WEBVTT 00:00:01.159 --> 00:00:06.639 Welcome to NECF Sermons. Each message here is 00:00:06.639 --> 00:00:09.640 designed to uplift and strengthen you in your 00:00:09.640 --> 00:00:13.939 walk with God. Don't miss out. Stay with us until 00:00:13.939 --> 00:00:17.879 the end for a rewarding experience. Let's dive 00:00:17.879 --> 00:00:22.019 right in. So today we have another opportunity 00:00:22.019 --> 00:00:26.780 to teach God's Word. And what we're going to 00:00:26.780 --> 00:00:28.359 see is that we're going to be making progress. 00:00:29.289 --> 00:00:31.649 in our lives. We're going to be making progress 00:00:31.649 --> 00:00:34.170 in our work. And in this church, we're committed 00:00:34.170 --> 00:00:37.250 to seeing that we grow in our knowledge of God's 00:00:37.250 --> 00:00:41.369 Word and we grow in our commitments to the Word 00:00:41.369 --> 00:00:44.009 of God and we grow in our commitment to the work. 00:00:44.189 --> 00:00:47.570 I want us to pray in the Spirit. I want us to 00:00:47.570 --> 00:00:49.549 pray in the Spirit. I want us to take this time 00:00:49.549 --> 00:00:52.789 to pray in the Spirit. I want us to take this 00:00:52.789 --> 00:00:57.200 time and give thanks to God for what He... Yes, 00:00:57.740 --> 00:01:04.040 today the world is celebrating Easter. And every 00:01:04.040 --> 00:01:10.180 day, what Christ has done, the fact that we have 00:01:10.180 --> 00:01:14.859 power because he is risen, we sang, we danced 00:01:14.859 --> 00:01:18.920 on an empty grave, we have won the victory. The 00:01:18.920 --> 00:01:21.420 victory has been won long ago. We are walking 00:01:21.420 --> 00:01:23.620 in the victory that we've won. And I want you 00:01:23.620 --> 00:01:25.879 to open your mouth and say, Father, thank you 00:01:25.879 --> 00:01:29.659 because I have won the victory. I have won the 00:01:29.659 --> 00:01:33.739 victory. I walk in that victory. I know that 00:01:33.739 --> 00:01:37.219 victory. I know that victory and I walk in that 00:01:37.219 --> 00:01:39.420 victory in the name of Jesus. I want you to open 00:01:39.420 --> 00:01:42.840 your mouth and thank God. I want to hear you 00:01:42.840 --> 00:01:47.769 praying. I want to hear you praying. I want you 00:01:47.769 --> 00:01:50.209 to give glory to this God that is faithful. He 00:01:50.209 --> 00:01:54.769 didn't stay dead. He didn't stay dead. It's because 00:01:54.769 --> 00:02:00.189 of his death and resurrection, we can be called 00:02:00.189 --> 00:02:04.230 his children. We can be called sons. And we're 00:02:04.230 --> 00:02:06.390 grateful for the wonderful privilege that we 00:02:06.390 --> 00:02:11.650 have to call him father. We have a good, good 00:02:11.650 --> 00:02:15.909 father. We have a God who is gracious. And because 00:02:15.909 --> 00:02:18.650 of that, we're not slaves to fear. We are not 00:02:18.650 --> 00:02:22.789 slaves to fear. A victorious person doesn't tremble 00:02:22.789 --> 00:02:26.909 in fear. A victorious person glories in the fact 00:02:26.909 --> 00:02:29.409 that the one who has won the victory for him 00:02:29.409 --> 00:02:32.509 is alive. He's not dead. Thank you for what you're 00:02:32.509 --> 00:02:34.710 doing in our midst. Thank you for what you're 00:02:34.710 --> 00:02:36.889 doing already. Thank you for what you're going 00:02:36.889 --> 00:02:39.030 to do. We give you all the glory and praise and 00:02:39.030 --> 00:02:41.530 honor. In the mighty name of Jesus, we pray. 00:02:42.320 --> 00:02:45.300 Amen and amen. What I want us to do is to examine 00:02:45.300 --> 00:02:50.039 ourselves. And in your examination of yourself 00:02:50.039 --> 00:02:52.680 by the Spirit of God, the Holy Spirit is going 00:02:52.680 --> 00:02:54.680 to bring you to a point where there are certain 00:02:54.680 --> 00:02:57.879 things that you will stop, and there are certain 00:02:57.879 --> 00:03:00.419 things that you will continue to do, and there 00:03:00.419 --> 00:03:03.520 are certain things you're going to start. And 00:03:03.520 --> 00:03:08.340 for you to not take hold of that which Christ 00:03:08.340 --> 00:03:12.659 has done, certain things... have to end, certain 00:03:12.659 --> 00:03:15.479 things have to start, and certain things should 00:03:15.479 --> 00:03:19.520 continue. Praise God. Certain things should continue. 00:03:19.639 --> 00:03:21.659 And the teaching for today is going to be very 00:03:21.659 --> 00:03:24.479 instructive. It's going to be very instructive, 00:03:24.479 --> 00:03:26.860 and I want everyone of us to pay attention. I 00:03:26.860 --> 00:03:31.219 want everyone of us to pay attention. And it 00:03:31.219 --> 00:03:35.960 takes humility to be able to learn. It takes 00:03:35.960 --> 00:03:38.240 humility to be able to learn. And I want us to 00:03:38.240 --> 00:03:40.479 declare these words in affirmation. Say, I'm 00:03:40.479 --> 00:03:45.939 teachable. I am teachable. And I stay teachable 00:03:45.939 --> 00:03:50.120 without pride in my heart. Say it again. I am 00:03:50.120 --> 00:03:54.639 teachable. And I stay teachable without pride 00:03:54.639 --> 00:04:00.520 in my heart. I lead others by serving. I lead 00:04:00.520 --> 00:04:05.969 others by serving. and I serve diligently. I 00:04:05.969 --> 00:04:07.949 want you to declare these words. I submit to 00:04:07.949 --> 00:04:12.169 authority. I submit to authority. I am not rebellious. 00:04:13.050 --> 00:04:15.810 I don't frustrate the efforts of the leaders 00:04:15.810 --> 00:04:19.649 and the pastors. I prioritize discipleship. I 00:04:19.649 --> 00:04:23.009 prioritize discipleship and the activities of 00:04:23.009 --> 00:04:26.050 the kingdom over everything else. Say, I'm a 00:04:26.050 --> 00:04:29.769 disciple that disciples others. I am a disciple. 00:04:30.800 --> 00:04:34.199 The disciples order. Say, I'm a disciple. The 00:04:34.199 --> 00:04:36.300 disciples order. That you have your topic right 00:04:36.300 --> 00:04:40.220 there. The topic for this teaching is discipleship. 00:04:40.300 --> 00:04:43.800 And I want you to put a bar and include manifesting 00:04:43.800 --> 00:04:48.019 the kingdom of God. Discipleship, manifesting 00:04:48.019 --> 00:04:51.579 the kingdom of God. Discipleship, manifesting 00:04:51.579 --> 00:04:54.139 the kingdom of God. And I want you to meditate 00:04:54.139 --> 00:04:57.339 on this while the teaching is going on. Ask yourself 00:04:57.339 --> 00:04:59.500 these key questions. I'll ask them at the end 00:04:59.500 --> 00:05:03.910 of the service. Do you learn like a child? Do 00:05:03.910 --> 00:05:08.910 you learn like a child? Do you learn like a child? 00:05:09.209 --> 00:05:13.689 Do you serve like our Lord Jesus Christ serves? 00:05:14.129 --> 00:05:18.430 Do I serve or do you serve like our Lord Jesus? 00:05:18.850 --> 00:05:21.269 And ask yourself the third question. Do I prioritize 00:05:21.269 --> 00:05:27.649 God's kingdom? Do I prioritize God's kingdom? 00:05:28.110 --> 00:05:34.029 I'll read in Matthew 28. was from 1 to 20. But 00:05:34.029 --> 00:05:37.709 our focus for this teaching will be 18 to 20. 00:05:38.089 --> 00:05:40.610 And I'll read again to our hearing. It says, 00:05:40.769 --> 00:05:45.269 And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, All 00:05:45.269 --> 00:05:49.529 authority has been given to me in heaven and 00:05:49.529 --> 00:05:52.829 on earth. He now says, Go and make disciples 00:05:52.829 --> 00:05:56.629 of all nations, baptizing them in the name of 00:05:56.629 --> 00:06:00.149 the Father and of the Son. and of the Holy Spirit, 00:06:00.310 --> 00:06:04.170 teaching them to observe all things that I have 00:06:04.170 --> 00:06:08.290 commanded you. And lo, I am with you always, 00:06:08.689 --> 00:06:14.110 even to the end of the age. Amen and amen. Can 00:06:14.110 --> 00:06:17.269 someone say amen to that? I want you to read 00:06:17.269 --> 00:06:21.009 together with me verse 19. I want us to read 00:06:21.009 --> 00:06:24.769 it together, verse 19. Give us the New King James, 00:06:24.910 --> 00:06:28.360 verse 19. I want us to read together. He says, 00:06:28.439 --> 00:06:39.519 go therefore together and make disciples of all 00:06:39.519 --> 00:06:43.779 nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father 00:06:43.779 --> 00:06:47.639 and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Next verse. 00:06:47.800 --> 00:06:51.660 He says, teaching them to observe all things 00:06:51.660 --> 00:06:55.139 that I have commanded you. And lo, I am with 00:06:55.139 --> 00:06:58.639 you always, even to the end of the age. And I 00:06:58.639 --> 00:07:01.699 want us to say an amen, an amen to that. The 00:07:01.699 --> 00:07:06.639 focus is the active verb in that 19. Our focus 00:07:06.639 --> 00:07:09.379 will be the active verb. There's a go, which 00:07:09.379 --> 00:07:12.240 is passive, is a passive verb. And then the make 00:07:12.240 --> 00:07:15.819 disciple is the primary and the active verb in 00:07:15.819 --> 00:07:20.240 that conversation. It says make disciples. In 00:07:20.240 --> 00:07:22.819 the New King James, you will see teaching there. 00:07:23.290 --> 00:07:26.790 You will see teaching there. And the word there 00:07:26.790 --> 00:07:30.329 in the Greek is matatu, which implies to instruct 00:07:30.329 --> 00:07:35.250 people, to cause people to learn. Instruct people, 00:07:35.310 --> 00:07:38.870 cause people to learn. It uses the word, uses 00:07:38.870 --> 00:07:40.649 teaching. And we'll see teaching later on in 00:07:40.649 --> 00:07:43.829 the subsequent verse. It says instruct. The word 00:07:43.829 --> 00:07:46.290 there is making disciples. The phrase there is 00:07:46.290 --> 00:07:48.790 making disciples. or in the New King James, it 00:07:48.790 --> 00:07:53.389 is teaching, and it is mathetio, M -A -T -H -E 00:07:53.389 --> 00:07:58.870 -T -E -U -O, which implies to cause people to 00:07:58.870 --> 00:08:02.149 learn, cause people to learn. And the word, the 00:08:02.149 --> 00:08:05.470 Greek word there is from a root word, math. It's 00:08:05.470 --> 00:08:07.430 from a root word, math. The math that you know, 00:08:07.550 --> 00:08:10.699 the math, the short for mathematics. From the 00:08:10.699 --> 00:08:14.800 word math. That's M -A -T -H. M -A -T -H. That 00:08:14.800 --> 00:08:17.540 Greek word there is an ancient word. And the 00:08:17.540 --> 00:08:22.079 word is for mental effort. Mental effort. The 00:08:22.079 --> 00:08:25.339 meaning of that word is mental effort. It says 00:08:25.339 --> 00:08:27.199 to think through something. It also means to 00:08:27.199 --> 00:08:30.740 think through something. And it deals with a 00:08:30.740 --> 00:08:34.340 thought pattern. It deals with a thought pattern. 00:08:34.639 --> 00:08:38.419 And I'm explaining all of this to... Set the 00:08:38.419 --> 00:08:40.360 stage for the different things that we're going 00:08:40.360 --> 00:08:42.679 to be looking at this Sunday. And I want us to 00:08:42.679 --> 00:08:46.419 pay attention. The word there, it goes beyond 00:08:46.419 --> 00:08:50.700 just making disciples. The root word there establishes 00:08:50.700 --> 00:08:52.919 the fact that it's down to the thought pattern. 00:08:53.320 --> 00:08:57.399 Note that it's not just all in here. It goes 00:08:57.399 --> 00:09:01.200 down to the actions of the individuals that are 00:09:01.200 --> 00:09:04.279 being trained or being made into disciples. Praise 00:09:04.279 --> 00:09:06.549 God. And it's very important that we know that 00:09:06.549 --> 00:09:10.190 it's beyond just education. It's beyond being 00:09:10.190 --> 00:09:12.710 educated. It's beyond knowing the things of God. 00:09:12.870 --> 00:09:16.529 It comes down to practice. Because we know a 00:09:16.529 --> 00:09:19.570 lot of things, but in practice, the things we 00:09:19.570 --> 00:09:22.049 know, it doesn't translate to the things that 00:09:22.049 --> 00:09:24.429 we do. Praise God. It's very important that we 00:09:24.429 --> 00:09:28.250 see that making disciples goes beyond education. 00:09:29.349 --> 00:09:31.750 because some of us are educated or we're getting 00:09:31.750 --> 00:09:34.149 education, but some of the education that we're 00:09:34.149 --> 00:09:37.149 getting doesn't translate into the practical 00:09:37.149 --> 00:09:39.470 workings of our daily living. Praise God. And 00:09:39.470 --> 00:09:41.470 I want to take us to a passage in Scripture that 00:09:41.470 --> 00:09:44.230 points to us the fact that these people that 00:09:44.230 --> 00:09:46.210 were instructed to make disciples, they themselves 00:09:46.210 --> 00:09:48.769 had something that people could see and knew 00:09:48.769 --> 00:09:50.850 that these people were trained by some means. 00:09:50.889 --> 00:09:53.629 Not a conventional training, but a training that 00:09:53.629 --> 00:09:56.009 they have been with someone. A training that 00:09:56.009 --> 00:09:59.100 comes as a result of their... interaction with 00:09:59.100 --> 00:10:02.000 someone. I want us to go to Acts 4 verse 13. 00:10:02.379 --> 00:10:07.120 Please pay attention. Please pay attention. Acts 00:10:07.120 --> 00:10:10.620 4 verse 13, it says now, it says, now when they 00:10:10.620 --> 00:10:14.779 saw the boldness of Peter and John, they saw 00:10:14.779 --> 00:10:17.600 something. They saw something. When they saw 00:10:17.600 --> 00:10:19.480 the boldness of Peter and John and perceived 00:10:19.480 --> 00:10:23.200 that they were uneducated and untrained men. 00:10:24.539 --> 00:10:27.139 Uneducated and untrained men will mean that These 00:10:27.139 --> 00:10:28.860 people don't seem like they had attended any 00:10:28.860 --> 00:10:30.740 form of, they didn't have any form of formal 00:10:30.740 --> 00:10:33.519 education or formal training. He says, but they 00:10:33.519 --> 00:10:36.600 marveled. They marveled because it got their 00:10:36.600 --> 00:10:38.539 attention. Like, these guys have not been to 00:10:38.539 --> 00:10:41.919 any of our Ivy League universities and why are 00:10:41.919 --> 00:10:44.600 they sounding like this? Why are they bold? What 00:10:44.600 --> 00:10:46.779 is giving them that boldness? What is giving 00:10:46.779 --> 00:10:50.360 them that confidence? And he says, they realized 00:10:50.360 --> 00:10:53.820 something. They realized that they had been with 00:10:53.820 --> 00:10:57.350 Jesus. Praise God. They had been with Jesus. 00:10:57.549 --> 00:11:01.049 And at the point in time where this was happening, 00:11:01.230 --> 00:11:04.870 know that Christ was no longer physically with 00:11:04.870 --> 00:11:07.210 them. Praise God. Christ was no longer physically 00:11:07.210 --> 00:11:09.370 with them. So it says they realized that they 00:11:09.370 --> 00:11:13.370 had been with Jesus. I want us to pay attention 00:11:13.370 --> 00:11:15.929 to this, that they realized that they had been 00:11:15.929 --> 00:11:18.909 with Jesus. So they didn't see what they knew. 00:11:19.049 --> 00:11:22.649 They saw what they practiced. Praise God. They 00:11:22.649 --> 00:11:27.070 didn't see what they knew. They saw what they 00:11:27.070 --> 00:11:30.129 practiced. So you can know a lot of things, but 00:11:30.129 --> 00:11:32.269 if those things don't translate to practice, 00:11:32.610 --> 00:11:38.029 it's a waste. Praise God. It's actually a waste. 00:11:38.190 --> 00:11:41.490 And this thing called discipleship, let's define 00:11:41.490 --> 00:11:44.570 it. Let's define it. Discipleship is a process 00:11:44.570 --> 00:11:48.429 of training. It's a process of training. How 00:11:48.429 --> 00:11:51.210 many of us like training? I know the hands will 00:11:51.210 --> 00:11:53.529 be few. Some people, it's a process of training. 00:11:53.750 --> 00:11:57.649 Praise God. I see one or two hands. It's a process 00:11:57.649 --> 00:12:00.830 of training as a student. I'm nervous as students. 00:12:01.970 --> 00:12:04.049 Yeah, we're students and we don't like training. 00:12:04.389 --> 00:12:08.149 Praise God. So it's a process of training as 00:12:08.149 --> 00:12:12.629 a student or an intern or an intern or an apprentice. 00:12:13.269 --> 00:12:16.610 I'm giving us a list. It's as a student, as an 00:12:16.610 --> 00:12:20.320 intern or an apprentice. If, let me, I think 00:12:20.320 --> 00:12:22.820 we're very familiar with the student part. How 00:12:22.820 --> 00:12:25.639 many of us are familiar with internships? We 00:12:25.639 --> 00:12:28.039 do internships. If you have, some of us are doing 00:12:28.039 --> 00:12:30.460 internships at the moment. Some of us are interning. 00:12:30.460 --> 00:12:31.919 You're an intern when you're doing internships. 00:12:32.340 --> 00:12:35.039 And, you know, all the things you studied in 00:12:35.039 --> 00:12:37.019 school now becomes practical when you're doing 00:12:37.019 --> 00:12:39.840 internships. And most of you don't even realize 00:12:39.840 --> 00:12:42.200 what you don't know. You don't realize what you 00:12:42.200 --> 00:12:45.379 don't know until you're now asked a couple of 00:12:45.379 --> 00:12:46.799 times, you'll be like, we did this in the first 00:12:46.799 --> 00:12:49.399 year. And then it starts. It's over time, it 00:12:49.399 --> 00:12:51.179 starts coming together. I remember when I did 00:12:51.179 --> 00:12:53.980 my own internship, as in the experiences I had 00:12:53.980 --> 00:12:57.980 from that internship as way back as 2009, I did 00:12:57.980 --> 00:13:00.440 my internship and I did it in a lab. I did it 00:13:00.440 --> 00:13:02.580 in a lab. And when we came in at first, I think 00:13:02.580 --> 00:13:05.320 I was the second person to show up as the intern. 00:13:05.500 --> 00:13:08.720 And what they do is that the company wants to 00:13:08.720 --> 00:13:10.720 relieve themselves of responsibility. So they 00:13:10.720 --> 00:13:13.799 will ensure they train you properly so that when 00:13:13.799 --> 00:13:16.320 they train you, the next set of people that are 00:13:16.320 --> 00:13:19.299 going to come, you will train them. And that's 00:13:19.299 --> 00:13:22.259 discipleship right there in the world system. 00:13:22.759 --> 00:13:25.299 They train you and know that they're doing it 00:13:25.299 --> 00:13:26.799 because they don't want to do their responsibility, 00:13:26.960 --> 00:13:30.139 which is train everybody. But there's a beauty 00:13:30.139 --> 00:13:33.080 of that because you now get trained and you train 00:13:33.080 --> 00:13:37.159 the next person. Praise God. And it's so beautiful. 00:13:37.259 --> 00:13:39.299 I can remember the experience. For me, it was 00:13:39.299 --> 00:13:41.220 beautiful because I was like, all the things 00:13:41.220 --> 00:13:44.879 I've been taught now takes on life. It takes 00:13:44.879 --> 00:13:47.470 on flesh. Praise God. Takes on flesh. It's not 00:13:47.470 --> 00:13:50.710 just words now. It's practical. And even in one 00:13:50.710 --> 00:13:53.889 of the incidents, when I was training the person 00:13:53.889 --> 00:13:57.269 as I was trained, an accident broke out in the 00:13:57.269 --> 00:14:00.750 lab where my hands were on fire and I had to 00:14:00.750 --> 00:14:03.309 wave it through. You know, those experiences 00:14:03.309 --> 00:14:06.330 are not what you get from just in class. There's 00:14:06.330 --> 00:14:08.570 no accident. There's safety. The place is just 00:14:08.570 --> 00:14:11.129 safe. There's no, you're not going to experience 00:14:11.129 --> 00:14:12.970 anything. Nothing is going to come to you. Just 00:14:12.970 --> 00:14:15.190 read it. And then the only accident might be 00:14:15.190 --> 00:14:18.559 during exams. After exams, when you go for the 00:14:18.559 --> 00:14:20.799 exam, that's probably a terrifying experience. 00:14:20.879 --> 00:14:24.080 But it was very interesting because I had instructed 00:14:24.080 --> 00:14:27.500 the person that I was now training, because now 00:14:27.500 --> 00:14:30.379 I'm the trainer, I'm the teacher, the person 00:14:30.379 --> 00:14:33.500 is a student. I had given instructions, and the 00:14:33.500 --> 00:14:36.600 person actually messed the instruction up. And 00:14:36.600 --> 00:14:39.059 there's always a consequence. When you do... 00:14:39.309 --> 00:14:41.470 What you shouldn't do. Praise God. I want us 00:14:41.470 --> 00:14:43.570 to pay attention. We're going somewhere. There's 00:14:43.570 --> 00:14:45.990 always consequences for when you are instructed 00:14:45.990 --> 00:14:49.470 and you don't follow instruction. What we saw 00:14:49.470 --> 00:14:54.370 was fire. Praise God. What we saw was fire. And 00:14:54.370 --> 00:14:57.210 I was now in God. I've given instruction. I'm 00:14:57.210 --> 00:14:58.990 walking away. And all of a sudden, I looked at 00:14:58.990 --> 00:15:01.309 my hand. But the good thing was that I had a 00:15:01.309 --> 00:15:05.110 very... God preserved me. I had a very long... 00:15:05.320 --> 00:15:07.840 So it was what was on fire. My hand, my actual 00:15:07.840 --> 00:15:10.379 hand was not on fire. The cloth was what was 00:15:10.379 --> 00:15:13.379 on fire. And then I walked past the office swinging 00:15:13.379 --> 00:15:15.720 my hand. And then my bosses were like, what is 00:15:15.720 --> 00:15:17.899 going on? Like they saw fire just going around 00:15:17.899 --> 00:15:21.279 because I was trying to get the fire out. And 00:15:21.279 --> 00:15:23.379 then once it was out, it came, what happened? 00:15:23.419 --> 00:15:25.139 What happened? I couldn't explain because I was 00:15:25.139 --> 00:15:27.240 trying to work out what just happened because 00:15:27.240 --> 00:15:30.240 even my brain was not computing what had just 00:15:30.240 --> 00:15:32.960 happened. Went back into the lab. We saw the 00:15:32.960 --> 00:15:34.720 lady there because she was holding the thing. 00:15:35.049 --> 00:15:38.090 when the wires was on fire. And then she dropped 00:15:38.090 --> 00:15:39.789 it. It was when she dropped it, the fire followed 00:15:39.789 --> 00:15:43.490 me out. And then I got engulfed by the, we had 00:15:43.490 --> 00:15:46.330 the fire situation. And we had a fire extinguisher 00:15:46.330 --> 00:15:48.669 right there, but we didn't, nobody's, you know, 00:15:48.690 --> 00:15:51.230 in the heat of the incident, nobody's paying 00:15:51.230 --> 00:15:53.350 attention to that. I think I had, I made a LinkedIn 00:15:53.350 --> 00:15:55.570 post on that. And I advise people to be very 00:15:55.570 --> 00:15:58.629 careful, be very careful when you're in the lab 00:15:58.629 --> 00:16:00.570 and pay attention to your environment and follow 00:16:00.570 --> 00:16:04.919 instructions. So not that, that. You can have 00:16:04.919 --> 00:16:08.759 incidents like that when you're trying to give 00:16:08.759 --> 00:16:12.000 life to what it is you're being taught. And then 00:16:12.000 --> 00:16:15.980 you have the other word, the apprenticed. I think, 00:16:15.980 --> 00:16:20.220 I don't know, you know, I'm from Nigeria and 00:16:20.220 --> 00:16:24.320 I'm Igbo by tribe, but I'm from the kingdom of 00:16:24.320 --> 00:16:27.759 God. Yes, that's my earthly tribe, but my heavenly 00:16:27.759 --> 00:16:30.440 tribe is the kingdom of God. And there's something 00:16:30.440 --> 00:16:34.029 that we practice, which is a young man, Lends 00:16:34.029 --> 00:16:37.590 a trade. He wants to make something out of his 00:16:37.590 --> 00:16:42.049 life. He now goes and meets his boss or his master. 00:16:42.330 --> 00:16:46.549 And then he lends. This active is selling spare 00:16:46.549 --> 00:16:48.990 parts, selling building materials. They spend 00:16:48.990 --> 00:16:52.269 time and lend a trade. And it's not just, they 00:16:52.269 --> 00:16:55.169 don't lend it by proxy. They go there, engage 00:16:55.169 --> 00:16:58.629 with the market, know what the dynamics of the 00:16:58.629 --> 00:17:01.289 market is, and then they learn. They don't do 00:17:01.289 --> 00:17:05.900 it. online. Praise God. They do it by doing. 00:17:06.119 --> 00:17:09.200 Praise God. They do it by doing. And it's very, 00:17:09.299 --> 00:17:12.420 very, very, we can see that and see something 00:17:12.420 --> 00:17:17.500 to pay attention to. And I've not finished defining 00:17:17.500 --> 00:17:21.380 discipleship. Remember I said it's a process. 00:17:21.680 --> 00:17:26.140 Means that if you start and not finish, you lose 00:17:26.140 --> 00:17:30.539 out on the opportunity to grow or to learn. Praise 00:17:30.539 --> 00:17:33.059 God. You lose out on the wonderful opportunity 00:17:33.059 --> 00:17:37.599 you have to learn. And if the young man that 00:17:37.599 --> 00:17:41.799 goes to learn that trade decides that his boss 00:17:41.799 --> 00:17:45.319 is not worthy to be his boss and then he quits, 00:17:45.500 --> 00:17:49.240 that's the end of it for him. He might not probably 00:17:49.240 --> 00:17:52.299 have a career in that because he dropped off 00:17:52.299 --> 00:17:55.319 in his second year or his first year. Same thing 00:17:55.319 --> 00:17:57.579 with being a student. If you drop out in your 00:17:57.579 --> 00:17:59.140 first year or your second year, I think this 00:17:59.140 --> 00:18:02.480 week, I asked about a student of mine. I said, 00:18:02.519 --> 00:18:05.059 where are they not in class? The friend said, 00:18:05.180 --> 00:18:10.839 they said they quit. They said they quit. I laughed. 00:18:11.539 --> 00:18:14.240 I said, you're just in foundation. You have not 00:18:14.240 --> 00:18:17.880 started first year. And you just did one semester 00:18:17.880 --> 00:18:19.400 and you failed the course. You came back again 00:18:19.400 --> 00:18:23.339 and then you say you quit. I said, there's a 00:18:23.339 --> 00:18:25.759 lot ahead of you. If you start quitting like 00:18:25.759 --> 00:18:27.900 that, you'll quit on everything. There'll be 00:18:27.900 --> 00:18:29.980 nothing left of you. Praise God. And even as 00:18:29.980 --> 00:18:32.380 a student, if you quit, that's the end of the 00:18:32.380 --> 00:18:34.579 degree. That's the end of the degree. You go 00:18:34.579 --> 00:18:36.559 find something else. That means you have a plan 00:18:36.559 --> 00:18:40.359 that doesn't involve schooling. Praise God. And 00:18:40.359 --> 00:18:44.440 the thing about discipleship, it involves someone 00:18:44.440 --> 00:18:47.519 higher. It involves someone you can refer to, 00:18:47.559 --> 00:18:49.700 since we're using the same word, a discipler. 00:18:49.839 --> 00:18:53.039 Praise God. Involves a discipler. And I want 00:18:53.039 --> 00:18:55.440 you to put another word there. It involves... 00:18:55.950 --> 00:18:58.450 In the context of a church, it involves a pastor. 00:18:58.609 --> 00:19:02.069 Praise God. It involves a pastor. It involves, 00:19:02.470 --> 00:19:04.589 you can also call it, because a pastor is all, 00:19:05.210 --> 00:19:10.789 a shepherd. Praise God. A discipler, a pastor, 00:19:10.950 --> 00:19:14.549 a shepherd. And this is someone who is more mature. 00:19:14.829 --> 00:19:17.769 In the context of the boss, it's someone that 00:19:17.769 --> 00:19:20.450 has experience, someone that is in it for longer 00:19:20.450 --> 00:19:22.630 than yourself. Someone that has been in it for 00:19:22.630 --> 00:19:24.990 longer than yourself. With a teacher or with 00:19:24.990 --> 00:19:27.710 a lecturer. Someone that has a couple of degrees 00:19:27.710 --> 00:19:30.410 to their name that gives them the authority to 00:19:30.410 --> 00:19:33.849 be able to teach you. Praise God. And I want 00:19:33.849 --> 00:19:36.430 us to pay attention to something. In the context 00:19:36.430 --> 00:19:39.829 of discipleship, know that discipleship is not 00:19:39.829 --> 00:19:43.210 mentorship. Praise God. Discipleship is not coaching. 00:19:43.789 --> 00:19:50.369 And it's something that the world uses. Terms 00:19:50.369 --> 00:19:52.910 of engagement, the rules of engagement for mentorship. 00:19:53.009 --> 00:19:56.430 Let me explain. The rules of engagement for mentorship 00:19:56.430 --> 00:19:59.769 is that you go, you see a mentor. There's something 00:19:59.769 --> 00:20:01.549 you want to learn in the life of that mentor. 00:20:02.009 --> 00:20:06.009 Then you tell the mentor, I want to be your mentee. 00:20:06.690 --> 00:20:09.150 And then there's an agreement between you and 00:20:09.150 --> 00:20:12.930 that mentor. And then what happens is that over 00:20:12.930 --> 00:20:15.940 time. If you decide that that mentor is no longer 00:20:15.940 --> 00:20:18.039 worthy to be your mentor, you switch to another 00:20:18.039 --> 00:20:21.039 mentor. Some people will have mentors for days. 00:20:21.160 --> 00:20:23.960 And know that you, in fact, in the world of mentorship 00:20:23.960 --> 00:20:26.019 or in the world of business, they will tell you, 00:20:26.059 --> 00:20:29.519 you should not have, if you have a mentor, the 00:20:29.519 --> 00:20:32.380 mentor has to be for this area. Your other mentor 00:20:32.380 --> 00:20:34.000 has to be for this area. Because if you have 00:20:34.000 --> 00:20:36.400 two mentors in the same area, one mentor will 00:20:36.400 --> 00:20:38.160 say, jump up. Your other mentor will say, stay 00:20:38.160 --> 00:20:41.440 ground, don't jump up. And then you'll be confused. 00:20:41.519 --> 00:20:43.890 You'll be like, should I jump? You now look and 00:20:43.890 --> 00:20:48.410 then you weigh the mentor. You say, what is in 00:20:48.410 --> 00:20:50.190 the CV of this mentor? And then you now start 00:20:50.190 --> 00:20:53.710 choosing which one of them you will follow. But 00:20:53.710 --> 00:20:57.250 know that in the kingdom of God, you don't choose. 00:20:58.470 --> 00:21:01.430 Once you are in the church, the pastors that 00:21:01.430 --> 00:21:04.069 are there in that church are the ones you submit 00:21:04.069 --> 00:21:06.950 to. Praise God. The pastors that are there in 00:21:06.950 --> 00:21:09.470 that church are the ones you submit to. Let me 00:21:09.470 --> 00:21:14.420 give us a scripture in Acts 20. Verse 28. Acts 00:21:14.420 --> 00:21:18.420 20, verse 28. He said, Therefore, take heed to 00:21:18.420 --> 00:21:23.819 yourselves and to all the flock, among which 00:21:23.819 --> 00:21:29.400 the Holy Spirit has made you overseers to shepherd 00:21:29.400 --> 00:21:33.759 the church of God, which he purchased with his 00:21:33.759 --> 00:21:36.660 own blood. Which he purchased with his own blood. 00:21:36.779 --> 00:21:39.019 He said the Holy Spirit has made you overseers. 00:21:39.220 --> 00:21:41.740 And know that the context of that is, Apostle 00:21:41.740 --> 00:21:46.720 Paul actually admonishing the elders of the church 00:21:46.720 --> 00:21:50.079 in Ephesus. He was admonishing them and telling 00:21:50.079 --> 00:21:54.460 them to take heed to themselves and to the flock. 00:21:54.619 --> 00:21:57.940 The flock there will not be referring to a group 00:21:57.940 --> 00:22:01.700 of sheep. It's human beings. Praise God. It's 00:22:01.700 --> 00:22:05.359 human beings. It says, among which the Holy Spirit 00:22:05.359 --> 00:22:11.769 has made you overseers. Meaning that the Holy 00:22:11.769 --> 00:22:15.829 Spirit is the one that has placed the pastors, 00:22:16.230 --> 00:22:18.690 the shepherds, because that will make sense, 00:22:18.710 --> 00:22:22.069 flocks, shepherds, in charge. The church of God. 00:22:22.190 --> 00:22:26.990 And even the statement there also says, which 00:22:26.990 --> 00:22:31.769 he purchased. Who is the he there? Christ. Remember, 00:22:31.789 --> 00:22:36.460 what Christ had done. is for all of this. What 00:22:36.460 --> 00:22:39.720 his resurrection gives rise to is in his resurrection 00:22:39.720 --> 00:22:42.559 that we're called sons. It's in his resurrection 00:22:42.559 --> 00:22:45.119 that we are part of a body, part of a family. 00:22:45.259 --> 00:22:49.740 And he is the one that is truly in charge. I 00:22:49.740 --> 00:22:51.740 want to establish something very, very, very 00:22:51.740 --> 00:22:55.880 clear and very powerful. That the things that 00:22:55.880 --> 00:23:00.660 you are discipled in or on is the things concerning 00:23:00.660 --> 00:23:05.269 the same Jesus. that has saved and is still saving 00:23:05.269 --> 00:23:07.990 the lives of people. Praise God. And if you're 00:23:07.990 --> 00:23:11.569 here, know that the message is singular. The 00:23:11.569 --> 00:23:14.910 message is not multiple. And that's why in this 00:23:14.910 --> 00:23:18.410 church we're blessed to have several pastors. 00:23:18.509 --> 00:23:20.849 There were six pastors in this church. And know 00:23:20.849 --> 00:23:24.210 that everything that we teach is anchored on 00:23:24.210 --> 00:23:26.369 one message, which is what I said. Mentorship 00:23:26.369 --> 00:23:29.609 is very different in the sense that you can have 00:23:29.609 --> 00:23:31.349 different people teaching you different things. 00:23:32.089 --> 00:23:35.109 And by the way, also just to point out a couple 00:23:35.109 --> 00:23:37.710 of things. In this church, your pastors have 00:23:37.710 --> 00:23:41.710 their careers as well. So, know that I'm a lecturer. 00:23:41.849 --> 00:23:44.730 If you come and ask me to mentor you in your 00:23:44.730 --> 00:23:46.990 academics because you're doing badly, that now 00:23:46.990 --> 00:23:52.869 is different from this. It's together because 00:23:52.869 --> 00:23:55.789 we do that. When we tell you your CGP has to 00:23:55.789 --> 00:23:58.809 be 3 .0, know that we are... Because what we 00:23:58.809 --> 00:24:01.829 do here is beyond... Just teaching the Word of 00:24:01.829 --> 00:24:03.950 God. We are concerned about every area of your 00:24:03.950 --> 00:24:06.609 life. Praise God. You're concerned about every 00:24:06.609 --> 00:24:09.109 area of your life. And know that what is most 00:24:09.109 --> 00:24:12.809 important to us is your spiritual. What is most 00:24:12.809 --> 00:24:14.829 important to us is your spiritual. Meaning that 00:24:14.829 --> 00:24:18.230 if there's anything that is our priority is that 00:24:18.230 --> 00:24:21.029 you grow in your walk with God. You grow in your 00:24:21.029 --> 00:24:24.210 knowledge of God's Word. You grow in your fellowship. 00:24:24.730 --> 00:24:28.369 You grow in the discipleship. And you're growing 00:24:28.369 --> 00:24:31.640 to the end that you... And not just disciples, 00:24:31.940 --> 00:24:34.819 you also disciple others. Because in your growth, 00:24:34.880 --> 00:24:38.599 you're more matured than someone else. Praise 00:24:38.599 --> 00:24:42.039 God. So you can be here and just having it one 00:24:42.039 --> 00:24:46.380 way. And in your growth, others will grow. In 00:24:46.380 --> 00:24:48.819 your growth, others will grow. And let's look 00:24:48.819 --> 00:24:51.779 at why the whole teaching and everything that 00:24:51.779 --> 00:24:56.359 we do is anchored on Christ. It's anchored on 00:24:56.359 --> 00:24:58.900 Christ. Let's look at the same passage of Scripture 00:24:58.900 --> 00:25:02.309 where we read. He says, In 20, he said, teaching 00:25:02.309 --> 00:25:06.970 them to observe what? Teaching them to observe 00:25:06.970 --> 00:25:11.650 all things that I have commanded you. Teaching 00:25:11.650 --> 00:25:14.009 them to observe all things that I have commanded 00:25:14.009 --> 00:25:16.869 you. And I want us to go to Luke, Luke 24, 27. 00:25:17.390 --> 00:25:23.309 So it says, in the beginning at Moses, this is 00:25:23.309 --> 00:25:25.170 Jesus Christ speaking, beginning at Moses and 00:25:25.170 --> 00:25:29.500 all the prophets, he expounded to them. in all 00:25:29.500 --> 00:25:32.200 the scripture, the things concerning himself. 00:25:33.240 --> 00:25:35.660 Expanded in scripture, the things concerning 00:25:35.660 --> 00:25:39.799 himself. And that same Luke 24, 44, this was 00:25:39.799 --> 00:25:43.000 the incident with Cleopas in 44. We see where 00:25:43.000 --> 00:25:45.759 he does it with a larger group of disciples in 00:25:45.759 --> 00:25:50.140 44, the same 24, 44. It says, Then he said to 00:25:50.140 --> 00:25:53.559 them, These are the words which I spoke to you 00:25:53.559 --> 00:25:57.480 while I was still with you, that all things must 00:25:57.480 --> 00:26:00.609 be fulfilled, which were written in the law of 00:26:00.609 --> 00:26:04.490 Moses and in the prophets and in the Psalms concerning 00:26:04.490 --> 00:26:08.470 himself, concerning Christ Jesus. So know that 00:26:08.470 --> 00:26:10.309 all the things they thought, even when they were 00:26:10.309 --> 00:26:13.970 going around, the reason why they would say that 00:26:13.970 --> 00:26:16.170 these people had been with Christ is because 00:26:16.170 --> 00:26:18.789 they saw the things that were being taught by 00:26:18.789 --> 00:26:23.670 Christ in flesh. So they had internalized all 00:26:23.670 --> 00:26:26.130 the things thought concerning him to the point 00:26:26.130 --> 00:26:30.230 where it shows in how They acted. It shows in 00:26:30.230 --> 00:26:33.470 the things that they do. And as I said earlier, 00:26:33.509 --> 00:26:36.390 I'll repeat myself again. The message is singular 00:26:36.390 --> 00:26:40.029 because it's all about Christ. The curriculum 00:26:40.029 --> 00:26:44.309 for discipleship is all founded in the things 00:26:44.309 --> 00:26:47.390 concerning Christ and nothing else. The thing 00:26:47.390 --> 00:26:49.990 concerning Christ and nothing else. It's beautiful 00:26:49.990 --> 00:26:52.230 when you add business, education, and all of 00:26:52.230 --> 00:26:54.329 this to that. Know that that is now where you're 00:26:54.329 --> 00:26:57.920 going. But know that the things that... What 00:26:57.920 --> 00:27:01.359 shapes the curriculum? Here is the Word of God. 00:27:01.940 --> 00:27:05.559 It's the Word of God that shapes that curriculum. 00:27:05.900 --> 00:27:09.039 So the fact that we have every, the growth is 00:27:09.039 --> 00:27:11.720 important. So we just keep going and then we 00:27:11.720 --> 00:27:14.700 grow together. And we say that discipleship is 00:27:14.700 --> 00:27:18.680 not a one -off thing. It's not a one -off thing. 00:27:18.779 --> 00:27:21.599 And when you come into union with Christ, know 00:27:21.599 --> 00:27:25.099 that what follows, because he says making disciples, 00:27:25.339 --> 00:27:28.460 right? What? happens is that you're taught the 00:27:28.460 --> 00:27:31.319 Word of God, you come into the union, you come 00:27:31.319 --> 00:27:33.160 into union and fellowship with God, and then 00:27:33.160 --> 00:27:35.480 what happens is that you are now discipled. Meaning 00:27:35.480 --> 00:27:38.079 that if a person is saved, they should be in 00:27:38.079 --> 00:27:40.660 the church where they will be taught. And if 00:27:40.660 --> 00:27:43.180 a person is saved, you should be part of a church 00:27:43.180 --> 00:27:47.039 where you will be taught. Praise God. Either 00:27:47.039 --> 00:27:50.400 which way, you have to be part of a church where 00:27:50.400 --> 00:27:54.180 the teaching of God's Word comes to you. Regularly. 00:27:54.500 --> 00:27:57.420 Consistent. Because we say it's a process. Meaning 00:27:57.420 --> 00:28:01.279 that if you drop out of school, you don't learn. 00:28:02.099 --> 00:28:04.119 Yeah, if there are people that will say, I'm 00:28:04.119 --> 00:28:05.539 dropped out of school, you can still learn. Just 00:28:05.539 --> 00:28:07.759 take your book and then study. Good luck with 00:28:07.759 --> 00:28:09.859 that. There are people that do self. You know, 00:28:09.920 --> 00:28:12.660 you can read a lot of things. You can have a 00:28:12.660 --> 00:28:15.859 lot of information. But the practice of it, it's 00:28:15.859 --> 00:28:18.299 in the same fellowship where you are able to 00:28:18.299 --> 00:28:21.309 serve. which is very important. You serve in 00:28:21.309 --> 00:28:23.950 a church. Several of us are serving in the media. 00:28:24.269 --> 00:28:26.829 You are serving in the church, and that is part 00:28:26.829 --> 00:28:29.549 of discipleship. Service is also part of discipleship. 00:28:29.569 --> 00:28:32.730 We'll see that very shortly. Note that commitment 00:28:32.730 --> 00:28:36.650 to training is not sweet. That whole commitment, 00:28:36.890 --> 00:28:42.410 like it's really, you have to now walk. You know, 00:28:42.430 --> 00:28:45.390 some people, they are very, you know, sir, I'm 00:28:45.390 --> 00:28:49.759 introverted. You know, I really, I like my space. 00:28:50.059 --> 00:28:53.240 Yeah, you came into God's space anyway. You came 00:28:53.240 --> 00:28:55.480 into God's space and you still want your space. 00:28:55.660 --> 00:28:58.420 It's His will, not your will. Praise God. So 00:28:58.420 --> 00:29:02.079 many of us love our spaces, but for the sake 00:29:02.079 --> 00:29:04.759 of the one who has called us, for the sake of 00:29:04.759 --> 00:29:07.420 the union we have with the one who now has us, 00:29:07.559 --> 00:29:11.039 we break away from certain things that are uncomfortable. 00:29:12.579 --> 00:29:15.259 Praise God. Because certain things are necessary 00:29:15.259 --> 00:29:17.339 for your growth. Certain things you don't like, 00:29:17.359 --> 00:29:19.440 but you do them because you have to. Because 00:29:19.440 --> 00:29:21.500 you're not doing them will affect some other 00:29:21.500 --> 00:29:24.680 people. I used to use that a lot because it makes 00:29:24.680 --> 00:29:28.099 the point very clear. You know that if you don't 00:29:28.099 --> 00:29:30.160 brush your teeth, someone is going to be affected. 00:29:30.460 --> 00:29:32.700 And that in itself is the motivation for doing 00:29:32.700 --> 00:29:34.859 what you do. Because you have to wake up. If 00:29:34.859 --> 00:29:38.839 you forget, you go back. Even if the boss is 00:29:38.839 --> 00:29:41.339 waiting for you. Because you know that when you 00:29:41.339 --> 00:29:44.380 step into that boss, something is going to happen 00:29:44.380 --> 00:29:47.920 and it's not going to be good. Praise God. So 00:29:47.920 --> 00:29:49.859 what we're going to start to do now is we're 00:29:49.859 --> 00:29:52.359 going to look at certain attributes of a disciple. 00:29:53.259 --> 00:29:56.819 Certain attributes of a disciple. And one of 00:29:56.819 --> 00:30:00.839 them, I know that the overall attribute of a 00:30:00.839 --> 00:30:03.519 disciple is that they have to be childlike. The 00:30:03.519 --> 00:30:07.200 humility of a disciple has to be childlike. And 00:30:07.200 --> 00:30:09.779 first on the list, I want you to write down that 00:30:09.779 --> 00:30:13.910 a disciple is teachable. A disciple, It is teachable. 00:30:13.970 --> 00:30:16.210 I want you to write that down. In fact, write 00:30:16.210 --> 00:30:18.289 it in capital letters. If your style of writing 00:30:18.289 --> 00:30:20.549 is small, I forgive you. Just continue in capital 00:30:20.549 --> 00:30:23.730 letters. Say, a disciple is teachable. I want 00:30:23.730 --> 00:30:27.710 you to say it. I am teachable. Say, as a disciple, 00:30:27.869 --> 00:30:32.230 I am teachable. Lord, we don't learn things from 00:30:32.230 --> 00:30:35.809 the streets. As God's children, we learn things 00:30:35.809 --> 00:30:39.809 from his word. And when we are instructed... 00:30:40.299 --> 00:30:43.460 To be childlike, not childish, because you can 00:30:43.460 --> 00:30:47.740 be childish, and that is not good for you. Know 00:30:47.740 --> 00:30:50.180 that the childlike is not meaning that you should 00:30:50.180 --> 00:30:52.380 be a child, right? Saying that there's a character, 00:30:52.500 --> 00:30:54.680 a characteristic of a child that you should adopt 00:30:54.680 --> 00:30:58.380 that will aid you. And I want us to look at Matthew 00:30:58.380 --> 00:31:03.960 18. Matthew 18. Matthew 18. The whole conversation 00:31:03.960 --> 00:31:06.759 there from one, let's just look at three. So 00:31:06.759 --> 00:31:08.700 I want you to write that down. You can read from 00:31:08.700 --> 00:31:11.859 one to four or one to five. I want you to just 00:31:11.859 --> 00:31:14.039 focus on the three. And this is Jesus Christ. 00:31:14.059 --> 00:31:18.740 He said, Assuredly, I say to you, unless you 00:31:18.740 --> 00:31:22.279 are converted and become as little children, 00:31:22.480 --> 00:31:27.289 you will by no means enter the kingdom. Know 00:31:27.289 --> 00:31:29.529 that he's saying this at the point of entry, 00:31:29.650 --> 00:31:32.309 meaning that your attitude should be that of 00:31:32.309 --> 00:31:34.430 a child, meaning that your attitude you should 00:31:34.430 --> 00:31:39.410 carry because a child has certain character or 00:31:39.410 --> 00:31:42.049 characteristics or certain traits that you can 00:31:42.049 --> 00:31:44.130 look and you say, this is a child. One of them 00:31:44.130 --> 00:31:48.190 is that a child is dependent. A child is dependent, 00:31:48.490 --> 00:31:52.210 a child is trusting, and a child is eager to 00:31:52.210 --> 00:31:56.150 learn. A child is dependent. A child is trusting 00:31:56.150 --> 00:32:00.109 and a child is eager to learn. And a child is 00:32:00.109 --> 00:32:02.869 not self -sufficient. A child cannot just wake 00:32:02.869 --> 00:32:05.970 up one morning because he has 200 tele, says, 00:32:06.089 --> 00:32:09.309 Daddy, Mommy, I'm now a man, I'm now a woman, 00:32:09.549 --> 00:32:12.230 I will leave your house. The question is, how 00:32:12.230 --> 00:32:14.750 long will you survive with that amount of money? 00:32:14.910 --> 00:32:17.329 Knowing that what Jesus Christ is saying here 00:32:17.329 --> 00:32:20.509 is that the attitude of a child is what gets 00:32:20.509 --> 00:32:23.549 you into the kingdom and the attitude of a child 00:32:23.549 --> 00:32:26.680 is what... Helps you to grow even in the kingdom. 00:32:27.079 --> 00:32:30.079 The attitude of a child is what helps you to 00:32:30.079 --> 00:32:33.160 receive. Because the child is very believing. 00:32:33.799 --> 00:32:36.400 And if you look at the child, you even lie to 00:32:36.400 --> 00:32:38.779 the child, the child still believes you. Because 00:32:38.779 --> 00:32:41.819 your auntie or your uncle, and you will not lie 00:32:41.819 --> 00:32:46.519 to them. Praise God. I was saying, when I was 00:32:46.519 --> 00:32:48.200 teaching one time, I said, you know this thing 00:32:48.200 --> 00:32:51.079 about value. The child... sometimes doesn't understand 00:32:51.079 --> 00:32:53.720 value. So you can give them two 10 tele and one 00:32:53.720 --> 00:32:57.359 100 tele and say, choose one. But nowadays, they're 00:32:57.359 --> 00:32:59.039 very smart. They will take everything. They will 00:32:59.039 --> 00:33:03.640 take everything. They will say, uncle, all. But 00:33:03.640 --> 00:33:06.019 when you give two and one, not that the child 00:33:06.019 --> 00:33:08.900 will say two is more than one, because the child, 00:33:08.980 --> 00:33:11.460 they're just like, this is two, this is one. 00:33:11.559 --> 00:33:14.359 Obviously, it makes sense. It's a no -brainer. 00:33:14.660 --> 00:33:17.119 But you that is looking at the value, what 100 00:33:17.119 --> 00:33:18.839 tele will buy you is against what 20 tele will 00:33:18.839 --> 00:33:21.130 buy you. You're a lot smarter. That's why they 00:33:21.130 --> 00:33:22.569 don't play those games with adults. They play 00:33:22.569 --> 00:33:24.910 with children. And you want to pay attention 00:33:24.910 --> 00:33:26.250 to the kind of children you play with. There 00:33:26.250 --> 00:33:28.150 are certain children that you don't want to look 00:33:28.150 --> 00:33:31.450 at some of them in church. Praise God. Praise 00:33:31.450 --> 00:33:34.769 God. Know that it's the attitude of learning 00:33:34.769 --> 00:33:39.049 and growing. Because a child has to. And that 00:33:39.049 --> 00:33:41.609 is something that we should adopt. Because if 00:33:41.609 --> 00:33:44.710 you want to learn, you have to be childlike. 00:33:45.680 --> 00:33:48.579 You have to be trusting. You have to be believing. 00:33:48.920 --> 00:33:51.579 You don't want to have a sense of self -sufficiency. 00:33:51.839 --> 00:33:54.480 You want to have God's sufficiency, which is 00:33:54.480 --> 00:33:56.740 that you are dependent on God and you're dependent 00:33:56.740 --> 00:33:59.579 on the systems He has placed around you for your 00:33:59.579 --> 00:34:02.960 growth. You know, when you take for granted the 00:34:02.960 --> 00:34:07.119 systems that God has placed to sustain you, you 00:34:07.119 --> 00:34:10.760 will just have a dream or have a brilliant idea. 00:34:11.440 --> 00:34:13.980 And then you wake up one morning and act on that 00:34:13.980 --> 00:34:16.960 dream and that idea. And the end result is that 00:34:16.960 --> 00:34:20.880 the end result is not good. Praise God. So it 00:34:20.880 --> 00:34:23.980 means that you, and the beautiful thing about 00:34:23.980 --> 00:34:26.699 the kingdom that we're in is that even though 00:34:26.699 --> 00:34:28.820 you're big or you're small, we're still referred 00:34:28.820 --> 00:34:31.940 to as children of God, right? Because you cannot, 00:34:32.139 --> 00:34:35.679 you cannot grow out of, you cannot grow out of 00:34:35.679 --> 00:34:38.280 being God's child. You cannot, you can never 00:34:38.280 --> 00:34:42.239 stop being God's child. And the growth, your 00:34:42.239 --> 00:34:45.760 growth doesn't change it. Praise God. Your growth 00:34:45.760 --> 00:34:47.400 doesn't change you. You know when you say, God, 00:34:48.119 --> 00:34:50.380 don't call me, no, no, no, I'm no longer a child 00:34:50.380 --> 00:34:53.159 anymore. I'm no longer a child. I mean, I mean, 00:34:53.159 --> 00:34:58.139 yeah, your son, your son, you say, okay, man, 00:34:58.440 --> 00:35:03.519 now. You say, man, oh God. You see, man, you 00:35:03.519 --> 00:35:07.139 have to go low. Praise God. Yeah, in reality, 00:35:07.139 --> 00:35:10.179 you have to go low as a child. Praise God. And 00:35:10.179 --> 00:35:13.599 we see, we see this very exemplified in the life 00:35:13.599 --> 00:35:16.960 of Samuel. I want us to go to 1 Samuel 3, verse 00:35:16.960 --> 00:35:20.599 9. And I want you to read the book of Samuel, 00:35:20.719 --> 00:35:25.159 I mean that chapter, 1 Samuel 3. But just for 00:35:25.159 --> 00:35:28.380 this, I want us to see an example. 1 Samuel 3, 00:35:28.420 --> 00:35:32.360 9. It says, Therefore Eli said to Samuel, Go, 00:35:32.619 --> 00:35:36.760 lie down, and it shall be that if he calls you, 00:35:36.920 --> 00:35:40.980 that you must say, Speak, Lord, for your servant 00:35:40.980 --> 00:35:46.269 hears. So Samuel went. lay down in his place. 00:35:46.489 --> 00:35:52.150 So Samuel did not assume. Samuel heard and ran 00:35:52.150 --> 00:35:57.769 to Eli. Samuel heard and ran to Eli. The call 00:35:57.769 --> 00:36:01.050 was from God to Samuel, but note that Samuel 00:36:01.050 --> 00:36:06.230 submitted to Eli's guidance. Samuel submitted 00:36:06.230 --> 00:36:09.289 to Eli's guidance. You are here and you are in 00:36:09.289 --> 00:36:12.800 church. You want to submit. to the guidance of 00:36:12.800 --> 00:36:15.280 your pastors. You want to submit to the guidance 00:36:15.280 --> 00:36:17.699 of your teacher because it's important for your 00:36:17.699 --> 00:36:20.400 growth. He did not assume that he knew God's 00:36:20.400 --> 00:36:24.199 voice. He did not assume he had learned from 00:36:24.199 --> 00:36:29.619 Eli to respond to the voice of God. He says, 00:36:29.739 --> 00:36:33.039 when you hear the voice, he says, speak for your 00:36:33.039 --> 00:36:36.420 servant hears. And what typically happens in 00:36:36.420 --> 00:36:39.320 this day and age is that, you know, now we have 00:36:39.320 --> 00:36:43.320 an opportunity to go online, And then it's very 00:36:43.320 --> 00:36:45.699 beautiful because you can listen to a pastor 00:36:45.699 --> 00:36:47.639 online. And some people will say, my pastors 00:36:47.639 --> 00:36:50.219 are online, which is not a problem. You can have 00:36:50.219 --> 00:36:52.960 your pastors online. But asides having the pastors 00:36:52.960 --> 00:36:55.800 online, you know, when you have a, you know, 00:36:55.820 --> 00:36:58.179 it's uncomfortable because now the pastor online 00:36:58.179 --> 00:37:01.119 cannot talk to you. He cannot, you know, he can 00:37:01.119 --> 00:37:04.920 give you a prophetic word, right? But he cannot 00:37:04.920 --> 00:37:07.679 talk to you. We can't, because remember, we said 00:37:07.679 --> 00:37:10.000 something that is practical. It's practical. 00:37:10.699 --> 00:37:13.159 The things around it is very practical and you 00:37:13.159 --> 00:37:17.539 can't do it remotely. You can't do it virtually. 00:37:17.940 --> 00:37:22.400 You have to do it by showing up in church. You 00:37:22.400 --> 00:37:26.420 have to do it by serving. And you don't want 00:37:26.420 --> 00:37:31.000 to fall to anybody that comes and then you say, 00:37:31.139 --> 00:37:34.539 oh, my pastor is in. And then you are attending 00:37:34.539 --> 00:37:39.780 a church, local church, and it just shows your... 00:37:40.110 --> 00:37:43.670 It reveals a bit of pride. It reveals, I don't 00:37:43.670 --> 00:37:46.190 know how to scale it now. There's a pride and 00:37:46.190 --> 00:37:47.909 there's a lack of submission because you are 00:37:47.909 --> 00:37:50.429 meant to be submitted to the church you attend. 00:37:50.610 --> 00:37:53.469 When you go to that church, that now becomes 00:37:53.469 --> 00:37:56.150 your church and then you submit to the activities 00:37:56.150 --> 00:37:58.650 there. There's something about when you are doing 00:37:58.650 --> 00:38:01.869 two things. You know, it used to be very interesting 00:38:01.869 --> 00:38:05.570 when you're part of a church and then... it becomes 00:38:05.570 --> 00:38:07.969 monotonous because over in your church, in your 00:38:07.969 --> 00:38:10.889 country, you're fasting, you're, you're, you'll 00:38:10.889 --> 00:38:13.869 just be doing, it's not looking like, it looks 00:38:13.869 --> 00:38:15.909 like the God you're serving is like, the God 00:38:15.909 --> 00:38:17.989 of that end is different, is different from the 00:38:17.989 --> 00:38:20.110 God in this end and you're just, you, you will 00:38:20.110 --> 00:38:23.230 be frustrated in your service because now you'll 00:38:23.230 --> 00:38:25.730 just be, you know, for some people, they get 00:38:25.730 --> 00:38:27.989 capacity, man, oh God. You just see that they 00:38:27.989 --> 00:38:30.789 are, because they, You want to understand that 00:38:30.789 --> 00:38:32.630 if you're here, you want to take the activities 00:38:32.630 --> 00:38:33.789 they were doing here seriously. You know, some 00:38:33.789 --> 00:38:35.449 people say, they say, we're doing Book of the 00:38:35.449 --> 00:38:37.329 Month. They say, no, there's a book I'm reading 00:38:37.329 --> 00:38:39.989 from my church. That is, you yourself, you know 00:38:39.989 --> 00:38:42.949 that that is rebellion. You are just, you are, 00:38:42.949 --> 00:38:44.789 you are just outrightly, and the point is, if 00:38:44.789 --> 00:38:46.550 you check, they're not even doing the one from 00:38:46.550 --> 00:38:48.369 the other two because the church, the other church 00:38:48.369 --> 00:38:50.789 cannot confirm. People are very smart. And then 00:38:50.789 --> 00:38:52.389 they think that the pastors that are leading 00:38:52.389 --> 00:38:53.889 them don't have experience. They were foolish. 00:38:54.510 --> 00:38:56.110 We've been doing this for a while. Praise God. 00:38:57.010 --> 00:38:59.619 So, know that the second part is being, The B 00:38:59.619 --> 00:39:05.119 part, a disciple rejects pride. I alluded to 00:39:05.119 --> 00:39:08.960 it. A disciple rejects pride. I want you to write 00:39:08.960 --> 00:39:12.019 that in capital letters as well. A disciple rejects 00:39:12.019 --> 00:39:14.099 pride. I want you to see something in the life 00:39:14.099 --> 00:39:21.019 of David. In Psalms 131. Psalms 131. Media team, 00:39:21.079 --> 00:39:26.750 please help me. Psalms 131, verse 1 and 2. Psalms 00:39:26.750 --> 00:39:31.250 131, it says, Lord, my heart is not haughty. 00:39:31.250 --> 00:39:34.929 That is another word for pride, prideful. Nor 00:39:34.929 --> 00:39:38.469 my eyes lofty. That's a lot of T. Neither do 00:39:38.469 --> 00:39:42.769 I concern myself with great matters, nor with 00:39:42.769 --> 00:39:48.050 things too profound for me, too. It says, surely 00:39:48.050 --> 00:39:53.170 I have calmed and quieted my soul like a weaned 00:39:53.170 --> 00:39:57.960 child with his mother. Like a weaned child is 00:39:57.960 --> 00:40:02.320 my soul within me. Praise God. This is David 00:40:02.320 --> 00:40:06.679 that is a king, he's a warrior, he's a psalmist. 00:40:06.980 --> 00:40:10.500 He has a lot of things to be prideful about. 00:40:10.980 --> 00:40:14.880 Some of us have not attained, we have not attained 00:40:14.880 --> 00:40:19.860 the status of this man called King David. We 00:40:19.860 --> 00:40:22.280 have not attained that status, but yet there's 00:40:22.280 --> 00:40:25.199 something in us. That makes us feel like we have 00:40:25.199 --> 00:40:27.940 arrived. That we have seen it all. That we know 00:40:27.940 --> 00:40:32.099 it all. And we have it all. Praise God. But this 00:40:32.099 --> 00:40:35.360 king remains constantly and continually dependent 00:40:35.360 --> 00:40:39.739 on God. David is someone that has fought many 00:40:39.739 --> 00:40:43.320 battles. But anytime he wants to go to war, he 00:40:43.320 --> 00:40:47.360 will still seek God's face on whether to or not 00:40:47.360 --> 00:40:50.539 to go. He's someone that can say, I know how 00:40:50.539 --> 00:40:54.429 this works. You see them? I will take them down. 00:40:55.110 --> 00:40:58.110 He can take pride in his abilities or in himself 00:40:58.110 --> 00:41:02.269 to be able to do that. And he has the men to 00:41:02.269 --> 00:41:04.949 help him to do it. But he is the one saying, 00:41:05.090 --> 00:41:08.190 or he's the one you can tell and see the posture 00:41:08.190 --> 00:41:13.409 of this man called David. His humility, his humility. 00:41:13.750 --> 00:41:16.989 And this is the same man. And just since we're 00:41:16.989 --> 00:41:19.789 on David, let's just go to 1 Samuel 22 verse 00:41:19.789 --> 00:41:22.989 2. 1 Samuel 22, verse 2. I want us to see something. 00:41:23.269 --> 00:41:26.550 It says, and everyone who was in distress, let 00:41:26.550 --> 00:41:29.489 me wait for us. 1 Samuel 22, verse 2. It says, 00:41:29.510 --> 00:41:33.710 and everyone who was in distress, everyone who 00:41:33.710 --> 00:41:38.110 was in debt, and everyone who was discontented 00:41:38.110 --> 00:41:42.409 gathered to him. Him there is David. So he became 00:41:42.409 --> 00:41:47.630 captain over them, and there were about 400 men 00:41:47.630 --> 00:41:52.469 with him. This is a man that all these people 00:41:52.469 --> 00:41:54.789 came to him. And I want you to see something. 00:41:54.949 --> 00:41:59.150 They are distressed. They were in debt. They 00:41:59.150 --> 00:42:01.190 were discontented. And all these people are people 00:42:01.190 --> 00:42:04.809 that came around him. And I want us to notice 00:42:04.809 --> 00:42:07.690 that it's this same group of people that stayed 00:42:07.690 --> 00:42:11.670 with him to the point where in 2 Samuel 23. I 00:42:11.670 --> 00:42:13.429 want you to write it down. We'll not really go 00:42:13.429 --> 00:42:15.510 there. But you just go there and read the first 00:42:15.510 --> 00:42:21.190 verse. 2 Samuel 23. 8 to 39. You can write it 00:42:21.190 --> 00:42:25.050 down, but you read it. 2 Samuel. 2 Samuel 23. 00:42:25.650 --> 00:42:30.369 8 to 39. It says, these are the names of the 00:42:30.369 --> 00:42:34.750 mighty men whom David had. And the list goes 00:42:34.750 --> 00:42:40.050 on and on and on down to the 39. And this man 00:42:40.050 --> 00:42:43.409 became mighty men. This man hanged around him. 00:42:43.570 --> 00:42:48.699 This man was trained by him. This man grew. Because 00:42:48.699 --> 00:42:51.860 they submitted themselves to him. Praise God. 00:42:52.019 --> 00:42:55.320 They submitted themselves to him. So if you're 00:42:55.320 --> 00:42:58.019 prideful, and by the way, he picked them up when 00:42:58.019 --> 00:43:00.659 they were nothing. Or they came to him when they 00:43:00.659 --> 00:43:02.380 were nothing. Meaning that anything they are, 00:43:02.519 --> 00:43:04.679 if you notice, I think one time I was looking, 00:43:04.719 --> 00:43:07.460 I was like, David said he was thirsty. And this 00:43:07.460 --> 00:43:10.500 man, because of the fact that this man had done 00:43:10.500 --> 00:43:13.179 a lot for them, they were able to, regardless 00:43:13.179 --> 00:43:16.530 of the... The challenge, they went in broke and 00:43:16.530 --> 00:43:19.670 when they got the water, he said he cannot and 00:43:19.670 --> 00:43:23.489 he didn't go ahead to drink it. Note that David 00:43:23.489 --> 00:43:27.429 is an example of someone who has a lot, but yet 00:43:27.429 --> 00:43:31.550 still humbles himself and is not prideful. And 00:43:31.550 --> 00:43:33.570 note that there's something about pride. When 00:43:33.570 --> 00:43:36.650 you allow pride foster in your heart, you will 00:43:36.650 --> 00:43:40.250 lose out on a lot. You will lose out on opportunities 00:43:40.250 --> 00:43:43.250 to grow. You lose an opportunity to learn. You 00:43:43.250 --> 00:43:46.090 lose an opportunity to be blessed and to bless 00:43:46.090 --> 00:43:50.429 others. Praise God. And we, in 1 Corinthians 00:43:50.429 --> 00:43:55.110 8, 1 and 2, 1 Corinthians 8, 1 and 2, I want 00:43:55.110 --> 00:43:57.369 us to look at it. We see that pride, knowledge, 00:43:57.690 --> 00:44:01.710 can puff up. You know, when you start knowing 00:44:01.710 --> 00:44:04.650 some Hebrew and some Greek, start knowing certain 00:44:04.650 --> 00:44:07.170 things, you have a tendency to feel like, I have 00:44:07.170 --> 00:44:11.929 arrived. I didn't know it, now I know it. Apostle 00:44:11.929 --> 00:44:13.849 Paul speaking here, he says, now concerning the 00:44:13.849 --> 00:44:17.750 things offered to idols, we know that we all 00:44:17.750 --> 00:44:21.349 have knowledge. We know that we all have knowledge. 00:44:21.570 --> 00:44:24.250 He says, knowledge puffs up, but love edifies. 00:44:25.309 --> 00:44:27.329 Knowledge puffs up, but love edifies. I want 00:44:27.329 --> 00:44:30.489 you to go to 2. It says, and if anyone thinks 00:44:30.489 --> 00:44:33.849 he knows anything, if anyone thinks he knows 00:44:33.849 --> 00:44:37.610 anything, he knows nothing yet as he ought to 00:44:37.610 --> 00:44:40.909 know. He knows nothing yet as he ought to know. 00:44:41.280 --> 00:44:44.480 So know that in all of your knowledge, in all 00:44:44.480 --> 00:44:47.659 of the learning and the acquiring, you want to 00:44:47.659 --> 00:44:50.320 know that what truly edifies your neighbor is 00:44:50.320 --> 00:44:53.320 love. Because your knowledge mixed with love 00:44:53.320 --> 00:44:56.920 is what blesses your neighbor. You don't allow 00:44:56.920 --> 00:45:01.679 it. You don't see yourself. Because in your quest 00:45:01.679 --> 00:45:04.280 or in your display of these things, you want 00:45:04.280 --> 00:45:07.440 to ensure that you're doing it anchored on. And 00:45:07.440 --> 00:45:09.760 you're doing it the way Christ. We'll do it. 00:45:09.800 --> 00:45:12.360 You're doing it the way Christ will do it. Let's 00:45:12.360 --> 00:45:15.519 look at the third part, which is a disciple submits 00:45:15.519 --> 00:45:18.480 to authority. A disciple submits to authority. 00:45:18.599 --> 00:45:21.960 That's the third part. A disciple submits to 00:45:21.960 --> 00:45:23.880 authority. I think we'll do that and then we'll 00:45:23.880 --> 00:45:26.199 close. A disciple submits to authority. I want 00:45:26.199 --> 00:45:29.480 you to say it again. I submit to authority. I 00:45:29.480 --> 00:45:31.860 submit to authority. I want you to write it in 00:45:31.860 --> 00:45:33.860 capital letter. A disciple submits to authority. 00:45:34.019 --> 00:45:36.719 I am a disciple and I submit to authority. So 00:45:36.719 --> 00:45:41.300 I want us to look at Hebrews. 13, 17. Hebrews 00:45:41.300 --> 00:45:46.920 13, 17. Hebrews 13, 17. It reads, it says, obey 00:45:46.920 --> 00:45:50.280 those who rule over you. The word, the rule there 00:45:50.280 --> 00:45:55.639 is lead. Rule over you and be submissive for 00:45:55.639 --> 00:45:59.019 they watch over, they watch out for your souls 00:45:59.019 --> 00:46:05.300 as those who must give account. Let them do so 00:46:05.300 --> 00:46:09.980 with joy and not with grief. for that would be 00:46:09.980 --> 00:46:14.139 unprofitable for you. Say, for that will be unprofitable 00:46:14.139 --> 00:46:19.639 for you. The word submissive, to be submissive, 00:46:19.639 --> 00:46:27.360 the word to be submissive is H -Y -P -E -I -K 00:46:27.360 --> 00:46:34.400 -O. H -Y -P -E -I -K -O. It's not hype, but it's 00:46:34.400 --> 00:46:40.880 hupe. It's hupe. So not that accountability or 00:46:40.880 --> 00:46:43.039 submitting to your leaders is something you don't 00:46:43.039 --> 00:46:47.480 negotiate. It's non -negotiable. It's non -negotiable. 00:46:48.000 --> 00:46:50.539 And we are committed to the things that we do. 00:46:50.679 --> 00:46:53.900 What your response should be is that you return. 00:46:54.099 --> 00:46:57.920 And it's the normal. It's normal. We are in a 00:46:57.920 --> 00:47:00.559 world and in a place where people just wake up 00:47:00.559 --> 00:47:02.679 and do what they like. But as a disciple, that 00:47:02.679 --> 00:47:06.320 is not how you're afraid. As a disciple of God, 00:47:06.440 --> 00:47:09.980 that is not. how you operate. Note that in the 00:47:09.980 --> 00:47:13.019 situation that we just read, 1 Samuel 3 verse 00:47:13.019 --> 00:47:16.739 9, Samuel did not look at Eli and said, I can't, 00:47:16.739 --> 00:47:20.840 like, who are you? In fact, if you look at the 00:47:20.840 --> 00:47:25.039 sons of Eli, the sons of Eli were not the perfect 00:47:25.039 --> 00:47:27.880 example. Because you can say, look at yourself, 00:47:28.039 --> 00:47:31.280 your children suffer. You know, you have very 00:47:31.280 --> 00:47:34.179 reasonable things to throw at the man of God. 00:47:34.880 --> 00:47:37.230 You know, some of us, we... Somebody does something 00:47:37.230 --> 00:47:39.949 and then you just go, your pastors are not, your 00:47:39.949 --> 00:47:43.510 pastors don't reply pastors online. But you feel 00:47:43.510 --> 00:47:47.269 like responsibility is upon you now to speak 00:47:47.269 --> 00:47:51.389 on behalf of God. You have got, it's a calling 00:47:51.389 --> 00:47:54.369 upon your life to now come and then you'll be 00:47:54.369 --> 00:47:58.670 typing under, this is heresy, false doctoring. 00:47:59.030 --> 00:48:01.650 You'll be typing under and you'll be, in fact, 00:48:01.650 --> 00:48:03.690 you'll say, sir, with all due respect, you'll 00:48:03.690 --> 00:48:06.070 be typing. All the things you're typing underneath 00:48:06.070 --> 00:48:10.250 comment sections. When you look at your pastors, 00:48:10.349 --> 00:48:12.809 none of us go and with all due respect, man of 00:48:12.809 --> 00:48:14.789 God, listen to what you're saying. The Greek 00:48:14.789 --> 00:48:17.710 word is this, this, this, this, this. So with 00:48:17.710 --> 00:48:19.909 these few points of mind, these things you have 00:48:19.909 --> 00:48:22.690 said, you know, we don't do that here. So if 00:48:22.690 --> 00:48:26.969 you are here and you are paying attention, you're 00:48:26.969 --> 00:48:29.230 looking. at what your pastors are doing and you're 00:48:29.230 --> 00:48:31.550 learning from your pastors. You don't do, that's, 00:48:31.550 --> 00:48:33.489 you submit to authority and your submission to 00:48:33.489 --> 00:48:36.030 authority will mean that you have regard for 00:48:36.030 --> 00:48:38.610 your pastors and have regard for other people 00:48:38.610 --> 00:48:41.429 that are pastors as well. You want to have that, 00:48:41.489 --> 00:48:43.389 put that at the back of your mind because if 00:48:43.389 --> 00:48:45.650 you're doing that to them, it's just a matter 00:48:45.650 --> 00:48:49.050 of time you do that to us because you're practicing 00:48:49.050 --> 00:48:51.909 for the day. When one pastor will tell you what 00:48:51.909 --> 00:48:55.679 you don't like and then you explode. And the 00:48:55.679 --> 00:48:57.420 words that you type is what you're going to give 00:48:57.420 --> 00:49:01.619 to us. Praise God. Know that Samuel had regard 00:49:01.619 --> 00:49:06.320 for Eli. And in his regard for Eli, he submitted. 00:49:07.219 --> 00:49:10.619 He submitted to Eli. And I want to bring to our 00:49:10.619 --> 00:49:13.000 attention something that is very key. If you 00:49:13.000 --> 00:49:16.780 are here in this church, submitting is not, sir, 00:49:16.880 --> 00:49:19.300 I submit you. You know, some people, you know 00:49:19.300 --> 00:49:23.159 how to bend down and say, sir. You know, some 00:49:23.159 --> 00:49:25.119 people will tell you I submit with words. Remember 00:49:25.119 --> 00:49:28.059 I tell you discipleship is practical. It's not 00:49:28.059 --> 00:49:29.539 just in the things you say, it's in the things 00:49:29.539 --> 00:49:33.199 you do. And we take note of the things you do 00:49:33.199 --> 00:49:35.460 and the things you don't do. And one of the things 00:49:35.460 --> 00:49:40.260 you don't do is you are a member of a cell and 00:49:40.260 --> 00:49:42.639 you will not be coming for the cell. Praise God. 00:49:42.960 --> 00:49:44.739 You will not be coming for the cell. You will 00:49:44.739 --> 00:49:47.199 wait for us to find out that you're not in the 00:49:47.199 --> 00:49:49.960 cell and start negotiating how we'll ask you. 00:49:50.280 --> 00:49:51.980 about why you're not in cell and they will now 00:49:51.980 --> 00:49:54.320 find out why you're not in cell. A person that 00:49:54.320 --> 00:49:58.119 understands leadership should notify the leader, 00:49:58.239 --> 00:50:00.780 notify the pastor that they will not be available 00:50:00.780 --> 00:50:03.219 for something. And you know, man of God, you 00:50:03.219 --> 00:50:04.559 know one thing I noticed that they do is that 00:50:04.559 --> 00:50:07.539 because they know that if they notify you, you 00:50:07.539 --> 00:50:09.880 will tell them, you will ask them questions that 00:50:09.880 --> 00:50:11.679 the leader will not ask them because the leader 00:50:11.679 --> 00:50:13.760 will say, okay, thank you. Thank you for notifying 00:50:13.760 --> 00:50:16.420 us. But because they know that if they ask the 00:50:16.420 --> 00:50:17.760 pastor, the pastor will say, where are you going 00:50:17.760 --> 00:50:20.099 to? Or where are you going to be since you're 00:50:20.099 --> 00:50:22.079 not going to... You know, if you say, I'm writing 00:50:22.079 --> 00:50:25.199 an exam, okay, good. Or I'm going to... You will 00:50:25.199 --> 00:50:27.260 say, okay, there's a legitimate reason. But because 00:50:27.260 --> 00:50:29.039 the leader cannot ask them of the legitimate 00:50:29.039 --> 00:50:31.139 reason, so they will choose to... And the leader 00:50:31.139 --> 00:50:33.780 will tell them, ask the pastor, they will say, 00:50:33.840 --> 00:50:36.579 I did. It's when you now ask the question, you 00:50:36.579 --> 00:50:39.360 know, it just communicates that you actually 00:50:39.360 --> 00:50:41.219 don't have... And some of us, we don't know. 00:50:41.300 --> 00:50:43.280 We don't know because we have not been taught. 00:50:43.780 --> 00:50:46.639 So know that when this thing comes to you now, 00:50:46.739 --> 00:50:49.480 you understand that. Because when something happens 00:50:49.480 --> 00:50:52.599 to you, who do you call? The form of you. You 00:50:52.599 --> 00:50:54.780 have your father's number. You have your mother's 00:50:54.780 --> 00:50:56.960 number. You have your brother and your sister's 00:50:56.960 --> 00:50:58.440 number. It is still your pastor you're going 00:50:58.440 --> 00:51:00.320 to call and it's still that same person you don't 00:51:00.320 --> 00:51:02.920 tell where you are going to. Praise God. You 00:51:02.920 --> 00:51:06.420 see how it doesn't even... You yourself. Think 00:51:06.420 --> 00:51:08.960 about it. Praise God. So very quickly, know that 00:51:08.960 --> 00:51:12.500 a disciple is not above correction. A disciple 00:51:12.500 --> 00:51:16.199 is not above correction. And any discipleship 00:51:16.199 --> 00:51:18.400 where correction... It's not muted out. It's 00:51:18.400 --> 00:51:22.320 no discipleship. Because anything you, any place 00:51:22.320 --> 00:51:25.179 where anything goes, nothing grows. If anything, 00:51:25.480 --> 00:51:29.340 you can just do anything you like. Just go. Even 00:51:29.340 --> 00:51:31.139 in school, you don't do anything you like. You 00:51:31.139 --> 00:51:33.500 can't just show up to the exam when you like. 00:51:33.920 --> 00:51:36.599 In English university, 30 minutes after, sorry 00:51:36.599 --> 00:51:40.780 will be your case. Praise God. I want us to see 00:51:40.780 --> 00:51:45.619 something in Proverbs. Proverbs 12 verse 1. Proverbs 00:51:45.619 --> 00:51:50.199 12 verse 1. Proverbs 12, verse 1. I'll read from 00:51:50.199 --> 00:51:53.219 here. It says, Whoever loves instruction loves 00:51:53.219 --> 00:51:57.179 knowledge. Whoever loves instruction loves knowledge. 00:51:57.380 --> 00:51:59.840 Proverbs 12, verse 1. Not 1, verse 1. Proverbs 00:51:59.840 --> 00:52:02.219 12, verse 1. I want us to read it together. Please, 00:52:02.219 --> 00:52:04.019 media, please, don't waste time. I don't have 00:52:04.019 --> 00:52:06.940 time. Proverbs 12, verse 1. It says, Whoever 00:52:06.940 --> 00:52:09.659 loves... Let's read it together, please. Thank 00:52:09.659 --> 00:52:13.099 you. Whoever loves instruction loves knowledge. 00:52:13.400 --> 00:52:20.559 But who hates... is what? Stupid. The word there 00:52:20.559 --> 00:52:25.480 in the King James is brutish. It's a very interesting 00:52:25.480 --> 00:52:30.860 word. And the Greek, the Hebrew word is ba, that's 00:52:30.860 --> 00:52:33.139 B -A -A -R. I know some people will be taking 00:52:33.139 --> 00:52:35.019 offense in the words to be like, how can they, 00:52:35.079 --> 00:52:36.920 how can I be saying because I hate correction, 00:52:37.159 --> 00:52:42.599 stupid. The Greek word is alogos. Some of you 00:52:42.599 --> 00:52:45.349 are familiar with logos. This one, logos, means 00:52:45.349 --> 00:52:47.210 that there's no word. When you say, you know, 00:52:47.230 --> 00:52:49.070 logos, when you put A in front of something, 00:52:49.190 --> 00:52:52.210 it means that it's not that thing. It means that 00:52:52.210 --> 00:52:54.030 you're unreasonable, you're irrational, you're 00:52:54.030 --> 00:52:56.230 not paying attention to words. Because if you're 00:52:56.230 --> 00:52:58.110 paying attention to words, there will be a result. 00:52:58.909 --> 00:53:00.829 If you're paying attention to words, there will 00:53:00.829 --> 00:53:04.030 be a result. So when someone says that you are 00:53:04.030 --> 00:53:06.389 stupid, it's not an insult. You're just being 00:53:06.389 --> 00:53:08.030 unreasonable. You know, when you're trying to 00:53:08.030 --> 00:53:09.750 talk to somebody and the person is not hearing 00:53:09.750 --> 00:53:13.250 what you're saying, it's... It doesn't, and if 00:53:13.250 --> 00:53:16.510 you think that that word is not, let's look at 00:53:16.510 --> 00:53:21.670 Acts 25, 27. Acts 25, 27. The same word is used, 00:53:21.710 --> 00:53:24.510 but in the Greek now. There are logos, which 00:53:24.510 --> 00:53:29.829 is the, Acts 25, 27. And this is, this is, for 00:53:29.829 --> 00:53:32.949 it seems to me, for it seems to me unreasonable 00:53:32.949 --> 00:53:38.280 to send a prisoner and not. and not to specify 00:53:38.280 --> 00:53:41.099 the charges against him. That unreasonable there 00:53:41.099 --> 00:53:44.360 is the word, alogos, which is the word that is 00:53:44.360 --> 00:53:47.780 translated as stupid. Because he's saying that 00:53:47.780 --> 00:53:50.539 I cannot, like it doesn't make any sense. It 00:53:50.539 --> 00:53:52.440 doesn't make any sense that I will not, this 00:53:52.440 --> 00:53:55.920 is speaking about, speaking of, that is Felix 00:53:55.920 --> 00:53:57.900 now, I think it's Felix, yeah, Governor Felix 00:53:57.900 --> 00:54:00.920 speaking to Agrippa and saying that it doesn't 00:54:00.920 --> 00:54:03.079 make sense for me to send him without giving 00:54:03.079 --> 00:54:05.500 a charge because the normal thing is... There's 00:54:05.500 --> 00:54:08.500 a prisoner, there's a church. But now it's unreasonable. 00:54:08.820 --> 00:54:11.219 I will just give us the other text of Scripture. 00:54:11.960 --> 00:54:14.119 I'll give us the other text of Scripture. There's 00:54:14.119 --> 00:54:20.619 2 Peter 2, verses 12, and Jude 10, verse 1. I 00:54:20.619 --> 00:54:23.340 said Jude 10, verse 1. Jude 1, 10. Or Jude 10. 00:54:24.159 --> 00:54:28.800 2 Peter 2, verses 12. 2 Peter 2, verses 12, and 00:54:28.800 --> 00:54:34.760 Jude 10. It uses brutish beasts. You know, most 00:54:34.760 --> 00:54:37.219 of the times when we say someone is stupid or 00:54:37.219 --> 00:54:39.940 is an animal, use that for an animal because 00:54:39.940 --> 00:54:41.380 the animal doesn't understand what you're saying. 00:54:41.699 --> 00:54:43.639 There's no word. The animal doesn't get you. 00:54:44.039 --> 00:54:46.880 That's why you use... And there are animals you 00:54:46.880 --> 00:54:48.639 can train, there are animals you can't. Animals 00:54:48.639 --> 00:54:49.980 you can train, there are animals you can't. It's 00:54:49.980 --> 00:54:51.780 just difficult to train because they don't really 00:54:51.780 --> 00:54:53.599 get it. They don't really understand. And we 00:54:53.599 --> 00:54:56.940 are not animals. We are able to understand and 00:54:56.940 --> 00:55:01.199 we are designed to. Know what it is and do what 00:55:01.199 --> 00:55:03.099 is instructed of us. And it's very important 00:55:03.099 --> 00:55:07.920 that we know that some King Saul, that's King 00:55:07.920 --> 00:55:11.539 Saul, not Saul in the, that's Paul that became 00:55:11.539 --> 00:55:14.139 Saul, at some point in time thought that activity 00:55:14.139 --> 00:55:18.639 equates instruction. Just doing stuff equates 00:55:18.639 --> 00:55:21.139 instruction. Know that in your submission, you 00:55:21.139 --> 00:55:24.119 want to submit to the instruction given, not 00:55:24.119 --> 00:55:27.449 an idea of what you feel like. Because at some 00:55:27.449 --> 00:55:29.349 point in time, he was instructed to do certain 00:55:29.349 --> 00:55:34.550 things. He did what he thought was. And Saul 00:55:34.550 --> 00:55:37.469 admonishes him. And he says, obedience is better 00:55:37.469 --> 00:55:39.969 than sacrifice. And he says, for rebellion is 00:55:39.969 --> 00:55:42.670 as serious. I read from the first Psalm of 15 00:55:42.670 --> 00:55:47.690 verse 23. He says, for rebellion is as serious 00:55:47.690 --> 00:55:50.349 as the sin of divination, which is fortune telling. 00:55:50.730 --> 00:55:54.269 And disobedience is as serious as false religion 00:55:54.269 --> 00:55:57.849 and idolatry. Because you have rejected the word 00:55:57.849 --> 00:56:01.730 of God, of the Lord, he has also rejected you 00:56:01.730 --> 00:56:03.989 as king. I want you to understand something very 00:56:03.989 --> 00:56:07.690 quickly. It wasn't that God rejected Saul. God 00:56:07.690 --> 00:56:12.670 rejected him as king. Because for him to be king, 00:56:12.849 --> 00:56:16.630 he has to listen to what God says and then instruct 00:56:16.630 --> 00:56:20.090 the people. Remember we saw David. David is very 00:56:20.090 --> 00:56:22.500 different from Saul in that... when God says 00:56:22.500 --> 00:56:25.739 he's the man after my own heart, is that he listens 00:56:25.739 --> 00:56:28.559 to what God says and does what God does, what 00:56:28.559 --> 00:56:32.260 God instructs. But in Saul's case, very different. 00:56:32.559 --> 00:56:37.280 He was rejected by God, but like he wasn't rejected 00:56:37.280 --> 00:56:41.179 by God, but rather rejected to be king over Israel. 00:56:41.260 --> 00:56:44.300 What this means is that you can be rejected, 00:56:44.340 --> 00:56:47.519 like you might not be fit for a position, right, 00:56:47.599 --> 00:56:50.139 in church, but it doesn't make you a non -believer. 00:56:50.219 --> 00:56:52.760 Praise God. What this means is that because of 00:56:52.760 --> 00:56:54.559 certain things or because you don't follow instruction, 00:56:54.860 --> 00:56:57.239 you might not be fit for certain things, but 00:56:57.239 --> 00:56:58.719 it doesn't make you an unbeliever. It means that 00:56:58.719 --> 00:57:01.639 first and foremost, you are a child of God. That 00:57:01.639 --> 00:57:03.980 is more important. And in your being a child, 00:57:04.119 --> 00:57:07.039 you want to learn and grow. And because of maturity 00:57:07.039 --> 00:57:08.840 and everything, you will be given responsibility. 00:57:09.420 --> 00:57:12.940 So I want us to understand that when we see certain 00:57:12.940 --> 00:57:15.579 things or when we are given certain instruction, 00:57:15.900 --> 00:57:19.139 know that correction is what anybody that corrects 00:57:19.139 --> 00:57:21.639 you wants you to grow. Anybody that will correct 00:57:21.639 --> 00:57:24.480 you wants the best for you. Because if, you know, 00:57:24.500 --> 00:57:26.159 you have those friends that will say, yes, sir. 00:57:26.239 --> 00:57:27.820 They'll tell you anything you want to do. They 00:57:27.820 --> 00:57:30.239 just, they're the oh yes. And you don't even 00:57:30.239 --> 00:57:32.719 learn anything around those sets of people. So 00:57:32.719 --> 00:57:35.320 I want you to just come to that place where I 00:57:35.320 --> 00:57:37.739 will end with what I started with, which is, 00:57:37.780 --> 00:57:40.059 I want you to examine yourself with the questions 00:57:40.059 --> 00:57:42.780 I asked at the beginning. Do you learn like a 00:57:42.780 --> 00:57:45.860 child? Are you humble enough to learn as a child? 00:57:46.000 --> 00:57:47.840 And learning as a child means that you will take 00:57:47.840 --> 00:57:51.179 notes. You prioritize what is being spoken to 00:57:51.179 --> 00:57:54.679 you. And do you serve like Jesus does? Do you 00:57:54.679 --> 00:57:56.800 go out of your way to be sacrificial in your 00:57:56.800 --> 00:57:59.019 service? And do you prioritize God's kingdom? 00:57:59.420 --> 00:58:02.659 Are you committed to the things of God? Are you 00:58:02.659 --> 00:58:04.980 committed to the things? And discipleship is 00:58:04.980 --> 00:58:08.579 not automatic. It requires intentional submission. 00:58:08.920 --> 00:58:11.860 It requires intentional submission. And know 00:58:11.860 --> 00:58:15.460 that we want to, in this season, choose discipleship 00:58:15.460 --> 00:58:17.719 so that we can effectively manifest the kingdom 00:58:17.719 --> 00:58:20.619 of God. I want us to end with this. I affirm 00:58:20.619 --> 00:58:25.579 that I am teachable. I stay teachable without 00:58:25.579 --> 00:58:30.480 pride in my heart. I lead others by serving and 00:58:30.480 --> 00:58:34.280 I serve diligently. I submit to authority. I 00:58:34.280 --> 00:58:37.619 am not rebellious. I don't frustrate the efforts 00:58:37.619 --> 00:58:43.360 of my leaders and my pastors. I prioritize discipleships 00:58:43.360 --> 00:58:46.460 and the activities of the kingdom over everything 00:58:46.460 --> 00:58:49.750 else. I am a disciple. their disciples, others. 00:58:49.949 --> 00:58:51.909 I want you to pray these things over your life. 00:58:51.969 --> 00:58:53.590 I want you to open your mouth and just pray. 00:58:55.630 --> 00:58:58.789 We appreciate you being here today. We hope you 00:58:58.789 --> 00:59:00.909 carry this word with you throughout your week. 00:59:01.570 --> 00:59:03.750 Don't forget to check the show notes for additional 00:59:03.750 --> 00:59:06.670 insights. Stay connected with us through our 00:59:06.670 --> 00:59:10.550 website or follow us on social media. If you 00:59:10.550 --> 00:59:12.789 are encouraged, share this message with someone 00:59:12.789 --> 00:59:16.349 you care about. Until next time, stay blessed.