Welcome to NECF Sermons. Each message here is
designed to uplift and strengthen you in your
walk with God. Don't miss out. Stay with us until
the end for a rewarding experience. Let's dive
right in. So I want to thank God for this opportunity
given to me to bring the Word to us. And I also
want to thank the pastorate for the opportunity
as well. On Sunday we were looking at being sensitive
to the leading of the Holy Spirit and today we're
going to continue in that light. So we looked
at Matthew chapter 28. Matthew chapter 28. For
verse 18 to 20. So just a quick recap of what
we did. We looked at that and we said that when
the gospel is preached, that there is an explanation
and there is an instruction that follows. We
said that the leading of the Holy Spirit is The
leading of the Spirit involves when we hear the
explanation of the gospel or preaching, and then
we follow the instructions that follow. So he's
mindful of the things that he hears, and he wants
to pay close attention to those things. He's
very careful about these things. He treasures
the things that he heard. Praise the Lord. There
is an alertness that somebody who is growing
spiritually has. He wants to hear more. He's
very alert about the things that are around him.
Praise the Lord. And then we look at John chapter
14, where he talks about, In my Father's house
are many mansions. And we say that he's talking
about the union of places. He's talking about
the indwelling of the Father in us. That is,
Him in us and us in Him. Praise the Lord. And
we also looked at, The same place that was talking
about that he would send another comforter. And
we say that word is alus paracletis, which means
that the way the Father is indwelling in Christ
is the same way he's going to be indwelling you.
The same way that Christ is in the Father, so
also Christ will be in the inside of you. Praise
the Lord. And so we saw that Jesus was leading
his disciples by... preaching and teaching. Jesus
was leading them to preach and teach the gospel.
Praise the Lord. We saw that in Matthew, same
Matthew that we read, 28 verse 20, right? And
we also saw that he said to them in Matthew chapter
10, Matthew chapter 9, towards the ending, that
the harvest is plenteous, but the laborers are
few. The thing he said that the Lord of the harvest
should do, that is, to send laborers, he did
by sending his disciples into Bethlehem. From
verse 1. Praise the Lord. So today we're going
to continue and we're going to be looking at
being sensitive to the leading of the Holy Spirit.
Praise the Lord. Matthew chapter 28, verse 18.
And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, And
we say that to teach there, when he says to teach
or to make disciples, as you saw, I said, go
and make disciples, right? It means to make a
student or to train with the intention to educate
this person. Praise the Lord. So we cannot, he
doesn't want to assume that everybody know what
they should do. Praise the Lord. Even as a church,
we cannot assume that you know how to pray. We
cannot assume that you know how to... Live the
way that God intends you to live. So that's why
discipleship is important. Because he's saying
to them that he makes them a student. He trains
them with the intention to educate them. Praise
the Lord. So we don't assume that people know
how to do things, that they know how to pray,
that they know how to live their life. That is
why even as a church, we don't presume that everything
should just go the way it is. Just live your
life the way you want to live it. We practicalize
all of the things that we say to you. Praise
the Lord. So if we say that you can pray and
you will hear God. We will do that for you to
see, praise the Lord, because that is the way
you teach a student. That is how you educate
somebody, right? There's practicality to the
things that we do, praise the Lord. So when we
say we pray or go and pray, as pastorates, we
are not in our houses or we're not in our houses
just relaxed. We are also praying as we are telling
you to pray. Or there's a task that we're saying
do. As a church, we are also doing the same thing.
Praise the Lord. So when we say, okay, let's
come for prayer cruise, we come there and we
demonstrate prayers. Praise the Lord. So when
somebody say, do you know how to pray? You will
know you have seen it somewhere and you have
learnt it somewhere and you know how to pray.
You know what it means to pray for that long
or pray for a short period of time because you
have been trained and educated, because you have
been a disciple. Praise the Lord. So the teach
is to make a student, to train. To make somebody
with the intention to educate them. Praise the
Lord. Like I said, we don't assume that people
know how to do it. That's why even, again, as
pastorate, we want to know exactly, or we want
to ask you a few questions. How is your life
going? What is happening here? What is happening
here? We invite you, or come to our house, or
let's meet somewhere. And we want to talk about
these things because we know that for you to
be able to live the life that God intends you
to live, you need to be guided. Praise the Lord.
You need to be guided. You need to receive counsel.
You need to be discipled. That is what it means
to make disciples. That's what it means to make
disciples. For example, of Jesus, when he takes
his disciples to go and pray, he doesn't just
tell them to say, Our Father who art in heaven.
They saw him praying. Praise the Lord. They saw
him praying. They saw him taking time to pray
over and over again. And they'll be wondering,
why do you have to pray for so long? Praise the
Lord. And last week we saw that if you don't
know the why of a thing, it will profit you nothing.
Praise the Lord. So he tells them or he teaches
them to pray. And in teaching them or in saying,
come Peter, let's go somewhere. And maybe Peter
is sleeping as he's praying. He knows that Peter
is learning something. Praise the Lord. He knows
that Peter is learning something. Because after
the resurrection, we'll begin to see some of
those things manifest. Because these are people
who have been with Christ. They have been with
him and they have learned a lot of things. They've
learned how to live their life. They've also
learned how to lead. Praise the Lord. They've
learned how to lead. They have known how to,
oh, let's do this or let's do that. Praise the
Lord. When there is hundreds and thousands of
people, they are not confused about how to lead
these people because they have seen a blueprint.
They have seen somebody lead them in the way
they should go. That is what it means to make
disciples. So in discipleship, there is practicality
to it. Praise the Lord. So somebody is telling
you, have you prayed today? You want to find
out, are they also praying? Praise the Lord.
Or are they just telling you that prayer is important?
What benefit or how have you done your own? As
you're encouraging me to pray, as you're encouraging
me to read my Bible, how in your own life, how
has that been beneficial to you? Have you struggled
as well? Praise the Lord. So this is a process
of making... There is practicality to it. And
Jesus is a good example of what we saw in that
place. So the things that he said in the four
Gospels, or the thing that Jesus was saying,
even as we're from the teaching on Sunday, is
some of the things he said were post -resurrection
realities. Praise the Lord. Some of the things
he's saying were post -resurrection realities.
So when he said, I pray the Father. We saw that
he's saying that because of the things I will
do, because of the fact that I will die, I will
be buried and I will be raised up, I pray the
Father. I make a request on your behalf. Praise
the Lord. John chapter 1. John chapter 1. John
chapter 1 from verse 1 to 14. In the beginning
was the Word, the Word was with God, and the
Word was God. He was in the beginning with God.
All things were made through him, and without
him nothing was made. Nothing was made that was
made. In him was life, and the life was the life
of men. And the light shines in darkness, and
darkness did not comprehend it. There is a man
sent from God, whose name was John. This man
came for a witness, to bear witness of the light,
that all things through him, that all through
him my belief. He was not a light. but he was
sent to bear witness of the light. That was the
true light which gave light to every man. Sorry,
he was not the light, but you're sent to bear
witness of the light. That was the true light
which bears light to every man coming into the
world. He was in the world and the world was
made through him and the world did not know him.
He came to his own and his own did not receive
him. But as many as receive him, to him he gave
the right to become children of God, to those
who believe in his name, who were born not of
blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the
will of man, but of God. The Word became flesh
and dwelt among us, and we beheld his glory,
the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,
full of grace and truth. Praise the Lord. Full
of grace and of truth. So John is saying to us
that the Old Testament prophecies have been fulfilled
in the Incarnation. Praise the Lord. The Old
Testament prophecies have been fulfilled in the
Incarnation. The things that have been prophesied
about the Christ, or the things that have been
prophesied about what God is going to be doing,
they have come to fulfillment. The prophecies
of the Old Testament have come to fulfillment
in the Incarnation. Praise the Lord. The Christ
is here. So when he says, in the beginning was
the Word, as we know, that Word is the Word Logos,
right? That is the Logos in which, sorry, in
the prophet, right? And that Logos became flesh.
The things that the prophet have said for thousands
of years have come to materialize in the incarnation
of the Christ. Praise the Lord. So that's what
John is saying to us in John chapter 1, from
verse 1 to 14. In verse 14, he tells us that
the Word became flesh. He became flesh. So if
you look at what Jesus did in the four Gospels,
you will come to this conclusion that the things
that have been prophesied have come to fulfillment
in the Incarnation. Praise the Lord. So Jesus
is God's plan and purpose for humanity. He's
not just an addition to the world or to the things
that God has in plan or the plans of God. He's
not just an addition. He's the God's plan and
purposes for humanity. This is God's idea to
humanity. He's not just an addition or an alternative
to the plans of God. He's the fulfillment of
the things that God desired in humanity. Praise
the Lord. He's a fulfillment of what God desires
in humanity. He's the explanation of everything.
Praise the Lord. In verse 18 now. He says, no
one has seen God at any time. The only begotten,
the only begotten, the only begotten of... Praise
the Lord. So Christ has declared him. He's the
explanation of everything. So this word declared
him is the word... G -E -O -M -A -I. He's a word
to share in experience or to share your experience.
Praise the Lord. He's a word to share your experience.
So God, Jesus is the experience of God. Praise
the Lord. He said because he declared him. He's
God's, he's the Father's manifest. He explained
God to us. Praise the Lord. It's this word that
he explains God to us. We understand God through
him. Because remember, we were reading last week,
and he tells us that if you see him, you have
seen the Father. Praise the Lord. He's the explanation
of the Father. And then this word bosom is the
word kaupos. K -O -L -P -O -S. So he's not...
You know, bosom is, I looked at it, is the top
part of your chest. Right? So, it's an idiom.
It's not that Christ is the top part of God's
chest. Okay? So, it's not what he's saying. Right?
When he says that, the second part of that, verse
18 says, who is in the bosom of the Father, he
has declared him. He's not saying that Christ
is in the chest of God and he's declaring him.
Praise the Lord. It's an idiom and it means an
inseparable union. Praise the Lord. And it's
the same theme of what we have been seeing or
what we have been studying, that God is in him
and he is in God. If you have seen him, you have
seen the Father. Praise the Lord. He's in the
bosom of the Father. It means an inseparable
union. Praise the Lord. So Christ is in insuperable
union with God and he has declared a father.
He's the explanation of the father. He's the
experience of the father. Praise the Lord. So
he declared a father, right? So that's why we
can see that they were using things like pronoun
at the end of that. He said, who is in the bosom
of the father? He said he has declared him. Praise
the Lord. He has declared him there. John chapter
10. John chapter 10 John chapter 10 Proverbs
1 to 5 Most assuredly I say to you, he who does
not enter the sheepfold by the door, but climbs
up some other way, the same is a thief, and a
robber. For he who enters by the door is the
shepherd of the sheep. To him the gatekeeper
opens, and the sheep hears his voice. He calls
on his own sheep by name, and he leads them out.
And when he brings them out, when he brings out
his own sheep, he goes before them, and the sheep
follow him, for they know his voice. Praise the
Lord. Verse 5 now said, Yet they will not by
any means follow a stranger, but they will flee
from him, for they do not know the voice of a
stranger. Praise the Lord. For they do not know
the voice of a stranger. So in verse 3, he tells
us that the sheep, he said, knows his voice.
In verse 4, he tells us that For they know His
voice. They know His voice. They know the voice
of the Father. Praise the Lord. Whose voice do
they know? They know the voice of the Father.
They know Him. They know His voice. So one fundamental
thing about the believer, or you can say two
fundamental things about the believer, is that
one, the believer has the Spirit of God in the
inside of them. The believer has the Spirit of
God in the inside of them. Secondly, the believer
has the ability to know when God is speaking.
Let me say that again. Fundamental fact about
a believer, or fundamental fact about you, you
have the Spirit of God in the inside of you.
Secondly, you know when God is speaking. Praise
the Lord. And again, it means that you don't
need to pray to have this ability. The believer
has the Spirit of God in the inside of them.
Secondly, they have the ability to know when
God is speaking. Thirdly, they don't need to
pray for that ability that they have. Praise
the Lord. Now, the believer may be ignorant of
this fact. Praise the Lord. The believer may
be ignorant of this fact that they have the ability
to know when God is speaking or to hear the voice
of God. Right? Or they might ignore the voice
of God. But it's not the absence of it. Do you
understand? The fundamental thing about us is
that we have the Spirit of God in the inside
of us. We have the ability to know when God is
speaking to us. We don't need to pray for this
ability. We may ignore it or may be ignorant
of it. But it doesn't mean that there is an absence
of it. It doesn't mean there is an absence of
this ability. Praise the Lord. Because the human
spirit, the born -again human spirit recognizes
the truth. They know what truth is. As a believer,
you know what truth is. Your spirit is able to
recognize truth. It can relate with truth. Praise
the Lord. It can relate with truth. So when you
find people arguing about what is truth, right,
you need to pray for them. Praise the Lord. You
need to pray for them. So you can also say that,
oh, I made a mistake. You can say I made a mistake.
It is also true that there has been warning and
sign by the Spirit of God concerning that mistake.
Praise the Lord. So you can say, I made a mistake,
or you cannot say, I made a mistake, right? But
one thing that you cannot say is that you did
not receive warning or signs to tell you that,
oh, that is the wrong direction. Oh, don't do
that. Or you find conflict with the inside of
you about the things that you want to do. Like
I said, you may ignore it. Or maybe ignorant
of it. But you would receive warning because
you have the Spirit of God in the inside of you.
Praise the Lord. They know His voice. They know
His voice. They know His voice. And what is this
talking about? From verse 7 to 10, he's talking
about salvation. But we'll get to that. They
know his voice. Because the reason why you know
or why you receive this warning and you know
the voice of God is because you are born again.
You are born again. Why? Verse 4 of John chapter
10. He said, and when he brings out his own sheep,
He goes before them and the sheep follows for
they know his voice. Praise the Lord. He said
when he brings out his own sheep, right? He goes
before the sheep. He goes in front of it to tell
you, oh, this is the way you should go. This
is what you should be doing. Oh, don't go that
way. He goes before them because he doesn't,
he's not a shepherd that is behind. Praise the
Lord. He's not a shepherd that is behind the
sheep. He's always in front of the sheep and
he's telling them this direction. Oh no, let's
go this direction. This is the way you should
go. They follow him. Praise the Lord. And they
say they know his voice. That is the reason why
you cannot say, or you can also say, but the
thing you cannot deny is that there has been
warning along the line or signs along the line,
suggesting to you that that part is a good part
or suggesting to you that that part is not a
good part. Praise the Lord. Because you are born
again. He goes before them. And what does he
do before them? He directs them. He instructs
them. He guides them. He tells them, go this
way. Don't go that way. So you might be learning
the things that he's telling you. You might be
learning the things that you're just learning
that, oh, that is wrong. Oh, that is wrong. You
might be in that process of learning. But he
shows you what you should do. Sometimes you ignore
them. Sometimes you don't listen to them. Praise
the Lord. In verse 7 to 10. So then Jesus said
to them again, Most assuredly I say to you, I
am the door of the sheep. All who come, all who
came, whoever came before me are thieves and
robbers. But the sheep do not hear them. Verse
10. Praise the Lord. So this is telling us about
salvation. Praise the Lord. It's telling us about
salvation. Right? Let's go back again. In verse
3 and verse 4 and verse 16 tells us that, in
verse 3 he says, they hear his voice. In verse
4, he tells us that they know his voice. In verse
16, he tells us that, and the other sheep that
I have, which are not of this food, them also
I must bring. They will hear my voice and will
be, and they will be. One flock and one shepherd.
Praise the Lord. He said, they will hear my voice.
They will hear my voice. Praise the Lord. They
will hear my voice. So when he says they will
hear my voice, he's also suggesting to us or
telling us as well that these are post -resurrection
experience. Praise the Lord. There are others
that will come after the resurrection into this
fold. He's talking about salvation. Praise the
Lord. They hear his voice. They know his voice.
They will hear his voice. It's the word phoneme.
Right? Like phone. It's spelled phone. Right?
But it's pronounced phoneme. Right? Phone as
P -H -O -N -E. That is the word voice. Right?
It's a word funny. It's pronounced funny. It's
not, it's not just, it does not just mean sound
or voice. Okay? It's much more deeper than that.
It, it means or is used for dialect. Right? It
is used for dialect in this place. It is used
for dialect. It means that they know his language.
Praise the Lord. It means that they know his
language. They know his voice. So, like I said,
when he says that they will not hear somebody
else or they will not follow somebody else, he's
saying that they know his language. He's not
just saying that a shepherd will just come and
say, hey, let's start going. Right? A shepherd
will come and will speak their language. Praise
the Lord. He said they will hear his voice. It
means that they know there's a language that
he speaks to them. Praise the Lord. There is
the language of the Spirit, the things that they
understand. Praise the Lord. They know His voice.
They know His language. There is a language that
they understand. They are aware of this language.
The strangest language they will not follow.
Praise the Lord. Because already they will see
it as a red flag. Oh, something is wrong there.
That's not what we speak. Praise the Lord. That's
why when I say to you that you cannot see or...
You can say, but you can never deny that you
don't understand the language of the Spirit.
Praise the Lord. You might ignore it or might
not take it as important, but it's speaking to
you because you have the Spirit of God in the
inside of you. A stranger's voice, a stranger's
language, they will not follow. Praise the Lord.
So, you look at it as not just, oh, when you
look at it literally, you say like, okay, how
would they differentiate? His voice. He now tells
us what we are seeing is that there is a language
that he speaks to them. Or there is a language
that they understand. So there is no confusion
about whether it is God who is saying or the
devil who is saying it. Praise the Lord. Or it
is God who is saying it or a stranger who is
saying it. Hallelujah. They know his voice. Verse
9. Verse 9 and 10 tells us that, he said, I'm
the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be
saved. And he says, and will go in and out and
find pasture. And verse 10 says, that the thief
does not come except to steal, to kill, and to
destroy. But I've come that they may have life
and that they may have it more abundantly. They
will go out, they will come in, and they will
find pasture. So the more abundantly in verse
10, he said that they may have it more abundantly.
Or abundantly in verse 10, he's talking about
that they will have abundance of pasture. What
is he saying in verse 9? Praise the Lord. What
is he saying in verse 9? They will have the abundantly
of verse 10 is the pasture. He's not talking
about cars. He's not talking about houses. He's
not talking about mansions. He's not talking
about businesses. Praise the Lord. Abundantly.
So abundantly is the word periosis. P -E -R -I
-S -S. P -E -R -I -S -S -O -S. Which means that
what I'm doing now, or what I'm doing, or what
I'm doing is to give you more abundantly, or
what I'm doing will make you more abundant. Praise
the Lord. It means what I'm doing will give you
or will make you more abundant. What I'm doing
will make you more abundant. You will have abundance
of pasture. Praise the Lord. You will have abundance
of pasture. So like I said earlier, some of the
things that he says are post -resurrection experience.
We see in verse 11. Right? In verse 11. He says,
I'm the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives
his life for the sheep. Praise the Lord. Speaking
of sacrifice, right? Speaking of sacrifice, some
of the things that he's saying are not available
at the moment. We saw that in verse 16. He said,
they will hear my voice. Praise the Lord. Some
of the things he's saying are post -resurrection
experience. They will know my voice, verse 3.
Verse 4, they will know my voice. He said, for
they will know my voice. Praise the Lord. So,
direction, or to get direction, is a new... It's
a reality of the new creation. Praise the Lord.
To get direction is a new creation reality. Praise
the Lord. It is. To get direction is the things
that come with being born again. It is not a
mystery. You can explain it. Praise the Lord.
Why can you explain it? Because you know His
voice. Praise the Lord. You know His voice. Verse
11 and 15. He said, I'm the good shepherd. The
good shepherd gives his life for the sheep. In
verse 15 now says, As the Father knows me, even
so I know the Father, and I lay my life for the
sheep. Praise the Lord. I lay my life for the
sheep. He said, He gives His life. What life
is He giving? Right? What life is he going to
give? He said the life in the resurrection. The
life in the resurrection. He laid down his life
for the sheep. The life he's giving is the life
in resurrection, which means that Jesus is reproduced
in us. Praise the Lord, in resurrection. Jesus
is reproduced in us. This life is available in
resurrection. Praise the Lord. This life is available
in resurrection. So that's what he says to go
and preach. Go and preach. Go and make disciples
of every nation. Go and make disciples of every
nation. There is a life in resurrection. There
is a new reality in resurrection. Praise the
Lord. There is a new reality in resurrection.
This life is available in resurrection. John
chapter 8, verse 12. Then Jesus spoke to them
again, saying, I am the light of the world. He
who follows me shall not walk in darkness, but
have the light of life. Praise the Lord. Jesus
spoke to them again, saying, I am the light of
the world. He who follows me shall not walk in
darkness, but have the light of life. Praise
the Lord. So the follower or the believer does
not walk in darkness. Praise the Lord. The believer
does not walk in darkness. Why? Because he has
the light of life. Praise the Lord. He does not
walk in darkness. There is direction for his
life. He hears the Father's voice. Praise the
Lord. He hears the Father's voice because he
has the life of God. He does not walk in darkness.
Praise the Lord. Can somebody say, I have the
light of life. I have the light of life. I know
the voice of the good shepherd. I know the voice
of the good shepherd. The voice of a stranger
I will not follow. Praise the Lord. So he says
to them that they have the light of life. They
know the voice of the good shepherd. They understand
the dialect of the good shepherd. The voice of
the stranger they will not follow. Praise the
Lord. So whenever you are confused or on the
crossroad, or you need to speak to yourself as
often as you can, That I have the light of life.
I know the voice of a good shepherd. I don't
follow everything. Praise the Lord. I don't follow
every trend. I'm not taught by somebody else.
I know the voice of the good shepherd. Praise
the Lord. I don't follow the voices of my generation.
I don't follow the voices that draw men away
from God. I don't follow the voices that trend.
Praise the Lord. I hear the voice of a good shepherd.
I hear the voice of the good shepherd. I have
the light of life. Praise the Lord. It means
that there is no darkness. I cannot be confused.
Praise the Lord. I have direction in my life.
Praise the Lord. So you need to train yourself
to speak the abilities of God. Not the many things
that are not going right in your life. Speak
the abilities of God in your life. Praise the
Lord. Speak the abilities of God in your life.
Not the negative things around you. Not the inabilities
around you. Not the things that are not working.
Rather, the abilities of God in your life. Why?
Because you have the Spirit of God in the inside
of you. And you know the voice of the Father.
You understand His dialect. Praise the Lord.
You understand His dialect. So how do you know?
That you know the voice of the good shepherd.
Because you are born again. That is how you know.
That is how you know. Praise the Lord. So last
Sunday we said that how do you know that God
is leading you? You know that he is leading you
because it is for his sake, not your sake. Praise
the Lord. So you know the voice of the good shepherd
because you are born again. That is how you know.
Praise the Lord. So if you don't know the voice
of the good shepherd, you will not be born again.
Because it is the same voice that convinced you
about the Christ. Praise the Lord. It is the
same voice that convinced you about the Christ.
It is that voice that you recognize at salvation.
When somebody preached the gospel to you, when
somebody shared the word to you, that voice,
you recognized it. Praise the Lord. So if you
recognize the voice of God in salvation, or you
recognize the voice of God in the gospel that
was preached to you, it means that you know the
voice of God. Praise the Lord. So that is how
you know. So I'm not saying something that is,
okay, say an affirmation. Sorry. I'm not saying
something like, you know, they tell you, they
call it a make -believe. Say something. Say something
until you believe it. Just keep saying it. Keep
saying it. That's what I'm doing. Okay? It's
not like that. You know because you recognize
the voice of God at salvation. Because when the
gospel was shared to you, you found out. You
can hear the voice of God in the message that
is being preached. God was speaking to you. The
person was saying something, but you were hearing
something else. You were able to detect the dialect
of God in the message that was preached to you.
Praise the Lord. That is how you know. It is
not a make -believe. It's not say it until you
believe it. Praise the Lord. It's an affirmation
of your reality, of the realities of your faith.
So when you say, I know the voice of God, it
is the affirmation of your reality. You are saying
what you have. You are saying what you have.
You're not trying to say it until you believe
it. You're not lying to yourself. Praise the
Lord. You're not lying to yourself. You are affirming
what you... Have already the realities of your
faith. When you say, I know the voice of the
good shepherd. Why? Because you're the sheep
of his pasture. Praise the Lord. You say you
know the voice of the good shepherd. Why? Because
you're the sheep of his pasture. You're not a
stranger. You are among the indwellers. Praise
the Lord. You are among the people that are united
in the place. Praise the Lord. You are in him
and him in you. Hallelujah. You know his voice.
Romans chapter 8. Romans chapter 8. From verse
13 to 17. For if you live according to the flesh,
you will die. But if by the Spirit you put to
death the deeds of the body, you will live. For
as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these
are the sons of God. For you do not receive the
spirit of bondage again to fear, but you have
received the spirit of adoption by which we cry
out, Abba, Father. Praise the Lord. That we may
also be glorified together. In verse 14, he says
what? For as many as are led by the Spirit of
God, he's talking about salvation. As many as
are led by the Spirit of God, he's talking about
salvation. In verse 15, he tells us that, For
you do not receive the Spirit of bondage again
to fear, but you have received the Spirit of
adoption, by whom you cry out, Abba, Father.
Praise the Lord. So when he says, When we say
we cry Abba Father, it's also another idiom,
right? He's not saying that, you know, we just
say Abba Father, Abba Father, Abba Father. That's
not what he's saying. When he says by which we
cry Abba Father, right? We're not shouting Abba
Father, Abba Father. Do you understand? Maybe
you expect something to happen. Praise the Lord.
But what he's saying there is what? He shows
relationship. By which we cry out, Abba, Father,
it simply means that we have relationship to
God or we have relationship with God. It shows
relationship that we are dear to God. Praise
the Lord. So when you say, Abba, Father, it shows
relationship that you are dear to God, our Father.
In verse 16 tells us, He said, For the Spirit
himself bear witness with our spirits that we
are children. The Spirit bears witness with our
spirit that we are children of God. Bears witness
is the word somatoro, right? Is S -Y -M -A -R
-T -Y -R -E -O. So it means to bear joint witness.
Praise the Lord. Two people saying the same thing.
Right? Your witness is the same. What Pastor
Custin is saying and what Mr. Gabriel is saying
is they are talking about the same thing. They
are bearing witness of the same fact. It's a
joint witness. Two things saying the same thing.
Two things as one. Praise the Lord. Meaning that
we are in union with God. He said, for the Spirit
bears witness with our spirit that we are children
of God. Praise the Lord. That we're children
of God. He's saying that we're in union with
God. We are in union with God. Praise the Lord.
Can somebody say, I'm in union with God? I am
in union with God in Christ Jesus. I'm in union
with God in Christ Jesus. It is a realm of knowledge.
And absolute knowledge. Praise the Lord. So you
know the Father. You know the Father's will.
Praise the Lord. You are in union with the Father.
What does that mean? You know the Father. You
know what the Father is saying. You know His
desires. Praise the Lord. You know the Father's
will. You know what His plans are. You know what
His purposes are. And you walk in it. Praise
the Lord. You are an absolute light, right? You
are an absolute direction. There is no shadow
in your life. There is no shadow in this realm
of life that we have in God. Praise the Lord.
There is no shadow in this realm of God that
we have. Hallelujah. So when the gospel is preached,
right, by us, it's to the unsaved. We preach
the gospel to the unsaved. But we also live the
gospel. Praise the Lord. But we also live the
gospel. Our life shows the gospel. We also speak
the gospel. Praise the Lord. We speak it to ourselves.
Praise the Lord. We speak it to ourselves. How
do we speak it to ourselves? You see, I know
the voice of the good shepherd. Praise the Lord.
I know the voice of the good shepherd. I have
direction, absolute direction. I have the light
of life. Praise the Lord. So the fact of the
gospel must form the way that we live our life.
Praise the Lord. It must form the way that we
live our lives. It must form our conversation.
It must form the lifestyle that we live. Praise
the Lord. The fact of the gospel must affect
every area of your life. Why? Because you have
the Spirit of God in the inside of you. The realities
are available now. Praise the Lord. It is no
longer that it is at resurrection. Praise the
Lord. It is an available reality to you right
now. That you have absolute direction. That you
don't live your life by chance. Praise the Lord.
You don't live your life by chance. You will
not say, if it works, we'll do it. You will not
say it will do what it will do. Praise the Lord.
You don't live your life by chance. You know
the voice of the Father. You know the voice of
the Father because you are born again. You know
the voice of the Father because you are born
again. You know the voice of the Father because
you are born again. It is a voice that you listen
to, like I said earlier, that convinced you about
Jesus. It is a voice that you had as salvation
that convinced you about Jesus. So it is not
normal for us as believers to say we do not hear
God. Hallelujah. Or we are not sensitive to the
leading of God. We are not sensitive to the leading
of God. Even before Catholicism is still far,
a lot of things have been coming. Praise the
Lord. And if I ask a couple of us, you will tell
us what you have seen or what you have had or
what God will do. Praise the Lord. Because you
have the Spirit of God in the inside of you.
Praise the Lord. You will perceive warnings for
people. You will perceive direction for people.
You will perceive the things that people should
do. Praise the Lord. So it's not normal for you
to say that you don't hear the voice of the Father.
You are not sensitive to the leading of the Holy
Spirit. Why? Because if you're a believer, it
is the same voice that helped you or led you
or made you believe the gospel. Praise the Lord.
So you should not be happy that you don't hear,
that you're not sensitive. You don't know what
God is saying per time, per season. Praise the
Lord. Or if you are, stop ignoring it. Don't
say, what would they tell you? What would they
say? Praise the Lord. One of the words of vision
that came because of the cataclysmos and this
church that we are having is because it is that
people will begin to look, right? There's a vision.
that we receive, that people of the outside,
people that cover their hair, they are looking.
They are sitting and looking. So what are they
doing? They are interested in the things that
are doing because this church, the Lord has been
leading it. Praise the Lord. As a result of the
cataclysm, there are people who are sitting somewhere
looking and looking. What are they doing? Why
are they in school from Monday to Friday or Saturday?
There are people that are looking, and that is
what God is saying He's going to be doing in
this season. He's going to draw men to this place.
Why? Because we are obedient to the voice of
the Father. Praise the Lord. We are obedient
to the voice of the Father. So you can never
say, I've not had it. Praise the Lord. That is
not a true statement. That is not a true statement.
Why? Because He abides in the inside of you.
Praise the Lord. He abides in the inside of you.
You have no option but to hear him. So mixing
up your life with many, many things or the things
that do not please God, you're just delaying
or refusing the hearers. Praise the Lord. But
he's telling you, oh, that place, don't go there.
Oh, that person, don't do this. Oh, that, don't
do this. But you sometimes ignore it. Praise
the Lord. So you cannot say that you do not hear
God because he has been speaking. He has convinced
you about Jesus. He has convinced you about the
things of the gospel. Praise the Lord. Can we
just bow our heads and just begin to pray? And
just ask God to help us to be sensitive to the
leading of the Spirit. We appreciate you being
here today. We hope you carry this word with
you throughout your week. Don't forget to check
the show notes for additional insights. Stay
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next time, stay blessed.