Feasting At The Wedding
JULIAN ADAMS • March 5, 2018
Throughout his life, Jesus displayed the extravagant love of God through signs and wonders. In this teaching, Julian reminds us how to keep God’s love as our focus while pursuing revival.
– TRANSCRIPT
Julian: Good evening, and it’s good to be here this evening. I love doing the kind of, you know, one of the first Sundays in the year preachers because most people expect me to come with a prophetic word for the next year. And I don’t know if you’ve noticed most prophecies always start off with, “It’s a new season.” And I’m like, “It’s been a new season every single day for the last few years.” And then something like this, “It’s the year 2018, and that means new things are about to open up.” I’m like, “uh” because the reality is Jesus is our Jubilee. I’m not looking for another jubilee year, I live in a perpetual ever increasing jubilee.
Okay, I’m gonna preach somewhere else tonight, but every day is a new day in him because his mercies are new every morning. So a single date change does not change God’s intention toward us. A calendar change does not change the fact that his prophetic purpose for us is the same yesterday, today, and it will be the same tomorrow because he wants us to walk in the fullness of who Jesus is. So if you’re looking for a nice prophetic word this year, there you go. You live in a perpetual ever increasing jubilee, so you might as well go ahead and enjoy it.
I’d love you to turn your Bible’s please to the Gospel of John 2. If you were in the meeting this morning…if you guys come to our evening meetings and you consider Harvest your home, I really want to encourage you make sure you get the download of the morning meeting because we’re really trying to get deep in terms of understanding culture and understanding what God has for us. And George preached just brilliantly on acceleration and what God is bringing us into in this year. And I want to encourage you download it, listen to it, it’s gonna change you.
I have been stuck in the Gospel of John for about eight months. Every time I try and get out of the Gospel of John, something new pops up and impresses me. I love that the Bible has that ability to consistently impress you when you read it. If you are not impressed with the Bible, you’re probably reading it wrong. And I love that God is a happy speaking God and that he’s speaking to us in incredible ways. And I was just struck George, mentioning some stuff this morning out of the Gospel of John about wine and God turning the water into wine. I’m gonna be reading out of that tonight, and so we’ll start in verse 1. “On the third day, there was a wedding at Canaan in Galilee.”
“And the mother of Jesus was there. Jesus also was invited to the wedding with his disciples. And when the wine run out the mother of Jesus said to him, ‘They have no wine.’ And Jesus, said to her, ‘Woman, what does this have to do with me my hour has not yet come.’” Well, some would say, translation say, “My time is not yet come.” “His mother said to the servants, ‘Do whatever he tells you.’ Now there were six stone water jars there for the Jewish rights of purification each holding 20 or 30 gallons,” that’s about 800 bottles of wine just in case you wanted to count.
“And Jesus said to his servants, ‘Fill the jars with water,’ and then fill them up to the brim. And he said to them, ‘Now draw some out and take it to the master of the feast.’ And so they took it, and when the master of the feast had tasted the water,” and I want to add there the dirty water, the water that was used to clean hands and feet, that’s what it was. “When he tasted it he did not know where it came from. And though the servants who had drawn the water knew, the master of the feast called the bridegroom and said to him, ‘Everyone serves the good wine first. And when people had drunk freely then the poor wine, but you have kept the good wine until now.’ This the first of these signs Jesus did at Canaan in Galilee. And manifested his glory and his disciples believed in him.”
And now I love the Gospel of John because the Gospel of John really is John writing a new story, writing a new beginning for the world. Often people talk about the Gospel of John as the new Genesis. And so the Gospel of John starts off like, “The beginning. In the beginning was the word.” Starts off exactly as he does in the book of Genesis because John is writing very strategically, he’s writing very clearly about what it means for us now to grafted into a new kingdom where we get to start a new life with new creation bright thoughts. And you’ll read the Gospel of John, and you’ll see that there are six miracles that coincide with the six days of creation. And then the 7th miracle is the resurrecting miracle.
And the resurrection miracle of Jesus being raised from the dead speaks of the fact that now creation can cover, new creation can cover the earth. And so when you begin to look at John, and you begin to see what he’s writing and what he’s writing about, as you begin to read it, you begin to see that there’s a massive paradigm shift that God wants to bring to us in this incredible revelation for us to enjoy. It’s why I want to encourage you if you can to get a hold of a teaching series by the Bishop N.T. Wright called “The Everyone Series.” It’s a great easy read for you to read with your Bible to help unlock what the scripture is really saying. It will be really helpful and it will build you up. But you’ll notice then John, begins to unpack, he’s wanting to paint a picture. In fact, some people even say John is almost creating a bit of theatre to help us understand and to point that Jesus is fully God, and fully man. To help his hearers and his readers understand that this is the king of Glory that had hit earth.
This king took some dirt from the earth and he covered his glory with it. I love that, dirty glory. That he is so kind that he would not count equality with God as something to be grasped, but he would humble himself and put on flesh. I love that. And the fullest revelation of God is Jesus. If you want to know anything about God, look at Jesus and you’ll see what God is really like. And we get to this one, his first sign, and I want to unpack that because God has been staring something in my heart around expectations for revival, around the expectation for an outpouring, around expectation for a little bit of mess. Amen. Can you say amen to my own points because they’re jolly good?
And so this is the first sign, and so I want you to think back to the Garden of Eden. I want you to think back to what God is wanting, or what John the writer is wanting us to understand through this. And one of the things that we notice about this first sign is that something is recreated, something is made new. John connects this even to the resurrection because you’ll notice it says, “On the third day at the feast.” And you read throughout the Gospel of John, you’ll see that the third day is always in reference to resurrection day.
I’m so glad that we leave in the third day forever now. We live in resurrection life forever, and so when John says, “On the third day,” he’s wanting the hearers to understand this is the resurrection moment. This is a new creation moment, and what he does is he takes something from the earth, he takes something that is dirt and he turns it into something new. He turns the properties, he creates something new when he turns the water into wine. Somebody once said, “The church has been trying to turn the wine back into water ever since.” And he turns the water into wine, it’s a new creation moment, it’s a moment where something is being created in newness.
It’s also a moment for us to understand that Jewish people would have understood that when the sign of miracles broke-out when there were breakouts of God, it was a sign that heaven was touching earth. And I love this beautiful moment of resurrection because it’s happening at a wedding. It’s happening in a moment where there’s gonna be a marriage that will come together. And anyone who is a Jew who’d be reading this would understand that there was a moment at the beginning of creation in the Garden of Eden where heaven and earth, who seemingly are opposites, came together. And they were in perfect harmony, they were in perfect unity in the Garden of Eden.
And the subtle nuance that John wants us to understand is this is a marriage moment of heaven and earth. This is the way the kingdoms gonna look from now on. And not only that, it’s gonna look like celebration, it’s gonna look like intimacy, it’s gonna look like beauty. And I want to say to you this year God wants to call us back to a bridal paradigm where we fall in love with our bridegroom. Where we fall in love with the beauty of who he is, and if you’re a guy and you’re getting slightly freaked by the thoughts of falling in love with a man, that’s okay, that’s all right.
God calls women sons in the Bible, so they have to deal with that. The point is not about a emotion that is based on human relationship, it is about an unlocking of emotion and divine pursuit of the one that we love. And this is dynamic of Him saying, “I’m wanting to bring this new marriage of heaven and earth. I’m wanting to bring this new marriage of a people who are called out to the one that I love.” And, you know, I heard someone say, one of my friends said, “This is weak. So often we talk about the bride and we have seminars on how to be a better bride, and we have seminars on how to build a better church. But not many of the church, not much of the bride actually knows the bridegroom.”
And Jesus starts and does his first miracles, a miracle intentionally, at a wedding because he’s wanting to say, “I am the bridegroom and it’s time to celebrate. It’s time to get the party started. It’s time to get a little bit loser in here.” And listen, this is a picture of the feast, the wedding feast that gonna come one day, that’s gonna be so great, it’s gonna be such an amazing party that’s gonna last for eternity. Shika [SP] Bazika [SP], I’m gonna say it again because some of you need your faces to recognize that you’re invited to a party that will go on for eternity. You see our hope today is not based on whether God’s gonna do a miracle tomorrow, our hope today is based in the fact that the resurrected Lord.
The third day moment of new creation has already come. And there is a feast that we will partake, that we have been invited to that will kill every other party that’s ever been heard, and it will go on and roll on and roll on and roll on. And just when you think you’ve had your full he’s gonna say, “Hey, have some more wine.” It’s outrageous. He’s wanting us to come into an understanding that you get to participate in the reality of that celebration right now. How many of you remember in Luke, I think it’s chapter…I forget chapter 11 where he talks about the wonderful prayer, “Our Father who art in heaven Hallowed be thy name.”
And we often talk about that, “Forgive us this day our daily bread.” And we think of that in terms of our daily needs, but when you understand that in the original, it’s not talking about meeting our daily needs. It’s talking about give us the bread of tomorrow, it’s an expression that will be spoken of concerning the feast that which is to come. Jesus is saying, “Pray, and when you pray say, ‘God give us the bread that we will eat at the feast one day right now.’” It’s not about, “Please give me another 100 bucks, so I can pay my rent.” It’s talking about extravagance, it’s talking about over the top crazy abundance because in heaven there is no lack.
And God is calling us to a feast, and the thing I love about this text is that Jesus, he takes the tapered, warm, dirty water of the law. And all of the ability to try and work really hard to get clean and he says, “I’ll take your hard-work that you think is gonna get you somewhere, and I’ll show you what I can do with it and completely change the chemical properties of it, so that the maturity of wine is found in it.” You know, the thing that strikes me, you know, sometimes people say to me, “We need to get a lot more thirsty for revival.” And I agree with it, I understand the sentiment, but what Jesus does, in this context, is he gives people who already were a little bit happy.
And he says, “I know you’re a little bit happy so, I’m just gonna give you a whole lot more,” because the nature of revival is not to satisfy what you think is your thirst, the nature of revival is to pour out an excess from heaven. I’m gonna help you a little bit here just very quickly because when you get this it’s incredible. Revival is not depending upon out thirst, it’s depending upon his willingness to pour out new wine. You see, God’s desire to change the city of Durban, God’s desire to change South Africa is not dependent on how hard we pray, or how many fasts we do. It’s not dependent upon my repenting for the land 10 times, again and again, and again, trying to clean myself again and again and again. God takes what is dirty, God takes what is filthy, God takes what is our attempt at obtaining the miraculous breakthrough and he says, “You can’t do it, so just let me do it for you.”
You see when you get prayers from the place of a bridal paradigm, you’re not asking him for something that you need, you’re joining him in something that he’s doing. God wants to shift our paradigms in terms of why we meet, in terms of why we come together because I kind of get the feeling that God wants to embarrass us with his excess. You see whenever you read the stories of past moves of God…I love reading the stories of revival. I love listening to the stories of how Catherine Kuhlman would have queues and queues of people waiting outside the building. And as you would get there, before the meeting even started, people would be getting healed as they were waiting in the queues.
At Greyville Race Course there was a man by the name of William Branham who rocked up, and there was such power displays that he records it as the best meetings he has ever had. Many healed, many saved, many encountering God. I think of Maria Woodworth Etter who would get up, and as she would preach she would be so caught up in the inebriating presence of God that she would get lost in his presence, while everyone else would fall under conviction within a few miles radius around her. Shika Bazika man. Or Smith Wigglesworth on a train going through Yorkshire countryside, and the towns coming under conviction because he carried the sense of the presence of God. Because there’s something about treasures in jars of clay.
There’s something about people who carry this wine, who try to do it really hard. Who try to work really hard, “And, God, I can’t do it, so you change me from the inside out.” You see I believe God wants to heighten the availability of this wine to us and the freedom because it’s superabundant. And the thing is when we read about these revivals and we listen to the stories of what God’s done, what we don’t read about are the critiques, are the people who spoke against it because we often, as the church, love the glory in what God did in the past.
We love to look forward to what God will do in the future, but we very often prosecute the present moves of God. And so we say things like, “We need to just worry about their theology, they’re a little bit too much kingdom now at the moment. You know, won’t you think it will protect our people?” You know, all this reckless love of God stuff, we need to be careful about the words that we say because mm-mm if you were at our youth conference two weekends ago, we had about 40, 50 kids on the floor flapping like wet fish. They were a little bit excessive, they were speaking in tongues, being filled with the Holy…it was super excessive, it was messy. I wonder, church, have we become a little bit too respectable. I’m feeling the glory even if you’re not.
I wonder if we’ve just got so used to the party the way it’s always been. We’ve had some great wine, it’s been cool amazing wine, you can probably go home now. And God’s going, “I want to get a little bit excessive.” You see in the west, we think that excessiveness is wasteful, in the kingdom excessiveness is not waste, excessiveness is a demonstration of God’s extravagance. And God so extravagantly pours out his blessings at this wedding feast. I mean, it was outrageous, 800 bottles of wine after they had already got a little bit happy. Now there are some scholars who would try to tell us that it was a low level of alcohol, they probably weren’t drunk. The thing about excessiveness, the thing about extravagant is it’s always offensive. These guys were drinking proper wine. Some of you are like, “Oh, my gosh.” It’s why Ephesian’s says, “Do not get drunk on…”
Congregation: Wine.
Julian: I’m not saying that Jesus endorses drunkenness, that’s not what I’m saying. I’m just simply saying that Jesus dropped the mic at that party and says, “I’ll let you make that decision,” and walks away. Super excessive, over, I mean, it’s superabundant, crazy, embarrassing, like you know, irreligious. I am…I’ll tell you guys, my wife and I just got blessed with two nights at the Oyster Box Hotel. Sweet Jesus in heaven, there’s an open heaven over that hotel. I was, like, getting downloads and because I’m social media savvy and I’m connected with the millennial generation, I thought, ” let me post this picture up,” and the first thing I thought was, “Oh, my gosh, if I post this up people are gonna do the sums, they’re gonna think that I’m super wealthy.”
“And they’re gonna think that I’m probably milking the church for money, and I got to be really careful. I just don’t wanna, you know, talk about the blessing that God’s given me because people are gonna misunderstand it, and they’re gonna judge me.” And then I just thought to myself, “You know what, I don’t give a continental pop really.” Because the reality is the blessing and abundance of God is excessive, it’s over the top embarrassing. And the culture of revival is one that is excessive. People come to me like, “All this laughing in church, it’s a little bit excessive. We need to just control it a little bit.”
This is the favorite one, “We need to pastor our people through this one.” You know, I’m really not happy with this 15-year-olds getting filled with the Holy Spirit because they’re about to go to school and school it’s really hard. We need to help them. Just give them the real suffering gospel that will help them.” The nature of revival, the nature of outpouring is excessive, it’s abundant, it’s messy. I wonder, Harvest, have we become a little bit too predictable, have we become a little bit too happy with the party as it’s always been.
And has any you noticed, throughout the gospels, when Jesus does multiplication he does it twice, there’s more than enough. When the woman breaks the alabaster jar, and they say, “This is wasteful, this is excessive.” Jesus goes, “No this is what’s needed.” His understanding of excess is need. “No, no, this is needed for my burial.” People have accused me of being one of those health, wealth, prosperity preachers and I probably I’m a little bit guilty. But here’s the deal, when you think that you’ve hit a ceiling with God’s blessing, he wants to pour out the real wine because you’ve been working for that. And he wants to show you what he can do when you don’t work for it. Because favor and blessing is not depending on my ability to work for it, it’s depending on my ability to drink from it. Ephesians 5:18
say’s, “Do not get drunk on wine.” It’s the happy command. If you wanna be legalistic in the kingdom, this is what you need to be legalistic about, “Do not get drunk on wine but be filled with the Holy Spirit.”
If you wanna follow any kind of rule, follow that rule because what happens when you get filled with the spirit is your speech changes, your walk changes, your behavior changes. I’m just gonna leave that one hanging a little bit longer because you see, God wants to invite us into the excessive nature of his blessing toward us. He wants us to so be intoxicated with him that we’re not quite sure what to do with ourselves anymore. And so whoever we see…listen when God began to move in 1994 with what’s called “The Toronto blessing” or “The Father’s blessing” I crawled around, and I still do when the Holy Spirit comes.
There were moments when it was just excessive and over the top and I had people trying to tell me, “You shouldn’t be doing that.” I was at a very prim and proper Bible school and found myself, how shall I say, slightly inebriated in the Holy Spirit. And the dean of the Bible school looked at me and said, “That’s disgusting.” And, you know, it’s incredible what people do when other people are happy, but anyway, that’s another story. But the overflow that happened around me meant that my evangelism was carefree. I didn’t work at evangelism, I wasn’t trying to work at, “I need to change my sphere of influence.”No, my sphere of influence was changed because my sphere, on the inside, had been so filled with wine, with the intoxicating presence of God.
It’s into this moment, this resurrection moment, this marriage moment where heaven meets earth. It’s into this moment where this excessive, abundant, over the top, some would even say wasteful expression of God’s goodness. Sorry, I just can’t get over that, right? It’s, like, it’s so over the top His goodness. Help me, Jesus, help me articulate a little bit better here. It is so over the top His goodness. It’s not like He’s really good, He’s superabundant over the top good. He’s so good he invites us, He says, “Whatever you ask, think, or imagine, I will go beyond that.” Your imagination becomes the seedbed to display His goodness.
So if you can imagine it, you can have it. And it’s in this context of marriage, it’s in this context of celebration, it’s in this context of feasting, it’s in this context of outpouring that Mary, says to him, “You need to do something about the wine.” And I’ve had lot’s of people, great theologians, who have been cautioning me saying, “Julian, you need to teach very carefully on what’s called Kingdom Now and Not Yet.” And that’s a simple theological phrase to say that God’s kingdom has come in the person of Jesus, and we see miracles, signs, wonders. But his kingdom is still coming, and one day it will make all things new.
And I understand that tension, I understand that were in the kingdom now and not yet, But Mary does something here that is outrageous. She places a demand on the future kingdom right there ahead of its appropriate time. I don’t understand it people saying to me you know, “We’ll just gonna wait for the timing of God, He’s sovereign.” Mary is like, “I don’t care about that, I want my miracle now.” I mean, I understand it in the economy even, but what I do know is that Mary had promises in her heart for 30 years, about a king who was called Jesus, who happened to be her son. They were promises that have been growing in our heart for 30 years. And I kind of think she got to the point where she went, “You know what, I want some of that right now thanks.” And sometimes we lean into what we call the not yet, ” Well, you know, the kingdom hasn’t fully come, we just have to understand that he’s not always gonna do stuff.”
And we’re leaning that at the expense of an expectation and an anticipation of what he can do right now, even though it seems like outside of time. Every time I pray for the sick that’s what I’m learning [SP] into I’m saying, “I know that there’s some warfare around us. I know that everything is not as it should be, but I’m just gonna go ahead and ask you anyway. Get me some of that right now please.” What are you asking God for? And I’m not talking about the plausible, I’m talking about the impossible because faith can only operate in the realm of impossible. I wonder how this…have we become a little bit too respectful and too nice, and middle class. Glory, “I had my nails done,” I actually did by the way, “Had my nails done.” I’m a real man, I can say that. You know, “I’ve got my new nice car it’s amazing.” Great, new, amazing wallpaper at home. Beautiful.” Those things are great and they’re signs of God’s blessing, but if they operate in the realm of the possible it’s not faith. What are you asking in the realm of the impossible? What does it look like to shake a nation? What does it look like to take some wine and pour it out and make it messy all over the place? I’m just gonna preach to myself anyway.
The happy command means you get filled, and it’s in this context that Mary says, “Give me some of that now.” And Jesus says this, “It’s not my time, it’s not my hour.” And whenever you see that in John, he’s talking about the moment when his glory is most revealed. And his glory is mostly revealed not in the signs and the wonders, his glory is most revealed not in the raising of the dead, his glory is most revealed, not in the multiplication of bread. His glory is most revealed when he’s on the cross and he says, “Father, forgive them for they know not what they do.” Because in that moment the God of the universe chooses to become weak by human understanding, and in that weakness because of his love, he wins over a whole new creation to himself. You see the pursuit of revival is not about power, the pursuit of revival is about love. It’s about a life that’s laid down.
You see Jesus dreaded this moment as he was standing before Pilate, and Pilate said, “Do you not know I have the power to take your life.” Jesus, says, ” No one can take my life. I lay down my life.” And that act of love burst open the volts of glory. That act of love caused a doorway to be opened in the heavens so that now there is this love revival that is meant to flow from you and from me to everyone and everything that we touch. Because the new creation is not about a display of his power, it’s about a display of his love.
You see the kind of revival culture that we’re going after in this church is not simply one of signs and wonders, although we love that, and in a moment I’m gonna invite him to encounter him. It’s not simply one of good organization of skills, yet we wanna be organized, but that’s not what we’re after. It’s not simply one of having a bride that is super organized and well prepared no. No, now, we want that. It’s one who’s pursuing the lover of the universe called Jesus. It’s about longing for him, the Song of Songs says, “Your love is better than wine.”
There’s something about a longing that once you’ve tasted of the good stuff, once you’ve tasted of the wine that he has created, you want some more. And in end with the story, and I don’t think I’ve ever shared this in a public forum quite like this. Some of you might have heard me tell the story in other context. A few years ago I was in a church where I was part of the pastoral team in Cape Town. And we were having what’s called a “Resolution Meeting.” And those are meetings where God just broke-out in incredible power. In fact, Ross Ann, you came to some of them, Shawn [SP] would have been in some of them, and it will just a come and drink.
And I wanna encourage you this evening to our come and drink time. Like, we just… Man, I work much better when I’m drunk in God. When I’m drunk in is love, I love…I tell you what two days with Jesus and with my wife and I said to [inaudible 00:035:35] “I feel like I’ve had a second honeymoon.” Because there’s something about falling in love with him that makes you love everyone around him, makes you love your wife better, makes you love your kids better. So some wives are going, “You need to go and drink some of that stuff, please.”
And I was in this meeting and God just got me filled. I mean, it was crazy, I couldn’t walk. I was so filled with the Holy Spirit. And what you would expect that when God breaks out that those things happen. How many of you know the river has not stopped flowing. It’s not like God went around about 1997, “That’s enough church, no more blessing for you.” The river is still flowing. I’m gonna say that again because some of you need to just take a little drink there. The river is still flowing. God is still moving.
And as I was on this floor drinking from God, I went into what felt like an open vision. And an open vision, for those of you who might not be used to that term, is when it seems like it’s very real in front of me and everything else around me seems to fade into obscurity, seems to be out of focus. And so I’m in this open vision, which is Biblical by the way, you see that happen in scripture if you want references I can talk you to you afterward. And in this open vision, I’m in what looks like this massive cellar room of heaven. I’m feeling a little bit happy as I’m talking about this right now. And I’m walking into the cellar room of heaven.
And I see this names on it, Smith Wigglesworth, Aimee Semple McPherson, Kathryn Kuhlman, saints of old who moved in incredible power and in revival and in the presence of God. And I can see Maria Woodworth-Etter. I can see just loads of people’s names on there. It’s just incredible, and as I’m walking around them God says, “I am about to pour out my spirit in a very fresh way, and I’m releasing a blend of a new wine that will take the essence of past moves of God and bring them together into one new wine for the church to drink.”
And so I am like, “This is amazing.” And I’ve learned that God is extravagant, so he doesn’t open up a tap for me to drink from, He just begins to hit all the taps off. So I’m literally seeing Smith Wigglesworth’s tap of a barrel of wine just pouring out all over the place. Catherine Kuhlman just like this barrel of wine pouring out all over the place. It’s just incredible, just wine all over it’s literally coming up to my knee, and he said to me, “Go ahead and take a drink.” And so I did, I put my glass into this thing and I did this. And as I did that wine, real wine filled my mouth. Now I’m not quite sure if your theology allows you to drink wine, mine does.
So I went, “I’m gonna drink.” And I totally drank it in, and one sip instantaneously got me completely…I mean, they had to carry me out of the meeting. It was unbelievable. And I was completely…I mean, it was incredible and shortly after that I’ve seen loads of miracles, amazing things happening all over the place. But I eventually sobered up enough to go to the spa, I know that is a sin I know. If you’re a spa owner, God bless your business. But I go to the spa with some friends and I’m sitting there. Now I’m…you need to understand I’m literally…my head is spinning, my legs are weak, I’m feeling giggly like some of you are feeling right now you just don’t want to let it out because you sat in. You know, wine doesn’t care about what other people think. Let me say that again, when you drink wine a little bit too much, you don’t care what other people think. When you drink wine it doesn’t really care about what other people think.
And so I’m sitting there and I’m literally, I’m trying so hard to concentrate on people because they’re talking at me because I am not there. And my friend then says to me, “Guys, I had this really wired experience tonight. I was on the floor and I walked into what looked like a cellar-room. And on these cellars were names of revivalists, and then God broke off all the taps and all these wine started flowing together. And as I drunk from it my mouth filled with physical wine.” Now you don’t have to believe this that…I really don’t care really, it happened to me. It happened to my friend, and it happened to three other people that night.
All around people were saying, “That is bizarre that happened to me.” Go figure, put that in your pipe and smoke it. I got a feeling that God wants to take some of the tapered water of your hard effort. Some of the filthy dirty water of you trying to make it work and clean yourself up, and turn it into some wine that gets poured out wherever you go. And here’s the deal friends, learning to live on this side of the respectability line, you’ll never be able to drink freely and change the world around you.
[00:42:00]
[Silence]
[00:48:42]
Here there’s some power on her boom right now. Steve Turner, the intoxicating presence of God is hitting you right now. There it goes right through you. God, I release your presence to increase right now. The reason why I’m asking these people to stand is because I wanna bless what God’s already doing. So I’m just gonna do that, then we’re gonna pray for anyone who wants prayer.
Oh, I love it Ross Ann is getting drunk, oops somebody help her there quickly. The mama of the house is getting drunk that means any one can get drunk. And it’s not about an external manifestation or phenomena. It is about God taking the inside of you and transforming it into wine that gets poured out of you. The wineskin of revival is not structured to family, and I release wine to flow in the context of family right now. God, I bless what you’re doing to these people right now. Someone just receive it right now. I bless what you’re doing. Steve Currier [SP], receive. I bless what you’re doing Lord. And I just wanna asked everyone to stand because in the next three or four minutes…
I don’t know if you can sense the intensity of His presence is beginning to build, and here’s that wonderful thin-line of, “We’ve had some wine, it’s been a good party or do you want to get excessive for God.” The Message puts it this way, “Do not get drunk on wine but be filled with the Holy Spirit. Drink huge drops of him.” Kyle [SP], go ahead. The creativity that’s in you is gonna burst forth from you as you drink, you were born into the move of the spirit. You’re a drinker, go ahead and drink from him. This is the life source that’s gonna unlock creativity and favor that will cause you to get into places that you’re other colleagues will only hope to get into. Boom, there it goes right through you. Now some of you are struggling to receive because you’re not quite sure how to. I wanna help you. You don’t need to get super intense, He wants to bless you more than you want to be blessed. All He’s asking you to do is just say, “Give me some more.”
Get into the excessive extravagant work of God. Ask him right now to do something out of time just for you. Just watch his increase is gonna begin to be poured out right now. Some of you are gonna begin to get so freed-up. God increase your presence right now, release your life, release your joy, release your glory right now. When you think you’ve had enough ask him for more. When you think you’ve had your fill, ask him for more because revival is excessive.
God, I thank you that we’re not looking for revival, we are a walking revival. He’s just hovering. Bible says the kingdom of heaven is within arm’s reach. I Just want to just go ahead and prophetically pull some of heaven down right now. I know heaven is in you, but I’m just prophetically I’m gonna walk into it. You just go ahead and pull on the excessive nature of your Father, pull on the extravagant over the top, over the top nature. Now just when you think the parties done, he goes and turns a whole lot of water into wine. God, release your glory. It’s in the excessive, extravagant nature of God that his glory is revealed. Release your glory right now all over this room.
There is a lady in this room you have despised manifestations in other people. And God right now is about to feel you with his presence. I’m not gonna ask you who you are, but God is filling you right now. You’ve often gone, “I don’t like that, it’s too much.” God just wants to get a little bit too much with you just because he loves you. Release the too much of heaven, Lord. Come Holy Spirit. I’m gonna take just a few more moments and I wanna…for me, I think we often need to linger a little bit longer, but I know some of you need to go home and that’s fine. But I just feel like there’s something of heaven breaking out right now. Fill your people, fill their mouths with wine from heaven right now. There’s someone here you’ve battled to speak in tongues for a long while. Right now, as you take a deep breath in, tongues are gonna be released.
You’ll just suddenly begin to speak in a heavenly language, just go ahead and do that right now. If you’ve not been baptized in the Holy Spirit, this is a good time, be baptized in the Holy Spirit. Go ahead take a deep breath and you can begin to speak in tongues any time you want. Some of the young people go ahead and drink, you can have some more. God, we repent for being respectable and predictable, and we want to ask you to get the party started in this place. We say, “God, go ahead mess up our plans, interrupt our meetings.” Oh, this is so dangerous. God, inconvenience us with the wine of heaven. Stacy, the power of God is just hitting you right now. Somebody just get behind her very quickly. There is literally glory just hitting you boom there it goes right through you in Jesus name. Release your presence. If you’ve not been to a church service where people laugh and fall over, it’s all in the Bible. This happens when the presence of God comes. God, I ask you to release a lovesickness in our hearts for you.
A lovesickness for your presence. We don’t just wanna be a good bride who’s detached from her bridegroom. We wanna be a bride who’s in love with her bridegroom. And some people are gonna have some words of knowledge for healing. If you can just make your way up quickly. Guys, it would be nice to bring words of knowledge for healing specifically, won’t you quickly come. Right, here’s what I’m wanna do, I’m just gonna end like this. Just come and stand on this side for me, please. Guys who’ve got word of knowledge for healing who’ve been asked of come.
Hey buddy, have some more. He is not drunk as you suppose, these are drinking buddies clearly. Just go ahead and drink. Listen, if you’re offended with joy God bless you, heavens gonna be a very awkward place for you.
[00:58:57]
[Silence]
[00:59:14]
You might be asking me why I’m waiting because this is not about upfront, I want you to connect with him. Just go ahead and drink oops. Now you guys have lost all respectability, now just focus in on him right now, just drink from him. There’s a wave of his presence breaking up friends, you get to drink. What’s happening up front it can happen anywhere in the building just drink.
Carol Burnett [SP], this is your year of crazy in God. Oh, there it is, I can literally see the lightning from heaven just all over you right now. It’s gonna be hard for you to keep it together this year because you’re gonna be having so much fun it’s gonna be excessive. And the very nature of generosity that you display, it’s the very nature of generosity with which the Father is gonna pour it out upon you. Get ready. All right, I wonder if you could just hold hands all across just very lightly. I am not saying this for a fact, but I can see the presence of God like sparks all over the place. Can anyone else see that by the way?
If you can see like sparks just wave your hands at me because…yeah, like numbers of you, it’s like sparks breaking. That’s the sign of the presence of God, angelic activity that’s in the room. There are about four hands that went up. You know, what I love about the presence of God, the people who recognize it first are the kids. Can you see how fascinated they are? It’s what I was like when I was a kid because they can see something with the presence of God and because it’s funny. So as you just hold hands, I just wanna release favor and blessing all over this place. You already have it. I just wanna say this you don’t need anything to come upon you, you have the Holy Spirit as the river within you. The wine is on the inside. The wine is on the inside. You just need to become aware. All those young ladies over there God just touching you all, just go ahead. Amberley [SP], right from you all the way down the presence of God is hitting that whole area boom there it goes right through you all.
I wanna say this again this is not about laughing, it is about drinking, although laughing is good. The greatest form of spiritual warfare happens when we laugh. The Bible says God laughs at His enemies. When you join in what He’s doing it’s the greatest form of spiritual warfare. God, I say increase right now. Get it a little bit looser in this place, Lord. Shake it loose, Lord, shake it loose in this room. This dear brother with the blue shirt the presence of God is all over you right now. And I can just see like an increased weight of his goodness coming upon you.
So Father, I just release your presence right now. Now as you’re holding hands, what’s gonna happen is the presence of God is gonna begin to sparkle in different parts, and it’s gonna hit like electricity. You young guys will you hold hands because God wants to touch you too. Send more, Lord, right now in Jesus name. Father, right now in the name of Jesus, I thank you for your presence in this room. And now I ask you reveal your glory. Reveal your glory all over this room right now. Yap, that’s it more right now. Let the intoxicating presence of the Holy Spirit be poured out all across this room right now. More right now, more right now all over this room.
Let people be overwhelmed with your presence, overwhelmed with your goodness right now. Production manager, Anthony, there’s some glory on you right now, go ahead and receive it. Some of you need to actually physically laugh at the enemy because God is just broken some stuff off of you. There’s a gentleman with a Jeep T-shirt on, the power of God is just hitting you right now. I can see it all over you boom right now, you and your wife are getting it. Boom there it goes wow, thank you God that was so funny. If you need healing right now, God is releasing some healing just go ahead and drink. There’s a young guy you’re standing next to Steve Turner, the power of God is just on you. You’re called to be one who carries the prophetic voice to your generation.
God is releasing you in such incredible anointing. There’s an inheritance that you have in God that is gonna shake nations and it’s not gonna look normal, it’s not gonna look predictable, it’s not gonna look religious because religion bores you to bits. And you’re gonna reach the sub-culture in the sporting world that is gonna shake things. And even this last week you’ve been asking God for direction about the next season of your life. And God says, “I’m gonna start to speak to you in such great clarity and authority because you’re called to shake and shape things.” God’s got an adventure for you that’s gonna be wild and free, you’re not gonna be bound by anything.
And his power is just on you right now, and he is filling you right now with vision and with dreams. He gives you permission to color outside the lines. Go ahead color outside the lines. Oh, God’s breaking out all over the place. This is my live Pentecostal bullet, I’m gonna shoot it now. So if you want in on getting filled this is a good time. We were gonna have words of knowledge, but most of the team are on the floor. If you need healing, I will encourage you to come up to the front, there will be someone here to pray for you. If the team that was supposed to bring words…how many of you know in the presence of God you don’t need a word of knowledge because God wants to heal you anyway.
God’s presence is just here. If you need some healing just come up. There’s some of you need some breakthrough in your bones, laughter is gonna do you good like medicine to your bones the Bible says. If the team can stand up and help pray that would be great, if not… This is Stacy’s first week on the job and she’s drunk already. The rest of us let’s just lift up our hands toward heaven. If I can just get someone ready to put on a worship album in a moment that will be great. If you wanna receive and drink, you’re welcome just to come up front and just carry on drinking.
God’s presence is just touching people right now. This dear lady with the black on, God is doing something with your immune system right now. I don’t know why I see immune system, but is that right? Does that make sense to you? I don’t know if it’s like an immune condition, but I see your energy level is really low, I see imbalances in your body. God is healing that right now. And the power of God’s just coming upon you boom, there it goes right through you. That’s it, that’s power on you right now and is re-calibrating the balance in your body right now in Jesus name be healed, be healed.
I want to encourage just let her rest in the presence of God. Don’t worry if she falls God’s just on her. If I could get a lady to come and help pray that would be wonderful if you’re on our team here because God’s healing this lady. Somebody’s getting healed of stenosis in your right ear right now, stenosis is that you? Father, right now I release healing over stenosis right now in Jesus name. And numbers of you have stenosis right now I declare healing in Jesus name. There’s a lovely lady with glasses on you put both of your hands up. Yeah, you. Ma’am, God wants you to know that upon the intercession that you’ve made over a number of years nations have been changed. And I feel like you have been in a season where you felt like you’ve been forgotten, like God’s passed over you like your time is done.
God says, “No, it’s just begun because you’re gonna partner with heaven to release outpourings of God in obscure places in the earth because of your prayers. And I feel like there’s a fresh visitation. I see you at the age of about 18 or 19 coming into an encounter with God in a very real and a deep way. And I don’t know if it was on a youth camp or something like that, but I just see you encountering God in your late teens early 20s in terms of the call of God that on your life. And God says to you, “I’m gonna resurrect some stuff that happened in that season of encounter and there’s a fresh season of encounter coming to you. And it’s gonna begin even right now.
So just as you close your eyes and lift your hands, his presence is coming over you. God says, “The late night journaling where you ask him for particular things even for your family.” God says, “There’s some breakthrough coming.” There it goes right through you, his presence overwhelms you right now. Sorry, guys, I know this has gone over time. I know it’s gone overtime, but we’re just gonna release healing upon people. Father, right now in Jesus name I declare healing. Guys, if you’re on ministry team in our church, just come and lay hands upon some of this folks. Just release the presence of God. Kate [SP], if you wanna pray for people who are sick go ahead.
And for the rest of us, this is gonna be my final prayer for real I promise. Aren’t you glad God’s glad? Are you glad God is happy? Father, I’m asking you right now just even as we close for real this time. Holy Spirit, turn the water into wine again, we give you permission not that we even have the right to, to mess our world, to change us around, to inconvenience us with your presence, and your power, and your glory. And, Lord, I ask you for a wave of your presence right now. A wave of your presence right now to hit your people. You are free to go now. If you want to receive some more and you just want someone to bless you, to pray for you, I want to encourage you you’re welcome to come and stand up in front.
We might not even get to you to pray for you, but I want to encourage you just walk in and say, “Here I am God, fill me.” There’s an incredible sign of his and goodness. Some of you, you can come and partake of communion and literally as you drink of the wine, as it were some of you are get intoxicated because this a meal that heals all right. And as you come and drink and eat, some of you…this is a physical sign of the feast that we will enjoy one day. And I want to encourage you come and partake, come and drink, come and eat because God’s gonna fill you.
And so God, we bless people right now, we release your anointing in Jesus name. And we thank you for your presence. If you want some prayer from the prayer ministry team, feel free just come on up, there will be someone here to bless you, pray for you. Please feel free to join us. I think there is coffee, is that right, available? Please feel free to do that. I’ll pray that the coffee turns into wine too. But go ahead, God bless you. Do you want to say something George? God bless you. Thank you for coming. Next week our morning meetings are at 8.00, and then at 9:45 feel free to come. God bless you.
Again, if you want ministry, if you wanna just come and receive, you’re welcome to come and stand up front, come and receive. There’s some people to pray for you and to bless you just come and receive.
By Julian Adams
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January 3, 2025
We are living in a world of dramatic change. The relentless pace of development often leaves us breathless and exhausted. The demand for innovative ways of communicating, inventing, and staying ahead of cultural trends can feel daunting and demoralizing. It can push us into a space where we find ourselves trying to copy rather than be authentic, to imitate rather than create. This pressure can lead us to believe that we need to be more creative, and that our individual stories do not matter. But nothing could be further from the truth. Your story, no matter how small, matters and is powerful. One of the remarkable aspects of ancient manuscripts, like the Bible, is that they tell the stories of individuals whose lives may seem small and insignificant. Yet, God chose to make their lives a memorial of what He could do with a life that the world deems insignificant. The incredible power of the gospel is that it changes lives one at a time. God is as interested in the individual story as He is in redeeming the cosmos. The aim of the gospel is not just dealing with personal sin; it is about restoring individuals to a relationship with a kind Father. In his book Mere Christianity, C.S. Lewis beautifully said, "The Son of God became a man to enable men to become sons of God." Justification addresses our standing before God, but our adoption invites us into a relationship with the Father. It allows us to partake of who He is and to live in a place of deep joy from who He is. Romans 3:23 reminds us that "all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." Many of us forget that the work of salvation has turned this verse around. Through Jesus, we have been restored to the glory of God. One description of the word "glory" refers to the divine quality, the unspoken manifestation of God, and splendor. It is the revelation of God's intrinsic worth and beauty. Do you see that? We have been restored to His divine quality, splendor, and beauty. In a world where it can be easy to feel like just another face in the crowd, remember that your story is significant. Your experiences, your journey, and your voice matter. Embrace the unique narrative God has given you and let it shine. You are not just a spectator; you are a vital participant in God's grand story. Your authenticity, creativity, and individuality are valuable. As you navigate the rapid changes of our world, hold on to the truth that your story has power and purpose. God sees you, knows you, and has a plan for your life that is uniquely yours. Let us celebrate the beauty and significance of each individual story, knowing that together, we contribute to a tapestry of divine splendor and glory.
By Julian Adams
•
July 17, 2024
Rejection is a powerful force that can shape the trajectory of our lives, often in ways we don't fully realize until much later. For me, this journey began in childhood. I was born with a cleft palate, which affected my ability to speak, and coupled with my passionate devotion to Jesus, I faced daily ridicule and rejection throughout my school years. My speech and my fervent faith made me a target, and I found myself isolated and misunderstood. Despite the rejection, something beautiful began to grow within me: a deep and abiding friendship with Jesus. Through profound encounters with the Lord, I began to walk in the prophetic. This newfound gift led me to public ministry, where I started releasing prophetic words. However, beneath the surface, I was carrying an immense amount of pain that I hadn't dealt with. This pain manifested as a lifestyle of performance, driven by the need for acceptance and validation. Though I was a new creation in Christ, I was living as if I were still bound by my old wounds. In Matthew 23:27-28 (MSG), Jesus describes the Pharisees as "manicured grave plots, grass clipped and the flowers bright, but six feet down it's all rotting bones and worm-eaten flesh. People look at you and think you're saints, but beneath the skin, you're total frauds." These words struck a chord with me because I realized I was living like a professional Pharisee. Outwardly, I appeared to have it all together, but inside, I was disconnected from the healing process that God wanted to take me through. This disconnect had a significant impact on my prophetic ministry. My words, especially those concerning sin, were often harsh and unkind, reflecting my damaged perspective of myself and the world. It wasn't until I began to address my heart issues that my approach to the prophetic truly changed. God started speaking to me about the connection between my gift, my performance, and my worth. Through this process, He took me back to moments of pain and difficulty from my childhood and even into my adult life. In one profound moment, God said to me, "Son, I want you to grow up and be a child." This statement might seem paradoxical, but it revealed a crucial truth: the posture of the kingdom is one of childlike fascination and trust. My journey into sonship transformed how I viewed the prophetic and how I ministered to others. No longer driven by judgment and legalism, I began to approach people with love, kindness, and the heart of the Father. Understanding my identity as a beloved child of God allowed me to see others through His eyes. This shift not only brought healing to my heart but also enabled me to minister more effectively and compassionately. Rejection and pain had shaped my early years, but God's love and healing power brought me to a place of wholeness. This journey has taught me that dealing with our heart issues is essential for authentic and impactful ministry. As we pursue wholeness, we open ourselves to deeper intimacy with God and greater effectiveness in serving His people. If you find yourself struggling with similar issues of rejection, pain, or performance, I encourage you to invite God into those wounded places. Allow Him to heal and transform you, just as He did for me. Embrace the posture of childlike wonder and trust, knowing that you are deeply loved and valued by your Heavenly Father. In this place of wholeness, you will find the freedom to live and minister authentically, reflecting the heart of God to a world in need.
By Julian Adams
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July 21, 2023
In my years of teaching people the prophetic and how to hear God's voice, I've learned several practices that help people hear Him. Here are a few of my most helpful!
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