Amy: At this point in her life she doesnt’ know if she could say something confrontational with a heart of love.

Kris: How do we do this so that we respond appropriately?

Mary Ann: We may see someone doing something wrong, but it may not be our place to give the correction.

Kris: Where do we draw the line of responsibility for who should give the correction or not?

Philip: The standard is higher for us because we are supposed to lead those who are coming. We don’t want strange fire burnt in IHOP. We need to know what is required and at times asking for boldness.

Kris: The unconditional covenant was made with Phinehas and is eternal. The priests that will be in eternity will be from the line of Phinehas – the sons of Zadok.

Philip: No one else stood up and tried to stop the couple. Can the Spirit of God alert you so that you respond that quickly.

Christina: It will cost you.

Kris: Would we give it to the authorities to handle it? Moses and Aaron didn’t respond in this circumstance.

Mary Ann: Phinehas made atonement for the people…therefore a covenant was made with him. Christ has made the ultimate atonement. He took it upon Himself so should we make intercession, fast, pray for enemies in the same manner? The fruit of Christ’s atonement is giving, sharing, etc… To her it’s more about what’s going on in her heart in regard to sin in the body of Christ.

Kris: Phinehas’ act ended the sin.

Mary Ann: Christ’ death atoned for all sin.

Kris: Yet we can’t stand around if people are sinning in front of us.

Amy: We all sin…

Kris: Are there degrees of holiness? Yes. How do we hold people accountable to what we say is the standard of holiness?

Mary Ann: In the prophecy rooms, we don’t reveal sin, but we speak how the person would come out of that sin.

Kris: How do respond? Is it necessary to confront it or are we even obligated to confront it?

Amy: If someone approached her that she didn’t know and told her a sin in her life, she wouldn’t take it very seriously. It is received better from someone she knows.

Philip: Submitting something to leadership. Hidden sin will grow and fester. If you see the sin, you have a responsibility to say something to them in love.

Kris: Is the difference in this scripture is that they did it in public? Would it be different if something occurred in the prayer room? Do you confront it immediately?

Christina: Yes, you are more responsible. There’s a different between someone struggling with sin and blatant rebellion. She thought about God’s zeal and the scripture that says zeal for His house has consumed me. Her question was has His zeal really consumed her own enemies that she would pierce them with a sword? The point is that we want the temple to be a dwelling place for the Lord.

Mary Ann: It begins with us.

Christina: A lot of it is criticism. Also, is she really willing to go to get involved and face the issues that result from addressing the issues?

Mary Ann: It’s a different lens. It’s an encouragement to step into holiness.

Christina: What is Phinehas a picture of? A prophet? An intercessor? He acted out judgment.

Philip: Achan brought sin into the camp also. They got defeated because there was the sin of one man in the camp.

Mary Ann: One sin defiles the body.

Christina: She doesn’t always know if it should be judgment or mercy.

Mary Ann: It’s one on one – you go and talk to them and if they don’t agree, you go to the leaders, then make it public.

Liz: Phinehas is a messenger – Malachi 2:5-7 – speaking the Word of the Lord and doing the Lord’s will.

Kris: The priest is the representative of God.

Amy: She wants to be full in faith and power and do wonders and signs for God. To get that is talking with God. She wants to be who would die for Jesus and not refuse him.

Philip: Stephen never wavered.

Sally Grace: Jesus “standing” at the right hand is amazing. Usually Jesus is spoken of as seated next to God. It seems more powerful.

Amy: She heard that he is standing because Jesus is proud of Stephen to say, “well done.”

Brandon: He saw Jacob’s ladder. Living like Stephen is a quick way to see God and who He is. Heaven came down and touched earth. Genesis 28:12 – angels ascending and descending – he saw God. Heaven touches earth through us. Stephen was filled with the H.S. which allowed him to see Jesus. V. 59 Stephen saw Jesus as a Judge therefore it causes him to interceed for the people who are doing this to him and ask for forgiveness for them.

Liz: People’s reaction to truth.

Sally Grace: You can have a dead faith. These were religious people but they didn’t express active obedience to God or the Word of God. Faith is confidence in God. Works is the expression as an act of obedience. It’s faith without works. They were taking truth and becoming angry about it.

Brandon: What does it mean that he saw the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God?

Sally Grace: It was the glory of God.

Philip: Stephen knew at this point that he was going to die. He was full of the Spirit that took him out of the limit of time. The people couldn’t understand yet the people saw his face as an angel. He saw the glory of God. Constable also talked about Jesus’ standing represented welcoming Stephen and also as a Judge saying that He is Stephen’s advocate. When Stephen saw the heavens opened and Stephen said he saw the Son of Man, this is what caused the religious leaders to get upset and stone him. Stephen saw these men through the eyes of Jesus.

Brandon: I wonder if that was one thing that softened Saul’s heart?

Philip: Stephen’s example followed Jesus’ at the cross.

Sally Grace: Stephen looked up, believing…

Amy: V. 6:8 her version says full of grace…

Philip: Resistance to the gospel is straong now and will only get stronger. Will we go and stand in the midst of it. Stephen knew who God was and who he was in God.

Kris: Thinks it has to do more with holiness than intimacy.

Christina: Is it about order like don’t come near because you’re not holy or if by taking off his shoes made him ready to meet God?

Philip: Like David carrying in the incorrect way…

Liz: Sandals symbol of strength and dignity. Deut

Mary Ann: Thought of the action Moses took. First Moses saw the burning bush and then acted based on what he saw. Meaning that we can see something and not act on what we see.

Kris: Those kinds of bushes were known to spontaneously catch on fire. What was unusual was that it was not being consumed. So Moses didn’t just give it a quick glance but looked and responded.

Philip: Our response is critical. Only when Moses responded did God call him. How we respond in the natural comes down to a heart issue.

Kris: This was something that was natural yet Moses was able to see into and know that it was more than that.

Mary Ann: Compared to Acts 7:30-33. In Exodus it is Mount Horeb, in Acts it is Mount Sinai. It is “when” we respond, but also “where” we respond. Are there places that are holy? It also stuck out that he was “standing” verses sitting. What is the significance?

Kris: Regarding places being holy, do we go somewhere where revival is taking place or do we stay and pray that revival takes place here? It’s legitmate to go there because God is touching earth there.

Mary Ann: Can there also be holy time?

Kris: Supposedly the rock under the Dome of the Rock is the place where Abraham took Issac to be sacrificed? 

Christina: Is God the only one who can say something is holy or can we?

Kris: She thinks only God.

Philip: Yet mankind puts things up that they say are sacred. He went to Acts 13 when the church was praying and fasting and then they said “set apart for me…” Are there times in our lives where we have been “standing on holy ground” but not known it? When Joshua has a similar encounter, Joshua’s response was to fall on his face. Lord, help our hearts to respond properly to You.

This was a discussion at debrief with no meditation time – basically it’s “thinking out loud.”

Amy: So there’s something going continually that adds more to the power. There is one altar for both sacrifices.

Kris: It was a burnt offering and also a peace offering. Maybe it has to do with the continuance of atonement 1) that they had to continue to do it and once Jesus came it was finished forever and 2) that atonement is offered continually. God does not stop forgiving. No matter how bad we’ve been, if we repent, He will forgive. Now we don’t have a process that we have to go through (i.e. cut wood, prepare sacrifice, etc.), it is readily available.

Amy: Why did they just burn the fat?

Kris: Because the fat was for the Lord. The only offering that is fully for the Lord is the burnt offering. All the other offering, the priests were to take parts of it. The fat was burned for the Lord. They kept the meat.

Liz: Exodus 29 describes the consecration of the priests and the altar and is where the Lord instructs there to be a continual burnt offering. In verse 42-43 it indicates that this is how then the Lord will meet with them. So if there is continual sacrifice there would be atonement made for any sins and make it possible for the Lord to dwell with them and meet with them at any time.

Kris: That continual flame that stayed in the temple that kept it consecrated. For IHOP, there’s been a constant meeting since September 19, 1999.

Liz: There has to be a pursuit of holiness even in immaturity for prayers to be acceptable. Not that we are the judge whose prayers are acceptable, but someone in blatant praying would not be something the Lord would see as a “pure” offering and an acceptable place where He could dwell.

Kris: With Cain and Abel it was a heart issue. It would be the same with us and our prayers. 

Amy: Just as using a magnifying glass to start a fire. It doesn’t start as a blazing fire, but a spark. It takes a while for the spark to become a fire. Maybe that’s what has happened to IHOP over that last seven years.

Kris: Maybe too if it is going continually it is not as difficult to start up again. That’s why the Sacred Trust is important to help us keep disciplined and committed.

Amy: It also gets stronger as we continue to do it just like any other task. We grow in our understanding and even in our ability to connect and talk to God over time. Are we the flame.

Kris: We are either the flame or what’s used to keep the flame going.

Amy: Even if we are the wood. Wood has to have something on it for it to burn.

Liz: You keep adding to a bonfire and it gets huge.

Amy: You also have to add to it simply to keep it lit.

Kris: We have to keep adding to IHOP to keep it strong. The Israelites had to do all the work with the sacrifices and altar too – wood, cleaning, etc.

Amy: So what are the fire, sacrifice, offering, and the altar at IHOP? Are the prayers of the saints the fire?

Kris: She sees us as the sacrifice and the offering in the sense that we sacrifice our lives and offer it to God. But then scripture says it’s not sacrifice that God wants but our hearts. It’s that we willing offer our lives. We are the fire also because we burn before God.

Amy: Maybe the Holy Spirit is the fire.

Kris: In that case, we are the wood.

Amy: Maybe the house of prayer is the altar.

Kris: We may not be able to equate the objects with the things we do today but instead the meaning of each thing. For instance, the important point in this is that the fire on the altar does not go out.

Amy: Revelation 5:8 – golden bowls of incense filled with the prayers of the saints.

Kris: That is the altar of incense not the burnt offering altar. Exodus 30 describes the altar of incense.

Amy: The altar in Leviticus 12 and 13 went out. Why?

Kris: When Nebuccanezer took all the Israelites and burnt the temple.

Kris: What do you think about them not being able to grieve? 

Brandon: For them to grieve was to say that they agreed with what the people did or that God was unjust.  

Kris: Verse 9 – the presumed thing is that they were drunk because this verse tells them not to drink wine or intoxicating drink. 

Amy: What they offered wasn’t wrong, was it? 

Kris: Yes 

Amy: Leviticus 16:12 shows how the incense was to be done. 

Kris: The actual incense was strange so they were not supposed to use it on the altar. Even other people groups burned incense to their “gods.” It is possible that they could have been using one of these other incenses. In the midst of that incidence that God says not to drink so drinking must have been a part of it. 

Philip: He was also in 2 Samuel 6 – Uzzah stretched out his hand and God struck him. 

Kris: It was actually David’s fault that Uzzah died because he didn’t do it correctly.  

Philip: How do you think the atmosphere changed? When 2 Samuel 6:9 shows David’s response that he was afraid of God that day. The believers also with Ananias and Sephira stood back. When obedience takes place, a blessing of God is released every time. Obedience is better than sacrifice.  

Kris: She was struck by Aaron and the others not being able to mourn. It is lessened God’s holiness if

they would have mourned. They wouldn’t show that they understood the holiness. What will our response be when God judges a lack of holiness here?  

Philip: Verse 6 – let the rest of the congregation mourn for the men. 

Liz: She was more in the NT in regards to obedience. When we obey we show we love God. “He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me” John 14:21. “You are my friends if you do whatever I command you” John 15:14. When you love someone you want to obey. You trust the person has your best in mind so you want to obey. 

Kris: Godly fear of the Lord is not really fear. It’s more reverence and respect of God that says I will obey. Difference between NT and OT is the Holy Spirit.   Philip: When looking at the priesthood, they were called to obey. 1 Samuel 2:12 

Kris: Knowing the Lord was equated with obeying in the OT. So, in a passage like that when they did not obey, the Lord would say they did not know Him.  

Philip: They didn’t obey their father. Obedience is huge. 

Amy: Verse 3 Aaron held his peace. He didn’t say anything even though they were his sons. 

Kris: If he wouldn’t have held his peace he would have been saying God was wrong and he wouldn’t be holy. The references to drinking is also why Mike makes a big deal about not drinking.

Kris: On the shoulders is that you are bearing them and on the heart is like you are carrying them in your heart. 

Christina O: It was also to distinguish them to the people and bring them honor. It made her feel privileged to be at IHOP and be intercessors and thankful of the sacred trust. The outward protects the inward. The inward is the intercession. The outward (teachings, fasting, other intercessors, etc) remind us of the inward. In the end, it protects your heart. The intercessors that are not in a community like this don’t have all the outward reminders of who they are and why their calling is important. 

Mary Ann: Verse 25 – the gold bells and pomegranates on the robe. Ex. 28:34 the sound of the bell shall be heard when the priest comes in and out of the holy place lest he die. This made her think of the sound going forth from IHOP. There’s a new sound coming forth.  

Amy: Verse 43 – If he tells us to do something, no matter how silly it may seem, we are supposed to do it. “Indeed it was good” and Moses blessed them. 

Kris: Everything that was done for them was done by skilled craftsmen. She looks at the things the Lord asked them to carry and to know that they carried their nation. She also thought about “Holiness to the Lord” on their head and knowing that they were not holy, neither are we. When they put these garments on them, God saw them as holy. It was in the perfection of the pure gold that God saw them in this way. We are clothed with Christ and are seen as holy in His sight. We strive not to sin, but there is this instant holiness that we put on when we receive Christ. It has nothing to do with us, but because of His holiness. Sometimes she focuses on herself because she feels like she needs to be cleaned up because she can be used by the Lord, but this is not true. We are clothed in Him so we have Him in us that qualifies us. God is taking skilled people to create in us what we need. 

Philip: Read chapter 28 as well. Take Aaron and sons to minister to Him. Anytime a name is mentioned in scripture it has a meaning or us to understand. He calls them to make holy garments. It was not the garments that were holy but that he calls them holy. God calls us as priests to minister to Him on behalf of those He has put around us. The description of the garments are very detailed, the last thing that were given were the priests garments. It was like everything else had been put together and then they were clothed. They were being made ready to do their ministry. For each one of us, God has set us apart that we can minister to Him. Everything has been put together and made ready for us.  

Kris: One job of the priest was to minister to the Lord, another to be responsible for the sacrifices, another was to bring resolution when there was conflict and another was to teach. They are all ways to minister to the Lord.

Christina: Exodus 19:5, 6 – obey fully and keep commands…you will be my treasured possession…a kingdom of priests, a holy nation… Being consecrated is simply obeying the Lord fully and keeping His word. Keep being connected with the Spirit. 1 Peter 2:5 – like living stones…built into a spiritual house…a holy priesthood… IHOP in this season, we are like the stones being set in place by God. We need to be faithful to what God has called us to in order to build the house and to minister before Him. 1 Peter 2:8 – you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood…to declare His praises… Jesus came to sacrifice for us. Instead of us having to follow the Law, we are freed by His blood. We have to have faith that His blood is enough and it covers a multitude of sins. 1 Peter 2:11 – although we live in the world, we are not to conform to the world, but renew our minds with the word, with the truth. We are also to submit to the authority the Lord has put over us. We need to search our hearts to see if there is any unforgiveness or bitterness and respect and submit to the authorities. 

Brandon: Psalm 8 – what is man that you are mindful of Him. We have the ability to change the heart of God. Examples of Moses interceding for the people. Song of Song 4:9 – you have ravished heart my sister, my spouse. We really are ravishing His heart, changing His heart and what He is thinking. People always ask what the meaning of life is? That we may be together with God. He has created us. That we would choose to come into partnership with Him. Also, to hasten the return of Jesus so that the Father may come down. We change things by our prayers. Praying the Jesus would return and prepare the Bride so that Father will come that we have be one as it was in the beginning. The millennial reign is all preparation for the two becoming one. All things are being placed under Jesus’ feet under and then given to the Father (Ps. 110, 1 Corinthians 14:24-28). Yet in all the things God created, He allowed the possibility for us to move His heart. We were made so that we would love the Lord with all our heart, mind, soul, and strength. God had the angels, but that wasn’t enough. He wanted voluntary love. The angels even are in awe when they see humans choose God. This was his description of why would we consecrate ourselves. We have to know the why before we know the how. We consecrate ourselves so that we live a life that will hasten Jesus’ return. This has even greater purpose for the last generation. Lev. 21 – requirements for the priests. We are called to a higher level.

Amy: She used to think about it in the legal sense. Does it mean that this is wrong? If she says yes to be in the prayer room then she wants to be there and fully engaged. She doesn’t bring her own things to intercession meetings anymore so that she can stand on the wall and engage in what happening corporately. She wants to get better at doing this even in her personal time – to be as committed and faithful when nothing is written down and no one is watching. 

Brandon: It’s hard to do completely. Verse 33-36 seems simply – you just don’t swear. What if you say yes, but forget about something or if something higher priority comes up? Is this sin also? He was listening to Asher Intrater talk about covenant. He was reminded of when Joshua made covenant even when he was tricked and it still stood. We would often say that the covenant wouldn’t be true because it was done falsely. Also when Jonathan and David made covenant, David went so far as to bless Jonathan’s descendant.  

Liz: It’s hard to make a general rule on what is acceptable and what is not. Some things seem more clear to answer than others. She’s still trying to see what the scripture means without becoming legalistic. 

Brandon: We need to get to the point where we see things as equal commitment and therefore equal responsibility to follow through and be faithful. It makes you think more about what you are saying “yes” to. 

Philip: What we decide to do we have to do with our heart. That’s for all the issues in the sermon on the mount. We need to think about all things before we answer. Purity of heart comes through when you consider what you are saying and holding yourself to a higher standard. Yes or no seems very black and white. We need to remember who we are representing. When we were younger, we represented our family. When we worked, we represented our companies. As missionaries, we represent God. We are held to a higher standard. He was reminded of the story with Cain and Abel in Genesis 4. Cain’s offering was not accepted, Abel’s was. If God says our offering is not acceptable, what would our response be? God has given us authority to rule over ourselves when circumstances don’t go our way. Are we our brother’s keepers – absolutely. We need to be careful what we say to our brothers. He wants to be cautious and clear in what he says. If you are walking in integrity and purity, people will know if you are sincere. Brandon: Being here, we are held to the higher standard even if we are not walking in it. We will have the attacks of the enemy and we won’t have the protection of the Lord if we are not. 

Liz: Culturally it is difficult and awkward to be honest sometimes. For example if someone asks you to get together, it’s just culturally acceptable to say yes even if you don’t intend to get together simply because you don’t want to offend the other person. 

Rapture/Judgment:

• Matthew 13:37-43
• Matthew 13: 49-50
• Matthew 25:31-34, 41
• Luke 13:24-30
• John 5:21-30
• John 6:37, 40, 44-45
• 1 Corinthians 15:51-52
• 2 Corinthians 5:10

Signs:

• Matthew 7:15-27
• Matthew 16:3
• Matthew 17:11
• Matthew 24:4-51
• Matthew 25:13
• Luke 13:35
• Luke 17:22-37
• Luke 21:7-36
• Acts 1:6-7

Millennium/Eternity

• Matthew 19:28-30
• Matthew 20:21
• Matthew 22:30, Mark 12:25
• Matthew 25:31-34
• Matthew 26:29
• Luke 1:32-33
• Luke 20:34-36
• Luke 22:29-30
• John 14:2-3
• 1 Corinthians 6:2-3
• 1 Corinthians 15:23-28
• 1 Corinthians 15:39-44

Second Coming:

• Matthew 22:39
• Matthew 26:64
• Luke 9:26
• Luke 12:40
• Luke 13:35
• Luke 17:22-37
• Acts 1:11

Tribulation:

• Matthew 24:4-51; Mark 12:4-13:37
• Luke 23:28-31
• Luke 16:2-3
• Romans 11:25-26

Amy: Verse 13 presumptuous (willful) sins – let the things she does with her own will not have dominion over her. Since we no longer live, Christ lives within us, we should no longer have a will. We can’t fast out of our own strength. We can, but when God removes the grace, we can’t fast. There is nothing in our own will that allows us to fast, so we don’t want our own will to have dominion in our lives. We want God to be above our own will, thoughts, and actions.

Liz: She went through line by line and realizes more what the Word does in our lives. To know that as we read the Word, it converts our soul – it actually changes us. To know she doesn’t have to be wise in the world’s eyes because she gains heavenly wisdom as she reads the Word – God uses the foolish things to confound the wise (1 Cor. 1). To know that even in suffering or sorrow, the Word can bring joy to us. Meditation on the Word is what transforms us and enables us to keep from sinning.

Kris: Reading the Word re-writes your DNA. It’s renews our mind.