In this sermon, the speaker shares a personal experience of leading a community of 55 people on a 160-acre farm in northern Minnesota. Feeling a strong conviction from God, they decided to wait on the Lord for ten days, seeking His guidance and direction. The speaker emphasizes the importance of living out their message and fulfilling the eternal purpose of God as a church. They also highlight the mandate to move Israel to jealousy and the need for deep communion with God through fasting and prayer. The sermon emphasizes the significance of relying on God's strength rather than human efforts and the need for continuous prayer and seeking God's will.

I would like to welcome you all again, also those who have come from abroad, and especially our dear guests Klaus and Arthur. We heard Arthur Ketz for the first time, it was about eight years ago. It was a cassette, and this message was transcribed with the heart of faith. I can still remember this time very well. The message was shocking and challenging at the same time. Shocking in the sense that it was very radical and hurtful, and challenging because we felt something of a depth that the Christian life can take. Since then we have been connected again and again with this message, with this prophetic salvation. And it is not entirely understandable to all of us that eight years later, Arthur is among us. And I would like to say that it is not only a joy, but I can say in the name of all of us that it is a great honor. And I would like, before he brings the word, to pray again. Father in heaven, we thank you for this evening. Father, we want to hear your word this evening. We want to hear from your mouth. Speak a creative word this evening, Lord. Create something. Do something new, Holy Spirit. Father, we come to you in anticipation. We expect nothing from you. We expect nothing from a human being, Jesus. But we want to expect something from you and from your Spirit. Father, we thank you for our brothers Klaus and Arthur this evening. We pray that you be the word, that you be the translation. We thank you for your presence and for the atmosphere that you create this evening among us. And we pray this in the name of Jesus. Amen. I have always admired the statement that begins the Sermon on the Mount. And when he was set, the disciples came unto him, and he opened his mouth, and he taught them. If ever I would desire that this would be my experience, it would be tonight. I could give you many blessed messages. But I have a jealousy that exceeds that tonight. I want to give you all. All that God has inwrought in me in all these years. Do you think it's merely circumstantial that it's eight years since you've been born? Do you think it's merely circumstantial that you've heard that tape and that I'm now here? Do you cherish the mystery of numbers? Eight is the number of resurrection. The number of newness. And I would love to see something flow out of my mouth in keeping with that appropriateness. I'm sitting here thinking, Lord, what shall I speak? The principalities and the powers of the air? Absolutely essential for the consideration of any real fellowship. Of which there's so little comprehension in the church. It's more than the issue of shouting against the powers by which we take our cities. That's kids stuff. And I have such a revelation, such a grasp of the subject. But then if I speak of that, how shall I speak of the mystery of Israel in the church? But then if I speak of that, how shall I speak of the mystery of Israel in the church? Equally essential to the comprehension of any true expression of the body. And there's so many great issues and themes in between. That somehow these two great themes are the polarities. The eternal purpose of God for the church to the powers of the air. And the fulfillment of the mystery through the church to the restoration of Israel. These are two great apostolic and prophetic themes. And somehow these are the two great poles that are in my heart tonight. And they would sustain between them the whole weight of the prophetic call of the church. In the absence of these things we would be condemned to mere services. They are the foundation of the church. We need to be taken up by them, what's the word, appropriated. We need to be absorbed, taken into these meanings. I want so to impart something, to breathe the resonance of these things upon you, into you. Beyond instruction, because we don't even have sufficient time to begin to touch such majestic themes. So I'm trusting for the impartation of the word itself as a spirit word. Which will perform its own function and purpose. Beyond even the level of our own intelligence and comprehension. Where the word becomes an event. That's what I want to see imparted to you. Why? Because that's what God wants to see imparted through you into the world. That your word should be event. So I just ask you to join me in prayer. In this one precious occasion that the Lord is now giving us. That I'll be able to traverse this apostolic and prophetic landscape. This mind-boggling vista of invisible realm. That is so profoundly practical. And yet so eternal at the same time. As I said to Klaus on the way up here in the car. And I repeated to the brothers as we broke bread earlier. To take the apostolic and prophetic faith seriously. Condemns us to becoming pilgrim strangers and sojourners in the earth. It condemns us to a divine madness. Which the world cannot understand. Nor Christendom itself. And will provoke a certain reaction against us. Which will conclude the age. Namely our persecution. We need to steep ourselves in the apostolic and prophetic scriptures. Contrary to every seductive appeal to live in a reality other than what they speak. And the no nation in which I have travelled in the world is that seductive appeal more powerful than in Deutschland. Believe that as one who comes to you from a third world country. That you don't know how sensual your civilization is. How visible, how tangible. Your chemical industries have discovered the dyes that give the brilliance of color to tech, to fabrics and to garments. You don't realize to what sophistication your window exhibits. What do you call that? Your window have come. It's a brilliance honed and brought to its ultimate and finest expression. Your buildings, your institutions, your culture. It's compelling and demands acknowledgments as being reality. Yet God says all this will pass away. But my word endures forever. If you're going to become a true expression of the apostolic faith. Then the things that are invisible need eminently to become more real than the things that are seen. And in this civilization and this culture it will be no small task. Now perhaps you can understand what it means to contend for the faith once and for all given the saints. It's more than the issue of rescuing its doctrines. It's retaining its very character. Its eternality. The hope of future eternal reward. Paul says of the eternal weight of glory of the things that are unseen. May his present affliction seem momentary and light. Paul is the genius that sums all this up. Hebrew of the Hebrews. But his citizenship was in heaven. Occupied daily with the practicalities of the faith and the relationships of the saints. How do you take communion? What do you do about sin in the fellowship? How do you deal with meats that are sacrificed to idols? Overwhelming number of details that had to be worked out in the life of the early church. And yet at the same time a totally heavenly man. Ethereal but not impractical. That's the strange paradox of the faith. What does the world say? If you're heavenly minded you're no earthly good. What does the apostolic life of Paul say? Accept that you're heavenly minded you're no earthly good. If there's anything that Germany needs it's more heaven. By those who have apprehended heaven and been apprehended by it. And can communicate its categories in a very real way. More real than the things that are visible seen and that perish. No accident that the same man says knowing the terror of God I persuade men. No accident that the same man says knowing the terror of God I persuade men. That one thing alone would change the entire character of our evangelism. Presently predicated in the wisdom and the spirit of the world. What benefits you will receive by believing? If you accept Jesus. What he will do for you. Which of course I don't deny. But is that the apostolic appeal for conversion? Paul was conscious of the judgments of God. The judge is at the door. We shall be judged for everything we have done in our bodies both good and bad. He was continually aware of the presence of God as judge. Today we would say that's morbid. Yet he was a joyous man. May God bring such men to us in our final generation. Not only for what they teach but for what they are. For the apostolic man is the thing in himself. Is the thing in himself. Is that right? The church is built on such foundations. On the foundation of the apostles and the prophets. Not only for what they teach. And their remarkable grasp of the faith. But what they are in themselves. A heavenly reality. On the earth. Who come to men from out of the presence of God. For what is the foundation of the church? Is it teachings on church government? Submission and authority? The principles of church growth? Or is it the communication of God as he is in himself? The sense of God. And here's where words fail me. And we need just to intuit by the spirit what the heart of God is groaning to express. Before the apostle Moses could come down to Israel from the mount with the tablets of the law. I say apostle although the word was not then coined. But he was a foundational father of the faith. One who can bring a people out of bondage and into a land of promise. He first was summoned up to the mount of God. Come up unto me and be there God said. And I will give you the tablets of the law that thou mayest teach them. How would we hear such an invitation today through our modern ears? Yes we have to suffer the inconvenience of an ascent up to a mount. But this is a necessary preliminary that we might obtain the tablets of the law that we might teach them. That's how ministry oriented we are. What I need to do to obtain the tablets of the law that I might teach them. And miss the entire point. What is the law without communicating the sense of the law giver himself? To make of it a technical matter. And not communicate the fear of God and the awe of God and the majesty of God. But even that does not yet get added. We're still looking to something that becomes a means to an end. Even the sense of God is to serve the purpose of making the law known. That's how pragmatic we are as a modern people. That's why I know you so well. Because you're Jewish. That's what German is. Practical, pragmatic, expedient, clever. But we've missed the whole point. Come up unto me. And be there. Then I will give you the tablets of the law. We need to bring something down from the mount that is of God himself. Which we will never succeed in doing if we see it only as the means to the end of our ministry. The apostolic foundation of the faith is to cherish God for his own sake. What he is in himself. Independent of any consequence that flows from him. To break the power of this pragmatic and practical mindedness of the world that is in the church. That God himself is the thing in himself as he really is. And as he desires to be known. Not only as an enablement that he might be made known. But first and beyond that. That we ourselves should be there. That we should be with him. And you shall be witnesses unto me. And how have we interpreted that in modern times? Being the German Jews that we are. So habituated to doing. That the whole world's systems predicate self-esteem and self-appreciation on the basis of what you do. You shall be witnesses unto me. Come up unto me and be there. This doesn't quite fit in the German because the English is... Yeah, do what you can. It takes a coming up. For every power wants to keep you below. The impracticality of going up. So many needful things that should occupy us below. That even pertain to the kingdom of God. I remember years ago I preached how the church was born in waiting upon the Lord in an upper room in ten days. Ten is the number of judgment. And the scriptures are very discreet not to indicate what went on in that upper room. But I know that they were not twiddling their thumbs. When is that day of Pentecost going to get here? That we might receive what we need. It was a true priestly waiting on God. Which is to say a dying. Of everything that is human in us that wants to do. What could be more a contradiction to the whole temper of our modern lives than to wait on God? Not for the benefit that we will receive when it comes. There may not be a payoff. There may not be a benefit. And if that's the basis for our waiting, even for a spiritual payoff, it is no longer priestly. There cannot be any ulterior motive. But God for his own sake. Germany is dying for the want of this. And does not even know it. Every fool who is driving his Mercedes-Benz recklessly on the Autobahn. Pushing himself to the extremity. For a kind of secret sensationalism and excitement. Because there's a hollowness in his soul. That even the human accomplishment cannot fill. Only God. As he in fact is. That must be brought down from the mount. For those who will go up to be with him. Without any thought of the benefit thereof. This is the foundation of the church. And it's missing. So I was preaching that the church was born in ten days of waiting in an upper room with the women. It was a very stirring message. And I was quite proud of myself for it. And a young believer came up to me immediately afterwards. Do you know the way God will do it? To let the air out of you? He said, Brother Katz, in all your travels around the world, have you ever yet found a church or a fellowship that has waited on God ten days? And I thought, why? My mind raced as I thought through the best fellowships that I had been brought into the world. The best! And I thought, no, I don't know of any single one that has ever yet waited ten days. If the church required that time in waiting to be birthed, what does it require to continue? If that's what was required for the church age to commence, what will be required for it to be concluded? No, I couldn't think of one fellowship that had made that sacrifice. Then the Holy Spirit asked me the next question. What about your fellowship, Hatshot? It was like a punch in the solar plexus. And so I went home with a very sober sense of what I had to communicate. We were a community of 55 people in those days, living on a 160-acre farm in remote northern Minnesota. And I said, I think that we need to wait on the Lord ten days. We are required to live our message. And they agreed, yes, it was right. As soon as we could find a convenient time. When it would not be too busy. When the phone would not be ringing. When we would not have invitations to minister. Of course, the time never came. The kingdom of God suffers violence. And the violent take it by force. I don't know if this is a correct exegesis of that verse. But it serves my prophetic purpose now. If we're going to be a statement of heaven in this German earth. And life and death depends upon it. Eternity waits upon it. Not only for Germany. But also for my own Jewish people. And we're not talking about some small thing. You see what I mean? How the practical things obtrude and take us away from heavenly consideration. Automatically, every head was turned. Something deep and ancestral in you. It has to do with technology. Triumphed over the things that are apostolic. Lord, how long? So we became ruthless. And we elders announced that beginning on Sunday. We were going to commence 10 days of fasting and prayer. 24 hours around the clock. And wait on the Lord for 10 days. And of course, we elders were to be examples to the flock. We would begin. And so we were going to stay up all night and pray. And fell asleep within the first hour. So the Lord showed us how to do it. Three hour shifts around the clock. 24 hours a day. For 10 days of prayer. Executive prayer. By which sometime in the course of those 10 days, you're praying with this one at one time, that one at another time. And so you kind of just rotate somehow through the entire community in prayer at any time of day or night. Of course, it takes a certain freedom from employment and jobs and schedules to even pursue this. You wouldn't want to use your vacation time for this, would you? After all, you so need your vacation. For all that you're doing for the Lord. And the intense tensions under which you live. You've got to take a break. It's coming. That's not the voice of the Holy Spirit. It's the voice of Potiphar's wife. And so we had 10 remarkable days. We started out very spiritually. And by the third or fourth days, our prayers had lost something of their spiritual quality. By the fifth day, our prayers were pitiful. And by the seventh day, it was hardly more than a groan. I can remember, I think it was maybe the eighth or ninth day of the fast. Three or four o'clock in the morning. I'm the leader of the community. The inspirational example. My eyes were almost closed like slits. My breath was as stale as a camel. And I had to be spiritual. And I was stretched out before God on the floor like a dead man. I didn't have the strength even to groan. It may have been the deepest communion between myself and God that I had ever experienced. There was so little of me left. And I became conscious of what a piece of dust I am. A piece of his creation. He made me and not I myself. And I was stretched out prostrate almost as dead before the creator. I was so aware of how presumptuous we were, even religiously. How self-initiating in our activities. That if we've prayed before a meeting or fasted three days, we think that we can go out and do this, that or the other. Everything always set in the context of doing. Who have not sufficiently waited on him. To obtain the sense of God. The creator. The almighty God. The ancient of days. The father of all mercy. The God of Israel. God. Let's turn to the book of Ephesians. To the third chapter. To examine briefly one of the great mysteries of the church. Which Paul says in verse 5 of chapter 3. Was not made known unto the sons of men, but is now revealed unto his holy apostles and prophets by the spirit. Whereof he was made a minister to the children of men, whereof he was made a minister in verse 7 according to the gift of grace given him. In verse 8, who am less than the least of all saints is this grace given. That I might preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ. And to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery. Indeed, that takes a grace. Because it's a mystery. Something hidden. That can only be revealed through the word preached to the illumination that is given to one who is the least of all saints. We need to pay careful attention to these preliminary words. This is not some kind of biblical rhetoric. Paul is not some self-effacing man in some kind of false humility. Some self-effacing man of false modesty. This is a practical letter being written to a church in Ephesus. Paul never dreaming that it one day would become part of the Holy Writ. Perhaps if he knew that, he would have been much more self-conscious about what he was writing. Because these words have to pass the test of the generations of the centuries. Not only to be applicable now, but to those saints who will conclude the end of the church age. Who will be living in an entirely different culture and civilization. But Paul did not have that thought. There was a wonderful mindlessness about him. A disarming lack of self-consciousness. He always let us know first that he was the prisoner, the bond slave of the Lord Jesus Christ, before he told us that he was called to be an apostle. Do you love Paul? Did the juices run? The whole building is to be framed fitly together. The same quality and character as the foundation itself. We should have an apostolic foundation and a charismatic superstructure. It's like pouring tons of cement to put up a little plastic tent. The whole building is holy from top to bottom. It's a tabernacle for God. We need to dwell on what Paul is saying, even about himself. Because we are called upon not only to understand the mystery, but to fulfill it. If it took Paul a grace from God to make it known by preaching, what will it take for us to fulfill it? It has to be fulfilled in the same character in which it was revealed. By the least of all saints, who see themselves as the chief of sinners. It's a remarkable paradox that the deeper you go in God, the more spiritual your life authentically becomes. The more your iniquities are ever before you. Don't you think I'll be agonizing sometime tonight or tomorrow morning over this very session? Lord, did I speak anything inadvertently? Did something slip in from my own humanity to corrupt the Word? The iniquity of ministry itself that always lurks when there is much speaking. We need to come into this apostolic mentality and consciousness. Not in some kind of false modesty, but to see ourselves as the least of all saints. It was the key to receiving the revelation, the grace to make the mystery known. And it will equally be the key to our apostolic fulfillment of it. And what is this mystery? That from the beginning of the world, which has been from the beginning of the world, hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ, to the intent that now, unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places, might be known by the church the manifold wisdom of God. You could read that clause. Verse 9 and 10. Does it say now in your German edition? Underline that word. This is your mandate and your calling. Before any other consideration. This is the eternal purpose of God for the church. But what is this? It really is a mystery. What does this strange language mean? This fellowship of this mystery. Verse 9. The fellowship of the mystery. To make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery. The words here. That God created all things. Oh, we knew that. But what we didn't know is why. And this is what is so staggering. I don't think you have the faith to believe it tonight. And yet, accept that you will. You'll be condemned to live out your life charismatically. You'll miss the eternal purpose of God. And work out your religious life at a much lesser level. Which I know is not God's intention for you. Or else I would not be here. That God created all things. The universe. The galaxies. The seasons. That makes the earth a life-sustaining planet. Created institutions and societies and governments and structures. Did not think all these things extravagant. But those things were not the purpose for his creation at all. They were only the necessary addenda. The necessary supportive thing for one purpose. That through the church something might be demonstrated. But let's leave that something aside for a moment. And let this much sink deeply into our hearing. For none of us esteem the church as we ought. We have brought our practical and our pragmatic mentalities to the church. What it does for us. What are its programs. What benefits do we receive by attending. Even the world is ready to acknowledge that. And give us certain tax considerations. Because after all we provide a pleasant and valuable adjunct to the world. A place to be married and to be buried. A certain ameliorating influence in the world that takes the sharp edges off. Brings a certain moral quotient into the world. A certain sensitivity. It's nice. And completely misses the glory. But we dare not miss it. We dare not allow the world to define for us what the church is. That it's willing to tolerate. We're not an institution. We're the purpose for God's whole creation. He didn't think it too extravagant. For the creation of all of this universe. That in it a phenomenon could be established called the church. God's eternal masterpiece. Don't be fixed in time. Be apostolic. This is the church throughout all ages, world without end. That's what it says at the end of this chapter. Unto him be glory in the church. By Christ Jesus. Throughout all ages. World without end. Not only in this age. But in the ages to come. If you don't understand that. If you don't grasp that. And if you have not been grasped by that. You will not make the sacrifices in this age that are necessary. Because there's not enough in this age to justify them. The requirement of God for us. Nothing less than our lives. A suffering. A martyrdom. Yes, even here in Germany. Especially before the end comes. Which we will not be able to make. Or live in that mentality of sacrifice. Except that we are apprehended by the glory of the church. Not only for this age. But also the ages to come. Two elements here that are distinctively apostolic. I want to breathe them into you. One is the sense of eternity. What lies beyond this age. This is only a moment of historic. Paul saw the things that were invisible and eternal. And that's a word that has no cogency whatever in the understanding of most Christians today. It's a vagary. It's an abstraction. They know what's in the Bible. There's no meaning. No currency. Eternity is not alive in them. It must be for us. Our hearts must be filled with it. Our eyes. Our voices. The resonance of our voices. The air, the atmosphere that we generate corporately together. What we exude in our own persons. Or else we will be ruled by fear. Uncertainty. Insecurity. Like the majority of mankind. Who dwell upon the earth. Rooted in the earth. And in time. And in culture. And in its values. Full of fear. Anxiety. Apprehension. Whose hearts are failing them for the things that are coming upon the earth. But to be a giant in this world. Not in an arrogant sense. But a person who moves through it without at all being affected by it. What of its institutions can awe us? A-W-E. Which of its institutions for we have glimpse of things yet unseen. Eye has not seen and ear has not heard what God has laid up for them who love him. Moses did not fear the wrath of the king. In Hebrews 11.27 He endured as seeing his own face. As seeing him who is invisible. Verse 26. He had greater riches than the riches of Egypt. He had respect unto the recompense of the reward. Verse 26. Moses, the foundational man. Endured seeing him who is invisible. He did not fear the wrath of the king. Not just an earthly pharaoh. But what the earthly pharaoh symbolizes. The ominous powers of the rulers of darkness. That intimidate and threaten all mankind. Did not affect him. He saw that which was invisible. He looked forward to the future reward. He saw beyond his own time, his own generation, his own culture. So must we also. Or we will be valueless in our own time in our own culture. We need to pray for the revelation of eternal things. That it be a pulsating and living aspect of our consciousness. A formidable piece of our apostolic mindset. We have to contend for the things that are not seen. Because there are so many things that are seen that are true upon us and want to gain our full attention. We need to break the power of the tug of the earth to look down. It daily is appealing to us. That we might look up. Oh dear children, if I had the time and the ability. It's the whole key to martyrdom. Which is not just the fate of a few saints who happen to suffer such a painful end. It is the definitive call of every saint to the faith. Martyrdom is our calling. It's the very logic of our faith. Whether or not it will be required. And if you have truly embraced the spirit of it. Does not matter whether it is required. Because it's not a preparation only to die. It's a distinctive manner of living. Because you have respect for the recompense of the reward. Or you'll not be able to endure on the earth. This is the wisdom of God. It's a foolish wisdom. Contrary to the wisdom of the world. Says look down. Be practical. You've only got this one life. Don't be a fool and waste it. Take care of yourself. Nobody else will. Get yours while you can. There's no assurance about the future. There are two wisdoms in contention. Powerful. Whole moral systems. The wisdom of God. And the wisdom of this world. And what is the reason for which God has created all things? To the intent that now in verse 10. Ephesians 3, 10. Unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places. Might be known by the church. The manifold wisdom of God. This wisdom. Needs to be demonstrated. It's not merely subscription to certain verbal statements. It's a wisdom that needs to be implemented and lived by. That will change the entire character of your living. You're living for eternity. You're not moved by the things that influence men in time. Even though it requires loss. And sacrifice. And for which you'll suffer reproach. Not only from the world. But from other Christians. And yet the demonstration of this is so important in God's sight. That he did not think it extravagant to create all things that there might be a church that performs it. Notice the word church. Not individual believers. It's a corporate demonstration. Or it's not a demonstration at all. Those powers are brooding over Germany tonight. Paul calls them in Ephesians 6 the world rulers of this darkness. Are you apostolic enough to recognize that? Yes, there are earthly rulers. Political systems and parties. But what is the energy and the influence and the power that animates them? Whose ends are ultimately being served? In 1 Corinthians Paul says that if the world rulers had known they would not have crucified the Son of Glory. He doesn't mean Pontius Pilate. Or the rulers of the Jewish religious sect. He means the world rulers. The invisible realm of spirit reality. That broods in the heavenlies. Over the earth. That influences the conduct of men and of nations. If you don't see that you are doomed to futility. But it takes revelation. It's a mystery. It's a whole invisible realm of reality. Who should know that better than Germans? For it was in your nation. Only a generation ago. Despite the depth of your culture, your civilization and that it's the land of the Reformation that these powers actually took possession of the whole apparatus of state and of society. There's no other way to properly understand the phenomenon of Nazism. Which is rich and powerfully interesting in itself historically. As if the issue was finished. But here's what you need to know. Hitler was defeated. And the political and military machinery that the powers employed. But the powers themselves yet remain. Over Germany. Waiting the next opportunity. There's only one agency in the earth that God has created that can both recognize and combat these powers. The church. But the church of a certain kind. And we will recognize the invisible spirit realm to the same degree that we ourselves occupy that realm. To the degree that we have taken eternity to heart. And understand the things that are invisible and eternal. Understand what underlies reality. And history. And what has been the whole saga, the whole meaning of this human existence from its inception. Is to understand what waits us at its conclusion. A final clash of kingdoms. For the actual possession and domination of creation. Possession of creation. By the one wisdom or another. So here I was preaching on the campus of Tübingen University. Where Klaus and I will be again in another few days. And I looked up accidentally and I saw these words carved right into a building built in the Hitler time. I think that my German is pretty correct. Das ewige Deutschtum. Written right into the building. Is the wisdom of the powers. Celebrating nationality. And race. Beyond God's any intention. Beyond God's intention. To make them the objects of worship in themselves. By the gods of this world. To understand this. Is to have a great key of understanding for the issue of Israel itself. Because we're told in verse 32. In chapter 32 of Deuteronomy. Don't look at it now. That God has established the bounds of the nations and even the number of the nations according to the sons of Israel. I've never heard anyone preach on this in 26 years. I'm still waiting. And I don't know that I myself am yet ready to speak about it. Only to make a suggestion for your consideration. That in the wisdom of God. The issue of the government over his creation. Is related somehow to the creation of Israel itself. And the sense of the eschatological conclusion of the age. Indicates that Israel's restoration is also at the same time the establishment of God's Davidic and theocratic kingdom. Can you turn the camera back? Oh, this is a thought. See why we need grace. The sense of eschatological meaning. First I go back into Deuteronomy. To speak of something ancient which God has sounded as a mystery even then. That pertains to the issue of his government over his own creation. That the nations are not just happenstance political entities. Paul said on Mars Hill that God by one blood has made all nations of men. And established the bounds of their habitation. If happily they might seek after God and to find him. What an apostolic mouthful. Not only does it explain that it's God who has established the nations. But the purpose for which they have been established. Not to have impressive economies or cultures. But that there might be a framework of coherent existence. By which men would be enabled to seek after God. If happily they might be found of him. Why doesn't someone cut that pole away and shoot him already? Simpleton. Who thinks that the whole purpose of existence somehow has got to do with being found of God. That the whole purpose of creation is to establish a church by which the wisdom of God is made manifest. That madness or its ultimate sanity. Contrary to every appearance. Which do you choose to believe? That which is written. Hebraic. Apostolic. Or that which is visible. Impressive. Prestigious. German all to German. It's a choice. To choose the first. Will make you strangers in the earth. It must. You'll be pilgrims and strangers and exiles in the earth. And you're much too pretty for that. Much too young for that. Such potential. So impressive. You could make your mark in the world. And be substantial Christians also. There's an eternal purpose in God's saints. That must be appropriated by the church. Can only be fulfilled by the church. And that kind of a church is unto the glory of God. His eternal masterpiece. He'll show it off. Not only in this age. But in the ages to come. But in this age. It'll move Jews to jealousy. How did that fit in there? In this way. Though I'm going to keep you up all night tonight. Someone will fall off the window sill at three o'clock in the morning. That we need to know also that we have not only a mandate to the powers. A demonstration of a very real kind. That can only be corporately made. We equally have by Paul another mandate. To move Israel to jealousy. So what am I saying? That the same church that can demonstrate to the powers the manifold wisdom of God. Contrary to every point and particular of the wisdom to which men subscribe in the world. Is the same church equipped to move Israel to jealousy. And finally to occupy itself the heavenly places. From which these usurpers will be dispossessed. So as to rule and reign with him. I've said it. I've made the statement. It's on record before you. You've got it on film. You have received your commission. It will take you weeks and months to understand it. It needs to seep into your spirit. And into your corporate consciousness. As a matter of fact it has the power to birth that corporateness. Which is more than for the purposes of our mutual convenience. Corporateness is a suffering. True relationship is a suffering before it's a glory. You haven't even yet understood what the genius of the church is. So individualistic are we made by the very spirit of this world. But you will be prompted toward the apprehension of this genius. By the recognition of what our mandate is together. That cannot be fulfilled individually. Or even in the gemeinschaft. If we are not truly an integral expression of his body. What is the truth of our corporateness? It's genuineness. It's authenticity. It's authority. Because tonight the powers of the air can look down over Deutschland. And can say Jesus I know and Paul I know. But the church at Hanover who? Dortmund who? Munich who? Frankfurt who? Not impressed. Not impressed with charismatic meetings. With church growth mentalities. Only required to be impressed by one thing. The same thing that was true of Jesus and Paul. Apostolic authenticity. And you don't obtain that without suffering. And that's why we would prefer to remain at the charismatic level. From which place we can never fulfill God's eternal purpose. For this is what verse 11 says. According to the eternal purpose which he purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord. Are we going to be apprehended by the eternal purposes? That is the question. To say yes to that. Is to put the powers on notice that you are to be reckoned with. And to invite from them a degree of opposition that you till now have not had to suffer. Because now you constitute a threat. But in the opposition that is directed against you. Which will become a persecution. And even a martyrdom before the age ends. The powers defeat themselves. In exactly the same way that they missed it at the cross. Had the rulers of this world known. They would not have crucified the son of glory. Because they thought that by their persecution and death they would have removed the threat. Instead they magnified it. Because it was at the cross that Jesus made an open spoil of the powers. And disarmed them. Why? Because at the cross. Receiving the malignant wisdom of the powers that emphasize force and violence and threat and intimidation and fear. He demonstrated another wisdom. He demonstrated another wisdom. Patience and suffering. Sublime confidence in the sovereignty of God that allows the suffering. And the ability to forgive those who inflict the suffering. That in the extremity or the crisis of his suffering and death. The very character of God was revealed. For crisis reveals. An absolute crisis reveals absolutely. What will your crisis reveal? It's one thing for us to sing the praises of God being well fed. And enjoying the fellowship of the saints. And enjoying the fellowship of the saints. But what will extremity reveal? Is the question that needs to occupy us now. Because we can have a certitude, a confidence that these things will come to pass. Because the things that are future are already now. Eternity is now. And already there's another look in our face. A deeper look. Not too romantic. Imaginary. Or true. And do you desire that it should be so? Who are not complete without you. Who have sacrificed and given their blood. For this selfsame apostolic faith. And are looking to you. Who will complete the thing for which they have been sacrificed. Do you see yourself by the eye of the spirit in being in an unbroken continuum with them? Do you have that sense of the apostolic consciousness of our past? Equally with the anticipation of the glory of the eternal future. Because it's between these two great poles. That we can live our present life apostolically. I am out to ruin you. Nothing less than this. This divine madness. Nothing less. And that's why God has not added to your number. This needs to be established. In truth. To be exhorting one another daily while it is yet today. In the light of this calling. Desiring to be sanctified in God. To be found blameless in the day of His appearing. Needing each other to be encouraged and strengthened in the high calling which is in Christ Jesus. The whole of modern Christianity is a sham. A mere phraseological religious form. Without the reality thereof. Have these truths established in your very being. You shall be witnesses unto me. Is exactly the same Greek word for martyr. To live as one even before it's required. So when it's required, what does it mean? For a long time your life has not been your own. You've already been brought back from the dead. No longer to live unto yourself but unto Him. What difference in the moment that God requires the physical body? Knowing that except that He require it, it cannot be taken. You could do nothing against me, Jesus said, except that we're given you from above. Do you believe that? Really believe it? That you might live this life now without fear? Because although Jesus disarmed the powers at the cross, He did not abolish them. And they yet remain as the usurpers in the heavenlies above the earth. Still manipulating and influencing the course of nations and the conduct of men. With racial hatred and ethnic hatreds and chaos and violence. Rock cultures and punk cultures. Through fear and through intimidation. But let there be a fellowship anywhere on the earth that is free from the influence of the powers and cannot be intimidated. Who knows that their life and their support does not come from men or from society or from institutions but from God. And believe in the utter sovereignty of God in everything. You could do nothing against me, except it be given of God. And if it is given of God, it is for some ultimate and redemptive purpose that glorifies Him and for that reason I can bear it. To be free in Christ is to be free indeed. This needs to be demonstrated in Germany by a people who have come to this condition together for we shall never obtain it alone. It's the church that demonstrates the wisdom of God. The community of God's people who have come to such a freedom by which also they are able to move Israel to the people of Israel to jealousy. By which means their historic resistance to the gospel is overcome. And their restoration to God as a nation affected. And what shall their return be? But life from the dead. A royal diadem in the hand of God. A crown. A holy people. Nations and kings will come to your rising. The brightness of your rising. But more than that, the law shall go forth out of Zion. And the word of the Lord out of Jerusalem. For I will tabernacle with my people there. Is it time now to restore the kingdom to Israel, the disciples asked Jesus? He did not rebuke them for the question. He only said it's not for you to know the time and the season. But that there is a kingdom is true, must come on the throne of David to order it and to establish it for now and forever. The government shall be upon his shoulder. And of the increase of it, there shall be no end. It's the theocratic kingdom of God, a Davidic kingdom. And I will put one king over you, even David, who will rule over you forever. Cannot be the earthly David, but the greater David. Even the Lord Jesus, the anointed king, the Christ. I have set my king on my holy hill, Zion. Oh, how the heathen rage and imagine a vain thing. And want to break apart the cords of God and of his anointed one. But God holds them in derision. This day I have established you. Thou art my son, and I will set my king on my holy hill, Zion, in Jerusalem, in the actual land of Israel. When I have restored my people to that land, I will be their king. For I have said, you will not see me again until you shall say, blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. Dear kinder, can you hear all of this? Can you receive all of this? That the issue of Israel is more than just the restoration of a beloved minority in God. Or that that would be enough for us to give ourselves for it. But so much more. Their restoration is the establishment of his kingdom. And his kingdom is his rule, not only over Israel, but over the nations. The nations will not study war anymore. The nations will beat their swords into plowshares and their hooks. And this is what the powers of the air despise. They want to rule over Germany. They want to establish their 1,000 year reign. They don't want to relinquish their authority over the nations. And they know much better than you that Israel's restoration is the end of their false rule. And what is their wisdom to avert that threat? Exterminate that people whose restoration would end our rule. This is the drama at the end of the age, to which we are already rapidly moving. An increasing hatred against Israel and against the Jew throughout all nations who are under the influence of these powers and don't want to forfeit their rule over those nations. And inflame them against the Jew. And God allows it and even brought down the whole communist system that there's nothing to restrain now the ethnic hatreds that are boiling over and bring this whole drama to its final conclusion. Not only in Israel, but throughout all the nations where they shall be driven. And no nation more importantly than Germany. I'm telling the church everywhere. I told them this morning. The issue of the Jew is the issue of the church. Who will stand with them when they got despised and hated among all nations? It was exactly over this point that the church in Germany collapsed in the 1930s. It may have been Lutheran, but it was not apostolic. They could not resist the pressure and the fear of the powers of darkness that had sway. But I believe we're moving to one final, one more final reenactment of the drama. The testing of the nations and of the church in the nations. In their response to this hated and despised people that will be driven into them. Who will not be very lovable. Our sentimental affiliation and attachments will long ago have dissipated away. To extend mercy to them in that hour will be in our own peril. Yet Paul says this is the mandate to the church. That by your mercy they may receive mercy. And what is mercy if it costs us nothing? What was God's mercy if it had cost him nothing? The church is required to demonstrate something. Which is at the same time a final defeat of the powers of the air. Because in extending mercy to the Jew in this last hour. At the peril of your own life. When they'll be hated in your own nation. When it's national policy will be against them. Is a demonstration of another wisdom. That does not think that it's own life is dear unto itself. And does not hold it's life, how does it say in Revelation 12? They overcame him by the blood of the lamb. And were to their testimony and loved not their life unto the death. That's foolishness. That's insanity. That's contrary to all self-interest. The unspoken premise of survival. To give your life for another. Who are totally undeserving. Is another demonstration of another wisdom. And Jesus said as you've done this to the least of these my brethren. You've done it also unto me. We're moving toward the conclusion of the age children. And God is waiting for a church. To fulfill these mysteries. To the principalities and the powers of the air. And to the restoration of the people Israel. Same demonstration. Same requirement. Same maturity. The same apostolicity. Of people that have come of age. Like Moses. Who are not afraid of the wrath of the powers. Of the Pharaoh. For they see him who is invisible. They have respect unto the recompense of the reward. They choose to suffer affliction with the people of God. That's what identification with the Jew will mean. It will be God's glorious church. In this age. But also the ages to come. For how does Paul end the mystery of the Jew in the church in Romans 11? For of him and through him and to him are all things. To whom be glory forever. What is the heart of the apostolic distinctive? We could have every understanding but if we lack this we lack everything. The burning jealousy for the glory of God forever. That justifies every sacrifice. Beyond our own ability to perform them. Who is sufficient for these things? It's of him. But it's also through him. That it might be to him. For he'll not share his glory with another. Forever. And what does the same Paul say about the church? Unto him be glory in the church. By Christ Jesus. And this is my final point children. Precious though you are. Talented and gifted as you are. You'll not fulfill these mandates on that basis. There's a literal insistence on by Christ Jesus. Yes this mandate is of him. But can only be fulfilled through him. By a people who can say with Paul for me to live is Christ. I'm crucified with Christ. Nevertheless I live. Yet not I. And the faith which I now live. I live by the faith of the son of God. It's not even my faith. It's beyond that. Who is sufficient for these things? Was Paul's continual cry. And it will be ours also. When we seriously take to ourselves the apostolic mandate. It will compel us to transcendence. We will be required to find the resurrection life. And live in it consistently. Dead and hid with Christ and God. Until his life is revealed. Then our life will be revealed with him also. Unto glory. What will you think about tonight? Not bad huh? Pretty comprehensive. You must have been thinking about this all day. Where's your outlines? How did you know where to begin and where to end? Didn't you realize that life and death were at stake tonight? That eternal issues of God were at stake? That you were being touched? Not only the fate of the nation Germany but your own people Israel? Where's your outline? Where's your preparation? How do you know where to begin and end? I don't. Who's sufficient for this? He is. And perhaps your greatest test is this. To recognize who it is who's speaking this night. Who's calling? Who's making these mysteries known? And if God can take a piece of dust like this traveling for months and exhausted and tired without the luxury for preparation and reveal his life unto glory then he's done something more than to address us tonight. He has demonstrated as well as spoken. So he's speaking. And so also must we in the power of his life. That church that will not satisfied only with the correctness of the doctrine of resurrection but refuses the death by which the reality can be known is no longer the church. It's apostate. And will persecute you for the life and the light which issues from you which makes their profession a sham. I'm happy for your symbol here. And God is calling you to it. In fact not a death to your defects and your hang-ups and the things of which you want to be rid but the best of what you have your most excellent ability your well-meaning intentions for God when that will be brought into death and with it your identification and your identity and your self-esteem then something rises up out of that death. His life which is all in all. We must know this reality or we cannot fulfill our mandate. Nothing less will move Israel to jealousy and defeat the powers of the air and equip us to rule and reign with him. This is the faith and I want to pray for you for it. Hallelujah. Precious God thank you for assembling these children tonight those who are part of this fellowship and those whom you've brought from other places how conscious I am of your love for them the divine jealousy over them the high calling of Christ to which they are beckoned thank you for addressing us as you have tonight you have given us your very heart you have brought us into the holiest place of all you've shared with us your mysteries your eternal purposes and we bow before you so conscious of our infirmity and weakness how shall we fulfill such things who is sufficient but we say yes to you tonight whatever the cost we do not want to suffer an eternal regret that we have lived our lives out at a level less than this and refused your eternal purpose look upon us tonight we say yea and amen yes to the high calling of God in Christ we give our life nothing less will suffice possess us in full we are martyrs even now who will no longer hold our lives as dear unto ourselves