living for Christ. His whole life is for Christ. And he say, “Hey, my whole life has been about Christ. If I die, I going to be with the One, I’ve given my whole life to, far better.” Come on. This is a real dream to press for you and me. This is a real dream where you can live your whole life, spending it in the work of Christ and you say, “I’ve been working for You, living for You, giving my all for You, and now for me to go, it’s better because I’ve been doing it all with You now. I’m going to just hang out with You eternally.” Sharon, you can’t go home yet. You’ve got to stay with me, and I will stay with you until God says it’s time for us to go. 24 Nevertheless to remain in the flesh is more needful for you (Philippians 1:24 NKJV). This is what Paul’s saying. To stay in the flesh is more needful for you. 25 And being confident of this, I know that I shall remain and continue with you all for your progress and joy of faith, 26 that your rejoicing for me may be more abundant in Jesus Christ by my coming to you again (Philippians 1:25-26 NKJV). He is so determined to preach all of what he knows about Christ to the Church so when his body leaves, he spent himself giving everything to the Church.
I have a spiritual father who did that. So, passionate was he about fulfilling the will of God on his life that literally he was flying to California, preaching in the churches morning and night, and the next morning, he was waking up, getting on the plane, going back home so that he could continue his ministry. And as he walked in, there he was in his room, put out his clothes for to wear for the rest of the day, and his body said, “End of the day, end of the story.” And God said, “Come on, Jerry. Come home. You’ve spent your whole life giving everything to My Body, giving everything to Me. Come be with Me eternally now, Jerry. Enter into the joy of your Lord. Come, Jerry!” He was on assignment, he was still spending all of his energy when he left. Wow. Come on. That’s an example for us to follow. Hallelujah. I’ve still got some growing to do.
But this weekend, I believe that when we leave here, this weekend, when we all leave each other, we will have a clear understanding of what God’s got for us. And then you can decide how you’re going to participate. Hallelujah. I want to read to you from the New Living Translation, 1 Peter 1 verse 10. 10 This salvation was something even the prophets wanted to know more about when they prophesied about this gracious salvation prepared for you (1 Peter 1:10 NLT). So, all the prophets of the Old Testament, all those prophets that prophesied over Israel, that prophesied about the future of Christ, they all could see something while they were prophesying. They didn’t understand it but they could see it. 10…they prophesied about this gracious salvation prepared for you. 11 They wondered what time or situation the Spirit of Christ within them was talking about when he told them in advance about Christ’s suffering and his great glory afterward.
12 They were told that their messages were not for themselves, but for you. And now this Good News has been announced to you by those who preached in the power of the Holy Spirit sent from heaven. It is all so wonderful that even the angels are eagerly watching these things happen (1 Peter 1:10-12 NLT). This was true about the Church then. This is true about the Church now. Do you understand that those people that prophesied, they wondered, “How’s this going to come?” “What’s the timing?” “Who’s the people?” “Where’s it going to all happen?” They saw it all, and then we happened. And even now, the angels are watching. Let’s see.
Let’s see how this Ekklesia unfolds according to the marvelous majesty of the salvation of Jesus Christ, who could take a group of people that were hostile to God, who lived in darkness and sin, and who had no future and no hope, Jesus came to die for them, and now they have got a hope and a future because we can be the righteousness in Christ Jesus. And the angels are saying, “Let’s see what these people do with it.” That’s not some megachurch in America, some megachurch on television. It’s us. I hope it includes them too. I do. I’m not dissing them. I’m just saying, it’s not about because someone’s got a bigger profile and a bigger footprint that it’s about them. The angels are watching us. Us. Us.
So, I’ve got news for you. If you’re here and you’re listening to the message, God’s got you. I want to use a graphic. [Pastor John hooks the corner of his mouth with his index finger] He’s got you. He’s got you. He’s got you. So, I don’t want to hear what you have to say, Pastor John. It’s too radical. It’s too intense. It’s too much. And so, okay, if people leave, He’s already got them here and when they leave, they leave like that. [Pastor John hooks the corner of his mouth with his index finger] Most of the time, what happens is that that hook cuts them. It heals, but they’re always left with a scar because they were never supposed to leave. Their whole future was designed to be with this body. With these people. Hallelujah.
The Passion Translation says it like this, 12 God revealed to the prophets that their ministry was not for their own benefit but for yours. And now, you have heard these things from the evangelists who preached the gospel to you through the power of the Holy Spirit sent from heaven—the gospel containing wonderful mysteries that even the angels long to get a glimpse of (1 Peter 1:12 TPT). They’re still trying to get a glimpse of it.
I’m going to finish off with this scripture and this statement. 9 But you, 1 Peter 2 verse 9 in the Passion Translation, 9 But you are God’s chosen treasure. Hello? You are God’s chosen treasure. You are God’s dream. You are God’s chosen treasure. Braddles, hit yourself on the chest like this and say, “I’m a treasure.” You see everybody how he’s boasting about himself? [Congregation laughs] Braddles, you’re God’s treasure, brother. You are. All of you here, all of you, you’re God’s treasure. Hans, you’re God’s treasure. You’re God’s treasure. Renier, you’re God’s treasure. Come on, everybody. Just hit yourself on the chest, just say, “I’m God’s treasure.” You are. You are God’s chosen treasure. Watch what He says next, 9 … priests who are kings, a spiritual “nation” set apart as God’s devoted ones. He called you out of darkness to experience his marvelous light, and now he claims you as his very own (1 Peter 2:9 TPT).
And now He claims you as His very own. He has a claim on your investment. He has a claim on your seed of your life. I said this to the men yesterday, I said, you know, probably the biggest challenge that the world faces out there is a tolerating Christian, because by and large, Christians are tolerant of the world’s infidelities, their immorality because, of course, we’ve going to be forgiving and merciful and kind so that people can come to Christ. But we can do all of those things without tolerating the immorality that exists in the world. Hello? But the church has become so tolerant that that tolerance has become part of our lives. So, we tolerate compromised Christianity for the Maserati dream. So, remember what I said last week. The difference between someone who’s disciplined and someone who’s a disciple is that someone who is disciplined is doing it all for themselves, for their own promotion, and for their own benefit. Where someone who’s a disciple is learning how to die because you can only become what God wants you to do in your dying, not in your self-discipline.
Some people will say, “But self-discipline is dying.” No. No. People that have got a strong will, that have trained their minds to be strong. So, listen triathletes, sportsmen, people that give all to their careers, they discipline themselves to be in the office at 6 in the morning and work till 11 o’clock at night. Because they’re passionate about their dream. That doesn’t make them a disciple. Makes them disciplined for a dream. A disciple is someone who learns to die to themselves so that God’s will can be done on the earth. Eina. 9 He claims you as His very own, He did this so that you would broadcast His glorious wonders throughout the world. (1 Peter 2:9 TPT) Hey. Come on. We have to be broadcasting His wonders. We have to be broadcasting His wonders. I’ll tell you what. You know, the only way that you can broadcast His wonders is if He’s wonderful to you.
Come on. If you’re all about chasing a dream that you want, God doesn’t have to be wonderful to you because you can do it by yourself. But when God becomes wonderful to you, it means there’s a dream He’s given you that you can’t do by yourself. Then He becomes wonderful to you because He shows you how it’s getting done, and you knew you couldn’t do it yourself. Then you broadcast His wonders because He’s doing it. The New King James version in verse 9 says, 9 “But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; (1 Peter 2:9 NKJV) Hallelujah.
So, you see the title of our message this weekend? Our subject is touching the dream. Whose dream are we touching people? God’s dream. We’re going to be talking about God’s dream. Yes. We’re also going to talk about your dreams, your expectations, your hopes. We’re going to talk about those things. Then we’re going to see how you can be a person who has, who lives normal things in their life. They do normal things, but they are not normal people. If you do normal things but you give your life to God, you do extraordinary things, not just normal things. I’m preaching really good today. Say, “You’re preaching good, Pastor John.” [Congregation] “You’re preaching good, Pastor John.” I receive it from God. I receive it from God. Come on. Say it. “I receive it from God.” [Congregation] “I receive it from God.”
Because I don’t want you to receive it from me because if you receive it from me, you’re going to walk out of here and debate it and argue it and then minimize it. But if you receive it from God, then you will receive it from God. A gentleman by the name of Vance Havner said this, Every Christian is a priest, not offering a sacrifice for sins since that has been done once and for all, but offering his person, praise and possessions.
So, can I read, cutting out the sacrifice part? Every Christian is a priest, offering his person, praise, and possessions. That’s what we do now. If you’re a priest unto God, a people that He claims as His own, then you are offering your person, your praise, and your possessions. This makes God’s dream come true, and then He’s being clear about it; if you make that dream come true, He’s going to give you eternal life and in this lifetime, a 100-fold return on everything you sow. It’s what He said. It’s what Jesus Himself said. Amen. Praise the Lord. Hallelujah.
Now aren’t you excited that we have a 4 o’clock session this afternoon? That we don’t just have to wait a whole new week until this comes around. We’re going to get this all done this afternoon and tomorrow morning. We’re going to get it done. Hallelujah. Dreams and visions and mighty things that God has for us. Wonders that we can say, “He’s glorious.” Won’t you stand with me, please? Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. I had this in my heart that I wanted to do, and so we’re going to do it right now. We’re going to take communion. Because, hey, this message this morning, we can’t do this if we’re not in Him. And because we are in Him, we can do this. So, actually, this is what the Bible says, “When you examine yourselves,” this is how we’ve examined ourselves; “Lord, we are going to press for Your dream in this Body.” Hallelujah. Won’t you all be seated, please?
So, do you believe that Jesus is the Son of God? [The Church responds, “Yes.”] Do you believe that He’s the Lord of your life? [The Church responds, “Yes.”] Do you want to serve Him? [The Church responds, “Yes.”] Do you want to give your life to Him? [The Church responds, “Yes.”] Do you want to be in the place where God has called you to be? [The Church responds, “Yes.”] Did anybody say no? Did you be quiet because you didn’t want to say yes? So, this is not a moment for you to sit on the fence, you can’t be a fence sitter. In fact, God is, Jesus is quite clear about this. If you’re a fence sitter, He’s going to spit you out of His mouth. He’d rather have you cold or hot. Don’t be someone that’s, “I’m tolerant. I’m tolerant, and I’ll tolerate Pastor John for a bit because the rest of what’s happening in the ministry, I quite like it, but I’ll tolerate him.” Ja nê? Praise the Lord.
I’ll tell you what, I’m full of the joy of the Lord because people have started to give me testimonies about how the healing power of God has started working in their bodies. And in time to come, we will hear those testimonies about the healing power. People that have been struggling with stuff in their bodies for a long time, some of them, really for a long time, and God has healed them. Hallelujah. So, not every healing miracle has to happen while somebody falls flat on their face. It’s because the Word is preached. Because our faith and our expectations is in Him. Hallelujah. Praise Jesus. Glory to God.
I’m just waiting for everybody to receive the elements. You know what’s happening now? If you want to have a conversation about this, I can say this to you; we are doing something that’s humanly normal. We are taking something that is edible and putting it in our mouth and we are taking something that is drinkable and drinking it. This is a normal human thing to do. Come on, now. But there is nothing normal about this. Because this is a spiritual exercise.
Why is it spiritual? Because we have faith in what we’re doing. We are remembering the Lord’s death until He comes. We are being obedient to Him. Right? So, if you don’t have faith in this then you wouldn’t want to participate in this because this is just a normal thing that you can do everywhere else.
In fact, in the Book of Corinthians, I mustn’t get teaching on this now, but this is just free, but in the Book of Corinthians, part of the reason that Paul wrote to the Corinthian church to correct them about how they do communion is that when they were doing communion to remember the Lord’s death until He comes, they were trying to out do each other with how much food they could bring and the quality of food and they were having all-day-feasts and being all prideful about their feasting while remembering the death of the Lord Jesus Christ.
He had to write to them and correct them and say; now, when you come to your feast, leave your food at home and come and just remember the Lord’s death. You must accurately examine yourself and how you are connected to the Body and not be competitive in the Body. Remember Him. Go read it for yourself. You’ll see what I’m telling you is true. Hallelujah. This is what faith does. You can all stand with me again, please. Hallelujah.
I want to declare this with you; that the Lord Jesus, His body was broken for us, He was scarred and marked for us in His body so that by His stripes we can be healed, that in our natural world we could have a wholesome life, full of wellbeing and peace, in Jesus’ name. And you and I declare right now that every physical function in our lives comes into alignment with the order and the divine health of God in our bodies because we remember everything He paid for and we receive it in Jesus’ name. Receive the body of the Lord Jesus.
Thank You, Lord. Just thank Him. Thank You, Lord, for health. Thank You, Lord, for blessings in my natural world. Come on. Thank You, Lord. Thank You, Lord. Thank You, Lord. You know, the blood of Jesus was shed for us so that you and I, we could live a life without oppression, without depression and without all of the forces of darkness that want to consume us. His blood paid the price for us to live free of anxiety, immorality, and lustful desires. Receive your freedom in Christ Jesus to live in peace and all the good things that God has for us. Remember it, in Jesus’ name. Thank You, Lord.
Will you please raise your hands just like this and say, “Thank You, Lord. I receive everything that You paid the price for, in Jesus’ name. Thank You for blessing my life. Thank You for making me whole. I thank You for peace in my life, in Jesus’ name. Amen.”
And if I was Hebrew now, I would say, “Shalom.” Go in peace. Nothing missing, nothing broken. Shalom. I’ll see you at 4 o’clock. Oh, we didn’t do an offering. We’ll do an offering at 4 o’clock. You better be here at 4 o’clock otherwise I’ll bring a stick to your kneecaps. [laughter]
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