Testimonies
Module 3a-Pastor Wentzel du Plessis
(Notes taken from recordings of his lecture-classes during the 2005 DIFC ‘Let Your River Flow‘ Creative Arts Worship Conference on the subject of Spiritual Father/Son Relationships with DIFC permission)

Why I included this testimony:
1. I know that Pastor Wentzel is a true son and would lay his life down for his spiritual father.
2. He shares from the heart and out of his own experiences, but mainly from the word of God.
3. He believes in the reconciliation of fathers and sons.

What I learned from this testimony:
1. Fathers need sons, and sons need fathers.
2. Faithfulness and obedience is better than offers.
3. Wisdom is ultimately the greatest reward of son ship and fathering.

Father/son Relationships in the Church

True fathering and true spiritual son-ship is a very biblical aspect, a very biblical term, and in fact, it is very much needed in the church today! I believe that God will just reveal a certain few things to you concerning this and it will just open up the importance of this relationship in the church today.

Personally for myself, those who do not know me, I am Pastor Wentzel, I’m in this church probably now ministering almost fourteen years now. I’m serving under our senior pastor, Pastor Hennie Bester, and he’s my spiritual father. I’ve made a decision from very early in the ministry to become a son, a spiritual son in the house. You see the bible says in the book of Malachi chapter 4, in the last days God will reconcile the hearts of the fathers back to the sons and the hearts of the sons back to the fathers. Now that has great spiritual significance, especially for the church today, because you need to understand really what’s happening in the world? I mean we just basically see the opposite! We don’t really see reconciliation, I think we see separation! And this is why the church has such an enormous task when it comes to the aspect of fathering, because you see, I believe that expression and that significance of reconciliation between fathers and sons. The first place it needs to take place, is in the church!

You need to understand the day that I came to repentance, that day, that day, and I’m speaking to you in all honesty, the day I came to repentance, that day my dad, I’m talking about my dad, my fleshly dad, he no longer had a vision for my destiny! You hear what I’m saying, he had an opportunity to groom me and to train me and to impart whatever he had to impart in my life. And all of that was important, but you need to understand, you’re now part of a new kingdom, you belong to Jesus Christ, and you’re going to operate under different laws, operate under different principles. You’re now in a place where you need to be disciple, you’re now in a place where you need to accelerate the destiny God has for you!

But, yes the reality, your destiny is always inter-dependant! Your destiny can never be independent! Your destiny is always connected to someone, and God will always connect you with someone, because you will not be able to get to your destiny by yourself. It is just impossible! You see the church don’t work like that! And God never intended any individual to fulfill his destiny in any independent way! You will fulfill your destiny in an inter-dependant way! Do you get what I’m trying to tell you?

I’m going to show you from a biblical perspective, but now let me just share a few scriptures with you, so there won’t be confusion when I speak about the father/son aspect. Now please if I use the term son, it’s just a biblical word, if you’re a girl or a lady, that’s fine, it really includes you. You get what I’m trying to tell you? With the bible, it’s neither male nor female, it’s not about that, it’s just a biblical term that I’m going to use to help you! Just for you to get an understanding, so really, it’s not a male thing or female thing, it includes the church! It’s a concept, it’s a principle from the word of God that I want you to understand.

Just look at a few scriptures that I specifically want to focus on just to get something for you to understand, it’s absolutely biblical. I specifically focused on the new testament, although we’re going to work from the old testament as well. You can write down these scriptures:

1 Corinthians 4:17, we are going to look in depth into every scripture, but I just want to show you a few things. Paul says for this reason I have sent Timothy to you, whom is my beloved and faithful son. Now, we all know that Timothy wasn’t a son of Paul. You get what I’m trying to say? In fact, Timothy was from a complete different language group, a totally different culture, but yet Paul calls him his son. The Lord will remind you of my ways in Christ as I teach you everywhere and in every church. We will look in depth into that scripture, but I just want to show you the concept. Paul was a father, a spiritual father, to Timothy.

Now please, the father/son relationship in the church is not that the father fills the gap or substitutes the role of God the Father. In fact, what he just becomes, he becomes an expression of the Father in your life. Do you get what I’m, trying to tell you? Please, I want you to understand something today when it comes to discipling. Who is discipling you? Some of you will say Jesus. That might be true, but how is Jesus doing it? Because right now, I’m not in confusion about it, but right now He is in heaven.

You need to understand that the discipling process takes place through an individual, meeting with an individual. So God has no confusion about this. You get what I’m trying to tell you. You see in the church many times we get all religious and we say, you know, we get this thing of we say we only report to God. Now that’s all nice, but the reality is that there is somebody working with you. There is somebody that you need to be accountable to. There is somebody in this realm, this natural, physical realm, that’s discipling you. That’s going through the pain, that’s going through you name it, but that individual is going through with you through all these things, grooming you, ministering you, feeding you, in a spiritual context. This is what I want you to understand! And the biggest problem in the church today, is that everybody is reporting to God!

Now let me tell you something, if you can not be accountable to a man that you can see, you will never be accountable to God that you can not see!

You see what I’m trying to tell you? That is just maybe boasting religion just a bit, but it’s just the truth. If I can not be accountable to my spiritual father in the Lord that grooms me, that disciples me. I will never be accountable to God. Even though my intension might be pure, my motive might be pure. In principle, I’m missing it! You understand what I’m getting at?

Now don’t worry, it’s getting worse, it’s getting worse! Just hold on to your chairs. You need to understand this concept; God has placed somebody in your life and it becomes an inter-dependant relationship. You will not independently life for God, serve God, follow what God has for you. It’s just not going to work that way!
This is why God has placed His church in a place of fellowship on this earth. And through the church He expresses His fatherhood.

You know even the bible speaks about three stages in a Christians life. You can go read that in the book of 1 John, it speaks of babes, it speaks of young men overcoming the evil one, and then there’s a third stage, unfortunately most of the church don’t reach that stage, and that stage is the stage called fatherhood. You hear what I’m saying?

This is the stage where God wants to take all of us. But I believe in this concept, you can not become a father unless you are a son. And you understand the qualities of a son. So I want to show you that this is really a biblical aspect. Philippians 2 verse 19 to 22 says; I trust in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you shortly, that I also may be encouraged when I know your state. For I know you are like-minded and sincerely care for your state. For all seek their own things which are not of Christ Jesus, but you know his prudent character, that as a son with his father he served with me in the gospel.

So I’m giving you some scriptures so that you can see this is absolutely biblical. I believe this is the foundation for anointed leadership in your life, by the way. Philemon chapter 1 verse 10; I appeal to you for my son Omnisious, whom I have begotten while in chains.

So Paul had many sons, he didn’t just have Timothy, he had Titus, and Omnisious. He understood the concept of fatherhood, he understood that he wasn’t there to fill the gap of God the Father, but he was definitely there to be a father. He understood his place as a spiritual father. He understood his place, that listen, without his gift to the church people would not mature, and sons would not be groomed. Everybody could not just go their own way and have some church, but nothing would really be established.

So Paul understood this very important principle. In Titus 1 chapter 4 Paul says; to Titus , a true son, in our common faith, this is so powerful, a true son in our common faith.
Ok, so the concept of spiritual fathering and son ship of the church is very relevant, it is very needed today.

Let me today, it’s scary, sometimes what’s happening in the church today. There are many street-children in the church. You hear what I’m saying? There are many street-children in the church. Everybody are just on their own wavelength. They are trying in their own insecure way to make it, and maybe the church is just the next place to do it. You hear what I’m saying? There are many spiritual orphans in the church today. They are fatherless! Now if you are fatherless, I mean, you all know it’s a big problem in South Africa. It’s a terrible problem in South Africa, and for those children without a father there is really no future, there is no stability, there is no security, there is no discipline, there is no sense of protection, and that kills destiny. You hear what I’m saying?

You see, let me tell you what happens in the churches today, people suddenly go through these seasons. They say, oh my goodness, my season. God spoke to me, my season is over now. Because I’m in a house and I have a spiritual father I understand something, in this church I had a season of winter, autumn, spring and summer. You hear what I’m saying? Most Christians when they get stuck, suddenly God speaks to them, my season is over now. And they hop around and the church stays fatherless and the church stays sonless. It’s a terrible thing today in the church and God can not establish what he wants to establish, because of that absolute void in the church today.

So I trust that maybe you can get an idea of where we are going today. I trust through this week I’m not so much going to challenge fathers, I’m more going to challenge sons. I’m going to really try and show you, because I believe most of you are sons, except maybe for the pastor here who maybe is a father, I’m not to sure?

The point that I’m trying to make is; sons need to begin to realize what it means from a Godly perspective what it means to develop a true son-mindset, a mentality. So I’m not going to challenge much to the fathers, but there’s something I want to say to the fathers right here. I think what Paul said here; he said that I appeal to you for my son Omnisimus, whom I have begotten while in my chains. A son is not something that just falls out of the sky, he’s not something that just comes automatically. I think sons come, when you are a father. When you are a true father, you produce sons. That’s just a natural occurrence that begins to take place.

I must be honest with you, here at DIFC, I’m not the only son, and there is many sons and daughters in the house. I’m definitely not the only son, maybe I’m teaching this, but there’s other people just as qualified to teach it today on this subject. Maybe I’ the longest, and that’s why they asked me to teach this, the point that I’m trying to make is that; fathers you need to understand that sons don’t just fall out of the sky, you need to produce them. Remember God didn’t just call you, He called you and your seed that is the important principle, God did not just call you, He called you and your seed.

So what’s in your spiritual loins right now, is sons and daughters! Listen, what is the true fruit of an apple tree. The true fruit of an apple tree is another apple tree. You hear what I’m saying? The true fruit of a father, is a true son taken to that extreme that he becomes a father.

You now what, the church has been so orphan less, we thought that we can get the church ready and right with knowledge. Send them to bible school, you know what, I only later in my life went to a bible school. I was groomed into this church, I was birthed into this church, and spiritually I was birthed to become a true son.

My spiritual father had spent, I mean sometimes I must be honest with you, I think sometimes all the grey hair he’s got is because of us? There’s no doubt about that, but I think he’s winning the battle eventually. You know what I’m saying?

I believe the greatest task of a father is to produce a son, and I’ll show you why, but I believe the greatest task of a father is to reproduce sons! The future of your ministry depends on it.

Churches split today, because there are no sons in the house. There’s hirelings, you know what a hireling is? A hireling is somebody you are hiring. You can hire him for a price, somebody else can hire him for a higher price. And when somebody else hires him for a higher price, he walks away with half of your church.

This is so important, you see nobody, and I want you to understand this, I’m not trying to be arrogant when I say this to you, in life I’ve been tested so many times and I probably will be tested in future again, but let me tell you something, when you become a true son, there is no price really that anybody can put on me. I cannot really be connected to anybody else, no matter how great their ministry is. Paul says this: “Listen, you’ve got many teachers and that’s all great, but you really have only one Father and that’s Me!”

I enjoy teaching, I enjoy great teachers and I open my life for impartation, but at the end of the day I understand that I have one Father. Do I like everything that He does? No! That is not the point! Does he have weaknesses? Yes! So what? I have more! That is not the point! The point is God has connected me with him. I was birthed from him.

Either you are totally in shock here or…? I hope you understand this. It is such an important principle if you want to go forward. Let me be honest with you: If you are going to be a bad son, you are going to be a bad father one day. If you are going to be a weak son in the house, you are going to be a weak father one day. And if you are a weak father you will drop your sons, because you have dropped your father.

Now listen, I am talking about the church environment. I understand that, from a natural point of view, many of you may have been dropped by your dads. And maybe you have this complete obscured idea of fathering in your life.
You need to understand this. I don’t want to be irresponsible towards your mindsets, but I want to challenge your mindsets, I want you to understand you are in a new kingdom.

Maybe things didn’t go so well between your dad and you, but now you are in a new kingdom. Now you are going to have to adapt and submit and surrender yourself to new principles, to new laws that you are going to have to live by, because it is going to take you and thrust you forth into your future.

Let us just be real here for a moment. Things aren’t always rosy. In ministry things are not always that supernatural as we would like it to be. Sometimes we are just natural. Sometimes we just need to be real.

Now I believe that the father-son-relationship allows that to develop. It allows the reality of who you are. Not what you can’t do, but who you are to come to the forefront. Because you see the father-son-relationship is not based on performance first, but it is based on relationship. It is based on trust first. And out of relationship and out of trust ministry comes.

Isn’t that true for you and me in our relationship with God and life? God is not interested in my ministry, because He gives the ministry. He is not interested in my gift, because He gives the gifts. He is interested in my relationship with Him, because in the relationship He can mould my character. That is the thing that God is interested in! Not my gift, it is for free! I can develop it, but it is really for free. God really is interested in my character. There is nobody that can develop that aspect of your life better than a spiritual father.

So fathers, this is very important: you need to get sons. That is a real King James’ version word. But you need to get them, you need to reproduce them, you need to release them, you need to empower them and you need to be conceived with them in your loins and they need to grow in your loins. Then you need to give birth to them and once you have given birth to them you need to understand you groom them. Fathers you need to understand that this is going to take your life!

This will take a commitment, it will take your life! I am telling you it will take your life. And I mean it literally.

Let us get to the sons now.

It is going to take your life.

1 Cor 4:17 (This is Paul’s son, Timothy) For this reason I have sent Timothy to you, who is my beloved and faithful son.

We are talking about son ship here, because it is my heart to really challenge the sons to become true sons in the house, because you get sons and then you get true sons. You get members and you get sons.

God doesn’t even want you to have a servant mentality anymore. God wants you to have a son mentality. A son that serves. There is a big difference. A servant that serves is different from a son that serves. You need to understand that God wants to change your mindset to a mindset of son-ship.

The first important characteristic of son-ship is FAITHFULNESS.

What does it mean to be faithful? The direct translation of faithfulness literally means this: to be trustful and to be trustworthy. There is a two-way aspect that needs to take place in this reconciliation process of fathers and sons. If this is your desire to truly become a son God will place you with a father. I can guarantee you. If you just want to be a minister, well that is probably what you will do in life, you will minister. But there will come a day in your life and I will explain it, there will come a day in your life when you will be without resource. Because you see what a father implants in you is unlimited resource. Because there is something that the father implants in you and that is called blessing.

That blessing, that empowerment is an unlimited resource. It is an inheritance. You can run on your gift for a while, and for a while your gift will take you there. I can guarantee you your gift is not going to keep you there.

Today in ministry people are so focused on the gift in the respect of: “Oh! We are so glad you are here! Please just come, we just need this gift in the church now!” People start running on their gift and they burn out. There is no resource here. There is no substance and no endurance. There is no spiritual resource.

When a relationship between a father and the son begins to develop an impartation takes place. That impartation is a spiritual resource that even if you as a son one day is released into the desert, three months later that desert will be changed into an oasis. Why? Because you have a resource.

We are going to look at some scriptural aspects concerning that topic. You need to develop a mindset of faithfulness as a son to be trustful and trustworthy. That is very important. Now look what Paul is saying here. He says: “My beloved and faithful son in the Lord who will remind you of my ways in Christ.”

“Of my ways in Christ!” Paul was quite bold about this. He knew he groomed his sons in a certain way and he knew there were certain things that he just wanted them to get. They could enjoy great teaching from great teachers, but there was a certain spirit that they just had to know that was part of them.

Paul constantly said this. He said: “You imitate Christ, you follow Christ, you imitate Christ, you follow me as I follow Christ.” That was the spirit that he reproduced and that he has imparted and that he had released into his sons. There was a certain way of Paul doing things, he just did things a certain way!

Man, it is strange, I can’t understand this? But do you know when I speak to people, guess who’s face I see? No, I don’t see the face of Jesus, in all respect, but I do see the face of my spiritual father. I see how he handled that problem, I see how he spoke to them, I hear his voice, it’s really God’s voice! But the point is, God used him and God is still using him to role-model to me and to impart to me, fathering! What it means to be a son! It’s amazing, I can’t understand it! Sometimes I hear his voice, sometimes I see, ok , this is how pastor deals with this thing, this is how I’m going to do it. It’s scary, it’s not that I attract his personality, I’m me, but there is something that God has placed within him, and that God has imparted in him. Because I’m close to him, because I’m in relationship with him, that strength, that inheritance, that spiritual resource, becomes mine.

Listen people, maybe some of you are thinking, oh my God! All I’m saying is, you were never called to be independent! You need to be fathered! This is scary, but it is the truth!

If you would look at the life of Paul, and you would look at the life of Timothy, you would see two personalities, but you would see the same spirit that was with Paul was with Timothy. I can tell you in fact, Timothy had double what Paul had. Because there is a powerful principle that takes place. The inheritance always double-up! The anointing always doubles! It always multiplies! I’ll show you, it always happens.

If you think Paul was something, once that what God had placed in Paul was released into his sons, true sons, I think those guys they must have been scary? They understood the ways of the father.

Philippians 2 verse 19 to 22; I trust in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you shortly that I also may be encouraged when I know your state, for I have no one like-minded who will sincerely care for your state. What is Paul saying? Paul is saying, listen Timothy has got my mind. Where did he get Paul’s mind? He got Paul’s mind through the relationship, through the fathering-process that took place between Paul and Timothy.

You need to ask yourself, who’s mind do you have?

I know you are tempted to say; I have the mind of Christ. That is wonderful and that is the way it should be, but that’s exactly why a father should be in your life! A father is not there to fill the gap of God, a father is there to reconcile you closer to God. A father is there to show you the ways of God. The father is there to develop within you, the mind of Christ, because that’s what he’s supposed to carry, the mind of Christ.

Paul says in verse 20; but you know his proven character. I’ve got bad news for you, you can read all the books you like, that’s not going to develop your character. You know who developed my character, who is still working on my character? It must be my father!

I know you want to say; no, Jesus is developing my character. If Jesus was to develop your character, tomorrow we would stand at your grave, and we’ll burry you, and we’ll say; he was a good man, he was a good woman. Dust to dust, ashes to ashes, God bless you. I mean the fire of God would just consume you.

So God in His mercy and in His redemptive way, expresses His love and His discipling to you, through fathering.

I know we all hate this, because of that reporting to God aspect in our lives, but let me be honest with you. My father is there to discipline me, he calls me and grooms me in the fear of the Lord. Sometimes it’s painful. I’m telling you as I stand before you, I’ve cried more than what I’ve laughed, but the only thing that really cries in my live is my flesh, is my own ways.

Let’s not be religious, all of us have some rebellion in us. Let’s just be real! Sometimes that rebellion manifests. Well, guess what? You need a father, because if you are fatherless you are going to justify yourself, you are going to be self-righteous and you are going to just sort of spiritualize it away. You’ll even rebuke something, and you won’t know why you rebuke it.

It’s got nothing to do with rebuking, it has to do with your character. Timothy understood this aspect of Paul working with his character, because that’s the thing that God is really interested in, it’s a very important aspect that we need to understand.

Genesis chapter 17, let’s go to the old testament, if you think it’s bad it’s getting worse!

I’ll understand if you don’t come back tomorrow. I must be honest with you, it’s a great relationship, there’s such strength in this relationship. In Genesis chapter 17 I want to you to realize and I want you to see where God is speaking to Abraham, verse 1, when Abraham was 99 years old, God appeared to him and said.

To whom did God appear? Who was Abraham here? He was the father. You see God appeared to Abraham. This is important for you to know, because God will speak things to the fathers, that he will never speak to the sons. It’s not your time.

I mean I’ve got two little boys, and a third child is on it’s way, but I’ve got two boys and I’m telling you. I see how wise the one already is getting, but he’ll just won’t understand what I understand. It’s just impossible. Now it’s something in the just, suddenly the members, they’ll just know spiritual things. Pastor you don’t understand, I’m gifted. So what, I’m gifted too. What’s the big deal?

There is something in the father that’s just not in the son. Sons must still overcome, the things that the fathers have overcome, the sons must still overcome it.

Genesis chapter 17 verse 1 God appeared to Abraham and he spoke to Abraham and you will see in verse 2 God making covenant with Abraham and in verse 3 God gives Abraham a vision. He gives Abraham a dream, a vision. To whom did He give the dream? To whom did He give the vision? He gave it to the father. Please understand this, He did not give the vision to the son, He gave it to the father.

Sons you need to understand your importance and your role. Turn your bibles with me to the book of Genesis chapter 22. All I want you to focus on, I’m speaking to the sons, all I want you to focus on in this week, is how in God’s eyes can I be the spiritual son God wants me to be! Don’t worry now on the aspect of fatherhood, God will sort that out. I want you to focus on the aspect of son ship.

Verse 1, after these events God tested the father Abraham, and said to him; Abraham, and he said here I am. God said to him, listen to this. Take now your son, your only son, Isaac, whom you love. Now there’s just something wrong with these words here. It’s scary, it’s quiet scary what God said to Abraham. Take now your son, your only son, Isaac. This is interesting, you know why? Because Abraham had another son, Ismael. But yet God said to Abraham, take your son, your only son, Isaac.

You see, in any house there are two types of sons, and you can choose what you want to be. You can either be fleshly, because we understand what Ismael was birthed from, a fleshly concept, a fleshly idea. You can choose whether you want to be fleshly whether you want to be the son of the promise. It’s a decision I believe in God’s sovereignty, it’s a decision He leaves up to us. That’s what sovereignty means, He gives us a gap. You can decide what you want to be. Do you want to be an Ismael or do you want to be an Isaac?

Ismael or Isaac has nothing to do with your personality, you giftedness, what you can do or what you can not do. I believe it’s got a lot to do with your heart, it’s got a lot to do with your mindset, it’s got a lot to do with the way you think, the way you see things and perceive things.

There’s many Ishmaels in the church today, many Ishmaels in the church, and maybe much of that is because of ignorance, but there is many Ishmaels in the church that lives for them. As long as you want to live for you, and what you’re going to accomplish, and for the big thing you are going to do for God, you are going to stay an Ismael.

You see my success, let me be honest with you today, my success is not because of me. My success is because of what has been reproduced in me, what has been imparted in me. I’m a stupid man, I know where I am coming from. It probably will be the stupidest thing one day if I would think it was because of me. God help me, but I know, it’s not because of me. It was because of somebody that believed in me, trained me, empowered me, disciple me, fathered me. You are going to see quality characteristics of the Ismael as we go on.

So God said take your son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the region of Judea and offer him as a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell you. So Abraham rose early in the morning. Saddled his donkey and took two of his young men with him, and his son Isaac, and the wood for the offering and he begun the trip to the place that God had told him. Now on the third day, Abraham looked up and saw the place in the distance. Abraham said to his servants; set up camp and stay here with the donkey. I and the young man will go yonder and worship and will come again to you.

It’s very interesting, it’s very interesting that the two of them went to worship, and it’s so powerful in the workshop that what worship really means, it means movement, it means provision. What’s so wonderful in this relationship if you understand that as a father and son who worships God there is always progression. There’s always progression, it’s amazing that in my relationship with my father there is always progression, because we are in love with God. We are lovers of God, so there is always progression, but the fathering aspect is just so powerful in all of this.

Now look at this, Abraham took the wood, verse 6, for the burnt offering and laid it on the shoulders of Isaac. What did Abraham do with the wood? He laid it on the shoulders of Isaac. I want you to realize something today, your spiritual father is there to take the wood and guess who must carry the wood? You must carry it.

You see your father has a lot of wood that he has carried all his life, and the reason why sons a reproduced, it’s one of the aspects of the ministry. That’s what God wants to accomplish. Listen, God is not going to accomplish anything if the father must carry all the wood. You are not a son if you don’t want to carry the wood. You are not a son if you don’t want to serve. If you just want to hang around, and just wait for something to happen, you aren’t a son.

You are only a son if you come to that place of saying; Pastor, what can I do for you? How can I make your load lighter?

You see I know what you want to call this word, because maybe you have a un-renewed mind. “Kan ek dit maar in Afrikaans sê; jy wil gatkruip.” Will you forgive me, I don’t know what you call it in English. It has nothing to do with suck-up or “gatkruip” or anything like this, it has to do with a spiritual principle that you begin to understand as a son.

It has to do with the fact that you have to understand that your destinies are connected to another man, and you may say no way, my destiny is connected to God. But listen, God is willing to take the risk, He is secure in Himself, He is willing to take the risk to connect your destiny with somebody else.

You say, but what if the person misses it? It’s not about the person missing it, or the persons weaknesses, it’s about you understanding the principle, because God always honors the principle, God honors His word. You know we are always so worried, but Pastor, what id my Pastor has sinned? So what, what if you sin? What about my Pastor’s weaknesses? So what, what about your weaknesses?

God is not suddenly threatened by our weaknesses and our sins and He suddenly jumps of His throne, God is not moved by that, but God is moved by principles. You say Pastor what are you talking about? Where is this in the bible?

Look at the life of David, guess what, guess where God placed David? God anointed David to be king, is that right? Guess what? After that Holy Ghost meeting, was Samuel the only thing that kept David away from his problems. The PIT, P I T, prophet in training. For twelve years David lived in the desert and he had to submit to a demonized Saul.

Now you are worried about your Pastor’s weaknesses?

I just want to emphasize this again, you are there to carry the wood of the father. What would the wood represent? It represents his vision, it would represent his dream, it would represent the work-load.

Let’s go to verse 7, and Isaac said my father, and he said here I am my son, he said see here is the firewood, but were is the lamb for the burn offering? Know who of you now that in your bible there is a question mark? Can you see that? In that verse there is a question mark. Now we are going to worship now, where is the lamb for the burn offering? What’s going on here dad? Guess what, the son here had a question, a question mark behind his dad.

I want you to know that you are going to have question marks, but I want you to also know that you are not there to understand your dad. God did not call you to understand him or to change him. Leave that to God. The moment you want to change your spiritual father, God will deal with you and he will deal with your rebellion.

The opposite is true, God has called him to change you. Or to provoke change. God ultimately will change you, but God has called him, God has definitely called him to work with your character.

I do not try to understand my spiritual dad. I don’t try to understand my Pastor. I’m saying this to you, because I trust that it will liberate you. God did not call your Pastor to be in your framework, he will always be out of your framework.

But when they came to the place God told him, Abraham built an alter there. Listen to this, this is so powerful, then he laid the wooden alter and downed Isaac his son and laid him on the alter on the wood. What a picture!

He built an alter. Who built the alter? The father. What is an alter? That’s a place of sacrifice. So the father builds the alter, and this is something worse, he binds up Isaac. But there is something wrong with this picture, I’ll explain to you why now. He binds Isaac. He puts him on the alter.

I want to show you what is really wrong with this picture.
When God gave Abraham the dream he was already ninety nine, or something like that, he was an old man. Now who carried the wood? Isaac did. So Isaac was a young, strong man by this time. I mean that wood was meant for human sacrifice. It was a lot of wood that Isaac carried. Now here the bible says that Abraham just bound-up Isaac, but that’s not true. I want you to know, in Isaac’s heart there was a willing surrender and a willing trust, realizing and understanding in God that I don’t know what my father is doing, but I need to trust him right now and I need to trust You.

In Isaac’s right mind he knew he could run away, he could break free, he could say cheers daddy, he would have just new that this is absolutely ridiculous. But there was a willing surrender. For you as a son you need to understand, listen, fathers I want to say this to you; God wants you to place your sons on the altar. He wants you to build the altar and he wants you to put them on the altar. If you’re not going to put your sons on the altar, He’s not going to do it. If you don’t do it, you’re not going to be the father God wants you to be.

That altar is a place of training, it’s a place of sacrifice, it’s a place where put your sons where they must die to themselves. They must die from their agendas, they must die from their dreams, they must die from what they want and they must begin to life for what God has placed within you.

You say; no, no, no! Listen, let me tell you this, if Isaac did not obey, the promise that God gave Abraham, the vision, the dream that God gave Abraham, wouldn’t have been fulfilled.

You see fathers, the future of your dream, listen to me, and the fulfillment of your dream, is based on the sacrificed lives of your true sons and daughters. I’ll say it again, the future of your dream, of your vision, is based and it relies on the sacrificed lives of the sons and the daughters.

You see that alter is a place that represents the refining process, it represents the fire. Now listen, if there’s no fire, build some. This is what my pastor does. If there is no fire, he makes sure he builds some one. You seem to be in confusion?

Let me tell you what the fire does. You now, one day Paul was making a fire, I don’t know if you read that story, the bible says he builds fire, he makes fire. And the next moment as he picks up a wood or tick, whatever, he picks up a snake, a viper, and the viper bites him on the hand.

There is something about the fire, the fire always exposes the serpent nature in you. No Pastor, I’m reborn. What you don’t understand, I’m also reborn, christian, but I’ve experienced some serpents in my live. I know some of you are bold to say; well maybe then you have to come for deliverance. I have been for deliverance many times, but let me tell you something. There is something inside of you that will come out when you are placed on the altar. I invite you, come a week with us. In fact, just spend five minutes with me maybe, that gogga will manifest. I’ll just press a button, I mean it, I’m not ugly about it, I just want us to be real.

We must not be in confusion sons, you will never do something great for God, unless you’ve gone through the fire. Unless you’ve been tested, unless you’ve allowed someone to work with your character, unless you’ve went through pain. Forget it, it just won’t happen.

Listen, who of you enjoy chocolate cake, I’ve got a great metaphor to use, who of you enjoy chocolate cake? Who of you know that a chocolate cake has got different ingredients? There’s salt I think, am I right? You must help me here. Raw eggs. Who of you ever tasted a raw egg? Who of you like the taste of salt just by itself? Who of you would just gulp down a whole teaspoon of salt saying, umm, this is lovely. That’s absolutely ludicrous, who of you would do that? That’s ludicrous, that’s crazy! Do you understand what I’m trying to tell you? But if you understand that once it is all placed together and mixed together, placed in the oven, once it comes out of there, a lovely bar-one chocolate cake. But one of the ingredients by itself, that cake would just not be the same.

What’s the point I’m trying to make? Sometimes people go through situations where you will feel misunderstood, where you feel I’m not recognized, I’m not excepted, I’m abused, misused, and my Pastor does not understand what’s going on. I’ve done all the work and he gets all the credit. Who’ s the greatest? All of those things are needed, not one day for God is wasted. All of those aspects are needed, and it’s a needed ingredient.

That altar is a needed ingredient for your future, for your destiny. Some of you don’t believe me, but it’s the truth.

If you read on, you will see that God spoke to Abraham, He said Abraham stop, don’t kill your son. I know now, I know now that you will obey me, that you will obey me until the very end. I can see it now and then God enforced His promise and He released His promise.

This is the point I’m trying to bring over to you and this is the aspect that I want you to begin to understand. Why this is so important and why this is so powerful and why this is such a powerful concept. The fulfillment of the dream, of your father’s dream. The fulfillment of that vision, of the promise that God has given him, is based on the sacrificed lives of the sons.

You see my senior Pastor was a son in the house, he was a son to his father. Now in those days, church wasn’t what it is today. He was under a Pastor that was a prophet. He was mean, he was almost militant. I don’t think one of us would have made it. I mean it, I mean it. He was just god, for him it was black and white, that’s it. My senior Paster served under his spiritual father for twelve years. Sixteen years, but twelve years of effective fathering, discipling of the son ship aspect. This is the thing, the day that he died, you know, everybody in the church said, you would think they would cry, but what the church said because of who he was, the church said thank you Jesus, you’ve delivered us from this man. I mean it, that’s just what they said, they just thanked the Lord. Now maybe I would also have just thanked the Lord in all honesty, because I mean he was just a different type of man.

The church said, thank you Jesus he’ s dead, the vision is dead, this thing that he believed in is dead and now we can just all relax and just have some nice comfortable church. Guess what happened? Because my senior Pastor walked with him all those years, something great and awesome happened, it was reproduced in him. That dream and that vision was released in him. Every thing that that senior Pastor wanted to see in his church. Guess what? It’s now happening here. Everything that he believed in, I mean, everything up to the number, that he wanted to see in his time, the promise, the fulfillment, right now until this very day, is happening in DIFC. It was released in my senior Pastors heart.

There is things in my senior Pastors life that he possibly will not see, but it’s there. Unless he has sons, it will not come forth, it will not be birthed, it will not be multiplied.

This is the greatest problem today in churches, if the leader dies, the church dies. I challenge you, most of the big churches today, if that leader must die, the churches will just split four ways. There is great gifted men, but no fathers and no sons.

You see my personal priority in this house is not to life for the ministry, it’s to life for his dream, it’s to life for his vision. For many years I’ve had to set aside my dream, many years. Only now I can begin to see, that that what God had placed in me, God had actually placed it in my senior Pastor. God tested me, he placed me on that sacrificial table, He wanted to be sure, Wentzel, why are you here? Are you here for the man or are you here for you.

You’ll be amazed to know why people come to a church, you’ll be amazed. Now, unless you come and you submit to the house for the dream and the vision that God has given to that leader, you are there for the wrong reason.

You see, here’s the principle. You need to work on the dream of the leader, then God will begin to work on your dream. You say, come on Pastor, please man. Man, let me tell you a story, who of you know that Joseph was a great dreamer? God imparted his whole destiny in dreams and Joseph was unwise and arrogant to share his dreams with everybody, but it wasn’t his time, and guess where he ended up? He ended up in the PIT.

God said, ok Joseph, I’ve given you this great dream, but I’m going to train you a bit, I’m going to put you in a PIT, P I T, prophet in training. This is were you’ll stop, and for sixteen years Joseph was in prison. Can you imagine it, if you think prison is bad today, those days it was bad. It was dungeons man, and for sixteen years Joseph was placed in a prison. Here’s what Joseph did, he worked on the dreams of others.

This is Christianity, if you want it God’s way, if you want God to mould you into greatness, this is what it’s about. You could get a quick fix if you try, there is many instant quick fixes today, but it’s not going to last. If you want to become a son of virtue and character, knowing the things of God, having unlimited resources, this is the walk you are going to have to walk.

You say, well my Pastor don’t have a dream. You must find out if God placed you with him, if God really placed you with him, you’re going to have to stick until God releases the dream and you are going to have to start working on that dream, and on that vision. Then you will give God the opportunity to work on your dream and to work with your vision.

Up to now, I’ve been working on the dream and vision of my senior Pastor. Some of those aspects I enjoy, I’m honest, and there are some of those aspects that I completely dislike. It doesn’t matter, that’s the wood. That’s the table part, you know the altar.

Fathers, that’s your responsibility, you must put your sons on the altar. You must. It’s important, it’s vital, you must put your sons on the altar. You must test them.

Listen I’m honest with you, my entire, I just want to share my heart! Is that fine? My entire family was in this church. If I mean my family, I mean my family on both sides, the family on my mother’s side, family on my father’s side, and “sommer aangetroude” family as well. And they were Pastors in this church, and then something happened that’s unfortunate. All of them, except for me and my wife, left the church, all of them, including my own brother, and they were Pastors in this church, one was the 2IC of this church, all of them left. So they came to me and said, so and you, Pastor Wentzel, are you coming? I had to make a decision between my family, my blood, and the principle of my destiny, my father. I had to make a decision right there. Today, if I connected to their destiny.

Well I connected to my senior Pastor, that’s not blood of me, but my destiny is connected to him. I had to make a decision, I tell you for two years, it was two years of hell. I can’t put it any other way. It was as if there was a curse upon me, because of the things that was spoken against me and my wife, by my own family.

But you see, I had to make a decision between my destiny or my family, and I loved them and they love God, but their choice is not my future.

You need to understand I had to carry that weight. I want you to understand that as a son you will be tested.

You come, I don’t want to be arrogant when I say this, but you come and you say anything bad about my father, I’ll kill you. I don’t mean it in a bad sense, but I mean I’ll kill you.

Does he have weaknesses? Yes, because I live close to him, and we’re going to look at that a bit more, maybe the rest of the week, it’s a very important subject. But the point that I’m trying to make, is that I understand who he is in my life. I understand that God has placed him there to reconcile me with God and to release an inheritance, a Godly inheritance, an unlimited resource that God has for my life. Amen.

I really want to get your focus on a very important aspect and that is to not so much have an expectancy of how the father should be, but you should get an expectancy of what God wants you to be. Because you need to understand, you can not change fathers, you can not change leaders, at the end of the day.

As a Christian you are in this for the long run, you are in this for eternity, I’m talking about an eternal principle that matters in your life. This is why it is so important that you understand this principle of focusing on son ship at the end of the day.

To be honest with you, I need to speak to you about my senior Pastor. My senior Pastor was a son, I don’t know whether his Pastor could be classified as a father, but he was an excellent leader and he was a disciple. He didn’t have that warmth of a father. Never. He for example never told my senior Pastor that I love you. He only wrote it in his diary and the day before he died he said to his wife, tell Hennie I love him. That was it, for thirteen years, and he died. He didn’t really express what you would say fathering, and security. He expressed great leadership and he was a great disciple, but not what you would expect from him.

This is why this is not a natural thing. I want you to understand and I don’t want you to measure it in any natural way and I don’t want you to measure your spiritual authority in the eyes of the natural and I don’t want you to measure your son-ship with the eyes of the natural.

You need to measure your son-ship according to God’s standards and let God then be God. Then God will birth something great within your life.

Very important, from a son’s perspective, you never need to, you never can approach your father, your spiritual father. In the sense of saying to him, Pastor do you see what I see? Your Pastor is not there to see what you see, you are there to see what he sees. You need to learn in your approach to your Pastor, you need to learn to approach him in a way where you say Pastor, do I see what you see? Not Pastor do you see what I see? No! Pastor, do I see what you see?

We are talking here of the mind of a son, this is the seeds I want to sow in your hearts. You need to begin to understand that as a son you need to learn to see what the father sees. This is what Paul is saying in this very verse that I read to you yesterday, where he said but I trust in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you shortly that I also may be encouraged when I know your state for I have no one like-minded. Like-minded, he’s not just like minded because he like-minded. He’s like-minded because he has spent some time with Paul and he saw what Paul saw. He saw the mind of Christ in Paul and it’s that’s same mind of Christ that was reproduced in the life of Timothy. Ok, he says this for this reason I’ve send Timothy to you, he’s my beloved and faithful son in the Lord who will remind you of my ways in Christ. Of my ways in Christ, of Paul’s ways in Christ.

So it is very important that as sons we understand this and that we realize this and that we learn to see what the father sees. Because this is the way we are going to grow up and when you begin to develop that attitude of saying of Pastor am I seeing what you’re seeing.

You know what you are breaking in your own life, you are breaking the independent spirit in your own life. Because let me tell you something, the whole humanistic world teaches independence. The whole humanistic world teaches self. It’ s you, it’s me, myself and I. The unholy trinity. This is the whole humanistic approach.

But suddenly as a son, you get rid of humanism, you get rid of the independent spirit, you begin to get rid of me and you begin to understand that your success is related to your father. Very, very important. People are very independent, especially in the church when we’ve got a spiritualistic mindset, or a religious mindset.
I said to you yesterday, in the church everybody hears from God. Now that might be true, there’s no doubt that God speaks to you, but let me tell you something, there is many things that God won’t speak to you about.

God will speak to the leader. God will speak to you in your personal life. Listen, listen, your authority extends to your responsibility, and it’s in that sphere where God speaks to you. You didn’t get me, your authority extends to your responsibility, it’s in that sphere where God will speak to you.

I’m the father of my house, so can God speak to me over my household? Of course God will speak to me about my household. Why? Because I’m responsible for my household, but God is not going to speak to me outside my responsibility.

You see we want to spiritualize everything and this is were we make a mistake. We need to understand that in the kingdom of God there is government. God is not going to wake me up in the middle of the night and tell me to phone the president, the world is coming to an end, because I won’t be able to get to the president anyhow, and God knows it. You’ll wake somebody else up, one of his advisors, that’s maybe a reborn Christian and a spiritual man, because one of his advisors has the capacity of responsibility, therefore he has the capacity of influential authority. This is we as Christians sometimes gets completely carried away.

The old testament prophets, I want you to understand, the kings recognized the old testament prophets authority, because the kings recognized their authority that had a sphere of responsibility. Daniel had a sphere of responsibility and that’s why he had authority. There is still prophets ministering today, that’s absolutely true, but what I’m getting at is that even in the church environment God will favour certain spiritual leaders in government. God can use those people to speak, to be the prophetic voice for the government, it doesn’t say that the government will bow to them, but God will raise them up.

We must not be confused when it comes to aspects of government in the kingdom of God and in the realms of the spirit. Do you have authority to cast out a demon? Of course you do, because it is your responsibility. Do you have the authority to heal the sick? Of course you do, because God gives you that responsibility. But your authority extends to your responsibility.

When it comes to the dream of the father and when it comes to the vision of the father, who is responsible for it? The father is responsible for it. Who has the authority to release that dream? The father!

This is what will happen: the father will bring in the son and the son will begin to share the responsibility. That will happen, because he begins to carry the wood. He is not finally responsible, but because he shares a sphere of responsibility, God can speak to him in that sphere of responsibility. God can.

I want to explain something: If I sense that God speak to me in a certain area and I really sense that it is God speaking to me, the safest thing for me to do is to go bounce it off a leader and to submit it to him. If he says “No go,” as a son I cannot get puffed up and say “Hey, but I heard from God!”, because this is what sons do. This is what people do: “Hey, God spoke to me and this is prophetic word, pastor! God will get you! You are not listening to God!” God won’t, because He is standing with His leader!

God will still stand by His leader, but what you have done is you have released the word and therefore you have been released from your responsibility. You must be obedient when God speaks to you, but you have been released from your responsibility the moment you have spoken the word. What the leader does with that word is not up to you, it is up to him!

You are not there to work with the leader, let God work with the leader! Does it make sense?
This is governmental aspects in the church that sons should understand. Even in my sense of responsibility in the church you need to understand that God does speak to me and our relationship has developed to such an extent that over the years my spiritual father trusts me more in that what I’m doing. But he still has the final say.

The zone that I am handling, (I am overseeing the young adults and music department) at the end of the day it’s not mine! He is responsible for it. He can take it away and he can give it to anyone whom he pleases to give it to. It is vital that the father must put the son on the sacrificial table. There were times that pastor Hennie called me, that I’ve grown my zone to 200 people, then he’d say: “Listen, I’m giving half of your zone to that pastor.”

Then I’ve grown my zone again and pastor asks: “Who are your best leaders?” and I would say: “Well, it is these ten guys” and he would say: “You can’ take them further. Give them to me!”

If I am not a son I would have gotten so offended. Don’t get me wrong, you get offense, but we are going to speak about offense. You get offended, but because you are a son you learn to trust the father and you know, governmentally, God called him. I have become an extension of his dream and ministry. It is not about me. It is not my time now. It is about him. I don’t live for my dream, for my success. Yes, I need to be successful, because if I produce nothing, I will become a burden to the father at the end of the day. The point is: On whose success am I working?

This is a real flesh-killer! To be a son is a real flesh-killer! In the real sense of the word you are on the sacrificial table. Because on whose dream and on whose success am I working? I am working on the dream that God entrusted to the father. If I lose these important principles as a son and I lose that mindset of a son, I am going to miss it.

I am telling you that there is so much space for offense that it is scary! God is not in confusion. Not one day with Him for you is wasted. He’s got your name and number. He knows exactly what He is doing. You don’t have to drive to some prophet to get a word from him when things are going tough. He wants things to go tough with you at times. It’s all part of His redemptive purpose in your life. He wants you on that table. When you want to get off He says: “No! I want you on it!” The fathers need to be sure that their sons are on that table.

That is the way to greatness! Without pain you are not going to make it! Without pain you will never do a great thing for God. Never! The reality of ministry is enormous. Ministry is worse than politics, because you work with real people, with the real past, with real hurt, with real agendas and on top of that all you need to work with your own flesh. On top of that all you need to wrestle with God at times. On top of that all you need to fight the good fight of faith against the devil and all his demons. And that is why I’ve told you I have cried more than I’ve laughed in my life. It is a good thing, it is not a bad thing. It is just my flesh that was crying.

I assume most of you are leaders or in a place of leadership. Well this is anointed leadership. It is not all the other stuff we sometimes. The way up is the way down in anointed leadership. It starts in the PITS (Prophets in Training).

This is the real stuff, the reality of ministry. I am so glad this is a creative arts conference, because at least we can stay with one thing that we are designed and created to do, and that is worship. That saves us. That is about the only thing that will be your refuge in life. This is something great and awesome.

When we speak about anointed leadership, I tell you it is tough, it is painful. There is a constant fire. It is worse than politics. If you don’t conquer your own spirit, the Bible says you are like a seized city, if you don’t take rule over your own spirit, you are like a seized city. To be a seized city is almost worse than to be like a conquered city, because if you are conquered you are down and out! If you are seized you are starving and dying slowly. In the Old Testament when the cities were under siege, the women ate their own children.

One of the greatest aspects that you need to overcome and that you need to conquer in your own life is just one thing. Guess what that is? Self! This is why a father needs to produce a son and put him on that table and you need to have the mind of a son to willingly allow that.

I want to focus your attention on certain enemies that will steal your birthright and try to steal your son ship from you. This is why I started the sacrificial stable, because you need to die to self, you need to conquer self. Your father needs to help you to do that. You need to develop the mind of a son to do that. To be willing and to understand the process of pain. You need to understand the process of pain and why things happen and why things don’t always fall in place. You need to understand the process of how to deal with disagreements and how to deal with offense. It is so important, because it is these things that will make you or break you as a son.

About submission: As long as daddy and myself are in agreement, it is easy to submit. The moment we disagree, submission comes into place. It is easy to submit when I am in agreement with my senior pastor, but the moment I disagree with him, now submission comes into place. I’m not saying we must submit to sin. Your pastor will not expect from you, if he is any spiritual pastor, to submit to sin. There are certain things that he might expect from you to submit. You can even disagree on that, but if you have the mind of a son you begin to put aside your disagreement and submit, because you live according to the principle.

He can even be wrong! But who will deal with him? God! When pastor Hennie says to me I must father certain people, I must be honest with you, I don’t want to. I will try to duck here and duck there. It is difficult enough to be a son. God gives grace. I am honest with you I don’t want to be a father. Sometimes I feel: “Oh, God, no! Please! Just let me be a son, this is safe!” I am serious!

I just want to share my heart with you. I don’t see this a s light subject. This is enormous! This is a great responsibility! When you father someone you need to lay your life down for that person. That’s what it means!

If my father is wrong, it is not up to me to change him! Or lead him! Let God be God over his life. Some people say: “But what if he really miss it and fall out of the boat?” Listen, if you obey the principle, even if the father falls out of the boat, God can protect you. Yes, the hurt will bounce off you, you’ll go through a process of pain, But you will be restored and you will get out of it. You will go on with God, because you obeyed the principle, because you have the right spirit. Whenever you go into rebellion towards your father because of disagreement, that day God leaves you. The Bible says rebellion is the sin of witchcraft. Let me rather say this: God withdraws from you. You will not go on with God because that spirit will slaughter you.

Let us put son ship aside for a moment. Let us just talk about a mature aspect, a very important principle. If you are in complete disagreement with your senior pastor and just can’t get over it, rather just go to your pastor and say: “Pastor, I can’t get over this disagreement. I want to be mature about this. Rather bless me and release me.” That is the last thing that should happen in your life, but I’m just trying to bring a principle over to you. Rather that than walking with your disagreement and allowing this disagreement to bring offense and kill your flock.

If you choose to become a son, you need to learn to deal with your disagreement and you should never seek for release out of your own. You should wait for his release.

Let us come back to the subject of release. Let us talk about the normal church member. I believe that to be a normal member is the most noble thing you can do. Rather get the blessing of your father or the spiritual leader of that house and be mature. But unfortunately the opposite is happening in the church today. People go into disagreement and then they gossip and the slander and attack the leader and then they destroy the flock and they destroy themselves. Do you understand the aspect of submission? This is an important principle.

Let us get back to son ship. Things that will attack your birthright, things that will try to steal your son ship, let us look at Gen 25:29. “One day when Jacob was cooking some stew, Esau arrived home exhausted and hungry from a hunt. Esau said to Jacob, ‘I’m starved! Give me some of that red stew you’ve made.’ Jacob replied, ‘ All right, but trade me your birthright for it.’ ‘Look, I’m dying of starvation!’ said Esau. ‘What good is my birthright to me now?’ So Jacob insisted, ‘Well then, swear to me right now that it is mine.’ So Esau swore an oath, thereby selling all his rights as the firstborn to his younger brother. Then Jacob gave Esau some bread and lentil stew. Esau ate and drank and went on about his business, indifferent to the fact that he had given up his birthright.” He had scorn his birthright.

I want you to look at a few things and I just want you to get this picture. The Bible speaks of Esau as a man of the field. He was a strong man, a hunter. Jacob was more the type who was at home, softer in approach and on the outside not at all like Esau. Esau reflected strength, Jacob reflected the opposite, if you would look at them in the natural.

Something happened to Esau and I want you to look at this and I want you to understand Esau was the firstborn, that means he was first in line for the blessing of Abraham. It meant that he had a certain birthright. It meant that the best would come to him and the second best would go to Jacob. That is what it really meant. In simple terms this is what it meant for Esau. And Esau reflected such strength that there was no doubt he would get it.

But something happened to Esau one day. What he was good at, he failed at one day and he came home. And the Bible tells me he was weary. Weary means that you are fatigued, under pressure and you are overwhelmed emotionally, physically and you are faint. If you choose to be a son, one of the greatest enemies that will come against you without a doubt, is weariness that will come your way.

Emotional, physical or mental weariness will come your way. It will come your way. Pressure will come your way. Things will happen that you will not understand. There are certain things in this world and in your walk with God and in your walk with your father and in your walk in the ministry that will just wear you down. There will be times that you will absolutely, miserably fail. Failure will wear you down.

You are going to fail! Whether you like it or not! I WILL FAIL! Failure is not a problem, you will fail! I failed more than I have succeeded. I am thirteen or fourteen years in ministry and I have failed more than I have succeeded. But my failure is preparing me for success. They say that failure is very hard to handle, but success is worse.

When I get there and I pass those tests, I will tell you. The point is that I have learnt to deal with failure, so I can speak about it. Weariness will come your way. All of us will come to that place. As spiritual sons we will be tempted to say, “I have had enough! I feel I don’t get recognition, I don’t get credit, I must just do things and I’m abused, misused, manipulated and dominated! I’m this and I’m that! I’m not good at that. He is better than me. They only see him, they don’t see me!” This is the great reality that will come and you will be like Esau that will come from the field and there will even be certain things that you are good at that you will feel that even in this area in my life I’m useless!

Even your spiritual father may say: “Look at that guy. I don’t know what he is doing!” And they’ll say it in front of you or even to you. Or: “Listen, give me your best ten leaders” type of thing. Seriously!

Your flesh will put pressure on you, because your flesh constantly lusts against your spirit. The devil will put pressure on you. People will put pressure on you. You will put pressure on yourself, because of your own insecurities.

The biggest mistake that Esau made is he allowed his weariness to get the better of him. This is what many sons do. They allow the weariness and pressure and a lack of recognition or whatever needs (many times you have unmet needs) in their life. An unmet need will make you fatigued, it will put emotional strain on you, it can make you weary.

The worst thing that you can do as a spiritual son is to allow weariness to overtake you. If you allow weariness to overtake you, you will begin to make the same mistake that Esau made. It wasn’t that God was against Esau, it was just that Esau made a bad decision. Esau placed his focus on his flesh, he placed his focus on his circumstances, on that what he has seen and he didn’t place his focus on something greater.

There’s always hope for you! There’s always a greater destiny and a greater future for you and what you are going through right now, God is beyond that. The calling that God has placed on your life is beyond that. What you’re going through right now is needed!

While Esau was on that sacrificial table, he flunked. He dealt with the privilege, he dealt with his son-ship, he dealt with his birthright irresponsibly. He said, well, take it. If I don’t give it to you anyhow now, I’m going to die.

This is what the enemy will always try and sow into your mind, he will always give you the idea of this is final, this is final. The is no finality, as long as you have breath in your lungs, there is no finality.

Time is something very strange. Things can today seem pretty messed-up, but because God’s realm is not dictated by time, it’s dictated by eternity. Tomorrow, we all can change!

I like the word Pastor Tom Inglis uses, suddenly. God’s dimension is a dimension that’s so close to us, suddenly, there can just come an explosion from that dimension and manifest into our dimension. As a son you’re going to have to have that mind, you can not have the mind of Esau, you need to have the mind of Jacob.

When we look at Jacob we think that he was quite a deceiver and maybe he had a few tricks, even his name meant that in a sense. Jacob saw something that Esau didn’t see. Esau took his son-ship for granted, he took his birthright for granted. The moment that Esau even just made that contract that he made with Jacob, that day, even though it had nothing to do with Isaac, Isaac couldn’t stop that, the father could not stop that, the son stopped the blessing. The day that Esau made that decision, it made a ripple effect in the realms of the spirit. That day Esau released himself from his birthright. God made a note in His book, Esau is no longer the man. Even if Isaac must have blessed him, Esau was no longer the man, because in his heart, in his actions, in his decision, in his expression, and that what he’s done, he gave it up.

I’m not saying as sons you won’t get discouraged, you will. When you have finished being discouraged, you need to stand up and you need to take the mind of a son and you need to treasure the mind of a son. You can never let go of that. You will be tested!

I can’t tell you how many tests I’ve been through. There’s only one real commitment I’ve made, except for accepting Jesus Christ, there’s only one vow or commitment I’ve made, that was towards my senior Pastor. There I’ve learnt you don’t make vows quickly. That was the one vow I’ve made and it’s in that area where I’ve been tested the most. Family, my father, my mother, my brother, everybody tested me. It was a vow that was worthwhile up to now, it was a vow that matured me. It’s a vow that’s trusting me into my destiny, into my future.

I do believe that this is what anointed leadership is all about at the end of the day. If you begin to grab a hold of these very important principles. So Esau gave it up, that day he released himself from his birthright, from his son-ship, from the blessing. It did not come automatically on Jacob. Genesis chapter 32, Jacob was soft from the outside and he didn’t reflect the strength that Esau reflected. In the character of Esau there was a flaw.

Now you will understand why I say God is more interested in your character than your gift. In life you are going to get knocks, you’re going to get pain, you’re going to get pressure, you’re going to get weary, and these factors will come against you, especially if you want to do something great for God. If you’re not strong in character, you’re going to miss it. You’re going to be vulnerable to the mind of Esau.

Let’s look at the life of Jacob, Genesis 32 verse 24, and Jacob was left alone and a man wrestled with him until daybreak. When the man saw that he did not prevail against Jacob, he touched the hollow of his thigh and Jacob’s thigh was put out of joint as he wrestled with him. Then he said let me go, for day is breaking, but Jacob said I will not let you go unless you declare a blessing upon me. The man asked him, what is your name? In shock of realization, whispering, he said, Jacob, it means the schemer or sup planter, verse 28, and he said, your name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel, meaning contender with God. For you have contended and have power with God and with men and have prevailed.

What a scripture! Then Jacob asked him, tell me, I pray you, what is your name? But he said, why is it that you ask my name? And the angel of God declared a blessing on Jacob there, and Jacob called the name of that place Peniel, the face of God, saying for I have seen God face to face and my life was spared and not snatched away. So Jacob actually saw God, and he did more, he wrestled with God and he made a decision, that God I will not let you go. He wrestled with God. The bible says the whole night through. While the day was breaking, I mean that must have been a match, a match that God allowed.

God just allowed it, but even God got fed-up with him. What’s going on with this guy? I think God had a problem with Jacob. God didn’t want to bless him. He said let me go, day is breaking. You know, you’re not going to prevail against me anyway, so let Me go . God said let me give foul one, and He knocked him in the thigh. He was out of joint.

This is the point I want you to understand, Jacob had the right mind. He had the mind of a son. He realized that God I need to be a son. I need this birthright. I need your blessing. What does blessing mean? Blessing means to be endowed with, it means to be empowered, it means favour. This is what God gave Jacob that day. He gave him favour with God and He gave him favour before men. This is what will happen in your life, in all honesty, even if your spiritual father never lays his hands on you, because you carry within you the seed of a son.

This is interesting, and this must give you hope. Do you know that Isaac did not love Jacob the way he loved Esau? Did you know that Isaac did not give Jacob the attention that he gave Esau? He wasn’t the same father that he was to Jacob that he was towards Esau. Esau was his favourite, we read it in the bible.

But because Jacob carried within him the seeds of son-ship, he had the mind of a son, God blessed him. This should give you hope. He had something in him, he was tenacious. He said I will not let go!

In context it means that you refuse to allow weariness to get the better of you. You refuse to allow pressure to get the better of you. You refuse to allow offense to get the better of you. You refuse to allow pain to get the better of you. You refuse to allow disagreement or lack of understanding of what your spiritual father is doing right now to get the better of you. Because even as a son, when you have the right mind of a son, you know where is your focus at the end of the day. Your focus at the end of the day is God.

I know who’s responsible for working with you, but you know finally, let me tell you, you know where is my eyes? I know why my father is in my life, my spiritual father, really at the end of the day he is in my life not to secure me or to protect me or to give me a salary or whatever, at the end of the day he is there to get my focus on what really matters: God.

The way I handle him, my father that I that I see, that’s my approach to God. If I handle my authority and the fathering that has been placed over me in the wrong way, this is going to be my same approach towards God. God knows it, because he knows my heart. The way that I handle myself in the natural is the way you are going to handle yourself in the spiritual. God knows it, He’s not in confusion about it and He will not bless me, and He will not favour me.

Son-ship is not about a perfect son, that’s the Esau. I’m everything but perfect, I promise you. Of all the sons here I probably made the most mistakes here, and I’m naughty, by the way. But I have a certain mind in me, I’ve developed this mind in me through the word of God. Now God is checking me out and for you, are you for real?

At the end of the day Jacob couldn’t get away with trickery, he had to show God, God I am the real thing! I have the mind of a son, bless me. He changed God’s mind. Remember God has no favourates, God is looking for the right mind, He’s looking for the right heart.

Your Pastor could even have fallen into sin, but if you have the right heart, the right mind of son-ship, God will bless you, and even the good that He has intended for your Pastor, He will give it to you, He will multiply it to you. This is the truth.

I just want to emphasize the following: a son needs the blessing of the father, it’s very important. You need to get a better perspective of this; sons in the house.

Let’s look at Luke chapter 15, this is the story of the prodigal son, so let’s read from verse 11, it says there was a certain man who had two sons, and the younger of them said to his father. Father give me the part of the property that belongs to me, and he divided the estate between them. Now I want you to notice here that the younger son was the son who wanted to get things going before it’s time.

In other words, here is the younger son and he makes the request, listen give me my stuff, give me my inheritance. As any true father understands at the end of the day, he can not force his sons to stay with him, he can not keep his sons against their own will.

Unfortunately, one of the great enemies that will come to you as a son, is for you to get going with the things of God before your time. There is many sons today that may be greatly gifted, but unfortunately, many times because of their gift, they want to do things and accomplish something for God, so they might even think that they have pure motives, but the reality is that they just don’t have what it takes to do what God has called them to do, because it’s not their time. It’s not their time to stand in any form of senior capacity, it’s not their time of church capacity, it’s their time to serve the leader or to serve the father of that house.

As a son you should never come to confusion about that. Sons are many times very afraid that the fathers won’t release them and for fathers its also a test to release their sons, but there’s a tremendous balance that we need to understand. A father that is truly a father, at the right time God will release him and that release doesn’t necessary means that he will start his own ministry, it doesn’t necessary means he needs to move away from the house, but that release just speaks of many times where your gifting is and the aspect of where God has called you.

Remember, not everybody is called to be senior Pastors. Many times sons have that idea, that they are called to be an 2IC or a deputy and not called to be a senior Pastor, they are called to serve the senior man in that capacity, but then there are those who are called to specific ministries or missions or whatever, but the blessing of your father, the blessing of your spiritual authority, the release of your spiritual authority is very important.

I also want to say in ministry capacity, many of you are called to one house. I believe all sons are called to one house, but they become an extension of that house, obviously. Many times you would like to get things going, but I think it is really up to the senior Pastor, it’s up to the father to release you into that capacity, and that’s the point I’m trying to bring over here.

The moment you as a son wants to push things and you want it your way, that’s when you begin to walk in error, and that’s when you are going to be walking in danger.

Verse 13 says, not many days after that the youngest son gathered up all that he had and journeyed into a distant country. There he wasted his fortune in reckless and loose living. That’s the reality that begins to happen, when you release yourself, or when you walk out of the father’s house, I’m talking about if there was a real father/son relationship. If you walk out of a father/son relationship because of your agenda or of what you want to accomplish, here’s the danger, you will become reckless.

98% of the man and the woman that walked out of this house, that was supposed to be sons, that God have called to this house, but that walked out because of their rebellious ways, I don’t know of one that’s still serving God. Honestly, I don’t know of one that’s still serving God. I know of those, maybe two or three, that have walked out the right way, and they were blessed, and they are going on, even though we feel that they were called for this house, at least they went the right way, and they are going on. I don’t know if they are ever going to accomplish what God wanted them to accomplish, deep down in my heart I feel that they are settling for second best. They are not doing what they were supposed to be doing in this house. The inheritance and what God wanted for them in this house was much greater, than where they are at right now. That is absolutely the truth, I can say that in all honesty, but I can say with a lot of boldness those who walked out of this house before their time, walked out of this house without a blessing or with rebellion or whatever, I don’t know of one of them that’s still serving God. Never mind going to church or doing something for God, they are simply just not serving God. They have backslidden, their hearts have gone cold and they are just not walking with God anymore.

This is really the great reality when it comes to son-ship, so this is what happened to this younger brother. The bible says and when he had spent all he had, a mighty famine came upon that country and he began to fall behind.

Here’s the great reality I believe will happen in all of our lives, sometimes we will be confronted with famine. You know that Abraham was confronted with famine, but because he was a father, because he had vision, the resource and impartation that God had placed within him, allowed him to continue, in spite of the famine.

Do you know that Isaac, a true son of Abraham, he went through famine? In spite of the famine, he had the seed and he had the blessing of God on that seed, he had the resource that was needed to even sow his seed even in the midst of that famine and reap a hundred-fold. I mean that’s unheard of.

Do you know that Jacob had famine? But because of what came out of Jacob’s loins, what God had imparted to him, he went through that famine, and in fact, he came to a position of kingship. That’s the way how God just ordained the whole aspect even for Jacob, because Jacob as we established yesterday, he was a true son. At the end of the day he pressed into being a true son.

Here’s the reality, this young brother, he underwent famine. The day famine came to him, that’s the day that he realized, listen, I’ve got nothing to give. I have no resource, I have no impartation, there is nothing in me at this stage. That what I what I had that I thought could press me through or could bring me through, I’ve lost it. That young man had no capacity, no blessing, to create, to establish and to bring something forth in the midst of that famine.

I challenge you, most pastors that split a church, most of those churches don’t last a year. Maybe you won’t know that, but I do. I am sure the senior pastor here knows that. I don’t know one pastor that went out in rebellion and started his own little thing that lasted one year. The reason simply is he can’t, because the reality of ministry and the reality of life in a spiritual sense, there will come a spiritual famine that most likely will confront all of us. Fathers have the resource, they have the experience and they have the blessing to go through that famine. And being a true son a true impartation begins to take place. The inheritance comes your way and a blessing comes your way. It goes beyond the inheritance, it’s really about the endowment, the empowerment, the impartation in your life and it’s that impartation that will enable you even to prosper and flourish in the midst of that famine.

I can’t describe to you all the things that we have already gone through in this church. All the challenges, all the battles, all the problems that we have confronted through the years, but because my senior pastor has imparted the dream, he has imparted the vision, he has imparted the blessing of God. Even in the midst of the famine we are growing and we are going on and we are prospering.

Many young men and sons that go before their time and do not develop a mindset of the true son and they just want to be sons or members, they do not develop the mindset of a true son. They might receive a few gifts, but they do not receive an inheritance or blessing or impartation that will enable them to have the necessary resource in times of famine.

This is a spiritual thing. At the end of the day when the famine strikes everything just goes with it. This is really the truth and I have seen this over and over again.

Verse 15. So he went and forced himself upon one of the citizens of that country who sent him to his field to feed hogs. Hogs are pigs. This is exactly what happens to sons that go before their time or who just go in rebellion or just do their own thing. They will eat hog-food! This is the honest truth.

A pig is a dirty thing! There is no doubt about that! It is symbolic of the spirit of the world and of a backsliding spirit. I have seen this over and over again, you will settle for second or third best in your life. Now the bible continues and it says :”when he came to himself and he realized: listen, I am in trouble!” isn’t this the way all of us learn. We learn our sufferings through our pain.

I believe in something: when you have the principles you are anyhow going to undergo pain in life. Pain you will undergo. I believe you get good pain and you get bad pain. Pain that will build you and mould you for your future and destiny, but then you get pain that can destroy you. Either way you are going to have pain.

When you make a good decision you are going to have pain, when you stick with the principle you are going to have pain. When you move yourself and release yourself from the principle you are also going to have pain, but that pain is destructive. That pain will draw you away from God. And that’s the crisis. Today people don’t want pain. And because they don’t want pain the usually look for the easiest way out. Let me tell you something, there is much more destructive pain attached to the easy decision in life. That is a destructive pain that can really harm you and destroy your spiritual walk with God.

So we notice the son came to his senses and I want you to read that from verse 20. The bible says he got up and came to his father, but while he was still a long way off his father saw him and was moved with pity and tenderness and he ran and embraced him and kissed him.

This is the great reality of a father. Once he has a son, who is always his son! And he will always have a love for that son. Here we see a good example of the father’s heart. A father loves his son even if that son has sinned or fallen away the true father will love those sons and embrace those sons and will keep those sons in his bosom. Even though I don’t believe that a true father should ever reject his sons, I don’t think that God wants that, but the point is that the son rejected the father.

So here we see the father heart embracing his son, welcoming his son back. I want you to look at something and this is where many people miss. And the son said to him father and we know the story he repented to his father and his father accepted him back placed the ring on his finger gave him a robe and in other words the father restored the son. The father even threw a great party for the son and everything good happened.

Now I want you to read verse 25 and this and this is quite scary when you read this. But his older son was in the field and as he returned (verse 25) and came near to the house and heard music and dancing. And having called one of the servant boys to him he began to ask what this meant. And he said to him your brother has come and your father has killed a fattened calf because he has received him back. But the older brother was angry and resolved not go in. Then his father came out and began to plead with him, because he felt this is a really unfair situation: here is this younger son now wasting his dad’s inheritance, doing his own little thing and here he suddenly comes back and his daddy just throws him a big party and accepts him back into the house.

Listen to this word. This is quite striking. Verse 29 but he answered his father look these many years I’ve served you and never disobeyed your command yet you never gave me as much as a little kid that I might revel and feast and make merry with my friends. But when this son of yours have arrived who has devoured your estate living with immoral woman, you have killed for him the fatted calf.

Now listen to this, now the father said to him, now this is striking words, son you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours. This is what many people miss, you see you need understand something today, even though you and me are in the grace dispensation of God, and even though God restores us, and He loves us, and He receives us, and He gives us mercy, there is something very important that we need to understand when it comes to the things of the kingdom of God and when it comes to His government and when it comes to His calling upon our lives.

The calling of God upon our lives can not be withdrawn, God gives us grace, but our decisions in live has consequences, and those consequences are very real, it can be very devastating.

This is what we need to understand, I want you to get something, what did this father say to the older brother, he basically said this to the other brother; listen my son, I want you to understand that I love your younger brother, I will always be his father, I received him back, and he is my son, but I want you to understand that you have always been with me. What your younger brother had, he took and he can’t get it back, all that is mine, is now yours. All that is mine, is now yours!

Let me explain something to you; we think that in the kingdom of God we can just do what we want to. Miss it, walk out of the house, do our own little thing, and then suddenly come back and then everything is just going to be great and you’re going to be restored. No, you’re not going to be, you will be forgiven, but there is a big difference between forgiveness and trust, there is a big difference between forgiveness and receiving back your inheritance, because the reality is that you have lost your inheritance.

You’ve lost the years of reaping the things that you’re supposed to reap, that what you were supposed to gather, you’ve lost it, because you’ve already taken it.

Let me explain to you with an example that the pastor himself used; in Rhema, the principle of the bible-school, I don’t want to mention his name, but he testifies about it himself, so this is why I can mention this to you. About 15 years ago he was the Rhema bible school principle, he was the best principle that they ever had, he was God’s first choice. I want you to understand this, he was God’s first choice. He testified that he fell into adultery, and from adultery he literally went into hobo-living. His wife was prominent in the ministry. Obviously he was dispelled from the church, he was placed under discipline, and so forth, and he left the church. For many years, about five or six years, he lived as a hobo. In the meanwhile God raised up the next principle, I don’t know if you know Pastor Mark Hodges, he is the director now of Rhema bible school, but I want you to understand that he wasn’t God’s first choice.

So eventually this Pastor living his hobo life came to his senses, he came back to the house, but let me tell you that this is the great reality that happened to him. For ten years, for ten years, he had to start all over again. For ten years he had to serve as a usher, not as a teacher, not as a principle, not as nothing. Only last year he was restored back into his teaching capacity as a lector.

Here is the great reality; he probably will never ever become the principle of that bible school again.

I know for us as Christians living in the grace dispensation it almost seems that it is impossible. I want you to understand that forgiveness is immediately, but trust and inheritance going along with bad decision is a completely different story. He’s missed his inheritance, he missed that what God wanted to give him. God is partially restoring him and I think one can be grateful for that restoration, he testified himself, I heard there was a lot of tears and a lot of excitement at the same time, the first time that he started teaching again last year, but that was after ten years. Think of where he could have been, because he was God’s first choice. He was the ultimate of what a bible school teacher and a bible school principle should be, he was really the ultimate of it, but he missed it.

Now the son that stayed faithfully there, when he received it, he received it maybe small, but over the years it has accumulated and his inheritance has become greater. This is what the father said to the eldest son, he said listen my son, many years ago when I divided your inheritance was still small anyhow. You had your half, your brother had his half. His small half he used up, but in the years that he was gone, this farm of ours have grown, the cattle had multiplied, everything have increased. Guess what, everything is yours.
This is such a profound principle, a scary truth, but it’s a great reality. It’s almost so great that we, even in a grace dispensation, it’s a bitter pill to swallow. The times that weariness wants to attack you, stay sober not to miss it.

There were times in my life where weariness really attacked me. where all sorts of things attacked me, but I realized and I’m telling you, it’s these truths that kept me going. I realized, God, I can miss you, I do not have the resource, I do not have the blessing that would carry me through times of famine. What am I going to do? It was truths like this that kept me going, understanding that God, Your word is the truth.

You see God wants you to be wise, and I believe God wants to impart wisdom to you. Don’t let your need for recognition or for self take the better of you. God is not in confusion about you, He knows exactly what He is doing for your life and at the right time He will thrust you forth in that what He has in store for your life.

I want to say this again, most of the things that I’m doing in ministry is just training and so necessary for me. It’s just part of the impartation that God is bringing about in my life. God is busy bringing resource to me, building, He’s checking me out, but He’s checking you out as well. Does it make sense?

Let me tell you what is the great reality; the greater the calling, the deeper the PITS. Sometimes you wonder why you are going through what you are going through? Man, it’s because you have a calling on your life, you must be prepared. I’m saying this to you again, God is more interested in your character than anything else. At the end of the day God wants to see that there must be a blessing in you.

This son missed it, he made a bad decision, and he missed it for years. Even though God can partially restore him, it’s something I want you to know he can never get it back.

Here’s the great reality, the 2IC is family of mine, as I said to you, I loved him, I probably loved him more than my own brother almost, and even though he’s going on for God, and He’s doing something great for God, in all honesty, it will never be what he had here. It will take him years.

God is God, He is beyond our sin, He’s beyond our weakness, but we need to get sober. I believe in life, don’t’ put yourself under unnecessary hardships, because you are God’s child and He’s started a good work in you and the bible says He will fulfill it until the very end. That is the truth, but spare yourself from a lot of unnecessary pain, from a lot of unnecessary wasted years, and wasted inheritance, spare yourself from that. Have wisdom, it’s very important.

Just because you have a few issues in life, every where you go you will have issues. I believe the way you go out is the way you go in. If you go out with issues out of this house, you are going into the next house with those same issues. That’s the reality.

Let’s turn our bibles to the book of 2 Kings chapter 2. I want to colour in a picture for you about a relationship between a father and a son. Verse 1, when the Lord was about to take Elijah up to heaven by a whirlwind, Elijah and Elasha were going from Gilgal, and this is quite interesting, it says Elijah and Elasha were going from Gilgal, so obviously right from the start we see that there’s a relationship, we see that there is a togetherness, we see that at least there is one mind, one heart, this is really what it suggests.

It’s interesting, it says Elijah and Elasha were going from Gilgal, now Gilgal represents a place of circumcision, it’s a place where the Joshua-generation, all the young men where circumcised just before they crossed the Jordan. So Gilgal represents a place of circumcision. Now I don’t know about you, but I think circumcision represents a lot of pain, you all know what circumcision is?

The bible tells me that all the men where laying in the tents for week, it’s true, go read your bible. I think all the women walked around saying, we’ve got peace now, all the man are in the tents, literally the whole army of men where laying in the tents for a whole week. It tells me that circumcision is quite a painful process, a process that just puts you out.

Can you imagine Elijah and Elisha were going from their place of circumcision, symbolically and spiritually it implies something, in your walk with your spiritual father I want you to understand that you will undergo a Gilgal experience, well, a few. He will circumcise you.

What happens on the threshing floor? It’s where God separates the chaff from the wheat. Know I want you to see something, the bible is saying who’s doing that? The bible is saying, in a spiritual concept, God is doing it. But now who’s the fork? You see that fork, the thing that creates the pain, that’s probably your senior Pastor. You see he’s in the hands of God, make no mistake, He’s in the hands of God, but he is there to disciple them, the point is he is there to separate the good, the bad and the ugly.

God has called him, that’s part of the calling that God placed on his life. The plan that God has placed on him is to discipline you, it’s to discipline me, it’s to groom you in the fear of God and that takes discipline. It takes a Gilgal moment every now and again in your life. It takes that moment to say listen, this thing in your life, you’re just missing it.

You see it’s that moments where you suddenly want to hear from God or argue about religion, but that’s the last thing you should do, and that’s being religious. You should just be open and realize he is there to work with your character. He’s there to rebuke and bring truth to you, to build you up and that process is a threshing floor, Gilgal-situation. Unless you allow that you will not go right through the end, because listen to verse 2, and Elijah said to Elisha, tarry here and pray because the Lord has send me to Bethal, now listen to Elisha’s response, as long as the Lord lives and your soul lives I will never leave you, so they went down to Bethal.

If you are serious about what God wants to do in your life, you have to understand that you should never allow the Gilgal situation to separate you from your father, because this is the place where most sons from the start separate themselves from their fathers.

People today do not like discipline, they do not like to be disciplined. I mean, I don’t like it, I get it a lot, but I’m still not used to it. I just don’t like it, I’m just being honest.

You see Elijah was testing him. As a spiritual father you must test your son. There were a few times when my Pastor said to me, listen why don’t you go? Go work at Checkers or something, don’t waste my time. I’m serious, and I’m just saying it very nicely. He said to me, listen, don’t waste my time, why are you here? And there was no apparent reason for it. He would say, there is many churches that would like you, just go. Especially after some discipline session or something like that.

But you need to have the mind of a son, you need to understand that there is something beyond what you’re going through right now. This is all part of God’s plan.

The fathers must keep their sons’ feet solid on the earth. Discipline with love, that brings the test, the challenge to that son. It forces his agenda to be manifested.

I explained to you, the fire exposes the serpent nature, and if there is no fire, it builds up.

So the two of them went to Bethal, it speaks of the house of God. The two of them went there, because the house of God is always symbolic of vision, it’s always symbolic of God’s dream, of what God is doing, of revelation, that’s really symbolic of the house of God, of Bethal, revelation. As you walk with your spiritual father, I believe what will be imparted in your life is revelation. You need to understand you are allowed into his space.

The fact that I’m allowed into the space of my spiritual father, you need to understand I hear things and I see things and I experience things that maybe the normal member won’t hear. I receive stuff and revelation that people will never even think about. As you walk with your spiritual father, that begins to happen, you begin to hear his heart, you begin to really doing and saying through him, you begin to get revelation.

This is a spiritual thing, you can sit in the church and hear his heart, you don’t have to spent time with him every day to hear his heart, but when you begin to develop the mind of a son, you begin to hear what God is saying and what God is releasing in him, and you begin to see the revelation, the vision even, that God is releasing through him, and this is very, very important.

Verse 3 , they went down to Bethal ,and the prophets son that where at Bethal came to Elisha and said to him, do you know that the Lord will take your master away from you today, and he said yes I know, hold your peace. You see when you begin to walk with your spiritual father, you begin to know things. God begins to trust you with certain things, that’s just what begins to happen, you begin to even know the future, that’s what begins to happen.

Verse 4, and Elijah said to him, Elisha, tarry here I pray you, for the Lord had sent me to Jericho, but he said, as the Lord lives and as your soul lives, I will not leave you, I will not leave you. Man, those are words that you need to write down, I will not leave you, no matter what you’re going through. That must become part of your life, I will not leave you, because you know your destinies are connected.

So they came to Jericho, now Jericho literally means the place of the curse, and this is the reality; as you walk with your spiritual father, you will go through Jericho. Why you need to go through Jericho, is because God wants you to through a place where the curse can be changed into a blessing, where that what is barren can be changed into a place of fruitfulness.

For you as a son at the end of the day, out of that relationship something must be done, a service must develop, your gift must come to the forefront, you must become a joy for your spiritual father. I believe in that, you can’t just for the rest of your life ride on his back, you must become a joy to him.

So in time, the curse, the place of barrenness, must be transformed into a place of fruitfulness. That should begin to take place in your life as you walk with your spiritual father, God will place something in you, as a son, to bring about fruitfulness, and also to bring joy to your father. This is very, very important to understand.

This is what Jericho, verse 5, represents and it speaks again of the prophets sons, then verse 6, and Elijah said again, tarry here, for the Lord has sent me to Jordan, but he said as long as the Lord lives and your soul lives, I will not leave you, and the two of them went on. Now they went to Jordan, and we see the test, over and over and over again.

I believe if you truly want to be a son and you truly believe in the future God has for your church and for the vision of the church and for your life. You will be tested, you will be tested over and over and over again, and just as you think the tests are over, a new one will come.

Some people will come with some kind of suggestion for you to separate yourself from your father, and this is why fathers, before the enemy to that, always open it up for the sons, test them. It’s very important, test them, I believe it.

Verse 8, and Elijah took his mantel, rolled it up and struck the waters and they divided this way and that way, so that the two of them went over on dry ground. When they had gone over, Elijah said to Elisha, ask what I shall do for you before I am taken from you, and Elisha said I pray you let a double portion of your spirit be upon me. Verse 10 says, you have asked for a hard thing, however if you see me when I am taken from you it will be done for you, but if not it shall not be so.

This is quite interesting, you know many people completely grab this out of context, because you know people are so fooled by power, many times, I think the lust of our flesh. Our humanistic nature of us is always drawn to that power-thing, that power-thrill.

You need to understand something of Elisha’s motives here, he said let a double portion of your spirit, of your anointing come upon me. We’ve heard many sermons on that, but here’s the reality; why did Elisha ask for a double portion of Elijah’s anointing? The reason why Elisha asked for a double portion of what Elijah had, is Elisha walked with Elijah, he was allowed in his space, and he saw a woman doing a number on Elijah, he saw somebody that Elijah was called to destroy, that was his assignment, that was the dream, the vision that God had placed in the heart of Elijah ultimately, listen you will destroy the house of Jezebel, and you will bring back my righteousness into the land of Israel. Elisha, because he was allowed into the space, into the heart of Elijah, he knew his heart, he knew his assignment.

Elijah’s vision became Elisha’s vision! He realized something, listen, if Elijah with this awesome anointing that called down the fire and literally consumed the armies of Jezebel, if he was struck with fear by a woman that just spoke a word, I’m going to need double of what he had to kill this enemy.

So Elisha had the right mind, because he had the mind of a son. You see, unless you walk with your father, you will never really know the promise and the future and the vision and the dream that God really has for that house. You will never really know what you need, you will never know what he’s got and you will never know what you need.

We as sons know in this house, that what God have for this house, we need more, God we need more. Here is the great reality; because Elisha walked faithfully with Elijah. Can you believe that Elijah would say to Elisha, after all this time, you went with me through Gilgal, you went with me through Bethal, we went through Jericho, now we’re at the Jordan, the place of crossing over, the place of a new beginning, the place of the spirit. Now that we are eventually here, I must tell you, you asked for a very hard thing, if you see me you’ll get it, if you don’t you won’t.

That’s actually scary, but you know what; God did not give Elisha and Elijah the opportunity not to see one another, because God already knew that Elisha had the mind of a son. God ultimately was in control and God ultimately knew that Elisha had the right heart and that upon him the double spirit of Elijah would rest.

Now this is interesting, the bible say while they were still talking, the next moment, behold a chariot of fire, verse 11, and horses of fire parted the two of them and Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven. This is very powerful, verse 12, and Elisha saw it and he cried, my prophet, my prophet. What did he cry? My father, my father. You see, unless you receive the leader of your house, the senior authority that has been placed over you as your father, you shall not receive his spirit.

How do you receive him as a father? By developing the mind of a son, unless you receive him as a father, you will not receive his spirit, you will not receive the anointing that God had placed upon him. This is exactly what happened in this verse, the bible says and he saw him no more, so he took a hold of his own clothes and tore them into two pieces. I believe he got rid of his identity as a son, and he took up the identity of the father. He took the mantel, verse 13, that fell from Elijah, he took it and he stood by the bank of the Jordan, and right then and there, he was endowed and empowered with double the anointing.

This is the great thing of the anointing and of the inheritance when you develop the mind of a son, it always multiplies. That what God gave to your father, He will always give you double. He will always give you greater, the bible says, the glory of the latter house shall be greater than the glory of the former house. These are very powerful principles, it’s not going to come cheap, it’s not going to come easy. It won’t come over night, it will come over time, it will come over years. It will come as you develop this, as you grow in this, but it will change your live.

You know what our senior Pastor did last year, and I think it’s an excellent thing, and I’ll tell you why. He closed the church for two weeks, ten days, this is what he did. He said for the next ten days I’m closing the church, the reason why I’m closing the church is I want all the members of this church to do themselves a favour and go visit other churches, just to make sure that there’s no spirit of manipulation, intimidation and domination that can control anybody. He closed his church, and he said now you go. I said thank you Jesus, I’ve got ten days off, I’m definitely not even going to bother to visit other churches, I’m just going to take a rest. Out of our church, four people left. And he said this, but if you come back, if you come back, in other words, you are free to go, no strings attached, you can come back, I’ll bless you and I’ll release you if you have found another church.

You can see that these principles must be subject under a spirit of humility, under a spirit of, we don’t want to control one another, we want to stand in relationship with one another. This just makes this just makes this principle so much more powerful, because there the sons had the opportunity to say, now is my time. He literally said I release you, go visit other churches, go find out if this is still your house, but if this is your house and you decide to come back, I want you 100% cooperation, I want your full support towards this dream, towards this vision. I think four people left. And guess what, a month ago, two of those four is now back, because they know they must be sons.

Nobody has to be controlled, I don’t want these principles to control you or to intimidate you in any way, or to place you in any form of bondage. I want these principles to become a part of you, out of your own will, out of the condition of the spirit of God in your life, because that is going to work for you. You will understand it’s not even my father that’s keeping me there, it’s the truth that’s keeping me there.

Listen to me people, can I be honest with you, what keeps me here is deeper than senior Pastor Hennie Bester. I love who he is, we’ve got a great relationship, in all honesty, but I must be honest with you, what keeps me here is deeper, what keeps me here is these principles, because I understand that God is bigger than me, He’s bigger than DIFC. He’s bigger than my senior Pastor, and He checks me, HE CHECKS ME! That’s what is important, He’s got the final say.

I mean, there is many things about my senior Pastor that I love, but I must be honest with you, there is a few things that I completely dislike, but because I live my life according to these principles, to develop the mind of a son, because I understand that God is checking me out!

These principles are not there to keep you in another form of bondage, not at all, but it is there to conduct your life with wisdom, to be sober, and to develop a mindset of son-ship, because that’s what God ultimately wants for you.

If you can serve as a son towards a man that you can see, then I tell you, you are going to be the greatest servant before God whom you can not see.

Questions
Module 3a-W.du Plessis:

15. What do you like and dislike of this testimony?
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

16. Reflect what info you can use to better your life and relationships.
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Please read further to assist you with your answers & reflections!

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