WEBVTT 00:00:02.060 --> 00:00:07.580 Hi there. Welcome to NECF. We're excited to share 00:00:07.580 --> 00:00:10.699 today's message with you. Don't go anywhere. 00:00:10.800 --> 00:00:14.500 Stay with us till the end for some valuable resources 00:00:14.500 --> 00:00:18.339 to enrich your faith. Here's today's sermon. 00:00:22.480 --> 00:00:25.579 The title of this message, straight up, is actually 00:00:25.579 --> 00:00:30.609 The Believer's Authority in Christ. This message 00:00:30.609 --> 00:00:35.090 is actually a continuation of our union with 00:00:35.090 --> 00:00:37.109 Christ, but we are keeping it on a different 00:00:37.109 --> 00:00:39.770 title, right? So it should be the believer's 00:00:39.770 --> 00:00:42.549 authority in Christ. But I'm going to say some 00:00:42.549 --> 00:00:46.009 things from where we stopped, right? Where we 00:00:46.009 --> 00:00:50.070 stopped on our union with Christ, where we stopped. 00:00:50.149 --> 00:00:53.890 I will say some things to build up on that. Then 00:00:53.890 --> 00:00:58.109 we get into the believer's authority in Christ. 00:00:59.380 --> 00:01:02.100 Okay, so if you listen to the union with Christ, 00:01:02.140 --> 00:01:04.599 there's a continuation of it, but we have a title, 00:01:04.680 --> 00:01:06.819 a different title, which is the believer's authority 00:01:06.819 --> 00:01:10.019 in Christ. And it's intentionally titled like 00:01:10.019 --> 00:01:12.959 that. I'm not trying to try to come up with a 00:01:12.959 --> 00:01:15.459 different title from, no, no, no. There's a reason 00:01:15.459 --> 00:01:21.400 why I titled it the believer's authority in Christ. 00:01:21.939 --> 00:01:24.739 In Christ. There's a reason for that. And as 00:01:24.739 --> 00:01:28.379 the teaching goes, we will be able to observe. 00:01:29.049 --> 00:01:33.409 Why that is. Now let's go to Philemon 6 verse 00:01:33.409 --> 00:01:37.269 8. Let's start with that. The believer's authority 00:01:37.269 --> 00:01:54.209 in Christ. Philemon 6 from verse 8. Sorry, Philemon 00:01:54.209 --> 00:01:59.280 chapter 6. chapter 1, then from verse 6 to 8, 00:01:59.340 --> 00:02:02.760 rather. Or we can read from verse 1. Let's read 00:02:02.760 --> 00:02:04.420 from verse 1 because we didn't have a Bible reading 00:02:04.420 --> 00:02:07.719 this morning. So we'll read from verse 1. Paul, 00:02:07.780 --> 00:02:11.639 a prisoner for Christ, and Timothy, our brother. 00:02:11.819 --> 00:02:14.419 So fill him on from verse 1. We'll go to 6 and 00:02:14.419 --> 00:02:18.400 8. Paul, a prisoner for Christ, and Timothy, 00:02:18.460 --> 00:02:21.520 our brother. So fill him on, our beloved fellow 00:02:21.520 --> 00:02:25.849 worker. and Afia, our sister, and Akipos, our 00:02:25.849 --> 00:02:28.550 fellow soldier, and the church in your house. 00:02:28.909 --> 00:02:32.250 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and 00:02:32.250 --> 00:02:35.250 the Lord Jesus Christ. I thank my God always 00:02:35.250 --> 00:02:37.490 when I remember you in my prayers because I hear 00:02:37.490 --> 00:02:40.469 of your love and of the faith that you have towards 00:02:40.469 --> 00:02:44.129 the Lord Jesus and for all the saints. And I 00:02:44.129 --> 00:02:47.659 pray that the sharing... of your faith may become 00:02:47.659 --> 00:02:51.080 effective, right, for full knowledge of every 00:02:51.080 --> 00:02:54.680 good thing that is in us for the sake of Christ. 00:02:54.939 --> 00:02:58.719 For I have derived more joy and comfort from 00:02:58.719 --> 00:03:01.319 your love, my brother, because the hearts of 00:03:01.319 --> 00:03:05.460 the saints have been refreshed through you. That's 00:03:05.460 --> 00:03:08.360 it. Accordingly, though I am bold enough in Christ 00:03:08.360 --> 00:03:10.900 to command you to do what is required, yet for 00:03:10.900 --> 00:03:15.680 love's sake, I prefer to appeal to you. I, Paul, 00:03:15.759 --> 00:03:18.740 an old man and now a prisoner also for Christ. 00:03:18.900 --> 00:03:22.500 I appeal to you for my child, Onesimus, whose 00:03:22.500 --> 00:03:26.000 father I became in my imprisonment. Formerly 00:03:26.000 --> 00:03:30.020 he was useless to me, but now he is indeed useful 00:03:30.020 --> 00:03:33.879 to you and to me. I am sending him back to you, 00:03:33.919 --> 00:03:39.479 sending my very heart. Verse 13. I would have 00:03:39.479 --> 00:03:42.360 been glad. to keep him with me in order that 00:03:42.360 --> 00:03:45.520 he might serve me on your behalf during my imprisonment 00:03:45.520 --> 00:03:49.759 for the gospel. But I prefer to do nothing without 00:03:49.759 --> 00:03:52.139 your consent in order that your goodness might 00:03:52.139 --> 00:03:56.219 not be by compulsion, but of your own accord. 00:03:56.800 --> 00:04:00.340 For this, perhaps, is why he was parted from 00:04:00.340 --> 00:04:03.719 you for a while. that you might have him back 00:04:03.719 --> 00:04:06.039 forever, no longer as a bondservant, but more 00:04:06.039 --> 00:04:09.479 than a bondservant, a beloved brother, especially 00:04:09.479 --> 00:04:12.960 to me, but now much more to you, both in the 00:04:12.960 --> 00:04:15.259 flesh and in the Lord. So if you consider me 00:04:15.259 --> 00:04:18.439 your partner, receive him as you would receive 00:04:18.439 --> 00:04:21.899 me. And if I have wronged you at all or owes 00:04:21.899 --> 00:04:24.420 you anything, if I have wronged you at all or 00:04:24.420 --> 00:04:26.740 owes you anything, charge that to my account. 00:04:26.879 --> 00:04:30.040 I, Paul, write this with my own hand. I will 00:04:30.040 --> 00:04:34.040 repay it. to say nothing of your owing me as 00:04:34.040 --> 00:04:37.000 even your own self. Yes, brother, I want some 00:04:37.000 --> 00:04:39.500 benefit from you in the Lord. Refresh my heart 00:04:39.500 --> 00:04:43.279 in Christ. Verse 21. Confident of your obedience, 00:04:43.459 --> 00:04:46.240 I write to you, knowing that you will do even 00:04:46.240 --> 00:04:50.019 more than I say. At the same time, prepare a 00:04:50.019 --> 00:04:51.899 guest room for me, for I am hoping that through 00:04:51.899 --> 00:04:54.079 your prayers I will be graciously given to you. 00:04:54.420 --> 00:04:57.139 I paraphrase my fellow prisoner in Christ Jesus, 00:04:57.279 --> 00:05:10.030 sending greetings to you. And so do Mark. So 00:05:10.030 --> 00:05:13.589 where do we want to pay attention to in Philemon, 00:05:13.730 --> 00:05:17.329 right? Where we want to pay attention to is actually 00:05:17.329 --> 00:05:22.970 the aspects, verse 4 to 6. It said, I thank God 00:05:22.970 --> 00:05:25.550 always when I remember you in my prayers because 00:05:25.550 --> 00:05:30.269 I hear of your love and of your faith. that you 00:05:30.269 --> 00:05:33.910 have towards the Lord Jesus and for the saints. 00:05:34.050 --> 00:05:36.110 Now, this is similar to Ephesians, right? If 00:05:36.110 --> 00:05:38.629 you are very conversant with Ephesians 1, since 00:05:38.629 --> 00:05:39.870 the head of your love and your faith towards 00:05:39.870 --> 00:05:42.829 the saints, I do not cease to give thanks to 00:05:42.829 --> 00:05:44.230 you, remembering in my prayers that the Father 00:05:44.230 --> 00:05:46.389 of our Lord Jesus Christ, the God of our Lord 00:05:46.389 --> 00:05:48.790 Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, right? That 00:05:48.790 --> 00:05:51.689 is similar to this, right? That is Ephesians 00:05:51.689 --> 00:05:57.290 1 from verse 16. So, it's talking about someone 00:05:57.290 --> 00:06:01.189 who is in faith. right? Has faith towards the 00:06:01.189 --> 00:06:03.810 Lord Jesus Christ, right? And love towards the 00:06:03.810 --> 00:06:08.329 saints. Now, he's saying something immediately 00:06:08.329 --> 00:06:12.310 after that. He said that, I pray that the sharing 00:06:12.310 --> 00:06:16.110 of your faith may become effective. Can you give 00:06:16.110 --> 00:06:18.230 me KJV? Don't use ESV, please. You can stay on 00:06:18.230 --> 00:06:20.529 KJV. I would like to have the variant. Just give 00:06:20.529 --> 00:06:22.930 me KJV. So that the communication of thy faith 00:06:22.930 --> 00:06:27.100 may become effectual by acknowledging of every 00:06:27.100 --> 00:06:31.319 good thing which is in you in Christ Jesus. So 00:06:31.319 --> 00:06:33.920 first, there are people, I mean, Philemon is 00:06:33.920 --> 00:06:36.379 someone who has faith, right? He's talking, he's 00:06:36.379 --> 00:06:38.160 writing to someone, right? Paul is writing to 00:06:38.160 --> 00:06:40.279 Philemon, right? So he's saying that you have 00:06:40.279 --> 00:06:43.720 faith. You have faith in Christ. Your love towards 00:06:43.720 --> 00:06:46.800 the saints is also something that I acknowledge. 00:06:47.279 --> 00:06:51.579 But he not added something to it. He added that 00:06:51.579 --> 00:06:54.889 the communication, it means the sharing. Right? 00:06:54.930 --> 00:06:58.430 That word communication is the word, the sharing, 00:06:58.750 --> 00:07:03.250 the partnership of the faiths of Philemon. Right? 00:07:03.269 --> 00:07:06.110 So you can use that and write that, that that 00:07:06.110 --> 00:07:10.990 word also means partnership. That word also means 00:07:10.990 --> 00:07:14.009 partnership, it also means conversation of faiths. 00:07:16.170 --> 00:07:19.850 The word communication is also meaning the walking 00:07:19.850 --> 00:07:23.970 out of your faiths. So he acknowledges that Philemon 00:07:23.970 --> 00:07:28.810 has faith. And he said that this faith, right? 00:07:29.209 --> 00:07:33.670 If you're working of it out, it will take through 00:07:33.670 --> 00:07:36.170 something for it to be effective. So he said 00:07:36.170 --> 00:07:38.750 the communication of your faith may become effectual 00:07:38.750 --> 00:07:41.550 by acknowledging every good thing that is in 00:07:41.550 --> 00:07:44.850 your soul. He has faith, but he said Philemon's 00:07:44.850 --> 00:07:49.189 faith will become more effective when he is able 00:07:49.189 --> 00:07:53.490 to understand. acknowledging every good thing 00:07:53.490 --> 00:07:59.290 that he has in Christ Jesus. So we can say that 00:07:59.290 --> 00:08:03.290 a believer's faith, because we stopped on faith 00:08:03.290 --> 00:08:06.550 as an identity of the believer in the last teaching, 00:08:06.689 --> 00:08:09.410 right? We said the believers are called faithful, 00:08:09.569 --> 00:08:12.550 right? Paul will write and we'll call some people 00:08:12.550 --> 00:08:15.470 faithful servants, right? Fellow prisoners, faithful 00:08:15.470 --> 00:08:18.899 believers. So the believers are faithful. Now, 00:08:19.000 --> 00:08:22.519 that faith that we have can only become effective, 00:08:22.879 --> 00:08:26.000 right? Or becomes more effective when we know 00:08:26.000 --> 00:08:30.000 acknowledgement, all that is ours in Christ. 00:08:32.019 --> 00:08:35.279 So the sharing of faith, your partnership, also 00:08:35.279 --> 00:08:37.720 your partnership with each other, right? So we 00:08:37.720 --> 00:08:40.059 partner with each other in faith. We partner 00:08:40.059 --> 00:08:43.779 with each other in the kingdom of God, right? 00:08:43.840 --> 00:08:45.519 We partner with each other. We work together 00:08:45.519 --> 00:08:49.360 for the kingdom, in the kingdom. Now that will 00:08:49.360 --> 00:08:54.000 become effective when all of us, putting it in 00:08:54.000 --> 00:08:58.539 our context now, we know what is our own in Christ. 00:08:58.740 --> 00:09:06.259 What belongs to the believer in Christ. So faith, 00:09:06.320 --> 00:09:10.639 right, works according to the knowledge of the 00:09:10.639 --> 00:09:13.919 believer. Faith works according to the knowledge 00:09:13.919 --> 00:09:19.509 of the believer. Faith works according to the 00:09:19.509 --> 00:09:24.629 knowledge of the believer. The believer receives 00:09:24.629 --> 00:09:29.509 knowledge through the scriptures. Okay? Faith 00:09:29.509 --> 00:09:31.169 works according to the knowledge of the believer 00:09:31.169 --> 00:09:34.570 and the believer receives knowledge through the 00:09:34.570 --> 00:09:42.799 scriptures. So, it therefore means It therefore 00:09:42.799 --> 00:09:46.700 means that if a believer receives a word or receives 00:09:46.700 --> 00:09:49.940 a script or picks a scripture and is not well 00:09:49.940 --> 00:09:52.940 interpreted, the believer's faith will not be 00:09:52.940 --> 00:09:57.179 effectual. Can we say that? That when a believer 00:09:57.179 --> 00:10:01.639 is taught the scripture wrongly, he will not 00:10:01.639 --> 00:10:04.220 be effective in his faith. Can we say that? Yes. 00:10:04.779 --> 00:10:09.960 So the effectiveness therefore comes from accurately 00:10:09.960 --> 00:10:14.379 teaching the scripture. The effectiveness of 00:10:14.379 --> 00:10:20.000 your faith would come when the scripture is... 00:10:20.000 --> 00:10:22.480 So acknowledging all that is yours in Christ 00:10:22.480 --> 00:10:26.379 comes by teaching. It's not like you open and 00:10:26.379 --> 00:10:28.679 you say, ah, I've seen this one, I convert it, 00:10:28.740 --> 00:10:31.720 I receive it. What if what the scripture is saying 00:10:31.720 --> 00:10:35.019 there is not for you to be converted? So it means 00:10:35.019 --> 00:10:36.639 that you will not be effective. But when there's 00:10:36.639 --> 00:10:41.059 a teacher that explains the scripture, then you 00:10:41.059 --> 00:10:45.519 are able... To know what is yours in Christ. 00:10:45.919 --> 00:10:48.600 Hallelujah. So that is what we have been doing 00:10:48.600 --> 00:10:50.440 actually in this church from beginning of this 00:10:50.440 --> 00:10:53.659 year. Because we want you to manifest the kingdom 00:10:53.659 --> 00:10:57.059 of God. Hallelujah. We want you to manifest the 00:10:57.059 --> 00:11:00.240 kingdom of God very well. So we are paying attention 00:11:00.240 --> 00:11:03.580 as pastors to explain to you that this is who 00:11:03.580 --> 00:11:07.019 you are. This is what you have. This is what 00:11:07.019 --> 00:11:12.490 you can do. Or this is what you have to do. So 00:11:12.490 --> 00:11:15.490 acknowledging every of the good things you have 00:11:15.490 --> 00:11:19.049 in Christ comes by the accurate teaching of the 00:11:19.049 --> 00:11:21.129 scripture. And that is why this teaching is coming 00:11:21.129 --> 00:11:25.029 to say the believer's authority in Christ. Because 00:11:25.029 --> 00:11:30.250 the believer has an authority in Christ. If you 00:11:30.250 --> 00:11:33.409 don't know it, you would sit down, right? It's 00:11:33.409 --> 00:11:37.029 not an excuse, right? For you, how can I put 00:11:37.029 --> 00:11:41.230 it? You're not knowing it, right? would definitely 00:11:41.230 --> 00:11:44.250 mean that you will not be different from someone 00:11:44.250 --> 00:11:46.769 who does not have it. So if you have an authority, 00:11:47.070 --> 00:11:49.230 you don't know that you have the authority, you 00:11:49.230 --> 00:11:50.909 will not be different from the person who doesn't 00:11:50.909 --> 00:11:53.009 have it. So it means that, let's say, you are 00:11:53.009 --> 00:11:55.090 a prince. You are a prince of a particular kingdom 00:11:55.090 --> 00:11:58.409 you never knew, right? And we find you in our 00:11:58.409 --> 00:12:01.450 midst, right? Or we find you in the society. 00:12:02.409 --> 00:12:06.409 We just treat you anyhow. Right? We don't give 00:12:06.409 --> 00:12:08.470 you that. Whatever is accorded to that prince 00:12:08.470 --> 00:12:10.549 of that kingdom, we probably would not even give 00:12:10.549 --> 00:12:13.309 it to you. But the moment you know, we will not 00:12:13.309 --> 00:12:16.649 just give it to you, you will begin to act. So 00:12:16.649 --> 00:12:19.970 the prince of any kingdom does not just receive 00:12:19.970 --> 00:12:24.610 honor from people. He acts out of honor and authority. 00:12:25.929 --> 00:12:28.809 So that is how the believer should be. Not that 00:12:28.809 --> 00:12:31.629 the devil will be scared of you. You too will 00:12:31.629 --> 00:12:34.360 be scared of the devil. All principalities and 00:12:34.360 --> 00:12:38.820 power acknowledge you as the child of God. Meanwhile, 00:12:38.899 --> 00:12:41.460 you, you are running away from that principalities 00:12:41.460 --> 00:12:44.360 and power. Means that you are not exercising 00:12:44.360 --> 00:12:46.899 your authority. You are the son of God. You are 00:12:46.899 --> 00:12:52.279 the child of God. You grow in God. And therefore, 00:12:52.460 --> 00:12:56.899 as you grow in God, as you grow in God, right? 00:12:57.789 --> 00:13:01.129 you are able to exercise authority. A believer 00:13:01.129 --> 00:13:04.970 is not called to be passive. You must know that. 00:13:05.070 --> 00:13:07.129 A believer is not called to be passive. I'm intentionally 00:13:07.129 --> 00:13:09.570 explaining this so that when we go to scriptures, 00:13:09.809 --> 00:13:12.490 you understand. A believer is not called to be 00:13:12.490 --> 00:13:17.370 passive. Like, like, like, like, you know, people 00:13:17.370 --> 00:13:20.990 can, I mean, kingdom of God can just reign around 00:13:20.990 --> 00:13:25.139 you. No, you are supposed to be active. That 00:13:25.139 --> 00:13:27.240 when you see things that are against the kingdom 00:13:27.240 --> 00:13:32.600 of God, you are able to rebuke them and put them 00:13:32.600 --> 00:13:38.340 under control. Hallelujah. So, you will become 00:13:38.340 --> 00:13:41.659 effective in your faith, right? When we are able 00:13:41.659 --> 00:13:46.860 to teach you to acknowledge the authority that 00:13:46.860 --> 00:13:50.000 you have in Christ. And in that authority, it 00:13:50.000 --> 00:13:53.559 is called for you to exercise it. You're supposed 00:13:53.559 --> 00:13:58.360 to exercise it. Now, you can write this down. 00:13:58.779 --> 00:14:01.539 When we look out, when we look out to the world, 00:14:01.679 --> 00:14:06.360 we see faith in Christ and we see ourselves. 00:14:08.419 --> 00:14:11.159 When we look into the world, right, we look out 00:14:11.159 --> 00:14:14.120 to the world, we see faith in Christ and we see 00:14:14.120 --> 00:14:19.210 ourselves in Christ. Right? So when we look to 00:14:19.210 --> 00:14:21.690 Christ, we see faith in him and we see ourselves. 00:14:21.830 --> 00:14:26.950 So we see Jesus exercising faith. And we see 00:14:26.950 --> 00:14:32.629 ourselves doing the same. Hebrews 12 verse 1. 00:14:34.169 --> 00:14:39.649 Hebrews 12 verse 1. Can you help me there? Hebrews 00:14:39.649 --> 00:15:11.440 12 verse 1. It says, Verse 2. at the right hand 00:15:11.440 --> 00:15:14.279 of the throne of God. Look at that word. He said, 00:15:14.379 --> 00:15:19.500 no, stay. Looking unto Jesus, the author and 00:15:19.500 --> 00:15:23.139 the finisher of our faith. What this simply means 00:15:23.139 --> 00:15:28.159 is that the circumference of the faith of the 00:15:28.159 --> 00:15:30.899 believer. I already said, the circumference of 00:15:30.899 --> 00:15:35.659 Christian faith is Christ. The circumference 00:15:35.659 --> 00:15:39.399 of Christian faith is Christ. Outside that is 00:15:39.399 --> 00:15:45.440 sin. Unbelief. Right? So, what we say we do as 00:15:45.440 --> 00:15:47.840 believers, the faith we have, the circumference 00:15:47.840 --> 00:15:51.820 of it, is Christ. So, anything outside Christ 00:15:51.820 --> 00:16:02.399 is sin. It's unbelief. So, it therefore means, 00:16:02.700 --> 00:16:08.279 right? It therefore means that Christ, we can 00:16:08.279 --> 00:16:12.190 say therefore that Christ gave us faith. We can 00:16:12.190 --> 00:16:15.009 say Christ gave us faith and we receive that 00:16:15.009 --> 00:16:20.330 faith. So we can say Christ gave us faith and 00:16:20.330 --> 00:16:23.070 we receive that faith. Now, let me add something. 00:16:24.690 --> 00:16:27.750 1 Corinthians 12 verse 9. 1 Corinthians 12 verse 00:16:27.750 --> 00:16:37.389 9. Is it to another by the same spirits, to another 00:16:37.389 --> 00:16:40.610 the gift of healing, by the same Spirit. Now, 00:16:40.629 --> 00:16:44.250 to another by, sorry, to another faith by the 00:16:44.250 --> 00:16:46.909 same Spirit, right, is not saying that some people 00:16:46.909 --> 00:16:49.549 have a special faith. This is the same faith, 00:16:49.809 --> 00:16:52.470 right, given expression as a manifestation of 00:16:52.470 --> 00:16:54.929 the things of the Spirit. So, we have already 00:16:54.929 --> 00:16:58.669 been told that all that is found here in 1 Corinthians 00:16:58.669 --> 00:17:02.590 12 is found in the believer. Do we agree on that? 00:17:03.250 --> 00:17:07.049 So, this faith can also be expressed by what? 00:17:07.519 --> 00:17:11.200 The believer. Because this faith is also found 00:17:11.200 --> 00:17:16.940 in the circumference of Christ. Do we get it? 00:17:17.079 --> 00:17:20.599 The gift of faith is also found in the circumference 00:17:20.599 --> 00:17:24.240 of Christ. Therefore, it's not like someone else 00:17:24.240 --> 00:17:28.140 would give expression to this faith and you as 00:17:28.140 --> 00:17:31.599 a believer cannot. Every believer can give expression 00:17:31.599 --> 00:17:34.460 to the gift. of faith, just like we can give 00:17:34.460 --> 00:17:36.220 expressions of speaking in tongues, prophesying, 00:17:36.420 --> 00:17:39.619 healing, and all of that. So every believer has 00:17:39.619 --> 00:17:42.599 a spirit of faith in them. Every believer has 00:17:42.599 --> 00:17:47.380 the spirit of Christ. Now, what about unbelievers? 00:17:47.740 --> 00:17:51.380 There's something we should consider today. What 00:17:51.380 --> 00:17:54.140 about people who have not believed, right? How 00:17:54.140 --> 00:17:57.140 about people who have not believed? What we do 00:17:57.140 --> 00:17:59.980 when we go for evangelism, right, for those who 00:17:59.980 --> 00:18:01.140 go for evangelism, let me tell you what you're 00:18:01.140 --> 00:18:05.079 doing. what you are doing is not to call out 00:18:05.079 --> 00:18:09.059 faith from the person. So when I come to you 00:18:09.059 --> 00:18:12.000 and I preach to you and I said, I preach the 00:18:12.000 --> 00:18:14.799 death, the resurrection, the burial and the resurrection 00:18:14.799 --> 00:18:16.559 of Christ to you, the death, burial and resurrection, 00:18:16.700 --> 00:18:20.480 Jesus died and rose again for your sins and he 00:18:20.480 --> 00:18:23.180 rose that he might give you eternal life, right? 00:18:24.480 --> 00:18:28.740 I'm not telling the person, I'm not trying to... 00:18:28.940 --> 00:18:31.339 Call faith out from the person. Because for an 00:18:31.339 --> 00:18:33.880 unbeliever, there is no faith inside. Are you 00:18:33.880 --> 00:18:36.079 getting it? So you are not calling faith out. 00:18:36.279 --> 00:18:38.960 What you are doing is that you are giving them 00:18:38.960 --> 00:18:41.519 faith. That's what we do when we go to preach. 00:18:41.740 --> 00:18:43.680 The message is the faith, right? You give them 00:18:43.680 --> 00:18:45.920 faith. That is why if you go to Acts chapter 00:18:45.920 --> 00:18:48.039 2. Let's go to Acts chapter 2. Let me show you. 00:18:48.400 --> 00:18:50.299 That after the gospel has been preached, some 00:18:50.299 --> 00:18:53.279 people still ask, what shall we do, right? To 00:18:53.279 --> 00:18:57.559 be saved. Because from them does not come belief. 00:18:58.539 --> 00:19:02.180 So you have to say that believe this message. 00:19:02.220 --> 00:19:04.779 You have offered that person faith. I give you 00:19:04.779 --> 00:19:06.480 faith by telling you to believe the message. 00:19:09.259 --> 00:19:18.859 Acts chapter 2. Acts chapter 2 from verse 36. 00:19:19.799 --> 00:19:23.339 It says, let all the house of Israel therefore 00:19:23.339 --> 00:19:26.440 know. for certain that God has made him both 00:19:26.440 --> 00:19:30.519 Lord and Christ, this Jesus, whom he was crucified. 00:19:31.339 --> 00:19:33.619 Now, when they heard this, they were caught in 00:19:33.619 --> 00:19:34.980 their hearts. Do you see what happened to them? 00:19:35.079 --> 00:19:38.500 They were caught in their hearts. They were caught 00:19:38.500 --> 00:19:40.960 in their hearts, but that's not faith yet. Now 00:19:40.960 --> 00:19:44.140 let's see. They were caught to their hearts and 00:19:44.140 --> 00:19:45.619 said to Peter and to the rest of the apostles, 00:19:45.980 --> 00:19:49.500 brothers, what shall we do? Did you see that 00:19:49.500 --> 00:19:54.000 question? They heard the message. So you cannot 00:19:54.000 --> 00:19:56.539 preach to somebody and say, I've preached the 00:19:56.539 --> 00:19:57.900 prayer and resurrection of Jesus to you. You 00:19:57.900 --> 00:19:59.680 have heard it, you have heard it. You will tell 00:19:59.680 --> 00:20:03.900 the person, believe it. That is offering the 00:20:03.900 --> 00:20:07.359 person faith. I'll show you from scriptures. 00:20:08.039 --> 00:20:09.660 So you don't just tell the person you have faith. 00:20:09.740 --> 00:20:12.259 It's not enough to preach it. You must offer 00:20:12.259 --> 00:20:15.460 it. What should I do? Believe this thing that 00:20:15.460 --> 00:20:19.680 I've told you and you will be saved. So what 00:20:19.680 --> 00:20:22.099 did he tell them? He said, Repent and be baptized, 00:20:22.440 --> 00:20:24.579 right? Every one of you in the name of Jesus 00:20:24.579 --> 00:20:27.180 Christ for the forgiveness of your sins and you 00:20:27.180 --> 00:20:31.220 will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. So 00:20:31.220 --> 00:20:33.839 he's telling them to believe. Believe this message 00:20:33.839 --> 00:20:36.440 that we have presented unto you and you will 00:20:36.440 --> 00:20:40.240 be saved. So when we go for evangelism, two things 00:20:40.240 --> 00:20:43.099 we do. We explain all Christ has done. Good. 00:20:43.359 --> 00:20:46.920 Second, we tell them to believe it. Because out 00:20:46.920 --> 00:20:49.259 from within an unbeliever cannot come faith, 00:20:49.380 --> 00:20:53.000 except a believer tells the person, believe this 00:20:53.000 --> 00:20:55.980 message of God. And when they believe, when they 00:20:55.980 --> 00:20:57.839 say, I believe, it means they receive that faith. 00:20:58.559 --> 00:21:00.720 So when an unbeliever believes, it means that 00:21:00.720 --> 00:21:02.799 they have received the faith you offered to them. 00:21:02.880 --> 00:21:05.220 They have received the faith. But when they reject, 00:21:05.359 --> 00:21:07.019 because they can reject the message, they can 00:21:07.019 --> 00:21:09.299 reject what you offer to them, then when they 00:21:09.299 --> 00:21:11.960 reject the gospel, then they stay in unbelief. 00:21:14.119 --> 00:21:21.430 Hallelujah. So therefore, one of the ways, right, 00:21:21.509 --> 00:21:24.690 coming back to the believer now, I just said 00:21:24.690 --> 00:21:26.730 that so that it will help us when we go to teach 00:21:26.730 --> 00:21:29.329 and we'll go to preach. Now, one of the ways 00:21:29.329 --> 00:21:35.430 a believer gives expression, right, to faith, 00:21:35.670 --> 00:21:38.369 right, one of the ways the believer gives expression 00:21:38.369 --> 00:21:41.549 to faith, one of the ways the believer walks 00:21:41.549 --> 00:21:47.200 out his faith is to exercise authority. One of 00:21:47.200 --> 00:21:50.359 the ways by which the believers express this 00:21:50.359 --> 00:21:55.220 faith, manifest this faith, is to exercise authority. 00:21:56.700 --> 00:22:00.259 So we're going to check this word authority. 00:22:00.460 --> 00:22:02.920 We're going to see how authority actually manifests 00:22:02.920 --> 00:22:06.099 in the scriptures or how authority has been explained. 00:22:06.839 --> 00:22:09.559 Because we read from that song, it says that 00:22:09.559 --> 00:22:11.339 there are kings, there are kingdoms, there are 00:22:11.339 --> 00:22:15.759 thrones. And the reality is they exist. There 00:22:15.759 --> 00:22:17.940 are thrones and there are kingdoms. There's a 00:22:17.940 --> 00:22:20.299 kingdom of darkness. The scriptures say, you 00:22:20.299 --> 00:22:22.799 have translated us from the kingdom of darkness 00:22:22.799 --> 00:22:27.299 into the kingdom of your beloved son, the kingdom 00:22:27.299 --> 00:22:31.380 of lights. So there are kingdoms. It also means 00:22:31.380 --> 00:22:35.019 that the devil also has an authority. That's 00:22:35.019 --> 00:22:38.480 what it means. He has an authority. So we need 00:22:38.480 --> 00:22:41.480 to learn what authority is. We need to learn 00:22:41.480 --> 00:22:44.779 what dominion is. So that we can dissociate authority 00:22:44.779 --> 00:22:47.519 of the Father, authority of Christ, from the 00:22:47.519 --> 00:22:50.680 authority of the King of Darkness. And you can 00:22:50.680 --> 00:22:54.059 know, as a believer, what you should exercise. 00:22:55.700 --> 00:22:58.579 Okay? So we can know as a believer what we should 00:22:58.579 --> 00:23:04.799 do. What we should do? Exercise. Right? Exercise. 00:23:05.240 --> 00:23:08.299 Now let's go to Genesis 1. Of course, you should 00:23:08.299 --> 00:23:10.420 know that when we are teaching, paying attention 00:23:10.420 --> 00:23:12.980 to this kind of a thing. this kind of a teaching, 00:23:13.220 --> 00:23:19.400 we will go to Genesis. Genesis 1, verse 18, 26, 00:23:20.079 --> 00:23:25.819 and so 28. And to rule over the day and over 00:23:25.819 --> 00:23:29.039 the night and to divide the light from darkness 00:23:29.039 --> 00:23:34.180 and God saw that it was good. Go to 26. And God 00:23:34.180 --> 00:23:36.480 said, let us make man in our own image and likeness 00:23:36.480 --> 00:23:40.140 and let him have dominion over the fish of the 00:23:40.140 --> 00:23:43.380 sea. and over the fire of the air and over the 00:23:43.380 --> 00:23:46.359 cattle and over all the herds and over every 00:23:46.359 --> 00:23:50.079 creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. 00:23:50.640 --> 00:23:52.500 Right? Over every creeping thing that does what? 00:23:52.720 --> 00:23:56.779 Creepeth upon the earth. Next one. And God blessed. 00:23:59.319 --> 00:24:02.039 And so God created man in his own image and in 00:24:02.039 --> 00:24:05.240 the image of God created him. Male and female 00:24:05.240 --> 00:24:08.559 he created he them. Verse 28. And God blessed 00:24:08.559 --> 00:24:25.900 them and said, Be fruitful. Now the word dominion 00:24:25.900 --> 00:24:28.539 here is actually the word radar. So write it 00:24:28.539 --> 00:24:31.579 down. The word dominion here is radar. It's actually 00:24:31.579 --> 00:24:37.180 the first exercise or the first expression of 00:24:37.180 --> 00:24:42.519 authority. So the word here is rather R -A -D 00:24:42.519 --> 00:24:51.099 -A. R -A -D -A. So it means to have authority 00:24:51.099 --> 00:24:53.279 over something, actually. That's what it means. 00:24:53.400 --> 00:24:56.980 It means to have authority, to have a reign over 00:24:56.980 --> 00:25:00.579 something, to have rulership over something, 00:25:00.779 --> 00:25:07.569 to exercise dominion over something. It's the 00:25:07.569 --> 00:25:09.970 same word that was found in that to rule over 00:25:09.970 --> 00:25:12.250 the day, to rule over the night, means to have 00:25:12.250 --> 00:25:15.670 dominion, right? Genesis 1 verse 18, to have 00:25:15.670 --> 00:25:21.809 dominion over the night. We see that. So what 00:25:21.809 --> 00:25:24.890 is happening in Genesis 28? What is happening 00:25:24.890 --> 00:25:28.049 in Genesis 28? What is happening there is that 00:25:28.049 --> 00:25:35.309 God's intention, right? God's intention is that 00:25:35.309 --> 00:25:39.630 after... man is made. Okay, I cannot say after 00:25:39.630 --> 00:25:42.009 man. That would not be correct. Let me correct 00:25:42.009 --> 00:25:46.309 it. As man is being made in the image of God, 00:25:46.470 --> 00:25:50.450 he has authority. Because it's not like after 00:25:50.450 --> 00:25:53.309 you say then you now get. It comes with it. It 00:25:53.309 --> 00:25:59.730 tells us that salvation right? Comes with authority. 00:26:02.150 --> 00:26:04.230 Salvation comes with authority. Please stay on 00:26:04.230 --> 00:26:10.430 that scripture. Take it back. Verse 27 had explained 00:26:10.430 --> 00:26:12.710 that God will make man in his own image. This 00:26:12.710 --> 00:26:15.309 is God's intention, right? This is God's desire. 00:26:15.569 --> 00:26:20.109 And 28 says that as man is made in the image 00:26:20.109 --> 00:26:25.509 of God, man would have what? Dominion. Man would 00:26:25.509 --> 00:26:31.569 have authority. Man would have radar. Genesis 00:26:31.569 --> 00:26:36.849 4 verse 1. Genesis 4 verse 1 to 7. Genesis 4 00:26:36.849 --> 00:26:41.359 verse 1 to 7. And Adam knew his wife, and she 00:26:41.359 --> 00:26:44.819 conceived, and bare Cain, and said, I have gotten 00:26:44.819 --> 00:26:49.140 a man from the Lord. And she again bare his brother 00:26:49.140 --> 00:26:52.299 Abel. And Abel was a keeper of the sheep, but 00:26:52.299 --> 00:26:55.559 Cain was what? A healer of the ground. And in 00:26:55.559 --> 00:26:59.059 the process of time, it came to pass that Cain 00:26:59.059 --> 00:27:01.940 brought of the fruit of the ground, and offering 00:27:01.940 --> 00:27:05.400 unto the Lord. And Abel also brought of the firstlings 00:27:05.400 --> 00:27:09.980 of his flock, and of the fats thereof. had respect 00:27:09.980 --> 00:27:14.480 unto Abel and unto his offering. But unto Cain 00:27:14.480 --> 00:27:17.059 and to his offering, he had not respect. And 00:27:17.059 --> 00:27:19.640 Cain was very wroth, and his countenance fell. 00:27:20.259 --> 00:27:23.839 And the Lord said unto Cain, Why art thou wroth? 00:27:23.940 --> 00:27:28.740 Why is thy countenance fallen? If thou doest 00:27:28.740 --> 00:27:31.779 well, shalt thou not be accepted. And if thou 00:27:31.779 --> 00:27:36.319 doest not well, sin lies at the door. And unto 00:27:36.319 --> 00:27:53.809 thee... Now, in the context of this, again, is 00:27:53.809 --> 00:27:59.089 the context of a man, right? It's the context 00:27:59.089 --> 00:28:03.730 of a man. A man that has refused to believe. 00:28:03.849 --> 00:28:06.309 Now, we can't go into, I think we've taught this 00:28:06.309 --> 00:28:08.710 before in church about what happened between 00:28:08.710 --> 00:28:11.230 Abel and Cain. And we said the difference between 00:28:11.230 --> 00:28:14.869 them is not the offering of those things, it's 00:28:14.869 --> 00:28:18.009 the faith. Okay? The difference between Cain 00:28:18.009 --> 00:28:21.589 and Abel is not the offering of the first things 00:28:21.589 --> 00:28:24.589 or the fruits of that, but it's faith. You can 00:28:24.589 --> 00:28:27.890 see that in the New Testament. So, what was taking 00:28:27.890 --> 00:28:31.990 place here is that Cain did not have faith. Right? 00:28:32.170 --> 00:28:35.630 He did not have faith. And because he saw the 00:28:35.630 --> 00:28:43.049 outcome of the faith of Abel, he was angry. So 00:28:43.049 --> 00:28:46.549 he was still without faith. So Cain saw the outcome 00:28:46.549 --> 00:28:52.049 of another man's faith and he was angry. So what 00:28:52.049 --> 00:28:56.380 did God say? Even in the anger, God said, Sin 00:28:56.380 --> 00:28:58.339 is at your door. If you had done good, if you 00:28:58.339 --> 00:29:00.920 had believed, sin is at your, you wouldn't be 00:29:00.920 --> 00:29:04.079 in this countenance. But sin is at your door. 00:29:04.819 --> 00:29:10.059 And God's desire is that Cain would do what? 00:29:10.400 --> 00:29:14.460 Would overcome by believing. That word rule over, 00:29:14.619 --> 00:29:18.180 right, is the word mashal. It's almost the same 00:29:18.180 --> 00:29:20.880 thing as that word radar. It's almost the same 00:29:20.880 --> 00:29:22.799 thing. It's just that radar had an additional 00:29:22.799 --> 00:29:25.670 meaning. Right? There are some other explanations 00:29:25.670 --> 00:29:27.849 for it. But both of them mean to have dominion, 00:29:27.890 --> 00:29:31.150 to rule over, to exercise. In fact, in this context, 00:29:31.250 --> 00:29:37.630 it says Christ to have dominion. So God's expectation 00:29:37.630 --> 00:29:40.569 in the case of Cain is not that Cain will be 00:29:40.569 --> 00:29:45.170 lost. It's that Cain, right, would have dominion 00:29:45.170 --> 00:29:51.710 over sin. Right? So again, we see that God's 00:29:51.710 --> 00:29:56.740 deliverance of Cain, Right? Comes with dominion 00:29:56.740 --> 00:30:04.019 over sin. It comes with dominion over unbelief. 00:30:05.660 --> 00:30:07.759 So we see that that word is mashal. I think M 00:30:07.759 --> 00:30:11.279 -A -S -A -L. Right? M -A -S -A -L. And the other 00:30:11.279 --> 00:30:14.799 one is rada. Now from these two contexts, we 00:30:14.799 --> 00:30:16.700 are going to check more. Right? From these two 00:30:16.700 --> 00:30:19.759 contexts, we would realize that God's intention 00:30:19.759 --> 00:30:26.789 for man. And God's authority for man is in the 00:30:26.789 --> 00:30:31.109 context of the gospel. It's in the context of 00:30:31.109 --> 00:30:37.430 salvation. God's authority for man, God's desire 00:30:37.430 --> 00:30:41.529 that man should exercise authority is in the 00:30:41.529 --> 00:30:44.250 context of salvation, is in the context of his 00:30:44.250 --> 00:30:47.029 deliverance, is in the context of what he wants 00:30:47.029 --> 00:30:54.220 to do. Do we get it? So for Adam is that believe, 00:30:54.380 --> 00:30:56.180 you will be made in my image and you will have 00:30:56.180 --> 00:31:01.099 authority. For Cain is that if you will do good, 00:31:01.240 --> 00:31:04.119 if you will believe, that's the good. So if you 00:31:04.119 --> 00:31:07.079 will do good, to do good is actually to believe 00:31:07.079 --> 00:31:09.319 the message, right? To do good, your countenance 00:31:09.319 --> 00:31:11.880 will not be like that. But sin is crushing, but 00:31:11.880 --> 00:31:14.019 you would have dominion over it. So we observe 00:31:14.019 --> 00:31:17.440 that in these two contexts, what we see is that 00:31:17.440 --> 00:31:21.740 God's desire for us. Or for a human to exercise 00:31:21.740 --> 00:31:25.019 authority is within the circumference, again, 00:31:25.200 --> 00:31:28.440 of the gospel, is within the circumference of 00:31:28.440 --> 00:31:32.700 salvation. So it means that any authority that 00:31:32.700 --> 00:31:37.559 is outside that will be seen, will be unbelief. 00:31:39.559 --> 00:31:43.859 Any authority outside that will be seen and will 00:31:43.859 --> 00:31:51.079 be unbelief. Now let me show you another scripture 00:31:51.079 --> 00:31:56.559 where God used a nation to communicate this same 00:31:56.559 --> 00:32:01.440 thing. Right? So let's go to Deuteronomy 15 verse 00:32:01.440 --> 00:32:19.059 6. Deuteronomy 15 verse 6. but thou shalt not 00:32:19.059 --> 00:32:22.759 borrow, and thou shalt reign over many nations, 00:32:22.880 --> 00:32:26.759 but they shall not reign over thee. The same 00:32:26.759 --> 00:32:29.400 word, mashallah radah, appearing there, that 00:32:29.400 --> 00:32:32.859 Israel as a nation, what would they do? They 00:32:32.859 --> 00:32:37.099 would reign over many nations. Now, if you check 00:32:37.099 --> 00:32:42.720 history, and in the settlement of Israel as a 00:32:42.720 --> 00:32:46.200 nation, they have never governed other nations. 00:32:46.299 --> 00:32:49.880 They have always, have issues with other nations 00:32:49.880 --> 00:32:52.420 around them. They have never been able to bring 00:32:52.420 --> 00:32:54.480 them, he's not talking about Israel's leadership 00:32:54.480 --> 00:32:58.279 here, that Israel will now, okay, he's not talking 00:32:58.279 --> 00:33:01.000 about Israel, like the king of Israel, being 00:33:01.000 --> 00:33:03.619 the king of the Moabites. No, that's not what 00:33:03.619 --> 00:33:07.259 he's talking about here. So what is Israel's 00:33:07.259 --> 00:33:10.680 reign over all nations? Who are the all nations? 00:33:10.900 --> 00:33:13.279 Now, when they say Israel and other nations, 00:33:13.500 --> 00:33:16.319 the word other nations refers to the ungodly. 00:33:16.960 --> 00:33:20.299 Okay? It refers to the ungodly. It refers to 00:33:20.299 --> 00:33:23.240 nations that don't know God. Right? It refers 00:33:23.240 --> 00:33:26.619 to nations that don't believe the message of 00:33:26.619 --> 00:33:30.839 God. So what he's saying here is that the activities 00:33:30.839 --> 00:33:34.400 of those countries, okay, I'll come back to it. 00:33:34.460 --> 00:33:37.019 The activities of those countries, Israel will 00:33:37.019 --> 00:33:41.000 renovate. And those countries will not reign 00:33:41.000 --> 00:33:45.099 over Israel to mean that to bring Israel to serving 00:33:45.099 --> 00:33:48.359 their own God. So Israel will have dominion over 00:33:48.359 --> 00:33:51.539 their unbelief, over the activities, over their 00:33:51.539 --> 00:33:55.240 idolatry, over their adultery, over all the things 00:33:55.240 --> 00:33:58.420 they commit. So Israel will have dominion over 00:33:58.420 --> 00:34:00.940 that. Israel will rule. It means they will have 00:34:00.940 --> 00:34:04.259 a power, right? To bring forth, to bring down 00:34:04.259 --> 00:34:06.019 the kingdom, to establish the kingdom of God 00:34:06.019 --> 00:34:09.820 over... the activities of those countries. Do 00:34:09.820 --> 00:34:12.059 we get it? Do you remember there was a tribe, 00:34:12.079 --> 00:34:15.539 actually, that lied to Israel? I don't know if 00:34:15.539 --> 00:34:17.639 you're doing the canonicals. And they began to 00:34:17.639 --> 00:34:20.239 live with them, right? That is a country. What 00:34:20.239 --> 00:34:22.820 did they do? They gave them rules on how they 00:34:22.820 --> 00:34:26.360 should live in Israel, right? And they cannot 00:34:26.360 --> 00:34:28.760 do anything outside Israel. That is containing 00:34:28.760 --> 00:34:33.019 the activity of that tribe. So, it therefore 00:34:33.019 --> 00:34:35.860 means that to rule over would also mean... That 00:34:35.860 --> 00:34:40.059 to have dominion over ungodliness, to have dominion 00:34:40.059 --> 00:34:46.340 over darkness, to have dominion over sin, over 00:34:46.340 --> 00:34:51.579 everything that is outside Christ. So he's not 00:34:51.579 --> 00:34:53.840 saying that Israel will produce a governor for 00:34:53.840 --> 00:34:56.380 all the countries in the world. He's not saying 00:34:56.380 --> 00:34:59.119 that Israel will be a world power. No, he's not 00:34:59.119 --> 00:35:03.260 saying that Israel is saying that what those 00:35:03.260 --> 00:35:07.380 nations do. Right? You have the capacity to bring 00:35:07.380 --> 00:35:12.880 down the activities of darkness. So again, in 00:35:12.880 --> 00:35:15.719 the context of salvation, in the context of delivering 00:35:15.719 --> 00:35:22.820 a particular nation. All right, so we've seen 00:35:22.820 --> 00:35:28.659 these two contexts. Now, there are other contexts 00:35:28.659 --> 00:35:31.659 where the word dominion is used. There are other 00:35:31.659 --> 00:35:35.340 contexts in which the word dominion is used. 00:35:37.739 --> 00:35:41.559 2 Samuel, if you can just write down, 2 Samuel 00:35:41.559 --> 00:35:48.139 23, verse 3. 2 Samuel 23, verse 3. In this context, 00:35:48.179 --> 00:35:52.239 it is used for leadership, right? So, see, the 00:35:52.239 --> 00:35:55.519 God of Israel said, the rock of Israel speak 00:35:55.519 --> 00:36:01.480 to me that he that ruleth over men, must be just, 00:36:01.739 --> 00:36:05.260 right? Ruling in the fear of God. So here, it's 00:36:05.260 --> 00:36:08.239 talking about someone's leadership, right? Practical 00:36:08.239 --> 00:36:11.280 leadership within Israel. Practical leadership 00:36:11.280 --> 00:36:13.380 within Israel. So the word is used in the context 00:36:13.380 --> 00:36:16.099 of practical leadership here, in the context 00:36:16.099 --> 00:36:22.239 that we see it. Leviticus 25, verse 43. Leviticus 00:36:22.239 --> 00:36:25.099 25, verse 43. These are other contexts where 00:36:25.099 --> 00:36:28.760 the word Radha or Mashal is used. Thou shalt 00:36:28.760 --> 00:36:32.880 not rule over him with rigor, but shalt fear 00:36:32.880 --> 00:36:37.179 thy God, right? Shalt not rule over him with 00:36:37.179 --> 00:36:39.059 rigor, but thou shalt fear him. So it's talking 00:36:39.059 --> 00:36:42.119 about practical leadership here in this Leviticus, 00:36:42.300 --> 00:36:44.400 right? Of course, it's related to the believers 00:36:44.400 --> 00:36:46.500 as well, but it's talking to Israel about their 00:36:46.500 --> 00:36:48.420 servants, about the people that are within their 00:36:48.420 --> 00:36:51.000 house, that you will not rule over them with 00:36:51.000 --> 00:36:54.460 force. So we see leadership here. Now let's check 00:36:54.460 --> 00:37:02.079 one more scripture. One more scripture now. Genesis 00:37:02.079 --> 00:37:06.880 37 verse 8. So first we have seen dominion in 00:37:06.880 --> 00:37:08.519 the context of the gospel, in the context of 00:37:08.519 --> 00:37:11.579 salvation, in the context of having dominion 00:37:11.579 --> 00:37:14.219 over all that is outside Christ. Now, let's go 00:37:14.219 --> 00:37:19.199 to Genesis 37 verse 8. And his brother said to 00:37:19.199 --> 00:37:24.880 him, Shall thou reign over us? Or shall thou 00:37:24.880 --> 00:37:29.340 indeed have dominion over us? And they hated 00:37:29.340 --> 00:37:34.300 him yet the more for his dreams and for his words. 00:37:34.440 --> 00:37:39.519 Now go to Genesis 50 verse 19. Genesis 50 verse 00:37:39.519 --> 00:37:43.199 19. And Joseph said unto them, Fear not, for 00:37:43.199 --> 00:37:48.179 I am in the place of God. Next. But as for you, 00:37:48.239 --> 00:37:51.639 you taught evil against me, but God meant it 00:37:51.639 --> 00:37:55.619 unto good, to bring to pass as it is at its ease 00:37:55.619 --> 00:38:00.239 this day, to save much people. Now, what we see 00:38:00.239 --> 00:38:03.460 here in the context of Moses, sorry, in the context 00:38:03.460 --> 00:38:07.280 of Joseph, is that Joseph, Joseph's brother, 00:38:07.300 --> 00:38:12.239 we're expecting, right, that Joseph would rule 00:38:12.239 --> 00:38:16.199 over them with rigor, okay? So you've seen in 00:38:16.199 --> 00:38:18.139 Leviticus that says don't rule over people with 00:38:18.139 --> 00:38:21.579 rigor, right? We've also seen that he that rulets, 00:38:21.639 --> 00:38:26.250 rulets with the fear of God, leadership. Now, 00:38:26.269 --> 00:38:29.530 in the context of Joseph, something popped up. 00:38:30.190 --> 00:38:34.269 Two things popped up. Both salvation and leadership 00:38:34.269 --> 00:38:37.349 popped up. So the brothers of Joseph, they took 00:38:37.349 --> 00:38:41.070 him and they said, they sought him out and the 00:38:41.070 --> 00:38:43.309 whole story cut short. They were found in Egypt. 00:38:43.630 --> 00:38:47.889 And Joseph became a picture of a savior to them. 00:38:48.929 --> 00:38:51.469 Okay? So because they became a picture of a savior 00:38:51.469 --> 00:38:55.480 to them, and Jacob, their father, now died, they 00:38:55.480 --> 00:39:00.500 assumed that now that Jacob is dead, this young 00:39:00.500 --> 00:39:03.519 man called Joseph will rule over us, would dominate 00:39:03.519 --> 00:39:05.920 us, would oppress us. But look at Joseph and 00:39:05.920 --> 00:39:08.039 Isaiah in 50. He said, you taught it for evil, 00:39:08.159 --> 00:39:12.539 but God taught it for good, to bring to pass, 00:39:12.780 --> 00:39:17.739 as it is this day, to save much people alive. 00:39:18.239 --> 00:39:21.360 To save much people what? alive. So while some 00:39:21.360 --> 00:39:24.380 people think that, oh, what they did will result 00:39:24.380 --> 00:39:28.760 to domination over each other, Joseph is saying 00:39:28.760 --> 00:39:34.219 that it is unto salvation. It is unto what? It 00:39:34.219 --> 00:39:37.579 is unto salvation that people will be saved. 00:39:38.900 --> 00:39:41.460 So we see it also in the context because Joseph 00:39:41.460 --> 00:39:44.360 was actually the governor of Egypt in this place 00:39:44.360 --> 00:39:48.420 at this time, and now he had gained so much influence. 00:39:49.280 --> 00:39:54.559 Now let's go to Judges 8, 22 to 23. I'm going 00:39:54.559 --> 00:39:57.139 to pick up everything together and explain something. 00:39:59.159 --> 00:40:19.690 Judges 8, verse 22 to 23. Next. And Gideon said 00:40:19.690 --> 00:40:21.909 unto them, I will not rule over you, neither 00:40:21.909 --> 00:40:24.469 shall my son rule over you. The Lord shall do 00:40:24.469 --> 00:40:30.309 what? Rule over you. We see the word rule as 00:40:30.309 --> 00:40:33.889 a picture here. It's expressed as submission 00:40:33.889 --> 00:40:40.510 to God. Right? Dominion here is used as submission 00:40:40.510 --> 00:40:47.489 to God. As submission to what? To God. Now let 00:40:47.489 --> 00:40:50.769 me quickly... and just pick up three things. 00:40:50.869 --> 00:40:53.809 First, we have seen that when it comes to the 00:40:53.809 --> 00:40:58.630 dominion, when it comes to authority, it is in 00:40:58.630 --> 00:41:01.130 the context of salvation. Have we seen that? 00:41:01.610 --> 00:41:03.309 We have seen it in the context of salvation. 00:41:03.650 --> 00:41:08.090 We have seen it also in the context of leadership 00:41:08.090 --> 00:41:12.409 over other nations. We have seen it also in the 00:41:12.409 --> 00:41:16.269 context of domination over the activities of 00:41:16.269 --> 00:41:22.719 the ungodly. And now we are seeing it as used 00:41:22.719 --> 00:41:28.420 in context towards God as the leadership of God 00:41:28.420 --> 00:41:35.079 over a people. So as believers, how from using 00:41:35.079 --> 00:41:38.059 the Old Testament context now, how should we 00:41:38.059 --> 00:41:43.159 exercise authority? I need to quickly mention 00:41:43.159 --> 00:41:47.400 this to say that God has not given the believer 00:41:47.960 --> 00:41:50.840 to exercise authority, to exercise dominion, 00:41:50.860 --> 00:41:53.320 let me put it that way, over another believer. 00:41:54.320 --> 00:41:56.179 I'm going to show us the scripture, right? So 00:41:56.179 --> 00:41:58.760 God has not given, the authority that we exercise 00:41:58.760 --> 00:42:05.019 is not authority over another believer. It's 00:42:05.019 --> 00:42:07.659 not an authority. So you say, I have authority 00:42:07.659 --> 00:42:10.619 over you in the context, no, it's not, it doesn't 00:42:10.619 --> 00:42:14.079 work like that. Can you help me with these scriptures? 00:42:18.170 --> 00:42:22.869 Leviticus 25, 43. Have you read it? Go to, let's 00:42:22.869 --> 00:42:27.929 see. Go to Deuteronomy, Deuteronomy 5, 15, verse 00:42:27.929 --> 00:42:48.539 7 to 11. Deuteronomy 15, verse 7, right? thy 00:42:48.539 --> 00:42:53.000 hand from the poor brother. Next. But thou shalt 00:42:53.000 --> 00:42:55.400 open thy hand wide and thou shalt surely lend 00:42:55.400 --> 00:42:58.500 him sufficiently for his need in that which he 00:42:58.500 --> 00:43:01.619 wanted. Beware that there be not a thought in 00:43:01.619 --> 00:43:04.239 thy wickedness saying the seventh year and the 00:43:04.239 --> 00:43:07.079 year of release is at hand and thy eye be evil 00:43:07.079 --> 00:43:09.539 against thy poor brother. Thou shalt give it 00:43:09.539 --> 00:43:12.099 him not and he cry unto the Lord against thee 00:43:12.099 --> 00:43:15.599 he shall be a sin unto thee. And thou shalt surely 00:43:15.599 --> 00:43:18.059 give him, and thy heart shall not be grieved. 00:43:18.159 --> 00:43:23.480 And when thou givest unto him, because that for 00:43:23.480 --> 00:43:27.039 this thing the Lord thy God shall bless thee 00:43:27.039 --> 00:43:31.019 in all thy works, and in all that thou puttest 00:43:31.019 --> 00:43:34.480 thy hand unto. For the poor shall never cease 00:43:34.480 --> 00:43:37.380 out of the land. Therefore I command thee, saying, 00:43:37.579 --> 00:43:40.539 Thou shalt open thy hand wide unto thy brother, 00:43:40.639 --> 00:43:43.619 to thy poor, and to thy needy, and to thy land. 00:43:44.329 --> 00:43:47.849 The next. And if I brought up an Hebrew, okay, 00:43:47.869 --> 00:43:54.909 verse 11. All right, stay in verse 11. Now, if 00:43:54.909 --> 00:43:59.230 you read Deuteronomy 15, the reason why God is 00:43:59.230 --> 00:44:03.369 saying this, right, is that the Israel would 00:44:03.369 --> 00:44:06.929 not oppress each other. That the people of Israel 00:44:06.929 --> 00:44:09.860 will not be oppressors. of their own brother. 00:44:10.039 --> 00:44:12.559 And you can see what Gideon says. Gideon says, 00:44:12.659 --> 00:44:16.440 I will not rule over you, but God will rule over 00:44:16.440 --> 00:44:19.760 you, right? It means that God will be the one 00:44:19.760 --> 00:44:24.559 you will submit to. Deuteronomy, still in Deuteronomy 00:44:24.559 --> 00:44:30.340 15. I'm actually looking for a particular scripture 00:44:30.340 --> 00:44:33.360 and I'm sure time is almost up, but I'll share 00:44:33.360 --> 00:44:36.320 it subsequently. The scripture says that no man, 00:44:36.460 --> 00:44:39.599 like none of you, would have dominion over another. 00:44:40.579 --> 00:44:43.539 Right? None of the Israel will have dominion. 00:44:43.559 --> 00:44:45.099 That's why Gideon is saying, I'm not going to 00:44:45.099 --> 00:44:47.860 have dominion over you. Even when Israel choose 00:44:47.860 --> 00:44:50.960 a king to have dominion over them, there was 00:44:50.960 --> 00:44:54.119 a warning that this king might oppress Israel. 00:44:54.820 --> 00:44:57.179 And therefore God began to say, any king that 00:44:57.179 --> 00:45:00.059 will rule in Israel must rule in the fear of 00:45:00.059 --> 00:45:03.539 God. So it therefore means that to bring all 00:45:03.539 --> 00:45:07.239 this together, that the only... Areas, right? 00:45:07.940 --> 00:45:10.940 The areas where believer can exercise authority 00:45:10.940 --> 00:45:15.920 over, authority over, are things outside Christ, 00:45:16.079 --> 00:45:20.860 not on another believer. Okay? Not on another 00:45:20.860 --> 00:45:24.539 believer. A believer can exercise authority upon 00:45:24.539 --> 00:45:29.460 ungodliness, kingdom of darkness, ungodly nations, 00:45:29.800 --> 00:45:33.880 and this is on the activities of these nations, 00:45:34.039 --> 00:45:39.159 as we see. in the case of Israel. A believer 00:45:39.159 --> 00:45:42.480 will have dominion over the powers of darkness. 00:45:44.219 --> 00:45:47.699 A believer will have dominion over the activities 00:45:47.699 --> 00:45:54.000 of the kingdom of darkness. A believer will have 00:45:54.000 --> 00:45:57.679 authority found in the context of the gospel 00:45:57.679 --> 00:46:02.849 over the kingdom of darkness, and not over another 00:46:02.849 --> 00:46:05.150 believer. So you can't say you are casting and 00:46:05.150 --> 00:46:08.769 binding your brother. Okay? So we can't say you 00:46:08.769 --> 00:46:11.110 are casting and binding a believer. So a believer 00:46:11.110 --> 00:46:14.469 is, okay, you want to cast. No, you cast what 00:46:14.469 --> 00:46:17.610 you cast. The activities is actually, what you 00:46:17.610 --> 00:46:19.750 have dominion over is these activities, these 00:46:19.750 --> 00:46:24.869 principalities, this kingdom of darkness. If 00:46:24.869 --> 00:46:27.369 you also observe, when Paul was preaching and 00:46:27.369 --> 00:46:30.309 the lady that was possessed was actually, trying 00:46:30.309 --> 00:46:33.150 to prophesy and making a disturbance. It was 00:46:33.150 --> 00:46:38.050 not even, he cut out the activity of darkness 00:46:38.050 --> 00:46:41.469 that was in that place. So the goal, right, the 00:46:41.469 --> 00:46:46.489 goal of the believer, right, is to exercise authority 00:46:46.489 --> 00:46:50.389 and dominion over the things that are found outside 00:46:50.389 --> 00:46:58.070 the conferences of Christ. So as believers, we 00:46:58.070 --> 00:47:01.110 must always set our hearts to be active, to exercise 00:47:01.110 --> 00:47:04.909 this authority. So we can exercise authority 00:47:04.909 --> 00:47:09.269 in dark places. We can exercise authority over 00:47:09.269 --> 00:47:17.389 unbelief, over idolatry, over ungodliness. Now 00:47:17.389 --> 00:47:19.889 the question becomes, are there other authorities? 00:47:19.909 --> 00:47:23.070 Are there people that exercise authority outside 00:47:23.070 --> 00:47:27.610 this? And do we actually? In quotes, working 00:47:27.610 --> 00:47:32.730 for God. Right? In quotes, right? Working for 00:47:32.730 --> 00:47:37.670 God in the name of a prophet. Yes. Yes, there 00:47:37.670 --> 00:47:40.289 are authorities that we exercise outside the 00:47:40.289 --> 00:47:45.389 circumferences of Christ. That is why I'm trying 00:47:45.389 --> 00:47:48.190 to establish for us to know that the authority 00:47:48.190 --> 00:47:52.579 that the believer should exercise. when it comes 00:47:52.579 --> 00:47:55.119 to Christ, is the authority within the circumference 00:47:55.119 --> 00:47:58.440 of Christ, within the circumference of what Christ 00:47:58.440 --> 00:48:02.219 has done, and over all that is not found in Christ, 00:48:02.340 --> 00:48:06.260 over all that is not found in Christ. But not 00:48:06.260 --> 00:48:09.380 on another believer, right? Not, you know, exercising 00:48:09.380 --> 00:48:13.260 authority on another believer. Not exercising 00:48:13.260 --> 00:48:16.780 authority on things that are outside of. Not 00:48:16.780 --> 00:48:19.260 exercising authority, right? Exercising authority 00:48:19.260 --> 00:48:27.909 over things that are outside Christ. So it therefore 00:48:27.909 --> 00:48:31.389 means that what God was offering to Adam, right, 00:48:31.449 --> 00:48:36.429 was salvation and authority and a reign. Salvation 00:48:36.429 --> 00:48:40.769 and authority and a reign. And that has also 00:48:40.769 --> 00:48:43.869 been offered to you. It has been offered to me 00:48:43.869 --> 00:48:48.170 since we came into faith. Now that we are in 00:48:48.170 --> 00:48:55.690 faith, we have authority. Now let's go to 1 Kings. 00:48:56.440 --> 00:49:01.260 Let's go to 1 Kings. I'm just going to use 1 00:49:01.260 --> 00:49:10.460 Kings. 1 Kings chapter 17. 1 Kings chapter 17. 00:49:15.980 --> 00:49:19.119 Now, most of the time, right, when we are taught 00:49:19.119 --> 00:49:24.500 about authority, right, people quickly say, What 00:49:24.500 --> 00:49:27.559 about, you know, people talk about Elijah, people 00:49:27.559 --> 00:49:30.400 talk about Elisha, and the kind of authority 00:49:30.400 --> 00:49:34.699 that they exercise. Now go to 1 Kings chapter 00:49:34.699 --> 00:49:54.139 17. Let's read. nor rain this year, except by 00:49:54.139 --> 00:49:56.659 thy words. And the word of the Lord came to him, 00:49:56.820 --> 00:50:00.179 right? Except by my word, rather, by my word. 00:50:00.320 --> 00:50:02.639 And the word of the Lord came to him, saying, 00:50:02.880 --> 00:50:06.340 The path from here, turn eastward, and hide thyself 00:50:06.340 --> 00:50:08.880 by the brook Cherit, which is in the east of 00:50:08.880 --> 00:50:12.920 Jordan. You shall drink from the brook, and I 00:50:12.920 --> 00:50:17.320 have commanded that ravings to feed you. So he 00:50:17.320 --> 00:50:20.280 went and did according to the word of the Lord. 00:50:20.420 --> 00:50:24.099 He went. and live by the brook of Jared that 00:50:24.099 --> 00:50:26.880 is in the east of Jordan. Now two things you 00:50:26.880 --> 00:50:31.639 observe here, that there's an authority, right? 00:50:31.739 --> 00:50:34.880 There's an authority that the man of God says, 00:50:35.179 --> 00:50:40.920 by my word, do we get it? By my word, there shall 00:50:40.920 --> 00:50:44.519 be no earth, no rain. So it means that the man 00:50:44.519 --> 00:50:48.739 of God is exercising an authority by my word. 00:50:49.259 --> 00:50:52.320 The next verse, what did you see? You see the 00:50:52.320 --> 00:50:54.159 word of the Lord. Did you see the word of the 00:50:54.159 --> 00:50:58.559 Lord? Right? So something was spoken by the man 00:50:58.559 --> 00:51:01.980 of God. And there were also instructions that 00:51:01.980 --> 00:51:03.539 came from the word of God. Did you see those 00:51:03.539 --> 00:51:09.280 two things? So it therefore means that the man 00:51:09.280 --> 00:51:16.360 of God exercises authority. The man of God does 00:51:16.360 --> 00:51:22.199 what? Exercises what? Now, if you read from verse 00:51:22.199 --> 00:51:28.079 8 to verse 16, and you read from verse 17 to 00:51:28.079 --> 00:51:34.639 verse 24, you will see that the man of God exercised 00:51:34.639 --> 00:51:39.219 authority to bring back a child to life, to make 00:51:39.219 --> 00:51:42.099 a divine provision to take place. You will see 00:51:42.099 --> 00:51:46.760 that. And you will see that that is salvation. 00:51:47.000 --> 00:51:49.619 That's just a picture of God's deliverance. It 00:51:49.619 --> 00:51:55.380 was an instruction. So the man of God exercises 00:51:55.380 --> 00:51:59.360 by the word of his mouth, he exercised deliverance 00:51:59.360 --> 00:52:04.280 in the context of the widow. Now, if you go to 00:52:04.280 --> 00:52:09.679 chapter 18, chapter 18, let's go to chapter 18, 00:52:09.699 --> 00:52:16.000 verse 36. I'll stop here. Verse 36 to 40. And 00:52:16.000 --> 00:52:18.800 at the time of the offering of the oblation, 00:52:18.920 --> 00:52:21.840 Elijah the prophet came near and said, O Lord 00:52:21.840 --> 00:52:26.079 God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, let it be 00:52:26.079 --> 00:52:29.480 known this day that you are God in Israel and 00:52:29.480 --> 00:52:32.820 that I am your servant and I have done all these 00:52:32.820 --> 00:52:35.679 things at your word. Answer me, O Lord, answer 00:52:35.679 --> 00:52:38.619 me, that these people may know that you are God, 00:52:38.739 --> 00:52:41.539 you, O Lord, are God, and that you have turned 00:52:41.539 --> 00:52:44.480 their hearts back. Then the fire of the Lord... 00:52:44.599 --> 00:52:48.840 fell and consumed the bond of rain and the wood 00:52:48.840 --> 00:52:52.500 and the stones and the dust and licked up the 00:52:52.500 --> 00:52:56.340 water that was in the trench. And when all the 00:52:56.340 --> 00:52:58.840 people saw it, they fell on their face and said, 00:52:58.940 --> 00:53:04.719 the Lord, he is God and God, he is, right? The 00:53:04.719 --> 00:53:07.780 God is. Now, two things you observe here. Elijah 00:53:07.780 --> 00:53:10.360 quoted something. The God of Abraham, the God 00:53:10.360 --> 00:53:14.280 of Isaac. and the God of Israel. Now, this is 00:53:14.280 --> 00:53:18.820 a picture of explaining God's promise. The thing 00:53:18.820 --> 00:53:22.159 that connects Abraham, Isaac, and Israel is the 00:53:22.159 --> 00:53:25.000 deliverance promise of God. What God will do, 00:53:25.079 --> 00:53:28.780 right? What God will do is the same thing that 00:53:28.780 --> 00:53:32.179 God provided and presented in Genesis chapter 00:53:32.179 --> 00:53:36.340 1. Let us make man in our image. That is God's 00:53:36.340 --> 00:53:39.800 promise. Right? Good promise to make people in 00:53:39.800 --> 00:53:42.280 his image. Now, you see that he quoted that. 00:53:42.420 --> 00:53:44.320 It's the God of promise that keep his promise. 00:53:44.619 --> 00:53:47.820 He said, let it be known this day that you are 00:53:47.820 --> 00:53:51.219 God and that you have turned their hearts back 00:53:51.219 --> 00:53:55.340 to him. Now, you will see that the prayer was 00:53:55.340 --> 00:53:58.559 answered and what you see, right, is fire coming 00:53:58.559 --> 00:54:03.500 now. But look at verse, look at verse 40. Look 00:54:03.500 --> 00:54:08.570 at verse 40. And Elijah said to them, seize the 00:54:08.570 --> 00:54:12.289 prophets of Baal. Let not one of them escape. 00:54:12.969 --> 00:54:15.989 And they seized them, and Elijah brought them 00:54:15.989 --> 00:54:19.190 down to the brook Kishon. And what did he do 00:54:19.190 --> 00:54:23.510 there? What did he do there? Was that an instruction 00:54:23.510 --> 00:54:27.849 from the voice of the Lord? Was that an instruction 00:54:27.849 --> 00:54:31.630 from the voice of the Lord? So he used his authority 00:54:31.630 --> 00:54:36.210 in that point, right? So, it therefore means 00:54:36.210 --> 00:54:41.949 that we can find some actions, right, that are 00:54:41.949 --> 00:54:46.250 outside the circumference of Christ in the actions 00:54:46.250 --> 00:54:49.989 of the prophets, in the exercising of the prophets 00:54:49.989 --> 00:54:55.469 of the Old Testament. We can find actions, we 00:54:55.469 --> 00:54:58.710 can find statements that are outside the context 00:54:58.710 --> 00:55:02.789 of the authority of the gospel. in the prophets 00:55:02.789 --> 00:55:06.210 of the Old Testament. We can do that. When you 00:55:06.210 --> 00:55:07.750 read through, much more when you read through, 00:55:07.809 --> 00:55:11.789 you'll find the prophets say, if I be a man of 00:55:11.789 --> 00:55:16.730 God, such statements are, you know, are within 00:55:16.730 --> 00:55:19.530 what? The authority of the man of God, right? 00:55:20.230 --> 00:55:23.889 Within the deliverance plan of God, are we hearing? 00:55:24.190 --> 00:55:29.869 Within the deliverance plan of God, we won't 00:55:29.869 --> 00:55:34.260 find such a thing. Okay? So, authority of the 00:55:34.260 --> 00:55:36.820 believer is exercised within the context of the 00:55:36.820 --> 00:55:39.840 gospel, is exercised within the context of salvation, 00:55:40.079 --> 00:55:43.139 is exercised within the context of God's deliverance. 00:55:43.880 --> 00:55:47.360 So, if you tell someone and you say, because 00:55:47.360 --> 00:55:49.639 I'm a child of God, if I curse you, you're outside 00:55:49.639 --> 00:55:51.840 Christ already. You're already doing something 00:55:51.840 --> 00:55:54.260 outside the circumference of Christ. Say, ah, 00:55:54.519 --> 00:55:57.800 we just came down from three days fast. If I 00:55:57.800 --> 00:56:01.289 curse you to... See, you are doing things that 00:56:01.289 --> 00:56:04.789 are outside the authority that is given to you. 00:56:04.809 --> 00:56:07.610 So you are acting on your own authority. Okay? 00:56:07.969 --> 00:56:10.369 You are acting. You cannot say, if I curse someone. 00:56:10.389 --> 00:56:13.989 No. Because, ah, I've read scriptures. I'm just 00:56:13.989 --> 00:56:16.429 coming out from the mountain. If you want to 00:56:16.429 --> 00:56:20.050 curse somebody, you are on your own. So the believer 00:56:20.050 --> 00:56:24.289 only exercises the authority that is found within 00:56:24.289 --> 00:56:26.889 the circumference of the message, the promise, 00:56:26.949 --> 00:56:30.699 the salvation of God. Right? That is where our 00:56:30.699 --> 00:56:35.039 authority is. Every other place is out of bound. 00:56:35.260 --> 00:56:38.420 Hallelujah. So therefore, we can exercise authority 00:56:38.420 --> 00:56:41.619 over the kingdom of darkness, over principalities 00:56:41.619 --> 00:56:44.900 and power. Right? Because this is giving to us 00:56:44.900 --> 00:56:49.719 our salvation. Can we give thanks? Thank you 00:56:49.719 --> 00:56:52.820 for listening to today's sermon. Your journey 00:56:52.820 --> 00:56:56.940 matters to us. Let's keep walking together. Visit 00:56:56.940 --> 00:56:59.820 our website for more resources and follow us 00:56:59.820 --> 00:57:03.619 on social media to stay updated. Feel free to 00:57:03.619 --> 00:57:05.719 check the show notes for additional insights. 00:57:06.460 --> 00:57:09.800 If today's message was a blessing, share it with 00:57:09.800 --> 00:57:12.820 a friend. Till next time, be blessed.