Season + Purpose: How then shall we live

Elder Ho Kien Keong
09-07-2017

Ecclesiastes 3King James Version (KJV)
3 To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:

2 A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted;

3 A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up;

4 A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance;

5 A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;

6 A time to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away;

John 10:10-14
Jesus, the Good Shepherd

10 The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.

11 “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep. 12 But a hireling, he who is not the shepherd, one who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees; and the wolf catches the sheep and scatters them. 13 The hireling flees because he is a hireling and does not care about the sheep. 14 I am the good shepherd; and I know My sheep, and am known by My own.

But there is also the thief who comes to steal, kill and destroy our lives and God's purposes for us.

Material things lost can be found, except life.

Psalm 31:9-15
Have mercy on me, O Lord, for I am in trouble;
My eye wastes away with grief,
Yes, my soul and my body!
10 For my life is spent with grief,
And my years with sighing;
My strength fails because of my iniquity,
And my bones waste away.
11 I am a reproach among all my enemies,
But especially among my neighbors,
And am repulsive to my acquaintances;
Those who see me outside flee from me.
12 I am forgotten like a dead man, out of mind;
I am like a broken vessel.
13 For I hear the slander of many;
Fear is on every side;
While they take counsel together against me,
They scheme to take away my life.

14 But as for me, I trust in You, O Lord;
I say, “You are my God.”
15 My times are in Your hand;
Deliver me from the hand of my enemies,
And from those who persecute me.

David wrote about Absalom, his third son. He understood ownership and identity and declared, "Deliver me from my enemies."

For the Shepherd to lead effectively, the sheep need to understand Ownership + Identity;
Courage to obey.

1) Ownership

The sovereignty of God keeps us alive to help us to understand He owns our lives.

Romans 14:8
For if we live, we live to the Lord; and if we die, we die to the Lord. Therefore, whether we live or die, we are the Lord’s.

We belong to the Lord, not the thief. Therefore we must learn to surrender ownership of our lives to God. He becomes our Shepherd. Otherwise, He becomes second place.

Matthew 16:24-26
Take Up the Cross and Follow Him

24 Then Jesus said to His disciples,“If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. 25 For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. 26 For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?

Seek ye first the Kingdom of God and all these things will be added unto us.

God wants to give us life in all its fullness.

We must fill it with God's purpose.

Mark 12:30-31
30 Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ 31 The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.”

2) Identity

Malachi 4:6
And he will turn
The hearts of the fathers to the children,
And the hearts of the children to their fathers,
Lest I come and strike the earth with a curse.”

If we do not know the fatherhood of God, we grow up to be spiritual orphans unable to relate to the Father God.

We are all sons and daughters of the Living God.

John 14:7
“If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also; and from now on you know Him and have seen Him.”

John 14:18
I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you.

Romans 8:15-17New King James Version (NKJV)
15 For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, “Abba, Father.”16 The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, 17 and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him,that we may also be glorified together.

Being a son has a lot of privileges--to stay and eat in the house, to use all the things in the house.

In FGA, we are part of the spiritual heritage that God has given to us through our spiritual fathers. As spiritual children, we can experience the same power and anointing. We have adopted the vision of God through our founding fathers.

How old were Joshua and Caleb?

Joshua 1New King James Version (NKJV)

God’s Commission to Joshua

1 After the death of Moses the servant of the Lord, it came to pass that the Lord spoke to Joshua the son of Nun, Moses’ assistant, saying: 2 “Moses My servant is dead. Now therefore, arise, go over this Jordan, you and all this people, to the land which I am giving to them—the children of Israel. 3 Every place that the sole of your foot will tread upon I have given you, as I said to Moses. 4 From the wilderness and this Lebanon as far as the great river, the River Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites, and to the Great Sea toward the going down of the sun, shall be your territory. 5 No man shall be able to stand before you all the days of your life; as I was with Moses, soI will be with you. I will not leave you nor forsake you. 6 Be strong and of good courage, for to this people you shall divide as an inheritance the land which I swore to their fathers to give them. 7 Only be strong and very courageous, that you may observe to do according to all the law which Moses My servant commanded you; do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left, that you may prosper wherever you go.

We, the Joshua generation, are the bridging generation. We need to stand strong for our young people.

In this season of time, God has raised a new generation. They are ready, committed, and passionate. But they need us, the Joshua generation, to stand up and be courageous. How we live our lives will impact them. We need to understand our ownership and identity. We all have a role to play.

There are four types of people in the church:
1) Members
2) Disciples
3) Servants
4) Sons

We must understand that we are sons and daughters adopting the Antioch vision of our founding fathers.

We are here as sons and daughters of the Living God.

We need to have courage to adjust our mindset so that the anointing of God comes to us as sons and daughters.

Almost 40 years ago, FGA started the charismatic movement. FGA was the pioneering church. God used to start the prayer movement.

Matthew 28 is the Great Commission. God says the Holy Spirit will come. That's Acts 2. The Holy Spirit brought them together as family.

Acts 2:42-47
42 And they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers. 43 Then fear came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were done through the apostles. 44 Now all who believed were together, and had all things in common, 45 and sold their possessions and goods, and divided them among all, as anyone had need.

46 So continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart,47 praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to the church[h] daily those who were being saved.

God says He is doing a new thing. Together, young and old are in need of the other. We can achieve this as sons and daughters of the vision. We have a great inheritance.

We are FGA. We have a strong heritage.

Today God is starting a new work. You are not useless. Recognise the calling and purpose and stand up strong as sons and daughters. We have a new language. We have a new midset and attitude. God will pour out His Spirit.

Jesus understood Sonship. It is not about me; it is about serving God. It is not about personal agendas; it is about God owning my life and my identity in Christ. He washed the disciples' feet.

As sons and daughters, as the Joshua generation, we need to change our attitude and our language. Ownership and identity brings about courage.