How to Take Over [STAR - with adjustments]

Introduction

We’re starting a new season this month in the lead up to our Braveheart conference (who’s signed up??). This is an exciting topic - we’re not here to take part, we’re here to take over.

I love that. It’s a topic about boldness, about taking territory, about conquering seasons and spaces, about victory in Christ and in the Cross. I mean who doesn’t want that. It’s going to be an exciting month.

And so I was really super excited to preach this message and was getting all worked up and excited for it - then one day I was reading scripture and I read the passage about Peter talking to Jesus right before he was crucified.

Matthew 16:21–23 “21 From that time Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised. 22 And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him, saying, “Far be it from you, Lord! This shall never happen to you.” 23 But he turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a hindrance to me. For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man.””

And this passage caused me to pause - because I saw myself in Peter.

That sometimes we can be so excited about taking territory for God, and so excited about where we’re going that we don’t stop to think about whether it’s where God wants us to go.

That we can sometimes mistake good intentions for God’s intentions when they’re actually not always the same thing.

And they definitely don’t always lead to the same place.

Hear me out though - I’m not trying to chuck a wet blanket on this whole topic. I think it’s so important to be excited and to be filled with zeal about wanting to DO things for God; please, let’s never lose that!

But I do also think that there must be wisdom in the way that we take over, in the way that we take territory. That in our good intentions to take territory for God - we don’t lose sight of God’s intentions.

So connect your hearts with this message tonight.

Let’s pray to start.

Segment 1: Don’t let your abundance hide God’s absence

Exodus 33:1–23 ESV

1 The Lord said to Moses, “Depart; go up from here, you and the people whom you have brought up out of the land of Egypt, to the land of which I swore to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, saying, ‘To your offspring I will give it.’ 2 I will send an angel before you, and I will drive out the Canaanites, the Amorites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. 3 Go up to a land flowing with milk and honey; but I will not go up among you, lest I consume you on the way, for you are a stiff-necked people.” 4 When the people heard this disastrous word, they mourned, and no one put on his ornaments. 5 For the Lord had said to Moses, “Say to the people of Israel, ‘You are a stiff-necked people; if for a single moment I should go up among you, I would consume you. So now take off your ornaments, that I may know what to do with you.’ ” 6 Therefore the people of Israel stripped themselves of their ornaments, from Mount Horeb onward. 7 Now Moses used to take the tent and pitch it outside the camp, far off from the camp, and he called it the tent of meeting. And everyone who sought the Lord would go out to the tent of meeting, which was outside the camp. 8 Whenever Moses went out to the tent, all the people would rise up, and each would stand at his tent door, and watch Moses until he had gone into the tent. 9 When Moses entered the tent, the pillar of cloud would descend and stand at the entrance of the tent, and the Lord would speak with Moses. 10 And when all the people saw the pillar of cloud standing at the entrance of the tent, all the people would rise up and worship, each at his tent door. 11 Thus the Lord used to speak to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend. When Moses turned again into the camp, his assistant Joshua the son of Nun, a young man, would not depart from the tent. 12 Moses said to the Lord, “See, you say to me, ‘Bring up this people,’ but you have not let me know whom you will send with me. Yet you have said, ‘I know you by name, and you have also found favor in my sight.’ 13 Now therefore, if I have found favor in your sight, please show me now your ways, that I may know you in order to find favor in your sight. Consider too that this nation is your people.” 14 And he said, “My presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.” 15 And he said to him, “If your presence will not go with me, do not bring us up from here. 16 For how shall it be known that I have found favor in your sight, I and your people? Is it not in your going with us, so that we are distinct, I and your people, from every other people on the face of the earth?”

An important context to note in all of this is that Chapter 33 which we just read occurs right after the Israelites had built a false idol - the golden calf - just before in Chapter 32.

This explains God’s outrage against the Israelites whom he had just rescued from captivity in Egypt. He calls the Israelites a stiff-necked people.

And He sends the Israelites ahead - significantly, without Him - because He says that if He were to go with them, He does not know if He would end up destroying them - so this is an act of mercy by God.

So God offers them everything - He says go up to the PROMISED land, I will send an ANGEL before you, I’ll drive out all the enemies in the land, go take this beautiful land flowing with milk and honey and prosperity. I’ll give it to you - BUT I won’t be with you because I might destroy you.

In other words - here have EVERYTHING you want, TAKE OVER the land and the territory that you so desire, TAKE IT ALL, except you won’t have me.

And this is where I want to start - with a crucial warning to all Christians: Don’t let your abundance hide God’s absence

Don’t let the fact that you’re walking in abundance, and life is going well, and things are going exactly as you planned - hide the fact that God is not in the picture at all.

You know being a pastor for a while now - I can safely say this. I’m so much more scared of success than I am of failure.

I’ve seen what failure does to people - it has a habit of producing brokenness. And brokenness is something that leads to greater dependence on God, I’ve actually seen failure more often than not lead people BACK to God.

But success? I have watched success take out some of the best pastors, leaders and Christians I know time after time after time. It’s almost like we get so lost in our abundance that we can’t sense God’s absence. We become so satisfied with our blessing that we forget the blesser.

And yet in v1-3 God makes one thing abundantly clear. It is VERY possible to be in the promised land, to have your enemies cleared out to be thriving and to even be where you’re meant to be - and yet to not have God.

And I want to start here because I believe that God has such big plans for this church - like I really do. The last 2 weeks in church we’ve had more than 1000 people across our services. We’ve DOUBLED our attendance in the last 2 years, and that’s only going to grow more and more as our profile grows and more people hear about the work that God is doing here. And I’m SO GRATEFUL for that.

But man, I’m also fearful. I am fearful because I never want to be so caught up in our abundance that we miss God’s absence. I’m fearful because I never want to be the church that got so successful that they thought they didn’t need God anymore I never want to be the church that chooses success over faithfulness, or influence over obedience.

May we never become a people who pray for blessing, and pray for healing and pray for favour - and then one day God gives us the blessing, and the favour, and the healing - He gives us EVERYTHING. And that SAME blessing, that SAME abundance, that SAME favour ends up becoming the idol that leads us away from God.

I think that there are Christians who are caught up in that right now that need to wake up and realise what’s happening in their lives.

Young person - don’t get so caught up in your success that you forget who gave it to you!

Deuteronomy 8:17–18 “17 Beware lest you say in your heart, ‘My power and the might of my hand have gotten me this wealth.’ 18 You shall remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives you power to get wealth, that he may confirm his covenant that he swore to your fathers, as it is this day.”

May we always be a church, may we always be people who remember the Lord in everything we do and not be led astray by our success, by our abundance.

ILLUSTRATION: “Why did it stop?” “God answered my prayer.”

I had a church member that attended one of the churches I was pastoring previously. I walked this person through a very difficult season in their life - many of us did, the entire pastoral team really surrounded them through one of the toughest times in their life and prayed for healing, prayed for a miracle over their situation. It was a long, difficult road to walk - but we all walked it with them and though the road was tough, they were desperate, they crawled their way to the cross every single week, were down at the altar, constantly asking for prayer. We saw - what we always see, a broken person realising that they need a touch from God, and in desperation, finding Him again.

You know what happened - a miracle. They were healed, they were restored, it was nothing short of divine intervention, they knew it, we knew it and we celebrated and praised God for His faithfulness.

I noticed something was wrong when their attendance became a bit irregular. They had just been healed and was starting to go out more and live life a bit more so I sorta just wrote it off as yeah go enjoy life and enjoy the miracle that God has given you. Then they stopped coming to church altogether. No notice, no message, no explanation - they just stopped attending church.

The last time I caught up with them, I actually asked them pretty directly - hey, what happened? You just got healed, God really came through for you and you got a new job, everything you asked God for He gave you. Like how come you haven’t been around at church for ages?

You know what their answer was to me? They actually said to me, “Well…God answered my prayer.” I gave them a look and then they stuttered and tried to correct themselves because I think their answer was more revealing than they intended. I ended up pleading with them to return. But as far as I know - they haven’t been back since.

You know this story sticks in my head because it was maybe one of the first times that I truly understood that passage in Luke where Jesus heals the 10 lepers. They begged Jesus to heal them and then when He did - only ONE of them came back and thanked Him. And Jesus’ response is heartbreaking “Were not all 10 cleansed? Where are the other nine?”

They had left, they had fixated on the healing and forgottten the healer, they had become caught up in abundance and not noticed God’s absence.

Segment 2: Because of His favour? Or Regardless of it?

And so God asks them to do something which sounds a bit strange - but it is significant in v4. He tells the people to take off their ornaments, and then says “that I may know what to do with you.”

That’s a bit of a strange instruction isn’t it? Take off the ornaments you’re wearing so that I may know what to do with you. Is there something significant about the ornaments that they’re wearing? Well as it turns out - yes, there is.

Remember the people of Israel had just come out of slavery in Egypt not too long ago - what kind of ornaments could slaves afford, where would they have bought them, what would they have made them from?

Well if we go back in the story just a little bit to Exodus 11:1–2 “1 The Lord said to Moses…, “Speak now in the hearing of the people, that they ask, every man of his neighbor and every woman of her neighbor, for silver and gold jewelry.””

God tells the people of Israel (slaves) to ask their Egyptian masters for silver and gold jewelry. And then it goes on to say in

Exodus 12:36 “36 And the Lord had given the people favor in the sight of the Egyptians, so that they let them have what they asked. Thus they plundered the Egyptians.”

So the ornaments that they’re wearing are actually the silver and gold that was given to them as a mark of the Lord’s favour from Egypt. A proof that God was with them, that He did the impossible, Those ornaments were a VISIBLE reminder of the Lord’s favour.

And yet now - the Lord is asking them to take those ornaments off. Why? Well firstly because it’s part of the grieving in ritual. Taking off the ornaments is a sign of sombreness, that this is a serious moment.

But perhaps MORE significantly - it is a test from the Lord (something confirmed later in Deuteronomy 8:2 “2 And you shall remember the whole way that the Lord your God has led you these forty years in the wilderness, that he might humble you, testing you to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep his commandments or not.”)

God is asking them “Will you still follow me, even when you are stripped of my visible favour?” “Even when the blessings aren’t so tangible in your life and all you have to go on is my promise and Word? Would you still follow me then?”

Are we following God BECAUSE of His visible favour? Or do we follow God REGARDLESS of it?

I think this question is more relevant to us now than it has ever been before. Because we live in a world that idolises materialism and fame. Money and Status are pretty much the gods of the world that we live in - they are the gods that the world pushes us to worship.

We all want a great job that pays well, a nice car that looks good, we want to be healthy and fit, and well known and highly regarded. None of these things in and of themselves are bad things - in fact many of them may be VISIBLE signs of the Lord’s favour on our lives.

But what happens when the Lord asks us to take them off? What happens when He asks us to give them up to pursue Him? What happens when He asks us to sacrifice the blessings and favour that He has given us in order to walk the path that He’s called us to?

I’ll tell you what happens - you will quickly discover whether you are the type of Christian that only follows God BECAUSE of His favour, or you will be a Christian that follows God REGARDLESS of the signs of favour in your life.

Maybe some of us are going through that season of testing right now - where the visible favour of God has been stripped in your life and it’s tough, and you’re trying to take over, you’re trying to take territory but it may feel like God is just not with you.

Can I encourage you, if you’re going through these times - that perhaps the season is not about relcaiming the favour and blessings of God - but it is about learning to be satisfied in the Lord without them?

Perhaps it’s time to learn how to stop only being satisfied in the favour of God and learn how to walk with Him even when that visible favour is no longer there, even when the blessings seem diminished, even when the road seems to be getting difficult - perhaps it’s time to look within ourselves and ask this all important question: am I pursuing God BECAUSE of His visible favour or am I pursuing God REGARDLESS of it?

Segment 3: His Presence is more important than the Promised Land

This brings me to the most important part of the passage - when Moses meets with God in the tent of meeting. Exodus 33:11 “11 Thus the Lord used to speak to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend. When Moses turned again into the camp, his assistant Joshua the son of Nun, a young man, would not depart from the tent.”

Such a beautiful way to put it; we all should aspire to speak to the Lord in such an intimate way, as a friend.

But it’s what Moses says to the Lord which is so significant.

Exodus 33:13–16 “13 Now therefore, if I have found favor in your sight, please show me now your ways, that I may know you in order to find favor in your sight. Consider too that this nation is your people.” 14 And he said, “My presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.” 15 And he said to him, “If your presence will not go with me, do not bring us up from here. 16 For how shall it be known that I have found favor in your sight, I and your people? Is it not in your going with us, so that we are distinct, I and your people, from every other people on the face of the earth?””

Look at Moses speaking to the Lord and listen to what Moses begs the Lord for: Show me your ways that I may know you! If I don’t have your presence, do not bring us up from here - because you are the only thing that makes the promise special, you are the only thing that gives the blessing meaning!

He is reversing the actions of the Israelites in the previous few chapters - Moses is saying, I would rather stay OUT of the promise land and have your PRESENCE than be IN the promised land without it!

And this declaration teaches us something that is so important to know as a church and people who have their eyes set on taking over. We want to take this city for God, we want to take our homes, workplaces, schools, universities, friendship groups - Great! But first learn this lesson that Moses is teaching us:

The Presence is more important than the Promised Land.

Moses recognised one thing that was SO important - this journey was never about reaching the Promised Land. It was about the Presence of God. He realised that the promise held no value WITHOUT the presence.

Which is why Moses came to the conclusion that he would rather have the WILDERNESS WITH GOD than the Promised Land without Him.

I think so often when we have this mindset of taking over - we focus so much on the PLACE, the DESTINATION. WHERE do we go, WHERE is the next step, WHERE do we take over next?

But the beauty of what Moses says here is that it’s never been about getting to a PLACE, it’s always been about following a PERSON.

This realisation should reshape everything that we know - because so often we think that knowing God and drawing close to God is PREPARATION for the next step, it’s PREPARATION for the new season, it’s PREPARATION for the taking over.

No - drawing close to God is the ONLY step.

Let’s not be the people who mistake the promised land for the promiser, who mistake the blessing for the one who blesses, because -

I don’t want to take over a land that God isn’t in I don’t want to have a huge building that God doesn’t inhabit first I don’t want the nicest lighting rigs if God isn’t in the spotlight I don’t want to be the best preacher if God isn’t the subject I don’t want to build a huge church if God isn’t the cornerstone

Let’s not make the mistake of thinking that ANY territory, ANY lifestyle, ANY amount of riches, or fame, or fortune could EVER come CLOSE to replacing the Presence of God in our lives.

Moses knew. The real promised land was never just a place - it was where the Lord was. “Is it not in your going with us, so that we are distinct, I and your people - from every other people on the face of the earth?

Taking over new territory, walking into a new season of blessing and abundance without God doesn’t make you special - it makes you exactly like every other person on this earth. You’re just chasing your own comfort, your own happiness. Just like everyone else.

Nah - I don’t care for that. I don’t want to do that. I want to guard what makes us special - what makes the church of Jesus Christ different - I want to chase the Presence.

ILLUSTRATION: The Empty House

When I was in uni, I had a friend who lost their grandparents. She wasn’t close to her parents, they were basically out of the picture and so she had been living with her grandparents ever since she was a kid and was very close to them. Now that both of them had passed away - they had actually willed their huge house in Perth to her, like it was completely her house now, her name, full mortgage paid off - even back then that house would have gone for way above a million bucks.

So once the estate had been transferred over I accompanied her to her grandparent’s place to help clean and also to pack up her grandparents’ belongings. There were quite a few of us there that day, I remember.

And she took me for a tour around the house and I mean it was a beautiful house - and back then I was literally just a uni student with no money. So I was gawking at everything, the kitchen was enormous, the living room was enormous, the bedrooms were the size of living rooms, like by any standards even today it was a huge house. And she was my age so she would’ve only been early 20s and now she owned this mansion.

But then something happened that has really stuck with me ever since. We were moving things out of the master bedroom (which was going to become her bedroom) when I said to her quite casually “This is amazing, you’re basically set for life, you’ve got everything you’ll ever need here.” but as soon as I said it she dropped what she was carrying, buried her head in her hands and started weeping. And I sat with her and asked her what was wrong - and she just looked at me, still crying and said “I would give this house away in a heartbeat for just one more day with them.”

And I look back and know that she understood what Moses did, she saw what Moses saw. The presence is more important than the promised land.

The greatest “take over” mentality that you can have as an individual - and that we can have as a church; is that I only where to go - where God will be. If God isn’t there, then I want no part in it, no matter how good, no matter how alluring it is.

His presence isn’t how we GET to the prize - His presence IS the prize.

And so wherever He is? That’s the place that I want to take over. Wherever He goes, that’s the place you’ll see us taking over. Nothing and nowhere else.

Altar Call

People standing/kneeling/worshipping in their seats. Draw me close to you sung

Then the takeover song.

Hearts set right first -> go into take over.