Hi there, welcome to NECF. We're excited to share today's message with you. Don't
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Here's today's sermon.
I want to thank God for this opportunity to stand before you. I don't take it for granted
and I want to thank God for the wonderful privilege I have to be part and parcel of
this great church, the NECF, and thank you to the leadership for this opportunity. I
think this week I was, until this week or last week or so, I was looking at the news
and then I think it was very funny because I was thinking to myself, like they say it's
on parts of the world that people are lonely, that the government is trying to create systems
to help people that are suffering from loneliness. And then I was thinking to myself, I was like,
thank God for the life that we have in Christ, thank God for the fellowship and I really
want to thank God for the gift of brethren and also thank God for, I think this morning
as I was looking at the canonical, I think we're reading, we read John 16, 17 and 18.
And then I was looking at John, I think something just jumped out to me when we got to 32, John
16, 32. I want us to just see it there. And this is Jesus Christ speaking. He says, indeed
the hour is coming, yes, the hour has come, but you will be scattered each to his own
and I will and will leave me alone, praise God. Then the last part, the part that I want
you to look at and look very keenly is the fact that he says, and yet I am not alone
because the father is with me, praise God. And this is our Lord Jesus Christ looking
at the fact that his disciples who desert him, but yet he doesn't have physical persons
around him. And I want to say this to someone that is here that, you know, we can, we're
in a world where people can be around people and still be lonely, praise God. We can be
in a world where people can have housemates, but they are still strangers and they are
very lonely. But that is not the life you're called into, right? The life they were called
into is the life of Christ, the life of Christ. I mean that you can be physically without
anyone around you. And this was a time where he was going to go into the sufferings that
he had to take on for us, praise God. But he still knew the presence, the company of
his father. And I want you to know that same presence even right here and right now. I
want that to be more, I want you to be more confident of that reality, praise God. So
the topic is the fruit of the life in the spirit, the fruit of the life in the spirit,
the fruit of the life in the spirit is an outfood, but it's the fruit of the life in
the spirit. And we're going to be reading 2 Corinthians, our key texts, 2 Corinthians
5, 16, 17, and Galatians 5, 22, 225. 2 Corinthians 5, 16, 17, and Galatians 5, 22, 25, those
are our key texts. And I'll just read 2 Corinthians to us, yeah, making things good. 16, it says,
therefore, from now on, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we have known Christ
according to the flesh, yet now we know him tossed no longer. Therefore, if anyone is
in Christ, he is a new creation, all things are passed away. Behold, all things have become
new. Behold, all things have become new. And he started off by saying, we regard no man,
no one according to the flesh. And when I was meditating, thinking about it, I said,
it's not just we regarding others, we too can regard ourselves, praise God. We can regard
ourselves. And I love the fact that when you move to the 17, it says you are, we are a
new creation, praise God. We're a new creation. And the old can be conflicting with the new,
because it's still, it's almost like you're still in this physical body, but something
supernatural has happened to you, praise God. And I want you to be confident in what Christ
has done, praise God, be confident in what Christ has done. And all that we are seeing
or all that is, that all that makes us a new creation is what Christ has done in his death,
burial and resurrection. And all of these things is encapsulated in that one word, the
Spirit, praise God. In that one word, the Spirit. What is summarizing is in that one
word, the Spirit means that at salvation, we receive his life, at salvation, we receive
his Spirit, praise God. And when he says new creation, it means brand new, praise God.
And sometimes it might not feel like the life that you have is brand new, praise God. It
doesn't feel like that because you're still dealing with the same old stuff, you're still
dealing with the same realities that are around you, praise God. But know that you're not
looking at it physically, praise God. You're looking at it through the lenses of his word,
what the word of God says we, you are, what the word of God says we are. And it's very
important that we note this. I think I was sharing at the cell that I was, I was, I had
to rethink, like, my students, on Friday, we had our last class before the exams that
started yesterday. And when the class was teaching, and then the students said, Sarah,
that I've learned so many things, and I'm able to, if there's an insurgent, now I'm
able to take out the insurgent. And then I was thinking, oh, wow, I have somebody in
the class that has like paramilitary or military training, and everything. And in my horror,
he was like, I've watched several movies. And I was like, movies, movies is what, that
is what you're going to, that's the premise of you taking out the insurgent is from movies,
you are able to take out the insurgent. And I'm running, what is running quickly through
my head is how many movies had he watched that gave him the confidence to say, Sarah,
right now he was looking at the door. So if anybody comes through that door now, I'm able
to, I was like, then when he now entered movies, I was like, is basing off his ability on the
things, maybe movies, if you add video games, all of those things, then you now feel that
physically you can take down. So I was like, that's so much confidence on something that
I, you know, you can, you can, you know, when theory is very beautiful, people talk about
a lot of things that they can do. And then when you, when it's time to walk, there's
no show, praise God. What it means is that a person can program themselves because they're
taking a lot of information about stuff that they think that in the face of when it's time
to act, it will just come upon them. And when a world where movies can, when you watch a
lot of movies where people fight, kill people, you can't think that this is very easy. One
man goes, he takes down a whole building of people. And then you think that, yeah, they
just don't know how to do it. Well, if I step in there, I will do it right. We can make
have those. That's because something has conditioned you to think that after you have done this
and this and this, and let's bring it down, let's bring it home for you for something
to be so real to you means that you have engrossed yourself in that thing to the point where
you believe so much in that thing. There are people that believe in things that are false.
There are people around the world. They believe that this thing is like this. This is like,
and it's all based or anchored on something that is error. But we have something that
is true. We have the word of God that is true and we don't engross ourselves to the point
where we can see a difficult situation and believe God over the situation that we that
has faced before us. Praise God. When he says we are a new creation, it means brand new.
It's not based off how you feel because we're in a world where if you don't feel it, it's
not it. And if we're doing most of our things or the things that we do based on feeling,
some of us will not even be here for short service. Praise God. Because the way the weather
is what you feel more to sleep back to extend your sleep hours. You just look at the time
and the alarm rings and rings and rings. You snooze it, snooze it and get tired of snoozing
just off the phone. There are some phones that can come back on because it's Sunday. Praise
God. So if it's if you're living your Christian work, anything based on feeling, you will
not go anywhere. Praise God. And for most of us, it has to be easy for us to follow
through with it. But when he says new creation, the word there in the Greek means brand new
and means entirely transformed. Praise God means entirely transformed. And what this
means is that what Christ has done takes us from that place to the place where he has
placed us. And the word there is where we have a new nature. Praise God. What it means
is that we have a new nature. When he says new creation, it means that this individual
has a new nature. And that new nature is not a physical nature. Praise God. It's not physical.
It is spiritual. It means for you to come to a place where you believe that something
that happens supernaturally is real. It means that communication had happened to the point
where you believe that thing. Praise God. Serious and series of communication will happen.
That's why in the church, we come back to God's word on our daily work, we come back
to God's word to remind ourselves to encourage ourselves. In the book of Luke, when Luke
was writing the Theophilus, he says that he will be established, that he will be confident
in the things that he already knows. For some of us, we know. But sometimes we are faced
with difficulty and we doubt. Going back to the scripture in John 16, Jesus Christ was
very confident in the fact that even though people will not be around him, he's confident
that his father will not leave nor forsake him. Praise God. And we should have that same
confidence. Praise God. And that word, because we say this, is the fruit of your life in
the Spirit. And what we're going to be taking our time to look at for the introduction is
the life in the Spirit. Your life in the Spirit. And we say this is a new creation, right?
And you are born of the Spirit. Born of the Spirit. And Jesus Christ teaches this concept
of being born of the Spirit in John 3. I want us to go there. It's still in the book of
John. If we're there, just go to John 3. He was speaking to Nicodemus and it's John 3,
3 to 8. But what our focus will be on is, let's just do 5 and 6. Let's see. 5 and 6.
So Jesus answered, Most assuredly I say to you, unless one is born of water, which is
the Spirit, which is the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. 6. He says, that
which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is Spirit. That
word born of the Spirit. And in John, you see him write born of the Spirit, born of
the Spirit, born of the Spirit. And in 1 John, we see him talks about the same thing. What
he says is born of God. 1 John 5. It's scattered around John, but we'll just look at 1 John
5.1. The same idea. He says, whoever believes that Jesus is Christ is born of God. And everyone
who loves him, who begots also loves him who is begotten of him. 2. He says, by this we
know that we love the children of God when we love God and keep his commandments. That's
3. Let's pay attention to 3. He says, for this is the love of God that we keep his commandments
and his commandments are not burdened some. His commandments are not burdened some. Then
4. This is where we're going to be stopping. He says, for whatever is born, whoever is
born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world.
Our faith introduces the element of faith. And what is that faith based off? That faith
is based on Christ. That faith is based on Christ. So we have born of the Spirit, which
is the same as born of God. So when you see the same, when you see that across, it's meaning
the same thing. It means that we have a new creation and the Spirit resides within us.
Praise God. The Spirit, the Spirit resides within us. And it's very important that we
remind ourselves that the old is gone. The old is gone. And I know we still have memories
of our past and that is the problem. We have memories of the things that we used to do,
the way that we used to live our lives. And we feel like, no, there's no way. There's
no way. We don't sometimes remind ourselves all the things I've done. There's no way.
There's no way. Know that you are not the one that saved yourself. Praise God. The one
who saves you tells you that you are a new creation and you want to take what he says
seriously because he's the one that has done what he has done in your life. Praise God.
He says we are a new creation. We have God's Spirit reside in us. And that will be something
that changes the way we live our lives going forward. In case that reality has not sinked
in, you want to know that you have a new identity. You have a new identity. What is in the past
is in the past. And what you have right now in Christ is something new. Praise God. I
want us to look at Ephesians 4.24. It speaks about being a new man. It says, and yeah,
thank you. And that you put on the new man, which was created, look at the word, which
was created, according to God, in truth, in true righteousness and holiness, which was
created according to God in true righteousness and holiness. Okay, let's just just go back.
Let's go back. Let's stay there for a bit. It says the new man, new man was created.
It means that we're no longer defining ourselves on our past. What I said earlier, we're no
longer defining ourselves on our past sins, past weaknesses, past failures. You don't
define yourself based off that because it's now in the past. What you're doing now, according
to what we read in first, first John, in first John five, we're now empowered to live a life
of victory. We're empowered to live a life of victory. And what we're doing now is that
we're reflecting the nature that we now have. Praise God. We're reflecting the nature that
we now have and we're reflecting the glories that follows that nature. Praise God. We're
no longer doing things like we do them in the past. Now there's a, there's a, there's
a new operating system. If I will use that, there's a new operating system that you're
running with that influences how you move. There's the indwelling of a spirit that produces
a character that is identical to the one which you have received. Praise God. And the spirit
within us is the source of that new identity. It's not ourselves that generate the new identity.
It's the spirit, the life that we have that gives us that new identity. And in case you
are vacillating between what was and what is, I want you to remember that what is is
true, what is is founded in something much, much solid than what was the past, what was
in the past. Praise God. I want us to see the same or something similar in Colossians
3 10. Colossians 3 10. Yeah. Thank you. Colossians 3 10. And it says, and have put on the new
man who is renewed in knowledge. It adds something to buttress what I've been saying. Renewed
in knowledge according to the image of him, who, him who created him. Praise God. Maybe
a couple of him. So it says renewed in knowledge. Remember what I said about the student that
as like, you know, you know, he wasn't like that until he did what he did to the point
where he is confident and you need to see I can't dramatize how he said it that I first
thought, Oh, because he's a, he's a, he's a old student. So he has been out of school
for like seven years. I felt maybe had some during that course of the time, some paramilitary
training and all of that until he said movies. And then I was like, no, I had to now start
counseling explaining how movies like really is a movie. They act those things. They have
cast. In fact, they have stunt men that do certain parts of the thing that the real actor
cannot do. So if you want to go for it and show that you have proper training, physical
training, not virtual training. That's why we say you cannot take a course virtually
and assume that you can do it. And you wouldn't even trust someone to do something practical
that got the training virtually. Praise God. But some of us speak if it's cheap and it's
good, we can go for it. But if it's life threatened, if it has to do with life, like, yeah, you
don't want to do that. Praise God, because it's very important. And knowledge is very
important. So, so as believers, what believers what should tell us how we live our lives
is the knowledge that we have that is founded on the truth that is given to us. Praise God.
And we say these things to say that the spirit that we have, praise God, the spirit that
we have is not a spirit that is, you know, you know, when you are, you are processing
something and then there's a person, you know, some of us, those of us that are doing our
student permit, you know, at some point in time is 10%. And then yes, at least you're
on your way to the end. What is rendering when you do a couple of things, you pay tax
or you do medicals, it will move. It should just be moving till it gets to 100%. Then
you now have it. Know that salvation is not like that. It doesn't render and then render
20%. The next minute it renders 40%. Then it finally renders 100. Then you now know
you have it. Praise God. It's not what you do that is what Christ has done and he did
it complete. Praise God. Because sometimes we can convince ourselves just came to is
I just said yes and I believe that and then then doesn't like I need to work for it. I
need to add more. You know, it doesn't feel real. If you know, some people will give them
give this just like that. It's almost like you want the okay. Okay. Yes, you give it.
Okay, work for it. Just work for it. They just do a bit of claiming and everything to
be fully yours. No, no, no, no, no. God is not like that. You shouldn't put God in the
same WhatsApp group with those people that have done that. Praise God. Praise God. Even
if he shows up in the WhatsApp group, it will change the whole WhatsApp group. Praise God.
Praise the God that we serve. Praise God. So in this we know that is the spirit because
of the presence of the Spirit of God, we that that comes and we know that what needs renewing
is our mind is our minds that needs to catch up with what our spirit, what the spirit that
we have. I think it's very important that we understand that what God deposited in us
doesn't like we have it. We have it. We're not walking to it. Praise God. The work that
we do is that we catch up here, we able to understand what has happened because your
understanding shapes the way you do things. If you don't understand, you don't understand.
Somebody will try and the moment you get it, it's like, it's like every light comes on
and you feel foolish because you just think about all the things misunderstood. And now
that you understand, like what exactly was informing you that it was ignorance. Praise
God. And that is why we engage the word we grow, we come around, we make sitting on his
word a priority. Praise God. And that understanding shapes our identity. Praise God. That understanding
shapes our identity. And that transformation keeps going on going on. And we call that
thing one thing, it is spiritual maturity. Because in your mind being renewed and renewed
and renewed and renewed, people start seeing the real you that has always been there from
the beginning. Praise God. The real you that has always been there from the beginning.
And it takes you obey because you saw it, you believe it. When we sang the song, I can
see and I know is you see and you know that in itself should demand a response to work
in what you have seen and what you know. Praise God. And then we have that fellowship that
ensures that we keep growing. That's why we're in church, we fellowship together. You cannot
you cannot fellowship in your house. Praise God. You cannot as bedside or bedside a minister,
you can't grow in that there's no pressure. You are sleeping, you are just chilling. And
some people say and they say it confidently like like I worship online. Like I don't miss
a service. I don't I never miss a service. At the click of a button now, there's no stress.
You don't you don't do anything you just and it's the same laptop you watch movies, you
do all of those the same same device and your brain will not be telling you this is one
of those and then you just boring can skip and and you even have so much flexibility
you know you can't skip this one. You can't skip like I don't like this I want something
more so that I will shout I'll sweat. Praise God. You don't grow like that. For a believer
to be spiritually matured, he had gone through process. Praise God. You don't skip classes.
You have to show up every time. No matter the number of Sundays you attended church,
there's still another Sunday. Praise God. There's still another Sunday. And if you're
not growing, someone can come and lie to you and tell you that you pay for something that
you have for free. Praise God. And that's one very important thing that what we have
in Christ was freely given. There was no you paid. God brought 50%. You brought 50% and
then you put the 50% to become 100 and then transaction complete. Praise God. That was
not how that was not how it happened. Let's see that some scripture. Romans 832. Romans
832. New King James the Roman. Yeah, thank you. He says, he who did not spare his only
son, but delivered him up for us all. How shall he not give also freely us all things?
How shall he not give us freely all things? It means that he didn't hold back. God did
not hold back his son for us to have what we have in him. I mean, the gift that we have
was freely given. And, and it's free that even in scripture when you have an incident
when Simon the sorcerer was trying to buy it with money, Peter was like, What are you
trying to do? He says your money perish with you. I want us to see that. Let's see that
in Romans 8. Thank you. Romans 8. I want us to go to Roman. Sorry, Acts, Acts 8, Acts
8, 18. Acts 8, 18 is still 8. Acts 8, 18. We'll just read 18, 19 and 20. So, and when Simon
saw that through the laying of hands, the apostles, through the laying on of the apostles'
hands, the Holy Spirit was given, he offered them money. 19 saying, Give me this power
also that anyone on whom I lay my hands will receive the Holy Spirit. 20. Peter's response.
He said to him, Your money perish with you because you thought that the gift of God could
be purchased with money. Note that you, even now we have people peddling what they have
received freely for money and ignorance will, as man of God will say, will make you a candidate,
a strong candidate for deception because you don't know. Somebody else capitalizes on the
things and there are many things in life that you paid for and then when you now discover
how they did the thing, you will now be feeling, because I did not know, I paid this money
and when I saw how they now do it, I'll be like, why did I even pay him? I will just
sit down and take like one hour, two hours of my time and I will feel done the same thing.
Praise God. And it's the gift of God. Praise God. It's the gift of God. The key word there
is that it's the gift of God and it's given freely because if we were to pay for it, if
we were to pay for it, your dollars, pounds, euros, tele, mixed with whatever, whatever
your local currencies will not be able to afford it. Let's see that also in Efficience.
Efficience 2.8. It says, for by grace you have been saved through faith. That is not
of your works. It is a gift of God. It is not of your works, but the gift of God and
what made that possible is the faith. What we use to purchase it is just placing our
faith and believing in what has been done and then we receive. Praise God. Because it's
freely given. What we do is that we don't attach any cost to it. We just freely receive
that which has been given to us. And it means that everything that we have, everything we
have, the spirit also which has been promised, we receive freely. We receive freely. Let's
look at Galatians 2, establishing that by the hearing of faith, not by works that we
receive. Galatians 3. Galatians 3. We look at Galatians 3.2. 2, 3, 2, 3. Yeah. So this
only I want to learn from you. Did you receive the spirit by the works of the law or by the
hearing of faith? This is a question. Did you receive, this is a possible accent, did
you receive the spirit by the works of the law or by the hearing of faith? 2 and 3. It
says, are you foolish? Are you so foolish? Are you so foolish? Having begun in the spirit,
are you now being made perfect by the flesh? 5. Just jump to 5. Yeah. So it says, therefore,
he also supplies the spirit to you and works miracles among you. Does he do it by the works
of the law or by the hearing of faith? Then let's jump to 14. Okay. It says, but that
the blessing of Abraham might come upon the Gentiles in Christ Jesus, that we might receive
the promise of the spirit through faith. Note that the premise by which we do it is through
faith, through faith. You see the hearing of faith, we hear it and faith is that currency
that plugs us into the identity that we now have in Christ Jesus. It is not what, it's
not the things that you are able to do. And mind you, how much can you do in your own
physical strength and ability? Note that it's by his help, we're able to do and do well.
Praise God. It's not by our own and we can be very, we can plot, craft, compute. Note
that it's not by works we receive, what we receive is by the hearing of faith. And Paul
greatly emphasizes that the spirit is a gift and the result of all of that is what Christ
has fulfilled by the law or of the law. Praise God. And he establishes that and note that
he says, every one of us is included. It's not to a certain group of people. So it means
that it's not, there's no, Romans talks about, there's no class, there's no gender, there's
no class. Everybody is able to receive that thing that is given freely to all of them.
And speaking about the promise fulfilled means that there was a promise and there's a fulfillment
of the promise and Christ is the one that fulfills it. Let's see Ephesians 1, Ephesians
1, let's see, let's see that 1.13. It says, in him, and you'll notice that he keeps using
in him, in him, in him, in him. There's nowhere else but in him. It says, in him, you also
trusted after you've heard the word of truth. Praise God. After you've heard the word of
truth, the gospel of your salvation, in whom also you have believed, you are sealed with
the Holy Spirit of promise. Who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of
the purchase possession to the praise of his glory? Praise God. It says the guarantee.
Who is the guarantee? And we say it is the Holy Spirit of promise. We're sealed with
the Holy Spirit of promise. It says the guarantee and that word guarantee is a word that we're
kind of familiar with because the Greek word there in English, in the word there means
deposit, down payment, N.S. They call it N.S. money. Praise God. They call it N.S. money.
And most of us, if you've been around here, I think for most of us, you know, back in
our countries, we don't even know what deposit is because our parents, if you stay in your
parents' houses, they're not dealing with deposit. But when you come to the island,
when we came to the island, newly, I think it was the house I got, the guy just took
me to the place and I was the one that said, for your troubles, take 50 tele, for your
troubles. And 50 tele was a big money back then. Back then, in 2013, it was, it was,
in those years, 50 tele was a big money. So I said, for your troubles, take 50 tele. That
was then. But now, you don't, it doesn't work that way. It doesn't work that way. It's
almost like the money, the house rent. And I don't want to talk too much because people
are looking at me like, what are you talking about? Yeah, you came in the time where things
have changed. This is the new. Praise God. Praise God. Praise God. But what it means
here is that, you know, when you go and you see a house, because everybody's looking for
that house, I think the people that do real estate or the agents will know this very well.
Because there are a lot of people that can come and then you will not find the house.
So you have to give something to show the landlord that you are serious about it. Because
some people is all talk and no show. Praise God. So let it not be like you are like one
of those people that came around and they are, you keep a house and then later on the
person says, sorry, sorry, I, I got something better. Or they will never even tell you like
that. They'll say, sorry, we don't want the house anymore. Meanwhile, they have gotten
somewhere else. Praise God. So to show that the person is serious, the person that's wanting
the house or the place is serious, you give a certain amount of money and we're familiar
with that. The same way you do that is the same way God himself gives us a spirit as
a down payment. Praise God. The spirit that we have is a down payment. And that is not,
it makes us confident that if he has something of his with you, he's not going to leave
you. He's not leaving. In fact, he has not left you. Praise God. Because he has something,
you know, the way you give, you know, your money is with the landlord. You cannot run
away. You cannot decide to change your mind. And some landlords, even when you change your
mind, they will take part of the money for making them think that you are serious when
you are not serious. And some landlords, if they get a better deal, maybe your own was
three 50, they found 400 or 450. They will keep your money for you and tell you, sorry,
my friend, my friend, sorry. And then you have to now, the set still continues for you.
Praise God. We know that that's what, at the human level, that's what we do. We're not
truthful. We're not honest. That's the nature. But in Christ, it's very different. With God,
it's very different. Because he bought us with a price, he secures his investment. He's
not thinking he doesn't run losses. Praise God. And the same way he does his own bargain,
and he makes sure that he sets it up in such a way that you must just be mindless to lose.
Praise God. You must you must not be paying you will not pay attention to miss out on
what exactly he has done. Reminding us that what he has done is fool and need another
we talk about the house down payment, you're given part of the actual payment, right? Note,
but for him, he gave us the full thing. So it's not as you can't compare what we do to
what he has done. Praise God. Because when he does something, he does it in full. I said,
it's not rendering your salvation is no rendering rendering. Then when you now get it completely,
it's now 100%. Then you now see you have it. Because it's not even something physical that
you can see. Some of us we wish it was like that on your forehead, you'll be seeing yourself
to check. Let me check. I think I did something that's gone back 20%. You know, we can we
can be we can we can actually, sometimes we think things funny in our mind that is inconsistent
with what the Word of God says. Because you you just need to converse with somebody that
is a believer and then you'll be wondering what are they reading? We have been there.
You know, when you when you come and then you are now reading, you now look stupid.
Like how on earth did I read this thing wrong? That's because of that's because most of the
times we just superimpose, we just infuse what we thought was what it was. Praise God.
And that's why teaching helps us to recalibrate. Understand, because it really will affect
the way we do things. If we thought wrongly, our lives will be moving in the wrong direction.
So what Christ has done for us and what the the Spirit of God that we have guarantees
both on the part of the fact that what he has promised he will deliver and what he promised
he has already delivered. Because if somebody delivers on his promise, you don't doubt whatever
other promises that they will make to you. Praise God. Because you know that this person
has a track record to the song. He has a track record of keeping his word. Means that his
commitment to us is on is not hinged on any he stays committed and he stays true to us.
So his spirit is not temporal. His spirit doesn't come and go. And then the Old Testament
where it can come upon you then later on you'll be looking for it. Like you got lost. So you
don't you don't even say things like take not your spirit from me. Because that's not
where we are. Praise God. That was sometime in the past. But you want to be working in
what we have right here and right now. So it means that his intention for us is solid.
He's not changing. He's not going back on his word because he keeps his true to his
word. So the spirit doesn't just dwell in us. Because yes some of us will say yeah spirit
dwells in us. But note that the spirit has a work that he does in us. The spirit has
a work that he does in us. And that work as I've said earlier is a work of transformation.
Is a work of transformation. Is a work of equipping. And it's to the end that we are
manifesting the character of Christ. It's to the end that we are living like our father
because he has given us the person to empower us to do that which he has said that that
which he wants to see may manifest here on earth. Praise God. So let's look at 2 Corinthians
1 19 to 22. 2 Corinthians 1 19. It says for the son of God. Okay thank you. For the son
of God Jesus Christ who was preached among you by us by me Silvanus and Timothy was not
yes and no. But in him look at the in him was yes 20 for all the promises of God in
him are yes and in him amen. To the glory of God through us. 21. Now he who establishes
us with you in Christ has anointed us as anointed now him who establishes us with you in Christ
and has anointed us as God. 22. Who also has sealed us the word that we sealed us and given
us the spirit the spirit in our hearts as a guarantee we see the same word as before
given as a seal as a guarantee. I want you to go back to day 21. Using the word establish
establishes that word we'll see it again in in Romans 15 8 that word also means to confirm
that word also means to bring to pass that word also means to make true we'll see that
we'll see that very shortly I've explained that before so it means that what he has guaranteed
what he has stamped what he has confirmed he's going to do means that we're not in doubt
of what he's going to do let's look at Romans 15 verse 8 I'll just read very quickly says
now I see that Jesus Christ has become a servant of the circumcision for the truth of God to
confirm that word confirm establish to bring to pass to make true the promises made to
the fathers promises made to the fathers mean that this was promised to the father and it
was fulfilled remember we said Christ is a fulfillment of that which was that was promised
his burial his death his resurrection so means that Christ embodies all of that promise and
then he's the one that is confirming it and confirming them and he had confirmed them
through what he had done in the physical that is death barrier and his resurrection and
I want us to see where I was setting parts of the scripture where that promise was made
and I just want us to do just two so we'll see Ezekiel 36 yes I just want us to this
Ezekiel 36 there's 24 to 28 and then jewel to 28 32 but that's for us to read let's
just write it down for us to read but we'll just focus on Ezekiel 26 and 27 but I'll read
I'll come I'll come again Ezekiel 36 24 to 28 and jewel to 28 to 32 so I'll just read
Ezekiel 36 26 to 27 it says I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you
I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh 27 I will
put my spirit within you and cause you to walk in my status and you will keep my commandments
and do them praise God and remember when we read that was first John five verse three
he says his instructions are not boredom some right instruction is not not again why now
again are we doing this today his instructions are not boredom some but that's because there's
a change he says a heart of stone a heart of stone would be a heart that is not responsive
praise God and a heart of flesh know that I mean we know that your heart is not stone
the one the physical one that you have you know if it's stone there will be a problem
because you know the main responsibility of it is to spread for blood move and then if
it's now you know stone means that is rigid you know some people no matter what you do
they can't move when they say you they are not they don't move and when they are not
God do praise God so means that the new heart and new spirit will chain the responsive will
make the person responsive because he's the one that is doing the work he says I will
I will I will not not it's not we that is doing it is him that is doing it praise God
and this is Ezekiel saying something that wasn't a norm in his day and his age you know the
example I just gave about how back then you know when I was giving the guy 50 TL and telling
him thank you I didn't know that there will be a time where the whole rent is what you
give to the agent I didn't I didn't if someone had told me I'll say come on how can we get
there somebody that I even it was out of my own this and I even told you the guy did not
even ask for it I just but who knew that there was going to be a system in fact yeah yeah
actually that was back then actually what will happen is that the landlord will tell
you thank you for bringing the person because houses were there and people are not even
looking in fact how would they know if the agent didn't say that there's a house but
now there's connection on whatsapp group everything you can some people even get and the other
person will get what they get like several ten people will get one house and then they
will not be cutting it into bits and things have really moved things are really so know
that you know when when you are in the past and somebody is telling you of something that
will be happening you know you you can be in denial because if you are if you can't
see it you can't believe it praise god if someone like to explain to you say this is
the system they're going to use and then be collecting it you'll be like let them stop
that thing that is it will not work in fact you because you know what is working you know
that that one will not work but same way Joe was talking about something that the people
of his time and his age it wasn't a reality to them praise god it wasn't a reality to
them so it means that people will just be hearing that say okay we're looking forward
to the looking forward to the time when this will be a possibility praise god and know
that Ezekiel was saying these things not of his own you know if you if you think like
if i sit down at my house and think about okay there will be a time you know everybody
is waiting for me or waiting for when i say to happen because if i put a timeline to it
it will be when it passes and then nothing happens we now know that it was just i was
just pulling but Ezekiel makes a statement because it's not him or the prophet is prophesying
praise god the prophet is prophesying of what god is going to do praise god and it's not
just Ezekiel Joel makes the same prophecy but not with the depth that Ezekiel's prophecy
comes and and jewels on i will just read jewel 228 it says and it shall come to pass therefore
that i will pour out my spirit on all flesh Ezekiel's own is i will put within i'll put
my spirit within you when you pour something and when you put you know they are two different
when you drink water you pour water not the same it's not the same thing praise god not
the same thing so and we see that even is and by the way understand that the first is
there and the second because we know that there's the indwelling i think those of us
that are familiar or those of us have been around any say this has been taught but i'm
doing this and explaining so that we will follow know that there's the indwelling that
we experience as a result of what christ has done before christ had died buried and what
usually will happen is that it comes upon and people prophesy praise god people prophesy
for it to be that we now have a time where his spirit now resides in us certain things
have to have been done and that is what that's the promise that christ came to fulfill praise
god that's the promise that's what he came to accomplish because in his accompli in him
accomplishing those things we now have we're not now like them in the past we are now in
a time and in the season where you believe and you receive his life and it resides in
you and then out of that you are able to birth forth you are able to prophesy you're able
to do the activities of the spirit and and acts two we know that on the day of pentagos
we see peter also clarifies and makes reference to the fulfillment of the prophecy that we
see in joe so acts two the whole thing is acts two sixteen to twenty one acts two sixteen
to twenty one i want you to read that all right we will not take the long i just want
us to start from just 16 we'll do 16 and 17 and then 33 so 16 says but this is what was
spoken by the prophet jewel that is what we read that's what we read prophet and please
sometime when you read your bible you think that you know one prophet said it this year
and then the other prophet now sees it happen next year that's not how it is if you in fact
if you look at the space between jewel the book of jewel and then the book of acts it
will give you an idea but it's not even it's not even accurate to give you an idea that
a lot of things that happened before we got to that part so 17 says and it shall come
to pass in the last day says god that i will pour out my spirit on all flesh your sons
and daughters shall prophesy and your children your young men shall see visions and your
old men shall dream dreams so just just go to 33 33 and this is peter speaking says therefore
be exalted to the right hand of god and having received from the father the promise of the
spirit he poured out this which you now see and hear and this speaking about what happened
on the day of pentacles praise god so it means that what the people what they they saw and
they heard is a fulfillment of the prophecy of jewel praise god the fulfillment of the
prophecy of jewel and we know that before that one is fulfilled there's also the promise
of the spirit of god in dwelling the believer praise god so that that had been fulfilled
for this to have been fulfilled praise god that had to have been fulfilled for this to
have been fulfilled so know that the prophecy in jewel is not external praise god the prophecy
in jewel i'm sorry ezekiel is not external the prophecy in ezekiel is not external because
it's not the and when we say external it's not the external outpouring that that results
in manifestations that you can see but the root of it is the indwelling right of the
spirit indwelling of christ and the believer praise god and that's that was what ezekiel's
prophecy was anchored on that now the spirit of man god's spirit will be one with man praise
god that god's spirit will be one with man and as we said god promised and he kept his
word and we now can say that we are the permanent dwelling place of a spirit praise god we are
the permanent dwelling place of the spirit and and that truth in itself should shape
the way we carry ourselves the way we look at ourselves the way we think of ourselves
the way we identify ourselves the way we the nature that understanding of his nature and
it will enable us to actually live a life that is consistent with our identity as believers
praise god because if if you if you doubt this you will have struggle if you doubt this
you will struggle to leave out the reality that you have already if you doubt this you
will just be outside the door and watching what is going on here praise god i know that
as i said it is free it doesn't cost you anything what it will cost you is your ego your pride
those things that yeah you just let it go and then you have you receive the life of
god praise god and i i when we started this and i was talking about lonely i just remembered
it and then i remember that in john 16 god himself was saying jesus himself was saying
that that yes he will not be without anybody but he knows that he's not alone and if you
are here and you are not sure or you know that you feel this sense of loneliness feel
the sense of yeah i have friends but they are still strangers to me or i have family
and by the way i'm imagining how someone will have a physical family but it happens but
you have a physical family but you're still distant from them but the good thing about
what god calls us to is that we have a spiritual family a family that transcends the physical
praise god a family that you can leave your country and you're somewhere in another part
of the world and you can look at someone and call them brother look at someone and call
them sister and it's true it's not you know just the typical one way people say bro bro
bro that's not that's not it you you you know when you say something and it's not a cliche
you see something you call the person my brother my sister and you mean it because you have
something in common you have the same spirit that resides in them in you praise god that
is something powerful and that should shift or that should make you see yourself differently
and if you are feeling lonely the very quick cure for that will spend time with god's word
just read god's word as his communication to you read it and see parts of it where he
tells you that he will never leave you in a forsaken and even as we said spend time
to do what his will is which is give thanks for the things that you know you do have praise
god and let the things that you don't have sort themselves out on the way praise god
because whether you like it or not there's going to be something you don't have that
will get you worried but what you want to do is because you have control of what to
say put your mind on what to fix your heart on what to fix your thought on what to fix
your gaze on and we fix our gazes on things that the songwriter says slowly shape and
and he says the things of this world grow strangely deep in the light of his glory and
grace means that when you're looking at him when your faith because you're you're looking
at him in faith in the wilderness when he did when moses did the bronson sapin what
they needed to do was to look and leave praise god they looked and they were here and the
same way the same imagery the same is what you want to do look to him that gives you
that life eternal that life that is abundant that life that is not just the bios they're
living every day you know some people are just leaving they're living like they're
just living from today tomorrow they're just waiting for what life is going to do to them
praise god but as believers we're leaving in excitement we're leaving rejoicing we're
living with the joy that we can't explain i do you see christ is my firm foundation
says he says he says i've got peace it doesn't make sense but you have something that is
regardless of your external circumstances it just comes from within that is because
there's something in you that produces that peace that you cannot explain you can't even
tell someone the person is like you know some people see people see see your smiling
let me see don't you have problems actually like don't you have problems like like what
they are going through like are you not in the same like this economy like are you not
feeling the heat of the economy praise god we are feeling the heat of economy but we
choose to channel our attention to what we know will change us praise god what we know
because the economy will keep going the way it is praise god but we know that regardless
of what is happening to the economy our faith should be rock solid on the one whose economy
stays stand sure praise god so that should give you confidence that should not allow
you to be somebody you know it's we have a victory in him we don't look we don't move
around like people that beat down people that life has done them over and then there's nothing
there's nothing you don't there's there's no hope there's no you we have a hope because
we have something that money cannot buy we have something that was freely given to us
and we freely receive that thing and we're working in the light of what we have received
we're working in that identity we're working in that reality and i want you to just rise
up and just open your mouth and thank god just say father i thank you for what it is you've done
i walk i walk i walk in the reality of my identity just open your mouth and say father thank you
thank you for listening to today's sermon your journey matters to us let's keep walking together
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